2026-04-16 Typotheticals - Season Scenario Vibe Checks (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. Dan and Ty. Dan Rubenstein, welcome back. I have a very important question for you today. My answer without knowing the question is. If a cream doesn't work out for you, Ty, I would say hydrocortisone cream is probably, if the over-the-counter stuff doesn't work out, but you lived hard in your 20s, Ty, no regrets. Well, it's funny you should say that. I booked a non-refundable hotel room because I'm planning to go to the World Cup out in Seattle. Sure. I got Pizza Rex, if that's what you're asking me. AK Pizza guy. In the interim. One of my friends who I am going with found a much cheaper hotel room. So I'm currently haggling with the general manager at an esteemed lodging option to try and see if there is some way I can wiggle out of commitments. So far, I've gotten them down to a fifty percent refund. I'm hoping to get closer to 100% before we officially pull the switch. Aren't hotels usually like fully refundable until like forty eight hours before? I th I I don't think I read the fine print. Oh, Ty. I know. I don't think I read the fine print. I think I jumped the gun. And now here we are, what, 60 days or something, I guess less than that, away from the World Cup. And I have some lodging. Situations that I need to get through. We don't need to make the show about that, but if anybody has any tips, solidverbal at gmail. com. Your advice would be much appreciated. We can take that to the pilot episode of our new podcast, working titled Amateur Moves, where we go through mistakes people make and how to correct them in life. Pretty good name. Pretty good show, right? Amateur movie? Amateur hour. We should call it amateur hour. Amateur hour is also good because it talks about how long the show is. I'm great with it. Well, this is a college football show. We're not here to talk about my issues with humanity. Solidverbaledgegmail. com is the email, as I said. Verballers. com is where you can go if you want to support what Dan and I do. That's your Patreon. You get ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, all sorts of additional perks. We would encourage you to check that out. Because your donations there go directly into the bank account, help us keep the lights on. So, yes. If you're not interested in it, that's fine. But please do hit follow or subscribe so that you do not miss any of our episodes. in this here offseason or as we get a little bit closer, the regular season in 2026, Dan. What is today's show about? Today's show is an April special. Today's show, we're going to look at, I don't know, probably seven, eight teams. Seven, eight situations that could come to pass during the season in terms of basically wins and losses and how we might think of a program's direction, a coach's direction. Based on, I think, the presentations that you are going to give me, we're sort of working title there is Typotheticals. Typotheticals, Ty Hildenbrandt, Hypotheticals, Typotheticals. We're going to run it through the danthropic engine. I don't know how these words learn. Still learning. Yeah, danthropic is fine. I'm public library over AI all day, every day. Sure. And we are going to figure out, okay, so if team starts out 6-0, but they lose these three games, how are we going to feel about the season? And then we're going to talk about, okay, well, how did they get to 6-0? You know, who are the teams that got them there? What does the offense look like? What does the defense look like? What does this transfer quarterback look like? And we are going to try to, I don't know, simulate feelings. So, I think that's a good way to put it because. This isn't just a thought experiment about how a team's schedule could Lead to weird results both within a fan base, within an administration, within a locker room. It's not just that. But as you mentioned, there are Different levels we need to consider. And we can get into that and much, much more. Again, one more time, hit us up, solveverballgemail. com if you have thoughts or on social media. You want the first hypothetical? I would love the first hypothetical. Our first team here is the Clemson Football Tigers. Okay. Here is the scenario. Clemson beats LSU, Miami, and Florida state. Okay. Good job, guys. If I just stop right there, that's like Clemson fans would sign up for that in a middle second. So Clemson, LSU, Miami. They beat LSU, I mean LSU, Miami, and Florida state. Florida state. So that would be Florida state On the road, Halloween That would be Miami at home october third, LSU on the road, Death Valley, the other Death Valley, on September 5th to open the season. But there is a caveat. Okay. Beat all three of those teams, but you finish nine and three. You don't win the ACC and you don't make the College Football Playoff. So you beat some good teams, you don't get to the top of the mountain. My question is, is that enough? For fans, for Clemson fans, to feel good about Dabo Swinney going into the 2027 season. Oh, man, you're already there. Okay. Well, this is a hypothetical. Yeah. So you're asking me if a nine and three season missing the playoff with headline wins and disappointing losses Does that leave Clemson fans saying Thank you, Freddie Mercury. That's a really hard cut at the end. You need a little bit of a fade at the end of that. Well, I think David Bowie was coming in. That's why, you know. I could add like a little bit of echo, a little reverb at the end there, I guess, to sort of mask the abrupt ending. A little bit of reverb and maybe just a. A quarter second fade, I think, makes that. No, that's faded. That's faded. It's a hard fade to get rid of the Bowie there. To get rid of Bowie. Okay. Okay. So if you're just doing back of napkin math right now, so that's maybe a loss at Cal, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech? Sure. South Carolina, right? South Carolina could be lost too. That's right. South Carolina's on the road. Yep. Agree. I would say it's just sort of kicking the can down the road. I don't think it's bad enough to justify the kind of buyout needed to get rid of Dabo, even if he negotiates it down and he's just fed up with. you know, his life not meeting expectations that he and the fan base have together. Man, it would depend what those losses look like. It would depend what kind of act they're getting together. Because this is a team that's in all likelihood going to be led by its defense, once again, right? A strong defensive line. Tom Allen is back. He's had a lot of success in different places as a defensive coordinator. And so you're saying, okay, we don't know what we have out of Chris Vezzina heading into the season. Offensive line's a question. Running back's a question. Receivers should be pretty good. So it's do they look like a more complete team? Are we putting this on in the way that like they lost to Duke? Are there winnable moments? Are they back and forth with these teams? Are the teams that they're losing to actually good? Like by the time we finish the season out, are we going to say, like, oh, Tosh did an awesome job in year one with Cal? Sure. There's no shame. There's no deep shame in traveling across the country. And losing to Cal. And James Franklin did like a pretty good job in year one at Virginia Tech. And you know, Alberto Mendoza was a revelation for Georgia Tech. Right? So, depending on who they lose to and how they lose. Now, I don't think. I don't think they've lost at Williams Bryce in a minute, right? Since like 2013, you can fact check me out. Well, Games Home this year. Games Home this year. In Clemson. The games. The Clemson game is at home. Clemson game is home against South Carolina to close out the game. Okay. Look, it's a good question. And I think you raise all the right points. We know that some of the games on this schedule outside of the headliners are very losable in this version of Clemson football. They just are. There is a question of offensive identity now. Remember, they're bringing Chad Morris back for a second tour of duty. It didn't work out with Garrett Riley. As you mentioned, Chris Vizina is going to be the new quarterback. I believe after spring they've named Gideon Davidson, a guy I really liked last year as a true freshman. As sort of the presumed RB1 going to the year, should be okay out wide, but there is a question about line. Offensively, Offensively, I think that question around identity is going to drive a lot of the narrative. The other thing that I would point out, and you alluded to this, I don't disagree that there will be Something of a leadership role, at least on the defensive side, until the offense can get going. But they were much more aggressive in the transfer portal. This cycle. Most of what they brought in was on the defensive side of the ball, in particular on the secondary side. So they're going to need that defense to step up. If there is going to be something of a transitional period for the offense, and some of these games early, like LSU right out of the chute, Miami first week. Of October should be pretty tough. First half of this thing, I think, even the Cal game a week before Miami on the road, there are some matchups here in the early part of the schedule that I do wonder if there are a couple of landmines that are hiding sort of in plain sight as we look at some of these bigger, higher profile matchups. Spread out across the schedule here. So I think this is a very plausible scenario. I didn't try to do anything too off the wall when I was putting these together. The question, though, of whether it's enough For the Clemson fan base, I think is really interesting, and that's almost completely independent of how they finish this year. For sure, if you go seven and five. You know, I've already seen some Clemson folks talking like seven and five is not doable. You go seven and five, it's time to like reboot. And Find some way to get Dabo to write off into the sunset in a respectful manner. And I would agree with that notion as well. But I think this is part of a broader conversation that's independent of the Clemson schedule and even how they perform. Generally, what is the direction of this program? They are using the portal a little bit more, but they're sort of at a crossroads now with so much that is going to be upended on the offensive side of the ball. And I just think the broader conversation as to how Dabo even fits into this modern version of the sport. Well, Dabo fitting into the modern version of the sport in your hypothetical includes beating a team that Was the clear best team in the ACC regardless of how they settled tiebreakers last season and went to the national championship game last year That would have a talent advantage over Clemson. I don't think that's a crazy thing to say. That Miami's a more talented team than Clemson is right now. And once again, that game, Clemson, Miami, is at home. So that would be doing it in front of your own people, beating the class of the conference right now. And then opening this season, beating a team on the road that has been sort of the team in terms of conversation, it seems. I guess outside of Indiana, national defending national championship Indiana, champion Indiana, in LSU. That you're like, they are getting all these headlines for being the team that is leaning into this new world of college football and bringing in the Portal guys and bringing in Lane Kiffen and all the excitement around this new look LSU. And Then Dabo gets to lean into the like little old Clemson going on the road and beating that team. So you're talking about at various points in the season, the vibes being excellent for Clemson. Right. Right. To start the season and then midway through the season. And As long as they don't lose those three games in a manner that's embarrassing, whether it's because of his blunders or whether it's because they just look crazy flat. They came out of the gate terribly last year. Like, there are a number of ways that Clemson can show progress this year. Now, they're going to be showing progress exclusively. From hiring within Dabo's group chats with Clemson assistants and players, right? With Chad Morris and what it's like, Nolan Smith taking over. Nolan Smith. The safety room and Ben Bolware at linebacker. Like, there's just young guys taking over in various positions and assuming more power. I think it'd be fine. I think it's okay. I think it's okay. Nolan Turner, excuse me. Nolan Turner. Yeah. Yeah. I think it would be fine. I think if you're beating some of those marquee teams, it's a very easy pitch. That The new offense, the new quarterback can work in a really significant way, can knock off marquee opponents. But chances are, if you're going nine and three, if you're not Contending for a conference if you're not making the playoff. That also means that the conference as a whole is pretty weird. And there's a lot of stuff that's going to make for like really interesting tiebreaker scenarios when we come down to it. at the end of November. So I think that's an easy pitch to make to the fan base. Like, look, it's we know that there is a higher ceiling To be found here with this roster, with the direction of this program. We've already demonstrated that we're willing to go out and make things better, hopefully make things better via the transfer portal. We just need to be a little bit more consistent. It's tough to get rid of a guy like Dabo Swinney, who's been a legend at Clemson, won multiple national championships going into what, like year 18 now. Right. After nine wins. And putting $50 million or whatever into it. Putting $50 million. Yeah. I mean, the only way in that scenario that it's a different coach in 2027, in my opinion. Is if Dabo decides he's had enough. Right. Is if he decides to walk away, but they're not going to cut bait with him after that. I mean, that's sort of deciding to pay Clemson $50 million not to coach anymore, which is also. Its own. The other thing here is: look, if they go nine and three with those wins, they're finishing 17th in the nation. 15th in the nation. They're not making the playoff, but they're. In the vicinity with the ability to go, you know, win the Pop-Tarts Bowl and beat maybe a decent team and go 10 and 3. Which is not a failure of a season. It might be a failure to meet expectations every so often, but also Last year just feels like more of a failure not missing the playoff, given what they were returning up front on defense, given what they were returning at quarterback, given that they had already made the playoff and were returning that amount of experience. See, this year, I think the expectations are so much lower that going 9-3 with a chance to win double-digit and finish in the top 16 or something. Yeah. I don't know. It feels fine to me. Not amazing. It's not a great feeling. It's not meeting expectations, but it's not embarrassing. All right, let's move on. Okay. Another hypothetical here. Let's stay in the ACC. Okay, Virginia Tech. Now, there is a line to straddle when you're talking about teams with new coaches, and especially Virginia Tech, because there is this infusion of cash, $229 million going into the athletics budget. There is obviously a new coach that everybody's very excited about who has infused the program almost overnight with talent from other pipelines, notably the Penn State pipeline. So there is real excitement here. And given where the program has been recently, it's hard not to have good vibes. This is not a conversation about is Virginia Tech going to fire James Franklin if things don't go Swimmingly in year one. That is not the conversation here. But you know, and we'll do it at some point here We'll continue doing it at some point here in the offseason. When we look back at year one coaches, there is always this post-mortem that needs to take place. Wondering aloud, is it working? We got to see a glimpse of it now one year in. Is this plan or what we perceive to be the plan actually working? And is it going to take us to greater heights? That's the conversation, at least, that I am envisioning when I present this scenario about Virginia Tech, okay? Yes. My scenario here is Virginia Tech goes eight and four. Okay, they go eight and four, but they lose the big three road games on their schedule in the second half of the year. Those blissed him out against Clemson, against SMU, and against Miami. So, in many ways, this is the same old James Franklin storyline. Losing the big ones. All these on the road, so it's not easy. Also, they're not big in year one in the same way that he was criticized at Penn State. But yeah, it's I understand that, but you get what I'm going for here. Yeah. Eight and four, another loss along the way. You lose the three biggins, back half of the schedule, again on the road at Clemson, at SMU, at Miami. Is that enough for fans to feel good about the new direction under James Franklin? Yes. Yes, absolutely it is. And I don't hesitate with that just because they haven't when was the last the last year they won eight games was twenty nineteen. So we're talking about a pre-COVID situation for Virginia Tech winning eight games that the Brent Pry stretch was marred by a lack of progress. That the end of Fuente was pretty terrible in terms of lack of progress and recruiting struggles That if James Franklin immediately comes in and wins eight games, and the understanding is he is going to be and have a staff of great talent evaluators and developers and that they're going to be able to threaten basically everybody in the ACC, even if they arrive at big games and they're not able to get it done. Virginia Tech has been so beaten down by struggles at various position groups and sides of the ball that Look, if they can throw the ball and they can stop other teams sometimes from throwing the ball, it feels like there will be joy in Mudville, right? That there is going to be. The vibes will be electric. So if they're going eight and four, right, we are then assuming. If they're losing to those big three, Clemson, SMU, Miami, you're losing to like Pitt or Cal, maybe even starting six and one, so establishing some pretty good vibes at the start. I think it's fine. So totally fine. What's the cutoff line, though? What's the cutoff line? So if eight and four Even with losses to the perceived, let's just say, better teams in this guy. I don't know if Clemson is a team that I would rank above Virginia Tech. They're in a better place as a team. Program because they did make the playoff and win the ACC. This is not a full-fledged preview or anything. Right, no, I'm with you. Keep going. But you lose to those three teams. If 8-4 doesn't do what about 7-5, 7-5 gonna give you the willies at all I'm fine with 7-5. 6-6. They won 6-6. They didn't win seven games in the regular season with 3-9. What about 3-9? No injuries. And sort of similar struggles, throwing the ball and pass defense, like the like very little has changed even with a new coach. That's a disaster. Okay. That's a nightmare. That's a nightmare. I think if they don't make a bowl game in year one with this specific schedule, with how it opens up, VMI. O-D-U, all of the abbreviations. Right. At Maryland. Who they lost to, by the way, last year. That was sort of the death knell for Brent Pride. I agree. Look, that's progress. Beating the monarchs. That's right. You get September, Maryland. Danger. Yeah, danger. Absolute danger. Boston College seems like they're in a terrible place right now. You can't lose. That game's on the road, but even still. You have an opportunity to get those four games in against teams who are not obviously strong in spring before you get a pit team at home. That to me is a super interesting game. And then, look, you're flying across the country and playing Cal. We mentioned that as a potential threat. I think that's the sort of like stretch in there. Pitt at Cal in Georgia Tech, with Pitt and Georgia Tech. At home, where it's like, all right, what is this program? What is Ethan Grunkmeyer, if he is indeed the starter? What does that offense look like with him with a what, a first-time play caller? Ty Howell? Howell. So that's that to me is the like, okay, let's see what this season's ceiling can be. Because the rest of the way, there's no expectation that they're going to win at Miami. Right now. No. There's no expectation that they are pro that they are going to be like competitive. The SMU is a good SMU team, once again, on the road. Right. So, I don't know, man. You go even seven and five, eight and four, and there's like obvious signs of progress. I think he's going to recruit the hell out of that person. He will. He will. And again, I'm. Just gonna reiterate. I know. This is not a question of like, does James Franklin make it to 2020? No, no, no, no. I know. James Franken will be there for as long as he wants to stay. You're doing a pre-vibe check. Pre-vibe check. Yeah. Yeah. Now, here is the other thing that I would point out Yeah. And I think it warrants mentioning just because it's so freaking weird that they retain Brent Pry. I'm not even saying that's a bad move. Brent Pry was a really good defensive coordinator for James Franklin. It's a different context now, completely different context. And so, my question is: to what end does that infusion of talent make Brent Pry better at coaching defense? Because the defense that he oversaw last year sucked. That was a bad defense a year ago. Now, new talent gets an opportunity to reunite with James Franklin. It worked very well the first time around. That's how he got the Virginia Tech job in the first place. But my open question at this point, amid all the other open questions about Virginia Tech, is, does the talent make Brent Price defense better? Or are we going to see more of the same because it's still Brent Pry at Virginia Tech? Oh, I think the talent, if the talent is indeed better, right? It should be better. If the transfers that are coming in and he's look, he's focusing on less. Right? Yeah. So if you're a defensive coordinator and you don't need to worry about also being a head coach, and there's enough taken off of your plate. Institutional familiarity, you would assume there's some positivity there to be gleaned. So if less is on his plate and it looks like the talent should be an upgrade. It's hard to see a situation in which they're not noticeably better on defense. Okay. Look, it's an interesting roster of quarterbacks to face, right? But There's nobody on this, like, maybe until like Kevin Jennings and then Darian Mensa near the end of the season, but before Halloween. There's no obvious quarterback, depending, I guess, how you feel about Mason Einschel and JKS, but there's nobody really Malik Washington. Hello? My God. There's nobody around the top tier of what we perceive to be the best. 10 to 14 quarterbacks in the country until later on in the year. Let's move on. You just want me to go down through this list or you want to jump around and pick a different one than scenario? No, no, go through the list. We're good. I want to know You know, who should be feeling pressure? There it is. Scenario three is Alabama. Ooh, so maybe. Pressure. Yeah. Well, there's that. Play that again. Pressure. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm trying a couple different angles with these, all right? This one is Alabama goes 11 and 1. 11 and 1. Oh, man. Okay. But get to the College Football Playoff. And bomb out the first round. Like in similar fashion to how they played against Indiana. They did win a first round game last season. So it would be technically making the playoff. again, and losing fewer games in the playoff. Let's imagine for a second that the roles are reversed. Winning fewer games. Yeah. That the way that Alabama beat Oklahoma last year, falling behind early and then storming ahead as the game wore on. Let's pretend for a second that those two teams meet again in the playoff, but this time it's the other way around. This time, Alabama jumps out to the lead, Oklahoma or whoever figures it out. Yeah. And their opponent ends up winning, going away. You can imagine the type of unrest we would see on message boards if that were to occur. Yes, please. 11 and 1. means there's a really good chance that they're making the SEC championship game. So are you updating this to 12 and 1, 11 and 2? Is there anything you want to do on that front? Dude, it's April 15th. Okay, we're gonna stick at 11 and 11. I know, but I'm just telling you. It's 11 and 1 just for the thought experiment. You know, I don't have all the angles figured out. No, I'm with you, but they made the game last year. I'm just giving you an opportunity to improvise, to play with me. Ty. Okay, so 11 or 1. Let's look at the schedule. Here is who Alabama has in the schedule. Start off the year, ECU, whatever. The rest of the way, at Kentucky, week two. Home against Florida state week three. Home against South Carolina week four. Closed last year. At Mississippi State, home against Georgia at Tennessee. And then they close out the year with these five games. Texas AM before and off week, on the road at LSU, on the road at Vandy, close out with Chattanooga. And then, of course, the Iron Bull at home this year against the Auburn Tigers. So for the purpose of argument, let's say that they lose to Georgia. Okay. Let's say if they lose to Georgia and because of SEC tiebreakers or whatever, that keeps them out of the SEC title game. That's how you get to 11 and one, but you're not playing for the SEC. All right. I don't know if that's going to happen, but let's just say. That's a rough SEC, man. 11-1. Not in the SEC title game. Make the playoff. Bomb out in the first round. I don't even know if that's mathematically possible to go 11 and 1 and not make the. Okay, but yes. Shut up. Okay. Is that enough for Alabama fans to then fully buy into and preach at the altar of one Kaylin DeBoer and bring him back enthusiastically for 2027? So, this likely means because the quarterbacks faced on this schedule, if we're assuming health, Not nothing in terms of a roster of guys. So you're talking about like Kenny Minchy, maybe Ashton Daniels, Lenora Sellers, Gunnar Stockton, whoever wins at Tennessee, Marcel Reed, Sam Leavitt. Byron Brown, like, it's a good. So that means that their pass rush is probably solving issues in their defensive line. Linebacker is probably working out well because the secondary should be really good. It probably means that Keep offensive more balanced. I mean, right now it seems like Russell has the lead in that quarterback race. They did have an injury. In their spring practice game to Noah Rogers, who was the transfer that came over, which is definitely a bummer. But they still have Ryan Coleman Williams and Lottie Brooks. I mean, they'll be. Fine offensively, Darian Morgan looks like. Yeah, they got to figure out the line in the rushing attack. But I do think that Russell gives them, if he is the guy. A lot of mobility. Mobility they didn't have with Ty Simpson, not nearly to the same degree. I've already seen he's drawn some comparisons from Ryan Grubb to Michael Pennix. So maybe they like him more already. I don't know. I guess we'll find out as Fall Camp And Training Camp as a whole progresses, but yeah, if they're going 11-1, all that stuff is working pretty well. Okay, but you are Essentially, you're capping the season in an extremely disappointing way. That's right. Because it seems that if they're going 11-1, they've figured stuff out. Hell yeah. And then to go into the playoff. Again, I'm trying to not poke holes in this specific hypothetical, but if they're 11 and 1. They're likely getting, they're probably a top four team in the country. All right. Pause. I'm just trying to figure out how far. If you've got this stuck in your curl, here's what we'll do. Okay. 11 and 2. Okay, so they lose in the SEC championship game once again. 11-2, a really good regular season, get to the SEC title game, lose in a close game, whatever. Right. They lose to AM or Georgia or something. Sure, okay. Get to the playoff, bomb out. I'll give you that extra game in there. We'll say 11 and 2. Now, what do you think? Do you want to give me a team to whom they bomb out again? Oh, my God. I just am trying. That, um, Ohio State? Do you want to give me Indiana? Do you want to give me Miami? Oregon? I don't want to say Indiana because that's too soon. Okay. Let's say Miami. Okay. So a notable name brand program. Yeah. It's not like they open up a lead. Right. Okay. I think the expectation for Alabama is rightfully, given resources, given recent history, is rightfully to go deep in the playoff basically every year. And so if you keep making the playoff but coming up short, have a great regular season, which means they're either beating like Lane Kiffen on the road or they're beating Georgia to go 11 and 1 during the regular season. getting revenge against Florida state. I just I think this is a January program. I don't know if they have the heart to get rid of Kalin DeBoer with that price tag on the buyout. But if they are once again not a conversation whenever the playoff is ending in mid to late January, if they're nowhere near that conversation then it becomes a conversation of like, well, sure, we're disappointed, but who can we get that we feel better about having an ability to get this tide team over the hump? That's the question, you know, and I thought about that a lot too. Because it's not as if, like, Dan Lanning has a reputation of getting over humps in January. No, no, and I mean, that's ever the question at Alabama. Because they say for a reason you don't want to be the guy that follows a legend. I think he's fine at 11 and 1. They're going to, in perpetuity, chase the ghosts of Nick Sabin. Right. And I just don't know who else you would get. I understand the expectations that the bar is considerably higher post-Sabin than it was pre-Sabin at Alabama. Right. I just don't know who the better option would be. I don't know if a better option exists. Is a Kirby smart? Do you want to go out and get Dabo Swinney? Like, I honestly don't know who you would go with. If not a guy like a DeBoer, who I think there are a multitude of other programs around college football that would take him in a heartbeat. Right. You're essentially saying Are you okay flying business class after flying in a Gulf Stream for all those years? Yeah, yeah. But also, this is college football, and we shouldn't sit here and act like this is the most rational Sport of the most rational fan bases, especially at a place like Alabama that's used to winning these big games. So, something else, again, this is too far in terms of an ask from you in your hypotheticals. Okay, finish your thought, and then I'm going to present it to you a little bit differently. Okay, the other thing I would add is it kind of depends who would win the national championship, too. So if Alabama's bombing out early, but. Georgia's winning the national championship. Texas is winning the national championship. You know, take your pick. SEC team does the unthinkable and breaks the Big Ten spell atop the sport. Yeah. Eventually, though, by the way, sidebar, the College Football Playoff is going to have to let in fewer Big Ten teams. It's not fair. Right? They're going to have to address the elephant in this room here. Yeah, no, of course. If now Alabama fans are saying Georgia is notching a new hole in their belt or they're stacking another championship while we are fading into late January obscurity. I think that could color it as well. The impatience. Here's my question to you, though. Okay. If my hypothetical is a bridge too far, if you were to repackage this hypothetical, into something that you think is a more realistic like cut line, let's say. I don't know. I wake off on the brain. Yeah. What would that look like? The more difficult thing would be to get into the SEC championship after a pseudo-disappointing season, win the SEC, and then bomb out. And then bomb out. Okay. Right. Okay. That would be like you're mixing like last season, right? You're mixing a lot of positive things that happened during the first half to two-thirds of the season. You know, sliding in the wrong direction the back half of the season, winning a playoff game. We like this as an Alabama community, but then being absolutely embarrassed and destroyed by Indiana. Right. And so. Your hypothetical, your Ty hypothetical wasn't being destroyed and embarrassed. It was just like losing early, which is embarrassing in its own way. But. Yeah, I just think there's going to be a lot of in this sport, and this is not limited to Alabama. There's going to be a lot in this sport, just with the financial constraints that a lot of these places are going to be staring at moving forward. where they're just going to have to make peace with a new world and with new realities. And I think that's just going to be true of Alabama, maybe more than anywhere else. If they're going to be a really good team And they're not going to be able to like, oh, we're going to be able to convince Sean McVeigh to take over, right? That they're just not going to be faced with that option. All right, next one. Let's kick it over to the Big 12, Dan. Please. Baylor. Five and seven last year? Five and seven last year. Yeah. Dave Aranda very much on the hot seat. Evergreen tweet. I feel like we say that every year. I've got Baylor going eight and four, but okay, but With a huge win in Waco later in the year over Texas Tech. Okay, so Baylor in front of Bear fans are beating the new class of the conference in Texas Tech. Let's assume for our purposes here. And is this Texas Tech's only loss? They go 11-1 and Baylor's that one? I don't know. Sure. Yeah. Stick in the mud. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Sure. Let's say yes. Now, I should point out that the week before Baylor plays host to Texas Tech at McLean Stadium in Waco They are on the road in Lavelle Edwards Stadium squaring off against BYU. So that's a really tough stretch. And you could go a step further and say, well, they close out the year on the road at Houston as well. And I think Houston will be. Maybe not as good as other teams, but that's not an easy game by any stretch. Also, Texas Tech is what we think Texas Tech will be, whether or not it's part of your hypothetical or not, independent of that. If Texas Tech is excellent, like we think they should be, that's one hell of a letdown spot for Baylor. Big time. If Baylor's pretty good. Yeah. Big time. Going to Houston to finish out the year. Yeah. So I've got an eight and four Baylor. A big win at home in front of the home crowd over Texas Tech. Yeah. But still eight and four. It's 8-4 with DJ Lagway coming to town. It's 8-4 with yet another off-season semi-reboot of the defense, or at least who's calling the defense. It is eight and four. It is still Baylor, kind of trapped in this in between of feeling like they could do better, they might have the talent to do better. but yet something's still holding them back from getting there. Eight and four, big home win. Is that enough to feel good about Dave Aranda and retain his services? So basically, giving him was that you? What do you mean? Did you do some singing down in the middle? Is that me singing? Yeah, people often mistake. The power of my voice for Freddie Mercury. That's right. That's what I thought. Okay. So, some important things here. So, eight and four likely means that The new defensive coordinator brought over from Kansas State has figured some stuff out because they were disastrous once again last year on defense. They had a pretty bad defense even when they went 8-4, right? A couple of years ago? Right. So you're saying they have done enough on offense to be able to take apart on some level the Texas Tech defense. That they've lost, like if you're just doing the math here, that their losses are probably in the range of at BYU, maybe at Arizona State, Auburn, TCU, somewhere in there, maybe two or three of those. Yeah. You're probably also again, if you're going to have an offense that's good enough to beat Texas Tech and take it to their defense to whatever level, that probably means DJ Lagway is one, healthy and two, pretty good. But if he's healthy and pretty good, he might be leaving after this year, just in terms of like how you evaluate Dava Randa's future. I'm going to say 8-4 is fine, but there is another element to all of this as well. The Baylor AD is not Mac Rhodes anymore. No. It's a new AD. Glad you brought this up. Who they hired away from? Field and Stream magazine. That's not fully fair. I think it's Dave McNamee. He was like a senior associate AD for Baylor in the 20 teens, but the past few years he has been a magazine editor. So this is not his guy specifically. He did not hire Dave Aranda, even though there is a Dave to Dave connection here at Baylor. Number one, tailor your setup. Number two, fish the right glide bait. Number three, water and color choice. Number four, barrier retrieve. Number five, horse the fish. To the boat. This is the lead story on the current website of Field and Stream, which, by the way, is a terrific logo. Really like the field. Yeah, I'm looking at it right now. Those are five beginner tips for fishing glide baits. Are you a fisherman? I am not at all a fish. I do enjoy fish as a food. Okay. So you've enjoyed snorkeling with fish. I enjoy seeing exotic tanks. Yeah. But. And I'm not anti. I would love to go fishing. I would love to add fishing to my old man repertoire. I'm out. On fishing or on Baylor? No, fishing. I don't. I get bored out of my mind. Oh. I think it's a wonderful hobby for people who are into it. I just get too bored too quick. I think it's a lot of just like drinking cold beer as well. I mean, which I'm not ante. Right. I would probably enjoy that part of it more than the actual art of fishing. I could probably get into fly fishing. I think there's probably an art there. You'd like to be on your feet. Yeah, there's an art there that I, if I were to get into this at all. It would need to be something that's a little bit more active than just sort of casting a line in and waiting for the bob to go. You know what I mean? So, if we're going to connect this to Dave Aranda. It's waiting and waiting and waiting to turn a major corner once again and get back to where he was a few years ago. Yeah. That was a good time. That was good. I think it's enough because when you get to that eight-win mark and you have that season of clear improvement, and it's punctuated at the end of the year with a huge win. Now you're talking about, okay, we can get to nine and four with a bowl win. We're talking about nine games being four games, that's quick math, better than where they were last year and not making a bowl game. So, you can talk yourself into a trend. Now, if you lose the games in an embarrassing fashion, if you're still not fixing the defense, but you're winning shootouts and they lose maybe to Houston at the end of the season after beating Texas Tech? The vibes don't survive in the same way. Well, here was my next question. And I also thought about going in this direction with it. Yeah, is this about Glide Baits or about Dave Arant? No, this is about Dave Vorant. So let's assume that if we want to spin this a different way. Yeah. Week one loss neutral site game against Auburn, playing that one in Atlanta. But then they rip off Eight in a row. Start the year eight and one. Beat Prairie View, LaTeX, Colorado, Arizona State and the Road, TCU, Kansas, UCF, and Iowa State. Yeah. Which is not a terrible thing to consider if Baylor's legitimately good. Eid one story, go eight and one against that. You're, I mean, they're a top 15 team, right? Definitely. If not more. Yeah. But close out the year 0 and 3 at BYU, home against Texas Tech on the road at Houston. So it's still late in four, but to your point, the texture of the season is a lot different based on when the losses occur. What happens then? I think they're still fine. I think he's still likely fine because those losses are at least on some level if they're losing 28, 23 or something like that. I think he beats them. They're more justifiable. I think he beats. You think he's toasted eight and four? In that scenario, yeah. But the first one that I presented, I mean, I mean, there's a really good chance Houston's like a top 20 team. Their schedule's great, right? Houston schedule yeah, Houston schedule is very workable. Yeah um I don't know man like The long view of Baylor football, obviously starting in the, what was it, the 20 teens with Art Bryles having some really good Baylor teams and then a year of good Matt Rhule and basically a year of good Dave Aranda. like really, really strong, Davor Rand. I mean, like finishing the season ranked. I don't think there's some expectation of annual top 15, top 17 teams in Waco. So yes, obviously the Big Twelve without Texas and Oklahoma is different than it was in those eras with dominant Texas and Oklahoma programs. But I tend to think he's still okay. Okay. So in your alt scenario, he's losing to Texas Tech. In my alt scenario, yeah, he loses the last three games of the year. Because you're also saying that he's going eight and three in the Big Twelve, which puts you in like the like Ty erotic tiebreaker zone, right? That you're like. If you're in the oh, this is TY breaker, I guess, at this point. Sure. If you're in Ty's dreams about what needs to happen to make the Big 12 championship game. If you're in that conversation, which you would be in November at 8 and 3, you're like, well, if Baylor beats Houston, I don't know. Then you're talking about Baylor at or near the top tier of the conference. And I think that's totally fine. If not, excellent. Uh, scenario five. Okay South Carolina. Okay, you could have gotten a number of directions. South Kakalaki. Yeah. South Carolina starts the year five and five. Five and five against Kent State, Towson, Mississippi State, at Alabama, Kentucky, at Florida. Tennessee at home, Oklahoma on the road, Texas AM at home, at Arkansas. That is a brutal 10-game slate for South Carolina. Yep. Start the year five and five. Close out the year by beating both Georgia and Clemson on the road. So, you're a 500 team. You close out the year on a crazy high note, which is, by the way, very Shane Beamer of your type of extremely Shane Beamer. That's why I put it down. Yeah. Knock off Georgia, which would obviously be a marquee win. Clemson's a rivalry, if nothing more. Yeah. Finish the year seven and five with two baller wins to close things out. Is that enough for fans in South Carolina to have confidence in Shane Beamer building this thing forward, mindful of the fact Lenora Sellars, Dylan Stewart, Nick Harbour, like it teams going to look different next year. Right. So does that instill enough confidence that South Carolina fans are like, you know what? We're all in with Beamer. It's a pretty good question. New AD. Yep. South Carolina hired at the beginning of 2025. So not AD who hires Shane Beamer, who's had sort of an up and down time, seven and six, eight and five, five and seven, nine and four, four and eight last season, going one and seven in the SEC. So in this situation, seven and five, and you're beating Clemson means that you are Finishing around 500 in the SEC, likely, which I don't think he's ever had. He's had one winning record in the SEC in his time in 2024, went five and three. Never finished in the top 15, would not finish in the top 15 at seven and five. I think he's probably done at seven and five. I think he's probably I think he does not get I think that's it. I think that's it for Shane Beamer because I think South Carolina can talk themselves into somebody who can replicate bringing in the top-end talent that Shane Beamer has been able to do. But also win some of those weird close losses perhaps better with you know, convincing kids to either stay or convincing money to go to retention on the NIL front and on the RevShare front. I just think you've seen enough at this point. Now, South Carolina is heading into the season with like obvious things that are not necessarily Shane Beamer's doing, with just what offensive line issues and health and All sorts of questions once again up front on offense. But even with some of those questions, last year, South Carolina was competitive and lost. So you're saying, once again, finish strong with the good vibes. I guess it would have to be. So again, you said the Clemson game is at Clemson. Palmetto is at Clemson. Palmetto's at Clemson, yeah. Okay Georgia, so you be beating Georgia in front of your people But yeah, it's Oklahoma on the road, Texas AM, Tennessee on the road. The beginning of the schedule is not terrible, right? They were competitive with Alabama last year. Yep. That game is at Bryant Enny. But it's New Look, Florida, New Look, Kentucky. I know you said five and five heading into that stretch at the end of November. Those two games. Right. I still think he's done. I still don't think you're offering something new at that point. I think he's done. Because it's not about the best of Shane Beamer's South Carolina teams. It's. And I kind of tell myself this when I play tennis: is like, how do you just be more successfully boring? You're not going for winners, but like you win what you should win, hypothetically, right? When Florida has a new coach, when Arkansas has a new coach. Did they play Arkansas this year? They do. They play Arkansas. They play Arkansas before that stretch at the end with Georgia and Clemson. Right. So if South Carolina is merely taking care of business. There's decent enough reason to think that they could start like five and one. Only lose to Bama, beat Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and the SEC, Kent State and Towson should be easy wins. They get Tennessee at home. I don't know. If they start five and one and still finish seven and five, then he's definitely gone. I think he's donezo, right? He'll definitely be done, zoo. I think the number is eight. I think the number is eight this year. Yeah. No matter who they beat or don't beat. You got to arrive at eight. I mean, there's always been a question about offensive line. I'd be lying if I said I looked too deep into what the line looks like this year. Right. You know, have just started that. But I know they were very aggressive in the portal, trying to add a bunch of linemen and try and come in and make that trench unit a lot better. But I think the prevailing question would be if you go seven and five with this unit You know, Lenora Sellers, NFL prospect, right? Probably gone. Oh yeah. If you go seven to five with Lenora Sellers, Dylan Stewart, and a raw talent like Nick Harbour, I think it's a very fair question for the fan base to ask: are you actually developing talent? Like, we know you can put a scrappy team out there, and we know they play hard, and they're fun as hell to watch. And as you said at the top, Dan, it'd be a very beamer thing for them to close out the year knocking off both Georgia and Clemson. Like, he's just he's got that dog in him to that extent. But the broader question of is he developing talent in a way that makes this whole thing sustainable and not just going from year to year Seven and five to me doesn't get it done. He, um, the first five games, and look, the defense was way ahead of the offense last season. They were Mixed against the pass, but good against the run. But they were excellent in the red zone, so they were turning sevens into threes and stuff. the first five SEC quarterbacks they play, it is their first year that they'll be starting as a college football quarterback. So I'm just saying there is opportunity. Yeah, that's definite opportunity. To not go seven and five with, was it Camario Taylor at Mississippi State? Whoever starts. He's looked good this spring. Right, but it's first-year full-time starter. Yep. Kenny Minchie at Kentucky, whoever starts for Florida, whoever starts for Tennessee. And even then, you're going to Oklahoma. Can you win that game ugly? Perhaps we don't know what that offense is going to look like this year. And then you do have Arkansas in November, as you mentioned before, then. So, like, eight and four is there. If they're you know, there's certain things interly that they're going to need to take care of, but like let's not talk about this as like a murderer's row in April anyway. You think people are enjoying this? Because I got three more. If we want to. Yeah, please. I'm enjoying it. You're enjoying it? That's all that matters. Okay. Scenario six here. Hypothetical. Okay. Colorado. Oh, this one actually was very easy to me. I think this one's very easy for me too. But we just haven't talked enough about it, which is weird to say in the era of Coach Prime. I feel like we talk a lot about Coach Prime and Deion Sanders. But Colorado goes six and six against the schedule that I can read off here. To my eye, it does not look like a very easy schedule, but six and six. Their Vegas win total is currently six and a half, so that would be an under. Yep. What, year four now will be year four for Deion Sanders? Yep. Is six and six good enough to feel good about whatever Deion's doing? No, but it doesn't matter. It's Colorado. Who wins six games at Colorado? Deion's done it once. No, but it doesn't matter. Yeah, you're not going to feel great, but he's going to be there if he wants to be. So he had more health stuff this spring. And by the way, Who among us has not had health stuff in the past few years? Like, this is just a fact of life. We're all getting older, and we wish Deion Sanders the best. It was a blood clots, blood clots, that's it, man. What's going on with the scary stuff? I hate to see that. Hope the best for him from a health perspective. Not a lot of people. I think Mike McIntyre. Like, did he win more than six once in that 2016 year? Nope. Seifo Lufau? She was your guy. You love Seifo Lufau. Of course. Yeah, like Dan Hawkins won it six games once, maybe twice. Like, this is not a reality for Colorado in the modern era, in The Solid Verbal era since 2008. How many times have they won six games in a season? So. You have six games, which is decent for Colorado, with a coach who has brought more attention to the program than any other modern coach for Colorado. I think you're just like, not stuck, but you're just like, yeah, that's okay. I mean, they're not going to fire him, right? If he wants to be there, he's going to be there. But. The question is not so much whether or not they're going to get rid of Dion. Right. My question is more about vibes within the fan base. And is the fan base feeling good about what they are seeing? From Dion. Doesn't mean they're going to let him go because I don't, I don't, I agree with you. I don't think there are many scenarios where that happens, where the school decides they want to part ways. I think that would be up to Deion. But I'm talking vibes here. Vibes within the Colorado fan base. Is six and six good enough to keep people still feeling hopeful about what the Dion era could have down the road? So what I would say is If they can do a thing well, especially if that thing is throwing the ball? That's just inherently a good vibe maker. That, like, if they go six and six and they're a half team of some kind. That at least gives you hope that you can win any given week. If you've got an excellent offense, but a nightmare bad defense, if you've got an excellent defense, but your offense can't get it together and you're putting together games with way too many turnovers. At least you'll get people showing up with the hope that they can be competitive in a very specific way. If it's six and six and nothing is especially fun or exciting, then you're just going to see the program continue to trend in the direction that it seems to be trending in, which is losing attention, losing electricity, losing vibes, whatever. I just, if it's a limp six and six and not like a, well, they beat, they upset this team in like a thrilling 45 to 42 game, or this defensive line has emerged in this exciting way. If it's just sort of an up and down week to week, they're like okay at times at specific elements of football, they're not going to get rid of him, but I don't see the vibes going in any sort of like noticeably better direction. No. Yeah. Well, the Brennan Marion hire as offensive coordinator is interesting to me. They lost their defensive coordinator like a week and a half ago. Yeah, this is true. That's not great. Not good, but I'm a fan of the go-go offense. I'm not a fan of Brennan Marion jumping around every eight months, but he's on tour, man. I'm curious to see how the scheme fits the roster and what it looks like getting it installed in year one. I mean, it looks like it's going to be Juju Lewis as your starting quarterback, the presumed starter. You know, at least what's been coming out of Spring Camp has all been positive about his ability to, you know, process and move about his reads in a really quick way. So I you know, the vibes this time of year are always uh pretty optimistic regardless of who you're talking to. But at least the early vibes have been okay about what that might look like on offense. But I just Weird non-conference schedule, too, by the way. It is. There's a lot of weirdness here. At Georgia Tech to start the year in that home and home, and then they're at the Temp Stadium to play Northwestern. Chip Kelly, Aidan Chiles, and Northwestern. Yep. That's losable, potentially. I don't know. So that to get to six and six, they'd probably have to string together a couple of like impressive Unforeseen wins. So who knows? But I don't think the vibes are great. I would at six and six, I would say no. If I'm a fan, no. I would not feel good about. Directionally, where Colorado is headed. Well, they're also one of the louder programs. So to be loud as like the we coming stuff. And bring in your own. You can't be loud and go six and six. Credible. Well, it's not even just loud and going six and six. It's loud and having three of your four seasons be losing seasons. Right. Or non-winning seasons in this scenario. Yeah. If I were a fan, and again, I'm not talking about firings or anything crazy. Right. If I'm a fan, six and six, um. I'm looking for exits. But yeah, I mean, I just look, it would be 4 and 8, 9 and 4, 3 and 9, 6 and 6. Durrell went four and two in the COVID year, but four and eight and one and eleven. So that's five and nineteen in his last two seasons. Mel Tucker was promising but had a losing record. And Mike McIntyre had one season winning six or more games. Before that, John Embry 4 and 21. Everybody, Ty in this sport who roots for a team and closely follows a team has a long memory. All right. I got this. This next one's my favorite one on here, okay? Yeah. Nebraska. Let's talk Nebraska. Yeah. Here is the scenario I put before you. Nebraska gets off to a 5-0 start. Tell me if you have heard this before. Heard it. Nebraska gets off to a hot start, goes 5-0 against Ohio, Bowling Green, North Dakota, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, by the way. An upstart Michigan State and Maryland. Five and O start to the season going into, I guess, week six. From that point forward, they finish one and six. They end up six and six overall. Here's the remaining seven games on your slate: Indiana at home, on the road at Oregon. An off week. Back home against Washington. On the road in consecutive weeks against Illinois and Rutgers. And they close out the year at home against Ohio State and on the road for the Heroes game against Iowa. That is a brutal back half of the schedule. So, this to me feels very realistic. About a really good start, a really bad finish, which has absolutely been a hallmark of Rule's tenure so far in Lincoln. We've seen this time and again. Are fans at that point with the sixth and sixth season and closing out the year with a whimper, are fans lamenting the rule extension that we saw at the end of last year? So are they not saying I should never have been given a sound? You need a fade or we need to work on that sound. Because I it's got potential, but it's too hard of a cut for me at the end. I I really I don't know how to do this in audition or any other audio. What is it? A DAW? Is that what they're called, Ty? Sure. Digital audio workspace? Yeah. Oh, look at me. I don't you see this in movie trailers all the time where they're playing like a haunting cover of some eighties pop song or nineties pop song. And then there's the reverb echoey at the end of it when there's like, oh, there's nobody in the cabin, right? Yeah. Everybody wants to rule the world, world, world, world. And I don't know how to do that. No, I could do that. Yeah. All right. This is going to be my like lab experiment. That send me that sound after this. We'll play. Okay, that's fine. Do a little bit of playing. Little Freddy Mercury. Yeah. Um. I think the worst possible thing is going six and six after starting five. You said five and oh, and then one and six. One and six, yeah. And obviously, the meat of their schedule is they've got a meaty back end, Ty. Everybody knows Ty loves a meaty back end. That's why he gravitated here. Sure. Yeah, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Rutgers, Ohio State, Iowa. I think there are some people who are already lamenting the monster extension. I think the offseason is long enough. You give fans a long enough time to think about. Paying Matt Rhule like he is a championship caliber coach because maybe Penn State was interested in him. And then you sit back and you're like, wait, what? Like, what has he shown thus far in his time in Lincoln? Like, you can't pay somebody $6 million to do what Matt Rhule has done in Lincoln? I bet you could. I don't know, man. I just. I think the worst possible thing is people are just going to be like, this again? Yeah. Like, you can talk yourself into going three and nine and saying, okay, we're going to. Bring in a bunch of portal guys. We're going to make an offensive coordinator change. You can talk yourself into hope after a bad season based on maybe some interesting and powerful changes. Going six and six and just losing to all of these teams and not being at all a factor and in the conversation for the best six, seven, eight teams in the Big Ten. All you're doing is just generating more apathy. So, yes, you would absolutely have people, like I think a wave of people, I think a majority of Nebraska fans. Would be super pissed about the extension. I mean, Matt Ruhl, in a sense, was the biggest winner of a very active coaching carousel last year. And in particular, James Franklin getting fired early. Because Nebraska didn't want to be in a situation where they were looking for a new coach. They felt good enough about Rule back when they still had Dylan Riola, at least. That they wanted to keep him around and they wanted to retain his services, right? They wanted to keep him there for as long as he wanted to be in Lincoln. But now as the season unfolded, as his stock, I think, plummeted down the stretch last year, and especially now after losing Riola and going into this offseason now with the schedule ahead of him, It gets harder to justify such a long-term extension with such buyout money attached to it. It really does. The win total right now, I think this is from FanDuel, is six and a half, which I would not touch with a 10-foot pole looking at the schedule. I mean, it's just a brutal schedule. I think you're right. There is definitely a group of fans that already are lamenting that long-term extension for rules. I wouldn't even say lamenting is probably too strong, but questioning how wise it is. Yeah, questioning the wisdom. Yeah. There is, I think, enough back this year for this team. I looked at Bill's returning production figures. Overall, Nebraska is number three. That is still after losing the likes of Dylan Riola, who obviously was good enough for a while before he got hurt. They also lose Emmett Johnson. who rush for like 1,400 yards out of the backfield. So even despite the fact that they lose those two guys, there's still enough back from a returning production standpoint. given what they retain and what they brought in, that it's not like they're starting from scratch. And defensively, they bring back a little bit more. Yeah, awful against the run. And still questions about the offensive line after how bad it was for stretches last season. I am not super high in Nebraska going into this year, but I also think that we need to put a little bit of optimism on what this roster still has, even despite the fact that this is a brutal schedule. I still think there's a chance that they could surprise some of us. And I love Anthony. Like, I have a soft spot for Anthony Calandria. I don't know why. Okay. But I think he makes things interesting. I think the unpredictability of his game meshes quite well with the general unpredictability of Daniel Holgerson, which makes for kind of an interesting storyline. So. I hope that this is not the scenario where they start hot and they go out with a whimper. I think it's very much a possibility. I am hoping for seven and five. I am hoping they hit that over and we don't have to have this conversation. Either way, Rule's coming back next year. I mean, Rule's coming back forever with the money that they would owe him. Yeah. But in terms of like giving the fan base something to root for, I think given the schedule, if you finish seven and five The vibes are still okay. Six and six going out with a whimper, though, is a much different story. Like, I would be very, very pessimistic in that scenario. So we've been doing this 10,000-foot view of going 6-6. Let's be more specific, okay? So if he starts the season off 5-0. That's likely against no-ranked teams. No ranked teams. Ohio, Bowling Green, North Dakota, at Michigan State, Maryland. Maryland might start the season undefeated and be number 23 or something, but in September, because that's September, Maryland. But if they go one in six and the one is something crazy like Indiana or Ohio State at Oregon, Ohio State, something like that, okay, that changes a little bit of it. Two, the other thing that could change a little bit of it is throughout Matt Rhule's time as a college coach, there hasn't really been An electric, fantastic offense where you're like quarterbacks operating on all cylinders, receivers are developing, it's creative, they're scoring a ton. If they're just on the opposite end of when they were the greatest 3-9 team of all time, okay? That they're the greatest 6-6 team, right? They're losing to Ohio State close again, right? A couple of years ago, they lose close to Ohio State close. They lose close to Ohio State again. It's a shootout against Oregon, but they lose, right? There is an excitement to the manner in which, especially on offense, Nebraska is playing football for the first time Ever under Matt Rhule. Right. You're talking like Great Plains Auburn right now. Yes. I'm talking about, you know, maybe there's. It's just a tough fought game, and they just are outmaneuvered and outmanned by a more talented team, but like showing a lot of guts and moxie time. Moxie. And it concludes with them winning one of those games against Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, or something like that, where you're just like, wow, they really did it. They beat Washington. They, you know, a top 20 Washington. And that's like proof of offensive improvement, even though they weren't able to pull it off and they lost close a bunch of other times. And they're the greatest six and six team ever. Then and only then and only then could I make the argument that, like, what a great evaluation and development of Anthony Calandria. You know. What great offensive line development with these whatever two or three new transfers coming in that are expected to start. Then we're talking about, okay They didn't get it done, but they showed that they belonged. Then and only then. Okay. Am I willing to concede that everybody isn't sad about the extension? All right, let's do one more, okay? One more. Here is my final one. Let's talk Michigan State. Okay. Michigan State in this scenario goes five and seven against the schedule that I will read to you in a moment, please. And they lose their final game on the road against Rutgers, which in effect keeps them out of a bowl game. In Piscataway. In Piscataway. Yeah. So my question is whether five and seven, with a chance to get to a bowl game but ultimately falling out short is enough to Have the fan base feeling good about the new direction under Fitz. Now, this is going to be a conversation with qualifiers. This is just a vibe check, a pre-vibe check. This is a pre-vibe check, and this is certainly going to have this is like less about the record and more, I think, about The vibes about what's working throughout the course of the season versus not. But here's what the schedule looks like: they open up at home against Toledo. They've got Eastern Michigan, week three, they're on the road at Notre Dame. They've also got a home game against Nebraska, a road game against Wisconsin. They're home against Illinois. They're home against Northwestern. They're on the road at UCLA before a bye week. And then to close things out at Michigan, home against Washington, home against Oregon, on the road against Rutgers. That's a tough schedule, right? Tough schedule for an upstart team that's basically starting from scratch. Notre Dame early, Michigan, Washington, Oregon late. Yep. Five and seven. I guess I'm saying five and six going into that final game against Rutgers on the road. And then a loss to keep him out of a bowl game. How are you feeling if you're a Michigan State fan? I think fine if the offense is not disastrous. If the offense is merely disappointing. Right. Good album name. Merely disappointing. Merely disappointing would be perfect. Yeah. If the offense is merely disappointing and let's see, Jonathan Smith won five games in his first season. including a win against Iowa. So if we're talking about a five and seven team with a loss to Rutgers, you said? Loss to Rutgers, yeah. To finish off the season. Then you're still talking about so it's Winds, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, maybe Nebraska at Wisconsin. Although, I don't know. Do all of our typotheticals live in the same universe? Am I allowed to say Michigan State beats Nebraska? Sure, to everyone. Okay, they're all it's we're talking about in a vacuum. Yeah, maybe at Wisconsin. Which, by the way, I don't want more chairs. I don't know, man. New AD, Chris McIntosh, just announced he's going to what, the Big Ten? He's taking a job at the Big Ten. Yep. That's going to be brought to you. Kayla DeBoer goes to Wisconsin. Luke Fickell, somebody would hire Fickell. Oh, yeah. I mean, even as a defensive coordinator or like an associate head coach, yeah, I got you. Absolutely. Somebody big would. So then, some combination of, you know, you get Pat Fitzgerald against Northwestern or UCLA. I think the vibes are so low right now in East Lansing, given the end of D'Antonio and then The Jonathan Smith era and the disaster that that was. It's not like Pat Fitzgerald was amazing and there should be huge expectations for him finishing out his time at Northwestern. He went one and eight. In his final three non-COVID years in the Big Ten, each of those years. My math says that's three in 24. So I don't think the expectations are like, oh man, he's going to turn us immediately into a 9-3, 8-4 type team. I think the most reasonable and the more reasonable Michigan State fans are going to say like, yeah, let's see what this guy has. You can say that. I'll say Alicio as his first name, but he figures to be the starter, taking over for Aidan Chiles, who is going to Northwestern, which we'll talk about at some point. My problem with Michigan State right now, this is not a like a team and season preview, is that when you the transfers that are coming in As much of them are from like bigger places, there's no obvious game changers in this group right now. I don't think so. It's not like they were a team that spent like the upper end end of the Big Ten on a portal class. They brought in like 30 guys. I like Cam Edwards. The back from UConn. I like he was productive a year ago. And I think if we know anything of certainly The Fitzgerald system. Nick Sheridan is the offensive coordinator. He seemingly. Has an affinity for a strong rushing attack. You know, so Cam Edwards would fit into that, I think, theoretically. I just I never saw enough momentum and forward progress on the offensive side of the ball. when Fitz was coaching at Northwestern to feel great about this. Now, different program, right? Maybe fewer constraints. I don't know. And, you know, maybe with the benefit of having some time off, he's figured some stuff out. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt for that. But this is also a year, by the way. And it's not fully fair to point this out. But when you look at Michigan State schedule, there's no Ohio State, there's no Penn State, which obviously it's a year one at Penn State, but because there is that, what is it, the land grant trophy? Right. You know, you get occasional bad vibes between Michigan State and Penn State fans. There's no Penn State, Ohio State, USC, or Indiana on this schedule, if I'm reading this correctly. Correct. Now, they do get Notre Dame. Not ideal for Michigan State and you're one with Pat Fitzgerald. But and I think Oregon's at home, right? Oregon's in. The Oregon game is in, as is the Washington game. So basically, if you really want to drill down and we want to do a pre-vibe check and talking about the direction. I would argue the entire season is November 7th at Michigan. If you want to go into the offseason with vibes and not making a bowl game, but You have the better first year coach based on head-to-head between Michigan State and Michigan, and you win in Ann Arbor. I think the vibes are electric. That's the whole season. I just, I want to feel. like the team has an identity other than what we saw Fitz's identity when he was coaching at Northwestern. I got bad news. That was barely English. Yeah. But I always felt like those teams were just waiting for a mobile quarterback who could make stuff happen when the plays broke down. And a lot of times built around a tough defense that could keep him in games. Yep. I would like to see more than that at Michigan State. I think Michigan State deserves more than that. And I just I don't know if I'm getting those vibes based on sort of the early reporting on how this thing has taken shape. But I think if it looks like that Throughout the course of the year, completely separate from what the final record is. That almost doesn't matter in your one to me. But if it looks like that, if it looks like a team struggling to find an identity that's when I think you're in the right if you're a fan to say, I don't where is this headed? You know, what's the point? Why'd we hire this guy? Right. But if there is some excitement, maybe they build like a really physical strong ground attack. Maybe some of these transfers that they brought over. In the trenches, work out. Maybe they're able to build around that. And if it feels like at the end of the year, this is something that, like, okay, this makes sense. I can see where this is headed, then it's a different vibe altogether. I'm not banking on that. I don't really like this hire. But I will wait to reserve judgment until we know more by November, of course. Yes. Yes. I don't think has there been a program and we can go through them on another show, but of all the programs who have made a four or twelve team playoff, Is there any program that is currently down more than Michigan State? since reaching that height. Is there any other program that has had the depths? I think Florida state. Okay. Florida state's probably in that conversation. Florida state at least stuck its head above water three years ago. Yeah. And was, you know The very clear case to be a playoff team once again, finished in the top, you know, five or six. But yes, they have fallen recently. But it's been more sustained for Michigan State. It has. Yeah. So I think, you know, that's why I said the whole season's November 7th. Beat Michigan, and everything else is sort of excusable in year one. So look, we're over time here a little bit, but that's all right. It's the offseason. That's fine. I want to hear from the Virballer Hood. Our Verballers out there have been very active this offseason. Be it with emails or comments on episodes, or you name it. We've been hearing a lot from the Verballer Hood. And we read all the stuff, so we would encourage you to keep that up. Even if you disagree, you know my drill, right? Just don't be a dick. But if you disagree, That's cool. Email us. Let us know your thoughts on this, where we're right, where we're wrong. We'd love to hear from you. Thank you for being here and making it the full way through. If you did make it this far through, if you are new here and if you have yet to do so, please hit follow or subscribe. If you are a long timer or have just been listening for a few episodes and you wouldn't mind leaving us a five-star review. out on your chosen platform, that goes a long way towards assuring other people that it's a show worth listening to. And you can no longer criticize us for not giving. Glide bait tips. That's right. And we've gotten a lot of those critiques. Like, oh, yeah, but they never talk about like specifics with fishing. No. Can't have that anymore. Nope, nope, nope. Field and stream. I mean, we're really slow to it here. Yeah. Reballers. com, of course, is where you can go. That's the Patreon. If you want to directly support what Dan and I do, we'd love to have you. When are we launching Amateur Hour? Our new podcast about people doing things poorly and backwards. We got Amateur Hour, which probably exists already. Somebody probably has that name. Good SEO, yeah. But Amateur Hour is one I just wouldn't want to supersede our other better idea. Don't give it away, Ty. Bleep it out in public. You want me to bleep that out? Okay. Bleep out the title. I'll leave it in for Patreon. You can leave it in for Patreon. They know. White when we pitched, when I pitched amateur hour to you, our friend Kevin reminded me of the two greatest pitches that we can leave I was ever a part of. That you was I apologize. Oh, no, this is college. Okay. This is in college. And they weren't my pitches. I was just in a classroom where everybody was pitching short documentary ideas because that was the class. It was producing short documentaries. And every one of them was pretty much the same. Like, you know, a reasonable idea. And then one guy came up and was like, All right, I got two ideas. First, sex, colon, who's having it? I think I've told this story before on like the Patreon-only show, maybe. I don't know. Yeah. Sex colon, who's having it, and where, or something like that. And it was just like an examination of campus sex, I guess. Okay. The second one was. Street steam, colon. What is it? A full examination. Like when he would see clips of New York City or a major city where there'd be steam coming out of a grate? Yeah. He was like, I don't know what that is. Let's investigate. Colon, a documentary. I just, Kevin just texted me that right at the beginning of the show. And it just, the innocence of youth, Ty. Well, you know what? My big idea has been for a documentary? No, not for a documentary, just for anything. Okay. This is my best bad idea was to start a store called the Ottoman Empire, which only has Ottoman in stock. Yeah, it's a very like Cosmo Kramer idea. It's extremely Cosmo Kramer. Yeah. Solid Wife Kate came to me. A couple months ago? You're not going to believe it. They built an Ottoman Empire. Oh, really? I'm building an Ottoman Empire now. Yeah. I see Ottoman society. But I haven't seen Ottoman hitching. That's a higher brow store, the Ottoman Society. I'm talking Ottoman for the people. So you're not at all? I mean, do you have passion about kicking your feet up? Do I? Not at all. Okay. Not at all. So you're not actually into Ottomans. This is just. Well, I like a good Ottoman, don't get me wrong. But this is more about the play on words. Okay. All right. I think you should pursue it. I think it's a great idea, Ty. On that note, I hope you enjoyed your typotheticals. And the d'Anthropopic and D'Anthropopic. Danthropic. It's tough. Yeah, yeah. D'Anthropic Engine over there in beautiful Chicago, Illinois. Hope you all enjoy your weekend. Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. It is always our pleasure to be here before you. And one more time, sell itverbal at gmail. com is how you can get into that guy over there, Dan, for myself over here, Ty. Until next time, stay solid. Peace.