Tony Petitti’s Playoff Pitch and an ACC Vibe Check
In this episode, we react to Tony Petitti’s public push for a 24-team College Football Playoff and try to sort through what it actually means for the sport. Is expansion really about access, regular-season stakes, and rewarding more teams, or is it mostly about television inventory, conference leverage, and the ongoing ESPN vs. Fox tug-of-war? We also talk through why the SEC’s preference for 16 teams suddenly puts some fans in the strange position of... rooting for Greg Sankey.
Then it’s time for an ACC vibe check, as we take a look at the conference before full preview season kicks into gear. Miami looks like the league’s clearest headliner, but after that, things get messy fast. We work through the conference’s biggest connective tissues, including offensive line questions, thin receiver rooms, quarterback uncertainty, Cal’s wide range of outcomes, Louisville’s favorable path, Georgia Tech’s possible regression, and whether Virginia Tech or NC State could turn into a surprise playoff-adjacent story.
Also included: Slices 'N Steps in NYC, illegal-streaming hypotheticals, Chili’s corn nostalgia, and the beginning of what may become a fully realized ACC-as-abandoned-mall taxonomy.
Timecodes
0:00 - Intro & Slices 'N Steps in NYC
6:38 - Tony Petitti's 24-Team CFP Plan
31:07 - The Vibrant ACC Mall
38:00 - The Cal Factor
45:20 - The Case for Syracuse
52:07 - The Case Against Georgia Tech
59:48 - Miami's Heisman Elimination Game
1:07:49 - Virginia Tech's CFP Chances
1:12:41 - The Surprise Orange Julius
1:17:05 - Mapping Out The ACC Mall
Corrected Transcript
00:18 Ty Hildenbrandt: Dan Rubenstein, welcome back to the show, my friend. We just saw each other a few days ago.
00:23 Dan Rubenstein: It's true. We had a good time, a good brief time in New York as we I mean, I can try and put any sort of lipstick on like strategizing for the fall. Strategizing. I don't know. We just stare at walls and basements all day, and it's good to see humans, right? That we either work with or just each other. And it was good to be in New York. It was. It was like summer in New York, which is very nice. So the people were out and about. We ate very well. I think I had six different pizzas. You had five because I spent a little more time there.
00:59 Ty Hildenbrandt: People need to understand what's involved with this. And we don't need to drag it on too long, but we refer to it internally as slices and steps.
01:10 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, steps and slices, slices and steps, correct.
01:13 Ty Hildenbrandt: And so this is basically, like, I don't know, the third or fourth year running now that we've done something like this. Last year, my feet swelled up like crazy because I didn't have the right shoes on to be walking that much. But this year, I came prepared. You came prepared with a new idea that was able to sustain us through the entire process. We definitely got our steps in, like 15,000 steps walking around the city. And visiting various pizza places that were on your to-do list.
01:39 Dan Rubenstein: We ended up doing 25,000 or close to 25,000 the day we were together. I did another I don't know, 13 or 14 the next day. You know what? I actually thought we were going to record a show because you told me you had your clip-on microphones. I prepared a show, and it's, I'm looking at my notes app right now on my phone as I hold it up on youtube.com/@solidverbal. Subscribe if you're not already. I wrote down here: next step teams. Because we were taking so many steps.
02:06 Ty Hildenbrandt: Oh, that would have been really we can do that on Thursday for the bonus pod.
02:10 Dan Rubenstein: Listen, next step teams, and then Walk before you run, right?
02:15 Ty Hildenbrandt: Ah, look at you.
02:16 Dan Rubenstein: Teams like last year, Arizona walked, and perhaps Arizona is one of those teams that walked last year, runs this year. And then other teams similarly looking to secure a slice of the pie.
02:29 Ty Hildenbrandt: Wow, look at this guy.
02:30 Dan Rubenstein: It's pretty good, right?
02:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: Why didn't you tell me? You didn't even tell me that you had this.
02:35 Dan Rubenstein: I don't know. Listen, you did not seem like you were into the idea of recording a show. And then you were like, I need to run to my laptop. I'm like, well, I don't even know if we can record a show if Ty's not editing, has the ability to edit and post. And then I wrote down or college football as pizza. And I like went through like deep analogies of like It takes time to build flavor and you're layering. You can't go too quickly. And if you do go quickly, you need a lot of that specific experience to know how to go quickly, like Curt Cignetti had last year.
03:09 Ty Hildenbrandt: Man, this could have been today's episode.
03:12 Dan Rubenstein: The balance and care of both college football and pizza making, time and temperature, quality ingredients, the toppings are flash, it's all about the foundation of that dough and crust. That the cheese may be the thing you see, parentheses, the ball question mark, but it's really just the tip of the spear.
03:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: Man
03:34 Dan Rubenstein: I, for about 41 minutes on my American Airlines flight between O'Hare and LaGuardia, I was operating on my notes app.
03:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: Man, you were cooking with gas, Dan Rubenstein.
03:45 Dan Rubenstein: I was cooking.
03:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: All right. Well, put that somewhere in the vault so that we can come back to it when we need an episode, because Lord knows we've got some time to fill here.
03:50 Dan Rubenstein: All right. Let's let it cold ferment.
03:57 Ty Hildenbrandt: Before we start diving into previews or whatnot, yeah, let it ferment.
04:00 Dan Rubenstein: Yes, thank you.
04:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: Very good. Very good. Always on topic. Hello, welcome back. I am Ty, he is Dan. Hit follow, hit subscribe if you have yet to do so. If you've done those things already because you like the show, please do not hesitate to go on out there and leave us a five-star rating. or review wherever you can. It doesn't affect the algorithm per se, but it does encourage others that we're not just two stooges. Well, we are two stooges, but.
04:25 Dan Rubenstein: That's true.
04:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: That we have a good show talking about college football that might be entertaining to some others out there who are in need of a new college football podcast or just another college football podcast, Dan Rubenstein.
04:35 Dan Rubenstein: Yes.
04:37 Ty Hildenbrandt: What do we got in store for today?
04:39 Dan Rubenstein: So I first wanted to talk about the Big Ten meetings. We've had SEC meetings going on, different conference meetings. I know the ACC has met. And the Big Ten meetings, the headline story there is Tony Petitti, commissioner of the Big Ten, sat for an extended period of time. Answering questions and clarifying his and the conference's position as it relates to the postseason for the first time, where it wasn't just like sources say blah, blah, blah, this is direct answers and clarifications. So I'd like to touch on that for a moment, but also because it's still May and we haven't done the ACC, thank you very much.
05:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: I still have the sound, by the way. Still have the sound.
05:25 Dan Rubenstein: I wanted to do a vibe check and do a MayCC.
05:29 Ty Hildenbrandt: Oh, look at man, you got the pun gun working this week.
05:29 Dan Rubenstein: Just check him. I've got the it also, when I say MayCC, I'm reminded of a high school friend who had one impression and one impression only, and that was the immortal Macy Gray singing I try. Do you remember that song?
05:48 Ty Hildenbrandt: I do remember that song.
05:49 Dan Rubenstein: This guy was not an impressionist. He was not even goofy. He was not a class clown, but
05:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
05:55 Dan Rubenstein: If somebody brought up Macy Gray during this very specific time, it was a lot of like, I try to say goodbye and I choke. bastumball. And it was honestly, it was a pretty solid impression. And I want to do a May CC vibe check and just check in. This is not an ACC preview. This is merely how do we feel about the ACC as a whole and chunks of the ACC as we are in May, just ahead of, I guess, magazine preview season post spring.
06:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, I mean, this is late May.
06:26 Dan Rubenstein: I just you know.
06:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: They're going to start dropping in June.
06:28 Dan Rubenstein: We want to check in. That's all we're doing. We're checking in on where the AC, like what teams may have in common, what schedules may look like, maybe a couple of crucial matchups. That's all.
06:39 Ty Hildenbrandt: Well, let's start with the petiti stuff. As you already mentioned and has been written about nearly everywhere where you get your college football news. Tony Petitti, yes, did do an extended QA session. Did you ever see The Truman Show?
06:58 Dan Rubenstein: Oh my, I've seen the Truman show probably 11 times.
07:01 Ty Hildenbrandt: There's a scene in the Truman show where they get Ed Harris, who's like, you know, in charge of it all.
07:01 Dan Rubenstein: All-timer.
07:07 Ty Hildenbrandt: They get Ed Harris to sit down and talk about what is coming up, what is in store, what they're cooking up, I think. For Jim Carrey, aka Truman. And the way they portray this interview, they talk it up as if this is a rare glimpse into the the minds behind the show. It's clear to you as the viewer that this is not something that happens often, so we should cherish it. And it really cracked me up reading through some of the headlines this morning because The way that the Athletic and ESPN and some other places wrote up this availability, this media availability with Tony Petitti. It had much the same tone. It was like a rare occurrence that they finally get a chance to talk to this guy. And at a really critical juncture. In this offseason, as we now find ourselves in this odd conversation about whether or not they should expand from 12 all the way up to 24 teams in the College Football Playoff, what is clear? Based on what Tony Petitti has said here, is that his position, seemingly the position of other conferences, basically everyone now outside of the SEC. Is that they should go up to 24. If not 24, Plan B is basically staying at 12.
08:25 Dan Rubenstein: Right. And we should be as specific as possible and try to cut through as much of the implication as possible. The SEC's position happens to be the same position as ESPN and Disney, right?
08:42 Ty Hildenbrandt: Just a pure coincidence, I'm sure.
08:45 Dan Rubenstein: The Big Ten's position happens to be in the interest of Fox and Fox Sports. Okay?
08:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm right I'm going to write this down.
08:53 Dan Rubenstein: And it is if we are going to, I think, fairly bring into question how to the degree to what degree ESPN is in bed with the best interest of the SEC during playoff selection time. We certainly, and I think most fairly, should do the same thing when the Big Ten is taking the position of well, we need more access for teams. And if it happens to also mean more access for perhaps interested television networks in some of these rights conversations.
09:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: He did mention inventory. I did see included in Petitti's quotes.
09:32 Dan Rubenstein: Right.
09:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: The word inventory came up at least once, maybe a few more times. So, yes, there's already some thought around what this means for partners and the business of the college football thing.
09:36 Dan Rubenstein: Right. Right.
09:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
09:44 Dan Rubenstein: And if you look at Tony Petitti's specific background in the sports business sphere, it happens to be along the lines of multimedia rights and television. So, I think the smartest thing at this point, if you are looking at how the wheels are turning behind the scenes Looking at college football as a Cold War between ESPN and Fox wouldn't be the worst starting point. Whether it's the postseason, whether it's realignment, whatever. That would not be the worst starting point, especially we have a few more years left before renegotiated rights. This was in Terranea, if you're not familiar. It's a luxury resort in Southern California where I think our friend Stewart Mandel pointed out one of the topics was the unsustainable spending. And it was, it's, it's not a holiday in express along the cliffs of Rolling Hills Estates or at Palos Verdes Estates, whatever it is in Southern California where the Big Ten chose to meet.
10:36 Ty Hildenbrandt: Now
10:46 Dan Rubenstein: And I'm reading here from our friend Scott Dochterman's column. The willingness to make a change to consider giving our championship game to the To get to the right postseason, I think our coaches and our administrators understand that trade-off. We feel very strongly about it. A new structure, he's saying. And we're working really hard with our colleagues and other conferences. Obviously, the way this is structured, we understand that the SEC and the Big Ten have to come to an agreement, and we're working very hard to figure out ways to get to a solution. But inside our league, there is a deep commitment to 24 and the access.
11:23 Ty Hildenbrandt: Access. Yeah, I saw P.J. Fleck was thrilled. Absolutely loves the idea.
11:28 Dan Rubenstein: Bret Bielema, very enthusiastic about it, said he's all for jumbo expansion up to like 32 teams, he said.
11:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: Oh, let's go to sixty four. Why not? Put them all in. Do these guys legit think that expanding the field is going to give them some additional air cover with regard to whether or not they get fired if they're underperforming?
11:52 Dan Rubenstein: Oh, it's a status thing. You're either a playoff team or competing to be in the playoff and maybe just miss the playoff, or you don't. We're talking about teams who have not really been in the playoff conversation in earnest late in the season, if at all. So, the idea of access, it's easier to recruit because then you can say, okay, we're putting players on this big stage here at Minnesota, here at Illinois, or in any conference, any team, whatever, if we're expanding to 24 teams. So. If you're looking at it from a coaching perspective, their investment is that it makes their job easier and their job safer. Right?
12:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: I gave it to you.
12:27 Dan Rubenstein: Nobody's really nobody's looking at this through the lens of like, what is a quality competitive situation for the sport of college football.
12:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: I know.
12:35 Dan Rubenstein: That's not the lens.
12:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: I just I've seen some people mention this online, and it kind of cracks me up. Not because I disagree with what I'm reading, but Since they decided they want to go up to 12, and people who listen to the show know I'm on record a million times talking about this, expanding it up to 12, even expanding it up to 16. I was like, the new bar, the new threshold for whether or not a coach is performing is: does he get his team to the playoff? Right, that's it. That's going to be the new thing. And so, obviously, if you take it up to 24, it's going to be easier to get into the playoffs. But I also think that bar changes. And I think the bar is less about getting into the playoffs because if you're a top 25 caliber team, you're going to be in. Per Scott and the reporting of others, Ohio State would have been in every single year. Ohio State would have been in this thing.
13:24 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
13:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: Just based on the way it's set up, the likes of Penn State would have been in at least half of the years. I just think the bar will change now, not just getting to the playoffs, are you winning games in the playoffs? Are you actually performing once you get there? Because it is now much easier to qualify in the first place.
13:43 Dan Rubenstein: Right. And that's the you know, that's something that coaches in other sports face, that it's not just about making the playoff. We've just saw NBA coaches get fired with teams in the playoff. We see that in the NFL. We see that in Major League Baseball, right? That, like, yeah, you've gotten us here, but then what have you done since getting us here? And the argument from Tony Petitti is that it actually enhances the regular season, okay?
14:05 Ty Hildenbrandt: The argument is that it has tiered incentives.
14:11 Dan Rubenstein: Yes.
14:11 Ty Hildenbrandt: which means that teams at different levels of the standings would still have something important to play for. And he is trying to make the case that almost nobody would be quote safe late in the season.
14:25 Dan Rubenstein: Right.
14:26 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't know if I really agree with that.
14:28 Dan Rubenstein: Also
14:29 Ty Hildenbrandt: A couple other things here that I wanted to mention. Go ahead. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
14:31 Dan Rubenstein: Right. Well, so this is where my brain went initially, right? That Fox has made an enormous investment in the Big Ten. They have their pick of the biggest games week in and week out. They have priority here. It is also a commentary on whether or not Fox is getting a good return on its investment. That they have all these huge regular season games, but they're pushing for much more inventory later on in the season that you're like, ooh. Maybe things aren't going super well for this investment for Fox, that they need more, or they feel, you know, it's a competitive environment. They feel like they're getting pushed around. by ESPN that the sport is viewed as an ESPN sport with Fox sort of only getting a big conference with a little bit of Big Twelve in there. And the SEC, or excuse me, that ESPN. You can understand how it's tough to confuse those two sometimes.
15:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: How dare you?
15:28 Dan Rubenstein: That ESPN with the bigger flagship morning show before the game starts and the bigger personalities and Everything that comes with being Yeah?
15:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: See, this is where people drop off. This is where people are like, all right, you lost me. Are we going to have 12 or are we going to have 24?
15:43 Dan Rubenstein: Okay, how so?
15:45 Ty Hildenbrandt: No, because once you start talking about like the media ramifications, I'm not saying you, I'm talking about him in general.
15:45 Dan Rubenstein: Right. I know, I understand. I'm totally with you.
15:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: But people just want to watch football.
15:52 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
15:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: You know, all of the machinations behind the scenes and the money and who's got the show and the bigger show and not the bigger show.
15:55 Dan Rubenstein: Right.
16:01 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't think people give a damn about that. People just want the season to kind of feel like the season they are used to growing up.
16:10 Dan Rubenstein: I agree. And it's another one of these situations where the stakeholders who are being interviewed, in this case is the coaches are being interviewed about how they feel. Yeah, of course the coaches are for it. Like, I don't understand how that is a worthwhile pursuit, really, to find out how coaches feel about this, even though they are the most famous people, I guess, internally within the sport. That there really is nobody speaking on behalf of the people who watch the games. I understand that this is a business. I understand that Tony Petitti is doing what's in the best interest of his conference. And same with Sankey and the SEC and EESPN, Fox, blah, blah, blah, blah. I just feel like we are in the middle of a wild corporate PR storm and
17:05 Ty Hildenbrandt: Love those. Those are great, aren't they?
17:07 Dan Rubenstein: A wild corporate PR storm, and only Ty Hildenbrandt has the gall to speak up for like
17:12 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
17:17 Dan Rubenstein: What it looks like from the outside.
17:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: Well, look, I'm only Tyhill.
17:20 Dan Rubenstein: And
17:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm not the only one. Like, I 16 I'd be cool with. I'd be cool with 16. It sounds like the SEC would be cool with 16, too. But as Tony Petitti tells it here in his once in a blue moon press availability, apparently there have been virtually no conversations internally on the Big Ten side about going to 16. It's basically either twenty four. or twelve. There was some initial conversation around, well, if we start at 16, we'd be willing to do that only if there is An understanding that we'll eventually go up to 24, but it seems like that has kind of fallen off a little bit. So, a few other details here that I did just want to mention. I had been wondering about this for a while now. What would it look like and how would it affect things like Conference Championship Week? So per. His telling of this, seeds one through eight would receive a first-round bye. Seeds one through eight would also receive a home game after the bye. Tony Petitti said that the top two seeds would receive, quote, the best path all the way through. And as you might expect, finishing in the top eight would be extremely valuable as a result of this. Seeds nine through 16 Would be obviously trying to climb up into that one through eight range at season's end. Getting into the eight to 16 range, though, would earn a home game. So the difference between being seed number 16 and seed number seventeen could be rather significant. He also adds that this would create a late season incentive beyond simply making the field, i. e., earning that home game. And then the third tier would be what I guess we would consider bubble teams. If you're seeded 17 through 24, you just need to find a way to protect your spot. Petitti said that teams in that range would have to keep improving their resume in the final week. And he's making the argument that because teams could move up Because they could lose a home game, because they could gain a home game or fall out or improve their path, resting their starters in that sense wouldn't really make a whole lot of sense, which I know is one of the other arguments against this sort of expanded field. There is a lot to this, okay? Much more so than I think we can get into here because at this point we're just reacting to an interview that he did. How that then affects things like Championship Week. It sounds like there's an openness to kind of reimagine what Championship Week looks like. He did mention again Things like inventory and revenue, and how much certain schools and certain conferences could stand to lose as a result of a reimagined championship week. I'm not necessarily going to get into that here. But suffice to say, there was a lot of discussion around what this means for the last week of the regular season. And again, we keep seeing the inventory word, which I whatever.
20:33 Dan Rubenstein: Right, which makes me think that we're seeing a lot of buyers' regret.
20:36 Ty Hildenbrandt: Which makes your point.
20:39 Dan Rubenstein: Right from TV networks saying, We've spent all this money and we're not recouping it in a way that we thought we were going to, and we need more of an availability of inventory. to try and make this money back. And the competitive notion of more teams having access later in the season. Look, these guys are being very transparent that they're looking for ways to generate a maximum amount of revenue and talking about what they would lose or gain with conference championships and added games. It's not great, Ty. I mean, you look at where teams are. You look at last year, the year before. You look at teams 17, 21, 23. I can't say that there was a huge appetite from my vantage point to see them take on the number three team in the country and see what's what, to take on the number five team, to take on the number one team. Like It doesn't seem like people are saying to themselves, okay, great. Now that we're through with Rivalry Week, let's see what TCU can do against Ohio State. Let's get a look at Virginia against Notre Dame. Let's get a look at Oregon, and last year they had to play James Madison, which. I think it is a terrific thing for James Madison. That was sort of a cork of the year and the schedule. But let's see Oregon against Houston. That's what we, as a college football universe, is what we're here to see. And so I see a lot of people comparing, including the people that run these conferences, to comparing a potential 2014 playoff to the postseason and other sports and the access that teams In other sports, in Major League Baseball, which is what Tony Petitti referenced, like the percentage of teams who make the postseason. I can't stand when these guys do this. Like college football isn't baseball, college football isn't the Stanley Cup playoffs. The beauty of college football is that it's college football. And so I just think the overestimation of Like, man, how great would it be if we could see Georgia against 2025 Michigan? You're like, I guess. Also, it means that suddenly this new iteration means the teams who actually earn it, which. Are you know your top eight, 10, 12, whatever, however, the many teams are clearly separating themselves from the pack have to then Earn it more than ever before, right? That they're the ones being punished. It's how in the NBA they talk about how the new salary structure actually caps the best players and the best earners. and it rewards the middle class more than the actual players who are at the top of the sport. And I get those vibes a little bit. Like the big winner is P.J. Fleck. Like, so that's what we're shaping our sport to reward. The like team that can go that is good enough to go eight and four, nine and three. and thus get an invite into a system that in the however many decades of this sport, they never would even come close to sniffing an invite. So this is who we're truly rewarding. Like, okay, does that mean that
23:51 Ty Hildenbrandt: Kirk Ferentz used Iowa as an example of why they want an expanded field because they lost close games. To the national champion Indiana as well as to Oregon.
24:02 Dan Rubenstein: Oregon? Sure.
24:03 Ty Hildenbrandt: They lost narrowly at Iowa State and USC. They won nine games by an average of over 20 points. They beat a 10-win Vanderbilt in the bowl game. Ferentz said that Iowa played, quote, playoff-level games and that nobody would have wanted to face the Hawkeyes in the playoffs. I think that's BS personally.
24:24 Dan Rubenstein: So but what are we saying with that point then?
24:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: But, okay, that's his point.
24:27 Dan Rubenstein: We're saying like this team played close games but couldn't figure out how to win.
24:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: I listen, I agree with you.
24:33 Dan Rubenstein: Let's see if
24:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm saying this is that we can throw this on the pile of other things that gall me about Pat Fitzgerald, but I just don't buy that.
24:40 Dan Rubenstein: Right, but Right, but they had the opportunity to pull out those close games and earn their way into a playoff. I'm not saying you're arguing otherwise. What I'm saying is then we're just saying Iowa has earned the right to lose more close games to quality teams. That's what we want the sport to be? Like, I just, I don't know. We're so far afield that, like, we feel compelled to reward. The horseshoeization. Isn't horseshoes what they say? Close only counts in horseshoe and grenades. Like They had their shot. They had their chance. They gave it all they had, and they weren't there. They also barely beat a like careening Penn State, right? Like, I just miss me with all of this. Iowa State wasn't all that special last year, and they lost to him. I don't know if you want to go to the playoffs, win more games. We like wins.
25:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: The email is solidverbal@gmail.com. As always, we'd love to hear from the Verballerhood on this, among many other Subjects. Tony Petitti does go on to say he sees no scheduling Reason, no logistical reason why they couldn't start this in 2027. The biggest reason why, and this is actually what I wanted to bring up a little earlier, but finally getting to it now, in a very weird sense. This might be the best PR move for the SEC in like a decade.
26:08 Dan Rubenstein: It's huge the way that we're swinging back and forth, yeah.
26:08 Ty Hildenbrandt: Because after, I know, after A decade plus during the Saban run of things in the SEC, when everyone outside of the SEC hated the SEC. We've now boomeranged back to this point where if you are just hoping that the playoff doesn't go completely off the rails and go up to 24 teams, you're now suddenly squarely in the camp of Greg Sankey. Who doesn't seem to want it? He'll probably end up there. But none of this can happen unless there is a handshake agreement or probably something on paper between Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey. And the SEC right now is leaning towards 16. Which I think is much more palatable, right? Compared to 24, it's definitely more palatable in my view. I've been a 16 fan for a long time, but I wouldn't want to go beyond that. Weirdly, now I'm finding myself rooting for Greg Sankey. So, who the hell knows who we're supposed to root for at this point? I'm sure there will be much more breaking on this over the next weeks and months. For sure, this is going to be a talking point that goes deep into the heart of summer throughout the season. We'll do our best to stay on top of it. I don't know what else to say.
27:17 Dan Rubenstein: As always, if you want to send a message, I'm saying if, not recommending it, not prescribing it, and certainly not aiding and abetting.
27:28 Ty Hildenbrandt: Definitely not aiding and abetting what I believe you're about to say.
27:31 Dan Rubenstein: If you want to send a message, do your own research on how to illegally pirate and stream these games in the College Football Playoff, right?
27:42 Ty Hildenbrandt: Do your own research. We will not be held liable.
27:46 Dan Rubenstein: Absolutely not. I am not advocating for this, but if one were to want to send a message to these conferences and these TV networks Figure out ways to protect your computers and devices from malware.
28:01 Ty Hildenbrandt: And illicit pop-ups.
28:03 Dan Rubenstein: Right. And illicit pop-ups. But also, or I mean, you can go to sports bars, I guess. But if you want to watch these at home, I'm not going to tell you not to watch the sport. It's the beautiful sport, it's the best sport. Just uh poke around the darker corners of the internet and I've heard.
28:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yep. Yeah, you can probably find something out there. I haven't looked.
28:24 Dan Rubenstein: I don't know.
28:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, I haven't.
28:24 Dan Rubenstein: I've heard
28:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't know, but there are a lot of smart computer people out there.
28:30 Dan Rubenstein: I hear these whispers, Ty. And so that that is an option. For how to make sense of and trying to digest and try to digest what we have in front of us, because that's the way you can speak with your pirate wallet, I guess.
28:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: With your pirate. Here's what I want though, okay? So I gave out the email address. Everyone knows the email address by now. I would genuinely be curious, and we're not going to judge people. I'm not going to judge people if they write in and have a competing view on this. Maybe we'll get something from Tony Petitti. But if you feel like we are wrong here, email in. Welcome competing viewpoints on this. Maybe we're just trapped in our own nostalgia. I know we have a lot of younger viewers that come online every year that find the show that are That are, you know, enthusiastically part of the Verballerhood. And maybe it hits different based on age, based on when you picked up the sport I don't know. I'm just saying, solidverbal@gmail.com, write in, let us know. If you feel differently, as always, you can leave a comment out on YouTube, Spotify, anywhere you can leave comments. We read all those things, even if we don't reply. I just. Marketplace of ideas here, Dan. I want to hear what everyone has to say.
29:43 Dan Rubenstein: Marketplace of ideas.
29:45 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
29:47 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, if you can somehow get this game illegally over the air on What was it a.. What was the old like plate, like a game gear you could get like over-the-air stuff?
29:55 Ty Hildenbrandt: Oh, uh, I mean, I may have, may have.
29:57 Dan Rubenstein: I don't know. Like.
30:03 Ty Hildenbrandt: Dabbled with like a hacked fire stick back in the day
30:08 Dan Rubenstein: Oh, my God, Ty.
30:11 Ty Hildenbrandt: Certainly, there were no shortage of weird streams that were out there, most of which have now been shut down by the federal government. What else? It was a bit jarring to maybe have gone to one of those sites and see the emblem of the Department of Homeland Security.
30:25 Dan Rubenstein: Right. Yep.
30:28 Ty Hildenbrandt: Ah, okay.
30:30 Dan Rubenstein: We've all been there, Ty.
30:30 Ty Hildenbrandt: But there may be still some ways that you can. You know, worm around this man-made prison of network television.
30:40 Dan Rubenstein: You love going to URLs that end in letters where you're like, is that Cameroon? It's like, where is this broadcast exactly originating from?
30:51 Ty Hildenbrandt: .tz, okay.
30:51 Dan Rubenstein: It's, oh, it's. Yeah, we got like, is that is .bd Bangladesh? Yeah, I always appreciate those and have watched many a sporting event via that way in my younger days. And that is all behind me. But again, do your own research.
31:08 Ty Hildenbrandt: Do your own research. All right. Do you want to do some ACC vibes?
31:11 Dan Rubenstein: Yes, absolutely.
31:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: It is still May. It's not going to be May. We did an episode last week called Big Ten Vibe Check. And we said things that may happen. And I played that sound like 15 times. This is now the ACC. We have gotten a really good response to that show. People want us to talk about other conferences. We did do a vibe check on the Big 12 with a friend John. Kurtz. We did do an SEC vibe check with our good friend Cole Kubelik. We did the Big Ten one on our own. We got a great response to it. We decided, ah, what the hell? We'll just do ACC on our own as well. You came up with, because the pun gun is locked and loaded, May CC. So I'm assuming it's going to take on the shape of the episode that we did last week. For the Big Ten, but maybe you got some topics to throw out with regard to the 17 odd teams in the ACC.
32:12 Dan Rubenstein: So my first one is more big picture in that's the ACC may be a still standing mall with an extremely vibrant chilies and then just nothing but Lady Foot Lockers sitting empty the rest of the way. Love a vibrant chilies, Ty. I've spent many, many a night in a vibrant Chili's. I'm, of course, talking about the Miami Hurricanes as a vibrant Chili's. You look at how these teams are or aren't built. You look at the various questions that so many of these teams have, and it's almost copy-paste Yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of offensive line questions. There's no concept of who is actually going to step up or if anybody's going to step up along the offensive line. But. If people happen to step up on the offensive line, they could be interesting. Those are all of the Lady Foot Lockers. Of the ACC, it seems. Take your pick with Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Syracuse, all of these teams. May have catastrophic offensive line situations ahead, which makes it nearly impossible to know which Lady Footlocker has like the Sabrina 1s in stock.
33:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: Right.
33:33 Dan Rubenstein: No clue.
33:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm looking at a quote here as you mentioned Chili's. You know, I'm getting geared up for the World Cup. Our starting center back, who just twisted his ankle, I think will be okay, Chris Richards.
33:45 Dan Rubenstein: To my US team?
33:46 Ty Hildenbrandt: US team, yeah, did an interview towards the latter side of March talking about how Chili's is what makes us American.
33:46 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
33:57 Ty Hildenbrandt: Quote, this is beautiful. This is nostalgia. This is really America. I think that's one of those things that makes us American. Places like Chili's. are a staple. I think they finally could have that stamp on their passport now that they've had Chili's and I was happy for them. I think he's referring to Some of his international comrades who have gone to Chili's when they came here.
34:20 Dan Rubenstein: Got it. Okay.
34:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: So be careful what you say not a sponsor could be.
34:24 Dan Rubenstein: And again, I don't know this is a terrible thing for the ACC. It is a nice thing if you talk about access and you talk about a conference that had a Duke Virginia conference championship game last season. Two teams who were clearly not the best two teams in the conference last year, or at least both of them were not in the top two. I think there is a chance that this could make this more entertaining. I think this is a chance that it could inflate a lot of these defenses that we have in front of us. The other connective tissue I saw was. Outside of Miami, this may be a conference fully devoid of a complete and interesting receiver room. Right? You look around this conference, they're like, okay, they have this one guy.
35:12 Ty Hildenbrandt: The key is complete.
35:13 Dan Rubenstein: They have Deuce Robinson.
35:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: The key is complete. Yeah. Because Deuce Robinson's a legit wide receiver one.
35:16 Dan Rubenstein: Right. I'm totally.
35:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: He's very good. But a complete receiver room is, yeah, that's the kicker.
35:23 Dan Rubenstein: Like, oh, they got three interesting dudes, or they have two interesting dudes in an interesting tight end. The only other one outside of Miami, I think, is Cal. I think Cal's receiver room is actually good to very good, potentially. With the addition of the transfers that they added. But when you look across this conference, like NC State lost a bunch of dudes who started growing into something interesting last year, C.J. Bailey. put up good numbers last year for the most part. Maybe not in the the toughest games that NC State played in. But now they're relying on Miami backups, NC State is? There's a lot of Miami backups to be had. Obviously, they're a team that, you know, when you have that kind of success, you're not going to be able to keep all of your backups and pay them a ton of money. But if you're looking at connective tissues and what this conference may be. It may be a conference that has a lot of chaotic scramble energy all season long.
36:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: There's a lot of turnover too.
36:24 Dan Rubenstein: Right.
36:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think, yeah, bigger picture, if you're trying to do a vibe check, the analogy to the mall with the vibrant chilies is about as good as you're going to get. I would just say it's Miami, and then a big old shrug for me. You know, we've been looking at preview content now for a couple of weeks, and it's not clear to me. Who is in that next tier and what the line is between tier two and tier three. It feels very, very blurred. And I can make a case for a lot of these teams to be kind of in that next tier down. But Miami, I think, stands alone. And then it's a huge like It's a big shrug for me, honestly. You know, I could talk myself into some teams and just as easily talk myself out of somebody like a Clemson or a Louisville or an SMU or even a Virginia Tech. So, I think that makes for an interesting season. It certainly does not do us any favors in our nearly twenty year pursuit of asking ourselves six weeks into the season, hey, did Wake Forest play NC State yet? You know, where every team kind of feels the same and every team has pretty deep flaws, that tends to feel like there's a lot of parity in the conference, which could make for some interesting results. But it Beyond that, it's very unclear to me who besides Miami steps up to kind of a challenge.
38:01 Dan Rubenstein: Oh, I'm all in on the wild card nature, and this is another May I have. I don't know if you want to play the sound. The Cal Bears may win five games or ten games. I have down here for Cal, high upside quarterback, complete unknown at head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator. They brought in like younger. Recent NFL guys, who I think were both at Oregon as analysts, maybe some USC ties there as well. High-end offensive transfers. The schedule ending, they have three straight road games with a buy in there before the Stanford game. Basically, non-stop, decent quality on this schedule, perhaps other than Stanford and UCLA, but we don't know. We'll see. We're you know, both of us are somewhat high on UCLA, relatively speaking. They have an extreme home field travel advantage, an extreme road disadvantage. I think the spectrum of outcomes for Cal may be the most interesting spectrum in the conference.
39:02 Ty Hildenbrandt: The run game last year was awful. They got to rebuild that.
39:05 Dan Rubenstein: And their defense was underrated. Like there's all these sort of like extremes.
39:09 Ty Hildenbrandt: The defense was underrated, but they lost a bunch of their better tacklers.
39:09 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Totally.
39:13 Ty Hildenbrandt: They've got two first-time coordinators. Which will be interesting to chart as we get into this thing. But they combat that with A coach in Tosh Lupoi, who got him, what, the number 14 portal class? I mean, he was aggressive. He's known as being a dogged recruiter. He was very aggressive. and bringing in talent. I've already spoken at length here on this show about Adam Mohammed, the running back they bring down from Washington.
39:43 Dan Rubenstein: Why shouldn't it?
39:44 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think he could be a force on this offense, especially if they are able to rebuild
39:44 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
39:50 Ty Hildenbrandt: That ground game the way I think they do. He got rave reviews so far this spring and definitely is one of these guys to watch their stock the deeper we get into the year. And also JKS, their quarterback, you know. Year one was really optimistic. It seemed as though the plan was to have him throw through whatever kind of challenges they were dealing with, not necessarily run through it because they couldn't. And so if they are able to provide a little bit more balance, that makes them a really interesting team to watch. And I'm with you. I like Cal a lot. It's just there is so much new and so much changing that trying to lock in on like an eight and four or a seven and five or a nine and three, it's going to be impossible. when we do previews, which again, this is not a preview, it's going to be impossible to really zero in on a good like two or three game range for the Cal Golden Bears because It feels like there is a lot here that is just a huge unknown.
40:53 Dan Rubenstein: This may be the conference with, again, I'm going to try to be diplomatic and be kind here. The power conference with the most unusual and potentially disappointing roster of quarterbacks. So, we're talking about quarterbacks who have landed in the ACC after not working out elsewhere. right? We're not talking about the typical power conference situations in which quarterbacks are ascending to this new conference, that we are seeing guys come in because they thrived at a smaller place. or thrived somewhere else and are here to show it off on perhaps a bigger or more interesting stage or an offense that's better fit for them, you're talking about Like a guy who couldn't start at Notre Dame, a guy who lost his job at Mizzou.
41:48 Ty Hildenbrandt: Well, here, I'll go through it.
41:49 Dan Rubenstein: You're talking about a yeah, please.
41:49 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'll go through it. Okay, so Miami's got Darian Mensah. You mentioned C.J. Bailey, NC State.
41:55 Dan Rubenstein: Ascending, he is ascending, yeah.
41:57 Ty Hildenbrandt: Right. These are guys that I think we can count on. We have base level competence. Pitt's got Mason Heintschel. Cal's got JKS. But everybody else. All right. So Christopher Vizzina at Clemson, Lincoln Kienholz at Louisville. Neither of which has any real experience to lean back on.
42:15 Dan Rubenstein: Right. And Kienholz didn't win a job at a bigger place.
42:18 Ty Hildenbrandt: Didn't win a job at Ohio State.
42:19 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
42:20 Ty Hildenbrandt: Ethan Grunkemeyer at Virginia Tech, we have much more of a sample size for him. He took over after Allar got hurt.
42:28 Dan Rubenstein: But was looked at as backup quality at Penn State.
42:30 Ty Hildenbrandt: Was looked up as backup quality. Ashton Daniels, who is going to be QB1 at Florida State this year, okay.
42:36 Dan Rubenstein: Auburn backup.
42:38 Ty Hildenbrandt: Auburn backup. It's going to be Beau Pribula or Eli Holstein at Virginia.
42:39 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Yep.
42:44 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay.
42:45 Dan Rubenstein: Both of whom are not going to start at bigger places, arguably.
42:48 Ty Hildenbrandt: Alberto Mendoza, who transferred because he probably wasn't going to get the nod over Josh Hoover.
42:49 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Right.
42:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: They like
42:54 Dan Rubenstein: Showed promise in limited time, but yeah.
42:55 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, they like Alberto Mendoza with what they've seen so far at Georgia Tech. I mean, another one of these guys who I think is on big time stockwatch. But again, okay, it's going to be new. We've got Gio Lopez now transferring away from UNC down to Wake to rejoin his former offensive coordinator at South Alabama, Robbie Ezell.
43:16 Dan Rubenstein: Was benched at North Carolina.
43:17 Ty Hildenbrandt: But Bench in North Carolina.
43:19 Dan Rubenstein: Yep. A bad North Carolina offense from last season, to be clear.
43:23 Ty Hildenbrandt: Correct. We've got Walker Eget at Duke.
43:31 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, who are who is scrambling after losing Darien Mensa late. Yeah.
43:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: We've got Davis Warren still playing at Stanford, transfers over from Michigan.
43:39 Dan Rubenstein: Former Michigan quick starter, but third string.
43:41 Ty Hildenbrandt: Mason McKenzie
43:43 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, D two.
43:44 Ty Hildenbrandt: Mason McKenzie from Saginaw State at Boston College, dual threat guy, could be good.
43:47 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
43:50 Ty Hildenbrandt: And then, yeah, Steve Angeli, who In a very limited sample size, it was solid for Syracuse and was very solid for Notre Dame, and even more
43:55 Dan Rubenstein: I agree.
44:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: Of a limited sample size, but is recovering from a pretty serious injury. So they need him to be healthy. So, yeah, there's a lot there. Where, if you can just have like decent quarterback play, that could be enough to kind of get you into that second tier.
44:16 Dan Rubenstein: Did we mention Kevin Jennings?
44:17 Ty Hildenbrandt: Well, I didn't even mention Kevin Jennings. Kevin Jennings is definitely, yeah, definitely very, very good.
44:19 Dan Rubenstein: Legit, very good. Yeah.
44:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: Turns the ball over too much. You know, there's a little bit of, I'm sure they would prefer not as many turnovers, but.
44:28 Dan Rubenstein: Sure.
44:31 Ty Hildenbrandt: The talent is undeniable.
44:33 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. I guess my broader point is going into a season with that much at quarterback seemingly going in the wrong direction has too much of like a G5, G6 vibe for me. Like there's a little bit too much Mountain West East, Mountain East. That would be a mean thing to call the ACC. But if you do call it that, please give us credit. That's the disappointing thing and potentially thrilling thing about the ACC. That there is the like, yeah, Beau Pribula might not be great, but between weeks three and five, he was super fun.
45:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah. And that might be enough.
45:15 Dan Rubenstein: That right.
45:16 Ty Hildenbrandt: That might be enough based on the way this conference is shaken out. Yeah.
45:20 Dan Rubenstein: The next thing I have down here, because I don't want it to be all bad or all terrific or all whatever.
45:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: Hold on, hold on.
45:26 Dan Rubenstein: Okay.
45:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay, continue.
45:30 Dan Rubenstein: I think that there is going to be a surprisingly great team Who's not at all great in this conference because of just one of the Lady Foot Lockers is going to emerge. I think one of the quietest, most interesting hires of the ACC offseason is Vince Kehres.
45:56 Ty Hildenbrandt: Kehres.
45:57 Dan Rubenstein: Kehres.
45:58 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, Syracuse.
45:59 Dan Rubenstein: At Syracuse.
46:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay.
46:03 Dan Rubenstein: I don't know if it's going to be on the level of like Danny Gonzalez last year at Arizona, where they find players, they hit the portal hard. There is something to me about hiring somebody who has that much success consistently and coming off of a year that Syracuse had. Where obviously changes needed to be made after how much they lost after Steve Angeli went down. That I may be overly hopeful for the initial run of success that this defense could have, barely English, but. Those are the types of stories that always break through to me. That like they found a guy who can figure out what to do with what they have. And because, as we mentioned, the roster of quarterbacks in this conference isn't incredible that somebody, somewhere, is going to figure out how to get a bunch of pop outs and ground balls. And because of how entertaining Syracuse can be, that's something that may be of interest to me.
47:13 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't think it's an easy schedule for Syracuse, especially the second half of the season.
47:15 Dan Rubenstein: It's not an easy schedule.
47:20 Ty Hildenbrandt: when they've got well, I guess even a little bit before that, a home game against Louisville. And then they're at North Carolina, home against SMU, home against Clemson, on the road at NC State. On the road at Boston College, and they close out the year home against Notre Dame. That's a really tough back half of their schedule. I guess those were the final seven games of the year. The Syracuse story is interesting for me because of defense. And there is a lot of returning production on defense. There is. There's a ton back, and Vince Kehres is. A meaningful defensive reset at a school that needs it. He comes from the old Mount Union stock before, you know, most recently of Toledo for the last like five seasons or so, a really good defensive coordinator.
48:00 Dan Rubenstein: Toledo, yeah.
48:08 Ty Hildenbrandt: And so, if they could get him in there, he's not a blitz-heavy guy. He's not going to go crazy blitzing the farm. But I think he will meaningfully Provide a change of scenery for this defense. What I keep coming back to, though, are two things. First, on the point of the defense, is returning production good when the defense was this bad a year ago?
48:28 Dan Rubenstein: Of course, of course. Yeah, I'm with you.
48:30 Ty Hildenbrandt: Right. And we talked about this a week ago. That's the first thing. Secondly, so much of this feels like it pivots on whether or not Steve Angeli is healthy. Because the four-game sample was great. He was really good. But he's coming off an Achilles injury. He's got to be healthy. And this is a receiver room that lost a lot. So, what does this look like now? I mean, is having a good enough defense or a better defense against the quarterbacks that you mentioned an effective enough emphasis to put Syracuse into a more interesting spot? I don't know. But I still like the coaching staff. I still like Steve Angeli, and I do like the Vince Kehres hire as well as defensive coordinator.
49:15 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. And you can get better via the portal up front on defense. There are enough defensive linemen out there, especially For a place like Syracuse, if they're looking at lower levels or whatever, I think that's they have at least a couple headliners, or at least one headliner coming up from somewhere. I want to say, yeah, I don't have it in front of me, but. There is something about there's zero pressure on this defense. Obviously, there's pressure on the coaching staff, but there's zero pressure to perform on a high level for this defense in this moment. You have quarterback health, and this is a conference. If nothing else, if you do something really well, and you do the other side of the ball, okay, maybe even below average, can win eight, nine games. Like Georgia Tech didn't have a defense last year and started eight, no, right? Wake Forest didn't have an offense and won, what, nine games? So if you're going to look somewhere that could do something interesting. Coming from a space from last year that was disastrous, I don't know. Syracuse is at least a candidate to me.
50:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: I mean, the worst team on this outside of New Hampshire, which is an FCS team, and Boston College, which is the second to last week of the year.
50:33 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Sure.
50:37 Ty Hildenbrandt: Per Bill Connelly's SP+, the worst team on this is UConn. And I know UConn's had some turnover, but UConn's had a pretty good team as of late. And then Beyond lost their coach.
50:50 Dan Rubenstein: Well, they lost their coach, but yes.
50:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: I get that. But, you know, they're trying, right? They're trying.
50:57 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
50:57 Ty Hildenbrandt: They hired Jim Mora. He brought in 40 or more transfers. So I don't think UConn's going to totally bottom out. And then the next step down per SP+ is Cal, which could be a pretty good team. We just talked about Cal, maybe winning 10 games. So my point is this. Syracuse is a tough schedule. They obviously have some issues. Steve Angeli's got to be healthy, needs to have guys that he can that can establish themselves as being worthy pass catchers out wide. And defensively, you know, what can Vince Kehres spin up? With coming from Toledo, where you led one of the best defenses in the country a year ago. We'll see.
51:36 Dan Rubenstein: I'm just telling you, there's also like weird like if the ACC were looking to do some of the worst teams on the 2025 In the 2025 league, some favors. Syracuse's sandwich-y and let-down-y look ahead spots, especially with a weird home field advantage, is that it's a different type of environment. I'm saying the schedule actually does do them some favors. And that's, I don't know, not nothing for a team that needs favors.
52:07 Ty Hildenbrandt: What else do we got here, Dan?
52:10 Dan Rubenstein: Georgia Tech may be due for a big drop. If there's some stock I'm willing to sell right now, it might be in Georgia Tech. And that is with saying, I believe Brent Key has done a terrific job there.
52:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: I mean, he's done an awesome job.
52:27 Dan Rubenstein: All things considered, from where that program was, But the change in coordinator on offense specifically, that they were able to win the close games that they won last season before sort of limping to the finish line, losing The guy who was bringing the offense across the finish line as much as he could in Haynes King, giving everything he had, losing Buster Faulkner, losing the backup quarterback most familiar with that system. Obviously, Buster Faulkner is not there anymore, so it matters less. Counting on an external quarterback transfer in Alberto Mendoza, who might be terrific. It might be amazing.
53:03 Ty Hildenbrandt: They loved him in spring. Loved him in spring.
53:06 Dan Rubenstein: But they bring in Alberto Mendoza, and then the word is that, like, oh, they're really leaning into the run.
53:12 Ty Hildenbrandt: The run.
53:13 Dan Rubenstein: Also. You have to give the offensive line a benefit of the doubt. It's going to be a new look offensive line somewhat because of what they've been able to do thus far during Brent Key's' time there. But. If we're talking about offensive scheme uncertainty, quarterback uncertainty at a new place, and not a ton of dependable pieces on defense, And the universe kind of evening itself out if you're able to sneak by a bunch of times in close games the year before. I think I want to say the win total over-under is something like six and a half. And you get Georgia every year? I don't know. If I were looking at a team to take like a chunky fall from last year, it might be Georgia Tech.
54:02 Ty Hildenbrandt: So, the new coordinator is George Godseyy.
54:05 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, coming back.
54:06 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yep, coming back. George Godsey was most recently a tight ends coach with the Ravens before that, a tight ends coach with the Dolphins before that, a quarterback coach. With the Lions, was with the Texans, was with the Patriots, was with UCF way back in the day, but did play quarterback at Georgia Tech in the late 90s. If you read up at all about what this offense looks like, it's a lot of what you were describing, right? It's more pro style, it's more run first, there's more under-center stuff. Play action, heavier tight end sets, things of that nature. It probably is a bit of a departure from what we saw a year ago. With Haynes King, who was very much the engine for this whole thing. They built the whole offense around him when he was out there. It always gave him a chance when he wasn't. It was a different story, even though Aaron Philo was decent. In limited action, it was all about Haynes King and what he could do. So I think I am with you from the standpoint of anytime there is this much new, it is a cause for pause, our favorite pet charity. When you lose Haynes King, when you lose the offensive coordinator, that's a lot walking out the door. I should also add that it's a thin receiver room. You mentioned that the offensive line is being rebuilt.
55:28 Dan Rubenstein: Buddy, it's everywhere in this conference pretty much. Rebuilt offensive line, thin and questionable receiver room.
55:36 Ty Hildenbrandt: Now, it's also a secondary that profiles as being very man-heavy. which may not necessarily be a bad thing, given the receiver rooms around the conference, which you described rightfully earlier as being rather incomplete. But you got to be able to cover the pass. And we've seen Georgia Tech have some trouble with that as of late. So what does that defense look like? You know, they're going to try and we hear this all the time. It will be a much more aggressive attacking defense. They're going to try and bring pressure and get takeaways. That's going to be their new defensive identity now. So, whatever. I think it's entirely possible without Haynes King that we see a bit of a drop off. And I hate to pin it all on one guy, but I'm looking at this schedule right now. And this is not another one. Again, there's a lot of parity. In this conference, but they get Tennessee week two. They're on the road at Virginia Tech, on the road at Pitt, on the road at Clemson, on the road at Georgia to close out the year. This is a bunch of tough games. And that's not it. I mean, they go on a stretch here where they're at Pitt, home against Louisville, at Clemson, a weird sandwich game at home against Wake Forrest, who's probably going to be frisky again. before they've got the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate game to close out the year. So I think it's possible. I think it's very, very possible. I think we tend to give Brent Key benefit of the doubt. Because as he said, he has done a good job there. But you don't have to squint too hard to see a drop coming.
57:08 Dan Rubenstein: Louisville may be the more realistic. They're not great, but I just woke up and saw that they're nine and two type team.
57:16 Ty Hildenbrandt: I love I love what we've built this year.
57:19 Dan Rubenstein: Now, again, offensive line and receiver. And in addition, a quarterback who hasn't played any meaningful time, potential superstar running back. There's a lot to like about where Louisville's defense has been recently. I don't believe they play Miami.
57:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: No, they miss Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech, which I think is nice.
57:33 Dan Rubenstein: I think their schedule is all right.
57:37 Ty Hildenbrandt: It's a very friendly schedule.
57:40 Dan Rubenstein: So it is a nine or ten win schedule if they are actually good. Maybe not great. Like this, it feels like a year that's More on Jeff Brohm not losing a dumb game or two than ever before. Again, we don't know what Lincoln Kienholtz is. We don't, you know, there are definite holes. On this roster. But when you look at what's new on the roster, like they're likely going to lose game one against Ole Miss, but Villanova, the home road splits are great. SMU at home, Wake at home. An NC State team with a ton of questions on the road after that. Florida State on short rest, but it's at home. They're on the road at Syracuse, who has, again, I think, decently high variance. They get Stanford flying across the country to play them. You know, I'm at least initially down on Georgia Tech. I've got a lot of questions about like Billy Edwards, North Carolina on the road. We'll see if Pitt can finish better than they did last year. And they get a year one Kentucky head coach after just demolishing them. last season to finish out the season. So this should be a year for Louisville to quietly win a ton of games.
58:48 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think so.
58:49 Dan Rubenstein: Or it may be a year. Yeah.
58:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think so. I mean, Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown.
58:57 Dan Rubenstein: Yep.
58:58 Ty Hildenbrandt: In the backfield, can carry the offense. Now, it is offensive line-dependent, but having those guys, especially when you've got
59:03 Dan Rubenstein: Sure.
59:06 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think some uncertainty at quarterback, even if you know who your guy is going to be. We just don't have a sample for Lincoln Kienholz, but we do for those running backs. And so if they can get the line up to snuff and if they can run the ball effectively, run the ball effectively and play good defense. It's probably like a top 25 caliber defense is a pretty good defense. At least it profiles that way on paper. So that's not a bad formula against this conference, against this schedule. Where to the point, I think Louisville could go on a little bit of a run here. Where, yeah, you wake up in early November, you're like, wait, what are they? They're number 12 in the country. They're nine and one.
59:47 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
59:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay.
59:49 Dan Rubenstein: I have a very positive one here.
59:55 Ty Hildenbrandt: You gotta can't set me up like that. You gotta give me a chance to play it.
59:58 Dan Rubenstein: Excuse me. Miami Notre Dame may be the most Heisman propelling slash eliminating game for quarterbacks In the race on November 7th, a day that includes Dante Moore against Julian Sayin.
01:00:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: It's a huge day. It's a huge day of college football.
01:00:17 Dan Rubenstein: Well, just think about the quarterback matchups.
01:00:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: I know.
01:00:19 Dan Rubenstein: November heading into the meat of the end of the season. So it's Dante Moore Julian Sayin Sam Leavitt against, we think, KJ Jefferson, but maybe Austin Mack. Trinidad Chambliss against Gunnar Stockton, Marcel Reed against LaNorris Sellers, even like if you want to go down the list a little, just in terms of like, maybe one of these guys shoots up the rankings.
01:00:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: Wow.
01:00:40 Dan Rubenstein: Avery Johnson, Drew Mestemaker, Bear Bachmeier, Devon Dampier. I'm not saying all of those dudes. I'm saying pick and choose, but because of Miami's schedule and because of Notre Dame's schedule. It feels like that last real opportunity to make a statement if both C.J. Carr and Darian Mensah are excellent up to that point.
01:01:02 Ty Hildenbrandt: That's going to be the statement game for C.J. Carr. It's going to have to be. I mean, they are on the road before that.
01:01:10 Dan Rubenstein: Mm-hmm.
01:01:10 Ty Hildenbrandt: Against BYU, which would be a big game in its own right. But the home game against Miami. Especially after the way things went down a year ago, it was his first start on the road in Miami. They lost that game by three points. Miami goes on to make a run at the national title. So there's a bit of a revenge aspect there that I'm sure will be played up. It is going to be a prime time game. I'm not sure how many primetime games there will be that week, but unfortunately, they're probably all going to be at the same time and drive us crazy. I think there's a high probability that, at least for those two teams that you mentioned, Miami looking to win an ACC, Notre Dame I guess dabbling with the ACC, we can put it. Both of those teams are going to have quarterbacks that are very much in that conversation. And that's going to be a meaningful game for both of them with regard to the playoff. You know, certainly for Notre Dame, they got to win that one. They just have to win that one, I think, to Get the revenge that they seek going into the season.
01:02:19 Dan Rubenstein: Well, it's also selling the program.
01:02:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: That's sort of like the game.
01:02:23 Dan Rubenstein: It's selling Notre Dame because of their schedule, that there's just not those opportunities.
01:02:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:02:27 Dan Rubenstein: And honestly, it's not terribly dissimilar from Darien Mensa in Miami, who If you were looking at a value pick for the Heisman, I am a non-wagerer. But Darian Mensah, who basically the final chapter, the. The final gap that he needs to fill. Like, he just didn't finish the season all that well, wasn't great against the best teams on Duke's schedule, but this is going to be, you know, I think he'll get better coaching and he'll have. Better receivers, but also a similar receiver, and going from Cooper Barkate to Cooper Barkate this year. But having, what, a Heisman caliber receiver to throw to in Malachi Toney. Having Mark Fletcher in the backfield, having his own defense to lean on and depend on, because Miami's defense should be that good. That Darian Mensah, I think more than a lot of these guys, could just put up cartoonish numbers. You look at the Ohio State guys could split the vote in Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith. C.J. Carr just won't have the opportunities. Darian Mensah won't have the opportunities as well. But I think Mensa might be a little bit more advantaged than C.J. Carr with what he has around him. So He might be the value pick. I don't know whether he's like sixth or seventh or whatever in the odds right now, Mensa is, but I think that game with those implications is, in that specific way, more interesting than those other quarterback matchups.
01:03:49 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, I tend to agree. And if I could zoom out a little bit, I mean, the Miami story this year will be I think just absolutely fascinating because of what they lose, right? Because of losing Carson Beck. Love him or hate him. Carson Beck had a lot of experience. You've got big time stars on both lines that are now off to the NFL. Obviously, the circumstance that brought Mensa to Miami was a bit weird, to say the least, coming down from Duke. But even despite the turnover, Miami on defense projects to be one of the best defenses in the country, in my view. They're still going to be really, really good. Still have Malachi Toney. So, despite the fact that there is a lot changing, there is still a lot there that I think should leave you feeling encouraged, which is part of why they're the chilies in this conversation. Everyone else is the Lady Foot Locker. But how it shakes out for the Canes before that Notre Dame game, will there be a situation again where they drop a dumb one? You know, because we've seen that. This is not something that they've been able to fully kick. They've got Clemson on the road. They've got a home game against Florida State. Those seem to be, at least for my money, the two biggest ones before that Notre Dame game, unless you're counting a home game against Pitt, which I'm not. But outside of that Notre Dame game Home against Duke, home against Virginia Tech, home against Boston College. Those should be three wins for Miami. So it really does build to that game on November 7th in week 10.
01:05:30 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, which does not affect their standings their standing in the ACC.
01:05:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: does not affect their standing in the ACC, but I think more nationally, in terms of where they're ranked and all that, that will be a very pivotal game for both teams, not just one or the other.
01:05:37 Dan Rubenstein: Yes, of course. This is also Just as it relates to Miami, because of, look, the change on the offensive line, they should be fine there. And the change on the defensive line, especially at edge. Bringing in Damon Wilson, they should be fine there. Different guys will step up. Different rotational dudes will have more time. This is the first year, and I'm not even saying this is a bad thing. I think this is potentially a really good thing to have them like locked in and focused. But this is the first time since Mario Cristobal arrived where they are the only team considered to be elite and atop the conference, right? In previous seasons, it's like, okay, Florida State's going to be good again. They went 13 and 0 last year. Clemson made the playoff last year. Maybe it's Clemson and Miami, but it's Clemson being looked at with what they returned last year heading into the season. I was like, well, all signed. Like you had them, you know, everybody had them in like their top five or their top seven or something. And that didn't work out for Clemson. But this is the first season which it's just a vibrant Chili's at the mall. There's no Texas Roadhouse. There's no Red Lobster. There's no California Pizza Kitchen. There is just. the sizzling fajitas and baby back ribs that are aligned with Miami's hopes and dreams.
01:06:59 Ty Hildenbrandt: You ever have like Chili's like a grilled corn on the cob thing? You ever have that?
01:07:03 Dan Rubenstein: It's on the cob. It's not like in a bowl or a cup.
01:07:06 Ty Hildenbrandt: It's on the cob, but it's super tender. It's like one of the best things I've ever had in my life. The chilies corn on the cob.
01:07:11 Dan Rubenstein: The ch is there like a seasoning on there that's especially good?
01:07:15 Ty Hildenbrandt: I mean, I think you can. I don't know.
01:07:18 Dan Rubenstein: Of course you can.
01:07:18 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't think mine did. I'm going back away.
01:07:21 Dan Rubenstein: Soak chilies, corn on the cob, in your recollection, top tier.
01:07:21 Ty Hildenbrandt: It's been a minute. So good. So good. Yeah, it could have just been that moment in my life where that was the best thing ever.
01:07:29 Dan Rubenstein: Sure.
01:07:31 Ty Hildenbrandt: But I aspire to grill my corn on the cob in the same way.
01:07:36 Dan Rubenstein: Okay. We usually did I went a good amount of times in college, and we usually did burgers. For the most part, I think we did burgers at Chili's. And I think we were all pretty satisfied with them.
01:07:50 Ty Hildenbrandt: Flip on over to Virginia Tech.
01:07:53 Dan Rubenstein: Okay.
01:07:55 Ty Hildenbrandt: I know you've been listing these out.
01:07:57 Dan Rubenstein: Do you have a May for Virginia Tech?
01:07:59 Ty Hildenbrandt: I want you to look at Virginia Tech's schedule, and I want you to answer the question scale of like, I don't know, zero to 100%. Certainty that Virginia Tech Makes the College Football Playoff.
01:08:13 Dan Rubenstein: Certainty?
01:08:15 Ty Hildenbrandt: Confidence. How confident would you be if I presented that ridiculous proposition to you?
01:08:20 Dan Rubenstein: So in how many simulations of the 2026 season does Virginia Tech with this schedule so
01:08:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: With this schedule, what percentage of the time do they make the College Football Playoff? Look at the schedule. We need to look at the schedule.
01:08:31 Dan Rubenstein: Okay. They realistically could start 4-0 in September.
01:08:37 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:08:38 Dan Rubenstein: VMI, ODU, Maryland in September is tough, Ty. That's on the road. September, Maryland. Got to handle that pass rush. Boston College on the road. So not unthinkable that they start out the season going 4-0. They host Pitt short week on a Friday night. And they travel two cal. So I say best case scenario, they're probably five and one. They're splitting those games. So best possible scenario. I don't think they're starting six and oh. And then they finish out their season in a difficult manner. So, Georgia Tech at Clemson, at SMU, Stanford at home. So, that's Stanford traveling across the country at Miami and hosting Virginia. A few seconds away from winning the conference last year.
01:09:25 Ty Hildenbrandt: How many simulations did they make the playoff?
01:09:27 Dan Rubenstein: So you're talking you probably have to go 10 and 2. because Virginia Tech has a non-conference schedule that's not terribly impressive. So they're not going to get any sort of benefit of the doubt at nine and three. So a 10 and 2 Virginia Tech means they drop and like are impressive. They're dropping at Miami and then probably one of at Clemson at SMU or maybe Pitt or at Cal. So two of those It means Grunkemeyer is probably really good, B plus, A minus. They find answers at receiver. It is increasingly clear that Brent Pry is a defensive coordinator and not much else. Out of one hundred simulations, I think they make the College Football Playoff eight times.
01:10:11 Ty Hildenbrandt: Eight percent. Wow. Okay.
01:10:13 Dan Rubenstein: What do you say?
01:10:13 Ty Hildenbrandt: I mean, the reason I ask that is because we've been talking about The ACC being an abandoned mall with a vibrant chilies. And in the land of Lady Foot Lockers, the one that sells a couple shoes is king, or I guess in this case, queen. I don't know.
01:10:29 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.
01:10:29 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm trying to work with this.
01:10:30 Dan Rubenstein: The Sabrina ones.
01:10:31 Ty Hildenbrandt: But you get my point here, right?
01:10:33 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
01:10:33 Ty Hildenbrandt: You get my point. If Virginia Tech can somehow find a way to bubble up, we don't really know what to make of Virginia Tech. I think we've got Ample data on James Franklin. And we know that, especially now in this era of everybody transferring over, you can reboot a program pretty quickly. So I think Virginia Tech would be pretty good. The question is, how good? And the question is, to what end does that transplant effort actually work? Which is the question about a bunch of places around college football, including his old school Penn State. We're going to have that same conversation. We did have that same conversation. But if I'm looking at this schedule, and if we genuinely feel like outside of Miami, who is on this schedule eight But outside of Miami, there's just a bunch of teams that kind of feel the same and they don't really separate from the pack for one reason or another. Is there not a case to be made for Virginia Tech having a bunch of guys, which technically, if you do the returning production calculation, they've got a lot of returning production. They've got guys on this team who have played a lot of snaps. So I think it stands to reason that that number should be higher than 8%.
01:11:35 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
01:11:39 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm not saying 25%, but I think with the schedule and with the uncertainty around the conference.
01:11:42 Dan Rubenstein: Okay.
01:11:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: Give him 15. I'll double that number.
01:11:51 Dan Rubenstein: Okay, look, they were
01:11:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: I don't think it's completely beyond the realm of possibilities.
01:11:56 Dan Rubenstein: They were twenty points worse than ODU last year.
01:12:01 Ty Hildenbrandt: I know. I know.
01:12:03 Dan Rubenstein: So we got to solve that first.
01:12:05 Ty Hildenbrandt: I listen, I'm not predicting this will happen.
01:12:05 Dan Rubenstein: We got to solve the monarchs. No, I don't.
01:12:09 Ty Hildenbrandt: But theater of the mind here on the show, as we are in late May.
01:12:14 Dan Rubenstein: Mhm.
01:12:15 Ty Hildenbrandt: Just wondering. Just wondering your thoughts.
01:12:19 Dan Rubenstein: I think even putting them in that simulated conversation is an insane tactic on your part.
01:12:23 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay. Okay. Okay.
01:12:27 Dan Rubenstein: But I also dig it. I think it's intriguing. It's arresting. I think they will be, by the end of the year, thrilled to be in that six, seven win range.
01:12:41 Ty Hildenbrandt: Let me ask you another question, Dan. Let's stick with the mall thing here. Is there a surprise Orange Julius? In this crop of other 16 teams
01:12:56 Dan Rubenstein: I think there will be a pop-up Orange Julius. I think there will be a Week Nine, maybe a Week Nine and Ten Orange Julius.
01:13:03 Ty Hildenbrandt: Like if you are picking from the rest of this pack, perhaps a surprise team that pops up and gets a lot of love. Is there a team that your mind goes to first? Outside of Cal? I know you mentioned earlier.
01:13:17 Dan Rubenstein: Mm-hmm. By the way, can we call it the Uh Chilies Conference, ACC?
01:13:20 Ty Hildenbrandt: Sure. Uh Chili's Conference? Yeah.
01:13:23 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah, Uh Chili's.
01:13:24 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay. Chilies.
01:13:25 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Not many. Yeah. Is there a team that like has the ability to have a magic couple weeks?
01:13:34 Ty Hildenbrandt: 'Cause like I look at this, all right, I'll I'll answer first.
01:13:37 Dan Rubenstein: Okay.
01:13:38 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'll just go rapid fire through. Boston College, no chance they've got Ted Roof. I'm out.
01:13:42 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
01:13:42 Ty Hildenbrandt: Cal, we already described. Clemson, if Clemson were to bubble up, I don't think it would be a huge surprise. So, I don't even count them as part of this. Maybe with Christopher Vizzina and his 71 pass attempts, that would be a bit of a surprise. But Clemson's been so good for so long that we can't realistically put them as part of this conversation. Duke, no chance. Florida State, Florida State bubbling up would be something, but Florida State's, I think, more of a traditional power. So even if they got good to me, it wouldn't be a huge surprise. Georgia Tech, I don't see it. Louisville, I could make the case, but again, they've been pretty good. NC State North Carolina, no way. Pitt, I don't see it. SMU made the playoffs two years ago. Stanford, I don't see it. Syracuse, maybe you like Syracuse. Maybe Virginia runs it back. Virginia Tack, Wake Forest. Like, I'm, I think my point in bringing this up is: I am struggling to figure out who that team is. I could definitely make a case for a team going on a run like week eight through week 10. But in terms of a team genuinely going out there and surprising us the full season through and having a magical 10 and 2 season, much the way you described with Cal. I'm struggling to find other teams that maybe could fit that mold.
01:14:58 Dan Rubenstein: It might be NC State, is what I would say. So the Virginia game is not at Virginia, right? Where are they playing that game?
01:15:09 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, the here yeah, the Virginia game is in Rio to open up the year.
01:15:09 Dan Rubenstein: That's a neutral site game. Oh, it's Rio. Yes.
01:15:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah, week zero.
01:15:14 Dan Rubenstein: So that's weird. Either one of those teams can win it, and it'll be a win if nobody's brother gets in a fight in the parking lot, right? So that's a win in and of itself. They get a kind of retooled Vanderbilt, Richmond, App State. They get Louisville and Wake at home. So the first half of their schedule is weird, if not kinda good.
01:15:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: Oh, this is a great schedule. You're right.
01:15:38 Dan Rubenstein: Stanford is on the road and it's short week, but not short week because it's after a buy. They get Cal coming across the country. They get a Duke team that might be decently down. They get a Syracuse team that likely still has a ways to go.
01:15:51 Ty Hildenbrandt: They're on the road at Florida State, second to last week of the year, who may not be with Mike Norvell at that point, depending on how things go.
01:15:52 Dan Rubenstein: They get a Yeah, I will see. But Florida State has a ways to go, I think, themselves in terms of where they see themselves as a program.
01:16:05 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yes.
01:16:07 Dan Rubenstein: And then they have North Carolina to finish out the air in the rivalry spot, and that's a week after North Carolina travels to Virginia. So
01:16:15 Ty Hildenbrandt: No Miami, SMU, Clemson, Pitt, Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech on this thing.
01:16:22 Dan Rubenstein: Right.
01:16:23 Ty Hildenbrandt: That's really good. Wow.
01:16:25 Dan Rubenstein: And look.
01:16:26 Ty Hildenbrandt: I missed that.
01:16:27 Dan Rubenstein: Again, it's offensive line. It's receiver. We'll see how the transfers without a ton of playing time work out. I think JoJo Trader is one of them coming over from Miami to NC State. We know C.J. Bailey is at least pretty good. And Dave Doeren has coached teams that look, I'm not going to fall for 10 and 2 Dave Doeren again. There's a reason his ceiling has been where it's been. But again, there's a vacuum. If you're asking about an Orange Julius, not quite on the substantial level of a Chili's, but if you're asking about an Orange Julius, if your starting point is experienced quarterback and coach who has won a bunch. I'm okay with NC State there.
01:17:05 Ty Hildenbrandt: I love this new world that we're in now with the ACC. We could probably do a full episode where we
01:17:11 Dan Rubenstein: The Uh Chili's Conference, yeah.
01:17:12 Ty Hildenbrandt: The Uh Chili's right, where we define the mall in an ACC sense where we compare teams to stores.
01:17:19 Dan Rubenstein: I would love to. Look, who's a kiosk? We're like, look, they're not good, but I'll stop by and check out this weird remote control helicopter for a couple minutes.
01:17:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: Probably at North Carolina.
01:17:27 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. North Carolina, if their defense, I mean, they lose, you know, I think the linebackers were sort of the heartbeat of that defense last year. But if, what is it, Jordan Shipp? The receiver who's back, like, I think they could string together at least an intriguing kiosk of a week or two.
01:17:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: Boston College is a mess.
01:17:43 Dan Rubenstein: Sure. Yeah.
01:17:46 Ty Hildenbrandt: They're not going to play any defense.
01:17:48 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah. And they're banking on a D2 quarterback. They're going with the Ty strategy.
01:17:52 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:17:52 Dan Rubenstein: We'll see how it works out.
01:17:53 Ty Hildenbrandt: I mean, I'm not even going D two quarterbacks.
01:17:53 Dan Rubenstein: Yeah.
01:17:55 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm all about, you know, FCS.
01:17:57 Dan Rubenstein: You said D two like three weeks ago.
01:18:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: No, I said FCS.
01:18:00 Dan Rubenstein: You're like, if you're in charge. No, you said D2 and FCS. You said small school.
01:18:04 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay. Well, I just learned about Saginaw State. So no, we could do that episode. And if you have suggestions, sell itverbal at gmail. com. Let us know what store Pitt is in your book. Would love to hear from you.
01:18:21 Dan Rubenstein: What would be pit in this situation? Where like you kind of know what you're getting in pit. We know that there's upside with Mason Heinschel. Again, offensive line and receiver questions. Defense was ahead of the offense last year, I believe. You know what you're getting. I guess with Pat Narduzzi specifically, it could be a LensCrafters.
01:18:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: A little bit, right.
01:18:43 Dan Rubenstein: Like, they're serving a purpose. They're helping to round out the options at this mall.
01:18:51 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:18:52 Dan Rubenstein: But you're not excited by a lens crafters.
01:18:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: No. I'm trying to think who is the fad team
01:18:57 Dan Rubenstein: Or a Sunglass Hut?
01:19:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: Who's the fad team in the ACC this year? Like, I think of you think Cal, Cal is like a Hollister or something that plays into recent trends.
01:19:04 Dan Rubenstein: I think Cal. Yeah. I think there's flash to cal, which we haven't been able to say in a long time, but because JKS is, you know, he loves bombing it downfield and taking chances, they've improved offensive skill. They're recruiting well, and they'll continue to recruit well, I think, under Tosh. And they have the weird geographic situation. Right, where teams travel all the way west and they put a scare into them at the very least. So, a couple of years ago at that Miami game. I think that they would be, in my mind, they're like my look, it's not my favorite, but they're fun to look at.
01:19:49 Ty Hildenbrandt: No.
01:19:51 Dan Rubenstein: Did you shop at Hollister? American Eagle? Abercrombie?
01:19:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: Back in the day I did, yeah. I think I bought one of those like puka shell necklaces from Hollister back in the day.
01:19:58 Dan Rubenstein: I believe that. I believe that.
01:20:00 Ty Hildenbrandt: Before going down to Ocean City, Maryland. Yeah.
01:20:03 Dan Rubenstein: Okay.
01:20:04 Ty Hildenbrandt: Clemson, I don't, you know, Clemson, I don't think is a store.
01:20:04 Dan Rubenstein: You you bought in.
01:20:07 Ty Hildenbrandt: I just think they're a franchise that's been in the same In the same space in the mall for a long time and has never swapped out the wallpaper. You know, it's just starting to show a lot of age.
01:20:21 Dan Rubenstein: I think we're looking at both Clemson and Florida State because of how much money they're paying Dabo and Mike Norvell as stores that nobody ever goes to. You're like, is that a money laundering front of some kind?
01:20:31 Ty Hildenbrandt: Is that a front? Yeah. Is that a front?
01:20:34 Dan Rubenstein: Right. They're just selling expensive greeting cards and nobody is going in. Like, they're not sharper images. Sharper images, you just tool around and be like, what is this? Massager? What is this chair? Whatever.
01:20:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:20:48 Dan Rubenstein: But it's yeah, they're selling like very strange oil paintings.
01:20:54 Ty Hildenbrandt: In the mall, in the mall, yeah.
01:20:55 Dan Rubenstein: Nobody's ever in there Like, it's a lot of like centaurs. Although, I think I would go in there.
01:21:04 Ty Hildenbrandt: Just to check it out, but you're not going to buy anything, and that's the point.
01:21:06 Dan Rubenstein: You're not going to buy anything. But yes, I think combined they're making like $20, $21 million, Mike Norvell and Dablosweeney this year. So there's Swarovski?
01:21:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: Um yeah. I was just seeing I just bought a gift at Swarovski a couple of weeks ago.
01:21:18 Dan Rubenstein: Okay, well maybe not. You're classier than I am.
01:21:21 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:21:22 Dan Rubenstein: All right.
01:21:23 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay, we're going to need to unpack this more.
01:21:26 Dan Rubenstein: There's your May CC.
01:21:28 Ty Hildenbrandt: There's your May CC. Solidverbal at gmail. com. Hit us up. Let us know your thoughts on any of what we described here today, be it Tony Petitti and where things seem to be headed for the College Football Playoff, or the ACC, the Uh Chili's Conference.
01:21:42 Dan Rubenstein: Thank you.
01:21:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: Talk to us about the mall, whatever you're into. Again, solidverbal@gmail.
01:21:45 Dan Rubenstein: The Mountain East? Yeah.
01:21:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: com. Would encourage everybody to go to solidverbal.com/newsletter. That's where you can sign up for the newsletter if you have yet to do so. Tyler's been killing it, man.
01:21:58 Dan Rubenstein: Oh, he's doing so well.
01:21:58 Ty Hildenbrandt: He's doing such a good job writing about coaches and teams and just interesting nuances. That I think warrant consideration and are definitely worthy of your attention. A free newsletter Give us your email. Again, solidverbal.com/slash newsletter. You can sign up. The most recent one was on the pairing. We just sent this out on Tuesday between Bill Belichick and His new offensive coordinator, which we did not even discuss here. But Bobby Petrino and Bill Belichick is a very odd couple, to say the least.
01:22:32 Dan Rubenstein: Man.
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01:22:43 Dan Rubenstein: Definitely. For all the goodies that we're giving you.
01:22:47 Ty Hildenbrandt: All the good stuff.
01:22:48 Dan Rubenstein: Like this.
01:22:48 Ty Hildenbrandt: I didn't even mention Verballers.com.
01:22:51 Dan Rubenstein: Verballers. com. There you go.
01:22:53 Ty Hildenbrandt: Tell the fine folks what they can get at Verballers. com real quick. I always do it.
01:22:56 Dan Rubenstein: Okay, so if you sign up to support us via our Patreon on Verballers.com. Ty will make every new subscriber a ham and cheese sandwich. Yes?
01:23:08 Ty Hildenbrandt: I think we took that out of the five-dollar tier.
01:23:08 Dan Rubenstein: And it arrives through the mail. Is that that was more of a 2024 thing?
01:23:14 Ty Hildenbrandt: That was more of a 24 thing, yeah.
01:23:15 Dan Rubenstein: Okay, so scratch the ham sandwich thing. You said deep tissue massage. Was that what it was?
01:23:22 Ty Hildenbrandt: That was at the uh fifty dollar tier, I think.
01:23:26 Dan Rubenstein: That was the $50.
01:23:27 Ty Hildenbrandt: That was a fifty dollar tier, yeah.
01:23:28 Dan Rubenstein: That's not bad. For a deep tissue massage from Ty Hildenbrandt? For $50?
01:23:32 Ty Hildenbrandt: You have to pay for the travel to get me there. But the $50.
01:23:36 Dan Rubenstein: Ty, this is like the actual language, I think, of sexual professionals. Like, you have to pay for my travel, and then I will give you a massage.
01:23:43 Ty Hildenbrandt: Okay. You always say these things when I'm drinking. Don't like what? I just have water here. Although maybe it should be something harder with the way you're talking.
01:23:52 Dan Rubenstein: I don't know. You're talking about charging for massages and you have to pay for travel. Okay. That's you? No, if you go to Verballers. com, you have access to our Discord, which is an incredible college football community of huge college football fans. You have access to our bonus shows that we do every week all season long and all year long, off season long as well. The access to the games is great. The pick'em pool all season long. We're adding new games as well. We do a fun game in the wintertime called what bowl bingo like there's just a ton to go through behind the scenes with uh with the community at Verballers.com
01:24:30 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm going to spin up Grand Total again this year.
01:24:33 Dan Rubenstein: Early access, ad-free? I don't know.
01:24:35 Ty Hildenbrandt: Yeah.
01:24:35 Dan Rubenstein: Seems great.
01:24:36 Ty Hildenbrandt: I'm spinning up grand total again. Re-go through all the power teams and do the over-under.
01:24:38 Dan Rubenstein: Grand totals back?
01:24:41 Ty Hildenbrandt: It's a real easy game. So, yeah, a lot to look forward to. That's Verballers.com. Go and check that out. It's a great way to support what Dan and I do. I already mentioned the newsletter, already mentioned follower, subscribe, and the ratings and reviews, and all that stuff. So we do not need to play that back. Thank you one and all so much for downloading, for supporting what Dan and I do here on the show. We will be back next week in some capacity. We'll keep you posted on that front. But in the meantime, do enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. Wherever it is you find us, wherever it is we find you, as always, you know the drill. Stay solid.
01:25:15 Dan Rubenstein: Peace and uh good luck with your corn, Ty.
01:25:19 Ty Hildenbrandt: I aspire for that corn. I do, I really do.