2026-08-09 SEC Preview Part 1 - Contender Tiers, Thick Upper Crust and Schedule Gauntlets (raw)

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:18 Dan Rubenstein, the purpose of today's show is a zoomed-out, 30,000-foot view of the SEC from way up here, up here in the troposphere. Here is what I am seeing. I see three major storylines going into the 2026 SEC college football season. Are you ready?

Dan Rubenstein 00:38 I'm ready.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:39 Number one.

Dan Rubenstein 00:40 Hold on, are these Laura Rutledge approved?

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:43 They might be. You're going to have to get back to me.

Dan Rubenstein 00:43 Okay, okay. Woo!

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:44 Let me know.

Dan Rubenstein 00:45 Woo!

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:45 I don't know.

Dan Rubenstein 00:46 Woo! There's like the crisis PR firm needs to weigh in. Continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 00:50 A, slash numero uno. SEC has not won a national championship in three straight seasons, which I would argue has somewhat shifted the balance of power in the sport.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01 The discourse. Yeah, continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03 Two, the balance of power within the league itself also may have somewhat shifted given the fact that we have six new coaches. I did the math. I pulled up the iPhone calculator. 37.5% of the league has a new coach in the year of our Lord 2026. Those being Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Ole Miss. And three, this might be the part where you need to get Rutledge on the line, okay?

Dan Rubenstein 01:32 Uh-oh.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:33 Three, the SEC is now playing nine conference games.

01:38 Maybe you've heard of this, Dan.

Dan Rubenstein 01:39 But aren't they going to get too tired? Isn't that—I mean, they're going to have a few weeks off, the Playoff teams. I just am so worried, Ty.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:48 I was fully expecting that this was going to be a point of discussion. I gotta be honest, we're three weeks away from the season. It's already a point of contention around college football. So, clearly, not everyone's all that excited about this. It will two million percent be a talking point the deeper we get into the season. Of course, we joke about schedule gauntlets, and we'll talk about some of them here on today's episode, but I would expect that this will be a source of vibrant debate as we get a little bit deeper into this thing. Hello, welcome back. I'm Ty. He's Dan.

02:23 This is The Solid Verbal. Did I miss any of the major storylines from where you sit?

Dan Rubenstein 02:28 Yeah, I mean, in terms of major, yes, there's the national reputation and discourse of it all, right? This is talking season, this is yapping season, this is running your mouth season. I should know because I do it for a living. I don't just speak. I run my mouth and I say things I regret. And, you know, what are you going to do? I think the quarterback thing is like super interesting about this conference. And we talked about it a little with the Big Ten, but the intrigue around the specific kinds of quarterbacks, the returning quarterbacks, I think it's a fascinating, arguably the most fascinating quarterback conference in America right now, which we don't always get to say about the SEC, but with where it stands now, both with new coaches, and we're familiar with like Byrum Brown's name, right?

03:16 And he has a new place, and now it's the SEC coming over from USF. I think the quarterback name thing, and you can list them out. I'm sure we're going to list them out, but like with Arch and Mateer and Marcel Reed. And who am I missing? LaNorris Sellers, right? Trinidad Chambliss. Like, I mean, I think it's an unbelievably fascinating quarterback conference right now. And I am truly, genuinely, earnestly grateful for it.

03:45 Like, I don't like going into a conference and be like, well, we'll see if Katin Houser can adjust. I don't like that. I hope Katin Houser can adjust.

Ty Hildenbrandt 03:52 No disrespect to Katin Houser.

Dan Rubenstein 03:54 I'm old and I like being familiar with people. So the SEC is giving me something pretty great for how old I am. And I think that's a major storyline for this conference moving forward is that, like, yes, there's a lot new, which you mentioned, but because we can be Abe Simpson and set our watch to knowing what the Trinidad Chambliss experience is. I think that this makes the SEC, and you can use any sort of hyperbolic word you want, fascinating, influential, entertaining. All of those things apply, and I think that's pretty great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 04:31 Yeah, and when you tie it all up, people who listen to this show, people who follow college football know this already. But when you tie up the fact that they haven't won it in a couple years, when you tie up the fact that there is so much changing, albeit still a lot the same with reference to quarterbacks, when you talk about the schedule, when you tie all of that up, there is a conference solidarity here among the SEC fandom I don't think exists

Dan Rubenstein 04:58 Sure.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:00 Elsewhere in college football. The whole "It Means More" thing has definitely come to represent, I would say, the SEC fandom as a whole. And because of that, as I said a moment ago, there will be vibrant discussions, vibrant debate around SEC teams with three regular-season losses at season's end.

05:23 Remember, Clemson got in with three losses in the regular season two years ago, but they won their conference.

Dan Rubenstein 05:30 They won the ACC, yep.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:32 Alabama got in with three losses, but that was by virtue of a conference championship game that they lost a year ago to Georgia.

Dan Rubenstein 05:38 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 05:39 My expectation is a lot of this stuff is going to come to a head three months from now, and it's going to be incredible theater, to say the absolute very least.

Dan Rubenstein 05:46 Of course. Yes. Yeah, look, I'm very excited for this conference. I am not super excited for the discourse, but the grass of it all is going to be terrific, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:01 The discourse, though, is what makes this special. This is college football. This is why we do the show.

Dan Rubenstein 06:06 The problem with the discourse is

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:10 Oh, here we go.

06:22 All right, all right, all right. We gotta chop that in half. We just need the back part of it.

Dan Rubenstein 06:25 I know. For parts two and three, it's just going to be the SEC is a gauntlet.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:30 So, yes, today is part one.

Dan Rubenstein 06:31 Continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 06:32 We're going to give you the zoomed-out view of the SEC. We're going to put these teams in tiers a little bit later on in this episode. T-I-E-R-S, in case you were wondering. And then, yeah, the next two episodes will be dedicated to deeper dives of all 16 teams in this conference. We've already done the other conferences in college football. So if you want to go back and listen to all that mainline and get ready for the college football season, for sure, be our guest if you want to get fired up. Before we put these 16 teams into tiers, though, we do have to talk about what happened last season.

07:12 And perhaps the bigger implications for the upper crust of this conference, which looks, I think, dramatically different than it has in recent years.

Dan Rubenstein 07:23 Yeah, last season and since last season, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 07:24 And since last season, for sure. Awesome SEC regular season a year ago. Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 07:30 Yeah, agree.

Ty Hildenbrandt 07:31 We had four teams that finished seven and one in conference. Those being Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M. We had three others that finished, excuse me, six and two in conference, those being Oklahoma, Texas, and Vanderbilt. There was a drop-off after those seven teams, but the bigger point is it's seven teams. That's a lot. That's almost half the conference, Dan.

07:55 Seven teams were very much in the hunt. Seven teams were brought up on multiple occasions on our show as we were talking through what it all meant, and tiebreakers, and what are the ramifications, and all that. That's a relatively thick upper crust. We're now a couple years removed from big changes in college football and the SEC. Obviously, NIL, the portal, that hit like crack all across the sport. That was a big deal. But then you factor in the addition of Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC, both of whom were in this group of seven teams. You factor in the retirement of one Nick Saban.

08:36 The upper crust of this conference, and this is a reference for you, my friend, has very quickly gone from New York-style to Detroit-style.

Dan Rubenstein 08:40 Oh, okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 08:44 Prove me wrong.

Dan Rubenstein 08:45 Well, listen. Anybody that knows Ty knows he does have a weakness for a thick upper crust. You talk to his college buddies, you're like, oh, that's Ty. Yes, it's top-heavy. It has a lot to offer in terms of playoff-caliber teams.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:03 But you can't even say top-heavy. It's like half the conference.

Dan Rubenstein 09:08 Yes. I mean, the context here is that five teams now have new coaches.

Ty Hildenbrandt 09:14 Six? If you count Pete Golding, if you count Pete Golding, you get six, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 09:15 Is it six? Oh, okay, fair. Yeah, yeah. So it's six new coaches. So that's a not insignificant portion of the conference. And so you look at a team like Texas A&M, and this is like the two things being true at the same time. Did they not play like in October where they played four or five teams who ended up firing their coach last season? Right.

09:36 So like the thick upper crust, the top heaviness can be supported by not necessarily playing a robust schedule against teams who have kept their coach. So yes, I agree with you. And it is, I think, a different kind of conference in that manner. But yeah, that makes this year all the more entertaining and exciting because we're not going into the season with like I don't know. Is he going to keep his job? Like that conversation doesn't seem to be happening all over the conference like it kind of felt like it was last year. So, yeah, I don't take issue with any of any of what you said. Detroit can be.

10:19 Tough to handle.

Ty Hildenbrandt 10:20 Pizza. This is a pizza reference for those wondering at home playing along.

Dan Rubenstein 10:22 Detroit pizza, Detroit-style pizza, while thicker, can leave you feeling a little bit bloated and regretful if not prepared correctly. So I don't know. I wanted to take that analogy as far as I could, and that's as far as I could. You are right about the SEC. There is a ton, a ton to be fearful of in that top half.

Ty Hildenbrandt 10:44 Georgia beat Alabama 28-7 in the SEC title game. They got the first-round bye. There were five SEC teams that made it through to the College Football Playoff, those being Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, and Alabama. Alabama, in perhaps a bit of controversy, got in over Notre Dame. Ole Miss, though, was the team that went on the run. Damn near made the national championship game. They did so in spite of Lane Kiffin and his theatrics as he decided he wanted to leave for LSU, although didn't fully decide until it was pretty late in the game and then wanted to take guys with him.

11:19 And it was a whole thing. To paraphrase our friend Bruce Feldman from The Athletic, Lane's just a bad breaker-upper, Dan, and I think we saw that on display once more.

Dan Rubenstein 11:28 Yeah, and they were able to do so while being tired, too, right? They were able to get to the final four and they beat Georgia, correct? In a shootout to get there. Despite having played an extra game before Georgia, beating up on Tulane, I want to say, in the first round of the playoff. I thought Ole Miss' year was sensational last year. I think we should frame what the SEC is in a different way than, oh, we have to funnel it through the national championship. SEC had a fun year, had a great year, had an entertaining year, produced a ton of high-quality matchups and outcomes. It's just one of those things in the SEC, and I promise we're moving forward to actual football talk, where so many teams end the year in a much more disappointing way because of the playoff, and the depth is tested by other conferences in the playoff.

12:23 It wasn't a great year for the SEC, but yeah, I think there was, there was a ton to look back at and look forward to because of that. That was impressive.

Ty Hildenbrandt 12:34 So we've mentioned the coaching changes. As you might expect, some huge roster reboots as a result. Really, across the conference, huge portal hauls abound. According to 247Sports and their portal rankings, 11 of the top 20 portal classes were SEC schools. LSU led the way. They had the top class. Lane Kiffin comes in, tries to poach everybody's players. What do I got here? 41 commits.

13:05 A lot new coming in via the portal. Arkansas, if you'll believe it, actually led among SEC teams with 42 commits. So they had one more than LSU.

Dan Rubenstein 13:13 In terms of quantity, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 13:14 In terms of quantity, we will, I'm sure, dive into at least a little bit about quality here. As we go through our tiers and whatnot, we will talk about the high-impact guys for sure. We have to, I think, just if we're telling the story of the SEC, if not in this episode, certainly in parts two and three. But that now, I think, gets us to our next stage of the game here, which is: we had a bunch of new coaches.

13:38 We had really good portal classes. How many of those teams are actually equipped to win right now, to move their way up in the conference, maybe to be part of the College Football Playoff conversation, Dan. If you are ready, if the Verballerhood is ready, shall we talk tiers?

Dan Rubenstein 13:55 Sure. I mean, was—was—you want to talk new names in the context of tiers? Or were there any names that jumped out to you that, like, these are the new names in the conference, be it, you know, head coach, assistant coach, coordinator, transfer portal in, freshman. Is there anything there you want to get to before tiers that's, like, just a table setter, or just all within the tiers?

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:15 I want to talk tiers, baby. I'm ready for this. I'm coming at this with bated breath. We have been talking a lot about it. If you go on out to our Patreon now at Verballers.com, we talk through this, I think, in a little bit more detail. As some may have known or may know by now, we were invited to take part in the AP Top 25 this year, which we're very excited about. We talk through, on a free bonus episode at Verballers.com, all of our thinking behind our initial Top 25 ballot, a lot of talk in there about these SEC teams.

14:51 We ranked a bunch of SEC teams. We went full kimono with it, as you like to say, right?

Dan Rubenstein 14:56 Got to open up the kimono, expose ourselves.

Ty Hildenbrandt 14:56 We, yeah, we tried to be as transparent as we could to talk through at least our initial thought process for how we rank these teams.

Dan Rubenstein 14:59 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:04 So go on out to Verballers.com. It's a free bonus episode. We would encourage you, if you want to support the team, if you like what you hear. Verballers.com, again, V-E-R-B-A-L-L-E-R-S.com.

15:15 If nothing more, if you made it this far, please rate, review, subscribe to the show so that you don't miss any of the three episodes that we're putting out on an ongoing basis here each week.

Dan Rubenstein 15:25 Agree.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:27 What does your top tier look like? What's your championship tier?

Dan Rubenstein 15:30 How many tiers do you have?

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:31 I have four.

Dan Rubenstein 15:33 I have one, two, three, four.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:36 I have a championship tier. I have five teams.

Dan Rubenstein 15:40 Which features how many teams? I have two.

Ty Hildenbrandt 15:44 Okay. I have tier two being I could squint and see it, three teams in that one. I have, uh, bowl teams with upside. And then I have, let me see, what do I got? My last one here is getting plucky in Kentucky.

Dan Rubenstein 16:04 Okay. My first tier is two teams that I feel like have more questions answered, that it would be disappointing if they did not end up in the SEC Championship game, given how they're built, how they're coached, their recent history, their current expectations, and their lack of questions. My next tier is five teams who I think have playoff upside and perhaps with a schedule or health luck nudge of some kind, they could end up in the SEC Championship game, but all have what I believe to be the upside, if everything goes right, of being in the playoff.

Ty Hildenbrandt 16:41 Okay. I have, by the way, six teams in my championship tier and then three teams in my next tier down.

Dan Rubenstein 16:45 Okay. Okay. So this isn't a squint tier to me. I just separated what I feel like are contenders in sort of a I think there's a breakpoint, but that's me. And then I have six teams who I think have bowl upside, who, catch a team right week, right situation, could grab a team or two above them. And then I have three teams beneath them, all of whom I think have interesting bowl upside as well, but seem to have more questions than some of the others.

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:13 Yeah.

17:17 If you combine your top tier and your second tier, and then, if you combine my top tier and my second tier, Detroit-style crust, we've got a thick upper crust here.

Dan Rubenstein 17:25 Yeah.

17:28 So yeah, that's seven teams in my first two.

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:32 So who are your first two? I could take guesses, but speak for yourself. Who do you got in the first two?

Dan Rubenstein 17:36 I couldn't imagine that you could guess incorrectly.

Ty Hildenbrandt 17:41 Georgia and Texas.

Dan Rubenstein 17:42 Yeah, that's my upper tier. That's my contending tier. That's what we've recently seen in an SEC championship game. Texas missed out on it. Obviously, a lot of tiebreakers and such lead to teams being within the playoff or near the playoff. But given continuity at quarterback, continuity at head coach, mostly on staff continuity. The obvious upside of defense, the combination of quarterback and defense, the situation with which the quarterbacks are playing.

18:14 So offensive line, play caller, receiving options between receiver, tight end, maybe running backs out of the backfield. I think Georgia and Texas are separate. I think there is a clean break between Georgia, Texas and the construction and questions of other teams, who I feel like are also of playoff-caliber. But if I'm trying to tier these out, I think Georgia and Texas have more in common with each other than they do the few teams beneath them.

Ty Hildenbrandt 18:41 We ranked Georgia number four on that AP ballot that I referenced a moment ago. They look like the safest pick to me because of most of the reasons you mentioned. They've got returning quarterback, Gunner Stockton, who I love. They do project to be very, very sound on both sides of the football. The two specific things that I think I'm most concerned about: one, they've got to create more chunk plays. That was a problem a year ago, and now they lose Zachariah Branch. Some question, I think, about what they've got out wide. And secondly, pass rush, which again, not an obvious answer.

19:18 Neither of those, to me, look like deal breakers. And at the end of the day, if you said, yeah, Georgia figured it out, I would believe you. I would believe you. I think they'll be fine. The other thing that you didn't mention that we probably should, Georgia's got one of the better schedules in the SEC. Certainly among the favorites. They don't have Texas. They don't have Texas A&M. They don't play LSU or Tennessee on this thing.

19:43 It's not easy, right? This is the point in the show where I wish you had just the half-gauntlet sound, but everyone's got something of a gauntlet here in the SEC with the nine conference games. It's just the nature of the beast now. But they do have Oklahoma. They do go to Alabama. They've got Florida. They're at Ole Miss. They got Missouri. They've got a road game against South Carolina.

20:03 It's not easy. But I think pound for pound, what Georgia has feels like it's in a really stable spot. And there's just a lot to like here. Certainly, just a handful of questions when you start talking about holes.

Dan Rubenstein 20:16 Yes. And whatever questions they may have, and we will obviously dive into this deeper when we get to the Georgia portion of our team preview episodes, schedule starts really nicely for Georgia to sort of get a handle on whatever questions they may have.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:26 Oh, yeah, it does.

Dan Rubenstein 20:31 You mentioned pass rush and downfield passing. But they don't play any huge non-conference game in September. They do have Georgia Tech to conclude the season. And they get Arkansas week three. Say what you will about whatever the upside is of Arkansas. It's the beginning of a rebuild. And so, it's a good time to get Arkansas.

Ty Hildenbrandt 20:47 Yeah, oh yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 20:51 Even if you're high on Arkansas this year, you probably want to get them in early to mid-September. So Georgia does have that. And also, you know, because of the neutral-site game, I believe four true road games this season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:01 Right.

Dan Rubenstein 21:02 So not bad.

Ty Hildenbrandt 21:03 We ranked Texas at number six, so we weren't far behind on Texas. Clearly, a championship-caliber roster. Sark has done well. I think it's what, three straight 10-win seasons now, a lot coming back. A really good portal class. I love the portal class. We can get into that more as we go through. You had talked about the Julian Sayin to Jeremiah Smith connection.

21:25 On one of our episodes, probably on a bunch of our episodes now. I'm losing track. We've done a lot of these. It's not quite the same, but the Arch Manning to Cam Coleman connection is definitely going to be something worth following. I'm not going to say it's going to be as great statistically as I think we'll see up at Ohio State. But in terms of just raw impact, this is probably on a similar scale, wouldn't you say?

Dan Rubenstein 21:49 Yeah, I think the physicality of Cam Coleman is there. You see what he can be. You see the ridiculous ceiling when things are operating. And I don't think he's had the quarterback to give you full proof of Cam Coleman concept or quarterback play. So yes, I think what we could see from this Texas passing game, because we know that the best of Arch can be quite impressive. But it's just the full collection. Is the offensive line repaired via portal and new positions?

Ty Hildenbrandt 22:16 Well, that's it. That's where I was going next, absolutely.

Dan Rubenstein 22:19 Right? It's also, okay, if Cam Coleman's the clear number one.

22:26 Is the rushing attack there? And is there enough gravity pulling away in other directions from this offense so that defenses have to be honest enough? If Cam Coleman suddenly starts popping, like if he goes off for 156 yards against Ohio State in week two, are there more options on this Texas offense that defenses are like, yeah, but if we, you know, keep a safety over Cam Coleman, that, blah, like, is Texas offering more in terms of variance and explosion to keep defenses honest? I think that's something.

Ty Hildenbrandt 22:59 Yeah, I mean, I like Ryan Wingo a lot. I think Ryan Wingo's got—he's got size, he's got obvious value in the red zone, but they lacked consistency, is the broader point. Last season, and certainly along the offensive line, they ranked 90th in rushing offense. They were 114th in stuff rate allowed. They just were not getting the push that they needed. So they went out. They did try to beef up there, both in terms of the running backs that they brought in and how they're constructing the line. But the run game definitely remains an open question.

Dan Rubenstein 23:27 Definitely.

Ty Hildenbrandt 23:31 You know, Will Muschamp is now running the defense.

23:34 I like Will Muschamp. I've talked on this show a couple of times now about how I think Sark always wanted Will Muschamp to run that defense, and now he's got him. But the secondary was an issue a year ago. What does that communication look like at the back end of the defense? That's something they're going to need to solve relatively quickly because contrary to what we see on the Georgia side, this schedule is friggin' murder.

Dan Rubenstein 23:56 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 23:56 This is murder. And that's not to say Georgia's is easy. Again, I am not implying that. But there is a real question to me about whether Texas can survive this schedule. It's just brutal.

24:08 It comes out of him. It's the hardest schedule in the country if you include non-con games in your calculation.

Dan Rubenstein 24:12 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:13 So there's not a lot of runway to get this thing figured out. And if Sark wants to, I think, continue that trend of 10-win seasons, they're going to have to come out of the gate pretty fast.

Dan Rubenstein 24:25 Agree. And they don't, you know, obviously, I mean, a lot of teams now, right? They're the new calculus of not having the random non-conference game November 13th or something. Like, it's kind of non-stop, depending on how much I guess you respect Arkansas year one, uh, because they have that late in the year. But yeah, man, this schedule is nails.

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:45 It's brutal.

Dan Rubenstein 24:45 Like, if they come out of this schedule 10-2, 11-1, 12-0, you're just like, oh, they have done a magnificent job, and Sark should be, you know, a finalist for coach of the year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 24:57 Muschamp has to find some way against the schedule to create pressure without putting that secondary in a bad position.

Dan Rubenstein 25:03 Good news, Colin Simmons wears burnt orange.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:06 Well, that's my point, right? That's my point. I mean, that's also a strength that needs to be mentioned and is a huge part of why we're putting them in this top tier. Now, your top tier looks different than mine. You've got two. I've got six. We can roll with yours because if we try to like merge the two, it gets murky in audio format.

Dan Rubenstein 25:23 We can do whatever. Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:26 All right, so I'll stick with what you've got here, and we'll use that as like our framework.

Dan Rubenstein 25:31 Those are the two teams atop your first tier anyway.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:34 Yes, yes.

Dan Rubenstein 25:34 Yes? Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 25:35 Now, if I were to rank out the other four teams in my championship tier, I have them in this specific order.

25:43 And I'm guessing these teams are in your next rung down. I've got LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M in that order. Now, for anyone who went and listened to the way that we ranked out these teams in our AP Top 25 discussion. It doesn't exactly look like that. We had like a fruitful discussion and we had a little bit of give and take. So how I view the teams is probably not exactly how you view the teams. But my hunch is that in your next tier down, you're going to have those four in some order.

Dan Rubenstein 26:16 Yeah, I have five. I have Ole Miss included in that tier as well.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:18 Okay, Ole Miss. So, how would you rank them?

Dan Rubenstein 26:20 I just I kind of refuse if I feel like a team may have the best quarterback in the conference to put them as a third tier team.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:27 Great.

Dan Rubenstein 26:27 When there's no glaring issue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:28 Great. No, that's totally reasonable. How would you rank those five teams then in your tier?

Dan Rubenstein 26:32 I have it as Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:37 We actually rank them in reverse.

Dan Rubenstein 26:39 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 26:40 Basically, I have Ole Miss, I guess, a tier down from you. So this is not exactly apples to apples, but Oklahoma. You're really high in Oklahoma.

Dan Rubenstein 26:54 I think of this tier of teams, so of these five teams. I think with what they bring back, and the depth isn't there on defense, or at least the proven depth isn't there like it's been the last couple seasons, but with what they return on all three levels, the potential star power on all three levels, I think they have an obvious playoff side of the ball in ways that those other teams don't. At least, again, it's August 7th, we're recording this. So, not to say that they won't develop into, you know, have a playoff offense or a playoff defense. But you don't have to squint to look at who Oklahoma returns on defense and say, oh, yeah, this is—they are of playoff-caliber without question when healthy. And so, for that reason, I'm in on Oklahoma. They were able to get to the playoff with almost no consistent passing game last year.

27:49 So, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which the Oklahoma passing game and John Mateer are like a little bit worse than where they were last year, especially on the road. He wasn't especially productive. So I gamble on the development there of John Mateer. Also, I've just been inundated with his like traps and triceps and stuff.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:08 He looks like he's on steroids. He's huge.

Dan Rubenstein 28:11 He looks yoked. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:14 He's huge. He's like Brady Quinn back in the day.

Dan Rubenstein 28:17 He's taken his nutrition seriously this offseason.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:20 He's had an extra dose of creatine, apparently.

Dan Rubenstein 28:22 Yeah, he's adding, you know, Squatober came early for John Mateer.

Ty Hildenbrandt 28:22 Good lord.

Dan Rubenstein 28:26 Look, I think the running game will be more pronounced. I just, I like enough about Oklahoma where I think they are adding to a playoff team in a more interesting way than I guess Texas A&M. Ole Miss is kind of starting over in a number of ways. Alabama needs to prove a lot given what they're working into their two-deep on offense and defense.

28:51 And LSU is just a stew that you don't know if it's going to, like Ty's preferred upper crust, if it's going to thicken thoroughly enough by the end of the year. And so, yeah, the ingredients seem to be there, but tier one, it's tough.

29:12 Did I say anything outlandish?

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:12 No, no, no. No, of course not.

Dan Rubenstein 29:14 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:15 I'm just not all the way in on Oklahoma. Oklahoma is going to be very good.

Dan Rubenstein 29:19 I tried to do this schedule independent after you said to me that a team isn't their schedule.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:19 They're going to be very good.

Dan Rubenstein 29:24 And obviously, Oklahoma has a tough road trip early on in the season. They have Georgia on the road, they have Texas, and they finish in a kind of strong way. I know you're a Florida believer: Ole Miss, A&M, Mizzou.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:37 No. 3 projected schedule.

Dan Rubenstein 29:39 Yeah, it's super tough.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:41 It's crazy. Gauntlet, as some have said.

Dan Rubenstein 29:44 Can't note.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:44 Listen, I believe in Oklahoma. I believe in the defense. I am not fully there on the offensive side. I know they are trying. They are absolutely trying to rebuild.

Dan Rubenstein 29:56 I'm trying, Jennifer. Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 29:57 They are trying to rebuild the way that they go about their business on the ground. They've got a new running backs coach.

30:05 They've got a new tight ends coach. Jason Witten is now coaching.

Dan Rubenstein 30:08 Jason Witten talked about playing basketball with John Mateer and not wanting to injure him. Low block.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:13 I think there's a commitment to like heavier personnel this year.

Dan Rubenstein 30:17 I think they kind of ran the heavier personnel. Their tight ends just weren't that great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:21 I know, I know, but then let's say they're recommitted to it this season.

Dan Rubenstein 30:24 Sure, great.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:25 I think they're trying to commit to more of a physical identity on the ground that we did not see at all a year ago. And yeah, if they can get a little bit more consistent in the passing attack, they'd be the better team for it. You mentioned the depth issue, which is not insignificant. It shouldn't be the first thing we talk about because there are clear headliners on this defense. I mean, I could rattle them off. Taylor Wein, David Stone, Kip Lewis, Eli and Peyton Bowen.

Dan Rubenstein 30:53 The Bowens, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 30:53 Like they've got stars at all three levels of this defense, and it was a really good defense from a year ago. But the depth, I think, that you mentioned is in the front, in particular, four of last year's top six defensive linemen are gone.

31:07 It's just a thinner rotation, let's say, behind the headliners on this defense.

Dan Rubenstein 31:12 Proven rotation.

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:13 Proven rotation.

Dan Rubenstein 31:13 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:14 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 31:14 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:14 So can they stay at that elite level despite not having the same amount of depth? I think they'll be fine, but it is a tough schedule, and it's a schedule like this that tends to expose those things. So I'm, I'm not as high on Oklahoma because I need to see the consistency on offense before I'm a full-blown believer.

Dan Rubenstein 31:33 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:34 I'm really high on LSU, though.

Dan Rubenstein 31:35 That's reasonable.

Ty Hildenbrandt 31:36 And maybe I'm contradicting myself a little bit by putting LSU as high as I have. Because in one breath, I say I need to see the consistency from Oklahoma.

31:47 On the other, I've got LSU as like a top-10-caliber team. I just believe in Lane Kiffin being the type of dude that can put this together on the fly. Right. So LSU poaches Kiffin from Ole Miss. Kiffin then basically tries to poach everybody's players. He did finish, as I said at the top, with the No. 1 portal class. It's a defense that, per our friend Bill Connelly, projects as the No. 2 defense in college football. I think it's a playoff roster, but a lot has to hit. A lot has to hit, not the least of which is Sam Leavitt, who's back and looks okay, but is recovering from a rather serious injury.

Dan Rubenstein 32:25 Be careful how many times you say his name, by the way. He throws out a quick invoice. Sam Leavitt charges. Continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:33 We've, we've heard this, yes.

Dan Rubenstein 32:34 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 32:35 There is also the issue of the rebuilt line. It's a new receiver room. It just—it's not just that it needs to hit, it's that it needs to hit right away. And that is my point of hesitation. I believe this is going to work. But they've got Clemson, they've got Ole Miss, they've got Texas A&M right away in September. They'll have October to figure stuff out. And if it goes sideways in September, my hunch is that they'll very gradually work their way back up in the polls come October because that seems like it's a little bit more gettable. I'm high on this team.

33:13 I'm really high on this team. What did we rank them, like 10th? I think we ranked them 10th in our poll. I would have been willing to go as high as eight. I really feel good about this roster and Lane's ability to put it together pretty quickly.

Dan Rubenstein 33:27 It's an interesting combination. You mentioned where the schedule is. They do get, not to give away the game too much, but if there are two or three teams where you'd want to get early on in the new coach's tenure, they kind of get all three of them on this schedule.

Ty Hildenbrandt 33:43 Yes. Yes.

Dan Rubenstein 33:44 They get Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. I think all three of those teams have danger upside. But they're starting over. There's a lot of patchwork to those rosters.

33:55 And LSU themselves is patchwork, but did get better patches. And you're right about that schedule, especially early. That September 19th game in Oxford is going to be killer.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:08 That's going to be an absolute war.

Dan Rubenstein 34:09 And then they have to follow that up hosting Texas A&M. So that's quite the one-two.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:16 And the other assumption that I am making here with LSU, and I said this when we ranked him as highly as we did, I think they're going to be able to run the ball. There is not a lot of recent proof for them running the ball. Granted, new team, a lot new, but they ranked 125th in rushing offense a year ago, 130th in EPA per rush, 133rd in stuff rate allowed. This is why they rebuilt the line, Dan. This is why they went out and got Jordan Seaton.

Dan Rubenstein 34:45 This is why Brian Kelly is on CBS instead of coaching this team. Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 34:50 Something like that. So I'm in on LSU. I feel good about LSU, and if I were ranking all 16 teams in the SEC, I've got them third.

Dan Rubenstein 35:03 Man. Look, you planted your flag. You're saying it with your chest. Good for you.

Ty Hildenbrandt 35:07 In for a dime, in for a dollar with LSU. So we disagree on that front.

Dan Rubenstein 35:10 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 35:12 We disagree somewhat on Oklahoma. Talk me through your line of thinking around Alabama because I have it: Georgia, Texas, then LSU, then Alabama.

Dan Rubenstein 35:23 Okay. I think they'll be good at quarterback. I think they will have a good defense led by the back end. I'm still questioning what they look like up front on defense with rotation dudes from other places. It's a very un-Alabama look in the just August portion of the year to what Alabama is going to throw at teams up front. I think they're going to have enough pop on offense. Offensive line is a question. I'd love to have Alabama higher because it's just easier because Kalen DeBoer wins a bunch of games. Ryan Grubb has called a bunch of really good offenses. Alabama is there because they check enough boxes on the Rubenstein rubric.

36:02 I got to brand that in an interesting way, I think.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:05 Rubricstein? No, that's not—that's Rick Rubin?

Dan Rubenstein 36:07 The Rubin Rick. I don't know. No. Not a friend could be. We'll hang out with Rick Rubin.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:14 Oh, yeah, why not?

Dan Rubenstein 36:15 We'll go to Malibu and listen to album cuts.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:17 A unique dude.

Dan Rubenstein 36:20 I think they're going to be able to move the ball. I think the offense will be more complete this year. I think they're going to be able to rush the passer and smother a bunch of receivers at their best. And that answers more questions to me than like where the Ole Miss defense is going to be or the Texas A&M offense starting over also starting over along the offensive line. I just, you know, I have worries about A&M, who I also think is of playoff-caliber, that I think Alabama more convincingly answers in August, which is when we're doing this show.

Ty Hildenbrandt 36:54 It is when we're doing the show. Alabama was 11th in our poll. I think we agreed on that. They clearly have a playoff-caliber defense. There's not much debate over that. But the offense is a relative unknown.

Dan Rubenstein 37:06 But like it's dubious beef with Alabama.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:08 It is dubious beef.

Dan Rubenstein 37:09 Like they're starting an Oregon rotation dude who is very promising, or maybe I don't know if he's starting off.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:09 It's, it's dubious beef.

Dan Rubenstein 37:14 He's in the rotation, a Mississippi State rotation defensive tackle. Like, it's—it's a different kind of conversation when you look at where Alabama has been.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:22 I also think the projection for Alabama, the preview that we're going to do, is really straightforward as compared to some of their peers. Really straightforward because the defense is loaded. I feel great about the secondary. I feel great about the edge rush. I feel really good about that side of the ball. It's offensive line, and it's, does presumably Keelon Russell hit at quarterback?

Dan Rubenstein 37:46 Yeah, beef curiosities, we'll call it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 37:49 You're really going with this. I appreciate that you're planting a flag.

Dan Rubenstein 37:52 Look, did I, did I sign a Kawhi Leonard secret side deal? With some sort of beef purveyor. There's a big one, Pat LaFrieda in New York. I can't reveal that kind of thing on the advice of my accountant. I can't reveal whether or not I have an unsanctioned side deal with the American Heartland and their beef purveyors. Continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:17 But if the line hits, that probably means that they are much better on the ground, which they were not good at at all last year, one hundred and twenty-seventh nationally. And if the quarterback hits, that means that we'll probably see a lot of Ryan Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks.

Dan Rubenstein 38:34 Yeah? Ooh, what about Cederian Morgan? Tantalizing!

Ty Hildenbrandt 38:39 Now it hurts that Noah Rogers got hurt at A-Day. I think that that definitely takes a bit of depth out of that receiver equation. But I have a hard time believing that receiver depth will really be that big of an issue at a place like Alabama. They always seem to find receivers. They did it last year with Lotzeir Brooks. So I'm okay with what they've got in the receiver room. I'm certainly okay with Keelon Russell. I think he's going to be a superstar. But when I talk of some uncertainties on offense, that's where I'm coming from.

39:12 I still like them. I still think they're going to be really, really good. The schedule, the first month of the schedule is pretty manageable. But then they play Georgia, they're at Tennessee, they play Texas A&M. They're also at LSU in like a four-game stretch against top-15-caliber opponents at some point through the season. I don't have the dates in front of me, but it's, you know, they have a little bit of a runway, which I like if they're trying to break in some new pieces on offense.

Dan Rubenstein 39:38 Well, they were right there with Florida State last year, correct? For a while.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:44 Don't do this now.

Dan Rubenstein 39:44 For a while they were.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:45 Don't don't. We're trying to be nice to everybody.

Dan Rubenstein 39:47 But they host them this year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:48 Don't do this. They do host them. Week three?

Dan Rubenstein 39:51 Week three, September 19th, after they're on the road against Kentucky and the road opener.

Ty Hildenbrandt 39:52 Week three. Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 39:58 Yeah, the schedule is backloaded for sure to me. You know, I starting with that Georgia game. It's Georgia, at Tennessee, A&M, at LSU in not consecutive weeks because there is a bye in there like there is every year before LSU. But yeah, it's a meaty middle for sure.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:14 So I feel like, upon further review, we were unfair to Texas A&M when we ranked Texas A&M twelfth in our AP poll.

Dan Rubenstein 40:22 Okay.

40:25 I guess I just said I had A&M ahead of Alabama, by the way, on my tier.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:31 I didn't.

Dan Rubenstein 40:31 But yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:31 I don't. But A&M went 11-2, Marcel Reed is back. Got a bunch of returning production.

Dan Rubenstein 40:38 I'm flipping them, by the way.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:39 You're flipping him?

Dan Rubenstein 40:40 I'm putting A&M after Alabama.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:42 Okay. Does this mean I actually persuaded you of something, or did you persuade yourself?

Dan Rubenstein 40:48 Well, I think out loud I said Alabama is more convincing than Texas A&M. So I have to—I out loud changed my mind, so I'm writing it down.

Ty Hildenbrandt 40:53 You have to stand by it. Yeah.

40:59 I saw 12 when I was putting the ballot through this morning, and I felt kind of icky about that. But at the same time, I am higher on other SEC teams. I am. The Aggies have skill talent. There's no denying that. They have good defensive depth. I think they have what it takes, if things go well, to reach the SEC title game. I think they could do it. But they have to replace a lot along the offensive line. I think Marcel Reed has an unanswered turnover question.

41:31 I would love for them to give up fewer explosives on defense. It's not a lot that I have against Texas A&M, but I feel like the questions I do have are pretty significant in their own right. So I like skill talent. I like a lot of this team. I love the coach. Mike Elko is great. Texas A&M is going to have a good year. But the few new coordinators, like the few questions that I have to me are

Dan Rubenstein 41:53 Two new coordinators.

Ty Hildenbrandt 41:58 I think big enough that I was willing to put them as low as we did, and as low as I did here in my ranking.

Dan Rubenstein 42:05 Yeah. Look, I think there is an understanding that their schedule was ultimately very advantageous last season. You can't hold that against this year's squad. But I take it into account when I think about no, no, no, I don't.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:19 But let's hold it against this year's squad while we're at it. Why not?

Dan Rubenstein 42:24 Look, I'm—they're—I've repeatedly said they are of playoff-caliber to me, right? I think Mike Elko is such a difference maker. This is his defense. His hands are going to be all over this defense. They were incredible situationally last year.

42:35 I know they gave up some big plays, but if your starting point is an experienced quarterback with upside and a defense that should almost automatically, given that it's Mike Elko and how they've been recruited, they either have the number one current class for 2027 or they're in that conversation at time of recording.

Ty Hildenbrandt 42:54 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 42:54 So the talent level—yeah, the talent level is being stacked, and they're developing dudes. I think, what, KC Concepcion was developed into a first-round pick this year. So, Rueben Owens at full health. Like there's just a lot to like about A&M, but there are also beef curiosities.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:14 You always say these things in the middle of drinking something.

Dan Rubenstein 43:17 Yeah, I know.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:18 Thank you.

Dan Rubenstein 43:18 I wait.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:19 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 43:19 I'm very good with my timing. And yeah, with what they're replacing up front on offense, I have no doubt that they have found dudes, that they will develop dudes, that they will come into their own. But yeah, the Marcel Reed thing and how they finished the year last season, I don't think that's who he just is leading a team in the win to three points. I want to see interceptions come down. I want to see who's stepping up on all three of those defensive levels, even though there's a lot back.

43:52 There are more boxes to check, which is still very few to me when you're comparing things on the margins.

Ty Hildenbrandt 43:59 So again, we differed slightly in terms of the—yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 44:02 They have ASU early, right? They have a losable game then if we're just talking about playoff conversation.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:07 They do.

Dan Rubenstein 44:07 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:08 They do. So we differed slightly in terms of how we broke out our tiers, but just for the purposes of audio here and keeping things as least confusing as possible, recite yours again. Your top two, Georgia and Texas.

Dan Rubenstein 44:27 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:27 Read off your next tier again.

Dan Rubenstein 44:29 Oklahoma, Bama, A&M, and then Ole Miss and LSU to round out those next five, that group of five.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:36 So we differ slightly on the order. We have most of the same teams.

Dan Rubenstein 44:42 Yeah, Ole Miss.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:43 We got to talk through Ole Miss, though, because I did not have Ole Miss—or, Ole Miss. I did not have Ole Miss in my top tier.

Dan Rubenstein 44:50 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 44:51 I had Ole Miss a tier down in my could squint and see a tier.

Dan Rubenstein 44:56 I mean, which is, look, we're again, we're on the margins here, but this is the second tier for me.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:00 Basically the same. Basically the same.

Dan Rubenstein 45:02 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:03 So look, they still have star power. They still have star power. But Lane Kiffin leaving is a pretty big deal. I'm obviously a huge fan of Trinidad Chambliss, Kewan Lacy. There's still that's correct.

Dan Rubenstein 45:16 And it was Charlie Weis Jr. still there for the playoff for that run. Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:20 That's correct. There's still a lot there, though, like a lot of returning production. It was the No. 2 portal class.

45:26 So it's not like the cupboard is bare. My main hangup is that this is an offense that operated at such a high level. And to your Charlie Weis Jr. point, I need to be convinced they can do it again now with a new offensive coordinator. The new offensive coordinator is John David Baker, previously at Ole Miss from 21 to 23. Most recently, it was at ECU coaching up a good offense.

Dan Rubenstein 45:50 It's a really good offense. It was a fast offense, too.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:52 Really good offense last couple seasons.

Dan Rubenstein 45:53 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 45:56 He said that this year's offense is going to be about 80% the same, which I think is reassuring if we're trying to do an exercise like this. But I just like. I don't know, man.

46:05 Like, I gotta see it to believe it, that they can do it again.

Dan Rubenstein 46:08 Yeah, I'm with you. Look, the pass catchers, by and large, it's a new-look group, even though there's a couple familiar faces. The line on the inside should be pretty good. We'll see how good they are at tackle. There's a lot of athleticism up front on defense. Defense was fine last year. It wasn't incredible, but it was fine. It was good enough to help this team get to the Final Four. Yeah, I think there's enough speed on both sides of the ball. And to your point, I don't think Pete Golding looked at this offense and said, okay, now that I am the head coach.

46:40 And I am making the decisions. Let's change this thing dramatically around Trinidad Chambliss.

Ty Hildenbrandt 46:45 Yeah. No, especially as he's a, he's a defensive guy, too, right?

Dan Rubenstein 46:46 He's not doing that. Right. So I like the hire of John David Baker. I think when you look at what ails Ole Miss, it's going to be more, well, they lost this game 38-34. And they scored points, but they couldn't get it done. Sort of like their loss to, was it Georgia last year during the regular season in that manner? Able to move the ball, but just unable to get off the field often enough. I think that's going to be the thing.

47:15 I think they're just going to be such a difficult out if they're healthy on offense. I think weapons will emerge, right? If your starting point is, well, we have a quarterback who can find dudes and fit it in tight windows and is athletic and can scramble for first downs, whatever. Like, they're gonna—he is just such a pain in the ass at quarterback.

Ty Hildenbrandt 47:34 Yeah, he is. He really is.

Dan Rubenstein 47:36 And look, last year, like his style of play, Diego Pavia's style of play, you can win a lot of games with a lot of talent and a lot of pain infliction in small packages. So there is something about Ole Miss right now that there's enough carryover from last season. Like, Suntarine Perkins is still there on that defense.

47:57 He's a wrecking ball. Like, they use him in a bunch of different ways. Yes, there are replacement situations on this defense and at pass catcher. I'm just comparing them against the league. I think those are okay problems to have right now.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:12 Yeah, I tend to agree with you on the defensive side. And there, to me, is something of an open question about whether they upgraded. Did they upgrade? Did they get better? Because we know they attacked it in the portal. That side of things was really good. But what do they look like off the edge? What's the secondary look like? Did they upgrade? Did they just throw names at the problem?

48:38 And it wasn't like a huge problem to begin with, but

Dan Rubenstein 48:40 That's a very sunshine way of I'm not saying you're saying it, but like, this is the best team in Ole Miss history.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:47 I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. I'm splitting hairs.

Dan Rubenstein 48:49 So, too. I, I get you. Yeah, yeah, totally.

Ty Hildenbrandt 48:50 We're splitting hairs. We're talking about the top eight teams in the conference. Forgive me, but I think you know what I'm going for here, right? There's definitely a next gear that they probably need to hit if they want to get to the next level of this. And I require a little bit of proof before I'm willing to just gift that to Pete Golding, a new full-time head coach. Did a good job in the playoff, though, given circumstances.

Dan Rubenstein 49:13 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:15 That was crazy.

Dan Rubenstein 49:16 Okay. But Lane Kiffin, on the other hand, number three. New coach. He's not a new head coach. He's a new coach at LSU with everything new, all of the expectations, and has never been a head coach in a playoff game. Correct?

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:31 He is not. No.

Dan Rubenstein 49:32 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:33 No.

Dan Rubenstein 49:34 Pete Golding, multiple-time seasoned playoff coach.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:36 Playoff coach. Two-time playoff-winning coach.

49:42 All right. What's your next tier down then? I guess that's your top two tiers. My next tier down, I had Ole Miss, and then I ranked them in order of Tennessee and Florida.

Dan Rubenstein 49:52 Ole Miss, Tennessee, Florida is your next tier.

Ty Hildenbrandt 49:55 That was my second tier. I had, remember, a rather voluptuous tier one.

Dan Rubenstein 50:01 Oh my god, Ty's got something on the mind. I don't know what's going on. Top-heavy, upper crust, voluptuous. Here we go.

Ty Hildenbrandt 50:10 I had Tennessee and then Florida after Ole Miss.

Dan Rubenstein 50:14 Okay, so I have—this is a meaty tier of, you know, bowl upside and, you know, could beat somebody that it seems like they're not in the same class with. Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee is the first three of the six, and then Mizzou, Auburn, Vandy are the second three of the six. I have Florida because of the returning talent. I have Florida because if your starting point is what should be a good-to-very-good defense, which is what Florida looks like they have. Pop on offense, like the receiving corps looks strong to very strong at health, which I think is an important disclaimer with Florida right now. And also the person throwing them the ball is going to be brand new to being a major conference starting quarterback. So that—you gotta, you gotta have that situation rectified.

51:09 South Carolina, it's a little bit of like a Diet Chambliss thing with LaNorris Sellers. Like I can't put him that low.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:15 Diet Chambliss. Whoa. LaNorris Sellers was like potentially the first pick of the draft before last season, remember?

Dan Rubenstein 51:24 I'm not saying LaNorris Sellers is a Diet Chambliss in terms of talent, ability, stature.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:29 I don't know.

Dan Rubenstein 51:29 I'm saying a diet

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:29 We're going to have to check the tapes here. We're going to have the transcripts now. It's going to be on display for the Internet.

Dan Rubenstein 51:33 I'm saying, hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm saying a Diet Chambliss situation in—I can't rank them super low because he's so good. And I know last year was a disaster because of the offensive line in front of them. They couldn't figure out ways to solve not having an offensive line.

Ty Hildenbrandt 51:48 I mean, that could be the problem this year, too, but continue.

Dan Rubenstein 51:50 That could 100% be the problem this year, but they did make a change at coordinator. So maybe Kendal Briles can figure something out that they weren't able to do this last year or two. So I can't—I don't believe South Carolina is a consecutive year losing team with somebody as seasoned and talented as LaNorris Sellers. I know that their portal stuff has been wonky. Their injury stuff up front has been wonky. But they are able to develop enough, often enough on defense.

52:23 I know Dylan Stewart's beat up. Was it a back issue he had earlier this year?

Ty Hildenbrandt 52:25 Back, yeah. Yeah, it was a back issue that kept him out of spring.

Dan Rubenstein 52:28 So something worth monitoring, but they've quietly developed a lot of really good dudes in the secondary, and their defense hasn't been the issue. So to me, it's like, okay, we have another offseason of trying to figure out how to handle a pass rush on offense. And so, this is, I mean, you're sort of planting your flag with LSU to a lesser extent, to a diet extent. I am planting my flag with South Carolina, that they're going to figure out ways to get ground balls from teams, right, to just turn 23-20 losses into 23-20 wins. That I think the 50-50 gods are going to smile upon Columbia this year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:11 Well, I hope Kendal Briles can figure something out with the line and with LaNorris Sellers because he's an incredible talent. He's an incredible talent, but there just was not the consistency there that I think they need in order to succeed in a league like this with a schedule like this. They always have a tough schedule.

Dan Rubenstein 53:30 Right, because they have Clemson to finish, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 53:31 You know, it's kind of workable early this year, but they always get socked the deeper you go into this thing. This year is no different. They've got Bama, they've got Florida, they've got Oklahoma, they've got Clemson. All those games are on the road, by the way. And then that's in addition to Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Georgia, who are also on the schedule. So they're always a little bit behind the eight ball. Just with the way this thing tends to shake out, I'm not as out on South Carolina as I expected to be.

54:03 Because I feel like we've been having the offensive line conversation at South Carolina every year.

Dan Rubenstein 54:10 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:10 Every year since Shane Beamer got there, it's been like, what's the line going to be this year? Is it going to be better? It never is better. I feel like we've had that conversation year in and year out. This year, they added eight portal linemen. And so again, they're trying and they've got the new coordinator, and we'll see if that yields any fruit. But that's my point of hesitation. It's always the same conversation on the South Carolina side. But the star power is there.

54:35 And you have to respect LaNorris Sellers and Nyck Harbor and Dylan Stewart to some extent.

Dan Rubenstein 54:39 Yeah, look, there is something about, you know, you're sort of bashing your head against the wall over and over again with South Carolina. But there was some underlying whether it's a numbers thing, whether it's being competitive against good teams. I don't want to spend too many waveforms talking about that Texas A&M loss from last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 54:59 Oh my God, what a brutal loss.

Dan Rubenstein 55:02 I'm not saying they're right there. Winning is a skill that South Carolina didn't quite master last year, right? To close off the Alabama game, like there was a lot left to be desired from South Carolina's fourth quarters last season. I think they have their marching orders. I think they have their homework. And I think Shane Beamer is at least a pretty good coach. And so I just, I'm out on consecutive disappointment for South Carolina.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:27 I have my last tier. I named it getting plucky in Kentucky. South Carolina is plucky, just regardless. They're just that style of team under Shane Beamer. He gets them playing. And they will probably find themselves in another situation this year, given the beef that they've got on the schedule, where they knock somebody off or take them to the wire.

Dan Rubenstein 55:48 Right, vulnerable beef.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:49 Yeah, voluptuous and beef and thick and oh gosh.

Dan Rubenstein 55:54 Come on, Ty, lean into it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:55 We got a whole thing going on here.

Dan Rubenstein 55:56 Did you watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit last night?

Ty Hildenbrandt 55:58 I did not.

Dan Rubenstein 55:58 Do you have Jessica Rabbit on the mind? I don't know why she was the first one to think of, but continue.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:01 No. I was going to say, we probably have a deeper conversation that we need to have about that.

Dan Rubenstein 56:06 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:07 I feel like Tennessee's flying under the radar.

Dan Rubenstein 56:11 There's a lot to like about Tennessee. You, you have to be a big believer in Sir Blitz-a-Lot, Jim Knowles, early, which is not always the case that it's successful.

Ty Hildenbrandt 56:20 I saw some projections, it might have been from Bill, that had them as the fourth-best offense in the SEC. And I didn't really buy it because I've been following this quarterback derby all offseason here. But they bring back a thousand-yard running back. They've got two proven wideouts. They've got a really good line, maybe a top-10-caliber line in the country. The uncertainty at quarterback is definitely meaningful in the SEC. And certainly they've got a brand new defense. Jim Knowles, Sir Blitz-a-Lot, is in town now. And there are questions on that side of the ball because the defense definitely underperformed a year ago, but I guess it snuck up on me on how much there is to like about this team.

57:05 And how much I think we need to respect that. So we ranked them in our Top 25. We had Tennessee, I think, in the top 20. I'd have to go back and check, but we were in on Tennessee. And I just feel like they're very, very quietly in this conversation in a way that could be really, really meaningful the deeper we get into this season, but we just don't fully know where to put them yet because of the quarterback thing.

Dan Rubenstein 57:30 I think that's right. And one of the options is starting a true freshman at quarterback, which you just kind of have to readjust your expectations when you do that. And I think he's the favorite, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 57:40 Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre, two really big, really young options at quarterback. And my hunch is that whoever loses is going to end up playing elsewhere next season, right? That's just the way these things go now. But at time of recording, Josh Heupel has not named a starter. It sounded as though Faizon Brandon had caught up to George MacIntyre. He had a little bit more familiarity with the system. But by the end of spring, it seemed like it was neck and neck. I don't know who it's going to be yet. Both of these guys are going to be coming into this thing with zero career starts, whoever it ends up being.

58:16 So, yeah, that's something we got to talk about, especially when you're playing a schedule like this. I will say about the schedule, and then I'll kick it over to you. Relative to some of the other gauntlets that we've got here in the SEC, Tennessee gets three manageable non-conference games.

Dan Rubenstein 58:26 Come on, man.

58:32 Yeah, Georgia Tech could be tricky, but yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:34 But you know, relative to others, manageable, anyway.

Dan Rubenstein 58:36 But that's—and that's away, right? Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 58:39 There is a stretch from Texas through a game at South Carolina that includes Auburn, at Arkansas, and Alabama, which I think is going to be a very season-defining stretch for these guys. And they do have a trip to Texas A&M. And Vanderbilt later, as well as the game against LSU. But like, I look at this thing, this schedule, and I'm like, all right, this is far more manageable than some of their peers.

Dan Rubenstein 59:10 It's also not a terribly long drive from Nashville or to Nashville from Knoxville. So you're talking about Three SEC True Road games. I mean, it's going to be difficult to play against what I think is going to be a pretty good Vanderbilt team, but you know, they're not logging miles in the way that perhaps some other teams are. So I don't hate the schedule. I think you're absolutely right to point that out. It's more of I'm never going to really question offensive vision and production from Josh Heupel teams at this point, especially that return and have the promise of what they have on the offensive line. Tennessee. So now the question is like, who's quarterback?

59:49 How good is he? How balanced will they be this year? When they're working in a new starting quarterback, are they going to lean on the run a lot once again, which is not necessarily a bad thing? They've had really good running games recently. And then pass rush with a new defensive coordinator.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:03 Yeah, and it was supposed to be Chaz Coleman, but Chaz Coleman didn't work out, no longer with the team. So now it's gonna be some combination of guys who have who are trying to develop their skills with others who I think we'll see based on role, based on whatever package Sir Blitz-a-Lot decides to dial up. So there's not an obvious answer there.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:22 So there's a reason Jim Knowles is there. It's because it did not work out with the last guy. They were awful against the run last season. They had some difficulties against the pass. They made Gunner Stockton look like Joe Montana in week whatever. I want to believe in this Tennessee team, but it is, in a lot of ways, it's a restart for the Vols. So I think they're going to be good. I think they're going to a bowl game. I think they could absolutely have Bama at home, right?

01:00:46 They have Bama in Knoxville.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:47 I believe so, yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:48 Yeah. I just, I want more boxes checked right now, again, early August, but I think they're going to be good.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:54 I'm all in on Florida.

Dan Rubenstein 01:00:57 I know this.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:58 I'm all in. I think maybe I've convinced you. That's how all in I am.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:02 I have Florida atop this tier, ahead of South Carolina. Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:07 They look like a bounce-back team to me. That's the vibe I was getting as I was doing the research here. There's a lot of returning production. They are first nationally in defensive returning production. So they'll have that as a crutch. Jon Sumrall is a new coach. He is crazy. Okay, let's just get out there. Jon Sumrall is nuts. Yeah, he's got a screw loose.

01:01:29 I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You're a football coach. He's going to work with what I think is a top-15-caliber roster. Yes, there's an open quarterback question. It's going to be Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones Jr. Yes, there are some offensive line concerns, although our good friend Gator Dave from Gator's Breakdown says that that was the most improved unit back in spring.

Dan Rubenstein 01:01:49 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:49 And I trust Gator Dave in all things Florida. So the combination of the continuity they've got on defense, Jadan Baugh coming back at running back, and a really good receiver room. I'm not going to sit here and list guys in the receiver room, but there's a bunch of dudes in the receiver room that Buster Faulkner, the new coordinator, has to work with.

01:02:08 I think they've got enough pop, enough pop and enough of a defense that Florida is going to find themselves in a bunch of knife fights this year.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:16 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:17 And this isn't to say they're going to go nine and three. We can talk through what we think in part two or three when we get into that team preview. But I stand by what I said when we were trying to rank these teams. I would not want to play Florida this year. They scare the crap out of me.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:33 I, I agree. The concern right now to me on some level is, especially in the first, like, two-thirds of the year, maybe through the Georgia or Oklahoma game, how many games will they have the better quarterback?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:48 Right.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:49 So Auburn, Auburn's quarterback already beat Florida, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:54 Yeah, Byrum Brown.

Dan Rubenstein 01:02:55 Trinidad Chambliss, Austin Simmons is TBD. I mean, has played a little bit more. Sellers, Arch, Gunner Stockton, John Mateer, there's a lot of established pop with some of those dudes, with a lot of those dudes, and maybe not Mateer. So that to me is the question because yes, I think if the offensive line is there, I think on their star power on all three levels of this defense, Jon Sumrall will have this team playing with their hair on fire. The question then is, how often do they put everything together the same week in year one under a new coach? And how much of the offense can lean on Tramell Jones or Aaron Philo having command when even that they play Auburn early, right? Auburn's going to have a good defense that's on the road. DJ Durkin's still calling that defense. That's tough, man.

01:03:53 That's real tough. As high as you are on Florida, or as we are on Florida, that's a tough ask.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:00 All right, so who else you got in this tier? You've got Auburn, you've got Missouri, and Vandy.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:05 I've got Mizzou, Mizzou, Auburn, Vandy in that order.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:09 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:09 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:10 I'm out on Mizzou.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:12 Are you?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:13 I'm fully out.

Dan Rubenstein 01:04:15 Okay. I think they've downgraded an offensive coordinator from Kirby Moore to Chip Lindsey. I don't love that what was the clear best running back, aside from like life reasons, like I don't love that Ahmad Hardy was injured the way he was in the offseason in a gun-related incident. He was shot. It's awful. Hate that for him, his family, the program, everything. But also, less importantly, on a football level, he's TBD. He should be full strength at some point.

01:04:53 There's enough to like about the defense. You're gambling a little bit on Austin Simmons. You're gambling a little bit on Eli Drinkwitz in these games against ranked teams after last year, when over and over they took care of business when they needed to and could not get over the hump against better teams. And so they have this inflated record. I'm not out on Mizzou. I still think there's enough there. Austin Simmons got to be a B plus, though.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:17 I mean, but you rattled off like five questions there.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:20 I did. That's why they're like eleventh on my list.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:23 Those are all huge questions.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:25 But I can't put Mizzou below Auburn or Vanderbilt right now. With a new coach at Auburn and Vandy starting over, you know, going to a true freshman quarterback, likely, after having everything, everything running through literally and figuratively, Diego Pavia. I still think there's enough with Mizzou. Like, they're kind of on a weird treadmill. I think we're on the same page with that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:51 Yeah, oh, yeah. I'm not saying they're not making a bowl. This is a bowl team. They're going to make a bowl.

Dan Rubenstein 01:05:54 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:55 And you're right. There's plenty here. I hope Ahmad Hardy gets back. You know, it sounds like at some point he'll make a full recovery, and it'd be great to have him out there because he's dynamic. He's maybe the best running back in college football when he's healthy. But there's just so many questions for me.

01:06:10 You know, it's not just Ahmad Hardy. And yes, they've got Jamal Roberts, who's like a proven backup and he'll be fine. But like the defensive continuity. The quarterback thing, the line. I don't know. Like, I'm just, I'm just not in at all. I found myself having more questions than answers on the Mizzou side of things. I believe the over-under might be like six and a half, if memory serves, which only kind of further persuaded me to put Mizzou a little bit lower. I think we have them ranked accordingly.

01:06:49 I'm not saying you've ranked them too high because we're about the same on Mizzou. I'm just like out on them being a Top 25 team. They can build confidence early because they've got games against Kansas, Troy, and Mississippi State, but then they've got Florida and Texas A&M. They're at Ole Miss. They play Texas. They're at Georgia. They've got Oklahoma. They've got six top-20-caliber opponents. And then they've got Kentucky.

01:07:18 Sitting in a really late, possibly dangerous sandwich spot.

Dan Rubenstein 01:07:22 It's always a weird game, Mizzou-Kentucky.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:24 Always, always.

Dan Rubenstein 01:07:25 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:26 And we'll get to Kentucky. I don't know what to make of Kentucky. So I'm just, I wanted to be in. I've always kind of been in on Austin Simmons. I like Austin Simmons, but the sliver of Austin Simmons that we saw a year ago was not awe-inspiring to say the least. Didn't leave me feeling all that confident.

Dan Rubenstein 01:07:44 Well, look, he must have been something if Lane Kiffin, who is good with quarterbacks looked at him, looked at Trinidad Chambliss and said, Austin Simmons is our guy to start the season.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:51 No. I agree.

Dan Rubenstein 01:07:54 There must be something there because I liked him a lot last year going into the season as well. I had Ole Miss with Austin Simmons in the playoff conversation before the season started last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:02 You backed into that one, but you got it.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:03 So I must have thought something.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:04 You got it right, though. You ultimately got it right.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:07 We eventually got there.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:08 Okay, so we're kind of on the same page with Mizzou.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:12 I think their starting point is better.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:14 Auburn and Vandy, talk me through your thought process here. So you've got these guys as bowl teams or bowl-adjacent.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:21 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:22 Okay.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:22 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:23 Talk it through.

Dan Rubenstein 01:08:23 A bowl conversation, bowl upside. Auburn, it's defense even with key losses. Paired with, hopefully it pairs well with Byrum Brown and an offense that's going to have a very specific identity. It's year one. Schedule's not great in certain stretches.

01:08:46 I like Auburn. Auburn is also a place that I, I'm never fully on board with things progressing in a calm sensical way, which in year one, you want like a baseline of stability. And it's just hard for any program with how much you have to piece everything together quickly in the portal. For Auburn specifically, it's, you know, offensive line, pop on offense, you know, surrounding Byrum Brown. You have the advantage of USF players. But, like, that to me is ceiling-limiting for a place like Auburn, which is just chock-full of drama constantly.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:26 Do we think that Byrum Brown is definitely going to translate to the SEC?

Dan Rubenstein 01:09:33 Um

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:33 We know he's going to be a good fit for this system because Alex Golesh kind of builds a system around the quarterback.

Dan Rubenstein 01:09:39 Right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:39 Right. So he'll fit the system. They've tailor-made it for him.

Dan Rubenstein 01:09:44 Mm-hmm.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:46 Can we just assume? And I love Byrum Brown as much as the next guy, believe me. I was all about Byrum Brown a year ago. I'm asking the question because I'm not certain that he translates as well as everyone thinks.

Dan Rubenstein 01:10:00 Well, if you're an Auburn fan, you are looking at a Michigan State transfer who did not work out.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:08 No.

Dan Rubenstein 01:10:08 Was it Payton Thorne?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:09 Payton Thorne.

Dan Rubenstein 01:10:09 You're looking at an Oklahoma transfer. Did not work out. You're looking at recruits that came to Auburn and developed, quote unquote, under Hugh Freeze. Didn't work out. You're looking at, was it Ashton Daniels who came in last year? Didn't work out. So I don't know if Byrum Brown is going to work out, but somebody who has previously worked out in college football is a good starting point for a new quarterback because, yeah, all the other guys had proven nothing before they assumed the starting job at Auburn.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:37 That's true. A little bit more of a CV going in.

Dan Rubenstein 01:10:48 And so, Byrum Brown has beaten Florida. He's putting up big-time games against teams in the American. I'm not positive he's going to work out, but I've seen him as a successful college quarterback before, so I feel better about him than I think otherwise.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:04 They're going to play with a lot of tempo. I mean, this offense is going to scream. I think we know that Byrum Brown can run the offense. I like Jeremiah Cobb, their running back. To have that as a starting point is definitely a good thing. And as you mentioned, linebacker, run defense, like all that is in a really good place. So, it's not like it's going to be a full reboot like it might be for some of these other schools that we talk about here in a moment. But, yeah, like, is the line going to come together? Who are the receivers? What's the pass rush look like?

01:11:33 You lose Keldric Faulk, that hurts, right? So, obvious questions, year-one situation for a guy like Alex Golesh. The schedule actually is a little bit lighter by SEC standards.

Dan Rubenstein 01:11:45 Man, those—the home-road splits are brutal though.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:48 The home road split is not great, but just in terms of the beef and dubious beef that is on the schedule, it's a little bit better.

Dan Rubenstein 01:11:54 Beef curiosities. Yeah. Tennessee, Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, all on the road. So Iron Bowl on the road, yeah. And then Vandy is who brings up the rear.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:12:06 Is this Jared Curtis?

Dan Rubenstein 01:12:08 I assume so, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:12:10 Jared Curtis is the highest-rated signee ever for Vanderbilt.

Dan Rubenstein 01:12:16 Local from Nashville.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:12:17 Local kid? True freshman, though. True freshman replacing Diego Pavia, which is big, albeit small shoes to fill.

Dan Rubenstein 01:12:28 Vandy just, they rode a very specific wave. Not saying they can't continue to win. Okay, how should I put this? Diego Pavia was responsible for so much of this team. He wasn't everything. The defense wasn't great. The defense was pretty average, if not below average at times. And so much of it, the offense ran through, obviously, the quarterback, as is the case for all these teams. But like there was an offensive line. There were running backs.

01:12:56 They had a, you know, a highly drafted tight end last year. There are other elements that made this team go and win. You can't just put up yards and win games. I think this is a quality program right now. I don't think this is all Diego Pavia. And as soon as he's gone, they go 2-10 again.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:13:14 No, I don't.

Dan Rubenstein 01:13:14 So there's a lot.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:13:15 But like, there's a lot missing, you know? I mean, it's Pavia, Eli Stowers, four guys along the line.

Dan Rubenstein 01:13:18 That's what I'm saying.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:13:23 A bunch along the defensive front, productive guys along the defensive front. You could definitely say this roster is deeper. It's better than we've seen in a long time at Vanderbilt. But this is a transition year. It's not going to be a year like last year. This is a transition year for Vandy.

Dan Rubenstein 01:13:42 I agree. I guess my broader point is guys were developed at Vanderbilt and were on the precipice of going to the playoff.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:13:48 Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:13:52 There's no reason it can't happen again. But yes, you do adjust the calculus, I think, with a true freshman quarterback and what he's replacing a Heisman finalist. Like, that's just rare air for any program, let alone Vanderbilt. And so I think it's going to take a little bit of time. And

01:14:10 If you're unsure about quarterback, if you're unsure about what they're going to look like up front on defense,

01:14:18 The proof is not there with like the back end and the pass defense from last season. So, just, there are open questions that Vandy can answer. And I think they're well enough coached and the recruiting has been good enough that they're not going to be a pushover and they'll surprise somebody.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:14:33 Okay, talk me through our final three teams. I think we both agree on who these three teams are, I've got Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Arkansas in that order. I don't believe we missed anybody. You're going to have to double-check on your list. I'm going through all my notes here.

Dan Rubenstein 01:14:47 Two plus five is seven, plus six is thirteen, plus three is sixteen. Was that the magic number we're trying to hit?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:14:54 Sixteen is the magic number.

Dan Rubenstein 01:14:55 Boom.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:14:56 How do you rank your final tier of teams?

Dan Rubenstein 01:14:59 I have it as Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas. And I don't feel good about it. I mean, I feel pretty good about Arkansas last. But Mississippi State bringing back Zach Arnett, the upside of Kamario Taylor, I'm willing to very quickly be seduced by Mississippi State is what I'm trying to say.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:15:18 I like Kamario Taylor. I like that. It's a familiar situation with Zach Arnett back on defense, but they don't have a lot back. They're rebuilding the line. The schedule is brutal. It's going to be an uphill climb for Mississippi State. But Mississippi State is a team. And the reason that I've got them in this tier, Mississippi State has been plucky. They have been plucky.

Dan Rubenstein 01:15:41 Yeah, it started out really nicely last year.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:15:42 They really did.

01:15:44 They really did. So I get the sense that even if they don't have the full roster to contend with a schedule like this, they're still going to be in the game. They're still going to play whistle-to-whistle. They do have interesting pieces on this team. And so I think they will definitely put the fear of God into a couple of their opponents. I just don't see it going the way of a bowl game for them this year.

Dan Rubenstein 01:16:04 Yeah, it's how JAG-heavy are they and how many guys turn into like, oh, this guy's legit productive and dangerous on both sides of the ball.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:16:12 Right. Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:16:13 Especially along the offensive line, especially in the defensive front, a retooled defensive front now, with, you know, like the weird Brent Pry-ization of the Zach Arnett experience back for Mississippi State, just calling the defense now once again. Yeah, if you're telling me they're more organized, they're more competent, they're more everything, I believe it. It's now, okay, do they have this like crazy disruptor up front? Do they have this linebacker who is wreaking havoc on teams? Have they found a safety and a corner who are pulling gravity away from offenses? There's too many of those types of questions, but I think we're relatively on the same page.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:16:55 Kentucky, I'm intrigued. I like Will Stein. Will Stein seems to like Will Stein, which is the most important thing, of course.

Dan Rubenstein 01:17:02 You have to have belief in oneself before everything else. And he has belief in oneself.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:17:08 Joe Sloan calling offense, Jay Bateman calling defense. We throw returning production out the window. This is a brand-new team. Kentucky went crazy in the portal, the No. 11 portal class. I like the line. I think the line's okay. I don't know what to make of Kenny Minchey. I can tell you just from a Notre Dame standpoint, I've said this time and again, there are plenty of Notre Dame beat writers who a year ago thought that Kenny Minchey should have gotten the job over CJ Carr.

Dan Rubenstein 01:17:34 Right, or at the very least was right there with Carr.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:17:36 He was right there. But take that for whatever it's worth. They were neck and neck, at least in that competition. And Kenny Minchey is thought of very highly in Notre Dame circles. Now he's going to be paired up with Will Stein. Will Stein has obviously done really good work out at Oregon just in terms of building an offense, developing quarterbacks in his own right.

Dan Rubenstein 01:17:54 Quarterbacks have been sensational with Will Stein, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:17:55 Yeah. So at least with that body of work, if you're a Kentucky fan, you should feel pretty good about what you've got here, given that that was who they went out after. They wanted to get Kenny Minchey. Kenny Minchey had signed with Nebraska.

01:18:09 But then Will Stein gave him the opportunity, and Kenny Minchey decided that was a better opportunity for him.

Dan Rubenstein 01:18:14 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:18:14 So I guess I like the potential there. I don't like the schedule. The schedule is murder. That's going to make it hard. But, you know, there's a line. I think there's a running back with CJ Baxter. I think they've got some talent on.

Dan Rubenstein 01:18:29 Skill is okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:18:30 Defense as well. If Kenny Minchey works out, this could be a plucky team in Kentucky.

01:18:36 See what I did there?

Dan Rubenstein 01:18:37 Plucky in Kentucky.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:18:39 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:18:39 Yeah, I think they'll be okay. I think it will be more fun for a Kentucky fan to watch the Kentucky offense than it usually is. We had like the very brief window with Will Levis a few years ago, Liam Cohen.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:18:54 And here's the thing. Here's the thing.

Dan Rubenstein 01:18:56 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:18:57 Unlike the last however long it was with Mark Stoops, where it felt like Kentucky was building, but maybe never quite got to whatever the expectations were. This is a hard reset. If you're a fan of this team, you're a fan of any teams, maybe outside of LSU or a rare handful of others that are starting over, Penn State is an example, right, of a coach that just brought all their players or a bunch of high-profile players with them. Will Stein went out, was aggressive in the portal, but given the schedule, given where the program has been, I actually think this is much more of a Virginia Tech situation, where it's like the expectations go out the window. We're just happy to have a new coach, someone we can get excited about, someone who clearly is able to get talent in there.

01:19:42 Let's see what happens in year one and then go from there.

Dan Rubenstein 01:19:44 I think that's right. I wonder what the talent acquisition moving forward looks like. I think they lost their GM. I don't know if they found somebody new or are about to find somebody new, but, uh, yeah, look, Ty, if we fast forward, if I were to look into a crystal ball and next year tell you that Notre Dame is hiring Jay Bateman to be their defensive coordinator, I don't know if that you're like doing back handsprings into some sort of gainer or something like that.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:20:12 No.

Dan Rubenstein 01:20:12 He's never been somebody I've been particularly excited about. Like Diet Ted Roof, some are saying. Like he was at Texas A&M last year, but that was a Mike Elko defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:20:24 Diet Ted Roof.

Dan Rubenstein 01:20:25 So that to me, I don't think when you're hiring Jay Bateman, you're hiring—

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:20:25 Oh my God.

Dan Rubenstein 01:20:31 The potential for a top-35 defense ever, if he's running the show. So all Kentucky and Kentucky fans are hoping for is some more entertainment and clear upside on offense and a defense that isn't catastrophic. You're in some of these games, you're putting a fun product onto the field, and you're going to a bowl game. That's the hope for year one. I don't know if they're going to a bowl game. That's the hope.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:20:55 They're not—they're not going to go to a bowl game.

Dan Rubenstein 01:20:57 I think that's a tough ask with this schedule.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:20:59 Final team is Arkansas. Arkansas projects as a half-team in SP+. So Bill's got them as the 13th-best offense, 91st-best defense for whatever preseason projections mean to you. They've got a new coach in Ryan Silverfield. Ryan Silverfield has an unsettled quarterback situation. It's a fully rebuilt defense. That's why the number is so low. And yeah, it's a tough schedule.

01:21:28 Arkansas is another one of these teams that always feels like they play a murderous gauntlet of a schedule.

Dan Rubenstein 01:21:32 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:21:34 So I think you like the structure, generally, of what Ryan Silverfield is bringing with him from Memphis, Tim Cramsey also coming with him from Memphis to run that offense. It's been a very successful program at Memphis for a good number of years, but this is definitely a step up. So I think that if you're an Arkansas fan, you like at least that there is a vision here that you can sort of rely upon and know where Silverfield wants to take things. I think they've got some decent skill talent that they can use and certainly an edge rusher in Quincy Rhodes Jr. But defense is going to be a work in progress. It's all new. The quarterback, I've been reading about this quarterback thing.

01:22:14 All offseason.

Dan Rubenstein 01:22:15 KJ Jackson, AJ Hill, the J's.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:22:18 I have been reading about this all offseason. The commentary in the Arkansas community has cracked me up to no end. And it's been a lot of shrug, a lot of, well, we think it's probably got to be KJ Jackson, but genuinely, we have no idea what we're going to get here.

Dan Rubenstein 01:22:31 Yeah.

01:22:34 And AJ Hill comes over from Memphis with Ryan Silverfield.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:22:36 AJ Hill comes over from Memphis as well.

Dan Rubenstein 01:22:37 Yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:22:38 Yeah. So there's just, there's a lot new here. I want Arkansas.

01:22:43 To be a lot better than they've been. But I think it might take a few years to get there again. I hate to say that. We have a lot of Arkansas people that listen that write in. This could also be a situation where it just felt like it was time with Sam Pittman, and you're excited to get somebody new. Although I don't know if Ryan Silverfield is as inspiring a hire as someone like Will Stein. You know what I mean?

Dan Rubenstein 01:23:04 Yeah, but doesn't need to be. Just need to win. Even though Will Stein has the pop of coming from a bigger program and the "because of me" quote. The starting point of Arkansas is, yeah, it's pretty uphill on defense, though I think it's hard to imagine a Ron Roberts defense.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:23:21 Yeah.

Dan Rubenstein 01:23:22 And that's me doing my like Jesse Palmer, like a Ron Roberts defense. Like, they're not going to be disorganized. They're not going to shoot themselves in the foot all the time. The talent level isn't there in year one, but there should be communication, there should be assignments kept. There, you know, the very boring basic things. Hold an edge.

01:23:42 I don't know. They're not going to be good. And I don't hate the middle of this Arkansas schedule, by the way. In terms of teams that might have some offensive flaws, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Auburn, and South Carolina in a row, I don't hate that stretch for Arkansas after getting a few games underneath themselves.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:23:57 Okay.

01:24:01 They do have four top-10 opponents, though.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:04 I—well, as of now, yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:05 It's not easy.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:06 And they have Utah in the non-conference, which in Salt Lake, right? Yeah, they have Georgia, A&M, Texas, LSU. Yeah, those are the four, I think, right?

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:16 Okay, so do this for me, just to put a bow on this.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:20 To put a thick upper-crust bow, voluptuous bow.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:25 Yes, what he said.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:26 Yeah, yeah.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:27 Read off your tiers in order one more time for the Verballerhood.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:31 Okay, Georgia and Texas, first tier. Oklahoma, Bama, A&M, Ole Miss, LSU, second tier. Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, Vandy, third tier. Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas, final tier.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:45 In the Getting Plucky in Kentucky tier.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:47 Correct.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:49 Now you know where we stand. We would love to hear where you stand, Verballerhood. solidverbal at gmail.

Dan Rubenstein 01:24:53 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:24:54 com. That's how you can let us know your thoughts. Let us know what your tiers look like. Dan, if we want to get out of here on a high note, to quote the wise prophet Jake Taylor, there's only one thing left to do. Win the whole effing thing.

Dan Rubenstein 01:25:09 Exactly right.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:25:10 Who do we got in our conference championship game?

01:25:13 Are we going to be boring here and just say Georgia, Texas?

Dan Rubenstein 01:25:17 Yes, I think so. I mean, if I'm going to put them in a tier together, and then you can get into schedule and questions you have about them looking better than they actually are. But obviously, non-conference doesn't play a role unless there's a tiebreaker. At some point, non-conference will play a role, and ranking will play a role. Yeah, Georgia, Texas, with Georgia, to me, winning it.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:25:41 I have Georgia winning it.

Dan Rubenstein 01:25:43 That's so boring of us.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:25:44 I have flip-flopped between Texas, LSU, and Alabama in that game.

Dan Rubenstein 01:25:49 Okay.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:25:51 But I'm going to be boring. I'm going to say Georgia, Texas as well. I hate to be boring, but sometimes the most boring answer is the right one.

Dan Rubenstein 01:26:00 Okay. Well, so this is our final 35,000-foot look preview at a conference.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:26:06 Yes.

Dan Rubenstein 01:26:07 So all that's left because we've put all of the conferences into our tiers. Now it's all just a fast-forward for you until you get to do the tiebreakers ahead of conference championship games.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:26:15 That's right. Oh man, I'm so excited. I'm so excited for tiebreaker season.

Dan Rubenstein 01:26:22 Which I think people generally hate. Ty's into the transfer portal and conference tiebreakers, the ultimate zag.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:26:25 They do. Everybody hates it.

01:26:30 That's right.

01:26:35 All right, so parts two and three are upcoming on the next two episodes. We're going to start going through all 16 teams. We'll break it up into eight and eight. We do, like, I don't know, seven to 10 minutes each, sometimes more, diving a little bit deeper into each of these teams, what we like, what we don't like. We kind of gave you the express version of it here. Reminder, Verballers.com is where you can go if you want to support the team. The Verballer portal is now open for business. So if you want to vote in our Verballer Top 12 poll.

Dan Rubenstein 01:27:01 Yes.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:27:04 If you want to get in on Grand Total, which is our preseason win total game, Run the Board is our Pick'em game, which will be forthcoming as we get a little bit closer to the season. Again, your support really goes a long way. It helps us out directly, goes directly into the bank account so we can do more fun stuff with this here show and the little company we got behind it. Verballers.com, V-E-R-B-A-L-L-E-R-S dot com. And if nothing more, if you've yet to do so, please rate, review, and subscribe to The Solid Verbal so that you don't miss any of our episodes.

Dan Rubenstein 01:27:38 Full agree.

Ty Hildenbrandt 01:27:39 All right, we've got two big ones left. We will break it up again into eight and eight. People are listening to this on a Sunday, maybe on a Monday. We've got a full week of content before us here.

01:27:52 We're excited to talk more about the SEC. For that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubenstein, for myself, Ty Hildenbrandt, thank you as always for downloading, for listening, for supporting. We'll catch you all soon. Stay solid.