2026-08-17 Zagriculture - Preseason Narratives to Challenge (raw)
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:18 Dan Rubenstein, it is great.
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:20 It is a pleasure, it is a privilege
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:24 to be back on this little old college football show with you.
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:27 We call it The Solid Verbal.
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:28 We started it way back when, Year of Our Lord 2008, if you can believe it. We are approaching our 19th season
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:38 of covering this great sport of college football on this year's podcast.
Ty Hildenbrandt 00:42 Sir, welcome back.
Dan Rubenstein 00:43 Man, does the math check out?
Dan Rubenstein 00:45 I guess it does.
Dan Rubenstein 00:46 I have no idea.
Dan Rubenstein 00:48 There's a few things. There are a few things that people have learned about me over the years, Ty.
Dan Rubenstein 00:54 And I think first and foremost, atop that mountain of facts, is that Dan Rubenstein, as I speak in the third person, is not a farmer.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03 I am absolutely not a farmer.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05 I don't have my hand in the dirt.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07 I am not a gardener.
Dan Rubenstein 01:09 But I will tell you this, Ty:
Dan Rubenstein 01:11 All offseason long, and we just concluded the preview portion of our offseason, our season previews, national, conference, team-specific, and everything like that.
Dan Rubenstein 01:20 All offseason long, we have been
Dan Rubenstein 01:24 seeding, planting, right?
Dan Rubenstein 01:26 We've been getting ready for the harvest, Ty, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:28 Mm, yeah, sure, yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:29 That we consider—what is that?
Dan Rubenstein 01:31 It's sowing season, right?
Dan Rubenstein 01:33 And so we're about to reap.
Dan Rubenstein 01:35 But I felt like before we get to that point where we see what happens after all of our conversations, May 27th, June 14th, July 29th, March 4th, whatever.
Dan Rubenstein 01:50 I thought it'd be time to just maybe question some of the narratives that we have, I think, played into.
Dan Rubenstein 01:58 And so today, I think, is going to be an exercise
Dan Rubenstein 02:03 in Zagriculture, Ty.
Dan Rubenstein 02:07 You didn't know where I was going.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:08 I had no idea where that was going.
Dan Rubenstein 02:09 You were hoping for a payoff.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:12 No, zero.
Dan Rubenstein 02:13 Zagriculture.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:15 Good Lord.
Dan Rubenstein 02:16 Thank you very much.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:17 Somebody get over here and take that mic away from Dan Rubenstein in Chicago, Illinois.
Dan Rubenstein 02:21 They're too inexpensive.
Dan Rubenstein 02:23 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:23 We will go into painstaking detail here shortly and let you know exactly what the hell he's talking about.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:30 Yes, I am Ty.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:31 Yes, he is Dan.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:32 Yes, we are a college football show called The Solid Verbal.
Dan Rubenstein 02:32 Yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:35 Please rate, review, and subscribe.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:38 If you made it this far, just a couple of minutes in, in Zyagra or what?
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:41 Zagriculture?
Dan Rubenstein 02:42 Zagriculture.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:43 Zagriculture? Tiagra?
Dan Rubenstein 02:43 Yeah, I think you're confusing that with the term that we coined last episode maybe, which is when you're extremely excited about something, it's clear that you've taken Tiagra.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:52 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 02:52 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:52 If that all wasn't too much for you, please hit the button so that you stop back for more episodes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 02:57 We're going to be going strong here three times per week.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:01 Before we really jump in, though, we do have some actual breaking news.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:10 We have our first AP Top 25
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:14 of the 2026 college football season.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:16 It is a preseason poll.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:18 If you have listened to any of our episodes that we put out over the last couple of weeks or so, I think it was in one of the Big Ten episodes, we announced that we are now officially
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:27 part of the AP Top 25 poll.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:29 This is not a joke.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:29 This is not a drill.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:31 We did a bonus episode out on our Patreon at Verballers.com.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:35 We made that free for everybody if you want to hear
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:37 our thought process going through our initial Top 25.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:41 We're going to continue talking about our top 25 every Saturday night on the live streams that we do after a week of games.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:48 So this is really just the beginning.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:49 We haven't gotten any hate yet.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:52 It's probably a little early.
Ty Hildenbrandt 03:53 I think as we get a little bit deeper into this thing, people will have opinions on who we're putting where, but at least at present,
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:02 it's only been out an hour, so haven't gotten any of that yet.
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:05 How does the top 25 stack up?
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:07 What are we looking at?
Dan Rubenstein 04:09 You want me to go through it with you?
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:10 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 04:11 All right.
Dan Rubenstein 04:12 Well, number one, Ohio State with questions, but everybody's got questions, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas, notably the defending champ.
Dan Rubenstein 04:21 Indiana Hoosiers not in the top five.
Dan Rubenstein 04:23 I believe they were number five in our top 25.
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:25 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 04:26 That's correct.
Dan Rubenstein 04:27 And so I think there is a terrific case
Dan Rubenstein 04:30 for Indiana fans, or people who have come to respect and fear Indiana, that they are already underrated heading into the 2026 season by being not in
Dan Rubenstein 04:40 the top five.
Dan Rubenstein 04:42 Otherwise, to round out the top 10: Miami, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma.
Dan Rubenstein 04:47 Miami looking to get back to that championship level.
Dan Rubenstein 04:51 Texas A&M,
Dan Rubenstein 04:53 as a top-10 team before the season, I think when people have looked at the data over the years, they're one of the great overrated programs just in terms of where they finished after where they've started in the AP poll. But certainly,
Dan Rubenstein 05:06 you could look at last season as a breakthrough that they're looking to build upon, making the playoff and winning a ton of games, more so than usual.
Dan Rubenstein 05:13 Ole Miss.
Dan Rubenstein 05:15 First-time, full-time head coach in Pete Golding, but returning what they return on both sides of the ball.
Dan Rubenstein 05:20 There's clear reason for optimism that they could have one of the best, I don't know, two, three, four quarterbacks in the country.
Dan Rubenstein 05:26 And Oklahoma, playoff team in the top 10.
Dan Rubenstein 05:28 I think it's pretty clear that they probably have a top three to five defense if everybody's healthy and operational.
Dan Rubenstein 05:35 I think it all kind of makes sense to me.
Dan Rubenstein 05:37 Is there anything that stood out to you in that final—or that final first AP poll Top 10?
Ty Hildenbrandt 05:42 No, I mean, everyone's sort of throwing darts, right?
Dan Rubenstein 05:45 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 05:46 You're sort of throwing darts and you're reacting to a lot of the preseason narratives.
Ty Hildenbrandt 05:50 I would expect that most of the movement
Ty Hildenbrandt 05:52 on this ballot, the overall official ballot as well as our own, will take place at some point in the first three weeks of the season.
Ty Hildenbrandt 05:59 You know, I mean, that's just sort of the way this is.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:02 So, you know, we did our best.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:04 There are teams on—I'm looking at our ballot now.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:08 We had Ole Miss down at 14.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:09 We had Texas Tech at 13.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:11 We like...
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:12 Even Tennessee at 19 is a team that I feel like, the deeper we got into it, the more I had a chance to think about it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:20 We knew about all these teams, clearly, because we did all of our preview content
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:24 well in advance, and we had studied well in advance of putting this ballot together.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:28 But there were definitely some teams that, upon submission, I looked at and I was like,
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:35 I don't know how I feel about this.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:37 It feels like that number next to their name is a little too big, but hopefully it'll have a chance to even itself out.
Dan Rubenstein 06:43 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:44 So that's where we're at right now.
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:46 Again, if you go to Verballers.com,
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:47 not only can you listen to the full bonus episode where we talk through
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:52 our logic, at least in that moment, for ranking our Top 25,
Ty Hildenbrandt 06:56 but if you are interested and do want to support the show, if you sign up as a certified or premium Verballer, we have our own Verballer Top 12 poll
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:05 that many people are jumping in.
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:07 You've got a good week or so before we're going to close that up and then talk about it before
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:15 Week 0 gets here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:16 So we would encourage you if you like the show and you want to support Dan and I, that's one good way that you can take part in just one of many.
Dan Rubenstein 07:22 Support Dan and me.
Dan Rubenstein 07:23 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:24 Did I say it wrong again?
Dan Rubenstein 07:25 Yeah, it's okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:25 I said it wrong.
Ty Hildenbrandt 07:26 That's one way that you—one way that you can participate and be part of the community.
Dan Rubenstein 07:26 I regularly do it too.
Dan Rubenstein 07:31 Here's—okay.
Dan Rubenstein 07:32 This is my favorite time of year for the poll because people are figuring out
Dan Rubenstein 07:39 the vibes that they feel, the vibes that they see from afar, and are voting based basically on that, right?
Dan Rubenstein 07:45 That there are coaches that
Dan Rubenstein 07:47 I think we collectively as college football humans believe in more than others to build a winning team, to end up in the top 25, the top five, the top 12, whatever, more than other coaches.
Dan Rubenstein 07:59 But this is the time of the year where it seems like you get that counterargument to any poll, the coaches poll, the AP poll, maybe an early playoff poll, whatever.
Dan Rubenstein 08:08 That there's that argument that, like, polls shouldn't exist until October.
Dan Rubenstein 08:12 Nobody knows anything.
Dan Rubenstein 08:14 This just goes to show you, because Clemson and Penn State
Dan Rubenstein 08:18 didn't even finish ranked last year, that this first AP poll means nothing.
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:21 Are you doing your old Paul Chryst voice?
Dan Rubenstein 08:25 No, that was slower.
Dan Rubenstein 08:27 That was a more Eeyore Paul Chryst.
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:27 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:29 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:29 Hi, Sarks.
Dan Rubenstein 08:30 Which
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:31 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 08:31 I remember that.
Dan Rubenstein 08:31 Hey, guys.
Dan Rubenstein 08:33 This is more, guys:
Dan Rubenstein 08:35 We shouldn't have a poll this early.
Dan Rubenstein 08:38 Dude, this is college football.
Dan Rubenstein 08:39 Nobody knows anything.
Dan Rubenstein 08:40 Week 0, Week 14, Week 6, week
Dan Rubenstein 08:45 after the season, whatever.
Dan Rubenstein 08:48 I love a poll.
Dan Rubenstein 08:49 I wish there were a poll in May, June, July, and August, Ty.
Dan Rubenstein 08:52 I love a preseason poll.
Dan Rubenstein 08:54 I love knowing where people stand, and I understand
Dan Rubenstein 08:57 the argument that, you know, a team or a fan base like BYU's fans have said, like, well, they have a higher mountain to climb because they weren't ranked, and so they're...
Dan Rubenstein 09:06 The College Football Playoff poll is the only poll that truly decides things with the playoff and the postseason.
Dan Rubenstein 09:12 This is just a vibe check.
Dan Rubenstein 09:14 And I love a good vibe, Ty.
Dan Rubenstein 09:16 And so I'm all in on the AP poll.
Dan Rubenstein 09:18 I'm all in on seeing what...
Dan Rubenstein 09:20 And here's the other thing, too, I've seen—
Dan Rubenstein 09:21 I've seen around, like, doubt this team at your own peril. Doubt Indiana, doubt Georgia, doubt Michigan.
Dan Rubenstein 09:30 Well, you—wait—you just—you're trying to impress fan bases by polling?
Dan Rubenstein 09:35 No, you vote how you believe, and if you're wrong, you're wrong.
Dan Rubenstein 09:38 Nobody loses sleep.
Dan Rubenstein 09:40 It's all gravy, Ty.
Dan Rubenstein 09:42 So look, if you voted Indiana 11,
Dan Rubenstein 09:46 it's because most likely you feel like going into the season, Indiana has the 10th most things to prove heading into the year, right?
Dan Rubenstein 09:56 And that's okay.
Dan Rubenstein 09:58 That's valid.
Dan Rubenstein 09:59 You might be wrong.
Dan Rubenstein 10:01 You might be right.
Dan Rubenstein 10:02 You might be incredibly wrong.
Dan Rubenstein 10:03 You might be incredibly right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:04 You're probably incredibly wrong, but continue.
Dan Rubenstein 10:06 You're probably incredibly wrong.
Dan Rubenstein 10:08 But this isn't like a, let me take the temperature.
Dan Rubenstein 10:13 Let me lick my finger and stick it up to see which way the wind is blowing.
Dan Rubenstein 10:17 You didn't know where I was going with that phrasing, did you?
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:18 I was—I was concerned.
Dan Rubenstein 10:19 You were very terrified.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:20 I was concerned.
Dan Rubenstein 10:21 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 10:23 It's not that.
Dan Rubenstein 10:24 It's not like, here's the consensus I'm hearing, so this is how I'm voting.
Dan Rubenstein 10:28 No, that's stupid.
Dan Rubenstein 10:30 If you think Indiana's number 11, vote them number 11.
Dan Rubenstein 10:33 If you think they're number one, vote them number one.
Dan Rubenstein 10:35 That's the whole point.
Dan Rubenstein 10:36 I love it.
Dan Rubenstein 10:36 Can't get enough.
Dan Rubenstein 10:37 Thrilled to be a part of it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:38 I am also thrilled to be a part of it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:41 And I kind of feel like at some point,
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:45 let's say within the last 10 years, we've been doing the show forever.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:49 I'm pretty sure I came on this show and I chastised the need for a preseason poll.
Ty Hildenbrandt 10:59 And I feel like with all the change we have seen in college football, some of the feedback that we get from the Verballerhood is that people yearn for the traditions of old.
Dan Rubenstein 11:11 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:12 Right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:13 This is a sport that has slowly but surely lost a bunch of the good ones, or at least some of the old vibes that used to power us as fans.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:24 And I think with that as context, and knowing all of the other more important problems in the sport right now,
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:34 I would kill for a good preseason poll, Dan.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:37 This is a good problem to have.
Dan Rubenstein 11:38 Of course.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:39 It gets the conversation going.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:40 Of course, it doesn't mean anything relative to the actual poll that decides who gets in and who gets left out.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:46 But
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:48 look, we're excited to be a part of it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:49 Again, Verballers.com is where you can go if you want to hear the full thought process on what we did and how we came to our first ballot.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:56 We'll be doing something like that every Saturday night.
Dan Rubenstein 11:59 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 11:59 After each week of games on the reaction stream. Well, unless—I don't know, you're in charge of the ballot. You're—the poll you got in front of you...
Dan Rubenstein 12:02 Is there anything else you wanted to discuss, by the way?
Dan Rubenstein 12:04 We only went through the top ten.
Dan Rubenstein 12:06 Any other teams in there?
Dan Rubenstein 12:11 I do have it in front of me.
Dan Rubenstein 12:12 Texas Tech, number 12.
Dan Rubenstein 12:14 LSU right in front of them.
Dan Rubenstein 12:16 Year one, Lane Kiffin, number 11.
Dan Rubenstein 12:17 Top 15 rounded out by—
Dan Rubenstein 12:19 it looks like a tie between BYU and USC at 14, Alabama at 13.
Dan Rubenstein 12:25 Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State,
Dan Rubenstein 12:28 SMU, Tennessee, 16 through 20, Utah, Iowa, Houston, 24, and
Dan Rubenstein 12:38 In the grandest, grandest, grandest tradition, Ty, Mizzou enters the top 25 at number 25.
Dan Rubenstein 12:46 Mizzou just being in there at 20 to 25.
Ty Hildenbrandt 12:47 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 12:49 You know, we've got natural disasters.
Dan Rubenstein 12:51 We've got all sorts of change around us.
Dan Rubenstein 12:53 Mizzou is just, for some reason, they're sort of inching their way.
Dan Rubenstein 12:58 They're worming their way into the top 25, come hell or high water.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:00 Beautiful, beautiful, love it.
Dan Rubenstein 13:01 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:03 Weigh in, solidverbal@gmail.com.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:05 Let us know who's too high, who's too low.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:09 Of course, reach out on social media.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:10 Let us know your thoughts on that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:13 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:13 Should we get to our game of the day?
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:19 So for those wondering at the start of this episode where all of this was going, Dan's had this concept bouncing around in his head for at least an hour and a half.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:31 Before us, we have a bank of random things, narratives.
Ty Hildenbrandt 13:36 Dan, please explain what we are doing with these.
Dan Rubenstein 13:39 We are choosing.
Dan Rubenstein 13:41 I made a bank of zigs.
Dan Rubenstein 13:45 So the zig is a commonly held college football opinion or narrative about a specific team or coach or player or what have you.
Dan Rubenstein 13:54 We are going to draft a zig in order to highlight a zag that I think we truly believe in.
Dan Rubenstein 14:02 Not that it's 100% going to happen, but
Dan Rubenstein 14:06 a zag that's intriguing enough to highlight.
Dan Rubenstein 14:10 Why are we doing this?
Dan Rubenstein 14:11 Aside from having shows to fill before we start previewing games, we're doing this because if one of these zags come to pass,
Dan Rubenstein 14:20 comes to pass, then we can clip that video clip and post it on January 27th
Dan Rubenstein 14:28 and say, "Aha, Tyler Hildenbrandt on Monday, August 17th, had this."
Ty Hildenbrandt 14:34 Yeah, we need to put, like, a black-and-white effect on it to sort of give it that, I don't know, nostalgic feeling.
Dan Rubenstein 14:34 And then we just—of course, yes.
Dan Rubenstein 14:41 Absolutely, yes.
Dan Rubenstein 14:42 So we have the ability to control the receipt that we put out into the universe because nobody else
Dan Rubenstein 14:51 has editing software and can clip a totally wrong clip from this episode.
Ty Hildenbrandt 14:56 No, the only ones.
Dan Rubenstein 14:56 We are the only ones with that power.
Ty Hildenbrandt 14:58 Yes, we are.
Dan Rubenstein 14:59 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:00 So, for example,
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:02 Just, I'm the first example that came to mind.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:05 I don't know why.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:06 Maybe I just saw a news thing about it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:08 But, like, if you see on this sheet, Beyoncé is one of the greatest singers of all time.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:17 If you believe that to be untrue, if you want a zag, then you should draft that.
Dan Rubenstein 15:20 Mm, right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:23 But if you are like me,
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:25 and you do believe that Queen Bey is one of the better singers of all time, then you don't draft it.
Dan Rubenstein 15:30 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:31 Then there is no need to zag because the zig is really accurate.
Dan Rubenstein 15:35 I guess I don't know what you would say in the denial of that zig, other than you're like, oh, I'm just a Kelly Rowland guy, and I'm going to plant my flag.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:43 Well, obviously, well, I mean, Pat McAfee just dropped the album, so
Dan Rubenstein 15:45 Here's why.
Dan Rubenstein 15:49 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:49 The competition is very stiff.
Dan Rubenstein 15:52 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 15:54 Yes.
Dan Rubenstein 15:55 So do you want first pick or shall I?
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:57 I almost couldn't get through that with a straight face.
Ty Hildenbrandt 15:59 I'm sorry.
Dan Rubenstein 15:59 Yeah, you're good.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:01 Yes, I will take the first pick.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:03 So we've got a whole host of things here in front of us.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:07 And the one that jumped out to me the most
Dan Rubenstein 16:12 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:13 was one of the narratives here that you have.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:16 Should I play the sound again?
Dan Rubenstein 16:17 Please do.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:17 Do you want me to
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:21 One of the items was that Pete Golding will obviously continue Lane's winning ways.
Dan Rubenstein 16:29 Yeah, I mean, especially after what he was able to do leading that team throughout the College Football Playoff.
Dan Rubenstein 16:34 Taking down Tulane and Georgia, and nearly taking down Miami.
Dan Rubenstein 16:39 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:40 I'm going to zag on that one, and I'm going to say I don't think so.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:44 Now,
Dan Rubenstein 16:44 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:46 I don't know how long it'll take for me to be proven right on this one.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:51 I happen to think Ole Miss is a pretty good team.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:54 And case in point—case in—and I get to the earlier point.
Ty Hildenbrandt 16:58 Ole Miss was one of those teams that I was looking at our ballot and I was like, I think we had them at like 14.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:04 I was like, ooh, I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:07 That's pretty low for this team.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:10 I think they're going to be loaded this year.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:12 I think they're going to be very solid.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:14 My question about Pete Golding is the same question I have had about a number of other coaches who took over for another prominent, successful coach.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:23 We've seen this act time and again.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:26 New guy steps in, has a ton of talent, is able to make it work for a little bit, and then the air comes out of the balloon.
Dan Rubenstein 17:33 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:34 And that's my concern with Pete Golding.
Dan Rubenstein 17:38 Is it a medium-term, long-term, or short-term?
Dan Rubenstein 17:41 If you're doubting the hire, obviously, Ole Miss's...
Dan Rubenstein 17:43 Doubt hire.
Dan Rubenstein 17:44 If you're doubting the hire here, what timeline are we talking?
Ty Hildenbrandt 17:48 Medium term.
Dan Rubenstein 17:50 So he could win this year.
Dan Rubenstein 17:53 You feel like they have a top ten ceiling.
Dan Rubenstein 17:57 But in the long term, Pete Golding is going to show himself to be an obvious downgrade from Lane Kiffin.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:05 That is my zag.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:06 And look, when your starting point is Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy, two guys, by the way, that in our other ballot for the AP All-America team, we voted for, because obviously...
Dan Rubenstein 18:17 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:18 If that's your starting point, you're in a pretty good spot.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:22 But what happens next?
Dan Rubenstein 18:22 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:24 What happens the further down the road we go with this?
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:27 I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:28 So that to me seems like a kind of
Dan Rubenstein 18:29 Well...
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:31 obvious one.
Ty Hildenbrandt 18:32 That's the one that jumped out to me right out of the chute.
Dan Rubenstein 18:34 It's not wrong, and perhaps we're making a little bit of a straw man argument because it's not like we are inundated with people saying, you know, Pete Golding is the next great SEC championship coach, but
Dan Rubenstein 18:47 that's just the way the wind seems to be blowing.
Dan Rubenstein 18:50 That there's not a lot of like this guy's in over his head and he's not going to make it work.
Dan Rubenstein 18:54 The case for the zag, I think, is strongest when you consider
Dan Rubenstein 18:59 that there is a magnetism to Lane Kiffin, right?
Dan Rubenstein 19:02 That whether it's in recruiting, whether it's with assistant coaches, whether it's bringing attention to the Ole Miss program.
Dan Rubenstein 19:10 Pete Golding may very well be a Hall of Fame coach, but his starting point is not going to immediately bring
Dan Rubenstein 19:19 talent to Ole Miss in the same way.
Dan Rubenstein 19:21 It's going to take time for him to prove that he's a winner and that Ole Miss is better than ever, even without Lane Kiffin.
Dan Rubenstein 19:29 And also, if the short-term case for Ole Miss as a top-10-ceiling-type team is that they have this great returning quarterback,
Dan Rubenstein 19:37 Pete Golding does not have the reputation as a quarterback developer as he is a defensive coach.
Dan Rubenstein 19:43 So it's going to take time
Dan Rubenstein 19:45 to re-establish this new-look Ole Miss coaching staff as quarterback-friendly, as offense-friendly, as much as people believe.
Dan Rubenstein 19:52 And was it John David Baker, the new offensive coordinator?
Dan Rubenstein 19:55 That he is, you know, the next great Ole Miss play caller, whatever. Uh, it's going to take a minute to establish that without Lane Kiffin. So...
Dan Rubenstein 20:04 I think that zag is worthwhile.
Dan Rubenstein 20:06 Also, because SEC teams now play nine conference games, right?
Dan Rubenstein 20:11 So the math tells me in the medium term, everybody's probably going to lose a little bit more.
Dan Rubenstein 20:17 If you're replacing some of those nonconference games with a conference game, no matter which conference we're talking about, this is not, like, an SEC gauntlet conversation.
Dan Rubenstein 20:26 This is much more of just, like—
Dan Rubenstein 20:27 Yeah, it's a challenging conference.
Dan Rubenstein 20:29 Like a lot of conferences are challenging.
Dan Rubenstein 20:30 And when you play more challenging games, over time, there are going to be more losses.
Dan Rubenstein 20:35 So, not saying Lane Kiffin was a product of an eight-conference-game system, but if the math is going to math,
Dan Rubenstein 20:42 the loss has got to come from somewhere.
Ty Hildenbrandt 20:44 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 20:44 And so I don't mind that zag.
Dan Rubenstein 20:51 Okay, I'm a big fan of this zag as I go to the right tab.
Dan Rubenstein 20:57 Lincoln Riley will never figure out defense.
Dan Rubenstein 21:00 Okay?
Dan Rubenstein 21:01 That is the zig.
Ty Hildenbrandt 21:01 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 21:03 Okay, so, so your implication then is that he will figure out defense.
Dan Rubenstein 21:03 That's the thing.
Dan Rubenstein 21:05 Lincoln Riley, correct.
Dan Rubenstein 21:09 That's the zag.
Dan Rubenstein 21:10 The zag is, and I don't know if it's a Gary Patterson thing, maybe this is a medium-term, maybe this is a long-term thing.
Dan Rubenstein 21:15 Should he have that much time in LA?
Dan Rubenstein 21:18 The zag here is you can cover up for a lot
Dan Rubenstein 21:22 with pure talent.
Dan Rubenstein 21:24 You may not be able to field an elite defense without scheme and focus and recruiting all coming in together at the same time.
Dan Rubenstein 21:34 But there is something about how USC has acquired talent, especially up front, has guys who are coveted by a lot of the biggest programs in America.
Dan Rubenstein 21:44 And while he hasn't hired super well at defensive coordinator constantly, and they took a step back last year.
Dan Rubenstein 21:53 There is something to me about USC spending like they're spending, not going as hard and as deep—I apologize for that phrasing—in the portal
Ty Hildenbrandt 22:03 Fatal
Dan Rubenstein 22:07 as they did earlier on in Lincoln Riley's tenure at USC.
Ty Hildenbrandt 22:10 Nice recovery, good recovery.
Dan Rubenstein 22:11 Thank you very much.
Dan Rubenstein 22:13 That I think USC can figure out defense.
Dan Rubenstein 22:17 There's, like, they're going to have the weird geographical, both advantages and disadvantages, being on a coast.
Dan Rubenstein 22:23 So teams are going to have to travel considerable distances sometimes to play against USC, and they're going to have to travel themselves.
Dan Rubenstein 22:30 I am just—I'm not fully ready to declare this thing that we've seen is going to be this way forever.
Dan Rubenstein 22:39 If a team is able to recruit on a high level, like USC at least has started to do with their new GM and whatever their new recruiting operation is, I think they're going to be better along both lines of scrimmage.
Dan Rubenstein 22:52 And I'm a believer.
Dan Rubenstein 22:53 I don't know if I'm a believer in Gary Patterson immediately, but I think defensive line and edge depth and talent—I think they have the number one edge dude coming in this coming season, Luke Wafle.
Dan Rubenstein 23:04 Is that his name?
Dan Rubenstein 23:05 From the East Coast coming to USC.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:06 Yep, Waffle House.
Dan Rubenstein 23:09 I just—look, if your linebackers aren't great, if your safety play isn't great, if your corners are inconsistent, but you can rush the hell out of the quarterback,
Dan Rubenstein 23:17 you can get the hell off the field.
Dan Rubenstein 23:19 And so, don't know if it's this year, don't know if it's next year, but my zag is USC under Lincoln Riley will build a respectable defense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:28 You know what's crazy?
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:31 If you look up Lincoln Riley's head coaching career, he coached at Oklahoma as head coach for five full seasons.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:40 This is going to be his fifth season at USC now.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:42 So he will, after this year, will have been at USC for as long as he was at Oklahoma, which—yeah, well, the window's open per Lincoln Riley himself, but...
Dan Rubenstein 23:47 Window is open.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:53 It doesn't feel like it was all that long ago that he was taking over this program.
Ty Hildenbrandt 23:56 I still remember like the shock and awe of hearing that he was leaving Oklahoma and was going to take that job.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:03 It did materialize in the first year.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:06 Won 11 games, but since then it's been 8-5, 7-6, 9-4.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:13 I would push back a little bit, not because I think what you're saying is fundamentally wrong.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:17 You know, at some point, it's got to hit.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:20 And even when he hired D'Anton Lynn, like, the first year of D'Anton Lynn was considerably better than last year.
Dan Rubenstein 24:25 Definite improvement, yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:26 Yeah, the defense did take a step forward.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:28 Last year, it didn't quite live up to the previous year.
Dan Rubenstein 24:31 It was 55th in America in defensive points per drive allowed in 2024.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:36 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 24:36 So average-ish, maybe a little above average.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:39 Which has always been the argument for Lincoln's offense or just Lincoln's team as a whole, because the offense is so good.
Dan Rubenstein 24:42 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:45 We spent an eternity.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:46 I mean, we were part of, we were doing this show for the entire duration that Lincoln Riley was at Oklahoma.
Dan Rubenstein 24:52 Mm-hmm.
Ty Hildenbrandt 24:52 And if I had a dollar for every time I said to you or you said to me, if they just got marginally better on defense, they would be so much better.
Dan Rubenstein 24:58 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 24:59 Yep.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:00 Right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:00 And I feel like we're saying the same thing over and over again now.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:04 with these Lincoln Riley teams now that he's at USC.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:07 So it did get marginally better two years ago, last year, a little bit of a step back.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:12 But I would challenge you to point out a season in which Lincoln Riley did figure out defense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:17 Because we're going into his tenth season now.
Dan Rubenstein 25:19 Well, 2020, right?
Dan Rubenstein 25:21 The 2020 season, right, for Oklahoma was the one, and that's obviously a strange season.
Dan Rubenstein 25:27 It's the Big 12.
Dan Rubenstein 25:28 It was just different.
Dan Rubenstein 25:30 But they win the title, and they really did get after teams on defense.
Dan Rubenstein 25:33 I think they had a top 25 defense or something.
Dan Rubenstein 25:35 That's like the lone island in the sea of defensive woes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:40 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:41 And so I—the reason that I bring that up is, are you willing to venture on that 11% chance?
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:48 Because that's what it is.
Ty Hildenbrandt 25:50 One out of nine so far, an 11% chance that USC is going to figure it out this year or one of the upcoming years.
Dan Rubenstein 25:53 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:00 I mean,
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:01 I tend to agree with you that the talent is such that eventually it's got to hit, and maybe Gary Patterson can unlock something this year or at some point in the short term.
Dan Rubenstein 26:10 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:12 But
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:14 the talent is one thing, the track record is another.
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:18 And the track record says that there's an 11% chance he's going to figure it out, and actually, a 0% chance in a year that isn't as weird as in 2020.
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:28 So I think I'm with you, but I don't feel strongly about it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 26:32 And I certainly would not want to put my name to it in this zigzag, whatever draft we're doing.
Dan Rubenstein 26:36 You can also point to, if you're going to even say short term, 2026, you can look at the offensive lines that USC plays this year.
Dan Rubenstein 26:44 And we've talked about the very difficult stretch that they have starting relatively early on.
Dan Rubenstein 26:49 The argument is not a difficult one that if everything clicks for USC up front, that they're not playing team after team after team
Dan Rubenstein 27:00 of offensive lines who've got it all figured out.
Dan Rubenstein 27:05 You look at where Oregon struggled last year at tackle, and they're starting over again at tackle this year.
Dan Rubenstein 27:11 Washington struggled against the best teams that they played.
Dan Rubenstein 27:15 Indiana's got a lot back, but there's new pieces along that offensive line.
Dan Rubenstein 27:19 Ohio State, that was their weakness against Indiana.
Dan Rubenstein 27:21 And then
Dan Rubenstein 27:22 against Miami, that they were able to be overwhelmed a little bit along the offensive line.
Dan Rubenstein 27:28 So I'm not saying it's a perfect argument, but I'm saying if you're a USC doubter, there is room for zag here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 27:36 All right, should we do another one?
Dan Rubenstein 27:38 Let's do it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 27:41 You want me to go, or do you want to take another one, like a snake draft?
Dan Rubenstein 27:45 No, let's not do snake.
Dan Rubenstein 27:46 Let's just do back and forth.
Dan Rubenstein 27:47 Go for it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 27:49 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 27:50 I am going to go with one here that you wrote down.
Ty Hildenbrandt 27:55 Iowa will never mount an explosive offense.
Dan Rubenstein 27:58 Ooh, okay.
Dan Rubenstein 28:00 You ready to zag?
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:01 I'm ready to zag.
Dan Rubenstein 28:02 Okay, Brian Ferentz deeper in the rearview mirror.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:05 Yep.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:06 Yep.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:07 The drive to 325 getting a little bit off in the distance.
Dan Rubenstein 28:11 Okay?
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:11 Don't have to have that conversation anymore.
Dan Rubenstein 28:14 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:16 I think Jeremy Hecklinski is going to win the job.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:19 Jeremy Hecklinski, and I'm paraphrasing a little bit here because I haven't had a chance to fully dive in, but there was, like, an Iowa team scrimmage
Dan Rubenstein 28:19 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:29 recently in which he had, like, five touchdowns and clearly showed that he's got more juice than Hank Brown, who kind of struggled.
Dan Rubenstein 28:32 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:40 I feel like there is enough intention on that Iowa side.
Dan Rubenstein 28:43 Say it, Ty.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:47 I feel like even though I feel like we have this exact same conversation every year, they have slowly been building something better since they made the change at offensive coordinator.
Ty Hildenbrandt 28:59 Do you get that sense as well?
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:01 That it's just—it's never going to be like Lincoln Riley-era Oklahoma, but it also doesn't necessarily have to be like Brian Ferentz-era Iowa.
Dan Rubenstein 29:02 Definitely.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:13 I feel like with Tim Lester, they have definitely gone about their business a little bit differently.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:19 I'm curious to see what Hecklinski looks like if he is the guy.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:23 Part of the reason I liked Mark Gronowski last year is because of the mobility
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:27 that he brought to that offense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:30 I was expecting that they would use that mobility and that he would be further along as a passer.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:34 He was not as a passer.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:37 They got better as an offense later in the year once they started running him a little bit more and using him, I'm not going to say as a running back, but using his legs as a more prominent part of that offense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:49 That was when it seemed like it turned a bit of a corner and Iowa was much more of a threat.
Ty Hildenbrandt 29:54 Hecklinski is not a big kid, not by a long shot, but he is athletic, he is mobile, and he definitely gives them some of that improviser juice
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:03 that I think could shake things up on offense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:07 So I am eager to see what this team looks like this year because you and I both agree that Iowa is one of the better teams
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:16 in the country.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:18 We deliberated whether or not top 25 was within reach in the preseason.
Dan Rubenstein 30:18 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:26 But certainly before the season is through, it'll be there.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:29 More likely than not, that Iowa's going to be one of these ranked teams.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:32 And I just tend to think if they can find somebody—
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:36 if they can find somebody who can give them, you know, let's just say a little bit of Baker Mayfield, Dan.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:41 I don't know.
Dan Rubenstein 30:42 Sure, okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:43 If they can find someone who can give them some of that improvisational talent.
Dan Rubenstein 30:48 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:49 It stands to reason that Iowa, with their otherwise ground-and-pound offense, could make teams pay vertically, can work play action off of that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 30:58 You can do a lot with it if you've got the right guy who can
Ty Hildenbrandt 31:02 develop a quarterback to some extent.
Ty Hildenbrandt 31:04 So I'm not going to buy in on them never having an explosive offense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 31:08 I'm going to zag and say I think it's possible.
Dan Rubenstein 31:11 Okay, couple things.
Dan Rubenstein 31:12 Oklahoma also had a little bit of, like, Samaje Perine
Dan Rubenstein 31:15 and CeeDee Lamb and Hollywood Brown, right?
Dan Rubenstein 31:18 Like, there's a whole, like,
Dan Rubenstein 31:19 360 degrees of what made up Baker Mayfield and any Oklahoma quarterback who thrived under Lincoln Riley.
Dan Rubenstein 31:27 But here's my question now.
Dan Rubenstein 31:31 So Iowa finished with 11 30-yard passing plays, 30-plus-yard passing plays last season.
Dan Rubenstein 31:39 Okay?
Dan Rubenstein 31:41 In order to be above average, and obviously there's much more that goes into having an explosive offense, a running game, and how often you're doing these things, and depends on how many plays you're running, obviously.
Dan Rubenstein 31:52 So 11 of them last year, which was good for tied for 119th.
Dan Rubenstein 31:59 In order to be above average,
Dan Rubenstein 32:02 they would need to hit, per 2025 numbers, something like 18 or 19, 20, something in that range, just to be above average, not to be crazy explosive.
Dan Rubenstein 32:12 But to have an above-average generation—generating whatever—longer passes.
Dan Rubenstein 32:18 Are you willing?
Dan Rubenstein 32:20 to plant the zag flag in the turf in this study of Zagriculture and say they will hit
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:26 It's agriculture.
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:27 I love that.
Dan Rubenstein 32:30 an over of 17.5 30-plus-yard passing plays, as we record this in the middle of August.
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:40 Thirty-plus?
Dan Rubenstein 32:41 Thirty-plus yards. If you're hitting the over, it means 18 or more times this year.
Dan Rubenstein 32:48 So you're talking about an average of one and a half a game.
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:51 That's a lot of big plays for Iowa.
Dan Rubenstein 32:53 It's a lot, but that's what it takes to hit 30.
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:54 That's a lot of big plays.
Dan Rubenstein 32:56 I mean, they're, like—they're way down there in 10-plus and 20-plus and 40-plus.
Ty Hildenbrandt 32:57 No, I'm not planting that flag.
Dan Rubenstein 33:00 They're way down there.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:01 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 33:02 But 30 felt like, okay, it's not just a screen that went right.
Dan Rubenstein 33:06 Like something intentional had to happen.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:08 No, I'm not—I'm not going that far with it.
Dan Rubenstein 33:11 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:11 But I—that's...
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:14 I would take 20-yard plays.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:16 I mean, I don't need to.
Dan Rubenstein 33:17 Do you want me to give you the number for 20?
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:18 Yeah, what's the number for 20?
Dan Rubenstein 33:20 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 33:21 Last year, Iowa was 114th with 28 20-plus-yard plays.
Dan Rubenstein 33:29 Now that's over the whole season.
Dan Rubenstein 33:30 We can just do conference versus conference versus conference: 111th, 18 20-plus-yard plays.
Dan Rubenstein 33:37 So that's one and a half a game, 20-plus
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:39 Yep.
Dan Rubenstein 33:40 yard plays.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:40 I think I'd be inclined to go over on that one.
Dan Rubenstein 33:43 So no, but that's good for 111th.
Dan Rubenstein 33:46 So in order to be above average at 20-plus-yard plays—this is a counting stat, not a total—we'd have to get to, like, 27.
Ty Hildenbrandt 33:57 I'll go over.
Dan Rubenstein 33:58 Over 27 20-plus-yard plays versus Big Ten teams.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:02 Yeah, you keep changing the goalposts on me here.
Dan Rubenstein 34:08 I told you I said conference.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:08 I'm saying the full year.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:10 Can we do the full year?
Dan Rubenstein 34:11 You want full year?
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:12 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 34:13 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 34:14 Full year, 20-plus-yard plays for Iowa.
Dan Rubenstein 34:17 This is such a depressing line of thinking.
Dan Rubenstein 34:19 So they had 28 last year.
Dan Rubenstein 34:21 And that was good for 114th.
Dan Rubenstein 34:23 They were right there with Fresno State and Virginia Tech.
Dan Rubenstein 34:27 So, in order for them to get more, or get above average, 20-plus-yard plays against the entirety of their season,
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:30 I'm really backing myself in a corner here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:34 I'm backing myself in a corner, aren't I?
Dan Rubenstein 34:35 You are.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:36 Yeah, this is great.
Dan Rubenstein 34:37 They would have to get to 42 20-plus-yard plays.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:40 Oh.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:41 All right, forget it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:42 Go back to the conference one.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:44 We'll take the over on the conference one.
Dan Rubenstein 34:45 You're going to take the over in the conference.
Dan Rubenstein 34:47 You're getting fewer games to do it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:48 Yeah, we'll do we'll do that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:50 We'll go with that one.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:51 What was the number again?
Dan Rubenstein 34:51 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 34:52 So twenty-seven.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:53 Oh man.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:55 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:56 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:56 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:56 What the hell?
Dan Rubenstein 34:57 Iowa needs to go from eighteen to twenty-seven.
Ty Hildenbrandt 34:57 Let's go.
Dan Rubenstein 35:00 So basically add one
Dan Rubenstein 35:02 20-plus-yard play per game against Big Ten teams.
Dan Rubenstein 35:06 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:07 They lose three starters along the line, which I'm not crazy about.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:10 I do think their receiver room will be better than advertised.
Dan Rubenstein 35:10 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:13 They obviously have a pretty steady running back room and a track record for building success on the ground.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:21 I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:22 I believe recent reports.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:23 I think it's Jeremy Hecklinski who's going to be the starter.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:26 Again, needs to stay healthy.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:28 He's only, like, 5'11, 188.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:30 He's not a big kid whatsoever, but he does give them
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:34 a different profile than I think we're used to seeing.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:37 So I'm in, baby.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:40 In for a dime, in for a dollar.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:41 What's the number again?
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:42 I got to write this down.
Dan Rubenstein 35:43 Twenty-seven
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:45 20.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:46 Oh, God.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:46 20.
Dan Rubenstein 35:47 They need to generate 27 20-plus-yard plays against the Big Ten.
Ty Hildenbrandt 35:52 I'm going to celebrate each one of these like I'm winning the Super Bowl.
Dan Rubenstein 35:57 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 35:58 Well, look, they have some time, right, before Big Ten play to get comfortable with a new quarterback.
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:00 I know.
Dan Rubenstein 36:06 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:08 I can't believe I talked myself into that corner.
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:10 What do you got, Dan Rubenstein?
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:11 Where are you going to zag?
Dan Rubenstein 36:13 I'm going to zag with, 'Notre Dame is only a product of its schedule.'
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:18 My man.
Dan Rubenstein 36:19 That annually they are overrated and they only end up in the playoff or only end up in a postseason position because they don't play anybody, right?
Dan Rubenstein 36:27 They're not—what?
Dan Rubenstein 36:28 They're not Rutledge'd out.
Dan Rubenstein 36:30 They're not gassed, right, in the way that the SEC teams are playing at their gauntlet.
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:33 There is no gauntlet.
Ty Hildenbrandt 36:34 No, there is definitely not a gauntlet.
Dan Rubenstein 36:37 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 36:39 I just think Notre Dame's really, really good.
Dan Rubenstein 36:42 I think they're—if the combination is, again, starting point is not—we're not even talking starting point, we're talking finishing point—is we believe—I believe CJ Carr can be excellent.
Dan Rubenstein 36:54 I believe in this defense.
Dan Rubenstein 36:55 I believe in this offensive line.
Dan Rubenstein 36:57 And while I'm not fully sold on proven talent around CJ Carr, I'm sold on what I think is the upside.
Dan Rubenstein 37:06 And I think they will perform quite well should they make the College Football Playoff this year.
Dan Rubenstein 37:13 I think that they will be a nightmare to run an offense against.
Dan Rubenstein 37:19 And that CJ Carr, with a full second season starting as the guy, and now a full offseason knowing he's the guy, I think is going to pay dividends for Notre Dame.
Dan Rubenstein 37:30 I think we're going to see them perform better against Miami this season.
Dan Rubenstein 37:34 I'm not guaranteeing a win, but there is something about Notre Dame this season.
Dan Rubenstein 37:39 And it's not just me saying, well, look, they play an easier schedule, so they're not going to be as gassed out, all of that nonsense.
Dan Rubenstein 37:46 I think, regardless,
Dan Rubenstein 37:48 basically, all but three, four, five teams in America would be thrilled to trade rosters with Notre Dame.
Ty Hildenbrandt 37:56 Oh my god, yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 37:56 And if that's the case, if that's a reality,
Ty Hildenbrandt 37:57 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 37:59 Then you gotta like them against anybody.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:02 I mean, this was my argument going back to one of the episodes we did at the end of July talking about Notre Dame.
Dan Rubenstein 38:02 So, yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:09 You know, I did.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:10 I don't know if on the official video or not, you gave me the one shot where I could just speak to the people in their parlors at home.
Dan Rubenstein 38:17 Yeah, of course.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:19 But this is my thing, that I think it's going to be a very convenient attack line against Notre Dame, as it is, frankly, a lot of years.
Dan Rubenstein 38:29 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:29 To say that Notre Dame doesn't play anyone, therefore, they're not that good of a team.
Dan Rubenstein 38:33 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:34 And listen, I'm not the only one who said this.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:37 I know a lot of people out there saying the exact same thing.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:40 We were talking about it back in March.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:42 This team is not a product of its schedule.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:45 It isn't.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:46 It's a very, very good team.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:48 That does not mean they will win the national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 38:50 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:50 It doesn't.
Ty Hildenbrandt 38:53 But...
Dan Rubenstein 38:53 It's hard to see them losing a playoff game in the manner that they lost playoff games under Brian Kelly.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:00 Yeah, and again, it...
Dan Rubenstein 39:00 Like the Clemson game or the Clemson ACC Championship game, that kind of thing.
Dan Rubenstein 39:04 It's hard to see that this team would lose a game, whatever that was, 35 to 3.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:08 Look, the questions are different.
Dan Rubenstein 39:10 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:11 They're just different.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:11 We're arguing over who's going to be, like, the third corner and who's going to slot in as, like,
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:16 the number three wideout.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:18 What's the depth look like along the offensive line?
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:21 Who's going to play right guard?
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:23 We're asking questions, real questions that I think have merit, but it's fundamentally a different set of questions than it was
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:31 during the Brian Kelly era, where it felt like more often than not there was a big hole in the team that needed to be answered, and there weren't any obvious solutions.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:38 That is not the case this year.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:40 for this roster that Marcus Freeman has assembled.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:42 So they're pretty solid the full way through.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:45 The schedule—the schedule is lacking compared to many of their peers, but I don't think that's necessarily the lens through which people should view Notre Dame.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:55 Watch the games, watch the team.
Ty Hildenbrandt 39:58 If they look dominant, if they pass the eye test, then I think that's an altogether different conversation than...
Ty Hildenbrandt 40:04 They've got two really big games, one in the middle of October, BYU on the road, and then another at the start of November with Miami coming to town.
Dan Rubenstein 40:12 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 40:12 SMU is ranked as well, yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 40:13 SMU, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 40:14 Yeah, SMU.
Dan Rubenstein 40:16 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 40:16 We like SMU.
Dan Rubenstein 40:18 I will say this, to appease and scratch the backs and rub the shoulders of those Notre Dame doubters:
Dan Rubenstein 40:26 They are a team for which you can say two things can be true.
Dan Rubenstein 40:31 They are both of high-level
Dan Rubenstein 40:35 recognition and vibes or whatever you want to call it ahead of the season.
Dan Rubenstein 40:39 But also their schedule and situation as an independent team who books most of their games themselves—
Dan Rubenstein 40:49 a healthy chunk of the games themselves—it's a fortunate position to be in.
Dan Rubenstein 40:54 It's a more fortunate position to be in with having their semi-ACC deal
Dan Rubenstein 41:00 and then going about their business.
Dan Rubenstein 41:02 Now, this year not having USC—blame whoever you want to blame—that it is a better situation.
Dan Rubenstein 41:09 And they are fortunate to be in this situation,
Dan Rubenstein 41:12 whereas a Georgia fan, an Oregon fan, a Texas fan, an Ohio State fan, a Texas Tech fan
Dan Rubenstein 41:18 would be doing backflips to have what Notre Dame has.
Dan Rubenstein 41:22 So I think you can call Notre Dame lucky and call them potentially excellent in the same breath.
Dan Rubenstein 41:30 That's all.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:31 Uh, why don't we do, like, one or two more?
Dan Rubenstein 41:34 Sure, we got...
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:39 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:40 Um...
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:43 Frankly, a lot of these on the answer bank I agree with.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:47 Okay, a lot of these I think are appropriate zigs.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:50 But if I am truly looking to zag here,
Dan Rubenstein 41:50 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 41:52 You're not fully ready to aerate the soil in your agricultural pursuits.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:55 Yes, yes.
Dan Rubenstein 41:59 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 41:59 If I am going to do a zag...
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:03 Oh, God.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:05 I'm actually going to put my name to this.
Dan Rubenstein 42:08 Well, look, if you truly don't believe in any of these, maybe don't.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:12 Well, you've got a line here that Dabo is cooked.
Dan Rubenstein 42:15 Okay?
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:17 And I think I'm going to zag on that one.
Dan Rubenstein 42:20 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:20 Now, here is the important qualifier, Dan:
Dan Rubenstein 42:23 Is this a zag or is this your true zag?
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:32 I don't think he's—
Dan Rubenstein 42:32 Like I'm a believer that USC can build a defense.
Dan Rubenstein 42:35 I'm a believer that Notre Dame is excellent even with an easy schedule, right?
Dan Rubenstein 42:38 I am.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:38 I don't believe that Dabo, at time of recording, is cooked.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:42 No.
Dan Rubenstein 42:42 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:43 I believe he has clearly marched to the beat of his own drummer.
Ty Hildenbrandt 42:47 And I also reserve the right to change my mind after the first seven weeks of the year, okay?
Dan Rubenstein 42:57 Okay, so how would you define being cooked, right?
Dan Rubenstein 43:01 If Dabo accomplishes this, he's not cooked.
Dan Rubenstein 43:04 If Dabo doesn't accomplish this, in whatever time frame, he's cooked.
Dan Rubenstein 43:09 What is your definition here?
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:10 I think he needs to be in contention for the ACC and not just through like a Byzantine series of tiebreakers.
Dan Rubenstein 43:18 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:19 Clemson, as I know it, as everyone listening to this show at this point knows it, is a program that more often than not, at least recently, is in contention for something.
Dan Rubenstein 43:29 Mm-hmm.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:32 Other than just a bowl, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:34 So they need to be in contention for the ACC.
Dan Rubenstein 43:34 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:37 They need to be on the fringes of a playoff conversation.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:40 All right.
Dan Rubenstein 43:40 Man, I think you're setting such a low bar.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:43 Well, what would the bar be?
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:46 They got to get to a playoff and win a game?
Dan Rubenstein 43:48 Yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:49 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 43:50 Look, Clemson and Dabo have set a bar of
Ty Hildenbrandt 43:51 I think this team is good enough to do that.
Dan Rubenstein 43:57 Winning a game in a College Football Playoff, winning a national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 44:01 I don't think he's cooked if he doesn't win another national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 44:03 He is a Hall of Fame coach already.
Dan Rubenstein 44:05 We agree.
Dan Rubenstein 44:07 He is an eternal forever coach in the sort of conversation about college football history.
Dan Rubenstein 44:13 But
Dan Rubenstein 44:14 if we're talking about cooked, which I think we mean affectionately, sort of—we're not saying he's a bad person or something—but cooked meaning:
Dan Rubenstein 44:23 for the duration of Dabo's time at Clemson, they don't win another College Football Playoff game, right?
Dan Rubenstein 44:29 That you could say, like, you look at national championship coaches recently who've retired.
Dan Rubenstein 44:33 or have not been able to get a new job, guys like Jimbo or Mack Brown, those types of names, the case is not hard that guys like those are cooked.
Dan Rubenstein 44:44 So if we're saying Dabo is a national championship coach, Hall of Fame coach, is cooked, that he's not getting back to the playoff.
Dan Rubenstein 44:51 He's certainly not winning another playoff game.
Ty Hildenbrandt 44:53 I just think it's—there's a very real possibility that Clemson has been overlooked this year.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:02 I think the defense will again be very good.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:06 They've got a lot back.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:07 I think the defense will be pretty good.
Dan Rubenstein 45:10 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:11 The main point of contention on offense is Christopher Vizzina, just the quarterback position as a whole and the interplay between him and the new/old offensive coordinator in Chad Morris.
Dan Rubenstein 45:20 Oh, yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 45:22 Mm-hmm.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:25 What does that marriage look like?
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:29 Will they be able to get a little bit more consistent on that side of the ball?
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:32 Because it felt all too often a year ago like it was whatever Cade Klubnik could do, that was the way the whole offense was going to go.
Dan Rubenstein 45:39 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:40 So presumably they're trying to get away from that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:43 Whether or not they'll have success, I think, is ultimately going to determine the answer to this question.
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:49 But look, to his credit,
Ty Hildenbrandt 45:52 he did go out in the transfer portal and brought in, like, 10 or 11 guys with a focus on defense and a focus on guys that can run the Tom Allen system on defense, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:01 He did not use the portal.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:02 He did go out and use the portal.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:04 He didn't use it as much as many of his peers, but he did kind of break the mold a little bit and dipped his toe, wet the beak with the transfer portal.
Dan Rubenstein 46:05 He did not use...
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:13 All right, so he's changing in that regard.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:17 Maybe not as quickly as some of us would like, but changed enough to try and bring in reinforcements.
Dan Rubenstein 46:17 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:24 Offensively, yeah, wait and see.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:26 Wait and see on that front, but it's not like they don't have talent.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:30 They've got good receivers.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:32 I happen to like the running back room as well.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:34 Quarterback is sort of the open question.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:38 I'm just saying, like, to say that he's cooked implies that the whole thing is going to implode or that there's no more contention left in
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:50 the Dabo Swinney era.
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:51 And I just, I don't buy that yet.
Dan Rubenstein 46:53 Could you imagine if Clemson went 10-2 or 11-1 this season, ended up in the playoff either as ACC champion or ACC runner-up or at-large, whatever?
Ty Hildenbrandt 46:53 I don't buy that.
Dan Rubenstein 47:03 Could you imagine the level of like erotic folksiness that Dabo's gonna have?
Dan Rubenstein 47:09 Like, you guys, you guys didn't think we're gonna make it.
Dan Rubenstein 47:12 Little old Clemson's all done.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:13 Well, Clemson, man, he's going to play that up.
Dan Rubenstein 47:15 We're back.
Dan Rubenstein 47:16 I'm so sorry to all the haters.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:16 He's going to—I mean, he's going to see this AP Top 25 poll.
Dan Rubenstein 47:21 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:21 And I don't believe they were ranked in the final Top 25.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:25 We didn't rank them.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:26 We had others receiving votes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:28 I considered it at the back end of the top 25.
Dan Rubenstein 47:31 Final 20—you mean the initial 20—yeah, the initial Top 25, yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:33 The initial 20—yeah, this year's.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:36 But a guy like Dabo, like all prominent coaches, is going to use that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:42 He's going to use that as wood for the fire.
Dan Rubenstein 47:44 Sure.
Dan Rubenstein 47:45 Maybe you should use it for wood for first down conversions on third and seven.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:45 So, yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:49 Listen, I get it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 47:51 I'm with you, and there's a reason that I sort of recoiled before I said it, but I just think to say that the guy is cooked...
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:02 That's a stretch.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:03 I definitely think he is past his prime.
Dan Rubenstein 48:04 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:07 But I also believe that there is enough talent in place here that we shouldn't just
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:13 blindly pass over Clemson and assume that they're not going to be any kind of threat.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:18 Because I could definitely envision a world in which they're a threat.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:21 Now, now.
Dan Rubenstein 48:21 Okay, hold on, hold on.
Dan Rubenstein 48:23 You said the world, the world.
Dan Rubenstein 48:24 So 1,000 simulations in the next three seasons.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:28 Oh, don't—don't make me do another number, please.
Dan Rubenstein 48:30 1,000 simulations.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:31 No more numbers.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:32 No.
Dan Rubenstein 48:33 I'll just say, not even winning a playoff game, making the College Football Playoff in how many of those simulations over '26, '27, and '28?
Dan Rubenstein 48:41 Because it's kind of unfair.
Dan Rubenstein 48:42 It's Christopher Vizzina's first season starting.
Dan Rubenstein 48:45 And how many of those 1,000 or 100 simulations, whatever number you want to use, what percentage are they a playoff team?
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:51 In one or in all of those years?
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:53 Just make—okay, so make one playoff appearance in the next three years.
Dan Rubenstein 48:54 Any, any.
Ty Hildenbrandt 48:58 What percentage?
Dan Rubenstein 48:58 Yes, yes.
Dan Rubenstein 49:07 We're simming, like, what, 45%?
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:08 Forty-five percent. Forty-five percent.
Dan Rubenstein 49:12 So in a thousand simulations, 450 of them over the next three years involve playoff Clemson.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:21 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 49:21 I love that.
Dan Rubenstein 49:23 Okay, that's a flag planted.
Dan Rubenstein 49:27 I love it.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:27 I hate—I don't like that you're making me do this.
Dan Rubenstein 49:30 Hold on.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:30 This is not fair.
Dan Rubenstein 49:31 We're recording, right?
Dan Rubenstein 49:32 Yep, I'll be able to clip it.
Dan Rubenstein 49:34 No, there's no wrong answer here.
Dan Rubenstein 49:35 There's no wrong answer.
Dan Rubenstein 49:36 This is your belief.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:38 I was just—the qualifier that I was going to offer before you maybe put my name to another ridiculous number.
Dan Rubenstein 49:44 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:45 I had Clemson in the national championship game a year ago.
Dan Rubenstein 49:49 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 49:50 And despite the fact that we've got all sorts of jokes about Dabo and Clemson on this show, I've been very slow to sort of write them off.
Dan Rubenstein 50:00 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:01 And this is probably another instance of that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:04 But I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:06 You know, part of the previewing process for
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:10 this show was going through and looking at teams, and we would do a Part 1, we would rank them, then we'd do a Part 2 and a 3, and we would discover things that we didn't know previously, or things that hit us a little bit differently.
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:24 Clemson might be one of those teams, too, where maybe the vibes are sort of understated and
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:32 we've got obvious questions, but there is still a fair amount of, I don't know.
Dan Rubenstein 50:38 Look, they were, like, three to four game minutes away from being 10-2 last year.
Dan Rubenstein 50:43 LSU and Georgia Tech and Duke, those games, tight, snug-like.
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:48 The over-under back in June, I don't know what it is now, was seven and a half for Clemson.
Dan Rubenstein 50:52 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 50:54 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 50:57 It's easy money if you're you, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 50:57 If they go—I mean, I like Clemson over.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:01 Yeah, I do.
Dan Rubenstein 51:01 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:03 But if they go six and six, I'm going to change my mind and say he's cooked, okay?
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:06 Is that cool?
Dan Rubenstein 51:07 No, this is the—this is your opportunity right now.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:10 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:12 You're up here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:13 Your turn.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:16 Give me one more.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:17 Give me one more good one.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:18 And then we're going to read off these that we did not select.
Dan Rubenstein 51:22 All right, Oregon comes up short when it counts in January.
Dan Rubenstein 51:25 I'm going with the homer pick.
Ty Hildenbrandt 51:26 Uh-oh.
Dan Rubenstein 51:26 I did homer for you.
Dan Rubenstein 51:27 I'm going to do homer for me.
Dan Rubenstein 51:30 And this is not a difficult zag to make.
Dan Rubenstein 51:34 It seems in this era: stability, great currency.
Dan Rubenstein 51:39 An aged quarterback, great currency.
Dan Rubenstein 51:42 Will Howard played forever.
Dan Rubenstein 51:43 Fernando Mendoza played forever.
Dan Rubenstein 51:45 Dante Moore.
Dan Rubenstein 51:46 Starting now in his second season for Oregon, started a little bit at UCLA, has been at Oregon for three years, or will have been by the end of this season.
Dan Rubenstein 51:55 So it's four years of college football.
Dan Rubenstein 51:59 They return a good amount on defense, plug-and-play a number of talented dudes, get healthy at a couple of key positions.
Dan Rubenstein 52:06 There's promise with new guys at key positions, and they're an older team.
Dan Rubenstein 52:12 Like, bringing back the defensive line, some of the experience they have in the secondary now after guys started early last season, a ton of talented receiver and running back.
Dan Rubenstein 52:21 The team is stacked from a talent perspective.
Dan Rubenstein 52:24 The games that they've lost have come in sometimes embarrassing fashion, obviously against Indiana and Ohio State, but those were two national champions, and they've been growing.
Dan Rubenstein 52:34 That they have been a national-championship, like, 2A-type team recently.
Dan Rubenstein 52:42 Not 1A, 1B, but they've been ascending.
Dan Rubenstein 52:46 And so, yes, there's a lot more pressure this season given what they're returning, what they're spending, the spotlight that is on them as one of the chosen few in the sport.
Dan Rubenstein 52:57 But I am of the mind, and I'm not saying I'm fully ready to be hurt again, but I am of the mind that this is a championship roster with a coach who doesn't lose dumb games ever.
Dan Rubenstein 53:10 He loses to excellent teams, and you got to beat excellent teams to win a national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 53:15 I get it.
Dan Rubenstein 53:16 And so now, if we're going to say, like, the standard for Dabo is, like, you got to get to the playoff or win a playoff game or something, the standard for Oregon this season
Dan Rubenstein 53:25 has to be, given what they return, at least appearing in the national championship game, I think.
Ty Hildenbrandt 53:31 Wow, hmm.
Dan Rubenstein 53:33 Right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 53:34 No, okay.
Dan Rubenstein 53:35 I mean, I guess you could parse it and say, like, oh, an improvement would be not getting blown out and embarrassed in the College Football Playoff after the Rose Bowl and last year in the—what was it?—the Peach Bowl against Indiana.
Ty Hildenbrandt 53:45 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 53:47 Yep, each one.
Dan Rubenstein 53:48 And I guess that's true.
Dan Rubenstein 53:50 But I don't know, everything's sort of pointing to this season.
Dan Rubenstein 53:54 Like, nobody knows who the starting quarterback is going to be next year with Dylan Raiola or somebody else.
Dan Rubenstein 53:59 So...
Dan Rubenstein 54:00 I think it has to be this year.
Dan Rubenstein 54:03 And I think there is something to experience and age.
Dan Rubenstein 54:08 Now, the coordinator thing isn't thrilling to me.
Dan Rubenstein 54:11 But I think there are a number of ways that they can win.
Dan Rubenstein 54:13 Schedule's not perfect.
Dan Rubenstein 54:15 Schedule's okay.
Dan Rubenstein 54:16 I think they'll end up in the College Football Playoff.
Dan Rubenstein 54:19 A lot of these guys have played in a lot of games.
Dan Rubenstein 54:22 They've played in College Football Playoff games.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:23 Which quarterback thing isn't thrilling to you?
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:25 What are you talking about?
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:27 Are you not thrilled to have Dante Moore?
Dan Rubenstein 54:27 I said coordinator. Coordinator thing.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:29 Coordinator.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:30 I thought you said quarterback.
Dan Rubenstein 54:31 Sorry, yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:31 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 54:32 Let me be—let me enunciate.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:33 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 54:34 The new offensive and defensive coordinator is not thrilling to me. Not in the regular season.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:34 Maybe I heard your eye.
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:35 I could have just been me.
Dan Rubenstein 54:40 The question then is, like, okay, are new full-time guys at coordinator enough to get them over Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, teams like that on January 12th or something?
Ty Hildenbrandt 54:53 So, I mean, the line item here says January—January 1st, they shut out Texas Tech 23 to zip.
Dan Rubenstein 54:57 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 55:02 Yes, they did.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:03 Go back a couple years.
Dan Rubenstein 55:03 Offense—offense was not good against Texas Tech.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:06 Go back a couple of years.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:07 They won 45-6 over the Liberty Flames in the Fiesta Bowl, Dan.
Dan Rubenstein 55:11 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:12 That was another January win.
Dan Rubenstein 55:14 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 55:15 I think you know what I'm talking about when I talk about January.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:16 Well, I think just for the—if you're going to pin me down on semantics, on numbers, I think we need to be very clear about what we're talking about here.
Dan Rubenstein 55:20 Right.
Dan Rubenstein 55:26 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:26 I think what we're talking about here is teams perceived to be better than Oregon.
Ty Hildenbrandt 55:31 They got to beat one of those teams in a moment when it matters in January.
Dan Rubenstein 55:31 Sure.
Dan Rubenstein 55:33 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 55:36 Yes.
Dan Rubenstein 55:37 And this is also—look, we're talking about an Oregon team who lost to Ohio State when they had already seen them.
Dan Rubenstein 55:42 They had already scouted them once and beat that Ohio State team and then lost in an embarrassing fashion.
Dan Rubenstein 55:48 They had already faced and were competitive against Indiana, at least much more so than the January occasion.
Dan Rubenstein 55:54 once during the season.
Dan Rubenstein 55:55 So this wasn't some crazy mystery.
Dan Rubenstein 55:58 Oh, we've never played them.
Dan Rubenstein 56:00 We've never scouted them.
Dan Rubenstein 56:01 Like they knew the players.
Dan Rubenstein 56:03 So I think Oregon has this reputation fairly, but it's fair because they've always been good enough to get that far, but not to capitalize.
Dan Rubenstein 56:14 I'm a believer in growth.
Dan Rubenstein 56:16 I'm a big believer in talent.
Dan Rubenstein 56:19 And I'm a big believer in teams that don't shoot themselves in the foot against lesser teams.
Dan Rubenstein 56:24 And so I'm not, again, not saying I'm fully in, but I believe in the zag here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:31 I mean, it could just be that they ran into two buzzsaws because after Ohio State lost that game to Michigan a couple of years ago, they were clearly a different team.
Dan Rubenstein 56:39 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:40 And Indiana wasn't stoppable a year ago.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:43 They're unstoppable.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:44 Fernando Mendoza was ridiculous.
Dan Rubenstein 56:46 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:48 It could just be that they had the...
Dan Rubenstein 56:50 But they didn't just lose to those teams.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:52 Oh, I know.
Dan Rubenstein 56:53 They lost big.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:54 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 56:55 But everyone did, I guess with the exception of Miami.
Dan Rubenstein 56:58 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 56:59 No, I mean Ohio State didn't lose big in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:02 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:05 Um, I think I'm with you.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:08 I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:09 It's a really good roster.
Dan Rubenstein 57:09 Ohio State beat Notre Dame at the gun, essentially.
Dan Rubenstein 57:12 The big pass to Jeremiah Smith to seal it.
Dan Rubenstein 57:14 It was a game.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:16 I tend to think that Oregon's got the roster.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:19 And eventually, with knocking on the door enough, they're going to—
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:23 they're going to burst their way in at some point soon here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:26 This is not a situation where they're like a newcomer to the conference and it's going to take a while for them to find a new equilibrium.
Dan Rubenstein 57:34 Now they won the conference as a newcomer, yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:35 They won the conference, they won the thing.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:38 So I'm just, I don't know.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:40 I think it's going to happen before long.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:42 Clearly, the recruiting operation has been very, very good.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:46 You can make the case that they have come up short
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:50 when it has counted in January.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:53 But I think it's a mistake to project that out and just assume that's going to be the case moving forward.
Ty Hildenbrandt 57:58 It's still a damn good team.
Dan Rubenstein 58:00 By the way, Oregon people:
Dan Rubenstein 58:02 maybe it's not the right move, but can point out, if you are behind me in the zag parade right now, one could point out:
Dan Rubenstein 58:14 They were pretty beat up, and they had a pretty short quarterback a couple of years ago in the Rose Bowl.
Dan Rubenstein 58:21 You could also point out last year against Indiana
Dan Rubenstein 58:25 that they had two coordinators working different jobs, no running backs, and then people that are
Dan Rubenstein 58:33 hearing what I'm saying and laughing, saying, "Well, why?"
Dan Rubenstein 58:35 Dante Moore still didn't have to throw it to D'Angelo Ponds to start the game for a pick-six.
Dan Rubenstein 58:42 There are circumstances, but everybody has circumstances.
Dan Rubenstein 58:44 And so Oregon's got to figure out a way for them to become the buzzsaw and not just the team that the buzzsaw eats up.
Ty Hildenbrandt 58:54 Some of the other items here that you have on this list are kind of offensive.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:00 But I'm not saying I necessarily want to zag.
Dan Rubenstein 59:01 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 59:04 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:05 In some cases, it's because I wasn't exactly sure what you were—
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:09 what your intention was.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:10 I keep using that word today.
Dan Rubenstein 59:11 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:11 I don't know why, but I wasn't sure exactly where you were going with it.
Dan Rubenstein 59:13 It's a good word.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:15 All right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:16 So the first item you have on the list in our Zig Bank:
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:20 Texas Tech is the Big 12 favorite.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:23 We did our Big 12 show.
Dan Rubenstein 59:23 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:24 Go back and listen.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:25 We both think Texas Tech is the Big 12 favorite.
Dan Rubenstein 59:27 I didn't pick them to win, but yes, I think they're the favorite.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:29 They are the favorite.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:30 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 59:30 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:32 We also have here the Big 12 and ACC are clearly lesser.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:42 They're probably lesser at the top, at like the very top.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:46 I think there's—again, go back and listen to the SEC.
Ty Hildenbrandt 59:50 I talked a lot about the thick upper crust of the SEC.
Dan Rubenstein 59:53 I was just giving you an opportunity, or giving me an opportunity, to make a case that if you're going to think about it holistically, that there's
Dan Rubenstein 01:00:02 there's something that the ACC and the Big 12 are not being respected for enough.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:10 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:12 I think in both cases, the conference is better than a lot of people realize.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:16 And I think for sure in the ACC, the conference has gotten better.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:22 It has gotten better in ways that may not be
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:26 immediately apparent.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:27 It is a deeper conference.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:30 So I'm not going to...
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:32 I just didn't know what you meant by that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:33 I don't think they're lesser.
Dan Rubenstein 01:00:34 Well, look, the ACC gave Miami more than it could handle than teams in the playoff outside of Indiana, right?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:38 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:00:41 That SMU was able to win.
Dan Rubenstein 01:00:43 Louisville was able to win against what eventually ended up being the best team in the conference.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:48 I don't think they are clearly lesser.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:00:51 I just wasn't sure if you meant from top to bottom, if you meant the very, very tippy top.
Dan Rubenstein 01:00:56 Well, you could—I would just put it down so you could run with it in whatever direction you wanted.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:01 Bill Belichick should not be taken seriously as a college football coach.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:05 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:06 I almost zagged on this one.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:08 Okay, that he should be taken seriously.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:10 Yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:12 I think track record stands for something.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:14 He is a winning coach, maybe the best coach in the history of the NFL.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:18 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:19 His limited tenure at UNC has been sort of a nightmare.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:23 But it was only one year, and they were at least workable on defense.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:30 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:31 We'll see what happens this year with Bobby Petrino running the offense.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:34 But to say he shouldn't be taken seriously, I can't get behind that.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:37 Okay, that's reasonable.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:40 Mike Norvell is toast at Florida State.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:42 I do believe Mike Norvell is toast at Florida State.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:46 No, I can't.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:48 I think he's toast.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:50 Deion was a one-year wonder with Travis Hunter and Shedeur.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:01:55 I have a real hard time producing the zag case for that one as well.
Dan Rubenstein 01:01:59 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:00 I think there's talent on this year's offense.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:04 Seems to be a little bit more depth on defense.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:06 I'm not a full believer, though.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:08 I'm not a believer.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:09 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:10 I'm not a believer.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:12 I want to believe, but I'm not.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:13 I mean, I think you would have to say that there is enough in the Colorado tank to get to eight wins this year if you're a believer in Deion as a repeat winner.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:19 And I just don't buy that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:22 No.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:24 Pat Fitzgerald was a dubious hire for Michigan State.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:30 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:32 What does dubious mean to you?
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:35 What does dubious mean?
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:37 Dubious means that Michigan State didn't canvass available coaches in their coaching search and hired somebody
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:46 who ended his tenure in embarrassing, losing fashion at Northwestern, strictly speaking, on-field.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:51 Right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:54 So I almost zagged on this one.
Dan Rubenstein 01:02:57 I don't hate a zag here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:02:59 I almost zagged on this one, and here's why.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:01 I think Pat Fitzgerald will prove to be a bad hire at Michigan State, but I don't think the idea of hiring him was a dubious one.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:05 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:09 I think it's a fairly straightforward case why you might want to hire Pat Fitzgerald, especially at another Big Ten school in the Midwest.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:10 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:17 Like, I don't think that's a stretch, one, to hire the guy at all.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:17 Sure.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:21 I understand the logic there.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:23 I just don't think it's a great fit.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:25 So to say dubious to me is a stretch.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:27 I would pick a different adjective.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:29 That would be the case for my zag.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:31 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:32 No, I just think maybe Michigan State is sort of a similar situation to Michigan in that
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:39 you're looking at a new hire as somebody who can stabilize things.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:44 I know they're hiring—what, Western Michigan's AD is the—yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:46 Yep, no idea.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:47 Yep.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:03:47 Yep.
Dan Rubenstein 01:03:48 So, you know, maybe more stability there, more of a foundation for building after both Jonathan Smith and, obviously, Mel Tucker did not work out, and the end of the Mark Dantonio time did not work out
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:00 for Michigan State, that just by having an experienced hand who is going to
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:09 level-set things for Michigan State with a very limited ceiling, mind you, could be seen as a step in the right direction for the program.
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:19 And they don't get past like seven and five or something, but at least it's not, you know, the depths of where they've been.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:25 The final one on this list here, I think, is one that we could
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:30 trade some blows over.
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:31 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:33 You have that.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:33 Lane Kiffin will be another LSU championship coach.
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:37 I think that's just the assumption here.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:39 It is the assumption.
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:40 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:40 You don't go out and hire Lane Kiffin.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:42 You don't create the circus that they created unless you believe, if you're LSU and the people that pulled the trigger,
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:49 You do not go through all of that unless you believe that Lane Kiffin is your next championship coach.
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:54 Yeah?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:04:55 The question is, do we believe that he will be a championship coach?
Dan Rubenstein 01:04:59 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:00 He's built a playoff team already.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:03 At a smaller place.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:05 And nearly everybody at LSU wins national championships in the modern era.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:09 Brian Kelly was such a bad fit that he broke that streak.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:13 So you had Saban and Les Miles and Ed Orgeron.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:18 So LSU is a place where people can win big.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:21 Lane Kiffin is there, can recruit, and the assumption is he's that guy.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:26 We led off this episode talking about the AP Top 25.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:30 Yeah.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:31 Go back and listen to the bonus episode.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:33 I would have put LSU eighth.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:34 I think LSU is going to be really good this year.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:36 Okay.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:37 I don't necessarily think they're going to win the championship this year, but I think Lane Kiffin certainly has enough juice to get them over the finish line here with this one.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:48 I mean, the zag is easy, though.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:05:50 The zag's very easy.
Dan Rubenstein 01:05:51 The zag is: the job of national championship coach requires a certain amount of discipline and focus that Lane Kiffin—
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:02 you can pause to grab a sheet of lined paper and a pen—has not always exhibited as a college football head coach.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:09 That's right.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:11 What if I were to give you a five-year window?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:15 You think he'll do it in five years?
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:18 I would say there are more simulations of the next five years that end with LSU in a thousand simulations.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:22 A thousand simulations.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:23 What percentage?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:25 What percentage?
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:25 I think
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:26 I think he is more likely to win a national championship than Dabo is to win a playoff game.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:32 What percentage?
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:34 How many simulations out of the thousand are they winning the national championship?
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:36 Well, I have Dabo around 5%.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:40 Five percent.
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:42 Yes.
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:43 I've got Dabo around 5%.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:43 Good hell.
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:45 I think it's an aircraft carrier that's too difficult to turn around.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:48 Okay.
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:51 And I have Lane at about 15% to 22%.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:51 Wow.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:56 To win a championship the next five years.
Dan Rubenstein 01:06:58 Yes.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:06:59 Wow.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:03 I mean, the problem with Lane, the problem with Lane is not anything to do with LSU.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:04 I think I go higher than that.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:07 It's just a more difficult conference than previous dudes have been able to navigate to get to the playoff and get to the national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:17 And...
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:17 But I mean, he just coached Ole Miss into the playoff.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:21 He didn't
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:22 coach in the playoff, but he got them there, and that team damn near made the national championship.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:23 One time, one time during his—yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:30 Sure.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:31 Arguably prevented them from doing it the previous year, or whatever it was, when they lost to was it Kentucky?
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:37 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:39 So, yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:42 I mean, if you were to tell me Oregon is going to win a championship in the next five years and you put it at like 20%, great, incredible.
Dan Rubenstein 01:07:52 So I think it's a pretty good number.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:07:56 Write in: solidverbal@gmail.com.
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Ty Hildenbrandt 01:08:51 If that is not for you, but you spent the last hour of your life listening to this:
Dan Rubenstein 01:08:58 God bless.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:00 A, God bless.
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Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:22 It's a free newsletter.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:24 Right now, we're sending it out once a week.
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Dan Rubenstein 01:09:35 I have breaking news, Ty.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:09:37 I'm not going to play the sound.
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:38 You don't have to play the sound.
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:40 This is from Anthony Totri—
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:43 Totri—
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:45 who hosts an ASU podcast, an Arizona State podcast.
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:49 Kenny Dillingham running all over during Arizona State's practice this morning.
Dan Rubenstein 01:09:54 Quote—or he yelled—"I'm all jacked up on Mountain Dew," as he completed his lap from offensive lineman to quarterbacks to special teams.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:03 I believe that's a Talladega Nights quote.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:04 Yeah.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:06 Also notable,
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:08 not jacked up on Monster Energy, Ty.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:10 No.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:11 Not toeing the company line when it comes to caffeine jacking you up.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:17 The Monster Energy Big 12...
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:19 No, Mountain Dew, apparently.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:21 Big 12 contender jacked up on Mountain Dew.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:24 That's like the clip that's floating around social media today of, I think it was Shane Gillis drinking a Dos Equis, even though he's a Bud Light spokesperson.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:32 Oh.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:33 Good job, guys.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:35 You had one job.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:35 Happens to the best of us, I guess.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:37 You had one job.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:37 I don't...
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:38 Don't be spotted drinking other beer if they're going to pay you to drink their beer.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:42 Again, solidverbal@gmail.com.
Dan Rubenstein 01:10:42 Whoops.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:45 We've got two more episodes this week.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:47 As we round the corner into next week, we've got more fun stuff
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:50 coming your way before we get into Week 0.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:53 One more time:
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:53 I hate to bring it up again, Verballers.com,
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:10:56 if you want to support what we do as an independent operation.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:00 We'll catch you all soon.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:01 In the meantime, for that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubenstein, for myself, Ty Hildenbrandt over here, to thank you again for downloading, listening, supporting, playing along with all of our madness.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:10 We'll talk to you soon.
Ty Hildenbrandt 01:11:10 Stay solid.
Dan Rubenstein 01:11:11 Peace.