Alabama, SEC, and a Broken AC

[00:00:00] I will take projection. Welcome everybody to Takin' On Sports, IMTD. That is Greg. Greg, how you doing, man? I'm doing alright. It's been a long week. Our AC is finally gone dang. So we either have to get a top and fix our fan ourselves or get a new system.

[00:00:26] We're going to try to fix it and see if we can get the blower motor, a new blower motor, and the top on the outside if at all possible. We should save a lot of money if we can. That's our goal. If we can do that, I mean, that might be a couple hundred dollars, but it might be worth it. Give us a little more time rather than finance something for Tim right now. Other than that, it's been a good week.

[00:00:52] I mean, my son's football, junior high football started. So something new for him, first time he's really ever played and first time he ever wanted to himself. I really never ever tried to force him to play football. But, you know, he actually wanted to see about playing. So I was like, cool. So he's doing that for seventh grade right now. You know, it's all about first part of conditioning. So a lot of running has been going on. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Man, I used to hate that.

[00:01:22] I didn't play football in high school. I played hockey. And we had our one assistant coach. It was the same thing. Yeah, those first few weeks of practice. Yeah. It was like, all right, it's Coach Jim today. We're like, ugh. And he just said, leave your sticks on the bench, boys. We're skating. Like, shit. Yeah. Nothing but that. A little different, though, being out in that heat and then that football conditioning, though. Yeah. But, you know, it's junior high.

[00:01:50] A lot of them, it's their first time playing. They only have a week, really, to come up with a JV and a Forest City team. So I don't know how exactly it's all going to work out. But I think, if anything, it's good just to get, you know, people to play as a team, you know, learning responsibility as a team, you know, and just see where it goes from there. If anything, they learn about the game and see if they like you to go further on, you know. Yeah.

[00:02:20] First case scenario, they get in shape. Yeah, there you go. Learn how to sweat a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, let's, of course, this is our big SEC and Alabama preview. Always our, probably our favorite episode to do every year. Yeah. At least the one where we talk the most, because we know the most about it. Right. But before we get to that, I guess a couple quick things to go over.

[00:02:47] I guess the biggest news story of the week in sports, Russell Rustbook retired. They retired. Hall of Famer, one of the better offensive players of our generation, a triple-double machine. Right. The average that triple-double was in 2016 when he was the MVP of the league. Yeah, 16 or 17, one of those two, yeah. Which is crazy. A guy with a kind of a weird legacy.

[00:03:17] I don't know. I feel like there's probably a decent contingent of folks that really don't think he's as good as he is. And I think, you know, he deserves a future Hall of Famer, no doubt to me. Like I said, one of the better offensive players of his generation. But sometimes, you know, I think with, you know, KD splitting off and Russ never really getting that title and never really finding a place to latch on after that. Yeah.

[00:03:47] Kind of. Kind of hurts his legacy. I mean, he's always kind of in KD's shadow. So, honestly, probably one of my favorite players, the one that Maverick had, you know, no correlation in my team. I just, if anything, you knew he was going to be energetic. You know, he's going to have a lot of passion. Sometimes it did not, you know, sometimes he would shoot himself out the gym. You know, he'd shoot him out of the game sometimes. But when he was on, he's special.

[00:04:17] So, you know, honestly, you know, and then he, you know, really became kind of a almost a good guy face to the, you know, after KD left and he said, hey, you know, I'm going to stick out with the Thunder. You know, he was there for a couple more seasons. And that really, you know, I don't know. That really seemed to. But, you know, he's always in KD's leg, you know, kind of in his shadows and people are, yeah. And then after OKC, I mean, he had some OK run.

[00:04:45] But not nothing really the same after that. I don't know if it was him or he was going. You know, he's a player that really doesn't fit in everybody's system. It has to be the right thing for him. And, you know, he was a he was a Laker. That really didn't go well. That's a lot of people have gone to L.A. and just haven't fared well. Yeah, it's especially in this like post Kobe era. Yeah. No. And that really didn't go really well.

[00:05:13] Because, you know, both of them had to have the ball. It sounds good, but I don't know, just really match. Yeah, it's hard to get that to work over the course of an NBA season. It's one thing when you get those guys together on like the U.S. team and the Olympics because, you know, you can it's a quick tournament. They all can just kind of get their their bit and they kind of sacrifice a little bit more than they do in the league. Like, but yeah, you know, Russell go down definitely is one of the best ever

[00:05:43] to never get a ring. Right. Kind of crazy to me too. Him and, you know, he's a little bit younger than, you know, but like Carmelo because, you know, in that same group, a guy just an absolute offensive talent, just good score. You know, when he was on, it was watching poetry, you know. And he was one of those guys that got better in the pros than he ever was in college. He was cool in college, but he got so much better in the NBA.

[00:06:12] Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I mean, he did have what, they did go with back-to-back Final Fours with him and Kevin Love back in the day. Yeah, yeah. But he on that team that we lost to in like 06 or something? Yeah, I believe so. Yeah, I think so, yeah. Yeah, around the 32. Yeah, around the run, Steele tried his best, but just didn't have the legs, man. I'm up a little short. Yeah, but yeah, it was a big one.

[00:06:40] Of course, everything else going on, preseason NFL, you know, you're just kind of watching and praying that you don't get a big injury. Yeah, there's been some though. We've had some. Yeah, there's been some for sure, yeah. Takes some spills, nothing overly major, but, you know, you see a lot of running backs out right now, and you're like, ooh. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I know the Ravens, I haven't read about it, but one of our centers went down with a patella tendon injury today.

[00:07:08] So that's never good when you're a little skimpy on center to begin with. Yeah. But I know the Cowboys Saints got in a big fight. Yeah, man, a lot of fines being thrown out for that big old brawl. But I think it's a mistake to put those two together. We talked about them past. Darwin's and New Orleans just don't mix. Do not, man. Like I said, like that was one thing if I were commissioner, I would absolutely realign the NFL and put those two in a division

[00:07:37] because I want to see that game twice a year. Yeah. That's like those franchises. It don't matter. Like when you put on that uniform, it's just like you automatically like hate the other one. Oh, yeah. And like the cities don't like each other. Like, you know, like New Orleans and Houston got kind of a kinship going, but like not there. No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Don't miss. Whatever reason, animosity is deep. It is. It's crazy.

[00:08:06] You had Fernando Mendoza throwing a pick six tonight in his first preseason action. Yeah. Yeah. Other than that, you know, it's preseason NFL. Like you said, you just hope first and foremost, nobody gets hurt. Yeah. And then your second thing is you hope. You just kind of want to see the rookies play good. You want to see those like second and third year guys, you know, take a roster spot. You want to see the big jumps. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:35] Honestly, I don't, I don't watch a lot of preseason, honestly. No. I mean, I watch highlights, read about it, but I'm just like, cause I mean, only, I don't know. It's not my biggest interest other than, you know, unless it's somebody, you know, but you're going to see it regardless. I mean, if it's some big name person, you're going to find out regardless. Yeah. You'll catch a highlight. Yeah. I might, you know, if it's like on and I'm not, you know,

[00:09:04] watching anything else, I might, you know, especially, yeah, like if it's the Ravens or something, might watch a driver too to see like, all right, what are the young guys looking like? But I mean, right now they got that Raiders and I don't even know who they're playing on, but I got a high school game on here. It's, you know, kickoff week here in Alabama high school ball. So. Yeah. Much more WNBA action on prime right now. Watching the Dallas team beat Indiana tonight, which is a big one for them. Yeah. Tough loss for them. As we've heard out for the year. Yeah.

[00:09:34] But she's been out for a little bit, but yeah, that sucks considering her to, right now in the eighth seed in the playoffs, probably still going to make the playoffs because the lead they have, but it's going to be a hard, yeah, they're probably not getting out to, definitely not getting out to first round without her available billets. Nah, yeah, it's tough right there. A lot to put on page backers too. Yeah. Yeah. Elsewhere. Let's see. You know, you got your pennant races starting to take shape in baseball as we get

[00:10:02] toward the end of August and head toward the last month. The big debut, the other record breaking one for the Cardinals, Josh Baez, three home runs in his major league debut. First time ever. That's amazing. Yeah. That's a special. That's, that's, that's, that's, if you don't remember anything about, forget about your career, that first day. Boom. I'd bet say, yeah, even if you don't do much the rest of your career, that's something you can say like, Hey, I took three out the yard. Out the yard of my fifth game.

[00:10:32] That's amazing. But, you look as, yeah, the race is taking shape, uh, and the, in the AL, you know, the, everybody's chasing Tampa Bay, best record in baseball. I think. Oh no, that's, definitely the AL. Yeah. You're Yanks four behind them. Uh, you got the white socks lead in the central crazy. Their, um, Astros have come back after a horrible start. They lead the West, uh, and that wild card,

[00:11:01] your Yanks and the red socks far and away, uh, probably almost guaranteed one and two wildcard spots. And, uh, a big race. Uh, after that, the twins right now have a half game on Toronto and Texas. And then, uh, Cleveland. Yeah. Only one back. And then you got Detroit, Baltimore, even in Seattle, all, all within three games. So yeah, it's going to be a nice little run to the, um, yeah, a little race there over in the NL, the Braves, uh,

[00:11:31] still up five on the Phillies, uh, Phillies surgeon right now, six in a row, eight and two. So they're trying to climb back as the Brazers struggling a little bit, lost three, the last four series. Uh, good win today though. Got a good performance. Grant Holmes took a no, no into the seventh, uh, Brewers. We mentioned best record in baseball. Uh, they were up five on the Cubs Dodgers second best record. Uh, they've opened up a nine game lead on San Diego out West. Uh,

[00:11:59] and that wildcard races also pretty good. I don't think there's as many teams in it, but it's still pretty good race. You got, uh, uh, the Cubs up there, pretty comfortable up there. Then the Phillies two games ahead of that last spot. Uh, the, which the Padres have, uh, and then you got Arizona, St. Louis and Miami all within four games. And you even got the pirates there at five and a half back kind of hanging around. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, uh, should be a good stretch run here. Same thing there.

[00:12:28] You just kind of hope nobody gets injured. Do you hope you get some injured guys to come back? Um, help out there. Um, I know you're yanks waiting for guys. I saw Max Fried went back on the IL. Yeah. We could, we could just get healthy. That's something. I mean, Aaron Judge has been out forever. Um, say everybody, all the stuff, all the stars are out right now. This is crazy. It's tough.

[00:12:58] Yeah. But, um, I guess the only, only other thing I had in my notes for news this week was the, uh, Jaden Daniels, um, definitely a misfire. I don't know who on his team told him that was a good idea to go after LSU for letting people wear his number and all that, but man, everybody made fun of him this week. I mean, everybody. They could, they, they definitely misread the room on that, on this one.

[00:13:28] I mean, I get where you're coming from and I gave you one of the Heisman and you're big. I mean, a hell of a, a hell of a season that, you know, technically his stat wise is better than Joe Burrow. If you look at just, of course, he didn't have near the talent around him. Definitely not the defense. The defense grew every week. And that's, and that's one thing I get. Cause I've seen some people out there being like, look, Joe Burrow brought a national title. Look at the records. I'm like, all right, you can't put that on Jaden.

[00:13:58] Cause those defenses were atrocious. Yeah. Like we talked about it during his season. Jaden Daniels was literally putting up video game numbers. Not that, you know, that's an overused term, but man, dude was throwing three, 300 yards and running for 200. Like it's ridiculous. He was wild numbers. And the crazy thing often knows he had to have that to get the win. Yeah. And sometimes barely, you know, but yeah,

[00:14:27] just man, he needs to fire his people for that. Cause that's, that's not a good look. You know, a lot of people think that was on his mom. Cause you know, she has control of this stuff. Not a good look at all. Everybody's had a good joke with it. I mean, obviously you would think down the road, you know, it'll get fixed, but yeah, not, not a good thing. Not a good thing. I mean, you got to look at it. I mean, I mean,

[00:14:57] people aren't going to forget who Jaden Daniels is, you know, whether he's wearing a five or not. I mean, there's plenty of other schools that haven't necessarily retired and maybe have as good a career. So, and then, you know, and also in today's NIL world, you know, some dude, you know, that cornerback, hell of a cornerback gets, offered a fight. You got to understand, you know, unfortunately that's something that's going to have, you know,

[00:15:27] even if it was on a previous coaching staff, you know, kind of sound like a Brian Kelly situation. Yeah. You know, I don't know what was said exactly what was promised. Cause he didn't wear five last year. He wore seven and back to five this year. So I don't know exactly, but just let it, should just let it ride. Yeah. And it's, it's so hard in college and not a lot of schools retire numbers. Unless it's just like an absolutely outstanding player. But I mean, you got to think Ross,

[00:15:57] there's no cap to roster sizes. So, you know, you got more, I mean, you got guys, you know, one guy on defense, one guy on offense, we're in the same number in the same season. So it's hard to retire numbers in college game. And Alabama doesn't retire numbers. And it's kind of a, it's kind of a point of pride. Like if you're Alabama quarterback and you wear 12, it's like a big deal, you know? It's kind of like the Cowboys. I mean, exactly. Yeah. I was going to say, yeah.

[00:16:25] Michael Irvin had like one of the best responses to this thing where he basically said, like, he's like, I don't want my number tired. He's like, I want, you know, you see CD lamb out there, you know, he's in typical Michael Irvin fashion. Great. But he was like, you know, out there and say, he say, he drops a ball. You know what people say? They go, Mike wouldn't have dropped that. Like, but no, it does. It's kind of like, you know, like I said, you know, like in the college games, kind of numbers mean something, you know, 12 as if you're a quarterback at Alabama,

[00:16:55] you know, Michigan, if you wear the one as a receiver, you know, it means something. You know, a lot of, a lot of programs have something like that. So yeah. Miscalculation on his team's part. But let's get to the meat of this episode, our Alabama and sec preview. Of course, let's start with our beloved tide year. Three of the Kalen DeBoer air, of course, made the playoffs last year. Great. Great. Come back in Norman to win that one. Then slaughtered in the Rose Bowl by eventual national champion, Indiana.

[00:17:26] So not the way you want to end the year, but overall, if you look at it, I mean, 11 win season, play a first team to win a road game in a 12 team playoff error. I mean, yeah. SEC title game appearance, you know, had a great run in the middle of the season, beat what was it? Five straight ranked opponents. Great. The October was the strength of the, strength of the season there. And then, you know, kind of whether one way or another, Ty, at some point got hurt.

[00:17:56] And then just went after that. You can say, Oh, that's an excuse, but you could tell there was a definitely a difference in how Ty Simpson played. In November. Yeah. But let's, uh, looking ahead to this season, let's start on offense. Of course, Caitlin DeBoer and offensive coach, uh, Ryan grub back calling plays. Uh, but, uh, uh, of course the big changes on offensive line, Adrian Clem comes in to coach the offensive line. Um, blanking on the, yeah. Uh,

[00:18:28] blanking on the tight end coach's name, but they brought him in too. And he's a very important, a lot. I've seen a lot of praise for him and that he'll also have the, the tight ends blocking. Of course, you know, losing a guy like Josh Cuevas hurts. He's now in Baltimore, uh, playing on Sundays, but, uh, my main thing for the offense is, is just a lot of unknowns this year. Um, uh, starting with quarterback, you know, of course we're starting to see reports where we think we know.

[00:18:58] It's looking like, yeah, looking like Keelan, which I think we both agree with, but that's, that's the first question. Um, you know, do you go with a guy like Austin Mack who's been in the system for four years now, maybe more dependable and consistent, or do you go with the five star of the talent? Uh, maybe guy gives you a little bit more playmaking ability, uh, even if he, you get some ebbs and flows with it. But yeah, I think you're with me and agree that Keelan is probably going to be the right call. I mean, we,

[00:19:26] we kind of thought that the whole time. I mean, when you bring in a five star guy like that, I mean, you bring them in to be the starter, at some point. Um, and I get Austin Mack's also a good player. Um, but I, you know, I've always felt, you know, when they re-signed it, you know, when they gave them, you know, brought him back after last season, he came back and probably got bumping on that. I was like, man, there's no way you can't have Keelan Russell. He just can't be the, he has to be the starter.

[00:19:57] And really, I mean, I don't think you really could go wrong either. I don't think there's a wrong answer. I just think he wants a better answer. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. yeah, I think his dual threat ability gives us a, uh, another dimension to the offense and watching him throw the ball. Um, he's got just some pop on that, the pass. The spiral is beautiful. Um, yeah. And,

[00:20:27] you know, a little mobility definitely helps the line, you know, as they continue to chill. Um, but, you know, and, you know, that's the biggest question in the line play. And honestly, the line has not been consistent for a long time. Even, even at the end of Saban, you know, we could go older and Saban. At the end of this Saban tenure, the line, it was okay. It wasn't like it wasn't the, you know, 2011 through like 2016 type of lines. I mean, they were,

[00:20:57] there were some holes. I mean, there were times when, you know, that's why Jalen Milrow was made the quarterback because he can make things happen. Um, but I, you know, what I do like about this is it seems like they have their type of linemen that they want to fit offensive style. Um, they're still, continue to, you know, still come together. Um, but there,

[00:21:28] but I think it fits more of the style that Kaelin, the board wants to have. Um, and I think that's the most important thing. Maybe not as we've had maybe more stars at times in the past, but it's a cohesive unit. It's been all over the place. And I think the more, you just need more cohesive unit, maybe not necessarily a big name, but just a, uh, uh, cohesive unit. So, you know, there could be some big game, uh, you know, names on there, but I mean,

[00:21:56] just that we can get a cohesive unit and figure out who the starters are. That we're not switching things in November. Yeah. That was really annoying last year. Yeah. How often we rotated that line, that starting lineup. And it's one thing to get a little rotation during the game, get some breathers, keep guys healthy, but yeah, you want to find your five and you want to stick with them. And so hopefully we get there. Um, and you know, the big thing is hopefully run the ball. And there's some reports coming out this week that, you know,

[00:22:26] everything's looking good. We're looking a lot more aggressive. We're getting to the second, third level running through guys. Um, I mean, there is, of course, AK deer is out at least six weeks, six weeks with his injury. Yeah. Which, you know, it hurts and a tight rope. He's in the tight rope surgery or whatever. Yeah. And then he has an ankle and the EJ Crowell keeps, uh, kind of staying banged up. So you hope that's not going to be, uh, a bad omen for his career. You hope he's not going to be, uh,

[00:22:57] you know, kind of a guy who's plagued by injuries, but hopefully it's just adjusting to the bigger size of college guys. Right. Um, but I, I am higher than a lot of people I think are on our running back room. I think Daniel Hill. Yeah. We love Daniel Hill. I think EJ Crowell is going to be the truth. you know, there were reports last year saying that he could have, he could have started in the Oklahoma game in the playoff. If Alabama had him on the roster. Um, you know,

[00:23:27] we mentioned AK deer, you know, he's got to get healthy, but you know, we got guy like, uh, Kevin Riley back there too. So there's, there's talent in that backfield. If we can keep some of that depth, um, you got to keep them healthy as much as possible. We got to open the polls for him though. It doesn't matter who's back there. You can't open. Yeah. yeah, yeah. You can't get it. If something goes wrong, you can't necessarily, if it doesn't work right away,

[00:23:56] don't completely get away from the running game. You got to get back to it at some point. And you still got to, it does. We understand we're not 2011 Alabama. Uh, it's not going to be true Richardson or, you know, Derek Henry 40 times. We hit that, but you got to have someone. You can't limit yourself that much for everybody knows what's going to happen. That's kind of been our problem at times. People figure us out. And, and that, that's why I think everybody's old.

[00:24:25] It's a big year. Okay. When the board, I think the biggest thing is Ryan Grubb. This is his big, big season. You know, we expect the big things. We saw, we've seen it at times, bits and pieces, but not consistently. You know, at times he gets very, um, he gets very, very much the same. People figure it out. And it seems like at times if one of his little trick things don't go right,

[00:24:55] it implodes. Yeah, man, we need to, the trick plays are great when they work, but yeah, I think we went to that well a little too often to try to get stuff going last year. So hopefully, yeah, the run game, if it's improved, you know, hopefully you don't need, uh, the trick plays as much and they're, they're a good change of pace to, you know, catch teams off guard. And like you said, you just got to keep plugging away at the run. And, you know, obviously you can't just keep running into the line for a half yard and punt

[00:25:25] every time, but you need, you need to keep defensive honest. Uh, so the passing game can open up. That's part of the problem. You know, after that great October run last year, it's kind of teams were like, they can't run the ball. So we're going to sit back and they put it all on Ty Simpson. And, you know, like you said, he was hurt and, you know, line had trouble keeping him clean and, uh, you know, toward the end of the year, it didn't look great. So, uh, yeah, but yeah, I got to, uh, keep the defensive honest.

[00:25:55] And if you can, if we can just, we don't need to have the best running attack in the country, obviously we'll take that, but, we just need, I think back, do you, you remember the first drive of last year against Florida state? And we went, we lined up under center and ran the ball. It was a beautiful drive. Um, we just need that be able to run the ball enough to get the play action to work. Cause it's a big part of the grub and DeBoer offense and take pressure off of, you know, Russell or Mac,

[00:26:24] whoever the quarterback is throwing the ball. And also if, you know, if we can run with the running backs and that makes a running quarterback that much more dangerous, it just may, everything starts at the run and, and football. And if you can do that, yeah, we have to be better than 104 yards a game. I think that's what we have is last year. Yeah. Yeah. We were what? 129th in the country. You gotta be better. You just gotta be. And with as good as we think our defense could be, and we'll get to them in a bit, uh, you know,

[00:26:53] you just need to be better than average on offense, probably at least a better than average running game. And even an average running game. If you know, we can throw the ball. Right. I think, uh, we know we have the receivers. I mean, obviously. Yeah. And that's where I was going next. Yeah. What do you think of our receiving room? I mean, we have, uh, we know when he's on Ryan with Coleman Williams. Now it's still one of the best wide receivers in America.

[00:27:22] He had a down season last year, had some drop issues, still almost had 700 yards in the down season. I would say a down season. That really wasn't a bad sophomore season. He just kind of dropped to the number two role behind Jeremy Bernard. And, you know, there's drops. you know, of course, absolutely. Got to get rid of them. That's the main thing for me. Get rid of the drops. We don't have those drops because the averages go up. People are happy with them. I mean, that's what people think of the most. I mean,

[00:27:52] some people think he's soft or whatever, you know, he just has to, I would say, just go play football. You don't have to explain yourself all the time. You know, he was quick and said, oh, I'm going to do better this week. You don't necessarily have to say anything to anybody. You don't know that. You don't have to give people explanations. I know people want to hear it, but sometimes they get you in trouble. Um, I would just say, go out there, perform. Um, you know, it seems like he has some mental things. He has some mental things going on last year.

[00:28:21] Maybe some off the field stuff that I wasn't aware of. You know, it seems like, you know, but you know, we know how good he can be. Just eliminate the drops and just be the leader of the, you know, you're the one of the older dudes now. I mean, we have to look for you to be that guy. Um, obviously we're, we're going to meet Jeremy Bernard. I mean, that dude was a heart and soul of the team last year on the offensive end. It was a big moment. And such an arm making the play.

[00:28:52] Um, yeah, such a, yeah, such a weapon. So versatile too. You know what I mean? How many big plays did he make last year? But yeah, Hollywood. I mean, the one thing I hate too, is all these, you know, these people that were at him to transfer it out. I'm like, man, the one thing you couldn't knock was his effort. Cause if you watch the tape, he was out there, he was throwing blocks. He was trying, he was going over the middle in some of these games and getting lit up. Yeah. Um, and he's apparently put on about 20 pounds this year. So.

[00:29:22] I'm sorry. Cuts on, on the drops, everything else would be fine. And maybe, you know, one of the things that you could knock Ty Simpson on was his deep ball was not great. He was not an accurate deep ball thrower and you know, Hollywood's a stretch of field over the top guys. So if we can get back, you know, we've seen Keelan's arm. If we can get Hollywood back to a deep threat and you know, all these other guys, I mean, it's great. I'm with you. I love our, our room. You know, we got lots of your Brooks, you know,

[00:29:52] Rico Scott. That's the main thing. Stay healthy. I mean, Brooks has been a little banged up Rico Scott. I mean, we, we've seen moments from him. I think he's a talented dude. I like our room, you know, we're just going to miss, you know, Jeremy Bernard and then Josh Cuevas. We're going to miss him. Big time. Yeah. We need a big guy to step up. So dairy Morgan, getting a lot of good views to in camp, a big six, four guy. And then, you know,

[00:30:21] Caleb Edwards is probably going to be our starter at tight end. Yeah. So, you know, we're hoping he could come in and if these young, it's young, you know, no Rogers, you know, unfortunately he got hurt in springtime. So he's going to be out for a little bit, start the season, but if he could come back at some point, I loved his tape from NC state. Uh, just give us a little bit, a little something. I mean, if he can miss 40 here,

[00:30:52] 50 yards here. I mean, I don't think we necessarily need him to be a hundred yard receiver every week, but yeah, it's a cool 40, 50 a game. I think that's kind of all we need. He's another guy with a little bit of size there, six, two, but yeah, it all starts with the offensive line. And if, you know, the offensive line can protect open up running lanes, protect the quarterback, then, you know, that gives, that gives Keelan Russell time to get into the flow of, you know,

[00:31:20] the speed that gives the running backs time to, you know, you want, it's great to have a room. You do want one of those guys to take charge and, you know, really become the lead back there. You want, like we said, you want Hollywood to get his swagger back. And you want those other guys, you know, Brooks really emerged as a star toward the latest, you know, the end of last season. You want him to keep developing. It's a big catch. You know, you can. Yeah. Yeah. We're young, but there's a lot of talent on this team. You know, people,

[00:31:49] you know, you can knock, came on the board for certain things. You cannot knock his recruit. And he has had a couple of great classes so far coming in. So we'll see, you know, I think that we're going to be better on offense than people are expecting. I think year three with the board. I think so. Cause I mean, at this point it's his, mainly his people in there. I mean, he's got the quarterbacks he wants. He has offensive linemen. He wants, he has,

[00:32:19] I think the wide receivers. He wants the, the running back. He wants. So this is, you know, more or less his people. So, yeah, I mean, in year three, it's his people, his systems in place. This is the year you kind of, the talents there. Can, can they gel? Can they coexist for three months? Absolutely. Um, on the flip side,

[00:32:49] defense should be a strength again. Uh, surprisingly, you know, like we said, we got an offensive coach, but our defense, uh, pretty much after that Vanderbilt game. And a couple of years ago, when, you know, everybody was calling for Womack's head defense, buckle down. And last year they were the strength of the team. This year coming in, we might have the best secondary in the country, certainly in the discussion. Absolutely. Um, so many guys coming back. So huge, Yonza Pierre coming back on the edge.

[00:33:18] He could really become the next great Bama pass rusher. Um, solid linebacking, not spectacular linebacking crew, but don't need to be in the system. Um, you know, really the only questions on defense are, you know, can those new guys on the line, can they gel quickly? And can they stop the run? You know, we need to be better at stopping the run than we were last year, particularly, uh, those big running plays got gashed a lot on the ground for some big plays last year. Boom, boom. Yeah. Yeah. And then, um,

[00:33:46] can we bring early intensity with this weird thing last year? It would almost be like we needed to get hit in the mouth before the defense woke up and, um, started playing nasty. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other thing is the defensive line. Can they, can they be dogs? Can they get pressure early? Can they, you know, get the quarterback thinking, damn, it might be a long day for me. It's been a lot. Yeah.

[00:34:14] Got a consistent dogs on the defensive line. Yeah. Yeah. Not just one star player, but yeah, you know, you forget, you know, when we had Will Anderson on the other side, he had this guy named Dallas Turner terrorizing folks, you know, we need someone besides Pierre to emerge as you a star to get after the quarterback to, you know, if you can get those dual ends coming after you, if you can get pressure up the middle, if, if those interior linemen can, you know, set the line of scrimmage,

[00:34:43] don't let the teams get easy four or five yards running the ball, you know, really hit them at the line of scrimmage, hit them in the backfield, like force teams into passing downs, like to throw. And like I said, our secondary is in discussion for best in the country, man. Bray Hubbard, Keon Saab, our boy, Zabian Brown. It's a great, I mean, Dajun Lee. Yeah. Fantastic secondary. All secondaries are only as good.

[00:35:11] It's no matter how good your secondary is, you have to get that pass rush in there. Cause if any D one quarterback, especially in the sec gets enough time, of course things are going to break down eventually. That's just the nature of the beast. But we got it good enough to, as long as we're getting a little bit of pressure, you know, our secondary will be in the right spot. But really, I mean, yeah, our defense though, people still say, Oh, I don't like Womack and I don't like this. And I don't like that.

[00:35:41] It's been our most consistent unit at times. It's been the thing that's kept us in games. I mean, even, you know, you learn people, well, we got blown out against Georgia, Indiana. You look at that. The defense was put in terrible positions last year, both those games, you know? So, yeah, absolutely. And you know, part of that is special teams, kind of a quiet part to some people. Yeah. We got to get better on special teams. Punting. It's got to get better. Punting was terrible last year.

[00:36:10] We got to have a boomer. I do do consistently booming. Yeah. Flip the field, pin the other team back. When, when the field position battle, that becomes special with a good defense, that becomes so huge. Yeah. Need a consistent kicker to get us three when we need it. You know, don't miss easy kicks. You know, you don't want to feel nervous every time he comes out there. Um, and what, it's, uh, what,

[00:36:40] um, Connor Talti last year. Talti last year. It's, um, yeah, brought in Lorcan Quinn from Marshall, I think is where he came in. Uh, believe he was 21 to 26 last year, the long of 55 and then 38 to 39 on extra points. So, uh, you know, young guy, sophomore. So that's good. Hopefully he can come in. And like we said, uh, just be consistent,

[00:37:10] make the easy ones, you know, anything under 40 really, you should make. And then punting just, you know, can't shank it. Got to, got to flip the field when you can, and then got to pin teams deep when you get the chance. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And then, uh, yeah, it'd be nice if we, yeah, the next great Alabama return man would emerge too. Um, wow. You know, we'll see, uh, which I'm not really sure who, uh, is going to be the guy back there,

[00:37:39] but all right, let's, uh, let's play the schedule game here. Let's look at that. the good news is for all these units that need to gel and these young guys, first five or so games are very manageable. Yeah. You would think so anyway on paper. Yeah. You would hope so. Even, even what I was saying, even if they did it, you know, it sounds like we know the quarterback situation. You have a couple of weeks even to figure that out where you could

[00:38:07] definitely feel comfortable that you could play both guys if need be, you know, against East Carolina. Oh, Kentucky will probably better this year with it. It seemed like they're headed in the right direction again. You know, you feel like probably can, um, could play both there to figure things out. I really say you would just want to have things kind of figured out before that, uh, third week against Florida state. Yeah, for sure. yeah. East Carolina should be a win, even though it's at Kentucky. And like you said,

[00:38:37] probably should be a little better. They're also probably going through a transition year. Um, new coach and Lexington's a weird place, but that, that should be a win. And then, yeah, revenge game Florida state. You got it. You got to whoop them. Just no, no excuses. thank God Gus Malzahn's retired. Uh, no more of that crap. Um, but yeah, that's when I'm sure it was on everybody's mind. Um, hopefully, you know, they just don't overthink it, but yeah,

[00:39:04] you want to come in and you just want to set the tone early and get the, you know, get the win. Obviously can be a heavy favorite this year as they were last year, but you know, just like last year, I mean, obviously Florida state fell off, but you know, after week one, everybody's like, Oh my God, Florida state. Do it from Florida state. So obviously they show that obviously they spend a good amount of time getting ready for that week one. Um, yeah. We, we know the quarterback Ashton Daniels, uh,

[00:39:33] we, we've seen him. Yeah. According to him quite well. So, of course after Florida state, we host South Carolina, uh, always a tricky team, but it is at home. Um, um, you know, we'll get crazy games with them. Yeah. Right. Uh, we'll get to them, you know, when we talk about the rest of the sec, but I don't think, I think they're going to be a little down this year, but, uh, we'll see. And then after that, we go to Starkville, uh, for state, uh, another team, you know,

[00:40:02] probably will be toward the bottom of the sec, but, um, quarterback, he's, he's, he's special. Hmm. Oh, yeah. Um, yeah, we'll get to them. And then after that, that's when the schedule gets real, uh, October 10th, Georgia comes to town. Um, of course we know. Yeah. Brutal. And you could probably even stretch it past that too, but three games yet to end October, Georgia, then at Tennessee, uh, we've lost twice in a row up there in Knoxville. So let's end that shit. Um,

[00:40:32] and then, uh, after that, you come back home for homecoming. It's Texas A&M coming in town. So yeah, brutal October, uh, that three game stretch. Um, you know, you get to buy, yeah, you get to buy, then down to Baton Rouge and Lane Kiffin and LSU. Yeah. Uh, and then you follow that up with at Vanderbilt, which is no longer, uh, who knows if Vanderbilt is going to be, yeah, I mean, uh, and then it's high with Diego, probably not there anymore, but I mean,

[00:41:03] you almost feel like the culture's changed, but we'll talk about them. but we feel like a couple of things, we feel like they're made to change for the better. So, yeah, uh, we'll get there. And of course, Chattanooga and then in the season with the Iron Bowl at home again, six in a row. Always good at home. Much better place for us. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's been, uh, since, uh, that game that we don't talk about 2010 since the tide lost an iron

[00:41:33] ball in Tuscaloosa. So, uh, yeah, Greg, what is your, what's the floor? What's your baseline for a successful season this year? Honestly, I mean, I think anything less than the playoff, no one's going to consider a successful season. Um, I mean, I could see it worst case scenario, nine and three. Hmm. And I don't think that gets us in the playoffs.

[00:42:02] That's to the floor, but I'm thinking more 11, seven to one, 10 and two type. I think we have to kind of be that 10 and two type, unless we lose that third game in the ACC championship game, like we did last year. And then we kind of, uh, I don't think you get penalized for, for that. Yeah. I'm interested to see how that goes this year with, depends on everything else kind of goes, but, you know, obviously it didn't hurt us last year, losing that game because they were playing an extra game.

[00:42:32] The Notre Dame, which kind of comes down to, and that's the difference. You know, if we, if they'd also played a 13th game and they had won their 13th game, then, you know, the argument that they're the better, you know, they should have been in over us. But then, considering their season was over 12, at 12, we're, have a better resume than you guys. We, 13th game, which is the SEC championship game. We lose, but who do we lose to? A great Georgia team. You really get knocked for that. You know,

[00:43:01] that's up for interpretation, but you know, it's not so far. We, they've been pretty consistent with not necessarily killing the team that was in the playoff prior to it. They're knocked out due to losing a championship game. Yeah. No. So, yeah, I agree with you. I think, you know, I do think, you know, it's probably a different discussion, but I do think nine and three could, might be enough for a playoff at the SEC this year. Cause it's so even a balance. It could be, you know,

[00:43:29] especially with now the ninth conference game, conference game, half the league's going to be one more loss on the schedule. So yeah, it could be, it could be, could be a good number of three loss teams coming out. The SEC this year, but we get you in the championship game. Yeah. You never know. Yeah. Who knows? Yeah. Depending on who those three are. Yeah. But I'm with you. I think there's that brutal stretch, but I think you got some good, like good home, you know, Georgia and Texas A&M coming into town is huge.

[00:43:58] Florida state getting that chance for a range is huge. The road schedule is not terribly tough. You know, Kentucky and state or should wins, you know, Tennessee, who knows, they're kind of breaking in new quarterback this year to tough environment, but still, you know, you would think you, you definitely can win there. I don't know if we'll be favored. Baton Rouge is always tough for everyone, but Alabama, new codes, you know, of course, we lost that 20, was that 2022 game there in overtime?

[00:44:27] Brian Kelly actually got that big win over saving. Yeah. You know, for Alabama, you know, it's just Bama Rouge, Brian Denny West, as we call it. So I really do think that the schedule sets up nice for us to make a run at the playoff. And I'm with you. I think baseline, you know, getting the playoff, win a game and just don't get blown out. I think that's the big thing.

[00:44:56] Don't end the season on such a sour note. You know, you've got to stop getting blown out. It's just not, not good. When you're Alabama, you really shouldn't be getting blown out as much as we have so far in the DeBoer era. Cut out the blowouts, cut out the upsets, you know, win the games you should, you know, we've got to quit losing these upset games. You know, we, you know, Oklahoma was a great defense last year, but man,

[00:45:23] that loss in Tuscaloosa was rough because you can nearly double them in yardage, outgain them by so much. And then just kind of regain that Bama toughness. You know, that's kind of a hallmark of this program. No matter who the coach is, that's not just a saving thing. That's always been who we are. And, um, it doesn't mean we can't be high flying and high scoring, but you know, just, we've got to have that toughness, that Bama edge. Exactly.

[00:45:55] But yeah, anything else on the tide before we look at the rest of the SEC? No. Well, you know, I, I would think the other big, I think it's kind of interesting, you know, we're kind of the, for the first time in a while, kind of an afterthought. No one's, everybody mentions us, but no one really considers us a contender. We're kind of quietly there. You know, we're a little lower than we're, a lot lower than we're normally at to start the season and the polls. And, but it's Alabama, but they're not that, they're not Alabama, Alabama. So maybe, you know,

[00:46:24] so, you know, we're kind of, the pressure nationally is not really there that it's been in the past. You know, we know our fan base, how they are, but the natural pressure and all is, the expectations aren't necessarily that high this year. So I think, you know, I think we just, you know, and that may be a good thing for us, you know, kind of. Yeah. Yeah. Come in a little under the radar there. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. But you mentioned it. Yeah.

[00:46:54] Not a lot of people, you listening to some previews, reading some previews. I've seen a lot of pretty much everybody saying it's Georgia and Texas, and then everybody else in the SEC. And I don't know if that's necessarily true. I mean, obviously there's probably the two most talented teams for sure, but, yeah. On paper, on my contender tier though, you know, I have us, Georgia, Texas, LSU, A&M, and Ole Miss, and Oklahoma actually.

[00:47:21] And as far as my teams that I think have a realistic shot to win the SEC or at least make the title game. Absolutely. But let's start with the defending champs, the Dawgs, Georgia. They've, what, been in the SEC championship, what, how many years straight now? Five, five years in a row now. Of course, won three of them. Finally got the better of Alabama and Atlanta last year. It's been a,

[00:47:49] just a crutch there for the Dawgs. But, yeah, it sets up. Gunner Stockton back. We mentioned a talented team, obviously always going to have talent. They're going to be nasty on defense. Gunner Stockton, good quarterback. Nate Frazier, really good running back. They got talent out wide. Yeah. I think Gunner Stockton's kind of underrated. I mean, people think. I agree. You know, people are always like, well, he's,

[00:48:17] I think he's more than the system dude. I think he's showing flashes of talent. I mean, yeah, I think he's pretty talented. If he can do that consistently, I think. I mean, yeah, you think about that Tennessee game last year and some of the throws he made in that game. So amazing. Now I'm with you. I think the key to Georgia season, they got to refine their explosiveness on offense. That hasn't been what's missing the past few years is, you know,

[00:48:47] there's no AD Mitchell, no lad McConkie, you know, Brock Bowers. They're not making these big plays that they used to make. You know, they were stars. There's no definite star. Yeah. Which is, it's been a team that, you know, they grind you away. They beat you up, but then they make that big play to, to really put themselves over the edge, you know, and if they can regain that, then yeah,

[00:49:14] there's back in the national title discussion for sure. So it'd be interesting to see the schedule sets up nice for them. I think they got a really favorable schedule. They don't play a tough game to Oklahoma on the 26th of September, and that's in Athens. They don't have a tough road one till Tuscaloosa on the 10th of October. And then other than that, you know, they have to go at Ole Miss and then at South Carolina late in the year. So, you know, some tricky spots maybe,

[00:49:44] but I mean, they get Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Missouri, and Georgia Tech at home. Of course, they got the cocktail party at neutral site. I think it's favorable schedule. Yeah. I think anything less than a 10 and two regular season would be a massive disappointment for the dogs. And honestly, I mean, Georgia, I would say is their own worst enemy just because, you know, how dominant they, when they won that second championship, you know,

[00:50:14] they kind of ran through every year. Yeah. You know, I mean, they of course blew out TCU in a national title game and everybody thought, next season, three P for sure. Pretty easy. And, you know, since then it's been tough. I mean, they've lost two straight times in that, and that, you know, got the buy and then came, came out flat against Notre Dame two years ago and got punched in the mouth. Of course, came back last. I mean,

[00:50:43] they got out to their big, not a big lead, but you know, two touchdown lead later, look like they were going to, and then Trinidad put up, you know, some magic there last year. But, you know, it's just a matter of, you know, of course people think George is good, but then how their season is in people are like, well, maybe, you know, are they that, are they as good? They're still as good. It's just that it's more balanced. So it's, it's a little tougher. And, you know, you can fight too much time off,

[00:51:13] but other teams are having that time off too. So that really doesn't necessarily work as an excuse. I mean, Indiana had that time off too. They didn't. Yeah. So. Yeah. So, yeah, yeah, no, I agree. Yeah. So it's, it's about not only getting a playoff, obviously, but getting a win. And, you know, we talked about at the time, but it was people were, you, you said there was like, almost like they felt automatic. They were going to get the three P and the conversation was, Oh,

[00:51:42] when is Kirby going to break Saban's title record? It wasn't even if they're like, Oh, he's going to do it quickly. Oh, he's going to be winning at a Nick. Yeah. That's the, it's a different era. College football, man. The portal has really, yeah, it's, it's really the 12 team playoff and the portal have really in, in, I'll to a lesser degree. I think that's overblown. But, um, it's, it's going to be so tough to, to do what, you know, again, we talked about it when he retired, but, you know,

[00:52:10] I think people are a little too quick to think of Nick Saban's accomplishments at Alabama as something that's attainable. And, uh, it's just so special in what he did. I mean, he won six national titles in 12 years. That's absurd. And honestly, probably, you know, if we want to argue if, then should have, would have, could have, probably could add two or three more easily. Oh, easily, easily. Yeah. I mean, you know what, you know, someone gets a hand on that ball at the end of the Clemson game, Hunter Renfro drops it, whatever. Boom.

[00:52:40] That's another one. Uh, kick six doesn't happen. And we, we, we got a shot to play Florida state, you know, and I think we could have beat them. And they're talking about a three beat there. Uh, if two, uh, if two was stays healthy in 2019, I think, I do think we could have beat that LSU team. I don't think they were that unbeatable. Um, I mean, honestly, I always think that that 2019. We're that first drive. We're driving down the field. Mm. And then we get down with the, like three yard line. And then,

[00:53:09] I don't know. Just dropped it. Inexplicable. Fumble. And there's a, Oh my God. And then that changed the whole day. We score that touchdown there. I think that sets the tone for the game. It's still going to be close, but I think we would have won that game that they had that first drive in a six, seven. No, I, yeah, I fully believe in it. You know, it's maybe a Homer thought, but if two were, we're a hundred percent in that game, I think we win or be, if he doesn't have the massive hip, hip injury,

[00:53:36] which I know a lot of people were talking about his terrible performance in that Falcons preseason game, but man, it's different for Alabama fans because we saw two of before his hip injury was a different, he was a beast and just a different animal, man. Watching him play quarterback was a thing of beauty, but yeah, I fully believe that if, even if he just doesn't get that hip injury against Mississippi state gets healthy,

[00:54:04] he plays against Auburn. We don't lose that one. Cause then you got to think, maybe the two pick six is 99 yard returns. When does that ever happen? Exactly. Yeah. I mean, interception off a guy's ass, you know? But yeah, I think if we finish that season with just that one LSU loss, we probably get, probably getting that 14 playoff. Yeah. Probably get a shot. And I think we could have beat that LSU team. Yeah. Um, but yeah, let's, uh, but anyway, we're just talking about, you know,

[00:54:33] that's related to Georgia. It's hard, but Kirby's a, Kirby's a good coach and he'll have, you know, they're always going to be in discussion. Like I said, I think their big thing is like you said, getting out of their own way. And then, uh, they got to find that explosiveness on offense again. They got to get that back, but let's move on Texas. The other favorite, uh, maybe the most talented team in the country. Of course they, uh, maybe got some bad news. Was it today or yesterday? Kim Coleman was carted off the practice field.

[00:55:03] So the leg injury don't want to see that. Hope it's not. Anytime it's late. Oh my God. Just cause you really, you really worry there, but yeah, hopefully that kid he's all right. Cause he's such a talented dude. He is. And it's, you know, good to see him not in an Auburn Jersey now. Um, you would like to see him in crimson or in a different conference, but. But you are, you are, you really want to see him with a solid quarterback in which he has never.

[00:55:34] Yeah, exactly. First solid quarterback, because at the end of last season, you know, all the hype at the start of the year. Yes. It allows it to work. She was ugly, but they were still in that game, uh, throughout. I mean, as first year as this starter started off kind of slow, but by the end of the season, November, Arch Manning was playing good football. Mm-hmm. He was. And yeah, I think he's going to,

[00:56:02] and now with some more talent around him, and he's got Ryan Wingo back. If Cam Coleman's healthy, that's great. They got Hollywood smothers and stolen from Bama, the transfer portal. Uh, it's a great, yeah, it's a great running back to have. Of course, you know, they're beast on the line. Uh, Steve Sarkeesian, you know, on the great offensive minds of our time. Yeah. we'll must champ, uh, back on the defense, man. Uh, for younger people at one point, he was the coach and waiting to be the coach at Texas.

[00:56:32] And I thought that coach away, he never really worked out anywhere or knowing that. I stayed that long from the guy, but now it was a game that he was going to replace Mac Brown when Mac retired, but that never transpired. But yet back in Austin, the defense wasn't bad last year, just not as good as it was in 24. And I guess it had to make that change. Um, I mean, and that's a, he's a, maybe not a great head coach, but amazing defensive coordinator. I mean, we see.

[00:57:02] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And that's going to be a great defense. They should be a national title contender. Uh, the thing for them is man, that schedule, it is tough. Of course, they got big Ohio state game week two. Uh, they go on the road to Tennessee week four. Uh, they got, of course, red river, October 10th, Florida comes to town. The Mississippi comes to town. After that, you go on the road to Missouri, then at LSU late in the year.

[00:57:31] And then at Texas A&M that November, yeah. Three road games, Missouri, LSU and A&M. Uh, so it's a really, really tough schedule for Texas. It'd be tough. Yeah. I mean, of course you, you know, they, you would love to get that early week to win over Ohio state, get the revenge there. Um, but that doesn't make or break your season. Of course you win that game and you're sitting on top of the world. We too. Um, but if you lose that game, of course,

[00:58:00] it doesn't kill you because Ohio state, you expect them to be high in the, you know, big 10 race. So, I mean, that doesn't kill you as a loss there. Um, but you know, man, when you got that, that, that run from Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, the old miss, I mean, that's a, that's a, that's a crazy run there. yeah, they're going to earn it. Yeah. If they, if they get there, they're going to earn it. I mean, 10 wins against that schedule is great. I mean,

[00:58:30] I mean, the expectation is definitely high in Austin this year. That schedule, boy, is a, is a doozy. I mean, you know, add Tennessee. I mean, Knoxville is always going to be tough. Um, good thing for Texas, it's an 11 a.m. game that does help out some, um, cause Knoxville at night is nuts, especially the walls are looking good. And we'll, you know, there's questions, but there's talent there. Um, you know, the red river game, we,

[00:58:59] we know that game is a wild one, you know, often it's hard to figure out often. Tim, you comes in the game looking better, doesn't win that game. We've had to see some crazy stuff. You know, the throughout that series. Um, of course, last year, Texas won John material, probably came back too early. Didn't go well, you know, forcing himself in that game. Texas did win that. And, you know, that's always a toss up game, you know, Florida, you know, has questions. Also,

[00:59:29] that is a revenge game for Texas. They had that terrible loss last year in Gainesville. Still, how they lost that kept them out. The playoff for sure. That was a loss that really shot, shot them out of the playoffs there. Um, uh, and then, you know, you get, but you get three, two games at home. They're Florida at home. They don't miss a home. So, and, but I mean, neither one of those games are going to be easy, especially at Ole Miss game.

[00:59:58] You know, arguably, maybe the best quarterback in the sec. I mean, people are going to say, Arvin Chandlis, he, he, if he's anything like he was last year, he's, he's a star. yeah, maybe the best running back in the nation there. Q on Lacey. I mean, but that Ole Miss team has questions. Replace them up on the defense and also in the wide receiver room. But, you know, they're, they're, they're, should be in the playoff front there.

[01:00:28] Tough schedule, man. you know, I mean, and you got to think even that Mississippi state game, it's at home as well. Mississippi state gave Texas all they wanted last year. They did. Yeah. They had their chances to win that game. Probably arguably could have. If not, should have. Yeah. Yeah. yeah. So. Allison this year, but, you know, you would think Texas wins that, but Hey, they, they gave them a game last year.

[01:00:58] So who knows? And I think state's going to be better this year. And Missouri is tricky. Just because you never know what Missouri is going to be. Yeah. But you don't know. You know, they've had time, you know, they're basically won 10 games the last three years. They've been having 10 wins for a little bit, but they don't necessarily win the big games. I guess that's the biggest knock on Missouri. They don't knock off the big time names. They be who they're supposed to be,

[01:01:27] but they don't necessarily. They knock off the big dogs. Yeah. Yeah. You think of that when they had Georgia on the ropes a few years back, man, definitely should have beaten them, but no. Yeah. It's a, yeah, it's always a weird place. And then you follow that up with going to baton Rouge. I'm sure that'll be a night game. Yeah. And then, you know, you end the season at Texas A&M, your big rivalry, you know,

[01:01:56] you ruined their unbeaten season last year. You know, they're just dying to, to get a win over you. And then in between that, you have an Arkansas team, which big rebuild in the year. I don't think they'll be that good, but it could be a sandwich game that late in the year, you know, rivalry game. Rivalry game. They would love to win them anything. Yeah. Yeah. The hate's big in that one, but yeah, let's move on to their rivals, the Aggies. Let's move on to those Aggies. Of course, made that playoff run last year.

[01:02:26] Not a great, you know, into their season as they lost that. Of course, we mentioned that rivalry game to Texas. And then that just inept offensive performance against Miami in the playoff. You can point to them. The win was brutal, but yeah, that was. Yeah. It was still a brutal game. A lot of people thought that maybe their schedule was a little misleading. A little cake. It ended up being, you know, of course it did have the big win in South. Was it in South Bend? Yeah, it was. Huge. Yeah.

[01:02:57] Huge win. They're off the schedule this year, Notre Dame, but you know, Marcel Reed back at quarterback. That's big. Again, Isaiah Horton transferred over from Alabama. He's an Aggie now. Got a great wide receiver. Yeah. Yeah. Along with him and Ashton Bethel Roma, Roman, excuse me. Mario Craver. Yeah. That's, that's a great receiver room.

[01:03:24] We know Mike Elko is going to have that defense playing really tough. It's definitely a playoff caliber team. Yeah. And the schedule tricky though, you know, some tough, you know, they get a. Tough schedule. Yeah. Yeah. Much tough. Interesting out of conference game with Arizona state coming to town week two, week four, you got to go at LSU. I got to go at Missouri. Got to go at Alabama. I got to go at South Carolina.

[01:03:54] Remember that crazy game last year, South Carolina was beating the brakes off them. And a great, great comeback win for the Aggies there. Um, yeah. Yeah. And Norman at Oklahoma and sandwich between those two is Tennessee. And then of course, after you go at Oklahoma, you finished the season with your rival Texas, even though it's at home, that's it's a tough schedule for a man, man, that, that road schedule in particular is brutal. Yeah, definitely a lot tougher than last year.

[01:04:26] Expectations are going to be there. I mean, obviously the Aggies have a lot of talent. They could easily win these games, but yeah, I mean, it's going to be tough right out the gate. I mean, I mean, Arizona state's not going to be a picnic. I mean, but you got to get that one in there. I don't think you have to win it, but you know, at LSU last game of the month of September, and you know, that's a big game for both teams. I mean, of course, uh, you know, last year, Marcel Reed kind of,

[01:04:55] that's what Brian and Kelly's career came to an end. Second half of the second half of that game got brutal, ridiculous. So Marcel Reed is an LSU killer the last two years. main thing with him though, we got us. If A&M wants to be as good as they want to be, he has to be that Marcel every week. He has some time. We don't see that, you know, for three fourths of the, more than that, maybe 80%,

[01:05:25] 90% of that South Carolina game. We did not see him. Um, you know, he struggled against Texas. We really didn't see him there. You know, he was brutal in the playoff game against Miami at home. So basically, he has to be that Marcel Reed that we know we've seen at times and the big, and the big game situations all the time for them to be the team that they can be. And where it comes down to, I think. Yeah, absolutely. Um, like we said, we know the defense is going to be tough. They're going to be hard. They're going to be a good.

[01:05:54] Mike Elko, always a great defensive coach. Uh, but yeah, I mean, this is, I mean, this is a team, you know, nine and three season might miss the playoff, but I would not be a disappointment against that schedule. I mean, obviously if you're an Aggie fan, you wouldn't do better, but that's, it's a tough, such a tough schedule. You're an Aggie fan. You, I mean, nine and three is probably going to piss you off with the money, the expectations. But honestly, I mean, if you look at this, I mean, it could, if things don't go right,

[01:06:23] it could easily be a six and six season as well. That's true. Yeah. If things go South. Yeah. That's, you can lose the NMOU, Texas, uh, you know, us, possibly tennis. I mean, Damian, I mean, you easily could be a, you know, seven and five, six and six real quick. If you're not, um, paying attention every weekend, playing your game. Yeah. Yeah. There's a world that, yes, slip up. They could lose all those road games are losable. You know,

[01:06:53] that's five right there. And then like you mentioned, yeah, you still got Texas, Tennessee, uh, on that schedule. So obviously Texas, you know, that's in them with, I mean, I think A&M thinks about Texas more than Texas things by A&M, honestly. Um, and they, but for whatever reason, man, they can't beat Texas and anything to save their lives. It's been rough in that rivalry lately, man. You know, can't beat them basketball, can't beat them in football, lost their baseball coach to them. Yeah.

[01:07:23] Oh man, it's been brutal. Yeah. I mean, you've had, you know, the big con. I mean, you had the first year of Kyle field, the atmosphere is amazing. And Texas kind of made it easy. Last year, you're undefeated, having a, probably the greatest season in A&M history. And who beats you? The nine and three Texas team that's not going to make the playoff. You know, just tough. And I know that's crazy. What a,

[01:07:52] what a set of dominoes to happen too. Cause if they get that win, then the sec title game is Alabama A&M. And yeah, you know, maybe that's a lot different. You know, I think we definitely could have beat that Texas A&M team, or at least you, I don't think it would have been a blowout. No. Uh, loss, you know, and that changes, that really changes the, equation in the playoff last year, but let's move a little East to Baton Rouge. I got LSU in my contender tier two, because obviously they're always talented. And then Lane Kiffin coming over from,

[01:08:22] uh, Ole Miss, uh, of course, the controversial story of the end of last season. And then of course they've made that play great playoff run rather than, but, uh, Lane Kiffin takes over for Brian Kelly. His tenure was a disaster. Baton Rouge. Never turn into what people kind of, I would, you would never do, but I thought, man, Brian Kelly gets a talent that LSU can get with, but he won games that, cause that was always a knock that he can't win the game.

[01:08:52] Cause he doesn't have necessarily the talent and Notre Dame that he could get at LSU. So I was under the impression he could really do some things. You didn't buy them too. And I was smart of you, but we have a new guy there in a place. It's really, when, when things are good, they love you, but they'll turn on you in a quickness and bad. And yeah, and it starts right away too. I mean, of course they get Sam Levitt coming over from Arizona state play quarterback. You know,

[01:09:21] they're going to have great players all over the field. Um, but, uh, good wide receiver room, strong running back room. Yeah. But that's their big thing is they have to fix their running game as well. They're kind of, they were bad at running the ball last year. It seemed like they've addressed it in the portal and everything, but they only got about 105 yards a game last year. So they were brutal running the ball as well. So that's, I mean, yeah, they're,

[01:09:50] they're leading Russia only have 500 yards last year. So, they've been down a little bit running the ball. Um, big thing with them though, they got one of the most talented defensive coordinators, Blake Baker back there as their defensive coordinator, um, who really had them looking better last year. I think they'd take it to another level this year and become even better. Um, but again, you know, the pressure's on simply because they spend, they've spent a good amount of money on this,

[01:10:20] their expectations are, I think maybe they're a little outlandish, but often, often LSU's is a little outlandish with their, uh, expectations. I mean, obviously they underachieved last year. People expect the big things from last year's team and imploded quickly. Uh, but, you know, you start off that week one, you have to be Clemson. I mean, they're unranked this year. So you got to get that one at home there.

[01:10:50] You lose that. And that, Oh, that's a, I would say, cause that's, you know, Lane Kiffin's battling his own thing, you know, for all the remarkable things he did at Ole Miss and turn that around, and he still never won the big game there. You know, we got, I guess he got a couple of wins over Georgia or whatnot, but Georgia was pretty big there two years ago. Yeah. Georgia one two years ago was big, but then, uh, no playoff. Then he turned around and what was it? The Kentucky loss or they blew it. Uh, he lost the loss that year.

[01:11:17] So two brutal losses that year to kept them out the playoff. And of course, he doesn't, not even the coach for the playoffs last year. I mean, you could say, they would have won those games, but do they? We'll never know. I mean, they're, yeah, they're on the doorstep of playing for the national title without them. So, you know, that's gotta, that's gotta eat out of them a little bit. Yeah. So it's really Ellis. It's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting marriage of, you know, him trying to get over the hump and prove that he's worth all the money and,

[01:11:46] and commotion. And then LSU trying to get back to being a elite program in the sport. Cause they, since that 2019 national title, man, they had fallen off. You know, they had that five straight losses in the opening game. Finally broke that last year. I mean, they've really been up and down. Nothing spectacular. I mean, even like we talked about it, even in, you know, Jaden's Heisman year, they had three losses. I mean, yeah.

[01:12:15] Cause the different things that handicapped that team. But of course, everybody's been talking about it all off season. That week three game at the Grove, that place is going to be wild. Night game. Man. Hatred. You would never think that a man that took, took Ole Miss to the playoff and their most legendary season would ever be the

[01:12:43] most hated man in less than two months after. You know, he is. Yeah. And that, that, yeah, that's going to be intense. And that's also, it's, I mean, that's a pretty brutal September schedule, all things considered. You're Clemson. Like you said at home, they're unranked, but I mean, they're, they're desperate. They're desperate to get back to an elite level as well. Yeah. Then you got to go that at Ole Miss. And then the week after that, you host Texas. That's how that goes. Yeah.

[01:13:13] That goes. You're either a on top of the road. Cause you beat Ole Miss and you're thinking you're high in my, or you lose that game. You got to bounce back either way. You got to be head on the swivel. Cause A&M is coming to town. Regardless. And in a series, it's been crazy since they've been playing. I mean, that A&M LSU series is crazy. And A&M beats them. I think they've won like three of the last five against them. So it is absolutely always tough. And then it gets a little easier after that.

[01:13:43] McNeese at Kentucky, Mississippi state at Auburn, which is a rivalry game. So nice October. You think you went on for those. I mean, of course I have a new coach. Probably going to get better just cause I think he's, I like him as a coach. But you know, you would think if you're a title contender this year, LSU, you definitely win the month of October. You can't lose any of those games. No, you can't too. And then, yeah, you get to November and it's a tough ending too.

[01:14:13] You get Alabama comes to town next week, Texas comes to town. So no break. And then you end on the road, two games at Tennessee. And who knows, you know, late in the season, what those teams are playing for. And then at Arkansas, another game. That's always crazy. Good to see that one back at the end of the season though. Good to see LSU and Arkansas. Need to be on that Friday. Yeah. Right. Get back to that Friday. Get back to that Friday. We've seen some crazy stuff in that golden boot game. Obviously the probably not this year.

[01:14:42] Cause Arkansas just said rebuild. Yeah. They're in a bad spot right now. So probably not, but the rest of November. Brutal. Tough. But Alabama, Texas and back-to-back weeks, it doesn't matter where those games are. My goodness. And then, and then have to go up to Knoxville after that. So like you said, you're either going to be either. They've won those two and they're riding high. And that's a big trap game or they lost one or both of them. And all of a sudden that is desperation mode.

[01:15:12] And you don't want to be desperate going in the Madeline stadium. Especially if Tennessee's, who knows the Tennessee will be by November as well. Exactly. That could be a huge game for them too. They could be desperate in their own right, but let's move to Kiffin's old team, Ole Miss. I got them as a contender too, because so much talent you mentioned. Trinidad Chambliss, maybe the best quarterback in the SEC. Keywon Lacey, maybe the best running back in the country. Deuce Alexander out wide.

[01:15:41] Still plenty of talent on this team. The question there is, how is Pete Golden going to fare in his first full season as head coach? How is the offense going to fare with a new offense coordinator, John David Baker, coming over from East Carolina? They ran a pretty high tempo, high scoring, exciting offense there. And they seem to be happy with them. I mean, it's, you know, Trinidad Chambliss speaks for all of them. But yeah, I mean, but I mean,

[01:16:10] obviously Pete Golden got an ultimate test right away as a head coach. I mean, it doesn't get any better, bigger than starting your career as a head coach in the playoff. Yeah, right. But it's a little different now, because now it's yours fully. I mean, I'll tell you what an off season move. I liked for them though, bringing in Mike Stoops as a defensive analyst. I think having a guy like that on staff, not just for the players, but for Golden himself, you know, Mike Stoops, what he did at Kentucky is, you know,

[01:16:38] nothing short of great. And, you know, of course it didn't end great, but that's a guy you can lean on a guy you can really learn from if you pick his brain and how to run a program, especially one like Ole Miss, who doesn't have quite the amount of resources, the bigger ones. And it's historically, you know, not an elite program, but plenty of pride and expectation there. And schedule wise, they started right now.

[01:17:07] It's a tough September too, for them. Louisville and Nashville on that Sunday, the first week, a little neutral site game. That'll be a fun one. I'm pretty high on Louisville this year too. I think we talked about that. You're ACC. And then, you know, of course the big LSU game. And then the week after one, you got to go to the swamp. That's because either way, after that, it's that emotional. Yeah. Or you're filling in the dumps, but either way, man,

[01:17:36] you're going to the swamp. And then I think this Florida team, I don't know if they're going to have all the wins this year, but I think their coach is a hell of a coach. And I think he's going to be, he's, he's, let's say he's won the off season. His talking season has been pretty, pretty great. Yeah. Right. Things. He kind of, you know, he kind of everything that Billy Napier wasn't, he's more of a personal dude,

[01:18:05] but he also maintain with them. He has to button things up. We saw some very undisciplined Florida teams under Billy Napier, but we'll talk about them. Yeah. You know, if they turn, I mean, that's a tough game. Regardless, just because you're coming off the huge, huge game. One of the bigger ones, a regular season game, probably in recent history, just because everything comes in. Plus it's a rivalry game in itself, regardless. Yeah.

[01:18:34] Classic rivalry. Yeah. And then you go to the swamp and then you turn that around. But you get a week and then you go to Vandy and Vandy is a team that, but it's not a, it's a new day. Yeah. That's going to be a rough game. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a brutal road schedule overall. Only four true road games for Ole Miss, but it's Florida, Vandy, Texas, and Oklahoma. That's tough. That's tough. Yeah. That's tough.

[01:19:03] And then of course, Georgia comes to town to got the egg bowl, which is on. Georgia looking for revenge. Yeah. On the playoff. If you're going to Norman, November and, you know, John Mateer and that defense is supposed to be good. Of course, they just signed their coach, a six year extension. They're kind of weird. Venables got his six year extension today. The new AD. I saw that. I saw that. Yeah.

[01:19:33] But obviously, OU is going to be tough. And then of course the egg bowls, the egg bowls. Yeah, exactly. I still want it on Thanksgiving, but hey, the egg bowl is still the egg bowl. But man, I mean, I just sound about on Thanksgiving night. It's so fun. Yeah. But, um, yeah, the rebels got their, they're good. They got the work cut out for them, but golden certainly has talent there. Yeah. And they can, like you said, he,

[01:20:02] he cut his teeth coaching in the playoff. So that's, that's great. Like I said, I think Mike Stoops having him on staff will be huge for him. And yeah, certainly have the roster to make another run at the playoff. Um, that schedule, I mean, they can easily have five losses as well. That's true. Yeah. They're, they're another one of those teams that if things don't bounce right, you know, an injury or two, you look at the LA, I mean, make it was LSU, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, right.

[01:20:32] I'll be just looking at the schedule. I mean, they can win those games, but man, it's not. Yeah. Yeah. We could see them fall back to that kind of four or five loss. Ole Miss. But, uh, uh, let's move on. The last team I have in this contender tier is Oklahoma. I think just that defense, uh, always nasty, always tough, uh, when you're Brent Venables and the way he schemes it up. Yeah. Um, um,

[01:21:02] and then if they can get a healthy John material can look like he looked in those first few games of last year, the first half of the, our playoff game, he was looking to leave for the start of that game. Um, yeah, they, they've, if they can just be above average on offense and don't turn the ball over, that defense is good enough to put them in the playoff and sec title contention, um,

[01:21:33] for sure. Um, of course, and we're going to say this a lot, this preview, because the nine game schedule is brutal, but another tough schedule. I mean, week two, they got to go to the big house at Michigan. Um, Michigan, a lot of unknowns, new coach, so, you know, the rice returning the quarterback that they paid him to be, you know, a lot of expectations there. Yeah. Either, either way, it's never a cakewalk to go up there to Ann Arbor. Um, we have a decent New Mexico team.

[01:22:02] I mean, obviously when they, New Mexico is not, not a pushover. Yeah. Not a pushover. So, I mean, it's a tougher game than something you could play. Um, then you go to, to Athens. That's a huge game, but then you follow that with the by week before, of course, Red River rivalry, you know, is, I mean, that's a toss up in itself. Um, then it gets a little easier. I mean, obviously you think you got to be Kentucky this year. You got to be state this year, even in Starkville. If you're a contender or,

[01:22:32] uh, they've had some weird one. Well, South Carolina, I mean, I, it's at home. I think they'll be good. Uh, but South Carolina, they're a team. We don't know. I mean, obviously have some talented pieces there, but they're inconsistent, but there are every other year type team. And this is the other year. So who knows? That's kind of been the thing with them. Um, and then, uh, you in November,

[01:23:01] you got, Oh, tough, tough November, tough November, man. I mean, you got after Florida, miss A&M and then at Mizzou, they end the regular season. Yeah. So no, no gimme's there for sure. Yeah. It'll be interesting. Uh, cause yeah, you gotta say you, you have to assume that you tap in New Mexico wins in September, but Oakland make it easy to be two and two coming out of September.

[01:23:28] Then all of a sudden the bulk of that schedule is must win. You're, you're basically playing a playoff game every week. Um, um, so that's really tough. So they got to steal one of those games on the road in September to keep themselves in the playoff and sec title contention and national title contention. Um, but yeah, that's, that's all the teams I have in my contender tier, you know, uh, go into the wildcard tier. Let's start South Carolina.

[01:23:56] We mentioned them who knows up and down. Uh, they do have, you know, they got talent. Lenore Sellers is back. Uh, Nick Harbor is back, you know, just a freak of nature at receiver. Although they're going to be thin, they've lost two guys to season into injuries. Norris's brother, who was look like he's going to be a number two guy there this year. So I'm even saying maybe the number one guy, that was a big loss. The transfer from OU sound like he's had a plethora of injuries. It's been his whole career.

[01:24:25] So you hate to see it guys. It's to continue with those injuries, but those guys already out for the, he was two people you expect to contribute solidly before the season starts. That's the tough way to start things. Yeah. It's real tough. Um, they did, uh, did send Mike Shula packing. So they brought in, I think this is big, brought in Kendall brows from, um, uh, where was he last year? I know he's at TCU before that, but where is he? Uh,

[01:24:57] where did he end up last year? He was, was he still at TCU or I thought he went somewhere else last year. No, I think it was a TCU last year. He was still at TCU last year. Yeah. and cause he was, uh, I think it was OC last year, TCU. Yeah. That's what I think he's going to, yeah. Yeah. I think he'll be, it was, uh, yeah, it was, uh, assistant head coach,

[01:25:25] OC and the QB coach last year at TCU. so, you know, same type of thing yet, South Carolina, probably, uh, uh, you know, my shoe was a weird hire. I thought, but, uh, uh, but, you know, I think Kendall Browse, he's going to love working with Lenora Sellers. Obviously Sellers is electric. The biggest thing with him is consistency. Uh, you see some great things. You see some,

[01:25:55] then you'll see some terrible things. He hasn't always been the most consistent guy, but when he's on, he's absolutely scary. Um, of course, um, you know, the, the, the, Nick Harper probably, the fastest dude in the sec. Of course, he's playing football now, but, you know, it started off as a track track guy, but seems to really become a football guy now. So, but you know, they, uh, the defense led by Dylan Stewart.

[01:26:25] I mean, obviously I think he's a little banged up. They may not even start the season, but you would hope he's back by the time sec play start. Um, I don't know where his injury is, but the biggest thing with them is they've, every other year they've been good, but they had can't consistently put it together. You know, two years ago, they were inches from the playoffs. People thought they should have got in with the three because of how they ended the season. And then we're four and eight last year. So,

[01:26:55] um, yeah, it's tough. And, and a brutal four and eight last year too. A lot of, you know, after, I mean, what was their best win last year? I guess maybe that opening game against Virginia tech and, you know, it wasn't a great year. And yeah, this year they got three games. They should win to start it. You know, Kent state Towson and Mississippi state before they go to Tuscaloosa. Um, but yeah, it's another tough one. Their road schedule alone, you know, they go at Alabama at Florida at Oklahoma, uh,

[01:27:24] at Arkansas and then at Clemson in the year. And as they're another team, that closing stretch, man. Uh, so they get, they get a buy on October 17th after the Florida game. And they end their season with Tennessee at home at Oklahoma, Texas A&M at home at Arkansas, Georgia at home, and then at Clemson in the year. So that, yeah, it's brutal, brutal schedule. I mean, I honestly look at it on paper. I mean,

[01:27:55] you're struggling to see six. I mean, you see that state game, you see Towson, you have to get Mississippi state. If you're going to go into a bowl game, Kentucky probably should be Kentucky at home. Yeah. And then after that, I mean, probably should beat Arkansas on the road. That would give you five. And then, yeah, it's like, Ooh, where do you steal? Yeah. Where do you steal away? And it, you know, but if, if Lenore sellers,

[01:28:22] if Lenore sellers can get back to that guy that everyone thought was a top, you know, NFL prospect. Yeah. If the old line can be consistent, if, if the defense can reemerge, you know, a couple of years ago, they just, that was their strength. Those, those ends, they were beasts. They got after the quarterback. They created turnovers. Yeah. So there, you can see it there, but yeah, they need a lot of things to go right, but it's definitely a team that should maybe not contend for the SEC to play off,

[01:28:52] but definitely could make a run or at least ruin somebody's year. That's them. That talent. But let's go, let's go to the planes next. Auburn, a wild card because new staff, you know, of course, like you said, they brought in Alex Gullish from USF. He brought, he brings over Byron Brown as his quarterback. So maybe Auburn might finally have a decent quarterback. Yeah. This is one of the 3,000, thousand on the ground last year. So,

[01:29:22] yeah. And what's been one of the worst stretches of Auburn football and their, their program's history, really. I mean, they've had seven losses at least five straight years now. Can't remember what their 2020 record was, but it's been, it's been a rough stretch on the planes. I've been to a bowl game in a while. Yeah. Which, you know, we don't have a one, one in a good minute. Their last bowl win was over Purdue in the music city bowl in 2018. Um,

[01:29:54] so that's tough. Yeah. Last time, you know, they played music city bowl, lost to Maryland a couple of years ago, lost here in the Birmingham bowl to Houston. Um, I say it's been a tough ride. Hugh freeze was a swing and a miss as a coach and hire, um, as was, you know, his predecessor, Brian Harsin. So the hope is Alex Gullish can bring, you know, some of that toughness he had at USF. Um, you know, whether that translates, whether Byron Brown trends,

[01:30:23] like his skillset translates, the sec is to be seen, but, um, they certainly should, I think should be a little improved. Um, I don't know if they have the overall talent, of course, losing a guy like camp Coleman really hurts. Um, but the, it's there, you know, another one with a tough road schedule too. I mean, they, they start the season with Baylor in Atlanta, um, then Southern Miss and then Florida, yeah.

[01:30:53] And then Florida and Vanderbilt at home, uh, all before they play a true road game, but they're another team. The road schedule just, man, does not, you know, they go at Tennessee, then they get a buy, then they go at Georgia, then they host LSU, then at Ole Miss and host Arkansas, then at Mississippi state, uh, and then get Samford, you know, break. And then they go to go to Tuscaloosa for the iron bowl. So I think getting, getting back to a bowl is, is a good season for the Tigers there. Schedules on paper right now,

[01:31:23] going into season, that's actually quite an accomplishment. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, you know, you're supposed to win. You gotta be better. It's very, probably gonna be a tough game, but you gotta win that, especially if you're gonna have the home advantage in Atlanta, it's gonna be a lot of Auburn fans there. You gotta get that. You gotta beat Southern Miss, of course. Florida toss up, two new coaches in the SEC, looking to establish themselves. It's an interesting game. It's at home. Gotta win it at home.

[01:31:53] Then Vandy, a team that has given them a plethora of problems. Oh, man. The best thing for them is no Diego Pavia, which has been the, been the thorn in Auburn's side for, since the Mexico, state days. so he's gone. So you would hope you got to catch them. Realistically, you want to go, if you're a Auburn, you're hoping you want to go to Maxwell undefeated. If you're undefeated, you're looking good. Cause, uh, you know, and then,

[01:32:21] and then if you could split those road games, Tennessee or Georgia, if you could split that more than likely, Tennessee is going to be your one that you could be, but, and even split that and go to, you know, LSU comes to town and you, you're what, six and one or five to one, you know, that's a hell of a way to go into that LSU game. But, you want to go into Tennessee undefeated and that will really have people, um, things looking up on the planes.

[01:32:51] But, man, but they could also go into that tennis again with two losses and win. Shock me. No. Yeah. Yeah. I could easily see them dropping, uh, to Florida, to maybe Vandy, to, or to Baylor, you know, who knows what Baylor is going to look like this year. Um, but yeah, you, like, I think you, you're right. You want to go there at, at, at worst case three and one going into that Tennessee game. If you could go four and oh, that'd be huge. Yeah. Huge. Um, cause yeah. October. And, no,

[01:33:21] yeah. But October is brutal. I mean, you got Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss. My God. Yeah. Yeah. Just absolutely. Three of them on the road. Yeah. And then LSU is your one home game. So that's always a crazy answer. But they've had some crazy ones over the time. Mm-hmm. We've seen some wild card teams too. Yeah. Let's go from one team we hate to another one. Tennessee, another wild card team. I have, uh, a lot of people have them, I think is more of a contender, but I have them always wild card.

[01:33:50] Cause it's uncertain quarterback situation there. Um, I, you know, I say, I say you roll the dice with your freshman personally. Yeah. Faison Brandon, Brandon, I think, uh, is that the guy you'd like, Brandon? I mean, that's what I would do. I mean, he's obviously a talented, the other guy, um, has been in the system. He hasn't played out either. So he's kind of unknown as well. I think I'd rather go with the unknown that is a true freshman that you expect

[01:34:20] big pains from in the future. This is the night out. Everything just cause that's a guy you don't want to see transfer for some reason or, you know, something like that. Yeah. And he is, you know, big guy, six, four, two 15. He's got some legs too. He can run, got a hell of a cannon. You know, looks like a prototypical, uh, Josh Heupel quarterback, uh, guy loves. They also have Ryan Staub on that room, uh, who played at Colorado, uh, for a couple of years. Um, but yeah, I think phase on Brandon's. Yeah. I think I'm with you. Go,

[01:34:50] you go with him. He's got a solid, uh, receiving room to help him out there. defense has been pretty good. Um, the schedule pretty easy, you know, crazy, no Tennessee Georgia game this year. So that's pretty crazy. Um, they get Texas at home. They get Alabama at home. You get LSU at home. Uh, so that's pretty big. They do got, uh, interesting road game week two at Georgia tech. Uh, that's, that's a very interesting game.

[01:35:20] Yeah. You know, a lot of questions in both, both teams there. Um, you know, the quarterback at both schools is going to be new. Um, you know, um, but yeah, I mean, both teams looking to get that signature win in a non-conference, you know, ACC, SEC matchup. You always want to get that one. Um, so, you know, obviously you want to be, of course, you want to go into that Texas game three and Oh for the,

[01:35:48] I guess the who's the real UT game, uh, on the 26th there. Um, you know, if you're Tennessee, you're kind of pissed off. That's an 11 a.m. Game on the 26th. Game against Texas. I guess I have to look to see what the rest of the schedule is that day. my day game is so early in the daytime. Um, but, um, either way, Knoxville will be alive for that one. Um, I mean, if you do drop that one,

[01:36:17] not the biggest thing in the world, then you have two games. You have to win. If you're a contender before that, I'm again, you gotta be the Auburn. You gotta be the Arkansas team. That's probably at the bottom of the conference. Then of course, um, Alabama team, you've been twice, two times in a row in Knoxville. So you're feeling good at home against the tide. You know, that, um, unbeatable feeling is gone in the series. So, uh, you, you looking to go for a third straight there. Um, and then

[01:36:48] it's up and down after that. I mean, South Carolina, Kentucky, those are two, you feel good. You gotta win those. Um, at A&M, that's a tough one. Of course. And then the last two also very tough. I mean, LSU is going to be tough. And then, uh, at Vanderbilt, a team that molly whopped you last year. Um, and really, it's a lot, a lot more hatred than you would think in that rivalry.

[01:37:17] The fan bases do not like each other. Schools don't like each other. Maybe. And if Vanderbilt keeps on being good at football, it really enhances that rivalry even more. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's tough close those last three games. Um, but yeah, I think, uh, uh, they're no other one. I'm not sure if they're playoff SEC title contender with, you know, breaking a new quarterback, but who knows, you know, there's talent on the roster and if things break right, like I said, they get their,

[01:37:45] their biggest games they get at home, you know, all the, all those road games are probably should wins outside of A&M. Um, you gotta beat Arkansas. Yeah. Yeah. Arkansas, South Carolina, uh, Vandy. I mean, I think the Georgia tech, the out of conference game with no Haynes King, they're breaking a new quarterback. I think you need to win that one. Yeah. You don't want to, I don't think you want to lose that one. Yes. I think, um,

[01:38:13] absolutely should match last year's one total of eight games, if not nine and, and threaten to win 10 games. And then you are in the playoff discussion, but, um, impressive enough that Tennessee has had, they're going for their fourth straight 1000 yard rusher with a different running back every time. Crazy. Cause as much as you think about them being a high power, throwing the ball, they run the ball pretty effectively. So yeah, they get, um,

[01:38:43] Deshaun Bishop in and they bring in a transfer from Tulane to jab and Gordon there in the room. Um, see a decent, decent running back room there. Um, and like we said, yes, schedule has some favorable moments for them. Uh, let's see. Uh, let's talk about, let's see next to what I have on their list. One of their rivals, let's talk about the Florida Gators breaking in. And like you said, coached, it's one of the off season, John Sumrall.

[01:39:13] Um, seems to be the right guy for Florida. Yeah. Very disappointing season last year with the talent they had around, uh, DJ lag way and the team, Billy Napier, let it go to waste, you know, started with that USF loss and didn't get any better loss to LSU, brutalized by Miami for the second straight year. did get that Texas win, but then, you know, couldn't really capitalize on that. Um, so yeah, uh,

[01:39:43] Billy Napier is out. John Sumrall's in from Tulane. Uh, Aaron Philo comes in at quarterback from Georgia tech. Um, he comes out with his, uh, offensive coordinator as well. Yeah. Yeah. Brings him in. They get a great transfer from Eric Singleton, from Auburn coming in and receiver or, uh, uh, and he'll, you know, he reunites with his old,

[01:40:11] you mentioned the offense coordinator when he played at Georgia tech. So, um, I think, you know, definitely this could be one of the most improved teams in the country. Um, gotta, gotta improve on the O line. Uh, I think that's going to be a question mark on offense defensively on that back end. Maybe. Yeah. Um, you want to see teams. Yeah. Yeah. They have to be way more disciplined. That's what the biggest thing during the Billy Napier.

[01:40:41] They were very undisciplined, a lot of unnecessary flags, a lot of bad situations. I mean, that's how they bought lost, uh, usf last year was the best. And they, all the people and killed him. Um, yeah, but interesting. And that week three, two new guys to the sec. Um, you know, trying to make their marker at Auburn. Um, so, I mean, that's going to be a huge game for both teams. Probably most, uh,

[01:41:09] kind of an underrated under talked about game there, but I think very interesting. Auburn, Auburn, Florida and the planes at night. Yeah, man. great rivalry. Great traditional rivalry. Yeah. That has produced a lot of great games. Yeah. That's happened probably nearly enough, but we've seen some wild ones in that one over the years. Uh, yeah, absolutely. And then you fall. You know, who knows what that'll be at that point, you know, a Florida state will be much better or be for the state.

[01:41:39] So dead at that point that it's a easy, easy thing. I think Florida has enough to at least go bowling this year. Um, of course, you know, you look at FAU Campbell, two wins there. Um, you would have to think, but you have to win the Kentucky game. One that's a little tough over the years. I mean, you gotta be South Carolina, um, Florida state, uh, maybe Vanderbilt, um,

[01:42:09] maybe Auburn. I mean, uh, yeah, but yeah, it's, it's all there for Florida. Two, uh, I think they can flip their record. I think they can go eight and four this year or something like that. And like you said, get back to a bowl. And I do think the summer all high is a good hire there. If you're between six and six and eight and four, I think you've had a pretty good year on year one in Gainesville. And the people, another fan base to sometimes been unrealistic as of late because of the past

[01:42:37] history would actually probably be happy with that. So, um, um, yeah, let's move on to my last wild card here. Uh, Vandy, uh, talked about Vanderbilt. It's a new day in Nashville. Clark Lee has really changed the culture of that program. Uh, tough program. And of course, now the big thing is, is it, are they more than just, uh, Diego Pavia? Can they,

[01:43:05] do they have the talent throughout the team? You know, maybe, you know, matching last year's 10 wins will be obviously a really tough task, but you know, they were able to get in, uh, Jared curse, Jared Curtis, excuse me. And that quarterback, a five-star, just, uh, the biggest recruit in Vandy history. I mean, the day, I mean, it's a wild day to still think that they outdid Georgia for a recruit of that caliber. I mean, absolutely insane. So, you know, it doesn't matter what you say about, Oh,

[01:43:34] he George wouldn't interest anymore, et cetera, et cetera. It doesn't matter. That's unheard of. So it shows you with different world and portal and everything. And he's, it's crazy. And he's been with the team. You know, he actually was in the bowl practices last year and rolled early. So, um, definitely think that they can get back to a bowl for sure. Uh, schedule, you know, has its quirks. You know,

[01:44:01] they got to go at Auburn at Georgia early on, host Ole Miss after that. Um, that November is kind of tough. You get at state, then you host Alabama, then at Florida and then host Tennessee. But I think there's sick, there's at least six wins in that schedule there and they can get back. They can stay bowling. Yeah, man. Interesting. Interesting. Non-conference game. The 19th there, NC state. Yeah, that's a good one. I think that'll be a good litmus test for both teams early on. Yeah,

[01:44:31] absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you would think you would, yeah, I mean, you see, um, obviously you beat Austin P you be Delaware. NC state's a toss up. You would think right now it's at Auburn, but there's a lot of questions. I, uh, I don't know if they beat Auburn again, but you think they, they could, you're not shocked that they beat Auburn again. Um, Georgia, I'm not going to ask Georgia. Ole Miss, I'm going to say else,

[01:45:00] but you had the Arkansas game, the Kentucky game, Mississippi state. Uh, that, I mean, you're looking at fibers, depending on the Auburn game, go five or six wins there. And then Tennessee is going to be a toss up at the end. I think we catch them. Um, and then at Florida, I think it's a toss up just cause who knows about Florida as well, but it's at, in the swamp. Um, but at that point of the season so far,

[01:45:30] it's hard, you know, it's easy to on paper. It's easy to talk about it, but things can be so different in November for both teams. It's kind of hard. You know, you know, you could see anywhere. I would say from eight wins to probably six and six is probably where they're at. Um, just cause I mean, the schedule's tough. Um, you know, they're bringing in a new quarterback, um, seeing if they can, now they may have for the first time ever,

[01:45:59] maybe there was a little pressure to win it. Uh, Vanderbilt. Yeah, no, yeah. It's, it's a weird thing, but yeah, it's some pressure to, you know, if they don't make a bowl game, they can't revert, but you can't revert back to old Vanderbilt. You know, he got the new stadium. Um, it was pretty sleek. They've actually had games now where they have the home field advantage, which was a point never seen in the Nashville that people are interested in, uh, Vandy football consistently for the first time,

[01:46:29] maybe ever. So Clark, we came back to his alma mater and has done stuff that most people could have only dreamed of so far. Let's see if he can continue. It's a tough road to hold, but if anybody's going to do it at Vanderbilt, it's going to be that guy. Yeah. Um, yeah, let's move on to my basement tier. Again, these doesn't necessarily mean that we think these teams are going to be terrible. It just means we don't really see a road for them to contend for the conference title. Uh,

[01:46:58] we'll start it off with Missouri, uh, mainly have this because they just lost so much on defense. I think, I think they lost like all 11 starters or something crazy like that. Um, they really just lost so much and that's so tough. Um, they bring in Austin Simmons, quarterback transfer from old miss. That'll be interesting there. Of course, Ahmad Hardy, uh, in discussion is best running back in the country. Of course he's recovering from being shot in the off season. So yeah,

[01:47:27] they expect him to make a full recovery, but still, you know, that's, that's, it's crazy. Um, they do have a tough schedule this year though. Um, so you get, get border war week to a little Friday action, uh, at Kansas, uh, great rivalry to have back. Hopefully it stays around. Um, and then they go that October is pretty brutal for them. Uh, uh,

[01:47:56] they host Florida, then host A&M. Then they got to go on the road to old miss. They get a buy. Then they own the road to Arkansas. Um, before it, before it gets even tougher in November, you got Texas at Georgia, then Kentucky comes home. So there it's a break there. And then you end the season with Oklahoma and that old big eight rivalry. Um, yeah. So just, just the losses on D combined that schedule. I just, I just see Missouri dropping down a bit this year.

[01:48:25] And I think they'll struggle to get to a bowl. Yeah, I could definitely see that. I mean, obviously they've kind of overachieved the last couple of years. Um, some easier schedules, um, and their biggest thing, you know, even when they've had good years, they can't beat the big dogs. Uh, you know, years ago when they got blown out by A&M, they got blown out by us. I mean, obviously their biggest win of course, was that game against Ohio state on paper, but Ohio state was missing a lot of people.

[01:48:57] So who knows? I mean, yeah. You know, their coach is probably one of the most interesting in the league. They're, um, just, he's a weird guy. Um, and that, um, he's kind of taking the pirates role as far as a quirky dude that says a lot of weird shit. Interesting interview knows a lot of stuff outside of football. We'll never think he was a football coach. If you saw him anywhere else in the world, um, quirky dude, one of those weird geniuses probably got like a one 58,

[01:49:28] a one 50 IQ, probably ace the ACT or something. So it just seems like that type of guy. Um, funny dude too, but yeah, it's a brutal schedule, man. If he, you know, you think maybe, man, I think they get to, they could get to six. I mean, I see a path for six. Of course, you gotta be, of course, be pine bluff. You gotta be, you win the border where you beat Troy, um, which is maybe Troy is a better, you know,

[01:49:58] they've, uh, you gotta beat state. Um, you know, you beat, uh, Arkansas and you beat Kentucky. That's how you get to your six, uh, toss up game. Um, but the rest, you, you have to right now think they don't win those games. I don't, you don't think they beat A&M. Uh, you saw what they, what happened there last time they put A&M. Of course, that was their college station. They, and them wrecked them, um, when they went in undefeated into that game.

[01:50:28] Uh, but you do get that game at home. Uh, you're going to Ole Miss. Uh, you know, you get Texas at home, but that still should be a great Texas team. You know, on paper, you don't think you win that game. And then I don't see them beating, uh, Georgia. Oh, you, I mean, they probably get up for that game. Oh, you sometimes plays with their food. So maybe closer than, and they've had some weird ones in that rivalry all the time. But you would think, man,

[01:50:57] anything beyond six this year, probably a, a hell of a season. Yeah. Well, seven is possible. Eight is a stretch. I think this year. So they take a little step back. Um, cause they've been approximately almost 10 wins the last three years. And then they have 10, 10 and nine, um, in the last three years. So it's been a good run there for, for them. But man, it's a drink house. I'm in a good spot, but this year is a tough schedule. Yeah. Like I said,

[01:51:27] that schedule and then just the losses on defense, I think make it tough, but, already done come back and be the guy that he was. That's another question. Yeah, exactly, man. And we wish him, of course, full recovery. Yeah. Um, but, uh, let's move. Let's go to Starkville, Mississippi state. Uh, Jeff Levy trying to find his footing. It's been a rough, uh, go of hitting his first couple of years.

[01:51:51] Only what one sec victory so far in his tenure. Uh, of course got that late last year at Arkansas. They had a bunch of other chances, of course had that early season upset of Arizona state. Um, I mean, over it's overtime loss against Tennessee, uh, had, yeah, should have beaten Florida in the swamp to Texas to overtime. Probably should have won that game. Um, they were up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Weren't they against Texas? Uh, definitely a game they should have won,

[01:52:22] but, um, I think they can threaten to make a bowl game this year. Not sure if they'll get there, but I mean, uh, interesting week two game. They go up to Minnesota for a non-conference game. Uh, uh, and then they, they come back for, to go to South Carolina the next week. Then they host Missouri and then Alabama. Um, and then they got just a really brutal October, man. so you got Alabama by week at LSU,

[01:52:51] Oklahoma at Texas. Uh, and then you follow that up with Vanderbilt, uh, coming to town the next week. So, uh, it's tough to, yeah, if you look at that to find six wins, I mean, you, well Monroe, you got to think that's a win. Let's say they can get the better of Minnesota. Uh, uh, they get Tennessee tech late in the year. That's three. And then after that, you're like, you know, sure. They can beat South Carolina. Sure. They can beat Missouri,

[01:53:19] but they're not gimme's. They're not gimme's. You love everybody. I mean, we saw it's a greatness last year. Kamario Taylor seems to be the real deal. A quarterback. Now a sophomore. Um, yeah, amazing. I'm sure it was probably hard to keep them in struggle. I'm sure he had a lot of college. And so try to get out of there. But he showed a great. So he's the guy, um, you know, I'm sure Jeff Levy loves,

[01:53:48] loves what he brings and can put a great offense around him. But yeah, that schedule. Hmm. Some serious. Um, yeah. The main thing is, yeah. Can they keep improving? Cause last year they were competitive in all those games we talked about. Um, it's just about, yeah. Getting over the hump and trying to get, one of the, turn one of those into a dub, man. Um, even just one of them. That's huge. You know, you get, you get, like we said, it's a brutal schedule,

[01:54:17] but you get Oklahoma coming to town, you get Vanderbilt coming to town. So, you know, if you, you know, the egg bowls, egg bowl. So it's always crazy. You know, you can, there's a chance for them to jump up and bite somebody. Um, really? I mean, I mean, yeah, you, of course, man, you get, you would love to see them get to a bowl game, but it's, it's tough to find it on that schedule. It is tough.

[01:54:48] Yeah. Cause I mean, there's a couple of toss up games, of course, South Carolina, I'd say it's a toss up game. Even Minnesota is kind of a toss up game. Yeah, for sure. But you could see that one going either way. You see the South Carolina going either way, even the Missouri game at home could go either way. Um, so, but man, if they somehow go into that October 3rd, at home, undefeated,

[01:55:16] but Alabama coming to town, them Cowboys are going absolutely crazy. They're going to be ringing. Now, granted as Alabama fan, I love that. They're beating their, they get up, but that's when we get them. We won't beat the hell out. Yeah. We put them in their place, but, uh, but I mean, that's probably, probably a little wishful thinking coming out of Starkville. It's possible that they go into that game undefeated. Uh, they could also be one and three easily,

[01:55:46] maybe two and two. Um, I mean, even if you go into Alabama three and one, I think you really done well. Maybe even two and two is decent. Um, but if you were to pull, uh, September and go into that game undefeated, that's just huge for the program. Yeah, that absolutely be huge. And like, like we said, it's about continuing to improve and they, they look so much better last year than they did two years ago. Who gave them this October? Who gave? So mean, it's so mean.

[01:56:16] Like, yeah, I mean, you, Alabama at home, but then, uh, you know, the battle of 82 is back in. I like that, right? I mean, I don't know if you would call it a rivalry. I mean, it's been one sided, but I mean, it has a lot of history, but yeah, but we've played them more than any other team outside of Tennessee. I think. Yeah. There's the closest, uh, rivalry in the sec. I mean, it's 80, 80 some miles. So I mean, it's right there. Uh, obviously the fan bases know each other. Well,

[01:56:47] uh, you know, um, but, uh, man, but that brutal man, Alabama at, you get a bi-week, then you go to Starkville. I'm assuming. Then you go to Baton Rouge. Then you come home, but it's the next week. It's no matter what happens. You don't have bi-weeks in between LSU, Oklahoma, Texas. Boom, boom, boom. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's tough. Um,

[01:57:16] of course, you know, that November eases up a little bit. I mean, possibly Vanderbilt. I mean, you think that's it right now, but we'll see how they go. The Auburn, I would say it's a toss up game right now. I guess you would get the slight advantage to Auburn just because it's Auburn. I don't know. Um, but that's a game you kind of have to win if you're, it's a home game. You got it. You got it.

[01:57:46] I think you have to be Vandy or Auburn at home to really show that you're kind of coming around. You have to. Of course, Tennessee tech, you would think the easy win and the egg bowl, probably not, but we've seen some wild ones there. I'm about to say, yeah, never know what's going on there. All right. Two more teams, uh, down here, both breaking in new coaches, uh, start Kentucky. Will Stein coming over from Oregon. Um, he,

[01:58:15] he's excited about his team. He really says he likes what he has. Uh, it's going to be tough though. They lost a lot of guys. I think they only have five starters back overall. Uh, and then a tough schedule there too. Um, I mean, it starts, you know, week two, you get Alabama at home, but then you got to go at A and M the next week. You go at South Carolina, uh, another October, rough October at, at South Carolina, home for LSU, at Oklahoma, home for Vandy. Uh, and then it's at Tennessee,

[01:58:44] home for Florida and at Missouri, and then home for Louisville rivalry game, who, uh, the Cardinals have flipped that around in recent years. A couple, two straight blowout wins after a frustrating time when Kentucky was a thorn in Louisville side. Yeah. For a while they were running in the rivalry. Yeah. I mean, it's a tough, it could be a tough, I mean, obviously, I think he, he has the confidence of who you want in that. He, you know,

[01:59:15] um, obviously he's had great offenses at Oregon. He brings that to the Kentucky, um, has a decent quarterback there, you know, Kenny Minchie to transfer from, uh, what Notre Dame. Yeah. I think that was a big pickup. Cause that's a guy that a lot of people, people thought could, or maybe even should have won the battle with CJ Carr. So, um, and that might be a sneaky steal there for, we'll start. Originally he was going to Nebraska. And then, uh, my second.

[01:59:43] So that might be a good match, but yeah, the schedule is brutal. The expectations are high. Obviously Mark's do stick on the levels that were unprecedented in Lexington on the gridiron, but things kind of went haywire at the end. Uh, it kind of fell off a little bit. Um, but you know, will Stein seem, I mean, he has a connection to Kentucky. Um, he knows, he knows the area well. Um,

[02:00:12] so I think he played it, played it Louisville for those who are familiar. Yeah. He's a good fit. Uh, I think he's a high energy guy, young guy. Um, but yeah, it's just a lot, a lot, uh, a lot to expect from the guy in year one. I mean, yeah, it's tough with their losses in that schedule. Um, we'll see, but like you say, you just, you just want to see him instill his culture there. And, and, um, be competitive in some games,

[02:00:42] scare some people, maybe upset here or there. Um, and develop their young team, man. So there is a chance that if they can keep them together past this year, they can really build on something there. So, cause really, it seemed like Kentucky kind of fell apart. They were really going there with, and then they went kind of started going to transfer route. Let's bring out transfer quarterback. And that program and that really didn't go that well in Lexington. And that kind of ended, uh,

[02:01:12] you know, the whole, um, Stoops tenure, you know, it was kind of transfer guys and not his own guys. And that kind of, I thought it really hurt the program set up, you know, but he still was excellent for what he, for what Kentucky was before he got there. You always have to get that man as kudos. Cause he got them to 10 win seasons a couple of times and you had to take Kentucky a little bit serious. So, yeah, but for sure.

[02:01:41] I think he's overall should be good, but man, it's a tough thing. It's tough to win at Kentucky overall. Um, yeah, you just have to be able to keep those guys at home there. yeah, tough to win, but like we said, they might have a steal their quarterback. It's possible to win at Kentucky. Cause he's seen in some with Stoops, but it's also, it's a, it's never easy. And man, this schedule is brutal. Um,

[02:02:10] I think the walk, the wildcat fans probably look into basketball season sooner than later, but sneaky though, when Kentucky's playing that, uh, Kroger field is sneaky, uh, tough environment. It really is. It's a weird place, man. Uh, you talk to some people up there and they, they swear it's like haunted. Like it's a, it's a, it's a weird place, but, um, yeah, it's going to be a rough year for them. And, uh, uh,

[02:02:38] it's just about building toward next year and building toward the future. Uh, last team here, definitely a team that lost a lot of players and definitely rebuilding. You're another school that'll be looking toward, uh, basketball season pretty early, but Arkansas, they bring in Ryan Silverfield from Memphis. and I don't, I don't even, they didn't even want him. I'd about to say, I don't think a lot of fans are really excited about them.

[02:03:08] They run that goalish and then he pulled, I remember for what they ran across it. Goalish is going to Fayetteville and then they had to pull that back. And then he went to Auburn. Yeah. They're, they sell even. Yeah. They even flirted with hiring Kane Womack for a second. It looked like, of course, Bama fans glad he stayed in Tuscaloosa. Um, they do have a talented quarterback. KJ Jackson is talented back there. He just doesn't have a lot around them. And, um,

[02:03:38] like we said, they lost a lot. Uh, they had a lot of times last year for as bad as they were last year. Yeah. And they had their, their moments, you know, it was just weird. You know, they had the two big wins. They scored 50 plus in their first two games, uh, uh, gave Ole Miss everything they wanted. You know, they only lost late in that game. You know, they were driving and fumbled it, uh, could have won that game late. Um, also a loss of lost fumble late in the loss at Memphis.

[02:04:09] And then that kind of broke them because the next week Notre Dame came to town and just, I mean, Jeremiah love, I think had four touchdowns in the first half or something crazy. It was just embarrassing how easily Notre Dame moved the ball early and, um, won that game. And that was it, you know, two and 10 season for Arkansas. And they really weren't that competitive. I guess they did. uh, they were pretty competitive against Tennessee the next week after that, I guess Petrino gave them a little bump when he took over.

[02:04:40] Uh, they put a scare in A&M. Um, they always doing that game. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. Yeah. But other than that, against the teams, you know, like tough, you know, they've blown out at Texas. They really didn't. Um, it's, it's going to be another rough year. I mean, they get starts week two. They got a tough out of conference game. They go at Utah. They go up Salt Lake city. Never, um, never a place. You're rebuilding. No. And then, yeah.

[02:05:08] Then you turn around and Georgia comes town next week. Uh, they're October. They go at A&M home for Tennessee at Vanderbilt. Um, and then you end the season with at Texas and then LSU. So, uh, it's going to be another rough year for Arkansas fans, unfortunately, but we'll see. It's just interesting. It's going to be one to watch. Cause like I said, I really haven't seen much about any Arkansas fans excited about Ryan Silverfield. So, no,

[02:05:37] I think the expectations are so low. Um, yeah. I don't think people are already looking to basketball. Um, when John Califari is going to be. Um, but you know, they're, yeah, just a tough, tough couple of years there. Of course, you know, the, the coach, he may, um, Sam Pittman seemed like a hell of a guy. I mean, someone you would definitely want to hang out with, drink beers with. Um,

[02:06:05] Our great offensive line coach when he was at Georgia, maybe a little over his head as the head coach. They had their moments. I mean, it seemed like he had turned the table there. Um, had some weird losses that they probably should have never had in the past. Um, we look at like that, uh, was it the 2024 season? He had that bad loss against, uh, Oklahoma state. Uh, that was second week. Yeah. I mean, they've had some games against, uh,

[02:06:35] Texas A&M and Jury's world where they should have won. They had the weird one where they knocked off Tennessee that, the weekend, um, in 2024, which is crazy. but overall, I mean, it was, uh, a lot of hit and miss there. Um, and really, I mean, this, um, this Arkansas fan base, they're a great fan base. They have some football hits. They want to win games right now. I think they're just so low. They're very,

[02:07:04] they just don't know what to expect. I don't think there's much interest in the season. Honestly, that's something you don't see a lot in Fayetteville. I don't, I've heard, you know, different fans talk about it off and on different places on social media or shows. And no one's, no one's excited about football at all in Fayetteville, which is not normal. so. No, that's a crazy thing. Um, you know, obviously, last year it was brutal. So you would hope it gets better from there,

[02:07:34] but there's not a lot of spots where you see it getting better from there. Um, you know, obviously you have to win that week one against Northern Alabama, North Alabama. Um, you have to have to look good in that one. Uh, and you have to win that Tulsa game. Um, you know, the A&M has been weird. Um, that's the only two I really see is wins though. Other than that, uh, it's tough to me to find even a toss up. I mean,

[02:08:04] maybe depending on how some of those other first year goes, you know, maybe at Auburn, maybe Auburn doesn't click the way some people think. I don't know. I mean, your chances of SEC wins on paper is going to be in that Vandy, Mizzou, Auburn, South Carolina stretch. Yeah. Probably. Man. I went, they're probably, uh, what, uh,

[02:08:32] you would have to think that they're underdog and all those games there. Um, and you don't know where they win, but they're going to get an SEC win this year. It's going to have to be in that, in that range here. You would think. Yeah. It's, it's going to be tough, but, um, I mean, you just hope. Yeah. So stay, stay, uh, stay patient Arkansas fans. I'm sorry. It's going to be a long year. Hopefully, you know,

[02:09:02] he figures things out and maybe they pull an upset or two, but man. Yeah. Overall. Yeah. Look to basketball season. Yeah. Not a lot of hog crawling going on, but Hey, basketball season should be fun. Baseball softball season should be decent. Um, so you have things to look forward to as a Arkansas sports fan, but yeah, football is not one of them. I don't think unfortunately. No. Yeah. Uh,

[02:09:32] don't think so. But yeah, that is, uh, that's it for sec preview, man. That's our teams, uh, should be a great year to switch to nine conference games. I like it. yeah, definitely going to add some more drama. It does. I mean, one more loss on the season. Yeah, exactly. And either a help somebody or hurt somebody. Uh, and I think it's more, more wide open than people think. Uh,

[02:10:01] I think too many people are assuming it's Georgia and Texas. And while I'm not saying, you know, there's certainly up there in that. We definitely could be headed toward that. I think there's, uh, There's reasons why you would think that. I mean, obviously the talent with Texas, the history of Georgia. I mean, why wouldn't you have those two at the top? But there's other teams that are going to give them one. Obviously LSU, Lane Kiffin, kind of a wild card, but there's a lot of talent. Expect big things. You know, we're a wild card, but you know,

[02:10:30] it's Alabama. You know, you expect, you know, a solid, solid season. A and M. I mean, there's a lot. Like you said, I mean, it's six, seven teams that can make the playoffs, but how many teams can actually get in this year is a thing. I mean, last year the SEC got five. Can they get five again? Very well. Could get five. Could be four. Two teams that may, you know, there's going to be a good couple of good nine and three teams like last year, Texas being left out that are good teams.

[02:10:59] They're just not going to be able to make that playoff field because it's hard to make that 12th field. Depending on how the rest of the country goes. Yeah, for sure. It's definitely going to be fun, fun year. And then the big thing for, you know, SEC headquarters would be, can they break their, can they get back to a national title? Yeah. Yeah. Three big 10 titles in a row, man. The,

[02:11:27] the thing has changed as far as, obviously, obviously conference to conference. I think the SEC is better top to bottom. The titles speak loudly. I mean, kind of. Yeah. I'll speak above everything. Exactly. Right now, the elite teams are elsewhere in the big 10, but as we often say, we really don't care about the rest of the SEC. The only team we want to see win is Alabama.

[02:11:57] But yeah, that, that does it for our Alabama and SEC preview folks. We'll be back next week. We'll do our predictions. You know, the quick reminder, I don't think we actually did a prediction episode last year. I think we just did them on paper, but we'll pick our, for the power four conferences, we'll pick a, our winner, you know, who beats who in a title game. And then we'll do a surprise team and the team we think will disappoint. And then for, we'll just throw out a winner for the rest of the conferences.

[02:12:27] And then we'll do, I think we do the same thing for the playoff. We do who we think is going to win the national title, who we think will be a surprise team, who will disappoint. And then a Heisman winner, I think too. And then of course I got last year's ridiculous. I think it was a rough year last year for us, but yeah, no, mine. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah. Unless Greg, unless you got anything else to add.

[02:12:54] I guess the only other thing is this new thing that they were really talking about on the car sports radio on my XM. Then the big talk is that in 2022 guys, they got that 50. Yeah, man. Yeah. Some guys, some guys that literally just played in NFL preseason games. It's kind of crazy. If they let that slide and they can come back and play and they never get overturned. Some of those Charles, Betty, I go on apology. Absolutely, man.

[02:13:22] I'm sick of seeing all these other teams do that, but everyone's still focusing on Chuck, man. Especially, I mean, what's his name from LSU? Plyburn. What do you have to, he has two sacks in the preseason. Obviously you would think he probably makes the team that stays in Tampa, but I mean, that's a possibility. He could right as of right now, come back, but it's a risk both ways. Cause they, I mean, if you get cut from the NFL, which is a possibility, I mean, do you want to come back or do you want to go to the league?

[02:13:51] B you come back to college and in the middle of the season, they rule you ineligible. Like they did Betty. I go. Then you're kind of stuck in a weird situation. So I don't know if you want to risk it because I mean, obviously an injunction doesn't guarantee permanent. Yeah. So yeah, it's a weird thing, man. I don't know. And do you get, do you actually get more money coming back to college than you would crazy land on a practice squad? Somewhere.

[02:14:21] I mean, what is it? Like, what is it? Like maybe two 53, two 50 or something. And like, I mean, some of those guys in college probably pulling a million. Who knows? Yeah. But is it a risk you're going to take? Does that hurt your NFL legacy? And then at some point, the NFL is going to step in and be like, listen, their lawyers are going to get involved. And I don't know how that goes. Cause they're going to be like, we're the big dogs. Like, well, what are you doing? Going back to college. Yeah.

[02:14:51] Yeah. I was saying that as well. So. I'm going to say, yeah, the NFL, the NFL does not play that shit. It's not, it's a little different than Betty Occo on a G league. I mean, the NBA probably not that care that much about what happens with a G league guy, but there's no G league in the NFL. You're either the NFL, you're not. And if you're going to be an NFL dude, it's a bad look to you if you go back to college. So there, there, there's definitely going to be a pushback from that NFL front office. You're not going to let that slide. So we're going to be saying,

[02:15:20] it's interesting if anybody actually does it. And if they do what happens with it, but we'll see if anybody actually does it or not. It's risk both ways, but it'd be interesting how that goes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's hopefully eventually all this. Yeah. So we can start talking about lawsuits and all this. Yeah. Right. Let's we're so close. We're so close to getting back on field, but yeah, like we said, folks, we'll be back next week. Prediction episode. Of course,

[02:15:50] we'll talk about anything that happens in the world of sports this week. Other than that, Greg, buddy. I'll see you then. Yep. We'll do it then. Thank you once again for listening, folks. As always, subscribe, rate, like us, do whatever your chosen podcast platform asks you to do. Tell your friends about us. Tell your rich friends about us, especially if any of them feel like sponsoring a podcast. You can check out all of the family of Alabama take podcast at the Alabama take.com.

[02:16:20] You can also find a bunch of wonderful writings there from our lovely, talented roster of contributors. If you'd like to join that roster, shoot an email to the Alabama take at gmail.com. Blaine will get you set up. We're always looking for new voices here on the Alabama take. You can check out Greg at Bama hammer. He writes a lot about Alabama women's basketball there and other Alabama athletics. You can follow us on socials at taken on sports. Of course, drop that G. And as always, folks,

[02:16:49] keep it done up real good yourselves out there.