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getting ready for the playoffs, all things football, NFL, college, And we know on the college side there's certainly a lot of controversy as we uh now have the uh the brackets set. For the college football playoff, we know who's in, we know who's out. Hello to Notre Dame. And we've also heard from the committee as to why some of these teams are in or out. We have some coaching vacancies that have been filled.
We're coming towards the conclusion of the college football playoff season, or the season in general, and things are starting now. Joining us right now is someone who covers all things college athletics for Sports Illustrated as a staff writer. Welcome back to the show, Brian Fisher. Brian, how are you, man? I'm doing well, good to be on with you.
Absolutely. We appreciate the time. Of course, Notre Dame is sucking a lot of the life out of the room. What are your thoughts on them not being in and the reaction from the school and the reaction from the committee? What say you?
Well, you know, somebody was going to be angry. You know, I think that at the end of the day, that's kind of what the system is at this point. And we knew kind of going into Selection Sunday that. Essentially, one of Miami, Notre Dame, or Alabama. We're going to be upset at what the committee was going to decide.
And ultimately, that was Notre Dame. But you could see. This kind of reaction coming, I think you could see, maybe not to this extent, but you could certainly see somebody kind of going out there on a limb and saying this is unfair. And I think the Irish opting out of the bowl game, doing what they've been doing these last couple of days in terms of making the media rounds, I mean, this is a little bit much, I think, for missing out in the playoffs and I can understand why they're hurt and upset. And especially after we've gotten five weeks, essentially, of people saying that they were going to be in the playoff no matter what.
They were looking for their seat there when they were being unveiled on selection Sunday.
So I get why they're upset. But the fact of the matter is, we could all see this head-to-head with Miami coming to a conclusion for the committee at some point. And ultimately, that was on Sunday. And Notre Dame's out of the playoff. And I know it's upsetting for a lot of Irish fans out there, but this is the result.
That head-to-head had to matter. And we finally got it to matter at the very last point in the college football season. Yeah, we've heard from their athletic director, Brian. He's just like, hey, what's the point of us having a weekly rankings if You know, by the end of it, anything that took place before that is pretty much irrelevant. He also said that the ACC and their playoff situation and how they got down to their championship game was also harmful to them.
What changes could you see adjusted? Is it a matter of the playoff and who gets in or out, or is it some of these conference championship? Like, what changes at all in the future? You know, I think that's a good question because we really don't know. And look, the conference commissioners, they've kind of pushed the deadline back with ESPN to after the national championship game to see, you know, say, hey, if we are going to make any changes for next year, you know, we wouldn't have to inform them until after our meeting in January.
So that's going to be a big key inflection point for the sport. But I think a lot's on the table. Whether it's full-on expansion, we've had a 16-team proposal. We've had a 24-team proposal. It could be a lot of options in terms of expansion.
There could be changes to the seating, so in terms of the number of automatic qualifiers. I think there is going to be a lot of things on the table. And if I had to predict anything right now, I would say there is a general consensus or at least movement towards a lot more conferences coming around to accepting maybe an expansion to 16 teams, maybe some tweaks to how the committee operates and what they value. But at the end of the day, it's still somebody is going to be upset. That is the nature of this sport.
And I don't think any changes to the structure of the playoff is really going to change that, whether it gets made in January for next year or even further down the road. I hear that. Brian Fisher is joining us. Staff Rider covering all things college athletics for Sports Illustrated. We know one team that did get in, they kind of got lumped into the criticism of Notre Dame missing out.
It's Alabama still being in there. We saw what they did against Georgia over the weekend. Georgia coming out on top. We saw what took place early in the season. What are your thoughts on the roll, Todd, rolling into the postseason?
Well, unfortunately, I've been present for two of their three losses.
So, you know, I don't have the most best picture, I guess, of seeing them. And truthfully, I think the one thing that they did note to a lot of people, you know, kind of going into Sunday was: look, they have not been healthy these last couple of weeks. They've certainly missed a lot of people in terms of their offensive line, you know, their start running back, some of their defensive linemen.
So they have been pretty beat up.
So this is not kind of maximum level of Alabama that we saw, certainly early in the season when they jumped all over Georgia and that game between the hedges.
So at its peak, in terms of talent, in terms of coaching, yes, I think Alabama has a shot to win the national title. It's just, can they all bring it all together on the field? And look, in terms of their path, it's playing a team that they know well, certainly not only in terms of playing earlier in a couple of weeks, but they know that defense. They know what Britton Vinnables likes to bring. And I think it's going to be a very fascinating matchup for Alabama.
But at the end of the day, like a lot of teams, this is a pretty wide open field. And I think if you are. Or a coach like Kaylin DeBoer, you can kind of say, Hey, look, maybe we got a shot. Maybe we got a shot. And I think that's the big thing that you have, you at least have a chance going into that game in Norman, and it should be a good one.
I wouldn't be surprised if they're favored in that one. And they give the Sooners a pretty good game. Yeah, we have to wait until next week to see Alabama going out there taking on Oklahoma.
Now, we did see over the weekend Indiana. I mean, they came out on top of Ohio State. I'm looking at this going, oh my God, are we going to get the upset here? Was that going to be Indiana's biggest win of the season, or do you think they could do this a couple more times, Brian?
Well, that's the big question. It's one thing to pull off an upset here or there, certainly in conference play, or even in that scenario where you're driving up to a conference title game that's right up the road. But to me, this is a team capable of winning a lot of these games. They've got a phenomenal coaching staff, one of the best defenses in the country. We all know Fernando Mendoza was just announced as a Heisman finalist.
So he got an excellent quarterback. They've got playmakers all over. And look, that's another team, a little bit beat up. I think they can use the buy before they get to the Rose Bowl to get healthy, get rested up. And I wouldn't put it against Kurt Signette.
He's offered maybe one of the greatest turnaround stories the sport has ever seen in terms of what he's done already with this Alabama team. It would be fitting, I think, probably to cap it off with a national title. And I'm not putting it past them for them to end up being the champions there in Miami at the end of the year. Brian Fisher here with us from Sports Illustrated. You talk about the Heisman.
We do have the finalists. You just mentioned Fernando Mendoza. We got Diego Pavia out of Vanderbilt, Jeremiah Love. We have Julian Sayyan. Who do you think?
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You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews, all on the app. Download today. Isn't a lead here to ultimately walk away with that Heisman. You know, I think, you know, this is it's different this year. You know, the Heisman, you know, changed their voting process to really limit, you know, when people could cast their ballots.
So I think that does kind of change the calculus a little bit this year. If it had been typically how we've done it the last, you know, 15 years or so, where people are voting online before the conference championship games, I think Diego Pavia would have had a really good shot at winning the award. But I think just all the focus and the attention on that game, number one versus number two at the end of the night, you know, thriller, a classic game where Fernando Mendoza came up with those Heisman moments, you know, making those incredible throws in the second half. I think that might have clenched the award for him. And I think there's going to be a lot of eyes on him.
Plus, just the story element. I think everybody is certainly in the SEC appreciative of what Diego Pavia has done to lead Vanderbilt to 10 wins. That would have been unthinkable, but the problem is, he's going up against another quarterback who's leading Indiana to the number one seed in the country.
So I think it's Probably Mendoza's to lose at this point, but. She really score really good, terrific finalists, and I can't wait to see what happens on Saturday night. Yeah, I don't think there's one clear cut in the current situation. Speaking of clear cut, ah man, it feels like this.
Well, it has gone on for months. Brian. Penn State finally got themselves a coach. I mean, is Matt Campbell? What is he?
Option choice number 8, 10, 9. What is this?
Well, I don't know if he was option nine or 10 or how far down Patcraft's list, but it was. But look, I know Penn State fans may be frustrated with the search and how long it took and where they, you know, how long it eventually took to get to Matt Campbell. But I think they hit it out of the park. If you're going to replace James Franklin, I think having somebody of Matt Campbell's pedigree, somebody who did it with really little to no resources there at Iowa State, I think he's capable, and he's shown that he's capable of getting those big time upsets. I mean, he's going in and he's beating Texas.
He's beating Oklahoma. Certainly when Iowa State was in the Big 12 and regularly having those top 10 type of upsets with a team that talent-wise is not going to be what he's going to have there at Penn State.
So I think it's a terrific hire. It fits that school. It fits the Big Ten. He's a Midwest guy. I think it's pretty much the best choice they could have come up with outside of maybe getting Nick Saban or Urban Meyer out of retirement.
I think that they landed a phenomenal choice, and I think they're going to be really happy moving forward.
Well, but back to the teams that are actually in the playoff, Brian. What should we look out for? What should we pay attention to? What's capturing your attention? You know, I think it's a fascinating tournament if you kind of look at it that way in terms of the offensive and defensive lines.
I mean, you look at that matchup with Miami and Texas AM, you know, a lot of talk about how Miami has built their team in the roster, and certainly a lot of attention paid to the quarterback, Carson Beck. But, I mean, that is a team that is built in Mario Cristobal's images in terms of getting top-tier offensive linemen. You know, their left tackle is going to be probably a first-round pick. They've got guys on the defensive line. Same with Texas AM.
Mike Elko's really built a very stout unit up front. You have Oregon, you have Texas Tech. Obviously, Ohio State is Ohio State. Even Indiana is going to have some all-Americans in their front seven.
So this, to me, really shapes up as a tournament in the trenches. And I think that's going to be key. Yes, yes, quarterback play is going to be valued. Can you run the football? All those normal things.
But to me, who's going to have the best offensive line performance? Who's going to have the best defensive line performance? And typically, that is the case in football, but especially so in the playoff this year. But Brian, we all know that this twelve team college football playoff, a big portion of it, was set up to maybe have a Cinderella here or there. We know James Madison is in.
We know Tulane is in. Shout out to all my folks down in New Orleans, Louisiana. But is there a team that you think can actually shock people here in the tournament. Shock people. That's a good question.
You know, really, it is pretty wide open outside outside of the group of five teams. I mean, you could really make a case. Maybe even outside of Old Miss, I think just losing Lane Kiff and that whole thing probably puts a ceiling in terms of what Old Miss is ultimately capable of. But if there is a Cinderella story, I might stick there in Oxford, though. I mean, Tulane.
Yes, they got blown out by the Rebels earlier in the season, but that's a very different two-lane team now compared to when they played earlier in the year. And so I think with what John Summerall has done, you know, I think Jake Retzlaff as a running quarterback, that can be difficult. And that's going to be a really pressure-packed environment for Pete Golding to take over in his first game as a head coach. Everybody's going to be tailgating there at the Grove. It's going to be a crazy atmosphere of authentic way.
But there's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure. And look, some of those coaches there, you know what, they're splitting their jobs right now. They're at LSU and Oldness right now.
So some divided attention maybe that plays into Tulane, maybe possibly being that Cinderella story for you. Brian, I mean, as an y you kind of uh mentioned it a little bit, but thinking about the current system and the schedule and you can have coaches here or there or somewhere all we know he's going to move on. Lane Kiffin is already out the door. Is there or when do you think there's going to be any type of adjustment with the schedule so we don't get this free for all at the end of the year? You know, that is a great question.
And I intend to ask a few commissioners just that over the next couple of days, because I think it's on the minds of a lot of people at this point. And there's no doubt about it. Everybody wants changes. It's just kind of who is going to win out in terms of actually making those changes. I think everybody understands, look, the coaches wanted this early signing period, especially in high school.
They've moved back the transfer portal. But the high school signing day right now, where it is on the calendar, I think everybody says, all right, it was nice to try. We experimented with it. I would anticipate that possibly moving back to where it was certainly in February. I think it complicates things a little bit.
terms of getting a few of those kids on campus. If you want to get them enrolled, get them into spring football, get them used to campus, that sort of thing.
So there's going to be a lot of conversations about calendar. And frankly, they've been studying this for a long time right now. But everybody kind of realizes that in these next, say, three to six months, something's got to change. And I think there will be some meaningful action, some meaningful consensus, hopefully, in terms of some of the tweaks and changes that really needs to happen, not just for coaches out there, not just for the players, not just for the commissioners and the ADEs, but really for everybody so we can kind of get on the same page here. Yeah, it's I mean, I I can't imagine any other industry of work and even outside of sports which is like, Yeah, yeah, we're gonna let you go on somewhere else, but now you can stick around here for a little while longer or just I I don't know.
It's just it's wild, Brian, as I'm I'm sure you know. Uh, please tell everybody where they can follow, keep up with you and all of your work with SI.
Well, we have uh plenty of stuff on on SI.com and uh of course uh on on all my all the social media channels and whatnot. Yeah, we appreciate you. Thank you, Brian. We'll catch you soon, okay? Absolutely, could be on with you.
Uh That 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet365's unrivaled early payout offer. You bet on the team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score. Forget the final whistle and start counting that cash. Hold up, you get early payout on parlays too!
Download the app and see why it's never ordinary at FED365. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply.
Uh I need a job with a steady paycheck. I need a job that offers health care on day one for me and my kids. I want a job where I can get certified in technical roles, like robotics or software engineering. In communities across the country, hourly Amazon employees earn an average of over $23 an hour with opportunities to grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs and apprenticeships. Learn more at aboutamazon.com.
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