Hey Mike, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you doing tonight? I'm excellent. Thank you for the time.
Always a pleasure to chat with you. Before we get into the conference game that is going to get started in about 30, 40 minutes, we've done a lot of talking about Bill Belichick and the potential that he might go to North Carolina. What are your thoughts? Do you think Bill Belichick would be a fit in college? What's this deal?
What are they doing? Well, you know, the thing that would be interesting, and I live here in Boulder, Colorado. I live right outside of Boulder. My last coaching job was at CU right before Coach Prime got here. And I think that just like Coach Prime, you would have immediate transfer portal interest to go play for one of the best that's ever done at the level that you're trying to get to. And so I do think there is some benefit and some thought there. But I just don't know if Bill Belichick is going to want to deal with all of the uncertainties of college football, contracts that are really not binding on any front as it relates to your to your personnel.
And so I just don't think it's going to be a likelihood. But if indeed a brand like North Carolina that's not been a blue blood of college football, but certainly has a powerful brand in general because Michael Jordan, the basketball program, you know, if there is any interest on Bill Belichick's part, I do think it would work. At least I think there'd be some instant gratification, if you will, from a personnel and roster standpoint. Because think about it, which which five star portal transfer quarterback wouldn't want to play for the head coach that created arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the game and Tom Brady. And I think that that would pay instant dividends. That's houche.
Let's see if he does it. And given timeline, how fast would North Carolina want to plug this hole that they now have since they got rid of Mack? Well, the timeline shifted so much. And frankly, if you look across even power to conferences, that's what I call them now between the SEC and the Big Ten. There's not a lot of coaching transition this year because everybody's trying to just figure out this new landscape, not just of NIL portal, but now this new revenue sharing model that's going to be going into effect in August.
So what does that look like? Do you fire coaches and you're paying the previous head coach like the consistent model over the last 10, 15, 25 years in college football? When you just keep firing coaches, if I'm not mistaken, between the Big Ten and the SEC, the only current vacancy in that those two massive conferences is Purdue, which is Kenya.
When's the last time you could say that was the case? And so I do think that the timelines have shifted quite a bit. A lot of people are starting to lean towards really it's more about January in terms of closing the portal window than it is about the early signing period, because frankly, high school athletes, unfortunately, just aren't moving the needle as it relates to instant success in college football. It's all about getting the best and most experienced proven commodities, which comes via the portal.
And you do that through the NIL market. And so I think the timeline would be more like, you know, January, mid-January that you see maybe some serious movement happen in college football. And that's different than any other year.
I think it has a lot to do with figuring out this model of revenue sharing. And former Buffaloes coach Mike Sanford Jr. is joining us here on the JR Sport Brief show. Before we get into the conference championship games, let's talk briefly about those Buffaloes. We know that they're waiting for their bowl game and what might be. We know that Deion says that everybody is going to be out there. When it comes down to Travis Hunter, do you think he's going to walk away with that Heisman or is the guy we'll see tonight, Genti, going to take it?
Well, if Austin Genti goes and has a Barry Sanders kind of catching performance tonight, I think that's the only path forward for the guy that I probably, frankly, would vote for as an alum and certainly as somebody who appreciates what he does. But Travis Hunter just is the one-on-one athlete. I've had a chance to watch him in person play.
I think it's been about four times in these last two seasons. And it's the ball skills for me, both as a corner and as a receiver. Last year, I was convinced that he was an NFL corner.
And then after the North Dakota State game, the opener where you saw the receiver ball skills was like, this guy is Justin Jefferson's number two, two point because of the ball skills. And now I'm just convinced that he will play both ways in the National Football League. It'll be different. It'll be I think he'll be intelligently used as it relates to a 17 game season, which is a shift.
And, you know, in terms of just the tax on the body. But you got to think about it. You're playing against maybe say, let's just say you're playing against a prime CD lamb, you know, and Travis Hunter maybe played predominantly receiver the previous week. He might he might be used as the lock down on a CD lamb to stay with a number one wide receiver and serve as an eliminator, just like here in Denver. Pats a 10 second does. So I could see that being a path forward where week to week game plan to game plan.
You know, maybe maybe the pendulum swings a little bit more in terms of him playing one side or the other with more frequency in that particular game. Well, Mike, you you talked about the guy that we'll see tonight. Ashton, Jensie, we know that you used to throw that rock around for Boise State. They're getting ready to take on UNLV in about 30, 40 minutes from now.
You favoring your crew to walk away and get into this playoff? Well, I'm nervous. Oh, wow. Come on. Go ahead, Mike.
Tell us. Now, part of part of it for me is Boise State has had really one other opportunity in its program's history to be knocking on the door of competing for a national championship. And that was the Kellen Moore era Boise State Broncos that that if you remember is a while ago, they lost on a missed field goal against a team from the state of Nevada. And it was Nevada Reno. And I believe it was Colin Kaepernick in that crew at that time. And so this UNLV team, you know, my dad still lives in Las Vegas. He was the head coach there. I was a graduate assistant for him from 2005 to 2006. And my dad was the head coach till 2009. Actually, Barry Odom, the head coach, who's actually right now being rumored to be the next head coach at University of Central Florida. Barry Odom's son played for my dad.
My dad's a high school head coach in the area. I followed their program really closely. And if you just look at current form, you know, it's almost like you could see the Boise State certainly against Oregon was just incredible. Played played Oregon as well as anybody, including Ohio State this season. But the last five weeks, you look at close wins over Nevada, close, much closer than the score said win over San Jose State. And I would argue the same thing with Oregon State. UNLV, on the other hand, has been playing really good football. And with the quarterback transition that they had because Matthew Sluka, who played two big 12 teams on the road, entered the portal. Now they have Hajj Malik Williams, who's not you know, the first matchup, Boise State versus UNLV. He was playing in his first three games as a starter.
And now he's got some more starts under his belt. He's more familiar, you know, with that go-go offensive system that Brennan Marion runs. And it is a good system. And they play they play the margins really well as a program. And that's a signature of Barry Odom. Special teams, touchdowns.
I have my concerns. Of course, I'm rooting hard for my alma mater, but I don't know that this is going to be the runaway game that many people are predicting for the Boise State Broncos. Mike Sanford Jr. is here with us, the JR Sport Reshow coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Well, both Hickey and I believe that Boise State will walk away with the victory and then they will likely end up with a bye, which will be very, very interesting. Given a group of five school, what are your thoughts on how the alignment is currently set up for byes? Do you think the committee needs to change what the playoff looks like in the future?
I mean, you know, I don't. Personally, I think that this that the only thing that I believe is if there's chaos this weekend with the conference championship games, which if there's anything that's consistent about college football this season is every weekend is chaotic as it relates to the CFP and the rankings. I could see Clemson beating SMU. I could see Iowa State knocking off Arizona State. You know, I mean, I can see Penn State beating Oregon.
I'm just being very candid. Just think about college football. And even if you're a better, it's a unique year, right?
And just think about the games that you just think were gimmies and they just aren't. I think this I think Notre Dame is a team that I believe if if there is some chaos this weekend, I do believe Notre Dame in the last eight, nine weeks of their season since that Northern Illinois just debacle, they're they're deserving of a first round by as much as anybody is probably outside of Oregon. So I think Notre Dame, if they end up in the like, say, the CFP final two, they should get a buy. And I think that's something that I could see any non affiliated, non conference team ends up getting a buy if they finish up in the final two.
But other than that, I think it's I think it's a it's a good system. Let's just call it spade to spade. The ACC and the Big 12, they aren't really power conferences in the in the likes of the SEC in the Big 10. And you can't make that strong argument like you could have when the Big 12 had Texas and OU in it when both those teams were playing good football. You know, the ACC just it's just it's falling on hard times. It's almost like the SEC has gone out into Florida and even into the Carolinas and bigger, bigger bags for the NIL.
And they've started to take them. They've taken away a lot of the talent, the top end talent. So I just don't see the argument that they say that we are a power four team when indeed you look at the at the records, you look at the teams in the standings, you look at everything else from a standpoint of who's the most competitive team in the country. That's what we're trying to decide here is who's the most competitive team in the country. And if that team happens to come from Mountain West in the form of Boise State, then they deserve it over, in my opinion, over a Big 12 team. You know, that that lost two games, including one to Cincinnati and one to five and seven came to University of Kansas. And that's just the reality of the Big 12 this year.
It's kind of crazy. Talk about the Big 12. We'll see Arizona State and Iowa State go go at it. The winner gets into the playoff. Arizona State first year in a Big 12.
They're not even supposed to be here. But you made a point about the the ACC. We know we got Clemson, SMU, SMU resurrected back from the dead. Now, Clemson wins. They're in. If SMU loses, there's a possibility that we get two ACC teams still in the playoff.
Do you think that will be the case? Well, you got to look at Clemson if they indeed lose to. Excuse me, if we talk about SMU, if they indeed lose to Clemson and think about where this game is located. This Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, not exactly a home a home game for SMU. It can be very largely a Carolina Clemson type of a fan base, I think, in that building. And, you know, certainly Clemson, if you look at their if their record, they're 0 and 2 against the ACC dominant loss to Georgia and then lost the in-state rivalry to South Carolina. And then on the flip side, if SMU indeed loses and has two losses, their first loss of the season would be to Big 12 and probably left most likely probably about 99 percent left out of the college football playoffs. And that's BYU. And that game was at SMU.
It was in their own building. So does their resume really, really hold up to what I think the CFP wants, which is as many SEC, Big 10 and Notre Dame's in the in the playoffs as you can find? I think that that in both cases in the Big 12 and the ACC, we're going to end up seeing one team. OK. Hey, Mike, final question for you. With all these teams seemingly on a little bit more even footing, it doesn't appear that there's a major favor maybe outside of Oregon.
Who do you think is going to walk away with the title come January? It's as good a question as you can find. And I study this for a living. I coached it for a living.
And now I just I can't I can't tell you one right now. I'd say the most talented team is is probably Georgia. And so you could almost see the winner of the Georgia, Texas game that does indeed get the first round by. I think that that team would have a leg up in terms of just having the roster to be able to deal with, you know, a tournament setting to go deep, obviously, and then see and win it. The SEC and certainly some Big 10 rosters are built better for this tournament because of the depth of what they have in the NIL investment that their programs have made.
But it is so wide open. I mean, I can't even I can't even with a clear conscience say this team is absolutely going to win. And that's what I felt all along since about week five. This NIL and Portal world I thought was going to create a more vast difference between the top teams and haves versus the have nots. And in fact, it's kind of been the opposite. I mean, heck, Indiana is going to be a playoff team most likely.
How in the world does that happen? I think it's created more parity because there's not the stockpiling of four and five star athletes that there used to be because players can just jump in the portal and go be a starter elsewhere immediately. And so, yeah, I just think there's the absence of a great team in college football, a dominant team that you can just look at and say that's the team that's going to win it. And this I love because it's great to tune into any game and go through this playoff and just say, hey, I don't know. We can have our favorites or who's going to end up on top.
But the fact that there's not a distinguishable favorite is going to make this new format a whole lot of fun to watch starting tomorrow and Sunday when they let us know who goes in the top 12 and through the next month. Hey, Mike, thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you?
Your analysis with visa and elsewhere? Tell us. Well, yes, I'm based out here in the Denver market. You can follow me on X on Twitter at Coach Sanford underscore two.
I'm on socials just every every which way you could find me. And, Jay, I really appreciate you have me on. Love your program. Always appreciate having you on. We'll talk to you down the line real soon. Mike, enjoy the weekend. Enjoy the football. And don't sweat too much in about an hour. OK, I'll try my best.
