CFB's next great QB (4-9-20)

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast.

Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons 3-7 on Sports Hub Triad. Based on a survey I read last night, change is inevitable in the next five years for college football. Brett McMurphy pulled 112 of the 130 ADs in FBS about the playoff this week. 72% of them said they prefer an 8-team format when the current playoff contract expires in 2025. Going further, 11% want either 12 or 16 teams.

And if you're thinking, well Josh, this is just the non-Power 5 ADs chiming in. 77% of Power 5 ADs polled said they want 8 or more. Let's put 12 and 16 aside for now, or maybe even forever, and let's just focus on 8. Because I think that's the ideal number for the playoff in college football, and I'll tell you why. 8 best encompasses what I think is great about college football. What makes it unique from the NFL. I have this debate with people all the time. Josh, why do you prefer college football to the NFL?

And my simple answer to that is this. In the NFL, everybody's trying to do the same thing. Everybody's trying to find the franchise quarterback, and with few exceptions, the Wildcat offense for Tony Sperano, what the Ravens did last year, the Panthers in 2015, with very few exceptions, the teams that win consistently have a dropback passer who has to win in the pocket, building with a strong front seven. Stylistically, there aren't many diverse schemes that you see in that sport. Same in the NBA. A lot of the same sets are run league-wide, which is a lot different than what you see in college basketball. In college football, I love the diversity of style across conferences, across different programs. There is no equivalent in the NFL to Navy and Kenny Amato Lolo's team going up against, let's say, Mike Leach or Lincoln Riley's air raid offense.

There's no equivalent to that. Just fascinating for anybody who likes football to see how those two teams would go head to head. Such varying styles. And for that reason, I think you need representation for all five power conferences. You need to have an automatic bid for each Power Five conference team. I don't know if it would be the conference champion or just the highest ranked team, but they all need to be represented.

We've seen it. Anybody who's watched college football for any stretch of time knows that the Big 12, how up and down things are there and the way that game is officiated, is a far different game than what you have in the SEC. Different rules, different interpretations of rules, different styles, different kinds of players, different geography.

It's just a different game. And you need all of it to be represented because not one style is better than the other, we've learned. The group of five also needs a place in this as well. You need to have one group of five school, the highest ranked one, in this 18 playoff format.

And I'll tell you why. What happened with UCF was a bad look. UCF, there should be no reason why a team can go undefeated in their conference and also in their non-conference back-to-back seasons and not have a chance to play for the championship.

I don't think that's fair. I understand why you might disagree with that point, but if you have a playoff format, if this isn't the BCS, and it isn't, you shouldn't have a circumstance a team wins all their games, especially being in the best group of five conference, easily. The American is a lot closer to the power five than they are to whoever you deem to be the seventh best conference, the Mountain West or whoever. Back-to-back years undefeated in the regular season, conference championship game, and they do not get a chance playing in the championship.

I think that's a bad look. If you're listening to this show, there's a chance you probably love college basketball. We are in the heart of college basketball country, and if you love college hoops, you'll love March Madness. Even if you don't call yourself a big college basketball fan, you probably fill out brackets and follow the tournament. Nearly a third of the field in the March Madness bracket to determine a champion in that sport are mid-majors. Automatic bids, mid-majors representing nearly a third of that tournament. So what's one eighth in the college football playoff format?

I think it's just the right thing to do. I think we love Cinderella in sports. We love it in March Madness. Why not in our college football format?

Somebody explain it to me on Twitter at sportsubtriad336771600. Like we're waiting for a doomsday scenario to happen in order for change to be enacted. We're waiting for five unbeaten power five teams and one having to be left out before any significant change is done. Or having four unbeaten power five teams in Notre Dame potentially getting left out.

Or one of those power five teams getting let out. I don't think you should wait for that doomsday scenario because I already believe the UCF example was bad enough. And it proved that this format is flawed.

Now, here are the two most common rebukes to an 18 format. Number one, oh it's going to devalue the regular season. Really? As if the top eight teams don't care who they might be playing in seeding. As if the margin isn't small falling from being the fourth seed all the way down to the nine seed the last few weeks of the season.

Come on now. And also you're talking about 130 FPS teams, so really who this is affecting, it's a very small group. This is not the NFL. If you think expanding to eight teams while the NFL has 14 starting this year makes college football like the NFL, you're fooling yourself. 32 teams versus 130?

Come on, it just doesn't make sense, that argument. Secondly, people think we're headed towards 12 or 16. This is just opening the door to getting to 12 to 16. I'd argue it's a lot more difficult with some conferences not being represented in a given year, the power five, or make it the group of five not being represented at all. It's a lot more difficult to say, hey let's expand from eight with everybody represented to 12 or 16 when you're at four and everybody isn't represented. I think that's a larger leap. Also, just because there's a chance of something bad happening down the line, that should not stop you from doing what's so obviously the right thing. And I feel confident in saying it's the right thing because these ADs, they're smart people.

And you're talking about 77% of power five ADs saying that we need at least an eight team playoff. And I think that's going to get done sometime soon, in the next five years. Theron Vaught, he's going to join us in a little over 20 minutes. We're going to get nostalgic with baseball. It's a throwback Thursday, and I think we're going to do the Washington Nationals today.

I put this poll out on Twitter. Seeing that if no more NBA regular season games are played, the Charlotte Hornets would have the same percentage chance the New Orleans Pelicans had at getting the number one pick last year. Who ideally would you want Charlotte to take if they won the lottery? They have a little bit more than a 6% chance at becoming the number one team in the draft.

Who would be your cash count? The ESPN put out a mock draft earlier today. They have Golden State taking Anthony Edwards, the scoring guard out of Georgia.

For me, I think the Hornets, they would race to the podium and select James Wiseman. I'm not a big fan that he left Memphis early, but that was a poisonous, dysfunctional situation with a second-year college coach who didn't have any collegiate coaching experience before that. So I'd give him the break with him being a teenager still. He's 18 years old. Make it 19 years old by the time that the draft's going to start. This is not a fantastic draft. This is purely a needs-driven draft. No clear can't-miss prospect. LaMelo Ball, he's moved around all over the place. You really don't know what he would be against NBA talent.

His dad, it's a distraction. That's going to be factored in. There's just no question about it. Edwards, yeah, he's somebody who's athletic, but his shooting isn't proven. And his size, he's shorter than 6'4". Not necessarily what you really want in a number one pick.

But everybody's flawed. The Hornets, they need a big man. Zeller and Biambo, they aren't really cutting it.

They haven't the last few years. If they're picking 6th or make it 8th like they would be slated if it just went in order, O.B. Toppin would probably be the best case for Charlotte. I thought going into the year, Gard might be the pick, but Devante Graham, he's been a revelation. He's leading Charlotte in scoring at about 18 a game. He's in his second year, leading scorer of the Hornets. And the Hornets, they've exceeded expectations pretty much at every other way as well, with effort in defense and coaching. I really like James Borrego.

They're 10th in the East, 23 and 42 before things got shut down. James Wiseman, 7'1 in sneakers, great athleticism, can get up the floor with that size. He has pretty much the same wingspan and frame as Karl-Anthony Town. So if he develops some kind of a jump shot, that's what you're looking at. But I trust Borrego, I trust Kupchak and the draft.

They've given me no reason to think otherwise. Think about this, their last two drafts. Miles Bridges in the first round of 2018, Devante Graham in the second round.

Last year, P.J. Washington, who right now is averaging over 12 a game in his rookie year. And Cody Martin in the second round. Who, I saw a story from Eric Musselman, his former college coach talking about it, saying that he expects both Martin twins to be playing a decade in the NBA. That was a solid pick.

Miles, Devante, P.J. and Cody Martin. So I think smart people are running the Hornets now who know the draft better than the ones that preceded them. The Spurs, where Borrego came from, excellent in the draft with Greg Popovich.

And Borrego seemed to be part of the brains of that operation for nearly a decade. I think Charlotte is moving in the right direction. If they get the number one pick, it would be a tremendous young lineup that they bring out there. Graham, Rozier, Bridges, Washington and James Wiseman, all of which are 26 and younger. But to revisit that poll I mentioned that I put up earlier today, and you can vote on it, at Sports Hub Triad, at Josh Graham Radio, who would you want the Hornets to take with the number one pick? The options, Wiseman, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, and other.

39% of those who have voted say James Wiseman. And I think that's the right pick. Since we're talking about the next big thing, I think I know who the next great college quarterback is. And he is in the ACC. That's next on The Drive.

No mercy, no pity, no fear. You're on The Drive with Josh Graham. I know who the next great college football quarterback is. And he's actually in the ACC. I'm telling you about him now because his name might take some time to get used to. It kind of reminds me of back when I interned for David Glenn nearly a decade ago. He took high school recruiting very seriously at the time for the ACC Sports Journal. And I remember him saying to me, Josh, write this name down. J-A-M-E-I-S. Jameis Winston.

His name rhymes with famous. It's famous Jameis Winston. And I never forgot that then his first college football game. I could be wrong on this. I remember it was against Pittsburgh.

It might have been a Monday night game on that Labor Day weekend to start the year. He was just tremendous and went on to win the Heisman Trophy in his redshirt freshman year. Similar to the way D.G. got me familiar with Jameis, I'm going to get you familiar with this quarterback. His name is D.J. Uwe Agulale.

I'll say it again. D.J. Uwe Agulale. Spelled, actually, Robert Walsh, the producer of this show, would you like to take a shot at trying to pronounce this Clemson 2020 true freshman quarterback's name, who I believe to be the next great college quarterback? You want me to attempt to say it or to spell it?

Yes. OK, I'm going to say D.J. Uwe. OK. And Agulale. Uwe Agulale.

That sounds like a toddler's insult. D.J. Uwe Agulale. U-H-U-G-E-L-E-L-E-L-E-L-E.

I have no idea. I'm sorry. That's incorrect. It is D.J.

I wish you would have just finished it at that. All right. It's D.J.

Got it. Last name. U-I-A-G-A-L-E-L-E-I. D.J.

Uwe Agulale. He's going to be the next great quarterback. Number one or number two, depending on where you look at the 2020 class, right there with Bryce Young, who goes to Alabama to replace Tua Tagovailoa. And these two dueled it out in the All-American Bowl last fall. Here's his height and weight.

How's this for a frame? 6'5", 245. True freshman. To put that in perspective, that's the same height and weight Cam Newton was at Auburn. So he's at Florida for an extended stretch, kicked out there, goes to JUCO, then goes to Auburn, 6'5", 245. That's right now the size of teenager D.J.

Uwe Agulale. He's Cam Newton. And you watch his game, you can see it. He's Cam Newton with better accuracy.

Now Josh, you're just being reckless right now. You're just being speculative. You're just paying attention to the stars and the recruiting rankings.

Nobody really cares about those. How do you know this guy's going to translate to the college game? How about we take Dabo Sweeney's word for it? He's seen him throw just a handful of times, yet this is Dabo last week.

He just looks different, but a very, very good spring. And then D.J., he's just an unbelievable talent. I mean, it's just unbelievable to see a guy that big. He sometimes makes Trevor, and we all know what type of arm Trevor has, and sometimes he makes Trevor just kind of look normal with his ability to just rip that football.

It's unbelievable. And then, oh, by the way, he's 6'4", 245 pounds and can move. So he's never really seen a guy quite like him. Very unique, but you look at these guys, but you forget they're just pups. They got so much to learn. He just makes Trevor Lawrence look normal.

Think about that statement. Trevor Lawrence has lost one college football game. He's not confused for being Cam Newton the way that he runs, even though I think he is a sneaky athlete, if I can use the draft terminology, we're sure to hear, a year from now. He's an accurate passer.

Great electric arm. So great that he moved aside an ACC Championship quarterback in Kelly Bryant when he arrived. Now, that's not what D.J. 's going to do this year. In all likelihood, he's going to redshirt with the new rules that were implemented.

You can play him four games in a year. D.J., he's going to capitalize on that and some garbage time games for Clemson this year. And then it's going to be his offense next year. But just arriving on campus, just being there to hear Dabo say he makes Trevor Lawrence look normal at times.

And he seemed to be one of the greatest quarterback prospects we've had in the last few decades. That is a staggering statement from Dabo. So if you're not taking it from me, take it from Dabo Sweeney. Also, heck, take it from Trevor Lawrence. This is what Trevor said about D.J.

I don't know. I've never seen him play in person. I've seen him throw and obviously has a strong arm and he's just a big guy. I haven't seen anyone that mature and develop at that age. So I think just him already coming in at 240 or whatever he is, he's already got the body. You know, I'm not there yet, but I had to work on for like two years to get. So that's really cool to see a guy that far along. He's already got the body that I'm working to have.

And I've been working at it for two plus years. He's going to be the next great college quarterback. D.J., Uwe, Agulale. We're talking to Darren Vaught in 10 minutes. We're going to have an abbreviated, isolated edition of Sharon with Darren. We're going to do throwback Nationals this week since they're the defending World Series champions. We also learned this week who the Hard Knocks team, or I should say teams, are going to be. For the first time ever, it's going to be two teams featured in Hard Knocks this year. Of course, assuming there's going to be a training camp. The Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams are going to be featured. And I'm not very excited about this. These two teams didn't have to be on Hard Knocks, which means they volunteered to do so.

Which doesn't make it as appealing, I think. The Rams, they were here on Hard Knocks just a few years ago, 2016. Jared Goff, he was the star of that season. They're moving to LA, so what's the big appeal this year? Ah, it's Jared Goff at quarterback, and they're moving into a new stadium.

That should be gripping TV. We saw the Rams in last year's episode when they scrimmaged the Raiders. We've also seen the Tyrod Paler story as he was on the Browns two seasons ago when Baker came in. I wouldn't be as nearly upset about this if there wasn't an obvious better choice available.

Now, they have parameters. If you have been to the playoffs in any of the last two years, you do not have to be on Hard Knocks. You can say no. If you have a rookie head coach, you can say no to Hard Knocks.

If you've been featured in the last ten years, you can say no to Hard Knocks and HBO. There is one team that is available this year that hasn't been available any other time Hard Knocks has been a show, and that is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They were close last year.

They were close the year before. Big Ben Roethlisberger is a star. It's one of the biggest fan bases in all the NFL. How do you pick the Chargers and the Rams over the Pittsburgh Steelers? That organization, we get to know the Rooney's. We get to know Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Tomlin. Oh, come on!

Never been featured on the show before. And you could have. They could not say no if HBO chose them.

They cannot. So, Pittsburgh, they were the choice. And they missed out. Neither of these teams chosen, the Chargers or the Rams, have stars. Unless you count Jared Goff, and we've already gotten to know him.

I mean, who are the stars in these teams? Todd Gurley, he's no longer there. I guess Aaron Donald might count. But, once again, he was on the 2016 team. The Chargers don't fill up Rivers anymore.

So, it's Tyrod Taylor. How do they miss this badly, Robert Aaron? How do they miss this badly, not going Pittsburgh Steelers over the allure of having the Chargers and the Rams, two teams without very strong fan bases, together in a Hard Knocks episode?

I'm not so sure it's a miss. Number one, you got two teams moving to L.A. You want a drum up interest. They're already in L.A. You want a drum up. They're opening the stadium, so to speak. So, you want a drum up interest for those fans.

Oh, no, no. I get it. I get why L.A. would want to do this. I'm talking about from HBO's perspective. Why do you want this when we already did the Rams move into L.A. story four years ago? Well, Pittsburgh, for one, is a model of stability.

So, does stability historically make for good television? I think you already have built-in people who are going to watch that show. The Steelers, how many fan bases in the NFL are bigger than Pittsburgh's? Not many. It's the Cowboys and who?

I don't think anybody else. Cowboys and Steelers are definitely one and two. There you go.

So, they're never available. The Cowboys and the Steelers are never available to do this. I think the Cowboys actually have done it one time. But Pittsburgh, how do you miss on this chance for a team that's always in the playoffs and would have been in this year, I think, if not for injuries? I think that they just took the safe route. They knew that they could record two teams in close proximity in a time of uncertainty. And they took the easier route. It's cheaper to film both of those guys than probably fly out to the East Coast. I'm imagining HBO is on the West Coast.

And California sells, I'm guessing. Man, I would have loved to see Pittsburgh. I'm not very interested in this hard knocks. It is Thursday. So, we'll be sharing with Darren Vaught and listing off Throwback Thursday Nats next. Providing you with the kind of sports programming that makes some people laugh.

But most people just wince. Ooh, you're on the drive with Josh Graham. It is Thursday, which means we're sharing with Darren. And also, it is a Throwback Thursday. We get nostalgic about baseball, we've noticed in recent years. So, last year we did the Nickelbacks for the 2000s. Last week we debuted the Imagine Dragons of the 2010s of Major League Baseball. We did the Houston Astros because they were the team of the offseason with the scandal. But I think, Darren, it's only right this week we do the defending World Series champions now. And the Washington Nationals. It almost feels right we do that.

Yeah, no, I think so. Under normal circumstances, that's probably who we would have started with. But, you know, if we're going to use a team for jest in the absence of Major League Baseball, why not the Astros?

Because everyone wanted them to be their punching bag over the offseason. It is the Imagine Dragons for 2010s Washington Nats. It is the Imagine Dragons of 2010s baseball. Right, so we're just looking for memorable guys. And to give you a sense for who we're not looking for, let's take some Nats off the board.

If you want to chime in on Twitter at sportsupdryant 336-777-1600. Darren, just say yes or no, you agree with me or not. These guys should go off the board. Jason Wirth? No, see, I've got three on my no-fly zone.

Alright, who are the three on your no-fly zone who would not be Imagine Dragons? Yeah, Bryce Harper, obviously. Stephen Strasburg should not be on that list. And Ryan Zimmerman.

Otherwise, I think this is, like, these teams are ripe for the pickings. I think Gio Gonzalez is too good. No, come on. He was the first pitcher I had down. Oh, come on. Matt Scherzer?

Matt Scherzer's too good for this. Yeah, yeah, sure, okay, that makes sense. And the younger guys who are on the title team, so don't throw in here like Anthony Rendon or anything like that.

For sure, yeah, and I was assuming no title guys, yeah. Here is the first guy on my list. If you're wondering exactly what we're trying to do here, this is it. Shortstop Ian Desmond. Yup, yup. 255 hitter.

That's what we want. One of the first names I wrote down. Ian Desmond, without a doubt. Who's next? Imagine Dragons of the Nationals. Give me your next name. Kurt Suzuki. That's excellent.

It really is. Even though I think of him as a journeyman, but yep, definitely a gnat, just like this next name. Center fielder Denard Span. Yeah, Denard Span. That definitely qualifies as an Imagine Dragon here. Who I also imagine as a twin, mainly, because that's who he was with when he came up.

And a giant. I'm not sure, given the year and the time frame, fits with the Nationals in this. I only have one pitcher written down. Do you have a lot of pitchers? I have two.

Okay, give me one. Ross Detwiler. Who? I don't even know who that is. You don't know Ross Detwiler?

No, I don't know Ross Detwiler. I don't even know how to say it. How about I counter here? How about I counter? I counter with Tanner Rourke. Yeah, that's not bad. He's a little further down on my list. That's good.

That works. Your other pitcher was Gio Gonzalez, I think, right? No, well, nixing Gio, I had one more. Who do you got? Since you didn't know Ross Detwiler, I can't imagine you know Tyler Clifford. Oh, absolutely I know Tyler Clifford. That's great.

And I'm going to go same direction there. This is a borderline one. Drew Storin.

Yes. Drew Storin, there you go. This right next to Ian Desmond might be the best one I have. Second baseman Danny Espinosa. Espinosa's a good one.

Espinosa is a really, really, really good one. I have some ones that are just question marks. Like, yes or no, give me a yes or no on these three. Jordan Zimmerman. Yes, 100 percent. How about Wilson Ramos? Yes. You just say yes to every single one here.

The guy's a.288 hitter. No, but come on. I think here's what the problem is with the Imagine Dragons versus Nickelback argument. Like, should we just agree that Imagine Dragons were a little bit better than Nickelback so our standard is raised a little bit? Yes, absolutely we should agree on that.

I think we need to raise the standard. Absolutely be an Imagine Dragon. Brent tweets in first baseman Adam LaRoche. Nah, he is a Nickelback. That is a Nickelback.

We need to make that clear. Well, see, that's the other thing, too, about guys like David Wurf. Like, Wurf was a Nickelback. 100 percent, we named him as a Nickelback at points. I don't think we named Wurf a Nickelback. Some of those guys that were on the cusp time period-wise I think could probably be both, especially if, you know, you're like a LaRoche and you have a little bit of a resurgence like he did with the Nationals.

I think it works. I have one more question. One more I'm on the fence about.

Mike Morse. He might not be good enough. Yeah, I don't think he is. I don't think he qualifies as being a Imagine Dragon. So if you're keeping score at home, there are people that are too good, there are the ones that are are Imagine Dragons, and then there are ones that aren't good enough to be Imagine Dragons. Robert and Aaron are both looking at me very confused right now. I thought Nickelback was in the NFL. Like, isn't there, like, short stops and stuff in baseball?

Like, I don't even know what you are trying to do. Well, Nickelback is just, it's not a good band. They are just memorable. Like the Imagine Dragons, we're not looking for the great players, we're just looking for the memorable guys. You're interpreting it as if we're looking for the fastball of Major League Baseball.

You guys remember that band from the 90s, early 2000s? You're interpreting it literally, Robert. Give me your next name. Close this out. Give me one more. Give me your best one you got. I have time for one more name, Darren, so make it a good one.

The best one I have remaining, also a Nickelback, Xavier Nady. Excellent. That's great work, Darren. Before we let you go, tell us about the USA Baseball podcast you've been doing.

Yes, covering the bases. We do it twice per month, and as a matter of fact, we have an all-time Nickelback of Major League Baseball on the pod that drops on Wednesday of next week. It is Minnesota Twins legend, Michael Kadir. See, I thought he was too good to be a Nickelback. I remember this debate. He's too good. Can you please ask him that, or is it already recorded?

It is not. Please ask him about this segment. Please do that, because you need to tell him that you think he's a Nickelback. I think he's better.

Here's my counterargument. He won the NL batting title in 2013. Yes. I think during the Nickelback timeframe, before 2010, he was a Nickelback.

After that, he might have been too good to be an Imagine Dragon. Excellent stuff as always, Darren. I hope we're not confusing everybody. Hope you're well too. Thank you. All right. See you guys. All right. There you go. That's Darren Vaught.

Find him the Around the Bases podcast for USA Baseball. I have an idea. Today would have been day one of the Masters. We're bummed out that the Masters aren't going to be happening until November. Hopefully, it happens then, but this is a real problem for CBS, don't you think? If they're going to hold it from have Masters week be between November 9th and November 15th, November 15th being a Sunday, what does CBS do since they carry NFL on that Sunday? Like, what's the thing they do?

Because the Masters, it's one of their biggest draws, but the NFL is as well. I have an idea here. You let me know if this is a good idea.

All right. I got an idea too. Tony romance, I think said this morning that if he had the option between NFL game and the Masters, he'd choose the Masters.

Tony Romo, he is somebody who loves golf, very good golfer as well. So for that week, the schedule, not out yet, so May 9th when they put this thing out there, I think they should have a national game at noon, not one o'clock, noon on that week. And then it ends around three or three 30 and you immediately go to Augusta national for the final round of the Masters.

And that three hour, three and a half hour stretch will take you until seven o'clock. You watch the final round, Tiger Woods, the leaders or whoever take hold there. I think that's the best way for them to go about it. And CBS would crush that afternoon slot.

Robert, what was the idea you had? They could just reschedule it for the 32nd of never wary. And I don't think the sports world would miss a beat. You just don't like golf, do you? It's not that I don't like it, I just think it's a boring sport on television. If they're playing football in fall and I turn on CBS on a Sunday and I see the Masters, I will ride in the street.

I think you guys are in the minority of this, man. Like, you got to remember, you got to remember during the final round of the Masters, which generally is broadcast without any weather problems between two and six, two and seven in the afternoon on a Sunday. It gets monster ratings, but last year when Tiger was involved, it started at 9.30 in the morning and finished around two, which isn't ideal if you're talking about the West Coast and trying to factor in the rest of the country. Even considering that limitation, one out of every four televisions in the country were watching Tiger's final round at the Masters. The Masters is just one of those things.

A regular season football game doesn't get priority over the Masters' final round on Sunday. It just doesn't. It sure as hell does. You can disagree with me, I'm just telling you how it is.

It sure as hell does. You're giving an opinion, I'm telling you a fact. It could be week three, I don't give a damn. I know, but that's just you. I'm telling you that the majority of people in the Masters' final round will take precedent over week 12. It's the reason why the Masters are played when they're played and not during football season. Well, I mean, the NFL wasn't a thing when they started playing it at that time, so I don't think it's the NFL pushing them to April.

I mean, again, we could just disagree on that, and that's fine. All the golf pro shops have to show something, so I would imagine a lot of those TVs. I don't think you are the ones to be talking to on this because you don't like golf. I love all of it. I love the NFL. I love college football. I love golf. I love bowling. I love croquet.

I love badminton. You're just the wrong audience for this. You just don't get it.

It's fine. But you don't. Now he's better than us. You just don't get it.

No, I'm not better. I'm just saying that you don't like golf, and that's why you're saying, oh, put it in never wary. I think most people would say that you are wrong on this one. Yeah, all golf fans would say that. No, no, I'm saying most sports fans, casual sports fans, they will say you're wrong on this. I don't think casual sports fans watch golf.

For sure. They watch the Masters. Maybe. One out of every four televisions, Aaron. I just told you Dick's has on TVs, golf pro shops have on TVs. There you go.

There he is. That's a lot of TVs. Yeah, is Dick's open at 9 o'clock in the morning? I think so. And 6 o'clock in the morning on the West Coast. Maybe not there. Probably not. They probably leave the TVs on.

One out of every four televisions in America were watching one thing. There's a lot of golf pro shops. Coming up. Why I wouldn't bet against Cam Newton this fall. This is The Drive.

Welcome to the show that cloned the Loch Ness Monster and got her drunk. The Drive with Josh Graham. The Adam Gold Show is noon to three right here on Sports Hub Triad. Adam is now joining us and he's one of the bigger golf fans I know in the North Carolina media scene. In one hour, we're going to be joined by the tournament director of the Wyndham Championship, Mark Brazel, as they move the tournament back one week from when it was originally going to be scheduled. So we're looking at the middle of August now for the Wyndham versus what would have been the first week of August. But it all seems to me, Adam, like we're just doing revisions for another revision that's set to happen sometime soon.

Hello, friends. Yeah, I do believe that when the PGA Tour announced the other day the new schedule, which would start with Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, without fans, that we are simply setting ourselves up for another revision down the road. I still haven't been able to process how we're going to get back to sports. If it's not safe for fans, how is it safe for competitors?

I don't get it. Here's a Masters idea I have. Assuming they figure out the question, which is the most important question to ask surrounding sports, assuming that gets figured out sometime between now and November, here's a Masters idea I have for CBS.

You let me know if you buy it here. You have a noon kick versus a one o'clock kick for an NFL game. Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts on the call, let's say, on November the 15th, that Sunday. Then at 3 or 3.30 we go straight to Augusta National, three-man booth on 18 with Jim Nantz, Faldo, and Tony Romo on the call.

What do you think? Other than the fact that it would be just two hours of golf, that would make sense. It's going to get dark in the second week of November, probably between 5.30 and 6.

So, yeah. I don't think the National Football League is going to be on CBS until at least 4.25 that day. I think the more likely scenario is what we had this past year, which was kind of a morning tee-con, all full tees, and looked to be wrapped up by 2.30ish. So, the NFL could start after all the hoopla is over and allowing for any playoff, but the NFL would be able to start at 4.30. Unless CBS wants to move their game tonight, they'd have to flip with NBC, which is a possibility, but I don't see CBS having anything in the NFL early in the day. It still is the craziest stat from Tiger's final round a year ago, that even though weather forced them to start early for that final round, as you noted, one out of every four televisions in America during that time span were on CBS for that final round.

That's stuff you hear about in the 70s and 80s watching Johnny Carson. He's the needle. We've been saying this forever. This is why it always bothers me when people complain that, well, Tiger's not in the tournament anymore. Why are they still showing him play even though he's 12 shots out?

Because this is what people want. People tune in to watch Tiger Woods. All you have to do is go look at who was behind the green when Woods walked off after winning the Masters last year. Every great player who was still around was standing there. They all know. They know what he means. They were rooting for him.

He's also a different person now than he was, but he's the needle. That's what Golf Channel has been built on Tiger Woods. What aspect of the tournament itself being played in November interests you most? To me, ultimately, the weather. I think the course itself will be exactly the way we see it in April, albeit it might be drier because that part of Georgia doesn't get a lot of rain at all in November and October and November.

They typically do get a fair amount of rain in March and April, but they have sub-air so they can suck all the moisture out of it. But it's really the weather. It's the temperature. If the temperature this weekend or today was supposed to be in the low 80s in Augusta, they're not going to have any low 80s. Right, exactly. They're not going to have any low 80s.

So what that's going to mean is that the ball just isn't going to travel very far. So I would expect if you have temperatures in the 50s or 60s, go back and look at the scores in 07 when Zach Johnson won at one over par. That's probably somewhere in the neighborhood of what we're going to see in November.

It'll look more like a U.S. open than a match. Any idea on how azaleas look in the month of November? If you can get out with a couple of cans of spray paint, you can have all the azaleas you want. Azaleas bloom for about two weeks. They bloom in March and April and many times Augusta will throw ice bags on the azaleas to prevent them from blooming too soon. So there won't be bloomed azaleas, but that doesn't mean there won't be color because they'll get out there with paint or whatever they have to.

Maybe they'll have fake flowers. He's on Twitter. At A Gold Fan. It's Adam Gold, our early afternoon host, noon to three.

You can listen to the Adam Gold show. Tell me where NC State has a strong argument in its case with the NCAA because, of course, it's well documented. Hey, they're reaching out to the same law firm, Ha Ha Ha, that North Carolina reached out to to get a favorable ruling in its case, academic fraud with the NCAA or academic impropriety at that time. They said it was overreaching and that's what they stuck with and they battled tooth and nail to get the result that they wanted. NC State says they can't get a fair ruling because the NCAA was making some assumptions of fact in some of its NOI I read.

And then the importance of facts or the issue where they could obtain outside evidence from its investigation and look, say, into court testimony from TJ Gasnola and others factors into this as well. And NC State, according to the Luke DeCock story I read yesterday, that seems to be something NC State has an issue with as well. They're going to an independent party now. What exactly is their argument against the NCAA here? Where's the sticking point?

Well, where the sticking point is, I mean, we can debate this all day long. First of all, the independent party, this is what the NCAA has set up. And I don't know that it helps or hurts NC State because we haven't seen this independent party issue a ruling yet. So I'm not sure.

I mean, theoretically, you would think that it would do it would do a better job. But frankly, we have no idea. The NCAA is a roll of the dice anyway.

So we have no clue what the independent panel is going to rule. But to be perfectly honest, when we saw the initial penalties handed down, it was pretty clear that the NCAA wasn't really coming after State because everybody involved is no longer there. Mark Gottfried is gone.

Orlando Early is gone. But here is the exposure for State. And I mean, this is about as basic as it's going to be, is that the violations and the allegations are blatant enough. And I'm pretty sure that I think the funniest allegation of Mark Gottfried complaining that he was having to use his own money, which I don't believe made the notice of allegation.

He was. He was complaining that the white envelopes of cash, I shouldn't have to use my own money, but that ultimately the violations were so basic and so obviously, you know, bad that just because they're not there doesn't mean that the university doesn't bear some responsibility. I get that. But ultimately, I think State is just playing the game out as all universities should. Don't take any chances.

Fight everything. The last thing the NCAA wants to do is be tied up in court because especially with not enough money coming in to fight all these lawsuits, they don't want to be in that position. Ultimately, Gottfried's gone.

Early is gone. Both should get show causes. I still think that NC State is probably at best going to deal with scholarship reductions because, I mean, it was, you know, Gottfried and Early were their responsibility.

So there are going to be some university penalties, but I don't think it'll be that drastic. I just think they're trying to get out of everything and I don't blame them for fighting. What is the scene you're looking at at your home right now? It's a bit breezy out here in Oxford, North Carolina, but it's lovely. It's a little warm. It's better than yesterday at this time when all of a sudden we were hit with like hail and a squall.

Very strange. Adam, it's good to hear from you, ma'am. We'll talk next week.

You got it, man. It's Adam Gold. He's on Twitter at AGoldFan, our early afternoon host.

You can listen to noon to three right here on Sports Hub Try It. I gotta know behind the scenes, Robert and Aaron, they are just cackling. They are loudly laughing. Robert is showing Aaron his Tinder profile for some reason, thinking that I can't hear them, thinking I can't notice. I didn't think you couldn't notice. I just didn't care.

Right. So I'm talking to Adam. I see you guys laughing.

I think you're laughing at what he's had to say. And then I look, I'm like, you're showing your Tinder profile off here. What's the deal? It was Bumble. You weren't looking hard enough.

And I think I found one of our co-workers daughters on Tinder. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Did you swipe right? I did.

Spicy. That's going to be a conversation later. Hopefully, hopefully it will be a conversation later. I didn't get a notification whether she said yes or no.

She could have said no. Aaron, were you egging Robert on? Of course. That's what I do. That's what I do. Aaron is the friend that you'd be like, oh, I don't know if that's such a good idea.

He's like, oh, no, come on, man. It'll be all right. Yeah, you should do it.

Go ahead. We'll chat with the tournament director of the Wyndham Championship, Mark Brazel, in about 45 minutes to continue looking at the Masters. What it might look like in November, the Wyndham Championship. What's the source of optimism that we're going to have golf playing and maybe us attending a golf round by the middle of August. Coming up, though, a reason to be optimistic about the Charlotte Hornets lottery chances. And if they did, by some miracle, land the number one pick, who might they take? I'll play you next on the drive.