Will Alabama win the National Championship?

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Dan Schwartzman. And a happy New Year's Day. Our two of the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. I ended 2023 with you. I am starting 2024 with you. Really quite the honor to be sitting in Rich's seat.

He will be back after a well-deserved break. College football playoffs get underway today. Kickoff in four hours. Rose Bowl, Michigan, Alabama. Then tonight, it is the Sugar Bowl, Texas versus Washington. And I think there just seems to be more intrigue about Alabama, Michigan. That's two Blue Blood programs, Alabama, Michigan. Now, Texas is as well. Washington is really not, but Saban versus Harbaugh. That's pretty juicy right there.

You kind of like that, right? Saban versus Harbaugh. Two uber successful head coaches. Who's going to come out on top? Michigan's defense. Alabama's offense. Milro at quarterback. Can he be stopped?

I don't know. It's going to be a great match. We're going to head out to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl presented by Prudential. Then bring on our next guest, Matt Fortuna, founder of the Inside Zone. College football's newest online community is at the Rose Bowl.

And Matt, first off, Happy New Year to you and your family. Hope 2024 is going to be amazing. And you get to start it off watching what potentially could be one heck of a game. Harbaugh versus Saban, my friend. Doesn't get much better than this, does it? Hey, Dan.

Happy New Year to you, too. I can't think of a better way to start off than going to my first Rose Bowl. And I'm as excited as you can imagine for everything you just said. I mean, you've got two Blue Blood programs. You've got the Big Ten against the SEC. And you've got this Michigan team that's been under a cloud of controversy really all year long that's finished as the number one ranked team in the basketball playoff rankings.

Going up against the modern day dynasty, the giant, Nick Saban in Alabama. It's a really interesting matchup. And I can talk myself into who's going to win 100 times over because I think both teams are that good and they match up that close with each other. But to see these two teams, to see these two uniforms against the backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains with everything on the line right now, it's just it's really, really exciting. I'm looking forward to it.

You mentioned that you can kind of try to cut this any way you want. In the end, you may come out with Alabama winning. The next time you break it down, you come out with Michigan winning.

What are the matchups within this upcoming game, Matt, that you're excited to see that potentially could be that difference maker for one side over the other? Yeah, I think you have to start with Jalen Milro and see how Michigan defense is defensive. I mean, this is obviously a dominant Michigan defense. I think maybe, and I hate to put too much shock in the bowl season when not everyone is at full strength anymore, but I think maybe so many of those dominant Big Ten defenses, they had four of the top five defenses at the end of the regular season, may have been partially a product of some of the four offenses in the Big Ten this year.

So it makes you look at things maybe in a little different life, especially when you've seen the Big Ten struggle throughout bowl season. Independent of these bowl games so far, easily, this is the toughest test Michigan has had, both as a roster and as a quarterback. They've not faced a quarterback nearly as dynamic as Jalen Milro has so far, which is pretty crazy to think about. I mean, I was down there in Tuscaloosa for week two when he almost got yanked when they lost against Texas.

They ended up getting benched the next week against USF. There was no one outside of the state of Alabama who saw all this coming in the aftermath of those early season struggles. So this is a team and a quarterback that have gotten better week by week, and they're going to meet their match today against that Michigan defense. What do you think about Bama's defense? Everybody is talking about Michigan's defense, how great they are, how they can pressure a quarterback, stop the run, great against the pass. What about Bama's defense? Hasn't really gotten as much publicity or notoriety because a lot of the question marks have been on offense, Matt.

Yeah, no, they haven't. I mean, you know, we've talked enough about how weak Al David's offensive line has been this year relative to the past Crimson Tide team. So that's been a pretty dominant defense so far, and they're going up against the Michigan offense. Look, I think Michigan does everything really good.

I don't know if they do anything great, right? I mean, JJ McCarthy, I think, is one of the best quarterbacks they've had in quite some time. But look at the statue, he's thrown just one touchdown pass since that Michigan State game on October 21st. That's going to have to change today if Michigan is going to beat Alabama. I think that's a very good offensive line. I don't think they're as good as they were up front last year, and obviously they're going to be missing Zach Sinner, who is a key, key cog in that offensive line machine. But the thing you can appreciate about Michigan, and you saw this in the Ohio State game, they get the ball back with eight minutes left, I think three points at the time, and they're almost able to run the clock out. And they're doing it by simply running for three, four yards at a time. That's what makes Blake Corum such a valuable college running back.

I know that the positions then devalued at the next level, and I don't know what the future holds for him as far as where he'll get drafted, but he's such a reliable guy back there to get you that extra yard or two when you need it. And it's going to be interesting to see, can Michigan wear down Alabama's defense? Ohio State had a very good defense too, and Michigan scored on six of their final seven drives against them.

And again, they didn't have too many explosive plays, but they made the plays they needed to make in order to close that game out. And I think that's ultimately where we're going to see the rubber meet the road here between the two teams. Matt Fortuna joining us, founder of the Inside Zone, college football's newest online community here on the Rich Eisen Show.

Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on New Year's Day. The sign stealing scandal that engulfed Michigan this year kind of took a little bit of away from what they've done. We know Alabama said that they prepared differently because of that.

What did they do differently? Well, it's funny because Alabama came out and said, I think it was Isaiah Bond who let it slip that they were not watching film alone on their iPads because of a potential compromise. And Michigan came out the next day and essentially said, we're not there because of a compromise.

And Catapult, the company that does these programs, essentially had to put out a statement saying they're investigating whether there may have been a leak or not. So, look, football coaches are paranoid as is. There's no question about it. I think the Connor Stanley scandal has exacerbated that with everyone because, rightly or wrongly, the timeline doesn't look great for Michigan, right? They started getting really good right around the time they hired this guy. And I'm not saying there's a cause and effect there, but you know how football coaches think, you know how opponents think. They're going to look at that and say this is the only reason it got really good, whether that's fair or not. So I think everyone's kind of looking over their shoulder and is super, super paranoid, especially at this level. Matt, let's turn to the next game and that Texas versus Washington.

And I think it's less notoriety there. Washington's a heck of a team. They're playing in what's going to be the defunct Pac-12. They are a team that not a lot of people outside of that West Coast area, really the Northwest, watch.

I didn't watch a lot of Washington this year because I'm on the East Coast. Texas, we all know, it is a blue blood program. What impresses me the most is Texas have kind of sloshed along all these years trying these high profile head coach hirings and bringing in guys that they thought were going to be the ones that will change the fortune of this team. Well, they reach into Nick Saban's bag of tricks and bring in Steve Sarkisian and he's the one that has turned things around.

Are you a little surprised? I mean, he did come in there with some baggage, obviously, but he has taken this team and put them on the next level and put them back in the forefront where Texas belongs as one of college football's best. I'm a little surprised it happened this quickly just because, like you said, Texas has been known for underachieving really throughout the last 10 years or so. Steve Sarkisian, obviously, if Nick Saban sees something in you, then you've got something for you, right?

The guy called a phenomenal game everywhere he's been. I think it's obviously a little bit easier to make those play calls when you've gotten Devontae Smith and Najee Harris and all these five stars at your disposal like you had at Alabama. But to see the way he's led that Texas offense and had them really take office here, to see them dominate Alabama for the most part on the road back in week two, it's really, really impressive.

I mean, only so many people are going to be able to say what's all said and done. They're the head coach at Blue Bluffs, Washington, USC, and Texas. Steve Sarkisian keeps getting these jobs, presumably for a reason, because he is really good at what he does.

And you're seeing right now the third time literally is the charm because he's got this team rolling. They look SEC-ready. I'm not saying they're going to win the SEC next year, but they're obviously going to play like they belong. And look, they've got a great chance this year to win it all. I mean, if they win this game in their favor to win it, the title game's in Houston. That's going to be a home game for the long term. And they might be playing an Alabama team, but they already beat on the road earlier this year. So there's a lot playing about that in the Texas team, but I'm done overlooking Washington.

But you said, I think, it's been echoed by a lot of people in the media throughout, myself included, throughout the course of this year. And that's, you know, you've just got to put some respect on Taylor Naboor and Michael Pennix's name at this point. All they do is win big games. All they do is make big plays when they need to. And seeing them as an underdog in this game, I feel like they've got one more left in them. Matt, can Texas's defense, especially the secondary, stop Michael Pennix, who's had such an unbelievable season?

It's a good question, right? I mean, I voted Pennix for the Heisman. And, you know, he didn't get, I had no problem with Jaden Daniels winning. He had a great season. But Pennix made every big throw in the matter most.

He delivered when he needed to. I know they didn't dominate all of their opposition this year. But to your earlier point, you know, the Pac-12, it's kind of collapsing for a reason. They don't get a whole lot of exposure. They didn't sell themselves well. I mean, I know he struggled against Stanford, but he was also throwing up on the sideline against Stanford.

We didn't hear a whole lot about that, right? Because of the SEC. We'd probably be talking about what a heroic effort one of those guys did in a close win against an underwhelming team. So I don't think anyone could slow down these Washington receivers. I mean, I think this Washington offense, really the only thing stopping it could be itself if they were to turn the ball over. The question is whether Texas receivers in their past games can keep up with this Huskies attack. All right, Matt, last question for you is, I'm going to ask you, you know, I'm not asking you basically for a prediction, but you can throw out who you think is going to win here. Alabama, Michigan, a game that you are actually going to be attending at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. And then later tonight, it's the Sugar Bowl, Texas and Washington. If you were a betting man, who's playing for the national championship game in Houston? You know, I think all these games can go either way. And I think all four of these teams are capable of winning it all, which makes this particular playoff so interesting.

I'll go with the underdogs in both cases here, just because the idea of either of these teams getting points is just very, very appealing. I don't think they came as an underdog to a team not in Georgia since the Team TiVo SEC Championship game back in 2009. That was a very long time ago.

Wow. We've heard him talk about healthy rat poison this year. We've heard him talk about, you know, how this year was like, oh, we need to talk to him. It was fuel to him to be the underdog, so to speak, and to do things that a lot of people did not think they were capable of doing way back in week two. And as for Washington, I'm just done betting against Kalen Abor. The guy's 9-0 against Red Team in two years with the Huskies, and they're 24-2 under him. So all he does is win. You're going to make him an underdog? Why not? I'll take him one more time. Wow.

How about that? Matt Fortuna taking the underdogs in both games, Alabama and Washington, to meet a week from today in Houston for the National Championship game. I will give my predictions coming up as well. Hey, Matt, this is going to be an unbelievable experience for you, your first Rose Bowl, obviously. Enjoy it to start 2024.

Matt Fortuna, founder of the Inside Zone College Football's newest online community. Matt, happy New Year again to you and the family. Enjoy today, my friend. Happy New Year, Dave. Will do. Have a good one. Thank you.

You as well, man. How awesome is that? He gets to be at the game. I'm jealous, I've got to tell you. I am jealous, Art Martinez. Man, I'd rather be at the Rose Bowl rather than working with you.

Hey. You know, the Rose Bowl's not too far from us right now. Yeah, well, you could say the same thing. You'd rather be at the Rose Bowl than working with me today. I completely understand, man.

I completely get it. I'd be at the Rose Bowl if USC was in it. Yeah, well, they're not.

Well, they may be. Some of the players might be there in attendance to watch the game, right? Who won the Holiday Bowl? Hey, the Holiday Bowl used to be a big deal.

Remember that? The Holiday Bowl used to be one of those good bowl games people cared about. Now no one really cares about the bowl games outside of the college football playoff games.

And I get that, obviously. I mean, you know, that's the one with all the marbles riding on it. But the Holiday Bowl used to be one of the ones you'd watch. Like, okay, I'm going to mark that one down because that's going to be a good game. That's going to be a good matchup. And, you know, it usually was.

So I don't blame you. The Holiday Bowl, maybe USC next year might be playing in something bigger than that. They probably should have been playing in something bigger than that this year as there were high expectations coming into this year. Obviously, with Caleb Williams, a quarterback, they did underachieve a little bit and did not make it to the playoffs as some thought they would. And rightfully so, some thought they would are because talent-wise I thought they were good enough to... Yeah, the defense was just so disappointing. I mean, they couldn't stop anybody.

No, no, you're absolutely right. The defense let them down. They couldn't get the job done and put, I think, too much pressure on the offense. And when the offense is scoring a bunch of points and the defense is giving up like 40-some-odd points, that's going to be a slight problem, to say the least.

That's what happened. But you're watching some great football teams tonight. Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Washington. By the way, how awesome is it to have Texas back atop being one of these schools vying for a national championship, which is where they belong. Texas is one of the great college football programs in history. It really was tough watching Texas not get any respect and kind of doing the wrong thing all these years, right? I have to tell you, I believe that schools like Texas, when you're talking the best of the best, to have them not be relevant was not good for college football.

It wasn't. It's good to have the big name programs because those are the programs that you either love or you love to hate. And Texas is one of those programs that fits the bill. So to have them now be relevant is awesome for the sport. So I'm glad they're there. I'm excited to watch this and see what happens today and who moves on to Houston, Texas for the championship game. And I'll give you my thoughts on these games.

I'll break them down for you coming up next. But stream the NFL on Westwood One for free, sponsored by AutoZone all season long. You can listen to every Westwood One broadcast on the NFL Live on the NFL app by asking Alexa to open WWO Sports or on your Westwood One affiliate station's digital platforms.

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Get in the zone AutoZone restrictions apply. Yeah, we're going to break these down. I'll give you my thoughts. Do I agree that this is going to come down to the, well, let's put it this way, the underdogs? Are they the ones that are going to be the ones to make the most noise here?

Can they both move on? Can they get past the likes of Michigan with that defense and Washington with that offense? Or excuse me, no, Texas with that defense and just that overall team that they've assembled there, Steve Sarkisian has? Well, that's going to be the fun conversation coming up next.

Dan Schwartzman on a New Year's Day Monday, starting 2024 with you in for Rich Eisen right here on The Rich Eisen Show. All right, folks, let's talk about game time and let's talk about buying tickets to big time events, because it can be worrisome, it can be time consuming and it can be expensive. So game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy and theater events near you. You can see the view from your seat before you buy so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive. They have all in prices that show you your total up front so you know you're getting a great deal without hidden fees.

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Visit prizepicks.com for restrictions and details. Big Coram's second rushing score of the day and it puts the Wolverines up. 23-17, a 22-yard touchdown. 1.55 to go in the third.

That is courtesy of Westwood One Sports. Michigan knocking off Ohio State. Third straight year they've done so. There's one team you have to beat if you're coaching Michigan. It's Ohio State and vice versa if you're coaching Ohio State. And Ryan Day's beaten everybody but Michigan really over the course of his tenure as a head coach of the Buckeyes. And for Harbaugh he couldn't beat Urban Meyer but he's clearly owned Ryan Day winning three straight. Just a quality team, no question about what Michigan is this year.

Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen show on New Year's Day. Michigan is defensively a juggernaut. 13 games, they gave up 123 total points. They scored 477. That is a massive difference of 354 points.

That is huge. They get it done defensively and offensively they can score as well. McCarthy is the best quarterback that Harbaugh has had there. In fact he is likely a first round pick in the next NFL draft.

If he decides he's ready and that's it. He's a first round pick. And being a first round pick it's kind of a rare company when you think about it for what's been a quarterback for Michigan since Harbaugh's gotten there. And Coram's a heck of a running back.

He's incredibly talented. The defense is incredibly talented. There's just so much talent on that team right now and you finally say to yourself he's got the team to win it all. They're undefeated at 13-0. If they were playing Washington or Texas you may say to yourself okay they're going to win that game but they happen to be playing Alabama. I mean they're playing Nick Saban here.

They're playing the greatest of the great. Saban's potentially the greatest coach in the history of college football. It's hard to argue right when you look at the number of national championships he's won, the overall success he has had, it's hard to argue that Nick Saban's the greatest coach in college football history. Maybe some of you would try to say well he's not this guy or that guy but again it's hard to argue against Nick Saban. The guy just wins.

Now let me ask you a question. Did Alabama get in because of reputation? Because I think Georgia belonged there.

It's also all about when you lose right which I don't like. But are you going to put Georgia ahead of Alabama when Alabama won? Well they've both got one loss. Yeah but look who the you know look but who's Georgia's loss against? Right?

Yeah. They lost to Alabama. And Alabama lost at the beginning of the year to Texas who was good enough to well as we now know make it to the national championship game. Well make it to the college football postseason right?

So I think that's where the argument will be. Okay well the quality of loss for Alabama was a good loss. It's not like they lost to some cupcake team and you say to yourself oh my goodness like how do you lose to that team? No in the end they lost to Texas who was in the college football playoffs.

One of four. And yes, listen no doubt reputation does play a role. I mean that's a given. Reputation certainly does play a role and the question is do you keep a Nick Saban out of the college football playoffs with one loss to Texas? And you know do you put a Georgia ahead of them even though he beat Georgia? And I think the answer to that is it's hard to keep Alabama out and put Georgia in when they beat Georgia. Georgia had to just beat Alabama and they were going to get in no question right?

They were going to be the top seed. But they couldn't get it done. So in the end I did not have a problem with Alabama getting it. Look Alabama didn't make it look easy this year. They didn't.

They weren't the juggernaut per se when you break down the games. There were struggles there. They almost lost the Iron Bowl to a not great Auburn team. They had to have some miracle plays to win that one.

So look I mean I understand it. I get where people will question it and say I don't think Alabama deserved to get in. But I think when it all played out, Art, Alabama did deserve to get in.

You think Georgia should have gotten in even though? 29 game win streak. Well then win one more. Win one more game. You know knock off Alabama then there's absolutely no conversation. Then there's no issue here.

Then there's nobody, no one can say at that point hey you know this team has a claim that team has a claim. And I like Georgia. Listen I love Kirby Smart.

He's been fantastic. Kirby Smart's been an absolute legend there right? He finally put Georgia over the hump that the likes of Mark Richt couldn't do and I liked Mark Richt but couldn't win him a national championship.

Kirby Smart's won them two in a row. And that Georgia Bulldogs team is a juggernaut. Look Alabama this year we talk about their point differential for Michigan being what 354. Alabama's was you know 200 and about 15. Somewhere in that range.

Nothing great. Alright they scored 456 points. In the SEC Alabama outscored their opponents by 100 points.

That's it. That's a little less than usual. Usually they'll dominate. They did go 8-0 in the conference. Okay but you know the West had Ole Miss. LSU was kind of down. Texas A&M's been down. Auburn has been down for a few years now. Outside of Ole Miss it wasn't a great SEC West.

So no surprise that they win it. And then quarterback wise look Alabama's had so many top quarterbacks. Look at all the draft picks. Tua, Jalen Hurts I know he went to Oklahoma.

But that's because Tua was there and Tua went high in the first round. Mac Jones as bad as he's been for the Patriots. Mac Jones was a you know a first round pick. Bryce Young went first overall. So he's had unbelievable talent to quarterback and then Jalen Milro's there. And look Jalen Milro to me isn't in the same quarterback class as the names I just mentioned.

I don't think he's a first round pick. Their running attack was kind of a two-headed monster with Jace McClellan and Roydel Williams. They didn't have that dominating one back that they accustomed to see with Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry and guys like that right? They didn't have that. Receiving wise there wasn't a Devontae Adams. There wasn't a Amari Cooper. There wasn't guys like that. This was more of a group effort than anything.

I think that's the best way to put it was this was a group effort. There is talent on that defense. No question about that. Dallas Turner is going to be a very high draft pick, the linebacker.

Nine sacks on the season for him. So this isn't to me the same type of Alabama team where you look at it up and down and you say, man that's a bunch of dominating players. No, I mean they're really, really good players.

They're four and five star guys. You know, I follow all the recruiting stuff. They're all big name recruits, sure. But they weren't dominating college football the way that we've gotten accustomed to seeing Nick Saban players, especially by the way, after Lane Kiffin came in there and Lane Kiffin revamped the offense and brought it to the 21st century for Nick Saban.

Which is what he did. Lane Kiffin did a ton of good for this program in his short tenure there. A tenure that kind of brought him back to notoriety when he was kind of disgraced. Saban gave him that opportunity. He fixed Saban offensively too.

That was a boring offense. And it wasn't easy to get top recruits who want to go play in that type of offense, especially a quarterback, until Lane Kiffin came in there and revamped it. And on the other hand, you know, for Harbaugh, look, I do believe that everything that happens this year needs to have sort of a, I know some of you disagree, but there's got to be some sort of an asterisk, right? When you have a scandal that involves sign stealing and the possibility not everybody's playing on a level field, well, then you know what?

I hate to tell you this. Well, there has to be people kind of wondering what it means and what advantage it gave them. And is it fair to question them to a point, the success they've had?

And I think the answer is yes. They put themselves in this situation. They put themselves in a situation where it's right to question, did they win a bunch of games because they were just better than everybody else? Or do they win a bunch of games because they had this advantage, an illegal advantage that others did not?

So I'm not going to sit here and claim that had nothing to do with their success. Go out there and beat Alabama today in the Rose Bowl and you'll quiet people because I doubt they're cheating leading into this game because that'd be really brazen, wouldn't it? Like, that'd be stunning. Like, all right, imagine if they continued to cheat and it comes out later after they beat Alabama that they just used a new form of sign stealing. Look, it would be unbelievable. I can't believe that would happen.

Therefore, whatever happens today, I doubt it happens, but I think whatever happens today is going to be on the up and up. Yeah, I think the scrutiny and people are going to be watching them so close that they can't steal signs. They can't, right? I mean, although I'm sure others have tried. It wouldn't be the first time somebody has tried to... Well, if he ain't cheating, he ain't trying. Well, that's true.

If he ain't cheating, he ain't trying. And that does happen in sports. We know that at the Patriots, right? Oh yeah.

They continuously try. Yeah. They got caught more than once doing things. In flakegate. In flakegate, exactly right. And then video gate, don't forget that one, right?

Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're videotaping practices and Eric Mangini kind of put the kibosh on that one when he was the head coach of the Jets. Apparently everybody he knew was happening and he was the one that said something. And that's Sarad, his relationship with his mentor, Bill Belichick. Patriots had a dynasty, by the way, and they lost what? Two first round picks due to penalties?

Like, think about that, right? They had two first round picks. Well, they're paying for it now.

Yeah, they are paying. Well, that's what happens when you can't find a quarterback. When you have Tom Brady, you wake up every day going, my goodness, I'm so lucky I have a quarterback. And when he decides to leave and win a Super Bowl elsewhere and then retire, you say, oh my goodness, I got to find a way to replace him. I don't need him, but I got to find a way to replace him.

All right, Mac Jones, come on down. Didn't work out. Bailey Zappi, hasn't worked out.

Bailey Zappi. Jared Stidham, didn't work out. Everybody has not worked out at that position. Maybe there's some nerves involved because you're filling the shoes of maybe the greatest ever.

That might be it, I don't know. You know, just quarterbacks in general this year. I mean, it's hard to find a good quarterback. That's why every year in the draft you have, you know, five, six teams looking for quarterbacks thinking they finally found their man, right?

My Jets are probably going to be in the same situation again. Who's going to back up? What young quarterback is going to back up Aaron Rodgers for a year or two learning from the master before taking the reins? Not going to be Zach Wilson. I highly doubt he comes back. I think he's going to be out of the league.

No, somebody else. Look, the one thing you could say is it's not like he had a lot of help with that offensive line. Right? That offensive line was awful. That poor guy was running for his life on more than one occasion. So, I'm not going to put it all on him. Certainly there were decisions he made that were not good decisions and you can say, all right, you know what, that's on Zach Wilson. But other times when you're running for your life and you have no time to kind of look down the field and try to find an open receiver, that's what happens. You make mistakes. Especially when you're a young quarterback and that's sadly what I saw a lot of watching the Jets.

Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen show on a New Year's Day Monday. The other matchup, Texas and Washington. It's not as sexy, I hate to put it that way, but it's really not as sexy. Because Washington's not a blue blood team. Washington plays in the Pacific Northwest and outside of really Washington and maybe people on the West Coast, not a lot of people are watching.

Hate to say. A lot of people in the Midwest don't know anything about that team. The problem is on the West Coast here, and I'm in Los Angeles and you're on the East Coast, the games are too late for the East Coasters.

I mean, a couple of those USC games started at 7.40 locally and that's 10.40 your time. That's way too late. No one's watching it. Oh, but he's watching it. You're absolutely right.

It's way too late. It doesn't make sense to play the games that late, but that's exactly what happens. They play the game that late and people just on the East Coast aren't watching it. As great as Michael Penix is, how many people were able to watch him play this year outside of the West Coast crowd?

Not too many. Listen, I'm up late anyway, so I did get to, you know, I was fortunate enough to have the... You're a night owl. Yeah, I'm a night owl anyway, and I love college football.

I think Saturdays are better than Sundays, so I was able to watch some Michael Penix. I knew of him obviously before from his days in the Big Ten at Indiana, so, you know, that wasn't a surprise. But he was phenomenal. I mean, he is something special.

He really is. I don't know what it means for the NFL, but he is something special. That guy can play.

Wow, that guy can... I mean, he is an NFL player. There's no question about the fact that he's an NFL player.

How successful he's going to be, I think many people believe he's going to be very successful. He's got good size, had a tremendous season. He's been in college six years, which is just mind-boggling to me, by the way. And for four years, though, you know, to not really do much in Indiana and then to show up on Washington's campus and dominate two straight years of college football, throwing 64 touchdowns and 17 interceptions and throwing for almost 9,000 yards is just mind-boggling. In his first season, he threw for more yards, I believe, than he had, I think, in his four years at Indiana.

Like, isn't that an indictment of Indiana? You have a guy that is, you know, a Heisman Trophy finalist, a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. You had him for four years, and he threw for 29 touchdowns in four years for you.

You could not figure out a way to utilize the abilities. I know he had injury issues, especially that last year, but still, like, come on. Like, really, Indiana? Not sure who was the head coach at the time. Not sure it matters, but like, come on, you could not win games with Michael Penix.

Washington potentially could have an undefeated season this year with the guy. But I kind of, you know, look, this is a harder game to choose from because of the fact, if Alabama or Michigan's on TV, chances are you're going to watch. A Texas game in the Big 12 outside of, what do they call it, the Red River Rivalry, I guess, these days. It used to be the shootout.

I like that name, but apparently that's too violent sounding, so they changed that. But the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, you watch that because it's a great rivalry game. Outside of that, how many Texas games did you watch? If Arch Manning was playing, you probably would have watched a little bit more of it.

But it just comes down to the fact that I don't think a lot of people watched enough Texas and did not watch enough Washington to truly make an educated guess as to who is what, right? Like, who is truly the cream of the crop players on these teams? Who are the guys to watch? Jonathan Brooks at running back had a tremendous year. Xavier Worthy was a very high recruit. He was a high four-star, low five-star type of recruit coming out of high school.

He's the real deal. You got unbelievable quarterbacks in that room. I think Malik Murphy, though, has transferred.

Arch Manning's waiting to do something there. Quinn Ewers, guy's pretty good. But clearly, Washington has the advantage when it comes to quarterbacks. Ewers is a top prospect, but Michael Pennix has done it. He's proven it. He's a Heisman Trophy finalist.

He's a guy that's going to be a first-round pick. You have to give them the advantage. Look, I think Washington is really the team that I like in this one, just because I think there's more of a sure thing at the top position. You know, maybe that's the easy way out of looking at this, but I think that's the best way to look at it is if you break it down to the top position on the football field, and that's quarterback, who are you giving the advantage to? I think you're giving the advantage to Washington. Meanwhile, Alabama, Michigan, as good as McCarthy is, Milro's been great, too.

Is there a clear-cut better? I'm not saying who's a better pro. I'm saying who's just been better in college football this year.

Overall, McCarthy, but Milro's come on so strong as of late, solidifying himself as a starter there. It's hard to argue against him. Just really two good games. Next year, they expand the college football playoffs, and that's going to be a lot of fun.

You're not going to have some debates. You know, Florida State, blah, blah, blah. Obviously, Florida State was healthy.

It'd be a different story. Guys did not play because they didn't want to risk injury. They got blown out by Georgia. I mean, look, I take that result a grain of salt because that's not the same Florida State team that was down. Yeah, the quarterback was hurt, too. Yeah, by the way, that's why they didn't get in. If the quarterback was not hurt, chances are they would have gotten in to the college football playoffs. One of the reasons given was because of the fact he got hurt. As unfair as that sounds, that's what it is, and I get it.

Like, people want marquee names. Are you going to put a team that's going to rely on a backup quarterback to win you a game, put them into the college football playoffs? No, and again, I completely understand why they weren't put in.

Do I think it's right? No, and hopefully next year that gets remedied by, obviously, expanding the college football playoffs. That'll make people happy, but I do understand the rationale of why they were not put in. It makes perfect sense to me.

It really does. In the end, I did not have a problem with it, and I'm not saying that because of the fact they got blown out in a bowl game. To me, it isn't the justification I needed to make that determination. It stunk for them, and it stunk for their fan base, and I'm not going to argue that, and I understand why you're mad.

But in the end, it ended up working out because they did not get the job done. But that's the whole nature of college football today. If you're going to enter the draft, you're probably not going to play in a bowl game that's not a playoff game.

Because in the end, it's actually a worthless game. And God forbid you get hurt, it's a Jalen Smith situation. The linebacker Notre Dame probably was the top 15 pick in the bowl game. Torres ACL ended up falling to the Cowboys early in the second round.

Cost him millions of dollars. Alright? So I'm going to go Alabama, and I am going to go Washington. Wow. Yeah.

Wow. Who are you going? I am going with Michigan and Washington. You're just going opposite of me, aren't you? Yes. So you're going Michigan and Washington. Alright.

Okay. So at least we agree on Washington. I don't think anybody can stop Michigan. I think Michigan's the best team. I don't think anybody can stop them. I just, I don't, you know, here's the, okay, hold that thought, okay?

It's not a crazy thought what you just said. They're the best team and you don't think anybody can stop them. I'm going to tell you why.

If there's one team that can stop them, this is the team. Alright? So hold that thought. And we're going to come back and I'm going to tell you why, Art.

While you are technically correct, I think this is why you are actually wrong. Alright? I'm going to school you with this one next. Dan Schwartzman. In for Rich Eisen.

It is the Rich Eisen Show. Welcome to Talkville. The Ultimate Smallville Rewatch Podcast. Karen, what you got?

Hi guys. Karen Appleland from Australia with a quick question for season three talisman. That knife wound he was so powerful. Tom, what was it like to do that scene with John as your director? It's great that I was with those people because when your eyes are closed and someone is supposed to be going to stab you in the chest, you have to really trust that they're not going to hurt you. So I was in good hands with John.

Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. Jalen Milro drops to his left knee. The coaches take to midfield. Are they ever truly an underdog? Alabama rises to their 30th SEC Championship crown. They knock off the number one team in the country, Georgia. Half of this crowd of 78,320 are losing their minds.

That is Kirsten Westwood one. That was Alabama knocking off Georgia SEC Championship game. Kind of a stunner. Georgia was number one ranked on their way to a college football playoff again. Chance to three-peat as national champions and Alabama put the kibosh on that one. What you wouldn't consider to be one of Nick Saban's better teams over the course of the last decade or so. Dan Schwartzman in for a rich.

It is the Rich Eisen Show on New Year's Day Monday. You said something very interesting before the break. You said Michigan is the best team and that's why you're picking them to beat Alabama, correct? I still think that.

Yeah, absolutely. And they will beat Alabama. I understand why you say that and I guess you can say they're the better team maybe on paper. As I just said, I don't think this is one of the better Nick Saban. This more tells you how great Nick Saban's been building teams. To me, this isn't one of the great Nick Saban teams yet.

Here they are. Two wins away from yet another national championship. OK, as crazy as that sounds. But that's the success that he has had. But the game we just played the highlight from. OK, the SEC Championship game, Art. You would clearly say, I think, that Georgia was the best team in that game, correct?

Yes, correct. OK, they were the best team in that game. They were the team that would be considered the favorite, undefeated, probably more talent overall.

And what ends up happening? They don't win. And maybe that's the Nick Saban effect. I'm not sure because I'm not sure that Georgia of all teams gets intimidated by Nick Saban at this point.

They probably don't. But on the other hand, you have to look at and wonder how is it that Georgia lost this Alabama team? With a quarterback that has had his problems this year, was benched this year. Had struggles this year. Didn't play at the level that we've seen Alabama quarterbacks play at. Where they go on to become first round picks in a draft. I don't think anybody looks at Melrose and says he's a first round pick. He might be a nice college quarterback, but do you look at him as potentially being a guy that moves up to the next level?

Maybe. I mean, stranger things have happened. Jalen Hurts was considered a nice quarterback at Alabama. I don't know if we looked at Jalen Hurts and thought of him as truly being a, you know, an NFL talent. Ghost Oklahoma seemingly reinvents himself and the rest is history, right? Just saying.

Anything can happen. But while Michigan is probably a more talented team than this year's Alabama team, am I going to go against Nick Saban? Am I going to not believe in Nick Saban? Because whenever people seem to do that, they lose.

They get burned. Because somehow Nick Saban figures out a way to win games. John Harbaugh is, Jim Harbaugh is a heck of a coach. Not taking anything away from Harbaugh. John Harbaugh is a good coach too. John Harbaugh is an even better coach potentially, right?

I think so. He's doing it at the NFL level. Although, let's not forget, Jim Harbaugh did go to a Super Bowl as a head coach of the 49ers. Against his brother. They're both just incredible.

They're both, although attitude-wise, they both seem to be completely opposite. You remember, they played against each other in the Super Bowl. That's right, they did play against each other in the Super Bowl, yeah. Oh man, those family dinners must have been something after that. You think they're back to having family dinners or there's still some bad blood from that? Oh, there's got to be bad blood.

I would have bad blood. Probably, right? I mean, Harbaugh is such a curmudgeon.

Especially when he shows me the ring. Yeah. Do you have to wear that at dinner? You know I hate seeing that damn thing.

Do you really need to wear it? Are you wearing it to spite me? The answer is yes, I am. I am, Jim. I'm wearing it to spite you. I beat you.

Just deal with it, right? So yeah, Michigan's better, but that means absolutely nothing in this game. Jim Harbaugh is a heck of a coach. But if you had to decide who you wanted coaching your team, alright, here you go.

If you had to decide who you wanted coaching your team in this game, one game to get you to the national championship game, are you taking Jim Harbaugh or are you taking Nick Saban? That's a good question. I don't think it's a good question. I think it's an easy question. How many national championships has Jim Harbaugh won? Last time I checked, he doesn't have any rings on his finger. Right?

I mean, Nick Saban's got what? Eight? Seven?

What? Seven with Alabama, one with LSU, or is it six and one? Seven and one, right?

Yeah. You taking the guy with eight rings or you taking the guy with no rings? I think it's an easy question who you taking if you are needing a head coach for one game and the game happens to be this game. So right there you have to give some sort of an advantage. Whatever advantage you want to give a head coach, what advantage are you giving them?

It's still an advantage when it comes to the coach. Because again, you are taking Nick Saban over Jim Harbaugh. And if you don't, something's wrong with you and you're just a hater. Call me a hater.

I'll call you a hater. But in terms of talent, Michigan's talent level over Alabama isn't significant enough to where you're going to overcome maybe not having the better of the two coaches. Hence, I am picking Alabama and I am picking Washington to make it to the national championship game in Houston next week. NBA season rolling along. What's the latest? What teams do you believe in?

What teams don't you believe in? The big storylines coming up next, Steve Ashburner, senior writer from nba.com is going to join us. Our three next Dan Schwartzman in for Rich right here on the Rich Eisen Show. How wrestling really works and how you get the ratings. Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson explain on 83 weeks. I mean I dig Jay Uso because he's born out of great storytelling and he lived up to the opportunity and exceeded it. The LA Knight he's way up on my list because here's a guy that's been around for almost ever should have probably quit a half a dozen times and he just forced his way into their life and now he's making money hand over fist. That is a story I love. 83 weeks on YouTube or wherever you listen.