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Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Even if you're thinking he was sliding late. Oh my, that'll be Al Shair who's flagged for the big hit. Al Shair gave him the business. Live from The Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Him not patrolling the middle of the field against Tua Mahomes Lamar will leave a mark.
I'm sure Jaguars fans are like, well, you know what left a mark. Earlier on the show, actor Ken Jeong. Coming up, Fox Sports College football insider, Bruce Feldman, host of Max's Second Chance Stage, Emmanuel Acho, and now it's Rich Eisen. Our number two of The Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Bruce Feldman's gonna join us here from Fox Sports and the Athletics.
So much to talk about with him. Last weekend's results in college football and how it has come out in the college football playoff wash before conference championship weekend and then comes the Heisman Trophy. I mean, that is quite a large plate of things to talk about with our weekly guest talking college football, our friend, Bruce Feldman, Emmanuel Acho, that you see on many FS1 or Fox Sports television shows is coming in in support of a Max show that he is a part of called Second Chance Stage.
So he'll be here in studio on number three and maybe we'll talk about his opinion about what happened after Michigan, Ohio State. Certainly since it dovetails with mine. Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee. Okay.
844-204 Rich is the number to dial on the program. What? What, what, what? I didn't say anything. Okay.
It's a Wednesday. You know what that means? Oh, man. It's time for my power rankings and I think you'll enjoy it. I think I nailed this one.
I think I really did in a way that you wouldn't expect. And it's presented by Sleep Number. Let's go. Power rankings! There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Power rankings! All right, are you ready, everybody? Are you ready, everybody? I'm ready, I'm ready.
I'm packing my Roku pen. I'm gonna write it down. Okay, very good.
Very nicely done on brand. Yeah, of course. Okay, is it one of those that has the purple ink as well? No, this is black ink. Okay, good.
Because it was one of the purple ink ones I'd have to take it because that's my daughter's favorite. Well, now I know that we have those. I'm gonna look out for them. Or I guess it's just the pen version of the Toronto Raptors NBA cup floor.
If you saw that one last night. All right, wow. Power rankings, number 10 on the list, they're back. They're back. They're not only back on my list, but they're back in the playoffs or what conversation? I eliminated them in that conversation last week, put them back in. The commanders are back on the list. They're at number 10.
Oh, interesting. I understand you might think the team that they eviscerated this weekend in Tennessee is less than so why would you take that into such account that you would knock a team off your list that won and put them on it? It's because I believe in this collective that I saw on Sunday. I saw a Jayden Daniels that does look healthy, looks like the kid from the first half of the season. I see a quarterback wide receiver combination that's a difference maker. I see a running game that's working and I see an opportunistic defense and that's what can make you a top third tier team in the National Football League. The commanders are back on the list.
Number nine on the list. They went across the country in a short week and played an early window game despite being on Pacific time in their heads. I'm putting the Chargers back on the list here at number nine because I do believe they are one of the best teams in the NFL even though they are not leading a division. I took off a team that is leading the division off this list and I will reveal that later on. The Chargers have got the quarterback, they've got the gumption, they've got the defense.
My Lord do they have the defense. They picked off Kirk Cousins four times coming off a bye. They had a short week game from the West Coast coming East for an early window and they looked like the one coming off a bye not the team that was coming off a bye. The Chargers that was an impressive win in Atlanta and I put them number nine on my list. Down two spots is a 10 win team.
Even though they were once upon a time five and oh and at five and two and they're now 10 and two it's their second straight five game win streak of the season but I'm knocking the Vikings down a peg. Wow. Two spots and you'll understand why or you won't understand why.
I don't think I'm going to understand why. Okay, very good. I'm putting the Vikings down here at eight.
Whoa. Because I knocked down this team two pegs because of their loss at home to the Philadelphia Eagles. I think if the Ravens play the Vikings, the Ravens win. I'm putting them at seven right here. Oh, I think the Ravens should be out. Okay, you think the Ravens should be out? I disagree wholeheartedly on that front and I'm putting the Ravens at seven on this list.
They're eight and five. I think that they have enough weapons and enough going on for them that in a do or die game I would take the Ravens over the Vikings right now. So that's why I'm putting them at seven. Well, the do or die game would be the Super Bowl. I understand what you're saying.
Okay. I'm not saying they both make the Super Bowl. I'm saying this is the method in which I'm pegging teams on my list.
Number six, up one spot. And this team is poised to take a massive leap forward if they could this week. I'm putting the Packers here. I think the Packers are a stout nine and three team that everyone's overlooking because of who's above them in division. And I understand the Vikings beat the Packers in Green Bay earlier this year. I think if they were, if they play each other right now Green Bay would win this game.
And by the way, they are playing each other. Let me make sure I get this appropriate in week 17 in Minnesota. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I like what the Packers look like right now at their three wins in a row. And I know the Vikings have won five in a row. Packers have won seven of eight guys. They're nine and three, and they're taking on the Lions in one night.
And that's going to be so big. Top five. Number three on the, number five on this list, up three spots. I'm putting the Steelers back in my top five. Opportunistic on defense, hall of fame head coach, a quarterback that is playing like his old hall of fame self right now, and a run game that's there. All phases are clicking right now for the Steelers who are top five, taking on the Browns this week. Number four, the two time defending Super Bowl champs stay like a before. The Chiefs are sitting there at four right now.
I think this is going to be a monumental Christmas game on Netflix that you could see right here on Roku. That's going to be huge in week 17. Next up though, is the Chargers on Sunday night. We'll see if the Chargers are worthy of being popped back on my power rankings list at nine in that game. Can't wait to see what the Chiefs look like against the Chargers.
We shall see. They're number four in the list. The number three team on this list, the Buffalo Bills stay like a before.
Stay like a before. There they are, number three. With an MVP quarterback and a rampaging team filled with momentum and joy and love for one another. Playing like a team that can win the Super Bowl.
No doubt about it. Number two and then number one. As you know, I've had the Lions atop my list ever since the Chiefs lost. I said I was going to keep the Chiefs on this list atop the list until they lost.
Then they did, then I knocked them down. Then I put the Lions there and I thought to myself, I'm going to keep the Lions there until they lose. That said, based on the way that I'm seeing these two teams play over the last several weeks, I'm going to, even though I have the Lions making the Super Bowl and I will still stand by it, but it is about currency right now. Be careful. I'm putting the Lions down to two. Be careful, they're sensitive.
And I understand they're sensitive. I've already said that I still believe the Lions can win this conference, will win this conference, will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, but I got to give it up right now. I mean, the Lions in the second half against the Chicago Bears at home watched the Chicago Bears almost save Mattie Rafluz's job for at least a week while the Philadelphia Eagles went into Baltimore and just say quantum again. And they have been playing consistently and they are winning on the West Coast on a Sunday night. They're winning in Baltimore on a Sunday afternoon the next week. They're winning in so many different places and they are winning on defense that is just lights out with Jalen Carter dominating up front. That kid Nolan Smith is suddenly coming on in the first round manner that they were hoping he could come on out of Georgia.
That guy, Greg Bond is just zooming all over the place. Cooper DeGene, I mean, they are superb on that end of the football and then MVP candidates all over the place on the offensive side of things. And I got to give it up to the Philadelphia Eagles. They are currently playing like the best team in football and I'm going with the team that hasn't lost since they were two and two over the team that hasn't lost since they were one and one and I'll take the hits.
Seattle Seahawks and Broncos are off the list even though they won their football games. Yeah, why? I don't think there was any reason to take them off. Because I just think to myself, the eye test for me right now is the Chargers and the commanders would beat them in match-ups right now.
That's the way I'd go. Wow. And I'm gonna get answers. We're gonna get answers to the test.
Yeah, I disagree. We're gonna get answers to the test. I mean, the Chargers beat a team circling the drain and then Washington beat a team that's in the top, you know, fighting for a top five draft pick and Seattle went all the way east, down two scores and came back and won. Okay, it's interesting you didn't mention the team that they beat. The Jets, I mean, to say that they're circling the drain, I think that they are basically coating the drain.
No, I'm talking about Atlanta. The drain that they're, you talked about Atlanta circling the drain and you're like, well, the Chargers just beat a team circling the drain that is actually in first place. The team at Seattle went all the way across the country to beat, you can't even say a circling the drain. They are coating the drain with their miserable play. And they were still up two scores.
Okay. And came back and won. I'm just saying, it's just interesting that you, to make your point, didn't describe the team that Seattle beat as circling the drain when they're beyond it. They're so far down the drain, they're already through whatever plumbing there could be to take the water out to the ocean. They got a guy with a- That's where the Jets are right now.
They got a guy with a Netflix documentary I saw yesterday. Very good, I like that you're saying that. You know what I mean?
I think you're making my point. Presented by Sleep Number. And now during their cyber week sale, save 20% on most Sleep Number smart beds, plus free home delivery with any base.
Limited time to find a store near you, visit sleepnumber.com. Do you have anything to chime in on this front? About your list? Because he has problems. I mean, you know, that's- I took off two teams that lost. I mean, two teams that won and are in playoff spots. Chris, why did you say that you wouldn't even have Baltimore in the top 10? Yeah, why do you wanna knock the Ravens straight out? Well, they lost a home game and their kicker can't kick.
All right. And you think if they play any of these other teams, I think they lose to Denver. I think they lose to Chargers, Washington.
I would just put them out. Lose to the Chargers, they just beat them in their house on a Monday night. You're talking about, I'm talking about right now, if they played right now. Yeah, that's your metric. That was in the past.
I'm talking about right now today, they lose, right? That's your metric for doing this? Okay. What do you have to say? I'm confused again. Yeah.
I don't know. I like the way the commanders just played. It hurts me to give them props, as you know, but I've been doing it. Washington, yeah, the Chargers. I would think you would agree with me putting the Eagles above the Lions though, right? I would agree with that. They're playing better football right now. It's more consistent.
The top four is kind of pull your hand out and you know, that's that. How about this? Eagles-Lions, NFC championship game would be just absolutely off the charts.
It'd be great. Because they haven't played each other. They're not playing each other until that possibility right there. And if they make it, the Lions would be, maybe, I can't say more battle tested because their division is tougher when Philadelphia also had to go to Baltimore. And, you know, I understand people think the Rams are just a 500 team, but coming out here to play that game on a Sunday night and doing what they did, they didn't just beat up the Rams. They just dominated them on the line. Dominated them.
They did lose to Atlanta early in the season. I'm sure Lions fans will be like, what are you talking about, bud? The Lions should have lost on Thursday, if not for dumb coaching. And screwing up the last 30 seconds. They should have at least watched their opponent swing one leg for the right to keep playing. They should have seen that, you know, but what say anybody?
844-204-Rich, number to dial. We'll take a break. Bruce Feldman's going to join us. Fox Sports and the Athletic to talk about what we saw over the weekend.
He saw, he was in Columbus, Ohio. So we'll talk about the results, the aftermath, the college football playoff committee's opinions coming up. We'll be right back. And you'll earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com so that going that extra mile for your business is even more rewarding. See how the Amex Business Platinum card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved, terms applied.
Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. As many of you clearly know, I love going to watch football live. There's nothing like it, whether it's college football or professional football. There's nothing quite like the excitement of being in the stadium. And game time tickets and game time picks through game time is exactly your way and your gateway to getting the seat that you want and the experience that you'll never forget. Game time picks is a new curation feature that filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't waste a single second searching through thousands of tickets. The all-in pricing feature, that's my favorite. You get to see your total upfront, no surprise fees at checkout. With game time, you'll always get the lowest price guarantee or game time will credit you 110% of the difference.
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Back here on the Rich Eizen Show. So with the flag planting and everything going on in Columbus, Ohio, over the weekend, the, I guess, OG or George Washington of modern day flag planting in college football was asked about it after he vanquished the Carolina Panthers in overtime. This is the Baker Mayfield. Did you hear this exchange with Baker Mayfield?
No, I missed it. This is from Sunday. OU Texas does it every time they play. It's not anything special.
You take your L and you move on. College football is meant to have rivalries. That's like the Big 12 banning the Hornstown signal. Just let the boys play.
Not surprising that that's his take. As it should be. Let the boys play. Let the boys play. What are we doing?
What are we doing? And by the way, in case anybody wants to know, you know, there's that banner that Michigan, the banner that Michigan runs out from underneath in the big house and smacks the M, you know, banner that the alumni group supports you, slaps it. Apparently back in 1977, Ohio State assaulted that flag.
We really went back for that. Did you assault a flag? Yeah, I mean, they, you know what I'm saying. But how did they assault it?
And Michigan planted it in 2022 as well. That's a long time in between. There were no fisticuffs or any, I mean, macing.
There was no macing of anybody. Rich, I promise you in 77, they were scrapping over that. Listen, man, you can read about it. The Bow versus Woody years were the years that set up this rivalry for being even bigger than what it is today. So, you know, we're as big as it is today. It's just a bunch of kids who I think realized in the moment that they had just lost to Michigan and some of them were gonna leave the campus without having ever beaten them.
And it was tough to swallow. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk, furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you. Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial right here on the program. What do you wanna know from Bruce as we're ready to get him here on the program here? I think it's curious that the bear, Chris Felica brought it up earlier this morning. What happens if Penn State and Georgia win? Who's number one? And how does that kind of trickle down and affect the rest of the rankings?
I think that's what I'm the most curious about. I guess if Penn State beats Oregon, and does Texas win as well? No, no, Georgia wins. Georgia beats Texas. Both the underdogs win in the Big Ten in the SEC, then who's number one?
Huh. Because if Penn State wins and Texas wins, Texas has gotta be number one, right? Yes. Absolutely. But if the underdogs, is Penn State suddenly number one?
Even though we've seen them play big games before, they just don't show up? I gotta tell you, man, I guess just having watched Penn State, Ohio State again, Ohio State was a better team that day. Yeah.
End of story. I still kind of think Ohio State should be among the favorites to win the whole thing. They are. They just had a bad day.
Dude, how are they not one of the favorites to win the whole thing? You guys kind of crippled them. Well, I mean, it's just, in terms of crippling Ohio State, all right, the bottom line is this. In the old school phrase that can get lost in this new school world of NILs and portals, and collectives, and all of that, and you just lose sight of the old school axiom, the Michigan-Ohio State result confirmed the 100% time-honored statement of throw the records out. And we make fun of that. Well, these two teams don't like each other.
Throw the records out when they face each other. Yeah. That's a thing.
It's a thing. Especially in the Steelers, Ravens, Browns. I mean, I know that's pro, but no matter what those teams' records are, you throw them out.
Or the history just 100% causes a coaching staff to go completely AWOL when it's time to do two things. And you saw that on Ohio State. It's time to screw the run game. We got these studs outside. We got to throw it there. And the thing that I had mentioned that frightened me as a Michigan fan waiting for the second half is Ohio State got the answers to the test when they went right down the field in a two-minute drill because they had to go and score fast.
They got the answers to the test and then didn't use those answers in the second half. And the other thing that they went brain dead on, or at least Ryan Day did, is when there is something going on in the middle of the field, go and personally investigate it. Don't just stand there. And unfortunately for him, the Fox camera caught him just at the moment where he asked somebody who whizzed by him, what happened?
Yeah, he had that 1,000 yard stare on his face. Honestly, you're on the edge of the battle and you're waiting for somebody from the front to give you a report? Or are you gonna do what Sharon did, which is get right in there and say, knock it off. 844-204 Rich, number to dial. Joining us here now on the Rich Eisen Show, fresh back from his time in Columbus, Ohio, Bruce Feldman here. You're on your couch? Where do we find you, Bruce, right now? I'm on the couch. I'm on the couch right now. Okay, you're on the shelf on the couch? Well, it's good to see you, Bruce. I appreciate you doing this as opposed to being here in person.
So let me ask you this question. How surprising to you was this result? You were physically there in Columbus over the weekend. Shocking. I mean, I think the only person I knew of who was expecting a Michigan win was our friend Charles Woodson. I think everybody else looked at it and go, okay, this is not just a Michigan team that has an inept offense.
Now it's an inept Michigan team. We found out pretty much the night before that Colston Loveland, their best player on offense, he wasn't gonna be able to play in the game. On top of that, Will Johnson, who's their best defensive back and arguably the best defensive player, he's missed much of the second half of the season. He wasn't gonna play.
So you're talking about a team that's already shaky and now they're gonna be missing their best offensive player and arguably their best defensive player. And we watched Ryan Day hang an extra touchdown on Indiana the week before, even when his running back slid down at the two yard line to run out the clock. And then Ryan Day threw another touchdown on the fire. He probably never heard of Kurt Signetti a year before and he ran it up.
You don't think he was gonna try to put up 70 if he could've against the Michigan Wolverines and obviously they couldn't even put up 11 points on them. It's crazy. It's true. If you wouldn't mind just lowering your camera a little bit here, Bruce, there you go.
That's the guy. So why did Ohio State keep running into the strength of Michigan's defense rather than relying on their clear advantage outside, Bruce? Why did that happen, do you think?
I think a couple of things. You go in there thinking, hey, physical teams, show their physicality by running the football. But then I think there's another part of it where I just don't think there was a lot of trust with Will Howard. He had a couple of bad interceptions, one early in the game. It happened inside their own 10 yard line.
It was really costly. Will Howard was shaky when they played Penn State through a pick six on his first throw and then kind of settled in. But I also thought they had issues protecting the quarterback. But there still could have been stuff that you would have thought they would have been able to do to get the ball to J.J. Smith, get the ball to Emeka Buga, get the ball to the running backs out in space. I mean, because they couldn't run the football.
And what felt like it happened, this is different, but there were some similarities. Two years ago, the game is in Ohio State, in Columbus. And it felt like Ohio State should have been up by way more than they were at halftime. And Michigan was able to hang around. Now what I remember distinctly from being on the Michigan sideline in that game was the leaders of that Michigan team, most of them are now in the NFL.
They're still not there. But they were like basically in their minds calling out to their teammates, calling out that we're the tougher team, those guys on the other sideline, they're about to quit. And there was a huge belief in the Michigan program that they were just the tougher team and we're gonna take over in the second half and in the fourth quarter, and they did. With this game, a lot of different players at Michigan, and I think that what it came down to was you had an Ohio State team.
It wasn't just what you said. It was also like they're missing field goals that they should hit. It was like they were just melting down. It was a team that looked tighter and tighter.
And I think that was the part that was just like, ooh, they're unraveling. Again, credit to Michigan. They were the more physical team.
Kalil Mullings, they should have a, you know, he should never pay for a drink in Ann Arbor for the rest of his life. I mean, that guy put the team on his back when they beat USC and he did it again. And to think two years ago going into this game, he was still a linebacker and they flipped him because of injuries to play running back, he has been a revelation for them. But again, I think a lot of this was self-inflicted with Ohio State too. And Michigan did enough to create that dynamic. And it was like they almost, you know, baited a trap for Ohio State and that guy fell into it. So what is your reporting right now, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and the Athletic before we get to the college football playoff, what's your reporting on Ryan Day's seat? You know, the Buckeye fans that I know, you know, they've gone through many stages of grief right now and it started with severe anger with Ryan Day. Is he coaching for his job in these playoffs, Bruce? You know, I don't think he is. I don't know how you fire him.
He's 66 and 10, right? They can't, you know, even two years ago when they lost at home, they, you know, came within a field goal to beating Georgia. And if they, in the playoff game, if they make that, if they're playing TCU and they're beating, you know, they're gonna win a national title, but that didn't happen. And now they're going into the playoff, you know, licking their wounds, you know, of this as they, you know, we'll see who they're gonna get matched up with. They would have to win three games. They're plenty talented.
I mean, I would argue, and I wrote this, you know, the other day for the Athletic, I think they're the most talented team in the country top to bottom. It's just right now, they're not playing well. They're coming off, you know, there's gonna be a lot of soul searching. They won't play Michigan. They won't have to be, you know, have to face them again this year, but they will face good teams. You know, what kind of shape are they gonna be in emotionally? My biggest point of this is not whether Ohio State still wants Ryan Day, because just from, you know, people I know who've, you know, talked to the new AD there, Ross Bjork, I don't think he wants any part of going through a coaching search right now. You know, he just got there.
I don't think that to do something like that. So, you know, barring them winning the national title and winning the playoff, which wouldn't totally shock me, because like I said, everybody has a lot of flaws. There's no like 2019 LSU team or one of those Georgia teams that won the national title. These, all these teams are very suspect and they're as talented as anybody, but barring them winning it all, I think the issue is gonna come back to, you know, Ryan Day at some point doing some evaluation of just his, everything around him with his family. And from everything I've heard, it has been a really, really tough time for them in dealing with a lot of what they've been dealing with the last couple of years.
And that was before Saturday. I think it's only gonna get worse after losing, because they, you know, the teams they lost to before, like last year they lost to a team that won the national title. The year before that they lost to a playoff team. This team they lost to was the worst Michigan team they faced since the early Rich Rod days. You know, it's not a good team. They're terrible on offense. They just fired the offensive coordinator yesterday. I mean, it's, you know, it's, they were banged up in the secondary.
Yeah, the D line's really good, but it was not like, this was not a great team and they lost to them and they were home and they spent $20 million on guys in the portal for this year. So I think that's the part where he sits there and look, we know from, you know, Ryan Day being very candid about his own, you know, life story and some of the things that he and his family had to, you know, had to deal with. And I think he has a great awareness of the importance of mental health. And I wonder if when he sits down after the season and thinks, do I wanna keep doing this here?
Is this the best thing for me and my family? I think those are gonna be, I think that to me, that's like a different question than is Ohio State ready to move on from him, whether, you know, Mike Vrabel wants to be a college coach and come home. I just don't think there's beyond Mike Vrabel. I don't also don't think there's really easy answers to say, oh yeah, somebody's gonna come in here and do better than Ryan Day has done.
It's not easy, it's not an easy needle to thread there. Certainly when you're 66 and 10, but not to put you in a position here, and then we'll get to the college football playoff. Again, Buckeye fans that I speak to wonder about the guy who was smirking at Charles on your set during the pregame show to his left, as Charles was even, had the temerity to suggest in this horseshoe that Michigan could come out with a win. What about Urban coming back, Urban 2.0 in Ohio State, Bruce? Not to speak for Urban, because obviously I work with him at Fox, but like, I'd be very surprised. What Urban left and when he left is a very different version of college football than it is now.
You know, there's NIL, there's a transfer portal, there's revenue sharing coming down. There's a lot of stuff going on. I, you know, and Urban, you know, I just don't see him either being ready to deal with all that other stuff when it comes to roster management and everything else in the new version of college football. Even if he wanted to, I think anybody who's really hands-on in it, and look, some of the people he's still close to, you know, one of his proteges, Kyle Whittingham, terrific coach at Utah, but has really struggled in the last, you know, especially this year. I mean, I think a lot of the guys he knows, it's like, I think they're looking, you know, on the getting out of it, much less diving back into it. You know, I think the, you know, people romanticizing 7-0 in his record versus Michigan, I mean, obviously I know he's super proud of that, but I just, personally, my own impression of him and what, you know, how he'd have to dive into college football in a way that he's, I don't, I just don't, I don't see that. I don't think that's realistic at all. I mean, that's wishful thinking on the hands of a couple of, you know, Michigan fans right now who are very frustrated.
NIL and Portal, I mean, the world is no doubt different for sure. I've got Bruce Feldman from Fox Sports and The Athletic right here on the Rich Eisen Show. So much to talk about. Let's get into the college football playoff. Results with one week to go. Bruce, what were your impressions of watching this new fangled CFP-12 team world?
What do you think of this right now? You know, I'm not surprised that Alabama got bumped ahead of Miami at this point. You know, Alabama's a three loss team. They have, you know, they lost at Vanderbilt. They had a really bad loss a couple of weeks ago where they got blown out by a very mediocre Oklahoma team. You know, they lost 24 to three. But Miami had a 21 to nothing lead at Syracuse. And they ended up losing. You know, and they had a chance to win. They have two losses. It's unfortunate for them. Like, they have, you know, their best win probably is against a nine and three Duke team that is not in those rankings. Now they may end up sneaking back in there. Maybe if UNLV or Army lose this weekend, then maybe Duke ends up there.
I doubt it. But like, they don't have any wins over that. I just think the reality is the committee and the college football establishment thinks much higher of the SEC than it certainly does of the ACC.
And the idea of leaving a nine and three Alabama team which does have a really good win over Georgia out of the playoff is something I just wouldn't expect, you know, wasn't gonna expect because even with the loss to Oklahoma, it's still the SEC and it's still a big brand in the SEC. And again, Miami, you know, the analogy I would give, it's like the team that played a game, you know, played a big game. And then at the end of the game, there was a questionable call that went against them. And ultimately the coaches have to come down to it and go like, look, one call. We let it in the hands of the officials. That's on us. And I think in this case, you know, in Miami's case, you lose to Syracuse and you left it in doubt and that's what's gonna happen. You're in the ACC, they're in the SEC.
You know, like you're being naive. You don't think that stuff matters to the people in that room. And what do you think of the possibility of a new number one, Penn State beats Oregon? What do you think about this weekend's contest? How do you think this weekend's contest could shake everything up of what's remaining, Bruce? Yeah, I mean, you know, if Penn State beats Oregon or if Texas avenges the loss to Georgia, does that, you know, move them up?
I mean, you know, it'd be interesting to me. I think the most curious thing, I don't think this will happen, but if Georgia ends up beating Texas pretty handily, you know, then Texas is gonna have two losses to Georgia, both probably by more than two touchdowns or by, you know, 15 points or whatever, you know, like if they were to lose. But they're not gonna have any ruins over top 25 teams. You know, and they would be sitting there with two losses. I don't, you know, again, the committee says they don't, you know, has kind of messaged this that they don't wanna punish teams who get to play in a conference championship game. I do think SMU sitting there at number eight is vulnerable. I think if they lose to Clemson this weekend and SMU doesn't have any great wins either, I think they could be getting knocked out. And I think you may only get that one ACC team.
I don't know that for a fact, obviously. But you wouldn't be able to put Clemson in a bi-week spot. So who would pop up, you know, into a bi-week spot? Like who would they, and it can't be Notre Dame, who would be the team that would be next up, one would think, you know? Yeah, but I think you're looking at it saying, okay, it's gonna be Boise State would get that spot. Well, Boise State would get a spot that they're currently in if they win.
No, but I'm saying you're going to get, you know, it's basically five for four spots. So you're sitting there, you're gonna have a Penn State. I would assume, you know, like there's one brand you're missing there, but like, I would assume you have- You put Ohio, no, I'm just, again, I'm just trying to, so you'd say Ohio State could just sit at home, watch Penn State lose to Oregon, and then they would be upgraded from one home game to- I'm sorry, that's what you're asking. No, I don't think Ohio State would leapfrog Penn State then.
But what if Penn State loses? You see, that's what I'm saying, is that you've got SMU and you've got Boise State currently sitting in bi-week spots. Let's say UNLV and Clemson win their conference championships.
You're not gonna take them and put them in a bi-week spot. Who would you take from the current, you know- Then it would be a big 12 team, you know. You're either having a big 12 team or an ACC team or Boise State gonna be paired, you know, some combination of those to go with the SEC champ and the big 10 champ. You would have two of the three of those. So it's either gonna be, you know, depending on what happens, whether it's Arizona State sitting there at 15, or you could have Clemson at 17 potentially, you know, vault in, I don't think that's gonna happen, you know, but you have- That's quite an upgrade. I mean, that's what I'm saying, is that if Arizona State and- It's Arizona State and Iowa State are playing, so you have 15 and 16- Right, so if Arizona State wins and then there's a bi-week available, you're just gonna give it to Arizona State from 15 to three, or you'd give Clemson from 17 to four? I mean, that's like going from standby to a first-class seat, man.
Well, that's what conference camps are getting, and Notre Dame, the way they agreed to this deal was, they weren't, you know, in this iteration of this, they weren't open for the opening week. Jeez. Wow. Okay, Bruce, I appreciate the time.
Before I let you go, one for me right here. What's your reporting on who the next OC of Michigan could be? I mean, and I understand, you know, I'm biased, but when you can join Michigan, and Bryce Underwood's the quarterback, and you're the offensive coordinator, and I'm seeing all these other kids that are saying, I'll come too, as soon as Bryce Underwood said yes. This is a pretty plum job, man, and it's a pretty big hire for Sharone Moore.
What do you think, Bruce? Yeah, I know Joe Craddick at Tulane is a name that has come up. I would not be surprised if they looked at a Joe Moorehead, who did a terrific job as Penn State and Oregon's OC. Now he's the head coach at Akron, but I know that there's been some interest from some Big Ten schools in him. There's a lot of big OC jobs that are open, you know, so I would expect, you know, we reported in the pregame that we were expecting Kirk Campbell to be out after that game.
Obviously, that happened yesterday. I know Michigan is, they're also gonna be in the market probably for a grad transfer quarterback to bring in, in addition to Underwood. So there's a lot of interesting pieces that have to be sorted out in Ann Arbor right now, you know, in the wake of, obviously, a big weekend, but there's a lot of stuff going on there that I think Sharone Moore has to get settled into. Last one, is this Travis Hunter's Heisman to lose as we're sitting here right now? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to watch Ashton Gente on Friday night. Yeah, sure. He's the only one even close.
I'd be shocked if anyone's, like to me, Travis Hunter has run away with the Heisman this year. All right, Bruce, thanks for the time. Greatly appreciate it. We'll see you here next week. Hopefully, we'll get you back on your feet, brother.
Yeah, that's good. You got it. That's Bruce Feldman, everybody, back here on the Rich Eisen Show. That's a lot to chew on right there.
We'll take a break and do our best to chew on it and get you set for our number three on this program, Emmanuel Acho will be joining us in studio for that one. Let's talk O'Reilly Auto Parts, people. You love their jingle. You're going to love their friendly, helpful service even better, because they're in the business of keeping your car on the road and the parts knowledge they have, it's all you need for your maintenance and repairs. They've got thousands of parts and accessories in stock, either in store or online.
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Shopify.com slash Westwood One. Is it true that you met Lorne Michaels as a vendor at Yankee Stadium, the SNL founder? When I became a cast member, I gave him back like $14 and some cents, and he said, what's this for? I said, because I overcharge you for some items. He started laughing.
He started dying. This is, when you said game four, like what, the 96 World Series? Is that what that was? Tracy? What do you think? I don't know. I forgot. What were you thinking? It was a Derek Jeter. No, no, no. Manically, I think manically, he was playing. Okay.
So like 95 or something like that. Okay. So, so you were, so what were you doing out there? You were selling stuff. So were you... I was scalping tickets, I was scalping tickets, I sold souvenirs, and I sold cocaine. And that's when it was $21 a gram.
I'm getting $45 regardless of how it go down for me. So this is true. This is true because I live right up to hell. So I had tickets, I had cocaine, and I had souvenirs. You had it all. That's what you're saying. Back in the day.
$21 a gram. And so you sold hats and bats and stuff like that. And that's how you met. Isn't that amazing? Don't forget the coat.
You got something in there? Tracy really was hustle man from Martin back in the day. I really was. He really was hustle man. I was, I worked souvenirs and I was Tony Montana on the side. I remember you just couldn't keep it together during that one.
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So while Ozan is flipping out that he's going to see one of the final era's tour performances. Was this a gift, a surprise, or did he know what was happening? Got all A's. Oh. And a surprise. Nice. Nice. Yep. So he's number one now on the list.
He's number one on the list. You know what Taylor's getting ready for. She's getting ready to be the sixth grade flag football quarterback. What? On Thursday night, she is performing as the quarterback of her sixth grade flag football team. Oh, that's awesome. Oh yeah. We went over the playbook last night.
I'm teaching her how to get ready to throw. Oh, I don't know. Don't you dare say a word. Is Kurt available? Don't you say. Well, Kurt's not available. Oh, okay. That's what I'm saying. There's a lot of people.
Plus this is father daughter time. It's not good. I'm not like, it's not like Thornton Mellon back to school.
Here's Kurt Vonnegut to help you with your paper. Yeah, but the thing is. And I'm like, here's Kurt Warner. You have access. You know what I mean?
If Kurt Mellon had Kurt Vonnegut, I've got Kurt Warner. This is not the way it works. Can we get Jordan Palmer a quick Zoom sesh? Do you want some fundamentals? No. It's father daughter time. I mean, I get that. Right?
I do understand that. How dare you. But Papa Kurt Warner, MVP. Papa. They did not have flag football in the Peter Pan time, sir. Just say it.
You have access. This guy. Uh, Cooper. Papa, where's Tom Brady? Cooper spent the evening wigging out over the fact that he is, for the first time in a fantasy football league, he really wants to win in a win and end position.
Oh, nice. He's had some really terrible luck. So it's all, it's all luck. So yeah, he put down every last remaining, um, waiver wire dollar he could have on Isaac Garendo.
That reminds me. I wonder if we got him. Um, and so it, we live in a fantasy football world where Isaac Garendo is the hottest fantasy football waiver wire pickup, and he's just like, we did get him for the sleeper league.
Okay. So it's one of those things too, where I told him we're using every last buck that we have in the sleeper league that we're leading. I mean, we're dominating the fantasy footballers, fantasy football league right now. And I told him, like, if he doesn't win this week, it's possible he's out. So he's like, it, it, it, he didn't want to bet or not that you spend every fantasy football waiver wire dollar. I'm like, what are you saving it for? What are you saving it for?
Nothing. Right. Like this is go time. You need it. If you need him, spend it.
Let's go. Rich. That's the best part about doing an auction draft where you always kind of like don't want to do that right there. You got to do it. Want somebody go get them. What if this guy scores two, three touchdowns and you've got two bucks, you know, you lament that you don't have any waiver, wire dollars to spend anymore. Yeah.
What are you doing? Yeah. So we got them. Meanwhile, in the reality football world, playoff, clinching scenarios, everybody we've got them very simple Kansas city chiefs, but what was the word that Adrian once told Rocky when that's it, when just when Sunday night they clinched the AFC west it's over print playoff tickets.
Just like the bills started to do in Western New York this week. Adrian had no confidence in Rocky, but that's a story for another day. Man, she hated Rocky so much, so annoying. This is a hot take. I'm telling you. What? You know how strong he is. You can't win. Adrian, hands down the worst part of the Rocky franchise. You can't win. She was such a wet blanket on Rocky, never had his back in anything, didn't even want to go to Russia in the first place.
Wow. Rocky shouldn't have took her back. Why is Adrian getting smoke around here? Well, you brought her up and I thought about it and I was just back in TJ's place. And then she told Rocky, go ahead and win.
Yeah. But like after Tony, he couldn't win for so long. Maybe he just needed to realize what's important in life as well. And then she realized at the same time what's important for him.
And that's how they came together as a lovely couple. Nah, man. She was working at a pet shop. You know what though? This is a guy, this is a guy, you know what? I remember back in the day, Chris, when you used to like be the guy hanging out with your butt kiss, drinking, drinking, you know, egg yolks in some rundown apartment. You had a car, you nicknamed Stu Gots. But that was your life. Look at you now. Look at you now. Stu Gots died on the side of the 101. You know what I mean?
Remember I had to give you a car battery to jump in a parking lot that one day. Oh man, I had so much bad luck. Meanwhile, here's the Lions playoff clinching scenario. They clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Packers on Thursday night. Or there's a whole bunch of other results, Falcons or Bucks lose or, and then the Cardinals and Rams lose on top of the Rams.
I mean, it's a whole bunch of other results, but it's very simple. It's win Thursday night, win Thursday night they're in. What is, what is that? What was that? What was that? We're going to have a great day today. Okay.
I thought it was Dan Campbell. Minnesota Vikings have a playoff clinching scenario. They have to beat the Falcons and then get Seattle and Arizona to tie or Arizona loses to Seattle and then the Rams lose to Buffalo.
That's possible. Right there. The Eagles have a chance to clinch a playoff spot, but there's a lot of stuff that needs to happen. They have to beat the Philadelphia Eagles have to beat the Panthers and then the Falcons or the Buccaneers lose. And then they also need the Cardinals and why does everybody need the Cardinals and the Seahawks to tie? Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know either. They figure this stuff out. So Philadelphia beats Carolina, possible Atlanta loses to Minnesota, possible Arizona loses at home to Seattle, possible and Detroit wins.
Then the Eagles are in. That's a, that's a clear path. That's a circuitous path to the basket, but it's clear. Is that it?
No, it is. There's many others. That's the way we cover your playoff. We're the only ones that cover playoff clinching scenarios with, with Ed O'Neill drops and Dan Campbell, right? And then, and then... And disparaging Adrian. Yeah, exactly. It's absurd sidetracking where Adrian of Rocky fame gets, gets static. Look, man, just support your man.
All right. He stood by her while she was in the hospital with their kid. Like he was there. He stopped training. You know what?
You know what? There's a reason Mr. T got beat him up. Cause he got in his head. And maybe Adrian wanted something or needed something from Rocky and he's, he's chasing roosters. Look, she had it.
She had the house, she had the kids, she had the cars, she had her deadbeat brother living with him. She's chasing post poultry in, in some alleyway while the penguins yelling at him. That's right. Dangerous man. You're going to eat lightning and crack thunder. Is that what it is?
It's eat lightning and crack thunder. Right? Yeah. Right. So I don't understand what that means. So when, if you ingest the lightning, then it comes out the other end is thunder.
I think about that sound like, yeah, because lightning's first, right? I know that from the cars movies. Oh, you also know it from a poltergeist.
The storm gets closer. I don't think I've ever seen it. Dude. I don't like scary movies. That's not a weird thing.
To this day, to this day, because you understood, or at least they were, the theory was that the closer the light, the thunder is to the lightning after the lightning hits means that the storm is getting closer. Right. Oh my God. For the rest of my life.
That's all I keep hearing. You can count, right? If you see lightning, you count and then however many seconds it is, that's how many miles away it is. So the question is, the question is, is how long does it take to turn the lightning into thunder?
If you ingest it through your system and then secrete it, secrete it, I think it's instantaneous. Only Paulie would have the answer to that, you know, great job, man, but like don't eat the lightning. You don't need it.
What do you need the lightning and the thunder for? He can't do it. Randy wants your husband to crack thunder. Well, he's fighting. You don't need to have that around. He needs to get into a mindset. He needs to. Adrian is the worst. Wow. That said, now you know who can clinch playoff spots.
