Cole Cubelic, SEC Network Analyst

Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket Podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important.

Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket Podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch.

It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Cole, appreciate the time. How you been? Hey, I've been doing great. How about yourself?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. So when we get to the state of the Auburn football program, it seems like Brian Harsin is a dead man walking. There's been a lot of conversation this week about his job status. Did they lose to LSU?

Do you think that could be it for him after this weekend? I mean, I think the volatility that is there, it's tough to really get an idea on what to expect. Because also there's a lack of leadership right now. You have an interim athletic director that's most likely not going to be named the permanent athletic director.

You have a president that's been there for just a couple of months. So who's actually in charge? Who's actually pulling the strings? Who could actually make that kind of decision?

And does that person want to do that without leadership in other places? So I wouldn't rule anything out, Zach. I think it's season one. I think it's possible. I will tell you this. I spoke to somebody as close to the situation as you can get, and he has not been informed that he will not be retained at the end of the season. I mean, listen, Auburn, I'm an Auburn guy, you know that we have a lot of dysfunction, and we operate in a lot of dysfunctional ways at times, but not to that level and not to that extent. I don't think that there's a there's really a college football program in America that would operate that way, regardless of how much you want to keep or want to get rid of somebody. And here would be the other thing, and I know you're referencing that AJ McCarron report that was out there. If you're going to fire the guy at the end of the year, it's like, why would you then just not fire him now? You're gonna have to pay him regardless. Either way, it would make no sense if they already told them, hey, we're gonna fire you, but you're still coaching the team. Yeah, I mean, the only thing would be legally behind the scenes trying to find someone else and whatever repercussions that might have, if you wanted to get a head start on it, obviously, you know, that would give you the clarity to be able to go and do that. But you know, just like I do, Zach, how this works, you know, all the back channels that are involved with agents and friends and people who talk to other people, you know, former people that they worked with, you can get your message across, you can you can feel people out where you make a decision like that, if you want it to Cole Kublick here with us. If whenever they do get rid of Brian Horson, what do you think the likelihood is that Deion Sanders is coaching Auburn next year?

It's there's there's really no way to tell because I don't really know exactly what Deion's looking for in his next move. And the Auburn job comes with complications. I hate to say that.

That's my model. I want him to win every game. I love Auburn. But let's be real, we've seen how things have been handled. And it's not always above board. That's why we're having the conversation about Brian Horson right now, which is not really a fair one, because he's still the sitting head football coach, who, by the way, is three and one on the season. Last time I checked.

So another thing that just makes this completely ridiculous. Is this still an attractable job? Absolutely. I think the first thing that I would bring up to you is that I mean, obviously, we could go history, we could go players, we could go NFL, we could go championships, SEC national title in 2010, played for it in 2013, was on the brink of getting to the college football playoffs in 17. They've been in the mix, and they can they show that they can get there quickly, even when things are bad. You got a passionate fan base, you got a beautiful campus, you look at the success and other sports, what's happening with SUNY Lee and gymnastics, what Bruce Pearl is doing with basketball, but Thompson's baseball team, the college World Series, there's going to be support all around it. And Auburn fans are as loyal as any in college athletics.

But the main thing that I would point to you is that the folks that are behind the NIL collective that's affiliated with Auburn University right now have things heading in the right direction. And if Brian Harsin were to be let go, and when a new head coach would be hired in, there would be a war chest in place to be able to utilize to try to attract talent. And I think any head coach in college football, that's going to be one of the top things on their priority list for any job that they're going to take. And we know Gus Malzahn wasn't a bad football coach, they have to get someone that creates some excitement. Because when Brian Harsin was hired, nothing against him, I didn't think they really upgrade their head coaching position. No, I mean, that was one where you brought in, you know, you brought in a football guy.

And we hear so much just about what is wanted, what is needed. And I think what you brought up, Zach, is more than relevant in today's college football, maybe even today's college athletics just in general across the board. You know, I thought Matt Luke and his staff were doing a pretty good job at Ole Miss. You know, a lot of the guys that Lane Kiffin won with initially they had brought in and they had exceeded expectations coming back from a pretty dark place. And all of a sudden, you go out and hire Lane Kiffin, a guy that some people, if you really dug into the program, look at it and say you didn't necessarily need, and look how the profile has been raised. Because exactly what you just mentioned, excitement was brought in.

Go across that state and look at Starkville, Mississippi. You know, Jordan Morehead wasn't running that thing into the ground. They were still a competitive football team, got a couple quarterbacks hurt, maybe didn't live up to expectations. But you go get a Mike Leach, someone who everybody knows, someone who everybody likes, someone who can generate noise because of his personality, who he is and his offense.

And guess what? Mississippi State fans, excitement goes through the roof. So I used to not like to look at it that way. But reality has sort of hit me in the face that that's just a real part of where we are. Whether it's getting people in the seats, whether it is generating more likes and retweets for recruits on social media, as dumb as that may sound to some people, that's a real part of where we are today. And that excitement, that noise.

I'm going to tell you, I'm in meetings every Friday with college coaches preparing for games. And one of the things that continues to be brought up both in a negative and positive way is player brand. And they want to highlight their brand, they want to increase their brand, improve their brand. Well, when you get a coach that brings more attention, when you get a coach that brings more of a following, well what does that do to the player's brand? It's obviously going to increase it and it's going to make it more high profile.

So yes, that does bring a ton of value. Yeah, I didn't think about this until now, Cole Kublick. And I know he's at Ole Miss.

He's not happy that his fans aren't showing up to start games. Could Auburn go get Lane Kiffin inside the SEC? Listen, I think almost any, I think 80% of college football programs would love to have Lane Kiffin. And I understand that there are some things in the background, either with how certain jobs ended or what he has been personally and how he's rubbed some people the wrong way. But I've done a complete 180 on Lane Kiffin off the field. I think he's grown up a lot. I think he's straightened a lot of his life out. And I think he's become a better person and a better football coach. So I think Ole Miss is lucky to have him. I think they'll probably do whatever they can to try to retain him.

And I think if anybody else could get him, they'd be thrilled to have him. Kentucky, Ole Miss this weekend. Who do you like in this one? Because I see Ole Miss as a six and a half point favorite. It's like Vegas is begging you to plus the points with Kentucky, I feel like. And it's strange how many people are so confident in Kentucky that I talk to about this game. I'm riding Ole Miss, speaking of Lane Kiffin.

I'm going to go with Lane on this one. I love their run game. I love what they're doing with their run game, the creativity that they bring with it. It is as unique and diverse as any rushing attack that you will see right now in college football. I don't think they're as capable at quarterback as they have been, but I think Jackson Dart can do enough to help them win. You still have weapons on the perimeter like Mingo at tight end with Trigg. Even if Zach Evans is not banged up, they got a freshman tailback that can slack.

Get it done. The offensive line is playing good ball. The defense is improved. And I think this applies to both teams.

There are warts on both of these teams that we're going to find out about tomorrow morning. I think Kentucky has a tackle issue and their offensive line is not what it's been in the past. They still have a little bit of an issue with giving the ball back to their opponents. And defensively, I think that there are some areas that are not necessarily what they've been before.

I think the linebackers are strong secondary, strong defensive line still coming around. So with Ole Miss, same thing. We don't really know exactly what that defense is.

Tulsa is the only one that's tried them. They haven't played a great schedule. I mean, the two strength of records for these teams are 102 and 122.

So we don't know a ton about what both of these teams are. Being at home, being that I think Ole Miss is going to score about just about anybody that they play against, and being that that Ole Miss rushing, I mean, the Kentucky rushing attack is 13th in the SEC right now. The only team that averages fewer yards per game is Mississippi State, and they're about a yard below. I mean, the tight end Brock Bowers at Georgia that I'm going to be covering tomorrow night has as many rushing touchdowns on the season as Kentucky does.

They're dead last in yards per carry, dead last in rushing touchdowns. That's not a prototypical Mark Stoops coach football team, and I think Ole Miss will be able to take advantage of it. Talking to Cole Kubelik, so Michigan has played no one this year. They get Iowa, so we know that's a big test for the Michigan offense going up against that great Iowa defense. I just don't see how Iowa scores enough points in this game, and maybe if their defense gets a touchdown or two, that's a different story. I like Michigan, but how close of a game do you think this is as Michigan goes to Iowa? I think it's going to be tight because I think when you get in games like this where you talk a lot about turnovers, both teams have the ability to take it away, there's not going to be a lot of explosive plays through the air.

I think things calm down. I think guys sort of throttle back on their offense and their play calling and try to settle in a little bit earlier before they even take any risks, and they might not take many risks the entire game. So, pretty low scoring. Obviously a game that's going to be pretty quick, and that means your possessions are going to be extremely valuable, so I would imagine neither offensive coordinator wants to take high risks with what they're going to do when they have the ball. I still think Michigan gets it done. Love Blake Coram, love that offensive line, won the Joe Moore award last year. They're right on pace with where they were then, and I don't think they have to worry, mainly because of injury, they don't have to worry about the juggling of quarterbacks.

You know you have your guy now. I don't think the defense is on par for what it was last year regardless of what Coach Harbaugh says, and I agree with you that there's a lot that we don't know about Michigan, but what we do know about Iowa is that they have a hard time moving the football. They have a hard time finding points regardless of who the opponent is, and I think Michigan can squeak out a few more.

The tough one on this, Zach, is if you're into history and you like numbers and trends and analytics, it all points to Iowa. They've been great against ranked teams. They've been great against top 5 teams at their place in the last decade. It's wild what they have done in the last 5-10 years against top 5 teams and top 25 teams. So if you go back and look at that, and that's how you like to decide who wins games, you're going to go Iowa, but I still think Jim Harbaugh and Michigan find a way to get it done.

I really like Sam Pittman. Last week, though, after they went up 14-0, I was really discouraged by the effort against A&M. Is this a Bama blowout when they go up against Arkansas?

I do not believe it is. I think this is one that a lot of those folks in Fayetteville have had circle for a long time. I think they understand what this game means, what this game's about, and how could you not be deflated when you have an opportunity to slam the door on one of your rivals, put the game away, and on first down, your quarterback extends the football, and you are staring down the barrel of a 14-point swing. Instead of putting 7 up for you, you put 7 up for the opposition, and then they're really just not able to find their way from that point on. But when I go watch the film of that game, the Arkansas offense did not look like it was missing much of a beat. I mean, they still operated at a very high level. They outgained A&M, outrushed A&M, outpassed A&M. They just had a missed field goal and some silly turnovers, and next thing you know, Texas A&M's hanging around and finds a way to squeak out a victory.

I know this. They will be a problem for Bryce Young up front. This is not a great Alabama offensive line yet.

Could develop into it, but they're not there just yet. There's a reason that true freshman Tyler Booker's getting reps, and they want to try to get him into the lineup before the end of the season. This team leads the country in sacks.

Speaking of Arkansas, Drew Sanders tied for the nation's lead in sacks. I think they're going to be active up front. They're going to force Bryce Young to move around a little bit, and Alabama flat out is not as dynamic as they have been at the wide receiver position.

They're still kind of trying to figure that out. I think Jameer Gibbs tailback is their most dynamic player, offensively, outside of their quarterback Bryce Young. I think physically, Arkansas is not going to get bullied by Alabama, and that's been a problem for them in the past.

So physically, if you match up, all of a sudden you can change things around. Kendall Briles calls plays as well as anybody in college football. He has a mobile quarterback who can also hurt you between the tackles. He has a physical bowling ball of a tailback that he can roll in, and then a dynamic tailback in Rocket Sanders that he can alternate. I think they're good enough outside with Hazelwood, the Oklahoma transfer, Matt Landers, the Georgia-Tulsa transfer.

Yeah, we're getting to that point now. We're going to have to start visiting two teams that guys have played for before where they are now. I think they find their way offensively. I think they understand, probably don't mess with the edge defenders, try to stay away from them, but find some other holes in that defense that's not extremely deep. Watch for a lot of tempo from Arkansas, just try to wear that Bama defense down. I think they hang in.

I think they keep this thing tight at home. Cole Kublick, is it all about timing in NC State and Clemson? Clemson's coming off a bad defensive performance.

I just kind of feel like they're going to bounce back defensively and then offensively. Finally, DJ Wengle LA started to look like the DJ from two years ago. It's amazing how it just felt like for a year and a half, all we got were quick screens, quick throws, checkdowns to the backs. And now all of a sudden, somehow, somewhere, some way, DJ Wengle LA has found the ability to push the ball down the field and be successful with it.

He's a totally different player in the last four or five quarters of football than what we had seen in the previous probably 55 quarters of football. I do think that that's going to make them more difficult to defend, but I think NC State can take advantage of an offensive line that's also not great. NC State just doesn't have the guys downfield like Wake Forest does. I think that wide receiver core is vastly underrated. Obviously, the way that Sam Hartman manages that offense, that sort of walk the dog, zone read, slow developing offense, can freeze your linebackers. Guys like Trenton Simpson are going to have to have a big game, not get sucked down like they did last week.

I think they'll have a chance to be more effective. I just don't know if NC State has the athleticism, the speed, the twitch down the field to be as problematic for that Clemson secondary. And I think that Clemson defensive line probably has their way, and that gives Clemson the W. Is Spencer Sanders the difference? Does he have a Heisman moment for when Oklahoma State goes up against Baylor? Yeah, unless that Baylor run game gets going, which, obviously, with Jim Knowles last year, that Oklahoma State defense was liked out. They're a little bit different this year, maybe not as good as a season ago. And Baylor, they're not as dynamic defensively. So that's where Spencer Sanders, they don't have the playmakers second and third level, maybe where he does have a big game. But I think Coach Grimes and that Baylor offense have a chance to get going. They run the stretch play as well as anybody. And once that thing gets rolling, then the play action opens up and you're able to take advantage down the field. This is a really interesting game.

I'm glad you brought that one up because not a lot of folks are talking about it. And I think those are two teams, kind of like we mentioned with Kentucky and Ole Miss, that we still need to find a few things out about. I mean, Baylor, you could essentially say outplayed BYU a couple of weeks ago but couldn't come up with a win.

Then we see BYU struggle with Utah State last night. So a chance for Baylor to sort of bounce back in the big picture of things. Because I think after the first three, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, we're all sort of searching for who that next group of teams are. We may feel like we know that Michigan Clemson are there, but we're not certain. Kentucky, Ole Miss, we might feel like we like one of those two teams, but we're not certain.

This is a chance for one of those two teams to maybe get right back into the mix and be discussed with those teams in tier two. If you had to tell me right now who that fourth team would be for the college football playoff, Cole Kublick, who would it be? I would tell you that there's a lot of uncertainty in my answer, but I'm just going to go ahead and go Michigan. Because I understand they haven't played anybody, but they have also been more dominant than almost anybody else in college football with who they have played.

Therefore, I'm always appreciative of that. Could we get two Big Ten teams in to the college football playoff this year? That's a great question. I'm going to say I doubt it because I think the two teams that would get in are going to be from different divisions. And they'll face off in the Big Ten title game, and I just don't know if individually they'll have enough clout like Georgia and Alabama did last year entering that game. And it feels like there's going to be other teams that are right there poised to get in as well for whoever loses that game not to be able to find their way in. So let's just say that only one gets in and it's Ohio State, it's Georgia, Alabama. Those are the three teams in. Let's just say Ohio State beats Michigan this year.

Then who would be your fourth team, just wondering? Probably Clemson. Based on what I'm seeing from DJ right now, you're going to bring a dominant defensive line that almost... I haven't seen a lot of great offensive line playing college football right now, just to let you know that. Especially not in the ACC. That Clemson D-line is going to be a difference maker against anybody they play. They are going to be a flat-out problem against any team in college football, so not only are they going to be in every game, that's going to give them a chance to win every game. And if this is real, if what we saw last week against Wake Forest is sustainable, all of a sudden that Clemson offense is not only different, they're dynamic.

Because Will Shipley can get it done on the ground, so now you have a quarterback with decent mobility that you can utilize, a running back that can get it done, an offensive line that's okay, they're not a liability, but they're not dominant, and you can push the ball down the field, you force people to defend you in a very different way, and I'd probably lean Clemson right there at that point to be the other team that gets in. Great conversation, Cole Kublick. Always enjoy your insight. Thanks so much. Appreciate the time.

Let me throw one more at you real quick. Southern California is ahead of schedule. That's all I'm going to say. I didn't believe in them coming into this year. I thought they were going to be an 8 or 9 win football team. But where I thought they were going to be and where they are right now, I didn't think they would get out of September unscathed because of the physical nature of that schedule. They pulled it off and they did it, so that's sort of the sleeper pick to keep your eye on for the college football playoff. And last week I thought was impressive, even though it was a sloppy game because they found a different way to win. And I thought that will end up helping them out later on during the year.

Look at you, Zach. You're such a smart football fan. Great teams find different ways to win. If you do one thing well and that's why you win games, somebody somewhere is going to find a way to take it away and you better have an alternate way to get it done. And USC showed they can get punched in the face and still find a way to go win an ugly football game. Here's the bottom line, and this is another cliche.

Good teams find a way to win when they don't play their best. How many times have you heard it? There you go. Cole Kublick, appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, Zach.

Hey, guys. Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, guys. Mike Valenny for Cash the Ticket podcast. If you like sports betting or if you just like sports, it's the podcast for you. We try to cover all the big games and maybe some of the games you didn't even know were important. Give you some angles, pick some winners, have a good time, and hopefully help you meander through college and pro football season. So join us a couple times a week to get all your information you need to bet the games that you watch. It's Cash the Ticket on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.