College Football Playoff Rankings Reaction (Hour 2)

Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia.

Available now on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money.

I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia.

Available now on the Odyssey app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, we're coming to you live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, the Rocket Mortgage could help you get there for home loan solutions that fit your life well.

If you're looking to purchase a new home, the Rocket Mortgage can. Michigan won the game against Ohio State. They beat them up pretty good, just like last year. 45-23. The Wolverines are now 12-0, looking to win back-to-back Big Ten championships this weekend, as they do have a matchup with Purdue.

And then the next stop will be the college football playoff. And now joining us from the Michigan Wolverines had a touchdown catch, his first career touchdown catch at Michigan in the game last weekend, Saturday against Ohio State. And that is the freshman in Colston Loveland, who's kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio. Colston, first off, congratulations on the touchdown, congratulations on the victory.

Appreciate the time. How you been? Hey, hey, how's it going? I appreciate you guys for having me off.

I've been good. Well, thanks so much, and how can it be great right now with the way that you guys are playing and you just crush your rival in Ohio State? Take me through your first career touchdown and just the emotions that were running through your body. Yeah, I mean, crazy experience. Just super blessed to be put in that position and be surrounded by just great guys that was able to celebrate that with me. It was a pretty special moment. And the game wasn't won there, but I thought that set the tone really for just the dominance that you guys displayed in the second half. Because as well as you guys played in the first half, you were trailing by three to set the tone like that, coming out of halftime and getting that touch that I thought was massive. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, it's always good. Momentum swinging, coming out of half and scoring on a drive like that is pretty important to the game.

And then being able to maintain that lead the rest of the game and just keep growing it, that's pretty awesome. Did you have a lot of family? Did you have a lot of loved ones? Were there some important people in the stands for that one for you?

My dad and my stepmom, they were there, but everyone back home was watching. They showed endless support and loved them for that. What were the conversations like with your family after the game when on a big moment like that, everyone's watching that game. It's being built up all throughout the year to see you get that touchdown.

Just what did your family say to you afterwards? They were just super happy for me. They know that's what we've been working for and beating Ohio State there. They knew that was one of our goals and there's endless support, like I said.

It was just super awesome to have them there. Did you keep the ball? Do you save that ball after your first touchdown? No, I didn't get to keep it, but I did get a little game ball after it later.

Well that works. Colston Loveland here with us from the Michigan Wolverines. They're 12-0, they just beat Ohio State 45-23. How do you kind of put that win into perspective? Because the whole year, we were assuming both those teams would be undefeated going into that game, but we were always wondering if one team was just going to stumble and maybe get ahead of themselves before taking care of business. So to finally walk out of there with the victory in dominant fashion, how do you put it into perspective?

That's what we've been working for since January, end of last season. We have our goals and that was one of them. Being able to play there, it's a tough environment to play at, but coaches, players, we were all prepared.

We had us prepared and went in there to handle business like we should have and on to the next. Did you guys feel disrespected heading into that game? I don't know how much you're even allowed to pay attention, how much has built up in terms of the gambling world, but you guys were 7.5 point underdogs. I thought that was a tad disrespectful and a lot of people thought, we don't know if Korten's going to be able to play, you don't know if Donovan Everett's going to be able to play. A lot of people were saying Ohio State was going to win that one.

Did you guys sense that? We're used to being doubted and no one wants to see Michigan win, but we like to block out the noise and focus on our team. That's what we did, we went out and played fast, hard, physical football and came out on top. I know you weren't there last year, but you know what that team accomplished. Heading into this year, people said Michigan can't repeat that success.

I know Blake Corum, early on in the season, he even said it on this show, he thought this team was better than the team a year ago. What's that vibe like in that Michigan locker room, you being there your first year with the program? Just a great vibe, just carried on from last season, just working every day to get better and better. You can see it in the building, everyone just focused on getting better at what they're doing and being the best version of themselves.

I think that's what really is helping us get this far. Why did you pick Michigan? What was it that made you say, okay this is the school that I want to go play my college football at?

There are a couple of reasons. One of the reasons is obviously academics is great. I've always thought, okay I'm going to go to a school where I get a good degree out of and obviously Michigan is one of the best. Then inside football, like I was telling you, I can just feel in the building, the culture, everything everyone stood for and their values. Everyone's mind is in the same place and they're all headed towards one goal. I can just see that and it felt right. Have you been to Zingerman's yet, just wondering?

Because I know that's a big selling point on the recruiting pitch. The deli, right? Yes. Yep, I've been there. That's tremendous. When I visited there, my two best friends went to Michigan and they were like, you've got to go to the deli. The deli is unbelievable and then obviously you go to the big house. When you walk into the big house for the first time, they just had to blow you away really, right? Yeah, it's an amazing stadium and the biggest stage, you know what I'm saying?

Can't get bigger than that. Colston Loveland here with us. Michigan in the Big Ten championship game off to the college football playoff expected as well in a few weeks. Coach Jim Harbaugh, how do you describe playing for coach?

I mean, I don't know. I wouldn't want to play for anyone else. He's an amazing coach and he's always going to keep it 100.

He's always working for us to get better and he's always putting the players first and doing what's in our best interest and the team's best interest. I think that's what makes him such a great coach. You've got a lot of playing time this year. Has that surprised you being a freshman and getting this much playing time and being asked to do things in these bigger games? Yeah, at first it was definitely surprising, but I'm just super blessed to be surrounded by such great people and coaches and teammates to really get me ready for playing.

You know what I'm saying? They really got me ready for moments like that and I'm going to be more blessed. How much more comfortable are you from where you were the first week to where you are now as you pretty much have a season under your belt now as a Michigan Wolverine?

Oh yeah, way more comfortable that's for sure. First game, nerves are running high, but I think I've definitely got more comfortable with the guys for sure. And to get that monkey off your back, get the first touchdown in such a big game like that, it kind of feels like now, okay, this is reality, right?

You're a Michigan Wolverine now and you're starting to leave your mark on this program. Yeah, I've said it a couple times, but with team success comes individual success, so we're all just working from one team goal and everything else will come after that. I thought you and JJ McCarthy were really close to connecting on a few big plays up against Illinois and it seemed like the timing was just off slightly. When you look back at this past week, did you guys put a little extra work in to fine tune those details a little bit?

I wouldn't even say that. I'd say we just kept doing our thing and doing what we do. Stuff happens, but in the moment, JJ played like JJ and he did an amazing job and the team together did an amazing job and that's about all we could ask for. How do you describe JJ McCarthy's performance? Because whether it was the deep balls making big plays and then that rushing touchdown, that was a game that a lot of people were waiting to see from JJ McCarthy and it was impressive.

Yeah, no doubt. He's always been in him. That's who he is.

He's a dog. He's got that mentality. He showed that last out of there. Been showing it all season. When you start to prepare for Purdue, coming up this weekend when you play the Big Ten Championship game, what's the point of emphasis really this week from the coaching staff? We're just going to keep doing what we're doing this past 12 weeks. Just keep playing how we play. Fast, physical football.

Really fine tune everything. Go in there, play fast and hard. Do our best.

Be our best version of ourselves and come out with a good team win. Is it tough? I know it's later on in the season so it gets easier because the games mean so much more, but throughout this season, was it tough to just keep it week by week when everyone was talking about the game at the end of the year up against Ohio State? I don't think it was tough for anyone in this building really because we all knew and we've been trained mentally to just perform the strength staff and the coaching staff to just lock in every week, recommit ourselves every week to what we have that week and then on to the next.

Just keep stacking bricks by bricks. That was really all. Wrapping up with Colston Loveland who had the touchdown up against Ohio State coming out of the halftime. Michigan Spanx, Ohio State 45-23. Who's been some of the players on this team that have really taken you under your wing and have given you some good advice here in your freshman year? Yeah, we start in the tight end room. Eric Hall, Luke Schoonmaker, Jill Honeyford, Carter Shelzer, really everyone in the tight end room just brought me in with open arms and even on the team. Like the list goes on, you know, but really everyone in this program kind of took me under a wing and took all the freshmen under the wing and kind of showed us the ropes and helped us get ready and same with the coaching staff. How about Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell because they've been there for a while and we know what they were able to do in the game this past weekend. Yeah, those guys as well. Their football IQ is just out of the roof. They've been playing ball for so long and they know the ins and outs and learning from them is a super cool experience.

Soak it all in. The health of Blake Corum. Do you have any idea where that's at? Because now everyone's wondering when we're going to see Blake Corum back in action.

Yeah, I'm not going to speak on that because I don't know about that. Was it surprising to you that you guys were able to have that such of a dominant victory against Ohio State with Blake basically unfortunately not being able to play much of the game? No, I don't think that was surprising at all. I think we got weapons and losing Blake, that's tough. I mean Blake, he's an animal. He's a crazy good athlete and running back, but we got guys on the team obviously that can make plays and that showed. Yeah, super confident going in. I know you take it week by week, but with only being three wins away from winning a national championship, do you let your brain go there and start to envision what it would be like to win a national championship at Michigan with everything right in front of you? I think it's okay to look and kind of see like, okay, we're close, but like I said, we've just got to be focused on this week because this is the most important game in the world this week.

You know what I'm saying? What did Coach Harbaugh say to you guys after the game, after the win in the locker room? You know, he was super stoked for us. It was just, the environment in that locker room after the game, I can't even explain it. It was just amazing.

Everyone was just super happy seeing the smiles on everyone's faces. And then to come back in Monday was just awesome seeing like, alright, dial it in. We got Purdue this week, let's go.

And the last thing I'll ask you, Colston Loveland, I really appreciate the time today. The lasting memory for you in that game and how you'll remember this victory against Ohio State is what? I mean, I don't think I'll forget the touchdown, that's for sure, but just the game in general, that was just such a dominant win and just a great team win and I think I'll remember that for the rest of my life. I know it was a blow-up, but did it hit you in the moment, what you guys accomplished, or did it really just take a day to sink in to say, wow, we just won that game and only won that game, we blew them out? Yeah, I'd say it hit right in the moment.

We all kind of knew like, okay, we just played dominant football. Well, good luck. We appreciate the time today.

Congratulations once again and we'll see how the next few games play on out. Thank you. Yes, sir. I appreciate you guys.

You got it. There's Colston Loveland from the Michigan football team and we talked about this early on. The weapons they have on offense, and you knew so much was made about the quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. And I don't want to say that he was disappointing this year, but J.J. McCarthy at times showed you those flashes and you were wondering when it was going to all come together, when he was going to be the guy. And he didn't really have to be the guy this year because Coram's been great. Donovan Edwards has been great and Coram, you know, should still be a Heisman Trophy finalist. Probably would have won the award if he played in the game significantly last week and unfortunately because of the injury just wasn't able to do so. And Caleb Williams is obviously going to be deserving of the Heisman Trophy. But when you face some adversity, to see J.J. McCarthy step up like that was enormous.

And then you look at the speed. You know, it was actually Urban Meyer. I remember we were talking about this. Three weeks into the year, Urban Meyer just talked about the speed on this Michigan team. On one of the big noon kickoffs where he talked about Coram and Donovan Edwards and Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell. And you even see a guy like Colston Loveland who just joined us a few moments ago. He's been very close to making big plays and then in the biggest game of the year, even with the adversity of not really having Blake Coram.

You see Donovan Edwards coming off an injury, go for 216 yards and two touchdowns. You see Cornelius Johnson have two touchdowns, big play after big play. Colston Loveland, big play for that touchdown. The secondary, they didn't get a lot of pressure on C.J.

Stroup, but the secondary was awesome. We talked about it yesterday where they held him to a field goal later on in the second half. When they looked like it was a touchdown, defensive back just wiped the ball out. They just made plays. And they were so much better than Ohio State. And that game early on, it was oh, Ohio State looked better.

And even at halftime as a three-point lead, but coming out of the second half, they really left no doubt and Michigan once again pants for the second year in a row the Ohio State Buckeyes. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We will take a five-minute timeout.

When we do return, we will get into this conversation about Hugh Freeze taking the job at Auburn. The Odyssey app is NFL football. Live and on demand.

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Download the Odyssey app today. Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia. Available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio. Hugh Freeze, the new head football coach at Auburn.

Hickey, this still doesn't sit well with me. Not that I'm saying this is an awful hire, because I don't think it's an awful hire. But they wanted Lane Kiffin. And if what Greg McElroy said, and we'll replay that a little bit later on in the show. But what Greg McElroy said to us yesterday was that you had Auburn go to Lane Kiffin, from what he heard, and it's been reported a little bit. And they said, you got to hire Cadillac Williams. And that played a role in terms of Lane Kiffin saying, I'll just be good. We're a program I'm having fun at and a program that I've done a good job with the last two years at Ole Miss.

And yet, by the way, I'm going to get a raise in the process of it as well. He stays at that Ole Miss. I hate when that happens, when you want one candidate and you don't do everything in your power to get that candidate. Now, I think we could separate the two. Like, you could think that Hugh Freeze is a good hire. And then also acknowledge, right, that the guy that they wanted, they didn't do enough. And I know that Lane Kiffin said no, but they didn't do enough to make him say yes. And that's the part with me for Auburn that it still doesn't sit right. Because you got to remember, when they got rid of Gus Malzahn, you could say the timing was right. Gus Malzahn was a good football coach.

If you thought you could do better, you have every right to prove that. Brian Harsin was not their first choice. He was not their second choice. I don't know if he was their third choice, if we're being honest. I don't know where he was, but he was not the top two choices for Auburn.

I can guarantee that. And that's been documented. So to then have the search shortly after Brian Harsin didn't work out and you moved on after two years. To not get your number one candidate, it'd be one thing if the number one candidate took another job in terms of that candidate took a better job.

But the fact that that candidate was interested and stayed and you didn't do everything in your power for him to say yes and now there's things that are coming out. It just makes you wonder, you could think that Auburn made a good hire, but they didn't get their guy. And unless you have Hugh Freeze coming in there and consistently winning, and we know he could win the SEC, he showed that when he was at Ole Miss. He showed he could go toe to toe and defeat Nick Saban, twice. And I know that there's a lot that comes in a negative fashion with Hugh Freeze.

But if he wasn't your top choice, I'm not saying it's a horrible decision. It will always be hanging over the head of the Auburn fan if Hugh Freeze isn't holding up his hand to the bargain or even if he's doing well and Lane Kiffin's having more success at a school where Auburn is more set to win than Ole Miss. And I just think that's going to be fascinating to see, assuming that Lane Kiffin stays the next four or five years. But it's going to be fascinating to see where we're talking about this. I don't even know if you go five years from now, three years from now on the trajectory of Lane Kiffin and then Hugh Freeze because we know Auburn wanted Lane Kiffin and Lane Kiffin said no. And then they went out there and hired their second option, at least that we know of in Hugh Freeze. I will say I guess a few things. Number one, I guess what I don't know and maybe we'll never find out, we'll see how interested Lane Kiffin actually was. Two sides to every story. Trying to use it for leverage because we know Ole Miss just released today a brand new contract extension for Lane Kiffin so he got paid.

Now I don't know if he, like I said. And sometimes coaches use other jobs because they like where they are and they're comfortable where they are and they want more money. Right, that's the only way to do so is make them jealous and get leverage. Exactly. I'm just going off what Greg McElroy said with us yesterday because I trust Greg and I think Greg is as plugged in as almost anyone in the analyst world when it comes to college football. Right, and I'm not saying he's wrong. Lane Kiffin could have been dancing the dance but no one felt well.

I'm just going to do it just so I get paid. We don't know. And then come up with an excuse that could sound valid but maybe down deep it was BS. Right. And then the other thing is, look for Hugh Freeze now that it's the case, right, Lane Kiffin whether you want it or not is not the coach, you are.

It doesn't really matter if you have the third choice, fourth choice, fifth choice. Like Nick Saban in Alabama was not the first choice in 07 when he was hired. Rich Rodriguez was. And that turned out A-OK. So for Hugh Freeze, now you got your chance, you got what you wanted. And Orr's Run wasn't the first choice at LSU. We know they wanted Tom Herman. It worked out pretty well. Right. And Texas, Tom Herman is choice number one and that, as we know, did not go very well either. So it's just like sometimes it is like you get lucky breaks you need and for Hugh Freeze now you have the chance here.

And you do have to win fast for sure. And like I said, kind of being or being viewed as the second choice doesn't help. I didn't know that it was going to be this unpopular because the way that it was being reported. Oh, it'll be Lane Kiffin. That's the guy they want. But if it's not Lane Kiffin, it's Hugh Freeze. When that was like coming out over the weekend, like you knew Lane Kiffin last week there was a report that he was that he was going to get the job, but he wasn't offered it yet. And it was like all over the place. And we talked about that report.

And I'll give credit to you. You were like the one person that said, you know, I'm not going to say that he's going there. I'm going to double down on my prediction that Hugh Freeze is going to be there. And you ended up being right. So pop the champagne for hot take.

Nice job. But with all that being said, in terms of Hugh Freeze. It just there's the guy could win. We know that. But it's can he do all the other things right? And when I just look at him, I could say the hire is a solid hire, good hire in terms of football. But it's all the other stuff that I get apprehensive about. When you look at how stupid this guy was when he was that Ole Miss to use a university phone multiple times to hire escort services.

Like, how dumb can you be? And then I read this report today and this has been something that's been out, but it resurfaced today. When he's at Liberty, he DMed a sexual assault survivor. This is from Alabama.com. Chelsea Andrews is a sexual assault survivor.

She tweeted in July about Freeze. The former Liberty head football coach sending her an unsolicited direct message defending his boss, Liberty Athletic Director Ian McCaw. Andrews has been critical of the way the school handled a number of sexual assault allegations. Andrews then identified as Jane Doe Seven was more was one of more than 20 plaintiffs who sued Liberty for mishandling sexual misconduct allegations in a lawsuit that has since been settled.

Liberty is currently under a Department of Educational Federal investigation into how it has handled student reports of sexual assault. And you have your football coach with all that going on, going into the direct messages of one of the survivors and DMing her saying, I would love for you to help me understand your attacks on me and our program. I'm open to talk about issues you have with me slash the program either face to face or by phone. But I never believed in social media discussions when you don't truly know the other party.

Hope you're well and have a great day. And then he followed up by saying, you don't even know Ian McCaw. He's the most Jesuslike leader I have ever seen or been around. But you take every chance you can to take a shot at him. I don't understand that mentality. It's like part of me is like, what are you doing there?

Why are you DMing? Even if you thought your intentions were right, it comes off horribly. Especially that second message that I read. When you're DMing one of these sexual assault survivors, it's just like every time you give Hugh Freeze an opportunity, he wins games.

But there's a lot of other stuff that is serious that goes on. And you're just sitting there scratching your head and saying, can this guy be trusted for a long amount of time? Can you trust him to be the next face of Auburn football for 10 years? And last week, I don't think this was really perceived as an unpopular move because a lot of people just thought it was inevitable it was going to be Lane Kiffin. Now, since you don't get Lane Kiffin, people are upset about Lane Kiffin.

And you read all these other things, some that you knew, some that you didn't about Hugh Freeze. And it just once again makes you say, OK, we know the guy could win games. We all know the guy is a good football coach when it comes to winning games. But does he do does he as a CEO of a program, can he do everything else right? And can he be trusted? And that's the part to me where I can't say I love this hire. I can't say I hate this hire.

I'm skeptical of it. But I could see what you're saying. Well, you're so optimistic about this because you look at it from a football standpoint, the guy wins a lot of games. And there's been a lot of coaches that have been terrible off the field or have done a lot of bad things, questionable things. But when you win football games, a lot of the other stuff gets ignored. That's unfortunate. The harsh reality like it's I'm not trying to condone it, but that's just also the real world we live in where you if you win, everything else gets overlooked.

You get second, third opportunities if you're good at your job, whether it's sports or not. And this is a case where, like I said, there's red flags for sure. And I guess I hate to even use this phrase, but now I guess this is an opportunity to see if Hugh Freeze actually has learned from his past transgressions.

It can mature or at least, frankly, hide them better. We'll see. But this is kind of his last stand as well for Hugh Freeze, because I don't think even if things go well, you have another, you know, Ole Miss instance or Liberty instance where he's tampering, you know, with witnesses or he's, again, just using universities phones for for issues that, let's say, are not university related. I don't think he's going to get a third chance.

Here's also what I'll say, and I don't know where you stand on this. But today, when I saw the report that he had to hand over his Twitter account to Auburn and they take control of his Twitter account. My first reaction was, how do you hire a football coach and you can't even trust him to conduct himself the right way on social media?

But then you look at his history and his track record and you see all these other stories that are now coming out. Yeah, you may still say to yourself, and I still do, if you can't trust the guy to just operate his Twitter account the right way, then he shouldn't be your football coach. But I really think Auburn believes in him so much as a football coach on the field that they're saying, if we could just keep this guy off social media and not make him basically shoot himself in the foot, we're going to maybe give him a chance to succeed.

Now, that's still a big risk, in my opinion. If you can't trust this guy to behave on social media, I can't trust him as my football coach. But I guess that's the rationale for Auburn. They really do believe in him as a football coach.

But it's all the other things that you can't trust him. So they're going to try to limit, I guess, his access on social media. Does he try to reset his password?

Does he try to guess what Auburn made his password? It's crazy that we have to talk about this. When I saw that report, Ryan, I don't know about you, I thought it was fake. I thought it was one of those parody accounts or it was an Onion article, but then it was on Sports Illustrated. It was an actual report, an actual clause in his contract. That's just bonkers.

It's part of the reason why couch football is the wackiest, stupidest thing out there. We're giving a guy five or five and a half million dollars a year and you can't trust him tweeting 140 characters. Imagine if I hired, in any other line of work, and I know it's tough to make these comparisons. Imagine if I hired you to be the producer of this show. But I go, Hickey, I need you to turn over. You know, we may implement this policy. Hickey, I may need you to give me your Twitter account because I can't stand some of the tweets that you send out. And you do have a lot of bad sports tweets and then also some good sports tweets as well. Imagine if I hired you and I believe that you could do a job, but I can't then believe that you'll behave the right way on social media. That doesn't make sense in any other line of work. But it goes back to if you're good at your job, man. If you win games, especially in the South, in SEC territory, you could get a lot of things that just get overlooked. It just means more. It's just wild.

It's crazy. If you explain that to any rational person, I'm hiring someone, but I can't trust them to tweet, but I'm going to hire them to a big job and I'm going to give them a lot of money, then my first response is, why the bleep are you then hiring that person? Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm in a rush to making money.

I'm not in a rush to hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season two, the Dixie Mafia. Available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football. Live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free? Download the Odyssey app today.

Football season is here. The new Odyssey app lets you stay connected to your NFL team, your station, your shows. Follow your favorite stations and come back again and again. Get real-time updates on everything you care about.

Miss your show? Jump back to their awesome rewind feature. The Odyssey app is NFL football. Live and on demand, wherever you are, whenever you want. And did we mention it's all free? Download the Odyssey app today. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show.

It is the Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Latest college football playoff rankings out. Georgia 1, Michigan 2, TCU 3, USC 4.

No surprises there. Ohio State 5, Alabama 6. The rest doesn't really matter. Not so much, but I'll give you the top 10. Tennessee in at 7, Penn State in at number 8, Clemson 9, and then Kansas State in at number 10.

Hickey, you said something yesterday, and I want to bring it back up. You think regardless of what happens this weekend, if TCU loses to Kansas State or USC loses to Utah for now the second time this year, that should not be held against them and that shouldn't be a reason why we elevate Ohio State or Alabama because Ohio State and Alabama weren't able to make their conference championship games. Explain that a little bit more to me, just your line of thinking on that one. Because I would actually, I tend to agree with you this year. I don't know if I would always agree with that, but in a year like this where there's just not been a lot of deserving teams, it's very tough to penalize a TCU or a USC this year for losing this weekend. Especially TCU, if they lose and that's their first loss of the year. For USC, if they get to two losses and both to Utah and not really have a lot of great wins on that schedule, they beat Notre Dame, they beat UCLA, then maybe there's more of a conversation in terms of Ohio State now because Ohio State's five and Alabama's six.

But for TCU, if this is their lone loss this weekend to a team that they already beat, they should still go to the college football playoff because Ohio State in pretty much their one meaningful game this year failed to show up and just because they don't play this weekend, I don't think we should take away from a school like TCU has not lost a game yet. Well, you said it first of all, this is just for this year how this season has brought, right? This is not like a blanket statement of, oh, you know, championship games are basically irrelevant.

I'm not against you in future years because I do think it's year by year the feel. There are some years where there's questions about a team going into conference championship weekend, they have to prove themselves, and there's three, four, five teams that have had great wins and are really chomping at the bit and don't have multiple losses and they're sitting there, you could just make just as great of a case for them. There's not that case this year.

Right, especially as conferences grow, you're not going to play every one every single year, so sometimes you just get unlucky. And maybe if Ohio State lost by a field goal to Michigan or they lost by a two-point conversion, it's a different conversation. But the fact that they got blown out, it's tough for me to make this great argument for Ohio State to get in. Blown out on their whole field with Michigan missing their best player. Exactly.

And the most important player. It's something you just can't defend. So it's like, to USC's credit, it's almost like if they lose to Utah and then get kicked out, let's say Ohio State gets in, because there's no way Alabama's going to jump Ohio State and get in with both of them not playing a game. So if Ohio State, that would be the team to get in. I think TCU's in regardless. Agreed.

Agreed. So really the only team I think that's under consideration is USC. But constantly getting bumped is number four USC. And it's like, USC is good enough to make their conference championship, Ohio State was not. And so it's like, by having to play the extra game, you could say, sure, win the game, but at the same time, then you're also rewarding Ohio State for having a worse season, because right now, as the rankings go, USC, even though it's one spot, is still higher than Ohio State. Now, not that the Big Ten was this dominant force this year, like it's been in other years.

Don't yell at me here. I'm just giving you what the argument would be from other people. Some people would say, well, if Ohio State was in the Pac-12, then they would be in their conference championship game and then they would beat USC.

Like, that's what people will tell you in that line of thinking. I get it, but I mean, throughout is they're not. So, sorry, like, win the game against Michigan without their best player and we don't have this conversation. Now, we're both in agreement that TCU and USC should be in the college football playoff. I will think, though, that if USC loses this weekend, I think they're out. And I think that they would move up Ohio State.

I'd agree. Yeah, I have no faith in the committee. Well, not only that, you look at these other rankings. Ohio State beat Penn State. Penn State's in at eight. You know, USC, if they lose, they would have lost twice to Utah. Nothing against Utah.

They're in at 11. Like, they were a team that we thought could go to college football playoffs before the start of the year. But it's not like Utah is this force where the reality is for USC, even though we think they should be in and they're playing an extra game.

If USC is that good, they should be able to take care of business and beat Utah one time. And the last time they played Utah, they were up big. And I remember I was watching that game.

I like I can't believe they choked that game. Now, Cam Rising was phenomenal in that game. He put the team on his back and he won that game for the Utes. Caleb Williams going to be Heisman Trophy winner. Lincoln Riley, if it wasn't for Sonny Dykes, would have probably been the coach of the year. You have Addison is going to be a first round pick this year at the wide receiver position. Was the best wide receiver in the country last year. You can't lose to Utah.

You can't. Now, I hear everything you're saying, and I think for this year it's a valid argument. And what I happen to agree with that they shouldn't be penalized for this extra game. But I do think you'd have the committee just saying you had two chances, two chances to beat Utah.

And you couldn't get the job done. And that's why you look at Ohio State. Yes, Ohio State got blown out by Michigan. You look at the Ohio State victories. Really, it's Penn State. And then I guess you could say Notre Dame, too, who's salvaged their season. And they have moved up to twenty one in the college football playoff latest rankings. But I think the committee would go Ohio State over USC if, if, if, if, if USC loses this weekend. When we get into that conversation of what should happen to what will happen, if that is the case, that USC goes down. Yeah, I would say this committee having the intestinal fortitude to keep USC at four even if they lose. The tough part here, and I know Ohio State beat Notre Dame and USC also beat Notre Dame.

It's like you're then saying, what's the next best? Not that Ohio State has this great resume. They beat Penn State. Nothing. I'm not trashing your team.

I know I do that a lot. But Penn State is a good team. They had a good season.

Are they? You would even maybe agree with this. I would think in a regular year. It doesn't feel like Penn State would be eighth in the country. Like when I watch Penn State play this year. I don't look at them as a team and they've had a good season. But they lost to Ohio State. They got embarrassed by Michigan. They don't feel like they're the eighth best team in the country.

But it's based off this season. And Ohio State beat them and they beat them pretty good. You know, they came back in that game and then made it look probably uglier than what it actually was when you watch that game. Because there was moments in that game where it looked like Penn State was going to pull off the upset and you were going to be insufferable.

Trying to get the job done. But yeah, this year has been chaotic. No one's really kind of separated themselves. No one's played consistently good football. So now that USC is good enough to make their own conference championship when Ohio State and Alabama were not. And through 12 games and everything's even, USC is above both Ohio State and Alabama. I don't see the reason why now to punish a team that basically has an opportunity because they're better than the other two teams. They're going to reward a team at Ohio State for, I guess what, losing at the right time where they don't have to play a game and they risk nothing.

That is just for this year. I just can't get on board with that. Also, who's the most disappointing team this year in college football? We've had a lot of disappointment. I know Utah is could still win a Pac-12 championship, but they they lost three games. There was thoughts they go to college football playoff after their success they had a year ago.

Clemson had everything in front of them. They lost two games. You look at Alabama, they've lost two games. Oklahoma, they're not even in the top 25. I know they had a change in coach, but people were optimistic about Oklahoma chances going into this year. You know, Ohio State, there was a thought they could win it all before the start of the season. They're not even, you know, they could get in the college football playoff still. But there's going to be a debate on there.

They don't want to control their own destiny. Who's the team this year that's the most disappointing team in college football? Like who's on your short list and then we could narrow it down and have a discussion about it? I would say Oklahoma. That was the team I was high on. That was the team that was in a winnable conference in the Big 12. Even though they had the change, you know, with Lincoln Ryan leaving, you do bring Brent Venables in. That's a defensive guy which helps kind of shore up the biggest weakness for this team.

You bring in a guy in Dylan Gabriel who had a lot of success at UCF. And to go 6-6 and just completely fall apart is just, to me, that's a massive disappointment. Brent River was a joke this year. Was it 48-0, right?

48, 49, something like that. Disgusting. I'm just looking at it. ACC, in terms of disappointment. It's got to be Clemson, right? It's got to be Clemson.

It has to be. I know Miami, early start against bad teams, people were saying, oh, Miami could be really good. But Miami hasn't really got the benefit of the doubt, nor should they with the way that they've played the last 20 years or so.

Right, it's like Crystal Ball is taking over a 10-win team this year. Big 12, you're right. It's Oklahoma.

You know what? What about Baylor? I know they were coming off a Big 12 championship.

6-6? I thought they were going to be better than that. Now, I would say that Oklahoma was more disappointing.

They've been more dreadful. At least Baylor's had some fight. Oklahoma State, too, in terms of where they started off the year, kind of starting off hot and then just having the wheels fall off.

You know what? There's a lot of disappointment in the Big 12. The way we were talking about the Big 12 earlier in the year, like Spencer Sanders was supposed to be a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Not even the conversation, that was an afterthought. They almost thought Mike Gundy could be in the college football playoff this year. They weren't even close to contending.

That thing spiraled out of control very, very quickly. So, yeah, I would say that the most disappointment probably comes from the Big 12. When you look at a conference overall, like don't get me wrong, Ohio State could still, I guess, get in the college football playoff as we discussed. How they played against Michigan without Blake Coram was extremely disappointing. Pac-12, Washington impressed a lot of people. USC obviously impressed a lot of people.

Oregon, the way it started and how it's finished. I know the last few weeks hasn't been great, but after their performance against Georgia, you never thought they were going to be 9-3. Utah, after that tough loss to Florida, you know, they had some moments. You look at this, UCLA, I know they down the stretch. Pac-12, that's another reason for USC. The Pac-12's been great this year. It's the best Pac-12's been in a while. From, I don't want to say from top to bottom, but like 5, 6, 7 teams that you look at the Pac-12 that had really good seasons this year. I think that's also another reason why if you're going to make the case that USC should get in regardless, that could be the case because in the Big 10 it's, I hate to say it, it's Michigan and everybody else right now. You know, Penn State had a solid season, don't get me wrong. Illinois, Brett Bielma had a solid season. But this, this Pac-12 this year I thought was really good, really good.

Zach Gelb's show CBS Sports Radio, we will take a time out, and when we come on back, should Aaron Rodgers want to stay with the Green Bay Packers after this season or should he try to force his way out via trade? Throughout the 60s and 70s, cops hunted down key figures of the Dixie Mafia, including its enigmatic ringleader, Kirksey Nix. I'm interested in making money, I'm not interested in hurting people. Fifteen years into Kirksey's life sentence, the Dixie Mafia was practically folklore, but that would soon change. I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Jed Lipinski. This is Gone South, a documentary podcast from C-13 Originals, a Cadence 13 studio. Season 2, The Dixie Mafia, available now on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And do we mention it's all free? Download the Odyssey app today.