Danny Kanell, CBS Sports HQ

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You can check out Bet Online for a plethora of college football playoff championship lines and props, plus opening odds for the 2025 college football playoff championship. Danny Cannell, what's happening? Appreciate you doing this once again. What's up, Zach? Happy New Year.

Hope you're fantastic. It's bittersweet, right? We got one more game to go to crown a national champion, but that means it's the end of college football season. But it's been a fun year and I think we got a really fun championship game too. Yeah, we'll talk about the championship in just a bit, but I got to bring up Florida State.

I find the conversation the last week to be insufferable on both sides. Florida State gets smothered by Georgia. No crap. Florida State was without 2025 players from their actual team. Then Alabama loses to Michigan and I hear how Florida State should be in the college football playoff. There's no logic here anymore. People aren't making sense anymore and it's a span of like two days in between when someone says something that's stupid and then people say things that are even dumber a few days later.

It's crazy. Welcome to the world of college football where nothing makes sense, Zach. I mean, it really is because you can argue till you're blue in the face either way, right?

I mean, whatever side you want to go. I had people coming at me saying, oh, see, this is why the committee got it right. Florida State got blown out.

They had no business being in the playoff, even though we all know they didn't have about 80% of their offense production on the field. And then like you mentioned, as soon as Alabama took the field, Florida State fans were like, see, this is why we should have gotten in. It is all the evil genius of the minds behind college football, which made a very concerted effort 10 years ago when they started the college football playoff that there was going to be a team every year that got left out. And it would drive conversation.

It would drive interest. And yes, it would even drive people crazy because every year somebody was going to get left out. I just hate that it had to be my alma mater that had the most egregious example of a power five conference champion that got left out. And the good news is we're going to 12 next year, but I don't think it's going to stop people from going crazy and mad because of whether it's the first, the top four seeds, which will get a by the next four seeds, which will get a home playoff game on their site or the 13th 14th team who gets left out. The controversy isn't going anywhere, but the powers that be say that's great for the sport and the ratings back that up.

Zach. I also think the interesting part about this, and I don't think anyone has made this point this week. Cause I know Georgia lost to Alabama, but we talked about this, right? The committee said Alabama was better than Florida State, but then Florida State was better than Georgia. I think most people would say, no, George is better than Florida State. And I know the bowl game was the bowl game, but it was completely different rosters. No one this week is talking about what would have happened if Georgia got into this college football playoff.

Cause I would have to think they would have been playing in the national championship game in some capacity on Monday night, if they were one of the four teams. Yeah, I totally agree. But see, then it goes back to what year was it when the Patriots ran the table in the regular season, they were perfect. Right. And then they face the New York giants favorite like that team, if they would have gotten another chance at the giants, they probably would have beat them.

Right. At some point, like the games have to matter, which is why I thought Bama should have been left out losing to Texas. And, but if you're going to give Bama an extra chance, if you're going to give them a mall again, why didn't you give to Georgia?

Because Georgia would have been favored in a rematch again against Bama, you know, and they showed how good they were against Florida state. It is all a mess. And like I said, we could argue different scenarios until we're blue in the face, any of them. And by the committee's own criteria, you could make a justification for any team out, any team, you know, should have been there. It just drives me crazy. And I know it drives a lot of fans crazy too. And I know you didn't mean it this way as Danny canal joins us. But the one thing that I can't stand is like last year when Saban said, Oh, we would have been favored against any of these teams that we were going up against the teams that they got in, in front of us.

You were also favored two times last year and you lost both of those games. So I don't care who the favorite is. You're right.

The games need to matter to some degree. And let me be clear. Georgia didn't deserve to go this year because it's a mixture of who's the most deserving and who's the best team regardless of what the committee does say. No doubt.

And that's, that's the blend of it. And that's why there's also the reason Florida State got left out and the committee was very upfront and clear about this. They said they weren't the same team without Jordan Travis, their starting quarterback, who and their offense looked atrocious. That was the minute I started getting nervous because I was pretty much guaranteeing Florida State was in no matter what happened. If they ran the table, they were undefeated in the ACC with wins over LSU in Florida from the SEC that was guaranteeing fans they were in.

But the minute, even with Jordan Travis's injury, but the minute I watched that game, the ACC championship game versus Louisville. And it was gross. It was ugly. The offensive performance was atrocious. I was thinking, Oh, the committee's watching this game too. And they were thinking, do we really want to put this offense on the national stage? Because while yes, Florida State could have won. It would have been an ugly defensive performance. Like that's the way they would have been able to win in the playoffs. And I think that was the minute I started getting nervous was watching that game.

This offense doesn't look adequate, even though months prepare, maybe they get things ironed out. I think I understood why they went that route. Talking to Danny canal right now, I got to get your thoughts on DJ uncle away. I love him going to Florida State, get him back into the ACC going up against Clemson and Davos Sweeney and Davos become insufferable really the last two, three years and everyone else is starting to catch up to him and even surpass him in the ACC. As you saw Florida State win the ACC championship this year, your reaction to DJ uncle lay joining your Seminoles. So full disclosure, Zach, I was, if there was a draft, I would have wanted to draft Cam Ward, the quarterback from Washington state. I think he was the most dynamic player, the biggest game changer, the guy who can kind of really take your program to a next level. Once he was, you know, he announced now there's speculation that he announced as a leverage move.

He hasn't hired an agent that he still could be in the mix until January 15th, when they actually have to declare for the NFL draft. But once he was off the board, so to speak, then it was like, let's get DJ you. That's the direction they went. I think it's a safe play. Like, I think it's a good move. I don't think it's a great move. I think Cam Ward would have been a player that all of a sudden you're picking Florida State again to go to the ACC championship.

You're picking them again to go to the playoffs. I need to see DJ, you take that next step because he's been a polarizing quarterback from when he Kent went to Clemson. He was a five star supposed to be all everything didn't pan out. Then he goes to Oregon state. It's supposed to take that next level.

And it was almost identical statistically to the season before Clemson. He needs to take that next jump. Like he had 21 touchdown passes this past season to Oregon state. He's got to get that to 30 plus and, you know, less than, you know, single digit interceptions, 65% completion rate. But here's the thing that I do trust. Mike Norvell has been great with quarterbacks and great developing systems that fit his quarterback skill set. I trust him to do that. But then not to mention, you have all those question marks, those players that were sitting out in the bowl because they opted out for the NFL draft.

They're gone. So he has a lot of players to replace, which he's been a transfer portal king. He's going to have to be just as activist. He's been in years past. If they want to replicate any type of the success they had this past season, Danny canal here with us, uh, will Howard to Ohio state. Is that underwhelming to you? Like did Ohio state get better with Kyle McCord going to Syracuse? How do you react to the Ohio state new quarterback? They're better.

Oh, it is an upgrade for Ohio state. He's more dynamic than Kyle McCord. He's a better runner.

He's bigger arm. Um, and I think he's played better with less talent. And I hate, like, I hate the year that Kyle McCord had where he feels it was a failure because for a first year starter, he was really good. Unfortunately, he plays at a place where the expectation is 40 plus touchdown passes for interceptions. You know, he wasn't the next in a long line of quarterbacks, Justin Fields, uh, CJ Stroud, Dwayne Haskins guys that had been lighting up the charts. He unfortunately fell just short of that. And still they were a one loss team. I just wish he would have stuck around and maybe tried to develop and get better because if you go back and look at players, like that's one thing we're so impatient. And I say we it's us as analysts, it's fans at Ohio state. And sometimes it's coaches. If this would like Joe borough, his first year at LSU that he transferred in there, I think he completed 52% of his passes. He was like 14 or 15 touchdown passes memorable on that team, on that offense compared to a Joe girl in offense, the running back. Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. So it was like, it was boring. Like he didn't look great. He might've been moved off now because people want to succeed now. Then he develops, gets comfortable in the system and he puts the perfect season in 2019. But unfortunately we're not going to see that, but I do think will Howard is an upgrade, but he still has to learn that system and no more Marvin Harrison Jr. I know at one time it was wide receiver you, but Julian Fleming, one of their top targets just transferred to Penn state. This is the world of transfer portal where every single year there is a tremendous amount of turnover on everybody's roster.

How far are you willing to go? Danny canal with Michael pedics Jr. At the next level, where should he be ranked? When you look at these quarterbacks that are eligible to be in the NFL draft coming up in April, boy, that's going to be a fascinating discussion. And I think there's one player with a ton of pressure on them in this game, both from, you know, what he has to do for his team to win, but also the draft boards, because after watching what he did in the sugar bowl, I saw a bunch of people on social media saying, holy cow, this kid can sling it. And I'm like, what have you guys been watching? He's been doing this. It's just been late at night.

No one's yeah. He's been tearing it up. Like you guys should have been paying attention. I do think coming before the sugar bowl, it was very clear Caleb Williams won Drake made to Jayden Daniels, the Heisman trophy winner three, then pedics might've been a little bit of a gap. Well, he's closed that gap significantly. And I think there's going to be some people that potentially drop, you know, jump him all the way to number two, especially the recency bias of that sugar bowl. But now he's in, but if you like dive into the tape, Texas is secondary was a weakness.

They're not very good. Now he's got to go against one of the best defenses in the country in Michigan. He'll be faced with a ferocious pass rush. If he replicates what he did in the sugar bowl, if he goes off for 400 plus and wins the game, watch out.

Cause he could jump to two. I don't think there's anything anybody can do to supplant Caleb Williams from the number one spot, but I think that number two spot is open for business. And if Michael Pennick shreds apart Michigan's defense, I think he could be the second quarterback off the board. Wrap it up with Danny canal. Everyone is talking about Michael Pennick's Jr. Cause it's the sexy part from the semi-finals, right?

He stole the show. So going into that game, it's like, Oh, what's Michael Pennick's Jr. Going to do up against Michigan.

I look at this when I'm breaking it down and we know what Michigan's bread and butter is. You saw it up against Penn state. It's Blake Coram. It's Donovan Edwards. Their best defense against Michael Pennick's is going to be their offense and running the ball and chewing off clock and having Pennick's on the sideline and just playing that bully ball that they like to play with Coram and also Donovan Edwards. I think you are very smart man Zach, because that is exactly the matchup. Everyone's saying that by the way, we can use that as a drop.

Thank you very much. There you go. I'm giving you some props because everyone is talking about the strength versus strength matchup. Washington's offensive line is the Joe Moore award winning. They're the best in the country. They've only given up 11 sacks all year versus Michigan's front seven.

Yeah. It's going to be a fun matchup to watch, but I'm more concerned about strength versus weakness. And that is Michigan's run game that you mentioned. Their offensive line, which didn't look like it missed a beat despite losing Zach Sinter, one of their best guards against Alabama, Blake Coram, one of the bigger backs, you know, workhorse backs in the country. They've got an identity against Washington's defense, which if you follow advanced analytics, their rush defense is 130th in success rate. That is not good. That is towards the bottom, almost the last in all of FPS, you know, all of college football.

So that concerns me greatly. But when I say that, like I, I think Michigan is going to bring a physicality that Washington hasn't had, but guess who else brought physicality Oregon did. Yeah. That's the one, like I am in case you haven't noticed, I think Michigan's going to win. I'm laying the points with Michigan.

I think exactly what we're talking about takes place. And yet everyone's been picking against Washington for the back half of the season. They were a 10 point dog against Oregon. People thought Oregon would march up and down the field against them and they didn't.

So there's a small sliver of doubt. They're five and O, you know, straight up as underdogs, not just against the spread five and O against the, uh, um, as with Kaitlin DeBoer as the head coach. So there's a part of me that's nervous, but I just feel like the third time is the charm for the Wolverines. I feel like this is a moment that's kind of been growing.

They've been there. They've got the experience in the playoffs and I feel like they kicked the door down versus Alabama. And I think this is where they get back to the top of the college football world.

Last thing I'll ask you, Danny Kanell. So you were talking about how you have Williams, May, Daniels, and then Michael Pennix Jr. And two through four is going to be fascinating, but no one's going to move past Caleb Williams adds to the number one pick. Do you think the bears are trading out of that number one spot or are they keeping that draft pick to select Caleb Williams? And that means they would then trade Justin Fields. Boy, I tell you what, it is a decision they've got to make because typically, you know, if you're a team that if you're a quarterback like Justin Fields, who's in this big decision year that you've got to make to determine your fate, you play well enough and you start winning. You're going to be out of that discussion for the number one overall pick, but because of the trade to Carolina, it's out of his control. And I do think he's played better and he's played well enough to earn that opportunity to kind of say, all right, let's trade down. Let's see if we can get Marvin Harrison Jr. Let's see if we can, you know, potentially turn this thing around around me. But man, Caleb Williams, wait till you hear some of the things you're going to hear about him because it's going to be, he's the closest thing to Patrick Mahomes.

He's a generational talent. He embraces that. I talked to Williams and there was that quote, I think it was from Tom House, that there's nothing that Williams could do that Mahomes can't something like that. And I said that to Williams at the Heisman and he was like, yeah, I see it the same exact way with all the respect in the world to Patrick Mahomes. Right. He doesn't lack confidence one bit.

I'm hedging around your question because I'm really torn on what to do with it. I personally think you go with the known and I think with Justin Fields, you've seen kind of the worst case scenario, which I don't think is that bad. Like I don't think he's a bust. I think if he is on the trade market, maybe it's a change of scenery that Justin Fields needs. I still think he could be a really good quarterback.

We've seen before guys pitched as the number one overall pick, go back and listen to some of the takes on Bryce young. Now he had size issues, but it really wasn't his size. That was the issue this year. I mean, he's been healthy for the most part. I know he got knocked around early. He's also in a show in Carolina. Yeah, exactly.

Which, which is a complete mess. So I don't, I almost, I still get nervous. I still think it's a coin flip around anybody, no matter what they've done in college. I think Caleb Williams is going to be awesome, but you never know. At least we know what Justin Fields that he's not going to be a complete bust. And I, but I've seen, and then I think it depends on the offer. Like what's a team willing to give up, to come up and get them. Trust me, there will be some desperate teams in the market for Caleb Williams that might offer you a Kings ransom where you can go out there and take it. And then it just gives you the answer for you of what to do for your future.

You can check out bet online for a plethora of college football playoff championship lines and props, plus opening odds for the 2025 college football playoff championship. He is Danny Kanell. Danny always appreciate our conversations. Thank you. You got it Zach, enjoy the game. Thanks so much.

You as well. There he is Danny Kanell joining us on CBS sports radio. This is the Zach Gelb show. Let's take a time out. We'll come on back. We'll teach you some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio, with the news brief, but update time first. Here's the act man, Rich Ackerman. I think you are very smart man, Zach.