Kirby Smart Can Become The FACE Of College Football (Hour 3)

Alrighty, on number three of our radio program, Zach Gelb's show, Infinity Sports Network. Tomorrow, there is an elite window of watching college football.

Like, you could do some things earlier in your day. You know, if you look at the top 25 matchups that start at noon, Miami, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Ohio State, Florida, Texas. I have a little intrigue now with Billy Napier coming on back and Texas being a top five team in the country. But you need to be on your couch at 3.30 p.m. Eastern Time for Georgia and Ole Miss. And I think this is a game that Ole Miss is actually going to win. And that would put Georgia at two losses. I still think Georgia is one of the three teams in the nation that could actually win the national championship this year.

I would think about maybe entering Texas at 14. But right now, Georgia, Oregon, and Ohio State in no order. But I like just the timing of Ole Miss in this one. In terms of they just put 63 up on Arkansas and now Georgia has just not been a clean.

It's kind of crazy to say a team 7-1 has not had a clean product this year. But Georgia has been begging at some time to lose some games this year. You know, Mark Stoops was not aggressive and Georgia beat Kentucky by one point. You know, Georgia, they messed around in the first half. They lost to Alabama 41 to 34. You know, up against Texas, Georgia played well in the first half.

They didn't play all that great in the second half. And then last week, you know, Georgia had to score two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to go beat Florida 34 to 20. I just think the timing is right on Ole Miss where everyone's going to say, hey, it's Georgia. Georgia already has one loss.

They're not going to get a second loss. You know, you can't trust Lane Kiffin in a big spot. I like Ole Miss this week.

I do. I think Ole Miss is going to win the game outright. You know, Ole Miss at home, and usually the home team, right, you know, they're a three-point favorite. I know it's Georgia, so that's going to throw everyone out of sync. Georgia right now is a two-and-a-half-point dog, two-and-a-half-point favorite, excuse me, on the road. So I like Ole Miss this week.

I do. Now, Alabama and LSU, geez, Louise, because that game is then at 7.30 p.m. Eastern time. So take care of all, like, your chores that you got to do, you know, the housekeeping notes that the kids got to go do something on a Saturday morning. Make sure you take care of that early. At 3.30 p.m. Eastern time, you got to be on your couch for the rest of the day, and you're ordering dinner.

All right? Like, you're ordering dinner on Saturday night because you got Alabama and LSU. I'm going to lean the tide on this one. I'm going to roll with the tide because I think the easy pick here, I think a lot of people are just going to be like, whatever team is the underdog, I'm just going to take the points.

And I can't fault you if that's your betting strategy. And Alabama has been up and down this year. Whenever their offense is playing well, their defense isn't playing well. Whenever their defense is playing well, the offense isn't playing well. And you saw that up against Tennessee.

That offense needs to be better. I just think you're going to see the most well-rounded efforts you're going to get out of Alabama, and this is a huge moment for Kalen DeBoer. Like, you look at the coaches in those two games that I mentioned, Georgia Ole Miss and then also LSU hosting Alabama.

Kirby Smart, what's on the line? I think right now everyone perceives Kirby Smart to be the best coach in college football. Like, Nick Saban no longer there.

Jim Harbaugh no longer in the sport back at the NFL. So when you lose those two guys, even though people are already gravitating towards Kirby Smart, you know, he is now the guy that we look at and we say he's the best coach in college football. But just because you're the best coach in college football doesn't mean you're the face of the sport. And if Kirby Smart wins a national championship this year, and that's three natties in four years, I think just because of that success, even though Kirby isn't Mr. Ra Ra, big personality guy, how dare you ask me about my visors, I can't even give you a fun answer on that, I think he will become the face of college football. Like, I'm trying to figure out who else would be the face of college football, and usually the coaches are the face of college football. Maybe the name image in likeness era, that changes where we start thinking about the players first.

But, you know, you could have a player making a lot of money in one school one year and then go and transfer and make a lot of money in a school another year, and also players, they have expiration dates in just college because they have aspirations to go to the NFL. You know, I'll throw in here, here's another guy that could be the face of the sport. It's Coach Prime.

Now, here's the problem. Last year Coach Prime, start off the year 3-0, and then Colorado only won one game down the stretch. Alright, they revamped that team, they already met bowl eligibility. If you're going to be a face of the sport guy, you got to at least be, because Prime's personality is like nothing that you've ever seen from a college coach, you at least then have to get to your conference championship game. And as crazy as it sounds, right, from where we thought they were going to be before the year, we were just, oh can they be bowl eligible, Colorado has a chance to go on out and be playing the Big 12 championship game this year. So if Prime could somehow win the Big 12, maybe he does become the face of college football, because clicks and views are generated based off talking Colorado football. From Chidora to Travis to Coach Prime, but then also, it's just that little bump love for Coach Prime, where it's, oh, maybe he goes somewhere else, and that gives him a bigger platform to become the face of college football, because if he stays at Colorado, I'm not saying he still can't have success, but you are losing Chidora, and you are losing Travis Hunter as well. So I don't think there's really anything Prime could do this year, even if he wins the Big 12 championship, and I'm not saying Colorado is going to win a national championship game, that would make me say Deion Sanders is the face of the sport, but I get it because of how much we do talk about him.

So Kirby is the guy that with the face of the sport just being up there for the taking, he has a chance to become the face of the sport this year. Now, on the other side, in that coaching match, if you look at Lane Kiffin, I don't think you will ever have the Ole Miss fans saying, fire Lane Kiffin, but with that being said, this was supposed to be a big year for Lane Kiffin, because of the fact that the playoff went from 4 to 12. Even though two SEC teams could get into a four-team playoff, even with the talent that Ole Miss has, it's still tough to make a four-team college football playoff, but now you go to 12, and even though you'd rather have Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss than not have him, if you can't make a 12-team college football playoff with this roster and this talent, I think that the Ole Miss fans just start to look at Lane Kiffin and go, he's a good football coach, you know, he's our football coach, we want him, but I'm not going to ever expect him to really win anything of significance. So this is a year where Lane Kiffin can show that they could do more than what is expected out of him at Ole Miss, but he can't lose another game. And you have Georgia, Florida, Mississippi State, the last three games on the schedule, you got to win this week, because if you don't, already losing to Kentucky and LSU, then you're going to be out of the college football playoff landscape. And you're not going to, a three-loss Ole Miss team is not making the college football playoff.

So there's a lot on the line in terms of evaluating what the ceiling can be for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. You know, I get to Alabama and I get to LSU, I think a similar conversation can be had just on steroids for Brian Kelly that we just had about Lane Kiffin. Like, I know a lot of us, we poke fun at Brian Kelly at LSU, you know, with the LSU family, with that fake accent and some of the cringe-worthy recruiting videos, dancing with the players, and then also the fake outrage to start the year, losing to USC and then slamming the table and going all nuts. But you look at LSU, year one they made the SEC championship game, they were 10-4, last year they were 10-3. But this is supposed to be a year where LSU in a 12-team format was supposed to make the playoff.

Now they still can, but they are 6-2, and every game from here on out for LSU is a playoff game. And remember why Brian Kelly left the Notre Dame family to go join the LSU family? It was to go win a national championship. Because he didn't think he could attain a national championship victory at Notre Dame, which is a fair thought. He thought he could do it at LSU, because you look at LSU since 2000, they've had three national championship winning coaches, with Nick Saban, with Les Miles, and then obviously one of my favorite coaches of all time, Ed Orgeron.

Go Tigers! But if LSU loses this weekend to Alabama, they're donezo. Because then LSU would have three losses from USC in week one and just losing to A&M two weeks ago. And even if Alabama loses to LSU and LSU gets a victory, am I going to sit here and tell you that LSU is definitely going to beat Florida, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma? Like they should be able to beat Florida, they should be able to beat Oklahoma, but Vanderbilt is a pain in the ass for everybody. Now Vanderbilt may not win all their games, but they are a competitive team that when you have your kill shot, you better kill them.

Because if you miss, they will come and find a way to beat you up. That's just what Vanderbilt's been this year with Lee and then Diego Pavia. But I'm looking at Brian Kelly, you don't make a 12-team playoff this year. Even after back-to-back 10-win seasons, to start your tenure at LSU, I think people start to say, hey, this guy's just not going to win a national championship at LSU. Even though you've seen three coaches do that since the 2000s, and Saban's obviously a legend, but no one thought Ed Orgeron was ever going to work at LSU.

Unless Miles is a good football coach, but let's not act like he's one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. And then you look at Kalen DeBoer. I said this to start the show, I don't think there's any coach under more pressure this weekend out of the big teams in Kalen DeBoer.

I don't think there's any player under more pressure than Carson Beck. But when I look at Kalen DeBoer going into this season, I sat her and I said, for this year to be a success, bare minimum for Alabama, they need, need to make the college football playoff. Because you have two Alabama fans. One Alabama fan will say, doesn't matter what Kalen DeBoer does, he will never be Nick Saban. Like even if Alabama won a national championship with Kalen DeBoer, there would be some in the Alabama fan base, I'm not saying they wouldn't be happy, but some would be like, well that's fine, that's one, look how many Nick Saban won. But then I think there's another Alabama fan that's rational. And an Alabama fan that will say, okay, first time being the head coach at Alabama, even though you had a ton of success at Sioux Falls and Fresno State and you were in a championship game last year at Washington, where Alabama couldn't beat Michigan, and I know that Washington couldn't beat Michigan, but at least Washington was in the national championship game.

And I think you look at that and you go, what's the realistic expectation? And if you walked into this year saying national championship at Alabama, I get why you say it, but I don't think it was realistic. And that's coming from someone that picked Alabama to lose to Georgia in the natty before the year started. If you expected to win the SEC before the year started, I don't even think that was realistic.

But in a 12-team format, you should be able to make that. You should be able to only lose two games in a season and make the college football playoff. And not that you will have Kalen DeBoer even being in the conversation with sane human beings about losing his job after one year at Alabama, but if you lose in terms of this game or whatever games you have remaining, you don't get into the college football playoff. There will be a lot of people that will go, hmm, did we get the right guy?

And I think they made the right hire. I do believe inevitably one day Kalen DeBoer will win a national championship at Alabama, and I think he has the right demeanor to take the initial onslaught of just what it's like in replacing Nick Saban. But winning that game up against Georgia, that was, hey, Alabama's not going anywhere. And then you followed it up losing to Vanderbilt, and you lost the game to Tennessee, and quite frankly, you should have ran him off the field through the first 30 minutes, but your offense and your quarterback had no awareness. So this is a big one for DeBoer because of the fact you lose this, then the playoff dream is dead. So all four of those coaches, I think the conversation, what's on the line moving forward is fascinating.

For Kirby Smart, it's, hey, you win three national championships in four years, whether you like it or not, you become the face of the sport. If Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly can't make the playoffs this year in a 12-team format with the rosters that they have and how loaded these teams are supposed to be, then it's okay. These coaches do have limitations in terms of their individual abilities at Ole Miss and LSU. And for Kaelyn DeBoer, I'll just be very intrigued by the narrative moving forward and how patient people will continue to be when in a 12-team format, you couldn't find the way to make the college football playoff in year one at Alabama. So what's on the line this weekend for Kirby, Lane Kiffin, Brian Kelly, and Kaelyn DeBoer?

You could chime in on that, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27, 8-5-5, 2-1-2, 42-27. I like Alabama, and I will have Ole Miss to pull off the upset. And it's really not that I don't believe in Kirby or that team, it's just Carson, like, he's due, right? He's got to show up. He's got to play well. But I just don't like what I've been seeing from Carson Beck, but then, hey, Lane Kiffin in a big game, can you get the job done?

But I'll go Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin to get the job done up against Georgia coming up tomorrow. All right, we'll take a break. When we come on back, Maggie Gray is going to join us, the host of Maggie and Perloff right here on many of these same Infinity Sports Network affiliates. You can listen to her and Andrew Perloff Monday through Fridays, weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern time. Maggie and I will do picks.

We'll also have some fun, throw around some other topics as well with Maggie Gray. But I'll try to continue my hot streak. I am 9 and 3 in the last four weeks, coming off of 3 and 0 a week. Can I go 3 and 0 again? Can I go 2 and 1? Can I go 1 and 2?

Or can I go 0 and 3? You will get my not award-winning picks, but I'll call them award-winning picks anyway, right here on the Zach Gelb Show, along with Maggie Gray's picks as well when we come on back. All righty, time for NFL picks. Zach Gelb here with you on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network, and we welcome in one of our own, Maggie Gray. She does a great job on the Maggie and Perloff Show on many of these same Infinity Sports Network affiliates, Monday through Fridays, from 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern time. And also, Maggie Gray's husband is an elite, and I mean an elite, kickball player. You know, Elijah Stewart, not a great kickball player, Andrew Perloff, not a great kickball player. But your husband, Maggie, from the kickball game over the summer with Deion Dawkins, I've never seen a kickball player. The ability that I saw from your husband that day. Wow, Zach, thanks for having me on. Took long enough. Just kidding.

We're really naming names here, aren't we? Okay, yes, actually I'm doing this from my house. This is my home studio.

I live in a place just decked out with all this kind of Buffalo Bills stuff. Do you want me to grab my husband? Would you rather do the picks with him? You know what, I don't want him to get too big of an ego. In case if we need him for the summer again for the kickball team, I don't want him to think he's too big of a star.

If he was a good leader, quiet guy, we start putting him on the radio. Then it's going to be like having Terrell Owens on the team in the summer or something like that. You know, you're right. He's going to be doing sit-ups in the driveway.

It's just going to be a scene. Next question. You're smart. By the way, what was happening with you on the treadmill? I know you have a high-profile job. You're very busy. You know, you're raising an adorable young child, so you probably don't have a lot of time, even though I know you work out a lot. But you're watching your bills on the treadmill?

How the heck is that healthy? Yeah, Zach, this has nothing to do with childcare at all. You've seen me ignore my kid many a time.

No, I'm just kidding. So I don't know if this happens to anybody. I'm sure it does if you're all sports fans who are listening to us right now. When my team is playing bad or my team is losing, I generally do one of two things. I can either eat, like stress eat, or I can get my behind on a treadmill and just do a really brisk walk. It helps me get some of the adrenaline out, and it allows me to be my true psychotic self when I'm walking on the treadmill at a high rate of speed and screaming at the TV.

So I'll paint you the picture. I've got the treadmill in our bedroom. I've got the quad box up on a Sunday. I got my red zone on my phone and another game on the laptop, and it's just like my little sanctuary of craziness.

I understand the answer, and I'm an hour a day elliptical guy, but I can't see myself when my team is playing, getting on a treadmill and running. Are you taking notes? Why not?

I don't know. I need to be on the couch with wings, being a fat slob, watching the games, and having me basically sit through my emotions. I'm glad you mentioned that. So I am a really superstitious person on top of it. So I'm crazy, I'm superstitious, and I tend to tinge a little towards the negative. So I'm the real trifecta here of a sports fan. I've done the sitting on the couch and eating the wings and drowning my sorrows. And you want to know something, Zach? My team still blows it. So I'm trying something different because I've eaten more nachos and chicken wings than I would ever be able to count. And you know what?

They still blow it in the big moment. So I'm going to try something different this season. So with Tyler Bass not blowing it in the big moment last week, does this mean when the Bills play the Colts, Maggie Gray will be on the treadmill this week? Anytime they're losing or playing bad, that's when I jump on the tread. I'm telling you, Zach, you're an elliptical guy.

You should try it, dude. But the Patriots, like, you're in a rebuild, so you might lose like 50 pounds. Well, it's easy for me because I could just, like, I watch my team every week, but I know that they're not good. So it's not as if there's a lot on the line.

So I'm not really stressful. Like, my team has won all these championships. Now it's okay.

We got to find the next guy. But I have such a low expectation for them. Drake May runs around, makes a few plays, and they lose. I'm happy. I'm not rooting for them to win right now. I know. Blah, blah, blah.

Patriots, championships, blah, blah, blah. Believe me, I've seen it. I lived it. You guys were awesome. And I'm telling you, give it a try, man.

Try the elliptical. But here's why I'm concerned for you. You're going to go into a game, and I know you're not very confident about the Bills. You always think something is going to go wrong with them. But there's going to be a Sunday where you're eating wings and you're eating, like, nachos. And then you're going to be like, they stink right now.

And then you're going to have to go on the treadmill and you're going to be puking because you did not prepare to get on the treadmill. So that's my concern for you, Maggie. You know, fair. And I can't say it hasn't happened before.

No, I'm hoping, hoping that I'll be able to choke every, like, keep it down. Just keep it. Keep it. What do they say? Demure?

Is that what the kids are saying these days? I don't know. I have no clue. You know what?

The next time I am on the treadmill and I'm feeling like, oh, what did I do now? I'll be sure to turn the camera on. I'll FaceTime you. How about that? Gotcha.

All right. I have one more serious question, and then we'll get to picks. I read this article, and you are one of the top women on the radio right now in the sports radio world and also in the media world. I saw that Whoopi Goldberg has announced the launch of an all women's sports network. Am I going to be concerned here about losing Maggie Gray as a colleague?

Well, I'm just going to, you know, just going to have to direct you straight to my agent. I'm not answering any questions right now. I'm not going to confirm or deny any conversations I may or may not have had with Whoopi. No, I've never met Whoopi Goldberg. This is the first I'm hearing of that.

So I don't think we have anything to worry about. Yeah, money bags, Maggie. That's what we're going to start calling you. Whoopi Goldberg's going to be backing up the Brinks truck, and she's going to make you an offer that you can't refuse. Wasn't she in a sports movie? She was in Eddie, right?

Was she the coach of the Knicks in a sports movie? Samter is saying yes. I'm going to be honest.

I haven't seen it. Wait, Samter's there. I was going to say, if you're going to Stu Kovacs on this, you might as well just go down a black hole. Stu's only seen Rudy, I think, a hundred times because of his Notre Dame fandom. No, Stu's a Notre Dame fan. He hasn't even seen Rudy.

He's like, Rudy who? Alrighty, let's do this. Go bear, Stu.

Go bear. Alrighty, let's fire up the music here, and let's get to some NFL picks. Stu, take it away.

Alrighty, Maggie, I will be polite. You get the first pick. What are you going with? Okay, I'm going to take the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'm going to take the three points plus the three.

They're on the road facing the commanders. I just think that they're going to find a way to make this a bit of a rock fight. This is going to be maybe, I'm interested about the coaching matchup here of a Mike Tomlin, Dan Quinn situation. And I just trust the Steelers. I don't trust, I don't love their quarterback situation. I don't love really much about their skill position players outside of Pickens. And I guess a rejuvenated Najee Harris, but they find a way to stay in games.

I don't think they're going to get blown out. I'll take Pittsburgh plus the three. Okay, so first pick down from Maggie Gray, Steelers plus the three.

I will go to Germany, and I looked at this line, and I never thought in a million years I would take it. But the Giants being a six-point favorite against any team doesn't make sense. So if you're listening, you'd probably say, oh, Zach's going to take the points here with the Carolina Panthers coming off a win.

Because this line makes zero sense, and I feel like it's begging you to take the Panthers, I will lay the six and a half points with Daniel Jones and the New York Giants. I mean, there's no amount of beer in all of Bavaria, Zach, that would make me bet on that game. I would bet on that game with your money.

That is a sad state of affairs. You know what? I may get on the treadmill during that game. I may do Sunday morning football on the network this weekend on the treadmill while having to watch that bleep show that we're going to see in Germany.

I'm going to be honest, just a little word of the wise, the heavy breathing freaks everybody out. All right, what do we got? Game number two, Maggie, go ahead.

Okay, this one, I don't understand this line, so I'm leaning into it as well. Can I take you to Monday Night Football? Can I take the Rams and I'll lay the point? I don't really understand why they wouldn't be more than a point favorite against the Miami Dolphins flying cross-country.

And Hookah Nakua is not going to get kicked out of another game, right? So they know Jalen Ramsey, like they understand he was a Ram. I just don't, you know, the rookies on the defensive line have been playing well.

I don't get this line, so yeah, maybe it's a little fishy, but I'm leaning into it. I'll take the Rams and I'll lay the one. Yeah, it is a wonky spread, you're right. I didn't even look at the Monday Night game in terms of what the spread was yet, but you would think usually like the home team, they're already a three-point favorite. For them to only be a one-point favorite, something's bizarre there. All right, my next pick, I'm going to actually take your Bills this week. The Colts, they're playing Joe Flacco. Yeah, better win now quarterback than Anthony Richardson, but what are you trying to accomplish long-term with your franchise? I picked Josh Allen to win the MVP in the summer. It's him and Lamar Jackson right now for that award. I know the Bills have some injuries on offense, but Josh is just going to find the way to carry this team. He'll be running through that Colts defense, how Maggie Gray runs on a treadmill on a football Sunday. So give me the Buffalo Bills lay in the four points.

And your final pick is? Okay, this one is a little tough for me, but because I don't think that they're going to really run up the score, but I guess I'm going to take the Chargers and I'll lay the seven and a half. The Titans are just not good. The thing about the Titans is that they have a great first quarter. They have a good script for a good first drive or what have you. But then after that, it all feels like it falls apart. And if I'm not mistaking, I was away from my phone for a little bit, I believe Will Levis is now starting.

Yeah, like hell yeah. I'll take the Chargers and I'll lay the seven and a half. I don't think a couple weeks off is going to change and rehab like whatever Will Levis, he just doesn't see the field. He's a bad decision maker.

I don't think that can be fixed in just a very short amount of time. So yeah, I'll take the Chargers. I'll lay the seven and a half. And I'll tell you this. I knew the Chargers had a good defense. I did not realize until Solomon Wilcox joined us earlier.

They have the fewest points allowed in football this year, 12.6 per game. I know. And I love Sali.

He's the best. But they have played no quarterback. Fair. Yeah, no. So I think they're good, too.

But it is not exactly murderer's row of QBs that they've played. So just a little caution there. All right. And my final pick here. Maybe this is a sucker bet. I don't care.

And I know Cooper Rush played well a few years ago when Dak had to miss all those games. But since I took your bills, I will then take your co-hosts, Philadelphia Eagles. I will take the Eagles laying seven points. So the picks for this week, I take the Giants.

Yikes. What am I doing? I'm drunk right now laying six and a half points. The Bills lay in four. The Eagles lay in seven.

So all favorites. Maggie's rocking and rolling with the Steelers plus the three. The Rams minus the one.

And the Chargers lay in the seven and a half. Maggie, appreciate you doing this. Thank you. Wait, Zach, one last thing. What's your record this year?

Like, what am I up against? Yeah, so I am nine and three in the last four weeks. I believe I am 15 and 12, they tell me, on the season. And then real quickly, what are our guest pickers? Because this is impressive. They are 18 and nine, our guest pickers this year.

18 and nine. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I think Hickey was the worst one.

So you'll be better than Hickey. Do you have, like, Jimmy the Greek on every week? Who is picking these games? People I know? Outside of you, we just have a bunch of dopes, honestly. Well, let's let them play the game. You know who was 3 and 0?

And then I might be included with those dopes, too. You know who was 3 and 0? Your co-host. I can tell you, I have his records right here.

We pick five games, two college, three pros on Fridays. He's 24 and 21 this year. Wow, superb.

My health is actually finally having a good gambling year. Look at that. Even a blind squirrel, Zach.

Yeah. We'll find an acorn once in a while. There's no doubt about that. Say hello to your husband for me, and thanks so much for coming on today. Thank you for having me on. Hi, Samter.

Hi, Stu. Miss you guys. There you go, the great Maggie Gray joining us on the Infinity Sports Network. Obviously used to be in this time slot and now with the big morning show from 6 to 10 a.m. Eastern time. And many of these same Infinity Sports Network affiliates, and I'll be a company guy.

Also on Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and always streaming live on YouTube. We will take a break. We'll come on back. We'll end up the show a little on-site, off-site. Let's get the latest update with the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. Alrighty, it's time to answer Ask the Pros' question of the day.

It's brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Let's go to Bella B. in Calgary, our dear friend. Hi, Zach.

Are you a better dancer or singer? Thanks. Bella B. in Calgary. Hashtag Ask the Pros. At INF Sports Net. At Zach El. You can submit a question by tweeting at INF Sports Net or at Zach El.

Like we just said, using the hashtag Ask the Pros. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs. Guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts.

O-O-O-O'Reilly Auto Parts. By far and away, I am a better dancer than singer. When I am at a wedding and if I have a few drinks in me, I am not only a good dancer, some people say I am an elite dancer and I get the people going. So that's how I answer that question. Alrighty, it is a Friday.

By the way, I don't know about you, Stu. I can't believe it's Friday. It does not feel like it is Friday.

Fast week, yes. I usually, on Tuesdays, I'm like, ugh, Tuesday, such a long day. I feel like it's already Thursday, for crying out loud. If you ask me what day of the week it feels like right now, I would say Wednesday. I do not feel like it's going to be a Friday night tonight.

And I'll say this too. Maybe, and hey, it's only here in New York where we live, but the fact that it has not been cold and we have had like 70 degree days here and it's November 8th, it kind of makes the whole sports world just feel on pause for me. When I was at all those playoff baseball games and it was warm, I didn't feel like playoff baseball. And we're in the middle of the football season. It's November.

Thanksgiving's two, three weeks away, and it doesn't feel like it's November yet. Because I had a doctor's appointment this morning. I walked there in shorts, T-shirt, and a flip-flop. Flip-flops, for crying out loud, for the two blocks that I had to go.

Because it is warm in the Big Apple in the NYC. Alrighty, let's get to a little onside-offside, Stu. Hit it! Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Offside, defense number 69. It's onsides-offsides with Zach Gelb. Alrighty, what do we got today, Stu?

Alright, Zach. Well, on Sunday, the 4-4 49ers take on the reeling 4-5 Buccaneers who have lost three straight games and sit two games behind the Falcons in the NFC South. Now, the Niners expect Christian McCaffrey back, while Mike Evans might return sooner than expected for Tampa. So, onsides-offsides, this game is more important for the Buccaneers than it is for the 49ers.

I'm gonna go offside, and here's why. I think you could easily make a case for this game being more important in a logical way for the Buccaneers. In terms of, only one team's gonna probably get in from their division, you already lost two games to the Atlanta Falcons. I like Baker a lot, but with Gobbin out for the year, you know, I know Evans may be coming back, but who knows, it's just like, I don't think this team's going anywhere this season, especially with Todd Bowles on the sideline.

Missed the personality. So, I think the game's more important for the 49ers because I also think their division is only sending one team in, and the division is all jammed together. So, that's why I think this game is more important for the Niners. This game is more important for the Bucs than the Niners. You ask me, I will go offside on that one.

Offside. Now, the Bengals drop to 4-6 despite an MVP caliber season from Joe Burrow so far, along with Trey Hendrickson leading the NFL in sacks and Jamar Chase leading the league in receiving. Chase now has 981 yards and 10 touchdowns after his Monster 11 catch, 264 yards, and three touchdown performance last night. So, onsides, offsides, Jamar Chase is a top two receiver in the NFL. This season? Right now?

Yeah. Tyreek Hill only has 446 receiving yards this year. Tyreek Hill has one game where he's eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark. So, if I was to give you my rankings right now in terms of, if you asked me before this season, it would be Tyreek Hill or Justin Jefferson right one-two. Because of the year Tyreek Hill is having, and I get it, he's out two or for a few games, and we've seen what Jamar Chase is doing, I would say Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson, and the two LSU Tigers on the same team are currently the two best wide receivers in the sport. So, if you ask me, is Jamar Chase the top two wide receiver in the NFL?

I will go onsides. You know who I also want to give a shout out to? And I don't think he'd be on this list, but I think this guy needs to start getting more national recognition. I'm not saying he's a top five receiver, but I'm in Ross St. Brown.

That dude is a joy to watch each and every week. So, just throw him out there. Next. We get a couple of huge matchups in the SEC, with Georgia traveling to Ole Miss and Bama heading to the bayou to take on LSU. Both Bama and LSU have two losses on the season, but the Tide are currently ranked 11th, while the Tigers are 15th. So, onsides, offsides, the loser of this game is eliminated from playoff contention.

I think this is the easiest question I've ever been asked in my life. Seriously. Of course. Onsides, you lose this game, you have three losses, you've done so. I know there's parity.

I know that there's a lot of teams that lost games that we didn't expect them to lose. But what would be the case for a three-loss Alabama or a three-loss LSU? I'll tell you the answer.

There's no case. So, easy, easy, easy, peasy question. Loser of this game is eliminated from the playoff contention.

Yeah. Onsides. Colorado is 6-2 after their bye week, and they take on a Texas Tech team coming off of a stunning upset over previously unbeaten Iowa State. Most sportsbooks list Travis Hunter second in odds for the Heisman Trophy in a tight race with Dylan Gabriel, Ashton Gente, and Cam Ward. So onsides, offsides, Colorado has to make the playoffs for Hunter to win the Heisman. Hmm.

That's a great question. So right now I'm looking at the four potential players that could win the Heisman. No order. Cam Ward, Dylan Gabriel, Ashton Gente, Travis Hunter. Oregon will be in the playoff. You then look at Cam Ward. He needs to make the playoff to win the Heisman.

Like, his stats alone are ridiculous. But you don't make the playoff. I don't think you're going to win the Heisman. And I know there's been other years, right? Jayden Daniels wasn't in the playoff. That was a fourth team. He won the Heisman. Kyle Williams didn't make the playoffs fourth team. He won the Heisman. So it's possible.

Now I'm going to 12. It's tough to say you're the Heisman Trophy winner if you don't make a 12-team playoff. So I'm going, like, Gente, I think he'll be a finalist.

Can he win it? Yeah, they got to go make the playoff, which they should. So yeah, I'm going to say that Kyle, he has the best chance, if you tell me there's a player that doesn't make the playoff, best chance to win it, I think it would be Travis Hunter. But with how close this is, if you don't make the playoff, I do think that's going to lean people to put other people in front of you. So all four of those guys have a case to be made to win it. If you miss the playoffs, I think that's going to take some votes away and will cost Travis Hunter the Heisman. And also, some people may also split votes naturally. Even more will go Hunter over Chidor, but some will give some votes out to Chidor in front of Travis Hunter.

So Kyle has to make the playoffs for Hunter to win the Heisman. I'm going to go onsides on that. So Bovada, they released their updated odds for who's most likely to be the number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft. Now surprisingly, Carson Beck leads the way at plus 350, which Chidor Sanders next at plus 350, and then Quinn Ewers third at plus 500. Onsides, offsides, neither Beck nor Ewers will be top 10 picks. I'm going to go offside, and the reason I'm going offside, it's not that I'm saying that Beck and Quinn should be top 10 picks. I've said this now for at least three weeks, and I've said this numerous times that if I had a top 10 pick or a top 15 pick, I would not pick Carson Beck and I would not pick Quinn Ewers. The only two quarterbacks I would take with what I've seen so far in the top 10, top 15 would be Chidor Sanders and also it would be Cam Ward.

But I look at the top 10 picks right now if the draft was Tamar. New England doesn't need a quarterback. Jacksonville, they're not going to draft a quarterback. New Orleans needs a quarterback. Carolina needs a quarterback. Cleveland needs a quarterback. The Raiders need a quarterback. The Giants need a quarterback. I don't think Miami would draft one. Titans need a quarterback.

The Jets even could maybe use a quarterback. That's seven out of the top 10 teams projected right now. So that tells me more than just two quarterbacks if I think Chidor and Cam Ward are the best, more than two will go in the top 10. So neither Beck nor Ewers will be top 10 picks. I will go off the side.

Off the side. Now Matt Lehner was one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time and now his three star quarterback son Cole has committed to... How many stars? Three stars.

That's it? Three stars. You're a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback? And your son's only a three star recruit? I'm surprised by that. Terrible.

Absolutely terrible. So he's committed to SMU. Let's be clear. We're not saying the kid's terrible. We're having fun there. I don't want someone on a Friday... I'm not.

I'm not at all. Continue though. So the SMU Mustangs, they are currently 13th in the rankings and they've had six straight winning seasons. Onsides, offsides, SMU can develop into a title contending program.

Offside. So they're in the ACC. It's like, look at what Miami's doing right now. Clemson was the standard for years.

Now they're not going to get back into the playoffs. I just think it's very tough where the ACC is. You're obviously going to get a spot in the playoff each and every year, but then for me to believe that you're going to go on to win a national championship or compete to win a national championship, yeah, that's a no for me, dawg.

I'm going offside. And also, I think you need someone better than a three star quarterback, even though Cam Ward was a zero star recruit at one time. And it's maybe better than a little three star quarterback. That's what I would say. Alright, last one. Matt Liner would return one of my texts about the 20 times we reached out to him to come on the show this year. Maybe I would say yes. You know, we had him on once. It was great. We had a great conversation ever since. You would think I'm like the worst person in the world.

I kid you not. I think I've texted him like 40 times to try to get him on since then. I've called him. I texted him. I know one of his good friends. I even dropped that name.

Unless he just changed his number and I'm just texting someone random. It is Bueller, Bueller whenever he sees guilt. No response. Geez. Alright, last one.

Let's go. Alright, the Lakers, they've lost two straight and four of their last five as Anthony Davis sat out Wednesday with plantar fasciitis diagnosis. Davis is an early MVP candidate leading the NBA with 32.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game. But Shams says that Davis has been dealing with this injury for months. So onsides, offsides, the Lakers should sit Davis for an extended period to keep him healthy for a free playoff push. But I thought Anthony Davis there was no health concerns because he was healthy last year.

The Lakers aren't going to have a big playoff push anyway. But yeah, the guy's not healthy. You got to sit him. You got to sit him down for a big stretch. Especially this early in the season.

So I would go onsides on that one. Alright, a good show today. Big thanks to Samter.

Big thanks to Stu. Big thanks to each and every one of you in addition to our guest today, Solomon Wilcox for joining us and also the great Maggie Gray. I will be on The Fan in New York City tomorrow. If you want to listen on the free Odyssey app, 9 to 930 a.m. Eastern Time. And then on Sunday, as they say in Philadelphia, on Sunday, I will be here on the Infinity Sports Network for Sunday morning football, 10 a.m. to noon Eastern. And then on Monday, we'll be all back together as one big happy family at 3 p.m. Eastern noon Pacific for another edition of the Zach Gelb show. Enjoy the football everybody. We'll talk on Monday or maybe Saturday or maybe Sunday or maybe all the above. Whenever I talk to you next, it's going to be a pleasure. We appreciate it. We out. Bye bye. Have a good weekend. Peace.