SEC Tears & College Football Playoff Madness

[00:00:00] Is there anything to gain by playing in some of these games that you play out of conference? I think it's something that every, not just us, but every team needs to look at because clearly you can go through an entire season not beat a ranked team and be in the playoff if you just win. But the committee made it very clear that they really don't give a hoot who you beat.

[00:00:19] The following is a presentation of Hobson Media.

[00:00:23] Woohoo!

[00:00:25] We've got it better than us!

[00:00:31] This is the Church Pew Sports Podcast, featuring a group of pastors delivering bombastic takes on sports, life and faith.

[00:00:40] We're going to attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

[00:00:46] Take a knee.

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[00:00:51] Lend an ear.

[00:00:52] These are some of the best questions I've had, I have to tell you that straight up.

[00:00:55] As the Church Pew Sports Podcast begins.

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[00:01:07] We're giving high fives and away we go with another episode of Church Pew Sports.

[00:01:11] So good to have you with us. Thank you for subscribing and sharing the link with other sports fans in your world.

[00:01:17] Bill Hobson here. And as always, I'm joined by Pastor Paul Miller.

[00:01:23] And right at the outset, Paul, I'm gonna kind of tease our audience with a really cool potential little thing that came our way today.

[00:01:32] As I was informed that Church Pew Sports has been nominated in two different categories for Best Sports Podcast.

[00:01:41] One is for just Best Sports Talk and the other is for Best Social Impact and Inclusion Podcast,

[00:01:50] which I think just means all faiths because I don't really know.

[00:01:53] So, yeah, in the next few days we will have information for all of you because the next step is is votes.

[00:02:00] So we may we may lose it there on quantity of votes, but kind of cool to be in the in the conversation.

[00:02:06] I just want to know if I get a trophy.

[00:02:09] I think rings. I think rings.

[00:02:12] The big like the Patriots gaudy Super Bowl rings that weigh four pounds a piece.

[00:02:17] In our case, they'll be made out of cotton candy, but a ring nonetheless.

[00:02:22] Good to see you. David Collins is with us, as is often the case.

[00:02:26] And we bring back Paul, a guy who is if you're watching the YouTube edition of the podcast,

[00:02:33] the best dressed panelist we've had in quite some time.

[00:02:38] Yeah, Carson, it's good to have you back on man.

[00:02:40] Last time I think the last time we were both on the podcast, I was giving you grief about

[00:02:46] not telling us a story about getting lost on an ultra marathon or some such thing, if I remember correctly.

[00:02:51] That is accurate. I keep those deep. I keep those hidden.

[00:02:55] And Carson, Carson Greenshaw may catch a little heat tonight from David Collins,

[00:02:58] because as I understand things, the Church Pew Sports, you pick them college football journey has come largely to a halt.

[00:03:10] And Carson wins it, right? On a conference championship tiebreaker.

[00:03:15] David, how are you doing processing the L that you've had to take?

[00:03:20] Yeah, no, it's not fun.

[00:03:23] I, like I said, I think there was a week where I forgot to send in picks and I think that's what submarine made.

[00:03:28] But that's, you know what, that's on me.

[00:03:30] We're going to take a look at the tape. We're going to get back at it.

[00:03:33] You know, one play at a time over here.

[00:03:35] We're going to go back at it next year and we'll win. We'll win.

[00:03:37] Do you have your hand up and are you saying my bad?

[00:03:40] That's me. That's on me.

[00:03:42] Not nobody else on me.

[00:03:43] Is it does it then diminish the legitimacy of Carson's win?

[00:03:48] And Carson, do you feel like maybe it's been hollowed out a little bit?

[00:03:52] Absolutely not.

[00:03:54] Yeah, a win is a win is a win.

[00:03:58] And as we dive into the subject matter, I just want all the listeners to know of the four gentlemen on this podcast,

[00:04:04] like I'm the one, I am the voice that needs to be listened to.

[00:04:07] I'm the one that needs to be paid even more.

[00:04:11] And David, he's right there.

[00:04:13] He was one win away.

[00:04:15] And then, you know, Bill and Paul, if you so choose.

[00:04:18] I mean, technically I was one win away.

[00:04:19] You were 39 and 21.

[00:04:21] I was 38 and 22.

[00:04:22] I think by the definition of one win away, that's where I was.

[00:04:26] Yeah.

[00:04:27] And I was, I was not quite as high up the standings as you guys, but I did finish ahead of our friend,

[00:04:35] Brian Sharp, who just to remind all of you, all of our listeners, Brian's reward for finishing last in our season long college football pick them competition is that he's going to be on the podcast.

[00:04:48] I think it's next week.

[00:04:49] Our season finale next week.

[00:04:51] Our season finale.

[00:04:52] He's going to give us a movie review of the hallmark, the Kansas City Chiefs hallmark Christmas movie.

[00:05:01] Yes, that's the thing.

[00:05:03] Brian has watched it.

[00:05:04] He's going to come, come on and let us know what he thought.

[00:05:07] He's going to try to convince all of us to subscribe to the hallmark channel and we'll see how that goes.

[00:05:11] Is it possible that the Chiefs at least lose a game in the hallmark world?

[00:05:17] I have no idea.

[00:05:18] I have not watched the movie.

[00:05:20] I do not intend to watch the movie, but as some of my friends would say, there are two things that are scripted in this world.

[00:05:27] So take that for what you will.

[00:05:30] Well, we are going to dive into the college football playoff picture.

[00:05:34] The bracket, of course, the big reveal.

[00:05:35] It only took a four hour TV special to get through everything on Sunday afternoon for ESPN.

[00:05:41] I don't think they were milking it.

[00:05:43] I think they were really struggling to squeeze in all the content.

[00:05:45] No, they were milking it.

[00:05:47] Twelve teams make it in for the first time ever.

[00:05:50] The playoffs are set.

[00:05:51] My opening question will start, David, with you and kind of go around the group.

[00:05:56] As you look at the at the rankings, at the pairings, which are two different conversations.

[00:06:01] Do the brackets make sense to you?

[00:06:04] Not even close.

[00:06:05] Like Oregon is 13 and oh, and they have the worst draw.

[00:06:08] Like I've been saying in Paul, like, you know, I've been saying from the beginning, I think Ohio State is going to win this thing.

[00:06:14] And now I'm a little less sure of that than I was before.

[00:06:17] But to get Oregon at 13 and oh, to have to play them and then possibly Texas and then possibly Georgia.

[00:06:25] That's a murderer's row.

[00:06:27] It doesn't make any sense.

[00:06:28] Like, why are you punishing them?

[00:06:30] Whereas Penn State gets the easiest draw I've seen.

[00:06:32] Like it's and that's not to take away from, you know, the Indianas of the world and whatever, but you're looking at it and saying and Ward Manuel, who we all love.

[00:06:45] Five year extension.

[00:06:46] By that, I mean, none of us love really in any regard.

[00:06:50] I think he just got it wrong on this one.

[00:06:55] Yeah.

[00:06:56] So I watched a couple of his interviews on that marathon special and he was asked, Reese Davis was asking some pretty good questions, as you would expect from Reese.

[00:07:05] And one of them was, could you tell us how many votes needed to be different in order for those brackets to change?

[00:07:12] And Ward's only answer was, I'm just a voter.

[00:07:17] I'm just asked to be the voice in the face of the committee, but I'm just a voter and nobody really knows.

[00:07:23] As was the answer.

[00:07:24] I was like, oh, nobody really knows.

[00:07:26] But Bill, that's the frustrating part of the whole thing is, is you never know the criteria year to year to year to year.

[00:07:32] Like it's always different.

[00:07:34] I remember back when Michigan lost Ohio State in that, was it 2000 and early 2000s when they were one and two.

[00:07:42] Yeah, the day after Bo died.

[00:07:43] Right.

[00:07:43] And they kept Michigan out.

[00:07:45] And then the next season, the same exact scenario happened with SEC schools and they put them both in.

[00:07:50] Right.

[00:07:51] Like there is clearly a bias for that conference.

[00:07:54] And it's like, it's not even, it's an open secret at this point.

[00:07:58] Like no one's hush hush about it.

[00:08:00] It's just reality.

[00:08:01] That's why the title of this episode is SEC tears and playoff madness, because they are crying that they didn't get more teams in.

[00:08:09] So Paul, does this all make sense in your world?

[00:08:12] I think there's two, there's two questions inside that bill.

[00:08:16] The first is, do the rankings make sense?

[00:08:20] And I think they are close.

[00:08:22] I don't understand how Penn State stays above Ohio State.

[00:08:27] I don't understand how so many teams who have zero ranked wins.

[00:08:34] I'll say that again, zero ranked wins.

[00:08:38] It feels like schools like Texas and Penn State for sure got rewarded for who they lost to not actual games that they won.

[00:08:49] So that doesn't make sense to me.

[00:08:50] But if you could sort out a little bit of that, and I said, I tried to set aside my Ohio State bias and say, okay, there's an argument for Penn State to be above Ohio State because they look so terrible in their last game of the regular season against an unranked opponent.

[00:09:04] Yada, yada, yada. I get all that. I hear all that, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:09:07] I think if that's the case, then they probably did the best they could with a defective format.

[00:09:15] When they went to a format that required automatic buys for conference champions, it makes schools like Boise State and SMU gives them an inside track.

[00:09:27] And you're going to end up having schools out that anyone who's a college football fan knows they're probably one of the 12 best teams in college football,

[00:09:39] but they're out because that spot's been taken by a conference champion from some directional conference like the Mid-American, West, Southern, whatever it is that Boise State plays in.

[00:09:49] Right. That's my take.

[00:09:53] And Carson, before we come to you, I just want to share a little soundbite from Joel Klatt, who talks about what happened to the Oregon Ducks.

[00:09:59] It sort of echoes what David said and kind of sets up the next part of our conversation.

[00:10:04] Congratulations, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks.

[00:10:06] You got absolutely screwed by the playoff committee because their sentiment of trying to create artificial floors rose some of these teams to the levels where they shouldn't be.

[00:10:16] Maybe that's the problem. The reward for going 13-0 and having the best regular season in all of college football, which is supposed to be the most valuable regular season in all of sports.

[00:10:29] The reward for that is having to play the three highest odds team to win the national championship.

[00:10:35] They're going to have to go through possibly Ohio State, Texas and Georgia to win the national championship.

[00:10:40] So now it's not a true meritocracy. Now it's not a true playoff. It's not a true bracket.

[00:10:46] You set out to do something like value the conference championship game.

[00:10:51] And in doing so, you devalued the conference championship game.

[00:10:56] Yep. Carson, your thoughts?

[00:10:59] Yeah, no, I love how this conversation is going because there's two questions.

[00:11:04] Is it the right teams and is the playoff the right format?

[00:11:08] And what he's pointing out is the playoff, hey, we're trying it out.

[00:11:12] It's the wrong format. So even if you get the right teams, which let's take the format of like, hey, we're going to have the what is it?

[00:11:20] Four or five conference championships, Paul?

[00:11:22] Top five.

[00:11:25] So champs. Yeah.

[00:11:26] So put them in and then re-rank them all. No automatic buys for your top four conference championships.

[00:11:33] That's the two scenarios that I heard was like, OK, still allow them in.

[00:11:37] But just because you win the conference doesn't mean you should get the buy.

[00:11:41] The other interesting one on the format piece that I thought was after these first round games,

[00:11:46] you reshuffle around the rankings and you put the lowest ranked team with Oregon and you move it around that way.

[00:11:53] So I think those were two interesting ways of saying like, OK, still allow it for teams to get in, but just rank them.

[00:12:00] Or you re-rank after the first round.

[00:12:04] So when it comes to format, I think Joel Klatt is spot on.

[00:12:08] He's like, hey, this was a good idea in a boardroom on paper.

[00:12:13] And now we're seeing real time.

[00:12:15] This is terrible.

[00:12:16] It was not the best decision.

[00:12:18] And we're just seeing the reality of it.

[00:12:20] Had SMU beat Clemson, this system probably looks really good.

[00:12:24] But because they didn't, it looks pretty rushed.

[00:12:27] So we look at who got in and then who didn't get in, right?

[00:12:33] So the first couple that were out and everybody, of course, is referring to the Crimson Tide of Alabama,

[00:12:39] including a gentleman who is the best way for me to describe Roll Tide Willie.

[00:12:47] This short clip that I saw online is in a convenience store.

[00:12:53] Maybe it's a 7-Eleven.

[00:12:54] I don't know.

[00:12:54] It's somewhere in Alabama.

[00:12:56] And Roll Tide Willie is an older gentleman, got to be in his 70s.

[00:13:02] He's standing in the convenience store barefoot watching the announcement of the brackets.

[00:13:11] And he's talking back and forth with the convenience store clerk as they come to that 12th spot.

[00:13:18] And, of course, Reese drags it out a little bit.

[00:13:20] And he's, who's going to be in the 12th spot?

[00:13:23] And so here's the moment of the unveiling.

[00:13:26] And my apologies, but the ability to understand Roll Tide Willie is a little bit tough.

[00:13:34] Come on, Willie.

[00:13:36] Come on, Willie.

[00:13:42] You didn't even get into that gun playoffs, Willie.

[00:13:48] Well, we lost three games.

[00:13:50] We still got to be in there.

[00:13:53] Well, you know, if we lost some games, that's what killed us.

[00:13:57] They killed us out.

[00:14:02] Every week they got to play Tide football.

[00:14:05] And we didn't do it.

[00:14:10] Did you get all that, everybody?

[00:14:11] I believe the clerk at one point said they killed the South.

[00:14:15] And then Roll Tide Willie said they got to get out there and play Tide football.

[00:14:19] Yeah.

[00:14:20] It seems like the very foundations of the earth have been shaken by the exclusion of Alabama.

[00:14:28] Yeah.

[00:14:29] David, real quick, you're a guy who kind of memorizes a lot of stats and figures and things.

[00:14:34] Alabama's losses, did they come to really difficult non-conference games that they could have chosen not to play?

[00:14:42] Yeah, like Vanderbilt.

[00:14:43] Oh.

[00:14:44] And Oklahoma.

[00:14:45] Oh.

[00:14:46] 24-3 against Oklahoma, I think it was.

[00:14:49] Like, it's...

[00:14:50] Honestly, the team that has the most argument right now to be in that isn't is Miami, and I think that's pretty clear.

[00:14:58] Their wins, a couple of them have now become top 25 wins, but they weren't when they played them.

[00:15:04] It's like...

[00:15:06] That's why I don't understand Ward and the committee.

[00:15:09] Like, is it bad losses?

[00:15:10] Is it good wins?

[00:15:11] Like, they clearly left Miami out because they had no good wins.

[00:15:15] They had Alabama in initially because their losses were bad, even though they were terrible.

[00:15:20] Like, it's just...

[00:15:22] It's a crapshoot, and it doesn't make any sense how they're doing this.

[00:15:25] And I agree with what Carson said.

[00:15:27] Like, if SMU won, it would probably look a lot more like it should.

[00:15:32] But the reality is, why are certain teams being punished for being as good as they've been?

[00:15:38] It doesn't make sense.

[00:15:40] Like, I wish I was a fly on the wall in that room so I could...

[00:15:44] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:15:45] Slap Ward manual.

[00:15:46] But, like, the reality is, like, I can't figure out the process that got them to where they're at,

[00:15:53] except for they were inept in doing it.

[00:15:56] Yeah, it's because there's all these different criteria, right?

[00:15:59] And it's almost like they pick and choose whichever criteria fits the narrative

[00:16:06] and gives them the path of least resistance.

[00:16:08] It's a television product.

[00:16:10] Essentially, it's an entertainment product, and they're going to pick the Notre Dames and the Alabamas

[00:16:15] because that makes the product better.

[00:16:18] No, I think Bill Hobbs said it best.

[00:16:20] It's all about the money, right, Bill?

[00:16:21] Yeah, yeah.

[00:16:22] Remember that phrase, because I would buttress what David just said.

[00:16:26] Outside of the 12-team bracket, and I would say clearly it's all about the money,

[00:16:32] if you're going to somehow dig into the 7th place Big Ten team that resides in Ann Arbor

[00:16:39] and match them up against the team that apparently missed the playoff by a millimeter in Alabama

[00:16:45] and put them in a bowl game together.

[00:16:48] There's no logical sense for that pairing to take place other than somebody needed some more eyeballs on a TV screen

[00:16:57] and rear ends in stadium seats in the Tampa area on New Year's Eve.

[00:17:02] So we understand all of that, but the secrecy of all of this is what needs to be changed

[00:17:13] because the making of the sausage in this case, none of us want to see how legislation is made and passed in Congress.

[00:17:20] We just don't want to watch.

[00:17:21] You can watch it on C-SPAN if you want to.

[00:17:23] You can kill eight hours to watch them do absolutely nothing.

[00:17:26] So we're always thinking process is boring, process is no good.

[00:17:30] David, they could sell pay-per-view admission to watch the committee's debates for this.

[00:17:38] I mean, talk about everything about money.

[00:17:39] They could charge Roll Tide Willie, may not be able to swing it,

[00:17:43] but most everybody else would cough up 1995 for the three-hour viewing window to see how this whole thing came together.

[00:17:54] And until there's some sort of explanation or accountability,

[00:17:58] people are going to be as frustrated as you just expressed.

[00:18:00] Like, what set of criteria are you guys using?

[00:18:04] By the way, let me ask one more question and tag on the end of that.

[00:18:08] Silly, maybe.

[00:18:09] Was Army close to getting in?

[00:18:11] No.

[00:18:12] Why?

[00:18:15] Well, my research department, I think, would go to –

[00:18:19] and I sent this, I think, to you, Bill and Paul,

[00:18:23] where their average strength of schedule was 112th.

[00:18:28] Like, it was kind of a rough go.

[00:18:31] Like, it's one of those things where the schedule is what it is.

[00:18:35] We don't know who's going to be good every year.

[00:18:36] That's why you play the game.

[00:18:38] And so that is something that, like, it's hard to take into account.

[00:18:42] But Army, like, put it down.

[00:18:45] And it seems like record-wise they should at least deserve a consideration.

[00:18:52] But I love at the end of the game, what did some of those Army guys say?

[00:18:56] Beat Navy.

[00:18:57] Like, that's how they finished up winning the American Conference.

[00:19:02] Oh, yeah.

[00:19:03] Beat Navy.

[00:19:03] I, like, put them in the playoff for that line alone.

[00:19:08] Yeah, no doubt.

[00:19:09] That's actually one of the best weeks in the college football season, right,

[00:19:12] is the week coming up where the only thing going on is the Army-Navy game.

[00:19:15] And that's just a spectacle.

[00:19:17] It's just fun.

[00:19:18] Yeah, that's the game that I think we all have on our bucket list to attend at some point in our lives.

[00:19:23] Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[00:19:24] So how different do you think, I'll start with David again,

[00:19:28] how different do you think next year's version of all of this will look?

[00:19:32] I mean, there's got to be a recalibration and a reset.

[00:19:34] Or are they getting exactly what they hoped for,

[00:19:38] which is all kinds of conversation, all kinds of controversy,

[00:19:42] which then rolls over into lots of interest?

[00:19:46] I don't think you can change it in one year.

[00:19:48] I think that they've set the precedent now that it's got to be two, three, four years

[00:19:52] before they can actually make an adjustment on it,

[00:19:54] which, again, it doesn't make any sense

[00:19:57] because them doing what they're doing in the first place doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

[00:20:02] But, no, I mean, I think we're going to be stuck with this for the next,

[00:20:07] I don't know, probably three years before they make drastic changes to it,

[00:20:12] which is just, it's unfortunate.

[00:20:13] But, at the end of the day, the college football playoff is an invitational.

[00:20:20] It's not merit-based outside of the fact that those who are close

[00:20:25] to whatever metrics they want get invited.

[00:20:28] It's an invitational tournament.

[00:20:30] They're getting the guys that they want there.

[00:20:33] And if it's between, like, I guess my biggest issue with the whole situation is

[00:20:40] Miami has a potential Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback

[00:20:44] and one of the most exciting offenses in college football,

[00:20:48] and they were top 30 in both offensive and defensive efficiencies,

[00:20:51] and they got left out with two losses.

[00:20:54] Like, there's just so much of this that doesn't make any sense to me

[00:20:57] because there's no way a three-loss Alabama team has a better argument than that team.

[00:21:03] And I'm not even a Miami fan.

[00:21:06] I don't even know why I'm yelling about this.

[00:21:07] But it just doesn't make sense.

[00:21:11] Like, somebody explain it to me.

[00:21:12] And like you said, I would love to sit in that room

[00:21:15] and hear them actually make these arguments

[00:21:17] because I think I could do the same thing that they're doing

[00:21:21] as well or better than they are.

[00:21:22] Like, what is it that lets them have this authority?

[00:21:26] Oh, they were watching together.

[00:21:28] Oh, yeah.

[00:21:29] I'm a big fan of theirs.

[00:21:30] They had big leather chairs, and they were watching together.

[00:21:32] That's what, you know, Ward said,

[00:21:34] we were watching these games together and had lively discussion.

[00:21:37] And I was like, oh, so, like, every other sports fan in America.

[00:21:41] All right, got it.

[00:21:43] Like every rat house in the whole country, right?

[00:21:45] Yeah, really.

[00:21:46] They watched the conference championship games.

[00:21:49] Like, I watched more Syracuse football than the committee did this year.

[00:21:53] I can guarantee you that.

[00:21:54] And I don't like Syracuse football.

[00:21:55] Why did you do that?

[00:21:56] Like, that's the reality.

[00:21:57] Why did you do that?

[00:21:59] I just like football.

[00:22:00] Okay.

[00:22:01] He was wishing that Kyle McCord had transferred to Michigan.

[00:22:05] Yes.

[00:22:05] Well, that's not a bad call.

[00:22:07] That's not a bad call right there.

[00:22:09] Okay, so let's look at the bowl picture,

[00:22:11] and let's for a moment talk about teams that are not in the playoff.

[00:22:15] They're still in bowl games, Michigan, Alabama,

[00:22:17] and down the line we go to bowls.

[00:22:20] And in a moment, Paul, we're going to have a little fun with that.

[00:22:23] But let's, first of all, we already know in Michigan's case,

[00:22:26] there's no chance Will Johnson's coming back now for one game.

[00:22:29] He hasn't played, you know, eight games this season,

[00:22:32] and Colston loved them.

[00:22:33] And as you thought, what will any and should any NFL prospects play

[00:22:39] in a non-playoff bowl game?

[00:22:42] If somebody has a dream of playing at the next level, Carson,

[00:22:46] what are you going to do with them?

[00:22:47] As their coach and as their agent, are you going to order them to sit out?

[00:22:51] Have you heard Deion and Prime saying that the,

[00:22:55] who I think should be the Heisman Trophy winner in Hunter,

[00:22:58] and Shador, they're playing.

[00:23:00] Like, this is happening.

[00:23:01] He is, and it's all over the radio here in Colorado,

[00:23:04] like three or four times re-emphasized,

[00:23:07] we are putting, like, Colorado football on the map.

[00:23:10] This is a big deal.

[00:23:12] My seniors will be playing.

[00:23:15] And it's that mixed bag, right?

[00:23:17] It is that future piece.

[00:23:19] But, man, what could happen?

[00:23:23] And then one of the guys here local said,

[00:23:26] they're getting paid so much money now.

[00:23:30] Is this now a part of it?

[00:23:31] Like, hey, you are being paid.

[00:23:33] So you got to clock in.

[00:23:35] Is that now connected with being paid in college or not?

[00:23:40] Some of the NIL dollars could very well be tied to a mandatory bowl appearance

[00:23:45] because of the exposure that that sponsor could get.

[00:23:47] I don't know, Paul, would you let a kid with prospects as an NFL player

[00:23:53] would you encourage him to play in a bowl game that didn't matter?

[00:23:57] I probably would.

[00:23:59] And I would probably encourage him to take out a nice insurance policy

[00:24:02] on his hamstrings or his ACLs or whatever before the game starts kind of thing.

[00:24:08] I don't know.

[00:24:09] I think because of the amount of money that's involved

[00:24:12] and because, like, I'm actually impressed to hear that that's the role,

[00:24:17] the way that Deion is playing this thing, right?

[00:24:19] That's actually pretty cool.

[00:24:21] Does Colorado know what bowl game they're in already?

[00:24:24] Yeah, I think they're playing BYU, but I cannot remember the bowl.

[00:24:29] Okay.

[00:24:30] I can put my research team on that.

[00:24:31] I think it's called the I'm taking an NFL head coaching job next year bowl.

[00:24:36] So, dude, I'm taking my soul.

[00:24:37] So, what's he even saying that matters here?

[00:24:39] Like, if you have an opportunity to up your draft stock, play in those games.

[00:24:47] If you do not, I don't know why you would.

[00:24:49] Mason Graham, I don't know why he would go play for Michigan.

[00:24:52] Kenneth Grant, I don't know why they would.

[00:24:54] Because what does it matter if we win the Paul, what bowl game is it?

[00:24:58] The Gasparilla something?

[00:25:00] I don't know.

[00:25:01] Condiment bowl or whatever it is.

[00:25:02] Yeah, something.

[00:25:03] But it's just, I just think we're at a point where if it's not tied to a contract, I don't

[00:25:09] know why if you're an upper, if you know where you're getting drafted, Mason Graham's going

[00:25:13] in the first round.

[00:25:14] Will Johnson's, as soon as Will Johnson said that first game with like five weeks ago that

[00:25:20] he wasn't playing in that game, I said to myself, he should not play another game because everyone

[00:25:24] considers him a top 15 pick.

[00:25:27] Like, why would you keep playing unless you had a championship on the line?

[00:25:31] Yeah, you can only go down.

[00:25:32] And David, I keep seeing in my mind the image of Jake Butt, Michigan tight end several years

[00:25:41] ago now, who was projected to be a high first round tight end draft pick.

[00:25:45] Yeah.

[00:25:46] And in a bowl game, I don't remember if the bowl game mattered, but he had his knee taken

[00:25:50] out near the goal line.

[00:25:52] And he's now a commentator on the Big Ten network, right?

[00:25:56] Yeah, he never came back from that.

[00:25:58] He never did.

[00:25:58] I remember watching him.

[00:25:59] He was a great tight end.

[00:26:00] Great.

[00:26:01] Yeah.

[00:26:01] Like, I think that was that Florida State game and he blew his knee out or something.

[00:26:06] In a pointless game.

[00:26:08] And you sit there and go like, why would you?

[00:26:11] You, but back then we had different ideals and we had a different way of looking at the

[00:26:16] sport and you played, you know, when Jabril Pepper sat out, we were like upset at him.

[00:26:20] Like, why isn't he playing?

[00:26:21] But the reality is he made the right business decision.

[00:26:24] But how would you like to be the tournament director, the bowl game director in charge

[00:26:30] of a non-playoff bowl?

[00:26:31] And your assignment is to fill the stadium at Ford Field or in Orlando where it's a

[00:26:38] stadium nobody knows the name of or whatever.

[00:26:40] And now you've got teams that we already know coming in, other than the pride of the school

[00:26:47] and the glory of a win, they have nothing to play for.

[00:26:51] Coaches like it because it gives them three extra weeks of practice that they are allowed

[00:26:55] to have and they can start to develop.

[00:26:57] So like in the Michigan-Alabama game, we probably will see a red shirt showdown with,

[00:27:03] in many cases, players we've never heard of before.

[00:27:05] And that's okay.

[00:27:06] That's fine.

[00:27:07] But how'd you like to be the person in charge of ticket sales?

[00:27:11] And by the way, bowl games require the schools to buy the tickets and then sell them to their

[00:27:21] fan base.

[00:27:23] What does that mean?

[00:27:24] Well, if you're Michigan, not a problem.

[00:27:26] They're coming.

[00:27:26] If you're Bama, not a problem.

[00:27:28] If you're Florida-

[00:27:33] Buffalo, Liberty in the Bahamas Bowl maybe?

[00:27:35] You're going to have a hard time filling a stadium of more than 2,000 seats.

[00:27:39] And yet, in fact, you'll see stories pop up.

[00:27:43] So many schools lose tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars by accepting

[00:27:49] a bowl invitation.

[00:27:50] And I think that list of schools that show red ink from their bowl experience will grow

[00:27:56] even more because these schools are being saddled with, you've got to buy 30,000 tickets.

[00:28:01] We don't even put 30,000 people in our stands during a regular season.

[00:28:05] So that's going to be-

[00:28:06] Do you think Greg Sankey will come out and make some statement about SEC teams' needs and

[00:28:10] their guys need to play because it just means more?

[00:28:13] I hope so.

[00:28:14] In the SEC and all the stuff.

[00:28:16] Did you guys catch Kirby's postgame after the Georgia game where he just kind of threw

[00:28:21] shade at Greg Sankey about scheduling and everything else?

[00:28:25] Who was standing right next to him.

[00:28:26] Standing right next to him.

[00:28:28] And it was just-

[00:28:29] It was great.

[00:28:29] Maybe that's how you can make the bowl season more interesting.

[00:28:33] Whichever conference gets the most wins, you get more potential spots in the playoff.

[00:28:41] Then they're all going to play max schools in every non-conference game.

[00:28:44] Paul, it's time, I think, to put to the test the brains and the college football knowledge

[00:28:50] of these two guys who finished 1-2 in the season-long prediction contest.

[00:28:54] I know you've been working hard in the research department.

[00:28:57] I have.

[00:28:58] I have a-

[00:28:58] I put my entire staff to work on this.

[00:29:01] What I did was I took-

[00:29:03] I found a list of all the bowl games that are actually happening this year.

[00:29:08] And I put them in groups of three.

[00:29:10] Two actual bowl games and one fake bowl game.

[00:29:14] And so I'm going to read these and let you guys, one at a time, take turns trying to identify

[00:29:20] which one is the fake bowl.

[00:29:22] So, David, you're up first.

[00:29:23] We have the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

[00:29:26] We have the Verizon Wireless Bowl.

[00:29:27] And we have the R&L Carriers Bowl.

[00:29:30] Which one of those is not a real bowl game?

[00:29:34] Say those three.

[00:29:35] Verizon.

[00:29:36] You are correct.

[00:29:37] Keep your own score because someone's going to win at the end of this thing.

[00:29:41] You shouldn't get three shots.

[00:29:42] Okay, Carson.

[00:29:43] Man, it was nice being on top for a while.

[00:29:45] Here we go.

[00:29:46] Carson, you got the Amazon Prime Delivery Bowl.

[00:29:49] You got the Staff DNA Cure Bowl.

[00:29:51] And you got the Verbo Fiesta Bowl.

[00:29:54] Which one of those is not a real bowl game?

[00:29:56] What?

[00:29:58] I'm going to go with Verbo.

[00:30:01] It's not Verbo, right?

[00:30:03] Verbo is a bowl game.

[00:30:05] Amazon Prime is not.

[00:30:07] Really?

[00:30:07] Okay, Bill.

[00:30:08] Okay, Bill.

[00:30:09] I'm being too obvious.

[00:30:10] Wait, what was the second one you gave to Carson?

[00:30:12] The Staff DNA Cure Bowl.

[00:30:15] DNA Cure Bowl?

[00:30:17] The Cure.

[00:30:18] C-U-R-E.

[00:30:19] That's the one I thought you were making up.

[00:30:20] Okay, wow.

[00:30:21] Yes.

[00:30:22] Okay, Bill.

[00:30:22] You have the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.

[00:30:26] You have the Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl.

[00:30:28] And you have the Louisiana Bourbon Bowl.

[00:30:31] Which one of those is not a real bowl game?

[00:30:33] I'm going Scooter's Coffee.

[00:30:35] Nope.

[00:30:36] That is a bowl game.

[00:30:37] Louisiana Bourbon is not a bowl game.

[00:30:40] Okay, we're back to you.

[00:30:41] I guess alcohol companies probably shouldn't sponsor you.

[00:30:42] David, again, you guys each have three at best.

[00:30:44] Okay, David, you got the Myrtle Beach Bowl, the Galveston, Texas Bowl, and the Bahamas Bowl.

[00:30:49] Which one of those locations is not a real bowl game?

[00:30:54] Myrtle Beach.

[00:30:56] Myrtle Beach is a bowl game.

[00:30:58] Galveston, Texas is not.

[00:31:00] We're still in it.

[00:31:01] Okay, Carson.

[00:31:03] We have the IS Forest Salute to Veterans Bowl.

[00:31:06] We have the Go Bowling Military Bowl.

[00:31:09] And we have the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

[00:31:12] I got Lockheed Martin here.

[00:31:14] I know that's not it.

[00:31:15] So I'm going to go with the Go Bowling.

[00:31:18] Go Bowling Military Bowl is a bowl game.

[00:31:21] Lockheed Martin is completely made up by me.

[00:31:24] No way.

[00:31:24] What?

[00:31:25] I thought they had a bowl.

[00:31:26] They just didn't have one this year?

[00:31:27] The Armed Forces Bowl was a thing, but it was never attached to Lockheed Martin.

[00:31:32] As far as my research.

[00:31:33] We just take a quick beat here because it's going to take David a moment to recover from

[00:31:38] the disappointment of not having a military-themed bowl game.

[00:31:41] That's right.

[00:31:42] Okay, Bill.

[00:31:43] You got the Birmingham Bowl.

[00:31:45] You got the Isleta New Mexico Bowl.

[00:31:47] And you got the Honolulu Aloha Bowl.

[00:31:49] Another set of locations.

[00:31:51] Which one is not a bowl game?

[00:31:52] What was the first one again?

[00:31:54] Birmingham Bowl.

[00:31:55] That's not a bowl game.

[00:31:56] Yes, it is.

[00:31:57] Sorry.

[00:31:57] Thank you for playing.

[00:31:58] I'm out.

[00:31:59] David, we're back to you.

[00:32:01] You have the Draft Kings Las Vegas Bowl.

[00:32:04] You have the – these are all about gambling.

[00:32:06] Wow.

[00:32:07] You have the Draft Kings Las Vegas Bowl.

[00:32:08] You have the Game Above Sports Bowl.

[00:32:10] And you have the Art of Sport LA Bowl.

[00:32:12] Which one of those is not a bowl game?

[00:32:14] What on earth?

[00:32:16] So because I think you're trying to trick me, I'm just going to say the Draft Kings Bowl.

[00:32:20] The Draft Kings Vegas Bowl is not a bowl game.

[00:32:22] No way.

[00:32:23] Well done.

[00:32:24] No way.

[00:32:25] Okay, Carson.

[00:32:26] Here's your last one.

[00:32:27] You have the Kentucky –

[00:32:27] You were tricking me.

[00:32:29] You have the Kentucky Bluegrass Bowl.

[00:32:31] You have the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl.

[00:32:33] And you have the ServPro First Responders Bowl.

[00:32:37] Which one of those is –

[00:32:38] It can't be Snoop.

[00:32:39] It can't – is – I'm saying Snoop.

[00:32:41] The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl is a bowl game.

[00:32:44] Oh, my goodness.

[00:32:45] It's a real bowl game this year.

[00:32:46] And, Bill, the last one.

[00:32:47] You have the Trans Perfect Music City Bowl.

[00:32:51] You have the Bacardi California Bowl.

[00:32:54] And you have the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.

[00:32:57] One of those is not an actual bowl game.

[00:32:59] Well, I got burned on this earlier.

[00:33:01] I don't think they can have an alcoholic company sponsor a bowl game.

[00:33:06] So I'm going Bacardi is not real.

[00:33:08] And you are correct.

[00:33:10] I finally got one right.

[00:33:12] Bacardi California Bowl.

[00:33:13] I thought I could get you by putting a state.

[00:33:15] That was really good, Paul.

[00:33:18] I mean, that's the –

[00:33:18] So there you go.

[00:33:19] Who won?

[00:33:19] I didn't keep track.

[00:33:20] It was not me.

[00:33:21] David.

[00:33:22] It was David.

[00:33:22] He's got two.

[00:33:24] Two out of three.

[00:33:25] Well done, man.

[00:33:25] David, would you like to apply those points to the prediction standings?

[00:33:30] Yeah.

[00:33:31] Can we do that?

[00:33:32] Yeah, they're transitive.

[00:33:33] That sounds like a college football playoff committee thing to do, guys.

[00:33:36] Feel free.

[00:33:37] It's the quality of your wins, not the quality of the weeks you forgot to submit picks.

[00:33:42] Right.

[00:33:42] Exactly.

[00:33:43] And I think that I did a really good job here.

[00:33:45] And I have to be a fan of the team that Ward Manuel is a part of all the time.

[00:33:49] Okay.

[00:33:51] It's on leeway.

[00:33:52] Well, to be fair to Carson, I mean, I don't want to just spring this on him that his title

[00:33:56] has been stripped away.

[00:33:58] Carson, we're going to give you a chance to draw another bonus point off of the standings

[00:34:03] and add them to yours through a little game we call the hypothetical road trip.

[00:34:11] It's now time for the game where there are no losers or wrong answers.

[00:34:16] Buckle up and settle in as we head cross country on the hypothetical road trip.

[00:34:21] Speed limit, 165 miles per hour.

[00:34:24] See?

[00:34:24] They slipped the one in there.

[00:34:25] Those kids with the spray paint.

[00:34:29] Yeah.

[00:34:29] Those kids with the spray paint, they're always messing with us.

[00:34:32] So here's how this works, Carson.

[00:34:33] I'm just going to ask you which of two people you would prefer to ride with from L.A.

[00:34:40] all the way to Orlando on just a gigantically long road trip.

[00:34:44] And here's the cool thing.

[00:34:47] There's really no wrong answer.

[00:34:48] So would you rather ride with Roll Tide Willie?

[00:34:53] Come on, Willie.

[00:34:54] Come on, Willie.

[00:34:56] Oh, and then I get in, Willie.

[00:34:58] Come on, man.

[00:35:01] Didn't even get into that gun playoffs, Willie.

[00:35:04] Yeah, we are.

[00:35:05] They didn't do us right.

[00:35:07] Well, we lost three games.

[00:35:09] We still got to be in there.

[00:35:11] We're on the green.

[00:35:12] Well, you know, if we lost some games, that's what killed us.

[00:35:16] They killed us out.

[00:35:20] Every week they got to play tied football.

[00:35:24] And we didn't do it.

[00:35:27] Okay, so that's one choice.

[00:35:31] Or a fully caffeinated Gus Johnson.

[00:35:35] Jerome says we didn't cheat this time.

[00:35:41] Okay, so would you rather ride coast to coast with Roll Tide Willie

[00:35:45] or a fully caffeinated Gus Johnson?

[00:35:49] And why?

[00:35:50] Yeah.

[00:35:50] And what?

[00:35:51] And why?

[00:35:51] And why?

[00:35:53] I'd go with Willie.

[00:35:55] Like, Willie speaks to my, like, Kansas roots.

[00:36:00] Like, I think if the audio were a little, if I could hear the other guy,

[00:36:04] I think I would be able to understand every single word.

[00:36:06] That is, like, me right there.

[00:36:08] I would be amongst my people.

[00:36:11] Oh, man.

[00:36:12] Well, sorry.

[00:36:13] That's where it's at.

[00:36:14] That's incorrect.

[00:36:14] And so, David, you remain tied to the top of the standings.

[00:36:17] You cannot ride coast to coast with Roll Tide Willie for several reasons.

[00:36:22] Number one, no shoes, no shirt, no service.

[00:36:25] And he had no shoes on in the convenience store, so I don't even know if he was being served.

[00:36:29] Although he perhaps had been over-served.

[00:36:31] And number two, without the convenience store attendant along for the ride,

[00:36:36] who's going to interpret for you what he's saying?

[00:36:40] Like I'm saying, I don't need it.

[00:36:41] Nope.

[00:36:42] Not going to work.

[00:36:42] My people.

[00:36:43] Nice try.

[00:36:43] Nice try.

[00:36:44] Appreciate that.

[00:36:45] And usually, there's no wrong answers.

[00:36:47] There are no wrong answers, but this time, I mean, when you get it egregiously wrong.

[00:36:51] So we gave him a chance.

[00:36:52] That's all we can do.

[00:36:52] Time for Holy Discontent.

[00:36:58] It's time to blow off some steam.

[00:37:00] Get it off your chest.

[00:37:02] Rant about what's most bothering you.

[00:37:04] I got a lot of problems with you people.

[00:37:06] Now, you're going to hear about it.

[00:37:08] It's time for Holy Discontent.

[00:37:12] David Collins, what would you like to start us off with?

[00:37:16] Yeah, I mean, it's just going back on something we've talked about.

[00:37:19] My Holy Discontent is the college football committee and their process

[00:37:24] and the fact that we don't know their process and the fact that their process changes

[00:37:27] every single time there's a new process.

[00:37:32] There's just no consistency there and there's no real leadership there,

[00:37:37] which I think I've made clear a couple times.

[00:37:41] But yeah, I just think that that process is frustrating to me

[00:37:44] and I'm thankful that I don't have a team that got burned by it

[00:37:48] because if I did, I would be mad on their behalf like I am for Miami.

[00:37:52] Oh, wait.

[00:37:53] That's fair.

[00:37:54] That's fair.

[00:37:55] Paul, your Holy Discontent.

[00:37:58] Okay, my Holy Discontent is with a circumstance.

[00:38:01] I'm not really sure who I'm mad at.

[00:38:03] I'm not really sure who I'm supposed to be mad at.

[00:38:05] I'm just thoroughly confused by the fact that Chase Herbstreet signed with Michigan.

[00:38:10] I don't get this.

[00:38:12] He had no offers from anywhere else in college football.

[00:38:16] He's not a prospect who's ever going to sniff the field with Bryce Underwood there.

[00:38:22] Wait, have you seen our quarterbacks?

[00:38:24] He might get in next week.

[00:38:26] I believe you have a ringer coming in pretty soon here.

[00:38:31] We hope so.

[00:38:32] So I don't know if this is Michigan trolling Ohio State.

[00:38:36] I really, really sincerely hope not.

[00:38:39] Exactly.

[00:38:40] But it might be.

[00:38:41] I don't know if this is Chase Herbstreet just going, hey, man, if I'm going to get a scholarship to go to the University of Michigan,

[00:38:48] and I'm not going to be a pro quarterback, but I'm going to get a degree from Michigan.

[00:38:52] I get that.

[00:38:53] That's actually okay.

[00:38:54] That's actually okay.

[00:38:56] All right, whatever.

[00:38:57] I don't know if I'm supposed to be pissed at all of the Ohio State fans who are completely up in arms and ramped about this and are ready to chew up and spit out Kirk, Herbstreet,

[00:39:10] because of this thing.

[00:39:11] It makes no sense to me on any levels, and so I'm just confused.

[00:39:15] You know, the concept of Buckeye fans overreacting is not something I'm accustomed to.

[00:39:20] It doesn't happen often, but when it does, we have to pay attention.

[00:39:23] How about Herbie suggesting on game day, or at the end of the playoff announcement, that the Buckeyes would have been better off with a road game?

[00:39:32] How about that?

[00:39:34] Now, if you want to get your fan base upset, but he's not wrong.

[00:39:39] I actually liked Ryan Day's answer to that, where he was just like, hey, man, every time we go three and out, the fans are pissed.

[00:39:44] And so that was okay.

[00:39:47] That's the way it is.

[00:39:48] Carson, your holy discontent.

[00:39:50] Yeah.

[00:39:51] There's a well-known sports podcast.

[00:39:52] It was actually recently nominated for two awards that I have a little holy discontent of.

[00:39:58] Uh-oh.

[00:39:58] From last week as you guys were talking about the conference championships, and as I texted some of you,

[00:40:07] just the top one percenters saying, no, let's not worry about conference championship games.

[00:40:14] Let's just have more subjectivity out there so we can just get what everybody wants,

[00:40:20] the SEC versus the Big Ten.

[00:40:22] It wasn't, I am not quoting the show exactly.

[00:40:25] I'm reading between the lines.

[00:40:27] Um, but I, I think one of the solutions to this problem is conferences getting stronger.

[00:40:34] Oh, no.

[00:40:35] That they would also, um, that they would also have better systems in place.

[00:40:42] So when your conference has a champion, um, that's who your champion is.

[00:40:46] And my thought is, is like SEC, Big Ten, what did you think was going to happen when you added all these good teams?

[00:40:54] Did you think you just automatically now get five, six teams in?

[00:40:59] So that is my holy discontent.

[00:41:03] Yeah, Carson, um, anticipating that your holy discontent would somehow take a shot at this program.

[00:41:11] I did not mention any program.

[00:41:14] We decided to bring on, just for a brief, just a cameo appearance, Paul,

[00:41:19] a gentleman who may change Carson's holy discontent.

[00:41:22] Why don't you introduce the man who's labeled as Savage Admirals on the Zoom screen?

[00:41:27] Yes, we are.

[00:41:29] I am embroiled in a hot and competitive fantasy football league.

[00:41:34] And tonight's Monday night football game is the outcome.

[00:41:38] The performance in that game, the performances are going to determine the final playoff spot.

[00:41:43] And going into tonight, Carson was in the sixth and final playoff spot.

[00:41:47] So we felt like the only appropriate way to handle this would be to bring on David Borima

[00:41:52] and let him give Carson a real-time update from Monday night football.

[00:41:56] So David, the floor is yours.

[00:41:58] Yes!

[00:42:02] I've been ticking away points after points.

[00:42:05] My whole playoff life was in the hands of the team playing you.

[00:42:10] And I'd like to report to you that I root for you 364 days of the year, my friend.

[00:42:16] But today's the day I root against you.

[00:42:18] And it paid off.

[00:42:20] You will be playing in the toilet bowl and I'm going to the playoffs.

[00:42:24] Wow.

[00:42:25] How about that breaking fantasy news in the middle of Church Pew Sports?

[00:42:31] You even wore a tie for this.

[00:42:33] I was ready.

[00:42:34] And it didn't pay off.

[00:42:35] We have a podcast dress code here.

[00:42:38] So that's kind of how it works.

[00:42:39] Well, the worst part is he also lost the picks battle too.

[00:42:42] I know.

[00:42:43] Yeah.

[00:42:43] I know.

[00:42:43] He thought he had that wrapped up.

[00:42:45] He's taking L's all night.

[00:42:45] Not a good day for Carson.

[00:42:47] I ain't going and buying a lottery ticket.

[00:42:48] I can tell you that much for free.

[00:42:50] And I don't think we've done an adequate job of congratulating David on his title.

[00:42:54] Well done, David.

[00:42:56] It's really good.

[00:42:57] The work has to be good.

[00:42:59] Oh, this David.

[00:43:00] Sorry.

[00:43:01] No.

[00:43:01] Sorry.

[00:43:01] I'm David as well.

[00:43:02] I'm David as well.

[00:43:03] We have David congratulations to hand out.

[00:43:05] David's are winners today.

[00:43:06] I'm a big time David fan.

[00:43:08] So happy to have you on the show.

[00:43:10] You're a winner and I'm a winner and that's all.

[00:43:13] Yay.

[00:43:13] Keep saying it.

[00:43:14] You hear that, Carson?

[00:43:16] I don't just hear it.

[00:43:17] I feel it.

[00:43:18] Okay.

[00:43:19] That is really good.

[00:43:20] David, thank you for jumping out and giving Carson that update.

[00:43:23] All right, guys.

[00:43:23] Carson, I've never seen you.

[00:43:25] I've never seen you speechless before, Carson.

[00:43:28] We'll have to talk off camera.

[00:43:30] Oh, good stuff.

[00:43:31] I got another.

[00:43:33] Okay.

[00:43:35] My only discontent.

[00:43:36] Completely outside the realm of football.

[00:43:39] It is now as we just a couple of days ago,

[00:43:42] we got the email that it's now time to apply for your master's media credentials.

[00:43:48] And as the guy with now 25 straight years of master's media credential rejections,

[00:43:54] I am registering a pre-discontent already knowing the outcome of when I hit that send

[00:44:01] button tomorrow, that it will be just a matter of probably a couple of weeks.

[00:44:06] They'll get past Christmas, probably past New Year's, and then I'll get the rejection

[00:44:10] letter.

[00:44:10] So my holy discontent is I just know it's going to happen again.

[00:44:15] Charlie Brown's lining up.

[00:44:17] Lucy's got the football and she's going to pull that thing away.

[00:44:21] And the green jackets are going to laugh at me once again.

[00:44:25] Holy discontent.

[00:44:26] Do you know why?

[00:44:28] Is it like this playoff committee?

[00:44:30] Have you met him?

[00:44:35] Well, okay.

[00:44:36] That's fair.

[00:44:37] And no, I don't know why.

[00:44:39] I could go off on another 13 minutes on why I think it is.

[00:44:44] But we've not had any success yet.

[00:44:47] And maybe, maybe David's theory is the one.

[00:44:52] Okay.

[00:44:52] Time for, speaking of bringing back segments, it's been like months since we did a hypothetical

[00:44:58] road trip.

[00:44:58] It's been almost as long since I brought you all a useless stat of the week.

[00:45:03] But we're going to do that now.

[00:45:05] Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything.

[00:45:08] 40% of all people know that.

[00:45:11] Okay.

[00:45:12] You ready?

[00:45:12] And this is going to ring especially painful for Lions fans.

[00:45:16] And David, I don't know if you've seen this one or not.

[00:45:18] Maybe you already know it.

[00:45:19] This season, a group called True Media, which I guess is redundant.

[00:45:25] The group called True Media has been tracking total yards gained from defensive pass interference

[00:45:34] penalties.

[00:45:36] In fact, David, let me give you a quiz.

[00:45:37] Who do you think has gained the most yards in the NFL with pass interference penalties committed

[00:45:42] against them?

[00:45:44] My argument would be that the Lions have been most affected by this issue.

[00:45:49] But who do you think is number one?

[00:45:52] Like got the player?

[00:45:54] No, gained the most yards.

[00:45:55] Their offense has gained the most yards because of DPR.

[00:45:58] Oh, benefited the most.

[00:45:59] Yeah.

[00:45:59] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:46:00] Dallas?

[00:46:01] No, we got Minnesota has gained 273 yards.

[00:46:05] Oh, and then Green Bay and then Chicago too.

[00:46:07] Get out of here.

[00:46:08] Vikings have gained 273.

[00:46:11] The Rams, this is before last night, have gained 228.

[00:46:16] The Chiefs, who I thought would be in first, have gained 194 yards because of pass interference

[00:46:22] penalties.

[00:46:23] Okay.

[00:46:24] Around the horn.

[00:46:25] How many yards have your Detroit Lions gained from pass interference calls this season?

[00:46:36] Carson, I know they're not your Detroit Lions, but put a number on it.

[00:46:39] What do you think?

[00:46:41] Let's go with 181.

[00:46:44] All right.

[00:46:45] Paul, what do you got?

[00:46:46] Well, since I'm looking at your notes, Bill, I'm going to pass because I already know the

[00:46:50] answer.

[00:46:50] David, what do you got?

[00:46:51] I mean, if it's not over 181, I'm going to be upset.

[00:46:54] So I'm going to go ahead and say, because again, I think you're trying to trick me like

[00:46:58] Paul did.

[00:46:59] I'm going to go with 62 yards.

[00:47:03] Way too high.

[00:47:05] You're kidding me.

[00:47:06] This season, the one of the top five prolific passing teams in the league has benefited from

[00:47:17] defensive pass interference penalties for a total of five yards.

[00:47:22] Get out of here.

[00:47:24] Five yards.

[00:47:25] That is mind boggling.

[00:47:27] All season.

[00:47:27] Five yards.

[00:47:29] And we have an all pro receiver on our team.

[00:47:31] Like we got guys that catch the ball everywhere.

[00:47:34] What?

[00:47:34] How?

[00:47:35] What in the last game?

[00:47:36] Didn't golf have five completions to five different receivers?

[00:47:40] Yeah.

[00:47:41] Five total completions to five different receivers.

[00:47:43] Like it's, it's ridiculous.

[00:47:45] And at no point were any of them interfered with because it's only happened one time all season,

[00:47:51] five yards down the field.

[00:47:52] I cannot believe that is true.

[00:47:55] That's absurd.

[00:47:57] They're called true media for a reason.

[00:47:59] It's without an E, right?

[00:48:01] It is.

[00:48:01] Yeah.

[00:48:02] I figured.

[00:48:04] It's just like a, it's just like a creatively named youth group, right?

[00:48:07] You've got the true kids or something.

[00:48:11] All right.

[00:48:11] So there's my useless stat of the week and it's, it's actually useful, but it's also infuriating.

[00:48:15] So it kind of wraps everything into one.

[00:48:17] It doesn't even make sense.

[00:48:18] Yeah.

[00:48:18] Five yards, one penalty.

[00:48:20] I've seen more pass interference penalties in this Monday night game than I, than you're

[00:48:24] saying I've seen in all season 13 games for the lions.

[00:48:28] Yeah.

[00:48:28] But congratulations time for that guy.

[00:48:31] Here we go.

[00:48:32] Right now, this minute today, this week, I am the man.

[00:48:38] And this is where we kind of call, call out the people who are doing it right.

[00:48:42] And Paul's got a couple lined up here that I think are pretty fun.

[00:48:45] So we'll, Paul, we'll let you kind of run with this.

[00:48:47] Yeah.

[00:48:48] So my favorite new podcast is Kings of the North.

[00:48:52] It's two guys that talk about all things college football in the North.

[00:48:57] And so they've been talking hot and heavy this week about sec crocodile tears, and they're

[00:49:03] making fun of Alabama and Ole miss and all the things.

[00:49:07] Right.

[00:49:07] And it's actually a really good informative podcast.

[00:49:10] The only problem with it is because it's Kings of the North.

[00:49:13] They also talk about Notre Dame.

[00:49:15] But other than that, it's a great podcast.

[00:49:18] But on their feed on X, they just yesterday replayed two bold predictions that they had

[00:49:26] made in the back in the month of August before the college football season started.

[00:49:32] This blows me away.

[00:49:34] So I just want to give a shout out to Bill Landis and Doug LaMaurice from the Kings of

[00:49:38] the North podcast.

[00:49:39] Here was Bill's, I think we have up first, Bill's bold prediction for the college football

[00:49:44] season from back in August.

[00:49:45] I don't think it qualifies as outrageous on this show.

[00:49:47] I think it qualifies as outrageous if you look literally anywhere else for people talking

[00:49:51] about college football.

[00:49:54] And that is that the Big Ten will have more playoff teams in the SEC.

[00:49:59] And the SEC is only getting three teams in the playoff.

[00:50:02] That's in August.

[00:50:03] That's in August.

[00:50:05] He said that in August.

[00:50:06] The Big Ten would have more playoff teams than the SEC.

[00:50:09] And the SEC would only get three.

[00:50:10] And he was exactly right.

[00:50:12] Not to be outdone, his co-host of their podcast, Doug LaMaurice, came back with his bold prediction.

[00:50:17] This blows me away that he said this back in August.

[00:50:20] I think Alabama will beat Georgia this year and miss the playoff.

[00:50:26] Wow.

[00:50:28] That is so impressive.

[00:50:30] So Kings of the North podcast, gentlemen, way to go.

[00:50:33] I am all in when you want to talk about football in the North versus football in the South.

[00:50:37] Way to go, Doug LaMaurice.

[00:50:39] Way to go, Bill Landis.

[00:50:40] Wow, that's kind of scary good.

[00:50:42] Yeah.

[00:50:42] That's good stuff.

[00:50:43] All right, we're going to wrap things up as we always do with our three-minute message.

[00:50:49] Homer, I'd like you to remember Matthew 7, 26.

[00:50:53] The foolish man who built his house on sand.

[00:50:56] And you remember Matthew 21, 17.

[00:51:02] And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany and he lodged there.

[00:51:08] Yeah.

[00:51:09] Think about it.

[00:51:11] Think about it.

[00:51:13] Okay.

[00:51:13] So I need to start our three-minute message off with a disclaimer and defending my own good

[00:51:22] name here.

[00:51:23] Last week, I was not on the podcast.

[00:51:24] I was on the road and I was suffering from the flu.

[00:51:30] And I didn't even watch the Michigan-Ohio State game.

[00:51:33] But you would not believe the number of guys who have been dragging me for avoiding the

[00:51:39] conversation about what happened in Columbus between Michigan and Ohio State.

[00:51:44] And when I would tell guys I didn't even watch the game, they weren't believing me.

[00:51:49] I am telling the truth.

[00:51:51] I was ready to come on the podcast and take my lumps.

[00:51:56] And I actually, since I no longer live in the kind of the shadow of the Ann Arbor echo chamber,

[00:52:01] it's been much less intense this year with Michigan fans.

[00:52:07] And I'm grateful for that.

[00:52:09] So I want to share a verse with you guys, Philippians 1, 4 through 5, where the Apostle Paul says,

[00:52:15] in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in

[00:52:19] the gospel from the first day until now.

[00:52:22] So to all of my friends who are a part of the Church Pew Sports podcast, guys who have been

[00:52:27] on microphone however often, Bill, Carson, David, all you guys, I'm grateful for you because

[00:52:34] I do view this as partnership in the gospel and it's fun and it's a privilege.

[00:52:40] And we get to do this every week and we get to talk about stuff we'd be talking about anyways.

[00:52:45] And I'm grateful for that.

[00:52:46] So I thank the Lord for that.

[00:52:48] And I even thank the Lord for my Michigan friends who can't get out of the echo chamber

[00:52:53] and can't help but drag me every chance to get when Ohio State loses.

[00:53:01] There's a whole bunch more I could say about that.

[00:53:03] But I'm thankful for you guys too, because now that I don't live so close to you, you

[00:53:07] don't annoy me nearly as much and we can actually be friends and I can go back to rooting for

[00:53:12] Michigan like I do all Big Ten teams except when they're playing Ohio State.

[00:53:16] There you go.

[00:53:18] For the record, we can go back to last week.

[00:53:22] I very graciously defended the absence of Paul Miller as being under the weather.

[00:53:28] I think it was all David, really, for the most part.

[00:53:32] Hey, by the way, David.

[00:53:34] You texted me, Bill, and you said Paul didn't even watch the game.

[00:53:38] And I just believed it.

[00:53:40] Yeah, he didn't.

[00:53:41] There's no investigation launched.

[00:53:42] Carson has an investigative team, but I don't know if he dived into that or not.

[00:53:46] By the way, Carson, again, sorry for your loss on two occasions.

[00:53:52] And David, congratulations on your side.

[00:53:54] The bonus, like the extra credit assignment in class really came in handy.

[00:53:58] And you got to start thinking through, Carson, this is kind of a rookie moment for you in Church

[00:54:04] Pew Sports.

[00:54:05] You really got to start thinking through the hypothetical road trip answers that you just

[00:54:08] give without putting much thought in it, because that's a difference maker.

[00:54:13] So just kind of tuck that away.

[00:54:15] Keep that in mind for the future.

[00:54:17] And maybe next time.

[00:54:18] Hang in there.

[00:54:19] I'm a Falcons fan.

[00:54:21] I know what it feels like to lose more times than not.

[00:54:23] So just like putting that out there.

[00:54:26] So, you know, I'm well seasoned.

[00:54:28] At least they lose entertainingly.

[00:54:30] They do.

[00:54:31] Exactly.

[00:54:31] I'm like a great cast iron pan.

[00:54:33] That's what I am right now.

[00:54:35] Season.

[00:54:36] So, yeah.

[00:54:37] We have one episode left in this season of Church Pew Sports.

[00:54:42] We'll do one next week before Christmas.

[00:54:43] That will be the time when the Chiefs Hallmark movie is reviewed.

[00:54:48] And we'll kind of wrap up the year in sports.

[00:54:51] Look forward to that.

[00:54:52] Thanks for being with us.

[00:54:53] And please check us out on churchpewsports.com.

[00:54:56] Our socials on X and on Facebook.

[00:54:58] And we will have information for you here in the next couple days about how you could help

[00:55:02] us in this little thing about the best sports podcast nomination.

[00:55:06] So thanks much.

[00:55:07] We'll see you all next time.