Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
MLB, the PGA Playoffs, the NFL and the NCAA
34 Plays2 months ago
Baseball nearing the playoffs, the PGA starting the playoffs the NFL getting started and a look at the NCAA including coaching changes and the new playoff system. Plus a special announcement.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Show Setup
00:00:13
Speaker
The rumors are true.
00:00:31
Speaker
This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers with John Glenn. A confident young man, a superb athlete. A look at the sports issues of the day. Holy cow! Grab a seat, pop a cold one.
Baseball Highlights and Analysis
00:00:49
Speaker
Gee, that sounds kind of interesting. And let's talk some sports. You got to get it done!
00:01:00
Speaker
Ghouls with the widespread stance, arms out over the plate. Bickford from the stretch. The 1-1 pitch. A swing, at Dodger Stadium on September 23, 2022. 8.23 PM Pacific time.
00:01:47
Speaker
Badgers have no timeouts, they can't stop it. McCork for the win in the air. It is up and it is done! It is done! Let's go baby! Upset in Champaign! The Illini win 24-23!
00:02:47
Speaker
Are you crying? There's no crying! There's no crying in baseball!
00:03:01
Speaker
um talk about playoffs you kidding me playoffs
00:03:55
Speaker
Well, hello there.
Sports Topics Preview and Sponsorship
00:03:58
Speaker
I'm glad you could join me up in the bleachers today. I picked out a good prime spot, got a good view of everything. We're gonna have some sports to talk about today. We've got some baseball that's regular season winding down, football's gearing up. Got some golf news.
00:04:14
Speaker
And we're going to talk a little bit of NCAA plus I have an announcement to make and that'll come up later on in the show. This is Talking Sports on the Bleachers brought to you by Fifth Street Motors, where they take care, take the stress out of car buying. They can put you in a pre-owned vehicle that fits your budget. Give Brandon or Don a call today at 573-259-1306 and tell him. Don Glenn from Talking Sports on the Bleachers sent you.
00:04:41
Speaker
As I said, this is Talking Sports on the Bleachers and I am Don Glenn. Now we are a proud part of the Fuel Sports Network. The Fuel Sports Network has a plethora of sports shows we cover from the pros to the college. Check it out at FuelSportsNetwork.com. Well, how's everyone today?
00:05:05
Speaker
i've been I've been a little sporadic with my poet with my podcast, but i'm gonna be that's going to be taken care of here shortly, and I'll get to that again with my announcement. Let's jump right into baseball, shall we?
MLB Season Discussion and Predictions
00:05:17
Speaker
Okay, now we're down to about the last 30 games of the season for almost everybody.
00:05:21
Speaker
Um, and with this one race, that's pretty much all but decided at this point, and that would be the naturally central where the Brewers enjoy a 10 game lead over second place. Lewis and a 10 and a half game lead over Chicago with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
00:05:36
Speaker
further behind than that. Other races show the Phillies having a six game lead over Atlanta eight and a half over the Mets in the National League East. The AL West Houston has a four game lead over Seattle and everyone else is just ah watching sitting back and watching. The Dodgers are in a little bit of a fight they've got to hold off two teams as Arizona is three games back and San Diego is four and a half. Yankees are having a devil of a time keeping Baltimore at bay is they have a one-game lead over the Orioles with Boston a distant pretender at nine games back and in the AL Central it's a three-team race and it has been most of the year with Cleveland holding a three-game lead now over both Minnesota and Kansas City.
00:06:23
Speaker
In terms of the wildcard race, the American league, Baltimore's first in wildcard, Minnesota and KC, both three games back. Boston is the biggest threat to those guys is they're four and a half games off that last spot. um Seattle is six and a half and Tampa Bay is seven in the National League. Arizona claims the top wildcard spot while with San Diego, a game and a half back, Atlanta's four and a half back.
00:06:49
Speaker
The Mets are two and a half games out of the third spot, and San Francisco and St. Louis sit five games back. The Cubs are five and a half since he is seven and a half back, and you know we'll see if they get hot enough to have a chance.
00:07:04
Speaker
Aaron Judge could be the new triple rw well not new but could be the next Triple Crown winner, as he currently has the home run lead by 8 over Shohei Otani and 17 RBIs better than Jose Ramirez, but he trails Bobby Witt in average by 14 points.
00:07:21
Speaker
Now, if you went strictly by league, he would obviously take have the American league shot. The National League contender for that would be Marcelo Zuna. um He tops in the National League with the 307 average, tied for first in RBIs at 94 with Shohei Otani. But he does trail Otani by four home runs.
00:07:46
Speaker
For the Cy Young in the National League, I think Chris Sale has the best shot. He's second in the wins with 14, second in the ERA, second in the Ks. He has a whip of one. <unk>ve Been pitching very well. um The American League, I think all signs point to Tarek Skubal as he also has 14 wins. Leads all of Major League, actually I think he has 15 wins now, he just won.
00:08:13
Speaker
ah Leads all the MLB with a two point four nine ERA third in case and second in whip at point zero nine three I think those ah you're you know, there's there might be a couple that could challenge if I think those numbers right now are just As as good as it gets I mean you you could see You know if you know, maybe some like Ryan Helsley were to be able, had been able to top say close to 50 saves, then I think you see a reliever getting in there, but I think that's what we're looking at there. As for the rookie of the year, and the American League right now, odds maker say Colton Kauser of the Orioles is the favorite. He's only hitting 246 with 18 normally to 56 RBIs, but say have some other names in the mix, louis starting pitcher Luis Gil of the Yankees.
00:09:05
Speaker
Wilmer Abreu and Sedane Raffala of the Red Sox. And Mason Miller has been making some strides for the A's. So I do say Miller may be the nearest threat to cows.
00:09:18
Speaker
On the National League side, it's a hot race between Paul Skeens and Jackson Merritt. Both of them have definitely had the credentials as Skeens is 8-2 with a 2-1 60 RA, 130Ks and 104 innings with a 0.9 4-2 whip. um Jackson Merritt is hitting 218-71 RBIs. So it's kind of a neck and neck. Some odds makers say it's Merrill. Some odd makers odds makers are saying it's Skeens. So we're going to see how that one plays out.
In-depth Cardinals Season Review
00:09:53
Speaker
OK, a little note about the Cardinals. I always do. um Maybe I considered a form of self-punishment the last couple of seasons. But here we go.
00:10:05
Speaker
In April, they were horrid. and There's just no two ways to sugarcoat it, say it, or mention it. They were horrid last place. But then after Mother's Day, they worked themselves into a legitimate contender. At one time, I think there were only like three or four games behind the bruise for the National League Central.
00:10:25
Speaker
But the last month, they've started this backslide again as evidenced by the recent standings I just quoted. The playoff hopes, they're on life support. I mean, they've just taken a two out of three from Minnesota. ah And they've won four out of the last five. That's the kind of pace they're going to have to take if they have a shot at a any doll making the wild card, let alone trying to catch the brewers, which I'm just not sure is possible unless they just fall off the cliff.
00:11:02
Speaker
um
00:11:05
Speaker
you know with all the complaints they've had about jama's a lock in the front office did in the off season by securing old pitching as a lot of fans put it the pitching for the majority of the year has been quite good gray may not be uh... true ace and he's fallen on some hard times as of late but he's still a solid top root top of the rotation pitcher kyle gibson has come in uh... he's not been flashy he's not been that outstanding he's been rock steady about ah and And pitched a little bit above what his averages have are said about him. Lynn has done very well. He's had a number of games going more than six innings. um He's not given up the home runs like he did last year. yeah ERA is about a point and a half lower than last year.
00:11:59
Speaker
So, you know that and the acquisitions of yeah Middleton or yeah Middleton who I Wish he would have been able to pitch a lot this year or some this year, but the Andrew Kittredge Ryan Fernandez They've been crucial to the bullpen um you know and is to pick up at the deadline with Fedi. I think he's proven to be, i mean he's he's again, he's not an ace, he's not somebody that's gonna get you 18 wins and strike out 200 and all the the the ace type stuff, but he's a solid pitcher.
00:12:38
Speaker
you know that three anywhere in the middle to the late back into the rotation type guy and you might say they have enough of those well yeah they probably do they probably got more than enough but um it's it's just what the way it is you You have to build on what you've got. So that's going to be their task, is even though they've improved the pitching over last year, it's got to be improved again next year. Do they count on Palante, who's actually looked very good in a starter role?
00:13:10
Speaker
is some of the other guys, you know, um like Gracifo and Hence and Roby, are they ready? or will you know or How much of a look are they gonna get in spring? trick What is the case? And I haven't looked at the free agent market. I'll take a look at that probably here after the season. um But, you know, there's still work to do on the pitching side, even though it is better. I think what the problem was is,
00:13:38
Speaker
And I think most people realize this, I mean, outside of of field management, which I still say is not the best that they can get. But they they did not address the bench like I thought they would. Now, nobody can fault them for thinking that Aronado and Goldschmidt would would come back to form. And Aeronado has to a certain extent. Goldie has really never gotten off track this season. Gorman had issues. Nobody, I don't think, really expected that much of a backslide from Gorman. Walker. Then you had the injuries of Tommy Edmond. You had Newt Barr out. There's just been so much. Contreras went down a little bit for a little bit there. And he's he's out again now.
00:14:28
Speaker
um
00:14:32
Speaker
I don't think they expected that kind of a down year, so they thought they were safe with going but just veteran backups to to fill in the holes. and you know i it's ah It's a spot where Miss Ayla got caught with his pants down again.
00:14:47
Speaker
um Which has happened in the last few years, more than more than often than not. He's made some good deals, don't get me wrong, I still say Senator Gray was a good deal, I say Gibson was a good deal.
00:15:03
Speaker
you know and but He makes a good deal and then doesn't follow up. This is I think the first year. He actually followed up with a couple of good deals, but still he didn't go where he needed to go. Didn't go far enough and didn't go to the extremes or not. Shouldn't say the extremes, but he didn't go to the limit to get the depth that he needed on this team.
00:15:30
Speaker
Now, there have been some really good positive notes to this year. I mean, the the play of Pedro Pajas, Mason Wynn, Alec Burleson, who's been an absolute beast.
00:15:43
Speaker
um You've seen the emergence of of young kids like Michael Ciani, Victor Scott II. He's making starting to make some hay with his second stint with the club this year.
00:15:58
Speaker
you know There's the, there's the, there's the good pots. I mentioned Polante on the pitching, got Helsley back to form is just, and I think going back to the pitching with Kittredge, with Fernandez and with the plan to try to limit Helsley to only one inning per outing, I think that's paid the biggest dividends of all as far as the pitching goes. And kudos to whoever it was in the brain trust that came up with that idea. And if that was Marmol,
00:16:28
Speaker
and Dusty Blake then kudos to those two guys. I know I've been on their ass a lot ah But you know if that's if they are the ones that came up with that together in the war room I appreciate that and more power to you You know coming in this all this next offseason. It's going to be different because as I said they've got pitching now But you can always you and you never have enough. And, you know, are there going to be guys out there available that they can snag? I'm sure there
Cardinals' Trade and Strategy Insights
00:17:00
Speaker
will be. I mean, um I think Montgomery is going to be a free agent. Flaherty, I think, will be another free agent again. A free agent again. I think they only signed one year deals.
00:17:10
Speaker
And you've got some other guys that are going to be available. You know, it's just a matter of how you said how they're going to view things. Do they keep nurturing that young bunch of young arms down and down in Memphis and and and Springfield or Peoria, excuse me. Then you look at where their strengths are going to be in terms of what they've got the deal from. And again, they're going to be able to deal like they did last year from the outfield.
00:17:38
Speaker
Because you have got Newt Barr and Scott and Ciani and Burleson and Walker um I Don't think they're gonna deal Walker. I really don't I don't see that as a as a happening something that's going to happen unless they just get a off the wheels crazy deal and I think the same probably with Victor Scott II and Bertilson, so that leaves you know probably Cione or Newt Barr available. I'm not saying Bertilson or Walker are untouchable. I just don't think that's going to be the ones that are going to look at dealing right now. um
00:18:21
Speaker
And I think catching is going to be another issue. Uh, you know, you've got three catchers and all three have shown, you know, good numbers of what they do. Do they hold on to all three of them? Because if they do, then there's going to have to be some kind of ah of a situation where one of them,
00:18:47
Speaker
More than likely, Contreras will probably have to be the full-time DH. And I just don't see that happening. I really, really don't. So I think there's probably a catcher who's going to be dealt. Contreras could probably get him the biggest haul in terms of like prospects.
00:19:07
Speaker
ah and Pajes or Herrera packaged with someone, you know, could get him a decent, the you know, number two starter, so. We'll see how all that plays out. you know And then there's then there's always the possibility of of what they're gonna do with gold, or not the possibility, but what's the reality of what they're gonna do with Goldschmidt? And he's a free agent at the end of the year. There was talk of extending him this year. That has not happened, still could. I wouldn't be really upset if it was, but not extended at what he's being paid right now. I think it's very clear that he's not
00:19:47
Speaker
He has declined the last couple of years and he is not really, and I don't want to put if this in a bad term, but he's not worth the $25 million dollars salary he's he's he's running with. He just isn't. So if you can get him around 10, you know, maybe 12 for a couple of years. And, you know, he can be a DH, for, you know, DH first base pinch hit type guy. If he's good with that,
00:20:17
Speaker
Then you can move a Burleson to first base. Now you've kind of relieved your outfield issue a little bit or Luke and Baker, you know, they can actually try and give him the spot full-time and see what he does with it knowing you've got Goldschmidt right there in case it doesn't work. So there's a lot of possibilities they can do with that and saying we'll have to see how that works out.
00:20:39
Speaker
Because if they do, I think if they do decide to keep Goldsmith, then they're going to have to make a decision about Luke and Baker. I mean, he's shown he can hit. He's shown he can play. Somebody's got to give him a chance. It may not be with St. Louis.
00:20:56
Speaker
so So anyway, a lot of questions will be answered you know here in the next few months. I'm going to touch a little bit on the golf.
PGA Tour Updates and NFL Season Preview
00:21:04
Speaker
The golf in PGA Tour then now has a new format in that they actually have a tournament.
00:21:14
Speaker
to post-season tournament, if you will, to to determine who wins, who's the top golfer or whatever. ah And it's a three-tournament run. Last week, it was the the first ah rung, was the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Played in Memphis, it included 70 golfers. It was won by Hideki Matsuyama. Now Matsuyama,
00:21:42
Speaker
Even after when it was in the this week's tournament version of the postseason, he had to withdraw. this This week, the BMW Championships at Castle Pines in Castle Pine, Colorado was won by Keegan Bradley by one stroke over Sam Burns and Ludwig Eberg and Adam Scott.
00:22:03
Speaker
um this moved him up in the into the next group, which was 50, because 20 golfers were eliminated from the 70 that played last week. This week of those of the 50 that played in this tournament, another 20 were eliminated. So now they're down to 30 golfers who will participate in the last rung of the postseason, if you will, for the PGA. And that will be the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia at the East Lake Golf Club. So we'll see who is crowned the PGA Champion next week.
00:22:50
Speaker
The NFL is set to kick off start September 5th with the Baltimore Ravens taking on the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift. I'm sorry, I had to do it. um
00:23:06
Speaker
yeah Of course the the Chiefs are a top pick to actually go back to the Super Bowl and Some are even saying it could be a three-peat. So that's going to be You know, let's say how that how the season plays out for them ah they are a three-point favorite in the game and the over-under on that game is 46 and a half points and That's something I want to talk to you about a little bit. a bit um Part of the announcement is on, especially with football, I'm going to start trying to do more of the the point spreads and some some of the betting lines. I don't fully understand all the betting jargon, but I'll give you as much info as I can. Some other things going around the NFL, the Bears are pinning their hopes on a rookie quarterback yet again with Caleb Williams.
00:23:57
Speaker
being the newest rookie after they sent Justin Fields to Pittsburgh. Now, could this be the year they end their playoff win drought? The Bears haven't won a playoff game since 2011, and their last appearance in the playoffs was 2020. So they've been you know not not doing well for a while.
00:24:19
Speaker
Could this be the year they do it? I don't know. as A lot of reports are saying Williams looks very good, looks a lot better than Fields did when he first came in. So this could be the year for the Bears. Not saying Super Bowl, but you hey, they might get a playoff win. Another team that hasn't seen the postseason in 2010 is the New York Jets. And if l Aaron Rodgers can stay healthy, they just might have a chance to sneak in there and do it. Not going to be easy, but you know,
00:24:50
Speaker
It's one thing that last year that I think had Rogers not been hurt, the Jets might have been able to get in. So we'll see what happens with a healthy Rogers and if he can stay healthy.
00:25:04
Speaker
ah Thought of this, could Mike McCarthy's job be on the line in Dallas? Well McCarthy is in the final year of his contract and there's been no discussion of an extension or anything of that nature. And if Dallas misses the playoffs or has another early exit like they've done the last couple of years, it would not I would not put up past owner Jerry Jones to bid Mr. McCarthy mccarthy his well wishes on a new career.
00:25:39
Speaker
So who ends up starting quarterback for Pittsburgh now that they've got Russell Wilson and Justin Fields? I think the odds on right now to say at least in the first couple games is gonna be Russell Wilson, the the veteran. But you know if things don't progress, they lose a couple in a row.
00:26:02
Speaker
Don't be surprised if Justin Fields is not running that team by the end of the year.
00:26:10
Speaker
Here's a question for you. How will Jim Harbaugh fare with this new, this return to the NFL with the Chargers? Now, some say that his game, the way he likes to run the ball is actually going to fit well with the Chargers since they lost Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. Because Harbaugh is always at a run-heavy offense, and you know that just be just might be what the Chargers need um since their receiving game has taken such a hit. We'll have to see on that one too. Next, I'm going to take a look at college football and my special announcement.
Promotions and NCAA Show Announcement
00:26:58
Speaker
But I want to talk about Liquid IV. Have you tried Liquid IV yet? If not, why? It's the currently the number one powdered sports drink in America. Liquid IV delivers two times faster hydration in water and three times the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks. It uses cellular transport technology, which acts as a hydration multiplier designed to deliver more rapid absorption of water into the body.
00:27:24
Speaker
It's non-GMO, contains no soy or dairy, and it's gluten-free. It comes in a variety of formulas. There's a basic hydration formula to give your body the glu glucose and sodium it needs after workouts or working out in the yard. It also has vitamins B3, B5, B6, B12, and vitamin C. An energy-boosting formula that contains a coffee berry energy extract and a cognito coffee fruit extract, along with amino acids for a quick pick-me-up.
00:27:53
Speaker
There's an immune-busting formula that includes vitamin z C, zinc, and the plant-based glucose polysaccharide beta-glucan. It's going to help your immune system work just that much better. There's also a kombucha blend formula for dietary health containing a very good probiotic as as well as fermented tea vinegar powder and vitamin C, B6, and B12.
00:28:19
Speaker
you want better sleep they've got they've got a formula for that it contains melatonin and amino acids along with valerian root extract they have a sugar fee formula that uses a comine combination of amino acids instead of sugar artificial sugars or sweeteners they even have ah Kids formed it which has half the sugar of traditional sports drinks. They have a multitude of flavors from lemon lime, pear, golden cherry, white peach, yazoo, pineapple, and piรฑa colada. And kids flavors as well like tropical punch, concord grape, cotton candy. ah They've introduced two new ones, popsicle and firecracker.
00:28:58
Speaker
Liquid IV is conveniently packaged in individual pouches or sticks that you can take with you literally anywhere. And I mean anywhere. You can take them to the beach, put some in your briefcase for the office, your gym bag, ah at school on a plane. Did you realize that traveling on a plane, the humidity is five to 12% less than the Sahara Desert?
00:29:21
Speaker
So long flights get you dehydrated. You go cross-country flight or even a trans-oceanic flight, it's going to get you dehydrated. And the coffee and tea just aren't going to help you. Alcohol's not going to help you. Ask for a bottle of water. Throw in a stick of liquid IV instant hydration. Liquid IV also cares about the world we live in, so they restore sustainable materials from family farms. Using 100% recycled materials in their packaging,
00:29:46
Speaker
They also donate regularly to high-impact programs all over the globe like Dig Deep, Save the Children, and MAP International. They tirelessly work with communities for better water salute better and clean water solutions. As of 2024, they have donated 55 million servings around the world.
00:30:06
Speaker
So right now go to liquidiv.com. Use the code GCS at checkout and get 20% off. You can also shop better hydration using my link zen dot.ai slash talking sports on the bleachers and get 20% off anything you buy. That's anything. So check out hydration, multiplication, multiplication, try liquidiv. Go to liquidiv.com. Use the promo code GCS at checkout.
00:30:35
Speaker
All right, before I get to the NCAA, I'm going to go ahead and make my announcement. As most of you know, why I had a ah the last year or so we've done a NCAA report myself and Russ Robinson, and we kind of took a little bit of time off and we're doing some thinking, and we're going to bring it back.
00:30:55
Speaker
but in a different format. And instead of talking just about the Big Ten, SEC, Illinois, Missouri, we're going to expand it to talk about the NCAA. The entire incident, we're going to talk top 25. We're going to talk high match-ups. We're going to talk a lot of different things. So tune in. That's going to start next week, Russ and I.
00:31:19
Speaker
It will be still be the NCAA report, and but it's going to be twice a month instead of a single instead of once a month. We're going to see how that works out. So tune in next week.
NCAA Conference Changes and Playoffs
00:31:30
Speaker
In that vein, this weekend was week zero. Four games were on the docket. Only one game of any note, and that was the number 10 Florida State Seminoles playing Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. That game was won by Georgia Tech.
00:31:51
Speaker
24-21. This is a new look for NCAA football this year. You've had a lot of changes as in there is no more Pac-12. You now have two coast-to-coast conferences and one nearly coast-to-coast because the Big Ten, the ACC are now, you know, Literally, coast to coast, Carolina to California, New Jersey to California. um The Big 12 stretches from west West Virginia to Arizona. And the Big 12 was one that was thought was going to be on life support a couple of years ago. When they lost Oklahoma and Texas, they decided to bolt. and
00:32:32
Speaker
There was all sorts of different talk about them dropping teams and you know they went the exact other direction and you know now they are, I believe it is a 16 team conference. So changing the landscape for sure.
00:32:47
Speaker
because the What's been added in the Big Ten added four teams and of course everybody knew initially of UCLA, USC. Now they also have Washington, Oregon. Of course, the SEC we knew was adding Oklahoma and Texas. Big 12 added Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah. And the ACC rated the Pac-12 and picked up Stanford and California. People ask me all the time, is college college expansion over or conference expansion? you know
00:33:20
Speaker
I don't know, I don't think so. I've heard rumor the big 10 was 20 teams. I've heard rumor that SEC would like to raid the ACC. um So I don't think any of it's over and there's always gonna be the annual which conference is it actually gonna commit to. I wish I had the crystal ball that said what was gonna happen next, but I guess we're all gonna be in the same ride there.
00:33:47
Speaker
been a number of coaching changes all over the place. As a matter of fact, the Big Ten is going to have five new coaches and two of them from the new schools that are joining the conference.
00:34:00
Speaker
Start off with, though, in the SEC with Nick Saban leaving Alabama. New head coach there is Kalin DeBore from University of Washington. He went 25-3 and took the Huskies to the title game last year, losing to Michigan. They're switching from the Pac-12 to a much more highly competitive SEC, or he is, I should say.
00:34:21
Speaker
um You know, it could be a daunting task, but you know, he's still got a good team down there in Alabama to work with. So we'll find out how that goes. Um, uh, another, the next legend that was B is being replaced is, uh, uh, show Sharon Moore takes over the reins from departing Jim Harbaugh, Michigan. You know, it's kind of interesting now that, um, the two teams that played in the championship game last year are both going to have new coaches.
00:34:50
Speaker
coming up this season. That's kind of an oddity, if you will. But Moore had been the offensive coordinator for the Wolverines. He does have wins under his belt against Ohio State and Penn State when he filled in for Harbaugh doing his suspension. So he's you know and not a totally unproven figure, and he's got the history with the University of Michigan, and he's been around for a while. But this is his first full-time head coaching job.
00:35:18
Speaker
Replacing DuBour, Washington will be former Arizona coach head coach ah Jed first or Fish. Two years after posting a 1-11 mark, he last year guided the Wildcats to a 10-3 season culminating in the Alamo Bowl win over Oklahoma to 38-24.
00:35:37
Speaker
And he takes over a Washington program that, as has been noted, made it to the championship game and lost and now finds itself in an entirely new conference. That will make the terrain just a little more treacherous for fish.
00:35:53
Speaker
So we'll see how he does. Another first time coach is joining the ranks this year as Deshaun Foster takes over at UCLA. That's another guy here who been there for a while and has no head coach experience, but they're gonna give him the shot. He replaces Chip Kelly, who is taking the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State. I find that odd.
00:36:19
Speaker
As I said, Foster's alumni, he played 10 years in the NFL.
00:36:26
Speaker
you know He has had other stops, or one other stop besides UCLA as a coach. He did a year at Texas Tech, so they're hoping that his familiarity with the program and his name and his, he can revive or keep UCLA moving in the right direction.
00:36:47
Speaker
Taking over for fish at Arizona will be Brent Brennahan, former San Diego State head coach. on Brennahan was there at San Diego State from 2017 to 2023. He's been up and down the West Coast as a offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, with stops at Washington, washington Arizona, Cal Poly. um And this is actually his second stint at San Diego State.
00:37:16
Speaker
He was also at Oregon State. The overall record is now 34 and 48. But he did have back-to-back seven-win seasons at at OSU, so um or San Diego State. So we'll see how he transfers over to Arizona, which also, by the way, is another team, as we know, is changing conferences. So he's jumping into a different situation there. But you know not having been in Arizona, that that may work to his advantage, really.
00:37:44
Speaker
um There are actually five, I said five new coaches here, two other new coaches in the Big Ten are Kurt Singinetti, who is taking over at Indiana. He comes from James Madison, where he led the Dukes to a 19 and 4 record over the last two seasons. And he's a former Nick Saban assistant. Jonathan Smith takes over at Michigan State. He comes from Oregon State, where he was a former quarterback, brought Oregon State back to relevance in three years, and has gone through three straight bowl games.
00:38:19
Speaker
He's also had stops at Idaho, Montana, Boise State, Washington as quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. He's gonna be tasked with taking Michigan State back to relevance again in a in a conference set.
00:38:31
Speaker
is not what it used to be so we'll wish him good luck with that. Another coach I want to touch on is Manny Diaz at Duke. Diaz has been a long time Duke defensive coordinator, linebacker coach, eight different universities. Spent two years as head coach at Miami before taking a DC linebacker job at Penn State. He does have a 21-5 record and 0-2 in bowl appearances. He replaces Mike Elko.
00:39:02
Speaker
you know This year also marks the implementation implementation of the 12-team football playoffs. and I thought we should take a quick look on that. I don't quite fully understand everything, but i've I've looked at it enough. It's going to work off the top 12.
00:39:18
Speaker
rankings in ah how top 12 teams were ranked versus conference winners and things of that nature. And the way I understand it is that the four highest seeded conference champions get a buy. So if that's, you know, and, you know, if that's Originally was when they only when they had the power five and now with the power four basically all power four conferences Champions will get a buy now the fifth conference champ, which is going to be the
00:39:56
Speaker
highest or the best record out of the group of five um and a group of five the ACC or AAC excuse me the and Mac kind conference USA Mountain West and Sunbelt those five conferences the leader of that group is going to be called the leader of the group of five they will get a spot in the playoffs if they are ranked they will take uh the next rank or that rank or if they are not ranked they will end up
00:40:30
Speaker
As the number 12 team now The rest of the teams of course will fill in from the top 12. So you can see it's gonna could make a ah Real weird situation if you get a team that's not ranked that has to be put into that 12 position I took a look at some three three different Pre-season top 25s And I came up with a roundabout average of what, how it would look or what they think it'll look like at the end of the year. So you're looking at um Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Alabama, which would be number five, Notre Dame is six, seven is Ole Miss, eight Michigan, nine Florida State, 10 would be LSU, 11 Missouri, and 12 Utah. That's your top 12.
00:41:18
Speaker
So that does represent the four power conferences where you will have um Georgia, Ohio State, then you would have Florida State and Utah. Now those would be the top four seats. Now this does not have obviously a group of five in it. So let's say Boise State is your group of five. Okay, the leader of the group of five. Okay, so till you got the top four, they get an automatic bid.
00:41:47
Speaker
um The leader of the group of five, if they're not ranked, automatically gets the 12th spot. Well, the 12th spot is occupied by Utah's, but they're are but they're out because they're in a top four. But you still can't add what's on that, what some now that puts Missouri as the number 12 seed, or the number 12 in the rankings, for all practical purposes. At that point, your leader of the group of five, if he's not if they are not ranked, then would knock out The 12th ranked team is would end up being Missouri. So you would have the Randy rankings look like this. It would be Georgia one, Ohio state to Florida state would now become number three. Utah would become number four.
00:42:36
Speaker
Then Texas would be number five, Oregon would be number six, Alabama would be number seven, Notre Dame would be number eight, Ole Miss nine, Michigan 10, Florida state 11. So then the first four games are going to be played, um,
00:42:59
Speaker
at the highest ranking team of the of the other eight so in this scenario that I laid out you would have Oregon Alabama Texas and Notre Dame would be hosting the other four schools so You would have say, uh, Texas would have Boise State. So you have five versus 12. You get the picture on that, you know, seven versus 10. Well, then you go to what would be the, uh, quarterfinal games. Now for the quarterfinal games, they are going to be using, um, the group of six or the, excuse me, new year's six bowl games.
00:43:50
Speaker
So that would be this year, um and they're gonna rotate those around. So four will be used for the quarterfinals, two will be used for the semifinals. So the four that we use this year for the quarterfinals will be the Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Now, the one thing they said they are going to do is they're going to take in, as far as figuring out the who's playing where,
00:44:18
Speaker
They will be basing it on historic bowl relationships. So that would mean like, uh, in, in the scenario I've got laid out here, the Fiesta, uh, would but presumably get the big 12 champion. Uh, the peach bowl, I would assume would be assigned to the ACC champ. Rose Bowl would obviously go to the big 10 champ and the sugar bowl would obviously be assigned to Georgia.
00:44:46
Speaker
Uh, the next round will be the orange bowl and combo. Now how that will be, I don't know if they're going to take historical match ups, uh, historical relationships into, into play there. They might. Um, but I don't know exactly how that's going to go. And then the national championship game will be the week after that. So that's about as good as I can explain it. I, I apologize if it's not a great explanation, but that's the way it's going to work. And you know, it does bring up the kit, the thought though.
00:45:15
Speaker
What if you've got more than one team that's not ranked? ah Say you have a big 12 champion. That's not ranked. Say the 30 say Utah's ends up being wind and their 13th or 14th.
00:45:32
Speaker
Um, and then you got the power of five, which probably won't be ranked. So now you got to take two teams and put in there at would be 11 and 12. And then again, knock out teams as you go. Um,
00:45:45
Speaker
you know yeah It could make it very interesting over in the next few years. We'll just have to wait and see how all of that plays out for sure, for sure, for sure.
00:45:58
Speaker
Alright then, well, I think next week, or the next time this show is on, this will be in two weeks, I'm gonna have a breakdown of the Big Ten and then we'll look bit look at the baseball a little more and maybe a couple of the few tidbits here and there.
00:46:16
Speaker
So that's it for me tonight. This episode was brought to you by Fifth Street Motors, Liquid IV, and by the Wiley Group. If you want life insurance or insurance protection for your car, home, boat, or motorcycle, you want to get into so some life insurance investments, check out Sean Wiley at Allstate Insurance with two locations in Festus and Arnold.
00:46:37
Speaker
Get an insurance quote right over the phone when you call 636-764-6294. You know, you have work and kids and social functions and just all busy lives all the way around. So you can email Sean also yeah at Sean Wiley at Allstate dot.com. That's S-E-A-N-W-I-L-E-Y at Allstate dot.com. Talk to him about your coverage options. And remember, you're in good hands with Allstate.
00:47:08
Speaker
Don't forget to check out the new Fuel Sports Network where you can find articles by me, Derek King, Russ Robinson, Tito Rivera-Bosquez, and others. Check out the other podcasts as well, the team of rivals with Ron, Pete, and sometimes Elliot. The two for three with Moose Michaels at the park with Ron and Chris and the ever popular Derek King Show. Go to FuelSportsNetwork dot.com or find us on X at Fuel Sports Net.
00:47:35
Speaker
So until I see you down the road or up here in the bleachers, as always, have fun, stay safe, and we're going to see you again when we're talking sports on the bleachers. Good night, everybody.