Transcript
Cody Atkinson: Hello and welcome to the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. I'm Cody coming to you from the bayous of Houston, Texas.
Justin Daulton: And I'm Justin coming to you from the magic of Orlando, Florida.
Cody Atkinson: And today we will be your destination for the Big Ten. as we sit here today we are now only 12 days from the start of the college football season i still cannot believe it's that close and we have the two biggest conferences in college football left to preview
Cody Atkinson: So today we are taking care of the conference that was once viewed as little brother by the SEC, but has since rattled off. Three straight national championships with three different representatives. Can the Big Ten complete the four -peat?
Cody Atkinson: for effecta for some i don't know how you want to call it uh but that's what we're talking about today so with our trajectory set it's time to sit back lock in and get started with the rundown this is the coastal launch and we are ready for liftoff here on episode 28.
Justin Daulton: Alright man, let's jump into those rundown um Something... really a slow news week honestly for the sports world cody but something that has swept not just the sports media.
Justin Daulton: but also sports social media. I know that you're not a big social media user. But the world has taken this topic by storm. Jaden Daniels versus LSU. and ah Just for the podcast sake, this we are at a minute and a half in.
Justin Daulton: We will keep this to four minutes out of respect for Jaden Daniels.
Cody Atkinson: Out of respect.
Justin Daulton: Out of respect for Jane Yells.
Cody Atkinson: It's the only respect he'll be given.
Justin Daulton: But we'll rattle this off real quick. Jenny Daniels is has given a cease and desist letter to... Louisiana State University. saying that the use of his number five jersey that he wore for his Heisman campaign at LSU.
Justin Daulton: should not be being should not be used. um It should not be used by a defensive player. It's kind of the whole shtick of it. that you know joel burrow's number hasn't been used you know and all these other players that have won heismans there's been some sort of gap in time. between their their numbers being used or if your K -level integer number gets retired.
Justin Daulton: because why do college sports retire? numbers because it's stupid. because USC's stupid. um But yeah, man, like just what's your quick thoughts, and then we can kind of talk about the the backlash that he's dealing with here.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, I'll say two things in support of Jaden Daniels, and those are the only two things I'll say in his support. One. This is very fast for them to be using his number again. It's like three seasons later.
Cody Atkinson: ah To tell a guy you're going to not use his number and then to use it three seasons later is pretty crazy. And then two, Lane Kiffin is really... avoiding the bullet here which i think is kind of crazy because of course it's lane kiffin that showed up at a school who had previously promised the number not to be used and then he goes out and uses that specific number as a recruiting pitch to the player. He's he's he's letting Pickett wear it because part of the recruitment was I'll let you wear number five.
Cody Atkinson: so it It feels like slimy Wayne Kiffin. and And nobody's noticing that because Jaden Daniels is handing handling this so poorly. and And he is. I'll stop supporting Jaden Daniels.
Cody Atkinson: Real quick, the thing my big takeaway is sell all stock. on jayden daniels if you're drafting in fantasy this year knocking down like two rounds this guy is not mentally tough he does not have what it takes and he is not locked in jayden daniels is is setting up for a master class of a disaster season a disaster class
Justin Daulton: effective
Cody Atkinson: With Laramie Tunsil also out, I believe. So look for the Commanders to be a dumpster fire this year.
Justin Daulton: Yes.
Justin Daulton: Hot take before we get to the NFC preview here in a couple weeks. But yeah, we got we gotta we have a minute here to talk about social media, Cody. Just the world has torched this guy. We're on social media baseball teams getting in on being like hey we stopped at four runs
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: How to Recite for Jane and Daniels. uh there was the clubhouses being like hey we're removing the number fours off the suites um being out of respect for janet dane our number five is off a bit for for it also social media doing what social media always does. and just torching this guy. and I don't see Jada Daniels coming back from this in terms of...
Justin Daulton: the social media spotlight.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, if he plays well, like he'll come back, obviously, right? like if he If he has the his rookie season again... Hill.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: It'll be just kind of lost to history as a joke, but the joke itself, to your point, will never die. It's too good of a joke. I was seeing people saying. you know five gum has to change its name the nba has to start playing four on four
Justin Daulton: Ha ha.
Cody Atkinson: uh the the song i've got five on you is now i've got six on you like the the respect for james daniels knows no bounds and uh yeah he's he This will follow him forever. The only thing he can do now is win.
Cody Atkinson: But I do think I do personally think this is like representative of a lack of. readiness for the moment so I'm I am out on Jayden Daniels as an NFL quarterback right now.
Justin Daulton: yeah I mean, we'll talk more about it in our NFC preview, but i'm I'm out on it with with the fact that, you know, Clint Kingsbury, that was who was really the... the driving force behind the success in his rookie season but um With that, we only have 20 seconds left before we hit five minutes, so out of respect for Jane and the analysts, this topic has to end.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: so
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, respectfully.
Justin Daulton: it
Cody Atkinson: Time to talk about the race.
Justin Daulton: Kind of talk about the race. Um, yeah, man, the
Cody Atkinson: who Who also, I think, respectfully made sure they only lost four games in a row and not five. I don't know if I have that right.
Justin Daulton: No, we only lost three in a row. we only lost three
Cody Atkinson: Okay, okay.
Justin Daulton: it was a It was a four -game series against the Orioles and we lost three of the four.
Cody Atkinson: It's close, close. There you go.
Justin Daulton: but Yeah, as you just as you just referred to, rough structure games.
Cody Atkinson: There you go.
Justin Daulton: for the raise. um and as soon as we hit record or right before you record we talked about it that The Rays will be just fine as long as they don't play the Baltimore Orioles in the playoffs, which obviously the Baltimore Orioles are not in the playoff team.
Justin Daulton: So the Rays don't have to worry about that.
Cody Atkinson: Well, hold on.
Justin Daulton: um
Cody Atkinson: the The Orioles briefly, I think until today, were in the wildcard spot because they beat to raise they made the They got into the last wildcard spot briefly. I think the Tigers may have bounced them.
Cody Atkinson: uh today
Justin Daulton: Yeah. But you and I were texting last week because we were comparing notes on the Astros and the Rays after we after we recorded last week, right? um And I noted to you that the Rays were starting a stretch of 13 games in a row.
Justin Daulton: Um... Two of those series were Baltimore series against Toronto um and then a weird series i think against the tigers i think was in the middle of it um so it's a really rough stretch that the that the rays are playing through 13 straight and traveling in the middle of it all.
Justin Daulton: So just a really tough stretch, but a lot of injuries that the Rays are coming back from.
Cody Atkinson: Uh oh.
Justin Daulton: McClanahan on the mound tonight. Coming back from injury, Griffin Jacks also getting built back up in the minor league system.
Cody Atkinson: Well, we just lost Justin there briefly. I will stall. here and see if he comes back or if we want to
Justin Daulton: So we definitely are. on the way back up in terms of building players back the way that they should be.
Cody Atkinson: Rebound and do this on another day. I'll talk Astros here for a second
Justin Daulton: um to get ready for
Cody Atkinson: Um, And I'll give Justin a chance to...
Justin Daulton: the the September push.
Cody Atkinson: ah to get back into this lobby.
Justin Daulton: So, I don't know how much you saw it. It was...
Cody Atkinson: would be Shoot him.
Justin Daulton: it wasn't the race weren't in
Cody Atkinson: Text real quick.
Justin Daulton: um these games going forward you know there was a lot of games that were close against Baltimore
Cody Atkinson: oh There he goes, ah did you we lost you for like a good minute there.
Justin Daulton: Oh yeah. Yep. Sure did. I'm back in though, are we recording?
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, yeah we're we're still recording. i didn't I didn't drop. I was going to start talking Astros to stall to see if you got back in. But if you want to pick it up, you were you were you were rattling off. I think the last thing I heard from you was Blue Jays.
Cody Atkinson: You were talking about the 13 -game stretch.
Justin Daulton: yeah 13 game stretch baltimore baltimore toronto baltimore and then i think it was like i think there's a series mixed in there with the tigers or something like that i think it was the the third series mixed in.
Justin Daulton: But just a really tough stretch on top of traveling to Baltimore and the traveling to Toronto. coming back home. So just a really rough stretch for the raise. But I was also talking about... just the injuries that have plagued the pitching rotation.
Justin Daulton: For the last couple of weeks Griffin Jacks is down in AAA getting built back up from the shoulder discomfort um there was nothing found for the second opinion we talked about that last week that he was going to texas to get a second opinion on his elbow.
Justin Daulton: came back negative so we're good there but he's getting built back up after the tenderness so that he was only placed on the 15 day DL. So he's down in Durham doing a little, a small quick. rehab stay. McClanahan back on the mound tonight. Looks okay.
Justin Daulton: um you know. we talked about it a lot this year that he hasn't really come back to that all -star status that we saw you know what three and a half years ago. before the tommy john surgery so But a decent first year back from Tommy John so you expect to you know a full off -season rehab. and you know actually getting built back up.
Justin Daulton: could be prime time for McClanahan next season. But... the front of this rotation still looks really good. you know, you still got Rasmussen who is... looking like a a potential Cy Young candidate. you know we talked about fortes you know we talked about everyone else in the in peralta's settling in to the rotation as well.
Justin Daulton: He just looks better every single start that he's had with Tampa. um someone actually had a like There was actually a video that showed his delivery in New York and his delivery in Tampa, and his delivery is already different.
Justin Daulton: and it's he's getting more extension with the ball. um in his hand as opposed to you the ball was leaving his hand much earlier in new york and you're already seeing the result of that. So. But all that to be said, Tampa's not in a bad spot. We're still winning the division.
Justin Daulton: The Yankees still suck. And we just got to make sure that we we stay healthy and we get ready for September.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, i mean you kind of figured that they were going to be doing something with Peralta when you make an acquisition like that. You've got to be patient because heav or he was a a reclamation project in a way. um and and they there was something they felt like they could reclaim but yeah it's not going to show up overnight and it it does not help the process when his first two starts are in mile high and in a minor league ballpark that that's no one where the for the ball to fly so
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: But, yeah, it's it's natural. He's going to keep getting better, and I think he'll be he'll be ready to go by the playoffs. and And hopefully the rest of the pitching staff is too. not Not a good series at all for them against the Orioles. It was a little bit surprising, but it sounds like that may just be the way they play the Orioles. so nothing Nothing really to see here.
Justin Daulton: Yeah, it's just the world's being the world's
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: Yeah, just being a thorn in the side and and But, I mean, Toronto's coming into town. We've had a really good run against Toronto this season. um and then whoever that middle the team in this this stretch will be all right.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. i think it's like honestly it's a little something similar with the astros to where like the The... the series this weekend against Seattle. right like i hyped it up i was like the astros have nine straight games against division opponents. A lot of what what what happens with this division this season is going to be decided largely over the next nine games.
Cody Atkinson: And they play Seattle at home and and go 1 -2 against a Seattle team that couldn't beat anybody. the the the games leading up to up to this series. and There's stats, like, so Seattle had won the division series already before this, or had won the season series against the Astros already before this.
Cody Atkinson: three -game stretch even started. Um, And they average seven runs a game when they play the Astros. and around three runs a game when they play. anybody else.
Cody Atkinson: It's just one of those things that's wild. I think the Orioles must be like that for the the Rays, where they're just a kryptonite for some reason. And it feels that way for the Astros.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: And I think that's why I'm also going to sit here and not overreact too, too much. The Astros went 3 -3 this week. They won. The series against the Giants, but... Not in a way that was. uh fun to watch right like they they kind of stole a series against a terrible team And then you you you come home, you have a chance to end Seattle's season. If you sweep them, they would have been eight games back, 11 games under .500.
Cody Atkinson: with you know a month and a half left you could have ended their season you didn't you let them right back into it and so As we talked about last. Last week, you asked the question, does this become a two -team race? It's not. It's going to be a three -team race to the very end. That's my prediction.
Cody Atkinson: and And if one of them can have a hot week, that's probably who's going to win it. And there's no telling who that's going to be. But this doesn't change much of what I believe on the Astros. I think the Astros are a 500 baseball team this year. I think that's what their talent is.
Cody Atkinson: And that's what they're playing like. They've had they've been well below 500. They've been a little bit above, but they're kind of back to just floating near 500, and I think that's where they'll stay until the end of the season. so The question of whether they'll win the division or not just comes down to if.
Cody Atkinson: either the rangers or the mariners can play well ah well enough above 500 to jump them Or if they're all going to float there and somebody's going to win by... by default it's a team that can be fun to watch they do have grit They do have comebacks, but they don't have consistency, and they're too top -heavy. either they Top two pitchers in the rotation are great.
Cody Atkinson: uh, Pitcher three and four are both coming off of Tommy John and are massive question marks. Pitcher 5, we don't even know who that is right now. They're gonna they're they're debuting a guy from AAA who wasn't.
Cody Atkinson: busting down the door to get into the MLB. They just had no other options. than to give this guy a go. um and then if you look at at the lineup right you have you have jeremy pena Yordan, Isak Paredes.
Cody Atkinson: And then when you get to the bottom of the lineup, it's a rotating cast of of just praying somebody has a good day. So that's what it is. It's a top -heavy team that that that lacks consistency or depth, and and because of that, they're going to float 500.
Cody Atkinson: Maybe that will. be enough to get in, but almost certainly at the end of the season, we'll be looking at a a complete overhaul of the front office. in In a way that I think is unhealthy because this will be the...
Cody Atkinson: second or i guess technically this will be the third overhaul since the uh Since the scandal, including the overhaul that... came as a result of the scandal and that's too much.
Cody Atkinson: too much turnover in a short period and that's why we can't. It's why the window is closing because we couldn't keep momentum together. That's all I got on the Astros. That's all we got on the rundown and the wrap up.
Justin Daulton: I got one i got one one quick thing for you because I want to do this each week for for the rest of the baseball season. um MLB home run leaders, Cody.
Cody Atkinson: Oh here we go.
Justin Daulton: It's going to be a conversation that we need to have each week because it's going to be a very fun race. um I'm going to give you. Every week I'm going to give you the top five. players in the race. because it's way too close and so There's been a lot of weeks where this number has been tied.
Cody Atkinson: Okay.
Justin Daulton: So I just want to make sure that we encompass everyone that's in the top five. Does that make sense?
Cody Atkinson: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Justin Daulton: So. Number five is Goodman from the Colorado Rockies sitting with 34 home runs on the year.
Cody Atkinson: He's the only one that you're about to read that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to say was in the top five I'm almost certain I know who the other four are
Justin Daulton: Fair enough. On number four, with 35 home runs, is Cam Monero of the Tampa Bay Rays. who was in the was tied for the lead at some point last week. um Matt Olsen is tied for a second with 36 home runs on the year.
Justin Daulton: He is tied with Jordan Alvarez. with 36 home runs.
Cody Atkinson: That was a Schwarber back in the lead.
Justin Daulton: and Kyle Schwarber at 37. um on the year this race is going to be Electric. down the stretch man
Cody Atkinson: Yeah it is.
Justin Daulton: All these teams minus the Rockies are in playoff contention and playoff races. It's gonna be fun. fine to watch these guys hit bombs for the for throughout september um so and Big home runs, honestly, through for the rest of the season.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: so um it's a fun race it's a race that we you know the last couple years has been otani judge obviously cal riley being in the mix last year but it's really just been otani and judge really just owning this home run race last couple of years so It's good to see.
Justin Daulton: obviously new names in there Alvarez obviously being someone that's been in there but Kevin Arrow being in it this year, Schwarber being back in the conversation. also being in the conversation.
Cody Atkinson: It could have been new.
Justin Daulton: um Good mid news. So like there's a lot of a lot of parody
Cody Atkinson: and ben Ben Rice has been in the conversation. He's he's new to the conversations.
Justin Daulton: Yep.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, a lot of fresh blood.
Justin Daulton: PCA with with the cups. Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Mm hmm.
Justin Daulton: So a lot a lot of it, obviously. you know Not to mention, Otani is still in this in the top 10. He's at 29 home runs on the year. um so like the list is definitely there's a lot more parody on it um this year as opposed to the last couple of seasons so um and then Outside of that conversation, I have one other little topic for you Cody. I don't need a...
Justin Daulton: we don't need to really talk too much about it but it is something that came out today so So I want to discuss it with you. um and it could kind of lead right into our next topic because it just kind of works out that way Leave. AP preseason poll came out today.
Justin Daulton: for college football.
Cody Atkinson: That's all that.
Justin Daulton: So I will ask you, do you want me to go one through 25 or 25 to win?
Cody Atkinson: are you goingnna Are you rattling them off?
Justin Daulton: Just rattling in them off.
Cody Atkinson: I said just go 1 to 25 because I don't think there's like a lot of suspense. with with the top of the list right it's kind of i mean we we know what to expect there
Justin Daulton: Okay. When I do it, give me a TheraFowl. on it with without it they'll just be here okay
Cody Atkinson: Okay.
Justin Daulton: Ohio State at number one.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Or again at two.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Georgia at three.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Notre Dame at four.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Texas at five.
Cody Atkinson: A lot of people will say, lo, I think this is fair.
Justin Daulton: Indiana at six.
Cody Atkinson: I'll say fair because they're coming off a national championship, but they there's a lot of turnover there. I don't think they're going to finish that high.
Justin Daulton: Miami at seven.
Cody Atkinson: Actually a little bit a little bit low for them, but that's it's still fair
Justin Daulton: A and &M at 8.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Ole Miss at nine.
Cody Atkinson: I'm going to say fair only because Trinidad Chambliss is back. It ignores coach turnover, but... i am um I am probably one of the bigger Trinidad Chambliss believers.
Justin Daulton: Oklahoma at 10.
Cody Atkinson: That's fair.
Justin Daulton: LSU at 11.
Cody Atkinson: I'm going to call this foul that's way too high for all the turnover. Everyone believes in them. I know I'm in the minority. uh but i think that's i think that's foul because they they're this collection of school and coach and players has proved nothing.
Justin Daulton: Texas Tech at 12.
Cody Atkinson: I'd say fair only by default. I think this is too high from a talent perspective. I think this is fair given that... Whoever wins the Big 12, that's probably a round where they'll be.
Justin Daulton: Alabama at 13.
Cody Atkinson: I think a little high They lost a ton in the transfer portal. So I'm going to call foul on that. It's a little too hot. That's just brand name.
Justin Daulton: Deal. for Fair. BYU at 14.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: USC at... tied for 14th.
Cody Atkinson: I'll say fair.
Justin Daulton: Michigan at 16.
Cody Atkinson: This is about as foul as it gets. this Team's going to suck so hard.
Justin Daulton: Washington is 17.
Cody Atkinson: Fair.
Justin Daulton: Head state at 18.
Cody Atkinson: Fair only because their schedule is a dumpster fire and if they don't end up in the top 25 That will be one of the worst seasons of all time
Justin Daulton: SMU at 19.
Cody Atkinson: This is fair Kevin Jennings year three. Let's see what he can do
Justin Daulton: Tennessee at 20.
Cody Atkinson: I think that's a little foul. Cause like, I don't. I don't even know who their quarterback is.
Justin Daulton: fair
Cody Atkinson: i don't think I don't think anybody does.
Justin Daulton: Utah 21.
Cody Atkinson: I also think that's foul because, I mean, I called them the the but biggest bust potential of the Big 12 in the last episode. There's too much turnover. I think that i don't think they're going to get that.
Justin Daulton: Iowa at 22.
Cody Atkinson: That's fair. That's classic Iowa.
Justin Daulton: 23, Houston.
Cody Atkinson: I think that's fair.
Justin Daulton: 24 Louisville.
Cody Atkinson: I don't know anything about Louisville, so I'm going to say it's fair.
Justin Daulton: 25 Missouri.
Cody Atkinson: I'm going to call Missouri foul because Missouri is going to go 7 -5 or 8 -4 again and beat literally nobody. that they they only They only beat non -conference in the bottom of the SEC, and then anytime they pay a face a big dog, they fail. so i would I would prefer to see a Boise State or an Arizona.
Cody Atkinson: somebody like that maybe Illinois and they're somebody like that
Justin Daulton: And...
Cody Atkinson: I think altogether, was a really i think all all together this was like actually a pretty solid top 25 by AP standards.
Justin Daulton: teams of the
Justin Daulton: Yeah. Um, Team's not in the top 25 and then we can move on. Clemson, Florida, Boise State, Arizona, TCU, Navy, South Carolina, Illinois. Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt.
Justin Daulton: are the big notable names on in the end the top 25. this year. At least to start the season.
Cody Atkinson: you know ah Yeah, I gave you a couple of those. i I don't think Clemson should be in Florida. Too much that's new for me to... Go to bat for them, but Boise State, Arizona.
Cody Atkinson: Maybe even TCU or like in Illinois, I think. I probably could have gotten some love there over maybe Missouri or Some of these teams that I just don't believe in, like the Michigans of the world.
Justin Daulton: a Louisville. Yeah. Sure. Cool. That was a fun experiment. I just want to run run that with through you as we... as we got that news today.
Justin Daulton: as we hear, what did you say, 20?
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: 12 days, sorry, 12 days.
Cody Atkinson: 12. We are 12 days.
Justin Daulton: from week zero. Which is crazy.
Cody Atkinson: Unreal.
Justin Daulton: But with that, man, let's preview some college football.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, dude, let's cut to the Big Ten. And I gave you a little bit of my preview there. There's a couple of those statements I made that that will come back.
Justin Daulton: it
Cody Atkinson: ah But let's just do it as we've been doing. We're going to start with the what's new. um Again, this is new head coaches only. I'm not looking at coordinators here.
Justin Daulton: A lot of coordinators though.
Cody Atkinson: And this is going to be new.
Justin Daulton: A lot of coordinators on the Big Ten.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, yeah. I mean... lots of new coordinators. I just don't. this this is This is a part -time pod. If you want the coordinator breakdown, you got you gotta to go to the full -time one. I can't be putting all that together. And this is QBs that transferred to their school. So no... guy was backing up last year. just If you go to that school, you know about him. If you don't.
Cody Atkinson: Who cares? New head coaches in the Big Ten. We got Kyle Whittingham. that we talked about a couple weeks ago, or we talked about last week. I hope. retired from Utah.
Cody Atkinson: Came out of retirement a couple months later to take the Michigan job after the Sharon Moore scandal. So Kyle Whittingham. from Utah to Michigan. We've got Matt Campbell.
Cody Atkinson: took the Iowa State job or left the Iowa State job is now at Penn State. That was one of the um worst handled coaching searches of all time and then they backed into a really good candidate by accident after fumbling around for like an a month longer than they needed to it was wild
Justin Daulton: Wasn't it that like Uncrustables came in and like gave money to -
Cody Atkinson: Now it's crumble.
Justin Daulton: Crumble, crumble cookie. There it is.
Cody Atkinson: crumble crumble cookie came in and kept the BYU coach at BYU because that's who they were trying to get.
Justin Daulton: right
Cody Atkinson: and then supposedly, as it turns out, Matt Campbell wanted the job all along. And his agent told Penn State he wasn't interested. So he fired his agent, got a new agent, and then they came to a deal.
Justin Daulton: Cheers.
Cody Atkinson: But apparently Matt Campbell's agent was doing him dirty. And he had to fire him and get a new agent. And then immediately it was like, they both wanted. the It was like Penn State wanted to hire him. He wanted to come to Penn State. and The agent was standing in the way. So.
Cody Atkinson: um But... the other The other big name, Bob Chesney from James Madison to UCLA, this is who a lot of Penn State people wanted because he's from the Pennsylvania area.
Cody Atkinson: And obviously took James Madison to the playoffs. So a lot of intrigue around. Bob Chesney and what he can be bringing to UCLA. And then finally, Pat Fitzgerald comes out of retirement.
Cody Atkinson: forced retirement. to To coach Michigan State, if you remember Pat Fitzgerald, he was a Northwestern coach a while back. He left the game over a hazing scandal.
Cody Atkinson: which eventually he took the NCAA to court for, and like years later, at just i mean just this last offseason, he won the court case and was deemed, I guess, not guilty of...
Cody Atkinson: I've... his role. I guess you would say, quote unquote, role in the scandal. he was he He was deemed innocent. And so he was allowed to return to the game of college football. And Michigan State took the opportunity to bring him in.
Cody Atkinson: So that's it. Four new coaches out of 18. Not a lot of coach turnover at the head coach rank. in the big 10 but as you said lots of of coordinator if that's something anybody wants to dive into their own time.
Cody Atkinson: New quarterbacks. Josh Hoover, we talked about last week, left TCU and is now at Indiana. Great place to land if you're a transfer quarterback. Rocco Becht. Follows Matt Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State.
Cody Atkinson: We've got Anthony Calandria. comes from UNLV to Nebraska to replace Dylan Rayola. Colton Joseph from Old Dominion to Wisconsin.
Cody Atkinson: Kayten Houser from Eastern care from East Carolina to Illinois Aiden Childs, this is an inter -conference transfer. here He was at Michigan State, got benched towards the end of the season, is now at Northwestern.
Cody Atkinson: And then Dylan Lonergan from Boston College to Rutgers. um So, honestly, not a ton of of huge impact there, right? You have ah Indiana new quarterback, Penn State new quarterback. Those are big.
Cody Atkinson: ah I mean, Illinois, pretty big. They were at the top of the conference kind of. And that that. That tier was like Washington and USC last year, but a lot of the others More bottom of the conference, at least as of late, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Rutgers. So big transfers, Josh Hoover, Rocco Beck, and Caden Hauser.
Cody Atkinson: So let's let's kick it off, Justin. Let's get in. We're going to do same categories as last week. So four categories. We're each going to name one that is going to leave a lot of meat on the bone because this conference is too big.
Cody Atkinson: It is 18 schools and I would need nine categories and we would have to avoid repeats to talk about them all. And quite frankly, I didn't want to do that. So we're going to go with our favorite.
Cody Atkinson: who Who do you think is the favorite to win the Big Ten? I i did put the two most likely choices for you.
Justin Daulton: Yay!
Cody Atkinson: and It's there.
Justin Daulton: Yeah. I will say as we as we kind of go into this. this conference as a whole. the it is so top heavy this conference man and like i was looking at it like the bottom and this is it's going to sound so similar to my conversation that we had last week about the big 12 in the ACC.
Justin Daulton: The lower third to lower half of this conference is dog water. Like, I... It doesn't get me excited to watch Minnesota. play football this year.
Justin Daulton: Michigan State doesn't give me a lot of excitement. Illinois maybe might make a splash. They were competitive sometime last year. Can they put some things together? Who knows? So like. Does a Rutgers do anything? It's so hard to really say what the bottom line is.
Justin Daulton: half of this conference is going to do. But man, when you look at the top, when you look at it, and we're going to rattle them off, Oregon, Ohio State. Indiana needs to be a conversation. Michigan will still be a conversation. Penn State will still be a conversation.
Justin Daulton: you know it's you know throw a dart at the dartboard and you're gonna make contact with something at that point in time when it comes to the the top heavy part of this conference. But I think you...
Justin Daulton: I think you have the top two teams of who are going to be playing for this all the way down the stretch. It is going to be... Oregon and Ohio State. um And it's two quarterbacks that... very well it could go 1 -2 in the draft depending on who has.
Justin Daulton: the one and two picks you know this and come next April, May timeframe, right? of of Julian San and Dante Moore. Right. So it's, you know. take your pick on what you know what you want when it comes to those two quarterbacks and I think you can honorably kind of talk about Notre Dame along with this conference because they play so many. Big Ten schools.
Justin Daulton: like yeah another quarterback there at Notre Dame. that needs to be talked about in terms of what the what this year is going to look like but I think you have the right picks there. It's Oregon, Ohio State. and I think they play each other?
Justin Daulton: If I remember correctly. This year, and I think it's like... Yes, they do because Oregon comes off of a game. against Northwestern. Ohio State is coming off a game against USC.
Justin Daulton: So USC or or Ohio State has a much difficult much more difficult lead up to the Oregon game where Oregon can... probably would be resting starters by the fourth quarter against Northwestern. so it very well could lead to to that game.
Justin Daulton: I do think that USC needs that be a conversation this year as well in the favorite category that might fall more. into my sleeper pick of like a team that can make another jump well the coordinator that I wanted to highlight, Gary Patterson. is the defensive coordinator at USC.
Justin Daulton: which is a big hit for Lincoln Riley, who... um For all accounts, it sucks at calling in defense. And it has. sucked at calling defense for his entire career. So Gary Patterson is a big gift for him, but Gary Patterson's also been out of college football paul for quite ah quite a bit of time.
Justin Daulton: so you know What does that look like? you know Can he still do it? Can he still get these young guys up and going? on the defensive side but I think it's between those. those teams for sure.
Justin Daulton: And it just is going to come down to scheduling. staying hot through the season. off the cuff. organism or complete team. Ohio State is the more streaky team.
Justin Daulton: and the more favorable pick because they can get hot and stay on for a longer. But I think if Oregon can stay consistent through the season, I... I don't see a reason why working doesn't. win the big 10. this year.
Cody Atkinson: yeah Yeah, I think those are the main the main two, Oregon and Ohio State. i think To your point, I think Oregon is the more complete team. Oregon is the team that you look at. that you have less questions about and you Yeah, less less turnover, less questions.
Justin Daulton: Let's turn over to...
Cody Atkinson: You just look at a team. that brought back what it needed to bring back and and basically said Run it back. Because Indiana is not going to be there again. And we're going to be a year older, a year stronger, a year wiser. and And we're going to correct our mistakes and and win a national championship. and Um, you know. I...
Cody Atkinson: I think that's probably the most likely outcome is that Oregon runs the conference this year. but to play devil's advocate a bit i if i'm gonna go with ohio state I think you look at...
Cody Atkinson: The just the history of. the coaching staff and the program right like dan lanning hasn't won the big one yet I think he beat Ohio State once, if I recall, in the regular season. Then they remet in the playoffs.
Cody Atkinson: Ohio State whooped them, went on to win a national championship. Oregon. does what it did last year, makes it to to the playoffs, wins its first two playoff games, which you could technically call big games, but it's James Madison and it was a Texas Tech team. that Um, you know. I think showed who it was in that game. And and and then they get.
Cody Atkinson: Absolutely pants to my Indiana. And then Indiana goes on to win a national championship, right? So there is that can Oregon get over the hump. Get over the hump. And I think if you're going to pick a different team to win the Big Ten, it's because you don't believe in Dan Lanning and you don't believe in Oregon's ability to get over. You think there's something.
Cody Atkinson: legitimately limiting to them that will continue to limit them In the weirdest way, sometimes I think that ends up being accurate, right? It's really hard for the... despite the turnover in the coaching staff, despite the fact that players can't stay more than four or five years now.
Cody Atkinson: The teams... and our universities hold AA style. They hold a reputation. So long.
Cody Atkinson: like If you think about A and &M as the team that overspends and and doesn't win anything. like We've held that reputation through so many eras.
Justin Daulton: yeah Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: And Ohio State, in the opposite, is a team that just does win. everything, all the time. they they And they've held that through so many eras. so There's an aspect of looking at Oregon and saying that the team that can't get over the hump that I say, you know what, there's something to the fact that that brand, that logo.
Cody Atkinson: those jerseys don't get over the hump because we see in college football. de regardless of era, that we we see these curses transfer and stay with the teams.
Cody Atkinson: um So if you're going to pick against Oregon.
Justin Daulton: techniques
Cody Atkinson: to to To wrap this up, I think that's why you do it. And I think in my mind, you go Ohio State as the team that's done it recently. Ryan Day has a national championship to his name. Year two, Julian Sane. Year three, Jeremiah Smith.
Cody Atkinson: Lots of turnover on the defense. That's going to be one of their big questions. but um you know Ryan Day's had a lot of success hiring these these NFL coordinators to be his... his college coordinators and And there's no reason to think he he won't put it together again. So I think that's the only that's the reason you would go against Oregon. I think both of us lean towards Oregon putting it together this year.
Cody Atkinson: at least from a Big Ten perspective. and then um you know hopefully as as people who live in the South, hopefully getting a little bit of an SEC revival so we can get a...
Cody Atkinson: a better showing when the playoffs come. wrong.
Justin Daulton: I mean, yeah, we'll talk obviously more about the SEC next week and kind of what the state of affairs look like in the SEC. yeah for what you have in front of you it just It makes sense. for for Oregon to kind of piece it together this year. but You make good point seats. a team that hasn't been able to get over.
Justin Daulton: The hobbit's dead. you know, always the bridesmaid, never the bride type of situation that we keep talking about with these previews. and you know Are they able to put it together? it's to be determined but man It's going to come down. And I think we need to circle it. I think it's week two.
Justin Daulton: and Austin, Texas, Ohio State's going down south.
Cody Atkinson: Hmm.
Justin Daulton: And what can that what does that game look like? Because there was a game last year that was. cloaks all the way through. defensive game you know obviously there's a lot of turnover there's a lot of buzz around arch manning being a heisman contender this year And, you know, what does that look like? Julian saying, and obviously in the Heisman. conversation. So it was more so, you know, so it was so many. you know we talked about malachi tony last week like there's so many of these names that are going to be in these big games And what are they going to do when the lights turn on?
Justin Daulton: Right? does Moore turn it on against Ohio State?
Cody Atkinson: mm -hmm
Justin Daulton: and claim the Big Ten. over Julian Sane. Or is it vice versa? like that that week I think it's week eight or nine when Ohio State and Oregon play like circle that week. That's going to be a huge week. when those two teams play.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, it's November 7th. is when those two teams play, so circle that one for sure.
Justin Daulton: There you go.
Cody Atkinson: But yeah, you you will probably have to wait till week four. to really make a decision on Dante Moore. That's when Oregon goes down to play USC. ah before that they do have entertaining games fun games boise state and oklahoma state uh to open up the season i think those have a lot of intrigue in them but i'm not gonna make a lot of
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: claims on on Dante more from those games unless he looks bad in those games, right? Like if if he looks good, I'm just going to say, yeah, that's what you should do. If he looks bad, that'll...
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: That'll be something worse. but
Justin Daulton: Yeah, he should clown both those teams if he wants to win the Heisman in a national championship.
Cody Atkinson: with with Yay.
Justin Daulton: you need to take care of business against the the the bottom end of these comfort i mean the bottom end of the national rankings, but the top end of. their respective conference conferences.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, yeah, so he he's gotta take advantage there so you're gonna be looking at usc the the the game. where you'll You'll really get to see if Dante Moore's ready for this season. um for julian saying it's going to come a lot earlier like you said in week two against against the Texas team that loaded up in the transfer portal. so but But we'll talk about more about that. about them. Next week in the SEC preview for now, let's let's talk sleepers.
Cody Atkinson: Of the Big Ten, I think you gave yours away in the last segment. It sounds like you're buying into this USC team that's going to be the first test for Dante Moore.
Justin Daulton: Yeah, I think USC a they bring back so much talent. A lot of the ah lot of the offense weapons come back this this year. um turnover on defense but they always turn over on defense it feels like on these bigger teams because they they're buying one or two year. players in the portal. and it works and then then they leave either earlier or they you know you'll have them on a rental But I do buy a lot of soccer on Gary Patterson. Gary Patterson is one hell of a coach. We've watched him.
Justin Daulton: for most of our lives coaching out there in Texas. right so He is someone that I think can turn the tide in a lot of these conversations. and you know lincoln riley has missed that lincoln riley's had really good ocs you know he's called plays a when you look at whether it was Oklahoma where USC the biggest kryptonite to a lincoln rally -led team is that they couldn't stop the other team Like you you look at it.
Justin Daulton: there's There's so many trends. and Yeah, he wins the Big 12. but he still can't be. and a national team from the SEC. losing to an Alabama, losing to an A &M, losing to... Whoever you want to name it. or They can't beat anyone big.
Justin Daulton: USC, still the same conversation. Can't get it done against Ohio State. Can't get it done against Oregon or Michigan. you know, et cetera, and you're not even getting to a national stage to even be ready for it. You're playing meaningless bowl games against Texas A &M in Las Vegas a couple years ago.
Justin Daulton: a it doesn't matter But I do think, I do buy a lot of stock in. hey Returning talent. But also Gary Patterson is one hell of a defensive coach. So I think. you that combining it and the middle to lower end of the of the big 10.
Justin Daulton: Isn't great. So it's not hard to find a team that can kind of slide into it. a potential contender spot going into this season.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm not personally buying into USC this year, but that's because I kind of have been on the Lincoln in Riley's overrated train for like. seven years now.
Justin Daulton: i think
Cody Atkinson: like i've i've been writing this since he but he was at oklahoma and i was just like uh it was just like he was i felt like he got a lot of credit for winning a conference that was down and then making it to the playoffs and getting balanced.
Cody Atkinson: doing it again and just not ever feeling like he had a team that was that close to winning a national championship, but then getting treated like he was a national championship caliber coach. So i I am a Lincoln Riley hater. i did go to the I visited my brother last year. We went to the Maryland versus USC game.
Cody Atkinson: And Maryland had one of the sickest comebacks of all time, and I was yelling at all the USC fans that their coach sucked.
Cody Atkinson: it was like It was a good time. but So I'm not buying into USC this year, but a team that that that I am buying into is Washington. um This is a team that obviously under a different coach but in that last season of the pac -12 won the pac -12 beat Dan Lanning twice, and and made the national championship, losing eventually to Michigan.
Cody Atkinson: and And then obviously their coach leaves and goes to Alabama. that they are now year three under jed fish uh last year they they went nine and four So they had a really solid season in that USC tier, that USC Illinois tier last year.
Cody Atkinson: They were one of those teams that that beat up on the non -conference. They beat up on the the Big Ten below them, and then they just could not. do anything. offensively when it came to like playing Ohio State.
Cody Atkinson: and Michigan. I think they had one slip -up game. that Like, against, like, Wisconsin, the team they should have beat. but It was a team that was really right there. um on the cuff right right there just needing one step to get over the to get over the hump and they couldn't do it but They almost lost their quarterback. I don't know if you remember this. Their quarterback signed an NIL contract.
Cody Atkinson: then tried to leave to go to LSU because they were going to pay him a ton of money. Washington threatened to sue him. He decided to come back to Washington.
Justin Daulton: if
Cody Atkinson: And then LSU went and and got Sam Levitt shortly after that. It was a big drama, but at the end of the day... you ended up with a really good quarterback coming back to your school.
Cody Atkinson: hopefully learning a little bit through through the mess obviously there could be some cohesion there could be some some team chemistry issues from that but That was so long ago. I feel like they've got like eight months to work through this.
Cody Atkinson: If you haven't worked through it now, that's crazy. So I'm i'm kind of thinking that that's got to be water under the bridge.
Justin Daulton: yeah
Cody Atkinson: You got him coming back. You have four returning starters on the OL. To your point on USC, like they have a lot to replace on defense as well. But they had a really good defense last year, so you just have to trust that they found the bodies to a replace.
Cody Atkinson: um and it's a team that that that with it with a little more experience with another year under the head coach, I really do think that. they could be a sleeper because all they have to do is take one step.
Cody Atkinson: to compete with and beat a team at the Indiana or Oregon or Michigan. or Ohio State level, and the next thing you know, they're they're right there in the conversation for the for the conference title.
Cody Atkinson: I truly could see that you know them, USC, like you mentioned, and Illinois, that. that tier is primed to make the jump but we do not see teams other than indiana make that jump in the big 10 the big 10 is a very segmented conference where who who's at the top stays at the top who's in the middle stays there and then the bottom is you know just duking it out with each other with no hope to do it yet.
Justin Daulton: waiting for basketball and waiting for basketball season.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, exactly. Waiting for basketball or hockey or whatever else they're they're competitive in. And so it'll be really interesting to see if anyone from that tier can make the jump. But, you know, we personally believe in the former Pac -12.
Cody Atkinson: on this podcast, and we think USC and and Washington are our our candidates to make that make that jump.
Justin Daulton: Hehehe.
Cody Atkinson: So who's who's not making that jump, Justin? Who's going the wrong direction? and And it's going to bust this season.
Justin Daulton: i'm I'm for sure going to eat crow on this pick, and I think you you can probably take a guess at where I'm going to go. But I'm for sure going to eat crow on this here in like two months. But I think Indiana takes a step back, man.
Justin Daulton: I don't see.
Cody Atkinson: Okay.
Justin Daulton: i don't see
Cody Atkinson: You're not alone in that, for sure.
Justin Daulton: Yeah. I... Do I believe in Kurt Signetti? Yeah, 100%. I think he's one hell of a coach. Bye. it's so hard to contain that lightning in a bottle that you had with fernando mendoza and all that talent that you had around them that you got in the portal.
Justin Daulton: Josh Hoover is a turnover machine. I think I saw a stat that in 40... or 38 games, 39 games he has 42 turnovers.
Cody Atkinson: yeah
Justin Daulton: So that he's averaging like 1 .2 turnovers a game. Some of those obviously being multi -interception games. so like Can he fit in the Cignati system? We'll find out.
Justin Daulton: um But I think you lose so much in the fact that Fernando Mendoza He is a good football player. And it's proven that he's a good football player and will be. the the Las Vegas Raiders starting quarterback at some point this season.
Justin Daulton: Whenever Kirko Chains burns out, because Kirko Chains always burns out at some point in the Raiders season. So... I think. That lightning in a bottle that you had with a Fernando Mendoza following Signetti. in into Indiana.
Justin Daulton: I think you're just priming for a letdown off of the national championship. and I think that talent... in the conference has gotten better. Around them because they they see what indiana's done They knew they needed to go to the portal.
Justin Daulton: So that's why you see in Oregon. you know bring back a Dante Moore Dante Moore could have gone to the NFL made a lot of money this year. Probably would have been a first -round draft pick if he went to the NFL this year. But he came back because he wanted to win.
Justin Daulton: You look at Julian Sane in year two. That's saying something. I know you're going to talk about Michigan. Michigan's still going to be a tough out every single game because it's Michigan. you know, and We talked about Washington, USC. Those are two teams that are going to be tough to beat.
Justin Daulton: this season as well. I think Indiana got worse while everyone else got worse. better Do I think that they're going to be? you know Do I think they're going to be a sub -500 team? No chance. I think this is a team that...
Justin Daulton: is looking at a night wind ceiling. in very well as six. win. floor. this year because that's just kind of where i see them kind of falling.
Justin Daulton: I don't see them being a double -digit win team this year. and For all intents and purposes, if you're an Indiana fan, alum, whatever, you're expecting a 10 plus win season. I don't think you're going to get that this year.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, I think that's fair. I don't think you're alone in that. The the big question mark for Indiana is Josh Hoover because Josh Hoover his profile in a lot of ways is. is very different from Mendoza. Mendoza is very cerebral.
Cody Atkinson: knows how to take care of the football, knows how to how to distribute it. I know you were. a little bit of a hater on him during the season because he never did anything flashy but he just protected the ball he got it into the right guy's hands and and the offense can't move you forward, and that's not.
Cody Atkinson: what Josh Hoover has been known for.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: So the big question. Can Signetti coach the turnovers out of him? If he can. that That could be a pretty electric offense if he can't.
Justin Daulton: Right.
Cody Atkinson: It's going to look nothing like Indiana of last year, and that's going to limit them a lot. so i i avoided saying indiana largely because i don't think like I think they they fall off a little bit, but like... they won the national championship. So almost anything they can they do is going to be a fall off. And I don't think they're going to fall as far as I think. Quite where you do, I think 9 and 3, 10 and 2 probably both vary.
Cody Atkinson: reasonable So I didn't want to pick them. But Michigan is a team that I think could really fall off. And and it's it's one of those things where in Michigan. had coaching turnover like all of these coaches but their coaching turnover took place like a month or two later than everybody else's They went and got a coach that I respect a lot. I think he did incredible work. at at Utah.
Cody Atkinson: But he also did step down. And... and you know You could say maybe he was pushed out because they wanted to get the coach in waiting, ready to go. and they thought they would lose the coach in waiting because he was taking too long to retire. Maybe he didn't really want to, but this is a guy that basically retired two months ago.
Cody Atkinson: So what are you really getting? Are you getting him at his best?
Justin Daulton: Okay.
Cody Atkinson: Are you getting a guy who... who retired for a couple months. um You also have a quarterback that I don't believe can throw the ball. like I don't know if you watched much of Michigan last year, but Bryce Underwood really couldn't throw the ball. He was just a mobile quarterback.
Cody Atkinson: and And their passing game was really limited. That Michigan -Oklahoma game last year was disgusting. Oklahoma was destroying this kid. And you bring in a coach who. I don't think he's really done much to develop mobile. quarterbacks like if you think of the great like that that hot I think at the top like Utah quarterback, at least recently, it was Cam Rising, who was awesome except for the fact that he couldn't stay healthy.
Cody Atkinson: and And he could really sling it. And if you look more like last year. I'm blanking on the name of the quarterback he came from. from New Mexico, I think. I'm blanking on his name.
Cody Atkinson: a mobile quarterback who really struggled to throw the ball. He comes in with all this excitement. His his offensive coordinator follows he's often the coordinator leaves New Mexico, brings the quarterback with him.
Cody Atkinson: um you're like, what what imagine what could happen in this Utah team with that defense, with this offense, and this. Quarterback and then and then he gets to utah and he can't throw the ball And it didn't really develop. he He could still run it around. He could still sling it occasionally, but very inconsistent throwing. And if that's what you get from Bryce Underwood this year, you're not beating Michigan. I'm sorry, you're not beating, you are Michigan. You're not beating Oregon.
Cody Atkinson: You're not beating Ohio State.
Justin Daulton: yeah
Cody Atkinson: You're going to struggle to beat an Indiana team that's very physical. Um, you know but we've We've looked at ah Washington, I think, as a quarterback that's going to be able to sling it. USC, a quarterback that's going to be able to sling it. Penn State, Rocco Beck's a very underrated quarterback. look there's There's some teams.
Cody Atkinson: that you know i I don't know Michigan's schedule. at don't I don't like to look at schedules too much when I think of these. I like to think of the team and the way it's constructed and not be like, this team's a team to watch out for because they don't play anybody.
Cody Atkinson: Joe, I don't really know exactly which of these teams they play, but... Michigan, I think, is a team. that could really struggle because I don't know that Kyle Whittingham is the right coach. Or Jason Eck is the right offensive coordinator too.
Cody Atkinson: Um... develop. Bryce Underwood's passing and if he doesn't develop in his passing they're going to be a one -dimensional offense again um which which which could prove to be very difficult for them. So I've got Michigan to fall off.
Cody Atkinson: The falloff could be real. um In which case, I could see them 7 -5, I could see them 6 -6, I could see them falling off pretty... pretty heavily. um as they try continue to try to find some sort of stable Stable ground post scandal, post Harbaugh era.
Cody Atkinson: But with that said, so we're going to transfer from this, unless you wanted to say anything about Michigan.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: No, i was i was the only point I was going to say is it's Michigan. It's a brand in college football. Michigan is going to be back in this conversation.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: in the near future.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: when there is. whether Whittingham is the answer or not. to be determined. but Michigan is just one of those brands that you were going to eventually see Michigan be. a powerhouse and once again in the big 10 it's just is it this year next year or the year after it's going to be back
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, they'll be back for sure. I'm not goingnna i'm not calling this as a multi -year. down i think this is a down year for them carl whittingham getting there late
Justin Daulton: yeah
Cody Atkinson: all all that, but... uh unfortunately they will be back i i do despise them at times because of the scandal but um you know I don't think they'll be down. for long.
Justin Daulton: If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
Cody Atkinson: Let's roll. What's that?
Justin Daulton: If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.
Cody Atkinson: Exactly. If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. let's Let's wrap this up with the most excited to watch. This is your category. It is required that these two teams play each other on October 10th or whatever.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: Whatever ended up being in with the ACC in Big 12.
Cody Atkinson: um Yeah. but I don't remember what it was. but So I'm going to do this two ways because technically you're most excited to watch as Oregon because if people don't know, Oregon is your West Coast team.
Cody Atkinson: They are your selected Big Ten team. So I want to say other than Oregon, who are you most excited to watch?
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: And for myself, I did grad school at Penn State. So other than Penn State, who am I excited to watch?
Justin Daulton: Yeah, ah Iowa. I think Iowa's always a fun one to watch. What what are they able to do? They're just ah the physical. Um... like a physical team. to really get in in there. and They play such a ah special brand of football. They play true Big Ten football where most of these other teams are.
Justin Daulton: still very much they're they're leaning towards that West Coast flashy style of play. But Iowa is just going to be so fun to watch play, man. and I don't think they're gonna be good, but it's gonna be one hell of a team to watch play.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, I do question whether you understood the word fun when you said Iowa. But... They are definitely an interesting. a team to watch at all times you do have quite the schedule too if you want to talk about fun they do play ohio state you will see them put michigan you will see them play washington
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: You will see them play Illinois. They they they don't. Get it. They don't get it easy. So you're gonna have a three -week stretch where they play Michigan, Ohio State, Washington. That'll be a lot of fun to watch.
Cody Atkinson: unfortunately we have ended the streak. um Iowa and UCLA do not play this year. I'm very excited to watch UCLA. I mentioned it earlier. Bob Chesney.
Cody Atkinson: very likely could have taken the Penn State job, could have had it. bing bing took James Madison to the playoffs. Um, He absolutely was a great candidate for the for the Penn State job and for the other large jobs that were open. And so I feel like UCLA gets an absolute steal.
Cody Atkinson: Getting Bob Chesney to come all the way out to California. And I cannot wait to see what he's able to do with that school. You obviously have the Niko I am a leaving drama.
Cody Atkinson: after his departure from Tennessee. This is year two at UCLA for him. New coach. uh just very excited to see what this with this uh What this what the school can do?
Cody Atkinson: So I will be watching UCLA very closely, and unfortunately we do not get UCLA Iowa this year. Um, With that being said, we are going to wrap up the Big Ten preview. Obviously, there's a lot of schools we didn't cover.
Cody Atkinson: uh it's an 18 -team conference so our stance is make your conference smaller so we can cover it And so they can actually play each other.
Justin Daulton: it
Cody Atkinson: I will not be required to. to to talk all 18 schools. We also have this set up as an MLB check -in week, Justin. So we're going to speed run an MLB check -in here.
Cody Atkinson: um What I want to do is I'm going to give you the current Playoff. Standings right who's in who's out? And then I want you to tell me who or which race is the race that you're most excited to see come down to the wire.
Cody Atkinson: And then we're just going to make sure that our picks are in line. and And we're going to wrap this up. Just a little behind the scenes, guys. we got we got all We got started a little late today. We were both ready to go to sleep. so AL East champion right now is the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cody Atkinson: AL Central is the Chicago White Sox. I'll give you a little bit more than that. I'll say the Rays are up six on the Yankees. So the Rays are at least up by six. White Sox are five and a half up on the Tigers.
Cody Atkinson: The Astros are two games up on the Rangers. AL wildcard. We have the Yankees, Red Sox. And as of the screenshot that I took, which was earlier today, it was the Orioles in the three spot. I do believe.
Cody Atkinson: that the tigers won today so that would likely be tigers orioles tied for that spot i don't know who has the tiebreaker there and i can't look or i'll crash my computer so um dad That's what we're looking at right now.
Cody Atkinson: Rangers also, I believe, in that mix for for the wild cards. You have Rangers, Orioles, Tigers, depending on how... All the games tonight shook out. right there in that wild card you have the the braves on the nl side the nl east up seven on the phillies Milwaukee Brewers up five on the Cubs. Dodgers up seven and a half on the Padres.
Cody Atkinson: Let's see wild card wild card. We have Padres? The Cubs and the Phillies currently in the wild card at time of recording. So which one of these races are are you most excited to watch? There's obviously there's not a lot of close ones on the division.
Cody Atkinson: side but we do have some wild card excitement what what are you what are you watching to end this season.
Justin Daulton: i mean and From a pure bias perspective, the the Raising Yankees, I haven't looked too far down the schedule, but I do believe we have at least one more. weekend series against the Yankees in September.
Justin Daulton: So that'll probably determine. this data where the the division falls. Um, as we kind of already talked about the last couple weeks the red sox have fallen off looks like the red sox may fall completely out of the race depend on the how the rest of the next finally two -ish weeks ago.
Justin Daulton: Um... But I think ultimately... I've been saying it, man. These AL Central teams are going to be a fun ones to watch. like I know you said the division may be kind of... out of reach in a way with the White Sox, but like...
Justin Daulton: Detroit as of the screenshot Detroit, Minnesota O -Tide at 60 wins apiece. Oh, no, sorry. Detroit, Minnesota, and Cleveland all tied at six.
Cody Atkinson: In Cleveland.
Justin Daulton: All tied at 60 games. So like. that's going to be fun to watch to see who can kind of get in there to get that. that third wild card spot. um And then... yeah that this kind of hit The AOS teams don't really excite me for the race perspective.
Justin Daulton: um but I think that AL Central made is just going to be a lot of fun to watch it. It just so happens that it's been the... team that has changed every single month that we've done this check -in uh for me at least i i've changed my answer on this division because This division is so up in the air.
Justin Daulton: The tiger's soul. all their all their all -stars and they're still in the conversation so like i think that ale central combination with the ale wild card because Yeah, you may see a ranger squeak in but this could very well be you know, AL East gets the Yankees and the ri and the Rays in there.
Justin Daulton: But the Air Central could get... two or even three teams in because That's how close this race is. and the Rangers and the Mariners maybe. the team on the outs because of that. so I think the central race is going to be. Very fun to watch on the American League side.
Justin Daulton: And then on the National League side... None of the divisions. are going to be interesting i think you're already i think you're looking at the way it it's going to fall Bye. I think it's going to come down to who gets the first wild card spot between.
Justin Daulton: the cubs and the padres i think that's where it's going to be
Cody Atkinson: he
Justin Daulton: That's where it's going to be fun. but I think outside of the Cubs, Padres, Phillies. I don't think any other team really comes up. You know that I'm not big on the Diamondbacks. I'm not big on any of these other national teams jumping up.
Justin Daulton: So it's going to be fun to see who can kind of claim those one and two. spots on the wildcard and have a better um opportunity to go through. the playoffs rather than the the team that's least in the number three spot.
Cody Atkinson: yeah Yeah, I think there's, like you're saying, I think there's a little bit of intrigue on the in -out side when it comes to the wild card. You know, you do have the Diamondbacks one game out. You do have the Cardinals three games out. You do have the the Marlins three games out.
Cody Atkinson: But. It does feel like the three teams that are in the wildcard spot are going to stay there. Those are the three teams that you had the highest hopes for. preseason and now they're in that spot you feel like they're gonna hold on to it the padres obviously being the closest to falling out but also a team that's really turned it around since right before the deadline when we thought they could sell so So the NL, there's there's less intrigue there. If you're going to make me pick a division in the NL, I would say, can the Brewers keep hanging on?
Cody Atkinson: or can the cubs storm back but but where um where my interest really lies and i think this is similar to you but phrased differently is just in the al wild card right like you're looking at the al central
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: I'm saying the I think the White Sox are a little too far out, but give me all three of those teams, the Tigers, the Twins, the Guardians. plus the Rangers plus the Mariners plus the Orioles plus the Blue Jays All battling for the final wildcard spot. Every team that I mentioned is within two games of the wildcard.
Cody Atkinson: and not a soul. of them is above 500.
Justin Daulton: addict
Cody Atkinson: and And that's what you're getting. So in a way, it's... it's disgusting to watch this many teams have a chance without actually playing good baseball. On the other sense,
Cody Atkinson: It's one, two, three, four, or five. so It's seven teams that could make that final wildcard spot, and that's exciting. And that's if you don't consider that the Astros could... could fall out of the AL West and then get tossed right into that mix as well.
Cody Atkinson: um So I feel like you have the AL Central. I think the White Sox are gonna represent. I think obviously the Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, in whatever order they finish in, will all represent.
Cody Atkinson: the AL and the playoffs, and then you just have...
Justin Daulton: Oh, you think the Red Sox are going to stay in the wild card?
Cody Atkinson: ho
Cody Atkinson: yeah I mean, they have they have a six -game lead on all the others right now.
Justin Daulton: But they've been losing.
Cody Atkinson: Good to see you. Yeah, but there's six games up on teams that are below 500.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: like I think that the the Red Sox fall off would have to be, I think, historic for them to fall. as far as they need to fall to make this matter. Like, I think they just have so much time to turn this around.
Justin Daulton: Love it.
Cody Atkinson: Because they it's but it's one of those things, and this is where I always have difficulty talking.
Justin Daulton: Fair enough.
Cody Atkinson: relative right like i struggle to talk about the big 12 because i can be like this team stinks but also they might win the big 12 and i can look at it and i can say like do you i can look You can tell me you don't believe in the Red Sox.
Justin Daulton: anything
Cody Atkinson: You're like, yeah, but. The standard is so low that they're still going to get it done even if you think they're going to fall off. And so that's sort I'm not saying I think the Red Sox are great. I just I think this I think.
Cody Atkinson: The bar that they have to clear is so low that they're going to be fine. They've built enough of a cushion.
Justin Daulton: Fair enough.
Cody Atkinson: So that's where im that's where I'm locked in on, though. The AL East could get four teams in the playoff. um
Justin Daulton: Crazy for the state of the affairs of the American East
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. Yeah. And then you can circle back to your original take that the East is the best. And then you can, you can, you can flex on that even though you didn't have the chance to, you you walked it back earlier in the season and now you can rewalk it back to what it was at the beginning.
Justin Daulton: Hey.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: if that occurs
Justin Daulton: Ever occurs.
Cody Atkinson: So. Yeah, yeah, if it occurs. So let's let's wrap this up. Let's repick our division winners. Let's make sure we're still good on these. So on the AL side. You have the Rays, White Sox, Mariners. Are you going to be making any changes to that?
Justin Daulton: Yeah Mariners are out. um i'm gonna I'm gonna go back, man. I'm gonna put my stock on it. I'm gonna say the Astros. find a way to keep gritting this thing out.
Cody Atkinson: There you go.
Justin Daulton: and Find a way to win this division.
Cody Atkinson: There you go, I've got I've got raised White Sox Mariners as well. I'm gonna hold Because... The Mariners are are like four games out right now, but the Astros had a chance to end their season. this this weekend and they didn't and that feels like something that's going to come back and bite them in the butt later in the season so i'm going to hold off and just say the mariners the With the pitching staff they have, it feels like they could still make a run at this thing.
Cody Atkinson: um But that's also because if I if i pick the Astros, it jinxes them.
Justin Daulton: um do it' Something we do need to discuss. it
Cody Atkinson: so
Justin Daulton: Fair enough. it's Something we do need to discuss at some point, not this week, but the falloff from Cal Riley needs to be studied because...
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, it is.
Justin Daulton: it's It's real bad.
Cody Atkinson: you see He was hitting like 158. It's disgusting and I love it.
Justin Daulton: He has less than 50 hits on the season. Like it's crazy.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. it's it's one of the most fun things of all time actually because he he he felt himself a little too much last year and i'm just kind of enjoying the fall off he was like i think he had the quote where he's like any day the astros lose is a good day so now the the quote for astros fans this year is any day cal raleigh goes over is a good day
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: And i I did watch the Astros lose to the Mariners on Saturday. I got a sick bobblehead. um But Cal Raleigh went 0 -4, so I claimed it to be a good day. And I don't know where I put the ball.
Cody Atkinson: I was gonna show it to you. I don't know where to put it. It's a sick one.
Justin Daulton: Did you try any crazy food? at the ballpark.
Cody Atkinson: No, I forgot to I thought about it later.
Justin Daulton: day.
Cody Atkinson: I was like, dude, I promised I would try the brisket donut or whatever it was so But I got one more bobblehead I want to get, so I think we'll be back one more time.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: in know or The NL side, you've got the Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. That feels pretty good.
Justin Daulton: Yes. Yeah, that's locked. I don't i don't think that's going to change.
Cody Atkinson: Okay. I'm locked on that as well. I've got Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. So right now, the only difference we have is you have the Astros and I have the Mariners in the AL West. Other than that, we are. Locked on Rays, White Sox, Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. And if you paid attention a second ago, you know the gaps in the divisions are pretty wide, so it's not crazy that we're sticking.
Cody Atkinson: Stick and put there. In the World Series, you have the Braves over the Mariners. Are you still feeling good about that?
Justin Daulton: So, Cody. We talked about this the last couple months that I have not been talking about the Rays because I needed to see what happened with the trade to find. i Need to see the rate we needed I need to see the race make moves before I could say that
Cody Atkinson: This is true.
Justin Daulton: We go get Freddie Procter. We get Liam Hicks. We get Taylor Wells. we We make the moves and and that make the most sense. I now feel comfortable enough to say that the Rays make it to the World Series.
Justin Daulton: um And I still think they played the Atlanta Braves.
Cody Atkinson: mm -hmm
Justin Daulton: I think it's just a it's a Florida -Georgia World Series. The MLB will hate it because it's not a big market. But I do think you get that Florida, Georgia. World Series and I think it's going to be a really fun one.
Justin Daulton: um And... I'm gonna say the Rays win their first ever World Series.
Cody Atkinson: oh my dad He believes. Rays over Braves.
Justin Daulton: I believe.
Cody Atkinson: That would be pretty electric if it happened, though. Friday Peralta, Game 7.
Justin Daulton: Freddy Peralta Game 7.
Cody Atkinson: a Watch out.
Justin Daulton: Yeah. shutting down Ronald Acuna Jr.
Cody Atkinson: Dude.
Justin Daulton: in in that that dangerous lineup. like
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, one
Justin Daulton: It's going to be a tough one. It'll be a tough win. but I do see that being a series that goes you know could go the distance for sure.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, it's a 1 -0. Game 7, the only run score is on a sack bunt by Chandler Simpson or whatever.
Justin Daulton: James Simpson manufactures a run to win the World Series.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. It's just still i like pure electricity. I've got Brewers over Yankees. I'm not feeling this Yankees pick anymore. um I'm going to go back to have some fun. I'm going to say Brewers over Rays. I think I had this earlier in the year because I said this is a small market.
Cody Atkinson: small ball analytics season. And um'm I'm just leaning into that. I know Aaron Judge is going to come back. Or at least I believe he will at some point.
Justin Daulton: He's supposed to, yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah, and and I'm sure that will change the course of the Yankees. But right now the Rays just remain above the Yankees. So give me Brewers. over -raised and obviously with the caveat that neither one of us will pick the Dodgers at any point this season.
Justin Daulton: No.
Cody Atkinson: So if you're if you're sitting there going, oh, it's going to be the Dodgers.
Justin Daulton: I can... I can...
Cody Atkinson: They've got all the players. Well, we're not. That's no fun. so
Justin Daulton: Yes, will it be the Dodgers?
Cody Atkinson: You've got Raze over Brave.
Justin Daulton: Yes, it it will be the Dodgers, of course.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah.
Justin Daulton: But like i I cannot bring myself to say the Dodgers in my official pick.
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. We're just not doing it. So that's it. We got our MLB check got our andl'b checking we got our our division winners and World Series picks locked in. I think we've only got one more of these, probably around mid -September.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: before we will have to kind of finally like formally, actually, we might want to just wait until the end of the season at this point.
Justin Daulton: That's what I was going to ask you. like Do you want to do the next one as just the post -mortem of the season and make playoff predictions?
Cody Atkinson: that was
Cody Atkinson: Yeah. Yeah, I think so. So these are the predictions. we're gonna The division winners, we're riding these to the end of the season. No more adjustments. But we will be making adjustments to the the playoff prediction.
Cody Atkinson: we'll Probably fill out some brackets and stuff like that. once the
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: once the season comes to an end. So we will check back in. Obviously, with with football starting right around the corner, it's going to be hard to make time for baseball. and But we will make time for it come playoffs, and we will we check back in on our predictions. and and let you know how the World Series picks are looking as well. but With that, it's's it's been a good one. It's been a quick one. But it is it is getting late. It's past midnight for Justin over there. so We're gonna call it here. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for joining us. We have one more preview to go We will be previewing the SEC
Cody Atkinson: Next week on Monday. And when we preview that, there will be college football that week. So we are 12 days away. and start the countdown now.
Cody Atkinson: But we'll catch you next week.
Justin Daulton: Yeah.
Cody Atkinson: Peace.
Justin Daulton: Peace.
