Sheryl Swoopes

This is an iHeart podcast.

Tyler (Ty)

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Dan

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Tyler (Ty)

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7 days via click to claim for 21 days. One non withdrawable reward Redeemable Predictions offer Void in New York ends July 19th. Terms at DKNG Co Audio what's up fam?

Ari Chambers

It's sports journalist Ari Chambers.

Sam J.

Hey, what's up y'?

Michael Rapoport

All?

Sam J.

It's your girl, Sam J.

Ari Chambers

And we're the hosts of Everyone Watches Women's Sports. A new pod from Together, we're breaking

Sam J.

down the biggest headlines, the viral moments and the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.

Ari Chambers

From game changing performances to culture shifting conversations, we'll give you our takes, our debates, and a few laughs along the

Sam J.

way because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Dan

Welcome to the Solid Verbal. The Solid Verbal. Come after me. I'm a man. I'm 40. I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy. You want to be happy for a day? Eat a steak.

Tyler (Ty)

It's that Woo woo.

Michael Rapoport

And now, Dan and Ty.

Tyler (Ty)

Dan Rubenstein. It is already our third third preview episode. We are well on our way to the 2026 season, my friend. How are you today?

Dan

Terrific, Ty. I get to talk Mountain west football America's Conference, which is weird because there is an American Conference, but no, nonetheless, I'm excited to talk Mountain West Pack 12 Conference USA. It just when, when I research these conferences, both in terms of who's new and the changes and the schedules and what went wrong or right last season, I don't know, I just, I get filled with energy, Ty. I just. There's. There's a juice to it that I can't describe. I know it's, you know, summertime and everybody's looking forward to the season, but when I'm really diving into it, I just. I don't know, man. I get the warm fuzzies. You get that?

Tyler (Ty)

I was going to say it's not specific to these conferences. It's just in general, actually talking football instead of what we're normally inventing throughout the month of May and June. Yeah, it's definitely a welcome relief to actually have some football stuff to talk about. I should add an addendum onto your opening monologue there, please UConn is also going to be included in today's preview episode. We didn't know where to put UConn, so UConn being one of two college football independents alongside Notre Dame, who, by the way, we will talk about Notre Dame in the upcoming ACC preview. UConn is going to be with these conferences today. Maybe at some point in the future they will decide to join one of these conferences. Who the hell knows? This is just a state of play in the year of our Lord 2026. If you are new here, if you like what you hear, hit, follow or subscribe so that you don't miss any of the episodes going out to the YouTube channel. Leave us a comment. We'd love to hear from you. Of course, the star ratings and reviews, wherever you get your podcasts are also much appreciated. If you want to go further and help support the team, you can go to verballers.com V E R B A L L E R S.com that is our Patreon. If you support us there. In addition to ad free episodes and bonus content and getting the episodes a little bit early and having access to our great Discord community, you also get the satisfaction of knowing that you are directly supporting, you are directly helping Dan and I. Keep the lights on here over at S V H Q.

Dan

And if you really, really like the show, oh boy. Go to the comment sections on Spotify and YouTube of other college football shows and say something like, look, this is a quality show and I'm glad they're doing it but if you really want the quality content. Straight from the college football teat, it's solid verbal all day and that's all caps, all day. Some. Some iteration, some version of that. Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

Straight from the teat.

Dan

Yeah. Straight from the teeth. The college football teeth.

Tyler (Ty)

Okay.

Dan

I don't know what that means.

Tyler (Ty)

Like I said, we appreciate everybody stopping by. We do have two preview episodes already that have been published. The first is the intro to the 2026 season where we go through everything that's changed. Just really high level, the 30,000 foot view of what this season is going to look like.

Dan

Aka AKA welcome to the Fleck Parade.

Tyler (Ty)

Welcome to the Fleck Parade. That's correct. Just the general shape of this upcoming season. The one that we did our first conference or conferences that were previewed is episode, I guess two of previous season. Now this is episode three where we're going to go through again the Mountain west, the PAC 12 Conference USA and we're going to include Yukon in there just for kicks.

Dan

And we decided against entering the glory hole. Yes. In talking because we didn't want to be insulting by saying G6 or mid major. And that we said the true glory is in the ranks of the American in the Mountain west because there's a hole left behind by all this postseason talk and transfers and nil. And this is where the real football is happening.

Michael Rapoport

So we're.

Dan

We're 100% against that. Sub headline.

Tyler (Ty)

I listened to another podcast where there were a couple hosts and one of the hosts was out there on social media and across popular media that shows. Way bigger than ours, by the way. But one of them said something that was, I would say, rather problematic. And I listened to the follow up episode and the other hosts did everything imaginable to say, brother, we love you. We are going to distance ourselves from those comments as much as humanly possible.

Dan

Which is I'm tripling down. Ty.

Tyler (Ty)

What I am doing now, my friend,

Dan

I am tripling down. I think it's a great way to look at this. These collection of conferences. Continue.

Tyler (Ty)

Which conference you want to start with?

Dan

Let's go to the pack 12. Let's go to the snappy zazzy new old pack 12. I don't have like a nickname for the pack 12. As weird weird as it is that a conference essentially disbanded and then they are regrouping, albeit with new members basically entirely up and down eight teams, two of which technically were in the Pac 12 last year. They made up the entirety of the Pac 12. Let's get snappy and zazzy with the new old, new Pack 12.

Tyler (Ty)

The big theme for the Pack 12 this year, Dan, I'm back, baby. The main theme, in the words of the legend Frank Costanza, the PAC 12 is back, baby. The evolution of this conference from 10 to 12, to 2 now to 8 has really been a journey, an odyssey of the mind for all of us who follow college football.

Dan

I want to say there was a pack 8 in like the 70s. 8, 10, 12, 2.

Tyler (Ty)

Oh, it started with the 8. Okay.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

This feels a bit to me like hearing that Allbirds is pivoting from being a shoe company to an AI company now.

Dan

I don't think it's that extreme that, I mean, I think the pack 12 is like we're going from a shoe company to a lace company.

Tyler (Ty)

I get it. We here at the solid verbal, we're gonna make souls. We are all about reinventing yourself, going boldly in a new direction. But yeah, this is a little bit different than we're used to bringing something back from the dead in this manner. We have eight teams in this conference this year. All of them end in state. We will go through them in a minute. I just got to say, though, Dan, we're starting to preview all these conferences. We're researching conferences, like crazy. Is it not a dream to have a conference with just eight teams?

Dan

It is nice. Well, they have the flex thing at the end as well.

Tyler (Ty)

Well, they have the flex, but I'm just saying, in terms of what we have to do, because truly it is all about us, of course. Is it not the dream? Not an 18 team super conference or a 16 team or a 14.

Dan

Totally eight.

Tyler (Ty)

A nice round eight.

Dan

Everybody plays everybody. You get a much more secure sense of who's what just because it's full round robin. And I listen when we were talking about the halcyon days of, like, how should these pack 12 teams that look like they might be on an island, you know, Oregon and Washington, Cal and Stanford. As the conference looked like it was disintegrating, I was a proponent of four team conferences.

Tyler (Ty)

I remember that.

Sam J.

Yeah.

Dan

Traveling pods, the microcons. So I'm great with small conferences. I understand why it's not a thing that's preferable for a lot of teams. But yes, that to get these eight teams together and. And in this weird time that we are only going as far east as Texas would be the farthest possible point. That it's not a full, like adding Memphis or USF or something like that to make it a weird national conference. It's nice and cozy and makes sense.

Tyler (Ty)

It's like switching back to analog. It's beautiful. I love it. Yeah, I love that. This is back. Now, you mentioned the flex thing. What does that mean? I'm going to tell you. They are trying out flex matchups in the last week of the regular season. So you might recall how last season when the Pac 12 only had two teams, Wazoo and Oregon State played each other twice. That was kind of a pilot for this. They're doing it again, though. They've scaled it up. Everyone is going to get a repeat matchup. If you look at schedules now, if you go out to like FBS schedules or espn, wherever they have schedules, you're going to see that one team is repeated twice. The two wrinkles with that are it'll technically count as a non conference game. It's not going to count against your

Dan

league record, your conference. Right. Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Also they can change it. That's where the flex comes in. So right now they just had to put a team on there to, you know, occupy space and not confuse humanity. But all of those matchups are tentative. They can change them in November as needed. This is, in effect a play to try and get a team in the playoff. They're trying to prop up their best teams. If there's not a team that obviously has a stake to that throne, then they'll find some other way to maybe spice things up a little bit if need be. Maybe they won't change it at all in a lot of cases. My hunch is they won't. But they're trying it out. They're trying to be innovative. They've got some teams now that I think would want to try and get into the playoff and maybe they need a little bit of a boost. I don't know what this can provide. I love the idea of it. I love the idea of it. I think it's fabulous. I wouldn't hate if other conferences, bigger conferences tried it because Lord knows that would definitely get a little bit more or give us a little bit more mileage in terms of conference matchups during the season. But for now anyway, we get to see what the PAC 12 does with this.

Dan

Yeah. So essentially five non conference games for these teams on their final record. Seven conference games, five non conference games. And look, it's hopefully increasing the amount of quality football. Now, obviously the flex game is the final week of the season, Right?

Tyler (Ty)

Right.

Dan

So it's a jam packed college football slate already. It's not like we're getting something intriguing in like a week one or week two. When perhaps the. The pickings are slim. But I can appreciate trying something out and seeing how it works out. Sure.

Tyler (Ty)

My favorite thing about this conference, having studied it, you can say virtually anything. And it's true about half the teams.

Sam J.

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

And it doesn't. It truly doesn't matter. You can say they've got a good offense. They've got a bad offense, Good defense, bad defense. Returning quarterback, new coach, contender, not a kid. It's all on the table. Say whatever you want to say. It's true about four of these teams. What do your tears look like? Have you had a chance to dive in? Because I've got, I think, three very definitive tiers of these eight teams.

Dan

I think my upper tier is Fresno, San Diego, Boise. Not necessarily in that order.

Tyler (Ty)

Here are mine. Okay, I've got those three contenders. I just called them contenders. I've got a coin flipped here of Texas and Wazoo, and that is not any state. Texas State in Wazoo. Excuse me. Yeah, that is in no particular order. And then, yeah, at the bottom, I've got Oregon State, Utah State and Colorado State. I just call that everyone else because I don't. I don't even want to call it the bottom. I just. It's just the other three teams, I

Dan

don't know how I feel about Utah State there just because they have one of the best head coaches in the conference and there's proof of concept of success. But I'm fine with it. Oregon State and Wazoo, you know, are blank slates with new coaches and fully new rosters. So I'm okay with that. Yeah, I think the floor for Oregon State should always be and for Wazoo should be higher just because of the.

Sam J.

The.

Dan

The institutional commitment to the sport.

Tyler (Ty)

Right.

Dan

But no, I think I'm good with your tears.

Tyler (Ty)

Boise State was the big get, getting Boise State for the new look. Pac12. You know, I don't know if it's a better conference in terms of quality relative to the Mountain west, but there will definitely be more exposure for Boise State and at a minimum, the Pac 12 brand. Probably.

Dan

Probably.

Tyler (Ty)

I'm qualifying this probably has more weight than the Mountain West, So I think they're excited about it as well. Obviously, like I said, it's a pretty big pull to bring Boise over. Right now. They are projected as the clear favorite. If you go by our friend Bill Connolly's preseason SP plus, he's got them at number 38, per his math, Boise is also the biggest conference favorite of all the 10 conferences that we're going to talk about. The biggest favorite relative to the other teams in that conference is Boise State. I would say, if nothing more, and as I have seen noted in nearly every preview that I have read about the PAC 12, Boise projects to have like the best defensive line in the conference, the best linebackers, the best running backs. If nothing more, a veteran quarterback. That's all a pretty good starting point.

Dan

Fully agree. Yeah, I mean, Boise has, I think it's the best duo of ed rushers in the conference. Specifically, if not one of the best duos of edge rushers in the country. Maddox Madsen is back for a 37th season. The running backs have a ton of experience. Yeah, there's a ton to like. It's. To me, the problem with Boise State right now is the speed. Who's catching passes and who is in that defensive backfield. I'm not sure a lot of people are going to really test those new bodies in the conference, but they do open with a team that's going to be in the top five nationally. In Oregon.

Tyler (Ty)

Right.

Dan

They have what, Western Michigan and Memphis also in September. Ish. So those are. We think it'll be a quality Memphis team. We're pretty sure it'll be a quality Western Michigan team. Those are, those should be winnable games for Boise, given what they're returning.

Tyler (Ty)

Ultimately, this is an offense that wants to be physical and run it down your throat and then they're going to work play action off of that. If you're optimistic, it's because you've got a solid line. You've got a really good backfield. With Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines, who last year, I, I don't know how this slipped off my radar, but combined for almost 2,000 yards, which is really good. They've got one guy. Riley is more of the home run guy. Gaines is kind of the bulldozer. But more importantly, both these guys are pretty good in the passing game, which kind of gives the offense that added wrinkle. They're going to be tough to stop in the PAC 12. The Maddox Madsen thing is interesting. Still the quarterback, as you said, for the 37th year, Maddox Madsen is not a sports car. Like, he's not going to go out there and wow you. He is firmly a Mazda CX5.

Sam J.

Right.

Tyler (Ty)

You know, he's the sensible price point. He doesn't have all the bells and whistles. He's like a rhythm guy. The play action offense suits him pretty well, but it is, as you said, a pretty green wide receiver room. A lot of upside, but they definitely need that running game to work. I like the line. I think it's a combination of new guys, a lot of guys who had surgery in the spring and didn't get reps. So whether or not it clicks for some of those big games early will I think be interesting for us to discuss here. But I think ultimately the floor is like 8 and 4 and the ceiling might be 11 and 1. Somewhere in the middle is likely where they're going to end up because they're not going to beat Oregon a week one. They do have the tricky road games, as you mentioned with Western Michigan. They've got a getaway game before a buy against Fresno, who's had their number the last couple of years. I think they've won three in a row. And they host San Diego State, their second to last game of the season. So it's not what I would call an easy road for Boise State by any stretch, but they're certainly well positioned, better positioned than any of these other teams in the PAC12 to make it go.

Dan

Yeah, and obviously you credit Spencer Danielson for having that experience writing the ship. When things go wrong, he gets things in order. Right. They started last year with a pretty gigantic dud across the country at USF, losing by whatever was 25, 27 points and gets them right. Obviously they had the two bad losses offensively during the season. I think it was at San Diego State and Fresno State kind of hammered them, but he gets them back. And the resilience with Boise State is obviously impressive.

Tyler (Ty)

It is. And look, they can be fun to watch on defense, can be fun to watch.

Dan

Yeah, they've been rated by a bunch of teams.

Tyler (Ty)

They've been rated. But the philosophy here, as we talked about in the last episode, is just bring a ton of pressure. Bring a ton of pressure, create havoc. The caveat to that is you got to be able to cover the pass. This is a rebuilt secondary to your earlier point, so there's probably an open question as to whether they can get back to that same level. I also question if they can stop the run. So, like, defensively, that's where most of my questions are with this team. But I just think the offense is going to be a handful and that's going to take you a pretty good ways. I like what they have coming back and I understand why their head and shoulders above the field. If we're thinking of this in terms

Dan

of contenders, they're the hunted, right? They're the one who knock and so they could have that letdown moment. It's hard to see them finishing any worse than like 9 and 3.

Tyler (Ty)

I completely agree. Now what I would say is even though it feels like they are head and shoulders above the competition in the Pac12 and as a result they will end up in the playoff conversation, I don't think this Boise team is anywhere close to the one that made the playoff two years ago. I think it's night. That team was way better than this team. So don't, don't like. At least I'm more talking to myself here. Don't confuse one for the other. This is a good Boise team in conference, but this is. They don't have the generational player the way they did with Ashton Ginty or

Dan

even players on that defense. That was a very strong defense, especially up the middle that I just. We'll see how the secondary works out. But that was a team that was built to peak that season and it did. Right. Maddox Madsen still, I don't think has beaten a Power 5 Power 4 now opponent. So we'll see what he looks like. He, he's already played at Otson once and struggled in that game. Ashton Genti went off, had a couple huge runs. But no, this, this should be a Boise team with huge expectations but limited, you know, height of a ceiling.

Tyler (Ty)

So you like Boise one, I'm assuming?

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

If you had a pick between Fresno and San Diego State, who would you put? Number two?

Dan

Probably Fresno, I think.

Tyler (Ty)

I'm with you. I've got Fresno as my number two team. I like teams where you can see the vision and I feel like we have a sense for what Matt Ants is trying to do. He's very much trying to build in the North Dakota State model where he's going to feel some ground and pound and he's going to beat you on defense. We saw glimpses of that last year with speedy Luke Bryson Donaldson in the backfield. It was a defense that took a big step forward and I like the defense again this year. I think that's why I give them the nod over San Diego State. The returning production number does not jump off the page at you, but they've got really good experience at all three levels. The defense is veterans. They're just solid. They're solid. My favorite name is KVM Thunderbird. Good name at linebacker who may have been born the year that Ford made the Last Thunderbird in 2005, which try to forget that I just said that and make myself feel old. But I think with that is like the spine of this team and knowing that it at least feels like it's going somewhere. That's really reassuring to me.

Dan

Yeah, their. Their schedule's fine. It's not easy. It's not impossible. They're going to get throttled by USC in Week one, but otherwise I don't know if your starting point is a good amount of experience on defense and a coach who has won a bunch of I think they're going to be fine. I don't love them, but I think they're like in that 8, 9 win region.

Tyler (Ty)

Let me oversimplify. This is not a complicated preview. It comes down to quarterback. Yeah, the whole thing for Fresno comes down to the quarterback. The E.J. warner era is over. This year it's either Christian Martin, who's a transfer from Maryland, or Jaden Mandel, who was on the roster last year. Neither one of these guys as much of a sample size at time of recording. We don't yet know which direction they're going to go. My hunches it's going to be Martin, but we'll come back to it. If if anything changes. It's a quarterback thing. If they get good quarterback play, then it's going to be a team that we're talking about deep into the season. I could also see this being the type of team that gets flexed in week 13. If they're trying to prop them up like Fresno would be a really good candidate for that. But they got to get quarterback play defensively. They should be able to hold their own against teams like Boise, given how deep they are, especially in the interior line. But Fresno is my number two team for sure. I gave them the nod over San Diego State, who I have next.

Dan

Yeah, my concern with San Diego State is just where is the offense coming from? Missing what they're missing on defense. And the first half, the first two thirds of their schedule is pretty rocky.

Tyler (Ty)

Look, this was not a good offense. The jump last year was mostly powered by the defense. This year, a lot back from a bad offense and a chunk gone from the good defense, which kind of gave me the skeeves a little bit. Yeah, including the defensive coordinator who went to Nebraska. Looks like there's a path for the offense to get better. They've been a little bit more deliberate about adding offensive linemen to the roster. They have 10 more scholarship linemen on the roster now than they did two years ago. So they're at least trying to. In that sense, they just got to get more out of quarterback. This is another situation where I got to see more out of quarterback for

Dan

all of these teams that we're going to discuss today. Basically if you had a really good offense and a really good defense last season. You're currently coaching at ucla. That's right, you're currently coaching at Florida. And so we're not going to come through this preview and say like, oh yeah, they return a bunch from a successful offense in a successful defense at best. Some of these teams are returning like really good offensive players and their defense was a nightmare last year and they're hoping and praying that a bunch of UTEP and Oklahoma State transfers or something work out. So yeah, that's, that's the reality of basically all of these teams.

Michael Rapoport

Right.

Dan

San Diego State's offense wasn't anything special. Fresno's offense wasn't anything special. But they returned just enough pieces in different places. We were like, okay, if they can figure this out, if this new coordinator has a plan or as a vision, as you like to say. Sure. But you know, this is, there's a lot of wing and prayer to a lot of these teams.

Tyler (Ty)

There is. And look, the, the backbone for the San Diego State case might be they've got a veteran offensive line, they've got two good running backs and Lucky Sutton and Christian Washington, who I think can benefit from that, I think get more from Jaden Denegal, their quarterback.

Dan

Sure.

Tyler (Ty)

Also like me, has two bum shoulders that he's rehabbing at any given time. Had surgery in December. Supposedly healthy now, like if they can get more out of the quarterback position to go along with that ground game, they'll be in a good spot. But again, it was built on defense last year. Given what they lost, they are kind of rebuilding all three levels of that defense this year. The pass rush lost a lot more than it gained. They'll be fine. I just don't think as good as last year. So whether the offense can improve enough is, is where we're at with San Diego State and I've got him at

Dan

three, one of the absolute worst third down teams in America last season. So they had a problem staying on the field. If they can just figure out ways to generate more third and short stuff like that, the, the easy stuff, then we're talking about more, you know, hopefully like 23 to 20 type wins.

Tyler (Ty)

My next team up is Texas State. Very volatile year last year. Not as steady as the previous two seasons. Still went to a bowl, still finished seven and six, but they went through a bad stretch where they lost five straight. Four of them were by a combined 14 points and two of them went to overtime. So it was really on a knife's edge. They have the best quarterback in the conference in my opinion in Brad Jackson who can both run it and throw it. It's a system that is heavily dependent on a quarterback who knows what he's doing and wide receivers who know how to break off their routes and make a choice. I like this team. I've got a soft spot for Texas State. I feel like I have ever since G.J. kinney got there. They've got a really good wide receiver pairing that should propel them at least on offense. I should note it is not an air raid offense. They still want to run it. It's a question of how well can they run it because both the running back and the offensive line are heavily dependent on whether they're going to pop with what they brought over in the transfer portal. So like I can't project that. You can't project that. We know they'll be pretty good through the air. We tend to trust good quarterbacks. I know your rubric is typically quarterback and defense. The obvious question is defense when we're talking about Texas State.

Dan

The thing I like about them, I don't know if it translates to this year is they finished strong last year winning their final four. They had a lumpy middle of the road and there were a couple shootout losses, close ones to Troy and Marshall types and Arkansas State. So winnable games. Obviously given the level of opponent I think they should have a decent time this year if you're. If you're starting position is at least quarterback. And I did like that they were especially good in the red zone last year which to me points to a plan. Right. Especially having a younger quarterback last year. I think they're going to be in a good place this year to at least they'll put themselves in a good place to win late if they're converting deep in other teams territory. But yeah, it, it comes down to just how often can this defense figure out havoc and turnovers and ways to get off the field if the talent just isn't there on defensive.

Tyler (Ty)

And they actually weren't bad on defense last year. That's the thing this year though, Bill is projecting them to be 129 out of 130 very bad. So I know they've got a new defensive coordinator they're trying to shift to like more zone whatever and they did spend along the defensive line to try and beef that up. But can they stop teams or is it going to be all shootouts? Right. I think it's a tough schedule. I think they'll score points. It's a question for me of how many points they got actually got to score if they want to get wins.

Dan

Agree.

Tyler (Ty)

Wazoo is next up for me then.

Dan

Okay, new coach knew everything. Jimmy Rogers was there for about an hour and a half. And here we go.

Tyler (Ty)

Wazoo returns the fewest starts of anyone in the conference, and especially so on defense. Because Jimmy Rogers left for Iowa State, he took guys with him. Kirby Moore is the new coach. I think I've told the story before. I got a cryptic DM from somebody who tipped me off that he was going to be hired like three days before it happened. And I didn't see it in time. I could have had a coaching scoop.

Dan

Well, you would have had to confirm it. You need two sources, Ty.

Tyler (Ty)

I only had one.

Dan

You went to the Columbia School of Journalism, as we know, and you are just a stickler for ethics. So Kirby Moore, a sensical pick given where he's from and given, I mean, you say like offensive needs. It's a totally new team. They were led by their defense last year. But if you are a Wazoo fan, you are hopeful that bringing in somebody like Kirby Moore, who had a very nice influence on the Mizzou offense, has a similar influence. It's bringing over Matt Miller, I want to say, from Boise.

Tyler (Ty)

Yep. It's.

Dan

That aged me, by the way. I was like, he. Wasn't he a receiver two and a half years ago? Oh, it's been a dozen years. Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

Matt Miller from Boise State, he was on the offensive staff at Boise, comes over to run the offense. The new defensive coordinator is the old defensive coordinator and head coach at Oregon State, Trent Bray.

Dan

Trent Bray. Yep.

Tyler (Ty)

The fun name to watch is Caden Pinnock. He is the quarterback transfer from UC Davis as a freshman. 32 touchdowns and a 70. 70% completion percentage ran a little too. He's my number two pet transfer this year, going from FCS to FBS. I will talk about number one at some point, but we get to the Big 12. But notably, the system that he's going to run is very similar to what he ran last year. So it's not like he's starting over with new vocabulary, whatever that that looks like. It's a pretty good fit. I like their running backs, I like their wide receivers. I think he should have help. I think the line will be okay. Defense is completely new.

Dan

Well, I hope for your sake that he works out because your whole secret sauce is FCS quarterbacks, right?

Tyler (Ty)

I love me a good FCS quarterback.

Dan

It works like 14% of the time. But when it does. Ty pats himself on the back. Yeah, listen, I'm all for a UC Davis influence in our lives. Shout out.

Tyler (Ty)

Robert Mondavi is Bob Mondavi from UC Davis.

Dan

The wine guy? Yeah, I, I think it's the Mondavi Center. Like it's a whole thing. Like I think their auditorium or something. He's donated a bunch of money. You can study wine. I think it's. What is the study of wine called? Is it like idea? I know. Is it. Oh, it's an ownophile.

Tyler (Ty)

I just know that dude on social media with like the gray slick back hair who's like really into it and whooshes it around and sniffs it. You know who I mean?

Dan

Yeah, Analogy. O, E, N, O, L, O, G, Y.

Tyler (Ty)

You can study that.

Dan

But yeah, you're in Northern California. You're outside Sacramento. That's. That's the place Ty, get that graping on.

Tyler (Ty)

I think Wazoo has fewer proven entities, which is why I'm going to go Texas State, especially on offense, Just, just by a nose ahead of them. But like I said at the top, for me it's a coin flip.

Dan

Agree. And they have continuity and a coach and you know what their, their vision is. Continue.

Tyler (Ty)

Let's rip through these three final teams. Let's talk about Oregon State. Jamarcus Shepard is the new coach. Comes up from Alabama. Speaking of philosophies, speaking of taglines, he's branded the program as fat, pretty hot and tempting. No, no, with an F. Oh, with

Dan

an F. Ok. Is it an acronym or is it just like we're getting high off the hog? What are we doing?

Tyler (Ty)

No. Family accountability and toughness.

Dan

Okay. I think we can all agree those three things are words.

Tyler (Ty)

I am proposing that everyone out there come up with their own motto. Not just for Oregon State, but really for their own sense of humanity.

Dan

Does it have to like be an acronym for our existing first names?

Tyler (Ty)

It can be whatever you want, man.

Dan

So like, if I'm thinking Ty, it's toughness and youth, right?

Tyler (Ty)

Of course, of course.

Dan

I guess. Toughness, youth. What would be a good L? If we got an L and an E and an R, Right? An L would be latitude. Ty, you. You give people a wide berth. E. Energy. Everybody knows Ty's energetic.

Michael Rapoport

R.

Dan

I don't know would be an R. Relaxing.

Tyler (Ty)

Relax. No, it's definitely not relaxing.

Dan

Okay. I don't know.

Tyler (Ty)

Solidverbal Gmail.com if you got your own motto. This dude reminds me a little bit of Fran Brown. I think he's I think he's a motivator. I think he's going to have guys who want to run through a wall. I love the hire. I don't know how long it's going to take to actually bear fruit because this is a near total reboot of the program. Malik Murphy, still there?

Dan

Still there.

Michael Rapoport

Still.

Tyler (Ty)

In theory. In theory, he's the type of quarterback that would work well with the system that I think he wants to run, which is more of like the Kaylin DeBoer school of offense.

Ari Chambers

Right.

Tyler (Ty)

A lot of new receivers. Same deal with the offensive line. Kind of a mix of transfers, guys coming back, smaller school guys, guys who want playing time, who are at bigger schools. Defensively, they only had 16 sacks and 10 force turnovers a year ago, so they need to try and manufacture a little bit more havoc without exposing the secondary, which is also, you guessed it, pretty much rebuilt. They also start off the year at Houston and against Texas Tech. So it's an uphill climb for jamarcus Shepherd.

Dan

I think it's a tough schedule, kind of all the way through. They're at Fresno and at Boise in November. Ish. With Texas State between them. I don't know who that flex team is going to be at the end, but they might lose those first two games, 91 to 13. I don't know. I mean, I hope not. But it's on the table with Houston and Texas Tech.

Tyler (Ty)

And that brings us then to Utah State and Colorado State. I think. I think you like Utah State a little bit more than I do.

Dan

I look the. If the starting position is figuring out how to win, how to generate yardage. Last year with a lot new. They, you know, they brought in. Say what you will, if you're an ACC fan and you have been wronged by offensive coordinator Robert Anai, he's reunited with Bronco Mendenhall.

Tyler (Ty)

They spent. He's reunited together.

Dan

Yes. So there is. You talk about, like, not having to learn a new language. They speak the same language offensively, given their time at BYU in Virginia. I. I don't know. I think they'll be fine. Bronco Mendenhall kind of figures out how to get teams to bowl games. And so I'm just going off of that. I think the defense was awful last year. Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

I mean, the bar is. Let's put it this way.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Let's not dwell on the past. The defense has some names. It has to get much better.

Dan

I guess awful is too strong. They struggled.

Tyler (Ty)

They struggled, Bill. Right now, if you care about preseason stuff, has them as the hundredth best defense in the preseason. So as long as they move up from that, I would consider it a success. Just more towards competence is something I would look at and say it's very successful. But like they go to Idaho State, Washington, Utah. They're home against Troy and they're at Boise State, which is four weeks in a row.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Which is like rough. That is rough for a new offensive coordinator. A new starting quarterback in McKay Hillstead, who has a very limited sample size. The team as a whole, at least on offense, only has 40% back from a year ago and the defense is still being rebuilt. That's like a tough stretch for me, which is. I couldn't go any higher than bottom two for Utah State.

Dan

Yeah, I think if they get to a bowl game, that's a pretty enormous accomplishment.

Tyler (Ty)

That'd be fun.

Dan

Fact about. I have two fun facts about Utah State, by the way.

Tyler (Ty)

Okay.

Dan

Number one, they were 77%. And number three overall against the spread last season.

Tyler (Ty)

Really?

Dan

So they were undervalued by Vegas. According to the numbers I'm looking at, Utah State's winning percentage against the spread was 76.9%. Good for third in the country. So they were undervalued last year, at least in terms of those specific numbers. The other thing about Utah State, as I was looking at last season, their key players last year were named Bryson, Brady, Bronson, Brevin, Brock and Braden. And they were coached. Hear me out, Ty. They were coached by a Bronco.

Tyler (Ty)

Bryson, Brady, Bronson, Brendan, Brock and Brady.

Dan

Coached by Bronco. Bryson, Brady, Bronson, Bravet, Brock and Braden. Go fight Bronco. So if I seem unprepared to talk anything PAC12 in Utah state, it's because most of my study time was made producing that.

Tyler (Ty)

Producing that sound. Give me that one more time. That was fun.

Dan

I apologize or you're welcome. Bryson, Brady, Bronson, Brevit, Brock and Braden. Coach by Bronco. Bryson, Brady, Bronson, Brevit, Brock and Braden. Coach by Bronco.

Tyler (Ty)

Did you learn how to do a little bit of like beatboxing there in order to.

Dan

No, I just found a sample free or a copyright free EDM type track and then put a bunch of effects on my voice that is happy. I don't think anybody was home when I was yelling out.

Tyler (Ty)

Brady Robert scared the neighbors, man. Wow, good.

Dan

Shame on Bleacher Report BR for not discovering that.

Tyler (Ty)

Good work, man.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

And Roger, final team, Colorado State. We've got Jim Moore Jr coming over from Yukon. More than 60 new players on the team this year. It is kind of a Yukon transplant situation. I, all five guys are gone on the offensive line. Virtually no snaps return. It looks on paper like the worst offensive line in the conference, which is a problem because they want to run a lot. They want to do heavy sets and that type of thing. And I just, I don't know if they've got the manpower to, to do it. So.

Dan

Counterpoint. Yukon was very close to going undefeated last year.

Tyler (Ty)

They were.

Dan

Yukon.

Tyler (Ty)

Yukon was very close.

Dan

Who we lost by three. A game by. I think they lost, oh, two games by three, one game by seven, and then they lost their bowl game significantly to Army. I don't know if Jim Moore was still there then, but Jim Moore did an incredible job at UConn. The offense was strong to quite strong in stores last season and kind of everything for Colorado State last year. And this is what happens when your coach gets fired was pretty damn awful. So I don't know, they got a pretty huge upgrade at coach, it seems. I don't know how quickly it'll translate, but that's why I'm not in a rush to say they're in my bottom tier. But I, I, I don't know.

Tyler (Ty)

I, I mean, I think a bull's gettable. I think you get to a bowl and I didn't even call it a bottom tier. I called it everyone else because I, I don't, I don't know. I like Jim Moore Jr. And they got a quarterback race. Is it Hoss Haney? Is that how you say his name?

Dan

I think so. From Oklahoma State.

Tyler (Ty)

They got him. They got Kashan Farr, the, the guy from Yukon who obviously knows the system. He had a good spring.

Dan

What?

Tyler (Ty)

You know, we'll see. I, I hesitate to make any kind of real projections on Colorado State because this is another transplant situation, which is a bunch of new guys, new coach. We know how that works.

Dan

By now, their home road splits are kind of even. Fresno and Texas State are both on the road. Boise at home. They do have BYU at home, which they'll probably get run over by byu. And they do travel San Antonio to play utsa. So it's a tough ball road, but I don't know if they're at least threatening in November, like, oh, maybe a couple of things break right, and the flex game works out. That's a huge season for Colorado State in year one.

Tyler (Ty)

I've got Boise over Fresno.

Dan

Yeah, I think so, too.

Ari Chambers

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

Sam J.

Hey, what's up, y'?

Michael Rapoport

All?

Sam J.

It's your girl, Sam J.

Ari Chambers

And we're the hosts of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together. And I heart women's sports because, let's

Sam J.

be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

Ari Chambers

So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

Sam J.

My first thought is just like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating?

Ari Chambers

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

Sam J.

timeline, and the conversations that start during the and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

Ari Chambers

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

Sam J.

Shout outs to you, Naomi, you get the palm.

Ari Chambers

Naomi, you get the palm for that.

Sam J.

Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to Everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Sheryl Swoopes

Hey, everybody, I'm Tareka Foster Brasby. What's up, y'?

Dan

All?

Sheryl Swoopes

I'm your girl, Cheryl Swoopes. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spy, cw, NBA analysis.

Tyler (Ty)

Yup.

Sheryl Swoopes

But then the conversation goes on and levels up beyond basketball, because on Levels to this, the game is always the slow starting point. But we're more than just hoops, and the real conversation is what we actually bring. This is Levels to this, the podcast about all the levels of stuff that women go through. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes and Tareka Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michael Rapoport

This is Michael Rapoport. And my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast is unlike any one you've ever, ever heard. We're a variety show, and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture, and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, and it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid, Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I am rappaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Sam J.

I am Rappaport podcast.

Tyler (Ty)

Let's talk Mountain West. Call Kenny Loggins. Cause you're in the danger zone.

Sam J.

The Mountain West.

Tyler (Ty)

These are old sounds. I don't know when we made that

Dan

sound to some old sounds.

Tyler (Ty)

Talk me through the Mountain West, Dan. Talk me through. Because we've got Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Utah State all going elsewhere. Then we've got UTEP coming over from Conference usa. We've got Northern Illinois coming over from the Mac.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Hawaii is now a full football member, and we got North Dakota State walking in. So it's a smaller conference, I think a stranger conference. And that feels to me like the top of the league is a little bit more open than it's been in a long time. Because Boise State's out of there.

Dan

Yeah. It's UNLV in New Mexico at the top. Those are the teams that I don't see how you could put any other team, given. Look, North Dakota State has been a powerhouse of a program, but there's just so much of an unknown right now. It's not like they're bringing back, you know, a championship squad in every position. Right. Their offensive line and defensive line should be really good, but it's just a different level and different opponents that they're not used to scouting. It's just a whole different experience for North Dakota State, just in terms of quality. My next tier, I think, is going to be North Dakota State, Hawaii, and I. I don't know if I can put Air Force quite there. I'd like to, but when. Previously on Air Force. You fielded what may have been the worst FBS defense.

Tyler (Ty)

Right.

Dan

I can't fully get there as much as the offense should have some pop this year. It's Luke Sarka, I think is how you pronounce it.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

Coming back. Or Liam Sarka.

Tyler (Ty)

It's an S. Yeah, liam. It's an SZ situation.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

the front of the last name.

Sam J.

Yeah.

Dan

Yeah. Liam Sarka coming back. And when he was on the field, they were able to move the ball. Now there's new stuff to the Air Force team. We can get there in a second. But unlv, you got to believe in the magic of Dan Mullen at quarterback.

Tyler (Ty)

10 and 4.

Dan

Have to believe in it.

Tyler (Ty)

10 and 4 last year.

Dan

Right. But Anthony Calandra showed something at Virginia. Jackson Arnold.

Tyler (Ty)

Previously on Jackson Arnold.

Dan

Right. Previously on Jackson Arnold. I don't want to make this personal, but I'm just saying hasn't shown that something as a college quarterback with any sort of consistency, irregularity. So Dan Mullen has had basically nothing but interesting success in production to be kind, I guess from the quarterback position during his time as a head college football coach. And obviously the proof is in the pudding. With Anthony Calandria last year they're able to win with basically a bad defense. There's no indication that the defense is going to be any better this year. There were some underlying numbers last year with unlv, but I don't know. This Rebel team should be really good. Is probably too strong. But the most good I think they're. They're dangerous enough on offense and I think they play offense better than anyone will do. One specific thing in this league and given the coach, given the track record, I think I like unlv. They're just going to have a good amount of pop on offense in a way that another team is not going to have a. Not going to have pop on one side of the ball to me.

Tyler (Ty)

So Jackson Arnold transfers up from Auburn. Previously he was at Oklahoma. It didn't work out at Auburn. Now he is going here. We know he could run. He's a good runner. We have seen that on display. The passing game has sort of been all over the map. Like the best of Jackson Arnold has been really good. The worst of Jackson Arnold is pretty bad. I feel like we've seen more of the latter over the last two one and a half seasons, let's say. And so it's an open question to me what Mullen can get out of him. But Mullen tends to do well with guys like this. Right. That was why they got Calandria. He was kind of an improvisational threat in the backfield.

Dan

They still didn't start the first game last year.

Tyler (Ty)

Didn't start the first game last year. Still valg they do.

Dan

Who got hurt?

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, who is coming off injury. But he also gives them more of a running element at quarterback. They're solid at running back. I think they'll be able to run pretty well. It's just to me a question of. All right, to what heights can Jackson Arnold take them on offense and are they going to get better on defense because they gave up close to 420 yards a game last year, which was not good. A lot of the efficiency numbers, yards per play, explosive play rate, all those things, I'm not going to list it off but a lot of those red flags that we tend to call out when we're doing Previews and when we're reviewing games and figuring out who's good and who isn't good, it suffice to say this defense has a lot to prove in year two under Mullen.

Dan

Yeah. So two tricky openers for UNLV this year because they open up against what a Memphis team that they can't really prepare for. That's completely new with Charles Huff. And then they play Hawaii on the road. Hawaii is just always better at home with the amount of travel that a lot of teams have to do to get to the islands. Cal at home is tough, but the home road splits from there. Cal's at home, North Dakota State's at home and, well, Nevada's at home. But they go on the road to New Mexico, which should be the headline game. They travel to Albuquerque, which should be tough. That should also be must watch tv. If. If all works out, you know, UNLV should be able to run the hell out of the ball with Jaden Thomas. Probably the best returning running back in the conference. Yeah, UNLV I think, is my favorite ever slow ever so slightly over New Mexico. But I really do like New Mexico a good deal as well.

Tyler (Ty)

So New Mexico would be the team that you go with if you're into returning production.

Dan

Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

Because this is a team that went nine and four last year. Year one, also a year one situation. This one for Jason Beck got him to their first or ek. I always get the Beck and the. I know I got it in front of me and I still say Beck. Jason Ek had a really good campaign, got him to their first bowl game since 2016, was undefeated at home, and now he's bringing back 63% production. So for this program, that is like a huge shift in posture. Right. New Mexico is no longer the cute story. New Mexico is trying to be one of the actual league favorites and it's probably a lot easier now that, you know, a bunch of the teams that we mentioned earlier went to the PAC 12.

Dan

Yeah, they're the good thing about New Mexico one is their starting position, depending on health, is returning quarterback in what, Jack Lane.

Tyler (Ty)

Jack Lane, yeah. With the elbow.

Dan

There's some pop back at, you know, running back and receiver. Just experience there. We'll see there. I'm just going to trust a Jason Eck offensive line to figure things out. Defensively, I think It's. It's an EK Jaxton EK. He had like 50 more tackles. Jake T O N. Jaxon e. Jackson e. 129 tackles. He was a Mountain west co defensive player. Of the year, center of that defense. So I really like the schedule. Now they have Oklahoma on the road. That is a letdown spot for Oklahoma after they travel to Michigan. Oklahoma should win that game. But otherwise for New Mexico, they have Hawaii on the road, which we just mentioned, that's going to be tough. But winnable games elsewhere on the road, New Mexico State, Nevada, San Jose State and Wyoming, all with like pretty significant issues, are all on the road and getting unlv, the Air Force offense, at least North Dakota State at home. The schedule set up really, really nicely for them to contend for this conference. If not, if everything breaks right, something even bigger.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, I, I buy in on New Mexico because of the defense. You know, I mean the schedule helps and it, it obviously helps to have a guy like a Jack Lane. We don't know, I guess fully his health status. The defense went from really bad to legitimately very good.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

And really good against the run. Really good at creating havoc, especially sacks last season. And you know, you mentioned Jaxton Ek as well, who helps. So I think they're solid across the board. And so they're, you know, anytime you're talking G6, there are holes, but there are fewer holes with New Mexico and I'm in. I mean, I think it's, I'll say right now, I think it's New Mexico and unlv. UNLV at the top.

Dan

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially if New Mexico can find the pressure they had. They lost guys up front on the edge. If they can find those, those pressures, it'll go a long way for this team. Winning double digit games, potentially.

Tyler (Ty)

North Dakota State is jumping up. They have won 10 FCS national titles in 15 years. Their coach, Tim Polis SEC is 26 and three in two FCS seasons. Bill Connolly's got them starting out at number 72 nationally in terms of his SP plus, which puts them third in this conference. And I think they are going to capture the imagination of nearly everyone who cares about G6 football. North Dakota State has been legendary at the FCS level, much more so than JMU before James Madison came up. So North Dakota State people are going to be very interested in the Bison this year.

Dan

North Dakota State, it should be noted, joined an FBS conference before Notre Dame.

Tyler (Ty)

Oh, look at you.

Dan

Everybody said, hey, look at you. You want to win a bunch of national championships? Join a conference up above with the big boys.

Tyler (Ty)

Look at you. Look at you, Dan.

Dan

They did. Is our independence, is our identity. Yeah, North Dakota State, isn't that, isn't that the line It's.

Tyler (Ty)

I don't know, it's something like that.

Dan

I'm trying to toe the line as a good Notre Dame fan.

Tyler (Ty)

No, you love me.

Sam J.

Huge.

Dan

Jacksonville State, Fordham, Jacksonville State, Fordham and Sac State in the non conference portion of the North Dakota State schedule. So a nice little Runway into this level. Not that North Dakota State hasn't beaten bigger teams.

Tyler (Ty)

Don't sleep on Jack State. Okay, I'll get to that later. I'm in on Jacksonville State big time.

Dan

I'm just. It's in the Fargo Dome.

Tyler (Ty)

It is.

Dan

So got to make that Alabama, which

Tyler (Ty)

is like a monster truck rally.

Dan

It's great.

Tyler (Ty)

It is like going to a monster truck rally. The Fargo Dome. There will be an immense home field advantage at the Fargo Dome.

Dan

Their home road splits are low key. Brutal North Dakota State, now, it's brutal for teams to go to the Fargo Dome, but also they're traveling to Air Force altitude. They're traveling to unlv, perhaps conference favorite. They're traveling from North Dakota across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.

Tyler (Ty)

That's got to be like an eight hour flight.

Dan

No, even the like stateside flights. It's not close to get to San Jose from Fargo. So their travel will be significant. Although they, they've played teams obviously all over the west coast and Big sky country, so not anything that's new fully to them. But it's a lot of road time, especially when you factor in Hawaii and traveling to Sacramento. I don't know, it's. It could be a lot. I'm not worried about San Jose, to be clear. So to me, it's just if this truly is a program that can just reload new player, you know, sleepwalk to double digit wins, this is the time to prove it. This is the time. Even though it's a new level and it's new teams to prepare against. There's a lot of wins on this schedule. There are a lot of wins on this schedule. And I don't know if I see them going 10 and 2, but I think they can threaten it. A couple good breaks if their starting point is a really good or at least experience offensive and defensive line. I don't know if I trust the quarterback. I don't know if I trust the pop on offense. We'll see about the speed on defense. We're not talking about joining a conference that has six obvious contenders. North Dakota State can happily step in and go nine and three.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, and again, if your starting point is the trenches, there aren't a whole lot of teams in this conference, frankly, in college football that can make that claim. And I think they're up there. I think they're up there. If not the best, they are among the best offensive line, defensive line in the Mountain West. And you'll take that. Now I have the question about quarterback Nathan Hayes. Nathan Hayes, very limited sample size, has never been on this stage, so the concern there is fairly obvious. I think the defense should step up. I think they've got structure. I think they know what they're doing. I question the secondary maybe against some better passing teams, but all told, they're in a really, really good spot. I'm even more excited that some of the nice people we met up at the Fargo Dome when you and I went up to the FCS playoff game years ago that some of the people we told about our podcast might now actually get to have a reason to listen to the have a reason. Yeah, because before they didn't, but now they do. And so if you're a new listener, if you're a North Dakota State fan, reach out solid verbal@gmail.com.

Dan

how many obviously good defenses will this offense face on this schedule? So Wyoming, maybe. We'll see. The offense has been a New Mexico lately. New Mexico, New Mexico, likely. UTEP is starting all over. They had a fun defense last year, but they're fully starting over. Hawaii had an interesting defense, but they lose key chunks.

Tyler (Ty)

I mean, not unlv, they don't.

Michael Rapoport

Right?

Dan

It's not unlv. Not SAC State. Air Force obviously is trying to do something on defense because they didn't do anything on defense last year. San Jose State. No, NIU had a good defense, but they're replacing a ton.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, okay.

Dan

It's a, it's a, it's a nice, nice Runway into the FBS time.

Tyler (Ty)

Stick, stick with Air Force, then Air Force.

Dan

I've always really enjoyed the Air Force experience over the years because they've found ways. I mean, Troy Calhoun has found really interesting defensive minds that have been picked off from Air Force, but they've managed to be the one. It seems like service academy that could field complete teams pretty regularly or at least figure out defense regularly. They were truly awful on defense last season. Again, one of the absolute worst. They went back to. They hired a new old defensive coordinator who was with them in the 2000 and tens. He didn't do an especially good job for them. It was sort of post. I think it's Brian. No Brian. Or left. It's Steve Russ who was the new old defensive coordinator. He didn't do a Pretty good. He did not do that great a job for Air Force, but when it was Liam Sarka running the offense, when he was healthy, he was good. They just. In terms of receivers and more importantly, obviously running backs and the pop on their offense, they're replacing them. It's obviously a system. There will be probably some sort of learning curve for this Air Force offense, but I expect them to score, I expect them to move the ball. All the underlying numbers were good last year, especially when he was healthy. Just in terms of like all these option teams are like converting first downs and converting third and shorts and time of possession. Right. They're going to play to a certain system. The question now is like, can they get anything from this defense? If their defense is merely average or below average, this will be a very difficult out for everybody in the conference. I just don't think you can go from where they were to where they want to be in a year. So. I like Air Force. I don't love them.

Tyler (Ty)

I sent you a picture of Troy Calhoun. That's. That's a dye job. Right.

Dan

You know, when they have that paint that is the special shade of black that it absorbs all light in the area and it makes it look two dimensional. I don't know if the picture you sent me of his scalp is recent, but it's. It's not natural. That picture.

Tyler (Ty)

Whenever this picture was taken, this is, this is a dye job. It has to be.

Dan

We should have a. Should we do a bracket of coaching dye jobs? Saban's been active. Saban has been a. He has been active in the salon. Smiles. Had that like Signetti for sure. Although he. I think he laid off with more attention. I think he's laid off. I think he. He's much more in like the just for men. Like just rub in a little salt and pepper.

Tyler (Ty)

Salt. He's got the salt and pepper, but

Dan

he has, he has a history.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

Yes. This picture is an Alzheimer. Les Miles had his sort of. There's no color on the spectrum. It was sort of a. A dusty copper. Yeah, there's. There's some Troy Calhoun shots out there, but. Yeah, I, I really do hope for, you know, Air Force's sake. Obviously they're playing for the Commander in Chief trophy and Navy games at home. Army's away, so that's a, you know, a trip across the country. They don't have, I believe, an especially challenging non conference slate. So it's Duquesne. It is. And then the service academies, army and Navy. So those will be tough. Those are quality teams. We talked about Navy already. Navy's going to be good this season. Army, I think army is. I think I'm higher on army than

Tyler (Ty)

you are, but you're way higher.

Dan

It's a tough but not impossible schedule. If they can figure out that defense, I think they should go bowling. I think they can get in that 6, 7 win range.

Tyler (Ty)

I like Hawaii. I think they've got the quarterback Micah alejado through for 3,100 yards a year ago as a red shirt freshman. Definitely a little bit of a pop gun situation. Not as bad as Bryant Moniz who came before him, but yeah, way before him. To be clear, way before, yeah, was playing through an ankle injury. I think if he's right, Hawaii can absolutely be in this title conversation. I worry about the defense. Look, that's like Dennis Thurman did a good job last year, but there's not a whole lot back for Hawaii in terms of returning production. I'm curious to see what they can do on that front, if they can take a step forward there. I think Timmy Chang on the whole has done a pretty good job with this team. I like the passing offense, but I worry about a half team situation. The schedule I think is interesting. UNLV, NM and North Dakota State all come to Honolulu, which is huge. But Stanford, UNLV in both weeks one and two. I think we're going to know very quickly if they're worthy of being a contender or if it's just going to be a showcase for their quarterback.

Dan

I don't know if how worried I am about their defense. Their defense was better than their offense last season. They rushed the passer while, look, there's so many new players, you know, gone players, gone players in. They rushed the passer well. They got off the field decently well on third down. They were very good in the red zone at times on defense and a lot of that can go to coaching. Like here's our system on third down, here's our system, more backed up kind of stuff. So to me it's just an overall talent thing and it's, you know, it's always going to be a weird schedule stuff. It's always me a weird schedule thing. I mean, the offenses on this schedule are not crazy. On this schedule they have Stanford, New Mexico State, Wyoming, San Jose State, Northern Illinois, utep, Nevada and SAC State all with enormous offensive questions. Like, yeah, I, I used to climb on offense.

Tyler (Ty)

I'm spooked by the returning production thing. I'm spooked by that a little bit, but they do. They have good. They have good players at all three levels. So it's not a dearth of talent. It's just. I don't know if there's enough around those guys to leave me feeling the warm fuzzies about where this all goes next.

Dan

Unlv, New Mexico and North Dakota State all coming to them.

Tyler (Ty)

Yep.

Dan

Pretty good. They can pick off one of those. I think they're in decent enough shape to get to seven or eight again. They got to nine with the bowl win last year. Right, right, right. I think they're. They're in the vicinity.

Tyler (Ty)

Wyoming, it. I'm. It's maybe a bowl team like. I think the defense is good enough to keep them in games. The offense is probably bad enough to ruin everything else.

Dan

Yep.

Tyler (Ty)

Is that a fair analysis?

Dan

This is getting kind of serious. Wyoming wise for. Was it Jason?

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

He's not winning games seven and 17 in two years. And so there's a lot that's winnable. Right. You have Colorado State. It's on the road. But that's the first game of the Jim Mora era at Central Michigan. Who shouldn't be all that good this year? Northern Colorado. So you can say if they're okay, that's three. And oh, San Jose State could be winnable. I don't think they're going to be especially good this year. NIU making their move late. We'll get to that. I don't think they're going to be especially good this year. I think they can figure out. I think there's going to be a couple of those key games late that they could figure out how to get to six wins. If they're doing any. Literally anything on offense. They're doing the. They're bringing in Bill and Mary's quarterback. I believe that's right. So from Bill and Mary to Lara me, that's a tough. I'm not. I'm not proud of it.

Tyler (Ty)

Christian Taylor is the name.

Dan

Right.

Tyler (Ty)

He's the quarterback.

Dan

So yeah. I think it just comes down to. To offense. Well, Christian Taylor is the.

Tyler (Ty)

Christian.

Dan

Excuse me.

Tyler (Ty)

Christian Taylor's the oc. He's bringing Tyler.

Dan

Tyler Hughes.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah. I've been getting those confused the entire. We've been studying these teams. I even jotted it down wrong, but you're right. Tyler Hughes, excuse me, is the quarterback from Bill and Mary.

Dan

They run the ball a little. They have returning experience at running back. I. I can squint and see November bowl conversation.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

It's a tough place to play. That's the elevation Right. That's the highest point if I'm going to say I'm an elevation guy.

Tyler (Ty)

You're an elevation guy.

Dan

I gotta be. I gotta be a cowboy guy.

Tyler (Ty)

I love their running back whose nickname is Tote.

Dan

Tote. Great nickname.

Tyler (Ty)

Samuel. Tote Harris is their running back. Had a good campaign as a freshman. We'll see what he can do this year. But I think six wins is there. I think it's there. I do like the defense. They were really good last year, especially against the pass.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Didn't do much in terms of a pass rush.

Dan

Two years ago, they beat NFL starting quarterback Tyler Shuck and Texas Tech in Laramie.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah. Yeah.

Dan

Not bad. The two years ago. Three years ago. I lose track of time.

Tyler (Ty)

Nevada. Nevada.

Dan

Nevada's not good. Nevada's trying on offense.

Tyler (Ty)

They're stuck in a Choat hold, man.

Dan

They're stuck in the choat hold. They're trying to go more air radi on offense. It's. It was a Mike Leach disciple from Wazoo who was at Colorado last year. It's Brett Bartolone, I believe is the new offensive coordinator for Jeff Choate and the. In the Nevada operation, the Wolf Pack. I don't know, man. They went three, nine. They were pretty bad. They've got a lot. They were, I think, arguably the worst passing team in America at times.

Tyler (Ty)

They were really.

Dan

Last season, they're really bad. And so they're bringing in a bunch of transfers on offense to improve things.

Tyler (Ty)

I think the line. The line should be okay. The offensive line will be okay. And so, like, I. Whenever you've got that as a starting point. And I'm not saying. Yes, I'm not saying they're Notre Dame's offensive line, but I'm saying it's not. We're talking about the offense in these dismal terms. I think that. I think the offensive line will be okay. Whenever you got that as a starting point, that's cause for optimism. But, you know, like, new receivers, the. Maybe changing the system here a little bit.

Dan

I know schedule's pretty tough, especially the back half. They have ucla, New Mexico, North Dakota State. Three out of four weeks, like mid October to early November. They finish with Hawaii and UNLV back to back. At least Hawaii is in Reno. And obviously the UNLV trip is not all that far from Reno to Vegas. But, like, if they haven't figured anything out by the back half of the schedule, they could be staring down the barrel of, like, losing four or five to finish the year and finish three and nine. Four and eight again.

Tyler (Ty)

They are also the only team that has to play all three new members of the Mountain west in utep, North Dakota State and Northern Illinois.

Dan

I'm not feeling great about the prospects.

Tyler (Ty)

All right, so the last three teams then that we got to go through quickly are San Jose State, Northern Illinois and utep. Suss those out for me.

Dan

San Jose State was a mess last year. They lose their starting quarterback and Walker Egat. They were pretty close early on last year, but fell off the map late. They're starting over once again. They've had good receivers lately. They're going to get throttled by USC early. That's a week zero game, I believe. Correct. The schedule isn't doing them any favors, especially later on in the schedule where they have New Mexico, UNLV travel to Air Force, North Dakota State, the back half of the schedule. It's difficult to find Pop. The defense was just so God awful last year and the offense fell off as well. So it's just. I think it's too. Too tall a mountain to climb to feel all that good about them even making a bowl game at this point. There's. They feel like 4 and 8ish to me. Okay, who else do you say? Utep and Niu.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, Utep and Niu.

Dan

Utep was at least a little saucy last year. I think they were able to generate big plays. They lose just a ton, including their offensive coordinator who wasn't all that. I mean the offense wasn't all that consistent, but they did hit on a couple of big plays last season. They go two in 10 last year. A ton needs to be fixed. They have. They lose a ton to the portal. They gain a ton in the portal. There's just not especially. They have Oklahoma and Michigan in two of the first three weeks.

Sheryl Swoopes

Right.

Dan

Because that's just part of how they schedule. The home road splits are also including those teams traveling to Air Force, traveling to North Dakota State. Not great. There's just. It doesn't seem like there's a clear path beyond three wins.

Tyler (Ty)

E.J. colson, baby.

Dan

Sure.

Tyler (Ty)

He E.J. caught another transfer from FCS from Incarnate.

Dan

Word. Yeah. Put up big numbers.

Tyler (Ty)

They named him the starting quarterback already. Close to 71% completion percentage. Can throw runs a little. If he's better than any of the quarterbacks last year for UTEP who combined for 20 interceptions. If he can help stop that bleeding, I would say that's a good start.

Dan

I think they only beat what, Sam Houston and an FCS team last season.

Tyler (Ty)

Correct.

Dan

And we're competitive in games against terrible teams. So I don't know, I just, I'm not. I like Scotty Walden. I'm just there at best, at absolute best, you can say he's just going to hit on a ton of transfers and they're going to flirt with, you know, going to a bowl or something or being bullish. Six and six, something like that. And the evaluation I think would have to be off the charts for that to happen.

Tyler (Ty)

NIU now in the Mountain West. I must be completely honest with you. The entire time you've been mentioning Northern Illinois, I'm thinking just because I've been

Dan

pre programmed, why do I keep mentioning.

Tyler (Ty)

Why is he mentioning a Mac team? Yeah, Northern Illinois joining the Mountain west, historically a very mountainous region of Illinois. Of course they're changing conferences. Their coach, Thomas Hammock left for the Seattle Seahawks back in February. No, he's not the head coach. He's just on the staff. And so Rob Harley is the interim guy now, which is, let's be honest, a tough way to enter a new league. Offense was the problem last year. They were 135 in offensive SP plus really bad as a passing entity. The run game was okay, but everything through the air was just a disaster. So we've got that as a starting point. The defense. 19 players who started at least once last year, only three of them are back from last year, per Bill.

Dan

Yeah, the defense was good last year, defense was okay.

Tyler (Ty)

But they lose a lot. So this is just sort of like

Dan

the defense was not good. The defense was really good at stopping big plays.

Tyler (Ty)

Big plays.

Dan

Yes, they did a thing really well.

Tyler (Ty)

So I guess my point is just that a lot new, including the league does not leave me feeling that inspired about how this starts off for niu.

Dan

You got to look at the silver lining. The silver lining is we get late in the season an NIU Nevada game, which were two of the absolute worst passing teams in America last year. So we might get a game hope either like, oh wow, they've really attacked this and look a lot better through the air. Or a game between two quarterbacks who look like they're throwing into the wind when it's not actually windy.

Tyler (Ty)

Right.

Dan

So we get the joy of seeing who is better at throwing the ball after a season in which neither one

Tyler (Ty)

of these teams we get an off brand Army Navy game.

Dan

Yes. And we do get games, by the way, between teams who are like the one of the absolute worst offenses against one of the absolute worst defenses. The like something's got to give in the other direction. So, like the Air Force defense from last year against the Nevada off, like, we do get that intrigue. If you're that kind of college football masochist, you can tune in to see who wins between the unmoving force offensively or defensively.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, I've got New Mexico over UNLV because of the defense.

Dan

Okay, I think I'm going to do that, too.

Tyler (Ty)

I think we're going to agree we're eggheads here.

Dan

We are. I think. I think they're in a good position. I think last year, Bill Connolly personally deciding not to put New Mexico in the championship game, it was all sour taste in their mouth. No, he did not personally decide that. Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

All right.

Dan

It's all coming up. Lobo.

Ari Chambers

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

Sam J.

Hey, what's up, y'?

Dan

All?

Sam J.

It's your girl, Sam J.

Ari Chambers

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports because, let's

Sam J.

be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

Ari Chambers

So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

Sam J.

My first thought is, like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we.

Tyler (Ty)

What are we eating?

Ari Chambers

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

Sam J.

entire timeline, and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

Ari Chambers

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

Sam J.

Shout out to you, Naomi, you get the Palm.

Ari Chambers

Naomi, you get the Palm for that.

Sam J.

Because we're not just interested in what happened. We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Sheryl Swoopes

Hey, everybody. I'm Tareka Foster Brasby. What's up, y'?

Sam J.

All?

Sheryl Swoopes

I'm your girl, Sheryl Swoopes. When you tune in to a new episode of our podcast, Levels to this, you're definitely gonna get some spicy WNBA analysis.

Tyler (Ty)

Yup.

Sheryl Swoopes

But then the conversation goes on and levels up beyond basketball, because on levels to this, the game is always the starting point. But we're more than just hoops. And the real conversation is what we actually bring. This is Levels to this, the podcast about all the levels of stuff that women go through. Listen to Levels to this with Sheryl Swoopes. And Tareka Foster brasby on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michael Rapoport

This is Michael Rapoport and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast, is unlike any one you've ever, ever heard. We're a variety show and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. And it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid, Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rapaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

Sam J.

I Am Rappaport Podcast.

Tyler (Ty)

Let's do Conference usa.

Sam J.

There's only one thing you love, Danny, that's danger. Conference usa.

Dan

I know. I found that sound.

Tyler (Ty)

You definitely found that. So you made.

Dan

I think that was from the original Ocean's Eleven.

Tyler (Ty)

Yes, Western Kentucky looks like the favorite, but they have the least returning production in the conference and the fifth worst in the country. Almost every team you would consider a quote unquote contender has a rather large quarterback question in Conference USA in terms of defense, I would say that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. There is no obvious answer for who's got the best defense in this conference. I think everyone has an enormous question mark about their defense and the first team that figures it out is going to have a real advantage. Everybody, everybody is rebuilding through the portal. It's just sort of the standard now and bigger picture. The plight of Kennesaw State, Missouri State and Delaware remains super interesting to me. Remember three teams that recently jumped up to fbs. All of them are in very, very different spots. You've got Delaware with a ton back. You've got Missouri State completely rebooting. And then you've got Kennesaw State, who actually won the damn conference a year ago but then lost a ton.

Dan

And we had their coach on. He could get the solid verbal bump though.

Tyler (Ty)

He could. I'll get to that.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

The team that I like the most in Jacksonville State, three years in fbs, now three, nine win seasons, three bowls, two straight Conference USA title game appearances. They lost. Cam Cook, who was their running back, ran for 1600 yards. He transferred over to play with Rich Rod at West Virginia. There isn't a like for like replacement for him. It'll probably be a committee approach. But the committee approach might work well because they're going to build the plane out of Kaden Creel, who is back. He was their quarterback. 1500 yards to the air, almost 1100 on the ground. You combine him with whatever running back and DeAndre Johnson, who is a 6, 8 monster of a man at wideout. And that's your offense.

Dan

Does anybody ever describe you as a monster of a man?

Tyler (Ty)

Never. Never.

Dan

Everywhere I go.

Tyler (Ty)

Intellectually, maybe, yes.

Dan

Intellectual monster as a maybe, yeah. Well, isn't this then kind of become a coaching conference, at least in how you talk about it right now? Like if you trust Tyson Helton more than other people, if you trust obviously Missouri State, starting over at head coach. You know, if you are a Jerry Mack guy.

Tyler (Ty)

I am. We are a Jerry. We're a Jerry Mack show.

Dan

We're children of Mac.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

That's a weird way to phrase it.

Tyler (Ty)

Or Mack trucks.

Dan

Sure. So, yeah, I mean, with all of these teams just going to continually lose their best players, having to lose their best players because of the realities of the sport and the size of these schools you're going off of. Okay, whose evaluation skills? Who do we trust late in games? I mean, they're pretty good coaches in this.

Tyler (Ty)

There are. There are, there are. There really.

Dan

It's the non chip Charles Kelly now right at Jacksonville State.

Tyler (Ty)

I love Jacksonville State. I have coming out of the conference and a lot of people are in on Western Kentucky, but I'm. I'm in on Jack State. I like their defense. I think they've got some of the better pieces, especially in the back seven. And in terms of all the G6 teams that we've studied because we're rounding the bend here now, this is the last conference that we're going to discuss. Schedule is one of my favorites. It's not the easiest. It's just interesting because they open the year at North Dakota State, which you mentioned earlier. They've got two enormous road games at Kennesaw State in October, at Western Kentucky in November. And if this team makes it through their road games and we'll know a lot more by December, as it were.

Dan

Of course, as always, this is a

Tyler (Ty)

program, a team that will have been very battle tested and will probably be a tough out in the conference title game. I don't think any of these teams in Conference USA are playoff viable. The schedules just aren't Tough enough. But again, we're not thinking of this in terms of playoff. Who cares?

Dan

Agree.

Tyler (Ty)

So I like Jackson. I think there's a lot to like here, both in terms of their quarterback and what they return on defense.

Dan

All right, fair enough. Anything from Liberty that interests you? Just because Jamie Chadwell has been a name.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah. What interests me on the Liberty front is that they could be a nice rebound candidate, because in Chadwell's first year, they went 13 and 1, then 8 and 4 and then 4 and 8. So the trend has been in the wrong direction, and there's. There's a real question about that, which. Is this a trend? Is it Jamie Chadwell trying to put his system in place? They do have the easiest schedule in the conference, which I think should help with the win total. I like their running backs. I think they've got really good depth, even by Conference USA standards. Really good depth. If we see a rebound is probably because of the line in the running game. But they got to fix the defense, and they're trying. They brought over a guy, Sean Quinn from Virginia Tech. Try and run the defense, try and make it better. They were near the bottom last year in terms of creating havoc. They've got some pieces in the front seven, but basically everyone who mattered in the back is gone. So what they do with that will be interesting. The quarterback room, it's between Ethan Vasco. Remember that name?

Dan

Of course.

Tyler (Ty)

Ethan Vasco is competing with the Sean Purdy and Jalen Henderson. Two transfers, one from Wake, one from West Virginia. Jamie Chadwell said he wants to play one quarterback. Right now, it looks like he wants to play three. I don't know the recipe, though. If they want to get that rebounds, probably getting better at quarterback, leaning on their ground game and creating some kind of disruption on defense, whatever that looks.

Dan

Jalen Henderson, by the way, is from vaguely where I'm from.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

Fourth school.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

Fresno, A and M, West Virginia, and showed a little flash at A and M late, I think, late in 23 or 24. Didn't do anything last year, obviously, and now is battling for Liberty. So he's on a journey.

Tyler (Ty)

I've got them fourth in the conference. I've got Jacksonville State over Western Kentucky. And a lot of teams, a lot of teams. A lot of people like Western Kentucky as the team in Conference usa, and I like them, too. What's interesting about Western is the Tyson Helton thing, where every year they lose a ton of production and every year it kind of doesn't matter. Every year they win a least eight games.

Dan

What was it that. I forget if it was Art Vandelay or AJ Pennypacker who did import export.

Tyler (Ty)

That was Vandalay. Art Van.

Dan

That was Vandalay.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

That's Tyson Helton.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

What does he do? He's import export.

Tyler (Ty)

He's Vandalay Industries.

Dan

Yeah. That's all it is. He goes about it his own way.

Tyler (Ty)

Their quarterback, Rodney Tisdale Jr. Was the freshman of the year in the conference Rocket for an army. If we want to stay on, Seinfeld could run a little bit. Also took 13 sacks and threw seven picks and six starts. So, you know, got to clean some stuff up. If they're good on the line and they lost a lot on the line, they can win the league.

Dan

Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

I think. I think the whole thing for me really comes down to that. Defense had fits and starts last year. Good in terms of some things, bad in terms of others. But schedules weird. They're at Georgia and at Indiana in back to back weeks in September.

Dan

I'm just like looking at Conference USA teams who have the. The least brutal non conference also. Obviously that doesn't affect how they finish in conference, but I don't know, man. Having George in Indiana, just brutal. Sound fun for your spleen? Head into conference games.

Tyler (Ty)

Trying to find an easy schedule in the non con is like a needle in a haystack.

Dan

Delaware's got Vandy and Virginia. Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Their schedules really. Their conference schedule is really backloaded. They get Jacksonville State Liberty and Kennesaw in the last three weeks of the year.

Dan

Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

So we will need to wait till December to actually know anything about Western Kentucky.

Dan

I appreciate that.

Tyler (Ty)

Kennesaw. Look, we were fans of Kennesaw, obviously. An incredible turnaround story last year. Won the damn conference and we had Jerry Mack on the show a few months ago. Go listen to that episode. Yeah, they're down a bunch of starters on offense. They did good work in the portal. I think they managed to scrape together a pretty good line that has experience. So I think they'll be okay up front. They're going to try Ricky Collins at quarterback from Syracuse.

Dan

I think it's probably a. An earnest competition.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah.

Dan

I don't think you can watch the Syracuse offense last year with as many issues as they had and say that is the guy that we are just handing the reins to.

Tyler (Ty)

He threw 10 picks. He went oh and five as a starter for cues. Then they benched him. That's why he transferred.

Dan

So backing up Steve Angeli. He was not the first choice.

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, and Jelly blew out his Achilles and then they Brought in Ricky Collins. At least defensively, they got the best linebacker in the league. And Baron Hobson. I think they've got enough around them where they can create some havoc. They're really bad against the run. Last year we should have asked coach about that, but.

Dan

Yeah. Why couldn't you tackle running backs last?

Tyler (Ty)

Yeah, yeah, seriously. And then we got the rest of the conference and I found something interesting about each of these teams. Like, you know, I'm a fan of the Blue Hens. You know, the Blue. The Blue Hens of Delaware were the first school that I visited when I was taking college visits.

Dan

Was their nil package not robust?

Tyler (Ty)

It wasn't as big as Penn State's, to be honest with you.

Dan

I got that.

Tyler (Ty)

And the dorms were significantly smaller than the other colleges.

Dan

Is that true?

Tyler (Ty)

It was. That's why I didn't go there. I like Delaware. I just did. The dorms were like a shoebox at the time.

Dan

Nobody has won a 68 Ventures bowl more recently than Delaware. I defy you to find a team.

Tyler (Ty)

They are in the top 25 nationally with 62% production returning.

Dan

Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

Went to a bowl. Went seven and six in their first year in FBS. Their quarterback story. Yeah, it was a great story. Their quarterback, Nick Minicucci is the best reason to take them seriously. Had a really good campaign. Solid player all around, can run. They use him in the red zone a lot. I think Delaware is going to be solid on offense. The reason I'm not higher is the defense. And this is like. Stop me if you've heard this before. Right. They gave up too many big plays. Got to replace a lot of. I think it's a bold team. Again, I don't know if they can go higher than that.

Dan

All right.

Tyler (Ty)

Fiu Dolly Baby Pitbull Stadium is Willie Simmons. Willie SIMMONS Immediately went 7 and 6. Immediately went to FIU's first bowl game since 2019. Beat FAU, won at Western Kentucky, finished the regular season four. And oh, did get drilled in the bowl game by utsa. But a really impressive start. Yeah, who cares? A really impressive start. They do lose both quarterbacks. They lose a running back, wide receivers, basically the entire line. There's work to do. The new quarterback is J.J. cole. Still playing. Remember him?

Dan

Iowa State to App State.

Tyler (Ty)

It's a throwing motion that looks like it's in slow motion.

Dan

Dan, we had his dad on the show.

Tyler (Ty)

Was that his dad?

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

I didn't know that was his dad. Yes. From the kicking camp.

Dan

The kicking expert. Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

This is his kid?

Dan

Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

How Did I cool? Did you not tell me this? How did I not make the connection?

Dan

I think he was the one who referenced it on the show. Man, Cole kicks, right? Cole kicking, Whatever the.

Tyler (Ty)

Cole's kicking.

Ari Chambers

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

That was a great. I love that interview.

Dan

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

I had no idea.

Dan

Yeah, there you go. Now, you know, I'm verifying, but I'm 100%. I'm near 100%.

Sheryl Swoopes

Wow.

Tyler (Ty)

How did I not know that?

Ari Chambers

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

I think there's a path for them to get better. It's very much dependent on line play. They got a tough road slate at Jack State, at Liberty, at Delaware, at Kennesaw. But Willie Simmons is a guy who, you know, stepped in and immediately made a difference. There's no reason to think he can't get continue on that course.

Dan

Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

Let me round out this conference here with the final four teams. I'll go through them quickly. Okay.

Dan

Please do.

Tyler (Ty)

New Mexico State, close enough to be mad about the way the season went last year. They started three and two. They went, they lost six of seven with four one score losses. They were the worst rushing team in the country last year. So there was an effort to get better on that side of the ball. James Jones is the running back that they're bringing over from Delaware State. And they also added a bunch of line help. I don't know if it's going to work. I have no idea. Good.

Dan

At home. Road splits. New Mexico, Western Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Liberty and Delaware all at home.

Tyler (Ty)

I think this will be a team that leans on their defense and if they get the six wins, it's going to be mostly because of their defense. But they're trying. Okay. You can see what they're trying to improve upon.

Ari Chambers

Yeah.

Tyler (Ty)

Missouri State. Missouri State. Another one of these success stories. In their first FBS season, they went 7 and 6. They made a bowl. Then Ryan Beard and like everybody, the whole Petrino clan left for Coastal Carolina, took everything with them. So it's a complete rebuild now for Casey woods, who's the new coach formerly at smu. Both, both fronts need to be rebuilt. Obviously a first time head coach, he's going to have his work cut out for him. He has both Texas A and M&SMU on the road in September. And I think if, if you like, try to work out the math for them to get back to a bowl game, they basically need two upsets, two fairly sizable upsets and then for no other like weird hiccups in order to get back to a bowl.

Dan

Right. Okay. Middle Tennessee, Derek Mason.

Tyler (Ty)

The reason to watch is Roman Gagliano. He is their quarterback. He took over late in the year. He went 2 and 1 as a starter. 471 total yards against Western, which was the most by a Blue Raider freshman in his first start. There's a lot to like there. He's one of those guys who's not really a runner, but when he does run, he's deceptively quick. And we all know about those quarterbacks, they can be dangerous. Not the most accurate passer, but definitely gives them some potential. The problem is this. The defense could not stop anything through the air last year. And as we know, this is a program that for what feels like an eternity was a proud bowl team, a proud eight win team under Rick Stock. Still. So there is mounting pressure on Derek Mason to do something to win more than three games. I should add. As our friends over at the G5 Hive pointed out, the university president is retiring at the end of the year and that's always one of the signals you look for with regard to coaching changes, is it not?

Dan

It could be, yeah. AD or president whenever you've got the

Tyler (Ty)

long timer stepping aside and somebody else coming in. Maybe they want to make their mark, maybe they don't. I can't imagine that the Blue Raider fan base is all that excited about back to back three win seasons. So it's put up or shut up for Mason.

Dan

Agree.

Tyler (Ty)

And then to close it out, we'll talk about Sam Houston. We joked about it last year because of their stadium renovations. They played their home games 70 miles away, which is never great for the home field advantage. They're going to be back at Bower Stadium this year. They're scheduled to finish renovations by the end of July. So there you go. Sounds like their new press box is going to be better than Penn State's, which isn't saying much, but no. Nevertheless, I will give Phil Longo a bit of a mulligan. The roster was decimated because Casey Keeler left and Longo was kind of hired late in the process. So it looks like another rebuild this year. We'll see what he can do. But I've got Sam Houston bringing up the rear.

Dan

Yeah, it has like a 3 and 9, 4 and 8 type feel at the moment. Okay, well I hope they they feel head home. And the new the new digs bucking

Tyler (Ty)

the trend, going with Jacksonville State over Western Kentucky.

Dan

I'm going just because I want the shirt that says Mac to Mac. I'm going Kennesaw State to repeat and win the conference.

Tyler (Ty)

One more team.

Dan

Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

Yukon Huskies.

Dan

Yes. So outside of Conference USA Independent and now they are candle fied.

Tyler (Ty)

We need UConn to either join the Mountain west or the Pac 12 just to really spice things up.

Dan

I mean that would give us UConn and Gonzaga in the same basketball conference.

Tyler (Ty)

That's what I'm saying, man.

Dan

Well, because there was a Yukon conversation about when the Big 12 was looking to backfill or add to. There was that Yukon conversation that I guess could have at some point given us a team in stores. Connecticut and Tucson, Arizona.

Tyler (Ty)

Then they could be the Pacific Atlantic Conference.

Dan

That's true.

Tyler (Ty)

The paclantic Jim Mora Jr. Left. He went to Colorado State. We mentioned that earlier. The new coach is Jason Candle who comes over from Toledo. I think I like him a little bit more than you do. You don't burn for the Candle the way I do.

Dan

Well, now that UConn is just a place where people win, who knows, right, that he has institutional advantages coaching UConn football in a way that really we hadn't seen for quite some time since what the Joe Moorhead at offensive coordinator and God, what's his name? I'm losing my mind with my memory. The Mary Edel sexier than Edsel.

Tyler (Ty)

How dare you forget.

Dan

Maybe you're just set up to succeed in stores.

Tyler (Ty)

50 over 50 portal additions this year. Just five guys back for the Huskies who started games last year. The reason UConn went 9 and 4 was because of their offense. All of that's gone. The whole thing. It's still an active quarterback competition at time of recording. I think it's going to be Jake Merklinger. The transfer from Tennessee once was a four star. But Caleb Osborne who comes with Candle from Toledo is also a name that I've been reading a lot about. He's, you know, maybe the guy who knows the system better. Even if he doesn't have all the upside of Merklinger. But at time of recording we don't know. Last year it was a lot of Joey Fignano and Skyler Bell. Right. That was why they were so good on offense through the air right now gone. This offensive staff has credentials, but there's no returning production. Nunzio Campanelli

Dan

just making the what, Syracuse, Rutgers, UConn trifecta triad. Yeah. Yep.

Tyler (Ty)

He is bringing over the passing resume that he had at Syracuse, which to it to his credit was pretty Good.

Dan

Okay.

Tyler (Ty)

But UConn returns again, nothing on offense. No 300 yard receiver on this roster. So question of okay, what's he going to work with? I. I like the Linebackers, I guess, on defense, but otherwise they got to cover for a lot. They got to cover for a completely rebuilt secondary that again is losing all of its production. I listen, I'm not going to go position by position. It's kind of pointless to do that. It's entirely new team. What you are hoping for if you are a UConn fan, is that Jason Candle can put it together quickly that he can, you know, figure out the quarterback thing, that he can lean into that pipeline of Toledo guys that came with him and use a schedule that has eight home games on it

Michael Rapoport

to

Tyler (Ty)

try and build some momentum. All right, eight home games helps. I'm not seeing bowl in year one, but I have typically put a lot of faith in Jason Candle to at least figure it out. And as he now takes this next step and starts his new chapter with a different team, we'll see what he's made of. I like the staff. I like his pedigree. I'm just. I'm not feeling it. There's too much new and I don't even know how to project this Yukon team.

Dan

Are you sure it's eight home games?

Tyler (Ty)

I counted eight that I count wrong.

Dan

I'm counting seven. Lafayette, Maryland, Syracuse, UMass. That's four. And then North Carolina, James Madison, ODU.

Tyler (Ty)

Okay, seven, seven. I counted wrong, but whatever. More home games and away games.

Dan

More home games than away games. I. Yeah, it's just Toledo is also a place that cares deeply about football and UConn has football at least third down the ranks of how we're spending our rev share money, right?

Tyler (Ty)

Probably.

Dan

That's a difficult ask.

Tyler (Ty)

Probably true. Lafayette, Maryland, Syracuse, UMass, North Carolina, JMU, Old Dominion. I counted wrong. Okay.

Dan

Yep, it's okay.

Tyler (Ty)

I think that does it. I think that's part.

Dan

There it is.

Tyler (Ty)

Part two, I guess. Of our G6 previews, we included Yukon in there. We didn't know where else to bolt them on, so we thought Notre Dame

Dan

goes with the acc.

Tyler (Ty)

Goes with the acc. Yeah.

Dan

Yeah. Cool. I'm excited. No, that was. That was a good one. I'm not going to play the Bryson, Brady Bronson, whatever thing again. Twice was enough.

Tyler (Ty)

Twice.

Dan

But if you want a copy for a mixtape, just let me know. I'll send it over.

Tyler (Ty)

Solid verbal gmail.com if you want.

Dan

If you're a festival, right? If you're. I don't know the names of any EDM festivals in like Norway or Fort Lauderdale or something, just get at me. I'll hit you with the track solver about Gmail.

Tyler (Ty)

Dot com. If you want the track, if you want anything else off your chest, that's the best way you can get in touch with us. You can follow our social accounts. You can follow us, of course, on your podcasting app of choice. Leave a star rating or a review. Hit subscribe on YouTube. Hit the like button. Smash the like button. I guess as the kids say these

Dan

days, they at least said it like 2013 when you last.

Tyler (Ty)

They definitely said it in 2013. Yeah.

Dan

Yeah, 100% agree.

Michael Rapoport

All right.

Tyler (Ty)

My voice is starting to sound a little raspy, which is usually our cue to call it quits for the day.

Dan

You know where I'm at right now? I started drinking a giant mug of coffee at the top of this episode, and I've got a bladder that's about to erupt all over this basement.

Tyler (Ty)

All right.

Dan

That's how you know we're young, Ty.

Tyler (Ty)

We don't. We don't want that to happen. Now, we encourage the utmost bladder health here on the show. We'll be back next episode. It'll be part one where we talk through tears and talk through bigger picture stuff in the acc. I got a lot to get off my chest. And that one.

Dan

So that's Notre Dame and ACC.

Tyler (Ty)

Notre Dame will be at the ACCs.

Dan

Yes.

Tyler (Ty)

For that guy over there, Dan. For myself over here, Ty. Thank you as always for downloading, for listening, for supporting what we do. Go to verballers.com to help support the team. We'll catch you all on the next episode. Talk to macc. Stay solid.

Dan

Peace.

Tyler (Ty)

Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word. My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely suv, an inexplicably queenly offer.

Dan

They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast.

Tyler (Ty)

An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana.

Ari Chambers

Pickup fees may apply.

Dan

What's up, fam?

Ari Chambers

It's sports journalist Ari Chambers.

Sam J.

Hey, what's up, y'?

Dan

All?

Sam J.

It's your girl, Sam J.

Ari Chambers

And we're the hosts of Everyone watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from 2gether.

Sam J.

We're breaking down the biggest headlines, the viral moments and the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports.

Ari Chambers

From game changing performances to culture shifting conversations. We'll give you our takes, our debates, and a few laughs along the way

Sam J.

because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Tyler (Ty)

I'm Jake Brennan, and on the Disgraceland podcast I explore the wild lives of rock stars and unbelievable true crime stories from music history. These are the stories you haven't heard, the kind you'll end up telling someone else. Like the time Paul McCartney spent in a notorious prison. Or the bizarre crime Lady Gaga is accused of. Or that time Blondie's Debbie Harry escaped. Ted Bill Fundy Listen to Disgraceland on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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