The TOP 10 JUICIEST matchups of the 2026 college football season

On today's episode of Andy and Arian 3 presented by BetMGM, it is the 10 juiciest college football games of 2026. Will they be the 10 best? We don't know. Will they have the juiciest storylines? At least right now they do. We'll break them down. Of course, Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford is on the list. Of course, the rematch between Arch Manning and Julian Sane is on the list. Of course, we've got QBs who left one school and went to another in the conference and have to play against them on the list. We got it all. We'll talk about it today on Andy and Ariana on 3 presented by BetMGM. This show is presented by BetMGM and there's no better place to be during March matchups than Las Vegas. This year, college basketball fans can win a VIP trip to the Court of Legends event featuring the Cavender Twins. Simply play sports bets and your position on the leaderboard will determine if you win one of the 25 grand prize packages. 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Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM. It is a glorious, glorious Monday, Ari, because we are talking about college football games that are going to happen. practice is starting this week in a bunch of schools like it's the offseason and I know we have a lot of offseason left but days like today make me feel like I can make it this is March let's go baby that's right uh you know there's I feel like there's no more appropriate way to uh bask in the newness of March by talking about some of the matchups that get your blood boiling, Andy. I'm super excited. And the coolest thing about this list is this list is formulated based on what we know currently. Do you know how many games we're going to get based on things that we don't know currently that are also going to be awesome later on? Like, it's going to be amazing. So some of these games might actually age out of not being that interesting, although most of them will because of the feelings aspect of it. and you know how much I like feelings. But think about, like, there are certain games on this list, if you want to go through some of them now, that didn't make the cut. Like, Ohio State-Michigan is not on this list. Yeah, because we don't know if it's going to be interesting yet. But if Michigan's, like, a one-loss team and Ohio State's a one-loss team, that would be maybe number one. The freaking game of the year? Yeah. Yeah, and Ohio State, by the way, was a lot of honorable mentions. Ohio State-USC was an honorable mention. You mentioned Ohio State-Michigan. And Ohio State playing a hard, Ohio State, Indiana is an honorable mention. Ohio State playing a hard schedule is just good for college football. It's just fun. But as you pointed out, if you look at this list, we've only got two games that are in November on this list because a lot of stuff has to happen before we get there. And the season will set up the juiciness of most of those November games. But there are some fun, fun games on this list. Let's start with number 10. We're going to Kyle Field. You and I were at this game the last time it was at Kyle Field. Texas at Texas A&M. Texas has beaten Texas A&M three times in a row, but that dates back to 2011. So this is an extra psychic weight that Texas A&M has to carry. Yeah. You know, it is just a reminder of how deep this list is, Andy, because I cannot believe this is number 10. And, you know, a lot of it has to do with, you know, former lovers returning back to the home of their foes. And there's nothing that can be done results wise to change any of the compelling natures of that. But when you think about this is one of the best rivalries in college football and we're two years removed from it. But the first time I went to Kyle Field ever was for that game. And I'm comfortable saying that it sucked like it wasn't like obviously the place is a cathedral and it's unlike any other place in college football. The fans are great. I'm not saying that A&M Stadium isn't loud, but you remember the tenor of that game. It wasn't like a blowout, but Texas A&M wasn't really in it. The crowd kind of got out of it a little bit. Texas sucked the energy out of it very quickly. And it's interesting because in both cases, since this rivalry's return with Texas coming to the SEC, in both cases, they've both been good teams. But the game kind of went the same way both times, where Texas kind of boa-constricted Texas A&M defensively. and that's what has to change for Texas A&M. Marcel Reed, if you look at those last two games of the year, he was great for most of the year. Those last two games, the Texas game, the Miami game, they bottled him up. They kept him in the pocket, forced him to make throws that he could not make in those situations. In both of those games, he had a terrible yards per attempt, very inefficient and had zero touchdowns and two picks in both of those games so he's got to be better in this game but texas a&m just for the sake of the rivalry for the sake of of well we said battered aggie syndrome is gone i don't know if it is like i think it came back when texas beat them in austin this year yeah yeah they got to figure out how to beat these guys because if they They don't. Texas A&M moving to the SEC changed Texas A&M's identity. And it's interesting because I made that list of ranking the realignment moves of the 2010s and had Texas A&M number one. And I said they changed their identity. And all the Texas A&M fans agreed wholeheartedly. Of course, everything felt different. And the Texas fans were like, it's not really any different. But it is different because Texas A&M is far less little brother globally to Texas now. But if they can't beat Texas, you go right back to being little brother. So you've got to stop getting beat by Texas. Yeah, you're making me want to put it higher on the list, Andy, because we spent so much time, if you think about how many minutes we spent on this show talking about Ryan Day's inability to beat Michigan and what that meant for his placement in that rivalry. This is every bit as bitter of a rivalry. Now, maybe not quite to the same extent because they also have different rivals. But, you know, in terms of me living in this state and feeling the hate on a day-to-day basis is as tangible here as it was when I lived in Columbus. And now you're talking about a team, an A&M, that was supposed to have their own season last year. They were undefeated going into the Texas A&M, or the Texas game. They went on the road and they ended up losing. And losing, I would say, you know, kind of convincingly. You know, maybe not on the scoreboard, but it seemed like Texas controlled that game from start to finish for the most part. And it's like, when does it start becoming a mental thing with Elko? Everything with Elko is perfect. And A&M is ahead of schedule and they made the playoff and they literally almost beat the national championship runner up at home in the first round. Like there's a lot to feel good about. But at what point does the inability to beat Texas start becoming bigger than maybe it has been? Because I think you get the benefit of the doubt, you know, at the beginning. and on the other side of this too Andy Texas has not broken through yet under Steve Sarkeesian they've made the playoffs a few times and they've already like step like through the first step of the development have become a new place but they haven't broken through all the way so if they are a bubble team to borrow a March term or a team or a one and these could both be bubble teams we have no idea how the first year of nine game SEC schedules is going to work out going back and like what if and if a and m beats texas and knocks texas out of the playoff i mean there are very very many scenarios that could come into play in this game andy that make this a pretty big pressure cooker for texas too so i don't want to just make it about elko but like right now um you don't want to start off oh and three against your rival in the middle of the build so i think this is highly compelling and i wonder because we had the same conversation about ohio state michigan and and like when ohio state lost to michigan and then went on to win the national title like if texas a&m let's say they either got a different draw in the playoff or they had you know that that pass gets caught by an aggie in the end zone and not by a hurricane in the end zone and a&m wins and they go you know to the semifinals or go to the the national championship game are we talking about this differently i think we probably are talking about this differently but I think because of the way A&M's season ended, with Texas' defense controlling that game and then Miami's defense controlling Texas A&M's offense in that game, we know where the improvement needs to come for Texas A&M. We know where, if they're going to take the next step. Because remember, in both these games, since the rivalry was renewed, Texas A&M has been able to do next to nothing offensively against Texas. Yeah. And by the way, Texas under new management on defense now. which is interesting because it's not like Pete Kwiatkowski did a terrible job, but they part ways with him. They bring in Will Muschamp, who's a very good defensive coordinator. It's going to be interesting to see how that changes, because Kwiatkowski had A&M's number. Yeah, so this is, and the fact that it's back at College Station. It just feels like it's going to be another big-time game, and whoever wins it. It's all about steps and levels, right? You don't just go from being okay to winning the national title. You start off 10 or 11-0, then maybe your season doesn't end the way that you want, but then you want to build off of that. I don't think that Texas A&M is a completely built program until they can field a team that is physically equipped to handle Texas, whether it be at home or on the road. So this is going to be a continued storyline for Elko. as he builds that program and he's on the right track but you know this is going to be a big big big game and it had to be on this list little bet mgm guess the line here because obviously they haven't put out any of the early lines yet on this stuff it's a total insane question on your part andy but i'd love to know because everything's going to change during the season but based on what we know now what would you put the line in this game texas minus three and a half i think that's fair i think that's fair until we see texas a&m do some stuff offensively and look it may be completely different by the time they get to this game but this rivalry the bitterness of it the kind of texas looking down their nose texas a&m being obsessed with texas even when they weren't playing saw varsity's horns off songs about texas like they're a lot about texas and eventually a&m has to break through eventually you actually have to saw varsity's horns off or you got to stop bringing it right like you don't get the sway anymore unless you actually solve rc's horns off yeah yeah we shall see but that is a fun one our next game is our other november game our number nine is our other november game and it is a quarterback returning to play against his old team and oh boy this is going to be i don't know that both of these that we have on our list are contentious, but this one's going to be pretty nasty. I think Duke at Miami. So Darian Mensah was Duke's quarterback last year, led Duke to an ACC title. Miami did not win the ACC title, but was the ACC team that made the playoff and made it to the national title game. It was clear Miami wanted to transfer quarterback, but as the transfer portal wound down didn't have one yet and then on the day before the portal closes it comes out that Darian Mensah wants out and where does he want to go Miami now I think this game would be a little bit higher on the list if the game were uh at Duke um unfortunately it's in Miami so at least Darian Mensah will have the comfort of his friends around him it's not like Wallace Wade Stadium is known for being the snake pit there no no i know but like going back home i think is more compelling than your ex-lover coming to you i mean think about like you were dating somebody and you had to like see them it's it's much easier to see them on your home turf um but i do think that no matter how this goes like we don't know what duke is going to be duke is the defending acc champion and something that miami has never done uh so maybe they'll be very good again next year but part of the reason they were very good or good enough to win their conference was because they had a star quarterback who's no longer on the team. So like, by the way, by the way, as, as you're talking, we have photos of Manny Diaz running. Let us not forget that by Emmy had Manny Diaz as his head coach and fired him to hire Mario Cristobal. So there's also that. Yeah. I mean, this is how rivalry start, but Duke has to hold up its end of the bargain. I don't know. You know, we are still very early in the roster turnover phase to be 100% familiar with how good everyone's going to be, and there will be teams that jump out of nowhere. Duke has to hold up their end of the bargain. If Duke is a 500 team or less than 500 team going into this game in November, it might not be as compelling if Miami is wrong. We are talking about the defending ACC champions. Show some freaking respect. No, I know. I know. Sorry. How dare I? But they do need to hold up their end of the bargain. That's a fact. I think we know that Miami is going to be at least very good or pretty good, maybe even great. I think they're going to be very good. Yeah. So I just don't want this to be a 17 and a half point spread is all I'm saying. Cause like, that's what would ruin it knocking off the list, but the feelings aspect of it, this is the feelings bowl. And on both sides of it, Miami was the aggressor and the scorned lover disputes. Yeah. Yes. They kicked Manny Diaz to the curb. They stole Darian Mensah. Like there's a lot of emotional angst going on here. Yeah. And I think that this is for the ball heads, really. Like I don't know if this is the type of game that like some random fan that like watches top five matchups on night games on Saturday nights really going to get after. But like if you listen to the show, you can probably feel the. Yeah, if you are our people, you're circling this one very, very early. Yeah. Speaking of early, let's get to our next game. our number eight game, Oregon at USC. This is the, it's not the Big Ten opener for USC. It is USC's second Big Ten game. But remember, USC drops Notre Dame. They go get San Jose State. So this was because of the difficulty of the Big Ten schedule. Soft. But it's San Jose State, Fresno State, the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana. and then they open big and play against Rutgers. And then it begins for USC. They have a stretch of Oregon, Washington, and Penn State, starting with Oregon coming to the Coliseum. This is a game already last year where USC goes to Autzen Stadium, Autzen Stadium, sorry, and USC is still in playoff contention. If USC beats Oregon, they probably make the playoff, and it was never that competitive. this is where USC shows we are here to make the playoff. We are here to be part of the big 10 race or it's where they say, all right, we're not on Oregon's level again. You know how we did this list? Cause I like want it to be higher. And that just shows you how awesome we like all the games above it are, are better. Like this is like the Lincoln Riley. Are you going to, are you going to just do it already? Like, what are we, what is this year? Is this year six? or year this is year five year five oh yeah because i i had to pay uh last was that no after year three you had to pay yes oh it was three years sorry i thought that that was four years okay yeah year five that's a half a decade that's a long time in college football world um like go do it and like i also love too that um usc gets to maintain uh some of its pack 12 rivalries this was always a big game back in that day and you know I don't know what the future Big Ten schedules are going to hold but I'm assuming there's going to be a day in time where you know USC and Oregon don't play every year so I think we should savor these moments too because it kind of reminds me of the past but yeah this is a ultimate shit or get off the pot moment right like this is this is do or die are we going to do because like what like put up USC schedule again by the way do you see that that's the thing and you could say oh they could just lose it well if they lose this one they still have to play washington penn state ohio state and indiana and wisconsin's in the middle and we don't know what wisconsin's gonna be maybe wisconsin turns out to be an eight win team this year and that's not an easy game to go on the road like they're gonna be in madison in late oct in late october like that's like a really rough rough schedule and you know if notre dame were now i kind of understand why they don't want to play it because like that would just be like impossible to make the playoff probably um or i guess they could have just tried to be really good but you know that's too much to be good um but you know this is uh a pivotal game that they need you don't want to start off that that stretch with a loss against oregon because like it's also that you've touched on this andy it's not just a loss in the standings it's also a litmus test it's a measuring stick of who you are as a program and you're always going to compare yourself to oregon because you're a former pac-12 member and oregon does a lot of it's recruiting in your state and has traditionally built its program up from players from your state so like if you are ready to compete at a high level um you can't lose this game and it's at home right like it's like it's at home so uh for the ducks this is their big 10 opener and their schedule is not easy either like their their big 10 schedule is pretty rough too so they can't really afford to drop this one either this is a team that we we think is is almost there we think is almost over the hump like if you look at what organ brings back on defense they are going to be nasty on defense they're going to be awesome on defense we think they're gonna be pretty good on offense too but they've got to play illinois they've got to play former organ head coach chip kelly as northwestern's offensive coordinator uh they're at ohio state they get michigan and of course the washington rivalry and i think washington is going to be very good this year. So they have no slouch of a Big Ten schedule, and they need to keep showing progress, which progress for them, like they got to make it to the national championship game to equal progress over last year. So they have probably a higher bar than USC has, but they need to win this game because it doesn't get much easier after this. They're still going to be challenged quite a bit going forward. They can't afford to slip up here. Yeah. Yeah. Super compelling. And you know how I am with the Lincoln Riley feelings like that really gets my juices flowing. I love that we used juiciest as the word for this list because I think it's perfectly appropriate. They very juicy And that the thing because I think USC people are very excited about this season And I understand why you just brought in this number one recruiting class You bring back a really good quarterback in Jade Maiava You got some some good players young players who played last year who showed a lot of promise I do think USC people should be excited about this This though is kind of where the rubber meets the road This is where you decide I want to stay excited or uh And I think that's what it is. I think because the USC fans, at least the ones who interact with me on social media, have gotten much more cynical about Lincoln Riley as the years have gone on. Why? Because I've been kind of even keel regarding Lincoln Riley. like I've not I I've never been as high as you are on him but I also don't think he's terrible and I think he can be a very like he's still a very young guy he can be an all-time great head coach if a few things get buttoned up yeah but the USC fans I interact with have they've gone from he's the greatest stop criticizing him to stop blowing sunshine up our you know what's we've seen the last couple of years so i i i get it i i get where you are this game is the kind of one where those people they go back they go back on his his bandwagon if usc wins this they may be all the way off if usc yeah yeah or the torches come out yeah yeah or if it looks like it did because last year's game was not a blowout but you were never really worried about oregon in that game Yeah, I think that even if USC were to lose by three in a tight game, you might still take something from it. I know we're in a no morals victory thing. I think that you want to see a product. But Oregon might be the best team in the country. I don't know that it's win or go home. I think it is match their athleticism and show that you belong athletically on the same field. Your program is akin to that. Because the thing that's been the most hard thing for them to swallow, Andy more than anything is that it's not just that they're not winning a lot of games it's that they know their program isn't equal to the place that has pillaged their state for talent um so it seems like uh USC has made some major strides in their NIL front you know and I you know how I feel about Southern California um the Orange County Zillow page is like my home page on my browser like I think that like there is a lot to be excited about and I was very excited when he was hired you We've said it many times on the show. I thought for sure they were going to be a new power because that was Oklahoma Lincoln-Riley. And then the Oklahoma Lincoln-Riley and some of the deficits or deficiencies that he had when he was there that Oklahoma fans were quick to point out once he left actually turned out to be true. So let's see if he can overcome them. I think they fixed their defense, and it's gotten better over the last few years. They lost their BC. They have to move on from that and figure that out. But that schedule in general, Like if you're a USC fan who says like, you know, CFP or bust, like you might, you know, if they win nine games, like you might have a case. So, I mean, it depends on how great Indiana is. I think that that's kind of a question mark, too, of like you lose your core. You lose your quarterback who's going to be the number one overall pick in the NFL draft. Like, are you still elite or are you just a solid team? Like, I don't know what that's going to be. There's a lot. there's a lot to unpack there but usc has to at least exist on this field with oregon and look like they're an equal counterpart right and i mentioned they lost anton lynn the the defensive coordinator to penn state they did pick up gary patterson though yeah and gary patterson has been yeah gary patterson's an all-time great coach like defensively was calling the defense at tcu for for most of those years one of i think he might be the greatest evaluator in the history of the sport because he can just look at some guy in 10th grade who's playing running back and be like, you're an NFL defensive end and be right. So I'm excited to see what he does there. And I think that's the thing. USC people have every reason to be excited going into this season. This will be the first real test where you decide, okay, am I still excited or is this more of the same? And I think if it's, am I still excited coming out of this game? And again, it doesn't necessarily have to be a USC win to still be excited. But I think that this will tell us a lot. We will learn something from this game. Yeah. Number seven. Another quarterback. Now this time the quarterback is going back to the place he left. Oh, by the way, he's getting sued by that place too. It is Texas Tech headed to Cincinnati. Brendan Sorsby returns to Nippert Stadium for the first time since leaving the Bearcats for the Red Raiders. You're going through an absolutely bloody divorce with your wife. And she is hosting your three-year-old daughter's birthday party at her house. That's what this is. Yes, that's exactly right. You're being sued. and you got to go back to the house that you may have paid for uh exactly you probably you at least helped pay for it and at that point maybe you have paid something i don't know if they've settled or what the deal is you also are bringing your rocket girlfriend right yeah because that's That's going to be very good. So like, yeah, you are bringing, you're bringing, there will be a lot of talent on your arm. Yeah. Let's put it that way. Yeah. Everybody in the room is going to think you're an asshole, but at least you can hold your head high. I think that this is going to be fun. I think it's going to be entertaining and there's nothing better in college football than comparing a game to real life, actually sad situations where people get divorced. So it is a, well, I bring it down. We were having so much fun. Yeah, no, I know. I mean, I think I lean on the relationship stuff too much, but it is, I mean, but isn't that kind of what it is? There's definitely a rom-com vibe to this, and Texas Tech's supporting cast is Brendan Soresby's revenge body, if that makes sense. Yes. I mean, it's like, oh, by the way, I'm bringing this defense that's going to try to bury your quarterback, and maybe they probably will. Or his hidden bank account from all the money that he was hiding from his ex-partner, which is part of the reason they're getting divorced. He's not hiding it. He's just like, I'm not paying you. It was a hidden account. You know, people, you know. I'm rich. You didn't know this. Meanwhile, J.C. French, Georgia Southern's all-time leading passer. That's Cincinnati's new QB. What if he just lights it up? What if the new man in Cincinnati's life turns out to be the stepdad, the dad who stepped up? Well, you know, I think that Cincinnati in general is kind of an interesting program at the moment, too, because like last year, Satterfield came into the season kind of on the hot seat. And then they like won, I believe, six or seven games in a row. And then did you see how their season ended? Obviously, you did. They lost five in a row. Yeah, it was rough. Arizona, BYU, and TCU. and then ultimately lit Navy in their bowl game, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. So it wasn't the best ending, but at least it did feel like there was some progress to be made there. I'm very curious what Cincinnati is going to be, and I'm assuming that Nippert is going to be quite fired up for this game. And this is kind of what I was saying, that Mensa is not going to have to deal with, which is going back to a place where everybody hates you. He's hosting the birthday party. Brendan Soresby has to go to it. and has to wait for those. And Nippert is already a pretty intense place to play. The fans are right on top of you. It's kind of dug into the ground. This is going to be an intense environment. I can't wait to see this. Yeah. And one of these quarterbacks is probably going to lose. So we'll see which one it is. But that's how college football goes. I don't know if both are just going to go. You mean Mensa or Soresby? Something crazy is going to happen, right? It's the sport. I don't know which one it's going to be. Something crazy always happens. That's the beauty. It's the king of grab-ass. So, yeah, certainly higher on the list because of the location of the game, in my opinion. Let us move to number six on our list. This was a tough one because this could be number one by the time we get to this game. It is Penn State at Michigan. And we haven't seen this game in a couple of years. We haven't seen this game since the Sharon Moore taking over for Jim Harbaugh because Jim Harbaugh got suspended while they were in midair headed to State College. But now you have Matt Campbell leading Penn State against Kyle Whittingham's Michigan. We'll start with the Penn State part of it because they're both in very different situations. In this particular situation, where this falls in the schedule, Penn State will have just played USC at home. By the way, Lincoln Riley, it doesn't get much easier after the Oregon thing. But Penn State will have just played USC at home. Then they go to Ann Arbor. If they beat USC, there's a good chance that this game can kind of lock up the playoff for them if they win it. If you look at the rest of the schedule, that they would still probably have a mulligan and would have a fairly manageable schedule the rest of the way. Yeah. I mean, if they've lost to USC, then it's sort of a desperation. Like, hey, we need to win this thing. You know, based on the way the Big Ten's old divisions were set up, and during a time when Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan were all very good to solid teams, like this became one of the most pivotal matchups on an annual basis. And I believe kind of felt rivalry ish to me. And you have two teams that are in transition mode. Both probably unexpectedly in this position too. If you would have told both teams that they would have new coaches heading into this coming season in the middle of, you know, March last year, they would have been like, what the hell happened? Both for very different reasons, but both. A lot, guys. A lot happened. Yeah. So I think that you have two coaches that are, you know, in a position where they have to show early returns and they want to be successful out of the gate. And I think this is going to be a good measuring stick for both of these programs to say, hey, where are we? Who's superior at the moment and who's going to be more ready to, you know, climb the ladder and get back to where they were and overcome some of their hardships, whether it be self-inflicted or just bad circumstances with these two teams. Now, Michigan is going to be challenged before they get here. They'll have already played Oklahoma. They'll have already played Iowa. So it's not like they're not going to be challenged. This is a tough schedule. Michigan's schedule is much tougher than Penn State's. Much tougher. If Michigan's going to make the playoff, they probably have to win this game because they play Ohio State, they play Oregon, they play Indiana, they play Iowa, they play Oklahoma. All of those could be playoff teams, for God's sake. yeah that's a pretty rough schedule too so um and like part of the reason why ohio state michigan's not on the list guys just so you know is because this game is going to predicate how important that one is not that it's not going to be important to the people involved in it but like i'm very curious like what michigan actually is in november if michigan's a 10-win team in november and is going to columbus you could throw that in the top three i mean that's just an automatic every year so um we'll we'll see where it goes um but the emotional aspect of it i do think it's inherently interesting to watch a coach in Michigan or coaching Michigan exist in that rivalry for the first time. But we know that Kyle Whittingham has done a very good job in that with his record against BYU while at Utah. So I'm sure he'll have his boys ready to play. So yeah, that's a really exciting Big Ten change of the guard type situation. And no matter what happens before that, I think it's going to be interesting because even if like Michigan stumbles a few times, it's just like, is Whittingham going to lose the boat right out of the gate? It's going to be fascinating no matter what. Yeah, and if things are going well for Michigan, this is one of those where if you win this one, you go into a pretty difficult stretch with a lot of confidence. And the thing I'm most excited about is we're showing Bryce Underwood now on the screen if you're listening in podcast form. What is Bryce Underwood going to look like in this offense? What is Bryce Underwood going to look like with coaching that isn't just melting down? I mean, I go back to like the Northwestern game at the end of the season. That was just frustrating to watch. But you know this guy can be really good. You know he has all of the tools that he needs to be a great quarterback. And so Jason Beck comes in as the OC. Whittingham's the head coach. You keep Andrew Marsh. You keep a lot of the line. It feels like he's ready to take a big step. and he will be challenged. He will be challenged pretty much from the get-go. Great defenses right off the bat in Oklahoma and Iowa. And then this will be one where you're at home, you're playing as a team that should be fairly equal to you, and where do you stack up? Because I think this is one of the... The thing about a lot of these that we've picked, they're kind of representative. they feel like a game where we will learn a lot about both teams this feels like a game we will learn a lot about bryce underwood michigan kyle whittingham's michigan what it is i just i i think i think it's going to be so much fun to watch this new regime go through this season because again they're going to be challenged over and over and over again but for matt campbell and like But Ari, think about this. There's so many alternate histories where if the jobs had come open at different times or the Sharon Moore firing had happened at a different time, Matt Campbell might be Michigan's coach right now. Yeah, without question. And I think he would have done that. I mean, if he would have done it for Penn State, he certainly would have done it for Michigan. You know, yeah, this is ultra compelling, and I'm super excited for it. Yeah, it's going to be so much fun. Let us go to number five, the fifth juiciest game. And this one, we go into the SEC here. Florida at Auburn. This is the SEC opener for both teams. It is on September 19th. And we talk about alternate histories in which coach went where. John Sumrall was down the road with Auburn. He was a ways down the road with Auburn to replace Hugh Freeze. and then it didn't happen in part because Florida came real hard. Once Lane Kiffin ghosted Florida, they had to figure out what to do. John Summerall quickly became number one on their list and they came after him very hard. And so this is another alternate history situation because if John Summerall takes Auburn, Alex Golish is probably the head coach at Arkansas. Don't know who the head coach at Florida is. but very different world that we're living in. Yes. I was watching the Florida basketball game on Saturday night when they dropped 100 on, who was it? Arkansas. 111. And John Summerhill was behind the bench just cheering his ass off. I'm like, that guy could have been Auburn's coach. I had that thought. And I guess maybe it is kind of a small world, But obviously, too, Andy, anytime you have two programs that want to compete at a high level, expect to compete at a high level, who have hired a new coach, not to mention the fact that they were both interested in the same one, and you're breaking those guys in at the same time, that's just SEC football at its peak. Which team is going to be on the fast track? Which team's already going to want to fire their new coach? I don't think either of these teams are going into this year expecting playoffs or expecting to be dominant in the SEC. They kind of want to see where they are in year one with their new coach. But this is one of those where people are – because this is how these fan bases operate. Whoever loses this game, the fan base will be ready to jump off a bridge. And they're going to be like, we're behind Auburn still. We're behind Florida still. Everything's a measuring stick. Everything is a comparison. and you know part of that's because of us but i think that the fans too you know are educated and smart enough to say hey you know we are in similar boats we hired coaches we had the same time to improve our rosters how are we not as good as the team that was you know theoretically in the same exact position that we were in and i don't know if that's always a fair comparison it's not always apples to apples florida did a good job of retaining some of its best players auburn brought in a really exciting quarterback but lost their best receiver. It's not the same exact situation, but they will be viewed the same way by the fans and whoever loses the game. Also, Auburn quarterback Byron Brown, no stranger to beating Florida. He went into the swamp with USF and beat Florida last year. And obviously, he's not the only one coming from USF. So there's several players on this team who've already beaten Florida once and beat them at their place with a team that wasn't supposed to win. Yeah, Byron Brown is a quarterback who got both coaches new jobs in this game. That's entirely true because, right, Byron Brown helped contribute to the firing of Billy Napier. So, yeah. He helped contribute. That was it. Like, I think that that game was over. That probably was it. Yeah. I mean, other things happened before he got fired, but that probably was the end, right? Yeah, I think that it was like, unless Florida goes undefeated and shows that that was a complete anomaly, which was never going to happen, like, everybody was out at that point. Yeah, and we don't know what the Florida's quarterback situation is going to be yet. Aaron Filo and Trammell Jones will be in competition this spring. And I know what you're thinking. Oh, Aaron Filo is from Georgia Tech. Buster Faulkner, the new offensive coordinator from Georgia Tech. That's the starter for sure. I wouldn't go so far. If you watched our interview with John Summerall last week, he was pretty adamant that this is going to be a real competition. They had to work pretty hard to keep Trammell Jones Jr., who I think probably would have had a chance to be a starter elsewhere. So I do think it will be a legitimate competition. Yes, they are. They are. And so I do think it'll be a legitimate competition to see who winds up playing quarterback for the Gators. It's not at Auburn. It's Byron Brown. We talked to Alex Gullish, and he said bringing his center, bringing Byron Brown from USF allows him to sleep at night because he knows the offense is going to, at least from the beginning of each play, function the way it's intended to function. And I think that is a pretty comforting thing. Yeah. But this is going to be so much fun because you've seen Auburn. And again, we've mentioned this on the show. It still doesn't feel real to me. But Auburn has not had a winning season since 2019. That is insane. And the fans keep showing up. Think about how they reacted. I hate to say it, they're at their most enthusiastic every time they fire a coach. Think about when Cadillac Williams was the interim and how much they showed up. But they showed up last year when Hugh Freeze got fired. They have been through a lot. A lot. Maybe this is a good show for next week. Top 10 most tortured fan bases in the moment. Oh, I like it. I like it. so this is going to be a fun game. There's going to be a bunch of these. The thing about the SEC coaching carousel this past year is that a lot of it was predicated on where John Summerall landed. And so that affected everybody else. And this one had a huge effect. And now you have Alex Golish at Auburn where, you know, you've seen him on the show, guys. This guy sounds like he knows what he's doing. This guy sounds like somebody who can get Auburn in the place where they want it to go. And Auburn wanted to be able to keep DJ Durkin as the defensive coordinator. They did. So this is, we'll find out. SEC opener for both teams. We stay in the SEC area and head to number four on our list. And this is a game between two teams that we didn get all that much in the SEC divisional era We tended to get it in the SEC championship game or even in the playoff But now we're getting it more in the regular season. And it has been fun the last couple regular seasons. So Georgia heads to Alabama. Alabama has won the last two regular season matchups. And Georgia, of course, crushed Alabama in the SEC championship game last year. this one is a big one for Kalen DeBoer. Kirby Smart's place in the world is very secure and safe. Kalen DeBoer won this game last year, won this game the year before in the regular season. It's crazy to think that if you had two regular season wins against Georgia and you made the playoff one of those years, that people are unsure about you. But that is where Kalen DeBoer is right now. Yeah, isn't it kind of wild? Well, and the other thing, too, and, like, I know that I always – it's, like, a tricky scenario, and I don't know if, like, a bunch of people who hate Mike Bobo are clouding my judgment, but, like, when do Georgia fans get restless, too? You know, not in any, like, way of, like, saying they would want their coach gone or anything, but frustrated. I'm sure they're already there in terms of being used to being the premier program or the premier team in college football, and it's been quite some time since they were the dominant force that we are used to them being. And maybe that's just not the case for anybody anymore in this new sport. But, you know, with the SEC in general, these are the two teams, you know, you had a little bit of LSU sprinkled in there that have kind of been carrying the banner for the SEC for the past decade, and neither of them have been truly elite in quite some time. So, you know, that said, there are also teams that could turn around and win the national title next year. And that wouldn't be overly shocking to anybody because, again, they've amassed talent at a very impressive rate. But, you know, this game in general is the two premier brands in the SEC playing in Tuscaloosa during a time in which at least one program is very uncertain about the future of their coach. Unless anybody's trying to hire him, that is. So, like, that is... That's the craziest part is we just went through two weeks of Michigan really wants Kalen DeBoer, but Kalen DeBoer's got a playoff game. and the Bama fans are like, that's our coach. You can't take our coach. And the playoff game happens. They win it. And then they go get just boat raced by Indiana. It's like, why didn't you take our coach? I mean, it's funny how wins and losses in the playoff, you know, change the way things are viewed. But, I mean, they did win a playoff game. I mean, Georgia's in the same boat, though. Two years of the 12-team playoff, they've had a buy into the quarterfinals both years and they've lost in the quarterfinals both years which to Georgia fans who have become accustomed to going deep deep deep being in the national championship conversation every single year that's ultra frustrating for them so if you're Kirby there the pressure doesn't really relent on you you still have to win games like this to be in position to get back in the playoff to then go deeper in the playoff to satisfy everybody I mean, it is kind of funny to me that Alabama made the playoff, won a playoff game, and still it feels this dire. But again, these are two fan bases that are used to only one thing, and that is win. And any departure from that is a concerning thing. And frankly speaking, this is ultra compelling just based on the helmets. It's also compelling based on the time in the calendar that it is because it's still fairly early in the season. and it might set the table for the way that things go for the rest of the year for both teams. But you can bet your ass that when Alabama takes the field at Bryant and Denny, they're going to figure out really quickly who they are, and the answer better be that they're very good. Well, here's the thing. I think they need to be 5-0 going into this game. So Alabama goes East Carolina at Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina at home, at Mississippi State going into this game. They should win all those. And I think one of the criticisms of Kalen DeBoer, probably the harshest criticism of Kalen DeBoer, is that Alabama does not play great against the teams that it should beat. So if you go by that logic, of course Alabama is going to be up for this Georgia game. No problem. It's Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Starkville, which if you saw Kamario Taylor at the end of the year, there's reason to be excited about what they could be. they got to win those games like those are the games Kalen DeBoer needs to consistently win in Alabama that Nick Saban always won that I think their fan base gets frustrated because you don't know when they're going to throw up a stinker now and I think that's the biggest issue and you go back to last year like when they went to Columbia South Carolina they had to fight their asses off to get out of there right their asses off yeah and you never know uh but in my opinion if alabama drops a game they're not supposed to or something like florida state happens again then this game becomes even more compelling like i i just i think that like when the bar for both programs is so high uh winning is interesting and losing is very interesting so um we'll see how it turns out but andy i'm super pumped uh for this game specific and honestly speaking like the two banner programs in the SEC if they're going to remain that or if LSU is going to creep up or someone else is going to cream up and take that title. Yeah, producer River asks, is this a Heisman game for Gunnar Stockton? We'll see. I mean, Gunnar Stockton was really good as the season went on last year. I don't know if people realize he had 10 rushing touchdowns also last year. No, he was underappreciated. He's a good quarterback. Yeah, he's a very good quarterback. And we don't know whether it's going to be Austin Mack or Keelan Russell starting for Alabama. So So we don't really know how that's going to look. Really compelling, Andy. Who knows? What if we have musical quarterback grab ass for Alabama going into the year? We're going to play two against East Carolina. Yeah. Don't rule it out, man. It's all on the table. Yeah. Yeah. And the question, can Alabama run the ball? Obviously, they've replaced their offensive line coach and tight ends coach with the intent of being a better running team. Georgia was the one that truly exposed how bad they were at running the ball. They were not great at running the ball toward the end of last season, but Georgia absolutely demolished them. Demolished them in the SEC championship game because Alabama couldn't run the ball. That is going to be another big measuring stick for this new regime. It's not a completely revamped offensive staff, but the new parts of the offensive staff were specifically tailored to being able to run the ball better, this will be the biggest challenge they will face to that point. It's going to be so much fun. And Brian Denny, of course, is going to be electric that night. Electric. Yeah. Are we moved to number three? And this game, when it was played last year in week one, was amazing. And then it became the gift that kept on giving in terms of controversy and debate for the remainder of the season. I speak, of course, of Miami-Notre Dame, the game that introduced us to CJ Carr for Notre Dame and Malachi Tony for Miami, and really just lit the fuse on the 2025 college football season in a debate that lasted until Selection Sunday. Now, Miami goes to Notre Dame, but the difference here, and this is a key difference, this game's November 7th. This is not the season opener. This is where the ACC put it because this is part of the Notre Dame ACC Scheduling Alliance. So this is Notre Dame needed this. Notre Dame needed a good ACC team. They got slotted against them in November, especially in a year where they lose USC in the schedule. Yeah, you know, I was trying to think about this, Andy, just now when you said this. But when's the last time and maybe there's an obvious one. I'm just being an idiot that like the first game or one of the first games of the regular season. lit the fuse for the story that prevailed throughout the entire year. Like that was a very interesting dynamic because it was a thrilling game. And then it was the game that we kept referencing for the next three months. Like it was for different reasons. Like in 2008, Alabama crushes Clemson in Atlanta in the season opener. And that was where Clemson was supposed to be the best team in the ACC. They end up firing Tommy Bowden. They end up hiring Dabo as the interim. and then Alabama goes on and goes undefeated in the regular season, plays for the SEC title. That was kind of the story of the season in one game, but it wasn't like that. It wasn't like week after week at the end of the season we relitigated that Miami-Notre Dame game last year because it had such a huge effect on the playoff. And the crazy part about it is if the rules that are in effect for 26 were in effect in 25, it wouldn't have mattered that Miami won that game. Notre Dame, because they finished in the top 12 in the playoff ranking, would have made the playoff. Or they could have just moved them to 13. They could have. They might have. Who knows? I don't know what they would have done. I don't think they would have done that. But it's amazing how much gravy that game made. Now, this is going to be a little bit different situation because it falls in the middle of the schedule. Notre Dame does not have the two toughest games of its season to start out. They start out with Wisconsin and Rice. we talked about schedule the other day it's not particularly challenging if it had usc on it instead of byu it would be maybe more challenging i don't know byu is gonna be good too but this is not what they intended they would like to be finishing the season at usc like they do in most even years this game is ultra compelling because of last year but this game might actually ultimately turn out to be ultra compelling because depending on how Notre Dame season goes they might absolutely need to win in order to bolster their resume enough to get into the playoff now they might go unfeated or be a one loss team and it might not matter I don't know but if Notre Dame stumbles against somebody before this starts they absolutely cannot lose it or they're going to find themselves in the same exact situation that they were in last year which is 10 and 2 without any real quality wins and who knows the schedule is a living breathing organism and we don't know which teams are going to come out of nowhere and turn out to be right yeah Wisconsin and Michigan State suddenly get good this schedule looks completely different yeah they lose to Michigan State or something in a weird game and they go undefeated elsewhere based on what I'm looking at the schedule like maybe SMU will be a top 15 team I don't know but that's a pretty pivotal game and like the entire benchmark for like what Notre Dame is as a program next year um so like I hate and I don't want to like re-litigate the show from last week about Notre Dame and USC, but if you look at Notre Dame's perspective, my viewpoint still remains that they would have stood to gain quite a bit from maybe playing and beating USC, although USC's schedule is really hard, and maybe that would have turned out to be like last year's game. But still, they don't have enough meat on the bone as we stand here right now where this game isn't ultra important for them. Hey, you know who else doesn't? Miami. Producer River, please throw up Miami's schedule. if Clemson and Florida State aren't back and there's no telling whether they would this game matters a lot for Miami like Notre Dame's schedule as it's written might be tougher than Miami's Clemson needs to be or this may not be a very tough schedule at all yeah it is kind of bad isn't it we may The craziest part about this list, this top 10 list we've done, is we may have Miami's two toughest games, and maybe there are only two tough games on the list. The Duke game and the Notre Dame game. And we don't know what the Duke game's going to be yet. We just know it's going to be juicy because of the quarterbacks. But this is, like, imagine Clemson's not good again, and imagine Florida State's what they've been the last two years. Like, Miami has to win this game, They're in the Notre Dame spot from last year. You know, and the thing that is so interesting, too, is that we talk about, like, I think that Notre Dame in general is probably a more established program at the moment than Miami. Is that a fair thing to say? Like, they have already proven to be more reliable year over year. Right now. I think they're kind of in the same place. They both were the national, like, both of them have made a national title game the last two years. Yeah. I think they feel like they're in similar spots. Notre Dame also was a very good team this year again. They didn't get in the playoff, but they also had a playoff for the team for a second consecutive year. And I'm very curious. I think it's very hard to imagine that Miami won't again be very good, especially against that schedule. But I think that that game, it may or may not factor into how the CFP deliberates at the end of the year. But I certainly think, again, to get back to the measuring stick benchmark feelings discussion, that they are going to measure each other against each other. and whoever wins that game, it's a statement for where they are as a program, and I get into that. I think that stuff matters, and I know that sometimes I can be a little dramatic. There's also the possibility, and this would make it less juicy if it happened this way, that they're both 11-1. Yeah. Or 1-11-1, 1-12-0. Yeah, if they're both undefeated or they both have one loss, well, again, if Notre Dame has one loss and they lose, then it becomes the same conversation again. But if it gets to a place where it doesn't matter, then at least we as consumers get a compelling game that like helps us kind of get the context of who's elite and because I'm anticipating that both of these teams are going to be in the top 10 when they face each other and when they do it's going to be really good and you can bet that Notre Dame is going to want that one and you can bet that Miami is going to want to prove that they are a consistent winner now like Mario Cristobal has gradually improved that program year over year and these are two teams that really build well on both lines of scrimmage like you're getting a playoff caliber, playoff quality line of scrimmage matchup when these two teams play. And that is always going to be fun. And they have to go up north in November. And, you know, it's their turn to get their spot in the snow. But, like, I do think that this is a highly competitive game. It's a compelling game. And I think it will have impact both on the national discourse, the college football playoff discussion points, and, of course, the hierarchy of the sport in general, which I get into. So, yeah, cannot wait for this game. And I believe this is either going to be, I have to check when the rankings reveals, or I don't even know if they've actually decided when they're going to be. This could be right after the first one or right before the first one. Yeah. Because for last year, it would be right after the first one. Yeah. I'm thinking it's right after the first ranking. So this will be right after the first, which is the thing that kind of messed it all up. I don't know anything about schedules. Yeah, it's usually right after Halloween. But the thing that messed everything up in terms of the debate last year, which probably set Notre Dame in a place where it made sense what their reaction was when they didn't get in. So having Notre Dame and Miami so far apart last year was what messed it all up. It'd be nice if they had these rankings come out before they play and then they play and then they can actually in real time adjust to it. Yeah, I think if Miami would have been ranked ahead at the get-go, then we would have probably avoided some of the criticism that they got. Or even if they'd have been a little closer together. Either one. Yeah, I mean, like, it's funny how the argument, the framing of the argument changed over time too, Andy. If you remember, it was, you know, Miami should have been ahead or Miami should have been behind, but then it turned out to be like, well, Notre Dame's fine being left out. They were just pissed. They were lied to all year. Like, it's like that. And it's like my columns were saying the committee is lying. Like it wasn't the way that it was supposed to be. So the college football playoff committee does certainly hold some responsibility of the fallout of this thing. And my hope is next year, it'll be a clean competitive, obviously telling game that will, you know, be ranked properly when it's concluded. Yeah, that, that is going to be so much fun in the cold in South bend. I hope it was an early snowstorm. That would be awesome to watch. Those Miami icy whites in the snow. Come on. Oh, yeah. Wow. Who's not watching that? Is we going to do a green-white game? I don't know. We'll see what the uniforms are, but it'll be beautiful. And I will say this. South Bend is awesome, man. It is unlike any other place. And I love going there. So it'll be a fun time. Let us head to Austin, Texas for a rematch of a game that we probably severely overreacted to last year. And we will probably severely overreact to this one this year, but I feel like this is completely different than the situation last year. Ohio State is going to play Texas. Last year, Texas opened the season against Ohio State in Columbus. This year, Ohio State goes to Texas in week two. But the biggest difference about it is you will not have two quarterbacks making their first start. You will not have game plans that are designed to protect those quarterbacks. and we made our opinions of Arch Manning pretty quickly. I don't think we had many opinions of Julian Sane after that game because Ohio State really didn't ask him to do a whole lot and just tried to squeeze the life out of Texas' offense. But Julian Sane went on to be a Heisman Trophy finalist, took his team into the playoff. Arch Manning got better as the season went on, was a pretty good quarterback by season's end. Their line got better as the season went on. this is going to be a completely different vibe for this matchup because you go in with two now experienced college quarterbacks who we agree are both pretty good imagine being a human being that thinks that they shouldn't play this game god couldn't be me uh you know the the uh thing that is interesting about this is that the compelling storylines that made last year the game of the century like don't exist anymore but then you also have two teams that expect to win a national championship playing in a rematch of a highly competitive game from the year before and you have two quarterbacks that are now seasoned veterans who are going to you know really lay the foundation of their Heisman campaigns potentially like you have two teams that expect to win the national championship and not neither team that loses is going to be cooked but you know I think that it's a great information gathering game as a result of Big Ten SEC supremacy like Andy you know this The audience doesn't like I went on crane and co and debated Brooks Austin for 45 minutes this morning for their show today about whether the big 10 is as good as the SEC. Like these are the games that help like fuel that debate. Like there's just nothing better than blue blood versus blue blood band. And not just that blue blood versus blue blood when they're both supposed to be very good. Yeah. And I think I'm excited to see a more complete version of these teams because I think last year it was a little bit of feeling each other. out and like can you imagine now that Ryan Day knows exactly what he gets out of Julian saying there's no kid gloves there like you are you are letting Julian say and let it rip yeah in this game and that's gonna be so much fun because you're probably gonna have to because Texas is probably gonna score more than they did last time I mean that you let's go back to last year's game the only time Texas really moved the ball is when they went up tempo right at the end that it felt like it was kind of desperation mode. I don't think that's going to be the case this year. I think they're becoming much more confident. This Ohio State defense will be in its own transition phase. Think about, like, we just got off the combine. Think about what Arvel Reese and Sonny Stiles were. Yeah. They're freaks of nature that don't really exist anywhere else. Caleb Downs is gone, too. Ohio State's defense is going to be the one in the transition phase. whereas last year it was Texas's offense and Ohio State's offense. Well, one thing that we're also kind of forgetting is last year this was the opener and they were very different teams and they were feeling themselves out, not even just each other. They didn't even know who they were yet. This year you're bringing back your quarterbacks and you would have played a game already. So when you finally play this game, it's not going to be like this weird, awkward like junior prom dance where you're holding each other at the waist trying to figure each other like you just gonna like go at it You know what I mean Yeah That got highly sexual for no reason You know what I mean Like it going to be right out of the gate a high high power Yeah. And even if it was the season opener, I still think it would be that because the coaches are so much more confident in their quarterbacks. Now they were really trying to make sure their first time starting quarterback did not make a mistake last year. Yeah. And now they don't have to worry about that. They know what they have. They know what those guys can do. If they make a mistake, they'll be like, fine. Don't worry about it. Shake it off. Let's get back to it. So it's going to be so much fun watching Steve Sarkeesian and Ryan Day just open the playbooks. And this is the one thing that I don't think that people appreciate enough. It's also going to be the biggest heavyweight fight receiver to receiver in the entire sport next year. Like if you actually look at the Cam Coleman-Jeremiah Smith matchup, I know we always do quarterback versus quarterback, but I think Cam Coleman is the closest thing to Jeremiah Smith college football going into next year and he's going to came out of the same class and the results have been completely different for the two guys and i i wonder if you'd sent cam coleman like if jerry let's say jeremiah smith had picked miami and cam coleman had said you know what i'm gonna go play for brian hartline at ohio state and he'd spent two years of brian hartline how would we view cam coleman now entirely differently yeah yeah uh we would still view Jeremiah Smith the same because right he was gonna be good no matter where Jeremiah Smith had gone to Auburn who knows I don't know having a dysfunctional offense does you know play you know a factor on a receiver but I will tell you this both of these guys will be first-round picks next year obviously that's not really much going on on a limb I think that you could maybe make the case that I'm certain that they'll both be top 10 picks see I'm I'm not certain Cam Coleman will. I'm certain Jeremiah Smith will. Yeah. I mean, Cam Coleman, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt. And now that he's in, I think that Texas' offense is going to be so much more functional than it was even a year ago. And part of the reason is his existence. I think he is going to have a monster year. And we had a Heisman long shot debate. You know who would be way down on the list? Coleman. Jeremiah Smith, I think, is sixth or seventh. Can you imagine putting a Jeremiah Smith-like freak on Texas when we're undervaluing what they might be offensively? If he has a banner year and Texas goes to the playoff, if he's 40-1 or 50-1 right now, I would smash that. He's going to have a great year. The thing is, if he has a really good year, you have to worry about Arch cycling votes off of that. He's going to get all my votes. Well, you need Arch to get those votes. I'm not going to show any voter ID when I vote for the Heisman next year. Let me put it that way. If it gets me out of running five miles, man, I will do anything. Well, the thing is, we know with Jeremiah Smith, there's always been talent around him in the receiving core as well. It's not just him. It was Carnell Tate the past couple of years. Brandon Innes is still there at Ohio State now. They've got receivers that everybody coveted out of high school that are very capable, some of whom, like Carnell Tate, would have been a number one receiver at almost any other program. Texas has that kind of talent around Cam Coleman as well. And I think that's where your confidence in Cam Coleman producing, I think my confidence in him producing is more because there's more around him too. Because you can't just worry about Cam Coleman. You've got to worry about Ryan Wingo. You have to worry about Emmitt Mosley. They like Khalid Lockett. So they've got guys that scare you beyond Cam Coleman. And that's the thing. If you're Matt Patricia, if you're Ohio State's defensive coordinator, you're trying to figure out, how do I triage this? Who do I devote the most resources to? And that has no bearing on improved offensive line and Relique Brown and Hollywood's mothers on the team now. So they've got good – Right, and it also has no bearing on – remember last year, you're dealing with Arvel Reese and you're dealing with Sonny Stiles. And look, Ohio State obviously is extremely talented. They're going to have a bunch of future NFL players on their defense now. But that was a pretty old group of superstars they had who played a lot of football. People mocked me last year when I said that Ohio State might have the five best players in college football after they lost. Like a lot of people on Twitter were like, this guy's an idiot. Remember when he said this, whatever. Have you looked at mock drafts lately? I think they're going to have four of the top five players taken and Julian Sand and Jeremiah Smith won't be that. Right. Jeremiah Smith would be if he were out, if you're in the draft this year. But yes, Arvel Reese, they're talking about like number two or number three. Caleb Downs, they're talking about like safeties are not valued as much, but they're talking about Caleb Downs being a potential top 10 safety. And then Sonny Stiles, his combine performance was the stuff of legends. Yeah. Yeah. So, and you know, it's this Ohio state's going to be talented. They are not going to be as talented as they were last year. Like period. Like I just like, I think that's the baseline and that's not an insult. The Texas defense also is revamping and Hill's gone. Michael Taft's gone. Like they've lost some really good players too. They've also recruited very well, just like Ohio state. It's we, we don't know that the guys that are taking those spots are not household names yet but obviously texas has guys who've already become household names like colin simmons yeah you can't you know you can't make this uh hype up any higher like this is you don't need to yeah you just put those two helmets together it's already good enough yeah but the circumstances of this particular meeting make it even better yeah god i love the sport okay right now and now we get to the numero uno the juiciest game of 2026. And here's the thing for the other games. We've said, Hey, the circumstances of the season may change where this actually lands. We don't know if this is going to be this juicy. I can promise you no matter what happens between now and then, no matter what happens before the game gets played after the season starts, this will be the juiciest game in terms of storylines, in terms of feelings, Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford, Mississippi as the coach of the LSU Tigers is going to be the juiciest game of 2026. I've got a 4K camera here. Can you see the goosies? Can you see the goosebumps? I don't know. Oh, yeah. No, Andy, if there was like a poly market odds of which would be the number one game on our list before we aired the episode, I think it would have been like 99.9% this. Like there's no question that, I mean, this is college football at its finest because you have two teams that are inherently going to be very good and very talented and should be in the, at least conversation to make the college football playoff and maybe even advance in it. But when you layer on a coach returning to a place that he spurned before their playoff run a year ago, and then you add on to that, it's Lane Kiffin. Like, come on. I don't know. When you think about a cocktail of interest, a cocktail of – It's a Molotov cocktail of interest. Think about this. He's the coach. He's leading them to the playoff for the first time in school history. And then in the middle of that decides, I'm going to the rival school because the rival school offers me a lot a better long-term chance of success and they're like okay cool you can't coach in the playoff oh by the way we're going to promote the defensive coordinator and we're going to win playoff games without you sucker and then you're coming back they go to the semis and look one bounce different no misses in the national title game last year you know the power of coincidence and the power of of this sport always never ceases to amaze me andy the fact that it is the SEC opener to on the road. Like you couldn't have written this better. They made the schedule before all that stuff happened to it. It wasn't that was a this is purely an accident. Coincidental. Yeah. And it's a beautiful accident. And like, I think because of how many characters are are and how much movement there is now, like you get to see a lot of like redemption stories and return arcs and villain arcs and all these things like it's but this one seems to be a little bit. This is like picante spicy like this is not just kind of spicy this is think about this because Lane Kiffin wanted all of the good Ole Miss players to come with him all of them but he wanted Trinidad Shambliss he wanted Kiwan Lacey they stayed at Ole Miss but he got Prince Will Umi and Mielan he got TJ Daughtery it's like some of them left to go with him so those guys are coming back to Trinidad Shambliss. We didn't know if he'd be playing this season. He wins the injunction. He is playing this season. I don't know if we talked enough about Kiwan Lacey's decision, because I think that is incredibly crucial here. Kiwan Lacey's back for Ole Miss. Andy, there's only one game in the history of my memory that I could say had more compelling off-the-field storylines than this one. And even then, it might not be as juicy. And that's the 2022 Ohio State-Michigan game? Was it the year that – was it 22? The year that Harbaugh was suspended or was it 23? 23. It was the 2023 Ohio State-Michigan game with Harbaugh suspended, the Spygate stuff happening, Ohio State's losing streak, and Ryan Day's placement in the rivalry, all that stuff. That was ultra compelling. But that had characters because Harbaugh and Ryan Day were characters in it. Connor Stallions was a character. Like, again, that one was pure. That was Walter White college football meth right there. That was as pure as it could get. But like this here. That was the blue. Yeah, yeah. This is also the blue. This might be Pinkman's blue, but it is high-quality, high-quality college football drugs. And like, I'm super excited. I mean, I feel like we have to be there. Like, I don't even know, like, this is one of the few games in the offseason where it's like, you know, well, that'd be cool to go to Oregon, you know, USC. It'd be cool to, you know, get up to this game or that game. Like, this game is like, it is March 2nd. And it's like, we will have to be there. Like, there's no missing this. No, there is no missing this. And the thing is, the week leading up to it is going to be bananas because Lane Kiffin is not going to suddenly go silent. He will tweet. Yeah, he will post things on Instagram. He will be asked questions and he will not be able to help himself when he answers. Yeah. Like the draw, because other coaches would would try to tamp down the drama. it's not a big deal. It's just another game. We're just focused on them because they're on the schedule this week. Lane's not going to do that. This is LeBron James going back to Cleveland with the heat for the first time, but LeBron being a troll on top of it. Exactly. Exactly. It's going to be amazing. It's going to be. And think about it. This is week three. Because coaches usually want to downplay. They want to downplay. The off the field story stuff, typically. Yeah, I think Lane Kiffin is going to want to promote it. I don't know if he wants to or he can't help it, but it's going to happen either way. Yeah. Like, for instance, I want to eat pizza for lunch. I'm going to have pizza for lunch. And it's not because I just I want it and it's going to happen. Like, it's like that is my nature as a human being. so like that's the nature that Lane Kiffin has as a human being and he's going to do it like he might like the question I want to know is how are Ole Miss fans going to behave that day like is it going to be like a security lustily will they throw things it would be the first time a fan base that Lane Kiffin left behind had thrown things at him during the game Tennessee throws a lot of stuff though. Tennessee throws stuff more often I think don't they do they I don't know Dave made me another game where they threw stuff. Remember Dave wrote a story like I don't remember what what game it was but they threw stuff like six years ago in one game. It was Ole Miss. It was Lane Kiffin. It was the game is the only time we've ever thrown stuff at people. Okay. Well producer River ball for life. Okay. Mustard bottle golf ball. Yep. But what I wanted to say is, and thank you for hopping in there and saving me from Vol Twitter, but Dave Ubin wrote a story about how inappropriate it was, I think, to throw things back for the athletic back then. And to this day, any time, any sporting event, anywhere on earth, fans throw things, Vol Twitter reminds David Ubin by tagging him in the stories. It's been six years. We do that. I see it every time, and I love it. I never forget. and the Ole Miss fans, they ain't letting this go anytime soon. Do you think this is guaranteed a night kickoff? It doesn't matter. ESPN does not put this in prime time. They are foolish. Yeesh. What is it about Lane Kiffin that makes you want to throw a hot dog at him? I don't know what it is. Didn't they throw golf balls? A golf ball and a bottle of mustard. A bottle of mustard. there was all kinds of stuff on that field that night beer water golf balls most yeah and by the way like i know that like we can all get precious about how river was at the game by the way in case you're wondering you saw it first in take um i think that like you can get precious about if you throw a golf ball from the upper deck and it hits someone in the head that's a very big danger like that's a safety hazard and i would never want anybody to get hurt but i'm also here for the throw shit at people side of it because I also think that like that makes the games compelling like let's see I think Lane Kiffin should totally embrace the heel turn it's already happened he's already gone he's already pissed them off you're not gonna ever get them back they're never gonna love you again so don't don't even try like come out in a freaking Ric Flair robe and throw it off Could you imagine if he wore a Ric Flair robe and then he threw it off and he had his LSU like rowback hoodie on and then on the back somebody like tape the target like like mocking people who throw stuff at him like like a like a little target practice. I can see it. I can see it. You do something like that and I think it would be amazing. But I am all here 100% for throwing stuff on the field when you think there's a bad call. Like go do it. Like create a. Like, what am I like supposed to be like the SEC office? Please send the fines to Ari Wasserman. I'm just saying like when Texas and Georgia played a few years ago and they made that weird call, I don't even recall what the call was. It was an interception. It was a bad call and they got them to change it, I think. They changed it and then Texas, well, I think Texas threw stuff. Then they changed it. They threw stuff on the field to delay the game and then magically they're like, we looked at it again and then changed their minds. Yes, right. Like, I think that that was compelling. Now, I don't want anybody to get hurt, but I want college football to be a dysfunctional zoo. What if he comes out in a beekeeper's outfit or some sort of padded outfit? You know those outfits they used to train the canine units for the police force? Where they're all padded up and they just let the German Shepherds bite them? What if he just comes out in that? Yeah. We'll have to have a whole off-season discussion point of what should Lane Kiffin wear to the game. Because I think if we do it, I truly believe that if we discussed this once a week and we had people write things in that were funny for him to wear and we made it a bit like we could influence his attire. I think so too because I think it would gain momentum and all the shows that listen to us first before they come up with their topics. That would also get rolling. Lane Kiffin regularly retweets people in things that don't tag him. Like he finds – Yeah, he's searching his name. He searches his name. Yeah. Anyway, I think the canine training outfit is a good start. That's a, that's a good way to say. So if you've got a better idea for what Lane Kiffin needs to wear into Vaught Hemingway stadium, send it our way. You know where to find us. You know how to find us on social media. You know, the email address is Andy staples on three at gmail.com. Ari dot Wasserman at on three.com. What does Lane need to wear to make sure whatever, comes out of the stands, doesn't harm him. And here's the thing that I want to leave people with. Now, don't do anything stupid or break the law or hurt anybody, obviously. But I think Ole Miss should do everything in their power as a fan base and even as an institution to make sure that he feels hated that day. Oh, they will. I have no doubt they will. From the second he gets into town till the second he leaves, I think he can do nothing. There will be no grace. now a lot of teams do not stay in oxford yeah although they have a lot of nicer hotels in oxford over the last few years they've done a good job building some stuff definitely way more nice hotels in mississippi state yeah oh stop it that's right stop it it's just a brandon walker jab because he got a white ass you remember you remember last year when when um kenny dillingham said what he said about Mississippi. I remember that. Yeah, he got all mad about it. That new Marriott Courtyard, new-ish Marriott Courtyard in Starkville is fantastic. But the point of this is they're probably not staying in Oxford, LSU. They may be staying Tupelo. They may be staying just south of Memphis. There's probably good... Like, don't stay in Oxford. Fire alarms would be going off all night. Yeah, fire alarms. People should be driving past your hotel honking. Yeah. It would be a bad idea. Yeah, stolen gear. Playbooks. Yeah. Play sheets. Listen, this is not going to be no grace. There will be no class, nor should there be. He left you in the middle of a playoff run. You be as mad as you want. You show it as much as you can. Meanwhile, he's going to try to prove to you that he left for a reason. and LSU is going to try to prove that this is the better job. That's why he's here. That's what makes this game so juicy. It is perfect. This is exactly what you want. You would never, ever get this in the NFL. And I'm not an NFL hater. Great product. But you'll never get anything like this. This is 100% pure sulfuric acid. And it's blue. It's so good. This is so good. I cannot wait. This is like just knowing this is coming is going to get me through the next few months. Likewise. I hope everybody's ready for some college football. We still got a ways to go. We got spring practice and everything else. This is March. Yeah. We got awesome things. We got March Madness. We got the Masters. We got the 4th of July. Lots of fun things still coming up. But nothing's as fun as college football season. And now you got your roadmap. You got your games to circle. And we'll have this. We'll have one of these every few weeks where we give you something else to circle. Another reason to get pumped. But that game, that game, LSU at Ole Miss, it's going to feed families. It's going to be amazing. And we will talk to you tomorrow.