MIAMI INDIANA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP INSTANT REACTION

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It doesn't take plays off. When it comes to trucks, Chevy Silverado is football guy approved. To learn more about Silverado, visit Chevy.com. That's us. We are live. Live, Casey. Live. Where's my hair, Jill? We are live from the Mostly Sports Studios, which are right now the Unnecessary Roughness Studios. It is. There you go. Get it in there. Rub those. Yeah. All right. We're live. And we're live after the Indiana Hoosiers win the national championship 27-21. In case you have been under a rock for the last two years, the Indiana Hoosiers have just won the national title. I'm going to say, holy shit. The Indiana Hoosiers have just won the national championship. I want everybody to stop and appreciate that for a second. Because for all the hating I did over the last couple of years, we have long complained about college football. It's always Alabama, Ohio State, everybody. The Indiana Hoosiers have just won the national championship. up amazing amazing amazing amazing and i can't see big haven t bob i'm gonna trust they're there somewhere i know you're here it's amazing casey it's unreal and i know leading up to this there was a lot of conversations on is it the best turnaround in sports history i do believe that it is maybe i'm a little bit biased because i am a college football fan and i love college football more than any other sport but liam blutman this is really fucking cool for indiana and that game rocks so much we finally got good like a legit good national championship game that came down to the wire it couldn't have ended in a more fitting way than carson beck failing to throw a ball accurately like downfield just no arm strength thank goodness he doesn't actually have to go class tomorrow go to class tomorrow uh indiana kurt signet just played dynasty mode for four or five years just ran the table did did what we dreamed about doing when we were kids young adults playing in our living room just playing as of unbelievable we uh we we've been here watching at t bob i know you and big have watched it along with us uh uh you you run out of superlatives to talk about signetti and everything but just on the on a larger scale what what did we just fucking see yeah uh the the culmination of as as you kind of alluded to Brandon Casey, the culmination of one of the wilder sports stories of our time. Like maybe the wildest college football story that we've ever seen, almost assuredly so. But I would extend that to anywhere. Again, I've used this reference. It's like Leicester City winning the EPL, but maybe even weirder in some ways. The game itself, that was a true championship team there, right? Three phases of the game. Their best stuff wasn't working. finding ways to adjust. And I just love most of the decisions that Signetti made. But I loved it. Did you all hear the explanation of his fourth and five after the game, the draw? No, we came straight in here. And we're going to talk about that call. I figured. So he basically said that they put that call in for this game alone because of how Miami had responded to that formation in the past. And so right there in the biggest moment, you see Signetti's genius, which is combined with all the other disparate elements to create this super team that are the 2026 Indiana Hoosiers. They're just so complete, so tough. Could not be more impressed. And look, I'm going to say, Brandon, like, I don't, you know, I get a lot of shit wrong. Everybody gets a lot of shit wrong, a lot of shit right. But I feel like we had this game nailed to a wall here. We said this Miami team was particularly well-suited to squaring up with Indiana, to maybe stop him what they do best so they could stop Indiana from running the ball effectively. And you saw that. This Indiana offense was stymied. But the defense played well. Special teams came through in the huge touchdown. And then in the biggest moments, another thing we talked about, Mendoza clearly better than Beck. Beck had his $4 million drive, but in the biggest moments, Mendoza consistently made the plays. And when Beck was presented the same opportunity at the end of the game, he did not. The Indiana Hoosiers are national champions. and, like, undoubted, deserved, undisputed national champions of 2026. Yeah, 16-0. They go through Ohio State. They go through Oregon. They go through Alabama. It wasn't very good, but they've owned the sport for a while. They go through now Miami. Big Ev, third straight year, third straight Big Ten champion. We'll get to that later. That's secondary to the fact that Kurt Signetti walked into the worst program in the history of college football, told him he was about to win, and did it. No, I mean, the Big Ten supremacy is just reality. Yeah, again, we're not doing that stupid shit. Just talk about Indiana. We don't have to get into that Big Ten runs college football. We don't have to. You can shut him out if he's just going to say stupid shit. Just talk about Indiana. No, I mean, everyone said what Cignetti's done at Indiana, it's truly unquantifiable. Like, there's just nothing to compare it to. It's that special. It's that great. And I'm talking about something that T-Bob said at the end. these teams were very evenly matched. The difference was the quarterback play. And Beck had overall a decent game. He made some big throws in some big spots. But I mean, just every time Indiana needed one, a third down and credit to the receiver, which obviously Becker made some big time catches. But Mendoza just made big time throw after big time throw when they needed it. The fourth down call, the run. I mean, the way Signetti set it up, he knew they're going to be pinning their ears back. Middle's going to part like the Red Sea like it's just the preparation it's you knew we knew we said Indiana's not going to make a mistake in Miami limited the mistakes but it was the block punt and the interception at the end and that was the difference in the game and the wrinkle there real quick we're going to add context what I was talking about the wrinkle there on the QB draw what Signetti specifically talked about is it's just QB draw but how they blocked it was different than how they blocked it all year long and it was specifically because they perfectly predicted how Miami would attack it at the biggest moment of the game. It's just flawless fucking execution. And how about Mendoza's toughness, dude? I'm scared a little. We kind of just reduced it to Mendoza outplaying Carson Beck, and I'm not sure that's the entire story of this game. I think Carson Beck, outside that last throw, really played a gutsy second half. Mendoza played a gutsy second half. But, like, Mendoza was getting shaken at times early by the Miami defense. Ultimately, that block punt, how big is that fucking block punt? That's the game. It was a three-point game, the block punt. I don't know that on the whole Mendoza played this incredible Heisman game, but in the moments where your guy had to be your guy, Mendoza was the guy. It was like he was facing a relentless pass rush, a very good defense. It was tough sledding at times, but then there were like five key moments tonight, and he aced every single one of them, and Carson Beck aced most of them, and he didn't ace the last one. But like Liam said, that was the perfect way for that game to end if you've been like a back-and-forth person on Carson Beck. I disagree with what Liam's saying that too. You started the whole show saying Carson Beck predictably threw the interception. like, I thought he fought his ass off tonight, man. He did. I think he didn't. He did, but for the game to end that way, when you talk about these two quarterbacks and going into it, and you talk about the block punt too, everybody in the country said when you go to this game, and I thought it was going to be a blowout, it wasn't. Liam thought the same thing. But it was if Miami makes any type of mistakes, and a block punt is not necessarily a mistake at all, but Indiana is going to capitalize on it. Oh, it's a big mistake. But I'm saying it's not. Like, obviously it was also credit to Indiana as well. Yeah. So, you know, it was a mistake, but Indiana caused it. So I think that when you look at the narratives of these two teams, it played out almost exactly how so many people thought it would be, whether you thought it was going to be closer or not, because Indiana capitalized on Miami's mistakes. And then Carson Beck does what Carson Beck does when they lose. And that's turn the ball over. Again, I hate ending it with that. I thought everything you said was perfectly. But when they lost this year, it's because he turns the ball over. I just feel like we just saw an all-time classic, and I don't want to end it with the button of Carson Beck. He played a – he was super gutsy. I didn't mean to make it so much about him. Me as well. It was more just the slim margins. Yes. It was what you said, Brandon. It was that Mendoza made every big play and every big moment, and Beck just didn't make one play, and that was really the game. Let's talk about the moments, though. The moments are what really stands out. And, T-Bob, you kind of went right to it, but, like, I don't remember what the score was when the fourth and five happened. 27-21. No, no, no. I know the score, the final score. I don't know what the score was when – was it 17-14? It's 17-14. You're in the fourth quarter. It is clear Miami has gotten up off the mat, and they are fighting. They are fighting. They are fighting. They've been down 10 a couple of times. The block punt, which would have taken out a lot of lesser teams. They would have taken out, and Miami fought right back. And all they had to do was kind of get the ball back and get momentum, but Indiana would never give them the air to breathe. They would never give him the chance to really win the football game until the very end in that last two-minute drive. But, like, that fourth and five, you can kick a field goal and go up 20-14 and be up six and trust your defense. But Kirk Cignetti wins. Google him. And he's a fucking chest thumper, and he's a fucking believer in his guys. And he said, God damn it, I got the Heisman winner. We're going to call this play. And as brilliant as the call was. and I think it was great call. I think it pales in comparison to the individual effort from Mendoza, who has the patience to follow his blocks in there, makes a beautiful little Madden side shuffle juke to the right, has the clear lane, toughs it out, gets to the end zone. I thought it was a Heisman winner saying, by the way, I'm the fucking Heisman winner, and I'm about to win a national title. And just to clarify, and Ev said it perfectly, it's the margin. It's not to say that Carson Beck had a bad game and that's why they lost. It's to say that in those moments, Carson Beck did things that people have predicted and Fernando Mendoza did the opposite of that and did those big moments. It's why he won the Heisman Trophy. When he stretches across the goal line and you just know it's going to be, that's the snapshot, right? That's on the front of the newspapers. That's what everybody looks at. And I mean, Ev, we talked about Indiana when they played Ohio State. It was like they just, they play perfect football. And there was multiple times tonight where Miami was getting to Fernando and it just didn't ever really shake him. It just never, never took him off his game. And that's the difference in these two teams. Well, they looked, I mean, Miami did have him. I mean, again, the Indian offense looked more fallible than we've seen it thus far. Right. Like we knew about the eight touchdowns to five incompletions. Like if you look at Mendoza's final stat line, you would never guess that we would be glazing him as hard as we are here because it was it was it was again, It was in the big moments that you had to make a play. And Brandon, you think about that fourth and five, the draw, like you said, the juke running the guy over, diving across the end zone, putting his body on the line, John Elway in the Super Bowl style back in the day. But also there was the fourth and five earlier in the drive. And you want to talk about pushing your chips to the center of the table? Cigdetti called two timeouts on that drive. Like they were all in, dude. All of a sudden, if you go into a late game situation where you do not have the lead and you've wasted those timeouts in those manners, it's kind of like what the fuck are we doing dude and so and so to have the balls to to go all in to go for it to make the correct call and then for your guy to execute it it's just it's why they're national champs it's why kurt signetti just led the most um fantastical turnaround that we've ever seen in in in college football history this episode brandon is sponsored by better help the new year doesn't require a new you maybe a less burden you better help is the best online therapy platform. It's been a part of this podcast forever. A short questionnaire helps you identify your needs and preferences. And as I've mentioned before with BetterHelp, you may not have mental health struggles. You may have mental health struggles. Just having somebody to talk to and BetterHelp is the largest online therapy platform. You can call, you can text, you can FaceTime, you can voice chat, you can do all of those things. And they've served over 5 million people globally. They'll match you with a therapist. And if for some reason they do not work with you, they will match you with another one for free. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist that fits your needs. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash Smith. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Smith. Brandon, it's okay to not be okay. I think the two most important men in winning this game tonight were Fernando Mendoza and Kurt Signetti. But I think we should also point out number three. Does anybody know who number three is going to be? It rhymes. It's got to be Charlie B. from Nashville, Tennessee. I was like, Becker doesn't rhyme. I was like, Becker surely doesn't rhyme. Those two catches, those two back shoulder catches on big third. We're both on third down? One was fourth down. No, third and five and fourth and five. Yeah, third and five and fourth and five. And both times they go to the back shoulder. The first time he makes a ridiculous, the body control he has to kind of like sit down in the chair and just reach down and get it, follow the ground. The second one, the coverage is good. And he just kind of fights through it. He's being held. And a quick shout-out to the refs. They let him fucking play tonight. They let him play. I thought there were a lot of calls where you're like, you know, in the NFL yesterday, that's pass interference. But it was both ways. They let him go. They let him figure this shit out. So I want to give him a shout-out. But Charlie B from Nashville, Tennessee, T-Bob. Yeah, I mean, he was just, again, he had the moments. But then, you know, the running back combo of him and Black, They were solid. Sarat and Cooper had some big conversions as well, but nobody as big as Charlie B. It's interesting to point out the rest, and I completely agree. If you remember back to earlier in the game, they had a couple of those back shoulders that didn't work because of how handsy Miami was able to be. So to still trust your guys to go out there and execute when it already hadn't worked a couple of times, that's big time. I don't think we can get any further in this show without just celebrating the overall quality of the trenches on both sides for both teams. Indiana's somehow, like they're fucking crazy, undersized, yet deadly effective front that somehow manages to shut down the run and play very effective zone pass coverage at the same time. It kind of boggles my mind. Miami's offensive line clearing the way for Fletcher to make that a game and getting that offense going and sticking to the identity that Miami discovered halfway through the season. Indiana's offensive line closing out the game nearly. Then almost blown to the false start, but just quality offensive and defensive line play, like two big fucking heavyweights. And this is really the entire game as a whole, but just trading blows, man. Body blows, good combination. Just the sweet science of football was on display tonight. Yeah, it really was. And it was a lackluster first half as they were kind of feeling each other out and everything. and Indiana had the one drive which ended in the touchdown. Miami, you know, go for the 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half. I thought that was a questionable decision after they went for fourth and one at their own 35 showing desperation, showing we're going to win this game and then getting to the other 35 and being like, ah, we're good. We're just going to try to kick it with our kicker who's like 50% from this distance. But that's a minor nitpick because I truly believe And the Cristobal doubters and the Cristobal haters and the Cristobal, he has done things in the past to make you question him. I guess this team was, you know, what, 40 yards short of a national title tonight? This team was – he put this team together with the right mix of defensive and offensive line talent. He went out and got a veteran quarterback who did fall short in the end. But, like, you know, Cristobal's got that thing humming again, and they played for a national title. So I thought he did a great job tonight and everything else. What else, Casey? You want another piece of business? You can do a piece of business. All right, Nutrafol. Brandon, look at that hair. Look at that hair. Everybody on the stream tonight was talking about Brandon's good hair, and that's because of Nutrafol. And, of course, it is a new year. 2026 resolutions come and go, but real lasting growth takes time and discipline. Nutrafol isn't selling some 30-day miracle. We've been talking about it for a long time because it is a number one dermatologist-recommended hair growth supplement brand, trusted by over 1 million people Plus it is the number one selling growth hair growth supplement brand Wow it late okay It a tongue twister Nutrafol men supplements are peer 100 drug and clinically proven to improve hair growth without impacting sexual performance I use the postpartum formula, also the women's formula. It's great. Skip the shortcuts and see thicker and stronger hair in just three to six months with Nutrafol. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code UR. Find out why Nutrafol is the best-selling hair growth supplement brand at Nutrafol.com. N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L.com. Promo code UR. Nutrafol.com. Promo code UR. Really quickly, Liam, we were talking about this early in the game too. You go back to Charlie Becker. He had those amazing catches, and that's obviously the story of the game, but he also had some drops early in the game that were a little bit concerned. Elijah Surratt's drop. Surratt's drops. Yeah, Surratt's drop was crazy. That felt really ominous at the time. Yeah, wrong guy, wrong guy. There was something weird about that in the first half with Indiana's offense, and it wasn't Charlie, it was Surratt. But what do you think? Was it just nerves? Like, it was very bizarre. There was one where he dropped it twice. They uncharacteristically made three or four kind of big mistakes. That Surratt drop, the false start on the second and one, that was ballgame if they get the first down. Miami doesn't have a chance. They have no life if Indiana just picks up a yard in the false start. The roughing the passer there at the end, too, they give Miami even more life. Like, Indiana, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this unstoppable juggernaut of a team who doesn't make any single mistake made three or four big mistakes. Where did that come from? Maybe it was nerves. Well, I mean, the reason I ask you is because you and I were the ones that were so sure that it was going to be a blowout because I didn't expect things like that to happen. And when Surratt did drop the ball twice, it's like, oh, holy shit, this team is beatable. I'd like to just point out, I think some of the offensive line mistakes can be pointed at the fact that they were blocking a raging wall of werewolves. Yes. Yeah. Like it was kind of a result of some of the pressure that Miami was was applying in a lot of ways. Can I shout out a Miami player real quick? Because everybody talks about Bane. I got a question for you. Bane and Mesidor. 99 tonight. Moten, I believe he was hurt in the Ole Miss game. The defensive tackle. He was Warren Sapp for a month of that game. He was un-fucking-believable. Now what's your question? Okay, so I agree with you. And I'm sure you can go and find some stuff. but I don't have any major Cristobal decisions that I disagree with, really. How did you feel about Signetti kicking that field goal at the end? I would have gone for it. I would have gone for a kill. Okay, okay. That's what I'm kind of wanting to take the temperature of the room because obviously, like, who am I to question Signetti? But it does seem like with the consistency and trusting his Heisman guy to make the play when they needed it, it felt a little inconsistent to kick the field goal then to leave it in the defense's hands and not let Mendoza go to it. Now, obviously I was wrong, right? Because look at what ended up happening. Signetti was right. I just, at the time, I thought that was a bit interesting for Signetti to go away from trusting Mendoza when he had every single time up to that point. Well, I think if you're a Kurt Signetti, you trust Fernando Mendoza 100%. I think you probably also trust your defense 100%. You trust that Miami has to go 80 yards, 75 yards. It ended up being 80 after the penalty. 80 yards in a minute and 45 seconds with no timeouts with a quarterback who is prone to making mistakes. And the defense bent a little bit. They bent a little bit. Then they dummied him into throwing, thinking he had single coverage on the outside, and the guy just sank back in and caught the ball. So I think he probably did trust his quarterback, but trusting the defense worked out too yeah fair i think it was like fourth and two fourth and three probably goes for it yeah yeah maybe five or six was tough to go for it again like you said make him you're gonna make the kick you you believe in your kicker make him go yeah 80 yards in a minute 40 you're thinking they're gonna make a mistake i give a lot of credit christopher i mean the the adjustments offensively they made in the in the second half were incredible yeah i mean they got shut out in the first half and they put together three really nice scoring drives yeah against a defense that doesn't give up scoring drives. Yeah, I thought after the punt block, they got the ball back and their offensive coordinator just all of a sudden started getting in his bag, drawing up, you know, getting Tony on one side of the field with one guy on him, getting the second touchdown to Fletcher where they fake the toss to Tony and just slide him and trap him into the inside. Unbelievable. I thought Shannon Dawson, I criticized him, even tweeted, he was the weakest part of the game, and then all of a sudden it flipped and he really figured it out. Well, the way they came out of the locker room at halftime, they stopped Indiana right away. Twice. Yeah, right away. Because the face mask, yeah. And coming out of the locker room, I mean, again, if you were on Indiana, you're like, okay, the first drive of this half is really going to set the tone. And the way that Miami came out was unbelievable. So a lot of credit to Miami. And you talk about Malachi, Tony, and Fletcher. The individual guys are so talented. And this roster, I mean, you go back, and I have no recollection of exactly what happened in the Louisville and the SMU game, because it feels like it was 10 years ago with how much break we've had other than the turnovers. But it's like, how did this talented of a team even lose two games in the regular season and not play for the ACC championship? I know it doesn't matter now because we're turning the page to the next season. But this team is really, really good. Indiana just happened to be a little bit better and make less mistakes. Well, I think we can learn some interesting things about college football from this year's Miami team and kind of the new era of college football where because you have more margin of error now, teams are allowed to kind of find themselves. And if you look at the two Miami losses, penalties were a massive part, right? And even tonight, they had some penalties that ended up hurting them. Like on the 85-yard touchdown drive Indiana had, they had a couple that helped to extend that drive. But it was also, at the time, Miami thought they were like a deep ball offense. They thought, okay, we paid Carson back. We got these great receivers. We're going to lie on him to bomb it like they did in that Notre Dame game. And they had to learn the hard lesson of, no, our actual identity, we're a road grader. Like we need to run the ball and play great defense. And when they did that, that's when they truly became the team that they always could be. So it's kind of interesting to think about maybe some hope that you can carry forward as a college football fan that like your team can make some mistakes, but maybe there is a deeper identity, a more winning identity to be found through the course of the season. And nowadays, if you're good enough, you can maybe get back to fight for a national championship. And the reason I stopped you earlier, Big Av on the Big Ten talk, I wanted to have it here and I want to have it in this conversation. in this context. I think, I even think simplifying this to saying Indiana is the third straight Big Ten team to win it three in a row for the conference is even oversimplifying it and really doing a disservice to how fucking amazing and unbelievable it is that Indiana did this. The Big Ten did not win tonight. Indiana, the worst team in the history of college football. They had not had a 10-win season in their history until last year. They go to the playoff. They play Ohio State, and they get killed both times. And it doesn't set them back at all. I thought in my mind it would set them back. It would show, okay, well, you guys aren't who you think you are because when you played a good team, you got killed. They just went and got a better quarterback. They just went and got better at other places. They went and got better at center, which wasn't hard to do. They went and got better at a lot of places. they fixed every little problem. They didn't have big problems. They didn't have big problems at all. But they turned Curtis Rourke into Fernando Mendoza, and they just tweaked it a little bit. They were the number 19 preseason team. I'm not the only one that doubted this team. They were number 19, and Indiana winning the Big Ten is a miracle in what we know about Indiana. And now, marching through the playoff the way they did, this is such a bigger story than any conference. I think it's Indiana's story and Indiana's story alone. I think a week from now we can talk about the Big Ten and their dominance and the fact that they're putting the SEC in the rearview mirror. But I just think Indiana's such a remarkable story. And Big F, go with that. I didn't give you any setup or anything. No, I mean, listen, I'll take it deeper than the Big Ten. I think it just clearly shows. We talk about, like, the Lane thing. He's kind of the glaring example right now. You can win anywhere. And that's not to say anyone can't win anywhere. Cignetti's a special cut from a special cloth. What he's done is special. Not everyone's going to be able to do that, but he's proven that it can be done. And it can be done anywhere in the Power 4. It can clearly be done. If it can be done in Indiana, it can be done anywhere. And I think that should be the biggest takeaway, because for years, the people that I would talk to that aren't as big into college football as the junkies like we are, the thing is, oh, the same teams win every year. It's always the same. It's BAM. It's Ohio State. It's Georgia. It's LSU. It's whoever. Not anymore. Not anymore. Yeah. There's seats at the table for everyone. It's there to be had. I mean, even look at when you break down, even like some key members of the team, Syrah, Pons. I forget the guy who blocked the punt today. Like these are guys he brought from JMU. These are JMU kids that are like cornerstone pillar pieces of this national title team. There's talent everywhere. If you can find them, develop them, you can win anywhere. I think that's even the bigger story than the Big Ten thing. Yeah, I mean, I finished the episode that we did last week, the preview, and I know Brandon and T-Bob, you guys had to go and it was the very end, but it was and we talked about just that. And that's why it is so much of an indication on how good of a coach Kurt Signetti really is, because not only did Indiana turn around in two seasons, but the formula and everything that has been mentioned. You have to go into the transfer portal and find these guys. You have to get NIL support to get behind them. then you have to put them all together on a roster and really develop them well very quickly to turn around and the fact that he could do it at Indiana is just absolute proof that it can be done quite literally anywhere in the power four it does not have to be at a blue blood or a brand name and that's why when we look at all the landscape changes of college football in this era Kurt Signetti will be talked about forever because it you know you talk about coaches and how quickly they turn around programs and they get these recruiting classes and where he turned around the worst program in history at Indiana in two seasons because of the formula that he was able to put together in this new era. Well, not only that, but, like, he's just got Josh Hoover waiting in the wings from TCU. Yes. He's got Nick Marsh, the receiver for Michigan State. Like, he's just – if you think that Indiana's boosters were investing before, Mark Cuban might spend all night just writing checks. He is in his own Shark Tank. That was the other thing, Brandon, is that, like, Indiana might be the most sleepiest, sleeping giant that we've ever seen in the sports history because of how large their alumni base is, right? Anytime you have that many people that went to the school, that's a giant bake roll from which to pull, especially because you're going to have a lot of rich ones. And now you have the billionaire, like you have Mark Cuban fully bought in. What do you need nowadays in college football? You need a billionaire. So yes, Indiana, this is not a fluke. They are set up for a sustained success. Brandon if I wanted to engage with the Big Ten thing I would say that it is impressive that it's been three different teams in three consecutive years like that does speak to some overall conference strength in my opinion it certainly does and like with more there that could do it like Oregon could do it these aren't the only three that could do it Penn State could do it eventually like that's the one thing about the SEC's run over 20 years where people acted like it was just Alabama, Georgia. Florida won a couple. LSU won a couple. Auburn won one. Like it was five or six teams or whatever it was. And now the Big Ten team, it's one thing if Ohio State rips off three in a row. That just means Ohio State's elite. But the fact that Ohio State does it, Michigan does it, Indiana does it. And, again, like I said, Oregon's on deck to do it. And it's just a hell of a conference at the top. And it's a new world in college football, and the Big Ten is leading us into it. But doesn't it feel so much weirder to say they're leading at the top with Indiana? Like how soon is it really going to sink in? Because if it was Penn State this year, hypothetically, like, yeah, okay, three different teams, but it's Penn State. You know, Penn State's really good. They've got everybody. It's like I don't know when it's going to feel super normal to be like, wow, the Big Ten is leading the charge and Indiana is the national champion. That is so weird. Go ahead, Liam. I don't think it will ever feel normal. I think we'll look back at 40 years and just be like, we were alive in our prime to see Indiana of all programs dominate the college football scene. I like that's not to say they're not going to have success in the future. Of course they are. It's just such a like you're saying, it's so jarring and unexpected and comically whimsy and fictional. like 40 years from now, yeah, we're going to look back on the Wikipedia of who won a title and just be like, that was one of the craziest things we've ever seen. We're not going to see anything like this ever again. Well, and so Chad is talking about the age of the players, and I think that's important. I don't care. No, no, no, stop, stop, stop. Listen, listen. Indiana's not older than Miami. Miami's average starting age is older than that of Indiana. They were both old. Every team in this playoff was pretty much old. my point is as much as we bitch about nil one thing it does it keeps guys in college did y'all see the number of early entrance to the draft it was like 40 something a few years ago it was over 130 so like for better or worse talented players are staying throughout their entire career in college which means you get more high executing very uh entertaining football like quality football like you saw tonight like i think that's a a benefit of the nil era is that talent can actually come back to school and continue to develop because they're making money now. Also, I just don't, I agree. Like, I don't care because that is the formula. Like, everybody can go out and do it. Every single coach in America can go out and get a, quote, older roster if they want. Kurt Signetti just was able, again, to get that formula and put it together. And I do think that it's weird when you hear Carson Beck sitting up there and being like, well, I graduated two years ago. I don't have to go to class. Like, yeah, that's bizarre. But the same way that people are like, well, you know, college athletes shouldn't be paid because it's supposed to be college. Well, it's a business now. We know that. You're going to have to just get over it. But it's not just Indiana. Indiana just did it the best this year. So any coach can go do that. And to go out and get a one-year quarterback every year, that's allowed now. That's the formula that we're seeing work. That's just kind of the way the cookie crumbles. Get over it. They spelled their uniform four years ago as Indinia. Did you see? And they as one national champion. I saw a picture of what was – the Twitter picture said it was a picture of Signetti's first game in Indiana. Yeah, it was rocks. It was just – it was flat-out empty. It's amazing. I've got to see this. It's amazing. By the way, Blutman, show them the shirt that you have on right now. Store.barstoolsports.com. I've got the new hoodies on as well, all the merges out there. I have to ask you, Blutman, I know you've brought this up a few times over the season. remember last year when you were like nine in Indiana? Yeah, he was the first one on it. And then you jumped off. I wouldn't say I jumped off. I would say I was You kind of did. I was cautious and I should have gone full speed ahead. I should have Georgia drove. You were the first one. Alright, listen to this. It hurts. Casey, trust me. It hurts a little. Sorry. Okay, so it doesn't say it in the Yeah, but we're going to be doing this with DraftKings? Yes. Okay, NFL playoffs, let's go. DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL, makes every moment feel bigger. A running back cuts through the line. A strip sack flips the field. A tight end hauls in the kind of touchdown grab you'll talk about for years. 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For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.co slash audio. Limited time offer. What we get to do now, boys, is with the DraftKings Sportsbook, there's no better time to place a future for the 2026 national champion than right now. Here are some odds. The favorite, well, there's a couple favorites. Indiana, plus 700 to win the 2026 national championship. who hoover ohio state plus 700 to win the national title texas plus 750 to win the national title notre dame 750 oregon 850 georgia 900 lsu fighting Tigers plus 1200 Texas Tech plus 1400 A plus 1800 16. Yeah, you got to put your glasses on, big boy. I have this guy, Gilead, too. It's okay. She's right. Texas A&M plus 1600, Alabama plus 1800, Miami of Florida plus 2000, USC plus 3500, Oklahoma Oklahoma, 3,500. Michigan, 4,000. Ole Miss, 4,000. Florida, 5,000. Utah, 6,000. Tennessee, 6,000. On and on and on and on. T-Bob, who would you pick right now? You know what? Just say it so we can move on. I hear the train coming. What did Gruden say? Train's coming down. That's right, baby. The lane train. I wasn't wrong, Brandon. I was just early when I chose LSU to win the Natty this year, okay? because everybody knows Sam Levitt, Lane Kiffin, and the LSU Tigers are going to be lifting that national championship trophy in 2026. Are y'all all going to do this? Big F. Yes. What a dumb question. Big F, your pick. Yeah. Brandon. Yeah. It's the Ohio State Buckeyes, 7-1. Who else would it be? Casey back, love going in the portal, rebuilding the defense, high-level veterans, safeties, interior D-line, bringing some pass rushers back, Jeremiah Smith back, got Bo Jackson back, saying back. It's always the Buckeyes. Seven to one. Casey Smith. Well, Brandon, if I wouldn't get us kicked off of YouTube, I would take off this lovely sweatshirt right here to reveal a maroon and white sports bra under here. and I'm going to show everybody right here my little Aggie ring with the diamonds. I'm going to take Texas A&M plus 1,600. Mike Elko, listen, everybody wanted to shit all over. Marcel Reed, what did we talk about? Guys, when they're a little bit older, they have all that experience. They look a little bit better. Marcel Reed with another offseason. You're going to get better on defense. You're going to get weapons again to get Marcel. Give me plus 1,600 to fight in Texas Aggies. William Blotman. You're telling me. Do it. I could put 10 buckaroos to win 6,000 smackers on the new JMU hype train, the UCLA Bruins. If I could, I'd run. I'd sprint to the Wubb studio to get my UCLA helmet and really immerse myself like our friends. But no, I'm split between Texas and Georgia. I'm eager to see what Georgia does. Georgia was just so young. Texas is disgusting. I think LSU is going to land Seaton, but Texas with Goosby and the receivers that they've got, and Arch really did develop at the end of the year and got looking like he's scary Texas, Texas, Texas. Sark's last ride? Question mark? It's never too early for me to beef with Liam about A&M, apparently. Alright, so let's move on. Wait, who's your pick? What's Mississippi State's odds? I couldn't scroll that far. I actually, if I were just picking from those favorites right there, I kind of agree with Liam. I think next year is a nasty, nasty bunch of Texas Longhorns. Now, as I say that, I say that, like, it's wide open. Like, Ohio State, there's still, by the way, I know we got through this portal, but there's still going to be some changes this summer that change things, and who knows. But as of right now, I like Texas at plus 750. but Ohio State's probably a good pick. I do hate the A&M pick, if I'm being honest. And I hate the LSU pick, too, because, you know, he runs his mouth a lot, but he ain't ever won shit, so fuck him. Go ahead. Listen, it's never too early to talk about your team. Everybody wants to bitch and moan when your teams are good, but you know what? If there's a time to talk about your team, Brandon Walker, it's right now. It's a new season. Talk about Mississippi State. Ring that cowbell. So I want to ask you guys a question as we celebrate Indiana. winning the national title and i and i i didn't see anything in the post game whether signetti said something amazing fernando mendoza did his politician speech or whatever apparently fernando said something sucks yeah he was awesome dude i and i love fernando i don't i haven't seen it because we came right in here but every single post i'm seeing is that he might have said something a little bit that everybody paused at what did he say uh let me find this kate excel brang with the boys he i mean the quote that i think about with fernando mendoza post game he said look i'll die for those boys out there on the field and they'll die for me and that's why we're national champions and he said it as his like face is bleeding which is his arm is just one giant bruise i mean again we we can't get out of here without without again highlighting and celebrating the toughness of fernando mendoza that fucking chin shot that he took early on yeah that the refs let him take extending the fake like okay dude that was and i liked it from miami that's good shit. Like, I don't even care if they throw the flag. You want to fucking get after that guy and make him feel you, and they did. But whether it was Ohio State, this game, whenever, Mendoza has gotten beat up. Probably not as much as tonight, but he's gotten beat up all year long. He's always come back strong. What's Big A listening to? Mendoza said that he'll take shots from the front or the back, whatever he needs to do. So it's at the very beginning of the quote. I didn't even think about it like that. Well, we're all very perverted around here but it's at the beginning of the quote that you said but i the first thing that i saw was our main account on twitter that said fernando mendoza said what in all caps so yeah it's that's what i was listening to listen you know what i love him he can do no wrong okay but i do agree that the the shot of him bleeding and you said it when we were in the cave like in that moment that's a champion shot that's yeah you're like that happened in the first fucking drive i know and i knew as soon as he fucking got bloodied i was like and they showed him up close i was like God damn it, that's a national champion shot right there. And by the way, just the juxtaposition of just like the body language too. And I understand it was close to the end of the game. And again, I'm very pro crying. You want to cry, cry. Like I love it. But you said it at the same time I did. Carson Beck looked like he was about to sob on the sidelines. Well, at second and one, he realized it was over. Indiana was about to get a first down in the game. I think he was crying. And then that false start happened. He stood up and went and got his chin strap on and got ready. And so little fight in that drive. He just made the one bad mistake. But I'm okay with that. I'm just saying that you never saw Fernando Mendoza even remotely. Like when he was on the sidelines, every time they showed him, he had the bloody lip and he's just smiling. Like there's just something about this kid. Well, in fairness, he never had a chance to think he was about to lose. Carson Beck was facing his mortality there. Fernando Mendoza, for that credit, never. I want to end this show with two questions. We'll go around. You have two more? And T-Bob has one as well. Good God, how many we got? Hey, listen, it's the end of college football season. We've got to pay the bills, buddy. Mostly can't get anything, and this show's got 30. 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And right now we've got a special deal for our listeners. You get 10% off your first month of Blue Chew Gold with code ROUGHNESS. Promo code ROUGHNESS. Visit bluechew.com for more details and important safety information. And we thank Blue Chew for sponsoring this podcast. All right. Whoa. Mark Fletcher threw a punch on Tyreek Tucker after the game. Did he? What the? Yeah, let me send this. What the heck? Listen, I kind of love it. Yeah. Miami went out fighting. Say that for him. Did anybody get eyes on Michael Irvin at the end of the game? What was he doing? I think he was staring at the field like he just played in it. You know how confetti's raining down at the Super Bowl and one guy always stands out there to stare at it and to make it hurt? I think he was doing that. Did he have his belt in hand? Just a sad little limp belt? Oh, he did swing at him. Oh, by the way. Yeah, he definitely did. Oh, and boy. Tyreek Tucker ran like Tyreek Tucker wanted none of that In Tucker's defense It looks like there's a lot of Miami guys there No Indiana guys He's calling over the homies And Fletcher had his helmet on That's what I was about to say You don't want to fight somebody with a helmet on If you don't have a helmet on I know sometimes your instincts take over But that's a bad recipe I wonder what he said I would back up that quickly too Oh Oh, I was going to say, does Lukey know? Do we know if Kadic drank tonight? I don't know if he did or not. He was dialed. I know it's his former team. He was locked. He knows the draws coming there. That was one of the gutsiest draw calls we'll ever see. He called the fullback dive, too. Bloomington looks crazy. I will say that all of – And they knew the fullback dive to Noakowski. All of Kadic's text messages were very coherent. Yeah. They did not seem – And also, shout out White Boy Rick. Him having the photo of his mom was a really cool moment. College football's the fucking best. Yeah, that's nice. That's good. It is. It's the best. I'm going to end the show with two questions, and the show's not about to end immediately because these two questions will have long answers. And if I think of a third question, I'll ask it. My first question is this. The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers will be remembered for what and how? You guys work on that question. And I'll answer it first just to get the ball rolling. I think this is among the most remarkable teams we've ever seen in our lives. They were, as far as football execution goes, as close to the perfect as we're going to see. They have a lot of fourth- and fifth-year guys. They identified that as what could be a strength. They weren't going to get right from the rip the five-star studs that Oregon, Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia get. Signetti knows that. So he went and got his JMU guys. He went and got guys like his JMU guys. He got fourth and fifth year, sixth year guys, and he built around them. They are the epitome of the brand new era of college football. Ole Miss is a part of it. Texas Tech is a part of it. If you get the right guy and invest, invest, invest, you can win. And this is the year that Indiana truly showed the rest of the world. Anybody, anybody can win in college football. Now, the problem is there's probably only one Kurt Signetti out there who's actually capable of doing it, but Indiana in 2025 showed that it is possible. You don't have to have one of eight logos on your chest to do this. That's what Indiana will be remembered for in my mind. T-Bob, what do you got? Yeah, I mean, and keep with that theme, Brandon, kind of erasing the excuses, right? A lot of times whenever you're failing at something, you can look to others and be like, oh, well, look, they can't do it either, and only this guy can do it and he can only do it because look how good he is. So, like, Indiana's not just teaching college football lessons. He's teaching us lessons, and they are, teaching us lessons for life. That, like, don't let whatever the expectation that has been set before you define you. You can overcome. You can outperform. You can do a better job than what people believe you can do or are telling you that you can do. Like, I don't care if you're a little kid playing sports. I don't know if you care if you're an adult in the workplace, a parent, whatever the case may be. Indiana has shown you that these ceilings and limitations that people want to try and put on you they don't matter in light of your actions and it's not to say that you're 100% going to succeed but what it is to say is that you should fucking try and you should try everything you do and not just roll over and accept the expectation that's been put on you. Big F the Indiana Hoosiers in 2025. I think they're going to represent like a big time run here. Like I think they're going to be, they're going to be the coronation of signet. And I think just considering some of what T-Ball was talking about earlier, we all have in just the, the snowball effect of winning, which is the money, the Mark humans, the power, the stability that comes with it. And I don't want to get like crazy because obviously he's, he has to sustain it, but there's, he's just, everything he's done leads me to leave that he will, at least for a significant amount of time. and I think he could be like a this is gonna sound nuts almost like uh this is gonna be crazy it's gonna sound crazy when I said a lot otherwise in my head almost like a Bear Bryant Indiana and like putting them on the map and like a real football power that even think about this as an Ohio State fan I'm looking at next year's schedule and I'm like shit we got to go to Indiana early October like that like this is like this is the impact that he's had in this on this school and this this program and i think this is going to be remembered as the coronation of indiana becoming a legitimate football power for a long long period of time so they have too much muscle they have too much of a of a fan base of like a of this uh network is school whatever you want to call it too much money behind it that even after signetti like i think they're going to have a foundation to build forward and it's all going to be because of this team. This is going to be the team that they look back on and say, this is why in 10, 20 years from now, Indiana is still one of the powerful football programs in America. It's going to be because of this team this season. I think that's really what it's going to represent long term. I know you just said it sounds crazy and I know you think it sounds crazy. Two years ago on this night, I come up to you and I say, Big Ev, within two years, Indiana is going to win a national championship. That's the craziest thing you would have ever heard at that point that that is you'd laugh in my face because why because I'm just saying stupid bullshit that's crazy Casey the 2025 Indiana Hoosier well Brandon we've been doing this podcast together for a long time and you know we always do these reactions and there there has never been a feeling of just like holy shit I can't believe what we just watched like yes the games might have been cool obviously LSU in 2019 but like this is so crazy because it is Indiana and it just kind of go further on what you guys have said and Liam sent it in the group text but Natalie Signetti uh Kurt Signetti's daughter on December 8th 2019 she tweeted out a text message from her dad she said are you happy and he just said no she said wins first D1 playoff game scores 66 points improves to 12 and 1 and Kurt Signetti everyone and he's just unhappy with that result and that was seven years ago right so this man is showing you know that he is he's not scared of anything he's not scared of failure he's not scared of expectations he's not scared of You know, you look at last season and you look at the fact that everybody talked about, well, are they a product of their schedule? They shouldn't be in the playoff. They're frauds. They go out and they lose the game the way that they did. And then all offseason, a lot of people would say, well, maybe we were frauds. Maybe we didn't deserve to be there. And instead, over the offseason, he faced it head on. He didn't hide. He didn't hide from his consequences of losing that game. He didn't hide from people that he owed explanations to. He just went out there and he was like, fuck this. We're going to put this team together and we're going to keep building. And that's who this man is. so I think that you're gonna remember that and then also Fernando Mendoza it's gonna be hard to look back at this season and not look at Fernando Mendoza and be like that kid was something special and kind of the anti 2025 2026 social media type of guy like this is a guy who people want to say is nerdy is cheesy like I don't know what's he gonna go do tonight you're not gonna see him spraying bottles of like champagne in the club I think those are the two main storylines I think you might well you might but like I think you might but you know what I'm saying he's yeah yeah he's the he's the anti and i hate to say but he's like the anti johnny manzel right you're not gonna see this man out like if he is having a good time you know he wants to go home and he wants to put on his pjs blubman the 2025 indiana hoosiers a glimmering light of hope for the rest of the college football world who doesn't represent one of the major powers in the sport pretty much what you said but i don't like a beacon of light that you can you can do it too not to bring it back to to ucla but like i see indiana's success and i get ridiculously geeked and deluded into thinking my transfer portal class is the next indiana and that my little program could could do this too and like I don't see how anyone who, everyone who roots for any non big time power is thinking the same thing. If you're, you know, if you're like, uh, I don't know, name a school, like, um, a wake forest, like you see tonight and you're thinking you can name any school. Exactly. Like Jake Dickert's got us right where we want, man, maybe we could do this too. And that's a special Eric Morris at Oklahoma state. It's a special feeling that I don't think anyone has ever actually felt before. Now you feel it all because of Kurt Signetti, these GMU kids, and the Indiana football Hoosiers. So congrats to them And how much better of a football team you are when one of your guys decides to go to barstool sports and work there like you instantly get better and that picture of pat coogan i just said of pat coogan but you see katek and rick in the background zoom in on katek's face look how much this means to this kid brand i feel i'm like yeah good for katek and white boy of course like kdick kdick was there at indiana down in the dumps yeah year after year and all of a sudden you know helps lead him to a playoff and everything and gets to see him win a national championship a year later like look how much that means to him and everyone else good for them man brandon what's the quote you you've said for many many years the greatest currency in college football um the most uh the the the the the greatest currency in college football is hope the most abundant is hate but that currency just got even more yeah what's the word i'm looking for like it's just even more what's the word available it's got multiplied yeah yeah it's like abundant abundant because thank you yeah we worked through it it's you know it's late um but it's exactly what liam just said it's it's hope and you know we make the joke so when you did the draft kings at and it's you know t bob's taking his team to win the national title big f's taking his i'm taking mine and normally it's like yeah like okay you always have hope going into a new season now it's like well holy shit anybody can do it um why don't you double up on those two if we got two left yeah we got two so speaking of uh if anybody can do we've got the nfl playoffs coming up i believe there are three teams left that could win the super bowl because bo nix is hurt but regardless if you want to go to the afc or nfc championship games game time has the best tickets The GameTime app gives the advantage back to the fans. It's the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. Plus, fees are always included so you see what you pay. Go check that out now. The Super Bowl is in San Francisco. I'm sure that those are available whether you want to go to a concert. I know, Brandon, you're a big hockey guy. Hockey games, concerts, it's all there. So you can save even more when you choose a section and let GameTime choose those seats. Take the guesswork out of buying any tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app. Create an account and use code ROUGH for $20 off your first purchase. terms apply again create an account and redeem code rough r-o-u-g-h for $20 off download the game time app today I mentioned earlier that you know Blutman you might be right about Fernando Mendoza being out there spraying some champagne but at his in his heart he wants to go home and play whatever video games laying in his hopefully very comfortable sheets and if he doesn't have him he needs to go snag a bowl and branch we are a bowl and branch podcast here I am in Chicago right now but I can't wait to get back to my bowl and branch sheets at home they are the absolute best sheets in the game. The signature sheets have a comfort and quality beyond imagination. They're buttery soft to start and they get softer with every single wash. Expertly designed for breathable sheets so you can add cool layers in the summer and cozy essentials in the winter. I'm pretty sure it's negative 10 outside right now in Chicago. They will warm you up. They are loved by millions of sleepers and they're yours to try with a 30 night worry-free guarantee if you don't like them. But you have the Casey Smith guarantee and like Brandon has always said I know my sheets. Discover a softness beyond your wildest dreams with Bull & Branch. Get 15% off your first set of sheets or whatever else on the website, plus free shipping and returns at bullandbranch.com slash ruff. That's bullandbranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D, branch.com slash ruff, and take 15% off exclusions to apply. I'll ask you all to be pretty brief with your answers because I'm going to take the one question I have and break it up into two questions, okay? We're going to have a two-part question to end this show. Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers, national champions, one of the most remarkable stories that ever happened. So I'll just tell you the two questions, and then we'll take the first one to begin with, okay, so you can work on them. The two questions are, how will you personally remember the 2025 season as a whole? And number two, what excites you the most going into 2026? How will you remember this season as a whole? It can be any way you want. And then we're going to follow that up with, now the eyes are towards 2026. What sticks out in your brain? Yes. I was going to say, you go first. Me go first. Okay. 2025 as a whole, I will legitimately remember it, and it's a selfish thing. It's the first time I felt like everybody has a chance, and it's the first time Mississippi State made me feel alive for a while. we were what? We were, you know, we were 2-10 last year. We didn't end up having a good year. We ended up, but like the Arizona State win made us feel alive. I had the big clip earlier in the year where we finally had something. And I feel like on a small scale, like every, what you get out of this sport is what the moments it gives you. And I can't imagine what Indiana fans are going through right now. I'll probably never feel that. But I just remember 2025 finally being the season where I wasn't just ignoring certain things and being like, God, I got to get through this. I got to work. Like I felt like I enjoyed it again. So that was what I'll take from 2025. What about you? Well, it's along those same lines. And I know it sounds cheesy and maybe it is because, you know, I'm just a stupid woman over here, Brandon. But that makes me tear up a little bit because I think with college football and what makes it so different, anybody that's listening or watching this, you know you have a passion for your team that's different than any other sport and watching you have those moments that you had you know when we went to the college football show and watching you walk out on stage and obviously I've seen oh I forgot we did that yeah like you know watching you get to do that in Starkville and obviously I've seen Big Ev you know be able to have those moments when we've gone on the road as well and I got to do that and I know a lot of people you know hate A&M and like to make fun of me loving A&M but I will remember this season as the first time that it felt like we were really in the mix and I got to go stand on the sidelines with my dad for a college football playoff game, which I never thought would happen. And it was finally fun to really watch football again. It's always fun as a fan of the sport as a whole, but to be an Aggie and be able to watch that. And I think that's what's so cool is like everybody has their team and it's emotional. It really is. And so I think when I look back at the 2025 season, it's that I finally got to feel a little taste of what it feels like to be at the top of the sport. Big Av. um i mean getting the michigan lick back in an arbor is good but unfortunately it's gonna be kind of like it felt like another season that got away from us a little bit yeah it felt like it's gonna look back and be like yeah lost the two games that lost two close games to the teams that played a competitive game of the national title both games feel like a winnable i feel like i feel like i've had too many of those in the last like decade yeah like a lot of teams that i felt like had enough to get it done but just didn't get it done so i mean yeah kind of shitty kind of kind of a weird shitty feeling watching the two teams we lost to playing the natty but you did get your lick back oh that's the only that was the positive but yeah overall not great not great uh t-bob uh yeah it's it's the great uh democratization of of college football and and and hope like we just kind of mentioned hope being uh born anew and starting to spread like wildfire and then all of these other programs out saying well okay if they did it we can do it we should invest more and it now creating an arms race to make this sport so much more unpredictable than it has been for two plus decades under the yoke of crimson impression that was alabama and kind of the other alabama-esque superpowers um i just think back to our preseason rankings all of our preseason selections on who we said was going to win last championship who the best players are going to be. And I cannot recall a year in which we have been more wrong about all of those predictions. And I think that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. I think that creates way more interesting narratives. I think that creates a lot more room for us to imagine and play in the margins and come up with more creative and exciting predictions that you can actually believe in because look at what just happened this year. So yeah, it was a great year. It was a great finish to college football as well with how this final playoff played out, in my opinion. Blutman, what will you remember, 2025? I don't know. I really don't know. I remember the national championship. I remember the playoff. It is so far removed from the rest of the season. ain't nobody ain't nobody play on the same team anymore yeah we got i don't know man i remember all right let me stop i don't want to say i don't want to say what i remember most because i ain't gonna do it to you but man it was a fine it was a good season oh what were you gonna do i mean is there a picture of it oh yeah yeah yeah like yeah that's the thing blutman some of us have the ability to make people remember us okay some of us have that ability some people don't do nobody And on the sidelines and make the whole world look at them. All right. Since you totally whiffed on that question. Oh, 100%. You'll get to lead off on the 2026 question. Just really quick. The picture that I just showed you, Ev also just tweeted or texted in. Mendoza's arms? Mendoza's arms look like they're about to fucking fall off. He just played the great wall of defense. Like, it's a shame. But look, that looks like CGI bruises. His arm is thrashed. It's a shame that defensive line is not going to go down in history as champions because they should have um go ahead uh blood moon 2026 2026 i think it just got proven that for all the just stick with the 12 team playoff like don't expand don't go to 16 and i know for a fact that they're going to go to 16 but i think that this was as good of a playoff as we could have hoped for with a few blips here and there but you know like why are we going to expand i don't understand that i think you look at what we assign you keep the 12 that i mean it's more of like a warning side did you not understand the question more of a warning it's just two questions a row you didn't understand the question i'm tired okay it's what you're oh i forgot this motherfucker i had slipped uh big av what are you looking forward to in 26 i don't i don't comprehend no it's funny i shouldn't say this because parodies as an house a fan parody is kind of a bad thing for me to be honest yeah but as a college football fan as a purist it is the parody i think that's what you look forward to now if you're a fan if you're just a fan of college in general and i'm i'm beating a dead horse here but it really is that anyone can fucking win it and it is wide open and with the 12 team playoff we've now seen back-to-back years where an eight seed won it all a 10 seed was a player two way from winning the national title like you can make arguments about the lessening of the regular season, but it is almost more of an NFL feel where, like, you can have a few blips and make a run Ohio State last year. You can have a few blips and still prove we are clearly the best team. So I think that's what I'm most excited for. It's the parity. It's the even more chaos, and it's to them hopefully getting us the best playoff product they can. No more autos, no more G5s unless they earn it. And if they want to go to 16, I'm fine with that because I don't think it'll make much of a difference. And also move the calendar. Change the calendar. But looking forward to parity and chaos. T-Bob, I can predict what you're about to fucking say. What excites you the most in 2026? No, look, I mean, yes, selfishly, I'm excited to see LSU, Lane Kiffin, right? I want to be back and all that. I've been gaslighting myself for years in this Brian Kelly era. This last year has been a complete shattering of so many things that I believe to be true. Like I thought he was a good coach, but whatever. It isn't about LSU. It's about the sport as a whole. and I'm looking forward to fucking thinking about the sport all offseason. I'm looking forward to looking at all of the portal news and trying to look at all the new rosters and, okay, piece together all the puzzle pieces and how is this going to work? Who's going to come together? What can we learn? Because we live in such a transformative time of college football. We're the very fabric of the game. Not on the field, but the fabric of the game off the field has been completely shattered and is in the process of being remade. And in this shattering, I think there are ripple effects that we can't even begin to predict, right? And it seems like every additional year of data that we get in this new era helps us to try to give it some context, helps to try to empower us to try to see into the future more and start to make more predictions. So I'm excited to kind of look at what's happened the last couple of years, what lessons do we think we can carry forward, study these rosters, have some fun, do a bunch of big predictions and then be completely wrong when the games start again because at the end of the day, it's 22 humans on the field with infinite variables and that's why sports are the best form of entertainment is because when it's unscripted and it's live and it's human suffering and human triumph, you end up with the most unlikely and fantastic of outcomes and that's what I can't wait for. Have you Oh no. Have you seen the screenshots? of you in the cave. No. I don't have anything. I can't see anything. Oh, no. Oh, no. Am I the last one? Where did you see? Who? People tweeting that at you? No. Hold on. Are you on Reddit? No. Look. I'm on the gambling tweet. I was looking at it. I saw that and I scrolled down. I forgot. Oh, no. Never turn your camera. Hey, hey, hold on. Hold on a second. hold on a second at least it's not the worst visual we've gotten on a gambling stream yeah especially with that body part um so have you gone yet about what you look i have and honestly i needed i needed you to pull me out of my it wasn't a funk but i was getting emotional over here uh so thank you for showing me my ass yeah um so no i i think that this i look forward to a new era and you know with with indiana doing it uh the way that they did it is great but i i love when we get into the summer and we start really thinking about predictions and just how different I feel like so many of those graphics are going to look this year because when you look at and you know Taylor LeJuan was the only one left going in the semifinals but of all the national media and there was nobody with a team left except for Taylor and he had Oregon those predictions are going to look wildly different this year because I do feel like that that piece of hope is going to change a lot of people's opinions and people are going to want to go out on a limb more because I do think that it's easy for people to sit at home and be like oh these people don't know anything about college football I'd find it very very hard pressed to find somebody outside of Bloomington Indiana which by the way looks awesome right now picking Indiana to win the national title this year whether you're paid you know 10 million dollars a year you get paid nothing to talk about college football so I think that that's what I'm most looking forward to and also I know you're gonna go but are you gonna want to walk this one off I have I have something to say um if you want to if you want to walk off that's fine I don't really have a walk off I'll let you finish it okay what am I looking forward to in 2026? yeah you guys were all big picture and everything I'm looking forward to Kamario Taylor winning the fucking Heisman Mississippi State going 11-1 that's what I'm looking forward to you bitches have been running your mouth reckless for a long fucking time okay a long fucking time and I'm looking at you big guy over there in the Ohio State hat huh? yeah I'm looking at you old smiley McSmiley face over there thinking Lane Kiffin's gonna walk into Baton Rouge I'm looking at all y'all I'm coming for fucking blood next year me and Kamario Taylor and our, yeah, thank you. Did you tell me to ring a cowbell? I don't have one. Do I have a cow? Thank you. Anyway, what am I looking forward to? I'm looking forward. Listen, I think the sport. Oh, my God. Look at that. I think the sport just opened up. I think the sport just changed. I think life has changed at the top of college football, and I thank Indiana for winning it for everybody out there. Listen, this sport has belonged to the Blue Bloods for a long time, and it legitimately. and there's other teams that have been knocking at the door. Ole Miss knocked at the door this year. Everything just changed. And 2026, we're going to see how the Blue Bloods respond because you think they're going to take this lying down. They're going to be angrier than they've ever – look at how Texas is spending. Look at how LSU is spending. So it's going to be wild, and I think this sport just opened up to a whole new set of possibilities, and that's great. So with that being said, thank you. A good solid year here for Blutman and T-Bob and Big Ev. I'll let you have the final word as we get out of here No, I didn't even necessarily want to be the walk-off But I do want to thank everybody In the chat and that listens And that watches, you know, this has been a really good Year from a viewership standpoint, a listenership I don't even know if that's a word So I want to thank everybody for that because Brandon, you and I have done seven seasons of this Together, which is crazy to think about And people have no idea What goes on, you know, behind the scenes But the fact that, you know, you guys have all shown up for us Every single week and we've shown up for you guys it's really cool that we have a fan base um whether you love us or you hate us uh you can hate me you can love me you can hate the guys love them you guys are showing up i think that's really really fucking cool and it makes college football awesome so thank you to everybody who's listened who's watched even the mean and hateful comments we appreciate you showing up um and yeah like thanks to the boys thanks to all four of you guys you know it is uh it's a family and so i appreciate it thanks for a great season all right that's it thanks everybody t bob you got to get to bed you got to be on WUB in seven hours. So thank you for watching. That's Unnecessary Roughness. We'll see you.