Buy, Sell, Hold Revisited: SEC + Cooper Manning on Arch's First Year

Hello and welcome to the Audible presented by Trader Joe's. I'm Ralph Russo from The Athletic here with my colleagues Stuart Mandel and Bruce Feldman. Today we're continuing our conference by conference breakdown and look ahead with the SEC. I'm going to do a little revisiting of the guys buy sell hold from the preseason, figure out where they got right, what they got wrong, and why they got it right or wrong. We are also going to hit a mailbag. By the way, we will continue this series with hitting every Power Four conference. The ACC is next, and then we'll get to the Big 12 next week. And at the end of today's show, we will run a bit of an interview that Bruce had with Arch Manning's dad, Cooper, about his son's first season. We talk about reviewing this last season. Well, this is a little bit of a review of Arch's first season as Texas's quarterback. But first, some news and notes. Really one note, and that is, guys, Gus Malzahn retired today. He was Florida State's offensive coordinator for one year, best known as Auburn's head coach for about 10 years. Arkansas State, some time at UCF, won over 100 games. Pretty good coach, was one of the godfathers of up-tempo offense, Stu. how will Gus Malzahn be remembered if this is indeed his final college job? I mean, he'll be forever linked with the 2010 Auburn season, even though he was the offensive coordinator, not the head coach. I think sometimes people forget that and assume he was the head coach, not Gene Chizik. You know, he's forever tied with Cam Newton. And you're right, at least in the early days, he was seen as like a real innovator with the hurry up offense, with the run game. and then he gets to be a head coach in the very first season in 2013. He takes Auburn in the national championship game. And then I feel like from there, you know, what has it been another dozen years? He never really got back to that, right? It was, you know, he lasted Auburn a long time and it felt like every other year he was on the hot seat and eventually he did get fired. He resurfaces at UCF. That was kind of unmemorable and obviously a rough year at Florida State. So it's kind of like you got to see him, because remember, he was a high school coach. He was known as a high school coach up until Bruce's guy Houston Nut brought him into the mix with the Springdale kids, if you remember that. He's our guy, Stu. He's not just my guy. He's our guy. He's your former colleague. He is my former colleague. But yeah, I mean, I think ultimately he'll be remembered for the good times back. That's a heck of a four year period there with two trips to the national title game at Auburn. He also beat Nick Saban a few times, about four or five times. I think he had four wins over Nick Saban, which, you know, in the Iron Bowl, especially considering significant detail, right? Yeah, especially considering how good Saban was during those times at Alabama, beating Nick. I believe it was four times among the many memorable victories Gus had against Saban. Well, first of all, it is kick six, the most memorable of all. And secondly, a few years back, there was a situation where Gus pulled a little shenanigans and caught Alabama in a too many men on the field penalty to close out a victory. You know, a really sharp move. So I think what Gus Malzahn will most be remembered for, aside from, you know, coaching some teams close to a national title, is also occasionally getting it over on Nick Saban. Anyway, happy trails to Gus Malzahn. He was a good coach and, you know, always a pretty decent guy. Didn't say much. Gus was the most, wasn't the most interesting interview, but always a good, interesting, but an interesting coach who did a good job for a long time. And ate at Waffle House a lot. And loved Waffle House. Good point. I know that we might be burying the lead there as well. OK, let's hit buy, sell, hold. Before the season, the guys, before I became part of the show, did a game called buy, sell, hold. They went through each power conference team and sort of projected buy, the team will get better. Sell, the team will get worse. That is 24 going into 25. The team will get worse in 2025. Or hold, the team will pretty much stay about the same for 2025. So in terms of grading this, because I get to grade it because I wasn't here and I get to hold the guys accountable. You know, it's a little vibey. It's not just straightforward, but I try to be fair, even though Stu didn't believe I was being fair. I try to be fair. And we're going to go through batches of these teams, see what the guys got right, see what the guys got wrong, and maybe talk a little bit about how the season went and where things might be going heading into 2026. OK, that's the ground rules. Got it. Got it. First batch of teams, LSU. Both of you were a buy on LSU coming off a nine win season in 2024. So you both got that one wrong because you both predicted LSU to get better. They both they got worse and fired coach Brian Kelly. Texas coming off a 13 and three and semifinal appearance in the college football playoff. Bruce was a buy. Stu was a hold. You're both wrong. So, Stu, I got to tell you, I was close on actually giving you a little credit here, but I thought that would have been a little bit too much of a stretch. Fact of the matter is they didn't even make the playoff. Georgia, you're both coming off an 11-3, went 12-2. Bruce had him as a hold. Stu had him as a bye. Unfortunately, Stu, I got to hit you wrong on this one, right? Because basically Georgia had about the same season as it had the year before, which was Bruce on target with a hold there. and Tennessee 10 and three in 2024, eight and five last year. You both nailed this one. You're both sold on the Vols and the Vols took a step back under Josh Heupel. Let's start with LSU, because again, you were both big wrong on LSU and there's a whole lot going on with LSU heading into 2026. Yeah, Ralph, you and I did that story on Brian Kelly the year before in 2024. Bad fit. You know, I think a lot of us saw that right out of the gate, struggling to relate to the players. But yet one of the things that really drew me into this team was Brian Kelly was very open about talking about how they tripled their payroll and they'd gone so in on the portal, right? I think that they got better on defense under Blake Baker in year one. You know, and one of the additions, Mansoor Delane, the cornerback from Virginia Tech, was very good. I mean, he'll probably be a, you know, top 15 pick, I would imagine, in the draft. He was really good. The offense, you had to replace the entire O-line. You had four guys in the senior bowl, including Will Campbell. They were a mess. They could not run the football. Garrett Nussmeyer was banged up after the Clemson game. He really struggled. It was all sorts of issues there. I think the biggest issues were, you know, the day that seemed to go on forever was a Sunday where it started out by like you were hearing reports Joe Sloan, the offensive coordinator, was going to get fired. And then it eventually, no, it's going to be a little bigger than this because it's going in the direction of Brian Kelly. And then everything got off, you know, the wheels came off from the wagon from that point on. But Stu, I think the thing that really kind of stood out was like, okay, this can't go as bad as we think it's going to go because they spent all this money and everything else. And then all of a sudden it just fell apart fast. And I guess to me, I was like, all right, they're going to, they're going to have enough talent and resources where they'll be able to coach their way into the playoff. And at least that, I mean, that's the part that I kind of fell for. What's your excuse? You know, it's funny when you, you know, I forgotten that he said they tripled their payroll. I think Lane Kiffin might have tripled it again with the amount of money they spent on this transfer class. a recurring theme guys when a team falls flat of preseason expectations is we always overlook the offensive line like how many times do I have to learn this lesson the team that has to replace the entire starting offensive line that could be a problem you know happened with Texas to some to a lesser extent but but it happened and then this was a pretty drastic version and because of that it's hard to separate how much of the offensive woes were that versus Garrett Nussbier being a real disappointment. I remember in the preseason thinking the hype around him didn't quite match his performance up to that point. But he was one of the, you know, consider one of the better quarterbacks coming back in the country. It just, it didn't happen. He's one of several guys, as we've talked about it before in that draft class, that just didn't live up to it. And then, of course, you don't know what's really going on behind the scenes at that time with Brian Kelly. I think we were all still holding on to he did it at Notre Dame. He should eventually do it at LSU. And, in fact, the wheels were probably already coming off even before the season started, Ralph. Yeah, and we talked about how could they possibly pay. His was in the 60s, almost $60 million in the buyout. would they possibly go down that road? And of course they did, though it sounds like they negotiated it down a little bit, tax ramifications and whatnot. Still, you both got that wrong. So, you know, we appreciate you owning up to it. Not that I was going to let you do anything else, but own up to it. This whole show is essentially about you guys owning up to it. All right, let me just hit Tennessee for a second because their season started essentially back, way back in April of 2024, when Nico decided, Nico Iamaliava, thank you very much. Nico Iamaliava decided to, you know, bolt. He wanted to renegotiate his contract. So we had a lot of discussion about is Tennessee better off without Nico or what will Tennessee do without Nico? And Joey Aguilar came in and it was almost like a trade between UCLA and Tennessee. But I think ultimately, guys, like you guys were both right to to be a little bit skeptical of a follow-up of Tennessee but I think ultimately like I don't know if Nico Joey it would have made that much of a difference really um with Tennessee and I also kind of wonder now where is Tennessee maybe going forward there seemed to be some angst in Knoxville Stu about Josh Heupel not necessarily pumping out another 10-win season, which to me was kind of crazy? Well, they took a huge step back on defense. They went from having a top 10 defense the year before to 67th this past season. And the theme so far with the Josh Heupel tenure is it's kind of like every other year. You know, it's the inverse of Shane Beamer, where every other year, Shane Beamer exceeds expectations and then under. Um, so it's a good question. Like what is that program's identity, uh, going into next season? They tried real hard to get a big, uh, quarterback, big name quarterback in the portal and basically struck out. Um, I don't know. Um, I think they could continue to be very, um, unpredictable from year to year, Bruce. Yeah. I think a couple of things when we were talking, when we did that episode, I had talked to somebody pretty close to the Tennessee program and he kind of went through life after Nico. And it was like, look at the position rooms, right? Almost every aspect of the team were probably going to be worse. And they have talented cornerbacks, but one of them was injured for the whole year. And that's a big loss, right? And you lose James Pierce Jr. was a terrific edge rusher who's had a really good rookie year with the Falcons. So there wasn't, you know, you lose two big time playmakers off that defense. One still in the program or was last year. And I think they lost a really good running back and it was just hard. And honestly, Nico added a dimension that Joey Aguilar doesn't. Nico is a really dynamic runner. Like you would see at times can be when they cut him loose. You know, he was a problem. You could see some of the wow stuff of like, oh, yeah, that's why he was a five star again. So I don't know. It certainly didn't help them. And you have a quarterback who is new to the system that I think I think we got a little bit of a false read on them in the beginning of the year because they played a Syracuse team that was coming off 10 wins. Well, Syracuse was atrocious this year, but they smacked Syracuse pretty bad. And I was like, OK, you know, like whatever happens to Josh Heupel at Tennessee from this point forward. And I'm not saying they're going to bottom out or anything, but like he was a really good hire because he got that program out of the ditch. Right. I mean, much better than they've been before. Yeah. Yeah. He was definitely not like Derek Dooley was it was a disastrous hire. Butch Jones was actually pretty good at times. And then you had the Pruitt disaster. You had like, you know, to come off Pruitt and do it, what Josh Heupel did, you know, if he can get them into the playoff again, you know, great. And if I was a Tennessee fan, I would think like, you know what? He deserves the optimism because of what he did initially. I don't, you know, Ralph, in the context of this, I would, I would ask you this. So when, when Josh Heupel got them going, Saban was still coaching, you know, Georgia was, you know, I don't think LSU was any better or worse, but it's like, is the SEC tougher now than it was then? It certainly doesn't feel like it is. yeah in some ways i guess it is just because there's more teams that have come up so it creates a strain listen tennessee is better almost tennessee can't bank a win against vanderbilt how about that it's as simple as that right like you could always back the years for years you could bank a win against vanderbilt now you can't bank a win against vanderbilt maybe they can bank a win against vanderbilt going forward the one quick thing i'll add on tennessee is um i i'll push back on you a little bit, Stu. I think where Hypel needs to be given some credit that Shane Beamer has had an issue with is they've kind of bottomed out a little bit. The fluctuations have been greater at South Carolina where you've had these peaks and valleys. And if your valley is going to be eight and four in the FCC, that's pretty good. And I think a lot of fan bases, again, we talk about the broader conversation of all of college football these days is resetting standards of standards of success and what is expected. The broader conversation around Tennessee reflects all of college football, which is, you know what? You may have to readjust and understand that occasional late win seasons, those aren't too bad as long as you can follow them up with a 10 every once in a while. All right, let me roll on here. The next group is Alabama. You both were a buy on Alabama and Alabama went from nine and four to 11 and four. Now I know for a lot of Alabama fans last season, 2025 didn't seem all that much better than, than 2024, but it definitely did get better. You guys were a buy on Alabama. So you got both got that right. Uh, South Carolina, you guys, speaking of Shane Beamer's team, you both were a hold on South Carolina coming off a nine and four season so you both got that wrong um because they plummeted to four and eight uh the game cox did texas a&m um bruce had him as a hold coming off of an eight and five stew one of his good picks for the season had him as a buy uh and texas a&m made the playoff so we have a a wrong for bruce and a right for stew and old miss you both had old miss as a sell coming off of a 10 and 3 season And Ole Miss exceeded expectations when 13 and two played in the college football playoff semifinals. So you both got Ole Miss wrong. You know, I get we talk a lot about Alabama, but let's talk about Alabama. Because, again, for it, I don't know, guys, like I do wonder. I said that flippantly Stu but I do wonder if I if I you know pinned down an Alabama fan and told them do you feel like last season was an improvement and the trajectory is up on the program They might go eh not really I think in the end it probably felt pretty similar, even though this team made the SEC championship game, made the playoff, and forgotten to history, won a playoff game. All anybody remembers is the Indiana game, But they did beat Oklahoma in that first round game. So I would have to, you know, rationally speaking, they got better, but they didn't. I guess they didn't get enough better. Saban set the bar so high that just not going to tolerate four losses. And even the regular season, right, they went 10 and 2. They had that big win at Georgia, but they also had the really bad loss to Florida State in the first game of the season. They lost their home to Oklahoma. they had a couple other close calls so i think if i get why it feels unsatisfying even if they technically did live up to being a buy for me i think the reason why it felt flat um at least let's say the bad here was they went from sixth in the sec and rushing to 15th right and that was with a line that had some really good players on it they just again switched off that's coordinators ryan grubbs really good in the passing game they were not good in the run game i know they had some injuries but they were they just were not good at that now ty simpson was an upgrade in the passing game in a big way now it wasn't a great year for ryan williams he was fantastic in 2024 and he seemed like he lost his confidence and struggled catching the ball there um but you had other guys step up defensively i think they were a little better than they were the year before they weren't like an old school great Alabama defense but I think they were better at times and again because of Ty Simpson and how he played I think that got them to the SEC title game so they were a little better not what Alabama fans are expecting now the question is can they get to that I mean it's going to probably look different if he even if Kalen DeBoer gets it rolling than it did with Saban, because I think of the style of offense that he tends to play, tends to want to play. I'm fascinated to see what year three looks like. They had a really good recruiting class. We'll see how it slides in. If it's Keelan Russell who takes over a quarterback. I mean, I think if you are, I mean, it sounds like it's kind of an overstatement, but if you're going to be the quarterback in this system at Alabama, you have to be one of the more prolific passers in the country. We saw it with Michael Penix Jr. You saw it at times with Ty Simpson. I mean, I think there's stuff where you look at him and go, he looks like a first round quarterback. Can they get that with Keelan Russell, Austin Mack? I don't know. We'll see. Yeah. Well, it feels like a pivotal year for Alabama going into 2026. I have a feeling we're going to be writing that a lot, but they've also won 20 games in the first two years under Kalen DeBoer. So, all right, we're halfway through the SEC. We'll take a quick break, come back and hit the rest of the SEC and get to the mailbag and some questions there about that are SEC centric. OK, and we're back for more of the review of buy, sell, hold of the SEC. But before we get into that, Stu, Stu got a little wrapped up in the Indiana fever the last couple of the last couple of weeks. Not the WNBA team, the Indiana. I mean, we all love Caitlin Clark, but yes, but not that, not, not exactly that. So what's going on with that sweatshirt there, Stu? Oh yeah. Fresh off the presses for those of you watching on YouTube, I guess I'll have to describe it for the people listening. Yeah. Look at this. Hot off the press. Oops. The perfect season. Yeah. 2025. The perfect season. The perfect season. 16 and 0 national champions. I don't usually buy memorabilia from the national chance. It's not like I have an Ohio State or Alabama or Georgia national championship, but it was just such a unique and a fun story. I also have several good friends from high school who are IU people. So just, you know, it was really exciting to see them react to it. Just to be clear, you bought yourself a gift for your IU friends. Okay. You didn't buy the sweatshirt for your friends who are IU fans. You bought yourself a gift. They have access to fanatics too. Excellent. I feel like this will be spun as Stu being a Big Ten homer wearing that sweatshirt. Or a big bandwagon guy. Or a big bandwagon guy. I just remembered at the one at SoFi, I bought my daughter a TCU shirt at the game before I knew they were going to lose 65-7. Well, hopefully it had a horned frog on it. Yes, I was going to say, if it had a horned frog on it. You know, kids, they get attached to certain things. Usually, if it's a cool mascot, you understand why your kid wants something. OK, next batch of XCC teams for buy, sell, hold, which was done preseason by Bruce and Stu. I'm the judge, jury and executioner here determining how well the guys did. Missouri is the team we'll start with 10 and 3 in 2024, 8 and 5 last year. You were both a sell on Missouri and you both nailed that. The Tigers took a step back in 2025. Florida was an intriguing one right because I think I think one of the first episodes I might have been on I think I asked the question is Florida more likely to make the playoff or more likely to fire Billy Napier right that was an interesting dichotomy that doesn't mean that didn't mean that was the only two results but that I think we all agreed that they were more likely to fire Napier only because you know getting in the playoff is hard right the schedule I think Bruce said that because you didn't you pick Florida? I picked them to go in the playoffs. I might have. OK, I I really thought that he had, you know, they never gave up on him the year before. And I was kind of impressed with that. And I think they have some some good pieces to work with in the D line. They have a big time running back that obviously everybody wanted in the portal. And I was like kind of believing in it. Like count me as one who thought the Billy Napier hire would have gone better than it did. Yeah. um yes so bruce was a buy bruce was a buy he was wrong stew was a sell he was right on that one and we can circle back around on florida if you want to hit a little more but arkansas seven and six totally bottomed out fired sam pitman the guys were both on on it here they were both a sell on arkansas two and ten new coach yada yada yada um vanderbilt vanderbilt's an interesting one coming off of a seven and six season uh and winning a bowl game we were all like hey that's pretty good for vanderbilt right but i think a lot of people were like well is it going to really get better you were both a hold on vanderbilt so technically you were both wrong i have to be a fair scorer here we're both absolutely way wrong well but here so i'm going to defend you both even though you don't want to defend yourselves we don't need to well but but let me give you a perspective here. I think the general consensus on Vandy was so far down. Most people thought, and I think even the odds makers had him at like a four over under on the win total. Like the simple fact that you guys thought that they could be about the same was actually ahead of the curve. Most were expecting a huge fallback from Vanderbilt. Not only did they not fall back, but they took a step forward. So yes, you guys were both wrong, but I'm going to give you a little credit here for at least recognizing that Vanderbilt wasn't going to fall apart, Bruce. Diego Pavia, to me, and I think we talked about this on the podcast a month or two months ago. I mean, he was my first place vote for the Heisman. I was awed by what he's been able to do, you know, just the grit and toughness. And he did get better as a passer. and that program was a two-win team. Now, I know it wasn't just him who came. It was Eli Stowers, his tight end. It was the two coaches who came from New Mexico State. There was a bunch of other pieces that came together, but I just thought he was a force of nature and his demeanor changed that program, right? It wasn't just beating Alabama and everything else. I mean, before Stu, you know, gets to defend or, you know, I feel like Stu and I are on the same page on this. The question I would have for you guys is obviously Stowers is going on in the NFL. Pavia is going, I don't care that Pavia is 5'9 and change. It doesn't, you know, whatever. I mean, that guy was a phenomenal college football player. What does life after Diego Pavia look like? Clark Lee's done a really good job there. Some of the coaches are still there. Pavia is not. They landed a five-star quarterback, Jared Curtis, who they ended up beating Georgia for. I hope, you know, I hope he has a really good career for their sake, you know, but it's just, I feel like there, you know, he is going to be so hard to replace and to get, you know, like if you told me, are we on the buy, sell, hold on Vandy for next year and we're working off of seven and six, I'd be like, hold. I think that's, that's kind of where they're headed back to. I'm not saying they're going to fall apart and go back to two wins, but what do you guys think? Well, you just said it, right? Like, I don't even think, you know, we have a Vanderbilt editor, Mitch Light. I don't think even he would say, okay, now we're going to be a 10-win team every year. You know, I think the hope is that they don't go back to being Vandy, right? That they become a regular post-season team. And I think that was a big deal getting Jared Curtis. not that I think he's going to come in and as a true freshman be the next Diego Pavia, but the fact that somebody like that would pick Clark Lee's program is maybe a sign of hope that it's not going to go back to the way it used to be, that they're going to be able to attract better players because of the success they had the last couple of years. Maybe, you know, we, I think we said something similar when Dylan Raiola went to Nebraska and And it's just and this is just a general statement about college football, right? What used to be signaled when a five star went to a certain team, I don't know if that exists anymore. Right. Because we all know in a couple of years, that guy might be almost all gone. They're almost all gone. Yeah. The chances are like just a temporary flex is what it is. Yeah. Which which can be meaningful as well. But we don't know if Jared Curtis is going to be the pillar on which the next, you know, three years of Vanderbilt football is built on. OK, let's wrap up the last group of four here. And it's Oklahoma coming off of a six and seven in 2024, went 10 and three and lost in the first round of the playoff. You guys were both right on Oklahoma. You were both a buy on Oklahoma. Auburn five and seven to five and seven. but with you freeze getting fired you guys were both a buy on auburn so you're both wrong on auburn kentucky four and eight to five and seven bruce was a a weird little sell hold here so i think bruce was sort of doing some funny business on this episode to try to hedge his bet uh stew was also a hold so technically i'm gonna give you both right i mean i know they won one more game But really, it felt in some ways, I guess, because they fired their because they fired Stoops. Exactly. I'm going to give you a little benefit of the doubt here because one more win, but it did feel worse. I'm going to give you both a right here. But I think I'm being I think I'm being a nicer, greater this time than I was for the Big Ten because Stu kept complaining. And Mississippi State goes from two and ten to five and eight. Bruce, you were a buy. So you were right. Stu, you were a hold. So you are wrong because they obviously made a big improvement there. Should we go? I think we're going to have a Kentucky in the mailbag. So let's just do a quick one on Oklahoma where I see a team that, you know, listen, they've done the six and seven, 10 win, six and seven, 10 win. Right. I think that's that's the four years of Brent Venables. And I do wonder is like, has he stabilized things here? And will they be a playoff contender next year or is there a possibility that they still haven't totally gotten this thing right and maybe this is just Oklahoma's status in the in the SEC now which is to be one of these teams that sort of fluctuates between lower second tier and lower third and upper third tier um I feel like they got more right than wrong this past season I know they're They're, you know, on this podcast, a source of some mockery because of the offense. I still have them right around where they finished, low top 10 in my early top 25. A lot of that is I don't think we saw the best of John Mateer. He, you know, he was so good at Washington State. Now you want to say, OK, he moved up to a tougher conference. He did. but he got hurt. He was off to a great start. He got hurt and he was never the same again. It did not help that they had zero running game. I am a little concerned that they, that's not an area they really went and got in the portal, but they, what they did get was some really good receivers. They'll have a much better receiving core. And I just think at this point, Oklahoma, even in the year they went six and seven, two years ago, they had a good defense. Like this is the, what you expect now year to year in terms of a Brent Venables defense. I'm kind of with Stu Ralph on that. I'm a big believer in material because he gives you so much in the run game and they had good receivers last year. Isaiah Satania is a super fast guy who made a bunch of big plays. Dion Burks is a really good receiver. Yeah, he's an NFL prospect. Don't underestimate those two guys. I think they're deeper. Like they lost Nick Anderson going into last year. He didn't end up really doing much in Baton Rouge. But I think the wild card in that last year was Jaden Knott, who, when he was healthy, was really good at Cal, never got comfortable in Norman. And he was a non-factor. I mean, he ended up at the Senior Bowl. And, you know, hopefully for his sake, he has a better, you know, next act in the NFL. And impressing at the Senior Bowl, by the way. He is talented. He just, from my understanding, was he just never— Looked to find out what happened there. Just never was comfortable. More details of what happened. And, you know, Blalock's a talented young running back who had his moments as a freshman. But I just feel like, you know, they were leaning on Matera to be Superman. And that's hard to do in the SEC as a quarterback unless your name's Cam Newton. Right. But I think Stu, I think one of you guys said it where I think Stu did about like because Venable is really good on defense and they got after you. Right. And they're going to they're going to win games. It's not going to look like when Baker was there. Right. it's going to be different offensively and how they win and I think that's okay with people in Norman it's just if they get a little better in the run game yeah no you're right and I probably am selling them a little short in terms of how well they've been building up their offensive and defensive lines and now defense will be their calling card let me hit you with this Bruce because I misspoke there we're not hitting Kentucky in the mailbag but I know you had some thoughts on Kentucky and just like we said guys it felt like a worse season because they fire their coach right Like they move on from Mark Stoops, who had been something of an institution there. So how could you have had a better season or as good a season as the year before? But I think the idea that they had very severely plateaued and now they bring in Will Stein. They seem to be investing and spending some money in Kentucky and the portal a little bit. So I think there are some visions in Lexington of like, if Vanderbilt can do it, why can't we do it? If Indiana can do it, why can't we do it? Bruce? What's different, and obviously, you know, Stu's wearing the shirt or the sweatshirt is Indiana was different. You had not a first-time head coach who was bringing a lot of dudes from a really successful program. You know, and I think pretty highly of Will Stein. I think he a really sharp young coach But all of a sudden now it like it new assistants right You know you have an offense coordinator Joe Sloan who really struggled you know last year at LSU And Jay Bateman, who's done a good job at a lot of places, the defensive coordinator. But I'm interested to see how this plays out, because I think, Stu, you wrote this in your coaches hiring column about just like, I feel like this is maybe maybe somebody else wrote it, but I thought it was you about a bunch of these coaches. They're not all going to be successful. You know, we can think they're it's the hardest thing. I think in this is to project the coordinators to head coaches, especially when they go to power five jobs. Right. Like we'll must champ landed at a big place. Everybody thought really highly of them. it didn't work in Gainesville. Right. And I think that's the thing where we're all guessing. I think Ralph, you tried to convey this point in a really inarticulate way in the fall. Thanks. Well, I'm just being honest. I think a lot of our listeners will go, yeah, that was not Ralph's finest moment. But, but I think you were right in that we're all guessing when it comes to the coordinators, right? You know, if you ask me, like, I'll, I'll be wrong. You know, I'll take the chance of being wrong. I feel very highly that John Summerall is, is the best hire Florida's made in a while since urban. Um, and that includes Dan Mullen who had a good, got off to a good start there and had been in the sec, but I just feel like this is where we are with Kentucky. I don't know if you guys feel differently. I know Ralph, you, you think like me, you think pretty highly of Will Stein, but it's just, it's a high bar to get to now. Yeah. I, I find myself, uh, again, thinking highly of him, but also, again, I keep going back to the investment piece. If you're in and you're going to invest, and especially at school where basketball is so important, let me see what that level of investment is from Kentucky football, and then I'll be better able to tell you how I think Will Stein will do at Kentucky football. All right. We've gone through the buy sell holds the final record on the buy sell holds you were both 500 you were both eight and eight it's a little boring but actually i think yeah i mean and you're going back to the um the um the big 10 buy sell holds i'm pretty sure we had a 10 and 8 bruce and a 9 and 9 stew honestly like that's about as good as we're gonna get guys like i mean honestly if we're about 500 on these things if your guys are batting about 500 that's pretty solid because it's hard to predict what's going to happen in this very unpredictable sport. As long as I'm better than that in the actual stock market. I mean, if all you're doing is treading water, that's not going to help me at all, but I'll take it in college football predictions. Yeah, I always tell people, our job is not to predict the future, but it is a fun part of the job. So we don't necessarily lose in, like none of us are betting any money here on these things. We're just doing the best we can. All right, we're going to hit the mailbag going forward. It's going to be an SEC-centric mailbag, and we'll be back right after this. All right, we're back in the mailbag, and it's an SEC-centric mailbag. We're going to hit the ACC on the next podcast episode. So get us your ACC-oriented questions when we do a review-preview kind of thing, buy, sell, hold, on the next episode, which we will record later this week. So ACC questions coming up, SEC questions today. First one is SEC style of play. Well, we'll point this one at Bruce. What happened to the SEC brand of football? For most of the conference's dominance in the last two decades, it was known for suffocating defense defenses, elite lines of scrimmage and very, very physical style of football. But it seems like the conference got so caught up in the spread revolution that they lost the identity that they lost that identity in the playoff games this year. against non-conference teams. Not only did the SEC teams lose, but they got absolutely dominated in the trenches. Yeah, maybe. Can the SEC return to their roots and regain the physicality edge? More importantly, do they even want to? That's from Vinny and Bruce. Do they even want to? I think it's a good question how Vinny framed it. Because I go back to this with, I think we all think very highly of Kalen DeBoer as a coach and of Ryan Grubb. but there are times you watch them. It's like, can they run the football or do they want to run the football? Like it's, it's almost two different things where you honestly had that with LSU. It didn't look like they were committed to running the football. We had that awkward, so you remember this, that awkward post-game press conference with Brian Kelly, where he got kind of grilled after a win about, about that very thing. And I think it's about the physicality piece. Now I could say first with a lot of confidence that the Georgia team that won the national title and mauled TCU. And even before that had just cordwood on the D line where it was just a bunch of dudes, big physical, like that's why the Eagles stayed really good on the D line that, you know, that you saw that they had linebackers who were, who were nasty and tough and who could run. And you had D linemen that they were able to stack and keep replacing. Well, some of those guys have moved on. Like one of them went to Missouri and is now going to be at Miami. And you just, I think because of the way the portal is, it's hard to keep them right. You know, like it just made the challenges of doing that. And also coming out of high school now, some other schools maybe can invest and say, Hey, come, come here now, we'll give you this money. And so I think that piece is there. I also think there's another element. It was like, you know, Saban was set, was the gold standard of this Saban isn't coaching anymore. He's a TV guy now. Right. And so the program there, I'm not saying they don't want to be physical, but that's, that doesn't feel like it's the imprint of them. You just look at it. I mean, I said earlier in the podcast or 15th in the, in the conference in rushing, um, you know, Ole Miss as, as good as they were, I mean, it was a really dynamic Trinidad Chambliss. Now they could run it with, with Keywon Lacey for sure. But again, you know, Miami bullied them in the, uh, in the playoff. Right. And so I think you saw their teams, like, I feel like Texas A&M, I think they're going to look like an SEC team. All, you know, all the time you look at Texas last year, as Stu said, they had to replace almost the whole offensive line, except one starter. And then for like the first half of the year, I mean, they actually ran the ball pretty well against Ohio State. But after that, you know, Wisner was hurt. CJ Baxter was hurt. I think they were leaning on Arch to run it more. I think there was some circumstantial stuff with injuries that happened. But I also think there was other pieces of it that were harder to replicate. And the biggest thing that I think is harder to replicate is you cannot stockpile the elite D-lineman the way they used to. And that's why I think Kirby is maybe the only one that's still doing it that way. because he's able to, because he's able to get those guys and keep them in the program. But I think so much of this has to do with, first of all, what kind of coach you hire, right? If you hire Lane Kiffin, you're not hiring Lane Kiffin to run the ball 50 times. You're not hiring Kalen DeBoer to do that either. But also the quarterbacks. And guys, I always think back to, I think it was in the COVID season, Nick Saban coming off like a big shootout game said, you know, I used to always believe defense wins championships. I don't think that's the case anymore. And that was kind of a, whoa, I can't believe he said that. But he had Tua, he had Bryce Young. Like there was a period there where there were so many good quarterbacks in that league. How could it not turn into more of a passing game? And then on the defensive side, I do think unless you're Georgia, it's really hard to stockpile those kind of dealings. Like when the SEC was first starting that run of national championships, we would always hear how they just have this stranglehold. Right. All the best D linemen are in the South and they have a stranglehold. And that's just not the case anymore. So you got to adapt to what you have. But all this might help explain why they've why the conference has slipped a bit. Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily a choice that they're making strategically. I think it's more tied to a symptom of the fact that they're not getting the types of players or as many of the types of players that they used to get before. So that's the only place I diverge on your point there, Vinny. All right, Stu, I'm going to aim this one from Mike in Madison, Wisconsin. It's about Ole Miss. With Pete Golding taking over Lane Kiffin's roster and taking them to the semifinals with a near championship game appearance and Lane loading up LSU as expected, What are the real expectations for a successful run for Golding at Ole Miss going forward year to year? Is a consistent eight to nine win average with occasional 10 win regular season good enough? Or is Golding versus Kiffin's success slash failure tied to Ole Miss's success? What do you think, Stu? Well, first of all, I think that Lane Kiffin kind of caught lightning in a bottle this past season with Trinidad Chambliss, who he wasn't even going to have be his starting quarterback. if Simmons doesn't get hurt. Maybe they don't have quite as good a season. But I do think Lane Kiffin has reset the expectations of what Ole Miss can do, why there's no reason why they can't be a double-digit win program. And while he's gone, you know who's still there? Walker Jones, the guy that runs their very successful collective. And as long as they're ahead of the pack, if you will, in how they raise money, spend money, allocate money. There's no reason why they can't be pretty good. Is Pete Golding, I don't think you really know. You can't judge anything off an interim coach. I know he didn't have that title, but basically it was him with Lane Kiffin's staff. Going forward, you get to see truly how he runs a program. I don't know what that will look like exactly, whether he'll be a great coach or not, but I don't think Ole Miss fans should just say, well, Lane's gone. So we should just be happy to make a bowl game every year. Yeah. I mean, we're going to talk about modern college football when we look at this, right? Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss because he was told by Nick Saban, that's a better job. We're going to find out if Nick Saban's right. In the new college football, we're going to find out, is LSU truly a better job than Ole Miss? My inclination is I'm an old guy, too. Yes, it probably is. There's probably a higher ceiling there, but we're all going to find out. And yeah, it's going to be a running theme over the next few years. Just like when Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU, we were having the who wins the breakup thing. Is it going to be Notre Dame or Brian Kelly, who wins the breakup? And clearly Notre Dame won the breakup. I mean, they're with a hot new guy, you know, like who's doing great in Marcus Freeman. Notre Dame clearly won the breakup when it comes to that. And we're going to figure out who's going to win this breakup. And if in a couple of years, Lane Kiffin is hoisting a national championship trophy and it feels like things have slid back for Ole Miss, then we'll know who wins the breakup. But this is going to be a running storyline, the comparison between these two programs when they play each other. And overall, for I would say probably the next two to five years, depending on how things go. and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out, guys. I was just trying to picture Lane Kiffin standing on that stage, hoisting the national championship trophy that Rich Clark gives him. And it's really hard to picture. But it won't be for lack of trying, because I would have said a year ago, Ole Miss was the better job. They were ahead of the game in NIL. And then as soon as they hired Lane, suddenly all of the money came pouring out of somewhere. And I talked to a GM last week about the, not to go on a tangent here, but I said, how much do you think they spent on their roster? Because the transfer class, like three guys alone in that transfer class probably, or each two, three, and in the quarterback's case, four or five million dollars. And he said he thinks 40 million. The revenue share cap is nowhere near that. So whatever they're doing, they think that they're going to get away with it. All right, let me ask Ralph this one from Seth Shaner in New Albany, Ohio. A few weeks ago, gentlemen, a few weeks ago, Ralph made what sounded like an off-the-cuff remark about the fact that over the years, middling SEC teams may have received more of a benefit of the doubt from members of the media than was warranted. He then stated something to the effect that going forward, that won't happen for middle-of-the-road Big Ten teams. So his question is why? What was present in the SEC all those years that included one or two teams a year being dominant and then a lot of other teams being ranked despite similar or worse resumes than other teams around the country that wouldn't be present for the Big Ten? OK, again, we're not 100 percent sure if if that was something I said, if it was. And I don't want to question my our listener too much. I very well may have said that, but maybe not meant it exactly the way he heard it. But that's OK. Let's clear it up right now. I don't. So what was going on back then was literally the middle of the SEC was better. Right. You were they would play bowl games and non-conference games against teams that were supposedly higher rated. or necessarily like higher standing in other conferences and they would win those games. And over the last couple of years, that just simply hasn't happened. I think the Big Ten probably should get a little bit more of the benefit of the doubt. And I look at the way things played out this past year and find myself going, oh, like, yeah, I was wrong. Like, because I look at I'm going to go specifics here. Like Washington very rarely got ranked by the AP during the season. I think they might have squeezed in once or twice. Illinois was in and out of the rankings. Iowa never really peaked as high as I think they should have. There's a whole bunch of nine and four-ish Big Ten teams that didn't get nearly the amount of traction that a bunch of nine and four-ish, eight and five-ish SEC teams did, like Missouri and Tennessee, which constantly found themselves getting in and out of the rankings. So I do wonder if that needs to shift and probably should shift a little bit more. Maybe the SEC teams don't get as much benefit of the doubt and maybe the Big Ten team should get a little bit more and it should balance out a little bit. Again, though, I don't see I think the SEC's benefit of the doubtness was earned for about two decades, for about 15 years, I would say. And I think that it's slipped away and it's time that we should recalibrate and maybe provide a little bit more of that benefit of the doubt to the Big Ten teams, Stu. And I think that another thing that has always worked in the SEC's favor is that they are very smart about their scheduling. You know, everybody likes to mock the late season bye game. the inverse of that is they play big conference games in September, right off the bat when everybody else is playing their buy games. And so it creates this, I don't know, this, what am I trying to say here? Basically, how that works for those teams in the polls is somebody will get a big win over a highly ranked team from the SEC that it turns out wasn't that good, but they still get to ride that. And so I was just looking up one of my favorite examples of that, which is the 2014 season. There was a Thursday night opening game, Texas A&M at South Carolina. This is a Kenny Hill game. Kenny Trill. Kenny Trill. Kenny Trill was like number six in the country or something. Texas A&M goes in and takes it to them. So now Texas A&M is a highly ranked team. Along comes Mississippi State, Dak Prescott. They beat Texas A&M, so now they're a highly ranked team. Oh, is that that? Is that number one in the country? that game after beating texas a&m they became they were undefeated and were the number one team in the country and they beat an auburn team along the way i'm looking back at this that was ranked number two and by the way mississippi state was good that year don't get me wrong but i remember that auburn wasn but they got so much credit for beating number two auburn so i not saying I agree with you Ralph Like it was earned in to most most of the case I mean, every year it would be reflected in the draft. The SEC would have so many more players drafted than the Big Ten. And they weren't just concentrated on a couple of teams. By the way, Sue. Yeah. Since you brought it up, Mississippi State didn't finish in the top 10. They finished 11th. Texas A&M went eight and five. South Carolina went seven and six. So there's a lot of residue there. It's this whole circular thing, right? This echo chamber. But that's not the whole explanation. But I just wanted to make it clear that that is part of it and probably why it takes a little bit longer sometimes for the Big Ten teams to get that kind of credit. So I do really feel like you're going to see some differences this year. And in fact, maybe the voters will overcorrect in the other direction. I don't know. But I think the combination of the SEC now having gone three years in a row without having a team in the national championship game while the Big Ten has won three in a row, coupled with this awful postseason record that the SEC had, people are like, OK, yeah, there has been a change. Let's acknowledge it. All right. So before we head on out of here, we have Bruce caught up with his buddy, Cooper Manning. uh one before you do that we have to we have to give the gift card oh i'm sorry i'm sorry i always forget i always forget to hand out the gift card where should we go with the gift card guys i vote for vinny okay um vinny was the first question i'm gonna vote for seth shaner the third with the big 10 the one we just answered oh so i have to vote for either the person who called me out or I am going to go with I'm going to go with Seth. Actually, I thought Seth's question brought in a couple of good things. And frankly, I don't mind. I like having to explain myself a little bit because you're right. We say a lot of stuff on this show. And sometimes maybe what we say isn't heard exactly how we wanted to hear it. We wanted it to be heard. Or maybe it is said in a way that doesn't convey exactly what we mean. So it's OK for us to circle back around on things and clarify our points. So I'll go with Seth in New Albany. Send your address to Stu. The audible pod at gmail.com where send your email address, get that $16 Trader Joe's gift card. That is right. If you missed it last time, it has gone from $12 to $16. We also need some of those ACC questions for the next episode. So send those to the audible pod at gmail.com. Without further ado, right, here's Bruce's interview. All right, guys, I spoke with Cooper Manning. That's Arch Manning's dad. And we really talked in depth about his son's first season as a starter at Texas. We talked a lot about overcoming adversity and a lot of the things that he learned and much more. When we jumped in, I started out with this question. Because as prepared as the Mannings felt like they were with getting Arch as best prepared as he could be for this moment in this situation, I wanted to know what surprised him the most after going through it all. Ooh, that's a good question. You kind of expect everything and we got a little bit of everything. So that was, you know, I think just the way R channeled kind of the tough times, you know, just he didn't like it, certainly, but just kind of grittier and tougher. You don't really know how your kids respond to things that they've never had happened to them before. And so just, you know, when it wasn't going great early, he knew he was still confident. He was almost kind of confused on why it wasn't working. Like, what's going on? I know I'm better than that. And so, you know, as parents, you just try to say, hey, just keep working hard. Keep your head down. It's all going to work out. And that's really all you can say, because you don't you're not at practice. You're not calling the plays. You're not really in the leads. You're just a parent trying to be supportive. And so I was I was proud of the way he handled adversity and ended up, you know, getting better every week, which I really thought was something that was fun to see. As a parent, I'm sure you've seen because you're probably watching closer than everybody else from the time they're a little kid. You see the best of them and you see the maybe moments where they're like, you know, and was this the time you've and it's not surprising. it was obviously the highest level where you've seen him struggle the most. And it's like, had you ever seen him kind of where it's like, okay, this may take him a little longer to figure it out. Well, I think the fact that the hype was so much, you know, over the top crazy. And I addressed that earlier. I said, look, this is insane. And I knew he was going to have some hiccups and that's part of life. That probably added to it. You know, if it was, if they were a 20 ranked team, which they probably should have been, and they let beat by seven at Ohio State, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but all the fluff and the nonsense comes with it. It adds to the useless banter that goes on. And so I've learned to limit what I read and listen to. It's actually quite liberating. Was there moments where you're like, I got to bite my tongue. I got to log off or anything like that. Oh, you guys? Oh, yeah. No, no. There's definitely, I think, being a parent of someone who's being critiqued on every little move is definitely a challenging spot. So, you know, Bruce, there's a lot of people in this sports world that have opinions, and there's only a small portion of those that are qualified to have them or that I would respect listening to. So you've got to pick your spots carefully. And that goes both ways. where they're saying nice things, you know that that can flip on a day or a dime. And those guys are just a lot of times paid to create looks and drama, not necessarily real substantive work done on their part. If they don't watch the film, I don't really listen to them. Maybe take this part out being that it's your son, but more than just a person who's two brothers were played it and obviously dad played it at an incredibly high level. So during the position as it is, it's not like I think we and I'll say this because we're all the media are in a in a rush to judgment. Right. Where it's like we are writing off sophomores. We are writing off freshmen or whatever. It's like, you know, I'm not sure anybody at Auburn would have said, oh, yeah, that's going to be the guy who's going to lead the Broncos to the playoffs, you know, or whatever. You know, now Bo Nix is, you know, different and everything. Right. I mean, what's the lesson in that you think for us? You know, I love, I really have a soft spot for all quarterbacks, especially ones that are under a microscope. I mean, I remember listening to people who are so critical of Caleb, you know, I'm like, this guy's unbelievable. And Bo Nix is, you know, winning 13 games and they're still critical. So I don't know. I don't think you ever please them. I think you just, you know, from the athlete's side, just keep your head down, do what you're supposed to do. If your coach is happy with you and your receivers are happy and your team likes you and you're winning games, there should be nothing else in the world to worry about. And even when you're losing, if you're, you know, which happens when you play well, it's still not, you know, you got to you worry about what's going on in the facility. And outside of that, it's it's out of your control. So there's really not a whole lot of sense paying too much attention to it. Was there a turning point where you saw it? I felt like, I don't know if it was around the Oklahoma game or maybe a little after, but obviously November got way better. But a point where you're like, okay, this is kind of where we think we're headed now. Yeah, I think the Oklahoma game was a big one. You know, Texas had a lot of guys, just like Arch, making kind of their first starts. A lot of youth, even a lot of turnover on the offensive lines. Guys that started week one and didn't play very much the rest of the year. you know, receivers brand new, a lot of new faces across the board. So it didn't really surprise me that it kind of went that way. I was actually pleasantly surprised that they started, you know, getting better and growing into it. And by the end of the year, yeah, that's, you know, there's nothing better than game experience. And so having been there, seen things, done that, it's, but you got to, you kind of got to go through the growing pains to get there. And while it's not fun, it's certainly helpful. Did you get a sense of he grew probably maybe more this year than at any point, any one single year, just because of the stage and everything else? A million percent. Yeah, you the stage has got to be big and you got to play real games under scrutiny and competition and, you know, make plays under pressure to to kind of find out what it feels like and to know and then to cut to know you could do it. I think that's also, you've kind of proven to yourself, like, I can make all these throws. I'm faster than this guy or whatever. And then it's more about the huddle and believing in each other and doing it with your teammates is fun. And I think that's something that Arch really likes. He loves these teammates. He loves guys. And it makes them, in the world we live in now with the portable people moving around, you cultivate some really good relationships with people. and for one reason or another, they may be gone the next year. That's kind of sad. For you guys, I mean, obviously the visibility is one thing, but in terms of like, we talked about this a bunch, you and your wife, about him walking to campus and just like he's, it's almost like he's not even a human being at some point, they're just like he's an exhibit. And is that stuff still a thing or is he just more used to it now or are people more used to him? I think you just get used to it. You know, we were in an airport the other day in Dallas, Fort Worth, you know, a layover and with his brother. And we had people, you know, lined up, all the waiters from the little restaurant there. And we had everybody just come and sit next to him, take a picture, sit. And Ellen was just taking pictures just to keep the kind of the drama. But everybody would come over and just have a seat. It's just part of the deal now. And I guess for anybody who's, you know, starts to get known in a hurry, it's an adjustment. I mean, he tries to, you know, put his hoodie on and just try to be a regular guy. But I think those days are over. What do you think he's learned the most from this year? I think he, I think how to win some close games, you know. And then I think he also learned what he can do. And if he does what the coaches say and he does what he's been taught and not try to overdo things or overthink it, good things are going to happen. Does the message change at all now from you and Alan to him or the conversations change now? Anything? No, nothing. It's the same. It's a similar conversation as you had in eighth grade. in freshman year in high school and college. It's still about, hey, you know, work hard, be a good guy, enjoy, enjoy it, have fun, and just play. And, you know, you're going to win or you're going to lose. It's all going to be okay at the end of the day. I hesitate to ask this, but I feel like I should. To me, the most, like, whoa thing I saw actually came from the New York Times. It was a column. and it was just, I think it had to do it because there were ads on, like it kind of facilitated it or whatever. Was there one thing where you're like, oh guys, come on. Or you just kind of shrug your shoulders that that's what it is. I think my wife has a few people's name on her crosshairs and who she's probably not going to send a Christmas card to. But, you know, the coverage of sports is over the top, and there's too many people doing it. I mean, it's ridiculous. So no different, Bruce, than when they, you know, were saying, you know, it's the greatest thing since sliced bread early in the season before he ever played, you know, then they go ahead and come over the top on how bad it is. So it's to be expected. Again, we're just trying to enjoy this road and, you know, support him. And make it fun because there's a lot of work that goes into it. Those people that would try to downgrade the whole thing in one little week or two, it's kind of silly. I mean, it'll start all over again. It'll be hyped up again this offseason. It's coming, and he'll have some bad games next year. And here comes the, you know. I was watching a great documentary on John Elway the other day. and who's arguably one of the most gifted quarterbacks ever to play. I mean, just an athlete, a stud, a competitor, a great arm, and the amount of nonsense that he went through when his team would not win makes it seem like, okay, if they're going to go after this guy and say he's not good, he can't win the big one, he doesn't have it, then anybody is fair game because you would be very challenged to write anything negative about what a wonderful quarterback he is And they ripped his, you know, head apart and face off for years. So it's it's coming for everybody. I feel like you guys did such a good job of all the parenting things along the way. Looking back, is this about as close to how you could have expected it go? Then I mean, I know that, you know, it just seemed like you guys were on it and then you play the long game and it's all this way. um you know i really don't have a whole i didn't really have a whole lot of expectations i knew i knew this team that started the year was very young and inexperienced and i knew there were going to be some some rocky roads especially in the in the world of you know on the road in the playing the number one team play you know playing in hostile environments um and i was really proud of how that team responded. I thought the team kind of went the same way as Arch. It got better as the year goes on. And I would argue, you know, the way to finish a year, to beat a franchise, you know, like Michigan in the year and play a lot of young people, it's great momentum going into next year. I know everybody wants to make the playoff, but going into the playoff and getting beat or getting shut out, the way that would make you feel at the end of the year versus having a win at the end of the year and kind of going into the spring with some real momentum and excitement about what's next, I think was a really good place for Texas. Yeah, let me ask you about your partnership with Capital One and the Ventures. And how does that fit into what you guys are doing and why is it such a good fit for you guys? Yeah, it's great partnering with Capital One. And this VentureX business card was really handy this fall. We, you know, you're on the road, you're traveling. And so, you know, we booked our flights and hotels through the Capital One business travel. tons of points, tons of lounges. You're going with the kind of small little towns, so you're connecting through flights and rental cars and hotels and dinners. I was glad to have a week off. They're also a great partner with what's going to happen at the national championship on Monday night. People are going to have access to sidelines and tickets. It's just a great partnership and we really leaned on them heavy this fall and looking forward to another fun football season and we'll we'll we'll bring him along with us as well all right we appreciate cooper manning for joining us on the audible uh as he said the expectations as crazy as they were last year they're going to only come back again and he knows that that's coming and i'm sure i kind of contributed to it because if you ask me right now i would have texas as my preseason number one, given all they have coming back, as well as what they've added in the portal. Guys, we're going to get to the ACC in the next episode. As Stuart said, send your questions about the ACC to us at theaudiblepod at gmail.com, and we will see you next time.