7-25-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 2: Big Ten Media Days gets weird & full of fake news?; Matt Stewart recaps Sun Belt Media Days; why the Big Ten is (NOT) the best conference
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McElroy and Kublik in the morning starts now. All right, hour number two underway. McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Appreciate you tuning in. 800-239-9569. ACC quarterbacks part of the conversation. Biggest question you have with college football this upcoming season. Can get back to that. Tweet in at McIncube. Find us on Instagram as well, at McIncube. You can always be a part of the show that way.

Before we move to the Big Ten, G-Mac, I have two things I want to discuss with you. First, tell our listeners, the last couple of days especially, how B-Dry can help them out. Well, B-Dry has been serving Alabama for 60 years. It's been so wet the last couple of days, it might be worth going down to your basement to crawl space.

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You guys seen these Ridge wallets, like the metal wallets that you can get? Yeah. Those ads live in all of my social media. And I want to apologize to our very own Greg McElroy because I missed this. And not so much with the wallet, but I don't know if this ad would have popped up if I wouldn't have seen it. They have a new line of items out where they're celebrating National Moon Landing Day. Oh, really? Yeah.

And they have NASA-themed wallets and keychains that you can go purchase, a glow-in-the-dark version as well as a white version.

Saying, 55 years ago this week, the Apollo 11 mission marked the first time humans landed on the moon. Celebrate the anniversary and NASA's legacy of innovation with new limited edition essentials. Craig, this is right here. I don't know how I dropped the ball on this. Can't wait to buy that. Apologize for not getting this to you. Nothing like paying the man. Not doing it. Not paying. Where do you get these things? Apparently somewhere fake. Internet. Internet.

But I just didn't know if you wanted – we forgot to celebrate National Moon Landing Day. And I just wanted to give you the opportunity to celebrate that if you needed to. I appreciate the opportunity. So it's a fake anniversary. That's what you're saying? I didn't say that. I just said that I appreciate the opportunity that you gave me to celebrate it if I chose to celebrate it. Gotcha. There's a lot of holidays that could be celebrated. Like what was it, National Orange Day the other day? Yeah.

What are some of the ones today? National Ice Cream Day not too long ago. That's a reason to celebrate. There's so many things to celebrate all the time, every day. Every day there's something to celebrate. Every single day. I think yesterday was National Thermal Engineer Day. There you go. Thermal Engineer? Carousel Day. Okay, Thermal. I ain't about that. National Wine and Cheese Day. Houston Day. There you go. National Wine and Cheese Day. Perfect. That and Houston Day? Okay, he's definitely going to that ball now. Chili Cheese Dog Day?

Now you got my attention. National Hot Fudge Sunday Day is today. National Merry-Go-Round Day. Speaking of the Galleria, we could go back. I think it still works. Did we know? It's close to Christmas. They may have already swapped out. I think they have one at the zoo. You can go to that one. Oh, yeah. Okay, there. National Thread the Needle Day. That's quarterback. There it is. Live that life. Right there. Attaboy.

Yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of really good options today. I like that. We asked the question earlier in the show, everything going to be new this year in college football. What is your biggest question of how it will happen, how it will go? There are some folks that had some uncertainties about how this UCLA football season would go.

That opinion may have changed yesterday as their head coach, Deshaun Foster, took to the podium at Big Ten Media Days. It sounded like this. By the way, this is his entire opening statement. The moderator says, please welcome Deshaun Foster. And, sir, your opening statement and the next 63 seconds are what transpire. How are you guys doing? I'm happy to be here. Glad to be a part of this great conference. Finally putting two great emblems together, UCLA and the Big Ten.

We're a school that's won, what, 123 championships, so this fits us being right in this conference. Football-wise, we're just excited. I'm sure you guys don't know too much about UCLA, our football program, but we're in L.A. It's us and USC. I'm just basically excited, really. That's it. Any questions?

That was the UCLA head football coach in his entire opening statement of Big Ten Media Day. Do you think he prepared that? Some disrespect for Cal Irvine or Pepperdine or Loyola Marymount. Cal State Long Beach. Cal State Fullerton. I'm trying to figure out what the... He said it's us and USC. I just felt like you left some other schools in L.A. out. Fullerton is Fullerton. Irvine is Irvine. Long Beach is Long Beach.

These are not L.A. Westwood is Westwood. It's just part of. OK. OK. I know you view it in like municipality senses like, oh, we're Homewood. Oh, we're Vestavia. Oh, you're Mountain Brook. Oh, you're Hoover. Like, I know you view it in a municipality thing. I look at it the greater good, like L.A. is L.A. Gotcha. We're all one. Just because you want to get all snooty in your eye horse. There's actually more than two universities in Westwood.

L.A. So he's excited about going to a conference where winning championships and everything. I thought there was in thought they were in the conference of champions. There's there's obviously multiple ways to look at this. The guy's never done it. I'm not going to kill him. Public speaking is not easy. A lot of people don't like it.

So I'll give a little bit of a pass from that perspective. You are the leader of 125 young men. That would be the other side of the coin. You're a representative of the university. Hey, guess what? Not everybody is supposed to be the president of the United States. If you're uncomfortable speaking in front of people, you probably shouldn't. Take the Mike Leach approach. We're glad to be here. We're looking forward to a great season. Any questions?

There are certain parts of the responsibility that you have as a coach to represent your university. Like, guess what? Part of the job description is to present yourself in a way that would be positive for the university. If you are uncomfortable getting up in front of a microphone, then why are you the head coach of a university, of a major institution?

I get that. There's a lot of people that are uncomfortable up there in front of a microphone. Guess what? They probably shouldn't be broadcasters. They probably shouldn't be in charge of 125 players. They have to dress the team. There are certain criteria that you have to have in order to go up and be a suitable head coach. And yesterday was a really bad look. I don't know what it was. I don't know what it was. I don't know Deshaun from anything. I don't know anything about him. All I know is that was a bad look.

To not have anything prepared? How about his SID? That little bit falls on you there. That's got to be something that you talk about. You ready for this? Here's my biggest issue with it, my biggest problem with it. Some of it goes to where with what you're talking about. But what do we always talk about as a coach? You go into a game with a what? Game plan. Oh. Yep. Interesting play on words there. You take over to coach. You have an off-season workout. Plan. Oh.

Interesting. You don't say. So you knew you were going to this. You knew you were going to have to do this. You knew this was a part of your responsibilities. And either your plan let you down or you didn't have a plan. And that is concerning. And there are people out there that are going to say, hey, he froze up. No big deal. It did appear as though he looked to the side and either saw somebody or something happened and something just changed. But you could also say not a big deal, not very concerning. Well, apparently it was concerning for Las Vegas.

Because UCLA's week one line against Hawaii, Greg, moved half a point moments after this statement. Went from 13 to 12 and a half. And we've talked to Vegas Runner. We've talked to Stanford Steve. We've talked to Chris Felica. You've talked about it. Games don't just move like that for no reason. It doesn't happen. And if it were something roster related, what happens?

How and why did that just come out then? The timing seems a little bit odd. So there are some folks that lost a lot of confidence in maybe what UCLA is going to be this fall when this took place. Now, is this the end all be all? Should we judge him as a coach by this? Absolutely not. But as we stated, Greg, you have to be prepared for it. You know what's coming. I just don't understand. And people are like, well, he's just uncomfortable. He's never done it before. That is not an excuse. Like, I'm not trying to go out.

and, you know, build a bridge over Lake Logan Martin. Why? Because I don't have a structural engineering background. Like, I'm not going to do that. What about mechanical? Mechanical engineering. I don't care. Thermal engineering. I'm asking, do you have a background in any engineering? I don't have a background in engineering, no. I'm not going to go, you know, fight fires because I don't have a background in fighting fires. I've been trained properly.

I just don't understand. Like, these are things that are part of the job description. Like, being able to present in a certain way. It's part of the job description. I'm not saying you have to be, like, super polished. No one expects you to, like, go out and, like, sound like Barack Obama or, you know, Ronald Reagan as they get behind a microphone. Like, no one expects you to be crazy polished. Well, as I stated before, there are bailouts available. Well, exactly. Go with the Mike Leach approach and just say, glad to be here. Thank you. Any questions? No.

It's pretty simple. I mean, but just the only thing that you can say about your football team is that you're in L.A. alongside your rival? That's a bad look, man. Like, it's a really bad look. And there are already question marks about his candidacy coming in because, I mean, there were a lot of people. It's like Chip left. That was a traumatizing situation for UCLA football.

And it's like, oh, well, we're going with Deshaun, who has no coordinator experience, has been a running back coach, has been a good one at that. But people are wondering, all right, hang on, how many other candidates were considered? How many people even did you consider? So I don't know, man. I just thought it was a bad look. And I feel bad for him. Yeah, I absolutely do. But he brought it on himself. It's hard to sympathize. This guy's making millions of dollars. I mean...

Well, what did we say about the possibility of some coaches, big-name coaches that might want to be at that school or be in that area geographically? What could UCLA not do? They couldn't pay them. So we know some of the issues around when they made the hire, and it's now that something's going to be brought up a little bit more. But either way, you're the head football coach of a Big Ten program.

And either way you want to spin it, it's still a big time program. They might not have the money and the funds to be able to act that way compared to some of the schools that they're going to be in a conference with and share a league with this upcoming season. However, it is what you are and act accordingly, as they say. I was a little bit interested, though, Greg, in a different Big Ten head coach that was pointing the finger at his school.

for saying that they could not act accordingly. And I don't know if you saw the comments from Lincoln Riley yesterday, but I remember a time when USC was out in front of everybody in NIL. And USC was one of the places in college football that had their act together when it came to NIL. Not according to Lincoln Riley yesterday, who said, we're playing catch-up in facilities. We're playing catch-up in NIL. We've been playing catch-up in nearly damn near every avenue. Quote, unquote, NIL.

the Southern California head coach yesterday. Are those excuses? No, I don't think, I think there are limitations in Los Angeles financially, uh, to what you can do. I mean, things cost more. I mean, could you imagine there is no secret. Alabama is trying to build an arena for the basketball program. It's $225 million thereabouts. A couple of years ago, it was 165 thereabouts. You imagine how much that thing would cost in Los Angeles? Uh,

I can't even begin to imagine. You can't get a 3-2 Shaq for less than $3 million. I mean, honestly, I don't know. So I do think there are challenges there. And I also think LA is a front-running university, or USC is a front-running university, where, hey, when you're winning and there's momentum, yeah, we'll write a check, big old check. It's cool. We want to be on the sideline next to Will Ferrell and Snoop Dogg. But when things are challenging...

Will they have the same level of support? And I think that's a reasonable question to ask. So I don't think there's excuses. I just think it's the reality of the situation. Can I take you back to Lincoln Riley's opening statements at his opening presser? Sure. Quote, I am truly excited to come to USC and join the Trojan family as its new head football coach. USC has an unparalleled football tradition with tremendous resources and facilities.

And the administration has made a deep commitment to winning. I look forward to honoring that successful tradition and building on it. The pieces are in place for us to build the program back to where it should be and the fans expect it to be. We'll work hard to develop a physical football team that is both dominant on both lines of scrimmage and has a dynamic, balanced offense and a stout, aggressive defense. How many lies? A few. Seven? Five? Physical? Yeah.

Stout defense. I don't feel like lies is an appropriate way of describing that. You said they had tremendous resources. And then yesterday you said we're playing catch-up in facilities. Opening statement. Take you back again. Tremendous resources in facilities. We're catching up in NIL yesterday. Opening statement. Tremendous resources in facilities. Administration made a deep commitment to winning.

They made one. They didn't say for how long. Opening statement. The pieces are in place for us to build the program back to where it should be. Yesterday, we've been playing catch-up in nearly every damn near avenue. Okay. They sound like excuses to me. You can be playing catch-up because the finish line has moved. That's the difference. I think when he got there three years ago, they did have very nice facilities. They did have really solid resources. And guess what?

ohio state just upped their nil to 20 million dollars like the goalposts have moved in the big 10 with the amount of money that's now coming in so i think when he got there and guess what this is an arms race man this thing doesn't stay the same for long like second you open something it's outdated within a year so i don't think anything he said was inaccurate i really don't uh

But I also think that... What about what he said in his opening statement? Any of that inaccurate? When he got there? Well, he said he's going to build a stout, aggressive defense. I'm sure he's going to try. Develop a physical football team that is dominant on both lines of scrimmage. Coming from the guy that loved their offensive line two years ago. Loved it. I don't know. Said it was better than people thought.

Didn't say it was overly dominant. Now let's go to their defensive line. Oh, boy. No one's going to sit there and say that the Grinch situation was a positive one. I just think I'm going to resist the urge to go straight Feinbaum and start calling Lincoln Riley a complete failure. I think Lincoln Riley's a good football coach. I do think, ultimately, in time, he will figure it out. I really do. Now, I think that's going to require some...

Some truth serum, and I also think that's going to require a good hard, long look in the mirror. But I'm not going to sit there and say that it can't be figured out. It is SC after all. And I think they do have good resources. I just don't think they have the resources that compare to that of SEC schools and schools that are currently dominating the NIL world and the Big Ten.

Before we leave a little bit of Big Ten Media Days yesterday, go to Sunbelt Media Days, talk some Troy, some South Alabama. Back to UCLA quickly, Greg, and some of the confidence that has been lost. We mentioned opening at Hawaii. You'll get Indiana next. Then you're at LSU. Oregon at home. At Penn State. Minnesota at home. At Rutgers. Then at Nebraska. Iowa at home. At Washington. USC. Tennessee.

Fresno State. 12-0. Oh, boy. Defense is physical.

All right, when we come back, Sunbelt Media Days yesterday. What did we learn about a first-time head coach at Troy and South Alabama? Matt Stewart will join us to discuss it. He was there covering it right after this on Jocks 94.5. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Gap or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in.

McElroy and Kubrick in the morning, 822 a.m. Thursday, July 25th, right here on JOX 94.5. We're going to go to Matt Stewart, talk Sunbelt Media Days here in just a moment. But first, I'll tell you about Airport Marine. Your boating headquarters here in the state of Alabama, if you're looking to get into a pontoon boat, Airport Marine is where you need to go. Alabama's pontoon headquarters. Also,

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At Alabama's boating headquarters there, it's Airport Marine. Exit 234, I-65 in Alabaster. All right, Matt Stewart was covering Sunbelt Media Days yesterday for ESPN. And we get two new head coaches here in the state of Alabama in the Sunbelt, Matt. I want to start with Jared Parker from Troy. Just your thoughts on him taking over. Obviously a veteran-laced football team. But he's following up a coach that did a hell of a job the last couple of seasons.

Yeah, no doubt. I mean, they're back-to-back Sunbelt champions. They were 7-1 in the conference the last year, and they're pick-to-finish second in the Sunbelt West, which I think is a little bit lofty given they only have three starters back. They would have had four, but they're dynamic wide receiver teams.

Chris Lewis is still battling cancer, and he announced last week that he was going to sit out this season while he continues his treatments. But I like him personally. I think, Jared, he looks like a coach. He sounds like a coach. I told him that after we finished up our interview, and we kind of laughed about that.

But, wow, they got so much to replace. They don't know who their quarterback is right now. The most experienced quarterback they got on their roster right now is Goose Crowder, who was 9 for 13 last year. They got to replace Gunnar Watson. They got to replace Kamani Badal, six-round draft pick of the Chargers. I think they'll be okay in the running game. It'll be more of a committee. It won't be that one horse anymore. But, wow, and their defense.

Gave up a phenomenal 17 points per game, which is unheard of. That's like a high school number or something in college football last year. They'll be hard-pressed to try to do that again.

Where is a lot of the positivity coming from? Because I look at Troy kind of through the same lens you do. It's like, my goodness, this is going to be a tough – I don't want to call it a rebuild, but it's an uphill climb to be competitive again this year. And yet to finish second as the preseason favorite in the West. Where is the optimism coming from?

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't want to call it negativity. I think the optimism is from the fact they've won back-to-back conference championships, but none of the teams that won the back-to-back conference championships are there anymore. So I agree with you. That's why I've got them picked fifth in the Sun Belt West, not second. You know, maybe the coaches and the coaches are the ones who

who supposedly vote in this preseason poll. Maybe they were just showing the ultimate respect to the Troy program for what they've been able to do the last couple of years. But I don't see them finishing that high. I like Jared Parker. He's been an assistant coach for 17 years.

He's been all around the country, primarily in the Midwest the last couple of years at Notre Dame. Last year as the OC of the fight in Irish, he had a stint as an interim coach at Purdue back in 2016. He's been at Duke. He's been at West Virginia. That's really his connection to the Troy program. Troy usually tries to hire, you know,

you know, like they did with John Sumrall, somebody who had been in the program before and an assistant coach as Sumrall had been and now, of course, is at Tulane. Parker never had been in the Troy program, but his connection was Neil Brown. They were teammates briefly at Kentucky under Hal Mummey. They worked together prior to Notre Dame. He was the OC for Neil Brown for two years at West Virginia. So that's kind of his connection and his in on the Troy job.

Matt Stewart was at Sunbelt Media Days yesterday talking to little Troy, a little bit of South Alabama, who Jaguars also going to have a first year head football coach. As we know, Kane Womack has moved on to become the defensive coordinator at Alabama. Just versus the rest of the league, where do you view South Alabama's roster heading into this season?

I got them a notch above Troy in the West. I got them fourth. They do return six starters on offense, but not all starters are created equal. None of those returning starters are named Carter Bradley, who's now a free agent with the Raiders, with Damian Webb, who was their 1,000-plus rusher a year ago, or Colin Lacy, their top wide receiver who transferred to Louisville. So they lost their three top producers there. But I think they're in a little bit better shape.

Major Applewhite. They promote from within out of the five new coaches in the Sun Belt this year. He was the only one who was promoted from within. He had been the OC for Kane Womack.

the last three years, which incidentally were the best three years in South Alabama football history. They won their first ever bowl game last year, beating Eastern Michigan. And they do return a quarterback, although Carter Bradley has moved on to the National Football League, wish him well. Gio Lopez got some time last year,

and led their 59-10 route or whatever it was of Eastern Michigan in the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile. He's a different quarterback from Carter Bradley in that he's mobile. And in my interview with Major Applewhite, kind of hinted that we're going to see some of that mobility, and he's kind of excited to see that flexibility in the offense with a quarterback that's a lot more athletic.

Maybe not as great or prolific a passer as Carter Bradley was, but a more mobile athletic quarterback running that offense this year. How would you size up kind of the rest of the league with so much, I guess, up in the air? We know what South is to an extent. We know a little bit of what Troy has been, even though there's a lot of change there. But some of the other teams, the Southern Misses of the world,

Louisiana's had their time in the sun, at least in recent years. App State continues to be a problem all the time. It's probably one of the best teams in the G5 this year. Coastal has a lot of turnover under Tim Beck. So who should be kind of the teams that we're talking about in the Sun Belt as far as teams that could compete at the top of the sport and maybe punch their ticket to the college football playoff?

Well, I do agree with the coaches in their division pick. They picked AF to win the East. They were an overwhelming favorite. They got 12 of the 14 votes. And to me, they're clearly the best team in the conference, returning everybody. And, you know, their season kind of turned last year.

If you'll remember, they started three and four. Their four losses coming by a total of 17 points. And dare I say, Sean Clark might have been a little bit on the hot seat after the year they'd had prior to that. But they turned it around, won five straight before losing to Troy in the Sunbelt Championship game. And I think they're clearly the best team, the most all-rounded, solid team, top to bottom, offense, defense, special teams of anybody in the conference. And maybe they're there.

You know, maybe they can compete. Maybe they'll be the Sun Belt champion and they'll be in the mix. They'll be in the running for that G5, you know, the fifth conference champion to get into the college football playoff. The other really intriguing one, of course, is Texas State, who's been picked to win the West.

G.J. Kinney comes in after a fabulous one season at Incarnate Word where they went 12-2 and got to the FCS semifinals. And he comes in and he lights it up just like he did at Incarnate Word. They go for over 6,000 yards of offense last year, average about 37 points per game, and

Don't be surprised. In fact, I thought he might have gotten plucked after last year by a bigger school. Don't be surprised if they do live up to expectations this year.

and win the West that he does not get sought out by another bigger school. In fact, I even heard his name, and not to spread rumors, but heck, it's talk radio, so why not, right? You know, I've heard his name connected possibly if the opening comes up at Arkansas with Sam Pittman being on the hot seat. He was an offensive analyst there several years ago. But he's one of the hot, bright new minds in the game. He's 34 years old.

And he's done a tremendous turnaround with that program. You know, they won eight games last year, won their first ever bowl game, was their first winning season in eight years. It was just the second winning season for Texas State in FBS history. And when I say they had losing seasons, man, I'm not saying they were losing. They were bad losing seasons. They averaged three wins a year. So what he's done is dramatically turned that program around. And the other two teams that I think –

or teams to watch. The coaches didn't necessarily think they were teams to watch, but I think the teams to watch is Georgia Southern. If Georgia Southern figures out their quarterback situation

And I think they will. I think they're going to be better than the back-to-back six and sevens they've had in the first two seasons under Clay Helton. And Butch Jones' third season at Arkansas State was a big turnaround for them. They went six and seven after he'd been five and 19 his first two years and was obviously on the hot seat. He's not on the hot seat anymore. He brings back a lot of talent.

might challenge Texas State for that West Division title. All right, Matt Stewart was at Sunbelt Media Days yesterday for ESPN, covering that there, and just wanted to have a conversation about it. Brian Vincent is another first-year head coach taking over at ULM. I thought the Terry Bowden thing would work because I thought it was egregious when Akron let him go. He kind of kept that pipeline to South Florida, got some talented kids up there, first-ever bowl game, first-ever bowl win.

It doesn't go that way. But a lot of folks here in Birmingham appreciate Brian Vincent and what he's done. I feel like he could possibly have some success there. Outside of Todd Berry, it's been tough. That place hadn't been able to get going before.

Now, they do win the helmets battle in the Sun Belt this year with the new lids that they do. You like the Warhawk helmet? I'm a big fan of those. But what are your expectations for what he can do year one there in Monroe? I wish him well. I like him. I like him a lot. Probably got a raw deal there at UAB, right? Led him to a bowl game, seven and six, under tough circumstances. Took over the job right before the season started.

in 2022 when Coach Clark had to step aside for health reasons. I like him a lot, but I think it's a black hole, man. They got no money. They're a poor... They're a small attendance enrollment. Just don't have a whole lot of funding. And that was before...

NIL in all this where, you know, where no one's hiding what they're doing anymore. And the, you know, in an age and era where, where, where it's all about who's got the most money, who's got the biggest war chest. They got no war chest. I, I just, I wish you well, I just don't think you can win there unless things dramatically change. And I don't see that happening. Um,

So, yeah, but he's a – you know, he was a prolific coach. He went out to New Mexico last year after the UAB thing, and he was the OC out there, and they dramatically improved their offense there. They bring in General Booty as their quarterback. He transferred from Oklahoma. Of course, we all know he's the son of Abram Booty and the nephew of John David Booty and Josh Booty, and we'll see how that works out. But, man, they got a lot of holes to fill.

and it's just not a whole lot of funding to go out and get yourself good players like you have to do these days. It's going to be tough. Matt, you brought up finances quickly. We know at Big Ten Media Days, SEC Media Days, what the big picture topics are as it pertains to college football and what the concerns are. At Sunbelt Media Days, what are the big picture concerns? What are the thousand-foot concerns for what they're dealing with, what's coming, and what they're having to manage?

Well, I think, you know, kind of what I just hit on right there. It's like they're competing against – here's the biggest blessing and the curse for the Sun Belt. I think the Sun Belt has become the best G5, or non-autonomy as they like to call it. But G5, because that's what everybody calls it, I think they've become the best G5 conference, the most entertaining one. They've done it different from everybody else. They've done divisions. They've done geographic rivalries. They're not just a mishmash of teams.

have been thrown together across the United States, but they've done it with a purpose, and I think it makes for entertaining, fun football. That's the blessing. The curse is that it's all so competitive. They had 12 of their 14 teams go to bowl games last year, so they cannibalized each other. In order to get into the college football playoff as the best G5 team, I think you've got to have a perfect record. I think it's going to be hard for anybody in that conference to be a

be 12-0 or 11-1 at the end of it all and standing and get in. Maybe it'll happen. I think it's going to be tough. James Madison made a run at it last year, although they wouldn't have been eligible. They were 10-0 at one point. But the funding, yeah, that's the thing. It's just hard for them to compete. Anybody who's good, especially skilled position players, they get snatched up right away.

I mean, they really do. The SEC, the ACC, you know, they get snatched up by those schools. So anybody who had any kind of major production from a year ago, like a Colin Lacey from South Alabama, he goes off to Louisville. Same thing happened the year before. Georgia State's best wide receiver, Jamari Thrash, got snatched up by Louisville, and now he's been drafted into the NFL. He can probably project a similar kind of

kind of track for a guy like Colin Lacey this coming year. So that's the big issue. And, you know, coaches publicly aren't going to speak out against NIL because that's like a death sentence to be on the record and say, you know, NIL is bad because, you know, they all want to put up the public front that it's great the players are getting paid. And, you know, it is to an extent. I wish it was NIL.

I'm not big on collectives. That's not what NIL was supposed to be. It was supposed to be guys making money off their name, image, and likeness, and now it's just pay to play, which is not what it was supposed to be. But that is what it is, and it causes a big issue for teams in the Sun Belt. It certainly is what it is. Lastly, before we get you out of here, do you think the committee will learn from their mistake last year by putting in the, quote, undefeated team?

and getting absolutely boat raced and embarrassed. Liberty can really play the 133rd strongest schedule in the country. Or they could have put in SMU, who played against three power fives, lost all three, but were competitive in all three, and went 11-0 against G5 programs. So you think they'll learn their lesson and reward strength of schedule moving forward?

You know, what do you think, Greg? They should. How much attention do you think they're going to be paying to those G5 teams when they rank up? No, honestly, though, do you think in three years we still have a G5 team in the playoff? You know, I don't know. I mean, I don't even know what college football is going to look like in three years. It's going to be the SEC and the Big Ten, right? I mean, I just...

I just don't even know. I mean, it's nice that they're giving them a seat at the table, and I hear everything that you're saying right there. You know, are they going to truly evaluate these teams, or are they just going to look at record? And the team that's 12-0, you know, G5 team that's 12-0, regardless of strength of schedule and really evaluating what they've done, gets in and, as you mentioned, gets both raced by Oregon 45-6 in the Fiesta Bowl. I don't know.

I wish I had an answer to that one. I think it's great, though. It's great for him, though, to have that carrot at the end of the string, something to shoot for and play for other than

Nothing against, you know, the Birmingham Bowls and bowls like that. I know that's probably big in y'all's neighborhood. But, hey, you know, it is what it is. It's a mid-level game, an exhibition game in the month of December. It's great for television viewing. Everybody's off for the Christmas and New Year's holidays to sit there and watch football all day. But what does it really mean? So to have that carrot out there for a team to have a chance to play in the championship, you know,

get a seat at the table, as they like to say, and maybe pull off a Boise kind of upset against Oklahoma in a bowl game like we did several years ago. That's the dream is for them to be able to get in there. And, of course, it wouldn't be in a bowl. It's going to be at a home site. So you're going to have like, you know, say it's App State. App State's got to go on the road and beat an Alabama or a Georgia or a Tennessee or whoever that number five seed is in their building.

Beat Texas A&M in their building a year ago. Looked big at the time. Maybe it wasn't so big. But, hey, it was a big win, and they still talk about it. That's a tough projection. Matt, great stuff. Appreciate the time. Great insight. We'll catch up soon.

Sure, absolutely. Thanks, guys. Thanks. Matt Stewart was on the call for Sunbelt Media Days yesterday. I say on the call. He was covering Sunbelt Media Days for ESPN yesterday with Rocky Boyman. Such a game guy you are. Well, I've shared many booths with Matt Stewart, calling games. So back in the CSS days, which many of you listening have no idea what that is, but it was a real network at one point.

Just like pay-per-view was a real thing. And Pac-12 Network. That lasted a little bit longer, but yeah, it was a thing. CSS, better distribution, for sure. And there's literally no doubt, probably better ratings. Watched by more. Those Tuesday night replays. I did have Pac-12 Network when I lived in Charlotte. Congratulations. Can't confirm it exists. One of the few. It's been eight years since I've had it.

When we come back, more audio from Lincoln Riley at Big Ten Media Day yesterday. That's next on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. The capital of the sports talk nation. This is Jocks 94.5 and JocksFM.com. Hurry and... All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Appreciate you guys tuning in. JocksFM.com where you can listen online. 844 a.m.

Thursday, July 25th, right here on WJOX. Some of you chiming in on some different things that we have discussed today. We'll try to get to those. I want to go back to a couple of other things that Lincoln Riley said at Big Ten Media Days because I do feel like some of the pressure is mounting today.

on Coach Riley and kind of what he's done, what he hasn't done there at USC. How different is it going to be this year? I don't think that we really know. It does feel like he's trying to change the foundation of his program, get the line of scrimmage a little bit more stout, bring in a new defensive mind. Maybe it does change it. If you're having issues with your foundation, though, you should call Ox Foundation Solutions, the most reputable foundation and repair and waterproofing company in Alabama. Twenty-five years' experience, an A-plus BBB rating?

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205-236-9500, 205-236-9500, or visit OxStrong.com. Lincoln Riley yesterday discussing why the college football playoff is good for everyone.

It'll be good for the game, yeah, because everybody's got their route into it. And, you know, if a team drops a game early, it's not like you're out of it by any stretch of imagination where there's been times, you know, like I can remember one of our, I think my second year at OU, but maybe it might have been one of the best OU teams that we had where we lost two games early. And it's like, I think we were one and two in the first three games. We ended up running the table after that. But it's like, you're out of the playoff. It's the third game of the year. I know.

It was crazy. And then we ran the table, and by the end, we were probably one of the two or three best teams in that country. But that's kind of the world that we've all been living in. It'll be good for everyone. I think good for the game, for the interest to remain high, for a lot of people to be in contention for those spots. So Lincoln Riley discussing the path to the playoff for his school and other schools. But the standard, he says, hasn't changed for Southern California.

Going into the Big Ten Conference this year, we're certainly looking forward to the new venues, the new challenges, getting a chance to compete against other great players, other great coaches throughout the league. But one thing that I've been steadfast on since the day I got to Los Angeles was our standards will never change there. Our standards at USC are to compete for championships.

Whether we're in the beginning of this rebuild that we undertook two years ago and throughout our entire time here, which is going to be a long time, we are certainly looking forward to competing for championships every year. Now it's just Big Ten championships. Really, really looking forward to the season, looking forward to the matchups, and really a historical first year for USC and the Big Ten Conference.

So Lincoln Riley saying that standard, Greg, is still championships. Now it's just winning Big Ten championships. How long until they get one? That's a tough one to predict, but I don't think it would be as long as you seem to think. You hate USC. Why don't you just admit it? Are you on the fine bomb bandwagon?

I don't think he's getting fired this year, but I don't think it's going to be long-term for Lincoln Riley at USC. You really don't? I do not. Where's he going to go? Offensive coordinator in the NFL. Find another job to hit the reset button, which we've seen become such a popular trend with college coaches.

I don't know. He can't be a statement assistant anymore. He's an elite play caller. I'll give you that. You said you thought he was a very good coach. I think he's a very good play caller. I think the head coach portion of that is still yet to be seen. I think he's won a lot of games, though. Yes. Hey, but the good news is, Greg, he's going into a conference that his team is right there on top of.

Yeah, well, I mean, we are at the top of the Big Ten Conference. I mean, we're at the top of any conference. I don't ever look at ourselves below anybody, and I never will. You know, listen, two years ago, look where Ohio State and Oregon were two years ago. You know, look what they took over, look what we took over.

You know, I mean, it's it takes time. You know, I'm not a magician. I can't I can't wave a magic wand and everything just be perfect right away. But find one area that we have made progress. So this thing's got momentum. It's coming. Nothing's going to stop it.

That's fine. They start at a different point. We'll see where it ends up. I guess NIL, that's one area they haven't made progress. Well, I will go back to just last year's. He's not wrong. Oh, he is. Actually said they're below no one. Well, he's not wrong. Last year's Pac-12 standings, he would be below Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Oregon State, and Utah, actually. He's not wrong. That was just a year ago. He's not wrong in the fact that Ryan Day stepped into a much better situation than he did when

When he took over, he's not wrong that Dan Lanning, when he took over for Mario Cristobal, they were on the heels of multiple Rose Bowl appearances, like multiple Pac-12 titles. He's not wrong in saying that those jobs were in better position than what Lincoln Riley stepped into when he got to USC. I mean, Clay Helton, I love the man. I do. But he was ill-equipped.

At the end of his tenure at SC, he just didn't have the support, and they didn't win enough, and they didn't win consistently enough, and they lost a lot of games that they had no business losing. So he's not wrong in saying that he stepped into a tougher situation than the other two guys that he had mentioned. Okay. More on Big Ten Media Day. Hear from a couple other head coaches next right after this on Mac and Cube in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

A player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Cup or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. Michael Roy and Kublik in the morning, 8.54 a.m. right here on Jocks 94.5. Dennis Dodd going to join us on the other side from Big Ten Media Days. Quickly, Matt Rule, Nebraska head coach on Big Ten being...

Where, as far as conferences are ranked? Administrator would have said, hey, I want to add USC and UCLA to the non-con and I'd have thrown a fit. Like, I'm not playing those guys. Well, here they are. So I think, you know, when you look at the Big Ten playing nine conference games,

More importantly, playing five road conference games. Not every conference plays five roads. Some of the 18 leagues, they play four road games. Sometimes one's like a neutral site, so they play three where you have to go into someone else's stadium. In the Big Ten, we have to go into someone else's stadium in our league five times and duke it out.

But I think we'll have a lot of access to the college football playoff. And I think four teams from this league should get in every year because this is the best league. This is the NFL of college football in my mind. Okay, so Matt Ruhle going with Big Ten as the best league in college football. It will be decided on the field. We know that. It's coming. How your vehicle will be sold can be decided by you. You don't have to go online. Don't do it on Facebook like I did. I listed my old pickup truck on Facebook.

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The Rose Bowl is in the news. Roster sizes are in the news. Big Ten media days in full swing. Dennis Dodd is there, and he will join us on the other side to discuss a couple big topics in college football. Some Big Ten news. What he's learned from a couple of teams, a couple of coaches in that league. What it's going to look like. We'll discuss that on the other side with Dennis Dodd. Wim Sanderson next hour as well will join us. Final hour of the show will bring you a bad box score of the day.

A couple other things that we'll get to your feedback at Mac and Cube if you want to tweet in. Try to open the phones in a couple of segments, 800-239-9569. Listen online, jocksfm.com. Tell your home smart speaker to just enable the jock skill or listen to jocks.

Talk more Big Ten media days and what's next for the Rose Bowl as they're trying to throw their weight around again. Next, with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports right here on Jocks 94.5. This is McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superstition.

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