7-26-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 1: Is Oregon a title contender; James Crepea talks Big Ten; SoCon & SEC Trivia
47:16 Share

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friend's still laughing me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com slash results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply.

LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. 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.

Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors...

You're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. See ebaymotors.com. This Jocks 94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to msbnow.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium.com.

McElroy and Kubelik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, Friday, July 26th, 7 a.m. Appreciate you being with us right here on JOX 94.5. Listen online, joxfm.com, apps in your app store, iPhone, Android. You can always download that for free. Going to continue college football conversation. Today's media days sort of wrapping up a little bit yesterday. A lot of reaction from that. James Krepia will talk not just Big Ten media days, but also Oregon media.

at 7.30 this morning. Chris Hatcher, Sanford Head Football Coach, coming off SoCon Media Day, is going to be with us at 8 a.m. And David Koechner is going to be with us at 9.30 this morning. You know him probably as Champ Kynes, so we might drop a whammy or two this morning at 9.30 and get to that as well. Do you identify with the Champ Kynes character? It feels a little like you. Why wouldn't I? Y'all look similar.

I feel more like Brick Hamlin. Brick Tamlin. And I feel like Saber has a lot of the Paul Rudd character. I don't remember his name. Sex Panther? Yes. You've been known to walk around the office wearing Sex Panther with real bits of live Panther. Is that okay with you, John?

Brian Santana. I don't know if that's me all the time, but I feel like 60% of the time that's me 100% of the time. So yeah. Got it. Okay. Well said. David Coates are going to be at the Stardome this weekend doing a couple different things. We'll talk to him about that. But a lot to get to across the course of the show today. Big Ten Media Days. I would say Big Ten Media Days has made some noise. Some entertaining, some just informational, some just kind of questions that we had about certain teams.

And Oregon kind of leaving is the story, I feel like, Greg. And we thought maybe it would be Ohio State, maybe Michigan, maybe Penn State. But obviously you get the giant inflatable duck out there and people get talking early. It's their first time in the Big Ten, so they're going to be the story for a lot of different reasons. But it feels like Oregon is kind of the focus for a lot of the Big Ten right now. Well, I think it's a little like with us when we were at SEC Media Days. A lot of the focus is on Texas and Oklahoma.

Just because it's new. And I think that's a little bit where Oregon was as well. So I'm really bullish on Oregon. I really am. I think they have a chance to translate nicely. We've seen their team go into Ohio State's stadium and take care of business within the last handful of years. I think they match up pretty well. I think they can play on the perimeter and in the trenches.

which I think is a valuable recipe when moving into a league that has traditionally been won by trench play. So I'm really optimistic about them, but I don't usually... Part of what irritates me over the course of time about Oregon is there are some gimmicky aspects in who they are. The duck, to me, is a distraction. Look, I understand that I come from the most hardcore program ever. I get it.

But that to me is, while fun, a bit of a distraction. It's a little bit like when we were talking Oklahoma State a couple years ago and all anybody talked about was Mike Gundy's haircut. It's like that takes away from what the team actually is. It's fun. It's cool. It's a good conversation starter. It's a viral social media moment. But it takes away from...

the business that's needing to be done this fall. So I think they've got a great team, but you're right. It feels like coming out of media days, 90% of the conversation has something to do with the Oregon Ducks. Are you talking about the inflatable duck this year's media days or just the duck mascot in general? The inflatable duck down the river. That was by far the most talked about thing at Big Ten media days. By far. I thought you were saying that...

just having a duck as your mascot or the way that the mascot carried himself was an actual distraction. He does a lot of push-ups. He does do a lot of push-ups. That was not as bothersome to me. There are antics. I mean, it's like with most mascots. Yes, I mean, I don't usually, like, get mad at BYU because their cougar, Cosmo, can dance. Like, I don't have usually a huge issue with that. I don't have a problem with the duck floating down the river either. I just...

When you have a great team, you don't need sideshow activities to generate attention. And I feel like Oregon can't help themselves sometimes. But they're legit, man. I mean, they're going to be great. I think it's going to translate...

really easily to the league, and their roster's already ready-made. I mean, Dan Lanning's a stud. And the Big Ten is a good, solid league, but I thought the Pac-12 was a real good, solid league last year. And you can make a case that, if not for the high-flying antics of Michael Penix and company, Oregon would have run roughshod through that league, and...

and maybe find themselves in a playoff situation where they think they could have been more dangerous. All right, so here's a question, though. You said good team and great team. Are they going to be a great team? We know they're going to be good. We know they're going to be really good. But are they going to be great? And we feel like there may only be a handful of great teams in college football this year. We'll try to go a little bit further today to answer that question because I do think it's interesting when you look at some of the analytics, some of the metrics, what they think about this football team.

And we'll dive into Oregon. 12-2 last year, 8-1 in conference. ESPN Analytics, according to them, they have a 38% chance to win this league. That is the best chance of any team, according to ESPN Analytics, to win the Big Ten.

They also have a 76% chance to make the playoff. That is the largest percentage or highest percentage of any team in the Big Ten, according to ESPN Analytics. Ohio State, 67%, Penn State, 59%, Michigan, 27%. It's not just people's opinion that are on the side of this, GMAC. And yes, there were some big losses. Troy Franklin, Bucky Irving, Bo Nix, of course, and

Those are very productive players who've done a lot and not going to be easy to replace. But you go get a Dylan Gabriel, who is one of the most productive active college football players in the country. Looks like he'll at least be able to bring in somebody that knows how to manage things and has experience and can make plays.

they are a little bit different than most teams in their league at the line of scrimmage and have been that for a while. Luckily for them, have had multiple coaches that placed an emphasis and tried to focus on that. So I think it's interesting when you just go ask people's opinion, they'll tell you, no, they're going to fit right in. They're going to be fine. It's not going to be as much of a grind for them. And then other people, when you look at them analytically, I mean, according to Bill Connolly, 69% said,

Going to be back. That's 28th in FBS of their production, 68% on offense, 70% on defense. That would be 27th in the nation. That's per Bill Connolly's metrics. So they have experience. They have high-profile players. You want to talk about the additions on top of those guys that they lost outside of Gabriel? No.

You go get a young quarterback that's uber talented in Dante Moore, who potentially could be next in line. You'll get wide receiver Evan Williams. Bring him in. You get defensive end Elijah Rushing, defensive tackle Aiden Breeland. And then you go back to A&M and maybe get the most talented receiver available in the portal. So it's hard to pick a lot of holes in them, GMAC, when you're just trying to think about what this team is or could be.

I think they have everything that you could ask for. Now, Gabriel, I don't think Gabriel's like a freak show. I think Gabriel's a rock-solid player, good college football player. I think the system is very quarterback-friendly, extremely quarterback-friendly. So that'll be beneficial as he transitions. And he's a smart player. I think he knows his deficiencies, so he's not going to be a guy that's going to put the ball in harm's way.

I'm not concerned about the losses at wide receiver. I think, if anything, they might be better at receiver than they were a year ago. You have a couple guys that have continued to develop. I thought their top guy last year was phenomenal, but I think Evan Stewart will be able to fill that void no problem, being able to step right in, assuming he's all in, which, frankly, is a bit of a dangerous assumption.

But I look at their line of scrimmage play, Cole, and I think their offensive line was pretty good last year. I don't know how you would kind of fare them up, but seeing them up close and personal, granted it was against Washington State, I don't think Washington State had a bunch of fire breathers coming along the line of scrimmage, but...

I thought they held up pretty good in that game. And Boatnick's got the ball out quickly, and the offensive line's never going to be exposed in the pass game because of how quickly they get the ball out. But can they move people off the spot? Are they a group that can move you? I don't know. Because in the Big Ten, you're going to have to probably move some people and displace some people if you want to effectively run the football on a consistent basis. So that would be my big question offensively, and that's one that I would delegate to you. Can they move people off the spot?

I don't think it's their strength. I think they could potentially grow into being better at it this year. And while they were a good group last year, I mean, you mentioned just to start with the screen game, getting the ball out quickly, quarterback run. How many of those plays ask for dominant offensive line play from the physical nature that you're describing? Not a whole lot. And what percentage would you put on those plays in that offense last year? Quick throw screens and quarterback run. A lot of horizontal stuff. You mean 60%, 70% of the offense? Yeah.

If not more? Gosh, that seems like a lot, but that's probably about right. So, I mean, they weren't asked to be a dominant group last year. But they're solid. They're good.

Could they potentially grow into it a little bit more? Maybe they place more emphasis on it in the offseason. We'll see. But also, I agree with you that you're going to need some of that, but I don't think they're going to try to live that way. I don't think they go into this year saying that's what they have to be or else they're not going to be able to win games. But I think they have a chance to be a solid group.

and we'll see if that's enough when it comes to that portion of it. The other part of it, though, is outside of the offensive line and some of the skill that we talked about is just Dylan Gabriel in general. And I know people know that he's been around for a while. I'm not sure people realize the level of production over Dylan Gabriel's career. I mean, this kid has attempted 1,664 passes.

63% he's completed in his career, 14,865 yards, 125 passing touchdowns, 26 picks. He has 152 touchdowns accounted for. He's rushed for over 1,000 in his career, 26 rushing touchdowns. He has a receiving touchdown. You know where he sits all the time passing yards, Greg? Do you have any idea? Would you want to guess? Top five? Not quite there yet. 12th? 8th.

Eighth. His career high in a season is 3,660. He can be college football's all-time leading passer for career passing yards with 4,352 this year. He trails Ty Detmer, Bo Nix. How about that? Bo Nix is top six all-time in career passing yards in college football history. Sam Hartman, Graham Harrell, Landry Jones, Timmy Chang, Case Keenum. Case Keenum, the leader all-time, 19,217 passing yards.

He's fourth all-time in touchdowns responsible for in his career. He needs 27 to break that record. Also belonging to Case Keenum, he will break that record if he stays healthy this year. I mean, he will have more touchdowns responsible for than any other college football player if he stays healthy. That's going to happen. So it's wild. I mean, he's the only player in college football history with 125 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns in his career. So, I mean, the numbers back up that he's at least going to bring you some production.

and we know the offense is at least going to allow it. He's going to have the weapons to potentially do it. Greg, can this be that dominant of an offense, though, to potentially go grab a national championship? That's what I'm not 100% sure of. I think their offense is going to be really good, but I just don't know. I think they live a lot of sideline to sideline. I do think they...

They can take shots downfield. They just didn't for whatever reason. I don't know why that was, but so many of, of Bo's throws were extended handoffs last year at or around the line of scrimmage, a couple of yards beyond. Yes, they could stretch the field from time to time. They just didn't do it very often. So I'm, I'm,

I like their offense. I think it's extremely friendly for the quarterback. A lot of the throws are access throws, so if a look presents itself, take it. That makes it pretty easy on simplifying some of the decision-making that you have to make. So I like a lot how things have kind of worked out.

For Will Stein and how he's implemented things, I think it actually really suits Dylan Gabriel's skill set because Gabriel's very accurate. He does not have a huge arm, but he's very accurate. So I think it's really a nice mix, and he's got great weapons. Bucky Irving at running back will be very difficult to replace, although that dude was electric, absolutely electric. And I know they have a couple good ones to kind of back him up.

Guys that have been banged up at times the last couple years. But they will miss his explosiveness. But offensively, I don't think they have any problems. And defensively, too. With some of the offenses they're going to face, how good do they have to be on defense?

I mean, that's my biggest question mark. Everyone talks about Oregon's offense, Oregon's offense, Oregon's offense. Defensively, if they want to get to the college football playoff, win the Big Ten, how good do they have to be on defense? Because it's not like when you look at their schedule, it's not like they're playing a bunch of juggernauts offensively. Okay, don't get me wrong. Ohio State, I think, will be able to fill it up for sure. But who else on their schedule is going to be some ridiculous group offensively?

I mean, at Michigan? Can Michigan fill it up? I mean, they have question marks to me offensively. I don't know. I think Michigan's kind of a control-the-ball type of team. Wisconsin, Maryland, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, UCLA, Oregon State, Boise State. Like, their defense isn't going to be challenged, really. Outside of the Ohio State game, potentially...

The Michigan game. And maybe Wisconsin gets their head on straight. They become very challenging to play against there on November 16th, where it's probably going to be snowing sideways. So I'm curious about it, man. I think they're in a great spot. It's just now about whether or not

Their defense is adequate, and their offense is as high-powered and as exciting as it was last year. All right, so we will hear from Dan Lanning on the other side, continue talking Big Ten media days, a little bit of Oregon. Are they a real national championship contender? We'll ask you that question. 800-239-9569 if you want to get in. Text into the show 205-834-9450. That gets you to the Vireside Hotline.

Oregon Ducks, national title contender. Do you believe it? Are you buying it? Yes or no? One thing that you do need to buy into, though, is the quality of a train because you know it can do for you. Alabama's heat and humidity can be brutal. Don't let it affect your home and family. Keep them comfortable with an affordable train cooling system. Train is our official partner here at Jocks, and they've been recognized as America's most trusted brand 10 consecutive years. Find a comfort specialist near you at train.com. Remember, it's hard to stop a train. More on Oregon.

More on the Big Ten media days next right here on McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kublik 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 Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. Yes or no? Right now, G-Mac, you say? Yes. National championship caliber football team. Yes.

What would the mild concerns be that if they show up in even greater fashion would keep them from being that for you this year? Injury to the quarterback spot, even though they've added two this offseason and they have the decent backup. Dante Moore transferring back. He was committed to Oregon and then went to UCLA and transferred back. But injury to a veteran like that I think would be a little challenging given the keys to a true freshman or a redshirt second-year player.

is less than ideal. Offensive line would be an area where, you know, maybe, maybe they aren't as good as some people are anticipating.

especially when considering just the style of play and the blunt force trauma you're going to experience when playing against Big Ten defensive lines. I mean, Big Ten defensive lines are a proud group now. They are very physical, not crazy twitchy, but extremely physical. So if for whatever reason that doesn't align, that's less than ideal. And then you look at the defense. I mean, if there's nothing...

It would probably be the secondary. There's nothing that I'm super worried about. They played a lot of guys last year, so on paper, maybe they don't have a ton of returning starters. But they do, I think, have a couple guys that will be interesting to see how they jump in. They got Jabbar Muhammad from Washington to be one of the corners. He should be pretty good, but he's a little undersized. I mean, real undersized.

You have Cam Alexander from UT San Antonio who will also be a corner, but he hasn't played at this level on a consistent enough basis. So,

That's kind of what I'll be interested in, is that you have some guys that came in that were starters at power five spots. You have some guys that came in that were starters at G5 spots, and now they're all going to play together. So the secondary would be a slight question mark. And then the interior of the defensive line, I think they're fine on the edges, but the interior of the defensive line, you're relying on a lot of second-year players and anticipating a big jump there. I think they can do it.

because they weren't bad there last year. But that would just be an area that I'll be watching closely, just because guard-to-guard in the Big Ten, I think, is pretty stout. And they're going to probably try to make the Pac-12 teams feel it early on to see if they can weather the storm. All right, so let's go to Dan Lanning yesterday from Big Ten Media Days. He was asked what the Big Ten should know about Oregon football.

Ultimately, what should the Big Ten know about Oregon? That we're mighty different. Mighty different in a lot of ways. You look out there in the pond, you'll see a big old duck. I'm hoping we get to travel that duck to all of our away games this year. We're mighty different when it comes to the jerseys you might see us wear or the facilities that we get to be in. And we're innovative. And we've always been on the cutting edge of everything we do. We're certainly positioning ourselves to be on the cutting edge.

And we're grateful for the opportunity to compete in the Big Ten, excited about this opportunity in front of us, and excited to see what this team does. It's a brand-new team. It's not the same team as last year. On our team right now, there's 10 players that were on this team when I first got here, so you're talking about a new group. And these guys have completely bought in, excited to see them perform. I know they're anxious to get on the field, but there's a lot of work between now and then before we do that.

All right, so that's Dan Lanning just on what he thinks the Big Ten needs to know about this Oregon football team. Dylan Gabriel, quarterback who we mentioned, one of the most productive players in college football history, on why he chose Oregon. Oregon was a very easy decision, probably the easiest decision of my life.

uh just with you know the alignment with coach Lanning coach Stein uh the conversation that we had immediately uh it wasn't a matter of if it was just how we're going to make it happen and uh just appreciate them appreciate all the boys taking me in and you know these seven months of of working together it's been a blast sorry to my parents for all the travel but uh

So that's Dylan Gabriel on why he chose the Oregon Ducks. Did say that Ohio State was involved in his recruiting process on one of the side sessions that he had yesterday, which I thought was a little bit interesting. Back to Dan Lanning, just on Oregon head football coach, keeping players focused despite some of these expectations that we've been talking about and a lot of other people have been talking about for his football team this fall.

Well, you make sure that they keep their eye on the main thing, right? And the great news about everyone that has a prediction about our place in the Big Ten or where we finish at the end of the season, zero of them are going to have any impact on our games, right? We impact our games. Nobody else outside of that room of our players is going to make an impact. So,

reminding them that they're the secret sauce. They're the piece that actually gets to translate to success in the field. And no outside noise is going to impact that. I think our players do a really good job of level setting and recognizing that. We'll see if it carries over for the season.

Alright, so Dan Lanning, just on keeping those players focused, T-Mac, and I guess having a lot of veterans, something that can help with that. I don't really know if the expectations or anything surrounding that portion of this football team is going to keep them from getting to the playoff or maybe making a deep playoff run.

I don't know about you. How do you feel about them? I don't feel like I've gotten a clear gauge as to exactly where you fall. I think they are elevated slightly by the lack of other teams that we will perceive to be great this year in college football, but I do think they could be very good as of right now. I mean, listen, they're going to have as much skill or more skill than anybody that they play and maybe anybody that they potentially play all year. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Do they have the guys that can sort of –

Get them over the hump, so to speak, like take them to the next level, I guess. Is Dylan Gabriel that guy? I mean, Bo Nix kind of turned into that guy in certain instances. I don't know if Gabriel is that guy. I worry a little bit about his health over the course of the season, playing in a little bit more of a physical league. He's a guy that's been dinged up before. But you went out and got Dante Moore. I don't know. Maybe he'll be ready. And then like you talked about at the line of scrimmage, defensively doesn't feel like it will be that much of an issue for them.

But I think on the offensive line, because you are going to play collectively a group that's going to be a little bit different than what you saw last year. And I agree with what Jeff Schwartz said earlier in the week. That Pac-12 defensive line class, top to bottom, was probably as good as we've seen it. So that will help that transition some. And then there's part of it, I'll just say, and I think you said this either last week, we were talking about Oregon one other time, like there's just a part of them in what their DNA is and has been. Just prove to me that you're

Point blank, tough enough, physical enough, big and bad enough to go win a title. That's it. Because if you're going to have to do it against one of the other, what we perceive to be potentially great teams in college football, those teams are going to be pretty good at the line of scrimmage and probably make you have to win the game there.

So are they that? I think they can be. I just I lack maybe the full confidence that some other people do that they are that team right now. That's what I kind of don't really know. But is that because of history or part of it? Something that you saw from last year that makes you think, yeah, I don't know how well they're going to hold up. Yeah, I think it's just I think that.

Once they play collectively better defenses on a more regular basis, what you talked about, whether you want to call it the dink and dunk nature, the high percentage play nature of the offense, that's going to have to extend. It's going to have to be a little bit different at times. Yeah, you can't have 16 play drives in the Big Ten on a regular enough basis. I'm kind of with you there. That's kind of my biggest holdup with them. You know what I mean? It's like...

They're going to play much better defense. And while I think the Big Ten lacks athleticism across the entire footprint, I do think they're remarkably sound. And they don't give freebies. Like Iowa, for all their flaws in athleticism, they don't give freebies. And they usually have a couple guys up front that can really wear you out. So I think that's... And Oregon's offense is designed...

to take the freebies. You know what I mean? Like, in the most layman's terms possible, like a lot of freebies, a bunch of catching runs. Like, in the Big Ten, there aren't as many catching runs. Like, you've got to manufacture big plays downfield because they're going to make you connect on low percentage plays downfield. So, and I think they'll change a little bit because Gabriel has traditionally been a pretty good deep ball thrower. I don't think that was Bo's strength. I think he could do it. I just don't think that was his strength. So...

I'll be curious to see how much the offense changes this year with what Gabriel's comfortable with. I mean, remember, he came from UCF, Tennessee, that style of offense. Oklahoma, with Jeff Levy the last couple years, who also, UCF, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, they're big play-centric, and that's who Gabriel is, almost to a fault. So I'll be curious to see how much he opens it up and how much more aggressive they get with him under center.

We'll hear a little bit more from Dan Lanning later in the show. There's been a lot of NIL conversation around the Oregon Ducks. It's not going to go to there right this second, but we'll get to it a little bit later. If they could become sort of a shootout-based football team this year, you begin to think about who on the schedule could actually challenge that, and then when would they get to it? Great offenses potentially on that Oregon schedule. Idaho, Boise, Oregon State.

UCLA. Boise might be pretty good offensively. But they should handle that. Michigan State. Ohio State. Ohio State will. At Purdue. Illinois. At Michigan. That's going to be one where a different facet is most likely tested. Maryland. Maryland, I think, is always going to be a little bit of a pain offensively. With trick plays and

Stuff like that, but it's a little bit smoke and mirrors. And then you're at Wisconsin and then Washington. I think Wisconsin can be good offensively. Problem is you're playing them on November 16th. That, to me, buckle up because that's going to be a very weather-dependent type of plan.

If you need a new ride for summer trips, Royal's got it. My friends at Royal Automotive want to help you experience how car buying should be for Royal-owned dealerships in one location. The selection and savings are unmatched right now. Get up to $14,000 off select 2024 GMC Sierra models. 0.9% financing with approved credit on 2024 Volkswagen Atlas, Atlas Crossport, or up to $18,000 off select Volvo C40 models.

Go see my friends at Royal. They're going to help you get the best deal available. Royal Buick GMC, Royal Volkswagen, Royal Automart, Volvo Cars of Vestavia Hills, all at the corner of I-65 and Highway 31 in Vestavia. Online, royalautomotive.net. Make Royal your first and last stop on car shopping. All offers valid through July 31st. Certain restrictions apply. Remember, for every ride, there's Royal. James Krebia coming off Big Ten Media Days, covers the Oregon Ducks with us next.

to discuss the possibility of Oregon winning the national championship. Right here on McElroy and Kubrick 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. Mack O'Roy and Kubelik in the morning, Friday, July 26th, 734 a.m. on JOX 94.5. Listen online at joxfm.com. App is in your App Store, iPhone, Android. You can download that for free. Tell your home smart speaker to enable the JOX skill. And if you're looking to buy a new home, Damian, who should you call?

Ben Hedden from Beham Realty Co. Beham Realty Group. If you go to their website, behamrealtyco.com, or give them a call at 205-568-2705. If you're thinking about selling your home, and when it comes to selling, you only want excellence. That's my buddy Ben. If you're struggling to get your house sold because the markets are changing every single day, you need an expert that focuses on adapting half the time to make sure you come out on top. That's my buddy Ben Hedden from the Beham Realty Group. Give them a call at 205-568-2705.

All right, James Krepia joins us. He covers the Oregon Ducks, has been at Big Ten at Media Days. And James, I like asking football questions, but I just want to get your thoughts on all the NIL discussion that's been thrown around to Sean Foster, Kirby Smart, other folks in the last week, week and a half. Number one, how much reality do you believe that there is to the difference in what Oregon is playing with financially and everybody else is?

And what do you think Dan Lanning really makes of all this extra discussion around what Oregon might have versus what others don't have? Yes, on the two-parter there, Cole. I mean, relative to everybody else, who's everybody else across all of the Power Four, across all the FBS, across the Big Ten? I mean, what's the sample size? Right.

If you go by Troy Dannen and Nebraska, the AD there, then I guess Oregon and Ohio State are playing with relatively equal resources. According to him, they've each got $23 million. Okay, so I guess they're relatively equal footing. Do they have the number one recruiting class in the country right now with a dozen five-stars or something that I'm unaware of? No, they're up there, but they're not number one.

They're not markedly ahead of everybody. They don't have some disproportionate number, like I say, of five stars. Now, they're recruiting at a good level under Mario. They're recruiting at a better level under Dan. And the class that they've put together is real good, and it's potentially going to be historic for program purposes, but

like I say, it's not like they're doing something that is so just gaudy and preposterous at the moment. And the grand irony of it all being cold that for the better part of this month, uh, particularly cause they had a great commitment run there in late June into early July, that got all this attention, uh, and then generated all these comments from, from far and wide, uh, after all that, and then they have their day yesterday in Indianapolis, uh, the day ends with them losing one of those commitments, uh,

So in the last week, they were expected to get a five-star corner in D.J. Pickett, who picks LSU. And then they lose one of their four-star commitments last night in Josiah Sharma, who flips to Texas.

Yet, you know, I haven't seen a whole lot of headlines and a whole lot of conjecture about how much money there is at LSU in Texas and how they're just buying players. So for some reason, they've been tagged with this more than most everybody else. And we saw this a couple of years ago with A&M. But A&M's class was kind of disproportionate and pulling away to say nothing of.

As I said to Dan yesterday, when a lot of this discussion was being had during his time on one of the side podiums to wrap up the day, when this staff got assembled, when he got hired after Mario left, look back at the headlines. I'm going to make it up. What was said about the staff? This was a recruiting-first staff. And I don't need to tell you guys and your listeners about Tosh Lupoi and what he did in recruiting.

Just as an example, because I know you're familiar with those guys. All right. So now they're in their third year. Well, it sounds like they were billed as a certain kind of staff. They've had success on the field. They just sent a record number of guys from this program into the NFL. And now they're seeing the fruits of that labor and coming through on the recruiting trail into this third cycle. But now they're not recruiters anymore. Now they're just purchasers. But nobody else in the country is doing it.

I mean, come on now. So what does Dan think of it? I think he's pretty amused by some of it. Because he told everybody yesterday who would ask, and naturally that wasn't a lot of the discussion, is that he just doesn't care and it just doesn't matter. Or, yeah, he had a little bit of playfulness back and forth with Kirby and stuff, and sure. But...

Ultimately, it's an amusing narrative for this summer, but I say I think there's – is there merit to the idea that they have resources? Sure. As Dan kept saying yesterday, tell me who in the top ten in the country, either in rankings or in recruiting ranks or anything else, is anybody out there doing it for free right now? This is the ecosystem. I don't think it should be viewed as a slight whatsoever. My thing about Oregon is I just want to see more than anything else

I want to see steak and potatoes and a little less sizzle, but because of the uniforms and some of the things like that, it always feels like sizzle. But I think that's not accurate. I don't think that's who they are. I think with Dan and with Mario previously, they can go toe-to-toe in the trenches if you want to play that game. And with the transition now to the Big Ten, it feels like that game might be more emphasized against teams like Michigan and against teams like Ohio State. So how prepared are they...

to win games in the trenches against better defenses across the board, frankly, than what they saw in the Pac-12. Because there were a lot of things last year that the Pac-12 just flat out couldn't defend that Oregon did. But I think the Big Ten teams will be more equipped to be able to defend those things. So how prepared are they for that transition? And do you anticipate it being successful in year one? Yeah, it's all perfectly planned.

observations there, Greg. But yeah, I mean, to your point, you know, that, again, that narrative, that perspective of Oregon specifically because of its history, but of Pac-12 as a whole, you know, they got tagged with that for many years. It was always about, you know, flash versus, you know, versus substance. Well, again, like to your point, I thought Mario kind of put that to bed. I remember being in Columbus, Ohio when they absolutely just

Ohio State in the trenches. That was three years ago. I was also in Atlanta when Georgia opened up the other way the following year. To your point, that was a reigning national champion who went and did it again. Are they better in the trenches than they have been historically and

I certainly hope to be this year and the like. Well, they had an Outland Trophy winner a couple of years ago, and he's doing awfully nice in the NFL. They just had the Remington Trophy winner this past year, and he's in the NFL. The last several years of offensive linemen have been real good. They're expected to have no less than that. They've led the country in fewest sacks allowed on the offensive line the past two seasons. So, yeah, they're built a certain kind of way.

That said, when you're trying to go up against and now reach the playoffs and go up against the likes of Georgia and Bama and LSU and Michigan and Ohio State, that's going to be the new measuring stick. Not just in one game if you happen to play them in the regular season or one game in the postseason, but you're going to have to do it probably two, three, maybe even four weeks in a row. We're talking about postseason football going forward. Are you built that way? That's a perfectly fair question. Offensive line-wise, I think they certainly are.

Defensive line-wise, they're having an overhaul.

Which was planned, which was known, which is not unexpected. They went from being the oldest defensive line in the country last year to now being on the younger side, at least in terms of returning players. But then they went out and added two of the more preeminent interior defensive linemen who were in the portal. And Derek Harmon from Michigan State and Jamari Caldwell from Houston. And you add that to a Jordan Burch, who was at South Carolina and now is going to be in his second season at Oregon, and

along with the bevy of second and first year players that they added recruiting-wise in the D-line. And, yeah, they're confident about it. But in terms of proven outside of Burch, or like you say, some of the other transfers that they brought in, yeah, there's perfectly valid questions to be had because production-wise you haven't seen it yet against elite teams on a week-to-week basis. That's one of maybe the biggest question, quite frankly, not just of this defense but of this team,

Because the glaring weakness of last year's defense was the secondary, because in the Washington losses, against all be it a first-round quarterback with multiple great receivers, yeah, they got torched at times, but they got torched at times when Kyrie Jackson wasn't on the field.

And, yeah, he's not there anymore either. But, you know, they went out and got four, projected four starters via the portal in the secondary to address that very weakness. So they knew they were weak. They knew they were going to be young. They went out and addressed it as best they could this offseason. But those are the questions that are facing this team and this defense entering the season. But like I say, insofar as they could address it, they went and got the veteran experience to try to shore that up.

James, great stuff, man. I appreciate the time. Always good having you on. I'm talking a little bit of Oregon. I know things have been busy for you, very different for you, heading to Big Ten media days. But we look forward to catching up with you again before and during the season. Thanks for hopping on today. Thanks, guys. Absolutely. James Krepia of the Oregonian joining us there to discuss the Oregon Ducks, and he –

You sense a little bit of frustration, probably haven't answered some of the same questions that we have that a lot of different people have about exactly what it may mean for Oregon to go win a national championship and why some people maybe doubt the fact that they can go win that national championship. Never doubt what game day men's health can do for you and your health. If you're looking to lose some weight, they have different ways that they can help you with that.

If you lack energy, if you're getting poor sleep, if you feel on edge, that could be the effects of low testosterone. And here's what they're going to do for you. They want to give you a no-charge consult that includes a free testosterone and PSA test. All you have to do is mention CUBE, and you can save 10% on any service that they perform. Get all the facts at gamedaymenshealth.com.

Listen, it's a locker room environment, great people, low casual atmosphere. They're not going to try to pressure you in anything that you don't want to do. My experience there has been fantastic. Yours can be as well. Go get that no charge consultation, not to mention a free testosterone and PSA test from Game Day Men's Health. Just go see if they can help you feel better if you want to. GameDayMensHealth.com. Find all the information there. So with Chris Hatcher coming in at 8 a.m., he's coming off SoCon Media Days. I want to play a game when we return.

And it has to do with the Southern Conference. Tell you what the game is. Ask the guys the questions right after this on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubelik 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 Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning.

7.48 a.m. Friday, July 26, right here on JOX 94.5.

Dodgers take out the Giants yesterday 6-4. Dodgers now 62-42 on the season. Otani, 31st home run of the year. Eighth time the Dodgers have gone back-to-back home runs this year. That's second most in Major League Baseball. We hit it during the break yesterday. Didn't talk about it on air, but Kershaw makes his debut this year. Four innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts. He is now 50 strikeouts shy of 3,000.

In his career, not on the year. Is that a lot? Everything that Clayton does is terrible in your eyes. How many guys do you think have 3,000 strikeouts in their career? I don't know, like three or four? Aaron Judge is on that pace. He would become the 20th pitcher all time with 3,000 strikeouts if he's able to get there. 50 more.

Braves go down to the Mets yesterday. They're 9.5 back. Mets just 10 back. Mets 54-48. Braves 54-47. Lindor hits a home run last night. That's five in his last four games. Jeff McNeil gets the walk-off single. It was another solid outing by Chris Sale. Can't really blame him. Seven and a third, nine strikeouts, just two earned runs.

And Dylan Cease gets a no-hitter for the Padres last night. They take down the Nats 3-0, 55-50 right now for San Diego. First no-hitter in 144 starts for Dylan Cease. How many no-hitters do you think the Padres have had ever? Well, I already know the answer to this, but I was surprised by this number as well. Yeah, because you had Kevin Brown for a little while. I was trying to think of who would be the other great Padres pitchers that we've seen. Who's that? Jake Peavy. Yes. Yeah.

So, yeah, you thought that they would have had more than one other one, but that's the second no-hitter in Padres history. Only two? Wow. That's it. And Dylan Cease becomes just the fifth pitcher all time with a no-hitter while leading Major League Baseball in strikeouts. So some MLB action from yesterday. All right, so with Hatcher coming in at eight, Sanford in the SOCON, want to play a little game called Were They Ever in the SOCON? And we will start it with Alabama and Auburn.

Yes or no, were they ever in the Southern Conference? No. Damien says no. Great. Obvious no. Then I'll say yes. You'd be right, John, because your charter members of the Southern Conference included Alabama and Auburn. What years? 1700 what? I was about to say. 1492. Fall of 1920 is when it started. So...

Some other SEC teams, were they or were they not in the Southern Conference? Tennessee. I'll say no. Okay. No. Okay. Yes. Tennessee, also a charter member of the Southern Conference. Beginning to pick up a trend here.

It does go that direction. What about Arkansas? Arkansas, yes, no, ever in the Southern Conference. No, no. Arkansas has never been in the Southern Conference. Yet. Fair. We'll see how that plays out. Appalachian State, Southern Conference, yes or no? Oh, yeah, yeah, they've been in. Why is that a definitive answer? I got a feeling. Okay. It's like family feud. Good answer. I'm going to say no.

Greg, App State? I'm going to say no. App State has been in the Southern Conference before. Let's go to some ACC teams. North Carolina, yes, no, Southern Conference. No. No. Yes. They have been in the Southern Conference. What about Miami? No. No, that's a no. Miami has not been in the Southern Conference before. AAU accreditation. Ah. Yeah.

Here are your Southern Conference charter members. Fall of 1920 is when they began talking about forming the conference. Technically first formed February 25th, 1921 in Atlanta, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Georgia.

Swanee. Whammy, Washington, and Lee. I thought you were going to go Washington there. I was like, ah! I would have been taking the ACC approach. Washington and Lee I can probably see. Washington's tough. The whole protect the footprint thing go out the window there. This sounds like the original Super Conference. Now, in 1922, six more schools were added. Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and? Swanee.

Vanderbilt. Later additions in 24 would include Swanee, VMI in 24, and Duke in 1929. Duke just left us iron dry. Okay. Marshall, yes or no, ever in the SoCon? No. Yes. Yes, they have been in the SoCon. How about like an ECU? No. No.

No. ECU has been in the Southern Conference before. Let's start going with teams that haven't been. Michigan. Start naming Big Ten teams. Yeah. Outside of Maryland, you'll have it. Pretty much all going to be there. Georgia Southern has. Has? I'm going to say yes. Greg? I'll say yes. Georgia Southern has been in the Southern Conference. TCU? No. Yes. Yes.

No. TCU has been in the SOCON before. Yes, they have been. What year? I would have to go back to the tape on that one. I did not write the years in which every team was added, but could probably find that somewhere at some point in time across the course of the show today. So other members that I don't think we've mentioned today. We mentioned Marshall. We mentioned Vanderbilt. Wake Forest has been in the SOCON.

We mentioned Florida. We mentioned App. West Virginia has been a member of the Southern Conference before. Duke, South Carolina, TCU, Ole Miss, we mentioned those. So, yeah, a little SOCON trivia for you there. Here's a weird number.

19.4% of the division one college football teams have at one point in time been in the Southern conference. Wow. Why don't they put that graphic out? Like Penn state. And you think conference real life is bad now. Unreal. It was a lot back in the day. Um,

So, yeah, we will continue talking Southern Conference, except we'll focus on the Sanford Bulldogs and Chris Hatcher, who came off SoCon Media Day a little bit earlier in the week. Talk to him about his team coming up this season, some of the things that are going to be different. Maybe an announcement that we have concerning the Sanford Bulldogs that we will share with you on the other side of the break.

Through the rest of the show, I want to talk more Big Ten media days, wrap up a little bit of ACC media days, some of those Big Ten teams' chances of not just getting to the playoff but maybe winning a national championship. A lot more that we need to get to through the rest of the show today. Keep it locked right here on JOX 94.5. Head coach of the Sanford Bulldogs, Chris Hatcher, in studio with us right after this on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. This is McElroy and Kubelik in the morning.

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. So,

Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors...

You're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. See ebaymotors.com. At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub pulley?

Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Grainger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair, and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out. Call, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

Named one of the best personal finance podcasts, The Stacking Benjamin Show with Joe and his friends makes financial literacy fun. We see money inefficiency OG around us all the time. We've got a few skeletons sitting out in the open and maybe we need to broom them into the closet, if you know what I mean. Nope, take that out. What is...

Whatever you were going for didn't land right. Who's got a shovel and some lime? Maybe you need to do that with your financial picture. I don't know. Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen.