7-9-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 3: MAXX BALL - Group of 5 edition; Chris Vannini talks CFB
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This Jocks 94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to MSPNOW.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium. McElroy and Kublik in the morning starts now. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Hour number three underway as we continue talking some college football. Chris Fannini set to join us. Talked group of five teams.

It's one of the areas, GMAC, that I think is probably most difficult to really pinpoint, and that is who will that representative be? Who will that team be this year? It feels like there's a couple different directions it could go, but normally we would have one, two teams and say, yeah, that's going to be the best group of five team. I don't know how confident I am that I feel really good about who the best group of five team is going to be this year. I don't at all. I mean, the –

Look at Boise State, for example. Boise State would, based on what they achieved last year, they'd probably be near the top based on how they finished. But there's some turnover there. I mean, new quarterback. And granted, I know the new quarterback's five-star and all those other things. But there's some question marks there. You look at a team like Memphis. Memphis is certainly going to be in the mix this year. Tulane lost their head coach, lost...

a couple of key contributors like Michael Pratt, their quarterback. Some of the usual suspects, SMU's no longer in the G5. Some of the usual suspects, there's some question marks. And I think with how Liberty got run on the gym last year, it's hard for me to feel confident about them being competitive if they make it. So I hope that the committee puts a little more stock into...

How a team looks and performs against quality competition as opposed to what their overall record looks like as it relates to the G5. And I know it's been over a year now, but Houston's a team we normally would have had a discussion about. UCF for a long time was a team we would have had a discussion about. And they're just not going to be in that mix this year, which I think makes it a little bit more difficult to just say, well, yeah, I think that's going to be the team.

that we throw into that mix. And there could be a team that sneaks up like Jacksonville State. I don't think any of us thought that Rich Rod making the jump that first year was going to be able to have the success they did last year. Could they be maybe in the mix and put together that kind of a season? Western Kentucky we know is going to have a good offense.

Could they be a team? They've been picked apart by the portal the last couple of years. Chris Finini now, The Athletic, joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline to discuss it. Chris, I want to start before we go into teams that maybe could compete for playoff spots with Utah State and Blake Anderson, a situation that just right now feels odd. They have...

essentially informed him their intent to fire him. It sounds like his legal team is stepping up saying, no, we're not going to go for that, that's not going to happen, as well as other representatives of the school or former representatives of the school. What's the latest that you can give us with this situation? Yeah, both Blake Anderson and the Deputy AD, Jerry Bovee, have put out pretty strong statements refuting what has happened

Sort of what's been alleged by Utah State. Utah State seemed to imply that they didn't properly handle some sort of Title IX sexual misconduct allegations. Tom Mars, the lawyer for Blake Anderson, has said this doesn't have to do with sexual misconduct. Jerry Bovee's representative said that they did report sexual misconduct.

What the incident was, Utah State has not said anymore. They said they can't say anymore until the 14 days. Blake Anderson's contract, there has to be a two-week notice, so that's what that is. And essentially, Tom Mars is saying, look, you can fire Blake Anderson for any reason if you want, but you are firing him for a cause, and he is owed his buyout if you do that. And so Utah State seems to be

potentially wanted to fire him without cause, therefore they don't have to pay him. So that is what the pushback is coming from here. Yeah, it's pretty wild. I don't seem to

I don't really understand what's going on, to be honest with you, but it's obviously a difficult situation for Utah State. A couple years ago, won the Mountain West for the very first time. So tough circumstances for sure at this point. As we look at the G5 this year, it's about as wide open as it's ever been. You look at Boise and how they finished. You look at Memphis. Two lanes won it or been in the mix for it the last couple years. They are replacing some key pieces, including their head coach. When you look at the G5 right now,

Who right now, going into the season, should be the top dog? I think either Liberty, because they did it last year and they bring a lot of their key pieces back. Obviously, Jamie Chadwell, Caden Salter, and the schedule is very easy, once again, for Liberty. And I think Memphis is another one that really stands out. This is a veteran team.

in an American conference, it's probably going to be down compared to what it has been in recent years. This feels like the year for Memphis to make that jump back up again. They made the Cotton Bowl back in 2019. I think Appalachian State is

is probably your favorite in the Sun Belt. Again, a team that really came on in the second half of last year, brings a lot back, brings their quarterback back. A key thing here with the group of five and who's going to win it, so to speak, every year is going to be

Did you bring your quarterback back or did you lose him to the portal? And that's kind of just like a year in and year out thing now for the group of five. But I think those three teams, I think Boise State, as long as they get good quarterback play, I think they're really good everywhere else. So I think those four teams jump out to me when I first look at this.

Who has benefited the most from the portal with some of those teams that you mentioned, or maybe just at the G5 level? We're used to hearing about those teams that have been picked apart, and I don't think we see enough of players that aren't having a lot of success in the Power Five go down to a Group of Five team to be able to get those reps. But who has maybe gotten the most, bolstered their roster the most of some of those teams in the Group of Five that could be competing for a playoff spot this year?

Well, I used to say SMU here in every spot. They've been really good in the portal for years, but they're not a group of five team anymore. They're up to the ACC. So I think App State's been pretty solid. They've done a good job holding on to a lot of people. In terms of where the guys go, it's really a lot of the –

Group of five schools, either in big cities. You know, again, Houston used to be one of those, but they're not there anymore. It's the ones where you have a lot of guys who want to come home. So places that are like a Texas State now, a UTSA a little bit. They've lost some guys as well. Those are the ones that kind of do a better job when you get those power five guys who aren't playing and they want to return home. Southern Miss has added a ton of guys from Mississippi and Mississippi State.

although they struggled last year. So I guess it kind of goes both ways on that front.

How would you assess SMU? I know this is getting away from the G5 for a moment, but how would you assess their ability to be competitive year one in the ACC? A lot of people think they're just going to step right in and be fine. I look at what happened with Utah. I look at what happened with TCU. I look at what happened last year with the four teams that joined the Big 12, and it was not smooth sailing in year number one. But for whatever reason, people think SMU can handle it. Why is that?

Well, I mean, you look, you're right. All those teams that moved up struggled. All the four new Big 12 teams last year, only UCF made a bowl game, and all of them really struggled down the stretch. And that's where you always get hurt is the depth. You can start off the season pretty well, but do you have enough guys behind those starters to keep it going when a couple of guys go down? SMU, it's going to be tough. It's funny talking to the SMU people because they love

They like to talk big. They like to talk about, you know, we're going to compete like we used to and do all these things and the sky's the limit because they've got unlimited resources. And it's true. But then they're also like, well, those first couple of years is going to be an adjustment. We know it's going to be a bit. But I tell you what, I covered the SMU Oklahoma game last year early in the season, and

And that SMU team held up with Oklahoma in the trenches, the offensive line, the defensive line. That is where the biggest adjustment comes. And talking to the people in the SMU program, they feel good about what they've got there. They like their skilled players. They really like quarterback Preston Stone. Their defense has improved. They like the guys that they have in the trenches. They've added a lot of guys since the ACC move.

But it's still going to be an adjustment. It's still going to be something week in and week out that they haven't had to deal with before. Can they not fade down the stretch like a lot of the teams that move up are? And like SMU had for a number of years until the last. Under Sonny Dyches, they always struggled in November. So that's kind of the big thing is can they get to November and keep it going? That's always the biggest adjustment.

And I really wonder whether or not they will. Not that I don't think they won't have talent and top-tier talent. They obviously have tremendous support from a resource standpoint. But, man, I think the ACC is better than people realize. So I'm looking at these people who are like, take SMU at 40-1 or 30-1 or 20-1 to win the ACC. I'm like, eh, no.

That one's a tough call to swallow. Remember, they only had a year to get ready for this. It's not like the move was announced three years in advance and they can pitch all these guys that are coming to the ACC for the next three years. It happened very quickly. So there's still an American Athletic Conference roster, and that is certainly part of that.

Chris Finini joining us on the Buyer's Ride Hotline, talking group of five teams. I brought up Jacksonville State when you first came in. And I bring them up only because I feel like they far exceeded any expectations that I had for them last year. They picked apart by the portal as well. But Rich Rod, year two in Division I, what would your expectations be for him in Conference USA?

Well, look, I mean, the guy just wins. Like, everywhere he's gone as a head coach, except for Michigan, he has won. And when you looked at the two new teams who came to Conference USA last year, Jacksonville State and Sam Houston, I had my eye on Sam Houston. Sam Houston had redshirted a bunch of players in their final FCS year, preparing for the FBS move. Jacksonville State was just

coming with what they had. And so I had my eye on Sam Houston. Instead, it's Jacksonville State that has a really good record and has a good quarterback and reaches a bowl game and does all that stuff. So I think, you know, Conference USA, it's not a great league, obviously. It's not a deep league. And I think it's going to take a step back in certain aspects. New Mexico State won't be as good. Liberty probably won't be as good. Western Kentucky probably won't be as good. So I think making a bowl game,

should be the expectation there now based on what they've done. And depending if things break the right way, maybe you get into that conference race because there's not a lot of teams in the conference. There's not a lot of teams you have to beat out to get into the conference championship game. So, yeah, I think bowl game is certainly what you're looking at. Lastly, for me, Memphis is trying to position themselves well.

with the contributions from Fred Smith, $25 million over five to NIL, however they want to distribute it, whether it's football, basketball, what have you. They clearly have deep pockets to be able to go into, and that's pretty dang impressive. In the event in which there's another round of realignment and the Big 12 continues to expand, which I think Brett Yormark clearly realizes that there's some strength in numbers, how attractive would a Tulane and a Memphis and some of those teams be in the event in which realignment happens again?

Well, I think the first place you're looking at realignment is the ACC. What do Florida State and Clemson do? And if they announce they're going to try to get out of the league or announce that they are leaving the league at an undetermined date, what happens to the ACC? Do the rest of them stay together, and does the ACC –

add a couple of schools here and there, Tulane would fit in a lot of ways. It would fit the profile. It's a lot like SMU. It's a high academic private school in a big city. And so does the ACC backfill with a Memphis, with a Tulane, with anybody like that? Or does it start to fall apart and does the Big 12 come in and grab some of those ACC schools? And then what domino effect does that have? I think the new Memphis AD said just that

A couple of weeks ago, I think in his introduction, I think that he'd love to join the ACC or talk to the ACC or something like that. I don't remember exactly what the quote was. So I think the focus, if you're a group of five school, is on the ACC. And if you're in the Big 12, your focus is, hey, if the ACC falls apart, can we grab some of these schools like we did with the Pac-12s?

Chris, we heard months ago that Derek Dooley was kind of out in front of a group that was trying to find a way for the group of five to come up with their own playoff. And what would the future look like? Is there any more news behind any movement with that whatsoever?

I've reached out to Derek about that. He hasn't wanted to talk about it to this point. I think it's really kind of a larger picture of if you're the group of five, do you want to hang on to the current system as long as you can? Yeah.

and wait till you get kicked out of it or do you want to try to be proactive and jump out in front and do your own thing and you know and i talked to various athletic directors who have been on those calls with derrick's pitch and all that it's very mixed because all presidents are very mixed on private equity and what that means how much of how much of an audience

is there really for a group of five that bill comes due if you get involved in private equity? I know the idea that, hey, maybe the group of five has like a 14 playoff and the winner goes to the CFP. That's never going to happen. It's never going to happen because the CFP is not going to wait around to see who gets that spot, just like they're not waiting an extra week to see who wins Army-Navy. That's not going to happen. It's basically do we decide to break off and go do our own thing?

and prepare for that, or do we stick with what we have and hope that the Big Ten and the SEC don't one day kick us out? So that's kind of the discussions being had. Chris Veniti with The Athletic covers the group of five. We always appreciate the time, always appreciate the insight. Look forward to doing it again soon.

Thanks for having me. Thank you. Follow him on Twitter, at Chris Venini. Find his work at The Athletic. It's going to be interesting, Greg. You think about just some of the group of five schools. We've got Dale McGee taking over at Georgia State. Brian Vincent replaces Terry Bowden at Louisiana Monroe. Gerard Parker, obviously now going to be the head coach at Troy. You discussed Houston, Tulane. New head coach is there with John Summerall, Willie Fritz.

Just a lot of movement, first and foremost, from a coaching perspective. James Madison, you've got Kurt Cignetti who's moving on to Indiana. There's a lot of movement at the group of five level where some of that stability had been key with what those teams had put together. Kane Womack's gone from South Alabama. Just a lot. The group of five to me, and it's just so eye-opening also at the same time to see great players

I don't know, great situations, if you will, in the G5, and coaches leaving those situations in favor of whether it's position coach jobs or coordinator jobs. That's so eye-opening to me, that the stability that we once knew in the G5 is over. That thing is a thing of the past. And I could envision at some point being a little bit like Power 5 jobs are right now to the NFL.

Like guys are willing to take a pay cut and go to the NFL in favor of quality of life, as opposed to being a power five head coach right now. And I think the G five could be the same. They're willing to take a pay cut. Well, in some cases they won't take a pay cut, but the quality of life as a position coach at the power five level is better than that as a head coach of the G five. And that's,

A pretty eye-opening revelation when you think about it. You just think how different, too, a conference like the Sun Belt is, App State...

Since they joined the Sunbelt in 2014, they've won 95 games. That's more than any other G5 program over that span. Coastal Carolina, Jamie Chadwell leaves. He's now over at Liberty. Georgia Southern, obviously they have now that high-octane offense and are running a different style offense. It looks like they're going to be competitive. Georgia State, I just mentioned Del McGee, James Madison, new head coach, and

You've got Raging Cajuns, kind of year two, trying to see what they can do in Louisiana. Kane Womack's out at South Texas State, in the mix last year. Now, a little bit different situation there. Troy has a new head coach. Monroe has a new head coach. Just in that conference in general, which I feel like has been one of the best G5 conferences the last four or five years, it's just going to be so different top to bottom from a leadership and a coaching perspective. We'll see.

how it all plays out. More conversations about maybe who ends up in the playoffs and how next on McIlroy 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 set or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Appreciate you guys tuning in. 921, Tuesday, July 9th. jocksfm.com.

Grab the app in your App Store, iPhone, Android. You can download that for free. A couple more G5 teams I'm going to get to here in just a moment. Talk about those first. Don't forget about my friends at Royal Automotive if you're trying to sell your truck. Don't do what I did. Listed my old truck on Facebook. You don't want to deal with the no-shows, the hagglers, the scammers. It can be dangerous.

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Get started with a free no-obligation quote in person, over the phone, or online at royalautomotive.net. Where's UTSA in this, Greg? Because that's a team that we normally would have mentioned in recent memory, but not necessarily a team that just immediately comes to mind when you say who's going to be the best group of five team in America. Well, the problem is with UTSA, they lost a great pass rusher, Trey Moore, who now is at UTSA.

I feel like last year they probably weren't as good as their record might have indicated. I don't know about you, but I watched them last year. I didn't get the same buzz from them that I got two years ago. They just weren't the same teams. It's not that I'm suggesting that they're on the downswing. I just don't know if they're going to be quite as good because the cat's out of the bag. Everybody is taking a peek at UTSA, and if they've got a dude, they're getting taken.

They have decent NIL resources, but not enough to hang on to their top dogs. So I think that's going to be interesting to kind of watch with UTSA, see how things kind of continue to go and whether or not

They're going to be a real player moving forward. The problem is, I mean, like Memphis, UTSA, the American is pretty much up for grabs, knowing that there's massive question marks about Tulane and some of the others. I mean, you think about John Summerall taking that style to Tulane, you would imagine there are going to be a handful. Year two, Trent Dilfer, UAB, experienced quarterback. How's that thing going to look? Yeah.

So, yeah, I mean, North Texas is a team that has had a lot of talent the last couple of years, but it doesn't feel like they're going to be able to be anywhere close to what they have been. Army kind of hits the 180 on that offense. Greg tried to go spread, spread option, do a little Willie Fritz type deal early, and then they said, you know what, no, we're going back to what got us here. Could that put them back maybe as being competitive in that conference? I agree with you. It feels like it's up for grabs.

For the most part, ECU and FAU possibly have a chance to be at the forefront of that. But it's going to be interesting to see. And then we kind of left out Texas State when we talked about Sunbelt. I mean, that's a team that had TJ Finley last year. He transfers to Western Kentucky.

But you bring Jordan McLeod in from James Madison, who was super dynamic there. And now Texas State could be maybe one of these teams. After going 8-5 last year, nine starters back on both sides of the ball that could compete for maybe being the best group of five team in America. Well, the other thing, too, about the G5, like, is it just me or is there – not only am I not really comfortable –

picking who's going to be the top, I just think the gap for a lot of these teams and the floor and ceiling is really, really wide. Almost wider than in some cases than most other teams. I think Texas State's a good example of that. Last year, I mean, catch lightning in a bottle early and they knock off Baylor and next thing you know, everyone's paying attention to him and G.J. Kinney's got him going a little bit and

And they got – they're getting some good play out of a quarterback that had been up and down over the course of his career. Then he comes back to earth a little bit as the season goes along. It's just kind of – it's hard for these teams to continue to stay hot over the course of the whole season. But I think Texas State's going to be one of those teams that's a good, solid program. I mean, they're solid. I just don't know if they're going to be good enough to –

I really don't know the answer to that. UTSA and San Marcos week two. They got Arizona State the next Thursday night. They're at Troy. They're at ODU. At South Alabama to close the season out November the 29th. Tough schedule there for Texas State as well. I'm with you. It's just it's such an unknown because you take a team like let's just say New Mexico State last year surprises everybody.

Great quarterback play, defense, solid. You've got some good skill players. 90% of that productivity is now gone. And you're going to have a new head coach. FIU last year, playing a freshman quarterback at times. Best receiver's gone. Best defender's gone. Best offensive lineman's gone. I know you've got a good head coach, but I don't know what that thing's going to look like, Greg. That is fair. I don't...

We haven't even talked about the MAAC yet and maybe what some teams in the MAAC might be able to do. Jason Candle feels like he's got Toledo in the mix every year. I don't know. I just don't think the MAAC has enough personnel. No disrespect, I think the personnel is substandard compared to that of what you're getting in the Sun Belt and what you're getting in the American. Just personal opinion. I know that other people might push back on that, but I saw Western Michigan.

And how things went when they got that chance. And I just don't think the Mac is as competitive as some of the other leagues. I'm not saying they're not. It's not competitive against each other. I love watching it on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, too. Of course. But you taking Toledo over Tulane from personnel standpoint ever? Probably not. No. Just being honest. Memphis? No. No. No.

So, I mean, they might be able to out-coach them, out-scheme them. Sure, that's possible. But out-personnel them? That ain't going to happen. FAU, USF, I'm taking those teams over. USF could be a dangerous team this year. Yeah, they could be real dangerous. I'm taking those teams over Western Michigan. No disrespect. Or Toledo or Miami, Ohio or a team like that. Those teams are solid. Really well coached. Executed at a high level. I just don't know if their personnel is going to be good enough to...

make life difficult against a power five team if they got in the college football playoff tucker gleason from georgia tech will be your quarterback at toledo this year uh miami of ohio may be a team to watch under chuck martin there with brett gabbert back for another season of college football this year speaking of guys that feels like they've played nine years of college football like he's been around for a little while he backed up his brother in missouri whoa

He's been around for a minute. And they won 11 games last year. No, they're good. But like you said, does a MAAC team have the personnel to sort of pull ahead and be a team that's competing for one of those playoff spots? I just don't see it from the MAAC as much. They've got some great coaches. They've got some good, solid teams. But, man, I don't know. I just don't know. I don't see –

I just don't think the league has enough athleticism. I don't think the league is... It's hard for me to get on board with that one. The MAAC team was in the mix, and we're having this discussion on Selection Day about who should be that G5 team in the playoff.

It'd be hard for me to make a really, really good argument. Right now it's blind, right? So barring something unforeseen, barring that these teams could grow drastically over the course of the season, it'd be hard for me to make a really good argument in favor of a MAAC team over a USF or a Memphis or a Boise, even to an extent like that. That's totally fair. One thing I do have confidence in is that Wayne's can keep the bugs out of your house. They can keep the rodents out of your house. They've got that EnviroPest technology.

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would be one that you would say, all right, if you're going to be that team, that would be one where you could maybe prove yourself. Miami of Ohio, if they're that team. It would be enormous for the league. It would be huge. At Northwestern and then at Notre Dame week four,

I don't know if they have those kind of horses, but if those are the teams that are going to be competing, Central Michigan will be at Illinois Week 3. If you're talking about kind of a statement game, statement win, I don't think Bowling Green can be that team. They're at Penn State and at Texas A&M in the first five weeks of the season. I don't think Akron at Ohio State Week 1 is dangerous. Western Michigan at Ohio State Week 2, not dangerous either.

But for some of those teams that we pointed out that maybe have a little bit of an opportunity, maybe those would be your spots. If you're trying to find sort of maybe a how, those teams could try to pull something off and do something to potentially have one of those wins. I just don't know how many are out there that look somewhat realistic for a team that could put together that kind of a season. And then...

If it's one of the other teams that we mentioned, if you're going to get in, I think you have to have some of those games where you're going to be able to make that statement. Memphis at Florida State week three. That's a huge opportunity. It's huge.

Even if you just play them close and lose by two touchdowns, that's a great opportunity for them. You talked about a couple of other teams that may have some of those opportunities. In South Florida, they come to Alabama week two. They've got Miami week four. You have multiple chances to be able to make that statement. So UTSA is at Texas week three. If those are the teams that potentially could make some noise and maybe could show up. And that's one of the things that we talked about.

with, say, a Liberty Greg, where they just don't feel like they have, they might be that good, and they might be able to stack up the wins, but who are you doing it against? Yeah, you can have it. And is that going to be enough for people to look at and say, all right, you went out, you won those games that way, but...

How impressive was it? And that's where I just wonder kind of what that's going to look like if you're realistically going to be able to go out and say, OK, you got Campbell, New Mexico State, UTEP, ECU, FIU, Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, Middle Tennessee, UMass, Western Kentucky and Sam Houston State. You have it.

I don't want to see it. You better blow everybody out by 30. I don't even care if you do. There's going to be a two-loss G5 team that probably is in that conversation instead. I don't even care if you do.

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All right, a little bit more on this college football season from a scheduling perspective next, right here on McIlroy 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. McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning, 9.37 a.m., Tuesday, July 9th, right here on Jocks 94.5.

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It's a trick question. Is he the one that married Sophie Turner of the Jonas Brothers? First name, Jonah. Oh. Last name, Dalmas. Goes a little bit against my thoughts on top 100 college football player list earlier today. Uh-oh. However, he has attempted 90 field goals in his career. He's made 80. Okay. Yeah.

He's also made 164 of 167 extra points. That feels kind of egregious, but hey, I'm not the kicking expert. I would hope you wouldn't be. Plans are, Greg, a lot of times media days can be a little boring at times.

Not a ton of excitement? I think more often than not, they're a little boring. We get very excited about them. I'm not saying that there's not. We love being there in the content. I'm not saying there's no reason to be excited about them, but I oftentimes feel like on Thursday when we leave, it's like, well, I just thought there'd maybe be a little bit more action. B.J. Raines is a Boise State beat writer.

And he shares news yesterday that plans are in the works for Boise State kicker Jonah Dalmas. I just gave you his numbers. 80 of 90 in his career, by the way. Which means if you were to do the math, it's 8 of 9. 88%. 88.9, technically 90%. If you want to round up, that's fine. You can do that. Round up to 100, so he's perfect. Okay. No. No. Not that. He is 18 field goals away from the NCAA career record.

Oh. So, like a lot of us know who holds that record. Correct, right? Now, he's set to take maybe his hardest kick yet, G-Mac. Oh. At Mountain West Media Days, they are attempting to line up a kick across Stadium Swim, which if you don't know, Stadium Swim, rooftop, six pools, swim up bars, sports book there at Circa in Las Vegas. I think it can be done. Mm-hmm.

I don't even know how far it is. I mean, I don't know. What if it's like 40 yards? Great, but I'm all for it. Like, give me a little something extra. It's Mountain West media days. As a matter of fact, they ought to have Jonah Dalmas kicking off the stratosphere. They ought to have Jonah Dalmas trying to kick into the Statue of Liberty of New York, New York. They ought to have him trying to kick through the horseshoe.

What are the other things we can have him doing? How far up the pyramid can he kick at the Luxor? Let's go. Give me everything. I want him to try to kick all of it. Is there a sports book he can kick off the screen? Just roll him around town and let him kick into everything.

Why are we stopping at just the pool here? It's Mountain West Media Days. What else can we do? I'm all for it. I think it's a great idea. You're in favor. My point is, one, it's a kicker. We would normally not care. Two, it's Mountain West Media Days. But is the kicker getting too much attention? Not a ton of people care. You know what?

If you want to go grab a quarterback and let him try to throw at certain things in Las Vegas, I'm for that as well. I'm all for that. I don't even know what the options would be. Can he throw it over the Welcome to Las Vegas sign? I would hope so. How far up the Luxor can he throw it? I'm going to bet like four floors. Can he throw it through the fountains at the Bellagio?

I whatever one of the fountains like make a make a field goal or something. I'm kick it that way. I like now you're talking, John. See, get two of the fountains going at once. Make kind of a hybrid goalpost and then kick through that right there or let one of the fountains go up and he can throw it off the cosmopolitan into the fountain and see if he can complete it to the fountain going up. I don't know. I just think it's a great idea because there are a lot of these media days that a lot of people aren't going to know take place.

And now we're going to see if Jonah Dalmas, who no one listened to this radio show and even knew who he was, can make a kick across the damn pool. Good for you, Mountain West. Seriously. Hey, go out there and try to have some fun with it. Why wouldn't we? I'm all for it. I mean, I do agree with you that maybe the kicker getting a little too much. A little too much, but at least it's something. I mean, like you said, it's a little something. Why else are you watching Mountain West Media Days? Great question. Find out.

Who the head coach at Utah State is going to be? It's positive. At least there's positivity. Assuming he makes it. There's positivity surrounding that story. This could go the other way also. He hits a lady in the side of the head at the pool. That's not going to be good. There are going to be some patrons that are like, hey, you're my line. You're my video. We've got problems. He hits a...

I would say a worm burner, but I guess at that point it would be kind of like a bass burner over the pool and skips one right into your loo. That would not be good. It might be for us. For the Mountain West, it would actually be great because that would be everywhere for like three days until the next media day started, and then it wouldn't be.

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An all-timer for a totally different reason. Next in our Bad Box Score of the Day. 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. McElroy and Kubrick in the morning, Tuesday, July 9th, right here on Jocks 94.5. Don't forget about, my friends, a game day men's health. If you have a lack of energy, if you're getting poor sleep, feeling on edge could be the effects of low testosterone. Game day men's health can help you out. Mention CUBE, C-U-B-E, save 10% on any service.

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Personal file, 69. Offense, he was giving them the business. Potential rounding, offense number 7. It's a 10-yard penalty on talking to America here at school. Bad game. We mentioned a couple of Elf League bad box scores of the day yesterday.

But we have a totally different bad box score of the day in the Elf League. That's the European League of Football. For some different reasons that we need to get to today. And that would be the Barcelona Dragons knocking off the Munich... Usurpers? Yeah, it wasn't something weird. Maroners or something like that? The... Marauders. Munich Ravens knocked off the Barcelona Dragons 54-0 over the weekend. Okay. Okay.

She got a full game at Bedford. That's cool. Alex Malchow. He references himself on Twitter as the European Skip Bayless. What? That's not a joke. No, that's... Listen, I just read the Twitter live. Who doesn't want to be that? European Skip Bayless. Okay. Who's the Dak Prescott that disappoints him? Ronaldo? He calls games for the Elf League. Okay. Now...

He called this game, in which we just referenced in our bad box score of the day, and took to Twitter with this video to help describe exactly what went down between the Barcelona Dragons and the Munich Ravens. Yo, what is up, guys? What a day of ELL football. Some nail biters, some really high-level football, and unfortunately some lowlights for the league today.

Personally, we'll start off with the big news. I was calling the Barcelona Dragons-Munich Ravens game. It was my first game commentating for the ELF. Obviously, things did not go to plan for the Dragons in the first half, losing 54-0 at the half. They didn't have any Americans. They didn't have a head coach. Didn't have a DC. I'm sorry, what? Played with two European imports, and the rest of their players were homegrown. What, like cars? Including homegrown quarterback. Mm-hmm.

Did not go well, 54-0 to Munich in the first half. And there was a little bit of a quick feel in the stadium. A little bit of a quick feel. And that came to head as the Dragons then forfeited the rest of the game. For me, it was very strange calling that. I kind of felt it even from the remote play calling station. It was strange. It was a weird day, but I hope...

The Dragons bounce back. Yeah, no head coach, no coordinator, no American players.

And you quit at the half. Feels like it might be tough to bounce back from that one. You don't say. I would say that's probably not going to put you in a good position moving forward. Not only Alex Malchow, the European Skip Bayless, also General Manager Jason Robinson would speak to the media to help further explain what went down. First question is, could you give us more clarity on the issues that you have with the league?

league and secondly what's the future that we can expect for Toronto? First question I can't speak on the league stuff. Second question we're planning to keep the Barcelona Dragons going. That's our plan. That's what we're doing. So you can expect a game that's our intention. If anything else happens other than that it's not because of Barcelona. Will we play this week? Yes.

He says they'll play this week, Greg. Mm-hmm. I, um... Plan is to expect to play. Love that. AFL said the same thing. Oh, no. I mean, they did. Too soon. Yeah, I don't... What does that have to do... AA or AAFL? What does that have to do... Yeah. What does that have to do with anything? Well, they didn't continue playing. The Barcelona Dragons...

are expected to play the Madrid Bravos in four days, one hour, six minutes, and 25 seconds. Oh, they have the countdown going. For right this moment. Okay. Every game. There we go. It'll be July 13th. Are you excited about the game? 11 a.m. CET. Are you going to watch it? Central European time?

Are you going to watch it? If I can find it, Greg, I will watch it. You probably will find it. I haven't subscribed to the Game Pass. You have a tendency of finding these things. I don't know how you find them, but you do. You find them. Because he loves ball. It takes work. I don't know how you do it. I don't know how much the season pass is for the Elf League. Is it part of the antitrust settlement that...

The NFL owners have to pay. You know what? That's a great question. I don't know if these teams could even afford that. I would likely. It's $4.7 billion, so I do think that would be a bit of a challenge for the Elf League. A little bit. But I'm just glad some people get to play. Hey, if you want to play, that's great. The Madrid Bravos are 4-1 on the season. Ooh, tall task. Outscored their opponents 160-101. So just...

Throwing that out there. Barcelona now 2-5. They now scored 249-74. Hi-oh. Well, they got two wins. They did get two, and I'm not sure how. They must have played the Helvetic Mercenaries, who were 1-5 on the season. The Font? Yeah. Wow.

I had a feeling coming into the season the Mercenaries are going to be behind the eight ball. Well, it could be the Prague Lions they got. They're 0-7. Or the Fairfair Enthroners who are 0-6. Enthroners, that's a good mascot. Not when you don't win. Well, no, but you're just not living up to it. And you get outscored 231-57 on the season. All of a sudden your mascot is no bueno.

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calling a few games for or calling a few matches for wwe i'm assuming he's the lead right greg like he's like the main yeah i just want to see him get body slammed at some point i don't i don't care i don't want to be hard but at some point table right yeah no just throw through a table and still be an official inauguration i guess yeah love it still bro wwe here we go

It's going to be fun to watch. All right, appreciate John Williams, Chris Venini joining us today. Kelly Ford giving us a little bit of an analytical look at this upcoming college football season tomorrow. Three-man front coming up next. This is McElroy and Cubelik in the morning.

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