8-7-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 1: SEC Fall Camp updates; Florida's ceiling vs. floor; Alabama's losing was Conrad's fault
45:15 Share

It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. You get style. You get features. You get quality and thousands of dollars in savings. Everyone's winner when you Dare to Compare. In store at MyBob's.com.

We're all juggling life, a career, and trying to build a little bit of wealth. The Brown Ambition podcast with host Mandy and Tiffany, the budget nista can help. Let's talk about the financials behind locks. It can be quite pricey, but as your hair locks, it needs way less product. When I had my fro, it was way more costly as it relates to products because my fro was thirsty. I know it's very expensive. Yeah. Yes. I need the whole bottle. A dime sized portion of what? Girl, the laughter. Brown Ambition. Wherever you listen.

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. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning starts now. Good Wednesday morning to you. Welcome on in to McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, and John Saber hopping in and running this thing for Cole and Greg who are at their ESPN seminar.

It's a unique time. It's a unique time. We're in the month of August, getting close to football season. Conrad, you done any homework on Oklahoma State offensive line? I know you're a big Joe Moore war guy, you know, supporter.

You know, I kind of just get my notes from Cole afterwards on that kind of thing. Well, you're in luck. They'll be our team on Friday. While they can win the, or excuse me, make the college football playoff. Is it because of the offensive line or because their quarterback's 30? Well, I don't know. You guys are such Bama homies. I'm surprised you aren't paying attention to any of the other 129 teams. That's understandable. Hey, what did Malachi Moore say? They ain't wearing crimson.

I do like orange, though. That is my favorite color. It is? I give Oklahoma State a little bit of a pass there. So you do like Auburn. That's what you're saying. No, no, no. I just like the color. You like the color. What about Tennessee orange? No, that's a different shade. It's like puke orange. It's like what you throw up after you have bottomless mimosas.

It's kind of like what that color is. As our Resident Vandy fan calls it, puke tea. Not UT, puke tea. Yeah, there we go. I got you. What about Florida? Where are they on the list? I mean, they're primarily blue, but they sprinkle a little orange in there. Theirs isn't bad. Out of all of the college oranges, I think Clemson's probably my favorite, the best shade. I got you.

Hmm. Clemson of all oranges. I'm not saying it doesn't – this does not reflect my views of the program, the school, or anything like that. It's just the color of – shade of orange that they use to represent their universe. So how did you handle the Orange Bowl? First off, is that your favorite bowl game? Yeah, I guess the Pop-Tarts Bowl can be second after last year. But you have – Secondly, when Clemson and Tennessee were in the Orange Bowl, was that – were we able to handle it? That's Orange Overload. Yeah.

Yeah, that is true. If you had some asparagus, you'd have been in heaven. That's true. I would have been in heaven. This is actually kind of a funny story that if my mom's listening, I hope I don't bring back bad memories because it really upset her at the time. But when I was in college and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go to school, one of the schools that I went and visited and considered going to was Clemson. And the fact that

they were orange was kind of the main reason, honestly, that I wanted to go to check out Clemson. Because, you know, when I was 16, 17 years old, I was like, I just want to get out of the state of Alabama. I want to go off to college somewhere else, and so I'm trying to figure out where I want to go. Man, I like orange. I like that color at Clemson. And this is before, I mean, I guess this is like Taj Boyd days, but this is before they were winning national championships and really like at the top of college football. And so we get there, and I mean, it's a nice campus, whatever, but I just...

It's like, okay, this is fine. I don't feel like this is where I'm going to want to go to school. And we left and my mom just goes, so what is it that made you want us to come to Clemson? And I said, well, it's because they're orange. And she said, so that was the only reason that we drove all the way to South Carolina to take this tour. We went to a football game, which we actually left at halftime because it was when Alabama and Texas A&M were playing. Okay. And Johnny Manziel beat Alabama. And so we left the Clemson game at halftime, went to a little restaurant and

and watched Alabama lose to Texas A&M. And we get back to the hotel room, and I tell my mom, yeah, I don't want to go here. And she's like, well, I just like the color. And so she was not thrilled that we had wasted a weekend and probably a few hundred dollars to go check out a university that I was only interested in because of

The shade of orange. All right, I've got two takeaways from that one. If you were just going on a trip because of orange, Miami seems like the logical choice. I'm going to go slumming in South Carolina as opposed to going and enjoying South Beach. Two, Alabama fans, you always wondered what happened in that year when Johnny Manziel beat your team. It wasn't because...

The defense wasn't ready for it. It wasn't because Nick Saban was outcoached. It's because Crimson Conrad didn't show up. He literally left the state, went to a school that, by the way, when he went there, they won championships after that. So he graced them with their presence for a little bit. They won some championships. They stole championships from you, in fact, because he went there just for a weekend, and y'all lost to –

Texas A&M, which could have prevented so much had he eventually went to Alabama. But just think, had he leaned into his crimson nature, it was your call and you were running from it. You set this up. You didn't have to go to the game. All you had to do was just not leave the state that day. Not leave the state of Alabama. Yeah, I guess I did kind of drop the ball on that. For what it's worth, if we want to continue with this trend,

So I ultimately went to Alabama, as everyone knows. But I considered Clemson the other school that I toured. And I really did like this school and wanted to go there, but it's so expensive, was TCU. All I'm saying is they played for a national championship, and they were in the playoff hunt like two years after I made that visit. So maybe I'm the good luck charm for universities. You want to go to TCU? Yeah, man. TCU is awesome, but it's not cheap.

It's wild. I never would have thought about that. That makes sense. He likes a certain lifestyle in that Fort Worth area. Yeah, what do you expect? Yeah. It was nice. Yeah, it was a little rich for my blood. Yeah.

But it's a really nice area. Yeah, I can't lie. You went on a tour on campus and everything? Yeah, well, I went out there for like a baseball thing one weekend because they had like a high school baseball thing, and I was delusional and thought, oh, man, I'm definitely good enough to play at TCU. You're going to the league. Well, I'm here right now, so clearly I was not nearly. Yeah, because you went to Alabama, though. Right. Had you gone to TCU? Or slummed it at Clemson, maybe. Well, so I snaggled there at TCU during that time.

He was. I have a Jim Schwarzenegger TCU baseball shirt that I still have somewhere. It makes so much sense now. Yep. It makes so much sense. One, that Clemson-Alabama's rivalry really kind of started because Conrad thought he was going to go to Clemson. Word got back to when he was in Tuscaloosa. Hey, you almost lost him to Clemson. And then Clemson-Alabama played for national titles a couple times, played in the college football playoff. You kind of said all this in motion, big dog.

I like to think that I played a big part in the success of both Clemson and TCU and a little bit of Alabama as well. And to further hammer it home, what happened in Tua's last game in Alabama? Oh, you mean when they got smoked by an Orange team? Oh, okay. Interesting. A little revenge. It all plays into it. It makes so much sense now. It makes so much sense. And the fact that it's actually kind of crazy that TCU was on that list too because I just – TCU –

Outside of LaDainian Tomlinson, and at that time Andy Dalton, couldn't tell you anything else about TCU. Because they were still in the – had they made the transition to the Big 12 at that time, or were they still Mount – was it Mountain West? I think it was right around the time that they moved to the Big 12. Because if I remember correctly – because that –

I was there in 2013, so they might have just been in the Big 12 because 2014 was the year that you had them and Baylor kind of knocked each other out. Yeah, I think that was it. And then you had TCU and Baylor kind of knock each other out of the playoff because they didn't have a Big 12 championship game, and then they had to implement the Big 12 championship game. So, yeah, I like to think that if you took nothing else away from the last eight minutes of our conversation, I'm responsible for TCU. Yeah.

Making the national championship game two years ago. I'm responsible for Clemson winning two national championships, and I'm the reason that Alabama lost to Johnny Manziel in 2012. I won't hold it against you, brother. I'm not going to hold it against you. I appreciate that. But not going to say it. Hey, Mama called and...

No, Mama took you to Clemson. That's what happened. Wasted all that money out of state. That could have been Alabama state dollars. Mama said, all right, all this money that you made me waste on these trips, that's not going towards your college anymore, so we're going to Alabama. That offer is a little easier to stomach than the one at TCU. Here we are. That's a little bit of if anybody was wondering what Conrad's college decision was like. There you go.

Hey, and you made yourself, all in all, you made the right decision, my brother. I think I had a lot of success when you were there. You got a chance to see some championships. You got to experience a different college experience for a lot of people. Very unique. Yeah, man. I got two national championships while in my four years there, so that's pretty good. I can't complain about that. You ain't been nothing but a winner. That's right. You ain't nothing but a winner. Oh, until the last three years. Where's your ring?

Yeah, that's Paige's ring. That's the most important one, ain't it? Because I'm winning in life. Oh, okay.

National championship ring would be pretty cool. You're just turning into Damien saying we and all this. Okay, I went to the university. I spent my dollars at the university. I think I can say we. Now, if I say that for like the Yankees, you can give me a hard time, but I'm still probably going to do it. Let me say we won national championships. We did. Did you not hear the last nine minutes of this conversation? I played an integral part in all of these things. Alabama, TCU, and Clemson. Hey, at least your school is still standing.

Well, yours is. I wasn't going to go. Yeah, it is. You could actually sign in front of it. The buildings are. Think about it like this, Damien. I could not buy my alma mater. You could technically buy your alma mater. Listen, I love Ron Haney. I love our boss. But I don't think he's going to sign a check that big. Well, no, but I'm just saying, you know, if you won the lottery or something. Oh, absolutely.

Now that you could do that here in the state of Alabama, but if you were to go somewhere else and bring it back, then maybe that'll work out. Oh, man, it's going to be a lot of fun here on Mackey Cube in the morning. That was a little bit of a twist. Got the Morning Jots crew in, me and Conrad, and also Saber holding it down for you. 205-834-9450. You can text in. Jamie from Alex City texted, and he says, there is no good shade of orange, Conrad.

And I understand that, and I will be the first to acknowledge that when I went to Tuscaloosa, those parts of my wardrobe got left at home. Understandable. I did not wear orange on camera. I saw people wear...

Vanderbilt closed, Mississippi State closed, and nothing against those programs, but let's be honest, not the biggest threats to Alabama on the gridiron, right? Yeah. I saw people get verbally assaulted in ways on campus for representing another program. I was in a class where a girl who had transferred from Mississippi State the last semester, it was syllabus day. Like the first day of the semester, she was wearing a Mississippi State shirt because that's where she had gone to school last.

She got booed out of the classroom. I'm not kidding. She stood up for the icebreaker, was wearing the Mississippi State stuff, and everyone started booing, and she ran out of the classroom. I'm not saying that was right. I'm just saying it's a little different. People take that stuff very seriously. Hey, that crimson blood run deep, dog. I mean, did she not know where she was the last couple of years? Apparently not. I mean, you're right. That's not right. College kids are stupid, but –

I mean, it was kind of funny, too. Come on. There's a little part of it. So you're an enabler. That's what you're telling me. That girl got bullied out of a class. Did you boo? Were you a participant? Statue of limitations. I've seen the fathead in the office. Yes, he was. Yes, he was. I didn't start it. Oh, okay. That's what it is. That's what it was. It was always burning since the world's been turning? Okay. All right. I get it. Welcome to Titletown. Come on. It's different here.

Oh, man. 205-834-9450. We return here on Mac and Cube in the morning. We'll take a look at some fall camp updates from around the SEC. Get your phone calls, your text messages all day long. 205-834-9450. Keep it locked right here on Mac and Cube in the morning on JOX 94.5. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

A player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in. McElroy and Kubrick in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saber holding it down for the next few hours as Cole and Greg get their ESPN seminar. Pretty much their game assignments, everything they got to look forward to during the season, what they're going to talk about. I guess, is Greg starting to...

Do you think he's starting his no dairy before kickoff? Do you think he's starting to get into that regimen now? Probably not. He doesn't have to speak today. That is true. So I would imagine not. He'll wait until week one. Yeah. He'll start playing. Maybe week zero just in case because he may be on more TV or maybe all these screens and whatnot. Right. So he does this what? Like the day before, like on a Friday before a Saturday game he won't? 48 hours before?

24, 48, it's sometime before kickoff. To be fair, it wasn't his idea. I think McDonough or someone who I taught him had dairy messes with your vocal cords. So 24 to 48 hours or something like that before, he won't have dairy. I got you. I was thinking more stomach, but okay. Vocal cords, that makes sense. Yeah, you've been around Langevin too much. I understand you're thinking and concentrating on the stomach. Well, yeah, he's a special case. Yes. And when he talked about it, I was like, okay, it makes sense. But then I started thinking, all right, well...

I don't necessarily think you strain your voice in the booth, but I think probably over 12, 15 weeks, it kind of wears on you a little bit. But I've heard vocalists and singers do that. I never thought somebody that's in the broadcast booth would go down that same path as well, but it makes a lot of sense. Well, he also, I imagine, maybe not as much as the Play-By-Play broadcaster, but he is

He may have to strain his voice because a lot of times they're in an open-air booth, so you have to speak higher over the crowds. Now they have to speak... Well, first off, he's not speaking in his normal voice. He has to elevate it some. He's got to put in that broadcaster voice and somewhat. But also, if you're...

Especially with him, and not just him in any broadcasters, but he typically gets bigger games. And so there will be bigger crowds then, and so you'll have to speak louder to get over it. So yeah, it probably does put a strain on the voice. So I fully get it. Although that said, as much as I love McDonough, maybe it should be 72 hours. Because I feel like his voice tends to crack.

But that's what he's known for, though. I feel like maybe he just told Greg that. Just says, yeah, yeah, absolutely, it does that. Yeah, Greg, no, I swear this works. You should totally do it. Because there have been moments in big plays that happen where

It adds to it because when you go back and watch, you can hear McDonough. It's like, how passionate is he? And I like that. It's a genuine reaction. That's why we like Gus Johnson. That's why we like a lot of those broadcasters because not that they're pulling for that team, but it's an exciting moment. And you want to hear that from the broadcaster, whether or not you're pulling for or against that team. It's an exciting moment, and you love it when the broadcasters do that. And I like what Joe Test does because it almost feels like,

a movie buildup whenever something crazy happens because like when he gets excited, you can tell, but it's almost like a tease into like he had to call against Kentucky, Kentucky and Florida last year.

And Ray Davis busted out some long run. And it felt like he was telling the story as I'm watching. And I'm sitting there. And then he gets to the end zone. He calls him Sweet Baby Ray. And I'm like, Joe Tess, you have knocked this one out the absolute park, my dog. I feel like I was running it. Which he starts doing that when CM Punk throws someone to a table. Right, with the WWE. It's going to be interesting to see. Becky Lynch proves why she's the man. Like, yeah.

So you know how when wrestlers kind of interfere and their music pops and stuff, I can only imagine. Because I know how Michael Cole and JR were back in the day. I can only imagine what Joe Test is going to make it seem like. It's going to feel like you are in an action movie and you're watching it live. And like you said, it's the natural reaction that you see that you have. And it's so much fun. Even the four years I've been in the booth now, I've had Kurt Bloom for a couple years. I've had Blake Gardner, who's another younger guy, coming up with me. And...

It's such a different feel when you're in it and you're watching it happen and then you hear your play-by-play. There are times when me and Blake will elbow each other while we're watching the game. I can't believe we're getting a chance to call this stuff. This is happening. You can hear them just sell out and things, but it's a lot of fun. I think for Cole, too, especially being on the sideline,

And we talk about Greg and things being right there in the crowd on the sideline. I can only imagine what it's like after, you know, a big game or something like that. You go back to Tennessee. Sorry to bring this up, Conrad. Tennessee in 2022 when they beat Alabama. And Josh Heifel's right there by Jenny Dale. He can't hear a single thing that she is saying. And it is absolutely packed on the field. And I think that's what.

And I know with field storming, there's a lot of things that come with it. But when you think of scenes of college football, those are the moments that you kind of gravitate towards because you see the, you know, the field storm, you hear these coaches and how passionate they are. They can barely like they've been screaming all game long and they're losing their voice on the post game interview because it's like, oh,

I've been screaming all game long, and I've got to get this microphone in my face when emotions are at an absolute high. That's where you get your Sharon Moore situations. Like you got at the end of some of those Michigan games last year where letting some things fly, letting some tears. Look, can't say the guy's not passionate, but it's like, all right, man, there's a middle ground that we can find here, I think. Because didn't he cry after the Iowa game?

Wasn't it a game? I feel like he cried after all of them. I feel like, man, the game was in hand for a long time. Yeah, I can't remember who they played the first game when he was the interim head coach, but it was, let's be honest, outside of Ohio State, every game they played, you knew they were going to go in there and win. Right. Yeah, it was him crying and dropping the F-bomb and thanking Jim Harbaugh. I wonder if he's singing the same praises now. It was Penn State.

That's what he cried after. Which I understand on paper that's a big game, but come on. Did you really think James Franklin was going to beat you? They're Penn State. It should be fun. Back in Cuba in the morning, Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saybear, we get to your calls, your text messages as well. 205-834-945-0. Jamie texted in, Conrad, and said you just went up a notch in his book. He's at real time.

I appreciate that. I don't know why, but I appreciate that. I thought Alabama fans were less fond of me after...

hearing about my the roles that i played in some of the bigger events of the last 12 years yeah the decision making process i think that's what it was they're trying to and again you may you end up making the right decision nonetheless um bama hater takes and he says miami's burnt orange is the best shade of orange and he says where the heck is mailman he plays hide and seek every time bama makes his predictions look dumb i i hadn't heard from him i haven't yeah i don't know what prediction did he have it's fall camp yeah right what prediction did

Yeah, man. They haven't even had their first scrimmage yet. I will give Bama Hater credit, though. The orange for Miami, that's a nice one. Absolutely. That's a nice orange. Absolutely. Weren't they wearing burnt orange when they lost to Georgia Tech in the last 23 seconds? No, they were all black. They were dressed in all black because there was a funeral there at the end of the ballgame, and it came on the hands of Haynes, king of all people, former Texas A&M legend. Legend? He was one pass away.

He was one comeback away from pulling an upset down here in Tuscaloosa, wasn't he? He did almost beat Alabama. Yes, he did. He did indeed. You know. But we look around at fall camp, and we're hearing a lot of reports from both Alabama, Auburn, and all around the SEC. And you heard from Morning Jocks with me and Conrad early on. We had the news that Texas running back C.J. Baxter ended up going down with an injury yesterday in their first padded practice. Inspection to get an MRI done.

This morning. And that's a big loss. You know, again, it's the part of the game that you hate to see. You hate that, you know, the injuries are part of it. But I think for Texas, you know, hopefully it's not an extended injury. But if it is, it's going to, I mean, that running back room,

It's going to look different because now the pressure, I think the pressure is going to be on your quarterbacks and your receivers to make those plays to make up. But I still think for Sark, as far as the offensive design, offensive play calling, it ain't going to stop him. It's just maybe you don't have the focal point that you need is that running back, especially if C.J. Baxter can't play. Yeah, I mean, that's certainly going to be a hit for Texas, and hopefully he's able to recover quickly and be back on the field at some point this season. But

I mean, now, yeah, the pressure goes on a guy like Jaden Blue, who's your backup running back. He averaged a little over six yards of carry last year and limited action. So you have to feel pretty good about that, but you would have felt a lot better if you knew that you were going to have C.J. Baxter and Jaden Blue was kind of your backup and a very dependable one at that, but now having to kind of put him more in the spotlight and put more pressure on him, and it just hurts your depth, and that's something that, you know, especially –

As we know, coming into the SEC, that's going to be something that's very, very important for not only Texas and Oklahoma, but the other 14 teams in the conference with them as well. So, you know, I have faith there's a handful of coaches in the league that you just kind of look at and you go, they're going to make it work with the offensive personnel they have because they're just that good at scheming and play calling and what have you and game planning, and Sark's one of those guys. So I certainly think that they're still going to be okay offensively, but not something that –

you want to hear and, and, you know, injuries are part of it, but now, you know, you have, um,

The defensive back for Tennessee, who had a leg injury earlier in the week, and he's going to be out for the year. You have Notre Dame left tackle. He's out for the year. Nebraska losing their left tackle. He's out for the year. So, you know, it's just an unfortunate part of fall camp is, you know, injuries are going to happen. You know, you just have to, you know, hope that you have the depth to have somebody step in and replace them. Yeah, speaking of you brought up Nebraska, somebody texted in. I had to make sure it wasn't Molly. I had to check the number. It wasn't her. Somebody said, go Huskers.

Okay. She's out of the blue. Go Big Red, I guess. Go Big Red. If anybody's going to know, it's going to be Molly Wood and Matt Rule. Because I've spent many years of saying, hey, Nebraska, this ain't the Nebraska team that y'all keep harping on. They're getting some love this year. They are. I mean, they got baby Patrick Mahomes Jr. and Dylan Raiola. He looks just like him. He does. He does. Granted, it's worth mentioning. I don't know if y'all talked about this at all, but...

He does go to the same trainer as Patrick. Him and Patrick Holmes work together in the offseason, and so...

When you watch him and how he throws a football, it looks incredibly similar to Patrick Mahomes. But, yeah, he did also get the haircut and has the same sunglasses and all that. The dad bod going into camp. Yeah, I think Dylan Rayola maybe is a little more shredded than Patrick Mahomes, actually. But I will tell you this. Seeing Patrick Mahomes with his shirt off, there is nothing that has made me feel better about my body than seeing that

I mean, when you can be the best football player on the planet Earth right now and look like that, and know how I look in the mirror, man, I was over the moon. So you're telling me Patrick Mahomes probably won't grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Body Edition? He should. But no, I don't think he will. Vince Wilford, he probably could have. Didn't he do something like that?

In the words of Cole Kubelik, I ain't seen the tape if he has. I feel like maybe he did something like that along the way. I mean, I remember the overalls. That was a big thing for him, but I feel like maybe he did something like that. I could be wrong. Oh, man. 205-834-945-0. Let's go to the phone lines. Let's talk to our buddy Lee because I know he wants to talk about his Florida Gators this morning. What's going on, Lee?

Yes, sir. Not much, gentlemen. Glad to hear you all on the radio. I've got a question I want to ask you all. You're talking about coaches who are crying. Well, the thing is, I think Florida's going to have a coach who's crying after this year, but I've got to ask you. If Florida goes with Florida's record, you know that everybody's saying it's the most difficult record probably in football this year. If they go 8-6,

That's going to be considered a success by a lot of people. But we have to go 7-5. But do you think that's going to be enough, 7-5, 8-4? That's going to be a step up, and it will be an improvement. Do you think it's going to be enough for Napier to save his job?

I think so, Lee. I personally do because it's very similar to Hugh Freeze at Auburn. It's you're at least trending in the right direction because you finally give him time to build this thing up. And I mean, we've heard, especially here on Mac and Cube,

We love Graham Mertz. Like, I think Graham Mertz got such a bad rap because Florida wasn't that good. And they're just like, oh, it has to be Graham Mertz's fault. And he came from the Big Ten. You just go, oh, well, they don't throw the ball. Right. Like his completion percentage was one of the best in college football. And I think now for Billy, it's all right. Maybe we kind of we kind of let Graham Mertz let this thing fly because I'm not saying he's going to make the Brady Cook type leap from one year to the next, but

But if you're – you don't have a question at the quarterback position. I think it's a lot of other pieces around it. And I think defensively, I like Austin Armstrong. He's extremely aggressive. I will say that. But I don't think Florida's that far away from not necessarily saying they're going to compete for SEC titles like years past.

But they're good. I think that their schedule is going to be absolutely brutal. But I think if you can find a way to even stay 500 or better, you got to take that with as a success because of how difficult of a schedule that you're going to have.

No, I agree with you about that. But one thing also with Florida, you're talking about with Graham Mertz, one person that he had that I think was the most underrated receiver in the draft was Ricky Pearsall. Yes, I know. He would catch anything. I'm right there with you, brother. He went the first round. I thought he was a sleeper the entire time. He was a dog.

And so I'm just hoping that Florida has another receiver who can step up and at least come close to how consistent Pearsall was. Their offense will be better this year. I think it's just losing ETN also that's going to hurt with the run game. I don't know who the heck they're going to have. I know they're going to have Johnson running the ball again. But other than that, I don't know who they're going to have as far as running backs. I'm just getting a little bit iffy on the –

Offense, you know, because you had Graham Mertz. He was that good last year, and hopefully he'll be better this year. The brutal schedule is what's scaring me, I'll be honest with you. It's a credit to Gaul that they're having to run through. But like I said, I would feel the same way that y'all do. If they do show improvement, even if they're 7-5, 8-4, also a lot of it's going to have to do with how they lose games, how close the games are as well, if they're showing improvement, if they're in the games.

And that's what I was going to say, Lee, is I've said this before about Florida this offseason. I think Florida is a team that their record could be similar or worse to what it was last year. But what you see on the field is better. They are an improved football team, but because of how difficult their schedule is,

the record may not reflect that. And I think that's why you have to give a little bit of leeway to Billy Napier because, like you were just saying, Lee, it's what games are you winning? Are you winning some of those games in November? How close are those games if you're losing them? And I think that, first off, if Florida goes to a bowl game, I think he's safe. But I do think Florida's a team this year that you could watch them on the field and go, that's a better team than last year. Their record's just not going to reflect it because of who they have to play.

Well, thank you very much for your opinion, gentlemen. I respect everything you say. That's why I like listening to you two. Y'all give a good perspective. A lot of people don't have it because y'all are younger and y'all are more vibrant. But I'll tell you right now, thanks, guys. Absolutely. Anytime. Let's take a look at that Florida schedule when we return here on Mac and Cube in the morning. And as far as...

What's the ceiling and what's the absolute floor for the Florida Gators here in 2024? We'll discuss that when we return here on Mac and Cube in the morning on Jocks 94.5. The capital of the sports talk nation. This is Jocks 94.5 and Jocks FM.com. 737 here on McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saber holding it down as Greg and Cole

Doing their ESPN duties. Got to get a little seminar in, make sure they're locked and loaded, ready for the season as we approach to it. Also, first day of school for a couple people. A couple schools opening up these past couple days. And as we get older, you start to realize, like, man, here we are getting ready for football season. You forget, like, oh, yeah, these kids, they still got to go. They still got to play school, Conrad.

They do have to play school. I would actually be interested if 205-834-9450, if you want to get on the text line, because this is something I think I shared this with you yesterday. But over the weekend, I was hanging out with some of my friends and we were at Trim Tab and we were sitting outside and it was really hot. And one of my friends, she just went, you know what really sucks as an adult compared to when you're a kid? Summertime.

And I thought about it, and I was like, no, Summer's the best. What are you talking about? And then I thought about it for a second, and I said –

Yeah, no, you're kind of right because when you're a kid, you're out of school. So summer is clearly the best time of year, right, because you don't have to go to school. But then as you get older and you're an adult and you're like, oh, summer is just my normal life except it's 20 degrees hotter outside. So I just thought that was an interesting thought because I had never really thought about it like that. And then I was – you know what? Summer does kind of suck as an adult compared to when you were a kid at least. Right, because during the summer, like you said, we ain't got no school. You got, of course, Memorial Day. You got the 4th of July. Yeah.

But you're kind of just hanging out, doing whatever you want for the period of time. But like you said, as an adult, yeah. Especially when you're in high school. Like you might have a summer job or something, but I mean once you could drive, like what? You and your friends could do literally whatever you wanted for two months. It was the best time of year. And now as an adult, you're like, man, I'm ready for football season or ready for cooler weather or whatever. Yeah.

Yeah. Just here we are. Yeah, because the temperatures are going to be extremely high. But I'll tell you where to go. That's our people at Train. Your HVAC system is one of your largest investments in this time of year. It's constantly being pushed to the extreme. You can trust the Train home comfort system to give you reliability and peace of mind. Day in and day out for years to come. Visit Train.com to find a comfort specialist near you. And again, it's hard to stop a train. Got a chance to hear from our buddy, Trey.

Our buddy Lee from Cincinnati, he's a big Florida guy. And we're trying to look at the 2024 schedule for the Florida Gators. And we got reports that, you know, Montrell Johnson went down with injury over the week. And there's no telling on the timetable when he's expected to return. And that's a big, big blow after you already lost Trevor Etienne in the transfer portal to Georgia. So that offense is going to take a little bit of a hit. And we talked about Ricky Pearsall going to the draft last season. But Eugene Wilson is a bright spot. When you watch him play offensively,

For a freshman last season that he wasn't asked to be that number one guy, but he was a very reliable source for Graham Mertz and that offense. And really, I'm interested to see how he can step up and be that number one target and see where he goes for this Florida Gators team. But when we look at the 2024 schedule for Florida, you open up with Miami and you

The hype that we get around Miami, we think Cam Ward could be the missing piece for Miami to really get back into, I guess you'd say, the upper echelon of the ACC right now. With the ACC, it's kind of wide open as it possibly could be at the top. If Florida gets that game, I think the outlook of the Gators from that point forward is going to be extremely interesting because you're coming out of the gate. You don't have a Western Kentucky or an Alabama A&M, no offense to Alabama and Auburn, but they got to come out the gate ready to play week one.

Yeah, I think that game's really interesting, and you go back over the last couple of years for Florida, starting off the season and playing Utah. Yep. And you go back two years ago when you had Anthony Richardson going into that game, playing Utah, winning that game, and what that kind of did for the expectations for Florida that year. Granted, it didn't probably work out the way that a lot of the fans were hoping, but...

You saw how big that win was at the beginning of the year because it really shifted how people were viewing Florida that year. Then you look at last year, no Cam Rising, you have the pig farmer quarterback, you lose that game, and you just kind of from that point on it was –

oh, okay, well, last year we didn't have any expectation of winning this game. We went out and shocked everybody. Now this year we expect to win. They don't have their quarterback, and we're not able to go out there and get it done. And so I think that's kind of how this Miami game is again. You go out there and you win this game against a team that a lot of people are kind of picking to be in that college football playoff conversation. I think it's going to shift a little bit of the narrative for Florida, at least early on in the season. But that's also, I mean –

Every single one of these games is so important for Florida, right? Because wins are going to be at a premium for them this year. And if you're able to start off 1-0 against Miami, that is going to do wonders for your resume and the morale, I feel like, of that team going into the rest of the season. Yeah, and you start all three games at home to start the season in 2024. You've got Miami week one. Follow that up against the Sanford Bulldogs. Love Hatch. Love what Sanford does, but...

It's not out of the realm of possibility they can make it interesting down there. Hey, they did that a couple years ago. Exactly. So I ain't going to say it's a cakewalk, but Florida better make sure they're locked and loaded, ready to play because that air raid is real. All it takes is a couple good plays here and there, a couple explosive plays, and that game can look completely different. Yep. So after that, you jump into SEC play and you get Texas A&M at home. Yep.

Then followed that up with a trip to Starkville, Mississippi to take on Mississippi State before you hit a bye week. And then you get in October where you have UCF. You go to Tennessee and you get Kentucky at home for homecoming for you hit another bye week. And that month of November, as we've talked about before,

For weeks and weeks, you got Georgia in the world's largest cocktail party or the Florida-Georgia line game, whichever one you want to call it. We're not calling it that. Oh, well, that's what we're going with. They're not even abandoning it. Then you go to Texas, take on the Longhorns. Then you return home for LSU and Ole Miss, and then the rivalry game with Florida State. Like we say, that month of November is great.

It's going to be brutal. It's going to be a gauntlet. But the biggest thing for Florida is starting off strong. And there's there's it's not out of the realm of possibility that you could be, you know, to a no going against Texas A&M. And we don't know what Texas A&M is just yet. I think Mike Ilko, I plan on that program to be different from when Jimbo was there. But.

Who's to say that you can't go through the first four weeks of your season and be 4-0 before you take on UCF? And there's no telling about the Big 12 with KJ Jefferson and those guys. But if you're Florida and you start off 4-0, you have to feel extremely confident, especially for that month of October, that you're at least battle-tested when you get to November. And that's the problem for Florida is –

Just looking at them on paper, you feel good that they're going to beat Sanford. You feel good that they can beat Mississippi State on the road. And I feel good that they're going to be able to handle Kentucky, right? I would say every other game on their schedule is either a loss in my mind or a coin flip game. And that's where the start of the season is so important for Florida because, like you said, if you're 4-0 going into UCF,

Then I'm going to feel really good about your chances of making a bowl game because then you still have Kentucky left. If you beat UCF, well, there you go. You're at six wins. But even if you go to November with five wins, it's going to be tough to beat one of those opponents. But if you're telling me you can go one and four in the month of November,

Then you're getting to a bowl game, and you're going to have a win over probably a team that's in the top 10 or 15 in the country, and that's going to do a lot for the fan base. But the start of the season is so big for them because we talked about the Miami game. The Texas A&M game is another one where it's what direction are these programs heading in, right? Is Florida headed in the right direction? Is Texas A&M headed in the right direction? That's going to be an absolutely massive game. And then the UCF game, again, that's a team where –

Let's be honest, you're Florida. You should be able to beat UCF, right? You are the University of Florida, but UCF is really good, and like you said, they're bringing in guys like K.J. Jefferson, and there's going to be high expectations for Gus in UCF this year, and that's not going to be an easy game.

And then you have to go to Tennessee where, I mean, that was the best game we saw last year from Florida, right? It was that Tennessee game, but it was down on the swamp. So now that you're having to go to Neyland, how different is that going to look? It's just their schedule is so difficult that outside of, I mean, when you have nine games that are,

It could go one way or the other, or you're just projected to lose. It's hard for me to go in there and find a way that you're going to go, let's say, four and five in those nine games. So I'm not saying it's not possible. They're in a really tough spot, man, and getting an early, hot start to the season is what they're going to have to do to get to a bowl game. I just don't think when you get to the month of November that you're going to be able to win two or three of those games to get yourself to bowl eligibility if you're struggling early on in the season.

So if we have to say there's a ceiling for this Florida team, probably capping it at, what, eight wins at the absolute most? Yeah, I would say the ceiling for Florida is eight. And, I mean, this sounds ugly, but, I mean, I legitimately think the floor for them is three wins. I don't think that's going to happen, but I think that you can clearly see where that –

There's a path to that happening. It is indeed. Keep it locked right here on Mac and Cube in the morning. We'll continue the discussion on the other side here from you as well. Your reaction is 205-834-945-0. You can text or call in. Let's have some fun right here on Mac and Cube.

In the morning on jocks, 94, five, catch up with all things McElroy and public 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 cap or wherever you get your podcast.

Welcome back to McElroy and Kubrick in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saber holding it down for you this morning. Having some fun taking a look at the SEC landscape. Kind of looking at some fall camp updates that we've seen. Got a chance to talk about Florida and just their schedule and how difficult it could be for this Florida Gators team. But also,

The opportunities that present themselves for this Florida Gators team, if we're going if they're going to say they're turning in the right direction, the games they have to get. But it's so hard because you get through those first, you know, those first six or seven games and you go into the month of November. It's like, man, what did the SEC scheduling gods have against Florida? And it's you know, you have LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia and Georgia.

Again, there's so many question marks to a lot of these teams in the SEC because at LSU, by that time, you've played Alabama. You've played Ole Miss. Like, you've gotten – like, Garrett Nussmeyer to me, when I look at LSU, he's probably the biggest boom or bust that we have as far as SEC quarterbacks where if he is rolling –

I have no doubt that LSU could go out there and almost replicate what they did last season. But if he's, if he goes back and has a little bit of a regression because of what Jaden Daniels is able to do, then LSU is going to look very, very gettable against anybody. But I think that,

With the offensive explosion that they have, I think Kyron Lacy has potential of being one of the better receivers in the league. I think what he showed last season when he wasn't asked to be – he was the number three guy behind Brian Thomas and Malik Neighbors. But when he was asked to step up, he showed he can get 100 yards a game. He's perfectly talented to do it. And I think for Garrett Nussmeyer at LSU, it's –

There are more, especially when I go back in two years ago when he played in the SEC championship game, it's like, oh, he ain't afraid of anybody that's out there. He don't let this thing fly. And if you're Brian Kelly, how much do you really push the identity of we're just going to be an offensive team and kind of let Harold Perkins and that defensive side just do whatever. And I know you add, you know, Coach Baker from Missouri. But I think for LSU, it's one of those things.

If Garrett Nussmeier is rolling, LSU is going to be one of the better teams in the SEC. And for Florida to see that on their schedule, especially that late in the season, that's

Hopefully you get them on their bad game and you'll have that win to notch up on your belt. And also with Texas A&M, those are the games you've got to get if you're really going to say they're trending in the right direction. And I think for Texas A&M on that schedule as well because I'm with you. I don't think they beat Georgia. I don't think they're ready for that. And I honestly think the Florida State matchup at the end of the season because I'm not a big DJU guy, and I don't really care where they are in the ACC at this point, at that point of the season, because I think Florida can get them.

Yeah, so I definitely think LSU and Florida State are the most winnable games out of their November slate. And for everything you said about LSU, it's also the week after Alabama LSU. Right. So what is that potentially a hangover, whether it's LSU gets a big win again in Baton Rouge over Alabama? How do they respond from that? Or...

Is it like last year where you have a loss that kind of takes the air out of your tires a little bit, and now you have to go on the road to the swamp and face a Florida team that, again, we expect to be pretty good and competitive. It's just based on who they have to play, the wins may not reflect that. And then Florida State I think is an interesting one as well because, of course, not a conference game. So if you're a Florida State team that, and this is where the expanded playoffs, some of that kind of,

it's interesting to see how teams are going to handle that moving forward, right? Because you now have more games on the schedule and you also have more leeway to get into the playoffs. So let's say you're Florida State. You already know you're going to the ACC championship game.

Do you rest some guys? And I know it's a rivalry game, so probably not, but what does that look like for some of these teams that maybe you're looking to get a little rest before you're going into your conference championship game where you already know, hey, we're 11-0 going up against a Florida team that –

okay, even if we lose this game and we lose next week in the championship at the ACC, we're still getting into the playoff. And so how are teams going to handle that and how they, you know, are they going out there with full strength? Are they resting guys? Things like that. So those two games are very interesting, and I think they're certainly gettable. And, you know, going to Texas and going to Georgia, don't feel great about that. But, you know, I think there's going to be a lot of people where you look at an Ole Miss game as well, sandwiched in between those at 11 a.m. in the swamp. Yep.

We saw Ole Miss a couple years ago look really, really strong the first half of the season, and then the brakes fell off and they collapsed at the end of the season. How is this Ole Miss team going to look? Because we have really high expectations for them, but if things aren't going the way we expect, maybe that's a game you can get as well. So there's opportunities on the table for Florida, but...

It's just going to be really hard for them to take advantage of some of those opportunities and get those wins. But yeah, we will see. We shall indeed. Speaking of high expectations, how about the Alabama Crimson Tide? No more Nick Saban on that sideline. You got Kalen DeBoer amongst a bunch of new faces.

We do the Mac and Cube Championship, I guess you'd say, Contender Series. We continue as the Alabama Crimson Tide is our team for Wednesday. We'll discuss that at the top of the hour here on Mac and Cube in the morning. This is McElroy and Cubelik in the morning. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. You get style. You get features. You get quality and thousands of dollars in savings.

Everyone's a winner when you dare to compare. Insta-war at MyBobs.com. Former Navy SEAL Sean Ryan shares real stories from real people from all walks of life on the Sean Ryan Show. Tucker Carlson, what is it that you think that people gravitate towards? I'm not self-aware. I refuse to be self-aware. I don't even look in mirrors at all.

which you can probably tell from my appearance. I don't have a crazy high IQ or I really don't have that many skills. I would say my main skill is I believe my instincts. I don't hesitate to follow my instincts ever. The extent that I have, I've got in trouble. The Sean Ryan Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.

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.