8-13-24 McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning Hour 2: Andy Burcham breaksdown the Auburn scrimmage; Mark Schlabach on SEC Power Rankings and AP Poll release and reaction
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This Chalks 94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to msbnow.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium. All right, welcome back in. McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning. Some other college football news quickly here. 8 a.m. before we get to Andy Burcham.

Tuesday, August 13th, if it is your first day of school for your kids, good luck with that. Hope it's going well. McElroy will hopefully be with us in a couple minutes as it's first day of school for his, so he's managing that. Bad news at Florida, Nose Guard Jamari Lyon is going to be out for the season. A broken ankle, and he will not return.

I hate seeing that, especially up front for that group. They have some good numbers, but not a lot of depth there. That's a pretty big blow for the Gators, in my opinion. Ole Miss could see former LSU wide receiver Deion Smith practice today, which would just be another weapon in that offense that Lane Kiffin's going to try to get rolling. But there are some reports that he could get going today.

Also, we mentioned earlier Texas running back Christian Clark, lower leg injury, some fearing ACL. Don't have details on it yet. It could be another injury at out. And how about Georgia Tech?

They get composite five-star offensive tackle Josh Petty to commit out of Roswell, Georgia, 6'5", 255. Very highly sought after. And the recruiting cycle for Brent Key right now is on another level. I mean, he is doing some special things there on the flats. And impressive to see kind of what Georgia Tech is up to and how they're operating it. We mentioned the AP pullout as well. We'll talk about that here just a little bit later. We're going to get to Andy Burcham.

and discuss the Auburn Tigers. We know Andy joins us each and every week. Thanks to our friends at Crane Works. Andy, good morning. How are you doing today? Good morning, Cole. How are you? I'm just talking to you from Nashville, Tennessee this morning. Spoke to the Greater Nashville Auburn Club last night.

So you're my first order of business today, and then I'm going to the Pancake Pantry. What is their – by the way, it's exceptional. I've been a few times, so it's tough to beat. Yes, it is. What's the temperature of the Auburn fans there in Nashville and then some of the others that you've spoken to? I do feel like there's sort of a lot of momentum building, maybe some of the expectations becoming a smidge unrealistic for some Auburn fans.

Well, I think that's natural. You know, when you've had a couple tough seasons, and Auburn certainly has had that, and you see what the recruiting has done for the last two recruiting cycles and what continues to be outstanding recruiting, it appears, from Hugh Freeze, and you get a wide receiver class like you have now, which Auburn hasn't had in a while, Cole, and you see some improvement offensively and defensively.

You see some guys starting to produce defensively. Granted, it's preseason and everything. But yeah, the expectations are certainly there for Hugh Priest. I think he is trying to be very measured with those expectations. But the fans, on the other hand, they're ready for Auburn to return. So I can understand that. They were very, very excited to hear about Auburn football last night. I talked last night just about

what what Nashville meant to Auburn a year ago with the game that Auburn played at Vanderbilt in football and the enormous Auburn crowd and it was a bigger Auburn crowd than Vanderbilt and then coming back on an icy night during basketball season and again seeing a big Auburn crowd out and then back for the SEC tournament last March

that culminated with the SEC Tournament Championship, and it was a big Auburn crowd on that Sunday and that win against Florida. But to answer your question, yeah, expectations are there probably for some that are talking nine, ten wins. That may be a little – we may be surprised if we get there, but I can understand why folks are optimistic about this Auburn football team going in. It sounds, Andy, like –

There are parts of the defense, at least, that are coming on, so to speak. We know, we've heard all the buzz about the receivers. Peyton Thorne apparently making some improvements. A particular side of the offensive line looking really good. I think that staff's pretty confident they'll be able to run the football. But it sounds like parts of the defense are coming on. If this Auburn defense is very good,

at any point in time in this season, what do you point to right now that has to be happening or an individual who has to be playing great for that to take place for DJ Durkin this fall? Well, I think this, and it's like this whether you're talking offense or defense, you've got to stay healthy. Auburn still isn't to a point, I think, from a depth perspective,

where it can overcome big injuries. So I think that is, that's the bottom line problem. But just, and I thought the defense had the upper hand Saturday in the scrimmage and all the different reports that came out. And I talked about it with you guys the last couple weeks. And when I say a question mark, it wasn't because I don't think these guys could play. We just hadn't seen these guys yet. But I loved the way the internal defensive line played defensively.

on Saturday and they will need to continue to do that with transfers Isaiah Rakes, Trill Carter, Gage Keys, Phillip Bleedy. Add another one at the buck in Kieron Crawford the transfer from Arkansas State a true freshman in Jamonta Waller as well. Um Amaris Williams is another freshman that I think Auburn needs to continue to produce but

I was pleased with those guys up front. And the reason that I questioned wasn't that they're talented, it's just we've not seen those guys. I mean, Rakes transfers in from A&M. Trill Carter transfers from Minnesota. Gage Keys transferred from Minnesota. Phillip Bleedy transfers from Indiana. Kieran Crawford transfers in from Arkansas State. Auburn feels that it has some depth in the middle defensively.

But those guys have got to produce. Those guys have – and whatever the rotation that we see from Bontrell, King, Williams with that defensive line, those guys have to produce. I think Auburn still has to work on its depth at linebacker behind Austin Keyes and Eugene Asante and Dorian Moussey because there's not a lot of depth. There's not a lot – depth is the right word. There isn't a lot of experience behind those guys.

Marcus Riddick's going to have to play for Auburn at linebacker as a true freshman. Now, he is a heralded recruit coming in. He was one of the big first recruits that Hugh Freeze signed in that first recruiting class, the 24 recruiting class, and he's going to have to produce. So that's just a couple of the areas I think defensively. They got after it Saturday in the scrimmage, and I thought they showed –

the aggressiveness that we've heard about this defense in these first, in the first week or so of practice under DJ Durkin as a coordinator. Andy Burcham with us on the buyer's right hotline going to join us every week. Thanks to our friends at crane works. If, if I told you that there is a standout upfront that has sort of morphed into a disruptor with this Auburn defense, who would you kind of project that that individual or individuals could be today? Well,

Well, I think there's two guys that seem to have, at least in the first week or so, have kind of taken that step forward.

One is Isaiah Rakes, who transferred in from Texas A&M. Already has his bachelor's degree, is working on his secondary or his master's degree right now. And then Phillip Leidy, the transfer from Indiana. They give you some size up front, Rakes 6'2", 323, Leidy 6'3", 284. Those guys have to continue to prove. But let me add one more guy that is back.

from Auburn a year ago, and that's Jalen McLeod. And he transferred in in Hugh Freeze's first class of the transfer portal from Appalachian State, but he came in and he was injured a good portion of last season at that Buck role for Auburn. And we saw glimpses of what Jalen can do, and they need that from Jalen on one side. Obviously, what you want to see out of Calvary Buck,

On the other side, a defensive end is a guy that continues to get better. He had a really good freshman season, and they need him to take a step forward as a sophomore as well.

I don't think there's any doubt about that. One thing, Andy, we played a couple of clips from Hugh Freeze earlier with Marty and McGee that began to surface yesterday and got to thinking about some of the things that he said late in the season last year. I feel like his self-scouting or personal awareness, he talked about, hey, if I was a smart of a coach back then, what would happen against a certain Alabama team and

I feel like that's come a long way. And there have been portions, Andy, where we have said on this show, like, is he being too honest about either some of his guys or some of his staff or how they've managed things? Have you sort of picked up on that from Coach Freeze in maybe an area that he's made a lot of improvement or had a lot of growth, not just since he's been the Auburn coach, but maybe just over the course of his career? Yeah, and I can't really speak to Hugh Freeze until he got to the Plains because I really didn't.

He wasn't Auburn's coach, so it's not like I dealt with him before he came to Auburn. Here's the one thing, and he is transparent and almost to a fault as the Auburn football coach. And it's not just how the team has played on a certain day or how they practiced or how they coached. He's very transparent about himself.

And, you know, I did the postgame show after the bowl game last year. Listen, that wasn't a good day of football for Auburn. And it capped off a disappointing end to the season with New Mexico State, which still baffles me, and all the credit to New Mexico State. The absolute heartbreak of, you know, the loss to Alabama, and then you go into a bowl game and you just don't play well.

But in talking with him after that game, he was immediately talking about culture. He was immediately talking about being a better coach. Of course, they were about to go through a bit of a coaching change as well at both coordinator spots and a couple other guys that were moving on as well. So if you ask Hugh Freeze a question, you're not typically going to get coach speak from the man.

And we have seen that for a long, long time from a number of coaches. And that's just not the case with Hugh Freeze. And he talks about it himself. I've seen the clip of the Grave Digger play. And, you know, it's easy to point a finger at the defensive back on that play or not being able to feel the punt. But the first thing he said, if I'm not mistaken, Cole, was we needed to coach that better.

And he's talking about himself and his staff. So I, I, I don't think we're going to see a case where, where Hugh freeze is throwing someone else under the bus. I think he's very transparent about that. And at times, at times you wonder if he might, he shouldn't maybe give us a little bit of coach speak from time to time, but that doesn't seem to be the case with you. Andy Bertram joins us every Tuesday. Thanks to crane works, talking everything, Auburn athletics, uh,

He also has stated here in the last couple of days multiple times, Andy, that he feels like the continuity, the chemistry is a little bit better. The locker room is a little bit better. And we know that can go a long way in making a football team improved. Is there something that you could share with the listeners, something that you could point to that, I guess, gets you on board with that or that kind of outside of taking his word for it forces you to believe that? Well, just talking with the players. And hats off to Coach Freeze, Daryl.

and his staff and Shelly Poe and Kirk Sampson in sports information and media relations. They've made lots and lots of players available. And I think we'll get to talk with some defensive coaches this week and almost to a man. And listen, I know we're a week, we're a week and a couple of days into practice and, you know, everyone should be optimistic about things, but

I think back to that post-game interview that I did with Hugh Freeze here in Nashville after that loss to Maryland. And one of the first things he talked about was culture and how this program needed to improve on its culture. And in talking with a number of players on both sides of the football, new guys, freshmen, transfers, Luke Deal, guys that have been here for a number of years,

They all talk about the culture on this team. And Hugh Freeze is a big culture guy. And I'm not saying that other coaches aren't. I'm just saying that this man is. And I've seen it out of this team. I've seen it. Listen, what happens when you get that first bit of adversity, either in the preseason or during the season, because it's coming. We all know it is. How does this team react? How does this team respond is a better way to put it, I think.

We'll find out, but I think this team is better equipped to face that this year than perhaps it was a year ago, Cole. I don't think there's any doubt. Andy, always great stuff. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to catching up with you again next week.

My pleasure, bud. Have a great day. Thank you. Andy Burcham joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline. He is with us each and every week. Thanks to our friends at Crane Works. For all your insurance, financial, and HR needs, it's Buyer's Right Insurance, a Higginbotham partner. All right, some other news and notes around the AP poll.

Want to get to those when we come back on the other side. Some NFL injury notes that we need to get to. Some other news around the NFL that we need to discuss as well. Want to keep you updated on everything that's happening through the NFL preseason. But also want to tell you about our friends at Train and what they can do for you. You know your HVAC system, one of your largest investments.

This time of year, constantly being pushed to the extreme. You can trust a train home comfort system to give you reliability and peace of mind day in, day out for years to come. Visit train.com to find a comfort specialist near you. And remember, it's hard to stop a train. All right, a couple of notes from certain schools and historically around this associated press poll that was released yesterday. Next, on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. You get style. You get features. You get style.

You get quality in thousands of dollars in savings. Everyone's winner when you dare to compare. Insta-war at MyBobs.com. When you have sports mixed with your pop culture, along with humor and celebrity interviews, your earbuds are enjoying the Rich Eisen Show. Good to see you, Bruce Feldman. The Big 12 landscape. I just know how Dion is, where he's coming from. His wins are measured differently.

The question is, as you said, it's got to go from four to eight. I think they can do that. It would be hard not to get better considering how bad they were on the offensive line last year. Now, their schedule actually feels harder this year than it was last year. Search for the Rich Eisen Show on YouTube or wherever you listen. Asked a question earlier in the show, 818 a.m., Tuesday, August 13th, JOX 94.5. 18 of the last 20 years, an AP top 10 team going into the season has finished unranked. Who would that team be for you this year?

800-239-9569 if you want to get in. Give us your team and why. You can tweet into the show as well, at Mac and Cube. Always be a part there. Text into the show, 205-834-9450. If you're curious, that top 10 reads as follows. Georgia 1, Ohio State 2, Oregon 3, Texas 4, Bama 5, Ole Miss 6, Notre Dame 7, Penn State 8, Michigan 9, Florida State 10. Wasn't a very difficult practice for me.

There were two teams that I felt like I probably could have chosen from, but I want to hear which one it would be for you. The Lions are fearing that Jameer Gibbs has a torn ACL.

knee injury for him at practice the day before yesterday and now beginning to circulate that that is what they fear is going to happen, waiting on results from an MRI. Bengals offensive tackle Marius Mims, rookie out of Georgia, has a pectoral issue, and they're expecting him to miss a couple weeks. And Eagles edge defender Hassan Redick was holding out, now is demanding a trade. If you look at his money, it's not –

where he is probably slotted as a player. So some of it makes a little bit of sense, but at the same time, you just kind of wonder how that's going to end because now it doesn't look like it's going to be great for Philadelphia. Obviously, solid edge defender that has helped them in a lot of different ways and don't really want to see him go play somewhere else if you're an Eagles fan.

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All right, a couple of historical notes here for this AP poll that came out yesterday. Georgia gets the top spot again, 46 of 62 votes. Third time that Georgia has topped the charts entering a season. Second straight. Is that surprising to you that Georgia has only been preseason number one now three times? Ever? You'd think.

You'd think there would be at least one back in the day. I would have thought there would have been a Herschel team that would have been in there. I thought there would have been even a Stafford-Aaron Murray team going into the next season that maybe would have been preseason number one. But kind of weird that only been there three times, including this one. So it's the 76th AP poll. First preseason poll was in 1950. We gave you the first actual poll, which was in 1936, earlier in the show.

All right, so each of the last 10 years, the preseason AP number one has finished in the AP top five all but once. In total, 11 teams have been the preseason AP number one and finished in the same spot. 11 total preseason number ones have been number one at the end of the season. And as I mentioned before, 18 of the last 20 years, a team ranked in the preseason top 10 finished the season unranked.

We haven't really gotten to ours yet, Damien. For me, I would agree with Ralph, and as he stated, probably make a lot of people mad, mine would be Michigan. Plain and simple, too many questions. It's that easy for me. Orgy may end up being an incredible quarterback. We know he's a dynamic athlete. We saw Bruce Feldman's freaks list. We saw the video picking up popcorn kernels. I don't care if you can pick up a thousand popcorn kernels doing a pistol squat. The reality is,

Can you complete an out route on a consistent basis? Can you read a defense? We just don't know that yet. Obviously the offensive line, I don't think can be on the same level. It took a little bit of a dip last year, by the way. I do think it came on very late.

Like our offensive line group, the voting committee, we had some conversations about like, hey, Michigan late. Like, do we need to have more conversation about them? And I think the majority of us said, based on the first seven or eight weeks, no, we can't. Like they can't win this award based on what they were for three quarters of the year. It's a start to finish award. The front is going to be awesome. But Jesse Minter's gone.

And a lot of pieces of the team last year are going to be gone. Jim Harbaugh's gone. And you still have a lot of distractions looming. And I just don't know if they're going to have the same grit that that team did last year when it comes to reading about what people are saying, what might happen, what is going to happen, what they did, what they didn't do. That team last year was incredible in that facet. Are they going to be the same? I have confidence in Sharon Moore.

But also, I think when you go to schedule, it's a little bit different for Michigan than it is some of those other teams. So Michigan will be that team for me, Damian. Where would you go? No, I agree with you 100% on Michigan. And I'd probably say a close second, probably Florida State. Because I do think that, listen, I don't think we kind of shied away from our thoughts on DJU and

Where he is as a quarterback, especially now that he's in another spot outside of Clemson and Oregon State. But I agree with you 100% on Michigan. It's just going to be different. There's no true guarantee or something that I can hang my hat on. They are definitely even in the same breath as they were last season. And a lot of it has to do with just the changes themselves.

on the field and a lot of things that are now showing their ugly head again and off the field. And a lot of things that are just completely different from the run that you had last season. I would have Michigan in that boat. And I think Florida State would probably be a close second because the ACC as a whole is

It's kind of just up for grabs. I think that you look at Clemson, you look at Florida State, Miami. I mean, Georgia Tech can play spoiler for a lot of teams. Louisville, where we expect them to be at season's end, I think there's going to be some telltale signs of where this Florida State team is going to be along with Michigan as well.

Florida State would be next for me as well, and a lot of it would be that schedule. You've got to play Georgia Tech in Ireland, and it's not going to be an easy opponent in general, but you've got to go over there. The body clock, just the schedule, the day-to-day, the routine, it's just going to be off early. Then you have Memphis on September 14th. A lot of people think that's the best group of five team in America right now. You're at SMU. You have Clemson at home, at Miami, at Notre Dame.

Florida late in the year. You still have a game at Duke, Cal, and North Carolina squeezed in there. I think the schedule is what I look to with Florida State and say, yes, that could be possible. I don't know if I say, like, there are a lot of people that were throwing Notre Dame out yesterday. And I'll be quite, I'll just be frank with you, I don't think the schedule could allow Notre Dame to finish outside of the top 25. I really don't.

Now, we can have that conversation. You lose to A&M and maybe drop one other game. 10-2, are you in? Present to me your best win. State your case. Purdue? Stanford? I don't know if 10-2 does it. But those are rivalry games, so it means a little bit more. Some do have trinkets. Exactly. You've got to throw the record books out the window when those games are played. But I think Louisville could be a good football team. Georgia Tech could be a good football team. That's on the road. You do have Florida State. You're at USC. But I...

I don't think Stanford's going to be a good team. I don't think Virginia's going to be a good team. I don't think Northern Illinois is going to be a good team. I mean, it's not a very scary schedule for Notre Dame. I don't think Notre Dame's schedule will allow them to finish outside the top 25. I just don't. So that's why I couldn't go Notre Dame there. And then from a Michigan perspective, too, I mean, we've talked about it. You've got Texas week two. Fresno State, by the way, they're going to try to kick you in the junk. I mean, get ready for that one week one.

You're at Washington. You're at Illinois, who I think is going to be better than people think. You get Oregon at home. You got to go to Ohio State. Yeah, USC at home. I don't think USC is going to be a great team either. But that's the Michigan schedule a little bit more tricky, I think, than that of Notre Dame. Florida State, more schedule would lead me to believe it could happen to them. Michigan, just in its totality, how much is different, would lead me to believe it could happen to them. All right, so enough about teams outside of the SEC.

The SEC power rankings are in, according to Chris Lowe and Mark Schleybaugh. Who was number one? And who else was in consideration to potentially be number one? I think we probably know who it is, but was it close? We'll ask Mark Schleybaugh next right here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. You get style. You get features.

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Get expert analysis on player rankings. Wide receiver 22 in fantasy Cecil Shorts. That kid can run. So I'm thinking he can have a breakout season this year. And you can too by searching the Believe Fantasy Football Show. That's B-L-E-A-V wherever you listen. All right, welcome back in. Michael Roy in Cuba Lake in the morning. Tuesday, August 13th, 8.32 a.m. Right here on JOX 94.5. Going to go right to the BiosRite hotline. Welcome in Mark Slaball of ESPN.

Is your golf season over for now, covering golf? Or do you just kind of rotate back and forth? Are you just covering majors? Are you on that level now? I am not going to the first two playoff events. I will go to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

But I am going to skip the third round of that one to go over to see George and Clemson. There you go. The fact that you are able to sort of pick and choose between college football and big golf, that's not a bad way to go. All right, so power rankings are out in the SEC from you and Chris Lowe. I think most people could easily guess who number one would be

But was it close? How difficult was the decision to come up with who the number one ranked team would be in the SEC power rankings for you guys heading into this season? No, I mean, I think Georgia's the team to beat. I think they were the best team in the league last year, but I think the injuries to Ladd McConkie and Brock Bowers caught up with them and Nick Saban.

had a really good game plan and pulled it out in the SEC championship. But I think with Carson Beck coming back, you know, and probably the best offensive line,

in the FBS, I think Georgia's should definitely be number one. They'll earn it given their schedule though. No, I don't think there's, there's any doubt about it. It's, we've talked about it here on this show, Mark, if there were a lot of other teams playing Georgia schedule, we'd be talking about it the way we talk about Florida schedule. And it's just because it's Georgia. We don't, we don't really have that conversation that way. Uh,

I'm interested just from an Alabama perspective, how they were viewed as far as sort of pluses and minuses. We talked to Ralph Russo earlier, and he was asking about how this has kind of come full circle. It was Coach Saban leaves. There's this mass exodus to the portal. Everybody's in panic mode. Kalen DeBoer comes in. A lot of folks don't know who he is.

this thing's going to crash and burn. Recruiting ramps up. People do their homework on him. All of a sudden, everything's okay. This top five football team can win a national championship. Where were you guys as far as sort of the checks and balances? Yeah.

I love, I mean, look, anytime there's a transition, especially going from a guy like Nick Saban, the, you know, arguably the greatest coach of all time, um, you know, there's going to be a transition. I love Kalen DeBoer. You know, he's, he's won everywhere. He's been, his winning percentage is ridiculous. He took Washington to the national championship game. Um, you know, I love what he does on offense. Um,

You know, but we'll see. You know, there were a lot of concerns about whether he was going to be the right kind of fit, get a guy from the –

upper Midwest or Badlands or wherever, you know, recruit in the South and get guys to Tuscaloosa. And he's done it so far. And, you know, he lost his defensive coordinator and a couple other key guys to the NFL. But I think he did a really good job of putting his staff together. They should be better on the offensive line, you know, better than I do. But, I mean, that has been their Achilles heel the last couple of years. I mean, last year, shoot, they couldn't even

It's not the ball to the quarterback. And, you know, I think they've fixed that problem, bringing in the Washington transfer. But, you know, there's a couple of young guys who are going to have to step up a tailback. Ryan Williams, I think, has got a chance to be really, really good in year one. You know, they're going to score points, and we'll see what they do on defense. But I would –

I'd have them second or third with Texas in the league right now, probably. Yeah, Alabama comes in third. Texas comes in second. And now we're getting more and more injury news out of Texas. Running back looks like it might be a little bit of an issue from a depth perspective for the Longhorns. Did you look at it from the standpoint of –

difficulty managing the league or what the schedule might looked at for Texas and for any of these teams? Or was it just, hey, this is the roster. This is who they are. They belong at number two because of what they have been and who they have on their football team. Nah, I mean, I think Texas caught a break for whatever reason from the schedule makers. I don't think their schedule is nearly as tough as,

as George's or Bama's or some others. Well, for Cordes, for that, certainly. But, you know, we did this before Baxter got hurt. I think you were insinuating there was another back hurt in practice yesterday. So, you know, depth could be an issue there. But, you know, they brought in Bond and some other guys. A receiver, you know, Ewers grew up last year and,

and play well down the stretch. But Texas has got to prove they can do it week in, week out in the SEC, and we'll see if they can get it done.

What were your thoughts on Ole Miss? They come in at number four on your power rankings, and there are a lot of people that have concerns. Not much of that is roster. Not much of that is talent. Not much of that is coaching. But just other concerns. Maybe it's just history. Was it a difficult choice? Was it an easy choice to have Ole Miss at four? Lane, once again, did a great job in the portal, bringing in a ton of guys. He lost Judkins.

The tailback to Ohio State, but brought him a defensive end from Florida. Walter Nolan from A&M. Juice Wells from South Carolina. Jackson Dark's back. You know, the back's an issue for him. You know, the question to me, can they stop people? I saw them in Athens last year, and there really wasn't much of a match. You know, their schedule certainly...

is easier than a lot of teams in the league. They're non-conference, Furman, Middle Tennessee State, at Wake, Georgia Southern at home, Monroe games at South Carolina, at LSU, at Arkansas, at Florida. I mean, that's definitely manageable. The question is, you know, can Lane get a move up? I think he's done a great job at Ole Miss. I think there has been historically a bit of a ceiling there, even when they had

Eli Manning and some really good teams under David Cutcliffe and others. But he's amassed the talent to do it. And I think we've seen with what they added in the portal and what they've done in NIL that the brass and boosters there at Ole Miss are going all in this year. Mark, appreciate it. Great stuff helping us update those SEC power rankings. You and Chris will have those out now at ESPN.com. Always good catching up. Let's do it again soon.

Thanks, Cole. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Mark Slabaugh of ESPN.com joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline. All guests appear there. For all your insurance, financial, and HR needs, it's Buyer's Right Insurance.

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That's 866-WAINDS-1. Visit callwains.com and let Wains continue to create your happy place. Who's a team low in that SEC power rankings we think will finish much higher than where they are now? And also, those AP top 10 teams, the one that will finish unranked. We'll discuss that again next right here on Macaroni Cubic in the morning. You just take for granted that there's rules and different colored cones that you can't

Go past. Did you pull a Scotty Sheffield this morning? It was on the verge of it. I'm like, hang on a second. I live on this street for the most part. Like, I can drive on this street in this direction. I do it every day. He said, not between 730 and 830. You don't. Like, well, what about 630? That's when I'm on the road. I ain't worried about your stupid 730 to 830. I'm a 630 man. All right. But it was really good. We had a good time. The kids had a good time. The moms in the neighborhood did an amazing job setting up the

The pre-festivities, pretty cool. We probably had 100 kids. In our little neighborhood area, maybe not 100. There was probably 50. And they all had signs and shirts that said class of 2037, class of 2033. And they're all wearing their shirts. And they all had their signs and they all were on this big staircase and they all took pictures. It's cool. It's cool to have community. That's why we live in Birmingham. We have great community in this part of the world and

It was nice to kind of... The moms are having a tougher time than the dads. I'll just say that. They don't do what our moms do and have, like, the mimosa party after. Okay. All right. Why do you think I had the four-year-old in here? I believe they call it a sip and sob. Sip and sob. But, yeah, I mean, drinking at 845 is no biggie. I mean, what are we doing? I mean, it's got to be a pretty big deal. Oh, man.

That's hilarious. You got an Uber home, Uber to go pick up your kid. It's 1045. What's going on? It's 1045. The dads just know it's going to be your day. You're going to have to manage it that day. Well, what I said is, like, I would have, I kind of felt weird. I'm like, should I be having emotions right now? Like, call my buddy on the way into work. Like, hey, Justin, like,

Should I be feeling some emotions like oldest son going to kindergarten? Like, should I be happy? Should I be sad? Cause I kind of feel the same. He goes, well, I mean, I think it's all dependent on like how your kid's going to handle it. And that's really a hundred percent true. And I've kind of noticed like, shoot, man, if he was nervous or apprehensive or anxious or emotional going into the classroom, probably wouldn't be as content as I am. Yeah.

He was pumped. I was like, let's go. Yeah. Perfect. I'm saving money on daycare. We're cooking now. I was back. I was similar to you. Thankfully we, we, none of ours really got, I think the most upsetting of ours have been my sit at the, at the time, six year old got upset on the last day of school last year. Cause he loved his teacher so much. Just, he didn't want it to be over. Um,

But, man, I can't. Seeing some of the other parents that the kids were melting down, he's felt so bad for them. Because you know you don't want to leave them. Yeah, that makes it a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. But I'm glad you guys made it. I'm glad you got through without any real headaches or any real drama. That's good. And now you just only have to do it for two more. Two more. Yeah. I said today, I said, the good news is we only have roughly –

63 or 62 more back-to-school days. That's it. Not a lot. Give or take. I mean, thereabouts. Can I...

Can I sidebar ask you about something that you just made me think of when you were saying that, like, you drive through areas that you're not allowed to earlier in the morning when some people can't? Yes. Like, if there's a triathlon going on at 6 in the morning, y'all are in trouble. Including the swimming portion. Like, I'm driving through the... I take the boat through the area where they're swimming. I don't care. A triathlon. I had a listener of the show approach me at the airport the last week, the week before, and

said that he lives in the same area of town that you do. He said, you know, it's really interesting. He said, I got a question about Greg. I was like, yeah, a lot of people do. And he said, no, he's like, it's not football or like the show or anything. I am actually 230. That's the biggest question right now. Are you really 235? It wasn't it either. He said, he goes, the weirdest thing happens. You know, he said a lot of us pull up to the local coffee shop in our neighborhood and

And it opens at a certain time. He said for like three or four straight days, I would see somebody pull up to the side and walk up to like the side door. And the employee would walk out and hand this guy a coffee. And he would go on and he would go on to his day. And he's the second or third day. I realized he's like, that's Greg McElroy getting his coffee before the coffee shop opens. That's luxury, right? That's just what I was told. I don't know if that's real or not.

But I was like, hey, if he's got his card on file or he's doing a digital order, maybe sign a couple 8x10s and drop them off. Good for him being able to work that out. I don't know. But, I mean, really, I just wanted to – I was proud of you for being able to pull that off. No, no. It's a good thought, but no, there's no side door. It's my local coffee establishment. Sneaking in the coffee. I think it was at the old one, actually. Oh, well, no.

I mean, was there technically not a drive-thru, but there was a drive-thru? Don't tell me they walked into your vehicle. No, it wasn't that extreme. We got a coffee plug, dog. That's what I'm talking about. Hey. I ain't scared. Pre-7 a.m., you need that. That's big if you can get that going. Honestly, when it was back in the day, like when my show on Sirius was on at 6 a.m.,

And I was rolling over there. Like, yeah, we had Carla had took care of it. Yeah. Carla and Steph are that's my squad. There you go. At five 30. We had action. Absolutely. That's it. All right. So I want to get your thoughts on the AP poll. And we know that, listen, this isn't at the end. I'll be all, but it is. It's a good barometer for a lot of things. It's whoops. People are going to pay attention to it. That's accurate. Some people pay maybe more attention to it for longer than that. It's the big 10. Um, how mad is Joel clap? Probably.

That's the question. I listened to his top 25 the other day. He had like Iowa at 18. I was like, all right. They're all I need to hear here. I'm sure Colorado is probably somewhere in there too. No, just outside. They did get one vote. They did. Auburn got two. Auburn actually my most undervalued of all the teams that received votes yesterday. Okay. One of the. We'll get to that in a moment. But there is...

Obviously a streak 18 out of the last 20 years, Greg, a top 10 team does not finish ranked. Yes. I already listened to y'all on the way in. We're on the same page. You would go Michigan as well. Michigan would be one force. They'd be too. Okay. And I actually loved what you said about Notre Dame. If you hate Notre Dame, that's fine. I don't care. You can root against them every week. That's fine. But you have to acknowledge the fact that this is a legitimate organization, man. They are good. Am I a little concerned about their tackles? Absolutely. Am I a little concerned about their wide receivers? For sure.

been concerned about their wide receivers and I've been concerned about their tackles, but you know, whose tackles I'm also concerned about Ohio state. Well, 80% of college football. Yeah, exactly. Everyone not named Georgia, like, and Texas LSU will be okay. LSU, Oregon, Missouri will be all right. They have Mimbu. So Missouri is in good shape.

Other than that, yep, tackle's a problem for everybody. For a lot of people, yeah. If the normal population was all 6, 7, 320, we could find tackles on every street corner. But guess what? They're not. So, yeah, I mean, I think that people love to hate on Notre Dame. They have an unbelievably good defense at all three levels. You don't think the linebackers are as good as I do. I think they're going to be really solid at linebacker. I don't think they're going to be elite.

I think in that defense, you don't have to be elite. They're going to funnel everything inside. They're going to be aggressive and they're going to play a lot of man and they can cover you. These guys can cover. So, and I think Snead's really athletic. So in the event you get a scrambling quarterback and they don't want to play man, good. Snead's on the quarterback. Let's ride. Yeah. So I think they're set up really, really nicely. And yeah,

With the schedule, I don't see how they finish any worse than 10-2. That was the thing for me is even if they're just an above-average football team, nine wins on that schedule seems very feasible, very possible. And a nine-win Notre Dame team not going to be ranked? Hell, an eight-win Notre Dame team.

Seeing them not in the top 25, that doesn't feel very realistic. We know how a lot of these people operate as far as how they vote and what they look at, what they pay attention to. It just doesn't really seem like that's going to be something that's overly concerning for them. They did adjust their final exam schedule also, Greg, for the first round of the playoffs. Not going to have those two coincide. Love that. So it feels like they feel like they're in. I think they're definitely in. Done deal? If you told me right now, make a bet, Notre Dame, in or out, I'm betting I'm in every day of the week.

This year. I don't have that confidence. I can definitely see it. I go back to that schedule and kind of like what we've talked about with either Penn State or Missouri or Ole Miss. I don't think 10-2 on that schedule gets Notre Dame in. Some of this is going to be dependent on other teams and what they do and how they finish. I think Notre Dame is a pretty decent advantage.

In the court of public opinion, even at 10-2. They do. They definitely carry that cachet. And I think a lot of people would look at it and say, it's still Notre Dame. They need to be in. Going to those SEC power rankings that we just talked to Mark Slaball about, I'm interested if there's one that's a little bit too low for you. Georgia, Texas, Bama, Ole Miss at four, Missouri at five, Tennessee six, LSU seven, Oklahoma eight,

A&M nine. And then at 10, you get Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi state Vandy. Is there one that's too low? Four to 12, Auburn 11. I have Auburn 11 in my poll, but I have Auburn as a top 25 football team. I would probably move Kentucky right behind Auburn, even though I know they host Auburn and that'll be a pivotal game for both sides. That one's a bit of a toss up. Um,

The top four, I think, is pretty solid for just about anybody. But I'm interested in just the order of Missouri, Tennessee, LSU, Oklahoma. Does that feel accurate to you? I think Missouri of that group, I would have Missouri behind Tennessee and potentially even LSU. I am not on the Missouri bandwagon.

Like had they been a top 10 team, they're 11th. They would have probably been my pick even above Michigan to potentially finish outside the top 25. It's not because I don't think they're good. I think they are good. I just think when the ball bounces your way as often as it bounced their way last year, these things have a way of overcorrecting themselves. And well, I think their experience and weaponry on offense is great. I think there are questions on defense. I think there are questions at running back. I think there are legitimate questions. Um,

Doesn't mean they can't beat everybody. They can, but I have a tough time thinking that they replicate last year's results. So I would take right now on a neutral field, I'm taking LSU every day of the week over Missouri. Well, there are no questions with B-Dry. Tell our listeners how they can help them out. Well, they've been serving Alabama for 60 years, waterproofing and foundation repair. They're the largest waterproofing company in the country.

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get the job done, and they have some cash on hand for some fall funds. Go check them out at BeDryAlabama.com. That's BeDryAlabama.com. Did you hear the clip from Matt Rule earlier that we played? I did not. Which one? Because I've listened to him all week. It was him addressing his team during practice. I want you to hear that one when we come back, and Greg and I have a conversation about that. Hear from Peyton Thorne as well right after this on Mac and Cube.

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 gotten in trouble. The Sean Ryan Show on YouTube or wherever you listen.