8-7-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 3: Auburn's future; Alabama in the CFP; Damian's fickle fandom
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McElroy and Kublik in the morning starts now. Hour number three here on McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saber holding it down for the guys as they are, I guess you say, in class for the ESPN seminars. Getting their do's and don'ts for the broadcast for the next however many days they're about to be on the road because I know it's about to be a grind in football season. 203.

See, tape don't lie, as you said. See how, like. See how what? Remember someone saying tape don't lie. See how the media just takes something so small, like the clips, they don't give you the full context. I would defend you, but I'm pretty sure I was sitting in this exact seat when you said that. And so, you know, I mean, I heard it with my own two. I believe Chris Tucker said, do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth? Those words came out of your mouth.

We heard him. But the context was it was either admitting that Eli Manning was like an all-world quarterback or just accept that LeBron James is the second best player to ever breathe. Is his Hall of Fame acceptance speech next year the most anticipated? Next year? Yeah, he's on the ballot. Yeah, well, he's going to get in. Next year? Yeah. First ballot Hall of Famer.

Eli Manning. He won two Super Bowls. 175 and 175 as a starting quarterback. Yeah, he won two Super Bowls. First ballot Hall of Famer. He beat the greatest player of all time twice. Two Super Bowl MVPs. I mean, you know he's going to get in, right? Yes, for sure. I just didn't know if you were looking forward to that or not. He could have been accepted in the New York Giants Ring of Honor first. He should have been.

But Hall of Fame quarterback. We're talking about one of the best who ever put on the shoulder pads and played the quarterback position. Eli Manning is one of those guys. How many Super Bowls does your favorite quarterback have? 205-834-9450. Stafford has one. That's what you're talking about, right? I mean, you talk about him so much. Oh, that's perfect. That is perfect. Let's see.

That's why I love working here. Y'all make it so entertaining. 205-834-9450. And the crazy thing is, even...

Are you going back to it even though we won't move on? I can't. Okay, yeah, there it is. Because I'm trying to think. That's why I see live and rent free in your head. I know it, dog. I know it because I can't escape it. I can't escape it. You can. Again, just like the text messages. You chose to read that one. You chose to go back. You literally gave the phone number, which is radio code for we're moving on, we're transitioning into something else. And then you're like, let me tell you another thing about it. Okay, all right. That's fine. I don't know what it is, man. And you wonder why we constantly have to remind people that. God.

I mean, that's all I need to hear. Man, we need a dump button. That's what we need. 205-834-9450. Let's go back to the phone lines as we talk the Alabama Crimson Tide 2024 to our buddy Larry, who's on the road. What's going on this morning, Larry?

Hey, guys. Love the show always. Enjoy talking. Want to throw out three questions. Number one, what did Luke Fickle do at Cincinnati in the few years that he was there? Was he not pretty dominant? Yeah, he took them to the playoff. Exactly. My point is, I think it's his second or third year at Wisconsin. I'm not sure. It's his second year.

Second year? Yeah. Okay, my question to you is, I mean, I know this is crazy. You know, like you, obviously, Conrad, we're rocking and rolling with our time. That's right. Me too. But my point is,

What does Wisconsin know for? They're big O-lines every year. And I think that's going to be a major game for Bantam when they go up there. I'm not saying we're going to win. Whatever. But I think that'll be a good test to have the week off the following week before Georgia. Number two, is there any way, guys, that y'all could announce the – I think it's –

In a few weeks, the games are on the 24th. That's those games that are going to be on television. I know the 31st is the big opening week, but isn't there several games on Saturday the 24th? Yeah, I know you have Florida State and Georgia Tech maybe? Yeah, that's going to be at 11 o'clock.

on ESPN, which should follow game day. I want to say that's going to be overseas, too. Yeah, that game's in Dublin. And then after that, at 3 o'clock on FS1, you'll have Montana State and New Mexico State, followed by SMU at Nevada. That'll be on CBS Sports Network. And somewhere, you will have Delaware State at Hawaii. I don't know how you're going to get that. I assume that's elusive, like the Pac-12, oh, sorry, Pac-2 network. It's an 11 p.m. kickoff. It will be somewhere, somehow.

Okay, and then question number three. I know this is going to be a weird question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Has anybody in college football, I'm not saying it, I'm not saying this by all means, with all due respect, I'm not even making a point, but has anybody ever won a national championship in their first year in college football as a coach? I don't know of that.

I was wondering. Like their first year with a new team or just their first year coaching? Yeah, just the first year with a new team. I want to say Larry Coker maybe with Miami. He won because I think he got it after Butch Davis. Butch Davis kind of rebuilt that program of Miami in that turn of the century. I don't know if you got one, but I think Larry Coker got it the first year whenever he got it after. And I want to say...

Schnellenberger did too. I may be wrong in that, but we're going to research that. And so you know, Larry, if you are out and about because you are, Larry, on the road. On that 24th, the Florida State-Georgia Tech game as well as SMU and Nevada, both of those games can be heard right here on JOX 94.5.

But my point is simply this, guys, and I think you all agree with me. I'm not saying that is going to happen, but if it does, go ahead and get the coffers ready for I-Man and Bama Hater. I'll go ahead and make a point if that should happen, but it ain't going to happen. But if it does, Alabama does it their first year with a new coach.

Just get the coffins ready is all I'm saying, guys. Enjoy the show always. Thanks, guys. Absolutely, Larry. Appreciate you as well. Although it didn't bode well for Miami after winning that one. It kind of went downhill after that. So maybe you don't want to follow in Larry Coker's shoes. It's also when Nebraska was relevant, considering they were –

Team that Miami beat in the national championship. It's been a while. It's been a while. It's been a while. It's been a while, but, you know, we try to. It's a new year. We got Trey at Lightland when we talked about Nebraska since we got a teammate. He's not here yet. Yeah, so we got a teammate that graduated there and stuff, so.

Try my best to keep her. Did I tell you about the story when she absolutely grilled me for my take about Nebraska? Because I always said that, like, you know, in my day and age of getting, it's not like I'm, you know, 50 years old, but I was just like, Nebraska is a good team. You're older than her. You're right. And the fact that she gave me the history lesson, she sat me down and was like, hey, big dog, let me go ahead and tell you, nobody has experienced the highs and lows of Nebraska like I have. I was like, all right, I understand. And she's like, no, let me tell you, big dog.

The Scott Frost era was supposed to be the moment in time that Nebraska was about to get back into it. They were like, listen, just won a bunch of games at UCF, won a national championship at UCF, correct? Yep, they claim that, I guess. Is it not on their stadium that they are national champions? That doesn't mean anything. I know you're not saying anything about claiming, okay, all right. We'll just ignore that.

But they did win a national championship. And she was like, listen, I'm trying to explain to you. When Scott Frost was there, we literally thought that this was it. This was going to change everything. She started giving me Tom Osborne speech.

I was like, Molly, I appreciate you. It's a pleasure meeting you, pleasure having you, but I'm going to let you know, I think Nebraska is still one of the more overrated programs in college football. The way you're telling this story, I assume she was wearing her Stafford jersey when she told you this because you were just like, I don't want to hear it. Oh, nothing. No, no, no. There would have been some SEC regulations. It's just a shame for her that if she had been born like five years earlier, she would have been alive when Nebraska was –

Exactly. Making things happen, and she was just right. A little too late, unfortunately. A little too late. We'll talk about Nebraska a little bit later, because I actually want to see Molly's face when we go down their schedule and say, hey, you know what? They probably may go bowling this year. I was going to say, we've got some Nebraska fans on the text line, apparently. Right, exactly. Let's go to the phone lines. Talk to our buddy Don Don. Is he going to talk Auburn, or is he going to talk Alabama today? Welcome into MAAC and CUBE, Don Don. We're going to talk both, my brother. Both of them. Let's do it, brother.

Okay, well, Conrad, y'all had to go to a break when I called y'all this morning, but the kid I'm talking about, and there's a reason why he's going to flip, Conrad, because it's in Alabama's favor, actually. There's a five-star running back out of Mississippi named Alcorn Deere that y'all are probably going to get. Yeah, the guy that decommitted from Ole Miss? Yeah.

Right, right. So that means that they call him Turbo Jones, and he's the number 11 rated kid in Alabama, and I think like the number eight or nine running back in the country. But that's why if he flips to Auburn, that would be the reason why. What year is he? He's a senior this year. Oh, okay, so he's still in high school.

Well, that was the point I was getting ready to make. Is he going to affect the 2024 Auburn Tigers if he does flip? No, sir, he's not. That's what I called about. I got you. This is what I called about. Now, Alabama is going to have a great team this year, and they will make the playoffs. Now we're back on the road.

Well, no, no, no, but guess what? We're building something. There we go. The run is getting ready to be over. What? So we talk about Alabama in the present tense, but we talk about Auburn in the future tense. That's kind of unique. We're talking Auburn in the future. The run is getting ready to be over, and we're getting ready to flip the state. Okay.

Twenty twenty five. Who cares? So basically you're basically telling me that who cares about twenty twenty four if Auburn does get better. We're on the path of twenty twenty five and twenty six. Right. Exactly. I'm building for twenty five. Hey, there we go. I mean, buddy, I'm building for. There we go. So twenty twenty four. So there is nothing that Auburn can do in twenty twenty four. Everything is hanging on twenty twenty five and twenty six. Right.

No, no, that's not what I'm saying here, my brother. I'm saying that we got to get better this year and go. We're going to go. I know you think I'm crazy. We talked about this yesterday. We're going nine and three this year and we're getting ready to build for 25 and 26, which we're doing. And we won't be there in 25 and 26. Who's going to be the quarterback? Walker White.

Why don't you have him in 24 then? So if you can go ahead and build towards 2025, you'll at least have those game reps, right? Well, we're going to do what Tennessee did with Nico last year. They played Nico in three games and then let him play in the bowl game. So in the bowl game, if we don't have nothing to play for, let the kid play in the bowl game to get him ready for next year. Now I see. Now I see where the standard is. When we question standards between Alabama and Auburn, this is the conversation I want to go back to. It's like, hey,

Whereas Alabama's floor is 9-3, Auburn's ceiling is 9-3. And this is from an Auburn fan himself. I love it. Well, no, sir. My floor is 8-4. My ceiling is 10-2. Okay. I like the optimism. But in 2025, the ceiling is 12-0, right? The ceiling for 2025 is to make the playoffs. I want to make the playoffs in 2025.

Heck, at 9-3, you might be a borderline team to make it now with 12 games. You'll be in the conversation. But here's the question for you guys, okay, about Alabama. Let's go back to Alabama now. And I think DeBoer's going to be a hell of a coach for y'all. But Larry made a good point, Conrad. If y'all lose more than two games in a year, your people are going to go nuts.

Yeah, no, that's 100 percent right. That's what I said to think about that. It goes back to the the S word, the standard. Right. So you've also you're admitting so you're admitting as an Auburn fan that the Alabama standards are high. And the fact they could only they could lose three games and they're going to go crazy, whereas Auburn fans lose three games. They're going to go crazy in the opposite direction. So what does that tell you about the standard in Auburn and Alabama?

Damien, buddy, it's totally different. I've told you that a million times. Makes sense. I mean, 75% of the Auburn people, all they care about is beating Alabama in a year, okay? That makes their year for just beating Alabama. We don't live about national championships because we've won two or three in our history. My only question about that, Don Don, is think about what you just said.

And the fact that you completely disregard national championships, like you said, 75 percent of the fan base says that that they would rather just beat Alabama and not win a title. And that's acceptable, buddy. I'm not like that. I'm in the 25 percent that I want to win. Go go 12. And, oh, OK, I'm not like that.

Think about it. I think somebody brought this up the other day. In 2017, we beat Alabama and Georgia in the regular season. And then they played each other for the national championship game. How the hell do you think that made me feel that year? I don't know. But you beat Alabama. That was a great year. I guess it was pretty good. I guess.

I don't know, man. I just think it's a unique perspective. I try my best to try to make sense of it. I find it difficult that a lot of Auburn fans would say, hey, we would sacrifice a national title just to beat our rival. I understand hate is real, but I just don't buy into that. Hell, if I lose to my rival and I win six national championships in a row, by God, y'all can have it. It's cool, but we want the bigger thing. And I just think that...

You have to change your mindset if you're going to be like that, because to me, Don Don just said that Alabama fans and Alabama people are going to go crazy if you lose a couple of games in a season. Hell, you fired Brian Harsin 22 months into his tenure at Auburn. And he was I mean, if we talk about moral victories, he went into four overtimes in his first ever Iron Bowl and he didn't even get a coach in the next one. So it's like, why would you why would that be acceptable? Just beating your rival?

if you're going to watch them win a national title. Like, I would be absolutely furious. Like, okay, cool. Like, I'll never forget that Jalen Hurts video when he's like, oh, yeah, I'll wear an Auburn jersey, but you know what I got in my backpack? The college football national championship trophy. I was about to say, I mean, 2017 was, you know, I'm sure Alabama fans maybe have different opinions, but for me, I mean, that was –

that was a pretty sweet season because you did lose to Auburn and you still went on to win a national championship. And, you know, losing to your rival does suck, but when you're able to overcome that and still reach the ultimate goal, I think that does make it just a little bit sweeter. But I...

Alabama and Auburn have different standards, and there's nothing wrong with that right now. Auburn is building themselves up to be in a situation to where they start making the standard of making the college football playoff every year, and I think they're on the right path for that. But, you know, it is – I don't know. I think there's a lot of optimism, and understandably so, but it just seems like it's kind of all over the place, and, you know, even somebody like Don Don who it's, well, we could win 10 games this year, but –

You're not expecting to make the... I don't know. It seems like it goes both ways. It just feels like Damien's mad at Dondon because Conrad, you get to go to the Iron Bowl when it feels like Damien was the one that wants to really go to the Iron Bowl. That must be it. I don't know what game he's going to bring Damien to, but...

I don't know, maybe if it were the Iron Bowl, maybe that's what we need to do next Tuesday at Soho, excuse me, at Social Taco. Maybe you and Don Don need to kind of discuss which game y'all need to go to. You know, Damien, I will say it right now. I will sacrifice my ticket to the Iron Bowl so that you can attend it with Don Don if that's what you want.

I have my people talk to your people. We'll see if we can work it out. No, I just talk to you. Right, yeah. The offer's on the table. We have your number. We know where to find you. It's not that hard. Well, it's because I've got to look at my schedule. I can see what my – because that's Thanksgiving week, man. I'll probably be at home with the family. Well, we're going to be working on Friday, so you're going to be back here. Yeah, you know you're not going out of town. Yeah, no, you're not – I can't run from it. No, but the offer's there. I just want you to know that as –

One of your friends, I know that opportunity would mean so much to you that I am willing to let you have it.

We'll discuss it. We'll discuss it. You're welcome. Keep it locked right here at McElroy and Kubrick. Thank you. It would have been nice. In the morning, we'll continue our reaction. On the other side, we see some phone calls. Got some text messages as well. Keep it locked here on Jock's 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 app or wherever you get your podcasts. 921 here on...

Michael Roy and Kubrick in the morning. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order. I guess A&M's still on the table then. John Saber. So we got a little bit of an update of our Iron Bowl wager, I guess you would say. Is that all for already being taken back at the first look at the contract? TBD. Ah, gotcha.

We'll go through some other. We still got time. I mean, we got, what, three and a half months? A little over that until the game. Well, I mean, they're both going to be 10-1 going into the game, man. That ticket's going to be pretty expensive. I don't want it to be, you know, I don't want it to be. You mean 11-0? That is true.

That is true. I mean, if we're going 10-1, might as well go 11-0. Might as well. You can't go to 1-0 without game number one. So we shall see. Yes, you cannot go 1-0 without playing the first game. Wait a minute, you dump on Molly for explaining it to you. That's what she said every single week. And now you're using her mantra? I can't go 2-0 without 1-0.

Okay. All right. Can't do it. Let me tell you something. I guess Dondon must not be the actual representative for Auburn that they want because the jock's text line has gotten completely out of hand. Okay. Let's see what we got. It's crazy. All right, Landrum. It's crazy. He says, somebody texted in and says, the only fans that are going to lose it over a 9-3 season are the new fans of the Saban Knights like Conrad.

I've been watching Alabama football since the early nineties and the deuce was running loose. I don't want to go nine and three, but there's always a growing season. I remember just wishing the damn team played well. I hope that we win every game. But either way, I'm still rolling with the tide. I mean, he's fair to say that. I mean, yes, I am of the age where the majority of my Alabama fandom years were under Nick Saban. And I was very spoiled. I'm very appreciative of that.

I would say I would throw myself in the group. If Alabama goes 9-3 this year, I'm not going to lose my mind because I understand what it takes to win at a high level in the SEC, and it's not easy to do. And there are a lot of question marks, and there are a lot of personalities that have to gel and new schemes that have to be learned. And there are a lot of obstacles in the way of that, but...

I think if you've been an Alabama fan as long as you say you have, you know that there's clearly a portion of the fan base that in the last 15 years or so has gotten a little irrational. And anything other than, you know, there's going to be fans that if Alabama doesn't win a national championship this year, they're going to look at it as a complete failure. Yeah. We got another text in that says, I disagree. If you can beat Alabama, you can beat anyone. So why can't Auburn beat Alabama and win the national championship?

I'm right there with you, brother. That's a good point. That's what we want. No Auburn fan is cool going 1-11 with the only win being against Alabama. They say that there's no way they honestly believe it. Yeah, you shouldn't be okay with that. Oh, boy. All right, Damien, you know what Don Don is trying to say. The standard is different right now. Probably because Auburn is coming off three of the most down years in program history, and Bama is coming off of a dynasty run with the best HUD coach of all time. Okay. And that's what I was trying to say. Auburn is...

It's not realistic, I think, to expect Auburn and Alabama to have the same standards, right? But Auburn is clearly working on getting to a level like Alabama where the standards are the same or are similar every year, and there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, if you're Auburn, how about win 10 games in consecutive seasons? Yeah. Let's start with that. Once you consistently do that, then okay, cool, because Alabama just ended a streak of being preseason ranked in the top three.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's not getting votes, not top 10, not top 25, top three. This is the their number five in the coaches poll. I assume it's going to be the same in the AP lowest ranking since 2009. Fifteen years. Yeah. The streak ended and they fell to fifth. Yeah, exactly. Right. Exactly. The fall from grace. It's crazy.

It's insane. Another text message. Don Don does not speak for the 75% of us Auburn fans. That is a ridiculous statement. Beating Alabama does not mean what it used to. We want to win championships. I like that he acknowledged there's 25% of the fan base that only cares about beating Alabama, though.

Well, it's demographics. It's like with us in radio. We look at those 25 to 54. Well, at some point, some are going to age out of the demographic. And so maybe a couple years ago it was 50-50, but the demographic is just kind of changing. And now it's 75-25. And at some point it will probably be like 90-10 or so. But that's what's happened lately really with college football. And honestly, you have Nick Saban to thank for that because –

He's the one that really ushered in and kind of made, not made, but helped college football to grow from kind of a regional sport to that national sport because you started seeing SEC win over and over and over again, and then Alabama started doing it, and then everybody else wanted it. That's a good point. Yeah. Somebody said, Conrad, I didn't mean to lump you in with the self-esteemers whose whole identity is tied to the tie, winning every year. Like you said, winning is hard. Yeah.

It is. I understand. I knew what you meant. Just like being a Bama fan with a favorite color orange. It's hard, man. It's difficult. It's crazy, man. I mean, I wear my orange hat sometimes, and you'd think the world was in it. For some listeners, man, they think I'm a Texas fan now. So do you like the Texas burnt orange? Not particularly. I never knew Miami's was a burnt orange either. Really? See, I don't consider it. I mean, Bama haters said it was a burnt orange. I never consider that as burnt orange.

I guess maybe because the only burnt orange I assume is Texas. Right. I guess there are different shades of it. But that's one thing, especially watching that Orange Bowl a couple years ago with Tennessee and Clemson in it. One of them didn't look orange. One of them looked purple. One of them looked yellow. Yeah. All right. Like when you hold an orange beside both of their jerseys. Right. It's like this. All these different shades. This ain't it. Yeah. Like that's more tangerine. That looks more of a tangerine color. Boy, it's a...

Yeah, Auburn, I will say this, Don Don, man, he does not speak for a lot of these Auburn fans because they are like, no, we would like to hoist some championships along the way. So 205-834-9450 can keep the conversation going. You can text or call in. Let's go to the phone lines. Talk to our buddy Matt and Fayette wants to talk some ball with us this morning. What's going on, Matt? All right, I guess we lost Matt. Yes, we lost. I'm sorry. I got you. I got you. Oh, there we go. I got you. Hey, what's going on this morning, buddy? How are y'all this morning? Doing well, man. How about y'all?

Me and a couple guys, a friend of mine, were talking. Y'all probably have already discussed it this all season or whatever, but out of all the big-name coaches, I guess, or even coaches in the SEC, who is the coaches that are probably most on the hot seat and what do they have to do, in y'all's opinion, this season to make that seat less hot? To save their jobs, essentially. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think the two obvious ones are Billy Napier and Sam Pittman. Yeah. We talked about Florida earlier. I think if Florida goes to a bowl game, that you've got to give them another year just with what their schedule is. Sam Pittman, on the other hand, again, I think if you get to a bowl game with Arkansas, you maybe get a little more time. But Arkansas is in a rough spot right now. Yeah.

Personally, I think it's more likely that Sam Pittman gets fired than Billy Napier just because I think there's more room for Billy Napier to kind of impress the people of Florida and convince them for another year, whereas Sam Pittman, I think we all were expecting him to be gone last year, and he's kind of on his last leg right now. As a buddy of mine brought up, what is Shane Beamer at all on the hot seat this week? That's an interesting question because I think he is –

But also, what are the real expectations that South Carolina is – I don't know what they're expecting from him. Right. Yeah.

So I think it's fair, but definitely Sam Pittman and Billy Napier would be the top of the list for sure. I got you. And also, like I said, I'm a big Auburn fan, so, I mean... Me too. So I think... I know everybody's, you know, big. Of course, we're all big, you know, on Perry Thompson, Cam Coleman, you know, all the big wide receivers or whatever. So with all them weapons...

Do you think it's all going to come down as far as, which everybody always says it does, for Peyton Thorne, if he has a year similar to what he had last year, that could be a huge thing of whether they go 10-2 or 7-5, 8-4. Or is there any chance that he gets benched for, you know, if he doesn't have a year with all them, you know, threats and weapons that he has on the outside? Yeah.

No, I think to me, the receiver room, he Hugh Freeze addressed it. The biggest thing for those guys is how quickly can they get on board? Because all I've heard these, you know, whenever I have discussions about Peyton Thorne, they always say he needs time. He needs time. He's a three year starter in big time college football. It's either this is exactly who he is or.

Or maybe he just needs the weapons around him to elevate his game. And I think for him as a quarterback and the prime decision maker and what Hugh Freeze has done at other places with the quarterback position, the guys have been talented. Like you look at what Malik Willis was for him at Liberty. He turned Malik Willis into a third round pick. Now, has it turned into anything in the NFL? No, but in college to go from Auburn to Liberty and still have them in the position that they had.

Hugh Freeze can get it done. At some point, Peyton Thorne has to make that jump, if that makes sense. You kind of get what I'm saying? If the pieces around him have to be better, then maybe we do get a better Peyton Thorne. But I think it's just we have to wait and see it because I do think the talent is there. But you're asking, one, a bunch of guys that have never played at Auburn to step up and be those guys, which I think they can do. And you're also banking on young, talented freshmen.

how quickly can they develop to be where they need to be? And I think I'm optimistic. It's just I have to see it. I got you. Well, all right, guys. Hey, like I said, I enjoyed the show. I love listening to y'all. Like I said, y'all give up the great work. And like I said, War Eagle. War Eagle, brother. We appreciate the call. Eli Manning was an all-world quarterback. Wow, that was nice of you to just throw that out there. You see how the media just takes something so small.

And absolutely runs with it. Did you say it or did you not say it? 205-834-9450. You can continue to text or call into the show. Having some fun here discussing Auburn, Alabama. We'll continue that on the other side. We see your text messages because they are getting pretty, uh,

Getting pretty entertaining, to say the least. So keep it locked right 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 jocksfm.com. Hurry and... 9.37 here on your Wednesday morning. Welcome back into McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Conrad Van Order, Damian Mitchell, John Saber holding down the fort. Greg and Cole back tomorrow.

Had a lot of fun today, talking a lot of Alabama and Auburn. A lot of Alabama and Auburn fans getting a little riled up today on the text line. We appreciate all of the interaction throughout the show. Had some big news in Major League Baseball last night, though. This is massive. Don't tell me. The streak is over. Let's go. If you've been following along, the Chicago White Sox...

We're on a 21-game losing streak. It was an American League record for the most losses in a row in a single season, and they finally got it done last night against the Oakland Athletics with a 5-1 win. So the streak is over, and a new streak begins. Can they win 21 games in a row? No. But can they win two games in a row? Probably not. Can't do that either. Right.

At the very least, one day of reprieve for the Chicago White Sox. So I wanted to pass that along because I know their affiliation with the Barons. Probably have a number of White Sox fans here in the city of Birmingham. And it's been a it's been a rough season for for the White Sox. But glad to see them snap the streak of 21 consecutive losses last night in a win against the Oakland Bears.

We want to remind you again about something we have coming up next Wednesday at Regents Field. That's the Bill Smith Buick GMC jocks kickoff party, which you can attend August the 14th at Regents Field. But the only way for you to get tickets to attend is by entering to win and texting the keyword jocks with your full name to

to 205-834-9450. Again, text the keyword JOX, J-O-X, along with your full name to 205-834-9450. We are drawing winners daily. And for more information on the JOX Kickoff Party, go to joxfm.com. Let's go to the Mac and Cube Twitter feed. As always, you can tweet in at the show at Mac and Cube, at Run DM6 for me, at Conrad VO Radio for Conrad, at John Say Bear for John.

greg light took excuse me at gregory light tweets and he says alabama will not only beat georgia but they will win the sec championship the o-line looks great the d-line looks great heisman candidate quarterback and a lot of weapons i'm calling it now alabama will beat georgia in the regular season and texas in the sec championship game okay yeah i mean that'd be pretty impressive if alabama was able to do that um

Yeah, I mean, I think those things are realistic. You get Georgia at home. It's going to be a really, really tough game, but I don't think it's a game that, you know, I think you're going to have a lot of people going into that game. Georgia's going to steamroll Alabama. It's not even going to be closed. Alabama's not going to be able to compete with Georgia, and maybe that'll be the case, but at least right now, I don't think that's going to be the case in that particular matchup.

Getting a little revenge on Texas from last year would make fans happy, too. Yeah. Ed Jolly, our 1965 tweet, saying, Alabama with Kalen DeBoer is the million-dollar question. It's all going to come down to the defense and its new look, how it holds up in the conference. Execution of the offense cannot have the O-line allow the amount of sacks they did a year ago. QB1 has to do his thing.

And I agree with all those. I think that, you know, the task is tall for Alabama. And I think a lot of that is kind of addition by subtraction. We saw the inconsistencies with Seth McLaughlin and snapping last season. They've showed up in pretty much every single game. And, you know, Parker Brailsford, I expect him to go out and still be a great center for Alabama. But I don't expect to see Jalen Miller have to, you know, jump up or bend down before he can get into his drops.

to finally make a throw. So that's always going to be a positive. Can Caden Proctor step up a little bit more than he did? We saw him have some of those freshman woes. So it'll be interesting to see, especially on the trenches on both sides, what Alabama does in this new look, offense and defense, for the Crimson Tide. Yeah, and I expect Alabama's offensive line to be better than they were last year. I think Parker Brailsford is definitely an upgrade over Seth McLaughlin. I think you're going to get more consistency out of him. I mean, this is a young guy last year that was –

the center for the Joe Moore award-winning offensive line in college football there at Washington. And so bringing him over, I think that's an improvement. You know what you're getting with Tyler Booker. I think Jaden Roberts really impressed a lot of people last year. Proctor got a lot better over the course of the season. It's just what that right tackle spot's going to look like. But I think they're going to be better up front offensively this year than last year.

Talk about hot takes. Blayblay underscore one tweets in, and Mac and Q, two teams from the state of Alabama make the college football playoff. That'd be a big jump for Trent Dilfer in year two. Okay, Troy, winning the Sun Belt. Major Applewhite. I was about to say, South Alabama. That's true, right, yeah. Without Womack. Hey, Jacksonville State.

Yeah, Rich Rod. Don't worry about Rich Rod. Did they not just win, what, 10, 11 games? Are they eligible, though? I know they weren't last year. That's a good question. I don't know if that was a one-year thing or not. Makes sense. That's an interesting take. Or do they mean UNA and them making D2 college? Or is that it? You might be on to something. Huntington making the Division III playoffs. You all right, Damien? Why is your face like that? It's been a rough morning for Damien. He's going to the Iron Bowl. What does it matter?

That is true. That'll put a smile on his face. I mean, he just said War Eagle like ten minutes ago. Not including he said Roll Tide the first segment, but that's fine. Okay. Which brings me to a tweet that is from JollyR1965 as well. He says, can we get a loop of all the different fan bases Mr. Mitchell jumps on and goes through? He says, hashtag Roll Tide, hashtag War Eagle, hashtag Go Balls, hashtag Hook'em, hashtag Dogs, hashtag Hotty Toddy, hashtag Go Tigers, and hashtag Gators.

Have we kept the running tally? I think I've only committed to Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee for sure. Only. Mississippi State. The cowbell counts. Just love that sound. I was about to say, you don't even have to say anything, but if you ring it, you're a Mississippi State fan. Hail State. Or so I've been told. I think that's what they say. So 25% of the league you've committed to. Okay.

Jury's still out on Texas and Oklahoma. Need to see him for a year. I do have a Boomer Sooner shirt, though. I'm sure you do. I do. You know I'm a big Oklahoma guy. South Carolina? Kentucky? Florida? I actually know what teams I don't have any apparel for. That is South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Texas, Texas A&M. I've got everybody else. Yeah, I've got everybody else. Even Mizzou.

So a quarter of the team you committed to, a quarter of the team, excuse me, a quarter of the league you don't even have, don't even bother with. Oh, okay, all right. We'll tighten that up. You sound like a recruit.

Here's my final 50. That's what I need to do. I need to get a graphic and pretty much week to week just say, hey, these are my top five choices of teams I'm rooting for this Saturday. Who should I go with? Decision. Respect my decision. What would be really surprising is there are 14 weeks in the regular season this year with Damian. She's 14 different teams. Yeah, I was about to say we have a different team every week. But then that means two, well. We know there's two you're not going to cheer for. But it's going to be hard sometimes to go against Texas A&M.

sometimes okay but vandy i love e but no apparently not not enough yeah it happens man another tweet coming in he says at run dm6 simply put you're not an auburn fan what yeah yeah you're not you literally just said you were committed to mississippi state and alabama how can you be an auburn fan

He says, pathetic radio how you treated the caller. Did you play at Auburn or Alabama? Who did you play for in college? Well, I played for the institution formerly known as Birmingham Southern College. Graduated in 2018, played football, ran track there for a year. Ran track for a year. And if we're going to do that, where did Dondon play? He graduated from UAB. Oh, okay. He's a blazer. I actually know why he's an Auburn fan. Why is he an Auburn fan? I think that's something Dondon needs to address. Oh, he got swayed? Oh, yeah, he did. As McClendon used to say, the power of the P. You said it, not me. Yeah.

But no, don't start. Are the pretzels good down there? Do they serve those in the stadium? I think I've had my fair share. I think probably good. Things in a blanket, is that what they're talking about? That's a good tailgating snack. Maybe so. I like those. Maybe so. I don't know what they do over there at Auburn. I'm not an Auburn fan, so I wouldn't know. Wouldn't know. The Cadillac Williams jersey I had back in 03, 04, man, I guess I just have to. It probably still fits now that I think about it. It was a, I think it was an adult small. Which accurately describes you.

I don't know if I would have just openly admitted that. I heard the size. I heard the size. Okay, right, yeah. At that point, it went to my knees. Sure, Dondon does too, yeah. Well, I tell you. This has been fun. I don't have a bad bot score of the day, but we do have some more tweets and takes to get back to and return here on McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubelik in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

A player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Tap or wherever you get your podcasts. 9.50 here on McElroy and Kubrick in the morning. Appreciate Colin Gray giving us the opportunity to just sit around, have some fun in their place as they are locked and loaded in class for the ESPN seminars, getting ready for their broadcast of what should be a wonderful 2020, excuse me, 2024 broadcast.

football season. Damian Mitchell, Conrad Van Order, John Saber getting set for three-man front coming up right after we are done here at the top of the hour. I want to get to some more of your texts and tweets from pretty much anything today. We started off with Alabama making the college football playoff. Is it a pretty much a definite yes? No. Do you think the dynasty is over? Are we done? And we've got some, we've got some interaction from all over the place, especially the Auburn fans. When Don Don called in, it was like, Hey, well, you know,

Ceiling is 9-3. Alabama's floor is 9-3. Well, no, he said the ceiling for Auburn was at 9-3 or 10-2, and then the floor was 8-3.

Yeah, that's what we had. 9-3, 10-2, Florida's 8-4. But he said 2025, the ceiling is pretty much the championship or bust. So we shall see. But that's what recruiting does, man. You build towards the future. That's what Don Don said. He said we're building towards 2025 and 2026. But I guess we got to get through 2024. We got some text messages in coming in. We got a buddy, Hank. He said, I'm listening to you guys in the panhandle of Florida. Wanted to give a big roll-tied roll.

He had it in all caps. That's the only reason I said it like that. Well, that's fine. We'll just remember that when you wear your Auburn stuff and claim to be an Auburn fan. Yeah, save that one. That was a good one. That was actually a good read. Appreciate it. Because it's natural. I'm an Alabama fan, dawg. So it naturally comes off the tongue, row, tie, row. No, you're not. Tag War Eagle.

Okay. All right, mister. I'm an Alabama fan. All right. Context matters, guys. Context matters. He says he's got a new license plate yesterday, and he has a picture of his license plate at Alabama. And he says, let me get a roll-tie roll from Damien. Roll-tie to my brother. War Eagle. Man, my mind is just all over the place. I don't know what to believe. I'm hearing one thing, and then the other. I just don't know. It's the media, man. They do it all the time. You're the media. I know. Literally have a media job.

Love it. FSU Dave texted in. He said, hey, even Damien has a Florida State shirt. That is true. Yeah? That is true. Okay, like that one, again, I'm not going to give you a free pass for everything, but at least they're not in the conference, right? Well, yeah. But yeah. Well, yeah. If you want to root for different teams in different conferences, I think people let you get away with that more than –

You know, just picking all of the teams from one conference. They're smoking a cigar when Tennessee won in 22 and then smoking it again when Alabama won in 23. No, that's because I picked Alabama to win. That was the only reason. Oh, okay. The look on Damien's face when I told him two hours ago that I thought Tennessee had a better chance of beating Alabama this year than LSU did. He just had the biggest grin on his face. He's so satisfied that I can admit that.

And yet he's going to have the nerve to then act like an Alabama fan. Go Vols. Where is that coming from? I don't know. The adult small over there. Yeah, I would have left that one in the drafts, too. No, man, I was just saying. I also noticed none of those would go Big Red. I noticed that. Nah, he ain't going to work. No, we're not. No, we're not doing that. We're not doing that. Well, Molly, we actually had somebody text in Go Huskers this morning. Hey. Yeah. He said he's a longtime Nebraska fan. Big Red. Yeah.

Yeah, there's a reason you don't hear that a lot. Because Damien's not a part of their fan base yet. Yet? Oh, please. When they go 9-3, all of a sudden he's going to show up Steve Buscemi with the skateboard. Hello, fellow Huskers. Oh, man, I love it. Brandon said Damien corn on the cob four days in a row? Listen. Oh, Dylan Rylance is awesome. I'm not saying that.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that Nebraska could, you know, be a bowl team. Are you going to get the haircut? The Pat Mahomes, Dylan Raiola haircut? No, no, no. I can't do that. Hair is not naturally that curly. You do a good Kermit impression? No. I can do a mean Jimbo. Just let me handle it.

Actually, as soft as you went, that wasn't mean. That was kind of timid, Jimbo. That's not what I was expecting. That was the apology after he went off. That was the forceful Jimbo. That was hooks from Police Academy. Excuse me. You tried your best. I did. Somebody texted and says, Damien probably has a Patrick Mahomes jersey. No, but I have a Will Levis jersey.

Oh, so you like stuff that's going to get thrown away. Okay. Oh, my God. I don't know if you've been seeing the reports that I've been seeing in Titans media, but I'll tell you what, there's a connection that's going to happen between number eight and number zero. So let me just get this straight. Eight interceptions, no touchdowns. So Damian will come on here and make fun of Auburn fans for getting excited about fall camp reports about Peyton Thorne. Correct, right. But yet he's going to sit here and bang the drum for Will Levis. Right, right.

in practice and how great he looks. Yes. Just so we're clear, that is what's happening, right? No. This was during a joint practice when I saw the successful goalball that he hit to Calvin Ridley. Did the regular season already start? No, it was just the joint practice. Oh, okay. So it was still just practice that we're getting these reports from and that's what you're basing. But it wasn't against his own teammates, though. This was against somebody else. What team? The Bears. Okay. We'll see what it looks like in regular season week one.

Can't wait to watch those picks on Hard Knocks next week. That's going to be great. What happened to the other quarterback jerseys from the Titans? Because I assume he wasn't the only one. Oh, man, three-man front coming at you next. Landry Roberts, Pat Smith, Molly Robinson. Keep it locked here on Jocks. 9-8-4-5. Mack and Q will be back tomorrow. It's him. This is McElroy and Q-Link in the morning. It's time for Bob's Dare to Compare. You get style. You get features.

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