Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile unlimited, premium wireless, heavy to get 30, 30, 30, but to get 20, 20, 20, but to get 20, 20, 20, 50, 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month. So, give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month, new customers on first three month plan only, taxes and fees extra, 6 feet slower above 40 gigabytes of detail. In the south, if I'm Kirby and they win this football game, it's like, look, see, do you see what I'm saying? Like, they're not ready for this. Like, this is a new rain. I think you use that. That's what they're going to do. You know exactly what they're going to do. Hello and welcome to Always College Football. I'm your host Greg McElroy. It's a Wednesday edition of IACF. It is September 25th. So, we are just a couple days away from starting to really figure out what some of these teams are going to do. Man, we got Ohio State playing this week against conference competition. We got a top four battle in the SEC between Georgia and Alabama. We have Ole Miss being tested for the very first time, like, we're starting to get in the thick of it, and we're going to have some teams begin to reveal themselves as legitimate contenders, like Tennessee did just last week. So, very, very much looking forward to this week's action. And to help us break it down, we're going to welcome in our friend, David Pollock, formerly a VSPN. Now does a great job on his own podcast platform, David Pollock, on college football. So, you can check that out anywhere. So, look forward to our visit with him. And we also are going to dive in, like we did a few weeks ago, the top four in the power four. So, the four best teams in each of the four power four leagues will rank them one, two, three, and four. So, we'll do all of that here on a Wednesday edition of ACF, but we'll kick things off with a great conversation. Even though he's an enemy this week, he's always a friend. It's David Pollock. All right, he is a... Tell me, David, if I'm missing any accolades. I just want to make sure I have them all. A college football Hall of Famer, former first round pick. One of the best, I think, analysts in college football in the last decade or more. I don't even know how long. He now is the proud owner and host of David Pollock College football. You can follow that on YouTube. You can follow that on the podcast platform. Is there anything else? The father of two, sons of sophomore, good player in his own, right? Probably better than his old man. Definitely tougher than his old man. But I'm trying to... Am I missing anything else? Are we good? I think you missed the first round flop. I think you missed the first round. Last year's season in the NFL. Yeah, circumstantial, not a flop. When your injury to your neck leads to you having a retract early, I would say that that's a little out of your control. Forget that crap. Listen to this, though. My son's 16 loves football. He's eight up with football. And he was like, "Dad, give me some podcasts. I want to know more about college football." And I was like, "Check out always college football. You'll love it. Greg, he's an analyst at heart. He loves football." The dude texts me the other day, a picture of your podcast link, and he said, "I'm eight deep, and this is fantastic." So we'll give the kudos back to you, brother. Well, I appreciate it, buddy. Thanks for paying it forward, and I'm glad little man. He's probably not even a little man. I shouldn't even call him that anymore. I'm glad your boy is all eaten up with college ball like we are. All right, so what we like to do on our Wednesday show, and I don't know if you've ever seen it or heard it. But our whole theory is we're going to have next week's conversations today. So it's a little hypothetical, but it's also diving into the weed some, so we'll do a little bit of everything here. We'll start with the game of the weekend, Bama, Georgia. I happen to think, David, you tell me, it's a weird situation in which I feel like Bama's playing with house money a bit. And all the pressure's kind of on Georgia because, hey, you had the whole notion like, "Oh, Saban's there. Saban's the best ever." Well, Saban's now left, and if you could be by killing the boar, you can no longer point to, "Oh, well, it was just Saban that had our number." So what do you think is the reaction for Georgia and the event in which they come up short in Tuscaloosa? I think you're right, because everybody was like, "It is Saban, but now it's a new era, and it's Dibor, and if it starts off on the wrong foot, I think Georgia fans." Listen, Georgia fans know, man, Alabama's had their number. And the year they broke through in one in Addie, when they played them, they lost to them already in the SEC Championship game, so they still lost to them. But I think Georgia's going to be very interesting to me. Like, their schedule sucks, and we've talked about this all year long, dude. Because the best team in the country, you can give me the best team last year or the last 10 years, are going to lose at least one game with their schedule. So if this is the one you choose to lose, Greg, you still play at Texas, you still play at Ole Miss, you still host Tennessee. Like, so I think this is an important, and listen, I don't think Alabama's schedule by any means is easy, but compared to Georgia's, it's pretty easy. And so I think, where does Georgia get a loss? I think Carson Beck to me, like, I've seen Carson Beck be better than he has this year so far, and they're going to need him to be great. Slowing down Alabama in this offense that's been pretty historic good is, I think you start to question where they're at, but I think Georgia's solidified themselves at the top of the mountain. I don't think that's going to change, but I think now, if that were to happen, and that's what we're doing, we're picking it, if that were to happen, I think it says a lot about Alabama. And it's going to say a lot about their chances to be right back where they're used to being. And it says, Caitlin DuBour's new reign is a lot like Nick Saban's. I think that's a fair assessment if Alabama wins the football game. And then on the other side, Georgia goes in, beats Bama in Tuscaloosa, a place that doesn't often experience a Bama loss, a program that, well, I think every Alabama fan has the utmost respect for Georgia. I mean, they acknowledge, I think they believe their superior, but they still very much respect what Kirby's built, because it resembles in many ways what Alabama was for many years. So I think there's a mutual respect here, but I also think that Alabama has this internal feel of we own them, right? Like we own them, there are, yeah, they might have gotten us an Indianapolis, but other than that, we have taken them, taken care of them every chance we've gotten. So in the event... What's happened with you last year that he said, like, that he talked about Georgia, like we knew we were going to beat him, wasn't that with you that he said that? I know, I don't believe so, but I mean, we, to me, I feel like Bama does have a slight psychological edge, to be honest with you, I think it's a real thing. But at the same time, I really look at it though, and I feel like, well, if Caitlin DuBour comes up short in his first crack at Georgia, does that dispel doubt in Bama? Like, what do you think the reaction should be for Bama in the event in which they come up short? I think it would, and all this obviously matters how good the game is. Like, if you get beat the big game bad, like everybody's gonna get a good game. If you get smoked in either direction, like, the sky's falling, cancel the program, like, yeah, of course. Pull the rip cord, but I think if Caitlin loses, and here's the thing, the question wasn't about being a winner. Like, we knew he's one at every level of football, you know he's a really good football coach, he knows how to manage his teams, he knows how to coach offense, he's always done that. At a high level, I think now you go, okay, how does this reflect recruiting? Because that's the biggest thing with Cait, like, you know, in the South, if I'm Kirby, and they win this football game, it's like, look, you see what I'm saying? Like, they're not ready for this, like, this is a new reign, I think you use that, that's what they're gonna do. You know exactly what they're gonna do, so I think that Georgia can solidify themselves and say, we've lost, we've won as many natties in the last two years as we've lost games. And we just went into Tuscaloosa, and you go, we're still the king of college football, like, yeah, we'll take your questions later, and probably be right back to number one in the country. What about what we're witnessing right now in Tennessee, and I think it's, this one is almost a little bit of a look back, but his Tennessee is not involved in anything high profile this weekend. But I look at Tennessee, and I know you as a defensive lineman and probably watching that group just rotate bodies in there, and it's like, goodness gracious, do they ever stop? It's like a conveyor belt of pressure that just is relentless. But I also at the same time, I'm having a tough time figuring out, like, I think Tennessee's the real deal. But I also think Oklahoma in many ways along the offensive line is a real problematic, and I also think the same about NC State. So, I think Tennessee's a national championship contender. I said that on Monday's show. How do you view Tennessee at the moment? A hundred percent. They're a national championship contender. And if you look at the rest of their schedule outside of at Georgia, which is not easy, and hosting Alabama, so that would be the two highest ranked teams, they're going to be guaranteed to win. And it's tough to say that because you just saw Georgia Kentucky, but with their offense and with their defense, like, they're going to have very few off days together. Their defense is legit, and you talk about that defensive line. Greg, I remember watching that NC State game, and I'm just like, okay, 55 comes in, holy cow. And it's not just guys to rotate in that are big bodies. You're talking about 300 pounders with Twitch, 21, 20. And you're just like, gah, Lee, this is really impressive, and we knew their offense. And here's one thing I'll say about Tennessee. I don't have any concerns about their front. Their secondary, is there a team that can stay balanced enough to make plays in the back end? And here's another thing to be fair. I've popped up Nico as much as anybody and watching his Iowa game and watching his first game. I'm like, this dude is sensational. He's Heisman Trophy type good. He wasn't great against NC State. He wasn't great against Oklahoma. We haven't even seen the best version of him. I think we're going to see down the road. I think that's what's scary. Can he continue to grow before they get to the Alabama game and the Georgia game? Because he's been okay. He wasn't great against Oklahoma. They made some big plays. He had some big misses down the field that I thought he could have really blown the game open and made this thing go away quickly. So I think I don't question who they are as a team, and they're going to be a great team. But can they be Vama and Georgia? That's what they're tasked to do down the stretch. Yeah. I'm really like him. You kind of referenced with the D line. And I don't know a lot about defensive line technique. I've never played it. I take that back. I played it, but I was in like fourth grade. And I was breathing fire off the edge, Davey. Like you didn't want any part of that. Like it was absolute heat. Like huge first step. Like just speed the power. But in all seriousness, like I look at how violent they play and how they strike and shed. Like when I see guys helmets going back, like Tennessee has done that over and over and over again, regardless of the level of opponent, man, so I'm super impressed with what they got for sure. Did you ever, you know, strike and shed when you were playing? Yeah, I think you teach that technique to see when you got big fat guys, man, that are way bigger than you. If you hit him underneath the chin, Greg, the head goes back. So like every time put your head right underneath the chin with tight hands because then boys are big. I just, I love the picture of Greg McElroy rushing the passer in my head because you don't want to see that. I just imagine if the path towards chiefs in Los Angeles, California, it wasn't great. That's for sure. Looking at what's going on at Auburn and it's a defensive guy. You have a scenario right now and look, the season's at a crossroads. Auburn, this is must win. If they lose this game to Oklahoma this weekend, I mean, you look at their schedule. They got at Georgia, at Missouri, like they could very easily, we could fast forward. They could be two and six before they finally have the schedule lighten up a bit. And that's against Vandy, who's really not bad at all. So you look at where Auburn's at. And as a defensive guy, when you see quarterback issues on the other side, how do you handle that? It's frustrating because the bottom line is whether you like it or not, you're going to be frustrated. And when you're on the field all the time, you get worn out and you can be at your best all you want. But it doesn't really matter. You're going right back out there. Your offense is not only, listen, it's one thing not to play great offense. Allah, Michigan versus USC. It's another thing not to play great offense and donate the football and put you in bad situations. Allah, Oklahoma versus Tennessee. Like if you can run the football and at least eat clock and at least not put me in horrible situations, that would be one thing. But another thing with Auburn, man, the quarterback play has been bad for a while. Like they've got to find some kind of consistency there. But again, go to recruiting. Auburn's had some success on the recruiting channel and Hugh Freeze has been able to say, we're building. And this is year two, like we're going to ascend. And now when you watch this, I think you're going to have severe doubt and some of the kids that have committed. So I think it's just going to be really hard. Listen, you want to see them fight the rest of the year. I love to hear Coach Hugh Freeze be a lot more optimistic in press conferences and a lot more about his guys. And try to build something consistent towards the future because right now it's been bad. And it's got to be hard and tough to be an Auburn fan because it's a proud tradition. It's a great fan base. And there's not a lot this cheer about right now. Yeah. And it's, it's, it is. It's just, it is demoralizing to watch. They think they press the panic button with Peyton Thorne early. I didn't think he played great against Calvine stretch, but do I think he deserved to lose his job in favor of what's behind them? No, I don't just knowing what's behind them. I think he's the best man for the job. They want to win games. He's the guy that needs to be under center. College football fans. What's the best part of being at a game live? The color. There's nothing more exciting than seeing an entire stadium completely decked out in your team's colors. So why not add to that and put yourself right in the middle of it all because that color encompasses everything. From the tailgating in the fight songs to the marching band halftime shows, let your true colors show and get ready to yell and cheer until you're blue in the face by scoring tickets today at Ticketmaster. Get tickets today at ticketmaster.com. We're brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know that they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like how you check that you've got your tickets first before heading to the game. Or like how you check you've downloaded the latest episode of your favorite podcast before hitting the road. Checking first is smart and it's easy. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. Because with Allstate, you get reliable coverage and great protection. And while both can save a football game, they can also save your wallet. Visit Allstate.com or call an agent today to see how much you can save. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate insurance company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Looking at teams that have kind of altered their identity. Like forever. And Davey, I'm curious to get your take on this because I have like a lot of theories and this is probably an off-season conversation. Why not? Let's just have it now. Like teams that traditionally were elite on offense, Oklahoma. I guess you could say USC for the last couple years, but were terrible on defense, right? Terrible on defense. Now all of a sudden the script has flipped at Oklahoma where they're not very good on offense. But my goodness, their defense is unbelievable. Same kind of be said for what went down with Josh Hypel in Tennessee. I mean, 2022, number one, offense in America, like, yeah, they had some good moments defensively. But I mean, they also gave up a million points. They had to win track meets. Now, all of a sudden they're unbelievable on defense and the kind of the seesaw has gone back the other way. Like, how do you feel about teams that were amazing on one side of the ball and stunk on the other? And then all of a sudden things flipped and changed. And now all of a sudden their identity is upside down. How does that just what's your reaction to that? Well, I mean, it's strange, but like, Venables makes a lot of sense because of who he is. And when we talk about Clemson and transfer portal, this transfer portal that when Britain Venables was there, it wasn't an issue because Venables was an elite coach who brings elite energy and knows how to coach people up. And when you watch Oklahoma, it translates. Like Lincoln Riley finally made the decision to hire a new DC at USC. It's paid dividends. And last week they busted a little bit against Michigan, but I saw more people in the right spots. I saw less dropping to cover no zones for no reason. I saw more pressure on the offense, better tackling. So it's strange, but Hypo talked about, I love what Hypo did the other day in the press conference before the Oklahoma game. And he's pointing out all the great players like Al Wilson, Eric Barry and those guys to try to make it a point of emphasis. Like, guys, listen, this is what it takes. And everybody saw Bama for years and everybody saw George in the last couple of runs. Like the teams with the complete teams are the ones that win. And that's why before the season, we were talking about Ohio State and Georgia and those Texas, those are the teams you're talking about because you think they're going to be complete. Tennessee, Oklahoma, USC have always been one trick ponies. And you know what that means? Your margin for air is so small. Look at Michigan right now. Like Michigan's margin for air. I picked Michigan this past week and I was like, it's got to start great. They got to run the football. They can't turn it over and they got to play elite defense. Like, that's very frustrating because you ain't going to do that every week. And so when you come into a game and you're Tennessee and you're linking Riley the past couple of years and I got to go out score. I have one bad game. And guess what happens? I'm done. So I think recruiting picks up on that side for high pool. You spend more resources by the way now with NIL on that side of the football to make sure that you start understanding that you bring in new coordinators until you get it right. But, you know, it's complete teams are going to win this thing. The deeper teams are going to win this thing, especially as we go along in the season. Yeah, it certainly feels that way. I mean, teams are just not deep. I mean, even when Georgia struggle with depth, you know, you got problems like it's wild to kind of watch Davey and you look at the kind of landscape right now. And the look, I don't put a ton of stock into the AP poll. I know you well enough. I know you don't either. There are things about it that I think are important and necessary. Do I care at all where my team is ranked or should you care where your team is ranked? Absolutely not. But I'll say this. I do think there is some accuracy in the depth of the SEC at the top. So I look outside the SEC. Let's remove the SEC. Let's remove Ohio State and let's remove Miami for the moment. I do want to ask you about them. Is there a team that can win the National Championship outside of the group that I just referenced? That's such a great question because you say win the National Championship, not get to the poll because like Utah is going to go undefeated, I think. Like they host Iowa State. They're going to be in like they're going to be in the big 12 championship game, probably in the playoff. But when the National Championship, no, I mean, we started the season. I thought there was like, I thought there was two clear teams in Georgia and Ohio State, just like everybody else. And then I thought Ohio or I thought Texas and Alabama were the next two. And I thought Alabama and Texas probably needed a little bit more help from a depth standpoint. Like Alabama, I think the reason you look at them and you say, can they stay healthy? Because they're not deep like they used to be. They used to have so many kids and so much depth that you could pour in. And now a lot of those guys left. Did you replace them? Yes. But you replaced them with not as talented of guys. And so that's what I wonder about. But man, oh man, I don't. I'm going to go like this in my head. I'm going to go. I love what I'm seeing from Clemson. I would put Clemson as like, I love their offense all of the sudden. And I love their potential and everybody's going to go. Well, it's App State and they played NC State who stinks. Well, I just love that they come out and we're ripping the football now and we're running the football with the quarterback. I mean, club that needs to run the football. He's a great athlete. Like, he's he's a guy that he played in high school and he played the supersonic fast pace. I think you need to do that with him more and trust him to take shots down the field. But no, Miami, I wish you would have given me Miami. I would have taken Miami in a heartbeat. I mean, they can play, dude. I'm glad you're on the board with them. I love that. I think you were big on them before the season, weren't you? Yeah, I'm really high on them. Like, I just watch them and like just looking at their personnel and like looking at their editions. I just felt like Mario did a really smart job of getting guys that they had to have that could really, really improve a position of weakness, or not, not maybe not a position of weakness that seems harsh. Every guy they brought in made what they had better. You know what I mean? They didn't just bring guys in for the sake of bringing guys in or batting depth like they brought in guys for a reason and they brought in the right guys based on how they're right now. But the problem with me with Miami was I thought Miami was one of the most talented teams in the ACC last year. And there was a there was the theme that kept coming up was they just they couldn't finish close games. They turned the football over consistently last year on offense in big games and and the coaching. There was there was mistakes that were made that I thought were controllable so it'll be interesting to watch them. And how much Mario continues to change the culture. I think Cam does that right away. Like you watch him and he's like, I mean, I mean, you watch, you watch, you watch him play football and he's like, I got this. I got the flag. I know the clock. We're running right here. Like, but but I do think when you watch Miami, their, their lines of scrimmage are incredibly physical, incredibly big. You're right. They brought in guys with depth. They brought in quarterback. They brought in running back. They brought in defensive line. They brought in secondary. They brought in pieces that they needed. So in Miami, dude, they play Louisville. Like the rest of the way they play Louisville. I'm going to be so interested to see how all this shakes out because there's going to be a lot of one loss teams at the end of the season that didn't play near the schedule of some of these teams. And they're going to have to make some decisions with the one loss versus the two losses that I think are going to be severely unpopular. And it's going to piss a lot of people off. But if you look at people that are going to play the other other person's schedule and you said, how do you think they would do? And if you look at their track record and you look at what they've done, you got to say they would lose some games. So it's going to be fun with all the teams still. And then the G, by the way, outside the power for like, that's actually kind of fun. I still think Boise State with that great loss to Oregon is going to be very much in play in a running back. That's a freaking stun. Gente. I mean, he's an animal. So there's, there's a lot of fun things still left on the schedule for all of us to enjoy. No doubt. A couple more before we get you out of here. Big game this weekend that I think is kind of flying out of the radar a bit. Louisville is at Notre Dame. We all know what happened last year when Notre Dame went to Louisville just ran him out of the gym. They're at night and what was an insane environment. Well, now Marcus Freeman has a chance for revenge. I've seen him play with revenge on mine. It's been pretty good in the past CSC from last year. They're coming to South Bend. And I think Louisville is real. I don't think they've been tested. So I think all the pressures on Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman's already had one big let down this year in Northern Illinois. What if it happens again? At least this time isn't like Northern Illinois. Like this Louisville is a good team. Louisville is a top really good team. Louisville. Here's what I see when I see Louisville and I'm not taking shots. I see a lot of good. I just, I don't see a lot of great. Like, I think they're a team that's good, but their margins aren't great. You know, Tyler Shucks throwing the football down the field, making plays. They're blocking kicks and returning them like they're good on defense. They're good on offense. Brian Brom, you know, he's one of the best play colors in all of college football. Like nobody has a knack for trick plays more than him. And he uses great pro concepts to attack secondaries. I mean, he just kills you and lights you up in the secondary. So I think they're good. They're experienced. If they win, it's a different conversation. If Notre Dame loses, guess what? You're gone. Like, there is no shot. Oh, right. Like, they can't make the play off. You can't tell me Notre Dame with their schedule. If they have two losses, one to NIU, which lost this past weekend, by the way, one to NIU and you're going to have nothing on your schedule. That you can point to there's no conference championship game. Like, listen, Notre Dame has an advantage with this with no conference championship game getting into the playoffs, but they're also never going to get a buy. So it's kind of a double edged sword, but they got to win to take care of of their chances to be in that mix. Louisville's really good. Let me ask you a question. Notre Dame's passing offense. Like, where is it? Like, I don't. On a scale of Michigan to Mike Leach. Well, they're a lot closer to Michigan last week than they are to Mike Leach. That's for sure. A little better than Michigan. I'll give them a little bit better, but a little better. A little better. And here's the thing. I like Riley. He's big and strong, but his number one thing has to be running the football and it needs to be RPOs. It needs to be screens. Because I don't think they're elite wide receiver by any stretch either or have, you know, great guys that are going to win outside. So how do you alleviate that burden? Here's the one thing we know. They're going to play great defense, though. Like, they play really, really good defense. NIU, they gave up 17, right? Like, and they gave up a big long play. If they don't give up explosive play, it might be different, but Notre Dame's got a big weekend ahead because if they win this one, they'll stay in the mix and make the committee make a tough decision at the end of the year where they're going to look at their resume. And Louisville will probably be a two loss team, at least by that point. And they're going to point to their schedule and say, where are the wins that really mattered for this football team to get in the college football playoff? Yeah, I think that game is going to be super low scoring. I know Notre Dame's got an amazing defense, but I think the line at Louisville is a very underrated group. We'll see. I think they're going to have to run the ball. That's her pathway to victory because I don't think Notre Dame likes to match if they're going to have, but they're wide outs against those corners. Louisville has because those guys are pretty good. Last one here, before we kind of get you out of here, looking at just the state of kind of big 10 SEC conversation and natural. I mean, the superiority conversation. Like I'm watching big new and Fox the other day. And I hear your urban Myers say seven SEC teams should be in the playoff. Of course, you know, Fox didn't like that. And it got back to being like four or five, according to Rob Stone. But then you look at the big 10 and I'm like, I still think there's at least three, maybe four that are probably going to be in. I don't know. I think Clemson's coming. I think Miami's in. I think it's going to be hard to envision the big 12 getting two. I think they can get there. Obviously getting one. Can they get two? I don't know. So when we fast forward to season's end, baby, how many teams from each league will make the college football playoff? Jeez. Well, we're guaranteed to take one off the table. So there's 11 spots and Notre Dame could have taken one off the table. I'm not I'm not trusting Notre Dame to take another one off the table. So now you got to go with the other ones. Miami's getting D five in. Yeah. All right. I got Miami. No Notre Dame right now. No Notre Dame. All right. Miami Miami ACC. Yes. And then you got Ohio State. I think you have at least one more from the big 10 maybe maybe two. I mean, I think Oregon and Penn State could make it Penn State schedules pretty great. By the way, both of those schedules are really good with who they avoid in the big 10 and don't have to play with each other with USC. Like the best teams in that in that in that league, they don't have to play. So I'm going to give three from the big 10 because I think that's got to happen. Like I agree with no SC then you don't think SC gets in. I don't think SC gets in. Okay. And then you got SEC. You got Georgia, Alabama, Texas. You're doing the math. I see. Thank God on your fingers. Ole Miss. Ole Miss with their schedule, man. Like Ole Miss or Missouri. I'm going to give one of the two. Ole Miss or Missouri. So we'll take one two teams, but one spot. Fair enough. Now we got now we got two left. Tennessee. Dude, I like Tennessee. Tennessee has two good losses. I mean, I've got to put them in the game. If they lost at Alabama and lost at Georgia in good games, I think Tennessee should be in the playoffs. Like that's just the way it should work. And then we got one other. We got Utah. You got five. So right now you got five SEC. Yeah. Five SEC is where I'm sticking with. I'm not going anymore. I think that's about right. I think I think the committee is going to have a hard time justifying more than five. All right. So I think you get five from the SEC. You might get six. Just depends on what happens elsewhere. You got three from the big 10 right now. It takes us to eight. You got a G five that's in. You have Miami. That's in. That's at 10. You have a big 12 champ. I'm assuming that's Utah. And then you have one more. Jeez. And here. And here's the thing I think that will be interesting about that. I don't think they're going to sit there with the big 10 and the SEC and their schedules. I don't think they're going to be like, look it. I don't know if I think it'll be looking outside for other teams. Like, how do they measure up against the SEC and the big 10 and their schedules and all those teams that are ranked like Missouri. Missouri. Missouri. They've been up and down like this. And I haven't loved what I've seen from Missouri yet. I don't know who it is. Like, you give me the next one. You give me the last one. Well, my thing would be Clemson. Just just I'll give you a couple of like Clemson. They're going to lose again, probably. They can score a Clemson can score. I am a little concerned about their defense. Like, I, for the first time, maybe since I've been doing this, I don't think their defense is great. I think they're good. I think they're fine. I just don't know if they're great. It's kind of like back to the seesaw battle. Like, now the offense is rolling to the defense. Let's off. It's like, do you trust the offense or because you did see him against Georgia and you go, wow, that was really ugly. Like, couldn't run the football club. They're very average. And that's one thing they'll go. Okay. I got to weigh that into concern too. Yeah. I mean, I think that I think that their offense will be legit. Like, I think those receivers are only going to get better. At the O line just kind of found a little bit of a niche. I think club Nick is playing super confident right now. And I don't know what defense is going to scare them to death. Like, what defense is going to give them a lot of fits prior to when they play against Miami in the ACC Championship game, assuming they get there. I just don't know that Louisville at home. Like, I, uh, that's really a valley. They don't lose very often, man. Like, that's a twice twice. And as soon as NC State score, or soon they scored on NC State 14 to know you were like with that crowd. Actually, when it was seven, though, and he went 54 running the ball, you're like, you don't want to rile that cage like those guys. C L E M S O N's going nuts and you're going nuts and I'm texting you during the game. Yeah, for sure. All right. I can't sell you on anybody else. I can't sell you on. I can't say on Rutgers, not yet. You're not, you're not quite there yet with the Scarlet Knights. Are you? How could you not be? You have to be. I can't tell. I'm looking. I can't sell you on BYU. It's too soon. I just have a hard time thinking the big 12 is going to cannibalize itself. I have a hard time seeing that. So I think that last team, you have five from the SEC, four from the big 10. Either four from the big 10. I think winner of SC Notre Dame goes to the playoff. Like I just, that's how I'm going to operate right now. SC's that they're in or Notre Dame gets in. So you get five from the SEC three from the big 10 for sure. Possibly four if SC wins and takes care of their business. If SC loses the Notre Dame, the Notre Dame's in there, then you have two, one from the SEC, one from the big 12 and one from the G5. So I think it's tough. And I'm confused. But can you imagine what's this going to do? Like when we're having this debate and they're having that debate and then you have the conference championships at the end of the year, a team that has to play an extra game for no apparent reason whatsoever, except for you had a good record and you've got other people sitting there with the same record and then all of a sudden ones out because they played an extra game and the other ones in and there's just, they'll always be ticked off people. So it'll be fun. It'll be great. No, I'm sure people will definitely keep a cooler head, just like last year. Davey, really appreciate it, man. It's always so good to visit with you. Always love your perspective on ball. And if you guys are enjoying what you're hearing from Dave, he's as good as he's ever been on his podcast, David Pollack College Football. You can check him out on YouTube and the podcast as well. Davey, appreciate you, buddy. And roll tide this week, my friend. Appreciate you, brother. Go dogs. When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof, like untuck it or all birds, sure, you think about a great product, a cool brand and brilliant marketing. But an often overlooked secret is actually the businesses behind the business making selling and for shoppers buying simple for millions of businesses that business is Shopify. Nobody does selling better than Shopify, home of the number one check out on the planet, and the not so secret secret with shop pay that boosts conversions up to 50%, meaning way less cards going abandoned and way more sales going. So if you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web in your store and their feed and everywhere in between. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same check out untuck it uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/network. All lowercase. Go to Shopify.com/network to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com/network. This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the all new prologue EV, there's a lot that can impress you about it. There's the class leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design, and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit Honda.com/ev to see offers. Another thing we like to do on the show here is our top four in the power four, which is a pretty fun way of kind of diving into the power four leagues and tell you how we kind of think things are shaking out right now. We'll start in the Southeastern Conference. The number one team in the SEC, the Texas Longhorns are also number one in the AP poll. They have the best win in college football. Michigan is the highest ranked one loss team. Texas not only beat Michigan, but they beat them convincingly in their house. At number two, it's the Georgia Bulldogs. They beat Clemson and that win is strengthening for Georgia at the moment. At three, it's Tennessee. Tennessee is bypassed Alabama based on their performance on the road against what I think is a really good Oklahoma team. That Alabama rounds out the top four, but could very easily vault into the number one spot potentially with a win this week against the Georgia Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa in the Big Ten. It's a little bit more clear cut for me. Ohio State's number one and number one by a mile. At number two, it's Penn State. I like Penn State on offense more than I did a year ago. Still wondering what that defense is going to round into. Yes, the first half against Bowling Green. Forgettable performance. I don't think that's who they are though. I think they're going to be better moving forward, but they have yet to really be tested. They will be here in the coming weeks. At number three, I'm going Oregon. Still a believer. I do think the performance against Oregon State was much better, but the first two weeks against Boise and then their week one opponent was not great offensively or defensively, but I think they're best footballs in front of them. At number four, I'm moving Michigan in there. I can't put SC in there when they lost to Michigan. Michigan won the head to head. Therefore, they're in the top four. They're in the Big Ten. In the ACC, this one also pretty cut and dry. I think Miami is by a wide margin, the best team in the ACC. At number two, it's Clemson. They've zoomed past undefeated Louisville and Pitt because I think Clemson ceiling is outrageously high, especially with what they're doing right now on offense. Maybe it's Louisville. Number four, it's Pitt Louisville will find out what they're made up this weekend when they go on the road to take on the fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Big 12. This one's a little tougher. I know who the number one team is. That's Utah, but you get two, three and four. You can make a case for a bunch of different programs in those final three spots, but I'm going BYU. I'm going Iowa State and I'm going UCF two, three and four. That'll do it for us here at Always College Football. Find us on the podcast platform. Like, rate and subscribe to the podcast platform. And you can find us on the ESPN YouTube channel as well. Subscribe and follow us there as well. For all of us here at ACF for Mark Jake Jack, the other Jack, I'm Greg. We hope you have an awesome day. And remember, it's Always College Football. Hey, guys, it's Greg McEnroy. Thanks for watching Always College Football. Make sure you like, rate and subscribe to ESPN's YouTube channel and wherever you listen to your podcast. (upbeat music)
