(upbeat music) - All right, hey, one of the best in the business, Chris Lee, you know, from Vandy Sports in South Eastern 16. Chris, thank you for taking the time today. - Always my pleasure, Mike. - So, you know, basically as soon as Vanderbilt knocked off Alabama, I mean, I knew I knew you'd be busy, so I gave it a day or two, but I reached out, I said, I got to get you on the show. We got to talk some Vanderbilt. Was that, I don't think it's too bold to say, but I want to get your thoughts. I don't think it's too bold to say, that was the best win in Vanderbilt history, it was it? - I mean, if you want to go back to turn to the century 1900s when they were a powerhouse, I mean, there was some game they played against Michigan, it was like, you know, nobody thought the South could beat the North in games, and I think they went to a tie or something. I mean, that was a big deal back then, but they had me and you play in offense, the defensive line those days. So, I'm not sure how much weight I put in that. So, I mean, that's my cover all the bases, answer, but I mean, this has got to be the biggest. - Right. Well, this proved to be a turning point, do you think, or is it just an outlier? And I'm not certainly not saying they're going to, you know, just start whipping George in Alabama week to week, but I mean, could we look back at this point and say, you know, this is when Vanderbilt really started to turn the corner? - Ask them that. I think it depends on their effort. I mean, if you want the pessimistic view, okay? Last time they beat Alabama, it was 1984. That was on the road. No, I don't think that Alabama was good as this Alabama, but who knows where Alabama season's heading. And they end up going five and six that year in 11 game season, three, seven and one the next year, and then fired coach George McIntyre. Historically, they don't make much of these moments. The only time they've ended, any momentum since we've been alive was when Franklin had back-to-back winning seasons and finished in the top 25, you know, where that went next. They've not had a winning season next. History bets against it. Now, I will say this, conditions have changed more in the last four years and they've changed in the last 40. Vanderbilt is a place that has resources to tap into. Mike, you've been over there. There's a dorm right next to the football stadium that they just built in the last few years. The dorm allegedly cost a billion dollars. You go to the SEC basketball tournament, you walk downtown, you see names on buildings, multiple last names of families that donate to their NIL. I've always said, "Evanna, what want to spend the money?" And they've got mega donors at their behest, take it out, spend a lot of people. Now, those people didn't get to be billionaires by throwing good money after a bad product. And so I think that's where the rubber could meet the road. We're in uncharted territory within Beaten, Alabama. Now, I do know this. Clark Lee talked his way into a war chest last year, higher than I would have thought they would have raised under the circumstances. And he said, "Hey, you get me some money. I'll guarantee you a ball game." Well, this season looks a lot different than last. So Clark Lee's got a lot to sell in that area that he didn't have a year ago. And now that they've beaten Alabama, again, could've should've would've, but people are looking at it like, man, this team, it's a couple of plays away from five and oh, and like a legitimate... I mean, I don't even know if top 25 is high enough. You know what I mean? If they were truly five and oh, but what about Diego Pavi? I mean, he is obviously so critical to this whole thing. Has this been the case as he got there that he has been this force is what I wanna call him? I mean, he's incredible to watch. Mike, I saw them in fall practice and they were awful on offense, awful. Now, some of that's fall practice, they run the ball a lot. You never know how running plays are gonna play out in real time 'cause they just touch 'em and what was a three yard run in practice might've gone for AD if they let 'em play it out. And it was also a new system and a lot of guys. And so, and I'm also thinking, you know, he had his thing that he did against Auburn last year, but SEC weekend and week out and now with that on his resume, people know when it's coming, that's awfully hard to do. Then they go out and beat Virginia Tech and it was an impressive win. And you're like, okay, and then the Georgia State game comes and you're like, all right, this is the van de were used to. But then they go to Missouri, they play 'em tough and then you know what happened Saturday. I think the thing is they are so tough to defend. It's the closest thing to triple option that you'll ever see in the SEC. And I don't think, I mean, he's athletic. Don't get me wrong. If there's a smarter player in the SEC, you tell me who it is. His decisions that he makes in split seconds are just you can scout everything, but you don't know what he's gonna do. You know, just on the turn of a coin, a flip of a coin. I mean, he could do one of many things. I think that's why I said they're so tough to defend. They throw a lot at you and you don't know which of the multiple options he's got. He's gonna choose in a split second. And it's given people headaches. - And I always like to credit the players more than the coaches, 'cause I think at this level, SEC football, I mean, for the most part, short of Chad Morris, I mean, they're all good coaches, right? But how much of this is Tim Beck in Vanderbilt doing what they're accomplishing? - A lot of it's Tim Beck. I mean, Jerry Kill is basically the head coach of the offense. I mean, he's a lot dangerous, but that's his job. He runs the offense with Tim Beck and Clark Lee runs the defense and is the head coach. I mean, here's what happened, Mike. When they got beat at UNLV last year, they started thinking back and said, you know what, the last time we won SEC games, we had a mobile quarterback and it was Mike Wright. We beat Kentucky and we beat Florida. And they said, I think that's our scenario to where we flipped the page. They saw what happened at Auburn with New Mexico State. They brought those coaches in. And then when Jerry Kill came to Vandy, he called Diego Pavi, who by that point was committed to Vada. And Diego says, hey, I'm coming to Vandy. Yeah, I mean, what they tried to do off the jump was get players and develop players and hold them for five years and red shirt 'em. You know, that model doesn't work anymore. They said, we gotta try something different. We can't go hat to hat for people doing the same schemes that Georgia and Alabama do. I think it was brilliant. Now, look, the challenge for them, I think Diego Pavi might be a one-on-one. You gotta go find the next Mike Vick or somebody like that to run this offense. And they got Nate Johnson. I'm not sure about the throwing accuracy, but he will have a year in the system. But I think it was a brilliant move. And I think it was one of the only things they could do to turn it around this quickly. And again, I'm not trying to throw cold water on Vanderbilt, but is there, you get any sense of how difficult it will be to keep him? 'Cause the way I look at it, and I mean, if Georgia was running Tim Beck's offense, I mean, I think that'd be unstoppable. You know what I mean? So, any fear that he could jump to, or maybe even be a head coach. I mean, I would think after Vanderbilt, beating Alabama, Tim Beck's gonna be flying up a hopboards for head coaching positions. - Maybe, but he's older. It is a gimmicky offense. Like you can win at Florida or, you know, where Auburn are places that could have vacancies. Without that, you could just go get better talent. You know, Jerry Kill is a big part of what he does. I don't know that Jerry Kill with his health history is gonna wanna go somewhere and put that much stress on his body given that the near misses he's had before. This seems like a situation too. I'm not gonna say it's bulletproof, 'cause you never know. It just takes one team, but I think they might be a little bit more insulated. Plus, like, who doesn't wanna live in Nashville right now? You know, it's in all the college football markets. I don't know that there's a place you'd rather be than here. I think that counts for something. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but there's some variables there that would protect them that might not ordinarily. - And then how difficult, if at all, do you think it'll be for Vanderbilt to keep this momentum this week going on the road, facing Kentucky's had two weeks to prepare? And, you know, all of a sudden, if Kentucky, well, they probably were not overlooking Vanderbilt, 'cause last time they went up there, they won in Lexington. But now that they've knocked off Alabama, certainly you gotta believe there's not a Kentucky player that's gonna overlook Vanderbilt. - Well, I don't think anybody on either side's gonna overlook anybody at this point. You know, Clark Lee can point back to Georgia State and say, "See what happens." And Kentucky can point to South Carolina and say that. And Mark Stoop said it himself in his press conference this week. He said, "I don't have to even address that after what Vanderbilt did Saturday." So, you know, I think it's, Mike, I think it's a tough matchup. I think the right team is favored, and I'm a little surprised it's 14. You kind of wonder what Vegas knows that we don't, 'cause the predictive models have got it closer to 10. I thought it might even be lower than that, given what Vanderbilt just did. I think they're a nightmare matchup. Their defensive line will be the best Vanderbilt scene this year with Dion Walker and Oxendine. They got dudes on the edge in, you know, Derek Jackson and JJ Weaver. They got a stud corner in Hairston who had two pick sixes against him a year ago. I think it's a tough battle because their run defense is phenomenal, but Vanderbilt's always a wild card, Mike. You just don't see an offense that looks anything like this, and you can prepare for what he want, but you don't know what Pavi is gonna do with the ball in his hands in a given moment. And I'm also kind of interested to see what's Kentucky's offense. It's looked better, but they haven't lit the world on fire yet either, even though they got a really talented receiving room. They got some issues on the offensive line that I think Vanderbilt can exploit in spots too. So I think the right team is favored, but I think it could be really interesting. Now, switching gears to just the league overall, you do a tremendous job covering the entire conferences. South Eastern 16, I highly recommend my audience. Go check out all your work if they haven't already. But what's your just overall thoughts on the league as we're approaching the midway point? And I mean, I'm fascinated by the weekend, week out inconsistencies we're seeing basically top to bottom in this conference. - Well, I said, do you pre-show? You probably would have looked at a lot of people's pre-season picks and people would have Alabama one maybe in some spots and most people had Vandy 16. And at no time in our lifetimes, have we seen a team that's picked at the bottom of the league beat a favorite like that? And I think, I mean, you saw what happened to Kentucky against South Carolina. You saw them flip it around a little miss a couple of weeks later. I think we are getting to pro football like parity within the college football at the power level. And I think especially in the SEC, except it's got more personality than it felt, which is what I think makes this great. And you've got it like a team like you asked me to begin the show, like normally what Vanderbilt's doing would not be something that they could build on because people would still recruit around them and academic standards. Well, they've loosened the standards a bit and now you've got NIL. Any team that gets a little bit hot and gets a fan base or a couple of donors excited can do some stuff. I think we are looking at parity like we've never seen. And look, I don't like the way the game is built right now. I don't like the tampering. I don't like the, you know, guys to the highest bit or I don't like the guys playing for four different programs and stuff. But what it has done, it has made a product that is way more competitive, you know, from team to team than we've ever covered. And I think we are about if it's managed right to hit a golden age of college football. Right, and on that last point, I don't know if you saw it, but Shane Beamer was talking about one of his linebackers this week who I get, essentially the linebacker or according to Beamer, went into his office and said, "Hey, coach, I'm taking a record so I can hit the portal." And he said, "Well, that's not how this works. You know, get your ass in the portal." But yeah, I mean, there's, but again, that goes to the parity because, I mean, we're seeing it out, that's happening in Alabama. It's happening all over the sport, but it just makes it even more unpredictable and managing your rosters more difficult than ever. But that's a different conversation for a different day. But speaking of that point, do you, what's your confidence level? I know Texas is technically the only undefeated team in this league, but I'm saying specifically in conference play, we still have A&M, we still got LSU and Texas. Will any team go through this unscathed in conference play, do you think? I don't think so. I don't know how you have confidence in anything right now though. I mean, I think to me, like even Nick Saban's monster teams, they lost somewhere to somebody, right? And the competitive balance across the league is better than we've ever seen. Now, Texas got a gift of a schedule under the circumstances, but you know what? They gotta play Georgia, and even though it is in Austin, I think that's the most likely spot they take one, that they could take one in the title game. I mean, gosh, there's only unbeaten team left. Who would have ever said, like if you'd said, hey, Chris, through five weeks, there's gonna be one team with one loss in the SEC. I've been like, you're crazy, and you probably would have been too. I don't have any confidence in anything I pick right now, but to me, that's what makes this so much fun. And is there one team that kind of stands out as maybe overachieved the most in the SEC but after six weeks here? - Well, I think we spent the first 15 minutes talking about him, which is Vandy. Other than that, man, I don't know. I think I still think Ole Miss is really good, but I wouldn't say they've overachieved because the schedule's not been much. I don't know, Ellis used kind of quietly out there after losing a close game in week one. Losing Harold Perkins, that's not gonna help, but Blake Baker's pretty good. They've had a week off now. I think that game is intriguing. I don't have a great answer for you. Mike, the problem is most of the big games are in front of us, and I think what we should've learned through the first few weeks is you just don't learn a lot. I'm not throwing shade at anybody. Tennessee against Kent State and, you know, Mississippi State and Eastern Kentucky. I just think maybe one thing we've learned this year is don't put a lot of stock in those games because until you play the big guys, you just don't know, and you got a lot of teams out there that Texas, other than Michigan, hasn't been challenged and Michigan doesn't have an offense. So I think with so much ball ahead, just a lot of teams that I'm waiting to see how good they are because they just haven't played anybody can challenge them yet. Well, what about the reverse, Chris? Is there anyone that stands out that has been a disappointment at least up to this point in your eyes? Well, I mean, Auburn is obviously, but I think some of that we'd factored in that the schedule was favorable. What a weird year. The offense per play, they're still up there nationally, but they can't, you know, the one time they don't turn it over is when they're playing Georgia and they just can't outplay Georgia. Everybody else, they're coughing up left and right. You know, Oklahoma's been a disappointment, but that's understandable. They've had what five receivers hurt, who matter in a couple of key offensive linemen, where they were gonna be struggling anyway with all the turnover. So I think Auburn's the one that doesn't have an excuse. Oklahoma's the one that's disappointed me, but hey, you take a chunk out of any team like that and they'd be struggling. And then of the games this weekend, which game do you think will be the most competitive and maybe the closest between Texas and Oklahoma, Ole Miss at LSU. We got Florida at Tennessee and let's throw Vanderbilt at Kentucky. Which one do you think will be the best closest game this weekend? - I lean Vandy Kentucky and Ole Miss LSU. LSU had an off week to get ready. I think that that's probably gonna help. - Now, I'm a little intrigued with what Oklahoma can do. If they get a little help, they got a defense that can get stops. They've had Hawkins another week to get, or another two weeks to get reps. I mean, look, based on what we saw last week and like if all these games, you know, that you just mentioned come down to the wire, are we really shocked? - No. - And I hope they do because it's a terrific theater. You know what? - Yeah. I mean, this is wonderful. I like going into these conversations and you've given me things and I'm like, man, I don't know. Here's my guess and here's why. But I mean, if you place any confidence in anything right now, you're either a whole lot smarter than me or you might wanna check some of your expectations given what's going on, right? All right, Chris, well, hey, I really appreciate your time before you go. Can you tell my audience how to follow you and how to find your work? - Yeah, thank you. First of all, big fan of y'all's work. I listened to your show a lot. Guys, can we get Shane to stop making bets? Every time he does that, he just makes me nervous. I wanna see the guy live a little longer. So there's that. But yeah, it's really great to have you guys or great people happy to be on your show. You can find our stuff at Southeastern 16. We cover football, baseball, and basketball year round and our Vandy stuff at Vandy Sports. So yeah, always love coming on with you. You guys are great at what you do and yeah, I can't wait. We need to have you on at some point. I promise we'll do that. - Absolutely, anytime you need me.
