scott is joined by Rob Brenton of The Drive on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City to get the inside info on the Kansas Jayhawks.
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Boscoe’s Boys
Summer School Behind Enemy Lines: KU
This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. It's the moment of the evening, every mistake fan and joys, little down and poor and whiskey. Back open the liqueur, please put your hands together and make a little noise for your favorite wildcatters, the handsome Bosco boys. Ooh, Bosco's boys! Come on, boys! Boom, the boys are back and we continue on with our summer school series behind enemy lines on this Feel Good Friday. I just realized this after I scheduled it and I might have damned us wildcats because the last time we had someone on from the drive on 610 Sports, well, it was the whip around show before K-State Missouri last year when I had Carrington on. So now I'm nervous and I almost backed out of this, but he showed up. He just got married and I thought, what a better wedding present than to come on the single greatest K-State podcast there is. So we have the producer and really the fan favorite of the drive, no matter what anyone will tell you. Rob Brenton from 610. Rob, first off, congratulations, not only for the wedding, but again fellow U.S. Men's National Team fan. We got rid of Greg Berhalter as well. I don't know who we're going to hire, but at least Greg is gone. So it's been a pretty big two, three weeks for you, my friend. I mean, I don't want to rank the things, but Triple G being out and my wedding, it's meck and neck. I mean, let's see who they hire before I make my final decision on my bigger summer moment. Well, and a little bit of cut magic for sporting Kansas City. We'll see if they can avoid losing to a U.S.L. team and the semifinals like they did a couple years ago with Sacramento, the Indy 11. And by the time that game's being played, KU's also going to be in children's mercy. You get, I think it'll be what, five days before KU kicks off their season, sporting Kansas City will have that semifinal in children's mercy park. So it's going to be a big, you know, week in children's mercy park. I'll first ask you, what are your thoughts on KU playing all their home games in Kansas City? You know, I think I personally think, in my opinion, doesn't matter. I think the atmosphere at children's mercy is going to be amazing. And I think it'll be interesting in Arrowhead. So, so how do you think it's going to affect the season? And what are your thoughts of it as a KU, I believe football season ticket holder who lives in Kansas City? I am a student holder. It's like a gift and a curse in a way because we can all admit the stadium for KU, the memorial stadium in Lawrence, was in saying and dire need of renovation is almost an insult to things and dire need. It was bad. I know KU fans have their jokes off and most of them were warranted. That stadium was past its prime, really in '07, '08. And it had been three ADs that tried to get things done and nothing came to fruition. And now there's a $400 million project. The stadium is being rebuilt and it is an absolute need. So it's a real positive for the program, but that's the gift part. The curse is you look at the team on the field and you think to yourself, this is a chance to be one of the more special KU football season we've ever seen. And now, not that students can't travel from Lawrence to Kansas City. It's a relatively easy trip. But the rule of thumb is students don't travel the same way alumni do. So are you, you know, losing a little bit of your student base, which is tends to be more, you're more loud, aggressive fan base because you're playing at C&P and you're playing at Arrowhead. So it's a gift and a curse because I wonder what those atmospheres look like when they are. I know they're home games. They're going to have neutral sight vibes at times. Like I think that Iowa State game and Lawrence, or not Lawrence, excuse me, Arrowhead might be more 60, 40, 50, 50 than a game of Lawrence. Colorado, I think, I don't know they're going to bring a ton of fans in, but Dion has some cache. If you're a casual college fan in town, you probably want to go see Dion. You might not want to go see Kansas. So there's going to be some neutral sight feel, which stinks for a team that could be so special. But the gift of it is that stadium needed renovating. So overall, I'm happy with it because it means the direction the program is going well. But there is a part of me that wonders, man, what if this season was in Lawrence? So that leads me to two hypotheticals I'm going to have you put on your AD hat, which Travis Goff does a good job. So probably the first AD in a while you guys aren't wanting to kick out. But if you were the AD and you could wave a magic wand, would you have pushed the renovations out one season? If you knew you're going to have to be giving up Lawrence, or was it, hey, this had to be done regardless of the net negative or loss of the positive that would come with a packed house in Lawrence? I'll say that I think Travis Goff made the right decision. You're right. He's one of the ADs that for the first time in a long time, KU fans are a big fan of. I think he made the right decision because I think getting the stadium done is another way to show Lance Leipold. Hey, we're serious about football. It's a $400 million project. And I live in Kansas City. You live in Kansas City. We see stadium projects recently in town are not easy to get through. It's not some you wave a magic wand. I know college and pro are not always the same. But stadium projects are not easy things. You don't just knock it out with no biggie. Multiple ADs have tried and failed. So I will take the stadium project now because too often with stadium projects, delays mean things don't get done. So to put my AD hat on, he made the right call, but it still stinks because you knew at some point you're not going to be playing home games in Lawrence. What there have been away, and here's the second hypothetical if you put an AD hat on, could there have been a way where they did the, you know, the end zone project this off season and then you're able to get in there. And then the following off season, you're able to do the press box side or was it? Hey, we were going to have to lose a season regardless. So let's knock out, you know, three quarters of the stadium right now while we have the chance. The maze is a different hat. So I made it's more of a construction hat. I don't know that I don't know about construction projects, but basically what I got told was there was a thought. There was an idea. There was a notion of you can do a portion of the project and then still try to have games in Lawrence. We've seen lots of colleges do that. Oklahoma State comes to mind when they did their massive renovation. They were still playing games at Boone Pickens Stadium. Basically what I heard through the grapevine is the construction people were like, that's not really feasible if you want us to stay on this schedule. So may it's my AD hat, may it's my construction hat, may that's my herd through the grapevine hat, whatever head we're to wear. But what I've gathered is it's smart just to knock it out in one, you know, one fell swoop as opposed to try to portion and piece it together because it would have caused more headache than positives. We'll start talking on the field instead of, you know, stadium talk, although it's fun and I'll tell you this. I think the, I think some of this temporary stuff, it's intriguing. You see what, you know, what Northwestern's having to do, seeing what Kay used to sign to do. I'm intrigued about that. I could probably talk with you or people from Northwestern for an hour about some of these different stadium decisions. But I do want to talk about KU football on the field, Lance Leipold, Jalen Daniels, they were down at media days, as well as a couple others. But the quote that really stuck out to me wasn't something that was said at media days, but it was said to, I believe, I think it's Kirby over at the Jayhawk slant. So he had to sit down with Lance Leipold and it was before they went down there. And the quote that really kind of shocked me a little bit and kind of, you know, as a big 12 fan, someone who's been following this, makes me feel a little even more pessimistic about Jalen Daniels than I originally thought. But the quote was, it's been kind of a bumpy ride for all of us in trying to get him healthy, but seeing what we put him through, what we limited him to the spring, he did everything we wanted him to. But now it's important for August to see if he can actually do it on an everyday basis. That was kind of, you know, it's July. There's still a long time before, but that's a pretty telling quote from a coach to a fan site that it was published. Can it be a realistic expectation to expect Daniels to play nine or more games? Something that, you know, I think what sophomore year is true, sophomore year, he played nine games, but he's never gone through a full season. Can he get to that nine game mark that seems to be his plateau? So I would say yes, and I was aware of that quote. And I think I don't want to say Lance was misquoted. That's a portrait use of terms, but I think I understand what Lance was trying to say, but I think he verbalized it incorrectly because if you look at from basically August of last year when the injury became known to, I guess, July of this year, it has been a bumpy road. There's been thought he can come back. There's been on the practice field. There have been setbacks. There have been moments. I mean, there was rumors that before that Oklahoma game, the KU1, where Jason Bean actually played very well, well, there were rumors that game coming off of by could be where Jalen Daniels comes back mid-season where he played the Illinois game after missing the Missouri State game and then played against Nevada and BYU, and then right before Texas, it was hanky. So I think what Lance is trying to say there, and I don't want to speak for Lance, is when you look at the totality of the situation, it has been bumpy. It has been very, very difficult to get him to full health. And I know that they were kind of still massaging for lack of error term, I don't say his minutes, but they were kind of easing him back in the spring because it has been such a bumpy road, where they felt like maybe we went too fast here and led to a problem here. So I think that's what Lance is trying to say. And down at media days, they told everyone that would listen, Jalen is healthy. If I believe there's a quote, I think he was on the podium or maybe it was off podium. If there was a game tomorrow, Jalen Daniels would be my starter. I wouldn't have brought him down here. Jalen Daniels had the quotes about how I'm 100% healthy. I'm ready to roll. So I think that quote was a little bit misconstrued, but it is tough to guarantee more than nine games. Jalen Daniels' health is the biggest question on Kansas football and will continue to be until he breaks that nine game plateau. I'd love to sit here as a fan and tell you, yeah, he's playing 12 games, like lock it in, but there's just no evidence for me to say that. If anything, you have to kind of say, hey, 10's a win. That still means he misses two games. I want 12 because I think this team ceiling is so much higher with him on the field because all the jokes and the things that his injury has died. I think all big 12 fans recognize when he's on the field, he's got something special. The problem is getting him on the field and having him play the full game. I don't think 12 is going to happen, but I would say over on nine and a half. So somewhere in that 10 to 12 window would be what I bet. As a KU fan, you'd be elated to get 12, but as a realist, I don't think 12 is possible. We saw Jason Bean. And really, if I close my eyes and I think back to the most iconic wins in the landslide poll era, a lot of those are Jason Bean wins, not Jalen Daniels wins. You know, you give Jalen credit for that Texas game. And as much as I want to make fun of, oh, it was a bad Texas team. Well, Courtney Messingham lost his job because K State couldn't beat that same Texas team. So I can't even make that joke, but Jason Bean's gone. I think he's on a practice squad, or he's going to be trying to go through OTAs in the NFL. Is it going to be Cole Ballard, or I know there was an early enroll league quarterback that my brother and his friends are excited about? So who's going to be quarterback to when you guys are facing, you know, just absolute powerhouse that is Lindenwood to start the season, but who, but will that same quarterback be quarterback to say when you guys are playing Iowa State in Arrowhead or K State in October? How do you, how do you project that quarterback to spot going? I project it right now for Cole Ballard, but you're the way you present a question interesting because I think from the Lindenwood game, it's Cole Ballard. I know he lost the K State game, but he was a true freshman walk on at the time, and he showed a little bit of something. I'm not saying, oh, man, this is the guy, or can you believe Jalen Milro or something, but he showed a little bit of competency, which when the term freshman walk on comes on, you think panic in the streets. You don't think competency. He showed a little something and the coaching staff loves him. I believe they put him on scholarship now, and they have always said behind the scenes, we love what we have from Cole Ballard. Even when they were going through these injury problems with Jalen early last season, they would always mention that we have Jason and Cole Ballard. It was always a, they kept bringing him up. So I think for the Lindenwood game, the UNLV game and, you know, Illinois game, I think Cole Ballard is quarterback too, but it's interesting, Isaiah Marshall is the player you're referencing. He was a Detroit recruit, I believe it was three star, maybe a four started panel with service you use. I think he was three on 24/7, but he won a couple of state championships and he's considered skill set very similar to Jalen Daniels and a prospect that a lot of KU fans and recruiting services and even the coaching staff is very excited about adding into the fold. I don't really want him as quarterback too early in the season because as much as I mentioned that walk on freshman quarterbacks is scary proposition, true freshman, even without the walk on element, also a scary proposition. It's less scary, but still scary, but I could see a situation where if he keeps performing well and keeps making strides and keeps doing the things he needs to do behind the scenes, he is more athletically gifted based on all the recruiting things you hear than Cole Ballard. I could see him rising on the depth chart, but I think if you, you know, strap Lance Lippel up to a, you know, polygraph and said, what do you want to Isaiah Marshall? He would say zero games into red shirts so we can be ready for 2025. The last one before I get into the same questions we've asked everyone for summer school, is this, I don't like saying do or die because I think Lance Leipold is a good coach. I don't think KU is ever going back to the gutter, but when you look at the pieces, when you look at Jalen Daniels and everyone who's going to be around him, I know Daniels can come back next year, but I believe Devin Neal, he said it media day. I can't remember where I heard the quote was like, yeah, it's, I'm sad. My final year won't be in Lawrence. So I know he has that year. He could come back. Sounds like he's getting ready for the NFL draft. Hey, go get that money. I'm actually, he could have gone last year and I think he would have been highly paid. So, you know, he, he's probably going to be leaving. I believe Daniel Highshaw will be leaving a lot of the wide receiver, some of the guys on defense. So it's not do or die, but is it cash in on this roulette spin before you get ready to reload or is the thought around Lawrence around KU fans saying, hey, yeah, this could be a good year, but you know, it's not going to be our last crack at this thing. So I think the answer around Lawrence actually both. I think there is a thought that, hey, you have all the pieces in place. Go do something truly special. And if that means you have to take a little bit of a regression next year or rebuilding year, whatever terminology you want to do, I think fans are okay with that if you cash in and you're right, the pieces are there. Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, those guys are likely not coming back after this season. Jalen Daniels, KU is a good, is good and he's healthy. I can't imagine a quarterback would come back. You mentioned Devin Neal. I was surprised to get running back to this one where I think to yourself, get in a league as fast as you can. If you're going to make good money, feel the same way about Highshaw. There's some O-line and D-line pieces, both Kobe Bryant and Mellow Dodson on the defensive side. You got to figure they're probably going to make the league at the end of the year. So there's a thought of, hey, cash in and let's have a truly magnificent season. And if that means it's five and seven next year, we're willing to pay that price. But at the same time, I think fans want to take that regression because they know that's regression. That's not back to, oh man, the dole drums. Maybe KU has a great season this year and they lose everyone because that's just the way it goes when you're good and you have an upperclassman-laden team. First of all, the next year might be worse, but it's the step back to go a step forward because they are recruiting at a higher level than they have. They do have a coach that everyone believes is one of the best in college football. I know everyone has different thoughts and opinions on these lists at CVS boards or ESPN or Rival, whatever it puts out. I know K-State fans have really strong opinions about these lists, but the general consensus is one of the top 15 to 25 coaches in college footballs in Lawrence, Kansas. I mean, so the thought of, yes, cash in, may not do or die, but we rather just go all in. And if that means five and seven and 25, we do know that, hey, seven and five, eight and four is back possible in 26, or in the past, albeit less talented KU teams. So it's not a, it's a little bit of a false equivalency. There were times with David Beatty and even less miles, we thought, this is an upperclassman-laden team. Please, goodness gracious, get us to a bowl game and then we're willing to pay the price in the back end, knowing the price would be two, three, four more years, adult rooms. That's not the thing around Lawrence. You want the big and you're willing to take the step back, but you understand the step back is just that a step, not a fall off a cliff. I do have to ask this because I know this is something I've preached to K-State fans and, you know, I've heard you guys talked about on your show. I think all three local teams have a relatively navigable conference schedule when you're looking at, you know, the, you know, best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios. I think Missouri has an easy go of it. I think both K-State and KU have a relatively easy go to it. Do you think that schedule is playing anything into that, hey, let's go after it? Or even if Utah was on the schedule and even if you were playing Iowa State instead of getting them in Kansas City, would you still have that opinion or is it like, hey, you know, it's not only senior-laden, but we also have this schedule where, you know, that's a big one in Manhattan, but the rest of them you might be a favorite in. Yeah. I think, I mean, that's kind of the nature of the beast in college sports. And that's why all three locals come up in that regard on the drive. Like Georgia had a detrimental, they had a horrible, easy schedule last year. Let's think of a team that didn't play a one-double-a schedule. Oregon, you know, Alabama, Ohio State, these teams that have more difficult schedules, they are going to be able to reload and be churning through wins year after year after year. So, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, sometimes for things to break right, the schedule has to break right. And in college sports, sometimes more than who you play, it's when you play them. And I think KU schedule, much like K-states and Missouri's, breaks absolutely right. And I don't want to discount the talent or any of the other things like that. Those are reasons for why KU fans are optimistic. And those are why reasons why KU fans feel like, hey, Dallas is plausible this year. Well, another reason is the schedule is going to come in very, very handy. They play six of the bottom seven projected teams in the Big 12. It might be five of six, I don't remember the staff, but it's basically like, if you look at your 16 Big 12 teams, look at the bottom, KU's got those teams. And they have a bunch of those games at home too. So even if you think, oh man, this is going to be an easy one, oh, it's on the road, may you stub your toe, you're at home, so I mean, home is relative, so you feel pretty good about it. As much as the talent and the coaching is reason for optimism, I think one of the reasons they got a first place vote and why they finished top four in the preseason Big 12 and why fans are dreaming a dream a little bit about a college wall playoff or a trip to Dallas is because they don't face Utah. They don't face Oklahoma State. They don't face UCF, which is one of the scenes people have as a dark horse, oh, keep an eye on UCF. They don't face Arizona. Like K-state is undeniably their most difficult game. But after that, their next most difficult is Iowa State at home, maybe at West Virginia. And I think most Big 12 fans say, hey, those are tier three, two and a half, three schools in the league this year. And you get one of them in your home, I guess, home building, again, relative, but you feel like, okay, if you split those and even if you lose a K-state game, the rest are winnable. That's 10 and two. That feel like a chance at Dallas. And if you have a chance at Dallas, you have a chance at college wall playoffs. I like your Rob and the reason why I'm correcting you is because I like you. It shows that KU fans haven't thought about the Big 12 championship game in a while. You want to sound like, you know, you're talking about, call it Arlington, not, not Dallas. I'm just giving you trouble, but that's what all the cool kids call that say, Hey, you're trying to get to Arlington that first Saturday in December. I thought they in the last 10 minutes has been talking, Brett, your mark moved. You know how he wants to go out west. Yes. Yes. I would have led off with that. No, I'm just giving you trouble. Before we get going, I want to shout out to our friends at Charlie Hussle. This podcast is brought to you by those said friends at Charlie Hussle, Charlie Hussle specializes in vintage inspired hometown and collegiate gear and produces some of the best K-state gear in the game. And KU as well shop, Charlie Hussle's case state collection and show off your purple pride in style and comfort shop online at Charlie Hussle.com or one of their many store locations in Kansas city, Charlie Hussle, vintage made fresh. I'm actually wearing something from their baseball collection right now. So shout out to Charlie Hussle. All right, we're what two months removed from spring ball at this point, we're about a month out from fall camp opening up. We talked a lot about the Jalen Daniels injury. We all know that, hey, that's going to be a question or a storyline throughout the entire season. But outside of that, what is the biggest question that KU fans have on their mind as they're waiting for fall camp to kick off in August? It's pass rush. And it's like if we're going to micro focus, it's the defense on the whole, but you're going to micro focus at the pass rush. Austin Booker is gone. Austin Booker was their best individual pass rusher last year. He's now Chicago bear. You were never going to be upset when you bring a player in from the portal. He is so successful that he decides the league is his best path and then he gets drafted into the league. That's a win for the program. But then you looked at what's left behind. It was a pass rush that wasn't the best last season. And now you're losing your best pass rusher. And KU did add a portal piece in Dylan, what key? I believe this I pronounce his name, but he was playing it. I believe Youngstown State is obviously a major jump up. They have a couple, three or four stars being out where you get your rivals recruiting or your 24/7s, whatever, that are going to be on the rush this year. One Deshawn Warner was considered one of the better recruits KU got in a long, long time. They've finished off a couple of Michigan types at the end to keep him. And they got another kid, Dak Brinkley, who is on campus now, enrolled early at the end. But relying on freshmen at pass rush is scary. And they had a poor pass rush last year, and to have it depleted by losing your best player is scary. They have good corners, but their pass rush is a reason for concern. And this was a defense of last year, it's given up 26 points a game. This was not the 85 Bears, and they lost their pass rush. You feel like, OK, well, a minor step back is that's life. This was a middle-of-the-pack, big 12 defense, and lost their best pass rusher. So if there's cause for concerns, the defense that last year at times looked like it took on water, and then you lose your best pass rusher from that defense, that is the cause for concern of the Jayhawks. The other one, and it's smaller, and it's one of those things fans are really micro-focused on. Oh, line. They lost our moderate Adams to Texas A&M, lost in the portal. They also lost their left tackle down to Pune to the NFL. Again, you're not going to be mad that you lose an NFL player, but that's just what happens. You're kind of having to piece it together, you have a new O-line coach, new OC. So the trenches, if KU fans had a worry, it's there, which is always concerning, because that's where football games are won and lost, but I do feel confident in Lance Leipold, where he can kind of make it work. But the trenches pass rush an O-line or the causes for concern. The question I had was surrounding that coaching staff. You mentioned it going up to Penn State, losing the offensive-lying coach. And I know that there are stories, and everyone loved that one offensive analyst who got back into coaching now that has had a clean bill of health as well. So Lou Brick? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you'd know better. I just kind of remembered all the pieces and all the feel-good stuff, college game day. I'm glad he's healthy, and he's back being a full-time coach. But is there any concern of, "Okay, did the magic leave Lawrence or KU fans pretty confident that, hey, we had some good offensive coaches, but Lance Leipold is the mastermind behind that offense?" I think there's a level of concern, because we just haven't seen it at Kansas. Like you look at other coaches around the country, when they lose assistance, it has become commonplace. Oh, it's an extreme example, you understand. When Nick Saban loses the DC, you know Nick Saban's going to bring in a good DC, and it's just going to keep being fine. You kind of know the same thing at K-State. Not that Messingham was a good offensive coordinator, but you knew Colin Klein would be fine, and there's confidence in Manhattan what the situation is now that Colin Klein has left. You've seen it happen, you've seen the attrition at coaching staff, and these coaches are continuing to pump out winning seasons. Kansas hadn't had much attrition on the coaching staff, because there's been very little reason to coach a Kansas coach. Like, until recently, you were like, "Man, I really want the OC at Kansas. They're doing some great stuff, scoring 11 points a game. That's awesome. That's awesome." So, there is an element of fear, because it's so new. It's something that no fan has, you know, the new money KU fans have experienced. I have faith in Lance Leipold, it's the name of, it's for a political analogy, it's the name of the top of the ticket that you pick, not the name down the way. Lance Leipold's the guy, and Lance Leipold trusts and grinds. He trusts in the new online coaching found. He trusts that, "Hey, I can bring these people in. I have the infrastructure. I have the system, and we are going to be fine." Well, there's going to be differences, of course. That's how coaching changes work, but I think the thought is, Lance is so good, and Lance is going to pick the right people, because he's that CEO type that you just trust him. But I understand I have a modicum of fear, because you've just never seen coaches get poached out of Kansas before, but it's kind of commonplace for programs of Kansas ilk. All right, so we got the questions out of the way. Where are you the most confident? And if you don't say running back with my guy, Devin Neal, maybe my favorite all-time KU football player, by the way, I might get mad at you, but where are you the most confident? And if it's not running back, fine, whatever, I'll keep my mouth shut and let you sell me somewhere else, but I'll let you tell me. Well, the answer is running back. But since you took it off my hands, I'll pick it differently, because it running back is obvious. Devin Neal's a star. You can make an argument that he was the best running back in the Big 12 last year. If you take all a Gordon, I'm not going to fight you, but his yards per carry were better than Gordon on less touches than had a similar yard. So Devin Neal's a star. Also, being a high shot is a really good running back. And there are programs in the country, maybe not the top flight ones, but there are programs in the country where he would be a starting running back. Power five programs in the country, he would be a starting running back. You feel good about both of those guys. They feel like they know how to mix and match, and they've done a good job mixing and matching. They also have a couple younger pieces coming up the pipeline. They have a couple recruits they've liked. They've been kind of stashing away with red shirts and things of that nature they think can eventually become a part of that room. But the answer is running back. But since you've said running back, I'll take running back off the table. The answer is corner. They have a first team all pre-season in the Big 12 guy, Ramelo Dodson. And I could easily argue he's not even the best corner in his position room. Kobe Bryant is a great, great corner. I know the EA ratings don't mean anything to anyone. But he was one of the better ranked corners on the game. He was a fantastic corner. And he and Ramelo Dodson are neck and neck for who's the best one on their team and could argue who's the best one in the league. So I mentioned earlier my fears about pass rush. One of the reasons they're a little bit alleviated is you have my the best corner back duo in the Big 12. Maybe in the country with those two guys, they'll probably both be draft picks in March of next year or April of next year, excuse me. So corner back is the answer if you're going to handcuff me and say I can't take running back. All right. So we've heard questions. We've heard most confident. Where is the expectation for KU? You can only speak for yourself, but as we're sitting here, July 11th as we're recording this is going to get published tomorrow. What is the expectation? If you're shaking, you know, magic eight ball, if you're looking into a crystal ball, what is what is the outcome? How do you think things are going to be looking after that final week in November? So the way I always do like scheduling it with the chiefs in the show, I do it for KU. I do it for K stays. I always kind of build a window and if everything goes wrong, what do I think the basement or anything goes great? What I think is the ceiling and usually you kind of can build it. It's going to fall somewhere in that line. I think the basement for KU is eight wins in their bowl game. The season looks a lot like last year. I know they got to the ninth win by beating UNLV, but let's say Jalen Daniels has health issues again. I still trust that KU with Devin Neal, who is that guy and good wide receivers and a good coaching staff, can muster up against a very easy big 12 schedule in eight and four record and then you went to go to a bowl game to make you win your bowl game. Doesn't matter. This season looks a lot like last season where KU fans were obviously an understandably excited about last season. That's what I think the basement is and that basement is built around Jalen Daniels health. Let's say it bottoms out. The ceiling is Arlington to quote you. The cool kids are saying Arlington, not Dallas. The ceiling is Arlington because of all the things we mentioned. If Jalen Daniels does get to that 12, which I know I said, you can't bet that, but if he does get to that 12, he's one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the big 12, which is a strong quarterback lead. You mentioned Devin Neal, I've mentioned Kobe Bryant or Melodotsen, the skill position guys, very easy schedule. It's like all the stars could align and if there's hell and they catch a few breaks, there's no reason to believe they can't be in Arlington. That can include a loss to K-State, by the way, because even though K-State schedule is also very maneuverable, it's more difficult than Kansas. If you win an Iowa State at home, if you head to Morgantown or win, if you take care of business against your Houston's, TCU's, Arizona State, riff-raff of the bottom, you take care of all that business and you beat Colorado and all those teams. Even if you lose in Manhattan, you're a one loss big 12 team. It's hard to imagine that you're not one of the two teams in Arlington. That's to me, the ceiling. Now, if you get to Arlington and you lose to someone and now 11 and 2, the committee says, "Tough break, you're not making it," then KU fans will be angry on social media and I'll be angry too, but 11 and 2 and just outside the cultural playoff is an incredible season. That's kind of the window. The window at the top is Arlington. The bottom is a season that looks very much like last year, it's an eight regular season wins, but the schedule is just so maneuverable, that it's hard to envision anything worse than that. I love it. Before we end, I want to give a shout to our final sponsor, Manhattan Brewing Company. Rob, I'm telling you this, if you're going to the game in Manhattan or if there's any KU fans who might be listening, make sure you start your game day in Manhattan, Manhattan Brewing Company. I promise you will not be disappointed. Also distributed all throughout the state, including Johnson County, so Rob, get yourself a townie wheat. I'm not going to say that the most famous wheat beer in this region, but I promise you townie wheat is the best wheat beer you could ever have, as well as the tasty IPA and all sorts of other fun beers. They have great events going on. You guys didn't listen, go back to Wednesday, I had my sponsor spotlight show with them with Jake at the brewery. They talked about all the fun, different events going on. They just released a brand new wheat beer. It's just for the summer brewed with the strain of wheat. Look, I'm not a farmer, I don't understand the different wheats, but it is the K-State foundation wheat that I guess that that's out there, it was grown and donated to Manhattan Brewing Company. So they have a great Kansas American summer wheat beer as well. So check them out. Is that the place that they have the tang beer, right? They have their own tang party that's coming back later on. Here's a little spoiler alert, they're actually going to have a purple wheat beer this year. I know, I believe I've heard enough, you're an IPA guy, correct? I am an IPA guy, I'm some people, but yes, on door the magnificent. It's a double IPA that was brewed with Connor Riley, who was the offensive line coach, now the offensive coordinator. So they've done a beer with him, they've done an IPA with the K-State equipment team called swag team seven. So that's, I don't know if it's a New England style or not, but it's another great IPA. They just dropped lazy pirates, a mango New England IPA, all sorts of great IPAs for you hopheads out there. They have pumpkin beers in the fall for people like me, all sorts of great beers at Manhattan Brewing Company. So you know what, at some point, I will procure you a mixed four pack of all their different IPAs and I'll get them to you and I'm not going to give them to Carrington because Missouri beat K-State last year. So he's probably not going to listen to this, so he doesn't need to get worked up, so. Sounds fine to me, I'd love to try those beers. Awesome, so I'll make sure you get your hands on those. Before we wrap up, this is one that I've asked and it's been interesting to ask everyone. I assume I know the answer for you because I've been surprised for a lot of the others, but where on KU schedule does the K-State game rank when it comes to hierarchy of excitement? I would imagine the Sunflower showdown has to be number one with a bullet. I know the Missouri series comes back next year, but I imagine with all the back and forth, all the stuff going on between the fans, you know, comparing Chris Kliman in Lance Leipold, comparing quarterbacks, whether it's Avery Johnson or Will Howard to Jalen Daniels, comparing running backs with DJ Giddens to Devin Neal. You have Jace Brown and Kobe Bryant fighting on Instagram. I feel like this is at a point where the rivalry has maybe never been between these two and I'd imagine it's number one with a bullet for K-State fans, I imagine it's for KU as well. If it's not number one, it's near the top. The fans I talk to have kind of told me this kind of feeling they get is it's one because 10 years ago, I would tell you the KU fans, they didn't like K-State, they've never liked K-State, but their hate was always point at Missouri and they felt avoid losing that rivalry. But whether it be social media, whether it be the improvement of the roster for just KU football in general, whether it be the fact that that streak has now gone from hey, we're losing so it goes to a real source of anger for KU fans, K-State is number one, but since again among KU fans is, even though KU is very good, K-State's also good this year and as much as K-State as a school has been a house of horrors for Kansas, Manhattan, even when K-State has had teams, you think oh they can get them this year, if that game's a Manhattan, you've always kind of penciled it in as a loss. I feel like most KU fans kind of feel like it's the game they care about most, but they all kind of quietly know, winning at the bill for KU is just something that doesn't get it done. I mean, I was in college of 2009 and that was a KU team that faltered and fell apart, but that wasn't a very good K-State team. They lost in Manhattan because they always lose in Manhattan. So there's an element over KU fans, if you kind of asked them, hey, what's the number one game? Maybe the novelty of CMP rises at the top, but the answer is K-State, but some KU fans have thought, oh, it might be a loss, so they might not view it as one-on-one because they're afraid of the L. So taking that one off, what's the game you're most excited for amongst the home slate? Is it going to be putting 80 up on Lindenwood, who, what, three, four years ago was losing to Washburn in Division II, and now they're FCS? Is it going to be Colorado, Iowa, State, and Arrowhead? Which of those Kansas City games are you're looking forward to the most? It's UNLV, and it's because of the novelty of CMP. Like, you're right. They're going to do bad things to Lindenwood, and I understand why Lindenwood's on the schedule. This is my complaint with college sports, and I'm not going to fix it. I can crusade for it. But we do these schedules so far in advance. You just don't know. Like, if you go to FBS schedules right now, you can look at K-State's 2020-2032 opponents. What do we do? Like, we don't-- who had-- Avery Johnson will be gone, and he's a saw-- like, just so stupid. So in case-- Avery Johnson's going to be winning Super Bowls for the Chiefs after we trade Patrick Mahomes the Cowboys. Patrick Mahomes was his. Bronze will be playing a Texas Tech at that time. Like, what do we do in society? Like, I hate that. I hate it. I hate it. Now, I know I'm not going to fix it, but I just wanted that on the record. So when KU scheduled Lindenwood, it would have been in some real dark times where getting a team who just came up would have been a real coup d'etat to get them on the schedule because it's an auto win. Now, what could be one of the best teams in program history is going to do unspeakable things of them. So that's not fun. But the novelty of CMP, as a person who's both a KU student and a sporting Kansas City fan-- I've seen a lot of sporting Kansas City matches in that building. I've seen the U.S. in that building. I've seen a lot of soccer in that building. I enjoy that building very much. The novelty of seeing big time, power five football in front of 18,000 people, it's just something that I can't shake. And Lindenwood doesn't really satiate me in that regard because it's Lindenwood. So you and Elvis probably won. You mentioned Iowa State in Colorado. I'm obviously very excited for those games. But those are games where I feel like it's going to have neutral sight vibes. It's going to have maybe it's 70-30 because late in the season, you feel like KU fans will have fully bought in. But there's going to be a sense of, man, Iowa State fans take over the city for big, tall tournament. What are they about to do to Arrowhead? Colorado has a lot of cashier. What are they about to do to Arrowhead? Those games are exciting for the on-the-field reasons. But the off-the-field, I'm like, I don't know. I want to go to a neutral sight game. I paid full price for. So the K-State game aside, the novelty of CMP against a team like UNLV, who they lost their quarterback to the portal, was a bold team in 2023. It's a game KU should win, but it-- and honestly, they might run away with it. But it'll at least be real division one football as opposed to whatever's happening versus Lindenwood. And in that bowl game, I mean, there's a little bit of spice. I mean, KU, all those personal fouls, whatever you guys think about the officiating crew that night, there's a little bit of spiciness in that bowl game. So that one might be a fun one to see. So I'll tell you what, you know, I'm intrigued by those games. I'm not going to pay what it'll probably cost to get in there on the secondary market, but I think those are going to be far more fun than anyone's going to have in Arrowhead unless the ticket buying community really shocks me. I'd be surprised if it's any great atmospheres in Arrowhead. But I will say, you guys need to hope Iowa State fans don't have a big season because if they're having a season that they think, I don't think that. I think they're frauds. I don't think they're going to be any good, but if they are so you would define frauds, like I think they're like seven and five, eight, four, I think there's a better chance they're five and seven than they're in Arlington. I think there's a better chance Iowa State doesn't go to a bowl game than them getting to Arlington, which goes back on my declaration that I was going to be nicer to Iowa State. But it is what I mean, it took a blizzard for them, you know, in that case state game, a blizzard and case state finding out that they have nothing to play for to get to that seventh win. If case state had something to play for, or if it wasn't a blizzard, case state wins that game, they lose their bowl game and that Campbell has another losing season just because you're bringing back a lot of production doesn't mean it's good production. So that's what I think about Iowa State. So yeah, there it is. But finally, I asked this to everyone to end the show to any big 12 fan or case state fan listening to us that they're trying to get ready for the upcoming season. What is something you would tell them either to research on deep dive on or just keep front of mind when they're putting together their own big 12 power rankings or looking at KU as an opponent on a case state schedule? What would you tell them to keep front of mind? I would tell them as for the team in general, I would keep front of mind how much returning talent there is. Like as a KU fan, we talked about how many quality pieces they are bringing you back. Jalen Daniels, health part aside, he is back. Devin Neal is probably the best running back in the big 12 non DUI division. They have two of the best wide receivers coming back in the league, two of the best corners. They're bringing back tons and tons of talent. Just returning production is so important in college football. I think it's Bill Conley who I know KU fans hate right now, but Bill Conley does the returning production stats and he has KU in that top 25. That's always so important. That's only to keep front of mind. Also, I tell all college sports fans this, I tell all sports fans this. It doesn't matter how good or bad the team on the field is, the schedule sometimes dictates what the record is and KU as we've mentioned has a very manageable one. I looked forward to many a social media argument with non KU fans in November and I hope they get told, "Okay, use a fraud. They haven't played any one. Cupcake City, those nine wins are fake." Because that would mean that KU has nine wins. They didn't tick their schedule as far as the conference. It is very soft. It is very cupcake and that could be really beneficial to a KU team that brings a lot of talent back. Those are two things to keep in mind. I love it, Rob. Obviously, folks know that they can hear you on the drive on 6/10 every Monday through Friday, depending on Royals games. I believe I saw on Twitter, I wasn't listening live today, but I think I saw on Twitter, you guys are doing a lot of college football content next week. All three of the locals have in their own days, is that correct? Yes, so next week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday on the drive, we were doing college takeover days. Tuesday, Missouri, I doubt they're Missouri fans listen to this, but Tuesday, full day of Missouri content. Wednesday, KU, full day of KU content. Lance Leipold will be on the show. Brian Haney will be on the show. Brandon McAnderson will be on the show. Working on trying to lock in sometimes with Jalen Daniels and Devin Neal to be on the show. Full day of KU content. Thursday, that's K State Day. Jerome Tang will be on the show. Talk about his incredible off season at the basketball team because climbing will be on the show. Working on getting Avery Johnson on the show. We've got some other K-State media folks come on the show. Working on a couple of former players as well. But Thursday, the 18th on the drive, two to six, will be four hours of K-State content. There you go. I absolutely love it and just let it be known. The only thing I said was there's another show that has some K-State content as well. I know your co-host got into a little bit of an interesting back and forth with some of the K-State fans. And you know what? I think you guys do a great job talking about all three of the locals. So I think folks need to chill out just a little bit, but you know, they don't listen to me. I'm not how social media works, either, buddy. You know this. No one goes on social media for well-reasoned even keel takes. You either got to be a super hot take guy or super angry guy. That's just the internet. Oh, I know. I've tried to retire. I've told some of the young pups in K-State Twitter world and they'll be DMing me like, "Why aren't you going?" I was like, "Look, I've fought the wars. I've been in the trenches. I'll let you guys fight those battles." And unless I see something, you know, you follow me on Twitter. Carrington follows me on Twitter. There's a few of them where it's like, "All right. I feel like I can say something." And then it turns into something I didn't want it to. But you know, it is what it is. So I appreciate you coming on. I always enjoy listening to you and your esteemed co-host on the drive on 610. I download all the podcasts for all, I guess what, it's 24 hours across the two big sports stations in Kansas City. You guys are the one that I listen to the most. I swipe left, delete a lot of the stuff that's coming out of K-State City. I really enjoy your guys' show. And I think that you're one of the best voices, especially talking soccer. This isn't a soccer show. I know someone else likes to claim, you know, they're the voice of K-State City soccer on your own show. But I enjoy what you guys bring to the airwaves and I appreciate you coming on with me. Hey, well, thank you so much for having me on. Hopefully we can do this again because I really enjoyed this. Yeah, anytime, man. And, you know, if you ever have a last second person drop out needing to talk K-State, I work from home. I'll just pretend that I have a meeting. Just shoot me a DM and I'll step in and set all the listeners straight on 610. Sounds good, buddy. Awesome. So for Rob, my name's Scott McFarland. We love you guys and go cats. It's time to get set for the cat attack. [MUSIC] You can feel the excitement. You can feel it coming on for Kansas State. The feeling's growing strong. You can join in the action. This is where you want to be with Kansas State. Come on, set your spirit free. Kansas State, our pride is with the cats. Kansas State, come on, join the cat attack. Kansas State, excitement in the air. Kansas State, the fun is being there. Having a good time there. Purple and white, we share. Showing the colors everywhere. Kansas State, our pride is with the cats. Kansas State, come on, join the cat attack. [MUSIC]