Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 I'm Robin Lundberg, joined now by Brady Quinn,
00:02 who will be part of the big noon kickoff crew
00:04 on site in Indianapolis, Indiana,
00:06 for the Big Ten Championship on Fox.
00:09 Pre-game coverage, 6.30, 8 o'clock,
00:11 the game, Michigan and Iowa, Brady.
00:13 And, you know, obviously anytime you get to this time of year
00:16 it's exciting, but I have seen some lines
00:18 that have Iowa listed at .5 points in the first half
00:22 and .5 points in the second half.
00:25 Do they have any chance against Michigan?
00:27 - Yeah, of course they've got a chance.
00:29 They're one of the better coach teams
00:31 and it's not like they stumbled their way in the 10 wins.
00:33 They really could be 11 win team if you go back
00:35 and come kind of through the season,
00:37 but they have to play a very specific style.
00:40 And that's one that's gonna include no mistakes,
00:44 dominating the line of scrimmage on offense and defense,
00:47 and then making a few big plays on offense,
00:49 as well as maybe in the special teams,
00:51 which has been one of their main keys,
00:53 and hoping, probably on top of that,
00:55 that Michigan comes out and doesn't have their best day.
00:58 - Now, the Wolverines, obviously, if they win,
01:00 that would complete a really good undefeated season for them
01:04 but there is the other things surrounding that program.
01:07 How much do you expect the talk to heat up
01:11 around the college football playoff selection
01:13 when it comes to Michigan,
01:14 given everything that's hanging over the program?
01:16 - Well, look, they win and they're in.
01:19 I don't know that the NCAA is gonna do anything
01:21 at this point.
01:22 It sounds like the Big Ten's done
01:23 with their punishment up to this point,
01:24 which probably makes for a really interesting
01:26 post-game ceremony if Tony Petitti's gonna be up there
01:28 giving out the Big Ten Championship Trophy to Jim Harbaugh.
01:31 We'll see if that actually plays out.
01:33 That being said, I don't think the NCAA is gonna intervene
01:37 at this point or junction of the season.
01:39 I think they'll probably wait until the spring
01:41 and summer of next year before something happens.
01:43 So, it will be Jim Harbaugh coaching Michigan,
01:46 I think, for the rest of the way.
01:47 And, look, if they win this game, they're in.
01:50 - Regardless of what happens,
01:52 let's say Alabama wins against Georgia.
01:56 How do you see things shaking out if that's the case?
01:59 - That becomes the most interesting question.
02:01 And you start looking at, all right,
02:02 well, who wins the Pac-12?
02:04 Is it undefeated Washington?
02:05 Or is it a 12-1 at that point, Oregon,
02:09 who is able to overcome the loss to Washington
02:11 early in the season?
02:13 Then you start maybe comparing resumes
02:14 between two 12-1 teams.
02:16 I also think you could have Texas in the mix
02:18 as a 12-1, Big 12 Conference Champion.
02:21 And then there's Ohio State sitting there 11-1.
02:23 Now, I think the overriding factor
02:25 will be the Conference Championship,
02:27 that 13th game indicator they talk about.
02:29 Head-to-head play would play a factor, too.
02:32 Whereas, if you're the committee
02:33 and you're looking at the fact that Texas beat Alabama
02:36 in Alabama early in the season,
02:38 you'd have to think Texas is a part of it.
02:40 But how could you leave Alabama being a 12-1 SEC champ?
02:43 So, things get really, really interesting.
02:45 I mean, I think the Big 10's the only conference
02:46 that you could say if Michigan wins, is undefeated,
02:49 they're 100% safe.
02:51 Next to, probably, you'd say, the SEC champ,
02:53 I just can't imagine they're gonna leave out
02:55 a one-loss Bama as the SEC champ.
02:58 And so, really, then it comes down to
03:00 who do they feel like the best four teams are,
03:02 or the best two, in this case?
03:04 And that's where it gets tricky,
03:05 because you're starting to look at strength and strategy,
03:07 you're starting to look at the resume,
03:08 head-to-head, all those things that factor in.
03:10 And so, you'd have to think, again,
03:11 that Texas would somehow be a part of it.
03:13 And then, do you take the Pac-12,
03:15 or do you leave out an ACC undefeated team?
03:17 I think it would depend on who ends up winning.
03:19 I'm not sure you could put in a one-loss Oregon
03:20 over top of a 13-0 Florida State team,
03:23 despite the fact that Jordan Travis isn't there.
03:25 He'd probably be a bad precedent to set,
03:26 but it's the last year we've got a 14th playoff,
03:29 so next year we're not gonna have these sort of issues.
03:31 - Though, there are new issues arising,
03:33 or new storylines arising in college football,
03:35 with the transfers and everything going on.
03:37 I saw Riley Leonard, maybe Notre Dame,
03:40 could be pursuing him at quarterback, obviously.
03:43 You're an Irish guy, what do you make of a story like that?
03:46 - Well, look, obviously, Notre Dame went to get
03:48 Sam Hartman last year to transfer portal.
03:50 He did a great job kind of embodying everything
03:52 I think they were looking for at that spot.
03:54 Riley Leonard seems to exhibit a lot of the same traits
03:56 and qualities given his time at Duke.
03:58 Had a phenomenal season in 2022,
04:00 and if you look at this past year,
04:02 obviously he had the injury, that was unfortunate.
04:03 Not quite as good of a year, but it will be interesting.
04:07 I mean, you'd think that there'd maybe be a chance
04:08 that he'd go to Texas A&M with his head coach.
04:11 That's not the case.
04:12 I'm sure there's probably some other suitors
04:13 in there as well.
04:14 He's gotta be considered one of the top quarterbacks
04:16 in the transfer portal.
04:18 - What did you make of Matt Rule's comments?
04:19 He said basically, you know, it costs at least
04:21 a million dollars to get one of these quarterbacks.
04:24 I think the interesting part is they took a transfer
04:26 quarterback last year.
04:27 So is he saying that from experience?
04:29 Is that how they got their transfer quarterback?
04:31 So it just, it kind of struck me as like,
04:33 well, wait a second.
04:34 Are you speaking like here or are you speaking
04:35 like last year?
04:36 Like, how's this gonna work?
04:37 So look, we're at a point in college football
04:42 where clearly there needs some sort of intervention.
04:45 I think everyone can agree on that.
04:46 In regards to the fluidity of players, you know,
04:49 getting on and off of rosters.
04:51 I mean, I saw a stat the other day of the top 50 players
04:55 in the 2020 class.
04:57 There's seven players that either didn't change positions
05:01 or didn't transfer, seven.
05:03 Now, three of that group were guys who are already
05:06 in the NFL.
05:07 You know, guys like a CJ Straub, for example,
05:09 Anthony Richardson, for example.
05:11 And so when you take that into account,
05:13 it's pretty crazy to think how many players
05:15 are really using the transfer portal
05:18 to find an opportunity to play,
05:20 but also the big pink elephant in the room,
05:23 an opportunity to cash in potentially at NIL.
05:26 - One team that used the transfer portal a lot
05:27 coming into this year was Colorado.
05:29 They've had some deep commits.
05:30 What do you make of that?
05:32 - It's hard to know at this juncture, you know,
05:35 how you read into it.
05:37 I think clearly the way the season finished,
05:39 no one's probably got a good taste in their mouth right now.
05:41 And you've got an offensive coordinator who was demoted.
05:44 Now he's the head coach at San Diego State.
05:46 I'm not sure how you end up viewing that
05:48 when you've got a guy you demoted
05:49 and he immediately gets a head coaching job.
05:51 It might be saying something.
05:53 And on top of that, you got Tim Brewster,
05:54 a guy who's well-known in the college football circles,
05:57 and he stepped down as well.
05:58 So I think there could be some concern
06:00 as far as what that staff's gonna look like,
06:03 what this roster and team's gonna look like,
06:04 and based on how they finished the season,
06:06 I'm sure it's gonna be tough sometimes
06:08 to be able to sell a lot of kids on this team,
06:11 being able to be a Big 12 contender moving forward
06:16 despite the fact that Shador is extremely talented.
06:18 He obviously has a lot of talent in skilled positions.
06:20 And Deion Sanders is gonna have to make some changes
06:23 to figure out how he can maximize
06:25 what he's got on his roster,
06:26 'cause you're not gonna always be able
06:28 to turn over a roster in one year's time.
06:30 You're just not.
06:31 You could probably do it once,
06:32 supplement the few years after that,
06:34 but you really have to build your roster
06:37 through the high school recruiting.
06:38 And that's probably where their focus is gonna shift now.
06:41 - How about Caleb Williams?
06:42 I saw him say it's a game time decision
06:45 about whether he enters the NFL draft.
06:47 Do you think there's any chance we see him back
06:48 at USC next year?
06:49 - I don't know.
06:51 It'd be tough to think that he would pass up
06:52 on the opportunity to go play for an NFL franchise.
06:55 I mean, for starters, now with the basically four years
06:58 with the 50-year guarantee,
06:59 it's a lot of money to pass up on.
07:01 And I know these young men can make money in NIL.
07:04 However, it's not to that magnitude.
07:06 And I think, look, the earlier he gets into the NFL,
07:09 the sooner he gets to that second contract
07:11 where you really make a lot of money.
07:12 So it would be surprising to think
07:15 that he would potentially pass up on it.
07:18 You know, I think there's a lot of factors that weigh
07:19 into it, and there's only been a few guys
07:21 who've kind of been able to dictate maybe what happens
07:24 when they're at this point in the draft.
07:26 But I do think he's the best quarterback
07:28 in this year's draft class.
07:29 If he does declare and decide to come out,
07:31 he's just a unique talent.
07:32 - Brady Quinn will be part of the big noon kickoff,
07:34 pregame coverage, 6.30 p.m.,
07:36 Iowa-Michigan kickoff, eight o'clock on Fox.
07:39 Anything else, Brady, you want fans to know
07:41 about the rest of this college football season
07:43 and what you'll be a part of?
07:45 - Well, look, it should be a fantastic ending.
07:47 I mean, look, for all those out there
07:48 who are gonna be concerned about whatever happens
07:50 this weekend, it's okay.
07:52 We've got, we're a year away from not having
07:54 to worry about this.
07:55 Kind of a new scenario, too.
07:56 We're gonna get the first round on home fields
07:59 there on those campuses.
08:00 So just try to take it in if you can,
08:02 the drama and everything else that comes along
08:04 with college football, and get ready for, I guess,
08:06 the start of a new chapter in the way everything's evolving
08:09 and adapting right now.
08:11 - Brady, appreciate the time.
08:12 Have fun this weekend.
08:13 Thanks for having me, Robin.
08:14 (upbeat music)