Previewing the College Football Playoff & New Year’s Six Bowl Games

Welcome back to The Solid Verbal, boys and girls,
My name is Ty Hildenbrandt,
that fine gentleman over there,
the one, the only, still.
Let the music play a little bit.
The incomparable Dan Rubenstein, sir.
It’s play of time, baby, how are ya?

I’m great, I’m so good.
Is that auld lang syne, if I pronounced that correctly?
Is that the name of the…?
I don’t know how you say it.

This is that commercial they did way back when,
when they remember when Bill Hancock was trying
to tell us that it was going to be a new tradition
in college football, playing the games on New Year’s Eve.
It’s long been stuck in my craw
that they’re still doing this stupid thing,
but I guess now that I’m an old,
it doesn’t matter so much that they’re on New Year’s Eve,
I have something to watch at home
and it doesn’t bother me as much.

Yeah, were you planning on going out
and getting yourself a little prefix,
a little spinach artichoke dip, shrimp cocktail?

No, no, this year we’re going to have some folks over here,
some family that will ring in the New Year with us,
and I will probably be quarantined off
in a separate room watching, you know,
these two playoff games
for the duration of the evening.

Hopefully eating something good.

I’ll eat something good.
Yeah, no, the food will be fine.

Fistful of also buco or something nice,
but you’re like, I got no time.
Great, we’ll figure the food situation out.
Yeah, so look, it is playoff time.
This is going to be the show on which we preview,
not just the playoffs, but the entire New Year’s sticks,
and then I guess three other games
that we didn’t mention in the preview we did earlier this week,
this episode, all of our episodes, you know,
the deal driven by our good friends over at Geico.
If you will be in the LA area,
now this is the moment in time
where we start talking about
which teams might advance to LA,
which teams might be out there with us
over the weekend of January the 7th
when we’re doing our live show at the Troubadour,
SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM, if you want to get tickets.
So if you’re going to be in the area,
whether as a fan, maybe you live there,
maybe you’re passing through, maybe you’re walking.
What’s the trail out there, the Pacific Trail?
Well, there’s Pacific Coast Highway,
but yeah, there’s the El Camino Trail.
Yeah, maybe you’re searching for the lost city of gold.
I don’t know.
Whatever it is you’re doing,
if you’re going to be in the West Coast,
coming out to the Troubadour January the 7th,
SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM, as we said time and again,
could be our last live show, not just in LA,
but ever, never know.
It’s true.
SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM is where you get tickets.
We also, by the way, we have a special,
we did a, like in my parents’ hot tub jacuzzi,
outside in their backyard,
we recorded a special episode way, way back when
with a couple of guests.
We are doing not that,
but we have a special stunt podcast recording.
The wheels are turning, in hints.
We’ve got some guests lined up for a very odd
and fun podcast event.
How about that?
Podcast event in LA, ahead of the national championship game.
Anything I would say would give away the game.
Okay.
So I won’t say anything more,
but I will say yes, the wheels are turning
and it is a very ambitious project that we have
that you came up with.
I did.
And just decided that we were going to do,
I’m cool with it.
Like I’m not, I’m not shouting it down or anything.
I’m into it, you know I’m into it.
And once folks hear what this is,
you’ll understand why I’m into it.
Yeah, of course.
But yeah, we’re going to have fun around that.
It presents logistical challenges for sure.
Serious logistical challenges.
Yeah.
In the way, and we’ll get into the bowl games here
in about 30 seconds,
in the way that when you go online
and you see the video of Tom Cruise saying,
not only am I doing my own stunts,
but we are going to do the most ridiculous,
most dangerous stunts ever conceived
for Mission Impossible 15.
Yeah.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the videos of
Tom Cruise practicing his base jumping.
I can’t imagine what the insurance is.
Cannot even fathom what that must be, but continue.
This is how I view the most ambitious
college football podcasting event
that has ever been constructed or conceived
that we are going to try to pull off in LA.
There is definitely a slight possibility of death,
I’d say.
Oh yeah, I think it’s on the table, yeah.
It is on the table, yeah, okay.
We’ll pre-record an announcement of our demise
that either Kate or Jody can put on the feed.
Should that happen?
Well, welcome back in.
Earlier this week, we previewed,
I don’t know, 16 bowl games, 17, whatever it was,
there was a lot of them,
and things start to ratchet up
as we get towards the latter half,
not just of the week, but of the calendar year 2022.
We’ve got nine games that we’re going to discuss today.
As I said at the very, very top,
the New Year’s six, we’ve got three other ones as well.
Go back and listen to our confidence preview
that we did a couple of weeks ago where we talked,
we did a really quick zoom through
as we talked through all of these games
and which teams we were most confident in,
why we were picking them.
This not only gives us a chance to take a deeper look
at some of the matchups that we find interesting,
but it also gives us an opportunity,
more importantly, to change our minds.
Yeah.
As it did in the last show with respect
to the Texas Tech Ole Miss game, right?
Sometimes you see something,
sometimes you feel differently after the fact,
and this gives us that lifeline.
If we desire that opportunity
to go back in and change something.
I don’t know if I am,
but I feel like I have more concrete views
on the games now that I did
when we did the zoom through,
like just in taking a deeper look at information,
oftentimes, as you know,
throughout the course of the season,
sometimes it’s like,
well, the more I look at this,
the less confident I feel,
the more I looked at this,
the more confident I felt
on at least eight of the nine games
that we’re gonna discuss.
Yeah, and it’s also because we have a better idea
of who’s going to be playing in these games.
Short of some Tennessee receivers
who are incredibly crucial and their quarterback,
who at one point may have been
the best player in the country,
we sort of have an idea
what Georgia’s offense is gonna look like,
what Michigan’s defense is gonna look like,
because we don’t have opt-outs,
we don’t have transfers.
When we are seeing games of this magnitude,
I shouldn’t say that across the board,
but generally speaking,
we have a better idea of who’s gonna be playing,
what the health is,
and what they look like in these huge games.
Whereas, look, if we’re talking about the Cure Bowl
or the Chamelea Bowl,
you know, there’s just gonna be a ton of chaos
and variables involved,
but I think you’re right.
With these types of games,
there is more solid ground, it seems.
The barge with the bowls is here.
All of your military, pinstripe, Texas, holiday,
camping, world, cotton, first responders,
music, city, red box, and orange.
Pull that foghorn, baby, the bull barge has arrived in port.
Again, old sound.
Don’t need to listen to what bowls
we called out in that sound,
we just like the sound, we’re gonna keep it forever.
We could just make a new one.
We could probably add in new bowl sounds there.
Yeah.
I just wouldn’t want to upset the integrity of the original
because it’s perfect, I love that sound.
It’s not the Camping World Bowl anymore,
but I think they do play a Camping World Stadium.
So there is that holdover.
Oh yeah, we’re gonna talk about the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl,
I believe they play that at Camping World Stadium, right?
Yeah, yeah, it’s the Cheez-It Bowl now.
So look, let’s just dive right in,
let’s talk about the Capital One Orange Bowl.
Let’s do it.
Number six, Tennessee, number seven, Clemson.
Clemson favored by six points.
They played this one on the evening of December the 30th.
Yes.
8 p.m. on ESPN.
Tennessee will be without both JalIn Hyatt
and Cedric Tillman, neither guy is playing.
Also, Hendon Hooker, you may have heard,
out for the year due to injury.
That means this is gonna be a Joe Milton game,
whatever that means to you.
We can talk about that momentarily.
On the Clemson side, it’s gonna be Cade Klubnik
because DJU is in the process of transferring.
His name is in the portal.
They’re also gonna be without their defensive end,
Myles Murphy, linebacker Trenton Simpson.
Trenton Simpson, it’s important to note,
re-injured his ankle.
He hasn’t been seen at a bowl practice as of yet.
Brian Brezee states that he plans to play in this game,
the big defensive lineman for Clemson.
So, this is an interesting case here.
It’s a Tennessee team that’s a shell of its former self,
former self being in October.
It is gonna be a different cast of characters,
especially on the offensive side for the volunteers.
And that leads to the question of,
actually that leads to the point spread
of Clemson minus six.
I think that’s how you get there.
There are obvious questions
about how is Tennessee scoring points?
What will it look like as they try to move the ball?
Clemson is still a pretty good defense.
They might not be quite as good as we thought preseason,
but it’s still pretty good unit.
They still got Brian Brezee up front.
They should still offer some real challenge
for this Tennessee offense and whatever form it takes.
So, I am on the Clemson side here.
I said that during our bowl preview,
our bowl confidence preview, in terms of the point spread.
I’m curious to get your thoughts on this one
because this is probably one of the games
with respect to the spread that I’m least confident in,
but I still feel pretty good about Clemson.
Yeah, Tennessee also without their offensive coordinator,
Alex Golesh, who took the USF job, the head coaching job.
So, I don’t think it’s Josh Hypel’s offense, obviously.
So, I don’t know if that makes or breaks the game,
but certainly a valuable piece
for a record breaking Tennessee offense.
How do I feel about this game?
I feel that both of these teams,
kind of no matter what happens,
should be pretty pumped about moving forward.
Obviously, Clemson with having their quarterback
of the future and Tennessee
with having their head coach of the future,
which who could say that, right?
Their offense, they’ve recruited well.
They have their quarterback,
obviously a Nico Yamileva coming in,
and I don’t know if he’s starting next year
or gonna be worked in,
whatever the plan is at quarterback moving forward,
but the future seems to be especially bright
for both of these programs.
Unless somebody gets just destroyed
and something is revealed to be an ongoing weakness.
These programs are both in great shape.
I favor Clemson here because of Klubnik,
because of the defense’s ability most of the year.
Now, the secondary head struggles.
You go back to the middle chunk of the year,
but they improved.
I’m in on Clemson for this one,
for the reason of, at the last time we saw them,
they were especially impressive against North Carolina
and Tennessee against the pass,
and defensively, the combination of just being beat up,
not having their act fully together all year long.
I just favor Clemson with the indescribable momentum
of the moment, I think.
And you know, Tennessee could well win this game
because this year’s Clemson,
speaking of Clemson’s defense,
it was kind of a shell of its former self
from yesteryear when the defense was
a little bit more of a shutdown unit.
Still very good, don’t get me wrong,
but Tennessee’s offense operating at full capacity,
you could imagine a world in which they beat Clemson.
I don’t think that’s a hard thing to come up with at all,
but the combination of the missing pieces for Tennessee,
it just makes it hard to justify.
I do think Clemson will be able to move the ball
on Tennessee because teams have done that
all season long as well.
So it’s not like Clemson’s gonna be limited
on the offensive side, I think they’ll put in a solid game.
The over-under is 63 and a half points,
kind of feels like a game to me that could go way under
and be more boring than meets the eye.
For obvious reasons on the Tennessee side
with having a new cast of characters run the offense,
but even on the Clemson side,
I mean, there were aspects of the Tennessee defense,
especially the Rush defense that were appealing this year,
it was better than expected.
So, you know, you can imagine a world in which Clemson
tries to run, tries not to put too much pressure
on Kade Klubnick early, they can’t do it,
it depresses the score in the under hits.
That’s sort of my prediction for this game
outside of Clemson minus seven or six, whatever it is,
I think the under 63 and a half is kind of appealing.
So, yeah, my counterpoint to that of there,
if it being point heavy is Joe Milton can bomb it downfield.
I don’t think Joe Milton’s as good as Hendon Hooker.
I don’t think Joe Milton is as good with this crop
of receivers as he would have been
with a healthy Jalen Wyatt and Cedric Tillman.
No, definitely not.
Bru McCoy is really good.
Like there are still guys on this Tennessee offense
that were not the headliners, but are playing in a system
that absolutely takes advantage of their strengths
and their speed and their ability to get downfield.
And the offensive line we saw play consistently well,
it seemed in terms of improving year over year for Tennessee.
So, I still think that like the Tennessee offense
of experience right now is still more difficult than
what North Carolina was putting on the field
at the end of the year.
And now Tennessee with time, with smart offensive minds,
like I’m not fully out on Tennessee’s ability to score
and or win this game.
Yeah.
No, I’m not either.
I’m not either.
My first gut instinct upon seeing this matchup
and then going in and digging in was that
I could see this being under 63.
That being said, under 63 could still mean
a lot of points and a really good game.
Sure.
So, and I hope that’s what we get here.
I hope it’s not boring and turn over late
or anything like that,
but definitely on the Tennessee side, some questions.
And definitely by the way, Tennessee better against the run
than North Carolina was than a number of these teams.
So I don’t know if Will Shipley is going to be the star
that I mean, he clearly is,
but Tennessee does play the run a little bit better
than their secondary was a lot more leaky
because of the chances that Tennessee takes on defense.
That’s what their defense is built around
is the ability to be aggressive.
And if it works, it works.
If it doesn’t, well, it could get bad.
I like Clemson here.
I do like Clemson because I think they’re at this moment,
the way their roster is constructed still,
a little bit more complete.

Dan, let’s go to New Year’s frickin’ Eve, baby.
Let’s do it.
What do you do in New Year’s Eve?
Let’s see, I get home… by home, I mean,
to California on the 30th.
So 31st, I’ll just be around working.
Maybe we’ll do some live streams, I don’t know.
We can do something. We could probably, if we wanted to,
do a stream or something.
I’m making a little studio in my middle brother’s
old bedroom, so no, no plans.
I hope to eat something good and watch a ton of football
like I do every year.

All right, well, stay tuned to social media,
stay tuned to anywhere you can find The Solid Verbal.
I’m sure we’ll send something out of the email as well
if we decide to do a live thing,
but I believe we’ve done that in the past
and it’s been a lot of fun.
So maybe we’ll resurrect that for the playoff
and for the championship too, you know?

Also, I’m on West Coast time, Ty, so you tell me.
Nothing but early vibes and football for me.

You scoundrel, you scoundrel.

Let’s go to the TransPerfect Music City Bowl
before we get to the big guns.
TransPerfect, Dan, we’ve talked about this before,
it’s a company that does translations.

Oh.

The Iowa Kentucky game translates to “Jesus take the wheel.”

Oh, no!

The overunder for this game is 31 points.
31 points, Iowa’s favored by two.
They play this one in Nashville, again, earlier in the day,
noon Eastern on New Year’s Eve,
Just to recap where things stand for both these teams,
on Iowa’s end, Spencer Petras is hurt,
Alex Padilla transferring,
which means that their third string quarterback
with no pass attempts will likely get the start.
They’ve got another receiver in Arlen Bruce
who was third on the team in targets who was transferring.
It sounds like Sam LaPorte,
their tight end is gonna be back in time for the bowl,
which is at least a target,
something that they can use in the offensive game plan
to try and score points on Kentucky.
On the Kentucky end, Will Levis and Christopher Rodriguez
declared for the NFL, they opted out.
Kavasier Smoke is also in the transfer portal.
Kentucky’s in an odd spot, Destin Wade.
You ever hear of him?
I know the name, but he is starting at quarterback?
I have no idea who Destin Wade is.
He’s getting the start at quarterback for Kentucky.
Okay, maybe I’ve heard the name
because you mentioned it, but yeah.
I’ve heard of Destin Florida and Dwayne Wade,
but never Destin Wade.
Also, the fourth string running back,
Ju’Taun McClain will get the start for Kentucky.
Kentucky again had a hard time running the football this year,
pretty much the full year through.
So maybe Mr. McClain can do a little bit better.
That’s part of why they fire their offensive coordinator
after the bowl season.
Brought back later.
It’s a regular season before the bowls.
So, oh, and on top of it all,
Mark Stoop says he still doesn’t know
who’s calling plays in the bowl game, so.
Sure.
Iowa favor by two and a half.
Nobody’s crazy about Iowa.
Obviously, we’re not gonna be crazy about Kentucky.
This matchup kind of looks like a slow motion car crash,
not just because of the offensive woes on the Iowa side,
but because of all the transfers now
on the Kentucky end as well.
Where are you at with this game?
Well, if the best thing in this game is the Iowa defense,
and you know, I’m a big believer in the,
nobody believes in him 11th string quarterback situation
that I guess both teams are kind of dealing with.
I’m going with the Hawkeyes here.
I’m going with the Hawkeyes out of nowhere.
If you remember, they haven’t fielded good offenses
in quite some time.
But like out of nowhere, they were amazing against,
was it USC in the holiday bowl?
Now, starting quarterback, and I think ISM was outside
and had an enormous game there.
So the talent level was certainly in a better place.
I’m going Iowa, and I’m going Iowa confidently.
Confidently. How about that?
How confident? Yes.
I don’t know, not really that confident,
probably like a three.
I am changing my picks at the moment.
Oh!
I am changing my, I’ve only got three confidence points
on this one as well.
I’m changing my pick to Iowa for this matchup.
Kentucky, again, I just said this a moment ago,
but I keep coming back to it.
Kentucky had problems on offense before all this,
before all their best guys opted out.
That’s why they fired the offensive coordinator.
So if they’re going to bolt this thing together,
they’re going to put an offense together
with the guys that are left.
I don’t think I like their chances
against a really good Iowa defense.
As you said, it still is a really good Iowa defense.
It might not be pretty.
This might be a really ugly game in terms of offense,
but there is a sicko quality to this
that cannot be ignored,
that almost has been intrigued enough to watch this game,
but I probably won’t.
If you are an Iowa or Kentucky fan of the games,
and this is Nashville, yes?
Nissan Stadium in Nashville, correct.
Folk is the pizza restaurant or city house.
I’ve been to city house.
It was actually really, really good.
Folk or city house.
Excuse me, I looked at the football stuff today.
I didn’t look at the pizza stuff
as much as I probably should have,
but it is Nashville.
Folk pizza, Nashville.
That’s what looks really good to me.
Not this game though.
Oh no, the game looks terrible,
but I’m going to watch the hell out of it, of course.
Um, I think it’s Bruno in Orlando
for the previous game, right?
I have no idea.
I’ve never been any of these places.
I’m, no, no, we did, it was the orange bowl.
That’s in Miami.
Ty, you got to wrangle me here.
You got to rein me in.
Yeah.
Let’s go to the sugar bowl.
Do you have Rex for New Orleans?
Yes, pizza delicious.
I mentioned it for, I think, a previous New Orleans game.
All stage sugar bowl, Alabama minus six and a half
against Kansas State.
Yeah.
The point spread in this game
shifted almost 10 points in favor of Alabama
after it became known that both Bryce Young
and Willie Anderson were going to play.
Now we had talked about this on the show
wondering, assuming that they wouldn’t play.
Mm hmm.
Au contraire.
Kind of a big deal.
Kind of a big deal to get these two guys out there.
Great.
For Alabama, two of their best players.
They will be without JoJo Earle and TraeSean Holden.
Those guys are transferring Javion Cohen,
who is their left guard.
He is also in the portal.
But by and large, it’s a full strength Alabama,
which is awesome because it’s also a full strength
Kansast State for the most part.
So a lot of folks out there complaining, I’ve seen it.
They’ve emailed us.
They’ve tweeted at us.
They’ve just been talking amongst themselves
about how the bowls are meaningless now.
And it’s not even fun to watch.
That may be true for a lot of these games.
If that’s something that irks you, ask Siri
to set a reminder for this game.
Because this is one that will be meaningful.
You’re going to get two teams, two good teams
at full strength.
In our confidence preview, I picked K-State outright,
but with two confidence points.
Obviously because I’m picking hard overhead there.
Alabama’s got more talent, especially now
with both Bryce Young and Will Anderson playing.
I do wonder though, if they care about this game though,
you know, it doesn’t quite fit my formula,
my care or formula, but it is something
that you mentioned a few shows ago.
Alabama in a spot, a game that otherwise
is pretty meaningless post-season.
There have been hiccups in the past
during the Savin’ Era, right?
If you’re an Alabama person, it’s meaningless to be clear.
Not making the playoff, that’s the level
to which Alabama has ascended in the sport.
Simply being good and not great consistently,
especially away from home, is seen as a failure,
which is wild and also crazy impressive.
So do they care?
Like how much do they care here?
They’re favored by six and a half points.
Do you think Bama cares enough to win this game
by a touchdown?
Yeah, I think they care.
And I think especially because it’s the last hurrah
of a few major guys for Alabama,
I think they’re gonna care.
I don’t think they’re gonna care as much as Kansas State.
And this is one of the absolute biggest
Kansas State games ever,
if not the biggest one in modern K-State history.
I think they’re gonna travel extremely well,
they’re gonna be extremely up for this game.
There’s certainly a talent disparity,
but this also isn’t an Alabama team that has,
do they do anything especially great?
Like Bryce Young improvises
better than anybody else in the country.
But is their passing game full on great?
Is their offensive or defensive lines
in their totalities great?
No, is their secondary great?
No, it is not.
And so is their running back, it’s not.
And so they do everything very, very well
most of the time, secondary against Tennessee,
not necessarily, but they’re not a team
that does any one thing well enough to dominate teams,
good teams for four straight quarters.
And so that’s what worries me about
having a ton of confidence in Alabama.
I’m going K-State here.
And I think it’s more heart than head,
because my head says it’s Alabama,
because it’s just the talent disparity is what it is.
And over the course of four quarters,
maybe it’s a touchdown game for two and a half,
three quarters or something like that.
But then things open up with a pick six
to Kool-Aide McKinstry or something.
And that to me is the worry from my heart.
But I like Will Howard,
I like Deuce Vaughn getting loose against this Alabama front
that hasn’t been amazing against the run all year long.
I like Malik Knowles and Phillip Brooks
as guys who can at least make plays for chunks of this game.
I like King Felix on the defensive line.
Like I just think there are enough pieces for K-State
to justify my heart full led pick.
So I’m going K-State to cover in this game
just because there’s no accounting tie for heart.
So I’m going K-State.
How about that?
Well, and also de facto national championship.
De facto national championship.
To your point, right?
This is a big deal for K-State.
Chris Klieman, by the way,
maybe not at the power five level
has sort of known what to do in the postseason.
He won four national championships
when he was with North Dakota State.
So he’s been big in the postseason before.
He knows how to get a team up for a big game.
And I think to your point, K-State will be fired up.
I think there’s no doubt to me
that this game will mean more to them than it will Alabama.
So I’m going to take K-State with the points.
I’m going to stick with my pick of K-State
to win outright with only two confidence points.
The important qualifier here,
the important disclaimer, caveat, whatever,
is that I am also picking a little bit more hard overhead.
You know, like it’s hard to ignore the Alabama talent.
We know it’s there,
but we have seen weird hiccups in the Alabama side
when the game does not mean as much
as say a playoff game or a national championship.
Well, that’s different Alabama squads, right?
It’s different coordinators, different quarterbacks, right?
You’re talking about whether it’s a Blake Sims.
Well, you know, whether it’s, I guess, not him or Jake Coker,
but different quarterbacks where you’re just like,
I don’t know if they were super into the Trevor Knight
Oklahoma team as much as they could have been.
And so we have those moments
and we’re just here to pick and figure out who cares.
Who cares?
Under your acronym, yeah.
Who cares?
All right, so we are both going with K-State,
I guess, plus the…
We are.
We have been big on the Big 12 since day one.
It’s not ending now.
It might end for the TCU-Michigan match, I will say.
Well, it’s funny you should say that.
Let’s go to the first of two college football playoff
semifinals, this one at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl,
4 p.m., New Years Eve, Glendale, Arizona, it is Michigan.
Number two team in the land,
minus seven and a half points,
squaring off against TCU just to recap,
Michigan without Blake Corum,
done for the season with a knee injury.
They had some injury concerns with respect to Mike Morris,
their important edge rusher, as well as Eyabi Okie,
have not seen what their status will be for this game.
They’ve had some time to heal here.
I would presume both will be full goes,
but I don’t know that for certain.
So I’m just throwing that out there.
TCU for what it’s worth appears to be
at full strength for this game, which is awesome.
So my main issue with TCU in this game
is that they’re kind of like diet Ohio State on offense.
i.e., they play somewhat similarly with a lot less talent.
They’ve got an experienced line,
but you can get pressure on Max Duggan.
I don’t think they’re gonna generate big plays
against Michigan the way they did against
a big 12 schedule.
Quentin Johnson will probably win some 50-50 balls
because he’s big and tall and that’s what he’s good at.
And I think Max Duggan can make an impact with his legs.
I have no doubt about that, but I feel like we’ve seen
this show a few times now with the Michigan defense
going up against a similar enough opponent
and they’ve been able to shut them down.
And then we could talk about the Michigan offense
and what I think they could do
to the TCU defense in a little bit,
but it kind of starts and ends there for me with TCU.
TCU has lived by the big play and died by the big play
all season long.
And it does not feel like they’ll be able to sustain
enough against a really good Michigan defense
to build up enough points to get enough possession
in order to win this game outright.
So at first blush, I’m on Michigan here pretty confidently.
Yeah, the other thing to me,
there’s a number of matchups in this one
that are interesting to me.
Michigan has had their struggles in the red zone.
TCU has not, the TCU defense has not been
especially successful in the red zone.
They’ve actually had a good amount of struggles
in the red zone that they’re not able
to finish drives defensively.
The other worry for me,
you talk about Michigan’s health upfront,
but that front seven or eight or six
or whatever they’re playing,
whatever look they’re giving you,
I think is gonna overwhelm TCU’s offensive line.
Max Duggan has been great in part
because he’s had to do so much
in terms of extending plays and running
or quickly finding somebody in the past game.
And what we saw, especially against Texas, right?
Against a defensive line with higher level talent,
even though the Texas defense hasn’t always been good,
it was pretty good this year,
against some higher level defenses.
We saw it against K-State the last time we saw TCU play
with a good defensive line is Max Duggan
basically willing himself to the finish line
because of the hits he was taking,
because of how much he had to run around to make plays
that he never seems comfortable,
which again speaks to his season of greatness
that he was able to be as successful as he was.
It was in New York for the Heisman.
That plays me against Michigan, yes.
He’s a Heisman finalist, he’s going pro,
all the accolades rightfully earned.
This is not a playoff caliber offensive line for TCU.
And that’s okay because the season is above
and beyond any TCU fans wildest dreams.
But this is not an offensive line,
befitting of the moment to me.
And so for that reason,
if you’re gonna give me the combination of quarterback
and defense, Max Duggan holds up his end of the bargain.
The defense has stood up some,
but I just don’t think when you have to play against Michigan
on a neutral field as Michigan that also gets healthier,
I’m going with the defense, I’m going with a good quarterback
who’s not as good as Max Duggan yet,
but I think there’s more skill talent
at the moment for Michigan,
even without Blake Corum, that scares me.
Whereas TCUs kind of comes and goes,
long stretches of guys not affecting games.
Quentin Johnston, full on great.
But I think I’m just,
I can count on more right now with the Michigan defense
and the seasoning in these types of huge stage matchups.
So I’m going with the blue here.
And to the point of Max Duggan, all too often,
you see a quarterback who likes to run around back there,
extend plays with his legs,
and that’s actually part of the game plan.
In this case, I don’t know if it is,
because it shows up on paper as a really high pressure rate
allowed by this offensive line.
So to the point of can TCUs front hold up
against the Michigan front,
we’ve got a season’s worth of data
that would suggest that the answer is no, strongly.
No, but we’ll see, you know,
TCU has been defying the odds all year.
My question about the TCU defense,
I think needs to be mentioned as well.
We’ve commented on occasion about how good
their secondary has looked in spots.
And, you know, they’re really good.
I think they’re really good,
but they don’t have a good pass rush.
And the rush defense as a whole is pretty average.
So this feels like the kind of game that Michigan,
that Georgia, we’ll talk about Georgia next,
that those types of teams like to play in,
as in they will wear you down
and then midway through the third quarter,
pinata moment, pinata moment,
big run, Donovan Edwards, big pass play,
like these things have a way of building up over time
and then just get the energy release
as Michigan as whoever goes for like a 85 yard score
and the game’s over and that’s how they win.
So I could see that kind of taking shape here.
I have Michigan 34-21.
Yeah, I think that’s about right.
I’m double digits with you.
Here’s something else
and I’m gonna try to describe it accurately.
I think Max Duggan has more absolutely heinous throws
in him over the course of a game.
Now, far fewer than before.
But we’ve seen it even this year.
We’re like, oh, there’s the glimpse of the old Max, whatever.
We’re like, oh my God, what was he thinking?
Why did he let that ball go?
Now, TCU can survive those, right?
Michigan can drop an interception
or he just overthrows a ball badly enough
that nobody can intercept it or something.
But, James McCarthy’s absolutely heinous throws
seem fewer and further between than Max Duggan’s.
And so that’s the creep that to me could occur
in this game where you’re just like,
oh, he’s gonna want that back as soon as he releases it
and everybody watching on TV knows it.
And you’re just like, oh, wow.
And against Michigan,
with how they’re able to sit on turnovers
and keep your defense on the field with their style of play,
it seems like that could be early and backbreaking.
Yeah, okay.
Well, again, Michigan, TCU people, whichever team wins,
if you’re coming to LA, SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM,
that’s where you get your tickets.
Yeah, SolidVerbalive.com
And if TCU wins, I’ll apologize to you in person.
I’ll give you a big old handshake or hug
or do jumping jacks for you, whatever you want me to do.
I’m just guessing here.
Let’s go to the second of two
college football playoffs semifinals.
This one at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl,
de facto home game for Georgia.
A six and a half point favorite
squaring off against Ohio State.
They play this one at 8 p.m. again on ESPN.
Just a recap on the Ohio State side.
We got confirmation a couple of weeks ago now
that Jackson Smith and Jigba done for the season,
done for the season because of that hamstring injury
that he suffered way back in week one,
has never been right, they’re not gonna push it with him.
So he’s done for the year.
It looks like Trey Henderson and Mayan Williams
should be good to go.
I haven’t seen any further injury updates on them.
I know they were banged up down the stretch,
but it would obviously be a nice boon for the Buckeye offense
if they’re able to get both those guys back and healthy.
On the Georgia side, I actually have some concerns
about this one because Lad McConkey still is not practicing
and it seemed as if there was some question
as to whether or not they’d get him back.
So the last report I saw said that Kirby was hoping
that they would have him back practicing
in time for this game,
but haven’t heard a whole lot of updates.
Injured his knee in that SEC title game
and I think it is worth a discussion
what the Georgia offense looks like if he doesn’t play
because keep in mind, everybody talks about Brock Bowers.
About Stetson Devin.
I don’t know Washington too, but yes.
Ladd McConkey had three fewer targets,
one less catch than Brock Bowers.
He’s been a really big part of this offense,
the leading wide receiver in that offense.
Not having him, I think, is a problem.
Georgia’s good enough to win without him.
Okay, I’m not saying if Ladd McConkey’s not out there,
Georgia loses, I’m not saying that at all,
but when we’re looking at a point spread
that’s about a touchdown.
I’m looking at this and I’m saying, okay, well,
this is a team that we know like to grind it out.
We know they like to play slowly.
We’ve seen them in some close games before.
We’ve seen the offense just in key moments here
in their sputter a little bit more than expected
to be down lad McConkey.
That kind of changes my mind a little bit here.
I was still picking Georgia, but I don’t know.
Am I too overbearing about the McConkey thing?
Where are you at with that?
No, I think that’s a huge factor
because you’re right that everybody’s gonna key in
on Brock Bowers and look, Oregon keyed in on Brock Bowers.
They didn’t do much in that game.
They beat Oregon 49-3.
What was the final score of that game?
49-3.
So Ladd McConkey is a winter wonder.
He is a rare receiver that you can count on
in December and January to no matter who you’re playing
to make a big difference.
And he was able to do it against the best teams
on Georgia’s schedule.
I believe maybe he disappeared in one of those huge games
and they didn’t play that many huge games,
but he’s a problem.
He gets open with the ball.
He’s elusive.
He makes people miss.
He scores touchdowns.
He is a huge reason why Stetson Bennett ended up in New York
and Stetson Bennett had the season he did
and the Georgia offense.
While not having the high level receivers necessarily
that they’ve had or the receiver production,
he’s that guy.
He’s the guy you have to pay attention to
because they use him in a number of different ways.
So whatever his health is, that’s a big deal.
Now, Jalen Carter.
Is he wearing a Georgia uniform or an Ohio State uniform?
Right, right.
So we’re in a Georgia one.
And so you’re afforded a certain amount of wiggle room
when you’re dealing with some injury issues on offense,
when you field the defense that Georgia fields.
And best defense in America?
Likely.
I mean, they faced the best offense in America
and fully shut them down in Tennessee.
So I’m going to give them that benefit of the doubt.
What they did to LSU in the championship game.
Yes, they absorbed some yardage.
They absorbed some points, but that game
was at a hand pretty quickly.
I’m just in on Georgia here.
I’m just in on Georgia because I’ve
seen what they can do in these big moments against big teams.
And I’m still worried about Ohio State
and the issues that have plagued them all year.
Offense looks great, but the defense doesn’t.
Defense really comes to play.
The offense doesn’t take chances.
They’re risk averse.
They disappear in doing the things that are working for them.
They’re trying to run the ball when it’s not going.
Like, I just don’t think Ohio State is fully locked in
on who Ohio State is.
And if you are not fully ready and you
are not a fully realized operation, beating Georgia
and Atlanta, that’s what you’re asking for me to believe in.
I’m just not there.
I think Ohio State, when Ryan Day is locked in,
when CJ Stroud is locked in and not forced
to make plays off-platform, they’ll beat anybody.
They’ll absolutely beat anybody.
They’ve got a defensive line that is built to win playoff games.
You saw the high end of JT to Amalo in those big moments.
Incredible player.
I’m just not there with the totality of Ohio State.
And if I’m not there, it’s hard to pick
against Georgia and Atlanta.
So I’m going Georgia here to cover.
Yeah, just to put a bow on the Ladd-McConkie stuff,
even if he’s not out there, Georgia’s
good enough to grind it out and win.
Sure.
Among all of the playoff teams, Georgia, Michigan, even
TCU to an extent, these are teams that are very, I think,
firm, very strong in their identities on offense.
But Ohio State is a little bit of a multiple personality
thing.
Sometimes don’t know what you’re going to get there.
And I’m hopeful, I mean, they were my preseason pick
to win it all.
I’m thrilled that they’re playing this game, by the way.
I thought it might be for the national championship.
But I’m thrilled that we get to see these two teams match up.
I think it’s going to be really, really fascinating.
But I tend to agree with you on the Georgia side here.
I just think they’ve got a really good sense of who they are.
They should be able to grind Ohio State down the way
Michigan ground Ohio State down and play
a similar style of football and win.
I am just curious about the offense.
I’m very curious about the offense.
So I believe the defense will be good enough
to contain CJ Stroud.
But there’s only so much to contain Ohio State.
I think they’ll get theirs.
I think this is actually a pretty close game.
So I’m going to go 31-28.
I’m going to take the points with Ohio State
in favor of Georgia, 31-28 here.
But Ohio State covers because, again, as of now,
it looks like McConkie’s out just a little unsure as to what
that does to the passing attack and how that might affect.
Totally reasonable.
Yeah.
Totally reasonable.
And yeah.
And there seems to be opportunity
throwing at Ohio State.
We saw JJ McCarthy, who struggled for large swaths
of the year going downfield consistently.
It was a lot of shorter stuff, more conservative,
just don’t mess up, set things up for Blake Cormwell.
Got loose.
The passing game got loose against Ohio State deep.
And that was the difference in the game.
It was pushing Ohio State around a little bit on the ground
and then popping it over the top to wide open guys.
Even without Ladd McConkie, Georgia’s got guys.
Whether it’s the tight ends up the seam, whatever it is,
Georgia’s got guys who can get behind defenses.
Dan, whichever team wins, whether it’s Georgia,
whether it’s Ohio State, if you’ll
be coming out to lasolivablelive.com, take a ticket.
Yes.
And if you’re an Ohio State fan, I apologize.
I’ll hug you, I’ll shake your hand,
I’ll do some jumping jacks, whatever.
Just guessing here.
But people recommend Antico Pizza in Atlanta.
I don’t think I mentioned one for Phoenix, right?
I don’t think so.
I always love Pizzeria Bianco, Pizzeria Bianco.
So, so good.
Orange Bulls played outside of Miami.
Old Greggs or Miami Slice for pizza in Miami.
Bruno is an Orlando pick.
Sorry about that earlier.
OK, we got that figured out now.
Yes, one of the important stuff.
Let’s turn the calendar to 2023, if you can believe it.
Boo-doo-doo-doo.
Wild.
Monday, January, the second four games to close things out.
2023 definitely seems like a sci-fi year, right?
That you’re watching a movie in 1995 where you’re just like,
all right, here’s something funny that’s
going to be the reality in 2023.
And it’s just like, you’re like, oh, no, this is real now.
This is where we are, continue.
This is where we are.
Four games here.
We’ll start off with the ReliaQuest Bowl.
I’m not sure how much analysis we really
want to do this game, Dan.
This is Mississippi State.
This is Illinois.
I didn’t even look at the point spread.
I kind of don’t care.
The untimely passing of Mike Leach
will clearly be lingering over this matchup.
Mississippi State, excuse me, decided that they wanted to play.
They quickly named Zach Arnett, formerly their defensive
coordinator, but now named him the head coach
to try and stabilize the program.
I don’t know what kind of state of mind they’ll be in.
I don’t know what state of mind Illinois is going to be in.
It’s hard for them as well to be part of this matchup.
So I’m not making a pick here.
I’m going to root for Mississippi State,
but in terms of actual football analysis,
it’s kind of hard to do.
I just hope the players and the coaches
and the folks out there that are part of this game
are able to take some solace in the fact
that it’s being played.
Yeah, I’m openly rooting for Mississippi State,
because it would be hopefully a light in what I’m sure
has been a very dark time.
And hopefully there’s some catharsis
for the Mississippi State football community.
I’m hoping for a good football game,
like I am with every game.
But yeah, Illinois down there, defensive coordinator
in Ryan Walters took the Purdue job.
But yeah, openly hoping for a good game and positivity
for Mississippi State.
She’s at Citrus Bowl, Dan.
Mm-hmm.
They play this one.
This is the one in Orlando.
This is the one in Orlando.
All right, now give me the pizza place.
Where is the pizza place?
I think it’s Bruno.
Bruno looks very, very good.
I don’t know if it’s a real Bruno or whatever.
We got that.
We’re sure of that now.
It’s in Orlando.
I’m positive.
I’ll send you a picture of it offline, Ty.
If you’re a Purdue fan, maybe go to Bruno
instead of this game,
because LSU is favored by 14.
I’ve got 35 confidence points
on LSU winning this one outright.
Kayshon Boutte coming back for 2023 will play.
Jaden Daniels.
Awesome.
Still did not see for sure if he’s gonna play,
but had the ankle injury.
If he can play, he will play.
I know BJ Ojulari is entering the NFL draft.
I’ve just assumed that he’s not playing,
though I guess I did not see that.
Maybe I should have done a little bit more research
before I hit record here,
but let’s assume he’s not playing.
I don’t know if it really makes
all that much of a difference, Dan.
On the Purdue side,
you know what’s going on on the Purdue side.
The coach left.
The coach’s brother is now the interim.
The former great quarterback from Purdue came back
as an interim assistant to ease in the transition.
You talking about Robert Marve?
Is that who you’re referencing?
No, I’m referencing Drew Brees,
but is Robert Marv involved as well?
No, I just know that you say Purdue great,
you know, you gotta be more specific.
I got my eyes too.
Bob Marv, not sure what he’s doing
on January the second.
Anyway, Purdue is in kind of a really odd spot
because of this.
I remember years passed
when Purdue was kind of a trendy bowl pick.
You would like to pick Purdue.
Sure.
Especially last year I…
Crafty offense.
I remember I think I picked them last year.
I don’t know if that worked out,
but I’m not going in that direction again this year.
It just feels like LSU is gonna be mostly at full strength.
They played really well down the stretch.
Purdue is gonna be without a bunch of guys
notably their coach.
They’ve also got some transfers.
So I’m just, I’m going LSU here.
I don’t have a reason to think otherwise.
I don’t know about 14 points.
I probably wouldn’t bet it,
but I think you gotta go Tigers to win.
They have elite confidence in my confidence,
bracket, pool, whatever LSU does.
So I am in a weird turnaround.
The universe has a depleted Purdue team
heading into a bowl.
Obviously we had a depleted LSU roster
last year against Kansas State.
So I like LSU big here.
Final two games.
Go to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
It is USC favorite by three, just three points
against number 16 Tulane.
They play at 1pm January 2nd, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Dan.
Are you like Tulane here?
I do like Tulane here and I still like Tulane.
I’ve mentioned it a couple of times.
DeFacto Super Bowl.
Caleb Williams says he’s going to play.
He said his hamstring has been improving
and coming along well.
I love Caleb Williams and the Caleb Williams experience.
And he is going to get his against the Green Wave.
But USC was knocking on the door of the playoff.
And so I don’t think it’s accurate to say USC doesn’t care.
They were four and eight last year.
This whole season has been an incredible experience.
Pretty much take away some Utah matchups for USC.
So I think they’re soaring.
I think there’s a lot of excitement within the program.
Obviously, the recruiting class coming in,
the transfers coming in, there’s a lot of juice.
Heading to a new conference.
Like there’s a lot of positivity
in the USC football universe.
So I don’t think they are so jaded
that they are looking past the Cotton Bowl.
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, yeah.
I don’t think they’re taking it for granted.
So it’s not an Alabama situation.
I think they’re happy to be there,
happy to be in a big bowl.
But I think there’d be more juice if your USC is saying,
oh man, we’re playing Penn State in the Rose Bowl.
Man, oh, we’re playing so-and-so in the so-and-so.
We’re playing Clemson, right?
That like, we’re back in this conversation
of having a huge matchup on New Year’s Day block.
I’ll do respect to Tulane.
Love me the Green Wave.
Michael Pratt, all these guys, Spears.
I think I like Tulane because of the juice
in this specific game.
I take a shot every time I say juice.
I like the defense’s ability to prevent big plays.
I do not trust quick hamstring injury turnarounds.
We’ve seen it before.
We’ll see it again.
Speaking from the experience,
Dan Rubenstein, hamstring.
Maybe it’s too personal for me.
But you can go as far as Columbus, Ohio
and talk to what we thought was going to be
the best receiver in the country
in Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
They’re tough.
And every hamstring injury is different.
So what we saw in the Pac-12 championship game
from Caleb Williams, Hurt, was a fraction,
a nothingness of his former self.
And he was still making plays, by the way.
But his game relies on that mobility and that athleticism.
And so I’m going to Tulane here.
Look, they get the USC defense.
We should all be so lucky in our lives
to have the opportunity to run into, through,
over, around and by the USC defense this year.
And Tulane will have that opportunity.
So I think Michael Pratt’s pretty good.
I’m going to Tulane here to win this game
and USC to move forward in a very, very good spot
in the sport.
Michael Pratt, by the way,
kind of in a surprise announced
that he’s coming back to Tulane.
There was a lot of speculation that he might throw
his name in the portal.
We talked about him on one of the portal shows that we did.
But Pratt coming back, which is a nice get
for the green wave for Willie Fritz.
They had a great season.
It is, I think, important to note
that Willie Fritz squared off last season
in Norman against Lincoln Riley.
And they almost dumped them.
They were like a 31, 32 point underdog in that game
and took Oklahoma to the limit.
So, you know, that’s kind of the story of Willie Fritz.
Kind of the story of this Tulane team.
It’s like a coach, man.
Yeah, they beat Kansas State earlier in the year
at the point in time that that went down.
What was it?
Week two, week three were kind of throwing our brow
like you lost to…
It wasn’t Adrian Martinez, Kansas State, but yeah.
But even still, you lost to who to Tulane.
But Tulane, I think, is a legitimate team.
They’re actually really, really good.
I just, I don’t buy that they can score with USC.
And I get that their offense is good
and that it has a very inviting circumstance
going up against that SC defense.
But I don’t know, man.
I can’t get myself to the frame of mind.
Very inviting circumstance.
Ty, you are a word smife.
Look at you.
I just, I cannot get myself to that point
where I believe Tulane’s good enough on offense to beat USC.
Well, like, do you think Tulane could beat Oregon State?
I see what you’re doing here.
Maybe, I don’t know.
Okay. I’m just saying,
you don’t necessarily need a killer at quarterback
to beat USC.
I know.
Or to hang with USC enough to the point.
I understand. I can’t get there.
I would probably go USC minus the points.
Okay.
But I hope it’s a close game.
I think it will be a close game.
I think Tulane will quit itself.
I’m hoping.
Final game, the Rose Bowl game.
Pizza, I think it’s Leila.
The woman’s name, L-E-I-L-A in Dallas
for a quality pan pizza.
Looks really good.
Number eight, Utah.
Number 11, Penn State.
Utah favor by two and a half points.
Of course, getting the traditional kickoff,
the five PM slot.
Rose Bowl and Pasadena.
Are there any good pizza spots in Pasadena?
Pasadena specifically, I don’t know.
I got a couple in L-A.
You can do Apollonias in Mid-City.
Secret Pizza, an incredible looking pop-up.
New York style.
Really real, New Jersey style, really.
Secret Pizza.
How about that guy?
Isn’t it sort of defeating the purpose
if you name your pizza place Secret Pizza?
Well, it makes people feel like they’re in the know, right?
You want to make your eaters feel good about them.
What do they say in swingers?
It’s not about knowing where the best places are
or only the best places in L-A are the places
that you can find or that nobody knows about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Secret Mars.
Secret Pizza.
I botched that quote, but Secret Pizza, okay.
Yeah, go to the Dresden.
That’s where they go on swingers.
That’s right.
Parker Washington, Hurt opted out for the draft.
Joey Porter opted out for the draft on the Penn State side.
On the Utah side, they got some injuries to contend
with Tavion Thomas done for the year.
Dalton Kincaid, their big tight end also
gonna be out injured in this game.
I’ve made my opinion known.
I’m very biased in this one.
I want Penn State to win.
I’m a proud Penn Stater.
So I will find everything I can in my power
to pick the Nittany Lions here.
I think this should be a awesome football game.
I think this will be a really, really good football game.
And I think the reason that I favor Penn State
is because at least offensively they have more ways,
I think right now that they can beat you
than Utah.
Utah can put up points.
They probably will put up points,
but it’s not like they’re gonna square off
against the USC defense again.
It’s a pretty good Penn State defense.
And I think they’ll be able to keep things in check enough,
give their offense enough room to work with.
It’s also not a great Utah defense.
It’s not a shutdown Utah defense.
They give up points as well.
So I just feel like with the weaponry,
Penn State’s bringing a town here.
Sean Clifford’s gonna be playing,
I hope his last game in year 15 for the Nittany Lions.
You know, he will kind of leave it all out there
on the field.
Many of their key contributors from this season
are underclassmen.
So you would presume they’re gonna play pretty hard as well.
I just, I don’t know.
I’m on Penn State here plus the number.
I’m on Penn State here as well.
And I like Utah.
I like cameraizing a good deal.
And what is it?
Ja’Quinden, let me get the name right, Ty.
Ja’Quinden Jackson.
That’s right.
Who has become a really strong offensive weapon for Utah.
We’ve seen his emergence back half of the season
offer something interesting.
But yeah, Utah has been without their top edge rusher
and Van Filinger for a good chunk of the year.
I think he heard himself,
is it in the Wazzu game, ahead of the Wazzu game?
And so I just, I’m worried about the game changers
for Utah.
And even though Penn State’s without Joey Porter Jr.
Is there a receiver who’s now gonna run wild
without having that matchup for Penn State?
And I like Parker Washington, but they have other receivers.
They got better running the ball this year.
I think I’m going Penn State here.
My concern is god damn Cam Rising as a player.
He is just a big game dude.
And God, is he good?
And that’s what worries me,
that he is a nightmare on third and seven.
Now, without both of his tight ends,
without his starting running back,
just I don’t know man,
he is such a chicken wire and duct tape type quarterback
that you hate to play.
No.
That’s what gives me pause,
that they have the better quarterback, Utah.
And so I know you’re out on Sean Clifford.
I would love nothing more than for Sean Clifford
to throw for 400 yards in the Rose Bowl,
to once and for all,
stop with the Drew Aller stuff with you.
But I’m still going.
Not gonna happen.
I’m going Penn State.
I’m going Penn State
because I think the defense is the best thing in this game.
And if there is a thing that can win this game,
it is getting to cameraizing on those scrambles,
on those extensions.
And I think Penn State has that ability.
So I’m going State.
We agree.
So look, if you’re gonna be out in the LA area,
if you’re a Penn Stater,
maybe extend the trip by a few days,
go see some of the sights and sounds
that LA has to offer.
If you’re a Utah fan, you’re not that far away from home.
Maybe extend your trip by a week and come and see us.
January the 7th.
Love to.
At the Troubadour, SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM
is where you can get your tickets.
Love to see you.
You, I’m specifically talking to you, the listener.
Not to me, not to me.
You, not to you, Ty.
Yeah, SOLIDVERBALLIVE.COM, an incredible show.
We’re gonna have a terrific time in LA.
It’s in Hollywood specifically, in Troubadour.
It’s the best, so good.
So look, Dan, that does it for bull previews.
Obviously, once we know what the matchup is
and the national championship,
we’ll find a way to preview that
in ambitious fashion,
perhaps how we discussed a little bit earlier on the show,
our unnamed podcast project.
But I think we’re set up here
for a really good week in the games.
I’m excited to ring in the new year.
I presume I will be talking to you
at some point on New Year’s Eve, yes.
We will be figuring something out with the playoff, right?
Yeah, okay, definitely.
Stay tuned for more on that.
We’d love to have you aboard as we do something live.
We’ll figure out the what and the when.
Make sure that you follow us across all social media.
We’ll make sure that we post it there.
In the meantime, Dan, happy New Year.
Hey, to you as well.
Happy New Year to our Verbalorhood.
If we don’t talk to you beforehand,
enjoy your New Year’s Eve.
We will talk to you in 2023, at least in podcast form.
The next time you download the show,
for that guy over there,
stay in room and scene for my self-tie-holding brand.
Stay solid, happy New Year.
Peace.