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Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker recap the Mountain West football games from Thursday night. Boise laid an egg on national TV, how much does it hurt their chances at the College Football Playoff? Box Elder beat Bear River in the Golden Spike Rivalry. Other high school football games on the schedule Friday. Utah State soccer draws even with the University of Utah in women's soccer. Post-game comments from coach Manny Martins.
Terrence Newman and John Ramey discuss Week Zero results and preview the Nevada Football Season, including the opener this Saturday at Penn State. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
What happened to Boise State? How will the Mountain West do this weekend? A great idea for to decide the FedEx Tour champion in our Sandia Golf Club segment. Was Micah Parsons holding the Cowboys back? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Lucio Ourique and Jackson Moore are back to break down the loss to Kansas and identify what went wrong. Then they take a look at the upcoming matchup against Georgia Southern hear at home. They also take a quick look at what happened and what's upcoming for the Mountain West.
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker interview interim USU AD Sandy Barbour. UNLV AD's comments about Pac-12 and Mountain West. Utah State will once again Holstein Helmets for the season opener.
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker update games by Mountain West teams: Boise State at University of South Florida; Wyoming at Akron; San Diego State vs Stony Brook. Rivalry games on Thursday: USU hosting Utah in women's soccer; Bear River at Box Elder in high school football. New Utah Jazz player Jusuf Nurkic performs well in EuroBasket. Pick 6
On this episode of STATE of STATE presented by FanDuel, Justin and Tom preview #2 Penn State vs Nevada this Saturday at 3:30pm ET on CBS! What depth and position battle questions are the most important as the Nittany Lions open the season at home against a Mountain West opponent? Visit bleav.com/shows/state-of-state for more information on the show, and other places to listen. New episodes of the show drop every week on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Please subscribe, turn on notifications, comment, rate us, and like us! Become a “We Are STATE of STATE” Channel Member NOW and enjoy ad-free episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb0ZP5t5_LbXV66Odp6BuOA/join FanDuel – Make Every Moment More! www.fanduel.com For official STATE of STATE merchandise, visit Blue White Outfitters at https://www.athlete-ecosystem.com/search?q=%22state+of+state%22&options%5Bprefix%5D=last Music created by Matty Fresh #weare #pennstate #collegefootball Follow us on X and Instagram @stateofstatepod
The 2025 SDSU Football Season begins with FCS Stony Brook this Thursday, August 28 in San Diego. Sean Lewis and the Aztecs are ready to prove all their hard work was worth it. How will the team perform? We'll get into it all with special guest, SDSU QB Jack Hawley Jr.
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker recap Week 0 in college football, with 3 Mountain West teams in action. Who impressed, who has work to do? Recapping local high school games from last Friday, and the return of the Bread and Butter Play of the Game. Utah State women's soccer seems to be struggling to find its offense. USU women's volleyball gets a 3-2 exhibition win at Weber State. Former Aggies in NFL preseason games. Pick 6 results.
What message was Micah Parsons trying to send over the weekend? How did the Mountain West do during zero week. Lock in the AL MVPSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Boise State ends fall camp and begins full prep for USF opener on Aug. 28, college football season starts Saturday with five Zero Week games - including three involving Mountain West teams, Bronco Nation News Report with B.J., a look at Fresno State's season, deep dive in Notre Dame's schedule, Baseball with Bob and MLB realignment possibilitiesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker preview the schedule for local high school football. Top 25 Aggies for 2025: safety Ike Larsen and quarterback Bryson Barnes. Previewing Utah State vs Boise St. Mountain West teams involved in Week 0 (3 future USU opponents). SEC moving to 9 conference games could adversely affect the Pac-12.
Boise State ends fall camp and begins full prep for USF opener on Aug. 28, college football season starts Saturday with five Zero Week games - including three involving Mountain West teams, Bronco Nation News Report with B.J., a look at Fresno State's season, deep dive in Notre Dame's schedule, Baseball with Bob and MLB realignment possibilitiesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Crew previews all the NFL pre-season Week 3 action. Then, they give their picks for college football Week 0, Heisman, and CFP brackets!! The show ends with a preview of the Mountain West!!Give us your thoughts!Support the show
Ed Graney, UNLV for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, joins the program to preview the UNLV Rebels ahead of the 2025 college football season.
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker share an audio clip of Wyoming's director of athletics, Tom Burman, about how close the Mountain West may have been to adding the Montana and Dakota schools. Utah State women's soccer takes on Pacific. Top 25 Aggies of 2025: tight end Josh Sterzer and defensive tackle Gabe Iniguez. Criteria revealed for Utah State's next AD. UTEP names Malachi Nelson as their starting QB against USU. Pick 6
BettorEdge Partner Promo Code: PLAYME Signup Link: https://bettoredge.com/playme Peer to peer sports betting with NO JUICE! Click the link for a risk free $20, no deposit required. Podcast Card: Navy Over 8.5 (-125) Toledo Over 8.5 (-145) James Madison Over 8.5 (-115) Arizona State Over 8.5 (-105) Tulsa Under 3.5 (+100) Stanford Under 3.5 (-170) UL Monroe Under 4.5 (-165) San Jose State Over 7.5 (+110) Join the Free Discord + View Our Podcast Record https://discord.gg/ZkzcH3mwHS YouTube: @PlayMeorFadeMePodcast X: @MrActionJunkie1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jason Walker and Eric Frandsen talk the latest in local sports on 106.9 FM / 1390 AM The FAN, starting with carrying over some of the College Football Playoff discussion from yesterday's show. Talking about whether the system should just include conference champions, or mostly conference champions, and what it would take to make such a system fair. The next player on the Top 25 Aggies of 2025 is revealed -- running back Javen Jacobs. Hear from USU football defensive coordinator Nick Howell from his post-practice audio on Tuesday. ESPN had a couple of ranking lists, one about the Top 100 college football players, which Mountain West players and players from USU opponents are on it? And a ranking of EuroBasket participants with Lauri Markkanen being (initially) overlooked on the list.
The inaugural episode of College Football now, hosted by Thomas Christopher of The League Winners.Learn about college football programs from the people who have boots on the ground! Find out whether or not your favorite college football team has a chance at success in 2025. This is The League Winners' 2025 College Football Season Preview!This episode breaks down each conference in college football. Starting with the Power Conferences (SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12), and ending on on the G5 Conferences (American, Mountain West, C-USA, Sun Belt) and the FCS CAA Conference. Each breakdown will include what the season predictions may look like for each conference. Key players from each team in the conference will also be highlighted.Alongside Thomas will be numerous members of The League Winners' staff. This includes Brandyn Pokrass, Brandon Haye, Mackenzie Neglia, and more!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The League Winners are a company dedicated to covering the college football and the NFL. Created by Thomas Christopher (Gang Green Nation), TLW was created to give football fans news, highlights, interviews, film review and much more surrounding the game of football.#LeagueWinners #CollegeFootball #Syracuse #USF #UCF #Cal #FIU #FAU #Pitt #UNLV #UCLA #GeorgiaSouthern #JMU #WakeForest #VirginiaTech #Maryland #FSU #Miami #CollegeFootballPreview #CFB25 #CFB #Trending #like #Comment #subscribe
Preview Conference: ACC, BigXII, Mountain West, MAC, C-USA e Sun Belt
Recorded: August 18th 2025 | Will Compton and Taylor Lewan are bringing the Commissioner of College Football on to the team full-time! Josh Pate, college football’s favorite analyst, hops on the bus to talk shop on the 2025 season, and how his career has led up to the lore of what now is, Pate State University. Before Josh joins, the Boys kick things off with a little preseason heat: Will breaks down UFC 319, Taylor gives his early Bussin’ Bowl predictions, and we get an official update on Papa Lewan’s first pitch mental prep for the KC first pitch. Then it’s time for the man, the myth, the Late Kick legend himself—Josh Pate. The Boys get into everything from NIL chaos and conference realignment to which coaches are built for war and which programs are living off vibes. Josh pulls back the curtain on what it’s like building a football empire on YouTube, what fanbases really move the needle, and how he handles getting roasted online weekly. Whether you’re an SEC diehard or a sicko watching Mountain West football at 2 a.m., this one’s for you. Big hugs, tiny kisses. TIMESTAMP CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro3:04 The Locker Room Is BACK5:27 CFB Season Outlook16:19 28 Team Playoff???18:30 New Heights And Taylor Swift Broke The Internet21:18 UFC 31930:01 Tubing Is Not For The Faint Of Heart37:01 Taylor’s Redemption Is Happening39:59 New Merch + Live Show Tickets Are Available41:20 NFL News46:04 JP’s One Year Anniversary 48:40 Is Tee The Best Pool Game Ever?50:31 JOSH PATE JOINS BUS52:38 His Daily Routine58:40 Journey Into College Football Media1:09:11 Is Pate A Bigger Nebraska Fan Than Will?1:11:03 Josh Coming To The Bussin Bowl??1:14:54 Josh's First Pitch Advice1:21:56 The Sensory Overload Of Football1:31:07 Does Not Being A Former Player Help Him?1:41:49 Josh's Big Break1:57:47 Suits On TV Are Out2:08:30 Josh's Sleeper Teams This Year2:29:17 Did NIL Level The Playing Field?2:39:43 Ohio State vs Texas Expectations2:46:10 Michigan's Slap On The Wrist3:02:16 Bud Light: What Would He Do Anything For?3:07:01 CFB Commissioner? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Austin (@devydeets) & Colin (@C2CDecker) cover some recent news before discussing the teams from the Mountain West and Sun Belt Conferences
Idaho Matters takes a deep dive into the the pages of this years Limberlost Review!
Sean Reider, New Mexico Lobos writer for the Albuquerque Journal, joins the program to preview the New Mexico Lobos ahead of the 2025 college football season.
The SDSU Football season is under two weeks away. Now in the final stages of Fall Camp and after the FanFest Scrimmage, we'll take an updated look at the team position by position,
Jimmy Ott & Paul Stone preview the 2025 College Football Season in the Group of 5 Conferences! They discuss their favorite conference winner futures, win total over/unders, and more! Will Boise State return to the College Football Playoff as the G5 representative? Jimmy & Paul dissect the American, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Conference USA.
This week on the Regional Roundup, we hear a story about a herd of goats that are managing fire fuels in Colorado by grazing weeds. We also hear about the history of Lincoln Hills, a once-thriving resort for African Americans just outside of Denver. Plus, we share an excerpt from our recent regional call-in show on public lands, and we hear a conversation about how climate change is impacting tick populations in the Mountain West.
Reach out to Cody and Buhler to tell them what's up!Five is still technically bigger than four.On today's episode of False Start, John Buhler (Lead Writer, FanSided.com) and Cody Williams (Content Director, FanSided.com) drove it into the ditch with their Group of Five season preview.While the guys came to a handful of similar conclusions across the AAC, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt, they are well aware that anything and everything can happen at this level of college football.Together, they picked who will win each league, who will be making the CFP, and what head coaches are destined for something even better than this?You've only got 100 years to live, so make the time for some False Start!
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker recap the opening week of high school football. Top 25 Aggies of 2025: Honorable Mention list (part 1) First jersey numbers handed out for Utah State football. Bryson Barnes and Noah Avinger recognized as top 5 players in the Mountain West at their positions.
Week Zero starts in Ireland and ends on The Island. Previewing the Big 10, ACC (except for Some Team), the Big 12, Mountain West and Conference USA. Can Ohio State repeat? Dabo now taking transfers. Why is the wide-open Big 12 opening in Ireland? Boise has a one-game season at Notre Dame. Liberty may go unbeaten and still miss the playoffs.
8-14-25 Will Webber of the Santa Fe New Mexican joins TEAM Talk to tell us more from the Mountain West ongoing legal battles
Boise State reporter B.J. Rains (Bronco News Nation) joins Johnny and Greg to discuss the Mountain West's injury report policy, how ready Boise State is to play a football game in less than two weeks and the men's basketball non-conference schedule being complete.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Greg talks to Tristan Freeman of Busting Brackets about the landscape of the Mountain West, Atlantic 10, and which mid-major teams have a chance to be ranked in the top 25 this season.Link To Greg's Spreadsheet of handicapped lines: https://vsin.com/college-basketball/greg-petersons-daily-college-basketball-lines/Greg's TikTok With Pickmas Pick Videos: https://www.tiktok.com/@gregpetersonsports?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker preview another Utah State opponent: San Jose State. Top 25 Aggies of 2025: cornerback Noah Avinger Post-practice interviews with Brady Boyd and John Gayer. Coaching Tiers from The Athletic. Bronco Mendenhall among the top coaches from the Mountain West on the list. USU hosting Football Family Fun Day. Aggies in the NFL Preseason.
Boise State reporter B.J. Rains (Bronco News Nation) joins Johnny and Greg to discuss the Mountain West's injury report policy, how ready Boise State is to play a football game in less than two weeks and the men's basketball non-conference schedule being complete.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jason Walker and Eric Frandsen talk the latest in local sports, starting with the continuation of the offseason opponent preview series. The opponent looked at in this episode is Hawaii. Also, a look at CBS Sports and their preseason bowl projections. Which teams from the Mountain West did they predict would make bowl games? And a look at the schedule for the Utah Jazz which was released earlier in the day.
The Dodgers and Padres play their second to last series of the year this weekend, who wins and who takes the NL West? Nick Knee from Sandia Golf Club shares his thoughts on the PGA playoffs and a tip to improve your game. What does QB paly look like this year in the Mountain West. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Battle Born Injury Lawyers attorney, Justin Watkins joins Cofield & Company to discuss the Nevada Supreme Court ruling in favor with Jon Gruden's lawsuit against the NFL, review the Colorado Rockies ownership's decision to pull out of selling the franchise, and give his legal insight on the situation of multiple Mountain West schools suing the conference over the addition of Grand Canyon University. Attorney Alan Dershowitz escorted from a farmers market stand on Martha's Vineyard after insisting on returning to a vendor who previously refused to serve him - and threatened to sue. Oklahoma quarterback, John Mateer issues a statement denying the sports gambling allegations toward him following screen shots from his Venmo account went viral. A Hawaii real estate investor and broker are suing Los Angeles Dodgers' star, Shohei Ohtani claiming he and his agent got them fired from a $240 million luxury housing development in Hawaii.
The boys are back for: - the John Mateer betting scandal - Jimbo Fisher's potential return to coaching - The preseason AP poll - Their breakdown the remaining Independents - Vibe check the Group of 6 and more! Check out our socials: https://linktr.ee/QuadGate 1:27 Bringing the podcast to new heights 10:06 John Mateer's gambling scandal and Venmo 20:51 Andy Staples' college football blue bloods list 31:25 AP Poll rankings 25-13 discussion 37:37 Top 12 AP Poll rankings analysis 46:28 Group of Six conference team vibes 54:54 Mountain West conference team assessments 1:02:10 Sun Belt conference team evaluations 1:07:51 Recent FCS to FBS program transitions
Greg looks at the Mountain West from a stylistic and betting standpoint, examines the rosters of every team in the conference with Sean Paul of the Field of 68, & Greg gives his projected order of finish for the Mountain West for the 2025-26 season!Podcast Highlights2:36-Betting trends & styles of the Mountain West14:18-Examination of every Mountain West roster with Sean Paul41:25-Greg's projected order of finish for the Mountain West
Jason Walker and Eric Frandsen discuss the latest in local sports on 106.9 FM, 1390 AM, The FAN. A closer look at the lawsuit between Utah State/Colorado State/Boise State and the Mountain West. What are the merits of both sides of the case? NOTE - There is a gap in the podcast where 8 minutes of audio was lost due to a technical glitch. We have trimmed it out the silence but there's not much we can do to replace what we said during that time. The Top 25 Aggies of 2025 reveal continues, two players were revealed in this hour - Brevin Hamblin and Bo Maile. Utah State Soccer begins on Thursday, a closer look at the Aggies and the start of the sports season.
Brad Evans & Ryan Horvat break down their favorite Mountain West win totals. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aztecs Defensive Edge Trey White burst onto the National Stage in the College Football scene last season. His 12.5 sacks ranked #3 all-time in SDSU single season history. What can he do for an encore this year? Trey just wants to win and his San Diego State football team is winding down their Fall Camp in this 2025 season.
Jason Walker and Ajay Salvesen talk the latest in local Cache Valley sports, starting with an interview with Utah State men's basketball forward Karson Templin. Utah State volleyball was picked to finish first in the Mountain West and USU soccer begins Thursday (though Jason and Ajay mixed that up and thought it started Wednesday). With USU volleyball and soccer being picked first in their respective preseason polls, it begs the question as to how many championships the Aggies could win across all sports this season. Injury reports are coming to the Big 12 (and are now part of all power conferences in football and men's basketball), could the Pac-12 adopt them in the future?
On today's Daily Puck Drop, Jason “Puck” Puckett is joined today by Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic and John Canzano from JohnCanzano.com. No Jim Duquette today, but he'll be back next week. Puck opens the show previewing the Mariners upcoming road trip plus discussing a new contract for Josh Naylor. Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic, drops by to visit with Puck about what he's seen so far in Seahawks training camp and the cap casualty that may happen to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Plus, the improvement from Jalen Milroe, Mike Macdonald's defense and they share their love for the fullback. John Canzano, JohnCanzano.comswings by for his weekly to discuss all things college football, including, a new lawsuit led by departing Mountain West schools toward the conference, the future of the Civil War is in jeopardy and John shares his thoughts on new WSU football coach Jimmy Rogers having his quarterbacks go live in practice. But, John and Puck start off discussing the pros and cons of the Little League World Series, plus, the lost art of ding-dong ditching. “In Other News…”. Ryan Sloan, a Mariners top prospect has been elevated, the Mariners are featured prominently in the new MLB Pipeline top 100, MLB playoff schedule announced, the Kraken give out an extension and a top NFL QB undergoes surgery. Puck wraps up the show with, “Hey, What the Puck!?” Former Coug QB John Mateer finds himself an alleged gambling story. (1:00) Puck on M's and Josh Naylor contract (12:00) Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic (48:00) John Canzano, John Canzano.com (1:16:33) “In other News…”(1:21:38) “Hey, What the Puck!?”
The Padres take the series against Boston in a battle of 2 good teams. Dodgers make a statement in weekend series vs Blue Jays. MLB Ticket Prices and Payroll Skyrocket. Will it ever end? NFL News from Chargers, Rams, Browns, Titans, Jaguars, Raiders, Seahawks, Patriots, Giants, Cowboys, Packers and NFL Players Union. Mountain West at war with Boise State, PAC-12. NBA news from Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, plus NHL news from Florida. Got a hot take for Hacksaw? Drop your comment or question in the live chat on YouTube, X or Facebook. Here's what Lee Hamilton thinks on Monday, August 11, 2025. 1)..PADRES-RED SOX WEEKEND "PITCHING-HITTING-FANS" 2)..DODGERS-BLUE JAYS "STATEMENT WEEKEND" 3)..BASEBALL & MONEY GAME "TICKET PRICES & PAYROLL" ========= (HALFTIME..DIXIE LUMBERLINE) ========= 4)..CHARGERS-RAMS NOTEBOOK "INJURIES & HONESTY" 5)...NFL NOTEBOOK (NFL LOGO) FULL SCREEN "ROOKIE WATCH" BROWNS-TITANS JAGUARS-RAIDERS SEATTLE-PATRIOTS NY GIANTS-LIONS 6)..NFL HEADLINES "NFL NEWS MAKERS" DAN CAMPBELL DE MAURICE SMITH JERRY JONES BILLY HOWTON GREEN BAY ------------- 7)..MOUNTAIN WEST-PAC 12-BOISE-ST WAR "LAWYER-UP" ------------ 8).. NBA HEADLINES "BIG MONEY ISSUES" PISTONS CAVS HOU ROCKETS --------------- 9)..NHL NOTEBOOK…PANTHERS "CAPTAIN-SURGERY" -------------- ============= #nfl #PATRIOTS #BROWNS #JAGUARS #TITANS #CHARGERS #RAIDERS #GIANTS #LIONS #VIKINGS #FALCONS #RAMS #SEAHAWKS #PADRES #michaelking #ajpreller #mikeshildt #mannymachado #yudarvish #robertsuarez #fernandotatisjr #DODGERS #tylerglasnow #claytonkershaw #shoheiohtani #landonknack #yoshinobuyamamoto #tommyedman #mookiebetts #freddiefreeman #teoscarhernandez #ippeimizuhara #rokisasaki #blakesnell #BOBBYMILLER #HYESEOUNGKIM #daveroberts #jackierobinson #tannerscott #trevorbauer Be sure to share this episode with a friend! ☆☆ STAY CONNECTED ☆☆ For more of Hacksaw's Headlines, The Best 15 Minutes, One Man's Opinion, and Hacksaw's Pro Football Notebook: http://www.leehacksawhamilton.com/ SUBSCRIBE on YouTube for more reactions, upcoming shows and more! ► https://www.youtube.com/c/leehacksawhamiltonsports FACEBOOK ➡ https://www.facebook.com/leehacksaw.hamilton.9 TWITTER ➡ https://twitter.com/hacksaw1090 TIKTOK ➡ https://www.tiktok.com/@leehacksawhamilton INSTAGRAM ➡ https://www.instagram.com/leehacksawhamiltonsports/ To get the latest news and information about sports, join Hacksaw's Insider's Group. It's free! https://www.leehacksawhamilton.com/team/ Thank you to our sponsors: Dixieline Lumber and Home Centers https://www.dixieline.com/
Eric Frandsen and Jason Walker preview USU vs Air Force. Top 25 Aggies for 2025: Kahanu Davis Former Aggies compete in NFL preseason games: Jalen Royals, Wyatt Bowles and Kyrese Rowan. Comparing/Contrasting AP and Coaches preseason Top 25 Who are the most penalized teams in Mountain West football over the past five years?
On today's Daily Puck Drop, Jason “Puck” Puckett is joined Jim Moore, plus we catch up with Brendan Lempesis, who on the Puck the Picker Majors golf contest and is headed to Gamble Sands! No Chris Egan this week, but Puck does sit down with “The Scout” and they do a deep dive into Mariners minor league shortstop Colt Emerson. Puck and Jim open up talking about Jim's computer issue being fixed and they react to the Josh Naylor injury, plus, they recap last night's Seahawks/Raiders preseason game. In the “other news” segment, Puck and Jim cover an unbelievable stat with Paul Skenes, rough injury for the Chargers, the Mountain West is being sued, a new unreal ice cream flavor, and they wish Bonney Lake Little League baseball team good luck in their regional championship game on Friday night! Puck is joined by Brendan Lempesis, who won this years Puck the Picker Majors Golf contest. Brendan is headed to Gamble Sands to play two rounds of golf and stay at their beautiful resort and guys, you won't believe who he's taking! “The Scout” joins Puck to take a deep look at Mariners minor league shortstop, Colt Emerson. “The Scout” raves about his hitting ability, but mostly about his defense and he's on the verge of joining the big league club soon. Puck wraps up the show with “Hey, What the Puck!?” The Seahawks rookie class looks real, real good. (1:00) Puck and Jim (49:06) “In other news…” (57:12) Brendan Lempesis, Puck the Picker Majors Golf winner (1:09:35) “The Scout” (1:22:22) “Hey, What the Puck!?”
Richard and Alex preview the Mountain West in 2025, starting with the same team that's favored every year and then going in no particular order: * Boise State still looks like the class of the league * San Jose State has leveled up, but now Ken Niumatalolo confronts life without an All-American receiver* UNLV is the apple of Richard's eye with Dan Mullen in charge * Colorado State made strides last year, but were they real, or were they just the result of a lousy schedule? Does it matter? * Fresno State wipes the slate clean, but we're optimistic * Hawaii looks a lot better than we both thought they would * Air Force should get back to business the way it used to be done * San Diego State was shockingly bad on offense in Sean Lewis' first year. How much does that change our feeling on them? * Utah State made a great hire, but it'll take some time * Wyoming is still searching for an identity * New Mexico is a blank canvas, and a new coach from FCS is trying something different* Nevada is a hard job that continues to be hard The episode wraps with preseason award nominees from the hosts for the SZD Dude of the Year, the Low-Key Cool Game of the Year, the Minority Coach of the Week In an Interesting Schematic Spot (of the Year), and the Coach Who's Not Gonna Be Here Next Year. Producer: Anthony Vito. Catch up on all of our 2025 previewsIn reverse chronological order: * ACC* Conference USA* Big 12 * MAC* Pac-12 and FBS independents* Sun BeltThank you to our subscribers and partnersBecome a paid subscriber today to get a lot more SZD, and check out www.nokiantyres.com/szd and www.homefieldapparel.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe
Things Discussed: Condolences and love to the family of Greg Glenn. If you recall he came here as the glue guy/energy guy friend of Jett Howard who was supposed to make Jett better. When you talk about losing a 22-year-old whose primary scholarship-worthy attribute was he made other people better, that's a big loss. Craig mentions he met him at media day, thought Glenn was naively honest and open for an athlete. New rosters/new weights. Bryce Underwood is 10 pounds heavier already than JJ ever got, will need it to be a runner. Michigan going to screen and RPO more? Sure but I think you play man on them, put your biggest corner on McCulley, put a safety in the box, and dare Bryce to beat you. Michigan can make that work by having Bryce hit kill shots deep and by making the high safety responsible for stopping Bryce in the run game. Kill shots: Chip likes to turn a route combo that he's shown before into a surprise deep shot. Jake Garcia? Was ranked around JJ as a freshman after an odyssey, played early at Miami (yes THAT Miami), but threw a lot of INTs, went to Mizzou then ECU, and threw a lot of INTs at ECU too. Got experience. Think Mikey Keene is a much higher floor than we got from Davis Warren/Alex Orji last year. Oklahoma: They're us. Great defense, I'm not as sold as everyone else on Mateer. I think their system really beat up on Mountain West cornerbacks, and he has a lot of moxie, but I don't know how that "you don't know what we're RPOing!" offense is going to interact with Michigan's "you don't know what our coverage is" defense. Probably going to be a rock fight because Oklahoma's defense is legit. They play aggressive, the LBs fill in the gaps, and they've got a safety who makes everybody right. DL dropoff? Think the edges are going to be the superstars, but Benny is very good and they can rotate. Teams are going to try to lock them on the field but good luck surviving the first four snaps against Benny and Williams. Derrick Moore: He was winning his pass rushes regularly but other guys got the stats, had a dropoff while injured, played a GREAT bowl game. Sam says Aidan Hutchinson; I try to tamp that down to "just" Brandon Graham. Players say there was a meeting before Indiana where Wink had to listen to the players about how they do things and some of the players had to hear some things, and they all really got on the same page. Defense was ELITE after that. I'm mad about Cam Brandt switching to #9, which looks like TJ Guy's #4 and Derrick Moore's #8. What are we doing here Cam? Some of us have to chart in the wee hours. We had a 91, 42, and 8, and the fans knew exactly what we were looking at. Blake Frazier at 295: His timeline was always 2026 not 2025; I think we were talking about him as an X-factor and he's got to gain more weight before we put him out there at left tackle. Sam's OL right now from right to left: Sprague, Efobi, Crippen, El-Hadi, ….? LT: I think they have to live with Link (who lost 4 pounds and looks leaner in a grocery store), until Babalola is ready. Note that Sprague came in very well developed needed until the bowl game (though he was injured early in the season). Receiver weights: Kendrick Bell is a sneaky pick for breakout player, Fred Moore is as well. Very encouraged by Andrew Marsh coming in at 190 because his thing is he played vs Texas high schoolers bigger than his 175 size; if he's going to make that work against 220-pound safeties in the Big Ten he's going to need that size. Center? I think Crippen is smart, knows all the calls, hit his strength/size ceiling and it's lower than they want to move DTs, and Juan Castillo can't add much more than that. What Castillo can do is get Guarnera ready to push Crippen, but with a freshman QB you want to get the line calls right first, not shoot for the stars. Crippen is our guy, he'll give us a senior Kugler kind of year, and we'll live with it.