Podcasts about split zone duo

As the season gets closer and closer, the hypotheticals start to inch closer to reality. Will the good vibes that your favorite team captured this offseason actually pan out, or will it only lead to disappointment? Is the current situation with your coaching staff or roster getting any better? This internal monologuing can snowball into the dreaded sports anxiety. So we asked you the listener, to spell out your anxieties about your favorite team so that we can analyze whether they're substantiated or whether you're just mostly being a impatient for the season to come. In this episode we cover:* 07:56 Boston College* 11:28 Cal* 14:00 Duke* 16:01 Georgia Tech* 18:09 Louisville* 22:32 North Carolina* 23:30 Pitt* 25:00 Stanford* 27:01 Virginia Tech* 33:02 Arizona * 35:23 Iowa State* 37:37 BYU* 43:41 Texas Tech* 52:16 Michigan State* 58:48 Penn StateProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

Transfer portal season is over. The actual college football season is almost here. With the dust (probably) settled on everyone's roster, Richard and Alex pick through dozens of portal classes and highlight 26 players who are sliding into situations worth tracking in 2026. This episode is NOT just a recitation of the highest-ranked transfers, but a deeper examination of who's being relied on to fill major holes, who's propping up a hot-seated coach, and who's just going to be plain old fun to watch. We cover new players going to: * 11:55: Texas* 13:50: Nebraska* 16:51: Miami* 19:49: Clemson* 22:27: Oregon* 24:12: James Madison* 27:01: Ohio State* 29:56: Washington* 36:06: LSU* 42:31: Oklahoma* 47:55: Texas Tech* 51:43: Florida State* 54:34: Cal* 56:59: Baylor* 58:49: Miami University* 1:02:22: Michigan* 1:03:04: WisconsinProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

In this episode, we welcome back our friend Richard Johnson from CBS Sports and Split Zone Duo for a conversation about the college football topics we talk about too much, and the ones we probably do not talk about enough. As preview season creeps closer, we zoom out on the sport’s offseason discourse and ask which arguments are useful, which ones are exhausted, and where the weird, fun, meaningful parts of college football might be hiding. We dig into College Football Playoff format fatigue, the role of TV money and conference power, the constant hope that Congress can somehow “fix” college sports, the growing presence of gambling in broadcasts, and whether the Arch Manning conversation has swung too far in the other direction. Plus, we get into teams and coaches who deserve more attention, including Florida, UCLA, Michigan, and the broader world outside the SEC and Big Ten. We also wander into West Coast scheduling thoughts, the need for more strange bowl game energy, Sacramento sports sadness, college football media golf rankings, and the inevitability of major news breaking whenever Richard goes to Europe. And, right in the middle of our recording, news broke of Brendan Sorsby's reinstatement. (We react as best we can!) Timecodes:0:00 - Intro4:29 - Richard Johnson joins the show7:30 - CFP format12:31 - TV network influence19:22 - The government and CFB22:18 - Arch Manning28:48 - Brendan Sorsby news33:05 - Gambling as part of studio shows40:25 - ACC Thursdays44:10 - West Coast scheduling45:53 - Jon Sumrall50:22 - Big Ten & SEC vs. the World56:54 - Kyle Whittingham1:03:35 - Rapid FireSupport the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel just for episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@collegefootballpodcast Alex, Richard, and Matt Brown get back together for the Split Zone Duo/Extra Points Sports Business Hour with the most serious congressional attempt yet to reorganize college sports on the table. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 would touch NIL enforcement, athlete movement, the House settlement's cap structure, media-rights pooling, conference realignment, and even the timing of coach moves via a Lane Kiffin Rule that Alex thinks is a little silly. The group talks through why this bill deserves your attention than the usual Capitol Hill noise, why it still has obvious ways to fail, and how its politics run through everyone from the Big Ten and SEC to Cody Campbell and Texas Tech.In this episode:* 4:14: Why the Protect College Sports Act is more serious than past college-sports bills, and what it would do to NIL disclosures, transfer limits, athlete compensation, and the College Sports Commission.* 25:08: How media-rights pooling became one of the bill's biggest fights, why the Big Ten and SEC hate it, and how Cody Campbell's fingerprints are all over the politics.* 36:52: The so-called Lane Kiffin rule, and whether Congress can actually stop coaches from arranging new jobs during the season.* 41:19: Utah's private equity experiment, the layoff headline, the missing public details, and why fan revolt in American college sports tends to be so muted.* 51:24: Why the planned NC State-Virginia game in Brazil fell apart, and what it says about trying to export college football internationally.* 1:06:36: Why Brendan Sorsby's eligibility fight feels so ridiculous.If you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription.For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIs your head coach going to succeed? Most of the time, you'll know by Year 2. Welcome to the latest installment of SZD's checkup on head coaches about to start their second season on the job. The class of 2025 was famously light on Power 4 hires but offers more G6 hope than you might think. In this episode, we'll tier out this crop of second-year coaches as follows:* 0:16: Why Year 2 remains such a revealing checkpoint for college football coaches, even after the portal changed the roster-building calendar.* 8:03: The guys who are trending up, like Zach Kittley at FAU, Mark Carney at Kent State, Matt Drinkall at Central Michigan, Willie Simmons at FIU, Jerry Mack at Kennesaw State, Dan Mullen at UNLV, Jason Eck at New Mexico, and Matt Entz at Fresno State.* 24:28: The guys who have us in wait-and-see mode, including the hard AAC jobs, Phil Longo at Sam Houston, Mike Uremovich at Ball State, Eddie George at Bowling Green, Dowell Loggains at App State, Tony Gibson at Marshall, Barry Odom at Purdue, and Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia.* 39:22: The guys who are already trending the wrong way and need a turnaround, like Scott Frost at UCF and, well …* 46:01: Bill Belichick's lousy first year at North Carolina and how much hope there is that things could improveProducer: Anthony VitoEveryone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today.For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comHost emeritus Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for a look back at the Big 12's extremely public flirtation with expansion a full decade ago. It was a strange spring and summer in 2016, as the Big 12 basically put on realignment tryouts for a long list of schools including several (BYU, UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati) who did get into the conference — but not until years later, when others dominoes had fallen. Let's revisit the summer of realignment that wasn't, and then let's think about how it changed the next decade of college football.In this episode:* 0:00: Why the realignment fashion show became so public* 8:10: The now-quaint factors that drove realignment decisions back then* 12:28: The candidate pool, including Houston and Cincinnati's very different campaigns, BYU's many complications, UCF before the Scott Frost/Josh Heupel run, and SMU before it became an ACC playoff team* 32:02: Why the process came down to BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston. (Also, why the Big 12 was genuinely scared of Houston)* 43:48: Counterfactuals: whether earlier expansion would have changed Texas and Oklahoma's exit, the Pac-12's collapse, or the expanded playoff's politics around non-power teams* 56:08: The afterlife of the public audition, from Memphis and Sacramento State to the next round of conference-movement anxiety.Everyone can hear a free preview of this episodeTo get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito

Richard is joined by Joel Anderson, host of The Ringer Tailgate and The Press Box podcasts, for a conversation about the NAACP's Out of Bounds campaign and the bigger question underneath it: What is fair to ask of Black college athletes and recruits at a moment when lawmakers and the courts are attacking Black voting power? They start with HBCUs and PWIs, move through the campaign's specifics asks, and cover lots of topics from there: political education, NIL incentives, the transfer portal, the limits and power of boycotts, and why college football keeps becoming the platform for this kind of discussion. In this episode:* 0:00: The roles of HBCUs and PWIs in Black college life, and how generational experiences shape Richard's and Joel's views.* 12:01: The NAACP's campaign and its asks of recruits, current athletes, fans, donors, and consumers.* 16:16: What is fair to expect of college athlete activism now* 26:55: Whether the idea of a “boycott” has lost force* 37:53: The role of the NAACP in 2026 Producer: Anthony VitoMore on the story covered in this episode: * NAACP press statement: Black athletes and fans should withhold support from public schools in states attacking Black voting rights* NAACP: Out of Bounds * CBS Sports on the NAACP campaignIf you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

Alex, Richard, and host emeritus Steven Godfrey turn a Memorial Day subscriber mailbag into a holiday-travel episode, starting with an either/or question about Steve Sarkisian and Lincoln Riley. From there, they get into G.J. Kinne's future, Arkansas cutting and then quiickly reinstating a sport, what a 24-team Playoff might do to scheduling, how to talk about Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz in 2026, and then the important holiday matters: message boards, soccer pain, cookout tips and tricks, Alex's recent discovery of beans, and Spotify deep diving.In this episode:* 2:08: Who is under more pressure in 2026: Lincoln Riley or Steve Sarkisian? Plus: Will Muschamp's role at Texas and USC's politics around Notre Dame* 13:46: Where G.J. Kinne could go next, and which coaches might make sense for future Texas G5 openings.* 19:51: Arkansas reinstates tennis, then the conversation turns to Hunter Yurachek and athletic department accountability.* 26:44: Would a 24-team Playoff make schools schedule better non-conference games, or just change the incentive to chase automatic bids?* 33:57: Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz as case studies in how we talk about portal usage, title ceilings, and carousel smoke.* 44:52: Memorial Day light fare: Eastside LA food, message board culture, Tottenham and Valencia, cookout rules, beans, and all-time Spotify listening history. Producer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Thank you to our partners* Shop at Homefield* Learn more about Nokian TyresSubscribe to our YouTube channels Yes, we now have two! * Original short docs and fun CFB explainer vids* Our new channel just for video episodes 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Alex and Richard start with the surprise of UCLA becoming one of the offseason's best recruiting stories, then Alex brings on Ira Gorawara fromThe Athletic for a campus-level look at Bob Chesney's first few months in Westwood. This subscriber episode is about whether UCLA's current burst of money, attention, and salesmanship is the first sign that a program long trapped between Los Angeles indifference and its own underinvestment might finally be changing its shape. In this episode:* 0:00: Richard and Alex set up UCLA's recruiting surge, the money behind it, and why Los Angeles is a hard place to matter unless you are winning or selling.* 10:49: Ira Gorawara joins to explain why Bob Chesney's arrival has given the program a different feel than it had under recent coaches* 17:02: Chesney's contrast with Chip Kelly and DeShaun Foster* 22:45: Whether UCLA's donor alignment and roster spending are real enough to change the program's ceiling.* 29:17: How durable the Bruins' recruiting bump might be, and what counts as success over the long term* 34:29: The Rose Bowl vs. SoFi StadiumProducer: Anthony VitoEveryone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Alex and Richard use Richard's trip to ACC meetings as a window into the big college sports fight of the hour: how many teams will be in the College Football Playoff going forward. Then they sort through the Big Ten/SEC split over 24 teams, Ole Miss' strange week as a national punching bag in the middle of May, and Nebraska's first run-in with the new NIL enforcement system, which might be less the end of creative player payments than the start of better paperwork.In this episode:* 3:22: What Richard learned at ACC meetings, including the coming ACC tiebreaker puzzle* 7:24: Why 16 vs. 24 teams is the next Playoff fight, and how conference title games, ESPN, and FOX fit into it* 17:47: Why the Big Ten and SEC are on opposite sides of the 24-team debate* 37:25: Ole Miss catches strays from Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian* 47:22: Nebraska's rejected NIL deals, the College Sports Commission's first big test, and the future of athletic department creativityProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you'll love a paid subscription at www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribeFor $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we're making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. 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

Alex Kirshner of Split Zone Duo & Slate and Richard Johnson of CBS Sports and Split Zone Duo & Slate join Paul in the first hour of Wednesday's show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comQuick note! This is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo. You can subscribe here. Subscribers, be on the lookout on Sunday night or early Monday for the links to enter our annual bracket competition, with SZD sponsor prizes for the winners. It'll be fun! OK, here's this hoops-centric episode. College basketball has many of the same challenges as football, and some that are even tougher. Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a state of the union on CBB and a compare-contrast of how the dynamics we've observed in football are showing up in hoops. In this episode, you'll find: * 7:46: The story of Miami (Ohio), a mid-major basketball team whose undefeated regular season has resulted in an awfully CFB-like discourse about whether they should miss the NCAA tournament * 17:08: The widening gap between the high-major conferences and everyone else, quantified in real time by Rodger * 27:33: Why continuity problems appear to be worse in CBB * 41:32: Is that thing actually happening where the House settlement results in basketball-only schools having an advantage? * 45:06: We probably shouldn't actually worry that much about a small number of recent pros returning to the college game * 1:00:27: Rodger prepares us for March Madness Produced by Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or getting a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you're helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThis is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo, but everyone can listen to a free preview. Become a subscriber today by clicking on this link. In the second leg of our big offseason-opening mailbag, Richard and Alex take a big list of subscriber questions. (But first, yet another MAC head coach leaves his job and restarts the coach carousel in the process.) Among the questions answered in this episode: 7:54: Which new Sun Belt head coach is the best bet to succeed this year?* 11:05: How excited should we be about Buster Faulkner as Florida's new offensive coordinator?* 16:41: Who's having the hardest time coping with Curt Cignetti's success at Indiana? (Alex says it's Purdue fans; Richard disagrees.) * 21:50: How durable is the House settlement-generated age of parity? * 23:17: What will it take for college football players to finally be declared university employees?* 28:17: Will college football adopt transfer fees like European soccer?* 30:09: Are schools stuck in mutually assured destruction when it comes to recruiting rule enforcement?* 32:04: What happened with the major running back transfers that fizzled out this year?* 33:14: Can mid-tier power conference programs like Pitt still have breakthrough seasons in this era?* 36:05: Why can't Nebraska take the next step in NIL and rev share spending?* 39:08: How can resource-deprived programs like West Virginia compete at the highest level right now?* 43:22: Will the single transfer portal window eventually move from winter to post-spring ball?* 46:50: Will more five-star recruits pick smaller schools over Blue Bloods, and are we entering the era of the strategic redshirt?* 50:31: Does the expanded playoff put even more emphasis on having veteran starters on your roster?* 52:15: Is the Pac-12 media deal ever actually going to happen, and what's going on with the Mountain West lawsuit?* 53:19: Does the new Pac-12 have the horses to keep up with the American, and will the playoff committee treat it as a premier G6 league?* 54:00: Can the Pac-12 and Mountain West coexist, or is one conference going to have to absorb the other?* 59:19: What happens to conference championships if they get rid of conference championship games?* 1:04:07: Is the Big Ten pushing for a 24-team playoff because Fox wants to renegotiate media rights?* 1:07:57: Would you rather have the Lou Groza Award winner or the Ray Guy Award winner on your team?* 1:09:11: What will it take for spring football to succeed, and do people even want it?Then, in the FUN ROUND: * 1:10:46: Why are the swear words bleeped in the SZD podcast intro?* 1:12:24: Who's been the main character of SZD throughout its existence?* 1:14:15: For Richard: What's more likely, Dabo embracing the transfer portal or Spurs winning the Champions League?* 1:15:51: Alex, have you ever done a trail run, and do you have any advice for someone training for a trail half and a 50K?* 1:17:45: Alex, what's on your race calendar these days? Produced by Anthony Vito.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comWelcome to the rest of the college football calendar, the part when games aren't actually being played. In this quick subscriber episode, Alex and Richard debrief on the state of their CFB fandom and talk about what's both good and not good right now. Producer: Anthony Vito. This show is for paid subscribers Thanks so much to the thousands of people (!) who subscribe to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there's still a lot of news to talk about. Thanks so much and here's the subscribe link.Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel!That one's free, though:

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comTHIS IS A SUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Thanks so much to the thousands of people (!) who subscribe to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there's still a lot of news to talk about. Thanks so much and here's the subscribe link.The great Michael Felder joins Richard for a “Scheme School” episode, diving deeper into the Xs and Os of the Miami-Indiana national title game. * How Indiana avoids having any bad concepts, ever * Indiana's tight end is the most important person in the world * The familiarity between Miami's DC and Curt Cignetti * Are we sure Indiana can block those dudes up front? * Why everyone here feels pretty good about the Hoosiers, whose defensive identity involves stopping scrambles like the one Carson Beck used to beat Ole Miss in the semifinal And more! Producer: Anthony Vito

The College Football Playoff National Championship is set. Alex and Richard react to a mixed pair of semifinal games, with Miami outlasting Ole Miss and Indiana feeding Oregon into a wood chipper. In the rare Hurry-Up recorded from a live studio (or at least living room), we discuss: * 18:37: Miami 31, Ole Miss 27* 01:03: Indiana 56 (!), Oregon 22 Producer: Anthony Vito Become a paid subscriberWe are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there's still a lot of news to talk about.Thanks to our partners and subscribers* 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD* https://www.nokiantyres.com/szd* Shop Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/* Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Once upon a time, Ole Miss picked segregation and the Stars and Bars over being good at football. Indiana picked basketball over being good at football. Miami never really chose not to be good at football, but made a series of mistakes and ran up against difficult modern realities that caused a long drought. Meanwhile, the story of Phil Knight rescuing Oregon is now so old-fashioned it's basically quaint. In this subscriber episode, Richard and Alex talk about how the four 2025 Playoff semifinalists got out of their own way. The second half of this audio file (starting at 39:43) is a resurfacing of our “Dead Letters” episode about the history of Ole Miss football, featuring Alex and Steven Godfrey. We've gotten a lot of new listeners since the episode came out in 2023 and wanted to make sure those folks had a chance to hear it. Find all Dead Letters shows here. Producer: Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode of SZD We are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there's still a lot of news to talk about.We'll do a lot of that exclusively for subscribers. Thanks to everyone who's already joined us, and if you haven't yet, we think you'll enjoy it if you check it out. Good for the soul but also good for the podcast queue.

Richard and Alex talk about the absurd FCS Championship that ended with Montana State claiming the national title over Illinois State. Then it's time to preview the College Football Playoff semifinals in a lot of detail. * 2:30 FCS Championship * 15:42 Ole Miss vs. Miami * 33:52 Oregon vs. Indiana * 52:15 NFL playoff takes Producer: Anthony Vito. Become a paid subscriber in 2026! We are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there's still a lot of news to talk about. We'll do a lot of that exclusive for subscribers. Thanks to everyone who's already joined us, and if you haven't yet, we think you'll enjoy it if you check it out. Good for the soul but also good for the podcast queue. Thank you to Split Zone Duo's sponsors * 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD* https://www.nokiantyres.com/szd* Shop Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/* Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL 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

Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025.  Guest:  Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025.  Guest:  Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025.  Guest:  Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025.  Guest:  Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for an awards show: The 2025-26 Coach Carousel Superlatives. Split Zone Duo hands out the following sought-after honors: * The Trent Dilfer Award for Bungled Hiring Process * The Deion Sanders Award for Celebrity Coach Hiring* The Ed Orgeron Award for Interim Coach Promotions * The Curt Cignetti Award for Best Hire from the Group of Five or FCS * The Indiana Football Award for a Program's Demonstration of Newfound Seriousness * The Retread of the Year * The Todd Graham Award for Sleaziest Departure from a Job * The “It's Definitely Gonna Work” Hire * The “It's Definitely Not” Hire Some eligibility notes: For obvious reasons, we are excluding Michigan from these superlatives. Also, the carousel never really stops now. But much like the Oscars, if the movie didn't come out by a certain point, it can't win that year's award. These are two awards shows of similar stature, we feel. Producer: Anthony Vito. Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode, which is for paid subscribersDo you enjoy Split Zone Duo? Do you want to get something like twice as many episodes of the podcast, including the vast majority of our coaching carousel podcasts and many historical retrospectives? If so, we think you'll really enjoy becoming a paid subscriber. It's a great holiday gift for yourself, or for the college football podcast obsessive in your life. Yep, we have gift subs. Subscriptions cost $10 a month and grant you hours of podcasts, plus the priceless feeling of supporting an independent CFB podcast and keeping it sustainable.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comEvery rivalry has a story, and the one between Montana and Montana State is REALLY good. Kevin Van Valkenburg, the former Griz linebacker and ESPN writer and current Fried Egg Golf content director, joins Alex and Richard to talk about what this series means to his home state. How do Griz and Bobcat fans view each other? How does Missoula vs. Bozeman play into this? How did a 16-year Montana win streak change the rivalry for the future? And what's with the “Brawl of the Wild” nickname, which didn't always exist?Subscribers get the full episode. Thanks to everyone who's joined us this year. By subscribing, you make this show a sustainable operation, and you also get a lot more Split Zone Duo. Subscriptions cost $10 a month or $110 for the year, and we're proud to have extremely low cancel rates as people try it out and enjoy it. You can subscribe at this link.Producer: Anthony Vito

Split Zone Duo previews every team in the 2025 College Football Playoff. Next on the list: The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes. Can these guys win a national championship despite barely making the field? We both think so. Thanks to Modelo, the Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff. Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL 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

Welcome to Split Zone Duo's College Football Playoff Preview, presented by Modelo. We're running short previews to get you acquainted with all 12 teams in the field, and we're starting this series with the JMU Dukes. How did these guys get good? What is Bob Chesney's deal? And can they win a game? Thanks to Modelo, the Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff. Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER SHOW: Our Richard Johnson made his debut as a sideline reporter for CBS Sports on Saturday, interviewing players and coaches and providing insight from the field during the Air Force vs. UConn game. In this bonus episode for subscribers, Richard goes solo to talk about what he learned: how the prep works and what it's like to do the job. If you wanna know what the job entails, we hope you enjoy a BTS.This is a subscriber episode Everyone can hear a free preview. To get many, many more podcasts from Split Zone Duo, consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Your subscriptions allow us to make this show, and you also get a lot more of this show.www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThe 2025 UMass Minutemen are making a strong case for the title of “worst FBS team in modern history.” You might THINK that's because the Minutemen don't have any money, but you'd be wrong. Rodger Sherman and Alex Kirshner interview Michael Traini, publisher of UMass 247Sports site Fight Massachusetts, about how UMass got to this point. How did this team go from an FCS national champ to an FBS wanderer with no clear plan, no accountability, and waning fan support? We'll give you the full story.This is the latest in a Split Zone Duo subscriber series, “Why You're Always Bad”Previously, we've covered:* Kent State* Rice* ULMSubscribers can listen to all of these episodes and our entire catalog. Now's a great time to join for $10 a month or $110 a year and get lots more SZD. And if you just want to support this podcast, we now have a “founding member” option where you can pay whatever Split Zone Duo is worth to you.Producer: Anthony Vito

The reason why Mullsy knows so much about College Football this season, Alex Kirshner joins the show! He talks the potential quarterback change at Pitt. What has gone wrong so far this year in the first four games? He says it is not all on him and some of the blame should fall on Kade Bell. He says that a "total bottoming out" is hard to see in the ACC for Pitt. Does Penn State have a James Franklin or Drew Allar problem?

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comWelcome to “The Job,” a new recurring series from Split Zone Duo in which Richard and Alex go through the ins and outs of open college football coaching job. UCLA fired DeShaun Foster, which means the Bruins are once again looking for a coach to take advantage of the good parts of this gig without succumbing to the bad parts of it. But it's been a while since anything has worked. In this episode, Richard and Alex discuss:* Why Foster became the latest UCLA coach to flop* The financial challenges, and non-financial challenges, of the job* What UCLA still has going for it, despite all of that* What “fit” looks like at a school that's tried a lot of late-career retreads but just fell flat with a beloved son getting his first HC job* Verdict time: Good job, bad job, or circumstantial job?This episode is for paid subscriber. Everyone can hear a free preview. Paid subscribers will get many more of these bonus episodes—and others—as the coaching carousel continues to spin.

If you're a college football junkie, you're likely familiar with Richard Johnson's work with CBS Sports and the SplitZoneDuo podcast/substack. Like most in the national media, Richard has been wholly fascinated by Bill Belichick's hire at UNC. He joins Joey Powell to discuss what the Belichick Model and culture might look like and how it may work in Chapel Hill. You can see Richard and the Split Zone Duo crew in-person, along with other Sports Podcasts at the SportsPodCastFest in Raleigh on August the 23rd at the Rialto Theatre. The Inside Carolina Podcast network features a wide range of current UNC sports topics, from game previews and instant postgame analysis, to recruiting breakdowns. IC's stable of writers, insiders and analysts -- plus special guests -- comprise each program.

Wwwwwwwelcome! to a MINIATURE SATURDAY SHUTDOWN FULLCAST PRESEASON SURPRISEYou might have guessed from the episode title, but this here is our guide to the 2025 Homefield Can't Miss Kickoff Tour, presented by ModeloWhat is the 2025 Homefield Can't Miss Kickoff Tour, presented by Modelo? Listen to the episode!Check out alleged other podcasts Phantom Island and Split Zone Duo to learn about the rest of the tourThat thing about Alex's wedding is not a joke, btwFullcast theme song arranged and performed by Wes HuntSubscribe to our new $4 Patreon for more Fullcast stuff big and small, including After Dark episodes each CFB weekendCheck out Surber's band, Killer Antz and his new show, PodcasterinoListen to Phantom Island, Ryan's new show with Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Jason's critically praised novel and other workDID YOU KNOW: Holly and Spencer write Channel 6, their own year-round newsletter, concerning football and also unfootball thingsAs always, visit HOMEFIELDAPPAREL DOT COM for all your comfy vintage oh-fficially licensed collegiate apparel needs

Our partners at Homefield have seen a lot of you on the road in recent years. They're getting back on the trail this fall for the Homefield Can't Miss Kickoff Tour, presented by Modelo, and we're sharing news of the first three stops on the tour in Tallahassee (weekend of 8/30), Philadelphia (weekend of 9/13), and Bloomington (weekend of 9/20). You can get much, much more information on this tour here and get the rest of the reveal from our friends' shows, the Shutdown Fullcast and Phantom Island. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comListen to Alex's extended-cut interview with Miami University play-by-play announcer Steve Baker, for Split Zone Duo subscribers. Listen to the full “Dead Letters” episode about Miami and the Cradle of Coaches here.

Miami University went on an unprecedented run of hiring coaches: Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, and many more: . By 2003, with Ben Roethlisberger behind center, the RedHawks were the best program outside the power conference. Then trouble hit, both for Miami and the MAC. Split Zone Duo's paid subscribers can listen to an extended cut of our interview with Steve Baker, the longtime voice of the RedHawks. Subscribe now.Listen to all 10 episodes of Dead Letters There's now a standalone podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, and the other major podcasting apps. It's got a handful of free episodes, and subscribers can set up their personal feeds in their publication settings. It's very easy from here. Set up your premium episode feed the same way you set up your regular SZD feed: Dead Letters is a Split Zone Duo series about when bad things happen to great college football programs. In the series' first 10 episodes, we've covered the rise and fall of teams like Tulane, Nebraska, Florida A&M, Ole Miss, and the entire Southern Conference. These episodes are all in the Split Zone Duo podcast feed, and we have made a handful of them (including this one) free. To listen to the full catalog of Dead Letters, become a paid subscriber. Want all of the Dead Letters episodes in one tidy podcast feed on your preferred listening app? Good news: You can now do that on all major podcasting apps. Welcome to Split Zone Duo RELAUNCH WEEKWe'll have new episodes every single day this week. Relaunch Week is our unofficial season kickoff, and it's an excellent time to become a paid subscriber and roughly double the number of podcasts you'll get from us during the season.Paid subscribers can listen to the extended-cut interview I did with Miami play-by-play announcer Steve Baker about the history of the RedHawks. More college football history 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

Shehan Jeyarajah, college football writer for CBS Sports, returns to the show to join Alex and Richard for a meaty preview of the Big 12. You may enjoy Shehan's recent report on the details behind Texas Tech's NIL boom. In this preview:* Arizona State loses Cam Skattebo but still has so much returning from a team that nearly made the playoff semifinals* Iowa State has questions … and probably answers* Cincinnati likely has its best team under Scott Satterfield, which isn't saying a ton but could still be fun* Colorado probably (famous last words) will be less of a media circus* Baylor has huge upside with a full year of Sawyer Robertson at QB* Kansas State needs a less sloppy season from Avery Johnson* BYU's linebackers rock, but the QB situation does not* Oklahoma State asks: Does Mike Gundy have one last job in him?* UCF reunites with Scott Frost but may find that the world has changed* Texas Tech spent millions of dollars on the No. 2 transfer portal class. Shehan explains the nuts and bolts of how the Red Raiders are trying to get a bang for their buck, and the group talks about reasonable expectations* WVU has Richard deeply intrigued as Rich Rodriguez comes home* TCU can't waste a quarterback like Josh Hoover* Kansas has Jalon Daniels back, a solid defense, and medical questions* Houston brings on Conner Weigman, who's hoping for a better second act* Arizona might no longer be the offense-first dynamo we thought they were* Utah should be much better … but how much better?We then award Big 12 preseason awards such as the Split Zone Duo Dude of the Year, the Low-Key Cool Game of the Year, and the Coach Who's Most Likely Not to Return. Thanks to Shehan for joining us and to you for listening.Tell us why you love college footballLeave us a voicemail, and we may include it in an upcoming show. You can leave us this voicemail in one of two ways:* Calling our Google Voice number: +1 201-429-5147* Submitting via this link: https://voicecast.app/szdLet us know your favorite team if you've got one, and leave your name or don't. We just want to hear why you enjoy the sport.Cool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Producer: Anthony Vito 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

Conference previews continue with the MAC. Alex and Richard break down every team in the league, including new entrant UMass:* Toledo still has the best hand* Miami is poised to contend (again) after getting portal-raided (again)* Buffalo is in a great place after the first year of Pete Lembo* Ohio defends its first MAC championship in decades and enters the season with one of the most fun QBs in college football, Parker Navarro* NIU loses pretty much everything ahead of its last year in the conference* Eastern Michigan has a great returning receiver, and what else?* Bowling Green brings on Eddie George in one of most interesting coach moves of the year* UMass returns to the MAC after a decade away … and we find ourselves more optimistic about the Minutemen than we've ever been* Western Michigan might have this year's Harold Fannin Jr.* Central Michigan is doing something different with new coach Matt Drinkall, and that's all you can ask* Same for Ball State under new hire Mike Uremovich* Akron appears to be a bleak situation* Kent State undoubtedly isPlus, preseason superlatives for the Mid-American.Catch up on all of our conference previewsSo far, we've done these:* Pac-12 and FBS independents* Sun BeltCool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Producer: Anthony Vito 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

The 8am hour of Wednesday's Mac & Cube kept on with Richard Johnson, from CBS Sports & Split Zone Duo podcast, telling us why Texas is the team to beat, and which teams will clearly go backwards in 2025; then, Kalen DeBoer takes the podium to preview the Alabama 2025 season; and later, the give reveal their takeaways from hearing DeBoer twice this morning, like Kalen bringing up their shortcomings from 2024. "McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning" airs 7am-10am weekdays on WJOX-94.5! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Split Zone Duo's conference previews for 2025 keep rolling along with a two-parter: the Pac-12 and the FBS independents, whose ranks have thinned.* Oregon State might finally (finally!) be poised for stability and growth* Washington State faces a similar crisis to the one OSU faced last year, although the Cougs have a few reasons for optimism as they prepare to take a big chunk of the best program in FCS and import it to FBS* Jim Mora has the UConn Huskies in just about the best place possible* Why this one feels like a “win the national title or bust” year for Notre Dame—or at least get back to the semifinalsCool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey joins Alex and Richard for the third installment in our offseason series, “Why You're Always Bad.” This episode is about ULM, formerly known as Northeast Louisiana State. The Warhawks are perhaps the most consistently bad team in the top division of college football, which raises the question of why they're at that level in the first place. It turns out there's an answer. In this episode, the Split Zone Duo crew discusses:* ULM's struggle to define its identity, literally* The program's rise from junior colleague to I-AA to the big time* The fatal error in ULM's move to FBS, and how a series of predictable (and some unpredictable) events made things worse* The rare good times and why ULM hasn't been able to capitalize on them* The lesson for others in the Warhawks' strugglesSCROLL DOWN IN YOUR PODCAST FEED to find our similar subscriber episodes in this series on Rice (published May 12) and Kent State (published February 26).This episode of Split Zone Duo is for our paid subscribers, without whom the podcast wouldn't exist. We thank you! And if you're interested in becoming a paid subscriber, now's a great time. It costs $10 a month and we are currently offering free trials, as well as a free preview snippet of this episode. You can join us at www.splitzoneduo.com

Season previews are back! Richard and Alex go alphabetically through the whole Sun Belt, picking out one rose, one bud, and one thorn for all 14 schools, from Appalachian State to Troy. In this episode:* App State hits the reset button* Coastal Carolina should be feeling some urgency* Georgia Southern extended Clay Helton and kept its roster together, so why aren't we feeling so good about the Eagles?* Georgia State's recruiting growth under Dell McGee is in bloom* JMU has every chance to contend for the G5 playoff spot* Marshall follows a Sun Belt championship with a whole lot of uncertainty, but at least one thing about the Herd should be cool* ODU gets back its star linebacker after a lost season* Arkansas State has one of the G5's best receivers … and a date with the Hogs* Louisiana appears most of the way back, three years after Billy Napier left* ULM has immense challenges but a reason or two for belief* South Alabama loses a star running back and its starting QB but gains a Major League ballplayer, among others* Southern Miss, which went 1-11, is sort of the defending champ* Texas State has the opportunity to put it all together* Troy looks at some regression to the mean, but how much more than that?Then we pick some preseason superlatives to close out the first preview of 2025.Cool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners:* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Producer: Anthony Vito 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comFor the Fourth of July, we look all the way back to the founding of … college football. Richard and Alex pick and debate the defining teams of each decade of the sport's history, starting with one year of the 1860s and rolling through the 2010s. Remember that “defining team” is usually complimentary, but not always. Without spoiling any of the discussion, this show features: * Rutgers vs. Princeton for the crown of the 1860s * Yale's case against everybody for the later 1800s * Why Michigan's 1900s was even more impressive than you think* Georgia Tech vs. the advent of the forward pass in the 1910s * That classic college football matchup: Alabama vs. Cal, for the ‘20s* Someone likes Pitt for the 1930s, and it's not Alex* Did the 1940s belong to Army and Navy, or did they belong to the school that best manipulated the rules meant to help people from the army and navy? * Why there will never be another program like 1950s Oklahoma, ever* A curveball for the ‘60s, but definitely not for the ‘70s * Penn State vs. SMU for the ‘80s * A brutal Nebraska vs. Florida State vs. Miami vs. Florida race for the ‘90s* In the 2000s, a chance to go off the beaten path instead of just picking Florida or USC: Will we take it? * No need to complicate the 2010s This is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo.Everyone can listen to a free preview of this show, and we offer weeklong free trials if you want to try us out. It's a great time of year to do it, and you can get a month free with an annual subscription. Thank you for listening, and we hope you have a great holiday weekend. Producer: Anthony Vito

Around 20 FBS coaches will retire or get fired by the end of this season, but which ones will they be? Alex and Richard pick out 23 names and rank them from least to most likely to be entering their last season on the job. Then we talk about the context, especially in the handful of cases with big differences in our rankings. Plus, everyone gets buyer's remorse at least once.This episode is free for all. For the most part, however, we release our discussions of the coach carousel for our SplitZoneDuo.com subscribers. Now's a great time to sign up for the year and get lots of podcasts during the season:Sports Podcast Festival on August 23, with code SPF25 for a buy one, get one half off deal: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/78691649/the-2nd-annual-sports-podcast-festival-raleigh-the-rialto Cool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Production: Anthony Vito. 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

Part 1: EA Sports College Football principal game designer Ben Haumiller joins Alex and Richard for a discussion of the upcoming CFB video game, with a focus on Dynasty mode and lessons learned from last year's long-awaited return.* What EA learned from the best-selling sports game of all time* The easier and more difficult parts of releasing a second game* How the new game will (and, most importantly, won't) include microtransactions* Real-life coaches and how they'll change the dynasty experience* Addressing to Alex's specific complaints about the coach carousel* Balancing the competing desires of having a realistic game, but also a game in which UMass can eventually sign a bunch of five-stars* Getting the transfer portal and recruiting right* The challenges of keeping up with a sport that is endlessly changing, especially the playoff systemPart 2 of our discussion with Ben, coming later this week, is a listener Q&A just for our SplitZoneDuo.com subscribers. We'd love to have you!Come see us live at the Sports Podcast Festival on August 23 in Raleigh. Use code SPF25 for a buy-one, get-one-half-off deal: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/78691649/the-2nd-annual-sports-podcast-festival-raleigh-the-rialto Cool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Production: Anthony Vito. 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

Alex Kirshner from Split Zone Duo joins the show to discuss all the latest news across college football. Plus more of your phone calls and reactions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex and Richard discuss a handful of offseason stories:* The Pac-12's expansion efforts are coming to a head, and Texas State—not Sacramento State—appears to be the apple of the league's eye. Extra Points publisher Matt Brown joins to talk about why Sac State's extremely public campaign for FBS membership has not paid dividends. Read Matt's report on the Hornets' looming move to FCS independence.* The House settlement is now official, and depending on who you talk to, it's either an ironclad new system to regulate the college football economy or a house of cards just waiting to be toppled. Justin Williams, a college football reporter for The Athletic, explains these competitive views. Read his recent story: “Return of the bag man: NIL clearinghouse could revive paying college athletes under table.” (Of course, also read Godfrey's old classic.)* Playoff expansion might be stalemated, and there's a surprising group of people at the heart of the resistance: SEC head coaches. What?* Cal joins Stanford in putting a famous alum in charge of the whole football program, not as head coach but as general manager. What are the ramifications sport-wide, and what is specific to the Bay Area schools? Refer back to our subscriber episode on Cal's tumultuous offseason.Sports Podcast Festival tickets for 8/23 (use code SPF25 for a buy-one, get-one-half-off deal): https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/78691649/the-2nd-annual-sports-podcast-festival-raleigh-the-rialtoCool stuff from Split Zone Duo's partners* Use SZD20 for 20% off your first order at Homefield.* Enter your favorite CFB road trip at our Nokian Tyres landing page, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tires.Production: Anthony Vito. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRichard and Alex take subscriber questions on: * How to assess if a school's FCS-to-FBS transition is in a good place or not, especially if it takes a little bit to win any games * The big business of college football data distribution * The endless (?) expansion of eligibility for old players * Why the SEC owns the offseason every year and the Big Ten doesn't * The wisdom of Power 2 schools like Mississippi State throwing House settlement dollars into sports other than football * Richard trading a Florida basketball title for football * Do recent moves at Georgia Tech and UVA say anything about the ACC's financial shortfall? * If more programs will have general managers in charge soon, a la Andrew Luck and Ron Rivera at Stanford and CalProducer: Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo.Everyone can listen to a free preview, and we offer weeklong free trials if you want to try us out. Help us make the show and get a lot more of it!Producer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIn this week's CFB Lunch Break, Alex and Richard answer live questions from Split Zone Duo subscribers:* What to make of Luke Fickell's mediocre first two years at Wisconsin and a challenging situation in Year 3* Ohio State/Texas scheduling fight* Florida's upside this fall* What Penn State actually needs from Drew Allar* The cloudy landscape of G5 position player talent* What's behind TNT's weird College Football Playoff TV arrangement* Nebraska and Clemson offseason vapors* UCLA: Glass half full?* Notre Dame's reasonable goals* Michigan State hiring Georgia Tech's athletic director* The air raid is dead. Long live the air raidProducer: Anthony VitoHosts: Alex Kirshner, Richard JohnsonReminder: Split Zone Duo LIVE in Raleigh, August 23 Details here. Tickets here.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSplit Zone Duo State is the newest startup FBS program. We've got our coach, but now we need a staff. Blueprint Sports head of analytics Parker Fleming joins the show to help Richard break down who to hire, and the roles that need filling, to build SZD State into a title contender. For additional (free) listening on this topic, see our March 2024 episode: “The NFL-ification of college recruiting.” This is a special episode for Split Zone Duo's paid subscribers. Get started with a free trial.Plus, everyone can hear a free preview.Also this week for SZD subscribers:

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRichard and Alex take live questions from our Split Zone Duo subscribers. Topics covered in this episode include:* The slightly messy ending between Jim Knowles and Ohio State* What we're most excited about in the 2025 season* More developments in Bill Belichick/Jordon Hudson* Rapid scheme turnover, like Washington State will see this year* Playoff expansion's effect on SEC expansion* Lincoln Riley and USC say they want to preserve their Notre Dame rivalry game, but Riley's old words and current actions say different* Duke as an ACC dark horse* How cooked is Virginia Tech?* New athletic director at Michigan State: Why?* Maryland's business-ish approach to filling the AD chair* Likelier to get fired or win their conference? Mike Gundy, Brian Kelly, Lincoln Riley, and Mike NorvellCollege Football Lunch Break is a recurring live call that we have at 12 p.m. ET on many Tuesdays in the Substack app. Subscribers get a recording afterward.Producer: Anthony Vito