Mackenzie Brooks joins Chris Childers on Show Pony Live to preview the weekend’s biggest games, weigh the playoff stakes, and discuss who we trust—and who could be headed for trouble. We make our predictions and get you ready for another Saturday of college football.

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Somewhere in college sports, somebody needs to put down the coaching hot board and pick up the congressional calendar.

Tuesday’s election could have enormous consequences for this industry. Democrats won control of the House and Senate, with Senate victories reaching into Texas and South Carolina. Yes, SEC country. Associated Press

The people running college sports have spent years asking Washington to help stabilize their business. Now the people they must negotiate with are about to change.

If the Protect College Sports Act doesn’t become law before this Congress ends, the next negotiation could come with a very different set of demands.

That should get the attention of every commissioner, athletic director, booster and coaching agent in America.

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Let’s get an important fact straight: this was never an exclusively Republican bill.

The Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act 77–22 on September 28. Maria Cantwell was a central Democratic negotiator alongside Ted Cruz, and several other Democrats co-sponsored it. Any argument that she was the only Democrat involved falls apart immediately. Senate Commerce Committee

That bipartisan work matters. It also makes the question facing college sports more interesting: can its leaders preserve that coalition as power changes hands?

There is a difference between negotiating a bipartisan bill and publicly attaching your industry’s rescue mission to a president.

At the March White House college sports roundtable, Donald Trump sat with the sport’s most powerful figures, including Greg Sankey, Nick Saban and Cody Campbell. Lori Trahan was the only Democratic lawmaker present. Current college athletes were absent.

That was a choice about whose voices belonged in the room.

I understand pursuing the people who hold power. Republicans controlled Congress and the White House. Of course college sports leaders were going to work with them.

But I’ve been warning about the danger of getting too comfortable with one political camp. I once made that argument and got told I was being too political.

When commissioners ask politicians to write the rules governing athlete compensation, transfers and the economics of the sport, politics is already part of the story. Examining their strategy is part of covering college sports.

You can’t invite Washington to help run your business and then act offended when somebody asks what happens after an election.

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There is still time for the current Congress to act. The House is expected to revisit the legislation during its lame-duck session, and its prospects remain uncertain.

But “before the holidays” is shorthand. The actual deadline is the end of this Congress in January. If the bill hasn’t become law, legislation must be introduced again in the new Congress. If the House changes the Senate’s text, both chambers must agree on the same version before it can reach the president.

So I’m not declaring the bill dead. A 77-vote Senate coalition is a substantial achievement.

I am saying that unfinished business becomes somebody else’s negotiating opportunity.

Democratic control will give Democrats more ability to decide which proposals receive hearings, what reaches the floor and what protections they demand in exchange for their votes. It won’t make them unanimous, erase Senate procedural hurdles or remove Trump’s veto.

Nor does one terrible election for Republicans mean Trump has no power left. He remains president. His signature still matters.

But access to him cannot substitute for agreement with the people who will control Congress.

And we already have a concrete example of how different that conversation could become.

During the Senate debate, Cory Booker offered an amendment that would have capped institution-paid coaching compensation at $5 million annually under new agreements and generally limited buyouts to one year’s compensation. It failed, 47–52. That cap is not in the Senate-passed bill. Congressional Record, September 28

Nobody should read that and conclude a coaching salary cap is now inevitable. It isn’t. Even Democrats differed: Cantwell voted against that amendment.

But the proposal exists. The argument behind it is easy for fans to understand: if college sports needs Washington to restrain spending on players, why should the adults’ compensation escape comparable scrutiny?

Could Jimmy Sexton eventually have more reason to worry about this election than some of the politicians who lost?

That’s a joke. Mostly. The serious point is that asking Congress to regulate your industry means accepting that lawmakers might regulate something you wanted left alone.

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This is also why I’ll be watching how the sport talks about collective bargaining.

Negotiating compensation and working conditions with athletes raises real legal and organizational challenges, especially across public and private universities. An election doesn’t make those disappear.

But incentives change. If congressional help becomes less attractive to the people running the sport, will negotiating directly with athletes suddenly become a more appealing option?

That’s a question worth asking. Watch whether the willingness to solve the complications changes when the alternatives change.

There is a state-level story here, too, but precision matters.

A Democratic U.S. senator from South Carolina does not take over the state’s university boards. A new governor in Texas does not take over the SEC.

Texas is the more direct governance development: incoming governor Gina Hinojosa will have appointment and veto powers, although their practical reach will depend on state law, vacancies and the legislature. University leadership changes through those processes, not overnight.

For Sankey and the SEC, the immediate lesson is straightforward: even the political map around your own campuses can change. Relationships with elected officials need to survive that change.

I’m not arguing that college sports should have bet everything on Democrats instead. I’m arguing that an industry asking for lasting federal rules needs lasting relationships across party lines—and a proposal that can survive scrutiny from people who care as much about athletes’ rights as institutional control.

The Senate coalition proves that cooperation is possible. The election makes preserving it more urgent.

College sports may still get Washington’s help.

But the people who have spent years asking for it should prepare to hear a question they may not enjoy answering:

What are you willing to give up to get it?

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Shit is going to hit the fan if Alabama loses this weekend.

It won’t be a damn picnic for Lane Kiffin if LSU loses, either. But a third Alabama loss? That becomes something much bigger than a bad Saturday in Baton Rouge.

It becomes confirmation for everyone who has already decided the era of elite Alabama football is over. That the program which spent years deciding who else was allowed to matter is now just another team fighting for its daily bread.

A Jean Valjean dropped into a real-life Hunger Games. Proud, powerful, battered and wondering how the hell it got here.

Yes, I just combined Les Misérables and the Hunger Games to explain Alabama football. Stay with me.

Win, and everybody can breathe. The playoff path looks inviting again. The bye week helped. Kalen DeBoer has the thing pointed in the right direction. We can all return to discussing football instead of the collapse of civilization.

Lose, and things get weird.

Alabama cannot handle weird.

It knew how to handle a disappointing afternoon under Nick Saban because there was always Nick Saban standing there afterward. The man was his own reassurance. A loss could feel like a correction on the way to something bigger. Saban always said, "Never waste a loss."

DeBoer doesn’t get that protection. Every loss invites a referendum on whether Alabama is still Alabama.

And the unfairness of that job starts with the two men everybody wants him to be.

Bear Bryant. Nick Saban. Pick one, or you aren’t good enough.

Saban won seven national championships, six at Alabama. He built that machine in the modern media era, with every practice report, recruiting decision and dissatisfied backup available for public consumption. The development was incredible. The expectations became permanent.

The advantages did not.

The rules changed. Players have more freedom. Money moves differently. Other schools can buy opportunities that Alabama once made seem exclusive to Tuscaloosa. Being Alabama still means an awful lot. It just doesn’t exempt you from the fight anymore.

That’s what makes Saturday so fascinating. DeBoer is trying to win a football game. A whole lot of people will be watching to decide whether an entire way of life has ended.

Meanwhile, Kiffin has won two straight and suddenly everybody on the bayou is ready to throw a parade.

Funny how quickly the existential crisis changes sidelines.

Coming next: what Alabama’s injuries explain—and what they don’t; the Kiffin mood swing; how Toney’s injury changes Notre Dame and the Heisman; why I’m picking Stockstill; NC State’s celebrity search; and whether Jimmy Sexton should be watching Congress.

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November is here, and college football is giving us one hell of a weekend.

On today’s show, I dug into the games, the stakes and the stories that make this sport so much fun. We start with a question in Columbus that goes well beyond the quarterback.

Ohio State has to help Luke Fahey

You can’t ask a young quarterback to suddenly become Julian Sayin. You have to give him a chance to become comfortable being himself.

How does Ohio State do that? Better protection. A dependable running game. Throws that establish rhythm. And getting Jeremiah Smith involved in ways that give Fahey a clear answer when things start moving fast.

Rick and I have talked about the timing and footwork involved. Those details matter. So does having the best players around a young quarterback take some ownership of helping him through it.

With Oregon coming to town, Ohio State needs to find those answers quickly.

Notre Dame–Miami: Somebody can make a statement

The history gets your attention. The stakes keep it.

This is an opportunity for somebody to deliver a performance that changes how we talk about them for the rest of November.

I also spent time on Mario Cristobal and why Miami has built a winner. The recruiting matters, obviously. But so does assembling a program capable of handling expectations and finding ways to win when everything doesn’t go perfectly.

Now comes a massive examination in South Bend. What would a win mean for Miami? What would it tell us about Notre Dame? We get into all of it.

Rick Stockstill gets his first crack

You know where my heart is on this one.

Stock gets his first opportunity as Florida State’s interim head coach against Boston College, and this MTSU guy will be rooting like hell for him.

Beyond the personal connection, I’m interested in the response. How does the team play for him? Can he bring some steadiness to a difficult situation? Can the players turn a fresh start into something tangible on the field?

And there’s plenty more

We also preview:

• BYU–Utah: The Holy War with enormous stakes.

• Alabama–LSU: Two programs facing a pivotal November afternoon.

• Georgia–Ole Miss: A major opportunity in Oxford.

• Kentucky–Tennessee: A fascinating test at Neyland.

• Texas–Missouri, Iowa–Northwestern and more from the Week 10 schedule.

Hit play and join the conversation. Which game are you most looking forward to—and who needs a win the most?

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There are weeks when the hardest part of my job is figuring out what deserves three hours.

Then there are weeks like this, when I need somebody to explain how the hell we’re supposed to fit everything into three hours.

Alabama–LSU. Kentucky–Tennessee. Georgia–Ole Miss. The Holy War. Ohio State–Oregon. And Miami–Notre Dame, a game that practically walks into the studio carrying its own documentary.

Oh, and Florida State has an open coaching job.

Perfect. Very quiet week. Plenty of room for everyone’s thoughts.

This is the part of hosting a national show that I absolutely love. It’s also the part that requires more thought than you might realize when you turn on the radio.

Because somewhere, somebody is listening and wondering why we haven’t talked about their team.

And honestly? Sometimes they have a point.

(Above clip is an example of Neuheisel as a teacher)

You’re trying to cover an entire country. Different conferences, different stakes, different fan bases, all convinced—and understandably so—that the most interesting thing in college football is happening in their town.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting next to Rick Neuheisel, who might hear one thing and take us somewhere I hadn’t even considered.

That’s often when the show gets really good.

My job is to make room for that without forgetting where we were supposed to go.

You need a plan. You also need to know when to get out of its way.

Rick likes things to happen organically.

If a conversation is going somewhere interesting, he wants to follow it. I do, too. Nobody wants to hear me interrupt a great story because I’ve decided it’s time to dutifully march to the next item on my list.

But you still need a list. You need priorities. You need some idea of what you’re trying to give the audience.

Otherwise, you look up and realize you’ve spent half the show on something that probably deserved eight minutes.

I can love a tangent with the best of them. That doesn’t mean every tangent needs its own ZIP code. Although I would bet mos most of you would say, Chris, follow your own advice. You wouldn’t be wrong, lol!

The balance is having enough structure to know what matters and enough flexibility to recognize when something better is happening in front of you.

That applies to a podcast, too. Sometimes you have even less time to work with. A team-specific show at least knows the audience arrived wanting that team. When you cast a wider net, you have to give people reasons to care about stories outside their own backyard.

That’s storytelling. And this week gives us a ridiculous amount to work with.

First, a very important hot honey interruption.

Since we’re going behind the scenes, here’s something you should know: my obsession with AR’s Hot Southern Honey has become a whole thing.

I was at a restaurant today and saw the popular competing brand being served.

I was appalled.

Yes, I understand that is a dramatic response to a condiment. I stand by it.

There’s vinegar in that one, by the way. I want the honey and the pepper doing their thing. Give me AR’s. The REAL DEAL!

If you own a restaurant, run a kitchen, or know somebody who does, please try this stuff. Put it on your chicken. Your pizza. Your biscuits. Taste what it does for the food you already make.

They have foodservice sizes, including gallons. This isn’t just me telling you to keep a little bottle in the pantry. I’m telling you I think your restaurant needs to give it a shot.

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They’re a proud founding sponsor of Show Pony Media, and I’m proud to have them. Supporting these folks helps me keep making the shows and stories you get here.

Now, back to the other thing I’m irrationally invested in.

Miami–Notre Dame deserves room to breathe.

Some games you can cover by talking about the quarterbacks, the lines of scrimmage and what’s at stake.

Miami–Notre Dame needs more.

You have to explain why people of a certain age hear those two names together and immediately feel something. Why an old T-shirt still lives in the sport’s memory. That part deserves lots of reverence.

But you also have to cover the teams playing now.

That’s where preparation and guest selection matter.

Aaron Taylor was on today. Here’s a guy who can help tell the Notre Dame side of that story and, through his work as a CBS analyst, bring a current football perspective to it.

Ian Fitzsimmons was on, too, coming off calling Miami’s win over North Carolina on the radio. He just saw them. That gives us another way into the conversation beyond what everybody watched on a screen or read in a box score.

Those are different contributions. I want both.

I want the history to give the game weight. I want the current analysis to explain what we’re actually about to watch.

And I find Mario Cristobal interesting in that context. His own path included seriously pursuing a career in the Secret Service before football became his life’s work. He also knows what it feels like to get fired: FIU let him go after he had taken that program to consecutive bowls. That decision still baffles me.

The guy has had to work his way through some things.

There’s a story there. Let it breathe.

Rick has changed the way I watch football.

After all these years sitting beside Rick, I can tell you this without hesitation: I see the game differently because of him.

I still get emotional. I still have opinions. You’re not going to turn me into a spreadsheet with a microphone.

But I ask more questions.

A quarterback plays poorly.

Why?

A coach wins nine games one year and struggles the next.

Why?

An offense that looked terrific a month ago suddenly can’t get out of its own way.

What changed?

Finishing my master’s sharpened that appetite for explanation. Working with Rick keeps feeding it.

So much sports conversation starts with the result and gets to the verdict in about four seconds.

He stinks. Fire him. Bench him. Overrated. Fraud.

Sometimes criticism is deserved. Sometimes a coach really did screw something up.

But I’d like to understand what happened before we start handing out sentences.

Who left the roster? Who got hurt? How much continuity is there on the staff? What is the quarterback being asked to do? What can the program actually afford compared with the teams it’s trying to beat?

Those variables matter.

(Above is a clip of Rick going behind the scenes of game management)

You heard that in our recent conversation with Lance Leipold about the razor-thin line in this business. One play can change a result, and that result can change the entire conversation about a coach.

Did the quality of his work completely change on that play?

That’s a question worth asking.

I try to put Rick in position to explain those things. If he sees something in a quarterback’s timing or footwork, I want to stay there long enough for you—and me—to understand it.

When we talked about Ohio State, that was the value of getting beyond “the offense struggled.” What is happening with the young quarterback? How can the people around him help?

That’s useful. That makes watching the next game more interesting.

And it’s a big reason I still love doing this with him.

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By Saturday night, the conversation will change again.

We get a playoff ranking reveal tonight.

We’ll discuss it. We’ll argue about it. Somebody will feel disrespected.

Then we’ll play this weekend’s games and start rearranging the furniture.

That’s November.

A coach can be the hottest thing in the sport, lose a couple of games, and suddenly have people wondering whether the whole operation is headed in the wrong direction.

I’m curious about those reactions almost as much as the games themselves.

Who gets patience? Who gets panic? Who gets judged on what actually happened, and who gets swallowed by the final score?

We’ll have plenty to talk about.

The challenge for me is making sure we do more than repeat how big the games are. You already know they’re big. I want you to leave the show with something you hadn’t considered.

A detail. A story. A better question.

And hopefully a few laughs, because we’re talking about college football for a living. I never want to get so buried in the machinery that I forget how much fun that is.

Want to learn how to do this?

The final Show Pony University class of 2026 starts tomorrow, Wednesday, November 4.

This is exactly the kind of stuff we work on: building a topic tree, asking better interview questions, writing hooks and teases, and finding your own voice.

How do you prepare enough to be confident and still listen well enough to follow an unexpected answer?

How do you give a conversation structure without squeezing the life out of it?

How do you make somebody care?

Those are skills you can develop. I love helping people develop them.

Get the details and sign up for Show Pony University here.

Check out Today’s Show Pony Live. Watch today’s Show Pony Live:

And if you missed our recent work:

• Read why I’m rooting for Rick Stockstill to get his moment at Florida State.

• Watch my full Show Pony Live conversation with Rick Neuheisel, including the Florida State opening, Ohio State’s offense and what we loved about the finish at Indiana.

Thanks for being here and supporting what I’m building.

Now let’s see how much of the country we can squeeze into three hours.

—Chris

📺 Prefer to watch? Find Show Pony Live on YouTube at @ShowPonyMedia.

What a weekend. And now we have a Florida State coaching search to throw into the middle of everything.

My longtime Full Ride partner, Rick Neuheisel, joins me for a special Sunday edition of Show Pony Live to work through Week 9, the coaching carousel, and a few moments that remind us why we love this sport so damn much.

Florida State is open. What happens now?

We discuss the Seminoles’ next move, what this job represents, and Rick Stockstill stepping in as interim head coach. For Stock, there’s something pretty special about getting this opportunity at his alma mater. What can he bring to a program that needs some direction—and what should Florida State prioritize in its search?

USC gets its moment. Ohio State gets some uncomfortable questions.

Lincoln Riley and the Trojans earned a win they badly needed. What does beating Ohio State do for USC’s confidence, its season, and the conversation around Riley?

For the Buckeyes, we examine the impact of Julian Sayin’s absence, the challenge of turning to an inexperienced quarterback, and how quickly a team’s outlook can change. In the portal era, keeping quality depth behind your starter is one hell of a balancing act.

The beauty at the end of the Indiana game—and the mistakes along the way.

There was so much to appreciate about that finish. The emotion. The relief. Everything that makes college football worth spending our Saturdays watching.

But winning doesn’t mean every decision was right. Rick and I discuss where Curt Cignetti made mistakes, how Indiana navigated the finish, and what we can learn from a game that deserves more than a quick glance at the final score.

Plus, more from around Week 9 and a preview of the conversations we’ll carry into Full Ride on SiriusXM College Sports Radio, channel 84.

Pour something cold and join us.

🎙️ Show Pony University starts this week!

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That’s why I built Show Pony University.

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• Topics: Finding compelling angles and building your Topic Tree.

• Interviews: Asking better questions, listening, and following up.

• Teases and hooks: Giving your audience a reason to stay.

• Brand and voice: Developing something that sounds unmistakably like you.

These are live Zoom classes with me, built around practical skills you can use on your next show.

The next class starts this week. Tuition is $399 for the four-week course.

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Thanks for being part of this. —Chris

Please, Santa Claus. All I want for Christmas is for Rick Stockstill to jump-start Florida State, win out, get seriously considered for the permanent job, and get hired.

Is that too much to ask?

Karma gods? Football gods? Anybody listening?

Please.

I’m bummed for Mike Norvell. I think he’s a good football coach, and watching everything unravel at Florida State has been painful. As I wrote last week, I would rather see a school put that kind of money toward improving its roster than spend it getting rid of the coach.

But alas, here we are.

I keep thinking about the SiriusXM media-day interviews I did with Florida State players the summer after their undefeated regular season. My impression was that some of them had gotten awfully comfortable with themselves. There was a swagger that, to my ears, crossed into dismissiveness when we discussed Georgia Tech, their opening opponent in Ireland.

Then Georgia Tech beat them.

That conversation has stuck with me through everything that followed. It doesn’t explain the entire collapse, but it felt like a warning sign.

Ever since Jordan Travis went down late in that magical 2023 season, Florida State has been tumbling down the college football mountain. At times, the whole thing has felt cursed. Between the ACC escape campaign and the football program’s unraveling, you almost wonder whether somebody angered the football gods.

Now those same gods have handed Rick Stockstill an opportunity.

And I am pulling like hell for him.

I’m a Middle Tennessee alumnus. I’ve also covered college football on SiriusXM for more than 20 years, with the good fortune of learning something every day working alongside Rick Neuheisel.

Through all of that, I’ve come to believe something unequivocally: Rick Stockstill is a football coach any program would be lucky to have.

Some people look at his tenure at MTSU and call it underwhelming.

Underwhelming by what standards?

Have you been to my school?

I love Middle Tennessee. I’m proud of my degree and proud to be a Blue Raider. But let’s be honest about the conditions Stock coached in for much of his tenure.

The football facilities weren’t exactly something you put on a postcard. Hell, it was a bitch just finding the head coach’s office tucked inside the basketball arena.

Our stadium? A whole lot of concrete and aluminum. I’ve made wonderful memories there, but nobody was confusing it with a palace.

That context matters when you evaluate what Stock accomplished.

He took teams to bowl games. He fielded competitive programs. He gave us Saturdays when a school with far fewer resources could walk into somebody else’s stadium and ruin the party.

I remember Benny Cunningham running wild against Georgia Tech. I remember Middle Tennessee going down to Miami and beating Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes.

Those wins meant something. They still do.

Stock had a gift for getting more out of what he had. If you judge his career without considering what he was working with, you miss so much of the story.

Today, Middle Tennessee has a beautiful new football complex. Stockstill helped support that project with his own money.

He never got to coach in the finished building.

That part still gets me.

And before anybody tries to turn this into something else, I’m a huge supporter of Derek Mason. I love Coach Mason. I’m also the football team’s public-address announcer, and I want nothing more than to see him succeed.

My appreciation for Rick Stockstill stands on its own.

Look at Kevin Byard. Look at Reed Blankenship. Look at the players who came through Middle Tennessee and built NFL careers.

Stock saw possibilities in players other people overlooked. He developed them. He believed in them.

He was always looking for what he called “water hose guys.” Tough guys. Guys willing to work. Guys who would compete, get dirty, and come back for more.

That was the spirit of his program.

I’ve long believed he deserved an opportunity like Florida State years ago.

I remember when East Carolina came calling and he stayed at Middle Tennessee. What has always stuck with me about that decision was his commitment to the recruits and families he had made promises to.

In a profession where everybody seems to be looking for the next exit, that mattered to me.

He’s a man of integrity and discipline. A coach who gives a damn about his players and understands that the promises you make in somebody’s living room ought to mean something.

Watching him coach his son Brent at Middle Tennessee was another gift. They made some magic together, and those are memories I’ll always cherish as an alumnus and a fan.

Would I put Stock in the College Football Hall of Fame if it were up to me? In a heartbeat. I know there are eligibility requirements. I’m telling you what his work meant to me.

Someday, I hope Middle Tennessee puts a statue of Rick Stockstill near Boots Donnelly’s outside our athletic Hall of Fame.

He deserves to be remembered that way.

For now, he has a team to lead at the school where he played quarterback. He has a chance to bring some steadiness to a program desperately searching for it.

I know how these searches work. Florida State will have a list of names, agents will work the phones, and people will get intoxicated by the possibilities.

I just hope Stock gives them a reason to stop and look at the man already standing in front of them.

Let him get this team going. Let him stack some wins. Let him make the decision difficult.

Football gods. Karma gods. Santa.

Please let this work.

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Get the coffee going. We have some things to discuss.

Ohio State lost, Lincoln Riley can breathe again, and somewhere in Lubbock, Cody Campbell’s blood pressure presumably returned to something a medical professional would recognize.

Meanwhile, one of my favorite conversations Saturday was with a quarterback who sounded grateful simply to have another chance to play.

That’s this sport. We spend all week talking about money, power and who needs to be fired. Then a kid reminds you why you fell in love with it.

Even the Buckeyes have a depth problem

Ohio State’s loss to USC was a pretty good illustration of how the transfer portal and NIL have changed roster building.

Think about Lincoln Kienholz. He could have been the experienced option waiting behind Julian Sayin. Instead, he went to Louisville for a chance to start.

Can you blame him?

Players have short careers. Asking a quarterback to spend his college years waiting for someone else to get hurt was always a tough sell. Now he has more freedom to find a place to play, and schools have more ways to make that opportunity attractive.

Good for the player. Complicated for the coach trying to build a depth chart.

With Sayin injured, Ohio State turned to a freshman in Luke Fahey. Saturday showed how difficult that transition can be, even with all the talent around him.

That doesn’t mean Fahey can’t play. But having potential and being ready to run Ohio State’s offense against USC are two different things.

Suddenly, the remaining schedule looks scarier. So does the path to the playoff if the offense stays stuck.

Sayin’s absence also changes the Heisman conversation. Missing a significant portion of the season means missing the production and the moments that build a winning case. A promising campaign can get away from you without another pass being thrown.

It stinks for him. It stinks for Ohio State.

But depth may be the great equalizer now. Even the richest programs can’t count on stockpiling experienced players willing to sit around and wait.

Give Lincoln Riley his win

None of that should become an excuse to dismiss what USC accomplished.

The Trojans beat Ohio State. That counts.

Lincoln Riley needed a night like this. Much like Shane Beamer recently, he gave the people screaming about him something else to discuss.

A loss to Wisconsin had everyone ready to hold a tribunal. Beat Ohio State, and suddenly we’re looking at the schedule and talking about a playoff path.

Welcome to college football.

USC gets a bye before Indiana, with an opportunity to rest, get healthier and prepare for a team that keeps surviving without always looking convincing.

The Hoosiers escaped Minnesota in overtime after that wild exchange of late field goals. Credit them for finding a way. But I still have serious questions about that offense.

There’s an opening for USC.

Imagine working in a profession where one bad Saturday convinces thousands of strangers you’re incompetent, and one good Saturday makes those same people start mapping out your postseason.

No thanks. I’ll discuss it into a microphone.

And while we’re talking about Los Angeles: UCLA is 8–0.

What if that game at the end of the year has real stakes for both teams?

That would be a hell of a development.

Florida State looks beaten down

I hate this for Mike Norvell.

Florida State was so close to something special just a few years ago. Now you watch the Seminoles against Clemson and wonder where all that belief went.

Getting handled by Clemson is one thing. Getting handled by this version of Clemson, while looking so beaten down in the process, is another.

From the outside, this looks like a program struggling to believe it can fix what’s wrong.

You know where I generally stand: before writing a gigantic buyout check, I’d like to see what investing that money in the roster might accomplish.

I still believe that’s a discussion worth having.

But there comes a point when you wonder whether the relationship has run its course. I don’t know whether Florida State makes a move this weekend. It wouldn’t surprise me.

That’s a lousy place for a program—and a coach—to be.

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Georgia will be there

As long as Georgia stays reasonably healthy, I have a hard time imagining this team disappearing from the national championship conversation.

I’m comfortable penciling the Bulldogs into a semifinal. Maybe beyond.

Yes, they lost to Auburn. Rivalry games can do that to you. One loss doesn’t erase everything a team is capable of becoming.

Georgia used its bye and came back with a clinical performance against Florida in Atlanta. The defense was stout. The offense did enough. The Bulldogs looked prepared, physical and in control.

Some teams spend these weekends raising questions.

Georgia answered a few.

Thomas Castellanos just wanted to play

When Texas Tech fell behind in the first half, I thought Cody Campbell’s head might pop off.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the Red Raiders responded.

Afterward, I got to talk with Thomas Castellanos on my Mad Dog show. I’m on most weekends in that stretch between the noon games and the night window, and these conversations are one of my favorite parts of the job.

His story has taken some turns: pursuing the NFL, trying to get another college opportunity, and eventually getting a chance at Texas Tech.

Then the Red Raiders made a quarterback change, and there he was.

He told me he was nervous. I appreciated the honesty.

We sometimes talk about these players as if they’re pieces on a board. Move this quarterback here. Pay that guy. Bench the other one.

We forget what it must feel like to stand out there knowing how much an opportunity means—and how quickly it can disappear.

Castellanos found his rhythm. He credited his offensive line for getting the running game going and making his life easier.

What stayed with me was how much this chance clearly meant to him.

He just wanted to play.

After all the arguments about who spent what and whether the return is good enough, it was refreshing to hear that.

Notre Dame and Miami: show me

Is Notre Dame elite?

I’m asking because I still don’t know.

The Irish pulled away from Navy, but the first half wasn’t especially convincing. Navy’s style shouldn’t sneak up on Notre Dame. These schools have been playing each other forever, with a relationship rooted in something much bigger than football.

Add in the questions I had coming out of the BYU game, with the Cougars missing LJ Martin, and I’m still waiting to be sold on Notre Dame’s ceiling.

Next comes Miami. We’ll learn something.

Of course, I have questions about Miami, too.

The Hurricanes are No. 1, but the close calls against North Carolina and Florida State leave room for doubt. The running game hasn’t convinced me this is an offense that can dictate terms whenever it needs to.

Somebody can win that game and make a statement.

I’d like to see one.

Why not Utah?

Could Utah be the team we’re going to wish we had spent more time discussing?

The Utes can score on offense. Their defense can score, too, and did it twice against Cincinnati.

That changes games in a hurry.

Utah’s defense keeps making life miserable for opponents. And Devon Dampier gives the offense a legitimate difference-maker at quarterback.

Morgan Scalley could finish this season as one of the sport’s biggest stories.

There’s plenty of football left, but I keep coming back to the same question:

Why not Utah?

Wake Forest needs to dig deep

Jake Dickert is 7–1, and Wake Forest ought to be thinking seriously about how to keep him.

He’s been one of the most energetic, likable coaches we’ve had on Full Ride over the years. His enthusiasm is infectious. You finish a conversation with him understanding why players would want to play for him.

I love the Walking Deacon, too. I still have the pin Wake gave me on my bag.

But this is bigger than my affection for a mascot.

Wake should look at Dickert and say: What would it take to make this our version of the Cignetti story? What do we need to put around him so he can keep building?

Surely there are some wealthy alumni who enjoyed Saturday.

Time to dig deep.

His career is also a reminder of how unpredictable all of this can be. If Nick Rolovich’s tenure at Washington State doesn’t end over the vaccine requirement, when does Dickert get that first opportunity?

Who knows?

He got it, and he took advantage of it.

That’s what stayed with me Saturday: Castellanos getting another chance. Dickert making the most of his. A freshman at Ohio State discovering just how difficult his can be.

We spend so much time debating the money that we can lose sight of the people trying to make something of an opportunity.

They’re why I’ll be watching again next Saturday.

A little honky-tonk with your Sunday coffee

Before you get swallowed up by another day of football, put on Kaitlin Butts’ Hello Honky Tonk.

Twin fiddles. Steel guitar. Storytelling that makes you feel something. This record gets right to the heart of why I fell in love with country music—and why Nashville meant so much to me long before I moved here.

I haven’t been this excited about an artist in a long time. If you love real, old-school honky-tonk music, give it a listen.

Read my full Kaitlin Butts review here.

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Thanks for riding with me.

—Chris

As the kids say—or at least I think they do—10 out of 10. No notes.

Kaitlin Butts’ Hello, Honky Tonk is perfect to my ears. That isn’t hyperbole. I have had this thing on repeat, and it is addictive as shit. Can’t stop. Won’t stop.

It has the fiddle, the steel guitar, and the storytelling that made me fall in love with country music. But what keeps pulling me back is how much life she puts into these songs. There’s humor, swagger, vulnerability, and that raw, let-it-all-out feeling that makes you believe every word.

This is an album full of people you want to spend time with. Even the ones you probably shouldn’t go home with.

Country music was part of what drew me to Nashville and MTSU in the first place. I wasn’t coming here to become a musician. I wanted to be a sports broadcaster. But I loved the music and the culture surrounding it. Maybe some of that is in the Childers family DNA.

Give me twin fiddles and a steel guitar, as George Strait would say. Give me a cold beer, boots on a dance floor, and an old honky-tonk with its own quirks and charm.

When I picture that place, I often think of Pure Country, the George Strait movie, and the kind of bar where Dusty could get back to the music.

Kaitlin Butts is exactly the artist I would hope to find on that stage.

A whole world inside one bar

The Tulsa-born singer-songwriter has been building toward this moment for years, beginning with her 2015 debut, Same Hell, Different Devil, and earning her reputation one bar and honky-tonk gig at a time. Hello, Honky Tonk, her first full-length project since signing with Republic Records, brings that experience into a world of her own creation.

Recorded in Nashville with producer Tofer Brown, the album takes us inside Katie B’s saloon. The people in the room get their turn in the spotlight: the bartender, the heartbreaker, the lonely regular, the entertainer trying to hold everybody’s attention. It’s like a country Broadway show in a musical masterpiece. Did I mention, I love it yet?

Her inspiration includes Chicago and its vaudeville-style numbers, along with Disney’s Country Bear Jamboree. I feel like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music right now. “These are a few of my favorite things” LOL. The album cover draws on Teddi Barra, the bear on the swing. I mean, come on! This F’ing WOMAN!

Country music. Musical theater. Disney. Storytelling.

Good Lord, woman. You are hitting every button I have.

But the concept works because the music carries it. You don’t need to know a damn thing about musical theater to get pulled into these stories. The fiddle and steel welcome you through the door. Her voice makes you stay.

I hear flashes of Kelly Willis and Lee Ann Womack, with some George Strait sensibility in the mix. Those are reference points for what my ears love: personality, emotional honesty, and a song that can hold its own. Butts has all of that, along with a wonderfully quirky imagination that belongs entirely to her.

“The Bartender” feels like the big one

I think “The Bartender” could change her life.

There. I’m putting it in writing.

To my ears, this song has the potential to take her to a much bigger audience. I hear a massive hit. The steel guitar and swagger get you immediately, and the perspective gives it something to say: the person behind the bar has heard everybody’s stories.

Butts wrote it with Natalie Hemby and Tofer Brown. The recording also features TJ Osborne on backing vocals and harmonica from Vinnie Maniscalco, the Nashville bartender who inspired the character. These stories have depth; you can tell. This lady is a creative genius. A true artist in every sense.

At her album release show, I happened to be standing beside Hemby, who is a f’ing badass and one of the great songwriters working today. I had been beside her for probably an hour without saying anything. It’s Nashville. You leave people alone and let them enjoy the show.

Then Kaitlin played “The Bartender.”

I looked over and asked Hemby whether she had written it.

She said yes.

I told her it was so damn incredible. She said, “ohh thank you my dude”, gave me a warm pat, and told me how excited she was.

Well, Natalie, badass genius lady, I’m excited too.

“I Make Cowboys Cry” is another one I hear reaching a big audience. The attitude alone makes it a song I want to tell people about. And “Bacon Naked (Take It From Me)” has that same immediate appeal, with the humor and personality that make this album such a good time.

I hear songs here that could crush on the radio. “The Bartender” is my bet for the one that opens the biggest door.

Then she knocks the wind out of you

For all the fun on this record, “What More Could You Want” is the song that reaches into your chest.

At the show, Kaitlin described a feeling I suspect plenty of people will recognize: wanting so badly to be loved that you start wondering what else you can possibly do to earn it.

Would you love me if I did this? If I gave you more? If I somehow became even more entertaining?

That’s my paraphrase of the feeling she described, and it’s devastating.

The vocal is raw and intensely soulful. You hear the need underneath the performance. An artist can give a room everything she has and still wonder whether it was enough.

That vulnerability gives the whole album more weight. After the swagger and the laughter, you get to feel what it costs to stand there and keep asking people to care.

This is where the theater kid in her becomes especially powerful. She inhabits the feeling. The story is vivid because she makes the person inside it feel alive.

Then there’s “Still Got It,” the love song I keep coming back to. Damn, it’s good.

Her one swing at a love song is a home run!

And the closing “Midnight I’ll Always Be Yours” fits the world she has built: the night winding down, the room growing quiet, the music leaving something behind.

That’s part of what makes Hello, Honky Tonk work as an album. You want to hear the individual songs again, but you also want to go back inside the place.

Why this one means so much to me

When I first listened, I cried.

Not because the album was sad. Because the sound, the stories, the imagination, and the feeling reached all those places in me at once.

I went to the album release show, then her karaoke hang the following night, and I might as well admit it: I am obsessed.

I also got to meet her. She recognized me from the clip I had shared from Show Pony Live, where I was telling Trey Wallace he HAD to check her out.

That made my night. Here I was trying to explain to anybody who would listen how incredible this woman is, and she had actually seen it and more importantly, it meant something to her.

But the reason I keep talking about her is the record. Long after the fun of those nights, these are songs I want playing in my car, in my house, and wherever else I can turn them up.

I hope she becomes a massive star. I also hope this theatrical world gets a life onstage someday. A country-bar musical with these characters and these stories? I can see the Playbill already.

I would be there opening night.

A lot of you come to Show Pony Media for college football. That will always be a huge part of what we do. But I live in Nashville, and I may as well bring you inside the music scene when I find something I love this much.

Besides, college football fans and country music fans share an awful lot of the same tailgates.

The best way I can describe Kaitlin Butts is this: Imagine wandering into a honky-tonk in the middle of nowhere. You open the door, hear the fiddle and steel, and somebody on that stage is making what feels, in that moment, like the greatest music on the planet.

You have nowhere else you want to be. You’re in the right place at exactly the right time.

That’s what Hello, Honky Tonk gives me.

Give this woman a listen. Start with “The Bartender,” stay for “What More Could You Want,” and then let the whole album play.

She has reminded me why I wanted to live around this music in the first place.

My rating: 10/10. No notes.

Listen to Hello, Honky Tonk on Apple Music.

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Happy Saturday morning! Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy. This is the final weekend before the first batch of College Football Playoff committee rankings, and you just know things are going to get weird.

It’s Halloween. A day I can’t personally stand, but a day sure to be weird.

Been a heck of a busy couple of days for yours truly, too. Football, the PA microphone, some impressive young people, and country music that has hit me right in the soul.

Let’s get into all of it.

Where’s the Saturday weirdness coming from?

The Cocktail Party?

I don’t think so.

Georgia has had a bye to recalibrate after Auburn. I’d be truly shocked if the Bulldogs didn’t come out playing well. Pound for pound, I think they’re at least a couple of scores better than Florida.

Of course, it is Halloween. So who knows?

Rick and I both picked Arizona today on Full Ride.

If we’re right and Texas Tech goes down again, will Cody Campbell be able to control himself?

I think we’re getting a look at the dangers of giving one person too much influence over a public institution.

As Trey Wallace pointed out on my podcast this week, Campbell has poured millions into this thing. In Trey’s framing, he’s essentially acting like an owner. Owners complain when they don’t like the return on their investment.

Oil money. Texas tea. He’s got it.

But this is still a university. And Campbell has already suggested cutting off a radio station’s access to Texas Tech interviews after a producer criticized him. That’s an awfully revealing response to somebody telling you something you don’t want to hear.

If Tech loses again, does he blow his stack? Does he make things uncomfortable for Joey McGuire?

The funny part is that Rick keeps saying this might be McGuire’s best coaching job.

That tension fascinates me. The guy evaluating the coaching sees good work. The guy helping fund the operation wants results.

Things could get weird.

And then there’s North Carolina.

Reports about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson splitting emerge right before Carolina plays No. 1 Miami. Apparently, they remain friends and business partners, which helps explain her continued presence. The whole scene remains fascinating.

But here’s the football question: What if Carolina wins?

Would you put it past this season?

We already watched Miami go to the wire with Florida State. In a year this strange, I’m keeping an open mind.

USC beating Ohio State? That would surprise me.

Even with Julian Sayin sidelined, I can’t unsee what Wisconsin did to USC last week.

The Badgers whipped them up front. I think Ohio State has better personnel along the line of scrimmage, and that’s a difficult thing for USC to fix in a week.

Maybe the Trojans find something. But I’d have to see it to believe it.

This could get uncomfortable in Los Angeles.

A reminder before everybody starts firing coaches

Before Saturday’s first “FIRE EVERYBODY” post hits your timeline, I’d love for you to read this:

Before You Fire the Coach, Look in the Damn Mirror

Does your program’s support match its expectations? Are you giving your coach the resources to compete with the people you demand he beat?

Accountability is fair. Another buyout isn’t automatically a plan.

You can’t keep sending somebody into a gunfight with a musket and act shocked when he loses.

This is a premium column. Join the Show Pony Club to check it out.

Wednesday: Behind the microphone at MTSU

Wednesday night, I handled PA for Middle Tennessee.

I freaking love that job.

The game was a bummer. After tight wins over Delaware and FIU, I felt like we were finding something. Then we laid an egg against a Kennesaw State team that came in with one win. MTSU fell 44–28.

The line was so tight going in that I wondered whether the Vegas algorithms knew something.

Apparently, they did.

But doing PA is such a joy. I feel like I’m getting the hang of the craft a little more every game—learning the rhythm, finding the right energy, understanding when to jump in.

Someday, I hope I get to do it with a full stadium. Hearing a packed house react to a third-down call on defense or a first-down call on offense would be so much fun.

I also get a kick out of the games being on CBS Sports Network. Before the Delaware game, Adam Zucker and Aaron Taylor called them the “Fighting Chris Childers.”

That absolutely tickled me.

I take great pride in the places and people who helped shape me. MTSU is full of that meaning for me. Getting to come back and contribute in this way is something I cherish.

Thursday: A little Alabama in Nashville

Thursday, I got to meet with a group of Alabama undergraduates visiting Nashville for an industry immersion trip through the College of Communication and Information Sciences.

I serve on the college’s Board of Visitors, and these opportunities have become one of my favorite parts of that experience.

I love being around young dreamers.

Every time I meet another group of Alabama students, I come away impressed. Their curiosity, their ambition, their willingness to ask questions—it’s energizing.

I’m proud to have degrees from both MTSU and Alabama, for different reasons. Both places mean a great deal to me.

One thing I especially appreciate about Alabama is that they see me as a resource.

Good. Use me!

Ask me questions. Let me help. I want to help young people find their way toward the careers and lives they’re dreaming about.

That’s a passion and a joy for me, and Alabama gives me an outlet for it.

Roll Tide.

Kaitlin Butts, you’ve made me fall in love with Nashville all over again

I saw Kaitlin Butts’ album release show last night, went to her karaoke hang tonight, and I might as well admit it: I am obsessed.

This is the country music I fell in love with.

The storytelling. The fiddle. The steel guitar. That raw, let-it-all-out feeling that makes you believe every word coming off the stage.

Kaitlin is a true artist. Quirky and creative as hell.

And I think I finally figured out why her music hits me in so many places. She’s a theater kid and a Disney lover. Her album cover is a play on the Country Bear Jamboree.

Country music, theater, Disney, storytelling—good Lord, she’s hitting every button I have.

When I first listened to the album, I cried. Not because it was sad. Because it reached all those places in me at once.

The sound. The stories. The imagination. The feeling.

I love it. To my ears, it’s perfect.

I got to meet her tonight, and she recognized me from the post I shared the other night—the clip from Show Pony Live where I was telling Trey Wallace he HAD to check her out.

That made my night. Here I am trying to explain to anybody who will listen how incredible this woman is, and she’d actually seen it.

The best way I can describe Kaitlin Butts is this: Imagine wandering into a honky-tonk in the middle of nowhere. You open the door, hear the fiddle and steel, and somebody on that stage is making what feels, in that moment, like the greatest music on the planet.

You have nowhere else you want to be. You know you’re in the right place at exactly the right time.

That’s Kaitlin Butts.

She’s the artist I needed in this city of mine. I’m so damn grateful she’s here.

Rick, Jerry, and the joy of cheering for your kid

Speaking of things that hit me emotionally, I wrote a personal piece this week about watching Rick Neuheisel watch his son Jerry pursue his coaching career.

It brings out the dad and the romantic in me.

My daughter Morgan loves musical theater. She gets some of that bug from me, although nobody needs to put me onstage.

Supporting her—showing up, believing in her, telling her “you’ve got this”—is one of the great joys of my life.

Watching Rick experience his own version of that is really special.

Read: What Rick, Jerry, and Northwestern…

This piece is also premium. Get in the Show Pony Club to read both columns and join our members-only conversations.

Three podcasts to take into your weekend

We had three terrific guests on Show Pony Live this week. If you missed them, catch up while you’re driving, walking the dog, or getting ready for Saturday.

Ari Temkin: The Big 12 race and the power behind it

Utah, BYU, Texas Tech, the Baylor opening, and Cody Campbell’s influence. Ari and I dig into a conference where the race on the field is only part of the story.

Trey Wallace: Money, power, and the coaching carousel

Trey and I talk Texas Tech, booster influence, the politics behind coaching changes, Lincoln Riley, and Arch Manning growing into the job.

Plus, my unsolicited—but extremely enthusiastic—Kaitlin Butts recommendation.

Watch the full show with Trey →

Lance Leipold: Inside Kansas football

The Kansas head coach joins me to discuss the Baylor comeback, the blocked field goal, preparing for TCU, and building a program in today’s game.

If Kansas doesn’t block that kick, are we having a completely different conversation about Dave Aranda?

That’s how thin the line can be.

Watch the full show with Lance →

All three episodes are available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow Show Pony Live so the next episode is waiting for you.

A little more from the Pony

A few more recent pieces to catch up on:

• College Football Saturdays Are a Stark Reminder of What’s Broken in Our Politics — My frustration with the political attack ads invading our football Saturdays.

• Brooks & Dunn Still Rock After 35 Years — Great music, Nashville nostalgia, and a night with a friend I’ve missed.

• Browse all the latest posts and shows — Including my thoughts on the Titans and the signs of something worth building.

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Forward this post. Send an interview to your college football group chat. Tell a friend to give the Pony a shot.

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Want to find your voice? Come join Show Pony University.

Helping people chase their broadcasting dreams is one of my favorite things to do. That’s why I created Show Pony University.

Our next class starts November 3: four weeks on Zoom, $399, working on the skills that make people want to listen:

• Building topics: Turn an idea into a conversation worth having.

• Interviewing: Ask better questions, listen closely, and follow the story.

• Teases and hooks: Give your audience a reason to stick around.

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Let’s get you behind the mic.

—Chris

Thanks for reading, listening, and giving me a place to share all of this.

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The Big 12 never seems interested in giving us a quiet week.

Ari Temkin joins me on Show Pony Live to sort through a conference where the race on the field is only part of the story. We get into Utah, BYU, Texas Tech, the Baylor coaching opening, and the people holding the power behind the scenes.

Why not Utah? We talk about the Utes’ place in this race and the opportunity in front of them as we head into Week 9.

How does BYU respond? A loss changes the conversation in a hurry. We discuss the Cougars and where they go from here.

And who’s really calling the shots at Texas Tech? Cody Campbell’s influence raises some fascinating questions about money, expectations, and power in college football. When someone invests that much in a program, how much say comes with it? And what happens when the results don’t match the investment?

Then there’s Baylor’s coaching opening. We discuss the job, the expectations, and where the Bears fit in a league where everybody sees a path to winning—and nobody wants to be patient.

That’s part of what makes this conference so much fun to cover. Opportunity is everywhere. So is pressure.

Ari is always a great guy to kick this stuff around with. If you follow the Big 12—or just enjoy trying to make sense of this wonderfully chaotic sport—come hang out with us.

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Thanks for riding with us.

—Chris

I’m a romantic. A sap.

I’m the guy who once believed in fairy tales and happy endings. And even though life has a way of reminding you that things don’t always work out like they do in the movies, I still believe we have to savor the moments that make it all worthwhile.

Life is hard. Challenges with our jobs, our health and our families pop up along the way. Some days, it feels like there’s always something waiting around the corner.

That’s why I cherish being a husband and a father.

And it’s why watching my friend and Full Ride partner Rick Neuheisel watch his son Jerry has been so special to me.

Because I know what it feels like to look at your child and be so proud that you can hardly put it into words.

Read more

Trey Wallace of OutKick joins me on Show Pony Live to talk about Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, the expectations that come with pouring money into a program, and what it all says about the changing business of college football.

We also head to Los Angeles, where Lincoln Riley and USC are facing a huge game against Ohio State. How much pressure is Riley under, and how does his reported $70 million buyout factor into his future?

Then there’s Arch Manning and Texas. The Longhorns survived Ole Miss, but another second-half scare had fans in Austin reaching for the antacids. Trey and I discuss what he saw from Arch and what to make of Texas moving forward.

We also react to my conversation with Kansas coach Lance Leipold and a question that shows just how thin the line can be in this business: If Kansas doesn’t block that field goal against Baylor, is Dave Aranda still the Bears’ coach?

And because this is Show Pony Live, we make a stop at the honky-tonk. I got an early listen to Kaitlin Butts’ new record, and I’m officially obsessed. It’s the kind of old-school, storytelling country music that makes you feel like you’re sitting in a backwoods dive bar. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

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Did you miss yesterday’s Show with Kansas coach Lance Leipold, fresh off the Jayhawks big win over Kansas, catch up here!

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🐎 Thanks for being part of the ride!

Also check out new work from my website, recently named a Sustack Bestseller and listed on the Top 100 new bestsellers list!

Including this premium piece.

and these free articles including a look at why political ads during college football Saturday’s are toxic and America can do better.

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First, I share my reactions to the weekend: BYU’s loss, Alabama’s win, Shane Beamer continuing to prove people wrong, and Arch Manning getting a little redemption at Texas.

Then Coach Leipold stops by to talk about Kansas’ win over Baylor, the blocked field goal, and what’s ahead against TCU. We also get into the bigger picture: what it takes to build a program in today’s college football world and what goes on behind the scenes at Kansas.

I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do, too.

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If you enjoy the show, please follow or subscribe wherever you listen. It’s a simple way to help more people find what we’re building here at Show Pony Media, and I really appreciate it.

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How do you feel about your team going into week 8? Leave a comment below.

The coaching carousel is back at it.

Here comes the annual dumbass convention. A few ugly Saturdays, a furious fan base, and another athletic department announces that it has identified the problem.

Naturally, the problem is the guy wearing the headset.

Dave Aranda and Dave Doeren were shown the door over the weekend. Maryland got things started with Mike Locksley last Wednesday. And before everybody starts celebrating the possibilities, I have a question:

What, exactly, are you going to do differently besides change the coach?

Because if the answer is nothing, this is an expensive exercise in making angry people feel better for about fifteen minutes.

Then you get to do it all again.

We played Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye” on Full Ride today as a nod to the departing coaches. We tried to send them out with a little class.

Bocelli is class. Let’s be honest.

But should it have been time to say goodbye? And before you answer, can somebody explain why these schools always seem more comfortable paying a coach to leave than confronting everything that made the job difficult in the first place?

I understand the frustration. Losing to Stanford stinks. The Vanderbilt ending was the kind of thing NC State fans cannot unsee. Doeren had an experienced quarterback in CJ Bailey and expectations that this team would be better.

Coaches own that. They should.

But the people employing them ought to own something, too.

Doeren stayed in Raleigh for fourteen seasons because he could coach. You don’t accidentally survive that long in this business. Before deciding the next guy will deliver everything he couldn’t, I would like to hear an honest assessment of what NC State is actually prepared to provide.

The same goes for Maryland. The same goes for Baylor.

Look internally. Start there.

The checks are real. The fresh start is a promise.

Here is what these decisions reportedly cost:

Baylor: Dave Aranda’s contract ran through the 2029 season—three full seasons beyond this year. His reported buyout is approximately $12 million.

NC State: Dave Doeren’s contract ran through December 31, 2029—also three full seasons beyond this year. His reported buyout is approximately $10.3 million, potentially reduced by earnings from future employment.

Maryland: Mike Locksley’s contract ran through the 2028 season—two full seasons beyond this year. His reported buyout is roughly $9.8 million to $9.9 million.

That is roughly $32 million combined to make three head coaches go away. Before paying their replacements. Before assembling new staffs. Before explaining how any of this makes the players on the field better.

Those figures also include obligations associated with the unfinished season. Baylor is private, so its contract details are less transparent; Maryland’s reported totals vary slightly by outlet. But the scale is clear: roughly $32 million combined, before sorting out assistant contracts, hiring the replacements, or paying whatever it takes to assemble their staffs.

That is a hell of a commitment to starting over.

Now compare it with what these schools reportedly spend on players.

Published estimates put Baylor’s annual roster budget at $20 million to $23 million and Maryland’s at $21 million to $25 million. Using those estimates, Aranda’s buyout amounts to approximately 52–60 percent of one Baylor roster budget. Locksley’s is roughly 39–47 percent of Maryland’s. These are estimates of roster spending, not audited accounts or the schools’ entire football operating budgets.

NC State’s number is murkier. The Athletic’s reported $22 million to $26 million range would make Doeren’s buyout roughly 40–47 percent of an annual roster budget. But Pack Pride disputed that estimate after speaking with sources familiar with the program’s finances, saying the real spending was lower. If so, the buyout represents an even larger share.

I know you cannot necessarily take every dollar earmarked for a buyout and immediately hand it to a defensive tackle. Donor commitments, contracts, and different funding sources complicate that.

But somebody still has to explain the priorities.

How does the emergency money keep appearing when it is time to fire somebody?

Where was that urgency when you were trying to help him win?

And who is asking whether the people writing these contracts have done a good job?

Be honest about what you are buying.

Maryland plays in a league with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and a whole collection of programs with enormous football ambitions.

Membership in the Big Ten gives you access to money. It does not automatically give you the same football operation as the biggest spenders.

If Maryland wants different results, wonderful. Tell me what changes around the next coach. Tell me how you are going to recruit, retain, develop, and support the players differently.

Otherwise, you are handing somebody else the same assignment and hoping he has magical powers.

Baylor requires some honesty in the other direction, too.

Its estimated $20 million to $23 million roster budget reportedly ranks fourth in the Big 12. That is meaningful investment. It would be wrong to pretend Aranda was operating with nothing. The same reporting, though, puts Baylor well behind Texas Tech’s spending. There are different levels of buying power even inside the same conference.

So evaluate him against what Baylor actually supplied and the teams it actually plays.

I understand that Aranda’s tenure was uneven. I also think some people have a remarkably selective memory about Baylor football.

The Art Briles era produced wins and a scandal that brought enormous shame to the university. Matt Rhule built something impressive. Aranda himself delivered a conference championship and a Sugar Bowl victory.

Those accomplishments count. So do the disappointments.

But Baylor does not get to treat every successful stretch as its permanent birthright and every difficult stretch as proof that the coach has forgotten how football works.

What is sustainable there? What will it cost? And are the people making the decisions willing to sustain it?

Those questions deserve answers before the introductory press conference.

And why does everybody have to do this in October?

Read more

I’m trying to watch college football.

That’s it. Enjoy a Saturday. Watch some games. Spend a few hours with something I love.

Then comes another commercial break, and apparently everyone running for public office is a dangerous lunatic determined to destroy my life.

Ominous music. An unflattering photograph. A quote clipped down to a handful of words. Some accusation that leaves me wondering what actually happened, what context is missing, and whether the person who made the ad even cares.

Then the other side gets its turn.

By the time we return to the game, I know two people supposedly hate America. I still don’t know what either one plans to do for me.

Is this really how we’re supposed to choose our leaders?

We have to do better.

(Below Former Congressman Mark Walker describes the dangers of campaign ads)

I want to know what a candidate stands for. What they care about. What they understand about the lives of the people they want to represent. Tell me what you intend to accomplish, how you intend to accomplish it, and what the tradeoffs might be.

And if you’re going to attack your opponent, show your work.

Give me the full quote. Explain the vote. Tell me what was actually in the bill. Make an argument that survives a little scrutiny.

An attack can be fair. A candidate’s record should be examined. But a sliver of truth stretched into something unrecognizable doesn’t help me make an informed decision. It makes me feel like somebody thinks I’m a sucker.

I’m tired of being treated like a sucker.

I don’t expect every American to spend a commercial break researching a congressional voting record.

People have jobs. Children. Bills. Plenty of things to worry about before they sit down on a Saturday afternoon.

That doesn’t relieve us of our responsibility to be informed. We should do our homework. I should do mine.

But campaigns have responsibilities, too.

They know a frightening accusation can reach someone who will never see the explanation or correction. They know repetition can make something feel familiar, and familiarity can start to feel like truth.

I look at the money poured into these ads and think: Somebody believes this is a worthwhile investment.

That’s depressing.

Because what are we investing in? A better understanding of the candidates? A serious debate about how to govern?

Or another thirty seconds of making us despise somebody?

(Below Former Congressman Mark Walker describes how the political system is rigged by the rich and powerful)

If this is the process that helps people win office, why are we so surprised by the way they behave once they get there?

We’re told there are three things we can do to help a campaign: donate, volunteer, and vote.

I understand why campaigns need resources. People have to organize, travel, hire staff, and communicate.

But why does money have to occupy so much of the conversation? Why should the ability to raise enormous sums become such an important qualification for representing people?

Federal candidates already face contribution limits. Super PACs, however, can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, unions, and other political committees to fund independent political activity. That spending is supposed to operate independently of candidates and their campaigns.

I understand the distinction. I still look at that arrangement and wonder where the ordinary voter fits.

You can have your vote. You can make your modest contribution. Meanwhile, people with vastly greater resources can help fill the airwaves around you.

How is that supposed to inspire confidence that your concerns carry the same weight?

I want campaigns funded by the people they seek to represent, with clear limits and meaningful transparency. I want us to move away from super PACs and the enormous outside money surrounding our elections.

That’s the direction I want reform to take. Getting there would require serious work, and I’m not pretending a sports radio host can settle every constitutional question between kickoffs.

But the difficulty of fixing something cannot become our permanent excuse for accepting it.

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When Mark Walker joined me on Show Pony Live, we talked about how ugly the political process can become.

What stayed with me was his description of the pressure to play by the team’s rules. Step outside those expectations, and you risk having people turn against you, support a challenger, and work to replace you with somebody more cooperative.

That conversation bothered me.

Because where, in that arrangement, is the freedom to represent your constituents? Where is the room to say, “I understand what the party wants, but I think the people back home need something else”?

If keeping your job means keeping the right political people happy, how much independence do you really have?

I don’t believe every elected official is corrupt. I don’t believe everyone who donates money expects a favor. And the parties have real differences that matter.

But neither party should get a pass on this.

I want to know whether a candidate can stand up to their own side. Whether they can disappoint a donor. Whether they can tell their supporters something uncomfortable because it happens to be true.

Those seem like useful qualifications for public service.

I’d love to see more ads about those.

I’m not going to romanticize the founding of this country. The promise of representation excluded far too many people from the beginning.

But we can still ask what that promise should mean today.

Should choosing our representatives feel like this? Should we accept an election season in which we’re buried under accusations and left to excavate the truth ourselves?

We hear so much about draining the swamp. Maybe we ought to spend more time examining the process that sends people there.

Who gets the financial support to become a viable candidate? What do they have to do to keep it? What behavior gets rewarded? What happens when they refuse to cooperate?

Those questions deserve more attention than another grainy photograph and a scary narrator.

I want candidates to earn our trust through a fair exchange of ideas. I want accessible debates, clear explanations, and attacks backed by evidence that we can actually examine.

I want to finish a campaign knowing what someone intends to do with the job.

That feels like a reasonable expectation.

Americans are tired.

We don’t need every college football commercial break to become another delivery system for anger and suspicion.

And I’m not asking for a world without political disagreement. Argue. Challenge one another. Defend your record. Explain why your opponent has it wrong.

Give us something worth considering.

The people running for these offices want responsibility for the most pressing issues in our lives. Our families. Our livelihoods. Our communities. Our future.

We should expect a campaign process worthy of that responsibility.

Instead, I watch another Saturday afternoon disappear into a parade of ugly ads and find myself thinking the same thing:

If this is the best case you can make for why you deserve to lead us, we have a much bigger problem than who wins the election.

More from Show Pony Media

If you missed my work tonight, check out my Saturday college football reactions—a whole lot to unpack from another wild day.

And for something that will leave you feeling a little better, read my Brooks & Dunn concert review. Seeing those guys in Nashville was a reminder of how much I love ’90s country—and how good it feels to spend an evening singing songs you’ve loved for decades.

Thank you for reading and supporting what I’m building here. It means a lot.

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Originally published Saturday night, October 24. Updated Sunday morning, October 25, with thoughts on Utah’s big win, Texas stopping the bleeding and the playoff puzzle. Scroll down for the Sunday update.

Where, oh where, has Alabama’s running game gone?

What the heck? Is this a nightmare?

The running game was supposed to be different. Aaron Taylor went to camp and came away encouraged by the guys up front; he told us all about it on a guest spot on Full Ride. Keelon Russell brought more athleticism to the quarterback position, with the threat of his legs potentially opening things up.

And yet Alabama managed 68 rushing yards against Texas A&M.

Sixty-eight.

Missing Ryan Coleman-Williams hurts. Losing starting center Racin Delgatty clearly hasn’t helped. But holy hell, where is the running game?

Russell deserves his flowers. When Alabama needed him in the fourth quarter, he delivered two touchdown passes. He finished 19-of-30 for 311 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Tide escape with a 31–20 win.

That matters. So does what keeps making these Saturdays so difficult.

This feels too much like last year, when Ty Simpson too often had to BE the offense.

Woof.

If Alabama makes the playoff again, can it hold up against a team capable of exploiting those problems up front? Or are we looking at another Thanksgiving turkey, waiting to get cooked?

We saw what Indiana did in the Rose Bowl last season. That memory hasn’t exactly faded.

At least Alabama won. Three straight losses would have made things really, really weird in Tuscaloosa.

Dinner at the Bright Star might have been a tense affair, soothed only by a fine Greek-style sirloin or some snapper throats.

Instead, dinner can be enjoyed in relative peace.

And seriously, go to the Bright Star. One of my favorite places on earth. The food, the history, the immigrant story behind it—it’s a piece of America you can sit down and experience.

Living history. Wonderful food.

Roll Tide. Find a running game.

Mike Elko, beware of Billy’s cesspool

Be very aware.

The boys and girls on Billy Liucci’s message boards are going to be fired up.

Texas A&M is now 4–4 overall and 1–4 in the SEC. With a veteran quarterback in Marcel Reed. With all the investment in that roster.

My goodness.

The offense keeps making mistakes, and the same question keeps coming back: What the hell is the answer?

How many times can this program chase the pot of gold and end up wondering where the rainbow went?

After beating LSU in 2024, Elko declared that A&M was a “real program.”

Those words tend to follow you when things stop looking the way you promised they would.

Right now, I’m watching a team that too often looks short on direction. The investment raises expectations. The mistakes raise blood pressure.

And here’s something that still amazes me: Some coaches read the message boards.

I know firsthand that it happens. Not all of them, but some absolutely do. Some even take note of screen names.

Can you imagine?

You’re trying to fix your offense, manage your roster and save your season—and somewhere in the middle of all that, you’re checking what the message-board regulars are saying about you.

Billy’s cesspool may be stronger than ever tonight, I’m afraid.

Officiating cannot keep being this conversation

Watching Tennessee–South Carolina, I came away frustrated by the officiating again.

Too much money—and too much work by the people playing and coaching these games—is at stake for the standard to feel this inconsistent.

Nobody expects officials to be perfect. But there has to be a better answer than another explanation after the damage is done.

We cannot get to the playoff and have the conversation end with, “Whoops. Sorry. Our bad.”

The sport keeps getting bigger. Accountability needs to keep up.

The flu has gone national

Rick calls it the “SEC flu.”

I think it’s just college football now.

You win something enormous one Saturday, everybody celebrates, and then the next opponent catches you before you’ve recovered.

Look at BYU. One week after that glorious win over Notre Dame, the Cougars go to UCF and lose in double overtime.

I said it often on Full Ride with Rick this week: This was a classic trap.

An Admiral Ackbar special.

My view is that the portal and the NIL era have made experienced depth harder to keep. You can build a terrific starting lineup. Keeping enough talent behind it to survive the season is another challenge.

Every weekend becomes a battle of matchups and roster attrition.

You can’t simply assume you’ll wear somebody down because of the logo on your helmet.

Last Saturday’s celebration doesn’t block anybody this Saturday.

Cincinnati had something to say

Texas Tech found that out, too.

I talked with Cincinnati quarterback JC French IV after the game on Mad Dog Radio. Great kid. The Georgia Southern transfer sounded like somebody who loves the big stage.

He was quick to praise the running game and the offensive line for opening things up. He also credited a defense that had been challenged over the previous two weeks and stepped up.

Imagine that: A quarterback getting meaningful help from the running game.

Somebody send the tape to Tuscaloosa.

And with the Brendan Sorsby connection hanging over this matchup, you have to imagine Cincinnati’s win felt a little sweeter for the Bearcats—and stung a little more for Texas Tech.

Indiana finds a way. Michigan finds more frustration.

Curt Cignetti did it again.

Indiana’s 13–6 overtime win at Michigan was a defensive fight, and Josh Hoover came through when the Hoosiers needed him, scoring the winning touchdown in overtime.

Sometimes winning is ugly. Cignetti seems perfectly comfortable with that.

Michigan fans are considerably less comfortable with what they’re watching.

We had callers on Mad Dog today calling for Kyle Whittingham’s job. Others want the offensive coordinator gone.

I understand the frustration. The offense stinks.

But I still think we’re watching the aftermath of the Harbaugh era. Michigan won a national championship amid controversy, Harbaugh left for the NFL, and the program has been dealing with the turbulence ever since.

In my view, the Sherrone Moore chapter was a disaster. Whittingham inherited a mess, and I’m not ready to pretend all of it began with him.

That doesn’t make this offense any easier to watch.

The painful part is that I think Michigan’s defense is national-title good. That group gives the Wolverines a chance, and the offense keeps making the assignment harder.

A big woof-a-roo.

And the prime-time games aren’t even finished yet.

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Thank you to 4Topps and AR’s Hot Honey for supporting Show Pony Media—and to everyone who supports the businesses helping me keep this thing going.

Sunday morning update: Why not Utah?

Apparently, Saturday had a few more things to say after I hit publish.

Let’s start here: Why not Utah?

Huge win over Houston. Gutsy. The defense shined, and Morgan Scalley’s Utes are still undefeated.

Good for him.

That coaching transition had the potential to get awkward in a hurry. The coach-in-waiting finally gets his opportunity, Kyle Whittingham’s Utah exit gives way to an almost immediate return to coaching at Michigan, and everybody starts comparing.

Imagine if Michigan were cooking and Utah were struggling. We’d spend every Sunday debating whether the Utes had mishandled the whole thing.

Instead, Michigan’s offense can’t play dead in a cowboy show, and Utah keeps winning.

Scalley deserves credit. Following a program-defining coach is difficult enough without that coach immediately taking another major job. Every stumble invites a comparison. Every struggle becomes a referendum.

But Utah is giving us something else to talk about: Utah.

On a day when BYU and Texas Tech went down, the Utes survived their own test. In this season, staying undefeated deserves our attention.

Why not them?

Edgy Arch is 1–0

Texas needed that one badly.

The two-game losing streak is over. The bleeding has stopped. Everybody in Austin can exhale—although the Longhorns made sure nobody did much of that during the second half.

Ole Miss came all the way back to tie it. Texas had every opportunity to let another Saturday spiral into another miserable week of questions about Arch Manning and Steve Sarkisian.

Instead, the Longhorns answered.

That matters.

It doesn’t erase the mistakes or magically settle every concern about this offense. But when a team is wobbling, there’s something to be said for finding enough resolve to win a game it absolutely needed.

Texas did that.

So, for the record: Edgy Arch is 1–0.

And the SEC? Good luck sorting through that pile of teams.

Everybody has an argument. Everybody has something on film they’d prefer the committee forget. Just when you think you’ve figured out who belongs where, another Saturday rearranges the furniture.

The first College Football Playoff rankings arrive November 3.

How the heck is the committee going to decipher all this?

A couple more things for your Sunday

I’ve been working hard to give you plenty to read, watch and think about. If you missed these, grab a cup of coffee and spend a little more of your Sunday with me.

The campaign ads are wearing me out. Somewhere between all the football, we’re being bombarded with another round of political advertising that leaves me wondering how this became the way we choose our representatives. I wrote about what those commercials reveal—and why I think we deserve better.

Read: College Football Saturdays Are a Stark Reminder of What’s Broken in Our Politics →

And if you need a break from all the yelling, let’s talk ’90s country. Seeing Brooks & Dunn in a Nashville parking lot was the kind of night I wish I could bottle up. Thirty-five years after “Brand New Man,” those guys still have it.

Read: Brooks & Dunn Still Rock After 35 Years →

Want to work with me on your own broadcasting? Show Pony University returns in early November. We’ll work on building better topics, interviewing, hooks and finding your own voice—the things that turn having a microphone into having something worth listening to.

Explore Show Pony University and reserve your spot →

One quick favor from the Pony

If you enjoy what I’m building here, please help me out by following Show Pony Live on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribing to Show Pony Media on YouTube.

I’m putting a lot into these conversations, interviews and reactions, and I’d love to have you along for all of it.

🎧 Follow on Apple Podcasts

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And if you’ve got a friend who would enjoy the show, send an episode their way. That personal recommendation means a lot.

Thank you for helping me keep this thing growing and thanks for spending your Sunday with me.

—Pony

I love nostalgia. I wish I could bottle it up.

Especially when it comes to ’90s country. That is my favorite genre of music, period. Give me those songs, those voices, those videos I used to watch on GAC every day growing up, and I’m happy.

Faith Hill is my personal all-time favorite from that era. But Brooks & Dunn? Those guys are giants.

And Tuesday night, in a parking lot in Midtown Nashville, they reminded me why.

Brooks & Dunn announced the show the night before: a special pop-up at Losers celebrating 35 years of Brand New Man.

Only in Nashville, right?

I wanted to go badly. So I reached out to my buddy Storme Warren, who knows just about everyone in this damn town, and asked if he had any way in.

Storme’s response was basically, “Heck yeah, that sounds awesome.”

Next thing I knew, I was going with him, his sons Evan and Jackson, and Jackson’s girlfriend, who, funny enough, is Storme’s former intern.

What a treat.

The crowd was so fired up, and Brooks & Dunn delivered. “Brand New Man,” of course. “Neon Moon.” “Red Dirt Road.” “My Maria.” “Only in America.”

You hear those songs start, and suddenly you’re remembering all the times you heard them before. Watching the videos. Singing along. Being a kid who had no idea how much he would someday miss that time in his life.

For stretches Tuesday night, I was right back in junior high.

Ronnie Dunn has acknowledged that his voice isn’t exactly what it once was. Fair enough. But damn, it still sounds amazing to me. He hits the notes that matter, and hearing that voice sing those songs in person is still something special.

And Kix Brooks still has the energy of a guy in his 20s.

Thirty-five years in, these guys can still give a parking lot full of people one hell of a night.

I could have stayed in that little time capsule of musical heaven for a while.

But the other part that made Tuesday special was getting to spend time with Storme.

Since he left SiriusXM a few years ago, I haven’t seen him nearly enough. I miss the guy.

Back when we worked out of the SiriusXM offices inside Bridgestone Arena, his show on The Highway and Full Ride were right next door to each other. He had the big studio, and we were in the smaller one nearby.

I used to wander into his studio and hang out all the time. Those were wonderful days.

Someday I need to write more about them, because I have some stories. Dolly Parton. Carrie Underwood. Garth Brooks. People whose music had been part of my life, suddenly standing there in the place where I went to work.

What made it special was getting to be around them in such a normal, human way. You got to talk, laugh, and spend a little time together.

So much of that happened because of Storme.

He would bring guests over to Full Ride, too. Kelsea Ballerini, Lauren Alaina, Garth, Tim McGraw. I still have some great stories to tell about those visits.

Storme opened that world to me. He included me. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we became good buddies.

I cherish those memories.

Tuesday gave me a chance to make another one with him.

I went because I wanted to see Brooks & Dunn. I wanted to hear those songs and scratch that ’90s-country itch that never really goes away.

I got all of that. A fired-up crowd, a slew of hits, and two guys who can still bring it after 35 years.

And I got a night with a good friend I’ve missed.

If I could bottle up a little nostalgia, I’d save some of Tuesday night.

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So I fired up a special solo edition of Show Pony Live to get us ready for Week 8—and work through a few things with my fellow college football obsessives.

We start with Arch Manning, Steve Sarkisian and a Texas offense that has created far more questions than answers. Arch has to play better. We know that. But how much responsibility belongs to the guy calling the plays? Are we watching a quarterback struggle to find himself, a coach struggle to reach his quarterback, or some combination of both?

With Ole Miss coming to town, those questions take on a little more urgency. I get into what I’m watching for and why the conversation has to go beyond simply declaring Arch good or bad.

Then there’s Michigan. Can a quarterback change give the Wolverines new life against Indiana? Sometimes a change provides a spark. Sometimes it reveals that the problems run deeper. We’ll find out plenty Saturday.

I also share my thoughts on the Maryland job, how I view that opportunity and what matters when evaluating a coaching job in this version of college football.

And I spend some time on something I wrote about this week: college football media needs less manosphere and more Keith Jackson.

I love having fun. I love a strong opinion. You know that about me. But I also love the traditions, the storytelling and the people who make this sport feel like something worth handing down to your kids. There is an audience for treating those things with care. I’m part of it, and I suspect a lot of you are, too.

That’s the spirit of tonight’s show. A little debate, a little perspective and a whole lot of love for the sport.

Watch or listen to the full episode above, then tell me in the comments: What’s the biggest thing you need to see Saturday?

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with me. If you enjoy these shows, please subscribe to Show Pony Media on YouTube, follow Show Pony Live on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share this episode with a friend.

And if you’d like more of my thoughts throughout the season, plus access to our premium conversations and mailbags, join the Show Pony Club right here on Substack. Your support makes this work possible.

Presented by 4Topps and AR’s Hot Honey. Thanks to both for helping keep this Pony running. Use SHOWPONY15 when ordering from AR’s Hot Honey!

Happy Friday, everybody.

First, welcome to all the new subscribers who joined us this week. I’m Chris, although plenty of people just call me Pony. Whether you found me through Full Ride, a podcast, an article or a friend who passed something along, I’m glad you’re here.

And to those who have been here building this with me: thank you.

I’ve been working hard for you this week. Stories, interviews, college football arguments, a little Nashville sports and the occasional opinion that could make me look like a complete idiot by Saturday night.

This email is your chance to catch up. Before we get to everything, though, a few Friday thoughts.

I’m picking Alabama. I just can’t unsee last week.

I don’t think Alabama is going to lose three games in a row.

But I also can’t unsee what I watched in Knoxville.

I was there covering the game for Morgan Wallen Radio, reporting back every quarter. I watched every snap with sober eyes and a responsibility to explain what was happening.

It was bad.

Tennessee owned the line of scrimmage. Alabama’s offensive line was a mess. The new center didn’t look ready. They couldn’t run, and they couldn’t adequately protect Keelon Russell.

Woof.

It made me wonder about depth in the portal era. Everybody wants to talk about your starters. What happens when the next guy has to play? Have you developed him? Have you kept him? Is he ready?

I expect Alabama to beat Texas A&M. The Aggies look like they have plenty of problems themselves.

But if DeBoer loses three straight, that article I wrote a few weeks ago about him being a blessing for Alabama is going to make me look like a massive dumbass.

Luckily, I never claimed not to be one.

Michigan has my attention

I have a feeling Indiana could lose two in a row.

That’s a feeling, not some declaration that Indiana is suddenly fraudulent. The Hoosiers are still elite. They were within a controversial eyelash of Ohio State last week.

But Tommy Carr sparked something after Bryce Underwood was benched against Penn State, and I’m interested in what Michigan looks like with a different direction at quarterback.

Do I think Underwood has been holding that offense back? Yes.

Is it nuts that we’re saying that about the quarterback who was supposed to change everything? Also yes.

The recruitment, the money, the expectations—none of it gets you a first down on Saturday.

As I wrote about Arch Manning this week, sometimes you have to consider whether a different situation might help a talented player. Maybe that eventually becomes a conversation for Underwood, too.

For now, I wonder if making a decision lets Kyle Whittingham and his offense breathe a little and go coach ball.

I expect a spark. Against Indiana, they’ll need one.

And imagine if Golesh gets Kiffin, too

How great would it be if Alex Golesh follows the Georgia win by beating LSU?

Seriously.

Rick talks about the “SEC flu,” when a team follows a huge win by looking completely different the next Saturday. That’s the danger for Auburn.

But confidence matters, too. Golesh has swagger, and now his players have evidence that they can beat an elite opponent.

Imagine the feeling at Auburn if they do it again.

And imagine the conversation around Kiffin if they do.

Another perfectly normal, emotionally stable Saturday awaits us.

Here’s what I’ve been working on for you

If your week got busy, start wherever something grabs you.

Maryland, Call These Two Guys. I Believe in Them.
My premium case for Mike Denbrock and Lance Leipold. I know them, I believe in them, and I think Maryland would be foolish not to find out if they’re interested. Give a builder a chance.

Arch Manning and Texas may need a change.
Sometimes a relationship doesn’t work the way everybody imagined. That doesn’t mean either side is hopeless. But it might mean asking an uncomfortable question.

More Keith Jackson, Less Manosphere.
I miss a certain way of presenting college football. The stories. The traditions. The respect for the people who care about it. I don’t believe everything needs to become a shouting contest.

My Rocky Top confession.
This one really connected with you. My experience in Knoxville, working for Morgan Wallen Radio and watching generations of families gather around something they love, hit me right in my college football-loving soul.

I hated the 24-team playoff, then…
Last Saturday made me reconsider some things. I’m willing to change my mind when the sport gives me a reason to.

And I’ve been building something new, too: Broadway & Second, the Nashville and Tennessee sports side of Show Pony.

The Titans finally won, but that’s not the story.
My first piece over there is about hope. Because being a fan means finding reasons to believe, even when your team has given you plenty of reasons not to.

Watch, listen and join us

There’s been plenty happening on Show Pony Live, too. If you missed the conversations this week, you can catch up here:

Watch this episode · Watch this one, too

And Tim Brando joins me on the podcast tomorrow! I’m looking forward to that conversation.

Please subscribe to Show Pony Media on YouTube so you can keep up with the interviews, clips and special shows.

If you enjoy what I’m building and want the premium pieces, subscriber conversations and more access to me, join the Show Pony Club. Paid subscriptions help give me the time and space to keep doing this work.

Show Pony University starts November 3, too. If you’re interested in working on your broadcasting, interviewing and finding something worth saying, reply to this email for details.

Thanks to our partners

🪑 4Topps: Upgrade your patio with an AIRdirondack chair—my favorite spot for fall football pondering.

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Whether you’re a free reader, a paid subscriber or somebody who keeps sending these stories to friends, I appreciate you. I’ve put a lot into this week, and I hope you find something here worth your time.

Have a great weekend. Hit reply and tell me what’s on your mind before Saturday.

—Pony