[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in to our podcast. We got Brandon Marcelo from CBS Sports in here. Today we're gonna do something different during the football season. Brandon's gonna come in on Wednesdays. We're gonna talk about the Razorbacks, but we're also gonna talk about college football.
Probably some court cases, since you can't talk college football without talking about the courts. All right, Brandon. But Brandon lives here in northwest Arkansas. He actually used to work here at Whole Hog Sports, so it's good to have him here in studio. I want to tell you that our podcast is brought to you by Eglin's Best in Arkansas. Greatness starts early on. Before the pads go on, before the crowd roars, the day begins at the breakfast table. Eglund's Best delivers superior nutrition with more vitamin D and less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. You can start strong with Eglins Best. Better taste, better nutrition, and better eggs. We're also brought to you by Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. They're committed, professional, and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them now at 507 in Bentonville or
[email protected] Brandon. It dawned on me this morning when I looked at the date 16 years ago today is whenever I took over for you.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Oh, is that right? Really?
[00:01:11] Speaker A: That's when you left here to go to.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: That makes sense. Yeah.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: And it looks a little bit different around here, doesn't it?
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Yeah. My beyond this wall. My desk used to be right over there.
It's crazy being back in this building. I got a lot of great, great memories in this building. I miss being, like, in a newsroom where there's people, there's a lot of energy and all that. So, yeah.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: And when we were coming up, there was also that camaraderie on the beat with people like Bob and Nate and Clay Henry and so many others where they had just been around each other for 30, 40 years in a lot of cases. And you just like, hey, I get to kind of step into this ecosystem that has existed for a long time. That was really fun.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: You get to observe.
You're like, you're just kind of hiding in the bushes, just observing everything as a reporter anyway, but you're also doing that around them, trying to, like, learn from a little bit back, you know, back then, I felt like I was nervous. People Thought I was a jerk.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Because I wouldn't talk to anybody.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Just quiet.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: Because I was scared. I was scared to death to talk to Nate Allen or Clay Henry and you know, Bob Holt and then way back when, Scott Kane and Tom Murphy. I was, I was just scared. I wasn't mean. I was just scared. I didn't feel like I deserved to speak.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: You know, we need what we miss with Nate having, having passed away. And of course he had his health problems before then, but like the press conferences would never go too long because Nate wouldn't allow it. Because if you started asking a question that was like too wordy or if he felt like, hey, this has already been covered, you'd kind of get this grouch from down there.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: That was like, that was like the two minute warning. You're like, oh, okay. Yeah, we, we. It's been enough.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Yep, that's, that's for sure.
So you got a story coming out here pretty soon. You, you went to Arkansas's last football scrimmage. You walk, watched their quarterbacks play.
Really? The day that they announced that K.J. jackson was going to be the starter, what did you see from him? But what, why do you think that they made the decision to go with him?
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it was pretty clear to the coaching staff that he was the guy, but they just wanted to keep making sure, keep that competition going. And that last scrimmage was mostly situational. Each of the first two team quarterbacks only got like one normal drive. The rest of it was situational for them. So it'd be like you have a minute, 13 seconds left, one timeout, you're at the minus 25 yard line, you need a field goal to win or same situation, you need a touchdown to win or tie.
And it was just pretty clear. K.J. jackson handled those kind of situations better.
He had a better understanding of the offense, better handle on his teammates, and he made the plays.
And that was a consistency that the staff had really seen throughout preseason camp, not just in that practice because they did those situational stuff as you know, like throughout practices.
So it was pretty clear. In fact, you know, that next morning they got together at 9am and I was in there and there was like really no talk about quarterbacks, just break down film, look at everything.
Correcting mistakes, pointing out technique, looking at all this stuff. And then, you know, Coach Kramsey puts up the depth chart at the end and goes, yep, KJ's number one, AJ two. And then you just start going through the rest of it and it was like nothing. It was like, you know, not like that's our starter, but it was also one of those things. And it's in the story that's coming
[email protected] self promo. But Ramsey says, let's make sure that we all know that AJ's probably pretty down today when he finds out and that that's okay. He's probably have a bad practice this afternoon as a result of it.
Watch his body language. That's fine. Let him have it. But on Tuesday when we come back here, his body language needs to be back up and needs to be preparing like he's still the starter.
So, you know, it's. It's great to kind of go in there and see kind of the coaching side of it and also the human side of it and the understanding of all that. But it was real clear that KJ was the guy. Even like before the meeting, it's like, I think all the players kind of knew like that. You just get that feeling. No one really has to say that KJ was a starter other than, all right, here's our depth chart going into our game week preparations.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: So that's an interesting insight because I think a lot of people felt coming out of the spring that KJ was just the assumed starting quarterback. And what you're saying is that AJ Hill really felt like he was in the thick of that quarterback.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: I mean, even you go in the quarterback room, there's two rows of seats.
KJ and AJ are sitting next to each other on the front row. All the other quarterbacks are in the back.
And I'll tell you, I mean, I only saw the one scrimmage.
AJ's pretty freaking good. And Cramsy even mentioned it during while they're breaking down film. Like, I can't wait to see him get a chance. He's gonna play at some point this year, maybe not necessarily in garbage time. He's gonna play, also needs to be ready to be the starter. But they're also sitting there going, we wonder kind of what he looked like in live action because they didn't hit the quarterbacks. So you just never know.
And in fact, there was a play in the scrimmage where I think it was AJ scrambled to go get a first down in a situational situation. And the refs, of course, blew the whistle before he got to the sideline. And there was a linebacker safety crashing down on him. And so there was a big discussion in the room. Like, did he actually. Was he going to get the first down? And was he getting out of bounds to stop the clock or was he going to get tackled right before getting out of bounds? Like, we'll never know because they had to blow the whistle. But it was stuff like that. It's like, man, maybe he would have had the first down, that drive would have continued, or maybe he would not have. But you just don't know until you actually see it in live action.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: It's interesting that KJ is the one who feels the most comfortable when the bullets are flying because you've got AJ who comes in, who he ran this offense last year at Memphis. Now, he's not as old as K.J. jackson. There's a couple of years difference in their age, but he's got more of a grasp on the playbook, so. Or at least he did coming into the spring. And so I think it tells you a lot about how Jackson probably grew from the time that the coaching staff got here.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. And I'll say this, this is in the story, too. I was in two quarterback meetings and those things are long and there's a lot of information flying at you. And what I found so interesting and impressed me about kj. He's sitting on the front row, the coaches, Tim Cramsey is in the back along with Mitch Stewart, the coach, quarterback's coach, breaking down the film. But every time a coach would talk, KJ turned his body and squared it with the coach and would look at them and listen to them, and then he'd go back to the screen. No other quarterback in that room was doing that.
And every time, it didn't matter what it was, he'd turn around, he'd be, the coach could be talking about A.J. hill. And he would square up and look at the coach and listen to him. And I was going, that guy knows he's a starter.
He knows it. As soon as I got in there that first day, I'll say this, it might not matter. It probably not going to matter for this season. Another guy impressed me was Hank Hendricks. He came in and led that team down the field a couple of times. And the coaches, even in the film room after were going, man, he's pretty good. You're making some right decisions here. And the other thing is those coaches are constantly quizzing the players and they're not setting them up to answer the question the right way. They'll try to trick him a little bit. So like for Hank, he scrambled a couple times and Mitch Stewart goes, goes, was something wrong with the protection calls here or something like that? And he goes no, he's like, okay, we took off and ran. Then they asked him again later. Goes protection here? Nope, he took off and ran. Okay. He's making. Mitch Stewart's making checks there. Like, probably shouldn't have ran there. What's the issue? You should have stayed in there in the pocket a little bit longer. So. But Hank, for. For being as young as he is, he was.
I'm sure the depth charts come out. Is he 13?
[00:08:45] Speaker A: I believe so, yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: He should be the third teamer.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: And he's young for his class. I mean, that was. I watched all of his games last year at Fayetteville High, and that was one of the things that his coaches talked about there was that how, like, hey, he's, yes, he's a junior, but he is almost sophomore age based on how young he is for that class. And so you put that into context of what he's stepping into in a college locker room right now, and I think that's kind of interesting.
He's just, he's the prototype quarterback that you want. I mean, he's tall, stands up real tall in the pocket.
I think that there's a lot to like there about him moving forward.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: He'll be someone to watch as far as development in the spring. Like, that's someone you really want to keep an eye on.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: So I always think that scrimmages are when you can learn the most about the team. And they don't let you in scrimmages anymore unless you work for CBS Sports. But I wonder what you saw in the scrimmage. Because, I mean, like, for the rest of us, it's going to be. I think there are going to be some things that are surprising, maybe on a good side, maybe on a bad side. When they play North Alabama on Saturday.
Aside from the quarterbacks, like, like, what were some of the things that stood out to you?
[00:09:51] Speaker B: A lot of miscommunication on the. In the secondary.
You know, I, I was on another show here in Northwest Arkansas, I think, last week, and they're asking me, like, what's one area you're really concerned about? I said the secondary. And they're like, really?
What's the deal there? And I was like, I just, I don't feel it, you know, some of the miscommunication. And maybe it's because I was hyper focused on them because they were throwing the ball a lot. Defensive line, I'm giving away too much for my story. Defensive line held the running game to 2.4 yards per carry in that scrimmage.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: They Liked the depth of the defensive line.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: Of course, it's all situational, scripted a couple times. The defense knew exactly what was coming, by the way.
And I heard it on the sidelines going, man, they know what are we doing? They know what's coming defensively. I mean, they had three interceptions. So you look on paper, you're like, man, it's great day. Then you go back and watch the film. And I watched film with Ron Roberts and then also Darren Wilson, two different sessions. And fired up, fired up. Especially D. Will. He was really fired up about miscommunication technique. Some things like why are you not. Why are you allowing this receiver to run free off the. Off the line of scrimmage? Your direct job at this very moment was to jam him up. There's another time like you're three yards off the ball. Why are you trying to get back there to jam someone up at the line of scrimmage and you're already three yards off the ball. Why in cover two are we not in this honey spot between 18 to 22 yards? Why is everybody lined up this way? And then there was a couple of plays where, you know, one receiver was running wide open down the field for a touchdown, dropped it, and it would have been touchdown, but because there was a miscommunication and one corner made a completely wrong read and decided to abort his coverage. Let the guy run wide open. Now, this was like maybe five, six plays, right? In 104 play scrimmage, I think so, whatever. But if you have miscommunications and breakdowns on the, in the secondary that many times in the game, you're probably going to end up losing because you're going to end up giving up two, three touchdown passes. Maybe you shouldn't have, but we'll. We'll see when they all get going out there. But that, that was my one kind of like, issue.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: And I don't think that really should surprise people. When you look at, you know, they brought in three defensive backs in the like since preseason started, started, you know, trying to get them eligible through these temporary restraining orders. To me, that just screams that there is a concern about maybe not the frontline players, but certainly the depth in the secondary. And speaking of those players, this is a good transition into talking about the courts.
The Washington County Circuit Court yesterday there was a ruling that Sean Williams and Caleb Wooden are going to be eligible for Arkansas's season opener. They were supposed to have a hearing on Thursday, but because of a scheduling conflict, their hearing has been pushed back to next Thursday. So kind of by default they are eligible. Their restraining order will carry over until at least next Thursday. So they're going to be eligible to play in that game whether or not they play. Ryan Silverfield was asked about that earlier this week. He said that it's going to be difficult for them to play. I mean they came in, they came in late and in fact, I could
[00:13:05] Speaker B: tell you in that scrimmage, you know, I guess two weeks ago now.
Yeah, I mean Wooden, who I think was eligible to practice, the team didn't. I don't think he scrimmaged at all. Okay. Yeah, he was on the sideline the entire time.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: Yeah. So I think it would be if they played. It feels like it would be in mop up duty. If Arkansas has covered this 40 and
[00:13:23] Speaker B: a half points, if even that probably emergency. I don't know how up to speed they could even be.
And you know, they weren't even. Most of those guys other than Wooden couldn't even practice up until was a week and a half ago. A week ago. I know the Sunday practice when they're cleaning things up after the scrimmage in a meeting Silverfield was asking, can these guys practice yet? And they're like, well, they can if they're enrolled. We're still waiting to get paperwork and they weren't enrolled yet. So even that Sunday practice they still weren't able to practice.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Yeah, so they're quite a bit behind. And then, you know, you start practicing and you've got to go through the acclimation period where you can't be in full pads yet. There's.
I do think that if they, if they end up being able to play a full season and they make an impact, their impact would be more toward the end of the season for various reasons. Maybe somebody goes down or maybe it's just that's when they, they're really caught up.
You know, like everybody else who's gone through spring ball and preseason, everybody's talking about this SEC LSU situation. And I think a lot of people are confused, Brandon, about just what exactly is going on. Because you read and you're talking about federal court here and you're talking about state court there and it can get really confusing. And you know this. When you're covering government and you're covering politics and you're covering the courts, the, the status quo can change really fast. So what you read two days ago may have changed three times between then and now.
In very simple terms, can you lay out what's going on between the SEC
[00:14:52] Speaker B: And LSU right now, LSU has pretty much just former pros on their roster right now and they want to play in this season.
And the SEC a week ago, now, a week and a half ago, created a rule that said if you're a former pro of any sort that signed a contract, played in preseason game, anything like that, NFL, NBA, wnba, you can't play in our conference. Well, they're saying that with an already a judge in Louisiana, I think it's 46 players total.
Some went to NFL, some didn't. Some are just those fifth year type guys are seeking.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: One of them is Brian Greene who's trying to play at Arkansas.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Right. And they got a tro. Right? But now the SEC is saying we want to enforce our rule after the fact. And the, you know, the judge is saying, well, you can't do that because of this rule. And LSU obviously is going to fight that. Now, Thursday morning, I think it's Thursday morning, Thursday morning, another court hearing in, in Louisiana and the sec, this is in the state court, in the state court, the SEC is going to show up and go. We are a voluntary organization.
We develop our own rules and our membership decided we want this rule, it's voluntary to be in our conference. If you don't like the way this is lsu, then don't be in our conference.
Now will they make it that far and say that like, hey, lsu, just leave.
That's kind of what they're communicating like, if you don't want to be part of this, then why are you in our league?
To be clear, what's also interesting about all this is that that rule was approved by every athletic director in the SEC, including LSU's for Josbury the next day. It has to be rubber stamped until it goes into effect by the presidents and chancellors. Well, LSU's chancellor abstained, so it passed 15 nothing. And so it became very clear then that LSU is like, we don't want any part of this right now. And so the SEC is going to go in there and state their case. Just like I told you, we're a voluntary organization.
This isn't something that you're beholden to. If you don't like it here, go to another school at another conference that might take you. They don't have those rules. There's some group of six school conferences that don't have that rule yet the American does. They just passed it yesterday.
So that's kind of their fight for this. Also the judge, or excuse me, the lawyers on the other side are also arguing that SEC should be kind of held in contempt of court.
So they got to go fight that as well when it comes to, in regards to adhering to the ruling by, by the judge and all that. So it's complicated. And I will say the SEC folks behind the scenes are very confident that maybe they don't get everything settled Thursday. But if this continues and it goes to federal court, the SEC feels pretty confident that they're gonna be able to get their way, or at the very least, there's gonna be enough pressure on LSU where they're gonna step back. I compare to lots of the Brendan Sorsby situation where. Or the big Texas Tech was going to sue the Big 12, and the Big 12 stepped in right before that and said, we're suing Texas Tech.
I think you could see that after Thursday, potentially with The SEC suing LSU,
[00:17:54] Speaker A: a lot of the Big 12 schools, they were ready to go to the mat and potentially may not play Texas Tech. I know that that's been something that's been at least reportedly discussed among the sec, too. Do you think it's that point?
[00:18:06] Speaker B: The big thing is, I don't think so. I think the teams would play them, but I think whatever happens in that game for lsu, I think the SEC would potentially count it as a forfeit. No matter what, they'll play the game, but it won't. This final score is not going to matter if this, if LSU continues to press the issue, which would be unprecedented. Right. I just don't think it's going to happen. And I felt the same way in the Brendan Sorsby situation. The moment the Big 12 said, all right, screw you, we're suing you. I went, yeah, you don't want the entire conference against one school.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: But how many times do we say this where it's unprecedented? I know, and you say every week, it's never going to actually get to that point. And then it does.
I know that it feels very larger picture.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Right. You can't go, we're all doing this for Lane Kiffin and two players.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Not even starters.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Exactly. What are we doing? It's not worth it. It really isn't worth it. Anybody with any, you know, this schools, they will.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: They will protect their coach until he's not their coach. I mean, they will. They will do crazy things for their coach. Like even this is a very, you know, small example. Boston College recently fired their longtime play by play and color analysts for basketball because the basketball coach comes in from UConn and says, hey, this is what we've got to do. We've got a clean house. We can't have any connection to the past. It's amazing how some of these universities will just kneel down to whoever their coach is at the time.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: And I think that goes all the way across contract discussions. Like, why do these coaches get these big contracts? For whatever reason, these schools just bend down to that. I think, anyway, I can go on days for why I think that is. But you're exactly right. Coaches have all the power.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: All of this is happening right now, or a lot of it, pardon me, is happening in state court systems. There was the federal case in Colorado that's in the middle of the expedited appeal. Maybe that. Maybe the stay on that injunction gets lifted and there's a blanket waiver for everybody. That's still a possibility.
Do you think at any point that all of these state court cases somehow get consolidated and kicked back up to
[00:20:11] Speaker B: the federal level, potentially? And to be quite honest, if I was a betting man, I would think that the SEC would probably like that to happen.
I think they feel much better about that happening there than on the state level. Because as we've seen, Trinidad, Chambliss, others, you get a local judge, they're probably going to rule in your favor.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: Please. Beholden to reelection.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's all. That's politics.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: Probably a graduate of the university in the town.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: You don't want to upset the people in your own home base there. Having said that, there were guys like Joey Aguilar at Tennessee that didn't get what he wanted. Diego Pavia as well in Nashville. So it. But yeah, on a federal level, and more importantly, I also think that a lot of decision makers believe that what's happening with LSU right now is going to help them with this legislation, the Protect College Sports act in September, because, remember, worked like two weeks away. That's gonna be voted on September 12th. I believe that's at least the promise that's been given to them.
There's still not a lot of hope that's gonna end up making it through the House. If I make it through the Senate, there's not a lot of hope out the House. Plus, mid election term season coming up, there might. They might just be like, we're not putting anything on the floor right now. So there's a lot going against that. But this in a lot of ways might actually help that legislation. Because LSU saying what they're saying, week
[00:21:27] Speaker A: zero, anything stand out to you other than maybe USC's crowd size?
[00:21:33] Speaker B: You know, I was honestly, I was kind of disappointed by USC's defense, I thought they would look a lot better.
Freshmen were amazing. They played like five or six guys. That made big impacts. They had a huge class. USC is going to be better as the season goes along.
Really love seeing North Dakota State put a beat down Jacksonville State. Held Jacksonville State to an FBS low, seven points and 85 rushing yards, the least amount Jacksonville State's ever had since joining the FBS in 2023. North Dakota State is my pick to be the G6 rep in the College Football Playoff this year.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: You think they can, they can improve that fast?
[00:22:07] Speaker B: I think so.
[00:22:07] Speaker A: Or elevate that fast.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: I just love the culture there. I love the fan support. I don't think they're going to lose a home game and they just got to go on the road and take care of business. UNLV being one of them. And unlv. I was not overly impressed with Jackson Arnold, their quarterback, former Auburn guy in Oklahoma guy regressed as that game went along. Back to the Jack Snarnle we know. Absorbing sacks, taking too long, making wrong reads.
Memphis very impressed. I think they were like my most impressive team this week. You go on the road, you do what you do under a first year coach. They had one returning starter total from that Memphis team.
So Charles Huff had to go in and rebuild it, bring in his type of players. And Charles Huff just wins every single place he goes. He wins Southern Miss, Marshall, now Memphis. And with the resources they have, Memphis is going to be a team to watch this year. Outside that North Carolina, tcu. I think it said more about TCU than North Carolina. I think TCU is much worse than we thought they're going to be. Jaden Craig, the Harvard transfer that come in, wasn't ready for prime time. And then with North Carolina, the defense played very well offensively. I expected more of the being a Bobby Petrino offense, but that's going to come. I think they're going to be potentially a bowl team, but it's not necessarily like, whoa, it's night and day with North Carolina, but it is night and day with tcu. They're really going to miss Josh Hoover at quarterback.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: The size of North Carolina's defense stood out to me. And I mean, you got Belichick and other, you know, former NFL coaches are on that staff. They know what they're looking for in a defensive prospect. And so that was one of the things that stood out to me.
I mentioned tongue in cheek, USC's attendance. Yeah, I think you're going to see a lot of that type stuff. This weekend it is hot. People don't want to go out and sit in the middle of the an unshaded stadium for three or four hours to watch your team play somebody that you know they're going to beat up. I think it could potentially happen here in Fayetteville. I mean Arkansas is a 40 and a half, 40 and a half point favorite. But the forecast Saturday's 99 at kickoff. I mean at kickoff it's going to
[00:24:07] Speaker B: be 99 kicking off at the hottest point of the day no matter what at three something. I mean it's ridiculous. I was wondering like why can't they get that change? There's been times, there's been changes in kickoff times.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: You know the times that Arkansas has changed. Like three years ago they changed their kickoff time against Western Carolina down in Little Rock. But that was an SEC Network plus game and so Arkansas controls the kickoff time there. SEC Network, they got to have their 3:15, you know, time slot and there's
[00:24:35] Speaker B: a lot of mid afternoon games in the SEC this week against really bad opponents.
[00:24:39] Speaker A: I think you're going to see a lot of empty stadiums.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: I think so too Georgia.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: And it may be a thing too where you see like maybe the stadium is somewhat full when it kicks off. Maybe you know, over here at Razorback stadium you got 55,000 at kickoff, maybe down to 20,000.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: A lot of fans left the USC game at halftime. You watching on tv. In fact the athletic did a really good story. Like let's not really cover the game. Let's go talk to people in the stands. And they did a story about like people on. This is the hottest game I've ever been to. We're not used to snow. Not only was it hot, they had humidity. There's never humidity out there. So this was a heat that they are never accustomed to out there.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: It's potentially going to be Arkansas's hottest game on record this Saturday. Just, just, just.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: We need rain.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: Oh my goodness.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: Gosh, we need rain.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: Do we ever.
Game of the week. What do you think? Lsu? Clemson or Ole Miss? Louisville. Any, any others that stand out to you narrative wise.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: And it'll be the biggest hit ratings wise will be Clemson, lsu.
But the one I'm looking forward to the most is Ole Miss and Louisville.
Just because I think the Ole Miss team does have something to prove with a new coaching staff with Pete Goldie. Like what's the offense look like? Whole new coordinator there. Certainly a lot of stuff carry over from last year. But is it as explosive as it was last year.
And Louisville is, I think, a borderline playoff team in my preseason this year. Running back room stacked with the Brown guys. I mean, they've got two. You got two court, you got two running backs, last name Brown. And they're two of the most explosive guys in the country. They stay healthy. There were some health issues last year. Louisville's got something to build. I think the thing that held Louisville back last year, and I say held back, they beat Miami on the road, they lost a home. Cal was the quarterback situation. Tyler Schuck wasn't. Jeff Braum's a quarterback whisper, but just didn't quite work out. Now you bring in Lincoln Keenholtz.
I think. I think things are going to look a lot better at Louisville.
[00:26:31] Speaker A: It always feels like the game that everybody looks forward to and this year the game everybody's talking about outside of maybe Texas, Ohio State in week two that you're going to is that Ole Miss LSU game in week three. It just feels like whenever. Like it never really materializes the way people think. I think either ole Ms. Or LSU get beat this week. Just law of averages says that that game cannot live up to the hype that has built for throughout the summer.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: That would suck, to be quite honest. But I don't think it would tamp down the fans in Oxford. They're.
I'd watch out. I've been to a couple of egg bowls there and it's some of the most like personal heated crowds will ever be around is I've covered a lot of iron bowls. That's I think the best rivalry in college football. But the egg bowl is like legitimately personal. Like those guys want to kill each other. And I've seen fans get on the field during timeouts and egg bowls. It's going to be the Egg bowl on steroids. And I'm sure Lane Kiffin's gonna have extra security.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: Here's a conspiracy theory. SEC has got this rule. If they're able to apply their rules, maybe Lane Kiffin serves his half year suspension and he never goes back to Oxford.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: You know, hey, maybe that's why he's doing all this. Now I don't have to go to Oxford. Hey, I like that you can read
[00:27:51] Speaker A: all of Brandon's work. Make sure to read his story tomorrow on CBSSports.com about Arkansas's quarterback.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Six thousand words.
[00:28:00] Speaker A: Goodness.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: I finished it this morning. I was like, oh my gosh, people
[00:28:03] Speaker A: get mad at me when I write 3000.
[00:28:05] Speaker B: We'll see if they cut it. I'm sure they're going to cut it down a little bit. It's 6,000 words.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: You can read
[email protected] you can subscribe to our podcast. We put it on all of our social media channels. We also have it on Apple Podcasts on Spotify. Just search Hull hog sports on YouTube. Search Whole Hog Sports there as well. Tomorrow we're going to be at the Hogs Illustrated Sports Club. Kevin Trainor, the longtime media relations man for Arkansas, is going to join us. We'll tell stories, we'll get his thoughts on how to handle PR crisis like we've seen this summer. That ought to be fun with him. And then we'll be back here on Friday in studio with Ethan Westerman to give you our thoughts on the weekend in college football. Hope to see you then or at our website, WholeHogsports.com have a great day everybody.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: LPGA Week in Northwest Arkansas returns this September as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship presented by P and G. Join us at the September 21st through the 27th at
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers to watch
[00:28:57] Speaker B: the world's best female golfers compete, plus enjoy family friendly activities, food and entertainment all week long. Tickets start at just $10. Visit www.nwachampionship.com to learn more and purchase your tickets today.
