Kings of the North College Football

An Indiana lineman who gets told he looks like a plumber, a Maryland linebacker who wants to take our jobs, and a deep discussion about Michigan’s future are part of this Kings of the North from Day 3 of Big Ten Media Days.

Doug Lesmerises starts things off with a rant about Paul Finebaum’s comments on Penn State coach James Franklin.

And then Doug and Bill Landis interview:
• Indiana lineman Mike Katic (09:08)
• The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman about Michigan (20:18)
• Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson and Minnesota kicker Dragan Kesich together (36:31)
• Maryland linebacker Ruben Hyppolite (49:18)
• Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan (1:01:19)
• Minnesota running back Darius Taylor (1:10:27)
• Michigan safety Makari Paige (1:16:31)
• Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa (1:22:30)

It’s the last KOTN from Indy this week, so thanks as always for joining the show

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New Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork came from Texas A&M, so he knows both sides of North-South college football. 
In this Kings of the North, Bjork joins Doug Lesmerises to discuss life in the Big Ten compared to life in the SEC.
Is the Big Ten as aggressive as the SEC?
Bjork also talks about the future of college football and funding other sports.
He has an idea — the NFL could pay college football for serving as a de facto minor league.

That and more with one of the decision-makers in college sports on Kings of the North.

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Big Ten Media Days Day 2 brought another round of college football talk, including a focus on how much Penn State fans would embrace a spot in the 12-team playoff, or whether they'd only be frustrated if that bid wasn't followed by a win.

On this Kings of the North, Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis welcome several guests:

• Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins on maybe being the Big Ten's best defender and serving as the right-hand man for Hawkeyes' defensive coordinator Phil Parker. (05:22)
• Nebraska coach Matt Rhule on playing football in the snow and re-establishing the Cornhuskers standards. (11:00)
• Audrey Snyder of The Athletic discussing Penn State coach James Franklin saying the Nittany Lions are one of the few teams that could win 10 or 11 games and not please their fans. (15:40)
• Michigan State running back Nate Carter on a reset in East Lansing with new coach Jonathan Smith. (36:53)
• Nebraska center Ben Scott on helping freshman QB Dylan Raiola prepare for the season. (45:45)
• USC offensive lineman Jonah Monheim on looking like a Man of the North while playing in Southern California. (55:22)
• UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond on his roots at Michigan State and Ohio State helping to lead the Bruins into the Big Ten. (1:04:09)

Thanks for joining Kings of the North, and check back for another round of interviews from Day 3 of Big Ten Media Days, which will feature Michigan, Oregon and Washington, among others.

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Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers head coaches sit down with Kings of the North on this episode, as players from Wisconsin and Illinois also stop by at Day 1 of Big Ten Media Day in Indianapolis.

Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis kick off the show with a discussion of how much juice the Big Ten brought to the Tuesday proceedings (not enough).

Then it's off to interviews with:

• Ohio State head coach Ryan Day on why he'll be the best head coach he's ever been. (15:05)
• Purdue head coach Ryan Walters pushing back on the Boilermakers picked to be last in the conference. (26:20)
• Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano explaining why this will be his last job, and not wanting Doug to share his Rutgers record prediction. (36:11)
• Wisconsin tackle Jack Nelson on how fired up Badgers fans are for the Week 3 home game against Alabama. (51:03)
• Illinois defensive players Seth Coleman and Gabe Jacas explaining why they left Florida to play college football in the North. (58:20) - Seth, (1:03:23) - (Gabe)

Thanks for joining Kings of the North, and come back for more coverage the next two days from Big Ten Media Days.

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Ohio State was picked to beat Oregon for the Big Ten title, and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Michigan cornerback Will Johnson were named the Big Ten preseason players of the year in a poll conducted by Kings of the North.

On this episode, Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis reveal the choices of 33 voters from across the conference, and discuss their own picks for:

• The full predicted Big Ten standings, 1 through 18
• The Big Ten title game participants and champion
• The number of Big Ten teams predicted to make the College Football Playoff
• The voting for Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
• The voting for Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

Get ready for even more KOTN coverage from Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis this week, and thanks for joining Kings of the North.

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Alabama's Nick Saban leaves a hole in his sport as large as any sporting figure since Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls. With so much changing in college football, it's possible everyone is underestimating how big the Saban void will be.

On this Kings of the North, Doug Lesmerises is joined by guest Dan Wetzel of The College Football Enquirer to dig into Saban's legacy and examine whether anyone can replace him as the King of College Football (sorry Kirby Smart, it won't be easy as some are making it out to be.)
Doug and Dan discuss:

• Is Saban the greatest college football coach of all-time?
• Was Kalen DeBoer the right hire to replace him?
• How hard is Saban to replace?
• What’s the expected drop-off for Alabama?
• Which team could be next up to dominate like Alabama did for the last 15 years?

Then Doug and Bill Landis talk about the latest from SEC Media Days and what DeBoer and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian had to say.

Thanks as always for joining Kings of the North. We'll stop talking about the South for a while -- we can't take it.

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Georgia football coach Kirby Smart addressed reporters at SEC Media Days on Tuesday -- but why wasn't he asked about the repeated driving issues of Georgia players while the cameras were on him?

On this episode of Kings of the North, Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis discuss the way Georgia football should be viewed for now -- as a rogue program.

The guys cover what Smart did say to reporters about driving problems when the cameras weren't on, the baseline of Georgia driving arrests in the last year-and-a-half, the way the media has handled Georgia's problems (often poorly) and why Smart should be compared to Urban Meyer and not Nick Saban.

Then they decide what Smart should do to try to fix the issue and how media and fans should view Georgia until this gets better.
There's also some talk of why Smart isn't at Nick Saban's level, why LSU's Brian Kelly wants to play in Ireland, and what SEC commissioner Greg Sankey thinks about the future of college football.

Thanks for joining Kings of the North.

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At Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas, on Day 2 Doug Lesmerises talked to West Virginia coach Neal Brown and quarterback Garrett Greene about the “reckless” quarterback play that could put the Mountaineers over the top this season.

The Colorado punter stopped by to talk punting for Coach Prime; and the conference chief marketing officer explained how Big 12 branding (hello Nelly and wrestling!) can help this chesty outlaw conference promote its football.

Also, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN talked Big 12 coaching futures and Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports discussed the league without Texas and Oklahoma.

• Garrett Greene (02:46)
• Neal Brown (07:06)
• Wyatt Milum (15:52)
• Adam Rittenberg (18:41)
• Mark Vassett (46:00)
• Tyrel Kirkham (53:23)
• Shehan Jeyarajah (1:09:06)

Thanks for joining Kings of the North from Las Vegas.

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The Big 12 Media Days kicked off in Las Vegas on Tuesday and Kings of the North was on the scene to talk Northern college football.

On this show, Doug Lesmerises brings you interviews from three Northern teams. In order, get ready for:

• Cincinnati punter Mason Fletcher (06:21)
• Iowa State receiver Jaylin Noel (15:36)
• Utah defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (21:45)
• Cincinnati running back Corey Kiner (26:49)
• Cincinnati right guard Luke Kandra (33:09)
• and Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham (39:50)

Check out the Kings of the North YouTube feed for live shows Tuesday and Wednesday night, and come back Wednesday for more interviews with Colorado, West Virginia and BYU.

Thanks for joining Kings of the North.

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It's a final farewell to the Big Ten West and a look into a future with no college football divisions on this Kings of the North.

Scott Dochterman of The Athletic joins Doug Lesmerises to take a final look at the 10-year run of the Big Ten West: Why it was formed, why it went 0-10 in the Big Ten title game, and why its perception was even worse than its reality.
Without it, will teams like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern be better off or worse off? Those questions are answered.

But first Doug runs through the full history of divisions in major college football, and how every major conference had a stronger division and a weaker division -- and maybe that wasn't such a bad thing
After Scott, Doug expresses a fear about the College Football Playoff committee with no divisions around.

And then Doug hands out his final awards for the Big Ten West's 10-year run:
• Best Player
• Best Quarterback
• Best Coach
• Best Win
• Best Team

Thanks for joining Kings of the North.

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