In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the boys battle colds as Indiana takes home the College Football National Championship in a victory Monday night over Miami. Curt Cignetti did the impossible by taking his team 16-0, and all it took was the backing of some of the biggest billionaires around. This is the new order of college football; gone are the days that players look for college culture, or facilities, or anything else. Now the only question they’re asking is “how much NIL will I get?” Can we still be happy for the players and coaches? Of course. But is this new order better? That’s for you to judge. 

There were several products of Wisconsin on Indiana’s championship team, including a few former Badgers. There have been plenty of guys in recent years who just “didn’t fit” in Madison who went on to do some big things around college football. Meanwhile, Luke Fickell is looking for his third offensive line coach in four years. But still, Fickell is changing tactics once again this year. Air raid is gone, and whatever they did last year is gone too. Now, it’s time for full use of the transfer portal. Will it work? That depends, can Fickell build up team culture fast like Cignetti? After all, gone are the days of building team chemistry over the course of a few years. Now, you hope that someone else develops someone so you can scoop them up and hope for the best. But if Monday told us anything, it’s that Wisconsin is just one big benefactor away from a national championship. Well, maybe a few benefactors. 

Meanwhile in the NFL, Jeff Hafley is officially the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins. That means that a newly resigned Matt LaFleur needs to find a new defensive coordinator. Several names have already been thrown out there and there is one name that a lot of Wisconsin sports fans hope is the winner. Jim Leonard certainly would like to return to his home in Wisconsin, even if he did turn down a job in Green Bay once upon a time. Another name thrown around is Raheem Morris, former head coach for the Falcons. He and LaFleur are friends, and he’s well respected around the league. Or maybe they’ll find someone in-house they can promote up to the position. Whoever they go with, if Saturday is any indication their first order of business should be to find a way to stop Caleb Williams and those big passes of his… 

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.