In this college football podcast episode, we continue our 2026 Group of Six conference previews by breaking down the resurrected Pac-12, the new-look Mountain West and a wide-open Conference USA. We start with Boise State’s move into the Pac-12 and discuss whether the Broncos are truly a College Football Playoff threat or simply the best team in their new neighborhood. From there, we examine the cases for Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State and Washington State, along with the conference’s unusual plan to flex matchups during the final week of the regular season.

The Mountain West has undergone an even more dramatic transformation, with North Dakota State making the jump to FBS and Northern Illinois and UTEP entering the league. Can NDSU immediately contend with UNLV and New Mexico? Does Hawaii have enough around Micah Alejado to make a run? And can Air Force, Wyoming or one of the conference’s rebuilding programs force its way into the race? We also venture into Conference USA, where Western Kentucky may be the preseason favorite, but Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty and several recent FBS arrivals give us plenty of reasons to question the established order.

Finally, we bolt independent UConn onto the end of the preview and explore Jason Candle’s attempt to rebuild a roster that lost nearly everything from last season.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
5:05 - Pac-12 Conference Preview
38:44 - Mountain West Conference Preview
1:09:55 - CUSA Conference Preview
1:27:24 - UConn Football Preview

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In this episode, we kick off our 2026 conference preview series with Part 1 of our Group of Six rundown, covering the American, Sun Belt and MAC. With coaching changes, transfer portal churn, new coordinators and a whole lot of roster turnover, we try to figure out which teams are actually built to contend and which ones are more mystery box than finished product.

We start in the American, where UTSA, Navy, Memphis, Army, FAU, USF and ECU all have some version of a case, even if nearly every team comes with one glaring question. Then we move to the Sun Belt, where James Madison enters a new era with Billy Napier, Old Dominion has real intrigue, Louisiana and Troy headline the West, and nobody feels quite as loaded as last year.

Finally, we close with the MAC, where Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan appear to be the class of the conference, while Toledo, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Ohio and Eastern Michigan crowd into a very meaty middle.

Plus: Dan’s questionable subtitle, a punny new vehicle at Coastal Carolina, Lunch Winfield, Goose Crowder, Sacramento State’s strange MAC arrival, Keldric Luster, and the looming joy of the Ball-Sac rivalry.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
6:37 - American Conference Preview
46:40 - Sun Belt Conference Preview
1:11:00 - MAC Preview

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In this episode, we officially welcome ourselves back to college football with a full 2026 season primer. Before preview season begins in earnest, we reset the board with the biggest changes you need to know, from conference realignment, new teams, and bowl games to rule tweaks, the coaching carousel and a longer road to the national championship in Las Vegas. Consider this your intro course for the upcoming season.

We also run through the biggest names and roster moves shaping the season, including a huge crop of new head coaches, notable broadcast changes, the biggest transfer portal targets, and the quarterback storylines that could define the year. Plus, we look at early national title odds, conference favorites, Group of Six playoff contenders, and the broader themes we’ll be tracking all summer as our full preview series gets underway.

Also: the Ball-Sac rivalry, North Dakota State’s FBS arrival, the triumph of bike shorts, the return of the Poinsettia Bowl, and a joyous march in the Fleck Parade.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Welcome back
3:35 - What is this episode?
6:26 - The Basics
10:20 - Notable Changes
30:16 - New Coaches
35:49 - Announcer Changes
39:52 - Notable Transfers
56:16 - Big Storylines
1:01:34 - The Odds
1:06:21 - Common Themes
1:15:57 - Parting Thoughts

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In this July Q&A episode, we open up the mailbag and tackle a wide-ranging batch of offseason questions. Which teams could become this year’s surprise contenders? Is Utah still a threat after major coaching and roster turnover? Can Texas Tech buy its way out of an old perception? And what do the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rules mean for the future of roster building?

Plus, we talk portal spending, quarterback development, new coaching leashes at Michigan State, Penn State and Virginia Tech, college football’s value as a live-event experience compared to the World Cup, EA Sports dynasty strategy, social media guardrails, and sundae bars.

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In this episode, we welcome Chris Fallica of Fox Sports, Big Noon Kickoff and Bear Bets to talk through college football from the perspective of a researcher, bettor, traveler and longtime media fixture. We get into how he studies the sport this time of year, what numbers actually matter, how the transfer portal has changed preseason projections, and why college football remains so difficult to evaluate in an era of super conferences, roster churn and wildly uneven schedules.

We also dig into the art of finding weird stats, the value of schedule spots, the eternal appeal of the letdown lookahead sandwich, and whether elevation deserves a bigger place in how we talk about home-field advantage. Plus, Chris shares a few early thoughts on teams he trusts and teams he is more skeptical of heading into 2026, with Indiana, Miami, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Florida State and Arkansas all coming up along the way.

Before the interview, we also react to the latest twist in the Brendan Sorsby saga after the NFL declined to hold a supplemental draft.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
4:13 - Brendan Sorsby denied NFL Supplemental Draft
8:29 - Chris Fallica joins

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In this college football podcast episode, we react to the latest and likely final twist in the Brendan Sorsby saga, as the now-former Texas Tech quarterback backs off his NCAA lawsuit and turns his attention toward the NFL Supplemental Draft. After weeks of legal maneuvering, Big 12 pushback, public statements and fan frustration, we try to make sense of how the situation became untenable, what it means for Texas Tech, and where the Red Raiders go from here with Will Hammond now back in the spotlight.

Then, with preview season still a few weeks away, we open the window into the weirdest corners of college football fandom with help from the Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses) social feed. We dig through offseason fan brain at Texas Tech, Florida State, LSU, Washington, Oregon and beyond, touching on conference realignment fantasies, private investigator hypotheticals, Lane Kiffin’s housing situation, recruiting angst, national title expectations and one Auburn thread that probably should not have made it onto a college football podcast.

Plus: a new logo is on the way, Ty’s voice is still recovering, Dan pitches an “immersive college football experience,” and things end with an unfortunate discussion of fermented Japanese green plums.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
2:05 - Brendan Sorsby to enter NFL Supplemental Draft
27:22 - Message Board Gems

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In this episode, we examine the most interesting college football teams hovering around the bowl eligibility line in 2026. With win totals sitting at 5.5 or 6.5, these are the teams that could just as easily surge to 8-4 as stumble into 5-7, and we try to figure out which direction they’re headed before preview season officially begins.

We start with Florida and the Jon Sumrall reboot, then dig into Arizona State’s questions, Kentucky’s brutal SEC schedule, Minnesota’s surprisingly low win total, and Virginia Tech’s fascinating reset under James Franklin. Plus, we debate whether TCU has enough runway and whether Wisconsin is finally ready to clear the bar under Luke Fickell.

Also: Dan searches for a new lease, Ty searches for a Seattle soccer ticket, third-quarter sing-along traditions, the dangers of too many stadium sound effects, and how fuzzy June math led us directly to the today's concept.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
7:25 - Explaining Teeter Teams
9:32 - Florida Gators
16:47 - Arizona State Sun Devils
23:29 - Kentucky Wildcats
30:10 - Minnesota Golden Gophers
37:52 - Virginia Tech Hokies
44:18 - TCU Horned Frogs
49:59 - Wisconsin Badgers

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In this episode, we return to the board room for Sark Tank 3.0, our annual exercise in college football emotional investing. Ty brings the pitches, while Dan and special guest Andy Staples play the investors, and decide which 2026 storylines are worth buying and selling. On the board: Brendan Sorsby's prospects at Texas Tech, the SEC's return to glory, the return of Gary Patterson, and a new Group of Six team crashing the playoff party.

Plus, the Sarks debate whether anyone other than Miami is worth backing in the ACC, whether Notre Dame is being set up as the sport’s most polished strength-of-schedule mirage, and which long-shot ideas still deserve emotional capital before the season begins.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro to Sark Tank 3.0
4:55 - Brendan Sorsby & Texas Tech
14:13 - The SEC's Return To Glory
22:24 - Gary Patterson's Return
29:26 - New G6 Playoff Teams
38:34 - Miami vs. The ACC Field
46:02 - Notre Dame

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In this episode, we welcome back our friend Richard Johnson from CBS Sports and Split Zone Duo for a conversation about the college football topics we talk about too much, and the ones we probably do not talk about enough. As preview season creeps closer, we zoom out on the sport’s offseason discourse and ask which arguments are useful, which ones are exhausted, and where the weird, fun, meaningful parts of college football might be hiding.

We dig into College Football Playoff format fatigue, the role of TV money and conference power, the constant hope that Congress can somehow “fix” college sports, the growing presence of gambling in broadcasts, and whether the Arch Manning conversation has swung too far in the other direction. Plus, we get into teams and coaches who deserve more attention, including Florida, UCLA, Michigan, and the broader world outside the SEC and Big Ten.

We also wander into West Coast scheduling thoughts, the need for more strange bowl game energy, Sacramento sports sadness, college football media golf rankings, and the inevitability of major news breaking whenever Richard goes to Europe.

And, right in the middle of our recording, news broke of Brendan Sorsby's reinstatement. (We react as best we can!)

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
4:29 - Richard Johnson joins the show
7:30 - CFP format
12:31 - TV network influence
19:22 - The government and CFB
22:18 - Arch Manning
28:48 - Brendan Sorsby news
33:05 - Gambling as part of studio shows
40:25 - ACC Thursdays
44:10 - West Coast scheduling
45:53 - Jon Sumrall
50:22 - Big Ten & SEC vs. the World
56:54 - Kyle Whittingham
1:03:35 - Rapid Fire

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In this episode, we step slightly outside our usual college football lane for a 2026 World Cup preview with ESPN’s Bill Connelly. With the tournament kicking off next week in North America, we put the tournament in terms that college football fans can understand and discuss the potential chaos of an expanded field, the "Indiana" of world soccer, and the constant tension between off-field disasters and on-field brilliance.

We dig into the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT), their upside, their flaws, their best college football comp, and what casual American fans should actually watch for when the games begin. Bill also walks us through the broader field, from favorites like France, Spain and England to possible sleepers like Norway, Turkey, and Mexico. Plus, we get into expectations for Canada, the randomness of the new knockout format, why this tournament could produce some truly strange outcomes, and much more.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
3:19 - World Cup Basics
7:55 - USMNT's CFB Comp?
11:33 - USMNT Built for Speed?
17:12 - USMNT's Most Interesting Players
20:31 - USMNT's Intent
23:23 - USMNT In Possession
25:23 - Effects of More Time Between Games
26:58 - What Pochettino Brings to USMNT
30:18 - Tactical Levers at the World Cup
33:44 - Crazy Loaded Position Groups
37:24 - England Roster & Defensive Mindset
40:48 - Realistic Picks for Winners & Sleepers
48:29 - Interesting Managers & Playstyles
52:14 - Expectations for Canada
54:15 - Rapid Fire Predictions & Comps

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