The Solid Verbal College Football Show

It's time for our annual college football business update, and we couldn't think of anyone better than our friend Matt Brown from Extra Points (ExtraPointsMB.com) to walk us through everything happening behind the scenes. From the revenue arms race to jersey patches to the SCORE Act, Matt breaks down the big-picture forces shaping every athletic department in the country. We talk about whether spending more money is actually worth it, what Congress can realistically do about college sports reform, which revenue streams matter more than fans think, and why the stadium experience still has a long way to go. Plus, a seedy video game pitch, a rining endorsement for Milwaukee, and Dan discovers Summerfest 2026.

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What's the one thing your college football team just can't figure out? In this episode, we work through listener submissions on the recurring issues that haunt fan bases year after year. From Arkansas's defensive drought to Mizzou's glass ceiling under Eli Drinkwitz, from Florida's institutional lag, to Oregon's quest to close out the biggest games. Plus, what gnaws at Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and USC fans despite all the talent those programs have stockpiled. We also riff on Iowa, Wisconsin, Alabama, and whether some coaches are simply hardwired to win one specific way.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
8:18 - Arkansas
16:43 - Georgia Tech
22:42 - Missouri
30:02 - Florida
40:08 - Oregon
48:07 - Texas
53:46 - Michigan
58:45 - Georgia
1:03:12 - USC
1:07:44 - Wisconsin
1:09:33 - Rapid Fire (Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Iowa, Alabama)

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March Madness has a way of bringing old feelings back to the surface, and for college football fans, there's plenty of unresolved heartbreak left over from the 2025 season. In this college football episode, we introduce the Wiggum Scale, a Ralph Wiggum-inspired framework for rating the most devastating losses and collapses of the year. From Penn State's season-breaking double overtime loss to Oregon at a packed Beaver Stadium, to a South Carolina team that watched a 30-3 halftime lead against Texas A&M completely evaporate, to a botched extra point hold that may have cost Notre Dame a playoff berth, we make peace with more than a dozen moments that some fans may never want to feel again.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
7:43 - Omar Cooper Jr.'s catch
13:14 - Oregon derails Penn State's season
18:55 - West Virginia wins the Backyard Brawl
23:28 - Tyler Buchner's botched hold
30:54 - South Carolina gives away a 27-point lead
37:57 - Ole Miss falls just short against Miami
46:09 - Utah breaks Chris Klieman
51:27 - The 4th quarter of UNLV vs Air Force
53:40 - Georgia comes back on Tennessee
59:56 - Cal upsets SMU
1:04:13 - Rapid Fire: New Mexico beats SDSU, Montana State's wild FCS title, the Iron Bowl & the CFP National Championship

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In this episode, we each picked eight transfers — four on offense, four on defense, one quarterback max — that we find most interesting heading into the 2026 season. Why these guys? It comes down to situation, scheme fit, prior production, and in some cases, just a gut feeling that something's about to click at the next stop.

We get into the players following their coaches to new destinations, the quarterback pickups nobody saw coming, the edge rushers changing conferences, and the linebackers ready to take over defenses. The big themes keep coming up: how much does coaching familiarity actually matter, can G5 numbers translate to a Power 4 schedule, and what happens when a proven producer lands in a more stable situation?

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
5:33 - Caleb Hawkins (Oklahoma State)
11:48 - Adam Mohammed (Cal)
19:06 - Ian Strong (Cal)
22:05 - Omarion Miller (Arizona State)
26:45 - Cutter Boley (Arizona State)
31:19 - Aaron Philo (Florida)
36:39 - JJ Buchanan (Michigan)
43:29 - Ben Brahmer (Penn State)
46:52 - Damon Wilson (Miami)
50:29 - Chaz Coleman (Tennessee)
53:44 - Devan Thompkins (Alabama)
56:39 - Austin Romaine (Texas Tech)
59:44 - Sammy Omosigho (UCLA)
1:03:53 - Cade Uluave (BYU)
1:05:49 - Jontez Williams (USC)
1:08:32 - DJ McKinney (Notre Dame)
1:10:26 - Kenny Minchey, DJ Lagway, Anthony Colandrea, Darian Mensah & Colton Joseph

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Last week, win totals dropped for every Power 4 team. We did the responsible thing and polled the Verballerhood for it's initial response. In this episode, and hundreds of votes later, we broke down the totals that the community found most interesting and picked the side of the bet that we'd back now... in mid-March.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
4:02 - Let's Play Over/Under
6:47 - Alabama
15:22 - Ohio State
23:30 - Texas Tech
29:32 - Clemson
35:02 - Florida State
36:36 - Ole Miss
44:11 - Penn State
51:30 - BYU
57:56 - LSU

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The second part of our Mega March Q&A is here, and we're going deep on the questions that (apparently) matter most to the Verballerhood ahead of the 2026 season. Which teams could make a surprising playoff run? Where will college football's inertia be broken next season? Has the rapid pace of change in the sport diminished our love for it? When will the NCAA stop begging for help from Congress? Plus, the greatest "big back" of all time, college football figure skating pairings, football power plays and more.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
2:53 - Surprise Playoff Draft
15:03 - Breaking CFB Inertia
25:05 - Still Love CFB?
31:39 - Players As Employees?
38:33 - Favorite Big Back?
43:41 - CFB Docs?
49:03 - CFB Figure Skating Pairings
51:33 - Power Plays?
52:55 - G5 Contenders?
55:04 - QB Development?

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The Verballerhood's questions were so good that we had to split our Mega March Q&A episode into two parts. In Part 1, we look at Kalen DeBoer's future with Alabama, the value of playing time as a recruiting tool for non-blue bloods, and the college football moments over the last 25 years that we'd most like to change. Plus, we discuss whether TV networks can force teams to stop canceling marquee matchups, how the Big 12 can become a two-bid league in the CFP era, the conditions for optimal tailgating, and much more.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
2:10 - Kalen DeBoer's Future at Alabama
14:17 - The Value of Playing Time
23:47 - Altering CFB History
35:04 - Canceling Marquee Matchups
44:54 - A Two-Bid Big 12
56:54 - Optimal Tailgating

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It's time for the annual college football checkup. In this episode, we put college football on the exam table and rate every major element of the sport from one to five. From conference structure and scheduling to the College Football Playoff, the TV product, on-field play, NIL, and the transfer portal, nothing escapes our stethoscope.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
3:42 - Key Themes for CFB in 2026
13:28 - Conference Structure
24:50 - Scheduling
33:42 - College Football Playoff
45:18 - The TV Product
53:02 - The On-Field Product
1:02:24 - NIL
1:11:43 - The Transfer Portal 

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The 2026 college football offseason has brought a fascinating wave of coordinator changes at some of the sport's most prominent programs. In this college football podcast episode, we take a look at some of the most intriguing new coordinator hires and evaluate what each new coach has to fix. From defensive overhauls at USC and Texas to offensive shifts at Ohio State and Penn State, we dig into what each new coordinator is walking into and what kind of renovation is required.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
5:14 - Gary Patterson at USC
13:30 - Will Muschamp at Texas
20:58 - Drew Mehringer & Chris Hampton at Oregon
29:02 - Ron Roberts at Arkansas
36:53 - Jason Beck at Michigan
44:48 - Bobby Hauck at Illinois
50:10 - Arthur Smith at Ohio State
57:59 - Chad Morris at Clemson
1:05:41 - Taylor Mouser at Penn State

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With inspiration from a popular post on the /r/CFB subreddit, we take a look at the 14 worst (statistical) teams in the Power 4 and conduct a hypothetical coach draft, reshuffling the coaching deck and putting big names in new places based on fit, prestige, track record, and everything in between.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
3:05 - Explaining the Coach Draft
7:47 - Oklahoma State
14:34 - Syracuse
20:54 - Purdue
27:21 - Virgina Tech
33:00 - UCLA
38:12 - West Virginia
43:01 - Boston College
47:21 - Wisconsin
50:01 - Stanford
52:34 - Rutgers
56:23 - Colorado
58:14 - North Carolina
1:00:43 - Florida
1:04:29 - Michigan State

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

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