Whiskers & Whiskeys

The turbulent and tumultuous landscape of college football brings with it great progress and great compromise. Super conferences created on the rubble of demolished rivalries. The Civil War and the Apple Cup may not be long for this world as they attempt to survive nonconference scheduling. But what about a rivalry where two teams never shared a conference? How could it be created, nurtured, fostered? What if, instead of a conference, they shared a common people? Hard working, blue collar people of faith, in the heartland of America, separated by a few miles, united one Saturday a year to cheer on their mighty warriors of the gridiron. Hope is a good thing, W&W Nation. Perhaps the best of things. Former conference foes need only open their ears and listen to the revelrous echoes of the megaphone to take their lead. Irish. Spartans. This is the tale of the Megaphone.

I’m a rolling trophy, Carolina Blue! I’m rode on by cheerleaders too! Blue Devils streaking across the field! You’re a Tar Heel and you’re gonna cheer! Won’t take no punts, won’t spare no timeouts! Everybody’s putting up a fight! I got my bell, gonna take you to Charlotte! I’m gonna get you, Tobacco Road get you, VICTORY BELL!

As the old adage goes: it ain’t over til the fat lady sings. In the case of the survival of the PAC 12, that old bag got bronchitis, had a fall out with the lead guitarist, and cancelled the remainder of her tour. The PAC 2 has tripled in size since our last episode, and if it continues to grow at this rate, will have over 100,000 members by next fall. To honor the triumph of the indelible spirit of the 6 PAC, we bring you a tale as American as apple pie and George Washington - which is a great teaser for the tale, for this is the Apple Cup.

WAR!!!! What is it good for!? How about creating a majestic, half-finished, smooth-as-baby’s-bottom wooden platypus to be owned and cherished by the best team in Oregon? Yeah, that works for us.

Folks, some of these tales, we don’t tell them because we want to. We do it because we have to. When representatives of two cities that hate each other pour their creative blood, sweat, and tears into building a beautiful monument to their shared connection and rivalry, just to have it callously tossed aside a decade later… Well, we will not stand for it. This story will be told. This rivalry will be renewed. And this trophy will be found. This is the River City Rivalry.

Many of the tales we tell are a delightful little surprise, like awakening to a fresh fallen snow on a cold winter morn, running into an old schoolmate at the farmers market, or opening your front door to ten Amazon package three days after you finished two bottles of chardonnay in an evening. However, some tales are coals in a steadily stoked fire, burning for months, even years, glowing white hot with anticipation, waiting for their day to be told. In September 2022, EJ and Mike first laid their eyes on the Black Diamond Trophy. Two years later, they tell that tale.

Welcome on back to Season 4 of Tales of the Trophies! For our senior season, we’re talking best of the rest in the Power 4, and we kick things off with an all-timer. The boys come full circle with a trophy mentioned during our pilot episode - the Territorial Cup. Mike takes things a step further in paying homage to the pilot episode by getting nice and liquored up. This is an elite episode with an elite trophy. Come laugh with us.

This is it. The culmination of our weeks of research combing through facts and figures and running countless simulations in NCAA Football 25. The W&W boys give their predictions for the first ever 12 team college football playoff. Will one of us hit it right on the money? Probably not, but EJ’s scenario is pretty damn compelling, so give it a listen.

The previous playoff era may have started and ended with the Big Ten - but there’s no denying that the in-between was absolutely dominated by the SEC. While some conferences could only hope their champion would have a playoff-worthy resume, the SEC champion was essentially an auto-bid, and even the runner-up got an invite to the dance on multiple occasions. SEC bias, you say? Maybe. But the talent well down south doesn’t seem to be running dry anytime soon. Will they send 4 teams in the first year? 5? Fill half the field? Grab a seat and let’s chat about it.

After the departure of the Longhorns and the Sooners and picking up the remnants of the Pac 12 Yard Sale, the Big 12 looks a little different this year - but the vibes are still the same. Dynamic playmakers that can air it out and pound the rock. Punishing defenses that thrive off raucous home atmospheres. The conference championship race is as open as the Great Plains and Big Sky that these teams are spread across. Come kick it with us and sort out the contenders from the pretenders in the Big 12.