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You're listening to the Back 
Home Network presented by Home 

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Field Apparel. 
Hi, folks. 

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Welcome back to Crimson Cast, 
Scott here with you. 

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Excited for this conversation 
with Connor Onion. 

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But before we get to that, want 
to give a quick shout out to our

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sponsors over at Home Field 
Apparel. 

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As I was getting ready for this,
I got an e-mail just a couple 

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minutes ago from Home Field. 
Sign up for their emails. 

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You get great stuff straight to 
your inbox. 

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They have a whole new collection
for New Mexico, the Lobos, just 

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some great stuff. 
So some really cool old school 

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logos. 
It's it's great a ringer TI 

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don't have enough ringer TS in 
in my wardrobe. 

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It's something I had a lot of in
high school. 

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I feel like they're coming back 
and I I don't care if they are 

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coming back or not. 
I'm going to bring them back. 

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They have a great mascot ringer 
T with kind of this old school 

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Lobos. 
He's carrying a Pennant. 

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You'll you'll see me wearing it 
if you, if you're Walker on 

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Westfield in a couple weeks, 
you'll see me wearing the New 

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Mexico ringer Lobos mascot tee. 
But check out home field apparel

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that tons of great schools are 
adding new schools that they're 

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still finding schools to add it.
It's unbelievable. 

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As always, use promo code home 
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cat sends you over and you'll 
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as well. 
And now here's our conversation 

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with Conor Onion. 
All right, excited to have him 

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back on. 
He's becoming a regular guest, 

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kind of a preview, basketball 
and football, and that's 

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awesome. 
It's Connor Onion of the Big 10 

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Network. 
Connor, how you doing, man? 

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Scott, it's good to talk to you 
again. 

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I think it was right near the 
the tail end of basketball 

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season the last time we were 
doing this and time to ramp, 

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time to ramp it up again for the
fall. 

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So I can't wait. 
Dude, it comes up quick. 

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I'm I'm enjoying looking behind 
you. 

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You have a great collection of 
bobble heads and like a cheese 

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it, something on the cheese it 
bowl, like just some great stuff

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back there. 
Yeah, your your listeners 

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probably won't appreciate. 
Yeah, it's a podcast. 

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It's a great podcast to work 
just talking about things you 

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can't see. 
No, that the logo for your 

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Indiana crowd. 
It's actually from when Purdue 

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played in the Cheez its bowl. 
Is it the one they got? 

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Is it the one they got throttled
in? 

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Yeah, they played LSU and, and 
I, I happened to do a game at 

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that stadium like two days 
later. 

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I had the Under Armour All 
America High School game there 

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and they they left Cheez its 
boxes for us on the table. 

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So we got the leftovers from the
Cheez, its bowl from 2021 or 

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2022, whenever that was. 
My my son would be very, very 

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jealous. 
I I don't know why I have an 11 

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and an 8 year old and Cheez its 
are like top of the snack list 

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and I've always liked Cheez Its 
now you're to talk, you know, 

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talk bad about Cheez its, but 
it's like it is unbelievable how

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much kids today are into Cheez. 
Its I don't even think like 

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there's more advertising. 
It's just something about Cheez.

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Its man, kids dig them. 
Yeah, me as an adult, I love 

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cheeses too. 
But that box, it's kind of like 

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the the Wheaties, you know, you 
get the number of Wheaties box 

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and then if you open it up like 
five years later, sometimes the 

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cereal is like black. 
I'm I'm a little scared to open 

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up the Cheez its box 'cause 
that's three or four years old 

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now. 
Yeah, I wouldn't, I, I wouldn't 

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go with that. 
It's not, it's not. 

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That'll get you off the air real
quick. 

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Yeah, I, I don't know if they're
like the McDonald's fries that 

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if have you ever seen McDonald's
fries that have been preserved? 

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No, they they never go bad. 
I don't know if cheez its are 

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that way or if I'm going to open
up like a moldy box of cheez its

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in a couple. 
Years it's possible there's a 

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lot of preservatives there. 
So maybe so so the first thing 

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is, you know, so you're still on
Big 10 network, but you're 

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you're moving in football to to 
Fox, correct, Which is like 

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congratulations. 
Well, thank you. 

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I appreciate it. 
Yeah. 

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So last year I was with Matt 
Millen and Elise Maniker on the 

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BTN crew that had half the 
Hoosier schedule. 

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Yep. 
And this year I'm moving over to

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a Fox package with Mark 
Helfrich, the the former Oregon 

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head coach and Chicago Bears 
offensive coordinator. 

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Super excited about it. 
We're, we're going to do kind of

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a mix of the Big 10 and the Big 
12. 

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And there will be some games on 
FS1, some games on Big Fox. 

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And I'm I'm excited to to run 
around the country and, and 

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still be around the Big 10 a 
bunch. 

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Do you know, do you know your 
roster of games for a couple 

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weeks? 
So we know our first three 

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games, week one, we're at 
Maryland, and then we get to see

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Northwestern's makeshift stadium
Week 2. 

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That that could be fun. 
I mean, it's it is we're we're 

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annoyed as IU fans like the the 
time we're playing there. 

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It's like, I don't know how it 
could be an advantage. 

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It could not be and we're not 
sure, but it's like it feels 

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like it's going to be different 
out there. 

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It's going to be interesting. 
It will and, and they had 

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Northwestern actually had me out
for a tour last week. 

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It's it's really cool and I, I 
know people are going to joke 

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it's a 15,000 seat stadium that 
this is not a big 10 outfit, but

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it's temporary. 
It's a two year thing and the 

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views are amazing. 
If, if Hoosier fans are going up

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there to, to tailgate, there's, 
there's like this peninsula 

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right along Lake MI that has a 
view of the skyline and you're 

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less than 5 minutes from getting
into the stadium. 

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And I, I think it's going to be 
a really cool experience. 

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So if you can snag one of those 
15,000 tickets for that game in 

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October, I I would because I 
think it's a unique experience 

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obviously, but the the sight 
lines are are pretty cool and 

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you're obviously going to be 
right on top of the action 

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because it's. 
What's is the wind going to be a

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factor that that's I think 
everyone's question is like how,

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how is the windy going to affect
the games? 

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Oh, yeah, yeah. 
And, and the big question that I

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had, and I think a lot of people
have is could a punt end up in 

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the lake? 
And I don't, I don't think it's.

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Be great. 
I I don't think it's that 

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drastic because they're putting 
up a big video board. 

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It's a it's a massive video 
board on the sideline that is 

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backed up against the lake. 
So you'd have to get it up into 

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the wind, get it over the 
stands, over the video board, 

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and then it'd have to skip over 
like a bike path to get into the

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lake. 
I'm not saying it's impossible 

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with with the winds that will 
come off the lake, but the wind 

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is probably going to push balls 
the other way. 

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I love, I love that idea. 
It's kind of like in in Jerry 

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world in Dallas, like a punt 
trying to hit the scoreboard. 

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Like if you're great, if you're 
just like, if you're a high 

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college kid, just go like one 
punt. 

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Like that's for you, Connor, 
baby, that was for you. 

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Like right in the lake. 
Right, that that would make my 

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season if I'm on the call for a 
a ball that ends up in the lake.

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I mean, that's something you got
to at least prepare 55 minutes 

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for, like have a call ready to 
go for, you know, like I, I 

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don't know what you do. 
Like, it's not Mccovey Cove, but

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we're doing in Chicago or 
something. 

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Yeah. 
That's that's funny you bring 

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that up because I was giving the
the Northwestern staff some crap

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about that. 
But they need to put up splash 

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hits like they do in San 
Francisco. 

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So if a a punt goes in the lake,
they they turn it to 01 up on a 

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little scoreboard somewhere that
that. 

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'D be great well, we'll see so 
looking at IU football, you know

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the first question I have for 
you is you you did a good number

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of games last year. 
I'm curious, you know, as a, you

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know, as someone who kind of, I 
don't say drops in, but you do 

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you do your research, you come 
in. 

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Were you able to tell, you know,
as as fans, it definitely felt 

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like Alan was losing grip of 
kind of the team, the situation 

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like just kind of losing a 
handle of where things are going

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with a coach who's having 
struggles like that and ends up 

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getting, you know, let go. 
Are you able to sense that 

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during the season? 
Like when you were coming in, 

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were you able to sense that with
how things are going? 

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Obviously, you know, you work 
for the Big 10 networks. 

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You can't come there and just 
slam a coach for 2 1/2 straight 

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hours during the broadcast. 
But as you come in, are you able

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to sense that versus other 
programs that are kind of going 

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the better? 
Direction, yeah. 

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I mean, it's it's always the 
elephant in the room when 

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there's job pressure when you're
doing these games. 

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And that that really ramped up 
last year when Coach Allen made 

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coordinator champion. 
He did. 

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Yeah. 
Well, well, I was the 

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coordinator early in the year. 
And then then Rod Carey finished

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out the year. 
So it it was you could feel it 

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in our meetings. 
And I think if Coach Allen were 

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sitting here, he would tell you 
that he was feeling it. 

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How could he not? 
Yeah. 

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I mean, we we didn't harp on it 
too much in those meetings 

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because, you know, Coach Allen 
was the eternal optimist and not

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that not that he was 
intentionally trying to steer us

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away from feeling what was very 
real, that the entire staff was 

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coaching for their jobs. 
But but he always came at it 

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from a, you know, this is the 
week we're going to turn it 

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around. 
This is going to be the game 

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where where things get right. 
And, you know, I, I think he's, 

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he's one of the most positive 
people period, I've ever. 

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I would agree, yeah. 
And a lot of people that I've 

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talked to around the game have 
have echoed that I'm, I'm pumped

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that he, he landed on his feet 
quickly in a good situation at 

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Penn State is the DC. 
And it, it is a little bit of a 

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shame that Penn State's not in 
the Indiana schedule this year 

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because that obvious storyline 
they're, they're like a, there 

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are a couple near misses on 
Indiana's schedule this year, 

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right? 
It would be playing a game 

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against your former head coach 
with Penn State and then the 

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Boer and Pennex Washington was 
on the schedule, but it's one 

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year too late. 
So when I look at the Indiana 

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schedule, those are the two 
things where I'm like, man, if 

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if we could have figured out a 
way for the Boer and Pennex 

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still be there and have Penn 
State on the schedule, those 

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would be made for TV storylines.
When we we had that for a while 

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with Kevin Wilson, when he went 
to Ohio State as the OC, it's 

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like we just our, our coaches 
just can't get out of the Big 

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10. 
Like once they're in, they're 

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just in. 
Right, right. 

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But I mean, for for coach Allen,
he's going into a situation now 

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where it's it's not the same job
pressure, but it's like there's 

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there's definitely some pressure
on Penn State now at the 

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expanded playoff to to be in. 
Yeah, I, I, I would venture to 

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say, I mean, I don't want to 
harp on Penn State, don't get on

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Penn State too much on IU 
podcast, but I, I would say you 

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you might have a similar 
pressure as a coordinator at 

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Penn State versus head coach in 
Indiana. 

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I mean, there was definitely 
pressure and he was not, you 

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know, there were some issues 
going on at IU football, but IU 

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football just, I don't think has
the media glare that even Penn 

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State does. 
So I I think there's a real 

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argument to be made that there's
probably as much pressure as DC 

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at Penn State as there is a head
coach in Indiana, as crazy as 

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that sounds. 
Yeah. 

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And there's there's less in the 
way of CEO responsibilities. 

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And I think that'll help free up
Coach Allen and your fans know 

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how good of a coordinator he was
when he was just focused on one 

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of kind of that silo. 
And as as head coach, they they 

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went back and forth several 
times with, you know, I'm 

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calling the defense, the 
coordinators calling the 

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defense. 
And I think that's going to be a

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really good spot for him, 
obviously, because the, the 

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caliber of athlete that Penn 
State gets, you know, you got 

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Abdul Carter coming off the edge
and couple other NFL guys on 

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that defense. 
And I I think that's going to 

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be, it's going to be a really 
good situation for Coach Al. 

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00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,360
Well, and that's that's a great 
Segway because that's one thing 

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that got a lot of us, myself 
included, fired up about coach 

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Signetti that, you know, the 
coach we now have because you 

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know, and sometimes it works. 
Guys going from coordinator to 

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head coach can can work. 
It obviously is a is a path a 

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00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,880
lot of people have gone through,
but there's always a learning 

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curve. 
Like I, I think no question, 

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Kevin Wilson knew new offense 
and knew how to run, you know 

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how to do a program. 
But it's it's always tough going

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from coordinator to head coach 
because especially when you're 

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such a good coordinator, you 
have to realize head coach is 

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just a totally different job and
you have to kind of take your 

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hands off a lot of that 
coordinator stuff. 

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And it's so it's such a crutch 
to come and be like, well, I 

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know your Wilson. 
Like I know offense. 

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00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:20,320
I'm just going to I'm going to 
step in and do that. 

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It's like as a head coach, 
you've got to be high level. 

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00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,960
And that's the thing. 
This thing that I like about 

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Signeti is, you know, he has 
experience running programs. 

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I'll be at a different level 
than a Big 10 school. 

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But you know, you see guys like,
maybe not the best example, but 

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you know, like Urban Meyer did 
it at Bowling Green, they did it

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at Utah, they did it at Florida.
It's like there are guys that if

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you can do it and you know how 
to build a program and you have 

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an identity, which I think no 
question Signeti has and has has

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in his history. 
A lot of that does translate. 

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00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,160
And then for someone in your 
position, you know, for IU fans,

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00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,840
it has been so refreshing having
a coach come in with kind of the

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00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,520
attitude of Signetti. 
But from a media point of view, 

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00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,040
he's got to be just an awesome 
coach to be in the Big 10. 

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00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,960
Because it's like, here's a guy 
who who brings something like 

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00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,120
this is somebody who has 
something to say, who I know is 

257
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,160
going to give me some sound 
bites and something to talk 

258
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:17,840
about on on Saturdays. 
It is not bland, it is bold and,

259
00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,360
and you're right, it is 
exciting. 

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00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,920
I, I can't wait. 
I, I hope I get a Hoosier game 

261
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,080
at some point this fall. 
I can't wait to be in a meeting 

262
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,840
with him because you know, we, 
we get these closed door 

263
00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,920
meetings with usually offensive 
coordinator, defensive 

264
00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,800
coordinator, head coach and 
maybe some players before we do 

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00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,360
our telecast. 
And if he's if he's as bold as 

266
00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:44,040
he is in front of a sold out 
crowded assembly hall making his

267
00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,680
proclamation that produce stinks
of Ohio State, Michigan stink 

268
00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:51,000
too, right. 
I I can't imagine some of the 

269
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,320
tea that maybe we might get in 
some of those production 

270
00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:56,000
meetings that we have before our
telecast. 

271
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,000
Well, in the Big 10 media day, 
it was almost like him doing 

272
00:13:58,000 --> 00:13:59,600
stand up comedy. 
I mean it was like the coach 

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00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:01,640
Sigour like he was, he was on 
one. 

274
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:07,480
He was great to watch. 
I know, I know, I, I think 

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00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,200
that's going to be a really 
entertaining half hour or 

276
00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,600
whatever we get with them 
because of exactly what you 

277
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,320
mentioned. 
It's, it's funny, but there's 

278
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,680
some substance to it too. 
It's not just, it's not just 

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00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,360
fluffy stuff. 
And he he does have a record as 

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00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,160
a head coach that can back up 
what he's saying. 

281
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,680
Like you said, it's, it is a 
different level, but whether 

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00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,160
it's been Division two FCS or 
going to the Group of Five 

283
00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,000
level, he's, he's won 
everywhere. 

284
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:41,040
And, and you know, the, the 
expectation of maybe beating 

285
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:42,960
Michigan and Ohio State year 
one. 

286
00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,800
I, I don't know if I'm ready to 
go there like he did, but this 

287
00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,560
team can, can certainly make a 
bowl from what I've seen in the 

288
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,440
spring game And, you know, just 
watching some tape on some of 

289
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,640
the James Madison guys that he 
brought over. 

290
00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,240
I, I don't think, I don't think 
getting back to a bowl game is, 

291
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,000
is unrealistic. 
And then, you know, maybe you 

292
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:05,800
maybe you surprise one of those 
teams. 

293
00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,960
I know Michigan has to reload, 
but they're coming to 

294
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,120
Bloomington. 
I think this team will will 

295
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,680
definitely be improved this 
year. 

296
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,240
I don't. 
I don't know to what extent, 

297
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,600
but. 
What was so funny about those 

298
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,640
comments and just kind of his 
attitude is how so many other 

299
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,040
people around the Big 10 kind of
reacted to it as IU fans. 

300
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:28,800
You know, we've I've been of IU 
football fans since the mid 80s.

301
00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,320
So I've been kicked in the teeth
numbers of times. 

302
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,880
But you know, it's it's funny 
because he he said, and again, 

303
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:36,680
we're taking one little sound 
bite, but he came. 

304
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,520
It's just so abnormal for a 
football coach at IU to act that

305
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,040
way. 
And he said that. 

306
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,280
And you know, you you saw like 
Michigan and Ohio State, people 

307
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,800
kind of bristle like what's come
on Indiana, what do you expect? 

308
00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,440
But it's like as an IU fan, it's
like, well, what do you want us 

309
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,200
to do? 
Just we're going to lose every 

310
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,320
game. 
Like we're a Big 10 member, like

311
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,240
we are in the Big 10. 
Like, yeah, that's our goal is 

312
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,360
like, yes, we want to beat 
everybody and we haven't been 

313
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:00,480
good enough the last couple of 
years, but it can't it can't 

314
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,240
just be a fait accompli every 
single year that we're going to 

315
00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:07,240
lose to Ohio State at some point
we're going to be I mean, knock 

316
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,000
on wood, at some point we will 
beat them. 

317
00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:10,800
Hasn't happened in quite a 
while. 

318
00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,160
But but the idea that it's like 
it's not we're not allowed to 

319
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,160
also want to beat Ohio State is 
kind of a wild thought. 

320
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,880
And I I I just, I like the new 
approach. 

321
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,200
It was just interesting seeing 
other fan bases kind of bristle 

322
00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:25,880
at that is like, well, what are 
you doing Indiana? 

323
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:27,360
What do you think? 
Who do you think you are? 

324
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,720
It's like, well, yeah, I'm not 
saying we're going to go 

325
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,160
undefeated next year and make 
the the College Football 

326
00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,440
Playoff, but like, shouldn't 
every team in the Big 10 expect 

327
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:37,960
to beat everybody else? 
You know, I'm not just planning 

328
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:39,840
on being the 12th team in the 
Big 10 every year. 

329
00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,560
Right, right. 
It's it was a major poke of the 

330
00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,640
bear. 
Yeah, but but they've been 

331
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,760
kicking our butt for 30 years. 
Like that's the other thing is 

332
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:49,520
like like, oh, you poked Ohio 
State. 

333
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,480
It's like, what are they going 
to do, beat us another 30 years 

334
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,640
in a row? 
It's it's not like, by the way, 

335
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,600
they're probably going to not 
pay attention to us in the 

336
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,960
schedule anyway. 
We are definitely a game they're

337
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,320
not going to pay attention to. 
And I doubt that's really going 

338
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,160
to be something that's going to 
fire them up more. 

339
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,280
Right, right. 
It yeah, you're, you're right. 

340
00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,720
There might be other things that
are more top of minds for Ohio 

341
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,040
State, for example, a Michigan 
game right after the Indiana 

342
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,400
game where it maybe that doesn't
become the bulletin board 

343
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,560
material that you would think it
would be. 

344
00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:24,280
But I'm sure that's going to 
come up because that that 

345
00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,560
gauntlet in in November for 
Indiana is basically the the 

346
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,520
litmus test of the Signetti 
address. 

347
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,440
He named, he named Michigan, 
Ohio State and Purdue. 

348
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,160
I know the schedule was already 
out at that point, so I don't 

349
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,000
know if that was intentional. 
But those are the three games in

350
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,200
a row in November. 
And those are the three teams 

351
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,480
that he called out in his in his
speech at Assembly Hall during 

352
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:50,560
that basketball game. 
That's dude, that's why you're 

353
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,280
the best. 
If I moved to Fox the Litanya 

354
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,480
test of the Signetti address, 
that is fantastic stuff. 

355
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,400
That somehow that just that that
just. 

356
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,000
No, but you're right. 
But it is. 

357
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:02,120
It is. 
Exactly the teams. 

358
00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,880
And exactly the teams that he 
laid out, we've been really 

359
00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,280
positive about Signetti here. 
I think there's a lot of things 

360
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,640
to be excited about as you see 
it. 

361
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:15,160
What would you say could be some
of the things if if he struggled

362
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,000
or Indiana does not reach what 
we think this year's potential 

363
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,280
could be? 
Where do you think those 

364
00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,120
struggles could come from in the
first year with Signetti? 

365
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:28,440
Yeah, I I still want to know how
this offensive line is going to 

366
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,520
look. 
The the Nick Kidwell injury last

367
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,440
week. 
I don't think is is 

368
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,480
insignificant. 
The projected starting right 

369
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:41,040
guard ruled out for the season. 
That's, that's a question I 

370
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:46,200
have. 
I'm I'm really fascinated in how

371
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:51,760
they use Donovan McAuley. 
I, I loved him on the single 

372
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,800
side last year, especially in 
that shootout game against 

373
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,840
Illinois. 
Our crew had that and that the 

374
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,280
amount of times I, I turned to 
my right and Matt Millen just 

375
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:08,320
had his mouth wide open because 
of a contested catch that that 

376
00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,000
McAuley made. 
Hard to count how many times 

377
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:17,360
that happened, how they use him.
The running back situation. 

378
00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,360
I know we're focusing a lot on 
offense here, but the running 

379
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:20,960
back situation is interesting 
too. 

380
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,080
Are they going to run four guys 
out there? 

381
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,280
That's that's kind of what it 
seems like at this point is that

382
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,800
we could see a mix of Lawton, 
Black, Green, Ellison, maybe all

383
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,200
in one game. 
And, and I think that's that 

384
00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,680
that's going to be at least a 
three running back mix watching 

385
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,000
James Madison this offseason 
quite a bit. 

386
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,320
They they mostly use Lawton and 
Black, but there was always a 

387
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,120
third back that they mixed in 
there. 

388
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,680
So Mike Shanahan, the offensive 
coordinator is used to doing 

389
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,520
that. 
And I think they have four guys 

390
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,320
that that they can rely on to do
that. 

391
00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,440
As long as is, that group of 
guys stays healthy. 

392
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:01,680
Yeah, well, you, you mentioned 
McCauley. 

393
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,560
He's one that. 
I'm really interested to see 

394
00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,920
because he came in as a 
quarterback and then got moved 

395
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,120
to wide receiver. 
And then, you know, he has, he 

396
00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,560
had some pretty big NIL offers 
from my understanding after 

397
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,280
Allen left. 
And I, I think it was like Notre

398
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,080
Dame and Michigan, like he was 
getting called up by by high 

399
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,320
level schools. 
And you know, money's one thing.

400
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,400
I don't think I don't see IU 
being able to match an NIL offer

401
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,720
from those other schools. 
But then also it's like you have

402
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,520
a new coach. 
And so this is where I again, 

403
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,240
I'm, I'm probably a little bit 
too bullish on Signetti, but 

404
00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,960
it's like Signetti had to have a
story to tell that would keep a 

405
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,680
kid like that in Indiana, which 
I think is is is is good. 

406
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,960
Yeah, yeah. 
And I, I read the story that 

407
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,680
that went up on the website the 
other day about how Coach 

408
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,920
Signetti's coaching him hard. 
And, you know, it's, it's not 

409
00:20:54,920 --> 00:21:00,240
really common that a coach might
go out and publicly say, you 

410
00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,640
know, we need more from this guy
specifically. 

411
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,240
But it sounds like Donovan has 
been pretty receptive to that. 

412
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:11,640
What, what I'm excited for with 
him is that you kind of 

413
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,640
mentioned it, Scott. 
He, he was a quarterback at 

414
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,200
first. 
So then he transitions to a new 

415
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,440
position And and then last year 
it was two coordinators and two 

416
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,200
quarterbacks. 
It was Walt Bell, then it was 

417
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,280
Rod Carey, it was Taven Jackson 
and Brendan Sores be going back 

418
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,720
and forth. 
It it sounds like Curtis Rourke 

419
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,360
is separate, has separated 
himself. 

420
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,760
Yeah, I mean. 
He, he came in, I think he was 

421
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,680
brought in to be the starter. 
So it does feel like he's it. 

422
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,240
It is Rourke's job, yes. 
Yeah, yeah. 

423
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:44,640
So one coordinator, one 
quarterback, one position for 

424
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,400
Donovan Poly. 
He can, he can just kind of be 

425
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,400
in his tunnel of knowing his job
and knowing the people that are 

426
00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,360
going to be around him. 
I I can't imagine, no matter how

427
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,160
the start of the season goes 
that there's going to be any 

428
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,520
type of coordinator change. 
So I would hope not. 

429
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,160
No, I think things would. 
Have to be going very wrong 

430
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,000
exactly for for that to happen. 
So, so I think he can kind of 

431
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,400
get tunnel vision and I I think 
we're going to see the the best 

432
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,000
season that Donovan McAuley has 
had as a Hoosier. 

433
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,160
Taking a quick break from our 
conversation with Connor, we'll 

434
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,920
be back to it in a second. 
Just want to take a moment to 

435
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,360
talk to you about the Indiana 
University Athletics official 

436
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,680
craft beer, the Hoosier Game Day
Lager. 

437
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,920
It's crafted by Upland Brewery 
Company, which is in the heart 

438
00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,120
of Bloomington IN. 
This beer embodies the Hoosier 

439
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,600
pride in every can. 
It features the iconic cream and

440
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,680
Crimson candy stripes. 
Hoosier Game Day Lager is a 

441
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,800
classically smooth and 
refreshing beer brewed to 

442
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,480
perfection. 
Expect nothing less than 

443
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,920
anything from Upland Brewing 
Company with the perfect balance

444
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,240
of flavor. 
It's the ideal companion for 

445
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,680
every game. 
From cheering a Memorial Stadium

446
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,560
or Assembly Hall to watching 
your favorite sport, IU 

447
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,800
Athletics are always better with
beer. 

448
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,240
And you can capture the spirit 
of Hoosier basketball with every

449
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,160
sip of the Hoosier Game Day 
Logger. 

450
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,560
You can find Hoosier Game Day 
Logger at Uplands 9 family 

451
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,680
friendly locations, your local 
liquor store, your neighborhood 

452
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,120
bar, and everywhere else Upland 
beers are sold. 

453
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,800
You can also find it in my 
fridge in the basement. 

454
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,120
I have a whole stock of it. 
It's fantastic and I'll be 

455
00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,880
drinking it every time I use on 
a road game. 

456
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,600
And if they're on a home game, I
will be at Memorial Stadium 

457
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,120
drinking their beer. 
Not mine, but it'll be. 

458
00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:31,080
Who's your game day Logger? 
Upland Brewing Company reminds 

459
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,640
you to drink responsibly and to 
go Hoosiers. 

460
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:39,280
And now back to Connor. 
You mentioned this earlier in 

461
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,400
the podcast. 
You know your expectations for 

462
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,400
IU this season. 
So you think a bowl is is on the

463
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,200
horizon. 
I would agree with you, but I 

464
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:48,960
want to hear your logic and I'll
give you mine. 

465
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,680
OK, so you look at the schedule,
three out of the first four 

466
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:58,960
games are gonna be wins. 
Yeah, I think I again, I was 

467
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:00,640
there for the Akron game last 
year. 

468
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,680
I don't need to bring up the 
scars of the past. 

469
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,200
I know there are no automatic 
wins, but as long as FIU can 

470
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:13,400
overcome the presence of title 
sponsor Pitbull Dale, yeah, they

471
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,720
they should win that game. 
Should beat Western Illinois. 

472
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,400
Should beat Charlotte. 
That that Akron game was was 

473
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,440
funny. 
I think it was Jeremy Irons was 

474
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,120
like we we did a fun. 
There's like Irons and and 

475
00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:25,160
Burnside or somewhere the name 
of their two quarterbacks and 

476
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,440
like we were joking. 
It's like a great like 80s like 

477
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,280
cop combo. 
We have like AI come with names 

478
00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:34,520
like the way you were talking 
about it, like it, it was insane

479
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,640
because our defense basically 
turned irons into, you know, 

480
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,040
1999 Michael Vick and you were 
just like, man, this, this kids 

481
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:42,760
electric. 
And then like the next two games

482
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,840
he comes out and like throws for
12 yards and runs for six. 

483
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,040
It's like this, this that that 
game was so frustrating. 

484
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,000
Sorry, you just touched the 
nerve because it's like he you 

485
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,560
had to call it as if like this 
guy is unbelievable, but it's 

486
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:56,280
like this is not there's no 
knock on him. 

487
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,080
It's just we were giving him so 
much room to work. 

488
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,480
But it was like you were 
watching vintage Michael Vick. 

489
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,400
It, it really did feel like that
it and me and Adam Brenneman, 

490
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,040
that's who I did the game with. 
We walked out of the stadium 

491
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,160
that night and we were both 
like, man, Akron might be better

492
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,960
than a lot of people think in 
the Mac and they they were not. 

493
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,600
But it's a it's a wild what I 
mean it still would have ended 

494
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,880
the same. 
But like if IU loses that game, 

495
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:24,160
Allen may not have made it 
through the season. 

496
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:25,640
But anyway, let's we're way off 
topic. 

497
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,000
Doesn't matter. 
So go ahead. 

498
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:29,600
So. 
So IU wins three of the first 

499
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,400
four I like. 
Where you're at and and when it 

500
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,360
comes to the Big 10 schedule, I 
think a lot of it has to do with

501
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:37,640
who's not on the schedule, 
right? 

502
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:42,760
You look at an 18 team league 
now five of the seven teams in 

503
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,640
the big Big 10 pre season poll 
at the top are not on the 

504
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,280
schedule. 
Oregon's not there. 

505
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,240
Penn State, Iowa, USC and 
Wisconsin are not on the 

506
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,040
schedule. 
I see seven toss up games in the

507
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,400
Big 10 outside of Michigan and 
Ohio State. 

508
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,640
I think all of those Big 10 
games are both winnable and 

509
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,320
losable. 
You know, I, I don't know where 

510
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,760
the spreads will end up and that
sort of thing, but I got to 

511
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:13,040
think they're all going to be 
around a score, give or take. 

512
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:19,280
So go win three of those seven 
quote UN quote toss up games and

513
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,600
there you go. 
You're in a bowl and and I think

514
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,840
that's that's very, very doable.
I agree. 

515
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,280
I, I've, I've wondered, you 
know, obviously the Alan had a 

516
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,440
rough year, but I, I think part 
of the calculus in getting a new

517
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,280
coach and maybe part of the 
calculus insignity taking this 

518
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:37,760
team was the schedule this year.
We, we've been talking about 

519
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,800
this pod for two years now. 
The schedule breaks for a bowl 

520
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:44,600
for Indiana as well. 
And I, I'm with you. 

521
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,240
To me, it's like it all comes 
down to schedule. 

522
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,080
I'm talking to my friends. 
They think I'm crazy, but I'm 

523
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,120
like, I can see 7-8 wins. 
Not because I think I use going 

524
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:56,120
to be unbelievably better. 
I think we're going to be better

525
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:58,480
than we were. 
I just look at the schedule and 

526
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,040
like you said, you take off Ohio
State and Michigan, fine, that's

527
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:05,600
losses of all the other teams. 
You know, UCLA, if you go with 

528
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,120
the preseason rankings of the 
Big 10 teams, UCLA, 

529
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,280
Northwestern, Michigan State and
Purdue are all below where 

530
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,320
Indiana is ranked. 
Now, obviously that's not going 

531
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,240
to all even out just 
automatically. 

532
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,760
Those are considered wins. 
You know, Maryland is right 

533
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,520
where we are at. 
But you know, if you win all of 

534
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,880
those games and you get the toss
up against Maryland, you're 8:00

535
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,240
and 4:00. 
I also look at the way the 

536
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,360
schedule breaks down just kind 
of in a, in a, in a flow kind of

537
00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:34,080
way. 
You know, we started so many 

538
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,480
years, we start the season with 
Ohio State or just something, we

539
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,320
just get completely punched in 
the gut. 

540
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:40,760
It's like, all right, we got to 
pick up, pick ourselves up from 

541
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,200
this. 
How do we get going? 

542
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,040
You know, like you said, we have
FIU, Western Illinois, but then 

543
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,560
you're at UCLA, which it's a 
road game. 

544
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,680
But as Rd. games go, that's 
probably one of the easier Rd. 

545
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,240
games you're going to get in a 
in a Big 10 schedule. 

546
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,440
Even if you lose that, you know,
you're home for Charlotte and 

547
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,400
Maryland. 
Maryland's a toss up, but it's 

548
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,200
at home. 
Then you have a road game at 

549
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,880
Northwestern, which as we talked
about, could be punting into the

550
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:05,560
water. 
But it's it's again, a very 

551
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,000
unique Rd. environment. 
Not sure who that favors, but 

552
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,520
it's definitely not Penn State, 
you know, Iowa, Oregon, 

553
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,120
Michigan. 
So there's a world where you 

554
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:18,960
know this team on If everything 
goes right, it's not 

555
00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:23,160
inconceivable this team could be
6 and O hosting Nebraska at home

556
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,240
on October 6th on October 19th. 
No doubt, no doubt. 

557
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,720
And Nebraska lot to be proven 
there with a true freshman 

558
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,480
quarterback Dylan Riolo and I 
don't think Indiana will be 

559
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,160
favored in in any in either of 
those two home games. 

560
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:42,400
Nebraska and Washington, but 
they're, they're also coming to 

561
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,760
Bloomington and again, true 
freshman quarterback for 

562
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,040
Nebraska, Washington has turned 
over their entire team. 

563
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,480
I do think Washington will be 
better than a lot of people 

564
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:53,400
expect. 
I would agree. 

565
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,840
I think I'd saw a couple of 
things this week that had 

566
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:03,640
Washington in like the 80s as 
far as the one through 34 

567
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:08,120
rankings in college football. 
And I I think they'll still be a

568
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,880
top 50 team in the country 
minimum. 

569
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,720
But Michigan State fascinated to
see Aidan Chiles and how 

570
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,920
Jonathan Jonathan Smith gets 
things going in your one there. 

571
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:27,080
I don't know if that's going to 
be an instant bowl team at at 

572
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:28,800
Michigan State. 
I had their I had their spring 

573
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,480
game and you know, they're the 
roster has changed a little bit 

574
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,120
with some guys transferring out 
after the the spring portal. 

575
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,560
But I think the schedule even 
lines up well with that Michigan

576
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,880
and Ohio State part of the 
schedule because you get the bye

577
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,880
in between those two games. 
You get a you get a week off in 

578
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,840
between. 
Again, the expectation, at least

579
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,560
from the outside is, is not that
you win either of those games. 

580
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:59,040
But having the week off in 
between, plus having the game on

581
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:03,320
the back end of that for Ohio 
State could could make things 

582
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,280
even more interesting than than 
they otherwise would have been. 

583
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,360
Especially if Indiana's going 
into that Nebraska game like you

584
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:15,040
mentioned, undefeated and and 
has a chance to surprise some 

585
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,760
people in the league. 
Schedule and that's something 

586
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,520
you know, we we saw it. 
I'm talking way more about Tom 

587
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,240
Allen on this podcast that I 
wanted to, but you you saw it 

588
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:26,600
with Tom Allen that what once 
you kind of got the vibes right 

589
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,920
and and the feeling right, that 
team played kind of better than 

590
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:32,560
than the collective of its 
parts. 

591
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,080
You know, that's something you 
talk about Michigan State. 

592
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,000
I think it's like 2021. 
I'm pulling up is I'm pretty 

593
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,520
sure that was Mel Tucker's first
year, but that team that that 

594
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,880
Michigan State team went 11 and 
two seven and two in the Big 10.

595
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,160
No one knew what what to expect 
out of that team that have said,

596
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,040
I think that team had Kenneth 
Walker like I'm, I think I'm 

597
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,360
picking the right year. 
But that was you know, they just

598
00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,880
kind of got going like they 
they're at Northwestern 

599
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,280
Youngstown state, but then 
they're at Miami, Miami, FL. 

600
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:01,800
They win overtime, Nebraska and 
southern four and oh, and then 

601
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:03,760
it's just like they're just 
going and now their their 

602
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:05,600
schedule was pretty soft. 
They play Western Kentucky, 

603
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,280
Rucker, you know, at Rutgers, at
Indiana and they they play 

604
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:09,360
Michigan. 
They beat Michigan. 

605
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,680
It's like suddenly they're seven
and O at that point, and it's 

606
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:15,640
like now they're off for the 
races and they're just a freight

607
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:16,480
train. 
You can't stop. 

608
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,400
And and again, I look to the 
flow of IU schedule if they're 

609
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,680
able to cash in that game at 
UCLAI know it's a lot of ifs and

610
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:26,520
this is where IU fans get into 
trouble. 

611
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,320
But these these are not. 
I don't think these are wild ifs

612
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,480
if they're better and they beat,
you know, UCLA and Maryland and 

613
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,040
again and Northwest. 
But yeah, six and O going into 

614
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,720
Nebraska could be very similar 
to that situation where you just

615
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,960
now have everyone believing and 
everyone's playing above their 

616
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,440
head. 
Even if you're 5 and one or even

617
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,920
four and two. 
I think that would give people 

618
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,000
like a wow, four and two. 
Like we're we're two wins away 

619
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,200
from bowl eligibility. 
We still have Michigan State and

620
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,520
Purdue at the back end of the 
schedule. 

621
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,240
Now we have a home stand for 
Nebraska and Washington. 

622
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,480
Like, let's get to six and two 
by the end of October. 

623
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,760
I just, I, I see a world where a
couple of early wins could 

624
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:11,080
really propel this team forward.
And that's where I think, you 

625
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,840
know, a lot of people within the
Indiana sphere a little bit 

626
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:15,800
annoyed at how we're just kind 
of ranked near the bottom. 

627
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,560
But, you know, as I know how 
these things are done, you know,

628
00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:21,920
for, for most media members 
think you pay a little bit 

629
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:23,760
closer attention. 
But I think most media members, 

630
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,480
it's like you really dig into 
the top schools and everyone 

631
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:27,320
else. 
It's kind of like, all right, 

632
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,920
well, new coach, they suck. 
I mean, not that you don't do 

633
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:31,760
that, but it's like you're not 
going to you're not going to 

634
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:34,040
focus as much on Indiana as you 
are Ohio State. 

635
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:35,640
When you're looking at the Big 
10, especially when you're a 

636
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,240
national reporter, you just 
can't do that. 

637
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:40,320
And I think that's where it's 
fallen in. 

638
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,520
But I, I do think, I don't want 
to say people are sleeping in 

639
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,080
Indiana because I don't think 
we're winning the Big 10. 

640
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:47,880
But I, I just, I do see there's 
a real opportunity for kind of 

641
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,600
that freight train of like, holy
crap, you look up at Indiana's 

642
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:54,920
like 7:00 and 1:00. 
Yeah, yeah, I think even not 

643
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,600
just from a national media 
standpoint, I think just from a 

644
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,720
fan standpoint of college 
football. 

645
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,960
Funny, funny story here. 
This was before you texted me 

646
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,200
actually and and asked me to 
come on the podcast. 

647
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,440
I was, I I live in Chicago and I
was out the other night with 

648
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:15,720
some friends just just enjoying 
a dinner on Saturday night. 

649
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:21,440
And we, we ran into a couple 
people that we knew actually 

650
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,960
that are from Indiana. 
And one person came up to me and

651
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,480
said, hey, you, you call some of
the Indiana games, right? 

652
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,040
And I was like, yeah, yeah. 
I'd called like half the Indiana

653
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:37,480
football schedule last year. 
And and the person goes, oh, oh,

654
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:38,960
oh, no, I don't. 
I don't care about that. 

655
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,560
I just care about basketball. 
I don't give AI don't I don't 

656
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,000
give a bleep about Indiana 
football. 

657
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:48,480
And and I was like, well, like, 
have have you heard some of the 

658
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,320
talk from the new coach? 
Have you heard about some of the

659
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,520
players they're bringing in? 
And they're like, oh, no, 

660
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,080
actually, actually I haven't. 
Should I be excited? 

661
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:57,280
Are you going to get my hopes 
up? 

662
00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,360
And we we got to talking about 
Indiana football and they mostly

663
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,440
wanted to talk about basketball.
Yeah, but that's but, but I 

664
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,400
think even from even from a fan 
standpoint, the point I made to 

665
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,440
that person was like you, you 
have a coach that is going to 

666
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,719
say things that are bold is 
going to speak to the fan base. 

667
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:23,800
I don't know if the the smoker 
section ended up being dubbed as

668
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,480
the student section with with 
Sig coming in, but I heard some 

669
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,239
rumors about that. 
But but I think changing the 

670
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:35,120
mindset of the fan base is also 
part of the calculus here of 

671
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,159
getting Indiana football to 
where everybody in Bloomington 

672
00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:42,120
wants them to be. 
Because that was that was a die 

673
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:47,360
hard lifelong Hoosier that 
basically said, yeah, like, I'm 

674
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,760
I'm kind of checked out. 
I'm kind of apathetic on Indiana

675
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:53,560
football. 
But if, if your scenario Scott 

676
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,200
comes to play, I'm going to call
up that person that I saw the 

677
00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,920
other night and say you guys are
6 and O, You can't tell me 

678
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:02,560
you're not, you're not checking 
in and that you don't care about

679
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:04,120
Indiana football. 
Oh, yeah, I know if that 

680
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:05,720
happens, a lot of people are 
going to check in. 

681
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:11,280
And, and I think I think it does
need to happen for for kind of 

682
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,800
the casual Indiana football fans
to get into it because, you 

683
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,960
know, that that's something that
I always bristle at that, you 

684
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,520
know, the crowds at Memorial 
Stadium have not always been 

685
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,800
what they should be. 
But you know what's never 

686
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,840
brought up sometimes when you 
know, not, you know, announcers 

687
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,000
are looking at like, man, got a 
lot of empty seats here. 

688
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,680
It's like, well, we we've been 
we've been bad for 30 years. 

689
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,320
Like it's been a long time. 
And it you know, you can't just 

690
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,200
have two good games and get 
people there. 

691
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,040
And then, you know, there was 
one, you know, in 2021. 

692
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,440
We come off that 2020 season, 
2021, we're feeling good. 

693
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,720
We're ranked 16th in the country
going into the year. 

694
00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:49,120
You know, I think IU football 
fans kind of got like their 

695
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,720
chest puffed up. 
It's like, all right, all right,

696
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:53,960
this is something real here. 
Like we could really change the 

697
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,520
paradigm. 
And then you just, I was at that

698
00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,160
Iowa game and I, I will never 
forget. 

699
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:01,640
I've told the story on the pod 
before. 

700
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,520
But like I, I drive out there 
with my wife, my two sons, 

701
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,080
they're like 8:00 and 4:00 at 
the time. 

702
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:07,800
Like we're all fired up. 
We go to Iowa. 

703
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:10,440
I mean, it is a first game. 
I, I've been there. 

704
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,160
It's a great atmosphere. 
I mean, they are fired up and 

705
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:14,960
I'm telling my kids like, you 
know, at the end of the first 

706
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:16,560
quarter, they do the wave to the
hospital. 

707
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:17,880
It's going to be really, really 
cool. 

708
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,600
And then, you know, we come out 
and I think it's like 

709
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,200
interception, you know, pick six
and then we fumble and then Iowa

710
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,480
scores and like pick six, it's 
like 21. 

711
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,320
Nothing. 
There's still 10 minutes to go 

712
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,040
in the first quarter. 
And I remember telling my wife, 

713
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,480
like, I think we just like, can 
we, are we going to be able to 

714
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,080
stay? 
It's like of the way, like I 

715
00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,840
never thought I'd be like, maybe
we leave in the third quarter. 

716
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,440
Like I never thought I'd want to
leave before the freaking wave 

717
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,880
happened, which is the end of 
the first quarter. 

718
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,160
But that kind of end of the 
season so early. 

719
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,760
And a lot of fans, you know, you
brought a lot of people into the

720
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,120
tent. 
You're like, all right, I'm 

721
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,880
going to give this a try. 
And it's like, oh man, they 

722
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:53,480
still suck. 
All right, well, I'll peace out.

723
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,680
I'll see you in a couple years. 
And so I, I think, you know, 

724
00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,280
for, for Indiana to get a lot of
those casual fans back or some 

725
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,560
of those basketball only fans, I
do think it's going to take them

726
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,720
winning some games and mate, you
know, getting a UCLA under the 

727
00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,680
belt and beating Maryland home. 
And at that point, that's a 

728
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:12,560
scenario where I think people 
kind of like, all right, I'm, 

729
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,440
I'm comfortable to come back in 
the tent and this tent isn't 

730
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,720
going to fall on me again. 
Yeah, yeah. 

731
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:22,000
And is it with the expectation 
that they go undefeated, like it

732
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,160
when those people come back in 
the tent or I don't? 

733
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:25,680
Think anybody? 
I don't think anybody thinks 

734
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,320
that. 
No, Yeah, right. 

735
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,480
Because because I think that 
becomes a different discussion 

736
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,800
just about expectation, right? 
If, if you feel like you've 

737
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,040
you've been let down a lot, 
which to your point, I'm sure a 

738
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,640
lot of Hoosier fans feel the 
same dagger to the heart that 

739
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,360
that you had that day at Iowa. 
But I don't know. 

740
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:54,280
I, I think you, you, you take a 
group of Division two turned FCS

741
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:57,800
turned Group of five coaches and
you throw them in the new Big 

742
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,440
10. 
And if, if they make some noise 

743
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,080
this year, I'm not saying it's 
the same thing as like Leicester

744
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,520
City winning the Premier League 
a few years ago when they had 

745
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:09,400
like 5001 odds. 
But be be really, really 

746
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:13,720
impressive to to have a staff 
that transitioned the team from 

747
00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:18,760
the FCS to the FBS less than 
three years ago come into one of

748
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,600
the most powerful conferences in
college football and and knock 

749
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,960
off some of these teams. 
So when when you're thinking 

750
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,720
about setting expectations, I 
think that context needs to be 

751
00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:32,400
added into and the fact that a 
lot of the players you know, 

752
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:36,240
not, not not half the roster or 
anything like that, but several 

753
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:39,480
James Madison players have come 
with and you got a group of five

754
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,800
quarterback coming in and trying
to prove he can play in the Big 

755
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,360
10. 
I think, I think the expectation

756
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:51,520
should be a bowl game and, and I
think 678 wins is is very, very 

757
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,240
reasonable. 
No, I, I, I agree. 

758
00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:54,800
I'm happy to hear that. 
I agree with you. 

759
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:57,360
The the last thing I'll say on 
Signetti before I have a couple 

760
00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:58,920
of kind of larger questions for 
you. 

761
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:02,200
You know, and again, I think 
every coach is trying to win 

762
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:04,840
every game. 
But like when, when Kevin Wilson

763
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,680
came in to IU, there was 
definitely a feel of like, all 

764
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:08,800
right, this is going to take 
some time. 

765
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,360
Like he came from Oklahoma and 
the vibe was definitely 

766
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,320
Oklahoma. 
They this is not how football 

767
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,440
should be done. 
And you know, we're, we're going

768
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,600
to have to rebuild and let's 
give it some time. 

769
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,920
What's been interesting with 
Signetti is I don't feel that 

770
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:22,680
same vibe. 
And, and maybe it's, you know, 

771
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,160
he's, he's one of those kind of 
sneaky older than you expect. 

772
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:30,240
Like he's like 6162 and he acts 
like he's my age, like mid 40s. 

773
00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:32,200
He's a little bit older. 
You know, if you're Signetti, 

774
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,320
it's like he doesn't have time 
for a 7 year rebuild. 

775
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:39,000
Like he he and I again, I don't 
I don't think Wilson was 

776
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,320
coaching to lose games like, but
I think it's just that you give 

777
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:44,720
that vibe off of like, all 
right, this is a process. 

778
00:39:44,720 --> 00:39:46,520
We'll take our time with 
Signeti. 

779
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:50,440
It feels very much like no man, 
like this is now like and I I do

780
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,160
feel that, you know, he's not 
looking at a four to five year 

781
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:55,320
rebuild. 
It's like, all right, let's get 

782
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:58,440
this done now, like let's go to 
a bowl this year and then look 

783
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:00,520
to compete next year for even 
something more. 

784
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,200
Whether we get there, I don't 
know, but it's. 

785
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,200
It's again, a very different 
feel than all of the coaching 

786
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:11,920
changes we've had at IU. 
Even Hepner, who was awesome, he

787
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:13,960
kind of came in like, all right,
we got to change the culture. 

788
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,040
It's gonna take some time, 
Signet. 

789
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:17,920
He's going to come in like, no 
man, the culture has changed, 

790
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,600
like change. 
They all suck and we're going to

791
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,440
win. 
And it's it's just, it's been 

792
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,720
really refreshing, you know? 
But what's exciting is now we're

793
00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,080
two weeks away from the rubber, 
really does hit the road because

794
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:31,680
you win the offseason. 
That doesn't mean anything if 

795
00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,640
you go out and lose to FIU. 
Sure, sure. 

796
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:39,760
I'm going to give you a really 
boring coach conference answer 

797
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:43,680
here to the point you just made.
But I think part of the 

798
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:47,120
difference is it's a different 
time in college football than 

799
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:51,280
when some of those coaching 
changes happened, Which I've 

800
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,480
I've rolled my eyes plenty of 
times when we've got that answer

801
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,000
in meetings or in interviews and
what have you. 

802
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:02,160
But it but it is true that like 
you, you can flip this thing a 

803
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:07,360
lot faster than you used to. 
Now, if you do want to build it 

804
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,080
from the grassroots and high 
school recruiting, there's a 

805
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:14,080
reason to be excited there. 
Because I I covered high school 

806
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,240
football at the national level 
for the past two seasons. 

807
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,720
Indiana was not a part of a lot 
of our discussions. 

808
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:24,000
And then I turned on the first 
high school football game last 

809
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,880
Friday night that ESPN put on. 
And Juju Lewis, the number one 

810
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:33,880
quarterback in the junior class 
is considering Indiana that that

811
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,440
didn't happen when when I was on
the recruiting beat the last 

812
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,960
couple years. 
And maybe he sticks with his USC

813
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,720
commitment and Indiana never 
gets the full sniff that who's 

814
00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:48,000
your fans with hope. 
But he's considering it. 

815
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:52,120
And that's a lot more than 
Malachi Nelson, who was the 

816
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:55,920
number one quarterback a few 
years ago and Jackson Arnold, 

817
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,800
who ended up at Oklahoma. 
It's that's a lot more traction 

818
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:03,760
in that space then then Indiana 
had even six months ago. 

819
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:08,360
No, you bring that up and it's 
it's also interesting just 

820
00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:12,880
regionally for so long, Indiana 
and their coaching staff has 

821
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,560
kind of just seated the best 
players in the region to Ohio 

822
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:19,640
State and Notre Dame and 
Michigan, you know, even 

823
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:21,400
Michigan State to a lesser 
degree. 

824
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:22,720
And you know, Iowa coming and 
poaching. 

825
00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:24,200
It's kind of like, all right, 
well, we can't compete with 

826
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:25,840
those guys. 
So we're just going to go after,

827
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:28,400
you know, the the Mac type 
players that are in from the 

828
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,720
state of Indiana. 
And that also has changed too, 

829
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,640
you know, like Tyler Cherry 
committed Indiana, you know, one

830
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,480
of the top quarterbacks in the 
state of Indiana and a lot of 

831
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,840
other Indiana recruits, I don't 
keep up with recruiting as much.

832
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:44,560
But what I hear from, you know, 
the chatter from Indiana high 

833
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:48,200
level recruits is we're at least
in the conversation and we're at

834
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,960
least talking to them. 
And that's we're not going to 

835
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:52,880
win it upfront. 
But it again, it's that 

836
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,040
mentality shift of like, yeah, 
we can't just cede all of 

837
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,000
Indiana to Ohio State, Notre 
Dame. 

838
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,160
And like, we're not going to win
those battles early on, but at 

839
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:02,640
some point you got to stick your
foot in the ground. 

840
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,320
Like, no, like we're going to 
we're going to recruit Indiana. 

841
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:08,080
And if you're a 5 star in 
Indiana, we're going to go try 

842
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:09,880
and meet with you and you might 
tell us to pound sand. 

843
00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:11,520
That's fine. 
But we keep doing that. 

844
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:13,600
At some point we're going to get
them, which I think is a better 

845
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,360
mentality than where we had 
been, frankly, which is kind of 

846
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,280
like, all right, well, we'll let
the big boys take the good stuff

847
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,320
and we'll just take whatever, 
whatever scraps are left. 

848
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,560
And then we'll try and go get 
something in Florida or Alabama.

849
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,400
We'll try to go somewhere we're 
not, we're not there. 

850
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:26,880
So I I like that approach as 
well. 

851
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:31,440
Yeah, totally agree. 
And you know, a lot of the the 

852
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:34,720
big quote UN quote national 
brands have already recruited 

853
00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:36,640
nationally. 
Texas, Florida, Georgia, 

854
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:40,360
California has always been a 
fertile recruiting ground for 

855
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,960
Michigan and Ohio State and the 
big boys in the conference. 

856
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:51,600
But maybe maybe the expansion of
the Big 10 becomes a diversion 

857
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:55,880
in recruiting where maybe 
there's more focus out West 

858
00:43:55,880 --> 00:44:01,760
because you've got UCLA and USC 
out there that maybe eyes and 

859
00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:03,240
recruiting start going out there
a little bit more. 

860
00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,400
And then maybe Indiana can kind 
of sweep in on the back end and 

861
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:09,160
Florida and Georgia, which 
everybody's recruiting. 

862
00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:13,080
So it's going to be hard. 
But maybe like you mentioned 

863
00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:19,360
Scott and in the home state 
there, maybe maybe you find more

864
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:23,960
four and five star guys there 
that don't have quite the same 

865
00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,720
attention that that maybe they 
did when the conference was a 

866
00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,680
little bit more condensed. 
Looking at the Big 10 at a 

867
00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,280
larger, larger scale. 
Just kind of curious to ask you 

868
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,040
this question. 
Everyone's excited. 

869
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:36,920
I'm I'm going to go to LA. 
I'm super excited to see the 

870
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:38,440
Rose Bowl. 
Everyone's excited for some of 

871
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:40,800
the newer matchups. 
Everyone's talked about the 

872
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:45,040
travel being an issue with the 
expanded Big 10 and the new 

873
00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:49,280
schools out in the West, the 
West Coast are Are there things 

874
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:53,480
that maybe fans are not noticing
that could be a big difference 

875
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:56,160
to how the Big 10 kind of 
operates over the next couple 

876
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,560
years that you see from your 
perspective? 

877
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:01,480
Logistically or on the field? 
Just over. 

878
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:03,400
I mean, either take it either 
way you want, yeah. 

879
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:08,080
Yeah, I think, I think Greg 
Schiano, the Rutgers head coach,

880
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:12,160
brought this up at media day how
when they go out West, they're 

881
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:15,240
going to play a late night game 
and then they're going to get 

882
00:45:15,240 --> 00:45:18,120
back to Piscataway at like noon 
the next day. 

883
00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:21,920
Yeah, and and I know he has some
experience from the NFL of 

884
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:26,520
making those cross country 
trips, but but that's that's a 

885
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:32,120
whole extra day of prep and then
you're you're probably sluggish 

886
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:34,560
that next day that you get back 
to the facility. 

887
00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:40,520
I don't I don't think that's 
going to be a non factor. 

888
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:42,840
And I think it's being talked 
about for good reason. 

889
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,040
You know, I, I had an 
interesting discussion actually 

890
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:50,280
with the Indiana volleyball 
coach Steve aired about this 

891
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:55,520
last year because he had, he had
the foresight to schedule a 

892
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,640
couple of games out West in 
anticipation of the league 

893
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:02,880
expanding this year. 
And I, I think he described it 

894
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:05,560
as, you know, the, the first 
night was fine. 

895
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,800
And then we got into our second 
match out there and got into the

896
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:12,880
4th set and it was like somebody
unplugged my team. 

897
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:19,440
And that, that the way he put 
that made me think like, OK, I 

898
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:23,120
think in football you could get 
into the fourth quarter where 

899
00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:27,440
it's, I don't know, 1:00 in the 
morning Eastern Time. 

900
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:32,000
And if your body clock's not 
right, that's a real human 

901
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,800
experience that is going to 
impact these games. 

902
00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:38,800
And, and I think with with NIL 
and these guys getting paid and 

903
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,320
stuff, everybody just kind of 
wants to brush it off like, you 

904
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:44,920
know, they can handle it, 
they're getting paid big money, 

905
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:50,480
go figure it out. 
But I think it's going to be a 

906
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:54,440
multi year experiment for these 
figure out exactly the right way

907
00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:57,280
to make sure that that doesn't 
happen, that your team isn't 

908
00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:00,240
unplugged late in the third 
quarter going to the fourth 

909
00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:01,520
quarter of those West Coast 
games. 

910
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:02,920
Yeah, no, I I think you're 
right. 

911
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:04,160
And I think you can see the same
thing too. 

912
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:06,800
When Washington comes to Indiana
or Washington goes to New 

913
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,200
Jersey, it's like you're going 
to have maybe they're too hyped 

914
00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:11,360
to begin or they're, you know, 
they're too sluggish to start 

915
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:12,520
and then get hyped up 
afterwards. 

916
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:14,920
I I agree. 
And I think it's going to be 

917
00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:17,200
really interesting to see how it
plays out because everyone's 

918
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:20,560
kind of just using the NFL or 
pro sports as an example. 

919
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:23,080
And it's like, well, it's not 
quite the same because, yeah, I 

920
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,320
mean, you know, I use not going 
to fly commercially to to LA, 

921
00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:30,480
but they're also not flying 
private the same way that like 

922
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:32,000
the Colts are. 
And again, I, I don't really 

923
00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,880
know the tread like I know how 
the Pacers, you know, in 

924
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:38,560
basketball fly. 
And they, you know, it's, it's 

925
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:41,880
different than in college. 
And you know, they, they stay at

926
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:44,880
higher level hotels and the pros
that I'm sure colleges are going

927
00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:47,120
to, and they're getting 
different, different setups. 

928
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:48,960
And, and they also have, you 
know, they've been doing it for 

929
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:50,400
5-10 years. 
They're used to it, You know, 

930
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:54,760
even even once we get 5-10 years
down the road of this, you know,

931
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:56,800
college kids are only doing it 
for four years. 

932
00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:00,280
So you only have a very small 
bit of experience versus like 

933
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:03,360
we're like, you know, a mixing 
sports like LeBron James, just 

934
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:06,520
he has that muscle memory of 
like what it's like to go on A5 

935
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:09,320
game road trip on the West Coast
versus the East Coast and vice 

936
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:11,000
versa. 
You know, college kids, you're 

937
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,680
getting four years at it and 
then you're done. 

938
00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:16,120
So I, I do think it's going to 
be a bigger issue is why I agree

939
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,080
with you. 
It's going to be interesting to 

940
00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:20,960
see how that goes. 
And the Big 10 is really, really

941
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:22,880
going to be at the forefront of 
that 'cause they are stretched, 

942
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,680
You know, when you get to 
Seattle, to New Jersey, that is.

943
00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:27,120
That is. 
That's a haul, man. 

944
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:31,680
Yeah, I'd say all the Big 10 and
then part of the ACC, we'll deal

945
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:33,160
with that. 
Yeah, no, you're right. 

946
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:35,360
Yeah, I forgot. 
Yeah, I forgot the cow. 

947
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,480
It's it's what is, is the PAC 12
still a conference? 

948
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:40,920
And I mean, they're just, 
they're just going to run two 

949
00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:42,200
teams this year, just rolling 
that. 

950
00:48:42,240 --> 00:48:46,160
Way the PAC 2, Yeah, Oregon, 
Oregon State and Washington 

951
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:50,680
State are are playing mostly 
Mountain West schedule, but 

952
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:53,760
they'll still play each other 
and they're still formally under

953
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:56,480
the umbrella of the PAC 12 
leadership. 

954
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,800
So, so no aggregation here, not 
not trying to get you to report 

955
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:03,760
anything because you work for 
the network, but just if you 

956
00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:07,720
could ask, you know, answer just
personally as Connor do do you 

957
00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:11,080
see another round of 
consolidation with the 

958
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:14,160
conference's going? 
Because it does, from my 

959
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:18,040
perspective, it feels like we're
kind of in an incomplete grade 

960
00:49:18,040 --> 00:49:19,400
point. 
Like you had all this movement, 

961
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:21,480
but then it's like, yeah, like 
you're not going to have 

962
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:23,560
Washington State and Oregon 
State just stay in the pack too.

963
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:25,480
Like that. 
That is officially stupid. 

964
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:27,600
Like they need to join a 
conference. 

965
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:31,800
That's going to be something it,
it feels like, you know, the big

966
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:34,040
10 in the SEC or it's like 
they're just in a Mexican 

967
00:49:34,040 --> 00:49:35,920
standoff, like who's going to 
make the next move. 

968
00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:38,880
You know, it feels like they 
almost need to each get to 20. 

969
00:49:38,880 --> 00:49:40,880
And then it's like, all right, 
this is about as much as we can 

970
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:42,000
handle. 
We can't do more. 

971
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:46,040
I I, I mean, take it however you
want if you want to start saying

972
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,840
teams, you think, but I just, I 
look at it as like it feels like

973
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,200
we're in a lull period and maybe
it's going to come with whatever

974
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:53,560
the next TV contract that comes 
out there. 

975
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:56,680
But I, I, and maybe it's with 
the ACC and some of these, you 

976
00:49:56,680 --> 00:49:58,800
know, grant to write stuffs. 
But it does feel like to me we 

977
00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:01,600
got in another round of this 
before maybe the dust settles. 

978
00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:03,640
But I'm curious your thought 
being a little closer to it. 

979
00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:07,840
Yeah, well, something has to 
happen with the two the two 

980
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:11,000
leftover PAC 12 teams with 
Oregon State and Washington 

981
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:15,280
State either either they get 
some of the Mountain West to 

982
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:20,760
start a new PAC 12 and and they 
come over those conference 

983
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:23,960
lines, which which sounds 
unlikely, especially with the 

984
00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:26,160
success that the Mountain West 
has had in basketball. 

985
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:30,240
Because the Mountain West is the
last couple years it's been a, 

986
00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:36,520
you know, a 456 bid mid major 
basketball conference. 

987
00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:40,920
So the, the shares that the 
conference gets from that as far

988
00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:46,360
as the TV money and the payout 
is, is, is not something that, 

989
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:48,600
that I would want to mess with 
if I running the, the Mountain 

990
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:50,560
West. 
So something has to happen, 

991
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:53,760
whether it's those two teams 
joining the Mountain West, those

992
00:50:53,760 --> 00:50:56,400
two teams getting an invitation 
from one of the other Power 4 

993
00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:00,240
conferences between now and in 
that deadline over the next 

994
00:51:00,240 --> 00:51:02,320
couple years. 
So to answer your question, 

995
00:51:02,840 --> 00:51:07,880
we're not done and going to the 
other side of the map on the the

996
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:10,480
East Coast. 
I mean, it's, it's been 

997
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:14,360
reported, I'm not breaking news 
here that that that Clemson and 

998
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:17,320
you know, North Carolina has 
interest. 

999
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:21,160
It sounds like Florida State has
interest and, and getting out of

1000
00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:23,560
the grant of rights in their 
deal with ESPN. 

1001
00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:30,000
I, I think that's only going to 
continue to get messier as 

1002
00:51:30,080 --> 00:51:35,320
lawsuits and court battles play 
out and, you know, maybe they 

1003
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:39,200
come to a settlement and, you 
know, I, I really, really 

1004
00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:43,440
enjoyed my time covering the ACC
when I worked for ESPN and there

1005
00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:45,200
are a lot of really good people 
there. 

1006
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:52,200
And, and I hope that I, I hope 
there is some resolution that is

1007
00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:56,840
not as ugly as it sounds like 
it's going to get, because it 

1008
00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:00,320
sounds like we got like 10 years
of lawsuits coming and then we 

1009
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:02,800
get a resolution. 
So I don't think, I don't think 

1010
00:52:02,800 --> 00:52:05,840
we necessarily have something 
that's going to happen like next

1011
00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:11,760
summer or the summer after that,
but more, more of this stuff is 

1012
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:13,960
is coming down the line. 
I'm pretty confident in that. 

1013
00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:16,440
Yeah, I I would agree. 
It's and then you also have 

1014
00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:17,960
like, you know, Notre Dame just 
sitting out there. 

1015
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:22,880
It's like at some point is there
single deal with NBC going to be

1016
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:25,560
enough to keep it going or is 
NBC going to keep it feels like 

1017
00:52:25,560 --> 00:52:27,120
that's also another another 
point. 

1018
00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:30,120
But it's it's it's definitely an
interesting time in college 

1019
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:30,800
sports. 
It is. 

1020
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:35,120
It is happening quickly. 
Yeah, well, the way that Notre 

1021
00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:38,560
Dame it's into the the new 
College Football Playoff is 

1022
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:42,720
interesting because Jack 
Swarbrick, their their former 

1023
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:45,880
athletic director, was part of 
designing this new playoff 

1024
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:48,800
system. 
But this year, Notre Dame's best

1025
00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:52,920
seed they can get in the playoff
is fifth because it's the the 

1026
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:56,640
top four conference champions 
that get those byes in the first

1027
00:52:56,640 --> 00:53:00,560
round. 
But they don't have to play a 

1028
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:04,400
conference championship game. 
So I I think that argument is 

1029
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:07,040
kind of null. 
If it were me, I would rather 

1030
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:10,280
play a conference championship 
game, win it and then have a 

1031
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:13,760
bye. 
But but Notre Dame is basically 

1032
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:17,880
guaranteeing themselves, at 
least for now, that they get a 

1033
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:21,400
bye week essentially no matter 
what while the other conferences

1034
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:22,800
play a conference championship 
game. 

1035
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:26,440
So I I know this is not a a 
Notre Dame podcast, but that. 

1036
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:28,640
Well, no, no, I mean, I think 
it's, I think it's, no, it's, 

1037
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:31,880
it's interesting because as you 
know, Indiana, we're a Big 10 

1038
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:34,360
school. 
It feels like the natural 

1039
00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:36,760
landing point for Notre Dame is 
the Big 10. 

1040
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:40,440
You know, them going to the SEC.
And again, these are all 

1041
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:44,720
becoming weird marriages of TV 
convenience, not schools that 

1042
00:53:44,720 --> 00:53:46,880
matter. 
But Notre Dame has nothing in 

1043
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,440
common with any SEC school. 
That would be the weirdest 

1044
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:53,120
connection, even more than 
Stanford and Cal being in the 

1045
00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:56,120
ACC. 
So I think it is. 

1046
00:53:56,120 --> 00:53:58,720
And you know, we're in Indiana. 
A lot of people here are Notre 

1047
00:53:58,720 --> 00:54:00,800
Dame football fans. 
I just find it interesting 

1048
00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:03,960
because it it feels like for 
years Notre Dame has just been 

1049
00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:06,960
like, we're too good for that. 
We don't need the Big 10, you 

1050
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:09,720
know, as this continues to 
change, especially in like 

1051
00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:11,720
basketball. 
I know they have the deal with 

1052
00:54:11,720 --> 00:54:13,880
the ACC. 
But like in basketball, you're 

1053
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:15,880
getting to a point where if 
you're not in one of the 

1054
00:54:15,880 --> 00:54:18,400
conferences, you're just not 
going to have teams to schedule 

1055
00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:21,600
because you know, you're going 
to have 20 games in the Big 10. 

1056
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:24,080
In basketball, you're already 
seeing some of these exempt 

1057
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,560
tournaments kind of go away or 
just lose teams. 

1058
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:30,280
And you know, in football it's 
the same thing that if, if 

1059
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:33,720
you're Michigan and you're in 
the Big 10 and you're looking at

1060
00:54:33,720 --> 00:54:37,320
gauntlet every single year of 
eight games, why would I want to

1061
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:39,000
schedule Notre Dame in one of my
non conference? 

1062
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:41,200
Like, sure, it brings in 
revenue, but like I'm, I'm 

1063
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:44,040
already getting a, a bunch of 
games that are big time games. 

1064
00:54:44,040 --> 00:54:47,040
I've, I've added a game against 
Oregon and Washington and USC. 

1065
00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:48,600
They're coming in every three or
four years. 

1066
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,600
I, I do wonder if just a 
scheduling point of view in a 

1067
00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:54,720
couple years, it's like any 
school in the SEC or the Big 10 

1068
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:56,960
is just like, man, I ain't got 
time to play Notre Dame. 

1069
00:54:56,960 --> 00:55:00,640
Like I got to get some wins to 
keep my job as a coach and an 

1070
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:02,360
AD. 
And I just wonder if that's 

1071
00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:05,440
going to push Notre Dame out. 
I don't know. 

1072
00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:08,520
I, I look at it from the 
negotiating point of view, like 

1073
00:55:08,520 --> 00:55:10,800
it feels like Notre Dame is 
losing more and more leverage as

1074
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:13,000
it keeps going. 
Because if you're the Big 10 and

1075
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:16,240
you get to 20 teams and Notre 
Dame's not one of them, and then

1076
00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:18,640
the SEC goes to 20 and Notre 
Dame's not one of those. 

1077
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,640
It's like, all right, Notre 
Dame, who are you going to 

1078
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:21,680
schedule? 
Like you want to get to the 

1079
00:55:21,680 --> 00:55:23,560
playoff, You got to play some 
big boys. 

1080
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:27,560
You know, after weeks 5, they're
all gone. 

1081
00:55:28,040 --> 00:55:30,480
Like all those teams you want to
play that you need to get there 

1082
00:55:30,480 --> 00:55:32,560
are gone. 
And, and if you're the big 10, 

1083
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:36,480
it's like, all right, man, we 
can grab, you know, Clemson, you

1084
00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:40,400
know, North Carolina, Miami, FL,
the Florida State, like they're 

1085
00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:43,680
all grabbable and they all would
fit in well here. 

1086
00:55:43,960 --> 00:55:46,200
Why do we need you and all your 
special rules? 

1087
00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:48,040
I, I don't know. 
I, I think it's interesting and 

1088
00:55:48,040 --> 00:55:50,160
that that's how I see it as kind
of this game of chicken. 

1089
00:55:50,160 --> 00:55:52,840
And it feels like Notre Dame 
might be losing their leverage. 

1090
00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:55,080
It also gets to be there. 
They're a big enough brand. 

1091
00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:56,920
They just, they get to do what 
they want to do and they'll 

1092
00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:58,720
they'll end up finding 
themselves a spot at the table, 

1093
00:55:58,720 --> 00:56:00,280
which is probably the way it's 
going to happen. 

1094
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:04,360
Yeah, Two things on that I would
say is to your point about 

1095
00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:09,320
potentially losing leverage if 
they lose the USC game yearly, I

1096
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,560
think that could be the thing 
where they say, all right, 

1097
00:56:12,560 --> 00:56:15,320
that's a big rivalry game. 
We've got tradition there. 

1098
00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:17,440
Our school is all about 
tradition. 

1099
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:20,600
We want to find a way to 
conserve that. 

1100
00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:22,880
And if the only way to do that 
is to join the Big 10, then 

1101
00:56:22,880 --> 00:56:27,480
maybe we have to do it. 
The the counterpoint to them 

1102
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:30,880
losing their leverage is that a 
lot of people watch Notre Dame 

1103
00:56:30,880 --> 00:56:33,640
football and that's that's their
biggest leverage. 

1104
00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:37,240
And that's honestly every 
school's biggest leverage. 

1105
00:56:37,240 --> 00:56:41,840
That is part of this new 
conference alignment is if 

1106
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:44,720
people watch your games and you 
draw a rating, you're you're 

1107
00:56:44,720 --> 00:56:48,520
going to have leverage when it 
comes to where you end up. 

1108
00:56:48,520 --> 00:56:51,000
And I think Notre Dame will 
always have that just because 

1109
00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:56,160
those fans are all across the 
country and are, are, are still 

1110
00:56:56,160 --> 00:56:59,840
a lot of 1988 Notre Dame fans 
out there that are, are, are 

1111
00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:06,640
proudly repping the Shamrock. 
So I, I think, I think the USC 

1112
00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:09,560
thing could, could make it 
interesting though, if, if, if 

1113
00:57:09,560 --> 00:57:11,160
that rivalry doesn't continue. 
Yeah. 

1114
00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:14,040
I mean, the, the last thing I'll
say on, you know, you mentioned 

1115
00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:18,000
Rutgers earlier on all of this, 
this realignment is it, it does 

1116
00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:20,880
feel like Rutgers was the 
biggest winner of all of this 

1117
00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:25,840
just in timing and in pickup 
that, you know, they the Big 10 

1118
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:29,240
gets Rutgers to try and get the 
New York media market when you 

1119
00:57:29,240 --> 00:57:31,680
probably could have gone for 
Syracuse or one of those other 

1120
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:33,680
schools. 
But you get that at a time when 

1121
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:37,120
media markets still matter, that
I think they matter less now 

1122
00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:40,640
with everything kind of going 
over Internet providers. 

1123
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:42,240
But I think media markets still 
matter. 

1124
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:45,200
But they don't matter like they 
did when the Big 10 went to go 

1125
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,000
get Rutgers to put them on the 
Big 10 network. 

1126
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:49,960
Now is a little more over the 
top stuff you can do. 

1127
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:52,640
It doesn't matter as much. 
And then all this realignment 

1128
00:57:52,640 --> 00:57:55,080
happens and it's like they're 
they're they're kind of the the 

1129
00:57:55,080 --> 00:57:56,760
smallest school that got brought
into this. 

1130
00:57:56,760 --> 00:58:00,720
Like if if you were just playing
NCAA Football 25 and just 

1131
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:04,120
restarting conferences with a 
fresh start, I'm not sure they'd

1132
00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:06,200
be in any of these. 
Maybe Indiana wouldn't either, 

1133
00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:08,760
But it's just it is. 
I look at Rutgers as like, they,

1134
00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:12,080
they timed everything perfectly 
and they kind of grabbed a seat 

1135
00:58:12,080 --> 00:58:14,360
at the table. 
And it's wild to think schools 

1136
00:58:14,360 --> 00:58:17,200
like Clemson and Florida State 
are kind of struggling to figure

1137
00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:19,040
things out. 
And Rutgers is just sitting 

1138
00:58:19,040 --> 00:58:21,400
pretty and as one of the, you 
know, Top 40 schools. 

1139
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:24,320
Right, right. 
With the the Statue of Liberty 

1140
00:58:24,320 --> 00:58:25,720
and the Big 10 maps commercial, 
Yeah. 

1141
00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:27,320
Exactly. 
They updated it. 

1142
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:30,280
For those who haven't seen they 
updated it, It was fantastic. 

1143
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:31,760
That was a great drop when they 
did that. 

1144
00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:34,600
That was awesome it. 
Was yeah, but that was always 

1145
00:58:34,600 --> 00:58:37,640
something that I think made a 
lot of people laugh, was that 

1146
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:42,240
Piscataway is not really in the 
same neighborhood, is not in the

1147
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:44,000
same neighborhood as the Statue 
of Liberty. 

1148
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:47,240
So, yeah, no, in fact, that was 
the thing that popped up when 

1149
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:48,960
they showed Rutgers was, was 
funny. 

1150
00:58:48,960 --> 00:58:53,240
But no, I that that obviously is
America's heartthrob when it 

1151
00:58:53,240 --> 00:58:56,080
comes to Big 10 promos. 
And and I'm I'm right there with

1152
00:58:56,080 --> 00:58:57,000
it. 
I I loved it. 

1153
00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:59,640
Was there was there talk 
internally when when they got 

1154
00:58:59,640 --> 00:59:02,400
the you know, when when it was 
announced at Washington, Oregon,

1155
00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:04,680
you know, the West Coast was it 
was it like brought up like we 

1156
00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:06,880
got to redo that promo? 
Obviously it was and they did 

1157
00:59:06,880 --> 00:59:09,440
it, but the internally was 
discussion like hey, we, we got 

1158
00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:12,400
to change the promo. 
You know, I that that's way 

1159
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:14,960
above me when it comes to, to my
job. 

1160
00:59:14,960 --> 00:59:18,200
So I, I never had any Intel on 
this is happening, but that was 

1161
00:59:18,200 --> 00:59:21,800
a nice little Easter egg. 
I think August 2nd when the 

1162
00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:24,920
conference officially expanded 
when, when that got dropped. 

1163
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:28,480
So I thought that was that was 
great PR work from from the Big 

1164
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:32,040
10 conference giving, giving the
people what they wanted. 

1165
00:59:32,160 --> 00:59:34,640
Well, I think the Easter egg is 
there's a little Memorial 

1166
00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:36,800
Stadium in that promo. 
And inside of there is a little 

1167
00:59:36,800 --> 00:59:40,040
Connor Onion you're doing, doing
an IU game that you're, you're 

1168
00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:42,440
there just if you zoom in, you 
keep like one of those Instagram

1169
00:59:42,440 --> 00:59:45,040
videos, keep zooming in, zooming
in, zooming in. 

1170
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:48,560
It's like there's Connor in the 
press box waving up doing an IU 

1171
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:49,560
game. 
So that that's the way I like to

1172
00:59:49,560 --> 00:59:50,760
think of that promo that came 
out. 

1173
00:59:51,200 --> 00:59:54,960
Oh yeah, I'm, I, I think I'm 
still paying taxes on the little

1174
00:59:54,960 --> 00:59:58,520
place I got in Brown County 
since since I did so many, so 

1175
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:01,600
many games there last year, so. 
Well, Connor, hopefully you get 

1176
01:00:01,600 --> 01:00:03,240
to do an IU football game this 
year. 

1177
01:00:04,240 --> 01:00:07,120
Enjoy the new digs at FOX. 
Have a great have a great season

1178
01:00:07,120 --> 01:00:10,120
and we will catch up with you as
we get ready for basketball in a

1179
01:00:10,120 --> 01:00:12,440
couple of months. 
But man, it's fall, the 

1180
01:00:12,440 --> 01:00:14,800
weather's getting cool, legal 
start changing and it's football

1181
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:16,080
time. 
So I really appreciate you 

1182
01:00:16,080 --> 01:00:19,480
coming on to do this promo the 
the preview for the season and 

1183
01:00:19,840 --> 01:00:22,440
excited to hear you on the call 
at FOX this year. 

1184
01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:26,480
I appreciate it Scott, always 
enjoy it and happy to hop on 

1185
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:29,920
with you anytime. 
Yeah, my pleasure and everyone 

1186
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:30,960
out there, thank you for 
listening. 

1187
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:33,480
We'll continue doing more IU 
football previews as we get 

1188
01:00:33,480 --> 01:00:36,400
ready for the season here. 
And gosh, like less than 12 days

1189
01:00:36,400 --> 01:00:39,800
I think. 
So for Connor Scott for Crimson 

1190
01:00:39,800 --> 01:00:40,880
cast, signing off.