Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Richard and Alex preview the two remaining FBS independents, Notre Dame and UConn, before diving into the reconstituted Pac-12. Teams in order:* 5:57: Notre Dame, featuring Jessica Smetana of The Echoes* 26:45: UConn* 34:30: Moving to the new Pac-12 and refreshing you on the new membership and competitive format of the league* 40:29: Boise State* 48:21: San Diego State* 51:35: Fresno State* 58:41: Utah State* 1:01:42: Washington State* 1:09:25: Oregon State* 1:12:50: Texas State* 1:17:06: Colorado State* 1:19:39: Pac-12 superlatives and preseason honorsProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a wider re-release of a 2025 episode for Split Zone Duo’s paid subscribers, who make this show possible. We’re sharing it widely to show more people what our subscriber shows are like, and because it’s a natural fit with our new episode on the 25-year anniversary of the 2001 season.The coaching carousel before the 2001 season transformed college football. Some programs set themselves up for national championship (or even dynastic) runs. Some screwed themselves. Some set the stage for the next several decades of the top tiers of the SEC and Big Ten. In this episode, Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Steven Godfrey take a fine-toothed comb through the consequential coaching cycle at the end of 2000:9:07: The hires that worked out well (Gary Patterson to TCU, Pete Carroll to USC, Jim Tressel to Ohio State, Rich Rodriguez to WVU, and many more)23:20: The hires that fell flat (hello, UNC and Arizona)26:45: The hires that shaped college football to this day29:06: The what-if scenarios that nearly made it all different40:03: A reevaluation of Larry Coker?54:32: Ohio State and Georgia shopping for upgrades55:45: Class superlatives, including the Ellis Johnson Southern Miss Award for missed opportunities, the Coaching Carousel Global Impact Award for the most profound ripple effects, and Hire of the YearProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comContent note: This episode includes an extended discussion of the September 11 attacks and their connection to college football.For Relaunch Week, Alex and Richard revisit the 2001 college football season, a year flattened in memory into the dominance of an all-time Miami team but very, very strange below the surface. September 11 halted the sport and jumbled its schedule; a chaotic December put Nebraska in the national championship game after Colorado had beaten the Huskers by 26; Florida and Tennessee settled the SEC East in December; Oregon got left out; and a landmark coaching class signaled that the sport’s next era had already begun. This subscriber episode tells the story of the season in about 100 minutes, including archival audio of Lee Corso condemning the SEC’s initial plan to play four days after the attacks. In this episode:- 0:17: How Miami’s dominance hides a lot of weirdness in the history books- 15:04: September 11’s effect on the season, including …- 33:59: How the BCS race became unlike any other - 56:37: An absurdly good crop of new head coaches that reshaped the sport - 1:02:21: Rex Grossman vs. Eric Crouch- 1:15:24: The many eras that were butting against each other here

Alex and Richard conduct the second annual Coach Firing/Retirement/Departure Confidence Draft, assigning point values to 27 FBS coaches based on how likely they are to leave their jobs after the 2026 season, either because they got fired or retired. (Poachings are not included.) Last year, Alex scored a narrow victory thanks to his bold and successful pick of Kyle Whittingham to be out at Utah after the season. Can Richard fight back?The board runs in order of tenure, from Kirk Ferentz’s 28th year at Iowa to Bill Belichick’s second at North Carolina, and produces wide gaps on Joe Moorhead, Mike Norvell, Luke Fickell, and the exact meaning of a Lincoln Riley departure. In this episode, we cover these coaches in order:• 5:23: Kirk Ferentz at Iowa• 6:21: Troy Calhoun at Air Force• 7:54: Dabo Swinney at Clemson• 9:39: Dave Doeren at NC State• 11:01: Pat Narduzzi at Pitt• 12:15: Mike Locksley at Maryland• 14:27: Mike Norvell at Florida State• 15:32: Ricky Rahne at Old Dominion• 16:11: Shane Beamer at South Carolina• 18:12: Steve Sarkisian at Texas• 20:34: Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech• 21:50: Joe Moorhead at Akron• 23:49: Timmy Chang at Hawaii• 24:39: Tony Elliott at Virginia• 27:01: Lincoln Riley at USC• 29:04: Sonny Dykes at TCU• 30:35: Brent Venables at Oklahoma• 31:53: Deion Sanders at Colorado• 33:43: Luke Fickell at Wisconsin• 34:40: Jamey Chadwell at Liberty• 35:35: Matt Rhule at Nebraska• 37:05: Bill O’Brien at Boston College• 38:41: Kalen DeBoer at Alabama• 40:14: Scotty Walden at UTEP• 40:50: Derek Mason at Middle Tennessee• 40:53: Dell McGee at Georgia State• 42:00: Bill Belichick at North CarolinaNote: We unintentionally omitted Baylor's Dave Aranda from this draft. We will come back to him in the Big 12 preview later this summer.Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for the newest installment of “Why You’re Always Bad,” focused on the program that now owns the FBS record for losses. Northwestern has also posted a winning record over the last 18 years, won six consecutive bowl games, and is preparing to open an extremely expensive new stadium. So Rodger comes prepared to challenge the premise. The group works through the Wildcats’ dark ages, occasional breakthroughs, facility-rich “Ryan family,” small fan base, and existential need to remain inside the Big Ten. In this episode. In this episode:* 4:04: Brief history of Northwestern football* 9:56: Cool players and guys you should know from program history, including Trevor Siemian, Justin Jackson, and Otto Graham. Plus, a trailblazing history of Black coaches and NFL presidents* 28:51: Awful moments in program history (there are many)* 59:33: Do they have any money (and who, exactly, are the “Ryan family”)* 1:10:09: What are their (many) non-financial difficulties?* 1:20:06: Can we find one villain to blame for their struggles?* 1:22:42: What is this program’s best-case scenario in the next 10 years?* 1:25:58: Verdict time: What happens if the Big Ten splits?Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode.To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a discounted annual subscription this week only), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito

Join us for Relaunch Week! Welcome to our first conference preview of the 2026 season, where Alex and Richard discuss the ACC’s 17 teams. This episode has a rose (a good thing), a bud (a point of intrigue), and a thorn (a worry) for every team in the league. Each school is covered, and then we pick some preseason awards:- 4:28: Virginia- 10:51: Duke- 16:13: SMU- 21:49: Miami- 29:28: Pitt- 34:43: Georgia Tech- 43:28: NC State- 49:05: Cal- 52:53: Clemson- 58:48: Louisville- 1:02:47: Wake Forest- 1:08:23: Stanford- 1:11:38: Florida State- 1:17:33: North Carolina- 1:23:52: Virginia Tech- 1:28:34: Boston College- 1:32:08: SyracuseProducer: Anthony Vito. Thanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comA quarter of the way (and change) into the 21st century, the occasion calls for a proper celebration of the sport we all love before we get into 2026 in earnest. Richard and Alex compete in a draft of the century’s best games to date, but there’s a twist: years cannot be repeated, and neither drafter can use the same team more than once, whether it won or lost. We won’t spoil the picks in the episode description this time, so you’ll just have to see where they fall. Vote on the winner at www.splitzoneduo.com. Producer: Anthony Vito

Matt Brown of Extra Points joins Richard and Alex to talk about the major college sports business stories of the moment. In this latest SZD/Extra Points Sports Business Hour (and the final week before conference previews), the gang discuss the following: * 2:06: The EA Sports microtransactions revolt * 28:02: The Big 12 and Monster Energy: a sponsorship bag fumble or the internet getting carried away during a dead zone in July? * 42:10: More Texas Tech vs. the Big 12 from media days* 49:25: Michigan’s athletic department limbo as a lawfirm investigation into the Wolverines’ culture comes to a conclusion If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Thank you to our partners* Shop at Homefield* Learn more about Nokian TyresProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

EA Sports College Football principal game designer Ben Haumiller joins Richard and Alex to answer their questions (and many of our subscribers’ questions) about the new CFB video game that comes out July 9. This episode covers new features and gameplay changes, why EA decided to implement an NIL system in dynasty mode, what interactions with schools have been like, which new FBS teams and stadiums made it into the game, and whether Ben is willing to apologize to Alex for all the clock-saving injuries that cost him games last year.* 0:27: Alex’s shameful record in last year’s game* 5:47: NIL comes to the EA CFB franchise. Why and how?* 15:16: Mascot Mode back, plus other new features and how the video game has become a very real part of the college football economy* 27:04: New team and stadium additions, and what didn’t make it in time* 32:05: Road to Glory changes, “generational recruits,” ratings logic, and “dynamic weather” as new parts of the game* 51:38: Tweaks to the coach carousel and player decisions, plus the aesthetic changes that Ben says will make the game feel more real. Plus: How does a professional game developer feel about all of those AI mockups?For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), www.splitzoneduo.com subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Thank you to our partners* Shop at Homefield* Learn more about Nokian Tyres This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex, Richard, and Godfrey spend this subscriber episode reopening some of college football’s ugliest firing files: the decisions that looked reckless in the moment, the ones that aged like bad cheese, and the cases where the process was the bad before the next hire even got started. The trip runs from Nebraska and Washington through FIU, East Carolina, Maryland, and Ole Miss, with athletic directors getting at least as much scrutiny as the fired coaches.In this episode:* 2:23: The honorable-mention bucket, including Bo Pelini, Larry Coker, Jeff Jagodzinski, Rick Neuheisel, and Mike Price.* 17:24: Nebraska actually gets its own division, with Frank Solich tagging in* 22:13: Mario Cristobal at FIU, an incomprehensible mistake* 32:38: Ruffin McNeill at East Carolina, which becomes a real AD disaster tale* 41:27: Ralph Friedgen at Maryland is arguably the worst of all, feat. a James Franklin “coach in waiting” messEveryone can hear a free preview of this episode To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito

Mike Goodman, cohost of soccer podcast The Double Pivot, joins Richard and Alex to talk about a subject that’s been on our minds a lot lately: tournament expansion. The World Cup expanded from 32 teams to 48, and we’ve already seen some of the benefits (and perhaps some of the drawbacks) of that move. What can the recent experiences of the world’s biggest sporting event tell us about college football’s potential playoff expansion to 16 or 24 teams?* 0:17: Should the World Cup’s expansion prompt a rethink of the CFP’s?* 3:21: Mike Goodman joins and explains FIFA’s weird (read: corrupt) politics* 27:39: Why this has worked fairly well in soccer but probably isn’t translatable to college football* 45:21: What college football could learn from FIFA’s situationProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex, Richard, and host emeritus Steven Godfrey identify 10-ish head coaches whose tenures are not going well heading into 2026. Is it possible to find hope in any of these situations? On this show, we’re trying to figure out what a turnaround might look like. In this subscriber episode: 0:01: Michigan’s hoops coach goes to the Mavericks, and it’s time for another news cycle about college coaching lifestyles9:22: Explaining the assignment for this episode12:23: Mike Norvell and Florida State19:35: Mike Locksley and Maryland26:25: Luke Fickell and Wisconsin34:16: Dave Doeren and NC State42:02: Dave Aranda and Baylor47:21: Dabo Swinney and Clemson57:36: Speed round: Shane Beamer, Scott Satterfield, and Pat Narduzzi1:01:31: Sure, let’s talk about Bill Belichick and Deion SandersProducer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThis episode is for paid subscribers, but everyone can hear a free preview. Want to get all of our podcasts? Join us here. Richard takes a solo show journey to wrap up the Brendan Sorsby saga now that the Texas Tech quarterback has announced his intention to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft and effectively end a sports betting saga that included dueling lawsuits, seething administrators/coaches, and state politicians getting into a tit-for-tat. -What does the whole affair tell us about the status of Cody Campbell’s team ownership?-Did Tech author its own demise?-How Brett Yormark comes out looking the best out of every admin.-What’s the recourse if you’re just over following lawsuits?-Also … Sorsby’s gonna get taken by a team, right? Producer: Anthony Vito

As the season gets closer and closer, the hypotheticals start to inch closer to reality. Will the good vibes that your favorite team captured this offseason actually pan out, or will it only lead to disappointment? Is the current situation with your coaching staff or roster getting any better? This internal monologuing can snowball into the dreaded sports anxiety. So we asked you the listener, to spell out your anxieties about your favorite team so that we can analyze whether they’re substantiated or whether you’re just mostly being a impatient for the season to come. In this episode we cover:* 07:56 Boston College* 11:28 Cal* 14:00 Duke* 16:01 Georgia Tech* 18:09 Louisville* 22:32 North Carolina* 23:30 Pitt* 25:00 Stanford* 27:01 Virginia Tech* 33:02 Arizona * 35:23 Iowa State* 37:37 BYU* 43:41 Texas Tech* 52:16 Michigan State* 58:48 Penn StateProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Transfer portal season is over. The actual college football season is almost here. With the dust (probably) settled on everyone’s roster, Richard and Alex pick through dozens of portal classes and highlight 26 players who are sliding into situations worth tracking in 2026. This episode is NOT just a recitation of the highest-ranked transfers, but a deeper examination of who’s being relied on to fill major holes, who’s propping up a hot-seated coach, and who’s just going to be plain old fun to watch. We cover new players going to: * 11:55: Texas* 13:50: Nebraska* 16:51: Miami* 19:49: Clemson* 22:27: Oregon* 24:12: James Madison* 27:01: Ohio State* 29:56: Washington* 36:06: LSU* 42:31: Oklahoma* 47:55: Texas Tech* 51:43: Florida State* 54:34: Cal* 56:59: Baylor* 58:49: Miami University* 1:02:22: Michigan* 1:03:04: WisconsinProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comBrendan Sorsby has his temporary injunction, and the field is open for Texas Tech’s QB to play in 2026. Yes, Alex is as shocked as you are. What now, though? To answer that question and a few more, let’s welcome Sam Ehrlich, an assistant professor of legal studies at Boise State and operator of the College Sports Litigation Tracker. In this episode:* 0:17: Alex’s monologue on why Sorsby’s triumph is so absurd, even for people used to watching the NCAA lose in court, like all of us.* 8:14: Welcoming Sam Ehrlich, asking what he thinks of the ruling, and why the judge’s order left so much unsaid.* 11:57: What the NCAA’s appeal changes, and why the clock may now work in Sorsby’s favor instead of against him.* 14:59: Whether one Texas injunction really changes the NCAA’s ability to enforce gambling rules elsewhere. (Be careful about this one.)* 18:23: Why collectively bargained rules or a federal college sports bill would probably have prevented this situation.* 23:43: Venue shopping, “home cooking” complaints, broader sports-integrity fallout, and what angry Big 12 schools can actually do about it.Producer: Anthony Vito

Subscribe to our new YouTube channel just for episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@collegefootballpodcast Alex, Richard, and Matt Brown get back together for the Split Zone Duo/Extra Points Sports Business Hour with the most serious congressional attempt yet to reorganize college sports on the table. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 would touch NIL enforcement, athlete movement, the House settlement’s cap structure, media-rights pooling, conference realignment, and even the timing of coach moves via a Lane Kiffin Rule that Alex thinks is a little silly. The group talks through why this bill deserves your attention than the usual Capitol Hill noise, why it still has obvious ways to fail, and how its politics run through everyone from the Big Ten and SEC to Cody Campbell and Texas Tech.In this episode:* 4:14: Why the Protect College Sports Act is more serious than past college-sports bills, and what it would do to NIL disclosures, transfer limits, athlete compensation, and the College Sports Commission.* 25:08: How media-rights pooling became one of the bill’s biggest fights, why the Big Ten and SEC hate it, and how Cody Campbell’s fingerprints are all over the politics.* 36:52: The so-called Lane Kiffin rule, and whether Congress can actually stop coaches from arranging new jobs during the season.* 41:19: Utah’s private equity experiment, the layoff headline, the missing public details, and why fan revolt in American college sports tends to be so muted.* 51:24: Why the planned NC State-Virginia game in Brazil fell apart, and what it says about trying to export college football internationally.* 1:06:36: Why Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility fight feels so ridiculous.If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription.For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIs your head coach going to succeed? Most of the time, you’ll know by Year 2. Welcome to the latest installment of SZD’s checkup on head coaches about to start their second season on the job. The class of 2025 was famously light on Power 4 hires but offers more G6 hope than you might think. In this episode, we’ll tier out this crop of second-year coaches as follows:* 0:16: Why Year 2 remains such a revealing checkpoint for college football coaches, even after the portal changed the roster-building calendar.* 8:03: The guys who are trending up, like Zach Kittley at FAU, Mark Carney at Kent State, Matt Drinkall at Central Michigan, Willie Simmons at FIU, Jerry Mack at Kennesaw State, Dan Mullen at UNLV, Jason Eck at New Mexico, and Matt Entz at Fresno State.* 24:28: The guys who have us in wait-and-see mode, including the hard AAC jobs, Phil Longo at Sam Houston, Mike Uremovich at Ball State, Eddie George at Bowling Green, Dowell Loggains at App State, Tony Gibson at Marshall, Barry Odom at Purdue, and Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia.* 39:22: The guys who are already trending the wrong way and need a turnaround, like Scott Frost at UCF and, well …* 46:01: Bill Belichick’s lousy first year at North Carolina and how much hope there is that things could improveProducer: Anthony VitoEveryone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today.For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comHost emeritus Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for a look back at the Big 12’s extremely public flirtation with expansion a full decade ago. It was a strange spring and summer in 2016, as the Big 12 basically put on realignment tryouts for a long list of schools including several (BYU, UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati) who did get into the conference — but not until years later, when others dominoes had fallen. Let’s revisit the summer of realignment that wasn’t, and then let’s think about how it changed the next decade of college football.In this episode:* 0:00: Why the realignment fashion show became so public* 8:10: The now-quaint factors that drove realignment decisions back then* 12:28: The candidate pool, including Houston and Cincinnati’s very different campaigns, BYU’s many complications, UCF before the Scott Frost/Josh Heupel run, and SMU before it became an ACC playoff team* 32:02: Why the process came down to BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston. (Also, why the Big 12 was genuinely scared of Houston)* 43:48: Counterfactuals: whether earlier expansion would have changed Texas and Oklahoma’s exit, the Pac-12’s collapse, or the expanded playoff’s politics around non-power teams* 56:08: The afterlife of the public audition, from Memphis and Sacramento State to the next round of conference-movement anxiety.Everyone can hear a free preview of this episodeTo get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Producer: Anthony Vito

Richard is joined by Joel Anderson, host of The Ringer Tailgate and The Press Box podcasts, for a conversation about the NAACP’s Out of Bounds campaign and the bigger question underneath it: What is fair to ask of Black college athletes and recruits at a moment when lawmakers and the courts are attacking Black voting power? They start with HBCUs and PWIs, move through the campaign’s specifics asks, and cover lots of topics from there: political education, NIL incentives, the transfer portal, the limits and power of boycotts, and why college football keeps becoming the platform for this kind of discussion. In this episode:* 0:00: The roles of HBCUs and PWIs in Black college life, and how generational experiences shape Richard’s and Joel’s views.* 12:01: The NAACP’s campaign and its asks of recruits, current athletes, fans, donors, and consumers.* 16:16: What is fair to expect of college athlete activism now* 26:55: Whether the idea of a “boycott” has lost force* 37:53: The role of the NAACP in 2026 Producer: Anthony VitoMore on the story covered in this episode: * NAACP press statement: Black athletes and fans should withhold support from public schools in states attacking Black voting rights* NAACP: Out of Bounds * CBS Sports on the NAACP campaignIf you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Alex, Richard, and host emeritus Steven Godfrey turn a Memorial Day subscriber mailbag into a holiday-travel episode, starting with an either/or question about Steve Sarkisian and Lincoln Riley. From there, they get into G.J. Kinne’s future, Arkansas cutting and then quiickly reinstating a sport, what a 24-team Playoff might do to scheduling, how to talk about Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz in 2026, and then the important holiday matters: message boards, soccer pain, cookout tips and tricks, Alex’s recent discovery of beans, and Spotify deep diving.In this episode:* 2:08: Who is under more pressure in 2026: Lincoln Riley or Steve Sarkisian? Plus: Will Muschamp’s role at Texas and USC’s politics around Notre Dame* 13:46: Where G.J. Kinne could go next, and which coaches might make sense for future Texas G5 openings.* 19:51: Arkansas reinstates tennis, then the conversation turns to Hunter Yurachek and athletic department accountability.* 26:44: Would a 24-team Playoff make schools schedule better non-conference games, or just change the incentive to chase automatic bids?* 33:57: Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, and Eli Drinkwitz as case studies in how we talk about portal usage, title ceilings, and carousel smoke.* 44:52: Memorial Day light fare: Eastside LA food, message board culture, Tottenham and Valencia, cookout rules, beans, and all-time Spotify listening history. Producer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.Thank you to our partners* Shop at Homefield* Learn more about Nokian TyresSubscribe to our YouTube channels Yes, we now have two! * Original short docs and fun CFB explainer vids* Our new channel just for video episodes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Alex and Richard start with the surprise of UCLA becoming one of the offseason’s best recruiting stories, then Alex brings on Ira Gorawara fromThe Athletic for a campus-level look at Bob Chesney’s first few months in Westwood. This subscriber episode is about whether UCLA’s current burst of money, attention, and salesmanship is the first sign that a program long trapped between Los Angeles indifference and its own underinvestment might finally be changing its shape. In this episode:* 0:00: Richard and Alex set up UCLA’s recruiting surge, the money behind it, and why Los Angeles is a hard place to matter unless you are winning or selling.* 10:49: Ira Gorawara joins to explain why Bob Chesney’s arrival has given the program a different feel than it had under recent coaches* 17:02: Chesney’s contrast with Chip Kelly and DeShaun Foster* 22:45: Whether UCLA’s donor alignment and roster spending are real enough to change the program’s ceiling.* 29:17: How durable the Bruins’ recruiting bump might be, and what counts as success over the long term* 34:29: The Rose Bowl vs. SoFi StadiumProducer: Anthony VitoEveryone can hear a free preview of this episode. To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Alex and Richard use Richard’s trip to ACC meetings as a window into the big college sports fight of the hour: how many teams will be in the College Football Playoff going forward. Then they sort through the Big Ten/SEC split over 24 teams, Ole Miss’ strange week as a national punching bag in the middle of May, and Nebraska’s first run-in with the new NIL enforcement system, which might be less the end of creative player payments than the start of better paperwork.In this episode:* 3:22: What Richard learned at ACC meetings, including the coming ACC tiebreaker puzzle* 7:24: Why 16 vs. 24 teams is the next Playoff fight, and how conference title games, ESPN, and FOX fit into it* 17:47: Why the Big Ten and SEC are on opposite sides of the 24-team debate* 37:25: Ole Miss catches strays from Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian* 47:22: Nebraska’s rejected NIL deals, the College Sports Commission’s first big test, and the future of athletic department creativityProducer: Anthony VitoIf you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription at www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribeFor $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSubscriber episode: Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard to do a two-year checkup on Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. When Nick Saban retired in January 2024, Godfrey thought the Crimson Tide were due for a major reality check, while Alex thought one of Saban’s gifts to Bama was a durable and higher floor. Two seasons into the DeBoer era, Godfrey’s view looks like it’s carrying the day. But does Alabama see it that way, given a new contract extension for DeBoer? In this episode:0:00: Why Alex and Godfrey disagreed two years ago 5:14: What DeBoer’s extension says about Greg Byrne’s bet and Alabama’s appetite for patience after an uneven first two years.10:28: Alabama’s roster-building question: Is high school recruiting just going really well, or are they poor, or is it a bit of both? 20:38: Godfrey on the psychology of SEC donors spending money on football players, and why it’s better for Ole Miss than Alabama 52:23: The archival add-on: Alex’s special episode from 2021 on what “gameday home” condo purchases do to SEC towns Producer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comExtra Points publisher Matt Brown joins Alex and Richard for this subscriber edition of the Sports Business Hour, starting with the Big 12’s RedBird Capital deal and why a lot of schools that need money might still say no to expensive outside cash. From there, the group gets into what “revenue generation” can mean for a conference office, how Utah’s private-equity idea differs from a loan, why winning alone is a shaky athletic department business plan, and what Duke’s new Amazon arrangement does and does not reveal about the future of conference s media rights. The episode closes with Brendan Sorsby’s unsettled gambling case, where NCAA enforcement, Texas Tech, the NFL, and some (actually) serious lawyers could all wind up in the same big story.In this subscriber episode:* 0:16: RedBird, private capital, and why many Big 12 schools may pass on the league’s new borrowing option.* 5:00: Why the conference office, specifically, is taking the money* 15:02: The latest in “winning is not a business model,” with case studies from Indiana and South Carolina* 23:02: ACC meetings primer: Uneven schedules, tiebreakers, revenue-sharing stakes, and a looming (but still quiet) realignment problem* 30:35: Duke’s Amazon games, ESPN’s role, Big Ten objections, and why this is not a template for big football brands peeling off TV rights.* 49:36: New developments in the Brendan Sorsby caseThanks to Matt. Read and subscribe to Extra Points!Producer: Anthony Vito

ESPN’s Bill Connelly joins Alex and Richard to talk about his returning production rankings for the 2026 college football season. The power leagues are retaining more of last year’s snaps and yards, while the G6 is increasingly forced into annual rebuilds. Bill explains how the formula for returning talent has evolved, how the transfer portal has made it messy, and which 2026 teams look interesting based on who’s coming back. In this episode:* 0:55: Exactly how dire is the returning production picture in the Group of 6?* 4:10: How the returning-production formula has changed in the portal era, from FCS/FBS translation to incoming-transfer weight.* 12:58: Why the weights look the way they do, including offensive line snaps, pass catchers, quarterbacks, and defensive stickiness.* 15:02: What we can learn from last year’s big returning production flop, the No. 1-ranked (sort of) Clemson Tigers* 20:18: The new grind of roster evaluation, why G6 previews can become transfer lists, and 2026 FAU as a returning production test case.* 27:13: AI in roster work and recruiting operations, and why Bill still prefers doing his own spreadsheeting* 35:55: 2026 case studies near the top: Notre Dame, Maryland, South Carolina, and Texas.* 49:10: Rebuilds at Tulane, North Texas, and James Madison, a packed American race, and … a little curiosity at Ohio State?Producer: Anthony VitoThank you to our partners!* Shop at Homefield* Learn more about Nokian Tyres This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Want a video version of this episode? Find it on YouTube right here. Subscribe to our new @collegefootballpodcast channel to get video versions of all our free episodes, and subscribe to our main channel for our occasional history short docs and other fun YouTube exclusives. Richard and Alex go deep on this week’s biggest story: Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby is under investigation for sports betting, including wagers reportedly placed on his own team while he was at Indiana. Inside: * 2:05: The Sorsby betting story and why it’s such an uphill fight for him to ever play college football again* 25:37: What this makes us think about the state of sports gambling in the United States and our own sports media history with it * 38:08: Thanks to our great sponsors, Homefield and Nokian Tyres* 40:05: NFL Draft postmortem: Diego Pavia, Cade Klubnik, UNC and Colorado coming up empty, and interesting late-round CFB finds * 52:42: The NCAA’s potential move to a “five in five” eligibility standard Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Richard, Alex, and host emeritus Steven Godfrey bounce around to a handful of college football news stories that demand more discussion: * 1:46: Kentucky’s attempt to set up a sketchy $1 million job for outgoing athletic director Mitch Barnhart, which came apart under political pressure* 12:02: Virginia Tech’s disempowered AD finally stepping away * 19:18: The unusual amount of post-job change animosity flowing toward Auburn coach Alex Golesh from USF * 30:40: Jeremy Pruitt’s tangled mess of an attempt to get out of his NCAA show cause, and what it tells us about the current state of enforcement * 38:42: The NCAA seems poised to move up Week 1 to the current Week 0 slot in late August. Why is this happening? Well, the NFL. Does college football have any chance of hanging on to a prime calendar spot? And what other sacred spots on the schedule might be under attack? Producer: Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.

NFL teams have more data and scouting resources than ever. Yet they haven’t gotten better at picking the best college football players. Why not? ESPN senior writer Bill Barnwell joins Richard and Alex to dive into a complicated topic:* 0:20: Welcoming our guest, Bill Barnwell* 9:24: The NFL Draft is the biggest deal in the city of Pittsburgh* 16:31: Why NFL teams haven’t gotten better at drafting over the decadesDuring this episode, Alex mentions a few statistical studies that researchers have done on pro sports teams’ draft performance over time. You can find those here and here. Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Longtime pals Ben Solak of ESPN and Derrik Klassen of The Athletic join Richard for this year’s discussion of the college football QBs who will soon become NFL QBs. From Joe Fagnano and Diego Pavia (a statue player in CFB, but probably not one in the NFL) to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, here’s how the crew sees this year’s QBs stacking up. Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Richard and Alex take subscriber questions! As the college football offseason hits more or less its halfway point, it’s mailbag time. Among the many questions we answer in this episode, you will find * 0:55: Utah did not envision that Kyle Whittingham’s departure would go down like that. Was the Utes’ fate foretold by what happened at … Maryland? All the way back in 2010?* 22:03: Who could be the next Texas Tech?* 50:15: Does basketball really have more portal activity than football, or does it seem that way because of small roster sizes? (Yes.)* 52:34: Why doesn’t Richard believe in the sanctity of the one true portal window?* 54:00: How big is the talent gap between a G6 and P4 position coach?* 58:43: Was Greg Sankey born on third base? Plus a longer chat about the way college sports media talk about conference commissioners.* 1:04:13: Why do we express skepticism about USF’s finances?* 1:11:23: If we could cover any sport other than CFB for a living, what would it be?Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.

In this latest SZD/Extra Points Sports Business Hour with guest Matt Brown, Alex and Richard talk about several things you’ve seen in the news. Find Matt at Extra Points, and listen to our conversation here: * 0:45: Learfield, the college sports multimedia rights company, sold to a (new) private equity owner in a $2 billion deal. This is one of the largest deals in college sports history, but for what? Matt helps us understand the importance of companies like Learfield and its rival Playfly, and how they affect both our favorite teams and their financial statements. Will this deal change much about the college sports landscape, though? It doesn’t seem like a slam dunk. * 19:45: The Trump administration’s college sports executive order is fake and made up, but somehow, that’s not the same thing as “meaningless.” It also might destroy any potential for a serious legislative solution to college sports’ problems. Matt tells us what he’s learned from Capitol Hill sources. * 32:37: Did the Big Ten office do a make-work for Wisconsin’s AD so that the Badgers could get someone better in that job? The answer isn’t “definitely not.” * 42:34: The NCAA makes an example of … Iowa. * 47:35: Audience question 1: What would be the pros and cons of media rights consolidation?* 52:04: Audience question 2: Which schools are doing fun and different things with their House settlement allocations? Thanks to Matt! Read him all the time at www.extrapointsmb.com Producer: Anthony VitoThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and wellThanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres Do you think your area has the worst roads in North America? Tell Nokian Tyres.Find the Jackie Robinson collection and much more at Homefield. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Richard and Alex discuss how the offseason is going across the Group of 6 college football conferences. In this episode: * 1:52: A fresh way to talk about the G6 offseason * 3:55: Our tour through new head coaching hires, starting with Charles Huff at Memphis and Brian Hartline at USF, then moving all around the country* 1:10:49: Recruiting talk. Who has money? Miami University, apparently* 1:24:35: Fine, we’ll talk about the Masters, and Alex will make peace with Auburn fans Read the 2026 returning production rankings Producer: Anthony VitoThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and wellThanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres Do you think your area has the worst roads in North America? Tell Nokian about it, and get entered in a drawing for a set of tires.Shop Michigan and UCLA national title gear at Homefield. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey joins Richard and Alex for a discussion about college football history. For understandable reasons, people all cautious about calling for teams to make coaching changes when the incumbent is a legend in the job. How careful should we be, though? In this episode, we go through the past 40-ish years of coaching transitions from living legend to … someone else. How do schools do when they either fire an all-timer or need to replace him in retirement? The answer isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as you might think. * 2:04: Why Dabo Swinney got us thinking about this subject * 16:20: The rare cases of the “guy after the guy” arguably doing a better job than the coach he replaced, or at least winning more games for a while* 21:15: The maintainers who kept the train on the tracks, like Ryan Day* 39:13: The long, slow declines, like Virginia Tech post-Frank Beamer* 59:52: The tank jobs, like Ron Zook or Ron Prince * 1:24:16: The cases where the jury is still out, like Kalen DeBoer. (Is that jury still out? We have a mini-debate.) * 1:31:15: Lessons for Clemson heading into another fraught season This is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.Producer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comVirginia Tech has had a rough decade. Has the cavalry finally arrived to save the program from irrelevance? Tech hired James Franklin and appears to appears to be throwing huge sums of cash at his program in the hopes of stopping a backslide that started late in Frank Beamer’s career and then spun out of control under Justin F…

How are things going for all 16 teams in the SEC? Let’s discuss which way the arrow is pointing. Alex and Richard head to the Southeast on this latest Offseason Vibe Check, a chance to talk about actual football teams during the long, cold offseason. In this episode, the crew covers … * 1:25: Texas’s offensive line problem and whether a nice finish to the regular season and a bowl win can be a springboard * 5:16: Ole Miss’s Pete Golding era and the window that’s still open* 9:41: LSU’s Lane Kiffin honeymoon period * 13:45: Texas A&M’s opportunity depending on Marcel Reed’s growth * 16:57: Arkansas’s Tyson money, Ryan Silverfield’s rough PR start, and a transfer class that makes you raise your eyebrows* 22:18: Mississippi State’s reunion with an old friend * 26:15: Vanderbilt’s post-Diego Pavia reset with five-star Jared Curtis* 28:05: Alabama’s Ryan Williams retention and a quiet case for quarterback development. But what else is there? * 33:29: Auburn’s clear and immediate upgrade at quarterback * 36:26: Oklahoma’s OL portal haul * 39:47: Florida’s Georgia Tech offensive import and Buster Faulkner’s fresh start* 41:09: Kentucky’s CEO-style setup under Will Stein * 44:14: Missouri’s dip down the prep recruiting rankings and whether Eli Drinkwitz can reverse that trend * 48:49: Georgia’s spurning of the portal world * 52:12: Tennessee’s latest blue-chip QB moment * 58:27: South Carolina’s crossroads under Shane BeamerThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex talks with the wise baseball scribe (and USC football fan) Joe Sheehan of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter about how our sport is currently on a trajectory that looks awfully familiar to another sport’s recent arc. College football is grappling with a long list of the same problems and proposals that have been bouncing around Major League Baseball for decades: Should the sport consolidate its media rights in the name of “competitive balance”? Can we even agree on what that term means and on how balanced the game is right now? How wide is too wide a gap between the richest teams and the poorest? To what extent should players be tied to their teams so that fans have a reason to build a connection with them? And what could college football’s leaders learn from the good and bad decisions baseball’s bosses have made over the past 50 years? What about from the rules of baseball that didn’t even come out of any one decision, but by accident? This episode covers all of that. Happy Opening Day, by the way. Alex here with the strongest possible recommendation to check out and subscribe to Joe’s newsletter here. For me, Joe is a formative writer whose years of emails have shaped the way I think about one of my favorite sports. I appreciate him coming on SZD to indulge this theory of mine. Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or getting a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

The ACC Offseason Vibe Check is here. Alex and Richard check in with all 17 ACC football schools and throw in Notre Dame as well. In this episode …* 1:31: Miami made a big playoff run and then simply reloaded * 4:14: Duke won football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball conference titles in the same year, and yet still has bad vibes because of some devastating portal losses * 7:47: Georgia Tech’s fourth defensive coordinator under Brent Key, the Buster Faulkner exodus to Florida, and whether Alberto Mendoza can be the next Haynes King* 10:16: SMU’s offensive coordinator change leaves Kevin Jennings is looking around the empty house wondering who’s going to help him* 13:29: Stanford brings on Tavita Pritchard as Andrew Luck’s handpicked guy, and Yale transfer Nico Brown is the portal add to watch* 17:01: Virginia might really be building something now? * 19:25: Cal has a legitimately improved talent picture under Tosh Lupoi * 22:56: NC State went 8-5, but doesn’t feel like an 8-5 program * 24:45: Louisville is setting itself up for another preseason hype cycle * 28:17: Wake Forest had a great first year under Jake Dickert and may find itself strained to keep the momentum going * 29:09: Boston College’s year-two flameout to 2-10 under Bill O’Brien leaves questions about what happens now * 32:54: Syracuse continues to cook in recruiting, but will need a QB * 34:32: North Carolina looks better, at least on the field* 36:52: Clemson may – may! – be getting close to the end * 41:52: Pitt kept its QB and OC, but the money situation is a big problem * 45:40: Notre Dame brings back most of the band and takes a shot at an Ohio State wide receiver * 51:30: Florida State’s early-season schedule could end the Mike Norvell era by mid-October* 58:41: Virginia Tech is the most fascinating team in the sport to Alex, but we’ll mainly talk about the Hokies on a larger show next week This episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comLucy Rohden has spent the past few college football seasons visiting dozens of stadiums for some of the biggest games of the year. What has she learned about the sport through these travels? She joins Richard to talk about her-long road trip through the sport. In this episode: * 1:34: What constitutes a college town, plus the critical nature of a college town being easily walkable (sorry, South Bend and College Station) * 6:58: Lucy’s proprietary system for ranking 50 college towns * 8:27: The gameday environments she’s found overrated and underrated, and which places are too quiet because of either stadium design or the people who pack into the building * 12:22: The 50/50 proposition of getting a good meal on a game weekend in a college town, and how Auburn’s restaurant seen is like New York’s * 13:58: Lucy’s most overrated stadium in the sport * 18:43: The very different ways the Big Ten and SEC situate their most famous stadiums as compared to the rest of campus. Plus, the majesty of a nice Friday afternoon walk around a campus you’re visiting for a game* 20:16: Hater’s guide to College Station plus the gentrification of a lot of these towns. (See some of our old work on this topic here.) * 25:02: The majesty of the trees in Gainesville, Florida * 34:32: The contradiction of perhaps the greatest game environment in the sport, LSU, not even really being in a college town You can find Lucy all over the internet. Her YouTube channel is here. We appreciate her stopping by and sharing some of her lessons from the road!Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

Our offseason wellness check on all 16 teams in the Big 12. Richard and Alex discuss a league with a few teams trending upward and a lot more teams just trying to figure things out. Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Alex and Richard go through the one-of-a-kind football life lived by Lou Holtz, who died on March 4 at age 89. In this episode, we discuss: * 1:46: Holtz’s Saban-like upbringing and why Notre Dame was the apple of his eye from an early age * 4:14: William & Mary, Holtz’s first head coaching stop * 7:25: NC State, where he was an all-timer * 11:13: The Jets, a one-year misadventure* 17:15: Arkansas, where Holtz was “the guy after the guy” and managed to stick the landing after replacing Frank Broyles … for a while * 24:41: Minnesota, where Holtz’s eye was elsewhere* 28:15: Notre Dame, a school that already had a unique football tradition but that Holtz took to another level on the field and mythologically * 37:25: South Carolina, a strong closing act * 39:16: Where Holtz’s resume is truly exceptional * 42:58: Holtz as an NCAA perp, TV commentator, irascible storyteller, and guy who made Ryan Day really, really angry * 48:49: Holtz’s endorsement of Jesse Helms, and a discussion of the cognitive dissonance that he deployed throughout his career Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comQuick note! This is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo. You can subscribe here. Subscribers, be on the lookout on Sunday night or early Monday for the links to enter our annual bracket competition, with SZD sponsor prizes for the winners. It’ll be fun! OK, here’s this hoops-centric episode. College basketball has many of the same challenges as football, and some that are even tougher. Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a state of the union on CBB and a compare-contrast of how the dynamics we’ve observed in football are showing up in hoops. In this episode, you’ll find: * 7:46: The story of Miami (Ohio), a mid-major basketball team whose undefeated regular season has resulted in an awfully CFB-like discourse about whether they should miss the NCAA tournament * 17:08: The widening gap between the high-major conferences and everyone else, quantified in real time by Rodger * 27:33: Why continuity problems appear to be worse in CBB * 41:32: Is that thing actually happening where the House settlement results in basketball-only schools having an advantage? * 45:06: We probably shouldn’t actually worry that much about a small number of recent pros returning to the college game * 1:00:27: Rodger prepares us for March Madness Produced by Anthony Vito. This is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or getting a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

Offseason vibe checks return for 2026, starting with the Big Ten. This is our way of checking in on how the offseason is going for every team in the league. Richard and Alex go through the 18-team B1G in the following order: * 3:22: Indiana* 9:08: Iowa* 12:08: Oregon* 16:36: Rutgers* 17:39: Illinois* 20:24: Penn State* 25:59: Michigan State* 30:15: Michigan* 34:38: Purdue* 36:01: UCLA* 38:23: Nebraska* 42:10: Wisconsin* 47:44: Maryland* 52:19: USC* 55:38: Minnesota* 57:18: Washington* 1:00:24: Northwestern* 1:08:52: Ohio StateThis episode is free, but you can get a lot more of them by becoming a paid subscriberFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well Producer: Anthony VitoLearn about the Nokian Tyres Hakkapeliitta 01.Shop at Homefield. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comHost emeritus Steven Godfrey is back to join Richard for a whip-around of the most interesting coordinator moves (and non-moves) from the 2026 coaching carousel. There’s a lot to cover here, including but not limited to:* 1:04: Miami’s key retentions* 3:13: Palace intrigue at Auburn* 4:45: Clemson pushes the Chad Morris button* 8:50: Texas says hi again to Will Muschamp* 11:31: Kansas does the same with Andy Kotelnicki* 12:45: Tennessee’s possibly great but definitely kind of awkward Jim Knowles hire, after he flopped at Penn State* 16:45: Chip Kelly’s post-Eagles career remains bizarre* 19:49: Bobby Petrino and Bill Belichick* 23:05: Ole Miss’ new world* 27:48: Gary Patterson and USC* 29:02: Deion’s shrinking runway in Boulder* 30:22: TCU’s identity shift* 31:22: Mike Norvell, play-caller* 31:45: Michigan’s Utah era* 32:31: Ohio State’s NFL OC hire* 33:00: Oregon replacing not one but two coordinators* 34:50: Buster Faulkner (with the GT offense?) heads to GainesvilleProducer: Anthony Vito

Matt Brown joins Richard and Alex for the latest SZD/Extra Points Sports Business Hour. In this episode, the group talks about how the job of an athletic director has changed in the past handful of years: * The worst athletic director Matt has ever seen * What used to be the key markers of a good AD? * How have those traits changed in the 2020s? * News story reactions: Oliver Luck gets yet another college sports job, and Mississippi is poised to give tax breaks to athletes on NIL dealsThanks to Matt! You can read him all the time at Extra Points. Get more SZD by becoming a paid subscriberWe don’t stop in the offseason! Subscribers get bonus shows roughly each week (sometimes more frequently) on college football history, the coaching carousel, or any other topic or news story that we think you’ll be interested in hearing about. Thanks to the 4,000 of you who make this show possible! Thanks to our sponsorsnokiantyres.com/hockeyhomefieldapparel.comProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIn this subscriber episode, Godfrey, Richard, and Alex revisit 28 head coach transitions before the 2012 college football season. This was one of the most consequential coach carousels of the 21st century, with lots of very good, lots of very bad, plenty in the middle, and also the John L. Smith situation:THE GOOD* 9:29: Urban Meyer to Ohio State* 16:05: Mike Leach to Washington State* 22:39: Bill O’Brien to Penn State* 31:34: Justin Fuente to Memphis* 34:28: Matt Campbell to Toledo* 35:31: Jim McElwain to Colorado State* 36:55: Gus Malzahn to Arkansas State* 39:28: Terry Bowden to AkronTHE WHATEVER* 41:36: Jim Mora Jr. to UCLA* 46:54: Todd Graham to Arizona State* 50:28: Paul Chryst to Pitt* 51:10: Larry Fedora to North Carolina* 53:42: Kyle Flood to Rutgers* 55:45: Bob Davie to New Mexico* 56:46: Tim DeRuyter to Fresno StateTHE UGLY* 58:05: Tim Beckman to Illinois* 59:00: Tony Levine to Houston* 1:00:59: Curtis Johnson to Tulane* 1:01:59: Norm Chow to Hawaii* 1:05:54: Charley Molnar to UMass* 1:06:21: Garrick McGee to UAB* 1:13:08: Carl Pelini to FAU* 1:17:05: Ellis Johnson to Southern Miss* 1:19:25: Charlie Weis to Kansas* 1:28:00: John L. Smith to ArkansasTHE DEBATABLE* 1:20:48: Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M* 1:21:36: Hugh Freeze to Ole Miss* 1:25:02: Rich Rodriguez to ArizonaProduced by Anthony Vito.Paid subscribers can here this episode and also our other “Anatomy of a Coaching Carousel” shows: * 2001* 2010Everyone else can hear free previews of these episodes. Thanks so much to our paid subscribers for making this show possible.

Your mission is simple, should you choose to accept it: By awarding or subtracting 24 points from a handful of old college football games, how much can you alter about the entire trajectory of the sport? Richard and Alex see how much damage they can do with three possessions’ worth of points: * 0:23: RIP to college football’s Wes Rucker, Joey Knight, and Rondale Moore* 3:37: Richard’s additional reporting on Sacramento State’s MAC move and the ridiculous math used to justify it * 13:22: The Split Zone Duo Hockey Hour responds to the Olympics * 19:46: News of the week: Joey Aguilar loses his eligibility case, and Jeff Monken suggests moving Army-Navy to Thanksgiving weekend * 24:32: Reshaping college football history with 24 pointsGet more SZD by becoming a paid subscriberThe offseason is a busy time at SZD, where we focus a lot on creative projects and CFB history while also keeping tabs on the news of the moment. Many of our favorite episodes go out in these months for subscribers — including the next one on Friday, featuring host emeritus Steven Godfrey. Thanks to our sponsorsnokiantyres.com/hockeyhomefieldapparel.comProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThis is a subscriber episode of Split Zone Duo, but everyone can listen to a free preview. Become a subscriber today by clicking on this link. In the second leg of our big offseason-opening mailbag, Richard and Alex take a big list of subscriber questions. (But first, yet another MAC head coach leaves his job and restarts the coach carousel in the process.) Among the questions answered in this episode: 7:54: Which new Sun Belt head coach is the best bet to succeed this year?* 11:05: How excited should we be about Buster Faulkner as Florida’s new offensive coordinator?* 16:41: Who’s having the hardest time coping with Curt Cignetti’s success at Indiana? (Alex says it’s Purdue fans; Richard disagrees.) * 21:50: How durable is the House settlement-generated age of parity? * 23:17: What will it take for college football players to finally be declared university employees?* 28:17: Will college football adopt transfer fees like European soccer?* 30:09: Are schools stuck in mutually assured destruction when it comes to recruiting rule enforcement?* 32:04: What happened with the major running back transfers that fizzled out this year?* 33:14: Can mid-tier power conference programs like Pitt still have breakthrough seasons in this era?* 36:05: Why can’t Nebraska take the next step in NIL and rev share spending?* 39:08: How can resource-deprived programs like West Virginia compete at the highest level right now?* 43:22: Will the single transfer portal window eventually move from winter to post-spring ball?* 46:50: Will more five-star recruits pick smaller schools over Blue Bloods, and are we entering the era of the strategic redshirt?* 50:31: Does the expanded playoff put even more emphasis on having veteran starters on your roster?* 52:15: Is the Pac-12 media deal ever actually going to happen, and what’s going on with the Mountain West lawsuit?* 53:19: Does the new Pac-12 have the horses to keep up with the American, and will the playoff committee treat it as a premier G6 league?* 54:00: Can the Pac-12 and Mountain West coexist, or is one conference going to have to absorb the other?* 59:19: What happens to conference championships if they get rid of conference championship games?* 1:04:07: Is the Big Ten pushing for a 24-team playoff because Fox wants to renegotiate media rights?* 1:07:57: Would you rather have the Lou Groza Award winner or the Ray Guy Award winner on your team?* 1:09:11: What will it take for spring football to succeed, and do people even want it?Then, in the FUN ROUND: * 1:10:46: Why are the swear words bleeped in the SZD podcast intro?* 1:12:24: Who’s been the main character of SZD throughout its existence?* 1:14:15: For Richard: What’s more likely, Dabo embracing the transfer portal or Spurs winning the Champions League?* 1:15:51: Alex, have you ever done a trail run, and do you have any advice for someone training for a trail half and a 50K?* 1:17:45: Alex, what’s on your race calendar these days? \Produced by Anthony Vito.

Richard and Alex talk about a handful of college football news stories, headlined by Sacramento State’s geographically and financially absurd move to the MAC:* 5:24: Sacramento State to the MAC and our many, many questions* 31:55: The inaugural Split Zone Duo Olympic Hockey Hour* 34:12: Eligibility lawsuits and who’s still a college athlete (Trinidad Chambliss, Joey Aguilar, and Charles Bediako)* 48:52: The Pac-12’s flex scheduling idea* 51:38: The merciful end of the Michigan sign-stealing saga (it was still going!)* 52:33: YouTube TV’s coming sports-only package* 57:55: RIP Robert Duvall, Clemson Tigers fanThis episode is free for all. Get more shows by becoming a subscriber today at www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribeBy no means do we stop talking about college football in the offseason. We take the opportunity to get creative and bring subscribers all sorts of deep dives on CFB history, the coaching carousel, Xs and Os, and plenty more. Help us make the show and get lots more of it by becoming a paid subscriber.Thanks to our sponsorsnokiantyres.com/hockeyhomefieldapparel.comProducer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSubscriber episode: Richard and Alex answer questions from our subscribers as college football gets into the meet of its offseason. We got a lot of very good questions, so we are breaking this mailbag into two separate recordings and will answer more of your questions next week. In this episode: * 0:15: Important news: Richard…