THE HERD – HOUR 3 – Can the Knicks Repeat? | Luka Leads Lakers Without LeBron

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0:25 I can like players, but don't think they perfectly complement Wemby. I like Stephon Castle, but you can leave him open. He's a physical presence. He is a slasher. I do think sometimes they don't. He kind of needs a setup guy, and I don't think the setup guys are always great for him, although they're great players. With that, she was at the Sixers-Knicks game yesterday, which I was really impressed by. Philly, it's one game I know. Rachel Nichols, Fox Sports, NBA, among other things she does for us. So first of all, let's just start with the environment. It was a very expensive ticket. I saw who was sitting in the first row.

1:01 There was a lot of lettuce there.

1:02 Roger Goodell in the first row. They even brought in the commish from.

1:04 The other league.

1:06 What was your take on just sort of let's just start– I mean, you get– You get the Knicks, you get LeBron. Was it one of the bigger regular season games you've ever been to?

1:15 Yeah, I've been to a bunch of openers and this felt huge. And look, I lived in New York for 20 years. You could feel it palpably in the building, all that energy. Remember, the Knicks didn't win on their home court. So this was really the chance for the fans to celebrate them. One little detail from that ring ceremony that was interesting, though, it's usually Adam Silver handing out the rings.

1:35 Adam Silver and James Dolan.

1:37 It's a frosty relationship, let's say, and it has been that way for a long time. So instead, they had Walt Frazier hand out the rings, which I thought was actually a nice touch. And it just really felt like a hometown ceremony for a very big city.

1:51 It was very Nixie, and it was like a celebration of Nix fanhood.

1:54 Yeah. Your interpretation, I see LeBron plays a little center in the second quarter. You know, I've said this before, his moldability is, His ability to, I called him, he's like a consensus politician. What do you need? Let's bring it together. What did you make of LeBron's performance?

2:09 I thought he was excellent.

2:11 I really did. I know he only had 14 points, but that's not what he is there for. It is being as versatile as you said. And it's interesting about the Sixers. We all talked all summer about like, oh, there's only one ball. All these guys' usage rates, there's only one ball. What I thought while I was sitting in the building last night is there's only one ball, but there's many hands. And that is really an advantage for the Sixers team. Joel Embiid looked good going up and down the floor last night, but he didn't have the best game. He made some questionable decisions at the end of the game.

2:36 And it didn't matter.

2:38 Because Tyrese Maxey was exceptional because LeBron James was doing everything to sort of back everyone up. I was talking to Vijay Edgecombe after the game, and he was still pretty wide-eyed about playing with LeBron. And he said, it's amazing. He's like, he just, you know, he tells you not only a step ahead what the other team is going to do, but two steps ahead. And we've heard that from teammates of LeBron, his whole career, but having a new group of people experience that. And then Jalen Brown, man, he, he really played within himself. Great point of attack defense.

3:06 You know, they had a.

3:07 Great buzzer beater at the end of the third quarter.

3:08 I just, I was very optimistic seeing this team and Colin, I've been saying, I think they will have ups and downs this season as they.

3:15 Figure it out.

3:16 But if they can get to the playoffs healthy, I think they are absolutely a contender to win the title.

3:21 Um, listen, it's, um, I mean, Jalen Brunson didn't have a great shooting night. And a lot of times I always think I think the definition of success changes once you win a title. To me, if I ran the Knicks, I don't want Brunson playing 82. I don't want him to lead the NBA in usage rate. I just want our guys ready to go in the playoffs. So I don't look at this and think, oh, it's a step back.

3:46 My take is, no, everything's changed now. You've got the title. You're minted men. What was your kind of opinion of the performance by the Knicks?

3:55 Yeah, I think you nailed it.

3:56 And we have to remember that last season, they weren't a dominant team during the regular season.

4:01 They had a lot of ups and downs.

4:02 There were some tabloid headlines in New York City about how what a disaster this team was. And then they caught fire in the playoffs. And again, even then, they weren't a dominant team. We've seen some teams that just run you over in the NBA. This was a team that thrived on chemistry, on skill, on health, frankly, when a lot of other teams weren't healthy, and on the iron will of Jalen Brunson.

4:23 And that is all going to be a little bit of a work in.

4:25 Progress again this season. They've got two open contracts in the five starters. Cat, as you saw, got into early foul trouble again last night. That was a problem up and down all during the regular season last year. And Jalen, it's been a long summer. It's been a long year, right? I mean, they played nine months and then he had a lot to do this offseason. And you can see he got tired at the end. I mean, I still think he's the most clutch player in the NBA. But when they really needed him to hit that three that could have really turned the game in the last minute, he fell short.

4:52 And that's exhaustion. You can that's when a guy feels fall short. That's being tired.

4:56 So, you know, it's interesting. with the Spurs. Their guards are not great catch-and-shoot guys. Dylan Harper is still a baby. I mean, he's still a kid. He's growing. But by and large, they're very, very young. I don't think offensively they are a perfect fit. I feel like because he's not a play initiator and does rely on people to set him up a little bit, a lot of the time, not all the time, that Wemby needs teammates that really work for him. He's not LeBron. He's not going to take the ball. He can drive. He can shoot. He's the quarterback or SGA or Brunson. It's not what Wemby is.

5:33 He's not even Jokic, who could be more a play initiator. I look at San Antonio, and I'm like, I don't question their talent. I don't know if the offense fits. Is there anybody around the league ever talk about that?

5:45 Yeah, I think it's a little hard to tell in this game against this team. You know what this game reminded me of back in 2003, we all remember game six of the finals. It's the Spurs versus the heat and Ray, Ray Allen, Ray Lewis, Ray Allen hits that amazing shot at the end of game six with the tape behind them and half the Miami fans leaving. And that just devastated the Spurs franchise. Greg Popovich said later that summer, he said, I think about game six every day.

6:10 You know who has been thinking about Victor Wabanyama every day for the last three months? The Oklahoma City Thunder. And you could see it last night. They swarmed him the way they defended him. They spent three months watching every single move he has ever made in his basketball life and figuring out how to.

6:27 Defend against him. And now it's Wemby's move. It's Miss Johnson's move.

6:30 It's the Spurs move to figure out how those pieces you talk about can actually sort of form around him to combat where the Thunder did to him last night. And they're going to have to figure that out through the course of this season. The other thing about Wemby, big men don't typically aren't the ones who finish games.

6:46 He doesn't have that finishing move. We talked about it during the finals last year and he hasn't developed it. And we'll just have to see whether, as you said, one of his teammates can kind of figure out a way to ignite him in those final minutes or whether he's going to figure out something. that is going to be able to get him get to the basket when he really needs to when that defense is swarming around him.

7:06 I'm thrilled to get to watch it. He's such a fascinating player.

7:09 And this just feels like a huge chest mass between these two teams.

7:13 Yeah, he also is somebody that's willing to emote. He'll tell you when he's struggling. He's like, yeah, I'm thinking too much. A lot of players, they don't want to do that. There's a body armor with a lot of people. He doesn't have any of that. He's very European. This is where I'm thinking right now, and I'm going to let you hear all of it.

7:28 I love it. We want that accessibility from our stars.

7:32 So I look at the Lakers tonight. I still question. I think they'll be better protecting the rim with Walker Kessler. What I mean, you're you're around the team, you know, I mean, I think 14th best odds to win the title. You know, say what you want about LeBron. He was the one healthy guy last year. He was crazy, but he was. What is real? What is we're fine. It's moving in the right direction. What should I look for this year that are positive signs?

8:01 Well, I think this team is going to have a phenomenal regular season. Luka is clearly on a mission. I don't even think it's a mission to prove himself without LeBron. It's just a mission to prove himself and lead this team. He had a huge say in the roster. I think they are going to be huge, offensively talented. I think Kessler is going to fit in really well there. We've already seen that. I think it's the playoffs where they're going to have issues defensively. And we have to watch for during this regular season. Can they figure out either by adding another guy before the trade deadline or figuring out a different way to play that they are not as vulnerable? I mean, Austin Reeves and Luka create vulnerability

8:36 and they haven't really solved that yet. They're thin behind Walker Kessler. What if he goes down? They don't have anyone on that back line to protect the rim. So right now, JJ in the preseason has been doing a lot of like, all-out pressing and trapping and a defense that relies on energy. And that's great, but you can't play that way all through 82 plus three months of the playoffs.

8:55 I don't know.

8:56 It's still my concern with them, but I think Luka is set up to have an MVP season. I think they are set up to have a regular season that's going to break offensive numbers, and I'm excited to see it start tonight.

9:06 I'm in Chicago, so I got Norman Powell now. I got Caleb Wilson. We're all very excited. Miami lost Norman Powell. That's the new NBA. They've got Giannis. They got Bam. Give me your thoughts on Miami. I feel like they're a guard short. I feel like their front court will be amazing. I love their coach. They'll bully some teams physically.

9:28 There'll be a tremendous rim-protecting team. Again, what's realistic for Miami going forward?

9:35 I'm excited about this.

9:36 I think the energy Giannis brings, he looks phenomenal. And I think that health system at the Heat, I lived in Miami for a while. I watched up close the way they keep their players healthy. I think that that will definitely help Giannis throughout this season. Do I think they're title contenders now? I don't, but that's because they just got him, right?

9:53 They just got him.

9:54 And we saw that with even LeBron in LA or with some of these other big acquisitions.

9:58 You need to then develop the team around him.

10:01 So I think they will be better this regular season than they were in previous times. I think Eric Spolstra will figure out how to maximize the fact that they have less shooting around those two big guys. However, I'd like to see this team develop even further through the next offseason before I judge whether Giannis is a good fit here. Because You can't do everything at once in today's NBA. The CBA is too restrictive.

10:21 Yeah.

10:22 All right, Rachel Nichols, good for her 76ers Knicks. You get the good opening assignments. That's a biggie. Great seeing you as always. Thanks. Yeah, I thought it was a really, really good opening night. And there was, I mean, the Celtics game, Tatum struggled. That had a storyline. Wemby struggled. OKC, that had a big storyline. I walked in this morning.

10:44 I'm like, we can do three straight NBA stories to lead it. LeBron debut. It was a very, there's a lot of opening nights where I'm like, I don't talk a lot of NBA in October, but I thought like last night, it was like, that was a really, really strong storyline opening night.

11:00 Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app. Fox Sports Radio is taking over YouTube. And you can be a part of it. Just go to YouTube and search Fox Sports Radio. Hit that subscribe button. And smash that notification bell. And catch all the videos from your favorite shows. Two pros and a cup of jump.

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11:36 Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon, and comment away. You ever get like these things sent to your email, these political asks and people, they're asking you for money and, oh, can you please give? It's so annoying. I just taunt them. I'm like, ooh, maybe tell me more. I'm considering it. Send more emails. It's really obnoxious. Do they understand that?

12:00 Like one email, I'll consider it and I'll get back to you. You can't send me 13 a day. Otherwise, I'm just going to start manipulating you. Political people. And I'm not telling you what side. It's just, it's annoying. Right before the midterms.

12:14 Ugh.

12:15 Emails. Ugh. Awful. J-Mac with the news.

12:25 Always fun to get breaking news in the middle of a show. The Giants just announced they will start J.J. McCarthy on Sunday in Houston against the Texans. McCarthy coming off that 243-yard fourth quarter. Yes, you heard that right. He came in in a blowout down 34-10, threw for 243 yards, nearly pulled off the tie game there. They were on the doorstep. before failing on fourth down. He's going to start in Houston. This line is ballooning. This went out first pick of the week for me.

12:56 I wrote it up. I mean, this is now, you see, nine and a half. Offshore, it's above 10.

13:02 Nobody believes in the Giants. I know they were your team of destiny with Harbaugh. I know Jackson Dart went down.

13:08 Well, I've seen enough Jameis Winston. My take is, let's see if the kid can play. I mean, I will argue all day. I think if Skadaboo plays, they have nice weapons. neighbors a really nice weapon the offensive lines above average scataboo can play um i i think the giants offensive pieces are fine too much is made of that and if mccarthy can play here's your moment show us.

13:29 Okay so uh harbaugh is trying to be tough guy in the locker room remember he benched scataboo so he's like hey el nage harris come on down no had like two yards rushing and they cut him And they're like, oh, that didn't quite work out. I'm just telling you, man, there's some stuff coming. It hasn't come out yet about the Giants. Something's going on in that locker room, Cullen.

13:49 I don't know how Harbaugh is going to work with these guys. We shall see. I've got to ask you, who's winning the NFC East?

13:57 Who is coming out of this division?

13:59 Well, these are, first of all, Washington is a late game mess.

14:04 Terry McLaurin out for the season. Their best weapon.

14:07 It's the worst. Worst coached, worst division in football, and it's not even close. I mean, we have, here's your coaches, Nick Ceriani, Brian Schottenheimer, Dan Quinn, John Harbaugh's good. Go to one division that's got Clint Kubiak, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh. Like, it's not even in this sport. It's a bad division, and it should be a marquee division because it's well-capitalized, wealthy teams, big game day revenue. Again, if Jackson Dart was healthy, the Giants would run away with this division, run away with it, win 12 games.

14:43 I didn't hear an actual pick there, Mr.

14:44 Kellert.

14:46 Somebody has to win the division by default. Seven wins could do it.

14:50 I would say Dallas now. I mean, honestly, there's nothing right now. I would say I would just give it to Dak. and their star receivers and a good old line to just kind of score their way to some wins. Patton can help the defense a little.

15:06 I wanted to make a case for Washington, but this McLaurin injury, look at their wide receivers.

15:11 Trelon Burks is their new one.

15:13 It's brutal.

15:14 They have nobody.

15:15 And this is a real indictment of Washington. Jaden Daniels is on his rookie deal. They should have an awesome team.

15:21 Look at the Texans.

15:22 They go out and get Marvin Harrison because their quarterback's on his rookie deal.

15:26 Let's go.

15:26 And I don't know what Washington is doing. So, yeah, I'm with you. I mean, I feel like Schottenheimer could get fired by one of the.

15:33 Great one of the great things about the NFL. Houston is two and four. And I think both of us feel right now they could go in an eight game winning streak. In college football, for all the naysayers of the playoffs, you can go 0-2 in a 24-team playoff, and you win your next nine in their overranked teams.

15:52 You can make the playoff. I mean, literally, 0-1 in college football used to be a death sentence. Like, good luck. Good luck being in the Final Four. If you lost a game in November, it's over. Late October could be over. What's great about the NFL is the Texans are two and four, and I literally watched them beat Jacksonville, and I was like, the way C.J. Stroud's playing, I'm like, if they won nine straight, would not be surprised at all if the Texans got in the heater.

16:18 Yeah, this is, not to nerd out here, because I know you were bashing the calculator guys earlier, but there's Pythagorean theorem for wins in the NFL. Houston basically is the number one by team looking forward, as a forward-looking indicator. They have the easiest schedule. They've played great. They've just had some tough losses at the end to Dallas, at the end to Buffalo.

16:41 I mean, this would not.

16:43 Surprise me if this one was like 37-13 Texans.

16:47 Oh, God, not at all.

16:49 They probably win the division. I like Jacksonville. I don't like Tennessee. I don't think anyone likes Indy. Keep an eye on these Texans. All right, speaking of Super Bowl, hey, let's go to the next story.

17:00 New Super Bowl leader for odds, Colin. Check it out. Brock Purdy. It's Brocktober. Brock you like a hurricane. Leading the charge. Odds to win the Super Bowl, 49ers plus 600, followed by the Bills, followed by the Chiefs, followed by the Ravens. Rams have plummeted to fifth.

17:19 Where's Seattle?

17:21 Who cares?

17:21 They're irrelevant.

17:22 They're not anywhere near the top.

17:24 They're fourth in your herd hierarchy and nowhere near the top of this list. Any surprises here other than obviously Seattle?

17:32 Yeah, I mean, I don't understand where Seattle is. Also, Detroit's nowhere without offense. Nowhere to be found.

17:39 Producer tells me Seahawks are sixth on the list.

17:42 Plus 1,300 points. You guys are so funny. You just can't wait to stick the knife in Sam Donald the minute he has a multi-interception game.

17:52 Which one?

17:53 I mean, I've lost track of the multi-interception games this season. I mean, by the way, Jared Goff, zero picks. Sam Donald, six in the three losses.

18:01 But in all seriousness, I don't think you should buy the Niners at plus 600. I think that would be flushing money. That's like the worst number you could get to bet them to win the Super Bowl.

18:09 Plus, they're hurt.

18:10 And I got them losing outright this week. Bills are interesting, Colin. Does that defense scare you? Are they going into Arrowhead with that defense?

18:18 Bad on the back end.

18:19 Bad.

18:20 Chiefs haven't played anybody. They have played the easiest schedule in the league so far. I'm a TBD on them. Ravens, we'll see Lamar. I'm getting practice reports right now. Lamar Jackson not practicing again.

18:32 So he ain't going to go this week. Like, I don't know.

18:36 Rams?

18:37 Who's winning this?

18:38 Colin, who's the best team in the NFL right now?

18:42 Niners, one, Chiefs, two, and then we can argue. First of all, the fact that the Bears are nowhere to be found is weird. The Patriots are nowhere to be found. I like both those teams. I think the Bears, Patriots, tomorrow in Chicago, those are two elite teams. You'll be watching the two best young quarterbacks, two of the top six coaches in the sport. I don't even get why.

19:06 How are the Ravens ahead of New England?

19:10 These are valid questions. Maybe we need an odds maker on the show. But I think you made this point earlier. College football, there's no dominant team. If you look at the odds, there's nobody that's overwhelming.

19:20 That's the way the NFL is. I like it.

19:22 This is what's great about sports. I mean, I think we loved it. This is going to be just an unbelievable October, November, December. All right, final story, Con.

19:31 Let's go to Major League Baseball. We got some news from the Yankees. Another disappointing postseason, but they have decided that manager Aaron Boone will be retained.

19:42 He will be returning.

19:43 Now, as of this morning, the GM, Brian Cashman, it sounds like he's going to be back in an unbelievable status.

19:50 From our staff.

19:51 Brian Cashman has been the Yankees GM since 1998.

19:55 Yeah. Colin, that's unheard of in sport. 28 years?

20:01 Well, the Steinbrenner kids don't like it. It's the same people. I mean, go look. or whatever you use yankees front office yeah and list the people in order it's the same people which i i don't think it's a manager issue i don't think they're very good defensively uh they're you know they don't play any small ball it is home runs that john carlo stanton contract feels like it's just been a waste never healthy he was a banged up guy when he came there from miami so um I think there's a lot of teams with really tight, progressive, analytically driven front offices, and I think the Yankees are okay.

20:43 I don't think they're bad. I love their starting pitching. Love their starting pitching and love Aaron Judge, but he's now in mid-30 territory.

20:51 Yeah, they didn't have Judge in the postseason, to be fair. Here's Hal Steinbrenner on the Cashman-Boone situation.

20:57 Cash is great every season.

20:58 I mean, I think the roster he put together, the team that we rolled out of spring training with, was as good as any in baseball, in my opinion. We had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but the team was fantastic and it was a world championship caliber team. Boone managed a good season, especially with the pitching staff. You know, we had a lot of additions and subtractions in the rotation throughout the course of the season. Our bullpen was absolutely exhausted by the end of the season. You know, he got through all that and he got us to the playoffs and the bottom line is the players Didn't live up to their end of the bargain.

21:37 Oh, I like that.

21:38 A little jab. Now, listen, when you're missing your best player.

21:41 Yes.

21:43 I can't crush him for it. And he's not wrong. That roster they had on opening day was sick.

21:48 I think the bigger issue is it does feel like they're a notch below the Milwaukee's, the Dodgers. You know, it just feels like. There's always kind of an excuse. They keep running back the same thing over and over. I don't think they're poorly run or poorly managed. I think they're fine. Are they great? That's what Yankee fans expect because of the history of the franchise. It's not that they're poorly run. I don't think they are. I never liked the Giancarlo Stanton contract. I didn't get it.

22:14 Starting pitching's excellent. I mean, they get good performances. But if you look at the last 10 years, it does feel like they're very good against the American League Central. But when you put them against elite teams, and the American League. If you put them in the National League, they're arguably not the Dodgers, not the Brewers, not the Padres, not the Phillies, not the Braves. They're probably... They have much better starting pitching than the Cubs. But in the American League...

22:42 They were swept by Tampa. And the American League is not the National League.

22:46 Let's be clear, though.

22:47 This isn't a Pittsburgh Steelers-Mike Tomlin situation.

22:50 No, no.

22:50 Where they're getting into the playoffs and getting smashed every year. They were in the World Series a few years ago. Obviously, it's disappointing when you don't win one. But they were there a couple years. Remember against the Dodgers? Let's not crush the Yankees here.

23:03 It's arguably the best starting pitching in baseball. And pitching, especially power pitching, is... Very relevant. So, I mean, everybody around New York is the sky is falling. And the truth is, in the last 15 years, how many times they missed the playoffs? Once. And they're in a division where Red Sox have money. Jays have money. Rays are brilliantly run. Like, it's a real division. So it's like the sky is not falling. It's just that when you had George, who hands it off to his sons, and they feel more passive and less demanding, it's a hard...

23:35 juxtaposition that kind of Yankee fans are like, oh, we're okay being average. Well, you're not average. You're not an average franchise. You're a top five franchise. Yankee fans like want one or nothing. J Mac with the news.

23:48 Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by the herd line news.

23:53 It is interesting. I was not beating up on the analytic expert. I was just saying with my Kyle, I mean, J Mac, what's funny about math is, is that all the analytic people, when Shanahan came out and said, you know, if analytics are 51-49, that's more of a suggestion than a hard go for it or punt. That's exactly right.

24:18 51-49 is, okay, now I have to think about a little bit of nuance. Now nuance is going to matter. If it's 70-30, we're going to follow the analytics. That was met with this resistance force of, you're dumb, we're smart. Again, analytics are a guide. Sometimes they're an incredibly strong suggestion. 51-49 is more coin flip-ish, so it's going to depend on everything. Like, is everybody healthy? How'd the drive go?

24:48 How does my quarterback feel? You know, I mean, Brock Purdy after two, I mean, we said this before, Aaron Rodgers after two picks is not Aaron Rodgers anymore. 23 of 28, he quarterbacks differently. Like he, Aaron, I always thought had an incredibly low number of come behind wins, come from behind wins relative to how many years he's played.

25:09 It's very low, like below. I think Derek Carr at one point, you're like, what? Because I think Aaron, Aaron Rogers got to become a very safe quarterback in games in which he had ugly performances or turbulent performances. Andrew Luck's the opposite. Darnold's the opposite. They're not bothered by interceptions.

25:25 They don't care. So I think you just have to consider everything. I think analytics are important. They're a guide. They're a suggestion. But it's not robots. Like, I need my coach to look up and down his roster and his sideline sometimes and go, guys, I just feel like we're going to go. We're going for it now.

25:45 I mean, it's similar to like this show, right?

25:47 The analytics say, when you talk about the Cowboys or Aaron Rodgers, people are locked in. But sometimes you're going to say like, you know what?

25:55 Keith Clark is fascinating. I'm going to, this is an interesting topic.

25:59 One of the things we do on the show all the time is what do I feel passionate about?

26:04 Yeah.

26:04 Not, but what about, the data we get tells us the most interesting team. Sometimes I'm just really interested in a subject and I don't go with what the company has handed me on the more popular brands. Like I just feel really strongly about blank and it blows up virally. Cause I knew it would. So it's, it's the same thing that just the analytic people, if you don't believe in them, you're dumb and we're smart. And it's like, analytics are a guide.

26:32 Yeah.

26:32 They're Pat Murphy. Yeah. The brewers are so into analytics. They have a massive department. He's like, these are humans. I am managing human beings. It can't all be just data. But, man, the minute an Aikman or a Kyle Shanahan are like, well, I'm not playing 75 hands of poker. I'm playing one, and it's 51-49. Well, the numbers prove. Remember, in the long, regular season of baseball or the NBA, analytics are an average.

27:08 Go with them. But if you watch baseball playoffs where starters now go to the pen on a short day's rest, Like, you don't do that in the regular season. Or in the NBA, like, we need a bucket from Jalen Brunson. Well, really, he should be taking threes. No, no, the Celtics did that and have droughts. The Knicks are the best fourth quarter team, by the way, since they've been tracking it for fourth quarter teams in the NBA. The Knicks, how does that make sense? Because they don't live and die with a three. They have high efficiency, a lot of mid-range, get a bucket with a star guard that initiates the offense.

27:44 So it's just, anytime you push back in analytics, it's you're dumb, we're smart. And it's like, okay, you couldn't make the high school basketball team. You don't have to be a jerk 30 years later. It's the herd.

27:58 Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app.

28:08 I said before the season, I didn't think Texas could win the national championship. Wasn't sure there were going to be a playoff team because they just had too many tough road games. And it was just too relentless of a schedule. You could look at seven different games they could lose. And so now all of a sudden they have to face Ole Miss. Well, Ole Miss has Trinidad Chambliss, who's just about as dynamic as any college quarterback this year.

28:32 And so, I mean, we said before the season, you got Ohio State, you got Oklahoma, you're at Tennessee, you got Florida. They still got they have games at Missouri, at LSU, you know, Texas A & M is a rivalry game. Good luck at Texas A & M. So I like Ole Miss this weekend. Here's Brady Quinn on earlier about Arch Manning struggles as they head into another brutal test.

28:56 Has he played perfect this year?

28:57 No, no quarterback has, you know, I don't know, maybe outside of maybe you say Darian Mensah, who's from start to finish had a really solid, consistent season. All of these quarterbacks have had their ups and downs. And this has always been the case. I mean, the fact that we're making such a big deal about it only speaks to, I think a, what his ceiling may be, but also the fact of what the expectations were, not only for arch, but also for Texas. And then it feels like it's more disappointing for Texas as a whole than anything else.

29:24 Yeah. I, um, This is not pro football where because of the advancements in technology through the helmet and you're dealing with, 28, 29-year-old men, is that home field's like a point. I don't really consider home field much. I do on, like, for instance, the Bears are at home on a short week against New England with multiple O-line issues that I think home field then does feel like a two- to a three-point spread. But in college, as a general rule, I almost always take two good teams play, uh home team and now and it tells you i liked ohio state to beat indiana because i think there's a real gap in personnel they're bigger than people think i think fernando mendoza was much more important last year

30:07 than people are giving him credit to signetti got like 90 of the love and i think it was about 75 mendoza in the second half of big games But, you know, you just in college, Lou Holtz used to always say you don't get the same team back to back weekend. Somebody broke up with their girlfriend. Somebody's got a big midterm. They're 19, 20, 21 year old kids.

30:29 You're not dealing with adults. You have limited practice time. So schedules in college are completely uneven. Somebody's got UTSA last week and somebody else has Ohio State. So, and now with the NIL, you don't have a lot of depth. Even the Texas and Ohio States, if you lose your number one corner to an injury, there's a gap between him and your number three or number two corner that you didn't have years ago at Georgia, where your backups could start for most teams, even in the SEC. Now that backup corner, that backup edge rush, that backup left tackle, forget it. That guy's getting paid by Louisville or Arizona State or... Notre Dame or somebody, he's getting paid. He's not there. You don't have Cardell Jones as a backup

31:10 quarterback anymore. It's very, very difficult. One team in college has a great backup, and we know, oh, it's Oregon. The sport has changed. I looked at Texas' schedule, and I'm like, forget it. You could be a really good team, and you got three losses. What's going to be interesting, though, sometimes you get breaks. Ohio State's going... In, you know, a week and a half to USC. Well, they would have won that game with Julian saying now they have a backup. So now they have a backup making his first start in L.A. against desperate USC. That could be the break Lincoln Riley needs if they can beat their about a touchdown favorite against Wisconsin. That's a go-either-way game.

31:59 I would take USC, go either way. But if they win that game, they come home. They get a huge, huge break facing an untested three-star quarterback at home.