Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Godfrey looked a bit deeper into how a 12-team playoff system will work in practice, and he ended up feeling ... surprisingly optimistic about the future of the sport? We're just as surprised as you are. He, Alex, and Richard talk through the types of teams this new system will benefit, the tradeoffs that Cinderellas will make, and why all in all, it's a good deal. Production: 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.comClemson filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday in South Carolina, seeking to free itself from the conference’s grant of rights and set up an exit from the league. Alex and Steven react to that complaint, which comes off as an absurd attempt to rewrite universally understood rules. But this is college sports; being ridiculous doesn’t exactly mean Clemson is “wrong.” Read Clemson’s complaint here, featuring heavy redactions. Production: Anthony Vito. This episode is for paying subscribers, but free subscribers can hear a preview.

College football teams now have "general managers." How did the sport get here? How are they similar to GMs for pro teams, and how are they different? And will a college GM ever be able to fire a coach? Production: 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.comGodfrey, Richard, and Alex talk out three big news developments over the past week. The Big Ten and SEC continue (3:01) to fight for extra spots and extra money in a new College Football Playoff system, so let’s address why the arguments in their favor are so hollow. Friday nights (16:55) have become a bigger part of the college football schedule of late, but 2024 is poised to see that go to a new level. And Dartmouth basketball players voted for a union (23:49). What does it mean for college football? Maybe a lot, maybe nothing, and we won’t know for a while. But nobody should deny what a huge deal it is. Also, Alex explains how to deal with Ted Cruz’s PR people when they get angry about something you write about college sports. This episode is for premium subscribers. Free subscribers can hear a preview. Production: Anthony Vito.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThe first installment of the Split Zone Duo Book Club: What's it like to write a book-length jeremiad aimed directly at the ruling class of an entire sport? Author and reporter Dan Wetzel joins Godfrey in Michigan to talk about Death to the BCS, a seminal work examining the graft and idiocy that once ruled college football but that we've completely shed in the 14 years since its publication ... ah shit, that's not right at all. Oh well. Production: Anthony Vito. You can follow Dan on X, read him at Yahoo, and listen to him on the College Football Enquirer. This episode is for paid subscribers, but everyone can listen to a free preview.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRichard and Alex take your questions on a long list of topics, in order: Neal Brown’s extension at West Virginia, the literal risks of private equity coming to college football, if Arizona messed up by hiring a coach before replacing the AD, if Emmitt Smith’s comments will affect Florida recruiting, a new pipeline of AD hiring, why G5 conferences like big cities, how you can(‘t) resist the SEC and Big Ten, what the deal is with Central Michigan and the Connor Stalions thing, why journalists get sideline acces at bowls, the two of us playing rounds of golf, and wedding speech advice. Production: Anthony Vito. This episode is for paying subscribers, but everyone can listen to a 10-minute preview.

Michigan’s quarterback is the latest national championship winner and draft prospect to kick off a very specific kind of national debate about QB play. Alex and Richard interrogate why players like JJ McCarthy become debate catnip (and then personally make JJ McCarthy into debate catnip, because Alex cannot resist). Production: Anthony Vito. Subscribe for bonus episodes and more at splitzoneduo.com 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

After 2023, Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh left, and Alabama and Michigan fans worried a lot about assistant coach hires made by their successors. It got Alex thinking: Do national championship head coaches ace their assistant hires out of the gate? What happens when they mess up the important work of filling out a coaching staff? SZD goes through 25 years of history in a quest to figure out if a coach can win a national championship without acing his first test. Production: 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

In a roundup of college football news, Godfrey, Richard, and Alex talk about Georgia State’s interesting new head coach hire (1:30), Paul Johnson excoriating Geoff Collins (10:35), the upcoming EA Sports College Football game and the payment to players for appearing (25:45), and the reunion of the Mid-American Conference and UMass (30:44). Production: 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.comGodfrey's trying to keep the Beavers relevant nationally as the P12-to-P2 era "dawns." We also got questions galore about G5 playoff chances, post-playoff bracket bowls, Mark Stoops' mentality after the A&M mess, why Godfrey was Big Wrong about UCF and Gus Malzhan, and an effort to create joy for a member of our community needing it now. Production: Anthony Vito. This episode is for paid subscribers of Split Zone Duo, but everyone else can listen to a free preview. Join now to get frequent bonus episodes, newsletters, and Q&A opportunities while becoming part of a great CFB community.