Team of the Week: Arkansas is a Highly Unusual Kind of Mess

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThree games into Ryan Silverfield’s coaching tenure, Arkansas fans are in open revolt against their athletic director. The team is bad, and the university overlords are already running a “review” of the athletic program. How did the vibes get this bad this quickly? It’s a long story, and it’s only somewhat about the coach who was under pressure from the second he took the job. Rodger Sherman joins Alex for our latest TEAM OF THE WEEK episode, where we finally focus on a program where things are not going well.* 1:05: Ryan Silverfield’s honeymoon never started* 7:22: The coaching hire, and the cost of waiting another year on Sam Pittman* 15:25: What Arkansas gained and lost by joining the SEC* 18:59: The Waltons, the chicken money, and Arkansas’ billionaire relationships* 28:59: Hunter Yurachek’s mounting problems* 39:52: What would success even look like for Arkansas now?TEAM OF THE WEEK is a subscriber series where Rodger Sherman and SZD hosts talk about a college football team doing something no one else is doing. Scroll for episodes on NDSU, UMass, and Oklahoma State.

Richard and Alex recap a busy Week 3 in college football, starting with Ole Miss’ cathartic win over Lane Kiffin’s LSU and continuing through 48 more games. Kentucky exposes Texas A&M, South Carolina’s slide accelerates, Clemson finds a flash of urgency, North Dakota State enters the Playoff conversation, and Grand Valley State scores 96 points. We sort by conference home stadium, in this order: SEC, led by the showdown in OxfordBig Ten, featuring a sad affair in College ParkBig 12, where BYU might just be the best teamACC, where Miami definitely is the best teamGroup of 6, where the stage is now set for Broncos vs. Broncos THANKS TO OUR PARTNERSQuo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tiresShop for college sports apparel 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.comRodger Sherman guides Alex through our latest “Team of the Week” episode, featuring the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This subscriber special is our weekly look at one team in college football that is truly trying to do something different from every other program in the sport. In this episode, we talk about Oklahoma State from the following angles:* 0:26: Going from losing to Tulsa to beating Oregon* 3:40: Importing the North Texas offense behind Eric Morris* 8:25: Morris’s absurd QB development history, from Baker Mayfield to Drew Mestemaker with a whole lot in between* 21:59: A program of unusual highs and lows* 26:53: What T. Boone Pickens built, and why he was a different kind of megabooster than we typically see* 33:40: Can the Morris model last in the Big 12? What does OKST need to do to give it a long-term chance?Producer: Anthony Vito

Richard and Alex preview Week 3 of the college football schedule, headlined by Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford but featuring dozens of matchups. They include:* 11:19 Houston at Texas Tech* 27:19 North Texas at Texas State* 32:41 Florida State at Alabama* 45:28 SMU at Louisville* 49:35 Mississippi State at South Carolina* 55:46 Florida at Auburn* 1:01:00 LSU at Ole MissAnd many, many more games featured inside. Producer: Anthony VitoTHANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS* Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO* Shop for college sports apparel 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.comIt was the College GameDay interview heard around the world, if only because it was forced down your ears. Richard and Alex talk with Extra Points publisher Matt Brown about what we think went into ESPN’s decision to have Senator Ted Cruz on College GameDay (a reasonable choice) for a barely-interrupted stump speech in support of the bill being pushed by noted GameDay panelist Nick Saban. Is this a big corporate influence operation, something simpler, or much ado about nothing? We cover that and a handful more topics on this version of the Extra Points/SZD Sports Business Hour, a recurring feature around here:* 0:52: Why did ESPN lend its time to Cruz and decline to check any of his claims as he took up 10 of the most valuable minutes in sports TV?* 16:53: A lot of FCS buy games feel even uglier than normal right now, and there’s probably an economic reason for that. Is this tenable?* 28:03: Rutgers obviously needs to split with Greg Schiano, but … can they afford it? Let’s discuss an outrageously bad financial situation* 32:36: Florida State fires its athletic director. What do we make of that?Producer: Anthony Vito

The Sunday Hurry-Up goes just a little over 30 minutes this week, as Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner take you through a stacked Week 2 in college football. We touch on all of these games in the following order:Texas 24, Ohio State 23Georgia 70, Western Kentucky 20Texas A&M 48, Arizona State 20LSU 45, Louisiana Tech 14Alabama 45, Kentucky 17Florida 52, Campbell 3South Carolina 45, Towson 9Vanderbilt 35, Delaware 26Michigan 17, Oklahoma 10USC 49, Louisiana 30Washington 16, Utah State 14Iowa 16, Iowa State 13Duke 31, Illinois 27Michigan State 35, Eastern Michigan 7Mississippi State 38, Minnesota 13Wake Forest 38, Purdue 36UCLA 28, San Diego State 10Oklahoma State 39, Oregon 31BYU 28, Arizona 17Utah 43, Arkansas 10Missouri 38, Kansas 21Kansas State 34, Washington State 7Miami 77, Florida A&M 7Tennessee 45, Georgia Tech 24Boston College 28, Rutgers 21Clemson 22, Georgia Southern 7Pitt 12, UCF 7California 21, Syracuse 18Virginia Tech 44, Old Dominion 21Penn State 27, Temple 9USF 28, Army 24App State 27, East Carolina 24FAU 38, Navy 30North Texas 44, UNLV 6Tulane 28, South Alabama 24UAB 26, UL Monroe 20North Dakota State 38, Air Force 32Montana State 20, Nevada 7Illinois State 28, Northern Illinois 24Akron 45, Robert Morris 10Ohio 29, Jacksonville State 27 (4 OT)Western Michigan 49, Monmouth 14James Madison 87, Wagner 3Georgia State 31, Kennesaw State 17Liberty 24, Gardner-Webb 23Tulsa 23, Sam Houston 17Texas Tech 35, Oregon State 24Boise State 38, Memphis 20Fresno State 49, Sacramento State 3UTSA 31, Texas State 26Worcester Polytechnic Institute 22, University of New England 21THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires* Shop for college sports apparel 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 preview Week 2 on the college football schedule but take a few detours, first stopping to review the Sunday and Monday games from Week 1 and later closing the book (hopefully) on the WMU-Michigan situation. We cover dozens of games in this episode, including the ones below:* Missouri at Kansas* App State at East Carolina* Arizona State at Texas A&M* Oklahoma at Michigan* Wazzu at Kansas State* Alabama at Kentucky* Arizona at BYU* Cal at Syracuse* Mississippi State at Minnesota* UTSA at Texas State* Memphis at Boise State* Tennessee at Georgia Tech* Iowa State at Iowa* North Dakota State at Air Force* Oh yeah sure we’ll talk about Ohio State at TexasProducer: Anthony VitoTHANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires* Shop for college sports apparel 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.comNot even a year ago, Rodger Sherman joined Alex for a deep dive into how the UMass Minutemen made a case as the worst team in modern history.Now, we have a much different episode about UMass: They’re our TEAM OF THE WEEK coming out of Week 1. This is a new subscriber series in which we talk about a team in college football attempting to do something that nobody else is trying to do. Rodger and Richard cover the Minutemen, fresh off their season-opening win over Rutgers. Let’s talk about this rising team from the MAC:* 0:18: Why UMass earned TOTW honors* 5:49: Pop Watson! The option! What a win in Piscataway* 11:10: The very New Englandy character of the team* 16:06: UMass’ investment in not being terrible* 25:37: Are we crazy, or is a bowl a possibility?Producer: Anthony Vito

The Sunday Hurry-Up makes its triumphant return. Rodger Sherman is again in the hot seat with Richard Johnson to break down a Week 1 that was anything but boring. We go through as many games as are fit to print (or podcast about).* Michigan 13, Western Michigan 12* Oregon 34, Boise State 27* Ohio State 56, Ball State 3* Indiana 52, North Texas 16* USC 39, Fresno 0* Penn State 45, Marshall 0* Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0* Illinois 42, UAB 23* Michigan State 30, Toledo 20* Nebraska 49, Ohio 21* Northwestern 34, South Dakota State 18* UMass 37, Rutgers 21* LSU 51, Clemson 10* Auburn 17, Baylor 16* Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0* South Carolina 57, Kent State 0* Alabama 48, ECU 10* Florida 66, FAU 21* Vanderbilt 28, Austin Peay 9* Georgia 63 vs Tennessee State 3* Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10* Houston 33, Oregon State 20* Cincinnati 34, Boston College 15* West Virginia 31, Coastal Carolina 24* Miami 45, Stanford 6* UCLA 45, Cal 24* Duke 17, Tulane 3* Colorado 14, Georgia Tech 13* Pitt 59 vs Miami (OH) 14* Wake Forest 38, Akron 16* The Citadel 43, Charlotte 41 (3OT)* Memphis 42, Arkansas State 24* USF 19, FIU 9* Temple 38, Rhode Island 14* Tulsa 24, Oklahoma State 10* UNLV 21, Hawaii 6* Nevada 49, Western Kentucky 14* New Mexico 38, Central Michigan 7* North Dakota State 38, Fordham 0* Tarleton State 20, Bowling Green 13* Buffalo 21, UAlbany 17* San Jose State 27, Eastern Michigan 21* Sacramento State 52, Mississippi Valley State 0* James Madison 20, Liberty 13* Louisiana Tech 80, Northwestern State 6* Troy 24, Sam Houston 21* Colorado State 35, Wyoming 13* Idaho State 29, Utah State 17Yeah, we went big for Week 1.Producer: Anthony VitoTHANKS TO OUR PARTNERS* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires* Shop for college sports apparel 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

Guest host Rodger Sherman joins Richard for the first weekend preview of the season, running through dozens of games. They touch on about 38 games, including these: - 5:02: UMass vs. Rutgers is technically football- 6:48: Colorado vs. Georgia Tech: What do we want the Buffs to be, exactly?- 12:49: Fresno State vs. USC will have at least someone in attendance- 23:43: Liberty vs. James Madison is not a gentle handshake for Billy Napier- 36:00: Baylor vs. Auburn: Sneaky game of the weekend?- 50:53: Clemson vs. LSU: There will be celebs, but will there be a game of any consequence?- 1:02:56: UCLA vs. Cal: Hell yeah, brother- 1:06:47: Louisville vs. Ole Miss: The actual game of the weekend- 1:09:18: Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame: [Insert “play it on campus” discourse]- 1:13:15: SMU vs. Florida State: Don’t lose big, NolesProducer: Anthony Vito.The Sunday Hurry-Up will arrive on Sunday as usual, despite several big games being played after that time. See you then.THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS* 10% off a set of Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO at: https://www.tires-easy.com/brands/nokian-tires* Shop for college sports apparel 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