No, 2026 Isn’t 2007. Here’s Why

Guest host Jessica Smetana joins Alex to talk through the second College Football Playoff rankings reveal of the season. This episode first aired as a live stream on YouTube and has been spruced up lightly by our producer, Anthony Vito, to go into your podcast feeds now. In this episode: Running through the top 25The team placements that stick out the most Our biggest beefs with the committee (Oklahoma State and Oregon have the same record, and OKST is nine spots lower with a head-to-head win?) The committee’s crush of the week Ohio State, you are in grave danger Jessica Smetana’s Notre Dame Discourse Corner Thanks for listening, and extra thank you for joining us live! Audio 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.comRichard is joined by co-host emeritus Steven Godfrey to talk parity, upsets, and the takeaways from an admittedly wild 2026 college football regular season to date. There’ve been some comparisons to the truly wildest season in recent college football memory, but we are here to tell you why they’re not quite the same. Regrettably, Alex is not here to wax poetic about 13-9.Production: Anthony “Rutgers Detester” Vito

The Week 10 college football slate turned out to be light on classics, but it was heavy on impact. Alex and Richard go through dozens of games, including: 1:35: Notre Dame 31, Miami 246:00: Georgia 42, Ole Miss 77:34: Alabama 31, LSU 1313:18: Texas 34, Missouri 2017:52: UCLA 34, Minnesota 2019:53: Oregon 41, Ohio State 2823:26: Michigan State 15, Michigan 625:56: Penn State 28, Washington 2527:50: Utah 28, BYU 2032:05: Texas Tech 53, West Virginia 4846:26: Boise State 64, Colorado State 38Producer: Anthony VitoBUY THINGS FROM OUR PARTNERS10% off Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO Enter to win a set of Nokian TyresShop 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.comMACtion is back as of this week, and the Toledo Rockets are once again right there in the mix to win the conference. How did the most consistent program in the Mid-American get that way? And what challenges has it needed to overcome to stay there? There are a lot of them. Inside this episode: 4:20: The Cignettification of Toledo 6:38: Mike Jacobs and the small-college coaching pipeline15:38: Remembering Toledo coaches, from Nick Saban to Jason Candle20:04: Giant-killing and the Glass Bowl24:38: The university, the city, and the challenges of MACtion34:07: Can anybody else in the MAC do this?Producer: Anthony Vito

Become a paid subscriber today to get every SZD episode. Richard and Alex look ahead to one of the juiciest weekend schedules college football has seen in years. First, a quick discussion of the midterm elections’ effect on the college football landscape, and then dozens of games, including:- 10:34: Virginia Tech at SMU- 14:04: New Mexico at Nevada- 18:15: BYU at Utah- 23:46: Texas at Missouri- 31:38: Texas A&M at South Carolina- 34:25: Alabama at LSU- 40:14: Oregon at Ohio State- 52:39: Georgia at Ole Miss- 58:05: Miami at Notre Dame (note: recorded before we heard Malachi Toney’s status is uncertain) - 1:05:43: Oklahoma at FloridaProducer: Anthony VitoTHANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS* Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link* Enter to win a set of Nokian Tyres* 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 Jessica Smetana joins Alex to talk through the first College Football Playoff rankings reveal of the season. This episode first aired as a live stream on YouTube and has been spruced up lightly by our producer, Anthony Vito, to go into your podcast feeds now. In this episode: * Running through the opening 1-25* What the committee says it’s doing differently this year * Our biggest beefs with the committee (Alabama, hello again lol) * The committee’s crush of the week * The team at risk of being dropped from the group chat * Jessica Smetana’s Notre Dame Discourse Corner * The sneaky good win (or loss) of the week. Hi, Oregon? Thanks for listening, and especially thank you if you were one of the people who joined us live and waited for us during some early technical glitching! 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.comFlorida State is open. Richard and Alex give the whole job market an overview but focus most of this episode on the Noles, who are still (for most people) the best available gig on the market. In this episode:3:01: Richard walks Alex through the backroom and infrastructural changes FSU has already made (and the ones fans still want)12:50: Where exactly did Mike Norvell’s tenure go wrong?22:59: Where will this job sit in the pecking order of available gigs?25:24: Names who might make sense in Tallahassee30:29: NC State’s apparent pursuit of Philip Rivers and what we see in it, plus a bit more on on Baylor and Sam HoustonProducer: Anthony Vito

Richard and Alex take you through Week 9, telling you about dozens of interesting games in 30ish minutes. Including but not limited to: USC 30, Ohio State 18Indiana 23, Minnesota 16Washington 17, Nebraska 10South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25BYU 27, Arizona State 20Texas Tech 34, Arizona 26Iowa State 51, Oklahoma State 49Miami 38, North Carolina 35Clemson 36, Florida State 24Troy 24, James Madison 21Johns Hopkins wins on a FAIR-CATCH KICK Producer: Anthony VitoBUY THINGS FROM OUR PARTNERS10% off Nokian Tyres with code SPLITZONEDUO Enter to win a set of Nokian Tyres 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.comThe New Mexico Lobos have a long and mostly bleak football history. A former coach one said you could fit the fanbase in a few rows of bleachers. The list of UNM players the casual college football fan remembers watching is zero player long. But right now, under coach Jason Eck, UNM is one of the most exciting turnaround stories in the country and has a real chance to make the playoff. The Lobos are doing something no one else is doing, and Rodger Sherman joins Alex Kirshner to talk about it on this SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL: 0:16: New Mexico’s moment9:51: The Jason Eck story19:26: Remember a Lobo (Brian Urlacher edition) 25:20: Why winning at New Mexico is ultra-difficult 36:48: The defense and the turnovers42:50: What happens after Eck?Producer: Anthony Vito

Alex and Richard break down the Week 9 of the college football season, including Lincoln Riley’s uphill climb against Ohio State, and the Cody Campbell rants that should have Texas Tech fans concerned. Florida Atlantic University at North Texas (00:02:37) Baylor at UCF (00:06:08) Arizona at Texas Tech (00:09:50) Notre Dame at Navy (00:19:32)Wisconsin at Iowa (00:24:06) Florida at Georgia (00:31:22)Miami at North Carolina (00:52:40)Ohio State at USC (01:00:28)Those are just a handful out of the dozens of games we cover this week. Produced by Anthony Vito.THANKS TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND PARTNERS* Quo, a business phone service! 20% off your first six months using this link* Enter to win a set of Nokian Tyres* 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