How to Keep a Revived Rivalry Alive

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSubscriber show! Realignment killed off a lot of college football rivalries. Then the schools involved brought some of them back … only to let them wither again. Why does this happen, and are some of the ongoing changes to the sport encouraging or discouraging teams to schedule more of these games? Now that the Border War is back and the Backyard Brawl is about to play what might be its last game in a while (after a previous long pause), it’s a good time to try to figure it out. Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for a discussion about it.Producer: Anthony Vito

The Week 3 Tasting Menu discusses many, many college football games. Here are just a few of them:* Colorado vs. Houston: Deion Sanders makes a QB change, probably, but he’s being cagey about it* Oregon vs. Northwestern: This game will not be interesting, but recent events surrounding Northwestern and its football program were* Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: This is a dangerous spot for Clemson, again* The Backyard Brawl: Other than the fact that anything can happen in a rivalry game, is there any reason to believe in West Virginia?* USF vs. Miami: The Bulls probably won’t do it again, but we don’t think they’re about to get blown out of the stadium, either* ODU vs. Virginia Tech: Careful, Brent Pry* Florida vs. LSU: More trouble on the horizon for the Gators?* Vandy at South Carolina: Is the Nyck Harbor thing going to happen?* A&M at Notre Dame: Have the Aggies fished their rush defense?* Georgia vs. Tennessee, for this week’s Main Course: Graham Coffey of Dawgs Central joins us to explain how things are going for the DawgsAnd many more games. We’ll see you on on Sunday. Produced by Anthony Vito.Thank you to our subscribers and partnersBecome a paid subscriber today to get a lot more SZD, and check out www.nokiantyres.com/szd and www.homefieldapparel.comAlso, welcome our new partner, Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off. 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 week’s SZD Overtime episode for subscribers, we examine two programs that were dominant in the 2000s and are still, all these years later, trying to recapture some of their old magic. Florida lost to USF, endangering Billy Napier’s tenure once again. Virginia Tech dropped to 0-2 with losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt and is staring down a failed hire in Brent Pry. Richard and Alex discuss what’s gone wrong at Florida, why we’re still having these conversations four years into Napier’s tenure, and who would actually be in charge of firing Napier. Plus, we cover why Virginia Tech can’t get anything right post-Frank Beamer and why they’re now in an existential moment. Is Tech even a good job in 2025? Let’s talk about it. Producer: Anthony Vito

Richard and Alex break down the interesting stuff from Week 2 of the college football season, starting with upsets in Starkville and Gainesville and moving on down the list to dozens of games:* Mississippi State broke through against Arizona State* USF cemented its very early hold on the G5 playoff spot at Florida* Oklahoma made sure Bryce Underwood had the night you expected* Iowa State has become what Iowa is when Iowa is good* Mizzou brought back the Border War in style* Illinois stood back as Duke melted down* Baylor got a key win at SMU and didn’t look like a Dave Aranda team* Oregon did some really gruesome things to OKST* Virginia Tech’s slow-rolling disaster continued vs. Vanderbilt* The Aidan Chiles revolution may have finally arrived* Ohio beat up on West Virginia* USC continued to rack up yardage at a ridiculous rate* Syracuse players had to run sprints in game, then after the game* Oregon State committed one of the great special teams blunders ever* Should you be worried about Georgia’s offensive line?* Texas State scored another win against its rival UTSA* Liberty knocked itself out of the playoff race* UAB actually could’ve beaten NavyThanks to our partners and subscribers* 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD* Visit Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/* Enter a college football road trip at https://www.nokiantyres.com/SZD 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 preview Week 2 of the college football season, which is light on big-time helmet games but heavy on interesting regional matchups. This episode has notes and observations on a big bunch of games, including:* JMU at Louisville, a great Friday night opener for the weekend* Baylor at SMU, where we should learn a lot more about Baylor* Illinois at Duke, where the Illini put their playoff dark-horse status on the line* Iowa at Iowa State, a matchup that seems hard to figure out because of how mediocre the Iowa offense was in Week 1* UAB at Navy, which tends to run for a lot of yards against the Blazers* Texas State at UTSA in the I-35 Rivalry* Ole Miss at Kentucky, which prrrrrobably cannot do that again* Oklahoma State at Oregon, following a little barb-trading by the two coaches* WVU at Ohio, where Parker Navarro gets another chance to show off* Arkansas State at Arkansas, a game that has literally never happened* WKU vs. Toledo, one of the best Group of 5 meetings of the year* LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Bill Connelly joins us to talk about Michigan vs. Oklahoma, aka a five-star true freshman against Brent Venables, aka Sherrone Moore against his alma materAnd many more games. We’ll see you on on Sunday. Produced by Anthony Vito.Thank you to our subscribers and partnersBecome a paid subscriber today to get a lot more SZD, and check out www.nokiantyres.com/szd and www.homefieldapparel.comAlso, welcome our new partner, Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off. 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.comESPN’s Bill Connelly, author of a new book on the evolution and future of CFB, joins Alex and Richard for a big post-Week 1 chat:* Bill’s new book, “Forward Progress,” is a mix of caution and optimism about the ways college football has changed. We talk with him about how sports actually die, what still works well about CFB, and what’s broken. (This portion of the episode is free for everyone to hear.)* Richard reports from his trip to Chapel Hill for Bill Belichick’s debut. Bill explains why this is probably going to be a hard slog for UNC, and Alex and Bill talk about the built-in financial inefficiency of a portaled roster.* There were very few big plays in Week 1, but there were tons of fourth-down attempts and conversions. Bill suspects these facts are related.* Which big Week 1 risers and fallers in Bill’s SP+ system have caught his eye? Plus, how has the portal changed the art and science of projections?* Has the Group of 5 playoff race completely reset?* Is Kansas State going to be OK?* What does Bill make of exciting QB debuts at Cal and Maryland?Thanks to Bill, and go read “Forward Progress.” GET IT: https://bookshop.org/p/books/forward-progress-bill-connelly/22336270?ean=9781637278703&next=t&

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comIn this subscriber special (join us!), Alabama beat writer Matt Stahl of AL.com joins Alex to talk about exactly how bad things are right now in Tuscaloosa. Coming off a 14-point loss to FSU, we had a lot of questions, like:* How seriously is the Alabama beat taking the possibility of a coach firing?* What about Kalen DeBoer’s management of the program has been so wrong?* Did Bama do anything to make this worse for itself from a PR perspective?* Was some of this slipping before Nick Saban rolled out of town?* Assuming things don’t get REALLY bad and Bama doesn’t want to pay $60 million, what intermediate changes could be made?* How is the NIL situation at the moment?* Just how low is DeBoer’s approval rating after five losses in 10 games?Thanks to Matt for joining us. Find him on Bluesky.Producer: Anthony Vito

The Split Zone Duo Sunday Hurry-Up returns for 2025, still featuring notes on dozens of games delivered in 30-ish (emphasis on “ish”) minutes and now sponsored by our partners at Dad Water. In this Week 1 rundown: * FSU doesn’t just beat Alabama, but does it with beef * Arch Manning flops at Ohio State, but we won’t engage in Arch Doomerism just yet. Meanwhile, a great start for the defending champs* LSU overcomes ref adversity and takes care of business at Clemson * Tennessee is winning the Nico Iamaleava breakup* Utah’s line play is absolutely terrifying * Tulane beats Northwestern on the field and in the PR department * The Cal Bears have a quarterback who demands your attention * Boise State more or less eliminates itself from CFP contention, already, but it is time to take USF seriously * Dylan Raiola shows encouraging signs; Brendan Sorsby does not * Auburn will eventually need a downfield passing game, but for now, it helps to have an offensive line that shoves people around * Georgia Tech does what few power-conference teams ever do * Tarleton and Austin Peay get on the board in the FCS Upset Draft * Kent State wins for the first time in 22 tries * DilferWatch remains on high alert This episode is produced by noted USF Bulls fan Anthony Vito. Want much more of this podcast? Become a paid subscriber today Our next episode is about Alabama and Kalen DeBoer. Thanks to our partners and subscribers* 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD * Visit Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/* Enter a college football road trip at https://www.nokiantyres.com/SZD 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.comAfter an offseason and preseason of talking, it’s time to answer: What do we think will actually happen in this college football season? Alex, Richard, and Godfrey put their names on some picks in this subscriber episode. At the end of the season, we’ll dig up the time capsule and see how we did:* The champions of every FBS conference* The playoff field* The national champ* The Heisman finalists* The Group of 5 player of the year* The defensive player of the year* Our favorite games of the year* The first coach fired* One coach to be hired up* A ranked-to-unranked teamSome of this won’t be surprising. (Texas and Penn State receive national championship picks.) Some of it will be! (Iowa to the playoff? Hmm.) Let’s talk about it and then sit down and watch some ball.Producer: Anthony Vito

Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner preview the first week of the 2025 season, with notes on dozens of games that will make your Week 1 more interesting. A brief selection of the games we talk about this week:* Boise State vs. USF is the Bulls’ biggest moment in years* Nebraska vs. Cincinnati is a major interior pressure test for Dylan Raiola* Auburn vs. Baylor and Georgia Tech vs. Colorado headline Friday night* Northwestern vs. Tulane features a Big Ten team as a justified underdog in a Group of 5 stadium, but who’s playing QB for the Green Wave?* TEXAS VS. OHIO STATE, one of the biggest Week 1 games ever. (Don’t lose sight of how big this thing is just because both teams will make the playoff)* Syracuse vs. Tennessee: There will be orange* Toledo vs. Kentucky: The MAC’s best chance to beat the SEC* Alabama vs. Florida State: The Seminoles probably can’t win, but what about their performance will offer hints of the future? Read Alex’s story about Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit here.* LSU vs. Clemson: We like the Tigers to prevail in Death Valley* Sacramento State vs. South Dakota State is an unusual FCS showcase* Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina: The Beamer Bowl presents many questions, most of them about the Hokies* TCU vs. North Carolina: Welcome to CFB, Bill BelichickDid we just forget Notre Dame vs. Miami? Of course not. For this week’s main course, Jessica Smetana, cohost of the Notre Dame-focused “Echoes” podcast with Mike Golic Jr., joins the podcast to talk about the Irish’s big challenge.Thank you to our subscribers and partnersBecome a paid subscriber today to get a lot more SZD, and check out www.nokiantyres.com/szd and www.homefieldapparel.comAlso, welcome our new partner, Dad Water. Code SZD for 20% off.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