This is the situation: On a normal offensive play, five guys have to wear numbers between 50 and 79. These guys are called “offensive linemen,” and they stand next to each other. They are not eligible to go downfield to catch passes. This works fine for everyone. You don’t want most linemen catching passes.

It gets weird on kicks and punts, though. Special teams coaches like to have fast guys covering punts. Take Ohio State on this play in last year’s Playoff:

The Buckeyes could do that because of the “numbering exception,” which lets kicking and punting teams put non-linemen (i.e. guys not wearing numbers 50-79) in the central line positions. Like always, teams have to have seven men on the line, and of those guys, only the two on the ends of the line can run out to catch a pass in the event of a fake. But if you want to put fast coverage guys on the line, you can do it, and you don’t need to go through the hassle of getting a smaller No. 52 jersey for some running back or safety.

Football coaches are creative geniuses, and sometimes also big assholes. So in the 2000s, some high school coaches figured out that if they lined up in scrimmage kick formations (i.e. with “kickers,” “punters,” or “holders” way off the line) on every play, they could confuse the defense about who was eligible. Nobody would wear 50 through 79, and players could line up a few steps off the line, and the defense would not know for sure who was eligible.

The high priests of high school ball outlawed the “A-11 offense” in 2009. But little remnants of it have lived on, as punting teams look for ways to keep the defense off balance. Ohio State was one of those teams, as the above formation became this:

Oh no! What are they doing!?

Well, you can’t do that anymore. This year, the rule says this, with my bolding:

In a scrimmage kick formation at the snap (Rule 2-16-10) Team A may have fewer than five linemen numbered 50-79, subject to the following conditions:

• The snapper and two adjacent linemen on either side of the snapper, not numbered 50-79 who are lined up in (or touching) the tackle box are ineligible receivers by position and become exceptions to the numbering rule when the snapper takes his position.

• Any and all such numbering-exception players must be clearly on the line of scrimmage, and all backs must be clearly in the backfield. Otherwise, Team A commits a foul for illegal formation.

The football rules committee said the exception was creating confusion. Look at Miami’s players responding there, and you can see that they’re right.

Now, once the snapper takes his position over the ball, those four Ohio State players closest to the snapper are locked into their alignment, unless they’re wearing numbers 50 through 79. I’ve learned that special teams coaches in the South have asked the SEC’s officiating supervisor if they could circumvent this rule by having the snapper take his position after everyone else, and the league’s officiating supervisor told them that they could not. Sorry, coaches.

Our Southern pals are not alone. Coaches all over are angry about this, as a big handful explained to USA Today in April. Among other things, coaches predict:

1. Fewer fakes, because defenses won’t be as liable to get confused over who on the offense is allowed to go downfield. (The ref I asked doesn’t accept that this will be true, but concedes it’ll remove some creativity lanes.)

2. More blocked kicks and injuries to punters, because teams that want to cover punts with better athletes will now have to leave them in the middle of their formations no matter what and hope they can block.

There’s also, of course, the possibility of a lot of early-season illegal formation flags while coaches and players get comfortable with the new rules. Coaches might also object so furiously that the NCAA shelves the change, but it’s held firm on it all summer despite the uproar. (Kirk Ferentz, special teams connoisseur, believes the rule will lead to a “clown show.”)

Personally? I think fewer fakes sounds bad, but the idea of more blocked kicks is a thread worth pulling on. Punting teams could respond to that by simply putting bigger bodies (the ones wearing numbers 50 to 79) next to the snapper, but then those guys would have to cover down the field. That sounds fun! It also sounds like a fair conflict to throw coaches into: You can either have better coverage or more flexibility to move people around for fakes. Pick one!

If you liked this, subscribe free to get more CFB emails from us on Fridays. You don’t even have to be a paid subscriber to get them:

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That’s a little column from Alex. Now here’s what to catch up on from a busy week at SZD.

Hector tagging in!

• It’s time to preview the Big 12. Because we go in order of the standings, we start with the current main character of the conference, Texas Tech, and how the Red Raiders are starting to see the downsides to having one guy be at the forefront of everything. Then we talk about every other team, in detail.

• Jessica Smetana joins to talk about Notre Dame for the independents and Pac-12 combined preview. She explains how CJ Carr could succeed after previously relying on a backfield that had two future first round NFL Draft picks. She also points out that Brian Kelly, who was seen visiting camp, might never get an in-stadium welcome unless most of the people in charge either leave or retire. Richard is surprised at this news.

• We have a special Friday episode for subscribers. Alex is joined by host emeritus Godfrey to talk about what conference commissioners actually do. This is especially helpful now that we’re in the middle of media days.

Some recommended reading

• For CBS Sports, Richard talked to current Stanford players about their attempt to unionize. The piece also includes the recent history of collegiate athletes attempting unionization.

• In the last Sports Business Hour, Matt Brown talked about the tension between the business of jersey patches and football rivalries. He specifically mentioned that Ohio State would never allow a sponsor to put a splash of blue on its scarlet unis even if the company’s logo was blue. Well, he was right.

• Elise Woodward is set to be the first female radio play-by-play announcer in FBS. She’ll be calling games for the Washington Huskies this upcoming season.

Thanks for watching our latest YouTube video

We dropped a video on how October 1, 2016 was one of the wildest days in college football. Based on all the comments on the video and throughout social, you all loved it. Is there another day in college football that is at that level? Let us know. Also, if you haven’t watched it yet, you can check it out right here.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk to you next week

Host emeritus Steven Godfrey joins Alex for this subscriber episode. College football’s conference commissioners are all over the microphone right now. How many of them actually have things to do, and how many of them are trying to look like they have agency while the world closes in on them?

- 0:25: Who are media days for in 2026? Well, the commissioners.

- 2:21: How Mike Slive created the modern commissioner’s state of the union

- 5:25: Brett Yormark’s problem at the Big 12’s kickoff event

- 12:35: Why the Big Ten and SEC commissioners are so busy at the moment

- 20:45: Quiet on the ACC front

- 23:26: Does the sport need all these commissioners?

Producer: Anthony Vito

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Our 2026 conference preview series rolls on with the Big 12. Alex and Richard pick out one thing they like, one thing they don’t, and one thing that makes them curious about all 16 teams in this league, in reverse standings order:

- 1:16: Texas Tech

- 11:44: BYU

- 15:03: Utah

- 20:50: Houston

- 24:20: Arizona

- 30:08: Arizona State

- 34:57: Iowa State

- 39:02: Kansas State

- 43:06: TCU

- 49:14: Cincinnati

- 55:20: Baylor

- 1:01:44: Kansas

- 1:05:10: UCF

- 1:09:56: West Virginia

- 1:12:16: Colorado

- 1:20:37: Oklahoma State

- 1:22:53: Preseason superlatives and conference honors

Producer: Anthony Vito

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If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription.

For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Thank you to our partners, Homefield and Nokian Tyres.

Richard and Alex preview the two remaining FBS independents, Notre Dame and UConn, before diving into the reconstituted Pac-12. Teams in order:

• 5:57: Notre Dame, featuring Jessica Smetana of The Echoes

• 26:45: UConn

• 34:30: Moving to the new Pac-12 and refreshing you on the new membership and competitive format of the league

• 40:29: Boise State

• 48:21: San Diego State

• 51:35: Fresno State

• 58:41: Utah State

• 1:01:42: Washington State

• 1:09:25: Oregon State

• 1:12:50: Texas State

• 1:17:06: Colorado State

• 1:19:39: Pac-12 superlatives and preseason honors

Producer: Anthony Vito

Thanks to all of you who joined us during RELAUNCH WEEK. The 2026 season is now underway.

In case you did not feel like listening to five podcasts and watching a short history doc from us all in a five-day period, here’s a catchup:

• Free podcast: The 2026 ACC preview (our first of the year)

• Subscriber podcast: “Why You’re Always Bad: Northwestern” feat. Rodger Sherman

• Free podcast: The 2026 Coach Firing Confidence Draft

• Subscriber podcast: “Story of a Season: 2001”

• Wide release: “Anatomy of a Coach Carousel: 2001”

We also have a new YouTube history doc, which a few thousand people seem to have enjoyed quite a bit so far. We think you’ll like it too!

You can support all of this work by becoming a paid subscriber if you’re not one already. Here are many other ways you can help us if you’re interested.

Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, and to the home stretch of Split Zone Duo’s Relaunch Week

Relaunch Week is when we officially kick off the season preview episodes, as well as drop in a few surprises throughout the week. We’re so close to the season that we can almost take a whiff of that nice autumn breeze. And we’d like you to come along for the ride with us when the season gets here. In the meantime, we often get questions from listeners and subscribers about how they can support the podcast beyond the most obvious things. We’re honored that people want to help us succeed.

Here’s a long list of ways you can help:

Purchase a premium subscription:

• Just through Sunday, we’re offering 30% off an annual subscription, so now is an excellent time to sign up. You get about twice as many episodes in your feed, and we consider these episodes to be some of our best stuff. If you like the coach carousel or CFB history, or just want a bit more insight during the season, this is for you.

• Gift a subscription to a friend. The sale still applies to gift subs.

Follow these social media accounts and then interact with our carousels and videos on them:

• We’re on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok, Twitter, Threads, and Facebook.

• Follow Alex, Richard, and Hector (me) on their own accounts. This helps the podcast reach new people, which is crucial to keeping us chugging.

• We now have two YouTube channels: a podcast channel and a channel for special projects. You should subscribe to both. Optionally, you can watch all of our videos start to finish five times and then email them to all of your contacts.

• Leave comments on our videos and shorts when you see them. We love feedback.

• Basically, when you see Split Zone Duo stuff, engage with it in your preferred way.

Tell someone about our podcast:

• Leave a review or star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or anywhere it looks like you can leave a review. If you’re a paid subscriber, leave a comment on your preferred platform’s main SZD feed, as your private feed on Apple Podcasts doesn’t have a review option.

• Tell a friend about us. Drop a referral link in the group chat or tell your buddy in person. College football is always better with friends. You can also get subscription dollars back if people sign up!

Listen to the podcast:

• Grab your headphones or turn up the speakers, and enjoy the episodes. People often ask if it’s best to listen on any particular platform. The answer: nope, just listen somewhere.

Support our sponsors and be loud about it:

Homefield for great college sports apparel, Nokian Tyres for great tires, and more partners as you hear about them on our show.

Send us comments or social media posts about your favorite stuff you’ve gotten from these fine companies! They’ve been amazing partners, and your enthusiastic support also helps us connect with other potential sponsors.

We also have a “name your price” option for people who want to send more subscription dollars than $10 a month. At this time, we don’t offer any special perks at this level, but we offer it because some subscribers feel strongly enough about the show that they want to support it at a higher level. As always, there are no expectations and a lot of appreciation there.

In the meantime, let’s talk about the reigning ACC champs, Duke.

There’s still some juice to squeeze in the proverbial orange that is the ACC’s wonky tiebreaker scenario that kept Miami out of the conference championship and put Virginia and Duke in. And it’s not just limited to intraconference joking, either. At SEC Media Days, new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall used them as an example to prove that the state of college football’s elite is centered on just the Power Two. He told Brett McMurphy, “I’m not knocking any league. And then there’s a couple behind that (the Big 12 and ACC) and the American’s right there. Like last year’s ACC champion was who? Duke. We beat ‘em in Tulane.”

First off, Sumrall is absolutely knocking the ACC here. But more importantly, he’s identifying that last year’s situation was so rare that it presents an opportunity to widen the gap between his conference and the ACC. A five-loss Duke representing the conference as a champion probably won’t happen again, so now is the time to point that out. In a few weeks, everyone’s record will be 0-0 and the new ACC tiebreakers will be in place. But Sumrall’s comparison changes drastically if Miami, an ACC team who won their Playoff games to advance to the national championship, were in the conference championship game instead. Like most things in the offseason, every move is about brand positioning, in the hopes that it might get you a bit better committee consideration later on. That’s the game, until the actual games on the field begin.

Here’s what Alex and Richard dropped into your podcast feeds in Relaunch Week:

• Season previews are here! First up is the ACC. Miami is the team to beat in the conference, but someone else has to join them in the championship game. Could it be the reigning champs, Duke? Probably not.

• Rodger Sherman joins in for an episode of Why You’re Always Bad on the Northwestern Wildcats. He spends a chunk of the show trying to convince everyone that Northwestern has a winning record since 2008, which historical records do seem to support. Still, Alex and Richard don’t buy it. This is a great episode for remembering some guys and really understanding a program.

• Alex is ready to defend his 2025 title in the latest episode of the Coach Departure Draft. Which coach is close to being pre-fired entering the season if things don’t improve, and whose buyout is too big for the school to move on in the immediate future (Pat Narduzzi.) Which one will resign and then join another school, thereby giving Alex something to gloat about for the next season? It won’t be Kyle Whittingham; we can be sure of that. Both Alex and Richard have different rankings. Where do you agree? Where don’t you?

• It’s the 25th anniversary of the 2001 season. Alex and Richard take a look back at one of the most unusual seasons this sport has ever had.

• We’re taking a subscriber episode out of paywall and putting it on the free feed. This one is on the 2001 coaching carousel. Look for it today.

The craziest 24 hours in one college football Saturday:

We have a new video for you over on our YouTube channel. It’s about October 1st, 2016. In the span of 24 hours, we got so many game winners and iconic college football moments. Mack Brown had to abandon doing commentary during that Friday’s BYU-Toledo game because it ran so long. North Carolina started their game with a seemingly insurmountable lead against Florida State. An interim coach named Ed Orgeron won his first game at LSU. Jauan Jennings made a catch for the Tennessee Volunteers. Watch as Richard walks you through every moment. I honestly forgot how many things happened in such a short amount of time.

Have an idea for another video? Drop it in the comments. Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk to you next week.

This is a wider re-release of a 2025 episode for Split Zone Duo’s paid subscribers, who make this show possible. We’re sharing it widely to show more people what our subscriber shows are like, and because it’s a natural fit with our new episode on the 25-year anniversary of the 2001 season.

Through Sunday, July 27, you can sign up for an annual subscription at 30% off. (Plus, an annual subscription already includes a free month.)

30% off special

The coaching carousel before the 2001 season transformed college football. Some programs set themselves up for national championship (or even dynastic) runs. Some screwed themselves. Some set the stage for the next several decades of the top tiers of the SEC and Big Ten. In this episode, Alex Kirshner, Richard Johnson, and Steven Godfrey take a fine-toothed comb through the consequential coaching cycle at the end of 2000:

• 9:07: The hires that worked out well (Gary Patterson to TCU, Pete Carroll to USC, Jim Tressel to Ohio State, Rich Rodriguez to WVU, and many more)

• 23:20: The hires that fell flat (hello, UNC and Arizona)

• 26:45: The hires that shaped college football to this day

• 29:06: The what-if scenarios that nearly made it all different

• 40:03: A reevaluation of Larry Coker?

• 54:32: Ohio State and Georgia shopping for upgrades

• 55:45: Class superlatives, including the Ellis Johnson Southern Miss Award for missed opportunities, the Coaching Carousel Global Impact Award for the most profound ripple effects, and Hire of the Year

Producer: Anthony Vito

Content note: This episode includes an extended discussion of the September 11 attacks and their connection to college football.

For Relaunch Week, Alex and Richard revisit the 2001 college football season, a year flattened in memory into the dominance of an all-time Miami team but very, very strange below the surface. September 11 halted the sport and …

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Welcome back to Split Zone Duo RELAUNCH WEEK 2026. This week only (through Sunday), you can become a paid subscriber and take 30% off your first year of an annual subscription at this link. This episode is free for everyone, and if you like it, we’ve got more like it behind the paywall.

Alex and Richard conduct the second annual Coach Firing/Retirement/Departure Confidence Draft, assigning point values to 27 FBS coaches based on how likely they are to leave their jobs after the 2026 season, either because they got fired or retired. (Poachings are not included.) Last year, Alex scored a narrow victory thanks to his bold and successful pick of Kyle Whittingham to be out at Utah after the season. Can Richard fight back?

The board runs in order of tenure, from Kirk Ferentz’s 28th year at Iowa to Bill Belichick’s second at North Carolina, and produces wide gaps on Joe Moorhead, Mike Norvell, Luke Fickell, and the exact meaning of a Lincoln Riley departure. In this episode, we cover these coaches in order:

• 5:23: Kirk Ferentz at Iowa

• 6:21: Troy Calhoun at Air Force

• 7:54: Dabo Swinney at Clemson

• 9:39: Dave Doeren at NC State

• 11:01: Pat Narduzzi at Pitt

• 12:15: Mike Locksley at Maryland

• 14:27: Mike Norvell at Florida State

• 15:32: Ricky Rahne at Old Dominion

• 16:11: Shane Beamer at South Carolina

• 18:12: Steve Sarkisian at Texas

• 20:34: Sonny Cumbie at Louisiana Tech

• 21:50: Joe Moorhead at Akron

• 23:49: Timmy Chang at Hawaii

• 24:39: Tony Elliott at Virginia

• 27:01: Lincoln Riley at USC

• 29:04: Sonny Dykes at TCU

• 30:35: Brent Venables at Oklahoma

• 31:53: Deion Sanders at Colorado

• 33:43: Luke Fickell at Wisconsin

• 34:40: Jamey Chadwell at Liberty

• 35:35: Matt Rhule at Nebraska

• 37:05: Bill O’Brien at Boston College

• 38:41: Kalen DeBoer at Alabama

• 40:14: Scotty Walden at UTEP

• 40:50: Derek Mason at Middle Tennessee

• 40:53: Dell McGee at Georgia State

• 42:00: Bill Belichick at North Carolina

Note: We unintentionally omitted Baylor's Dave Aranda from this draft. We will come back to him in the Big 12 preview later this summer.

Producer: Anthony Vito

If you like this, you’ll like a paid subscription

For $10 a month (or you can get a discounted annual subscription this week), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Producer: Anthony Vito

Welcome back to Split Zone Duo RELAUNCH WEEK 2026. The below episode is for paid subscribers, including a free preview for everyone. This week only (through Sunday), you can become a paid subscriber and take 30% off your first year of an annual subscription at this link.

Rodger Sherman joins Alex and Richard for the newest installment of “Why You’re Always Bad,” focused on the program that now owns the FBS record for losses. Northwestern has also posted a winning record over the last 18 years, won six consecutive bowl games, and is preparing to open an extremely expensive new stadium. So Rodger comes prepared to challenge the premise. The group works through the Wildcats’ dark ages, occasional breakthroughs, facility-rich “Ryan family,” small fan base, and existential need to remain inside the Big Ten. In this episode. In this episode:

• 4:04: Brief history of Northwestern football

• 9:56: Cool players and guys you should know from program history, including Trevor Siemian, Justin Jackson, and Otto Graham. Plus, a trailblazing history of Black coaches and NFL presidents

• 28:51: Awful moments in program history (there are many)

• 59:33: Do they have any money (and who, exactly, are the “Ryan family”)

• 1:10:09: What are their (many) non-financial difficulties?

• 1:20:06: Can we find one villain to blame for their struggles?

• 1:22:42: What is this program’s best-case scenario in the next 10 years?

• 1:25:58: Verdict time: What happens if the Big Ten splits?

Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode.

To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a discounted annual subscription this week), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Producer: Anthony Vito

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We are also offering our annual Relaunch Week special, good for 30 percent off your first year of an annual subscription.

Relaunch Week 30% off

Welcome to our first conference preview of the 2026 season, where Alex and Richard discuss the ACC’s 17 teams. This episode has a rose (a good thing), a bud (a point of intrigue), and a thorn (a worry) for every team in the league. Each school is covered, and then we pick some preseason awards:

- 4:28: Virginia

- 10:51: Duke

- 16:13: SMU

- 21:49: Miami

- 29:28: Pitt

- 34:43: Georgia Tech

- 43:28: NC State

- 49:05: Cal

- 52:53: Clemson

- 58:48: Louisville

- 1:02:47: Wake Forest

- 1:08:23: Stanford

- 1:11:38: Florida State

- 1:17:33: North Carolina

- 1:23:52: Virginia Tech

- 1:28:34: Boston College

- 1:32:08: Syracuse

Producer: Anthony Vito. Thanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres.

Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where we are looking back before going forward. In that spirit, I have a question for you on this Friday:

If you could pick a trio of classic games from the century so far to watch as a triple feature, which ones would they be? You may be reading this in your inbox, but we’d love your comments on the web version of this story.

The games don’t have to be universally beloved. (This might be more fun if they’re not, actually.) You just need to distinctly remember being on the edge of your seat while watching them play out. There are no wrong answers, and your selections might reveal a little about the types of games you prefer.

Here are my quick picks:

• Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 2024: I think I might have a soft spot for overtime games that last for so long that you convince yourself you’ve become suspended in time. This was the eight-overtime game where both coaches were so spent that they shared an embrace afterward.

• Colorado vs. Colorado State, 2023: This was the Colorado hype at its peak. College GameDay was in town and even The Rock was there for some reason. You had that colliding with Colorado State’s Jay Norvell as the heel. And from the Shilo Sanders 80-yard interception to start the game to Shedeur and Jimmy Horn leading a wild late comeback, this game was sick. This was also one of the last vestiges of Pac-12 After Dark, before CU and many others split for the Big 12. I distinctly remember everyone staying up and being online for this one.

• USC vs. Texas, 2005, otherwise known as the night the sport got me: This was my first proper introduction to college football. In Los Angeles, where I grew up, Trojan hype reached almost everyone at that point. I remember the hubris from one of my teachers during a school day, when they talked about how USC was going to make light work of the Longhorns. I tuned in and experienced an incredible moment and a ton of heartbreak courtesy of Vince Young.

We’re picking only three games here, but Richard and Alex drafted 26 of their favorite games from this century, with a slight twist in one of this week’s episodes. Subscribers can find that right now in their feeds.

Here’s what Alex and Richard dropped into your podcast feeds this week:

● For subscribers, Richard and Alex held the aforementioned Best Games of the Century draft. While we are able to pick games without any limitation, they had two big caveats: if one person picked a game from a season, then that whole season’s slate of games was off the board. Plus, nobody could use two games involving the same team. Our two hosts got very strategic in picking their favorite games while blocking the other from creating their preferred slate. It gets intense. After you listen to the episode, head to our Instagram to vote for the person with the best collection of games.

● Matt Brown joined the show for the Sports Business Hour. There’s so much to talk about, from the Big 12’s jersey sponsorship with Monster Energy, to the blowback from EA Sports adding microtransactions to certain game modes, to the potential shakeup coming up at the University of Michigan. You can watch the video version over on our YouTube channel.

Some recommended reading

● Over at Slate, Alex took a look back at Graham Platner’s campaign, its demise, and the online platforms that made this campaign feel like such an internet war. Alex also reviewed the new Will Ferrell golf show on Netflix. Yikes.

● For every Michigan scandal that Alex and Richard have talked about on the podcast, athletic director Warde Manuel’s job security typically has come up. Just this week, CBS Sports reported that Manuel’s job is in jeopardy. Richard provided an update to that earlier in the week, explaining that while Manuel’s future could be up in the air, Michigan brass won’t make the final decision just yet.

● Matt examined the Big 12 Monster Energy patch deal in detail over at Extra Points.

● For The Athletic, Chris Vannini talked to Rhett Lashlee about SMU and why he stuck around with the Mustangs despite some enticing job openings in the SEC.

Relaunch Week is coming up

Next week is our SZD Relaunch Week, when we officially kick off the upcoming season with conference previews and a lot more. See you soon, ACC.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and we’ll talk to you next week.

26 years, 26 games, and two rules designed to make it a huge pain. Scroll down this page to vote on the winning team between Alex’s and Richard’s.

A quarter of the way (and change) into the 21st century, the occasion calls for a proper celebration of the sport we all love before we get into 2026 in earnest. Richard and Alex compete in a draft of the century’s best games to date, but there’s a twist: years cannot be repeated, and neither drafter can use the same team more than once, whether it won or lost. We won’t spoil the picks in the episode description this time, so you’ll just have to see where they fall.

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Everyone can hear a free preview of this episode.

To get the whole thing, become a paid subscriber today. For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Vote on who put together the better team, so that someone can make fun of the loser

Producer: Anthony Vito

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Matt Brown of Extra Points joins Richard and Alex to talk about the major college sports business stories of the moment. In this latest SZD/Extra Points Sports Business Hour (and the final week before conference previews), the gang discuss the following:

• 2:06: The EA Sports microtransactions revolt

• 28:02: The Big 12 and Monster Energy: a sponsorship bag fumble or the internet getting carried away during a dead zone in July?

• 42:10: More Texas Tech vs. the Big 12 from media days

• 49:25: Michigan’s athletic department limbo as a lawfirm investigation into the Wolverines’ culture comes to a conclusion

If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription.

Subscribe now

For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Thank you to our partners

• Shop at Homefield

• Learn more about Nokian Tyres

Producer: Anthony Vito

• 0:27: Alex’s shameful record in last year’s game

• 5:47: NIL comes to the EA CFB franchise. Why and how?

• 15:16: Mascot Mode back, plus other new features and how the video game has become a very real part of the college football economy

• 27:04: New team and stadium additions, and what didn’t make it in time

• 32:05: Road to Glory changes, “generational recruits,” ratings logic, and “dynamic weather” as new parts of the game

• 51:38: Tweaks to the coach carousel and player decisions, plus the aesthetic changes that Ben says will make the game feel more real. Plus: How does a professional game developer feel about all of those AI mockups?

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Paid subscribers got to ask questions in this episode

For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Thank you to our partners

• Shop at Homefield

• Learn more about Nokian Tyres

Alex, Richard, and Godfrey spend this subscriber episode reopening some of college football’s ugliest firing files: the decisions that looked reckless in the moment, the ones that aged like bad cheese, and the cases where the process was the bad before the next hire even got started. The trip runs from Nebraska and Washington through FIU, East Carolina, Maryland, and Ole Miss, with athletic directors getting at least as much scrutiny as the fired coaches.

In this episode:

• 2:23: The honorable-mention bucket, including Bo Pelini, Larry Coker, Jeff Jagodzinski, Rick Neuheisel, and Mike Price.

• 17:24: Nebraska actually gets its own division, with Frank Solich tagging in

• 22:13: Mario Cristobal at FIU, an incomprehensible mistake

• 32:38: Ruffin McNeill at East Carolina, which becomes a real AD disaster tale

• 41:27: Ralph Friedgen at Maryland is arguably the worst of all, feat. a James Franklin “coach in waiting” mess

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Producer: Anthony Vito

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Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where World Cup fever has hit the Split Zone Duo offices.

We’re talking about the World Cup this week, not just here but also in this week’s free episode. Indulge me while I try to work out this college football comparison. Mexico’s national team always feels like it’s good enough to make a splash early in the tournament, but ultimately fails to measure up against the elite teams. They’re in the conversation for just enough time to be molded into the zeitgeist, not unlike a decent team in the SEC. In World Cups since 2010, the Mexican men’s team has finished 14th, 10th, 12th, and 22nd. That doesn’t stop fans of El Tri from declaring that this is the year they finally get it together. I will say, Mexico is looking great so far in 2026 with a clean sheet in the group stage, mixed in with some strokes of defensive luck that add even more hope.

So my theory is this: Mexico is the Tennessee Vols of the national soccer stage. Both fanbases may feel uneasy about the comparison, which makes me think I’ve hit the sweet spot. Since 2010, the Vols have had above-average seasons in the 9-4 range. They even have a similar rough patch amid those seasons, their own little Jeremy Pruitt/Butch Jones era. And like El Tri, they’ve made their way into the big tournament only to lose as soon as they get there.

You might be thinking to yourself: “Tennessee has Smokey, a live mascot draped in Vols colors. Mexico doesn’t have anything like that.” You would have been correct a few weeks ago. But since then, fans of El Tri have adopted Merlin, a duck in a green soccer jersey that walks the streets of Mexico City. I was at a Mexico watch party where fans celebrated by waving a plush Merlin among a sea of tossed beer and waving flags. The hype is real.

Will the results be as real when Mexico hits the knockout stage? Until one of these two teams exceeds expectations and proves us wrong, the comparison will still stand. (Please prove me wrong, El Tri.) Speaking of other comparisons between soccer and college football …

Here’s what Alex and Richard dropped into your podcast feeds this week

• World Cup! Mike Goodman from The Double Pivot hops on to talk about FIFA’s reputation not eclipsing the joy soccer fans get from this tournament, US Soccer, and the improbable story of Cabo Verde.

• We talk about the offseason through the lens of hope because no one has hit the field yet. But there are plenty of teams who feel doomed from the start. Godfrey joined Alex and Richard for a subscriber episode to talk about which coaches can escape that rut and which ones should already be looking ahead.

Some recommended reading

• Brandon Marcello at CBS Sports wrote about the inner workings of James Franklin’s offseason at Virginia Tech, specifically focusing on how Brent Pry stuck around after being fired as head coach. It’s a peculiar situation but one that can work out.

• Our pals at The Athletic have taken a time machine back to the 1990s and ranked the best coaches of the era. It’s part of a bigger ‘90s package they’ve got going over there. Check it out for a nice nostalgia rush.

• Matt Brown over at Extra Points wrote about .. Jordon Hudson? She’s been filing FOIA requests to UNC. Matt has some experience with records requests! So he gives some advice on how to refine searches. These tips are helpful for everyone.

We’ll see you soon.

Mike Goodman, cohost of soccer podcast The Double Pivot, joins Richard and Alex to talk about a subject that’s been on our minds a lot lately: tournament expansion. The World Cup expanded from 32 teams to 48, and we’ve already seen some of the benefits (and perhaps some of the drawbacks) of that move. What can the recent experiences of the world’s biggest sporting event tell us about college football’s potential playoff expansion to 16 or 24 teams?

• 0:17: Should the World Cup’s expansion prompt a rethink of the CFP’s?

• 3:21: Mike Goodman joins and explains FIFA’s weird (read: corrupt) politics

• 27:39: Why this has worked fairly well in soccer but probably isn’t translatable to college football

• 45:21: What college football could learn from FIFA’s situation

If you like this episode, you’ll love a paid subscription

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For $10 a month (or you can get a free month with an annual subscription), subscribers get about twice as many Split Zone Duo podcasts, as well as our coach carousel reporting, deep dives on college football history, Q&A opportunities, and many more goodies as we think of them. You also help keep this show independent and ensure we’re making a podcast that puts our listeners, not anyone else, first.

Producer: Anthony Vito

Hey! This is a subscriber-episode of SZD. Everyone can hear a free preview of 20ish minutes, but the full thing is reserved for our paid subscribers. For $10, get roughly twice as many episodes and treat them as a companion to the college football season. Thanks to everyone who’s already joined us. Subscribe here.

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Welcome to the College Football Newsletter, where we don’t have to talk about the Texas Tech Brendan Sorsby saga ever again (after this newsletter).

The now former Red Raiders quarterback, who by now you should know gambled against his team while at Indiana (note: by way of a reported “under” bet on his team’s passing yards), transferred to Cincinnati where he gambled some more, and then was temporarily allowed to play in the 2026 season in Lubbock, is forgoing his court ordered college eligibility and opting for the NFL instead. That follows a scandal where Texas Tech, Cody Campbell, and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton got very loud and mad about the situation with little to show for it. There was even a 21-minute long video from Texas Tech brass explaining their decision to back up Sorsby’s return.

If you’re looking for a silver lining as a Red Raider fan, the attention from being the main character of the offseason does have some merits. It’s an unfortunate necessary evil of both this situation and the influx of money coming into the program. People will keep talking about this situation for a long time, pushing the school into the larger college football zeitgeist. Complain all you want about Texas Tech (I have) but there’s also a novelty about them this offseason simply because we are not talking about the Georgias, Ohio States, or Alabamas.

Richard and Alex like to joke that this is an NFL podcast, but we legitimately have a reason to consider the NFL as the tail end of this long story. So, which team will pick Brendan Sorsby in the NFL supplemental draft? Here’s what Richard had to say in this week’s episode:

“Doubtful first round, but probably second round, third round. I joked that maybe a team that isn’t necessarily quarterback needy immediately but would like to have another one could take him. Maybe the Eagles, for instance. Doesn’t seem like the Browns will, at least according to Mary Kay Cabot.”

Sorsby going to a team with an established starter does make some sense. The Eagles in particular have the reputation for getting value in drafts that benefits their short and long term roster plan.

The Cleveland Browns selecting Sorsby would make this already toxic and memeable story even moreso, and I don’t know if I’m specifically talking about the Texas Tech or Browns side of this. The Browns already have Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, and Dillon Gabriel on their depth chart and have been cagey about announcing a starter ahead of this season. This destination seems unlikely.

Pittsburgh is currently home to the Aaron Rodgers retirement tour, but the Steelers do have some relatively younger quarterbacks in Drew Allar and Will Howard. Could they pick up Sorsby and see which of the three pans out while Rodgers wraps up his career? It could be worth a shot (but don’t tell Alex I said that).

The Rams would also probably have been a good option for this had they not already spent their most recent first rounder on Ty Simpson. Could you imagine Los Angeles using that pick on a Makai Lemon instead and then having Sorsby fall into their lap? Everyone would be so mad. But that’s okay, I don’t think Los Angeles needs any more help with roster construction with the way their offseason has gone.

More realistically: it’ll probably be the Jets who select Sorsby.

Here’s what Alex and Richard dropped into your podcast feeds this week

• Richard recorded a solo subscriber episode on what should be the final show on the Brendan Sorsby saga. He talked about how Texas Tech underestimated how much this would dominate the college sports news cycle and how Cody Campbell is forced to take the loss after being the loudest proponent for Sorsby playing.

• Last week, we asked you what your biggest worries are for your college football team. We compiled them and aired out every grievance we could for the free episode this week. Listen to Richard explain the bleakness of the Boston College situation under Bill O’Brien and Alex agree with everyone who submitted questions about the Pitt and Maryland situations.The episode isn’t all pessimism, though. They did manage to quell some overblown worries from other fanbases. Watch the video version here.

Some recommended reading

• For CBS Sports, Richard chronicled the Brendan Sorsby saga through the eyes of the biggest winner of the situation: Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark.

• Matt Brown went to the FOIA machine to find out which program generated the most revenue. No surprise: football and basketball dominate, but check out which departments punch above their weight.

• If you haven’t already subscribed to Rodger Sherman’s Sports! Newsletter, what are you waiting for? The most recent entry is about Cape Verde winning the hearts of soccer fans with its 0-0 win over Spain.

• If you’re still looking for someone to root for in the World Cup, Holly Anderson and Spencer Hall have you covered over at Channel 6.

• Did you watch Donovan McNabb play football either at Syracuse or in the NFL? Well, his son has just committed to UNLV. Please remember to take your vitamins after you finish reading this newsletter.

Thanks for reading and we’ll talk to you next week.

This episode is for paid subscribers, but everyone can hear a free preview. Want to get all of our podcasts? Join us here.

Richard takes a solo show journey to wrap up the Brendan Sorsby saga now that the Texas Tech quarterback has announced his intention to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft and effectively end a sports betting saga that included dueling lawsuits, seething administrators/coaches, and state politicians getting into a tit-for-tat.

-What does the whole affair tell us about the status of Cody Campbell’s team ownership?

-Did Tech author its own demise?

-How Brett Yormark comes out looking the best out of every admin.

-What’s the recourse if you’re just over following lawsuits?

-Also … Sorsby’s gonna get taken by a team, right?

Producer: Anthony Vito

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