AP Top 25 Reaction | Most intriguing QB battles | Recruiting News | Cover 3 on CBSSN

[Music] [Music] and welcome back to the cover three podcast here on CBS sports that's Tom forelli that's Bud Elliot I'm chip Patterson coming to you live on CBS Sports Network very excited to be rocking with you for the next hour Big Show on Deck we'll be getting into one of the most notable starting quarterback decision that we have in the entire country as well as some of the quarterback battles we've got our eyes on some recruiting news as we are starting to get a lot of big commitments here in the late portion of the summer but we begin with the AP Top 25 that was released on Monday it sets the stage the starting point for everything involving the top teams in the country competing against each other so Georgia starts the year at number one that's no surprise Ohio State at number two you've got the rest of the top 10 very similar to what you saw at the coaches poll or at the CBS Sports 134 Oregon at three Texas at four Alabama Old Miss Notre Dame Penn State Michigan and Florida State rounding it out but this top 10 is important gentlemen because we're going to pull out the history books in 20 of the last 21 Seasons at least one team from the top 10 in the preseason poll has finished the season unranked outside side of the top 25 last year it was the USC Trojans they were number six in the preseason poll seven- five in the regular season eight and5 uh at the end of the year after they won the Holiday Bowl but they finished the year unranked so if history is to hold like it did in 20 of the last 21 Seasons who will be this year's top 10 team that finishes the year unranked Tom I'm GNA let you get first crack at this one first I'm going to say that I believe that Trend becomes 20 of the last 22 Seasons after this year because as I look at this top 10 I see plenty of teams that might fall out and still be ranked and not be in the top 10 at the end of the year but I just think honestly with the way that the sport is consolidating into two main conferences we are going to see voters change the way they approach looking at teams who lose games and you're going to see more three and four lost teams hanging around the top 10 just based on the conference where they play in because if you put that graphic back up again you'll notice eight of the 10 teams in that top 10 come from two specific leagues but for the sake of this exercise I'll pick one of the two teams that isn't from one of those two main leagues I'm sorry to do this to you bud but I'm taking Florida State again I don't think Florida State's gonna have a season where they finish unranked but I do think of those 10 teams based on how we saw the college football playoff selection treat the seols last year and just the kind of national narrative surrounding the seols if they lose their big games against Miami Clemson and Notre Dame that's three losses right there and if they slip up somewhere else along the way and they're eight and4 with no good wins perhaps Florida state gets left out of the top 25 perhaps DJ OU young is not the rock that they're hoping for a quarterback to help keep the ship steady perhaps the wide receiver situation isn't as good as we saw last year when it was filled with NFL players perhaps the offensive line isn't stalwart and maybe the secondary isn't El lead I think the defensive line no matter how many games they lose is going to be one of the best in the country so I don't really see the floor falling out beneath the seminal but of those 10 teams I guess I'll just go with the one that's ranked the lowest to start Tom I think you're really on to something there with the logic right and to me in my personal power ratings less than a field goal separates like the number four team from the number 16 team so I don't like top 10 is an arbitrary cutoff so I agree this probably will happen this year and full disclosure I was sick yesterday when the rundown was being made so you guys actually took probably my top two choices here but because I had to go last I'm GNA have to go with the Michigan Wolverines who are decided underdogs in three games this year I think they're the only team in the top 10 that will be a point spread Underdog three times they're still trying to decide on quarterback will it be Alex orgy will it be Jack Tuttle if it's not Alex orgy what does that say about this team because can you name the Michigan starting receivers a lot of people out there can't I don't think they're really all that great so if you go with the pocket passer what does that say about orgy maybe he can't throw I'm hoping it's going to be orgy I hope that Michigan does not finish unranked and to be honest it's probably not a great pick anyway because I think the other nine teams on this schedule probably can't block Michigan's defense but I have to pick somebody because it's a TV show I'm gonna go with the team that's actually already an underdog three times according to Vegas so give me Michigan hey but Bud you can always break the rules all right they're letting dag on podcasters on CBS Sports Network now we can always be able to get out there and break the rules so I guess that you would have a little bit of confidence then in the my pick here and I'm going to Spotlight a team that already has had some negative headlines it's the Notre Dame Fighting Irish I mean they just lost left tackle Charles chusa to this for the season and they're already replacing two tackles I mean we were here on the CBS Sports Network you know telling you how important of an injury that was especially when you've got new quarterback Riley Leonard who has a little bit of an injury history especially when you've got know a new offensive coordinator and you've got all these wide receivers that you've really tried to make you know a real prominent part of what the offense is going to be but look if you can't block you can't throw and so I think Notre Dame right now is going to be favored in a lot of games on the schedule but what happens if they lose to a team that they should beat and what happens if they cannot win in their biggest games because a loss to Texas A&M might take Notre Dame out of the top 10 it won't make him unranked but lose to Louisville or go and lose to Georgia Tech in Atlanta those kinds of losses will have the Fighting Irish plummeting down the rankings because frankly there are just not enough quality opponents on this schedule so if you're going to tell me that Notre Dame is going to be in the college football playoff and the first reason that you mentioned is their schedule then I will challenge that that also might be the one of the reasons why they are not going to be able to stay in the top 25 should they lose games because if they don't have quality wins they've got no way to be able to hang up inside the top 25 so with injuries already rearing their ugly head with some of the turnover that we've had from last year I'm already looking at the Fighting Irish again of those top 10 teams as a team that potentially could end up finishing the year unranked and Chip I don't know if you saw go ahead the last two practices they've actually been running true freshman andan nap at left tackle to to replace char Charles so that's a huge deal I thought it was gonna be Tosh Baker I don't know Tosh Baker is not living up to the billing but uh good luck in College Station on that opening night I'm sure Nick scorton will be extremely excited to face off against a guy who probably should have been in prom just three months ago yeah no for sure but chip I was saying I think you and I were clearly part of the problem because at least Bud went out on the limb and pick the defending national champions to fall out of the top 25 you and me we go for the easy pickings we take the only two teams in the top 10 that aren't in the Big 10 in the SEC and say yeah they'll get rid of them in a heartbeat but I I think Notre Dam honestly I took Florida state but I think the Irish are a very good call as far as the 10 teams because as you mentioned losing jusa at left tackle is huge considering you're already replacing Joe alz you're already replacing Blake fish Fischer at right tackle you have a quarterback last year and Riley Leonard who missed a lot of time because he was banged up and is mostly a more mobile quarterback than he is a passer at this stage in his career so you take away the guy who's responsible for defending his Blind Side this is a team that when you look at the teams in the top 10 obviously Notre Dame's talented like they have done a excellent job of bringing players in but I don't know if they have that kind of depth overall as a lot of the other teams in the top 10 so if they're already suffering injuries now that's a team who might be another two or three injuries away from completely falling apart and having a very disappointing season now that was 20 of the last 21 Seasons a top 10 team from the AP preseason poll has finished unranked outside of the top 25 let's go with an even longer Trend in 28 of the last 30 Seasons at least one team that has started the AP Top 25 Poll preseason unranked has finished up inside the top 10 last last year that was the Missouri Tigers unranked in the preseason they finish up at number eight so Bud let's go into others receiving votes let's go even off the board entirely maybe someone who got zero votes in the preseason polling but who do you have identified as a team that can go from unranked in the preseason to top 10 by the end of the year chip let's kind of stay in the midwest here I'm going to go Iowa State Iowa State a team that last year started really poorly they had the whole gambling Scandal they were in disar to start the season they lost to Ohio not Ohio State but to M team Ohio and they turned it around to have a pretty nice season freshman quarterback Roco Beck can really sling it they are one of the top teams in ter of returning production in the country and despite they won't be favored in every game but I only have them as a touchdown or more Underdog in just one game that trip to Utah they'll be favored in most very close but you could win a lot of different coin flips here and I I could really see with this Iowa State team nice quarterback skill position receivers like like you know Jay Noel really good always a salty defense I think the path is there for Iowa State if they're just a little bit better than people think to actually win a lot of these coin flip games and end up in the top 10 you know I I love that call but I do not hold the loss to Ohio against the Cyclones last year you might recall that Ohio was a wagon and that tends to happen when you get in the way of a wagon I had to deny my inner Homer here because I really wanted to go with my fighting Ali I of Illinois is the team that shocks everybody and goes in the top 10 but I decided to go a little more realistic I'm taking a team that has received votes already in the AP poll even if they didn't crack the top 25 give me Virginia Tech a team that I think has a couple of things coming together both from a schedule perspective and from a talent perspective to maybe make a surprising run in an ACC that I think we all agree Clemson Florida State and Miami are the top tier of the league but there's somewhat of a soft underbelly beneath those three and plenty of room for improvements I'm a big Kiren drones fan he transferred the Virginia Tech from Baylor last year took over the starting job early in the season he is not a complete and perfect quarterback yet but when I watch the tape he showed a lot of flashes and a lot of potential and I think going into his second season in this offense with some talented players around him at receiver some good running backs and an offensive line that I felt improved as the year went on this is a tech team that I think if you look at that schedule can take advantage of some of those games and get to that nine win area if everything breaks right and I think if Virginia Tech ends up nine and three there's a very good shot they're going to end up in the top 10 and they'll definitely be in the playoff conversation yeah I'm right around you in terms of like where in the voting I'm picking it it's right outside the top 25 but it's a team that I think is going to be favored in a lot of games now do I think the Boise State Broncos will be favored when they play Oregon I do not but if you want to think about voters what if Boise State goes in and and is respectable in that game that what if it is a oh I haven't said this in a long time a quality loss for the Broncos where you come out feeling you know more enthused about Boise State based on the way they handled their business in Eugene know the rest of the schedule sets up for them to have one of those double digigit win Seasons that has them going higher and higher and higher and higher in the rankings especially if they are starting just outside of the top 25 so with a strong starting position with a schedule that sets up for a lot of good winnable opportunities I'm looking at Boise State with one of the best running backs in the country in Ashton Jey back from last year's campaign I think Boise State could be a team that climbs up inside the top 10 by the end of the year so that's where we got with the rankings we'll have games soon we'll have games coming up in about a week and a half but not every team in the country has decided on their starting quarterback one very important team has others have not we'll get into the big news coming out of Columbus plus the quarterback battles that we've got our eye on and more [Music] next back here on the cover three podcast live on CBS Sports Network talking quarterback battles because as fall Camp continues we're going to get QB 1's named left and right we got a couple in the Big 10 earlier in the week we got Tyler van djk named as the starting quarterback at Wisconsin but it was the announcement uh on Thursday that got our attention as we look ahead to the start of the year in the Big 10 with the Ohio State Buckeyes the Big 10 favorite because Ryan day has announced that yes will Howard the transfer from Kansas state will be QB W for the opener now that quarterback room is loaded with Talent right now now you've got Devin Brown you've got Julian saan you've got Lincoln K Holtz you've got Aaron Nolan multiple Blue Chips about a handful of them so as we look at will Howard now officially the qb1 but I want to ask how much do you think is going to be put on his plate what are your expectations for the way that Chip Kelly oh yeah don't forget Chip Kelly is the offensive coordinator for this Rockstar Buckey team how do you think they're going to utilize Howard's skill set within the context of this Ohio State offense and the Personnel that surrounds it chipa I think that Ohio State fans who enjoy the urban Meer ER watched him run the quarterback as often as he did you know before they had adjustin fields are really going to enjoy the will Howard experience will Howard is a guy who he's a decent thrower I think Ohio State believes that he's a clear upgrade over the quarterback they had last year but I think his legs are also a differentiator for this team Chip Kelly obviously pretty notable for running some spread option Concepts a guy who likes to run the quarterback an awful lot I mean will Howard is he's got to be 23 or 24 years old at this point this is a grown man in the backfield for Ohio State handing off to two Elite level running backs and some some promising receiver Talent I've also seen reports on buck nuts are are great 247 Sports Ohio State site that they feel the offensive line is definitely improved this year so I think Howard is a real upgrade for Ohio State I think he'll fit in pretty nicely with what Chip Kelly and Ryan Day want to do yeah I I think there was probably some concern about will Howard having to take this long to be named the starting quarterback but I think there are a number of factors involved in that one is as you mentioned chip there's a lot of talent in that quarterback room so it's like for anybody to just think they were going to walk in and be handed the job even as a transfer with as much experience as will Howard has was probably asking a bit much but I also think we have to consider according to what Chip Kelly was saying today the defense was making life tough on every single quarterback in that room in practice and in Camp that is one of the best defenses in the country and none of these guys were having a ton of success going against it so I I'm not surprised will Howard ends up with the job I think that this is a team that like Bud was saying they are going to lean more into the Run game than we have seen in recent Seasons they're going to start honestly they couldn't beat Michigan so they're trying to look a little bit more like Michigan to compete with Michigan along the lines of scrimmage and what what they want to do as far as the physical nature of the offense and I think it'll also help where will Howard is really going to come in handy this team struggled to score in the Red Zone last year it's one of the reasons they brought in Quin Shan Judkins from Old Miss who's an excellent short yardage kind of back in the Red Zone he was great with the rebels and will Howard just gives them an element that they didn't have offensively last year because no defense was looking at Kyle McCord and saying oh we have to spy him and make sure he doesn't take off and you know get to the corner pylon for a touchdown you do have to do that with Will Howard he can roll out can make the pass he can also just run it in so I think that this offense with Will Howard even if he's not a gigantic Talent upgrade over Kyle mcord will be far more effective both from a style of play and the dynamism that they're going to have available to them also if you're will Howard what a group of receivers big body guy like talk about pushing it down the field like Colin Klein did so much to be able to create an offense where everyone's versatility was used to create explosive plays but when you think about AA bua providing the leadership what we've seen so far from a Carnell Tate Brandon inis has taken more steps forward and Jeremiah Smith continues to turn heads I think that will Howard has got to be thinking what an opportunity for me that you'll hear in what is likely the final year of college football to be able to prove myself as an a well-rounded quarterback that can make it get it done at the next level because you got some wide receivers that are also o going to be playing at the next level alongside you there in Columbus all right what about other quarterback battles that have not been settled yet so Tom I I'll throw this to you first because you've got your eye on a team with a a very intimate relationship with the the Ohio State Buck guys what quarterback battle have you been tracking and stands out to you the most yeah I just said Ohio State's trying to emulate Michigan's offense by being more physical well Michigan's trying to emulate Ohio State by not knowing who his quarterback is there has been a quarterback battle going on all offseason from the spring into the fall in an arbor after JJ McCarthy who helped lead the Wolverines to a national title last year he now in the NFL unfortunately he suffered a knee injury and he'll be out for the year but that's not really the Wolverines problem right now their biggest situation is who's going to be our starter is it Alex orgy Jack Tuttle or is it even a Davis Warren or Jayden denal all reports coming out seem to be that it's between Tuttle and orgy which is an interesting comparison it really is a question of what you want Jack Tuttle I'm not going to say he's a statue but compared to Alex orgy he's a statue and we have seen Alex orgy get plenty of snaps in this offense last year but what we didn't see Alex orgy do while playing for the Wolverines last year was throw the ball he was used he had pass options but he never seemed to decide to throw it he kept it and he ran and he's a Dynamic Athlete but can he run this offense as a passer or make it too predictable so I do think at this stage I don't know that Chiron Moore really knows who his starting quarterback is which is a bad situation to be in this close to the start of the regular season and unlike last year where Michigan didn't play anybody in the non-conference so they kind of had time if they if this was last season they would have had a Runway to figure it out with game action you've got that Texas game looming in the second week of the season so Michigan needs to figure this out very quickly and it's going to be interesting to see who it will be if I had to pick one right now I'd go 51% to 49% Jack Tuttle but I've been very wrong before and I plan to be very wrong again soon I am taken our conversation to Chapel Hill because this is a season where you know Mack Brown came back and he was able to reignite the energy around North Carolina football I mean brought them the dream of the 90s when they were up in the top five up in the top 10 and and playing in major bowl games but what has really helped ma Brown's efforts is the fact that he's had an NFL quarterback for all five seasons that is three years of Sam how that is two years of Drake May and now for the first time he doesn't have that obvious NFL talent and so as we're looking at the North Carolina Tar Heels and what they're going to be like in the post Drake May era the big concern is that the offense needs to find a quarterback and a quarterback has not yet been found now you do have Max Johnson who has played at LSU and Texas A&M so he has got 700 passes against SEC defense under his belt you also have Conor harell who played in the bowl game against West Virginia and honestly until he got hurt early in that game showed some of the playmaking which might give an advantage to him then there is hello jacobe jacobe Criswell making his return to North Carolina after transferring out of the program uh losing the battle to Drake May so we've got three players where Jobe Kris is clearly running behind because he just arrived in the summer but with Max Johnson you have experience but maybe not as much of the playmaking of Connor harell Conor harell has the playmaking but lacking the experience and all of it is going to tie into you know how North Carolina is going to perform offensively here in the post Drake May era but I am a little bit concerned because on the cover three podcast you know loyal listeners they know all about Camp Buzz players [Music] arez and what you introduced to us today gave me a wrinkle to the season that I wasn't quite ready for why do you have your eyes on the Boise State quarterback job quarterback battle chip I I've got my eyes on it because Boise state is one of the few G5 programs that has a real shot to make this new 12 team college ball playoff in fact Boise is the favorite among all the G5 teams to make it and they took five former five star quarterback recruit Maliki Nelson from USC and I think most people including myself just assume that he would kind of you know walk in there and and win that job and and he may still well win that job but he hasn't won it yet and quarterback Maddox Matson who was okay for Boise last year he's apparently taking a lot of reps with the one still so that's uh that's a little concerning if you're of the mindset that Boise is Head and Shoulders Above the Rest of the Mountain West which I know we'll see a lot of their games on CBS Sports Network this fall uh but I I don't know that that Malachi is going to win this job and if he doesn't what does that offense look like at that point we're kind of banking on you know boy State taking a real Step Up on defense they were pretty poor on defense last year what what if they're just like a decent Mountain West team and they lose to Oregon and maybe they Dro one or two more in conference I was kind of thinking Nelson was going to elevate this this quarterback room and Elevate this offense and that may or may not be the case either somebody's playing koi or we got to start downgrading our State including myself after having picked the Broncos to be the unranked team to finish in the top 10 earlier in this show well coming up on the other side if you pay attention to the recruiting calendar which obviously the Diehard college football fans do you know you always get a flurry of notable commitments right before the season starts so we've got a very notable albeit almost historic commitment for one program and a big time offensive tackle who going to be making a decision soon we'll give you some big headlines from the recruiting Trail and more [Music] next back here on the cover three podcast live on CBS Sports Network turn it our eye to the recruiting Trail where we've had a lot going on especially at the offensive tackle position now this stands out to me bud because we don't see a lot of good tackles in the portal this is not a position that you can just go and fix your issues every single off season you've got to identify these players coming out of high school you've got to lock them down so what in the world is Georgia Tech doing Landing Josh Petty because Petty is a five-star Prospect one of the top tackles in the class and now committing to Georgia Tech is one of the highest rated prospects in Georgia Tech recruit in history uh but please use all of your 247 Sports recruiting Intel make this make sense to us uh how did Georgia Tech beat out the big dogs for Josh Petty sure so Chip uh a lot of things have to go right for Georgia Tech to land a five-star offensive tackle it is really rare it's why we're talking about it on cable TV but a lot of things did go right starting at at at top right coach Brent key Georgia Tech head coach he's a career offensive line coach I think that established a really good relationship with Petty who's a local Prospect you know right right next to campus I they did a nice job building this relationship over time and Georgia Tech is not always a big player in the nil space but you it's been reported that he got you know just shy of a million which is very very high and his dad kind of openly talked about how Port nil played in that and if you're Georgia Tech like you have some money it's just oftentimes you don't have players with the grades who you would pay that kind of crazy money to so to get a guy who has the grades like Josh Petty who has the academic aspirations like a Josh Petty to be able to actually be interested in your school and then have the money to pay up for it nil I mean they beat out Florida State and Ohio State here and that was huge and you know for Ohio State now we kind of turn the table to see uh well will they be able to get David Sanders the you know five-star offensive tackle who's committing on 247 Sports coming up I know I mean Tennessee is the my pick but Ohio State Georgia some others there as well uh number three player in the country and for Ohio State they're really rolling right now on the field and looks like practices are going great but offensive tackle recruiting is a bit of a sore spot for the Buckeyes yeah David Sanders you mentioned it right there number one offensive tackle in the class according to 247 Sports number three player in the country 66 290 Pounds they don't make many humans like that um he's coming out of Charlotte uh Providence day school so what has that battle been like and you you mentioned Tennessee's your pick here and he will be committing on 247 Sports so who else is in the mix trying to land David Sanders there are a lot of schools and Chip you're right he is freaky freaky there's actually film of him playing receiver in practice at that that size and Mossing people and and he has been on a whirlwind tour he has been to almost every major program out there really made sure to check out what everybody was offering if you catch my drift and you know Tennessee I think is probably in the lead there but Ohio State Georgia those are kind of the three that I'd keep keep a real close eye on he did visit Nebraska there was some legitimate interest there in Nebraska but if I had to guess I think Tennessee will be the Hat he puts on assuming he goes the you know kind of hat roulette route on the table come Saturday but this is going to be a fascinating battle to the end because as we mentioned Ohio State just lost out on Josh Petty you know maybe do they show a little more interest in David Sanders if you will you know bud you mentioned it earlier as far as Josh Petty going to Georgia Tech I'm I'm happy you brought up the fact that academics played a role because we all know that offensive linemen are the smartest players on the field so of course he wants to go to an elite academic institution such as Georgia Tech as for Tennessee if they land Sanders though what I want to know what your thoughts are on this is a class that they've already landed one of the top quarterbacks in the country in the recruiting portal they have Nico yavo who will be starting for them who was one of the top quarterbacks in the country in his class what kind of momentum are we seeing from Josh Hy's program on the recruiting like are the VS kind of stepping into that Stratosphere where they're their team we can look at and say you know what they might be competing for SEC titles here in the near future Tom I I think you're right I think Tennessee really is on to come up here that they're Landing Elite prospects at the real premium positions if you will and I I think Tennessee has a lot of things rolling for it they can cash it in win eight nine maybe 10 11 ball games this year they could really have some yeah 1:15 p.m. eastern time you can watch it on CBS Sports HQ 247 Sports giving you all the coverage that you need before during and after the commitment uh who's in the mix what it means uh your One-Stop shop for all things from the recruiting Trail well coming up on the other side we turn our attention back to the 20124 season and stacking up those teams from the group of five conferences there's one spot in the 12 team playoff that will be reserved for one of them so how do they stack up against each other we'll give you our list and more [Music] next back here on the cover3 podcast live on CBS Sports Network well it is that time of year where you've got to fill out your your playoff bracket yeah we get to do Bracketology now too and one spot that you always have to decide when filling out your bracket is going to be who is going to be that team the highest ranked champion from the group of five that will get an automatic bid automatic bid to the college football playoff Invitational so the only challenge here in this exercise is to just rank just rank the top five group of five teams heading into the season this is your starting point Tom I'll let you go first what's your five look like well it's a team we've talked about a lot in the show already today even though Bud took a bucket of cold water and dumped it over our heads but I think the best group of five team in the country based on what I know now is Boise State I think that if you look at Mount the Mountain West they are a head and shoulders Above the Rest of the league we talked about it on the show earlier today on the cover three podcast we don't know what to make of That League outside of Boise State right now and now we really don't know what to make of Boise State but I still think the Broncos are going to be solid after that I've got Memphis who is my favorite to win the American Athletic Conference it's I think if you just look at the Tigers over the last few years there's just a certain level of consistency and Excellence that you've kind of come to expect from the program even through numerous coaching changes so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt and then I've got Liberty at three who is far in way the best program in Conference USA and will likely run away with that League I think appstate has a good shot to win the Sun Belt and what is a very competitive league but has seen a lot of coaching turnover after last season and then for my fifth spot I'm taking a bit of of a flyer here I'm a big fan of South Florida quarterback Byron Brown and I think that having a excellent quarterback in a G5 League like that is enough to sometimes get you to the top of the league so I'm going to put the Bulls at number five I think they've got something for us hey Raleigh North Carolina stand up let's go Byron Brown he's also for you Gamers out there incredible on NCAA 25 if you like going with a little dual threat quarterback wide open offense and get you those easy first downs now but we are hovering around a lot of the similar teams here but you were able to come up with an example of a team that was a power Conference team as recently as one year ago so as you talk through year five I I got to hear about the love that you've got for the pack two absolutely so chip on my on my list I do have Boise number one still Ashton jany is an awesome running back uh number two as Tom mentioned Memphis I I have as well I think the commonality there is that both Bo and Memphis have some real nil money to play with and they're able to keep a lot of their studs there's a whole lot of teams out there who would have wanted Seth henigan the quarterback at Memphis but Boise was able to Pony up with that partnership with FedEx no free ads but that that FedEx is uh is helping Memphis out a little bit with their nil stuff uh Liberty the same thing Liberty probably has more nil money than the rest of Conference USA combined so uh I would expect them to go undefeated yet again they have Kaden Salter who you know was a Tennessee level recruit and just ran into a little trouble there and has been a great Reclamation project for Jamie Chadwell there at Liberty number four is Washington State I wasn't sure if I was cheating here or not but like they're not I guess they're technically kind of power fiveish but technically not they're they're already in the Pack 12 championship game as is Oregon State so uh I just look at them and say okay I looked at the roster I I I talked to Jamie vinnick or Washington State 247 Sports site they didn't lose that much off last year's team with the exception of Cam Ward who is now transferred to Miami at quarterback like I still think they're better than most of the Mountain West teams that they'll play and certainly in better shape than what Oregon state is after Oregon State lost damn near their entire roster and then five is app state which I like and if they can continue the defensive Improvement they had over the you know kind of final six seven games of last season that would be great and I thought about a couple more teams there too man Texas state was in the conversation I think tan could be pretty good there's there's probably like eight or nine that we should be picking from but you know to me the top three top four are are kind of similar yeah a man Tom's so smart Bud's so smart because it's the same top three that I've got too all right so we're going Boise State at number one we're going Memphis at number two all right I do I am throwing a little bit of a curveball I'm going to go with App State here at number three the thing that I like about app state is the willingness to go and test yourself against the best programs and the way that Shawn Clark's team has performed when they do test themselves against some of the best programs in the country I have Liberty at number four there's just such a talent and coaching advantage that the Flames are able to have where I just don't know who's going to stop that offense where yes Kaden Salter is a dual threat but they just run the dagam football really well and then rounding out my five I'm going with the one that is perhaps the biggest question mark because Fresno State under Jeff Tedford has been so consistent so solid a high floor proposition but Jeff Tedford retires for health reasons you know this offseason so I don't know exactly how to downgrade the Bulldogs or how to re-evaluate the Bulldogs but the pieces are still there for I think Fresno State to be one of those next best teams in the Mountain West along the way but I just go and throw that one is you where where do you sit with the Bulldogs if Tedford is gone how do you adjust your rating of them compared to those other non boyy teams in the Mountain West absolutely chip I had to adjust them down a little bit because Jeff Tedford is one of the very best coaches of Our Generation look what he did at Cal look what he did you know in both stance at Fresno State I think that is an important loss but yet they do return a lot of big pieces for this team I I had them before Tedford stepped down slightly above UNLV and now I moved them basically from a power rating standpoint basically tied with UNLV which is you know more than a field goal lower than Boise State assuming Boise State plays to a certain level as we've discussed a lot on this show if they don't then it's anybody's ball game so I'm sure watch on CBS Sports Network this fall yeah let's take a look at all of our selections for the top five you can see the commonality you can see uh what stands out along the way uh Tom bud just offered a couple of teams that you know didn't quite make his cut who else was on your list that maybe didn't quite make the top five you know going back to the Sun Belt we've got App State all three of us but I do Wonder like James Madison obviously suffered a lot of losses with Kurt STI leaving for Indiana and taking players with him but that is a talented roster Troy loses John sumall to toan but that was a strong team I think South Alabama Georgia Southern Georgia State even these are all teams I think in the Sun Belt could take a small step forward and maybe get in the conversation outside of Liberty and Conference USA I I really don't see a path for anybody maybe Jacksonville State again has excessive season and performs well other than that I would say Bud mentioned to Lane which is where John sumall ended up I think that's a good shot and I would say UTSA is another team that I think is just kind of hovering around the perimeter there that has a chance to take a step forward even after losing guys like Frank Harris yeah we took UTSA and you know we had them you know thinking that they were just going to run the American Athletic Conference SMU goes undefeated in conference play wins the league on the way out now is a time I would think for UTSA to try to go to make that run and be on our radar very quickly for one of those spots in the college football playoff now in the expanded college football playoff bracket the top four Conference champions they get a bid right in the quarterfinals you skip the first round all together thanks to that buy so it's going to make winning the conference Championship all the more important so our challenge is to pick one team that we are the most confident in winning their power conference we'll tell you the answer and why [Music] next back here on the cover three podcast live on CBS Sports Network well at CBS Sports and 247 Sports the cover three podcast I mean this time of year we are just getting peppered for expert picks left and right catch him on CBS Sports but sometimes there's different levels of confidence to this so I want to know what is the most confident we are wanting one power conference Champion that when you pick it you feel the most confident that they will win their conference so Tom Finelli of all the four power conferences we we've got to pick a conference Championship for every single one of them we've turned in our picks already which one do you feel the most confident that at the beginning of December they'll be hoisting a TR trophy in their conference Championship Game you know I I wish we weren't just picking power conferences because then there'd be a very easy answer and I could just quickly yell Liberty's going to win Conference USA winning every game by like 20 points per game but no you had to go and make things complicated and limited to power fors which frankly was a lot more difficult to come up with a clear answer than I expected because if you look at the big 12 I think the consensus is everybody's picking Utah or Kansas State but nobody knows who's going to win that League they're all the same team it could be any single one of them so I think that you know that's impossible the ACC you've got Clemson Florida State Miami all three of whom I think are just as capable of winning the league as anybody else so I can't go with the ACC which leaves me with the SEC and the Big 10 who are the two best leagues in the country and I'm supposed to say oh yeah this team's going to just fly right through I'm super confident they're going to win it but I am confident in Ohio State winning the Big 10 simply because when I do look at the big 10 this year I think it is a three to four team Race at most and I think that once you get past those top four teams there's really nobody else that could compete with those squads so I look at Ohio State I look at the collection of talent they have I look at the mission that they're on having not won the conference in each of the last three years and I think that the Buckeyes are the team that I am most confident in to win a power for conference although when I say confident I'd say 40% confident Tom I think that's probably the the smart pick but I'm going to argue Georgia for a couple reasons one I do think that the gap between Ohio State in Oregon is smaller than the gap between Georgia and whatever the second best team you might think is in the SEC whether it's Old Miss or Alabama or Texas or Missouri or Tennessee whoever you think it is so Tennessee Okay bingo so Georgia has a much better quarterback than Ohio state with with Carson Beck if he stays healthy I think you should have relative confidence they make it to the SC title game and I think they'll be a bigger favorite in the SC title game than Ohio state would be assuming it is Ohio State and Oregon in that game as they're the prohibited favorites to be the two contestants out of the Big 10 so I'll go Georgia because I have more confidence they can win if they can get there but me clearly Ohio State's a pretty smart pick because they're not a lock but darn close to a lock to actually make it to the Big 10 Auto game yeah but this is hilarious right because we are choosing from the two best conferences in all of college football where the teams at the top are like National Title contenders eight of the top 10 teams in the preseason AP Top 25 are from these two conferences and we're like yeah these are the conferences where I am the most confident but it is that power two and I'm not talking about the power two conferences I talking about those two teams that you all have mentioned Ohio State and Georgia and this is when I've got to get into the chip politics to tell you that the urgency that exists under the seat of one Ryan day is going to be the X Factor and the splitting of hairs when it comes to a lot of decisions including the team that will win their conference I've got Ohio State as the team that I am the most confident in winning their conference because they have to win their conference you just let the Michigan Wolverines win this thing three years in a row after you dominated the Rivalry and after you dominated the conference and now it's time for a return it's why you invest in the roster upgrades it's why you invest in the roster retention and so while Georgia has its own chip on the shoulder right along the way I think it's Ohio state that I will go as my pick well if you enjoyed this oh buddy we got a lot more for you because you can watch the cover three podcast live every Monday Wednesday Thursday at 11 a.m. eastern time at youtube.com/ cover3 but we're not just a live product we're on demand as well you can get us on YouTube or you can download wherever you get your podcast this week we've done SEC win totals that's right breaking down over under win totals for every team in the South Eastern Conference next week we've got the big 10 on deck and it finishes with our win to totals locks where we give you our very best win totals picks for the upcoming season so come and hang out download the cover three podcast wherever you get your podcast