VSiN By The Books | September 3, 2026 | Hour 1

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1:04That's buylorien. L-A-R-I-N-E dot com slash college for up to 50% off. Say morning to you and yours at his V-SIM. Bob the folks, Dave Ross right here at the Mint Gaming Hall. Franklin Kitsucky. He's our closer Jensen who was back home in Cleveland, Ohio. Lots to get to, but Jensen, we are starting the past through that Rubicon here. We're less than a week away from the start of the NFL season. College football week number one, beginning in earnest tonight out there. Lots of football talking. Oh, by the way, major week baseball. Every day we get a little bit closer here to the end of the September and get ready for that October postseason swing. Yeah, lots of excitement here. Lots of rain in this part of the country and raining on a parade of an NBA franchise

2:05for what feels like a decade to come here. So a lot to get into. Great guest list today and tomorrow excited to chop it up on the week one college football front and scoreboard watching every night in baseball man. Tectonic plates shifting in the postseason races for sure. Gonna have the Maestro Mike Palm join us as he does each and every Thursday. Find out what the needs are for the books. And certainly what is on his mind today. Roy Philpott's going to join the program here. Now number three, Roy's going to be on the call for Texas this week. Get a first glimpse at the long horse. How good is Sarkin the boys going to be this year in Adam Burke, our managing editor with lots going on here at the network. We'll join us a little bit later on today as well. But you mentioned it in LA. Whoo. The NBA has ruled and they've come down with a hammer of Thor. That's where we begin our highlights and headlines. Help your bottom line with today's highlights and headlines.

3:05And what a saga. This kind of played out all summer to be and that is a there's not going to be any any big deal. Clippers have done nothing wrong. These different reports, NBA said, we'll we'll we'll we never said that. We're going to go ahead and give you a levy and I'll tell you what we believe you have done. Here's what the punishments have been announced by the NBA and associate soon with co-ilettered and his contract and maybe circumventing league rules to do so. Five first round picks now will be forfeited by the Clippers from 20 to 29 through 23, 33 million dollar fine. And this stuff is unprecedented. Steve Balmer the owner suspended for a year. The business of operations president suspended for a year. Lawrence Frank also president of basketball, suspended for six months. And organization and personnel are subjected to a five year compliance and monitoring post this. And how about why for his role in this? He's got to pay back $700,000 in restitution.

4:06That's not a big deal for guy making the money he makes. But contract will not be voided in Toronto. He will not be suspended by the league. His uncle former business partner Dennis Robertson banned from contact from the NBA for five years. So the money might be a slap on the risk for Kauai. Yes, the trade goes through to Toronto. Yes, he will not be suspended any longer. But the Clippers, Jensen for their part. Whoo. Did they come down with a hammer or a Thor here? This is basically now the Clippers coming to a gun fight with a BB gun. And that might even be generous considering, you know, where this franchise will be without an essential building block for roster construction year in and year out with those first round selections. Great front of the program. Shoms Terania issuing this post yesterday, the NBA's rulings are final. There is no formal appeal or arbitration process available to the Clippers with the league. LA's only outlet to fight the punishment is in court, which I would imagine they will

5:10try and exhaust all possibilities. But this looks pretty dire for them. Close the curtain on the relevance of the LA Clippers for at least the next half decade. They will be in the dull drums of the Western Conference and the league as a whole for what it's worth. You mentioned Kauai Leonard, basically a slap on the wrist here. There was a statement through his new agent, Harrison Gaines issued that says, quote, integrity and respect for this game are fundamental to who I am. I accept full responsibility for lapses in judgment by people within my inner circle and regret the distraction. This situation has caused the fans and my family. I entered into my contract with the Clippers as well as the agreements in question and good faith fully committed to fulfilling my obligations and with no knowledge of any intent on anyone's part to circumvent the salary cap. For 15 years, my priority has been giving everything to my family, the game and those

6:10I share the court with as I returned to Toronto. I am focused on what I can control closing this chapter and moving forward with a clean slate. A plus on the PR statement and absolute F in any believing that he had no knowledge or had no idea what was going on. This is an embarrassment to the NBA on top of a lot of embarrassment for Adam Silver. This league continues to find a way to look incredibly stupid and this will be a huge scar and a massive market for this league for many, many years to come, not even just the next five losing the first round picks for the club. But every time you hear LA Clippers, it's the first thing you're going to think of. Even all the way to the top, this is an absolute abomination for the National Basketball Association. Yeah, the G. This is all the way to the top with Steve Balmer. I'll be curious to see if he tries to take this outside into a court of law because again, there's no recourse inside the NBA now.

7:11So will he push this further? Because again, he has been suspended for a full year. So we'll find out if this is the end of it or if he pushes this a little bit further on in a court of law. How about the Raiders they have announced that it is official? We knew this was going to be the case that KC eight will be the week one starting quarterback here for the Raiders against the dolphins. There are three and a half point favorites in that game, low total of 40 and a half gents. And this is not a surprise. The question will be if he gets off to a slow start, how long of a leash does KC eight have as QB one? I'm starting to warm to the fact that I think the Raiders are going to be a choice for me in survivor in week one. And the more I hear people think Malik Willis is going to be this great guy in this revelation, I think it's even better to start back in the Raiders here and thinking at least home field advantage is going to be good for them. This will be an interesting first couple of weeks as you alluded to right because the organization and the coaching staff, they've already come out and said in a best case scenario,

8:13we don't have to play for an end of Mendoza. I know a lot of us, you and I, Matt humans, Jonathan Montobo amongst those playing the under for Fernanum and Dosa regular season passing yards. That number is gated down continues to do so. But I think Kurt Cousins, Dave, and you covered him, there is still a pretty big fire in that guy to show he can do it at the highest level. I would fully expect he wants to come out and show what he's worth right there from the jump. Yeah, I'm a big fan of his personally, professionally. This is one guy that's, it's never going to be lost on him where the football is supposed to be. It's just a matter of can the body still do with the mind will be able to do for KCA. But yes, that's a pros pro right there. And that's why they brought him in, who be acted to shepherd what we're going to see eventually from Fernanum and Dosa. We're just not going to see it right away. We've got 11 games tonight here for week number one. Maybe not the some of the marquee matchups that you get in prime time tonight, but I know we're going to be watching Colorado and Georgia Tech, you at being ill in the way.

9:16UMass and Rutgers, you've got plays that we'll get to in those games specifically here Jensen, but it is week one, baby, and it does kick off tonight. And then boy, we're going to be inundated with football here the rest of the way. Yeah, going to be a lot of fun, right? And we'll kind of see some of these interesting matchups. Again, we'll catch up with Roy Philpot later. Texas going to be in action there. A dress rehearsal, if you will, against Texas state on Saturday afternoon before the big one against Ohio State. But I do think that we get a little bit more of what kind of carryover do you have, especially those week zero teams, Dave that have already played. There is an interesting handicap. And I'll pick your brain about this as we move forward. There are a lot of people looking at teams that have not played yet. So your week one is your first game against teams that have played in week zero. The handicap is we already have the film of what this team does for a game. Would it be more advantageous to back a week one team slash fade a team that played in week zero because of the advanced scouting.

10:19And at least the team now has the film on what this club has already put on the field. So I think an interesting angle. One that we will certainly revisit here coming up in the show. It'll be a little bit better about my brewers. Five to one. Number one seed here in the National League after what happened yesterday with the Cardinals coming back and getting a win in extra innings against the Dodgers eight to six. And show how tiny we still don't know if he's going to pitch any more this regular season here. Jensen. What do you make of that in that context because the Dodgers still do have something to play for here? I think there. I don't think he's pitching, dude. I mean, I listen more and more to Dave Roberts. I've been in those club houses. I've seen a couple of the swings. And last night, Dave on a swinging strike three. He does not look right. And that's just even the position player side here. So I would tell you, don't pop the bottles just yet on your brewers. Five to one to be the one seed. But after what they did last night, taking a couple of haymakers with Jacob Isorowski on

11:19the mound and being able to beat Chicago there back to back nights. I would say, pal, you, you can start putting it on ice, getting a chill, getting it right to open up because I am thrilled now with our cross board parlay that I added yesterday and getting some shares of them. That is, that is going to be an advantageous spot for you. You will be on house money, I think, here in about a couple of weeks time. Don't pull it, brood groove. Nice win. Last night, as you mentioned, coming from behind there and getting that done is the Dodgers go down eight to six to the Cardinals. Good day for some favorites there in Fleshing Meadow yesterday, right? Carlos Acra has been Shelton on just Savoninca and Jessica Pogua. We know that we had a nice email that we got about a Buffalo cross board parlay Pogua part of that there. I headlining those second round winners here at Jensen. So chalk is starting to rise to the top here at least for the early part of this US open. Yeah. Again, honey do sales, surpassing this pace of what they were last year may inundate myself with a homemade version when we get the college game day slate up and running on

12:24Saturday. You know, we got to do a home tailgate here. I know about you, buddy, but he is absolutely pouring is absolutely pouring here this morning. It was a thousand degrees here yesterday. I know you had surreal temperatures. The biggest question people want to know. Do we have the swimmers here eradicated? Are we feeling better? You know, I was on with Mitch and Paul yesterday. I didn't realize that Mitch had it as well. And he asked me a question. I said, I'm sorry, say again. No, it's so much better, Jensen. I don't know if it's a miracle cure, but I did. I got some home remedies from people. I feel so much better. I hope Mitch does as well. And Paul, we're thinking about you and get your wisdom teeth out. It was a fantastic conversation, yes, pay. Talking more college football next week.

13:26Paul is back. Veece and pro gives you everything you need to bet the season smarter this year. You've come to be some pro subscriber today. You're going to get instant access to our updated NFL betting guide, which has got post, preseason updates, week one betting systems, contest strategies and fresh best bets from our experts. We'll talk about some of those in the program today. You're also going to receive our college football betting guide with previews of all 138 FBS teams, power ratings, proven betting systems, best bets from the sharpest minds here at the network. Plus with that, Veece and pro subscription daily best bets, real time betting splits from draftings and circa AI power prop tools 24 seven video on a decent watch app. You get get started first little is 999 or say 50% off of the recent pro annual subscription. So you sign up now here at gentson at bson.com slash subscribe. That's V S I N dot com slash subscribe. I'm going to get to those 11 games of college football in the next segment. I know you've got some plays out there for the aforementioned Veece and pro subscribers already. But that news with the NBA punishing co-ite Leonard. Again, I was on with Mitch and Paul and that news came down yesterday and I give you

14:27the shock in kind of Paulie's voice as he was reading the statement from shams terania. And it is rather startling and we talked a little bit about all at the top of the show that if you're Steve Balmer, there is recourse, but it's legal recourse. It's not basketball recourse, right? It's not like in the framework of we suspend a guy for whatever it might be and then they go to the league and the league knocks it down and we all go on with life as usual. We're kind of used to that in the parameters of whatever the league might be that everything is kind of handled internally. Well the NBA gents and I said, this is done. Okay, like, why don't worry about it, Toronto. He's going to be able to play. There will be no suspension. I was going to have to give back a little bit of money seven hundred thousand dollars as a pittance from the money he's made here and certainly what he got in LA. And that's where the illegalities, at least from the league come in here. And that we're going to make Steve Balmer the owner sit out for a year. We're going to find him thirty million dollars. This is going to go through the entire front office here.

15:27You name it. If you're, you got a president in front of your title or an owner or you, you're going to be out for some time, whether it's six months a year, you name it. So Jensen, they really did. Adam Silver has been criticized a lot or maybe leniency, no teeth. We're hearing this from the SEC, which I'm a college football, that if you don't enforce rules, you don't have rules. It finally feels like at least now they're trying to enforce the rules. I don't know if Steve Balmer is going to let it go here, Jensen, if this is the end of it, but if this is the end of it, it is rather severe for the first time in a long time. I think of the John Wick line. If we do not have rules, then we live with the animals. And I'll tell you, if you think about, I was trying to think of an analogy for what just happened. I think the company that already mortgaged most of its future research and development budget and young talent pipeline to land to like big time superstar hires, okay?

16:30Then you have investigators discover that the firm was quietly routing, you know, off the books compensation, which again, we were looking at the sponsorship things and calling that into question as a multitude of endorsement deals with vendors who also did business with the company. You are looking at a death knell for this franchise for quite some time. Again, you run it down just the cliff notes. You don't have arguably the league's most visible owner. There are two top executives, the future of draft capital is a massive chunk. All by the way, you are now under league surveillance for at least a half deck, like they are going to look at every way you write your cursive on the checks. Okay? They're going to look at how you board the bus. They're going to look at, you know, where those emails are going. I mean, you have no clue how far up the rear end, the NBA is going to be of the LA Clippers

17:31moving forward here. And I appreciate from a certain perspective that you got to root this stuff, you have got to send this kind of message that this cannot happen again. Okay, that's the Clipper side. Quiet Leonard is off to the six. He is like, bye. You know, if you think about the Dark Knight rises and Bane is in the plane, he's like, they expect one of us with the wreckage brother. And that's kind of the Clippers. He's leaving the Clippers, you know, and they're going to go all the way back down, crashing down. And quiet Leonard is going to escape. What is he doing? Toronto? I never know if that guy can play back to back days, get up and walk every couple of days in a row. But I think the penalty needed to happen in earnest for two different reasons. Dave, if you remember, if you go back to Minnesota in 2000, I was trying to look up what would be the closest precedent that the NBA has had. If you remember the timber wolves in the Joe Smith case, that was five first round picks,

18:33stripped. Two of those were later returned. It was a three and a half million dollar fine, not a 30 million dollar fine. The owners, Glenn Taylor, the GM Kevin McAill, each were suspended a year, but Joe Smith's contract was voided. Remember, quiet Leonard's is not going to be avoided. Adam Silver tried to do his best David Stern in that regard, but I think this now ramps it up tenfold. And I think he had to do it. He had to pass it with sweet'll sin talk about it last night and catching out. It was, it had to be done. And now, every franchise should be on a high alert. Anything that is a miss, you nip it in the bud right now because you do not need this kind of decade of detrimental penalty to be infused into your franchise as well. You mentioned Steve ولman or kind of being one of the more omnipresent owners. We see him court side and the energy that he always brings to court side and the cameras

19:34are always finding him, right? So he is very, very visible out there. And again, remember the Donald Sterling fiasco and why they got rid of him as the owner of the Clippers. And then this guy comes in and he's supposed to be kind of the law. Boy, this is the breath of fresh air. I remember there's very well in Washington, DC when Dan Snyder took over back in 1999. He was supposed to be the breath of fresh air. Be careful when you get sometimes. Look, we'll find out if Steve Balmer again, if this is really truly good. It's going to be something that follows him the rest of the way. As you mentioned in the beginning of the show that this could be a stigma now, whether it goes with Kauai, the Toronto as well. But with Balmer and the Clippers, kind of that cheating allegation, if you will, circumventing rules to make this thing happen, that's something you certainly don't want to be associated with. Again, Shyamastrani reporting, there is no recourse for Balmer and the Clippers outside. There is potentially in a court of law, but not inside the NBA itself. So we'll find out if this is the end of the saga. If so, what a saga.

20:35It's been all summer long, but you're right. Kauai Leonard kind of feels like he gets off a little bit, Scott freeing this thing with a little slap on the wrist, makes a statement, hey, I really didn't know. I take responsibility, but I kind of didn't know everything that was going on. That was kind of the, the double talk there from Kauai a little bit in that statement. We mentioned the Raiders have made it official. The Kirk cousins will be the starting quarterback in week one. The numbers haven't changed here. It's still three and a half. We knew this was going to be the case here for the Raiders and that Clint Kubiak all long wanted this to be cousins until Fernanuman Dosa, if Fernanuman Dosa, when Fernanuman Dosa is ready to take over that role. And Jensen, you know this is a professional athlete, especially for athletes that are at the tail end of their career. What is your real job? Is your job now to go out there and win games? It always is. Or as my job as a pseudo coach and a mentor in a way, there are not a lot of quarterbacks that can handle that responsibility, kind of that dual role, if you will. I think Kirk cousins is uniquely qualified to do exactly what the Raiders are asking.

21:40And to be fair Dave, I mean, the guy has been in this position before where, you know, he's going to have to prove it. And I think you can appreciate that. Remember, you know, Sam Darnold there in Minnesota and understudied. That that Kirk cousins has had before, where I was like, OK, your time is limited or you're on borrowed time. And all this guy does is go to great clips, get a good haircut and make it look good on Sundays. He's going to have the opportunity. Dave, I got to be fair. You know, Clint Cubiac doesn't feel like in year one that he's under pressure to make a quarterback switch quickly. OK. If you and I can read the T leaves, unless there's an injury, I don't see any quarterback change before week seven. And even then, would you want Fernando Mendoza to go up against the ramps? No, you wouldn't. And we've surmised this before when we were looking at the season long passing yard proffer for Fernando Mendoza week eight on the road.

22:43Do you want him to open on the road? Well, at least it's a team at least on paper right now that you're looking like, OK, that's a better onboarding than home against the LA Rams defense. But that to that end, I don't think in my heart of hearts and even Clint Cubiac, if we had him in a room on a lie detector test, I think he would tell you straight to our faces, want Kirk cousins for as long as possible this year. This is a culture change year. This is an install year. We're going to do things different. But I think he kind of gets the benefit of the doubt that this isn't about wins and losses for him this year, even coming off of what he did in the Super Bowl and with San Donald, I would imagine Kirk cousins is the quarterback for the majority of this season. Yeah, I think the big misnomer out there is people go, well, let's play the kid we know what Kirk cousins is. When you talk to the people in the locker rooms, they want to play with the veteran. That's exactly what they want. And I remember this very well talking and Lorenzo Alexander when we were both leaving DC for different jobs, he's going out there to Arizona, play with the Cardinals.

23:45And I said, man, you guys got to get a quarterback. He said, what are you talking about? We got Carson Palmer because he goes, D, we want to play for Carson Palmer. And I'm like, boy, that showed me something there. They want to play for the veterans. And by the way, they had a really good year all the way to the close season that year. I'm not saying that's going to happen in the Raiders, but I think they're rooting and certainly backing Kirk cousins as a starting quarterback. Let's talk college football here, Jensen. Some plays you've got out there for Veece and Proz Subscribers next right here. Your two dendup Veece and buy the books right here on Veece. You think you're better than the experts out there? Well, now is your chance to prove that the edge boost average Joe contest puts you in the same pick and format as the Circuit Friday football invitation of the one the Proz play. So the top average Joe earns a spot in next year's circuit invetational field. It's free to play. You can register anytime during the season. Edge Boost is offering its customers a $1,000 deposit if you finish first or for that entire

24:50week. So if you don't have an edge boost account yet, you sign up at edge boost dot IO, use the promo code Veece and make sure your account is funded with at least $100. Enter the contest today at vesen.com slash Joe. That's vsin.com slash J O E. Check it out. There's Joe's out there. You can be a pro and run with Matt humans and the boys on that Friday night show. It's fantastic here on the network as well. Jensen, we can't just get the cheat sheet from Matt on Friday because we got Thursday night games. So we're going to have to break those down and get those plays in tonight. There are 11 games out there already on the docket. You've got some plays we align on one of those plays. I guess you could say that the more key matchup at least with Deon Sanders returning to Atlanta with his Colorado buffs taken on the Ramon record Georgia tech. That feels like kind of the marquee matchup tonight. It does. And so eight o'clock kick off there at ESPN and right in the ATLs you would like to say.

25:51So yes, so we've got a lot of transfer portal roster shake up for both sides here to new starting quarterbacks. And again, we'll look at at the Georgia tech side first here. Alberto Mendoza, brother up Fernando Mendoza, the transfer from in the animal now take over for Haynes King and this Georgia tech offense. They've not a lot of of this DNA is going to change for the Ramblin wreck of very run heavy offense. They do get justice Haynes transfer from Michigan. Malachi Hotsley will also see some time there is kind of the 1 a 1 b. But this is going to be a tick tick tick tick tick tick game. And if Colorado's revamped defense cannot keep at least some semblance of resistance to the running attack, this could be a long night for the Buffalo's. I don't see that happening. What I do see is I hope that Colorado's offense behind their young red shirt freshman Julian Lewis, who is a highly tired of recruit. I can really allow this go go offense if you will to get an early lead and kind of force

26:56Georgia tech to get out from wanting that run first mentality. If that's potentially on the table, then I like this number. It is at seven at circa. I ended up getting six and a half on Novig, but I think that we are in for a much different script from last year in Boulder. If the defense for Colorado can stand up and Deon Sanders offense can be implemented and executed. I do think there is value here. I don't know if Colorado can win it, but I do think this comes down to the final possession later on tonight. I'm with you in the buffs and took the sevens out there with the Buffalo's. And I also with your handicap in Matt Yomans. And by the way, we talked all of our experts here leading up to it. And some will tell you it is a crapshoot when you get to, you know, obviously week zero or two zero an hour a week one. We're trying to get the best of the numbers. I think we've done a pretty good job of identifying that. We'll get some of your other picks where you really do have value already in those numbers. Jensen.

27:56Matt's on the over tonight on that game tonight. And I think with that template you talked about Colorado possibly being able to score. Now again, the running game normally gets you to an under, right? You think about that. Oh boy. If we don't get those, you know, we don't get those big gas plays. If it's three downs to get a first down, you start eating up that clock a little bit. But it does feel like both offenses should be pretty improved. It will be that Colorado defense. And they hold up enough. But Matt is on that over 15 and a half. It is up to 51 today. So I grabbed a little bit of those 15 and a half. So when they are out there as well. So I'm with you on the side on the buffs. And I did hop on with Matt humans on that over a little bit. And again, to kind of that point, for me, it is about playing numbers here early on. And trying to find a little bit of value, whether it's a half point here or there. And see you really get to see these teams. Because unlike the NFL, where at least you get, and again, it's kind of what we talk about with the preseason. They're not showing you anything there. You see nothing with these college teams until you get them to line up for week one, right? So that's why they're so secretive about who can watch their practices that are no

28:57preseason games, obviously, in college football. So the first time you see them, you go, wow, it can be shocking off to the eye because we have not been privy to what these summers look like with some of these teams. Jensen, you did find some unders that you like here coming up on week one this week. What do you have there? One of those is going to be between Illinois and UAB. Yeah, big underplay for me. It was a two unit. I upgraded it to two and a half unit play this morning and a lot predicated on this should be pretty one sided for Illinois. Brett Bielam is new quarterback, Kate Houser, the transfer from East Carolina is going to debut tonight there in Champaign. New defensive coordinator Bobby Hauke has a 335 that he's going to kind of have as a swarming back end. UAB also a new head coach. He is the former OC there in Alex Mortensen. So you have some change over on the UAB side. We don't feel that Illinois is in any danger of this game being close.

30:00That spread upwards of 27 and a half, 28 and a half. But I played the total under 56 and a half because I don't know how much UAB is going to be getting into the red zone, let alone being able to convert and get scoring opportunities for this to be anywhere close to that 56 and a half. Now, I could see Illinois getting into the high 30s, low 40s, but this could also be more a play on. Do you think UAB can they get to like 13, 14 points? I don't know if it's there and even if it is, give me like Illinois 41 UAB 13 that gets his home on an under 56 and a half for a two and a half unit play later on at nine o'clock. He's turning tonight. I love it running clocks there is what we're going to be rooting for is I'll be telling you some of these plays that you have and I did tell one that you have with Toledo coming up later on this weekend as well. And that number, Jensen, you really did. You got I believe 11 and a half in pocket. Yes. And this number has come cascading down here against party with Pat Fitzgerald who by the way,

31:03I really like and I think party will be good in the long term here. Jensen, but tomorrow night you do like your neck of the woods there Toledo to be able to hold up and show up here against party. Yeah, we'll talk about that in a moment. One more game for tonight's slate that I like. It's the first one on the docket UMass, the minute men in New Jersey to take on Rutgers. Remember UMass win this last year all in 12. It's one of the worst teams in FBS. Nothing has really changed for them and no John Calipari cannot coach football from back in the day and get Marcus can be to be in the backfield. Rutgers. I tell you they've got some special skill position players. I mean, Antoine Raymond is going to be a name that you remember in the backfield. He is going to be one of the bell cows of an arrogant by they will lean on him and then some. I do think this is a very similar scriptive to what we just illustrated for UAB and Illinois. I think both the home big 10 teams are able to handle their business in the first half.

32:07How much of the starting regiment will play for Rutgers in the second half even into the fourth quarter. I have seen some people looking at maybe taking the 29 and a half with Rutgers, but I'm going to air on the side of caution here. I think I'm going to take the under 52 and a half. I think it is a much cleaner side here. Again, can UMass get to double digits? I don't know if they can and I just wonder how long the starters for Rutgers actually do play. So if you think about one side of the other, if you take the 29 and a half with UMass, it's five touchdowns of separation. Can they get a field goal? Can they get something garbage time to cover? I would rather air on the side of I'll take the team at home that should be inspired even with the backups when they eventually come in to take care of one of the worst programs in the FBS. Yeah, I'm really what's the incentive to pile on teams at this juncture here? So if you get that big lead in your Rutgers, run the ball, run it out. Let's get out of Dodge here.

33:08You get that nice, comfortable win that under 52 and a half. And when you mention UMass like that, now you're speaking my language, talking about Padilla and Travilla, so to go with Marcus Canvey, those brilliant number one seated UMass teams back in the day. Okay, you do have to, you know, I didn't get the 11 and a half in pocket. I got 10 here against Spardy. We'll, you know, again, talk about the don't like chasing bad numbers, but I understand the logic here and this number has keep it's been cascading down as the weakest gong Jensen, but you got this early in the week at 11 and a half. Yeah, I did. And again, the rockets, one of the best defense is last year I get it's a Mac program. They only allowed 13.3 points per game, but it is a situational and historical ATS prompt that I really like here. Last six times that Toledo has been a road underdog in this spot, 6 and 0 ATS covering. And I do think they push Pat Fitzgerald in his Spardy debut a little bit more than comfortable if you will. Michigan State should win.

34:09I don't know if they can win by double digits. So that number down to 10. I love the 11 and a half in pocket. So I think Toledo finds a touchdown, maybe to get within side the number late, but I think Spardy does even with a little more of roster and coaching turnover, find their way to go 1-0 in Pat Fitzgerald's debut. I think we've set a record. We've gone 40 minutes into the show today and we have not mentioned Lane Kiffin or LSU. That's got to be a record so far before we get to week one. By the way, that number has not changed here. LSU still 10 point favorites against Clemson. And the point being there is later on today, there will be a judge in the state of Louisiana that he hears the merits of the case if there are any to find out a three, warmly potentially NFL players can play for Lane Kiffin in that game Saturday against Clemson. We'll update that if it happens this morning, probably later on. The North remembers who's going to win in the AFC in the...

35:27We are back much more talk on the football match week. Baseball, great guest list Roy Philpott's going to join the program a little bit later on as well as Adam Burke. Roy's going to be on the call here for Texas, that kind of pre-eminent game here before you get to the big one against Ohio State the following week. So kind of set the table for what Texas football looks like. And Adam Burke, our managing editor, is going on right now at the network again. These pro-subscribers get access to a revised NFL bedding guide 2.0. We're six days away from the start of the NFL season next Wednesday night. To that end, Jensen, let's keep going with our predictions as we've been doing all week long and we do that right now in today's edition of The Daily Gridiron. Put, put, this is The Daily Gridiron. They never should have killed Ned Stark in the first season, Swoylor of Game of Thrones because the North remembers Jensen.

36:29Kind of set everything in motion. The rest of the whole entire show is always about the North remembering. Let's remember the North this year here. You're going to kick it off here with the NFC North. Who do you have to win that division? Remember the Bears, reigning defendings going in to year two, or year three, rather, with Ben Johnson. I originally had Detroit in our NFL bedding guide a handful of weeks ago. And I have flip flop now that I have seen, I have watched, I have listened. Ben Johnson feels like the mad scientist has found some concoction that he cannot wait to infuse or maybe already has and is loading what could be a monster of the midway that we have not seen since the mid 80s. So excited to see what this division is like. I think there is a viable path for all four of these teams to win this division. But I do have the Bears now adjusted from our NFL bedding guide 2.0.

37:34So the Bears are now my choice to win the NFC North. I have the Lions as a wild card team, second, the Packers third, and the Vikings fourth. But Dave, I don't think there is a ton of daylight. I really don't. I think this is a division as the Great Chris Burma would say the black and blue of the NFC NOS and they're going to beat up on each other. They really will. We got all kinds of implications on Thanksgiving into the Christmas week. The end of the year is a juggernaut for all four of these teams. Will all four of them be alive in the playoff picture that remains to be seen. But this I think there could be all kinds of iterations. Bears win the division, Lions the Wild card to Packers three, Vikings four. Boy, if they go back to back and it is year number two here for Ben Johnson, I already feels like he's been there for multiple years. But just in year one, what a job. You win 11 games, you win the division, you win a playoff game. I mean, check, check, check in year number one for Ben Johnson. That is really impressive. Certainly in that town, it goes a long way.

38:35Now I was there when Matt Nagy had an amazing year one and everything looked great. And they got the double-dunk and don't worry about it. It's just everything's going to be fine in year number two. Didn't quite work out the rest of the way there in Chicago. Now I'm not going to say it's surely bassy in another case of history repeating. But I am not looking to back Ben Johnson in year two and the Chicago Bears. And I've got a shock to this system. I like the Vikings this year. Yes. Kind of like my play a couple of years ago. People are like, what? You like Sam Darnold? That guy's terrible. You like Kyle Murray? That guy's terrible. This is why they bring these guys in the retreads at the end of their scrap people that aren't a felt careers. It's not the way this happens here with KOC in Minnesota. And I do believe now, I don't know if we can go to Sam Darnold like and have that cake walk of hitting our win total over that year and the adjusted win total over. And down to the last game of the regular season, not only to win the division, had they beaten the lions on that last game the year, a couple of years ago,

39:36would have been number one seed in the NFC playoffs. They lost that game and then lost in the first round of the Rams the following week. I do see some similarities though in the rest of the 52 that I like better than most of the rosters in this division for what they've done here in Minnesota. I do trust Brian Flores in that defense. And he really is to me outside of Ben Johnson calling the offense for Chicago. I'll take Flores and Colin defense for Minnesota as the most important guy coordinator, slash head coach to call plays if you will down in and down out just like Ben does in Chicago. That's what he does for that defense. And I'm going to trust that that KOC can get enough at a Kyle Murray here and kind of kickstart his NFL career because good he is on the scrap heap. And Sam Darnold would have been as well if it didn't work out then. Now again, I'm not saying that this means Kyle Murray is going to send to Sam Darnold levels and win a Super Bowl. But I like them and a really close as you mentioned one through four division.

40:40And I'm going to flip it. I'm going to put the Vikings at one and I'm going to put the Bears at four. I got to tell you thought about putting the Packers there. I'm very concerned about the Packers right away. Michael Parsons starting off in the Pub list for four weeks. Josh Jacobs is going to play at all this year as RB one. So he gone and all of a sudden I'm going to go, all right, you got to put it on Jordan. Well, that's a lot to ask. I know the Lions are the cats me out for the Motor City Kiddies this year. I like that team. I've got some issues about Dan Campbell right now and how that offense is going to be run this year. He's hands off again this year. He was way too hands on last year and it did not go well when he fired Johnny Morton when they were winning early in the year. I got the Lions to Packers three bears go from first to worst, but still going to be very good. And I have the Lions making the postseason in the North. The Vikings a bit of a surprise, Jensen is what I have there. How about the AFC? I think I know where you're going here with the North in this division. Well, it's not nothing's really changed. I'm high on Baltimore this year. I have them in the Super Bowl.

41:41So would be logical that I keep them winning the AFC North. Make no mistake about it. Jesse Menter, a guy that I think can really infuse some new and creative ideas for this defense. I think a healthy Lamar Jackson is right in the MVP conversation. There are Henry, a little more augmented weaponry on the outside and in the tight end room. I just think they have the fewest amount of questions to answer. And if they played to their capability, they should win this division going away. The Cincinnati Bengals were not in the postseason in the original right up for me. In our first NFL betting guide, they are now and it's more taking a chance on the underbelly of what the AFC may look like. Can the Bengals hang heck if they could hang in the playoff race after all the injuries last year and Joe Flacco come to the rescue. If they get any semblance of health, they have this should be one of the most prolific offenses in football. If they get a win a handful of shootouts, fine. If their defense is just markedly better, doesn't have to be astronomically better.

42:42They should be better overall. So the Bengals a wild card team for me. Don't know what to expect for big Mike in the last dance of Aaron Rogers this year. And I am obligated as a Cleveland fan Dave to not put the Steelers in any playoff scenario whatsoever. And then I am a realist. The Browns may be in that running for fewest wins in the national football league this year. So pretty clear cut in the North Ravens to win at Bengals to qualify as a wild card as that two spot Steelers three and Browns for. I would go to the coaching in this division and I go I got two first year guys there in Cleveland and Baltimore. So we'll find out maybe Mentor's going to be great coming back home to Baltimore. Maybe Monkins exactly with the Browns need that. I'm not willing to bet on it. And then Zach Taylor always feels like that guy they can't wait to get rid of and Cincinnati for whatever reason. God does a pretty good job calling offense in my mind, but the defense is always challenged. That's now our golden job. So who's the coach that comes in with the most pedigree? It's big Mike. It's Mike McCarthy.

43:42He's one of Super Bowl. Okay, Zach Taylor has gotten to a Super Bowl. Mike's actually one one. He's actually he actually did a really good job in Dallas and got the most out of Super Dac press God and getting that elevated offense that you had for years down there in Dallas. So to me, I look at big Mike and go I got confidence in day one and this team won the division obviously as a playoff team a year ago, but winning the division last year with Mike Tomman was not exactly known as the most innovative offensive head coach. You think of Mike Tomman? You think of defense? I think Mike McCarthy. I think of offense and I think of what he's going to be able to do to cart a compartmentalize that unit. So if there is one more great year for Aaron Rodgers, it was okay. It was good last year. It wasn't sexy and that won the division. I'll take my chances here again, like the the makeup of this roster, Patrick Graham coming over as the defensive coordinator after a stint in Las Vegas.

44:43We'll find out what that looks like. But big Mike is going to trust Patrick Graham to take care of a pretty ready made defense right now. And if that defense is as good as it's been in years past that Mike Tomman had, then check that box and the offense is elevated. I'll take a shot in the steers. I played their win total over. Everybody is fading this football team, not me. I like Pittsburgh. I got the Bengals in. It's always dependent on health. We know that with Joe Burrow in the signal car and Ken Al Golden get a little bit more of that defense. I trust that they will as long as nine is okay. They should be a wildcard team. I got the Ravens just on the outside looking in. I love Lamar Jackson. You know that. I do have issues here all of a sudden with the defense without Harball there. What's this going to look like with Jesse Menter? Really good defensive minded coach. Hopefully he shores that up in year one. I'll have to prove it to me before I'm willing to bet on it. And I'm with you in the Browns. This could be one of the worst football teams, at least offensively. It looks like it could be a train wreck. Okay. When we come back, we got to talk more about the Clippers and kind of historic punishment

45:44that Adam Silver laid out yesterday for LA and beyond. Also Thursday night football on the docket. Some plays we have in pocket there. All of that coming up and then some come back with us right here on Lisa and the Sports Petting Network.