"garrett nussmeier" Discussed on The Paul Finebaum Show
"Already with Sally Jenkins talking about the game yesterday and Brad Crawford now talking about another final four. This one in football, Brad, thanks for the time. Great to see you as always. So let's get right to it since final fours are on people's mind. You've come up with your own. Tell us about it. Yeah, hey, Paul, happy Easter. And thanks for having me on. Yeah, we've seen tons of parody during March Madness with college basketball, but that's not going to be the case during the 2023 college football season, at least in my opinion. You know, I started this article by taking 6 to 8 of the nation's most talented teams based on our recruiting rankings here at 24/7 sports. And just sort of went from there. And that's usually indicative of who we're going to see in the playoff teams with the most talent, obviously win at the highest level. TCU's run last year was unprecedented exception to that rule because they were had a recruiting class outside of the top 20. So you're going to see the usual suspects in that mix for the final four. Yeah, I mean, those are the usual suspects. And I could look down and that could have been last year or maybe the year before. The difference, I think, though, Brad is Alabama. They're probably more questions about them than I can remember, perhaps maybe since Sabin's first year at the helm. So let's talk about that. And why what you have come up with seems to be in tune with the past, even though nobody really knows about this year other than Nick Saban's the coach, great recruiting class, and it's Alabama. Yeah, two new coordinator hires is obviously the biggest off season storyline. Unknowns at quarterback really with Jalen milrow, ty Simpson still battling here in ring third week of spring practice. Those guys are duking it out. But if anyone has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to projection and top four for next season, it's Nick Saban. He hasn't missed a playoff in consecutive years since I want to say 2014, which is when this 14 playoff first began after the BCS. So Alabama is a team I think that at plus 500 right now, that's the most recent odds I saw. That's a pretty solid bit because you're talking about Georgia probably at one of maybe three or four in most preseason polls. I still like Alabama to have a great shot at getting to the playoff next season. Yeah, Brad, just doing the math in my head. I think Alabama has only missed the player offs twice. That was when LSU wanted all in this most recent year. So we're talking about something in the playoff error that has never happened. Nick Saban has not gone three. It sounds funny to say, by the way, that he's not he has not gone three years without a national championship during his tenure. So we moved to Georgia. You feel pretty confident of the dog, even without knowing the quarterback. There's a good chance Paul that Georgia will play only two top 25 teams this season, and that includes the SEC championship game. I have that trip to Tennessee, niland stadium in November, another birth in Atlanta. Really, those are the two ranked teams that Jordan's going to play, maybe Alabama or LSU in that SC championship game. I think right now you have to sort of ride in Kirby smart's team, probably with a sharpie as a lock to get into playoff unless they lose two games and I just don't see it with that schedule and the talent that Kirby smart has it basically every position group Georgia sharpie. I like the sound of that. Let me ask you about LA sheer. They're on your outside looking in, although Brian Kelly's turnaround has been fast. What do you see down there? I think everybody would agree that LSU was sort of ahead of schedule last season in Brian Kelly's first campaign. And that's a great sign if you're an LSU fan, this feels to me like a bust proof team and I can't say that about a lot of projected elites here in April coming into the end of spring practice. And I think that's because of LSU's depth. Quarterback room is loaded. Jayden Daniels obviously in all SEC caliber signal caller, Garrett nussmeier Paul would start at most SEC programs. We're going to probably see him play something this year, then Harold Perkins on defense has arguably the nation's top returning player on that side of the ball at linebacker, future top 5 picks. So I think if LSU can get past Florida state in that season opener, you know, the tigers aren't going to play another top 15 caliber team until that trip to Tuscaloosa in November. So I would buy stock in LSU right now, especially since Brian Kelly has that program ahead of schedule now heading into year two. We're talking about next year and Brad outside of those three last year was all about Tennessee. They made us number one in the country. They almost made the playoffs. Are they your next team? Or is it somebody else? Yeah, Penn State's a team that I'm higher on than most. I think Penn State is my dark horse playoff pick. I don't quite have them in the final four right now as far as way too early bowl projections go, but you know James Franklin has one 11 games four times already and happy valley. And this might be the year that he gets to 12. It's going to take a win over Michigan or Ohio State to get there, but you look at the 5 star quarterback they signed last year and drew a lot. He's a guy that really Penn State hasn't had that difference maker at the quarterback position. Notice respect to Sean Clifford, but Paul we know watching Penn State games in the last four years. There's a contingent of the fan base that didn't even want to see him starting. They have 2000 yard fresh and running backs back. Catron Allen, Nicholas singleton, probably the best duo backfield in college football. So Penn State's a team right now that I have inside my pre season top 5 and I think you'll see them be a unanimous top ten pick.
