Until Saturday: A show about college football The Athletic

Colorado Twitter is EA Sports' #1 fan. College Football 25 is only a few weeks away, and the gracious folks at EA Sports gave us A LOT to talk about, as they published their offensive and defensive rankings on Thursday. Ari Wasserman, Chris Vannini, and Scott Dochterman react to the top-25 lists, and then they share where EA got it wrong. Afterward, who is the x-factor on each Big Ten team? The guys explain each of their picks. Before we roll out, rolling it up is now legal in CFB. Plus, other rule changes.

Read about Austin Mock's top-ranked offenses, defenses:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5595576/2024/06/27/college-football-25-best-defenses-projections/?partner=slack&smid=sl-share

Rundown:
- EA Sports offensive/defensive rankings (2:30)
- Our top-10 teams on offense (13:00)
- Defensive rankings (17:30)
- Big Ten X-factors (25:30)
- Cannabis, unlimited coaches, and more news (1:08:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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The dead period has arrived, which presents a great opportunity for Ari Wasserman, Mitch Light, and Manny Navarro to fill you in on everything you need to know about college football recruiting in 2024 through June. From Kalen DeBoer's impressive start enlisting high school talent into the Alabama ranks to Rutgers' and Memphis' hot starts (and USC's cold spell), we have you covered.

Read Bruce Feldman's Elite 11 takeaways story:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5582196/2024/06/22/elite-11-takeaways-jaron-sagapolutele-tavien-st-clair/

Rundown:
- Major recruiting storylines (3:00)
- Alabama hasn't skipped a beat without Saban...right? (10:00)
- What to make of Brent Venables' contract extension (19:00)
- Recruiting rankings top-10 teams (25:00)
- Hot/cold teams on the recruiting trail: USC, Notre Dame + more (45:30)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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A sleep deprived, but exuberant, David Ubben returns to Until Saturday! He joins Ari Wasserman and Chris Vannini in New York while in New York for a company event. David has been champing at the bit to share his thoughts about recent college football news and developments since being on paternity leave, including EA Sports College Football 25, the best head coaching hires this cycle, hype train teams, private equity, and more!

Rundown:
- David takes a break from Bluey to talk EA Sports CFB 25! (2:00)
- Will CFB 25 be a good tool to learn about players? (9:00)
- CFB needs a portal fix (16:00)
- The shortsightedness of private equity (23:00)
- Are coaches overreacting to future roster limits? (31:00)
- The Pac-2's media deal trumps the Pac-12's (44:00)
- Best coaching hire of this cycle (49:00)
- Hype train teams (58:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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What are reasonable and unreasonable expectations for fanbases of some of college football's most interesting teams? Ari Wasserman is joined by The Athletic's Kennington Smith III and Ralph Russo of the Associated Press to solve what rational, and irrational, benchmarks Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Clemson, and more should hit this season. Kenny and Ralph are subjected to an expectations lightning round before the triumvirate reveal which fanbases are the most irrational.

Listen to Ralph on the AP Top 25 College Football Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/id1138957862

Read Kenny's SEC schedule breakdown:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5556938/2024/06/12/sec-football-2024-tv/

Rundown:
- Reasonable/unreasonable expectations: Alabama (3:00)
- Texas to the moon? (13:00)
- Notre Dame standard in '24 (22:30)
- Is Ole Miss a National Championship contender? (30:15)
- We're the "Michael Jordan of being wrong about Texas A&M" (39:15)
- Colorado fans, let's be real (47:00)
- Miami boom or bust (52:30)
- Clemson, Dabo need to "stand on buisness" (59:30)
- Can Michigan win The Game? (1:06:00)
- Lightning Round: FSU, Penn State, LSU + more (1:09:30)
- Most irrational fanbases (1:12:30)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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Chris Vannini and Ari Wasserman discuss reports of the Big 12 and CUSA, among other conferences, exploring private equity investment and selling the naming rights to their conferences. Does the Allstate 12 roll off the tongue? Later, special guest Jessica Smetana, co-host of The Dan Le Betard Show and Notre Dame alumnus, hops on Until Saturday to share her takes on the vibes in South Bend. Afterward, Chris and Jessica nominate major trap games this season. From UCF-Florida to Clemson-App St., where do these look-ahead matchups rank on the "Trap Scale"? Lastly, Jessica faces a round of Notre Dame trivia unlike any other.

Check out Jessica on The Dan Le Betard Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dan-le-batard-show-with-stugotz/id934820588

Read more on the Big 12 exploring private equity, sale of naming rights: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5562395/2024/06/13/big-12-private-equity-naming-rights/

Rundown:
- Big 12 (and others) exploring private equity investment & sale of naming rights (:30)
- Notre Dame vibe check with Jessica Smetana (11:30)
- Trap Games & Trap Scale! -- Colorado vs NDSU (32:30)
- Notre Dame-Louisville (38:30)
- Florida-UCF (43:30)
- Clemson-App St. (47:00)
- USF-Miami (52:00)
- Notre Dame trivia! (58:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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We are less than 100 days from the start of the college football season! Ari Wasserman and Chris Vannini pinpoint the year's biggest 'pressure cooker games', or the matchups that will draw the strongest overreactions from either fanbase and send supporters into a tizzy. Would the losing party in LSU-USC lose faith in their head coach after a season of heavy investment in the defensive staff? Which programs are the guys dying to play as in Dynasty Mode in the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 video game? Plus, Nebraska AD Troy Dannen spoke candidly about his perception of the direciton of the sport, and Huskers' NIL coffers. Can a team like Nebraska compete in the new world of CFB?

Troy Dannen video:
https://www.tiktok.com/@247.huskers/video/7377540168561069355?is_from_webapp=1

Listen to our 'Secrets of NIL and the transfer portal' episode:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/83-the-andy-staples-show/episode-1117/

Rundown:
- Troy Dannen on Nebraska's NIL war chest + future of the sport (3:00)
- 2024's Pressure Cooker Games: Miami vs Florida (14:00)
- USC vs LSU (23:30)
- Nebraska vs Colorado (28:15)
- Tennessee vs Oklahoma (38:30)
- Texas vs Texas A&M + The Game (43:00)
- Top 5 Dynasty Mode teams (54:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday
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