Power conferences

[laughs]

Um, but for a Power Four team that was already projected pretty low to fall 13 more spots after a win tells me something.

And I, I know they have some size.

In the end, I don't know, I just think this is a blowout.

They need to, uh, take care of business because they are the home team.

But it's worth noting a loss would be Ohio State's third in a row against a Power Four opponent, which has not happened since 2013.

So- Interesting there.

Michigan, of course, they're coming off a poor showing and a controversial win against Western Michigan.

That's why coaches always want to talk about, hey, the countless people behind the scenes who make this happen, the training staff that is available to help stretch guys out and take care of people at halftime and even on the sidelines during games.

Like, those are the differences in program budgets that just – just make the difference in a lot of these games when you're seeing a Power Four team face a group of five, group of six team.

Those are the people that often make the biggest difference along with, it's not just the players, not to take anything away from them, but the talent disparity on top of just the resources that a school has is why, you know, that's why when a team from the group of six comes in and contends with a team from the Power Four, especially in a road game, it's so impressive in my eyes because they're not just showing up with, you know, fewer blue chip prospects.

They're showing up with, less assistants, less physical trainers, all these resources.

That's what, you know, it goes into the underdog stories there.

We're going to see part two of Oklahoma and Michigan.

Would you like that given the way the SEC has gone to the nine games in the conference? See, I would have liked that five years ago.

These games were supposed to be against power four teams.

Sierra.

Baylor, Auburn, there were not a ton of exciting games in week one around college football, but Baylor and Auburn played one of the few power four matchups in the SEC.

Now, Ole Miss took on Louisville.

That was a pretty good game.

So to me, this is a chance for this program to kind of turn things back in the right direction.

It's their first opportunity against a Power Four team.

They've lost 20 straight to Power Four opponents.

If you want to throw Oregon State in there, that would be 21.

So this is huge.

Because if you don't beat Wake Forest at home in Ross, then you have...

UCLA in week three week four you got Notre Dame week five you got Illinois all those games much tougher on paper than Wake Forest so you said from your perspective well this game isn't a must win but if Purdue loses this one against Wake Forest where do you either number one see Purdue's next win on the schedule or where they could win that next game and number two what would you think of the team the dynamic are you going to think that maybe this team goes down similar route as the last two years.

Yeah, that's a great question because there's so much of this that's mental, right? People have been talking about the fact that Purdue hasn't won a Power Four game in over two years.

I think this is a lower scoring game than some folks might think.

So that's one power four game that is flying way, and I mean way, under the radar because if you're just looking at the AP poll, there's an upset possibility there.

Georgia Tech could win the game.

Wouldn't shock me one bit.

Anyway, not going down that rabbit hole.

Here we go.

Speaking of underrated power four games involving an SEC team, are you aware that this is the week? A game I mentioned several times during the offseason, and it's finally happening on Saturday.

Mississippi State is traveling to Minnesota in another bout for Big Ten SEC supremacy.

VCU over Dayton in the tournament championship.

SLU and VCU actually tied for the regular season championship at 15-3 last year, and this was the seventh-ranked conference at Ken Palm behind the Power Five and the now-not-as-strong Mountain West Conference.

Mm-hmm.

So, Andy, a couple coaching changes here.

So that's just something to keep an eye on.

And Andy, let's go ahead and say it now.

I think VCU once again is going to be looking for another new awesome coach because I think this is probably going to be it for Phil Martelli and he'll be off to some power five school.

Yeah, if they win two games in the tournament, I think that's probably it for Martelli, which is a huge bummer.

But I think, Steve, what has been so precious to me, Iowa State is one thing, the fact that it's Big Ten versus Big 12.

Rarely do you have two Power Four Conference schools within the same state that occupy seats in different power leagues.

You have, you know, USC, all the great traditional rivalries, USC, UCLA, you know, Georgia, Georgia Tech, historically were in the same conference for years.

And that's never been the case with the Hawks and the Cyclones.

Yeah, I agree with you, though.

These middle-of-the-pack teams playing on weeknights, I think it's good for them, especially in the Power Four, to get some eyeballs.

The only thing is you're taking away from...

These G6s, like the one I attended, because we play on a lot of Thursdays and Fridays.