Let's start with the with Coach Prime and the Buffaloes heading to Georgia Tech where the Yellow Jackets are seven point favorites.

Yeah, I feel like this could be potentially...

Now, look, it's week one.

Let's dip our toe in.

Don't go too crazy.

We're not throwing 10-unit mega locks out there for week one.

Maybe some people are.

What are you doing?

Let's start with Coach Prime and the Buffaloes heading to Georgia Tech where the Yellow Jackets are seven-point favorites.

Yeah, I feel like this could be potentially...

Now, look, it's week one.

Let's dip our toe in.

Don't go too crazy.

We're not throwing 10-unit mega locks out there for week one.

Maybe some people are.

What are you doing?

Let's start with Coach Prime and the Buffaloes heading to Georgia Tech where the Yellow Jackets are seven-point favorites.

Yeah, I feel like this could be potentially...

Now, look, it's week one.

Let's dip our toe in.

Don't go too crazy.

We're not throwing 10-unit mega locks out there for week one.

Maybe some people are.

What are you doing?

Where does that come from? And maybe what's a seminal moment that kind of made this the team you're going to stick with through thick and thin?

Well, I was born into it.

So my dad graduated from Notre Dame in 1973.

I am also a ginger Irish Catholic.

So I think it is forced upon me just by the way I look that I have to be a Notre Dame fan.

But, you know, my dad...

I wouldn't call him the biggest sports fan in the world.

So I wonder if that might be a better Bill Belichick team than some people are anticipating.

But like what I mean, what are you interested to sort of see on Sunday night? Aside from will Notre Dame cover 20 and a half?

Yeah, I mean, look, and that's the thing, too, is Notre Dame, you know, it's kind of back to the days of the early 90s is they're going to be very expensive to bet on.

But Marcus Freeman, since he's become the head coach at Notre Dame full time, not including the bowl game.

They're the best covering team in college football, so they actually have covered numbers at a really good number since he's become the head coach of Notre Dame.

But, you know, I think for me, it's the offense, right? Is this offense going to be humming like a fine...

tune machine or is it going to take some time, right? I think many of us always have the question of the wide receivers.

And I'm not trying to compare this to that room in 2023 that Sam Hartman had to deal with, with the lack of talent.

I don't see any value here from a betting standpoint.

What's the vibe like compared to a year ago with this group with Micah Alhajado returning at quarterback?

Well, I think there's a lot of excitement with Micah, but there's a lot of uncertainty.

You know, you look at a defense that only brings back three starters from a year ago.

You look at an offense that is missing all of their top wide receivers.

Pofeli Askellock unfortunately suffered an injury during the off-season, not expected to go for a little bit here.

But they do have four power four transfers at wide receiver, and Timmy Chang, talking to him just off the air on Wednesday at practice, said he really likes his slot guys.

Uh, so look, this is a kind of a plug-and-play system, but I think the interesting aspect for me from a betting standpoint, Dustin, is going to be, all right, you've got these new pieces.

Mm-hmm

Sure.

They just wanna grind this thing out.

It's almost, it almost feels to me like you're playing a service academy.

That, that's my expectation.

Now, they...

You know, week zero and week one are always such a unique challenge from a betting standpoint because they could throw crazy wrinkles at you that you had no idea were coming.

Um, you know, look, I'm not too nervous necessarily about Micah and the offense.

Uh, what do you think of the Rebels, uh, going in, since you are, are in the vicinity?

Uh, any boots on the ground reporting? Anything you can pass along for us to get us an edge on that game?

game?Well, it's your typical everything is positive right now.

So, uh, haven't been able to get too much negativity out of this Hawaii program, but they're excited obviously.

Ended last year with a win over Cal on this field behind me in the Hawaii Bowl.

Started last year with a win over Stanford.

I think Stanford is, is a fascinating team to take a look at this year, not from a, a, a, you know, anything promising necessarily, but what are they gonna look like? Tavita Pritchard comes in as their new head coach.

He was a s- uh, you know, the backup to Andrew Luck during the Harbaugh era.

Can we at least cover the 20.5?" Do you see any world in which the Wisconsin Badgers can make this a competitive game, or is this kind of a statement for Notre Dame to begin the year?

Do you think this is going to be a similar thing for them this season or with yet another year under the belt for Timmy Chang? Does he have a better grasp of getting this team on the road and having success?

Yeah, they did have a little success last year.

Obviously, when they came to UNLV, when they went to San Jose State, when they went to Arizona, those were both losses.

All three were losses.

But you think they go to Air Force in altitude, they get that win.

They go to Colorado State in altitude, they get that win.

So I do think this team is starting to... figure it out a little bit more from a travel standpoint.

Is there still a futures play or another bet that you would recommend people make now at the current price?

Do you think this is gonna be a similar thing for them this season, or with yet another year under the belt for Timmy Chang, does he have a better grasp of getting this team on the road and having success?

success?Yeah, they did have a little success last year.

Obviously, when they came to UNLV, when they went to San Jose State, when they went to Arizona, those were both lo- all three were losses.

But you think they go to Air Force in altitude, they get that win.

They go to Colorado State in altitude, they get that win.

So I do think this team is starting to figure it out a little bit more from a travel standpoint.

Look, the ATS numbers for them at home have been unbelievable.

Is there still a, a, a futures play or another bet that you would recommend people make now at the current price?

Uh, do you have a play in that Hawaii-Stanford game?

I, I do.

Yeah, I played under 49 and a half.

I think there's still some 49 and a halves out there.

Uh, this is a game last year, Gil, 23 to 20, final score.

Hawaii gets the game-winning field goal from the legend Kante Matsuzawa, the Tokyo Toe.

And, uh, yeah, I think this is similar.

What about your Irish? Where, where do they end up this year in your, from your perspective?

You know, from an estate planning standpoint, why does the house tend to raise so many questions?

I think because most people, not everyone, but most people are.

I mean, the the.

They're attached to their home.

It's a big investment, number one.

I've had people that want to protect their home.

They weren't worth a whole lot in dollar signs as we look at things otherwise.

Can you explain how different types of ownership affect what happens to a house later on?

Mm-hmm

...

the losingest program in college football history to the playoff in year one, and then to win the national championship and go 16 and 0 and, you know, and beat the teams that they did in that playoff run, beating an Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game, sweeping in Oregon, finishing it off with that win over Miami was, was really, really, uh, impressive, unprecedented, however you wanna look at it.

So look, I think Indiana is absolutely a championship caliber team.

And you know, for Kirk Signetti, I'm sure he'll use anything as motivation, and he's sitting there at number six.

And the last thing I'll say, guys, is a couple of these teams have that continuity at the quarter- uh, at the coordinator position.

And Indiana with Shanahan at OC and Haynes at DC, they were able to keep that continuity together.

Wow.

[laughs]

... any, uh, anything's off the air.

So, uh, we, we were having a moment.

I was talking about some, uh, situations in the backyard.

But we digress into the game of your love, which is UNLV.

And I'm kind of with you here, JVT.

And, you know, I was texting with a buddy of mine who's a radio host down in Memphis, Jeffrey Wright, and I feel like I've got the best information coming in on these two games, because you know this program at UNLV as well as anybody out there, and my buddy down in Memphis, I feel like, knows that program well, too.

[laughs]

[laughs]

... any, uh, anything's off the air.

So, uh, we, we were having a moment.

I was talking about some, uh, situations in the backyard.

But we digress into the game of your love, which is UNLV.

And I'm kind of with you here, JVT.

And, you know, I was texting with a buddy of mine who's a radio host down in Memphis, Jeffrey Wright.

[laughs]

So ha- has any of that affected you or when you watch games, you notice anything?

Yeah, no. Um, I, I would say full disclosure, you know, with the radio sideline job that we do, we don't get the same access as, you know, an ESPN or, you know, a TV crew would get.

Um, but yeah, it's certainly different.

It's...

You know, look, I, I just, on a side note, you know, I, I get an opportunity to do about three or four bowl games every year.

It's, it's so much fun.

Uh, even though, you know, look, uh, you and, the three of us and, and the, the viewers, we all love bowl season and, and we, you know, you know, tell people to shut up when it comes to, you know, why do we play these bowl games? I get it.

Yeah

Christian Gray, Jayden Sanders, D.J. McKinney, and Dallas Golden.

I'm gonna say Christian Gray one.

Um, it sounds like they're full in on him being the nickel.

Um- You know, Sanders I said w- thought would have been a clear number four before these early reports coming out of camp that he's playing pretty good.

I, I don't know what to do with McKinnie.

Um, there was part of me that thought he was clearly coming in to be the, the number two corner.

I don't know who it was on, on the Irish Illustrated podcast that mentioned, or maybe it was...

Yeah, I think so too

So are you taking the over or under on Aeneas?

I'll take the under.

Um, I think, you know, total yards, Aeneas Williams, as we saw in the playoff run in '24, will be utilized a bunch, I'd imagine, out of the backfield.

And I do know that Juwan Siders' track record is kind of to lean on two guys.

But I think we're gonna see a bunch of different running backs emerge.

And while I expect Aeneas Williams to be the bell cow and to have a really good year, I don't know if 1,000 yards is necessarily something in his, uh, in his future there.

I mean, Jeremiah Love rushed for 1,300 yards a year ago, a little bit more than that, averaged almost seven yards per carry.

Yeah

Atta boy.

And, uh, they're gonna be winless.

I mean, you know, Brian Kelly is, uh, is an elite coach, and, uh, they got written off.

Um, you know, I, I...

Look, they are- Top three most polarizing team in college football this year.

Um, you know, week three is going to be, in my opinion...

Look, I just spent, you know, a minute talking about Notre Dame, Miami.

Now let's move on and get back to the real teams." What, what do we see in Indiana as we head into the season here?

How do you see the, the playoff path? I know that's kind of a tough question to ask in August, but like, how do you see this team's playoff path? And do you see the lack of schedule hurting them at all when they get there? And all right, now you're matched up with, uh, Indiana or Ohio State or Georgia, Miami, whoever.

Yeah, I mean, it's certainly a fair question.

I do think unlike Texas Tech, they will have those.

I mean, look, I think Miami is probably a little bit, just ever so slightly underrated, just a little bit.

Like they're still top 17 power rating wise.

I would probably have them over Indiana right now.

So if you're splitting hairs, once again, like that's super splitting hairs.

I know you are pretty high on the Bulldogs as well.

Big picture, who do you think this group of six representative is going to be? Because I keep looking at the Pac-12, and I keep looking at the Mountain West, and Tim, I don't, I'm not overtly impressed really by any of these teams for the most part, and maybe it's actually somebody we're not thinking of, like a Memphis or something, and not one of Boise State, UNLV, or some of these other Mountain West/Pac-12 representatives that are keep getting thrown out there.

Yeah, it's funny, JVT.

I just got off the air.

I do a, a radio hit in Memphis every Tuesday.

We were talking about the Tigers.

They're around 10/1 to make the college football playoff.

Their schedule is pretty challenging.

I think there's a lot of different ways to ask you about them, but we'll just say this: Are they the best team in the country?

Who is the team they keep coming back to?

Well, I think JJ on a, on a smaller level, I wouldn't say they're out on Texas, but I think the people that I've talked to have them probably more in that seven, eight range as opposed to maybe top four.

So that would be the, maybe the smaller answer.

I think the bigger answer is going to be Alabama.

There's a lot of questions about Alabama.

Now, I will say this, you know, Phil Steele, who we all read his preview magazine, he has Alabama as his number one surprise team of college football this year.

So that's the beauty of this time of year, differing opinions.

What do you think of a group of six teams that make the playoff at some big prices, long odds?

Who, who is your pick to win the SEC?

Uh, it's Georgia, and, you know, it's similar, Paulie and JJ, is, like, I look at this year, I, I think there's seven teams.

And now I didn't think Indiana was in that group last year, so, you know, maybe last year was the outlier or maybe we'll see.

But I, I think there's seven teams that can win the title.

Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas.

Uh, you look at, uh, I think Miami's capable of it, Indiana, Oregon.

I think that's the seven that I look at to win the national championship.

... "they're out on that team." Who is the team they keep coming back to?

Who is the team they keep coming back to?

Well, I think JJ on a, on a smaller level, I wouldn't say they're out on Texas, but I think the people that I've talked to have them probably more in that seven, eight range as opposed to maybe top four.

So that would be the, maybe the smaller answer.

I think the bigger answer is going to be Alabama.

There's a lot of questions about Alabama.

Now, I will say this, you know, Phil Steele, who we all read his preview magazine, he has Alabama as his number one surprise team of college football this year.

So that's the beauty of this time of year, differing opinions.

What do you think of a group of six teams that make the playoff at some big prices, long odds?

Yeah.

So I'm probably one of the most ardent GLP one haters.

I hate them with passion.

I think it's an incredibly dirty drug with a dirty mechanism of action.

I think when they were first created specifically for diabetic patients, to have a side effect of a medication that allows you to lose weight is a benefit to that subset of the population.

When you take a side effect and you apply that to the rest of the population who may or may not have the additional comorbidities where the risks start to outweigh the benefits, it's It is a catastrophic issue in the American healthcare system.

It's a catastrophic issue for the employers that they're giving them to.

What are you doing differently?