Full Transcript for Extra Points with @MattBrownEP! On BYU-Utah Rivalry, Big 12 Commish + more

00:03:32.580 12 championship game, you know? 73 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:35.580 Yeah, I mean, is this the first time that these 74 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:37.379 two teams have been in the top 10 before they played? 75 00:03:37.460 --> 00:03:37.979 Correct. 76 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:40.659 I feel like if it happened, it'd be since like 77 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:46.250 the 30s. You're absolutely right, and even more than that, right? Like, 78 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:48.250 Utah can still make the playoff if they lose this game. 79 00:03:48.990 --> 00:03:52.310 I don't think BYU can, but without Texas Tech playing 80 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:55.780 either of these squads, I can't think of another regular 81 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:57.939 season game that anybody's going to play in the league 82 00:03:57.969 --> 00:03:59.969 that's going to be as important as this one. I 83 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:05.909 think managing those expectations and that level of cortisol, I think, 84 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:09.879 as Ben Criddle likes to put it, is fascinating, even 85 00:04:09.909 --> 00:04:11.699 more so than how these two teams match up on 86 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:14.539 the field. Utah hasn't played a game like this this season, 87 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:17.560 and I have honestly no idea where BYU's heads are 88 00:04:17.620 --> 00:04:20.579 at emotionally after the whiplash of the last two days. 89 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:27.160 I could see anything happening here including either team winning by, like, 25. 90 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:29.839 Right. I mean, look, you never know. My advice to 91 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:31.939 my listeners remains the same, which is don't bet on 92 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:35.819 any of this stuff, but definitely do not touch this game. 93 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:40.379 I mean, Utah's a five-and-a-half-point favorite. The pro football focus guys, actually, 94 00:04:40.420 --> 00:04:44.100 their modeling has Utah eight points better than BYU, but, dude, 95 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:45.980 I have no idea how this is going to go down, 96 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:46.759 which makes it great. 97 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.230 Yeah, I mean, if I was to try to look 98 00:04:50.250 --> 00:04:54.180 at this, as dispassionately as possible and try just to 99 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:57.439 be Mr. Spreadsheet Man and come up with a model myself, 100 00:04:57.500 --> 00:05:03.189 I think I'd probably be somewhere between PFF, somewhere north 101 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:05.730 of 4.5 and probably less than 8.5, but I would 102 00:05:05.769 --> 00:05:08.709 definitely have Utah as a favorite. But part of that's 103 00:05:08.730 --> 00:05:10.029 just because of the way that BYU has won a 104 00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:13.389 lot of games, have not been the ways that necessarily 105 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:16.649 impress computers the most. They're not winning by 45. They're 106 00:05:16.670 --> 00:05:19.410 sometimes winning while being outgained. They're winning

by taking a 107 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:22.500 quarter and a half off. like they did against Notre Dame. 108 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:26.329 And they can still do all of those things and 109 00:05:26.370 --> 00:05:30.610 win here, too. This is the game I am most 110 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:34.290 excited to watch on TV this coming weekend, for sure. 111 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:37.350 And on a weekend of a ton of huge games, 112 00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:40.860 a ton of matchups with playoff implications and conference championship 113 00:05:40.889 --> 00:05:44.600 implications and coaching implications, just in terms of what I 114 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:46.560 expect the product on the field to be, this is 115 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:49.060 the one I'm most excited about, even more than Notre Dame-Miami. 116 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:52.019 Yeah, I agree. And look, you're an interesting guy to 117 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:56.000 talk to about this game specifically because you were born 118 00:05:56.019 --> 00:06:00.439 of goodly parents, Matt, and you're also an out-of-stater, right? 119 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.310 And so you have an understanding of culturally what this 120 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:07.649 game is. The moniker Holy War is kind of hotly debated. 121 00:06:07.709 --> 00:06:11.089 I mean, look, there are plenty of members of the 122 00:06:11.170 --> 00:06:14.949 LDS Church that attend the University of Utah, namely the 123 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:18.620 head coach. And, you know, obviously BYU is a church-owned school. 124 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:21.920 But when it comes to the perspective that people have 125 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:25.220 on this game that either don't live here or weren't 126 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:27.060 raised in the culture, how do you think it's viewed? 127 00:06:28.550 --> 00:06:34.110 I don't think it is viewed nearly as or understood 128 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:38.250 to be nearly as passionate and vitriolic. And I don't 129 00:06:38.269 --> 00:06:41.250 mean that in a pejorative way. I don't think outsiders 130 00:06:41.350 --> 00:06:44.209 understand how intense this game is. And part of that 131 00:06:44.230 --> 00:06:46.490 has been for a long time. This was a Mountain 132 00:06:46.550 --> 00:06:50.250 West game that wasn't always about major bowl implications and 133 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:54.279 wasn't always on the leading national broadcast or anything. But 134 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.360 when I look at the most intense college football rivalries, 135 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:01.800 they're usually not the ones that are the most important 136 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:05.420 on the field. They're the ones where the schools are 137 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.790 close enough together to where their alumni and their fans 138 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:11.029 have to live with each other and be in constant 139 00:07:11.069 --> 00:07:15.269 contact the entire year. And while there's an element of 140 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:21.079 classism or religious conflict or political challenge or something else, 141 00:07:21.100 --> 00:07:22.379 you look at the, you know, again, looking at the 142 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.560 Egg Bowl, the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game, that's, you know, 143 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.180 a game against the lawyers and the business executives against 144 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:36.259 the at-kids. It's a fancy pants versus Carhartt kind of battle, 145 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:40.610 which leads to that being an emotional fight over the 146 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:42.910 course of the entire year. So these are two huge 147 00:07:42.949 --> 00:07:45.189 brands that are alike in many ways. You're right. There's 148 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:47.689 a lot of LDS people on both sides. There's folks 149 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:51.589 that enjoy margaritas on both sides. But if you are 150 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:54.319 a BYU fan and you're anywhere in the Beehive State, 151 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:58.079 you've got Utah people in your life, in your workplace, 152 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.439 in your ward, in your neighborhood, everywhere. That's honestly not 153 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:04.920 true for Ohio State, Michigan. It's not true for Texas, Oklahoma. 154 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.139 It's not true for Florida, Georgia. And it is true here, 155 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:12.579 and that's what leads to people throwing beer on Max 156 00:08:12.620 --> 00:08:15.829 Hall's parents, allegedly, or people ratting on each other for 157 00:08:15.870 --> 00:08:19.550 recruiting violations, allegedly. or a year, a year long battle, 158 00:08:19.829 --> 00:08:22.189 there's just not that many other games like this. And 159 00:08:22.209 --> 00:08:23.589 this is the only one I could think of that 160 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:25.889 has a religious component attached to it, which is going 161 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:27.550 to make it intense, even if both teams are four 162 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:31.129 and seven. And this year there are the opposite of that. 163 00:08:31.209 --> 00:08:34.259 It should be, I would expect lots of sportsmanlike penalties. 164 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:38.200 Yes. And I do think this is a unique opportunity 165 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.399 to showcase this game to a lot of people, that 166 00:08:41.419 --> 00:08:44.019 have never seen it before, because to your point, look, 167 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.340 if these two teams were winless, it would still feel 168 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:49.440 like it's, it's very intense. But the fact that Utah 169 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.440 is three and BYU is nine, I mean, just that 170 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:56.610 dynamic in and of itself with ABC as your broadcast window, 171 00:08:57.070 --> 00:08:59.409 even though it is noon and not six 30 or whatever, 172 00:08:59.429 --> 00:09:02.850 I do think this is a pretty unique opportunity for 173 00:09:02.889 --> 00:09:06.470 these two teams to show

America, not just Utah, how 174 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.070 unique and special and intense this game actually is. 175 00:09:10.429 --> 00:09:13.559 Unquestionably. And it's also an important way for, I think, 176 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:16.080 the rest of the country to be reintroduced to these programs. 177 00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:18.940 If you didn't watch, if you were up in my 178 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:20.519 neck of the woods and you didn't stay up to 179 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.960 watch Utah-Houston, there's a decent chance you've only seen like 180 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.429 two quarters of Utah football. And it's not because Utah 181 00:09:26.470 --> 00:09:28.909 hasn't been good. It's because they have been playing either 182 00:09:28.950 --> 00:09:32.789 late at night or their games haven't been close. They 183 00:09:32.830 --> 00:09:36.009 haven't been in prime time very much. Most of America 184 00:09:36.049 --> 00:09:39.379 that watches college football casually probably saw the BYU-Notre Dame 185 00:09:39.409 --> 00:09:41.799 game But I think they were in a similar boat 186 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:43.740 where there hasn't been as much of a reason or 187 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:47.000 they've been playing at the same time that Ohio State 188 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:50.019 or Texas or Alabama or these massive brands have been playing. 189 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.590 So casual fans here in the hinterlands of the Midwest 190 00:09:54.629 --> 00:09:56.809 and on the East Coast, we know these teams are good. 191 00:09:57.850 --> 00:10:00.389 We know a couple of players are good. But there's 192 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:03.149 a lot of college football fans that are looking at 193 00:10:03.169 --> 00:10:06.289 the AP poll and going, Utah, three? Really? How did 194 00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:08.809 that happen? How good could they possibly be? This is 195 00:10:08.830 --> 00:10:13.799 your chance. A chance to reintroduce the entire country of 196 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:16.980 what does this program look like post-Whittingham? How is it similar? 197 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:19.850 How is it different? and why this team is an 198 00:10:19.950 --> 00:10:23.370 awful lot of fun, which I think in the limited 199 00:10:23.409 --> 00:10:24.870 amount of time that I've been able to watch them, 200 00:10:25.230 --> 00:10:26.690 I think they've been enormously fun to watch. 201 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:29.509 Since you brought it up, of course, this week was 202 00:10:29.549 --> 00:10:32.470 the first iteration of the CFP rankings, and moving forward, 203 00:10:32.490 --> 00:10:35.409 they're the only rankings we view as real on this show. 204 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:37.730 You can save the AP and the coaches or whatever 205 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:40.879 else you use. So I said the same thing about 206 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.110 Utah this week that I said about BYU after the 207 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:45.889 Notre Dame game. Is Utah the third best team in America? 208 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:48.909 I don't know, but I feel like that position was justified. 209 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:53.250 Reese Davis and Booger McFarlane might disagree, but what do 210 00:10:53.269 --> 00:10:54.429 you make of these Utah three? 211 00:10:56.490 --> 00:10:59.269 I don't know if I would say, based on what 212 00:10:59.309 --> 00:11:03.220 I've watched, that Utah is the third most talented team. 213 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:05.879 I don't know if they have the third highest ceiling 214 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:08.240 in the country. What I do know is they've beaten 215 00:11:08.259 --> 00:11:10.399 the crap out of almost everybody they've played and they've 216 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:13.679 beaten everybody that they've played. And they have a clear 217 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:17.059 identity and a really fun quarterback. And this is a 218 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:20.990 year where I don't think there's like virtually everybody has problems. 219 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:23.210 I mean, I don't, I don't know who you would 220 00:11:23.230 --> 00:11:25.679 want to give a really passionate defense as being heads 221 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:30.190 and shoulders, definitely more deserving other than maybe UCLA, who's, 222 00:11:30.210 --> 00:11:33.590 who's also undefeated and beaten some, some better teams, I guess. 223 00:11:34.350 --> 00:11:38.190 Other than that, everyone's got injury problems. Everyone's got inconsistency problems. 224 00:11:38.289 --> 00:11:41.840 Everyone's lost. Everyone probably should have lost another team that 225 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.039 they have. So I don't know if I have it 226 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.500 within me in my reservoir of indignation to get mad 227 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:49.840 about that rating. So you've got to put somebody three. 228 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:53.480 And I think Utah has a more compelling argument than 229 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:55.259 a lot of other teams right now from bigger conferences. 230 00:11:55.990 --> 00:11:58.909 Once this thing gets to 24, the committee will be 231 00:11:58.990 --> 00:12:01.840 rendered mostly useless. And I'm looking forward to that. I mean, 232 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:04.240 a lot of people have an issue with the 24 expansion, uh, 233 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:08.179 you know, and you're not alone. And certainly there are 234 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:12.139 things to, uh, to dislike about it, but year in 235 00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:14.019 and year out, you know, Hunter, you're a check. Who's 236 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:17.149 the Arkansas AD who complained that Arkansas was going to 237 00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:20.049 get home late after they were here. Uh, once again, 238 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:22.549 as the committee chair and, He's the one they march 239 00:12:22.690 --> 00:12:25.500 out after the rankings. And it just, I don't know, like, 240 00:12:25.750 --> 00:12:28.799 I feel like they're just oftentimes throwing darts at a

dartboard. 241 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:33.200 It's hard to really pin down exactly the criteria they use. 242 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:34.659 What sort of insight do you have there? 243 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:40.100 My best advice to anybody listening here, anywhere, is you 244 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.659 should turn off the show as soon as the top 245 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:45.799 25 is announced. And don't listen to anything that the 246 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:47.919 selection committee chair says. And this isn't because I think 247 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:51.980 Hunter Juracek is stupid or a uniquely bad AD or anything. 248 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:56.080 Gary Barta in Iowa had the same problem, and Kirby 249 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:57.659 Owe can have the same problem. Anyone who's in this 250 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:01.179 chair does, because Hunter is being asked here to defend 251 00:13:01.220 --> 00:13:03.950 a rationale that he doesn't necessarily agree with or come 252 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.690 up with, right? They're all arguing in another conference room 253 00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:10.230 here and eating their continental breakfasts. And it's his job 254 00:13:10.269 --> 00:13:13.289 to come up with some kind of on-the-fly explanation for 255 00:13:13.590 --> 00:13:18.450 a reasoning that may not make sense. It will become 256 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:22.100 more clear later on during this process as people lose 257 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:26.460 and there's more data and everything. But you're basically asking 258 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:30.820 someone to get on television and defend a vibes-based ranking 259 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:33.730 halfway through the year. And I don't think there's an 260 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:35.750 athletic director in the country who's been able to do 261 00:13:35.769 --> 00:13:38.210 a good job of that. I have no idea why 262 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:41.350 anybody wants this job. You don't get paid anymore. You 263 00:13:41.370 --> 00:13:43.950 look stupid every time you do it. No AD has 264 00:13:43.990 --> 00:13:47.460 come away from being the committee chair and become more 265 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:49.759 credible with his own fan base or his own fans. 266 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:53.620 And Juracek's on a hot seat anyway. He might not 267 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:56.279 be the AD at Arkansas after this year. I don't 268 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:58.019 get it. And I think for everybody else, rather than 269 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:01.710 trying to kind of parse through the words and find 270 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:04.169 meaning where there is none, just turn off the TV 271 00:14:04.690 --> 00:14:06.250 and go watch something else. And you can argue about 272 00:14:06.269 --> 00:14:07.470 it tomorrow. Yeah. 273 00:14:07.490 --> 00:14:10.090 Well said. Hey, since you and I last spoke and, 274 00:14:10.289 --> 00:14:11.889 you know, for our listeners, Matt does a really good 275 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:16.000 job of

navigating the business of college athletics and kind 276 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:18.679 of riding on his newsletter in a way that makes 277 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.139 it digestible for folks that aren't as smart as he is, 278 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.779 namely me. College game day was in our state for 279 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:26.879 two straight weeks and you were down there for BYU 280 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:29.480 Notre Dame. And then they just kept their stuff here 281 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:33.549 and drove up the I-15 40 miles and We're here 282 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:36.950 for Utah and Houston, and it made a little bit 283 00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:40.289 of news. I'm sure you were following that news cycle. 284 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:43.559 And look, I'm the wrong guy for this because I 285 00:14:43.580 --> 00:14:46.659 don't watch anything Pat McAfee does. I find him off-putting 286 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:49.460 and annoying. I know he has a rather large footprint, 287 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:51.659 so good for him. This is a tough business to 288 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:54.200 make your way through. But I wonder what you made 289 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:56.990 of all of that and the fact that Utah apologized 290 00:14:57.070 --> 00:15:00.509 and all of the things that that situation entailed. 291 00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:05.080 Legitimately, I feel like this is the beginning of the 292 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:10.679 end of the McAfee-ization. That's not just a show, but 293 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.899 where a lot of ESPN is going. If you were 294 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.519 to try to come up with a college football town 295 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.460 or a market that is really dangerous or hostile, both 296 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:26.399 physically and emotionally and scary in so many ways, I 297 00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:28.840 mean this with love. I don't think you could put 298 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:32.429 Salt Lake in the top 30. I mean, you know 299 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:34.830 this better than I do. Sure, Utah fans can be mean. 300 00:15:35.309 --> 00:15:37.950 Utah fans can get drunk. Utah fans can scream at 301 00:15:37.970 --> 00:15:43.440 you just like anybody else. But this isn't LSU, man. 302 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:47.200 This isn't Georgia. This isn't Penn State where they'll throw 303 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:50.779 bags of pee on you. And anywhere close to the 304 00:15:50.820 --> 00:15:53.899 level of danger, I think trying to invoke a political 305 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:57.139 assassination at a completely different event in a completely different 306 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:00.580 county is in really poor taste. And it just speaks 307 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.909 to the fact that the guy is really thin-skinned. And 308 00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:05.990 on one hand, I get that. I don't like it 309 00:16:06.009 --> 00:16:08.870 when people on Twitter say mean things about me, which 310 00:16:08.909 --> 00:16:11.429 happens

on a regular basis. That hurts my feelings, even 311 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.940 if it's coming from Dr. 42069 with the question mark 312 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.159 avatar or whatever. You can call me names. I don't 313 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.539 like that. And it's okay not to like that. But 314 00:16:20.570 --> 00:16:23.450 my job isn't to be the center of attention. and 315 00:16:23.809 --> 00:16:26.690 put out of an AI country music album three weeks 316 00:16:26.750 --> 00:16:31.720 earlier about how you're this misunderstood, you know, conflicted man, 317 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:35.480 if you don't like that kind of attention, then you 318 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:39.620 don't get to be the rodeo clown. If you're going 319 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:41.139 to get up there and tell the same joke and 320 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:43.580 take off your shirt and make the same whiskey, you know, 321 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:45.940 do the whole whiskey bit at any given time, you 322 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:50.279 can't get mad when somebody rather politely says, hey, put 323 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.190 your shirt back on, big dog. We don't necessarily need 324 00:16:53.230 --> 00:16:56.730 this here. And to look at that, I think it's ridiculous. 325 00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:59.710 I think it's ridiculous you apologize. I think it's ridiculous 326 00:16:59.789 --> 00:17:03.590 anybody would come away from that experience and be afraid 327 00:17:03.610 --> 00:17:07.009 for your life because someone gently teased you. That's the gig. 328 00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:10.339 I don't think you should be a Salt Lake radio 329 00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:14.039 host if you can't handle that kind of gig. That's 330 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:15.420 the cost of being a public figure. 331 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:20.759 Yeah, well said. And again, my footprint compared to McAfee's 332 00:17:20.819 --> 00:17:24.339 is minute. But to your point, if the only day 333 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.740 I don't see something that is said to me that 334 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.259 is very rude and personal are the days I don't look. 335 00:17:29.539 --> 00:17:31.859 And those are most days. I just don't even look 336 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:37.769 at it. So the only thing I'll add is I 337 00:17:37.829 --> 00:17:40.630 didn't see the video initially. And then when the clip 338 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:43.789 was surfacing of him crashing out on his show like 339 00:17:43.869 --> 00:17:46.789 a child... I went back and watched the video. I 340 00:17:46.789 --> 00:17:49.670 was like, wait, this is the thing? This is the thing. 341 00:17:49.869 --> 00:17:53.329 This video here is the thing that led you to 342 00:17:53.410 --> 00:17:56.660 believe that your life was in danger? Let me follow 343 00:17:56.700 --> 00:17:59.140 up about the Utah apology. Do you think that's kind 344 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:01.880 of steeped in desperation to make sure game day comes 345 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:03.720

back here? I can't think of any other reason. 346 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:07.279 I think that's got to be part of it, or... 347 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:13.240 a Utah cultural trait of trying to avoid conflict and 348 00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:16.500 be nice and appease, which I know is not limited 349 00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:19.069 to our brothers and sisters in the South here. That 350 00:18:19.109 --> 00:18:22.170 is a statewide thing. But that's part of why I'm 351 00:18:22.250 --> 00:18:25.049 reacting so strongly to this, too. I've seen Studio C 352 00:18:25.109 --> 00:18:27.150 skits that were meaner than anything in that video. 353 00:18:27.210 --> 00:18:27.490 That was. 354 00:18:28.009 --> 00:18:31.640 It was, it was soft, man. Like nobody, nobody cussed 355 00:18:31.660 --> 00:18:36.039 at you. Nobody said anything deeply personal. Nobody, nobody, you know, 356 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:40.140 inferred you were an alcoholic or a pedophile or a bad, 357 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:42.069 a bad person in any way. It was just, Hey, 358 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:46.150 I think you're kind of corny, which even in many 359 00:18:46.170 --> 00:18:48.509 of his fans, I think might agree that that's part 360 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:51.490 of this kind of shtick. And he fell apart. I 361 00:18:51.529 --> 00:18:55.910 think it's profoundly weird. And if you come away feeling 362 00:18:55.970 --> 00:18:58.369 afraid of Salt Lake, then I would say when you 363 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:01.579 go back into SEC country or, you know, just join 364 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:04.039 on Zoom. Don't show up. Yeah. 365 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.960 Do you have any insight on what sort of benefit 366 00:19:07.019 --> 00:19:09.839 game day provides to not just a football program, but 367 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:10.960 an institution as a whole? 368 00:19:13.089 --> 00:19:16.710 Honestly, not particularly lasting stuff. It's the kind of thing 369 00:19:16.950 --> 00:19:21.119 that universities often use as part of a fundraising push. 370 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:24.299 You'll try to get your rich donors to come out 371 00:19:24.500 --> 00:19:25.859 and hang out a game day, or you might have 372 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:29.289 a separate junket. It gives you some other things to sell, 373 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:33.069 but it's not like winning an NCAA championship or a 374 00:19:33.089 --> 00:19:36.410 tournament game for basketball or making the college football playoff. 375 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:40.490 where you have an extended boost in enrollment or in 376 00:19:40.529 --> 00:19:44.289 applications or anything, the flutie effect hasn't really been correlated 377 00:19:44.349 --> 00:19:48.269 to game day appearances. But it is something that when 378 00:19:48.289 --> 00:19:49.670 you're in a kind of school where they don't show 379 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:52.690 up very often, often, like BYU, I've covered game day 380 00:19:52.710 --> 00:19:55.890 when it was at the Cats-Grizz game at Montana State 381 00:19:56.380 --> 00:19:58.150 a couple of years ago, where then people were camping 382 00:19:58.190 --> 00:20:01.480 out since Tuesday because game day doesn't go to Montana. And, 383 00:20:01.579 --> 00:20:03.619 you know, we're all colder than we've ever been in 384 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:05.359 our life, and it looked like Desmond Howard was going 385 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:09.009 to cry. But it was awesome. When it goes to 386 00:20:09.029 --> 00:20:11.210 Alabama or Texas or Ohio State or Michigan, where it 387 00:20:11.230 --> 00:20:14.480 goes every other year or every year, it's not even 388 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:16.799 a news story. It's just something that people there locally 389 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.000 treat as a birthright. So when it happens, just like 390 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:22.579 any other kind of stroke where a school that's not 391 00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:24.950 normally in the national limelight wants to take advantage of it, 392 00:20:25.309 --> 00:20:26.630 it's not the kind of thing that's going to change 393 00:20:26.650 --> 00:20:27.750 that public department or anything. 394 00:20:28.529 --> 00:20:31.230 Before I say you, Luce, maybe the Big 12 hires 395 00:20:31.269 --> 00:20:34.519 you as its next commissioner, as you wrote about. But 396 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:38.960 some surprising news that came down that Brett Yormark will 397 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.660 be leaving the Big 12 to take a role outside 398 00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:44.779 of college athletics after just a few years at the helm. 399 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.680 Your reaction to this and what you think is next 400 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:49.680 with the Big 12? 401 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.839 I'm not surprised at all. Honestly, I'm a little surprised 402 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:54.160 it took it this long. And that's not to slight 403 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:55.940 of Yormark. It's just I think that a lot of 404 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:58.880 people that have gotten to know him would not think 405 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.400 of him as a college sports lifer, right? He came 406 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.140 into this world outside of college sports. He brought a 407 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:09.289 decidedly non-college sports energy in more good ways than bad 408 00:21:09.490 --> 00:21:13.589 to the Big 12. And my perception of this was 409 00:21:13.630 --> 00:21:15.130 always that he was going to go back to the 410 00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:19.829 NBA or professional sports or esports or events rather than 411 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:24.359 stay here, especially when he realized, wow, actually campus politics 412 00:21:24.410 --> 00:21:26.839 are really difficult to navigate. Oh, it turns out I 413 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:28.980 don't have nearly the kind of flexibility and control that 414 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.039 I had in the pros because of the influence that 415 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:33.660 the Big Ten and the SEC have. And many of 416 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:37.539 the other things that were part of his professional life 417 00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:41.700 before that made it easier aren't a factor here. I 418 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:43.779 think he did, on the balance, a really good job 419 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:45.519 at the Big 12. It was a hard job, and 420 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:47.440 he took it. He put the league in a better 421 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:49.299 place than where he found it, and not just because 422 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:51.910 of how expansion turned out. I think he'll be great 423 00:21:52.069 --> 00:21:56.009 at any other kind of marketing job or professional sports 424 00:21:56.029 --> 00:21:58.859 sales job that he goes to next. I don't know 425 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:00.779 the best way for the Big 12 to go forward 426 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.740 here because I don't think you can exactly replicate the 427 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:05.319 kind of guy that he was. I understand the league 428 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:07.279 will probably want somebody that has a little bit more 429 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:11.660 campus background, but these bigger commissioner jobs are way more 430 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:17.369 sales executive, television executive roles than they are campus administration 431 00:22:17.569 --> 00:22:21.309 or conference commissioner roles. I would almost be surprised. if 432 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:24.430 the conference hires somebody else immediately from college sports, even 433 00:22:24.470 --> 00:22:26.410 though those are going to be the names bandied about. 434 00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:29.349 Matt, where can people go get all your good work, buddy? 435 00:22:30.349 --> 00:22:33.990 You can find my work at extrapointmb.com, and you can 436 00:22:34.029 --> 00:22:37.970 find me online at MattBrownEP on Twitter, MattBrown on Blue Sky, 437 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.440 and have some more original college football and college sports 438 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:44.599 business reporting coming up very soon. I think you all 439 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:44.940 enjoy it. 440 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:47.460 Matt, you're the man. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the games, okay? 441 00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:49.960 Okay, thanks, friend. You too. 442 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.559 Matt Brown, extra points. It's a must-read for me. I 443 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:54.369 use it to prep for the show. He's been able 444 00:22:54.410 --> 00:23:00.549 to navigate this ever-changing ecosystem of the business of college athletics. 445 00:23:00.609 --> 00:23:03.380 He referenced all of his touch points. I would highly 446 00:23:03.450 --> 00:23:05.660 recommend it if you are a fan of college football.