Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society's Steven Godfrey go over Texas's decision to fire Tom Herman and immediately replace him with Steve Sarkisian. Why now? (Spoiler: There's still a lot we don't know.) Why Sarkisian? And why might he do better at Texas than he did at USC? Plus a quick discussion of Alabama-Notre Dame and a longer talk about how Ohio State mashed Clemson to punch a ticket to the titl...

Steven Godfrey, Richard Johnson, and Alex Kirshner preview the College Football Playoff semifinals and have an extended discussion about Notre Dame's place in the sport in 2020. Then, a dive into Auburn's hire of Bryan Harsin and the strong power move made by athletic director Allen Greene, trying (and failing) to figure out a good reason for Arizona's Jedd Fisch hire, and evaluating whether ULM s...

Banner Society's Steven Godfrey joins the show to talk about the wild coaching search that's unfolded at Auburn, and what it says about how business is done in college football today. Which "warring factions" make these decisions, and where will Auburn end up? Let's go behind the curtain, and then rank bowl games on a scale from "watchable" to "not watchable."  See Privacy Policy at https://art19....

The 2020 Playoff might be the starkest example yet of the selection committee's outright dismissal of teams from outside the Power 5. This is a reaction show to the unveiling of the New Year's Six, including quick thoughts on the games, who got screwed worst, and who has the most to gain and lose over the next three weeks.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Not...

Banner Society reporter Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard for a long talk about coaching situations at: Auburn, Auburn, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Arizona, Illinois, Vanderbilt, Troy, ULM, Tennessee, Michigan, and Auburn. Plus: Is coaching a meritocracy? And quick breakdowns of the conference championship games.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at http...

A 30-ish-minute run through the weekend in CFB. Florida had a lot of chances not to lose to LSU because a guy threw a shoe. College football in LA might be back. You don’t have to pretend this Army-Navy Game was good. Georgia’s offense might have it figured out at long last. UNC’s definitely has. Western Michigan almost produced the wildest ending in decades. Kevin Sumlin left Arizona no choice, a...

Pro Football Focus’s Seth Galina joins the show and talks in depth about the strengths and weaknesses of every team left in the Playoff discussion (plus Cincinnati, which should be). Why Texas is only Texas because they say they’re Texas, and a deeper dive into Coastal Carolina’s unique spin on the triple option.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at htt...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey go in depth on that awesome BYU-Coastal game, then go through the rest of the weekend in college football. Discussions include Texas A&M, Bo Nix, Florida’s run game, Mizzou, LSU’s epic fall from grace, DeVonta Smith, Justin Fuente, Clemson’s defense, Scott Satterfield’s incredible botching of his situation, Wisconsin’s brutal offense, Texas Te...

Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex to talk about the coaching industry: the reported new hire at Southern Miss, the new opening at Vanderbilt, and a long discussion about how preconceptions about the hiring pool systemically harm coaches of color. Then, an exploration of UTSA’s exciting turnaround and why the Roadrunners are a model for other programs to emulate. Plus a testing...

Richard and Alex chat with Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey about college football’s Diet Rivalry Week. Why Notre Dame isn’t just winning games, and how the Irish flexed their muscles against UNC. How Alabama outclassed Auburn. Why the Egg Bowl won’t change much. What’s different about 2020 Iowa State. Sarah Fuller made history *and* did her job. Oregon State is building the right way. Buffalo is a...

Banner Society's Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard for a discussion about the Egg Bowl and its many political implications. The group discusses the Iron Bowl and can't land on whether Alabama will destroy Auburn or the Tigers will make it messy. (Could be both!) Then: detailed breakdowns of a week of media sniping between BYU/Washington and Clemson/FSU, some Q&A, and a tasting menu for the...

Alex, Richard, and their three co-creators of “The Sinful Seven: Sci-Fi Western Legends of the NCAA” (Spencer Hall, Jason Kirk, and Tyson Whiting) take questions from readers and talk about self-publishing a college football book in three months, as well as what they learned about CFB history. (Bear Bryant comes up a lot.) You can buy the ebook at sinfulseven.com for $1 or whatever you want to pay...

It's about time for Oklahoma State to fire Mike Gundy, per Alex Kirshner. From here on out, teams have to play their way into this podcast. In this 30ish-minute sprint through the weekend, SZD covers Indiana, Ohio State, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Auburn, Rutgers, Georgia, Mississippi State, the FSU/Clemson cancelation debacle, "Bedlam," USC, Nevada, Kent State, and uh what is Virginia Tech doing? ...

Richard, Alex, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey assess the South Carolina coaching search: why Will Muschamp got fired now, whether this is a good job, who might be next, and who SHOULD be next. Which job is better: Nevada or San Jose State? Is Tom Allen an Indiana lifer? Plus, a sneaky tasting menu for the weekend.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice...

A 30-minute-ish sprint through the weekend in college football. Alex, Richard, and Banner Society's Steven Godfrey talk through the (big) differences between free-falling Michigan and Penn State. Plus Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina, the Big 12's coaches, Miami, Virginia Tech, UNC's problematic clash of styles, if USC will ever get to fire Clay Helton. Also: in praise of Cincinnati and Iowa for...

Alex and Richard take reader questions ahead of a dry week on the schedule. Topics include BYU and Cincinnati’s Playoff paths, Ohio State’s potential problem, Coastal Carolina’s innovative offense, the endless rise in scoring across CFB, the funniest coaching carousel fanfic we can dream up, the possibility of a Northwestern-Indiana Big Ten Championship, and why DJ Durkin is not a victim.  See Pri...

A 30-minute-ish sprint through one of college football’s most exciting weekends of the year. Notre Dame’s win over Clemson was entirely legit. Florida put it on Georgia. The Big Ten is a mess, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Justin Fuente ruined Virginia Tech with horrible game management. BYU vs. Cincinnati is the game America needs right now. Believe in Arizona State even after they ble...

Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey joins Richard and Alex for 90 minutes on something less stressful than the state of the world. This episode includes a Pac-12 preview, with lots of talk about Oregon, the Arizonas, USC, Larry Scott, and 9 a.m. local kickoffs. It also includes detailed looks at Florida-Georgia and Clemson-Notre Dame. Then: a discussion about how to talk about Liberty football.  See P...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey sprint through the weekend in college football. Here’s what Michigan, fresh off another bad loss, has in common with both Southern Cal and South Carolina. Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, and A&M all answer questions about themselves. Cincinnati and BYU keep building their cases, and get ready for a weeklong Notre Dame hype train.  See Privacy Policy at...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey start with a 30-minute preview of the MAC, which returns before our next show. Then: Let’s size up the race to be the second best team in the SEC West, which enters a new phase in Week 9. Plus: the Coastal Carolina-Georgia State showdown and what it means for the future of Southern G5 football, what on Earth is happening at Southern Miss, why the...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey sprint through the busiest weekend of college football yet in 2020. Including: Indiana’s win over Penn State means so much, why Michigan is worth some optimism, Nebraska can’t touch Ohio State, Auburn maybe should be 1-4, LSU’s offense still rules, Oklahoma State is the Big 12’s last best hope, TCU has zero identity, Justin Fuente might not be lon...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey preview both the Big Ten and Mountain West, with rousing rounds of “Sbarro or Culver’s” and “Patagonia or REI.” Also: Which SEC coach most needs a win this weekend (probably Gus Malzahn), and which current FCS coaches might make strong FBS candidates? Plus a Texas-sized discussion of Texas college football’s many anxieties right now.  See Privacy...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey run through the week in college football. Bama squeezes the life out of Georgia, plus detailed thoughts on Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State (it’s bad), Clemson, FSU, UNC, Pitt, #RankCoastal, UCF, Memphis, BYU, and – of course – UMass. This is a whip-around of Week 7.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Cali...

Alex, Richard, and Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey report on how the NCAA’s impending rules changes on name, image, and likeness might affect the future of EA Sports’ college football video games. (It’s about ethics in video game journalism.) Plus: the ramifications of the LSU/Florida COVID postponement, Georgia’s (possibly narrow) path to beating Alabama, what the hell happened to the USF Bulls,...

Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey joins Alex and Richard to talk about the week that was: Oklahoma’s survival against Texas, Clemson’s destruction of Miami, UTSA’s promising turn, Houston’s authoritative arrival, what’s wrong with Florida, what’s good about Georgia, why LSU’s defense is a disaster, how the SEC screwed Arkansas, and how the entire Mike Leach timeline has already played out in less th...