LollaPOLLooza, Michigan's Non-Cheeseburger & the World's Best Rock Skipper

1) LollaPOLLooza 2023

Though it’s wise not to make too much of preseason polls, it’s the most promising sign yet that the upcoming college football season is getting awfully big in the window. The AP dropped its first poll on Monday to much fanfare. We already know that this poll will look drastically different four months from now, but some initial reactions:

Penn State at No. 7 means the Hype Train has gone mainstream. As a Penn State alum, I’m giddy about this development, albeit a bit spooked that everyone seems to be so high on the Nittany Lions this season. (Here’s further video evidence that I’m a little too excited about what the 2023 season could have in store.) This is undeniably the best team that James Franklin has ever had in State College, and it will 100% be defined by games against Ohio State and Michigan. Full stop.

The Oregon disrespect is curious. The consensus during our Pac-12 preview was pretty clear: Either USC, Oregon, Washington or Utah is going to win it. I don’t care that the AP put the Ducks at No. 15 — preseason rankings mean zilch — but I’m vexed that it ranked them fourth out of their fellow conference contenders. This ranking follos the official Pac-12 media poll from earlier this summer which also had Oregon as fourth best in the conference. Personally, I think the Ducks will be loaded this season, and I’m not just saying that because my co-host is an famous alum. Here’s his take on where the Ducks are headed in 2023.

Oklahoma at No. 20 is way too low. I get it, last season was disappointing. But Brent Venables spent the offseason restocking the cupboards with talent. He’s too bright a defensive mind to field another unit outside the top 50, and his offense should remain at a top 10 level. At worst, I think this is a 10-2 team.

Notre Dame at No. 13 might be perfect. In an odd twist after years of overhyping the Irish, the AP poll finally got it right. Weirdly, it just happens to be ahead of Notre Dame starting its best quarterback talent since Brady Quinn. Go figure. The Irish have no excuse to finish with fewer than 9 wins, and Marcus Freeman’s second campaign will be judged almost entirely on how he performs against Ohio State, USC and Clemson. Here were my full thoughts on Notre Dame’s outlook for 2023.

2) A huge recruiting W for Mizzou!

I spent an entire offseason talking about the two biggest problems holding back Missouri football: weak high school recruiting and the lack of an offensive identity. Perhaps Eli Drinkwitz has solved the recruiting part. Missouri just landed the top defensive lineman — Williams Nwaneri — in the 2024 class, per 247sports. There is a strong likelihood that other blue chips will follow Nwaneri to Columbia, making Mizzou’s outlook on the recruiting trail a lot better.

It remains to be seen whether Drinkwitz can retool his offense under new coordinator Kirby Moore, but a win’s a win.

Sign up now to play Grand Total, our game of over/unders. Guess how each Power 5 team will do against its Vegas win total and compete against the Verballerhood for a fabulous prize pack!

3) “Not a cheeseburger”

It turns out that Jim Harbaugh will not be serving a four-game suspension to start the 2023 season. It also turns out that the NCAA does not appreciate everyone thinking that his suspension was for buying a kid a cheeseburger.

The context: The NCAA is looking into Michigan’s recruiting practices during the COVID-19 dead period…

In this case, it seems the cover-up is worse than the actual crime. Michigan suggested that Harbaugh be suspended for the first four games of the 2023 season, but the NCAA decided to press the issue. You can expect to hear about this more sometime in early 2024. Yay.

In the meantime, the NCAA is fighting back against the idea that this ordeal stems from Harbaugh’s generosity:

Not a cheeseburger, folks.

4) A new crib for Kansas

Meet the next iteration of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, a $300 million renovation project that will be completed in time for the 2025 season. Click the video above to see the cool design, stay for the silky smooth voiceovers from Kansas alum Kevin Harlan.

Interestingly, when head coach Lance Leipold signed a contract extension less than a year ago, it stipulated that the Jayhawk football complex and stadium needed to be upgraded within a reasonable period of time, otherwise he could walk from his contract without penalty. That, among many other factors, led to an accelerated plan to put shovels in the dirt.

The stadium, known more commonly as “The Booth,” is the seventh oldest in the country and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. If Kansas is serious about rebooting its football program in college football’s Dumb Money Era™, this is a necessary step.

5) No more skillet 😢

The “Battle for the Iron Skillet,” a rivalry between TCU and SMU that dates back to 1915 will be “indefinitely paused” after the 2025 season. Why? TCU’s athletic director, Jeremiah Donati, called out the need for more home games as one of the reasons. Yuck.

This is the exact reason why people fear conference realignment. College football, at its core, is a regional sport featuring dozens of rivalries just like the Iron Skillet. This is the true charm of the sport. TCU’s declaration doesn’t do much to allay concerns that TV executives are turning college football into a mini NFL.

✍️ Others Receiving Votes

As usual, the Verballerhood delivered some awesome video links to be included in this week’s newsletter. Shout out to our great community at Verballers.com!

From Andy on Discord… the story behind Donald Duck becoming Oregon’s mascot:

From Sally on our Discord… only 24 pilots are allowed to land at the only international airport in Bhutan:

From MVThomas on our Discord… this guy skipped a rock 88 (!!!) times:

WHAT'S GOOD IN THE VERBALLERHOOD?

This week, we gave our our spicy predictions for the college football season ahead, but only after taking another look back at the new look Big 12.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here or check out this week’s episodes below. You can also view full episode videos and smaller clips on our YouTube channel. If you’re already a subscriber, I’d kindly emplore you to tell as many of your friends as possible about The Solid Verbal College Football Podcast.

THIS WEEK'S PODCAST EPISODES: