On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah look at the latest 16 seed upset of a No. 1 team in the NCAA basketball tournament and imagine what that would look like in a football context. Two things: It's definitely going to happen soon with a 5-12 game in the College Football Playoff when it expands starting in 2024. When it does happen, it will be great for college football and will change the sport. To examine and explain that idea, Doug and Shehan look at what 5-12 matchups would have looked like the last nine years, debate how much of a chance those 12 seeds would have had, and discuss what college football is lacking when it comes to underdogs right now. Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode of NIL Now, Kevin and Lauren assess Nick Saban’s latest NIL comments about collectives paying players to attend their schools. The hosts then discuss whether or not LifeWallet CEO John Ruiz should be considered a “booster,” after he said he’ll file a lawsuit against the NCAA over his mislabeling as a Miami “booster.” Reddit CFB’s Bobak Ha’Eri brings Reddit's comments on Isaiah Foskey’s claim that he would’ve played somewhere other than Notre Dame if NIL was a big deal in recruiting when he played high school football and the Reddit community’s take on what college football will look like in 5-10 years. Chase Griffin, a quarterback at UCLA and a two-time recipient of the NIL Male Athlete of the Year Award at the NIL Summit, shares his story and thoughts on the importance of using NIL to uplift communities around him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are comparing the best teams in college football to the best teams in college basketball. After all, this is an episode of a year-round football playoff show during the week the NCAA basketball tournament starts. So what basketball team right now is most like Alabama football? Georgia football? Michigan football? TCU football? Ohio State football? USC football? Miami football? Doug and Shehan find those comparisons and more. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are looking at matchups that haven't yet happened in the nine years of the playoff but that we want to see as soon as possible. Alabama, for instance, has faced Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Washington and Cincinnati in the playoff. What next playoff game for the Crimson Tide would be the most fun? Georgia has faced Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma and TCU. Who would be an interesting new playoff opponent for the Bulldogs? Ohio State has played Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, and Oregon in the playoff. The Buckeyes have lost of options for fresh playoff opposition. And what would be the best matchups for teams that haven't yet made the playoff, from USC to Penn State to Miami? Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode of NIL Now, Kevin and Lauren preview NCAA president Charlie Baker's first 100 days in office. The hosts then react to LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne's controversial NIL deal with Caktus AI, an artificial intelligence tool that forced LSU to issue a statement. Reddit CFB’s Bobak Ha’Eri brings his thoughts and Reddit's comments on Baker's mission as the NCAA's leader, and what he predicts the relationship between the NCAA and boosters, such as Miami's John Ruiz, will look like in the future. Mark Koesterer, the founder of The Players NIL and author of "NIL For ALL: A 30-Minute Guide to NIL," details where the NCAA went wrong with NIL and explains the importance of athlete education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are setting their playoff picks now so they can see how their thinking on the playoff evolves between now and the start of the season. The show starts by looking back at what they said when Doug and Shehan did this last March -- where was their playoff thinking right and where was it totally off track? Then the discussion moves to whether Georgia and Michigan can make the playoff for a third straight time; how Ohio State and Alabama fit into the mix as powers with new QBs; and outside teams that should be fighting to get a playoff spot. Thanks as always for listening to The College Football Survivor Show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this edition of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are running you through the most important and intriguing quarterback battles of spring for the College Football Playoff race in the fall. Of the top 26 teams, who are returning QB starters? Who has a new starter who is locked in? And how many true battles are there? Right at the top of the sport, we know there are three. And then it gets interesting. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this edition of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are drafting two 11-man defenses from the 36 teams that made the College Football Playoff over the last nine years. From Alabama to Ohio State, from Georgia to Michigan, from Cincinnati to Washington, Doug and Shehan are going through playoff teams and finding the very best defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs. Who drafted the best team? Which programs had the most players picked? And how did this draft go compared to the offensive draft two weeks ago?  Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are talking about the football futures of the ACC and Pac-12. The last two weeks, they looked at what the 16-team leagues of the SEC and Big Ten will look like in 2024. With some recent news, things are more uncertain for the ACC and Pac-12. First, what does it mean that the Florida State athletic director made a presentation outlining how Florida State brings in more to the ACC that it actually gets paid for? Are the Seminoles looking for a way out? Then, how are the slow-moving media rights negotiations for the Pac-12 affecting the futures of teams there? Could programs like Oregon or Washington really want new conference homes? Once again, Doug and Shehan disagree here, which is nothing new. Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are once again looking a year ahead. This time it's for the Big Ten, as they rank the programs 1 through 16 of what the new Big Ten will be when USC and UCLA arrive after one more season. Last week, they did the same for the new-look SEC of 2024 with Oklahoma and Texas, and these Big Ten moves are just as interesting. Which team will be the best Big Ten program in 2024? How many are in the top tier? How many are in the second tier? How much do Shehan and Doug disagree on Iowa and Illinois? And how many programs in the new Big Ten will be real contenders for the new 12-team playoff? Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah discuss some of the proposed rule changes that might speed up college football games. But at what cost? Would the games lose too much football? Then Doug and Shehan discuss other things they might change about college football gamedays, from targeting calls to pass interference to naming rights and advertisements. Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are each drafting an offensive team from all the players and teams of the nine-year College Football Playoff era from 2014 to this season. For this exercise, Doug and Shehan each pick a 12-man team: 2 quarterbacks, 1 running back, 2 receivers, 1 tight end, 1 tight end/receiver flex, 2 tackles, 2 guards and 1 center. Who is the first pick? It may surprise you. Who built the better team? And which programs had the most players drafted?  Listen and see whether Doug or Shehan had the better draft. And thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show, now with two free episodes every week.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show (which now has two free episodes per week), Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are ranking the new SEC, which officially will add Oklahoma and Texas for the 2024 season. When that season arrives, which football programs will be the strongest in the SEC and which will be the weakest? How many of the programs will be playoff contenders at their peaks? How many will be national title contenders? While there is a clear top two and a clear No. 16, the other 13 teams make for a difficult ranking. How do the Sooners and Longhorns fit in with programs like LSU, Texas A&M, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, and Ole Miss? Doug and Shehan make their choices one through 16. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah each pick their five top combinations of offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator in major college football. That includes teams contending for national titles, and some teams a tier down who happen to have two top guys running their offense and defense. Part of that discussion? Alabama's Nick Saban hiring Tommy Rees and Kevin Steele as the two new coordinators for the Crimson Tide this week. Also part of that discussion? The failures at Iowa where athletic director Gary Barta and head coach Kirk Ferentz are letting overmatched offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz stick around with an odd change to his contract. Thanks for listening to this free episode of The College Football Survivor Show. Starting next week, both episodes of the show will be free each week, so get ready to double your dose of Doug and Shehah. Previously, one episode had been a paid, bonus episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are using the final National Signing Day for the 2023 recruiting class to jump ahead to the 2025 College Football Playoff race. First, they discuss potential changes to the recruiting calendar and ask why one big change could work. Then they look at the best recruiting classes from 2020 and discuss which teams did the best job of converting those recruits into success in the 2022 season. Finally, they run through the top 10 recruiting classes from this year and predict which teams will and won't convert that into winning three seasons from now. Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this edition of the The College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah have maybe their most intense disagreement yet. One of them wants to move the Heisman Trophy to vote and hand out the award after the playoff, and one of them wants to keep it just as it is. That breaks this pod down into three parts: The 5 ½ reasons for moving it Revoting this season and would Caleb Williams still have won if it was a postseason award Looking at Heisman winners of the playoff era and how many of them would have changed if the voting was later? Thanks as always for listening to The College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this last episode of the 2022 college football season, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah wrap up Georgia's domination of TCU in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. After quarterbacking back-to-back national titles, how does Georgia's Stetson Bennett compare to the best quarterbacks of the last 25 years? How different is he than Tim Tebow or Tommie Frazier or other great winners of this era? Meanwhile, Kirby Smart has two titles at age 47 -- which puts him a decade ahead of Nick Saban. Is Georgia ready for a dynasty over the next decade? Getting blown out 65-7 stings, but after a great first season under Sonny Dykes, will TCU be the new power in the Big 12? And with Georgia now clearly on top of college football, who leads the pack chasing the Dawgs? Thanks for listening to the College Football Survivor Show all season, and while the plan is to take next week off, we're not going anywhere. It's soon time to start looking at 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah are making their picks for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday night on this episode of The College Football Survivor Show. First, they look at the recent history of college football and decide when the last time was that the sport had a champ as unlikely as TCU would be. Then, it's a breakdown of the TCU offense vs. the Georgia defense -- is this a rough matchup for TCU? Also, Sonny Dykes and his staff have done an amazing job this year. Then it's the Georgia offense vs. the TCU defense and a question about whether anyone can stop the Dawgs (who really might be an offense-first team) when they're rolling. Thanks for listening to the College Football Survivor Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the College Football Survivor Show, Doug Lesmerises and Shehan Jeyarajah make their picks for the playoff semifinals -- No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 TCU. Will Michigan run all over TCU? Or could TCU receiver Quentin Johnston go wild against the Wolverines' secondary? Can Ohio State get Geogia into a high-scoring contest? If so, will Bulldogs' QB Stetson Bennett make the Buckeyes pay? The picks are here, and thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show all season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The College Football Survivor Show, it's time to dig into the College Football Playoff semifinal between the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes. Plus, there's a look at Alabama, because Bama still matters. First, Brandon Adams of Dawg Nation Daily joins Doug Lesmerises to examine Georgia, what the Dawgs do best and where there might be some concerns for them in this matchup. Then, Mike Rodak of AL.com stops by to talk about Georgia from the perspective of Alabama, the last team to beat the Bulldogs. But the conversation also turns toward the state of Alabama football, the battle for SEC supremacy between Georgia and Alabama, and what's next for Nick Saban. Finally, it's a look at Ohio State with Doug, who has covered Ohio State is six previous playoff or national championship games and once again has a view on these Buckeyes. Thanks for listening to The College Football Survivor Show, and don't miss the other show this week for Apple Podcast Subscribers where the same treatment was given to the Michigan-TCU semifinal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices