North Florida Sports Network Podcast
North Florida Sports Network Podcast
Miami's Sports Chaos, College Football Excitement, and NFL Playoff Predictions
hey, welcome back. Happy new year, hope you're doing all right. Welcome back in to the north florida sports network. We're gonna talk to mi, to Miami contributor Justin. Today We'll go over the college football playoffs in my final matchups, maybe touch on some NFL playoffs, who knows? He'll probably bitch about Miami. A lot of crazy stuff's going down there lately. You got Jimmy Butler running out, you got Jim Laranaga stepping down for Miami Hurricane basketball, so we'll talk to him coming up. If you haven't done so, download, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Podcasts available everywhere, about 300 and something. But we have a big one tomorrow as we will make our playoff picks and we will reveal for the third for the first year we did it against the spread we'll reveal our season pick totals and reveal the champion. So stay tuned for that. But justin man, what's up?
Speaker 2:oh god, dude, miami's burning burning like Los Angeles, literally is right now, oh my God, metaphorically, oh my God, that looks like Armageddon-ish. That shit's crazy.
Speaker 1:Oh, I hope everybody gets out.
Speaker 2:The state of Miami, sports ain't much better.
Speaker 1:The hills are on fire out there. But what's going on? Man with uh for I? You know we talked a little bit about the bowl situation with cam ward, you know, sitting out, and you kind of made yourself that was kind of either sit out the game or play it.
Speaker 1:But to do that was kind of messed up the game or play it, but to do that was kind of messed up, yeah, but I mean, again, it is, it's a pop and that's what it is now. But, uh, we have the first the orange bowl down in miami. That's notre dame, that's penn state. It's like a pick'em game. Um, that probably won't talk too much about it. If you're listening to this, you probably already know the result. But what do you think about this? It's going to be a tough low scoring, like that's my, that's what I would guess. I take the under.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Dude, the over under is like 44. Dude, I hammer the under oh, I already took the under a while ago. And that, dude, I hammer the under, oh, I already took the under a while ago. Yeah, dude, you got to hammer that under.
Speaker 1:I still. But even when the matchup was released, I took the under. But I can't decide on who's going to win this and it's a pick-em pretty much. I think Penn State's getting a point.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they're both very similar teams, man, they both got really really good defenses. They like to run the ball. Um, really, what I think this comes down to, for me at least, is uh, I don't trust james franklin in a big game, right I? Was just I like, and I like riley leonard better than uh drew aller a quarterback Right. I think that's the difference in the game. Right there, dude is. I think Franklin's going to make a couple bonehead calls.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think Riley Leonard will make a couple gutsy runs on like third and eight type crap to keep drives alive and I think Notre Dame wins in a really close game here, like 21-17 type game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm with you there, um, but I wouldn't be surprised to go either way. Um, I'm just like I said, I just like the notre dame, you know just has that type of feeling this year. You know they're coming together but like penn state's the same way, but they haven't really played anybody. I like the way that, physically, notre Dame took on Georgia. I know Georgia's defense isn't what it used to be, but if they can scrounge out some points, riley Leonard can tough it out and not turn the ball over. I like Notre Dame, but you get a couple turnovers here. It could go either way, um. But the other game, ohio state, uh, looks like a whole different team. They went with a whole different. Looks like they hit reset kind of um, and they went and featured jeremiah smith. It looks like nobody can stop them. They're minus six against texas, um, in the cotton bowl down in texas.
Speaker 2:So now that that is. That is kind of cool. It's almost like a home game for texas. It seems kind of unfair, like when when that, like in the 80s when the canes would get the orange bowl every year and it it's like oh, come on guys. They're like what are you doing to us? Right, but I don't think it matters, dude, ohio State is playing so good right now. I'm with you. I think they cover that spread. I think they win by like two touchdowns. I don't have a lot of faith in Texas.
Speaker 1:No, honestly, I think Arizona State should have got that game. I mean, if they call targeting, which they should have done, but either anywho, I mean they just looked like they're on a mission. Good luck stopping Jeremiah Smith, and then the running game has gotten it going and that's what Chip Kelly likes to do. So if he can run the ball and have a weapon like that, good luck, I mean. But Texas and Texas will be interesting to see. But I'm with you, I think we have a Notre Dame-Ohio State National Championship, so we'll see A Midwest.
Speaker 2:National Championship. Maybe they won't kick it off at like 9 o'clock at night for the West Coast people, since it's all Midwest you know, Midwest game man. So I don't have to wait until like 9.15 to watch the game clock at night for the west coast people, since it's all the midwest, you know, midwest game man, so I don't have to wait till like 9 15 right to watch the game.
Speaker 1:Like I gotta go to work the next day man right, all right, so um, by the way, I mean ohio state's gonna win that one, I think.
Speaker 2:But uh, what a nightmare of a game for me. If it ends up being that dude like, literally like two of my most hated teams, notre dame and freaking ohio state man, I mean that is a hate watch like I can't even fathom on the gridiron while I was there.
Speaker 1:Before we go to hoops, I want to talk to who, so we'll, we'll finish off, we'll do all the football. We'll get that out of the way. Um, miami dolphins, yeah, just like what we thought. Just what are the? What are you gonna? What's your thought just at the end of the year, in the future? What's your? You have optimism or what?
Speaker 2:uh, no, I don't. Um, I mean, I like the optimistic view of this season is if two doesn't miss six games, the dolphins are definitely a playoff team, no doubt about it, but they still can't compete. They can't compete with the Ravens, they can't compete with the Chiefs, they can't compete with the Bills. I don't even think they can compete with the Bengals at full strength. They're not going to beat any of those teams they're a wild card team at best.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're a first-round exit. That's what I figured out last year, Last year. The best that Tua can do is a really good regular season, which for Dolphins fans seems like an infinity.
Speaker 1:It just feels like that's like we haven't I mean, there hasn't been a Super Bowl like a realistic Super Bowl aspiration where you honestly look yourself in the mirror and be like you know what, even if you get a couple drops, we could get a you know? No, like every year you're like. Well, at best it's a first round exit yeah, no, well, at best second round exit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, anywho, but yeah but I'm with you.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's no. You know you're not, you don't have a chance, and so you're just in purgatory. You're just like walking through this middle of the road where you know, mike tomlin land at best, and you're not even there.
Speaker 2:So he's like tomlin kind of settling into that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's like right above you like just coasting and you're just hanging out right under, like in the back seat of mike thomas. It's a miserable place to be man. Yeah, like it's not, like it's not the gutter. So you're like, you're surviving, you know. I guess you're eating, you know decent, but you're not it's like living on welfare versus living on the streets.
Speaker 2:Dude, it's still a miserable existence, at least on the streets. Dude, it's still a miserable existence. At least on the streets you can hope and dream.
Speaker 1:You know, if you got the first, the first pick in the draft every year.
Speaker 2:I mean it's gotta be more fun to be a Jags fan man. At least you get a hope every couple of years. Oh, we got the guy Dawson's never had that when we're picking at 21 every freaking year.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll get into that as the draft approaches, but um, the hurricanes football team, um, it's a failure. I know you would say this year, just you know, talking to you, you, you said, with that schedule you needed to go undefeated. So you didn't, you know and I predicted 10 and 2 yeah, and they didn't make it, and so what, what, what about. But how do you feel, you know, as as a program going into next year?
Speaker 2:um, I feel like this is gonna be the hurricanes moving forward with mario crystal ball, because I think this is as good as crystal ball is yeah, so you think this is the peak and then back to which, which is not terrible, but 8-5.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I don't think. No, I think this is where we plateau dude. I think Crystal Ball is a 9-10 win team every year. Okay, Loses the important games, yeah, which is exactly what he did this year, which is exactly what I said Coming into the year. I'm like this is an undefeated team with an undefeated schedule. Crystal ball will lose two games inexplicably, so we'll see.
Speaker 1:Yeah we'll see if they can get a quarterback, which might we wasted they'll get one, because you can look at this job and you can look at quarterbacks eligible for the draft and you can literally go and say, hey, carson beck, you know hey, you're not you're gonna get drafted, maybe in the late rounds, maybe why not look at cam ward he's about to get first round money. Why not come here? We'll pay you. You have a good year offensively and you can end up making way more money. So what do you think of?
Speaker 2:that oh yeah. No, I'm already hearing rumors, like I saw this morning, that Beck never entered his name for the draft and is in the portal, and immediately I thought, just like when Cam Ward did it last year, I was like, oh my God, perfect fit again.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Another perfect fit for Miami.
Speaker 2:Well, that's where it'll work out well to moving forward to do this one more year, because the uh, freshman kid we're bringing in at quarterback this kid, luke Nickel, was just named National Player of the Year in high school. Wow, and he's coming into Coral Gables as a freshman next year at quarterback. Okay, so we might have like a DJ Lagway Graham Mertz type scenario here with Beck and Nickel. If Nickel's a real deal, dj Lagway Graham Mertz type scenario here with Beck and Nicholas Nicholas is a real deal. I mean, you never know. He's a high school kid, all right.
Speaker 2:But, National Player of the Year.
Speaker 1:I can get a little excited about that, yeah, but it sounds like you know that's where Miami still should be getting in the playoff, though, is that's where you're?
Speaker 2:We'll be in the conversation every year as long as crystal ball's here, we'll be in the conversation and I think you should be. You should be if you're in the acc.
Speaker 1:If you're in miami with this environment, you should be able to be in the conversation every year. I I would say similar things to Florida State and it needs to be turned around. We're going to talk to Jimmy Reno about that. A lot of big, you know. The transfer portal has been hit again, but you're going to have to turn that around. We're going to stick to Miami, though On the hardwood. We'll go there because that's where some drama is. As the professional team, jimmy butler, is asked pretty much saying he wants to be traded again again, he's starting yeah, and what do you I mean is?
Speaker 2:it, I mean it, it sucks um. I mean I love Jimmy Butler, but Jimmy Butler really is I mean it's like Mary and Elizabeth Taylor back in the day, like oh, I'm the one that can change her Like nah dude, she's going to divorce you in five years.
Speaker 1:Right, it's every team he's been on.
Speaker 2:He's a great, he's a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1:He's going to go to the, the hall of fame which everybody does in basketball.
Speaker 2:But I mean he's a great player, but I had a blast these past six years with these jimmy butler teams, man.
Speaker 1:I mean they've been a really fun group of guys to watch it's the ego is not matching the game or the way this in this situation, he's 36, I mean what?
Speaker 2:he wants a contract extension at max money, like that's idiotic yeah like I love you, jimmy. But sorry, bro, you know what really sucks about this whole situation. Mostly is that Jimmy Butler's value has just plummeted on the trade market. Because everybody knows he wants out, we suspended him for seven games. I mean, it's over with butler in the heat and everybody knows it.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna get pennies on the dollar in return for jimmy butler that's what you get when you you know it's a bad to always a explosive ending. Well, um, the heat, they'll, they'll, they'll figure it out yeah, yeah, I mean I'm not too concerned man.
Speaker 2:I mean the heat have dealt with this kind of crap before, or maybe not necessarily a disgruntled guy like this, but he'd always bounce back right, he's the godfather man this guy knows. He knows how to build a team there's some young young talent on the team. Um, I mean like bam out of bios, kind of regressed. Tyler hero is the best six man in the NBA. Unfortunately, he's our number one scorer right now.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:But, like we got the young kid from last year that I love, javi Jaquez Jr. Um, we got another young kid that got some minutes last year, jovich, who is, uh, like one of those six foot ten guys that can hit the three. You know, like there's young talent there that nobody knows about. I haven't really checked in.
Speaker 1:Much to the nba. I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna start to football season.
Speaker 2:I don't make after football, I'll go into it.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I look at it, I think the magic are doing okay um, they're all hurt, dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wagner's, both wagner's are hurt and van garro's.
Speaker 1:But the the calves are tearing it up the calves are on a historic opening dude they're like 31 and four or something wow, it's insane yeah so okc and uh, cleveland was your premier game your christmas day highlight game.
Speaker 2:No wonder the nfl's moving in on their turf yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:Um well, what else dan what else you got? Oh, tyree kill's pissed yeah, what's going on there, and then the dolphin, tyreek Hill.
Speaker 2:Like I said, Miami sports is like in a dumpster fire right now with all this drama. Dude, because Tyreek Hill I mean he's not demanding a trade or anything, but he's like I don't want to be on a mediocre team, it's like we shouldn't have. Where have you been the last 25?
Speaker 2:years and, like I, said at the beginning of the year, as soon as Tua got hurt, where have you been the last 25 years? And, like I said at the beginning of the year, as soon as Tua got hurt, I said on the podcast trade Tyreek Hill, trade him now season's over, trade him while you got value. And instead, what did Chris Greer do? He signed him to a big fat extension. Chris Greer is such a moron dude and I'm seeing all these other GMs getting fired and Chris Greer is such a moron dude and I'm seeing all these other GMs getting fired and Chris Greer still has a job.
Speaker 1:I cannot comprehend it, because isn't he the one who drafted to him? Oh yeah, so that was a decision by the owner he's been part of the front, so he's just like I'm gonna do what the owner says and the owner likes that it's kind of like two different he's been there for two different owners.
Speaker 2:He's been a part of the front office for 20 years well, that's 20 years of just blah yeah, and look at the mismanagement of the team over the past 20 years. How does this guy have a job? Yeah, I mean, dude, just the last handful of drafts, he took two over.
Speaker 1:Herbert, you have to get a backup quarterback this offseason and I know, but how can we pay him? You're gonna go get james and hit you.
Speaker 2:You need to get somebody that gives you a chance, because you know who I actually like coming out of the draft for our system, who I think we could get, maybe like the third round yeah, or something dark, yeah, somebody like that, yeah, I agree. Somebody that can start would fit this.
Speaker 1:He would somebody with an upside somebody with an upside, or at least a veteran that that can sling it, you know yeah yeah, get flacko or winston or I mean, get somebody, that will all right. At least the players will have believed that hey, we're, we're gonna have a chance. I think that's kind of where you see tyree curls just like man.
Speaker 2:This sucks, because I don't get the ball, unless two is playing and yeah, I was talking to a buddy about this the other day. As much as I love Mike McDaniel got to start questioning his offensive genius. Because whenever two is not in the lineup, we can't even gain 200 total yards of offense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, that's just. You know how genius really is Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 2:I don't know. He did a lot better when CJ Beathard was out there running his offense than McDaniels looked with anybody that isn't named Tua.
Speaker 1:Well, that's what I mean. So you've got to get somebody with a name that can do something and who's not Tua, and with a guy who could literally die at any moment, I know. So you have to get a quarterback who's ready. They need to draft one.
Speaker 2:I think you're right about that if not, I like the jackson dart man.
Speaker 1:I like both those decisions, I think you could draft one and bring a veteran, because if you want to win, you have to have a quarterback and we need three, because if your offense if your offense is what you say it is.
Speaker 1:You need to. You just need a quarterback that knows what they're doing and you should be able to excel a type of guy like that, like you. Look at what jane like if you take a quarterback like james. The one year he had with sean payton he had it. He didn't throw picks because you can call the plays. You know you can say well hey I'm not gonna give him a chance. So I I think, and if you don't, listen, I'll bench you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 1:I think I think, uh, the dolphins need to be more aggressive in the quarterback position. I, I'm not saying I. I actually think two is can win. I just, but I've all. It's nothing different from what I've always seen he's got a feeling.
Speaker 2:He's got a very obvious feeling. It's a physical thing.
Speaker 1:The same thing when it was a draft. It was like I'm taking the big guy, I'm taking the guy that can take a hit. And look at Herbert now I know it wasn't even like. You don't even have to go deep into it. There you go, Just look at him. You got to start there because what is your best trade, your best availability is being available, or what?
Speaker 2:Yeah, your best ability is availability, availability, god dog, idiot.
Speaker 1:All right, All right.
Speaker 2:I mean I'm not going to draft Bo Callahan just because he's got the look, but God damn, Ohio state's going to win it.
Speaker 1:You think Ohio state's going to win it all too.
Speaker 2:God, I don't, I don't know. Dude, I'm going to have to.
Speaker 1:If it ends up being Notre Dame, ohio state is going to it's going to take me a while to I don I know who's not beating Ohio State. I'm so biased.
Speaker 2:I'm so biased against Joe I'll tell you this. I know.
Speaker 1:Penn State's not beating Ohio State. I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker 2:So if they win, it's over.
Speaker 1:Unless Texas gets in somehow. I don't know, but I know who James Franklin is not beating, and it's Ohio State. So if that's the matchup, ohio State's got it.
Speaker 2:I just think it's, it's their turn. I mean, it's almost like a perfect defensive play to get beat like that against michigan, though it really was a wake-up call for that whole diva type.
Speaker 1:I mean, everybody there's getting paid, they have the most expensive roster and it's time. It's time to put up and shut up. It's draft time. Everybody's they're they're gonna're going to win the next two games pretty big. I think We'll find out.
Speaker 2:I kind of think so too yes.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, we'll find out, at least tonight will be a fun game.
Speaker 2:I think tonight will be a competitive game, tomorrow will be a game that you drink beer and you watch.
Speaker 1:Yep, well, I'm off tomorrow, so maybe we'll see.
Speaker 2:Big football weekend. If the rain comes in like it's projected to, I'll be off tomorrow too.
Speaker 1:Big football weekend Huge. We got playoffs in college football, playoffs, wild card in the nfl. What's your? We're gonna pick those games tomorrow as we reveal the regular season awards. But what, what? What game do you like the most of the playoff matchups?
Speaker 2:oh, probably the tampa game the tampa game yeah, dude, you know my man crush on baker bro. Yeah, and I think that's just gonna be a fun game. It is. I mean, the commanders games are always fun, they got the rookie jayden daniels coming down there.
Speaker 1:That's gonna be that is. Didn't they match up earlier in the season? It should be a shootout. That game should come down to the end. That's a good choice. You got Buffalo, denver and the AFC, you got Pittsburgh Baltimore. I don't think those games are going to be competitive.
Speaker 1:The AFC wildcard really doesn't look good at all. Then you got the chargers texans. I think you got three decisive wins there. Maybe there's a money line parlay there. Nfc. You got philly hosting green bay and want to see what jalen hurts. See, uh, he's going to come back. Then you got Tampa Bay Washington, and what switched last week was Los Angeles dropped to the four seed, where they will now host the 14-3 Vikings.
Speaker 2:It's the weirdest shit ever, dude, but honestly I will tell you what three Vikings. It's the weirdest shit ever dude yeah, so honestly, I will see, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what, though. Well, I'll tell you tomorrow, actually, you'll find out, but if you know who I picked for the Super Bowl, you know where I'm leaning in that game.
Speaker 2:There's a Rams, damn it. Alright, man, we'll watch the games.
Speaker 1:We'll pick the games tomorrow and we'll talk to you then right here on the North Florida Sports Network.
Speaker 2:I'm goddamn madder than shit.
