WDYM What Do You Mean?
WDYM What Do You Mean?
Its time for a FBS Playoff Shake-Up
A perfect Ohio finish and a messy national picture collide as we break down Olentangy Orange’s 15–0 march to the Division I championship, Hamilton High’s gritty season with real upside, and a college football playoff field that has fans shaking their heads. We start on the home front—how the Pioneers closed with authority and why Hamilton’s narrow losses, improved QB flashes, and coaching stability hint at a breakout. Then we pivot to Columbus, unpacking Ohio State’s 13–10 stumble against Indiana and the simple truth it exposes: when you have an elite defense, you can win small if you take the points and manage the margins.
From there, we go straight at the playoff controversy. Why does a three-loss Alabama get a berth over two-loss contenders like Notre Dame or a battle-tested BYU? Why do conference champions such as JMU and Tulane get treated like afterthoughts? We make the case for underdog legitimacy with the receipts—Boise State over Oklahoma, Appalachian State in the Big House—and argue that expanding access is how you bring back the sport’s magic. The fixes are simple and overdue: restore regional conferences with round-robin schedules and automatic bids, follow the FCS blueprint with a 24-team playoff and byes for champions, require true home-and-home series, move bowl games to August as marquee season openers, release rankings after we have data, and stop giving seeding credit for FBS vs FCS tune-ups.
If you care about competitive balance, Cinderella stories, and meaningful conference titles, this one will hit home. You’ll get clear solutions, bold predictions for Oklahoma vs Alabama, and a roadmap to make every Saturday matter again. Listen, subscribe, and leave a review to tell us your ideal playoff format—and which underdog you’re riding with next.
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And welcome to a special WDYM sports episode of the podcast. How's everybody doing? Hope everybody's doing great. My name is Michael Gillespie. And today we're talking about the conclusion of Ohio High School Sports and the beginning or the start of SFBS playoffs. Keyword BS. Starting tomorrow with Alabama and Oklahoma playing in the FBS playoffs. But first and foremost, we have to conclude high school sports with a Division I championship that happened a couple weeks ago. The Olin Tenji Orange Pioneers are the Division I champions of football here in the great state of Ohio. Finishing 15-0, beating St. X, the bombers of St. Xavier here in Cincinnati 28-14. From the clips I saw, it was a very dominating performance by the Pioneers and everything. Props to them. Going undefeated is hard no matter what you do. So give them the props that they deserve. Congratulations. Now me as a as a Hamilton high guy, I'm going to go ahead and review the year that Hamilton had. It says a lot about the competition you're facing every week and the ability to play football. To say four and seven is a little disappointing. And the reason why is because last year we were riding such highs last year with the team and everything. I believe they finished 9-3 last year, playoff appearance and everything. I think last year the playoffs ended for us in Princeton, like the previous year. And if you know your GMC history, a lot of GMC dreams end in at Princeton. That is nothing to hang your head out, hang your head down about. Princeton's been a staple in GMC football, uh, Korain in the 2000s, and now it seems like, especially now, it's up for grabs. And Hamilton, hey, we just, you know, hit a hit a hit a hit a roadblock, but we're going in the right direction. Um it all started with with our inner city rivals again uh playing the Baiton Rams. I always when I when I go to watch these games, especially um the Hamilton Baiton games, I always look for something to stand out. Let's use last year, for example, the game was in Fairfield, which is the city next over and everything. That's a standout. You know, that's um something that stands out about this game because this game, while yes, it has been played in different cities before, modern day playing at Fairfield, it's a little weird. However, think something stood out about that, and it was a Hamilton win in 2024. And you would think that the kids that are playing JV, because JV, I believe, that year, 2024, only lost one game. So you you do the math, you say, hey, last year's talent plus this year's JV, it's like, whoa, we we might be talking about not on wood, some a GMC championship. Because we haven't had a GMC championship in Hamilton since 1997 or 1998. Don't quote me on the on the year exactly, but it's one of those years. It's been a long time since we had a GMC championship, and coming into the Baiting game, something just struck me wrong. I'm gonna just be real, it's the black jerseys, man. What are we doing here? We get out there and Baiton's there, and their little clean white jerseys and everything, and we're wearing black, and our nickname is the big blue. I don't know. It's just minor things like that. That's like, hey, we we something ain't right about this. And it's just me as a fan talking, you know, as crazy as that may sound. But yeah, and then the opening play uh was a kickoff return from by Baton on us, and eventually we we eventually go on and lost that game. I've already talked about that, so we're not really here to talk about that that game specifically. I'm looking forward to next year, though, when Hamilton actually goes to Baton's new stadium and play him there. But I will say this, and like I said before, I think there's talent in Hamilton. I believe, I believe that this year was a little asterisks, an asterisk mark because it was it was weird. It was weird. And the reason why I say that is because Hamilton could play ball. I mean, if you put it together, some of the losses that we had were real close and everything and everything, minus the Lakota West stuff. Some of the losses were just close. And, you know, it's like it's that the game of inches, and when it comes to football, it's a game that could be won and lost by inches. And I I believe that Hamilton was on the on the edge of success, and they still are. And the reason why I say that is because they played Middletown for a while. They were struggling with Middletown, and then eventually we beat Middletown. And why is that why is that a thing? Because Middletown played in the I believe the state semifinals against who went to the state finals. So that's a win in the overall grand scheme of things, right? Uh Hamilton can play with the best, they just got to believe they could do this week in and week out. The work is there, and you know, I've had conversations with the coach briefly, and his motivation for the team, it speaks volumes to the team. So we're on the right path. And mind you, if you look at the history of Hamilton, we've had ups and downs with coaches. Coach Crouch knows what he's doing. Okay, so it's just a belief he has to the players have to believe in what they're doing, and hopefully we can get that GMC championship. But if they could play Middletown and beat Middletown and beat Fairfield and played all these close games in GMC, we're just we're almost there. I will say this the quarterback for the Big Blue this past year, there is so much raw potential in him. And I again I I I'm a big blue fanatic. I I love Hamilton, I love Big Blue football. To see this quarterback and to see like the potential in him is through the roof, man. Mind you, when we played Baton, it was a close game. And him being the JV starter to being now the varsity starter, there's going to be a learning curve. And that's what that was expected, right? We expected him to struggle a little bit, but adapt. And so I'm waiting. I'm waiting. And I can't wait. It's gonna happen. I believe in him, and just by the little the little flashes of brilliance. I see a little flash here. There was, ooh, there was a touchdown pass he did in Middletown. It looked so crispy. It looked so good. That like that's that's the that's the flash I'm talking about. And I believe, I believe, I believe in him. I'm sorry. And I hope next year is the breakout year for him because it's due. It is due for Hamilton to do some really good work. 2024, we did really good work. 2025 was the slump. 2026, we'll see. We'll see. I'm not I'm not gonna do I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna place, put my expectations high, even though I have them. I don't know if you can hear it. You can hear it. I can hear it. I can I can hear the smile on my face, the excitement I have for big blue football coming to 2026. There should be a chip on the shoulder for some of the players because, you know, they might not have, you know, the players that are on the team and the people that are there working out now and getting ready for, you know, football next season, there might be a little chip on their shoulder. Like, hey, look, we we could have had a better year this year. And I'm pretty sure a coach has said this to him already. But next year, let's come out with that fire. And there's no better opening than opening with Baton at Baden for the first time. Oh, I I just got I just got goosebumps for that. So I'm looking forward to next year. And uh let's go big blue. So, as I was saying, we are starting the college FBS playoffs tomorrow. It's a group of 12 this year. So 2025, the college football playoffs, is starting tomorrow, and we have we have the following teams: Miami, Florida, the Hurricanes, Texas AM, Tulane, Old Miss, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech, James Madison University, Oregon, and tomorrow, Oklahoma, Alabama, and they get to play the number one team is Ohio oh, nope, is Indiana. So before we go to the playoffs, let's talk about the Ohio State and Indiana game, which Indiana won 13 to 10. I'm gonna flash back quickly to last year's game where the loss to Michigan, ironically, 13 to 10, um, sparked something in Ohio State. The Indiana game, it was it was it was kind of weird because it felt like the Michigan-Ohio State game from 2024. Ohio State didn't do its full repertoire of weapons. That's my feeling when I saw it, okay? Like Jeremiah Smith was a non-factor, Justin Sane was pressured, uh, Bo Jackson was good. Bo Jackson was good. It just felt like we weren't, or Ohio State was not fully equipped to play Indiana. And that's no excuse. And I don't want to make no excuses and all that. Indiana, they look marvelous, they looked great, they look, they look excellent and well-deserved win, right? But there's some things that that I asterisks about the game, right? Number one, and this is this goes back to watching, you know, but the buckeyes for all these years, you need to you need to use that Jim Trestle way of thinking. Don't leave points on the field. Um, there was one time we went for it on fourth down, and we didn't get the fourth down. We left three, it would have been an easy three-point, a chipper, a chip shot, and we went for it and didn't get it. Jim Trestle would never leave points on the board. That's what, and it annoyed me because he would go for a field goal on third down. That's the type of mentality Jim Trestle had. And I feel like, you know, we say all this explosiveness and this, that, and the other. But don't forget, you have probably, arguably, one of the greatest defenses in college football history. So you don't need that many points to win a game. So we did leave points on the board, and unfortunately, we couldn't recover from that. And then at the end of the game, the kicker missed the field goal to tie the game. Football, ladies and gentlemen. That's what happens. That's what happens. So Ohio State will be the number two seed, and they will face the winner of the Texas CM and Miami, Florida game. We got Alabama and Oklahoma, which are now SEC teams, playing each other again. But before we go that, the question is: where's Notre Dame? Notre Dame only lost two games this season. Well, Alabama's lost three. And some of the people were saying, well, the com you can't get penalized for making your championship game, this, that, and the other. My thing is that, granted, Notre Dame's schedule was kind of soft, like putting and everything, but they only lost two games. So did BYU. They only lost two games, too. And I don't know how many Vanderbilt lost, but I'm pretty sure they lost two games as well. How, how does Alabama get in before any of those teams? And, you know, when you keep seeing the same teams over and over again, it starts to get boring, right? It starts to get a little dull when you keep seeing the same teams over and over again. Alabama, for example, they should not have been in the playoffs this year. I don't care. You lose three games, you shouldn't be in the playoffs. And my prediction is Oklahoma's gonna stomp them tomorrow. Because one, the game's in Oklahoma. Two, I think that crowd's gonna be out of control. And I think Oklahoma already beat Alabama this year. So, yeah, I that's another thing. We keep getting the rep the rep the repetitive matchups that it's starting to make college football boring. You can make a case for BYU who have one of the hardest schedules this year, and they don't make the playoffs. You could say Vanderbilt could have made the playoffs. And there's something wrong with college football, especially with NILs and everything going on. But not to get the right teams in the playoffs is a problem. But there's a solution to it. And you might ask yourself, what is the solution? It's quite simple. Do what the division below you is doing, right? The FCS has been doing playoffs for a long time. I want to say since 1979. And they have done it correctly, they've increased when needed and everything. Right now they have 24 teams in the playoffs. So college football needs a fix, right? The fix is one, these conferences are absolutely bloated right now. The Big Ten has what three teams, Oregon, USC, UCLA, from the West, the West Coast, Stanford and Cowan ACC, and it's just a it's just a jumble. It's just a jumble of who's what, where, why, and the matchups just are not what we all thought they would be. The West Coast looks trash right now. Looks absolutely terrible. USC is garbage. UCLA is garbage. Oregon, they're doing their things. We can't talk bad about Oregon. But we need to get balance in it. So we need to bring back the Pac-10, Pac-12, whatever you want to call it, and the Big 12 and everything. Um, with the right teams and and and everything, right? So we need to have conferences where teams like UCLA and all of them, the the Big 12, like with Texas and Oklahoma, not in the SEC, because they're bloated. ACC is absolutely bloated with teams. They need to be, they need to be in their own conference. Conference champions need to mean something. And that's what a lot of people are saying about JMU, James Madison University, and Tulane, where they're like, they don't belong in the playoffs. And then it that blows my mind that I'm hearing that. Because guess what? They did everything they were supposed to do. They won, they won a lot of games, and they're conference champions. And then I hear a lot of people saying, nobody in America wants to see JMU and Tulane. And I think that's the most BS line I've ever heard. Let me take you back in time to uh a time when Boise State played Oklahoma in if I believe it was the Fiesta Bowl in the early 2000s. Nobody thought Boise State should one play Oklahoma, let alone beat Oklahoma. Arguably, one of the greatest games in college football. Let me take you to one personal one Appalachian State. At this time, FCS school goes to the big house and beats, I think, number five at the time, a number five Michigan team. Arguably, get made one of the greatest college football games ever. How it ended up and everything. Great game. So to say that people don't want to see it, I believe is rubbish. Right? They have done everything they're supposed to do. How does a team like JMU, how does a team like Tulane get in the SEC? They're not gonna let them in. Beginning to Big Ten, they're not gonna let them in. They're not gonna do that. Because that's not the way the college system is set up. And it needs to be fixed. You're mad at these teams for winning their conference championship, but they uh what else are they supposed to do? It's wild to me that all these big wigs, uh Paul Feinbaum, whatever his name is. And then Joe Clatt said something stupid the other day, talking about he hated the format of the NCAA basketball tournament where nobody wants to see George Mason win. Why not? Those are great stories. That's what sports is. Sports is a great story that people, when somebody's given an opportunity, can we at least see it. And I'm hoping, I am hoping that JMU and Tulane play a great game. I'm pulling I'm pulling for Tulane to be Ole Miss. Definitely. And I'm pulling for JMU, even though I think, I think personally they don't have a chance, but the game has to be played. A la Boise State. A la Appalachian State. And I could go on with other upsets that's happened from either the FCS level or the group of five and the power four. It's ridiculous that we one, that we're divided, and there's no way for a team than a group of five to move up. Liberty a couple years ago, they had a great season. You're trying to tell me Liberty couldn't beat a Purdue or Northwestern given the opportunity. Let's let's let's think about it. If there's a way to relegate and promote, just like how they do in English football, we might be talking about something different. We might be having opportunities for a James Madison to move up to a Big Ten division. That should be something that we should that we should be thinking about and considering. Let's be fair. So going forward, how do we fix college football? Because some people want bowls and everything, and some people want just a uh two, like one group. Of five playoff and one power four playoff. And let me remind you that these power four conferences, they play grouper fives all the time. Right? But they don't ever do a home in home, right? For example, let's just keep using the Appalachian State, Michigan game. Every time that you play one of these groups, it should be one at Michigan, one at Appalachian State. Why not? If you're so big and bad, you come down to Appalachian State and let's play the football game there. Give these small quote-unquote group of fives an opportunity to play. What's wrong with that? So here's some things that I would like to get fixed in college football. Number one, if you still want a bowl season at the end of this season, like right now at the end of the season, the other thing we should be focused on is the playoffs. Still have a bowl selection and have those bowl games played at the beginning of the season next year. Right? So you got the matchups, and then there's some matchups where, hey, a group of five gets to play a power four. I hate even saying that. Have them play at the beginning of the season and then have that, you know, either at the bowl site or somewhere else. Yeah, have it at the bowl site and have them play. So therefore, the group of five gets the opportunity to play these power four conferences instead of being a home game at a power four conference. That should be fixed. Number two, there should be no rankings until the second week. Looking back, do you think Texas was the number one team at the beginning of the season? No, it shouldn't. That puts a burden on Texas and everything. It should be done after the first week. So therefore, you know by watching who's the real number one team out there. That should be that should be a thing. Right. Number, let's see, that's number two. Number three. I did, and I mentioned it briefly. Home and home. There should always be a home and home. Unless, like, let's just use Miami of Ohio takes on Penn State. The next year, Penn State needs to come to Miami, Ohio. Unless they want to sign it up. Hey, we'll give you a check. We'll give you a check for you to come to instead of us going to Miami of Ohio, we can, you know, you come back here the next year at Penn State. That should be, that should be a thing. So therefore, Miami of Ohio is generating revenue, because you know, Penn State people like to travel and people are coming to the stadium and everything. That should be a thing. Another thing we need to we need to consider is, I don't know, I touched on it briefly, is bring back conferences. Like, like I said, the Big 12, as they are, the Mountain West, uh, the Big East that's been eliminated, the Pac-12, that's been eliminated, and give them 10 teams, play each other. And if you are at the top of the conference, you're automatically into the playoffs. How hard is this? If the FCS can do it, the FBS can do it. What's the problem? Really? What is the problem? We need to bring back conferences, 10 teams, have everybody play each other. If you're at the top, you're in. And the playoffs, again, touched on it briefly, 24 teams. Conference champs or whoever's, whatever you want to do, conference champs, automatically in. It's just what the FCS does. Conference champs, well, let's just use this for example. Let's just say there's eight conferences, conference champs all top eight, get a bye. So nine through 24 have to play. Why is this why is this not hard, ladies and gentlemen? That's the way it should be. And my final thing, my final thing is promotion relegation. Give these JMUs, these two lanes, a chance to move to a different conference based on region. Give them a chance, right? So let's just use the Sunbelt and Georgia Southern, undefeated season. Takes on who was Boo-Boo in Mississippi State in SEC. Winner swaps conferences. Give them an opportunity to play and see what happens. Therefore, you can't have this group of five, power four, all that stuff goes away. It's just why not? Why not? Let's let's quit quit making this difficult because it's not difficult. That being said. So, uh tomorrow, Alabama, Oklahoma, and I really think Oklahoma's gonna beat the beat Bama, and I hope so, and I hope this proves to these people that made these uh playoffs to select Alabama over Notre Dame, prove them wrong. Or prove them, yeah, prove them wrong that Notre Dame should have been in there. And I'm not even mad at Notre Dame for doing that. If someone invited me to a bowl and I'm Notre Dame, I would have done the same thing. I ain't going. What's the point? What's the point? I mean, if if I'm playing, and if I'm playing, now if I was a senior, oof, maybe, but you know, what's the point? What's the point? I'm not mad at them all. If someone invites you, hey, we're having a tupwear party, Michael. Do you want to go? I have a right to say no. Same thing with Notre Dame. Notre Dame had every right to say no. And I'm not mad at them one bit for it. Now, do I think they should join a conference? Absolutely. They should join a conference. Period. Why do you get to be independent just because you play a soft schedule? You automatically get in. No, that should not be the case. But I'm not mad at them for saying nah. I think you should join a conference. Period. You have to. And one last thing, and just aside, just a bonus as we head out for today for the sports episode is. No, you can't. If you're an FBS, you shouldn't be playing FCS. That game should not even count. Like Ohio State, you you played Grambling. Why? Why? That's that game should not even count. Against in your seating and everything. Number one team didn't play this week. They had Grambling. So you don't even get credit for that. What's wrong with that? Play a real team. You trying to tell me Ohio, Kent, Akron, they weren't available? Come on, man. That's your sports episode. Enjoy tomorrow's games and we'll see what happens. I'm the host of the WDYM. My name is Michael Gillespie, and I'm out. Girl Scout, Boy Scout. Peace.
