Welcome to the UnafraidShow.com NCAA Football Top 25, from George Wrighster. Each week, Wrighster will update his Top 25 according to the results and his opinion, and I’ll provide analysis of where I think he went right and wrong.
Since this is the preseason top 25, I’ll wait until the results start to come in before criticizing the boss man (Although he does have Arizona State criminally low, and Iowa State over Notre Dame is certainly eyebrow raising).
Welcome to the UnafraidShow.com 2021 Picks contest between George Wrigshter and Ralph Amsden.
Every week, George and Ralph will make five picks, either against the spread or the total, for the upcoming sports weekend. Each participant will start with $1000, and must risk a minimum of $20 on each pick, but can up each selection to a maximum of $100. Each winning pick pays 1:1, and we’ll keep the total throughout the season.
This week, college football kicks off with a limited slate of games, so the focus will primarily be on a couple of contests.
George Wrighster
Current total: $1000
Overall record: 0-0
This week’s picks:
Nebraska -7 at Illinois (risking $20)
UCLA -17.5 vs Hawaii (risking $50)
UCLA/Hawaii OVER 67.5 (risking $50)
Fresno State/UConn UNDER 62.5 (risking $20)
San Jose State/Southern Utah UNDER 57.5 (risking $20)
Ralph Amsden
Current total: $1000
Overall record: 0-0
This week’s picks:
Nebraska -7 at Illinois (risking $25)
Hawaii +17.5 at UCLA (risking $75)
UCLA/Hawaii UNDER 67.5 (risking $75)
Southern Utah +25.5 at San Jose State (risking $25)
On this week’s episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast, George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden start out by derailing the entire show to have a 30-minute argument over whether or not Nirvana was a band on the level of Bon Jovi or Red Hot Chili Peppers. After that, they discuss the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 Alliance, and the Pac-12’s decision to not add any other teams at this time. George Wrighster interviews Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal, and the guys analyze the interview. George and Ralph go thorough the Las Vegas Pac-12 win totals for every team, and give their predictions, and then preview this weekend’s Pac-12 opener of UCLA hosting Hawaii. Finally, they give their thoughts on some of the Pac-12’s settled and unsettled QB battles.
Make sure you like and subscribe to the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast with George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden on any podcasting app.
Who are the Pac-12 Apostles?
The Pac-12 Apostles is a podcast for fans who love the Pac-12 conference. George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden are committed to the honest and fair conversation about the conference. Join us by becoming a Pac-12 Apostle. Subscribe and share the podcast.
Please leave a rating and review of our podcast on iTunes! We record a podcast once a week with emergency episodes when necessary. Our podcasts are always heavy on Pac-12 football. But we make it a point to also try and cover the other notable Men’s and Women’s Pac-12 sports. We cover recruiting and any other major storyline in the Pac-12 universe.
George Wrighster is a former Pac-12 and long-time NFL tight end. As a television/radio host, opinionist, and analyst, who is UNAFRAID to speak the truth. Contrary to industry norms he uses, facts, stats, and common sense to win an argument. He has covered college football, basketball, NFL, NBA, MLB since 2014. Through years of playing college football, covering bowl games, coaching changes, and scandals, he has a great pulse for the conference and national perspective.
Ralph Amsden is a Wyoming-born sportswriter and podcaster who spends his days tweeting through the misadventures that come with shuttling four kids around the Arizona desert. Ralph is the publisher of Rivals’ ArizonaVarsity.com, the founder of ArizonaSportsCast.com, and was previously the managing editor of the Arizona State Rivals affiliate, DevilsDigest.com. He is also a professional hater of all things pineapple. Whether you’re talking food, movies, music, parenting, politics, sports, television, religion, or zoological factoids, Ralph has questions for you. He might be sub-.500 in spousal disputes and schoolyard fights, but he’s always UNAFRAID to square up.
Is it funny to me, as a Suns fan, that Patrick Beverley keeps getting traded to teams with a worse and worse chance to compete for a 2022 NBA Championship? Absolutely. Does Patrick Beverley deserve better? Probably.
Just days after the Los Angeles Clippers decided that Eric Bledsoe would be better for furthering their championship hopes than backcourt defensive pest Patrick Beverley, the Memphis Grizzlies shipped Patrick Beverley to basketball Siberia (Minnesota) for Jarrett Culver, the so-far disappointing 6th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Just over six weeks after throwing a giant tantrum and shoving Chris Paul from behind (for which he still has a one-game suspension to serve), Patrick Beverley has gone from a key cog on a legitimate contender, to stuck in a locker room led by the collegiate teammates and off-court best friends of his now-crooked-nosed basketball nemesis, Devin Booker.
Undoubtedly there must exist a Karl Anthony-Towns and DeAngelo Russell groupchat with Booker that contains several of the following memes:
I have to reiterate that there’s not a lot of sympathy on my end for a guy who mocked Chris Paul while he laid on the ground with a busted wrist, or who was so triggered that the same guy, busted wrist and all, gave him a 40-piece that ended his season, that he went full toddler and shoved Paul from behind.
HOWEVER- I can’t say with a straight face that I don’t enjoy watching Patrick Beverley pretend to be an NBA legend after every half-decent defensive stop, while ultimately getting destroyed on the biggest stage as he contributes a career average of two points per playoff quarter. America has joyously watched Bevereley get knocked out of the playoffs seven different times now, and you’re telling us that we don’t get that privilege any more?
It’s not fair.
Sure, as Russell Westbrook pointed out, those of us that think Pat Bev is actually affecting the outcome of games have been tricked… but some of us like magicians, Russell. We don’t actually believe the rabbit existed in some other dimension before the magician reached into his hat, but it’s fun to see nonetheless.
https://youtu.be/sNRbwjLER3g
I’ll put it bluntly, I don’t want Patrick Beverley on some 20-62 roster as the elder statesmen for a bunch of Zoomer-generation players more interested in their pregame fits making on some hypebeast fashion blog than they are winning games. I want to see Patrick Beverley give up seven buckets in a row on an ABC broadcast, and then wildly pound his chest after deflecting a pass out of bounds.
Patrick Beverley deserves better than exile in Minnesota, and as fans, we deserve better as well. Until then, let’s laugh at the tweets:
Hope Solo is no stranger to controversy, and neither is Megan Rapinoe. Both women have made it a point to use their platform to further the causes they care most about, and while it’s Megan Rapinoe’s social stances (or lack of stance, but we’ll get to that in a moment), the thing that seems to keep Hope Solo in the news is her choice of phrase.
This time, in the midst of attempting to make a nuanced point about the division that surrounds the activism of the US Women’s National Team, she used one of the biggest buzz words anyone can use- bully. And she used it in reference to her old friend and teammate…
“I’ve seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling because she really wants to stand up for something in her particular way. But it’s our right as Americans to do it whatever way we’re comfortable with and I think that’s really hard being on the main stage right now with so many political issues for athletes. There’s a lot of pressure and ultimately at the end of the day our number one focus should and has always been to win first.”
Hope Solo was in the middle of a reasonable thought about the way the country as a whole reacts to athletes protesting during the national anthem, saying “Right now what I’ve seen is there’s been so much debate about the kneeling, about the not kneeling. I know most people stand against discrimination, and I live in the south, I live in a very conservative area here in North Carolina in the south. Obviously I have friends on both sides of the aisle, but I think the kneeling thing can be very divisive.”
She’s not wrong. Kneeling during the anthem is factually, objectively, palpably divisive… and that’s sort of the point of it. But, as legions of people have pointed out on social media, Hope Solo wasn’t exactly around for the kneeling. She’d been suspended from competition for six months just days before Megan Rapinoe first publicly protested.
Her suspension came after calling the Swedish National Team “cowardly” for their style of play, and for raising the ire of the entire city of Rio for saying she was “begrudgingly” traveling to the Olympic games amidst Zika virus concerns. On both occasions, she was left to clarify seemingly reasonable intent due to less than stellar word choice. So here we are, yet again. Not only is bully a word that is sure to get everyone riled up, the timeline of the accusation is undoubtedly going to lead to a need for further explanation.
UnafraidShow.com founder George Wrighster gets into all that and more here:
Have a take you’d like us to read and address in a future article or on a future show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll address your take.
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the video of BYU football partnering with Built Bar to secure Name, Image and Likeness deals for all 36 walk-ons for the equivalent of their tuition costs. If you haven’t, take a moment to watch below:
This is incredible, and could be a life altering leg up for many of these young men. When you watch an event like this unfold, it’s hard to believe the NCAA spent decades not only standing in the way of corporations entering into mutually beneficial partnerships with the athletes, but doing all they could to make sure this money filtered directly into their “non-profit” offices to fund their operational budget and administrative staffs.
The initial reaction from college football fans all over the country seemed to be excitement, not only for these young men, but for all the possibilities that may have been unlocked for their school’s athletes as well.
“It’s a Brave New World! Companies can gain viral publicity ensuring that walk-ons aren’t stuck getting student loan repayments auto-debited well into their 50’s! My team might be able to hold onto some talent that develops into something special!”
Well, as Lee Corso might say, Not so fast my friend.
It might not seem like there’s a lot of parity in college football, with Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Ohio State all jockeying for position at the top, but the one thing that keeps hope alive for everybody that exists just outside the perennially elite rung of NCAA football teams is a little thing called scholarship limits.
You can only take an average of 25 scholarship players per year, and hold a limit of 85 overall scholarship players on the roster. When Alabama secures their recruiting class, which has been ranked 7th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st over the last 4 years, they’re not getting all the players that want to spend their college years getting chewed out by Nick Saban. They’re only getting a fraction of the aspiring Crimson Tide.
Now imagine that Alabama wasn’t encumbered by that 25 annual scholarship limit, or 85 overall scholarship limit at all. Imagine that any prospect that wanted to go to Alabama could do so, because a generous alumni was suddenly allowed to fully fund their football and educational experience, independent from the NCAA’s scholarship limit.
Well, you don’t have to imagine, because that’s where we’re at now. There is absolutely nothing stopping Nike-fueled Oregon, or oil wealth-soaked Texas, or the same boosters who bought Nick Saban’s house from ensuring that Alabama has the funding to secure Corporate Walk-On Scholarships for upwards of 40+ four-star or above recruits in any given class.
LeBron James’ super-teamification of sports has made its way to college football, and while BYU’s viral moment was both heart-warming, and a step in the right direction to break the grip of the NCAA over the ability to keep college athletes away from their own market value, we’re now left to ask the question… is parity officially dead?
George Wrighster and I get into all of that and more on this week’s episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast. Make sure and give it a listen.
Pac-12 Apostles Podcast: Episode 100! An Interview with Clay Helton, Corporate Walk-On Scholarships, Baylor vs ASU, and More https://t.co/8pzdJ1nDYn
On this episode of the Pac-12 Apostles Podcast, USC Head Coach Clay Helton talks with George Wrighster about USC’s high expectations, and why he minds his own business when it comes to NIL deals. George and Ralph Amsden get into how BYU’s corporate walk-on scholarships will help make the rich even more rich, and which Pac-12 schools might benefit the most. ASU has put two more assistant coaches on paid leave, George and Ralph recap the entire ASU saga, and discuss whether Baylor’s lack of a punishment from the NCAA gives Sun Devil fans a legitimate gripe. The Pac-12 has announced its forfeit policy, and Wazzu head coach Nick Rolovich gave a non-answer when asked how it affects the conference. The guys discuss ESPN’s in depth story about former Wazzu Head Coach Paul Wulff’s 41-year quest to find answers regarding the disappearance of his mother, Delores. Finally, George and Ralph give their Pac-12 Breakout player candidates, answer listener questions, and react to other news and happenings around the conference.
Breakdown (2 hours, 40 minutes)
Intro
BYU Corporate Walk-On Scholarships Change the Game (11:15)
Should ASU’s fan base be outraged over Baylor’s slap on the wrist? An update on the coaching suspensions in Tempe (29:00)
The Pac-12 puts out its forfeit policy, our analysis (53:45)
An Interview with USC Head Coach Clay Helton (1:01:30)
Analysis of the Clay Helton interview, and the state of USC (1:24:18)
George and Ralph select the four players they expect to become breakout stars in the Pac-12 in 2021 (2:01:20)
Hot topics and listener questions (2:11:05)
You can listen to Pac-12 Apostles on iTunes or Spotify, or by clicking play on the iHeartRadio widget below:
Some of Clay Helton’s quotes from his interview with George Wrighster:
On championship expectations at USC:
“We all came here to win national championships. Any time you’re at a place that has eleven of them, and has those types of goals, it’s exciting. There’s a standard of excellence at USC that runs 125 years, and so each and every year you know coming into it that a Pac-12 championship opens the door to the playoff… You understand exactly what this place is and the standard that it is, it’s National Championships, and we welcome that. That’s why we fight like heck every day for the ability to get there.”
On dealing with criticism from the media and fans:
“For me, the way I’ve always handled things is this, I’ve always believed that a coaches job is to win games, to graduate our players, and to provide them a great college experience. The media’s job is to report and to give opinion, and if you’re winning games you get great reports, and if you’re losing games, it’s probably going the other way. The last portion is the fans. They bring the passion to the game, and if you’re winning it’s probably good passion, and if you’re losing it’s probably bad passion… To be able to grow numb to it, you understand that you don’t sit in this chair unless you have thick skin. You don’t worry about other people’s opinions, and you don’t worry about any negativity… your job is to help your young men win football games, help them win a championship, and that’s a full-time job. If your focus isn’t on that, you’re not doing your job, and you’re not helping your kids. I’ve never worried about outside noise, and I’ve never worried about the expectations, because I welcome them…”
On rebounding in the 2021 recruiting rankings:
“Two years ago, there was not a ton of attrition on our football team, we could only sign 13 men. So that brings you down. You don’t get a full class… you’re not going to be ranked extremely high. Plus, we decided to focus on the trenches and focus on our big men and a lot of time when you sign 11 of the 13 and they’re big men, it’s not a very sexy class. But we invested in the trenches..’
“Last year we had the availability to sign a full load. We actually signed 27 young men, both freshmen, as well as I thought we did a tremendous job in the transfer portal of addressing some immediate needs because of having seven young men leave for the NFL early off last year’s team…”
“All of the sudden you get increased numbers with increased resources, a great work ethic, and don’t forget about the production on the field. You go undefeated in the regular season last fall and be able to show your product- that produced a top 10 class…”
On potential recruiting rule-breaking within the conference during the pandemic:
“As far as being a head coach… one of our major responsibilities is to provide a culture of compliance… I’m very fortunate to be at USC for 12 years and to watch a guy named Dave Roberts, who did a tremendous job here compliance-wise, of setting up an organization that I believe is elite and lives as an example on a day-to-day basis, and I think that’s our responsibility across the board as far as coaches, is not only to win, but to win the right way. To remember that we all have last names, and representing your last name… is an important thing. But also to teach young people that doing the right thing is not always easy, but it’s always right. Our job is, as coaches, to have that culture of compliance and make sure things are right… so when you do hoist that trophy up, and that’s going to be my favorite time in life, that you hold that trophy up and you know, ‘man we just won a national championship, and we did it the right way.’ That’s a special thing, and I think that’s a responsibility of all coaches across the country.”
Have a take you’d like us to read and address on the show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll read your take on a future podcast.
The Pac-12 Apostles Podcast is back, but how much longer will the Pac-12 be the Pac-12? George Wrighster and Ralph Amsden discuss whether or not it’s wise to bring on any Big 12 teams. George interviews Stanford head coach David Shaw, and asks him some questions that he thought Shaw might not be prepared to answer- but as usual, Shaw has thoughtful opinions, rebuttals, and defenses for any and all of George’s inquiries. Last, George and Ralph discuss the Pac-12 preseason media poll and all-conference honors that came out of Media Day (read Ralph’s in-depth recap here).
You can listen to Pac-12 Apostles on iTunes or Spotify, or by clicking play on the iHeartRadio widget below:
Some of David Shaw’s quotes from his interview with George Wrighster:
On going into this season vs going into last season facing Covid-19 concerns:
“We’re much better than we were last year. I think we’re more informed. We’ve got a bunch of guys vaccinated… We made it through last year without a single positive test on our team… and now with the Delta variant or whatever else comes our way, we just have to operate within the boundaries that we have…”
On teams within the conference that offer 300+ scholarships to a single recruiting class:
“That’s what we have been able to do really well. Our players that we recruit respect us, partially because of our process and our honesty. We will offer the number of scholarships that we have. We don’t over-offer… So many of (potential recruits) look at that and initially of course they’re offended, but then they’re like ‘how many of these offers do I have that aren’t really committable offers? …I may have 20 offers, but really that might be 8 truly committable offers.’
So they’re not really offers. Back in the old days we called those ‘noffers,’ like, non-offers.
There’s an integrity that we believe in. There’s a process- I call it ‘The Gameshow.’ We don’t play The Gameshow, like ‘who’s going to take this first, you get an offer and you get an offer, but it doesn’t really matter because the first three guys come.’ That makes no sense to me. So we operate with integrity and honesty, and we’re very up front about out process, and our student athletes that we recruit and their parents really appreciate that.”
On the high volume of graduate transfers out of the Stanford program:
“We haven’t had a single undergraduate transfer in my entire tenure… Now, I have an open philosophy with our guys where I say ‘Hey, you know what? If you’re going to be a fifth-year senior… but you find a better situation out there for you? Not only are you allowed (to transfer) by NCAA rules, but I’m going to help you.’ So I’ll make calls for these guys. I’ll say, ‘Hey, don’t be a backup for me as a fifth-year senior if there’s a place where you can start…’
I think coaches should be encouraging that, because these guys have given themselves to us for four years, and graduated, and as a college graduate, I should not be able to tell this guy what to do, he should be able to do what’s best for himself.“
On Potential Conference Realignment:
“I think it’s all going to eventually settle down… I do think as far as the conference is concerned, we have a lot of natural rivalries that I’d hate to see get broken up, in particular the California schools. The four of us are very intrigued about our long history of playing against each other in every sport… I’d hate to see those things break up. I think we’ve got a great rivalry with both Oregon and Washington, you’d hate to see those rivalries go away.
I’m sure some program is going to look to do what’s best for them, and we’ll see what happens, but by in large I think the conference should pretty much remain the same. The only question I have is who’s going to look to join our conference. That’s what’s going to be interesting…”
On Being Quoted in Pete Thamel’s Article on Arizona State’s Potential Recruiting Violations
“I back what I said. I still believe it. We were coming out of pretty much the most difficult coaching season for all of us… We had an extended dead period, which means none of us could bring people on campus. We had a Covid situation, a national health emergency, so we were really not supposed to be bringing people on campus. We were supposed to try to keep ourselves and our student athletes safe. As you said, it was an open secret, it wasn’t that people didn’t know. They did something wrong, they got caught, and they’re in the middle of an NCAA investigation. I’m not saying what’s going to happen from that, but I let my feelings be known that I felt offended. Especially me being on multiple committees, for our conference, for the NCAA, and trying to help set these rules so that we could all be on the same page and no one could have a clear advantage. For that to be pretty blatantly violated, I felt upset and I still feel the same way today.”
Have a take you’d like us to read and address on the show? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll read your take on a future podcast.
I’ve been a Josh Allen defender since week 2 of the 2016 college football season. Sure, there’s nothing about a five interception performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers that screams “first round pick and franchise cornerstone,” but your average observer wasn’t 1) watching that game live, 2) a longtime Wyoming football supporter, and 3) expertly-versed on what a good quarterback on a bad team looks like.
It’s not easy to convince good high school football players to attend school in Laramie. During Josh Allen’s final season in Laramie, the team had only managed to sign seven 3-star recruits in the previous four combined recruiting classes- compare that to Nebraska, who signed 41 combined 3-star or above players to the 2015 and 2016 classes. Of course Josh Allen wasn’t going to look like a superhero against that Cornhuskers roster, in Lincoln no less.
But what Josh Allen did show in that game, aside from his very obvious size and ability to sling the ball to the moon, was an escapability and short memory after his mistakes. It was more than clear to me at that point that if he was put in the right situation, he had all the tools to be a star.
Don’t believe me? Well, I’ve certainly got the receipts of some lofty early claims about Allen’s early comps:
2016 Josh Allen = 2003 Aaron Rogers.
I know he threw more INTs, but this is Wyoming, not Cal.
One of the main reasons I was so confident in Allen’s ability to adapt to a better situation was a tortured childhood fandom spent rooting for the Arizona Cardinals. Jake Plummer’s stint as a Rose Bowl-bound Sun Devil won me over, and so when the Arizona Cardinals made him a second round pick, and quickly gave him the reigns to the team, it resulted in me spending the next six years believing that if the Cardinals had given him any support in the form of an offensive line or a running game, he’s have ascended far beyond the 114 interceptions and 52 losses he amassed in his first six seasons.
The Denver Broncos believed what I believed, and they took a “Josh Allen at 7 overall” level risk by offering Plummer a seven year deal despite having only one season with more TDs than INTs. The result? Plummer would win 40 total games in three and a half years for the Broncos, and lead them to three playoff appearances before being benched for a young Jay Cutler.
I’m not bringing up Jake Plummer as an example of my infallibility as a QB prognosticator, in fact, my favorite QB from the stacked 2018 draft class wasn’t even Josh Allen, it was Josh Rosen, who is currently fighting for a roster spot on his fourth different team.
I bring Jake Plummer up to say that so many QBs are completely dependent upon outside factors in order to see their true potential fulfilled. Josh Allen’s supposed accuracy issues had as much to do with the talent gap Wyoming faced with most of their opponents not allowing him the time to consistently set his feet and find his guys downfield… and the insane, perpetual wind of the high plains in Laramie wasn’t much of a help either. I knew what Mike Shanahan knew about Jake Plummer back in 2003- if he was put in the right situation, his natural gifts would prove his worth.
But now Josh Allen’s worth has been quantified. The man who had no offers coming out of high school, and only one coming out of junior college, has 258 million additional reasons affirming that he belongs on this stage.
Now he just has to work on earning the next extension, which is something George Wrighster and I got into on the latest episode of Wrighster or Wrong (listen on iTunes or watch on Periscope below)
Josh Allen Contract, Olympic Medal Values, Kanye West Donda, Rihanna the Billionaire, Celebrity Bathing, Cancel or Consequence, Best of Social Media https://t.co/kK8yh9MH8F
— George Wrighster III (@georgewrighster) August 6, 2021
Do you agree that this contract extension is proof that Josh Allen is the real deal, or do you think he has to repeat/exceed his 2020 performance to be considered legit? Email us at immad@unafraidshow.com and we’ll read your take on a future podcast.
Reggie Bush gave his 2005 Heisman trophy back in 2012 following several years of NCAA investigations into the allegations that sports agent Lloyd Lake and business partner Michael Michaels gave Bush gifts that included hotel stays, a rent-free home for his family, and a limousine ride and suit for the 2005 Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Lake had expectations that Bush would return the favor by being his meal ticket, and when that didn’t happen, Lake sued Bush for $300,000 and cooperated with the NCAA investigation.
Now that the NCAA has relented on the idea, though they were forced to do so, that players are able to capitalize on their Name, Image and Likeness while in school, and make money off their notoriety, Reggie Bush wants his Heisman Trophy back.
— the Unafraid Show with George Wrighster (@UnafraidShow) July 30, 2021
Reggie Bush doesn’t need to be in physical possession of the Heisman Trophy for us to acknowledge who it belongs to. His 2,218 yards from scrimmage, and 9.4 yards per touch that season electrified college football fans everywhere, and fueled an undefeated Pac-10 season that capped off 23-consecutive conference wins.
The trophy is not only his, but because of the NCAA contending that it isn’t his, much like with the Baseball Hall of Fame keeping Pete Rose on the outside looking in, the first name we’re going to think of every time we hear the word Heisman is Reginald Alfred Bush Jr.
Here are his highlights to remind you of exactly what the NCAA is trying to make you forget:
Here are some of the better takes out in the Twittersphere:
National Treasure 3:
Nicholas Cage helps Reggie Bush steal back his Heisman.
