Indiana is Now a Football Power

Indiana did it last night. They won the whole thing. They beat every team on their schedule. They have the most wins in a season since some Yale team back in the early 1900's. Let’s discuss.

Indiana is on top of the college football world and they turned their entire program around in two short years. Curt Cignetti proved his worth and then some. I may not personally like him, but he is one hell of a college football coach and he knows how to win in this new era. I read some people griping about his roster being old. Who cares? He did nothing illegal in recruiting fifth and sixth year seniors. These guys wanted to come play for him through the portal, he picked the players that fit his system and he has won big with them at Indiana. He used the portal to perfection.

I made comments a week or so back about Fernando Mendoza being a game manager. I was wrong. He won that game last night. He was the reason that Indiana was able to sustain a few drives and get points. His run on fourth and long that scored the winning TD for Indiana was one of the best runs I have seen in a college football game in quite a long time. He secured the number one pick in the upcoming draft. Mendoza was no game manager last night. He was awesome.

As I said in my previous post about Indiana and Mendoza, this Indiana defense is elite. They are one of the better defenses I have seen on a college football field in a few years. The corners were all over the wideouts. The run defense, save for one long run, stuffed Miami at the line most of the night. And the linebackers cleaned up any messes that came their way. They also provided nice pressure on Carson Beck all night. And the secondary came up with the game sealing interception with less than a minute.

Even IU's special teams came up with a humongous punt block for a TD that helped get the momentum back in the third quarter.

Indiana was the most sound, most serious and best college football team by a wide margin for the 2025-26 season. Miami put up a fight and made it interesting for a while, but Indiana's run seemed destined to end this way. Miami made the title game by upsetting higher seeded teams. Indiana looked every bit the overall number 1 seed, dominating Alabama and Oregon on their way to the title. Miami may have more "pro" ready players, but Indiana was a much more complete and better team. Sure, Mendoza is the QB and Heisman winner, but he has guys all around him loaded with talent. They have two very good running backs. The receivers seemingly never drop a pass. The o line is dominant. The defense is amazing. Indiana is the definition of a team in modern college football. They play for one another, not draft positioning. They won because they bought into the new culture and coaching that came with the new coaching staff. They used the portal the best way possible. They made all the right moves and turned that into a championship team. Now they will have the joy and frustration of playing as the hunted rather than the hunter. They are not going to be taken lightly ever again. This is going to be a perennial contender, and the other teams on their schedule will be looking for new ways to beat them. It seems weird for me to say that about Indiana, but it shouldn't be. They are national champs and national champs play with a target on their back.

I also want to point out that the Big Ten has now won three straight national titles. For years and years the Big Ten always struggled during bowl season. They just couldn't seem to get to the title game, or if they did they would get trounced. But now, in the modern NIL and transfer portal era, the Big Ten seems to be the best conference in all of college football. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say that they have usurped the SEC as the dominant conference. With Indiana last night, the university of Ohio State last year and Michigan two seasons ago, the Big Ten has won them all. And they didn't play a SEC team in any of those title games. Sure, the SEC has a few teams here and there that make the playoff, but so does the Big Ten. Oregon made it to the final four this year. Last season the Big Ten had five playoff teams. The SEC only had three. In the 23-24 playoff, the last with four teams, there was one SEC, one Pac 12, one Big 12 and one Big Ten, and the title game was Pac 12 versus Big Ten. We are in a new era of college football, and for the first part of this era, the Big Ten is the best conference, and it is not even close. And before people say, well they have 16 teams from all over the country, it is not fair, the last three champs from the Big 10 are all traditional Big Ten teams. So, as a fan of a Big Ten team, this makes me happy.

Anyway, congrats to Indiana. They are the no questions asked champs of the 2025-26 college football season. Enjoy it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Predicts the NFC and AFC Games

The NFC and AFC championship games are set. Let’s discuss.

It's nice to have some new blood, no Chiefs, Eagles or Bills. But it also feels like it is teams who used to dominate climbing their way back to the top. I think this is a good thing. This shows parity is still a thing in the NFL. Teams can go from worst to first every season. Look at teams like Chicago and Houston. Houston used to be an also ran, but they are a perennial playoff team, and look to be right on the doorstep of the Super Bowl. Chicago really struggled for the past decade or so, but now they have a viable QB, a ball hawking defense and have made some much needed changes on the o line and in management, and they were a play or two away from the NFC title game. It is refreshing to see some of these teams back at the top.

Where we stand now we have the Patriots playing the Broncos in the AFC title game, and the Seahawks playing the Rams, an inter division matchup to go to the Super Bowl. The NFC title game has some stand-ins playing for the chance at a Super Bowl, and the QBs are both journeymen that have made a solid career for themselves. The Rams have Matthew  Stafford, who is the most likely MVP winner. He has a ring already, but that was on a team that was built to win right away. This Rams team is different. They are more built from the draft. Their star players, outside of Stafford, are pretty much all in house guys. Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum were all draft picks. They traded for Davante Adams, and he is very important to this team. But outside him and Stafford, this team is all in house products. They do happen to have the best coach in all of football in Sean McVay, and he is churning out future head coaches left and right. The Rams are a legit threat to win it all, and they may be the favorites at this very moment. The Seahawks are a bit more of a mystery and unproven. But damn are they good, especially at defense. They have built that unit through the draft, with a few dudes coming from other teams. Their head coach, Mike MacDonald, is a defense guy and he is showing that he knows what he is doing. The offense is a mishmash of draft picks and free agents. The offense gets the job done. It may not always be pretty, but they know what they are doing and they do it well. They steamrolled a pretty hot 49ers team in last week's matchup. The offense that night was pretty much the run game, led by Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. Charbonnet is now hurt and out for the rest of the playoffs, but Walker is more than capable of handling a bigger workload. The o line is mean and nasty and they have a solid group of wideouts that know their roles. This game is going to be interesting, but I'm sticking with my Seahawks pick from a week ago. They have home field advantage, they have a better defense and they are riding high right now.

The AFC title game is a pure look at the future of this conference and this sport. I get it, Bo Nix has a broken ankle and is done for the playoffs. He was the main component of their comeback win last week and him being out will hurt them quite a bit. But Nix is a future perennial all pro QB. I was very wrong about him in his draft class. I thought he was going to be a bust. He is not. He is legit. They have a very good run game and o line that compliments Nix. Courtland Sutton has become a dependable number one wideout. Evan Engram has worked out as a viable tight end. And they have more than one running back they can count on. The defense is solid and dependable. Nik Bonitto and Dre Greenlaw are good linebackers. Pat Surtain II is one of the better secondary players in the league. They have some studs on the d line. The Broncos are a legit threat, even without Bo Nix. Jarret Stidham is not the answer and may be their undoing in this upcoming game. The Patriots lived up to the offseason expectations. I feel like Jerrod Mayo got a raw deal, but this team has had a major turnaround, and beating the Chargers the way they did last week was eye opening to me. This Patriots defense is for real. The d line gets after the QB and the run game. The linebackers are all over the field. And the secondary gets after the ball. They're a legit top unit in the league. The offense was even better than I expected them to be this year. Drake Maye is for real. I think him sitting a year was the best thing that could have ever happened for him. It humbled him and now the team, and Maye himself, are reaping the rewards. TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson are a great 1-2 punch in the backfield. Stefon Diggs, who has major off field issues, is productive. Kayshon Boutte has been a revelation. He is awesome. Hunter Henry is a solid tight end, and the o line, by drafting Will Campbell last season, got infinitely better. The Patriots are young, but they play with a tenacity that a ton of other NFL teams do not. There's a few reasons to pick the Patriots in this game, but the main one is the absence of Bo Nix. That should be more than enough for the Patriots to win. I'm sure the run game and defense and home field advantage will help, but all of that is moot with no Nix playing for Denver.

That means I have the Seahawks and Patriots in the Super Bowl. This is a throwback to the early to mid 2010's NFL. In this game I think the Seahawks defense will win the day and they will be the champs. Time will tell. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on The Giants Hiring John Harbaugh

It looks as if John Harbaugh will be the next head coach of the New York Giants. Let’s discuss.

Harbaugh was the most coveted coach on the market. When the Ravens let him go it was only a matter of time before he found himself a different team to take over. I know that the Titans, Falcons and Giants all really wanted him. I was kind of hoping, after their meltdown in the playoffs, that maybe even Green Bay would try to hire him, if they decided to move on from Matt LaFleur. I know he was looking at and talking to other teams all last week, and he finally went on an in person interview with the Giants on Monday. I read he was supposed to do an in person interview with the Titans, possibly today, but that isn't going to happen now. The Giants went all out, basically giving him everything he wanted, had current players sit in on the interview and it looks as if he is accepting the job.

I think the Giants really lucked out here. Harbaugh knows the game better than most. He has been around coaching his whole life and it feels like he has been the head coach of the Ravens for almost two decades. He has a Super Bowl ring, went to the playoffs most seasons and commands respect from everyone in the NFL. The Giants have a ton to fix, but hiring Harbaugh was damn near the perfect first step. I'm not too crazy about Jaxson Dart as the QB of the future, but Harbaugh seems to have bought in on him. Dart feels like a flash in the pan, I kind of wished they went with Jameis Winston a little more last year. But if he has the go ahead of Harbaugh, then he will be the QB of the future, until he gets hurt or flames out. And even/when that happens, Harbaugh has much of the same duties as a GM with the proposed deal he is about to sign to coach the Giants. He is not only the head coach now, but he has GM abilities now, so he will get to pick and choose the players he wants. He will have to get a real cowbell running back. Cam Skattebo is not the answer. He reminds me of Peyton Hillis. He showed up out of nowhere last season, has already capitalized on his "fame" and will most likely continue to get injured, especially coming off a torn ACL. The best thing that Harbaugh has on this offense is Malik Nabers, also coming off a torn ACL. Nabers is a legit number one wideout, he cares about winning, he wants to get better and he has all the skills to be a perennial pro bowl player. Harbaugh will need to fix the o line, but he does have some pieces. The defense may be a full teardown and rebuild, but this deal is meant to give Harbaugh time to build this team in his image. It is similar, though not as big a contract with as many responsibilities, to his brother's deal with the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh was lucky enough to have Justin Herbert and a solid defense with the Chargers, but he has built that team the way he wants it and they have been to the playoffs, with weak exits, two seasons in a row. John Harbaugh should have the Giants looking more confident and similar to the Ravens in a few seasons. He will most likely start with building through the draft, but I wouldn't be shocked if he goes big name hunting ASAP. New York is a massive market, guys want to play there, he is a coach that players like. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he goes after AJ Brown right off the bat to team up with Nabers. I bet he will try to get respectable o linemen on the free agent market. I bet, since he knows a ton about defense, he will rework the entire defense with both the free agent market and the draft. The Giants will have a high pick, and if he can get a couple of more studs to pair with Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux, this defense can be formidable as soon as next season.

I didn't know if I liked this idea of Harbaugh with the Giants. But after sitting on this for a day, this is a good move by both parties. The NFL is better when the Giants are relevant. They play in the same division as the Cowboys, so if they can beat them every season with regularity, that will make me happy as a Cowboy hater. And giving him some GM control was a good move. I don't usually like when a coach also has the duties of a GM, but a coach like John Harbaugh has been around the game long enough and has some ideas on how to build a team. I like this for both Harbaugh and the Giants and I'm interested to see how this team looks going forward. Time will tell. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Transfer Portal Needs to be Fixed

There is a big, big problem with the transfer portal, and while I think it must stick around, there needs to be some kind of new rules put into place. Let’s discuss

To start off, I'm all for college athletes getting as much money as they can while they are still playing in college. For some of these athletes, this is the only time they will get paid playing their preferred sport. And for the players that are going to be picked to play professionally, they can start a nice little nest egg for their future. And I'm all for kids being able to move from school to school as much as coaches do. I don't blame any kid who was recruited to Ole Miss by Lane Kiffin looking to go somewhere else now that Kiffin has moved on to LSU. They had an idea of who the coach was going to be, that coach is now gone and maybe they were only going to Ole Miss to play for Kiffin. The same thing is going on at Michigan right now. Some kids have asked out of letters of intent, or some kids who came in from the transfer portal that were recruited by Sherrone Moore are now looking elsewhere since Moore is no longer the head coach. Those kids don't really know Kyle Whittingham, and maybe they don't want to get to know him. And that's fine.

What is happening right now, especially in football and men's college basketball, with the portal is pure madness. There seems to be dozens of new players everyday since the recent transfer window opened up that are leaving one school for another. What's worse, some kids have announced intentions to transfer while their current team is still in the playoff. I know that Ole Miss was bounced last night, in an epic game by the way, but their backup QB has already announced that they have committed to play football at Mizzou next season. I believe this same thing happened with Penn State last season. These players still have important playoff games to prepare for, but the non starters possibly have their mind elsewhere. That's not good. You need your players to be locked in and focused. If Trinidad Chambliss were to get hurt, Austin Simmons may not be all that hype to go into a game because he may not want to get hurt. I bet Mizzou coaches would implore him not to play at all. In a case like this, if a kid is already committed elsewhere, they should already be with that new team. And Simmons very well may be in Columbia, Missouri as we speak. But the sheer fact that Simmons was all but out the door while Ole Miss was still playing, that is part of the problem. Michigan has seen starters leave for the portal. Some have come back, but others are still in the portal. Brandym Hillman was a two year starter, but he entered the portal last night. TJ Metcalf transferred in last year, played the most snaps on defense for Michigan, and now he is gone. Justice Haynes, who started at running back and was the feature back before getting hurt, announced today he was going to transfer. Indiana is the clear favorite to win it all this year, but that hasn't stopped them from getting one of the top QBs in the portal to commit, as well as one of the top wideouts in the portal. Again, they have a game tonight, but that hasn't stopped them from bringing in transfers. Oh, and their current starting QB, the Heisman winner, hasn't declared for the draft as of yet. But they already have his replacement waiting to take over in Bloomington.

As of today, over 2500 players have entered the transfer portal, and almost half have already committed to new schools. That's insane. And I kind of assumed that the portal was going to be used for players who felt they have earned playing time, but haven't gotten as much as they hoped for. That seemed like the best option. Or even, the portal could be used for players who have one season of eligibility left that are playing at a "smaller" division 1 school to go play for a power 4 school and get scouted for the pros. But we have all kinds of players entering the portal now, and this includes guys who have been starters since they got into college football. I mentioned Justice Haynes and Brandyn Hillman already. Josh Hoover was a two year starter at TCU, but now he is off to Indiana. Brendan Sorsby started at Cincinnati last season, but that didn't stop him from almost instantly committing to Texas Tech after Oregon knocked them out of the playoff. Nick Marsh was the top wideout at Michigan State, but he is off to greener pastures at Indiana. Michigan got instant help on defense from former Utah edge rusher John Henry Daley, who was an All American this past season. DJ Lagway was supposed to be the savior for Florida, but next season he will be suiting up for Baylor. Rocco Becht was a two year starter at Iowa State, but he just followed his coach to Penn State. I could go on and on and on naming more and more players. It truly does feel like free agency. It's getting to a point where I don't even know some current starters on Michigan's team, and that is the team I love the most. I just started to root for TJ Metcalf and Justice Haynes, and now they're gone. I have to learn about John Henry Daley and Taylor Tatum now, among others.

This constant movement and constant change is going to do damage to the sport and to the rivalry aspect of college football, which is a big deal for college sports. The university of Ohio State and Michigan rivalry is still pretty heated, but the university of Ohio State has had two transfer QBs start the past two years and Michigan has had multiple transfers on defense. What will happen to the Notre Dame-USC rivalry when  players can transfer from one of those schools to the other. I know Michigan is in contact with some rival teams players in the portal, so I have to imagine the same thing is going on with other big time schools with players in the portal. The rivalry games are going to become just another game because there will be zero continuity with players. Each team is going to have new players every year, and that is going to do nothing but dim these supposed rivalry games. There's also going to be more parity, which is fine. But, with more and more players transferring every season, no team is going to have true continuity. The coaches are going to have to mold things to fit the transfers every year, and if you miss out on a transfer you went all in on, your season will be toast.

The transfer portal can be used for good, but right now it is the wild west. It is free agency. Players are going where they can get the most money, and maybe not the most playing time. To each their own, but rules should be put into place. There should be some kind of restrictions, or this is only going to get worse and worse every year, and it is already pretty bad where we are right now. Changes will hopefully be made, but time will tell. Until then, the average college football fan is going to fall off a bit when they don't get to know who the players are each year. You used to get four years to root for certain players if you're lucky. But now it changes pretty much every season and it is watering down the game in my opinion. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on the Trae Young Trade

Trae Young was traded to the Washington Wizards yesterday. This has been a deal in the making for about a week now, but I did not think it would end up with Young playing for the Wizards. Let’s discuss.

When I first heard about his trade request, the two teams first mentioned were the Timberwolves and Nets. These two teams made some kind of sense to me. The Timberwolves need a true, real deal point guard and that is exactly what Trae Young has been since he entered the league. I didn't know how this would work on the Timberwolves end, but that didn't make it make any less sense. The Timberwolves already have a real deal star of the team in Anthony Edwards. He is the most important player on the team and he has the keys to the car. He is their leader and most important player. I don't think Young would take to that so well. You could see some fracturing on the Hawks with Jalen Johnson emerging as an all star candidate. They also took Zach Rissache number one overall in last year's draft. And they have some other young players that they may want to build the team around. Young wasn't the player to build around anymore on the Hawks, and he would be the third or fourth option if he were to join the Timberwolves. Besides Edwards, the Wolves like to feed Rudy Gobert from time to time in the low post. Sometimes the offense goes through Julius Randle occasionally, and even a guy like Naz Reid gets to run the bench unit. Young may have given the Timberwolves a true point guard, but I feel like he would have been almost instantly unhappy at his place and role on that team.

The Nets actually made the most sense to me because they have picks and young players looking to prove themselves. And playing for the Nets would give Young a humongous market, Brooklyn, and he would be the number 1 option by a mile. I would have to imagine the Hawks would have wanted picks, which the Nets could provide, but I also think the Hawks would have wanted some of their young shooters. I would have asked for Michael Porter Jr first. He is having a breakout season and he would be a perfect replacement for Trae Young in Atlanta. If they wanted a pure scorer, they could have asked for Cam Thomas. He may not pass much, and he isn't the best defender in the NBA, but the dude is a microwave when his shot is falling. If they wanted an unproven guy they could have asked for Egor Denim. He is a rookie and he pretty much only shoots threes. But if he can hone that skill and become a lesser Kyle Korver, he could bring spacing to Atlanta. And if they wanted to go big for some reason, why not ask for Nic Claxton. He is young and a good rim runner and rebounder and he could bring more energy to a younger roster in Atlanta. But Brooklyn didn't happen either.

Then, as I was writing yesterday, I saw that Young all of the sudden wanted to go to Washington and Atlanta was willing to try and make that happen. I was confused, but hey, if that was where he wanted to play, why not go for it. Throughout the afternoon I had to imagine both sides were working on a deal. Then it was announced that a few of the Wizards players were "healthy" scratches right before their game. That was the only evidence we all needed. Pretty soon after that Young was traded to the Wizards for Corey Kispert and CJ McCollum. After the trade came out and the players were mentioned, I was unmoved. The deal seemed to be very boring and dull. The only true "star" in the trade was Trae Young, and his star is starting to fade. McCollum had his moment, but he is now your typical veteran journeyman. And Corey Kispert is no better than a bench player. He can score here and there, but he is not a name that moves the needle all that much. The Wizards got the guy that wanted to be there. And Trae Young is going to be able to do whatever he wants. They won't win much, and I wonder if a guy like Alex Sarr, who is having a solid second season, will grow frustrated playing with such a ball dominant guard. And the Wizards are not going to win all that much with the addition of Young. As for the Hawks, they have been a bit of a disappointment so far, and while they played well without Young earlier this year, I don't know if that will happen again. And bringing in Kispert and McCollum doesn't really help or hurt them all that much. They added two decent shooters, but neither is as good as Young. And they don't make defenses shift as much as Young did for them.

This trade feels odd and unfulfilling. I don't really think either team got better. Young got to go where he wanted, and the Hawks got two shooters, but I don't think either team will see any real difference in their records for the rest of the season. Maybe this is just the start of a wild trade deadline. Time will tell. But this trade isn't as juicy as it could have been. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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The Prophetic Vision of the Classic Movie "Blue Chips"

I just finished watching the movie "Blue Chips" for what must be my tenth time. This movie predicted the future. Let’s discuss.

This was an important movie to me as a kid because it is all about college basketball and they have a ton of scenes involving game action. I remember my dad and his assistant basketball coach taking a bunch of us to see it when we were 12, the movie came out in 1994, and that memory has always stuck with me. I think about it often. We got to see a movie based on a sport we all loved and we all had dreams of being college basketball players at the time. I can also vividly remember going to play basketball with some of my teammates after seeing the movie. After watching it we had to go play. We had to blow off steam. And I also remember, after seeing the movie, how much I stood with Nick Nolte, he played the coach of the team. As a 12 year old I always equated the coach as the boss. They were in charge, they ran the show and whatever they said, that was the law. So when he decided he was going to go to the boosters and whatnot to get the players they needed to return to relevancy, I was devastated. He was breaking the rules to win again. It bummed me out. I sided with the writer, played by Ed O'Neil, who constantly pushed and questioned every recruiting move. I thought Nolte's ex wife was right to chastise him. She should have anyway because he lied to her, but she seemed more angry about the recruiting violations. The AD and the assistant coaches all tried to turn a blind eye, but Nolte was hell bent on getting these top recruits, no matter what it took. And I looked at someone like the character of Ricky Roe as a total scumbag. He asked for money and he did it in a very slimy way. And the villain of all villains in "Blue Chips" was Happy, played by JT Walsh. He was the booster who paid everyone. He helped the football and basketball teams stay in the top 25. He made sure they were a perennial power by any means necessary. And boy oh boy did 12 year old me despise Happy. He was the worst. I couldn't believe what he would do just to keep a college program relevant. And when Nolte called him out at the press conference after they won their first game with the new players, I openly applauded in the theaters. I didn't care what my friends and coaches thought. Nolte was standing up for what was right, or so I believed.

After finishing the movie again yesterday, I'm here to say, justice for Happy. He was right. He was doing NIL before it was legal. He has a line early in the movie where he is talking to Nolte about him signing six figure deals to be a coach, then six figure deals to wear certain brands and how pathetic it is that a coach can cash in on this money, but the players get nothing. He was absolutely correct in his assessment. He also takes care of all of the action without coaches knowing anything. That has to be the dream for college coaches. And Happy didn't focus on one sport, he was doing this for multiple athletic programs at the fictional university in the movie. That is what every agent in America is doing right now for athletes in the NIL era. They made Happy out to be such a slimy and smarmy scumbag, but he was the only person who understood and gave the college athletes what they deserve. I have talked so much about this on the website and the podcast, but college athletes bring in so much money, especially to big universities, and all they used to get was a full scholarship. That's a drop in the bucket for these universities that make billions off their athletics. Happy knew that and he made a choice to give the athletes their worth. NIL has only been a thing for a few years now, and it is a true mess, they need to find a way to sanction some stuff and make new rules, but the best thing about NIL is these college athletes are finally able to make money for themselves. They don't have to live on stipends until they get to the pros, if they get to the pros. Happy was just taking care of the athletes. He is not the villain. The villain is Bob Cousy, who played the AD. The villain is Nick Nolte for chastising these kids and boosters. The villain is Ed O'Neil for being a grown man obsessed with the lives of college students.

Justice for Happy. And if you've never seen "Blue Chips", do yourself a favor and check it out. It is a moment in time movie and it is one of the better ones out there. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Predicts the 2026 NFL Playoffs

Now that the NFL playoffs are officially set I am coming to you all with my predictions and preview. I'll do what I normally do, pick each round, pick the Super Bowl matchup and winner and then pick the MVP of the Super Bowl. Enough preamble, let's get to it.

I'll start with the AFC.

The Denver Broncos are the number 1 seed and that means they have earned the first round bye. I think the bye will be a much needed break and they will get everyone right before their first playoff game.

The 2-7 matchup features the New England Patriots facing the Los Angeles Chargers. This is an interesting matchup. The Patriots are a very, very good team. They are also very inexperienced. This will be a lot of the players' first time in the playoffs, and that is a whole other animal. The Chargers are up and coming and they were in the playoffs last season. Jim Harbaugh is a very good coach as well and he will have his guys ready to play. He rested them all yesterday as well, so they will be good to go. Drake Maye is younger and more mobile than Justin Herbert. Herbert has a better arm though. Both teams have a very solid run game with two guys that bring different elements. The Chargers have a better receiving corps in my opinion. I think both defenses are pretty good too. The Chargers frustrate their opponents to no end and the Patriots like to hit and cause turnovers. I'm going with the Chargers here because they have more experience. The Patriots are coming, but they have to feel some pain before they feel the glory.

The 3-6 game has the Buffalo Bills heading to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars. The Jags are having a remarkable season. I didn't expect this from them this season. I figured they needed one season under their new coach before they got good. They are good now. The Bills have been up and down all season. The offense comes and goes and the defense is not as reliable as they were in the past. Josh Allen is still very good and they have the NFL's leading rusher, James Cook. This game is very similar to the 2-7 matchup. We have youth and inexperience going up against inconsistency and experience. I'm going with the experience again. I'm taking the Bills. here.

The 4-5 game is pretty solid with the Houston Texans going to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. Look, the Steelers lucked their way into this game. Mike Tomlin is a great coach, they have an okay defense, but they are relying on an old QB and they have no run game. The Texans have been on a heater and that is going to continue this weekend. I would go as far to say that they are going to smoke the Steelers. Houston is young but experienced. They have the better QB and receiving corps. Their defense is overall better too. I'm going with the Texans.

So that means the Texans would face the Broncos and the Bills will play the Chargers. The Bills are going to beat the Chargers. The game will be in Buffalo, the Chargers don't like the cold and Josh Allen and James Cook can control the game on the ground. The Broncos and Texans could be a high scoring affair, with Stroud and Nix taking turns going up and down the field. I'm going to go with the Texans since they are an experienced team with something to prove.

That means I have the Texans and Bills playing in the AFC title game and I'm going to go with the Bills, The game will be in Houston, but that means that it will be indoors, and the Bills can once again control the clock with their run game. The Bills will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

On to the NFC.

The Seahawks are the one seed, which they earned this past weekend, and they get the bye in the NFC.

The 2-7 game has the Chicago Bears facing the Green Bay Packers for the third time this season. The Bears are proving to be a better team this year. And with the injuries to Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs, who knows who will end up playing for Green Bay this weekend. The Packers have played the Bears well all year, but they weren't able to close them out in their last matchup. Caleb Williams is having a very good season, he has a solid o line and weapons on the outside. And the Bears defense is very opportunistic. The Packers have really stumbled to end the season and they will go out with a whimper in Chicago.

The 3-6 game has the San Francisco 49ers going to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. This will be a good, hard fought low scoring game. The 49ers couldn't move the ball on the Seahawks last week, and they will struggle to do the same here. Brock Purdy is so much better when he doesn't have to win a game. He needs to game manage. Christian McCaffrey is still good, but a step slower. The wideouts are mediocre and George Kittle is too busy complaining about hip drop tackles. The Eagles have been wildly inconsistent and their offense has looked sloppy. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley are not having the same year as they had last year. AJ Brown is disgruntled and Devonta Smith is getting the targets he has earned. That being said, the Eagles defense is better than the 49ers defense and the game is in Philly. The Eagles will advance to the next round.

The 4-5 game has the Carolina Panthers hosting the LA Rams. How on Earth is Carolina here? They needed someone else to win to get them in this game. Bryce Young was better this year, but he still has a lot of work to do. Rico Dowdle is an effective pass catcher. They are too reliant on a rookie wideout and the defense is blah. The Rams have stumbled to the end of the year, but they are so, so much better than the Panthers. Stafford has won a Super Bowl. Puka Nacua is one of the better wideouts in the league. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum are an awesome one two punch out of the backfield. And Sean McVay is the best coach in all of football. This is an easy pick. The Rams advance.

That means I have the Rams playing the Seahawks and the Eagles playing the Bears. I would have easily picked the Rams a few weeks ago to beat the Seahawks, but not anymore. The Seahawks have a relentless defense and they cause turnovers. The offense is capable and solid. Sam Darnold has proved his worth and their run game is very good. The Seahawks defense is so much better than the Rams and that will lead them to a win. The Bears-Eagles game will be fascinating. The Eagles have been so underwhelming, but the Bears are so inexperienced. The game will be in Chicago, but the Eagles don't seem to care about where they play. I'm going to go with the Eagles, but I bet this game will finish with a score of something like 10-7. It will be sluggish and dull.

So that means I have the Seahawks and Eagles in the NFC title game. At the start of the season I picked a Bills-Eagles Super Bowl, but that's not the case anymore. I think the Seahawks will crush the Eagles, especially at home. They are a much better team as of right now and they have a much more invested coaching staff. The Seahawks will make their way to the Super Bowl.

That means my Super Bowl matchup will be the Bills from the AFC playing the Seahawks from the NFC. And I'm still going with the Bills, my preseason pick. If they can get through the AFC relatively unscathed I think they can turn that into a Super Bowl victory. I have the Bills winning it all this year, and in a twist of fate, give me James Cook who I think will have a big game running and catching the ball.

There you have it, my NFL playoff preview and predictions. Enjoy the playoffs everyone. 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Indiana is a Very Good Football Team

When I turned on the Rose Bowl yesterday I thought I was going to watch a good quality game, hard fought, close and eventually Alabama winning in the fourth quarter. Indiana has had a wonderful season, but I figured it was all going to come crashing down against a reliable SEC team.

And as the game started, it kind of looked like that was going to be the case. Both teams were kind of feeling each other out, defense was ruling the day and both QB's looked a little shell shocked. But then Indiana flipped a switch and absolutely took the game over. And believe me, I understand that they have the Heisman winner at QB in Fernando Mendoza, but he didn't have to do much to win this game for the Hoosiers. That's what stuck out to me the most. This Indiana offense has been wildly efficient and  a high scoring unit all season long, but it doesn't have to come from the pass game every game day. The offensive line is big and mean and nasty. They want to hit you and want to make you feel each and every hit. The running backs, they played two yesterday, are both bruising and can get to the outside. They embrace contact and fight until they cannot fight anymore. Mendoza did a fine job managing the game and making throws when he needed to, and the wideouts made the necessary plays and catches when called upon. But it was the o line that wore out the Alabama front seven, and the running game helped them control the clock and wear their opponent down throughout the game.

Also, this Indiana defense is truly elite. They may be the best unit in all of college football this season. I thought that the university of Ohio State had the best defense after seeing them suffocate Michigan, but Indiana suffocated them, and then made Alabama look pedestrian. And Indiana is doing this with guys on defense that are "no name" guys or guys that were light recruited. What stood out most to me watching this Indiana defense yesterday is that everyone knows their role, plays their part and loves to hit. Indiana's defensive backs were coming up in coverage and popping guys. The d line and linebackers were crushing the Bama running backs. There was a play where Ryan Williams made a catch over the middle in the second quarter and he got absolutely lit up. He held onto the ball and flexed, but after that I don't believe he went over the middle the rest of the game. The Indiana secondary got in his head. They also hit Ty Simpson time and again, and on one play they hit him so hard he fumbled and it was later revealed that his ribs were broken on that very play. Simpson ended up missing most of the second half due to that hit. Indiana does have guys that were All Big 10 players, but none of the guys are household names, and I bet that is exactly how they want it. They didn't have to prove anything to me, but boy did they show me that they are for real and a legit favorite to win the whole thing this season.

The Hoosiers are a complete and full team. They have everything they need to win a title. Mendoza is a manager, but he can also make the big play when called upon. They have multiple backs that do different things incredibly well. They have a nasty defensive and offensive line, filled with dudes that want to hit you in the mouth. They have big wideouts who make damn near every catch, and a few can run away from their defenders. They have linebackers who always seem to be in the right place at the right time and will crush you. And their secondary is elite with guys who can cover and hit you very, very hard. And they have a head coach, whom I despise, that knows how to win, wants to embarrass you and will do everything he can to take your will and spirit.

Indiana is great. I was very wrong about them. This year's squad has a different feel than last year. They seem ready for the moment and ready to prove that they are among the elite teams in college football. They are now the hunted, and we will see how the rematch goes with Oregon next week, but like I said before, Indiana should be the prohibitive favorite with four teams remaining in the college football playoff. And if the continue to play like they did yesterday, they will run away with the championship this season. 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The Changes are Coming to the Michigan Football Coaching Staff

I watched the Citrus Bowl yesterday, obviously, and it turned out how I expected. Michigan put up a fight, they even had a lead early into the fourth quarter, but then the ugliness reared its head and they got their butts kicked. It was a fitting end to a pretty mediocre year playing a bunch of young kids.

On Monday I wrote about my cautious optimism pertaining to the Kyle Whittingham hire, and his interview during the third quarter only had me more on board. And now today he is hiring his staff and picking the guys he wants to work with. This staff is going to look very different next season, and I think that is the way it should be so we can all cleanse ourselves from the prior staff and all that came with it. Look, I'm as stoked as anyone that Jim Harbaugh brought a national title back to Michigan and made this football team relevant again, but the stink after he left for the NFL was too much and this football program needed an overhaul. To this point it has been reported that Whittingham has hired a new offensive coordinator, new QB coach, new receivers coach and new tight ends coach. It has also been reported that Tony Alford is staying on as the running backs coach, much to my delight. This means Ron Bellamy is out as receivers coach. That also means that there will most likely be some transfers, but hopefully the new guy can convince some to stay. Bellamy was an excellent recruiter, but maybe not the best coach. He could get some big names in, but they never fully developed. I'm curious to see what Andrew Marsh does, he has all the talent in the world, but other than him, maybe a new wideout coach was needed. There hasn't been any news on Grant Newsome yet, who I feel like is coming into his own as a coach. He could also recruit, but he was getting better at coaching as well. If they keep him, great. If not, he will catch on somewhere very soon and be very successful.  Other than Newsome and Bellamy, I won't miss too many of the coaches walking out the door. In my mind, as far as offensive coaches went, Alford was the one they needed to keep from this current staff and it looks like they have. That is a good thing.

I think the defensive staff is going to look different too. Wink Martindale is most likely out since Michigan has reportedly hired BYU's defensive coordinator to the same role at Michigan. This was a needed move. I like Martindale but he was never a long term solution. He has always had his eyes on the pros. BYU's d coordinator has a solid reputation and he and Whittingham have a solid relationship. I am curious to see if they keep Steve Casula and/or Lamar Morgan. Those guys have done a solid job in two short years and Morgan is an elite recruiter. I know that Zeke Berry had a rough day yesterday, but he is good. Jyaire Hill is very good, Shamari Earls is young and full of potential, Brandyn Hillman is a heavy hitter and they have some up and coming defensive backs that Morgan recruited and is currently coaching. And regardless of how much pressure they do or don't get, the defensive line is solid and can stop the run. Steve Casula has done a fine job coaching them and he is also a solid recruiter. I don't think Whittingham will retain Brian Jean Mary, and while he will be a little missed by me, it shouldn't be too much of a burden to let him go. I don't know what the new defensive coordinator is looking for for his new staff, but if I was told I could only keep one coach on that side of the ball I think I'd go with Morgan. Casula would be a bummer to see go, but Morgan is younger and has more potential in my opinion as a future defensive coordinator and even a head coach.

I expected there to be a ton of changes after the game yesterday and that is exactly what is happening. It may be jarring to see all the former coaches looking for new jobs, but this was always going to be the case the moment they hired Kyle Whittingham. And I trust Whittingham knows what he is doing. He has a ton of experience coaching the college game and he knows how to evaluate upcoming talent in the coaching ranks.

I'm excited/interested to see how this staff fully comes together and how they do in their first season. But, I'm also glad that they're getting rid of all the nonsense that they inherited and I'm ready for this new era of Michigan football. Always and forever, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Kyle Whittingham is Who Michigan Football Needs

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a nice holiday and have a happy new year. I had a nice relaxing week off, but I'm back and I have some stuff I want to talk about this week. There was a bunch of stuff I read or heard about last week that I feel I need to tell you all my opinions on. And it wouldn't be me if I didn't start the week talking about Michigan football hiring Kyle Whittingham as their 22nd head coach.

This is a big deal. A few weeks back I wrote about the whole Sherrone Moore fallout and what I wanted Michigan football to do moving forward. I was, and still kind of am, all about starting over. This football program needs a reset. Even the guys involved with the team have said as much. I saw Biff Poggi's press conference early in the week and he pretty much said that they need a full reset verbatim. And he has been with the program since Jim Harbaugh was hired.

Jim Harbaugh had his ups and downs, but he did bring a national title back to Ann Arbor and I will be forever grateful. The four seasons after the COVID shortened 2020 season were an absolute joy to watch and made me as happy as I have been since becoming a fan over 40 years ago. But you could see the issues piling up and it was starting to look worse and worse everyday. Then the Sherrone Moore stuff came to light and it was as bad as it could get. I hope Moore is getting the help he desperately needs, but it was clear that he was not suited for the job. It was far too much for him and it all came crumbling down faster than any of us expected.

When Moore was let go, I was concerned and confused. The timing was bad. The situation was messed up beyond belief. The whole story has become a soap opera that seems to get juicier with each new story that comes out. Like I said before, Michigan needed a massive shift in focus and to bring in a coach that could facilitate such a move. I wanted Kalen DeBoer, but Alabama won their playoff game and that stopped any momentum that Michigan may have had in hiring him. I quickly moved on to Kenny Dillingham. After DeBoer was off the table I figured they should go with a young coach who has an offensive background. It seems they kicked the tires on Dillingham, but never offered and Arizona State gave him an extension, taking him off the board. At this point, even though I wanted a change, I thought they were going to give the job to Biff Poggi, and I talked myself into that hire. I thought he could keep the roster mostly intact, the players seemed to like him, he was the first person who said the program needed a massive overhaul and I like him. But he does not have the best rep as a head coach. I understand that Charlotte is a much different level of college football than Michigan, but those Charlotte teams that Poggi was the head coach for were very bad. They did not put a good product on the field. But I thought maybe he could just be the CEO of the Michigan football program, and hire the proper people to run the team for him. It seemed to be trending towards Poggi, but something must have happened during one of his many interviews that turned the people hiring off. I don't know what he said or did, but he was suddenly not even mentioned as an option. This was when I kind of panicked. At this point I thought they were going to hire Eli Drinkwitz. No disrespect to Drinkwitz, but he would have been an awful option. I then read that Jedd Fisch was considered a "gettable" option, and while he has an offensive background, he didn't feel like a much better option than Drinkwitz, and he is from the Harbaugh coaching tree.

Then Kyle Whittingham's name started to pop up more and more. I have always respected Whittingham. His teams at Utah were pretty much always competitive. He seemed to run a clean program. He seems to only really care about college football. He has always had good defenses, and in the 2020's, the Utah offense has been explosive from time to time. He seems quiet and calm and confident. I remember when Harbaugh was in his first year at Michigan they opened the season at Utah, and the Utes beat them in a close, hard fought battle. I was frustrated, as I always am when Michigan doesn't win a game, but I came away impressed by how Utah equaled Michigan's toughness. They didn't play scared, and that was impressive to see. And he has quietly won a ton of games, had Utah in playoff conversations, went undefeated in 2008 and won, I believe, the Rose Bowl that year. He made Utah a perennial top 25 team and a thorn in every opponent's side. I have also heard people say that Utah was the Pac 12 and Big 12's Michigan equivalent. So, as his name came up more and more, he did tell Utah that he was stepping away to pursue other options, so I started to get on board. He felt like a guy who could come in and change the culture in a short time and get this team back to what made it awesome. He likes to run the ball and play defense, which is great, but he has also shown that he can adapt to playing modern offense in current college football. He has hired younger coordinators who understand that you have to adjust and adapt to stay relevant in modern college football. He has shown a willingness to let his coaches coach and to not be a dictator of his program. At his introductory press conference he said and did all the right things, but it never felt phony or forced. He reminded me of a guy who has been coaching college football for 30 plus years and understands what it takes to win, which is exactly who Kyle Whittingham is. I have also read a bunch of people who have coached or are currently coaching college football, and they all have nothing but glowing compliments for Kyle Whittingham. It seems like he is liked by almost everyone in the college football world. And after that press conference, I'm all in.

Maybe it is just because of all the craziness currently with Michigan football, or me looking at this hire with rose colored glasses, but I'm moving ahead with cautious optimism. Whittingham seems like the right guy to turn this team around. I feel like he can retain some important pieces. I do expect some guys to hit the portal, but if he can keep the right guys, he should do fine in year one. I am on board and happy about this hire. Now I'm ready to see who he hires for his staff, if he keeps anyone and how they come out in the Citrus Bowl on Wednesday. I'm ready for the Kyle Whittingham era at Michigan, and I am happy that this wild coaching search seems to have turned out okay for Michigan. Always and forever, Go Blue. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts On What is Going On with Michigan Football

I am going to take a day off from my best of 2025 lists because I have to address this whole bizarre situation going on at Michigan right now with Sherrone Moore and the football team.

For those that may not know, Moore was abruptly fired yesterday for cause as the head coach of the football team. I was stunned when I read this news. This was not something I was expecting at 4pm local time while waiting to get my daughter from school. As I was trying to come to grips with what was happening, more and more news was coming out and it just got worse and worse. Moore apparently had an "inappropriate relationship" with a staffer. I don't know anything else other than that. Then it was revealed he was in police custody because, this is what I read, he was confronted by his wife and then he went to the staffer's home, busted down the door and threatened to kill the staffer and himself. I know that a mug shot was floating around the internet, but that wasn't real. What I have read today, Moore will appear in front of a judge tomorrow morning. That should be interesting to say the least.

This is an absolute mess. I was always proud to be a Michigan fan because they have stayed away from stuff like this. This is akin to the whole Bobby Petrino incident while he was the head coach at Arkansas, minus the motorcycle. It also reminds me of what happened at Michigan State with Mel Tucker, except Tucker didn't reportedly threaten anyone. What I'm trying to say is, Michigan has been able to stay away from this type of scandal. The sign stealing stuff was stupid. Gary Moeller drove drunk, not that that's good, but it's not like this. Rich Rodriguez wasn't a good fit and Brady Hoke was in over his head. Jim Harbaugh brought the team a title, then bolted like we all knew he would for the NFL. And he gave Moore his ringing endorsement as the next head coach of the Michigan football team. I was all on board with this. I felt like it would keep what little continuity they had left after Harbaugh raided the staff. Year one wasn't great, but they ended the season with two big time victories. Then Moore and his staff brought in a tremendous recruiting class. Those kids played and had their moments, both good and bad. But I was here for it. I liked that they were getting quality playing time and I felt it would only help. I wrote as much in my best of 2025 sports list. But now that is all gone. And it looks like it is going to be a bit before the Michigan football team is relevant again.

After sitting on this and thinking about it and talking to friends and family, maybe it is time for this staff to be entirely replaced and for the football program to hit the reset button. There's clearly some issues with the current staff. We have this whole situation with Moore, and then add on the recruiting violations and sanctions. This has all come to light with this staff. Sure, I think Wink Martindale has done some solid things but the defense isn't near the elite level they were under Jesse Minter and Mike MacDonald. Chip Lindsay had his moments, but the last game of the season was worrisome. Grant Newsome is solid, but he was a part of the violations. Ron Bellamy can recruit, but the development isn't there. I think it is time to clean the house. I feel like that would be best for Michigan football. They need some type of cleansing to get back to normal. Because what is happening, and has been happening for the past couple of years is not normal. I fully understand that this means that a bunch of kids would transfer out, but that is going to happen anyway. The vultures are already circling Bryce Underwood, and I'm sure they won't be far behind on Andrew Marsh. There's no way Justice Haynes comes back now. The defense is going to have to get a bunch of new players. But that is the way of life in current college football. And then throw on a scandal like this, it is going to be an absolute mess for a bit.

This is bad. I'm not happy with this team that I truly love. I'm grossed out by it in fact. Moore seemed in over his head when he took this job and now I'm certain the pressure was getting to him. He may never coach anywhere again. He is facing prison time. I have to think that coaching is the furthest thing from his mind, as it should be. And that is going to leave an absolute tire fire in his wake. I know that people who dislike Michigan are just licking their chops, as they should. This is a horrible situation that just seems to get weirder by the hour. I don't know what happened to the university that I loved. They have taken a bad path and now they are dealing with their consequences, as they should. This bums me out, but the AD and the university have to do something to try and make this right. I don't know who they are going to try and hire, I have read a ton of names. But I also have to imagine that, whoever they hire, has to know that they have a big time rebuilding job ahead of them. This is awful and messy and hurts my soul as a fan. I'm so upset with what this team has become, and now serious changes have to occur. It's too bad that they are looking for a coach so late in the hiring process, but here we are. I will never understand why people in big time jobs think they can get away with whatever they want, especially in this day and age. The next head coach and staff has to have their heads on straight and focus on football, nothing else.

We will see what happens going forward, but right now. Michigan football is in a world of hurt and they won't be out of it for some time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Best of 2025 - Sports

We are getting close to the end of the year so that means it is time for my Best Of 2025 lists. This year I'm going to do four lists, sports, music, movies and tv shows. These are what encompasses the majority of my time right now, besides my family, so they will be the focus moving forward. I'm going to start with my personal top five sports moments of the year. Some involve my fandom, one involves my kid and the others were moments I was just happy to bear witness to, even if I had no real rooting interest.

My number 5 moment is Michigan beating Alabama in the 2025 Reliaquest Bowl. Michigan was somehow able to beat the university of Ohio State in their regular season finale to give them a 7-5 record. Had they not won that game they may not have gotten such a decent non playoff bowl game. But they got into a bigger New Years Day game and they were matched up with Alabama, who had barely missed out on the playoff. Alabama was also at almost full strength, playing pretty much every important player they had on their roster. Michigan had a bunch of rotation guys step into starting roles. On paper this should have been a blowout for Alabama. Lucky for me, these games aren't played on paper. From the start Michigan looked more prepared and more game ready. The defense was firing off the ball. They were in Jalen Milroe's face all afternoon. Then it started to rain down. This only helped Michigan. They caused a myriad of turnovers, most of which ended with a Dominic Zvada field goal. They did have one td, a pass from Davis Warren to Fred Moore. But the defense won the day for this team. Even after Davis Warren had to exit the game due to tearing his ACL, Alex Orji, who had announced he was transferring after the game, stepped in and kept the ball moving on the ground. And Jordan Marshall announced himself as a serious force to come in the Big 10. This was a great way to start 2025 as a Michigan football fan. I was pretty happy.

At number 4, speaking of Michigan football, while the regular season ended with a thud, The Wolverines finished the year with 9 wins, but the big takeaway for me, the young kids got a ton of playing time and I got to get a glimpse into what this team might look like for the next three or four years. Uber recruit Bryce Underwood became the third true freshman to start at QB for Michigan. He had his ups and downs, but you can see the talent is there. Jordan Marshall came on strong after Justice Haynes got injured. Andrew Marsh looks like the best wideout prospect they've had since Braylon Edwards. They have an anchor at left tackle in Blake Frazier. Shamari Earls has a depth of talent at safety. Nathaniel Owusu Boateng got some run late in the season and he looks the part of a Big 10 linebacker. Jyaire Hill built on a solid sophomore year. Brandyn Hillman is one of the best hitters in college football. This team is young and has tons to improve upon, but they also have a good upside and I'm interested to see how they progress while they are with the Wolverines. I'm very, very cautiously optimistic about the talent they are bringing to Ann Arbor right now.

At number 3 I have the World Series. Now, I will fully admit I was rooting against the Dodgers the whole series, but damn this was exciting. I feel like baseball may be back. This series had it all. From blowouts to pitchers duels, it was all there. But game 7 was one for the ages. I'm sure Blue Jays fans were devastated at the outcome, they were so close, but damn did they play against this juggernaut incredibly admirably. They should have won. But the Dodgers' talent and luck showed up at the most opportune time. From Miguel Rojas', who hadn't had a hit in forever, game tying home run, to the Blue Jays getting robbed in the bottom of the ninth, to the Dodgers starters making up for the bullpen, they fought hard and earned this title. This wasn't a walkover. They had to fight for every win. And to see Shohei Othani pitching and hitting again, in high pressure situations, he may be the best to ever play baseball professionally. This World Series was incredible and I'm so glad my son convinced me to watch game 7 with him. It was one for the ages.

At number 2 I have the NBA Finals. This was another seven game series with a massive underdog making the heavy favorite work for every single thing they wanted. The Pacers did not go down without a tremendous fight. It is such a bummer what happened to Tyrese Haliburton in the first quarter of game 7. He looked to be on fire and then his body gave out on him. But the Pacers kept fighting, so much so that they had a lead going into halftime. But then the talent of the Thunder showed up and won out. Chet Holmgren became a black hole for anyone trying to drive to the hoop. Jalen Willimas started to hit shot after shot. Shai Gilgeous Alexander proved why he was the rightful MVP. Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were pests. Lu Dort made big shots and frustrated everyone he guarded. The Thunder are on the cusp of something magical right now and last season's NBA Finals was just the start. This team is here to stay. But the Pacers did give them a run for their money.

And finally, at number 1 I have my son playing his last year of junior football and making the B team in his final year of junior basketball. My son is a big 13 year old. He is almost 6 feet and he weighs about 220 pounds. He plays right tackle on the offensive line for his football team and to see his growth this season was great. His team wasn't that great, they have issues actually acting like a team, but he improved in areas he needed work on. He used to struggle with smaller, faster defensive ends, but he worked hard with his coaches and found ways to block them this year. He played to the whistle. He would get pancake blocks that stunned me from the crowd. He worked with coaches individually in the offseason and you could tell it helped. He has told me he loves football and he is showing that by what he does on a field. Things will be different when he is in high school next year, but I know he has the talent and ability to be very good if he continues his hard work. As for hoops, he has been on my team since 5th grade, which is the C team in our feeder program. But each year he has added something new or really just started to literally throw his weight around on the court. I noticed him doing just that in a tournament last season, and the coach of the B team happened to be at that game. The coach approached me and said he wanted my kid on his team the next year. And luckily for my kid he had a great summer of basketball and a very good tryout. He made the B team and he has been doing some very nice things. He needs to get in basketball shape to continue, but to see him throwing around kids that may have a little more talent than him has been so nice for me. He's got a nice soft touch around the hoop. His passing has gotten way better. He could close out and rebound a little better for my taste, but I see his coaches working with him on that at practice. It is so nice to see his hard work pay off in the ways he has wanted and I'm very proud of him as a coach and a dad. We all want better for our kids, and in the case of my son and the sports he plays, he is better than I could have ever imagined being when I was 13.

That's it, those are my top five sports moments of 2025. Come back tomorrow when I give you my top five albums of the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Predicts the College Football Playoff

Before I do my best of 2025 lists I want to do a NCAA College Football Playoff preview and prediction.

I love college football, I hope Michigan wins their bowl game, all that depends on what version of the team shows and the playoff has been fun to watch since they installed it in the game. I do find it hilarious the whole holier than thou stance that Notre Dame is taking since they didn't make the field. This whole idea that they're too good for any other bowl game is wild to me. I like their coach, but this is a bad move by him, the AD and the university. It will solve nothing, they will not be put into the playoff no matter what they do and they're giving up extra practices for younger players. I don't like that they are doing this, but that's where we are and they're going to have to deal with any consequences. With all that being said, let's get to my preview and prediction.

The top four teams that get a bye, in order from 1-4 are Indiana, the university of Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech. They have earned the rest and extra practice leading up to their playoff game.

The 5-12 matchup features Oregon and James Madison. Oregon is still explosive, but they have a solid defense now. I like Dante Moore, they have fast wideouts and can run the ball. The defense has kept them in games this year and they have some first round talent on that side of the ball. I truly don't know much about James Madison. I read that they are similar to Oregon, with different levels of talented players on their roster. James Madison may be like Boise State from last year, but without a Heisman finalist like Ashton Jeanty. I'll take Oregon here for a bunch of reasons, but mainly I just think they're better.

The 6-11 game has Tulane traveling to Ole Miss. This game is going to be very close, closer than many others think. The whole Lane Kiffin drama is going to linger around for a bit. I do like that they already have a new head coach and he is focusing on the game. But that whole ordeal was tough. Tulane also has an explosive offense with a very good QB. They beat USC in a high level bowl game a few seasons back too, so they know how to win big games. But, with a much improved defense and a coach in place, I'll go with Ole Miss, but it is going to be very close.

The 7-10 has Texas A&M playing Miami. I know the last time A&M was on the field they looked dead in the water. Texas beat them relatively easily. But A&M has Marcel Reed who is good and they can be explosive. Miami snuck into the playoff, but they have not been the same team they were at the beginning of the year. They are wildly inconsistent and Carson Beck has not been the steady hand they need. But the defense is elite and that is what got A&M last time. These teams are eerily similar, so I'm going to go with Miami due to having a better overall defense.

The 8-9 game should be interesting with Alabama facing Oklahoma. Alabama was the biggest shock to me getting in the playoff. They looked so overmatched in the SEC title game and they haven't looked great in the last month of the year. And Kalen DeBoer seems to choke in big time games. Oklahoma has an awesome and opportunistic defense. But the offense is a true wild card. John Mateer does some great things and then some head scratching things within the same drive. I'm going to go with Oklahoma in this one, but it is truly a toss up. Maybe the Alabama from earlier this season shows up and routs Oklahoma, but I just don't see that happening against a very good defense.

This leaves me with Oklahoma playing Indiana, Miami facing the university of Ohio State, Ole Miss playing Georgia and Oregon going up against Texas Tech.

If this game was a week ago I would have had no issues picking Oklahoma over Indiana. But then I saw Indiana in the Big Ten title game and they have an elite, elite defense. Their offense barely did anything and they still won. It was all about their defense. They are one of the top units in the country and they have shown up for every big game. I see them doing that here and moving on to the semis.

The university of Ohio State should cruise over Miami. Their offense is better, their defense is way, way better and they have the experience needed to win in the playoffs. Mario Cristobal will find a way to mess it up because that is what he does and the university of Ohio State will capitalize on every Miami miscue.

Georgia is going to boatrace Ole Miss. This game won't even be close. They should be able to go up and down the field on Ole Miss and this is going to be a blowout. It wouldn't surprise me if Georgia won by 21 plus points.

The best game in this round is Oregon and Texas Tech. This is a strength on strength matchup. Oregon's elite offense against Tech's superb defense. Oregon has a reputation for dimming in the bright lights, but they won't have the spotlight on them this time. Tech will be the talk of this matchup. And because of that I'm going with Oregon in this one.

That means the semifinals will have three Big Ten teams and one SEC team. It's pretty clear who runs college football at the moment.

I'm going to go with Oregon to get revenge and beat Indiana this time around. They showed earlier in the season that they can score on them, and Oregon is a better team than they were at that time. This will be a low scoring defensive battle and I just think Oregon will be able to win it due to having less of a spotlight on them this time around.

As for the university of Ohio State and Georgia, give me Georgia. Ryan Day will find a way to mess this up and Kirby Smart will use that to his team's advantage. This will also be a low scoring affair, and I think Stetson Bennett's legs will be the difference in another low scoring semifinal game.

So that leaves me with Oregon and Georgia playing for the title. As much as I'd like to see the Big Ten win a third straight title, Georgia should take this matchup. They are better, it will be a reunion of sorts with Dan Lanning and Kirby Smart and I think Georgia is just a little bit better in every facet of the game. So that means Georgia will be the 2026 NCAA Football National Champs.

As for the Heisman, who cares. This is a boring crop of players, and I bet they give it to Fernando Mendoza because of Indiana's excellent regular season.

Bowl games start this Saturday and the playoff will be here before we know it. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Don't Be Nervous, Sam Presti is Just Better than Other NBA Execs.

Where we sit today the Oklahoma City Thunder are 21-1 and look even better than they did last season, one in which they won the title. They have all the depth any team could want. Their superstars are not selfish. They play swarming defense, they get to the free throw line and they score in bunches. They are young, have bought into the system and look destined to be some kind of dynasty. Things could happen, injuries occur all the time, but the way it looks now, the Thunder are going to be just fine. So, when I was reading some sports news the other day, I was kind of surprised to see a story that stated, in not so many words, that "rival execs are nervous" about the Thunder's possibly high pick in next year's draft, which looks to be loaded.

This is so funny to me that rival execs are nervous about the Thunder having what looks like could be a lottery pick, or two in the next draft. The execs for the ther teams didn't have to trade these picks to the Thunder. I understand that hindsight is 20/20, but the Clippers were far too willing and able to give up on the picks that convey this season. Due to some smart and shrill offseason moves a few years back, the Thunder also own what I believe to be a few of the Utah Jazz picks.

Sam Presti is smart and knows how to build a winning team. He has proven he can do it through the draft. He was part of the crew that drafted Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant. Sure there were misses on the way. Mitch McGary to name one, but he was also involved with drafting a key guy like Serge Ibaka. Then he went out and traded for Shai Gilgeous Alexander awhile back, who is the reigning MVP. He had to offload a healthy Paul George to do it, but he saw the inherent talent in SGA and wouldn't budge unless he was included. And then he teamed SGA up with Chet Homgren who the Thunder drafted. He got Lu Dort as an undrafted free agent. They traded Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso who has been a much better fit. They went out and signed Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks. Presti was involved in all these moves and it has given him a title, with what looks like a few more on the way. So, for these execs to be "nervous" about a pick, get over it. Decisions were made and Presti is just smarter than you. If anything this just proves that he is the best in the game right now at his job, and he may be the best to ever do it. I won't say he fleeced teams, but he seems to get it right more often than not. These picks were willingly traded to the Thunder. No one's arms were twisted. The other teams involved wanted certain players and Presti wouldn't trade them unless future picks were involved. And what, since the Clippers are bad now he has to give the pick back to them? That is ridiculous. He has every right to draft whoever the Thunder think will best help their team. Future picks are gold and Presti jumped at it before it was the popular thing.

I wonder if a team like the Lakers or Nuggets owned these picks if execs would be as "nervous" as they claim to be. I think part of the issue with the other execs, who I am assuming are from major markets, is that OKC is a small market. There's not much else to do in Oklahoma City than watch or play basketball, and executives from LA to New York have to hate that the Thunder thrive on very little outside noise. I think it is brilliant and awesome that Presti controls these picks. I'd much rather watch one of these young prospects go play for OKC as opposed to the tire fires in New Orleans, Washington and Charlotte right now. I'm so sick of seeing young and promising basketball players being wasted on teams that are in a forever rebuild. Brandon Miller should be so lucky to be in OKC. I bet Alex Sarr would be ten times better if he was on the Thunder and coming off the bench. I have to assume they would rather be on a winning basketball team too, and not playing to be in the lottery season after season.

So, to all the execs that are "nervous" about the Thunder having high picks, deal with it. Your nerves have no bearing on how Sam Presti is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Chris Paul Deserves a Better End

I awoke to the news that the Clippers and Chris Paul have parted ways. This is wild. Just last week I wrote about Paul after his decision to retire at the end of the season. In that piece I wrote about my personal feelings on where I have Paul in the pantheon of all time point guards. then I was just kind of waiting to see how his final season was going to play out. It seems we have an answer, albeit not the one that I thought it would be.

I truly don't know what is going on with the Clippers. They have been an absolute mess this year. They cannot stay healthy, they cannot win many games, they are atrocious on defense, which should be their calling card, and they are very boring offensively. They have reverted to James Harden dribbling for 20 seconds and then trying to create. He has had a solid year, probably the best of any player on the Clippers, but him dribbling the ball for far too long was boring six years ago. It is even more boring now with his advanced NBA age. Kawhi Leonard came back the other night and looked okay, but it is just a matter of time before he is injured and out. Ivica Zubac hasn't played like he did last season, Derrick Jones' three ball isn't falling and Brook Lopez looks washed. And now we have this whole ordeal with CP3.

Since it was announced that the Clippers have cut ties there have been a ton of stories from both camps refuting the other. CP3 was apparently not even talking to head coach Ty Lue. CP3 used Instagram to make an announcement that he was "sent home" by the team. The Clippers immediately sent out a statement saying that was not the case, but that he had been cut from the team. Recently I saw that Ty Lue refused to meet with him to possibly mend some bridges. Then, Clippers team president Lawrence Frank said that the release of Paul was not made to make him the "scapegoat" for how poorly the team has played this year.

Who knows how weird it is going to get from here, but we all know one thing, it will only get wilder. I already laid out all the reasons why I think CP3 will be a hall of fame player and why he is one of the best to ever play point guard, but if this is the end for him, what a thud. This is not how someone like CP3 should go out. He has earned so much better than this. I get that he wasn't playing much this season, but just last year he was doing some solid things with the Spurs. He was an important player for a young team with a budding superstar. I think he still has something in the tank for a playoff team. He could go to almost any team in the East and be an upgrade for their bench. The Hawks could use him with Trae Young still out, just as a bridge. I believe the Magic would welcome him with open arms since they don't have a real point guard at the moment. I think Giannis would like to try and play with CP3. And if I look to the West, the Thunder could bring him back as a deep, deep bench player, just so he could go out with a ring, possibly. The Kings, while not in the playoffs, could take a flyer on him and let him and Russell Westbrook play together again. I'd take him on the Grizzlies just so he could knock some sense into Ja Morant. I guess what I'm saying is, there are plenty of teams that could use CP3's services. I don't think he's fully done, but he is fully done with the Clippers. And I bet he is okay with that.

The Clippers are an absolute mess and cutting CP3 will not do them many favors. He's old and barely played. It's not like he was a key piece to their awful season. I expected the Clippers to be good this year, but ever since the season started, they have been abysmal. And none of that is CP3's fault. All in all I think this will only benefit Chris Paul and further hamper the Clippers. This is just going to add to the weird offseason they have had and even worse regular season they are having. Bringing CP3 back was a good idea, but cutting him twenty games in is a bad, bad look for a team that has nothing going for them. We will see, but I think Chris Paul will catch on somewhere, and he will be the one we remember fondly from this whole ordeal. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on Lane Kiffin to LSU

Lane Kiffin is the new head football coach at LSU. They let Brian Kelly go in the middle of the year, and they have to kind of rebuild their image. I fully understand that there are other jobs that filled vacancies, but Kiffin to LSU was the biggest deal. Penn State is the next to hire, and when they do I will most likely write about their pick to run the football team. But Kiffin to LSU is a big, big deal.

I am not a Lane Kiffin fan. I feel like he has failed his way up almost his entire career. He was a disaster when he was the coach of the Raiders. How he was ever a NFL coach is beyond me. He drafted a kicker in the first round while he was there. He had the same kicker attempt something like a 70 yard field goal. He had no respect from his players and he was quickly ousted. He then, again, shockingly, was hired by Tennessee. I was floored. He had only shown his inability as a head coach with the Raiders, but he somehow snagged a big time college job. He was bad there too. He made more headlines for offifeld stuff than on the field. He parlayed this into the head coaching gig at USC. Again, floored. I could not believe another major university was going to give him another chance. He was so bad there that they fired him on the tarmac after a bad, bad game. I figured he was done as a head coach at this point. And for a bit he was. He did find his way on Nick Saban's Alabama staff, rising all the way to offensive coordinator. Saban had a reputation as a coach where he would take on reclamation projects and make them a head coach again. This was where Kiffin rebuilt himself. He was good as a coordinator. I kind of thought he could have thrived for a very long time as the OC under Saban, but it seemed he always wanted to be a head coach. And that was when Ole Miss came calling. This seemed like a good fit at the time. Ole Miss was good, not great. They're an SEC team, but never one of the premiere programs. If Kiffin could build Ole Miss into a threat, he could become the true real deal head coach he always wanted to be. And he did just that. He never won a title, but Ole Miss was always a threat. They were a team the big dogs hated to play in the SEC. They would upset a few teams here and there and Kiffin could recruit.

Kiffin is kind of built for this modern NIL era of college football recruiting. He is a slimy salesman, and that is what most modern college football coaches need to be in this day and age. Ole Miss has won 10 games for three straight years, and they are all but certain to be in the 12 team playoff field this year. A lot of that is due to Kiffin's recruiting and his offense. He knows what he is doing now, and it is paying off. But then he seemed to revert to his former self in this flirtation with LSU. He would deny it, although almost everyone knew he was going to take the job. He claimed he wanted to coach the team throughout the playoff, which I don't deny, but that would also give him a chance to poach current players on Ole Miss that he would want with him at LSU. He has said things to the media that he will contradict the next. He is out here making constant quotes on his Instagram. These are the things he wasn't doing, but now that he is back at a big time program, it feels like he is back to his douchey ways.

I just feel like I want him to not do so great at LSU. But, I also understand that he has become a better coach. He seems to know what it takes. And if he was able to recruit as well as he did at Ole Miss, just think of what he is going to do with the resources and gobs of money at LSU. This is about as homerun a hire as LSU could have done. They got one of the best coaches in this cycle. He rebuilt himself, he understands the job and I just feel like he is going to be successful. And I will be rooting against him every step of the way. That's just the way it is for me. I do not like Kiffin and I have been very very blah on LSU. I'm sure the fans are stoked and I know that the world of college football is very happy to have another big name at a big program that ESPN can talk about endlessly. I'm already ready to see what he does in his first season. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Thoughts on Chris Paul Retiring

After a long and storied career, Chris Paul will be retiring after this season. The Clippers are not a very good team right now, and the sheer fact that he doesn't see the floor much must have been the push he needed to finally hang it up. Let’s discuss.

Chris Paul will go down as one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. He was as wily as they got at that position. For such a small guy, in NBA terms, he found a way to score and assist and irritate and frustrate his opponents and sometimes his teammates. Paul was like the principal out there on the court. Any little discrepancy or what he considered wrong doing, he would call people out on it. Chris Paul would frustrate me as a fan because I always knew he was going to pull some kind of nonsense that would drive me nuts. But then he would do something that was so incredible that I would forget all about his pettiness. I have actively rooted against him his whole career, but that's not to say that I did not recognize and appreciate how great of a player he was his entire career.

I remember first seeing him when he was in college at Wake Forest. It blew my mind that someone as small as him controlled the entire game. Wake Forest ran everything through him. He was the end all be all for that team. During his time at Wake he was an All American and ACC rookie of the year, as well as being a perennial all ACC player. His excellent college career propelled him to the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft. The Hornets, then of New Orleans, struck gold when the Bucks, Hawks and Jazz passed on him. CP3 may have been the best, and most prepared prospect in that entire draft. He was rookie of the year and first team all rookie. He made the Hornets relevant. He turned a moribound franchise into a playoff contender. His opponents hated playing him because of his attention to detail, but also because of his play on the court.

After pushing the Lakers in round one with the Hornets, the lock out came and suddenly CP3 was available. It looked like he was all but certain to get traded to the Lakers, but David Stern vetoed the deal. I still don't know why, but it was a big deal and it changed a lot of things in the NBA. He did end up in LA, but not with the Lakers. He was a Clipper. And he helped usher in one of the more fun teams to watch and root against. I despised the "Lob City" Clippers. They drove me nuts. I like to say it was because they didn't win anything, which they didn't, but it was the hype surrounding a team that never really lived up to the hype. They had flashy names on the roster, but when it came time to really win something important, the "Lob City" Clippers always found ways to blow it. But the one constant, the one guy that showed up most of the times, he did have his bad, bad games in there, was Chris Paul. He seemed ready for the moment 99 percent of the time. The 1 percent was a spectacular disaster, but for the most part, CP3 was a clutch player. After the "Lob City" Clippers broke up, CP3 found his way to Houston where he was teamed up with James Harden. They were tailormade to beat the Warriors, but injuries and playoff debacles never allowed that team to thrive. He was on the Thunder for a hot second and he found some way to guide them to the playoffs in The Bubble. He spent a season with the Warriors, and while they made the playoffs, he was hurt for a good portion of that season. And now he is back with the Clippers, and as i mentioned before, he doesn't see the floor much. But he has had an amazing career.

I have heard some people try and place CP3 where they believe he belongs in the pantheon of NBA point guards. CP3 is an all time great, but I don't know if he is in the top five of all time for me. Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time, I have a personal adoration for Gary Payton, who I also deem the best defensive point guard of all time and Oscar Robertson finalizes my top three. Robertson revolutionized the position. Outside those three, I'd take Isaiah Thomas and, if you consider him a point guard, Steph Curry before taking CP3. But he is probably the very next point guard in my opinion. I'd take him over Steve Nash and John Stockton anyday. He is a better traditional point guard than Jason Kidd. He puts Bob Cousy to shame. He's better than any current point guard, if that is even considered a position in the modern NBA anymore. For all of those reasons, and all the stuff I mentioned above, CP3 is a surefire hall of fame player who lands at the number six spot in my ranking of best point guards to ever play the game.

I'll be curious to see if he sees the court anymore during his final season, but if not, he will be remembered as one of the best to ever play point guard in the NBA, and he will always be known for being meticulous if nothing else. Congrats on a great career. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on Shedeur Sanders First NFL Start

Shedeur Sanders is getting his chance to start this Sunday. I'm excited to see how he performs. Let’s discuss.

A bunch of people are out here dumping on him right now for his performance last week, but that needs to be put into context. The Browns are a bad, bad offensive football team. They have a great defense led by Myles Garrett. He's having an unreal season, but no one knows it because the rest of the team is not very good. They seem to stay in games for a quarter or even a half, but after that, the talent on the other team wins out. Garrett can only do so much, and he is, but the rest of the team is letting him down. This offense though, they're horrendous. They cannot put drives together. They have no semblance of a run game. Sanders will be the third QB to start a game for them this season. Joe Flacco tried his best, but he is old, cannot move all that much and played behind a very bad o line. Dillon Gabriel never put it together. He's a rookie so it makes sense, but he didn't do a thing that stood out and oftentimes he was picking himself up from being hit constantly. Now Sanders gets his chance.

Look, there were times last season, when he was still in college, where he was being projected as a top 10 pick. I even saw some people say he could be the first overall pick. I never saw that in him at Colorado, but I definitely saw the talent to be a late first round pick. The line he played behind at Colorado was not very good. But Sanders made up for that by getting rid of the ball quickly. Or, he would get out of the pocket and throw a beautiful deep ball to Travis Hunter or Joe Horn Jr. He made some of the best throws I've seen on the run last season. I usually don't watch many other teams closely except for Michigan. But, Colorado kind of became a must watch for me last season to see Travis Hunter play. While Hunter was an incredible watch, I also saw a ton of Shedeur Sanders. And while he would frustrate me at times, the kid would make plays that left me in awe. Those deep throws on the run were awesome. For those throws alone I thought he could flourish on a team like Baltimore, playing behind Lamar Jackson, or, if forced into action early, the Jets would have allowed him to make mistakes on the field, and they could have benefitted from him when he played well. This is no disrespect to Justin Fields or Tyrod Taylor, but Sanders is younger and has way more potential than both of them combined. And the Jets are already a tire fire, so why not take a chance on him. I feel like he would be in the same boat as Jaxson Dart or Cam Ward right now if the Jets had taken him earlier in the draft.

As the draft approached I saw all the stuff saying that he may have a fall on draft day. I saw a bunch of people the night before saying that he may slip all the way to the end of round one. I saw a bunch of people saying a team like the Raiders were going to try and snag him late if they could. That never happened. Round one came and went and Sanders was still on the board. When I saw this I thought, well, he had a very bad bowl game against BYU, and apparently he interviewed poorly. I figured these were the only reasons why he was not drafted on night one, but surely he was going to go on day two. There was no way he was going to slip that far. Well, he was not taken until the fifth round. guys like Dillon Gabriel and Tyler Shough were drafted before him. When it got past the fourth round, all the teams passing him up felt personal. I guess they were "trying to teach him a lesson". When the Browns finally drafted him I felt like they got a steal. Sanders was a first round talent that fell into their lap in the fifth round. If it were me, I would have had him fighting for the starting spot from day one. That didn't happen, people threw mud on his name, he has been nothing but professional since he showed up there and now he gets his chance. I don't expect him to light the world on fire this Sunday, but I also don't expect him to flounder. He has the skills to be good. He already played behind a terrible O line in college, so the Browns line will be nothing new for him. He will make mistakes, as all rookies do, but I bet he will also make some throws that are great. I'd love to see him simply prove that the teams that kept passing on him were wrong. If he were to throw for 180 and a few tds, that would be a massive success.

The one thing I know for sure is that I will be keeping my eye on how he does, which means I will be checking in on a Cleveland Browns game during the 2025 NFL season. And that has absolutely nothing to do with the Brows at all. And, if nothing else, i'll get to watch Myles Garrett play football, and that's always a treat. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on Virginia Tech Hiring James Franklin

It was announced yesterday that Virginia Tech football is hiring James Franklin as their next head coach. Franklin was not out of a job for that long. I figured he was going to find a job sooner than later, but this was much faster than I expected. I went a little hard on Virginia Tech when they let their coach go midseason. I may be wrong on the actual dates here, but I believe Brent Pry and James Franklin were let go from their old head coaching jobs only a few days apart. Franklin is a better coach, and I wasn't all that shocked that he found a job this quickly.

I have thought about this hiring for the past day, and I have to say, I feel like Virginia Tech kind of hit a home run here. I'm not a James Franklin fan at all. I feel like he is an okay enough coach, but when it comes to big moments and games, he always finds a way to fumble it away. The last three seasons at Penn State he had all of his biggest games at home and didn't win a single one. They had a chance to make the final four of the college football playoff last year, and he let his QB throw late in the game. He was constantly saying out of pocket stuff and not backing it up. There were times while he was the head coach at Penn State where the job seemed too big for him. And it seems like the pressure finally got to him. He didn't even come close to the playoff while Saquon Barkley was on his team. He could recruit the big names, get them there, but when it was time to deliver, he never really came through. But, the job at Virginia Tech is not nearly as pressurized as Penn State.

While at Virginia Tech, Franklin will be given time to rebuild the program. If he gets to a small bowl game in year two, that will be a success. He can build up from there. Virginia Tech also happens to be in the ACC, which may be the weakest of the Power 4 conferences. Franklin is going to be able to fly under the radar for a few seasons. Sure, he has a recognizable name and stature in college football, but after a while people will forget he coached at Penn State if he can turn Virginia Tech into a top 25 team, which I think he can do, if given time. Franklin can recruit. He got big names in his time at Penn State. And he squeezed the very best out of the talent he had while he was the head coach at Vanderbilt. Franklin will help up the NIL at VT, he will get better players to commit because of name recognition, and he should be able to get four star guys simply due to the wealth of playing time that will be available after a bunch of current players transfer out. Franklin is going to be able to rebuild this whole program in his eyes. He should be given carte blanche to do what he needs, within the rules of course, the moment he steps on the campus.

The most beneficial thing for Franklin, and why I think this may actually work, is the lack of pressure at this job. This is not the Virginia Tech of old. Mike Vick is not walking through those doors. The special teams isn't the elite unit it used to be. The defense has been struggling for quite a few years now. And Franklin is going to be able to put his stamp on this team. While they may never reach the levels they did with Vick at QB, this team should be back in the top 25 within two years. James Franklin knows more about football than I could ever dream of. He is in the position he's in because he has won at his first two stops. He was in the playoff last season. He made Vanderbilt a perennial bowl team. He can recruit with the best of them. And now he will get to do all of that in relative silence.

I have spent a good amount of time trying to figure out who Penn State was going to hire, when I should have been looking out for Virginia Tech. They did a great job in this search, they got one of the best names on the open market and they should be back to being competitive in a short amount of time. While i'm not a big fan of Franklin's, this was a great move by him and the university. A true homerun hire for Virginia Tech. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Is This the End of Bradley Beal?

About an hour ago it was announced that Bradley Beal is out for the season due to hip stuff. I don't know if it's a fracture or a break or surgery. All I know is that his hip is giving him enough pain that he is done. And that brings me to what I want to touch on today, is Bradley Beal done as a pro basketball player?

I have always liked Beal from the first moment I knew he was a Saint Louis kid. I'm always going to root for a kid from here, as long as they don't do anything foul in their personal lives. For all intents and purposes, Beal seems to be a solid dude. I followed him his one season at Florida and saw the lottery pick potential. It was no surprise that he was going to go top ten, and the Wizards did just that when they drafted him. I liked the pairing with John Wall there. I felt their respective games complimented each other very nicely. And they found a little success with those two as their guys. The Wizards were a perennial playoff team, Wall and Beal were both constantly in all star talks and they were fun to watch. I know that when this whole website started, during one of my earliest NBA preseason preview and prediction blogs, I had the Wizards, with Wall and Beal, making it to the Finals. That obviously never happened, but the Wizards still made a push and won a playoff series here and there. Then John Wall got hurt and was kind of the forgotten guy in Washington. The team decided to let Beal be the star. And they found minimal success. They were still a playoff threat. When they got a still solid Russell Westbrook to team up with Beal, it was a little reminiscent of Wall playing with him. Bradley Beal was still putting up a ton of points and running the offense. He got a massive deal with Washington, one in which he got a no trade clause, and then it started to tumble off a bit. The Wizards were bad. Beal would miss big chunks of the season. He didn't have the juice that many had come to expect from him. He started to have his name pop up in all kinds of trade talks. A lot of people deemed his contract one of the worst in professional sports history. He handcuffed the Wizards. It seemed like he was content to stay there, cash in his checks and not win too many games. But I have to imagine at some point the lack of winning games had to wear on him. He was on teams that were mostly competitive.  And I have to think that the front office went to him and said they were going to rebuild during this time. When he finally relented, he accepted a trade to Phoenix to pair him up with KD. It didn't hurt that he was going to get to play with Devin Booker as well. The three of those guys teaming up had me thinking that the Suns were going to be one of the most lethal offenses in the NBA. That never happened. Devin Booker is not a point guard. Bradley Beal is not a point guard. KD is not a point guard. They had no player that could truly run the offense. Beal insisted on starting, and with three too many guys that needed the ball, he felt like the odd man out there. Then the injuries started to pile up. KD got hurt warming up for a game. Then Beal would miss massive amounts of time during the year. The only one who stayed on the court was Booker, but man that had to be frustrating for him after being in the Finals a few years before all this went down. The Suns were so bad last season that it seemed inevitable that this group was going to fracture, and that Beal was the main reason why. KD went over to the Rockets in a big time trade and Beal was cut and able to roam free agency as he wanted to. He only ever wanted to go to the Clippers, so when he finally signed there it was not a surprise to anyone. I liked the fit under one condition, Beal needed to come off the bench. He is so bad defensively now that I would rather have Kris Dunn start, a non shooter, because he is wonderful on the defensive side of the ball. But Beal had to be a starter, and the Clippers relented and let him start. The Clippers are 3-8 at this point in the year, the defense is horrendous, which should be their calling card, and the offense isn't much better. James Harden is still productive, but Kawhi Leonard is hurt, Ivica Zubac has underwhelmed and Bradley Beal wasn't doing much when on the floor and he is now done for the year. In the long run this may benefit the Clippers because now Ty Lue can play rotations and starters that he trusts.

Bradley Beal has taken such a deep dive since signing his humongous deal with the Wizards. He never got back that oomph that made him so much fun to watch when he played with John Wall. He seemed okay to clock in and out and cash his paycheck. It didn't feel like he was legitimately trying to improve his game in any way. He just kind of fading into the back and now I am left wondering if he will be an afterthought when he finally decides to retire. And that bums me out being a fan of his previous work. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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