we are heading to Indianapolis now and to be joined by Heather Den all of you saw her last week uh at in Dallas now and Heather just seems weird uh waking up every day without I didn't mean it that way but I just not being with you on on morning television Paul you can always call me my friend we we can FaceTime you know we can whatever you want just don't say that on TV again no it was we had so much fun together and uh and even even when I uh say idiotic stupid outrageous comments you just sit there and go I think I know him but I'm not claiming him Hey listen I think um Lincoln Riley is gonna be here tomorrow and uh you know Ryan day was here I think you should come on out here into Indianapolis so we can get all your friends together and just have this conversation on a panel let's let's talk about Ryan day you know the man well uh I see him occasionally we had a caller earlier who called him crying Ryan day I'm sure you would you you see him a little bit differently than maybe uh those of us who run into him occasionally so what's he like how how do you think he is handling uh the noise as you said this morning uh it's it's really primarily about not being able to beat Michigan that's correct and he's handling it the same way he did last year when I sat in his office in in the spring he has a very matter of fact approach when you come to Ohio State you're the head coach at Ohio State you're expected to win every single game and that's how what he's trying to do his goals are to win every single game beat Michigan win the national title you cannot lose to Michigan four years in a row and he knows that he shouldn't lose to Michigan he has a better team this year but if by some chance he did then I would say he has to win the national title and I think there's an expectation not only from him but also the players around him as well that's why so many of these guys came back instead of going to the NFL because they think that they are able to do that with this group you mentioned some of the other names Lincoln rally tomorrow at Big 10 media days just seems downright weird uh but we've already been through that already with Texas and Oklahoma but but Lincoln Raleigh coming over uh last year was was terrible and there's noise According to some people about his future but what what about his team which is the most important thing here well I think that they've got a real chance to impress the college football playoff selection Committee in the season opener against LSU which your audience knows very well and I think that's the kind of game that can set the tone for the rest of the season for both of those programs quite frankly and we've talked before about how much improvement there needs to be for USC on defense Lincoln Riley has gotten to the playoff before with the nation's best offense but you can't win it without a top 10 defense as well you these teams that have gone to the college football playoff and advanced to the National Championship historically are top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency and everyone including including Lincoln Riley knows that they have fallen short on the defensive side so can they make that Improvement I think that's the question as to how seriously to take those guys in the Big 10 in their first season but until proven otherwise Oregon and Ohio State right now should be the teams at the top of everyone's list to beating the Big 10 it is even though we saw him a couple times last year obviously it's going to be weird tomorrow I'm sure or whenever he's there Chiron Moore uh versus Jim Harbaugh Michigan seems like they are on the bubble of making the playoffs of course it's still July but your assessment of the Wolverines will they only return to 23% of their offensive production from a year ago that is a significant number 123rd in the FBS so yes there's some familiar familiarity with more coming back on that staff there should be confidence in him because he was outstanding last year as an interim coach when Jim Harbaugh was suspended for those last couple of games that being said when I look at their schedule which is extremely different I see a home loss against Texas a home loss against Oregon a loss to Ohio State they've got to go across the country and play Washington which could be a trap game even though they're in a transition under coach Jed fish so this could very well be a three or a four loss team when you're looking at Michigan but I would just caution everybody no one not even the cfp selection committee knows if a three lost team can make the college football playoff this is all new to everyone so if they were to go in that Direction we've got to see what happens with everybody else and Heather uh one more school before I get us some news uh Oregon uh they they are quietly uh putting an amazing team together I'm not sure how many folks outside of that area that you're in have noticed or or paying attention maybe because of the two losses last year to Washington but what about Dan Lanning and his team well he's done a fantastic job of building talent in that roster and that locker room and you mention Dylan Gabriel their transfer quarterback when you look at what he's been able to do in terms of his efficiency a Heisman hopeful quarterback I looked this morning at some of our notes from stat and information group and I think it's been 17 years since the Big 10 has had a Heisman winner is that is is that right um it's been a long time I know that maybe it's specifically at quarterback I have to look back on that but he can certainly bring some Heisman conversation legit to this league and their offense is projected to be even better by ESPN analytics than Georgia so they're definitely a team capable of beating Ohio State on October 12th especially on their home turf in odson well our group our group looked it up Troy Smith uh Ohio State you're exactly right before you go I know as we're talking there's some news out about the cfp and the rose bow that you've been digging into uh I'm surprised that the rose bow wants its familiar spot on New Year's Day yes I spoke with the rose bow management committee chair Laura Farber she's here in Lucas Oil Stadium and she told me that rosebowl officials are very optimistic that in the next iteration of the college football playoff whatever that might be in 2026 and beyond that they are expecting to be able to maintain their historic date of January 1 they have semifinals this year and next year uh it's unclear what the format will be in 2026 and Beyond but obviously 12 teams this year and next and one of the other things she told me was that they are going to decrease the number of tickets for each team in the Rose Bowl the schools get certain amount of tickets but that will open up more tickets to the general public which the Rose Bowl is in favor of because they want to give some opportunities to other people who have not seen the granddaddy of them all before great stuff Heather continues our coverage in Indianapolis Heather we'll see you tomorrow thank you very very much see you in the morning Paul okay I wanted you to say it not me uh thanks [Music] Heather so I can Brea [Music] he