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Dan is back, and after Oregon's stunning loss to UCLA, we've got some questions about which college football fan bases are having the roughest time in 2026. Is Oregon's disappointment worse than what Texas A&M and Michigan fans are experiencing? Where do Oklahoma, Arkansas and NC State fit on the misery scale? We debate the difference between a frustrating season and one that leaves a fan base looking for an entirely new direction. Then ESPN's Bill Connelly joins us for another celebration of Billtoberfest, this time to call out the teams giving their fans reasons to believe. How real is undefeated UCLA? Can Kentucky keep winning close games under Will Stein? What's changed at Wake Forest, and how much should we trust the sudden rise of Purdue and Northwestern? We also get into Utah, Oregon State and other surprising stories, along with the underlying numbers that might challenge what we're seeing on Saturdays. Plus, we react to the new Verballer Top 12, revisit more of the wildest moments from Week 6 and look ahead to a massive Week 7 slate, including Ohio State vs. Indiana and Notre Dame vs. BYU. Listen to the full episode, subscribe to The Solid Verbal and join the community at Verballers.com for the weekly poll, bonus content and Run the Board. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College football Week 6 delivered a little bit of everything, including a new No. 1 team, a stunning upset in the Red River rivalry, and another brutal Saturday for Oregon. With Dan away, Ty welcomes Tim Murray from VSiN to sort through the biggest results and what they mean for the rest of the season. We start with Oklahoma's win over Texas and the questions surrounding the Longhorns' offense, then turn to Georgia's hard-fought victory at Alabama and the race for the top of the AP poll. UCLA's upset of Oregon raises even bigger questions about the Ducks, and Dan checks in from the wedding with his own reaction. Plus, Indiana escapes Nebraska, Kentucky pulls off another overtime thriller against LSU, and we try to figure out which teams are actually moving in the right direction. We also hit USC's win at Penn State, Missouri's rout of Texas A&M, Florida's sudden slide, Wake Forest's rise in the ACC, and Oregon State's impressive run. Then it's your Week 6 Reverbs, Dude Alerts, and a spirited debate over Ty's preliminary AP Top 25 ballot. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 6 is packed with matchups that could confirm everything we think we know about the 2026 season, or force us to reconsider. We preview Georgia-Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where two SEC heavyweights face a major test, and Texas-Oklahoma in a Red River rivalry featuring plenty of questions about both offenses. Can Indiana keep rolling against an improved Nebraska team? Is UCLA ready to challenge Oregon in Eugene, especially with questions surrounding the Ducks' quarterback situation? And what happens when USC travels to Penn State for a White Out with both teams looking for answers? We break down the matchups, debate what matters most, and make our picks against the spread. Plus, we run through more than 20 games across the weekend, including Texas A&M-Missouri, LSU-Kentucky, Ole Miss-Vanderbilt, Iowa-Washington, Florida State-Louisville, and Iowa State-BYU. We've also got our Quad Fathers picks, under-the-radar games, locks of the week, and the Window of Opportunity. Don't forget to enter Run The Board this week for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Bass Pro Shops! Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five weeks into the 2026 college football season, the easy answers are disappearing. We unveil the latest Verballer Top 12, clean up a few things we missed from Saturday night, and then bring in ESPN’s Bill Connelly to help us figure out what we can actually trust as the season moves into October. How good is Missouri? What does the top of the Big 12 actually look like? Who belongs behind Miami in the ACC? Is there a clear second tier in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Indiana? We also ask Bill about the teams and units outperforming expectations, the ones falling short, the Group of Six picture, and how this season’s early chaos compares with some of college football’s stranger years. Then we turn to the quarterbacks. In honor of October, every situation gets one of two confidence levels: full-size candy bar or Milk Duds. Tennessee has a decision to sort through. Michigan has to figure out what it has in Bryce Underwood. Penn State’s passing game is under pressure. Oregon suddenly has an interesting Dylan Raiola question while Dante Moore works his way back. And Oklahoma heads into Red River with John Mateer, Ben Arbuckle and a season that could move in a very different direction depending on what happens next. Support the show by signing up at Verballers.com/join. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 5 gave us another reminder not to get too comfortable with anything we thought we knew in September. We start with Missouri’s emphatic win over Florida and what it means for both teams after a month of wildly shifting expectations. Then we get into Alabama’s dominant performance against Mississippi State, another ridiculous day from Keelon Russell, Ohio State handling Iowa, and Northwestern’s statement win over Penn State in the debut of its new stadium. From there, we run through the rest of a strange Saturday: Notre Dame finding something on the ground, Minnesota taking back the Little Brown Jug, Florida State showing signs of life, Wake Forest pouring it on, USC surviving Washington, Kentucky winning a thriller, and one of the strangest in-game coaching changes we can remember. Plus, Reverbs, Dude Alerts and the increasingly challenging task of putting together our AP Top 25 ballot after five weeks of college football. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 5 is here, and a bunch of teams are trying to figure out whether the good vibes are real or just another mirage. We make our picks for Alabama-Mississippi State in Starkville, Ohio State-Iowa in Iowa City, Florida-Missouri, Miami-Clemson and a pair of fascinating Friday night games with Pitt-Virginia Tech and Penn State-Northwestern. Can Mississippi State prove it belongs in the SEC race? Is Iowa’s offense actually evolving? How much should we trust Florida after its breakout win over Ole Miss? And can Clemson make things uncomfortable for Miami under the lights in Death Valley? Then we work through the rest of the Week 5 slate with Michigan-Minnesota, Notre Dame-North Carolina, Auburn-Tennessee, Virginia-Florida State, Louisville-NC State, Kentucky-South Carolina, BYU-TCU, Washington-USC, Baylor-Arizona State and more. Plus, our Locks of the Week, the Quadfathers, Under-The-Radar games and a very important discussion about finding water. Join us at Verballers.com for ad-free episodes, bonus shows, our Run the Board pick’em game and more. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

September is almost over, which means we finally have enough evidence to start wondering who has actually taken a meaningful step forward, who has gone backward, and which teams are still making us wait for a real answer? We run through a wide range of teams that have changed the conversation around themselves over the first month of the season, including Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Iowa, UCLA, West Virginia and Missouri. Some have found new life. Others have made their early optimism much harder to defend. And a few are still sitting in the uncomfortable middle, where one good or bad weekend could change the entire read. We also catch up on the biggest news we missed after Saturday night, talk through the latest Verballer Top 12, and answer a few listener questions about College Football Playoff dark horses, how much head-to-head results should matter in the polls, and whether offensive continuity still means what it used to in the transfer portal era. Then, because we somehow forgot them on Saturday night, Dude Alerts return with the standout performances from Week 4. And, as promised, an extended cut of Reverbs for our esteemed Patreon community. Shout out to Shae for putting these together! Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 4 gave us the kind of Saturday that starts changing how the season looks. We start with Florida’s emphatic win over Ole Miss and what it means for a Gators team that suddenly has to be taken seriously in the SEC race. Then we turn to Oregon’s wild road win at USC, where an early injury changed the entire shape of the game and forced the Ducks to find a very different way to win. Iowa stunned Michigan at the gun, Texas stymied Tennessee in Knoxville, and several teams that entered the weekend with real expectations now have much harder questions to answer. From there, we run through the scores that made us ask, “Am I hearing correctly that…?” Wisconsin erased a 17-point deficit at Penn State, Mississippi State moved to 4-0, Wake Forest pulled off a road upset at Louisville, Cincinnati kept pounding people on the ground, and Northwestern pushed Indiana far harder than expected. Finally, we sort through a major reshuffling of our AP Top 25 ballot. Six teams drop out, six new teams move in, and the middle of the rankings gets messy fast as we try to separate résumé, projection and what we actually believe after four weeks of football. Plus, Week 4 Reverbs, listener reactions and all the usual late-night chaos. Support the show by signing up for our Patreon at https://www.verballers.com/join. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 4 is absolutely loaded, and we’re breaking down as much of it as humanly possible. We start with Texas traveling to Tennessee for its first true road test, then turn to Oregon-USC and a major prove-it game for both programs. Plus, why Ole Miss-Florida has all the makings of the mother of all letdown games, whether Michigan can create enough offense against Iowa, and what to make of Oklahoma State-West Virginia. Then we bring back the Quadfather to rip through the rest of a massive slate, including Oklahoma-Georgia, Utah-Iowa State, Wisconsin-Penn State, Texas A&M-LSU, Missouri-Mississippi State, South Carolina-Alabama, Clemson-Cal and much more. Plus: our Week 4 picks, locks of the week, the Window of Opportunity and the games flying under the radar.  Support the show by signing up for our Patreon at verballers.com/join. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three weeks into the college football season, how much do we actually know? For our September Mailbag, we turn the show over to questions from the Verballerhood and try to figure out which teams have given us enough evidence to trust what we’re seeing. We talk Ole Miss, Texas, Miami and the ACC, then dig into whether early stumbles from the Big Ten and SEC could open the door for the Big 12 to land multiple teams in the College Football Playoff. From there, we get into some of the coaches who have impressed us early, what to make of Florida and Northwestern, and why Oregon and Texas A&M have both looked flatter than expected. How much responsibility falls on the Dante Moore and Marcel Reed? How much falls on new coordinators and rebuilt offensive lines? And when does the grace period officially end for teams still trying to figure things out? Plus, we take an early look at a loaded Week 4 featuring Texas-Tennessee, Ole Miss-Florida, Oregon-USC, Texas A&M-LSU, Oklahoma State-West Virginia and plenty more. Subscribe for more college football coverage, and check out Verballers.com to join the community and send in questions for future Monday shows. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 3 delivered the kind of Saturday that forces you to reconsider a few things in a hurry. We start in Oxford, where Lane Kiffin returned with LSU for a game that had been circled for months, and Ole Miss had a chance to prove just how much of the program survived his departure. We get into what the night told us about Trinidad Chambliss, the Rebels, LSU’s still-developing offense and where both teams fit in the bigger SEC and College Football Playoff picture. Then comes the result almost nobody saw coming: Kentucky went into Kyle Field and beat Texas A&M without needing a fluky turnover fest or some bizarre special-teams swing. What does that say about Will Stein’s early progress at Kentucky, and how worried should A&M be about an offense that still seems to be searching for another gear? We also dig into Louisville’s big win over SMU, Texas Tech surviving Houston, Mississippi State’s comeback at South Carolina and the other Week 3 results that changed how we see the season. Later, we go through your Reverbs and “Today I Learned” responses, then turn to our AP Top 25 ballot. How far should Ole Miss rise? What do we do with Texas A&M after the upset? Where do Louisville, Mississippi State, Florida, Texas Tech and BYU belong now? We finish with Dude Alerts and some of our favorite individual performances from the weekend. Support the show at https://www.verballers.com/join. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 3 is here, and the schedule is loaded with games that could get strange in a hurry. We make our picks for LSU-Ole Miss in Oxford, Houston-Texas Tech on a short week, SMU-Louisville in a massive ACC matchup, Florida State-Alabama, Mississippi State-South Carolina, Florida-Auburn and more. Along the way, we dig into which teams we actually trust, which early-season performances might be misleading, and where weather, travel and matchup problems could create some very uncomfortable Saturdays. We also hit Arizona State-Kansas in London, Kentucky-Texas A&M, West Virginia-Virginia and a long list of under-the-radar games worth keeping an eye on. Plus, we give our locks, potential letdown spots and the best window to actually leave the couch before the schedule gets serious. Support the show and play Run The Board by signing up at https://www.verballers.com/join Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two weeks into the 2026 college football season, it’s time to challenge some of our preseason assumptions. First, we look at where we may have been wrong, or at least too confident, on teams like Oregon, Texas Tech, Illinois, Washington, BYU and more. Then, we revisit our AP Top 25 ballot and talk through the teams that may deserve more love, including Mississippi State, Houston, Tulsa, Virginia, Boise State and North Dakota State. Plus, Premium Verballer questions on Kansas State’s defense, Oregon’s loss of ferociousness, Michigan and Oklahoma, and whether the Sooners are becoming “High-T Quarterback Iowa South.” Support the show by signing up at https://www.verballers.com. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Week 2 delivered the first truly chaotic Saturday of the 2026 college football season. Texas erased a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Ohio State, Oklahoma State stunned Oregon in Stillwater, and Michigan leaned on its defense to win a rock fight against Oklahoma. We break down what Texas proved in its comeback, what went wrong for Oregon, and what Michigan’s win says about both the Wolverines and Sooners moving forward. Then we widen the lens on the rest of the weekend with our Spano Meter, checking our excitement and concern levels for BYU, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Alabama, Tennessee, Duke, Illinois, Penn State, Washington, Mississippi State and more. Plus, another loaded batch of Reverbs, our Dude Alerts, and a live run through the AP Top 25 ballot after a week that forced us to rethink plenty of what we thought we knew. Support the show by signing up at https://www.verballers.com. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

College Football Week 2 is here, and the schedule gets serious in a hurry. The biggest game of the weekend sends No. 1 Ohio State to Austin to face No. 4 Texas in a matchup that already feels like it could shape the College Football Playoff race. We break down the biggest questions on both sides, from Ohio State’s new-look offense and running game to Arch Manning, Texas’ defense and the small margins that could decide one of the best games of the entire season. Before we get there, Oklahoma heads to the Big House for a fascinating test against Michigan. How much should we read into Michigan’s shaky Week 1 performance? Can Bryce Underwood respond against a much tougher defense, and is Oklahoma ready to take advantage? We also dig into Arizona State-Texas A&M, Oregon-Oklahoma State, Arizona-BYU, Alabama-Kentucky, Tennessee-Georgia Tech, Iowa State-Iowa, Missouri-Kansas and plenty more. It is one of those Saturdays where you may want to wake up, get moving and make sure you are properly prepared for what is coming. We make our picks, find the best under-the-radar games, lock up a few favorites and identify the window where you absolutely need to be in front of a screen. Support the show by signing up at Verballers.com. Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.