Split Zone Duo: College Football Podcast
Episodes
Week 1 of 2024 is ... surprisingly bare. Why?
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Week 1 has always had tons of warmup games, but the schedule usually has a big handful of bangers. In 2024, that’s not the case. There are barely an...
How we fix the rules in college football
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Richard has ideas for how to make college football’s on-field rules a little bit better. Alex and Godfrey like some of them and don’t like others....
Single Wing: Lane Kiffin speculation never ends. That's the point
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey's answering your questions about Lane Kiffin's short- and lo...
What in 2024 spring practice is worth your attention?
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Spring practice is a lot of hype and not a lot of substance, but sometimes we can learn a lot. Alex, Richard, and Godfrey talk about what to pay serio...
The Single Wing: Never mind the league network promoting the league
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey's answering your questions about SEC Network bias (lol), the...
Why the 12-team playoff is great for college football
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey looked a bit deeper into how a 12-team playoff system will work in practice, and he ended up feeling ... surprisingly optimistic about the fut...
Clemson's absurd yet potentially effective case against the ACC
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comClemson filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tue...
The NFL-ification of college recruiting
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
College football teams now have "general managers." How did the sport get here? How are they similar to GMs for pro teams, and how are they different?...
News: SEC/B1G power play, Fox Fridays, and what the Dartmouth vote means
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey, Richard, and Alex talk out three big news developments over...
SZD Book Club: Dan Wetzel talks "Death to the BCS"
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comThe first installment of the Split Zone Duo Book Club: What's it lik...
Mailbag: WVU's extension, Arizona's order of operations, private equity in CFB, and more
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRichard and Alex take your questions on a long list of topics, in or...
JJ McCarthy and the art of being a polarizing QB
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michigan’s quarterback is the latest national championship winner and draft prospect to kick off a very specific kind of national debate about QB pl...
Does a new head coach’s first staff matter?
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After 2023, Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh left, and Alabama and Michigan fans worried a lot about assistant coach hires made by their successors. It got...
News: Atlanta coaches, EA video game, and The Return of the Mass
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a roundup of college football news, Godfrey, Richard, and Alex talk about Georgia State’s interesting new head coach hire (1:30), Paul Johnson ex...
The Single Wing: It's time for Oregon State to go Full Boise
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey's trying to keep the Beavers relevant nationally as the P12-...
Did Alabama kill the MAC?
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey presents Richard and Alex with four decades' worth of MAC head coach firings and hirings to try to figure out if G5 football jobs are on the d...
The SZD Super Bowl 58 preview show
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSometimes, the haters call Split Zone Duo “an NFL podcast.” Toda...
Going into labor
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Richard, and Godfrey discuss a new NLRB ruling that might (might!) result in employee status and union organizing for college athletes. Then the...
What Auburn is getting in new coordinator DJ Durkin
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comDJ Durkin continues to get SEC coordinator jobs. In the past few sea...
The Single Wing: How Louisiana Tech's AD explains the future of college football
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey's here to help make TCU better (Why is Kendal Briles still t...
The 2023 time capsule reveal, plus key coach news
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Godfrey, and Alex start the show with a discussion of Sherrone Moore’s elevation to Michigan head coach and Iowa’s maybe-good but definit...
"The Blind Side" commentary track with Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSplit Zone Duo is proud to present a long-sought-after project: The ...
Is Alabama f****d?
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comWhen Nick Saban retired, Alex wrote a column for the Ringer under th...
The SZD Interview: Rodger Sherman's trip 'round the CFB world
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Former SB Nation coworker/SZD co-conspirator Rodger Sherman quit his day job before the 2023 season and drove to over 60 (!) college football games ac...
The Hurry-Up: Michigan reaches the pinnacle
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard spend a half-hour talking about the national championship, the 2023 Michigan team's place in history, Jim Harbaugh cementing his lega...
Split Zone Duo LIVE in Houston!
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Please enjoy this recording of Split Zone Duo Live in Houston, taped the night of 1/6/24 and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel. We had an ...
The national championships arrive. Let’s dig in.
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard start the show with discussion of LSU cleaning house on the defensive coaching staff, UNC wasting Drake Maye on bad defenses and spli...
The post-semis Hurry-Up and a brief natty lookahead
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard break down the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl semifinals, with brief previewing of Michigan-Washington baked in throughout. Then some refle...
Smell some roses and eat some sugar
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard reports on this year’s big international incident at Playoff semifinal media availabilities. (There’s always one.) Then Richard, Alex, and...
NIL danger zones, Signing Day 2024, and national champs
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex go through some high-level recruiting storylines on National Signing Day: Who’s in the NIL danger zone, and who is clearl...
The Eyes List: 2023 finale (?)
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comRichard and Godfrey spin through the highlights of a mostly wrapped-...
An unprecedented moment of CFB roster confusion
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The transfer portal is packed. Signing Day is approaching. Colorado might actually portal an offensive line? Nebraska might get the No. 1 QB? And coll...
The 2023 Split Zone Duo awards special
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Richard, and Godfrey submit awards picks for a very SZD-specific set of honors: Power 5/Group of 5 Team of the Year, Game of the Year, Play of t...
The FSU travesty: Playoff reaction show
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a special edition of the SZD Hurry-Up, Alex and Richard discuss the Playoff committee's spurning of unbeaten Florida State and then break down the ...
2023 championship weekend preview (and the end of the SEC on CBS)
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Richard, and Godfrey go game-by-game on the most interesting angles surrounding conference championship weekend. Is this the best slate of power...
Dissecting the dance between Mark Stoops and Texas A&M
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Texas A&M was on the verge of hiring Mark Stoops away from Kentucky, but the parties came apart. Godfrey walks all of us through A&M’s process and t...
Week 13 Hurry-Up: What a Saturday
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rivalry Weekend! Standings implications! Hot seats and poachings! There’s a lot going on. Alex and Richard recap the final week of the regular seaso...
The Game is the game: Rivalry Weekend arrives
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Richard, and Godfrey break down Ohio State-Michigan and then get into a long list of other juicy games on Rivalry Weekend. It’s that time of y...
Week 12 Hurry-Up: Purple rains
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex recap the 12th week of the college football season. Washington and Texas win in businesslike fashion, Georgia looks primed for a thre...
Why CFB’s second-to-last week is like this (plus Pac-12 drama)
15 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Richard, and Godfrey talk through the high-stakes, bizarre legal fight unfolding between Oregon State, Washington State, and the rest of the Pac...
Week 11 Hurry-Up: The heavyweights separate
12 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex take you on a quick but detailed voyage through Week 11 in college football. Michigan clarifies what it is and what Penn State is. Ok...
Michigan and the Big Ten fight an information war
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, who broke the news about other Big Ten schools passing around Michigan’s signs, talks with Alex and Godfrey about how the university and fa...
Week 10 Hurry-Up: Anything happened in Bedlam
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard had a great weekend on the ground at college football stadiums, and they’re back after reviewing the rest of Week 10. Alabama-LSU, ...
Iowa fires a Ferentz + the state of the Playoff + a big Week 10
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Godfrey, and Alex start this week’s show by discussing the savvy maneuvering of Iowa’s new athletic director, Beth Goetz, in announcing t...
Week 9 Hurry-Up: Told yOU to be careful
29 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex lead you on a detailed sprint through the ninth week of the 2023 college football season, headlined by Kansas’ upset of unbeaten Ok...
The Michigan circus: Reporting, reaction, and what’s next
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard breaks news in Sports Illustrated about the staffer at the center of the Michigan sign-stealing saga, and he talks about the story with Alex a...
9 teams’ best- and worst-case scenarios
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Alex, and Godfrey take stock of nine teams whose seasons could still go all kinds of different ways, from pretty well (or even very well) to ...
Week 8 Hurry-Up: Who’s not serious?
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A fast, detailed sprint through all of the interesting things in college football’s Week 8, with Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson. Penn State and U...
The B1G Show finally arrives
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Penn State plays Ohio State this week, so it’s time to finally assess the many strengths and relative weaknesses of those two teams and the current ...
Week 7 Hurry-Up: Go for it
15 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex take you on a fast but detailed journey through Week 7 in college football. Let’s be specific about which Dan Lanning decision cost...
Midseason panic buttons and Week 7 blockbusters
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard go over the situations at several programs that are having a rough time. HOW bad is it at TCU, Baylor, Southern Miss, Indiana, Arkans...
Week 6 Hurry-Up: Kneel before Pod
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The college football season Week 6 recap, fast and detailed from Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson. Oklahoma looks great, Texas still looks fine, and ...
What it just means in the SEC
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex have noted the narrative that the SEC is “down” or “wide open” this year. And maybe! But to figure that out, we’v...
Week 5 Hurry-Up: Make the tackle
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A detailed but rapid recap of Week 5 in college football from Alex Kirshner and Richard Johnson. Duke gets its heart broken, LSU gets its defense brok...
Single Wing: Hugh Freeze might be right (maybe, this one time, but probably not)
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey’s enjoying Hugh Freeze’s fact checking session during his weekly presser as much as the next sane CFB fan, but does the Righteous Rev. sor...
How the Pac-12 got its groove back
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard discuss the common threads in the Pac-12's ironic return to being maybe the best conference in college football, then offer one big t...
Week 4 Hurry-Up: Podcasting for clicks
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex take you through a packed Week 4 in college football. Ohio State and Notre Dame played a great game with some perplexing coaching dec...
The Deion phenomenon and a massive Week 4
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deion Sanders and Colorado have become the biggest story in college football. We want to unpack why that happened, because we think it goes much deepe...
Single Wing: Don’t look for 2007; make the best 2023 possible
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey’s back with a solo show to hopefully help y’all receive the wonderful uncertainty of this early CFB year the best way possible- ...
Week 3 Hurry-Up: Sunglasses on
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex talk about a surprisingly wild third week of the college football season. Jay Norvell writes a check and doesn’t cash it against Co...
What’s next for Texas, Bama, and (differently) Oklahoma
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Godfrey, and Alex dive into how good things might get for Texas and how bad they might get for Alabama. Oklahoma had an embarrassing weekend ...
Single Wing: Here's An Easy Trick To Remember How Mel Tucker Ruined His Career
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you're confused about the unfolding details surrounding Mel Tucker's Title IX investigation, Godfrey's here with a quick and easy way to parse the ...
Week 2 Hurry-Up: They’re baaaaaaack
10 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard shares observations from on the ground at Texas’ win over Alabama, and then he and Alex run through dozens of other notes from college footb...
Which Week 1 impressions will actually stick?
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex pick through eight interesting cases from Week 1 of the college football season. What do we believe, and what might look li...
Week 1 Hurry-Up: Primed for the season
03 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Johnson and Alex Kirshner take you on a details-packed sprint through Week 1 of the college football season. Colorado pulls off a stunner. (So...
Single Wing: When you're rooting for "it was just a weird few years"
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey's exploration of this year's paucity of good kickoff games yielded predictable results – it's yet another weird TV money problem – but may...
The Week 1 tasting menu: A mega-preview
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After offering some quick Week 0 impressions, Alex, Godfrey, and Richard preview Week 1 of the 2023 season, highlighting dozens of games from Kent Sta...
The big 2023 prediction show (plus the Florida doc and modern sports TV)
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex start the show with an extended talk about Netflix’s Florida doc series, which has come under scrutiny not for what it in...
FCS Upset Draft, Notre Dame, and Army’s big change
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Kirk joins Alex and Richard to draft FCS teams that will beat FBS teams this season. Then the group talks about this season’s FBS independent ...
The Sun Belt 2023 preview show
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex preview the entire Sun Belt and then talk about why this league is such a breath of fresh air in a moment of non-geographic...
The SEC 2023 preview show
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Alex, and Godfrey preview the Southeastern Conference for 2023. Let’s try to figure out a way for Georgia to not make the Playoff again. (I...
The MAC 2023 preview show
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Godfrey, and Richard preview the MAC for 2023. Toledo looks like it’s on firm footing again, but this is an unpredictable league, and Ohio has...
The Big Ten 2023 preview show
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex preview the Big Ten for 2023. It’s an Ohio State-Michigan-Penn State race at the top. Is Maryland or Michigan State capab...
The Big 12 2023 preview show
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex and Richard set up the season for a 14-team Big 12. Texas should finally do it on its way out the door. Oklahoma might have the next-highest ceil...
The Conference USA 2023 preview show
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex preview the dramatically reshaped CUSA for 2023. Is this league Liberty’s right away, or can WKU (or someone else) keep it in the c...
DEAD LETTERS: The SoCon story
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Southern Conference birthed both the SEC and the ACC. Then the league died in everything but name. What happened, and what is still happening? We...
The AAC 2023 preview show
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey and Richard Johnson are here to disrespect the Tide... of Tulane! The American welcomes a bunch of new schools, and one of them (MEEP M...
The ACC 2023 preview show
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey and Richard Johnson take you on a magical and not-at-all predictable journey through the sport's most predictable conference. Visit the...
The Mountain West 2023 preview show
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Kirshner and Steven Godfrey have some Mountain West conversations, touching on every team in the league heading into 2023. Has Boise State averte...
The Pac-12 2023 preview show
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey and Alex Kirshner preview the Pac-12's 2023 season by touching every team in the conference. Which quarterbacks in this league could jo...
DEAD LETTERS: Kentucky, the Baron, and the Bear
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Football wasn't much at Kentucky until Bear Bryant came along. That, it would soon become clear, was exactly how Adolph Rupp liked it. Welcome to Sea...
Dilfer's threats, Florida's progress, and the video game's lawsuit
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex go through some college football news of the week, starting with some thoughts on a couple of tragic CFB losses this week in Ryan Mal...
The spontaneous season preview, live from DC!
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our first live show, recorded June 15 in D.C. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. After talking a little bit about D.C.’s merits as a...
Coach contract facts and a CFB mailbag
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard shares insights from his extensive dive into the quirkiest clauses in the contracts for 2023's new head coaches. Some of them could be a big d...
College (sports) heads toward a cliff
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
American higher education is about to have a big numbers problem on its hands, and it could affect college football in significant ways (albeit probab...
Dead Letters: A Nebraska Football Story
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks the launch of season 2 of "Dead Letters," an SZD Patreon series (patreon.com/szd) about the rises and falls of great college football ...
DEAD LETTERS: The Florida A&M Dynasty
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jake Gaither built a college football powerhouse at FAMU in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. The Rattlers towered over their HBCU competition and struck fea...
Big Ten, Big Mad
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex talk about college football news of the week: USC and Michigan both let guys resign who shouldn't have had their jobs in th...
Half of the ACC has heat
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey and Alex Kirshner start this episode with reminders about some SZD events and a hearty endorsement of your participation in the EDSBS C...
Gambling, FSU hype, and a big May mailbag
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex start this week's show by talking about the very different gambling stories in Alabama and Iowa, and to what extent college sports co...
The Year 2 coach check-in + ND game theory
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After Godfrey unloads some college-centric draft notes, Alex wants to talk about Notre Dame's upcoming TV negotiation with NBC and how the Big Ten's n...
Deion drama and the draft through a CFB lens
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a quick chat about clock rules changes that are now official, Alex, Richard, and Steven talk about Deion Sanders' roster purge at Colorado. It's...
Nebraska's different now (plus Jimbo, Canada, and Kliff)
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The big stories on this week's episode, though not necessarily in order: Nebraska has already changed (46:48) some significant things under Matt Rhul...
Hugh Freeze might be right?
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Godfrey, Alex Kirshner, and Richard Johnson debate Hugh Freeze's idea of staging inter-squad spring games between in-state schools. Is it conde...
Do the Northwestern NIMBYs have a point?
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a quick check-in on the state of April recruiting, Alex, Richard, and Godfrey tackle six stories from around college football. 1. Why Frank Soli...
Michigan and SDSU: Doing good! The NCAA: Doing bad!
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard and Alex talk about San Diego State's increasing momentum as a Pac-12 expansion candidate and go over what it means, or doesn't mean, that Mic...
We accidentally did basketball
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey, Richard, and Alex tackle a few topics this week that deal with how college football is playing with other sports: The NFL plans to encroach f...
SZD did not take public money to record this podcast
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Johnson, Steven Godfrey, and Alex Kirshner go through some news of the week in college football. The Pac-12 closes in, probably, on a TV deal....
An offseason six-pack: Texas coaching game theory
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Godfrey and Alex have six short stories to tell you this week about college football-related stories that have caught their eye over the last week or ...
Rules changes and CFB west of the Rockies
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard, Alex, and Godfrey start this week's show by egging on (most) of the ideas about changing the rules to make games a bit quicker. Then it's tim...