Chapter 1: Why is Mike Ryan upset about the College Football Playoff rankings?
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Chapter 2: What does Jimmy Butler's playing time mean for the upcoming game?
You're cloaked in it. Sometimes it feels like you're drowning in it. It's only your lips underneath the ocean of Miami bias. So they established the criteria. Notre Dame and Miami, we can't even compare them because Notre Dame is in a different tier. BYU is ahead of Miami. BYU has one loss. BYU has a win over Utah, which is ranked just below BYU.
It's a better win than Notre Dame has, which is USC. They have one fewer loss, and their quality loss is to Texas Tech. They have one loss. Yeah, but... Notre Dame has two. So establishing the criteria... So if I've established that criteria, why in the hell is Notre Dame ranked ahead of BYU? I got a better question.
Why is Miami ranked ahead of Georgia Tech? We're the best team in the ACC? Why don't we have that spot?
You lost to NC State. They put up 48 points on you. NC State didn't cross the 50. I hear you. The good news for you is you have everything in front of you. You can play your way into the ACC championship game. You're arguing with a wall. And you'll be there. Everyone understands that. I would look at those CFP. I'd say it's a joke. Oh, cool. I care. I'm with you.
And they're going to get it if they win the ACC. It's not an issue.
I'm with you, by the way. I'm just saying, we're going to have an ACC team in there. Why don't we have the current ACC leader?
Let me answer Mike's question when he says, why is BYU with one loss ahead of Notre Dame? Behind, excuse me, behind Notre Dame. The reason for that is because this year, for whatever the reason is... They're measuring the losses.
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Chapter 3: How does the discussion about cream cheese relate to sports?
But I just told you that. But BYU got dragged by Texas Tech. It's the way they lost to Texas Tech. It's that it wasn't a close game. But that's the No. 6 team, and they have one fewer loss. Yes, it's the No. 6 team, but they lost by a million points. They lost by three scores, and it's one loss. It's one loss, and it's a quality one. They have a better win than Notre Dame has.
What I'm telling you is, you're saying, you just made your own point when you said they're measuring losses this year. The way they lost to Texas Tech is what makes them drop that far in the rankings. So now it's how much you lose?
It's not even the amount?
of losses? Yes. So they have one fewer loss. It's a quality loss. One better win than Notre Dame.
Chapter 4: What are the arguments surrounding the CFP rankings of Miami and Notre Dame?
It's not a quality loss because you lose by three scores. It's not a quality loss. You just played a good opponent, but you got dragged by them. That game was never close. It's not a quality loss. No, because of the way they lost.
If they're measuring losses ahead of the quality wins, why are the undefeated teams 1, 2, and 3? Like the teams with a loss should be.
Well, that's a good point. I think it's because Mike Ryan made fun of me last week because I said the three best teams I've seen are Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Indiana.
No, they don't have any quality losses, though.
No, but he's like, really, Dan? So you're going out on a limb there with all the undefeated teams. But BYU was undefeated, and I never considered them one of the best teams. And then they got dragged by Texas Tech. Texas Tech is also lost. They lost because they played their backup quarterback in an important game. But Texas Tech has looked all season to me like one of the best teams.
But it's the way they beat BYU. Here's the thing about Miami. Here is the thing that I'd make an argument if we're doing this as subjectively as judges on behalf of Miami. You know they're one of the best teams. You know why? They're going to be favored in every single game they play this year. So you know, you know they're one of the best teams.
So if there are a bunch of teams with two losses, the money tells you they're never an underdog. They are always expected to win every single game they play this season. Now, I don't know that the three teams at the top would probably, I don't even, maybe Indiana would be favored against them. Yeah, I think they would.
Right now, again, people keep saying, well, who would be favored right now, Notre Dame or Miami? And I would always say Notre Dame, they were favored when they played in September when Miami beat them. Lines are about getting 50-50 action.
Right.
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Chapter 5: How does the committee's ranking process compare to boxing judges?
If you look at others receiving votes in the AP Top 25, they're behind SMU in the coaches poll. Both SMU and Louisville are unranked, and I've heard for two weeks how this is a bad loss. The SMU loss is a bad loss, even though SMU was a CFP team last year and has one ACC regular season loss since they joined the conference. I keep hearing it's a bad loss. What do you do?
How do we juice this Utah ranking? We rank Arizona State even though they have no business being ranked here. Arizona State has zero business being ranked. They're behind the two teams that Miami lost to in all the other rankings. I hear what you're saying, my son.
The idea that we're throwing this in the lap of judges and you're bouncing past what I'm saying about betting lines, when it comes to the judgment of money, Miami will be favored in all of its games. That means you think they're good. You're not doing that... with more than 12 teams in the country.
They're one of the best 12 teams in the country based on how it is the money would decide when you put them against people. The reason the SMU loss is viewed as a bad loss is because they were an 8.5-point favorite. Right. Notre Dame was, I think, a close at 6.5-point favorite to Texas A&M. I guess the difference is two points there. Look, Notre Dame is a really good team. I understand this.
Why does everyone love Notre Dame so much? I understand why Notre Dame is a goodā Seriously. You're saying that? The Pope is saying that? The Pope knows why everyone loves Notre Dame so much. What do you mean? I'm trying to be fair, my son. Amen. I would love to hear the Pope rip Notre Dame. Notre Dame has gotten fat off of a flat track.
I mean, Notre Dame's third best win is probably Miami's third best win. It's both encapsulated by NC State. I mean, they were up 10-7 on NC State at halftime. But Notre Dame is a really good team. I'm not arguing that Notre Dame should be out of the CFP. Only they should be out of the CFP if Miami finds itself out of the CFP. Because they're either both in or just Miami's in.
I've asked this question before on Cinepho, but does Notre Dame have to kick back to the Vatican like a little taste of the action?
Put it on the poll, please, at Levitard Show. Does Notre Dame have to kick back to the Vatican a little taste of the action?
And I hate Notre Dame.
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Chapter 6: What is the impact of injuries on NBA players this season?
Dan, they were fine because they didn't do what Steve Kerr did, which is establish an alibi really nice and early. What they did is say, oh, yeah, he's fine. And even if they had established an alibi, like he's not feeling so well, the league would have turned on TV like, what the hell is he doing at Louisville, Kentucky?
You work for Vegas.
Mike, you know I have one rule to live by, right? Don't place parlays on multiple long shots. Don't say a game is won when it hasn't hit triple zero.
Always drink your JƤgermeister ice cold. That's the rule. Everything else is merely a suggestion. Everything else? Everything else.
Wearing clean underwear every day? Well, that's just a personal decision. Brushing your teeth? Obviously smart, but not a rule.
Never pee-pee on an electric fence. Okay, maybe there are two rules, but the one that is 100% that I insist on completely, Jagermeister must be drank ice cold. Or don't drink it at all. Damn, that's cold. Exactly.
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Chapter 7: Why are soft tissue injuries prevalent in today's NBA?
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All these high-paid analysts. I don't want to mention names. TNT. ESPN, you know, oh, yeah, they are dead. They're not going to make it, you know. Even if they win in, if they lose in Miami.
I need to calm you down.
That's right. If they lose in Miami, they don't got a chance in Boston. Oh, they are going to have their ass, you know what, in Boston, you know. Stugatz. They were wrong. Are they going to lose their job? No. Are they going to get a cut in pay? No. What are they going to do? Keep predicting what is the obvious. They are going to say, oh, the Nuggets are going to win. Oh, Denver, the Altitude.
And you know what? The Heat are going to win it all. This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugats.
Let's play the Steve Kerr sound talking about injury. Steve Kerr is always a good talker, and I wonder how you guys feel about all that he's going to say here.
I'm very concerned. You know, it's dramatic. The pace difference is dramatic. This team tonight has really upped their pace compared to last year. I think across the league, everybody understands now that ā It's just easier to score if you can beat the opponent down the floor, get out in transition.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of a potential men's softball league for NBA players?
But also... He's right, and this is the part where I think it's really lost on people. People like to compare, oh, it's so much faster than it was in the early 2000s and the 90s. Did you know, Dan, that 10 years ago, 2016, which feels close, right? 73-win Warriors, LeBron 3-1 lead, all that stuff, right? It feels very recent.
Ten years ago, there was one team in the entire NBA that played at a pace of 100 possessions per game. Today, two-thirds of the league play at a pace of 100 possessions per game.
Let me ask you, as our basketball insider who once sat in an NBA office, your thoughts on theāyes, obviously, without questionā There's more pace in today's game.
We can't say it's more physical, though, can we? Well, Dan, think about the injuries that's happening. It's not like, oh, I got hit and then my chest caved in or whatever. It's soft tissue injuries, groin injuries, hamstrings, right? Calf strains. Ankles. These are all pretty much non-contact type injuries. So you can't talk about physicality. What we're talking about is wear and tear.
And when you look around, and again, Giannis is out for a couple weeks now. We know Ja's out. We know AD is still out. We know... Kobe White is out. All around the league, Dylan Harper, Victor Weminyama. Bam. Bam. All these guys are not hurt because, oh, it was too physical. It's because of soft tissue injuries. And this is due to wear and tear.
And the wear and tear doesn't come from, oh, he played too many minutes last night. But it's an accumulation of these guys playing lots and lots of games as youths. And then the other thing, and this is big. they didn't have diversification, right? So years and years ago, I watched this documentary called In Search of Greatness.
They interviewed Jerry Rice and they interviewed Wayne Gretzky and all these greatest of the great athletes, right? And one of the common threads they found in all of them was they all were multi-sport athletes as youths. Wayne Gretzky talks about, like, hey, as soon as hockey season was over, I'd throw my gear in the basement. I wouldn't look at it again until it started getting cold again.
I picked up my baseball, man. I wanted to be a major league player. That was his dream. Hockey was his second dream, right? And so you think about a lot of the great players through history. Kobe Bryant was an avid soccer player. Tracy McGrady was a baseball player. All these guys played multiple sports. Michael Jordan, obviously. Now...
All these kids are like, you're just playing basketball every day, all day with a trainer, with AU, with your school team, whatever. And so what happens is you're getting wear and tear on the same muscles in the same way over and over and over and over. By the time you get to this level, the pace and all of it adds up. They've got an injury problem.
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