Cover 2 College Football pod
410 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★ - 506 ratingsThe Athlon Sports Cover 2 College Football Podcast previews and reviews every aspect of the greatest sport on the planet.
Join Athlon’s editorial team every week of the preseason, regular season, postseason and offseason for a breakdown of the entire circus that is college football.
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Episodes
Scheduling drama and various other dramas
June 01, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 115 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. SEC scheduling drama Strength of schedule drama Championship game drama USC A.D. drama Michigan coaching drama Georgia speeding drama B1G TV contract drama Big 12 expansion drama Bowl game lawsuit drama Shannon Terry and On3's NIL Elite Series (not drama)
2023 Preseason Rankings Explained
May 24, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 99.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall explain the Athlon Sports preseason Top 25 and then some. Who makes the playoff? Where is the drop off in the top 25? Who makes conference championship games? Where are the tiers in each major conference? Who are the best Group of 5 teams?
Expansion Tension Rising (or not?)
May 18, 2023 08:00 - 55 minutes - 75.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. EA Sports video game takes step Personal video game records, history ACC meetings lead to expansion drama The most desirable brands in the ACC? Which league would want which teams? Does anything actually happen? Pac-12 expansion is actually happening Do we have a short-term solution out West? What does the Big 12 do? Dylan Riaola, nation's No. 1 player commits Are the best QBs leaving the West? Is the Pac-12 doing be...
Official 2023 Top 4 (and more)
May 10, 2023 18:00 - 51 minutes - 70.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We unveil our official magazine top four in 2023 while also covering the on-going Pac-12 media rights, massive changes around gambling and who won the portal this time around?
All-Conference QBs in 2023
May 04, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. College football playoff schedule Things we hate, things we're OK with SEC permanent opponents 16-team scheduling criteria All-ACC QB battle for No. 1? Clear top three in the Big 12 The projection issue in the Big Ten Elite QB play in the Pac-12 One clearcut top Hog in SEC Hearing from KJ Jefferson All-American votes
QB Draft Outliers and Primetime Spring Storylines
April 26, 2023 21:06 - 1 hour - 82.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Pac-12 non-answer answer Deion Sanders doing it his way Nature of our system now QB outliers in the NFL Draft Five-star recruits going pro Two wide receivers we love Spring storylines that matter Very different QBs at UGa and Bama Clemson and USC's defense Texas makes actual news Ohio State's offensive line SEC QB battles Rapid Fire Lassan Test
Playoff Contenders in 2023 (and CFP Meetings)
April 20, 2023 20:19 - 59 minutes - 82 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Early Top 4 debate Preseason Top 25 difficulty How many playoff contenders are there? How many teams can win the national title? What to do with Texas? Coach Prime is selling lots of tickets Colorado's short term, long term future Pac-12 media rights tied to CU? CFP meetings in Dallas next week New Big Ten commish role at meetings Working out the schedule for the playoff Stop worrying about the NFL
Big Ten Big Swing and Spring Scrimmages
April 13, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 63.1 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Magazine prediction stress Big Ten tabs Tony Petitti Insider? Outsider? Tony's first order of business How can B1G level playing the field? Off-the-field opportunity Pac-12 media rights are still... well... Spring scrimmages are a good idea? Lots of reasons to add value to spring What are concerns? How would it be logistically possible?
National Title DNA: The Nick Saban Test
April 06, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 99.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We begin with Kent St, obviously 0 starters back on offense or defense? Defining National Championship DNA Defining Playoff DNA How many teams nationally have it? How can you change your DNA? What time frames are we using? The Nick Saban Test
What's the best program in the new Big 12?
March 30, 2023 08:00 - 54 minutes - 75.5 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys touch on the new recruiting rules, Pac-12 rumors and NIL congressional meetings. Then we take a deep dive into the future Big 12 and how those programs stack up against each other currently and historically. What is the best program in the new Big 12? The worst? How much upward mobility to the new programs have? Where would USC, UCLA, Texas and Oklahoma rank in their new conferences? And a quick look at our national top 10 program...
What if it was 12 teams all along?
March 23, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 88.2 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Obligatory latest Pac-12 news New Big 12 angle to consider Spring practice content approach What if it was always a 12-team playoff? Which coaches benefit? Which teams are evaluated differently? Dan Mullen, James Franklin, Jimbo Wisconsin, USC, Baylor, Michigan St Kirk Ferentz, Mike Gundy, David Shaw Iowa St, Indiana, Colorado, Arizona
Complications of coaching legacies
March 16, 2023 16:53 - 1 hour - 90.9 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Pac-12 obligatory opening update Big names coaches who need to win Long-time coaches with no expectations Long-time coaches with nothing to prove Future potential next wave of long-timers Long-timers who did everything they could Future names with building pressure
Spring QB battles and Transfer Data
March 09, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 85.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. More Pac-12 rumors! An ACC merger Three new rule changes SEC schedule leaks Georgia culture problem? Transfer QB portal data P5 transfers vs. G5 QB battles in the spring Bama, Georgia, Ole Miss Nebraska, Ohio St Ok-State, Texas, West Virginia Arizona St and UCLA NC State and more
Most unpredictable teams of 2023
March 02, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 68.5 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Coaches hurting the game with access Players need to be more available Florida St sends warning shot at ACC Grant of Rights' future Pac-12 no news is bad news Can Washington challenge out West? What to make of Colorado? Miami or North Carolina in the ACC? Wisconsin, Michigan St, Nebraska The new guys in the Big 12 Who is on the top tier in the SEC? Who is in the SEC's middle?
The worst rule change in history
February 23, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Apple TV bids for Pac-12 Fans react New game rules to speed things up Is game-length a real problem Which rules do we like? One rule that we hate Big 12 new schedule is WILD Four new teams creates imbalance AAC releases its new schedule Group of 5 wide open?
Big Ten, SEC Scheduling Fun
February 15, 2023 16:37 - 1 hour - 93 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. 2024 is going to look very different Pac-12 inventory, openly courting SMU Every day the media deal isn't signed What is the Big 12 going to do? B1G holding firm, good news for Pac-12? Scheduling model for the Big Ten New permanent rivals for USC, UCLA Does UCLA now have championship DNA? Scheduling model for the SEC New permanent rivals for Texas, OU Are we okay with unbalanced schedules? Brian Ferentz contract To...
Megacast: New Coaching Grades, Expansion, Offensive Evolution
February 09, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 117 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The Pac-12 is sniffing around SMU Impact of streaming shift Targeting Mountain West teams Texas, OU not moving... yet What's the hold up? Bama hires Tommy Rees, Kevin Steele Is there a shift in offense happening? Redefining "balance" on offense Grading all 24 new coaching hires Tons of young inexperience A few retreads Wisconsin and Louisville top the list Nebraska, Colorado close behind
Best and Worst of Recruiting in 2023
February 02, 2023 15:10 - 1 hour - 94.3 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The Jalen Hurts phenomena QBs winning in college and the NFL Breaking down the 2023 recruiting cycle How good are top classes? How are the new Big 12 teams faring? How are new coaches doing? Recruiting outliers: The Best Recruiting outliers: The Worst Big jumps, big falls, big names
Winners and Losers: Portal, Draft, Coordinators
January 26, 2023 09:00 - 55 minutes - 75.7 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The $9 million club Lessons and blame with Jaden Rashada Boosters and ROI market forces Clemson makes bold move The ripple effect at TCU, Arkansas Ole Miss with a monster week Alabama's coaching vacancies Mike Gundy catching lightning twice? Michigan winning all over (sort of) Oregon, Pac-12 surging Florida State momentum continues NFL Draft deadline winners, losers Transfer Portal winners, losers
Who's consistently overrated? How often? And why?
January 19, 2023 09:00 - 1 hour - 88 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We take a deep dive into the most overrated preseason teams of the last 25 years since the advent of the BCS. How many times are top 10 teams finishing with losing records? Who is overrated? And why is it happening? Are there any trends and is Notre Dame actually always overrated? We also discuss the open Commissioner chair in the Big Ten.
Never Too Early 2023 preseason Top 25
January 11, 2023 18:31 - 1 hour - 87 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We dissect our never-too-early preseason top 25 for 2023. There are a lot of new faces and names. But the more things change, the more they stay the same at the top of the sport. Follow along at AthlonSports.com
Bulldog Obliteration
January 10, 2023 15:35 - 36 minutes - 50.4 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Georgia's utter domination caps 2022 Don't change your mind on TCU, though Stetson Bennett's insane career Kirby Smart's future Who were the best teams in 2022?
An Unprecedented Monday Night
January 05, 2023 10:00 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football, previewing the national championship game between Georgia and TCU. Bobby Petrino lands at Texas A&M Jim Harbaugh is flirting with the NFL No tailgating at 430 pm local time The setting for the title game TCU's truly incomparable run Sonny Dykes unlikely retread Stetson Bennett's unprecedented career Building blocks of a TCU upset Max Duggan superman What to do with Quentin Johnston? UGa keeps it simple Patience and b...
First and Hungover
January 01, 2023 15:49 - 25 minutes - 35.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys recap the best night of college football playoff action in history as TCU defeated Michigan and Georgia outlasted Ohio State. We touch on the national title match-up and break down New Year's Eve.
The Playoffs are here!
December 28, 2022 00:55 - 59 minutes - 81.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The playoffs are here! Coaching pressure, implications TCU's house money, nothing to lose Michigan's unfinished business Jim Harbaugh's QB gamble Lack of turnovers Offensive lines CJ Stroud vs. Stetson Bennett Attacking UGa's defense Finding the path to the upset Final predictions
The future of December
December 21, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. National Signing Day stories New Big Ten, SEC rankings The bottom 10 power 5 classes Overachievers, underachievers The real story is there's no story December cannot hold all of this How do fans prioritize content? Portal vs. Recruiting? Coaching changes vs. bowl games? Layers of chaos Adding playoff games to the madness Another week of bowl games More first-time match-ups!
Mike Leach's genius and stubbornness
December 15, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 123 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Mike Leach's legacy Personality vs. Scheme Authentic stubborness Most influential schemes of the era Spread, zone read, RPO, four-wide Mississippi St tabs Zach Arnett Purdue finds Jeff Brohm's replacement Navy's bizarro mistake Previewing the first week of bowls UTSA vs. Troy Florida vs. Oregon St SMU vs. BYU Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama Chris Childers joins to tell some Mike Leach stories.
Jim Harbaugh's Lane Kiffin moment
December 08, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 94.9 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Heisman Finalist: Did they get it right? Just best players on best teams? Best non-QBs in the game are... who? Jim Harbaugh's Lane Kiffin moment What has Michigan done differently? Can Deion Sanders win at Colorado? Coach Prime risk vs. reward Scott Satterfield gets out ahead Jeff Brohm finally returns home Purdue should SPEND MONEY Jamey Chadwell to... Liberty? Trent Dilfer. Seriously, Trent Dilfer? Barry Odom, Ke...
Playoff Narratives and Predictions with Mitch Light
December 04, 2022 18:40 - 52 minutes - 72.7 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall are joined by former Cover 2 host Mitch Light of TheAthletic.com to react to the final '22 Final Playoff rankings and matchups? Did committee get it right? Pressure on Ryan Day, Ohio St OSU offense vs. UGa defense TCU's incredible journey Michigan's experience Big brand bias is dead SEC bias is dead Bama fatigue vs. Ohio St fatigue
Championship Weekend Scenarios
December 01, 2022 13:24 - 56 minutes - 78.3 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football, preview championship weekend and predict what will happen in Sunday's final playoff rankings. Utah vs. USC Kansas St vs. TCU UCF at Tulane Purdue vs. Michigan LSU vs. Georgia Clemson vs. North Carolina Fresno St at Boise State Coastal Carolina at Troy North Texas at UTSA Toledo vs. Ohio
Coaching drama and gauranteed playoff spots
November 30, 2022 02:47 - 1 hour - 96.7 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The penultimate rankings are out - there are no surprises - and a bunch of power five jobs got filled. Shouldn't TCU be treated like Georgia, Michigan? Is USC the most dangerous team in the country? Why Bama should be ahead of Tennessee Ohio State is the committee's backstop Hugh Freeze has been hired at Auburn On-field chaos vs. off-field chaos Big boy moves by Wisconsin Nebraska doesn't need splashy Arizona St hires Kenn...
Thanksgiving Feast-Cast
November 23, 2022 03:17 - 1 hour - 137 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football, rivalry week and Thanksgiving football! We talk coaching rumors, video games, playoff rankings, championship Saturday implications and offer our picks against the spread. Michigan at Ohio State Notre Dame at USC Oregon at Oregon State Tulane at Cincinnati Mississippi State at Ole Miss Washington at Washington State Baylor at Texas, Iowa St at TCU South Carolina at Clemson Auburn at Alabama Louisville at Kentucky Florid...
West Coast takes center stage
November 16, 2022 20:00 - 1 hour - 95.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys break down the third set of Playoff rankings, preview Week 12 and try to keep picking winners. Cause that's all they do now. USC at UCLA Utah at Oregon TCU at Baylor Oklahoma State at Oklahoma Illinois at Michigan Iowa at Minnesota Ole Miss at Arkansas Georgia at Kentucky Kansas State at West Virginia Texas at Kansas NC State at Louisville
Let's find out about TCU, Clemson and Ole Miss
November 10, 2022 09:00 - 59 minutes - 81.4 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys preview Week 11 and offer up their picks against the spread. TCU at Texas Alabama at Ole Miss LSU at Arkansas Georgia at Mississippi St Washington at Oregon Kansas St at Baylor Purdue at Illinois UCF at Tulane North Carolina at Wake Forest Louisville at Clemson Florida St at Syracuse Wisconsin at Iowa
Looking in the wrong one-loss direction
November 09, 2022 02:32 - 49 minutes - 68.3 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall breakdown the second edition of college football rankings - even though we really don't love what it does to our brains. So we did it our way. Who are you not where are you ranked Clemson's chances at getting back in The Pac-12 is the real concern Why is UCLA seperated from USC, Oregon? One-loss debates abound TCU has to handle it's business Can LSU jump the rest of the SEC? USF's Grumors are... ridiculous, right?
Auburn Drama and Top 10 Showdowns
November 03, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Auburn has decided to out-Auburn itself but doing the most Auburn things possible. What could it mean for the coaching dominoes? Then the guys preview Week 10 and offer up picks against the spread. Tennessee at Georgia Alabama at LSU Clemson at Notre Dame Texas at Kansas St Wake Forest at NC State Liberty at Arkansas Florida St at Miami Oregon St at Washington Maryland at Wisconsin Baylor at Oklahoma BYU at Boise St
Understand the ranking process
November 02, 2022 01:23 - 36 minutes - 50.1 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football and the first playoff rankings of the season. Predicting how the committee works Secret SEC playoff committee conspiracy How close losses should be viewed Why Bama is ahead of TCU Tennessee's remarkable run to No. 1 "Ranked at the time" is so dumb Why a Top 40 would be so much better Kirby LOVES these rankings
Are we about to learn who is No. 1?
October 27, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 99.1 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys preview Week 9, talk through the grind of October and offer up their top bets against the spread. Ohio St at Penn St Oklahoma St at Kansas St Kentucky at Tennessee Cincinnati at UCF Utah at Washington St Ole Miss at Texas A&M Florida vs. Georgia Michigan St at Michigan TCU at West Virginia Notre Dame at Syracuse Baylor at Texas Tech
Encore West of the Mississippi
October 20, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 82.9 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. Who is the No. 1 team in college football? Then we preview Week 8 and offer picks against the spread. UCLA at Oregon Texas at Ok-State Kansas St at TCU Ole Miss at LSU Syracuse at Clemson Mississippi St at Alabama Minnesota at Penn St Purdue at Wisconsin Iowa at Ohio St Texas A&M at South Carolina Kansas at Baylor
Midseason Apology Tour & Rankings PSA
October 18, 2022 18:56 - 1 hour - 84.1 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall take mid-season stock of the 2022 college football season. How do we measure excitement and greatness? How should "rankings" be consumed and how should they be viewed? Does the committee deserve more (or less) credit? We apologize to some teams, the audience and to each other about what we've gotten wrong so far. And we look ahead at potential some dream championship game matchups.
Biggest Week of the Year
October 12, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 88.8 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. What is happening at Auburn, Louisville and Stanford and does Matt Rhule return to college football? Then the guys preview a huge Week 7 and offer picks against the spread. Alabama at Tennessee Penn St at Michigan USC at Utah Oklahoma St at TCU NC State at Syracuse Clemson at Florida St Mississippi State at Kentucky Minnesota at Illinois LSU at FLorida Nebraska at Purdue Kansas at Oklahoma
Future of coaching decisions (and Week 6)
October 06, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 103 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys analyze how the changing landscape of college football is impacting athletic department decision making. Which jobs are valuable? Which jobs are overrated? Which jobs could come open soon? Then we preview Week 6: Utah at UCLA Tennessee at LSU TCU at Kansas Texas A&M at Alabama Arkansas at Mississippi St Texas vs. Oklahoma Florida St at NC State Wazzu at USC BYU at Notre Dame Farmageddon North Carolina at Miami
Week 5: Unknown unbeatens
September 29, 2022 08:00 - 59 minutes - 82 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall preview Week 5 of the college football season and offer their picks against the spread. This week's Sacko Bowl! NC State-Clemson Bama-Arkansas Michigan-Iowa Ok State-Baylor Kentucky-Ole Miss Texas A&M-Mississippi St Washington-UCLA Wake Forest-Florida St Oklahoma-TCU Oregon St-Utah Texas Tech-Kansas St Iowa St-Kansas
Week 4: History and Psychology
September 22, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 102 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. The guys have a few reminders for fans as it pertains to coaching searches before previewing Week 4 and offering their picks against the spread. Florida-Tennessee Arkansas-Texas A&M USC-Oregon St Clemson-Wake Forest Baylor-Iowa St Oregon-Wazzu Wisconsin-Ohio St Maryland-Michigan Kansas St-Oklahoma Minnesota-Michigan St Notre Dame-North Carolina, Duke-Kansas, Texas-Texas Tech, Stanford-Washington, Mizzou-Auburn, West Vi...
Week 3: Still collecting data
September 15, 2022 09:00 - 58 minutes - 80.6 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football, preview Week 3, talk about Nebraska's coaching search and offer up picks against the spread. Miami at Texas A&M Penn St at Auburn BYU at Oregon Michigan St at Washington Mississippi St at LSU Oklahoma at Nebraska Fresno St at USC Florida St at Louisville UTSA at Texas Texas Tech at NC State Georgia at South Carolina Kansas at Houston Purdue at Syracuse
Sneaky good Week 2
September 08, 2022 09:00 - 55 minutes - 76.5 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall preview week 2 of the college football season and make official picks against the spread: Baylor at BYU Bama at Texas Kentucky at Florida Tennessee at Pitt The CyHawk Trophy Oregon St at Fresno St South Carolina at Arkansas USC at Stanford Mississippi St at Arizona Washington St at Wisconsin Missouri at Kansas St
Emergency Family Expansion Meeting: Big Pros, Huge Con
September 05, 2022 15:45 - 57 minutes - 79.5 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall breakdown the new playoff format for college football. Why is expansion good for the game? Will it actually devalue the regular season? Six automatic bids, six at-large bids How they're determining seeding if FUBAR What about scheduling and timing? A simple solution to making players play more Should the playoff re-seed after round one? The biggest and most insane flaw! No, seriously, we are pissed off.
Week 1-a-palooza!
September 01, 2022 09:00 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall preview week 1 of the college football season and make official picks against the spread: Utah at Florida Oregon vs. Georgia Notre Dame at Ohio St Florida St vs. LSU Cincinnati at Arkansas NC State at East Carolina Boise St at Oregon St Clemson vs. Georgia Tech Houston at UTSA North Carolina at App St Memphis at Mississippi St
Final Playoff Predictions
August 24, 2022 14:35 - 1 hour - 88 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We announce our in-season schedule with some new twists. What does the new contract with the Big Ten mean for fans? We make our Final College Football Playoff Predictions and give you our top win total futures bets. Oh yeah, and we get to preview Week 0!
Bad Boy Mower Preseason Award Megacast
August 16, 2022 21:22 - 1 hour - 98.4 MBSteven Lassan and Braden Gall talk college football. We have preseason awards to give out to teams, units and players. But these are not your ordinary awards. Like... who are the most underrated defensive units in America? Who are the biggest QB heel turns of 2022? And which Group of 5 team has the best offensive skill players? You know, normal stuff.