Episode 164 – Climbing the mountain: Ohio State looms over rival, Browns trying to overtake theirs

Is The Game still THE game? Heading into its tilt with Michigan, Ohio State has reclaimed the top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and is steamrolling its way toward a playoff berth. The Wolverines and Coach Jim Harbaugh are still just trying to figure out how to break through for a win in this series. The guys discuss the stakes for the Buckeyes on Saturday (and whether a loss would even kill their playoff chances), the state of Michigan football under Harbaugh, and whether this year’s edition of The Game can be competitive.

Meanwhile, with the Browns and Steelers set to renew pleasantries just 10 days after all hell broke loose between the two teams in Cleveland, the guys cover Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph’s demotion (…as conveyed by Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath!) and what the Browns need to do to finally win at Heinz Field for the first time in 16 years.


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Intro/outro music: "The 3rd" by Anitek

Photos by Associated Press and Cleveland Browns Twitter | Photo illustration by The Nail in the Coffin

Episode 136 – Rerun: Buckeyes miss out on College Football Playoff again

For the second straight year, Ohio State won the Big Ten championship, but missed out on the College Football Playoff, which, also for the second straight year, will include Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma. Being left out of the playoff field wasn’t a surprise, but also finishing behind two-loss Georgia this year? That’s a little more dubious. The guys discuss the selection committee’s wonky logic, the Big Ten’s struggle to get its champion into the playoff, and the value of a do-or-die regular season vs. an expanded playoff that lets in all worthy contenders.

Plus: A half-baked Fox vs. ESPN TV rights conspiracy theory and Dwayne Haskins’ Heisman odds.


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Intro/outro music: "The 3rd" by Anitek

Episode 102 – Let’s go bowling! New Year’s Six college football preview

For the third straight year, Mark Podolski, sports editor of The News-Herald, joins Tom and Travis for a marathon rundown of college football’s New Year’s Six bowl games, including Ohio State-USC in the Cotton Bowl, as well as the College Football Playoff semifinals between Oklahoma and Georgia (Rose Bowl), and Clemson and Alabama (Sugar). Plus: Quarterbacks Sam Darnold of USC and Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, as well as Penn State running back Saquon Barkley (playing in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Washington), could figure prominently into the Browns’ draft plans in April. How much of an impact, if at all, will their bowl game performances have on where they land on draft day?


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Intro/outro music: "The 3rd" by Anitek

Episode 098 – Fight for 4: Bill Bender on Ohio State, Alabama and the College Football Playoff

Four games between top-10 teams in one day! Playoff implications abound! Saturday has all the makings of a great day for college football, but the biggest fight of the weekend could be waged on Sunday morning if perennial powerhouses Ohio State and Alabama are left to scrap for a fourth and final College Football Playoff berth. Bill Bender of the Sporting News is back on the show to help the guys navigate the battlefield. Quality wins? Bad losses? Conference titles? What will sway the selection committee? Do precedents matter? Are any other teams outside the current top four in the mix? Can any of those top four stay in even with a loss? It’s an action-packed – and, at times, contentious! – episode of The Nail.


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Intro/outro music: "The 3rd" by Anitek