Jessica Smetana joins to kick off 2026 by looking at some of the best, worst and most confusing takes regarding the playoff and bowls from the past month-plus, including Notre Dame's conference affiliation, the G5 autobid, bye week curses, reorganizing the playoff calendar, whether the non-playoff bowls should exist and much more. Then (1:15:00) we are contractually obligated to talk about a Catholic whodunnit, so it's a deep dive on Wake Up Dead Man and a draft of our favorite characters from the Benoit Blanc trilogy. (We shout out when spoilers start if you haven't watched yet but you should watch.)

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The Spreadsheets & Tailgates newsletter's Michael Bryan joins to run through some news: Marcus Freeman is officially staying at Notre Dame despite NFL interest, Southern Cal is officially taking the coward's path, updates on the roster and transfer portal guesswork.

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We were going to do this Friday afternoon as a recap of Everything but decided to let things settle a bit first, so: Jessica Smetana joins to talk Jeremiyah Love awards circuit, All-American tracking, Remembering Some Guys via trivia, the USC series, strength of schedule debates, which reports from last week matter and which don't, basketball injury updates and much more.

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