The College Football Playoff National Championship is set. Alex and Richard react to a mixed pair of semifinal games, with Miami outlasting Ole Miss and Indiana feeding Oregon into a wood chipper. In the rare Hurry-Up recorded from a live studio (or at least living room), we discuss:

* 18:37: Miami 31, Ole Miss 27

* 01:03: Indiana 56 (!), Oregon 22

Producer: Anthony Vito

Become a paid subscriber

We are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there’s still a lot of news to talk about.

Thanks to our partners and subscribers

* 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD

* https://www.nokiantyres.com/szd

* Shop Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/

* Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL

SUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Once upon a time, Ole Miss picked segregation and the Stars and Bars over being good at football. Indiana picked basketball over being good at football. Miami never really chose not to be good at football, but made a series of mistakes and ran up against difficult modern realities that caused a long drought. Meanwhile, the story of Phil Knight rescuing Oregon is now so old-fashioned it’s basically quaint. In this subscriber episode, Richard and Alex talk about how the four 2025 Playoff semifinalists got out of their own way.

The second half of this audio file (starting at 39:43) is a resurfacing of our “Dead Letters” episode about the history of Ole Miss football, featuring Alex and Steven Godfrey. We’ve gotten a lot of new listeners since the episode came out in 2023 and wanted to make sure those folks had a chance to hear it.

Find all Dead Letters shows here.

Producer: Anthony Vito.

This is a subscriber episode of SZD

We are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there’s still a lot of news to talk about.

We’ll do a lot of that exclusively for subscribers. Thanks to everyone who’s already joined us, and if you haven’t yet, we think you’ll enjoy it if you check it out. Good for the soul but also good for the podcast queue.

Richard and Alex talk about the absurd FCS Championship that ended with Montana State claiming the national title over Illinois State. Then it’s time to preview the College Football Playoff semifinals in a lot of detail.

* 2:30 FCS Championship

* 15:42 Ole Miss vs. Miami

* 33:52 Oregon vs. Indiana

* 52:15 NFL playoff takes

Producer: Anthony Vito.

Become a paid subscriber in 2026!

We are grateful for the several thousand people who pay $10 a month or $110 for the year to support Split Zone Duo. One thing you get is the knowledge that you are making this independent college football podcast possible. Another thing you get is a lot of bonus episodes, including weekly dispatches all offseason long. The football season is our busiest time, but we like to think the offseason is our most creative time, and there’s still a lot of news to talk about.

We’ll do a lot of that exclusive for subscribers. Thanks to everyone who’s already joined us, and if you haven’t yet, we think you’ll enjoy it if you check it out. Good for the soul but also good for the podcast queue.

Thank you to Split Zone Duo’s sponsors

* 20% off Dad Water: https://drinkdadwater.com/discount/SZD

* https://www.nokiantyres.com/szd

* Shop Homefield at https://www.homefieldapparel.com/

* Modelo: Drink responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL