Welcome on in folks to another Triangle and two, Mark Berg and Luis Fernandez. And we have a very special, uh, bowl, a celebration version of Triangle and two, a lot of bowl games to discuss and, uh, unlock, um, Mark, I want to get started though with, I think, what was the, it's, that's what everyone's been talking about this entire time, right? Um The college football playoff which the Triangle teams were nowhere near. Um, but Florida State in the AC C getting left out, um, for those of you who have not seen at this 0.1 is, um, Michigan two is Washington, three is Texas four is Alabama when that came down, Mark on Sunday, what were your initial thoughts on Florida State being the odd man out? They got this wrong because they're validating that the games don't actually matter. And the example I'll point you to is Cardale Jones with Ohio State several seasons back. And if you don't know the name, Google it, they should know the name. Uh, although, although that, I guess that was a lot longer ago than I realized. No. Now, now I get that if you look at point spreads. Florida State would be a double digit underdog, but like, just because their quarterback and backups get injured, let's just invalidate every other position because the quarterbacks, all that matters at this point. Lewis left tackle doesn't matter. Your linebackers don't matter, your cornerback or star skill position players, they don't matter. But if your quarterbacks out it, it like the moment Jordan Travis went out, Florida State gets eliminated from the CFP. Like, make that make sense. And look again, if the point spreads, if they had made the CFP, they'd be a double digit underdog. They're a double digit underdog to Georgia in their bowl game. Right. But this is a defense that hasn't allowed 30 points in a game this season. We're just going to ignore the other facets of football for a better primetime TV matchup and not to give these kids an opportunity when they've earned it versus Alabama and Texas getting in as one law schools. It doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah, I mean, I, I get, I, I think that Alabama and Texas are very deserving of being in the top four. Don't get me wrong, but like Florida State needs to be there. They are a power five undefeated team. I mean, everything I would say at this point would just, you know, reflect what you have. I did like a little spiel on, um, the news last night, just kind of breaking it all down and how that check that out on WRL Sports fan.com Lewis because I thought it was terrific. She got, it's, it's so frustrating, you know, I can't imagine if I was a Florida State fan or anything like that or if I was involved with that Florida State team in general, like, like you said, like, ok, there, the spread would be, you know, bigger if Florida State were to play in that game instead of Alabama or you know, Texas or wherever it would be. Ok. What's your point? Like Vegas doesn't decide who plays in the college football playoff. Vegas is not on the committee. That's why you play the games. And look, let's take this a step further, Lewis, let's take this a step further. Boo Corgan, who's on the committee and making this decision, mark this down. This is December the 4th 2023 when NC State plays Florida State in future seasons, there's going to be a price to pay. I am telling you this. Now, I am telling you this letter or word. It's not, it's not Boo Corrigan's fault. He just happens to be the face of the, the college football committee. But yeah, no, I mean, it definitely, it's, it's not great. The perception could be reality though Lewis and that's the perception that Florida State and Florida State fans will have as a result of this decision. But my, my whole thing is, I think it just comes back to you in football. Like, it, it is a lot harder to project how things will go in football just because of how many elements there are in the game, what's going on, all the different players. So, and it's, it's totally discrediting everything else that Florida State has done. I mean, they've won three games since, uh, Jordan Travis's injury. Um, you know, they've been rivals with Jordan without Jordan Travis. Um, they had a third string true freshman quarterback in there and they dominated number 16 at the time. Louisville, um, 16 to 6. I mean, it's just, uh, it's just, it's ridiculous. Like that's, that, to me is, I, it's absurd and I, I'm almost like to the point where I'm just like, I'm done talking about it because it's just, it's so frustrating. It goes against all logic, it goes against all precedent that the committee has had in the past and it's not gonna matter next year because it's 12 teams. Ok, great. But, I mean, for this year, I, it's, it's awful. It's super frustrating and Alabama is gonna win the national championship. Now. I like, that's what's gonna end up happening and just because that's how, that's how the law works. So that's how Karmic, you know, things go down, it feels like, but let's keep this rolling because clearly we're gonna change other people's opinions on the internet and they're gonna say Gee Mark and Lewis were right. But Lewis, I, I agree with you, I think it's ridiculous. Yeah. Agreed. Um, let's go and turn out to the local teams though because what we saw on Sunday was because of this unexpected, uh, change to the college playoff. It caused a ripple effect, uh, down the rest of, um, of the AC C, especially in the bowls. And you saw people getting pushed down because now Florida State was added to the mix. There was a lot of confusion who's going to be going to what bowl you had different bowls fighting over different teams. One of the places that all ended up falling out for NC State, the Pop Tarts bowl and state will be playing Kansas State in the Pop Tarts bowl. Um, and Pop Tarts bowl for, for those that are unaware. Um I think more than anything, I, I just want to get this out there because I know why you're smiling and laughing Mark. Uh They're gonna have an actual pop tart mascot at the game. Uh, that is edible. So, um, that's great. That is fantastic. Can't wait for after like a pick six. I hope the teams get to choose which flavor that the mascot is. Personally, I would go with the Samos flavor, the brown Cinnamon sugar. Just delightful. And can we heat the popcorn too? They're gonna need toast sidelines too. There needs to be the right preparation for this game. It's no, this is perfect college football. Um You know, just the chaotic nature of it. I, I really appreciate. I like Smores. I had Smores the most. I think growing up as a kid, like I was just really into Smores for some reason. I thought it was like an absolute delicacy when I was like, when I was a little kid. Um but I mean, it, it kind of is, I know I, I like Smores a lot. Um Some of the fruit flavors are really good too. I've actually never had wild berry before, so I need to, I need to remedy that at some point. Um But this is exciting for NC State for a lot of different reasons. Number one, it's a top 25 matchup. Uh NC State rose at all the way up to number 18 in the college football playoff rankings. Um And now they're placing, facing Kansas State who is a good team who, you know, took teams like Oklahoma State and, uh, Texas to the brink. Um, they, they beat or they lost to Texas just by three points. So I think that's fascinating State has a five game winning streak going into this one. And it's, it's the history that is possible for NC State as Walmart. Yes and 10 win season. It would only be the second time NC State if they win that. They've gotten a 10 wins. Gotta go back to 2002. Chuck Amato and the Wolfpack go 11 and three. So a very big deal. Considering earlier this year, we were laughing at NC State and Dave Doran and the state of the program and going from Brennan Armstrong to MJ Morris and now you have the opportunity to salvage your season and to get to 10 wins. That's a really big deal considering you've only done this one other time in the history of the entire program. And it's a Kansas State team that plays a similar style of football in the sense that, like they've lost games that they probably weren't expected to win, but they beat everyone that they're supposed to. And I think it's very interesting too that you leave off my alma mater because if not for a 61 yard field goal, they'd have knocked off Missouri on the right 61. Y I know, I remember that kick and, and being that was just ridiculous because it's college kickers. Um, yeah, Missouri's in a New Year and six Bowl, right. Uh, they're playing Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl just ahead of New Year's Eve and yeah, got their work cut out for them against the Buckeyes, no doubt. That's fun. Um No, I know it's, I really, I, I've said it for the past like five weeks essentially, but I, I don't think that you can give enough credit to Dave Doran and his coaching staff for the week. Say one thing too, with this offense, Lewis. I, I gotta hop in here because I don't think we've given this guy enough credit on NC State. We can talk about Peyton Wilson a lot, but Casey Concepcion on the offensive side of the ball and they're going to hang on to him and give him enough nil money and all of that Swiss Army knife for the wolfpack offense. And he's helped revitalize and get this group to, uh, regroup if you will. And it's funny because we have a lot of NC State alum in the WRL newsroom, Lewis. And it's like, like this kid's gonna be really good as a sophomore or junior. Let, let's scratch that from the record. He's really good right now. I mean, he's very creative player right now. Yeah, absolutely. No, he's, he's, um, he, he is his ability to be used everywhere. Um, it's, it's somewhat, somewhat reminiscent, different body size, different kind of talent, I guess and different, different types of, of ways they play, but it's somewhat reminiscent to how Debo Samuel, you know, has been and was used by the 49er before they got Christian Caffrey where he's just kind of all over the place. You can really do a lot with him. His speed is phenomenal. Um The, the one thing that's gonna be interesting about this too when you look at Kansas State is they have a tendency to give up a lot of rushing yards. Um I went back to, uh looking at the past few games, right. So as they went in their final four games of the season, they went two and two, and they played, you know, Texas, for example, in those two games. But when you go back to, um, how opponents did against them over the course of those last four games, 230 yards rushing, 234 yards rushing, 258 yards rushing. So you can run on Kansas State. So it's gonna be interesting to see if that translates for uh the wolf pack and they are the underdogs in this game last time I saw the with the spread. So, um I it's, it's gonna be really interesting to see what, what this looks like for state and I wanna see Dave Dorn after this game, if the Wolf pack are victorious, how a Pop Tart goes down with a nice bourbon after a wolf pack win, we will see Lewis. I can't wait for this match up the Pop Tart Bowl, the inaugural Pop Tart Bowl edible mascot on the sidelines. These stories write themselves. Let's keep this rolling though. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So we go from uh North Carolina State to UN C uh who will be playing West Virginia in the Duke's Mail Bowl. Now, this is the second year in a row that a local triangle team has been in the Duke's Mail Bowl. NC State was in the Duke's Mail Bowl last year. Um And you know, UN C was just recently in the Duke's Mail Bowl as well. Uh, they lost pretty badly to South Carolina, I believe, was that one? Um, so, but this is not exactly where UN C expected their season to go. Uh, I think that the expectations were a little bit higher but, you know, you have an opportunity to win the game against power five opponent, uh, in the postseason. Uh, in North Carolina, there is some interesting storylines here. What, what are you paying the most attention to mark a year ago? We were robbed when NC State didn't get it done in the Duke's Mayo Bowl to see Dave dorn doused in Mayo. And nothing would give me more delight than to see Mac Brown at the age of 72 slathered in Mayonnaise after a car heels win. I, I'm excited for it too but don't, don't use the word slathered when we're talking about the male bowl. All right, man. That I guess it gives me that. I don't, I don't know how I feel about that. I, I get bad vibes. I don't know. I would be surprised if Drake May plays in this game. I just don't think there's any upside in him playing it then goes to, ok, Tes Walker and some of the other players on North Carolina's roster with the potential of going to the NFL now. Ok, for the players that are going to play. Oh, Marion Hampton, he's been the star of the show all season, all, all season long in terms of running the ball, his production, he's close to breaking some North Carolina record. So that's at stake, but this is gonna be a showcase game for him, in my opinion, for, could he potentially be one of the top backs in the 2025 draft? It also be British Brooks last time suiting up for the tar heels as well. So the North Carolina Running game, we all focus on Drake man and Tes Walker. It's been the ground game that's really been the driving force of this offense this season. I think they get back to that in that. Ok. We're gonna get an extended look with quarterback Connor Harrell stepping in. Matt Brown says this every single time there's a news conference where he gets asked about Drake May and it's like, well, Harrell's the next guy up to where he's one play away from playing significant playing time. And is he the guy for next season when you got Max Johnson coming in as a transfer from Texas A and M and LSU? So he's gonna have his opportunity in this game to showcase what you can do in a real live game situation with high stakes in a bowl game to say, are you the tar heels quarterback for the 2024 season? Yeah. And so with the, with the whole Drake May stuff, it's still haven't heard like one way or another like for sure, official um Caleb Williams did say that he will not be playing or, or Lincoln Riley said that Caleb Williams will not be playing the Holiday Bowl for us. C So that's something to keep in mind. What, what's interesting is because this one's in Charlotte, right? I mean, obviously you have the North Carolina ties in general, but there are a lot of players that are from Charlotte. So if, if someone is on the verge saying, ok, do I sit out, do transfer? What is it? Maybe this is something that kind of like, you know, changes their mind a little bit. I know T Walker so much of his story early on in the season was, you know, getting a chance to play in front of his grandmother in front of his family, which he's been able to do, but he's from the Charlotte area. So that would make it um kind of all the more sweeter. Uh Drake May's family being from the Charlotte area as well. Um I don't know, I'm, I'm still waiting to hear the official word that Drake May will not play, but I do agree. If, if he does not play, then this will be a prime opportunity for someone like Connor Harrell to, you know, get a leg up on that quarterback competition next year. I don't know if that's necessarily gonna happen, but, you know, it, it's an opportunity for him to prove it. Marian Hampton. A couple of things to watch those records you're talking about, I believe it's two touchdowns is what he needs to become second all time, uh, in the UN C for single season rushing touchdowns. He's trailing, um, Elijah Hood now, I believe. And then he, the, he only had like 28 yards against NC State at the tail end of the, the season against, um, in the final regular season game. And so that kind of threw him off the pace if you were to get, I think it's 290 something yards in this one, he would pass Don mcauley, um, to become the single season all time leading rusher for UN C. So it would require something kind of, you know, Herculean on, on his front. But if Drake May doesn't play, maybe that's what they do. They really lean on that running game. Uh, I don't know, it's, it's gonna be really interesting to see how all of this unfolds. Um, and with all of these mark too, it's, we, we've seen it so much. The transport has been active. It's been busy. So I think trying to assess what these ball games are gonna be like. So few weeks ahead of time is almost, it's more challenging because you don't know what the roster is gonna look like. You don't know who's going to be playing it. So it's gonna be, I don't know, it's interesting, uh, any final thoughts before we move on to do final thought here in this matchup is that North Carolina wanna ended its season in Charlotte but want to end the regular season in Charlotte, not the postseason because it's like, start of the season in Charlotte against South Carolina big win over an sec school. And it's like, it's kind of bittersweet, but again, if we get to see Matt Brown in Mayonnaise, 72 years old, it would be wonderful. It would be, it feels like it feels like a monkey's paw type thing where it's like, oh, North Carolina is like, I want to play in Charlotte in December. Yeah, we got it just a few weeks later and not, not in the AC C championship game. Um All right. So let's wrap this up with the Birmingham Bowl. So when we talk about how all of the AC C matchups unfolded, right? Because of all the chaos that happened with Florida State not getting into the CFP. I don't know if there were any other team more impacted by this than Duke because essentially what happened was Duke was initially reports. Uh Big 12 even putting it out there that Duke was gonna be playing the Gasparilla Bowl against UCF in Tampa, Florida in Tampa Florida for Duke fans. That sounds familiar, right? Because Duke and UCF played each other in the Military Bowl last year. So you're seeing that. Yeah, this is a little weird and then what essentially happens is the AC C takes Georgia Tech and Duke and flips them. So that Duke is now playing in the Birmingham bowl and George Tech is now playing in the Gasparilla Bowl. So that's how we get to this point with Duke playing in the Birmingham bowl, the 76 Birmingham bowl I think is what it officially is. Um They're playing the sunbelt champion, Troy back to back sunbelt champions. They, they took care of business against a state. Um This past weekend, it's, this is tough for the Blue Devils. I, you mentioned earlier of moving parts players transferring this game is so hard to project for me for Duke because I didn't expect Riley Leonard to be back or to play in this one. But it's like, ok, is Grayson Loftus gonna continue on uh the backup Henry Bell in the fourth, Henry be in the fourth? Is he gonna play due to an upper body injury? He's missed several games. Duke's got an interim coach like it's like I just don't know what to expect. Now, what I will say is this Lewis and this might not be popular among Blue Devils fans, but I'm gonna say this because this is just my truth. We rethink hiring, hiring the correct replacement for Mike Elko in quickly is a lot more important than winning this bowl game. Oh, absolutely. 100% because again, there are so many moving parts which players are going to potentially leave like we saw players from A and M leave A and M and come to Durham, right? Could the same thing happen, players leave Durham and go back to A and M now that Elko is there and Elko is gone. It's just like I in terms of projecting what this game will be for Duke because you don't have a head coach because your quarterback's gone. It's just like III I kind of, it's just the shrug. Emoji Lewis, it's like, II, I mean, to be honest here, it's like I'm trying to provide insight and feedback for people that take the time to listen or to watch us. And it's just like it, you, you did a great job in your bowl guide or it's like all these questions marks with this game of ok, how soon do you hire a new head coach? Because transfer portals open now, how does the departure impact Duke? Who are we seeing at quarterback in this game? And so it's just like there, there are more questions than answers is the point that I'm trying to make. No, no agreed because like, I mean, my, my expectation is that Duke has a head coach well before this bowl, right, like if I would hold the Blue Devils, II, I would want a head coach as soon as possible. Um The, the and don't even get me started on the, the transfer portal and the early signing period and all that stuff being when it is, I feel like an adjustment needs to be made with this calendar because it's just, it's making all of this just impossible for college football, especially at this time of the year. Um, but, you know, I, you, you gotta figure out what that situation is gonna be like. And what inevitably happens when a new coach is announced is then players start making decisions. People enter the transfer portal, people are gonna try and come in like, you know, you're gonna make some adjustments with coaches, coaching staff and all of that. So it's the whole Duke situation right now. Just feels so fluid. Um So all, all I know is that the Blue Devils are gonna get extra practices because of bowl game, right? And so that gives you the opportunity to really find out and lean in on who's going to be here for the long term for Duke. Um You know, I I think the matchup against Troy is going to be difficult. They Troy has won. I think it's nine games in a row. Um Hold on. I'll pull it up right now. I've got it. I've got it in my notes back to back sunbelt champions and they won. Yeah, go ahead, go ahead. They, they, it's nine games in a row. 1234567890, excuse me. No. 10 games in a row. Yeah. Live math on a podcast. Have mercy on us. I know. Right. It's so, I'm, I'm just looking at a row of WS and I'm like, ah, that looks like nine. they beat Stephen F Austin to start the year and then they lost at Kansas State and then they almost beat James Madison. 16 to 14 was the final score there. And they've rattled off 10 wins in a row. So, this is a very good team. It's very hot team. Um, You know, we'll see what ends up happening. We do. I do know that they are the underdogs in this one. They're not favored in this one, but I also think that's not, you know, you gotta give some credit to people like, uh Grayson Loftus. Um, you know, I, I'm, I'm just gonna work on the assumption that Grayson Loftus will start this one. No, like information or something like that telling me that just Henry Bland's shoulder injury has, has been, you know, pretty difficult for him to, to manage through. Um, you know, if he was healthy, he'd be playing. Um So I, I don't know, it's, it's gonna be really interesting to see how this one unfolds. Um I'm almost more intrigued in what the time, what, what happens with Duke between December 4th when we're recording right now and the bowl game starting on December 23rd than I am with what happens during the actual bowl game. Take outside of this bowl game in terms of what you're looking forward to if you're a Duke fan, who you hire as a new head coach and then where Riley Leonard ends up, I've heard Notre Dame is the odds on favorite where it's like, oh, they get North Carolina quarterbacks and Sam Hartman and potentially Riley Leonard back to back years. But like between now and this game and honestly, I think those storylines might take precedent over what happens in this game. So that's what's to come if you're a Duke Blue Devils fan. Yeah. And I think to la last thing I'll say about this is before Mike Elko left. And you know, you can have a lot of conversations about how Mike Elko left. I don't know if I've actually seen a goodbye yet to Duke. If you have and you're watching this or listening to this, please send it to me. Let me know because I don't, I don't think I've seen one from him yet. Um But one thing he said was that the, the Blue Devils, he, he really knew the heart of this team. They continued to fight, they never gave up. They were incredibly resilient, all of that stuff. So part of me, what, what I'll be intrigued with this one too is, you know, how does losing your head coach impact this team? Do they continue to have that fight? And that resiliency? I tend to lean towards that, that they will, but it's going to be there. There are a lot of things going on with Duke outside of that football team. Um What's actually happening on the field? How does that translate? Um Either way we'll find out uh in a couple of days before Christmas when the ad ad Nina King and then the replacement, the interim trooper Taylor Lewis, they've got their work cut out from them. That's just why this is why you make the big bucks in those positions. It, it does, it does. Um I'm excited to see though what Duke does. I think you'll learn a lot about that team for sure. Um All right. So there we do. There we go. We went through the local teams where they're going, what they're playing, what the situation is like. Um Mark any anything else you want to add or plug here before we say goodbye. Yes, I am putting together a guide for all 43 bowl games. So look for that later this week on WRL Sports fan.com. Reason to watch every single game. It can go from, say the battle of Mike's with Mike Gundy and Mike Elko going head to head in their matchup football in paradise in Honolulu, Hawaii or all the way in Boise, Idaho where the field is blue and the winning team dumps French fries on its winning coach full season is here. I can't wait. It's gonna be awesome and it's a great way to ring in the holiday season as well. Lewis. Yes. Uh make sure to check that out. Um, on my end. Uh, not really too much more to plug, just, uh, I guess a couple of news and notes, um, uh, UN C basketball is now up to number nine in the A P PO, uh, NC State. Uh, women's basketball is now up to number three. so they're right up there with, you know, the, the Greats. Um, it's, it's really interesting to see how their season continues to unfold. Um, trying to think of anything else. Apologies for their other news and notes here. Um, high school football championships coming up. Uh, there's, there's a lot going on, uh, even though we're getting to a more quiet month of the sports calendar year. Um, happy, happy to, to get into the bull season though. Mark. It's definitely one of my favorite times of the year. Absolutely. Lewis, you're the absolute best. Let's wrap this baby up. No, you are Mark. Uh Thank you all for, for listening and watching and check out, uh, all of our shows on 999, the Fans youtube page on WRL Sports fan.com. Uh, make sure you listen wherever you get your podcasts and all that stuff. Uh Thank you all so much for watching, for listening. We will see you next week.