AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
College football fans knew this season was going to be different. A huge realignment of conferences has upended old rivalries and created new ones. Deals that allow student athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness are on the rise, changing how universities recruit top prospects. And playoffs are expanding from four teams to 12. Holly Anderson is the co-host of the podcast "Shutdown Fullcast," and she joins us now. Welcome back.
HOLLY ANDERSON: Good morning. Good to be back.
RASCOE: So two huge surprises this year - Indiana is 10 and 1. No one outside of Bloomington saw that coming. They lost to Ohio State yesterday, but they're still in the hunt for the national title. And perennial powerhouse Alabama is not doing great, three losses so far. And seems like for the first time in a million years, they're out of contention. What on the earth is going on?
ANDERSON: Remember, the last time we talked, all that stuff that you just listed that we said was going to make for a really confusing and chaotic season at the start of the year?
RASCOE: Uh-huh.
ANDERSON: It turns out it's doing exactly what it says on the tin. Added to everything you just said, SMU is at the top of the ACC. Sure. Stanford and Cal just finished playing their historic rivalry on the Atlantic Coast Conference Network. That's a thing.
RASCOE: OK.
ANDERSON: It's - you're not the only one that's confused. I'm not the only one that's disoriented. Oregon, who is the No. 1 team in the country and really the only team headed for the playoffs right now that we feel like we were completely sure about - they clinched a spot in their conference title game, the Big Ten. And the conference themselves, after this game was played last Saturday, didn't announce it until Tuesday because it took them that long to run all the available scenarios.
RASCOE: Oh, wow. OK, so this is complicated.
ANDERSON: It wasn't early on Tuesday, either.
RASCOE: OK. So this is...
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: This is complicated.
ANDERSON: Yes.
RASCOE: But it seems like maybe not all tradition is dead. Army and Notre Dame faced off yesterday at Yankee Stadium in a big - in a game with big playoff implications. And the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, Colorado's Travis Hunter, plays both offense and defense. So that's kind of like a throwback, right?
ANDERSON: We love that. Colorado also lost yesterday, which we did not see...
RASCOE: Yeah.
ANDERSON: ...Coming. There is a resurgent canvas team. But yeah, I think it's - I think we'll definitely still see Travis Hunter in New York. I don't have a Heisman vote. If I did, he'd have mine. And, yeah, it's always nice to see Army and Notre Dame pop up again in their favorite sports venue, Yankee Stadium.
RASCOE: So as you mentioned, we talked at the beginning of the season, we were worried about traditions. But has this season been fun and successful enough to make you forget about what's been lost?
ANDERSON: You know, I - a colleague of mine said something yesterday that I thought was very smart. He said, the best part of a bad thing is still the game that's being played. And I think that's absolutely true. We're getting treated to games in the middle of the season that we might've only seen in the postseason or sometimes not at all. And, you know, at the end of the day, we're still there to watch those same hundred kids run out on the field in that same laundry and try and kick each other in the neck for four hours.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Yeah. What - and so getting back to the simple things is what you're saying. The game is the game.
ANDERSON: The game in front of you is still the game. I know the coaches, as disoriented as they are, are all preaching that the game in front of you is still the game. And there's still a lot of football left to go. You know, the postseason this year stretches through MLK weekend.
RASCOE: Yeah. That's Holly Anderson of the "Shutdown Fullcast." Thank you so much.
ANDERSON: Thanks a lot.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
