Jessica Smetana joins to rank the best coaches in college football, including where we place Marcus Freeman among his peers. (The Top 25 coaches newsletter referenced during the discussion.) Then (42:20) The Athletic's Sabreena Merchant joins to discuss the state of the Notre Dame women's basketball program, how there's a star void to be filled for the 2025-26 season and how Irish alumane are thriving in the WNBA this season.

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Jessica Smetana and the Spreadsheets & Tailgates newsletter's Michael Bryan join to take a look at what preseason win totals might mean for a long list of college football teams. Topics include but are not limited to: Freedom from the Big Ten West, Cignetti Year Two in Bloomington, Clemson hype vs. reality, the cowardice of the USC Trojans, a big year for LSU, sad times in Palo Alto and Stillwater, interesting times in Miami, expectations for Deion, Narduzzi purgatory, the circus in Chapel Hill and potentially tough years for both Clark Lea and Steve Angeli.

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We're dusting off a few of our old conversations with Irish Sports Daily's Jamie Uyeyama to remember what we thought about C.J. Carr and Kenny Minchey before their freshman seasons at Notre Dame began. Also including a bonus Steve Angeli Frosh O report out of respect.

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