Everybody spent the weekend dunking on the empty seats at the Coliseum. Colin isn't buying the outrage — and his defense of USC isn't really a defense, it's a theory of American sports geography. Big cities belong to pro teams. Mid-sized cities belong to college. Small towns belong to Friday nights. LA has been paying that tax since the Rams and Chargers moved in, and USC already conceded the point when it shrank the building and added suites. It's not an excuse, it's a reason.

Then the part the attendance story buried: true freshman Trent Mosley looked like a first-team All-American in his first college game, and Lincoln Riley emptied the bench on purpose, because September is for getting a very young roster ready for Oregon, Washington, Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana. Colin also explains why he thinks USC, Ohio State and Texas all have schedules too brutal to survive, why Notre Dame and Miami is his national title call — twice — and why he'd take the Longhorns at home against the Buckeyes. Plus NFL Week 1: the Colts as a live home dog, why Jacksonville could bury Cleveland, whether Denver's 14-win magic regresses, and why Goodell's London talk is a stadium-leverage bat signal, not a real plan.

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Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” on The Volume.

They start with the Browns & the stark contrast between Shedeur Sanders having an affable sideline interview and Deshaun Watson’s disaster of a press conference, and they agree that the Browns should start Shedeur (2:00). They also agree the Brown’s deal for Watson is the worst in league history (13:00).

They move to JJ McCarthy’s disastrous performance in the Vikings second preseason game and Colin believes that if McCarthy can’t succeed with Kevin O’Connell… he isn’t going to succeed (14:30). They also revisit past quarterback draft classes and Colin finds that only 10% of them are franchise guys… showing the NFL may have a development problem with quarterbacks (21:30).

They pivot to college football and the story of Dae’Quan Wright going from the Cleveland Browns back to LSU as proof that the NCAA is diminishing in power and keeps losing in court (30:00).

They poke holes in the NFL Top 100 and the Athletic’s Top 25 Players Under 25, and Colin marvels at the Seahawks being overlooked as a potential back-to-back champion (40:00).

They react to Joe Burrow’s comment about being tired of talking about “next year” and Colin argues that the Burrow could be burning out while languishing in Cincinnati, and that he shouldn’t sign with them again… but John offers some defense of the Bengals (55:00).

Finally, Colin highlights all the amazing undrafted players who have popped in the preseason and marvels at the amount of football talent in America (1:04:00).

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Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” on The Volume.

They start with Colin attending the Bears preseason win over the Browns and offer their biggest questions surrounding the Bears in Caleb Williams second season under Ben Johnson (2:00).

They move to Ty Simpson having a great debut for the Rams in his first preseason game and Colin argues that young quarterbacks ending up with head coach like Sean McVay is like hitting the lottery, and that the Rams weren’t crazy to spend a first round pick on a quarterback while Matt Stafford is still the starter (8:00).

They pivot to the 49ers and the highlight trend of Christian McCaffrey getting injured the year after leading the league in touches… which he did last season (16:30).

They also wonder whether Giants QB Jaxson Dart will stay upright after getting smoked during their first preseason game after getting beat up last year (24L15). Colin argues that Fernando Mendoza’s intangibles and work ethic are going to further elevate the Raiders #1 overall pick (32:00).

They wonder who gave Jayden Daniels the terrible advice to send a cease and desist to LSU over his former #5 going to another player (40:00) . They also laud Sam Darnold for becoming the leader of the Seahawks (48:00) and explain why buying the Seahawks may have been the best franchise purchase years (1:00:30).

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Colin’s top takes of the week.

First, Colin is joined by Danny Parkins, host of “First Things First” on FS1.

They start with Colin attending Bears practice and Caleb Williams looking incredibly fast after dropping 15 pounds and looking far more accurate with his throws and they look for him to make a big jump in his second year with Ben Johnson (3:30).

They also discuss how they each prepare for the NFL season as broadcasters (10:00).

Then, Colin is joined by Matt Mosley, Cowboys insider and host of the Doomsday Podcast.

They discuss Brian Schottenheimer outperforming expectations in the 2025 season, and what his secret sauce is as head coach (22:30). They laud Dak Prescott for his leadership skills and his ability to rise above the pressure of playing quarterback for the Cowboys (27:30).

Finally, they break down how the Cowboys will use their prized rookie safety Caleb Downs and Matt explains why Downs could become one of their best defensive players but shouldn’t be expected to be the savior for the defense (35:00).

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Colin is joined by Matt Mosley, Cowboys insider and host of the Doomsday Podcast.

They start by revisiting the Micah Parsons trade, and discuss Micah’s role as a leader in the Cowboys locker room and why leadership didn’t come naturally to him (3:30). They break down how the Cowboys will use their prized rookie safety Caleb Downs and Matt explains why Downs could become one of their best defensive players but shouldn’t be expected to be the savior for the defense (8:15).

They discuss Brian Schottenheimer outperforming expectations in the 2025 season, and what his secret sauce is as head coach (12:00). They laud Dak Prescott for his leadership skills and his ability to rise above the pressure of playing quarterback for the Cowboys (16:15).

Matt breaks down the relationship between Cowboys fans and owner Jerry Jones during their decades-long Super Bowl drought (27:30), and they discuss Tony Romo’s recent troubles in his personal life and with CBS, and Matt shares some fun personal anecdotes about his times hanging out with Tony (32:00).

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Colin is joined by Danny Parkins, host of “First Things First” on FS1.

They start with Colin attending Bears practice and Caleb Williams looking incredibly fast after dropping 15 pounds and looking far more accurate with his throws and they look for him to make a big jump in his second year with Ben Johnson (3:30).

They pivot to the controversy surrounding Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham and the league becoming embroiled in the culture wars and both agree that the WNBA has outgrown the leadership of commissioner Cathy Engelbert (10:30). Colin argues that just because Caitlin Clark stays out of the political fray doesn’t mean that her and Cunningham can’t be great teammates or friends (17:15).

Colin explains why Sean McVay ruining the NFL preseason by starting the trend of sitting starters has made him more engaged with August baseball (26:30), Danny advocates for Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong winning the MVP award (28:30) and Colin highlights why the star-studded Dodgers have been struggling (27:45). They also discuss the potential looming lockout for MLB after the 2026 season and why Wrigley Field is one of the best in-person baseball experiences (37:00).

Colin explains why he’s done with the Mike Vrabel/Diana Russini story and has moved on, and they debate whether it will be a story moving forward (47:30). They also discuss whether Tony Romo’s DWI will be used as an excuse for CBS to move on from him as an analyst (50:30).

Finally, they discuss how they each prepare for the NFL season as broadcasters (59:00).

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Colin is joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to talk all things football.

They start with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan being in a serious car accident and the controversy surrounding why he wasn’t checked for a DUI (4:30), and then discuss the outlook for the 49ers 2026 season (11:00).

They move to Shedeur Sanders heading into his second season and Colin argues that Deion is getting in the way of Shedeur’s success, but they both believe Shedeur will see significant playing time this year (15:00).

They head to the NFC East and preview the Cowboys and John believes Caleb Downs could transform the defense and picks them to win the division, and they react to Jerry Jones saying he’d be willing to make a splash trade midseason (25:00).

They pivot to Bill Belichick’s “friends and family” staff at North Carolina and Colin argues he’s not even trying to hire the best of the best (36:45).

Finally, they debate the expectations for Indiana football after the departure of #1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and whether head coach Curt Cignetti can keep the success rolling (49:00).

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Colin reacts to the news that LeBron James has chosen the Philadelphia 76ers as his landing spot for the 2026 NBA season. He argues that choosing a championship ready team makes sense for LeBron at this stage of his career and there’s nothing wrong with LeBron ring chasing. He compares the move to Tom Brady going to Tampa, rather than KD joining a title winning Warriors team.

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