The Ryan Day vs. Lou Holtz decision is down, along with other college football beefs

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I can’t wait for Ryan Day and Lou Holtz to crush their beef until November 25th. Let’s do it today.

Here’s what’s happening in college football through Saturday…

Welcome to the BFC

Ryan Day vs. Lou Holtz

In CFB (College Football Beefs), we’ll break down the biggest feuds in sports. First in our court, Ryan Day versus Lou Holtz.

Chronology

On Friday, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz went on “The Pat McAfee Show” and questioned Ohio State’s toughness, saying, “You look at Coach Day…he lost twice to the ‘Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan, and anyone who beats him does. so because they are more physical than Ohio State.

After Ohio State beat Notre Dame, Day replied.: “What he said about our team, I can’t believe it. It’s a tough team here.

Then on Tuesday, Holtz appeared on Dan Dakich’s “Don’t @ Me” podcast and said, “(Day) doesn’t want to talk about Michigan, 0-2. He doesn’t want to talk about the big game against Penn State and against Michigan again.

Who wins?

Until Saturday decides in favor of the Day. The OSU coach affirmed his comeback by inflicting a defeat on Notre Dame in the final seconds of the game in South Bend. Holtz’s comments have merit – as our Austin Meek writes, the toughness just wasn’t there in OSU’s last two games against Michigan – but Day refuted on the field in the best way possible. All he will have to do is return on November 25 against Michigan (against whom the match is 1-2).

Mandel’s mailbag

Dickert defends the Cougs

Is Jake Dickert’s fire and charisma, coupled with Washington State’s success this year, enough for a power conference to take on the school even after initially ignoring it? — DJ, Grand Rapids, Mich.

I admire him for seizing the opportunity, but I also think it’s a shame that moments after winning a huge game, a football coach feels obligated to talk about TV ratings and athlete travel. Washington State beat two top-25 teams and could be on its way to a double-digit winning season, and yet the Cougars’ season is almost a side story to the program’s larger existential crisis. I hate everything about it.

Wins and losses have little to do with realignment decisions, so Wazzu having a strong 2023 season wouldn’t be a determining factor in the school receiving an invitation elsewhere. It would entirely come down to whether ESPN or Fox finds the Cougs valuable enough that companies can throw in a little more money, like Fox did for Oregon and Washington to get into the Big Ten.

But Dickert is right. While Wazzu and Oregon State have become synonymous with each other (as evidenced by their shared Zoom logo), Wazzu is arguably much more appealing. The program may not have a “rich” history, but it has five top-10 seasons since the late 1990s. Oregon State has one. As Dickert mentioned, Wazzu from 2015-21 had a higher average TV rating than any school in the 2024 Big 12 lineup, while Oregon State would have been next to last. The idea that Wazzu is a “small market” school is not accurate. His games at Wisconsin and Oregon State did big numbers in the Seattle market, with Saturday’s tie roughly the same rating as Washington’s game against Cal later the same night .

At one point, Oregon became Washington’s dance partner instead of Wazzu. But the positive side for Dickert: if Wazzu has a great season, he probably won’t be the one to bear the consequences. Michigan State or someone else of that caliber is going to come calling.

Read Stewart Mandel’s full letter here.