Cowboys quietly win the Big 12 coaching carousel – Bridges calls Eric Morris hire a home run that puts OSU ahead of the pack
This week’s episode of The Jones Report featured an in-depth discussion with Roundtable Sooners publisher Tyler Jones, Roundtable OkState editor Thomas Bridges, and Roundtable Sports editor-in-chief Tom Brew, as the crew dissected the biggest storylines across the SEC, Big 12, and the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The conversation kicked off with a detailed reaction to the playoff bracket itself.
Oklahoma earned the No. 8 overall seed and a first-round home date against No. 9 Alabama, setting up a highly anticipated rematch of their regular-season thriller.
Jones expressed measured optimism about the Sooners’ chances of repeating the upset, acknowledging the historical difficulty of beating the same quality opponent twice in one season.
However, he tempered his enthusiasm by pointing out Oklahoma’s ongoing struggles on offense, suggesting that inconsistent scoring could prevent the team from making a deep postseason run even if they get past the Crimson Tide.
Brew, who has closely followed top-seeded Indiana throughout their remarkable turnaround, jumped in to reinforce Jones’s confidence in Oklahoma. He openly questioned the early betting lines that installed Alabama as a slight road favorite in Norman, arguing that the Sooners’ home-field advantage and prior win over the Tide should flip that perception.
Jones and Brew agreed that Oklahoma has a realistic path to the quarterfinals but would need significant offensive improvement to truly contend for a national title.
Attention then turned to Indiana’s stunning rise under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti.
Brew provided an extensive breakdown of how Cignetti, along with a massive transfer portal overhaul, transformed a perennial Big Ten also-ran into the No. 1 overall seed in College Football Playoff.
He highlighted the Hoosiers’ explosive offense, elite defensive play, and the leadership of quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who has emerged as the clear Heisman Trophy front-runner heading into the awards ceremony.
Everyone on the show this week predicted Mendoza would take home the sport’s most prestigious individual honor after his masterful performance in Indiana’s Big Ten Championship victory over Ohio State.
The coaching carousel dominated a large portion of the episode, with the surprise firing of Michigan’s Sherrone Moore creating the latest high-profile opening.
Speculation immediately turned to Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines as a potential candidate given his unit’s dominant play this season, but Brew pushed back strongly on that notion.
He argued that Michigan, under pressure to return to elite status quickly, will almost certainly target a proven head coach with prior Power Four success rather than another coordinator promotion.
In the Big 12 and SEC, Jones and Bridges wrapped up an exhaustive cycle of changes. The most notable late move came when Iowa State’s Matt Campbell accepted the Penn State job, only for the Cyclones to pivot quickly to Washington State’s Jimmy Rogers as his replacement.
Both Jones and Bridges labeled Campbell’s departure a devastating blow to Iowa State’s program stability and expressed serious reservations about Rogers, citing Washington State’s disappointing results this past season as evidence that he may not be ready for such a high-pressure role.
On the brighter side for the Big 12, Bridges praised Oklahoma State’s hire of North Texas head coach Eric Morris, arguing that the Cowboys landed one of the most promising young offensive minds available.
When stacked against the other moves around the league, Bridges believes Oklahoma State positioned itself better than almost any program for both immediate competitiveness and long-term growth.
Finally, the group offered their big-picture take on the playoff field itself. While Indiana sits atop the bracket as the No. 1 seed, none of the panelists viewed the Hoosiers as a prohibitive favorite to win it all.
Instead, they saw legitimate parity among the top four seeds—Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas Tech—with each program possessing the talent, coaching, and momentum to cut down the nets.
A clear consensus emerged that these four programs are in a tier of their own, separated by a considerable margin from the remaining eight teams in the field.
According to the crew, the national championship will almost certainly come from that elite group, making the quarterfinal matchups must-watch television and setting the stage for one of the most wide-open playoff races in recent memory.
Throughout the episode, the combination of insider knowledge, candid opinions, and passionate debate made it clear why The Jones Report has become a must-listen for fans across the SEC and Big 12 footprints as the sport heads into its most crucial stretch of the season.