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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It'll be Ohio State versus Notre Dame in the college football finals. NFL playoffs? Can anybody beat Kansas City? Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine, thanks. Twenty-eight-fourteen win, Ohio State over Texas. Last-minute fumble returned for a touchdown by Jack Sawyer - quite a game. So it's going to be Notre Dame - you rock, rock (ph) - against Ohio State.
BRYANT: (Laughter).
SIMON: All the controversy over the expanded playoff format. Is this a promising final?
BRYANT: Well, I think that one of the things that we've been talking about for 50 years in college football is the polling. Does the polling represent the true champion? And here you are now, ending the playoffs, and you've got two teams playing for a championship that wouldn't have even been in the playoff last year. I mean, you had four teams...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...And now you expand out to 12. So the first row of teams go down in the first round. The nine through 12s go down. And then, the one, two, three, four go down in the next round. So I think it's an interesting way to look at it. Because you've got - do you have the two teams that are playing the best right now? Absolutely. I mean, I think that maybe Arizona State could say, hey, we was robbed. But for the most part, Ohio State looks like the best team in the - they've been the best team in the playoff. And I think that when you - you know, you look at Notre Dame, I think one of the fun things about this championship is if you want the old blue chip, blue blood...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Franchises or programs, you've got them. Ohio State has got five national championships, and Notre Dame - the great Golden Dome - they've got 11. So...
SIMON: Check out the thunder...
BRYANT: ...This is...
SIMON: ...From the sky.
BRYANT: (Laughter) Exactly. So if you're an old-school college football fan, you're absolutely getting what you want there.
SIMON: NFL playoffs begin today. The Houston Texans host the LA Chargers. But look, can anybody beat the Kansas City Chiefs?
BRYANT: Well, it looked all season long like this team wasn't that good, and they just kept winning. And now, suddenly, the Chiefs look like the best team. Why? Because one, they're the Chiefs. They've won back-to-back championships, and they've got the best quarterback, and they've got a coach who's going to the Hall of Fame. And suddenly - and they've got a great defense, too, so that's been the one constant that they've had.
The real question, when you look at all the other teams, is are you playing - when you get to the Kansas City stage, are you playing the Chiefs, or are you playing the Chiefs' aura as well? And I think the answer is both. These teams that have played Kansas City - they've been right in it up until the last minute and find some way to make some fatal mistake because of the intimidation factor. We've never seen a team...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Win three straight Super Bowls. And the sentimental thing, though, is not the Chiefs at all, Scott. It's the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills, the battle that people would...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Really love to see.
SIMON: Australian Open begins today. Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, who are the reigning champions, favored.
BRYANT: Hundred percent favored. Obviously, you've got Sinner - hard court players are tough. It's a different tournament. It's not the French Open. And so obviously, you've got the great mainstay, Novak Djokovic, who could win his 25th Grand Slam. You never really count him out. Although at his age now, believe it or not, he's not the favorite he once was, the automatic he once was. He only has 10 of these championships.
And then on the ladies' side, I kind of like looking at Coco Gauff now, who's beaten...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Who has, you know, beaten her rival, Iga Swiatek, twice now. Maybe Coco's ready to go get her second major. It'll be a great, great tournament. And don't forget a couple of Americans - Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton as well, and maybe Daniil Medvedev.
SIMON: All right. We'll take a look. We'll enjoy it. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media, thanks so much for being with us, my friend. Talk to you soon.
BRYANT: Thank you, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAY VANILLA'S "DUMPTYDUM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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