Overview of Pardon My Take
This episode is a big college football kickoff show, but it also packs in fantasy football panic, weird sports news, the weekly Hot Seat/Cool Throne segment, a chaotic Mount Rushmore draft, and some classic listener mailbag questions. The main event is a massive college football preview with Tom Fornelli and Brandon Walker, including conference-by-conference playoff chatter and the annual PMT college football expert crown.
Opening Banter and Sports News
- The show opens with a mix of nonsense and real sports headlines:
- Discussion of the Dajon Love jersey-number saga.
- News of Angels ownership change and whether new money actually helps baseball.
- The ongoing LSU eligibility issue involving players who worked out for NFL teams and may try to return to college football.
- The hosts also riff on fantasy football season:
- Where to draft players coming off suspensions.
- Whether you should “issue a statement” before drafting certain guys.
- Their own messy fantasy strategies, including old players, Commanders, and “new face/new place” logic.
Week 1 College Football Picks
The crew makes their Week 1 picks, with the usual confidence and little evidence:
- LSU in the marquee opener
- West Virginia
- Alabama
- An East Carolina over/parlay angle
The overall vibe: Week 1 is mostly favorites, but everyone is desperate to sound sharp before the games actually matter.
Hot Seat / Cool Throne
Hank’s Hot Seat / Cool Throne
- Hot Seat: Big Cat, Dave Portnoy, and Ryan Whitney for a live golf scramble stream.
- Hank frames it as Ryan Whitney carrying the team while everyone else contributes just enough not to embarrass themselves.
- Cool Throne: Tua Tagovailoa for a weird self-congratulatory Instagram comment.
- They joke about third-person self-love and “CTE humor.”
- Also discussed:
- A reliever’s miraculous return from a catastrophic leg injury with the Nationals.
- A mysterious floating island in Canada that appears and disappears on satellite imagery.
PFT’s Hot Seat / Cool Throne
- Hot Seat: Barstool hiring a “Drake May Lover” social account operator.
- This is treated as a direct shot at PFT and the anti-Drake May discourse.
- Hot Seat: Pitchers facing the Cubs, who have become a full-blown home run machine.
- Cool Throne: Batters facing the Cubs, because the Cubs are giving up as many bombs as they hit.
- Also:
- Zach may be going on a date with Rudy from Bad Friends.
- A running joke about Max tweeting from his work account.
Zach’s Hot Seat / Cool Throne
- Hot Seat: Tarik Skubal taking the Tigers’ espresso machine with him after being traded.
- The crew debates whether that’s a gift, theft, or just good housekeeping.
- Cool Throne: Lionel Messi retiring from international play.
- Zach celebrates not having to watch Messi dominate his national team competition anymore.
Mount Rushmore: Household Items You Could Use as a Weapon
This was one of the funnier, more absurd draft segments of the show.
Top Picks and Debates
- Hank
- Steak knife
- Baseball bat
- Nail gun
- PFT
- Frying pan
- TV remote
- Clothesline
- Bleach
- Other honorable mentions
- Car keys
- Fireplace poker
- Lamp
- Screwdriver
- Belt
- Crowbar
- Soup can
Notable bits
- Zach argued for putting a sock over a baseball bat so the other guy grabs the sock and you get a second swing.
- The group seriously overthought whether a TV remote is too weak or actually elite in a panic.
- PFT’s bleach pick got real respect as a true “household weapon.”
- The whole draft turned into a mini Home Alone / survival-thinking exercise.
College Football Mega Preview with Tom Fornelli and Brandon Walker
The main segment is a full college football season preview with Tom Fornelli and Brandon Walker, plus a ceremonial coronation of Tom as PMT’s official college football expert.
The Crown Ceremony
Tom gets the full treatment after beating Brandon in the annual expert competition:
- Trophy
- Ring
- Cake
- Confetti
- Chick-fil-A gift cards
- A formal “official college football expert” certificate
- Cash prize
Brandon claims he’s still being disrespected and that Tom is only winning because of PMT’s ceremony theatrics.
SEC Preview
Main takeaways:
- Georgia is viewed as the safest elite bet.
- Kirby Smart, defensive toughness, and steady quarterback play are big reasons.
- Texas is elite but comes with concerns.
- Brutal schedule
- Arch Manning expectations
- Questions about Sark’s ability to finish drives and stabilize the program
- LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas A&M all come up as playoff threats or dark horses.
- Alabama: talent is there, but toughness and consistency are the concerns.
- Oklahoma: defense could be elite, but quarterback health/production matters.
- South Carolina: Lenora Sellers could thrive if the offense lets him be dynamic.
- Florida: upgraded coaching and a potentially sneaky path if the quarterback play hits.
- Texas A&M: schedule luck matters, and last year may have been more favorable than people realized.
- Kentucky: Will Stein is respected, but the roster may need time.
Big Ten Preview
The top of the league is framed as:
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Indiana
Key themes:
- Ohio State’s schedule is tough enough that they may actually be tested more than usual.
- Oregon has elite talent, but the quarterback still has to prove it in big games.
- Indiana gets a ton of respect for what Kurt Cignetti is building, and they may have one of the conference’s best defensive lines.
- Possible surprise teams or “crash the party” candidates include:
- Michigan
- USC
- Penn State
- Illinois
- Washington
- Maryland
- UCLA
- Wisconsin
- Illinois’ new massive scoreboard becomes an unexpected talking point, with concern over how it affects the kicking game.
ACC / Notre Dame Preview
- Miami and Notre Dame are the clear top-tier teams in the league discussion.
- Other teams mentioned as possible movers:
- Louisville
- Virginia Tech
- Virginia
- SMU
- Clemson, though Tom and Brandon agree Clemson’s national-title ceiling is no longer what it used to be
- Notre Dame is viewed as loaded enough that they should be a serious playoff contender.
- The main concern is that college football is weird and the Irish could still get “Notre Dame’d” by the schedule.
Big 12 Preview
- Texas Tech is treated as the team to beat.
- Other contenders / spoilers:
- BYU
- Houston
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma State
- UCF
- Arizona State
- The Big 12 is presented as the most volatile league, where coaching and quarterback play can swing a team’s season quickly.
Heisman Talk
They throw out a bunch of names and concepts rather than one clean pick:
- Jeremiah Smith
- Dante Moore
- Bryce Underwood
- Lenora Sellers
- Ahmad Hardy as a long-shot if healthy and productive
The general theme: Heisman is often about narrative, big-stage games, and whether a player becomes the face of a contender.
Breaking News During the Interview
While Tom and Brandon are on, the LSU eligibility situation escalates:
- SEC schools are reportedly discussing extreme measures to stop LSU from bringing back players who already went through NFL camp.
- The conversation includes:
- Boycotts
- Probation
- Even expulsion threats
- The hosts mostly treat it as conference posturing, not something that will actually blow up the sport.
Tom Fornelli Wins the Expert Title Again
At the end of the football draft:
- Tom’s picks and overall board beat Brandon’s again.
- The segment becomes a funny ongoing bit about Brandon being “in a forever blender.”
- Tom leans into the winner role.
- Brandon insists the ceremony isn’t enough and that he deserves equal pomp if he wins next year.
Listener Questions and Final Bits
SEAL Team 6 vs UFC Fighter
- The crew debates who wins in a street fight:
- A SEAL Team 6 operator
- A UFC fighter
- Their lean: the UFC fighter in a pure hand-to-hand fight.
- But if weapons or multiple SEALs are involved, the military guy becomes a much bigger problem.
“How do I tell my nice boyfriend I want him to be rougher?”
- The advice is basically: communicate directly.
- They joke that the guy may need to be “more badass,” not just nicer.
Sitting Down to Pee
- A listener asks if men should sit down to pee at home.
- The hosts mostly push back, though they admit:
- It can be useful when hungover
- It can be cleaner at night
- The bit ends with the usual crude PMT arguments about standing, balance, and bathroom efficiency.
Main Takeaways
- College football is back, and PMT is fully in preview mode.
- Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Miami, and Notre Dame are treated as the most stable national-title types.
- The SEC and Big Ten are still the center of the sport, but the Big 12 and ACC both have sneaky chaos potential.
- Tom Fornelli remains the PMT college football expert, and Brandon Walker remains extremely offended by the entire ceremony.
- The show ends in classic PMT fashion: sports analysis, strange hypotheticals, and bathroom discourse.