Week 11 might be looking a little less than wholly captivating on paper, but that doesn’t stop your favorite sports podcast from having a grand old time yapping about it, along with all the other news and silliness of the week. Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it by joining the conversation on our Substack or you can send us an email here. Enjoy!
Show Rundown
Open — Abe Live Bets the Games, and Bob offers a pro-tip to The Biffler
8:38 — WGAS NewsBag, Sports Edition; Marshawn Kneeland; Antonio Brown arrested; Tom Brady clones his dog; Brent Key says he’s staying put; first CFP ranking; NFL trades
40:57 — The Best Game in Every Time Slot
1:00:11 — CIB 2025 Football Pick ‘em Contest
1:10: 56 — Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Lock of the Week, Live from Plains, Heaven
1:14:05 — Wrap-up!
Relevant Linkage
AP: Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland found dead of apparent suicide at 24 after evading officers, police say
AP: Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown arrested on attempted murder charge in Miami shooting
The Athletic: Tom Brady says dog Junie is a clone of family’s previous dog
Brent Key insists he’s not going anywhere.
The Athletic: College Football Playoff rankings release: Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M lead initial Top 25
CBS Sports: 2025 NFL trade deadline: Ranking every major deal, including Cowboys, Colts, Jets, Eagles, Steelers moves
The Athletic: Latest on YouTube TV-ESPN impasse: Can Eagles, Packers bring sides together?
The Best Game in Every Time Slot
This is a rough week for college football games. In the Top 25, Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia tek, Utah, Michigan, Tennessee, and Cincinnati all have the week off. The 7 vs 8 matchup is a double-digit spread, and the other two matchups of ranked teams aren’t particularly compelling, and Auburn @ Vandy has the second-highest get-in price of the week, at $168.
Bonus Friday Night Game — 9:00
Northwestern (+14.5) @ (19) USC (O/U 50.5) FOX
…I guess. You could also flip over to Amazon Prime and watch the Houston Rockets take on the San Antonio Spurs, where “the greatest basketball player of all time” will be playing.
Noon
(7) BYU (+10.5) @ (8) Texas Tech (O/U 52.5) ABC
Noon — Second TV DOUBLEBOX
(5) Georgia (-9.5) @ Mississippi State (O/U 55.5) ESPN
(2) Indiana (-14.5) @ Penn State (O/U 51.5) FOX
3:30
(9) Oregon (-6.5) @ (20) Iowa (O/U 42.5) CBS
3:30 — Second TV DOUBLEBOX
(3) Texas A&M (-6.5) @ (22) Missouri (O/U 49.5) ABC
Auburn (+6.5) @ (16) Vanderbilt (O/U 45.5) SECN (4:00)
7:30
LSU (+9.5) @ (4) Alabama (O/U 49.5) ABC
7:00 — Second TV QUADBOX
Wake Forest (+6.5) @ (14) Virginia (O/U 47.5) ESPN
Florida State (+1.5) @ Clemson (O/U 56.5) ACCN
Florida (-3.5) @ Kentucky (O/U 45.5) SECN (7:30)
Navy (+26.5) @ (10) Notre Dame (O/U 55.5) NBC (7:30)
9:00
Nebraska (+1.5) @ UCLA (O/U 45.5) FOX
CIB Pick’em Contest
Cousin Steve: Jaguars (ML underdog), Vikings (ML underdog), Jets (ML underdog), West Virginia (-6.5), Memphis (-3.5)
Lori: Indiana (-14.5), Iowa (+6.5), Maryland, FSU, UAB
Abe: Mizzou, Vandy (-6.5), Nebraska, Jets, Eagles
Bob: BYU, Maryland, Florida State, Texans (ML underdog), Eagles
President Jimmy Carter’s Lock of the Week, Live from Plains
November 6, 2025
Hello once again to my dear friends at Cast Iron Balls, and also to Abe, a man who would no doubt gaze into the Valley of Elah and see David standing astride the already fallen Goliath and declare: My money is on the big fella, and lay the points! I’m to understand they’re giving you Veteran’s Day off, Abe! Just what are you a veteran of, anyway? The 2011 Great Copy Machine Fiasco? Watching too much Tony Dekoupil before the morning conference call—or, as they call it over in HR, the Battle of the Bulge?
Anywhichway, it has been just the loveliest week in Heaven. You should have seen the reception that my old political rival Dick Cheney got when he got here! I’m still feeling a bit hungover from the party, to be honest. We did this whole thing at first, to kinda give him a jolt, just to mess with him. St. Peter was standing there at the gates, and here comes old Iron Ass, and Pete says to him, “Alright, Mr. Vice President, if you want to come in here, you’ll have to answer some questions, first, and we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” and he shows him the easy way, which was waterboarding, and the hard way, which was rectal rehydration, and Dick just goes white as a cloud. It’s a good thing you don’t take your ticker with you when you leave the physical world, because I know even that transplanted heart of his would have stopped cold. But then Donny Rumsfeld, who never could keep a straight face, starts giggling like a possum in pigshit, and the jig was up. Oh, the hijinks we get into up here.
But on to the gambling! That’s five in a row, and six out of seven for the old peanut farmer! As Rosalynn was fond of saying, “I’m feeling hotter than a preacher’s daughter at a Navy bar, so get over here and take your turn!” In honor of my beloved feral minx, I’ll take the Northwestern Wildcats plus the fourteen and a half points over the USC Trojans. You know, I didn’t expect to yearn quite so much in the happily ever after, but Lord, I do miss her.
All right, I gotta run. Brando says I owe him three hundred, but I need to see the bookie, first.
As always, enjoy the games with good food and drink, and most importantly, good company. And be kind to one another, for gosh sakes. Almost nothing matters, besides that. May god bless this great nation, and this great podcast. Until next time, this is Jimmy from Plains for Cast Iron Balls.
The opening and closing themes of Cast Iron Balls were composed by Marc Gillig. For more from Marc, go to tetramermusic.com.
The background music for Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Lock of the Week is “Bama Country” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
