Explore every episode of the podcast Northern Aggression: A College Football Podcast

No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Indiana and No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU are two major games in college football this week, and Around the North dug into both of them on this episode. The show also asked the question of which Northern team is best right now, the Buckeyes, Hoosiers or Fighting Irish? To answer that question and many others, Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports and the Happy Auer newsletter on Substack joined the show to chat with Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises. Besides those games, the show also tackled the topic of SEC Midness and asked which Big Ten game last week was the most interesting or shocking: Purdue over Minnesota, UCLA over Oregon, USC over Penn State, Iowa over Washington or Nebraska almost beating Indiana? Thanks to Nicole for her time and insight and thanks to you for joining us on Around the North.

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After another good week of college football betting last week, as TShoe went 3-1, the Union Bet hit for the fourth straight week and Doug went 2-1, Tyler Shoemaker and Doug Lesmerises are back for another round of college football betting advice.
The picks here are on:

• UCLA-Wisconsin
• Houston-Oklahoma State
• LSU-Mississippi State
• TCU-Baylor
• West-Virginia-Cincinnati
• Appalachian State-Coastal Carolina
• Air Force-UNLV

Thanks for joining us on The Podcast of Northern Aggression betting show. For the season, TShoe is 15-8, Doug is 5-13 and their combined Union Bets are 4-2.

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Six college football picks are on this show as Bill, Matt and Doug add an extra game to the usual slate. The discussions and picks are on:

• USC-Penn State in what might be a sad White Out
• Georgia-Alabama
• Indiana-Nebraska
• UCLA-Oregon
• Iowa-Washington
• Purdue-Minnesota

Plus a bonus look at Oklahoma-Texas. Thanks as always for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Indiana vs. Nebraska is one of two college football showdowns between undefeated Power Conference teams this weekend. On this episode of Around the North, Josh Peterson of the I-80 Club podcast and YouTube show joins Matt, Bill and Doug to discuss whether people should be believing in Nebraska this season, or anticipating another fall off after a fast start. How big is the Big Noon matchup with Indiana at Nebraska on Saturday, what does it mean to the Big Ten, and how does it compare to the other undefeated showdown between Alabama and Georgia? Other topics covered:

With both teams on two-game losing streaks, how much trouble are Michigan and Penn State in and how should we view Kyle Whittingham and Matt Campbell?
What is the fourth-best team in the Big Ten and why do we have so many candidates for it?
How many actually good teams are there in the Big Ten and SEC?
Thanks to Josh for his time and insight. Thanks to you as always for hanging out with us on The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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An Oregon-UCLA play is the Union Bet in this college football betting discussion with Tyler Shoemaker and Doug Lesmerises. They have hit three straight Union Bets, when the math and the vibes come together, and are 3-2 on those bets for the year. TShoe was 2-2 on his bets last week and is 12-7 on the year, while Doug is also here. Other games to play this week:

South Carolina-Florida
Utah State-Washington State
Arkansas-Tennessee
Florida International-New Mexico State
Alabama-Georgia
LSU-Kentucky
Michigan State-Illinois
Thanks for joining the betting show on The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Three Big Ten teams that took big losses last week are under the microscope on this edition of college football picks on The Podcast of Northern Aggression. For Week 5, Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna make picks on these five games:

• Michigan at Minnesota
• Penn State at Northwestern
• Ohio State at Iowa
• Alabama at Mississippi State
• Washington at USC

The bonus games discussed are North Dakota State-Wyoming, Clemson-Miami and Pitt-Virginia Tech.
Thanks for checking out the weekly picks show on Northern Aggression.

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The teams ranked Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the our Big Ten preseason poll all lost Saturday. On this edition of Around the North, the discussion centers on those games and what we learned about the winners and losers. Audrey Snyder, the great Penn State writer for https://insidethelions.substack.com/, joins Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises to break it all down. The five show topics:

• Wisconsin beating Penn State
• Iowa beating Michigan
• Oregon beating USC
• Minnesota beating Washington
• Grading the four new Big Ten coaching hires for this season: Bob Chesney at UCLA, Matt Campbell at Penn State, Kyle Whittingham at Michigan and Pat Fitzgerald at Michigan State

Thanks for joining Around the North on The Podcast of Northern Aggression. Tell a friend.

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After a 5-1 week on the show, Northern Aggression is back for more college football bets on Pitt, Penn State, Georgia and more.
On this episode, Tyler Shoemaker and Doug Lesmerises discuss TShoe's mechanic picks as he goes under the hood for some off-the-radar games.
He has a best bet for James Madison-Marshall, as well as suggested bets for Cal-UNLV and Oregon State-Colorado State.
He also likes two games on Friday, with a pick on Penn State-Northwestern and a Union Bet with Doug, as math and vibes combine, on Pitt-Virginia Tech.
Doug is more basic, choosing three SEC bets while riding high after winning his only bet last week on Georgia.
This week he makes picks on Alabama-Mississippi State, Georgia-Vanderbilt and Kentucky-South Carolina.
For the year, TShoe is 10-5 and Doug is 2-10, while their combined Union Bet is 2-2.
Thanks for joining the betting show each Monday on the Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Five college football matchups are up for discussion and picks on this episode, with Matt Fortuna coming off a perfect 5-0 week against the spread. Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises join him to debate and predict:

Michigan-Iowa
Penn State-Wisconsin
Nebraska-Michigan State
Texas-Tennessee
USC-Oregon
Plus bonus discussions on Florida-Ole Miss, Oklahoma State-West Virginia and Toledo-San Diego State.

Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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It's Around the North, covering five topics around the Big Ten and college football. On this episode, Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna re joined by Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. He has a new podcast series, House of Troy, dropping on Tuesday about the modern era of USC football that will be of interest to all CFB fans.
The topics on this show include:

• Thoughts on the USC defense entering the Oregon matchup
• Should USC or Oregon be favored?
• The other most interesting Big Ten games this week, with the choices including Penn State-Wisconsin, Indiana-Northwestern, Minnesota-Washington and Nebraska-Michigan State
• The most surprising Big Ten team so far, good or bad
• The best QB in the Big Ten

Thanks for joining us on Around the North on the Podcast of Northern Aggression. We'll be here early every week with another guest from around college football.

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Tyler Shoemaker is back after his formula, the TShoe Index, was as good as any college football betting math in the nation last week. TShoe was 3-1 last week on his picks here, just like he was the previous week, and the Union Bet of vibes and math also hit on Houston-Texas Tech. So let's keep rolling with TShoe bets on Michigan-Iowa, Texas-Tennessee, Clemson-Cal, Georgia State-Northern Illinois and a Union Bet on New Mexico-New Mexico State.
Doug is 1-10 and a ridiculous embarrassment to all things betting, so he is making a single bet this week. If you wan to fade his vibes, you'll have at least one chance.
Thanks for joining the college football betting episode of The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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It's five more college football games to pick as the Week 3 calendar offers an odd assortment of matchups. Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises reluctantly wade into Ole Miss vs. LSU before also previewing and picking: • Maryland-Virginia Tech • SMU-Louisville • Houston-Texas Tech • North Carolina-Clemson The three bonus games are Colorado-Northwestern, South Carolina-Mississippi State and Florida-Auburn. Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Indiana's 16-0 national championship run from the 2025 season remains one of the great and surprising stories in American sports this century. A new book, Unthinkable to Unstoppable: How Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers stunned college football, will be released on Sept. 22 and is available for pre-order.
On this episode, the authors of that book, Mike Nizolek and Zach Osterman, join Doug Lesmerises to discuss the future of Indiana footnall, what the Hoosiers' showdown in Bloomington against Ohio State in October should be like, their interviews with Cignetti and others for this book, and how they came to collaborate on this story.
You can find the book anywhere, including at bookshop.org.
Thanks for joining Northern Aggression.

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It's Around the North talking Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana, USC, UCLA & more in a discussion of five Big Ten footnall topics.
Jon Wilner of Wilnerhotline.com, a great West Coast national college football writer for the Mercury News and others, joins Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises to discuss these five topics:

• How would you describe the job that Dan Lanning has done as Oregon's head coach?
• How much trouble are Oregon and Ohio State in after their Week 2 losses?
• Does Indiana actually have the right idea on non-conference scheduling?
• Are USC and UCLA both for real?

• Grade the additions of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA to the Big Ten and how everything has worked out for the schools and the conference

  Thanks for joining Around the North on The Podcast of Northern Aggression. We'll plan to bring in a guest every week to join Matt, Bill and Doug for a five-topic discussion of Big Ten and national college football. Thanks for being here.

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The Big Ten went 11-6 in Week 2 and a miserable 2-6 against other Power Conference teams, including Ohio State losing to Texas, Oregon losing to Oklahoma State, Minnesota losing to Mississippi State and Illinois losing to Duke. Michigan's win over Oklahoma saved the conference from an even darker weekend.
On this episode, Doug, Bill and Matt talk about went wrong, what it says about the depth the Big Ten, and whether anything can be done at this point, or will this weekend hang over the Big Ten all season?
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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More college football bets are shared on this edition of the CFB betting show on the Podcast of Northern Aggression. Tyler Shoemaker was 3-1 on his solo bets last week, so we get to all his picks right away and save the dubious picks of Doug Lesmerises until the end after his shameful 0-3 last week. From Arizona State to the Florida-Auburn game to a 113-year-old rivalry, TShoe is ready to roll this week. For their Union Bet, where vibes and math come together, the guys are going back to a team they tried before. Thanks for joining us to talk about college football plays on Northern Aggression.

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College football's Week 2 slate features some bangers, from Ohio State-Texas to Oklahoma-Michigan to Kentucky-Alabama to a game worth watching Friday night between Boston College and Rutgers. 

After a stellar 5-0 week by Bill Landis and 4-1 week by Matta Fortuna against the spread in Week 1, Northern Aggression (Doug Lesmerises is also here) is back to break down five big games and three bonus in games in Week 2.

Big games:
Ohio State at Texas
Oklahoma at Michigan
Kentucky at Alabama
Mississippi State at Minnesota
Duke at Illinois

Bonus games:

Rutgers at Boston College
Memphis at Boise State
Cal at Syracuse
Thanks as always for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Massachusetts quarterback Pop Watson, who led the Minutemen to a stunning upset of Rutgers in Week 1, joins Matt Fortuna for an interview on this episode of Northern Aggression. But first, Matt, Doug and Bill discuss what's next for Rutgers after that 37-21 loss and suggest some names for who could be the next coach for the Scarlet Knights with Greg Schiano firmly on the hot seat.
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Michigan vs. Western Michigan ended in chaos on Saturday. What is the effect on the Big Ten as the clock issues in that Michigan win remain the dominant topic in college football?

On this edition of Around the North, Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises are joined by Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com to discuss the ramifications of that game. 

Then it's on to:

How the Big Ten fared on the field in Week 1, from Penn State, USC and Iowa to Rutgers, Michigan State and Oregon
Disappointing and impressive teams from Clemson to LSU to UCLA
What's up with Dabo?
Does Notre Dame look like the national title favorite?
How will the Big Ten fare in its three games against the SEC in Week 2?
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Our college football betting show is back for Week 2 on Northern Aggression, with picks on Ohio State-Texas, Alabama-Kentucky, UCLA-San Diego State, Army-South Florida, Penn State-Temple, Ohio-Jacksonville State and more.
There are four bets from handicapper Tyler Shoemaker, three from vibes goofball Doug Lesmerises, and the one union bet where they come together.
Last week wasn't great: 1-2 from TShoe, 1-4 from Doug and 0-1 on the Union bet. We're trying again this week anyway.
Thanks for being here and we'll catch you every week for CFB bets on Monday.

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Week 1 college football game picks are here, as Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises will pick at least five Big Ten, northern and national games each week on Northern Aggression.
The games this week:

• Clemson at LSU
• UCLA at Cal
• Boise State at Oregon
• Louisville-Ole Miss in Nashville

• Wisconsin-Notre Dame in Green Bay

  Plus the guys will each pick a wild card game on their own to discuss. This week those games are Toledo-Michigan State, Miami-Stanford and Ohio-Nebraska.
  Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression and we hope to see you each week for picks.

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Here are our college football playoff picks, and though the three of us agreed on only five playoff teams, we all wound up with the same champ.
What a content fiasco.
On this episode, Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna explain their 12-team brackets, which include some familiar names, some wild picks (Illinois? Florida? Kentucky?) and a unanimous champion. 
Thanks for joining Northern Aggression.

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Welcome to Around the North, a new show from Northern Aggression. Early in each week, we will discuss five topics on the Big Ten, the North and national college football. Matt, Bill and Doug will be joined by one expert guest, and the first one is a banger. It's Scott Dochterman of The Athletic, a long-time expert on national ball, Big Ten ball and Iowa.

On this episode, Scott, Matt, Bill and Doug cover these five questions for Week 1:

• Which Big Ten game are you most looking forward to?
• Is this weak Big Ten slate for Week 1 OK, or should something be done?
• Did USC look like a playoff contender in its Week 0 win?
• What kind of chance does Wisconsin have against Notre Dame in Lambeau Field on Sunday?
• Name a Big Ten QB that needs to show you something this weekend
• Thanks for being part of Northern Aggression, and we hope you join us each week for Around the North.

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Welcome to our new college football betting show on Northern Aggression. Each Monday morning, Doug Lesmerises will be joined by Tyler Shoemaker, a college football fan and handicapper with his own numbers and formula, to offer the best bets of the week. Doug is all vibes. TShoe is all math. And they'll each make three to five picks a week, which we will track. Then they will come together for The Union bet, where math and vibes merge into one ideal pick.
The idea is to have fun and get you TShoe's bets early in the week, before the lines move too much. If you have no interest in betting, skip this episode and we'll catch you on other Northern Aggression episodes. If you think this type of conversation is fun and you're hoping to gain some insight from a smart guy, then we hope you have a good time with us.
Thanks for joining us on Northern Aggression.

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We have three Heisman Trophy voters on The Podcast of Northern Aggression, and Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna are here to make their Heisman predictions for the 2026 season.
They each provide their three picks for players to be on their ballots at the end of year, and then they each pick one longshot who could make it, considering that 2025 winner Fernando Mendoza was more than 50-1 before last season.
Stay tuned next week for playoff picks and our new schedule of North Aggression shows. Thanks for letting us talk college football with you.

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The countdown of the 50 Most Important People in Big Ten Football has reached the Top 10 on this episode of Northern Aggression. Two previous episodes covered the first 25 people on the list, and then the next 15. Now, it's the guys who really will determine the fate of the conference this season.
Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises run through coaches, coordinators, quarterbacks and more for these final 10 spots, then share their honorable mention candidates who just missed the Top 50.
Make sure you catch all three episodes discussing the Top 50 list. And thanks as always for hanging with The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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The Top 50 Most Important People in Big Ten football for 2026 moves into the top half of the list with Nos. 11 through 25. On this episode, Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises discuss five savior coordinators and their impact; three new head coach hires; another head coach on the hot seat; another head coach chasing a national title; a rising quarterback star; another QB looking to take the next stop; and a Heisman Trophy finalist who didn't make the Top 10.
Make sure you find the previous episode of Northern Aggression to catch the discussion of Nos. 26 through 50. And stay tuned for the next episode to get the Top 10.
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression and this new discussion of college football from a Big Ten and northern point of view.

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Who are the Top 50 most important, impactful, consequential people for the 2026 Big Ten football season?
On Northern Aggression, Bill Landis, Matt Fortuna and Doug Lesmerises put together the list, and this episode unveils the first 25 players and coaches affecting Big Ten ball this fall.
From quarterbacks to coordinators, from freshmen to head coaches, from receivers to a stadium and a recruit, check out the start of the list and the explanations from Bill, Matt and Doug on the first 25.
Every Big Ten program is represented in the Top 50, with two more episodes ahead to get to No. 1.
Thanks for joining The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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It’s a Big Ten vs. SEC showdown. We aren’t playing it on the field yet, so we are playing it out on The Podcast of Northern Aggression.
From Nebraska vs. South Carolina to Washington vs. Alabama to Oregon vs. Texas, Matt Fortuna, Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises vote on who the winners would be.
That reveals a final count in this challenge on which conference really has the most depth. Subscribe to get more Big Ten content like this and thanks for being part of our new college football show, The Podcast of Northern Aggression.

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Welcome to The Podcast of Northern Aggression, a new college football show talking national college football and Big Ten football from your Northern point of view. Doug Lesmerises, Bill Landis and Matt Fortuna will be here multiple times a week to talk Big Ten and Notre Dame and to keep it real about what's really going on in the SEC.
On this first episode, the discussion is about the eight primary national title contenders favored by everyone: Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Miami and Texas Tech. Of those eight, Bill, Matt and Doug had to pick one team for each of three categories, based on how preseason national title contenders a year ago fared.
Suck: A team that is going to fall way out of the playoff race (like Penn State, Clemson and LSU last year)
Manage: Stay in the race but just miss the playoff (like Notre Dame and Texas last year)
Win: Make the playoff (like Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Alabama)
Who did they pick for Suck, Manage, Win? Find out on the first edition of Northern Aggression and we hope to see you again for future episodes.
 

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