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You can't ignore what Kirby Smart built (back to back champs), and that 2019 LSU team that had just a couple ok NFL players...

The biggest tell that people making the rankings severe cognitive bias issues is Penn State and Indiana. 3rd vs. 20th. Really? Indiana had as good of a regular season record as Penn State and returned every bit as much production outside of QB. And Penn State had the QB that had the most to prove on a production basis not Mendoza. Narratives and cognitive biases are no way to set a baseline for how good your wins are in the next season. At least in the future 16-24 team playoff it will be nearly impossible to leave out an actual contender due to this issue.

Saban, Saban, and Saban. The SEC was the best conference in most years during the Saban dynasty imo. That being said, he propped them up. If Alabama had been struggling as much as USC the last 15 years no one would think that conference was dominant. To me it’s similar to Brady or Belichick debates. Belichick is probably solid without Brady, but Brady made him.

As college football embraces coast-to-coast chaos, it's illuminating to see where former Ducks are landing as they seek new opportunities in free agency run amuck. Over 6,700 Division I players have entered the portal, and more than 8000 from all levels of the sport. In that insane market, former Duck players have wound up in prime locations: Tionne Gray Notre Dame Dakoda Fields Oklahoma Jahlil Florence Missouri Sione Laulea Missouri Daylen Austin Arizona Jayden Limar Washington Jay Harris Kansas State Ashton Porter Houston Kingston Lopa Cal Cooper Perry Cal Kamar Mothudi trips to NC State and Cal Jurrion Dickey Memphis Kade Caton USF Justius Lowe San Diego State Kyler Kasper Brigham Young Makhi Hughes Houston Add: Blake Purchase to Ole Miss, Bryson Beaver to Georgia. It's staggering to think that guys who couldn't start at Oregon, in some cases even make the two-deep, are commanding NIL deals in the tens of thousands and some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars at SEC schools, bluebloods and playoff contenders. Autzen ZooOregon transfers are landing in some eyebrow-raising dest...Edge rusher Blake Purchase joined Al Golden's squad in Oxford. A Duck for a minute, true freshman quarterback Bryson Beaver is trending to Georgia.

True. He could be the exception to DeBoer

Absolutely. Ironic that Nike is known for Basketball shoes vs cleats. But hey, it's not my $$$

Yep, a bunch of Buckeyes are on the NFL early entry list - OBD has Moore returning rather than leaving early - 👍👌😍 On3NFL announces list of 63 underclassmen forgoing eligibili....

Here's my hope (based on no solid information): DL and staff are still talking to Terrance Green and Jericho Johnson and one or both opt out of the portal and return to OBD. I'm hoping that because OBD was in the playoffs until a week ago, they felt like they had to put their name in the portal to keep their options open while getting more information from the staff and others. I'm further hoping that with a little more time to gather information (and understand what NIL $ they may get from OBD as compared to others) and ponder their futures, they confirm that OBD is the best place for them.

Because he is getting paid!

The Nail in the Coffin? Paul Finebaum on why It Just Means More is morphing into It Just Meant More. [Not so Fast! It certainly looks like the B1G won the coaching carousel contest, but many terrific, top-drawer players remain in the still deep SEC. The SEC 'lost' the postseason, but it also 'won' the OOC season.] On3Paul Finebaum gives blunt take on the SEC's struggles in.... Why is this man smiling?

I was curious how Oregon's players lined up with other players around the country. But I found that the NIL value is undisclosed and not recorded as public record. But I did find a list that shows the top 20 paid athletes. The figures are in millions of dollars. 1. A. J. Bybantsa BYU 4.1 2. J. J. Toppin Texas Tech 2.8 3. Yaxel Lendenborg Michigan 2.3 4. Boogie Fland Florida 2.1 5. Donovan Dent UCLA 2.0 *** 6. Jayden Quaintance Kentucky 1.9 7. Braden Smith Purdue 1.9 8. Moustapha Thiam Cincinnati 1.8 9. Oscar Cluff Purdue 1.7 10. P. G. Haggarty Kansas St. 1.7 11. Bryce Hopkins St. John's 1.7 12. Owen Freeman Creighton 1.6 13. Malik Reneau Miami 1.6 14. Ian Jackson St. John's 1.5 15. Josh Dix Creighton 1.5 16. Henry Veesaar North Carolina 1.5 17. Cameron Boozer Duke 1.5 18. Bennet Stirtz Iowa 1.5 19. Dayyrn Peterson Kansas 1.5 20. Darrion Williams N. Carolina St. 1.4 *** Here's an example of what can happen even if you spend a lot of money on a player. Donovan Dent at UCLA is bringing in a cool two million but that doesn't guarantee a spot in the NCAA tournament. As of today, according to ESPN's bracketology, the Bruins are currently listed as the first team out. As my Duck friends who commented on a previous article, Oregon would have to spend some series cash to make them competitive. Spending more on basketball would probably cut back on football funding. How do you guys feel about this? Keep it the same, with our football program close to the top of the football pyramid and basketball floundering at the bottom of the standings or make basketball more interesting and exciting to watch. It takes a lot of money for a lot of football players to achieve that 'natty' we so desperately crave. But with basketball, probably two players and a strong supporting cast could bring a championship caliber team to Eugene.

Was having dinner last night with a friend that went to ND, and he was very excited about getting the D-line transfer from OBD. I say again, a diehard fan of Notre Dame was excited about getting what was a reserve player from OBD. Think it just cements the point that no one is going to be 2-deep with All Americans at rare positions anymore. Incoming HS players and random 3-star dudes from the portal are going to be the new depth imo.

It should be that simple, they over complicate everything. Though I wouldn’t reseed, no need to introduce an additional window for bias.

Perhaps? So far, Indiana is one of the top teams in this season's portal picking. Indina fans, including fans with deep, deep pockets, are fired up over football. QB Hoover is coming in from TCU to replace Mendoza, and like Fernando, he was ranked the 4th best QB in the portal. Cig is also bringing in the best group of high school players Indiana has signed since 1887. Win Monday night, and he'll likely bring in more top recruits. Both of the coordinators who have been with Cig for 11-plus seasons have signed contract extensions. Cig's process will not, in 2026, be derailed by his top assistants leaving for bigger jobs. Many folks, FWIW, not I, figured that Indiana was a 2024 one-hit wonder. In 2025-26, if this Indiana team wins Monday night, the Hoosiers will tie the Yale 1894 team with 16 wins and no losses. The man has won consistently everywhere he has been. I don't see him losing his mojo. In 2026, Indiana plays North Texas, the Mean Green's top players are moving with coach Eric Morris to OK State, Howard, and Western Kentucky OOC. 3-0. Ohio State, USC, along with Minnesota, Northwestern, and Purdue, visit Bloomington. Cig is 1-1 vs. Ohio State. USC, we'll have to see the on-field product. Worst case, 3-2, but more likely 4-1 or 5-0. Conference away games are at Michigan, Nebraska, Rutgers, and UW. There is a chance of a loss here, but I see no worse than 3-1. I think that Indiana is odds-on to finish 10-2 or better, and be back in the playoffs for the third season in a row.

9 conference games 2 rent-a-victim games No conference championships 16 team playoff field Re-seed after each round Minimize rematches until final 3 rounds on campus Final in the Rose Bowl My $0.02

This is why I don’t get attached to names (even when hilariously ironic) before they play. I also find it interesting how fans assume a certain level of loyalty from players (to coaches) that just isn’t always there. Would you automatically uproot and go to Kentucky when you were good enough to be recruited by OBD? Gross. Visit any Beavis site and you can see the disappointment taking hold as their fans begin to understand they aren’t getting a dozen players from Alabama in the portal. As to Novosad, I wish him well, but if he wasn’t good enough to be QB2 with OBD he’s probably not good enough to start in the SEC…even if it’s Kentucky.

I think there is some truth to that. While I realize Novosad got hurt early in the season, I think it was telling about what DL said regarding Brock Thomas’ work ethic and earning his way to backup.

This. Cig has the luxury of a boatload of players that have been in his system for multiple years at JMU. After this season, his roster will start to flux with new people and we'll start to see cracks in the foundation.

I think it's interesting that Novosad didn't go to Kentucky. Stein must know something we don't. Bryson was fine waiting his turn until Raiola signed. That alone pretty much guarantees he would sit 3 years. You're right about playing time, he has to have it. Better to play at a smaller school for 2 years than sit for 2 or 3. Maybe a Pac(St)eight team.

There are literally thousands of players in the portal right now. Finding reserve guys is not going to be a huge issue. A few of the D players that left Oregon have a shot at being NFL guys. A little more challenging to replace that level of talent.

D-line guys that entered the portal: Xadavien Sims, Ashton Porter, Jericho Johnson, Tionne Gray (Notre Dame), and Terrance Green A bunch of portal Ducks have found new homes. The D-line guys seem to be taking longer which seems counter-intuitive to conventional wisdom?

Fore will be better . . . then I can tell my golfing buddies why I am yelling at them to DUCK.

$$$, and the playing time that leads to more $$$. Until the CFB Billionaires learn to behave like the NFL Billionaires, this will be the CFB modus operandi. The Insanely Wealthy, Mark Cuban, Cody Campbell, and Uncle Phil, for example, are worth multi-multi-billions. Boys and their toys ... If you can access the interview, the Big Ten Network's and Northwestern grad, Dave Revsine's interview with Mark Cuban, offers a terrific insight into the mind of Mark. Cuban tells Dave that when he graduated from Indiana, he was certain that he would be a millionaire, and probably, a multi-millionaire. But to be a billionaire? "Any billionaire who says they weren't lucky to go from millionaire to billionaire is lying. No one makes this leap without good fortune and great advice." Cuban also notes that at Indiana, basketball was ingrained in his blood and soul. In his wildest dreams, he never considered that he would be helping finance the greatest college football renaissance in the history of the game. He also notes that, at some point, college football must reach an agreement with its players, as we see in all professional sports. Like the NFL, the best players have no reason to vote for any restraints on salary, player movement, etc. But the top drawer players are a minority, and it's one player-one vote. Imagine with no salary cap, the money an All-Pro NFL player would make if he could transfer every season? But how many NFL teams would be competitive? When the transfer portal opens, and before it opens and under the table, it's open season on talented players who did not grow up with the ethos I and the majority of gray beards grew up with, The Team, The Team, The Team. I'm not trying to claim any higher moral ground than those playing the game today; it's simply different. I expect a few capable backups still on the roster have been getting stronger and coached up and will come through next season. Then, some of them will be off to $$$ pastures. CFB is in chaos, but we also have a championship game Monday night that will draw millions more eyeballs than watched brand names Ohio State and Notre Dame. There's a Yang to every Yin.

Shorter practices are fine for a veteran team where the starters are in place, and other players have been in the system for years. When your roster turns over you need competitive practices with repetition to get players ingrained into an unfamiliar system, and still develop a two to three deep at each position.

There was a sports column in the Wall St. Journal in early December that focused on Indiana's practice regimen. Cignetti apparently does not believe in a lot of hitting in practice, especially late in the season. This season he has the luxury of a roster occupied with a lot of redshirt juniors, seniors, and redshirt seniors which may not need as much "coaching" as they avoid injury and wear and tear in practice. We'll see how that works against the "hitters" from Miami. A younger roster of linemen likely needs the practice repetition on technique and physicality. Indiana has been "lucky" on injury avoidance this season. Really lucky. Or, perhaps Cig created the "luck." All that being said, I too worry about the Ducks losing so many backups on the D-line. We hear repeatedly relative to recruiting how difficult it is to find D-linemen....especially west of the Mississippi River.