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They’ve earned being the “primary” receivers. They’re as good as any we e had in recent years.

This I can’t really argue with, if the B1G wins three in a row, they have absolutely closed the gap at the top and 3 in a row proves it. I think the B1G has consistently had one or two of the top teams for awhile, give or take a few years in the modern era. Also, the addition of Oregon and USC and others have only strengthened the conference.

So you’re saying that the Southern teams have only dominated college football bc they started paying players, and otherwise the northern teams that once upon a time dominated in a much different era and landscape would have continued their dominance? If you truly believe this then I won’t even try to argue with you because it would be pointless! Come on man, you certainly know better than this!

Meh. I think after this year is completed and a Big-10 team wins the 'Natty for the third time in a row, that it will be shown that while the SEC is deeper? The Big-10 has the best teams.

Historically, I am inclined to think the North has proven to have the advantage. Princeton, Yale, Chicago, Notre Dame, Army, Michigan, Nebraska, etc for decades dominated championships. It really wasn’t until the SEC mastered the art of paying players under the table that the South became dominant. I think NIL has re-leveled that playing field somewhat. I fear we are moving into an era that the schools with the richest donors will hold the real advantage.

I remember posting on more than one occasion that NIL would level the playing field. I just never expected it to happen as quickly as it has. Now if only the 18-team B1G could find a way to level the playing field a little better intra-conference. Recently Ohio State's Caleb Downs was asked the difference in playing an SEC schedule vs. a B1G schedule (remember he played, and played very well, at Alabama his first year). He said exactly what I thought he'd say remarking that you really only needed to be in top form for 2-3 of the 9-Game B1G contests to prevail. He then remarked that in the SEC you better be on your toes always as you are going to face "DUDES every game!" That is a bit of an overstatement but still truer of the SEC than the B1G IMHO.

McClellan has two of THE best “almost” catches I’ve ever seen. The “one handed pin against the helmet” catch in a prior game, and the over the back of the defender in this game.

I agree, USC isn’t a southern team. This won’t be popular, but college football has been dominated in modern history by the south. While I will admit that certainly tOSU was the best team last season, I don’t think UM would have beaten UGA the year before. Neither here nor there though, it’s not Michigan’s fault that they didn’t play GA, it’s GA’s fault, so they were justifiably the champions. Maybe it’s starting to change, but the South has a bit of an advantage in that there are so many top football recruits that come from southern states, and also that in the south the NFL is secondary to college football for the most part. However, NIL and the money it brings is changing the narrative it seems. The one thing some of the big Northern teams do have access to is money, and that money can bring in southern recruits and transfers. Time will tell how things will ultimately adjust, but it’s a certainty that the dust hasn’t settled yet in the new frontier of college football! Perhaps the stranglehold that the south has had may be coming to an end, or at least the playing field is leveling.

A TON of SEC players have come to B1G in the NIL-Portal era. I did not anticipate how a couple of Big Ten teams could load up on portal athletes from the south to the degree that we have. It has been quite a leveling of the playing field between the two power conferences…

Saturday Tradition Posts JMU Game Stats - Saturday TraditionRapid Reaction: Oregon runs over James Madison, into CFP...Oregon ran all over James Madison in the first half of Saturday's College Football Playoff first-round game to book a trip to the quarters.

Yep, the rope a dope has started.

Well, you evened up the teams by adding ewe dub dragging down the North and sc for the South.

Let's see all four plus Sadiq spread out and running streaks, crosses and posts on the same play . . . and then count the broken ankles on D.

Yeah, he's not the only one . . . I had bet the spread and a teaser spread - 27. Good thing I had Ducks over 19.5 for the 1st half and 35 for the game to go along with at least 1 TD either team over 43.5 yds. I thought Johnson's TD was going to save me, but the other 4 x 45yd+ did.

Benson is probably the punt returner for the remainder. I also don't see either Benson or McClellan being benched for Bryant at WR. Bryant will work back into the 2 deep. Dak Moore will work back into starter.

It is hard to think of USC as a south team when they are a card carrying member of the B1G. I put them in the north.

Thanks, AOD, for the terrific post. TX Tech played five teams with winning records this season, defeating BYU twice. TT scored 21 plus points in all of its wins. OBD went 5-1 against teams with winning records, plus two wins over 6-6 Northwestern and Penn State. Both teams handled a common opponent, Oregon State, with ease. SOS - OBD 16 and TT 54. As you ask AOD, how much of TT's success was the result of playing inferior competition? On 1/1, will Oregon face an elite defense? By the numbers, the answer is 'Yes.' The TT defense is 1st in QB pressures, and No. 1 in TOs created with 31 on the year, including four against BYU in the champ game. Texas Tech finished the season No. 1 against the rush, allowing an average of 68.5 yards a game and 2.3 yards per rush. In 2024 and 2025 to date, Oregon is 25-0 when rushing for 100 yards or more a game, and 0-2 when rushing for fewer than 100 yards. If OBD cannot run the ball against TT, the Red Raiders should win the game. This should be a classic battle on the line of scrimmage. Wreck Tech!

Who has the advantage? Northern teams: Washington, Oregon, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio St, Penn St Southern teams: USC, Texas, T a&m, Oklahoma, LSU, bama, Georgia, Clemson, Fla St, Miami, Florida, Tennessee I think the south had the advantage except for the last couple of seasons. Now, I think it is very close. NIL has made it more feasible for kids from the south to play for teams that are further away. Not too long ago, only Ohio St had the size, strength and athletes to compete against the best southern teams. Any thoughts?

Tech has the same problem that Oregon had last year - sitting out the first round while their opponent got a warm up game. Now Tech has to play against better players, just like Oregon did vs Ohio St last yr in the playoffs. I see an exact replay of the situation last year. Can't see it any differently. Just hope Lanning doesn't go aggro and get a bunch of players hurt in practice. Only semi-real teams Tech played so far are Utah and BYU. And they lost to Az St. I don't think Tech is ready to play Oregon. Although at this point, I think they could beat the crap out of our backups.

I think a highly coveted 5-Star safety (see below) coming in this winter, and one RS freshman safety ahead of him returning probably had more to do with it. And that is not counting 5-Star Safety Trey McNutt coming back from injury as well... Whew! No. 2 Safety in the US joining us soon?

If my memory is right, Lowe looked good last year when he subbed in. I expected him to get more catches this year. That is how it goes sometimes. I think there will be quite a few who enter the portal as soon as the season ends. Combine that with a low numbers signing class, and I think Oregon goes after the portal pretty hard for next season. Also factor in talented players who leave college for the pros after the min of 3 years in college. I predict the Ducks hit the portal hard for edge players and O linemen, maybe linebackers too. And a QB if Dante goes pro. Possibly another TE, maybe a kicker or punter? I think the team is pretty good mostly every where else.

Thanks Charles. Thanks Jon. That game was really over before the half. Lanning seemed to be really angry about giving up 28 points in the second. Keep the foot on the gas pedal boys!!! One down...three to go!!!

Of the players you mentioned, some were very high 4 stars and Offord was a 5 star - I'm pretty sure all were well above the caliber of players that JMU could sign. Great point about next year. Finding out how the backups play in a playoff game is a good way to plan for the future. It is also a good way to see who is really ready in case of an injury. And, you can't get a star player injured if he is on the bench and done for the day (see Jordon Davison). This also lets Dan know who he needs to go after in the portal. Some of the backup DBs were not very impressive. I would have liked to have seen Rushing, Breland, Wyatt, Haastrup, Sims. Maybe the problem was not putting the backups in there - maybe it was not playing them enough during the regular season in easy games? There were four games this season they could have played only the backups and still won, easily. They rotate in running backs, regularly. Maybe they should rotate in defensive players for a play or two while the game is still competitive? Of course, the downside to that is a blown assignment or a missed tackle that goes for a touchdown to the other team. And the downside of putting in a backup O lineman is a sack to your starting QB that sidelines him for the season. I'd like to see Oregon heavily rotate in backups regularly (all positions) in games that are not competitive so they are ready late in the season if needed. If that means the Ducks beat Montana St by less than 46 points, I'll take it. We are in the era of a 12 team playoff, so style points and large margins are no longer needed, just wins. I think part of the disappointment in the second half was that the regular season has already been played, and some of these backups are STILL not ready?

Early random thoughts on the Texas Tech game. • Texas Tech is going to be coming off 25 days off, which probably means rust, at least in the first half. The 4 bye teams last year trailed at half by 10, 10, 14, and 26. • I am just not totally sure the B12 overall had a strong year. After Utah, BYU twice were their next two biggest wins and BYU was picked to finish 9th in the preseason poll. Sometimes that jump is totally legit and sometimes it is because most of the conference was expected to be good and wasn't. Someone has to finish 3-5. I watched Houston against Oregon State and the teams looked pretty even. They finished forth. Arizona finished 5th and well, it's still post-Fisch Arizona. Utah I think was very solid but they averaged 41 points a game? 41? I think they were beating up on some JAG conference opponents. 247 has a total team roster talent composition rating and ASU was overall #33, Utah #44, and BYU #70. Arizona was #67 and Houston #66. Oregon sits at #5. • Going to be a lot of talk about their D this week. TT loses to ASU and all we hear is their QB was out and that is fair; but, Tech actually took the lead 22-19, and were kicking off with 2 minutes left in the game. They get their 1985 Chicago Bears defense on the field to end the game. ASU goes 10 plays and 75 yards in 1:25 to take back the lead. In the drive TT gets ASU into a 4th and 2 with 0:55 seconds left for a walk-off win. Leavitt completes 33 yards to Tyson instead. Holding them to a FG means OT. ASU instead scores a TD to win 26-22. • I do expect a close game.