HDuck

Two more points: 1-NCAA Basketball Tournament conference shares – the B1G will have more teams qualify, and even when revenue is split among more conference members it will still be more $$ per school than the Pac. 2-The CFP has two years left on the original deal with ESPN. Starting in 2026, the CFP will have a new contract that reportedly will spin off $21M to each B1G school. The B1G and SEC get bigger shares than other conferences.

Until such time as the bracket is re-seeded after each round it will often be that a No. 5 would be preferable over a No. 1 seed.

Interesting to contemplate what programs during the same time period have flirted with "Cool" but haven't been able to sustain it. Particularly programs, like Oregon, that did not enter the 2000's with a big winning tradition built in. TCU and Baylor had their moments when you look at their season by season W-L record since 2000. But, not sustained. Others? Clemson had a lot of seasons flirting with .500 since the Danny Ford years ended around 1990 before Dabo Swinney became coach in 2009. Others that come to mind in the 2000's?

The nice thing about that list is that I could make a favorable comment about ALL of them...no exclusions. Boetttcher balanced two sports. Tez stuck around when Bo left. Jacobs fought through injuries. All the 4-5 year guys who didn't transfer. And, so on. EVERYONE of them contributed.

Here is an older link about Nebraska and their walk-on program. Osborne's last squad had about 180 players. It was down to 130 in Riley's last season. Then went back up to 150 under Frost. Nebraska's football revenue allows them the additional expense. As the column points out, the walk-ons may not receive tuition scholarships but they get a lot of other financial benefits. Pretty amazing actually. NIL is not restricted to scholarship athletes, so that is how some programs attract players over the 85 scholarship limit. This column is 6 years old, but still interesting in light of today's environment. Will football roster climb to 150? Title IX presents a challenge NEBRASKA.RIVALS.COM Athletic director Bill Moos said a final plan on roster expansion could come before the spring game in April.

Ga Tech's head coach was the women's Olympics Team coach in 2000. Her winning percentage in college isn't fabulous but she's been in some tough places to win. Still she's had a lot of winning seasons, just not much opportunities in the NCAA Tournament.

Ga Tech beat Georgia 83-67 last week. Also handled S. Dakota St 71-57 this past Saturday. Ducks have to regroup...they play S. Dakota St tomorrow while SDSU has had two days rest. Obviously Ga Tech will be a team to track this season.

Which of these 8-3 teams should be considered for the Playoff? Alabama 3 losses: 9-2 Tennessee, 6-5 Vandy, 6-5 Oklahoma Duke 3 losses: 10-1 Miami, 10-1 SMU, 7-4 Georgia Tech

Idaho is 8-3 and playing for 9-3 this afternoon vs Idaho State. 3 losses to Oregon (11-0), Montana State (12-0), and Cal-Davis (9-2)

'Leave no doubt.' Ryan Day chooses to run up score vs. Indiana instead of run out clock. WWW.INDYSTAR.COM Ohio State RB Treveyon Henderson went down at the 1-yard line to bleed out the clock vs. Indiana. Instead of taking a knee, the Buckeyes added a TD. Since Indiana is 60 miles from Indianapolis perhaps a few Hoosier fans will show up to cheer for the Ducks...

I think broadcaster Gus Johnson has just moved into No. 1 most annoying on my personal scale.

Indiana had to make a pre-emptive move. Don't question that. But, his first team has a bunch of transfers from his last job at James Madison. And, faced an obviously weak schedule. Maybe length of term could have been shorter with incentives for annual rollovers.

Interesting column in The Athletic yesterday about Ohio State revamping their defense since the Oregon game. D-coordinator Jim Knowles initiating a major reset. excerpt: In the four games since the loss, Ohio State has given up just two touchdowns and 4.1 yards per play. Through the Oregon game, the Buckeyes had the nation’s 61st-highest blitz rate (28.2 percent), per TruMedia; since then, they’ve had the fourth highest (45.8 percent). They’ve also risen from 61st in percent of man-to-man defense played to 14th.

3rd Q total yards, passing and rushing 218 - Ohio St 89 - Indiana - that's net after 72 yds tackle for loss Possession 22:49 - Indiana 22:11 - Ohio St

"Indiana getting exposed." Actually, that is part of the issue with them. They have been on BTN 6 times, Peacock 1, and 1 each Fox, CBS, NBC before today. That's 3 linear network appearances in 10 games. Along with strength of schedule, Indiana has been operating in the dark, and been given the benefit of the doubt based on scoring margin.

Canzano pre-game, yesterday: Asked Bill Rabinowitz of Columbus Dispatch if Ohio State is focused on getting another shot at the Oregon Ducks and is motivated by that idea. "Yes, yes, yes, yes -- they do... no question."

Indiana's opponents entering this morning: 3-7 - Florida International 3-8 - W. Illinois 4-6 - UCLA 3-7 - Charlotte 4-6 - Maryland 4-6 - Northwestern 5-5 - Nebraska 6-5 - fuskies - only prior opponent above .500 5-6 - Michigan St 5-5 - Michigan 9-1 - Ohio St 1-10 - Purdue

Ohio State defense, yards allowed: 177 - Akron 99 - W. Michigan 264 - Marshall 246 - Michigan St 226 - Iowa 496 - Oregon 273 - Nebraska 270 - Penn St 206 - Purdue 251 - Northwestern 53 - half-time today, 453/game offense average for Indiana in 2024, OSU defense avg 251/game in 10 games

Ducks have now won 8 straight vs Beavers. The four wins in Corvallis: 2, 2, 2, 3 pts. Beavs have 9 foreign players on their roster this season. 5 of them scored. Their maturity will likely carry them to a bunch of wins if they get some home crowd support from Beavis fans. They'll have Gonzaga, St. Mary's, Pepperdine, Santa Clara, Portland home and away, but based on tonight I think they can be competitive. Ducks are in their typical Atlman pulling his hair out phase until they can be more consistent on defense, and find a reliable perimeter shooter. Playing physical on the road in the Big Ten will be a new adventure.

Alabama has 4 conference home games this season. And, 4 road games. 246 miles to Vanderbilt - a loss 314 to Tennessee - a loss 349 to LSU 700 to Oklahoma Georgia 378 to Kentucky 274 to Alabama - a loss 1,000 to Texas 404 to Ole Miss - a loss Oregon 857 to UCLA 2236 to Purdue 2365 to Michigan 2095 to Wisconsin How long before we hear the SEC bellyaching about those "long trips" to Austin and Norman?

Nov. 29 Friday 9:00 - CBS - Minnesota at Wisconsin 4:30 - NBC - Nebraska at Iowa Nov. 30 Saturday - 6 conference, 2 non-conference 9:00 - Fox - Michigan at Ohio State 9:00 - BTN - Illinois at Northwestern 12:30 - BTN - Maryland at Penn State 12:30 - FS1 - Rutgers at Michigan St 12:30 - BTN - Fresno St at UCLA - Notre Dame at USC - Purdue at Indiana - UW at Oregon - 12:30, 4:00, or 4:30

Historical note about 1992 Florida State in the ACC: Seminoles were 8-0 in the ACC first season after being an Independent since 1951. Miami wasn't part of the ACC yet. And, Miami was REALLY good then (1985-94). Miami was FSU's only loss as they beat Tulane, Florida, and Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to finish 11-1. Miami ended up 11-1 with a loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.