Sunshine Larry

I don't know this, but I have a strong feeling Lanning was contacted by Alabama to Gage his interest. Just as i'm sure he'll be contacted next year if Florida, Ohio State, or USC are looking for new guys. Neither side will admit this of course. It doesn't make either look great. It makes the big time program lose shine if they can't swipe anybody they want. It makes the coach look like a mercenary. Will successful coaches get called? Yes. Will the coach take the call? Yes. It's precisely due to the fact that once you have success, you have to live up to that. You have to realize your job is never safe. Look at Dabo, the guy is the legacy coach at Clemson. Two years of not making the playoff, and he's skewered. Two years!!! Ryan Day has won 11 games every year (excluding the weird 2020 season). A year ago he had a team that should have won the whole thing. Now he is on the hot seat. The hot seat!!! That's expectations only Saban has been able to live up to. Sure these dudes make bank, but college football is a much tougher gig today, with transfers, NIL, opt outs. Loyalty means nothing, and the sooner fans understand that they may have loyalty to one school. Players are looking to make a living in a very physically demanding gig. Coaches are as well, and everyone would jump at a job offer that gives them more benefits, better pay, and a greater chance to provide a better life for their family. I love people with high morals, loyalty to one's family, friends, coworkers. But the business side of me would kick myself if I turned down a chance to make more money , and allow me to retire at a younger age. That doesn't mean you stab anyone in the back either. You can be a good honest person who does whatever it takes to give yourself a better life. Just be honest about it. Oregon has the means to get into a better conference, which means it can pay to keep a better coach. Some say they weren't loyal to the Pac_12, but it was really a no brainer. Feelings were hurt, but Oregon had to do what secured a better future for itself. I think most of us agree with that. Outside of the travel, it's a better product for us as fans.

I think Washington doesn't want a guy that could bolt after a year. Smith leaving two jobs in two months, plus essentially leaving a new job he already signed on for isn't a great look. Washington didn't have the cash to keep their own guy, they aren't going to pay for his buyout. Next year I see two possible huge openings. Ohio State and Florida. Possibly even USC if they struggle again. Fisch is gonna be a target if he continues winning at Arizona. It's a bad look to become the launch pad job. Washington just played for the Title, they are a Big 10 school now. They are an upper tier member not brought in for the same reasons as Rutgers or Maryland. They are travel partners for USC, UCLA, and Oregon sure. But they are also meant to strengthen the league on the field. For that, they need to shed the transitional tag. Oregon is doing that with its commitment to Lanning.

It's obvious to Cam that he can make more money on a one year NIL deal in Miami. This is a pretty strong year for QBs in the draft. Plus the ACC is pretty meh. If he can beat out UgiUgi at Tallahassee, he can likely win the conference. He'll get way more hype, because ten wins at Miami is gonna get him way more credibility than anything up in Pullman. Next year's draft has that kid from Texas, the transfer QB going to Ohio State, Gabriel, and Cam. Oh and UgiLove from Tallahassee. All transfers btw. Come to think of it, everyone outside of May and McCarthy are transfer guys this year. New World of college football kids.

Some say the transfer portal helps smaller programs. You can't have five stars riding the bench anymore. But at the most important position, the smaller programs will turn into farm teams for the Big guys. Look at the QB from Toledo. A low two star with zero big time offers. This year he showed off his upside and development. Now he has options he didn't have three years ago. It's great for Oregon, Washington, Alabama, LSU and Notre Dame. Not so much for Oregon State or Washington State. Haves and have nots isn't going anywhere. To answer the question, I say development isn't dead. It's just you'll be developed in the MAC or Mountain West, and play in the Big Ten and SEC.

So if the ten departing programs felt that way, why did Washington file a countersuit? If he is saying the ten departing members fan base wants the two to have it all, that's a bold faced lie. Journalistic integrity is nearly extinct. People don't do their research. They lead with emotion, not facts. If you choose to disagree with them, or dare question their source. Holy Smoke!!! That's why I enjoy when the media gets called out. They are so thin skinned, but have no issue calling out kids that have done nothing but give their all to continue their dream. Canzano is a shill, I already know he has an agenda. He makes high school bloggers look unbiased. I've seen these guys talk about free speech and fair use when questioned about their work. But when you are a professional getting paid to inform the reader, you need to present facts first. Let the reader digest the straight unfiltered facts. Like saying Bo Nix threw for 400 yards, but only 80 came in the second half. That may lead you to understand why Oregon blew a lead. The opposite of this is saying that Bo was just terrible. He threw 3 interceptions, missed several reads. He should have been benched in the third. It's all his fault, and there was no reason to leave him out there. Well possibly the reason he was out there was due to 320 first half yards. Possibly the opponent began generating pressure differently. Perhaps it wasn't all Bo's fault.

To me it's when the comments get a little meaner that you know your program is making waves. Mean as in healthy trash talk, like Oregon guys saying Washington has never won a single men's national title. It's truthful and fun. I want Ohio State to view Oregon in a bad light. It means they don't like them, and you want the best programs to dislike you. They despise Michigan, mildly hate Penn State, dislike Wisconsin and Michigan State. They feel a slight tingle of disdain for Iowa. They used to have some silly turtle trophy for their game against Illinois, but never really cared. What does that show you? Despise Michigan. Mildly hate Penn State, and have varying degrees of dislike for the only relevant members of the Big Ten. It's the same for us here, we despise USC. It's finally being reciprocated. Look at how we view Washington in comparison to Oregon State. Washington is the same with Oregon in comparison to Washington State. Most of us don't wish ill will on the Beavs. That's because they are like your annoying little brother. Washington and USC are the guys that you are competing with at work for that promotion. We need to beat them, they are in our way. Every time they get a leg up on us, it's a deep personal swipe to our ego. I hope Ohio State fans begin to view Oregon in the same light as they do Penn State. Maybe hate us a little bit more. Let that begin as we get two straight this upcoming season.

At this point it's time to look to the future. Oregon is going to the second best league(soon to be best). They're going to be on every major network outside ESPN, and are going to have more eyeballs on them. Recruiting is going great, got probably the top transfer target to replace Bo. Money is flowing in, boosters are pouring in more support, and Ohio State has to honor their agreement to come to Autzen. What is the biggest name going to Oregon State next year? Washington State. What channel can you find them on? Two programs going in opposite directions. The Ducks worked their tail feathers off, and are being rewarded. The Beavers built a half straw dam ,and the water is about to wash it away. Puddles may pop in for a quick visit once a year, but then it's on to better parts downstream.

Make the age jokes, but maturity isn't a bad thing. Make the number of times he's transferred jokes, but that's just the way tho us are today. Gabriel has P5 experience. He's mobile, has a good enough arm, and has leadership qualities. Yeah he's under 6 foot, but that narrative is drying up today. A lot of programs would be ecstatic to get this guy. Oklahoma didn't want to lose him, and he's a one year guy. He can help mentor any young guy who wants to come be the next guy.

I'm guessing we were always heading there. Once NIL was allowed in, the writing was on the wall. This stuff has been going on behind the scenes for years. Even at the High School level. IMG Academy in Florida is as much an "Academy", as McDonalds is a fine dining institution. Super Leagues are already here imo. It's just a matter of time until Northwestern and Vanderbilt are traded in for FSU and Clemson. Undefeated seasons are going to become near impossibilities in football. Not only is the quality of opponents going up, but the number of games is as well. Twenty years ago, Ohio State set the record as the first ever team to win 13 games. Back in the 80's, 10-0 would get you a National Title. This year you have two 13-0 teams in the playoff. Your champion will either be 15-0, or 14-1. Next year it gets even longer. Do you think the season's are going to get shorter? These guys are gonna be playing longer seasons, against tougher opponents. Even the mighty SEC is going to have to play against at least two more quality opponents if they get into the playoff. Which of course many of them will. No taking the cap off the bottle now.

I read an article on the New York Times drawing the question of stipends. I'm hoping to just learn about all this once, then let it slip to the back as I enjoy the games. College football has always been about a maximum of about 16 programs that can win a title. College basketball is the big question, Rick Pitino recently brought up that issue. Many private small colleges have real title aspirations.

Say the option exists and players begin to get salaries through the school. How can it be sustained when equal pay is gonna be a major sore point if non revenue producing athletes don't get payed the same? We've heard about this issue with the USWNT not getting what the USMNT. It's going on with WNBA players as we speak. Football revenue funds sports like Lacrosse, Water Polo, and many other smaller sports. Separate the football funds and there's a major financial windfall effect. It's a major Pandora's Box. It will make college football lose its magic. I personally have no issue with pay, but I really don't want to have it become a recurring topic overshadowing the games.

The whole thing is a sham because they aren't consistent. If it were about the best teams, Ohio State would have gotten in the 2015 version. They lost one close game to Michigan State, that team was better but not deserving. TCU or Cincinnati shouldn't have gotten in. Everyone knew they didn't have the talent to win it all. But the committee chose them because they were deserving. Utah was better than TCU last year. Cincy won a G5 league. This isn't a playoff, it's an invitational where bias is obvious. The SEC didn't deserve a representative this year. But Sankey ran a very good propaganda ad. Alabama needed a miracle to beat Auburn. They got blown out vy Texas. This was the year the SEC didn't deserve a bid. But ESPN and Sankey own the committee. Not even the B1G gets that much preferential treatment. It's a bad joke.

The real question is if any of their veiled insults had any wit to them. Can they spell wit, or are they indeed that word with the added letters n and s at the beginning and end?

Didn't Oregon State fans say they never wanted to play Oregon again? Or that it would have to be a 2 for 1 in their favor? Seems like reality is settling in about now with that MWC scheduling agreement. Once their buddies in Pullman found a way to continue the Apple Cup, it was a matter of time. This favors them more than Oregon. They aren't getting nationally relevant Big-10 teams going up to Corvallis.

Oregon and Oregon State were like best buds in middle school. But then high school and college happened. Oregon got better grades, went to college, and got a job in engineering. Meanwhile Oregon State slacked off, got a job at a burger stand, and now works middle management at the engineering firm. It's painful to be stuck in the mud, all the while you see your former buddy lap you over and over again. It's painful, you can't blame yourself for your failures. Your buddy abandoned you because they had a rich uncle. Forget the fact they outworked you every day. It's a prime example of why that friend will stay stuck in the mud.

I'm a bit sad to see it become NFL lite, but with the portal, NIL, and obvious playoff discrepancy. It's clear there are the haves and have nots. I would have never thought an undefeated Florida State would be left out of the playoff. But that's what happens when it's not determined by standings. Make it a two league thing. Heck expand it to 16 teams. Have the real players join one of the big two conferences. You can bet Florida State is gonna find their way out of the ACC now. Did you see how the SEC manipulated this past weekend? Meanwhile the ACC did nothing to pump up their champion. Programs like Purdue, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Rutgers need to be booted. Clemson, FSU, Miami, North Carolina will take their place. If it's gonna happen, I would prefer it to just happen so we can adjust. A real playoff isn't about opinions. It's about standings. This year made it plain as day to me that the SEC gets preferential treatment(obvious I know), they will continue to get it. Let's just let the top 6 SEC teams, and the top 6 B1G teams qualify already. Enough if this nonsense of most deserving, best wins or less harmful losses. Also this may finally force Notre Dame to join or be left out.

Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal as well. Transfer portal+nil has truly brought a free agency sense to college football.

I thought the bowls got to pick the participants after the CFP picked it's teams. If the Cotton picked ahead of the Fiesta than it was a given they'd pick Ohio State over Liberty. I think it rotates on whoever picks first. But this is the last year of that setup anyhow. Next year all NY6 bowls will act as quarterfinal and semifinal games. Which is what I thought should have been the case from jump Street. The playoff should've been 8 teams instead of 4. You'd have gotten 5 automatics for the P5, then 3 at large with one G5 being included(provided they are undefeated & top 10). It would have saved the headache of conference realignment imo. Take this year for example. You'd have, 1 seed Michigan vs Oregon in the Cotton. 2 seed Washington vs Ohio State in the Fiesta. 3 seed Texas vs Georgia in the Orange. 4 seed Alabama vs FSU in the Sugar. The Rose would host the Cotton winner. The Peach would host the Fiesta winner. Then you'd have the winners of Peach and Rose in the National Championship. Hopefully that isn't too convoluted, as I tried to word it correctly. Yes the whole G5 top 10 stipulation would be contentious. But to me they should not be excluded entirely if they did everything they could, including at least one tough out of conference game.

Hey if Bo is playing his last game, this may just be the final flash memory we have of him as a Duck. Yeah it sucks that it isn't a playoff game, or it isn't a big name opponent. But 20 years ago this would be a huge game for Oregon. We've been spoiled the last decade plus. It's both a blessing and a curse. Like I've said before, Oregon should make more playoffs than they miss in the next decade. I truly believe they are going to get the benefit of the doubt now that they are going to one of the big two conferences. But Liberty is treating this game like it's the biggest in it's history. Oregon owes it to itself to close out this great season strong. It's a great big beautiful tomorrow for Oregon, to quote a line from a Disney ride. But let's respect the players that gave it all this season. Their last season playing this great sport. To say this game means nothing is a bit disrespectful to everything they have given to this program. Time to close out this chapter in style. The last time Oregon will ever be playing with a Pac-12 patch on their jersey. That's a legacy that has built up to what is to come. So let's beat Liberty, a good team that is playing in its biggest game ever. Beating Oregon would be their best win ever.

Did it dawn on anybody else that with the exclusion of FSU , that every CFP participant is going to be an SEC/Big 10 member come July?

How long does it seem like Oregon has had a squad like this? Nine years. It's been 9 years since Oregon lost to Ohio State in the first ever Playoff National Championship Game. Oregon had its first ever Heisman winner, and they were touchdown favorites over Ohio State. Oregon marched down the field in their first drive. BAM 7-0!!! Then it kind of just went downhill. Remember how much fans hated split champions? The BCS was created to solve that. But then 2003 happened. I still didn't understand how those computers picked the best two teams. After a Decade plus of that we got excited to hear about a playoff. Surely that would solve it all right? Yeah about that, it became more of an invitational. Instead of asking how computers picked the two teams, we got a committee. A committee that still hasn't given us concrete answers on what criteria is most important in picking the best teams. So now we argue about best losses? Choosing the best teams over best losses! Okay boss. Point is that people are saying it took ten years for Oregon to get so close, only to lose another heartbreaker. It won't be another stretch before Oregon makes the new expanded playoff. If it were in place today, I would wager Oregon would beat whomever their first round matchup is. Instead of a pointless Fiesta Bowl vs Penn State or Alabama. You would have a first round matchup vs Texas or Ohio State. Any old timer on here would have to admit that looks a lot better. Instead of hearing an empty suit explain why Texas got in over Ohio State because of whatever narrative they choose matters that day, you would get to hear about first round matchups. Washington deserves the bye, but Oregon would salivate about one last chance to beat them in the second round. It's coming folks, a real playoff. Mr. Lanning is gonna hit the transfer portal hard. He may even get a former Beaver to be the QB replacing Nix. Yesterday sucked, Sunday will be painful. The Bowl game will be a letdown. But next year Oregon will be a playoff team. The Ducks are gonna get the benefit of the doubt now that they are in one of the big two conferences. Let the lesser league teams cry. It's good to be in the penthouse.

Texas gets the nod due to their win at Alabama. Florida State has been propped up all year due to beating LSU. Ohio State had been given the benefit of the doubt due to their road win at Notre Dame. I think it's fairly clear that teams get rewarded for challenging themselves prior to conference play. It's as simple as that. I know SEC teams essentially schedule byes the second to last week, but they usually play one tough out of conference game. Florida at Utah, Alabama vs Texas, LSU vs FSU. Georgia has played Clemson, Tennessee has played Oregon. Washington beat a very bad MSU team, but it's not under their control if MSU fell off a cliff. They tried. USC always plays Notre Dame. Oregon has traditionally challenged themselves against Tennessee, Ohio State, and at Boise State when that program was near unbeatable at Smurf Stadium. It just so happens Michigan pulled out of a series, and they got Portland State this year. This is the final year of the invitational. We get a real playoff next year. The debate will center around the four top seeds that get byes.

This is a sports oriented conversation, but simple economics are at play here. Football is an expensive sport. Go online and try to buy an authentic helmet, Jersey, cleats, and pads. Multiply that times eighty(practice squad guys included) Big time programs get that aspect covered in return for marketing. Add travel costs, assistant coach salaries, trainers, facility upkeep, medical care. You can't have everybody being equal. You need the powerhouses, middle pack, and scrubs. Otherwise it would be impossible to have a playoff. The rich bring in more, they pay more taxes. The poor often work in companies ran by the rich. The rich need the cheap labor, the poor need the money. An economy depends on a middle class to purchase extra things. So the cog machine needs the powers, but also the lower level players. The middle keeps the whole thing centered. In sports it isn't unreasonable for all programs in a well run league to expect fair returns. The SEC and Big Ten are well run. South Carolina and Vanderbilt make just as much as Alabama and Georgia. Purdue and Northwestern make as much as Ohio State and Michigan. USC and UCLA bring value that Maryland, Rutgers, and Nebraska didn't. Those three are just starting to get full shares. Oregon and Washington will get ever increasing shares leading up to the next deal. The Big 12 gave Texas everything, they still bolted. The Longhorn Network lost ten million dollars a year. Texas got to pull those losses from the Big 12 coffers. But in reality they deserved more. The Pac 12 lost USC primarily because the Pac 12 was run like a Socialist party. Larry Scott was overspending on fruitless endeavors, meanwhile making 5 million a year. USC bolted. Oregon accepted a reduced share due to knowing it's new home would net them more down the road. It's a well run business model. Who cares if they have to swallow a little pride in saying USC was worth more. Thirty percent of a much bigger pie is still bigger than fifty percent of a much smaller one. Oregon was self aware. Oregon State is the lazy fat dude who thinks he deserves a model wife, and just as much money as his brother with a PHD.

JBE. Just Bludgeon Everyone!!! Just beat the crap out of Beavis, vanquish them to the island of forgotten toys. That's what they'll be after this year. I'm sick of hearing about them whining and complaining. It's Winning Time Boys!!!

Notre Dame got beat soundly last week by Louisville. A Louisville squad that just got beat pretty bad by Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh squad that got beat pretty bad by Cincinnati. A Cincinnati squad that got beat pretty bad by Iowa State. Transitive properties mean little. But I thought Notre Dame was still ranked. They're not a threat to make the playoff anymore, so to me they're not anybody to worry about. This just reinforces how a Lincoln Riley team will never win a championship. Not due to a lack of talent, but toughness. Oregon is going to punch them in the nose. USC won't get up for a second shot.