JabbaNoBargain

Fun thoughts and story. It’s interesting to watch reality catch up with history. A few examples: State of Indiana has 3 “power teams” with a population 6.8m. Oklahoma has 4.0m population. Nebraska has been eating a reality sandwich for a while now. There are a lot of schools out there where homegrown is going to get you 5-7.

I can’t believe how much credit UW is getting in some corners, they’ll be lucky to hit 7-5. For some context, they’re rated just ahead of Colorado for national title odds. Caesars has their over/under at 7 even. Their roster was gutted, they lost their coach, and their final class rating (portal included) to replace that talent landed #30, between Purdue and Michigan State…and that ranking was pumped up from signing 32 3 stars.

ND is part of the long play here, I believe they can never get a bye? But yeah, conference championship should get you in, not an auto-bye. If a P2 runner up is like 13-1 and has to go play a fresh 9-4 KSU, there could be some alterations down the road 😆

I would never predict any team to go undefeated. UW should have lost to ASU at home last year, the same team we beat without breaking a sweat on the road. Going undefeated is a huge accomplishment but also takes luck.

Isn’t this impossible to know? Have to think there will be some portal churn of 4 star guys that leave because of playing time. Could be 5, could be 25.

Yeah I think it’s ridiculous how many years they’re handing out lately, but be consistent…Dante’s request is middle of the road these days

Never too early! I think our number is actually set at 10.5, which is exactly where it should be. I’d take the over at 11-1. Between tOSU, UM, and Wisconsin, 2-1 would be a good accomplishment. Going 1-2 with that group would be disappointing but not shocking at all. That or some other random loss, 10-2 doesn’t stretch the imagination at all. Frankly, I’d put UW on par with Boise State at this point, especially since we play them early and UW late when their depth will be tested.

More bluster. Beavis’ upcoming budget is making the media rounds and they seem to be very proud that they still have a big boy budget for FY25. Awesome! Money well spent! Thank goodness the state threw them an extra $10M! Rosters are all cratered, coaches leaving, signed a sweet deal with CW, can only make expanded playoff by going 12-0, still playing G5 schedules in all sports….but, but, other conferences will take note that they have a low end P4 budget for FY25 and magic will happen.

Cat is out of the bag, if it wasn’t already…doesn’t this just encourage the more valuable leagues to beat the lesser leagues to the punch? Who would you invest in? The P2 aren’t interested in more money? 😂

Not me personally. I thought there would be a legitimate TV deal and that we’d add SDSU and Fresno/CSU/UNLV. The playoff expansion adding access would make it workable. I definitely like this outcome more.

Hilarious. UW better hope Florida does well this year. USC is just sad. Blue Blood that failed up after failing to act the part the last 15 years.

Proctor 😆 Technically correct but he never suited up for Iowa.

Oh Beavis - The whole geography/travel thing is wishful thinking, and rings a little hollow when you have admitted you’d join any of the P4 conferences without hesitation. But no one wants you. It’s gone. There is no secret TV deal waiting with open arms for reunification. So Beavis, cary on with your charade that you’re not joining the MWC, eliminating any reasonable path of making the playoff while you’re an independent the next 2 years. If you’re as good as you claim you are, you could have joined the MWC, gone 11-1 and made the playoff as the highest rated G5. Maybe the B12 would have reconsidered then? But no, deep down you know you aren’t that good, and joining the MWC would have meant giving up your handout while going 7-5. I thought you hated us? Why would you want us back? Must suck to know your value completely depends upon your rival. Best of luck coming to grips with reality as the season unfolds Beavis!

Do they have to be younger? They really seem like a drunk uncle at this point. Hillbilly cousins. Spit-balling here lol.

There is no scenario where the grand return of the P5 version of the P12 happens without UO/UW/USC/UCLA somehow returning. Does adding the PIG2 to the MWC make it a power conference? If the answer is no, then the reverse doesn’t somehow make it so. Their best/only shot is to somehow join the B12 (if it loses some teams) and hope it stays relevant.

Also not sure why Gabriel would struggle any more or less than the new QBs at all the other contenders in the B1G…really is a wild guess on his part and you could pretty much cut and paste “QB X” at “Program Y” into the article. Biggest difference is our transfer was good enough to beat a team that made the 4 team playoff last year. Come to think of it, Bo was unable to do that. 🤔

And with Beavis also out, the conference is now out of teams competing. RIP PAC 😢

Big difference being contracts in college football are all for less than a year and you can’t guaranteed lock anyone up for longer development. What the Mariners did was a choice. 😆

Oh yeah, tons of options now. Used to pretty much only be Pasadena and Glendale. Get rid of traditional bowl ties and you can add Vegas, more LA, San Diego, Phoenix…not to mention tons of Midwest options. More about the game than a family vacation when there is another game to played next week.

Basically a continuation of the bowl mindset and wanting games at traditional sites that usually have good weather in January. I mean historically, who wants to go to Detroit in December? Hopefully we'll eventually escape from this mindset and take advantage of amazing venues that have controlled climates. I have to think part of the challenge is that most of these venues are NFL homes, which yes indeed, have NFL teams playing in them. I'm sure it's solvable with a little more planning.

This is macro versus micro for me, and mostly because of the portal. I absolutely pay attention to the overall picture and still get excited when we sign a 5 star, but I don’t even pay attention to the players names on the roster until the spring portal closes. With high school recruiting I’m even worse, “blah blah blah 5 star LB blahahblah blah” is what I hear. I've become a dog, only comprehending select words.

Is 30 years ago still modern? I was in the student section that day, and it was in a word, completely bananas. I would agree that this was the game that made me believe from that point forward. I absolutely did not believe prior, and actually skipped the Iowa game…this game specifically was no doubt a turning point. I’m sure you all remember the feeling of “here we go again” during this very game. Deep in our collective souls, we thought that the choke was on. Then it happened, and my brain was never the same again. I think this was the day we actually became a legitimate program and never looked back. The fact it may well no longer be modern and we’ve sustained for 30 years means we may well be blue blood now.

Good link, thank you! Any big boy team not called ND already doesn't control 8-9 games on the schedule…but yes, one day in “super league” I would anticipate an NFL style scheduling system.

Really depends on how big each conference wants to get before reformatting completely to some type of super league. Things get very unwieldy north of 20 schools imo, and frankly, there aren’t enough candidates in the ACC for both conferences to get north of 20. With that logic, to me it feels like the B1G adds ND and whoever from the ACC, and the SEC adds 4 top brands from the ACC. All about ultimately getting ND and I just don’t see them joining the SEC. So 5 ACC schools and ND at play…unless ND wants to go the SEC, I just don’t think it will be all that sticky. ND FSU Clemson UNC Miami ??? (Duke, UVA, NC State, uhhh)

Looking good! Beavis at #38 seems absurd. Very hard time believing they’re better than Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc.