Jon Joseph

Thanks again to Charles for another terrific editing job. Fixing the college football calendar is not rocket surgery. Just Do It!

As Cig said when asked about short practice time, "My Dad before me, and I came up from programs where you had very little depth and could not afford to lose starting players. We didn't have to worry about this when I was coaching at Alabama." David, you are one of my 'go-to guys' when it comes to Xs and Os and insightful information. Why is OBD experiencing all of these injuries in the Moneyball sports? Fortunately, OBD in the 2025 regular season suffered O-line injuries in games where OBD had that superior roster. Do we blame Fortuna? Or are the S+C programs and practice regimes not working? I simply don't get it. A rough patch over one season? Fine. Stuff happens. In today's CFB and CBB world, you do not have the depth to weather the loss of top players. I would appreciate your thoughts on what could be my erroneous observation. Perhaps it is simply Fortuna, just more of the short end of the stick that had more Indiana fans in the stands in Atlanta than would have been the case if the game had been played in Bloomington? That had OBD in 2024-25 playing Ohio State and not the winner of Boise State at Indiana in the Rose Bowl. How about a Fair Shake? 🤬 Can I get a Witness?

The Future of CFB - Maybe - Pet Peeve - "His future is all ahead of him!" No kidding? Can it be "behind him?" https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/future-college-sports-debate-powerful-leaders-donald-trump/

Thanks, Steven. In previous releases of returning starters, the threshold was starting six or more games the prior season. Among the leaders in returning players in 2025 were Clemson and Penn State. One of the reasons both were ranked in the AP preseason top 5. Ooops! In today's CFB world of largely unregulated free agency and NIL deals, how a team picks the portal and how the portal-picked players assimilate with the coaches and the returning players is often as significant as the guys coming back. Using The Sporting News 2026 Top 25 Composite rankings, how many players return, and where is the program ranked in the 247 Sports portal rankings? TSN No.1. Ohio State - T No. 5 - 11 Returning/ Portal ranking - No. 5 4. Indiana - T No. 6. - 10/ No. 8 5. OREGON - T No. 2 - 14/ No. 25 13. USC - No. 1 - 11/ No. 26 14. Michigan - T No. 6 - 10/ No. 16 20. Penn State T No. 12 - 4/ No. 6 21. Iowa - T No. 10 - 6/ No. 64 22. Washington - T No. 6 - 10/ No. 47 30. Illinois - T No. 9 - 7/ No. 59 On OBD's 2026 Schedule - Boise State - T No. 3 - 13 - Portal No. 93/ Oklahoma State - Portal No. 7 - 81 players on the Cowboys roster are transfers/ UCLA - T No. 10 - 6 - Portal No. 33 - 41 new players on the Bruins roster/ Nebraska - T No. 4 - 12 - Portal No. 37/ Northwestern - T No. 7 - 9 - Portal No. 43/ Michigan State - T No. 11 - 5 - Portal No. 55 Can anything be gleaned from the above? No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Indiana have quality players returning, and they finished in the top 10 in portal rankings. No. 5 OBD has 14 quality starters back and finished, barely, in the portal top 25. Roster-wise, No. 13 USC and No. 14 Michigan seem to be correctly ranked. Do No. 21 Iowa and No. 22 UW have the rosters to finish in the top 25? No. 20 Penn State is bringing in 40 players from the portal. 24 players followed new coach Matt Campbell from Iowa State, including experienced QB Rocco Becht. The Nittany Lions have a cupcake OOC schedule and among the easiest in-conference schedules. Penn State does play Michigan in Ann Arbor, but does not play Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, or Iowa, and plays Minnesota, USC, and UW in Beaver Stadium. Penn State plays Wisconsin, Purdue, and Rutgers at home, and road games at Maryland and Northwestern. If the Iowa State transfers are Big Ten worthy, Penn State should finish no worse than 10-2 and be in the 2026 PO discussion. If OBD had PSU's schedule, I'd bet on the Ducks finishing 12-0. Forgive me the minutiae, but it's a looooong off-season. 🤬

More on Danno - Hopefully, Dan follows the path of Kirby Smart and not Sark - Kirby has two titles. His 1st round PO losses came when his starting QB, who led Miami to the champ game in 2025, was hurt, and Houdini, a/k/a Trinidad Chambliss, showed up for Ole Miss. Kirby and Dan are two for two in making the 12-team PO field. Sark is one for two. Dear Jorge A., are you out of your mind, eh? But, I get it, Patience has left today's wired world, and Prudence is nowhere to be seen. Six years for Kirby to get Smart. More than a Day, six years in fact, for Day to win it all. Cig? He put the Hoo in the PO punch bowl. If Cig can do it! 🤬 You not only have to be great, but you also have to be lucky. Oregon Ducks On SIDan Lanning Enters Elite Coaching Tier With Kirby Smart A...Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning, Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian are grouped as a new tier of respected coaches and

The B1G - Hold off on tampering reference until rules are passed that reflect the current state of the game - https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/big-ten-sends-letter-ncaa-232759305.html

Big Spring Questions for the B1G's biggest rival - https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/sec-football-spring-2026-burning-questions-alabama/

FWIW. Returning starters in 2026. In 2025, Clemson and Penn State were among the teams with the most starters returning. 😁 This season, a team that was favored in its bowl game and came up with a B1G choke in Texas, USC, has the most returning starters. With unchecked free agency in CFB, how you picked the portal may matter more than the guys coming back. Returning production means very little if the guys returning did not produce in 2025. With 14 starters back, Oregon is in a six-way tie for 2nd place. Quite a turnaround for OBD from last season. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-returning-production-2026-returning-starters-fbs/

But it's the Big Ten that is cheating, right? SINebraska Football Players Preparing for Arbitration Fight...A group of Cornhuskers is challenging an important college sports body.

It Just Means Less Tax Dollars in Mississippi - SISEC’s NIL Arms Race Heats Up As Mississippi Passes New Ta...Mississippi could become the second state to pass a bill eliminating income tax on NIL money.

Please, Dan, Just Don't Do It! Oregon Ducks On SILane Kiffin’s Son Knox Kiffin Hoping To Land On Oregon’s...The Oregon Ducks have been one of the many teams that have made it a point to recruit very well at the quarterback position, as they continue to show that they

Place your B1G Tourney Bets? With difficulty getting the ball through the hoop, OBD has flown the Chicago coop. On32026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Odds: Ranking be....

Kettle meets pot. Where's a full-length mirror when you need one? Greg Sankey wants the It Just Means More folks to leave the NCAA because the NCAA isn't enforcing the rules? 😜 Ready, aim, fire at Petitti, but which commissioner is falling from grace and 1st place? BTW, Greg, Kirby Smart, and Josh Heupel want more; they want 24. YardbarkerSEC's Greg Sankey makes huge admission about breaking awa...The SEC has to feel like it's too big to fail when it comes to college football.When it comes to Greg, I hate to be fair, but he did have this to say ... On3Greg Sankey acknowledges support for SEC to make drastic.... Whatever Greg and the SEC decide to do, it will have the backing of Dabo Swinney; or, I may have Miss-typed, is that the stabbed in the back, Dabo Swinney?

I think Doug Flutie is still alive and kickin'. https://www.patriots.com/news/flutie-converts-nfl-s-first-drop-kick-in-64-years-93631

Show Matt the $$$. Will the new OC, Arthur Smith, be as good? YardbarkerOhio State makes expensive move with DC Matt PatriciaOnce thought of as a joke for his time in Detroit, Patricia's career has bounced back nicely.