Jon Joseph

The Herbie Award For Worst Fans Goes To ... Ohio State! WOW! https://athlonsports.com/college/ohio-state-buckeyes/kirk-herbstreit-names-major-college-football-fanbase-that-is-an-embarrassment

I think Woody is still Punch Drunk. 😁 Kirk Ferentz has passed Amos Alonzo Stagg and is closing in on Woody for the most wins in the history of the B1G. Stagg coached for 41 years at the University of Chicago. Paterno passed Stagg for the B1G coaching longevity award. Too bad Joe didn't go earlier.

The Maryland game is in Eugene. It's a Yo-Yo. Illinois, at Michigan, Maryland (off a bye), at Wisconsin (off a bye.) A bye for OBD in the penultimate week of the season is ridiculous; especially, having to travel at least 2 time zones in November.

The Terps will also be coming off of a bye. Games in Ann Arbor and Madison in November could provide some interesting weather issues. And Madison will be game 8 of 8 in a row. Wisconsin lit up Purdue and Rutgers and plays at NW on Saturday. The improvement in the Badgers O might be a mirage. When did 'manageable' become synonymous with 'STINKY?' 😁

30, I agree with your Texas call. TX's 2 'big wins' have come against 2 teams not familiar with the forward pass. Louis will be the best squad Miami plays before the ACC champ game. Miami has lost 3 in a row and 7 of 8 games coming off a bye with Mario 0-2 at Miami. With 2 losses to date, Louis will be playing for its PO life. I wish the game was at 7:30 and not Noon so the fans could have more time to down that good Kentucky Bourbon.😁 Penn State vs Ohio State on 11/2, same date that OBD plays Michigan, is the easy call but coming off of this Saturday's bye the 11/26 game at Wisconsin could be difficult. We will have a chance to see if Wisconsin's O has truly found its stride when the Badgers play at NW on Saturday. Iowa State and BYU - It's the B12 so who knows but I think BYU will defeat a bad OK State team in Logan. Notre Dame is -11.5 vs GT This is a big spread especially with ND losing one of the best CBs in CFB. This game is being played at Mercedes Benz stadium and not GT's Bobby Dodd home field. The 1st loss I'd like to see. 11/23 vs. Army in Yankee Stadium, celebrating the 'Four Horseman' game played in old Yankee Stadium 100 years ago. If Army's QB stays healthy Army will do everything it can to take the air out of the ball and shorten the game. The game vs Navy in the NY Giants Stadium in NJ could also be a difficult test and USC has a puncher's chance at home. But a team that lost to No. Ill could lose to any team including Florida State. Liberty - I don't know and I don't care. Indiana. The Hoosiers defeat Nebraska and Indiana could run the table up to playing at Ohio State on 11/23. Nebraska will bring the best D Indiana has played. Will the high flying Indy O be able to put up lots of points? OBD. I refuse to call a loss. Bad Karma. OT - If you have a chance, check out the throwback uniforms Illinois is wearing Saturday in the Red Grange Game vs. Michigan. The throwback unis come complete with faux leather helmets. GO DUCKS - BLOW UP THE BOILERS!

Seven 2nd Half of the Season Storylines From CBS. College football storylines to watch over second half of 2024 season as unlikely stars drive CFP, Heisman talk - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM These seven storylines will dominate conversation of college football for the second half of 2024

B1G Factoid: Indiana HC Curt Cignetti was an assistant to Nick Saban at Alabama and Saban's recruiting coordinator. Cig's 1st HC job was at NAIA IUP. He took a 60% pay cut from what he was making at Bama but he wanted to be an HC like his Dad was at West Virginia. This strategy paid off handsomely. He went from @$775K at James Madison to $4M+ at Indiana. As Curt said at B1G Media Days: If you don't know me, Google me, I win. The preseason Over/Under win total for 6-win Indiana was 5.5. The Indiana stadium is sold out for this Saturday's game vs. Nebraska.

Let's Hear It For Harmon! Charles's No. 1 Portal Prize Player is Bringing It! Wild stat shows that Oregon Ducks' Derrick Harmon is the country's best defensive tackle WWW.YARDBARKER.COM What Derrick Harmon is doing for the Oregon Ducks as a defensive tackle isn't getting nearly enough publicity. The dude is a force. He's not just anchoring the middle of the defensive line, but is...

It Keeps On Getting Better + Better. 😍 Updated recruit rankings now have Oregon's 2025 class holding two of the top-3 wide receivers in the country WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The good vibes just keep on rolling for the Oregon Ducks. With their latest 2025 recruiting rankings, On3 has given wide receiver Dallas Wilson a 5-star ranking and has slotted him in as the No.

CBS Sports Revises Its Preseason Playoff and Other Predictions. Ryan Day, Midseason Coach of the Year? 🤣 College football predictions: Second-chance expert picks for 2024 national champion, playoff field, more - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Taking a close, detailed and opinionated look at the top of college football at the halfway point

Linc is Overpaid. Who Knew? And there are a whole lot of Whos. College football coach salaries ranked by value: Oregon's Dan Lanning shines, USC's Lincoln Riley falls short - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Which schools are getting their money's worth out of their coaches in 2024?

Rob, Show Danno The $$$$$$$! College football coaching salaries: SEC leads $10 million club; Dan Lanning, Matt Campbell among undervalued - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Newly released salary data illustrates how the SEC and Big Ten lead the way in coach compensation

A Playoff Update from Fansided. So you’re telling me there’s a chance?: Worst team in each P4 league who can make CFP FANSIDED.COM In most machinations of what a 12-team College Football Playoff bracket looks like, you have the usual suspects vying for one of those dozen bids. Over the cour Fansided has 5-1 Illinois as The Worst B1G Team that can make the PO. But Iowa has the easiest 2nd half SOS. Iowa's loss to No. 9 Iowa State is a 'good loss' and the loss at No. 4 Ohio State is forgivable. A 10-2 Iowa will rate PO consideration and with an 8-1 conference record Iowa would be in the running to play in the B1G Champ game.

Day has a terrific record. Along with the tOSU support staff, he is a top-drawer recruiter. In the 2025 NFL draft, I expect 12 Buckeye players will be drafted in the top 3 rounds. He is not getting blown out by the top 5 opponents. The losses to the best have all been competitive and could have gone either way. He was a 50 yard field goal miss from defeating UGA and going on to defeat TCU in the Natty. He was close to winning in Ann Arbor last season and as close as you can get, 1 point, to winning in Eugene last Saturday. Urban Meyer was not perfect. He lost at Purdue (GULP!) as a three-TD favorite and missed that season's playoff. Meyer won the first four-team PO, as Ducks fans know (SIGH), but only after losing early to a mediocre VA Tech team at home. He blew away Wisconsin in the B1G champ game. The B12 couldn't decide on its champion, and Meyer capitalized on the opportunity and took a four-seed to a title. SIGH. I get the Buckeye fans' Michigan angst, but it took Harbaugh five seasons at Michigan before he defeated Ohio State. By the way, the regular season is half over, and his team is odds-on to play OBD in the B1G champ game, where Ohio State will likely be the favorite. Dan won the day and beat Day on Saturday. Dan is 0-3 versus UW. Ryan Day is 1-3 vs. Michigan. But Jon Gruden is available.😁

THIS will become real. But to seal the deal, Oregon has to play its way into and win a National Championship game. Even then, with 1 Natty, many the SEC and traditional B1G fans will call it a fluke. UGA. a deep South SEC team has always been a lowercase b, Brand. In the SEC, Coach Mark Richt took the (real) Dawgs to the upper crust, but not to the Elite status UGA resides in today. Coach Smart stumbled and bumbled for a while before hitting the CFB heights. Danno is 38 years old. But with experience well beyond his years. Alexander the Great was somewhere around 30+ years of age and before he conquered the world, he was tutored by Aristotle. Not a bad mentor. Dan worked his way toward winning by being taught on the way by Saint Nick and Coach Smart. He knows what it takes to win. And, he is backed up by a professionally managed, focused Division Street. The surreal has an excellent chance of becoming The Real. It was a B1G step toward The Real on Saturday. Best yet, Dan stayed true to his Go For It principles. With the extra genius of knowing the rules; looping the hole genius that led to an in-season rule change. As Charles pointed out in today's excellent take, win all of the bets Dan placed on the field and the game is an OBD laugher. Between now and the B1G 12/7 champ game, Oregon has a shot at bringing a guy like Burch back on the field. Saturday night, it was all hands on deck for tOSU. No newbies will be added to the 'all-time' roster. The Future's So Bright - 😍!

A few B1G add-ons if I may. Indiana - 1887 - 137 years of football. Three, Tres, Trois BOWL GAMES! In 137 years. Playoff Add-On. You go to 16 teams in 2026, no preferred seeding and what do you get? 16. Indiana at 1.Texas 9. Iowa State at 8. LSU 13. BYU at 4. Ohio State 12. Notre Dame at 5. Georgia .............................................................. 15. Boise State at 2. OREGON 10. Clemson at 7. Alabama 14. A+M at 3. Penn State 11 Tennessee at 6. Miami Simple, eh? But someone, something, or a combination thereof has to come up with the Top 16.

Charles's thoughts on preparing for a long regular season and Danno doing so; are great insights. Planning for this long season is especially relevant for Oregon with 8 P4 games in a row with 2 of the final 4 in the gauntlet requiring a trip to Ann Arbor in the Eastern time zone, and a trip to the Central time zone, both in November. These scheduling variables to not show up in a strength-of-schedule evaluation.

How About, YES! How often has a crafty coaching move changed a rule in mid-season? Is Oregon's Dan Lanning the smartest head coach in all of college football? AUTZENZOO.COM Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had a few sneaky play calls during the Ducks' matchup against Ohio State. Is he the best college coach right now? I cannot recall an in-season rule change EVER in CFB.

The Buckeyes will have BIG Chip on their shoulders! 😁

43-24 - I should have won the prediction contest and ALL The Money! (Kidding.) Terrific article Mr FishDuck. I have only one minor disagreement. We do not yet know whether Style Points will matter for teams with similar records, particularly in the same conference with the same records, and also matter for seeding purposes. With 7 at-large teams, I expect although not admitted to by the Committee, that the Eye Test will play a significant role. How will the Committee parse teams with the same record in the same mega-conference that did not play one another but by 'gut feel?' Oregon does not play undefeated, to date, Penn State and Indiana. Oregon does not play one-loss Nebraska. In the ACC, Clemson, SMU, and Pitt do not play Miami in the regular season. Texas does not play LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama. But it does play VANDY on the road! A lot will be resolved by conference champ games but not all conference ties will be broken. In addition to say a Buckeyes 7-point champ game win over OBD and a conference title, what would Oregon's seeding be compared to other 12-1 and 11-2 champ game losers? Again, Terrific Article! But I see more subjectivity with a 12-team field than we had with a 4-team field. BUST THE BOILERS!

Mother Nature willing, I hope to be here every week with a B1G Reveal, keeping an eye on the B1G title race and 2024-25 Playoff race. The Athletic ($ wall) has given all 18 B1G football teams a mid-term grade. All quotes from The Athletic; all times Pacific; Rankings from Week 8 AP Poll; Strength of Schedule Rankings from College Football Network. Puddles is one of the two best B1G students. A+ for the Ducks and Holy Hoosiers! A+ for Indiana. (In Football? Take that, Bobby Knight!) Midway through the season? Doesn't it seem like yesterday that Brian Kelly was pounding a table, USC (C- 😜) was a Playoff lock, and the Ducks O-line couldn't block? B1G conference contenders are shown in Bold. Also shown are a team's grade. Quotes are from The Athletic (TA), and future Strength of Schedule (SOS) is calculated by College Football Nation. A+ No. 2 OREGON 😍 6-0/3-0 - SOS 52 (Preseason 25!) -27.5 at F Graded Purdue - Friday 5 PM FOX - All times Pacific. Toughest games left. Illinois; at Michigan; at Wisconsin. "No team has a better resume." A+ NO. 16 Indiana - 6-0/3-0 - SOS - 29. 1st time since 1967, that the Hoosiers are 6-0. No. 11 Playoff seed in TA's Week 8 Mock Playoff field. Saturday vs B+ 5-1/2-1 Nebraska, SOS 12, Indiana -7. B1Ggest test of the season for Indiana and mid-term Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti. Toughest games left. Michigan, at Ohio State. A No. 3 Penn State - 6-0/3-0 - SOS 47. PSU completed its sweep of LA with a 33-30 OT win in the Coli vs. USC. IDLE. Next Up - At B- Wisconsin 4/2/2-1 SOS 10. Badgers QB Braedyn Locke - 599 passing yards in 52-16 and 40-7 wins over Purdue and at C+ Rutgers; Wisconsin also put up 309 rush yards in New Jersey. "Wisconsin appears to be ascending at the right time." This Saturday, the Badgers -7.5 play at C Northwestern. A No. 22 Illinois 5-1/2-1 vs No. 24 Michigan 4-2/ 2-1. Illinois +1.5. Illini SOS 30. Michigan SOS 7. This game celebrates the 'Red Grange/Galloping Ghost Game' played in 1924 and also celebrates Memorial Stadium's 100th birthday. Grange accounted for 6 TDs, 4 in the 1st 12 minutes including returning the opening kickoff for a TD in the Illini's upset of the Wolverines. Saturday 12:30 CBS. A- No. 4 Ohio State - 5-1😁/ 2-1 - SOS - 26 - IDLE. Next Up, Nebraska. "More talent than any team left on the schedule." (DUH 😊) B - Iowa - 4-2/2-1 - SOS 69 - Last in the B1G! Hawkeyes -6.5 Saturday at C+ Michigan State. "Advantageous 2nd half schedule." This is an understatement. Iowa has a decent chance of finishing 10-2/ 8-1 with a shot at the B1G champ game. B1G Contenders SOS Ranking - Higher = Easier. 69 Iowa; 52 DUCKS; 47 Penn State; 30 Illinois; 29 Indiana; 26 Ohio State; 12 Nebraska; 10 Wisconsin; and 7 Michigan. This does not take into consideration Oregon playing eight conference games without a break. WEEK 8 - Other Games with a Playoff Impact. No. 5 Georgia +2.5 /SOS 18 at No. 1 Texas - SOS 8 - Like Ohio State vs. Oregon this SEC game (one of the top 2 of the preseason 2024 SEC games, with the other featuring Georgia at Alabama) held serve. UGA QB Carson Beck completes 79% of his passes 'Tween the Hedges,' and 56% on the road. But to date, Georgia has played a more difficult schedule than the Longhorns. No. 7 Alabama -3/ SOS 41 at No. 11. Tennessee - SOS 48. 2022 - Vols 52 - Crimson Tide 49 - Only Tennessee win in the last 17 games. Should Bama be a road favorite? Other SOS Of Interest to Oregon fans. ACC - Clemson 68/ Miami 57/ SMU 56/ Pitt 25 Notre Dame - 60 Improved by Army and Navy being in the Top 25. B12 - 21 ASU (GO DILLY!)/ 55 BYU/ 46 Iowa State/ 49 K State/ 37 Texas Tech (OR State 66 😒) With a win over Ohio State, Oregon has a B1G Mulligan. 8-1 Oregon with wins over Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, 8-1 Ohio State, 8-1 Penn State, with the L vs tOSU, 8-1 Indiana with the L to tOSU, and an 8-1 Iowa with the loss to Ohio State, would see OBD playing a rematch against the Buckeyes in Indianapolis on 12/7/24, and a 1st round Playoff bye with a win and a home 1st round game with a loss. Which is Nice. 😍 GO DUCKS - BLAST THE BOILERS!

On the other hand. Here's some good context on Danno, Day, + I hate to say it, Lincoln. B1G Time: Ryan Day struggles in big games at Ohio State, but here's why that's not as concerning as you think - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Day dropped to 2-6 in games against top-five teams with the loss to Oregon on Saturday This article also gives good insight into the 2X zone travel problems. Many underdogs are traveling 2X to take an expected loss. USC, you still SUC.

I wish Keith Jackson was still here instead of Pat McAfee. But at 77 I am most certainly not in the targeted demographic group. 😒 The Portal and NIL seem to be bringing more parity to CFB. It's not as was predicted by many, just the rich getting richer. You can't just sit back and expect the Usual Suspects to remain Usual. B1G halfway COY, Curt Cignetti at Indiana, brought in over 30 new players, many from his former school James Madison, and others from the G5. But every guy he brought in from the G5 was at least Honorable Mention the year before transferring. Looking at Indy's remaining schedule, if the Hoosiers get by the Huskers on Saturday, I see a decent shot at Indiana going 11-1 with the only 'sure loss' at Ohio State.

22 Key PO Games From YB 20+ games remaining that will help decide the College Football Playoff WWW.YARDBARKER.COM An epic Oregon win over Ohio State takes us into the halfway point of the college football season, and there's just so much to play for all across the country.

MISERY LOVES COMPANY. Lane Kiffin joins Lincoln Riley on the struggle bus as Ole Miss fails TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM USC hoped to be a College Football Playoff team in 2024. Ole Miss was expected to be a playoff team. Lane Kiffin has failed even more than Lincoln Riley has.