Jon Joseph

Go with the 4-4-2-2-1-1 format (Format) with the Power 4 determining their participating teams would have the PO Committee, assuming Notre Dame finishes ranked in the Committee's top 14 and captures the Plus 1 spot, only deciding on which G6 team makes the field and the seeding of the field. This Format, in all likelihood, would lead to the SEC playing nine conference games. (And more $ for the SEC 🤑.) The Format would encourage elimination of the Conference Champ games in favor of having a flex-scheduled Championship Week in the last game of the regular season, with games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The top two teams in a conference would not have to play a 13th game before the 1st playoff round of games. And the playoff could commence a week earlier. Adopt Championship Week and uniformly open the season in Week Zero, and the playoff championship game could be contested on January 1st, which would draw far more eyeballs than playing the game in late January. Championship Week would also result in more valuable game inventory and more $ for the Power 2 in particular. Based on conference standings after Week 12 in 2024, the B1G and the SEC would have played these games on Championship Week; playoff play-in games. (In 2026 and thereafter, the conference standings after Week 11 would determine the matchups.) B1G - 8. Minnesota at 1. OREGON / 7. Michigan at 2. Indiana / 6. Iowa at 3. Penn State / 5. Illinois at 4. Ohio State. SEC - 8. South Carolina at 1. Texas / 7. LSU at 2. Georgia / 6. Alabama at 3. Tennessee / 5. Ole Miss at 4. Missouri. These eight games would involve only two rematches from the regular season, which says a lot about mega-conference scheduling. The rematches could be reduced or eliminated by having Iowa and Michigan moving one spot, with Iowa playing at Indiana, and Michigan playing at Penn State. In the SEC, a one spot move would see Alabama at Georgia, and LSU at Tennessee. Game inventory, especially as adjusted above, would bring in mucho dinero for the Power 2 and also increase the value of the preceding conference games. Teams jockeying for home games on Championship Week would make the regular season games more impactful. Adopting the Format would also allow for the B1G/SEC Conference Challenge games to be played. With four teams each in the playoff field, losing a Challenge game would not hurt a team's chances of making the playoffs. Using The Athletics' final 2024-25 season rankings from No. 1 to 134, these out-of-conference games, spaced out during the regular season, would result in six Top 25 vs Top 25 marquee games. 5. Georgia at 1. Ohio State / 2. OREGON at 6. Texas / 8. Tennessee at 4. Penn State / 10. Indiana at 13. Ole Miss/ 15. Alabama at 14. Illinois / 21. Michigan at 16. South Carolina. Other enticing matchups: Iowa vs. Missouri, Nebraska vs. Florida, USC vs. A&M, and UCLA vs. Oklahoma. I'm reasonably certain that OBD vs. Texas would result in a B1G-ger payday than the Ducks vs. Oregon State and Texas vs. UTEP. With direct payment to athletes on the horizon, cuts in football roster size, and nonrevenue sports at risk of being cut, the Power 2 need to do everything possible to increase the revenue flow from Money-Maker Football. It's not Greed, it's Smart Business.

Thanks for the stats. What do the numbers look like in the last ten games, when OBD went 8-2, with its two losses coming against Michigan State in East Lansing and Indianapolis? The win over Indiana in Indianapolis was impressive. I'm hoping for a 5 or 6-seed playing in Seattle or Denver. 3 and 4 seeds are not locks to win 1st-round, let alone the 2nd round games. Dana is The Man in March.

Thanks, Smitty. It's about so much more than just the games. 😇

Amateur Athletics, Right? Board Of Trustees Approves 'West Shore Home Field At Beaver Stadium' For $50 Million Gift | Onward State ONWARDSTATE.COM West Shore Home, a home remodeling business based out of Pennsylvania, is owned by a Penn Stater and has previously financially supported Penn State Athletics.

If you're West of the Mississippi and not Oklahoma, A+M, or Texas, you don't count and are of no account. SC over LSU and A+M in 2024, is only a vicious, unfounded rumor. If these games did happen, the Tigers and Aggies lost only because they were not interested in playing a meaningless game against substandard competition. And Ohio State over Texas, Michigan over Bama twice in 2024-24, and Illinois over South Carolina; well, every so often B1G teams get lucky.🤪

Let's hope for a 5 seed and Seattle with Denver as a fallback.

With Dan Leading the Flock, a Spring Game Will Be Played in Eugene. https://athlonsports.com/college/oregon-ducks/oregon-ducks-dan-lanning-spring-game-announcement Got to love ❤️OBD's young, old-school coach. 😍

YES! Now, show up for two halves vs. No. 1 seed Sparty and B1G COY Tom Izzo!

How to close out the 1st half! So happy to see Bittle finally make a bucket and see Shelsted balling out. Go Ducks, shut those Hoser Hoosiers fans up!

Some Good News for Bo. 2025 NFL free agency: Broncos sign tight end Evan Engram to two-year deal - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Engram spent the last three seasons with Jacksonville

Thank you, Charles. Here's the Ducks Wire Wrap Up. Ducks stay hot and begin a new win streak with walk off win against Grand Canyon DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Ducks split short midweek series with Grand Canyon

Northwestern, Iowa, and USC in double OT advance. 2nd Round - OBD vs Indiana/ Northwestern vs Wisconsin/ Iowa vs Illinois/ USC vs Purdue GO B1G DUCKS!

Place Your Bets! ( But Be Wise, Like the Wise Guys 🧑‍🎓) OBD is -1.5 tomorrow vs. Indiana. Big Ten Tournament - Indiana vs. Oregon Prediction: Odds, Expert Picks, Betting Trends, and Stats WWW.NBCSPORTS.COM Indiana Hoosiers vs. Oregon Ducks Game Preview

Saturday Traditions take on the B1G Basketball Tournament. Big Ten Tournament 2025: Preview, odds, picks to win in Indianapolis SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Big Ten Tournament action gets underway on Wednesday. Can Illinois defend its tournament crown or will a wide-open field induce some drama.

Oregon, the best of the B1G baseball bunch? So sayeth the polls and Trojans Wire. 😁 USC baseball, after strong start, hits a bump in the road TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM USC baseball has had a rough week after its very promising start to the season

Bittle and Shelstad on the 3rd team does not trouble me in a conference as deep as the B1G. Leader in the clubhouse, Michigan State, had few all-conference players.

On behalf of cane-wavers, thank you!

Dave, good call and recall. Dante was not under pressure at UCLA, he was under siege. 😩

CBS has a Question for Every B1G Team. Questions for each Big Ten team in spring: Bryce Underwood's debut at Michigan among storylines to follow - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Quarterback questions always dominate spring, but there's a ton of hype around Underwood's arrival

Question for ESPN's Preseason Top 25 Teams. The biggest spring questions for college football's Way-Too-Early Top 25 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Our college football experts list out the biggest spring question for each Way-Too-Early Top 25 team.

Some excellent analysis here. Swing Away! Ranking the 12 biggest swing factors in next season's College Football Playoff - Saturday Down South WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM Ranking the players and coaches with the potential to dramatically alter the College Football Playoff picture in 2025. Come On 8/30!

A Dozen Thoughts on the 2025-26 Playoff. Swing Away! Ranking the 12 biggest swing factors in next season's College Football Playoff - Saturday Down South WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM Ranking the players and coaches with the potential to dramatically alter the College Football Playoff picture in 2025. Dante and the Ducks are on the list. 'Washington is Washington.' 😍 OBD is back in the PO and wins at least one game. 👍👌😎

ND, after last season, the SEC is doing the same thing over again and hoping for different results. 🤪 This season, Georgia plays Bama, Ole Miss, and Texas in Athens, but is on the road versus Tennessee, nemesis Kentucky, old foe Auburn, and a Georgia Tech team that went 8 OTs against the Dawgs in 2024. Florida closed strong in 2024, and the Gators have a very good QB in Lagway returning. WOW! This gauntlet is ranked in the middle of the SEC's 2025 strength-of-schedules. Ohio State plays Texas out-of-conference (OOC) and Michigan plays Oklahoma in Norman, but no B1G schedule in 2025 compares to what Georgia has to deal with. Miami plays Notre Dame and Florida OOC, and Clemson opens with LSU and closes with South Carolina, but are respectively ranked 34th and 36th, in Bill Connolly's 2025 SP+ strength-of-schedule rankings. All 16 SEC teams are ranked in the top 25; ipso facto, 16 in the top 40. The ACC has 0 teams ranked in the top 25. Seven ACC teams, out of 17, are ranked in the top 40. The B12 has 0 teams ranked in the top 40. Ditto the G6. The B1G has eight teams in the top 25 and 17 in the top 40. The above numbers do not support the champions of the ACC, the B12, or the highest ranked G6 teams receiving preferred playoff seeding. But they do support the SEC and B1G being assured of having four teams each in the playoff field. So, why all the whining? The above strength-of-schedule numbers support eight for the Power 2, as do the number of viewers tuning in to watch college ball. The Committee operating in the dark and making a decision such as seeding Boise State ahead of ASU without justifying the decision by the two teams' strength-of-schedules, is unreliable. Per Football Scoop, 44 of the 50 most-watched games in 2024-25 involved an SEC and/or a B1G team. It's close to a certainty that 3-loss Bama playing at Penn State last season would have drawn far more viewers than SMU. College Sports needs every penny it can make off of money-maker football. The Power 2 are not 'for the good of the sport' obligated to subsidize lower levels of college football any more than the NFL is obligated to support the Canadian Football League. Best of luck to the Georgia Dawgs in 2025, and 2026, as long as it's not Dawgs versus Ducks. 😍

In 2024-25, Montana State went 15-1, losing a close FCS champ game vs. North Dakota State. Bobcats QB Tommy Mallet was the FCS first team QB and the first Montana State QB to win the Little Heisman, the Walter Payton award. Fortunately he's gone and the presumptive starting QB, Chance Wilson is a Sophomore with little experience. Montana State shares a conference with Portland State. Play Portland State! In 2026, OBD plays Portland State but also plays Boise State; Never, Ever, Never schedule Boise State. In 2028, Rob has North Dakota State coming to town, and a game scheduled at Utah State 😩. B1G Champion football teams should never play a G6 team on the road. Bo got to blow out the Vikings; Gabe played the 2023-24 FCS Tournament 4-seed, Idaho. An OBD team that plays Portland State and its QB, will have better statistics on O than a team that misses the Vikings. This season, Oregon has only two top 25 preseason ranked teams on the schedule, at PSU, and after a Bye, OBD is at home vs. Indiana. In 2027, E. Washington is the FCS opponent. 2027 is the most difficult future schedule. At Baylor, Michigan, Nebraska, and UW. Home against Iowa, Penn State, and Ohio State. Only six home games. WOW! This season sees the easiest schedule Oregon will play icluding 2024, in the B1G through 2028. The Ducks should go no worse than 10-2 and return to the playoffs. The PO format will not change this season; four conference champs will be the top four seeds. If OBD plays a 1st round game in Eugene instead of a 13th game in Indianapolis, fine with me.

So, the two guys who complained the most about travel were 12th and last in home game attendance. 🤓 I did not hear a peep out of women's Tournament champion UCLA coach Cori Close, or from regular season champion, USC coach Gottlieb, Dana Altman, and UW's Danny Sprinkle.