Jon Joseph

Lots of B1G and other good stuff here including that the B1G champ will play a second-round Playoff game in the Rose Bowl and that UW is likely in deep kimchee. Also, a take on depth being tested in the playoff with teams playing 16 to 17 games if a team makes the champ game. And another stiff arm for the proposed Super League. Mandel's Mailbag: Thoughts on transfer portal, older teams, Ohio State's spending spree THEATHLETIC.COM Will Ohio State's spending spree pay off? How cool will Northwestern's temporary home setup be? Why would SEC or Big Ten join Super League?

You just made the list, buddy. Per USA Today, in 2022, Miami paid $23 Million to Mari(o) to get him to move from Oregon to Miami. The largest single-year payment on record for any athletic department. Is it any surprise that with a record of 12-13 to date this guy is under pressure? This is Mariana Trench, 35,814 feet deep pressure. I believe THIS deserves a thread of its own. Deion Sanders, Ryan Day among college football coaches facing the most pressure to win entering 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM From title contenders to rebuilders, these coaches are under major pressure to produce results

So very sad. May Kim's spirit be blessed.

Too much pressure on the highest-paid, single-season, private school coach? Laugh Out Loud! And Charles was called out for seeing through this recruiting champ/coaching chump, early on? https://athlonsports.com/college-football/major-cfb-head-coach-mario-cristobal-pressure-transfer-portal-window

Wow! Miami's Mari(o) hire ROI is far worse than I calculated above. How about $2.5 Million for every win? 🤣 https://athlonsports.com/college-football/everyone-same-reaction-miami-head-coach-mario-cristobal-shocking-2022-salary

Super League? According to College Football News, there is already a Super League. It's the Big Ten with the SEC not far behind. Come 2031-32, each B1G member is expected to bring in $100M a year. The B1G is going to walk from this to collectively negotiate a media deal with schools like Boise State, Oregon State, and Washington State. How About No! https://collegefootballnews.com/news/college-football-super-league-what-is-the-idea-could-it-happen-who-would-be-in

And while you're at it NCAA, why not decide that Jim Harbaugh has no rights under The Bill of Rights? Power 4 football and men's basketball should kiss the NCAA goodbye. Michigan's Jim Harbaugh was threatened with suspension by NCAA last fall for lawyer's social media criticism - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The NCAA told Tom Mars, Harbaugh's attorney, if he didn't stop criticizing the organization, Harbaugh could be suspended

Glass ceiling. Purrrrfect.

It looks like one of the three players will be missed for sure. Mari(o) is now 12-13 at Miami. If Miami doesn't challenge for the ACC title this season, we could see a lot more players leaving the U. And maybe Mari(o) too. Manny Diaz, now the HC at Duke, was more successful as Miami's HC at half the money if that. Florida did not go bowling last year but in the 2024 opener in Gainesville, I think UF will defeat the U. No Clemson, Notre Dame on the schedule, and FSU in the Miami Dolphins stadium. This puts more pressure on the Canes and Cristobal. Mari(o) signed a 10-year, $80M deal plus bonuses. $16M in the first 2 seasons has produced a dozen wins; $1.33 M per victory. Hell of an ROI. 😁

Dan has lost but 5 games in two seasons. A loss to national champion Georgia, 'at' Georgia is certainly forgivable. Oregon had the superior roster in the 3 losses to UW, by a total of 9 points, and the loss to Oregon State while getting his feet on the ground. UW will have many players drafted in a couple of weeks. Guys who for the most part DeBoer did not recruit. One reason DeBoer jumped ship to Bama, along with $10.5M a year. Keep bringing 4 and 5-star recruits and studs from the portal and Dan will have more players drafted season after season. Moving to the B1G will help the drafted player cause. With the talent on hand, and without a lot of recruits Mario recruited not panning out, Dan has done just fine. Far better than Jimbo did with superior rosters at A+M.

The schedules for conference opponents in football through the 2028 season are up on the B1G website. Oregon knows exactly which teams it will play, home and away, in-conference through 2028. The dates for the conference games from 2025 through 2028 have yet to be determined. As to when the ACC implodes, it will happen before the end of the current media deal in 2036.

I watched the Penn State Spring game. A new OC has yet to help improve the play of PSU QB Drew Allar. Allar shows up against average to weak foes but in the Spring game, he played like he did last season vs. Ohio State, Michigan, and Ole Miss in the bowl game. Transfer Will Howard was the best QB on the field in tOSU's Spring game. But with the portal opening again in the Spring, why name your QB early on? The front-runner for Michigan, QB Orji, played last season but did not attempt a pass. Michigan has good players back on D but has to rebuild close to the entire O. The experienced Dillon Gabriel, who is odds-on to get the most career starts at the position, is the front-runner for the Ducks job. Dante's agent's phone has to be ringing off the hook, especially from the 313 (Detroit) and the 734 (Ann Arbor) area codes. I hope Dante is serious about getting a year of backup experience under Will Stein and Gabriel. USC with the 5th best odds is not discussed in the article but Trojans Wire has bowl hero QB Miller Moss in a battle with UNLV transfer, Jayden Maiava who was the Mountain West's Freshman of the Year. Hammerin’ the B1G: The 2024 Big Ten race hinges on key QB questions across the league SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The Big Ten title race features many factors, but none are bigger than the questions surrounding the quarterback at these programs.

Thoughts on Ohio State's squishy soft 2024 schedule plus a recommendation from College Football News to not play any tough non-conference opponents OOC before the Playoffs. https://collegefootballnews.com/schedules/2024-ohio-state-football-schedule-3-things-to-know With H+H series with Texas and Bama on the horizon, Ohio State did not get the message.

College Football News - 3 Things Regarding Oregon's Schedule https://collegefootballnews.com/schedules/2024-oregon-football-schedule-3-things-to-know CFN has the Ducks going 11-1 in the regular season with the loss vs Ohio State.

A take on the B1G and the 2nd transfer portal. Oregon and the other 3 B1G newbies are on The Athletic's list. What to expect from Big Ten transfer portal movement during the spring window THEATHLETIC.COM In the 2023-24 cycle, 299 Big Ten football players have entered the transfer portal.

Slap on the wrist for Michigan from the first sanction for NCAA violations for improper recruiting. Sign sign-stealing penalty is yet to be decided. Michigan receives 3 years of NCAA probation THEATHLETIC.COM The Committee on Infractions approved a negotiated resolution involving Michigan and five current or former staff members.

In this day and age of unfettered transfers, and with Danno, like his mentor Kirby Smart at Georgia, preaching that every position is open to competition, I can see an existing player(s) being disappointed by competition coming in from the portal. But I do not see morale suffering if this happens when considering that to date, Lanning has placed a premium on character as well as talent. Bring in a guy like the Michigan State player Charles mentions above, and the team as a whole would be delighted with additional talent being added to the roster. Plus, a disgruntled player can make a portal exit of his own. In today's CFB world, I would think that Sparty's Harmon may still be in play. But as our buddy Paul Finebaum recently opined, you probably will not pick up sure-thing starters from the second round of the portal. But a guy like Martinez would fill a need at Ole Miss and Miami and will be paid accordingly. Michigan - Stay away from Dante!

The Art of the Scheduling Deal also should take into consideration Oregon playing five conference road games in odd-numbered years. Games in 2025 will see Oregon traveling to Pennsylvania and New Jersey for conference games with the B1G champ game played in Indianapolis. Oregon does play Oklahoma State at home in 2025, but on the road in Stillwater in 2026, in a stadium where the Cowboys rarely lose. In 2025, Oklahoma will come into Autzen with a good chance of being the champion of the B12 in 2024. OK State does not play Arizona in the regular season next year and plays Utah in Stillwater. Why add an opponent like this; especially, before knowing how much value the committee with a 12-team playoff field will give a team's strength of schedule? As noted above, I would prefer to see Oregon traveling to the Bay Area to play ACC, P4 teams, Cal, and Stanford, instead of traveling to Stillwater in 2026 and to Waco, Texas in 2027. The B1G conference schedule, a Power 2 schedule, provides enough difficulty of its own without being an OOC scheduling hero. Michigan plays Texas this season and plays at Oklahoma in 2025. Ohio State plays Texas in 2025 and 2026, and Alabama in 2027 and 2028. Why? Michigan or Ohio State win the B1G championship and even with playing 3 G5 teams OOC, will be seeded in the playoff top 4 and likely in the top 2. Both could play UTSA, So, Alabama, or Tulsa at home, sell out the stadium, and score the revenue from another home game. Fun games, no doubt. But smart games?

Thanks for all the nice comments and once again, many thanks to my superb and understanding Editor. A thought on the 2024 playoff run to the Natty. It will not be an easy path to negotiate. If Oregon wins the B1G and goes 13-0, the Ducks will be seeded no lower than the 2nd seed and play 16 games including the championship game in Atlanta. If the Ducks make the B1G champ game and suffer a loss, Oregon will likely be seeded fifth or sixth and host a first-round game. The 5th seed would be preferable as this would most likely result in a home game versus the G5 representative. If college football had a 12-team playoff in 2024-25, using the playoff committee's final ranking, Oregon would have played a first-round game in Autzen versus a very physical Missouri team that defeated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. In 2024-25, the quarter-final games will be played in the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, and Peach Bowls. 50% chance that Oregon's 2nd round game would be played in Dixie with a good chance that the opponent would be an SEC team. The semi-finals will be played in Dixie in the Cotton, and Orange Bowls. The championship game will be played in Atlanta on Monday, January 20, 2025. Get through this gauntlet and Oregon will play its 17th game of the season in the champ game in Atlanta. Whew! This after playing eight games in a row in the regular season without a week off and playing a B1G title game in the Eastern time zone in Indianapolis. No one said it would be easy. In 2025, Oregon misses both Michigan and Ohio State in the regular season but plays a possible B12 champ out-of-conference in Autzen, Oklahoma State. In odd-numbered years, Oregon will play five conference games on the road. In 2025 the five road opponents in order will be Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, and UW. Oregon will play USC and Wisconsin in Eugene. 17 games, and even 16 with a first-round bye, will test roster depth, potentially exacerbated by injuries. I trust Danno and friends to keep the recruiting and portal picking peddle to the metal. Is it August 31st yet?

Ducks keep on making 2024 preseason 'Good Lists.' The 10 offenses that could shape the College Football Playoff this season WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM These are the offenses that will shape the College Football Playoff in 2024. What are the odds that Mari(o) screws up Cam Ward? I'm going with 3 to 1, at least.

Mudslide: South Boston.

Great comment. Playing in the B1G gives greater wiggle room when it comes to OOC scheduling. Michigan made it to the playoffs back-to-back without a P5/4 team on the OOC schedule. Ohio State plays only G5 teams OOC in 2024 and the schedule is light compared to other B1G contenders. But win the conference and Ohio State will be one of the two top seeds. The B1G schedule will not be overlooked by the PO Committee as was often the case with the Pac-12.

Beware the Portal? College football transfer portal: Penn State, Arizona among teams facing nightmare scenarios in spring window - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM These scenarios could make the spring transfer window one of the most chaotic yet

Charles, I agree with your analysis. Oregon successfully cherry-picks from the Portal to fill positions of need. As Ohio State, Georgia, and other top recruiting programs did in 2023-24. Oregon is not portal-reliant to the extent of an Ole Miss. As I recall, Oregon wiped the floor with portal-oriented CU last season. But the Ducks do appear early in the article. Not so long ago, Oregon may not have been mentioned. It's a balancing act and recruiting of new and already recruited players never stops amidst unregulated tampering.

Blake Brockmeyer is a CBS draft guru. He was an All-American left tackle at Texas and is in the Texas Hall of Honor. 26 of the ranked players play in the B1G including six players from OREGON: 20. QB Dillon Gabriel 22. WR Evan Stewart 32. CB Jabbar Muhammad 37. DT Jamaree Caldwell 67. WR Tez Johnson 71. OT Josh Conerly, Jr. OT Cornelius, TE Ferguson, LB Bassa, RB James, and DB Johson, among other Ducks, could have been on the list. College Football Top 100 Players of 2024: SEC crowds top 10, Colorado star at No. 1 in spring rankings - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Former All-American and first-round NFL Draft pick Blake Brockermeyer evaluates and ranks the top 100 players entering this season 7 Ohio State players are on the list. 4 players from Michigan.