Jon Joseph

Thanks, NJ for the B1G posts. Post Spring Win Totals Big Ten football’s updated win total odds following spring ball CORNHUSKERSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Comparing every win total for the Big Ten for the 2024 season. Where does Nebraska rank among their peer 11 bowl-eligible teams? IMO, 14 teams will be bowl-eligible. Minnesota at 4.5 - Take the Over. Iowa 7.5? Phil Steele has OREGON, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Iowa in the 2024 Playoff. Looking at the schedule it's difficult to see more than 3 losses for the Hawkeyes. I also believe that 7.5 for USC with SC missing both OREGON and Ohio State, warrants an Over bet.

Fight On? USC didn’t move the Big Ten needle in 2024 transfer portal TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM USC did not get great results in the Big Ten transfer portal.

The Oregon football team this season has two visits to the Eastern time zone, Purdue and Michigan, and one trip to the Central time zone, Wisconsin. Thank you HDuck for pointing out the obvious, The folks in charge of B1G scheduling for all sports will do everything they can to limit travel for every sport. For money-ball athletes hoping to go pro, I believe that this travel is not a B1G deal. As I have posted before, in the 1930s, Minnesota in its 3-peat NCAA football title run, traveled 8 days round trip to play UW in Seattle. No one was worried about 'Little Sven's' physical let alone mental health. The same kind of trip was 'endured' by SC and Notre Dame football players who suffered on a train ride from LA to South Bend and vice versa. Back in the day, Babe Ruth and his Yankees had to endure train rides as far west as St. Louis. The precursor of the NBA, The Basketball Association of America players traveled via bus. Thank you for separating fact from myriad whining regarding the health of athletes in their late teens and early 20s. Is any player representing America in the upcoming Paris Olympics traveling by boat?

The NCAA, B1G, and the SEC are already slammed by antitrust suits. And the House case settlement does nothing to stop future antitrust and other lawsuits. The answer is not to bend over for folks proposing an 80-team Super Conference, or a diminution of the Power 2, but to arrive at a 32, maybe more, Super Conference, comprised of programs with the money to play championship ball. With the panache to be watched by 4+ M viewers a game, and with the ability to negotiate with a players' consortium. To take a negotiated player consortium agreement to Congress, and conditioning said agreement on Congress providing the same protections against liabilty as afforded the NFL. There is no satisfactory 'middle ground.' There is no longer room for a CFB playoff tied into bowl games. There is every reason to negotiate restraints on transfers, a salary cap, to implement a high school player draft, and to reap the benefits from the consequent lowering of CFB coaches' salaries: (Dabo,10M a year? DeBoer, $10.5 M a year?) and the rewards from Ohio State playing Michigan and not Oregon playing Idaho. 19M viewers watched Ohio State play Michigan last season. And Northwestern received the same media revenue cut as the Buckeyes? There is every reason to follow the lead of the billionaires NFL owners who could kill one another off in a bidding war but instead agree to a structure that does not allow the richest owner to trample on a 'poorer' owner. The owners made peace with one another on the media front, and with their player-employees, thereby creating a structure protected from litigation by Congress. Do I like 'THIS?' Heck no. But this is the natural progression of any system that has turned itself over to capitalism. Size goes to size in business. Decades ago, college athletics sold itself to the media for millions of dollars. The workers in every capitalistic enterprise will find a way to be paid. The market has already parsed Oregon from Oregon State in a B1G way and will continue to do so. Geographically logical consortiums for nonrevenue sports, I get, But where will the money come from? Perhaps tennis and golf should return to being club sports.

Thank you Mr. Fishduck for the well-deserved grimace to scenario one. But there are more friendly Playoff projections. But still with many questions and quandaries. How about a B1G Bonanza Playoff, courtesy of Phil Steele? Sugar Bowl - 1. Georgia vs. 9 Alabama at 8. Notre Dame Peach Bowl - 4. Miami (!) vs. 12. G5 at 5.OREGON. How delicious this could be for the Ducks. Rose Bowl - 2. Ohio State vs. 10. Michigan at 7. Penn State Fiesta Bowl - 3 Utah vs. 11 Iowa at 6 Texas SEC Snivels - 5 B1G teams and 3 SEC teams. Notre Dame! Only 1 1st round game in Dixie? If Stelle sharpens Stelle how can Stelle not know that it just means more? A B1G hamburger and not a Big Beef. What's with the all-Rose Bowl B1G seeding? The Committee tells us that seeding will not be influenced by 1st round conference rematches but Come ON! Disney and ESPN want an all-B1G Rose Bowl? Ohio State vs. one of two B1G teams the Buckeyes already played and defeated? With the House settlement pending, We Need the Dues! I don't think so. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 'Just Right' Playoff Courtesy of ESPN's Bill Connelly's SP+. Sugar Bowl - 1. Georgia vs. 9. Penn State at 8. Alabama Fiesta Bowl - 4. Utah vs. 12. Memphis at 5. Oregon Rose Bowl - 2. Ohio State vs. 10 Ole Miss at 7. Michigan Peach Bowl - 3. Florida State vs. 11.Notre Dame at 6. Texas Two 1st-round games hosted by B1G teams and two by SEC teams. Four SEC teams. Four B1G teams. Notre Dame? OK, how about we Playoff exclude the 'Conference of Notre Dame' come 2026. In 2026 if the B1G and the SEC do not want an independent Notre Dame in the Playoff mix? Domers gone. On December 8, 2024, going from a four-team playoff to twelve-team playoff will increase and not diminish the criticism of the Playoff Committe. Come 2026, go to the 16 top ranked teams being seeded, regardless of conference affiliation with no byes. And the first two rounds, at least, should be played on campus. But its easier, easier said than done.

With a 12-team college football Playoff on hand, we have as many preseason Playoff predictions as we have Top 25 projections. 2024 will not give us, thank goodness the Florida State predicament that the Playoff Committee handed us in 2023. For the next two seasons, the four Power-4 conference champions are in the field along with a representative from the G5. If Utah wins the B12 with a record of 10-3, even if ranked outside of the top 12 by the Committee, Utah is not only in the Playoff but seeded in the top four and accordingly, receiving a 1st-round bye. The Top 25 rankings may satisfy the majority of fans However, the Committee's choice of the seven at-large participants and the seeding of the field is certain to have fans burning Committee members in effigy, at least. Having the Committee release four Top 25 rankings before the final ranking on December 8, 2024, is cruel and unusual punishment for the Grapevine gurus. The Committee should go public on December 8, 2024, and reveal its Delightful Dozen as seeded. Then, run for cover. However, ESPN, the entity writing the checks, says otherwise. Thus, it will be otherwise. The following are three Playoff predictions out of dozens upon dozens of Playoff predictions. One B1G, one SEC, and one that could be 'Just Right?' All predictions below were released after Spring Practices and after the 2nd wave of portal picking. The SEC smiles and Greg Sankey jumps for joy, courtesy of USA Today. Sugar Bowl - 1. Georgia vs. 9. Notre Dame at 8. Ole Miss Fiesta Bowl - Utah vs. 12. G5 at 5. Texas Rose Bowl - 2. Ohio State vs. 10. Oklahoma at 7. Alabama Peach Bowl - 3. Clemson vs. 11. Missouri at 6. OREGON B1G Beefs: No. 11 Michigan is the first team out. Notre Dame played a 12-game easy-peasy schedule and would knock out a B1G team. Utah ranked 12th by USA Today is the fourth seed with a first-round bye and No. 4-ranked Oregon has to play Missouri in the first-round. Texas, ranked No. 3, hosts the G5 representative. Three of the four first-round games will be played on SEC campuses. Defeat Missouri and Oregon's 'reward' is to travel to Atlanta to play 10th-ranked Clemson an hour a one and a half hour drive from the Clemson campus. It Just Means! But this much more? Six SEC teams that played eight conference games are in the Playoff; two B1G teams that played nine conference games. Hey, Y'All, we're having a party in Birmingham!

Another B1G O. OBD. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/oregon-football-ducks-prediction-preview-2024

A Buckeyes Preview. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/ohio-state-football-buckeyes-prediction-preview-2024

Stewart Mandel's 6/12/24 Mailbag touches on issues pondered on OBD. B1G 10 going to 18 teams, what team will finish 18th? B1G Noon game time and how many eyes are on the prize? Why universities do not want 'student-athletes' to be 'employees.' CFB Playoff - Will SOS matter? And a Cal question? Mandel's Mailbag: Which QB can maintain momentum? Could college football players win gold? WWW.NYTIMES.COM Is "Big Noon" a big swoon? Why don't schools want athletes to be employees?

Stewart Mandel with a B1G-oriented Mailbag. As Stewart notes, good luck with ACC, B1G, B12's, and the SEC tie-breakers. Mandel's Mailbag: Which QB can maintain momentum? Could college football players win gold? WWW.NYTIMES.COM Is "Big Noon" a big swoon? Why don't schools want athletes to be employees?

From West Virginia to a great career as a player, coach, and executive on the West Coast. One of the greatest ever, RIP.

The NCAA has not only given up trying to regulate transfers but is giving an extra year's eligibility to any athlete forced to sit out a year in 2019-20. How many athletes still enrolled this covers I have no idea. NCAA agrees to end transfer rules permanently WWW.NYTIMES.COM The DOJ reached a settlement with the NCAA that will permanently bar the organization from restricting athletes’ transfer eligibility. The Justice Department joined the suit against the NCAA regarding restrictions on transfers. Not only is Congress not helping the NCAA, but the federal government via the Justice and Labor Departments is doing everything it can to assure college athletes 'free agency' while at the same time working to make college athletes 'employees.' The NCAA is no longer able to regulate as it so desires. So, why not liquidate the NCAA and form a new regulatory agency with the 1,000 + NCAA members cut back to a 'Power 2' regulatory body that can negotiate with a 'student-athlete' collective and agree on issues including eligibility, APR (should it even exist?), restrictions on transferring, NIL, tampering, etc. It's also time to form a football Super Conference. With B1G and SEC teams, if they so desire, such as Northwestern and Vanderbilt, opting out for football but opting in for all other sports. Teams such as Clemson, FSU, CU, and Utah would be added for football only. Title IX, NIL, tampering, and other issues such as antitrust liability would also be addressed, and the Super Conference, and all other college athletic programs that sign on to the agreement between students and 'management,' would receive the same Congressional protections afforded the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. As I asked in an earlier comment, why settle without protection against further liability? Why agree to kick in $20M a year, and still be subject to litigation? Then again, I never would have agreed to take on one-twelfth of the Pac-12's liabilities while handing two-member teams 100% of the assets. Someone with 'street smarts' and not college presidents best get involved or the baby could be tossed out with the bath water.

Michigan's Sherrone Moore chats with Joel Klatt. Recap and takeaways from Sherrone Moore’s interview with Joel Klatt WWW.MAIZENBREW.COM What Michigan’s new head coach had to say on "Big Noon Conversations."

Dann-O; and not Mari(O No!)

"Just walk away Jose?" College football walk-ons are in jeopardy. What do Big Ten coaches think? WWW.NYTIMES.COM Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was a walk-on at Iowa and prides himself in developing players with the Fighting Illini.

Nebraska was an AAU member institution when invited to join the B1G. Today, the B1G is comprised of 17 AAU member institutions and Nebraska. Today, Nebraska would not be invited to join the B1G. In 2023, Nebraska finished 24th in the Nielson rankings with 2,637M viewers on average for 12 regular season games. At 5-7, the Cornhuskers did not go bowling. In 2023, Utah finished 25th in the Nielson rankings with 2,616 viewers on average for 12 regular season games. Utah went bowling and was upset by Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl. Utah is an AAU member institution. Nebraska's AD, Troy Dannen, was the AD at UW for less than six months before leaving for Nebraska. Dannen was replaced by Wazzu's AD, Pat Chun. Trev Alberts who played his college football at Nebraska, left Lincoln for A+M. The A+M AD, Ross Bjork resigned and on July 1st will officially replace Ohio State AD Gene Smith. Is there an AD Transfer Portal?

A Power 4 in name only. As this article from Bama Hammer notes the ACC is on the brink of imploding. These dismal, to date, recruiting numbers for the B12 are additional evidence of how far behind the Power 2 the B12 lies, in recruiting, financially, and referring to 2023 Nielson ranlings, in the number of viewers tuning in. The B12 does not have a dedicated conference network. The B12 is a broadcasting afterthought for ESPN and Fox. Consolidation of big-time football programs will continue. Verbal commits for the '25 college football class and future trouble for a conference BAMAHAMMER.COM The pace of change in the college football world continues unabated. With more unknowns than ever before coaching staffs must rebuild rosters that change drasti

The line of demarcation in the House case is 6/15/2016 until the class was established in the case in 2023. The $2.8B settlement if approved by Judge Wilkins, will be paid over ten years. Attorneys fees between 25% and 35% of the judgment are expected to be awarded to the plaintiffs' attorneys. The House settlement does not bar further litigation. The NCAA hopes that if the House settlement is approved, college athletics will receive much-needed relief from Congress. Congressional relief may require forming a recognized players union for football and other sports, that can negotiate issues with 'management' however defined. In the Dartmouth basketball case, the players voted to join the Service Employees International Union Local 560. I doubt that Local 560 has much experience negotiating on behalf of athletes. As evidenced by the Dartmouth case and the Labor Department's suit against USC and the once-was Pac-12, expected to be amended to include B1G members, in addition to attorneys stirring the pot, you also have federal and state regulators and state legislatures chiming in. And, colleges are bringing litigation against the NCAA via their attorney generals to thwart any regulation of transfers and NIL. In short, it is a complete out-of-control mess. Imagine the NFL having two openings every year when players could switch teams for any or no reason. At what point does Atlas shrug? The NCAA has 1,000+ members but fewer than 50 are movers and shakers in money-making sports. Looking at the proposed House settlement, IMO it would have behooved the NCAA to file an anticipatory Chapter 7 Liquidation Bankruptcy procedure that would have stayed the House case, other litigation, and regulatory actions and limited the NCAA's liability to assets in hand. Bring the proposed filing to Congress and either obtain Congressional relief or file and liquidate the NCAA, limiting current member's damages, What possible sense does it make to settle House for close to $3B without relief from future litigation? Relief can only come from Congress or via a Super League where the athletes are employees and union members and negotiate enforceable agreements with the Super Conference management. The student-athlete model is dying a lingering death, Let's cut to the chase where schools unwilling to invest at least $X in athletics cannot participate at championship levels and where Northwestern isn't getting the same piece of the pie as Ohio State. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy what we have knowing that the Oregon Ducks may be brought to you by Nike but will not disappear.

'You stole the money, don't give it back!' Has more righteous, moral advice ever been offered? 'Never forget this son: Don't Get Caught!

If you are going to get hammered, get hammered B1G. Hammerin’ the B1G: 1 game every new Big Ten head coach needs to win in 2024 SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The Big Ten has some new faces in the head coaching ranks looking to get off on the right foot. Certain games will go a long way in shaping their early future. B1G ask for Danno, beat Ohio State.

Steven, thanks for the post but FPI should change its name to FP-Why? SP+ makes sense. FPI is off-the-wall. ESPN's computer models rarely conform. Unlike super-secret FPI, Bill Connolly explains the programming for SP+. As I posted elsewhere today. In its 2024 preseason rankings, College Football News ranks Oregon No. 4 out of 134 teams. Ohio State is ranked No. 1. In College Football News Strength of Schedule (SOS) rankings, Oregon has the 11th hardest SOS; Ohio State has the 57th hardest SOS. If this was the game of golf, Oregon would be getting at least 2 shots a side. The other B1G title contenders SOS: USC No. 1, Michigan No. 5, Penn State 14, Wisconsin 18, Iowa 22. and UW 33. There is not a preseason SOS ranking I have seen that does not have Ohio State with the easiest B1G schedule in 2024. Easiest by far. 8 home games. 3 G5 OOC games all in Columbus. Oregon plays 8 games without a break; Ohio State plays 6. Ohio State does play at Penn State. PSU last defeated tOSU in 2016. And, on 10/12/24, the Buckeyes visit Autzen. Iowa, Nebraska, and Michigan trip to Columbus. Other tOSU opponents - Michigan State, Purdue, Northwestern, and Indiana. With the odds for the Oregon game now Ohio State -1.5, Ohio State will be favored in every game.

True Frosh Predicted to come through in 2024. The best freshman on college football's best teams: Predicting first-year impact players for 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Our best guess at the top impact freshman for powers like Georgia, Texas and Ohio State

Playoff expansion winners and losers. College Football Playoff expansion winner and losers: Who does it benefit the most? WWW.MAIZENBREW.COM James Franklin might just be the biggest winner of all. Before the Committee produces its final 2024 season ranking and the first 12-team playoff seeding, it is fun to predict PO winners and losers. However, before we know how the Committee will deal with SOS in a mega-conference PO era, all projections are shots in the dark.

FPI? Sigh. College Football News has ranked 134 eligible playoff teams and also ranked 134 teams by strength of schedule (SOS). Oregon is ranked No. 4. Oregon's SOS is ranked No. 11. Ohio State is ranked No. 1. Ohio State's SOS is ranked 57. But Oregon has the easier path to the playoffs? GIGO! Oregon has Big Ten’s best shot to make College Football Playoff according to ESPN FPI AUTZENZOO.COM New to the Big Ten but not new to fielding really strong football teams, the Oregon Ducks apparently have a pretty good shot of making it to the College Footbal

With Charles and Coach to enlighten me, no other guru need apply.