Jon Joseph

Give it a rest! By every metric, playoff success, brand name teams, eyes watching, attendance, etc., what the Power 2 asked for is not only reasonable but is far from 'greedy' and could have been more which would also be justified. I for one am sick of all of the 'This Will Ruin CFB!' takes. An expanded College Football Playoff could save college sports, but not in this greedy, imbalanced era - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM The revenue from a bigger College Football Playoff could compensate athletes throughout Division I and buoy other sports. That won't happen. Not with Greg Sankey, Tony Petiti & Co. trying...

The coach the players spend the most time with is well worth the $.

Arizona is a robust -11 favorite. A future B12 vs B1G matchup. Go Ducks!

The love for USC? Hard to write. But, IMO, it is warranted. With the roster and coaching turnover at UW and Michigan, USC, even with five conference road games in 2024, does not have a daunting road schedule. It is not germane to conference results but playing LSU in Las Vegas is favorable to UCLA having to play in Baton Rouge, and getting Notre Dame in LA is a plus. Penn State at home and Michigan on the road? Not easy for Troy but it is easier than the Ducks tripping to Ann Arbor and also playing an Ohio State team that is favored to win the conference and is ranked second in most of the top 25 preseason polls. USC plays Wisconsin in LA while the Ducks trip to Madison in November. SC has a more difficult 12-game slate than Oregon but not a more difficult conference slate even with the extra conference road game. Thanks for the comments and hats off to my Editor who once again made my scribbling readable and also added terrific illustrations.

It's looking like a 14-team field come 2026. 29% of the revenue for the B1G (and the SEC) is nice. This is B1G (and SEC) business and the Power 2 scored to return they were looking for and deserved with most of CFB's brand names playing in the Power 2. College Football Playoff expected to approve expansion as FBS leaders agree on revenue distribution - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The 14-team CFP would begin at the start of a new television contract in the 2026 season

Show Puddles the Money! 12/14/16 games? It's the revenue distribution that matters. I love the Domers taking it in the shorts. On future CFB Playoff revenue, two of the 'Power Four' caved to SEC and Big Ten BAMAHAMMER.COM There are many issues dividing FBS college football programs. While the differing perspectives are not unimportant, not all issues gain equal attention. For sim

Thanks, Duckster for the reply comment. I love it when authors respond to the comments. In the nine-game 5/4 home and away B1G game rota, Oregon does have five in Autzen in 2024 and one of the five road games is in LA (Pasadena) vs UCLA. There is no trip to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, no trips to Rutgers or Maryland. What is difficult about the travel? Not having two home games back-to-back after Michigan State on 10/5 and Ohio State on 10/12. And having to travel every other week in the last six weeks of the 8-team gauntlet beginning 10/19 Purdue, then 11/2 Michigan, and 11/16 Wisconsin. This yo-yo has the Ducks playing twice in the Eastern time zone and once in the Central time zone. The game vs Wisconsin on 11/16 is a weather alert game. This is NFL 'stuff;' except, late in the season NFL teams for the most part are playing division foes in the same time zone or once removed. Ideally, the first Idle week should have come after the Michigan State and Ohio State games, games five and six, and not after game three. Traveling to Purdue after Ohio State makes the Boilermakers game a trap game. I am optimistic. The Ducks Blue Chip Roster will be better than every team on the schedule except for Ohio State. When was the last time the Buckeyes experienced a conference game in a 'small' rowdy stadium? There are smaller stadia in the B1G, but not one of the smaller venues has an Autzen Zoo atmosphere. Mega-conference intra-conference strength of schedule will vary widely. In the B1G, every team misses eight teams every season. In the SEC it's seven teams missed. To wit, in 2025 Oregon plays neither Michigan nor Ohio State. 2024 does feature a very difficult schedule and you are spot on regarding injuries rearing their ugly head. And what could have been eight home games? Like Ohio State plays in 2024. Oh, well. Vandalize the Vandals! Thanks again for the terrific article.

More on Saint Nick's Capitol appearance. O’Gara: Why Nick Saban’s Capitol Hill appearance wasn’t as hypocritical as many thought WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM Get to the meat of what the former Alabama coach is referring to.

More and more (and Gabe and Moore) it's looking like a Battle of the Os in 2024. Ohio State, Texas among college football teams with deepest quarterback rooms for 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Building quarterback depth has never been more difficult, but these six teams have done it Ohio State is No. 1 and Oregon is second but it's tOSU and Texas that get the lede. This has to stop! The only way it will stop is to win a Natty.

The Wisky coach looks back on a rocky 2023. If Van Dyke plays like he did before Mari(o) showed up, Wisconsin has a shot at being much improved in 2024. 11/16 in Madison, Ducks players will likely be Jumping Around just to stay warm. Luke Fickell reflects on 'eye-opening' first season at Wisconsin: Why did Badgers stumble? THEATHLETIC.COM Fickell spoke to The Athletic about the highs and lows of a 7-6 debut at Wisconsin and what went wrong: 'It’s incredibly humbling.'

The Wide World of Sports. Where's Jim McKay?

Thank you, Duckster. Terrific article right out of the starting gate. IPL betting cricket? I sure hope Charles can avoid all of those sticky wickets. IMO, Nick Saban is the CFB head coach GOAT and it isn't that close. One measure of his greatness, Saint Nick went 5-1 vs Kirby Smart. In the number of appearances and championships, Bama dominated the 4-team playoff. Saban's teams excelled year after year notwithstanding annual turnover among the assistant coaches, many of whom have done very well in their new jobs. And reaching out to help rehabilitate 'fallen coaches.' Kiffin, Sark, Locksley, etc., benefitted Nick no doubt but also helped resurrect many a career. Good critique of Mari(o.) Recruiting champ and coaching chump. 2020 was a lost class. Robbie Ashford is now playing ball at USC(e) and is in the running to start for the Gamecocks. Danno already showed me coaching chops. Dilly left for his dream job. Stein came in from the G5 and the O posted better numbers. 5 losses in 2 seasons. 3 to UW by a total of 9 points. Fisch has his hands full in Seattle. Zero starters return on the O side of the football. I think Oregon will give Ohio State all that it can handle when the Buckeyes visit on 10/12. 11 wins a spot in the B1G champ game and a playoff bid are all in the cards in 2024. In the first 12-team playoff I think we will see Oregon with the B1G 1st round bye or a 1st round home game. (IMO, there will be two 12-team playoffs and 2 only.) Thanks again, Duckster, and as noted above, it's great to have you on board the good ship OBD.

A good breakdown of possible playoff formats come 2026 and the teams that would be in the playoff fields based on a 2024 preseason ranking. 2 comments. 1. Who cares how Notre Dame is accommodated? Get into a conference or get lost. And if you do not join a conference, play 13 regular season games with 10 vs the P4. 2. Tony Petitti best get on Greg Sankey's booty over playing 9 and not 8 conference games. Playing 8 conference games in a 16-team conference guarantees one or two overrated teams. 9 in an 18-team conference isn't much better. IMO, both Power 2 conferences should play 10 conference games. How latest 14-team College Football playoff format could look in 2026 FANSIDED.COM Just when you though College Football Playoff expansion was over with and done, think again, bud... While the CFP is going from four teams to 12 this season, th

Collective bargaining? Here's the rub. First, who or what constitutes 'Management?' 2nd, who or what union members will Management be negotiating with? Who or what makes up a CFB players' Union? The Dartmouth basketball players voted to join an existing union with no ties to college athletics. The Power 2 powers-that-be will agree to negotiate with the Service Employees International Union regarding restraints on the Transfer Portal. I don't think so. I don't player agents and the players that they represent are going to want union officials who have nothing to do with college sports sitting at the negotiating table. The lower-level folks in the NLRB who found non-scholarship athletes to be employees IMO had a screw or two loose. Good luck figuring THIS out.

Emerson: What Nick Saban is wrong, and right, about in NIL debate THEATHLETIC.COM Saban spoke at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday regarding NIL and expressed deep worries about the current system.

Thanks, Charles. When it comes to the CFB playoffs, Heather Dinich is usually spot on. I love Notre Dame receiving a percentage-wise far lesser share than the Power 2. Next? Why should ND have a PO vote? The Conference of the Domers? OSU and WSU 'stole' enough money to believe that they would construct a conference that would be considered a Power conference. Good luck. Yuck, yuck. The Pac-2's decision-making at the top rivals that of the Pac-12. The Pac-2 gets some love and sympathy from certain quarters in the NW; the rest of the nation? Two nonentities that never played in an NY6 bowl or came close to a PO bid. The PO extension is for 6 seasons, 2026 through 2031. What conference's media rights come up for bid in 2031? The B1G's media rights. The SEC's media deal with ESPN runs through 2036, ditto the ACC. The PO format from 2026 - 2031 is only a placeholder for what a PO will look like after the ACC disappears and the B1G and the SEC expand. And the PO revenue for the Power 2 will grow and then some.

I've got nothin' better than Charles's post. But I didn't want to leave Bo stuck on comment No. 13.

Michigan, Michelle? Oh well. This take does not ring the bell. Michigan did steal along with signals, Ohio State's RB coach but I believe this guy is out of eligibility. He replaces Michigan man RB coach Mike Hart (who famously called out MI ST as 'little brother' before MSU often kicked Wolverines booty under coach Dantonio who was not happy with not getting the top job over a guy who went to JC and Oklahoma. (Perhaps the RB coach left because he does not want to work with Chip?) A complete rebuild on offense and close to the same on D for a Michigan team that was 54% Blue Chip in 2023, didn't finish at or close to the top of 2024 recruiting, and has not done much out of the portal. And the loss of Jim Harbaugh is a B1G loss. Michigan could be the 2023 TCU team redux.

This is ESPN's Mark Schlbach's best guess. I agree with you, some of these rankings, Utah at No. 10 and AZ at No. 11 I just do not understand. I think he has too many B12 teams ranked and the ACC champ, FSU or Clemson ranked too low. Oklahoma with Frosh at QB and with its brutal schedule is, IMO, ranked too high. IMO USC notwithstanding a very difficult schedule made harder by playing LSU and Notre Dame should be ranked. I see SC being the 5th best team in the B1G, at least, next season. SC misses both OREGON and Ohio State and plays Penn State in LA. SC will arrive in Ann Arbor with a more talented roster than Michigan, a new and upgraded staff of D coaches, and a decent haul so far from the portal. If Moss can play close to how he played in the Holiday Bowl I think SC has a shot of playing in the B1G champ game. Great take.

Athlon Sports - Oregon is one of the seven off-season winners. And so is Ohio State. Get ready for a Battle of the Os. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/7-teams-winning-college-footballs-offseason-for-2024

A federal court judge in Tennessee has neutered the NCAA's regulation of NIL. The Supreme Court in the Alston decision warned the NCAA that its 'student-athlete' business model is not viable. But these decisions are not the biggest financial threat that the NCAA, and its member institutions including OBD, are facing today. Any of the cases mentioned in Dennis Dodd's article go against the NCAA and it looks like BK for the NCAA. Will a 'charitable organization' be allowed to restructure; or, would the NCAA have to liquidate? I practiced BK law and I am not certain as to how the NCAA would be viewed by a bankruptcy court. But I am certain that if the NCAA files BK many of its members, especially the Power 2, will leave the NCAA behind and govern itself. The evolution (devolution for some) of college sports continues at a breakneck pace. It's so nice to have Puddles in a B1G nest; wherever the college sports migration is headed Puddles will not be left behind. College sports further dividing among haves, have-nots may be spurred by huge financial hits from court cases - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The NCAA is facing legal battles on multiple fronts, and all come with financial risks that could doom the association and some of its member institutions

And, ESPN has the Ducks ranked No. 3 in 2024 preseason rankings. Breakout players from the top 25 teams to watch in 2024 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Who could be breakout stars from the top 25 teams this upcoming season? We break down who you should be watching out for.

'Crab legs.' Sweet!

There are always unintended consequences when any breakthrough legislation is passed. I understand Nick Saban's angst. On the other hand, how often during the 4-team PO did we have 5, and with Georgia, six legitimate contenders for four spots? I believe much of what we are seeing in CFB with more parity is due to NIL and the portal. Yes, the teams with the most resources will still separate themselves from the pack, as always, but no longer are players capable of starting elsewhere stuck, or at least delayed for a season, in starting for another team. I think it is easier for a young coach like Dan Lanning to deal with the current situation than it is for a 72-year-old man. What's new? Miss Terry asked the question that ended the Nick Saban Era BAMAHAMMER.COM Make no mistake - Terry Saban asked the correct question. She cannot be faulted because the answer ended the Nick Saban Era. In testimony to the U.S. Senate on

QB No. 6? Development candidate? Did these folks watch the abysmal QB play in the NFL last season? Purdy who was pretty bad in the Super Bowl has it all over Nix, right? The Pats, Jets, Giants, Bears, etc. QB play was mediocre at best. A 38-year-old Cousins coming off a torn Achilles just got, for some unknown reason, a huge payday from the Falcons. The scouts stare long enough and convince themselves that an orange is a grapefruit and vice versa. If Bo drops to the 2nd round it's a steal for the team that drafts him.