Jon Joseph

I'm old enough to have watched this Indiana team win the B1G and play in the Rose Bowl. RIP, John. 'Punt, John, punt!' John Isenbarger died. He helped lead IU football to only Rose Bowl. SPORTS.YAHOO.COM 'Punt, John, punt!' John Isenbarger, a two-time All-American running back and star of IU's lone Rose Bowl team in 1968, died.

A Puddles B1G baseball field day? Rutgers baseball: No Big Ten baseball teams ranked in this week’s top 25 SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The Big Ten is unranked in this week's top 25.

Signing Day appears to have moved up. College football's early signing period is getting even earlier, but problems persist GARNETANDCOCKY.COM College football has a recruiting calendar problem. Not only has recruiting become an everyday part of the sport, but with NIL and the transfer portal, there is

Be prepared to tailgate on Friday night. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/fox-sports-college-football-friday-night-games-big-ten-12-mountain-west

Utah? With a small by B1G standards stadium, a decent sized but not large media market, and decent viewer numbers but nothing more. I don't see it. Adding Notre Dame is a B1G no-brainer. Same for UNC, a school with quality academics (notwithstanding a decade-plus of athletes signing up for phantom classes) and the 5th largest state population. FSU is close to AAU membership, so maybe FSU. I think Fox would love to get into the Florida market. But why go beyond 20 members? Utah would not be immediately accretive, far from it. I think Kansas would be a far better fit than Utah. An AAU member school with improving football and one of the top CBB brands in the sport. I love how 'these folks love to spend other people's money.

Great thoughts. I do not think that CFB would drop in popularity to the level of AAA baseball or anywhere close. CFB is well behind the NFL in viewership, largely because the NFL promoted the NFL as a business, a business you could wager on, and did not push a phony 'student-athlete' model. Nevertheless, CFB today is a much-watched sport and I do not believe this would change with the elimination of 'body bag games' in favor of the top programs playing one another every weekend. Agreements with a player's union will stabilize CFB rosters. Pay-for-play from a limited number of schools, 32 to 40, will likely lead to an HS draft and a reduction in CFB coaches' salaries. Alabama sponsored by the NY Giants vs Auburn sponsored by the NY Jets will sell out and be viewed by millions of fans. But, that's just my POV and your POV could be spot on.

Agents vs ADs. Not a fair fight. This high of a buyout for a non-revenue sports coach? Although, Women's CBB could be headed into the positive revenue realm. The B1G Women's CBB tournament in Minneapolis is sold out.

Every article I have read regarding spring practice in 2024 calls out Michigan's QB room. Did Harbaugh leave more on Moore's plate than he can handle? Top CFB Storylines to Watch During 2024 Spring Practices BLEACHERREPORT.COM Are your feening for more football? It's been less than a month since the Super Bowl, right at two months since the College Football Playoff National… A great take on Oregon's QB room.

Two 2024 Oregon opponents, Michigan and UW are on the list of teams that need portal help. Michigan, Alabama among college football teams with transfer portal needs entering spring practices - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM With spring practices starting, there are some areas of need for teams hoping to contend for CFP spots

From the B1G Tradition site. The B1G 10: Big Ten, SEC send Playoff message to everybody: Accept … or else SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The B1G and SEC want guaranteed bids and seeds in the Playoff. If they don't get it, they could form their own playoff.

I wish he stayed in LA. Lots of new and shiny toys to play with in Columbus. Chip Kelly chose Ohio State for all the right reasons, and that should have Buckeye fans thrilled SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Chip Kelly found exactly what he was hoping for at Ohio State, and that should have fans excited for the 2024 season.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/chip-kelly-explains-why-he-is-happier-at-ohio-state

Moore has more to do at Michigan than any 1st year coach should be asked to do. The O from 2023 is gone. 4 starters back on D. I think Penn State takes the loss at home vs, Ohio State, on the road at USC, and perhaps, in Madison. For playoff seeding purposes if PSU qualifies, the opening game against W VA on the road will not be easy.

Charles, thanks for the thanks and the showing of the Bowdoin College mascot, the Polar Bear! Tigers, Lions, Wildcats, get lost! The Polar Bear's effort at ball balancing resembles how Bowdoin plays football. Thank goodness for ice hockey.

Thanks, Mike. Always appreciate your takes and thoughts. In 2023, both attendance and viewership were up for CFB. NIL and the portal gave the playoff committee a 5 for 4 spots nightmare that had FSU waking up screaming. A perfect send-off for the BCS x 2 that masqueraded as a 'Playoff.' With the demise of the Pac-12, the format for the 2024 and 2025 playoffs is screwed up. Higher-ranked teams will be seeded lower than lesser-ranked teams. You do not see this in the CBB tourney which is one reason the format for the next two seasons will not be the playoff format come 2026 and thereafter. Why are things moving so fast? Because things are out of the control of the NCAA and the conference commissioners. Court and regulatory decisions are forcing change to occur at Mercury-like speed. This plus the creation of a Power 2 that needs other conferences only to avoid litigation. 2031 for the ACC? I give the ACC as-is three more years if that. Clemson, FSU, UNC, and a 4th join the SEC. Notre Dame and another team deemed worthy by the B1G powers-that-be (this includes Fox) join the B1G. The B12 does not have a team with a Blue Chip Roster. One B12 team finished in the 2024 recruiting rankings, Texas Tech at No. 24. Again, other than to avoid litigation, why would the B1G and SEC need the ACC, B12, and G5? Why 2 spots for the ACC and the B12 in the playoff format the B1G/SEC have proposed come 2026? Will the ACC and the B12 have more than one team in the field come the 2024 playoff? With the G5 having a spot and Notre Dame on the scene, probably not. College football in 2024 is a capitalistic enterprise. In the Darwinian world of capitalism, the big fish swallow the little fish. Do I personally like this? No. I'd rather go back to the pre-BCS days, with a 10-team Pac-10, having to be more than mediocre to play in a bowl game, intense regional rivalries, and collegiality among competitors. Not happening. On the other hand, do I want to go back to only one college football game being broadcast on Saturday? Heck No! Thanks again, Mike. Direct pay-for-play, negotiations with a players' union, and an 'official' Super League with anti-trust and other protection against liability afforded by Congress are coming and will, like it or not, be here sooner than we can expect. No matter where CFB 'ends up', Puddles will have a nesting place, a fine-feathered one.

Here is typical irrelevant Congressional outrage. A body that could have offered the NCAA a shield from antitrust and other litigation and failed to do so. Players profiting off their own NIL, not only in football but across the board in both men's and women's sports have ruined college athletics. Come On Man! US Rep blames greed of several CFB programs for 'ruining the sport' with NIL FLYWAREAGLE.COM US Rep Brendan Boyle, a democrat from Pennsylvania, accused a few college football programs for ruining the sport -- this in response to the subcommittee of the

Mike, totally agree with Ducksters's kudos. I always appreciate your posts. Spot on regarding Ohio State having a far easier schedule than Oregon in 2024. Oregon's 2024 opponents finished 101-57 in 2023. Ohio State's finished 83-71. Ohio State plays 8 games in Columbus, and Oregon plays 7 (thanks, Rob.) In 2024, Oregon has 8 weeks with no off week. Ohio State's longest stretch is 6 games at the end of the season. In this stretch, 2 of the Duck's last 4 games will be played in Ann Arbor and Madison in November. In its stretch, Ohio State plays 2 away games, at NW, where it will have more fans than the Wildcats, and at Penn State. The Nittany Lions have not defeated the Buckeyes since 2016. Taking down Ohio State in Eugene could be a necessity if Oregon wants to play in the B1G champ game in Indianapolis in December.

Great post, Hayward. I'll take Bama over the Horns every day of the week and every week in a given year. Texas except on a few occasions under Mack Brown has been all hat and no cattle. Hats off to Sark for getting UT to the playoff but except for UW's last possession Texas was outcoached. Texas was running the ball down UW's throat, like Michigan did in the champ game, and did not run enough plays on the ground. I think that Texas going into 2024, although like Ohio State the Horns have a relatively easy conference schedule, and Michigan is the only one of 4 OOC teams with a heartbeat, is overrated. Texas won a weak B12 last season. Texas lost to Oklahoma last season and was fortunate not to rematch with OK in the B12 champ game. (Would Dillon have stayed for this game?) And playing the PO semifinal in Dixie benefitted the Horns. Alabama under Saban was dominant. Especially in the 4-team playoff decade. Saban set a standard that will be difficult for any other program to match. Especially today with NIL, no restraint on transfers, and a more difficult road to a conference championship in the SEC and the B1G. Texas lost all of its top WRs. Lost its two best RBs. Lost the core of its DL. And is Sark ready to outcoach Kirby, Kiffin, Kelly, and DeBoer? Is Texas a lock to defeat Oklahoma in 2024? No. The first one is the hardest. But as of today, one Oregon championship would be great to see; especially at my age.

UW and Michigan are on this list; a list you do not want to be on. At the same time. Oregon is a 'lock' to make the 2024 playoff. 5 college football teams that will be worse than you think in 2024 FANSIDED.COM Not every college football blue-blood is going to have a spectacular 2024 season. Here are five teams who could be markedly worse than before.

Duckster, as we said in Boston for eight decades: Wait Until Next Year!

Fan Nation, a member of the SI family has this prediction of the 2024 playoff field. https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/ncaa-football-rankings/college-football-predictions-2024-playoff-teams-rankings#gid=ci02d7a15f4000265e&pid=3-clemson Fan Nation is in error as to the location of 2nd round games that will be played in NY6 bowls and not on the campus of the top 4 ranked teams.

First and foremost, thanks to my Editor, who is well aware that I need all of the help I can get. Correction. Although Mark Schlabach on occasion appears on the Big Ten Network (BTN) it is Sport's Illustrated Pat Forde who makes the weekly appearance on BTN during the football season. Forde's Delightful Dozen Playoff teams based on his adjusted top 25 ranking on 1/29/24 - 1. Georgia - SEC vs. 9. Missouri - SEC at 8. Notre Dame - Independent 4. Arizona - B12 vs. 12. Boise State - G5 at 5. Texas - SEC 2. Ohio State - B1G vs. 10. Alabama - SEC at 7. Ole Miss - SEC 3. FSU - ACC - vs. 11. Penn State - B1G at 6. OREGON - B1G Arizona is ranked by Forde at No. 12. FSU is ranked by Forde at No. 10. These two should be seeded in the top 4 with a 1st round bye. Heck No! The 2024 and 2025 playoff format and not the 3-3-2-2-1- 3 AL model with the B1G and the SEC champs having a 1st round bye in a 14-team playoff. makes sense. It is the next two seasons' format that is 'preposterous.' Notre Dame? Fairly easy schedule but with Wake transfer Sam Hartman at QB in 2023, the Irish barely cracked the top 50 in passing. Duke's Riley Leonard is going to make a significant difference, I doubt it. Especially with Notre Dame's top 3 receivers transferring out. I think that LSU and not one of the 5 SEC teams Forde predicts, will be in the playoff. Missouri's strength of schedule is the weakest in the SEC but Mizzou lost its DC to LSU and its top players on defense to the draft. SC does not play Oregon and Ohio State in 2024. The Trojans play Penn State in LA. I think that SC could along with Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State, make the 12-team field. It will be very interesting to see how far Michigan retrogresses with a weak QB room, a new OL, 4 starters back on D, and Texas, USC, Oregon, UW, and Ohio State on the schedule.

John, great thought. I know it's (ridiculously) complicated but finishing ranked fifth in the committee's final ranking will most likely bring with it a 7 or lower playoff seed. In 2024 and 2025, the 8 seed is the cutoff to host a 1st round game. The top 4 seeds will in all likelihood be the champions of the B1G, SEC, ACC, and B12. This at best would push the No. 5 ranked team to the 7th seed; lower if the B1G/SEC champ and another B1G/SEC team were ranked in the top 4. For example, taking the 2023 final ranking, both Bama and Texas would have been ranked in the top 4, with one of the 2 being seeded 5th. On two occasions, in the 4-team playoff, both Michigan and Ohio State were ranked in the top 4. THIS is one of the key reasons why the format in 2026 will be changed from 2024/25.

In Your Face Wazzu! Paul Finebaum rightly blasts ‘fake outrage’ to proposed CFP format SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Paul Finebaum went off when it comes to the outrage to a proposed CFP model that would award the SEC and Big Ten more automatic bids. IMO, a justified duplicate post.

Pawalllll! Paul Finebaum rightly blasts ‘fake outrage’ to proposed CFP format SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Paul Finebaum went off when it comes to the outrage to a proposed CFP model that would award the SEC and Big Ten more automatic bids. In this instance, I think Finebaum is Spot On!