Jon Joseph

It isn't simply little old me. For what it's worth, the CFB world at large ranks the 5-seed as the Golden Ticket. I agree. I think Texas Tech will be the 4-seed. I'd prefer 5-seed OBD to play the Red Raiders in the 2nd round instead of Ohio State, Indiana, or Georgia/Bama. Coming off an extended bye has been no fine for Danno's Ducks. TT is a solid football team. But the schedule? OOC TX Tech played Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State, and Beavis at home. TT blew out BYU at home, won large at Utah with both QBs dinged up, and lost at ASU with its starting QB, Behren Morton, not able to play. With the B12's top roster, TT ran roughshod over the rest of its B12 opponents. When OBD was under the gun for playing 'no one', did the 'experts' look at TT's schedule? Ditto, A&M's in-conference weak schedule. In the knock wood, second round, give me the never-played-a-PO-game Red Raiders, after OBD defeats the G5 PO representative, or UVA.

Will's Hiring from a Louisville POV - He's going to Louie's rival but is a beloved alum. Big Red LouieFormer Louisville QB ignites new era in rivalry after bei...Louisville football defeated the Kentucky Wildcats this past weekend, 41-0, forcing the Wildcats to end the Mark Stoops era. Stoops was fired after 13 seasons w

Tomorrow on the Big Ten Network at 11 AM, the B1G Signing Day Special Program. General coverage on ESPN2 at 11 AM. Danno - Do some Signing Day Flipping!

OT - Big Ten coaching scuttlebutt - the lead candidate for the Penn State job is BYU's Kalani Sitake. Heck of a coach, but no experience east of the Rockies. BYU HC since 2016. Before BYU, he was an assistant for Whittingham at Utah. Before Utah, he was an assistant at Oregon State. ON TOPIC - The coach with the best record in the history of Kentucky? Bear Bryant, who went 60-23-5. In Bear's last season at Kentucky, with Babe Parilli at QB, the Wildcats won the SEC title. In the same season, Kentucky's CBB coach, Adolph Rupp, won yet another SEC title. In appreciation, Kentucky gave the Bear a new watch and gave Adolph a new Caddy. Coach Bryant said, 'So long.' In 1960, at Boston University Stadium, I watched Babe Parilli start at QB for the opening game played by the Boston Patriots. For younger Forum fans, 1960 was not BE, Before Electricity. 😁

Chip? A guy allergic to recruiting would fit with Dan? How about, NO!

Would Uncle Phil outbid Cody Campbell? 🤑

Vandy? Coach Clark Lee is a good coach, and his contract has been extended. But where was Vandy before the arrival of Don Diego and OC Tim Beck from New Mexico State? Maybe Curtis is preparing not to play in the NFL? As you well know, the Dawgs have a few more guys playing in the NFL than the Commodores. If Jared wants to stay in-state, he might want to volunteer for Tennessee.

At the Zoo, predicts OBD's likely 1st opponent. These are Oregon's three most likely first-round playoff foes I don't see Bama at OBD happening. The Committee may move Oregon up to the 5-spot tonight. I don't see OBD dropping to the 7th seed. I don't want to see Kalen DeBoer in the 1st round.

Great post. T-H-E-Y in your first spot on sentence should be spelled E-S-P-N ESPN has owned the bowl broadcasts since the BCS days. As the exclusive broadcast partner for the BCS, 4-team PO, and the 12-team PO, ESPN is not going to compete against its big-time bowl broadcasts by allowing more than a 1st round home game. There is a lot wrong with the NCAA, but the NCAA manages college football playoffs far better than ESPN. The lower division football playoffs are played for the most part on home turf, and there is a single selection show broadcast of the teams playing in and the seeding for the upper-tier FCS playoffs. There are many reasons I prefer a 1st-round game for OBD in Autzen. The B1Ggest being rewarding students, how about that, and fans who cannot afford jacked-up airfare and hotel prices, with a home game. The players should also have the opportunity to play a game at home that they have earned. A home game also means $8 to $10M for businesses in Lane County. And the on-campus and communal joy that comes with hosting a significant contest in Eugene and in the State of Oregon. (I believe the only college football playoff games played in Oregon have been Linfield University games.) The home team controls ticket sales for 1st round games, except for 3500 tickets reserved for the visiting team. So, no interference in this regard from ESPN. Growing up in Boston, I played in and watched many games in the snow and had a blast. Green Bay Packers fans want to see PO games played at Lambeau Field right up to the Super Bowl game. Suck It Up! Dan Lanning has an amazing record that is not so amazing after byes and prolonged byes. Give OBD a home game after a reasonable bye. Knock wood that after a first-round home win, we will see OBD play three more games on a long and winding road.

Going 4-steps Farther Down the Road - Odds for 25 PO Champ Game Scenarios Ranking the 25 Most Likely CFB Championship Game Matchups

We'll miss you, Will, where the grass is damn green. Best of luck on the bluegrass. Bear Bryant won an SEC title at Kentucky; why not Will?

Tony Petitti's expanded PO plan includes a flex schedule for the final game of the regular season to determine the Big Ten's 4 automatic qualifiers. 2nd place plays at 1st place; both teams are in the PO. 3rd place hosts 6th place, and 4th hosts fifth; the two winners advance along with the top 2 teams. When you look at the difference in in-conference SOS, this makes sense, as does the balance of Petitti's plan for today's mega-conferences. Those of us who have been around for a while recall Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany being laughed out of the room for thinking that a network devoted to a single conference's sports would work. Jim Delaney got the last laugh, and I think Tony Petitti could be joining Jim. This season, I think Jim Phillips should have stepped in and had 10-2 Miami and 10-2 UVA playing for a conference title. Simply using the Committee rankings to break total record ties would have accomplished this.

Bob Chesney will try to Bruin up wins in Westwood. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ucla-hires-bob-chesney-head-coach-james-madison/

Will our Will fill his Stein with Bourbon? Wildcat Blue NationKentucky will fire Mark Stoops and there's a potential re...After so much speculation, the Mark Stoops era has finally come to an end. With yet another disappointing regular season getting wrapped up, the news arrived on

Florida weighs in, we're still waiting on the Mayor of South Bend. Canes WarningGov. Ron DeSantis weighs in on Miami-Notre Dame CFP debateFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis has officially jumped into the Miami-Notre Dame playoff debate, backing the Hurricanes' head-to-head argument after fresh betting odds

GP, I entirely agree, except in my case, at least one drunk will be sitting on my couch.😁😁😁

With the game being played in Oxford, Pelican State Governor Jeff Landry likely promised Lane that the entire Louisiana National Guard would be deployed to guard Lane on the way, with a platoon or three stationed on the visitor sideline. 🤪 Throw out the records, GameDay will be there.

Finish the Power 4 No Bowl 4 You - ACC - 2-10 Boston College, 3-9 Syracuse, and Virginia Tech, 4-8 Stanford, UNC, 5-7 FSU. 6 out of 17 teams. Two Coaches fired. B12 - 1-11 Oklahoma State (!), 3-9 Colorado, 4-8 West Virginia, 5-7 Baylor, Kansas, UCF. 6 out of 16 teams. One Coach Fired. FWIW, 33% of B1G teams not bowling is the best percentage in the Power 4. The SEC leads with four coaches fired, plus one deciding to drive in another Lane. Did the Rebels Miss? Or has Ole Miss found a Golden replacement?

OBD's Perfect PO Path - Oregon Ducks On SIWhy The Oregon Ducks Might Get The Perfect Playoff PathThe No. 6 Oregon Ducks finished the regular season with an 11-1 record, winning a rivalry matchup against the Washington Huskies. Despite the win, the Ducks wil

Mike, when considering the B1G and the SEC from top to bottom, I took a look at how many teams are not bowl eligible this season. Big Ten - 2-10 Purdue, 3-9 UCLA, 4-8 Maryland, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and 5-7 Rutgers. Six out of 18 teams. Two coaches fired. SEC - 2-10 Arkansas, 4-8 Florida, and South Carolina, 5-7 Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State. Six out of 16 teams in a conference that played eight conference games this season. Four coaches fired. How much of - 'Every game in the SEC is a battle like no other, Just Means More, and other conference champions would have three or more losses if they had to run this gauntlet!' - is myth compared to the reality we see played out. In these mega-conferences, SOS varies significantly. Compare A&M's 2025 schedule with Florida's. Compare Wisconsin's 2025 schedule to Michigan's. The B1G was superior to the SEC in the 2024 postseason, including 3-loss Illinois defeating 'PO screwed over 3-loss South Carolina', and 5-loss Michigan defeating 'PO screwed over 3-loss Alabama.' The two PO screwed SEC teams had all hands on deck for their bowl game. Half of the starters on the Michigan D skipped the bowl game. Bama had a 1st round draft pick at QB. Michigan had Thin and Air at QB. Compare the rosters of the six no-bowl B1G and SEC teams, and the SEC has better rosters. No doubt. But this does not ipso facto mean better results on the field of play. Coaching matters. Fun to ponder all of these issues, especially during this mini offseason.

Mike, great post. I think playoff expansion discussions are ongoing that will lead to at least a 16-team field or, more likely, a 24-team PO field with automatic qualifiers. Too much like the NFL? Other than for guardrails agreed upon by the NFL and the Players Union, what in CFB today does not resemble the NFL? Money rules the CFB roost, but unlike the NFL, the CFB billionaires have not learned to coexist. Better than a Super Conference would be a 24-team field with 6 at-large teams, which keeps a 4-PO-team ACC and the 4-PO-team B12 in existence. I don't believe a 3-loss USC, and Michigan, a 3-loss Georgia Tech and SMU, a 3-loss Arizona and 2-loss Utah, and two G6 teams in the field will destroy the foundation of CFB and CFB's regular season. I'd even be OK with 3-loss Texas and 2-loss Vandy being in the field.😁 A PO with AQs would likely lead to a B1G/SEC football challenge. I believe it could also lead to 10-game conference schedules (five home and five away games), which makes sense in this era of mega-conferences. Give the 'lesser conferences' four teams in the field and the G6 two teams in the field, and guardrails in CFB, as we see in the NFL, may be allowed with Congress giving CFB much-needed relief from litigation. BTW, A&M's conference schedule this season was putrid.🤮 Thanks again for the great take.

It's possible, but I think both Miami and Notre Dame will be in the field.

Indy, preferably in the Cotton Bowl, but more likely in the Orange Bowl, with OBD coming off a win and the Hoosiers coming off a long bye. Make no mistake, Indy is darn good (DUH!), but watching the Hoosiers vs. Iowa and Penn State, I think it was The Perfect Storm Day for the Cigs in Autzen. I do not want to play Texas Tech in Dallas or an SEC team in New Orleans. After defeating Indy in the Orange Bowl, knock wood, how about a semifinal game in Arizona in more friendly territory in the Fiesta Bowl?

JMU. SEE: Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl in Autzen. 😁

USA Today is PO benching the ACC - 😁 CFP rankings prediction, updated College Football Playoff bracket