Jon Joseph

From reports I have read and photos I have seen, Nico's Dad is large and in charge. 😁

Ohio State was the 8-seed. If seeded according to ranking, which will be the PO format if not this season, next season, OBD would have played the winner of Boise State at Indiana in the Rose Bowl. This format was designed for the five Power 5 Conferences before the Pac-12 imploded. To my knowledge, and after researching the issue, this was the only time in the history of college post-season events that lower-seeded teams were seeded above higher-ranked teams and handed a 1st round bye. The Committee couldn't alter the format, but the Committee had no justifiable reason to seed Boise over ASU and send ASU to play Texas in Atlanta instead of 'Phoenix.' The CBB Committee supports its rankings and seedings with the use of fully disclosed metrics. The CFB Committee says: Trust Us! Understandably, the B1G and the SEC do not trust the Committee, why we will see a 14-16 team PO field in 2026 with 4 B1G and 4 SEC teams, as designated by the conferences in the field. Every metric justifies this format. If Boise had defeated Indiana and lost to OBD in the Rose Bowl, it would have meant a difference of $8 million for the B1G. Indiana wins and loses to OBD, it's a difference of $4 million. Also, a different effect on recruiting and the national perspective of the program. IMO, B1G differences.

Jabba, I'm not certain it's a done deal. Hey Son, please leave an SEC playoff-contending school with a 100,000-seat stadium that sells out for every home game and an offensive guru head coach to play for less money, and a team with a new OC with no OC coaching experience, and the chance to play in front of tepid fans in a half empty off-campus stadium. 🤪

Portal Transfers who could be on OBD's Radar. WR Pena from Syracuse demanded $2M from Syracuse and was told to get lost. Names to know for Oregon Football in spring transfer portal DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM The Oregon Ducks may target a few positions in the transfer portal this spring, so here are some names to know during the portal window.

Nico will be balling in the B1G and playing closer to home. Nico Iamaleava transfers to UCLA: How QB's NIL package compares to reported offer at Tennessee WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM The former Volunteers quarterback is headed west.

Nico will be Doing His Bruin in LA. Nico Iamaleava’s true motives for Tennessee exit questioned after ‘sudden’ UCLA transfer WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM On3's Andy Staples isn’t buying the timing of Nico Iamaleava’s exit from Tennessee after his surprise UCLA transfer.

Suggested 2025 B1G Football Slogans. OBD: Have it Your Way? Better Than: 'Let Roses Tell Your Story.' Big Ten Football: Selecting team slogans for 2025 season SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The 2025 Big Ten football season is right around the corner, and it's time to set team slogans for the full year ahead. Dear Paul Harvey, the ACC has 17 teams, and the B1G has 18 teams. Washington - 'There's No SEE in Seattle.

CBS Top 25 Most Important Player. It Just Means (Dante) Moore. Miami Ranked 3rd? I understand why Dennis Dodd is retiring. Early signs of dementia. Most valuable players for every Top 25 college football team entering 2025 - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Arch Manning and Jeremiah Smith are the MVPs driving the nation's best teams.

Between Nico and a Hard Place. Plaudits for Josh Heupel today, but tomorrow? Urban Meyer on Nico Iamaleava departure: 'Tennessee is screwed' - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Urban Meyer chimed in on the Nico Iamaleava saga at Tennessee with a simple take on the matter: 'Tennessee is screwed.' With his transfer options drying up, could the prodigal son return to Knoxville?

I'm not sure 'haunted' is the right word for this OBD fan. In the first quarter, I felt like Ryan Day, Jeremiah Smith, Will Howard, The Chipper, et al, had pulled out my Adrenaline Plug, and copious amounts of adult beverages could not revive me. I think I would have been more haunted by a loss in OT or because of a bizarre play? I think? During the Ohio State Spring game, Will Howard was asked which of the PO wins was the best. He immediately responded, 'The Rose Bowl. We owed Oregon.' Everything went right for TOSU in the playoffs. A playoff Ohio State is out of in the 4-team era. The team with the most talented roster got its Sierra together and had a blowout of Tennessee to its credit heading into Pasadena. The Buckeyes were the beneficiaries of a screwed up playoff format and OBD got the short end on the stick. Next Case!

Thanks, Mike. And thank you, 30, for the insightful comment. Baseball does not have a salary cap, but it does have a Luxury Tax that, in some respects, keeps contracts under control. (For a guy who recalls when a $100,000.00 a season was a huge salary for a baseball player, I swallowed hard when typing the previous sentence.) Baseball has enforceable contracts that control free agency. Baseball has federal protection from antitrust litigation. In MLB, like the NFL, NBA, and NHL, a player's union negotiates with management as prior agreements expire or new proposals are made by management. No professional athlete in any of the big four pro leagues can take his talents to the market anytime he so desires. CFB today is a professional league, except that the players do not have a union. Even without a union, players have been able to pressure the NCAA on matters like reduced practice time. No matter what lawyers come up with, NIL contracts will not hold up in Restraint of Trade suits. In Nico's case, when the NCAA came sniffing around, attorneys for the Vols NIL collective brought suit, and the Tennessee Attorney General jumped in to help keep the NCAA at bay. Before the approval of the House settlement, we have legislators in several states filing legislation that will exempt House and NIL income from state tax. The House settlement will not end state by state, piecemeal legislation designed to give Good Old State and U a competitive leg up. The House settlement is a stopgap designed to keep the NCAA involved with FBS college football. Athletes will be paid directly by their school, but they are not employees who can form a bargaining collective? Seven accountants will rule on whether any NIL deal over $600 reflects 'market value?' It's SSDD, and NIL collectives and boosters bidding for an athlete's services are not going away. Until the athletes can collectively bargain with "management," there will be no federal protection from antitrust and other litigation. Existing antitrust suits against the NCAA, like Reggie Bush's suit, and future suits are not affected by the House settlement. The brightest contract lawyers can gin up a 'bulletproof' NIL contract. No verbiage will stop plaintiffs' attorneys, aided by sympathetic courts and legislators, from shooting holes in any contract. Size goes to size in business. College football is Big (B1G/SEC) Business, and a Super Conference notwithstanding House is coming. And it most certainly will not have sixty to seventy teams involved. OBD will be involved.

We have largely unregulated free agency in CFB and for so long as this is the situation you should not pass on experienced QBs like Bo and Gabe. Back-to-back transfers who both made a Heisman Trophy trip to NYC. A trip along with Dan Lanning that paid dividends in recruiting across all positions. Can you get me to the League? Can you get me to the CFB playoffs? Will you compensate me at my market value and give me a chance to compete for a starting job? Oregon and Dan can answer all three questions with a no BS 'Yes.' No QB recruit in the past three seasons had the skill or the experience to lead Oregon where it ascended to in 2022, 23, and 24. Recruits at every position regardless of their stars and stats out of high school will be promised a chance to compete but not a promise to start from Coach Lanning. Roster building and roster retention in CFB today is a witch. You have to be flexible. The two QBs who started in the 2024-25 champ game both transferred in. Despite talented recruits on the roster, without Will Howard and Riley Leonard, Ohio State and Notre Dame are not playing for a championship. Close to 70% of the Power 4 starting QBs in 2025 will have transferred in. At every position, I trust Dan to mix and match as he so determines.

Power To The ... Coaches? Wetzel: How Tennessee clawed back some power in saying goodbye to QB Nico Iamaleava - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Iamaleava is a seminal figure, somehow representing both ends of the pendulum swing of player empowerment.

Too Bad, So Sad, Don't Listen to Dad! Nico Iamaleava’s transfer options are drying up, and regret might be setting in FANSIDED.COM The new era of name, image and likeness payments (NIL) for college athletes is altering the landscape of NCAA sports faster than regulations can keep up with th

I'm not certain the author of this guesswork understands that CBS has gone B1G and is no longer the SEC's broadcast buddy. College Football's Top 150 Players of 2025: The definitive spring rankings, led by Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM A year after pegging the Heisman winner, former All-American and first-round NFL Draft pick Blake Brockermeyer scouts and ranks the top 150 players 2025 This is an SEC-centric plus Clemson ranking. One saving grace is dart thrower Brockemeyer played ball at Texas and has Golden Child (and Grandchild) QB Manning ranked in the 40s. Don't come around the Forty Acres no more! No true freshmen were ranked. 6 Ducks ranked. 38 B1G players ranked. 6 Buckeyes, including No. 1 Jeremiah Smith. 5 players from Penn State. 4 from Illinois. Three B1G QBs ranked - 11 Drew Allar Penn State; 101 Luke Altmeyer Illinois; 137 Fernando Mendoza Indiana. Blue Chip Roster Michigan put two guys on the list, the same as UWho. No Sadaq, Boettcher, Thieneman. Matayo was the 10th ranked Edge Rusher; behind some guy from San Diego State. Isiah World is ranked 15th. The guy has a huge upside and I hope he plays as well as this ranking but he has yet to play a down of Power 2 football. Ditto for the second-highest-ranked Duck, Makhi Hughes at 43. Other Ducks ranked - 84 Poncho, 100 Evan Stewart, and 131 SC transfer E. Pregnon. On an already Blue Chip Roster, three newbies and three guys already with the program are ranked. If the author was an NFL scout, THIS take would get him immediately spit canned. THIS IS POSTED ONLY BECAUSE OF THE LOOOOONG OFF SEASON. Fire Away!

Rave On! Oregon's top freshman can't stop drawing rave reviews from just about everyone through the spring program WWW.YARDBARKER.COM Nobody can stop talking about freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore through spring practices. As much as it's important to not put the cart in front of the horse with freshman, the hype around the...

Potential Starters on O from Ducks Wire Oregon football offensive depth chart prediction midway through spring football DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Projecting what the offensive depth chart looks like for the Oregon Ducks football going into the second half of the spring season.

Even the Lawyers are Ticked Off! 😁 NIL Lawyer hammers handlers, calls for Nico Iamaleava damage control WWW.ON3.COM . Now, about those Used Car Salesmen? 🤮

Hey Nico, Don't Let The Door ... CFB world reacts to Tennessee's big move with QB Nico Iamaleava WWW.YARDBARKER.COM It's a shocking move, but some would say it was bound to happen. As Jabba noted, he can't transfer to an SEC school, if one would have him, in the Spring without taking the season off. Just Say No! To Date - OBD, USC, Notre Dame, and Mari(o.) It's always a good idea to bolt before knowing there is somewhere else to go, right? 💩 - Head.

Book Him, Danno! Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks are set to get one last impression on their biggest recruiting priority WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The Oregon Ducks are apparently going to get one more opportunity to court the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 recruiting class, elite offensive lineman Jackson Cantwell.

Eyes on the Hawkeyes Iowa spring practice update: wide receivers DEAROLDGOLD.COM The Iowa Hawkeyes' offense will look to jump forward during the second year under offensive coordinator Tim Lester. Inconsistent quarterback play led to Iowa's

A Nico Update - Robert Griffin's Comments? Come on Bobby! Yes, coaches leave but not the day before the Spring game, and liquidated damages are built into coaches' contracts. Nico Iamaleava transfer: Josh Heupel reveals new details on rift with QB - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel revealed new details on the Nico Imaleava situation following the program's spring game. Hell of a teammate! 🦨

Steven A, with Nico looking for more nickels, this is a timely and terrific post. Thank You! And also author Scott Reed, a man who understands that it's more than just the Benjis with Dan. Yet another take from Rivals that further cements Charles's use of the site as the go-to recruiting site.

Once again the Award for Best Editing Goes to: My Editor! 🍻 Also of interest in 2025-26, is which of the close-to-but-no-cigar 2024 SEC teams make the Playoff field. 3-loss Bama and 3-loss Ole Miss will have new starters at QB. The very athletic LaNorris Sellers returns for the USC Gamecocks, backed up by another athletic QB, old friend Robby Ashford. (Robbie's passport is close to being filled with New Destination stamps. 😁) 4-loss LSU Brian Kelly's seat in Red Stick (Baton Rouge) is close to Red Hot🤬. Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU because Notre Dame would never contend for a title. Hmmmm 🤔. To date, Kelly has not been able to take the Bayou Bengals to the CFB Playoffs. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, who threw for over 4000 yards in 2024, returns. Like Ole Miss in 2024, LSU went portal-picking in 2025. Thus, Kelly starts 2025 with the SEC's most experienced QB, who will be surrounded by a very expensive roster. Will Kelly and Nussmeier be able to win the first opening game since Kelly's arrival in the SEC? This will be no easy task with LSU opening on the road at Clemson in another Tiger's Death Valley. With 81% of the starting production back including experienced QB Cade Klubnick, Clemson is favored to win the ACC title in 2025, and some 'experts' predict that LSU will win the SEC. Like the Texas vs Ohio State opener, a loss in the opener will not destroy Clemson's or LSU's Playoff opportunity but will leave a season-long lasting impression on the Playoff Committee. Let's Get It On!

Amen, Brother 30. Why can so many see that the House Settlement is a last-gasp attempt by the NCAA to keep its power when it should be reformed or dissolved in bankruptcy with the Power 2, at least, directly managing their athletics? So much of the House Settlement is the same old tripe of attempting to control athletes by direct payment and deciding whether every NIL deal of $600 and over is within 'market value.' House simply leads to more lawsuits and more legal fees in trying to defend the undefendable. When you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result ...