Jon Joseph

Great observations. Regarding collusion, I should have added that conference members when they pledge their grant of rights agree to mitigated damages. Pay the applicable exit fee and you are free to go. Hard to believe that all of the members of the ACC including Clemson and FUS agreed to a $120M exit fee. Although as we saw when Maryland left the ACC for the B1G it litigated and settled at a lesser exit fee amount.

A collusion lawsuit has never been filed in CFB and I doubt that one will ever be filed. What media entity and others if any, did the Pac-10 collude with to take Utah from the MW and CU from the B12? Bob Bowlsby and the B12 may have had a winning suit against ESPN and the SEC but it was not filed. Litigation is expensive and without a certainty of winning are left behind member schools willing to pay the price? I think that CFB will continue to centralize and I very much doubt that the teams left behind will have a winning lawsuit. If Oregon does not sign on to the new media deal and pledge its broadcast rights to the Pac-10 the Ducks will be a free agent free to fly anywhere it so likes and is invited to.

It's likely violative of a number of laws and regulations but who in the world of college football has 'clean hands' and/or the desire to litigate? Today's president at Oregon is tomorrow's president at Northwestern. We are focused on college sports but this is really a small part of every university's budget.

A lot of the five are bold beyond reason. I agree that JS is not likely to leave for another college job but one day the NFL could come calling.

Consider the impact the portal is having on high school recruiting. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-transfer-portal-team-by-team-additions-tracker-2023 CU has brought in more players than the population of Rhode Island.

And the O line is a part of the puzzle that is also looking good. Oregon Football: Ducks offensive line stacked with talent, experience DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM There very well could be 5 new starters on the UO offensive line this fall. Despite the newness, the Ducks have the talent to be really good up front.

Kirk, great post. Stewart Mandel has an article up on The Athletic (paywall) that confirms that Bohn's resignation is due to far more than health issues. Another black eye for the Trojans athletic department. Folt best not hire a USC ex-jock to steer it into B1G country. IMO, the problems start at the top, Folt, and on down. It still fries me that Folt led the charge to kill expansion into the Central time zone and take the B12 off of the Power 5 chessboard. Possibly when she was playing footsie with the B1G and Fox. I am admitted to practice law in California (retired/inactive) but if she was in discussion to move to the B1G and failed to disclose this it is a breach of fiduciary duty and violative of a number of California's anti-fraud statutes. But it is academia and fans have no standing to bring suit so unfortunately the possibly egregious conduct will go undiscovered and unpunished.

If you are a subscriber Stewart Mandel has a very good article up on The Athletic. regarding the resignation of Bohn and the dysfunction that plagued SC athletics for years before Bohn came on board.

Great post. 'Money is not evil. The love of money is evil.' Go for the Gold? An encouragement to win the big game has been replaced by Go for the Greed. But with all of its foibles and upheavals, it's still a great game and Oregon is a great brand to follow and watch. I blame a decade-plus of conference mismanagement and also Fox and its spat with ESPN as much or more for the departure than I do USC. If the B1G/Fox offered Oregon $70M per annum in media rights and great coverage on the uber-successful B1G Network would the Ducks say no? I agree, just when the conference is the deepest in years it is going to break up? Sad.

Here are 5 interesting thoughts from John Buhler of Fansided. ( This article has 5 different screens, If you cannot navigate through all 5 here go to fansided.com for the full article.) How about his new moniker for the game formerly known as The Civil War? 'The Strife Aquatic?' I am down with a NO vote. Pac-12 Football: 5 incredibly early bold predictions for the 2023 season FANSIDED.COM Pac-12 football fans are here for a good time, but not for a long time with realignment coming. For at least one more year, we will have a healthy helping ... He is loving himself some Michael Penix and the rabid, flea-bitten dogs. I hope that we see a husky flop.

Below is a nice, positive take on Oregon's 2023 football prospects including an acknowledgment of how well DL has done bringing in quality players from the portal, especially on the D-side of the ball. Interesting that the author calls both games at UW and Utah toss-ups, I agree. But he makes no reference to the home game versus USC which is a bit puzzling. Oregon football: Realistic post-spring expectations for 2023 SATURDAYBLITZ.COM Dan Lanning's first season with Oregon football went better than planned as he led the Ducks to a 10-3 record and they were legit contenders in the Pa... GO DUCKS!

Good health is a blessing. Best of luck to the gentleman.

How about handing Larry a $1.5M severance check? This is most definitely grading on a curve.

He was simply awesome not only as a football player but also in lacrosse. I used to love watching Jim Brown play against the NY Giants' middle linebacker Sam Huff. RIP. A man who gave many fans lasting memories.

Thank you all for the great thoughts. Lots to ponder. You are the Einsteins of CFB.

And the B1G/Fox won't make an offer before they see the terms of the new media deal. Great take. Mario, the beat goes on in Miami.

Don't be sad, 1 out of three ain't bad. If money matters and it does, the B1G if the opportunity arises is where the Ducks should take flight. Anything else means you are looking to be the best bronze medal winner. Great thoughts. I can see the SEC if it wants to go coast to coast adding TX Tech, OK State, Arizona, and ASU at a large media revenue discount.

WOW! A Midwest guy who came to SC from Cincinnati and likely had a major influence on SC moving to the B1G.

Happy, I have but one minor disagreement. I do not see B1G/Fox making an offer to the NW schools before knowing the terms of the new media deal in order to have a real lowball number. Great post!

Are there 6 G5 teams in the West that meet the Pac-10 academic standards? I think SDSU would qualify and is on the shortlist. SMU qualifies as does Rice and Tulane. I'd grab these 3 of these, not Rice and also Fresno and UNLV and perhaps, Boise. Academics be darned. It's about survival and not academics. A number of existing Pac-10 members have no better academics than the last 3 on the potential list. At least on my list that the Pac-10 powers-that-be will surely and correctly ignore.

The B1G would lay down the red carpet for Notre Dame. Miami has decent academic creds but is a small private school, smaller than Northwestern. Clemson and FSU while attractive candidates from a football prospective do not have B1G-like academic qualifications. Thanks for the great comment.

An uninformed source. What inside information does an SEC network employee have? ESPN is not in the B1G broadcast mix come next season. The ACC has 5 AAU member schools, Duke, Georgia Tech, UNC, Pitt, and Georgia Tech. AAU membership matters to the B1G powers that be. I think that Duke, UNC, and UVA are on the B1G's radar and if the ACC breaks up Notre Dame would be a no-brainer addition. Thanks for the post.

I have enjoyed reading and discussing various posters' thoughts in regard to possible expansion candidates for Oregon and other Pac-10 schools. This is a fun topic to debate and ponder and no prospective realignment ideas are out-of-bounds in today's constantly changing world of CFB. But when it comes to business, we, like it or not, are living in a Power 2 age. The B1G and the SEC have lapped the field financially. I think a Super Conference made up of the B1G and the SEC might look like this. (If student-athletes are found to be employees all bets are off in regards to where CFB is headed.) B1G 20 - West - Oregon, UCLA, USC, Washington (all pod members would play one another every year.) Central - Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin Mid-West - Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Purdue Mid-East - Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers East - Duke, Georgia Tech, UNC, Maryland SEC 20 - West - Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A+M South - LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri Southeast - Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee Mid-East - Clemson, NC State, South Carolina, West Virginia/ or, Virginia Tech East - Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami Please feel to fire away at this proposed structure and most likely come up with your own better structure.

There is a clear demarcation between sports that drop money on the bottom line, CFB, CBB, a few women's basketball programs, and non-revenue sports. But I believe you are correct in that a union for just Men's CFB and CBB could violate the Equal Protection Clause. This is going to be a huge mess. My guess is that many programs will assign all of their football and basketball indicia to a 3rd party. Possibly the NFL for football and the NBA for basketball? And players would join the existing pro unions and there will be restrictions on free agency and team salary caps, but no cap on NIL deals. And players will be subject to being traded. I think we will see a high school draft of football and basketball players. I doubt that these athletes will be required to take any classes. One thing the above would do is drastically reduce the amount of money being paid to college football and basketball coaches. Obviously, schools like Stanford, CAL, Duke, Northwestern, BC, Wake Forest, and many others will not go along with this model. We are likely to see many schools going the Ivy and D3 route. No athletic scholarships. Is this what the federal government and certain state governments want to happen?

Although Prime is making a decent showing on the 2024 recruiting trail and not just out of the portal. The man had big-time success as an FCS coach and has put CU back on the college football map. I think he will soon have CU in the upper half of the conference if not higher. Equally as important as the hire was the CU administration's decision to open the pocketbook.