Jon Joseph

David, I understand your thoughts on playoff expansion. However, more people watched college football in 2024-25 than in the history of the sport. The putative value of college football programs is at an all-time high, with private equity firms trying to get a foot in the door. College football playoffs managed by the NCAA at the FCS, D2, and D3 levels all have a 24-team field. The same for the NAIA college football playoff. If the NCAA, from the advent of bowl games, had been in charge of the college football postseason, Division 1, FBS, would have a 24-team playoff. We would also likely have a 10-game regular season and far less conference expansion and retraction. Look at the CBB tournament and consider the broadcast revenue the NCAA would have brought in and distributed over the decades if it had managed the Big Boys football tournament. Also, if the CFB committee operated like the CBB committee and the process was not owned by Disney/ESPN, there would be disappointment, no doubt, but also a disclosure of the metrics used when the committee made its at-large and seeding decisions. Again, I understand the negative reaction to doubling the size of the FBS playoff. The same reaction we heard when the BCS went to a four-team playoff: "This will destroy the regular season!" Didn't happen. If possible, I'd go back to having four bowl games featuring college football's best of the best, football played in the daytime, ending the season on January 1st, not anointing high school players as saviors of a given program, and a Pac-8 or Pac-10 conference with round robin in conference play. Not happening. Meanwhile, can we please just Play Ball and have actual games to discuss?

Drake, thanks for posting the video. No offense meant toward you, my friend, but IMO the video is puff piece propaganda, including the reference to the exquisite math behind the FPI. The math is too difficult to fathom, so move right along, nothing to see here. My guess, if it weren't proprietary, hundreds of thousands of software and programming 'experts' and millions of people versed in mathematics, would 'get' the math. The majority of us on the Forum followed college football assiduously and with passion over the last four seasons. Did anyone watch anything from the 2021 season through the 2024-25 playoffs that justifies this SEC-centric ranking? Make no mistake, the SEC based on recruiting numbers and the number of players drafted every year is, IMO, top to bottom deeper than the B1G. At least I think so? What would the SEC records look like at the end of the season with eight more losses among the 16 member teams? This is the question Tony Petitti is asking, and it isn't answered by a biased ranking being peddled as legit because it 'objectively' emanates from a computer. Setting the machine aside, I seem to recall ESPN honks decrying three 3-loss SEC teams not being in the playoff right up until the postseason games started to be played. My math-challenged summary of the FPI and this ranking: Garbage In, Garbage Out.

This has been floated out there by the B1G. 26 to 28 teams in the PO, but several games would be the final week of the regular season, Playoff Play-in games. The idea has been scorned by the usual anti-B1G subjects, among other things, as being a money grab. So, the B1G is roasted blocking expansion to 16 teams using the 5-11 format, criticized for wanting teams competing for the same prize playing the same number of conference games, criticized for wanting AQ spots for the two conferences with the most difficult in-conference slate of games, and will be criticized for any format suggested by the Big Ten. Beginning with Bill Hancock's warning that more than a two-team playoff would destroy college football, every time the college football playoff expands, the naysayers whine about it watering down the regular season, and more folks tune in to watch CFB, and CFB makes more money. The B1G's AQ playoff format lacks populist support, but the B1G has the money and the consequent leverage of continuing with a 12-team playoff and continuing to be No. 1 in the CFB financial arms race. if Greg Sankey wants to protect Kentucky's path to a meaningless bowl game, then so be it.

This is the stuff Greg Sankey uses to justify staying with 8 conference games. Sankey and ESPN should be embarrassed by this tripe. 2025 College Football Power Index - ESPN SEC - Six of the top 10, including the top three. But for the five highest-seeded conference champions being included in the Playoff field, nine of the 12 Playoff teams would come from the SEC, including No. 8 Tennessee. No. 12 LSU would be replaced by No. 34 Boise State. Number 11 South Carolina would be replaced by No. 18 Kansas State, and No. 10 Ole Miss would be replaced by No. 16 (!) Clemson. 12 SEC teams are in the top 25, along with six B1G teams, three ACC, and three B12 teams, and Notre Dame. AP No. 4 Clemson fell from No. 15 in the FPI to No. 22. AP No. 10 Miami fell from FPI No. 9 to No. 17. AP No. 24 Tennessee is now FPI's No. 8-ranked team. AP No. 21 Ole Miss is now FPI's No. 10-ranked team, and AP No. 8 Alabama is now ranked 3rd in the FPI. Did I miss something? Did Clemson QB Cade Klubnik and Miami QB Carson Beck decide to skip the 2025 season and prepare for the draft? Is Nico back at QB for Tennessee? Is Bama QB Ty Simpson on par with the anointed Archie? OBD ranked 7th by the AP, is also ranked 7th by the FPI. Why? I am Clue and Less. Any Dixiecrat who uses these Faulty Prediction Index rankings to justify anything having to do with the It Just Means More folks should be sent to their room without their hush puppies and grits. 🤬

More on Moore and Michigan's Appeal to the NCAA - Michigan football is fighting back against the NCAA even as questions linger FYI, the NCAA cited Tennessee with 200 violations. 18 of the violations were Level One violations. Michigan - 11 violations; six Level One violations.

Even with a heavy dose of roster turnover (sound familiar), Montana State is ranked 2nd in the FCS preseason top 25 poll. Last season, Idaho was ranked 4th in the FCS preseason poll and ... FCS Football Rankings - Stats Perform FCS Top 25 | NCAA.com

Thanks, Gat. I think the fine, according to B1G Ten Network coverage, may be closer to $25 million, still a lot of money. Michigan was also hit with recruiting restrictions over the next four seasons. The NCAA appears to be over the nonsense of changing wins into losses. (Thank goodness. Otherwise, as the good Doctor points out, UW fans would rush to claim the 2023-24 championship.) Interesting thoughts on South Carolina. Was this injury proved up by the Gamecocks? Part of the financial hit and four-year prohibition is a result of Jim Harbaugh's escape to the NFL, ala Pete Carroll, and current HC Moore deleting his calls from his cell phone; a/k/a lack of cooperation. I do not want to turn everything that happens in CFB into a B1G versus SEC battle but when I compare these sanctions to what was handed down to Tennessee not long ago, this seems to be over the top. Tennessee, before NIL, and under Jeremy Pruitt, was found by the NCAA to be paying recruits and players on the roster, a direct pay-for-play scheme that resulted in a 'death penalty' judgment for SMU. No doubt paying players before NIL happened was the number 1 no-no on the NCAA's Hit Parade. Paying players to sign with your school directly benefits the payor program. Did Michigan win a game on its way to a title because it stole signs? Would Michigan not have finished the season undefeated? Many who follow CFB were surprised that the NCAA prohibited in-person scouting. (As for cooperation with the NCAA, the Big Ten sat Jim Harbaugh for three games in 2023, on the way to Michigan's title. Tony Petitti and B1G HQ filed a 'brief' on behalf of Michigan with the NCAA that noted the Harbaugh sanctions.) Tennessee was fined $8 million and was hit with recruiting sanctions less onerous than the sanctions handed to Michigan. Yet again, the NCAA seems to hold teams outside of the Southeast to a higher standard. Compare Miami's pay-for-play sanctions to SC's penalties for one player receiving excess benefits. Two decades of academic fraud at UNC were OK with the NCAA because 'regular students' as well as 'student athletes' cheated. How about the time, or lack thereof, it took the NCAA to sanction Oregon for using a third party outside the program to assist with recruiting? No schools in the SEC were using 'runners' to help with recruiting, right? Michigan did avoid a postseason ban, but Michigan, at least in part, will appeal these sanctions first to the NCAA, and after being denied relief by the NCAA, will likely file an appeal in a court of law. One extra game of Moore sitting out is no big deal, but even for a Michigan program, a $20 million-plus fine directly from the football program's revenues and the restrictions placed on recruiting will not be accepted without protest. These sanctions affect not only Michigan but the entire B1G. The NCAA's over-the-top SC sanctions, at the same time the Pac-12 Network came online, did not help the Pac-12's long-term financial viability. Pac-12 fans outside of Troy, happy with SC's sanctions, were penny-wise and pound-foolish. Games and championships matter, of course, but today, money matters equally if not more. I fully expect others on the Forum to disagree with my POV, which is, of course, fine. But the B1G is in a financial race with other conferences, and these IMO over-the-top sanctions on one of the B1G's biggest brand names do not help the B1G conference in any respect. Thanks for the post.

I'm not certain this is a B1G Bold Prediction, but I do agree that OBD will be PO back! Oregon Ducks, Dan Lanning Receive Bold Big Ten Prediction

Thank you, Charles. Nice opening gambit by Chip, but where was the response? IMO, this no-show is on the entire coaching staff from the Chief on down. In addition to Chip's adjustments, equally important IMO was the adjustments Jim Knowles made on defense. Caleb Downs moved up from safety and was a wrecking ball. The O-line that played well against TOSU in Autzen was manhandled in Pasadena. I don't think this happened as a result of strength and conditioning training post-Michigan. It will be fascinating to watch the White Out chess match. Next (Nest?) case. Onward and upward!

6 PM Pacific tonight, the BTN crew visits Eugene. Based on program visits to date, this is well worth watching. Go Ducks!

USC, due to volume, has the No. 1, to date, 2026 recruiting ranking. But what team is mining recruiting gold? OBD, of course! 😍 On3 - The ten teams with the highest percentage of 2026 Blue Chip recruits - 1. OREGON - 88% 2. LSU - 78% / A&M - 78% 4. Georgia - 77% 5. Notre Dame - 74% / Florida 74% 7. Miami - 73% 8. Texas - 71% 9. USC - 69% 😁 10. the Ohio State University - 67% It's nice that a mainstream CFB site recognizes Coach Lanning and friends ' recruiting prowess. How many CFB fans would know that Oregon has the highest number of Blue-Chip recruits to date? The media is all over Oregon commits who decommit, but not when top recruits commit. Win a Natty! Beginning with a roundup of Bob's Cats.

Who in the 🤬invited these guys to the party? Before 2024, we had to go to Pasadena to get our B1G butts kicked 😁.

Man, is that balled-up or what? 😁 The other day, a UNC grad golfing buddy told me there is confusion in Chapel Hill. No one knows if walk-on Jordon Hudson is going to play wide receiver or tight end. 🤔

Hail to the Victors Valiant? No postseason ban, which means sighs of relief coming out of Ann Arbor. Michigan receives NCAA sanctions for sign-stealing: Sherrone Moore suspended three games, hefty fine levied, more Michigan's fine totals @$20 million. Before NIL, Tennessee was fined $8 million for paying players. If you're going to cheat, do it south of the Mason-Dixon.

Thank you, Steven. I like Ross Dellinger's reporting, but there are a few gaps in this article, beginning with the state of Tennessee. The Tennessee legislature passed a law signed into law by the governor that prohibits the enforcement of the House settlement in the Volunteer State. (Freudian slip? I originally spelled it: Hose Settlement 😁) Kentucky's athletic department is now a limited liability company (LLC). Except in very rare cases, damages against an LLC are limited to the assets held by the LLC. The university itself, in theory, will not be liable if its athletic department runs amok. Alabama, among other schools, is holding back NIL information, claiming that doing so would violate the athletes' federal right of privacy. The folks at Bama were not aware of this when their commissioner, Greg Sankey, was touting the settlement. Right? After a short period of rejecting all NIL collective deals, NIL Go, the review committee, after being reminded by the House plaintiff attorneys that this was not the deal, backed off. NIL collectives and deals arranged by and between members of a collective are not, ipso facto, verboten. The House settlement provides that all NIL deals with public companies are kosher, except for public companies found to be 'boosters.' Marketing deals with 3rd parties are not new; what is new is the ability via NIL to share the revenue with the players. In the 12 months from Judge Wilkin's approval of the settlement, $20.5 million is the cap that schools can revenue share with their 'student athletes.' Revenue directly shared with any source cannot go over this limit. Dellinger failed to note this salient fact. So, many of the defendants, the once Power 5 conferences' subsidiaries, their member programs, had no intention of following the terms of the settlement and were actively planning ways of looping holes in the terms of the settlement before its approval. Maybe the Pac-2's Theresa Gould was not aware of this, but the other commissioners? Without a collective bargaining agreement between the athletes and 'management,' however defined, the NCAA and its members will not be granted relief from litigation. The Power 5 conferences and the NCAA could and should have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and found relief from litigation in a federally approved Plan of Reorganization. The House settlement is one more futile attempt by the NCAA to prevent college athletes from being found to be 'employees', even though they are being paid directly by their respective universities. It's simply more NCAA Male Bovine Excrement of Form, as defined by the NCAA over Substance as defined by the world at large, including courts of law. The Emperor has no clothes! Rob Mullens and other intelligent ADs, the leaders of universities, and their legal counsel, cannot see this?

This ranking names OBD's O-line the 4th-best in the conference heading into 2025. Power ranking all 18 Big Ten offensive lines from worst to first Now, Wait a Minute! OBD plays No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Iowa, so the jury is out before the B1G champ game on 12/6/25. Oregon's O-line gels and plays to its potential, and the starting five could all be drafted in 2026.

Fox names the top 10 B1G football players in 2023. 3 Nits, 2 Bucks, and 2 Ducks - Quack! Who Are The 10 Best Players in The Big Ten Entering The 2025 Season? I wonder what the list will look like on Judgement Day, 12/7/25, when the PO committee releases its final ranking.

It's not how you start, but an entire body of work. A body of work where OBD went 13-0, the only P4 team to do so, and captured a B1G title. Both OTs were drafted, Conerly in the 1st round and Cornelius in the 6th. The O-line was a finalist for the Joe Moore, best college O-line, award. The QB the line blocked for was a Heisman Trophy finalist. Give me this, please, season after season. The Rose Bowl loss stings, but that was a perfect storm team effort from Dan Lanning down to the student managers, coupled with a since-eradicated horse bleep PO format.

The Sports Information Directors' (Coaches) Poll Compared to the Scribes (AP) Poll College football poll analysis. How coaches and AP rankings differ

Another B1G Title in 2025-26. If it happens, Pawallll has promised to leave the US of A. Might I suggest Pyongyang? 😁A perfect fit. Big Ten Football Preview: Third Straight National Title Could Be on the Horizon

The Celtics went for $6 billion. This looks like a steal, right? 🤑

LSU and Miami Playoff MIA? 😁 Preseason Hype or Letdown? Top 10 Teams Most Likely to Disappoint Doubting the Ducks makes me Quack-Up!

Here's what the folks at Penn State have to say about the AP's preseason ranking. Five biggest takeaways from preseason AP Poll

In the even worse category, Stanford's starting quarterback in Week 0, on the road in Honolulu, will be one of the 17 players who transferred in from the transfer portal: 6th-year senior Ben Gulbranson. Ben started three of OSU's last four games in 2024, but left for Stanford knowing that $1.5 million QB Malik Murphy would start this season. A Bing search of Ben finds him still in Corvallis; his transfer to Furd was most certainly not B1G news. Malik is working his way to FCS Portland State after starting a couple of games at Texas when Quinn Ewers was hurt, starting for Duke in 2024 before transferring out, knowing he would lose his job in Durham to a QB transferring in from Tulane, Darian Mensah. For a reported $3 million NIL deal, Mensa(h) was smart to transfer to Duke 😁. Cal had many starters transfer out, especially on offense, due to Wilcox's hiring of former Boise State and Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin as Cal's OC. Heck of a hire when the newbie runs off all of your best players, one reason Wilcox now reports to GM Ron Rivera. Wilcox does not get Cal to a bowl game this season, and if Cal has enough money, Wilcox is likely gone, with the GM also serving as head coach? Perhaps the Bears can use some of that B1G money purloined from the Bruins to buy out the coach? Stanford lost many starters to GM Andrew Luck's firing of Troy Taylor, who is suing Stanford for wrongful termination of his contract. 17 players transferring to Stanford is a record by a good bit. Luck may have conditioned his hire on the administration being willing to admit more transfers out of the portal. Stanford opened -2.5 at Hawaii, now bet down to -1.5. This speaks for itself as to the nadir of Stanford football. Thank goodness OBD caught the last B1G plane out.

And then, there is The Ohio State University - an AP polling fixture - TOSU beats Michigan? Who knew? https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ohio-state-football-sets-all-time-record-with-latest-ap-poll-drop-leaving-michigan-in-the-dust-for-second-place/ar-AA1KoQGP?ocid=msedgdhphdr&cvid=959287bf7c