Jon Joseph

This week's WAG. Oregon 38-24 2 TOs 1 Sack 170

Loyalty pays off for Cig's assistant coaches. FootballScoopBoth of Indiana's coordinators under Curt Cignetti starte...There's an old saying about job searches that goes something along the lines that you shouldn't choose a position based on title or pay, but instead based on the person you

SI with a deep look into why Franklin was fired. Some realize Potential and Expectations. Others? SINew Report Reveals Key Factors That Led to Penn State's D...Penn State unraveled under the lofty expectations for the program this season.

3rd highest paid coach in CFB. That's a very nice return on a bet Cig placed on himself. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/curt-cignetti-indiana-agree-new-deal-makes-him-one-highest-paid-cfb-coaches

But you only have to wait one week instead of months to start getting that Hoosier taste out of your mouth. Hopefully, OBD will brush away Rutgers all Knights long. Get Right at Rutgers! 😁

Doctor, Doctor, Mr. MD. Great question. My answer: How about NO! But with a game at Ohio State followed by a home game versus Indiana, the Nits will have a chance to do so. PSU could also derail Nebraska's PO hopes when it plays the Cornhuskers in Lincoln.

Place Your Bets? OBD wins and covers, and predictions for other B1G games and big games. How can it already be Week 8? College football picks, predictions against the spread fo...Week 8 is loaded with rivalries and other games that will shape conference races down the stretch.

Columbia, in the middle of the Show Me State, is not Saint Louis. The population is 130,000 or so, slightly over 250,000 if you include the capital, Jefferson City. There is crime there, of course, but nowhere close to the rate in St. Louis. Coach Eli Drinkwitz's job at Mizzou is secure. FWIW, he has said he is not a candidate for the Penn State job. He would not even be a lateral hire for Penn State. The only firing I can think of, akin to Franklin's firing, was Georgia firing Mark Richt. A guy who won a lot of games but could not score a championship for the Dawgs. It was risky hiring alum Kirby Smart, a guy without head coaching experience, but the risk certainly paid off in Athens. Nevertheless, the Tomfoolery on social media is always worthy of a good laugh. Every child growing up in Eugene will become an addict. Thank goodness Justin Herbert and Bryce Boettcher managed to stay straight, right? 🤪 BTW, Curt Cignetti just signed an eighth-year extension of his contract with Indiana. Curt and his agent want to thank Penn State AD Pat Kraft for the assist. 🤑

The Big Ten Network's B1G Today show is repeated during the day. Today's show is well worth watching. 'You're Going to Make Your Bunk the Marine Way!' After a Corporal calls you to attention, these are the first words out of the Drill Instructor's mouth. The first words, interim HC Tim Skipper to the UCLA team: 'Clean Up the Locker Room by Midnight Tomorrow! Here's a photograph of what our Locker Room will look like from here on out.' Ashley Adamson's interview with Coach Skipper is fantastic, as is the coverage of Saturday's B1G games, including PO must-win games for Washington and Michigan, USC and Notre Dame, and for Nebraska at Minnesota. Also, good coverage of the Ducks at Rutgers and the other B1G games. The Cornhuskers play the Gophers on Friday at 5 PM on Fox. Also worth watching while cheering for the Cardinals on Friday is Louisville at Miami. 4 PM ESPN. This will be Miami's 6th game of the season. The 5th home game with the one away game played in Tallahassee, Florida. If Miami wins the ACC title, its first PO game will be a 2nd round game played in Miami's home stadium. This season's PO Championship game will also be played in Miami's home stadium. 🤪 Get Right at Rutgers!

TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON! In the outstanding comedy, Trading Places, Mortimer Duke may have foreshadowed SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. The SEC's move to nine regular-season conference games beginning in 2026 was, according to Sankey, based in part on the Playoff Committee agreeing to use 'advanced metrics' to determine a team's strength of schedule (SOS) and Strength of Record (SOR), and to rely upon both calculations when determining the 12-team Playoff field. In other words, 2024's 3-loss Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina would be in the Playoff, instead of 11-1 Indiana and a second ACC team, SMU. To wit - How Strength of Schedule and Record Strength Will Impact CFP Rankings in the New CFP Metric The system used by the Committee in determining SOS and SOR is the product of SportsSource Analytics and is proprietary. The programming the Committee will use to determine SOS and SOR is not disclosed or available to the general public. So, SEC Commissioner Sankey was apparently given the inside scoop? If so, I do not know if the same information was provided to the other conference commissioners and the Notre Dame athletic director. To get a handle on 'The Machines,' I referred to the Massey Ratings, a widely referred to computer ranking, owned by Dr. Kenneth Massey and On3, and available to the public, to determine a putative Playoff field at the regular season's halfway mark. You can search 'Understanding the Massey Ratings on On3,' or search 'Massey Ratings' for the up-to-date ranking of the Power 4, Group of 6, and Notre Dame. The Massey Playoff Predicter through Week Seven, with a team's current SOS and estimated future SOS. 1. 6-0 Ohio State - 33/55 2. 6-0 Indiana - 20/43 3. 5-1 Alabama - 2/9 4. 6-0 Ole Miss - 32/29 5. 5-1 Georgia - 4/11 6. 6-0 Texas A&M - 9/7 7. 5-1 OREGON - 12/18 8. 5-0 Miami - 15/45 9. 4-2 Notre Dame - 6/36 10. 6-0 Texas Tech - 56/56 11. 4-2 Texas - 11/12 12. 6-0 Memphis - 105/86 (actual rank - 28) Memphis knocks out No. 12-ranked LSU. Sorry, Sankey 😁. I am not surprised by the SEC's current and future SOS rankings. I'm not surprised by B12 Texas Tech's low ranking. I am pleasantly surprised by Indiana and OBD's SOS ranking. In this Playoff forecast, Oregon would host Texas Tech in a 1st round game. The ranking for OBD's future opponents: 16. USC, 17. Washington, 24. Iowa, 51. Minnesota, 61. Wisconsin, 62. Rutgers. On Selection Sunday, December 7, 2025, which teams and conference commissioners will be shouting out - TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON!

Wouldn't this be nice? A home game win over Notre Dame and a defeat of Miami in the Orange Bowl? Canes WarningCFB analyst Josh Pate predicts Miami to be upset by Orego...Josh Pate's midseason bracket projects Miami's road to the College Football Playoff running through Hard Rock Stadium — but ending there against Oregon. In an u

Mike, I don't mean to harp on schedules. OK, I admit to harping on. 😁 OBD's remaining schedule at Rutgers, Wisconsin, at Iowa, Minnesota, USC, and at UW is not easy, and SOS-wise will be more difficult if Iowa defeats Penn State, USC defeats No. 13 Notre Dame, and UW wins in Ann Arbor this Saturday. But compared to the Bruins, and Tim Skipper and Jerry Neuheisel's remaining six, OBD's remainder is 'manageable.' The Bruins' next six opponents - Maryland, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio State, Washington, and USC. UCLA plays Indiana, Ohio State, and USC on the road. Five of UCLA's last six games could be played against Top 25 opponents. OBD has no excuse not to TCB. Get Right at Rutgers!

Thanks for the uplifting take. All good points well made. How about A Little Different Now when in a time out? Byes have not been OBD's friend. Good call on the performance of the defense vs. Indiana. The defense also played well at Penn State. The offense has not hit on all cylinders against B1G competition. Even versus Northwestern, the offense seemed to be disjointed. But Northwestern is 4-2 and Penn State is 3-3. 😁 Obviously, Penn State was flat after the double OT loss to OBD, but the UCLA offense was terrific against Penn State and also against lesser (I think) competition against Michigan State. You get punched in the chops for a half, OK. But the offense of a team with the 5th best roster in CFB floundering for 60 minutes, not punching back, is concerning. A beatdown from a terrific Georgia team to open Dan's career was understandable. As Kirby Smart noted, 'Dan knows we have better players.' Today? FWIW, Montana State is ranked 4th in the first release of the FCS playoff committee poll. Thanks again, Mike. Get Right at Rutgers!

Venting here. I have a B1G Beef with the B1G media deal. West to East travel - there should be no kickoffs before 3:30 Eastern. East to West travel - no kickoffs later than 3:30 Eastern. No Pacific time zone NFL teams play games in the East that kick off at 9 AM body clock time, Noon Eastern. Folks in the Central and Eastern time zones should be able to watch their teams play before 10:30 PM Eastern. Players should depart the West Coast before 3:00 to 4:00 AM Eastern Time. The biggest draws in the B1G, Ohio State and Michigan, should not be saddled with a host of Noon kickoffs. The most-watched game to date in 2025 saw Texas at Ohio State. This with a Noon kickoff. How many more folks would have watched in prime time? Millions. ESPN times the presentation of SEC games far better than the Fox broadcast group. Of course, it's easier for ESPN to deal with only two SEC time zones and reserve the late starts for the B12. One easy fix: the West Coast teams should be permanent opponents of one another. If it takes a season longer to cycle through the conference, so be it. This weekend's B1G, B1G Beef. Two of the hottest teams in CFB for different reasons are Indiana (sigh) and Penn State. These teams are riding waves of publicity, and folks want to watch both play ball. Penn State at Iowa, and Michigan State at Indiana, both on Peacock.🤬 Having both games streamed on Saturday is bad business. Millions more fans could and would be watching these games on linear TV. Watch Out For Waving Cane!

Pancho takes the blame for a six-pack of sacks. https://247sports.com/college/oregon/article/oregons-iapani-laloulu-on-six-sacks-against-indiana-i-take-ownership-of-every-one-of-them-257062543/?source=column&lctg=26140&eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e33

Nebraska QB Dylan Riola's comment on Matt Ruhle's possibly leaving for Penn State - "He ain't goin' nowhere," provides further justification for Nebraska being the only member of the Big Ten without AAU accreditation. 😁 https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/nebraska-qb-dylan-raiola-addresses-matt-rhule-being-linked-to-the-penn-state-job-he-aint-going-nowhere/?eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e33099045cd46ddc6a485b&ftag I hopes Dylend ain't a Englesh majer. 🤪

Another take on the proposed private capital deal from a Michigan site on the Wolverines and the Trojans possibly vetoing the deal. Strange bedfellows after SC blew out the Wolverines in LA last Saturday? 😁 I understand the concern. With the fluidity of all things college football, is it in the best interest of sure-thing Super League teams to lock into an existing conference affiliation through 2046? Even members of the conference currently in the lead, finance-wise? Maize n BrewThe Big Ten’s $2.4 billion private equity deal may be in...The Big Ten wants to ink a $2.4 billion private equity deal, but needs unanimous approval from university presidents. The University of Michigan seems highly skeptical and perhaps even opposed to it,

One problem with these mega conferences is that Ducks vs. Hoosiers could be one heck of a rivalry, but the return game in Bloomington is not until 2028. Maybe payback in the Playoffs?

Thank you, Darren. If it's Good Rocky on the rebound, bouncing back against Apollo Creed and Clubber Lane at Rutgers: Yo! Adrian! 😍 A loss could mean going on the road and coming up short, not to, but in Mason Dixon. Or worse? 🤬 GET RIGHT AT RUTGERS! Knock the SHI out of Schiano in SHI Stadium! (SHI Stadium! You cannot make things like Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), being a Rutgers graduate, and the name of the stadium up. 🤪 It's only a movie, right?) Thanks again for another entertaining and timely read.

Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald will be a head coach again in 2026. Penn State? Wisconsin? He did wonders at Northwestern, the Vanderbilt of the B1G. With Penn State's resources, facilities, and lower admission standards? Seeing as how it's McElroy doing the predicting, I wonder why he passed on Nick Saban?🤪 CFB-HQ On SIGreg McElroy identifies former Big Ten coach to consider...The search for Penn State’s next head coach is already picking up steam, and Greg McElroy believes one familiar Big Ten name deserves attention. On Tuesday’s ep

ND, this Saturday, please clip Lane 'Tween the Hedges and kick his booty all the way from Athens to Trinidad. 😁

Whoa Nellie on the negative talk surrounding OBD. Tom Fornelli's Power Ratings have a B1G trifecta on top. 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. OBD https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-power-ratings-indiana-ohio-state-oregon-big-ten/ I'm off to watch my recording of Tommy Boy! 😁

I don't know. I do know I'm the most tech-challenged guy on the planet, so this is a WAG, but I think it provides an overhead view downfield and does not just follow the ball as is the case on TV. This is a guess, and I hope someone more on the ball 😁tech-wise will provide a definitive answer.

Charles, do you have any remaining eligibility? There is a 58-year-old guy playing college football this season, and you see the field so well. You know I'm only (half) kidding. 😊 The Rose Bowl was an Epic Fail. This was a Fail. Dante goes from Heisman front-runner to his days playing for Chip at UCLA? The defense plays a very good game until it really matters in the 4th quarter? Oh well. Next case. It could be worse, in spades. We could be in (un)Happy Valley trying to qualify for the Sun Bowl😁with Saturday's game on the road against a team that never plays good D at home, Iowa. Then, after a nap, our Nits get to play ball in Columbus before entertaining Indiana. 🤪 If I'm back up QB Ethan Grunkmeyer's agent, I'm telling Grunk to take up field hockey. 🙃 Or, we could be Mad 🤬in Madison, where the only barrel we want to roll out is filled with Fickell pickle juice. Get right at Rutgers!

Excellent point, but I believe the video on the tablet is shot from above and not at field level. On the sideline, you're looking at an aerial view.