Jon Joseph

GREAT TAKE! This was the year to play tOSU and its historically bad D. Moorhead had a perfect game plan for the Buckeyes. THEN?

History tells us that Brutus was a back-stabber.

Great LOL take. A+M fans are as delusional as are Texas fans. Yet, A+M sells out a huge stadium for all CFB games and sells out its BBall arena for all CBB games. In fairness, A+M is one of the 4 SEC teams that is a member AAU University. When OK and UT come aboard, it will be 5 AAU members out of the 16 schools. It Just Means More! Except, when it comes to academics, it doesn't. Also in fairness to my fellow and sister Ducks fans, I've been to College Station, Texas; Do Not Go There! UT does have a significant 'home town' advantage over A+M.

Great take. But follow the $ and CFB power is and will continue be in the hands of the B1G and the SEC.

But did help when the Bears defeated Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.

OT - Florida QB Emory Jones, who started 12 games for the Gators in 2021, has entered the transfer portal. UF went 6-7 in 2021 so it will be very interesting to see what kind of NIL deal this young man will command? Utah opens the 2022 season in The Swamp; I doubt that Coach Whit was troubled by this news?

The NCAA has 'washed it hands' of having anything to do with P5/G5 CFB. Soon, conferences in the G5/P5 will CFB-wise, be operating under their own rules and regulations.

9 teams, almost half of the conference, were invited to this year's NCAA CBB Tournament. More invitations than received by any other conference. 8 teams won their 1st round game - Arizona, Kansas, Baylor, TX Tech, UCLA, Houston, TCU and Iowa State. USC lost by 2 points to Miami. But showing the Committee's continuing disrespect to the Pac-20, the higher seeded Trojans was the highest seed in the Tourney to be sent farthest from home, having to play its first round game far closer to Miami than LA. (And about what should have been a no-call instead of the late, late game foul call that decided the game?) 9 teams in and 8 having won to date means big time payouts down the road for the Pac-20 conference. Payouts that will exceed those of any other conference, including the B1G and the SEC. This kind of success should also help the cause of the Pac-20 in the upcoming media contract negotiations. Before today's and Sunday's games, the Pac-20, in theory, has a shot to take all of the spots in the Final 4.

Charles, great take and great question. In answer to your inquiry, I believe Oregon will survive NIL. But what CFB will look like after the new round of media negotiations, transitioning the regulation of G5/P5 football away from the NCAA, playoff restructuring, inability to regulate NIL without a players union, inability to regulate 'free agency' without a players union, players becoming 'employees,' if a players union comes about, normal 'market corrections' not happening in regard to 'fanatic-driven' NIL deals, additional conference expansion/contraction, etc., ad nauseum? I have NO IDEA? NONE! Except, I do know with certainty that financially the B1G and the SEC are in the process of becoming the P2. But, what can you do? Other than the foregoing financial fact, I can hazard 'educated' guesses as to where CFB is going and Oregon along with it, but my crystal ball is far from flawless. So, I plan to follow the sage advice of Charles,' enjoy Ducks football today as it is today; whatever may be will be. As to Texas ATM, Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU, etc., SEC teams have been cheating for decades and taking pride in it: 'If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin!' At least now most of the chicanery [feel free to insert your choice of word(s) in place of 'chicanery] in the SEC is above the table. I say to Hades with the SEC! With this additional admonition: Stop scheduling 1- off games vs SEC teams in Dixie. STOP! Schedule no OOC games against teams unwilling to play in Autzen. GO DUCKS!

Ole!

When you spend $30M recruiting a football team how much is left over for BBall team? College Station is Houston without a beach; or, a basketball team as good as Houston's. As a matter of fact the "Pac-20" had 9 teams in this season's NCAA Tourney. But who needs the $, right?

SC got shafted having to play 'down south.' Just like the Pac-12 got shafted. The MW? Lit up.

Great article. Herbie is going forth to be even more Amazing; or, at least, more Amazon.

Thanks Charles. Interesting that toughening up practice almost got Bryan Harsin fired at Auburn? Such a fine line today. Back in the day if the coach told you, 'Run!,' you ran until he yelled, 'Stop!' Or, until you dropped. And if you went home and whined, both Mom and Dad would tell you to suck it up. Compare to Willie Taggart wanting to toughen the Ducks up. 3 guys were hospitalized and the whey hit the fan. Love all the comments to this great article but CFB practice comes no where close to what a candidate has to go through to make it as a Navy Seal. Chip's practices to me seemed to be more about quickness, hurrying up for additional reps, rather than distance running for fitness? The 'Good Old Days?' Read 'Junction Boys.' Any coach today who ran practices like Bear Bryant ran when he was at A+M would be in jail. Many great points made by Charles in this article. One that I especially liked: where was the physicality and playing hard for 60 minutes under Mario? Mario's teams seemed to play in this manner only when the players believed it was a 'big game.' Except for the early D struggle opener vs Clemson last season and the over-confidant 'no-show' vs Bama in the SEC champ game, Georgia in 2021 simply dominated its opponents. Including in the playoff semi-final when it made Big 10 champ Michigan look like a JV squad. Thanks again Charles for the further insight into Coach Lanning and his coaching roots.

Great stuff. You go girl! But it comes down to dollars and cents and not gender. It is a simple fact, women's sports, like many the men's Olympic sports exist because of men's CFB and CBB. So, you give the guys in the $ ball sports an NIL salary and a coming pay-for-play salary and what will happen to women's sports? What will happen to men's scholarship golf, tennis, etc.? At the end of the day you have a Pyrrhic Victory.

Graz, I hope you get to trip to NYC. But I've been to College Station once and that was more than enough. GO DUCKS!

Thanks Charles for this and the other fine articles on what to expect out of Coach Lanning. Going to UGA fans for their opinion was a great example of going the extra mile. Culture? IMO one of the most over-used and oblique references heard today in CFB. What matters is Ws and Ls. Lots of nice guys with teams with solid APRs, excellent graduation rates and a roster full of 'good citizens' are routinely fired. Your record is what you are. I believe Lanning knows this and also knows that it matters far less what he says than the results on the field. Except when it came to recruiting, Mario talked the talk but could not walk the walk. Mario's high water point was winning a Rose Bowl with the NFL Rookie of the Year by 1 point over a 3L Wisconsin team. Of course, the win in Columbus in 2021 was terrific, but it was also a tease based upon the team regressing the rest of the season; not being competitive in 3 of its last 4 games. I'll judge Lanning by what he accomplishes on the field. In 2022 with the schedule he faces I plan on having to be patient. I think 10-3 in 2022 would be a very, very good record and set the team up for a final 4 run in 2023, when the schedule will be far more manageable. And of course, in 2023 the head coach, his assistants and the players will have had a year of play together. As to 'fooling' Mullens? I totally agree that what we repeatedly heard out of Mario did not translate to the field of play. Losing to ASU in 2019 and missing the playoff, losing to CAL and Oregon State in 2020 before being trounced by Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl and repeatedly playing down to the competition in 2021, is and fortunately was, Mario's 'culture' in Eugene. BTW, I would have loved to have been 2 games over .500 in my career and be paid $9M per annum.

Thank you 30. 1 guy has true CFB game experience maturity.

Terrific article! I do note that Georgia's 2021 roster had more 5* players on it than played in the entire Pac-12. THIS helps the cause.

There is no control regarding NIL. IMO, one of the disappointments in this regard was not requiring a certain % of NIL $ to be placed in trust. How long will it take an 18 year old's 'posse' to blow through the dough?

The NCAA will not be governing G5/P5 CFB in the near future. There is a Transition Committee, co-chaired by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and the Ohio U AD, working on a format for G5/P5 CFB governance free of the NCAA. This review encompasses enforcement, eligibility, APR progress, roster size, targeting, the whole enchilada. Will there be uniformity from conference to conference? For example, will the targeting rule be more 'liberal' in the SEC than in the B1G? If so, what rule will be used when an SEC team plays a B1G team? What this Committee suggests (given the financial differences I am hard pressed to see the same rules and regulations for the G5 and the P5) and what is ultimately approved, will materially impact CFB and the future of CFB.

Terrific article David, thank you. Could not agree more regarding the 'flagrant foul' vs 'unintentional helmet-to-helmet contact.' Especially with review in place that automatically confirms or denies targeting. Football practice is hard; it is often a drudgery. Taking a player out of the game for 'incidental contact' is unfair to the player and his team.

Very interesting. Thank you.

Sorry, but I have to Zig on this pick.

Great post. Hope Portland benefits PR wise. As JC notes, the city needs some good things happening. FYI - Last season Jon Wilner of the Mercury News picked Baylor to win the title. This season Wilner picks Kentucky to defeat Arizona in the championship game. Arizona's new CBB head coach, Tommy Lloyd, came to AZ having been a very successful assistant coach at a very successful basketball program, Gonzaga. Would be nice to see a repeat of this happening in Eugene, no?