Jon Joseph

Great take. Stetson at UGA, coached up. AB at Oregon and I should add Justin Herbert, coached at all?

In keeping with upcoming March Madness, what CFB teams are likely to rebound in 2022 and what teams are like to 'foul out?' Here are my guesses. REBOUNDING - Pac-12 South - USC - The Portal King, sorry Lane Kiffin, is coming off a low 4-8 2021 floor. Many the quality transfer has come to Troy, including QB Caleb Williams, WR Mario Williams and sigh, RB Troy Dye. And having Lincoln Riley 'transfer in' and replacing the over-his-head Clay Helton as head coach (HC), is a big upgrade at the HC position. The OL play for SC in 2021 was the best in 4 seasons, averaging 4.4 yards per run attempt. 4 starters are back and a 2nd team OT from the ACC has also transferred in, coming from UVA. The OL gave up only 18 sacks in 12 games in 2021 and Caleb Williams is far more athletic than was QB Dart. The D? Long way to go, but Grinch as the new DC should be an improvement. All 3 out-of-conference (OOC) games, Rice, Fresno State and Notre Dame are being played in LA. The Notre Dame game is the last regular season game and Stanford falls between Rice and Fresno, giving the Trojans a good shot to be 3-0 entering the balance of Pac-12 play. However, Troy is on the road for 5 conference games, including at south division favorite Utah. I expect to see Troy play a lot of shoot-out games in 2022. I will be surprised if SC does not at least flip the script and finish 8-4, or better. Pac-12 North - Sorry my Ducks friends, but I see UW in 2022 at the very least becoming bowl eligible. New HC DeBoer lit it up in NAIA ball at Sioux Falls and did a very good job as the HC at Fresno. QB Penix, if he can stay healthy, is coming in from Indiana where he played his best football under DeBoer when DeBoer was the OC at Indiana. Kent State and Portland State in Seattle should be OOC lay-ups. And a win over a Michigan State team that lost many a good player including Doak Walker award-winning RB Kenneth Walker, at home in Seattle is IMO, doable. UW does play 5 conference road games this season but under new leadership and with a decent returning roster UW should be greatly improved. FOULING OUT - Pac-12 South - ASU last season started 4-1 before finishing 3-4, then losing a hard fought bowl game to Wisconsin. QB Daniels has left the building along with 5 assistant coaches who left in the middle of an NCAA investigation. ASU President, Michael Crow, has supported HC Herm Edwards, but Crow was also a big fan of Larry Scott. 2 of the 3 OOC games are definitely winnable but I do not see the Sun Devils winning at Oklahoma State and I do not think ASU will go bowling in 2022. Pac-12 North - OREGON STATE - The Beavers made it to bowl eligibility in 2021, finishing 7-6. But the departing excellent RB will be hard to replace. OR ST does not play a P5 opponent OOC but Boise State and at Fresno State are two worthy Mountain West opponents. In its favor the Beavs do play 4 conference road games. The Beavers have been surprisingly weak this year, to date, in attracting players from the transfer portal. I do not see Oregon State being bowl eligible in 2022. NATION-WIDE REBOUNDING - Clemson and Ohio State. I will be surprised if these two playoff 'usual subjects' are not in the 2022 final 4. Ohio State has brought in Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State to be the new DC. QB Stroud is one of the top 2 Heiman favorites. Ohio State has 10 WRs on its 2022 roster, all were top 150 recruits. And WR Ngata-Smith, who is back, was all-world in the Rose Bowl vs Utah. I think last season's loss in Ann Arbor was an aberration. Clemson - In a 'bad season,' Clemson went 10-3, defeating Iowa State in its bowl game. The Clemson D was strong the entire 2021 season. QB DGU played solid ball for Doctor Pepper, in Fansville, but not in the real world; 10 TDs, 9 Ints. 5* QB Klubnik, has enrolled early and the Clemson OL that was young and struggled last season returns 4 starters from 2021, who should all improve. Clemson's roster coming in to 2021 was ranked No. 4 in the nation and Clemson just signed another top 10 group of recruits. The Tigers do not face Georgia OOC. Clemson does play at Notre Dame on on 11/5, but gets Miami and South Carolina at home in the last 2 games of the regular season. NATION-WIDE FOULING OUT - TEXAS A+M - Jimbo has lost at least 4 games every season as the Aggies HC. A new QB will be starting for A+M in 2022. A+M lost all of its excellent DL starters all who are expected to be drafted come April. I think A+M will have a decent season, but when I see this team ranked No. 4, 5 or 6 in the 2022 preseason; well, I don't see it. I think A+M gets the same roster-rankings-bump at did SC for many the season post-Pete Carroll. CINCINNATI - HC Fickle has definitely down a great job at Cincy, producing the 1st G5 team to make the final 4. But this is not yet a 're-load program.' Cincy lost QB Ridder, RB Ford, DBs and certain to be NFL draft picks, Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant. The Bearcats won at Notre Dame last season, a signature win in 2021. I do not see The Bearcats winning at Arkansas in 2022. Like A+M, I think Cincy will have a good season but will finish behind Houston and perhaps UCF, both to be future B12 members along with Cincy, in the AAC in 2022. Agree with me? What other teams do you see improving or floundering in 2022?

Don't know why football cannot follow CBB and distinguish between intentional and unintentional 'flagrant fouls?' Especially when replay is available for 3rd party review? Something regarding the timing rules needs to happen to limit the number of plays and contact in a game and to fit the game into the allotted broadcast windows. This is not 'three yards and a cloud of dust' football. We routinely see games with 60+ pass attempts. Start the clock when the ball is ready for play and not when the ball is snapped would definitely shorten today's game. And what is wrong with games ending in ties in regular season?

Yes, but on tape. After 5 and with an adult beverage in hand.

RIP Mrs. Cristobal. THIS is what reminds me to remember that football is only a game. One day, for whatever the reason, all of us will no longer be watching any game; at least, not on this mortal coil. I agree with Charles. It doesn't matter why Mario was in Miami to be with his Mom, it simply matters that he was there.

And as I recall back in the day he was not allowed to dunk the ball? Before the 3 point line guys like Bill dominated inside.

Mister Dean is about to make some BIG dinero. One heck of a LB.

THE Conference of Champions! Make no mistake.

Of course, the Ducks won last night in one at least one verse of the multiverse. Hugh Everett III. One day he will be recognized for his brilliant math that 'proves up' the multiverse. Great take, thanks.

Great take. This most understandable attitude regarding your son playing football is one of the reasons participation in HS football is declining in CA and throughout the west. Parents are rightly concerned about their sons being 'dinged.' Meanwhile, down south, in addition to the regular season, many the HS holds spring practice. The recruiting pool out west gets thinner all the time and the Pac-12 footprint is not producing guys like those who play DL in the SEC.

He has already succeeded, he was ACC Frosh of the Year on O last season. But it is long way from this award to the Heisman award.

$? If playing in the NIT delivers net dollars to Oregon I say go for it. Otherwise, pass.

I believe the falling out was real. Otherwise, why tape Mario in the locker room and release the tape?

Irony? Ducks have back-to-back games versus Cougars this season. BYU followed by a road game at WA ST.

Great comment. I 'get it.' I want so badly for CFB to return to a regional sport played by student-athletes. However, this will not, based on legislative action and court decisions, happen. The long term health of the game has been buried under piles of money. It's every conference for itself and today the Pac-12 is falling way behind the B1G and the SEC. No 'minor league' so-called Alliance can fix 'THIS.' Especially when the B1G has decided not to drop to 8 conference games and the ACC in CFB, sans Clemson, is a non-entity. Far more eyeballs were on the 2021 Pac-12 champ game than on the ACC champ game. One more OOC game vs an ACC team brings WHAT to the bottom line.? Next season, the Oregon guys going pro will play 17 conference games and if their team advances, another 3 to 4 games. You want to limit contact? I'm all in. Look at the recommendations to shorten the time of CFB games and this can happen now. As I have noted before. we spent decades playing regular season games that ended in ties and we did not stop the clock on 1st downs. There is no reason to stop the clock , except perhaps in the last 2 minutes of a half, after an incompletion. Start the clock when the ball is ready for play. And lots more ideas are out there to shorten the game and the number of hits. One, simply adopt the NFL timing rules. Far fewer plays for the most part, are run in an NFL game than in a CFB game. And NFL games for the most part fit into their allotted broadcast window. I for one enjoyed the heck out of this season's NFL payoff games; with the exception that due to a terrible coaching decision we did not get to watch Justin Herbert in the post season. Instead, we watched him win MVP in the Pro Bowl. Thanks again for the comment and again, I wish we could go back but it isn't happening.

The Mario stomp?

Thank you my friend. But in terms of 'leadership' the Pac-12 'leaders' have left the building.

Hello Jack? Love the comment and I do not want to go too far afield; BUT. Coast to Coast Conference Pacific 8 Division - CAL, Oregon, OR ST, Stanford, UCLA, USC, UW, WA ST Big 8 West Division - Arizona, ASU, BYU, CU, Kansas, K ST. OK ST, Utah Big 8 East Division - Baylor, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa ST, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, West Virginia. Would this structure bring in more media money than the Pac-12 standing alone? I do not know. But I sure as heck hope that somewhere, somehow, an Investment Banker is analyzing THIS? Common sense (assuming I have same?) tells me that this kind of structure is the only way the Pac-12 will not be a far distant media 3rd behind the B1G and the SEC. Frankly, if GK and friends are not investigating this, IMO, it borders on gross business negligence.

We have met the enemy and they are us.

Great post thanks. Puddles is so great, but I also love Ralphie.

Spot on regarding he and Dillingham reuniting. Under Harsin he was playing very good ball before he hurt his ankle. Would Bama have escaped Auburn with an as close as you can get W if Nix had been healthy?

Very good take. Gattis 'fell' to Mario after Michigan 'disrespected him' by not giving him a big enough raise. Michigan was a run oriented team in 2021, running behind an OL that won the best in the nation award. In the playoff semi-final UGA mugged the Wolverines OL. Gattis had no answer. (Like many CFB awards, the Broyles Award, IMO, should not be handed out until after the champ game. Ditto the top OL award. But ESPN's broadcast windows decides when the big awards, including the Heisman, will be presented.) Kevin Steele? Kevin certainly did not light it up as the DC coaching for Gus Malzahn at Auburn. Another award winner who, IMO, is not all that. One wonders how long these guys will hang in at Miami? Mario is in rich recruiting ground but he has lots of recruiting competition close by. First, he has to catch Clemson, a team that had the No. 4 ranked roster in 2021, and recruited a top 10 class in 2022. He has a long way to go to catch up with Bama and UGA. And Billy Napier at Florida is a far better recruiter than was Dan Mullen. As us Ducks fans are painfully aware, rarely did Mario's recruits play up to their billing. I agree 100% with your take on Mario and the QB situation when playing for Mario.

Didn't happen today. Missed the record (64) it by a mere 24 strokes! So close, right?

Where is Tiro when DeBoer really needs him? Guess he prefers Roma to Seattle? Very smart man. I know it is hard to believe, but the food in Roma is even better than dining at Shlabotnik's.

No? But a W in Atlanta would be great!