Jon Joseph

How about this? CFB was fine for many the decade when, on occasion, multiple champions were crowned. The BCS and the current BCS x 2 have completely monetized CFB. Coaching salaries are to the moon ridiculous, as is the cost from number of administrative positions that have been created. And I do not believe a player's game ipso facto improves by having a waterfall in the locker room. No matter how you expand the playoff, financially, the B1G and the SEC are in a world of their own. The top teams will be the top teams. Yes, from time to time a Clemson will show up but this is the exception and not the rule. Let's look at NIL pay-for-play. With schools being able to 'bid' for recruits, over 50% of the top recruits in the 2022 cycle still went to 4 schools; A+M, Bama, UGA and Ohio State. And picking from the portal has helped teams like Baylor and Michigan State but the top teams, the teams that consistently send many the player to the NFL, simply fill the small holes in their rosters from the portal. I think that CFB as expressed by ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, is facing an existential crisis. Continue to follow the money and players will form a union, be paid directly, either by their school or a 3rd party associated with their school, be drafted out of high school and CFB will officially be NFL-Lite. Expanding the playoff field will provide access but it will also open more spots for additional SEC/B1G teams to compete. No matter how the playoff expands, the SEC and the B1G will be the biggest beneficiaries. We did get a breath of playoff fresh air in 2021 with Michigan and Cincinnati making the final 4. These two teams were both mugged by SEC opponents. I am an old nostalgic guy who has watched CFB for 7 plus decades. I could advocate for a return to the days when it was all about the Cotton, Orange, Sugar and the Rose Bowl; this will not happen. Money has 'corrupted' the game and there is no going back. I love that Charles brought this topic to the table. But no matter the way, shape or form in which the CFB playoff field is altered, it will not bring 'March Madness' to CFB. You have the 'right' 8 guys in CBB and the 'little guy' can compete. Football roster size and money flowing disproportionately to 2 conferences simply means what has always been the case in any big business; the rich will get richer. Even in the football tournaments managed by the NCAA and with much larger fields than we have in the BCS x 2, the 'usual suspects' for the most part show up and win. There is a way to bring parity to CFB. But the G5/P5 would have to be reduced to 32 to 40 teams with a high school draft being implemented. Until such time, look at the roster rankings coming into the season. You need not go lower than the team ranked No. 8 to pick out the winner of the G5/P5 playoff, no matter the size of the field. I'm sorry but I do not see December/January Madness happening.

$? You would have to figure out how to replace the revenue from a 'lost game?' The 12th game gives many the program a 7th home game. While it may not be the case out west, Alabama and every SEC team not named Vanderbilt, sells the game out no matter how bad the quality of the opponent. Go to 11 and you also are removing one 12th of your media inventory. A playoff expansion will happen come the 2026 season because athletic departments badly need the additional money. More money is one reason the CBB tourney field has grown significantly over the decades. It's a zero sum game trying to make up lost money in additional playoff proceeds while losing the income the 12th game brings in. Calendar wise, you fit the expanded playoff in by everyone starting play in Week Zero and beginning expanded playoff play two weeks after the conference champs games with at least the 1st round played at the home of the higher seeded teams.

Ding, Ding , Ding on both counts. West Point is where he played under the coaching of Bobby Knight. If that isn't a double down on discipline, what is? His teams had many the great player and like Knight's teams, always played in-your-face terrific D. This at a small school; a school with excellent academics. K did OK in the one and done era but never matched the record before the 1 and done. He brought in lots of ballers but he also turned OK guys into terrific BBall players. I think he exits thinking that things were better back when? When you assembled a team of recruits and then coached them up for 3+ years. I don't think Calipari can hold Coach K's nether elastic equipment. I think the Wooden comparison is well warranted. Yes, Wooden had Kareem and Bill Walton but he built teams around the 'lesser studs' he brought to Westwood. Like Coach Wooden, I doubt that we will again see a guy like Coach K.

1 reason Wilson left? He was getting consistently dinged behind a bad Seahawks OL. Does MM at this point in his career have more quicks than does Wilson? I don't think so. I think Pete Carroll is in his nadir in Seattle.

Wilner, though I oft disagree with him does a great job covering the Pac-12.

Some playoff time basketball trivia. 75 year old, I emphasis, Coach K lost his final home game to UNC! Talk about a tough way to go out for a legendary coach. Without asking World Wide Webby for the answer, where did Coach K play his college basketball and who was K's head coach?

And so much promise from the 2020 CBB tourney for Oregon State and the conference seems to have been pelted? THIS is truly 1 game at a time. Never know when a team will get HOT? Go Ducks!

The 'Shooter' did it Hoosiers. But darn right, hard to play ball from a hospital bed. And the S+C guy is the one coach allowed to be on the scene tear round. If you can press a thousands pounds of weight what good does it do if you cannot max out on game day.

Spot ON! And with today's free agency, why be in a hurry?

We have a 4 team field through the 2025 season. First, Oregon needs to make the final 4. To win the 1st title before 2026? That means you have to defeat at least one very good team and one beast. And the delay between the conference champ games and the playoff semifinals only serves to benefit the big boys who have time to get guys healed up. What happens after 2025? The answer to this question has to be resolved in 30 months or so to have a package to sell to the media. As of now there is no consensus on a number of major issues, 8 teams versus 12 for instance, that have to be resolved. And no one including GK is going to put the final stamp of approval on playoff expansion without knowing the dollars involved and the distribution of same come 2026. Today, the P5 gets about 75% of the playoff money. Will the G5 even be in the mix after 2025? Politics says 'Yes' in some manner or another. Will Notre Dame keep its seat at the table? Will the 'new B12' be a P5 conference. Lots of questions that have to be answered but if any conference needs additional PO $ and access, it's the Pac-12. The schedule in 2022 is brutal. Come 2023, with Lanning having a year's experience, at Texas Tech replacing 'at' Georgia, and with 4, not 5 conference road games, the Ducks will have a shot at the final 4.

In today's game, what is no no contact rule other than with the S+C coach, between players and coaches before fall practice? Is contact via the 'internet' allowed during this 'dead period?'

Now that's golfing your ball! Hats off Ladies! BTW, if you can find time to give a lesson, I am a Hacker who is ready, willing, but able? The material you have to work with may not be coachable? But we have a great 19th hole at my club. Keep on swingin' away!

Would be interesting to see if this is the methodology at Georgia?

Great take Joshua, thank you. OK, this is obscure, but I want to see a practice and strength and conditioning philosophy that can help, at least in theory, prevent all of the injuries we saw last season. 'Physicality' was Mario's mantra. I can't help but wonder if Oregon practices and the S+C routines were not too physical under Mario? Physical to the point where guys were unable to play; or, too dinged up on game day to play to their potential? Too dinged up to 'finish' games? Regardless, please football gods, take the injury curse off of Oregon in 2022. Nix vs Thompson will be interesting to watch. Did Thompson get any coaching at all last season in Mario's Prevent Offense scheme. I watched AB play all season long 'with blinders on' and then I watched the 2nd half of the Alamo Bowl where there was 'nothing to lose' and Oregon players were finally allowed to be athletic. Viva la difference. If you play football uptight and afraid to make mistakes you will not play to the best of your ability, and this kind of play also leads to injuries. Thanks again Joshua, please keep the quality articles coming.

I'd like to think this is why I didn't play in the NHL but it was not too much pizza, it was too little talent.

The coach knows. It's all about the Jimmies and the Joes. 3 star guys can be coached up for certain. But to contend today you need a Blue Chip Roster (50% or more 4 + 5* recruits.) Cincinnati last season was a big time outlier with guys who were coached up to be NFL draft picks. But outside of the win at an overrated Notre Dame, the schedule for a final 4 participant was incredibly weak. Came across an interesting factoid. 10 WRs on Ohio State's roster in 2022. All are top 150 recruits.

I was thinking more along the lines of a toga party?

Friends, help me please. Why is this weekend a particularly good weekend to host this kind of talent? I think this Conerly's 2nd visit? Don't know about the other guys. Isn't this a 'dead' sports weekend on campus? Make no mistake, I'm happy all these guys are tripping to Eugene but I'm confused as to why so many guys are coming this weekend when they cannot experience a football weekend. Thanks.

And if you play me, pay me.

Yes, based on the rookie salary agreement in the NFL, dropping a few spots does cost $. But I believe he will be a top 10 pick and will be making very good dough. The key then as you so note Darren, will be the quality of play in the NFL. The 1st free agency deal is the one that leads to the huge money. I for one think the injury in the opening game at Fresno tempered at least in part, KT's enthusiasm for the rest of the season? Although the stats he put up in some of the games, versus CAL for instance, were off the charts. Not being to exhibit the quality of his play in Oregon's most watched game versus Ohio State also had to be a downer. As to Utah? IMO, many of the guys on the team had checked out before the 1st game against the Utes. I think they stopped buying in to Mario's small-ball, physicality philosophy; those in the locker room were likely to be the first to note that Mario had his sights set on Miami. It had to be clear to those in the locker room that there was friction between Mario and Joe Moorhead. I am not excusing the young man taking his foot off the gas, just expressing my ideas as to why this was the case. He of course did not play against Oklahoma. The 2nd half versus Oklahoma was a revelation. Athletes were allowed to be athletes and guys on O, including AB, seemed to be freed up for the first time in 2021 to play ball and not worry about making mistakes. Personally, I never bought into the 'culture' Mario brought to Oregon. The recruiting numbers simply did not match the effort and results on the field of play. I don't think KT was the only guy who did not play to the level of his ability on the 2021 team. I put this down as much or more on the coaching as I do on the individual players. Football is hard. Football practice is hard. Made harder if there is not cogent leadership from the top down and you cannot have fun on game day. Looking over your shoulder on every play is not conducive to having fun. Thanks again for another terrific article.

With the game vs the Beavers being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network, the number of people watching the Ducks not-play tomorrow will be close to the numbers watching the Ducks play on Wednesday. P5 CBB. I LOVE THIS GAME! Right?

You cannot have too many good players if, in today's free agent world, you can keep them at 'home.' This young man is leaving a team that played significantly better last season and finished 8-4. He was foundational piece to this improvement. His DC has departed but his team's QB, DTR, is back. And UCLA with its cupcake OOC schedule will be 3-0 to the start the season. Regardless of the competition, after week 3, UCLA will be ranked in the AP top 25. If I'm the guy tasked with tracking and recruiting the portal, I would definitely want to know why this young man is leaving LA? Ditto for why any young man heads to what he believes will be 'greener pastures.' As we often see in the NFL, free agents who leave their team to sign for more money elsewhere quite often do not play as well or better, for their new team. If the coaches see Agude is a team player, sign him up.

The red flags are about to turn into lots of green backs. KT will be fine. Put that many microphones in front of my face at KT's age and I shudder at the comments that would have been uttered. Focusing on 'me' and not team seems to be the norm in today's society. An UGA starting WR left a champ team to get more throws from the Heisman Award winner. Our guy Dye? Off to LA for the $. QB Ewers graduates high school early, signs with Ohio State and without seeing the field makes big NIL bank before transferring to Texas. Why should the players differ from their coaches? SEE: Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly and Mario Cristobal.

I apologize if too off topic. I just checked out all of the broadcast times for the Pac-12 CBB tournament. All games are on the Pac-12 Network except for 2 broadcast by FS1 and the champ game on FOX. How do you sell 'this stuff' to recruits? Would you rather play on the off the radar Pac-12 Network with its relatively few subscribers and lack of market reach; or play on the ACC, B1G or SEC Network? Fiddle while Rome burns? The 'leaders' of the Pac-12 have let the Pac-12 network drift for years now with, as far as I can tell, no cogent plan to make the network financially solvent; no plan to obtain more subscribers required to return the network to solvency and no plan to increase distribution. This 'strategy' included not expanding the conference's market size. As far as I can tell this is the plan: Merlin or Harry Potter will stop by, wave a magic wand and all will be well in the kingdom Larry built.

Hush puppy, hush y'all. Any collard greens sold in the local grocery stores? Black eyed peas? Hoppin' John? Probably doesn't matter; Eugene tells me that Sir Jack of Daniels is available.