Jon Joseph

SWEET. As Charles noted, Illinois is No. 21 and will be favored to win at Wisconsin on Saturday and then at home vs Northwestern. No. 18 Michigan should win at Maryland Saturday, and if not blown out by Ohio State, stay ranked on 12/7 at 9-3. USC at 15th is also great for OBD. Even with a loss Saturday, a 3-loss SC should remain in the top 25 next week and in the final top 25 at 9-3 with a win over UCLA. No. 13 Miami would be the 11 seed and No. 24 Tulane the 12th seed. No. 11 BYU and No. 12 Utah would be knocked out, and Bama at No. 10 would be on the PO cusp with a game left at Auburn. One ACC and one B12 team would be in the 2025-26 PO field. If the 12-team field continues in 2026-27 and the chips fall the same way, as is likely, by not supporting Petitti's format, the ACC and B12 would miss out on millions of dollars plus PO play-in game dollars. Notre Dame would be in the field as an at-large team if it finishes in the top 16. Why is Notre Dame opposed to the AQ format? December 1st is the latest date a new PO format has to be agreed to, or it's 12 teams next season. However, if back-channel negotiations are going on, I expect ESPN and TNT would extend the 12/1 date. Wake Up! Sankey's 5-11 format is good for the SEC, and that's all.

Should MIA be PO Golden and the Golden Domers PO MIA? https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-committee-facing-its-biggest-decision-yet-this-season-notre-dame-or-miami-180903079.html

The Grapevine Gurus will grace us with their 3rd reveal this evening, between ESPN's broadcasts of two CBB games. There are plenty of reasons to dump on the NCAA, but the NCAA knows how to put on postseason playoffs for teams and individuals. ACC, B12, and SEC broadcast buddy on the other hand? The NCAA does not confuse its postseason football events with a Bowl Bonanza. Teams play at home until the championship game. Four of the ESPN PO games, and usually five, are played in Dixie. Last week, Austin Mock's PO Mock correctly predicted 24 of the committee's 25 ranked teams and their order of ranking. Here's Mock's PO Field projection for this evening, including strength-of-record and strength-of-schedule rankings to date. 1. Ohio State - 10-0 - 4 SOR/71 SOS - vs. Rutgers 2. Indiana - 11-0 - 2/48 - Bye 3. A&M - 10-0 - 1/20 - Sam (not Stan) ford. 4. Georgia - 9-1 - 3/15 - Charlotte - Frankly, my Dear, I don't give a damn about this game! 5. Texas Tech - 10-1 - 7/49 - Bye 6. Ole Miss - 10-1 - 5/31 - Bye - Ole Miss already defeated Wazzu by 3 😁 7. OREGON - 9-1 - 10/60 - Thank you, Penn and OK State - No. 14 USC 8. Oklahoma - 8-2 - 11/10 - No. 21 Missouri 9. Alabama - 8-2 - 8/13 - Eastern Illinois - The Fighting Panthers - not the Fighting Illini 10. Notre Dame - 8-2 - 9/24 - Syracuse 11. Georgia Tech (ranked 15th) - 9-1 - 15/83 - Pittsburgh 12. North Texas (ranked 23rd) - 9-1 - 23/120 - at Rice Other B1G teams ranked - No. 17 Michigan, No. 25 Illinois - UW No. 27 1st 2 out: No. 11 BYU and No. 12 Utah - make no mistake, this would have them buzzing in the Beehive State 🤢 Ruin Riley! School SC!

Every Single Prediction Neutered. On Saturday, I hope no one shows for Pat's prepubescent attempt at humor, a needless kicking contest, a grumpy old coach dropping a cuss word or two because he can, Steve making us all wonder how in Hades he was accepted at Stanford, Des, babbling like a head of Pez, and 'I was the Captain of my Buckeyes team', Herbie, saying he really wants to get behind the B1G but look at the unbiased (🤪) AP rankings. Just like he got behind undefeated FSU (with a PO knief) and in front of Sweet Home Alabama. The program has become a parody of itself. Gentlemen, the volume at which you voice your statements does not improve the value of your statements.

Post deleted.

Week 13 Predictions include OBD taking down SC https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/college-football-week-13-odds-score-predictions-usc-vs-oregon-oklahoma-vs-missouri-lead-schedule/ar-AA1QCHi9?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=691bb91d71f64201b1279625b96

Nothing to SEC here, move right along. Only 9 out of 16 SEC teams ranked in the AP Poll? How can the voters screw over seven teams from the It Just Means More conference? To me, this sure looks like Sankey Pankey AP voting. 🤪

Every school that has retained its coach, Fickell at Wisconsin, Locksley at Maryland, or hired a new coach has promised to spend more on football. This is a step down for a coach who could have had the job at Arkansas or perhaps at UCLA. The ACC is an implosion waiting to happen. One that has already given into its brand names when it comes to sharing postseason revenue. He will be recruiting the same territory, and maybe he believes he can win a conference title at VT? The AD at Penn State is toasting the exit payout mitigation with a V(odka) T(onic) or some other kind of adult beverage.

OBD and USC are in the committee's top 25. Depending on what the Grapevine Gurus come up with tomorrow evening, SC at Oregon could be the only top 25 vs top 25 matchup this weekend. UW has also been in the committee's top 25 this season. Oregon is coming back? For a peanuts on the B1G dollar media deal with CW and USA? It won't happen, but I could see OBD, UW, UCLA, and USC joining Cal, Stanford, ASU, Arizona, CU, and Utah in a true Pac-10. Perhaps for all sports other than football? However, I think the B1G private capital deal will happen. If so, B1G teams that participate in the deal, and Oregon does not appear to have any objections to the deal, will pledge their collective media rights through 2046. The B1G would add Notre Dame if available, but that's it. The deal calls for 'the lender' to receive 10% of the conference's gross revenue through 2046. No program that doesn't immediately contribute to the B1G's revenue stream need apply. What value would Beavis and Wazzu bring to the bottom line? ZIP. This is more of Canzano's, 'I need the subscribers' butt kissing.

Fingers crossed. Long-term weather forecast calls for 55 degrees and cloudy, no precipitation. 😉 RULE Riley! School SC!

Ohio State, after a 'battle' versus UCLA, plays Rutgers on Saturday. TOSU is a modest -35.5 favorite. 😁Perfect for WRs Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate to get healthy before The Game next week at Michigan. 11-0 Indiana is off this week, preparing for a pasting of Purdue. OBD? Finishes with games vs. ranked USC and UW in Seattle. Along with Oklahoma, hosting Mizzou and LSU, this is as tough a close to the season as there is in CFB. No apologies should be needed when it comes to OBD's 2025 schedule.

Playoff pondering from Ducks Wire - https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/11/17/oregon-football-cfp-ideal-scenario-and-path/87305682007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campa

1st time in nine seasons that GameDay is putting on Trojans. Let's give Troy the whole Nine Yards! https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2025/11/17/espn-college-gameday-usc-football-oregon/87311962007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_cam

I see something like this prediction from SI. It would be great to get the Domers in the first round in Autzen. SIForde: College Football Playoff Projected Bracket After W...The SEC is still a five-bid league even with Oklahoma’s upset win over Alabama.

I agree with you, DM. It's November, weird stuff will happen, but it would have to get really weird for OBD to be seeded higher than 6th. 6 or 7, give me this today and I'll happily take it. As Charles noted, the 2nd round opponent will be a tough out. I know it's likely to be Ohio State, but if the chips so fall, I prefer a second round game in the Rose Bowl instead of a game in the Cotton, Orange, or Sugar Bowl. A shot for payback in Pasadena vs. one of TOSU or Indiana. This time with a game in hand instead of a too long nap. Bring it on!

In first round games the home team controls ticket sales. 3500 tickets minimum have to be reserved for the visiting team. How OBD handles distribution? I hope there would not be a radical difference between the 1st round and the regular season.

Smart can't beat Bama, and Sark can't get Smart.

On the other hand, and from an entirely objective source 😁 Oregon Ducks On SIOregon Might Have Already Locked College Football Playoff...The 2025 College Football Playoff race is shaping up with many meaningful games left to be played in November. The No. 8 Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) and coach Dan

The beat-down regarding Oregon's playoff bona fides goes on. With its woeful schedule, if OBD does not finish 11-1, kiss the PO goodbye. Huh? The latest to question whether a 2-loss OBD deserves to be in the playoff field is On3's Ari Wasserman. Ari notes that the only decent team (the nation's 2nd-ranked Iowa) that Oregon played, it lost to at home. First in line to question Oregon was the now-replaced PO committee chair, Mack Rhodes, who went out of his way after the first release of rankings to explain why it was Oregon that was being dropped three spots from No. 6 in the AP to 9th by the committee. At the same time, Rhodes went out of his way to mention how good 2-loss Notre Dame looked in the eyes of the PO committee. Move right along. Metrics are used only when needed.🤪 Notre Dame is 1-2 against teams that will be ranked by the committee on Tuesday night, in a half-hour broadcast of the rankings that ESPN is squeezing in between its broadcast of CFB games. Why the two-loss Trojans with road losses at Illinois and Notre Dame are ranked behind many two-loss SEC teams is not worth the debate. It's apparent that Losses suffered by teams not in the SEC Just Mean More. To the committee, the AP voters, and the majority of learned scribes. The super-duper, at the request of Greg Sankey, computer rankings used by the committee, simply cannot be that far off from the well-respected Massey Computer Ratings. Can they? (The current Massey rankings are posted under the 2025 Football Poll Rankings on the Forum.) No. 5 Massey-ranked OBD, ranked No. 8 by the committee, has played the 26th most difficult schedule to date, with the remaining SOS ranked 18th. Not great, but not junk. By comparison, Texas Tech, ranked No. 6 by the committee and 9th by Massey, has a SOS of 48 to date, and 54th, with one game remaining on 11/29 at West Virginia. Committee No. 9, Notre Dame, has played the 22nd hardest schedule, but finishes 43rd with games remaining versus Syracuse and Stanford. Can the data being used by the committee be that different than the data used by Ken Massey? The Week 13 games and game broadcasts follow this Week 12 take: Smart can't beat Bama, and Sark can't get Smart. 😁 FYI, I like the guy with the beard and not the guy with the 5 o'clock shadow. SICollege Football Week 13 Schedule: Full List of Games, Ti...A complete look at college football's Week 13 slate.

Thank you, David. I always look forward to the in-season Mondays with Marsh. Especially, the more mellow takes after a win! 😁

Buckeyes Wire with a look back at the Big Ten in Week 12. What we learned from each Big Ten team in Week 12

Update Massey Computer Rankings - B1G - 1 Ohio State/ 2. Indiana/ 5. OBD/ 14. USC/ 15. Michigan 19. Iowa - the highest-ranked 4-loss team/ 22. UW/ 23. Illinois Massey Ratings - College Football : FBS Ratings

According to PO committee protocol, the top 25 and wins against top 25 teams matter only in the final ranking. Penn State was a terrific win at the time over a top 4 team, but OBD gets little credit for the win. Ditto LSU for winning a close game at Clemson to start the season. In addition to wanting the W over SC, of course, handing SC its 3rd loss will also hurt Notre Dame's SOS and SOR. The Irish are 1-2 against currently ranked teams. After OBD wins on Saturday (knock wood), ND, depending on how far SC falls, could have no top 25 wins. But when it comes to the Irish, the only thing that matters is the eye test. After all, lots of folks tune in to watch ND play ball.

Trojans Wire on the SC comeback win https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2025/11/16/usc-football-statement-win-iowa/87262764007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SMGbaseline&utm_term=Content

The AP Poll - OBD tied No. 6 with Texas Tech - USC No. 16 AP NewsNCAA College Football Rankings: AP Top 25 Football PollThe official page for the AP Top 25 college football poll, a tradition since 1936. Keep up to date and view the latest ranking updates each week.