Jon Joseph

FootballScoop on Jim Knowles. Will DC Jim help Little Game Jim win the B1G ones? Fortunately for both Jims, Michigan is not PSU's 2025 schedule. FootballScoopIntriguing New Coordinators: History says Jim Knowles wil...As he begins what feels like the third or fourth "If not now, when?" season of his 12-year tenure at Penn State, we must first consider the consequences on what will happ

Overrated? No. 2 Ohio State made the Sports Illustrated list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/08/04/college-football-preseason-coaches-poll-overrated/85441574007/

FANTASTIC! This should result in Oregon playing 7 and not 6 home games in 2027, a season when OBD will have one of, if not the most difficult schedule, not only in the B1G but in the nation. This move is well worth the $324K which will be more than made up by another home game. At Baylor, Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, and UW, with a long trip to play at Maryland. Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa at home. And in season three, Barry Odom will bring an improved Purdue to Eugene. And OBD could possibly be breaking in a new starter at QB. Greg Sankey, hush your mouth. This also does away with a scheduled 2028 trip to Logan, Utah. There is no way OBD should be playing on the road against any G5/6 program, even if it's a 5 for 1 exchange. 2027 opens with a visit from FCS E. Washington before traveling to Waco, Texas, to play the Baylor Bears. Week 3 in Autzen versus New Mexico, San Jose State, or Nevada would be just fine.

No Offense, but here's hoping OBD's opponents have no offense. 😁 https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/08/06/oregon-ducks-2025-opponent-offense-ranking/85518657007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign

Thanks for the post. I disagree with the WSJ. Tom Allen, now at Clemson, and Manny Diaz, now at Duke, were both very good DCs at PSU. I think the retention of starters on the Edge Dennis-Sutton, DL Durant, LB DeLuca, CB Harris, S Wheatley, and rubber ball S King Mack, PSU to Bama and back, provides Knowles with the athletes to field another strong D in 2025. OC Andy Kotelnicki helped improve QB Drew Allar's play last season, notwithstanding a bad group of wide receivers. The three wideouts transferring to PSU, including Pena from Syracuse, give Andy and Drew more toys to play with, helped by the return of stud RBs Singleton and Allen and a very good TE replacing do-it-all Ty Warren. along with four starting OL players, should improve PSU's production on offense. Tosh likely stays up late trying to come up with a plan to hold down the two returning RBs who left skid marks on the backs of OBD players on D, with both going over 100 yards in the conference champ game. In the preseason, Knowles has acknowledged that this group of defenders does not need new schemes to be top drawer in 2025, and that the time is now for the D to again step up. However, PSU players, coaches, and fans are not prepared for Forum Fanatics being there to turn a White Out into a Black Out. 😎

You hosed my team and your poll is Bogus!🤬 On3Preseason Coaches Poll: USA Today names 5 biggest snubs i...On Tuesday, USA Today released the five biggest snubs from its preseason Coaches Poll Top 25 college football rankings.

Terrific article. Terrible Hire! Mullens was not looking like an AD guru with the promotion of a terrific OC but over-his-head HC in Mark Helfrich, and the hiring of a lower-level football coach with an overall losing record. Fortunately, an AD who is no longer with the Seminoles brought Willie back to the Sunshine State, where Willie flamed out before an unsuccessful return to the little leagues. I'm looking forward to your article on the next coach Mullens hired, another individual who danced around the truth and was in the process of destroying the Oregon brand before folks with far more money than sense stepped in and brought Mari-Oh-Oh home. A Heisman-winning record-setting QB and no playoff soup for MIA. Nice return on investment. Let's see if the 4 Million Dollar QB can do better. The new QB will be comforted by having a $2M O lineman who has yet to play a down of college football on the bench. 🤮 I love Jabba's comment regarding Willie's recruiting prowess. Willie didn't have all that much to live up to. Thanks again for the terrific read. The view through the windshield looks much better than the view from the rearview mirror.😎

Dennis Erickson played QB for Montana State and won three conference championships.

Since 1984 (!), no team ranked lower than 15th in the most important CFB final regular season ranking has won a title the following year. In its final 2024 poll, the PO committee ranked Clemson 16th. Dabo doesn't care. Rarely does this kind of hubris go unpunished. Dabo Swinney Predicts Clemson Wi...Dabo Swinney Predicts Clemson Will Have CFB's 1st 16-0 Te...Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney believes that his team will put together an undefeated season with an expanded College Football Playoff format. LSU didn't have enough incentive to win the opener? 😬 YIKES!

Let's Double Down! On the Canes and Mari-oh-oh going PO MIA yet again.😁 Saturday BlitzThese Coaches’ Poll rankings might be setting fans up for...The College Football season is nearly upon us as we're just weeks away from Kansas State and Iowa State kicking off the season in Dublin. As the season nears it "We're going to keep practicing Taking a Knee until we get it right! Right?"

Tarmac, calling Kiffin, come in, Kiffin, and then, go away. FSU wins the award for the biggest face plant in 2024, but Ole Miss challenged Chief Osceola. Saturday BlitzThe most disappointing College Football Team from each se...The high honors in the offseason can often lead to brutal disappointment when the program underperforms expectations. Whether it's due to injuries, coaching woe

Two top gunslingers will meet at High Noon in Columbus. Hook'em HeadlinesPreseason coaches poll just made Texas vs. Ohio State mor...Alright, who's ready for some pigskin? Later this month, Texas football will head to Columbus to take on Ohio State and this matchup is going to have everyone t

If the Tide Rolls to a 9-3 record in 2025, a tsunami will be headed toward Kalen DeBoer. Bama HammerIf Josh Pate's model is accurate, Kalen DeBoer's Alabama...It's not playoff or bust for Kalen DeBoer in year two at Alabama in the sense that his job is on the line. Barring an absolute catastrophe, DeBoer will be the h

Some much-deserved love for Haloti Ngata. https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2025/08/05/oregon-ducks-haloti-ngata-greatest-5-star-prospects/85511788007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_ca

It didn't take long for Over and Under Rated comments to po(o)p up. Has this guy looked at Michigan's schedule? It's a pathway to 9-3 and possibly 10-2 and a spot in the PO. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/coaches-poll-top-25-reactions-michigan-overrated-clemson-underrated-in-preseason-college-football-rankings/

Only 9 SEC teams ranked in the Top 25? Better call Pawalll! Including Others Receiving Votes (ORV), No. 50 Vandy makes it 14 SEC teams receiving votes. With 8 conference games left overs Arkansas and Mississippi State will probably go bowling. B1G comes in at 6 Top 25 and 11, including OTR. 5 B12 teams ranked again prove that with a 12-team PO, only 12 teams plus a P4 conference champ and the top G5 contender if not in the top 12, are all that need to be ranked. One thing I would like to see😍 is No. 7 Oregon hosting No. 10 MIA and Mari-oh-oh in a 1st round game.

Teams looking to Break On Through to the Other Side. Mari-oh-oh leads the list. 😁 ESPN.comCollege football's Impatience Index: Why the clock is tic...CFP aspirations. Major investments. Too many losses. Fans are never patient, but these teams' might have a right.

Thanks, Jordan, for the terrific article. When discussing future PO formats, Dan also noted that one off-week a season is enough, and that the PO champ game should not be played in the middle of the NFL playoffs. As has been suggested by many CFB 'experts', all teams should start the season in Week Zero; half are idle a week halfway through the season, with the other half idle the following week. The B1G 4-4-2-2-1-3 PO format is approved, so the champ game and two PO play-in games can be played in the last week of the regular season. Do the above, and Dan's goal of playing the championship game on New Year's Day, or at least the semifinals played on NYD, could be realized. Played amid the NFL playoffs, last season's champ game between brand names Ohio State and Notre Dame did not draw close to the anticipated number of eyeballs. When it's CFB against the NFL, the NFL wins. IMO, sad but true. The impasse between the B1G and the SEC on the new PO format could lead to several positive results, including a change in the CFB regular season scheduling and when the PO begins and ends. I think the media would be delighted to pay more for big-time PO games, not going up against NFL PO games. Thanks again, Jordan, and thank goodness we are closing in on the start of the season.

The bar on NIL deals lasted about one week before the plaintiff attorneys reminded the NCAA that this was not the House settlement agreement. Thank goodness the NCAA paid attention and dropped the ban in favor of what was agreed upon, namely, NIL deal reviews, rather than blowing millions of dollars more on futile litigation. Since being chastised by the folks they just paid half a billion dollars to, I have not heard of an NIL deal of note being rejected by the review committee. Meanwhile, Tennessee passed a law making NIL regulation unenforceable in the Volunteer State. (Huge sigh of relief heard coming from Vandy HQ. 😁) Other schools, like Alabama for one, are not revealing the terms of NIL deals as to do so could violate federal law regarding student-athlete privacy. Right? The SEC was one of the defendant's that agreed to the settlement that Greg Sankey touted. Where was this concern over student rights when the settlement was being negotiated? The review of every NIL deal over $600 is a recipe for more litigation. Without help from Congress, state legislatures and plaintiff lawyers (paying $500M plus to the House lawyers put blood in the water) will neuter the settlement. No estmated valuation will come close to what SC is paying for a TE straight out of high school, who is being paid more than some TEs in the NFL. This is an egregious but not an isolated transaction. Ask the folks in Coral Gables.

Let me put my 2 cents in. When I played D3 ball, my coach will tell you that 2 cents was twice my NIL worth. Among others, Johnny 'Football' Manziel can't stop his 'why was I born too early' whining. 😁

Riiiiiiiiiiight! 😁

There is no accurate way to value a team's Strength of Schedule (SOS) until the final regular season game is played to reveal an accurate SOS and Strength of Record rankings. However, examining conference opponents' in-conference records from the prior season is most often a good predictor of how opponents will perform next season. But, you never know when a Hoosier will pop up and make the 'Experts' look like Hosers. The B1G 2025 Top Contenders - FanDuel Odds to win the B1G Ohio State +185 Penn State +230 Oregon +350 Michigan - +1000 USC +2000 Nebraska +3500 Iowa +3700 Illinois +4000 Indiana +4500 Note, FanDuel and other gaming sites do not have odds for Illinois and Indiana commensurate with the team's 2025 preseason rankings. Strength of Schedule - Ranked from the most difficult to the 'easiest.' Wisconsin, with the most difficult schedule, is shown for benchmark purposes. Wisconsin - 51-30. There's brutal, and then there's the Badgers' 2025 conference schedule, which is made more difficult by a trip to Tuscaloosa to play Bama. In-conference, Wisconsin draws Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, and Illinois. Mercy! Iowa - 47-34. The good news for the about-to-be B1G coach with the most wins, Kirk Ferentz, is that 2024, 9-0 OBD, 8-1 Indiana, and 8-1 Penn State, all visit Kinnick Stadium in 2025. Coach Ferentz has won slightly more than 70% of the games played in Kinnick. The bad news. In addition to this tough home game trifecta, the Hawkeyes play B12 Iowa State, USC, and Nebraska on the road. Wisconsin is also a road game, and Coach Ferentz is 3-6 in Camp Randall Stadium. Penn State - 45-36. Before Oregon comes to town in Week 5 for a White Out experience, the Nittany Lions will consume three OOC cupcakes, followed by an unneeded Week 4 nap. Penn State also plays Indiana at home, but has tough road games at Ohio State and Iowa. Franklin is 4-1 versus Iowa, but only 3-16 against Ohio State, with the last win coming at home in 2016. With many quality starters returning from a team that finished 13-3 in 2024, many college football 'experts' are lauding Penn State's chances to win it all in 2025. (However, James Franklin and his team are clueless about our Forum Fanatics being there, looking to turn a White Out into a Black Out. Beaver Stadium? OBD has won many times, no matter how many Beavers are in the stadium.) Oregon - 41-40. Only two preseason-ranked teams, Penn State and Indiana, are on the OBD's schedule in 2025. These two had a combined two losses in conference play in 2024, which takes the 2025 conference schedule barely over .500 in 2025. Indiana - 39-42. One of the biggest B1G games of 2025 comes in Week 4 when Illinois visits Indiana. The Hoosiers will be coming off a hosing down of three OOC lightweights. In Week 2, the Illini will have a Power 4 OOC experience, playing a decent Duke team on the road. The 2025 schedule is not as easy as the one the Fighting Cigs smoked through in 2024. Yet, Indiana still manages to have no one's conference favorites, Michigan State, UCLA, Maryland, and Purdue, on the schedule. Ohio State - 38-43. Like That School Up North, the Buckeyes have a challenging out-of-conference (OOC) matchup against an SEC opponent, with Texas traveling to Columbus for the season opener. Both teams will be ranked in the top 5 of the AP top 25 preseason poll. This premier OOC matchup is also Lee Corso's final hat dance, Lee's 431st pick. Lee's record is 286-144, 66.51%. Brutus and the Buckeyes were Lee's first pick on October 5, 1996. On August 30, 2025, will Lee wear a Horns or Bucks lid? FanDuel has the Buckeyes as a skinny -2.5 favorite. Nebraska and USC - 37-44. Nebraska and USC have the 5th and 6th best odds of winning the title in 2025. In 2024, SC went 1-5 in one-score (8 points or less) conference games. Nebraska was 1-4. Both are hoping to turn these results around in 2025. Illinois - 33-48. USC and Ohio State visit Illinois. The first conference game of the season, Week 4 at Indiana, could determine which of the two will contend for a spot in the 2025-26 playoff field. In 2025, Illinois misses Oregon, Michigan, and Penn State. 16 starters return in 2025, including 5th-year Senior QB Luke Altmyer, and this has Illinois fans fired up about the Fighting Bielema's playoff chances. Week 2 at Duke and Week 4 at Indiana will likely tell the Illini's 2025 playoff tale. Michigan - 27-54. There is a challenging out-of-conference road game at Coach Sherrone Moore's alma mater, Oklahoma. In-conference, the Wolverines in the 2025 Charmin Soft scheduling award. Michigan fans are over bringing in 2024's No. 1-ranked recruit, QB Bryce Underwood. But is the 17-year-old ready to come up B1G? Here's to another B1G Blast in 2025, starting with a skinning of Bob's Cats.

Five Big Ten 'Out There' Takes. I'm hoping the 5 PO team prediction is spot on, but Jimmy winning the B1G ones? Saturday BlitzThis time, Ryan Day beats Michigan: 5 bold Big Ten predic...Fall camp starting up means we inch closer and closer to real live game action. This may lead to some thoughts that should just be thoughts or you end up lettin

Five Big Ten Predictions. Hoping No. 1 rings true, and as to No. 5, 🤬 you! Saturday BlitzThis time, Ryan Day beats Michigan: 5 bold Big Ten predic...Fall camp starting up means we inch closer and closer to real live game action. This may lead to some thoughts that should just be thoughts or you end up lettin

Watch out for a B1G surprise? Maybe. Saturday BlitzBig Ten: Two Off the Radar Predictions for 2025With the calendar flipping from July to August, college football is nearly upon us. Fall camps are underway, and games will kick off later this month — Week 0 b