Jon Joseph

Yes, I love the pondering. Thanks for your thoughts. The 4-4-2-2-1-1 proposal includes the P4 conferences deciding which of their teams go to the playoffs. In your example, if No. 8 upset the No.1 seed and the 2, 3, and 4 seeds held serve, it would not surprise me to see B1G 1,2,3, and 8 representing the conference. The No. 4 seed being behind the 8-Ball would not be happy but the Champ Week money would still spend. 🤑 Not apples vs. apples as the seeding is determined by a PO Committee, but Michigan defeated Wisconsin to win the B1G basketball title and Michigan is a five seed, Wisconsin a three seed, and Michigan State a two seed.

We pay attention to metrics when we want to. UNC + Texas in, Indiana and Ohio State out? I direct you to Animal House when Delta was up before the Disciplinary Committee. Something about some kind of Job? GO DUCKS! Extinguish the Flames!

Make no mistake, the Clemson Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles won their recent settlement (Settlement) with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC.) The Exit Fee for leaving the ACC, which was over $500 million, has been reduced to $165 million and will decrease by $18 million per annum to a floor of $75 million in 2030-31, six seasons before the ACC's media agreement with ESPN expires in 2036. (2030-31 will be the first season of a new B1G conference media agreement, the first Power 4 agreement to expire. Coincidence?) The Settlement should keep the ACC together through 2030. To appease Clemson and FSU, the ACC had previously agreed to a 'Success Initiative', an 'Eat What You Kill' distribution of postseason Football Playoff and NCAA Basketball Tournament revenues. Clemson's first round 2024-25 football playoff loss to Texas brought in $4 million for the Tigers and nothing for the ACC. (Despite its football scheduling agreement with the ACC, Notre Dame shares no football playoff revenue with the conference.) The Settlement goes one step further with the implementation of the ACC 'Brand Initiative.' Under the Brand Initiative, media revenues for each member school will be tracked for the next five seasons and every five seasons thereafter, with member schools receiving 60% of media revenue from the viewership of a team's games viewed by the public. Based on past 'Eyes-On-The-Prize' viewer numbers, under the Brand Initiative, Clemson and FSU are expected to receive $15 Million a season, $75 Million over five years. Miami and UNC with Bill Belichick at the football helm, are also expected to benefit from their brand names, as will Duke basketball. Note that $75 Million is what it will cost To Get Out of This Place in 2030. Hmmmm. Most of 'The Experts' expect the B1G and the SEC to adopt the Success Initiative and the Brand Initiative when their respective media deals are renegotiated, if not sooner. The B1G and the SEC do not need their media partners' permission to alter in-conference revenue distribution. I do not see the B1G amending the equal revenue split before 2030-31, but the SEC media deal does not conclude until 2033-34, and I doubt that the SEC's biggest brands will want to wait three years to follow the ACC and the B1G. The bigger brand programs, including Oregon in the B1G, will get a B1G-ger slice of the pie. Northwestern's share will be reduced; however, Northwestern will still have a home in a conference where a reduced share will mean more money than moving elsewhere. If the bigger brand programs can remain where they are and receive a more equitable share of the proceeds, is there any need for the biggest football brand B1G and the SEC teams to 'merge' and leave the lesser brands behind? The answer to the above question will of course, be driven by the marketplace. How much more revenue could the big brand B1G and SEC teams make if they left their weaker football brothers behind, added Notre Dame, and perhaps, a Clemson, FSU, ASU, and CU, and bargained the sale of game inventory collectively as a Super Conference? And/or, directly streamed the game inventory? Another issue for a conference's as-is continuance is on the horizon. In anticipation of the House Settlement being approved early next month, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) has already informed its members that all members will have to pay their athletes at least $10 million dollars every season. Can't comply, say so long to the AAC. The annual ceiling on direct payment to athletes is $20.5 million a season. I will be surprised if the B1G and the SEC do not insist on this being the floor for all of their respective conference members. In conclusion, the Settlement will hold the ACC together through 2030, but thereafter? There are multi-millions of compelling financial reasons why the largest football brands will continue to consolidate beginning in the 2030s. [Note - Antitrust issues will come into play without a 'Players Union' for 'Management' to bargain with and without the same Congressional litigation shelter provided to the NFL and other professional leagues.] No matter the future course, OBD will not be left behind.

JB, good thoughts on how a championship should be determined. 1. In every other post-season tournament, the top 2 teams do not get a pass. Michigan State won the B1G regular season title by 3 games. Now, Sparty will have to watch today to see whether 4-seed Michigan or 5-seed Wisconsin is crowned the 2025 B1G champion. 2. At the close of the regular season in the B1G in 2024, Indiana was the 2nd best team in the conference and an Ohio State team that blew out the Hoosiers in Columbus finished fourth. This is the result of mega-conference scheduling that for the most part had Indiana playing against thin air. In the SEC, Texas finished 1st in the regular season. But Georgia with the opportunity to play Texas a second time and win both games deserved the title. Georgia's in-conference schedule in 2024 was far more difficult than the Longhorns conference schedule. As noted above, only two of the hypothetical eight games played by the Power Two at the end of last season resulted in a rematch of a regular season game. It's a small sample size, but one that is again indicative of the hit or miss nature of mega-conference regular season schedules. Another example, in 2025 OBD misses Michigan and Ohio State. In 2027, OBD plays Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. 3. I feel like I should take a cold shower every time I raise the issue of money, but no media entity is going to step up with additional money if 1st-place Oregon rematches with Purdue and 2nd-place Indiana plays Northwestern in the 12th game of the regular season. Thanks again for your thoughts.

When the Tall Firs defeated Ohio State in Evanston, Illinois, to win the first NCAA Tournament, I believe the team traveled by train. And the train was not a chartered express. There was no laptop content to entertain or educate the athletes. I am not concerned about players who are being paid to play having to 'endure' air travel. A mode of travel the Tall Firs would have loved.

Go with the 4-4-2-2-1-1 format (Format) with the Power 4 determining their participating teams would have the PO Committee, assuming Notre Dame finishes ranked in the Committee's top 14 and captures the Plus 1 spot, only deciding on which G6 team makes the field and the seeding of the field. This Format, in all likelihood, would lead to the SEC playing nine conference games. (And more $ for the SEC 🤑.) The Format would encourage elimination of the Conference Champ games in favor of having a flex-scheduled Championship Week in the last game of the regular season, with games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The top two teams in a conference would not have to play a 13th game before the 1st playoff round of games. And the playoff could commence a week earlier. Adopt Championship Week and uniformly open the season in Week Zero, and the playoff championship game could be contested on January 1st, which would draw far more eyeballs than playing the game in late January. Championship Week would also result in more valuable game inventory and more $ for the Power 2 in particular. Based on conference standings after Week 12 in 2024, the B1G and the SEC would have played these games on Championship Week; playoff play-in games. (In 2026 and thereafter, the conference standings after Week 11 would determine the matchups.) B1G - 8. Minnesota at 1. OREGON / 7. Michigan at 2. Indiana / 6. Iowa at 3. Penn State / 5. Illinois at 4. Ohio State. SEC - 8. South Carolina at 1. Texas / 7. LSU at 2. Georgia / 6. Alabama at 3. Tennessee / 5. Ole Miss at 4. Missouri. These eight games would involve only two rematches from the regular season, which says a lot about mega-conference scheduling. The rematches could be reduced or eliminated by having Iowa and Michigan moving one spot, with Iowa playing at Indiana, and Michigan playing at Penn State. In the SEC, a one spot move would see Alabama at Georgia, and LSU at Tennessee. Game inventory, especially as adjusted above, would bring in mucho dinero for the Power 2 and also increase the value of the preceding conference games. Teams jockeying for home games on Championship Week would make the regular season games more impactful. Adopting the Format would also allow for the B1G/SEC Conference Challenge games to be played. With four teams each in the playoff field, losing a Challenge game would not hurt a team's chances of making the playoffs. Using The Athletics' final 2024-25 season rankings from No. 1 to 134, these out-of-conference games, spaced out during the regular season, would result in six Top 25 vs Top 25 marquee games. 5. Georgia at 1. Ohio State / 2. OREGON at 6. Texas / 8. Tennessee at 4. Penn State / 10. Indiana at 13. Ole Miss/ 15. Alabama at 14. Illinois / 21. Michigan at 16. South Carolina. Other enticing matchups: Iowa vs. Missouri, Nebraska vs. Florida, USC vs. A&M, and UCLA vs. Oklahoma. I'm reasonably certain that OBD vs. Texas would result in a B1G-ger payday than the Ducks vs. Oregon State and Texas vs. UTEP. With direct payment to athletes on the horizon, cuts in football roster size, and nonrevenue sports at risk of being cut, the Power 2 need to do everything possible to increase the revenue flow from Money-Maker Football. It's not Greed, it's Smart Business.

Thanks for the stats. What do the numbers look like in the last ten games, when OBD went 8-2, with its two losses coming against Michigan State in East Lansing and Indianapolis? The win over Indiana in Indianapolis was impressive. I'm hoping for a 5 or 6-seed playing in Seattle or Denver. 3 and 4 seeds are not locks to win 1st-round, let alone the 2nd round games. Dana is The Man in March.

Thanks, Smitty. It's about so much more than just the games. 😇

Amateur Athletics, Right? Board Of Trustees Approves 'West Shore Home Field At Beaver Stadium' For $50 Million Gift | Onward State ONWARDSTATE.COM West Shore Home, a home remodeling business based out of Pennsylvania, is owned by a Penn Stater and has previously financially supported Penn State Athletics.

If you're West of the Mississippi and not Oklahoma, A+M, or Texas, you don't count and are of no account. SC over LSU and A+M in 2024, is only a vicious, unfounded rumor. If these games did happen, the Tigers and Aggies lost only because they were not interested in playing a meaningless game against substandard competition. And Ohio State over Texas, Michigan over Bama twice in 2024-24, and Illinois over South Carolina; well, every so often B1G teams get lucky.🤪

Let's hope for a 5 seed and Seattle with Denver as a fallback.

With Dan Leading the Flock, a Spring Game Will Be Played in Eugene. https://athlonsports.com/college/oregon-ducks/oregon-ducks-dan-lanning-spring-game-announcement Got to love ❤️OBD's young, old-school coach. 😍

YES! Now, show up for two halves vs. No. 1 seed Sparty and B1G COY Tom Izzo!

How to close out the 1st half! So happy to see Bittle finally make a bucket and see Shelsted balling out. Go Ducks, shut those Hoser Hoosiers fans up!

Some Good News for Bo. 2025 NFL free agency: Broncos sign tight end Evan Engram to two-year deal - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Engram spent the last three seasons with Jacksonville

Thank you, Charles. Here's the Ducks Wire Wrap Up. Ducks stay hot and begin a new win streak with walk off win against Grand Canyon DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Ducks split short midweek series with Grand Canyon

Northwestern, Iowa, and USC in double OT advance. 2nd Round - OBD vs Indiana/ Northwestern vs Wisconsin/ Iowa vs Illinois/ USC vs Purdue GO B1G DUCKS!

Place Your Bets! ( But Be Wise, Like the Wise Guys 🧑‍🎓) OBD is -1.5 tomorrow vs. Indiana. Big Ten Tournament - Indiana vs. Oregon Prediction: Odds, Expert Picks, Betting Trends, and Stats WWW.NBCSPORTS.COM Indiana Hoosiers vs. Oregon Ducks Game Preview

Saturday Traditions take on the B1G Basketball Tournament. Big Ten Tournament 2025: Preview, odds, picks to win in Indianapolis SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Big Ten Tournament action gets underway on Wednesday. Can Illinois defend its tournament crown or will a wide-open field induce some drama.

Oregon, the best of the B1G baseball bunch? So sayeth the polls and Trojans Wire. 😁 USC baseball, after strong start, hits a bump in the road TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM USC baseball has had a rough week after its very promising start to the season

Bittle and Shelstad on the 3rd team does not trouble me in a conference as deep as the B1G. Leader in the clubhouse, Michigan State, had few all-conference players.

On behalf of cane-wavers, thank you!

Dave, good call and recall. Dante was not under pressure at UCLA, he was under siege. 😩

CBS has a Question for Every B1G Team. Questions for each Big Ten team in spring: Bryce Underwood's debut at Michigan among storylines to follow - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Quarterback questions always dominate spring, but there's a ton of hype around Underwood's arrival

Question for ESPN's Preseason Top 25 Teams. The biggest spring questions for college football's Way-Too-Early Top 25 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Our college football experts list out the biggest spring question for each Way-Too-Early Top 25 team.