Jon Joseph

Good call, although Lubbock, Texas, is not a large market. Ditto Tuscaloosa and Eugene. Booster money is fungible. The NFL billionaires play nice with one another because parity means more money for all. With an agreement in place with a players' union, NFL owners have been able to restrict player movement, cap rookie salaries, and impose fines and loss of draft picks for teams that exceed a salary cap. I think that one day, CFB billionaires will learn to play with one another and negotiate salary caps, restrictions on transfers, poaching penalties, and other reasonable restrictions akin to the NFL. A CFB player draft could be on the way. Take away recruiting and portal picking responsibilities, and CFB coaching salaries will come down. Booster money is not restricted by geography. Mark Cuban lives in Dallas but writes B1G checks that are cashed in Bloomington, Indiana. For sure, media markets likely matter when NFL teams are recruiting free agents. Which teams can provide a player with the best NIL opportunities? A team in Jacksonville, New York, or LA? Wreck the Heck Out of Tech!

Thank you, David. In the 1st half, the Ducks were EduBirdies. In the 2nd half, DumBirdies. Dan and Tosh have a lot of teaching material in hand. Credit JMU for balling out for 60 minutes. UCLA folks had to be happy with the fight put up by the Dukes. Everywhere he has been, Bob Chesney has put winning teams on the field. If he's given the resources, OBD could be battling Trojans and Bruins for SoCal recruits and wins. We have something in common with our UGA friends on the Forum, WRECK TECH! Dirty, New Fashioned Hate! 🤬

And the quarter-finals should have been played on Saturday, played on the home fields of the higher-ranked teams, with the semis played on New Year's Day. And if the NFL insists on biting the hand that feeds it by playing on Saturday before the CFB PO ends, Congress should extend the NFL Saturday no-play date.

Knute Rockne had to pull The Gipper out of a pool hall and sober him up to get him to practice. Way back in the day, players would play for two or more teams and be compensated by all the teams they played for. UCLA basketball players were paid. USC football players were paid. Among others, Michigan State's Bubba Smith went to an ice cream parlor in East Lansing on Monday afternoon to be paid. All cash, nothing reported to the IRS. IMO, two years with back-to-back titles do not cancel the SEC's postseason dominance. By every metric, recruiting rankings and players drafted, for example, the SEC is at the top. SEC sports, especially football, have been aligned from school presidents on down for decades. Pay for play and unrestricted transfers are evening things out. It took time for Oregon, with the help of NIKE, to build its brand and put Oregon football on the map coast to coast. It took Texas Tech billionaires one season to open their wallets and have the Red Raiders in a position to win the first B12 title in football and be nationally relevant for more than just having an eccentric coach. The Hoosiers under Curt Cignetti would not be in the midst of a historic turnaround without graduate Mark Cuban and his friends. Without Oracle's Larry Ellison's money, Bryce Underwood would be playing ball for LSU and not for the Wolverines. As many have pointed out, the first question a coaching candidate for a Power 4 position asks is what percentage of 'House settlement' payments are dedicated to football and what resources will I have on the NIL front. The most-watched game of the regular season was the Ohio State at Michigan game. For the most part, SEC games were more watched than Big Ten games. There is a B1G difference perception-wise between the Big Ten and the SEC. Not every game in the SEC is (cue stentorian voice) a battle like no other ever witnessed in the history of college football. In 2025, the Big Ten was dumped on for playing weak in-conference schedules. SEC in-conference schedules were trumpeted. With eight conference games, the SEC had many teams that finished with two losses or fewer, with half the conference ranked in the top 25 all season long. Rankings like this produce results like Bama defeating four ranked opponents in a row, so the FSU loss had to be an anomaly, right? Wins over Missouri and Tennessee turned out to be no big accomplishment, but the narrative never changed. How often did anyone hear about A&M defeating seven SEC opponents without a winning record and losing to a team with a winning record, three-loss Texas? ESPN controls the CFB bloody pulpit and is the SEC's partner. Next case. Six of 18 B1G teams did not finish 6-6 or better. Six of 16 SEC schools did not finish 6-6 or better. The ACC and the B12 also had six teams that did not qualify for a bowl game. I believe the SEC has the bona fides to rank the SEC as the top conference in CFB. We could see Oregon playing Ohio State for the championship, or we could see Georgia playing Alabama for the title. A B1G team winning it all in 2025-26 will move the Big Ten closer to the SEC. But the SEC will remain as the conference with the most on-field decided championships. And it isn't close. Come On OBD - 3 More Wins - Please! PS - Adopt Tony Petitti's PO format, and we will likely see an annual B1G/SEC football challenge and the money that will come with it. This season, a 16-team field with automatic qualifiers would have resulted in the B1G, SEC, ACC, and the B12, all having an additional team in the field. Plus, we wouldn't have had to suffer the whining coming out of South Bent.

I'm hoping and betting on OBD being able to run the ball. Utah averaged 270 yards on the ground this season; TT held the Utes to 101 rush yards. These B12 guys will be fired up over the chance to take down a Power 2 team. Wreck the Raiders!

Saturday Tradition Posts JMU Game Stats - Saturday TraditionRapid Reaction: Oregon runs over James Madison, into CFP...Oregon ran all over James Madison in the first half of Saturday's College Football Playoff first-round game to book a trip to the quarters.

Thanks, AOD, for the terrific post. TX Tech played five teams with winning records this season, defeating BYU twice. TT scored 21 plus points in all of its wins. OBD went 5-1 against teams with winning records, plus two wins over 6-6 Northwestern and Penn State. Both teams handled a common opponent, Oregon State, with ease. SOS - OBD 16 and TT 54. As you ask AOD, how much of TT's success was the result of playing inferior competition? On 1/1, will Oregon face an elite defense? By the numbers, the answer is 'Yes.' The TT defense is 1st in QB pressures, and No. 1 in TOs created with 31 on the year, including four against BYU in the champ game. Texas Tech finished the season No. 1 against the rush, allowing an average of 68.5 yards a game and 2.3 yards per rush. In 2024 and 2025 to date, Oregon is 25-0 when rushing for 100 yards or more a game, and 0-2 when rushing for fewer than 100 yards. If OBD cannot run the ball against TT, the Red Raiders should win the game. This should be a classic battle on the line of scrimmage. Wreck Tech!

Four not to be ignored. I'm hoping OBD, TOSU, and Indiana will all start the New Year right with B1G wins. 🤑 https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/breaking-news/article/college-football-playoff-a-quick-look-at-the-four-quarterfinal-matchups-that-will-ring-in-2026-043913463.html

Way to go, Gat! There's nothing better than a Ducks opponent being Swamped. 😁

OBD and TX Tech Game and Team Info. NOTE - OBD Strength-of-Schedule 16th - Texas Tech 54th. FanSidedOregon vs. Texas Tech preview in 5 minutes: Fast facts, p...The Oregon and Texas Tech have played just three times, the Ducks winning each meeting. The fourth time has a College Football Playoff semifinals berth at stake

Thank you, Doctor. The line is set close to a Pick 'Em. Despite the hyperbolic title of the linked article (🤪shocking, right?), the only message the early lines speak to is, 'Balance the Book!' The below referenced book has Texas Tech -1.5. This will be the first time this season that Joey McGuire and his Red Raiders match up against a team with a Blue Chip Roster and also a team that was in the portal pickers' top 5. Texas Tech will not have the roster advantage it had in all 13 games played before 1/1/26. TT played one game in the Eastern time zone this season, destroying West Virginia 49-0. TT and OBD shared one opponent this season, both played Beavis at home: OBD 41-7, TT 45-14. TT did have two impressive wins against BYU, scored often in the 4th quarter to win decisively over turnover-prone Utah in SLC, and lost at ASU behind its backup QB when Sun Devils QB Sam Leavitt was healthy. One of the wins over BYU was in Lubbock, and the other came in Arlington, Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys roam. Ohio State in the Cotton and not the Orange Bowl? Did the Buckeyes have their choice after Big Ten champ, Indiana, won the right to play in the Rose Bowl? If so, with Miami's win over A&M, Brutus got lucky on two fronts. No game against Miami, a team that does not travel well, in Miami's home stadium, and no A&M in Dallas. (Why do the Luckeyes get all of these postseason breaks?) I agree with above comments that TT will have the majority of fans in the Hard Rock Stadium on the 1st, I expect TOSU fans will take over Jerry's Joint. I hope Indiana and its fans, that have not visited Pasadena since 1968, can find the stadium? Grand Pa Duck could get his wish of playing Bama, but in Atlanta? No thanks. However, I don't think Cig's guys will help the Tide Roll Sooner than later. 9 AM body clock kickoff for OBD and fans, but no team has done better playing two or more time zones away from home than Danny and the Ducks. FWIW, my buddies and I have OBD +1.5. It should be a terrific game. Lasso the Tortillas! Oddsmakers send a clear message about Texas Tech, Oregon with Orange Bowl line

And Beck? What the heck was that? It was windy, but 103 yards; that's a lot of dinero per yard. I understand A&M only played eight conference games, but in the name of Greg Sankey, how did the Aggies, without a rematch, find seven SEC teams without a winning record to defeat? The epitome of mega-conference scheduling. Lasso the Tortillas!

ND, I expect and am hoping that your Dawgs assault and salt Ole Miss's title hopes in the Sugar Bowl. I'm UGA all the way, but we need a format without 1st round byes where Ole Miss QB and RB are dinged up in a game that the top seeds sit out.

Dante Moore and Trinidad Chamblis TCB vs. G6 opposition. Next up, Texas Tech and Georgia. The QB play in these two warm-up games, assuming Chambliss will be good to go in the Sugar Bowl, along with the play of their respective teams today, serves as a stepping stone into the P4 PO. A warm-up game home win that helped TOSU last season, while OBD played Bye-Bye. Both teams and their QBs are 1-0 in what they and their fans hope will be a 4-0 postseason. Oklahoma's Mateer stole defeat from the jaws of victory. Bama QB Ty Simpson and the rest of his Tide teammates won a game they could and perhaps should have lost. But Ty is not Joe Namath. Hats off to winning QBs, but I saw nothing to convince me that Ty Simpson will outperform Mendoza in the Rose Bowl or that Trinidad Chambliss will lead his Rebels to a victory over Gunner Stockton and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. In tough conditions, we witnessed a face plant by both Carson Beck and Marcel Reed. Beck struggled against a defense that gave up 41 points to Notre Dame and 42 points to Arkansas. Will things get better against Ohio State? Ryan Day and Julian Sayin have to be delighted to be playing Miami and not A&M in Dallas. On 1/1/26, we'll see a different and more efficient performance on both sides of the ball in Miami. The defense we saw tonight was a Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope. And there is downtime to figure things out. OBD's OC has other duties, but the O tonight was just fine. DC? Hats off to Tosh for hanging in before going Cal, but Danno knows a bit about D. Dante Moore played better than any 1st round QB. And I believe he will play better than TT QB Behron Morton. Texas Tech is about to play a game against the first Blue Chip Roster team it has played this season. TT lost at ASU, and its best wins are BYU twice and Utah once; OBD has been there, done that. The Red Raiders are a very good team, but on 1/1/26, TT will be playing the best and deepest team it has played this season. MASH McGuire! We've been there, and Nixed TT in Lubbock.

The best news? Crickets from South Bend. Miami beat ND, and beat the team that also beat ND. 😁👍👌❤️😍. Miami did not leave Florida before November, when the Canes tripped to Dallas to play and lose to SMU. Mario is now 1-1 in Texas, with the next game in the Cotton Bowl on December 31st. Today's game featured not-so-special teams. As was the case against Texas, the A&M offense was nowhere to be found. Aggies fans are probably happy to say 'Adios' to OC Colin Klein on his return to the Little Apple. Road teams in 1st round PO games are now 4-2. Miami, great defense played today, but if you can't score against A&M, what about TOSU? This is an A&M D that gave up 41 points to Notre Dame and 42 points to Arkansas. With some of the licks on Miami's DBs, are all of the U's DBs going to be ready to go on New Year's Eve? Ohio State's WRs are 'slightly' better than the Aggies' WRs. The Buckeyes open at -10.5 Saturday BlitzThe initial line for Miami–Ohio State is a brutal indictm...The Miami Hurricanes went on the road on Saturday and upset Texas A&M, giving the program it's biggest win since the early 2000's. The Hurricanes' defense was d

Not to jinx any team we know 😁, but the way this season has gone, how about the ACC vs the B12 for the title? 🤪

The way this Season of the Which has gone, how about a title game of Tulane vs. Oklah ..., er, OREGON?

Someone, please take both coaches out for a triple cheeseburger, chocolate shake, and a double order of greasy frend fries. Where's the Great Pumpkin when you need him?

ND, thanks for the spot on take. As you so noted, a meltdown decision by Mateer and the team fell apart to the point where it looked like the fix was in. The punter muffs a perfect snap. Mateer throws a pass for a pick six that was supposed to go to ...? How to upchuck a 17 point lead. A terrific win by Bama and DeBoer, first expanded playoff road win, but the OK coaches lost their poise and concentration and the team followed suit. A lot of the good will Venables built up this season after going 6-7 the prior two seasons left with the early departing crowd. I'm surprised Boz didn't make an arrest. Bama heads to Pasadena with Mo along for the ride. Best of luck to your Dawgs in the Sugar Bowl. Give Ole Miss the Kiff of PO death. PS - What happened to Bama WR Ryan Williams?

Both of these teams looked shaky tonight. Hats off to Bama, but OK did all it could to help Bama come back in this game. I like Indiana in the Rose Bowl vs. Bama. And following the Massey composite rankings, I think Indiana, Ohio State, and OBD are 1, 2, and 4. A nod to No. 3 Texas Tech, but I see OBD winning a hard-fought Orange Bowl game. (Knock on my head 😁)

42-17 - OBD 3 sacks 2 TO 220

The tracks of Ma Terrs. 😧

Spot On! Especially, with 14 new starters and many injuries.

Good call. But if DeBoer wins in Norman, I don't think he'll be able to put out a Cig in Pasadena. 😉 A score over DeBoer could Just Mean More, no doubt, but I want revenge for this season's loss. 🤬