Jon Joseph

LSU wins it all, but not without controversy. Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall ejected in first inning vs. LSU in heated start to CWS Finals Game 2 - On3 WWW.ON3.COM In the bottom of the first inning of Game 2 of the College World Series, Coastal Carolina head coach Kevin Schnall was ejected. SEC sites were quick to claim LSU's 8 titles superior to USC's 12 titles because, TA DA!, LSU played more difficult schedules. 🤪

If Wisconsin loses its lawsuit against Miami, then is any direct revenue share contract between a school and an adult player enforceable? If not enforceable, the transfer portal timelines are meaningless. So long as another school is willing to enroll a player, a player may 'transfer' whenever he and his agents so desire. So says the player's attorney, and by lack of any response to date, so says the University of Miami. As the CBS Sports article points out, in the NFL, tampering has consequences. The Dolphins were fined $1.5 million for tampering with Tom Brady. Behind the Wisconsin v. Miami tampering lawsuit over transfer DB Xavier Lucas that was months in the making - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM And what comes next could -- stop us if you've heard this before -- change college football Note that the contract the player signed was the standard for direct revenue share agreements approved by the Big Ten. One issue to be resolved, if the case goes to judgment and is not settled, is that the agreement, consistent with the NCAA's head-in-the-sand approach of not referring to the recipients of revenue sharing as 'employees', does not refer to the player as such. The contract is an assignment of an athlete's Name, Image, and Likeness for the term of the agreement. As the B1G is responsible for approving the form of the contract, it isn't surprising that the conference is supporting Wisconsin's lawsuit. You've got to know when to fold up. I am not aware of any law that requires colleges and universities to offer athletic scholarships and to fund athletic teams. As I asked in another post on this subject, is it time for schools to inform the world that this is it for college-supported athletics? Or at least this is it for anything other than an Ivy League no-athletic-scholarships approach? Do this, and I think Congress may be forced to act. Or, teams will be granted the use of a school's trademark, but the teams will be minor league professional teams for the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, etc.

B1G Ranking By 2025-26 Estimated Revenue - Private schools USC and NW not included. Revenues are rounded and shown below in millions of dollars. 1. Ohio State - 188 2. Michigan - 166 3. Nebraska - 142 4. Penn State - 142 5. Wisconsin - 132 6. Iowa - 118 7. Michigan State - 117 8. OREGON - 112 9. Minnesota - 103 10. Indiana - 102 11. Washington - 102 12. Purdue - 98 13. Illinois - 94 14. Maryland - 82 15. UCLA - 82 16. Rutgers - 77 Here's an analysis of the 2024 Big Ten revenues and expenditures, which includes revenues for the Pac-12 newcomers in 2024. Oregon is one of the approximately half of the conference teams with an athletic department that finished in the black. Big Ten athletic departments’ 2024 financial statements: Seven lessons from a data deep dive SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The athletic departments of the Big Ten’s 16 public universities generated nearly $2.84 billion in revenue during the 2024 fiscal year but collectively spent nearly $3 billion, according to financial... The private schools did not report revenues and expenses.

The USC direct payment distribution plan seems to be typical of schools with a big-time football program. LA Times report looks at USC revenue sharing plans following NCAA House settlement TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM A recent report from the Los Angeles Times looked at the Trojans' plan to attack this new era of college sports Michigan weighs in on B1G direct payments, including the revenue for each B1G program. The $20.5 million cap on distributions helps the teams with less revenue keep up with Michigan and Ohio State. When the B1G media agreements are renegotiated in 2029-30, I think the B1G will follow the ACC and distribute media revenue based upon the 'Eyes On the Prize' number of TV viewers, and 'Eat What You Kill' distribution of PO money going to the teams that earned the money. How revenue sharing should be distributed across the Big Ten Conference WWW.MAIZENBREW.COM With every athletic department in the Big Ten generating varying amounts of revenue, yet expected to distribute the same $20.5 million to athletes in 2025, economic disparities are already...

Thanks, G. The B12 does support the 11-5 format, but at least as of today, like the B1G, the B12 does not want the PO to expand unless the SEC plays 9 conference games. I do give Greg Sankey a pass on last season's fouled-up format—a format designed for 5 Power Conferences. He was able to eliminate a second G6 team as an automatic qualifier, but could not reach an agreement on changing the format to seeding that matched the rankings. As you note, last season's field was so unbalanced that 10 conferences and Notre Dame voted for this needed change in 2025-26. Of course, the 'balance issues' were exacerbated by the committee for no good reason ranking G6 Boise State the 9th best team in the nation. This screwed ASU fans out of a game in Glendale, Arizona instead of Atlanta. Is the 4-4-2-2-1-3 format (B1G format) bad for the ACC and B12? Looking back from the inception of the BCS in 1998, and projecting what a 16-team field would have been, the B1G would have had the most participants, followed closely by the SEC. Two teams each for the ACC and the B12 would have helped both conferences, especially the B12. Among his duplicitous comments regarding the B1G format, Sankey suggests that a guarantee of only 4 teams in the field would hurt the SEC. True in that all three 9-3 'left out' SEC teams would have been in last season's 5- 11, 16-team field. Notre Dame would score one of the three at-large bids every season, and the other two at-large bids could go to the B1G and SEC teams. Is there a reasonable SEC fan (an oxymoron?) who, after the 2024-25 postseason, believes six SEC teams deserved to be in the field? Does anyone with a modicum of objectivity believe that the SEC commissioner and SEC ADs, before arriving at the SEC spring meetings, were not aware that SEC coaches wanted to stay at 8 conference games? And that an ESPN FPI pamphlet justifying 8 games because of the brutality of the SEC schedule just happened to be lying (lie-ing?) around? At this point, without the SEC agreeing to play nine conference games, I'd as soon see CFB leave multi-millions of dollars on the table and stay with a 12-team field through the conclusion of the ESPN broadcast agreement, 2031-32. With the condition that the Football Committee uses disclosed metrics, as does the CBB Committee, and none of the metrics come from an ESPN computer. (Unfortunately, CFB has a weekly rankings show, but the shows are built into the ESPN broadcast agreement, and ESPN will not give up the revenue.) Use the CBB model and move the start of the Season to Week 0, and also consider dumping or flex-scheduling conference champ games. This season's CFB champ game will be played on 1/19/26. In 2026-27, without a change to the schedule, the season will conclude on 1/25/28. CFB PO games will not have more viewers than NFL PO games. I also see no reason for continuing the Greg Sankey suggested Advisory Committee. I have no beef with the SEC fans who want to play nine conference games instead of N-E-W-S Directional State. No beef with a Florida team playing 11 P4 games in 2025, and other SEC teams that play 10 P4 opponents. Tony Petitti and Brett Yormark need to call the SEC and the ACC's 8 conference games bluff.

Will USC Explode or Implode? https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/usc-football-preview-2025-trojans-season-prediction-win-total-projection-top-players I like the predicted loss to OBD. 😍

Miami Comments are MIA. Miami Hurricanes under fire following Wisconsin's tampering lawsuit WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM The Miami Hurricanes and Wisconsin Badgers could soon find themselves going head to head... in the court room.

B1G Twosomes - College football's dynamic duos: Penn State, Texas tandems set to define 2025 national championship race - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The road to the College Football Playoff runs through these one-two punches

SP+ Pac 8 Rankings - Texas State has to move up 60 spots to be ranked alongside Boise State. SP+ ranks 136 teams in its 2025 preseason rankings. 33. Boise State 73. Oregon State 82. Washington State 89. Fresno State 93. Texas State 97. Colorado State 102. San Diego State 119. Utah State That's a lot of mis-states, no? 🤮 I could not find a ranking for GONZO. 🤪

Using the SEC-biased FPI to support the SEC, or an SEC team, in any discussion is lazy, biased journalism. Who in Hades are the referenced Brown and Taylor? Are they haberdashers? Because Brown and Taylor sounds like a good name for a clothing store. 😁 I'm pretty sure that in 2024-25, OBD defeated an all-hands-on-deck Michigan team in The Big House and Bama lost to a depleted Wolverines team in Dixie. And I don't think OBD loses to Vandy or Oklahoma.

Thanks, Steven. Interesting twist. This litigation, supported by the B1G, will not help a Miami move to the B1G when the ACC exit fee goes down in 2030 and/or the ACC folds. Especially if Mario is still at the helm.

With friends, er, family, like this? The attached article notes that the Canes' offer came with more money. (DUH!) Will Cane be Able to beat the rap? 🥵 I have yet to see a response from The U, the ACC, and Mari(o). I believe it is likely that ACC schools, possibly including Miami, had direct payment deals in place, pending approval of the House settlement. Does the ACC want to support all such agreements being unenforceable? Miami fans: 'This wasn't tampering because the House settlement had not yet been approved.' If consideration (in this case, $) was given to the young man with a condition subsequent, that the settlement was approved by the court, then the contract, except for fraud or coercion, should stand. A surprising twist in who exposed Miami in Wisconsin’s lawsuit BADGEROFHONOR.COM Wisconsin taking Miami to court over Xavier Lucas' tampering continues to unfold with all sorts of twists and turns. Each day, as more reporters and people dig

WOOF! https://athlonsports.com/college/washington-huskies/washington-huskies-new-uniforms-reaction

I can understand how a loss of $ 500 K+ might cause a sophomore in college to suffer an illness? 🤑 If you want an objective POV, always ask an involved party's lawyer, right? 🤓

USA Today calls out the SEC - Stop the Cupcake Scheduling If SEC wants more College Football Playoff respect, it's time to dump cupcake games WWW.USATODAY.COM The SEC keeps finding new reasons to not add a ninth conference game. OK, then how about adding another good non-conference game?

Four B1G Blue Chip Roster Teams are favored to win the B1G title. With the roster turnover at Ohio State and Oregon, perhaps put Illinois, and 1-5 in one-score losses in 2024, USC to the list, with UW a B1G underdog. WOOF! One of these four teams will win the Big Ten championship in 2025 WWW.YARDBARKER.COM Big Ten teams want to win the Big Ten, and one of these four teams will walk away with the trophy in 2025.

This article from Yardbarker clarifies the NCAA's current 'a contract doesn't matter' POV. I don't think the NCAA or any other third party saw this lawsuit coming. Wisconsin football makes NCAA history with tampering lawsuit against Miami WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The NIL era has essentially turned college football into a professional sport, and we now have our first tampering lawsuit between major programs. Wisconsin and its NIL collective filed a...

A Badger's POV. I haven't seen anything from Mario regarding this chi-Cane-ry 🤔 Wisconsin issues eye-opening new allegations against Miami in Xavier Lucas case BADGEROFHONOR.COM Just when you thought that maybe all of the Xavier Lucas drama was done and over with, the Wisconsin football team has decided that it's not going to let Miami

When it comes to B1G NIL checks, SC isn't waffling. This is a B1G miss for Penn State. which has Wafle's brother on the roster and does not often miss out on players from Jersey. Chad Bowden, USC football reportedly offered Luke Wafle more than $2 million TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM The Trojans have not been afraid to spend big on the recruiting trail since Chad Bowden took over as GM

Thanks, Mike. 7th-place B1G finisher SC also defeated A+M last season in bookend victories over the SEC. But, according to the SEC media, What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. 🍻 Michigan is 4-3 all-time vs The Tide. The first win was a 28-24 victory in 1987 with Demetrious Brown playing QB for the Wolverines. In 2000, Michigan defeated Bama in the Orange Bowl, with some guy named Tom Brady throwing for a college career high 369 yards. On its way to a Natty, Michigan sent Saint Nick out of coaching with a 27-20 OT victory in the Rose Bowl. Last season, with many 2024 top draft choices sitting out, Michigan defeated an all-hands-on-deck Bama, 19- 13 in the RQ Bowl. In 2024, Michigan's passing 'attack' was superior only to Army and Navy. 1st round draft pick Bama QB Jalen Milroe went 0-2 against Michigan. And as you noted, PO screwed over 9-3 South Carolina lost its bowl game against 9-3 Illinois. Two of Illinois's losses came on the road at No. 1 Oregon and No. 4 Penn State, but Tony Petitti and the ESPN talking heads did not mention that Illinois was screwed over. Using ESPN's F(radulent) P(ower) I(ndex) to support an 8-game conference schedule being the hardest gauntlet in CFB is a self-fulfilling joke. When the FPI ranks 13 SEC teams, 82.50% of the conference in the top 25, you're probably going to have a pretty good in-conference strength of schedule. 🧐 Don't you just hate it when facts get in the way? 🙃

He's being paid more NIL money at MIA than he was by the Badgers. This was a case of Tampering with a capital T. I'm happy that the B1G conference supports this litigation. If you can walk away from a contract for more money and not pay liquidated damages, as we see when coaches leave one school for another, what's to prevent a player from transferring in-season to an opponent his former team has not yet played? Or, simply leave his sinking ship for the chance to play on a playoff contender? All the new school has to do is be willing to enroll the player. If you read Ross Dellinger's article on the matter on Yahoo (I posted this article yesterday on B1G Info, Predictions), one worrisome issue here is that the NCAA has arguably approved such transfers notwithstanding a contract being in place. Why would the NCAA being on the wrong side of an issue surprise anyone? The further rub in this case is that these pre-House Settlement approval direct payment contracts were the norm and not the exception. Schools with half-decent legal representation will have ensured that a player had the agreement approved by an attorney before signing, and had a parent or guardian sign for the player if he was under the age of consent. How do you think Cristobal and Miami would feel if they were on the flip side of this issue? Miami will, of course, move to dismiss and also move to have the case transferred from Wisconsin state court to federal court. I don't think the case will be dismissed out of hand, but a transfer to federal court is likely. College Football needs more chaos, right?

The other silver lining. It doesn't matter before signing day. Many of these 'Lost Boys' will likely be available on the rebound before signing day or out of the portal.

Yeah, I thought it was a baseball school?

She's also doing her job when she whispers in Bill's hearing aid, 'Nothing is off limits!' 😛 How about when the Tar Heels walked from two decades of academic fraud because not just athletes but also 'regular students' were cheating. 😴 Compare this to USC getting hammered for one guy going out of bounds.😁 Compare the Tar Heels' hall pass to OBD losing scollies because Chip used outside help with recruiting. The Horror! 🤬 My UNC golfing buddies are not happy campers. 🤮

When you're in The Black, you deserve to come back. 🤑