noDucknewby

Larry Scott's first major blunder was not allowing Texas to keep the Longhorn Network, which wound up being a deal-breaker for them. He put all his eggs in the P12 Network basket and we know how that turned out. As long as the University presidents continue insisting on AAU membership (ironic since 3 P12 schools are currently non-members) there's really not much value that can be added outside of the existing P5 conferences. I doubt we are strong enough to poach other P5 conference members. We also know they won't take a religious school, so teams like BYU, Baylor, TCU, etc. are out. We're pretty much boxed in unless the AD's can gain more autonomy and get academia out as the final decision maker in athletic matters. This would seem to be be doable at least in theory. Wouldn't it be great to have the ADs making the final decision in conference alignment/expansion? The only way the new TV contracts can be maximized IMHO is to have non-conference scheduling with other "Alliance" conferences locked in, for example dropping down to 8 conference games with guaranteed games with 1 BIG and ACC team every year (on a flex-schedule like GK suggests) makes the whole package a lot more attractive.

Not sure why any of this matters now, the media sell stories and Harbaugh/Michigan, Frost/Nebraska and now Cristobal/Miami are good stories to sell. Let's not pretend Herbie is doing his schtick entirely for the love of the game. As for MC, never underestimate the draw of home, not to mention the ridiculously lucrative contract he was offered. This is the current state of college football or any big business for that matter. Sure the timing sucked for us, but we may have gotten a big upgrade in the process so who cares about what MC might have been thinking in October, with all due respect to the OP.

I'm definitely pulling for them in this one, besides hating tOSU I have to respect the team they've built. It's what MC wanted but couldn't produce.

Sadly I agree with most of your assessment. College football is going through some pretty serious growing pains right now, I don't know if the sport going forward is going to resemble much what we've grown up with.

Ok we're really off the rails now ha ha:

Boo hoo too entitled to enjoy the Rose Bowl since they didn't make the playoff and lost to "that school up north" (not to mention the Ducks, but they had already pretended that loss didn't count). Probably the most deluded fan base in the country. Yeah I don't like them much.

Just when I thought college philosophy had no real value, someone drops a Machiavelli reference on a football blog. My day is made! Now let's discuss how good of a defense Nietzsche could design.

I dunno, I think I would rather have an experienced corner or two if we're going the free agent route.

With all due respect to AB, he had his chance to cement his legacy against Utah twice already. It should be open competition in practice for the start.

Absolutely more third down stops on defense, ESPECIALLY third and long. More dynamic offense, particularly variations in tempo. No more 4-minute offense all damn game. Keep foot on the gas when playing with a lead, win games going away instead of just hanging on and milking the clock. Oops I guess that's more than "one" ha ha.

Hoping to see Thompson (or whomever else is #2) get some reps at QB. This is a glorified exhibition game at this point. Still glad the staff is hanging around to coach one more game for the players, they deserve it.

Well actually two one-loss P12 teams have already made the playoffs, so clearly we can get a mulligan. In 2019 we were a shoe-in despite losing to a mediocre Auburn team until our late season loss to ASU knocked us out. This season we probably get in if we beat Utah twice, despite losing to Stanford. Of course beating a highly ranked USC team would help the resume, but beating any highly ranked conference team would do the same. USC has the tradition and the huge TV market that makes them very attractive to the media, but that really doesn't do much for the rest of the conference. The chances of a one-loss P12 champion getting into the CFP are still very good with or without a dominant USC. My point is that it hasn't been the weakness of USC that's kept us out of the CFP, it's that we are losing critical games in November.

I couldn't agree more. What's kept us out of the playoff the last few years has been our inability to win the meaningful late-season games, not the perceived weakness of the P12. The worn out trope that the conference is no good without blueblood USC on top is just plain lazy journalism.

I'm not a big fan of Canzano, although he does seem to be well-sourced. That said, I agree no other evidence that Wilcox was actually offered the job has surfaced. Not saying it didn't happen, but seems suspect without corroboration. Not sure that ever happens.

Ethically challenged, from the "limp an loaf" specials at Cal to being shown the door at Fuskyland after recruiting violations. Not sure this is the direction I would go.