GatOrlando

I think Ohio State and Michigan have the two largest living alumni base in the country. I see people representing those schools nationwide and even overseas. Alabama has a large rabid fan base, but they aren't as big outside of their region. That is true for most of the SEC. You are absolutely right that Notre Dame is different. They have a mystique due to the fact they were the first program to have weekly national television exposure. There are cultural reasons for their popularity as well, I get all that. But to me one of the reasons they are that unicorn is because they've never been in a group. They are really one of a kind in that regard. Notre Dame isn't known as a school in Indiana, they are Notre Dame. Texas, Ohio State and Michigan are huge, but they represent a region and a state. BYU is the closest to Notre Dame, but they didn't have the benefit of NBC. The B1G without Ohio State and Michigan wouldn't be the same. When you think of the B1G you think of those two first. But Ohio State became wha they are because of the B1G. The Rose Bowl, the games with Michigan to determine who got the right to go to the Rose Bowl. It's symbiotic. Ohio State and the B1G are on another level than FSU and the ACC. They shouldn't sink to the level FSU did, it's bush league imo.

I think they looked at what Notre Dame got as an Independent. I would say go Independent if that's the case, but that would set off a chain of consequences. Why doesn't the B1G and SEC just make Notre Dame join a league? College football would survive without Notre Dame being in the playoff. You can't have a playoff without multiple big brands though. I want four power leagues, we already have super leagues if you look at the size of these conferences. You've got it good in the B1G Ohio State. Don't be a malcontent like Texas and ruin it for everybody. You need a Purdue, Northwestern, Rutgers,UCLA, or Maryland to pad your statistics.

Thanks Jon. Sometimes there's a blessing hidden in the dark and that blessing just may turn out to be the fact that Billy just isn't a P4 coach. I don't get why guys think they can be offensive coordinators and head coaches in the SEC or B1G. Steve Sarkasian is doing the same thing but he is a much better coordinator than Napier ever could dream of. The guy has turned DJ Lagway into Graham Mertz 2.0 in one off-season. My only hope is we don't hire Lane Kiffin. We need a guy with discipline that won't live in the transfer portal. Maybe we saw our head coach on the opposite sideline this past Saturday.

After seeing what Tulane did to Northwestern I'd bet whatever the over is in this game. Will it be over in the first or second quarter is my only question.

Fair enough sir. Very good points. The way Oregon held down that 2010 Auburn offense speaks to your point. I stand by my week in and week out wear and tear opinion though. Oregon and Utah both have an old school physicality to them. USC, Washington, and UCLA have had to make some adjustments. Lincoln Riley in particular went to USC thinking he was escaping the SEC gauntlet , only to find he was going to the B1G.

Oregon is fifth in blue chip ratio at 78%. Michigan is currently the record holder for the lowest blue chip ratio to win a title at 54%. More importantly I think Oregon is tougher after spending a year in the B1G. Some may scoff at that, but there is a gap between the big two and the other two or formerly three. Even high performing members of the PAC like Washington and USC struggled with the week in and week out physicality. Oregon won the darn thing, but you could see the defense starting to wilt at the end vs Penn State and Ohio State at the lines. I think moving to the B1G is going to be the thing that finally gets Oregon over the hump. You can't simulate weekly physical football. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/blue-chip-ratio-2025-these-18-college-football-teams-can-actually-win-the-national-championship/

I'm not into abstract art. I see a mess of colors and no discernable outlines and I just see a mess. Alabama got pushed around and humiliated by a two win team that had to integrate 20 new starters. I don't care if they scored a hundred vs ULM, IBM, or IBS. They looked DOA on both sides in a game they had all off-season to prepare for. Texas lost to a team and didn't look all that impressive in comparison to the team that beat them the prior week. SECPN is a joke. Their polls are a joke, and their analysts are a joke. The only problem is the joke isn't funny. I'm embarrassed as a fan of an SEC program, but as a college football fan that used to love watching ESPN I'm even more disappointed that the largest network is so bias. They don't have the same credibility or viewing enjoyment. I miss Stuart Scott, Rich Risen, Dan Patrick and all those old Sportscenters that gave me the memorable highlights with that music and funny lines.

Texas number two and Alabama number four? Is this Finebaum again? Notre Dame lost to Miami and they are nine spots higher. Texas is ahead of the team that beat them last week and Alabama got blown out vs a team not even in the top twenty yet they are fourth. Auburn and Missouri are ahead of Utah and LSU. Florida doesn't deserve to be in the top 25 after that crap show Saturday. I can't take this nonsense seriously. It's ESPN SEC propaganda, I'm only shocked that they actually have a non SEC team number one.

Academics is also what nixed the Oklahoma entry in 2012 to the PAC as well. Imagine a world where Texas and Oklahoma join the league. My only question is if Texas would try their power move with that terrible Longhorn network on the Pacific Coast with the likes of USC. We know that nobody in the Big 12 was going to stand up to them, not even Oklahoma. Which to me makes Oklahoma look weak. Imagine Michigan or Ohio State letting the other have their own network and forcing it on the entire B1G.

It's like a very poor Elvis or Michael Jackson impersonater. Just let the PAC name go off into the sunset. It's just dragging the once "Conference of champions" through the mud. It's like they think keeping the name will elevate programs, but it's the programs that elevate the conference. It would be like if the ACC loses Clemson, North Carolina, FSU, Virginia and Miami and replace them with Memphis, Coastal Carolina, USF, Tulane and UCONN but keeps the name ACC. Even that would be better because they would at least keep some recognizable names like Duke, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech, Louisville, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Boston College. Who thought of Washington State and Oregon State when you spoke of the PAC Twelve? Who thinks anybody in that new iteration of the PAC outside of Boise State would be coveted by the P4?

Holy Smokes Batman!!! Gundy hasn't looked that bad since he decided to sport a mullet in the 2010's. That's a P4 program and you made them look like they were on restriction. I know LSU has a better win right now with a road win over Clemson, but I'd seriously consider moving Oregon ahead of them. At the very least I'd move them ahead of Penn State. Congrats on the win. Unfortunately not every ranked team could take care of business this week. Oregon is crushing a P4 team while Florida can't even beat a G5 school.

Belotti kind of took Oregon from the quirky program with the bright unis to a program that could threaten programs like Michigan or USC. My first memory of Oregon was Akili Smith showing out in that bowl game in El Paso. After that I remember the Joey Harrington Heisman run and ad in Times Square. You guys got robbed in that 2001-02 season. You should've been playing Miami, you only lost one very close game and you destroyed Colorado in your bowl. Imagine if Iowa ever found an offense.

Illinois is now up 31-19. Penn State is up 27-0 SMU is up 38-24 over Baylor Ohio State is about to kickoff vs Grambling. Michigan is four hours away from kicking off in Norman. Iowa and Iowa State are deep into the fourth tied at 13.

I guess the question is what do you expect from yourself and is that enough? Iowa fans are loyal to the program, they pack that stadium every year. Occasionally they'll rise up and beat Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State. They consider Wisconsin and Minnesota to be their biggest rivals. They have a P4 in State little brother that suctions off some the support they get in a low population State. I have been told that a great way to measure yourself is by the quality of who you think of as your contemporaries. Iowa and Nebraska are forced into an end of season rivalry that the B1G has tried to push upon both fanbases, neither really but into it. But it's getting more heated, and Iowa has kind of dominated the last ten years. Bo Pelini even famously got fired for saying something like Nebraska would never judge itself off the result of the Iowa game. More or less saying Nebraska celebrates wins over Michigan or Ohio State. My point is Nebraska fans have continuously said Oklahoma is their true rival. Iowa fans claim Wisconsin and Minnesota. To me that kind of says where each program sees itself. Oklahoma is/was a playoff or bust program. Minnesota and Wisconsin are happy to compete for conference titles, they celebrate conference title relevancy. Iowa fans think Kirk Ferentz is a Hall of Fame despite the fact he has never won a solo conference title and has one NY6 bowl win in 26 years. Would anybody here consider Dan Lanning a Hall of Famer with that resume? Who do you view as the programs you want to be considered a rival to? I know you guys don't like Washington and USC. But in your new conference who is that third team? In the SEC we have a list of 3. For Florida it's Georgia, Tennessee and LSU. In the 90's Tennessee was number one, but that order can fluctuate.

With a win today Kirk Ferentz is set to win his 206th career game. That would break the B1G record set by Woody Hayes. Is it impressive? He has zero solo B1G Titles and one BCS Bowl win, that of course being in the 2009 Orange Bowl vs Georgia Tech. Iowa has shared two titles with Ohio State in 2002 and 2009. They feasted off being in the B1G West ,winning it three times. They lost a heartbreaker in 2015 to Michigan State, and got blown out by Michigan in 2021 and 2023. Ferentz is in his 26th season coaching. Quantity over quality?