GatOrlando

Begs the question if it's better to start vs somebody you should beat easily or if you should start off with a banger to test your mettle quickly. In the old days an early loss would bury, but as Notre Dame proved, you can lose to a lower level squad at home and still make the playoff.

I don't know for sure, but according to many in Tennessee, Clemson, and TCU circles, this is a big deal. I had no interest in the story, but it was brought up to me many times. There's a lot of circumstantial evidence, but the NCAA has been pretty useless in court cases recently. As for Tennessee, Miami and most of the SEC cheating regarding recruiting? Yeah I believe it. There were a lot of shady things happening everywhere, but the NCAA didn't enforce the rules because of the fact they were making money off the football games themselves. Why did they decide to go after SMU, USC and Miami then? Because it was so excessive and those programs were in major media markets. The NCAA had to do something to say "See we do have morals". You can go over the speed limit to a point. But you better not do it in a school zone, and you better not make it over five mph on holiday weekends. Many Ohio State fans are crying about this because they believed they were hammered unfairly over something that didn't give them any sort of advantage in schematics or recruiting. They had guys who were selling their personal property for tattoos. For that transgression they lost their head coach, they got two seasons worth of games wiped out, they got scholarship reductions, and they got a postseason ban that cost them a shot at the 2012 National Title despite going 12-0. Is it fair? Probably not, but the NCAA has it's rules and those players broke them. Their head coach covered up their violation and lied about it. If I was to be honest about it, I'd say Florida deserved a punishment for all of the player arrests and coverups in our 2009 squad. There was a pretty good documentary done about that mess. But as far as the wristbands, the scouting, and the effect of Stallions. The video below is done by a Tennessee guy who does his research on it. He obviously has a reason, and yes he is bias towards the SEC. But as far as the South Carolina and Michigan ties and the advantage Stallions provided? I believe it. Like I said, look at Michigan under Harbaugh before Stallions. Look at them after, and I mean right after. Their recruiting didn't change. But all of a sudden they became significantly better. A winning culture can create momentum, it doesn't matter how you get there. I believe Michigan changed their culture after getting momentum and has kept it going even after losing their advantage. But let's not overlook the fact that despite their wins over Ohio State and Alabama to end the season. They went back to losing five games. Oregon won't lose five games any time soon under Lanning or anybody imo. Alabama won't be losing five games even after Saban. Ohio State hasn't lost five games this century outside of that 2011 season which was a result of tatoogate. Look at their recruiting and culture at those places. Look at Michigan and tell me if there isn't any smoke. Also look at how quickly Harbaugh was trying to get out of town after he started winning. Jim was interviewing for NFL jobs for two off-seasons. Not just one, to me he knew something was coming. Why would he want to leave Michigan before the 2023 season when all of his players wanted to come back and finish their story?

Well the punishment for the Stallions spy gate has finally been given. After more than two years of investigations the NCAA decided thirty million dollars and an additional Sherrone Moore suspension is the penalty. I'd say that's pretty light considering the allegations that Michigan altered the 2022 playoff by giving South Carolina the plays to help beat both Tennessee and Clemson. Remember that was a six win South Carolina squad that hammered both in back to back weeks. There were some special bands the Gamecock players wore those two games, but never again or before. I personally don't know what advantage Stallions provided, but I do know Harbaugh was on the verge of being fired prior to 2021. He couldn't beat Ohio State or win the B1G. But after pulling out of the 2020 game because of "health concerns" he went 3-0 vs Ohio State and ran the B1G. Losing just three games over his last three years and winning the 2023 National Title as his swan song. Michigan fans are the most smug I've ever come across. I will cheer for just about anyone to be at them that's not named FSU, Miami, Georgia or Tennessee. Heck I actually went against even that when Georgia beat the bricks off them in 2022. I thought Alabama would take care of business in the Title Game to rationalize that. The Ducks embarrassing Michigan this past year and 2007 was great entertainment. One of the reasons I'm a secondary fan of your great program.

The enemy we can all agree on. Thank you to the Knights. Here's hoping that enemy is defeated in our lifetime.

Con-zano and his followers who say Oregon betrayed Oregon State and will regret their move to the B1G need to read this. Oregon supports their athletic department , yes there's one very huge supporter. But it's not like the fans and alumni give nothing. I used to watch PAC TEN football after dark when I'd be out past midnight. There were many great games, but you could tell the difference in environment. These games started at 8 pm Pacific Time You could start games at 8 pm Eastern Time, or Central Time for programs in the SEC or B1G and the crowds would be there as if it were a five PM kickoff. There's just different levels to these programs and you see it week in and week out. I've talked to fans from Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona a lot during football season and they would often tell me that there were many apathetic game day atmospheres in the PAC. The two they said were the toughest to get tickets to? Oregon and Washington. I have walked up several times and been able to get really cheap Sun Devil tickets on game day. The times I couldn't? You guessed it, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Arizona too, but that's pretty obvious.

Sixteen of the top 25 are from either the B1G or SEC. Seventeen if you put Notre Dame in that "preferential viewpoint" position. Boise State is ranked 25th. Not much shock with the rankings. So Texas vs Ohio State will determine the number one ranked squad entering October. Notre Dame vs Miami will likely propel one of those into a season long top five position as neither plays anybody nearly as tough the rest of the way. Unless Florida can actually live up to the hype. I see Alabama crushing Florida State, and Iowa State vs Kansas State in Ireland being a huge early Big 12 game. They call it Farmageddon in the Midwest. Week two we get a top 25 matchup with Michigan going to Oklahoma for early B1G/SEC bragging rights.

I agree with the list. Those games against Wisconsin were great in the 2000's, and you guys split with the Spartans in the 2010's. Plus the former Bevis coach being there like you said. I think Ohio State will have to respect Oregon as a major threat to their B1G recruiting crown going forward, as well as on the field. Michigan is one of the most arrogant fan bases I've ever had the honor of coming across. They think their majestic blue is above reproach, and take dogs at any program for taking shortcuts, but you must not question the integrity of their Michigan men like John Harbaugh. The guy who got several suspensions for recruiting violations, including a big one during the pandemic. Let's not even begin to talk about Stallions. Penn State and Ohio State have their fair share of arrogance as well. But they will be more open to calling Oregon a rival. Michigan will only accept Oregon after the Ducks beat them several more times and win a couple National Titles. They view USC as the only true program from the PAC Four additions that merit their attention as a potential new rival.

I thought Maryland would be an interesting choice for cultural reasons. Nike vs Under Armour. Pacific Coast vs Atlantic Coast. Uniforms galore. But Maryland really is more of a basketball school. Mike Locksley is likely on the hot seat this season, so it will be interesting to see if the Terrapins decide to invest in their football program with a guy that can build that place up if Mike is let go after this year. My other interesting choices would be Nebraska or Iowa. Both have pretty strong football history and strong fanbases. I know they aren't as exciting picks as the big three, but both have potential to be ten win teams if everything goes right. Do you believe in Rhule as the guy to finally fix Nebraska? He broke the decade plus stretch of not winning a bowl game just this past season. Dylan Raiola is a potential dark horse to become a Heisman contender. With Iowa it's more about having just a pulse on offense. They got the transfer QB from North Dakota State, and apparently he has impressed in Spring and Summer camp. If he can just get them to average twenty points they could be a threat with Phil Parker's defense.

Imagine the NFL playoffs being seeded off a committee. "Hmmmm..... I think 12-5 Kansas City should be the one seed based off playing in a harder division.". Despite the fact Baltimore, Buffalo and Houston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati have better records. But Denver LA Chargers and Vegas all went 9-8. Meanwhile the Jets, Browns, and Titans all were so terrible that they dragged their division sos down. Beano Cook once said there would never a playoff because college football would always need the bowls. We need to cut this antiquated way of thinking.

I don't think Stefanski is a bad coach. I think he was sabotaged by the Deshaun Watson deal. Why go out of house and pay the amount they did in salary and draft picks for a guy that had such concerns and was injury prone? Imagine if they kept Baker and used those three first rounders on players that could help them. I know a few receivers they could have had to go with Chubb, Cooper,Njoku and what a pretty strong offensive line. The problem for DG going anywhere else is I don't think anybody else would've drafted him above the sixth round. The one place that will give you the chance is also the one place that has a history of making bad decisions. If DG is going to make it, he's going to have to be that good. The added pressure is now the fan support Sheduer is going to get. Those fans are desperate for a savior, they loved Baker. I think they see Sheduer as a guy with charisma and the ability to lift up the play and confidence of his teammates, much like Baker. I don't know if DG has that in him.

I've heard it said that if he was four inches taller than he would've been a first round pick. I've seen his tape and heard the comps to Drew Brees. But Brees had a very unique launch point from a QB. Drew would take the two or three step drop and from the pocket he would arch his ball at a 35 degree angle with his head tilted upward. How he saw the field like that? I don't know, but he was a 70 percent passer. DG doesn't have the arm of Russel Wilson, Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield. He doesn't have the precision to do what Drew could do in the pocket imo. I would comp DG to Doug Flutie. Many think Doug had a cannon for some reason, but I think he was most dangerous due to his wheels and ability to escape the pocket without top flight speed. If DG is to last in the NFL that is his path imo. I saw way too many batted balls when DG was with UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon when he went against NFL dlineman like Abdul Carter or Jack Sawyer. There are 6'5 dudes littered up and down those rosters.

Marcus Mariota went second in 2015, he didn't become what many thought. But he's a reliable backup. Justin Herbert went fifth in 2020, he's been an incredible regular season QB. Still looking for his first playoff win, but he's a top 10 QB. Bo Nix went in the bottom of the first last year. He started of slowly the first six game, but took off after that. Finishing in the top 4 of the OPOTY. He is the unquestioned future in Denver. Dillion Gabriel shockingly went in the third round this past draft. Now he is going to the place where QBs go to perish, and he is competing against many narratives. But the coaches in Cleveland seem to love him. He is currently hurt and it's looking like Flacco will be their QB. Can Dillon stick and be a starting QB? Is he destined to be a backup?

Blueblood, ha!! A meaningless term to me. I guess it's a way to make Nebraska feel good about itself. But realistically Oregon is, has, and will be a better program than Nebraska for twenty plus years now. You've been better than Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Florida, Penn State, Miami, Florida State, Texas A&M, LSU,Tennessee, and yes even Michigan as well. Yes I realize 6 of those have won National titles in that time period. But Oregon has performed at a higher level consistently and lost two title game appearances.

Many Seminole fans wish everyone could forget that hire too. But as long as they sit on that old horse and laugh at others without realizing they're in quicksand, I'm gonna remind them it's been a decade plus since they've won anything.

What's ironic is many Gator boosters were willing to pay the Napier buyout and go after Lane. I think Lane is just a more loud mouth version of Dan Mullen. Dan couldn't or wouldn't put in the effort to recruit, and Lane would prefer to recruit out of the transfer portal because he doesn't really want to put in the time to get high school kids and mold them. It would be a massive mistake to give that guy 10 million a year. I want an offensive guy that will bring back the fun and gun system Steve made famous. I would like a guy like Dillingham if that were possible. But I think it's only fair that Billy get a full year to show what he can do. Lane Kiffin can play his little games in Oxford, let Auburn or LSU hire him. I don't think Lane will pull a Malzahn, Fisher, or Orgeron and win a random title with one freaky QB run. I think he's a 7-10 win guy at best.

Lane also left in the middle of the night. Willie has turned out to be a one hit wonder while Lane later turned his career around at FAU and Ole Miss. I'll ask this. Are Oregon fans angrier at Willie or Mario? I know you got an upgrade with Lanning, but he wasn't a sure thing coming in as an unknown from Georgia. Oregon seems to just be a program that gets a better coach each time one leaves. Take Helfrich out of there and you have Chip Kelly, Mario Christobal and now Dan Lanning. I don't think you'll have an issue of having Dan leave for a better college job. Oregon is at that level where you can't move upward anymore. Alabama, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, LSU, Penn State,Ohio State, Notre Dame, Clemson, USC, and hopefully Florida very soon are all tier one. But it's a lateral move from Oregon at this point imo.

Do Oregon fans dislike Willie as much as Tennessee fans do Lane? Both left after one season to coach at their "dream" jobs. Both got fired.

Basic rules of the South. Love your parents. Love your country. Provide for your family. Honor your beliefs. Honor your SEC football program. You had an Alabama fan poison an over 100 year old tree on the Auburn campus during Iron Bowl week back in 2012. The genius called up Pawl and bragged about it. He got in trouble over that and didn't regret a thing.

I normally don't like UGA because of obvious reasons( mostly because Georgia has been the class of the SEC while Florida has flunked out) but I love BullDogs. They have a unique beauty to them.. I can see UGA attracting the ladies, but he's no Odin😂

That monstrosity of a mascot at Stanford is iconic for reasons. For me they make the trees from Wizard of Oz look good. You are called the Stanford Cardinal. Just become the fifth best Cardinal in sports. Being that this is Lee Corso's retirement year, I wish he could've done an Oregon game and an Ohio State game. Those are his two favorite mascots.

I love our armed forces. My grandfather served in the second world war. My father served in Vietnam. I went against their Army roots and joined the Air Force, or Chair Force as many Marines called us 😅. I've got some stories about meeting those guys. The technology we have that most don't even know about would shock your most ardent gear head. I won't get into even the little bit that I know about. But it's amazing stuff. I have a buddy who is looking to go back, but he wants to go into the Space Force. I can't even imagine the stuff he might see if that happens.

There was a time when pilots had to shoot at their enemies through their propellers. We went from there to the ENIGMA machine where the British decided the German's UBOAT transmissions. Fast forward to the 60's and we had BlackHawk copters that could navigate in dense rainforests. Fast forward to the 90's and we had Hummers that could traverse the dryest deserts or the muddiest swamps. Fast forward ten more years and we had stealth bombers that were almost invisible to radar. Now we have bunker busters, and apparently drones that will fight for us. The next step is obvious and scary, if you believe the Terminator or Matrix movies. Maybe one day we could stop building things to destroy ourselves. Imagine if we used all those resources to build something like a space station, or a moon base. Heck maybe find Atlantis. If you believe it existed.

Strength of schedule is amusing to me in many ways. I know it's a metric that SEC people use quite often. But here's the problem. Let's say Texas, LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, and Ole Miss all start in the top 20. All of those teams automatically are given a boost when they play each other. Missouri can lose to Texas and they won't drop far. Texas will gain the boost from playing Missouri and it's labeled a top 15 win. Missouri can lose four games to top 15 teams and they won't drop. They will be given the benefit of the doubt because they lost to four top 15 teams. But Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, Washington, Maryland, and Michigan State will all start out the season with the same record as those in the SEC. They will not get the benefit of the doubt, and losses accrued will be punished far more severely. Oregon can beat Illinois before Illinois has a chance to prove they were a ten win team, and Oregon will not get the initial bump for beating Illinois, Nebraska, or Maryland. So each loss will lower their perceived ranking and the wins will give them less padding. After all losing to an unranked Illinois is far worse than a top 15 Missouri. But why did Missouri get the benefit of the doubt when the season started? Because they won ten games the season prior and won a Cotton Bowl over a less than motivated Ohio State squad. I don't know why this is hard to understand. I'm not jealous of other SEC squads and defecting my loyalties. First of all I am a fan of one team and will never cheer for Georgia or Tennessee in the playoff. If that makes me some kind of turncoat or Benedict Arnold, so be it. But we all know if you start on third base because of your brand or conference affiliation, you have a major headstart over those that have to win big from the start, and you better not lose even after you start off with a bang. A two loss Texas will always be given the benefit over a a one loss Indiana. If you don't take my word for it, look at this preseason SOS list. Go look at the last five years, look at the end season loss columns. Then look where those teams started the next year. Look where the benefit is given. https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other?date=2025-01-21

Napier said it's nothing that will go past next week. More precautionary.....I hope. Our season rests on that young man's arm.

I love and respect many things about Notre Dame. I love the history. I love Rudy. I love the fact Notre Dame not only has great football players, but great young men with high academic achievements. I love the song "Here Come The Irish". I love coach Holtz, even if he's a bit over the top. I love the sign "Play Like a Champion. I love Touchdown Gosh. I love the uniforms. But it's time for Notre Dame to join a conference. Actually it's time for college football to let Notre Dame know it's time to join a conference. Nobody has gotten more favorable positions than Notre Dame. They didn't have to split any of their playoff run revenue. They get that massive NBC deal, and they get their own special seat with the CFP committee. Time to save the ACC and join up Notre Dame.