🎶It's the most wonderful time of the year.🎶
Post here to follow along with all the bowls. The Military bowl and, I imagine, the playoffs will get their own threads.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Let's go bowling!
(dot) com
Georgia Southern - Ohio is getting chippy/sloppy
Can we just boycott the playoffs and not make threads for them?
Make this plaid
I haven't watched the playoffs in like 3 years no reason to start now
This is the way.
Yep. Fuck ESPN!
Updated my post for you.
App State wins the Cure Bowl, game had a combined 13 fumbles.
FCS Semi's, NDSU and Montana are in a one score game with under 10 minutes left.
FCS Semi's, NDSU and Montana are in a one score game with under 10 minutes left.
going into second OT
edit: helluva game
All the fcs games except the sdsu semi have been bonkers
The FCS playoffs are good stuff almost every year. This year has been especially good with 3 OT games so far.
Finally sitting down to watch some games. I hope Jerry Kill can get los Aggies going in the second half.
I really dislike both these LA bowl teams, I just want Gronk. Why is he not calling the game?
WTF is the Famous Toastery Bowl and is there any better proof that there are too many bowl games?
It's the Bahamas bowl... being played in Charlotte of course 😂.
I love the ridiculous bowls, but I wish they would be more creative about it. They shouldn't be allowed to be named just the sponsor's name.
I'm sorry but the san Diego state credit union poinsettia bowl is amazing name.
I think you mean San Diego county credit union poinsettia bowl.
No direct affiliation with the uni that I know of. Known as "sd-ccu" colloquially
But your point stands.
that one does keep the classic bowl name and just adds the sponsor in front. So, it does meet MaxNCheese's rule. And tbf, because I'm not sure if you think the name is actually good or not, it is a great name. The bowl actually originated in the 1950s for military service teams, thus was in San Diego (Pendelton, miramar, etc). Poinsettias are native flowers to San Diego that bloom in the holiday season. And because it is a flower, it is a play off of that other SoCal bowl known as the grandaddy of them all. And because the sponsor has San Diego in the name it easy to know the location of the bowl. It honestly is the most perfect bowl name.
8,000 in attendance in myrtle Beach today. Prob that many visitors to top golf.
The toast bowl lived up to expectations. I fucking love college football.
Holy cow how did ODU let wku sneak back in this
And a blocked FG to boot
And ODU tripped a ref lol
Ricky Ronnie is going to explode
I really wasn't expecting this to be entertaining when I turned this on and it was 28-0 odu.
Comedy hour...putting on a clinic on how to blow a game
2 blocked FGs, incredible
Need to remember this for hatin' on
Odu just did that.
Don't let the CFB playoff distract you from the fact that Old Dominion blew a 28-0 lead in the Famous Toastery Bowl.
Well, they sure LOOKED the part of toast.
Cole Pennington, son of Chad Pennington, gets the start at QB for Marshall. I feel a lot older now.
Just going to add insult to injury here
Damn. Damn. Damn. That's not right. They must have fogetten to carry the 1 or something.
Have not watched 1 second of any bowl games this year. Wondering if I can hold out until the Tech game.
Well don't start right now unless you want to see cuse shit the bed. They look really really really like they didn't want to be here.
A few years ago, I thought that you could pretty much pick the winner of the bowl game by listening to the descriptions of how focused 1 team was vs. the other. If one team was out having fun, they probably lose while the other was focused. Now, with all of the people opting out and so many players not caring (thinking of Florida vs. Oregon State last year) I suspect you could pick the winner with 90%+ certainty if you look at who is taking the game seriously and who could not care less.
Same. And unless the VT game is on a network not supported by the mouse, I won't be watching it either. I will be listening to Roth and Burnop, though.
Solving this problem by going to see it in person! Does look like a showery day though not an all day washout hopefully! :(
I was soaked through and through last time. So it can't be worse.
True-IIRC I was too. And sure as hell can't be worse than the Purdue game this year or the UNCheat hurricane game in Lane South a few yearsback!
Get there early. Lot of parking gets shut down for parade.
Syracuse rolling with TE at QB for bowl game and it's not going well, threw two INT'S then got pulled for a true freshmen who has thrown one pass all season. They are losing 31-0 to USF.
Yeah this is worse than the bowl game against UMd a couple years ago.
First time Cuse has been shutout in a bowl game
#whenyoujustdontcare
Good thing for Syracuse that nobody outside of these two fanbases is going to remember this game in two weeks.
Except us next time we do a hate thread for them.
New Syracuse QB McCord on sideline at the bowl game.
L O L
I'd love to see the stats on how "transitional" staffs do in bowl games. I don't think it's very good
Just think back to our bowl game vs MD when Fuente said "fuck it" and left before the season ended. Which, BTW, is pretty f*ing cowardly. Just tucked tail and ran at the first opportunity. Didn't bother to see it through with his players and coaches. What a schmuck.
Wasn't he asked to leave and knew he was going to be getting fired anyway? I mean I'm glad he left. Heck I wished he was gone well before that.
Ed Orgeron put it best, "Okay, which door do you want me to leave through"
I was glad he left when he did.
Seriously, by that point, he wasn't doing us (or him) any favors by staying.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was asked to leave. It may have been a "mutual parting of ways" meaning Tech wanted him gone. I am pretty sure they did it so they could name Pry as the next coach before the end of the season so he could try to keep the recruiting class. Pry was definitely in place before ESD that year, so I think your take is misguided. I think he let Price coach the bowl game because he didn't want to shake things up and hadn't named most of his staff yet.
I am pretty sure Whit said in the press conference announcing his departure that he was told he would not be retained at the end of the season and Fuente basically left on the spot. I am not sure if Whit would have announced him as a lame duck coach if he stayed, but it all worked out in the end (at least so far).
I hadn't listened to this before, but at about 6 minutes in, Whit does say Fuente was given the option of staying through the end of the season. I don't think it was a "cowardly" departure, I seem to recall in the last game or two Fuente coached, it was like he was thoroughly confused or uncertain what all was going wrong. Like frustration because he didn't know what to do. Sadly, getting rid of his OC probably would have been the thing, but by then it was too late.
I think calling it a cowardly thing to do is overly dramatic. I don't think any of us wanted him around and were happy that Price took over as interim HC. Regardless, that interview I linked to is a good listen, at least initially where he talks about what he was looking for in a new HC. I feel like he nailed it pretty well.
The way I remember it, Fuente was told he would not be retained after the season and had the option to coach it out or leave. So he bolted.
I still think it was low. But whatever, I was ready for him to be gone long before he was actually gone so I'm not complaining about it.
It was phrased as "mutual parting of ways" because it was a negotiated settlement on the buyout
He didn't leave before the bowl game. The announcement I saw was dated Nov. 16. Seeing that, I recall Price coached the UVA game also which made us bowl eligible. It looks like he also coached the Miami game before that. As I said in my other comment, I think the fans were actively booing him at games and he probably felt it was clear that nobody wanted him here and he may have (and I think rightly so) that the fans would cheer more for the team if he wasn't on the sideline.
Meh, if my employer tells me that my contract is being terminated and a buyout already being processed, they can fuck right off if they expect me to work an extra second for them. Unless you're paying me more to stay, I am not giving you an extra second of my time, I don't work for free.
💯💯💯 Came here to say the exact same thing.
As you watch the sporting world shit all over the ACC for the Syracuse loss while pushing the agenda that FSU needs to leave remember that the conference had the best bowl record multiple years in a row recently and it was completely dismissed by ESPN because the portal and players sitting out made it a complete crapshoot.
Is anyone actually doing this? The "sporting world" using it to "shit all over the ACC," that is?
The only thing I've heard about this bowl game is that it was so bad that the announcers started discussing Love, Actually.
They did, it was stupid as you'd expect, the discussing lov actually
Your comment made me check the score to see just how bad it was. 45-0. But hey, Syracuse won the time of possession battle 30:06 to 29:54! Must have been a close game :-).
At least this time it's against a P5 team from Florida.
Update: this one has turned into a good game
I watched the second half of the game. It was almost like the ghost of chinballs past visited the Jackets at halftime because I think I saw them throw all of 2 passes the whole second half and they just ground down UCF.
Good bounce back for the conference after the Syracuse debacle.
Look, we have the most teams going to bowls, even with the big ten getting a 5-7 team in there. We are bound to have a stinker when 79% of the conference makes it. The ACC doesn't have as many easy conference wins like the other P5 leagues, we have been set up to prop up the UGAs, and the Bamas, the Michigan's and the anOSUs of the world. When you send those 10th or 11th teams, they just might no be motivated because they just lost their coach because their the 11th team in the ACC. The 8th team In the SEC doesn't have to worry about that, they get their coaches contracted renewed.
It's silly to draw much from bowl season in general. However, the problem for the ACC from a perception POV, and again I don't think there is anything truly substantive to draw from most bowl games, is that the ACC has pretty favorable bowl tie-ins, for the most part. Most years we get multiple G5 opponents and historically a lot of our P5 vs P5 tie-ins feature a higher choice ACC team vs a lower choice other P5 team in terms of selection. Perhaps you remember the CFA bowl during the BCS era was ACC #2 vs SEC #5, the numbers being their selection hierarchy.
So, the ACC should end up around .500 or better most bowl seasons, and if they don't, or have outlier results like Syracuse getting treated like an FCS team by USF, it definitely doesn't "look" good, but for people acting in good faith, they won't be drawing significant conclusions, or any conclusions at all from a result like that.
There is one, singular criticism that I would draw from that Syracuse vs USF game, and I think it's already being addressed by the staff they hired: Even with opt-outs, and not having your QB, etc. The BASELINE talent level on a P5 team should be too high to lose to a G5 45-0.
To extend that to my frustrations with the ACC: There are 65 P5 teams, there are FOUR ACC teams OUTSIDE of the top 65 in team talent composite. That is unacceptable. That is what happens when you have a conference with teams that are not taking football seriously and treating it as a priority that it should be.
This is such a poignant comment, and it's so true. Nearly a third of the ACC schools aren't willing, able, or trying to compete at a P5 level. It winds up screwing the remaining teams (see FSU)
I wasn't trying to do a deep dive into anything, just observing that the Syracuse game was painful to watch (even the few minutes I saw). GT beating a team that took Oklahoma to the wire after being down 17-3 is good for conference perception - for whatever that's worth.
I do agree that there are a ton of unmotivated teams playing in these bowls, which is why I haven't watched very many of them.
I had the same vision - mostly just based on the brent Key interviews. It's like pj was possessing him.
Peebles with a sack already
Peebles was a monster. Finished the game by forcing that interception too. VT has a good one coming.
Man, Peebles looks great in this game against Troy today. Cannot wait to get this kid on our D-Line.
Lol damn, aTm taking strays from a mid bowl game
Armed Forces Bowl is in Fort Worth Texas and is a huge Longhorn fan base.
JMU having a tough time with the triple option. This could end up being one of the weirder shootouts I've ever watched.
Edit: and just like that 3 punts in a row. I'm not sure McCloud is going to survive this game
JMU goes down....ain't it grand. Air Force used Army tactics to run over 300 yards.
Edit: Sunbelt was 1-7 in bowls with Dukes loss. Georgia St brought them up to 2-7.
The final score is pretty deceiving too. Air Force took control about halfway through the second and JMU couldn't do anything about it.
and that 9+ minute scoring drive AF had in the 2nd half pretty much destroyed any hope of a come back.
Good. I couldn't have handled listening to jmu fans thumping their chests all off season
But but but, they didn't have a coach and the triple option doesn't count.
Air Force unveiled a ground invasion of the JMU Dukes
Hate to see it
Edit: d'oh, meant to reply to alum above re: JMU
Northwestern DB just tore a Utah guys helmet off and then hit him with it and officials only called it a face mask with no ejection. Game is on at the sports bar with a big contingent of Utah fans. They are losing their minds.
Looks like Eastern Michigan and South Alabama got into it after the game. South Alabama won 59-10 and were celebrating with fans when the Eastern Michigan player runs in.
Sucker punching someone in the back of their helmet though? Talk about letting your emotions run things. Most likely result is a broken hand.
He went full on Leroy Jenkins on that one. I can't imagine the teammates following him had the same in mind. They were tracking him to make sure he didn't die.
Well they couldn't help him if he is the one dragged by the pile of South Alabama players that proceed to curb stomp whoever it is they grabbed. If it wasn't him, whoever it was probably will want a closed locker room "discussion" with him at another time. Can't say I feel bad if it was him but it was ugly for both sides.
damn, I didn't know Trevon Hill wound up at EMU
I feel like these sorts of things happen way more now than they did even 20 years ago. Don't know how we begin to address it but I think it goes beyond the locker room, it has to start with mom & dad/analogous authority figures. The people that act this way were brought up thinking it's acceptable. Until that changes, we can expect more of this kind of ass-showing on a regular basis.
Guy should do jail time for that.
Same guy that ripped on a guy's face mask for 10 yards on a PR
Total clown shit.
That is one of the ugliest acts I have seen in a long time. That is straight out assault.
Accept the ass whipping you took on the field like an adult. And if you have a beef with someone at least be man enough to square up face to face.
Assault should be treated like, well, assault.
Criminal charges should be filed. Cannot be tolerated.
Agree. I said this about the UK game a few years ago and was roundly criticized because something something snitches. It's assault. You go to jail for it if convicted.
If someone assaults someone, snitch away.
We're not the Bloods and Crips, we're people living in a society.
The bloods and crips live in society too, do they not? Just they're a menace...
They're living in OUR society, so if they commit assault, they should go to jail.
Tate Rodemaker, FSU's backup QB, has opted out to transfer so Seminoles stuck with True Freshman Brock Glenn facing Georgia. Brings FSU opt out total to 16, nine of which were starters. Glenn threw for 55 yards against Louisville.
I hate dudes opting out of bowls. Let's see if UGA cares less than FSU apparently does now.
Georgia has actually had more opt outs than FSU but not nearly as many starters.
Good ole Lefty has his team in a bowl game vs Minnesota.
... I'm still not over the Lefty years, no hard feelings but go Minnesota.
Should have been Army beating Lefty with Minnesota sitting home.
Did they get in on academics or something? I saw they were 5-7...
Yep, highest Academic Progress Record of 5-7 teams.
My non VT bowl boycott has been quite enjoyable. The NFL really comes through this time of year and it feels nice not contributing to any espn ratings
My dude, I get not supporting ESPN, but why come into a thread where we, specifically, talk about bowl games and their outcomes, and flaunt about not watching bowl games? Lol
Because I still love CFB and spent 20 years of my life scheduling around watching as much football as possible.... and now the only way to protect what I love is to short circuit the current momentum.
Probably because that's where the people are.
I haven't watched any bowl games, either, and may not watch any other than the military bowl.
I'm interested in folks' perspectives, even if that perspective is a boycott of bowl games that some players are also opting out of.
The opt-out is a significant factor in these games, be it players or viewers, and sends a message.
Haven't watched any of the bowl games either. Two reasons. One, almost all the bowl games are snoozers and have been ever since they were to 1,000 post season bowl games. Watered down and lost its meaning. Two....yeah.... Boycotting.
Of course, I will watch the Military Bowl. The only other bowl I will probably watch is the FSU/UGA game. But, that's it.
There are dozens of us!
Have not watched 1 second yet. Just not interested given all the crap with the playoffs on top of all the lousy teams making bowls and so many players not caring enough to play. Yes, I know, if only good teams make a bowl game, Tech would not be in one this year. That would be okay with me as long as the bowl games were meaningful and teams were focused. Always bugged me that .500 teams make bowl games.
Best guess is I'll watch 3. I'll certainly watch 2 games: VT's and Iowa State's. Might watch the Washington game as I like them too. Part of me wants to see Michigan-Alabama because one of them has to lose. If Washington makes the championship game, maybe will watch, but probably not.
I put a couple games on yesterday because I need to test out a new projector and it was one of the few things to put on as background noise that not everyone would hate. But really, outside of having something on for the guys to watch at New Years and our own bowl games, I haven't watched any bowls in maybe 10 years or so.
And really, if it's not VT, I don't care much about college football anymore. The little that I am passionate about right now is making sure the future of VT sports is stable. If the ACC collapses and VT is left out in the cold, my interest in the sport, and collegiate athletics overall drops to 0. I'll follow Tech, but I will have no interest in the big picture of a community that tossed my school to the side like unwanted garbage.
At the end of the day, even though I "want" to believe we will get scooped up in the P2 scheme, I am preparing for this.
We belong in the P2 way more than some of the schools currently in those conferences. I'd say 6 to 8 of the Big 10+ and 3 to 4 of the SEC. Find me 9-12 schools you think deserve to be in more than us and I'll concede (assuming they drop the dead weight in their conferences, or even if they don't get rid of those, we'd be much more of a sell than Vandy, Rutgers, and Purdue). If I was the SEC, I'd take Carolina or NC State and us (and us over those since North Carolina is a basketball state).
Why not just use an illegal streaming service? Then you can avoid supporting espn, but also not have to watch the nfl.
Announcers in the Rice game w a slight troll of JT Daniel's w the "he has jerseys from USC and Georgia in his basement, and now, Rice too."
This rice v tex st game is entertaining as all get out. Between all the reviews, fouls, official huddles, and the funny sarcastic commentary.
Texas State with the BIG MAN TD
John is 100% correct
Was this the play Bronco was trying to run against us in 2021?
Yeah, but Dorian Strong blew that shit up!
FWIW Troy's TD against duke was a similar play.
Seeing Vance Vice and James Shibest on sidelines for UNLV is weird.
Didn't realize either was there, but haven't followed where the former staff went.
Barry Odom is now the head coach at UNLV, seems he brought in some of his former colleagues from his Memphis days.
He took over for Marcus Arroyo who was 7-23 and proceeded to lead the Rebels to 9-5 (9-3 regular season, lost the MWC championship game and their bowl game)
Reminds me of Battle at Bristol where they ran out of water around half. Never seemed to run out of Bud Light, but from my seat at the top of the stands, I saw Kroger trucks being unloaded at the back docks sometime in the 3Q.
Joe Milton, QB for Tennessee just opted out of the Citrus Bowl after being the #1 in all their bowl practices after getting selected to attend the Senior Bowl.
Tennessee has a 5* Freshman QB starting so guess they will get to see what he has
Really tacky of Milton to pull that.
I asked my Tennessee friend about this, and she said:
🤢
Daughter and I agree, need to replace the Mayo Bowl with the Ice Cream Bowl. Trophy is a big bowl given out full of ice cream and the winner gets to eat.
Seeing those shots of the mayo spinning in that ice cream machine was so wrong.
What was wrong was thinking it was sort of OK.
Is it sacrilege to root for WVU over UNCheat?
As a later in life hokie transplant - post black diamond series cessation - wvu is far less distasteful, but I acknowledge I don't bear the weight of history.
I'm the same way.
I also feel like WVU is a sympathetic program because they got screwed in realignment. Very similar to Oregon State, Wazzu, and others who got left behind and/or forced into undesirable situations.
Meteorite game.
Hopefully the stadium floods with mayo.
I would absolutely LOVE to see someone with computer tech savvy come up with a visual of this using AI or whatever....
I tried, but don't have any experience with generative AI. This still made me laugh though.
I continued to attempt to prompt the AI and I got very close before steering into nightmare territory. I apologize for what you are about to see.
Yesssss!!! This is golden
Thank you for ALL these- made me laugh so hard I was crying...kinda like watching UVA try to play football!
We are all going to die. AI has ushered in the end times.
I don't know - how important is it for the conference to do well? I'd rather the conference do well so that, if we do incredibly well in the next year or two, and we could potentially make the playoffs, we wouldn't get dismissed like FSU.
It matters none. FSU had two wins over SECteams and the Acc was what 7-5 against them in the regular season?
How much of that was because they were on their 3rd string QB? Say FSU goes undefeated again and we play them in the ACCCG, you think we'd get ignored (assuming we were a zero or one loss team). The point is that if the ACC was better overall, does FSU still get left out? I think the answer is no. I mean, even with the ACC SEC W/L record, who were the really good teams in the ACC?
The ACC had two 10 win teams, the SEC and Big 10+ each had 4. We need the ACC to be better overall.
The problem is whoever decided to make a 4 team playoff with a sport that has 5 "power" conferences.
With it going to the 12 team format next year this question will mean less. The difference between number 13 vs number 12 will be the arguing point but we won't be talking about undeafted conference Champs looking for an at large bid at number 13.
I don't think FSU is a top 4 team in the country without Travis. But they deserved their shot as an undefeated P5 champ. The perception of the conference is being driven by the media and the acc has not helped themselves at all in that regard. I believe the acc wouldn't blink an eye if they could cut football and just play Olympic sports + basketball.
You can never root FOR the cousins. You can however, root for UNC to lose
Look at that crowd. You damn well know that Charlotte didn't want UNC and much preferred the VT-WVU matchup. But with the FSU screwjob it sounds like politics forced their hand to take the in state school (whose fans can't be bothered to show up)
100% sold out game if it was the battle for the black diamond trophy. I'd be there doing mayo shots.
Yeah absolutely insane miscalculation to choose UNC instead of VT
The UNC fans are of the aluminum variety
Easily recycled and pronounced oddly in England?
The look on sack brown's face after the fake field goal was priceless
Dude looked like he turned in his retirement papers last month.
Reminds me of Ole Mac-N-Cheez Brown fumbling around with his headset looking a bit lost and confused during the post COVID Enter Sandman entrance at 11 second mark of video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdmBJoMtLjw
WVUs helmets/Unis are sick
Get rekt unc lol
Have a feeling aTm gonna get boatraced
I know a lot wanted to play USC, but I'm still pretty happy not playing them.
Louisville got Moss'ed.
As an alum of SC and VT, that was the matchup I was hoping VT would get. But I would've been pissed if VT got stomped like that by that USC team.
Thursday does not look like a good day for the ACC. SMU is favored by 10.5 over BC, Rutgers by 1.5 over Miami, and Kansas State by 2.5 over NCState.
Feel like Miami NC state ML gonna be my play then...only hesitancy is nc states lb was like their Tom Brady on defense and not sure they'll be so formidable without
NCState was blistering hot at the end of the season...
And this aged terribly
Betting against Miami in a cold-weather bowl game is easy money.
Betting against Miami
in a cold-weather bowl gameis easy money.FIFY
They've won one bowl game in their last 11, or something to that effect. Miami losing is almost automatic money in a bowl.
Wednesday wasn't very good either. UNC did UNC things and Louisville got embarrassed by a mediocre USCondoms team.
On behalf of Hokie nation, you're welcome ACC.
Lol #1 is like, "Damnit here we go again"
Not as egregious as Cory Holt's haymaker on Frank's face, but #1 totally could have saved Mack if he looked for another half second.
#MACKWASPUSHED😂😂😂
Maybe he was just tired of catching him.
UNC didn't hide it from us. Made $ on the cousins. Just have to believe them when they show you who they are.
Time for Mack to stop milking the golden parachute and let someone else take over. He's done as a game day coach. They under-achieve every season based on all the talent he pulls- much of it at VT's expense. and his defense has been largely horrid since he's been there.
Mack Brown's entire tenure at UNC has been fool's gold, right from the start.
Yet somehow, it's still working as far as recruiting goes.
It boggles the mind. He's made the ACC championship game once and lost it (also the only year he managed to finish the season ranked). Does a national championship ring he won almost 20 years ago at a different school carry that much weight?
It doesn't boggle my mind at all. He had Dre Bly and Tim Brewster on staff at some point. The best recruiters in the business. Also, the Jordan Brand- worn by fucking Michigan yesterday- lol- Hi Chris Webber- still clearly resonates with 18 year old kids. It's still a very relevant shoe/brand. So that sells. UNC is the example of where modern recruits clearly don't care about fan support, winning, etc.
BC hanging in there, although the weather is doing more to stop SMU than BC. Castellanos hasn't done anything and he's going to have to get mobile in order for them to win this game.
Welcome to the ACC Mustangs. The level of the play in the ACC and the American is night and day.
The ACC doesn't get any respect, but the disparity between the top 5 leagues and everyone else is still enormous. In fact it's probably grown since the introduction of the portal
if yesterday and today are any indicators then SMU is going to be a bottom-dweller in football for a few years.
Maybe, I think they will spend the money to upgrade talent very quickly.
The top 2 AAC schools both lost to 6-6 ACC teams.
That's because the ACC is a strong league with lots of talent and the most bowl teams. It's competitive and not top heavy like some leagues.
Don't look now but BC has taken control...
Welcome to the ACC, Mustangs. You just got owned by a middle of the pack ACC team.
Miami just looks.... awful... and uncoordinated across the board... and getting out-worked
I don't know where to put this, but I love seeing Miami being garbage
Gee, coming from cardale jones of all people...
"We don't come here to play school"
Not sure i'd take any life advice from this tool
From the Ohio State University of Portrait Tattoos: The original Name Image & Likeness program
People on here snark this and disagree- but if you examine the last 60 years of Miami football, the only periods where they really won big- 9, 10, 11 games and major bowls was when they were cheating on a large scale. It is a fact that people continue to deny. Fact. Sure Randy Shannon may have won the sun bowl, etc- but if you are honest and paying attention, for Miami to win big, they need to cheat big. the past 60 years.
Yup
Who denies that Miami wins by cheating?
The only disagreement I've noticed is against the assertion that VT should try to copy the formula.
Listening to the espn crew during ncsu v ksu lament the kids opting out and how it's not the right way to do it drips with irony.
Your employer broke cfb, so cope harder.
God damn, Armstrong just got fuckin popped!!
This is exactly the effort I expected out of Miami for this game.
Peak Cristobal.
I want to be clear, this is a complete Nebraska situation. I understand getting rid of Frank Solich, but not for Bill Callahan. WTF was Miami thinking here.
I think their mistake was firing Solich. That program had an identity and continuity, and the moment their AD fired Solich and hired someone with a different vision they torched all of that. And they haven't recovered...
Solich was coaching just fine but he wasn't recruiting well. And Nebraska needed to modernize at some point, but Bill Callahan hadn't been part of college football for more than a decade, hadn't been a head coach for more than 2 seasons, had no ties to Nebraska.
A smart coach would have tried to keep the offense similar but upgrade it and keep the defense nasty. The biggest issue was 2001 was a bad time for hiring option guys. Paul Johson went to Navy, RichRod to WVU. Had Nebraska moved to one of their offensives they could have continued but in a more relevant way than the old speed option. You probably could have convinced Mark Sewak to come to Nebraska to install the Paul Johnson offense but Georgia Southern is his Alma Mater, so who knows.
Nope none of that happened because Bill Callaham though he knew better than everyone else and they'd run the west coast offense because it was the rage. Bill Walsh was a genius everyone was saying around that time (no debating that fact). People were even suggesting West Coast for Vick in ATL (terrible idea). Just because Joe Montana and Steve Young excelled doesn't mean it's for everyone. They are Joe Montant and Steve Young. How many of those type of players you think Nebraska can get? Or any team.
Saw it live and knew something looked wrong...that is just inexcusably bad. How does someone on the sideline not notice that and call a T/O???
Cristobal is a great recruiter but he is absolute garbage as a GameDay coach.
I don't see this ending well at all, but I'm all-in for the hilarity that will ensue from the continued ineptitude.
So far, there's only been one bowl that had sell-out turnstile bodies in the stands. The Military Bowl.
(35,849 in capacity of 34,000)
There have been 9 bowls with under 15,000 bodies in the stands.
Only 5 other bowls with more bodies in the stands than the Military.
14 bowls with under 50% capacity.
4 others so far over 80%
-new mexico bowl w new mexico st
-66 ventures with capacity of 25k
-first responder in dallas with texas st vs rice
-holiday
Really interesting.
Looks a lot like local(ish) team driving interest in a lot of those, even ours (I don't recall what the 66 ventures one is...)
I will say as a former resident of San Diego, the Holiday bowl is actually more of a locals thing than anything else. Like it was sold out at Qualcomm for Washington state v Michigan state.
Only other game so far "over" capacity was Notre Dame's bowl.
Particularly impressive given the rain -which had been forecast for a week or more prior to gameday!
Final tally:
Rose was at 108.8% of capacity.
Miliary was at 105.4%
Sun was at 104.9%
Sugar wasn't 100% full!
Final count was 65.3% full
myrtle beach 8,059 21,000 38.4%
celebration 41,108 75,000 54.8%
new orleans 14,485 73,000 19.8%
cure 11,121 44,206 25.2%
new mexico 30,822 37,440 82.3%
LA 32,780 71,500 45.8%
toastery 5,632 15,300 36.8%
frisco 11,215 20,500 54.7%
independence 33,071 52,000 63.6%
boca raton 20,711 29,571 70.0%
gasparilla 30,281 65,844 46.0%
birmingham 20,023 47,100 42.5%
camelia 11,310 25,000 45.2%
armed forces 30,828 46,000 67.0%
idaho potato 12,168 36,387 33.4%
66 ventures 20,926 25,450 82.2%
las vegas 20,897 65,000 32.1%
hawaii 7,089 17,000 41.7%
quick lane 28,521 64,500 44.2%
first responder 26,542 32,000 82.9%
guaranteed rate 26,478 48,405 54.7%
holiday 35,317 42,445 83.2%
texas 55,212 71,195 77.6%
military 35,849 34,000 105.4%
mayo 43,925 73,778 59.5%
alamo 55,883 64,000 87.3%
pop tarts 31,111 65,000 47.9%
fenway 16,238 35,000 46.4%
pin stripe 35,314 54,251 65.1%
gator 40,132 67,858 59.1%
cotton 70,114 100,000 70.1%
sun 48,223 45,971 104.9%
liberty 48,789 58,325 83.7%
orange 63,324 64,992 97.4%
peach 71,230 75,000 95.0%
music city 50,088 69,143 72.4%
arizona 30,428 50,782 59.9%
reliaquest 31,424 65,844 47.7%
fiesta 47,769 65,000 73.5%
citrus 43,861 65,000 67.5%
rose 96,371 88,565 108.8%
sugar 68791 74000 93.0%
1,463,460 2,242,352 65.3%
Mayo Bowl shedding greasy tears since Wednesday.
WVU fans showed up. Embarrassing that UNC can't get any fans to a bowl game in Charlotte. Seemed like the Mayo Bowl was trying hard to get VT vs WVU but UNC cried and whined and got their way.
This showing by UNC both performance and attendance will be noticed by all the bowl sponsors. I think they are going to be picked last from here on out or at least as late as possible depending on selection tiers.
Tech has solidified that we travel well and actually try in the bowl. Which in the realm of opt outs is actually important.
I think you are over estimating the memory of Bowl committee members. They won't remember shizz in the future, only look at the team's record and the fact that they just had 3 martinis on the Bowl's dime.
Tech and Notre Dame are the true outliers in the show-up-and-put-seats-in-the-seats category.
You're only looking at half of the picture. The bowl leadership pick on turnstile count and ad revenue. Don't know what the viewership numbers looked like, but that has to be factored in as well.
I hope they don't look at viewership numbers to closely. I saw a report that had the Hokies at dead last in the ACC for viewership last year. But I freely admit I have no idea if that was non-streaming, streaming, overall, etc.
I know what you're talking about and its worth remembering that Tech was on the ACCN a lot this year, and that network does not report viewership numbers. The metric basically counted like half our schedule as 0 people watching and slotted us last because of it.
alum is correct, it counted ACCN as 0 viewers. i recall someone on r/cfb doing that adjustment for ACCN games, i think we were fourth after FSU, Miami, and Clemson in some order
Phew, wipes forehead.
I have been struggling to find a reason why everybody (media at least) ranks UVA as more desirable than Tech. Academically they are stronger overall but an athletic conference should care about athletics first not academics. Our football program is much stronger than theirs. Our women's basketball program is much stronger, and the Hokies have won the ACC in men's basketball championship more recently than UVA. Our Olympic sports have been getting better and better and routinely outperform UVA.
No conference rwally cares about Olympic sports.
Dont tell this to Tobacco Road.
Unfortunately the ACC is home to about 6 schools that do and is about to add the Granddaddy of all Olympic Sports schools in Stanford.
UVA, UNC, Duke, Syracuse and Wake Forest all invest heavily in soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, swimming & diving and other Olympic Sports. They definitely the time and effort here more than most conferences. FSU focuses a ton of resources on soccer, softball and baseball while still being a football school.
I'll tell tobacco road why the conference is dying and point to them not being football schools. Football funds everything. Why would i put Duke vs UNC basketball on ESPN when I am paying more than twice as much for Auburn vs Tennessee. I'll put the ACC on ESPN2 and be done with it. Then everything thinks its not as big a game as it once was because its not on ESPN. Every SEC school can outspend the ACC on every sport now. You can invest heavily but if the SEC wants to start getting into lacrosse, they will and they will throw money at it like no other because they have it. The SEC schools make 80% of UVA's budget from ESPN. That's a lot of ground to cover if those schools want to start being good at some other sport.
Yes, we are aware that the conference is on its death bed
These numbers are what the bowl committees are looking at when they say Hokie fans travel well and why we are one of the prize schools at our win count on Selection Day.
Absolutely. Any why I figured we'd be in Annapolis all along. Charlotte is cool and all, but with the military tie-in, the alumni base, and our past presence in Annapolis, it was a perfect fit.
It's awesome and speaks volumes about our fanbase for being able to travel and put asses in the seats.
Now if we could just harness that enthusiasm and get those same fans to contribute a little every month to Triumph or the HokieClub, we wouldn't be lagging in donations
Apparently our alumni do give but it's to the academia and not the sports
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/colleges-where-the-most-alumni-donate
These kind of numbers is how we got to the Sugar Bowl in 2012, and why were are routinely put in higher bowls than you'd normally expect, like the Peach before it became NY6. Our fans will travel. They will buy tickets, they will rent hotels, and they will pack your venue in. They will turn your event into a money making opportunity in an era where they are becoming increasingly few and far between.
This mindset also applies to our fans traveling to away venues as well, and is a very sneaky reason why we are going to end up in the P2 when the ACC collapses.
I really hope you're right, but I'm not convinced traveling, passionate fans are a top metric the P2 will use to figure who (if anyone) to add. I think they'll look at viewership as a reflection of how much a school can draw the non-passionate fans.
I've been to Shreveport, Charlotte, Atlanta-(Georgia Dome AND Atlanta Fulton County Stadium), Annapolis, and Orlando for bowl games, Atlanta for Chick Fil A preseason kickoff classic also); within ACC- C'ville(Lane North), UNC (Lane South), Duke(Lane Southeast), Wake(Lane southwest)-those four it's almost hard to call them away games as Hokies usually equal or outnumber the home fans.
Also GT(Atlanta-Bobby Dodd Stadium) ), Pitt, Purdue (West Lafayette), Notre Dame (South Bend), OSU (Columbus), ODU(Norfolk), UT(Bristol)
If my usual partner in crime hadn't been incarcerated for DUI this fall (so maybe not the best term?),
we would've hit Rutgers in Piscataway, Marshall in Huntington, Louisville in Louisville, and MAYBE FSU in Tallahassee.
So that's 16 away stadiums. I think that's respectable!
Hoping to hit Vandy in Nashville next fall as well as USCe in Atlanta (Mercedes Benz stadium- 4th venue in Atlanta), MD-College Park in 2026, Clemson in 2026, and would love to do (but unknown if can manage yet) SMU-in Dallas, Cal in Berkeley, , Stanford in Stanford, BYU in Provo, Arizona at Tucson, Ole Miss at the Grove in Oxford, Bama at Tuscaloosa , and (no laughing please...the game COULD happen....Wisconsin at Camp Randall in Madison. (Still pissed at Michigan for denying a chance to go to the Big House, and PSU for Happy Valley not being on the list.)
We've had season tickets for the past 7 years and have missed a handful of games but our road trips are severely lacking which is sad seeing as how we can get anywhere easily by flying. We were hoping to change that this year but there were some personal things that got in the way. Hopefully we can change that next year.
Klempson needs to get their heads out of their arses. They are not helping the argument about the ACC being a competitive conference.
I get the feeling reading last year and this one: dabo just can't in the current climate and they are regressing fast. Specifically the portal approach. Almost every coach has accepted it in short order and he seems to refuse to use it.
I honestly think they're done. And I look forward to our matchup next year (I am pretty sure we play them)
Maybe NIL money is more effective than funneling money to players through churches.
NIL is easier because it's taxed and you don't have to launder it, so you can give more.
17-0 run good enough for you? 6:45 left in the 4th)
Not when their defense then turns to swiss cheese
The Klempson D has been sink or swim. Forced three TOs, but letting the UK receivers run wild.
Clemson Kentucky has been a rollercoaster. Very entertaining game.
Klempsoning in its finest form. Defense has given up two straight three play 75 yard TD drives.
Refs being paid to get the SEC the win. Absolutely shoulda been a PF called on that Klubnik run for a late hit outta bounds.
That started way inbounds
Watch the play before KYs 2nd TD, the reciever ran over the DB and was wide open because of offensive PI.
We doing unironic meaningless bowl game conference ref conspiracies?
Yes. Yes we are.
And now a borderline call for intentional grounding.
That is the definition of grounding. What is borderline?
What's borderline about it was people wanted Clemson (ACC) to win the football game against Kentucky (SEC).
It was a clear grounding call.
Meh.
I think fsus snub is more about fsu than it is about the acc. Clemson would have been in if they weren't tanking so mediocerally (did I spell that non-word right?)
It's all the same and silly. Clemson barely beating Kentucky in a bowl game with a +3 turnover margin doesn't undo that Kentucky already beat Louisville at home, during the regular season, when Louisville still had major goals to play for.
The narrative damage in regards to Kentucky and Louisville as it relates to their conferences (and FSU) was already done.
Clemson still won
Opt outs impact a lot of these games
ACC was 6-4 during the regular season including Louisville's loss in their rivalry game
The problem is when you write out those 10 games and list where they finished in their conferences.
Not really? Miami stuffed A&M in a locker and Florida State made LSU look like they belonged in the Sun Belt. Those count just as much as the rivalry game that Kentucky pulled out vs Louisville.
Not saying the ACC is better, but the idea they're on totally different levels is ludicrous (crap)
Florida State was also the best team in the ACC and LSU finished third in their division.
The point is the data points still aren't particularly useful as holistic conference comparisons, even when I agree that these are the two best ACC wins over SEC teams. Half of those ACC wins were over South Carolina 2x (6th in SEC East) and Vanderbilt (7th in SEC East). What are you deriving from that? Conversely, what is there to gather from Georgia Tech losing to the SEC East champ and the 2nd place SEC West team? Not much to glean there either.
Over a larger sample the wins and losses become more statistically relevant, but with samples this small there is nothing wrong with contextualizing them.
Additionally, drawing any conclusions whatsoever about conferences and bowl season is a fools errand. It's better to look back at the pre/early season games and look for some metrics.
Yep. They are very rarely useful data points. Every once in awhile you get a gem like the Sugar Bowl last year with zero opt-outs. That's about as close as you get to a relevant bowl data point. Even then, it requires too much context to hold much weight.
They're only useful when they prove your point.
Just like using records to select playoff participants.
Ah, true but, e$pn and every other sports outlet will throw up the bowl win/loss records per conferences and make talking points out of them (yeah talking about you paul finebum). To the die-hard educated college football fan (25% roughly), they'll know not to put much stock in it because of opt-outs, portal entrants, late season injuries and just the total fact that the bowl season is as watered down as flat, restaurant served diet coke. But to the casual college football fan (probably 75%) they'll take what the media/sports outlets feed them as the gospel and this is what drives the narrative.
on the replay the QB looked awfully close to being out of the pocket based on where the RT was lined up..
With the way Klempson's D has played, 17 seconds is still a decent amount of time left for UK to get in FG range...
No kidding... Just accidentally posted this on another thread.
Kentucky coaching staff on that last drive put on a clinic on why you SHOULD use your timeouts on defense. They let their completely gassed defense stay out there for four consecutive positive Clemson plays with zero pass rush. Everyone was so clearly tired.
Get fucked Kentucky
wild 4th quarter with 42 points
Without context, that makes it sound like it was two teams playing high-caliber football, desperate to win, refusing to be denied, but in context it was two teams desperately trying to lose any time they had an ounce of momentum.
Oh yeah it was pure sloppy college football. It was glorious.
Man really thought he was doing something with that spin lmao
I wonder often if Justin Fuente, and coaches with a similar situation as his, wishes he had just stayed at Memphis and continued his success.
Sometimes in life it is difficult to understand where your sweet spot is.
Big thing in coaching. I think there are lots of GOOD football coaches, but there isn't one specific way to be a good football coach, and it doesn't translate to all levels/situations of the sport. The constant ambition to move up sinks a lot of guys who were better suited for a role/level they already had.
Ugh. After a horrid 1st quarter, looked like my Cyclones were making a game of it. Giving up the FG at the half sucked.
Maybe you should get some more bourbon
Maybe. Wife gave me some for Christmas. Again, trying to make a game out of it, but just can't fully close the gap.
With that said, Iowa State has a lot in common with VT. Bad or pretty bad last year, both show significant improvement this year and both look to be on the upswing with 2024 likely better. Think both have a shot at 9 or 10 wins next year. Those numbers are optimistic, but possible.
Memphis just got away with multiple offensive pass interference on 3rd and 10 play. Tight end and two WR were blocking before pass was thrown.
Was it inside the 5 yd line (from line of scrimmage)? If I'm not mistaken, receivers can run into defenders inside 5 yds and even push them around before the ball is thrown.
If i was mizzou's coach, Johnnie Walker Jr wouldn't play another snap in this game. What a bone headed thing to do.
But then he wouldn't have won the defensive MVP...
And I don't know what it is, but I would absolutely love to hit ryan day with a Mike Tyson left hook and just rearrange his nose. Something about that dude really just makes me angry.
Something about
that dudeanOSU coachreally just makes me angry.Really great showcase here for two of the top teams this year in the Power 2 /s.
I know OSU is on QB3 but yeesh. That was bad football
This Cotton bowl is a disaster. Missouri shouldn't have worn black and yellow, they're playing like they're Iowa
Got the yellow block M to troll OSU though
How are there this many defenders running untouched to the QBs? Did both QBs through their Oline under the bus earlier this week? I can't think of a time where I've seen worse pass blocking by top 15 teams.
Mizzou with back to back 90+ yard TD drives to take control.
Rooting interests are tough here. Clear meteor game, but everyone will think Ohio State is good regardless. Mizzou winning sets up the narrative of "how strong the SEC is". Least bad scenario is OSU wins and everyone's perceptions stay the same. So go Buckeyes
The sec has made hay feasting on overrated osu teams over the years....
Idk, i tried but my hatred for osu won out and found myself pulling for mizzou. Then just now i heard the "$EC" chants and became pissed because both teams should be able lose.
Yeah that's pretty much the same experience I had
At this point the SEC chants are mocking the mocking SEC chants after the original SEC chants that started around 06-07ish...
Hard to tell where in the irony cycle we are
I love seeing the best the Big 10+ has to offer lose. If I'm not mistaken, they are the only conference that has had a team get shut out in the history of the playoffs, and it happened to two of their teams. The Big 10 may be good, but doesn't seem nearly as good as everyone thinks.
Me too and I don't mind seeing mizzou win this as a program but the whole $EC chest thumping shit is what I can't stand. I'm sure paul 'no gag reflex' finebum will be all over this victory in the morning.
You just haven't met enough Big 10 fans. "Where'd you go to college?" "THE Ohio State University" Also Penn State grads are convinced they're in the hunt for the playoffs every year. Also, I want to say the Michigan grads I've met were dicks. Plus, every year all the sportscasters talk about how amazing the Big 10 is, and everyone drinks the Kool-Aid, and yet they're the only conference to get shut out in the playoffs? I think Clemson has more Nattys since the playoffs than all of the Big 10.
Same here. OSU losing is always a good thing. Incredibly obnoxious fanbase. And I don't get the love from many for the Big Ten/hoping VT ends up there one day. Playing games against Iowa Purdue Illinois etc. and boring three yards and a cloud of dust football...no thanks.
Rooting interests the rest of the way:
Penn State over Ole Miss - Another meteor game but screw the SEC
Auburn over Maryland - Fuck Maryland
FSU over Georgia - Praying for a miracle, it's 2nd and 3rd string down the roster for FSU and their best player who didn't opt out is Wahoo softy Fentrell Cypress
Wyoming over Toledo - Interesting game, Wyoming has a way of suffocating teams for 4 quarters just the more interesting team imo. It's a shame these cool G5's don't get a shot at a P5 opponent.
Wisconsin over LSU - Anti-SEC
Oregon over Liberty - They could legit win by 50 and I'm here for it
Iowa over Tennessee - Would be hilarious.
Michigan over Alabama - Hope it's a blowout, but won't be watching this fake game
Washington over Texas - Goes without saying.
Washington - I don't watch the Natty if they lose in the semis
#OptimalOutcomes
I believe one did just recently. It didn't go so well for the G5 squad.
And people wonder what happened to college football.
Right? Clearly, we need MORE food mascots and awesome trophies!!! lol
Im hoping that last image is a coconut shrimp of some kind, because it really looks like it could be something else
Its so small and limp though...
Not sure if this is better or worse by changing the angle....
Dang, didn't realize the one on the right was a mascot. I thought it was just Paul Johnson...
Phucking Brilliant!!! 😂😂😂
I mean, the visual of the costume itself is hilarious, but now that you have planted the "Chin Balls" effect....one can't unsee it.
LOL
Ohio State fans, once again, want Ryan Day gone. Fuckin' entitled lil shits, I swear... No team does less with more than Ohio State, they're the Cowboys of the college world.
Miami and UNCheat are right there with them(albeit in a slightly lower talent level)
They've won 8 national championships and 39 Big10 championships
I get both sides of the Ryan Day things. On one hand, OSU is the easiest program to win at in the country IMO, and Ryan Day hasn't don't that. On the other hand, I don't know who you're getting who is definitely better. They could take a risk on an unknown quantity like Sherrone Moore (would be fascinating). They could try to rehire Luke Fickel (who has really improved as a coach since being the interim at OSU). They could try to poach a sitting head coach (Debore?). But none of those things seem like an upgrade.
If I were an OSU fan, I'd wait until the 12 playoff starts. That playoff is built for OSU to win.
If he loses 4 straight to Michigan he will in fact be fired. It sucks, but it is what it is at that program. You must beat Michigan on a regular basis. Same thing for Michigan - if Harbaugh didn't beat OSU 2 years ago, he was going to catch real live heat for it.
Isn't that what makes college football great? That osu fans hate Michigan so much that 4 straight losses would be unacceptable?
Its pro football now. And that makes those type of fans even more pathetic. OSU players are paid 7 figures to beat michigan. Just like the cleveland browns are to beat the detroit lions. If you take that shit life or death, I can't help you. It's pro football with marching bands.
No one is paying the Browns players to beat anyone, they are paid to take a beating from good teams.
Eh, not many of them
lol - my bad- Miami players are paid 7 figures to lose to GT I guess.
I'll start off by saying anOSU loss is always enjoyable... but that game was unwatchable. I'm am squarely in the camp that the window for the transfer portal needs to be after all the bowl games are done.
Biggest problem there is the differing enrollment dates for schools so the kid can get in for the Spring semester. Some schools start back as early as January 2nd, others as late as January 22nd. They would need to convince the educators to completely change their Academic schedule to accommodate the transfer windows being post-bowl games. I dont see school Presidents being willing to work on that. Hell, Hokies cant even get Sands to lose that awful "school" logo.
Next season will also be interesting to see with the expanded playoffs and teams 5-12 possibly having to play three additional games and what effect that has on bowls/fanbases. You likely get less early transfers from the top programs but also less top teams in post Christmas bowl games if they are in the playoffs. Championship game next year is after many schools enrollment windows for Spring semester so that could also flare up as a major issue.
Enrollment? The kids in the transfer portal aren't there to play school, right? There's no good way to fix this, if its even fixable, but here are some options:
- Move the bowl games up. Way up. Like, the week after the conference championship games are done. Blow-up the whole idea of a new year's bowl celebration for the sake of having watchable football games
- Move the start of the season up to mid-august, and slide the whole schedule to the left with it
- Cut back on the number of allowed regular season games by 1
- Re-institute the 1-year waiting period when transferring -OR- not permit the transferring kid to be on scholarship (can still play, but has to be enrolled and paying their own way)
- Flip the season - college football begins in mid-January, ends in May; NFL draft slides to June
2 things there that I would dearly love to see are cutting back the number of regular season games and re-instituting the 1 -year waiting period for transfers. Who wants to see Alabama vs. Troy or Oklahoma vs. Northern Iowa? And the transfer free-for-all is just the biggest single thing killing my interest.
Move transfer portal so enrollment is during summer. There is no longer a penalty to sit out a year so what will one semester hurt? Hopefully this would also encourage players to finish out the season with their team. Won't affect any players intending to go pro. I am also all for getting rid of early signing day. Too much going on before the season is even over. The ever changing rosters really takes the wind out of the sail for me a bit. Gets closer to pro football every year it seems.
EDIT: the coaching carousel is also getting to be something to the detriment of the sport. I'm not for holding the athletes to a different standard than the coaches. There should be some incentives for coaches to finish their seasons out as well. Moving everything back to the spring/summer would hopefully slow down these early season firings.
Also fuck scumbag coaches.
The semester hurts because then the players can't spend spring practices with their new team.
Small penalty to pay perhaps. Might make it a little bit less like free agency but perhaps it wouldn't affect it much at all.
I mean... good? Maybe this is the tradeoff - You can transfer and be eligible immediately, but your ability to familiarize yourself with the new team is extremely limited... kinda like being an incoming freshman under a typical Fall enrollment.
Kids will still opt out though. It doesn't matter if the transfer portal opens in December or July, the kids aren't going to play in an exhibition for no reason.
I think bowls need to move to week 1.
Right, with this logic, Milroe should only play SEC games. Bama isn't losing to the Citadel or South Alabama or whomever out of confrence, so why play? The Christian McCaffrey logic- unless the game is worthy of my effort I am not playing in it. Fuck my schools fans, fuck my team mates, I am only playing in what I feel are "important" games. Why should Tuten play against VMI? with this logic, he shouldn't. Mike Norvell gave every FSU fan a middle finger and makes no apologies. That fuck trotted out his scout team in a NY 6 bowl game- fuck the fans staying in hotels, rental cars, etc. Fuck them- I am playing my spring practice team. The fact that people defend this is fucking crazy. My fixes are simple and reasonable : No pay for play, Reduce ticket prices for a certain number of opt outs, set a number of opt outs where the team is forced to forfeit the game, and allow one unconditional transfer- no more DJ Ungiliai bullshit- one transfer. Or just head down the path we are headed down- pro football, no people at bowl games, half of your roster turning over, no loyalty, etc. Yeah get off my lawn, but ask the fiesta bowl why it used to sell out and now can't beg people to go?
This implies Mike Norvell had a choice on who he sent out on the field. Coaches can't control opt outs. They can try to influence them, sure, but what leverage does he have if the kid is leaving his program? ZERO.
Honestly, any FSU fan that went to that game had to know it was coming if they had paid any attention.
I would actually use NIL to incentivize your players to play in bowl games. I would also discourage portal entry.
I would set up NIL contracts to include a "roster retention bonus." Because NIL does not allow for terms to be related to roster status or game play, a collective like Triumph could have a large bonus for being a "Triumph Athlete" on a date in January (like Jan. 5 or so). Further, I would set conditions for being a "Triumph Athlete" to mean that the player has not entered the portal or opted out of a bowl game activities for any reason. And thus, if the player is still a Triumph Athlete on Jan 5, they get paid a large sum of their NIL agreement.
There would need to be carveouts that make it fair for the player as well, such as when it is mutual decision for the player to enter the portal, injury, etc. But, this would dramatically improve the opt-out, transfer-heavy world that is rampant in college football.
It's not about being worth the effort; it's about being worth the risk... which brings us to:
Jordan Travis got injured in a game against Abaleane Christian or something. How much did that injury cost him in the draft? How much did it cost FSU? This is the problem with a violent sport like football.
I know we don't see eye to eye on this, but the issue isn't just the players - coaches, bowl directors, TV execs, conference commissioners, etc are all making a shit ton of money - if you want to de-professionalize the sport, let's not focus on just the players.
I think this is surprisingly reasonable.
Funny thing is that until this year (he's hurt now of course) McCaffery is ALWAYS hurt, always injured. God forbid he play in Stanfords bowl though. Might get hurt.
Shorten the season back to where it was. 11 games, tops. Advance the bowls a week.
The only thing stopping them from fixing this is tradition and money. The powers that be will be more willing to forgo the former than the latter.
Why will advancing the bowls earlier stop people from opting? At the end of the day, bowl games are an exhibition.
If you want to avoid the opt-outs, you need to make them not exhibitions, and instead make them regular season games.
The post I responded to said transfer, not opt out.
What's the difference? Practically speaking, either way great players aren't playing in the bowl game. Moving the transfer portal open date 3 months later wouldnt change the impact
So let's say we have "bowl games" in week 1 of the next year instead of OOC games scheduled 12 years in advance, the crux of the issue is still that if I'm a round 1 draft pick lock, the second my team is out of the national championship conversation (or maybe conference champ depending on the school), I have 0 incentive to play.
I think the bowls are fine at the end of the season, it's a culmination for the team that played that season. Opt outs are just going to be part of it now (*whispers* unless players are under contract and obligated to play like NFL players are)
First of all, this is only 32 players. Second of all, if bowls are happening week 1, with the advent of the 12 team playoff, teams can lose these games and still be in the title hunt.
As long as (1) bowls are at the end of the season and (2) the champion is determined by a playoff, all non-playoff bowls will be exhibitions. As long as they are exhibitions, players and coaches will opt out and/or mail it in
Fully support this
From the advent of the BCS championship all non title game/playoff games have been "exhibitions" and i don't really have an issue with it. It doesn't really make sense to me to have a bowl game at the beginning of the next season.
Take 2021 Pitt: they had fourth and fifth year guys who had developed over time and won the ACC. I think they'd rather play MSU that season even if it means no Kenny Pickett rather than wait til next year when the team they trot out probably doesn't resemble the 2021 team at all.
I'm responding to the OP as much as you and I'm not really disagreeing with either; just word vomiting my opinion. The majority of teams have no chance of winning a conference championship and even fewer (you can count them on your fingers) have a chance of winning a natty, so the whole concept of a post season is kind of goofy. I think the most enjoyable product from a fan perspective is the one we have now (opt outs and all).
Traditionally, that's how they have always been. PSU/Miami in the late 80's was the first time anyone really considered the result of a bowl game to mean anything. There's a reason why bowl game stats were never included in player statistics.
It wouldn't be a 'reward' for playing well. It would just be (1) a way to keep a really weird college football tradition around, and (2) a way to create interesting OOC matchups (that would actually matter, and be better than OOC games scheduled 12 years in advance).
I tend to agree
Since 1984 and the NCAA vs OU Board of Regents this has been where everything is going, it's just moved slowly. The only way I see out, which lots don't want to do, is make the athletes employees.
The students working at meets are employees, same with the ones at the library and just about everywhere else. They are still students. But that's really the only way to negotiate. Then lots of rules through collective bargaining need to be made, when coaches can be fired, when transfer portal opens. Even then the top guys will still opt out for the NFL, it's too valuable. But getting the xfers to stay through the game would help. Bowl roster bonuses would help. But you get none of this until coaches and players are on the same playing field. If Jimbo was still coaching A&M the other day then there are probably less opt outs.
Also the SEC, that is so good a one loss could jump an undefeated team onto the playoff, took 3 full quarters and like 8 punts to score a TD against a B1G team with like 20 opt outs. 14 points? That's it, Ohio State sleep-walked through the whole of the Cotton Bowl, only sold 8,000 of their ticket allotment. Missouri practically had a home game and couldn't score for the first three quarters. I am glad this one and FSU went the way it did, ESPN getting nothing but coal in it's stocking so far.
Even with a ton of opt-outs, anOSU averages top 4 recruiting classes every year, and although Missouri had a class ranked 15 (by 247), they average in the 30s. anOSU's second string should have beaten Missouri.
So, a basketball hoop with the opposing team's logo on the back and using fire extinguishers on the sideline is ok, but we're not allowed to use a sledgehammer. Never change, NCAA.
Think you might be in the wrong thread? Lol
Without context I would agree with you, but that 100% happened on the Ole Miss sideline after their last TD against Penn St.
Arizona's sword was looking pretty dangerous
Penn State is pretty fortunate to be in this one. Couple big plays off backyard stuff, one of which was a late throw back across his body over the middle by Allar that got tipped by an Ole Miss LB perfectly into the arms of an H-Back(?) who happened to have a caravan surrounding him. Super bizarre play.
Penn State's front is disruptive and talented, but Ole Miss is good at stretching the field vertically and getting the ball out quickly, something they don't see often in the B1G. They are missing a couple guys in the secondary, but that isn't their primary issue defending this Ole Miss offense. This feels more like a schematic/style conflict with what they normally see. How many teams do they play in a season that often throw on first down?
If French is watching, I bet he's enjoying the Abdul Carter cam that they seem to frequently cut to. IIRC French has expressed how much he likes Carter on multiple occasions.
Game was over soon as Franklin punted on 4th and 2.
The blocked field goal down 14 points in the fourth quarter was just "chefs kiss"
Talk about to polarizing philosophies on the conservative-aggressive scale when it comes to coaching decisions.
I thought they really mis-played that sequence. Should have tried something underneath, going for something to make a 4th and manageable instead of trying to pick up all 17 yards on one play. Franklin apparently doesn't pay any attention to "analytics"
Franklin is a joke of a GameDay coach. The only guy he might have an edge on is Mario Cristobal.
Obviously that's hardly an accomplishment.
Ole Miss closing in on 500 yards of offense with over 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
As much as I want to see SEC lose every game, I also want PedoState to be embarrassed at every opportunity. Given that we compete with Pedo State for recruits, I'll take this drubbing from Ole Miss as a win.
Maryland handling Auburn at the moment on another channel so the dual SEC and PSU haters are getting a fair mix of satisfaction I imagine.
I was pretty confident this Penn State defense would struggle with an Ole Miss offense who has a style and profile they rarely face in the B1g.
Oh yay...Joe Tessitore
He should have no trouble describing over and over in great detail just how shitty and undeserving FSU is once this game gets out of hand.
He has 3 hours of source material from the ACCCG
Fuck that guy and the horse he rode in on. I'd say something about him having the SEC down his throat but it'd be so cliche at this point, what's the point.
I'm convinced now more than ever that I can't continue to be a fan of the one sport left I cared about. I long ago stopped caring about the results of any game or season other than college football. And now that sport doesn't even resemble what I grew to love.
To hell with the SEC, and to a slightly lesser extent to hell with the BIG10. Even more so, ESPN can choke on a dick and die slow while they're at it. I almost would prefer the top 10 or so programs forming the semi pro league to give something for ESPN to keep a hard on over and let everyone else compete for a true college national championship. Either that or slap a salary cap on this shit show. I'm over it. All of it.
I guess it just means more...
Praying for the miracle that FSU's scout team hangs in it at least till half.
Also mad respect to Fentrell Cypress. He may be a Wahoo but he's playing his ass off for a team he's been on less than a year in a game where almost all of his fellow starters quit on the team
Was the -21 spread in favor of Georgia for the whole game, or just the first half?
Welp FSU is getting boatraced early
Cannot wait to hear how this is justification for them getting left out while ignoring allllll the players sitting out. Also glad ESPN has been dealt a shit game today. Hope all the playoff games suck just as much
This is really the perfect outcome for ESPN...is allows them to continue to dote over the SEC and its superiority.
For FSU, they have the excuse they need. If they sent out a full-strength team and lost decidedly to UGA, then they wouldn't be able to play the sanctimonious victim card that they are trying to so desperately.
Yeah it's gross because the average fan will believe it. Really is Norvell's job to keep the team bought in. Why give the playoff committee that much power over your season. This game absolutely hurts perception and recruiting vs if everyone bought in and got a win or close loss
They showed up with 53 scholarship players. pretty much an unofficial boycott.
Fsu really shouldn't have played this game at all tbh
Yeah, I have no idea what this is supposed to accomplish other than make them look like a clown-show.
Nobody is gonna remember who didn't play in this game, they are just gonna remember them getting their doors blown off and laugh at them thinking they should have been in the CFP.
Best part is, it really fucks the ACC as a whole and whatever remnant of respect it had left as a Football league.
Completely agree. Should have cited player safety concerns and just not come on the field.
Said this at dinner; give them the "whoops everyone is feeling ill" can't field a team
I wholeheartedly agree they should have just told ESPN to go fuck themselves and stayed home.
Actually what they should have done is take all the practices, show up for the Orange Bowl get all the swag, and all the other stuff, and then just slip out the back onto the bus right before game time and gone home.
Altough....TBH, that would be a total dick move to their fans who made the trip, bought tickets, etc.
I don't understand how Norvell couldn't keep at least most of the team to play in this game. I would be thought they wanted to take it Georgia with their best to prove the nay sayers wrong.
It makes sense - most of the starting players opt out, so why not the team, but then you have a 13-0 team opt out of a bowl? That's not good optics either. I think FSU was screwed no matter how they handled the bowl. Granted, Georgia still got their players to play.
Does anybody know how often Georgia competes with FSU for recruits? Hard to imagine this game doesn't come up in that case.
Georgia flipped two of FSU Commits in the week before signing day
I said the same on CFP selection day. I guess they had to give a token showing, but they definitely didn't bring their B game, let alone their A game.
Unpopular opinion: Georgia wins this game comfortably with every FSU starter playing, including Jordan Travis.
They didn't look all that great in the ACCCG, so I'm inclined to agree.
We'll never know. We'll also never know who would have stayed if FSU had been in the CFP and they played a meaningful game.
May be unpopular but I totally agree. As I stated when the selection committee excluded FSU, I didn't have FSU in the top 4 and that was before the QB injuries they sustained. In fact I believe the best team left out of the playoffs and potentially the best team in the country is UGA. One close loss to Bama and bye bye 🙄. I believe UGA should have been in. Just imho.
If the committee had put FSU below 4 with Travis, lot less outrage. If they had even dropped them after the Florida game, much less outrage but they waited until after the ACCCG to drop them which is my major beef.
I do think UGA was better than all four CFP teams and Alabama probably only beats them 2 out of 10. I did think that it was ridiculous that when they dropped FSU that they didn't drop them farther if the QB thing was legitimately the reason but citing the QB thing three weeks after it happened is where they lost me and became a $EC must get in rather than any other issue.
^^ This ^^
This. If they were going to use the Jordan Travis excuse it should have happened twice, maybe three times. Once before the Florida game, and then again before the Louisville game after they showed how much their QB situation affected the offense. Instead, they dicked around and waited until the SEC had a gun to their head and had to take a difficult situation and turn it into a PR nightmare.
I don't care
Undefeated P5 champion shouldn't be in a who gives a fuck NY6 bowl, they should be in the playoffs. Titles should be won on the field, not in a board room
It's this kind of 'they couldn't have competed anyway, so they don't deserve the chance to try' bullshit that puts a glass ceiling over 90% of the schools in the country because they aren't in the right conference. Fuck that noise.
The $ec kool-aid provided by e$pn on the daily is powerful propaganda
SP+ puts UGA as a 6 pt favorite on a neutral field. I'd bet they cover that, but I think it would be competitive.
The second best team in the Abigail 10 (Autocorrect changed it to the from Big for some reason, and I like it WAY better, so I'm leaving it) just scored 3 points and had 203 yards against the 3rd or 4th best team in the SEC. Could you imagine if they'd played Georgia? Who was it that said anOSU does less with more? Considering anOSU was the only good team Michigan beat to be ranked #1, I'm guessing Alabama blows them out. I'm hoping for a third ABigail 10 shutout in the playoffs.
I wish I could start using "Abigail 10" but no one I talk to would get it.
The girls name sounds good, but you could pronounce it slowly and people would likely catch on. Ah-BIG-ail 10 (over-pronouncing the "big"), then say Abigail.
For those interested in a real, meaningful football game, flip it over to ESPNU and watch NDSU take on the Grizz in an FCS semifinal.
May be a real game, but meaningful?
Well, it's a playoff where results matter, and not perceptions, so yes it's meaningful.
The Orange Bowl gets a big asterisk next to it. Didn't prove a thing to anyone, while somehow substantiating just about any argument anyone would like to make.
Everyone knows what they did to FSU. Even Penny Lane.
I watched Toledo v Wyoming, very good game. The tackle out of bounds that drew the flag on Wyoming's last drive had me cracking up. The commentator yelled "oh my God, what an idiot", had me rolling.
Wyoming kicked the winning FG as time expired. Looks like they had s nice season (9 wins) for Wyoming standards. Always try pulling for them because they're such an obscure team.
Plus, the worst school colors ever. It's amazing.
True, baby shit yellow and day after taco bell brown is such an amazing color combo...
Bowl season, particularly the days surrounding New Years were some of the most magical days for me as a kid and teenager. Now every game just sucks. I know things always change and I'm getting old and nostalgic, but I don't like what it has become.
I can't remember a time where I have watched less during bowl season. Legitimately only watched two full games including the Military Bowl. Watched a few minutes of maybe five others mostly because someone else had it on.
Not going to watch Oregon beat the pants off Bibberty but will be tracking it to hope it hits all kind of records for Oregon.
Won't watch any of the others.
As for me, I will absolutely be watching Oregon light-up Liberty. Do I care about the actual outcome? Not really. Is it a meaningful game? LOL. Do I enjoy watching Liberty get whooped? Yes - almost as much as I love watching UVA get the same.
You are ahead of me. Watched the Tech game. Watched less than a minute of Clemson-Kentucky waiting for Iowa State to come on. When I saw it was moved to another channel, switched to Iowa State. The box went out (happens to our TV in the basement every now and then) and, the way Iowa State was playing, I took it as a sign that I should just stop watching and did. So I've had 1 game and less than 0.5 other games combined.
Might watch Washington. Had originally planned to, but thinking probably not now.
To me it's the portal and ESD. I have limited time/energy to consume the sport. I find that I'm focusing all my (spare) emotional energy into following the portal, recruiting, and other off field stuff.
Grizz pull it out in double-OT. Best game on today, and arguably all postseason.
So SDSU/Montana in the final?
All things equal I think I'd lean toward Montana anyway because their stadium environment is amazing but the Jackrabbits look unstoppable. So let's go Grizz as the underdogs!
No homefield advantage for the Grizz - the game will be played (Jan 7) at Toyota Stadium in Dallas.
Yup, I know, I just meant as a general rule. Since I don't have rooting interest I'm looking for one (and stretching, obviously). SDSU is the 1 seed anyway so even if it wasn't neutral site it wouldn't be @Montana.
Sad thing is that it was a replay. Game was played 2 weeks ago
well that explains why there was so much light out during the game :-)
Ain't it crazy, the narrative ESPN tries to spin??
Excellent point.
Hint to ESPN: if you're missing 25 players, it IS a different team.
ESPN ALWAYS jumps the shark.
I watched 80% of this game because I was with some UGA friends of mine, and I felt like the commentators were repeatedly talking about how this wasn't the same Florida State team, and were trying as hard as they could to be complimentary towards the players who were on the field who were trying to make things happen in tough circumstances. It's a very tough job to call a game that quickly becomes one-sided.
I really do not recall any of this narrative building that is being suggested.
I concur. I really felt they were being quite fair and rational with their position with FSU. Jesse got some respect out of me even though he is the host of Bachelor in Paradise.
I watched about 10 minutes of the game, and it seemed as if they praised Georgia players as if they walked on water.
10 minutes was enough.
What are they supposed to do? Georgia was dominating the game, a domination that did not stop when they took out their QB at the half.
Also, Georgia is not some random SEC team unworthy of being praised by a broadcast group, they are the back to back national champions and haven't lost to anyone not named Alabama since 2020.
Is college football more interesting or less interesting if we allow corporate interests to completely stack the deck in favor of four teams in the SEC and Big 10?
For me, it's less interesting.
Let's go Ducks! Beat liberty bibberty
Those unis.... Is that Oregon playing? Or were there so many opt-outs they just decided to see what North Dakota St. could do?
Boy ESPN is overdoing it with the piped in crowd noise right now
Yeah... gotta do what you can to make a crowd of 20k sound like 60k. But, those endzones don't lie - this was not a hard ticket to get this year.
At the Cheez-it Citrus bowl the Iowa fans really do love a good punt.
I've never seen a team in pregame warmups practice punt returns, punt coverage and punting as Iowa did before this game. They had full blown punt and punt return practice and a Jugs machine sending punts to 6 different punt returners.
With good reason. Well on their way to having a 10-punt game to go with their big '0' on the scoreboard at half.
Really look forward to seeing Liberty get their shit kicked in.
Took a little while for Oregon to warm up but now they are cooking.
Couldn't have happened to a better team. I wish all the bad things for liberty athletics. Sell your soul for success only to be embarrassed on the biggest stage possible.
Let's not ignore that Biberty blew a 6-0 lead today for that boat racing put on them by the Ducks. Made a little bit on them being what they are.
I was cheering hard for Oregon to push it past 50.
LSU WR's foot was clearly out of bounds
Rooting interests today are:
Oregon over Liberty
Tennessee over Iowa
LSU over Wisconsin
Alabama over Michigan
Washington over Texas
So far I'm looking pretty good but LSU needs to close this out. Plenty of time for Iowa to come back but they aren't very good at offense. Oregon pummeling Liberty
LSU almost lost it - Wisconsin was driving straight down the field with plenty of time but then LSU stripped/sacked them three plays in a row to get the ball back and close out the game 35-31. I hate Wisconsin.
Tennessee up 28-0 after a pick six so I think that game is on ice at the start of the 4th. Their true freshman QB looks like he could be special.
Oregon just went up 45-6 LOL suck it Liberty
Did you forget that Brian Kelly killed a kid?
I think he's saying he hates Wisconsin for blowing it
No I just hate Wisconsin
I can't stand Brian Kelly as much as the next guy but we can't keep peddling this narrative... do your research...
"Brian Kelly put a kid up in a scissor lift to film practice despite high wind warnings and this directly lead to his death" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
I'll move off of this because I don't think you are interested in the technical components of the story such as Kelly was not the one who made the call to video that day but rather Collins did who ran the video program... but, I get it you want to paint with a broad brush and hate on the guy which is fine... he is a douche anyway.
Biberty is showing out /s
Am I right... is the SEC 5-0 against the Big10 so far this postseason? Yikes if true....
Yay if true
Welcome to the P1!
Maryland over Auburn?
I do think our new VT ad is ass, but that Michigan one was something else...
I seen an Orji on the field
Sainristil was once a VT commit, too.
And Cam Goode
Herbstreit is suck a cocsucking shill....'this is going to be a classic second half'.....as Michigan is really just dominating in all phases, even if the score doesn't show it.
They've also gotten away with the world's most obvious running into the kicker and a facemask on that last drive. Bailed out by a centimeter on the opening play interception. Michigan looks tough on the LOS but I think this is far from over.
That non-call roughing the kicker on a player that had to be helped off the field is the reason why the booth should be able to throw some damn flags on review. Bama would have had a first down with either running into or roughing the kicker.
That said, the 4th and goal run into the teeth of Michigan's defense play was the stupidest play call of the season.
I don't think it was a designed run. If you watch the receivers and the back all roll to the left, I think it was designed to be a rollout RPO. I think the low snap and the Michigan end getting around unblocked caused the QB to go badly offscript. Running into the back of one of his offensive linemen leg because the lineman got pushed three yards deep was **chef's kiss**
I think the Emmy goes to the kicker this time.
Maybe on the helping off the field, but he definitely got hit that wasn't acting.
He did not get "hit." The Huskies player was looking down the field and turning away from the punter when the contact occurred which means it was completely unintentional and likely why the flag wasn't thrown. I won't comment on whether the punter was acting, but I clearly recall wondering how in the world he got injured after watching the play in slomo and noticing the minimal amount of contact. As I understand the rule, the contact could have resulted in a flag, but either the ref did not see it or he thought that it was so minor as to not warrant the penalty. Not going to shed any tears for Texas though, them losing is fine by me.
I was talking about Michigan running into the Bama kicker. Not sure where you got the Huskies or Texas from.
They're talking about a play in the Bama-Michigan game. Was there a similar play in the other game? I didn't stay up late enough to watch.
Yes, a Husky player barely touched the punter but wasn't even going after the punter but merely turning around to head back the other way. The Texas punter fell down and the trainers came out and he limped off the field after a while. He sure seemed fine on his next punt though.
I can't figure out why Alabama refuses to commit to the run. Feels like that's the only way they've consistently moved the ball. Running and run action. They have 60 rushing yards, but how much of this is because of sack yards and Milroe fumbling the ball backwards 20 yards?
Baffling. Also they've only rolled him out twice and the first time was a big play. They could benefit from some KISS (keep it simple, stupid).
It was so satisfying to see Oregon just obliterate Liberty
Agreed
Yes it was
Watching Liberty and JMU get put in their place has been the most satisfying part of bowl season for me except for the Hokies' win. Fans of those two schools should also take a look at what happened to the top 2 AAC teams if they need a reminder that they aren't really playing big boy football just yet.
Congrats on all your wins against shit teams, but you can't beat 6-6 ACC schools. Try again, little bro.
Amen. JMU's vacuum is done. They took football seriously in FCS- they invested in it more than anyone, they have passionate fans and became a power at that level. They join the sunbelt in a particularly down time for that league. Perfect timing. Now back to reality competing with other FBS schools for players- not villanova and delaware
I think the way bama is running the ball that this one is over unfortunately. Would like to see Michigan win but the game masters have other plans.
both these programs can take a walk, and you know what? So can Tennessee.
This game has been good
Down goes Bama!!!
Bama killed themselves with play calling. They could have put this game away in the second half if they had committed to the run. Tommy Rees is gonna get a stern talking to.
It was weird watching this game and thinking "Tyler Bowen would have Bama cooking on offense right now"
A great observation that I wasn't thinking about at all. The dropback game wasn't working and all the little schemed open short stuff Bowen does would have complemented their run game really well without risking all the sacks on drop backs.
The number of times I was begging for Rees to try a QB counter option play or zone read with a bubble attached. And mix in some inverted veer. It would have made Michigan's linebackers so much more tentative and would've allowed for Bama to to take a deep shot without as much risk of a sack. Milroe is a perfect QB for this sort of stuff! Why are they trying to make him be a drop back QB??
They were KILLING then with the run!
Wolverines win and the SEC get shutout form the championship game. Throw in the whoopin' that the Ducks gave Liberty and this has been a decent day of football.
Suck it $EC and E$PN.
WTF was that last play for Bama
Yeah. It didnt look good live and it looks even worse on replay. They had the wr in motion wide open if they had tossed it. Instead it looked like the entire UM DL line crashed in (I think that's the right term) with 7 in the box, and with a designed run up the middle Milroe had zero chance for that to succeed.
One of many bad snaps as well. Center had a dreadful game.
All that 5-star talent and they can't find a guy who can snap the ball?
Crazy thing is that snapper has been bad all year, but mostly just this year. This isn't his first year starting. It's like he's got the yips for snapping. He's been snapping at Milroe's ankles all season.
1) Great game, fun watch. Two phenomenal bands in the stands too, what a soundtrack. I *think* it was UM band that played the ballad hit of Bohemian Rhapsody right before 4th down play. 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼
2) can't wait to see VT in the CFP next season 😍
I love seeing the Tide of alabams tears!
Fold tide fold!!
It's a shame someone had to win, but at least on of them lost, so there's that.
Credit to Michigan for getting them to play their game though. They didn't let Bama hit their explosive plays and kept everything in a sandbox and waited for mistakes which they got in the form of strange play calling sequencing, bad snaps, and a few key procedural penalties.
Not to mention a few key non-calls like the roughing the kicker that was ignored.
In all the time I've been watching football I've never seen a more obvious running/roughing the kicker call go completely ignored. He was still in the normal motion of his punt and the guy just ran through his kicking leg clear as day.
Kicking leg = running into
If he had hit the plant leg = roughing.
Unbelievable no call there.
It's unbelievable that they didn't call running into the kicker on that play. I mean, some ref should be watching that.
Also Bama busted the run fit on Corum's TD. The end crashed inside to the same gap as the LB which let the lead blocker get upfield on 13 who was fitting the alley.
I saw that. All too familiar view watching the Hokies for stretches this year
Yep. The difference is the frequency. That one bust cost them big time after largely playing the run excellently in the second half. They are playing a game of tighter margins on a bigger stage. We have got to lessen the frequency of those errors for us to continue improving.
Bama can bite me.
Man fuck Mishigan.
Let's go Washington!
Yea, fuck Michigan but fuck Bama harder and more
And Michigan...... well, It. Was. A. Catch.
So happy that there is no SEC team in the playoffs. Texas doesn't count
The big money is in making the playoffs.
The $EC got their payoff, and the ACC was excluded.
Yes, I'm bitter about it.
I know but it is nice to throw back in their face, "I guess your motto ("It just means more) does not include winning."
Washington's offense is so much fun to watch
This game looking like the opposite of the Rose Bowl
Those were some good ass games
Gooder than hell I might say!
As pissed as I am about how we got here, I have to say I agree.
Fitting we get to see the rest of the undefeated conference champs duke it out. Watching Alabama (or Texas if you don't believe the seeding) receive that much charity was just gross.
Yeah. I will definitely not say that the committee got the selection right. But, with these games, they didn't get it wrong either.
Here's the thing. The way the playoff is currently structured (which isn't actually a true playoff, it's just an extension of the pre-existing bcs) they absolutely got it "right" if you can call it that. Well, almost right. Georgia probably should have been in over either Texas or Washington.
I'm not going to shed any tears for fsu (seriously, they can go fuck themselves) but them being left out (and, subsequently, lots of folks screaming about it) is a function of how the post season is structured. The playoff is kind of a misnomer, IMO. It's not a real playoff and it never has been. It's a championship series where the contestants are selected by a committee charged with finding the subjectively best 4 teams from a pool of 65 teams. And this is done by choosing teams that have only played 12 games. It's an impossible task and it was never meant to be equitable nor create any sort of parity in the sport.
It has never been about "rewarding deserving teams" because if that was the point then there would be no committee and the playoff would be completely merit based. It's about making sure the teams that are most broadly considered the "best" get a chance to play for a championship. There are vested interests in making sure certain teams meet those loose requirements. It is, always has been, and always will be, a beauty contest and the most popular kids always win, regardless of whether or not they actually deserve it.
In a true playoff, FSU absolutely earned their right to get slaughtered in the playoffs. But this isn't, nor has it ever been, a true playoff. It's a glorified version of the bcs beauty pageant where instead of picking 2 teams based in polls, perception, and questionable computer rankings, we're picking 4 teams with a committee that has inherent biases.
This is just the old system that everyone complained about wrapped up in a thin veil and sold to the masses as a playoff when that couldn't actually be any further from the truth. The people wanted a playoff but we didn't get that. The powers that be just created the exact same system on steroids and slapped the "playoff" name on it to keep the masses happy.
No disagreement with any of that. It used to be a bunch of coaches and writers saying "we think this is the best team, so they must be your national champions" and then it was "we think these are the two best teams, so lets let them play and the winner will get our votes for national champion". Not its "we think these are the best 4 teams..."
Its gotten better since the pre-BCS, but its still an opinion-based system. Next year that changes a bit, and we'll see merit-based playoff appearances. I still think they haven't gone far enough though. I dont care if there are opinions that G5 conferences are lesser - they are still conferences, and their champions should be represented. If that actually happened I think that would at least quell the power conference aggregation and may actually force things the other way - P5 schools going to G5 conferences because their hopes of reaching the CFP go up.
They only got it right because the teams showed up as they played all year. Washington threw the ball up and down the field. Michigan's defense played great - especially the first half. Bama played stout and were well coached as always. That's why they got it right. Nobody on earth would have been surprised if Pennix overthrew receivers all over the place or Bama scored 48 on Michigan. Nobody. It's college football. But yesterday, the teams actually played/executed as advertised. Unlike Michigan last year, OSU when Clemson was completing 60 yard passes at will, etc.
The current four team "playoff" is really just an invitational tournament. It will at least resemble an actual playoff when they go to twelve teams.
yes, exactly
We'll see. I agree it will be closer to a real playoff, but it's still not quite there. There's still going to be quite a lot of subjectivity that goes into selecting the teams and with the awkward number of 12 there will be teams that get a first round BYE which will be a huge advantage. Those top 4 teams are going to have a big leg up on the competition, in addition to already having, in all likelihood, deeper and more talented rosters.
I'm not convinced that expanding the playoff is going to make anything better. (I'm not really even sure what "better" means anymore anyway). If I were expanding it, though, I'd go to 8 teams, not 12. I'd get rid of the first round Bye because that's a huge advantage, especially at the collegiate level. (at least in the pros, that first round Bye is truly earned - if the playoff were 12 teams this year FSU wouldn't be in the top 4 and they wouldn't get that first round Bye despite "deserving" it based on going undefeated and winning their conference)
It will be a 10 team playoff, not 12. ND with 3 or less losses, Bama with 3 or less losses- In - the rest of the 130 teams fight for the 10 spots.
Uh oh Bama, that drought's up to three whole years now...that rustling sound you hear is the sound of half Alabama's fanbase digging around in their closet for their Michigan hats they haven't worn since about 1997
Is it really a drought if you get paid and go to the playoffs?
Missed end of UW win. Turned on E$PN to see who won and what do I hear.
E$PN lamenting over and over how Bama blew it. They are insufferable.
I pray the FSU legal battle w ACC discovery process uncovers documentation that proves their collusion with $EC against the ACC.
E$PN will be fine. They'll just wait a year and do a 30/30 on themselves and the $EC.
I turned on ESPN and watched an 8 minute segment on Texas/UW 🤷♂️
But Bama did blow it... issues snapping, playcalling issues/abandoning the run, etc. It's very unusual for a team coached by the best coach in the history of the game to make so many mistakes.
Smh there's no collusion. There's one conference that is okay at football, and one that is pretty good at football. The latter creates more value for a business that has to make money.
And yet football is played by teams.
Alabama has been making those mistakes all year; PPG lowest since 2009. Michigan's stage fright just about gave it to them.
There may not be collusion in the legal sense, but ESPN has willfully neglected and restricted the ACC's ability to compete, then turned around and said in effect, "git gud if you want more money."
I don't even know what you'd call that, but whatever it is, it shouldn't be legal either.
I don't see it this way at all. In my opinion, the ACC has (a) had bad leadership (both at the conference and school level) who made dumb decisions and (b) has put a subpar product on the field. ESPN shouldn't have to overcome the ACC's short comings
I'm opened to having my mind changed if more information comes out in this FSU lawsuit, but right now, it just looks like ESPN is making the best decisions for their business while working inside the a parameters of the existing agreement. If the existing agreement is biased towards ESPN, that's not their fault.
Hard disagree. The ACC top to bottom, week in week out, is not worth 60% less than the SEC. It's not. Yeah UGA is a monster right now and kills GT, etc. but that's not what this is about. They are willfully paying a similar league 60% less. Its criminal and will end the ACC as we know it. They hold all the cards. They are the only option for the ACC and they simply won't pay close to market value.
I said this a while ago (with data) and everyone said that they want to watch the best players, but the ACC is the most competitive league. You never see massive upsets in the SEC, you don't see Pitt beating UofL or uva beating UNC. That would be like MSU beating Bama or Vandy besting Tenn.
The ACC has the most bowl teams both in count and percentage. The middle teams all beat up on eachother cause they are all competitive with eachother.
The big issue is that the SEC is a bunch football schools that have tons of fans. The ACC needs the fans/ market. I don't know the numbers but I doubt it's 60%.
UNC fans not bothering to show up to their bowl game in Charlotte is a big part of the problem. Very few schools in the ACC, even the ones that are good at football, actually care about football. And by "good at football" I guess I mean "get recognition as being good". UNC sucks.
When the ACC expanded Miami, VT and BC made a lot of sense, the first 2 for football and BC was a northeast market that as okay at both.
The 2nd expansion made zero football sense. Cuse haven't been a football school for almost 20 year at that point. Pittsburgh is in a town that doesn't care, UofL is atleast a top Basketball program and wants to be a good football program.
If we were serious about football we would have gotten WVU. They don't have the market like the others but they have a fan bases that cares about football, or at least did at the time. They have had great basketball teams over the years too.
I dont know if they would have been better since their leadership has been shit since Hardesty Jr. left. But it's a school that loves football in a state where everyone roots for them even if they can't spell college. They could have done a lot of things better with the extra few million they would have made each year in the ACC.
This is kinda my point. Idk what % better I think the SEC is than the ACC, but the ACC agreed to a bad deal. The ACC didn't need to make a 30 year deal.
Wife had gone to bed and I had the sound off; why was there no review on the second to last play where Ewers threw the ball while being tackled? Was his knee not that close to being down?
I think so.
*Puts on conspiracy helmet*
Buh! Saban gets secret "anti-challenges" every game where the refs don't review a play that favored Alabama. Buh!
Michigan got away with murder on at least one play. That roughing the kicker that was not called. The punter had to be helped off the field. No penalty.
I yelled at the TV
Not that it helped
I think the ref assigned to watch that portion on the field was taking a coffee break
Huge missed call for sure
Union puts down the confederacy once again. So happy to have an SEC free championship.
Also to hell with Alabama. They were beaten by a better team.
Michigan did everything it could on special teams to lose the game. Alabama just was not good enough to do much with anything else.
Michigan blitzed at will and the Alabama OL looked like early season 2023 VT line when they did.
IMHO FSU would have been competitive, at worse, with either team in that game.
Assuming you mean a full-roster FSU team, because the one that showed-up against Georgia would not have been competitive.
Well, the full roster would have shown up for a CFB championship playoff game.
Competitive with Rodemaker or Glenn? Absolutely not.
They couldn't throw on Florida (horrible defense) and Louisville (got roasted by USC's backup QB). You think they would have success against two of the best defenses in the country?
Like I get wanting to give them a shot for fairness sake, but competitive is indefensible imo.
Oh hell yeah. They've found a way to win every game and one of Michigan's 3 teams decided to show up stoned.
Agree with the FSU nod. Their defense put up one of the best performances I've ever seen against Louisville. I also think that if they had been in the playoff they wouldn't have had half their roster opt out/transfer.
If Rodemaker had stayed I think they could have been competitive against someone.
Some of the memes dunking on Liberty after their humbling have been hilarious. Their attempts to save face after all the shit they talked before getting destroyed have also been hilarious.
What a clown program they are. I hope Pry wipes the floor with them every chance we play them going forward.
I hope
PryEVERYONE wipes the floor with them every chance...They even dress the part and write themselves...
I'm pretty sure that's against the university dress code /s
They are wearing bow ties. Oh wait that's a different school's football dress code
In the middle of their chests. Do they know where they go?
Men from liberty don't know where anything goes...that's why they end up watching from the corner
Sad clowns might have been my favorite moment of the game
The fact they all showed up thinking they would win, let alone keep it close, just amuses me to no end
When you're a 20 point dog, you don't always need the makeup.
When I saw all the new comments, I was expecting everybody to be talking about Michigan giving the world the middle finger. Conner Stalions the mastermind of the sign stealing scandal was sitting behind the Michigan Bench in the Michigan reserved seats wearing a rose lei.
Wow. Way for Michigan to own it.
What a fucking cesspool college football is right now.
Except this is what people want. The money is speaking, the Rose Bowl was the 2nd most watched non-nfl sporting event in over 5 years (2018 winter Olympics opening ceremony was the only one with more viewers). The viewers have spoken and that's all that matters.
There's no way to regulate anything because teams will just sue the NCAA. So until people stop watching (which didn't happen this year) nothings going to change. Michigan, Alabama, it's Mount Rushmore teams competing and it's selling. Hopefully next year ND can get in the playoff mix so there can be some real money made.
Everyone can see all the cracks and faults but it's making money so who cares. The US laws aren't set up for something like college sports making money so they will be exploited and milked for money until either football dies or there is drastic change, but the money is to be made now.
Schools don't have to sue, they get their state Attorney Generals to do the dirty work.
I live in PHX and let me tell you - people were fighting over Oregon Liberty tickets and traffic was a nightmare. Oh wait 15K people attended the game in a 70K seat stadium and approximately zero people watched on TV. National darling underdog JMU drew 3 viewers to their bowl game. When the absolute stars align- like the Rose Bowl setting with the two winningest programs in football history on NY day at 5pm eastern viewing time, yep its going to draw a number. Meanwhile random NFL game this sunday will out draw Texas Washington. Perspective. i
Exactly, when the stars align. Getting to a 12 game playoff where Bama, Michigan, ND, OSU can all be in every year is the dream. Having the best players go to those teams via NIL is the dream. That's what's going to make the most money, everyone else is just hanging on.
Just so the numbers are clear...
Fiesta had over 47k turnstile turns. 74% capacity. A few people went to the game.
Also, highest rated Bowl game prior to New Years Day? The Orange bowl Despite a 60 point beat down, it drew a 5.2 rating/10.4mil viewers.
And as much as UNCheat fans don't support, they tuned in. It was the 6th highest rated bowl game.
No disrespect to you sir, I have first hand knowledge that the fiesta bowl number is a crock of shit, respectfully.
Am I going crazy or is the Fiesta Bowl not on that list?
Edit: Never mind, I see what you were responding to now (turnstile number)
tv numbers will be out this weekend, or early next week for those play on NYD.
SUCKIT TOLEDO!!
The rest of West Virginia tuned in on their dishes....UNC still didn't watch
The highlight on data like this should have asterisks next to games on on a Wednesday at 12pm when people are working vs prime time weekend or weeknight games. If you notice the games with most viewers are in the best day/time slots and wonder how it would affect the less desirable matchups should they have been played at 8pm vs 12pm on a weekday when people can actually watch. This is what frustrates me most about this data when referring to Florida state Miami etc. when your team is getting funneled to prime time matchups on OTA Channels FOX CBS ABC NBC ESPN and not relegated to streaming networks only owned by 10% of the east coast (think ACCN, BTN) it's a lot easier to tout your school as "bringing the most viewers" because casual fans are more likely to watch the best time slots and OTA channels
I thought the same thing, looking at the 2pm timeslot for the military bowl.
Whatever your feelings about Connor Stalions stealing signs, you have to admit that guy has an extremely punchable face.
I thought he'd be too busy getting taken to court over not moving his
vacuum cleanersChristmas decorationsSeems that Michigan is still taking good care of him.
He will probably start a company that offers football "evaluation" services and boosters will contract him to continue doing it and the information gathered will be shuffled by some third parties and end up right back in Harbaugh's lap.