chakakhanok

That’s not at all what it means. These 5 conferences don’t want to be automatically considered inferior to traditional P5 conferences, some of which have been regularly outperformed in recent years (see MWC\AAC>ACC/PAC top to bottom for several years) with an automatic lower ranking than P5 schools still living off historic successes of their flagship programs. This is particularly relevant with CFP expansion and non-P5 champs being capable of being ranked higher than potentially inferior P5 champs. Also, guarantee we’ll see more parity between teams evolve with CFP expansion as recruits can now have far more options to play on teams with an actual shot at competing for a NC, which clearly hasn’t been the case and created a severe imbalance for the top programs over literally everyone else. I think it’s an amazing development for CFB and will create better, more compelling games every year.

The Athletic ran an in-depth article analyzing what teams/conferences would’ve been in an expanded CFP from 2000 forward. The SEC led with 62 teams, B1G at 52, BigXII at 50 and the next closest at 39. The BigXII is the only conference where every team+Cincy/Houston/UCF would’ve appeared in the playoffs at least once and Oklahoma joined Bama & tOSU with most appearances/byes. What does this mean? Pretty clearly the numbers show that the BigXII and B1G have been FAR more similar over the past 20+ years and most competitive top to bottom behind SEC. It’s not even close between BigXII and ACC/PAC. So it’s a false narrative that the BigXII has been so weak and definitely a false narrative that BigXII plays no defense with Baylor, OkSt, KSU, TCU routinely landing top20 defenses, OU occasionally with Texas, ISU. BigXII has enjoyed a pretty solid record against non-CFP SEC opponents in the last several years, including going 4-0 in bowl games v SEC last year plus wins over Oregon&ND. I guess I’m saying, give this narrative a break.

I’m rooting for the Hawgs this season as well, but there’s no real justification for anyone feeling slighted by a No 19 ranking. Prove it on the field and the respect will come immediately. Better be focused on beating Cincy, who may have lost several stud players on both sides of the ball, but still have lots of talent and are very capable of coming in and beating Arkansas. They have all the potential to be undefeated before hosting Bama and will be top 10 if that’s the case. Would love to watch the Hawgs beat A&M and Bama back to back! Good luck this season!

He was twice surpassed by Jadon Haselwood! Hope he finds success in a final opportunity elsewhere, most likely at a much smaller school or lower division. Tough prospects this close to the season.

Regarding bowl games at the beginning of the season, that’s why we have OOC matchups. If we ever move to a legitimate expanded playoff with multiple conference champs, then this removes the need for several bowl games and the rest should be whittled down to matchups between 4 loss teams at a maximum. Nobody wants to watch a 6-6 Kansas State v 7-5 LSU ETC

Shaw gets all kinds of respect at Stanford, but it’s been quite some time since they’ve been relevant at all. I’m more impressed with Sonny Dykes who has done more with less at SMU and now at TCU. Also, Mike Gundy at OSU deserves way more respect as he does more with less every year than coaches in far better situations with far more resources. I think Brady Hoke is also quietly doing a hell of a job at San Diego State.

The B1G has been overplaying their hand with conference expansion, thwarting CFP expansion and trying to force the super conference evolution, when the SEC hasn’t needed to do any of the same, all to position themselves aside the SEC. Their move of using the ACC and PAC “alliance” to thwart CFP expansion long enough to allow them to better position themselves by backhandingly poaching USC/UCLA to negotiate juggernaut tv deals and destabilize the PAC, BigXII and ACC has been the biggest culprit of screwing up college football as we know it. I hope this blows up in their face and ESPN uses their influence to move the best PAC teams to the BigXII and negotiates a better deal with them. Outside of the limited fanbases of the lower 1/2 - 2/3 of the B1G, I’m sure the TexasTech, TCU, KSU, ISU, WVU, Cincy, UCF, Houston, and OkState’s of the BigXII wouldn’t mind taking over the Saturday morning ESPN/ESPN2 slots dominated by the B1G for this entire century. Count me as one who won’t miss the slogging morning lineups of Illinois v Indiana, Purdue v Rutgers, or Iowa v Minn games that put me back to sleep until the better games start. I think more compelling matchups like TCU v Houston or Cincy v OkState will be better football and have more national relevance. Hell, I even prefer the random morning ACC slate of a UVA v Wake than most of those boring B1G matchups.

Why would the SEC add anyone other than say Clemson, Miami or FSU? Clearly, the conference doesn’t need to water down distributions for relatively minor market additions and there’s no need to bolster conference strength like all the others. Seems like the B1G is doing their best to keep up with the SEC and potentially force a move to super conferences as this benefits them far more than the SEC, which really doesn’t need to do anything and didn’t even need to add OU and Texas.

How many SEC programs allow alcohol sales?

If this was 2021 Cincy versus 2022 Arkansas, I’d lean Cincy, but the Bearcats lost a ton of leadership and production at key positions on both sides of the ball. The fact that a starting QB hasn’t already emerged for Cincy sounds off alarm bells and Fickell’s comments don’t exactly exude confidence. I think an improving Arkansas team wins in a closer game than most anticipate, even with these issues at Cincy. Their overall talent depth has improved drastically, but Arkansas has made even bigger improvements.

As an OU fan, I thought Haselwood had the potential to be CeeDee Lamb 2.0, but he didn’t have anywhere near the ability to get off of defenders or block downfield (Lamb is the best downfield blocking WR I’ve ever seen). When Caleb Williams replaced Rattler, it never seemed like he developed a connection with Haselwood, as many WR’s he’d worked with on the 2nd team had more production because their developed chemistry, which also impacted our other stud WR’s like Marvin Mims and TE Austin Stogner (who transferred with Rattler to SCar). It was frustrating seeing these receivers not getting much attention, but they routinely failed to create space on short routes that were necessary for a freshman QB with a soft o-line. Haselwood has all the potential to be a major WR and I hope he finds more success at Arkansas.

I’ve been a proponent of FCS shifting to a spring league for possible TV contract exposure and to do exactly what you propose as basically a glorified spring game scrimmage for FBS teams. As a football fan of all levels of ball, I’d love to have FCS, DII and DIII ball televised in the spring to provide far better exposure for all those schools that is impossible in the fall. It seems inevitable that FCS games with FBS opponents will become a thing of the past (even with those states that mandate games between their DI and lower division schools). I for one would like to catch more lower division games during the slower spring season since they have little to no TV opportunities in the fall…even during the FCS playoffs. Would be a great opportunity for CBS, NBC, FOX or any network not named ESPN to claim a contract that could do wonders for these smaller schools with both ad revenue and exposure. I know it would be a massive cultural shift for these schools to move from fall to spring ball, but it could provide an actual lifeline in the eventual absence of these FBS game contracts that are certain to disappear.

I appreciated your entire comment until you added A&M as a comparison, then didn’t know if you were being sarcastic. Somehow those Aggies have been able to generate massive resources for decades (albeit with minimal results). MSU is alot like Oklahoma State when it comes to available resources. I’ve always been a Leach fan, but he’s got to bring a legitimate DC on board if MSU wants to be competitive in his tenure. This has been his downfall at TTU, WSU and so far at MSU. Now that he’s got his preferred offensive personnel in place, they should be more potent on that side of the ball, but he can’t win consistently without a decent defense in the SEC. Honestly, I thought the Leech hire was an odd fit for Starkville from day one. Keep those cowbells ringing, Bulldogs!

Georgia fans…why doesn’t Stetson Bennett get any respect from the sports media?

I hope Haselwood has a monster season for the Hogs! We all thought he was CeeDee Lamb 2.0 (less Lamb’s stellar blocking skills), but he had a very disappointing 2021 at OU due to our inconsistent QB play. He has all the potential to be an All-SEC WR and is a far better trade than we received in Mike Woods, who never clicked in this offense and suffered from our QB situation. If used correctly, he should become a dangerous weapon.

Mark Stoops has been quietly effective working that portal. Do any of you SEC fans have any thoughts on restricting transfers within conference? I’d be surprised if this conversation doesn’t gather steam amongst multiple P5 conferences as the new portal era progresses.

This is part of the new transfer portal reality I love for student athletes. Like the JUCO model of the past, players who don’t make the initial cut at the top P5 programs and prove themselves at developmental schools like UTSA have the opportunity to move up after solid on-field performance. On the other side of the equation, players who don’t see much playing time at the top programs have the opportunity to transfer to lower programs for better opportunities to see the field and build a draft portfolio. With all the drama and criticism surrounding NIL, player interference, etc, this is the big underreported upside of the transfer portal.

The University of Oklahoma was founded as Oklahoma University aka the Norman Territorial University and changed its name after statehood in 1907 to the University of Oklahoma. What started as OU for football designation in 1895 remained OU.

Totally agree that Day will be the first to win a national title. Riley has yet to field a competitive defense and brought his entire defensive staff to USC, so I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And I know the sports media is all up on Freeman at Notre Dame’s nuts, but we’re talking about the same coach and largely team that got pushed around by Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl, so let’s see what he gets done on the field. I’d say 1. Day, 2. Kiffen

Solid win, Hogs! Hoping for an OU/Arkansas championship.

Joining the SEC is great and all, but the Sooner Nation has been doing just fine for the past 100 years and will be just fine in the SEC. Hell, Auburn and Florida fans recently enjoyed some Sooner treatment in football and baseball! See y’all soon enough

Welp, those were some dark years (including my freshman year in John Blake’s last season), but sorry Aggie friend, y’all don’t get to talk down until you’ve actually achieved something

I LOVE this! Way to represent Hogs!