dixieduck

Amen. Fewer than 50% of 1st round draft picks have their contracts extended by the team that drafted them.

The anti-SEC crowd? No SEC team in the playoff champ game in the 4-team's first and last season. Other than that, the SEC dominated. If you don't 'get' that the SEC is the predominate P4 conference in college football you are not paying attention.

Please defeat the overrated Domers when they visit College Station in the opener. Not including A+M, for the most part, ND's 2024 schedule is a joke, including playing Louisville and FSU in South Bend. With conference champions and runner-ups required to play 13 games, why is Notre Dame allowed to play 12 games including lightweight ACC games? I hope ND goes down to both 'bookend' opponents, A+M and USC. Come 2026, Gene Sankey and Tony Petitti should pressure ND to join a conference or play 13 games with 10 at least vs. P4 opponents. In 2024 other than the games vs A+M and USC, and Louisville and FSU at home, ND plays Northern Illinois, Purdue, Miami Ohio, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Navy, Virginia, and Army. Disgraceful.

Harsh take on the hire of an alumni who did good things on the court.

Mea Culpa? Or, Mea Maxima Culpa? Perhaps the LDS equivalent?

The marketplace has already made the judgment. The B1G and the SEC won. What media entities would agree to pay for this watered-down scenario? How about, None? The B1G and the SEC are not eleemosynary entities.

Spot On!

LOL! The Power 2 is pulling down 59% of the proceeds. Why would the B1G and the SEC go for this last-ditch effort from the (p)ower 2 and the G5? As soon as I saw W VA Prez Gordon Gee involved along with a representative from Syracuse, I knew this was a futile exercise. Why would the B1G and SEC, and Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN want to water down the product? The marketplace has already separated the Power 2 wheat from the chaff. When more consolidation happens, it will be something like Notre Dame and Kansas joining the B1G and Clemson, FSU, UNC, and NC State joining the SEC. This is an effort by folks who abhor capitalism sorting out the winners and the losers trying to save their pie of the pie.

Notwithstanding what Greg has to say 8 teams for any conference is too many except for the B12. Oops! Hats off to TN and Bama for making the Elite 8. First time in a tourney with an Elite 8 that no team west of the Missisippi made the Elite 8. When you are inviting 8 teams from any conference how about cutting the field to 32 teams and tiping off before 10 PM. The NCAA really cares about the student-athletes more than the $, right?

Win with dignity and lose with grace. I guess the refs were bad in the two games this season where Purdue defeated Tennessee. Are you kidding me.

It's not how you start that matters. It's how you finish. Hats off to the SEC for capturing 25% of the Elite 8. Good luck to Bama and Tennessee.

NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL athletes have agreed, via their respective unions, to restraints on transfers. Next lawsuit coming, a player(s) suing the NCAA for restricting transfers to only December and April and not giving players carte blanche to leave anytime for any reason; mainly money. Like the days when the NY Yankees used to take all of the then-Kansas City Athletics' decent players just before the start of the World Series if a CFB team is in the running for a playoff spot why not poach a player with a solid PFF grade from a school with no chance at making the playoffs mid-season or later? Without the consent of a CFB Players Union, why would the courts allow any restriction on a player's ability to earn money? Not only in football but in every other sport. What we see today is a recipe for coach crazy-making that could get worse.

What! Why would Florida, Oklahoma, and ALABAMA (!) with the most difficult SEC SOS in 2024 agree to THIS? This playoff gamesmanship has to STOP! Will an 11-1 Mizzou in 2024 with two top-25 games, at Bama and Vs. Oklahoma, on the schedule, be as good as a 9-3 Florida or a 10-2 Michigan? This looks to be a ploy to bag more money from ESPN and it is male bovine excrement.

Great take, Connor, thank you. OREGON is dancing. But in all of today's NCAA coverage, the Left Coast is left out. This is also the case when it comes to football coverage. Nothing can be done regarding the Earth's movement in relationship to our Sun. Best of luck to the SEC in the Tourney.

Duck Camp? Oregon's 1st spring practice is on March 14, 2024.

Mizzou - 16th easiest strength of schedule (SOS) in the SEC in 2024. 4 OOC cupcakes. The MO. schedule is a joke compared to many of its brethren in the SEC. Texas - does not play Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mizzou, LSU, and Tennessee and gets Georgia in Austin. Oklahoma plays Bama, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mizzou, and LSU. In the SEC with 16 teams and 8 conference games and the B1G with 18 teams and 9 conference games, intra-conference SOS will vary significantly. Perhaps the MVP of a given team will be the AD who demands more equality in intra-conference scheduling. Texas gets a (burnt) orange SEC scheduling welcome; Oklahoma gets a lump of coal. IMO, and especially if a 3-3-2-2-1 PO model is approved with the SEC and B1G champs getting a 1st round bye, both conferences should play 10 conference games. This could help close the gap between Oregon's 2024 opponents having a 101-57 record in 2023 and Ohio State's opponents having a 2023 record of 83-71. And an odd number of games = disparity in home and road conference games. Scheduling is not equal in the NFL. But it is far more equal than it is in CFB. BTW - Notre Dame either joins a conference or plays 13 regular season games with 10 P4 teams on the schedule or it is not in PO contention. With the above-referenced model. Notre Dame at 9-3 could be one of the 3 AL teams year after year.

LOL!

If he stays healthy, knock wood, Gabriel will break Nix's record for QB starts. 2024 should be a B1G battle of the Os. Oregon gets Ohio State in Eugene on 10/12 but Oregon's 2024 opponents went 101-57 in 2023. tOSU's opponents went 83-71. An Ohio State Playoff Protection Schedule. (OPPS!) Ohio State plays 8 home games. Oregon plays 7 home games. Oregon is the only P4 team in 2024 that has 8 games in a row vs. P4 (all B1G) opponents without a week off. The 6th game in this gauntlet is at Michigan. The 8th game is at Wisconsin. Welcome to the B1G. BTW - SC's 2024 opponents record in 2023, 106 - 53. Interesting that in 2024, LSU plays both LA schools and Oregon plays only UCLA. Thanks, Matt for the Ducks shout-out. And thank you, again, Miami for taking Mari(o) out of Eugene.

QUACK! Is that you Pot? respectfully, Kettle. All NFL studs except Harrison are back. Judkins from Ole Miss is on board. The 2nd Team All B12 QB is in Columbus. No NIL $ here? Just(in) Sayin.

What year?

4 OK. 6? You will hear an outcry about an 8 conference game schedule. In 2024, both Texas and Ohio State have 'playoff perfect' conference schedules. Ditto MO.

Fascinating game in LV. Both teams lose Heisman-winning QBs. Both teams have made big-time coaching changes on the D-side of the ball. Nussmeier played very well vs. Wisconsin in the bowl game. SC QB Miller Moss played lights out in the Trojans' bowl win over Louisville. Louisville looked like a tortoise compared to the SC hare. And with the Grinch who stole D gone, the SC D guys made open field tackles. LSU -6? If I were going to bet on this game and I am not with too many early season variables, I'd bet the Trojans to cover or perhaps, even on the money line. Should be a great game. Interesting that in 2024 LSU plays both LA schools and Oregon only plays UCLA.

Scheduling disparity? Texas does not play Bama, LSU, Ole Miss, Mizzou, TN, and Auburn and plays UGA in Austin. Kind of amazing, no? MO. also has an SEC Lite schedule in 2023. At least TX plays Michigan OOC, Mizzou and Ole Miss both play 4 cupcakes including the Rebels game at Wake and the Como Tigers playing BC. Oklahoma plays Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mizzou, Bama, and LSU! WOW! That's an SEC scheduling (burnt)orange for TX and a lump of coal for OK. This is what happens when a 16-team conference plays 8 conference games. In the B1G with 18 teams and 9 conference games, you get the same. USC plays opponents that went 106-53 in 2023, Oregon plays teams that went 101-57, and Ohio State plays teams that went 83-71. Some but not all of this 'imbalance' comes from OOC scheduling which is out of the hands of HQ. SC plays LSU and Notre Dame. Ohio State plays 3 G5 teams OOC, all in Columbus. (In fairness, in 2025/26, OH St plays TX OOC, and in 2027/28 plays Bama.) I would like to see a B1G/SEC CFB World Series; especially after Notre Dame and UNC potentially join the B1G and Clemson and FSU join the SEC. Both conferences play 1 OOC game vs the other, 10 conference games, and 1 free-to-schedule OOC game. Scheduling to go 6-6 with a 12-team PO and playing in a bowl where you will lose money and the decent draft-eligible players will not show up makes what kind of sense? Will the PO Committee pay attention to strength-of-schedule and not just wins and losses as was the case most often in the BCS and 4-team playoff eras? If not, why should or would, the SEC go to 9 conference games? With the inevitable conference tie-breakers coming into play and the disparity in scheduling I expect a 12-team format, while eliminating the FSU 2023 problem, will be just as contentious as the BCS x 2.

SIGH. Quinn Ewers was the 3rd team All B12 QB in 2023/24 behind Dillon Gabriel and Will Howard. The TX WR corps is gone. Bond? 220 receiving yards in year one. 668 yards last season. Good, but? WR transfers coming in from La Tech and Oregon State ( a run-heavy program under J Smith) are going to ipso facto light it up? UT had several close calls against B12 opponents in 2023. The only reason UT was in the game vs. UW is because DeBoer did not take a knee late in the game. Sark is 0-2 vs DeBoer. UT did get a 1st season SEC scheduling gift. Ask the Sooners. (In a 16-team conference with 8 conference games this will happen. It also is happening in the B1G with 18 teams and 9 conference games. Oregon's and USC's schedules in 2024 are far more difficult than Ohio State's schedule.) Even with all of the roster and coaching turnover, Michigan is the favorite to defeat UT in Ann Arbor. I'm reasonably certain that in 2025, Ohio State will be favored with the game in Columbus, over UT. The idea that UT is going to come into the best and deepest conference in the nation and play for a title(s) right away? I don't get it.

QUACK! The last week has been great for the Ducks. Lanning stays and DebOer, 3-0 vs Lanning by a total of 9 points, leaves. Ducks are now up to N0.5 in portal picking rankings. The consensus appears to be that it will be Oregon and Ohio State battling for a B1G title in 2024. Ohio State visits Eugene in October. Best of luck to Bama and DeBoer. The Saban coaching tree is amazing, but it goes back to Kent State and Washington coach Don James. Don James convinced Saban to come on board as a grad assistant. The rest is GOAT history. BTW, NFL Hall of Fame LB Jack Lambert also played with Nick and Pinkel at Kent State.

Spot on. And 8-4 TN that lost to Florida and is ranked No. 21 and 8-4 Utah that defeated Florida is not ranked?

I think Florida is rolling the dice with Napier. Hope it works out for the Gators. In 2023/24 bowl games I'm going with substance over form. The final Final 4 features B1G Michigan vs. SEC Alabama and B1G Washington vs. SEC Texas. Greg Sankey, Paul Finebaum, and ESPN know this is the reality. As do Tony Petitti and Fox. Which conference will take charge of the Power 2 hegemony with the SEC today clearly in front? In all, there will be 7 bowl game match-ups between the 'new' B1G and the 'new' SEC. Rose Bowl - Saint Nick is 16-6 in bowl games coaching Alabama, with 6 national championships. Jim Harbaugh is 1-6 at Michigan. And 0-2 in playoff games. The B1G was weak this season. I think both UW and Oregon would have been in contention to play in the B1G title game. Give me Bama. Sugar Bowl - Washington vs. Texas. Just once it would be nice if a Left Coast team could play a quality SEC team outside Dixie. However, it did not go so well for the Ducks when Oregon opened the season vs. LSU in Glendale, AZ. UW with slot receiver McMillan healthy and Penix throwing to them had the best WR corps in 2023. Ohio State wins on paper, perhaps, but not with McCord at QB. The best passing game in the nation was UW's. LSU was not far behind. The strength of the UW O matches up against the weakest position of Texas, the D backs. And one of Texas' best DBs, safety Derek Williams, is out for the 1st half of the Sugar Bowl. UW defeated Texas in last season's Alamo Bowl in a game where Penix did not play up to his standard. UW coach DeBoer does not lose to the top 25 teams. I see UW playing Bama in Houston for the title and Bama and Saint Nick, with arguably his best coaching job ever in 2023, coping another title for The Tide.

9 playoffs. 9 winners all played 8 conference games. Ergo, Bama is the champ but will play UW and not Texas. UW handled UT last season and will do so in the Sugar Bowl. UW's WRs are all healthy and UT's pass D is suspect.

Is Nussmeier the guy? Any QB following Daniels will have a very difficult act to follow. BTW, Gabriel to Miss State to be a punching bag for an uncompetitive program instead of playing for likely 2024 PO team Oregon? And playing against 'great SEC D's?' That's a stereotype that is no longer borne out on the field. If true, why go somewhere where your stats will suffer? I hope Auburn and Freeze get the pitcher they need.

Jake, at the top, we had more parity in CFB this season at the top than in the history of the Playoff. Why, unfettered free agency and NIL. None of the 3 QBs headed to NYC for the Heisman trophy ceremony would have been there if they had not transferred. Oregon and UW would not have been competing for a PO spot and LSU with its D, or lack thereof, would have likely lost the game at Mizzou and 1 other game if not for Daniels.