NCAA Football 2022

[Apollo]

I really do hate what college football has become in the last decade or so. Money is now king, maybe it always was but at least it wasn’t so up front.

I have exactly the opposite take. Though I have always rooted for Alabama/Auburn, as a kid I found the NFL much more exciting, primarily because there was a real playoff and a real champion, whereas college always ended up with #1 playing #6 in one bowl, #2 playing #12 in another bowl, #3 playing #8, etc, etc. It was a huge yawn fest.

Now, with more games between good teams and the Champion being determined on the field of play, rather than by a media popularity contest, I think College Football is vastly more exciting than it was in the 70's and 80's. Now, if they could just have the Power conferences only play teams from other Power conferences, I will finally be happy with the state of college football (assuming NIL doesn't ruin everything... ).

[Skinypupy]

So to sum up:
- If your team is one of those who is "in": These changes are all very fun!
- If your team is one of those who is "out": This changes are all terrible!

[Isgrimnur]

[Scuzz]

I really do hate what college football has become in the last decade or so. Money is now king, maybe it always was but at least it wasn’t so up front.

I have exactly the opposite take. Though I have always rooted for Alabama/Auburn, as a kid I found the NFL much more exciting, primarily because there was a real playoff and a real champion, whereas college always ended up with #1 playing #6 in one bowl, #2 playing #12 in another bowl, #3 playing #8, etc, etc. It was a huge yawn fest.

Now, with more games between good teams and the Champion being determined on the field of play, rather than by a media popularity contest, I think College Football is vastly more exciting than it was in the 70's and 80's. Now, if they could just have the Power conferences only play teams from other Power conferences, I will finally be happy with the state of college football (assuming NIL doesn't ruin everything... ).

We agree for the most part. The difference is with college football the big players actually control the game.

[Scuzz]

So to sum up:
- If your team is one of those who is "in": These changes are all very fun!
- If your team is one of those who is "out": This changes are all terrible!

The illusion of the possible has disappeared for most of us. Even the crazy thought that Fresno State could be the next Cincinnati. And what happened to Utah is terrible.

[Pyperkub]

So to sum up:
- If your team is one of those who is "in": These changes are all very fun!
- If your team is one of those who is "out": This changes are all terrible!

The illusion of the possible has disappeared for most of us. Even the crazy thought that Fresno State could be the next Cincinnati. And what happened to Utah is terrible.

Eh, UCLA is in and I'm definitely not celebrating. I feel more like a rat fleeing a sinking ship. Glad to still be alive and competitive, but I would have rather the ship to just be able to keep up.

As to Utah, ten years in the Pac 12 really did elevate the program and the university (see how much the research income grew).

While I'd rather Utah be able to continue this trajectory, even going to the new Big 12 and getting the Holy War back as a conference game is better than the old options.

[JCC]

My local paper has an article ranking the ACC programs in tiers for how appealing they would be to the Big 10 and/or SEC. Normally you have to sub to read their stuff online, but this article appears to be free to read.

Personally, I agree 100% with where they grouped the teams into each tier and their rationale...

[Pyperkub]

My local paper has an article ranking the ACC programs in tiers for how appealing they would be to the Big 10 and/or SEC. Normally you have to sub to read their stuff online, but this article appears to be free to read.

Personally, I agree 100% with where they grouped the teams into each tier and their rationale...

I doubt the ACC teams are going anywhere in the near future (outside of ND). That $50 million buyback of TV rights (per school) looks pretty prohibitive no matter how much they want it, it's doubtful any of the schools have that much value-add to cover those costs. More likely would be expansion to renegotiate their TV deal, perhaps even going nationwide with some of the Pac-12 Schools, but that would have to be driven by ESPN and under what terms they would renegotiate to get closer to the Power 2 conferences - how much does ESPN want those West Coast Teams/Game timeslots?

Side Note - interestingly enough, Nebraska * was * an AAU school at the time they accepted the B1G invite, getting booted was 9 months later:

At least two thirds of the 63-member organization decided that after more than 100 years of membership, the university should no longer be numbered amongst the distinguished institutions in the AAU. This marks the first time an institution has been asked to leave the group.

[Skinypupy]

Some interesting news from the UCLA camp on what was driving the B10 move

It turns out money was the motivating factor behind UCLA moving to the Big Ten. But it wasn't just another case of greed and profit, but one of real need.

UCLA was looking at the possibility of cutting almost half its sports programs, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Times.

UCLA was running out of money hand over fist — until the Big Ten came along.

"Given its perilous athletic department finances, UCLA faced the prospect of cutting sports had the school not greed to bolt for the Big Ten," the report said.

It continued, "The timing isn't certain and the number of teams that would have been affected isn't known, but the Bruins were headed toward an Olympic sports Armageddon without the infusion of cash that will accompany its departure from the Pac-12 Conference in 2024."

Now, with the move to the Big Ten, UCLA should be able to make enough money to keep their Olympic sports programs going into the future.

[Pyperkub]

Some interesting news from the UCLA camp on what was driving the B10 move

It turns out money was the motivating factor behind UCLA moving to the Big Ten. But it wasn't just another case of greed and profit, but one of real need.

UCLA was looking at the possibility of cutting almost half its sports programs, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Times.

UCLA was running out of money hand over fist — until the Big Ten came along.

"Given its perilous athletic department finances, UCLA faced the prospect of cutting sports had the school not greed to bolt for the Big Ten," the report said.

It continued, "The timing isn't certain and the number of teams that would have been affected isn't known, but the Bruins were headed toward an Olympic sports Armageddon without the infusion of cash that will accompany its departure from the Pac-12 Conference in 2024."

Now, with the move to the Big Ten, UCLA should be able to make enough money to keep their Olympic sports programs going into the future.

Note. It hasn't been just UCLA - UCLA actually was weathering the storm pretty well for awhile, until the costs to be competitive in Football and Basketball ballooned in the past 10 years - Cal especially was doing much worse, and eve Stanford has been struggling as well. Stanford wanted to cut 11 programs but the outcry killed that, and Cal tried to cut Baseball but was shut down, but is still in dire straits.

It's THE main reason that I can see Cal dropping football and cutting a bunch of sports if costs continue to spiral, but income gets crushed. I do think that Stanford has a LOT of powerful Alums with passionate ties to the Sports programs, and will manage to stay afloat and probably elbow their way into the new College Football paradigm.

Interestingly enough, Oregon mega-donor ... ney there:

What does Knight want to happen here?

That’s today’s question. Because the 84-year-old Nike founder has been busy in the last few years making legacy plays. He and his wife, Penny, have given billions over the years to build libraries, fund cancer research, and study cardiovascular health. They poured their resources into the University of Oregon and Stanford, his alma maters.

The Knights gifted Stanford $75 million in 2021 to fund a study on cognitive decline. A year before that, they cut a $465 million check to Oregon. And last month, Knight emerged as part of a $2 billion-plus written offer to purchase the Trail Blazers — perhaps his biggest legacy play yet.

[pr0ner]

[Pyperkub]

IMHO, *any* conference with Liberty is diseased!

[Skinypupy]

OK, this was hilarious. Let's make one big college football super conference of evil

[Isgrimnur]

Arizona: I remember that one time when Arizona football was Sports Illustrated’s preseason No. 1. That was in 1994. Remember the Desert Swarm defense? Anyway, that team lost to Utah in the Freedom Bowl. NO.

As an attendee for the '93-94 school year, ouch.

[Isgrimnur]

TCU: We now come to the “schools you play for because UT wouldn’t offer you a starting job” section of this post. NO.

Texas Tech: Same deal. “Texas” and “Tech” belong next to each other about as much as Aaron Rodgers and his family do. NO.

Double ouch.

[Skinypupy]

Utah: Recent history has proven that if you underestimate Utah football, they’ll give your favorite team a salt lake enema. I fear them. Also, this gives me an excuse to leave BYU out. YES.

[Pyperkub]

Done in by a font? Ouch.

[Carpet_pissr]

Wonder what the odds are on Clemson now moving to the SEC? Hopefully zero, but I bet it’s significantly higher than that now.

[JCC]

Wonder what the odds are on Clemson now moving to the SEC? Hopefully zero, but I bet it’s significantly higher than that now.

I would say the odds are 1 to 1. It's a matter of when not if.

[Skinypupy]

Wonder what the odds are on Clemson now moving to the SEC? Hopefully zero, but I bet it’s significantly higher than that now.

I would say the odds are 1 to 1. It's a matter of when not if.

Agreed.

[Pyperkub]

Wonder what the odds are on Clemson now moving to the SEC? Hopefully zero, but I bet it’s significantly higher than that now.

I would say the odds are 1 to 1. It's a matter of when not if.

Agreed.

Yeah, but "now" isn't being used in a temporal sense, and ESPN (who would likely be financing it as a move from one ESPN contract to another), may like things exactly as they are...

As strange as it may sound, due to the financials, it may either take a move by Fox to move Clemson to the B1G to force ESPN's hand, and then Clemson could pick and choose... tho Clemson not being an AAU institution could be a roadblock...

[JCC]

The only way the ACC will survive as a "power" conference is if the SEC and Big 10 don't poach from them. The issue is, the big brands in the ACC will be trying to get one or both of them to invite them to the party. The money is just too much greater in the SEC and the Big 10 now. The ACC's TV deal is locked until 2036, so they are stuck in place while the Big 10 and SEC will negotiate new deals 2 or 3 times before the ACC can. At that point, the revenue discrepency will be gigantic. Some combination of Clemson, Miami, FSU, UNC, UVA, and/or Duke is going to buy their way out (eventually) of that contract if the Big 10 and/or SEC are willing to invite them to the party.

The only way that will NOT happen is if the Big 10 and SEC announce that they are done with expansion (and you know, actually mean it). But, I am not sure why they would want to. If they will make more money by adding teams, then they will. Seems hard to believe they wouldn't make more money by adding some of the teams I listed above.

[Pyperkub]

The only way the ACC will survive as a "power" conference is if the SEC and Big 10 don't poach from them. The issue is, the big brands in the ACC will be trying to get one or both of them to invite them to the party. The money is just too much greater in the SEC and the Big 10 now. The ACC's TV deal is locked until 2036, so they are stuck in place while the Big 10 and SEC will negotiate new deals 2 or 3 times before the ACC can. At that point, the revenue discrepency will be gigantic. Some combination of Clemson, Miami, FSU, UNC, UVA, and/or Duke is going to buy their way out (eventually) of that contract if the Big 10 and/or SEC are willing to invite them to the party.

The only way that will NOT happen is if the Big 10 and SEC announce that they are done with expansion (and you know, actually mean it). But, I am not sure why they would want to. If they will make more money by adding teams, then they will. Seems hard to believe they wouldn't make more money by adding some of the teams I listed above.

Eh, as we're seeing, the single Power Conference for football only is well on its way to reality. How that will tie into every other sport, the NCAA and Title IX, etc will be a long, strange trip.

[ImLawBoy]

Going to put this here instead of in the RIP thread since I think this audience will appreciate it more, but RIP Gary Moeller. Mo was long tied to Bo, and took over the Michigan program after Bo retired. He made the call on the single greatest play I've ever seen live (4th and 1 pass from Grbac to Desmond against ND). He got fired after 5 years after a public drunkeness dust up at a restaurant. Even at the time it seemed to me that the antics were a convenient cover story for having too many 4 loss seasons, and now it seems downright quaint that a coach would get fired for something like that. Still, he won 75% of his games and was largely responsible for recruiting the team that would win the national title in 1997. My favorite T-shirt of the era for the man who famously shook up the ground bound Michigan offense - "Mo Knows Football - Just Pass It".

[Skinypupy]

Going to be very interesting to see what happens with the upcoming media negotiations if this is true.

[Pyperkub]

Going to be very interesting to see what happens with the upcoming media negotiations if this is true.

It makes a lot of sense. Per Wilner, these are the dates that will be crucial if the Pac-10 does that:

2024: The Pac-12 begins a new media contract cycle
2025: The Big 12 begins a new media contract cycle
2025: Notre Dame’s last year under the current NBC contract
2026: The first season on an expanded CFP

ND's NBC Contract expiration is the key to the next round of chaos, IMHO.

I would not be surprised to see at least some of the Pac-10 schools want an out in case of an ND move which flips the table again.

Also, given the Power 2, I wouldn't be surprised to see the CFP stay at 4, or even disappear/get relegated to NIT status in hoops and we see the B1G/SEC just setup their own playoff...

The one huge thing the Pac-10 would really have going for it in the current media negotiations is a huge advantage in the pac-12 After Dark timeslot. That alone probably elevates the contract above the Big12 minus Tx/OU.

[Scuzz]

I think games that mean something on the west coast can’t start after 4pm or their value drops. It sucks but it’s ratings. Maybe 5pm.

[Pyperkub]

I think games that mean something on the west coast can’t start after 4pm or their value drops. It sucks but it’s ratings. Maybe 5pm.

There wouldn't be 7pm+ PST start times if the networks didn't want them (outside of the desert schools in Arizona heat). Many of those games were ESPN2 or FS1. They want those time slots, they are still more valuable than anything else they will put there. How much? Depends, but more valuable than an FS1 game going against both an ESPN SEC nationally televised game, and a B1G nationally televised game.

Heck, you should know this, Fresno St games frequently get that timeslot, when they otherwise wouldn't be televised.

Now, as to "mean something", you're correct in that if a game is of large enough national interest, it probably won't get that timeslot. E.G. I strongly doubt that in a new Pac-10 conference that the Oregon-UW game ever ends up with that timeslot. but Arizona/Oregon St? Yeah.

[Scuzz]

I loved late games but I can’t imagine many on the east coast watch them.

[Pyperkub]

I loved late games but I can’t imagine many on the east coast watch them.

True, it's probably bar patrons, gamblers and sports junkies for the most part. But, NY is the city that never sleeps .

but for those who want sports, it's there, and again, it's probably more valuable than sportscenter re-runs, etc.

[Apollo]

I loved late games but I can’t imagine many on the east coast watch them.

We do here in Birmingham. We are pretty much always in the top 3 cities for TV ratings for any college football game. I personally love the fact that I can watch college football up until my bedtime, thanks to the Pac-12.

[Isgrimnur]

Beats trying to watch NFL games at 10am.

[Scuzz]

Beats trying to watch NFL games at 10am.

I love getting up on Sunday, having breakfast and then sitting down to watch some NFL.

[Skinypupy]

Oregon TE Spencer Webb slips on some rocks, hits his head, dies.

What a horrible freak accident.

[Pyperkub]

Beats trying to watch NFL games at 10am.

I love getting up on Sunday, having breakfast and then sitting down to watch some NFL.

Yup, and then the late game ends by around 8pm, if one even deigns to watch it.

TBH tho, if I'm home, I'm generally timeshifted a bit on RedZone if I'm not watching the NIners or Raiders in firehose plays mode on another Tuner.

And yeah, even tho the Raiders moved away from the Bay Area, I still will watch some of their games. Probably because they are still John Facenda's "The Autumn Wind is a Raider" team.

But College football Saturdays are even better generally. Get up and have coffee with Gameday, or the 9am game, and just roll until the last good late game is over around 10:30/11pm, and then maybe watch the Pac-12 after dark show, or a recorded College Football Final and record the Pac-12 after dark game for Sunday Morning.

Or, for the games I fly down to LA for, wake up and have coffee for the 9am games, pack up for the tailgate, head on up to Pasadena (usually Barney's Beanery) to watch some games in a sportsbar, then over to Brookside (Rose Bowl golf course/parking lot for the games) and tailgate. Go in and watch the game, then out for dinner where we can watch another game or two...

[Isgrimnur]

We were a church-going family, so I never got to see the early games.

[ImLawBoy]

That's why Central time worked well for us. Mass at 10:30 and home for a noon Bears kickoff.

[Pyperkub]

You gotta love Mike Leach Pressers!

Asked about Jimbo versus Nick in the NIL issues, Mike Leach says they both make the point that the current system is not sustainable. ... Leach says any NFL player would love to have unfettered free agency and no salary cap like college players.

[Pyperkub]

Welp, Notre Dame essentially wants NBC to pay them as if they were in the B1G to stay out of the B1G. I don't think NBC will do that for just Football Home games...

Notre Dame would remain independent if it can earn at least $75 million annually in media rights revenue from current broadcast partner NBC, sources told CBS Sports. The Fighting Irish's deal with the network is set to expire in 2025.

[JCC]

Notre Dame is the domino that if/when it falls and they give up independence for the Big "10", the entire ACC will fall apart. I would guess once ND breaks out of the ACC rights deal (which they can do for much less than the other members can), all of the other members will immediately say that their current rights' deal with the league is no longer valid since they all signed it believing ND would play 5 games against ACC teams for the duration of the deal. The problem is, only a handful (at most) of teams are going to be invited to the "big leagues". So, I would guess, the end result will be a "power 3" where the third is the best scraps of the Big 12/ACC/Pac 12. Still, who knows?

It's such a chaotic time in CFB now. I find it both exciting and worrying.