2026 College Football Thread

[Uncle Rico]

How much is your team spending

https://bsky.app/profile/jasonkirk.fyi/post/3mvnb7d5rjc2h

[wadesworld]

How much is your team spending

https://bsky.app/profile/jasonkirk.fyi/post/3mvnb7d5rjc2h

BeeJay says this is not legal and the numbers are inflated.

[Uncle Rico]

BeeJay says this is not legal and the numbers are inflated.

He's wrong

[wadesworld]

He's wrong

Their athletic departments can only pay student athletes $21.3MM and the NCAA has not approved enough in NIL transactions to make these numbers make sense.  These numbers are wrong, I promise you.

[Uncle Rico]

Their athletic departments can only pay student athletes $21.3MM and the NCAA has not approved enough in NIL transactions to make these numbers make sense.  These numbers are wrong, I promise you.

They aren't

[MU82]

Here's a good graphic from The Athletic:

[Uncle Rico]

Here's a good graphic from The Athletic:

UW-Madison crying poor?  Huh

[BM1090]

UW-Madison crying poor?  Huh

Spending 30 mil and still sucking is rough.

[Uncle Rico]

Spending 30 mil and still sucking is rough.

This coming out after Leonhard and Chryst get interviewed in The Athletic about their ousting.  Not that there was much doubt, but Fickell is a dead man walking.

Can't blame NIL if he craps the bed this year and while the number is middle of the road in league, it's still better than every school other than 25 or so.  Attractive job.

[JWags85]

Spending 30 mil and still sucking is rough.

Their returns on NIL look like Jim Simons compared to Rutgers.  $22MMish to lose by 20 at home to UMASS and then lose to BC (a dumpster fire program who has the lowest P5 NIL and just lost by 20 to mediocre Cincy the week before).

Also pretty shocking ol' Row The Boat PJ can't get Minny to cough up $20MM in NIL.

The other notable, for me, is SMU.  Lashlee has done really well there.  The school spent/invested to get into the ACC and we know that alumni base has DEEEEP pockets.  Another 9-10 win season but no win (or no berth) in the Playoff and I can see them jacking that up to at least to where other ACC schools are in the 30ish range.

[Hards Alumni]

Spending 30 mil and still sucking is rough.

To be fair, that is this years number.  Last years was much less, I believe.

[wadesworld]

To be fair, that is this years number.  Last years was much less, I believe.

I believe so. Much like Dave Portnoy giving a running back $40MM to play QB at Michigan, Big Cat's money will be used to get 7 wins out of an awful schedule.

[tower912]

NCAA admits that WMU won the game, that there should not have been an extra play.   They do not have the means to correct it.

[Hards Alumni]

NCAA admits that WMU won the game, that there should not have been an extra play.   They do not have the means to correct it.

Sure they do, just change the result.  They won't.

[jesmu84]

If the results were reversed - WMU wins on 2nd chance hail Mary - the conspiracy theorist in me says NCAA would reverse outcome.

[wadesworld]

If the results were reversed - WMU wins on 2nd chance hail Mary - the conspiracy theorist in me says NCAA would reverse outcome.

I don't think so.  But I also don't think they put a second back on the clock to give them a second shot at it.

[Hards Alumni]

Belichick's son will have plenty of time for skiing now.

[Pakuni]

This man on drugs? No way, guys.

[WhiteTrash]

Sports is entertainment and Lane Kiffen is straight out of central casting. Keep it up Lane. 0% class but 100% entertainment.

[JWags85]

Sports is entertainment and Lane Kiffen is straight out of central casting. Keep it up Lane. 0% class but 100% entertainment.

Many people can and will disagree, but he's so awesome for college football.   Nothing he does is uniquely bad or "illegal" so you can't pretend he's specifically "ruining the sport" unless you're one of his critics or an Ole Miss alum/fan.

But in a sea of cookie cutter boring uber-focused/devoid of personality coaches or borderline on the spectrum coach speak filled lunatics, he's complete and utter theater.  Not to mention completely self aware and shamelessly authentic.  What a 180 transition from Brian MAH FAH-MUH-LEE Kelly

He's become a really good coach, he's at a school that is going to pay/support whatever needed to get him elite rosters, so he's gonna win games.  He's gonna become Spurrier 2.0 in the SEC and I love it.

[JWags85]

Belichick's son will have plenty of time for skiing now.

Pretty sure Jordon absolutely hates Steve's wife, so we all know who presented UNC with the evidence/is behind this.

[Pakuni]

Many people can and will disagree, but he's so awesome for college football.   Nothing he does is uniquely bad or "illegal" so you can't pretend he's specifically "ruining the sport" unless you're one of his critics or an Ole Miss alum/fan.

But in a sea of cookie cutter boring uber-focused/devoid of personality coaches or borderline on the spectrum coach speak filled lunatics, he's complete and utter theater.  Not to mention completely self aware and shamelessly authentic.  What a 180 transition from Brian MAH FAH-MUH-LEE Kelly

He's become a really good coach, he's at a school that is going to pay/support whatever needed to get him elite rosters, so he's gonna win games.  He's gonna become Spurrier 2.0 in the SEC and I love it.

Oh, boy. We're really going to disagree here. Authentic? Lane is the biggest fraud in an industry full of them. His rakish scoundrel routine is a cover for a man who looks out for no one but himself. A man so despised at USC that he was left on a tarmac. A man who Nick Saban fired on the eve of the playoffs rather than put up with his bullsh!t anymore, then personally intervened to make sure he wasn't his successor in Tuscaloosa. Everywhere he's been, his former bosses and players - all the way back to his time with the Raiders - have accused him of being a liar and a fraud. Say what you will about Al Davis, but the fact Lane hasn't had a sniff of interest from the NFL in nearly two decades tells you which side of the dispute the league falls on.
I get the appeal of a guy who unapologetically sticks his thumb in the eye of the NCAA ruling class, but Lane isn't standing up for the betterment of the players or the fans or the sport. Lane does it for Lane.

Spurrier 2.0? I'll be glad to take some action on that. Spurrier won five SEC titles in his first seven years in the conference and finished ranked in the top 10 six of those seven years. Lane hasn't made the title game in seven seasons, much less won a title, and has two top 10 seasons. He's got a ways to go before he's Spurrier.

[The Sultan]

I think Lane is entertaining no doubt. But putting him and Spurrier in the same sentence is insane. He had a personality no doubt, but was also a revolutionary coach (probably behind only Saban and Bryant in SEC history), and largely considered a great guy as well.

[JWags85]

Oh, boy. We're really going to disagree here. Authentic? Lane is the biggest fraud in an industry full of them. His rakish scoundrel routine is a cover for a man who looks out for no one but himself. A man so despised at USC that he was left on a tarmac. A man who Nick Saban fired on the eve of the playoffs rather than put up with his bullsh!t anymore, then personally intervened to make sure he wasn't his successor in Tuscaloosa. Everywhere he's been, his former bosses and players - all the way back to his time with the Raiders - have accused him of being a liar and a fraud. Say what you will about Al Davis, but the fact Lane hasn't had a sniff of interest from the NFL in nearly two decades tells you which side of the dispute the league falls on.
I get the appeal of a guy who unapologetically sticks his thumb in the eye of the NCAA ruling class, but Lane isn't standing up for the betterment of the players or the fans or the sport. Lane does it for Lane.

I think it depends on your definition of authentic.  I've never thought Lane was some altruistic force or a crusader, he's always been pretty naked about his self-interest, IMO.  I'm not referring to what he's done or said within athletic departs or behind university doors, I'm talking about how he's been with the media and the press.  He was honestly pretty prescient about the current chaos of NIL and pro players and everything early on at Ole Miss basically saying he was for it, he was using it, but it was a disaster and nobody had any clue what they were doing.

College fans (both basketball and football) are notorious for assuming "this time is gonna be different" or that their program is special, but the only people who ever thought Lane was gonna stay at Ole Miss...were Rebel faithful.  I said it at the time and I'll say it again, I totally get why people (beyond Oxford, MS) were pissed and the optics were terrible, but the biggest issue with Lane's departure from Ole Miss was the timing of the window and that was the fault of the NCAA not him.

Also, pretty sure Al Davis said all the crap that he did about Kiffin and had the issues with him cause he tried to get Kiffin to resign after that awful first season, Kiffin refused (understandably) and forced Davis to fire him part way into Year 2.

That being said, I think there are two Kiffin eras.  Pre-Bama and Post-Bama.  I don't think anyone can deny that he's a far better coach than he was before he spent time with Saban.  He has always been a great offensive mind, but was not a good coach.  He's now both.  And the authenticity and amusing nature of his behavior changes precipitously if he's a winning/successful coach.  A shameless cocky loudmouth coach who goes 33-30 as a HC is obnoxious and grating.  If the same coach does that while winning a bunch of games at bad mid major (where his predecessors failed) and at historical SEC doormat, its a different.

I also find the framing of Lane in relation to Saban to be amusing as well.  Coming from someone who really likes Saban and thinks he's been a fantastic media personality the last few years at Bama and in retirement...he was called a liar and a fraud and a slick/slimy disingenuous fly by night before he settled in at Bama.  He was never the firebrand or as outrageous as Lane is, but he wasnt some beloved paragon of virtue for the majority of his career.
[/quote]

Spurrier 2.0? I'll be glad to take some action on that. Spurrier won five SEC titles in his first seven years in the conference and finished ranked in the top 10 six of those seven years. Lane hasn't made the title game in seven seasons, much less won a title, and has two top 10 seasons. He's got a ways to go before he's Spurrier.

Oh oh, for the record, I just meant another brash cocky loud SEC coach who was successful and didn't give a damn what anyone thought of him.  I think Lane will be successful and win a lot in Baton Rouge but Spurrier's early to mid 90s run was legendary and expecting anyone to match that in the current game is begging to look foolish.

[Uncle Rico]

Lane Kiffin is great