2025 College Football Thread

[WhiteTrash]

Five more years to judge.TM

[CountryRoads]

Fickell is fine. The fair weather UW-directional fans are just being unreasonable and need to have some patience and get some perspective. They have a chance to be competing for bowl eligibility again within the next 2 years. Alvarez was completely right. Those fans have been spoiled for the last 30 years.

[Hards Alumni]

If true, holy continued crap show. 

McIntosh is gone when they fire Fickell anyway, so don't read too much into it.

[MU82]

Montie Quinn of Division III Curry College rushed for an NCAA-record 522 yards in Saturday's 71-27 win over Nichols College.

Quinn's day included TD runs of 85, 84, 76, 64, 58, 30 and 2 yards.

And he could have hit 600+ yards - he was pulled from the game with more than 9 minutes to play.

[StillAWarrior]

Thanks to the Big Ten expansion, Indiana has faced the meat of their schedule. The rest of their conference schedule is weaker than a Georgetown non-conference schedule.

Actually, so has OSU - although the Michigan game always looms large. I happened to notice these two remaining schedules this morning when wondering whether these two would end up with the best records and face each other in the B10 Championship game. Here are the remaining schedules for both:

Indiana

• UCLA (3-1)
• @ Maryland (1-3)
• @Penn State (0-4)
• Wisconsin (0-4)
• @Purdue (0-4)

Ohio State

• Penn State (0-4)
• @Purdue (0-4)
• UCLA (3-1)
• Rutgers (0-4)
• @Michigan (3-1)

Ten games against opponents that are a combined 10-30.

[Uncle Rico]

Hate to agree with Florio but...

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/rampant-buyouts-debunk-the-sky-is-falling-college-football-narrative

[MU82]

Hate to agree with Florio but...

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/rampant-buyouts-debunk-the-sky-is-falling-college-football-narrative

Yup. NIL and the portal have increased parity in college football.

[WhiteTrash]

Yup. NIL and the portal have increased parity in college football.

While I think that there should be some guide rails on transfers and player compensation, the biggest issue is the disparity in revenues and the related resources in football and basketball. The easiest and, IMO, best solution is to separate the truly professional programs from the "college" programs. The data seems to support that fans care about the product regardless of the professional aspect, so why not go all in and create a system outside the NCAA and academia that focuses on the actual product people want and compensation that players deserve?

To that end, the NFL has provided the gold standard of blue prints.

[MU82]

While I think that there should be some guide rails on transfers and player compensation, the biggest issue is the disparity in revenues and the related resources in football and basketball. The easiest and, IMO, best solution is to separate the truly professional programs from the "college" programs. The data seems to support that fans care about the product regardless of the professional aspect, so why not go all in and create a system outside the NCAA and academia that focuses on the actual product people want and compensation that players deserve?

To that end, the NFL has provided the gold standard of blue prints.

I don't see such a separation scenario happening anytime in the foreseeable future, but who knows?

"Guardrails" should come through collective bargaining. Until then, athletes should have the same unlimited freedom-of-movement and right-to-earn situations as is the case with all other college students.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

While I think that there should be some guide rails on transfers and player compensation, the biggest issue is the disparity in revenues and the related resources in football and basketball. The easiest and, IMO, best solution is to separate the truly professional programs from the "college" programs. The data seems to support that fans care about the product regardless of the professional aspect, so why not go all in and create a system outside the NCAA and academia that focuses on the actual product people want and compensation that players deserve?

To that end, the NFL has provided the gold standard of blue prints.

Because once you remove the connection to schools it just becomes another minor league football/basketball league. Maybe they are successful,  or maybe they flop as all minor leagues do. Why take that risk when theres no significant downside to attaching it to schools?

[The Sultan]

While I think that there should be some guide rails on transfers and player compensation, the biggest issue is the disparity in revenues and the related resources in football and basketball. The easiest and, IMO, best solution is to separate the truly professional programs from the "college" programs. The data seems to support that fans care about the product regardless of the professional aspect, so why not go all in and create a system outside the NCAA and academia that focuses on the actual product people want and compensation that players deserve?

To that end, the NFL has provided the gold standard of blue prints.

Or just keep it the way it is because it works just fine.

[jesmu84]

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-merger-you-never-knew-you-wanted/

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should-ohio-state-and-michigan-and-clemson-join-the-n-f-l/

[WhiteTrash]

I don't see such a separation scenario happening anytime in the foreseeable future, but who knows?

"Guardrails" should come through collective bargaining. Until then, athletes should have the same unlimited freedom-of-movement and right-to-earn situations as is the case with all other college students.

I agree with the collective bargaining. It would be essential to getting the institutions to understand their product is paramount in the competition for dollars, and not the competition with fellow schools or conferences. 

[WhiteTrash]

Because once you remove the connection to schools it just becomes another minor league football/basketball league. Maybe they are successful,  or maybe they flop as all minor leagues do. Why take that risk when theres no significant downside to attaching it to schools?

I'm not saying completely divorce from the schools. The schools would be the owner, or primary owner of the teams. The same free market consideration the players and coaches get would be extended to the schools should they wish to bring in additional capital.

[WhiteTrash]

Or just keep it the way it is because it works just fine.

That's reasonable but I don't think it is a majority opinion of the D1 schools in the wake of the NCAA settlement. Or, I should say, that is the impression I get.

From the drive by press I hear:
+ women's sports are suffering
+ non-revenue men's are also
+ "many" schools are finding it a challenge to fund the settlement
+ schools and coaches are complaining that the balance of power is being further tilted in the P4 favor
+ schools are complaining that the conference distributions within conferences are unfair

But this maybe the normal for college sports forever and I'm paying a little more attention now.

[Uncle Rico]

McIntosh sent out a letter to season ticket holders and students today that went over as well as a Willie Warrior game thread post

[ATL MU Warrior]

How many and what types of genitalia and orifices were mentioned?

[The Sultan]

How many and what types of genitalia and orifices were mentioned?

Puke Dickell

[MU82]

Oregon is a 33.5-point favorite over the Weasels.

[JWags85]

FIU gets HAMMERED tonight by Kennesaw State who has been an FBS school for only a year.

Fun time to remember that they fired Mario Cristobal when he was one of the hottest young coaches after a down year.  This was after he took over a program less than 5 years old coming off a 0-12 season and NCAA sanctions and won a conference title within 4 years and had 2 fantastic years by mid major standards. 

Meanwhile, while very much an imperfect coach, won 2 PAC 12 titles at Oregon and now has Miami as a top 5/10 team for the first time in literally 20 years.  FIU on the other hand has 2 winning seasons in the 15 years since firing him after trying a bunch of retreads from Ron Turner to Butch Davis to Mike McIntyre.

HOWEVA, their stadium is name sponsored by Pitbull, yes Mr Worldwide pays $1.2MM a year to have FIU play at Pitbull Stadium. Thats amazing

[MU82]

From The Athletic:

AUBURN, Ala. — On a football Saturday, the tailgate scene around Jordan-Hare Stadium spans more than a mile in each direction. Food and drink spreads. Televisions showing other games. Revelry and fellowship. A lot goes into these gamedays, because there aren't many of them: Six, maybe seven a year at Auburn and most power-conference schools.

So when Auburn announced recently that it was moving one of those precious home games next year — and a good one, against Baylor — to Atlanta, there was an outcry. It was a unique deal, aimed at bringing name, image and likeness dollars to help Auburn procure better players. But Auburn's mayor protested at the loss of city revenue. A local media member estimated 90 percent of the fan feedback was negative.

David Hightower, sitting in his Auburn tailgate tent before the Georgia game, took a more even-keel approach, saying he thought fans would ultimately go along with it if it makes their team better.

Then he added: "If it makes the team better."

Therein lies the key, and why Auburn made the deal, in which the Peach Bowl committee agreed to directly pay Auburn players in exchange for their marketing of the game. Neither Auburn nor the Peach Bowl has divulged what promised guarantees may exist, but a source briefed on the deal said Auburn players could receive at least $4 million, and more if it's a sellout.

"It's not a decision we took lightly. I know it affects a lot of people," Auburn athletic director John Cohen said. "But I also know recruiting is the lifeblood of any institution, the most important factor in recruiting right now is what type of compensation are student-athletes going to get. I'm not going to run from that, hide from that, sugarcoat it. That's a critically important factor in 2025."

The players will do marketing and promotion for the game. David Epps, the chief operating officer of the Peach Bowl, cautioned that guaranteed money is hard to say because the activities have to be cleared by the NIL Go clearinghouse.

"But essentially, yeah, we're going to use their student-athletes to help us market and promote the Aflac kickoff game and ticket sales and fan activity so we can generate some excitement, enthusiasm around the match-up next year," Epps said.

[Jockey]

Oregon is a 33.5-point favorite over the Weasels.

Oregon have a bunch of injuries?

[Shaka Shart]

Oregon have a bunch of injuries?

Yeah Woke mind virus

[Litehouse]

From The Athletic:

Therein lies the key, and why Auburn made the deal, in which the Peach Bowl committee agreed to directly pay Auburn players in exchange for their marketing of the game. Neither Auburn nor the Peach Bowl has divulged what promised guarantees may exist, but a source briefed on the deal said Auburn players could receive at least $4 million, and more if it's a sellout.

"It's not a decision we took lightly. I know it affects a lot of people," Auburn athletic director John Cohen said. "But I also know recruiting is the lifeblood of any institution, the most important factor in recruiting right now is what type of compensation are student-athletes going to get. I'm not going to run from that, hide from that, sugarcoat it. That's a critically important factor in 2025."

The players will do marketing and promotion for the game. David Epps, the chief operating officer of the Peach Bowl, cautioned that guaranteed money is hard to say because the activities have to be cleared by the NIL Go clearinghouse.

"But essentially, yeah, we're going to use their student-athletes to help us market and promote the Aflac kickoff game and ticket sales and fan activity so we can generate some excitement, enthusiasm around the match-up next year," Epps said.

How can it make financial sense for the Peach Bowl to pay $4M to the players for a single game?

[Pakuni]

How can it make financial sense for the Peach Bowl to pay $4M to the players for a single game?

ESPN pays nearly $1.3 billion a year to broadcast the 11 CFB playoff games, about $118 million per game, of which the Peach Bowl is one.
Average ticket sale price (before secondary market) for last year's Peach Bowl was $315. Attendance was 71,105. That's another $22.4 million revenue. Add  a cut of parking, concessions, sponsorships, and $8 million for the labor seems awfully cheap. Obviously there are massive costs associated with putting on that game, but I'm guessing that $8 million isn't going to break the bank.