Sounds like Nick has been listening to me! And if we keep on this path (which I don't see how we get out of it), I seriously doubt I'll have my tickets when the league expands. It just isn't going to be college ball anymore.
Mack Brown was on ESPNU this AM and he said he also thought that CFB was heading towards an NFL model. That programs who were serious about football, spent the money on facilities, recruiting, coaching, etc would eventually form some sort of association and exclude the rest. He didn't say how many teams, but yesterday on the afternoon ESPNU they were talking that teams like Vanderbilt that have no historical success at big time football would be left out of any consolidation.
I wonder who the undefeated teams will be this season, in most seasons there are rarely as many as a 2 or 3. In the Playoff era the Final 4 has never had more than 3 regular season undefeated teams 2014 - FSU 2015 - Clemson 2016 - Alabama 2017 - None 2018 - Alabama,Clemson,ND 2019 - LSU, Ohio State, Clemson 2020 - Alabama, Ohio State. I'd say that this year Clemson is the most likely to be undefeated.
International players are showing up in College Football, not in big numbers and I don't count Canadians. Of course, we've all seen a lot of Australian punters and they've been highly successful. The Irish have a DL from Germany and I've seen other players around college football like this. Texas A&M picked up a Swede recently. Not sure how you get to be the #2 ranked TE in the class when you've never played football in the US, but that's what he's rated. Texas A&M added its fourth ESPN Junior 300 commitment to its 2023 recruiting class Wednesday with Theodor Ohrstrom, the No. 2-ranked tight end in the class despite him never having played football in the United States. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound Ohrstrom, who is ranked No. 86 overall by ESPN, attends RIG Football Academy in Stockholm. Ohrstrom has only played football for four years and has yet to play a game for RIG Football Academy in two years. He played last season for the club team Tyresö Royal Crowns and will play for the Täby Flyers this season.
Arik Gilbert the all-world TE who left LSU mid-season in 2020, transferred to Florida where he stayed only a brief time and then transferred to Georgia. Has now left the Georgia program, personal reasons. It must be something mental at this point. It's not clear if he's gone from UGA and will transfer again, or if he's just gone home and might be back. The kid is extremely talented, some said he was the best HS TE anybody had ever seen. Big and Fast. But in the college environment he has not thrived. I have to wonder if it's the whole college life, having to go to class with so many kids he doesn't know, has to take care of himself, things that his family took care of for him and when he was at school he was with kids he knew since he was very young.
Not sure what to say about the Swede other than Jimbo has a pretty good record with tight ends, so I'll assume the kid has big potential.
Per the Athletic it appears some type of announcement between the Big Ten, PAC and ACC, come come as early next week. Stay tuned.
i'm not sure how they are going to verify all of this on game day. But some schools are going to require the people attending games to prove they are vaccinated or show proof of a negative test. EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon and Oregon State became the first Power 5 schools to announce it will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for people over the age of 12 to attend its football games. In its announcement Friday, Oregon said the decision was made with public health authorities and "peer institutions in the state." The negative test result must be from within three days of the event.
Coach Day has named Stroud the starting QB for the Buckeyes as of this morning. No surprise here on my part, as he has been the favorite to start since Fields left last fall.
Don, where is Quinn Ewers on the depth chart? Is it possible that he won't get a single snap this season?
Terry, Gilbert never really at Florida, announced he was going to be a Gator but then never showed up and went to Georgia instead.
I'm really eager to hear the details of the Big10 / Pac 12 / ACC alliance. I wonder how Notre Dame is going to be impacted, if at all, by the arrangement. It has to be more than a scheduling arrangement. Since we are contracted to play 5 ACC games a year, I don't think we will be cut out. I could see some impact on the CFB playoffs though.
I wonder how many college football games are going to be true sellouts this fall. The SEC has been a conference where the fanbase is very passionate and the tailgating in the fall is terrific all over the conference. I'm pretty sure all the SEC venues are open for 100% attendance. I imagine that the Delta surge is going to have some impact, but how much? Oregon and Oregon State have said you have to be vaccinated or show a negative Covid Test. The Raiders and the Saints in the NFL have also said you have to be vaccinated. Texas and Texas A&M are not asking for anything other than you have to have a ticket. I haven't heard of anything being required at Notre Dame either and they are shooting for 100% capacity. The Big 10 was so careful last season, I wonder if that will carry over to this season. Pac12 also was very careful last season. Both Big 10 and Pac 12 have games this weekend.
B!G Ten will not reschedule any games due to COVID issues. The game will be a forfeit and will show as a loss in conference games standings.
Don is the Big 10 said anything about Covid protocols for players testing positive? Last year it was the most of any conference, maybe 3 weeks?