2008 National Champ

That’s not exactly true. Kids can pull themselves out of the draft and apply for a waiver to reenroll and use any eligibility they have remaining. It used to be that if you hadn’t signed with an agent, you could also pull yourself out but I’m not sure if that stipulation is still valid.

Jaxson Kirkland, OT at UW, got injured prepping for the…[Read more]

True, but it would be naive to think that McElheney was an isolated incident or that paying players was something that only happened in the 50’s.

Host families, no-show summer jobs, booster functions.,, those were all ways to funnel money to players that were semi-legal

You’re assuming he even gets invited to the combine, which isn’t a sure thing. More likely his only chance to impress is at pro day.

I’m not sure how anyone couldn’t have seen this coming with NIL. College football has always been pay for play. All NIL did was move it into the open.

I remember an oft repeated quote from Hugh McElheney that when he went pro, he had to take a pay cut. And I knew players at Utah who got hundred dollar handshakes.

All games matter!

All of my allegiances were formed around 2nd grade. Growing up north of Seattle, it was natural to be a Husky fan by geography and family influence, and the Sonics were around so that took care of basketball. For other sports, it had to come through viewing. So I’ll always have an affinity for the Montreal Canadiens and the Cincinatti Reds,…[Read more]

There are two windows where kids can enter the portal (non-grad transfers) but once in, they can sign at any time. Anyone signing this week probably had a backchannel deal in place before putting their name in. For the bulk of the kids, I would imagine that the big push to sign would come after Early Signing day(s) since that gives staffs time…[Read more]

The dirty little secret of the bowl games. The only people that make money on them are the hucksters and charlatans from the local Chambers of Commerce that put them on and the networks through advertising sales.

Typical bowl arrangement is that the participating teams get half of the allotment and the rest is dispersed among the other…[Read more]

I believe that Utah was at 85 scholarships this season so they will need to sign as many recruits and transfers as they are losing to eligibility, the draft or the portal. In roughly the same position distribution

Navy in the top 20?

If the other suggestions don’t work, have you BYU connections talk to Sitake. With his and Whitt’s relationship, I’m sure he’d move mountains to get it done.

To your second paragraph, that is exactly what I foresee. But I don’t see the NCAA as the power broker. They’ve had decades to come up with a plan that was best for college football and done nothing. The BCS and the CFP weren’t/aren’t NCAA sanctioned championships.

At this point, the NCAA is like a cowboy trying to get back in front of herd…[Read more]

sorry, but the answer to ineffective bureaucracy is never more bureaucracy. They had all the power in the world and lost it on their own.

The NCAA has a horrible track record. They have been on the wrong side of history in almost every major aspect of college sports. Just a few of note:

– Involving themselves in the Sandusky case while having…[Read more]

The real question is whether the Big 2 (SEC and B1G) are even remotely amenable to still being under the NCAA umbrella instead of striking out on their own.

Right now the NCAA is a paper tiger that would love to get their power back. Why would the conferences want an organization that has proven to be ineffective, arbitrary and capricious to be…[Read more]

Smedley isn’t listed as on scholarship

Troy Williams. Man, talk about talent unrealized. If his decision making was half as good as his arm talent, he’d be playing on Sundays.

The top 3 choices for the Heisman this year are all transfer QB’s, and 2 of them were considered busts before moving. Another guy who most of this board thought was terrible before the season (Mertz) completed 73% of his passes this year and had 2900 yards with a 20:3 ratio. Rising may never have gotten on the field if he’d stayed at Texas.…[Read more]

you owe me for Mt. Dew on my monitor

As friendly as “we have watched you for a couple of years and don’t think you’ll ever make it on the field except in an emergency” can be. I think we can all relate to how much fun having to let someone go or be let go is.

Not disagreeing, hopefully adding on.

The smarter move for any kid is to sign a scholarship agreement instead of Letter of Intent. But the 5 minutes of fame that come from a commitment ceremony blind most kids. A scholarship agreement is binding on the school. An LOI is binding on the kid.

Moving signing day back to February would not change…[Read more]