Official 2024 College Football Thread

[Solecismic]

I'm not sure why we should believe that this salary cap is, indeed, an effective limit of any kind.

What happens when Alabama, for instance, discovers one day that the cap is spent, and the kid they were convinced (when he was a high school junior) would develop into the next Heisman Trophy winner, is either injured or did not make the transition to college quarterback in any meaningful way?

I'm trying to imagine the NCAA suddenly becoming an organization with the authority to tell Alabama it can't allow a booster to hand over a check.

There are many steps we're going to have to work though while college football becomes a professional sport. This one will be a brief and rather comical one.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by dubb93

The NIL stuff is mostly figured out. There will be a salary cap per school around 24 million per year and it will be administered by the schools rather than third parties. The schools can contribute directly. This should start next season. A judge already preliminarily approved it. Players will be able to be signed to multi year deals under the new format.

I have less faith that the transfer portal will be moved. Mcafee interviewed the NCAA president and he didn’t seem like he thought it was any sort of problem at all but did concede it could be moved if it was.

I'm not certain and not trying to correct you, but I think you may be confusing two separate revenue streams here. Schools are going to be required to provide revenue sharing, beginning next year. It sounds as if schools that really want to compete are going to have to come up with that money to share with players and there are questions about what percentage goes to football, men's and women's basketball, and whatever other ways it will be spent, with most believing that football and basketball will rightly get the biggest percentages. This will potentially allow for multi-year deals. Also unclear if players will all receive x dollars per sport or if it will work more like a cap, where the QB may get a much higher percentage than the punter. I know our athletic director has talked about this a lot and feels it is absolutely imperative that our program be willing to spend up to the max in order to be competitive.

The NIL money will continue to work, as-is, but people think that there is a good chance that the money donated to athletic departments (of which that proposed cap will come from) will likely be tax deductible, while money to NIL collectives is currently not (I guess some NIL money is deductible if you are endorsing businesses or products or such).

Here is the best summary I could find from the Google AI:

No, NIL and revenue sharing are not the same thing in college sports, but they are both ways that college athletes can earn money:

NIL
Stands for "name, image, and likeness". It's the legal right of a person to control how their image is used, including commercially. NIL allows athletes to profit from their fame through endorsement deals, advertisements, and other personal brand work.

Revenue sharing
A proposed NCAA settlement would allow schools to share a portion of their athletic department budgets and conference revenue with athletes. The settlement would allow schools to direct up to 22% of their average annual revenue to athletes. This would be in addition to any NIL compensation or athletic scholarships the athletes receive.

The settlement is still pending final approval, but if approved, it would allow schools to begin sharing revenue with athletes as early as July 1, 2025.

Athletes would be able to opt-in or opt-out of the revenue sharing agreements.

[bronconick]

The transfer portal is only a "problem" for exhibition bowl games because the regular season ends at semester's end for most schools. If you're switching school, it has to be then. Other sports are completely over or midseason in December.

[GrantDawg]

Beck officially had surgery on his elbow and will be done for the playoffs. He is not expected to resume throwing till later in the spring. I wonder if that means he will choose to come back next year or take a chance in the draft.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I'm not certain and not trying to correct you, but I think you may be confusing two separate revenue streams here. Schools are going to be required to provide revenue sharing, beginning next year. It sounds as if schools that really want to compete are going to have to come up with that money to share with players and there are questions about what percentage goes to football, men's and women's basketball, and whatever other ways it will be spent, with most believing that football and basketball will rightly get the biggest percentages. This will potentially allow for multi-year deals. Also unclear if players will all receive x dollars per sport or if it will work more like a cap, where the QB may get a much higher percentage than the punter. I know our athletic director has talked about this a lot and feels it is absolutely imperative that our program be willing to spend up to the max in order to be competitive.

The NIL money will continue to work, as-is, but people think that there is a good chance that the money donated to athletic departments (of which that proposed cap will come from) will likely be tax deductible, while money to NIL collectives is currently not (I guess some NIL money is deductible if you are endorsing businesses or products or such).

Here is the best summary I could find from the Google AI:


Athletes would be able to opt-in or opt-out of the revenue sharing agreements.

Here is a bit of a better summary than Google AI:

x.com

[dubb93]

Basically what the NCAA president says(you may need to find a longer version if you want to hear all of this from his mouth) is that the schools will control the money and collectives will no longer be involved in actively recruiting players(they will be connected to players by the university and will require the university to finalize all deals.) Deals won’t be real until they are verified by a third party and clear the cap calculator at that point they are iron clad. If you wanted to you could negotiate one for as long as they have eligibility remaining.

[Edward64]

Carson Beck confirmed out for rest of season

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Beck officially had surgery on his elbow and will be done for the playoffs. He is not expected to resume throwing till later in the spring. I wonder if that means he will choose to come back next year or take a chance in the draft.

The question I'd have about him coming back is whether he's the transfer candidate instead of Stockton.

[GrantDawg]

I wonder that as well, but then I really can't think of a reason for Beck to move on. Unless he feels he could improve his stock at another school, which I guess? He would be the starter again next year at Georgia if he comes back. There is zero chance Smart would demote him.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I wonder that as well, but then I really can't think of a reason for Beck to move on. Unless he feels he could improve his stock at another school, which I guess? He would be the starter again next year at Georgia if he comes back. There is zero chance Smart would demote him.

If, just for hypothetical sake, Stockton took 'em to a title ... well, that'd be a tough situation. One would have a future AND a title, the other one umm ...

[GrantDawg]

There will be controversy among the fandom for sure, but barring something behind the scenes that would cause Beck to want to move on, Smart would definitely keep him as starter. Stockton is athletic and not without skills, but Beck has an elite arm and a very quick release. There was a reason he was once projected to be the number one overall pick, and even though his mental processing has hurt his draft stock, he is still the more talented of the two.

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[GrantDawg]

Shorter version: some fans will want Stockton to stay, but Kirby is one coach who never gives two @its about what fans want.

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[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Basically what the NCAA president says(you may need to find a longer version if you want to hear all of this from his mouth) is that the schools will control the money and collectives will no longer be involved in actively recruiting players(they will be connected to players by the university and will require the university to finalize all deals.) Deals won’t be real until they are verified by a third party and clear the cap calculator at that point they are iron clad. If you wanted to you could negotiate one for as long as they have eligibility remaining.

What did Charlie Baker think about JuCo's last week? NCAA can say whatever they want but until they can hammer something out with Congress it seems like we'll always be one random district court ruling away from any major rule being rewritten... and not to get into politics but seems like we've got some looser standards for circuit court judges these days than 20 years ago.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

This speaks to what I see as the core of the "issue" here beyond the "12 teams is too many" piece: the system was set up assuming that--as you usually could up until 2024--you'd get four top 10ish teams as champs from the SEC/Big10/Pac10/Big12/ACC group. IIRC, the massive falling of the realignment dominoes happened mostly (fully?) after the new format was in place. In the previous conference setup, you'd have Oregon/UGA/Texas, plus either Ohio State or Penn State as your top four, and you don't end up with this weird thing where on paper the #2 seed has a wayyyyyy easier path to the title game than the #1.

Agreed, but it's also why I think people saying "let's just have the top X schools break away and play only each other" are delusional too, if you had the top 20 teams in the country play each other every week half will be .500 or worse and no one wants to see 6-6 Alabama vs 7-5 Michigan in a quarterfinal.

Continued NIL ramifications and the transfer portal need to be sorted out before a long-term playoff format fix makes sense.

Disagree here. Those issues won't be sorted out any time soon but even if I'd like to tweak it I also don't need a long term solution or a perfect one to enjoy what we've got more than what we had up until now. I don't think Penn State really would have been #4 over ND and Ohio State last year which is kind of weird but I'm glad all 3 have a shot on the field, and I'm glad teams like Indiana and SMU and Boise get a shot even if the predictable result has happened so far. Their fanbases or B1G/SEC homers who talked themselves into believing Indy or UT would go into ND or Ohio State and win just need to take the L and sit a few plays out off of Twitter. Every FBS team legitimately had a shot at the title this year, we just had a full weekend of meaningful games before Christmas, and we'll get another full quad of them on New Year's, this is awesome. The landscape is wildly different in bad ways IMO but the playoff format has never been better.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Shorter version: some fans will want Stockton to stay, but Kirby is one coach who never gives two @its about what fans want.

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I'd love nothing more in that scenario than for him to sacrifice the future to keep a guy that honestly doesn't scare anybody anymore.

I think it's certainly possible that Stockton isn't ready for the moment shortly and nobody wants to see him play again after one playoff start, but in the scenario I mentioned CKS would have to be THE dumbest S.O.B. on earth to not keep Stockton.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

What did Charlie Baker think about JuCo's last week? NCAA can say whatever they want but until they can hammer something out with Congress it seems like we'll always be one random district court ruling away from any major rule being rewritten... and not to get into politics but seems like we've got some looser standards for circuit court judges these days than 20 years ago.

They will honor the courts rulings but they don’t agree with that one and will continue to fight it. He feels very strongly that they need to get back to how eligibly used to work in order to make room for future kids to have spots to play.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

The landscape is wildly different in bad ways IMO but the playoff format has never been better.

Best take summed up in a sentence.

[BishopMVP]

Holy shit, I thought $1.5 million for Beau Pribula was the sign of money exploding but that's a drop in the bucket. Highest-paid player in college football history? Transfer QB Darian Mensah's Duke deal is sign of times

Tl;dr Duke is paying $4 million for a QB you've never heard of that On3 had as the 72nd best transfer available, and Texas Tech is paying 7 figures to a handful of linemen, and the entire market is going crazy places. Might just be a one year blowout spike with the House deal if approved and everything, but right now it's just exponential spending until the rules are officially changed or can be/start being enforced.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'd love nothing more in that scenario than for him to sacrifice the future to keep a guy that honestly doesn't scare anybody anymore.

I think it's certainly possible that Stockton isn't ready for the moment shortly and nobody wants to see him play again after one playoff start, but in the scenario I mentioned CKS would have to be THE dumbest S.O.B. on earth to not keep Stockton.

The decision has become easier. Beck has declared for the draft. I'm glad because I really did want to turn the page. Stockton is going to get a rehears in fire for next year. This is all interesting because speculation was that Stockton was far from guaranteed the starting job next year. Lots of people around the team thought that they would shop around in the transfer portal for a possible competitor for the starting position. It could still happen, but if Gunnar shows out he is going to stop in doubt going forward.
The worry for the Notre Dame game is real, though. That RB room that had finally got healthy is no longer healthy. The two top young guys behind Etienne have now both been injured in practice and are out for the year.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Next year they need to reseed the teams for the second round. There’s no way Oregon should be playing OSU. They, also, need a better system to rank teams. You can’t have higher seeded teams being two score underdogs in games.

I think both of those mess up with “conference champions get a bye” system, but something has to be tweaked for next year.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Next year they need to reseed the teams for the second round. There’s no way Oregon should be playing OSU. They, also, need a better system to rank teams. You can’t have higher seeded teams being two score underdogs in games.

I think both of those mess up with “conference champions get a bye” system, but something has to be tweaked for next year.

I agree, but with a little give and take. I believe you need to reward conference winners, so there will be some lopsided match ups, but whoever decided the number one seed should be facing the number five seed in the quarterfinal should be fired. A reseed makes sense, or at least fix the brackets. The number two seed ended up in the best situation. I also think they should be playing the quarterfinals on campus. Make the Semi and Championship the only neutral site games.

[Edward64]

Completely forgot about the Liberty Bowl. For some frakking reason, I thought it was a Sat game.

Oh well, looks like the Hogs won it handedly. 7-6 for the season. I think this is enough to save Pittman for another season. The consensus is we've lost more than we've gained in the portal. But QB Green is coming back next season, so hoping for a +1 or +2 result next year.



Also, Carson Beck going to the draft. Tough choice for the guy. Wish him well.

[Ghost Econ]

Mario Cristobal is the king of horrendous end of game management.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Mario Cristobal is the king of horrendous end of game management.

Cristofail?

This game is a microcosm of why I still pay some attention but can't particularly care. Character is rare to find amongst mercenaries, if they don't care why the fuck should I?

[sovereignstar v2]

BYU with the onside kick recovery in the 1st quarter, nice

[sovereignstar v2]

Shedeur Williams

[sovereignstar v2]

Shilo with a great dance celebration on an offsides

[Passacaglia]

I saw a headline saying the Pop Tarts Bowl would have sprinkles on the field, but it turned out just to be on the sidelines. Lame.

I did watch Unfrosted today with the kids, though, been wanting to see that for a while.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Mario Cristobal is the king of horrendous end of game management.

Cristobal to Chicago?

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I agree, but with a little give and take. I believe you need to reward conference winners, so there will be some lopsided match ups, but whoever decided the number one seed should be facing the number five seed in the quarterfinal should be fired. A reseed makes sense, or at least fix the brackets. The number two seed ended up in the best situation. I also think they should be playing the quarterfinals on campus. Make the Semi and Championship the only neutral site games.

Conference Champs getting autobids is the only reward in March. Kind of surprised they didn't go there, but they had 5 "major" conferences when the system started to get pieced together and suddenly it's 2 big/2medium in 2024.

[GrantDawg]

This is a great article on the most enigmatic player on Georgia's team, Arian Smith. It is unfortunately pay-walled: How Georgia’s Arian Smith overcomes his drops to be one of Bulldogs’ most clutch players - The Athletic


It is basically answering the question on why Georgia keeps him on the field even after so many drops (NCAA leading 10 this year, and that is not counting several others that a better receiver would have pulled in). The answer is because he just always gets open. Teams still have to concentrate on him because even if he drops an easy pass one play, the next he play he will catch one for 50+ yards and a touchdown. He is a fustrating guy to watch, but even when he isn't the target on a play he helps open things up for the rest of the team.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff is retiring from football

35 sacks in 11 games, multiple injuries, it seems like this is probably a reasonable decision.

Vandagriff never looked quite the same to me after injuries in high school. He once finished a game while playing on a broken leg as a junior, won a state title as a senior despite playing with a torn PCL from week four onward. Tough kid no question, but sometimes you do have to know when to say when.

[GrantDawg]

It is sad he never had that break out year in college. He had the size and a true quarterback name.

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[miami_fan]

Did the betting public and more importantly did Vegas know about Cam Ward sitting out the second half in advance?

[GrantDawg]

There was no official announcement. So technically, no. But the decision seems to have been made before the game, so could some gamblers have had an inside tip? Yes.

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[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Next year they need to reseed the teams for the second round. There’s no way Oregon should be playing OSU. They, also, need a better system to rank teams. You can’t have higher seeded teams being two score underdogs in games.

I think both of those mess up with “conference champions get a bye” system, but something has to be tweaked for next year.

If you simply gave the top 4 conference champs a guaranteed top 8 seed but not a top 4 one you'd still reward them with the home game but most of this cluster would have been avoided. 12 Clemson at 5 ND, 11 SMU at 6 Ohio State, 10 Indiana at 7 Boise State, 9 Tennessee at 8 Arizona State would have been 2-3 good games, with Texas and Penn State likely playing other contenders this week and Georgia/Oregon being rewarded with weaker quarterfinal opponents. So naturally I think they'll go to 14 teams so they can fit 2 more SEC or B1G schools in and give them more of the money.

Hoping Boise at least can make it interesting New Year's Eve, I think they can score on Penn State.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

There was no official announcement. So technically, no. But the decision seems to have been made before the game, so could some gamblers have had an inside tip? Yes.

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I expected the wise guys to get a heads up. They are probably the only ones that matter I guess. I just wondered if the college game would be beholden to letting the betting industry know these things in the same way pro leagues are.

[JonInMiddleGA]

If ever there's been a first quarter where a thought like "are they throwing the game" could pop into your head ... yikes Bama. yikes Milroe. yikes in general.

[Ghost Econ]

It better be for millions to tank his draft stock.

I can't tell if he picked up a lot of bad habits this year, or they were there before but better coaching masked them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

It better be for millions to tank his draft stock.

That's a scary thought.

That someone might be crazy enough to draft him I mean.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe he's their best chance to win ... but he's what he's always been: a running back masquerading as a QB.

[GrantDawg]

The thing is, he was only playing to try to HELP his draft stock. This game might make him return to school next year.

[Edward64]

Nice that Michigan beat Alabama.

First time they've lost 4 since 2007. I like the idea of the Tide going into a Top 15-25 funk for the next several years.

[Kodos]

Guess this proves Bama should have made the playoff.

[sovereignstar v2]

HIGH TIDE

[HerRealName]

This Illinois - South Carolina game should be renamed to the Morton's Bowl. This feels destined for a brawl in the 4th quarter. That TD taken from Illinois sure feels like it's going to be the difference.

[cuervo72]

Was going to root for Illinois, but if Bielema's going to be a dick...

[Solecismic]

A nice surprise for Michigan. We all thought this was destined for a 30-point drubbing without the top five starters on defense, the top running back out and no viable quarterback.

I assume Alabama was missing something as well. In the end, Michigan had less than 200 yards in offense and was able to preserve its first-quarter lead from the turnovers.

I don't think the bowl games are a valid test of anything. If you're not in the playoff, you have be focused on next year. But it is good for the Michigan program to go out with wins over Ohio State and Alabama, despite the disastrous quarterback play this season.

[dubb93]

How do we get a B1G vs. SEC challenge in football each year? I’ve seen enough in the bowl games today to think it would be a fun thing to watch.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by dubb93

How do we get a B1G vs. SEC challenge in football each year? I’ve seen enough in the bowl games today to think it would be a fun thing to watch.

Wait the 1-2 years for the current bowl contracts to end. Both commissioners have said they want more non-playoff bowl matchups.

[Atocep]

This really feels like a bad matchup for Boise. Penn State is a really physical team and Boise wants to do a lot of the same things without the size and athleticism.