Damn, it seems like college football these days is consumed with crises. There’s state NIL legislation, of course, where we’re told chaos will envelop the sport at the end of the month if the feds don’t do something about it. Then there’s playoff expansion, where we’re told if something isn’t done to let mediocre Pac-12 champions have a chance to get blown out by Alabama, fans will abandon the sport in terrifying numbers.
Then, there’s the new transfer rules.
As I mentioned yesterday, it won’t happen soon because there are enough coaches out there who know Nick Saban would game that for maximum benefit, just like he does with everything.
But there’s another reason not to rush into anything. 2020 was the mother of all outliers. Because of COVID, the NCAA granted every player another year of eligibility. That’s left us with a number of… um, marginal players who are now playing with house money. If you’re someone who’s been given an extra year you were never expecting and you know that won’t get you much in the way of on-field time at your current school, why wouldn’t you take a chance on the transfer portal to see what might turn up?
So, while the numbers might seem staggering — an average of 12 scholarship players, remember — they aren’t likely to be sustainable. It’s not sensible to rush into dramatic change (not that that’s the NCAA’s strong suit, anyway) when it’s too early to tell how the new transfer rules are going to play out.
Besides, I’m kind of enjoying Tennessee’s predicament. 25 to the portal is staggering.
Get The Picture 
Sure to be some chaos in the beginning. This will clean itself up. This isn’t Pandora’s box. Pandora’s box is expanding the playoffs to 12, then 16, then 20, then 24, then 32. In my opinion, they are basically destroying the regular season and to some extent, the iimportance of conference championships. Personally think that this is a BIG mistake.
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“why wouldn’t you take a chance on the transfer portal to see what might turn up?”
Depending on how marginal you are what are the odds you get replaced at your current school once you enter the portal?
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What difference does that make? You weren’t going to play anyway.
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If you’re mediocre you’re probably not going pro so ending up in portal limbo with nowhere to go means you no longer have a scholarship to finish school.
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I got news for you… you may not have that scholarship if you try to stay, either.
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This doesn’t count how many players each team has gained from the portal does it?
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No, it doesn’t.
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Stanford at 1. That’s the school where it’s really about the education for a majority of the football players.
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USC’s legendary coach John McKay once described the difficulty of recruiting against Stanford by saying, “If a player is smart enough to get an offer from Stanford he is smart enough to take it.”
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John McKay was a quote machine. Some good ones:
We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.
Emotion is highly overrated in football. My wife Corky is emotional as hell but can’t play football worth a damn.
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Asked about the execution of his football team in a post-game interview, McKay said, “I’m in favor of it.”
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I agree that this is only “out of control” because of the pandemic super seniors and the first year of the transfer rule happening at the same time. Most of this will settle down in the coming years. That said, I am sympathetic to schools who underwent a coaching change and believe that a one-time waiver should be put in place for at least the first year to replace the inevitable departures that follow. Exhibit A is the top 7 teams in that chart have undergone a coaching change in the last year.
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I like this article:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jun/09/the-future-of-college-sports-is-in-jeopardy-mark-f/
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Given what UT and Auburn lost to the portal during a coaching transition, Beamer has done a masterful job keeping the mutineers to a minimum.
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https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2018/09/640/320/stanfordrings.vresize.940.529.high_.-e6baeea502483510VgnVCM100000d7c1a8c0____.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
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Hopefully that link goes to a picture of a Stanford Rose Bowl ring that has “Intellectual Brutality” engraved on the side.
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Vowels! hahahahahaha
That makes up for that Godforsaken video of that ass
wipe, that I watched. I need a shower to wash the shit residue that jumped off the screen and landed on me.
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I guess I will just sit back and watch Networks, and government destroy this sport on a college level. It is all so dumb and short sighted as are most all cheering for it from the sidelines.
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Interesting take on the day it’s announced the CFP is going to 12.
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“But it’s important that we consider the opportunity for more teams and more student-athletes to participate in the playoff.” That is the same line of BS that got us to what 40 50 bowl games? So I ask you if a 12 game playoff is adopted on any average year is our annual game against Tennessee going to be more or less important? What about Auburn? Florida? Cross divisional rivalries? Everyone’s season tickets will drop in value….not in price but value because there will be less demand. I won’t even start on the other crap (transfers, NIL and who knows what else) they (fans that favor this mess, conferences, schools and coaches and players) are stepping into. As always they will put on their rose colored glasses and swallow the bait. Then they’ll be shocked to find out there is a hook in it. Few will win most will lose. Just wait and see.
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