Lebowski

For IUFB standards he absolutely achieved. He had his team ranked 11th overall and would have qualified for next year's CFP. Now if you don't think that's an achievement then I got nothing for ya. Regarding contracts, it not his fault. He just signed the dotted line. Lol.

Yep. They managed to get a W to a team "equal" or "better" to them one of those years. I'm not understanding the point. They won more games than they lost. How is this a negative thing?

The benefit of hindsight allows all of us to make judgment. I wish I had that benefit when buying stocks for my Roth IRA. Lol. I don't think we'd be upset about the deal inked if IUFB were in the 2019 and 2020 state of things. But that's just me.

I think the PAC-12 additions will probably make it a wash, unless IUFB plays like they played the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Good teams win the games they are supposed to win. And IUFB is anything but good at the moment.

14 games! IU winning games good teams are supposed to win. I miss those two seasons. Lol.

Hopefully we get some of those type of schedules again. It was a fun season to watch. Lol. Yeah, that's for sure. And it was lightning fast. I got worried after Dr. Rhea and Ballou got poached by Saban.

In 2019 IU won 8 games. So, it's safe to say, Dolson was also looking at the previous performance other than the 2020 season. The data was telling Dolson that CTA was doing his job well.

Let's play 'what if....' What if.... Tom Allen's earlier success was consistent and we fans are enjoying the top rankings, top recruiting classes, coaches wanting to come Btown, successful player development, bigger budgets, and conference championship talk buzz year after year. Now try to convince me that top programs won't want to poach him. Good luck with that circle logic and pretzel talk. It's foolish to say no one was ever going to poach him. Success is the most attractive woman in the room that every dude wants to date. And IUFB's head football coach was one of the most attractive girls at the 2020 prom. It would have been malpractice to let that girl ditch her date. Back to reality. None of that happened. And hindsight allows us to see why. CTA's biggest flaw is his loyalty to his friends/coaches. It most likely will cost him his job.

The 1st half had a good opportunity to get points on the board but poor execution and a questionable play call led to a turnover on downs. I'm thinking of the drive that had potential to put us up 10-7 going into the half. It not only gave the ball back to OSU but a questionable taunting call also gave them good field position that ultimately ended up with a FG. I'm sure there were other opportunities as well but that drive comes to mind. In my opinion, all that will get worked out as the season moves along. I believe these guys will get better and play better against other opponents. We'll see, I might be incredibly wrong though. Only time will tell.

Well, they covered. Vegas lost, and I won. This is a better team than the last 2 years. Quick glance, and things can absolutely change, but I see 5 wins and they might even get an upset win or two if the stars align. Today OSU was not the #3 ranked school in the country. Day doesn't have Fields or Stroud and it showed. Bucks are in trouble this year.

Top 100 CB out of Olney, MD 247 Rivals On3

Both of them are already on the 2025 schedule (It's basically the old east division minus PSU plus SC, Iowa, Illini, and that school up north; so arguably worse.). I'd be surprised if we get them both in 2024. We might pick up one but even that might be a stretch due to reasons below. First and foremost, I don't have a clue how this is all going to sort itself out so please keep that in mind. I'm just trying to follow the numbers here based on the new schedule format. In other words, everything posted below could be completely wrong and not even close to how this is all going to play out. I wouldn't be surprised if the west coast schools are lumped together as protected opponents. Iowa is the only school that has three protected opponents. (This is a whole different discussion on how in the world they ended up with Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin locked in, but I digress.) If that is indeed the case that means Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Rutgers will most likely be put back into the shuffle because they were the two-play opponents for SC and UCLA. Penn St. is the only school that does not have a protected opponent, I'm betting that changes. Or it could be the case where Washington and Oregon are protected opponents which leaves the window open for more random two-play opponents scheduling. Rutgers and PSU are two-play opponents so I won't be surprised to see their schedules completely overhauled. PSU in particular. We will most likely pick up west coast schools on the schedules (home game 2024 replacing PSU and a road game 2025 replacing Rutgers) if I had to guess. Especially if they decide to make all the west coast schools protected opponents. It gets a little fuzzier if they don't. But things will have to be shuffled around regardless. Now, if they decide to completely redo the schedule formats then I'd start to worry. But if they keep the format then I think we'll just see a couple of changes in the current schedules. Who knows, so many unknowns at this point. Bottom line, IUFB will always face a tough schedule but hopefully not as tough as it was in the past. It's a mess and I don't envy trying to figure out the scheduling. Finally, IUFB covers.

I must not be fully understanding you. "Getting ate up" to me, means IUFB type performance in the B1G. 3-4 for losses every year is absolutely up for debate based on data and past performances, as I've been trying to point out to you. I must not be doing a good job at it. My apologies if that's the case. Bottom line, we'll never know unless ND actually joins the conference. So it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Now that the conference is expanding, starting 2024, OSU and UM will be staring at the same predicament, but not every year. Because data suggest otherwise. Schools like USC, Oregon, and Washington are going to be in the same boat. Because data suggest it. What I predict is we'll start to see an ebb and flow of these schools and schedules will make a huge difference for their success. So I guess, it's safe to say, starting in 2024, every school will get ate up in the B1G?

Oh, ok. I wasn't even referring to them regarding the context in my post. Thanks for clearing that up. I thought we've already covered this but like I said multiple times here, that's up for debate and only can be answered if ND actually joins the conference. I think I've been able to establish that they have a pretty solid history that counters your narrative. Not that it matters.

Cool. Not sure I'm following you here. What's your point?

Certainly a high possibility for sure. It would be interesting to see ND added to that conference and see all these schools wage war against each on the gridiron. I'm getting excited even without ND! Personally, I see a lot more losses with OSU and UM now! Adding Oregon, Washington and USC to this conference will take a toll on them. Especially if they're on the road. I see a scenario where it's all gonna depend on schedule. Right now OSU and UM are top tier by default but don't be shocked to if they get knocked down a peg or two.

I certainly understand your point of view. There's a certain swagger about them. I've been told the same from folks when it comes to IUBB. LOL! Thanks for clearing that up. Appreciate it.

Yeah, that's definitely not the case. Cream and Crimson through and through. But I've been to a few games up there in South Bend. I think everyone that's a fan of college football should experience at least one game there. I feel the same about catching a game in Green Bay at Lambeau field when it comes to the NFL. I'm not a fan of the Pack but respect the history etc. etc., if that makes sense.

Just pointing out that ND is actually comparable to the OSU's in the Big Ten and staying independent might not be the easiest path or best interest for them once this all plays out.

I think that's legitimately up for debate. The only way to know that is if ND joins the conference. There is a history of every Big Ten opponent ND has faced and the only schools that have a winning record against them is OSU (4-2) and UM (19-17-1). PSU is 9-9-1 against the Irish. Looking at the USC history, ND holds the all time lead with 48-37-5. I think it's safe to say depending on the schedule with 20 teams in the conference ND could actually benefit. There could a be scenario where ND never plays OSU, UM, or PSU. An example schedule: USC, IU, UI, Maryland, Rutgers, Purdue, Northwestern, MSU, Minnesota I'm assuming USC would be a protected opponent. ND's schedule this year is comparable to OSU's. They have 3 top 10 ranked opponents. 2 of the 3 are home games. Might actually be a little tougher when it's all said and done. It will all depend on how schools like IUFB and Duke do in their respective conferences.

They've been able to participate in the CFP a couple of times, so personally I wouldn't mind if they'd join the B1G. They loss to the eventual champions and had a better showing then OSU against Bama in 2020-2021. In those two appearances they were undefeated 2018-2019, and won against #1 ranked Clemson during the regular season in the 2020-2021 season. Clemson got em in the ACC Championship. (2020 season ND played as a member of the ACC due to COVID) So if ND is a fake elitists it's safe to say every conference other than the SEC are fake elitists as well. Because there's not a good track record for other conferences in the CFP, unfortunately. The last four championship games have been blowouts and SEC domination. This season, for sure, unless of course they turned things around during the off season. But that would not be the case year after year. Here's a prime example of what I've been saying: In the 2018 season ND finished 13-0 ranked #4 in the final CFP rankings. With the 12 team schedule they don't get a bye, they would have been a 5 seed and have hosted a game against Penn State who lost to UK in the Citrus Bowl. PSU lost to UM, OSU and MSU that year. While ND beat UM. OSU would leap frog to a 4 seed although being ranked 6. The more this plays out the more ND will re-evaluate staying independent. And if they decide to join a conference why not have them join ours? I'm not trying to be a big advocate of ND here, so please understand that first and foremost. I'm just saying adding that football program to the Big Ten would improve the conference. And I think that's the overall goal of what the big wigs calling the shots are trying to accomplish because the SEC is king at this point. I don't agree with the current path but I also know I will still watch the product. Some things to note: While looking up ND's history, I saw that IUFB would have qualified for the 12 team CFP in 2020-2021. They would have traveled to OU. I'm so looking forward to this expansion.

No disagreement from me. They'll always have a path to the CFP but with the current format they'll never have a bye week. And with 20 team conferences it's fair to say those top six at-large bids will be tough to get for a school like ND. It's doable for them but I'm not sure it's easier per se instead of just joining a conference. It'll all depend on how they schedule.

My bad, forgot about that. Hopefully it'll jump to 16! LOL!

I think we're in a holding pattern regarding easy paths to the CFP due to the conference and playoff expansions. Even if it goes to a 12 or more team playoff system and 20 team conferences. If ND stays independent they will have to schedule against the 20 team conferences and not bottom feeder programs either. It might actually be easier to join a conference to get a bid into the CFP. 20 team conferences means less conferences. So instead of P5 we are most likely looking at P4 or P3. There are likely scenarios where conference championship games will have undefeated teams facing each other. And 3rd and 4th place conference teams with 1 or 2 losses. So it wouldn't be out of the the question to see the top 3 finishers in each conference get in the CFP while ND is set aside because they loss 1 game that year. You would think a 1 loss ND team would be automatic in a 12 team playoff system but that would all depend on their schedule. For example, this year they have OSU, Clemson, and USC on the schedule. They can't afford to lose to these opponents to where if they were in the conference they could lose to one of them and still be able to have a solid shot at getting a bid in the CFP. They won't be able to schedule Central Michigan and Tennessee St, also on their schedule this year. They might have to drop Navy and will with out a doubt have to schedule tougher opponents just to be able to sit at the table. ND scheduled IUFB in 2030 and 2031. At the current trajectory, that's not a good opponent for ND to have on the resume. Even though they are playing a B1G opponent that doesn't mean it's a quality one. If the CFP stays at a 6 team system it gets worse for them. They could go undefeated and still not get a bid. Especially if the scheduled 'P5' teams they played finished 3rd or below in their respective 20 team conferences.

TV Money. Follow the money. Here's a interesting write up. I don't know the validity of the website but I thought the writer covered some interesting things. 'In his 1984 dissent of the Board of Regents decision, Justice Byron White (a Colorado football alum) wrote that the NCAA’s existence could be “threatened by unbridled competition in the economic sphere.” While college administrators have used his line of thinking to claim athletes’ economic competition would kill college sports, it appears that their own economic ambitions could sink the system.' https://frontofficesports.com/tv-money-built-power-5-then-destroyed-it/ I foresee a legal battle with student-athletes wanting a piece of the network money pie. Buckle up.