The Final Straw


Make it breach of contract if they bail for the bowl game.

No portal until after January 1.
Delaying the portal to Jan 1 is incompatible with most academic calendars. Minnesota is a relatively late starter, the day after MLK Day.
 

That was one of the first "Who's the Sponsor Again?" bowl games as I recall. And yes, not a good look for Mase or the Gophers with that one, especially after the Sun Bowl game vs the Ducks the year before. Uffda.
But, damn it, I loved the wins over PSU,Oregon, Michigan in the Big House, in C-bus @ the Horseshoe, Alabama in Nashville, Arkansas was a symphony!

Only mason’s wins paved the way for that stadium in what used to be called Stadium Village where the new bank stadium that is now called some other bank stadium dominates the landscape..

I saw a lot of great wins in the BRICK HOUSE stadium that now is only memorialized in books and old-timers minds.

Mason had some great wins. At least that’s what sticks out in my mind about those times. I guess I’m just overly pragmatic in my approach to Gopher memories.

I like that Build. I’ll hang on to the GOOD wins. You can have those damn stinker losses.

Life is SO good that way, Build!

;0)
 
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The playoff diminishes everything else. The bigger it gets, the further it diminishes conference championships, bowl games, traditional rivalries. They are for casual fans, for entertainment value. Take the Big Ten basketball or hockey regular season winner - at best it means you get a banner but then it doesn’t feel valuable if you weren’t the last team standing in the conference tournament or the NCAA tournament. One and done tournaments do not always have the best team as the winner. And contested poll champions are cool - you can argue the best team for ever. I hate the playoffs. I want a traditional Rose Bowl opportunity. Who f’ing moved my cheese!
 

So here is a question:

Do USC,UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the BIG effective January 1st? If so does the BIG sweep all the national championship money? If not what happens to the PAC 12s cut? It goes to a defunct conference?
 


With 12 teams, probably get more contests like the Oregon beatdown of Liberty.
Absolutely we will, but abolishing the playoff seems like an odd solution. Plus we’ve already had tons of lopsided semifinals.
 

So here is a question:

Do USC,UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the BIG effective January 1st? If so does the BIG sweep all the national championship money? If not what happens to the PAC 12s cut? It goes to a defunct conference?
I think it’s effective in August. No idea how the finances work
 

There is no contract though, the players are not employees of the schools. Plus the semester is done, so withholding scholarship benefits is moot.
Point is that in the new system there should be contracts.
 

Point is that in the new system there should be contracts.
There are undoubtedly contracts of some kind between collectives and athletes, but specifying that those contracts require performance would also involve the school and become unenforceable very quickly for a variety of reasons. I’m sure there are several attorneys here that can use better language than I have.
 



This season has shown us all that the playoffs are awesome and the meaningless bowl games are not. 16-teams and the rest go home.
 

Koren Robinson ran through the Minnesota secondary like they were cars on 169 south and he was late for curfew in Mankato.
Gophers up 24-0 just before halftime. They give up a blocked punt touchdown, NC State gets the 2-point PAT, then dominates the second half behind a freshman quarterback named Philip Rivers. Tellis Redmond runs for about 230 yards for Minnesota. The holes are still there in the 2nd half but, in the humidity, he is just too tired to hit them on time after so many carries. 6 years later in Tempe, we saw something even worse.
 





With 12 teams, probably get more contests like the Oregon beatdown of Liberty.
It will be countered with some sweet games like we saw yesterday...and an unbelievable upset every now and again.
 



Hey, I can be nostalgic about the "good old days," but at the same time, I can recognize that things change, and in the end, you have to learn to accept change, even if you don't necessarily like it.

I guess I just choose to accept that the Regular season is one thing. Conference championship games are a separate thing. the Playoffs are a separate thing. and other Bowl games for non-playoff teams are a separate thing.

none of those things are inherently 'good' or 'bad' - it all depends on your perception of events.
 

Hey, I can be nostalgic about the "good old days," but at the same time, I can recognize that things change, and in the end, you have to learn to accept change, even if you don't necessarily like it.

I guess I just choose to accept that the Regular season is one thing. Conference championship games are a separate thing. the Playoffs are a separate thing. and other Bowl games for non-playoff teams are a separate thing.

none of those things are inherently 'good' or 'bad' - it all depends on your perception of events.
I have "accepted" that the non-playoff Bowls that don't involve the Gophers are worthy of the same attention I give to the NIT.

Zip.
 

So here is a question:

Do USC,UCLA, Oregon and Washington join the BIG effective January 1st? If so does the BIG sweep all the national championship money? If not what happens to the PAC 12s cut? It goes to a defunct conference?


August 2, 2024
 

I know people think this 12-team playoff will 'fix' college football...but what happens when:

1.) OSU plays MI in the final game of the season (both teams enter undefeated)
2.) OSU rematches MI in the B1G championship game THE NEXT GAME
3.) OSU and MI both meet for a 3rd time in the playoffs and maybe even 3 times within the course of 4 games....

Even having OSU and MI play each other 2 times in a season just seems wrong - it kills the big game and thinking 2 teams could play each other 3 times in the same season is just ridiculous.

And we could have the same thing with BAMA and GA - with the only difference being that #1 and #2 would not be in consecutive weeks.

To save college football, we need to abolish the playoffs, not expand them.
I think the answer is to play all of the bowls, take that date to analyze and enhance the data on strength of schedule, see who wins, then pick a Final Four. That would help put meaning into the bowls and every bowl would count because it impacts the data.
 

Mason was a clock watching check casher.
Nonsense! Mason was at the right place and he knew where the game was headed. He knew how to follow the bounces of the odd-shaped football and was tough enough, good enough, smart enough, and lucky enough to have taken advantage of the fact that the crazy bounces of pay for B1G football head coaches was ever higher for the long haul. He survived here at the U of M for about 10 seasons. He was relieved of duties and paid the compensation be was owed because of his contract.

During the entire time I have been watching
Gopher football, I have seen a lot of coaches and know all of their records. Mason, in his decade at the U of M was financially rewarded and retained for his services by ALL the powers that are in charge at that institution.

I totally disagree with your little statement. That is good!

College administrators, sports columnists and football fans tend to be somewhat odd-shaped, sometimes too impressed with their own bias and opinion and tend to bounce all over the place and many times be off the wall, fickle and incredibly reactionary. I know I am.

I think you very well may be as well, Spaulding!No!

:0)
 
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During the entire time I have been watching
Gopher football, I have seen a lot of coaches and know all of their records. Mason, in his decade at the U of M was financially rewarded and retained for his services by ALL the powers that are in charge at that institution.

I totally disagree with your little statement. That is good!

College administrators, sports columnists and football fans tend to be somewhat odd-shaped, sometimes too impressed with their own bias and opinion and tend to bounce all over the place and many times be off the wall, fickle and incredibly reactionary. I know I am.

I think you very well may be as well, Spaulding!No!

:0)
You are one of the alphas on this site. I am honored on the response! A highlight for me. Take care!
 

Make it breach of contract if they bail for the bowl game.

No portal until after January 1.
For coaches too. You're hurting the product on the field which is how you all make your money. If you want to move, do it after the bowl games or lose eligibility/money.
 

I can't imagine many (or any) impactful players would enter the portal before a playoff game.

For teams that aren't in the playoffs, I personally prefer players enter the portal that are going to prior to the bowl game. Let it be guys that will be returning or are seniors/entering draft that get to play in the bowl game.

I have to wonder if they'll change the early signing period date now that the first round is around the 20th each year.
 

This season has shown us all that the playoffs are awesome and the meaningless bowl games are not. 16-teams and the rest go home.
I hate this option, but it could be inevitable. There are still a number of bowl games that could be fun.

I think Nicole Auerbach has some good ideas.

A Couple. More food sponsors and silliness like the Dukes Mayo, Pop Tart and Cheeze-its bowls. Pay to Play bonus checks

 

I hate this option, but it could be inevitable. There are still a number of bowl games that could be fun.

I think Nicole Auerbach has some good ideas.

A Couple. More food sponsors and silliness like the Dukes Mayo, Pop Tart and Cheeze-its bowls. Pay to Play bonus checks

I still much prefer the bowl games than not. A lot of them aren't as exciting as they used to be but it's still better than not having them IMO.
 

I can't imagine many (or any) impactful players would enter the portal before a playoff game.

For teams that aren't in the playoffs, I personally prefer players enter the portal that are going to prior to the bowl game. Let it be guys that will be returning or are seniors/entering draft that get to play in the bowl game.

I have to wonder if they'll change the early signing period date now that the first round is around the 20th each year.
The Texas back-up QB entering the portal this year shows that it's not hard to imagine. Would have been a sprained ankle to the starting QB away from being impactful to the Sugar Bowl/CFP Semi.
 

The Texas back-up QB entering the portal this year shows that it's not hard to imagine. Would have been a sprained ankle to the starting QB away from being impactful to the Sugar Bowl/CFP Semi.
I more meant guys that are starting already or playing significantly. Yes injuries can occur but the chances aren't high he would have ever played.

It could be that Manning passed him anyways on the depth chart but who knows.
 

Bowl games other than the playoff have essentially become a drop out fest, expanding to 12 will pretty much instantly fix that.
 





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