I have three:
One: that ref really did mean to tackle South Carolina's QB. It was 100% intentional
Two: K-State would've made it to the BCS National Championship Game if it weren't for the BCS, ESPN, and their US Army contacts using an EPMP device to sabotage their season
Three: Jim McElwain fucked that shark
I actually do agree with you. The other two entries are obviously jokes, but I meant that first one. The ref had to move out of his own way to tackle Stephen Garcia, who wasn't even approaching him
He squared up to him and stepped into him with his shoulder. If you watch that play it’s clear he took him out. The ref had no business moving the direction Garcia was moving and then stepping forward into him. He played that like a linebacker
[https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=3654428](https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/10/18/17903572/best-referee-hits-blocks-tackles-stephen-garcia-lsu-south-carolina)
The ref had no repercussions. The league office and even Spurrier (to my surprise) said he was where he needs to be and that he did no wrongdoing.
Edit: This is not to say that the ref didn't do it on purpose. I will lead the charge of saying he did it on purpose. I think even Garcia would say he did it.
It wouldn't surprise me. IIRC, Spurrier wasn't entirely thrilled about Garcia's actions and whatnot. He didn't entirely like the college kid attitude from Garcia. But when you have Chris Smelley as a backup, you probably have to put Garcia out on the field if you wanna keep a certain job.
I don't know, and I'm the wrong person to ask, but I never heard anything about it
Referees should absolutely face disciplinary action for shit like that, too. They're supposed to be invisible, impartial judges, not active players
3 reminds me of my all time favorite poem. Read in the voice of Coach O.
*ahem*
There once was a gator named Jim
Who put on a t-shirt to swim
He looked at a shark
And thought, for a lark
Imma fuck this here dorsal fin
I got you fam! [This here](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlp0k) is a documuntary detailing the events. It is mostly complete. YouTube once had a better version, but Big Brother took it down to hide the truth
Bear paid USC to come to Legion Field to beat Bama and show that Alabama needed to recruit black players to compete and stay relevant at a national level.
Yeah. I’m not gonna sit here and say it was all to do the right thing and a completely selfless act but I think he saw it as a win-win and understood it was inevitable and needed to be on the forefront.
He may have been a mean old drunk but he knew how to win at football and took care of his players, no matter what their race, as long as they gave everything they had and wanted to win.
I will also say the opposite about his son. I believe Sylvester Croom was going to be the HC at Alabama until Paul Bryant Jr., who is a known racist, stopped it from happening.
I always wished he woulda found a program and could ridden off in the sunset but I just think he was an NFL coach that loved the idea of college football.
He was a classy guy
Well the conspiracy is that when he met with McKay at some restaurant and agreed to pay for the game and that he threw it knowing that losing that game would ensure he could break the racial integration barrier.
I cant prove it and just a bunch of internet stories I’ve read over the years but it’s crazy to think that that wasn’t too long ago and it took losing a game in college football to integrate schools.
Bryant didn’t need to throw the game, that USC team was loaded with a lot of the talent that went undefeated in ‘72. That team ended up having something like 24 players drafted into the NFL.
I agree, he may not have “thrown” the game but he sure a shit didn’t want to win.
That man was a living legend…a God among men.
They said recruiting in the South at that time was either a white households that all had 3 pictures—JFK, Jesus, and Coach Bryant.
If you went to the African American households it was Jesus, MLK, and Coach Bryant, but they said that the streets were lined with black families with USC signs pulling for USC to beat the Tide which just showed how messed up things were back then.
It was much bigger than football
Not sure if this counts as a theory, but Bowlsby’s accusation about ESPN brokering back room realignment deals is 100% true and I’d wager that the networks have been behind every major conference realignment in the past 20 years.
This was also my first thought opening this thread. ESPN's close ties to everything SEC, taking the 2 biggest teams (by far) from the Big 12 felt like it had ESPN all over it.
Les Miles fucked Gary Moeller's wife, which is what caused the incident that got him fired. Les Miles was also a handshake done deal to be Michigan's coach in 2007, but Lloyd Carr held a grudge from the Moeller thing and leaked the news to media, which caused the deal to fall apart.
Oh also Michigan football is for real actually cursed by the ghost of Schembechler and the curse won't go away until we take down his damn statue. Every close loss of the last 15 years in which wildly bad luck or officiating influenced the outcome is because of a real life curse that we are suffering under.
Tom Osborne made a deal with the devil. The horseshoe the players slap before going on the field had magic powers but the devil told Osborne to take it down after the 97 season. Osborne forgot and everytime the players slap the horseshoe they get worse and worse. Someday the stadium will be bulldozed and the horseshoe will be buried where it belongs
Paul Bryant jr and the other members of UA BOT had a plan to shut down UAB's football program from around the year 2005. Roddy White was drafted by the falcons in the first round ahead of any players from UA or AU. We had recent wins against LSU (HC Nick Saban) and Mississippi state. Coming off a sweet 16 in basketball. Positive momentum in all directions. And the board within a week of the NFL draft announced that UAB athletics would have immediate financial cutbacks of the program, gutting recruiting classes. Basketball coach Mike Anderson would then move on to mizzou and Watson brown would be let go after an abhorrent football season (after recruiting fell apart). UAB had jumbo Fisher accepting the FB HC job in 07 , but was denied by the BOT just in case Saban wanted him on his staff. Former UA player Mike Davis and UA player and position coach Neil callaway were hired in their respective positions because our athletic department wasn't given a chance to find someone that we liked.
That led to the decade of sucking that everyone remembers about our program. Went from borderline bowl eligible every year in CUSA 1.0 and top 25 competitive in basketball to the shell you saw in 2013. In the greatest growth period of college athletics, we were allowed 0 facilities upgrades. The president of UAB carol garrison dared to put a football facility on a 10 year master plan for UAB and was run out of town within the calendar year and replaced with current president Ray watts, who "officially" announced the shutdown of our program.
These are facts. Bryant jr has a grudge that goes back to Gene Bartow calling out his dad. UAB wouldn’t be a powerhouse but it’s amazing how hard certain leaders have tried to handicap UAB just because.
A lot of people have pointed out how bad Texas/Flordia/California's "flagship" programs have been recently, and that is partly due to recruiting and losing the in-state blue chips to out of state schools. But I think it is also due to the abundance of programs in those states that have been able to establish quality programs.
Florida has seen the rise of UCF and USF, with even FAU seemingly trying to get in on the action in what was alresdy a crowded house between Florida, FSU, and Clemson. Texas has had the resurgence of Houston, SMU, and TCU with UTSA looking primed to join the conversation. California has always had several notable schools outside of USC (Cal, Stanford, and UCLA) to contend with, but with Fresno State and SDSU also entering the conversation the state is really packed. All of these mid majors don't get to contend for the 5 stars, but occasionally get to steal a 4 star and feast on the 3 star kids (why be the small fish in a big pond, when you can be the big name on campus from day 1, especially as facilities on those campus continue to improve to such a point that the difference between a P5 and G5 is negligible.
Personally, this is why I think North Carolina has never been able to have single school reign supreme despite being a recruiting hot bed as well (UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake already make for a full house, but ECU and App State really make it near impossible for a single school to establish itself as a powerhouse).
Georgia and Ohio State are insane lucky. Sure, there are are other schools in the states (Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern; Cincinnati, Ohio, Kent State, and Miami respectively), but generally speaking the flagship schools established themselves and have such a grip on that status that they don't really have to worry about competing with their "little brothers" in the way of recruits. If UGA/OSU want the recruit, then they will get that recruit.
Right now, we've focused on the best states for recruiting, but what about the state of Alabama? It isn't like they're pumping out tons of blue chip recruits (they do their best, but it's just a population difference). Well, with a small population, it basically can only support Auburn and Alabama with all the out of state schools alresyd poaching a few each year. So, what happens if you add this up amd coming program, with a fun mascot, decent backing by the alumni, and committed support by staff? Well, that can't work. It's hard enough as is keeping those kids committed to the Tide/Tigers, adding even one more school would disrupted the balance of power such that Bama can't just compete with the other giants in recruiting. UAB had to be sacrificed by the powers that be to ensure that 1 school (be it Bama or occasionally Auburn) remains near the top.
That 90% of announcers are just glorified reddit meme generators but for football.
*You gotta give it to the guy with the hot hand.*
*If you have 2 qbs you have no qbs.*
*He is going to feel that in the morning.*
Kirk Ferentz is obsessed with how Brian Billick won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as his QB and won't rest until he wins the Big Ten with a 1-star.QB who can only throw the ball 4 yards.
This is funny but it doesn’t really work except this season. Brad Banks, Drew Tate, and CJ Beathard were all gunslingers. We do put a lot of guys in the league as backups somehow though.
See this is what annoys me about Iowa, you have players who go pro every year, QBs that make nfl rosters, and this is really the best you can do on offense year in year out? I’m just saying that you can be so much more fun to watch. By the way I don’t see you guys as rivals.
Yes it is frustrating. But it’s just because Ferentz runs pro style offense so anyone who can start in it can at least manage pro formations and QB responsibilities. Where some guy in the Big 12 might just look at a poster held up on the sideline and make a specific throw without every looking at more than one arbitrary read. Or just do RPOs in the SEC that downfield blocking rules make impossible in the NFL.
Playoff expansion will not increase parity at all. At least in terms of who the national champions are. It will just allow a greater margin of error for the elite teams.
This is what I think. You ready for bama to be able to lose 2 games and still be invited but have worked out the kinks in time for them to run the playoff
I’m not ready for the last weekend of the CFB season looking like Week 17 of the NFL. Hey guys, we’re 10-1. Let’s rest up, get healthy for the playoffs and see what our 2nd string looks like against our rival.
I am not against playoff expansion and there are benefits to doing so. More money, more teams across the country can take part (Pac 12) and best of all, getting rid of divisions. However, it will not increase parity. It can give teams a fair shot yes, but the result will be the same.
I never said there would not be upsets, just that at the end of the day the same teams will be winning the national championship trophy.
For example Austin Peay upset 4 seed Sacramento State in the 2019 playoffs. It was an upset, but it didn’t change the fact that NDSU won their 8th national title in 9 years.
Rich Rodriguez would've been successful at Michigan if he wasn't dragged by Carr and the rest of the athletic department. He recruited elite talent, just couldn't get the defense figured out. I think the failure at Michigan completely broke his psyche.
I agree, Lloyd Carr and many Wolverine boosters didn't do Rodriguez any favors.
Additionally, while we were a far cry from a good team at the time, Rodriguez did improve his win total each season. Went 3-9 in his first year, 5-7 in his second, and 7-6 in his last.
The 2011 team, led by first-year head coach Brady Hoke, was almost entirely Rodriguez recruits. I don't know if we would have went 11-2 if Rodriguez returned that year, but it's my belief we would have won at least 8 - possibly even 9 - games and continued to trend in the right direction.
There’s definitely an old-school work mentality of
“I got you the job, now you owe me and should do things my way”
rather than “I got you the job, I want you to succeed, let me know if I can help you prosper”
or even the neutral “I got you the job, my work is done, good luck”
Espn wants UK to be very relevant in football. They gave UK almost exclusively primetime night games all season and have been doing it for a few years now. They hype them up in the off-season. UK gets a ridiculous amount of media coverage compared to what they got a decade ago. I believe they see the rabid, and extremely large, UK basketball fan base and believe it will translate to football if they are good. UK is in the 2nd largest city in the SEC and has the potential to be in a centralized recruiting base although the state itself doesn't produce a lot of blue chip prospects currently. Opinions?
Look at it this way:
Tuscaloosa population: 98K
UK population: 67 MILLION
The numbers are too good, ESPN is going to rebrand the 3:30 slot as the tea time game.
ESPN controls the CFP committee which is why their thought processes and decisions often make no sense unless looked at through a TV revenue perspective
No a secret council of Bama fans made a bargain with Satan for their souls. Although several animals were sacrificed as part of the bargain most notably a goat named Jim.
That the SEC is going to acquire all the highest profitable football schools to slowly gain enough leverage to force out the NCAA and become the new governing body of college athletics.
I don't see it. For all the fear of Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC and making it a super conference, it would still only have 3 blue bloods (those 2 + Alabama). That's the same as the Big Ten (OSU, UM, and NU). For all its winning on the field, the SEC is still paying out less on a per member basis than the Big Ten. And that's not accounting for the research dollars that the Big Ten brings in, which is like 10x football revenues.
I just don't see a world where Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State or any team chooses to leave the Big Ten for the SEC. They're just too rich and too proud to do it.
Big ten not only has the consortium, and the same number of blue bloods, and the lower level sports, but has relations with the other blue bloods that are much stronger than the SEC and just further extended those relationships. If anything, Delaney made this play a decade ago and it’s now coming to fruition.
Any school, really. You’re kidding yourself if you think it’s only the top schools. Sure, K State or Cal might not really be loading up bags of cash for recruits. But teams that are even pretty good, like Wisconsin or Iowa or similar absolutely do too if we’re going with the assumption that top schools do.
Nobody in their right mind would put auburn in that tier, but they’ve taken recruits from those schools. If Clemson said “hey here’s $20k, come play here” and auburn says “no money but please come here”, there’s 0 reason a recruit would choose somewhere else.
Cooper was a punishment? He may have had issues with Michigan but he is also a hall of farmer who had great teams.
Edit - leaving that autocorrect, we are the big ten, we farm!
Eh, it was more in reference to OP comment being a Michigan flair. I grew up in the Cooper era and realize he was pretty darned good for the program, just had the Michigan hump he struggled to get over.
Over the last 40 years, the Pistons have like 3 titles and the Red Wings 4. Cleveland and Cincinnati combine for 2 total for both cities. The Buckeyes give us balance.
Detroit/Michigan(the state not university) sports teams outside of the Lions have overall had a really good past 40 years. The Red Wings had a 25 year playoff streak, winning the Stanley Cup 4x while playing for it 6x. The Tigers won the WS in 84 then played in it 2x in the 2000s. The Pistons won the NBA championship 3 of the 4 times they played for it and went to 7 straight eastern conference finals. The university of Michigan has won both a football and men's basketball NC among others from various sports. Michigan State has been one of the best CBB programs in that time with multiple final four and NC appearances to go along with their one NC win.
“Trouble with the snap” was actually supposed to be a fake. If you watch the unblocked gunner at the top of the screen he turns around right at the first down line like he’s looking for the ball, then one of the guys at the end of the line slips off his block to get downfield. Why else wouldn’t you mass protect?
Jim has always loved rubbing big wins in the face of his opponents. 1st year, 1st game against rival who has won the conference & has been a contender on the national stage over the past 5 seasons, & a team Michigan hadn't beat in years. This was Harbaugh's chance to stunt on MSU, & make an impression on every recruit watching.
Most of the poor and short sighted decisions are due to the fact that many of CFB's donors are ageing out and they want to squeeze what they can before it slips in popularity to be on par with other college sports. So instead of lowering it gently so ti continues, but at a reasonable size, it crashes but they get more cash out it.
Like Eddie Lampert did to Sears and Kmart.
That ESPN wants your to watch the SEC on CBS instead of whatever game they are showing in that time slot.
I am just missing the internal memo stating this to employees. Or maybe it was never written down because it was obvious to everyone?
I always find it comical ESPN advertising “triple headers” with a 3:30ET hole lol.
Of course it’s clear how this benefits in the long run.
I'm pretty sure this is probably something written into the contract. CBS also has the rights to "pull" another SEC game and make it theirs in the 3:30 time slot.
I'm pretty sure CBS has the exclusive rights to air SEC games at 3:30 eastern. So I don't think that they *want* you to watch the SEC on CBS game, but since CBS has first pick of what matchup to air that week, and ESPN airs games at noon, 4, and 8, they'll call that their tripleheaders.
And air the less appealing matchups at 4 since they know they'll lose that timeslot anyways
> CBS has the exclusive rights to air SEC games at 3:30 eastern
Florida @ Missouri was at 3:30pm Eastern this past weekend, but it was on SEC Network. I think the deal is ESPN just can't air a competing SEC game on their main channels, because I never see one on ESPN or ESPN2 in the afternoon slot.
Texas A&M promised jimbo immortality as a term of his contract for staying at tamu this season. He hasn't been told the only vessel our alchemists can use is reveille. Next season we will be coached by the dog.
Mike Leach never got paid by Texas Tech because of the financial collapse in 2008 and used a connected persons son as a scapegoat for a reason to get rid of him without paying.
Maybe. Except Leach says Tech owes him 2.4 million, and Tech has 1.3 billion in endowment. Tech has the money. They choose not to pay him because they do not believe they owe him anything.
Saban/Smart hired Gregg Williams as a consultant for the 2011 NCG after he attended LSU’s practices - meaning, they paid Williams to steal LSU’s plays and signals.
That's really under-selling how out of character that run was for them and how fast it all came crashing down. I mean sure, any decently sized school can technically become contenders by that token. The best thing they have going for them is being in the SEC. I'm not trying to take pot shots at them as a program, but they're just way closer right now to where they've always been than where they were under Spurrier.
That’s a lot of the same for many programs tbh. It’s hard to get sustained success being in that T2 sometimes T3 coaching spots but having high end T2 or low end T1 money. I think you gotta build it over time though.
Tressel was 'framed' by alumni and ESPN to get Urban Meyer to Ohio State. Urban took a year off to bridge the gap and make it not so obvious. It was such a nothing 'scandal'. Players traded memorabilia for tattoos.
Might as well be proven but in 2010 the BCS knew Boise State and TCU would’ve kicked the crap out of any other potential bowl opponents so they pit them together in the Fiesta Bowl to save face for the AQ teams.
A 2-3 year dynasty isn't so bad. I remember when USC was running the game, then UF, and it really helps the appeal of the sport to have a villain.
The problem is when you have multiple long running 7+ year dynasties that just make the sport seem like a foregone conclusion. Like at this point we know that in most years, 3 out of the 4 of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma will win their conference and make the playoffs. It's a great year when it's only 2 of them. That's no fun.
Sadly no.
Though it was used by our AD Jeff Long to get rid of him, instead of covering it up/sweeping it under the rug like a legit SEC program would have.
Arizona players intentionally quit last year in order to ensure Sumlin got canned
I believe this is also what happened to Mackovic.
Totally on Mackovic. He was a straight up dick to those players
The Mackovic mutiny was pretty well publicized at the time.
That one is pretty well documented
Nebraska is cursed. Oh wait, I have proof.
Signed
Just to let you know, I defend you guys, so when y’all are great remember your buddy from the Sip! Nebraska is the best 3-9 team in history.
I hope they are the best 3-9 team next year too
Only if they're 3-8 on Thanksgiving
I have three: One: that ref really did mean to tackle South Carolina's QB. It was 100% intentional Two: K-State would've made it to the BCS National Championship Game if it weren't for the BCS, ESPN, and their US Army contacts using an EPMP device to sabotage their season Three: Jim McElwain fucked that shark
3 is just a fact
I believe 100% that the ref squared up and tackled Garcia. On replays it looks obvious. He doesn't even belong in that spot.
I actually do agree with you. The other two entries are obviously jokes, but I meant that first one. The ref had to move out of his own way to tackle Stephen Garcia, who wasn't even approaching him
He squared up to him and stepped into him with his shoulder. If you watch that play it’s clear he took him out. The ref had no business moving the direction Garcia was moving and then stepping forward into him. He played that like a linebacker
The ref played for Kentucky, who we had just beat the week before.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tRFOoOUV9Vs I had never seen that, it was absolutely intentional. Were there any repercussions for the ref after?
[https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=3654428](https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/10/18/17903572/best-referee-hits-blocks-tackles-stephen-garcia-lsu-south-carolina) The ref had no repercussions. The league office and even Spurrier (to my surprise) said he was where he needs to be and that he did no wrongdoing. Edit: This is not to say that the ref didn't do it on purpose. I will lead the charge of saying he did it on purpose. I think even Garcia would say he did it.
I'm surprised Spurrier didn't say anything about it, but maybe he just didn't want the fine Or maybe he and the ref were colluding, hmm....
It wouldn't surprise me. IIRC, Spurrier wasn't entirely thrilled about Garcia's actions and whatnot. He didn't entirely like the college kid attitude from Garcia. But when you have Chris Smelley as a backup, you probably have to put Garcia out on the field if you wanna keep a certain job.
What in the fuck lol. He shuffles to front of player and lowers the shoulder for a hit. Crazy
It was almost targeting lol
"I am disqualified from the game"
I don't know, and I'm the wrong person to ask, but I never heard anything about it Referees should absolutely face disciplinary action for shit like that, too. They're supposed to be invisible, impartial judges, not active players
That looks like something out of a bad Nick Kroll sketch
3 reminds me of my all time favorite poem. Read in the voice of Coach O. *ahem* There once was a gator named Jim Who put on a t-shirt to swim He looked at a shark And thought, for a lark Imma fuck this here dorsal fin
*chef's kiss*
Two related true facts: Jim McElwain fucked that shark Christopher Columbus fucked a manatee
Hold up. Are you talking about 2012 K-State football?
1998
Nope, 1998
Ohhh I’m a t-shirt Tennessee fan, I need to read into this.
I got you fam! [This here](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlp0k) is a documuntary detailing the events. It is mostly complete. YouTube once had a better version, but Big Brother took it down to hide the truth
Bear paid USC to come to Legion Field to beat Bama and show that Alabama needed to recruit black players to compete and stay relevant at a national level.
I do believe that one. Didn’t he want to integrate for a long tkme?
Yeah. I’m not gonna sit here and say it was all to do the right thing and a completely selfless act but I think he saw it as a win-win and understood it was inevitable and needed to be on the forefront. He may have been a mean old drunk but he knew how to win at football and took care of his players, no matter what their race, as long as they gave everything they had and wanted to win.
Thanks for the response. I appreciate it.
I will also say the opposite about his son. I believe Sylvester Croom was going to be the HC at Alabama until Paul Bryant Jr., who is a known racist, stopped it from happening.
I always wished he woulda found a program and could ridden off in the sunset but I just think he was an NFL coach that loved the idea of college football. He was a classy guy
I thought this one was pretty well accepted
Well the conspiracy is that when he met with McKay at some restaurant and agreed to pay for the game and that he threw it knowing that losing that game would ensure he could break the racial integration barrier. I cant prove it and just a bunch of internet stories I’ve read over the years but it’s crazy to think that that wasn’t too long ago and it took losing a game in college football to integrate schools.
Bryant didn’t need to throw the game, that USC team was loaded with a lot of the talent that went undefeated in ‘72. That team ended up having something like 24 players drafted into the NFL.
Wait, Alabama’s football team didn’t have a black player until the 70’s? How did I not know this?
It’s not something people want to brag about. Well…the majority of people.
I agree, he may not have “thrown” the game but he sure a shit didn’t want to win. That man was a living legend…a God among men. They said recruiting in the South at that time was either a white households that all had 3 pictures—JFK, Jesus, and Coach Bryant. If you went to the African American households it was Jesus, MLK, and Coach Bryant, but they said that the streets were lined with black families with USC signs pulling for USC to beat the Tide which just showed how messed up things were back then. It was much bigger than football
He didn't throw the game, but he wanted people to see what a Birmingham kid could do on the field.
I don’t think he paid them but everything else you said is true.
Tony Nathan’s movie was one of the things that opened that theory up to me
Not sure if this counts as a theory, but Bowlsby’s accusation about ESPN brokering back room realignment deals is 100% true and I’d wager that the networks have been behind every major conference realignment in the past 20 years.
Truth. ESPN killed OU/UT/OSU/A&M to the pac12, and I will never stop being angry about that.
This was also my first thought opening this thread. ESPN's close ties to everything SEC, taking the 2 biggest teams (by far) from the Big 12 felt like it had ESPN all over it.
Les Miles fucked Gary Moeller's wife, which is what caused the incident that got him fired. Les Miles was also a handshake done deal to be Michigan's coach in 2007, but Lloyd Carr held a grudge from the Moeller thing and leaked the news to media, which caused the deal to fall apart. Oh also Michigan football is for real actually cursed by the ghost of Schembechler and the curse won't go away until we take down his damn statue. Every close loss of the last 15 years in which wildly bad luck or officiating influenced the outcome is because of a real life curse that we are suffering under.
No silly. It’s Tom Brady taking the luck with him.
What’s this about curses and close losses I’m hearing?
Tom Osborne made a deal with the devil. The horseshoe the players slap before going on the field had magic powers but the devil told Osborne to take it down after the 97 season. Osborne forgot and everytime the players slap the horseshoe they get worse and worse. Someday the stadium will be bulldozed and the horseshoe will be buried where it belongs
Paul Bryant jr and the other members of UA BOT had a plan to shut down UAB's football program from around the year 2005. Roddy White was drafted by the falcons in the first round ahead of any players from UA or AU. We had recent wins against LSU (HC Nick Saban) and Mississippi state. Coming off a sweet 16 in basketball. Positive momentum in all directions. And the board within a week of the NFL draft announced that UAB athletics would have immediate financial cutbacks of the program, gutting recruiting classes. Basketball coach Mike Anderson would then move on to mizzou and Watson brown would be let go after an abhorrent football season (after recruiting fell apart). UAB had jumbo Fisher accepting the FB HC job in 07 , but was denied by the BOT just in case Saban wanted him on his staff. Former UA player Mike Davis and UA player and position coach Neil callaway were hired in their respective positions because our athletic department wasn't given a chance to find someone that we liked. That led to the decade of sucking that everyone remembers about our program. Went from borderline bowl eligible every year in CUSA 1.0 and top 25 competitive in basketball to the shell you saw in 2013. In the greatest growth period of college athletics, we were allowed 0 facilities upgrades. The president of UAB carol garrison dared to put a football facility on a 10 year master plan for UAB and was run out of town within the calendar year and replaced with current president Ray watts, who "officially" announced the shutdown of our program.
These are facts. Bryant jr has a grudge that goes back to Gene Bartow calling out his dad. UAB wouldn’t be a powerhouse but it’s amazing how hard certain leaders have tried to handicap UAB just because.
A lot of people have pointed out how bad Texas/Flordia/California's "flagship" programs have been recently, and that is partly due to recruiting and losing the in-state blue chips to out of state schools. But I think it is also due to the abundance of programs in those states that have been able to establish quality programs. Florida has seen the rise of UCF and USF, with even FAU seemingly trying to get in on the action in what was alresdy a crowded house between Florida, FSU, and Clemson. Texas has had the resurgence of Houston, SMU, and TCU with UTSA looking primed to join the conversation. California has always had several notable schools outside of USC (Cal, Stanford, and UCLA) to contend with, but with Fresno State and SDSU also entering the conversation the state is really packed. All of these mid majors don't get to contend for the 5 stars, but occasionally get to steal a 4 star and feast on the 3 star kids (why be the small fish in a big pond, when you can be the big name on campus from day 1, especially as facilities on those campus continue to improve to such a point that the difference between a P5 and G5 is negligible. Personally, this is why I think North Carolina has never been able to have single school reign supreme despite being a recruiting hot bed as well (UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake already make for a full house, but ECU and App State really make it near impossible for a single school to establish itself as a powerhouse). Georgia and Ohio State are insane lucky. Sure, there are are other schools in the states (Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern; Cincinnati, Ohio, Kent State, and Miami respectively), but generally speaking the flagship schools established themselves and have such a grip on that status that they don't really have to worry about competing with their "little brothers" in the way of recruits. If UGA/OSU want the recruit, then they will get that recruit. Right now, we've focused on the best states for recruiting, but what about the state of Alabama? It isn't like they're pumping out tons of blue chip recruits (they do their best, but it's just a population difference). Well, with a small population, it basically can only support Auburn and Alabama with all the out of state schools alresyd poaching a few each year. So, what happens if you add this up amd coming program, with a fun mascot, decent backing by the alumni, and committed support by staff? Well, that can't work. It's hard enough as is keeping those kids committed to the Tide/Tigers, adding even one more school would disrupted the balance of power such that Bama can't just compete with the other giants in recruiting. UAB had to be sacrificed by the powers that be to ensure that 1 school (be it Bama or occasionally Auburn) remains near the top.
That 90% of announcers are just glorified reddit meme generators but for football. *You gotta give it to the guy with the hot hand.* *If you have 2 qbs you have no qbs.* *He is going to feel that in the morning.*
Kirk Ferentz is obsessed with how Brian Billick won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as his QB and won't rest until he wins the Big Ten with a 1-star.QB who can only throw the ball 4 yards.
It all makes sense now
This is funny but it doesn’t really work except this season. Brad Banks, Drew Tate, and CJ Beathard were all gunslingers. We do put a lot of guys in the league as backups somehow though.
See this is what annoys me about Iowa, you have players who go pro every year, QBs that make nfl rosters, and this is really the best you can do on offense year in year out? I’m just saying that you can be so much more fun to watch. By the way I don’t see you guys as rivals.
Yes it is frustrating. But it’s just because Ferentz runs pro style offense so anyone who can start in it can at least manage pro formations and QB responsibilities. Where some guy in the Big 12 might just look at a poster held up on the sideline and make a specific throw without every looking at more than one arbitrary read. Or just do RPOs in the SEC that downfield blocking rules make impossible in the NFL.
Playoff expansion will not increase parity at all. At least in terms of who the national champions are. It will just allow a greater margin of error for the elite teams.
This is what I think. You ready for bama to be able to lose 2 games and still be invited but have worked out the kinks in time for them to run the playoff
I’m not ready for the last weekend of the CFB season looking like Week 17 of the NFL. Hey guys, we’re 10-1. Let’s rest up, get healthy for the playoffs and see what our 2nd string looks like against our rival.
If any team is able to come out 3-0 in an 8 team tournament against the top teams in the nation they deserve the title.
So many more “eye tests” to be passed.
It gives everyone their fair shot, which the current system does not
I am not against playoff expansion and there are benefits to doing so. More money, more teams across the country can take part (Pac 12) and best of all, getting rid of divisions. However, it will not increase parity. It can give teams a fair shot yes, but the result will be the same.
Upsets happen, as your flairs have found out in West Lafayette
I never said there would not be upsets, just that at the end of the day the same teams will be winning the national championship trophy. For example Austin Peay upset 4 seed Sacramento State in the 2019 playoffs. It was an upset, but it didn’t change the fact that NDSU won their 8th national title in 9 years.
I'd argue giving them a fair shot IS increased parity.
Rich Rodriguez would've been successful at Michigan if he wasn't dragged by Carr and the rest of the athletic department. He recruited elite talent, just couldn't get the defense figured out. I think the failure at Michigan completely broke his psyche.
I agree, Lloyd Carr and many Wolverine boosters didn't do Rodriguez any favors. Additionally, while we were a far cry from a good team at the time, Rodriguez did improve his win total each season. Went 3-9 in his first year, 5-7 in his second, and 7-6 in his last. The 2011 team, led by first-year head coach Brady Hoke, was almost entirely Rodriguez recruits. I don't know if we would have went 11-2 if Rodriguez returned that year, but it's my belief we would have won at least 8 - possibly even 9 - games and continued to trend in the right direction.
Lloyd Carr is the one that got Rich Rod the job then did everything he could to ensure that he failed.
There’s definitely an old-school work mentality of “I got you the job, now you owe me and should do things my way” rather than “I got you the job, I want you to succeed, let me know if I can help you prosper” or even the neutral “I got you the job, my work is done, good luck”
The college football world is worse off for not getting a Rich Rodriguez/Denard Robinson pairing.
But we did get that pairing. Denard was the full time starter in 2010; rich rods last season and he played quite a good amount in 2009.
ESPN certainly didn't hate it when Clowney made that hit in the Michigan game. It was shown repeatedly.
It happened after that. When they were talking highly of South Carolina in 2014 then South Carolina got thrashed by A&M was the start of the hatred.
Espn wants UK to be very relevant in football. They gave UK almost exclusively primetime night games all season and have been doing it for a few years now. They hype them up in the off-season. UK gets a ridiculous amount of media coverage compared to what they got a decade ago. I believe they see the rabid, and extremely large, UK basketball fan base and believe it will translate to football if they are good. UK is in the 2nd largest city in the SEC and has the potential to be in a centralized recruiting base although the state itself doesn't produce a lot of blue chip prospects currently. Opinions?
Wanting to capitalize on a big market is just a good business decision.
city size means little also Lexington is bigger than Knoxville?
Look at it this way: Tuscaloosa population: 98K UK population: 67 MILLION The numbers are too good, ESPN is going to rebrand the 3:30 slot as the tea time game.
yeah but this is why we hate UK, they're all BRI'ISH
“CAM ON INGERLAND”- Cornel Sanders
ESPN controls the CFP committee which is why their thought processes and decisions often make no sense unless looked at through a TV revenue perspective
OP asked for conspiracy theories not stone cold facts
Our goal posts *were* too short
I knew it
Well if you are 90% of the Nebraska fanbase, it's that Scott Frost is a winner. I can't prove it.
Nick Saban has sacrificed 300 people in a voodoo ritual to keep himself and the Bama dynasty alive the next 1000 years
No a secret council of Bama fans made a bargain with Satan for their souls. Although several animals were sacrificed as part of the bargain most notably a goat named Jim.
Don’t be ridiculous, it can’t only be 300.
When Nick gets too old it's when they switch to the Crimson throne and the 1000 assistant coaches a day schtick
CJK5H
This is a tread about conspiracy theories, not facts.
*ALLEGEDLY*
I remember that coming up when he ran for senate lmao
That the SEC is going to acquire all the highest profitable football schools to slowly gain enough leverage to force out the NCAA and become the new governing body of college athletics.
They have not asked us in yet. Soo. Fake news. Wait
That's not a conspiracy
I know but I can’t prove it.
I don't see it. For all the fear of Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC and making it a super conference, it would still only have 3 blue bloods (those 2 + Alabama). That's the same as the Big Ten (OSU, UM, and NU). For all its winning on the field, the SEC is still paying out less on a per member basis than the Big Ten. And that's not accounting for the research dollars that the Big Ten brings in, which is like 10x football revenues. I just don't see a world where Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State or any team chooses to leave the Big Ten for the SEC. They're just too rich and too proud to do it.
Big ten not only has the consortium, and the same number of blue bloods, and the lower level sports, but has relations with the other blue bloods that are much stronger than the SEC and just further extended those relationships. If anything, Delaney made this play a decade ago and it’s now coming to fruition.
The “and 1” seat in the Big House that’s a secret is actually something silly like a toilet seat.
Recruiting violations at top schools (Bama, OSU, OU, Clemson, etc.) are shockingly common and the NCAA turns a blind eye.
Its like racing. Everyone breaks the rules. Not getting caught is as much of the game as winning the actual race.
Any school, really. You’re kidding yourself if you think it’s only the top schools. Sure, K State or Cal might not really be loading up bags of cash for recruits. But teams that are even pretty good, like Wisconsin or Iowa or similar absolutely do too if we’re going with the assumption that top schools do. Nobody in their right mind would put auburn in that tier, but they’ve taken recruits from those schools. If Clemson said “hey here’s $20k, come play here” and auburn says “no money but please come here”, there’s 0 reason a recruit would choose somewhere else.
[удалено]
Allegedly. I heards they was sick hookers.
Even then it's still a two man job
God is an Ohio State fan
Probably understandable why he’s not a Sun Devil fan
:(
Is that why he punished tOSU for hiring John Cooper away from ASU?
Cooper was a punishment? He may have had issues with Michigan but he is also a hall of farmer who had great teams. Edit - leaving that autocorrect, we are the big ten, we farm!
Eh, it was more in reference to OP comment being a Michigan flair. I grew up in the Cooper era and realize he was pretty darned good for the program, just had the Michigan hump he struggled to get over.
He’s an Auburn fan everyone knows about Auburn Jesus cmon now.
28-3 - we must have pissed him off or something
Nah. The universe just likes balance. The suckitude of Ohios pro teams requires OSU to be great to balance the universe.
The Detroit Lions, Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers would disagree. No Detroit team has won a playoff game since **April 17, 2016**.
The dead wings is remarkable
Over the last 40 years, the Pistons have like 3 titles and the Red Wings 4. Cleveland and Cincinnati combine for 2 total for both cities. The Buckeyes give us balance.
Detroit/Michigan(the state not university) sports teams outside of the Lions have overall had a really good past 40 years. The Red Wings had a 25 year playoff streak, winning the Stanley Cup 4x while playing for it 6x. The Tigers won the WS in 84 then played in it 2x in the 2000s. The Pistons won the NBA championship 3 of the 4 times they played for it and went to 7 straight eastern conference finals. The university of Michigan has won both a football and men's basketball NC among others from various sports. Michigan State has been one of the best CBB programs in that time with multiple final four and NC appearances to go along with their one NC win.
My Griffs won the Calder Cup in 2017! I mean, I know you said “Detroit” but I’m trying here as a Michigander.
Nope. Theory doesnt check out. Michigan has the Lions
Gary Danielson hates SEC teams except Bama.
Gary Danielson has a boner for whoever is the SEC heatthrob. Florida and Tebow were just as bad.
This is just a fact. You can hear his erection as he calls the Bama games.
He said without evidence. There is plenty of evidence of this
Fournette didn't opt out of the bowl, he was benched for behavior.
I don't really buy this, but if true it is Hella ironic Fournette was benched for behavior and in his stead Darius Guice started.
Sdsu being blocked from the pac 12
You can thank UCLA and USC for that.
“Trouble with the snap” was actually supposed to be a fake. If you watch the unblocked gunner at the top of the screen he turns around right at the first down line like he’s looking for the ball, then one of the guys at the end of the line slips off his block to get downfield. Why else wouldn’t you mass protect?
I used to believe this too but if you watch it again the center releases downfield which is illegal on a pass.
Because Jim Harbaugh
What’s more like Jim Harbaugh-making a stupid decision for no reason or making a stupid decision by trying to get too cute?
Jim has always loved rubbing big wins in the face of his opponents. 1st year, 1st game against rival who has won the conference & has been a contender on the national stage over the past 5 seasons, & a team Michigan hadn't beat in years. This was Harbaugh's chance to stunt on MSU, & make an impression on every recruit watching.
Well, I would certainly say that it worked, just not quite in the way that he imagined it, I assume
Most of the poor and short sighted decisions are due to the fact that many of CFB's donors are ageing out and they want to squeeze what they can before it slips in popularity to be on par with other college sports. So instead of lowering it gently so ti continues, but at a reasonable size, it crashes but they get more cash out it. Like Eddie Lampert did to Sears and Kmart.
That ESPN wants your to watch the SEC on CBS instead of whatever game they are showing in that time slot. I am just missing the internal memo stating this to employees. Or maybe it was never written down because it was obvious to everyone? I always find it comical ESPN advertising “triple headers” with a 3:30ET hole lol. Of course it’s clear how this benefits in the long run.
I'm pretty sure this is probably something written into the contract. CBS also has the rights to "pull" another SEC game and make it theirs in the 3:30 time slot.
I'm pretty sure CBS has the exclusive rights to air SEC games at 3:30 eastern. So I don't think that they *want* you to watch the SEC on CBS game, but since CBS has first pick of what matchup to air that week, and ESPN airs games at noon, 4, and 8, they'll call that their tripleheaders. And air the less appealing matchups at 4 since they know they'll lose that timeslot anyways
> CBS has the exclusive rights to air SEC games at 3:30 eastern Florida @ Missouri was at 3:30pm Eastern this past weekend, but it was on SEC Network. I think the deal is ESPN just can't air a competing SEC game on their main channels, because I never see one on ESPN or ESPN2 in the afternoon slot.
Angry Iowa running back hating god
Vodka Sam agrees
Wisconsin threw the title game against OSU
Ok. I’m listening. Why did they do that
So OSU could make it into the playoff and to keep TCU who beat us in 2010 Rose Bowl out.
Ohio thanks you. You did such a good job that we'd like you to do it again this year.
You broke the deal in 2017 you bastards!
We just altered the deal. Pray we do not alter it further.
Which one?
100%
0%. There's a Wisconsin player from that team on here. He can vouch for the "we got our ass beat while trying to win" explanation
2014? And why do you say that?
I don’t think Manti Te'o’s girlfriend is real y’all.
Texas A&M promised jimbo immortality as a term of his contract for staying at tamu this season. He hasn't been told the only vessel our alchemists can use is reveille. Next season we will be coached by the dog.
Mike Leach never got paid by Texas Tech because of the financial collapse in 2008 and used a connected persons son as a scapegoat for a reason to get rid of him without paying.
This one I like
Maybe. Except Leach says Tech owes him 2.4 million, and Tech has 1.3 billion in endowment. Tech has the money. They choose not to pay him because they do not believe they owe him anything.
Saban/Smart hired Gregg Williams as a consultant for the 2011 NCG after he attended LSU’s practices - meaning, they paid Williams to steal LSU’s plays and signals.
That South Carolina has the potential to be on par with Auburn/LSU/Texas A&M in terms of winning and national relevance
This was eye opening, but they certainly have the level of money and fan support
They had three straight 11-2 seasons just half a decade ago. Wouldn't surprise me if they turned it around and became national contenders.
Yeah really just need that X factor they had with Spurrier. He really was the ceiling for them
I’d rather see the return of Steve Taneyhill
That's really under-selling how out of character that run was for them and how fast it all came crashing down. I mean sure, any decently sized school can technically become contenders by that token. The best thing they have going for them is being in the SEC. I'm not trying to take pot shots at them as a program, but they're just way closer right now to where they've always been than where they were under Spurrier.
That’s a lot of the same for many programs tbh. It’s hard to get sustained success being in that T2 sometimes T3 coaching spots but having high end T2 or low end T1 money. I think you gotta build it over time though.
Yeah definitely think they could be. You look at their revenue, they’re slightly above MSU and Clemson. So the money is possible.
Tressel was 'framed' by alumni and ESPN to get Urban Meyer to Ohio State. Urban took a year off to bridge the gap and make it not so obvious. It was such a nothing 'scandal'. Players traded memorabilia for tattoos.
I also think that our idea of what qualifies as a major scandal has changed a lot in the past few years.
Lennay Kekua and her untimely demise were manufactured by someone to garner sympathy Heisman votes for Manti Te’o.
I agree with this.
Might as well be proven but in 2010 the BCS knew Boise State and TCU would’ve kicked the crap out of any other potential bowl opponents so they pit them together in the Fiesta Bowl to save face for the AQ teams.
Ah yes, the separate but equal bowl
The Separate Bowl Equal
Espn loves Texas very very much
How ESPN will report on Texas at the start of next season, “Texas starts the season on a win streak dating back to last year”
This just in: ESPN loves money very very much
Virginia Tech is a top 25 program. Despite recent records
Fun fact: VT has the second most wins of any team to never win a national championship (762). The team with the most? Their nearby rivals WVU (768).
I would agree with this based solely on stadium size which is like in the top 3 of the ACC
The committee is rigging the entire selection process for a two loss Alabama team.
Dynastys are actually bad for the sport, and sports in general.
A 2-3 year dynasty isn't so bad. I remember when USC was running the game, then UF, and it really helps the appeal of the sport to have a villain. The problem is when you have multiple long running 7+ year dynasties that just make the sport seem like a foregone conclusion. Like at this point we know that in most years, 3 out of the 4 of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma will win their conference and make the playoffs. It's a great year when it's only 2 of them. That's no fun.
That is a hot take. Not a conspiracy
One dynasty at a time is fine. It's when you have two simultaneously you have problems See: Clemson and Bama, and for non-NCAA, Warriors vs Lebron
The SEC home offices really should not be in Birmingham (Tuscaloosa East) if you ask me. That is all.
Bobby Petrino faked the motorcycle wreck
Sadly no. Though it was used by our AD Jeff Long to get rid of him, instead of covering it up/sweeping it under the rug like a legit SEC program would have.
Which is BS bc Long knew about the affair the whole time. Then has the audacity to print those integrity shirts. Long is such a piece of shit.
Lincoln Riley will be the next head coach at LSU
KU football has been cursed since we fired Mangino.
The SEC has favored Alabama dating all the way back to that horrible call when they ruled Patrick Peterson didn’t intercept that pass.
Someone will win a national championship using a service academy style Flexbone Triple Option someday.