WoolyBully

To be clear, I'm referring to opting out of a post-season bowl game. If you think penalizing someone who has collected NIL throughout the season by withholding a dollar amount for this one single game is somehow "gonna teach him a lesson!", not gonna side with that position. I think we're rapidly approaching the point where there are the relevant playoff games, and we can relegate everything else to nothing more than helping ESPN fill three-hour blocks of commercial opportunities. I would venture to say that those program blocks draw mostly an interest from alumni or the degenerate sports book. Approaching? Have we arrived there already? Lemme check ...

OK, so exactly how much $ is there in the NIL $ / games played equation? Let's assume Shedur is collecting $4.8M. At twelve regular season games per year, and one bowl game, that's about $370K per. Think about that. He'd still be collecting a ton of money if he sits out the bowl game. What about Joe Schmoe who is collecting $4K per year, he's only going to be out around $300. Think that $300 is a heartbreaker to a kid pulling down $4K to play football? I don't think so. Why not forego $300 if you're thinking in terms of playing on Sunday. And if you want to push the idea that they can be penalized for non-play...how 'bout I trot out a "mental health day" that coincides with the Del Monte Gillette Razor Inconsequential Bowl? By the time you've played your last regular season game, the NFL knows you. They've got a ton of data. Putting together a highlight reel at the bowl game is not really going to up your stock from what it already is.

Inching ever closer to the entrance exam...

Win over Florida State.

Also a nostalgic Christmas of yesteryear thought...you'll shoot your eye out, Ralphie...

Merry Christmas from the other - and considerably more famous - Mister Robinson's neighborhood https://youtu.be/jJvE0_YGMHw

Yeah, and as Pete pointed out, it's always the attorneys who walk away winners in these situations. But thinking in terms of "planting the flag", it sounds more like chess or a game of Risk than football. Like back when a school would scarf up all of the quality players solely to keep the competition from signing them. Never intending to play them, just don't want YOU to have them.

Increase of 33% in the total number of wins compared to '23. Finish with a Win in (hopefully) a bowl game that requires checked bags and boarding passes.

A welcome relief. Great bowl win - unexpected margin of victory - and hopefully this carries forward into '24.

This was a huge improvement over the past four years. Huge. Bear in mind we had a weak schedule and the only team we beat that has a winning record was FAMU. That's it. Every other win was over a team which finished the year under .500. We did the absolute, rock-bottom, bare-minimum necessary to get to a bowl game, and that came down to the last game of the year against the worst team in the conference. Point being the bar was set very low (-4.5 Vegas) and we exceeded expectations. No complaints whatsoever and hopefully this year serves as a steppingstone to an even better record next fall.

Bulls wedged safely between the Buckeyes and Banana Slugs.

Just a friendly reminder that hysteria is the lifeblood of TBP.

ORIGINAL POST FROM: @DontPushMe 1. "Exciting"...lot of flexibility in how that word is defined 2. "Sell kids on playing at all of these great places" So, fellas here's the deal. You're gonna get your arse handed to you week in and week out on the road, but there's the possibility you might beat Umass at home. What's not to love?! Just think about getting pounded on national television in Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Bama! We're elevating our brand by striving - week in and week out - to be the Washington Generals of college football! So whaddya say, Poindexter, wanna sign early?"

That's a reasonable insurance policy - for the good of the corporation. Then we have to take a look at the value of the corporation, post mass exodus. Still get a seat at the new and improved and more exclusive table? Hmmm...

We've gone over this before. YOU are not eligible for exciting. You will stand in line, silently, eyes forward, and wait until you are instructed to join RRC (Residual Replacement Conference) until further notice. You will annually express unbridled exuberance over your big in-state rivalry games against FAU and your big conference rivalry games against the 49ers (Charlotte, not to be confused with San Francisco) until instructed otherwise. I think that covers everything; let's put that 'exciting' scenario on the shelf, mmmkay?! - D.S. 'Dream Stomper' Robinson

To be clear, the crème de la ACC (being - at minimum Heels & Noles) depart the ACC for greener pastures (regardless of terminus) leaving the remainder of the conference to be a watered-down rendition of the ACC; which, in turn, would be attractive to the Big XII. Assuming the 'second tier' ACC teams are absorbed into the Big XII, whatever carcass remains of the ACC is where U of SF would land.

So what's the thinking...that the creme de la ACC & Big XII merge and the flotsam from said merger is where U of SF would land? Is that about right?

The most important thing about the schedule is that I'll be heading north to Charlotte, while my oldest amigo from high school will be driving south. He graduated from UNCC and retired from the Department of the Navy last year. Last time we got together for a football game was when we played Carolina back in '06.

I think we'll be in the AAC past 2027. SEC & B1G consolidation is a priority over whatever shenanigans the ACC & Big XII are up to. On the plus side, that gives U of SF plenty of time to polish the chrome. Once FSU pulls the rip cord, maybe - maybe - U of SF looks attractive.

I've still got three USF jackets hanging in the closet. Every time we do a donation purge, I reach for them, but just don't have the heart to pull the trigger. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'll get some utility out of them.

As of right here, right now MGM has 'Cuse @ -3.5, Vegas Insider @ -4.5. and the ESPN Magic Eight Ball has 'Cuse at a 74.1% chance of winning. Of course, that's thirteen days out, so there could be some modifications before kickoff.

We went with SlingTV some years back. Like any provider, they have add-on packages. I add and drop throughout the year depending on my interest. The sports add-on package includes: You get ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, FS1, Fox Sports Net, etc. Basically, the only thing we don't get is CBSSN - and I get ESPN+ for two months of football season then drop it.

What's wrong with Snapdragon Stadium? The estimated cost is $310M. That's ballpark what U of SF's stadium is going to run, so I'm just guessing that they're similar in construction. What if that's the standard template for stadiums going forward? It will be fun to compare the finished product with the "here's an idea" renderings. From one side of our mouth we say "I don't care if it's wooden benches as long as it's ours and we're not at RayJ" and out of the other side "If we're going to build it, build it right*". Unfortunately, "right" is pretty subjective. You're not getting a $500M stadium for $300M. It's gonna be what U of SF can afford in 2023. I'm just surprised at the level of excitement over conceptual drawings.

Is "conceptual" something we had the intern draw up based on what we told her the rest of us talked about over lunch? 'cause just the phrase "conceptual" is pretty nebulous. Just how close to the finished product does it have to be: "OK, let's say the orientation is east-west, and uh...let's say, seats around thirty-thousand, and...ok, let's add a couple of elevations. There. There's your placeholder. How's that. Just something to think about."

Just inching ever closer to confessing in open court that college sports is the college sports business.