And here we go!

My wife took some graduate classes at both Ga. Tech and UCF and she went to Vet School at UGA. She often has torn allegiances. But mostly, she is a Tech fan.

I did one of my undergrads at GT, then grad school at UCF. Graduate level courses at UCF were easier than undergrad courses at GT, and the competition was much weaker.
 
Saw in the news today that FSU is suing the ACC over the withdrawal penalty (nearly $0.5B). Looks like they’re planning to exit.

UCF just scored in their first 4 plays.
 
Saw in the news today that FSU is suing the ACC over the withdrawal penalty (nearly $0.5B). Looks like they’re planning to exit.

UCF just scored in their first 4 plays.
FSU tried to look at jumping ship a while back (to the Big XII I think). That's when their ridiculous Grant of Rights came into play which makes it almost impossible financially to leave unless they get a reduced settlement from the lawsuit. Clemson also wants out of the ACC, so they'll be right behind FSU depending on the settlement results. There's some ambiguity with regard to how the GoR holds up if ESPN were to elect not to continue their option to carry the conference in 2025. I doubt anything comes of the lawsuit for a few years, but FSU reportedly had been working on the lawsuit before last summer. The snub from the CFP Committee was just the final straw.
 
FSU tried to look at jumping ship a while back (to the Big XII I think). That's when their ridiculous Grant of Rights came into play which makes it almost impossible financially to leave unless they get a reduced settlement from the lawsuit. Clemson also wants out of the ACC, so they'll be right behind FSU depending on the settlement results. There's some ambiguity with regard to how the GoR holds up if ESPN were to elect not to continue their option to carry the conference in 2025. I doubt anything comes of the lawsuit for a few years, but FSU reportedly had been working on the lawsuit before last summer. The snub from the CFP Committee was just the final straw.


FSU’s best argument will likely be that the ACC hasn’t fulfilled its obligations and is in default.
 
Ho hum. Just another bowl win.

Makes those steaks and oysters taste even better.
 
And GT gets a bowl victory! 30-17 over UCF. Amazing the difference a head coach can make. Coach Key’s first full season as head coach, essentially the same team as last year, and he turns in GT’s first winning season in about 5 years.
 
:yeahthat:

I’m watching what’s left of FSU getting slaughtered by U(sic)GA in the Orange Bowl. It’s like watching the Steelers playing a Pop Warner team. This is sick.

I'm not usually pro-Georgia, but I appreciate them shutting up the FSU fans.
 
I'm not usually pro-Georgia, but I appreciate them shutting up the FSU fans.

I'm not an FSU fan, but my two favorite team are Ga Tech and anyone who's playing (preferably beating) U(sic)GA. But this game was pathetic, made so by the playoff committee and the transfer portal. Even the TV commentators were commenting about it. They, like anyone with two functioning brain cells (which leaves out the committee), found it incomprehensible that these two teams were excluded from the playoffs.

I felt bad for the FSU players who deserved better, for the 'dawgs who had their victory cheapened, for the Orange Bowl committee who had hoped to host an exciting, entertaining game, for the sponsors who expected a better audience, and for the spectators who paid to see a better show. Bad juju all around.

The NCAA has been wrecking college football.
 
The NCAA has been wrecking college football.

Between players sitting out due to transfer portal or NFL draft declaration, the bowl games have become beyond stupid. Some teams had 6-8 starters sitting out. That’s not even the same team playing, and it’s such a disservice to loyal fans. What a bunch of crap. But hey, tons of money to be made…
 
Yeah, the money problem is nothing new, and I don't see any solution.
 
Fixed that for you.
Absolutely correct. It started in the '80's when Georgia and Oklahoma sued the NCAA over TV rights/schedules and has snowballed from there. For the want of another TV dollar, the things that made CFB special have been ****canned. Used to be a regional sport, where except for a game or two a year, a fan of any team could drive to his team's away games. Now we have West coast teams in the ACC which means a big trip to see those games in person AND no water cooler rivalries with fans of those schools. I thought it jumped the shark when A&M left their conference and all of their rivalries (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Rice, SMU, etc) to join the SEC... All for another buck...screw tradition (which is supposedly THE thing at A&M).

The playoffs are another money grab. Now a college kid may have 12 regular season games (was 10 and maybe a bowl until sometime in the '70's), a conference championship, plus up to 3 playoff games.. total of up to 16, maybe 17 if they have one of the unicorn preseason games. And these are supposed to be students who play ball, not pro players who might even go to class... All for the sake of the almighty dollar. Beyond that, I actually liked the pre-playoff system because it created a water cooler talking point for the off-season... "My team was #1." "No, mine was..." The occasional split decision or just the end of season (and offseason) controversy around that was lotsa fun. Now, we have a playoff. Someone wins, and we have nothing good to talk about for 8 months.
 
It started in the '80's when Georgia and Oklahoma sued the NCAA over TV rights/schedules and has snowballed from there. For the want of another TV dollar, the things that made CFB special have been ****canned.

Y'know, so many problems in the world would be solved if we could just un-invent television....
 
:yeahthat:

I’m watching what’s left of FSU getting slaughtered by U(sic)GA in the Orange Bowl. It’s like watching the Steelers playing a Pop Warner team. This is sick.
On the other hand, it makes the close loss of Ga Tech To Ga. look not so bad. FSU lost much worse to Ga. Than we did.
Just wait till next year!


"Oh what a difference a coach makes ..."
 
Absolutely correct. It started in the '80's when Georgia and Oklahoma sued the NCAA over TV rights/schedules and has snowballed from there. For the want of another TV dollar, the things that made CFB special have been ****canned. Used to be a regional sport, where except for a game or two a year, a fan of any team could drive to his team's away games. Now we have West coast teams in the ACC which means a big trip to see those games in person AND no water cooler rivalries with fans of those schools. I thought it jumped the shark when A&M left their conference and all of their rivalries (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor, TCU, Houston, Rice, SMU, etc) to join the SEC... All for another buck...screw tradition (which is supposedly THE thing at A&M).

The playoffs are another money grab. Now a college kid may have 12 regular season games (was 10 and maybe a bowl until sometime in the '70's), a conference championship, plus up to 3 playoff games.. total of up to 16, maybe 17 if they have one of the unicorn preseason games. And these are supposed to be students who play ball, not pro players who might even go to class... All for the sake of the almighty dollar. Beyond that, I actually liked the pre-playoff system because it created a water cooler talking point for the off-season... "My team was #1." "No, mine was..." The occasional split decision or just the end of season (and offseason) controversy around that was lotsa fun. Now, we have a playoff. Someone wins, and we have nothing good to talk about for 8 months.
Well, back then each team was limited to like 3 television appearances per season (or something to that effect) which essentially limited revenue for top-market teams who drew big audiences and large fan bases. That NCAA rule should have never been in place, which is why it was removed.

I do agree that the conference realignments over the years have moved away from regional geographic boundaries and many don't make sense at all. The NCAA being inept again caused the arrangement of conferences to just be made haphazardly.

Additionally, the NCAA dragged their feet on the NIL stuff so long that they ended up with this wild west version of a transfer portal and NIL deals that it essentially turned into moving the bag money from back-alley deals right up front as "legal" endorsements.

The last piece is the number of bowl games that were allowed to exist in the first place. NOBODY cares about seeing a 6-6 team play a 7-5 team. Even their own fans are normally pretty apathetic about it and certainly don't travel for it. Honestly, if you weren't in the Top 20, there probably shouldn't be a bowl game for you, imo. I DO think that expanding the playoff to 12 teams will start making those games more meaningful, but I hope it never expands beyond that. I really only wanted an 8-team playoff.

I don't know how you fix the timing of the transfer portal since these opt-outs and transfers have to be done before Spring semester starts so that they can enroll in the new school. Makes it hard to wait until after all bowl games are played.
 
Between players sitting out due to transfer portal or NFL draft declaration, the bowl games have become beyond stupid. Some teams had 6-8 starters sitting out. That’s not even the same team playing, and it’s such a disservice to loyal fans. What a bunch of crap. But hey, tons of money to be made…
I believe OU was down to 13 scholarship players for the bowl game, lol. New offensive line, freshman QB, new offensive coordinator. No excuses on the Sooners though, they had the game won against a good Arizona team but committed SIX turnovers, which resulted in 24 points for Arizona. Heck, we were about to go up 31-13 in the 4th qtr when a pick-6 started the wheels falling off. Hope they sort out their issues before SEC play starts!
 
Why can’t they start during summer term?
They could, but then you're penalizing transfer portal guys a semester of school and spring training. I don't think it would go well when that battle goes to court. I think they could figure some way to penalize scholarships or something if you transfer before bowl game for your team is finished, but that opens up all sorts of other unintended consequences. Players would "suddenly get an injury" and not be able to play in the game and then you're no better off.
 
They could, but then you're penalizing transfer portal guys a semester of school and spring training. I don't think it would go well when that battle goes to court. I think they could figure some way to penalize scholarships or something if you transfer before bowl game for your team is finished, but that opens up all sorts of other unintended consequences. Players would "suddenly get an injury" and not be able to play in the game and then you're no better off.

I don’t see why they couldn’t complete the spring semester at their original school, probably on their own dime (which might be a good idea.).

Yeah, I can see some difficulties but what we have now ain’t working.
 
I don’t see why they couldn’t complete the spring semester at their original school, probably on their own dime (which might be a good idea.).

Yeah, I can see some difficulties but what we have now ain’t working.
Well, with more and more interpretation that the players are "employees" of the university, it's quickly becoming a pure minor league system. If they are considered employees and are compensated as such, then why even have an academic requirement at all? If it ever gets to that point I'll quit watching college sports altogether. It's 75% of the way there as it is, but I still root for the name on the front of the jersey due to nostalgia and the appearance of playing for the school.

Having so much money in sports (both pro and collegiate) is absurd.
 
They could, but then you're penalizing transfer portal guys a semester of school and spring training. I don't think it would go well when that battle goes to court. I think they could figure some way to penalize scholarships or something if you transfer before bowl game for your team is finished, but that opens up all sorts of other unintended consequences. Players would "suddenly get an injury" and not be able to play in the game and then you're no better off.
Players aren't being "penalized" if there is a rule defining when they can start practice with the new school - I don't care if they can't practice until September 1st. They made the choice to switch schools, hopefully an informed choice. Whining about being penalized? Stay where you were. Go pump gas. IDGAF. But don't whine. You're getting a free education, cuts at the front of every line (e.g. registration) at school, and are probably being paid to play. Waah. You made a choice, now follow whatever rules apply.
 
Players aren't being "penalized" if there is a rule defining when they can start practice with the new school - I don't care if they can't practice until September 1st. They made the choice to switch schools, hopefully an informed choice. Whining about being penalized? Stay where you were. Go pump gas. IDGAF. But don't whine. You're getting a free education, cuts at the front of every line (e.g. registration) at school, and are probably being paid to play. Waah. You made a choice, now follow whatever rules apply.

Doesn't seem much different than an incoming freshman who doesn't start practice until summer.
 
Doesn't seem much different than an incoming freshman who doesn't start practice until summer.
Except in todays world lots of kids leave HS early and enroll at college for spring quarter. So it would be different, but I don’t buy “I made a choice with known ramifications and the ramifications are penalizing me”. Boo hoo.
 
Players aren't being "penalized" if there is a rule defining when they can start practice with the new school - I don't care if they can't practice until September 1st. They made the choice to switch schools, hopefully an informed choice. Whining about being penalized? Stay where you were. Go pump gas. IDGAF. But don't whine. You're getting a free education, cuts at the front of every line (e.g. registration) at school, and are probably being paid to play. Waah. You made a choice, now follow whatever rules apply.
How would a player transfer to a new school by 1st week of January without being made available (in the portal) prior to that? You're going to hold players out of practice once they're at their new school? The whole point is that players are allowed to switch schools the same way any coach is able to switch schools. Why should a player be tied to a school for more than a semester? If you keep a player from transferring to a new school until the Fall semester, who does that benefit? Current coach probably doesn't want a player on the team who doesn't want to be there anymore. Better to cut bait.
 
How would a player transfer to a new school by 1st week of January without being made available (in the portal) prior to that? You're going to hold players out of practice once they're at their new school? The whole point is that players are allowed to switch schools the same way any coach is able to switch schools. Why should a player be tied to a school for more than a semester? If you keep a player from transferring to a new school until the Fall semester, who does that benefit? Current coach probably doesn't want a player on the team who doesn't want to be there anymore. Better to cut bait.

Portal opens in the spring. The player finishes the spring academic semester (this is a college, remember?) at his old school but doesn't practice. He forfeits football scholarship dollars for that semester (putting him on par with non-athletes so I don't have much sympathy). Or maybe he doesn't attend class for that semester, delaying graduation by a term (most of these guys won't give a rip).

The player starts at the new college during summer term and has summer pre-season practice. It puts him at a bit of a disadvantage athletically (probably not much, but that's the price you pay for transferring), but no disadvantage academically (this is a college, remember?).
 
How would a player transfer to a new school by 1st week of January without being made available (in the portal) prior to that? You're going to hold players out of practice once they're at their new school? The whole point is that players are allowed to switch schools the same way any coach is able to switch schools. Why should a player be tied to a school for more than a semester? If you keep a player from transferring to a new school until the Fall semester, who does that benefit? Current coach probably doesn't want a player on the team who doesn't want to be there anymore. Better to cut bait.
I don't *care* when he transfers. That's his problem. He went to school A. Wants to transfer to school B. Figure it out. He can transfer whenever and wherever he wants. But there may be ramifications. Decisions have consequences. As Half Fast pointed out... This is supposed to be a sport played by college kids, where the focus should lean towards academics. It shouldn't be a professional league where every obstacle and every inconvenience is bulldozed in pursuit of athletics.

I love CFB. But I'd blow it up if I could. It has gravitated to the cheap version of the NFL masquerading as an amateur sport.
 
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