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Yeah, they were definitely…

Yeah, they were definitely the most discussed.  That's because their train-wreck program was screaming "head coach vacancy" all the way back in November.

Michigan was just bad this…

Michigan was just bad this year.  Louisville was both bad and dysfunctional.

Congratulations to anyone…

Congratulations to anyone who can listen to that for more than a minute.  I made it about 50 seconds.  Amazed that dude didn't have a stroke after nine minutes of screaming.

Dusty A. May, Newheadcoach

Dusty A. May, Newheadcoach

That plus the fact that…

That plus the fact that being a for-profit school means they don't have this firewall between the school and the athletic department like pretty much everyone else, particularly public schools.

OSU just went with the…

OSU just went with the interim coach elevation, so I feel like their coaching "search" is not particularly instructive, as they could've afforded just about anyone and simply chose not to.  That being said, I'd be disappointed if Warde didn't make a hard run at Otzelberger.

I think of that just like I thought of Tony Bennett when UVA hired him: knew almost nothing about him, but anyone who can take Washington State to the Sweet 16 is doing something right.  Not only is Iowa State(!!) really good right now, they're really good in a conference that's playing lights-out basketball.  Throw a bag at Otzelberger.  A nice big one if you have to.

I laugh because "Tony…

I laugh because "Tony Bennett still hasn't said no" is a meme around TheSabre on account of a UCLA writer repeatedly saying basically the same thing you did when the UCLA job was open.  Man wrote "I'm hearing Tony Bennett hasn't said no to UCLA" for about a week.  Spoiler: he didn't go to UCLA, despite there not ever being a media report of him saying no.

Both can be right.  Both…

Both can be right.  Both free agency AND the assholes in charge are bad for college football.

Looking back, it's actually…

Looking back, it's actually kind of cute how everyone wanted a playoff because it would "determine the winner on the field" and now the people actively taking an axe to college sports are making it abundantly clear that they were using that support as a crutch to set up a system by which they could ignore what happens on the field and just hog a bunch of money instead.

Fair.  As everyone else has…

Fair.  As everyone else has already gone through their coaching searches, Michigan is once again behind the cycle here.  Let's hope Moore is ready to do all the things that a head coach does that Harbaugh was doing before.  Replacing a unicorn is hard.

Moore did a really good job…

Moore did a really good job when he was in the big boy chair for a few games.

And I have driven my friend's boat for a few races when he was out, and done very well.  But I have my own boat too, only I usually finish at the back when I race it.  Still a lot to learn there.

Borrowing someone else's boat is very, very different from owning your own.  It sounds like Michigan is just going to run with Moore, and that has its advantages and Moore has earned the right to be a huge contender for the job.  I just don't like that he's the only contender.

$20,000 is a LOT of pizzas. …

$20,000 is a LOT of pizzas.  They'd best get to work.

Great take and would…

Great take and would certainly help explain why Josh McDaniels can't coach a damn thing and has never even lasted two seasons in a head coaching job.  (That and McDaniels is an asshole.)

Brady settled that debate…

Brady settled that debate when he left New England, IMO.

It's unfair to go so far as to say that Belichick was just along for the ride, but there's way too much of a correlation between Brady's absence and the collapse of the Jenga tower for it to be coincidence.  The Patriots might very well still have won the SB in 2001 with Bledsoe under center, but it would never have been the start of a dynasty.  One which, by the way, neither I nor many people outside New England are shedding a tear to see the end of.

I haven't seen the ESPN…

I haven't seen the ESPN highlights (and maybe I won't bother), so, fine....but I will say Herbie and Fowler were nothing but complimentary after the game.  For example, one of their points: Penix may have looked off all game, but Michigan's defense did that to him.

It is definitely sweet to throw it back in the faces of the not-even-close majority of ESPN "experts" who picked Washington.

Sometimes, I feel like…

Sometimes, I feel like having two college teams is cheating.  Like, if one loses on Saturday but the other wins, I'm happy.  I get a second bite at the apple.

I've been paying for it on Thanksgiving weekends when both teams would lose their rivalry games, over and over and over.  That sucked.

There are some uncanny similarities between my two teams.  Like, at Michigan there is the BPONE.  We have a similar thing at UVA called Rule 2(b), which is defined as the unwritten rule in the rulebook that says "at all times, screw UVA somehow."  Rule 2(b) was excised in 2019 much the same way BPONE is a distant thing today.  I think 2019 was the best national championship story the tournament has ever produced, because of what happened the year prior.  I spent a whole year cursing the very existence of UMBC and now I root for them and the UMBC game doesn't hurt.  It's part of the story now.  Likewise, Harbaugh's suspensions this year are no longer an irritant.  They're part of the story.  So is everything else that happened this year and in years prior, just as Brian said it is.

The SEC may still be really…

The SEC may still be really good at football, but it sucks all the same.

Nah, you were right the…

Nah, you were right the first time.  To even threaten Anthony Thomas's TD record is an achievement, even with a handful of extra games, because A-Train didn't share the backfield.

That would be exactly the…

That would be exactly the solution I would like to see, except that you're much more optimistic than I am about the ability to re-interpret Title IX.

And replace it with what,…

And replace it with what, exactly?

The answer is not "nothing" - some kind of governance of college athletics would take its place, because that's how sports works at all levels from tee-ball to the Olympics.  What would the new thing look like?

And this is why I have…

And this is why I have always been against a pay-for-play model.  I don't give a shit if some poor basketball star has to wait a year to get paid eight figures.  I do give a shit if it turns out the only way for a male athlete to get a scholarship is to be a football or basketball player.  Schools will shovel more and more money towards revenue sports, be forced to spend $1.20 on women for every $1.00 they spend on men (due to a roughly 55-45 split in the student body) and cut men's sports left and right to compensate.

I think you underestimate…

I think you underestimate the zealotry of Title IX advocates.  I do not think this licensing arrangement, in which some "separate" entity gets to use on-campus stadiums, on-campus facilities, on-campus housing for athletes getting an on-campus free education, and use the exact same logos and trademarks as the school does, would exist without an extremely messy fight from Title IX advocates arguing that they're circumventing the law and thereby reducing opportunities for female athletes.  Because, they would be in fact circumventing the law and reducing opportunities for female athletes.

Oh, and that lawsuit will be filed in the most favorable venue possible, either New York or California, to maximize the chance of a ruling for the obviously female plaintiffs.

I'm curious what would not…

I'm curious what would not qualify as bullshit.  Keeping in mind that "actual revenue sharing" is not in any way legal under Title IX.  You give football players 10% of football revenue, then you also have to give female athletes 10% of football revenue.  Or more, actually, because spending has to be proportional to the student body.

You might still call it revenue sharing, but it isn't really, if you're handing a volleyball player some football revenue.  That's just straight-up pay.

Title IX will force schools to come up with something that will sound unfair to people who are terribly concerned about the plight of future multi-millionaires, but that's the reality of the law.

WeWork was successful and…

WeWork was successful and valuable, once upon a time.  Petty Petitti is the Juicero of conference commissioners.  Everyone said it was a terrible idea except the people who threw money at it, only to watch its one major initiative be mocked into literal oblivion by people with a brain and a blog.

A Kicking and Screaming…

A Kicking and Screaming reference on an Iowa shirt is extremely apropos considering Brian Ferentz has all the coaching acumen of Will Ferrell.  Nicely done, Iowa.

The smartest thing Iowa has…

The smartest thing Iowa has ever done or could ever do is realize that they're Iowa, and that if they get on the coaching merry-go-round, they cease to be Iowa and become Nebraska.  Or Kansas.

Watching the play, it's…

Watching the play, it's entirely fair to assume Wallace would've had it anyway, because it bounced to where he was the only player in arms reach of the thing, and they blew the whistle while the ball was bouncing there.

It's also entirely fair to point out that as the game-winning point was scored on M's very first drive of the game, it had no real bearing on the final outcome.

How about Harbaugh,…

How about Harbaugh, accomplishing two classy objectives in one fell swoop by having Zak Zinter accept the trophy from Petty Pettiti?  Honor your injured player and avoid a potentially messy moment at the same time.  Selfishly, I would've found it highly amusing to see Harbs give Pettiti the evil eye while snatching the trophy out of his hands, but that's the Harbaugh that only exists in the imagination of Sparties and Bucknuts.

Is it normal to have the RB…

Is it normal to have the RB like 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage?  That's, like, "punter has to avoid doing a Dan Orlovsky but still has room to kick" depth.

Thanks for that.  I honestly…

Thanks for that.  I honestly couldn't see that particular path.  It makes sense.  I'm all for it now, just for the chance to hear the wailing from SEC slapsters, no matter how unlikely.

The universe is simply…

The universe is simply balancing out that one game against Missouri.  It definitely takes a while and there's some collateral damage.

I mean, they tried to make a…

I mean, they tried to make a decent split, and the result was Leaders and Legends and everyone hated it with good reason.  Honestly, the answer isn't to try and even out the teams, the answer is for the Big Ten West to git gud.  Or else just forget the whole stupid divisions notion in the first place, which is where we're fortunately headed.

I can't even picture what it…

I can't even picture what it would take to keep both UGA and Alabama out of the playoffs.  If Alabama wins they'll just put both those damn schools in because SEC, and, barring an unfathomably massive pearl-clutch by the whole NCAA, it would be Florida State losing out.

On the serious side I'm not…

On the serious side I'm not sure JJ ever needed the Crash Davis crash course.  Nuke had that million-dollar arm and ten-cent head, but JJ strikes me as a guy with high-level emotional intelligence, like Dan Campbell.  He's a natural with people.

I'd say it'd actually be…

I'd say it'd actually be super easy to get the football team on the Lawn.  I mean, it's used for graduation ceremonies, 80 or so dudes could get there without the least issue.  15-minute walk at the most and nothing stopping them from doing that other than that's 45 minutes they'd have to spend walking there, walking back, taking selfies, etc.

Prior to the football…

Prior to the football shooting last year, the record for a lasting Beta Bridge message was a couple months, which was set by a Hoos 4 Hokies message in maroon and orange after the 2007 shooting.  I think that says a lot.

It's always actually been…

It's always actually been kinda petty but it's not on the level of UM-MSU.  MSU is borderline sociopathic.  UVA-VT is a rivalry, not a complete hate-fest.  Also when there's a tragedy at one school or the other, they both show up big time in support.  UVA was incredibly supportive in the wake of the 2007 shooting at VT and VT was the same last year.

Also, the roles are a little backwards from UM-MSU.  UVA and UM are the academic, preppy-ish flagship schools, and VT/MSU are the bumpkin schools, but it's UVA with the crummy football program and the wait-til-basketball-season approach to life.

A maintenance guy got on…

A maintenance guy got on Twitter and said "sorry, I didn't mean to do that, you can't see the field from the controls and blah blah blah" and honestly I like it better with everyone thinking UVA was just being obnoxious on purpose.

Damned hard to actually pick…

Damned hard to actually pick only five and then rank them, but I just want to throw in a plug for CJ Stroud's panic-chuck to Taylor Upshaw.  That has to be honorable mention.

That's not how this works. …

That's not how this works.  If possession is established outside the end zone (and it was, and Klatt's insistence that it might not have was silly and bizarre), the play ends the instant the ball crosses the goal line.  You don't have to maintain possession all the way to the ground after that.

I wish to hand out the Nick…

I wish to hand out the Nick Samac lame-o double bird to two other candidates:

- Every flapping mouth who even remotely thought that Roman Wilson holding onto the ball for FIVE STEPS and then crossing the goal line should not have been a touchdown - or that it should even have been up for discussion.

- Gus and Joel for lamenting that this is the last time we'll see Michigan and Ohio State play for stakes like this, while taking their paychecks from the pricks who helped make that happen.

Luv ya Gus and Joel, but not your finest efforts on Saturday.

Yeah, this.  It's not sad…

Yeah, this.  It's not sad Charlie Brown music, it's peaceful Charlie Brown music.  It's "Christmas isn't here yet but I'm done with school/work for the year and I have all day to enjoy the season" music.

I guarantee that they can…

I guarantee that they can count to three.  Next year they'll have four figured out.

Yes....I consider it a minor…

Yes....I consider it a minor redemption for him that he grabbed the pick on the next play, because I was seriously irritated that he didn't jump on that ball.  All good though.  When the fumble bounced directly to another OSU player I was convinced that this was going to end badly.  That's the kind of lucky bounce that Ohio always, always got.

Replace "players" with …

Replace "players" with "coaches" and the statement is even more true.

They seem to have finally made a solid hire this time around, but everything you just said fits Dant O'Nio like a glove, which, in turn, tends to belie the point you made about their coaches not teaching douchebag behavior.  It's possible that they just had a bunch of guys predisposed to dirty play and Mork didn't discourage it, and it's also possible Mork and Narduzzi were actively coaching it.

It will never be dead.  It's…

It will never be dead.  It's their copium now.  "NCAA will vacate their season" is the new "who cares about some tattoos?"

From everything I've ever…

From everything I've ever heard, Archie Griffin is a gentleman and a half.

I remember the exact…

I remember the exact touchdown that you refer to - it was Spielman's only pro touchdown ever, so it has to be the same play.  My recollection is that it was against the Packers or Bears - so, extra good - and that it shows up in the box score as a fumble recovery but in reality Spielman simply reached in and took the ball away from the ballcarrier, and was most of the way to the end zone before too many people realized what had happened.

I'd be seriously complaining…

I'd be seriously complaining if they hadn't called that intentional grounding.  It was clear to anyone and everyone that Tagovailoa had no intention of completing that pass.  If there's debate about whether the receiver was "in the area" or not, then he was not, because Maryland clearly could not have argued the ball had any chance to be complete.  Their only case was that the ball traveled toward a receiver, in the sense that I travel toward Chicago on my daily commute - with no intention of ending up anywhere near it.  It's obvious they intentionally grounded the ball; the only argument they had was they were trying to do so legally.

Ooooo....actually it is, as…

Ooooo....actually it is, as it's the official name for Aquidneck Island on which Newport is situated.