College Football

Dropped out: Boston College(3), Clemson (10), Florida State (9), Nebraska (8)

Others receiving votes: South Carolina (13), Pittsburgh (12), Virginia Tech (12), Iowa State (11), Clemson (10), Florida State (9), Texas A&M (9), Nebraska (8), Arizona State (7), Kentucky (5), Boston College (3), California (3), Indiana (2), Michigan State (2), Boise State (1)

Link to the results spreadsheet HERE

Link for next weeks poll HERE

Link to submit your CFP bracket prediction for the contest HERE

With all the talking heads on TV proclaiming that this season is unlike any other, I'm curious how the community feels. Totally new landscape of CFB or just more of the same? How do we all feel about:

• Helmet communication (for only 1 player on the field per team except on free kicks)
• Tablets on the sidelines (up to 18 per team)
• The 2 minute timeout
• Corporate logos on fields (no longer requires the stadium to be named after the sponsor)
• New homes for Arizona, ASU, Cal, CU, Oregon, ou, SMU, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington
• Expanded playoff (probably too early to tell on this one)
• New TV deals (SEC on ABC, B1G on CBS)
• Current season of Fansville (Ewers could be a Heisman candidate but he sure won't be winning any Oscars)

For reference, here are the P4 vs P4 records so far:

• ACC: 6-8
• B1G: 5-5 (or 5-6 if counting ND)
• Big XII: 5-6
• SEC: 8-5 (or 8-6 if counting ND)

Rendering in the article.

Kind of cool that it's exclusively a student section, but the end zone is kind of a crummy section. Although I suppose it would be foolish to try to sell premium seats in a spot with such a bad view. Gee, I don't know any program that would do that... (FWIW, I can't stand Texas's new south end zone and this one by USF is giving off the same vibes)

The newsworthy part of the article:

The University of Tennessee will increase football ticket prices and the required donations that accompany them by an average of 14.5% in 2025 with most of the new cost going to a “talent fee” to pay players.

...

Here’s the breakdown of the average 14.5% price increase of tickets at Neyland Stadium in 2025:

• Initial average increase of 4.5% per seat on single-game tickets and season tickets plus donations. Some will be higher, some lower. That increase accounts for UT’s rising costs for construction, food, travel and other athletic department expenses.
• An additional 10% increase per seat on all single-game tickets and season tickets plus donations as a “talent fee” to fund the revenue-sharing pool for athletes coming as early as 2025.
• Season ticket renewals will begin Thursday, and the renewal deadline is Feb. 27, 2025. UT is offering a 10-month payment plan to help fans absorb the cost increase.

UT already doubled student ticket prices from $10 to $20 this season, and they’ll go up to $25 in 2025.

Paying Tennessee players, extra scholarships could cost $30 million

The details of revenue sharing aren’t known yet because they’re contingent on the settlement of the House v. NCAA federal antitrust case, which is still amid negotiations. Revenue sharing could go into effect as early as July 2025.

But generally, schools will have the option of funding up to 22% of their annual revenue, or about $22 million, to pay athletes. It could work sort of like a salary cap for college sports, but that structure is also murky.

All SEC and Big Ten schools are expected to opt in to the revenue-sharing model, and some schools from weaker conferences will attempt to keep pace.

Paying athletes for their name, image and likeness could still be a factor in landing and retaining top players. But NIL’s place in a revenue-sharing model is uncertain.

The cap on scholarships also will rise as early as July 2025. Football can go from 85 scholarships to 105. Baseball can go from 11.7 scholarships to 35, and so on.

Many schools won’t be able to fund those extra scholarships unless they drop some sports.

For schools like UT that are opting in, it will require about $30 million annually to both fund revenue sharing and additional scholarships. That’s where UT's ticket price hike comes in.

“It’s really a $30 million-plus math problem,” White said. “We’re not just offloading it to our fans. We are asking them to help us with a portion of it.”

How ticket price hike will fund portion of player pay

UT estimates the 10% ticket price increase for a “talent fee” will account for $7.5 million, or about one-third of the annual $22 million revenue-sharing pool to pay athletes.

...

And the whole second half of the article dissolves into fluff that is mostly blowing smoke up the AD's ass (nothing against the other UT, but being the highest paid AD in the country while asking for money is simply risible)

https://tonko.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fact_sheet_safe_bet_act_3.24.pdf

https://tonko.house.gov/uploadedfiles/safe_bet_legislative_outline_3.24.pdf

I think obvious strikes and home runs, like banning advertising that shows how gambling works seems like abstinence only education. But no advertising during sports events is a slam dunk, to switch to another non football sport analogy.

1. Texas (+1)
2. Georgia (-1)
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss
6. Tennessee (+1)
7. Missouri (-1)
8. Miami (+2)
9. Oregon
10. Penn State (-2)
11. USC
12. Utah
13. Kansas State (+1)
14. Oklahoma State (-1)
15. oklahoma
16. LSU
17. Notre Dame (+1)
18. Michigan (-1)
19. Louisville
20. Iowa State (+1)
21. Clemson (+1)
22. Nebraska (+1)
23. Northern Illinois (+2)
24. Illinois (new)
25. Texas A&M (new)

Others receiving votes: Memphis, Boise State, Syracuse, UNLV, Boston College, Washington State, Arizona, Iowa, Cal, Liberty, Toledo, UCF, South Carolina, UNC, Arizona State, BYU, Pitt

Dropped out: Arizona, Boston College

Again if you're interested in the bracket prize, please post a comment with your ballot for verification purposes.

Whose seat is hotter? Who isn't surviving the season? Could this get any funnier for Miami fans?

From the article:

According to Rivals’ UGA Sports, Harris was cited for numerous offenses, including having no proof of insurance, materials that reduce visibility on his windows or windshield, driving without a seatbelt, having an unregistered vehicle and reckless driving. He was released shortly before midnight after posting the $10 bail on each charge.

Per the incident report obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald, Harris was cited for going over 100 MPH while passing two other cars in the rain.

...

Harris is also at least the sixth player to be arrested for a driving offense in 2024.

...

Harris has seen significant playing time through the first two weeks of the season. The sophomore has recorded four tackles in the wins over Clemson and Tennessee Tech, and it’s unclear how Thursday night will affect his status for the team’s game against Kentucky on Saturday.

Yes you read that correctly. 87 point. In a football game.

lol

Dropped out: Georgia Tech (17), Kansas (NV), SMU (NV), Iowa (NV)

Others receiving votes: Georgia Tech (17), Iowa State (17), SMU (16), Vanderbilt (13), Michigan State (11), California (8), Texas A&M (8), Maryland (7), UCF (7), Arizona (5), South Carolina (5), UNLV (5), Kentucky (3), Syracuse (3), Virginia Tech (3), Arizona State (2), Boise State (1)

Link to the results spreadsheet HERE

Link for next weeks poll HERE

Link to submit your CFP bracket prediction for the contest HERE

The other three schools are Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. Reports of the Pac-12's demise were greatly exaggerated.

In Iowa State football kicker Kyle Konrardy's case, "the spoils" are 54 boxes of Pop-Tarts. On Tuesday, the Football Writers Association of America named the redshirt freshman's last-minute 54-yard kick to beat Iowa the Pop-Tarts "Crazy Good" Play of the Week.

As a prize for Konrardy, the Pop-Tarts Bowl, which annually features a team from the Big 12 taking on a team from the ACC, sent Konrardy plenty of pastries to keep him and his teammates fueled throughout the upcoming bye week.

The Cyclones (2-0) also changed their profile picture on X. Instead of a celebration shot from the team's Cy-Hawk win over its biggest rival, they opted for something more subtle. Now, whenever Iowa State football posts something, followers are greeted with a photo of Konrardy staring at the camera, holding about 13 boxes of pop tarts.

Got nothing against rap, but if I were a Buff this would be enough for me to automatically call for Dieon's head. The pageantry of CFB is what sets it apart from the sterile Sunday games

1. Georgia
2. Texas (+1)
3. Ohio State (-1)
4. Alabama
5. Ole Miss (+1)
6. Missouri (+3)
7. Tennessee (+7)
8. Penn State
9. Oregon (-2)
10. Miami (+2)
11. USC (+2)
12. Utah (-1)
13. Oklahoma State (+3)
14. Kansas State (+3)
15. oklahoma
16. LSU (+2)
17. Michigan (-7)
18. Notre Dame (-13)
19. Louisville (+3)
20. Arizona
21. Iowa State (new)
22. Clemson (+3)
23. Nebraska (new)
24. Boston College (new)
25. Northern Illinois (new)

Others receiving votes: Illinois, Boise State, TAMU, Syracuse, Memphis, Washington, Iowa, Kansas, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Liberty, Wisconsin, UNLV, UNC, Cal, BYU, UCF, TCU

Dropped out: Kansas, Iowa, Georgia Tech, NC State