2023 NCAA Football Thread

[lordstanley]

3 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

If you had OSU in for Washington you could argue that the 4 biggest brands in CF made the playoff, assuming the games are close this is about as good of outcome for the powers that be that couldve happened.

Got me thinking as to what are the biggest brands in college football. Maybe something like this?

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Notre Dame

4. USC

5. Michigan

6. Georgia

7. Texas

8. Oklahoma

9. Clemson

10. Penn State

Honourable mentions to teams like Oregon, Florida State, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by lordstanley

[Deleterious]

Texas night be #1. Top 3 for sure. USC wouldn't make the top 10 IMO.

[RandyMarsh]

As much as it pains me I think I read OSU had the biggest fanbase so they'd prob be 1 followed by the likes of Texas, UM, Bama and ND.

[casimir]

10 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Texas night be #1. Top 3 for sure. USC wouldn't make the top 10 IMO.

What's your top 10?

[MichiganCardinal]

12 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

As much as it pains me I think I read OSU had the biggest fanbase so they'd prob be 1 followed by the likes of Texas, UM, Bama and ND.

I think this is closer to what my list would look like. I think programs whose popularity don't ebb and flow with success is very important... which is a hard metric when you have programs like Alabama and Ohio State to account for. I might add Nebraska and Texas A&M to the top ten.

[buddha]

its hard to say.  how do you measure it?  tv ratings?  success?  fan bases?  money?

[buddha]

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Got me thinking as to what are the biggest brands in college football. Maybe something like this?

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Notre Dame

4. USC

5. Michigan

6. Georgia

7. Texas

8. Oklahoma

9. Clemson

10. Penn State

Honourable mentions to teams like Oregon, Florida State, LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin. 

its really impossible to rank them, its more of a grouping.

but this is a message board!  so rank we will!

1) notre dame

2) alabama

3) ohio state

4) michigan

5) texas

6) oklahoma

7) penn state

8 georgia

9) lsu

10) florida state

HM: nebraska, tennessee, florida, usc, texas a&m, oregon, washington.

i dont think any other big ten teams qualify.  no way for wisconsin.  no way for clemson.  they're already fading away.  nebraska is only there because of their amazing history and massive fan base.  sleeping giant.

Edited December 6, 2023 by buddha

[Deleterious]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

What's your top 10?

Buddha has a good point.  How do you judge it?  On tradition, USC and ND are huge and without a doubt top 10.  I just don't think many people care about them in 2023 and neither team will produce TV ratings like some of those other teams.  

[MichiganCardinal]

6 minutes ago, buddha said:

nebraska is only there because of their amazing history and massive fan base.  sleeping giant.

If you ever attend a volleyball event featuring Nebraska, their fanbase will blow you away.

[Deleterious]

Two good teams might produce the worst bowl game of the year.  Neither one wants to be there.  

 

[casimir]

1 hour ago, Deleterious said:

Buddha has a good point.  How do you judge it?  On tradition, USC and ND are huge and without a doubt top 10.  I just don't think many people care about them in 2023 and neither team will produce TV ratings like some of those other teams.  

Buddha has it 100% right, but don't tell him that.

1 hour ago, buddha said:

its really impossible to rank them, its more of a grouping.

But then going back to the point of what exactly is the criteria.  That's tough for some teams like Nebraska that have taken it on the chin lately because we also see them on the other side of the spectrum in the current moment.

[RandyMarsh]

To me it's fanbase first and foremost followed by just the overall cache of the team, that's a little harder to define or quantify but basically the likelihood somebody will tune into your game even if you aren't a fan or just care about you in general even if you aren't ranked near the top in the polls.

For instance you could argue that before 2021 Michigan was a good but not elite program on the field for atleast the previous 15 years yet they still would draw monster ratings, big crowds and buzz, to me that is a sign of a "big brand".

Edited December 6, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[Mr.TaterSalad]

One player I'd love to get here at Michigan is Julian Fleming. I doubt we're getting any Ohio State transfers. He'd add a nice  wrinkle though to our offensive arsenal for next year. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Mr.TaterSalad

[romad1]

5 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

To me it's fanbase first and foremost followed by just the overall cache of the team, that's a little harder to define or quantify but basically the likelihood somebody will tune into your game even if you aren't a fan or just care about you in general even if you aren't ranked near the top in the polls.

For instance you could argue that before 2021 Michigan was a good but not elite program on the field for atleast the previous 15 years yet they still would draw monster ratings, big crowds and buzz, to me that is a sign of a "big brand".

Michigan taught ND how to play football.  We have the most wins in CFB history.  We lag only Penn State and Indiana in the number of living alumni.  Our Endowment (not our ***** size) is $17B which puts us in the top 10 nationally.  I'd say we have a seat at the table.  If we had won a NC in the last 20 years that might be nice.  Rather than the apparently, Jim Singleton-driven era of depredations, Rich Rods and Brady Hokes.

Edited December 7, 2023 by romad1

[romad1]

7 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Two good teams might produce the worst bowl game of the year.  Neither one wants to be there.  

 

Is OSU gonna be able to field a team?

[romad1]

I wasn't tracking this...kinda unjust for Washington to have to go into the belly of the Beast whereas Michigan and Alabama are basically going to a neutral site.

 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

19 minutes ago, romad1 said:

I wasn't tracking this...kinda unjust for Washington to have to go into the belly of the Beast whereas Michigan and Alabama are basically going to a neutral site.

 

 

Unless Alabama and Texas played, it was going to be that way for somebody. Kind of the nature of the beast with the northern schools, because most bowl games (and all playoff games) are played in the warm climates.

UW couldn't fairly expect to jump Michigan. Yes they had four ranked wins to Michigan's three, but they also insist on playing down to their opponent. Nine straight games now that have been decided by 10 or less. The average margin of victory for Michigan this year has been 27.2 (27.4 in conference play). Washington's average margin of victory has been 14.1 (7.9 in conference play). Michigan played 7-5 Maryland closer than would be comfortable, but otherwise McCarthy barely saw the 4th quarter this season. If you're UW, you should really be able to put away teams like Stanford and Arizona State... Michigan's best win is better than UW's as well, which matters to some extent.

If there was a semifinal blowout this year, Texas over Washington would be my first guess.

[romad1]

32 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Unless Alabama and Texas played, it was going to be that way for somebody. Kind of the nature of the beast with the northern schools, because most bowl games (and all playoff games) are played in the warm climates.

UW couldn't fairly expect to jump Michigan. Yes they had four ranked wins to Michigan's three, but they also insist on playing down to their opponent. Nine straight games now that have been decided by 10 or less. The average margin of victory for Michigan this year has been 27.2 (27.4 in conference play). Washington's average margin of victory has been 14.1 (7.9 in conference play). Michigan played 7-5 Maryland closer than would be comfortable, but otherwise McCarthy barely saw the 4th quarter this season. If you're UW, you should really be able to put away teams like Stanford and Arizona State... Michigan's best win is better than UW's as well, which matters to some extent.

If there was a semifinal blowout this year, Texas over Washington would be my first guess.

If we had played Washington in the Rose Bowl I would have felt like we were playing in their home turf as well.

[lordstanley]

Ann Arbor to Pasadena is 2,200 miles and 3 time zones. 
Seattle to New Orleans is 2,500 miles and 2 time zones. 
Comparable. With plenty of time to prepare, travel and adjust. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by lordstanley

[lordstanley]

Ohio State cheaters! I can't decide whether this is the biggest scandal in the history of the Big 10 or the 2nd biggest. 

 

 

[romad1]

13 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Ann Arbor to Pasadena is 2,200 miles and 3 time zones. 
Seattle to New Orleans is 2,500 miles and 2 time zones. 
Comparable. With plenty of time to prepare, travel and adjust. 

New Orleans is one state away from Alabama and Texas.  Also, Antarctica is very far from all of the 4 CFP teams.  There are places in the Pacific ocean in which they are closer to the International Space Station than they are to other populated areas on the ground.  But that is only when the ISS is overhead.   If they played the game outdoors north of 60' latitude, they would need lights because its dark this time of year.  And I'm tired and being silly...good night.

[casimir]

9 hours ago, romad1 said:

New Orleans is one state away from Alabama and Texas.  Also, Antarctica is very far from all of the 4 CFP teams.  There are places in the Pacific ocean in which they are closer to the International Space Station than they are to other populated areas on the ground.  But that is only when the ISS is overhead.   If they played the game outdoors north of 60' latitude, they would need lights because its dark this time of year.  And I'm tired and being silly...good night.

I'm just looking forward to the final rankings and to see how the SEC teams get bumped from road team to home team in matchups involving northern climate teams.

[Deleterious]

 

[lordstanley]

https://www.si.com/college/2023/12/15/alabama-hires-michigan-ex-assistant-coach-college-football-playoff-rose-bowl

Alabama has hired former Michigan assistant coach George Helow to a role on its coaching staff this week, The Athletic first reported. Helow spent the 2021 and ’22 seasons as Michigan’s linebackers coach, but he and the team agreed to part ways ahead of the 2023 season. He spent this year away from college football but got his start in coaching with Alabama as an intern in 2012.

 

I actually think this is hilarious. Have to hand it to Saban.  

Edited December 15, 2023 by lordstanley

[buddha]

biggest scandal in cfp history!!!!!