Jon Joseph

In fairness, it was 88 degrees and 60+% humidity in UVA's sold-out Scott Stadium.

OBD had more fans at the Spring game. 54,000? At least 44,000 were disguised as empty seats. This looked like way back in the day: Bowdoin vs Colby, with three dozen or so canines missing from the sidelines, and a half dozen kegs missing from the stands. As I noted in another post: Way to rep the big ten. And these guys get a full share? 🤮

SPOILER ALERT - Scores of games appear below. UNC 15 - TCU 10 - Instead of this game, it's a toss-up whether I'd rather watch two guys fish for guppies or paint dry. The difference between playing at Harvard and TCU: QB Jaden Craig's receivers at Harvard could catch the football. SJS at USC - How to represent the Big Ten Trojans: I believe OBD had twice as many fans attend the Spring game. Yes, it was 92 degrees at KO, but at KO for NC State at UVA it was 86 with 60% humidity, and the stadium is sold out.

Great take, Log. Thanks. This year's group of oldies and hopefully goodies plays today. This season's rest home is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the campus of Mr. Jefferson's University. Virginia -5.5 vs NC State. The Cowboys model in part copies Cig's first year at Indiana. Coach Eric Morris has brought many of his best North Texas players with him from North Texas to Stillwater. Mike Gundy had thrown in the towel. I'm not certain that Coach Morris had any choice but to start from scratch. We get to watch QB Mestemaker and listen to the Paddle People in Week 2.

We're No. 1! But we don't want to be on this list! 🤬 https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49733510/college-football-playoff-indiana-hoosiers-2026-next-first-title-winnerss

With the tools he has on Ohio State's 2026 offense, new OC Arthur Smith better put up a lot of points. Many Ohio State fans criticized Day's hire of Matt Patricia as DC. A coach with NFL experience and next to no college coaching experience. In 14 games, Ohio State held opponents to an average of 9.3 points a game. It was OC Brian Hartline's offense that no-showed in the two most important games of the season against Indiana and Miami. As was the case with Stein and Tosh, Hartline had to focus on recruiting and portal picking at his new job as HC of USF. With the game shortened by the clock not stopping for 1st downs except in the final two minutes of a half, Day, like many college coaches, has slowed the game down on offense. Fewer possessions also mean more teams going for it on 4th down. The hiring of NFL guy Arthur Smith to replace Hartline has been roundly criticized. But I think Smith, who was the Titans HC and most recently the OC with the Steelers, fits Day's more NFL-oriented game plan. The Patricia hire worked out, and I think it will be the same with Smith.

I like the new 5-for-5 eligibility rule, especially because Lame Kitten isn't happy.😍 I believe that these changes to the CFB calendar are all positive, but I'd like to see the portal open after the playoffs are finished. On3NCAA adopts proposals to significantly alter current coll...The NCAA has adopted proposals to significantly alter the current college football calendar and the NCAA transfer portal window.

Power 4 football kicks off tomorrow in Dublin, Ireland. On yesterday's eponymous show, Paul Finebaum named UNC's Bill Belichick the worst coach in college football history. Considering Charlie Weis coached college ball, this is a heck of an accomplishment for Billy. The twelve teams with the best Playoff Championship odds: 1. Ohio State - 13.5% Four O-line starters return for Ohio State; if improved from last season, Ohio State will be awesome on offense. But can DC Matt Patricia, after losing quality players to the NFL, be able to reload the defense against a brutal schedule ranked the fourth most difficult by SP+? 2. Notre Dame - 10.4% With a lightweight SP+ 62nd-ranked strength of schedule, the Irish should finish 12-0 or 11-1 and, without having to play a 13th conference championship game, be well-rested for a playoff run. 3. Oregon - 10.1% SP+ ranks Oregon's 2026 schedule as the 21st most difficult in CFB. Considering the disparity in competition, .03 behind the Domers is a dead heat, if not a nod in favor of the Ducks. 4. Indiana - 9.6% If transfer QB Josh Hoover improves under the coaching of Cig and OC Mike Shanahan, as has every QB who played for these two over the last decade, and with the Ohio State and USC games in Bloomington, if the Hoosiers can handle Michigan and Washington on the road, a second 16-0 season is possible. 5. Georgia - 9.2% Before NIL, direct payment to athletes, and unregulated free agency, I doubt you would see three Big Ten teams and Notre Dame with better odds to win it all in 2026 than the SEC team with the best odds. 6. Miami - 7.3% Quite the drop-off from the top 5 to No. 6 Miami. SP+ has the Hurricanes' schedule ranked 49th. If Mario can avoid in-game coaching errors and Miami can finish better than a woeful 86th in penalty yards, the November 7th game at Notre Dame could decide which team will finish 11-1 or 12-0. However, that's two big IFs for M&M. 7. Texas - 6.1% Mock's Playoff Predictor programming is not buying the Archie and the stellar players Sark picked from the portal hype. 'But in 2025, Archie improved so much later in the season,' right? Manning finished the 2025 season with the 38th-best QB rating. WR Cam Coleman is being compared to Jeremiah Smith. With Auburn in 2025, Coleman was targeted 87 times, finished with 56 receptions, 708 yards, and 5 TDs. When considering Auburn's QBs, these are good stats. But what was not good was a 6.7% drop rate on catchable balls. Jeremiah Smith played two more games than Coleman and finished 2025 with a sterling drop rate of 1.8%. And the two stud RB transfers predicted to light up the SEC in 2026 racked up big yardage in the Lesser 2 ACC and the B12. Texas finished with the 25th-best defense in 2025. Sark hired former Texas head coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp as his new DC. Can Muschamp improve the defense against a schedule that SP+ ranks as the nation's most difficult? The next time Sark gets Smart will be the first time. With a more seasoned team in 2026, I think Georgia will repeat as the SEC champion. Something new in 2026 gives the teams with the four first-round byes the opportunity to pick the second-round bowl site. If UGA wins the SEC and if it's not taken, you can count on Georgia picking the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and not the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. 8. Texas Tech - 4.9% There are 68 teams in the Power 4, including Notre Dame. Tech has the 71st-ranked strength of schedule and the top-rated roster in the B12. Next case. Round up some of the usual SEC suspects for the next four teams: 9. Alabama - 3.4%; Oklahoma - 3.2%; LSU - 2.3%; and Texas A+M 2.1%. PLAY BALL! And Zero In on Bashing Boise in Week 1!

More information on Week 0 games. Power 4 football kicks off tomorrow. 😍 (Apparently, we've found the missing Linc. 😁) CFB-HQ On SICollege Football Week 0: Complete Announcer Schedule and...College football returns to the field on Saturday with the traditional slate of Week 0 games, including the annual season opener live from Ireland, and now we h

Dan's Recruiting Prowess Noted. 247 Sports ranks the Oregon roster 2nd behind Georgia and ahead of Ohio State, USC, and Michigan. https://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/oregon_ducks_dan_lannings_recruiting_success_challenging_major_blue_bloods/s1_16787_44227796?utm_source=mb&utm_medium=email&mb_edition=20260828&mb_loc=rig

Thanks, Charles, for this LOL post. SC was undefeated at home last season, lost in a deluge in South Bend, and in the PO, if they didn't give up a late score at Illinois, emblematic of Riley's 2-6 road record in the B1G. Ohio State visits SC the week before the 11/7 Oregon game in Columbus. Before the Buckeyes visit, Week 4 vs OBD, Week 5 vs UW, and Week 6 in a whiteout game at Penn State will make or break the Trojans' season. Three home games vs G6 opponents to begin the season should have Maiava and his receivers on the same page before the Ducks visit in Week 4. If SC doesn't choke at Rutgers in Week 3, SC will be 4-0 when the 3-0 Ducks, knock wood, visit. After Week 1 in Baton Rouge for Clemson at LSU, Week 2 in Austin for Ohio State at Texas, and Week 3 in Oxford for Ole Miss vs LSU, there's a good chance that GameDay will be in LA for the Oregon game. Riley's offense will score, no doubt. Will Gary Patterson improve the defense? If so, SC will be a PO-contending team, even with a difficult schedule. However, you can't spell 'SUCK', without a USC.😁

When these athletes signed on to play college sports, they expected to have four years of eligibility, and five with a red-shirt season. Players were not the subjects of a bait-and-switch scheme. And we're not talking about a few athletes being screwed over. 20,000 athletes who graduated or completed their eligibility in 2025 could return to school. What about the rights of high school athletes? Old making way for the young is the way this world is wired. The NFL just passed a rule prohibiting players who signed with NFL teams and go back to school from returning to the NFL. On3Big Ten, SEC betting their NFL player ban can survive the...The Big Ten and SEC made rules banning players who had been on NFL rosters. It was a necessary step to test the conferences' big idea.https://www.on3.com/news/report-nfl-to-prohibit-players-that-go-back-to-college-from-signing-with-an-nfl-team-in-the-same-year/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=on3_top_10&adt_ei=jonarlington35

Hail to the Victors? Oklahoma's Week 2 visit to the Big House will be an early tell. Michigan is -1.5 for a game kicking off at noon on Fox. Michigan's eight home games this season will help the Wolverines and QB Underwood's cause. On3Greg McElroy: Michigan intel suggests QB Bryce Underwood....

There's an easy fix for this insanity: Greg Sankey stops carrying ESPN's water and supports Tony Petitti's 24-team PO format. More teams, less time. On3948 games, 149 days: The longest college football season...The longest FBS college football season in history kicks off Saturday with Game 1 of a record 948 contests.

Predictions from Nolan Analytics - TCU 32 - UNC 21 USC 37 - SJS 16 UVA 28 - NC ST 23 UNLV 30 - Memphis 27

Well Earned and Well Deserved - Speak Softly and Carry a B1G Stick - https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49734570/big-ten-rewards-commissioner-tony-petitti-five-year-extension

Week 0 B1G and other Big Games - All to be played on Saturday, August 29th. Pacific Time Zone Kickoff Times. "Now is the Summer of our discontent, made glorious Fall by the Return of CFB." The Stratford-on-Avon University Fighting Bookworms Coach, Will Shakespeare. It's Week 0 for the 2026 season, but Week 0 will morph into Week One in 2027 or 2028, unless a learned justice issues a TRO based upon a shortened summer vacation causing irreparable damage to the players. 🤬 Posted odds and all discussion involving gaming are for entertainment purposes only. 😇 B1G Game - USC -35.5 vs. Mountain West San Jose State - Noon on NBC If the Trojans hadn't traded the Domers for SJS, the line likely wouldn't favor SC by 5.5 TDs. The Spartans are the first course that will be swallowed in USC's 2026 G6 out-of-conference cupcake feast. The weather is expected to be another perfect day in LA, a balmy 90 degrees. I think Linc will want to play many guys on the roster in this game and will sit QB Jaden Maiava early. At $10 million per annum, I don't think Linc is worried about a cover. Big Games TCU -7.5 vs UNC in Dublin, Ireland - 9 AM on ESPN In last season's Alphabet Soup Game, the Horned Frogs managed to eke out a victory in Chapel Hill against the NFL's 33rd team, 48-14. It was 7-7 at the end of the 1st period, so the fans stayed until halftime before leaving to get ready for basketball season. (That also didn't go so well. 😁) TCU's 2025 QB Josh Hoover is now playing for Coach Cig in Bloomington, Indiana. If you believe TCU's new QB Jaden Craig, who did everything at Harvard except trim the Ivy, is ready to play in the P4, hop on the Horned Frogs -7.5. --- NC State +5.5 at Virginia - 12:30 PM on ESPN This ACC matchup was originally scheduled to be played in Brazil before fans in Rio realized it was a football game, not a futbol game. Except for the choke against Duke in the 2025 ACC championship game that kept the Cavaliers out of the playoffs, UVA had an excellent season, finishing 11-3 with a bowl win over the ( deep, deep, deeper) SEC's Missouri Tigers. Mizzou QB Beau Pribula was injured and missed the bowl game, but he was so impressed with UVA's win that he transferred to and will start at QB for the Cavs. After an excellent 2025 season, underrated junior QB CJ Bailey will start for the Wolfpack. If you are a CFB QB-matters kind of person, as am I, I suggest taking CJ and the +5.5 points. --- Big G6 Game of the Week Memphis +5.5 at UNLV - 7 PM on Fox. This game features a top team in the American Athletic Conference vs the team predicted to win the Mountain West title. From a G6 perspective, this is Ohio State at Texas. 2025 Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield is now coaching the Arkansas Razorbacks. Charles Huff, who had great success at Marshall before turning around Southern Miss, is the new coach in Memphis. Huff has yet to name a starting QB. Former Mississippi State and Florida coach Dan Mullen has had two successful seasons at UNLV, making the Mountain West championship game in 2024 and 2025 and losing both to the now-Society of States + Gonzo Conference (a/k/a pac-12) Boise State. Jackson Arnold, who was benched at Auburn, and Alex Orji, who transferred in from Michigan, are battling to start for the Runnin' Rebels at QB. Dan's a pretty good QB whisperer, having coached Dak Prescott at Mississippi State, Jayden Maiavai before his transfer to USC, and Mountain West 2025 Player of the Year Anthony Colandrea before his transfer to Nebraska. In 2020, Mullen won the SEC East with Kyle Trask (?) playing QB. I think UNLV will win a close game on Saturday, but I'm just guessing. Enjoy Week 0 and Beat Boise in Week 1.

Week 6: SC travels East and into a Whiteout! How about this Trojans Trifecta: Week 4 Oregon, Week 5 UW, Week 6 at Penn State. https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2026/08/25/usc-football-play-penn-state-white-out-october-10/91465012007/

2026 Preseason Gifts - A Heisman for Dante - Yes! A sleeve of golf balls for Ole Miss fans on the Friday before the LSU game - Double YES! https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/08/26/nick-saban-lane-kiffin-paul-finebaum-college-football-gifts/91443459007/?utm_source=usatoday-sports-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign

No need to play ball in 2026; USA Today has it all figured out. 😁 FYI, OBD finishes 11-1. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/08/26/college-football-record-predictions-every-fbs-team/91339905007/?utm_source=usatoday-sports-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=usatbaseline&utm_term=Cont

CFB's 25 Most Powerful People Without Charles Fischer? BOGUS! 🤬 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/08/26/college-football-most-powerful-people-ranking-2026/91194911007/?utm_source=usatoday-sports-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=usat

OK, Lane, what's your next lame move? Louisiana Sports University is also prohibited from playing a G League basketball player. LSU's CBB coach was under FBI investigation before being dismissed and then hired back at Louisiana's premier institution of higher learning. Want an LSU degree? They're for sale and can be found in your grocery store's Aisle 2 -Restroom Paper Products. AP NewsSEC joins Big Ten in banning pros from returning to colle...The Southeastern Conference has passed a rule banning players who have been drafted by NFL, NBA or WNBA teams or listed on rosters in those leagues.

Thanks, Jabba. Supposedly, AD Bubba Cunningham did not want to hire Belichick, but was overruled by UNC trustees.

You can check out the first episode of 'Will Linc Be Missing in 2027?' when No. 14 USC hosts San Jose State this Saturday at Noon Pacific, on NBC. You can watch this game after watching Chapel Bill's adult cheerleader when UNC plays TCU in Dublin, 9 AM Pacific, on ESPN. (See the above post for more detail.)

Some clarity on the NFL back-to-school issue? Maybe. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/where-sec-big-ten-other-155729034.html