Andy

I probably should've put some money down on Michigan when I called them winning the title in mid October

It was obvious to pretty much everyone but the fatalists that this was going to happen 2 months ago.

Still didn't watch live but nice to see a tiny ray of hope for Bryce Young.

If we can't, I'm not totally against the idea. At this point I just want to see organizations who try to win be rewarded.

Get used to it. As college and pro football both keep adding more games to their seasons, more and more titles are going to be decided by who gets hurt and when.

I'm sure there are numbers that tell me I'm wrong, but $16M a year for Wacha doesn't scream missed opportunity to me.

I don't think they should go that far - if a guy wants to defer money, let him do it - but the CBT ramifications should be tightened. I don't like the luxury tax or any other move to suppress spending, but if you're going to have it, you shouldn't be able to have this straightforward way to circumvent it.

Despite my extreme bitterness at the way this season is playing out, I have nothing at all against the Bears and I think it would be a mistake to flip the #1 pick again just because you were lucky enough to do it with the most inept franchise in all of pro sports the first time and you're hoping to strike gold again. The chances of Caleb Williams being as terrible as Bryce Young is, and being surrounded by a similar giant pile of crap like Young is to compound it, aren't very high. By all means, if you're the Bears and you think you can get the guy you want later in the 1st, trade the pick, but don't just flip it because you're in love with the idea of more assets.

I mean honestly by any reasonable (i.e. disgustingly pro-owner) standard, he should. This is obvious circumventing of the CBT.

From what I've read on the subject, analytics guys feel like coaches dramatically undervalue trying to win the game in regulation. If Jacksonville had gotten the 2, they could've won the game in regulation much more easily. So while it's obviously not the same as the 'down 14, score a TD then go for 2' situation you reference, it's a spiritual sibling.

This isn't that hard. Under the current MLB system, the only advantage big market teams have is spending lots of money. Everything else is rigged for small market teams - extra picks, MLB pay structure, etc. So big market teams that don't spend lots of money are forfeiting the only advantage they have.

Carolina down double digits before halftime. Somehow other fan bases' refusal to accept that my team is a hopeless mess that absolutely will not win a game is almost as annoying as the situation itself.

Arizona JUST played in the World Series and they frankly sucked this year. LA is one Ohtani injury (and if you haven't noticed he will get hurt sometimes) from being no better than this year. And as you said playoff series are ridiculously random, hence Arizona in the World Series. This is hardly a reason to panic.

Every owner is "able" to pay Ohtani that amount of money. Some may be able to do it at a larger profit margin, but they all can do it.

I'm going to need a source on the Dodgers being able to cheat the CBT. The CBA is pretty ironclad on this.

Any hypothetical that involves Carolina winning 2 more games isn't worth engaging in. The likelihood of that current train wreck righting itself in any meaningful way and literally nobody else in the running for the top pick winning another game is, in practice, zero.

According to discussion in our Ohtani thread, Jesse Rogers is also all but ruling out the Cubs, so it's probably safe to believe it.

Double

Freely admit I haven't watched a down in weeks, but I think you can fairly say both that it isn't Bryce Young's fault that everyone else around him sucks too, and that if he were ever going to be a difference making QB he wouldn't be sucking this bad right now. I can't find it but I saw somewhere that he ranks dead last in EPA per play for all QBs going back like a decade. I think he's done as a viable starter and Carolina should look elsewhere next season - unless they want to tank for a 2025 QB, which they might as well do anyway.

FWIW, I have to think the seeds will get massaged to avoid first-round rematches. There are going to be rematches in the 12-team playoff - I'd say that's a deal-breaker for me, but the conferences themselves don't seem to mind considering how many title games are rematches these days - but they're not going to have PSU/OSU and Ole Miss/Georgia play rematches when they can just switch those games around.

ND wouldn't have been in this year's or last year's 12-team playoff, and given what the committee just did to Florida State (which is not exactly a peasant in the CFB pecking order itself), I'm not sure any non-champ that doesn't play a B1G or SEC schedule is going to be safely in going forward.

In a commentary on tampering and the transfer portal, we already pretty much know where Gabriel (Oregon) and Leonard (Notre Dame) are going. I haven't heard where Ward's headed, though, that's a possibility.

Well, that was fun. Had to wait until now to get this post up because the ACC was being super weird with their bowl decisions. And hey, next year I'll get to title this thread "College Football - Postseason" because it won't make much sense calling it Bowl Games in a 12-team CFP. Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, SC – 12/16, 11 am (ESPN) Georgia Southern vs Ohio R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in New Orleans, LA – 12/16, 2:15 pm (ESPN) Jacksonville State vs UL Lafayette Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl in Orlando, FL – 12/16, 3:30 pm (ABC) Miami (OH) vs Appalachian State Isleta New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, NM – 12/16, 5:45 pm (ESPN) Fresno State vs New Mexico State Starco Brands LA Bowl in Inglewood, CA – 12/16, 7:30 pm (ABC) Boise State vs UCLA Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA – 12/16, 9:15 pm (ESPN) Texas Tech vs California Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte, NC – 12/18, 2:30 pm (ESPN) Western Kentucky vs Old Dominion Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl in Frisco, TX – 12/19, 9 pm (ESPN) Marshall vs UTSA RoofClaim Boca Raton Bowl in Boca Raton, FL – 12/21, 8 pm (ESPN) South Florida vs Syracuse UnionHome Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL – 12/22, 6:30 pm (ESPN) UCF vs Georgia Tech 76 Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, AL – 12/23, 12 pm (ABC) Duke vs Troy Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, AL – 12/23, 12 pm (ESPN) Northern Illinois vs Arkansas State Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, TX – 12/23, 3:30 pm (ABC) (24*) James Madison vs Air Force * AP rank, ineligible for CFP ranking Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID – 12/23, 3:30 pm (ESPN) Utah State vs Georgia State 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, AL – 12/23, 7 pm (ESPN) Eastern Michigan vs South Alabama SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, NV – 12/23, 7:30 pm (ABC) Northwestern vs Utah EasyPost Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, HI – 12/23, 10:30 pm (ESPN) San Jose State vs Coastal Carolina Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, MI – 12/26, 2 pm (ESPN) Minnesota vs Bowling Green ServPro First Responder Bowl in Dallas, TX – 12/26, 5:30 pm (ESPN) Rice vs Texas State Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, AZ – 12/26, 9 pm (ESPN) UNLV vs Kansas Military Bowl in Annapolis, MD – 12/27, 2 pm (ESPN) Tulane vs Virginia Tech Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, NC – 12/27, 5:30 pm (ESPN) West Virginia vs North Carolina DirecTV Holiday Bowl in San Diego, CA – 12/27, 8 pm (FOX) (15) Louisville vs USC TaxAct Texas Bowl in Houston, TX – 12/27, 9 pm (ESPN) (20) Oklahoma State vs Texas A&M Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston, MA – 12/28, 11 am (ESPN) (24) SMU vs Boston College Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl in New York, NY - 12/28, 2:15 pm (ESPN) Rutgers vs Miami Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, FL – 12/28, 5:45 pm (ESPN) (18) NC State vs (25) Kansas State Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX – 12/28, 9:15 pm (ESPN) (14) Arizona vs (12) Oklahoma TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL – 12/29, 12 pm (ESPN) (22) Clemson vs Kentucky Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX – 12/29, 2 pm (CBS) (16) Notre Dame vs (19) Oregon State AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN – 12/29, 3:30 pm (ESPN) Memphis vs Iowa State TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN – 12/30, 2 pm (ESPN) Auburn vs Maryland Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl in Tucson, AZ – 12/30, 4 pm (CW) Toledo vs Wyoming ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, FL – 1/1, 12 pm (ESPN2) (13) LSU vs Wisconsin Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL – 1/1, 1 pm (ABC) (21) Tennessee vs (17) Iowa “New Year’s 6” Games: Goodyear Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX – 12/29, 8 pm (ESPN) (9) Missouri vs (7) Ohio State Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, GA – 12/30, 12 pm (ESPN) (11) Ole Miss vs (10) Penn State Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami, FL – 12/30, 4 pm (ESPN) (6) Georgia vs (5) Florida State VRBO Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ – 1/1, 1 pm (ESPN) (23) Liberty vs (8) Oregon Playoff: Rose Bowl Semifinal in Pasadena, CA – 1/1, 5 pm (ESPN) (4) Alabama vs (1) Michigan Allstate Sugar Bowl Semifinal in New Orleans, LA – 1/1, 8:30 pm (ESPN) (3) Texas vs (2) Washington College Football Championship Game in Houston, TX – 1/8, 7:30 pm (ESPN) Semifinal Winners

I had forgotten about the side effect of FSU being hosed - both PSU and Ole Miss get to play in the NY6 rather than argue over who was more impressive losing to all their good opponents

I saw last night that this is the first time the CFP field only includes 1 of the SP+ top 5.