Andy

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.

I can only offer a mild defense, Cardale Jones did have a 59-0 win on his resume when his year's CFP field was decided.

That's the part that really does it. Bama is in largely on eye test (though TT does make a good resume case) when they needed an almost literal miracle to beat a pretty lousy Auburn team 8 days ago.

I get it - and for obvious fan-related reasons a large part of me is happy about it - but I think it's wrong. Florida State should be in. They won all their games. They may have looked like ass much of the last 2 weeks, but they still beat Florida on the road and beat a top-20 team at a neutral site. Hell, Michigan played basically the same game against Iowa and Penn State (admittedly, better defenses than Louisville), and they took no hits for it, which they shouldn't have.

It's Michigan vs FSU and Washington vs Texas and me probably not watching a single down of the playoff, this is really a pretty easy decision based on everything that's ever been done with these selections

I think FSU is capped at 4 if they win. Texas jumps to 3 because everyone knows they are better but you can't leave FSU out entirely even though Alabama is better. So Louisville really needs to win.

I want Florida State to lose, beyond that chalk is good with me too.

I'm pretty sure it was well-known he wanted to go in as a Cub at the time but the Hall of Fame had final say. I'm sure he feels more connected to Cubs fans, not least because the Expos no longer exist. Wouldn't be surprised if he had bitter feelings about the way his Expos time ended as well.

You can find separate over/unders for Iowa points in each half at 0.5. It's incredible.

Under that scenario Bama and Oregon are definitely in and two of UGA/Michigan/Washington are in. My gut says the first two of them, but the Huskies would have a resume case against either.

Panthers fired Frank Reich this morning.

Conference USA Championship Game (7 pm Friday, CBSSN) New Mexico State at (24) Liberty Pac-12 Championship Game in Las Vegas (8 pm Friday, FOX) (5) Oregon vs (3) Washington Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, TX (12 pm, ABC) (18) Oklahoma State vs (7) Texas MAC Championship Game in Detroit (12 pm, ESPN) Miami (OH) vs Toledo Mountain West Championship Game (3 pm, FOX) Boise State at UNLV Sun Belt Championship Game (3:30 pm, ESPN) Appalachian State at Troy SEC Championship Game in Atlanta (4 pm, CBS) (1) Georgia vs (8) Alabama American Championship Game (4 pm, ABC) SMU at (22) Tulane Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis (8 pm, FOX) (2) Michigan vs (16) Iowa ACC Championship Game in Charlotte (8 pm, ABC) (14) Louisville vs (4) Florida State Dec. 9 Army vs Navy - in Foxboro, MA (3 pm, CBS)

I don't think there's any chance 13-0 FSU would get left out but I think their ceiling is #4 barring mass chaos. I don't think there's a single team that's safe with a loss this weekend, which is a refreshing change.

I think there's a good chance Bama would win a rematch, but this is absolutely right. If the biggest non conference result of the year can be ignored because "eye test" then everyone should just cancel every notable OOC series they have scheduled.