The Official 2024 College Football Regular Season Discussion Thread

[CakeWalker]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 

[Doom]

Congratulations Blaze! You guys won the National Championship!

 

[CakeWalker]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Kiffy Lube]

Nimrod concedes graciously. This is the SEC. Call him a bitch. I'm kiddin', it was just Georgia's year. Good game by both teams.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

I said when Chase won the NASCAR Championship in 2020, that the floodgates would open. Braves and now this I’m fucking happy bro

 

[CakeWalker]

cant wait to confuse even more of my friends with a Georgia 2022 tee

 

[Kiffy Lube]

Alright gonna watch Raw.

 

[CakeWalker]

 

[Doom]

I said when Chase won the NASCAR Championship in 2020, that the floodgates would open. Braves and now this I’m fucking happy bro

I'm very happy for you Blaze to see Georgia finally winning the National Championship for the first time since 1980. This is definitely the happiness time of your life. Enjoy this moment dude.

 

[Hidden Blaze]

I'm very happy for you Blaze to see Georgia finally winning the National Championship for the first time since 1980. This is definitely the happiness time of your life. Enjoy this moment dude.

Thanks dude, good game. Shit had me nervous and my heart racing. I’m just so happy. Great game tho like I said!

 

[Doom]

I haven't kept up to date with this after the National Championship Game, so I'm bringing this back to life as the College Football offseason is in progress.

Here's some recent news to catch up on things:

Texas A&M grabs the #1 recruiting class of 2022, topping Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas. Here's the list of 98 teams that are ranked:

RIVALS.com

RANK		SCHOOL	TOTAL	5 STARS	4 STARS	3 STARS	AVG	POINTS
1		Texas A&M	29	5	20	4	4.03	3377
2		Alabama	24	4	17	3	4.04	3301
3		Georgia	29	5	15	8	3.83	3196
4		Ohio State	21	2	17	2	4	2869
5		Texas	28	1	18	8	3.68	2676
6		Penn State	25	1	15	8	3.64	2457
7		Notre Dame	22	0	16	4	3.64	2454
8		Oklahoma	21	0	15	6	3.71	2342
9		Michigan	22	1	9	12	3.5	2295
10		Clemson	20	1	9	8	3.45	2142
11		North Carolina	17	2	8	7	3.71	2119
12		Tennessee	21	0	7	14	3.33	1984
13		Kentucky	20	0	11	8	3.5	1929
14		LSU	15	2	8	5	3.8	1904
15		Indiana	23	0	8	14	3.22	1864
16		Mississippi State	22	0	7	13	3.23	1852
17		Missouri	17	1	6	10	3.47	1829
18		Auburn	18	0	12	6	3.67	1823
19		Florida	18	1	6	8	3.28	1787
20		Arizona	23	1	4	15	3.13	1781
21		Florida State	17	0	8	9	3.47	1773
22		Oklahoma State	20	0	7	12	3.3	1763
23		Michigan State	23	0	5	18	3.22	1761
24		Stanford	21	0	6	14	3.24	1748
25		South Carolina	22	0	6	13	3.14	1712
26		Arkansas	20	0	5	13	3.15	1681
27		Mississippi	18	0	6	12	3.33	1669
28		Iowa	18	1	4	11	3.22	1642
29		Iowa State	23	0	4	15	3	1627
30		West Virginia	21	0	3	16	3.05	1620
30		Baylor	21	0	2	19	3.1	1620
32		Purdue	21	0	3	17	3.1	1603
33		Vanderbilt	28	0	2	23	2.96	1575
34		Miami (FL)	14	0	8	6	3.57	1568
35		Maryland	23	0	3	19	3.09	1543
36		Boston College	21	0	2	19	3.1	1500
37		Texas Tech	18	0	2	16	3.11	1466
38		Virginia Tech	24	0	0	23	2.96	1440
38		Nebraska	18	0	3	15	3.17	1440
38		Illinois	26	0	0	22	2.85	1440
41		Cincinnati	19	0	2	16	3.05	1434
42		Colorado	24	0	0	20	2.83	1425
43		Rutgers	18	0	6	12	3.33	1408
44		Utah	17	0	2	15	3.12	1401
45		Oregon	15	0	5	10	3.33	1395
46		Wisconsin	15	0	1	14	3.07	1268
47		Memphis	20	0	1	14	2.8	1260
48		Louisville	16	0	4	10	3.13	1240
49		Minnesota	18	0	2	14	3	1230
50		Duke	17	0	1	16	3.06	1200
51		Georgia Tech	15	0	4	10	3.2	1185
52		Houston	18	0	1	14	2.78	1170
53		UCF	14	0	1	13	3.07	1125
54		Northwestern	16	0	2	12	2.88	1119
55		Marshall	23	0	0	11	2.48	1110
56		TCU	13	0	3	9	3.15	1088
57		California	15	0	2	10	2.93	1070
58		Kansas State	18	0	0	11	2.61	1065
59		USC	8	2	3	2	3.75	1062
60		UTSA	17	0	1	11	2.76	1050
60		Oregon State	16	0	1	10	2.75	1050
62		North Carolina State	13	0	3	10	3.23	1025
63		UCLA	12	0	4	8	3.33	1017
64		Virginia	16	0	0	14	2.88	1005
65		Brigham Young	26	0	1	5	2.19	990
66		Arkansas State	21	0	0	11	2.14	975
67		Syracuse	16	0	0	13	2.81	945
67		Boise State	20	0	0	7	2.25	945
69		Tulane	17	0	0	10	2.47	930
69		Northern Illinois	27	0	0	6	2.15	930
71		Utah State	28	0	0	5	2.11	915
71		San Diego State	17	0	0	10	2.59	915
71		Pittsburgh	12	0	2	9	3.08	915
74		Washington State	19	0	0	7	2.37	885
75		Miami (OH)	18	0	0	8	2.33	870
76		Wake Forest	13	0	1	10	2.92	833
77		Louisiana Tech	16	0	0	9	2.56	825
78		East Carolina	16	0	0	7	2.44	810
79		UAB	19	0	0	3	2.05	795
80		Campbell	16	0	1	4	2.25	787
81		Central Michigan	18	0	0	6	2.33	780
81		Army	90	0	0	3	1.5	780
81		Air Force	40	0	0	2	1.85	780
84		Kent State	22	0	0	3	2.05	765
85		South Florida	12	0	0	9	2.75	750
85		Coastal Carolina	19	0	0	6	1.89	750
87		Southern Methodist	12	0	1	10	2.83	735
88		Western Kentucky	20	0	0	5	2.05	720
88		Southern Miss	19	0	0	6	2	720
88		Georgia Southern	22	0	0	4	2.18	720
88		Appalachian State	14	0	0	7	2.5	720
92		Temple	14	0	0	6	2.43	690
92		Navy	65	0	0	1	1.34	690
92		Fresno State	19	0	1	1	2.16	690
95		New Mexico	29	0	0	1	2.03	660
96		Washington	9	0	1	7	3	655
97		Western Michigan	14	0	0	3	2.21	645
98		San Jose State	17	0	0	2	2.12	630
98		Liberty	14	0	0	6	2.29	630
98		Colorado State	14	0	0	5	2.36	630

 

[Swamps]

Texas A&M is a team that is going to be in the title picture soon. They have a good coach who knows how to recruit and win. Look at what he did at FSU. It's only a matter of time.

 

[Doom]

Two head football coaches got contract extensions:

ESPN

After leading Baylor to a Big 12 title and a Sugar Bowl championship in his second season, coach Dave Aranda has finalized a new contract through the 2029 season.

Aranda, 45, won AP Big 12 Coach of the Year honors in 2021, when Baylor went 12-2 and beat Ole Miss to win its first Sugar Bowl title since 1957. Baylor completed one of the nation's biggest turnarounds after going 2-7 in 2020, and finished No. 5 nationally in the AP poll.

Baylor and Aranda began discussing a new contract late in the season and reached a verbal agreement in December, according to athletic director Mack Rhoades. Aranda's initial contract with the school ran through the 2025 season. Baylor, as a private school, does not release terms.

"Dave has brought unprecedented success to our football program both on and off the field," Rhoades said in a statement. "He has brought tremendous national exposure and acclaim to our institution and the greater Waco community. We look forward to the future with Dave, his wife, Dione, and their children and the continued growth of our football program, student-athletes, and fan support under his exceptional leadership. Dave is, without question, one of the most brilliant minds in college football across the country."

Aranda came to Baylor from LSU, where he served as defensive coordinator and helped the Tigers to a national title in 2019. The California native also held coordinator stints at Wisconsin, Utah State and Hawai'i.

He won the George Munger national coach of the year award last fall and was a finalist for three other national coaching honors.

Rhoades told ESPN last month that Baylor's success in both football and men's basketball, which won the national title in 2021, have expedited fundraising for two major facilities projects, including a new football operations building set to break ground this summer.

"It provides us maybe some space and capacity to be able to say, 'OK, what's next?'" Rhoades said. "In terms of not just capital, but how we invest in our own people, and how do we do the very, very best in terms of retention moving forward."

I don't know about the extension. Does Baylor really put a lot of trust in Aranda, just because he coached the Bears to a 12-2 record and beat Ole Miss 21-7 in the Sugar Bowl this past postseason? IMO, I think giving him the extension way too soon, only completing his second season ever in his coaching career.

ESPN

After a transformative year that saw Cincinnati crash the College Football Playoff and earn an invitation to the Big 12, the school is ramping up investment in coach Luke Fickell and his football staff.

Fickell confirmed to ESPN on Monday that he has agreed to a new contract through 2028 that will pay him $5 million per year, pending approval from Cincinnati's board of trustees. The school is also expected to up the staff salary pool to $5.2 million, a bump of more than $1.4 million.


"I appreciate the efforts of [athletic director] John Cunningham and president [Neville G.] Pinto, who realize in order for us to take the next step to grow the program and go to the Big 12 that we have to invest in people, not just the head coach," Fickell told ESPN on Monday night.

Fickell has led Cincinnati to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. The Bearcats' only two losses in the past two years came to Georgia in the Peach Bowl and Alabama in the College Football Playoff. In five seasons at Cincinnati, Fickell is 48-15, which includes the 22-2 record and two conference championships the past two years.

The $5 million yearly salary will put Fickell at the top of the Group of 5 for reported coach salaries.

Cincinnati became the first team from outside one of the five traditional power conferences to reach the College Football Playoff in 2021, a historic season. The school also earned an invite to the Big 12 in September along with UCF, BYU and Houston, which will happen no later than 2024.

The impending extension for Fickell will pay him nearly $1.6 million more per year than he was making under his previous deal. It will also put Cincinnati in position to be competitive financially when the school arrives in the Big 12.

Among the schools expected to be in the Big 12 upon Cincinnati's arrival, Fickell ranks No. 1 in coach salary. Among current Big 12 schools, he is behind only Oklahoma's Brent Venables ($7 million) and Texas' Steve Sarkisian ($5.4 million) among contracts that are publicly available.

The staff salary pool jump also marks an important step for Cincinnati as the school works toward becoming a competitive Big 12 member.

The bump to $5.2 million for on- and off-field staff, which is still well behind the top schools in the Big 12, should help deter some of the staff defections that have popped up with all of the Bearcats' success. The school lost Marcus Freeman to become Notre Dame's defensive coordinator after 2020, and following 2021 lost Brian Mason to become Notre Dame's special teams coach, corners coach Perry Eliano to Ohio State and Mike Denbrock to become LSU's offensive coordinator.

Fickell is entering his sixth season at the school, as he has resisted a bevy of high-profile overtures to go elsewhere. Fickell, who has never lived outside of Ohio, has been vocal about the potential of the Cincinnati program.

I think Fickell earned the extension, as he lead the Bearcats to three 10-win seasons, plus coaching the team to the College Football Playoff semifinals this past season. I can see him have more success down the road, as long as he can continue to coach the team to a winning football team.

 

[Doom]

Here's the latest college football news:​

Coach Jim Harbaugh agrees to new 5-year contract with Michigan Wolverines​

ESPN

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has agreed to a new five-year contract that runs through the 2026 season, the school announced Wednesday. The deal gives Harbaugh a one-year extension with new terms from the contract he signed last January.

The renewed commitment comes exactly two weeks after Harbaugh's highly publicized Feb. 2 interview with the Minnesota Vikings on national signing day. Following the news that he did not receive an offer, Harbaugh returned to Ann Arbor where he immediately met with the team, according to a school spokesman, and began making hires for the openings on his staff.

Harbaugh, a former star quarterback at Michigan, had to replace both coordinators after offensive coordinator Josh Gattis took the same position with the Miami Hurricanes, and the Baltimore Ravens hired defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. Harbaugh has since hired defensive coordinator Jesse Minter from Vanderbilt and promoted three assistants while turning over offensive playcalling responsibilities to quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss and offensive line coach Sherrone Moore.

"I love Michigan Football, the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor community," Harbaugh said in a prepared statement. "My family and I are excited to continue leading this football program, and we are thankful for the support that our athletic department and university administration have demonstrated toward the team. I appreciate all that our players, coaches and staff are doing to excel on and off the football field. My enthusiasm for tomorrow, the day after and every day following is as high as ever, and we are ready to get on the practice field and start preparations for the 2022 season. Go Blue!"

Last fall, Harbaugh led Michigan to the program's first Big Ten title since 2004 with a 42-3 victory over No. 12 Iowa at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Wolverines made their first appearance in the College Football Playoff, losing to eventual national champion Georgia in the Orange Bowl. U-M finished the year ranked No. 3 in the final polls, its highest finish since 1997.

It was a remarkable turnaround from Michigan's 2-4 record in 2020, by far Harbaugh's worst season at his alma mater. The Wolverines' final three games were canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, and questions swirled about Harbaugh's job status. Michigan announced a revised contract for its head coach in January 2021. It slashed his salary by about $4 million and extended the deal through 2025. Harbaugh later announced he would donate his bonuses, which totaled $2 million, to athletic department employees who had taken pay cuts because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Michigan did not immediately provide the contract or terms of the new deal.

Michigan in 2021 won 12 games for just the third time, matching the school record for total wins of the 1905 and 1997 teams. The Wolverines won the Big Ten East Division title with a 42-27 victory over No. 2 Ohio State to finish the regular season with an 8-1 conference mark. It was Harbaugh's first win against the rival Buckeyes.

"Jim has done a great job coaching and developing the young men in our football program," Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in the statement. "Last season, Jim along with the staff and players delivered a memorable season that will remain with all of us for a long time. As coach said, this is just the beginning.

"Academically, our program has been one of the best in the Big Ten and among the leaders across the country. We have graduated our players and they have been young men of great character who have done the right things. I have the utmost confidence in the direction of the program under Jim's leadership."

I have to agree that Harbaugh earns a contract extension with Michigan. Last season was Harbaugh's best year going 12-2, reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time, losing to eventual national champions Georgia, 34-11. He's also coached the team to 3 additional10-win seasons and only has one losing season in 2020, with the issues of COVID. Plus.

Conference USA threatens 'legal actions' to planned Marshall, Southern Miss, Old Dominion exits​

ESPN

The ongoing dispute between Conference USA and three of its schools was heightened Tuesday when the league released its football schedule followed immediately by a pledge to "exhaust all necessary legal actions" to ensure outgoing members Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss stick around long enough to participate in it this fall.

On Friday, those three schools announced their intent to terminate their membership with C-USA on June 30 so they can join the Sun Belt. All three, though, were included in the league's 2022 fall schedule, which includes eight conference games and four nonconference games for each of the 14 schools.

Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss each had released similar statements that they first communicated their decisions in December to stop participating in C-USA following the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

Marshall interim athletic director Jeff O'Malley on Tuesday tweeted that the school stands by its statement.

C-USA has issued multiple statements saying the league expects its three departing members to follow conference bylaws and honor their contracts by remaining through the 2022-23 academic year. According to the football schedule, Southern Miss will open its season at home against Liberty on Sept. 3, while ODU will host Virginia Tech and Marshall will host Norfolk State.

"Conference USA intends to conduct the 2022-23 athletic year with the full 14 institution membership intact," the league's board said in a statement. "The C-USA Board of Directors will exhaust all necessary legal actions to ensure all members meet their contractual obligations as defined by and agreed to in the Conference USA Bylaws."

Conference USA bylaws state that members must give the conference 14 months' notice before departing. Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss announced their departures to the Sun Belt in October.

Six other schools -- UTSA, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and Charlotte -- plan to leave Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference, where they will begin play in the fall of 2023. Conference USA will add four new members -- Liberty, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State -- in 2023.

In the current schedule, each school will play every team in its division once, with two crossover opponents. Marshall and ODU are both in the East Division, while Southern Miss is in the West. The 2022 Conference USA championship game, which features the winners of the East and West divisions, is scheduled for Dec. 3.

Big Ten ADs prefer to keep nine-game league schedule, despite its effect on alliance, says Ohio State Buckeyes' Gene Smith​

ESPN

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and his Big Ten colleagues prefer to keep a nine-game league schedule, even if it limits the number of contests against teams from their alliance with the ACC and Pac-12.

Smith, speaking Wednesday with reporters in Columbus, Ohio, said the Big Ten athletic directors "walked away" from the idea of reducing the conference schedule from nine games to eight, which would have allowed more alliance matchups. The three-league partnership, formed in the wake of Oklahoma and Texas announcing their departures from the Big 12 to the SEC last year, included a football scheduling component for more future games.

Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said in December that his league would immediately reduce its conference schedule from nine games to eight as long as the Big Ten did the same. The ACC currently plays an eight-game league schedule, although multiple future models, including a nine-game slate, were discussed at the league's recent athletic director meetings, sources told ESPN's Andrea Adelson.

If all three conferences end up with nine-game league schedules, the number of spots for alliance matchups would be significantly reduced, especially if annual rivalry games such as USC-Notre Dame, Iowa-Iowa State and Florida State-Florida continue regularly.

"I think the whole alliance piece can have some positives for the teams that maybe don't have those other rivals," Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich told Adelson. "So I think we have to see if we can really get into that. But remember football scheduling is not something that changes on a dime. So we'll have to have those discussions."

Smith said the Big Ten athletic directors pivoted away from a reduction in league games soon after the alliance was formed. A source said the Big Ten always has prioritized its own conference scheduling format before evaluating how it would impact opportunities outside the league.

"Many of us felt nine was still right for us in our scheduling model," Smith said. "We felt that conference contests, from a TV partner point of view, were just as valuable. So we decided to kind of walk away from that a little bit. That doesn't mean it might not come back up, but at that point in time, we walked away."

Like the ACC and other leagues, the Big Ten is discussing the possibility of eliminating divisions, according to Smith, who said he doesn't have a strong preference on what the league decides. The Big Ten has used two-division models in the past decade, and the current setup, featuring East and West divisions, has produced champions from only the East. The league likely will make a decision during its spring meetings in May. Smith said he wants any future league scheduling model to ensure players visit every conference venue during their four-year careers.

Smith also said he expects the College Football Playoff to eventually expand to 12 teams, despite stalled negotiations among the leagues. Although the proposed model would allow teams ranked No. 5 through No. 8 to host first-round games on campus, Smith likes the flexibility to move games to indoor venues because of weather concerns.

"I know our fans rally around that and they'd like to host Alabama up here, but now we have the flexibility to move into domes," Smith said. "We can move to [Lucas Oil Stadium] or Ford Field or Minneapolis or whatever, if we ended up hosting. That's important because who knows what the inclement weather could be like at that time of year at any of our places in the north, so we need that flexibility."

 

[Doom]

According to ESPN,

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will receive a base salary of $7.05 million this fall and up to $7.6 million in the final year of his new contract, which runs through the 2026 season, according to a copy obtained by ESPN on Thursday.