hook me

I don't know that I ENJOY it, what I enjoy is meaningful college football &, take all the offense you'd like, most of the teams on that list aren't meaningful to UT nor its fans on the football field. Having to play UH, BU, SMU, & TTU every year would be a gigantic step backwards for us. No one in the plains division comes even close to being relevant, the Northeast is a bore, the pacific is semi-interesting along with the southeast, & the South along with the Texas divisions are compelling. Even then, the Texas division is only compelling because I'm a UT fan. If I were a USC fan the Texas division looks exactly like the midwest with UT/OU being OSU/UM. I don't personally care about the money, when I say "support" I'm not typically talking money coming to UT. UT has plenty of money & always will. What I want is to get away from the programs that extend their coaches simply because they beat UT on a down year & play more schools that have more banners hanging than "we beat _____ in 20xx". You don't give a fuck about it because you're not one of them. If you don't care about UT & OSU then you should feel very good about the direction that things are headed. Y'all can get together with KSU & all the others, make your own division with conferences of teams within driving distance, interact & mingle with all of their fanbases, watch the away games on ESPN 8, & play for your own championship. Everyone would be much happier that way.

So your understanding is that games like UT vs. Bama, which have legitimate playoff ramifications at the moment, are MORE likely to be played when they don't mean anything other than potential for injury? That sounds exactly backwards to me. They would be treated like NFL preseason games with starters playing limited reps in preparation for the "real" season that has actual ramifications. I'm also not sure what joy fans from schools like SMU, Vandy, Purdue, etc. would take from a season that has little to no chance of being meaningful other than potentially upsetting the big dog in their division on their way to a perennial 4-10 season. I know we make fun of all the stupid bowls around here, but I'm assuming fan bases for schools like yours & KU are actually pretty happy when they go 6-6 or 7-5 or even 8-4 and make one of those bowls more years than not. What incentive does Northwestern ever have for investing in their football program if there's little to no chance of ever making the playoffs with UM & OSU in their division, no bowl game to celebrate on the few years they're not complete dogshit, & no chance of being left out because they suck? If it's a GAIN for ALMOST every school in the country, what schools is it NOT a gain for? I'm going to guess it's BEST for all the lower & mid-level schools that see the writing on the wall & will soon be begging to be inside the bunker when the door gets closed & the nuke goes off. This is in no way a gain for the schools that are already fed up with having to support their little brothers & cousins because they happen to be in close proximity to them geographically speaking & shared a conference 40 years ago.

The problem with that is you're talking about double the amount of teams in this scenario vs. the NFL, NFL teams have more games outside of their division than inside of it on a yearly basis which makes other divisions somewhat more interesting, & the parity in the NFL driven by the draft & front offices keep the NFL interesting by teams going through natural peaks and valleys. No matter how many teams would have said "yes" to this setup 50 years ago, the moment satellite/cable became widespread we would see a similar progression as we have now. When Nebraska vs. OU was only one of 3 games you could watch on a given Saturday it was the shit & kids wanted to go to those schools to play on TV in that game (or fill in any other rivalry game) which helped keep the dominant programs dominant. With streaming and 20 different games on that you can flip back-and-forth between there is no scarcity driven interest to make me want to watch Cincy vs Indy (or any other game featuring completely meh programs that UT will never play) so the only drive to watch a game would be if it's your team, a rival you want to lose, or a good matchup.

Searles or the position? Or both?

I was close to responding to this as well.. luckily my sarcasm meter kicked back on just in time...

According to 247 the SEC transfer rules will apply to UT & OU. https://247sports.com/article/sec-intraconference-transfer-rules-apply-to-oklahoma-texas-ahead-of-spring-portal-window-230328702/

That offensive depth chart is just an embarrassment of riches.

You quoted before I edited, I think Mizzery or OU have a better chance than aggy. Even if something crazy happens and they do get in, the no depth thing will bite them in the ass. Mizzou with a chance for sure given what they return on offense & what looks like an absolutely cake walk of a schedule complete with Umass, Murray St., BC, Vandy, & Buffalo. Their SEC schedule looks pretty weak as well so, if they can split @Bama & vs. OU they should be in. They may get in even if they lose both of those games and finish 10-2 depending on what else happens. OU would be shocking given their schedule & my complete lack of faith in their roster & coaches. I will bet any amount of @closetojumping 's money that a&m isn't in the playoff conversation & are as likely to start 3-3 & finish struggling to make a bowl game as they are finishing with 8+ wins.

The SEC transfer rules will be enforced with UT & OU included this year, so they would have to sit a year unless they manage to get an NCAA exemption.

The aggy roller coaster is the only roller coaster strong enough to get that tub of lard off the ground.

If there are 2 people it seems like there's something different to eat for one of them...

That sounds like an excellent thread title.

For football I'd say Thomas, Crabtree, Anderson, Rivera, & Welker. Hanspard would be an honorable mention

No no. Now that it's been started it must be completed. We must punish ourselves by posting/reading about how bad we were from 2010-2022. This is Surly's Law & there is no escape.

Which is the exact reason 247 ranked him a 5 star and a better prospect than Garrett Wilson. The aggy tears when that ranking was released were glorious. Of course, if he is drafted relatively high, it will only serve to reinforce that line of thinking for people ranking recruits. "Hey this guy sucks at all things football but he's big and fast so he'll get drafted."

What a weird obsession. Why do we care if other teams/fans acknowledge us as a rival? Do we get extra money per rival or maybe we can get a plaque to put in the trophy room?

That was a dangerous play by Brock & completely intentional. That probably doesn't get a second glance in the 80's but there's no need for it in todays game, especially on the road and up 25. Tech fans being trashy is nothing new & letting the football coach that just got his ass reamed a few months ago give the pregame speech to hype up the crowd right before getting your ass reamed again was just *chef's kiss*. See you on the diamond next week where we'll go for the scoreboard triple crown.

3rd*

I don't think the bye is a bad thing, but I don't think it's going to be as big of an advantage in this set up as it is in the NFL. Those without a bye will be playing 1 game in a 3 week period, including 10ish days before the quarter finals which will be played at a neutral site. I'd rather have the bye than not, but as long as you're getting the home field advantage over the ACC/BIG 12 runner up or the Champion of whatever non-P4 makes it then it's no big deal. Ian Boyd's take is idiotic, as usual, because there's no guarantee of an easy matchup & there's no guarantee of the Selection committee slotting you 5th instead of 6, 7, or 8. I'd much rather have the bye than have to play an extra game against an Ole Miss, PSU, or Mizzou.

It's not as if they won't have an off week though. The SEC championship is 12/7, the first round is 12/20 & would be a home game for 12-1 UT or 12-1 UGA. So you still get a bye week, you get a home game, & you get a week and a half to prep for a neutral game site against the 3 or 4 seed. That's not an awful setup considering the top seeds will go almost a month without playing and almost certainly be rusty like we often see now in NYE/NYD games. A bye is great, but having 3-1/2 weeks off isn't ideal in this scenario imo. unless you're going to get someone back from injury that wouldn't be ready in the 16 day window before the first round.

I don't understand why or how this so quickly became a fact for everyone defending Shanahan's decision. The Chiefs had drives of 1.22, 1.38, 4, 1.27, 5.36, & 1.53 in the second half. The 5.36 drive came immediately after the 9ers held the ball for 5+ minutes of game time + the intermission between the 3rd & 4th quarters & the 9ers last drive of regulation lasted just under 4 minutes. In other words, they weren't out there "forever" & even though they were just defending during the 2 minute drill they still had the time from the kick to the kickoff to catch their breath.