College Football 2023-2024

[Pariah]

Fourteen FBS teams woke up in new conferences this morning, so it seemed a good time to start a new thread.

 

One of those teams is BYU. After more than a decade of wandering in the desert of FBS college football independence, the long wait is over.

 

BYU Athletics Officially Joins The Big 12 Conference

 

BYU is joined in the 14-team Big XII by Houston, Cincinnati, and Central Florida, all from the American Athletic Conference. (Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big XII next year for the SEC, which started this whole mess.)

 

The American responded by raiding Conference USA, taking Charlotte, Alabama Birmingham, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, and Texas San Antonio. 

 

C-USA then shored up its ranks by adding independents Liberty and New Mexico State, as well as FCS ascenders Jacksonville State and Sam Houston State.

 

Okay, have I left anyone out?

[Pariah]

One school apparently not changing conference affiliation any time soon, surprisingly, is San Diego State. 

 

The Pac-12 is taking its time on its media deal, so San Diego State will reportedly stay in the Mountain West

 

The PAC is trying to find a new media deal in the wake of the defections of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten next year. Once it gets that done (sometime this summer, one presumes, although it was originally supposed to be done by yesterday), San Diego State and Southern Methodist are the names most frequently mentioned for expansion. 

 

San Diego State basically had a foot out the door, informing the Mountain West of their desire to resign from the conference in anticipation of the big move. Given the PAC's inability to get that new media deal done, SDSU asked the MWC for a one month extension for withdrawal, as leaving with less than a year's notice doubles the exit fee from $17M to $34M. The MWC shot that idea down forthwith. So, with the SDSU athletic department admitting that they can't afford $34M, they have apparently withdrawn their intent to leave the conference. 

 

For now. Assuming the PAC ever gets their ship together and signs a new deal, SDSU could be right back out the door.

 

This, of course, assumes that Oregon and Washington aren't also poached by the B1G, and/or that Colorado and Arizona State (and maybe Arizona and Utah) don't bolt for the suddenly more stable Big XII. 

 

It'll be interesting to see what the next few months hold.

[Starlord]

https://abc7chicago.com/northwestern-football-hazing-university-pat-fitzgerald/13481654/

[Pariah]

On 7/9/2023 at 2:49 PM, Starlord said:

https://abc7chicago.com/northwestern-football-hazing-university-pat-fitzgerald/13481654/

 

Mother of Hades, it's 2023. How are coaches still living in the 1960s? 

 

And how is something like this taking place at a prestigious school like Northwestern? Who's next, CalTech? Harvard? MIT?

 

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Pariah

[unclevlad]

18 minutes ago, Pariah said:

 

Mother of Hades, it's 2023. How are coaches still living in the 1960s? 

 

And how is something like this taking place at a prestigious school like Northwestern? Who's next, CalTech? Harvard? MIT?

 

 

 

Because high-end athletes often simply skate on their bad behaviors.  Not always, but often.  Even those who might not approve, may be culturally averse to ratting out their teammates...what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room.

 

Fitzgerald was fired today.  With what's reported in the story Starlord linked, I think that was inevitable.  This is also likely to destroy the team, IMO.  There would seem to be two No-Win options:  attempt to dismiss everyone against whom credible participation could be shown, fracturing team dynamic...or keep every player on the team under a microscope of suspicion.  This is going to seriously damage many lives, and there's no chance it'll be restricted to those who deserve punishment.

 

EDIT:  the hazing accusations are disturbingly similar to what happened with NMSU basketball in the spring, which led to the school cancelling the last part of the season altogether...a huge blow.  And I believe 7 players left the team...that's half your roster.  There was the additional element of the bizarre incident in Albuquerque last November;  the school said that wasn't a factor, but I'm not sure I buy that.  Firing the coach for cause might've been more appropriate without that incident...not a complete and utter implosion.  Still, Northwestern is going to take a massive hit to its reputation and image from this.

 

[unclevlad]

My, my.  These things never end cleanly, do they?  Last week, Bob Huggins claimed he never formally agreed to his termination, and is threatening to sue to get reinstated.  Well, now, Pat Fitzgerald is screaming.

 

 

 

Yeah, of course YOU thought it was appropriate.  Sorry, dude, but the head coach is accountable for actions as heinous as what appeared to be happening.  What MAY happen is that you drag the president out the door with you...which can pretty readily be justified because he showed egregious judgment in ever agreeing to a two week, OUT OF SEASON, suspension.  This is a feather brushed over the back of the hand...far less than a slap on the wrist.  It also GROSSLY smacks of institutionalized protectionism...the kind that gets the NCAA *storming* down the gates.  (Not like that's all that credible a threat, because the NCAA's punishment wouldn't come down till around 2026.)  If Fitzgerald is asserting he had an enforceable agreement...dubious, I suspect, but perhaps plausible...and the president reneged on it?  I think they're both gone.  If it feels likely Fitzgerald would sue for wrongful termination on the basis that he didn't know about it, well, the president has a better chance to survive.

 

EDIT:  beyond the hazing, the Northwestern student newspaper reported allegations of racism by Fitzgerald.  From The Hill:

 

Quote

His termination also came after the school’s newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, published a story from three players who said the football program had a “culture of enabling racism.” 

 

Fitzgerald was specifically named in the story as allegedly participating in that culture.

 

Sources told the paper that “head coach Pat Fitzgerald would ask Black players and coaches to cut off longer hairstyles — including dreadlocks — so that they were more in line with what Fitzgerald called the ‘Wildcat Way.'”

 

[unclevlad]

Oh boy.  The situation at Northwestern just got worse.

https://www.nbcsportschicago.com/ncaa/big-ten/northwestern-wildcats/northwestern-baseball-coach-engaged-in-bullying-and-abusive-behavior-reports-say/494513/?partner=yahoo&cid=yahoo

 

This report is arguably even more disturbing.  SB Nation has an op-ed on the entire disaster:

https://www.sbnation.com/2023/7/11/23790992/northwesterns-multiple-scandals-are-an-abysmal-institutional-failure

 

Points in that piece...Northwestern may not be able to fire Fitzgerald for cause, IF the 2 week suspension was the agreed punishment.  Ergo?  They owe him his 10 year, $42M salary from a recent extension.  Ouch.  The situation in the baseball program is also set out in more detail.  It is VERY ugly.

 

It's a total disaster for the school.  I don't see any route forward short of a complete reset...both coaches, the AD, and the institutional failures (the ridiculous initial suspension, the failure to talk to players in the baseball program) will force the president out.  

 

 

[Starlord]

A complete reset is definitely called for...the culture has to be totally broken down and recreated

[Pariah]

I suppose relegating Northwestern to the MAC is out of the question?

[Cancer]

Robert Maynard Hutchins is my hero

[unclevlad]

On 7/12/2023 at 11:00 AM, Pariah said:

I suppose relegating Northwestern to the MAC is out of the question?

 

Would you do that to the MAC?  

 

Slap em in Division III.  They might break even there.

[Pariah]

8 hours ago, Cancer said:

Robert Maynard Hutchins is my hero

 

And the University of Chicago's football stadium is most famous for something other than football.

[Starlord]

10 hours ago, Cancer said:

Robert Maynard Hutchins is my hero

 

One of Sagan's mentors....

[unclevlad]

The Tennessee football program got hammered by the NCAA today, for numerous, MAJOR infractions committed by their prior coach, who held the job from98-2000 before being terminated for cause.  (The violations.)  The university aggressively self-reported and self-penalized...16 scholarships is a big deal...so they avoided the bowl ban.  ESPN's saying this has been a tendency, as it's a punishment on innocent players.  Instead, the NCAA fined them $8M...reportedly about the amount a bowl ban for 23 and 24 would've cost, but leaving the players free to enjoy the experience.  That seems like a good solution.  More scholarships lost, serious reduction in allowed recruiting visits.

 

The former coach is subject to a 6-year show-cause restriction...anyone thinking of hiring him has to justify doing it, to (most likely) a very dubious committee.  AND even if hired, a 1 year suspension.  So if I understand how this works, he's completely out of college coaching for a while.   

[Pariah]

Talk about casting a wide recruiting net.

 

Sumo wrestler Hidetora Hanada from Japan to play college football for Colorado State

[unclevlad]

Someone called a bomb threat into the Kansas Jayhawks football facility Monday.

 

A few hours later, one of the players on the team was arrested for it.

 

Kid, what were you thinking?  Because if you did this?  You just destroyed your chances at...well, pretty much anything good in life.  He's facing felony charges that carry 31 to 136 months in prison, altho fines and supervised probation are possible too.  Even at that, it's a felony record.

 

Elsewhere...Jim Harbaugh is about to be suspended.  Sporting News lists such egregious violations as too many coaches on the field during practice and unauthorized video observation of practice.  But the big one??  Misleading investigators about another potential violation.  This one...oh my, it's so bad.

 

He bought cheeseburgers for a few recruits.

 

The shame!!!!  The PERFIDY!!!

The punishment for this?   4 game suspension.  That's ok, it's probably better if he doesn't coach the games he'll be suspended for, they'd be bad for his health.  They're 4 total cupcakes...East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green, and Rutgers...all in Ann Arbor.  

 

Wow, that'll really deter other coaches......

 

Cheeseburgers, in a day of NIL.  And 4 meaningless game suspensions.  The NCAA shows again its irrelevance.

[Pariah]

Funniest comment this week: "Colorado has entered the transfer portal!"

 

Colorado exploring move to Big 12 from Pac-12 with multiple meetings set this week

 

Not a done deal by any means, but now they're at least talking about it openly. And it's no secret that Coach Prime would really like to be able to increase recruiting in Florida and Texas, both of which are in the Big 12 footprint now.

 

As Asia once said, only time will tell.

[unclevlad]

Yeah, but Coach Prime's goal...Colorado recruiting out of Texas and Florida???  Let's take another Asia song...

 

Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams
Fly away...

No, not in this world
No, not in the next
No, not in my wildest dreams

 

Besides, it's old news.  

Oh the UNIVERSITY!!!  OK, that's a little different...the players left months ago.  (47 of em...in the spring window alone.)

The Pac 12 is a dead man walking;  the WAC and Mountain West are still probably considered little league conferences.  Not sure that the Pac 12 of the last 5 years is *that* much better in the major sports, but WAC/MWC have even worse image problems.  Big 10 is bloated.  I'm not sure the Big 12 will really have great cred in its new alignment...at least not in football.

 

ESPN is reporting meetings are scheduled for tomorrow...and suggesting the move may be announced tomorrow.  Finebaum minced no words...if Colorado leaves, "you might as well give [the Pac 12] last rites."  

[Pariah]

9 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 Finebaum minced no words...if Colorado leaves, "you might as well give [the Pac 12] last rites."  

 

As I recall, the next lines from the Asia song you quoted are "They recommended euthanasia...."

[unclevlad]

You recall....or Google recalls for you?  Either way...yep.  But...not applicable.  Euthanasia can only be performed on something living.

 

Ahh, Asia.  Masters of the excess known as stadium rock.  The band you loved but would NEVER admit to listening to.

[Pariah]

FYI, I have their entire discography. All the studio albums, anyway.

[unclevlad]

Had their first album on CD, not sure when it disappeared.  MIGHT have digitized it first...I know I did that with several CDs before cleaning house a bit....

 

Northwestern's administration announces steps in response to the hazing crisis.  Every team will have mandatory anti-hazing training every year, there'll be a zero tolerance policy, and they're reviewing reporting procedures.

[Pariah]

So, closing the barn door before the last of the cows gets out?

 

Actually, what it sounds like is a desperate attempt to avoid serious sanctions from the NCAA. Of course when a guy gets a four-game suspension for buying food for a recruit while a coach at the rival school gets a three-game suspension for domestic abuse, I don't know how seriously punishment from the NCAA can really be taken. 

.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Pariah

[unclevlad]

Rephrase that to "how seriously the NCAA can really be taken" and I'll agree wholeheartedly.

 

SC breaking news:  the Big 12 conference presidents voted tonight to accept Colorado as a new member.  Unless the terms are onerous...either joining, or leaving the Pac 12...I think we can safely assume it's a completely done deal.  Colorado saying No, at this point, would blow everyone's mind.  

 

The detail is when it happens.  I assume they can't bail this year...the football schedule, for sure, is locked up.  

 

The Pac 12 football title...bet on anyone but SC or UCLA.  I'd include Colorado in there, but after 1-11, who would bet on them anyway?  Unless the conference finishes imploding in the next month or so...which could happen.  But if not?  The remaining teams will have a LOVELY motivation.  

PAYBACK.

[Pariah]

9 hours ago, unclevlad said:

SC breaking news:  the Big 12 conference presidents voted tonight to accept Colorado as a new member.  Unless the terms are onerous...either joining, or leaving the Pac 12...I think we can safely assume it's a completely done deal.  Colorado saying No, at this point, would blow everyone's mind.  

 

The detail is when it happens.  I assume they can't bail this year...the football schedule, for sure, is locked up.  

 

I doubt that CU can rejoin the Big XII for the 2024-25 year without massive financial penalties from the PAC-9. My money, were I a gambling man, would be on July 1, 2025.

 

That is, unless the PAC just folds before then. 

 

Also worth noting: I read that when Colorado rejoins, they'll receive the full media share immediately. That's not nothing. 

 

 

9 hours ago, unclevlad said:

The Pac 12 football title...bet on anyone but SC or UCLA.  I'd include Colorado in there, but after 1-11, who would bet on them anyway?  Unless the conference finishes imploding in the next month or so...which could happen.  But if not?  The remaining teams will have a LOVELY motivation.  

PAYBACK.

 

So ... how long until Oregon and Washington bolt for the B1G?

 

When (and I suspect at this point it's when, not if) that happens, what happens to the rest of the conference? Will they still target San Diego State and SMU, and operate with 9? And if they want to expand beyond that, who would they target? Fresno State? Boise State? Colorado State? Air Force? Another team in Texas? Or does the PAC go the way of the Southwest Conference and close up shop?

 

In any case, I can't imagine the PAC, in whatever form, retaining Power 5 status without USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington. And they still don't have their new media deal in place.