2025 NCAA Football Thread

[casimir]

On 11/9/2025 at 9:04 PM, buddha said:

america doesnt do promotion/relegation.  we do guaranteed profits.

promotion/relegation is amazing.  it actually gives you consequences for losing!   unlike american sports, which rewards you for failure with the ability to bring in the most talented players the next season.  you all complain about tanking but none of you are willing to do the one thing that would end it: relegation.  so keep whining about europe and soccer.  they got it right.

the top 40 college football programs could definitely start their own league and the ratings would be amazing.

that's why this is a great deal if youre purdue/northwestern/iowa etc.  you know that ohio state and penn state are desperate for cash right now.  what better time to lock them into a grant of rights deal than now?  what better way to make sure they dont leave by dangling a sweet $190 million in front of them now?  its brilliant timing by pettiti and company, selling out the future at the perfect time when your big brand names are struggling in the new environment.

michigan is pretending to be ethical and usc is pretending its still an elite program.  they'll both cave.  michigan ALWAYS caves.

the one real impediment would be the law.

The thing with promotion/relegation that gets me is basing competitive grouping and/or playoff odds on the previous season’s standings.  That doesn’t compute to me.

I don’t know if this is a decent analogy or not.  But it’d be like taking last season’s group of five or six or whatever college playoff entry and bumping them into a power conference while knocking out a team from the conference in to the MAC or CUSA or wherever that promoted team came from.  That’s silly to me.

[buddha]

2 minutes ago, casimir said:

The thing with promotion/relegation that gets me is basing competitive grouping and/or playoff odds on the previous season’s standings.  That doesn’t compute to me.

I don’t know if this is a decent analogy or not.  But it’d be like taking last season’s group of five or six or whatever college playoff entry and bumping them into a power conference while knocking out a team from the conference in to the MAC or CUSA or wherever that promoted team came from.  That’s silly to me.

there is no "playoffs" in those sports, that's an american invention.  in europe, the regular season decides the champion.  if you win, you get rewarded by being in an extra competition just for champions the next year.  

the champions league/copa libertadores, etc is a separate competition from the domestic league.  america only has one league and one competition (which devalues the regular season and essentially turns it into an exhibition before the "playoffs" which actually decide the champion).

in europe, you actually get rewarded for winning the competition.  and - like i said before - punished for being bad.

they both have their pros and cons.  but europe is much more likely to see the major clubs form a us style competition w/o relegation than america is to ever doing the euro style thing.  it makes no sense foe current stakeholders in us sports to give up their guaranteed profits.

europe almost did it a few years ago but the fan backlash was so great almost all the big clubs abandoned it (except madrid).

[Deleterious]

Did you wrap yourself in the tricolor before making that post?

[buddha]

1 minute ago, Deleterious said:

Did you wrap yourself in the tricolor before making that post?

i am wearing my "liberte egalite fraternite" shirt, why do you ask?

[Deleterious]

2 minutes ago, buddha said:

i am wearing my "liberte egalite fraternite" shirt, why do you ask?

Stop making me Google stuff.  

[Deleterious]

He should show up Saturday and coach.

 

[MichiganCardinal]

[MichiganCardinal]

I look forward to the State Attorney General filing an appearance in this lawsuit and arguing the contract should be void for reasons of public policy and/or unconscionability.

Brian Kelly is a **** human being, but he deserves every penny of that $54MM. LSU doesn’t get to sour on the flavor of the month that doesn’t walk in the door and win a natty every two years and not suffer the consequences.

[Hongbit]

58 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I look forward to the State Attorney General filing an appearance in this lawsuit and arguing the contract should be void for reasons of public policy and/or unconscionability.

Brian Kelly is a **** human being, but he deserves every penny of that $54MM. LSU doesn’t get to sour on the flavor of the month that doesn’t walk in the door and win a natty every two years and not suffer the consequences.

Stubborn ass just screwed himself.  He should’ve taken the $30M offer.   Hes getting nothing now.  Louisiana courts will side with the school, state, and governor.   

[RedTeamGo!]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Stubborn ass just screwed himself.  He should’ve taken the $30M offer.   Hes getting nothing now.  Louisiana courts will side with the school, state, and governor.   

Yeah, I doubt that. 

[MichiganCardinal]

4 hours ago, Hongbit said:

Stubborn ass just screwed himself.  He should’ve taken the $30M offer.   Hes getting nothing now.  Louisiana courts will side with the school, state, and governor.   

Maybe that's what LSU is banking on--or at least threatening to seek that outcome until he bends and takes the $30MM--but the law seems pretty strongly to be on his side, at least from what is out there publicly now. It would be pretty outlandish for a judge to just ignore the law and facts in order to benefit the taxpayer.

[buddha]

6 hours ago, Hongbit said:

Stubborn ass just screwed himself.  He should’ve taken the $30M offer.   Hes getting nothing now.  Louisiana courts will side with the school, state, and governor.   

i dont think so.

[Hongbit]

Everything in Louisiana is secondary next to LSU football.  This includes the law.    There may be judges that will rule in his favor but there will be many more that will overrule on appeal and that includes the state Supreme Court.   

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, Hongbit said:

Everything in Louisiana is secondary next to LSU football.  This includes the law.    There may be judges that will rule in his favor but there will be many more that will overrule on appeal and that includes the state Supreme Court.   

It’s not that simple though. In a vacuum, or on a college football Saturday, sure, the State Supreme Court and many state court judges may hate Brian Kelly and love LSU football.

But their job isn’t to decide who they like or hate, or even to say what’s “fair” or not. Their job is to enforce the law, which oftentimes is the black and white contract in front of them. If there is some close call that’s not obvious here, maybe those biases will work against Kelly. But I find it hard to believe that judges who have worked for decades to get to where they are would just throw it all away to give LSU a pass on this.

In any event, to play it to its natural conclusion, what would be the legal outcome? That buyouts are unenforceable against a public institution in the State of Louisiana? That performing poorly on a football field provides “cause” for firing? Why would any college football coach worth his salt touch that job with a ten foot pole after that ruling? LSU goes through head coaches like a fat kid going through a box of Twinkies. If you’re not guaranteed a pay day when you lose three games and they tire of you in a year, the Sun Belt has opportunities with much more security where it’s much easier to win.

[Hongbit]

Makes a ton of sense in most places but this is Louisiana.  

No judge would be throwing their career away by finding some minute reason to overturn in favor of LSU.  It’s probably more likely they’d throw their career away by going against LSU and the Governor.    Speaking of the Gov, we can forget about him.    It’s not his job to essentially overthrow the AD of LSU and publicly make the decision to fire the head coach.  He did and people loved it.    Nowhere else does an overreach of power occur like that and have it actually help the Governor’s popularity.  

We know college football is King in the South but it’s different in Louisiana.  There’s one team.  No Auburn or Alabama, Clemson or South Carolina.  Everybody is all LSU.   It was quiet for a long time and then Saban came an awoke the beast.    Its very much like Lions mania here in Detroit but it’s like double or triple the intensity and all over the state.

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It’s not that simple though. In a vacuum, or on a college football Saturday, sure, the State Supreme Court and many state court judges may hate Brian Kelly and love LSU football.

But their job isn’t to decide who they like or hate, or even to say what’s “fair” or not. Their job is to enforce the law, which oftentimes is the black and white contract in front of them. If there is some close call that’s not obvious here, maybe those biases will work against Kelly. But I find it hard to believe that judges who have worked for decades to get to where they are would just throw it all away to give LSU a pass on this.

In any event, to play it to its natural conclusion, what would be the legal outcome? That buyouts are unenforceable against a public institution in the State of Louisiana? That performing poorly on a football field provides “cause” for firing? Why would any college football coach worth his salt touch that job with a ten foot pole after that ruling? LSU goes through head coaches like a fat kid going through a box of Twinkies. If you’re not guaranteed a pay day when you lose three games and they tire of you in a year, the Sun Belt has opportunities with much more security where it’s much easier to win.

excellent point. It could be a Pyrrhic victory for the state.

[Motor City Sonics]

**** LSU for making me take Brian Kelly's side on anything.     You assholes signed him, you have a contract.  You fired him because he didn't win enough.  That's on you.   Pay him.   

These buyouts are nuts, but that's the offer they gave him. 

 

I hate both sides so much.    College football is ridiculous. 

[Motor City Sonics]

3 hours ago, Hongbit said:

Makes a ton of sense in most places but this is Louisiana.  

No judge would be throwing their career away by finding some minute reason to overturn in favor of LSU.  It’s probably more likely they’d throw their career away by going against LSU and the Governor.    Speaking of the Gov, we can forget about him.    It’s not his job to essentially overthrow the AD of LSU and publicly make the decision to fire the head coach.  He did and people loved it.    Nowhere else does an overreach of power occur like that and have it actually help the Governor’s popularity.  

We know college football is King in the South but it’s different in Louisiana.  There’s one team.  No Auburn or Alabama, Clemson or South Carolina.  Everybody is all LSU.   It was quiet for a long time and then Saban came an awoke the beast.    Its very much like Lions mania here in Detroit but it’s like double or triple the intensity and all over the state.

There's a reason Louisiana is considered one of the worst states in the country in just about any reasonable category. 

But their football is good, right?    Two states away they have a former football coach for a senator, a guy who can hardly read.    LSU and Brian Kelly deserve each other.    But that money they'll have to pay him will no doubt come from something designated to help poor people and Louisiana is made up of mostly poor people.        

[Hongbit]

Logic and Louisiana politics rarely end up on the same side. 

[MichiganCardinal]

 

Things are not going well in East Lansing. I'm sure this will be received with nothing but logical, even-keeled takes.

[GalagaGuy]

Well at least Sparty doesn't have to vacate that many wins or any titles or anything. 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, Hongbit said:

Logic and Louisiana politics rarely end up on the same side. 

then put the case in federal court if youre worried about getting home towned.