MJWalker45

1 minute ago, alxy8s said:

 

What do you mean by realistic? It's a very equitable proposal that certainly gives opportunities to teams that don't really have them today, it preserves regionality, and it looks like most rivalries could be preserved. 10-team conferences also leaves a lot of room for quality OOC games. Sounds great.

 

Unfortunately, that's exactly what college football has been moving away from. The geographic footprints of conferences is past the point of absurdity, century-old rivalries are being trashed, and power is assimilating rather than being shared. If the entire sport started from scratch tomorrow, we wouldn't get anything resembling that 8-conference arrangement. We'd get a B1G+SEC+ND+FSU Super League, and the bottom half of the B1G and SEC would honestly be very lucky to be included. It's headed that way anyway unless one of the new P2 conferences ends up having some self-restraint.

 

Anyways, about today! My alma mater just capped a 13-1 season and won the Orange Bowl by 60 :censored:ing points. I appreciate that FSU got royally screwed out of a playoff bid, but that was a stunning lack of pride.

The fact that all conference champions don't get a spot is my biggest issue with this. People complain about it, but in FCS, D2 and D3 let that happen. That's why FSU, UNC and Clemson are willing to jump to other conferences, because it's easier to make more money jumping to the Big Ten or SEC than it is to dominate the league they're currently in. 

19 minutes ago, HopewellJones said:

I just noticed the "Mich1Gan" helmet bumper...I think that's new...and real dumb.

Yeah, that's new for the playoffs. They had the Block M on the bumper all year. 

11 hours ago, aawagner011 said:

Penn State has moved their conference patch under the swoosh to make room for the bowl patch.

 

 

This actually looked good. It declutters the front a bunch. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1XvOPvupDH/?igsh=N3d2Zzlrb3o1djUy

2024 Under Armour All American Game uniforms

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KZ0BNuw4v/?igsh=MThleTQ5ZjRrNmFy

8 hours ago, HopewellJones said:

Never thought they'd bring back the shoulder patches! That pumps me up.

 

I'm definitely biased here, but man Michigan has the best uniforms in all of football. The classic home speaks for itself. I was born in the 90s but I remember seeing pictures of the white, striped pants from the 70s and thinking they looked great. So happy Harbaugh brought those back. That seems to be an unpopular opinion, but the reason I like it is because of color balance. Maize/Blue are pretty equally represented in the home uniform. With maize pants and a white jersey, the classic away uniform is too maize-heavy. The striping on the 70s all-white keeps the balance between maize and blue pretty equal. Also I love how the stripes mimic the back of the helmet. The switch to Jordan was a perfect update; a custom font that isn't obnoxious, helmet bumpers changing from white to blue (keeps the home uniforms strictly maize and blue), but most importantly - fixing the shade of maize! The highlighter yellow was awful - the new one is perfect. And this is probably another unpopular opinion but I like the all-blue home alternate a lot. With two different jerseys and three different pants, I think they do an excellent job of mixing up combos while still looking like Michigan. Definitely some combinations I don't love, like white jersey/blue pants, but if it's enough to scratch their itch for alternates, I'm cool with it. 

The advantage of the Untouchable and FUSE is that there's plenty of space on the shoulder if you want to do this. Nice to see them back.

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Y'all aren't joking. This barstool coverage is really bad. I don't know what other content Barstool puts out, but they're just rapid-firing bad joke after bad joke.

 

It reminds me a lot of the Dennis Miller experiment.

 

EDIT:  even the commercials are rotten.

Remember, they employ Tank.

7 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said:

 

Oddly enough, if your area has a CW Network... it has the game. Which is a win for both sides - a bowl game NOT on ESPN and a football game on the CW, of all networks.

Still has the downside of Barstool Sports though. 

19 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

The fact that I'm far more interested in watching my Toledo Rockets play Wyoming in the Barstool Sports Bowl than I was in watching my beloved Buckeyes play Missouri in the Cotton Bowl (which would have been a helluva match up under normal circumstances) pretty well sums up where we're at with the Bowl Season this year.

Agreed. Watching my alma mater winning at the moment is only slightly more enjoyable because Hugh Freeze is losing as a result.

5 minutes ago, BBTV said:

 

Yeah it could go both ways.  On one hand, they don't want to risk having bad tape if they get lit up by top competition for 4 weeks.  On the other hand, a late 1st-rd or 2nd-rd guy could be on himself and use it as an opportunity to get good tape of him playing well against the top talent.  Possibly even passing a guy that opted out.  Unless you're a sure-fire top-10 or top-15 guy, it's such a hard choice to make.  It's all millions of dollars, but the top half of the 1st round is many more millions.

The transfer portal needs to stay closed until after bowls/playoffs as well. I know some of the guys still out there were waiting to see what recruits went where. I also found it strange to see guys on playoff teams jumping ship this year. Granted they were 3rd and 4th string, but I'd probably stay put at least until playoffs ended.

I'm going to be annoyed if every new kit has a club badge that is centered. 

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

Right now the Renegades are fine where they are, but in 2033, I have doubts that the stadium will be around by then.  In 2033, the Dallas Stars may want a new home to replace the American Airlines Center and the land where Choctaw is currently sitting could be used to try to lure the Stars there.  

Would the Mavericks make the move as well? I'd think Dallas would want to keep both of them in downtown. 

24 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

I actually wonder if the expanded playoff is going to make it even worse. I could see a good handful of prospective first/second round guys looking at the prospect of playing increasingly more difficult/competitive teams for four extra weeks and saying lol nope. Not even a college title is worth the risk of having to play Michigan, Bama, and Georgia (or whoever) three straight weeks. 

I don't see a reason for Florida State and UNC to look at joining the Big Ten. I wonder how long these conferences will last when current middle of the pack schools are losing 6-7 games regularly because they aren't able to keep up with old and new money? I also think we could see a 16 team playoff as soon as they can get that done because the P4 need to keep schools happy.

not sure if this was posted before, but Army hockey has their own version of the 2020 Army-Navy game uniforms. They would work better with a dark helmet, I think, but still look pretty nice.

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

I live out in the DFW area, and I have doubts that Choctaw Stadium will be around in a decade.  The XFL/USFL joint league will probably be long gone by then, and so will the Dallas Jackals of Major League Rugby.  North Texas SC will probably move back to Toyota Stadium in Frisco by that time.  So it will be interesting to see the long term future of the stadium.  There are several options:

 

• The Texas Rangers (who operate the stadium) and the City of Arlington hand over control and ownership of the stadium to UT-Arlington if they ever decide to bring football back.
• The Rangers hand operational control back to the City of Arlington, who in turn wants to use the land where the stadium sits to try to lure the Dallas Stars away from (what will be in 2033) a three decade old American Airlines Center and replace Choctaw with an arena for the Stars.  This is assuming of course, the Stars don't share an arena with the Dallas Mavericks again as the Mavericks are looking to have their new arena be the centerpiece of a casino/resort/sports arena (if Texas legalizes gambling beyond the state lottery) in Dallas (well close to it anyways).
• The Rangers and the City of Arlington hand ownership of the stadium over to Arlington ISD, who would use the stadium for various sports (after shrinking down the capacity).
• Jerry Jones buys the land and the stadium.  Tears down the stadium and does something weird with the land.  

I wonder if this would see the Renegades move into the Star in Frisco and go back to the Dallas moniker? Or would they just move into the Rangers stadium? That means 2 of 3 Texas teams in domes, which is great for the league in terms of controlling TV times due to possible weather issues. The Rangers have hosted Army vs Air Force football games in 2021 and 2022, so they can handle XFL/USFL games. Only issue could be league markings, but that's not really a big deal when you can superimpose them on broadcasts. 

so it looks like Fox will be involved with the league still. Rumor has been that they'd drop out. Looks like they would go with the USFL design for the balls? Maybe also a new logo release? 

5 hours ago, McCall said:

That was awesome getting to watch Mizzou beat Ohio State in my first ever trip to Texas. Now staying at a (meh) Motel 6 across the street from the stadium, which is the entire view from our window.

I'm glad I didn't make the drive up, because that was the most boring game I've watched all year. The OL didn't even bother to do a dang thing and there were no adjustments all night. 

Watching Missouri beat Ohio State, and I have to say I've never seen a group of broadcasters complaining about a play that was blown dead in the first quarter, all the way into the fourth quarter. I know this game was proof that some teams will just show up and cash the check, but until Missouri went ahead they treated it like it was the greatest disservice ever. Unfortunately we don't have a mascot to murder after this non showing by Ohio State's offensive line. 

2 hours ago, raz said:

So the Sun Bowl just started on CBS and the intro graphics prominently featured saguaro cactuses, because, you know, all deserts are the same. 

 

But saguaro cactuses are features of the Sonora desert (up through Arizona), and El Paso is in the Chihuahuan desert, which features yuccas and creosote.

 

C'mon, CBS. Do better. 

The state of Texas is to blame as well because we have it on road signs and other items that promote the state of Texas. Prickly pear and barrell cactus make more sense. 

3 hours ago, oldschoolvikings said:

Does SMU always wear those “Dallas” uniforms now?   I haven’t been paying much attention to them for a while but I feel like they used to have better looks.  

They worn them at least 3 times this year. Their primary away is pretty close to that as well. 

34 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

Wade has thrived in Spring Football as his head coaching run in the NFL ended disastrously (it got so bad in the 2010 season with the Cowboys to the point where during a Monday Night Football Game with the Giants, there was an audible "Let's Go Rangers" chant among the Cowboys fans at Jerry World.  The Rangers were making their first World Series appearance at the time).  Last year at an XFL Fan event in Arlington, Texas, Wade got booed but he took it in stride.  

At least he'll know which plays are worth challenging, that alone is an improvement.

Week 17 schedule:

NY Jets vs. Cleveland

Detroit vs. Dallas

Tennessee vs. Houston

Atlanta vs. Chicago

Miami vs. Baltimore

New Orleans vs. Tampa Bay

New England vs. Buffalo

Arizona vs. Philadelphia

Carolina vs. Jacksonville

Las Vegas vs. Indianapolis

LA Rams vs. NY Giants

San Francisco vs. Washington

Pittsburgh vs. Seattle

Cincinnati vs. Kansas City

LA Chargers vs. Denver

Green Bay vs. Minnesota

20 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

So he's out:

 

 

Nothing against Hines, but there were times where he was over his head when trying to come up with plays. I don't think we'll see that if Wade is the one on the sidelines. 

I just found out that Paxton Lynch is on the Brahmas roster. So apparently Hines Ward hasn't learned not to bring in players who won't read the playbook. Jawon Pass was the problem child last year. 

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

So what are the thoughts of Chase Field and Petco Park being laid out as football fields from the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and Holiday Bowl?  We're going to see Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park as football fields upcoming.  

I like it. This used to be the norm for NFL teams into the 1970's, so it's a bit of a throwback that works. I'm surprised Snapdragon wasn't used for the Holiday Bowl, but I think Petco sits more people and the locals prefer it due to location. 

I know bowl games are advertising for the sponsors, but I think the announcers for the Duke's Mayo Bowl have talked about mayonnaise more than the game. I can understand with blowouts, but West Virginia didn't go up by 17 until just now. Who's announcing the Pop Tarts Bowl? 

1 hour ago, sabrina5zunoi said:

Didn't they start gaining popularity in the 2000s?

Army-Navy started doing alternates in the early 2000's. Nike used them to promote the Pro Combat templates that were coming out at that time. When Navy moved to UA, that's when both teams dug into selecting one unit for the game. I miss players wearing patches for multiple units on both sides. 2015 was the last time there were a mix of brigade or higher patches for the Army. Since then, if more than one patch was offered, it was a choice of three units subordinate to the unit being honored at that time. 

An article on the recent uniforms.

https://uni-watch.com/2023/12/09/army-navy-special-rivalry-uniforms-through-the-years/

2011

2015

2016

2017

2022