CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: SFBadger96 on April 07, 2025, 02:02:38 PM
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Fellas,
Don't know if you noticed, but there are a bunch of college football programs in the Big Whatever conducting spring practices right now. I'm on vacation and not reading much news, but surely some of you college football fan site posters are curious about what's happening on a campus near you (or near to your heart)? Any thoughts about the spring that you want to share?
Rumor has it that in Madison the first teamers are getting a higher-than-usual number of reps because the head coach has installed a new offense (with new coordinator to boot), as well as potentially changing the point of attack on defense. Fickell wants to make sure that they know what they are doing come Fall...
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I've been following a bit.
I think what you say is true, based on reading various reports. I'm also reading that a lot of early enrollees are getting some good run.
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Rumor has it that in Madison the first teamers are getting a higher-than-usual number of reps because the head coach has installed a new offense (with new coordinator to boot), as well as potentially changing the point of attack on defense. Fickell wants to make sure that they know what they are doing come Fall...
Based on how lockdown every team is now because coaches are more paranoid than ever
(https://y.yarn.co/431466c6-2001-4689-87ec-75e9c3f0bf44_text.gif)
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I think the portal business has taken the wind out of a lot a sails as far as interest in these formerly popular off season activities.
Maybe I am just speaking for myself, but Volnation traffic has dried up postseason, and that is highly unusual, so I don’t think it’s just me.
There are still a few die hards over there hanging on every nugget, but they are a tenth of what they used to be.
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I mean nothing happening right now matters, considering there is still a portal window.
I think recruiting interest has dried up as well. Just tell me who is on the roster September 1
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I mean nothing happening right now matters, considering there is still a portal window.
I think recruiting interest has dried up as well. Just tell me who is on the roster September 1
Exactly.
It used to be we were concerned with what was going on in recruiting and in the position battles in the Spring because those things determined the 2-deep in the fall but now . . .
Ohio State needs a new QB because our last one (a transfer) ran out of eligibility. In the past this would have been a fascinating race to me. I remember years ago the Zwick/Smith debates on the Ohio State fan sites. Now . . .
Well, if the QB's really suck, Day will go shopping in the Portal. If one definitively wins the others may look for new homes in the portal and the recruits might never see the field even if they are good enough because they might be gone before a spot opens up.
I'm in the "I'll look at the 2-deep when it comes out for the opener" camp.
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I mean nothing happening right now matters, considering there is still a portal window.
I think recruiting interest has dried up as well. Just tell me who is on the roster September 1
Eh... Is this really a big thing? Do players slated to be starters typically leave after spring ball in the new NIL / transfer portal era?
I mean, anyone who is penciled in as a starter at their position after spring ball knows that they're penciled in as the starter. So they don't have an incentive to leave to go somewhere higher-tier for more NIL and... maybe be the starter. They also know if they bolt after spring ball, they're going to have a MUCH shorter time frame to learn a new playbook, coaching staff, system, and develop chemistry with teammates. Meaning even if someone throws a bigger NIL bag at them, they're at risk of it blowing up and them not being the starter in their new home.
I don't know if this is borne out by experience (I haven't tracked closely), but I would guess a lot of summer transfer portal is guys who are fighting for second string positions on the depth chart leaving and hoping they might find more PT elsewhere.
Maybe I'm being naive, but it seems to me that a player who leaves one of our teams after spring ball is usually going to be someone who we probably won't miss, and they're going to a lower-tier program where they might actually start. And that we're only bringing someone new to our team in the portal if we're not happy with who we've got after spring ball and we're taking a leap on a guy from a higher-tier program to fill a position we learned in spring ball needs help.
I could see the significant drop in recruiting interest due to the portal, but it seems like it would only be an incremental drop in spring ball interest.
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It's becoming more and more difficult to be a fan of a non-helmet.
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Eh... Is this really a big thing? Do players slated to be starters typically leave after spring ball in the new NIL / transfer portal era?
Yes
Keon Coleman was both MSU's #1 WR, and their highest paid player, and left after spring ball, because FSU matched money, and he felt he'd get more exposure. He was right.
The same year Payton Thorne left MSU for Auburn because even though he was the #1, MSU refused to guarantee him the starting job in the fall.
And it goes both ways. OSU could have a clear #1 on the roster, but if he's underwhelming in the spring, you better believe they are going shopping.
I believe both of MSU's DTs went to Oregon and Miami after spring ball last year. I think some schools are hesitant to pull the trigger in the first window, because those kids might flip again after spring, because contracts don't exist
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Yes
Keon Coleman was both MSU's #1 WR, and their highest paid player, and left after spring ball, because FSU matched money, and he felt he'd get more exposure. He was right.
The same year Payton Thorne left MSU for Auburn because even though he was the #1, MSU refused to guarantee him the starting job in the fall.
Thanks. Appreciate the context, as I haven't paid close attention the last few years.
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Yes
Keon Coleman was both MSU's #1 WR, and their highest paid player, and left after spring ball, because FSU matched money, and he felt he'd get more exposure. He was right.
The same year Payton Thorne left MSU for Auburn because even though he was the #1, MSU refused to guarantee him the starting job in the fall.
And it goes both ways. OSU could have a clear #1 on the roster, but if he's underwhelming in the spring, you better believe they are going shopping.
I believe both of MSU's DTs went to Oregon and Miami after spring ball last year. I think some schools are hesitant to pull the trigger in the first window, because those kids might flip again after spring, because contracts don't exist
You better believe they are going tampering.
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In addition to what ELA outlined, Kelly/LSU is being tight-lipped and cagey about most of Spring activities. They've also changed the spring game into an open practice the public is allowed to watch. LSU football news, inasfar as I can bring myself to care about it, is a big nothing-burger.
I'm sure we have great plans to avoid being embarrassed in yet another opener. lulz.
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Based on how lockdown every team is now because coaches are more paranoid than ever
Yeah but can you blame them? It’s almost like the portal is ruining the sport lol.
Michigan spring info was always tight lipped under LC & Jeem but Sherrone Moore has taken it to new levels. You get nothing from his staff and “insiders” with practice updates are basically non-existent.
These guys act like they’re protecting state secrets these days.
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best news out of lincoln is a damn fine special teams coach was plucked from Tennessee
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Yeah but can you blame them? It’s almost like the portal is ruining the sport lol.
Michigan spring info was always tight lipped under LC & Jeem but Sherrone Moore has taken it to new levels. You get nothing from his staff and “insiders” with practice updates are basically non-existent.
These guys act like they’re protecting state secrets these days.
Well.....Secret Agent Sign-Stealin' is a legit worry these days :93:
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best news out of lincoln is a damn fine special teams coach was plucked from Tennessee
I'm not happy about that. You'll love Eckler.
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yup, we all loved Mike 15 years ago when he was here with Pelini
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These guys act like they’re protecting state secrets these days.
Hell, MORE secretive than SOME who are supposed to protect state secrets:57:
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Hell, MORE secretive than SOME who are supposed to protect state secrets:57:
personally I think Ryan Day should put Mike Waltz in charge of the OSU group chats
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Well.....Secret Agent Sign-Stealin' is a legit worry these days :93:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHCfLtAAEzM
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Classic!
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I don’t follow Spring all that closely, and the rest of my information just comes from one podcast that I happen to like.
I might be more apt to follow if UW didn’t keep failing to meet hype. So for now, I wait on real games. I can scan and fill my time by reading a book.
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I don’t follow Spring all that closely, and the rest of my information just comes from one podcast that I happen to like.
I might be more apt to follow if UW didn’t keep failing to meet hype. So for now, I wait on real games. I can scan and fill my time by reading a book.
I’m kind of with you, I’d actually prefer to hear very little in spring and just see on field results in the fall. Don’t need sunshine pumping, would rather hear nothing unless it’s “omg everyone sucks it’s going to be a disaster” - then I’d rather hear that and know to just avoid the season in the fall.
Heard way too much sunshine pumping in spring ball under Lloyd Carr, RichRod, and Hoke and 9 times out of 10 it wound up being nonsense. Kevin Grady is still running for 90 yard touchdowns every practice according to reports…
I much prefer Jeem’s bunker mentality that Sherrone seems to have adopted.
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I’m kind of with you, I’d actually prefer to hear very little in spring and just see on field results in the fall. Don’t need sunshine pumping, would rather hear nothing unless it’s “omg everyone sucks it’s going to be a disaster” - then I’d rather hear that and know to just avoid the season in the fall.
Heard way too much sunshine pumping in spring ball under Lloyd Carr, RichRod, and Hoke and 9 times out of 10 it wound up being nonsense. Kevin Grady is still running for 90 yard touchdowns every practice according to reports…
I much prefer Jeem’s bunker mentality that Sherrone seems to have adopted.
The problem is most info comes from the team specific Rivals/247/On3 sites which just love to pump smoke up their subscribers asses
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I think the portal business has taken the wind out of a lot a sails as far as interest in these formerly popular off season activities.
Maybe I am just speaking for myself, but Volnation traffic has dried up postseason, and that is highly unusual, so I don’t think it’s just me.
There are still a few die hards over there hanging on every nugget, but they are a tenth of what they used to be.
A remarkable quantification of Transfer Portal effect on fans!
This is my 3rd recruiting cycle that I haven’t followed recruiting headlines like commits and ongoing class rankings. If Arizona lands a commitment from a four-star receiver my first reaction is negative: how long does he contribute to the roster before someone like Oklahoma or Ole Miss take notice and buy him away with their larger NIL offerings? If Texas lands a commitment from a five-star lineman, my first reaction is suspicion: by how much did the Longhorns have to outbid LSU and Georgia? And what if Georgia, still liking what they see two seasons later, comes up with even more NIL money?
I had followed offseason recruiting news for about twenty years before giving it up. And I’ve been wondering what happens to recruiting insider services like 247Sports? The obvious pivot is to focus on Transfer Portal, but I just don’t see that as quite as lucrative. There was something about tracking players as early as high school, that was like discovering a band before they hit the big time, that gave the fan some sense of having a rooting stake in watching players develop from the point of scholarship offers through college and even into the NFL.
And for programs like Oregon State (under Riley), Wisconsin, and Iowa, it was always worth watching which 3-stars their staffs were targeting and signing because it gave you insight into who they thought could be developed into the many all-conference lineman that rivaled the 4-stars and 5-stars that Ohio State and Michigan went after. Following recruiting gave me a backstage pass into program building and set my expectations for the next few seasons.
That’s all gone now. Program building is now watching Wisconsin and Michigan State replays, noticing lineman and receivers better than yours, and telling your GM to induce them away with more NIL money.
To quote:
Just tell me who is on the roster September 1
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Catsby,
That's a good point about the recruiting service business taking a hit in all this. Never thought about that. I wonder how it's going for them so far.
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The problem is most info comes from the team specific Rivals/247/On3 sites which just love to pump smoke up their subscribers asses
I feel like a part of that is just sports?
Maybe they’re blowing extra smoke, but part of the experience is getting excited about stuff you’ve not yet seen. It’s the reason folks perpetually get over their skis about a young quarterback who they’ve never seen.
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I feel like a part of that is just sports?
Maybe they’re blowing extra smoke, but part of the experience is getting excited about stuff you’ve not yet seen. It’s the reason folks perpetually get over their skis about a young quarterback who they’ve never seen.
I'm excited for new QB Carter Smith. I watched him closely down here. The kid can play.
Carter Smith 2025 Dual Threat Quarterback Wisconsin (https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/carter-smith-283571?view=pv)
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I feel like a part of that is just sports?
Maybe they’re blowing extra smoke, but part of the experience is getting excited about stuff you’ve not yet seen. It’s the reason folks perpetually get over their skis about a young quarterback who they’ve never seen.
Yep. Also the reason why guys are constantly pining for the backup QB when the starter is struggling because the backup looked good in the spring game and "has potential". And obviously the coach is just a MORON for not playing him! (Despite the fact that the coach sees the backup every day in practice and knows every wart he's got in his game.)
And this gets worse because EVERYONE remembers the time a backup comes in for a benched starter and actually balls out and wins the starting job. But nobody seems to remember the times--and I think they're far more common--where the backup comes in and makes everyone remember why he's the backup.
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UW needs to have a QB1 stay healthy all season. Been a while.
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I think the portal business has taken the wind out of a lot a sails...
...Volnation traffic has dried up postseason...
There are still a few die hards over there hanging on every nugget, but they are a tenth of what they used to be.
To elaborate further: On the Arizona Wildcats fan board I frequent, football talk has completely dried up for both Arizona football and commentary on rivals. In the offseasons, we’d always kept things going, like last offseason with talk of UCLA’s coaching change or Lincoln Riley trying to whine his way out of the season opener VS USC. Now there’s maybe one post a WEEK on the archrivals board.
Basketball talk is understandably still high on the Arizona Wildcats board, but the traffic for football has shifted (rather than dropped) to other topics such as politics on the non-sports boards. It looks like that’s sort of what’s happening here. Last offseason, so many of my posts centered on the upcoming football season. Now look at our board – our offseason talk has picked up for movies, music, books, travels, retirement, etc. Admittedly, the only offseason story I’ve actively tracked is Bill Belichick’s laughable start at UNC.
Remember fifteen and twenty years ago ESPN drew not-small ratings from World Series Of Poker broadcasts? You’d pay attention to what cards players had and, aided by percentage trackers on the screen, follow along to each hand played? Now imagine if players, before playing their hand, could buy the cards they wanted from other players or tables? Thus raising their odds for a winning hand? It would greatly remove anticipation for how various hands are played against each other. That’s kind of what happened to our offseason. Ohio State and Oregon can see who has the king and queen cards and can build their own flushes and full houses before the rest of us can play our hands. Between plays they can get the cards they want, and raise their percentages into the nineties between every hand played. Who wants to pay attention to the same offseason every offseason?
It took two or three previous offseasons of Transfer Portal nonsense, but this is the offseason when the bulk of us fans realized this.
To repeat:
Just tell me who is on the roster September 1
(https://i.imgur.com/1g0xcyw.png)
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Yep. Also the reason why guys are constantly pining for the backup QB when the starter is struggling because the backup looked good in the spring game and "has potential". And obviously the coach is just a MORON for not playing him! (Despite the fact that the coach sees the backup every day in practice and knows every wart he's got in his game.)
And this gets worse because EVERYONE remembers the time a backup comes in for a benched starter and actually balls out and wins the starting job. But nobody seems to remember the times--and I think they're far more common--where the backup comes in and makes everyone remember why he's the backup.
This points to two things that I’ve started to believe:
-The developmental value of in-game reps is often very overrated
-fans often understate the fact that most coaches at a high level, know infinitely more about what they’re looking at than we do. Even the bad ones. They are soooo much smarter about football than the average person.
That doesn’t mean they’re always right. But the baseline knowledge is in a whole different space.
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UW needs to have a QB1 stay healthy all season. Been a while.
IT WOULD BE NICE.
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This points to two things that I’ve started to believe:
-The developmental value of in-game reps is often very overrated
-fans often understate the fact that most coaches at a high level, know infinitely more about what they’re looking at than we do. Even the bad ones. They are soooo much smarter about football than the average person.
That doesn’t mean they’re always right. But the baseline knowledge is in a whole different space.
I think you are right here. Even in situations where the HC is ultimately "proven" to have been wrong, he *PROBABLY* came to that wrong conclusion through information that the rest of us simply don't have.
This is an important principle that applies elsewhere. The rest of this post probably belongs in weird history or something but it is an application of the principle so I'm just going to type it here.
General George Meade was in command of the Union Army at Gettysburg where a great Union victory was won. However, Meade has been criticized ever since for failing to substantially destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. This criticism started almost immediately after the battle and though an exact quote is difficult to source, President Lincoln himself appears to have believed that a more decisive pursuit of the Confederates by General Meade's Army of the Potomac could have effectively ended the war.
Armchair Generals who have the luxury of "commanding" armies weeks, months, years, decades, or in this case more than a century and a half after the action have argued for years that Meade missed a golden opportunity. The argument makes sense on it's face.
Here is a map (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg#/media/File:Gettysburg_Battle_Map_Day3.png) of the Union and Confederate lines on July 3, 1863 which was the last day of the battle. Note that the Confederates were to the North and West while the Union Army was to the South and East. In theory Meade's Army of the Potomac *SHOULD* have been able to cut off the retreat by Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, cut them off from resupply, and killed/destroyed/captured the bulk of the Confederate Army.
I've heard this argument ever since I've known about the battle but it occurred to me that Meade *MUST* have had some reason(s) for not doing something that, on it's face, seems to be the rather obviously correct military strategy.
A few years back I read this book, Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaign (https://www.amazon.com/Retreat-Gettysburg-Logistics-Pennsylvania-Campaign/dp/0807872091/ref=asc_df_0807872091?mcid=bffe61954c05316dbe788fc95240fed0&hvocijid=14696119702202146695-0807872091-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14696119702202146695&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015378&hvtargid=pla-2281435177658&psc=1). If you are REALLY interested in US Civil War history, I recommend it. If not, not so much. Most of it is REALLY dry logistical stuff so it isn't very exciting but it DID answer my question. Meade had a lot of reasons not to pursue the Confederates more vigorously after winning the Battle of Gettysburg.
One reason was simply to preserve the victory. Meade knew that he had won a major victory for the Union and was hesitant to risk blowing that by potentially losing a major battle by overstretching his army trying to accomplish more than was realistically possible.
The second, and bigger reason was intelligence. Meade didn't have a lot of solid information about the status of the Confederates. He did, however, have very good information about his own forces and it was troubling. Despite ultimately winning the battle, Meade's forces had suffered around 25% casualties (those aren't all KIA, some were wounded and would return but they were NOT available to Meade in the immediate aftermath of the Battle). Additionally, the troops that he had available to pursue were exhausted after marching long distances to get to Gettysburg then fighting a major battle at Gettysburg. Finally, Meade's troops were critically low on supplies including food and ammunition.
They say that hindsight is 20/20 and from my office, 160 years after the fact, I KNOW that Lees problems were much worse than Meade's. Meade's forces had suffered about 25% casualties but Lee's had suffered s similar number of casualties out of a smaller force. Additionally, just like Meade, Lee's remaining forces were exhausted and while Meade's supply situation was critical, Lee's was borderline catastrophic.
I know this because I can look it up online and I read it in the aforementioned book but Meade did NOT have those options available to him. Apparently the Army of Northern Virginia didn't have internet access and Kent Masterson Brown's book was almost 150 years from being published.
Attacking Lee with understrength (by roughly 25%) units that were exhausted, hungry, and short on ammunition would have been a hell of a gamble. In theory it might have worked out but that brings us back to the first point. Why take that big of a gamble trying to turn a major victory into a war-ending victory when the downside risk is that you turn a major victory into a potentially war-losing defeat?
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It rained for like 3 straight days after the battle the locals thought it tears from heaven. Meade was a fackin' hero and a topographical engineer who could read the lay of the land and knew how to take the right ground and fortify it. That hack Dan Sickles w/o orders advancing and getting his division cut to pieces shouldn't even have been in uniform - he was a political appointee.
After he got his leg blown off the fraud went back to Washington and told anyone that would listen that Meade almost botched the battle but that he(Sickles) thru shear will rallied the faltering troops to victory. Should have hung that asshole with the Lincoln conspiritors
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It rained for like 3 straight days after the battle the locals thought it tears from heaven. Meade was a fackin' hero and a topographical engineer who could read the lay of the land and knew how to take the right ground and fortify it. That hack Dan Sickles w/o orders advancing and getting his division cut to pieces shouldn't even have been in uniform - he was a political appointee.
After he got his leg blown off the fraud went back to Washington and told anyone that would listen that Meade almost botched the battle but that he(Sickles) thru shear will rallied the faltering troops to victory. Should have hung that asshole with the Lincoln conspiritors
Sickles was definitely a disaster.
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This points to two things that I’ve started to believe:
-The developmental value of in-game reps is often very overrated
-fans often understate the fact that most coaches at a high level, know infinitely more about what they’re looking at than we do. Even the bad ones. They are soooo much smarter about football than the average person.
That doesn’t mean they’re always right. But the baseline knowledge is in a whole different space.
you've just started to believe the bolded?
I guess you didn't have an Osborne or a Devaney to follow
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They had King Barry,who are these Osborne and Devaney types you speak of???
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well, he should have STARTED to believe when the king got things going
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Catsby,
That's a good point about the recruiting service business taking a hit in all this. Never thought about that. I wonder how it's going for them so far.
Update - this article from Essentially Sports (https://www.essentiallysports.com/ncaa-college-football-news-nico-iamaleava-predicted-to-replace-four-two-eight-six-yd-qb-as-multiple-powerhouses-set-to-join-the-race-jayden-maiava/) might accidentally have an idea.
In speculating where QB Iamaleava might next sign now that he's decamped from Tennessee: "The AI chatbot Grok, which is known for its recent accurate and blunt take on issues, provided other teams, too, who could be in contention to land the QB. The chatbot primarily highlighted UCLA, Oregon, Notre Dame, and Ohio State to rope in the QB’s services."
So there you have it - "AI chatbot Grok" is a qualified insider.
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Michigan football official twitter account releases videos of Bryce Underwood & Jadyn Davis throwing in spring ball. As of right now it's a two horse race as transfer QB Mikey Keene has been out of spring ball with an undisclosed injury and last years part-time starter Davis Warren is still rehabbing the ACL he tore in the bowl game.
yeah obviously these twitter videos mean nothing- but not loving Michigan down to just two guys right now- would've been ideal for Mikey Keene to go through spring ball.
hot takes from the video: Jadyn Davis is a lot smaller than Bryce which is a little crazy considering Bryce is just 17 years old and should be in HS right now....Jadyn Davis also still has a funky ass slingshot sidewinder throwing motion still- Tebow-esque....it's fucking hideously ugly and weird. Bryce on the other hand....that shit is text book....beautiful....dare I even say Marino-esque- up and out....up and out.
https://twitter.com/UMichFootball/status/1911135669596115441
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Wisconsin lost its starting LT to a torn ACL.
Just dandy.
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Huskers have 4 O-linemen with starting experience sitting out spring practice
the good news is all 4 should be back in the fall and some young guys are getting reps
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(https://s3media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/9/37/13037009.png?width=600&fit=bounds)
(https://c.tenor.com/PQreEw8d3fQAAAAC/tenor.gif)
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Orange & Blue Game: 56,000 in attendance
https://floridagators.com/news/2025/4/12/football-orange-blue-game-notebook-national-champs-honored-records-fall-lagway-update.aspx (https://floridagators.com/news/2025/4/12/football-orange-blue-game-notebook-national-champs-honored-records-fall-lagway-update.aspx)
And our QB has total buy-in and works to keep guys from leaving and recruits transfers to join the Gators.
(https://i.imgur.com/GW8cPfy.gif)
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Spring games .... results soon forgotten, or entirely ignored.
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Michigan football official twitter account releases videos of Bryce Underwood & Jadyn Davis throwing in spring ball. As of right now it's a two horse race as transfer QB Mikey Keene has been out of spring ball with an undisclosed injury and last years part-time starter Davis Warren is still rehabbing the ACL he tore in the bowl game.
yeah obviously these twitter videos mean nothing- but not loving Michigan down to just two guys right now- would've been ideal for Mikey Keene to go through spring ball.
A two horse race? Who is Sherrone Moore fooling? Understandably Michigan's staff has to go through the motions and make it sound like all positions are an open competition through Spring. And putting Underwood under marginal pressure to compete for what is already his job is developmentally healthy, but the ball is entirely in Underwood's court.
Underwood will be the starter game one, and for the rest of the season (barring unforeseen injury). Why do I say this? You don't put $10M into a teenager's backpack and then not start him. Paying Underwood over $10M is the announcement that Underwood is the starter.
(https://i.imgur.com/ocbSbUU.png)
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A two horse race? Who is Sherrone Moore fooling? Understandably Michigan's staff has to go through the motions and make it sound like all positions are an open competition through Spring. And putting Underwood under marginal pressure to compete for what is already his job is developmentally healthy, but the ball is entirely in Underwood's court.
Underwood will be the starter game one, and for the rest of the season (barring unforeseen injury). Why do I say this? You don't put $10M into a teenager's backpack and then not start him. Paying Underwood over $10M is the announcement that Underwood is the starter.
(https://i.imgur.com/ocbSbUU.png)
yeah I get what you're saying, but Moore isn't going to start him if he's not ready. ideally Mikey Keene was suppose to come in during spring and push/teach Underwood and be the starter this year with Bryce Underwood sprinkled in packages- much like '21 with Cade starting and JJ getting packages. Moore is trying to win games- and if Underwood isn't ready he's not going to force him.
Michigan has a chance to be much better than people think imo. Feel like they are being slept on a little bit. Schedule is much easier this year and the defense is going to be really good again even despite losing Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, and Josiah Stewart. They didn't have Will Johnson for over half of the season in '24 and their young CB's got plenty of run and Zeke Berry and Jyaire Hill is pretty good returning CB duo and the early returns on Shamari Earls are sounding very promising. Not to mention they'll be getting Rod Moore- their QB of the secondary back.
QB situation should be better...can't get any worse than it was last year. Mikey Keene isn't some superstar but he's light years better than Davis Warren or Alex Orji imo. Bryce Underwood was the #1 player and #1 QB in the class. Jadyn Davis has a year under his belt and was a top 100 recruit out of HS. Have a hard time seeing the QB room being worse than it was in '24.
OL has a chance to be pretty damn good imo and I trust Sherrone Moore there without question. OT Evan Link really turned the corner at the end of the year with impressive performances vs Ohio State and Bama as a RS Frosh and OT Andrew Sprague was dominant as a true frosh in his one start in the bowl game vs Alabama- he's going to be a superstar imo. That should be a really nice tackle duo. They return Giovanni El-Hadi at guard and Greg Crippen at center, will have to find a guard to replace Josh Priebe.
RB room should be really strong with a 1-2 punch of Justice Haynes & Jordan Marshall. WR remains the biggest question mark for that offense. Transfer from Indiana has talent but will have to prove it and Fred Moore has to continue to ascend- he's shown flashes but never put it all together. They will need one of them to breakout or they'll probably be relying on true freshman whether that be Andrew Marsh or Jamar Browder. Don't have much faith in the other WR's- Semaj Morgan is just too slow for someone that small and Channing Goodwin & Kendrick Bell probably wouldn't be at Michigan if not for the familial connections imo.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Vu6Tx5k.jpeg)
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Gbayor didn't play much at Nebraska - transferred to Mizzou - didn't play much there
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how is Jaden Rashada 5th?
I'll take any WR. Please and thanks.
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Wisconsin could use a guy like Cotton at LT.
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(https://i.imgur.com/Vu6Tx5k.jpeg)
lol @ Rashada
FFS
The Smith guy from Florida had 5 tackles. A 6'4" safety. Idk.
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apparently, not much out there
the good players stay put
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how is Jaden Rashada 5th?
Nico Iamaleava's Dad must be also advising Jaden Rashada?
If I remember correctly, there was a bidding war between Miami and Florida reaching NIL ranges of $6-$8M before it fell apart after questions emerged over whether either school had the funds to afford that much. Rashada then ends up at Arizona State for a year. Who knows why he ended up at Georgia but nothing he did at ASU suggested Rashada had a shot to play at Georgia. Now he's back on the block and going into his third year of wasted development.
On signing with Arizona State, Rashada was a Top 50 prospect nationally, and the 7th rated QB according to 247. Rashada deserves the bad advice that he's willing to take. Staying at Arizona State was his best option for a shot at the NFL.
(https://i.imgur.com/40LE865.png)
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A good listen.
https://youtu.be/WP3tfi8Oh30?si=5jxcRhm3vEv3pfru
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Michigan's Spring game is this Saturday at 11AM. However, it wont be televised until April 27th, 11AM, BTN, two days after the portal closes.
Where the hype kinda meets the road.
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Michigan's Spring game is this Saturday at 11AM. However, it wont be televised until April 27th, 11AM, BTN, two days after the portal closes.
Where the hype kinda meets the road.
is some frosh or 4th year guy who has never done squat showing out in a practice game vs his own team really going to cause them to hit the portal and try to get more money? if that's where we are in this sport, just close to the whole thing down.
just have the fucking spring game and air it live, please.
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(https://i.imgur.com/JNZnTjV.jpeg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/JNZnTjV.jpeg)
that is insane...
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https://twitter.com/TheDDShow3/status/1912706953291104459
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good for him
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https://twitter.com/TheDDShow3/status/1912706953291104459
Versus no state income tax in Tennessee.
Seems stupid.
How did he get admitted to UCLA, being so stupid?
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Versus no state income tax in Tennessee.
Seems stupid.
How did he get admitted to UCLA, being so stupid?
seems to suggest what one of those CFB podcasts I was listening to- might've been Cover 3- that Nico really didn't like Tennessee. He's a Samoan kid from Cali born and raised in LA- dude got dropped into the middle of Knoxville, Tennessee- which I love that town- but a kid like him where he's from his background- he was probably missing home....hence he winds up at UCLA.
don't think it was all about the money leaving, but it was all about the money for him going to Tennessee...and if you do something for money and your heart really isn't in it- probably not gonna work out. And if that is the case- best for everyone involved Tennessee included that he leaves.
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(https://i.imgur.com/0CVlSMu.png)
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(https://i.imgur.com/0CVlSMu.png)
Lol. Matt Rhule is a clown.
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Nico Iamaleava’s deal with UCLA is reportedly $1.5M. So not the $4M he was asking for but less than what he would have made had he just stayed in TN.
That’s $1.5M in Literally the highest state income taxed state in the country.
$1.5M gonna be $800K by the time he gets it
Kharma is a bitch, obviously not a Business/Economics major at school if he's taking anything at all. With decisions like that makes ya wonder if he's really QB material specially at the next level
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don't think it was all about the money leaving, but it was all about the money for him going to Tennessee...and if you do something for money and your heart really isn't in it- probably not gonna work out. And if that is the case- best for everyone involved Tennessee included that he leaves.
Good Point but who has more talent on that side of the ball headed into the '25 season. The Vols made the dance so might have worked out better staying
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Reports where the kid overplayed his hand a good bit. Doesn’t seem too much more complicated than that.
And UCLA seems like a pretty logical fit. They might need to overpay someone for some hype. Plus, he’s obviously from there.
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his father overplayed the hand - dumbass
if the kid REALLY wasn't happy there - maybe its a way to get out and back to UCLA
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is some frosh or 4th year guy who has never done squat showing out in a practice game vs his own team really going to cause them to hit the portal and try to get more money? if that's where we are in this sport, just close to the whole thing down.
In this recent Josh Pate commentary on Nico Iamaleava leaving Tennessee, if you skip ahead to the 13 minute mark, he has an account of a Spring Game performance being used as NIL leverage:
“I had a head coach recently give me a story about a guy that wasn’t necessarily the best practice player. It wasn’t Tennessee. It wasn’t Nico…This head coach told me a guy that wasn’t one of their better practice players, not a great energy guy, not a terrific locker room guy, not a cancer…not a guy that they would promote as one of the faces of the program…But they have a Spring Game where he gets in and he’s a gamer…So Spring Game format being what it is, a lot of players get in that wouldn’t get in a real game; so he gets in and he shines and he pops a couple of times. Well reckon where he is the next day – he’s in the [NIL] collectives office; he wants $150,000 more dollars or he’s in the Portal.”
Yes, that’s where we are with this sport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTuvzfRmCJ4
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I have some skepticism of a head coach who believes in spring game “gamers.”
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You're barely on our roster and got 100 yards in the spring game and want more money??
(https://i.imgur.com/Pvr6Q6H.jpeg)
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For the aTm fans around here in Big Ten country: DL #10, Marco Jones, Fr., Dublin, CA, is my former nextdoor neighbors' grandson. We weren't neighbors for all that long, but they are an awesome family. I think both of their girls were college athletes, including Marco's mom--his dad, I think, was also a college athlete. Both parents were (are?) Oakland PD cops. Anyway, go Marco!
https://12thman.com/sports/football/roster/marco-jones/14806 (https://12thman.com/sports/football/roster/marco-jones/14806)
Paywall: https://texags.com/s/66955/marco-jones-speaks-on-his-strong-showing-in-the-maroon-white-game (https://texags.com/s/66955/marco-jones-speaks-on-his-strong-showing-in-the-maroon-white-game)
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how is Jaden Rashada 5th?
On signing with Arizona State, Rashada was a Top 50 prospect nationally, and the 7th rated QB according to 247. Rashada deserves the bad advice that he's willing to take. Staying at Arizona State was his best option for a shot at the NFL.
Rashada is turned down by North Carolina, which might be a good thing because both would end up disappointing each other. UNC, because Rashada is dead weight. Rashada, because I'm expecting an awful season for UNC. (Belichick isn't serious about football these days.)
Turns out 247 has Rashada ranked the 205th best player left in the Portal? A far cry from 5th overall.
(https://i.imgur.com/inxlA38.png)
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For the aTm fans around here in Big Ten country: DL #10, Marco Jones, Fr., Dublin, CA, is my former nextdoor neighbors' grandson. We weren't neighbors for all that long, but they are an awesome family. I think both of their girls were college athletes, including Marco's mom--his dad, I think, was also a college athlete. Both parents were (are?) Oakland PD cops. Anyway, go Marco!
https://12thman.com/sports/football/roster/marco-jones/14806 (https://12thman.com/sports/football/roster/marco-jones/14806)
Paywall: https://texags.com/s/66955/marco-jones-speaks-on-his-strong-showing-in-the-maroon-white-game (https://texags.com/s/66955/marco-jones-speaks-on-his-strong-showing-in-the-maroon-white-game)
Nice.
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With the spring football period that has become dizzying in modern college football ending soon, we’re going to go over the 1 biggest concern right now for every B1G program. We’ll go in alphabetical order, so we don’t make 1 team’s concern look bigger than another. Every program (even Ohio State) has issues, and here’s the biggest concern for each:
Illinois — How will the Illini manage high expectations?
Bret Bielema won a bunch of games at Wisconsin, going 68-24 in 7 seasons. Then, after a disappointing run at Arkansas and 3 mostly mediocre seasons back in the Big Ten at Illinois, he pulled off a 10-win campaign last fall in Champaign with a very respectable 6-3 conference record. Bielema even beat an SEC team in the Citrus Bowl, leading the Illini over South Carolina to cap off what could be the beginning of a new era of winning football at Illinois.
Illinois football hasn’t been relevant in a really long time. Ron Turner led the Fighting Illini to a Big Ten title way back in 2001, and that was pretty much Illinois football’s last big hurrah. Then, former 4-star recruit Luke Altmyer transferred from Ole Miss for the 2023 season, and suddenly the Illini had themselves a quarterback. After throwing for 2,717 yards with 22 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions last fall, Altmyer is back for more at Illinois, brushing aside the lure of the NFL Draft and never considering the spring portal.
With Altmyer back for 2025, can Illinois football finally achieve some consistent winning after failing to do just that in 2002, 2008 and 2023 after having a taste of success the year before? Bielema couldn’t pull it off after leading the Illini to 8 wins in 2022, but this fall he’ll get another shot at it.
Indiana — Will the Hoosiers be focused enough come fall?
Indiana was the darling of college football in 2024, racking up 11 wins and an 8-1 Big Ten record in Curt Cignetti’s first season in Bloomington. Cignetti himself was the toast of the sport, with his brash and bold ways on the sideline and behind the microphone. Fast-forward to this spring, and Cignetti again wasn’t mincing his words. After the Hoosiers’ 10th practice of the spring, Cignetti lit into his team before taking any questions, which is a major deal when it happens during the relative calm of spring football.
“I think today we squandered an opportunity to improve as much as possible,” Cignetti told reporters. “We were inconsistent in too many areas, probably not mentally prepared to come out and do what it takes to have a successful practice and improve as much as possible.”
Cignetti sent his spring message, loud and clear. He’s used to winning, as shown by his 130-37 record as a head coach. He was already laying the groundwork for fall camp because Cignetti knows Indiana will be the hunted instead of the hunter, for a change. The fiery coach was demanding focus now, because he’s not about to let his program turn into a 1-year wonder this fall.
Iowa — Will a poor portal translate to poor results this fall?
Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz was adamant after spring practice that the program wasn’t done yet in trying to acquire talent through the spring transfer portal. Iowa fans had to be relieved to hear that, too, because the Hawkeyes haven’t exactly brought in a bonanza of reinforcements so far through the portal. In fact, On3 ranked Iowa’s portal class 14th in the 18-team Big Ten, putting the Hawkeyes ahead of only Northwestern, USC, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Iowa added only 3 players during the spring window so far — offensive lineman Bryce George from Ferris State, quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski from Wake Forest and cornerback Shahid Barros from South Dakota. Yes, even though the portal window is closed, players who are already in the portal still have time to head elsewhere.
Look, the Hawkeyes are coming off a decent season, going 8-5 with a 6-3 record in the Big Ten, but Ferentz hasn’t stuck around Iowa for over a quarter-century to have decent results. The past 2 national champions have come from the Big Ten, and that doesn’t even include Oregon, Penn State and Indiana, so the competition for talent has never been higher. Iowa simply can’t afford to fall too far behind.
Maryland — Depth a concern on both lines of scrimmage
Head coach Mike Locksley saw 5 of the Terrapins’ expected key players this fall enter the spring portal. Offensive linemen Terez Davis and Tamarus Walker, defensive lineman Lavon Johnson and linebackers Kellan Wyatt and Dylan Gooden are on their way out of College Park. This could ultimately create major problems for the Terps come fall.
Replacing that kind of talent and depth is going to be a chore for Locksley as he tries to get the program pointed in the right direction after last year’s 4-8 disaster. Maryland only won 1 Big Ten game in 2024, and this kind of last-minute spring exodus was the last thing that the Terps needed as they search for respectability. Davis and Walker both appeared in at least 9 games last season and were expected to be key pieces on the O-line, while Johnson was being counted on after emerging at nose tackle last season.
Michigan — Managing expectations for Bryce Underwood
Look, the 5-star phenom is probably going to be under center in Week 1 at the Big House against New Mexico. But Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore isn’t in the business of just handing the starting quarterback job to a freshman in April or May, so Underwood is going to have to win the job himself in fall camp. Moore said so following a spring game performance when Underwood showed flashes of brilliance but also room for improvement in going 12 for 25 for 187 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
Underwood capped the spring game performance with an 88-yard touchdown strike to tight end Jalen Hoffman. He’s far from a finished product right now because, well, not even the most hyped freshmen ever are. Wolverines fans are already dreaming big things for Underwood in Ann Arbor, and that’s fine, but the expectations are going to have to be held in check, especially at the start of the season. But the starting job isn’t Underwood’s yet, and Jadyn Davis is still right there to push him.
Michigan State — Who will take charge in the backfield?
Nate Carter and Kay’ron Lynch-Adams left East Lansing for the NFL Draft, which has left a gaping hole in the Spartans’ running back room. The addition of Sacramento State transfer Elijah Tau-Tolliver is nice, but he’ll not only be adjusting to a new program but also to a whole new level of football after arriving from the FCS ranks. But Tau-Tolliver will at least give Michigan State an infusion of talent at the position that it sorely needed with that departing talent.
Sophomore Makhi Frazier and Brandon Tullis will also challenge for playing time, but both players only had 7 carries each last season, so neither is a proven commodity. By fall, Michigan State hopes 1 of these guys proves they can carry the load.
Minnesota — Who will emerge as the top wide receiver?
Daniel Jackson led the Gophers in catches (75) and receiving yards (863) in 2024, but he’s gone to the NFL, signing an undrafted free agent deal with the Houston Texans. He’ll be far away from Minneapolis this fall, leaving Minnesota scrambling to fill that top wideout position. Transfers Logan Loya, Javon Tracy and Malachi Coleman will provide an infusion of talent at the position, as will returning wideouts Le’Meke Brockington, Christian Driver, Kenric Lanier II, Nuke Hayes and Tyler Williams.
That’s a lot of new guys mixed in with a lot of returning guys. But who can emerge and be the Golden Gophers’ No. 1 guy at wide receiver? All of it is as up in the air as the passes they’ll be catching come fall camp in trying to be Minnesota’s next Jackson.
Nebraska — Overcoming big-time change at defensive line
Head coach Matt Rhule didn’t just lose defensive linemen Nash Hutmacher, Ty Robinson and James Williams from last season. He also lost his defensive line coach from last season, with Terrance Knighton leaving for Florida State. Rhule brought in Terry Bradden to replace Knighton and run the defensive line, so it’s just about a full-fledged defensive line revamp in Lincoln in 2025.
Nebraska attacked its D-line losses in the transfer portal, adding Williams Nwaneri, Jaylen George and Gabe Moore. Nwaneri could be a huge key in rebuilding the unit, as a former 5-star recruit who Nebraska lured to Lincoln from Missouri. He had 2 tackles and 1 sack in 2024 at Mizzou, and much more will be expected of him and the other transfer additions in 2025.
Northwestern — Putting offensive line back together again
Injuries were rampant along the Wildcats’ offensive line in 2024. A whopping 8 different offensive linemen played over 100 snaps last season, and that meant continuity was hard to come by. The good news is that 6 of those 8 linemen are returning to Evanston in 2025, and Northwestern has added 3 linemen via the transfer portal.
The flip side to all of this is that Wildcats offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle is going to have a tough task in finding the exact right combination. O’Boyle’s job will be made a little easier just because of all those returning linemen, but there were 5 different starting combinations on a week-to-week basis last season, and now it’s time to hopefully find just 1 that works best. O’Boyle admitted that the injuries and lineup changes along the O-line took their toll last season, just 1 of the reasons Northwestern went 4-8. In 2025, the hope will be for far fewer injuries and maybe just 1 starting combination.
Ohio State — Who’s the new starting quarterback?
Will Howard came to Columbus to finish off his career with a national title, and he did just that. Now, he’s property of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is great for Howard but not ideal for the Buckeyes. Howard got better as the season went along, and his experience meant everything for Ohio State in its Playoff run.
But that safety valve of experience is gone now, as Howard amounted to a 1-and-done for Ryan Day’s proud program. Now, the position is up in the air in 2025. Will former 5-star stud and Alabama transfer Julian Sayin take control of the competition, as he looked to be doing in the spring game after going 17 of 24 for 175 yards and a touchdown? Or can Lincoln Kienholz beat out Sayin? Day provided some clarity this week, revealing that Sayin and Kienholz have separated themselves from freshman Tavien St. Clair, making it a 2-man competition to replace Howard.
Oregon — Who’s following Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel?
Oregon has been beyond spoiled at the quarterback position the past 3 seasons, between Bo Nix’s brilliance in 2022 and 2023, followed by a special season from Dillon Gabriel last fall. It hasn’t produced a national title, but it’s given the Ducks security knowing they had one of the best quarterbacks in the country to lean on. So, who will Dan Lanning’s program trot out behind center this fall, and can the Ducks still win without having one of the top QBs in college football?
Redshirt freshman Luke Moga had an excellent spring game, throwing for 112 yards and a touchdown while showing he can evade blitzes with his legs. Moga will be battling with Dante Moore and Austin Novosad, who are both coming off redshirt seasons, so clearly Oregon is in uncharted territory at the position when compared with the past 3 seasons. Moore, who transferred from UCLA after the 2023 season, threw for 140 yards in the spring game and, by all accounts, is the leader in this 3-man competition. But he didn’t really separate himself this spring, and so the QB battle will drag into fall camp.
Penn State — Linebacker U has linebacker depth issues
Penn State head coach James Franklin isn’t one to point out one of his team’s weaknesses, especially publicly. But Franklin did just that after last Saturday’s Blue-White spring game when asked about his concerns regarding the team’s linebacker depth. The Nittany Lions just lost redshirt sophomore Ta’Mere Robinson, who transferred to Big Ten rival USC. That compounded a problem area for Penn State, whose linebacker unit was already young and on the thin side heading into the summer.
“I think we’re in good shape, but there are some concerns there,” admitted Franklin to reporters after the spring game. “We lost a guy that we didn’t anticipate losing. We’re not a big portal team, but we’re going to have to address some issues.”
Those are big words, from any head coach and especially from Franklin. Dom DeLuca and Tony Rojas, who has battled injury this spring and is expected back soon, are players Franklin can count on at linebacker. Behind them, there are questions, and the middle linebacker spot Penn State has made famous over several decades is a huge concern right now in Happy Valley. Anyone who doesn’t truly believe this can take it from Franklin himself.
Purdue — Who will replace Max Klare’s production?
Who are we kidding? The Boilermakers are coming off a 1-11 disaster in 2024 that included an 0-9 mark in the Big Ten. They fired Ryan Walters and tasked new coach Barry Odom with the ultimate challenge in 2025. Yeah, there are a ton of concerns right now in West Lafayette. But if we have to pick just 1, and we do, we’ll go with the transfer of budding star tight end Max Klare to Ohio State and ask who is going to replace that kind of production?
Yes, the rich got richer with Klare opting to head to Columbus for the 2025 season. Conversely, it left poor Purdue to replace its leading receiver and 1 of the few bright spots from last fall. You know Klare must have been really good to pile up 51 catches for 685 yards and 4 touchdowns on the 2024 Purdue offense. He would’ve been a great piece for Odom to build on in Year 1, but instead he’ll be in Columbus.
Redshirt sophomore George Burhenn was having a fantastic spring before injuring his leg in a scrimmage in early April and having surgery. Odom maintains Burhenn will be ready for Week 1.
UNLV transfers Christian Earls — who is 6-foot-8 — and Christian Moore, along with Wake Forest transfer Luca Puccinelli will be fighting for playing time, too.
Rutgers — What about that inexperienced secondary?
Rutgers already earned a huge victory in the courtroom with UNLV transfer safety Jett Elad winning a preliminary injunction that will give him another year of college eligibility. It’s a major win for Elad and, in turn, a huge win for a Scarlet Knights defensive backfield that is replacing 4 starters in 2025. Sophomore safety Kaj Sanders is Rutgers’ only returning player in the secondary.
Sure, the reality that Elad will be able to play this fall will help fill those major voids. But he’s only 1 player, and there will be an adjustment period for him after transferring from the Mountain West Conference. Rutgers does have potential reinforcements this fall at cornerback with returning backups Al-Shadee Salaam and Bo Mascoe to go with transfers Cam Miller and Jacobie Henderson. The Scarlet Knights might survive the secondary overhaul but it’s going to be a work in progress to get there.
UCLA — Is fall camp enough time for Nico Iamaleava?
The Nico Iamaleava saga took over college football this spring, from Knoxville all the way to Pasadena. There was a lot of negative noise, and for good reason, about how Iamaleava left Tennessee. The fact is though that Iamaleava will be heading home to Southern California to play for the Bruins, and another fact is the timing of it all means Iamaleava will be participating in his first UCLA practice on the first day of fall camp.
That’s a lot to overcome, and Iamaleava will have a lot of catching up to do once fall camp begins. Head coach DeShaun Foster navigated through spring practices while the Iamaleava questions swirled around Westwood. He was tasked with keeping both eyes on his team while the big prize of the spring portal was a few thousand miles away. That will all change in a few months, and the biggest challenge for Foster now is getting the new centerpiece of his program integrated in the leadup to Week 1.
USC — What’s going on at linebacker?
Linebacker could be USC’s biggest question mark going into fall camp. Redshirt senior Eric Gentry is back for his 4th season with the Trojans, but he’s been injury-prone in 2 of his first 3 seasons and has missed multiple games. Maybe because of that alone, USC targeted many linebackers in the transfer portal, signing Penn State transfer Ta’Mere Robinson to heavily boost its linebacker depth.
Sophomore Desman Stephens II could be a starter alongside Gentry, and redshirt freshman Jadyn Walker could be in the mix for playing time as well. But clearly this is a position to watch for the Trojans as fall camp gets going because it’s just not as deep as USC is at other spots.
Washington — Will transfer additions solve run defense?
The Huskies were a mediocre 6-7 in their first season in the Big Ten with an equally mediocre 4-5 conference record. What’s one of the best ways Jedd Fisch’s program can escape that mediocrity in 2025? How about stopping the run. Last season, Washington allowed over 160 yards rushing per game, which ranked in the bottom half of college football. There was a lack of depth and size in the Huskies’ interior defensive line.
To combat the rush defense issue in 2025, Washington went to the transfer portal for help and got it. The Huskies brought in a trio of linemen to help with that interior depth, with Anterio Thompson, Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei and Simote Pepa heading to Seattle. The additions are a big step in the right direction for the Huskies, but anytime you’re counting on transfers, much less 3 of them, to solve a problem area, there has to be some concern. Washington will hope the transfer additions combined with returning players Jayvon Parker and Logan Sagapolu is the right cure for those rush defense woes from last fall.
Wisconsin — Who will finally be the answer at left tackle?
The 2025 Badgers are chock full of question marks coming out of spring ball following the program’s first losing season since 2001 and first time missing a bowl game since that year. Throw in a head coach in Luke Fickell trying to overcome a rough first few years in Madison while starting the 3rd different quarterback in his 3 full seasons there, a new offensive coordinator and a brutal schedule this fall (on paper), and there’s a lot of obstacles to tackle.
The biggest obstacle to tackle right now though is at left tackle, one of the most important positions on the field. Wisconsin lost 4-year starter Jack Nelson, who started primarily at left tackle. Nelson is gone to the NFL, and his presumed replacement, former 4-star 2024 recruit Kevin Heywood, suffered a torn ACL during a spring practice.
So, now what for Wisconsin at left tackle? There are options out there. There’s Vanderbilt transfer Leyton Nelson, who had some first-team reps at the position after Heywood’s injury. There’s starting left guard Joe Brunner, who also got first-team reps at left tackle during the spring. Fickell has mentioned redshirt freshman Emerson Mandell as a possibility, and Central Michigan transfer Davis Heinzen has experience at left tackle. Solving this position is a must if the Badgers want to turn things around.
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Glossing over Juice Williams, right out of the gate.
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nailed UNL and the D-Line
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The last time a Heisman Trophy winner belonged to the Big Ten, the BCS still determined who played for the national title, and Nick Saban hadn’t even begun his reign of glory at Alabama.
It was almost 2 full decades ago, in 2006, and it was Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who did the deed, capturing the Heisman with a scintillating stat line. Smith completed over 65% of his passes, threw for 2,542 yards, and tossed 30 touchdown passes with just 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 204 yards, which was a low total compared to his previous 2 seasons.
We’re going to gaze into the 2025 college football crystal ball and pick out the 5 likeliest Big Ten talents to finally put an end to that whole 2006 thing. Note — the order of this list has nothing to do with who has the best chance to capture the Heisman:
Drew Allar, QB, Penn State (+1600 via FanDuel)
Allar deciding to return to Happy Valley for 1 more season was the first big win of 2025 for Penn State, months before the first game of the 2025 season was even played. The Nittany Lions were a play or 2 away from playing in the national championship game, and Allar’s crushing interception against Notre Dame was a big reason why that didn’t happen.
Allar had a huge year in 2024, throwing for 3,327 yards with 24 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. It was that 8th interception, though, that prevented Allar from playing for a national title last season.
Yes, he had already committed to coming back for another season before the College Football Playoff even began. Allar could’ve changed his mind after the semifinal loss, figuring that it was a really nice run in State College, and that it was time to head to the NFL. That didn’t happen, and now Penn State will be getting its star signal-caller back with the ultimate motivation to do a little better in 2025.
“I’ll try to learn from it, do everything in my power to get better and just grow from it,” Allar told reporters after the Playoff loss in Miami.
Allar’s final season in Happy Valley will be one of the most fascinating storylines to watch in college football this fall, for many reasons. Can he make it all worth it, learn from his huge mistake and lead Penn State to its first national title since 1986?
Allar should put up some big numbers, assuming he stays healthy, and he should have the Nittany Lions in the Playoff hunt again. If all of that happens, there’s no reason Allar shouldn’t be right in the middle of the Heisman conversation.
Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State (+1400 via DraftKings)
Not a lot of wide receivers win the Heisman. Not a lot of wide receivers are Jeremiah Smith, though, and a wide receiver just won it last year when Colorado 2-way star Travis Hunter took home the honor.
Smith exploded onto the college football scene with a vengeance in 2024, leaving a lasting impression while helping lead the Buckeyes to a national championship. His 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns broke all kinds of freshman and conference records, and he’s back to terrorize secondaries in 2025.
Could Smith’s production this fall suffer a bit with a new and inexperienced quarterback coming in? Sure.
Smith arrived in Columbus in 2024 at the perfect time, with a veteran quarterback in Will Howard transferring in from Kansas State. Howard’s presence no doubt accentuated Smith’s freshman breakout last fall, and Howard won’t be around this fall for an encore with Smith. But whoever wins the quarterback job at Ohio State in 2025, whether it’s Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz, will be throwing to the best wideout in the country, who should firmly be in the Heisman discussion.
Just imagine Smith standing at that podium in New York City in December to accept the award. It would be fitting if an Ohio State player is the one who vanquishes the Big Ten’s Heisman drought, and another Ohio State player with the last name “Smith,” just like the Buckeyes QB who won it 19 years earlier. It would also be Ohio State’s 8th Heisman winner, which would tie the Buckeyes with USC for the most by any program.
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State (+20000 via DraftKings)
Caleb Downs defying Heisman history and winning the Heisman as a safety could happen. He’s that good and that battle-tested.
Downs helped lead Alabama to the College Football Playoff as a freshman and then backboned the Buckeyes’ national championship run as a sophomore. He has a combined 188 total tackles and a whopping 118 solo tackles in his first 2 years of college football.
Those numbers are off the charts, but Downs’s value to Ohio State goes way beyond that. He’s a proven winner, and his leadership role on the team is growing by the day. Downs was a second-team All-American as a freshman at Alabama and was a unanimous All-American last season at Ohio State. If you’re even being mentioned as a Heisman candidate as a defensive player, much less a safety, it means you’re a special breed.
Downs is just that. Yes, the odds are still stacked against him to actually win the Heisman.
A few memorable, big plays on defense in some big games this fall, combined with a few dazzling punt returns, could thrust Downs into the Heisman mix. After what he’s accomplished in just 2 seasons of college football, it would be unwise to bet against him.
Nico Iamaleava, QB, UCLA (+8000 via FanDuel)
He was the talk of spring football, and not for the best of reasons. The Nico Iamaleava saga was all over the place, from Knoxville to Pasadena, which is where he’s landed for the 2025 season.
Iamaleava, for all of his baggage, and there is a whole lot, is a part of UCLA and the Big Ten now. He would’ve been a Heisman candidate had he stayed at Tennessee, and even though he heads west to join what’s a less talented roster, Iamaleava can still play his way into the Heisman mix.
Iamaleava will have to play some catch-up during fall camp at UCLA after missing all of the spring. It won’t be easy, and the Los Angeles and national media blitz that’s surely awaiting him also will be a lot to deal with.
Once he gets settled in, though, Iamaleava should be OK, and he’ll have all the motivation in the world to shut the legion of naysayers up. We’ll learn a lot about Iamaleava’s mental toughness this fall, and if he’s tough enough, the Heisman could be in reach.
This was a guy who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff as a redshirt freshman while throwing for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and just 5 interceptions. He also ran for 358 yards.
This was all in his first season as the starter, against SEC defenses. Iamaleava has a real shot to quiet the haters buzzing around him. He’ll be trying to turn UCLA back into a winner, and if that happens, then the Heisman chatter will follow.
Dylan Raiola, QB, Nebraska (+6000 via FanDuel)
We saved another wild card for last. A lot would have to go right for Raiola to be in New York City in December. But a lot went right for Raiola last fall in Lincoln.
He set Nebraska freshman records for passing yards with 2,819 and completion percentage at 67.1%. Yes, Raiola also threw 11 interceptions, but he led the Cornhuskers to a winning season and a victory over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Raiola would have to take a big leap in 2025 to achieve Heisman status, but he should be in line for much better numbers this fall. He’ll have a season of college football under his belt, and in 2025, he’ll have a full season with dynamic offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen.
Raiola should also have an improved wide receivers room this fall, with Nebraska adding Kentucky transfer Dane Key and Cal transfer Nyziah Hunter. Jacory Barney Jr. also returns after setting the program record for catches by a true freshman with 55.
All the stars are aligned for Raiola’s ascent as a quarterback to continue. It’s just a matter of how steep that ascent will be. If things really break right in Lincoln this fall, yes, there could be some Heisman whispers heading Raiola’s way.
The Big Ten is chock-full of young quarterbacks primed to take off in 2025, with Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Michigan’s Bryce Underwood possibly creating their own Heisman hype machine.
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Five Iowa State football staffers disciplined by NCAA for violating sports gambling rules
Short but dense article from Iowa State’s student newspaper (https://iowastatedaily.com/318371/sports/five-iowa-state-football-staffers-disciplined-by-ncaa-for-violating-sports-gambling-rules/):
“Five former or current Iowa State football coaching staff members were disciplined by the NCAA for violating its sports gambling rules. The five staff members were found to have placed over 6,200 bets on professional and college games, including Iowa State men’s and women’s basketball games. The group collected over $100,000 in winnings throughout their endeavors.”
“While the group faces no criminal charges, the NCAA still placed a one-year show-cause order on each violator that runs through April 24, 2026. The NCAA also classified these findings as Level II violations, which could compromise the integrity of the NCAA collegiate model.”
“These findings were already part of a statewide investigation into sports gambling in college athletic facilities, which found multiple student athletes at both Iowa and Iowa State to be guilty of underage betting during this time period.”
https://twitter.com/iowastatedaily/status/1919392470443368949
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(https://247sports.com/college/georgia/article/georgia-bulldogs-football-quarterback-jared-curtis-breakdown-kirby-smart-mike-bobo-249672009/)Projecting the 2025 Georgia offensive depth chart following spring portal window (https://247sports.com/college/georgia/longformarticle/georgia-bulldogs-football-2025-offense-depth-chart-gunner-stockton-nate-frazier-kirby-smart-249481730/#2643838)
For me, the most critical thing is being able to RTDB, which they failed to do often last season, and it was their Achilles.
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Iowa — Will a poor portal translate to poor results this fall?
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Look, the Hawkeyes are coming off a decent season, going 8-5 with a 6-3 record in the Big Ten, but Ferentz hasn’t stuck around Iowa for over a quarter-century to have decent results...
I'm not going to tell you I'm not biased, but isn't that exactly how Ferentz has stuck around Iowa for over a quarter-century?
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Ed Zachery
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For me, the most critical thing is being able to RTDB, which they failed to do often last season, and it was their Achilles.
This guy just hit the porthole as a grad student; greatest strength is listed as run blocking:
(https://i.imgur.com/M4anGaT.png)
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Our OC take a LOT of heat, most fans who say anything want him fired. This is hardly unique of course, and no one can afford to critize Smart directly. I'm just unused to seeing Dawg teams that can't RTDB reasonably well, like 150 yards per game or so.
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Michigan — Managing expectations for Bryce Underwood
Look, the 5-star phenom is probably going to be under center in Week 1 at the Big House against New Mexico. But Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore isn’t in the business of just handing the starting quarterback job to a freshman in April or May, so Underwood is going to have to win the job himself in fall camp. Moore said so following a spring game performance when Underwood showed flashes of brilliance but also room for improvement in going 12 for 25 for 187 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception.
Underwood capped the spring game performance with an 88-yard touchdown strike to tight end Jalen Hoffman. He’s far from a finished product right now because, well, not even the most hyped freshmen ever are. Wolverines fans are already dreaming big things for Underwood in Ann Arbor, and that’s fine, but the expectations are going to have to be held in check, especially at the start of the season. But the starting job isn’t Underwood’s yet, and Jadyn Davis is still right there to push him.
QB is obviously Michigan's biggest area of concern along with WR at a close second. we'll see how the transfer WR from Indiana does, if Semaj Morgan and Fred Moore can develop at all, and if any of the frosh WRs can break out.
think everything else on their 2025 team is pretty damn solid to even potentially great. RB 1-2 punch is top notch, they are loaded with quality TE's even despite losing Colston Loveland, plenty of young talent at OL and I trust Sherrone there implicitly to figure out the OL, and the defense is going to be top notch and deep at every level- especially with the return of Rod Moore to QB the secondary.
Bryce will most likely be the guy imo. Mikey Keene was probably going to be the guy and they were probably going to work Bryce in there with packages as the season went along- but Mikey Keene has been hurt and has not practiced with the team and Bryce has had the bowl practices and now the entire spring to get a acclimated and I feel like by the time fall camp is over he's going to win the job. Jadyn Davis is never going to play at Michigan imo. Bryce vs Mikey for the starting job and the other is the backup- and Jadyn Davis is going to hit the portal by the end of 2025.
I could see Michigan at 7-5 or 8-4 if QB really struggles....AGAIN....but I could also see Michigan at 10-2 and competing for a playoff spot if Bryce really is that guy. we'll find out here soon just how good he is or isn't. And I feel like if he isn't balling out then that's a major indictment on his offensive coaches and the pieces around him at WR moreso than it is on him.
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Despite somehow having another year of eligibility, Utah's Cam Rising has officially retired from football due to injuries. Utah's probably glad they didn't have to make the decision for him; Whittingham should've moved on from Rising before last season. With all of Rising's mounting injuries, to the point of steady regression, Utah should’ve never put last season on the injured shoulders and knees of Cam Rising. Utah paid for it all season with a depleted QB room that could’ve otherwise been an attractive landing spot for a QB from the Transfer Portal had Whittingham and staff moved on from Rising.
However, in a loss against Colorado last season, Utah might’ve reached a turning point with true freshman Isaac Wilson (younger brother of Zach Wilson), who, due to Rising’s injuries, was thrown to the wolves early. Yes, Wilson tossed 3 interceptions in his debut Vs Colorado, however he emerged as a much needed leader on offense, throwing 21/40, 236yds, & 2 TDs while the running game went cold. His headier plays kept Utah closer than the final score indicated, and in the bigger picture leaves the coaching staff not only a lot to build on and around in Wilson, but a capable starter to anchor the offense going into next season.
I expect a better next season for Utah.
https://twitter.com/UnnecRoughness/status/1920202052954738758
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However, in a loss against Colorado last season, Utah might’ve reached a turning point with true freshman Isaac Wilson (younger brother of Zach Wilson), who, due to Rising’s injuries, was thrown to the wolves early. Yes, Wilson tossed 3 interceptions in his debut Vs Colorado, however he emerged as a much needed leader on offense, throwing 21/40, 236yds, & 2 TDs while the running game went cold. His headier plays kept Utah closer than the final score indicated, and in the bigger picture leaves the coaching staff not only a lot to build on and around in Wilson, but a capable starter to anchor the offense going into next season.
I expect a better next season for Utah.
not sure I'd EXPECT a better season
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(https://i.imgur.com/L7Dulte.jpeg)
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Several of them. But not all of them.
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https://twitter.com/ESPN_BillC/status/1925515660232196425
post-spring SP+ rankings are out. Ohio State sits at #1.
Michigan is ranked 10th, predicted #3 defense and #32 offense and a win total of 10 wins (9.8 to be exact, but can't win 9.8 games so I rounded up....sue me).
IF Bryce Underwood is good then Michigan will probably be in the hunt for a playoff spot. If he's not good, then well they'll probably be right around where they were last year- 7-8 wins.
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2025 Big Ten win totals: Projecting the finish for every B1G team
By Paul Harvey
The question then becomes: Which teams are bound to surpass their win totals this fall, and who is bound to underwhelm? That’s what we’ll seek to answer here with a quick look at every win total for teams throughout the B1G.
2025 Big Ten win totals
Here are some of the top win totals to consider this season (all win totals via FanDuel):
Illinois: 7.5 wins
Multiple analysts keep trying to paint Illinois as “this year’s Indiana.” Considering that Illinois is going to be a ranked program (possibly a top-15 team) when the season begins, I think we can drop that label.
The one way the comparison does work is in the schedule that Illinois gets in 2025. The Illini do have to travel to Duke in the nonconference slate, but the rest of the early-season schedule features very winnable games.
Illinois, historically, is the kind of team that could deliver an untimely clunker, but it’s time to truly believe in what Bret Bielema has put together. An experienced team with an experienced starter should give the Illini a leg up in many close games this fall.
Pick: Over 7.5 wins
Indiana: 8.5 wins
Curt Cignetti crashed the Big Ten party with all the gusto he could muster. It paid off with the Hoosiers rolling to an 11-win season and College Football Playoff appearance.
The big question on everyone’s mind this year is: Can Cignetti do it again? I cautiously lean toward the negative, though that’s more about the benefit Indiana had in its schedule last year than the doubt I have for Cignetti.
Last year’s schedule provided a great early-season runway for the program and some key matchups at home. This year, the schedule changes drastically with the first 3 B1G games against teams who posted a winning record in 2024, including road trips to Iowa City and Eugene.
The Hoosiers did find a fantastic portal quarterback in Fernando Mendoza to replace Kurtis Rourke, but I still have it as a toss-up that they will reach 9+ wins in the regular season. The longer I look at the schedule, I keep coming back to 8 wins for Indiana.
Pick: Under 8.5 wins
Iowa: 7.5 wins
For some programs, it’s more about history than looking at the schedule. In the past 10 seasons, the Hawkeyes have won 8+ regular-season games 7 times, and one of the years they didn’t was the COVID season, when they went 6-2 in 8 games played. The schedule is tough because the era of “easy” schedules in the B1G is gone, but it’s certainly not brutal.
Pick: Over 7.5 wins
Maryland: 4.5 wins
I like what Mike Locksley has done, but it’s hard for me to reconcile the kind of massive turnover the Terps had on their roster this offseason. Maryland still looking for its future at QB with an inexperienced room is also a major red flag, and I’m not sure the Terps will be favored in any of their conference games this season.
Pick: Under 4.5 wins
Michigan: 8.5 wins
The easy pick for Michigan is saying the team will be better than last year’s squad, and that team won 7 games in the regular season. But that isn’t as clear-cut as some might expect.
The defense should be solid, and it’s unlikely the unit will regress to becoming a bad unit. However, there are some major losses from that side of the ball to the NFL that give at least a bit of concern.
Offensively, all eyes are on star freshman QB Bryce Underwood, and that’s another area of some concern. He might be fireworks from the opening kickoff, but most true freshmen under center have their share of costly miscues.
If there were one bold prediction to make, it would be that I think the Wolverines drop their Big Ten opener (at Nebraska). A nonconference trip to face Oklahoma is also a major test for the program.
The schedule could be tougher, but simply having a true freshman QB and multiple new faces has me going under 9 wins in the regular season.
Pick: Under 8.5 wins
Michigan State: 5.5 wins
Michigan State might have the toughest road schedule in the entire conference this season. The combined 2024 record for every road opponent on the schedule for the Spartans is 41-24, and MSU will also host Michigan and Penn State this fall. For the sake of Jonathan Smith, the Spartans need to find a way to get above the 5.5 number, but it will be tough given that schedule.
Pick: Under 5.5 wins
Minnesota: 6.5 wins
The QB situation gives me some level of concern for the Golden Gophers. However, PJ Fleck has hit that 7-win plateau in the regular season 4 times since 2019. The schedule also features some solid ebbs and flows, so it sets up nicely for another strong bowl trip for Minnesota.
Pick: Over 6.5 wins
Nebraska: 7.5 wins
Nebraska got the bowl-game monkey off its back last season. That should provide some relief for Matt Rhule entering 2025, and I think it also frees up some pressure on Dylan Raiola a bit.
The bigger key here is that Raiola gets a full offseason working with Dana Holgorsen heading into the fall. There were some offensive flashes late in the season, and if Nebraska can score consistently, the wins should come in fairly large bunches.
I let it slip earlier that I think Nebraska beats Michigan early in the year. That will be just the tip of the iceberg in Lincoln.
There’s no need for me to predict anything higher since the total is set at 7.5, but I feel confident going with an 8-win regular season for the Huskers.
Pick: Over 7.5 wins
Northwestern: 3.5 wins
Northwestern has been mostly forgettable since David Braun‘s debut in 2023. It’s hard to expect some major bounce back this fall, especially with a tough B1G schedule and a nonconference road trip to Tulane that will not be a gimme.
Pick: Under 3.5 wins
Ohio State: 10.5 wins
I’m not trying to rain on Ohio State‘s parade, but if we’re talking regular-season wins, the Buckeyes would have been below the 10.5 wins in 2024. So, let’s be clear on something before we dive into my pick.
If forced to predict in May, I would lean toward taking the Buckeyes outright in the Big Ten. That’s not exactly going out on a limb, but the talent in place is still elite, even after some massive losses to the NFL.
Now, looking at the schedule for next season, it’s tough for me to get a true feel for the Buckeyes at this juncture. If they beat Texas in the season opener, they should probably be above the 10.5 wins.
Then again, we know Ryan Day has a serious aversion to beating Michigan recently, and a first-year starter at QB can lose you a game or two you might otherwise win. I feel safer going with Ohio State at 10 wins, and that should still have the Buckeyes safely in the picture to compete for the B1G Championship and national title.
Pick: Under 10.5 wins
Oregon: 10.5 wins
Oregon has the same issue that Ohio State has when it comes to replacing a starting QB, but it feels like many people are overlooking Dante Moore’s early experience at UCLA and an extra year of prep behind Dillon Gabriel. The Ducks also picked up an elite transfer portal class, so reinforcements to a strong group of NFL-bound players are coming.
The schedule is also a great one for Dan Lanning and his group. They do have to travel to face Penn State, Oregon’s toughest game of the season, but the other trips to the east consist of Northwestern, Rutgers and Iowa. They also get nonconference games against Oklahoma State and Oregon State at home.
At this juncture, it’s hard to pick against Oregon returning to Indianapolis with a shot to defend its B1G title.
Pick: Over 10.5 wins
Penn State: 10 wins
Will Penn State be the preseason No. 1? I doubt it (at least in the AP Poll), but the Nittany Lions are likely to be a top 5 program in the majority of preseason polls.
On paper, it has been pretty easy to track Penn State’s success since the start of the 2022 season. The Nittany Lions have essentially won every game they were supposed to under James Franklin, but struggled to break through as an underdog.
That means the pick for me comes down to 2 games this fall: Getting Oregon at home, and facing Ohio State on the road. Once again, a 10-win Penn State team probably gets back into the Playoff, but it feels like they should be at 11 wins in the regular season after last year’s run to the semifinals.
Pick: Over 10 wins
Purdue: 3.5 wins
Purdue has at least moved on from Ryan Walters, but Barry Odom is orchestrating a massive overhaul this season. Combine that with the fact that the Boilermakers get Notre Dame in the nonconference portion of the schedule, and they will need multiple upsets even to crack 4 wins this fall.
Pick: Under 3.5 wins
Rutgers: 5.5 wins
Rutgers is coming off back-to-back bowl games for the first time in a decade, though the steps back for the defense this past season were worrisome. In the old-look B1G, I would feel a bit better taking the Scarlet Knights to get that 6-win line. But considering they now have a West Coast trip every year (and get to face Oregon at home), I am a bit sour on that projection this year.
Pick: Under 5.5 wins
UCLA: 5.5 wins
UCLA was 5-7 in DeShaun Foster‘s first season with the program. And while Nico Iamaleava is an upgrade for the program, I don’t think his arrival moves the needle much for the overall trajectory of the Bruins. Another 5-7 season feels right in line with what to expect, though a key upset could get UCLA to a bowl game.
Pick: Under 5.5 wins
USC: 7.5 wins
Make no mistake: USC is building something special under Lincoln Riley, even if the major breakthrough is a year or two down the road. As it pertains to 2025, the Trojans have a manageable nonconference schedule, save for the road trip to Notre Dame, and none of the B1G trips east are super daunting.
Road games against Illinois and Nebraska are not a given, but things could certainly be worse. The home schedule with matchups against Michigan State, Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa should also yield some momentum for the program.
The Trojans have some wiggle room to get to 8 wins, in my opinion, and they could turn out to be even better.
Pick: Over 7.5 wins
Washington: 7.5 wins
Washington had some severe home-road splits in the first season for Jedd Fisch. A number of factors undoubtedly went into that, including a first-year coach and the transition into the B1G.
The Huskies have some good news on the schedule this year, with some manageable road games. I also think the offense can be dynamic this fall with Demond Williams Jr. and Jonah Coleman leading the way.
The concern will be the defense, and I think it keeps Washington around the 7-win mark. Overall, that’s not a big problem in a building block year for the program.
Pick: Under 7.5 wins
Wisconsin: 5.5 wins
My gut reaction is that Wisconsin better be over 5.5 wins this fall. If Luke Fickell wants to keep his job, that is.
Then, you look at the schedule, and… it’s hard to feel confident in much for the Badgers this fall. The West Coast trip involves facing Oregon, likely one of the top teams in the country, and Wisconsin also has to head to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama.
The Badgers also get the unfortunate distinction of drawing Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois this season, along with the regular rivalry vs. Iowa.
Ultimately, I’m going with Wisconsin to get over the 5.5 wins number because I do think the team is a bit better than last year. There should also be some legitimate pressure on Fickell to buck recent trends.
Pick: Over 5.5 wins
Paul Harvey --- is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.
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Not to be confused with radio legend Paul Harvey, deceased for quite some time now.
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or that Paul Harvey's son
Paul Harvey Jr.
Pianist ‧ Paul Harvey's son
Paul Harvey Aurandt Jr., is an American pianist, radio broadcaster and a former host of News and Comment on ABC Radio Networks. He is the only child of Paul Harvey and his wife Lynne.
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...and now you know... the rest of the story.
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Good Day
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They need a middle initial, like Stephen A Smith, Robert E Lee, or John L Smith.
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(https://i.imgur.com/5XLJfEZ.png)
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The SEC is setting the penalty for rushing the field or court after a game is over at $500,000, eliminating the escalating fine system in the process. Commissioner Greg Sankey announced the move Thursday evening as the SEC spring meetings in Miramar Beach, Florida come to an end.
"The motivation was 'field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time,'" Sankey said. "The random nature of, if you're the one getting rushed, it doesn't feel good. It might be the first time (it happened) there, but it might be your sixth time in a row, literally."
Under the previous system, SEC schools were fined $100,000 for the first offense, $250,000 for the second offense and $500,000 for any violations of the rule thereafter. The SEC also now has the authority to waive a fine if the visiting team and game officials are allowed to return safely to their respective locker rooms before fans enter the playing area.
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(https://i.imgur.com/tZUip4K.png)
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Looks good to me!
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doomed!
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(https://i.imgur.com/7ObPcYK.png)
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Josh Pate post-spring B1G QB rankings.
initial reactions: Drew Allar probably is #1 in the B1G and he's well....just not that good imo. Don't see high first round QB in him. Pretty weak QB crop in the B1G. Julian Sayin and Dante Moore at #2 and #3 based purely off recruiting hype. We haven't seen Sayin play at all and the one year Moore played at UCLA it was....not good. I think I trust Sayin more than Moore simply because Ryan Day is helming the pass game and they have Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate at WR. Nico all the way at #10. Ouch. My guess here is he thinks UCLA really sucks and that's going to bring Nico down.
https://twitter.com/JoshPateCFB/status/1933334065995805037
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and some wonder why B1G offenses are weak
some assume B1G defenses are just that stout - I do not
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and some wonder why B1G offenses are weak
some assume B1G defenses are just that stout - I do not
yeah QB's are pretty meh.
Julian Sayin has weapons galore at WR and Ryan Day calling the plays but still have no clue if he's the real deal. I think he will be- but just because you have 5*'s next to the name isn't a sure thing. Kyle McCord was a 5* too. Not that I thought McCord was bad- he wasn't- but when you have 5* next to the name as a QB recruit you're expecting a bonafide STUD and future 1st rd pick.
Think it's fair to say that Ohio State will probably have the best offense in the conference if Sayin is even remotely close to playing like a 5*. Basically he just can't completely suck and that offense will be #1 because of Day and the WR's. Smith would've been a 1st rounder in the last draft if freshman were allowed to declare and Carnell Tate is going to play himself into the 1st rd now that he's the #2 guy.
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yeah QB's are pretty meh.
Julian Sayin has weapons galore at WR and Ryan Day calling the plays but still have no clue if he's the real deal. I think he will be- but just because you have 5*'s next to the name isn't a sure thing. Kyle McCord was a 5* too. Not that I thought McCord was bad- he wasn't- but when you have 5* next to the name as a QB recruit you're expecting a bonafide STUD and future 1st rd pick.
Think it's fair to say that Ohio State will probably have the best offense in the conference if Sayin is even remotely close to playing like a 5*. Basically he just can't completely suck and that offense will be #1 because of Day and the WR's. Smith would've been a 1st rounder in the last draft if freshman were allowed to declare and Carnell Tate is going to play himself into the 1st rd now that he's the #2 guy.
I am kind of like you. I will believe the hype when I see it on the field for Sayin.
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I am kind of like you. I will believe the hype when I see it on the field for Sayin.
he's got to prove it on the field- but MAN he has a lot to work with. Ryan Day coaching you and calling your plays as a QB is a major plus and having WR's like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate makes things A LOT easier.
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Just sayin.
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these guys basically all have Penn State #1 in the B1G going into fall. I think I am inclined to agree with them- Drew Allar is a veteran QB and Senior and they return two really really good RB's which make what might be the best 1-2 RB punch in the nation. Getting the DC Jim Knowles was a hell of an off-season hire. The schedule is cupcake soft- OOC games with Nevada, FIU, and Villanova- they get what should be a weaker Oregon at home and the only tough road game they have is @Ohio State which is breaking in a freshman QB, lost it's stud DC & OC and tons of players to the NFL/graduation.
Everything seems lined up for them BUT: James Franklin. IF Franklin doesn't get it done this year and win the B1G and have them in the title game- homeboy should just quit because he's never going to have an easier path than 2025.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv2a94MymGs
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Good post our much maligned Michigan coorespondent.The Lions should beat tOSU,who have just too much to replace even if there was no talent gap from those leaving/those coming in. There's no chemistry or experience for the most part even if the hang together like thieves- that takes playing time to develop.Michigan's feeling heat from Angels of the Lord so who knows how they're affected.Not sure the Bruins or Trojans are getting traction but I'd bet the check on the Ducks reloading. The Ninnies did lose 2 number ones in the spring draft. One each on the O & D Lines Maybe if the Lions run the table and lose a white knuckler to the Ducks in the CCG then Franklin keeps the head set. Hopefully other programs can see possible opportunity and the BIG is truly up for grabs.