The SEC Forum at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I really want to know.  How many players do you have to be out to be ruled ineligible? 

The no-depth chart...barely 40 players available who arrived at LSU on scholarship

Yep.  Details in the link.  

How many players did A&M lose before they declined the bowl?

One thing I did not expect to feel throughout that game was a lot of optimism and pride.  I don't think I've ever felt better about an ass-beating.  The kids who suited up never stopped fighting and I loved their attitude the whole game. 

Jontre Kirklin, a journeyman recruited as a db, switched to wr, who ended his career having to play qb with no scholly qbs available, had this to say after the game when asked about having so few players available and a basically unwinnable situation:  "We’re fighting Tigers. We don’t back down from anyone. If we have 11, we’re going to play."  Kid threw 3 TD passes in a futile effort...not bad for a kid who hadn't played QB since high school and was never supposed to play college QB.  Kirklin is now one of my most favorite Tigers ever.  His quote summarized the spirit of those who did play nicely.  It now appears that some of the roster attrition was not just due to legitimate problems, but evidently there are guys who just said screw it, they didn't feel like it.  I expect these are the same kids I'll be reading about shortly that Brian Kelly has run off.  This is all part of the culture degradation that happened under O, and there's going to be more attrition, I'm sure. 

But for those who remained, what a great rallying point to look back on in the future when things are tough.  Kind of a "we didn't quit then, we won't quit now" moment.  There were some walkons here and there, but a lot of them were freshmen who were expected to be starters one day.  Odd to be encouraged by a beatdown, but there you have it. 

But yeah.....turns out missing 20 out of 22 defensive starters of your opening day depth chart, you might only get a couple stops the entire game 

And ftr, it actually turned out to be 38 scholarship players available, not 39.  FG kicker was injured in practice last week, unreported to the press.  I mean, why NOT lose your FG kicker if you're going to be out any QBs and an entire defense?  That game was like watching LSU play Florida in the 90's.  

And opt-outs and portal transfers are only going to get more common.  LSU's case was extreme, but this is just a taste of the "new normal" for college football.

I imagine there will be some course-corrections coming (or attempted) in the next few seasons.  NIL and the portal has turned cfb into the wild west, and I don't think that's what anybody intended.  And it basically ensures that no surprise diamonds in the rough ever belong to G5 or even the majority of P5 again.  The Houstons of the world aren't keeping their Ed Olivers anymore when Saban can snap his fingers and say "Hey Ed, why not come to Bama instead?"  

The NIL thing is going to lead to a LOT of unintended consequences, and the early stages have started already.  

I'm already hearing from high school coaches that it's getting harder to get their QBs recruited because more college coaches would rather try for a proven transfer than gamble on a HS kid.  My guess is there will be some changes made to the current paradigm in an effort to mitigate the current unintended consequences.  The problem is almost every action carries with it unintended consequences.  Once you let a genie out of the bottle, you hardly ever can stuff that bastard back in.  

It can't be long before non-CFP bowls are offically exhibitions and previews of the next year's talent.  
At least for the P5....maybe when they split and are on their own.

One thing I did not expect to feel throughout that game was a lot of optimism and pride.  I don't think I've ever felt better about an ass-beating.  The kids who suited up never stopped fighting and I loved their attitude the whole game. 

Jontre Kirklin, a journeyman recruited as a db, switched to wr, who ended his career having to play qb with no scholly qbs available, had this to say after the game when asked about having so few players available and a basically unwinnable situation:  "We’re fighting Tigers. We don’t back down from anyone. If we have 11, we’re going to play."  Kid threw 3 TD passes in a futile effort...not bad for a kid who hadn't played QB since high school and was never supposed to play college QB.  Kirklin is now one of my most favorite Tigers ever.  His quote summarized the spirit of those who did play nicely.  It now appears that some of the roster attrition was not just due to legitimate problems, but evidently there are guys who just said screw it, they didn't feel like it.  I expect these are the same kids I'll be reading about shortly that Brian Kelly has run off.  This is all part of the culture degradation that happened under O, and there's going to be more attrition, I'm sure. 

But for those who remained, what a great rallying point to look back on in the future when things are tough.  Kind of a "we didn't quit then, we won't quit now" moment.  There were some walkons here and there, but a lot of them were freshmen who were expected to be starters one day.  Odd to be encouraged by a beatdown, but there you have it. 

But yeah.....turns out missing 20 out of 22 defensive starters of your opening day depth chart, you might only get a couple stops the entire game

And ftr, it actually turned out to be 38 scholarship players available, not 39.  FG kicker was injured in practice last week, unreported to the press.  I mean, why NOT lose your FG kicker if you're going to be out any QBs and an entire defense?  That game was like watching LSU play Florida in the 90's. 

:clap:I understand why you like Kirklin.  This attitude is why we are CFB fans.