Colorado was 1-11. Going 8-4 would be a seven-win swing. It's not unheard of--Tulane was 2-10 in 2021 and 12-2 in 2022--but highly unlikely. Colorado plays three of the four teams you listed in the first five games.

• Nebraska (in Boulder) should be better under Matt Rhule. He's picked up eight transfers since the portal opened. 
• Oregon State (in Boulder) is coming off a 10-3 season, returns its QB, 1,000 yard RB, and picked up D.J. Uiagalelei through the portal.
• UCLA (in Los Angeles) was 9-4, loses DTR but picks up Dante Moore, who looks ready to play already. Chip Kelly has also gotten 11 transfers since November.
• Washington State (in Pullman) was 7-6 and has QB Cameron Ward back.

I hate to admit it but I’ve given up on Ohio State MBB and I’m not the only one: based on 4,200+ votes cast in yesterday's poll, 50% think the Buckeyes will play in the NIT and 33% think they won’t play in a postseason tournament. (The remaining 17% is deceiving because a portion feel they’ll be one of the first four out, which means the NIT.) If not for Tanner Holden’s GW 3-pointer that shouldn’t have counted against Rutgers, they’d be 1-6 in the B1G and tied for last place with Minnesota, which beat us in the Shottenstein Center.

Conversely, WBB has been a joy to watch. Two games against Top 10 teams next week (#10 Iowa on Monday and @ #6 Indiana on Thursday) should be fun. Caitlin Clark will be shooting from Iowa City. She’ll get hers; the key may be containing All-B1G 6-3 Monica Czinano, who’s averaging 17.9 ppg.

How is it Michigan and Michigan State don’t have women’s varsity ice hockey teams to help make it a B1G sponsored sport? Ohio State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Penn State are all nationally ranked.

Great song of the day. I’m not a hip hop fan but OutKast is an exception, “Hey ya” in particular.

The two pick 6’s obviously killed Michigan but other than that, I thought McCarthy played pretty well: 20/34 for 353 yards and two TDs. He also ran 10 times for 52 yards and a TD. Losing by six, Michigan might’ve survived the first but the second proved to be the difference.

Just came on here to post this. Watch Rashada pick Colorado next. Prime is going to be robbing banks soon to afford his roster.

Don’t forget Brew’s mother, Donica Merriman, was an All American and Olympic sprinter at Ohio State. There’s also a good chance Perry Eliano is familiar with him from when he was at UC.

On the flip side, 2021 DB Rod Moore from Northmont played a lot this year at Michigan.

Reminds me of an old saying: “he who refuses to learn from the past is doomed to learn from the past.” Ohio State doesn’t have to adopt what Michigan’s doing but based on their results, we have no right to dismiss it as a viable strategy.

The paradigm shift we all need to embrace is that the portal is now a vital part of recruiting. The portal allows you to spot fill holes in your roster. Transfers provide immediate help and depth, especially on the OL and DL. The portal giveth and it taketh away but Ohio State’s not really experienced either side of it compared to schools than have had double digit defections. Many of those are unexpected surprises and by the time they hit, it’s nearly impossible to replace them with quality high schoolers. Or a commit defects, like Kayin Lee, who decommitted two weeks before JK Johnson went into the portal, which put Ohio State in immediate need of grabbing a CB through the portal (and people freaked out when we didn’t). 

People need to move on comparing only high school recruiting classes when transfers are much more likely to have an immediate impact. Which would people rather have: a transfer who starts for two years or a reserve recruited out of high school who leaves after two years?

Could get interesting. The LOI is with the University, the NIL deal with the Collective. I smell a lawsuit brewing.

It felt a little odd Franklin fired WR coach Taylor Stubblefield over the weekend. Within an hour after he was fired 4-star Kent State WR Dante Cephus committed to PSU.

Gebbia was in the same 2017 class at Calabasas as Keyshawn Johnson, Jr. and Darnay Holmes. They each had over 1,000 yards receiving their senior season. WR Johnny Wilson, who tore it up at FSU his year, had over 800 yards receiving as a freshman. To say Gebbia had some weapons would be an understatement.

I can’t but think that had Ohio State beaten Michigan at least once, Stroud would have at least one Heisman, possibly two if we’d won both times (65/97, 743 yards, four TDs, and two picks combined in those two games). He was the odds-on favorite going into The Game in 2021 and just behind Caleb Williams in 2022. Consensus All American with a tree in Buckeye Grove. It’s sad that a sucky defense had that kind of impact on his personal legacy.

Fair thee well, brave voyager. Go forward with Buckeye Nation’s gratitude and thanks.

Even if that’s true, it only strengthens my argument and makes Clarett’s situation exhibit #1 for why NIL is long overdue. 

Who is Larsen?

This current college football transfer portal window opened on December 5 and will closes 45 days later on January 18, 2023.

Great. Since it’s paywalled, what does he say?

Great idea. Problem for some of us is we work and job responsibilities will make it hard to participate. Good luck!

I was just reading up on this story. So tragically sad. What possesses someone to do something so thoughtless, cruel and reckless? I do not mean to make light of this situation but I couldn’t help but shake my head over this portion of the university’s statement.

We were made aware of the recent charge against student- athlete Darius Miles; he has been removed from campus and is no longer a member of the
Alabama men's basketball team.

No shit: he’s in fucking jail.

Fickell continuing to make big moves with his staff. Only Brian Kelly won more games at GVSU.

Sources: Wisconsin is hiring Grand Valley State head coach Matt Mitchell as the schools new special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. Mitchell has a career record of 117-31 in 12 seasons at Grand Valley, a Division II school in Michigan.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 15, 2023

Because I refuse to believe he didn’t have a voice, before, during and/or after the decision was made. Jim Delany wouldn’t have sat back quietly. It was an occasion when true leadership was necessary, his first crisis and situation under fire, an opportunity to step up, front and center. He certainly didn’t act like a messenger; if anything, he acted as if he was integral, if not critical, to the decision-making process.

“The easy thing for me to do would have been to get out of the way. That would be the easy road, the less complicated road. I know for me, at my core, I need to feel that I’m doing what’s right. And to feel that I’m doing what I would want somebody in a leadership position to do for my son or daughter.”

Generally, I’d agree—you need solid form, body control and footwork for discus and shot—but I’ve not seen anything that says Hood participated in those events in high school other than “he also participates in track and field” at the bottom of his 247 profile. But it’s not mentioned in his Georgia bio and he’s not listed in athletic.net, which is a national track and field database. He was an early enrollee in the 2021 class, and 2020’s T&F season was cancelled due to COVID, which means the most recently he could have competed was 2019 when he was a sophomore but he’s not listed in any of his high school’s 2019 varsity meets. I’m not saying he didn’t because my search hasn’t been 100% conclusive but I’ve yet to find any proof that he did. My best guess if he did: he was JV as a sophomore in 2019 and between COVID cancelling 2020 and early enrolling at UGA in 2021, that was the extent of his T&F experience.

The thing that galled me most was how Warren declared that the decision to cancel the season was final and would not be visited. The COVID situation was unprecedented and extremely fluid yet he slammed the door shut and locked it. In what could have been a textbook case of never saying never, Warren said never. Coming back and starting the season two months later only made him look wishy-washy and ineffectual as a leader. I’d have had more respect for him if he’d said they were monitoring it and were keeping the door open, even if it was just a crack.

But you quoted a comment about players from Georgia.

All big-bodied players aren’t created equal. One of the things that helped Dawand was playing basketball and he did it at a high level (17.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg and second team all-state for the state runner-up as a senior). That speaks to his athleticism. Basketball helped with his footwork and being able to defend against shorter and quicker opponents. Despite both of them being at least 6-7, I haven’t found anything that says Hood or Tyler played basketball.

Personally, while there very well could be NIL incentives—although it’s hard for me to see Colorado's collectives having very deep pockets—I think a lot of it is playing for Deion Sanders as taken on an almost mystical allure.