2023 College football thread

[Bill N]

https://howlongagogo.com/countdown/yHsCBiBsRPij?ucd=0

 

[Bill N]

Let me preface by saying how much NIL & the portal is totally ruining college ball.
Tat said, Fickell has been rebuilding the Badgers roster mostly through the portal.
The most recent

BREAKING: Wisconsin lands four-star USC transfer WR C.J. Williams

Wisconsin lands their highest-rated wide receiver in the modern recruiting era

badgerswire.usatoday.com

 

[Michiman]

The Badgers throw the football?? lol!

 

[Bill N]

The Badgers throw the football?? lol!

Perhaps we will be able to through these recent aquisitions?

 

[Bill N]

Can we agree some sort of regulations regarding limits to NIL compensation?
Some of these kids will end up taking a pay cut when drafted into the NFL!

Controversy swirls over $13 million NIL deal for Florida QB recruit Jaden Rashada

Controversy is swirling over a $13 million NIL deal that was offered to — and later apparently reneged upon — a Florida quarterback recruit.

nypost.com

 

[Vikingstaff]

I think some sort of $ had to enter into the players hands given THEY are the product and labor force. However, this free for all Wild West of NIL is going to simply get more and more problematic and exploited. I hope some sort of sane regulation can enter into it. One of those “nice in theory but not in practice” things. Currently it is TOO ripe for exploitation. That said, I have no issue with the players getting their $. As for others manipulating the situation in regards to recruiting, transfer portal, etc…well those aspects I am not pleased with.

 

[Bill N]

My biggest gripe is that there is no way for mediocre conference teams to compete. MAC for example. These teams will soon be better suited to compete in FCS than FBS.
That, and 99% of the players will not see any money, yet will be grinding it out at every practice just as hard as the 1% getting stupid amounts of money.

 

[Vikingstaff]

My biggest gripe is that there is no way for mediocre conference teams to compete. MAC for example. These teams will soon be better suited to compete in FCS than FBS.
That, and 99% of the players will not see any money, yet will be grinding it out at every practice just as hard as the 1% getting stupid amounts of money.

All good points too.

 

[Vikingstaff]

MSU began spring practices this week. Go Green 2023!

 

[BigKahuna]

MSU began spring practices this week. Go Green 2023!

Already? Not even done with March madness yet!!!

 

[Vikingstaff]

NCAA window for limited spring practices is open, so they’re all probably at it. About a month of practice and then the various “spring” scrimmage games.

 

[Bill N]

Gonna derail thread and talk BB for a moment.
My Badgers disappointed me every time I tried to watch a game this season, so I basically skipped BB this year. That is until a gal at work said I had to watch Iowa and this girl named Caitlyn Clark. OMG! I wish I would have followed them all season. That team is fun to watch! Which leads me to the topic of discussion...the officiating in the Championship game was atrocious! Not being a Hawkeye fan, I feel that I hold very little bias, but I gotta say that the refs for whatever reason had an objective and that was a LSU victory.
Thoughts?

 

[Vikingstaff]

Gonna derail thread and talk BB for a moment.
My Badgers disappointed me every time I tried to watch a game this season, so I basically skipped BB this year. That is until a gal at work said I had to watch Iowa and this girl named Caitlyn Clark. OMG! I wish I would have followed them all season. That team is fun to watch! Which leads me to the topic of discussion...the officiating in the Championship game was atrocious! Not being a Hawkeye fan, I feel that I hold very little bias, but I gotta say that the refs for whatever reason had an objective and that was a LSU victory.
Thoughts?

The officiating in that game was not good at all. Like you, I‘d say I am fairly objective on this one from my normal preference(s). I will also admit I was starting to get on the Caitlyn Clark train and pulling for BigTen Iowa in this one - that and I cannot stand Mululky, LSU’s coach.

All of that said, I don’t think officiating impacted the outcome. LSU took care of business and flat out beat Iowa. Iowa had a good run, but they hit the wall against LSU in the Championship.

I think it might have been closer without some of the garbage officiating, but I don‘t think it was the difference in the game at all. And even with that lopsided loss, Clark still scored 30. She’s a beast! LSU…well I think they had a chip on their shoulder with everyone being on Iowa’s & Caitlyn Clark’s bandwagon, and they showed up with something to prove.

Hats off to LSU - great victory. As for the officiating, but horrible. Among the worst one could see in a college hoops game.

 

[Bill N]

Valid perspective, but I disagree on the outcome. At the beginning I actually said to my wife that evidently they (refs) are going to let them play because the first couple possessions were pretty rough with no whistles. Iowa knocked out an early lead and had a flow going. That quickly changed when czinano got a couple early fouls as did clark. Czinano could no longer play aggressive which makes a center useless. Clark could still shoot, but couldn't drive or play a respectable defense. These two players were forced to play 'careful' and it really took the Clark/Czinano threat away.
I firmly believe that if they played 10 times, Iowa wins 7-8 of those games. I'll say the same about the game cocks. If they replay that game 10 times, SC wins 7-8 of those games.
If I'm not being clear, my point is I am making an accusation that those bad calls weren't missed calls, they were intentional. If I had to further explain my theory, I would say that the betting was way heavy favoring Iowa and the refs had a job to do that day. Nobody gets to that level in officiating and does that poorly. And certainly a group of three don't all crap the bed on the same day, all favoring the same team. That just doesn't happen without intention.
That's a serious accusation that I do not throw around casually, in fact I don't believe that I ever have on a public forum as this.

 

[Vikingstaff]

I get the impact it had on Clark, as well with Czinano who eventually fouled out. A couple of them, like Clark’s “T” certainly stand out and make it look even worse than it already was.

However, I just think that is a reckless acquisition frankly to say it was intentional to guarantee an LSU victory.

The total number of fouls was 19 Iowa, and 18 LSU. A one foul difference. Of that, LSU took one more free throw than the Hawkeyes: 21-20. That’s nearly as even as you could be in that regard.

On the flip side in the first half you have Angel Reese for LSU picking up a couple tickytac fouls, and she sat something like the end of the first and most of the second quarter. Similar to the impact on Clark and Czinano for Iowa.

I guess my point is, both teams had key players adversely impacted by inconsistent, and sometimes very unwarranted, foul calls. And although it impacted Iowa a bit more, statistically it is nearly an even impact.

Thus, I don’t see it being the difference In a 17 point lopsided victory. Not even a little bit given the nearly neutral statistical impact of the foul calls.

Now if it had been a 1-4 pt game, then I’d say it impacted it. But when the foul shot differential is literally 1 extra attempt....not in my mind.

AND given the above, to say it was intentional to impact the game and “throw it” to LSU? or for betting purposes? Nah..that seems waaaaaay too conspiracy theory for me. Just very poorly officiated.

 

[Bill N]

I appreciate your perspective.

 

[BigKahuna]

Okay we've been following women's college basketball all year. Of course Big Maryland fans and Brenda Frese (Coach) fans! We watched them play Iowa/Caitlyn Clark 3 times this year in the Big 10! The girl is fearless and can flat out shoot and play! With that being said I didn't think Iowa would get past South Carolina. SC made a tactical error and didn't double team her and she beat whoever was covering her to the basket or just shot jumpers/3 pointers. SC had the inside post game going with a front line consisting of players 6'7, 6'5, and 6'3. Iowa couldn't match up! SC also got what seemed like 100 offensive rebounds. On paper they shouldn't have lost that game! The Championship game....... LSU was hitting EVERYTHING! Players who didn't really contribute much in other games of the tournament were hitting 3's left and right! Couldn't miss! LSU did a better job of throwing the kitchen sink at Clark making her work for her points eventually wearing her down! Clark had some/little help but you know the offense goes through her! You saw what happened when she sat out due to foul trouble or a brief rest. Nothing! Angel Reese transferred from Maryland to LSU. She played well but she said she needed a fresh start. Whatever that means. Ha! Not sure if she was the tournaments Most outstanding player! She just had more support! LSU played well when she was forced to sit out. So plain and simple...... LSU was on fire and had better team play. Iowa was just overmatched......

 

[Bill N]

I woke at 3am so with a little time to kill I watched the game again. This time with a bit more objectivity.
Jeff, you are right, and I will walk back my "intentionally throwing the game" accusation.
But I stand by my remark of "Nobody gets to that level in officiating and does that poorly."
Those three should be limited to selling fries in the concession stand after display of incompetence. Seriously. They should never be allowed on the court again.

 

[Vikingstaff]

I woke at 3am so with a little time to kill I watched the game again. This time with a bit more objectivity.
Jeff, you are right, and I will walk back my "intentionally throwing the game" accusation.
But I stand by my remark of "Nobody gets to that level in officiating and does that poorly."
Those three should be limited to selling fries in the concession stand after display of incompetence. Seriously. They should never be allowed on the court again.

I’ve done that before when officiating has stood out more egregiously. I try to not bash officiating too much as it’s such a tough and thankless job. However, in this game, it was bad. WAAAAY over zealous. And when it’s simply bad officiating, it needs to be addressed so as not to be repeated. I like you line about ”selling fries in concessions”… Nice one! I’m going to need to pull that line out sometime. Ha, ha.

 

[lakeliving]

Saw this custom painted q at my local dealer today.