Topic: (American) College Football

[Baby Huey]

If you get the chance check out the Sooners game against UCF Knights. It was another fun game.

[Baby Huey]

If you get the chance check out the Sooners game against UCF Knights. It was another fun game.

^^^

Doubly so for this evenings early game.

[Statto Red]

It's a wild season, i think you'll need to win the conference championship to get a playoff spot, the one season you wish the 12 team playoff format would start from is this season.

 

[Baby Huey]

Early game streams.

https://sportsurge.to/cfbstreams

Pick of the early games. Michigan-Penn State. I'm picking Michigan here.

https://1stream.eu/cfb/michigan-wolverines-penn-state-nittany-lions-live-stream/654558

[BarryCrocker]

Massive news. Michigan Ranked # 2 (10-1)

Disguises, subterfuge and conspiracy: college football’s sign-stealing scandal explained
Michigan are one of the biggest teams in college sports. But allegations they have used underhanded tactics have rocked the program - By Oliver Connolly

What are Michigan accused of?
The Big Ten, the conference in which Michigan play, and college sports’ main governing body, the NCAA, claim that Michigan used a “vast network” of people to tape the sidelines of future opponents, both in and out of the conference, across the last three seasons.

Michigan and their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, deny any knowledge of the alleged cheating. On Friday the Big Ten banned Harbaugh from the sidelines on gamedays for the rest of the 2023 regular season, although he will be able to work with his players during the week. The suspension is huge news in the world of college football, as Michigan are contenders for the national championship this season and Harbaugh one of the biggest personalities in the sport. The Wolverines’ average attendance for home games tops 110,000 and they haul in tens of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

Is sign-stealing illegal?
Unlike in the NFL, there is no coach-to-player communication system in college football. Instead of calling in plays via a headset in the quarterback’s helmet, staff communicate with their players through hand signals and graphics on the sideline. If an opponent can decode those signals, they will have advanced knowledge of the play.

Stealing signs is a time-honored tradition across US sports. In the frenzied, multi-billion-dollar world of college football, trying to decode an opposing team’s signs is a part of everyday life. Teams allocate staffers to review what’s known as the ‘coaches film’ or All-22 video of opponents in the run-up to games, as well as evaluating the ‘TV copy’ of the game to try to decipher the opponent’s signals. During games, teams will compare their pre-game notes with what they’re seeing on the opposing sideline to confirm whether they have cracked the code or not.

Sign stealing in the week leading up to the game and during the game itself is part of the game within a game. What is banned under NCAA legislation is advanced scouting in person.

In the 1990s, the NCAA banned schools from sending staff members to the games of future opponents. Staff members of the school are no longer able to attend the games of future opponents on their schedule, where they can have a better vantage point of the sidelines.

Videotaping another team’s signals is banned under both NCAA and Big Ten legislation.

So how did Michigan skirt the rules?
The scheme, it is alleged, was orchestrated by Michigan staffer Connor Stalions, a retired captain in the US Marines who worked as a recruiting analyst for the school.

Stalions is a lifelong Michigan fan who presented a 600-page ‘Michigan Manifesto’ to the school before being hired as a volunteer. He joined the staff full-time prior to the 2022 season. In texts revealed by Sports Illustrated, Stalions boasted of sign-stealing and his close relationship with Michigan’s staff. “I’ve grown up my entire life with a vision to coach football at Michigan,” Stalions told Soldiers to Sidelines in 2022.

Reviews of TV footage have shown Stalions standing next to Michigan coordinators across multiple seasons, holding a laminated copy of signs.

Other Big Ten schools told ESPN that they had proof that tickets bought through a third-party app were bought under Stalions’s name. Tickets were purchased to games against future Michigan opponents on the 50-yard line, the ideal vantage to view teams’ signals. Yahoo Sports reported that Stalions also bought tickets to games involving schools outside the Big Ten who would be potential opponents if Michigan made the College Football Playoff.

Yahoo Sports also reported that TCU were aware of Michigan’s sign-stealing team before the sides faced off in the 2022 College Football Playoff. TCU then used ‘dummy signals’ in their 51-45 semi-final win, alternating between the signs they knew Michigan had decoded and fresh signs to mislead Michigan’s coaching staff and players.

After the NCAA and Big Ten acknowledged they had launched an investigation into Michigan, Yahoo Sports initially reported that the school had fired Stalions before Michigan released a statement saying that Stalions had resigned.

In a statement provided by his attorney, Stalions said that no member of the Michigan coaching staff, including Harbaugh, had any knowledge of rule-breaking or improper conduct regarding advanced scouting.

But isn’t sign stealing commonplace?
Yes. The art of decoding an opposing team’s signs has been around as long as they have used signs. The coaching ranks are filled with black market auction houses, cliques and you-pat-my-back favors in which staffs at different schools will exchange their research – perhaps to help another team beat a rival school or to help coaches climb the ladder in an industry built on nepotism.

A former Division III college football coach told ESPN that Stalions paid him “a couple hundred dollars” and gave him a ticket to a Michigan home game to help record a future Michigan opponent.

The coach said he recorded the opponent on his phone and uploaded the footage to a shared iCloud photo album. “You can call me naive, but no one is reading the bylaws,” the coach told ESPN. “I just felt like if you’re not doing it, you’re not trying to get ahead.”

Were disguises involved?
Of course. This is college football. Images surfaced online of a man who looked like Stalions standing on the Central Michigan sideline on 1 September during the team’s game against Michigan State. Central Michigan have multiple staff members who worked for Michigan last season, including head coach Jim McElwain.

“Before we go any farther we’re obviously aware of a picture floating around with the sign stealer guy,” McElwain said in a post-game press conference after the pictures were first reported. “Our people are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of it. We’re unaware, totally unaware of it.”

The person on Central Michigan’s sideline was dressed in team-issue gear, wearing Central Michigan pants, polo shirt and a team-issue hat. Throughout the game, the person was shown on the broadcast holding a clipboard and was regularly stood apart from the rest of the staff with a visitor’s pass.

The school said it is reviewing whether or not Stalions was present on the team’s sideline and is cooperating with both the NCAA and Big Ten investigations.

Michigan beat Michigan State 49-0 on 22 October, the week that the Big Ten confirmed it was investigating allegations of sign stealing.

How did other schools respond?
On a conference call with Big Ten athletic directors, the conference’s commissioner, Tony Petitti, was pressed to take action against Michigan. Harbaugh’s suspension could impact Michigan’s Big Ten title bid and their place in the College Football Playoff.

Have Michigan offered a defense?
Michigan’s defense falls into two buckets:

1) Stalions was a lone, rogue actor who has left the program. Stalions’ attorney has given a statement to The Athletic in which he says Harbaugh was unaware of any efforts to steal signs from opponents.

2) Everybody else is doing it. Michigan shared evidence with the Big Ten on 7 November that alleged that Ohio State, Rutgers and Purdue had conspired to steal signs in a coordinated effort. Michigan alleged they were sent a document by a former Purdue coach that showed that the three schools were working in concert to decode Michigan’s signs. That document was circulated to various media outlets as well as the Big Ten and NCAA investigators. Michigan do not allege that any of the three named schools used in-person scouting to try to steal signals.

Does this mean Michigan out of the College Football Playoff?
The College Football Playoff is an end-of-season knockout tournament in which the top four teams in the country compete to be named national champion. The CFP operates independently of the NCAA. Michigan, 9-0, are third in the CFP’s rankings, behind Ohio State and Georgia. Even if the Big Ten or NCAA moved to vacate Michigan’s wins, the College Football Playoff committee would have the power to evaluate the team on its on-field merits. If the Big Ten bars Michigan from the Big Ten Championship game, the lack of a win on their resume could impact Michigan’s chances of securing a playoff berth.

If Michigan were losing, would anybody care about sign-stealing?
Yes, but far less. Michigan are one of the most dominant team in the country. After a rocky start to life back at Michigan, Harbaugh has turned the school into a freight train. They have beaten arch-rivals Ohio State in each of the last two seasons and made the College Football Playoff in back-to-back years. Part of the hysteria around the scandal is that Michigan’s success coincides with the alleged sign-stealing operation. Michigan finished 2-4 during the Covid-impacted 2020 season. Since then, they are 34-3, with two Big Ten championships.

What’s next?
This isn’t ending any time soon. The NCAA investigation into the allegations is still ongoing, and ESPN reports that Michigan have been preparing to fight any discipline handed down by the Big Ten. That could mean Michigan attempt to get a temporary restraining order so that Harbaugh can still coach the Wolverines in Saturday’s game against Penn State.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/nov/10/michigan-wolverines-college-football-big-ten-sign-stealing-jim-harbaugh-suspension

[Statto Red]

NCAA are notoriously slow when it comes to dealing with investigations & punishments for schools that breach NCAA regulations, however the Big Ten have already acted & banned Jim Harbaugh from the sidelines for the rest of the season, however Michigan are planning to take the Big Ten to court to reverse that decision so gloves are off right now.

[Statto Red]

Texas A&M have fired Jimbo Fisher which is expected to cost the school more than $76 million in payouts to him.

According to the terms of the contract, Texas A&M will owe Fisher $19.2 million within 60 days and then pay him $7.2 annually through 2031. There is no offset or mitigation on those payments, and the annual payments start 120 days after termination.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38880082/jimbo-fisher-expected-fired-texas-sources-confirm

[frag]

Texas A&M have fired Jimbo Fisher which is expected to cost the school more than $76 million in payouts to him.

According to the terms of the contract, Texas A&M will owe Fisher $19.2 million within 60 days and then pay him $7.2 annually through 2031. There is no offset or mitigation on those payments, and the annual payments start 120 days after termination.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38880082/jimbo-fisher-expected-fired-texas-sources-confirm

One of the best jobs in the world, a sacked college head coach….

[exiledintheUSA]

Arizona Rising.

[cdav]

Sky Sports has secured the rights to show College Football including all Bowl games through the 2024/2025 season.

Fans can enjoy three live games per week as well as College GameDay every Saturday.

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNFL/status/1725820690882875581?t=FkOVU2JMXr-Vf-fUphS2yg&s=19

[voodoo ray]

well that's good news for next year I guess.

ignore that, it looks like it's from today! nice.

[Statto Red]

well that's good news for next year I guess.

ignore that, it looks like it's from today! nice.

Yep, the games are on sky's NFL channel, the early game is Louisville @ Miami [FL] but then Wake Forest @ Notre Dame, finishing with Washington @ Oregon State.

Here's more details on it.

https://www.skysports.com/nfl/news/12118/13010262/sky-sports-secure-rights-to-show-ncaa-college-football-until-the-end-of-2024-25-season

[frag]

Michigan OUS game was extremely enjoyable.

[BarryCrocker]

Michigan OUS game was extremely enjoyable.

Of all games in US sport that would be the one I've got on a bucket list. Both 11-0 going into the match as well.

[Statto Red]

Sounds like a crazy end to the iron bowl, to maybe match the kick six from 2013 version.

[afc tukrish]

Sounds like a crazy end to the iron bowl, to maybe match the kick six from 2013 version.

Fourth down TD passes happen reasonably frequently.

Kick sixes almost never do. The kick six in that particular game is the only time of which I am aware...

Alabama did get a fair share of luck...

[ShrewKop]

Both Auburn and Nebraska have both managed to lose from seemingly impossible positions. My father in law is a huge Huskers fan, and so that was a deflating last minute of the game lol.

[Lone Star Red]

And just like that, the regular season is over. Just 12 straight weeks of pure, chaotic bliss. What a sport.

[BarryCrocker]

And just like that, the regular season is over. Just 12 straight weeks of pure, chaotic bliss. What a sport.

Without doubt the best American team sport. Tribalism at it best.

[Dull Tools]

Anyone know how they are choosing these sky games? Happy they picked up the deal but odd there was no Michigan Ohio State last week and no Georgia Alabama this week.

[voodoo ray]

Anyone know how they are choosing these sky games? Happy they picked up the deal but odd there was no Michigan Ohio State last week and no Georgia Alabama this week.

I don't think they're showing the CBS games like BT (as was) used to. and absolutely no fox, but BT never showed those anyway.

ESPN only.

[Statto Red]

Seems like its mostly games that are scheduled for ABC that sky are showing, sky are showing the Pac12 championship game which is on ABC.

Remember next year ESPN will have all games from the SEC.

[voodoo ray]

Seems like its mostly games that are scheduled for ABC that sky are showing, sky are showing the Pac12 championship game which is on ABC.

Remember next year ESPN will have all games from the SEC.

it's fucking weird that they haven't shown the B1G games that nbc/peacock show considering they're the same company.

[Statto Red]

it's fucking weird that they haven't shown the B1G games that nbc/peacock show considering they're the same company.

Thought that too considering sky show Notre Dame home games which are exclusive to NBC

[voodoo ray]

Thought that too considering sky show Notre Dame home games which are exclusive to NBC

and nbc promos, and pft, and fnia......

bizarre

[Statto Red]

 Oregon @ Washington looks like the pick of the Conference Championship games, i would think the winner of that would get in the playoffs.

 Looks like this is the last ever Pac 12 game too, with 10 schools in the Pac 12 heading for other Conferences next year, i do think that TV deal with Apple TV spooked everyone, most of the schools wanted to be on normal or cable TV rather than a streaming site.

[voodoo ray]

Sounds like it's the pac 2 next year. So much for the 'power 5'

[Statto Red]

Sounds like it's the pac 2 next year. So much for the 'power 5'

  it's going to be fun if the Pac 12 continues next year as a 2 school conference, for the schedule certainly.

[Statto Red]

Could be awkward moments for some conference commissioners when handing out trophies over the next couple of days, notably the Big Ten, if Michigan win.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39008688/championship-week-michigan-big-ten-texas-big-12-awkwardness

[Statto Red]

Washington win the Pac 12 championship, which guarantees them a playoff spot

[spartan2785]

Washington win the Pac 12 championship, which guarantees them a playoff spot

Was at the game, really tough to take as a born and bred/alumni Ducks fan, but can’t complain, got dominated in the trenches, and just couldn’t get any pressure on Penix who is a stud, best combo of QB and receivers in the nation this year.

I think we really missed our cornerbacks but in the end they were just better, good luck to the dawgs in the playoff

Going to try not spend too much now in Vegas drowning my sorrows

[skipper757]

Was at the game, really tough to take as a born and bred/alumni Ducks fan, but can’t complain, got dominated in the trenches, and just couldn’t get any pressure on Penix who is a stud, best combo of QB and receivers in the nation this year.

I think we really missed our cornerbacks but in the end they were just better, good luck to the dawgs in the playoff

Going to try not spend too much now in Vegas drowning my sorrows

Great effort after that early deficit.  Thought Oregon might've had it after taking the lead as Washington does tend to be boom or bust on offense at times when they're too reliant on Penix, but they mixed it up well with Dillon Johnson getting plenty of touches throughout.  Game lived up to the hype again, but real shame that it's the last PAC-12 game.  Just really sad actually, with the mascots hugging at the end being quite emotional.

https://twitter.com/rodger/status/1730762317573603581

CFP Committee will have a headache now with today's games so far.  Texas won big today, but Alabama just ended UGA's unbeaten run.  If FSU and Michigan win, then it's 1-loss Texas vs. 1-loss Bama for the final spot.  Good luck to the committee on picking that one.  If Auburn had defended that 4th and 31 or if K-State had managed to not choke away a goal-to-go situation in OT, it would've been clearer, but credit to Texas and Alabama for staying alive and then grasping their opportunities.

Nick Saban's won something like 5 in a row against teams ranked #1, and Bama's 9-0 in SEC title games since losing to Meyer/Tebow's Florida team.

[Statto Red]

Yeah a real headache now for the CFB committee who they select for the playoffs, Texas beat Bama in week 2, then lost to Oklahoma in week 6, but do Texas get a playoff berth above Bama, & do the committee drop Georgia from the playoffs, could have a playoff with no team from the SEC.

[Dull Tools]

Yeah a real headache now for the CFB committee who they select for the playoffs, Texas beat Bama in week 2, then lost to Oklahoma in week 6, but do Texas get a playoff berth above Bama, & do the committee drop Georgia from the playoffs, could have a playoff with no team from the SEC.

Texas have to be in. They were increíble yesterday and beat Alabama on Alabama by double digits.

I would probably leave out Georgia and FSU. Harsh on Florida but they haven't beat a top 10 team all year and they don't have their starting quarterback which has to figure into it.

[RedG13]

I think Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama will be in

[Dull Tools]

I think Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama will be in

Having thought about it as a biased Longhorn fan I think it makes the most sense.

[Skeeve]

While that four would be a deserving selection, you do have to wonder if they will be able to resist including FSU despite their weak schedule due to being an undefeated conference champion.

[skipper757]

Leaving FSU out would be bold and unprecedented.  But there is a case if you consider the on-field situation with Travis’ injury.  Is the best team or the most deserving team?  We’ll find out.

[Statto Red]

Texas have to be in. They were increíble yesterday and beat Alabama on Alabama by double digits.

I would probably leave out Georgia and FSU. Harsh on Florida but they haven't beat a top 10 team all year and they don't have their starting quarterback which has to figure into it.

Yep, if Alabama are in then Texas have to be in too, & Texas were the higher seed going into this weekend, & have beaten Alabama already this season.

 FSU have beaten a top 10 team this year, they beat 5th ranked LSU but that was in week 1 before the injury to the QB.

If the committee pick Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama  for the playoffs it'll be down to the semi final matchup they want, they could seed.

1 Washington
2 Michigan
3 Texas
4 Alabama

Be done like that if they want to avoid an Alabama vs Michigan semi be tough on FSU to miss out but we'll see, last year of the 4 team playoff before playoff expansion next year.

[Lone Star Red]

What it should be: Michigan, Washington, Florida State and Texas.

What I’m guessing it will be: Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama.