GP1

They would stand the risk of program erosion in a conference that bad. Remember when Clemson and FSU were good? Someday someone could be saying that about them. The best thing ND could do is join the Big 10. It's a multi bid conference and entrance into the league would improve their recruiting making them more competitive. ND is a good program that can compete in the long term but it cannot do that from a laughable conference.

It will be interesting. It's not a huge jump, but like all things in college athletics, it's a move in the wrong direction. In the past, college sports had JV squads. One thing players on a team have to be conscious about is the staff bringing on younger players to move others out. 100+ players is enough to have a JV team. This JV team could be used as a vehicle for allowing borderline players to prove themselves in game experiences. If a kid isn't providing himself on the JV team through his sophomore season, the coaches can then have a conversation with him about playing football at that school probably isn't the best option for him and he can transfer or stay on scholarship outside of the football program. It may cut down on some transfers, or some players could be close enough to graduation that they retire from football.

It's pretty obvious to me that the solution to the college football playoffs wasn't adding teams. It's what you do when it is really all about money combined with being too stupid to come up with better solutions to a problem. The solution is now, and always was, having fewer teams.

I hope they use this free time to figure out not being in a conference isn't the best path forward.

Looks like he cracked under the pressure. https://www.google.com/amp/s/baylorlariat.com/2025/11/07/baylor-ad-mack-rhoades-investigated-after-altercation-with-player-reports/%3famp=1

https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/who-is-mack-rhoades-why-is-he-under-investigation-by-baylor-university/500-b984c885-0a7a-44e7-ae65-b278002e9e1e Former Akron AD.

I agree. I think the talent distribution in the NIL era comes at the expense of my fan experience. I want my experience to be more than watching my team win. I want to get to know the program. Programs aren't things. Programs are people. I'm less interested in who is transferring in and more interested in how programs are developing people. I think the best thing for someone like me is to not increase scholarships, but decrease them. Players will value them more is they know there are not an unlimited number of spots for them to transfer. Players might actually compete harder and not leave because the path to getting on the field is easier somewhere else.

Strong cultures bring teams together to win. What the NIL era has ushured in is an era of bad culture at most schools. Those will strong cultures continue to win.

I generally agree. They had enough talent to win six.

Hope isn't a strategy. I'm of the opinion we aren't far from getting 6 wins every season. The 2025 season wasn't the disaster some believe it was. Over half the MAC schools had losing records. Akron literally finished in the middle of the conference and had a .500 record in conference. The Kent loss still sticks in my craw because I believe Akron is a better program and had better players. That's the difference between going to a bowl or not. It would have also given Akron four wins for the home fans, which is badly needed. Akron also won two games on the road which seemed out of reach not long ago. On the surface, Akron should have beaten Kent and Wyoming. Dig a little deeper and it's understandable why a coach finds winning at Akron so difficult. Akron isn't far away. Just a couple more financial pieces.

I agree. In addition, Duke, Tulane and NTSU were all in championship games this weekend. Kansas is good, Vandy is good. Wake Forest is good. I could go on. It is possible for a school like Akron to get good. Akron being bad has been by decision and on purpose as far as I can tell. I just saw Hunter Y on GameDay and threw up a little in my mouth that he wasn't named after Mack. Instead, we picked Wistrcill and got I Coach. He chose ICoach on purpose in spite of him being completely unqualified for the job. Think our failure isn't on purpose? On a side note, I saw Kennesaw State play Wake Forest this year. I was very impressed with how physically they played. It was a good reminder that physicality still matters in football.

Wilson isn't being punished. He's being held to the terms of a contract he signed. The players want their cake and eat it too. They want to be treated like adult professionals, but when they get treated like one they play the old "student -athlete" card crap. Screw them. If my relocation offer included me having to pay back a year's salary for leaving the company before one year, I would never have signed it. I wouldn't have needed a lawyer to tell me that. I'm sure there were better structured deals from other schools. He should have taken one of them or negotiated better. If the judge in this case rules against the collective, it will set off a series of cases far and wide pertaining to NIL contracts. It could be a good thing that drives college football to move towards collective bargaining.

I agree. They should have scheduled it for this coming Tuesday night or 11 PM on Friday night. What is your better idea?

How is it predatory? Was it his only contract offer? What is difficult to understand about the terms? Did he sign it at the age of 18 or older? It all seems pretty clear to me. I once signed a relocation offer that included me being required to repay the cost of the relocation if I left the company after during my first year of employment. This seems very similar.

I wish it was a contract negotiated under a collective bargaining agreement that left no ambiguity of the parties obligations.