The World of College Football

[kreed5120]

56 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

Are common blowouts really all that new with college football, though?  I think that's kind of always been the issue.

 

I don't think anyone is arguing it wasn't a problem before, but it has grown worse. The average margin of victory this season is the largest it has been since at least 2000 based on what AI is telling me. Before if there were 4 or 5 games on TV at least 1, maybe two or 3 would be good. Now it's a struggle to find one game.

[MangoZip]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

This should've been the final nail in the coffin for Brian Kelly's coaching career.

 

Glad that scumbag is out of a job (again). He needs to be done coaching for good. I love that he hilariously flopped at LSU which also produced an all time embarrassing GIF.

 

“Again”? I don’t think he’s ever been fired?

[Let'sGoZips94]

13 minutes ago, MangoZip said:

“Again”? I don’t think he’s ever been fired?

 

You're right. I forgot he fled Notre Dame for LSU on his own accord. 

[zippy5]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I don't think anyone is arguing it wasn't a problem before, but it has grown worse. The average margin of victory this season is the largest it has been since at least 2000 based on what AI is telling me. Before if there were 4 or 5 games on TV at least 1, maybe two or 3 would be good. Now it's a struggle to find one game.

Per the AP on 10/22/25:

 

In that first season of NIL in 2021-22, the margin of victory was 18 points for the Big Ten, 15.7 points for both the SEC and Pac-12, 15.2 for the Big 12 and 14.1 for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now the ACC has an average margin of 13 points per victory with the Big 12 at 14.5 points and the Big Ten at 15.5 points.

Edited 3 hours ago by zippy5

[kreed5120]

43 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Per the AP on 10/22/25:

 

In that first season of NIL in 2021-22, the margin of victory was 18 points for the Big Ten, 15.7 points for both the SEC and Pac-12, 15.2 for the Big 12 and 14.1 for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now the ACC has an average margin of 13 points per victory with the Big 12 at 14.5 points and the Big Ten at 15.5 points.

 

The data AI looked at in my post included OOC play. Perhaps that's where the numbers differ.

[exit322]

21 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

The data AI looked at in my post included OOC play. Perhaps that's where the numbers differ.

 

That might be.  For example, the 1997 game in Lincoln was only a 59-14 loss for Zippy.

[Zippy87]

3 hours ago, GP1 said:

If you think about LSU in the world of college football 10 years ago, yes, they should be a contender. They are going to struggle mightily moving forward in a poor state with the best class of money they can bring in being car dealership money. In many ways, much of the SEC has this problem. 

 

They had the top-ranked transfer portal class coming into 2025 along with no lower than a top-12 recruiting class each of the last three seasons: 2024 (7th), 2023 (5th), 2022 (12th)

 

The problem isn't getting talent or keeping up with spending, it was a coach who has never been able to win at the levels of the truly elite in CFB. To have that kind of talent and not even get in to an expanded playoff is frankly embarrassing. 

[GP1]

4 hours ago, exit322 said:

 

Are common blowouts really all that new with college football, though?  I think that's kind of always been the issue.

It's very common. 

[kreed5120]

The margin of error is really thin in the SEC now that Texas and Oklahoma joined. There are at least 7 programs (Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and LSU) who expect to be in the playoffs every year. There are another handful that expect to make the playoffs every 2 or 3 years. Then you randomly have programs like Kentucky or Vanderbilt who can surprisingly be good at times. When you consider only about 5 of these schools can make the playoffs each year there is going to be a lot of disappointment.

 

The B1G is a different animal. In recent years only OSU, Oregon, and Penn State have been consistent top 10-15 programs. With Franklin gone who knows what happens with Penn State. That makes it easier for a program like Indiana to emerge. Maybe at some point USC and UM will get their sh** together and live up to their blue blood names, but right now it's much easier to succeed in the B1G vs the SEC.

[GP1]

49 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

They had the top-ranked transfer portal class coming into 2025 along with no lower than a top-12 recruiting class each of the last three seasons: 2024 (7th), 2023 (5th), 2022 (12th)

 

The problem isn't getting talent or keeping up with spending, it was a coach who has never been able to win at the levels of the truly elite in CFB. To have that kind of talent and not even get in to an expanded playoff is frankly embarrassing. 

To me, this is more of a statement about the dangers of the transfer portal and believing recruiting rankings. 

[kreed5120]

17 minutes ago, GP1 said:

To me, this is more of a statement about the dangers of the transfer portal and believing recruiting rankings. 

 

Yes, there is still value in continuity. College football is not much different than the NFL now. The NFL teams that most often succeed are those who draft well, can retain their talent, and then look towards free agency (in this case the portal) to just plug a few missing gaps. 

 

Also, like NFL draft classes, you can't really grade how good they are until 3 or 4 later. Recruiting rankings are more educated guesses than a factual guarantee.

Edited 44 minutes ago by kreed5120

[UAZipster0305]

2 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

Yes, there is still value in continuity. College football is not much different than the NFL now. The NFL teams that most often succeed are those who draft well, can retain their talent, and then look towards free agency to just plug a few missing gaps. 

 

Also, like NFL draft classes, you can't really grade how good they are until 3 or 4 later. Recruiting rankings are more educated guesses than a factual guarantee.

I would amend this to say that recruiting rankings only exist to stimulate interest in the off season and to suck a few more dollars out of the few fans who live and die with college football and have lesser or no interest in college basketball or professional spring and summer sports.