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Happy Friday, folks.

We all recall where we were when news broke of Nick Saban’s comments on Texas A&M “buying every player” in its historic, highest-rated (of all time) 2022 recruiting class. Admittedly, maybe just me, but it was peak offseason content to get me through the dragging summer.

After a wild 48 hours during which the two exchanged presser barbs and former players and uninvolved coaches (@ Kiffin) decided to voice their opinions via Twitter, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey stepped in to make the two kiss and make up.

Since, a few other coaches have come out guns a-blazing on the rule-breaking going on behind the scenes of NIL, most recently legendary Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim who called out ACC foes Pitt, Wake Forest, and, of course, Miami for buying their teams.

Unfortunately, it took just a couple of days before his obligatory "I’m sorry for accusing you of cheating!” apology cookie cake was delivered. He now claims that he didn’t intend to imply that any of those specific schools were cheating and that he believes that every school in the ACC is compliant with current NIL rules. He even looked up from the script on the notecard Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips sent over a few times!

The situation is a bit more complicated than black and white, though. Realistically, there’s a grey area between what Boeheim initially said probably being true and yet his second statement being accurate as well because what those schools are doing is likely allowed under the current structure of NIL rules. As was the case with the Saban and Jimbo spat, the real issue is with the rules of the game.

I also understand the frustration from Boeheim. Hopefully, the public catharsis was therapeutic for him, even if he had to rectify later on. At the same, though, how is the real cheating ever going to be addressed if coaches aren’t willing to stick to their claims and air some dirty laundry?

Young, up-and-comers are more likely to keep things under wraps in hopes that they eventually get the call up to coach one of these more… err… resourced programs. For coaches like Boeheim with no prospects of “moving up”, though, it would be nice to see them shoulder some of the dirty work that nobody else can.

There have been some crazy NIL deals over the last two years, but none were as nuts (😉) as the new partnership between Clemson basketball player Brevin Galloway and underwear company Shinesty.

Since transferring from Boston College, Galloway has been a reliable player for the Tigers, averaging almost 11 ppg this season. While respectable, these numbers won’t make your fame explode like what happened when he went to Twitter to announce that his testicles had, well, exploded.

The injury, apparently caused by poor-fitting boxers, was discovered after awaking from a nap. He was rushed to the ER where he underwent a three hour reparation surgery. Stop laughing.

The good news for Galloway is that Shinesty, which specializes in “testicular comfort and scrotal safety,” is not only making him a face of the brand, but as part of the deal, the company is also paying his hospital deductible. Luckily for Galloway, his family jewels are good to go, and his shiny new “ball hammock pouch” underwear will ensure that he never has to worry about losing his manhood ever again.

If any of you are Iowa fans, you know how ecstatic you are to see the Hawkeyes trot out on offense, knowing you’re about to witness another explosive barrage of offensive fireworks and downfield bombs!

Yeah, not quite.

The Hawkeyes were second to last in the country this year on offense. Surely, even for a program who hangs its coat on tough play and controlling the clock, this is unacceptable, and the coaching staff has already made the necessary staff changes go rectify the issue.

Instead, Iowa saw how well Yellowstone is doing with the Dynasty-Western spin and is looking to bring this family-run dynamic to college football.

Head Coach Kirk Ferentz is the most important man in the program’s history, single handedly building them into the “it won’t be pretty, but you can rely on us” blue-collar identity we all know and desperately avoid when picking teams in NCAA 14.

His son, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, is proving to be the biggest nepo baby in CFB and will be back calling the plays for another year. The older Ferentz has drawn further ire from fans by also become increasingly defensive in his decision to adhere to the 1800s style of management.

However, according to Brian’s updated contract, the athletic director is at least pretending that there are actual consequences for fielding the worst unit in college football.

Starting this next year, lil Ferentz’ compensation has been cut, a dramatic decline from his lofty $900K salary to… $850K. Luckily, there’s a $100K bonus to be had, and a restoration of his normal salary… what’s that? He will actually be getting a raise?

Correction: Ferentz will be making $950K and having his rolling contract restored should he reach a set stat threshold. Those numbers? 25 PPG (would tie them at 85th nationally… the bar is literally in Hell) and the team winning 7 games.

Name another profession where you get paid like that for utter ineptitude.

Speaking of Boeheim, the Orange are on the cusp of missing out on March Madness for back to back years for the first time in 15 years. Who else is on the bubble? Who’s a lock? Who should you bet doing your deskmate’s paperwork for a month on winning it all? Check out The Field of 68 Daily to get all those answers and more:

It won’t be too long before Pac-12 mainstays USC and UCLA will be finally putting away the surfboards and unpacking the ski parkas as this coming 2023 season marks their final one in the conference before they get to sending postcards from the distant borders of the Big Ten. Now, we have a better idea of how those travel logistics might work.

(*quick aside: Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff was spotted schmoozing with SMU officials earlier this week as the conference explores expansion candidates. the ponies’ invitation would likely be alongside san diego state 👀)

Going forward, the conference plans on maintaining a 3-6-6 scheduling model. Though it might draw a penalty for having too many players on the field, it will succeed in protecting 3 permanent rivals for each team and rotating the other 12 teams every other year. That means a four-year player (are those still a thing?) will get to taste the “world’s best casserole!” in every B1G school’s town at least once before they hang it up.

A few other logistical questions were also addressed in the report obtained by On3 detailing travel and potential neutral site games. It mostly affects the two schools flying from quite literally the other side of the country, but it will have implications for other conference members, as well.

First, as anyone who has ever had to take that red eye to/from LAX can tell you, those long flights suck, even for someone who is simply preparing to read from a PowerPoint for 10 minutes. Imagine having to then go run into 300 pound brick walls on the defensive line.

To reduce these negative effects, the conference is looking at strategically scheduling both Cali schools’ away games so that they will be multi-week trips, allowing the teams to stay on the road rather than fly back and forth every week or so. Get your tickets for the Malachi Nelson World Tour!

Wait! Aren’t they STUDENT-athletes? Don’t they have class?

Both schools will be going back to 2020 and working with the academic departments to ensure that players will be fully equipped to handle their course load and attend classes via Zoom. We all know how much kids learned the last time we tried this little experiment.

If you thought the Michigan-Michigan State scrap in the tunnel was bad, you’re gonna love this one. The Big Ten is also working with the schools to find ways to have teams fly on the same plane, both within schools and occasionally between them, to help reduce the financial burden.

This means that in addition to scheduling to accommodate the UCLA golf and soccer teams flying to Ann Arbor on the same plane, there might even be cases where there are planes-divided with a team from USC and one from UCLA, rivals, in the same flying metal cage...

There’s reportedly a good chance that we’ll see “multi-team events” where more than two schools will stay and play in a single location with multiple games on the same trip. This would apply to existing conference members, too.

An important reminder that even before the introduction of the Trojans and Bruins, schools like the University of Nebraska are 1300 miles away from Rutgers in New Jersey. The goal is to ease the load on players with these events which could take the form of regular, mid-season scheduling or more experimental efforts like in-season tournies.

The document states that hosting events on college campuses is preferred, but there’s also exploration of venues located in major airport cities like Chicago and Detroit. I’ll get around to writing about this soon, but these neutral site games are likely to continue to impact the game, both at the college and pro levels…

Finally, there was discussion about intentionally scheduling multiple conference championships on the same day and place, allowing fans to travel and attend multiple events over the span of a weekend. This was successful in 2021 when Rutgers hosted women’s soccer and field hockey championships at the same time.

This whole plan sounds expensive, and it gets even worse when you factor in the costs of increased spending on gear and equipment. Speaking just for UCLA, the school plans on buying each player a snow parka and new luggage.

They’re also likely to get a few new pairs of sweat suits which should be versatile enough to deal with the temperature changes in moving between California and Wisconsin in late November. Both Nike schools are likely to consider apparel from outside of their sponsor as they consider the quality (and warmth) of the gear versus what Nike manufactures.

The planning goes even deeper with conversations around purchasing their own heated benches versus renting them, and how many more equipment truck drivers will be needed.

Tradition aside, this situation sucks. It’s awful on the kids. It’s awful on the fans. We all know who this does help (see: the men in suits who made the move happen), but it further erodes the facade of amateur athletics that draw so many people to CFB over the NFL.

Most of us could barely get to class in college because we had too much to drink or were playing video games and hanging with friends. While these attempts to mitigate the physical effects of travel are better than nothing, these are no longer students. There is nothing about their experience that is close to the normal kid’s, and the demands are only getting larger.

The football schedule alone is no easier than what’s experienced in the pros. Add on the assignments in Comms 101 and lectures for Sports Management, and it’s absolutely grueling. The cherry on top? They’re technically not even paid to do it.

It’s no wonder that these players are fighting for revenue share. The larger amounts of money that schools will be bringing in, the entire reason for the move in the first place, is the direct result of these heightened challenges the players are soon to be facing.

The sport is also making things harder for college towns. If there’s one thing that I do support about the expanded playoffs, it’s the fact that there will be four more major college football games played on college campuses in the 5-12 round.

Beyond the magic that is Ann Arbor or State Park on Saturdays in the Fall, the economic impact of game days on local businesses is astronomical.

So many of these small businesses already had to shut their doors during the pandemic, and now, there’s a chance that there will be even fewer days of the year for them to make money during the year if these big, multi-team neutral site games become a reality.

Oh well. I might not enjoy it as much, but you’ll still find me watching Michigan State and UCLA in Milwaukee and wondering whether Chip Kelly had a butter burger or the fish and chips from Culver’s.

Cheers to another day,

Trey