Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Wolverine Wednesday: College Football Changing Fast

Did you ever think Nick Saban would be complaining about another team buying players?  A move he has mastered over the years.  If you think that is incorrect, check Nick's record at MSU and the Miami Dolphins vs. his years at LSU and Alabama.  

With all the cheating now being legal with NIL, the transfer portal, and conference divisions being abolished, college football is changing fast. 

Most of these changes have a negative effect on our beloved Michigan program.  Michigan will do its best with NIL, but they will never incent a player to come to Michigan with money.   Jimmy and Hunter Dickinson have been very clear on that.   

It's no secret the transfer portal does not work in Michigan's favor with Michigan's high standards for admissions.  Being able to flip a roster or even a position group is not really possible in Ann Arbor, like it would be in East Lansing for example.  Getting 1 or 2 guys a year, is really the expected upside per off season.

There is also a ton of rumors floating around that the Big Ten will be doing some type of reorganization in its football divisions.  The PAC 12 is doing it and the SEC is talking about having its own college football playoff system.   It will be interesting to see how this affects Michigan, but I'm strongly against having back-to-back Ohio State games.   Maybe they will do something like they did for the COVID year and have teams that haven't played during the year match-up during the last weekend.  

With all this said, I will continue to stand on my soap box and yell at the clouds, that Michigan's goal every year should be a Big Ten Championship only. 

Here is why I think that:

  • Per Jimmy: It's hard to beat the cheaters.  Talent wins and the SEC has been buying (and will continue to buy) all the top players in the country.  
  • If you don't have the players, you can now buy them out of the transfer portal.  Top players at smaller NIL schools will now get paid every year in the transfer portal. 
  • Rebuilding is now only a transfer portal away.  MSU had a coaching change, a roster devoid of talent, the best way to bounce back quickly is through the transfer portal.   Sparty is doing this at a high level and almost got a Heisman trophy out of this strategy last season.  Is Mel Tucker a good coach or good at buying groceries?
  • The playoff system is broken and bowls don't matter.   Would anyone be interested in Michigan vs. ND playoff game last season?  That game might have broken TV viewing records.   The Semi-finals were not competitive and never were.  Still, they won't expand the playoffs.   Like the SEC is thinking about they should just do their own playoff system and save everyone time.  

Michigan for some reason always gets the toughest Big Ten schedule most years.  Wisconsin is in another division but Michigan always seems to get lucky having them on the schedule.   Michigan and Minnesota play for a legendary trophy and many years it's hard to find the Golden Gophers on the schedule.   The Big Ten divisions are not even and with the changing landscape it seems to be more of a disparity each year.   Michigan, OSU, and Penn State clearly out recruit the likes of Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa.   Yes, it's time for a change and hopefully one that will benefit Michigan in the long run. 

1 comment:

Chowman said...

Saban's time in EL isn't comparable as the administration back then didn't give a squat about winning a football. He couldn't raised pocket change to buy a recruit a Big Mac back then. SEC is a different animal. They're out of the Al Davis mold of "just win". IF you win a Naty by cheating, they can vacate that title, but it doesn't change the memories of the fanbase.

As far a Michigan, they have enough high profile alums that the could have one of the best NIL programs in the nation. Look you either keep pace with the rest of college football, or fall into obscurity. And Michigan can have a high standard for academics for non athletes or at least non-football/mens basketball players. Really how many of the "elite" players that do come to Michigan graduate with any meaningful degree? Most of these highly ranked recruits just want to come play sports to showcase themselves for the pros. I'm not saying let anybody in, but allowing them to transfer in credits from other institutions ain't going to hurt anyone.