2025-2026 College Football Thread

[fatediesel]

I'm hearing that the SEC saying they aren't expanding may have been done purely to avoid a lawsuit from the Big 12 or other conferences that they may take teams from. Instead they need the schools to come to them and make it clear that they are wanting to leave their current conference and would like to join the SEC. A&M is still meeting today to discuss changing conferences and it's not out of the question that if they request to join the SEC they will be accepted and could still join as early as next year.

[Kev1080P]

yea i expect them to add 2 teams within the next 2 years or so

[Moviefan1203]

If the SEC really wants to put their stamp on authority on college football, they'd add four teams and go to sixteen members. It would be unexpected but also unsurprising.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I'm hearing that the SEC saying they aren't expanding may have been done purely to avoid a lawsuit from the Big 12 or other conferences that they may take teams from. Instead they need the schools to come to them and make it clear that they are wanting to leave their current conference and would like to join the SEC. A&M is still meeting today to discuss changing conferences and it's not out of the question that if they request to join the SEC they will be accepted and could still join as early as next year.

Pretty soon it'll be nothing but super conferences which may or may not be a bad thing.

[fatediesel]

Not a surprise, but Bubba Starling, the #5 pick in the baseball draft, signed a contract with the Royals last night. Starling was the #7 quarterback in the 2011 recruiting class and many believed he had the highest upside. He signed with Nebraska but nobody ever expected him to actually play for them and was instead using the option of playing college football for leverage.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by supersix4

Pretty soon it'll be nothing but super conferences which may or may not be a bad thing.

If that's what it takes us to get a better system for determining a national champion, then I am all for super conferences.

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

If that's what it takes us to get a better system for determining a national champion, then I am all for super conferences.

It's hard to see the NCAA doing anything that isn't just taking the recent system of "no-shot whatsoever unless you are in SEC, Big 12, PAC 10, or Big 10" and firming up the loopholes to guarantee that no other team will win. "TCU came too close to the championship game, we must stop that!" kind of thing.

It's kinda sad. The Big East is so pathetic lately that the argument for TCU won't change, even with them in a so-called "BCS" conference.

[Slec]

This Miami story is the craziest thing since SMU. Wow

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Slec

This Miami story is the craziest thing since SMU. Wow

I'll check it out

Yes it is

http://sports.yahoo.com/investigatio...enefits_081611

The YAHOO one is WAYYY better lol







http://content.usatoday.com/communit...against-them/1

There is the presumption of innocence. There is waiting until all the evidence is in. But then there is also the reputation of the University of Miami.

Should that count for anything?

As Rocky Balboa once told Marie, "y'see they don't remember you, they remember the rep. Y'understand."

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Nevin Shapiro, now serving a 20-year sentence for running a Ponzi scheme, is claiming that from 2002 to 2010 that he provided at least 72 athletes with improper benefits including cash, jewelry, clothes, housing, bounties for performance and the use of prostitutes.

School officials say they are cooperating in the investigation of the program.

MIAMI TROUBLES: Booster details payouts

Shapiro is claiming that he entertained athletes at his home and on his yacht and claims that both football and basketball coaches at the school were aware of his largesse.

"I did it because I could," Shapiro told Yahoo! "And because nobody stepped in to stop me."

Shapiro's past will certainly be used against him in any investigation but so probably will Miami's who has been in and out of troubles since the 1980s. That includes allegations that entertainer Luther Campbell supplied benefits decades ago.

"He was 'Uncle Luke', and I became 'Little Luke,' " said Shapiro.

With whispers of the "death penalty" being on the table, will it be Miami's past or present that is the bigger weight for the program?

[Chordata]

Miami a dirty program? Come on guys, where do you get your news?!

[fatediesel]

I'm just wondering if this guy has any proof of the gifts he provided. He's a convicted ponzi schemer so his word is questionable, and it's unlikely any former players are going to agree to talk to the NCAA, who has no subpena power. I wonder if Miami is going to consider sitting the current players implicated, which includes many projected starters, because if they play the players and they are found to have committed violations they will likely have to forfeit any wins in which those players played.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I'm just wondering if this guy has any proof of the gifts he provided. He's a convicted ponzi schemer so his word is questionable, and it's unlikely any former players are going to agree to talk to the NCAA, who has no subpena power. I wonder if Miami is going to consider sitting the current players implicated, which includes many projected starters, because if they play the players and they are found to have committed violations they will likely have to forfeit any wins in which those players played.

I mean I'd have said the same thing too... But the pictures speak louder than any words... And there are a ton of pictures, and almost every good player on those teams are involved.

I still don't blame the kids and I have a hard time blaming him for doing it, as he said "had the NCAA hired a PI for a night they'd have caught us"

This stems from poor oversight and and the Universities just wanting bigger checks.

There is just SOOO much information in that Yahoo article its mind-boggling

[Chordata]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I'm just wondering if this guy has any proof of the gifts he provided. He's a convicted ponzi schemer so his word is questionable, and it's unlikely any former players are going to agree to talk to the NCAA, who has no subpena power. I wonder if Miami is going to consider sitting the current players implicated, which includes many projected starters, because if they play the players and they are found to have committed violations they will likely have to forfeit any wins in which those players played.

He says he has bank statements, checks, etc., to prove it all.

You're right though - he's a convicted felon and his conviction entails his veracity and moral turpitude.

Originally Posted by supersix4

I still don't blame the kids and I have a hard time blaming him for doing it, as he said "had the NCAA hired a PI for a night they'd have caught us"

I do nowadays. The kids and their coaches know better today and they know the risks. I believe there ought to be harsh penalties for all involved, including coaches.

It's still laughable to me that the NCAA suspended AJ Green for 4 games for selling a jersey but was too stupid to catch Reggie Bush until years after the fact. In that regard, the NCAA might get mountains of evidence here and give the death penalty to, say, Minnesota, because, in the NCAA's world, that makes sense.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I'm just wondering if this guy has any proof of the gifts he provided. He's a convicted ponzi schemer so his word is questionable, and it's unlikely any former players are going to agree to talk to the NCAA, who has no subpena power. I wonder if Miami is going to consider sitting the current players implicated, which includes many projected starters, because if they play the players and they are found to have committed violations they will likely have to forfeit any wins in which those players played.

I heard the Yahoo sports reporter on Jim Rome today. He says parts of the booster's story have been corroborated by many sources, including many former Miami football players and coaches.

This is the most bizarre/disgusting part of the story. So he paid her to have this done without telling the player, "for his own good"? wtf?

In one instance, Shapiro described taking a player to the Pink Pony strip club and paying for a dancer to engage in sex with the athlete. In the ensuing weeks, Shapiro said the dancer called one of his security providers and informed him that the player had gotten her pregnant during the incident. Shapiro said he gave the dancer $500 to have an abortion performed, without notifying the player of the incident.

“I was doing him a favor,” the booster said. “That idiot might have wanted to keep [the baby].”

Due to the sensitivity of the allegation, Yahoo! Sports has chosen not to name the player allegedly involved.

http://sports.yahoo.com/investigatio...enefits_081611

[Moviefan1203]

Being a die hard fan of Miami, I am incredibly disheartened by this turn of events. At this point, I just hope we avoid the death penalty.

I feel like the 'Canes were just about to turn the corner and have a really big season and now this happens. It's so depressing.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

Being a die hard fan of Miami, I am incredibly disheartened by this turn of events. At this point, I just hope we avoid the death penalty.

I feel like the 'Canes were just about to turn the corner and have a really big season and now this happens. It's so depressing.

I doubt the death penalty will ever be used again. But ya, Miami is going to be in long-term trouble if even half of these allegations are proven true.

I feel bad for Al Golden. He's a terrific coach who worked his tail off to land a big job. Now he's put in an almost impossible situation that he had nothing to do with.

[cajmoyper]

What exactly is this "death penalty"?

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Chordata

I do nowadays. The kids and their coaches know better today and they know the risks. I believe there ought to be harsh penalties for all involved, including coaches.

Don't get me wrong I know the kids know and I tend to agree with you... I just look at it like if I'm from a bad neighborhood can't even go out with 2 friends and get a bite to eat and some guy offeres me 1k in cash, that I'll just turn it down...

I think it would be easy for someone like me (whose parents keep my bank account full for college) to say well he should just follow the rules when really the rules aren't the same for everyone from the start.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by cajmoyper

What exactly is this "death penalty"?

Basically dismantling the program. The one major school that had it happen was SMU (Southern Methodist) back in the mid-80's. SMU basically built a football powerhouse by countless huge payoffs to players and other perks. It was total corruption from top to bottom, involving football greats like Eric Dickerson. It completely destroyed their program and they didn't get a football team back for many years.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by cajmoyper

What exactly is this "death penalty"?

No football for an extended period of time. For example SMU was given the 'death penalty' in the late 80's and is just now beginning to recover from it.