If Oregon were to beat Indiana…

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If Oregon were to beat Indiana…

Then all of the talk about NIL and the portal making it possible for any program to win the Championship would kinda go out the window.

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I'm listening.

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Since the origination of the BCS Title Game in 1998

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I'm hanging up now.

Nothing goes out any window, unless you're hopelessly hyperbolic and can only deal in extremes. NIL and the portal have already proven to be difference makers.

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They’ve caused chaos and drama for sure… obviously they’ve brought about change. But at the end of the day, they’ve (so far) yet to lead to a program rising out of obscurity to win a national title.

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First of all, you don't have to win a national title to rise out of obscurity. Oregon has been a major program for decades now from Nike money and they have never won a natty. So I disagree with the way you are framing your argument. 2nd, Indiana has totally done the same thing with lightning quickness and some Mark Cuban money.

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Oregon has been a major program for decades now from Nike money

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So before the portal and before NIL.

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Indiana has totally done the same thing with lightning quickness and some Mark Cuban money.

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So did Oklahoma State with T Boone Pickens. SMU had Texas billionaires writing checks directly to players.

My point is none of this is new. Lots of programs have seen an infusion of booster support and a few good seasons as a result.

But now when it happens we act like it’s only because of NIL and the portal. Maybe college football is just doing what it’s always done.

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So did Oklahoma State with T Boone Pickens. SMU had Texas billionaires writing checks directly to players.

My point is none of this is new. Lots of programs have seen an infusion of booster support and a few good seasons as a result.

But now when it happens we act like it’s only because of NIL and the portal. Maybe college football is just doing what it’s always done.

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It is new, there were people cheating before, and now it is within the rules. Yes there were many who were cheating, but not everyone. Now everyone can participate.

But the cheaters will find a way to still take advantage eventually. It's just the way some people are wired when there is this much money involved.

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4- Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma

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Are you sure?

Georgia-

2017
2021
2022
When was the 4th appearance since 98?

I definitely appreciate your work. I just think it’s still a little too early to determine, or close the argument.

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Now everyone can participate.

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Everyone has always been able to participate. Nothing was stopping Mark Cuban from giving millions of $$$ towards Indiana football a decade ago just like Phil Knight and T Boone Pickens were doing.

At this point, Indiana is absolutely no different than any of the other dozen programs who put all the pieces together to have a magical season that resulted in a Top 3 or 4 finish. This is not new for the sport.

Why does everyone act like Ole Miss 2025 is 100% different than 2012 Texas A&M, 2013 South Carolina, 2014 Mississippi State, etc.? What’s the difference?

How is Vandy 2025 any different than Missouri 2013?

It is not a rare or new thing for these programs to rise up and have a fantastic year every so often. A few are going to do it in the sport every single season. It’s not new!

At the end of the day, there are 17 elites of this sport….Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and USC.

Those 17 elites have won every national title of the last 33 seasons and one of those has won at least a share in 63 of the last 66 seasons going back to 1960. The only exceptions were 1976 Pitt, 1984 BYU, and 1990 Georgia Tech/Colorado. Michigan State (1965, 1966) and Washington (1991) also won titles but shared them with one of those elites.

I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Oregon joins the group as they’ve been extremely close about a dozen times now going back the last 20 years.

We have seen a lot of change with the portal and with NIL, but in all likelihood we’ll still see the same 17 programs (maybe 18 with Oregon) win 95%+ of the titles in the years ahead.

Everyone acting as if the game has changed to the point of it being a complete free for all for the title every season are getting caught up in the moment.

weak sauce. Oregon would still be the first first-time-champion since Florida.

If Indiana does win it all, since they and Texas Tech are the top examples of buying your way from nowhere to elite in no time flat, it will certainly be a stronger message.

However, even though Miami and Oregon have been stronger programs with high level recruiting classes-- off and on -- for longer, they are still two of the biggest NIL spenders.

That the final four were these three + NIL/transfer heavy Ole Miss may end being seen as the year the new dynamics really took hold as far as the standard elite being blue blood programs who load up on the best HS talent.