OT: D1

[TheBigCat2192]

A rare non-firing, non-GameDay post:

MSU (midwest, not south) is getting three years probation and vacating 14 wins over the last three years because of ineligible players.

[IUPNation]

I totally get any Penn State or WVU fan who wants to give Pitt the business. What perplexes me are the people who don’t really seem to belong to either of those camps who hate Pitt. What exactly is hate worthy about Pitt outside of a rivalry? They otherwise kind of just exist. They’re mostly solid but usually don’t do anything special athletically. It’s a very good academic institution with some world renowned programs but they don’t seemto come off conceited about any of it. I don’t get it.

I’m only a casual Penn State fan..meaning I don’t care if they lose but they are for better or worse PA’s team…I don’t hate Pitt but they haven’t been elite program since Marino went to the NFL. The school itself is one of the reasons why the city of Pittsburgh didn’t crumble after steel crashed and Yinzers fled for greener pastures…like Detroit did. The school
has done a lot of important work. One day it might be better than IUP. 😉🤣

[Chuck Norris]

Here's my position (apologies for the length here)... I've long said - and I think over the last few years, and even recently it's being proven true - that the flagship university in the city of Pittsburgh (Pitt), is treated horribly in the local media and by many in the Western PA community.

There are far more "non-college football fans" in western PA than I think many believe. People in and around Pittsburgh are so infatuated with the Steelers and the NFL that they mostly just don't care about the product of college football (and never did). So those people don't have any emotional connection to the university or athletic department. They care about the Steelers and only the Steelers. So when the Pat McAfee Show has a guy taking a shot at Pitt because they and the Steelers are co-tenants of Acrisure Stadium, it's going to gain a lot of traction locally. Many of the people grabbing onto that story were Steelers fans who either A) Don't live in Pittsburgh, or B) Are Steelers fans that are local who don't watch college football.

A huge chunk of the local media in Western PA are active fans of either Penn State or WVU. Some media members are just pro football people and don't like college football - that angle also exists with the media members as well. But both schools I mentioned have sports journalism programs (Pitt does not), so much of the local media already has a vested interest in rooting against the city's university because they are grads of rival schools. Even other media members locally have tended to spurn their nose towards Pitt, largely because they belong to the ACC, not the B1G. Ron Cook was a shining example of that. So too is Joe Starkey. Bob Pompeani is on the Pitt pregame show, and he regularly speaks negatively about Pitt on The Fan with Joe Starkey. Gerry Dulac is an unapologetic Penn Stater and has written unfavorable things about Pitt for years. Many of those at The Fan (Pitt's flagship station!!!!) are Penn State fans (Eric Hagman, Austin Bechtold, etc). Guys like Mark Kaboly or Josh Yohe seem to have no collegiate affiliation, but they take every opportunity to do engagement farming on social media every chance they get to say something negative about Pitt.

Mark Kaboly posted on X the other day... "Will more people be at College Gameday on Saturday, or the NFL draft in April?"... First off, what a stupid question. Second off, what exactly are you trying to accomplish by even posting that other than feeding the mouths of those ready to, as the previous post suggested, "crawl out of the woodwork" to put down Pitt.

All of this really culminated when Kenny Pickett was the QB of the Steelers. Was he good? Not nearly enough to elevate their franchise (although when he was injured in 2023 the Steelers were 7-2 and then they ended up missing the playoffs). But when Pickett's play was below the line, those with mouthpieces and a pedestal to share opinions largely correlated Pickett being bad to their hatred of Pitt and Pat Narduzzi. But those same individuals don't seem to care about Joey Porter Jr. being horrific, or Pat Friermuth being an average TE at best, but taking up a massive chunk of their payroll. I'm curious why nobody asks those people about those players. It was okay for Beanie Bishop to stomp his feet on the Pitt logo in the UPMC southside facility, but could you imagine the outrage if the shoe was reversed and a Pitt player from Cleveland stomped on the Steelers logo in that building?

The locals and the local media will take every potshot imaginable at Pitt, and then they will wonder why no local recruits ever seem to want to go to Pitt anymore. If you grew up hearing about how much the local university sucked, would you want to go there?

I could keep going, and I've shared this before, but I just yearn for them to be viewed a bit more favorably and fairly in the eyes of the local media. That's all.

Two Pittsburgh sportswriters who had Heisman votes didn’t vote for Larry Fitzgerald in 2003. That pretty much says it all.

[TheBigCat2192]

The CFP chair and Baylor AD is currently on leave from both roles for unspecified reasons.

[IUP24]

For those who missed it, Paul Finebaum was screaming on television today that the SEC should get 6 teams into the College Football Playoff.

[Ram040506]

For those who missed it, Paul Finebaum was screaming on television today that the SEC should get 6 teams into the College Football Playoff.

I can't watch Finebaum, he's just another ESPN agenda pusher. That type of media I just don't pay attention to anymore. Stephen A, Skip, basically any ESPN "show"...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I can't watch Finebaum, he's just another ESPN agenda pusher. That type of media I just don't pay attention to anymore. Stephen A, Skip, basically any ESPN "show"...

ESPN has had some excellent female reporters and analysts. Problem for them, however, is once they start to age a bit they all the sudden either get fired or painted as a 'problem child' (and then fired). The male dinosaurs not only stick around but get serious bank.

Those guys you mention are incredibly popular/famous -- and making mega bucks. Popular doesn't always mean loved. Villains are good for ratings (ultimately all that matters to the bean counters). Their job is to stir things up. I think Finebaum is a riot. They obviously know the perception is ESPN has a huge bias toward the SEC. Floating him out there like a Bible slinger for the SEC is great for building animosity, etc. End of the day this isn't the evening news. But, a lot of their theatrics now are more WWE than actual news.

It's all entertainment to me. I could literally care less who wins in D1. I couldn't tell you who won any of the last 10 national titles. I watched them all (I think). I could maybe name 2 of the past 10 Heisman winners.

The entertainment to me is watching the Finebaum types stir up the masses. And, you gotta give him that ... he sure does. The circus of this playoff system is simply to create a circus. It extends the season and replaces the dreadful month of nobody-cares bowl games. Keep the high rated games coming a few more weeks and follow the money. Bigger the market/brand the bigger the buzz. Right or wrong that's the narrative the 'network' is going to push.

[Ram040506]

ESPN has had some excellent female reporters and analysts. Problem for them, however, is once they start to age a bit they all the sudden either get fired or painted as a 'problem child' (and then fired). The male dinosaurs not only stick around but get serious bank.

Those guys you mention are incredibly popular/famous -- and making mega bucks. Popular doesn't always mean loved. Villains are good for ratings (ultimately all that matters to the bean counters). Their job is to stir things up. I think Finebaum is a riot. They obviously know the perception is ESPN has a huge bias toward the SEC. Floating him out there like a Bible slinger for the SEC is great for building animosity, etc. End of the day this isn't the evening news. But, a lot of their theatrics now are more WWE than actual news.

It's all entertainment to me. I could literally care less who wins in D1. I couldn't tell you who won any of the last 10 national titles. I watched them all (I think). I could maybe name 2 of the past 10 Heisman winners.

The entertainment to me is watching the Finebaum types stir up the masses. And, you gotta give him that ... he sure does. The circus of this playoff system is simply to create a circus. It extends the season and replaces the dreadful month of nobody-cares bowl games. Keep the high rated games coming a few more weeks and follow the money. Bigger the market/brand the bigger the buzz. Right or wrong that's the narrative the 'network' is going to push.

Your on the money for sure, just not my cup of tea. I totally get what they are doing, but it does bother the hell out of me when they dismiss every other league's contenders just to prop up the SEC constantly. My turning point was the year Florida State was 13-0 and got left out. It was a fair point that they were not going to be the same team without Jordan Travis at the time, but to dismiss their whole season as an undefeated power 4 champion as easily as they did just never did or will sit well with me. That changed it all for me as they weren't comparing teams on results anymore, and it was entirely subjective at that point with heavy network input. And then for them to try to say "I told ya so.." when they got blown out by Georgia in the bowl game with over 30 players sitting out, that just made my blood boil.

[Chuck Norris]

I can't watch Finebaum, he's just another ESPN agenda pusher. That type of media I just don't pay attention to anymore. Stephen A, Skip, basically any ESPN "show"...

I’ve learned something interesting from this ongoing dispute between YouTube TV and Disney. I can live without ESPN. Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice if they resolved it by the time the CFP starts, but if not, I’ll survive. Tomorrow I’m gonna go old school and listen to the Pitt-Notre Dame game on the radio (well, the radio app on my iPhone, lol).

[IUP24]

Your on the money for sure, just not my cup of tea. I totally get what they are doing, but it does bother the hell out of me when they dismiss every other league's contenders just to prop up the SEC constantly. My turning point was the year Florida State was 13-0 and got left out. It was a fair point that they were not going to be the same team without Jordan Travis at the time, but to dismiss their whole season as an undefeated power 4 champion as easily as they did just never did or will sit well with me. That changed it all for me as they weren't comparing teams on results anymore, and it was entirely subjective at that point with heavy network input. And then for them to try to say "I told ya so.." when they got blown out by Georgia in the bowl game with over 30 players sitting out, that just made my blood boil.

There are people in the sports media business who ultimately believe that the TV executives should pick the CFP field. I've never experienced more confusion than currently where it seems like the casual fan cares more about ratings (pertaining to teams they don't even root for) compared to anything else. When you go to a game, or turn on the tv to watch something, why should anyone honestly even care if a few big wigs got extra bucks because 650,000 more households tuned in?

I get that casual people who don't actually - I'll say it like this - like football, would rather watch logos that they are familiar with. But to dismiss 80% or more of FBS college football teams simply because they aren't Alabama or Ohio State is pretty sad in my opinion.

[Ram040506]

I’ve learned something interesting from this ongoing dispute between YouTube TV and Disney. I can live without ESPN. Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice if they resolved it by the time the CFP starts, but if not, I’ll survive. Tomorrow I’m gonna go old school and listen to the Pitt-Notre Dame game on the radio (well, the radio app on my iPhone, lol).

I certainly have been watching more D2 football lol. It has been a bummer, and I hope they figure it out, but I'll survive too if they don't.

[Chuck Norris]

Hey ESPN is back. And Pat McAfee is prattling on about every Pittsburgh sports team except Pitt.

[ctrabs74]

Hey ESPN is back. And Pat McAfee is prattling on about every Pittsburgh sports team except Pitt.

What do you expect from someone who went to Hillbilly High in Morgantown?

[ctrabs74]

Speaking of Pitt, Domers get stuffed on 4th and goal from the Pitt 1 for the turnover on downs. Domers 14, Pitt 3 with about 5 minutes in the 2d...

Meanwhile, in College Station... N-I-L aTm is losing to *checks notes* South Carolina 20-3 with about three minutes before halftime. Imagine dashing the hopes of a hysterical, cult-like mob masquerading as a fanbase by losing to 3-6 South Carolina.

[ctrabs74]

They're very close to declaring a state of emergency in Brazos County... South Carolina - yes, 3-6 South Freaking Carolina - is laying a smackdown on N-I-L aTm as the Fake Red Chickens take a 30-3 halftime lead over the "number three team in the country". I guess aTm was looking ahead to next week's high stakes showdown against that uber-juggernaut from FCS ... *checks notes* ... Samford (and Son).

Oh, by the way, Domers 21, Pitt 3 at the half.