Not sure how Ohio State isn't going to steamroll to a Natty....

[StickierBuns]

The media is falling all over itself to label last night's game a 'classic', but what I saw was a kid throw for 135 yards and one of the worst situational INTs in recent CFB memory and another kid who threw 2 INTs. 9 punts in the game. Classic? The Buckeyes must have been chuckling watching that. Not sure how much of a game Texas is going to put up. "Big Game" James Franklin strikes again. I wouldn't touch Drew Allar, maybe he'll improve in 2025.

[Canthony]

I can't see them losing. I am rooting for Texas tonight because then at least the title game should be a fun one to watch. Otherwise, I agree. It will be boring from here on out with OSU just dominating.

[purplefaithful]

Classic my ass - underwhelming football is what it was.

Not overly impressed with Penn St or ND...Both offenses (especially) were mediocre.

Im still scratching my head on how those two teams made it to the final 4.

Agreed, Buckeyes would roll either of them if they bring their A game. Tx better have their big boy pants on tonight or it could get be a long night for them and their fans.

There were some players on that Orange Bowl Field that would look good in purple though!

---

Front Office Sports noted the two teams that make the College Football Playoff Championship Game earn $20 million for their conference, but Notre Dame will get to keep the full amount for itself since it doesn't have any affiliation.

Notre Dame is one of three independent FBS programs, along with Connecticut and Massachusetts. UMass will no longer be independent next season when it joins the MAC.

While the Fighting Irish are an ACC affiliate in other sports, they remain independent in football. This allows them to keep all of the money they earn through various outlets, including bowl payouts and television contracts, rather than having to split it equally if it were in a conference.

Notre Dame extended its TV deal with NBC in November 2023 through the 2029 season. The new contract is believed to pay the football program $25 million per season, but the program also earns $17 million in television money from its ACC affiliation in other sports.

Per ESPN's Heather Dinich, when the 14-team playoff format begins in 2026, Notre Dame could earn around $18 million annually which is right in line with what Big Ten and SEC programs and more than Big 12 and ACC schools.

Dinich also noted under the 14-team format, there is a $6 million financial incentive for any independent team that makes the playoff.

All of this goes to show that Notre Dame doesn't have to deal with splitting conference revenue because its stature as one of the most historic and marquee programs in the nation has afforded it the ability to operate outside the traditional conference structure.

Bleacher Report

[supafreak84]

I think what sucks with the expanded season is some of these teams are banged up including Notre Dame, who is without our best corner, best defensive lineman, and the offensive line lost two starters last night. The win last night was a pure gut it out performance from Marcus Freemans crew and no matter what happens ND deserves to be there. Have won 12 straight games beating Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State. They've had the toughest path to get to where they are at and no matter who wins tonight, ND will slug it out with them

[Montana Tom]

Ohio State Buckeyes...best team $20mm in NIL money can buy.

---

Ohio State’s $20 million roster is proving to be worth it
The Buckeyes enter Friday’s Cotton Bowl as favorites to win the College Football Playoff. A sophisticated NIL operation helped them get here.

January 10, 2025 at 6:05 a.m. ESTToday at 6:05 a.m. EST

By Jesse Dougherty
Last January, a year before Ohio State would surface as the odds-on favorite to win the College Football Playoff, the program’s cold reality doubled as a rallying cry. Michigan — or That Team Up North, as any true Buckeye calls it — had not only beaten Ohio State in the regular season again. The Wolverines had also won the national championship, which was like pouring tons of salt on Columbus’s fresh wounds.

So what did the Buckeyes do next? They built a $20 million, star-studded roster that is two wins from a title of its own. Ohio State faces Texas in the Cotton Bowl, a CFP semifinal, on Friday night outside Dallas.

“We already had a lot of support from our fans, our donors, with NIL,” said Gene Smith, who was Ohio State’s athletic director until he retired in June. “But we had to go up another level.”

Through the transfer portal, the Buckeyes brought in safety Caleb Downs (from Alabama), starting quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), running back Quinshon Judkins (Mississippi), center Seth McLaughlin (also Alabama) and five-star freshman quarterback Julian Sayin (also Alabama, though he had been there for only weeks before coach Nick Saban retired). In high school recruiting, a loaded class included wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is 19 and already one of the country’s best offensive players. And then the Buckeyes did something quieter, especially given the glitz of their transfer additions: They used NIL money to keep a handful of players who might have otherwise gone in the mid-to-late rounds of the NFL draft.

After last season, Ohio State Coach Ryan Day made a critical decision. The program would hire an experienced offensive coordinator, which would allow Day to focus more on fundraising and roster-building. First that was Bill O’Brien, who almost immediately leaped for the head coaching job at Boston College. Then the Buckeyes landed Chip Kelly, the former UCLA coach who was burned out by the off-the-field job demands. He joined the staff — and made a base salary of $2 million — so Day could throw himself into everything Kelly hates about modern college football.

“Most of the communication with Coach Day and myself was: ‘How do we raise money?’” said Brian Schottenstein, who founded and runs THE Foundation, one of two NIL collectives at Ohio State. “The coaches are allowed to call donors. And that was one of the big changes this year, that he freed himself up to have more time to focus on NIL in the offseason. He was incredible.”

Almost all college player salaries are secret. In turn, exact payrolls are unknown, even if it’s clear Ohio State, Texas and Oregon are among the highest spenders. Yet over the summer, Ross Bjork, the Buckeyes’ new AD, told ESPN they would shell out $20 million for the football roster in 2024.

What goes into that number? A lot of booster money, to be sure, but that’s not it. THE Foundation, for example, has two components: a nonprofit side, which has allowed private donors to make tax-deductible gifts — and then an LLC to partner with businesses, which give money in exchange for marketing from players. Schottenstein listed American Eagle, DSW and Value City as key corporate relationships. Smith pointed to Chipotle and Weber, which did a deal with wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who could have declared for the NFL draft but instead became a grill spokesman.

“When it comes to business partnerships, I don’t think there’s a collective in the country that can compete with what Ohio State does,” said one NIL agent, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because he regularly deals with other top schools, too. “It’s not even close, really, just in that they can take their offers and supercharge them by saying: ‘This deal with so and so company is set up for you. It adds this much value. Now let’s sign.’”

When the Buckeyes suffered their fourth straight loss to the Wolverines in November, the walls started to cave. Amid the loud calls for Day’s job, Bjork had to publicly back him. The coach’s Ohio State record to that point? 66-10, including three appearances in the four-team CFP. But that didn’t matter. It was suddenly title or bust.

Then the eighth-seeded Buckeyes found a whole different gear, crushing Tennessee in the first round of the playoff, then trouncing undefeated Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Howard, the transfer quarterback from Kansas State, throws the passes. Smith, the freshman phenom, catches a lot of them. Downs, the defensive back from Alabama, is a game changer in the secondary. McLaughlin, another Alabama transfer, is out for the season with an injury, though he was still named the country’s best center for 2024.

On and on, the new and retained players have Ohio State as the title favorite. In a break from the usual script, everyone knows it cost $20 million. But in Columbus, where success is measured in championships — and, yes, wins over That Team Up North — it’s hard to add any more stakes.

“There’s always pressure,” Schottenstein said with a laugh. “It’s Ohio State.”

[StickierBuns]

I think what sucks with the expanded season is some of these teams are banged up including Notre Dame, who is without our best corner, best defensive lineman, and the offensive line lost two starters last night. The win last night was a pure gut it out performance from Marcus Freemans crew and no matter what happens ND deserves to be there. Have won 12 straight games beating Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State. They've had the toughest path to get to where they are at and no matter who wins tonight, ND will slug it out with them

I don't want it, but I think the Buckeyes are going to destroy Texas and ND.

[JimmyinSD]

Ohio State Buckeyes...best team $20mm in NIL money can buy.

---

Ohio State’s $20 million roster is proving to be worth it
The Buckeyes enter Friday’s Cotton Bowl as favorites to win the College Football Playoff. A sophisticated NIL operation helped them get here.

January 10, 2025 at 6:05 a.m. ESTToday at 6:05 a.m. EST

By Jesse Dougherty
Last January, a year before Ohio State would surface as the odds-on favorite to win the College Football Playoff, the program’s cold reality doubled as a rallying cry. Michigan — or That Team Up North, as any true Buckeye calls it — had not only beaten Ohio State in the regular season again. The Wolverines had also won the national championship, which was like pouring tons of salt on Columbus’s fresh wounds.

So what did the Buckeyes do next? They built a $20 million, star-studded roster that is two wins from a title of its own. Ohio State faces Texas in the Cotton Bowl, a CFP semifinal, on Friday night outside Dallas.

“We already had a lot of support from our fans, our donors, with NIL,” said Gene Smith, who was Ohio State’s athletic director until he retired in June. “But we had to go up another level.”

Through the transfer portal, the Buckeyes brought in safety Caleb Downs (from Alabama), starting quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), running back Quinshon Judkins (Mississippi), center Seth McLaughlin (also Alabama) and five-star freshman quarterback Julian Sayin (also Alabama, though he had been there for only weeks before coach Nick Saban retired). In high school recruiting, a loaded class included wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is 19 and already one of the country’s best offensive players. And then the Buckeyes did something quieter, especially given the glitz of their transfer additions: They used NIL money to keep a handful of players who might have otherwise gone in the mid-to-late rounds of the NFL draft.

After last season, Ohio State Coach Ryan Day made a critical decision. The program would hire an experienced offensive coordinator, which would allow Day to focus more on fundraising and roster-building. First that was Bill O’Brien, who almost immediately leaped for the head coaching job at Boston College. Then the Buckeyes landed Chip Kelly, the former UCLA coach who was burned out by the off-the-field job demands. He joined the staff — and made a base salary of $2 million — so Day could throw himself into everything Kelly hates about modern college football.

“Most of the communication with Coach Day and myself was: ‘How do we raise money?’” said Brian Schottenstein, who founded and runs THE Foundation, one of two NIL collectives at Ohio State. “The coaches are allowed to call donors. And that was one of the big changes this year, that he freed himself up to have more time to focus on NIL in the offseason. He was incredible.”

Almost all college player salaries are secret. In turn, exact payrolls are unknown, even if it’s clear Ohio State, Texas and Oregon are among the highest spenders. Yet over the summer, Ross Bjork, the Buckeyes’ new AD, told ESPN they would shell out $20 million for the football roster in 2024.

What goes into that number? A lot of booster money, to be sure, but that’s not it. THE Foundation, for example, has two components: a nonprofit side, which has allowed private donors to make tax-deductible gifts — and then an LLC to partner with businesses, which give money in exchange for marketing from players. Schottenstein listed American Eagle, DSW and Value City as key corporate relationships. Smith pointed to Chipotle and Weber, which did a deal with wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who could have declared for the NFL draft but instead became a grill spokesman.

“When it comes to business partnerships, I don’t think there’s a collective in the country that can compete with what Ohio State does,” said one NIL agent, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because he regularly deals with other top schools, too. “It’s not even close, really, just in that they can take their offers and supercharge them by saying: ‘This deal with so and so company is set up for you. It adds this much value. Now let’s sign.’”

When the Buckeyes suffered their fourth straight loss to the Wolverines in November, the walls started to cave. Amid the loud calls for Day’s job, Bjork had to publicly back him. The coach’s Ohio State record to that point? 66-10, including three appearances in the four-team CFP. But that didn’t matter. It was suddenly title or bust.

Then the eighth-seeded Buckeyes found a whole different gear, crushing Tennessee in the first round of the playoff, then trouncing undefeated Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Howard, the transfer quarterback from Kansas State, throws the passes. Smith, the freshman phenom, catches a lot of them. Downs, the defensive back from Alabama, is a game changer in the secondary. McLaughlin, another Alabama transfer, is out for the season with an injury, though he was still named the country’s best center for 2024.

On and on, the new and retained players have Ohio State as the title favorite. In a break from the usual script, everyone knows it cost $20 million. But in Columbus, where success is measured in championships — and, yes, wins over That Team Up North — it’s hard to add any more stakes.

“There’s always pressure,” Schottenstein said with a laugh. “It’s Ohio State.”

that needs to be read at the NCAAs Football funeral, or maybe engrave it on the back of the headstone.

[JimmyinSD]

I don't want it, but I think the Buckeyes are going to destroy Texas and ND.

come on sticky,  choke down the vomit and come cheer for the Irish!

[StickierBuns]

come on sticky,  choke down the vomit and come cheer for the Irish!

The saddest part is there's a whole generation of young Michigan fans that don't know to hate Notre Dame. 1988 is a long time ago, lol.

[Still Hurtn]

Hook'em