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College Football Bowls and Playoffs

WindyCitySteel said:
IU's JMU pipeline is drying up, even Cignetti knows he needs to lean on recruiting more. They're not looking for guys who want $$$, they're looking for guys that want a familiar coach. it's a short term strategy exploiting a massive loophole in the new college football world, and they hit a home run.

In five years, they'll be irrelevant again.
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If im a college player. And the money is the same. Im going to play for cignetti. Or im going to University of Hawaii, because i dont give a **** and just want some tasty waves and a cool buzz,,,
 
Listened to Colin Cowherd at lunch, he's pinning most of the success on Mendoza, says they wouldn't have made this run with almost any other QB. Hope he's right, and I tend to think he is. They may keep getting a lot of xfers for a year or two but if the next guy isn't as good, they won't be able to match up with more talented teams well enough to make a similar run.
 
Black & Gold Bleeder said:
If im a college player. And the money is the same. Im going to play for cignetti. Or im going to University of Hawaii, because i dont give a **** and just want some tasty waves and a cool buzz,,,
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Depends on the position, if I'm a WR I'm picking LSU or OSU, because they are WR-factories for the NFL. DL, Clemson or UGA. TE, ND or PSU.

Waterboy, Pitt.
 
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WindyCitySteel said:
Listened to Colin Cowherd at lunch, he's pinning most of the success on Mendoza, says they wouldn't have made this run with almost any other QB. Hope he's right, and I tend to think he is. They may keep getting a lot of xfers for a year or two but if the next guy isn't as good, they won't be able to match up with more talented teams well enough to make a similar run.
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I think Cignetti elevated Mendoza. He threw for 16 TDs and 6 INTs last year. Some draft analysts thought he could sneak into first-round consideration, so he far exceeded expectations this year. Credit to him for putting in the work and producing in Indiana's system.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
I think Cignetti elevated Mendoza. He threw for 16 TDs and 6 INTs last year. Some draft analysts thought he could sneak into first-round consideration, so he far exceeded expectations this year. Credit to him for putting in the work and producing in Indiana's system.
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Cowherd compared it to Brady/Belichick. We'll find out soon which way it goes.
 
SteelerFan448 said:
Cignetti went 11-2 without Mendoza. Mendoza's record at Cal was 9-10.

Cignetti was 53-17 at IUP, 14-9 at Elon, 52-9 at JMU.
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Cal probably didn't have 47 players aged 22-25. What we used to call "grad students". He's off to a great start in his first big time job, but I want to see it play out over 5-10 years.

Also, maybe schedule some real opponents out of conference. In 2024, Fla International, Western Illinois, Charlotte. In 2025, Old Dominion, Kennesaw St. Indiana St. In 2026, North Texas, Howard, WKU.

Over those same three years, OSU played (or will play) ND, Texas, Texas. Alabama after that.
 
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WindyCitySteel said:
Cal probably didn't have 47 players aged 22-25. What we used to call "grad students". He's off to a great start in his first big time job, but I want to see it play out over 5-10 years.

Also, maybe schedule some real opponents out of conference. In 2024, Fla International, Western Illinois, Charlotte. In 2025, Old Dominion, Kennesaw St. Indiana St. In 2026, North Texas, Howard, WKU.

Over those same three years, OSU played (or will play) ND, Texas, Texas. Alabama after that.
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The point is, Cignetti had a great season with Indiana before Mendoza arrived and Mendoza's game really stepped up after he got to Indiana. He just won a CFP championship with a 16-0 record. Impossible to discredit the job he did as Indiana has finished above .500 five times in the past 30 years--two of those were Cignetti.

Just about every P4 program schedules cupcakes, especially with expanding conference schedules. There's actually little incentive to schedule tough OOC games. Didn't matter for Indiana, they streamrolled through the playoffs outside of the last game, to a team the committee didn't want to put in.

Ole Miss - Georgia State, Tulane, Washington State, The Citadel
Texas Tech - Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State, Oregon State
Alabama - Florida State, Louisiana-Monroe, Wisconsin, Eastern Illinois
Oregon - Montana State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State
Ohio State - Texas, Grambling State, Ohio...still lost to Indiana
Miami - Notre Dame, Bethune-Cookman, Florida
Penn State - Nevada, FIU, Villanova
 
SteelerFan448 said:
The point is, Cignetti had a great season with Indiana before Mendoza arrived and Mendoza's game really stepped up after he got to Indiana. He just won a CFP championship with a 16-0 record. Impossible to discredit the job he did as Indiana has finished above .500 five times in the past 30 years--two of those were Cignetti.

Just about every P4 program schedules cupcakes, especially with expanding conference schedules. There's actually little incentive to schedule tough OOC games. Didn't matter for Indiana, they streamrolled through the playoffs outside of the last game, to a team the committee didn't want to put in.

Ole Miss - Georgia State, Tulane, Washington State, The Citadel
Texas Tech - Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Kent State, Oregon State
Alabama - Florida State, Louisiana-Monroe, Wisconsin, Eastern Illinois
Oregon - Montana State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State
Ohio State - Texas, Grambling State, Ohio...still lost to Indiana
Miami - Notre Dame, Bethune-Cookman, Florida
Penn State - Nevada, FIU, Villanova
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Yes, every team schedules cupcakes in the non-conf, but most schools schedule at least 1 major OOC game, as I called out for OSU.

And I'd argue 2024 IU was good, not great. Played two ranked teams all year and lost by 23 and 10.

I'm not detracting from what they did on the field this year, they are the clear #1. I just think it's more likely a fluke than a pattern. They exploited the new rules to perfection, I don't think it's a long term strategy.
 
Sarge said:
I read that 12 roster players followed Franklin to VT. I think he cleaned out their 2026 recruiting class though.
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I think VT was expecting more PSU transfers.

I also forgot to include Amare Campbell to Tennessee on that list. Not sure why Penn State didn't retain his services.
 
WindyCitySteel said:
Got it, wonder why they kept the one during the CFP instead of the spring portal. Seems like when any sports executives have a decision to make, it's always the wrong one.
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Guys that put their name into the portal can still transfer, but whether or not they can still enroll for the current semester at their new schools would be in question. I think they just tried to simplify things by having only one window.
 
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