Heard this one from Klatt today…
Blew my mind…
If you look at the 247 composite team recruiting rankings that assesses talent on each teams roster.
The gap from Alabama (1) to USC (11) is the same size as from USC (11) to Florida Atlantic (69).
He brought it up in discussing why the big three (Georgia, Bama, OSU) are rarely if ever on “upset alert.”
Absolutely nuts if you think about it.
Love Klatt’s podcast. Thinks he’s the best in the business currently. Highly recommend.
Carry on.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:25 PM ^
IIRC the same comment was made preseason, where he (or Connelly) noted that the gap between #3 Georgia and #4 Michigan was equal to the gap between Michigan and #23ish Florida.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:28 PM ^
My recollection was that it was like between #4 and #20 but same basic neighborhood. NIL should help balance out some of that concentration of talent (he said hopefully)....
And OP I agree w you on Joel Klatt - very objective but generally tries to be positive. And when our team is winning I am good with Gus Johnson too and appreciative of his enthusiasm which hasn't yet become cliche.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:46 PM ^
Gus is a good egg. They team well together.
September 28th, 2022 at 10:16 PM ^
Still upset that Gus said “the world famous Ohio state buckeyes” during his call of The Game last year. That was bullcrap and honestly laughable.
September 28th, 2022 at 10:53 PM ^
FFS.
Let it go.
Gus and Klatt are pure gold.
Would you rather have Danielson calling B1G games?
September 29th, 2022 at 12:44 AM ^
No, I will not let it go. How dare you even suggest it. I’m obviously LIVID and it affects my life every day and that’s just how I want it!
September 29th, 2022 at 10:03 AM ^
Keep it - it's feeding your hatefire!
September 29th, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
+1 for pitch perfect reference, super underrated movie! Right up there with mean girls
September 29th, 2022 at 1:28 AM ^
Was thinking that this week how much I enjoy listening to Gus and Joel. Gus sounds genuinely enthusiastic calling the play-by-play like he really loves his job. He used the same cadence on Blake's touchdown run at the end of the 1st half as he did in The Game.
"See You Later!"
"O-Ja-Bo!"
They are a great team. No one is perfect and I'm happy to overlook a small indiscretion because the balance of his work I find excellent.
September 29th, 2022 at 6:18 AM ^
Love Gus but miss him doing college basketball. He was made for that.
September 29th, 2022 at 4:25 PM ^
Gus stopped calling college hoops? I think he's just not as exposed because it's mostly Big East games on FS1.
September 29th, 2022 at 10:55 AM ^
i prefer music in the background.
September 29th, 2022 at 7:37 AM ^
He said it during the Iowa broadcast as well. It's not new and it's how he always refers to them.
September 29th, 2022 at 8:01 AM ^
This past weekend against Maryland, he said "World Famous Michigan Wolverines" so there's that.
September 29th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
Exactly.
Gus and Klatt are complete shills for Michigan. Klatt even has Cowherd not shitting all over the program and JH anymore.
But Klatt says 1 thing that doesn't toss the poster's salad and he's a bum?! GTFOH with that.
September 29th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
Actually, he said, "...the 'world famous' Ohio State Buckeyes." Subtle distinction.
September 29th, 2022 at 5:46 PM ^
Pretty sure OSU fans hate Gus more as he fawns all over Michigan far, far more.
September 29th, 2022 at 1:28 PM ^
Agreed. Cool story bro: I met him after the Michigan game down at Assembly Hall a few years back. After the game, they let fans on the court to take pictures at center court (pretty neat for fans, would be cool if Chrisler had a similar policy). They even had ushers to take the pictures of the folks who waited in line. My dad and I took the opportunity to get down to the court and chat up Gus who couldn't have been any nicer or more personable. I think he was a bit surprised at our familiarity with the Detroit Catholic League and knowing that he went to UofD back in the day.
September 29th, 2022 at 8:07 PM ^
Cool story, bro 😎
It actually does sound cool and would be fun if Crisler did the same
September 29th, 2022 at 6:41 PM ^
They seem to be the cream of the crop, but I honestly mute 99% of the games I watch. Too much nonsense.
September 28th, 2022 at 9:44 PM ^
Don’t see how NIL is going to level the playing field. The only way this happens is if all teams have the same amount of money to invest in it and they don’t. The rich will continue to get richer
September 28th, 2022 at 9:46 PM ^
yeah - fair point. I guess my meaning was more "it will level the playing field for schools with money cannons that have yet to be used to their full potential when competing with school that have been paying players for many years".
But you're right - schools that don't have sizable money cannons will fall further behind.
September 29th, 2022 at 1:44 AM ^
That's actually the opposite of leveling the playing field.
September 29th, 2022 at 7:44 AM ^
NIL will change the scene some-not that much. But wouldn't it be quite the deal if an NFL style HS draft was implemented for universities and Day and Smart had to actually coach-and OMG to Franklin!!!
Otherwise, expanding the CFP will surely be a leveler of the field-at some level...likely to be fairly slow too. But there will be more upsets than people are thinking and, going forward, this will open some cracks in the "elite" armors that those well-coached programs can squeeze through.
September 29th, 2022 at 7:45 AM ^
lol...it's the same basic/rudimentary economic thought behind reparations.
You have one underrepresented minority that is soo far behind, that you want to attempt to even the playing field by giving them something to close the gap.
If you give it to everyone then you're not doing anything. You had a dollar, I had a dime, we both got 50 cents...now you have $1.50 to my $0.60...the gap is still the same.
Doing something across the board gives Alabama the same "advantage" that it gives Michigan.
In summary, the ask is for reparations for Michigan, lol.
But I'm pretty sure Bama, OSU, and Georgia will call that reverse-recruitism and tell us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to get what they have. Because those 3 schools absolutely got their advantage honestly, and through nothing but good ol fashion American hard work.
Work harder, Michigan.
September 29th, 2022 at 8:26 AM ^
The University of Michigan with its billion dollar coffers, largest brand, largest alumni base is somehow a MINORITY in need of REPARATIONS. My God help us fools.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
The rich will continue to get richer
Yes. But the ranks of the rich should be larger, especially after the playoff expands.
September 30th, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^
Nil alone wouldent. It Nil Expanded playoffs and transfer portal that will somewhat level the playing field then coaching can finish the leap
September 28th, 2022 at 10:15 PM ^
You are correct. And then if you look at Mich and Bama scores vs Georgia in the playoffs they are o similar.
Recruiting matters, but coaching, culture, and intangibles also matter.
September 29th, 2022 at 1:34 AM ^
I may be misunderstanding your comment, but I do not view those two games and the scoreboard as a good example to show that recruiting is not 85% of the equation and that coaching, culture, and intangibles matter.
Michigan was never in the Georgia game and got run off the field. We had equal talent at maybe 2 positions (Edge and Safety). That scoreline flatters us.
Alabama was winning with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter whilst down their two best receivers who had torched Georgia the month prior.
September 29th, 2022 at 7:51 AM ^
Teams with Michigan’s talent level have to play perfect games to beat teams like Alabama and Georgia. They also have to have looks and plays that will go big that they haven’t showed yet. Michigan had emptied the playbook already before they played Georgia last year and there was nothing they could go to to get Georgia off balance.
September 30th, 2022 at 2:31 AM ^
I dont think people give Kirby Smart enough credit. Yes he's had some teams with not so great offenses but he's one of the best defensive minds in football, and he took Georgia with Richt's recruits to the national title game his second year. He's been able to sell that ever since. Saban went 12-2 his second year at Alabama with Mike Shula's recruits.
Alabama and Georgia pretty much sell themselves right now but it takes two of the best coaches in college football to maintain that.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:39 PM ^
Michigan will just have to prove him wrong again this year in Columbus.
September 29th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^
Good thing they actually have to play the games.
I remember once upon a time in the 90's when the new 85 scholarship limit was supposed to level the playing field. Instead, college football is a shell of its 90's version, a decade that saw 10 different teams win a share of the national championship. Now we have just a few teams that dominate every year with an occasional surprise. It's become a boring storing, and these top echelon teams lose so rarely that the regular season has very little drama. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it seems to have arrived with Nick Saban's model of recruiting. At the same time, to my mind, the NCAA has become incredibly lax at punishing schools for transgression and lack of control. It would seem to be a case where the oversight became an impediment to maximizing the money, and the uniqueness and dignity of college football quickly became objects in the rearview mirror. A few school, the OSUs, Clemsons of the world were fully prepared to exploit this.
September 29th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
This is why I hate the national championship playoff. Flip a coin to see if Alabama, Georgia, Clemson or OSU wins it. Who cares. College football was much better (more competitive) under the bowl system. The debate over who was national champion actually made the game more interesting. (Nebraska is bullshit.)
September 29th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
Agree completely, and hopefully I'm right, rather than just old. But, in an existential way, I have to even wonder if it's really that meaningful to even be an Alabama fan when the outcome for more than a decade is simply: did we win the national title game or lose it. Now bowl games are meaningless, awesome intersectional games are rare, all TV coverage focuses on the playoff, and with conferences we're heading toward an NFC/AFC model
September 29th, 2022 at 12:23 PM ^
Instead, college football is a shell of its 90's version, a decade that saw 10 different teams win a share of the national championship.
But that has a lot to do with the fact that the format has changed. Had the playoff existed, 1990s FSU probably would have racked up national titles like Bama today.
September 29th, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^
The same Florida State that couldn't beat Miami? A team that can't beat its biggest rival wouldn't be playing for titles presently. Maybe occasionally.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:51 PM ^
5 years from now it will not be this way.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:54 PM ^
I hope playoff expansion helps create more parity in the sport.
i hope they never do this next part but I’m a strong believer that larger rosters and teams being able to hoard talent (mostly bc they cheat and pay this kids) is what created the gap. The only fix i can think of is scholarship reduction for every team.
September 28th, 2022 at 11:30 PM ^
It won't create more parity in terms of talent distribution. It does require the top teams to win one more playoff game. So maybe they'll lose a bit more. But I doubt it.
And in fact, it might create even less parity. As it is, if Bama or UGA or OSU stumble twice, they're usually left out of the playoff, even though they're still top 3-4ish teams.
Take Alabama in 2019. They were number 4 in FPI, top 5 in all the fancy stats and could have easily made a run to the title game if they squeaked into a 12 team playoff. The same could have been said of UGA that year or OSU last year.
A 12 team playoff probably makes it more likely those teams will win national titles because it removes the razor thin margin of error in the regular season. It means they'll always get in and since their talent will always be vastly superior, they're going to be heavy favorites regardless of whether they lost a couple regular season games.
September 28th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
Scholarship reductions are how we got into the current mess. If you want to improve the quality of the product, remove the scholarship limits -- which, incidentally, probably would be disallowed under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act if anybody bothered to sue.
More players on the roster = more depth and more chances for players to break through. And with the transfer portal, the excuse that they gave for the limits, players not getting to play, goes out the door; players who don't get playing time will transfer.
September 29th, 2022 at 1:03 AM ^
Do the opposite similar to the pro league to gain parity. Championship teams in the pros get the last draft pick. You can’t have draft picks but final four teams can lose scholarships, final teams lose more, and the winner loses the most. Not sure how many scholarships the top three have to lose to get them down into a top 10, but if you win the championship every year and that means 4 less recruits every year that eventually has to hurt. Maybe 1, 2, and 4.
Nil will only solidify the top 4 because those teams have boosters that will throw money at players and bend the rules.
September 29th, 2022 at 9:22 AM ^
Roster size vs full set of starters by sport:
- College football: 85 scholarships, 24 starters, 3.5 ratio
- College basketball: 13 scholarships, 5 starters, 2.6 ratio
- NFL: 53 roster spots, 24 starters, 2.1 ratio
- NBA: 15 roster spots, 5 starters, 3.0 ratio
College football allows for the most stashing on rosters. An equivalent in college basketball would be nearly 18 scholarships. Imagine Kentucky and Duke with 5 more spots
September 29th, 2022 at 11:47 AM ^
I agree with your view, but will nitpick-the NFL has a 16 man practice squad, so the true roster size is 69.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:57 PM ^
Alabama post-Saban is going to be like UCLA post-Wooden
September 28th, 2022 at 10:37 PM ^
That's probably what was said about Alabama after Bear Bryant retired.
September 28th, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
And Bama did have some lean seasons with Shula and DuBose at the helm. There will absolutely be a drop off after Saban moves on. He's the GOAT of college coaches.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:21 AM ^
He's the GOAT of college recruiters
September 29th, 2022 at 7:53 AM ^
He may be but there is much more to it that simply recruiting. His greater genius is in his ability to assess and manage coaching talent. What Saban has done at Alabama in this regard is nothing short of phenomenal.