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USA Today
10-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Big Ten coach calls out anti-West Coast bias in College Football Playoff system
Big Ten coach calls out anti-West Coast bias in College Football Playoff system The first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff certainly created plenty of controversy. While ultimately, most people felt as though the selection committee took the correct 12 teams, the process of getting there was anything but smooth. This week, a Big Ten head coach called out the committee for alleged bias against West Coast schools. Interestingly, however, the coach in question is not in charge of a West Coast program himself. Rather, the man behind the comments, was, of all people, Penn State head coach James Franklin. "There's a lot of challenges," Franklin said, via CBS Sports. "You've got East Coast people voting on this, and they haven't watched enough of the West Coast games based on the time. All the different rankings that are out there. In my mind, a formula makes the most sense because it takes the bias out that we all have." Franklin's proposed solution to the matter was going back to a BCS-style formula to determine the rankings. "It's funny, because I think there's all these complaints about the BCS, but then we go to this, and I think it goes back to really, my answer is, the problem is, everybody voting and everybody involved in the process—whether you want to be biased or not, we all are biased. I think in a lot of ways, you could make the argument a formula could be better. But we didn't love the formula. So we went to this other system." USC fans know all too well, however, that leaving the rankings to the computers does not always work out. After all, back in 2003, the Trojans infamously got screwed out of the BCS Championship Game despite being ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. However, Franklin's point about the current system having major issues is certainly a valid one. Perhaps one day, college football will be able to come up with a method of selecting a postseason field that will not inevitably make people mad. Right now, however, that day feels like a long way in the distance. As for Franklin, his comment was not entirely altruistic. Given that Penn State plays in the same conference as four West Coast schools, USC, Oregon, Washington, and UCLA getting more national respect could certainly help the Nittany Lions' resume in seasons to come.
USA Today
02-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Two Alabama football legends on College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2026
Two Alabama football legends on College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2026 A pair of Alabama football legends are under consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class. On Monday, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced the names of 79 former players and coaches who are under consideration for Hall of Fame induction. Two former Crimson Tide players are eligible for induction in the 2026 class: linebacker DeMeco Ryans and Alabama's first Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram. Mark Ingram (2008-10) Ingram was a huge contributor for Alabama's first national championship team in 17 years -- and the Crimson Tide's first under Nick Saban -- in 2009. The Flint, Michigan, high school star rushed for 1,658 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns en route to both the Heisman Trophy and SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors. In that year's SEC Championship Game against Florida, Ingram ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns to go with a 69-yard catch-and-run as the Crimson Tide dethroned the defending national champions and quarterback Tim Tebow. A month later, Ingram was the offensive MVP in the Tide's 37-21 BCS Championship Game win over Texas at the Rose Bowl, going for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He finished his career at Alabama with 3,261 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns and single-handedly took over such games as the Crimson Tide's 20-6 win over South Carolina in 2009 when the offense had fallen into a midseason rut. Ingram rushed for 246 yards (10.3 AVG) -- primarily out of the Wildcat -- against Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks on Oct. 17 as Alabama improved to 7-0. DeMeco Ryans (2002-05) Ryans was a star linebacker at Alabama for one season under Dennis Franchione and three seasons under Mike Shula. He won the Lott IMPACT Trophy in his senior season in 2005 as part of a 10-win Alabama team that defeated Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and had thrilling regular-season wins over Tennessee and Florida. That same year, Ryans was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year and still holds the Alabama single-game record for tackles with 25. In his final season in Tuscaloosa, Ryans led defensive coordinator Joe Kines' unit with 76 tackles (9.5 for loss) and had 3.5 sacks, plus an interception and a forced fumble. Controversial former Alabama head coach under consideration for College Football Hall of Fame Speaking of Franchione, the two-year former Crimson Tide coach is one of nine former college football coaches on the ballot for Hall of Fame induction in 2026. Franchione led Alabama to a 7-5 season in his first year in 2001, including a 31-7 upset win over Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in that year's Iron Bowl. Alabama went 10-3 in Franchione's next season in 2002 before he bolted for the Texas A&M job. The announcement for the Hall of Fame class will be made in early 2026. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2004 USC ranked as top five team of 21st century by The Athletic
2004 USC ranked as top five team of 21st century by The Athletic It is impossible to ignore the dominance of 2004 USC football in any historical assessment. It is widely accepted among college football fans (outside of Auburn, Alabama, that is) that the 2004 USC Trojans were one of the greatest college football teams of the modern era. That team went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the country, dominating Oklahoma in the BCS Championship Game at the Orange Bowl to claim the school's 11th national championship. Where does 2004 USC rank among the best teams of the 21st century? In a recent story, Stewart Mandel of The Athletic gave his top 25 college football teams of the past 25 years. Mandel had the 2004 Trojans at No. 5 on the list, behind only 2001 Miami, 2019 LSU, 2005 Texas, and 2020 Alabama. "This remains the last team to go wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the AP poll," Mandel wrote about the Trojans. "[Matt] Leinart and [Reggie] Bush were the Trojans' undisputed stars, but defensive tackles [Shaun} Cody and Mike Patterson led a dominant defense that held foes to 82 rushing yards per game. USC endured scares, holding off Aaron Rodgers-led Cal on a goal-line stand, and surviving at Oregon State thanks to Bush's 65-yard punt return. But it capped the season by thumping 12-0 Oklahoma in one of the most lopsided national title games ever." While certainly impressive, most USC fans likely believe that the Trojans should be higher on the list. While they did not play the toughest of schedules (it was a relatively weak year for the Pac-10 and Notre Dame), they largely dominated every opponent that they faced, including the famous 55-19 drubbing of Oklahoma in the national championship game. In addition, the 2005 edition of USC came in at No. 13 on the list. Had that team defeated Texas in the Rose Bowl, it may very well have gone down as the greatest team of the century, if not all time. But thanks to Vince Young's infamous touchdown run in the final seconds, the Trojans came up one game short of a historic third consecutive national title. Finally, the first team to miss the cut of the rankings was 2008 USC. One of the most underrated teams of all time, Pete Carroll's squad boasted arguably the best defense of the modern era. Although they went 11-1 with a dominant nonconference victory over Ohio State, an early season road loss at Oregon State kept the Trojans out of the national championship game. USC responded by hammering Penn State in the Rose Bowl to cap the program's fourth and final 12-win season under Carroll.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top five ticket fiascos in sports history: 2025 Masters joins the list
Over the weekend at Augusta National Golf Club, many fans who thought they had purchased badges for the 2025 Masters were disappointed onsite. With ANGC cracking down on badges sold on the secondary market, some badges were confiscated on the grounds, and others never made their way into the hands of ticket brokers. Advertisement That got us thinking: Where did this fall in the history of sports ticket fiascos? All of five of these incidents occurred in the past 15 years, most due to the maturing of the online ticketing industry and the ability of brokers to list and sell the tickets they didn't yet have in hand. 1. Super Bowl XLIX, 2015 The ultimate short squeeze happened 10 years ago in Phoenix for the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl, when brokers couldn't backfill the orders at the prices they needed to make a profit. The result? Hundreds of fans who thought they had already secured tickets wound up sitting at local bars watching the game. Advertisement Brokers sold the tickets on local sites in the $2,000 range, but as the game approached, the worst seats has soared in price to around $5,000. The choice for some brokers was to save your company at a loss or go out of business. Some chose the latter. It could have been much worse. Any ticket purchased through StubHub was guaranteed. The resale site found replacement tickets, even if it meant eating their profits. 2. BCS Championship Game, 2011 Phoenix was also the host to the National Championship game between Auburn and Oregon in 2011. The same short squeeze happened to sellers. After a massive ticket broker told StubHub he was going to default, StubHub — having that guarantee — pulled the event off the market. StubHub offered anyone who had tickets in hand to pay them double, but, after StubHub halted the market, prices went up four times. Advertisement A 50-yard line seat went from $4,000 to $16,000. 3. Masters, 2025 Technically, Masters badges can't be sold, but with no real public resale, thousands of them are. For so long, Augusta National has turned a blind eye. But that changed in 2025 as ANGC stepped up its enforcement. With badges disappearing, the $450 badge, which was selling for $3,000 per day, all of a sudden went to an unheard-of $15,000 a day. It's hard to gauge exactly how many badges were taken away, but an estimate from a source close to the ground told cllct it was in the hundreds. Why is that so detrimental? Because resellers sell the badge every day to a different person, meaning if a badge is taken away, the revenue is lost on anything going forward. 4. Super Bowl XLV, 2011 Just weeks after the BCS Championship game, the Super Bowl in Dallas resulted in an unprecedent fiasco. This had nothing to do with short sellers. Advertisement Mere hours before the game between the Packers and Steelers, the NFL said that 1,250 temporary seats that were installed were not safe, and 400 of the fans who had seats in that area were moved to standing-room-only spaces around the stadium. The NFL said fans in those areas would get a face value refund (likely not close to what they paid) or a free ticket to a future Super Bowl of their choice. We assume some are still waiting, as neither team has been back to the championship game since then. 5. Masters, 1997 Prices quickly soared to then-record levels as Tiger Woods ran away from the field to win his first Masters. Advertisement Nike's Phil Knight was offering $10,000 for badges, setting a high-water mark for a sports ticket at the time, and putting a squeeze on brokers who were unable to fulfill their commitments. Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.
