Latest news with #Thamel
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Big Ten reportedly 'floating' idea for massive College Football Playoff expansion
Double trouble? The Big Ten is reportedly looking to expand the College Football Playoff by at least double the teams. According to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, the Big Ten is "floating" the idea for a 24- or 28-team College Football Playoff. That would be at a minimum a doubling increase of the current number of teams in the College Football Playoff -- which is 12. According to the report from Thamel, the new proposed model would have these notable details: The FCS level currently plays with a 24 team playoff system, with the top eight teams receiving a first round bye. The potential FBS model mentioned in Thamel's report sounds similar if they were to move forward with the 24-team format. This idea has received plenty of push back and mockery on social media on Saturday, with some pointing to this model ruining the regular season of college football. But I'd argue this could potentially open door for more entertaining late game seasons. In my opinion, it would also reduce the number of opt outs as teams that normally landed in the Citrus Bowl or ReliaQuest Bowl would now be playing in the College Football Playoff. That would be a positive for the game. It'll be interesting to see if this idea gets any legs to it or if it dies after this "floating" by the Big Ten. Click on the post below to read the complete story from Thamel: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Big Ten proposing massive College Football Playoff change
The College Football Playoff could be in for a massive expansion. This week, the Big Ten floated the idea of increasing the playoff to 24 or 28 teams, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, although the possibility is still reportedly a ways off. The proposal would eliminate 'conference title games and [offer] a large number of auto bids for all four power leagues,' sources told Thamel. Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins (1) runs with the ball against Notre Dame during the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta. AP Under Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti's 28-team proposal, college football heavyweights, the Big Ten and SEC, would each get seven auto bids. The ACC and Big 12 would each get five auto bids, while two more would go to the non-power conferences and two at-large teams. The playoff committee would seed the teams and decide on the at-large bids. The latest CFP report comes as college football enters its second year with a 12-team playoff. The Big 10 logo before the Penn State Nittany Lions versus Boise State Broncos College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on December 31, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Starting this season, playoff teams will be seeded 1-12 based on the selection committee's rankings rather than reserving the top four seeds for the conference champions. The Big Ten's new idea is a significant step up for the 14- or 16-team proposal, which was seen as a likely landing place for the 2026 season. Disagreement over the number of auto bids and at-large teams has been a sticking point holding up negotiations over an expansion, per Thamel. No matter where the powers that be land, the CFP is overwhelmingly likely to expand when the 12-team playoff model's contract ends after the 2025 season.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Big Ten reportedly floating radical new College Football Playoff idea
The future of the College Football Playoff has been a key topic of discussion all offseason. ESPN secured a six-year, $7.8 billion contract that ensures the network will remain the sole media rights holder of the event through the 2031-32 season in March of 2024. But, whether or not the CFP stays at a 12-team model or expands has been one of the hot button issues of college football. After plenty of back-and-forth and a spring and summer full of discussion and disagreements, the Big Ten has suddenly introduced a radical new idea for the CFP's future. According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Big Ten has floated the idea of massive expansion to the College Football Playoff that could bring the postseason field to 24 or 28 teams. While Thamel reports that the idea is in its very early stages, the proposal eliminates conference title games and offers a large number of auto bids for all four power leagues, sources said. In the proposed 28-team CFP model, the Big Ten and SEC would each get seven auto bids while the ACC and Big 12 would each receive five. There would be two auto bids for the non-Power 4 conferences and two at-large teams. The 28-team format would put 20 playoff games on campus, which would accentuate the success of that from last year's CFP. The CFP Committee would seed the field and pick the at-large teams. Per Thamel, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti ran the idea by his conference Wednesday, sources said, and that it has begun being shared by others. In order to expand the playoff before the 2026 season, the expectation is that leaders need to reach a resolution before the end of this year. Momentum for a 16-team CFP format picked up steam throughout the spring, but leaders throughout college athletics haven't seen eye to eye on exactly how bids to a 16-team CFP would be awarded. The 5+11 model is supported by both the Big 12 and the ACC and it gained more support from the SEC after the league's spring meetings. The 5+11 model would include the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large bids. Another 16-team CFP model featured the Big Ten and SEC each receiving four automatic bids, the ACC and Big 12 receiving a pair of automatic qualifiers, one bid to the Group of 6 champion and then three at-large bids. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnHawks
The Independent
31-07-2025
- The Independent
A rickshaw driver and his dog win the hearts of tourists in Nepal
In the heart of Kathmandu's tourist hub, Thamel, many cycle rickshaw drivers wait eagerly to take tourists on rides in the vibrant neighborhood. But Babu Tamang's rickshaw comes with an added twist: a wagging tale and tufts of orange and white fur that delight passengers, with many leaving an extra tip for the hardworking man and some ear scratches for his eight-year-old pup. Tamang, 57, has always been fond of dogs. Two years ago, he was crushed when his wife told him a leopard killed his 10-year-old dog, Putle, in his home village, a six-hour drive from the Nepali capital. After mourning his faithful companion, he stumbled upon a rough-looking dog in a garage where he parks his cycle rickshaw. It was love at first woof. 'He never leaves me alone,' Tamang says with a smile. 'Living in this city, away from my family, Shyam has become my closest companion." Shayam, a name for the Hindu god Krishna, goes to work with his human every day. When Tamang gets a passenger, Shayam trails behind the rickshaw, drawing smiles and pets from passersby. As soon as the ride is over and the fare paid, Tamang signals for the pooch to hop onto the rickshaw. Now that it's peak summer, Shyam seeks shade beneath the rickshaw during the midday heat. 'He gets oil stains from the chains, so I have to give him a bath,' Tamang says laughingly. 'But he doesn't like it, and we often get into a little fight over it.' Tamang shares a small apartment with two other rickshaw drivers who accept Shyam's constant presence. The only time he is separated from his canine best friend is when he visits his village. ' Dogs are not allowed on public buses, so I have to leave him behind in the garage with a mechanic friend. It makes me sad,' Tamang says. As the sun sets and the lights come on at the end of a long workday, Tamang's rickshaw slowly makes its way back with reliable Shayam following closely. "He's not just a dog, he's my family.'
New York Post
16-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson find unexpected allies after PR disaster: ‘She didn't rob a bank'
ESPN's Pete Thamel and Rece Davis didn't buy a report by Pablo Torre, a former employee at the network, that claimed Bill Belichick's 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson was banned from the UNC facility. During Wednesday's installment of their 'College GameDay' podcast, Thamel and Davis laughed over the drama surrounding the UNC football coach and Hudson, who's reportedly trying to control his career, both on and off of the football field. 'They did say, Carolina, 'She's welcome at the facility,'' Davis said. 'I imagine she's helping him with the social media presence, which a lot of coaches nowadays need. I'm not going to be surprised if she's around … Would anyone have expected otherwise? I don't think she's going to be talking about proper hand placement for the 3-technique, is she?' 4 Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson. Instagram/Jordon Hudson Thamel, who did not name Torre, brought up his report and explained that he didn't believe it from the beginning. 'I think she's going to resume a role as a coach's significant other, and that's completely fine,' Thamel said. 'The 'banned' from the facility thing made me laugh because it was reported as specifically 'banned' from the facility. And I saw it that morning, and I was just like, 'That's not true.' There's just no – she didn't rob a bank. Some of what's been reported, the hyperbole of it, got a lot of the headlines. 'He won't come back,' the ban from the facility, and they just weren't true. 'The core here is that UNC has made it clear, Bill Belichick has made it clear, that any sort of formal role within the program is just not going to exist. And that's really what's coming out of this, and that's not a particularly interesting headline, quite frankly. It doesn't speak to anything greater other than the roles are there.' Thamel added that UNC didn't have a PR representative when he attended a practice at Chapel Hill this spring. 'They were in flux in that department,' Thamel said. 'It seems as if, and this is my intimation, she probably tried to fill a need, because they were a couple of bodies short. They filled those bodies now. They have good PR people. They're moving on.' Davis went on to explain that Hudson, a former cheerleader at Bridgewater State University, isn't the first famous WAG to nab headlines. 'The notion of celebrity coaches' wives or significant others, that's not new,' Davis said. 'The whole Notre Dame-USC series, way back in the day, started in large part because of [Knute] Rockne's wife … These things happen. The Belichick thing, as you mentioned earlier, is going to be magnified and amplified.' 'The one thing that when I made a few calls on this last week that was very clear to me, and explicitly stated and pounded over my head, that any notion that he's like checked out or not working is just like completely false,' Thamel added. 'Like, total goobly goop. That guy's in the building pre-dawn; he's the last one there. Bill Belichick is completely and totally obsessed with football in the same way he was when he started as an NFL assistant, like 50 years ago.' 4 Rece Davis weighs in on the drama surrounding Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson during the 'College GameDay' podcast on May 14, 2025. YouTube Thamel also said he believes Belichick, 73, will coach this season at UNC, seemingly referencing Torre's report that there is a real chance the six-time Super Bowl winner won't coach. 'He's going to coach this season,' Thamel said. 'I'm not going to sit here and tell you he's going to coach 10 years. You hire a 73-year-old, the clock's ticking on some type of exit within a few years. But the notion that he would walk away from this now, that's just crazy.' 4 Pete Thamel weighs in on the drama surrounding Bill Belichick and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson during the 'College GameDay' podcast on May 14, 2025. YouTube In his investigation, Torre said he spoke with 11 sources who have dealt directly with Hudson and alleged she is trying to control Belichick's career in order to further her own. Belichick and UNC denied that in a joint statement. The couple, who went public with their relationship last summer, has been at the center of scrutiny since Belichick's disastrous 'CBS Sunday Mornings' interview, which aired April 27 and showed Hudson stopping Belichick from answering a question about how they met. During an interview with 'Good Morning America' on Friday, Belichick told Michael Strahan that Hudson has been 'terrific' and explained her role in his professional life, which doesn't involve UNC football. 'She's been terrific through the whole process, and she's been really helpful to me,' Belichick said when asked about the attention their relationship has received. 'She does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life, so I can concentrate football and that's really what I want to do.' 'Are you happy?' Strahan asked. 'Yeah,' Belichick said with a smile. 4 Bill Belichick addresses his relationship with Jordon Hudson on 'Good Morning America' on May 16, 2025. GMA It followed Belichick's Tuesday appearance on 'SportsCenter,' during which he said Hudson has nothing to do with his football program. Belichick told ESPN he discussed the situation surrounding his personal life with his team and that it won't be a distraction. UNC has backed Belichick amidst the media firestorm and praised him as a professional.
