OT: All purpose NCAA thread v3.0

[Psuhockey]

When was it a regional sport? Before the mass consolidation of conferences which ate up some of them, the PAC-8; Big 8; Big Ten and the ACC all were top grade conferences with their teams vying for the National Championship.

The conferences have largely stayed the same but the blue blood programs in the other conferences outside of the SEC are down. USC and Texas are not playing at an elite level but that’s not a permanent thing. The Big Ten has population migration from the north to deal with but their new coaches recognize it and with as much money as that conference brings in, it will change eventually. The point is college football is largely cyclical. Alabama and Clemson are dominate now out that’s not a permanent position.

I do believe that there will be even more consolidation in a few years.

 

[Psuhockey]

Why High School Football Is Dying A Slow Death (It's Not Just Concussions)

Go to the south in Florida, the Gulf Coast and Texas and see how much youth football is dying. The fact that lacrosse was even mentioned shows that that whole article is northeast rich suburban nonsense.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

The gap has gotten larger because teams have more resources in scouting/recruiting players. Guys don’t fly under the radar anymore because teams simply have no idea they even exist. You still can’t bank on the maturity of a teenager as some will get better, stagnate, or worse. But it’s hard to build a team to an elite level with guys you’re desperately hoping to get better than what they’ve shown to that point.

Teams are also cycling out their players at a much higher rate than they used to (whether it be through the NFL & transfers) so they’re taking around 25 kids every year. Any misses get recruited over as those kids transfer out & get replaced by kids who can play.

So even a team like Alabama who has misses on the recruiting never really feels the consequences of it as they just recruit over those kids with other kids until something sticks & they’re recruiting in numbers every year with 25 some kids a class.

 

[renberg]

Go to the south in Florida, the Gulf Coast and Texas and see how much youth football is dying. The fact that lacrosse was even mentioned shows that that whole article is northeast rich suburban nonsense.

Between soccer, lacrosse and CET a lot of guys who would have played are moving away from the game. This hits off of the field as well. It shrinks the future fan base.

 

[Psuhockey]

Between soccer, lacrosse and CET a lot of guys who would have played are moving away from the game. This hits off of the field as well. It shrinks the future fan base.

Did you read the article? CTE was speculated as the cause but then it actually gave different like declining populations in rural areas and an overal decrease in athletic participation. Kids rather play fortnight. It’s still the second most participated sport.

The CTE scare is overblown. It may keep a few rich suburban moms in the northeast and California from letting their kids play but that’s not even remotely close to where the sport is most popular. The Texas High School championship game routinely draws over 70000 fans. Does any high school soccer or lacrosse championship game draw that? Do even the college championships draw that much?

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I mean Penn State pretty much has to treat Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, DC, & New England as a whole state itself these days. They still have to pull kids from out of their’s & the Big Ten’s footprint as well if they want to be in the elite. Opposed to many years ago when Pennsylvania was right behind Florida, Texas, & California but that isn’t the case & hasn’t been the case for while now. The south has gotten deeper with a population shift & a state like Georgia has now put themselves right there with those three other states for a while now.

Shit you even have a school like IMG that plucks talented kids from out of region to bring to the south/Florida now too.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

College football has always been a regional sport. It is king in the South and most of the Midwest. In the Northeast, it is much lower on the totem pole where pro sports dominate the landscape. College football coverage was practically non-existent in Philadelphia when I was growing up. I remember watching the local sportscasts on Channels 3, 6 and 10 on Saturday nights in the 1980's treating college football as an afterthought. The sportscasts would give the scores of Temple, Penn and PSU games and a Top 25 scoreboard without highlights if you were lucky.

 

[Ruck Over]

I mean Penn State pretty much has to treat Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, DC, & New England as a whole state itself these days. They still have to pull kids from out of their’s & the Big Ten’s footprint as well if they want to be in the elite. Opposed to many years ago when Pennsylvania was right behind Florida, Texas, & California but that isn’t the case & hasn’t been the case for while now. The south has gotten deeper with a population shift & a state like Georgia has now put themselves right there with those three other states for a while now.

**** you even have a school like IMG that plucks talented kids from out of region to bring to the south/Florida now too.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Don't want to get screened in an intramural game, don't full court press in a intramural game.

Lawrence going Lucic here.

 

[gertbfrobe16]

that girl with the long hair sure got mad.

 

[HokieDude17]

@Hollywood Couturier should I be excited about Braxton Burmeister transferring to VT?

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

@Hollywood Couturier should I be excited about Braxton Burmeister transferring to VT?

He's likely gonna have to sit out the season, as you probably already to know.

I mean from what i've seen he's not much to write home about.

I haven't seen all that much of him to be honest with Herbert obviously being the start but when he had to start in 2017 when Herbert went down it was a lot of banging my head against the wall. Admittedly he was a Freshman so I didn't exactly expect that much.

Would I be excited? Nah. But with that QB depth in VT? Yeah, you might have a little something, haha.

 

[HokieDude17]

He's likely gonna have to sit out the season, as you probably already to know.

I mean from what i've seen he's not much to write home about.

I haven't seen all that much of him to be honest with Herbert obviously being the start but when he had to start in 2017 when Herbert went down it was a lot of banging my head against the wall. Admittedly he was a Freshman so I didn't exactly expect that much.

Would I be excited? Nah. But with that QB depth in VT? Yeah, you might have a little something, haha.

I'll take whatever I can get. Sounds like more of the same lately tbh but oh well.

 

[wankstifier]

It's wrestling champs time! Big 10s now and NCAA champs next week in Pittsburgh.

Huge match for a star Rutgers wrestler today. Got a bit bloodied but beat a former PA state champ. He'll probably take the Big 10 championship.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

As a team Penn State is on what like a 50+ match win streak? I don’t really pay attention to it but being a fan of the football team it sometime intersects.

One of the LBer’s on the team came in as wrestler initially before giving it up to focus on football. Jan Johnson.

 

[wankstifier]

As a team Penn State is on what like a 50+ match win streak? I don’t really pay attention to it but being a fan of the football team it sometime intersects.

One of the LBer’s on the team came in as wrestler initially before giving it up to focus on football. Jan Johnson.

Yeah, Penn State is a juggernaut. They wrestled # 2 Ohio State a month ago and embarrassed them 28-9.

This is individual competition season now. The league individual tourneys like Big 10s will determine final seeding for the top 34 wrestlers of each weight class in the nation competing at NCAAs.

Team rankings can get kinda tight and they aren't always indicative of head to head (dual) performance. For example, Penn State sealed their championship last season off the result of this exciting match:



See the team points in the upper right. Ohio State was #2 last season as well. Out of the 10 weight classes, PSU had 8 All-American's--top 7 finish. 5 of those wrestlers went on to the finals match and 4 won.

This season, PSU will probably have only 7 All-Americans, though they could get up to 9 with a really strong tournament. Kinda doubt they'll get more than 3 champions from the pack as they graduated one of their 2018 victors.

 

[Ruck Over]

About Jan Johnson, he was a dual sport kid in highschool. Came to PSU as a preferred walk-on, buried on the depth chart. PSU was weak at the heavy weight spot, either injury or lack of scholarship player. Sanderson (w. coach) approached Johnson and Franklin (fb coach) about Johnson switching sports, picking up a partial scholarship for 2(?) seasons. Johnson became the sacrificial lamb with some talent for the PSU squad at heavy weight, then switched back to football when the depth chart was more favorable for him, ultimately rewarded in his penultimate and last seasons as a scholarship player.

Good solider kinda guy, fought up hill in both sports and acquitted himself well.

 

[wankstifier]

PSU will officially be sending 9/10 wrestlers to Pittsburgh for the championships. They had 1 wrestler lose his #1 seed and 1 gain the top rank. Their prodigies at 157 and 197 plowed through the competition. 157, 165, and 197 will all be vying for their 3rd national titles. 174 will be going for his 2nd title and 3rd finals appearance. 285 will be going for his 1st, but I hope Gable Steveson of Minnesota gets revenge for 1st NCAA loss and wins—as a true freshman. Some chance for 133 and 141 to make things interesting in their bracket. 133 is loaded and the PSU wrestler is a true freshman, so I doubt that he’ll challenge a top 3 spot.

Also of note, 6/10 of today’s Big 10 champions are from Jersey.

For all of you bastards, like me, into the heels, DeSanto is unhinged on the mat and usually is an exciting watch. In general, Iowa embraces the heel persona. I’d say Rutgers is also scrappy. Gable Steveson has a little Ali step when he’s in control. Didn’t see that today when he got upset by Cassar from PSU, though. Steveson pictured below:



The big showmen are Nolf and Nickal from PSU. Both are master technicians who will be attempting to score bonus points for their team in Pittsburgh. They’ve got a friendly competition going for the Hodge “most outstanding wrestler” award. Some highlights from Nolf's final today:



Here are the guys I’m rooting for at each weight class for NCAAs, except 149:

125: Lee, Iowa ; Rivera, NU
133: Wilson, NCSU; DeSanto, Iowa
141: Diakomihalis, Cornell
149: (not a fan of anyone in this group)
157: Nolf, PSU
165: Wick, Wisconsin
174: Valencia, ASU
184: Rasheed, PSU
197: Nickal, PSU
Hwt/285: Steveson, Minnesota

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Too bad for them he wasn’t hanging out with Craig James.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Can you even punish their football team?

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Well, this tournament can officially go **** itself then. ****.

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

Upset Minnesota beats Louisville

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Upset Minnesota beats Louisville

Yep. Terrible. Useless tournament. Eats an ass.

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

Yep. Terrible. Useless tournament. Eats an ass.

Another possible upset Vermont tied with FSU on TBS now.