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Our Until Saturday bracket challenge, seeking to crown the best stadium in all of college football, is shaping up to be an SEC-Big Ten showdown. Here’s how we got here.
CFB’s Best Stadium
The closest race yet
Thanks again for voting in our Until Saturday bracket challenge. One week from today, the best stadium in college football will be revealed, as voted on by you (so no, we don’t expect any disagreement, animosity or frustration whatsoever).
In the Elite Eight round, we saw the closest race yet, between No. 1 Michigan Stadium and No. 2 Beaver Stadium. Here are the results:
In a stunning upset, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium is moving on! Here are a few of your comments on the matchup:
- “I’m curious to see how the Big 10 showdown comes out. I’ll give The Big House the nod on the nickname, but Beaver Stadium owns the other three categories. Tiny tailgates tucked into parking lots around town just don’t do it, and the atmosphere inside Michigan’s stadium is a little dull.”
- “The Michigan Marching Band cements the Big House game day experience as the best for me.”
- “Honestly, the winner of Michigan Stadium vs. Beaver Stadium should take the whole thing.”
- “Go watch ‘The most electric moment in college football history’ on YouTube. Chills!” At Penn State’s 2019 White Out game, the crowd was so loud it forced Michigan to use a timeout before its first play.
For the full effect, watch it with sound.
The rest of the results from the Elite Eight:
- Tennessee’s No. 1 Neyland Stadium (72.1 percent) vs. Auburn’s No. 5 Jordan-Hare Stadium (27.9 percent)
- The No. 1 Rose Bowl (58 percent) vs. Oregon’s No. 5 Autzen Stadium (42 percent)
- LSU’s No. 2 Tiger Stadium (70 percent) vs. Texas A&M’s No. 1 Kyle Field (30 percent)
The Final Four
Here’s how the bracket stands now:
Vote for the Final Four teams here. The championship contenders will be revealed next week.
Mandel’s Mailbag
Donor-exclusive spring events?
What are your thoughts on a program like Minnesota eliminating its spring game and instead holding a practice for NIL collective members only? — Karl T.
I had not heard about this until seeing Karl’s question, but sure enough, Minnesota is holding one public practice and one that’s open only to donors of Dinkytown Athletes, with P.J. Fleck saying, “We want to be able to urge and create more people being a part of Dinkytown Athletes as best we possibly can.”
I don’t think football programs are under any obligation to hold a traditional spring game. Most have been pared back anyway because coaches don’t want to risk injury and/or give away too much to opponents. If you’re Ohio State or Alabama and you can get 70,000 fans to come, you might as well. In Minnesota’s case specifically, Fleck mentioned that they’ve rarely gotten to hold one as planned, either because of snow or the pandemic, and I assume attendance would be modest regardless.
And in theory, it also makes sense for these collectives to give their members exclusive access of some kind. I’ve been to a lot of college practices, and there are always some big boosters roaming the sidelines. Now that perk is not reserved just for them.
But it also speaks to how patently absurd the whole collective thing is. Fleck, who makes $6 million a year but is not allowed to be directly involved in NIL, has to resort to essentially bribing his fans to donate money for “NIL” so he can field a competitive roster. This is in addition to fans who already had to make donations for the rights to purchase season tickets, get decent parking, etc. There has to be a better way.
And there is. In line with NCAA president Charlie Baker’s proposal last December, NIL will go in-house at the schools soon enough. I’d imagine in most cases they’ll just bring the people running the collectives on board. They’ll still want your money, but they’ve always wanted your money. Just now it won’t all be going to construction costs.
Read the rest of Mandel’s Mailbag here.
Quick Snaps
Speaking of NILhave you ever heard of an NIL general manager? Austin Meek breaks down one of college football’s newest positions and why Michigan is on track to hire one.
The Big 12 kicked off its league-wide pro day event yesterday. Max Olson has more on why the conference is taking a new approach to the familiar NFL Draft showcase.
Another move on the AD carousel! 🚨 Washington State AD Pat Chun left Wazzu for the same job at Washington. He’ll replace Troy Dannen, who left the Huskies to be Nebraska’s AD.
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(Top photo: Dan Rainville / USA Today)
2024-03-28 18:17:50
#College #footballs #Final #stadiums #spring #games #falling #favor
