Watch that here. Troy Taylor, Zach Buckey, and Jake Maikkula spoke to the media.

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I had a feeling this was going to happen, because who chooses Cal over Oregon these days?

Cal's verbally committed star QB recruit from Hawaii - and the only thing keeping their class respectable - flips to the Floats from the Bares

A very unhappy day in Mudville, as Cal drops to the 74th-rated class in the country, behind Army and Georgia State.

A story we can all commiserate with on this day. Lots of Stanford/ Toby content. Sorry it’s a paywall on The Athletic.

Preview is here.

Noon tip-off today at Maples on ACCNX. I won’t be able to make it, but I’ll get a recap done and provide updates when I can. Stanford ought to win this one. Really important they bounce back with Ohio State at Chase Center on Friday.

Here is our non-conference schedule with opponent's current KenPom rankings, which are obviously early and may change as the season progresses:

Denver (308) (win)
CS Fullerton (286) (win)
N Arizona (277) (win)
UC Davis (163)
Norfolk St (212)
@ Santa Clara (109)
(Neutral Site) Grand Canyon (73)
**Acrisure Final/Third Place (maybe we are playing one of SMU (59)/Cal Baptist(167)/Fresno State(246)/Washington State (93) or maybe not - the website for this tournament is really unclear)
Utah Valley (126)
Merrimack (186)
(Neutral Site) Oregon (35)

Summary: an absolutely pathetic schedule. UC Davis will be a significant upgrade from our first three games and roughly the median of our overall opponents. The games against Oregon and GCU are probably our only chances for quality non-conference Ws. There is only one true road game, which will be a tricky one at Santa Clara that we absolutely must win to have a credible bubble argument. Not much margin for error.

…I don’t know all the details, but multiple sources have indicated that there’s gonna be some major announcement tomorrow. I’ve been told to watch College Game Day tomorrow morning. The vibe I'm getting is this is something related to NIL and/or revenue sharing.

And then also, in addition, I’ve been told Bernard Muir’s fuse is lit and that university president Jonathan Levin understands the importance of revenue sports being competitive. They’re not happy with football being in the gutter four years straight.

Will be interesting to see how big this announcement really is.

As is always the case, most of the discussion is around the last team in and last team out of a selection committee-based playoff field. In the first year of the 12-team CFP, that debate centers on Alabama being last in, and Miami being last out. There is also some debate around whether if SMU loses to Clemson in the ACCCG, will they hold on to an at-large bid. IOW, all the arguments around ACC teams.

After last week at this time, having a possibility of getting three teams in, the ACC now faces a potential of only one, the same as the Mountain West. Given the amount of money that is given to conferences based on number of teams in the CFP, this is a non-trivial matter for conference competitiveness purposes.

My take on the ACC teams in this conversation:

Miami: Though I was rooting for the 'Canes this season, and they have a great Offense, the Defense is not playoff-worthy, IMO. Blowing a 21-pt lead to a Syracuse team Stanford beat, kind of proved it. So I don't really have an issue with Miami being out. But should Alabama be in ahead of them?

Clemson: This team is an enigma to me. They have been wildly inconsistent, especially on Offense. I think they have the best OL/DL in the ACC, but their skill players on Offense just don't stand out as real difference-makers.

SMU: The most well-rounded team in the ACC. They have good skill position players and a QB that makes winning plays against overmatched Defenses. They like to play fast, but their coach is a little unhinged and the team plays undisciplined as a result; only New Mexico in the FBS commits more penalties per game this season.

Can Clemson beat SMU for Automatic bid?
I think they can. The only reason they lost to South Carolina was because SC's QB escaped being sacked and instead made big plays on multiple occasions. The SMU QB can run, but he is not the same animal so Clemson can contain him. The question will be can Clemson's Offense do enough?

If Clemson wins, does SMU still get in CFP as at-large?
Maybe. Depends on how they play against Clemson. Committee may rather just give the ACC another team rather than try to decide between Ole Miss and South Carolina. Then again, isn't it "suppose to be" 5 SEC and 4 Big Ten teams?

Thoughts? Who would you put in the CFP and why?

Read that here.

Read that here.

Team release is here. Really cool for Stanford men’s basketball to be reaching out to kids in this way.

Preview is here.

Good find on this @Sea Hang

I think this deserves its own thread -- a few things that stood out to me:

-He again goes out of his way to praise Troy Taylor for being "innovative" .. Luck being nice here or we think he has seen innovative things behind the scenes?

-"We need to win. Period. PERIOD" -- he isn't just doing this as a favor. It is very important to him that Stanford WINS

-Luck says he wants players like DeCastro and Quenton Nelson .. guys that are tough, smart

-DP asks some loaded questions .. "were you a football player or a guy who was really good at football?"

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Preview is here.