NCAA Football '12-13

[MadBurgerMaker]

Texum University!   WOOP! 

[grumbler]

Is the official one, like, for real, or are they trying to be ironic or something?

They've taken the official one off their web site. 

It is hard to believe that nobody with an ounce of sense looked at that before putting it up.  If someone had, they'd have been able to say "this is truly awful and embarrassing; let's burn it now."

[Valmy]

A&M desperately wants to be loved and respected by everybody.  At first they beg for attention and then lash out in rage when you fail to admit they are the best at everything all the time.  It gets really tiresome they will even insist stupid things like their ROTC program is better than West Point.

I actually have alot of respect for some of their programs and departments but you can never tell the Aggies that enough.  They need constant affirmation for some reason.

Obviously this does not apply on an individual student level but the administration and the Aggie elite alumni really exemplify this attitude to a frightening degree.  They will never stop begging the SEC to include them as one of the cool kids and wanting to be included everytime Alabama wins something....at least for awhile then they will hate everybody in the SEC.  The disdain Aggies elites held for Baylor, Tech, and all the other Big 12 schools (especially Texas but at least we are their hated rivals) was really something.

My favorite were how Aggie administrators and powerful alumni would ruthlessly blast Tech as being a bunch of toothless yokel hicks...nevermind A&M is in a small town in East Texas.

[Valmy]

Is the official one, like, for real, or are they trying to be ironic or something?

A&M doesn't do irony.

[MadImmortalMan]

A&M doesn't do irony.

Well, not intentionally.

[grumbler]

A&M doesn't do irony.

That's why they are wrinkly.

[grumbler]

So, the number one ranked recruit for 2013, Robert Nkemdiche, has decided to tell the Clemson coaches that they have to offer a HS teammate of his, or he'll look at decommitting:

Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's No. 1 recruit, is holding his commitment to Clemson hostage unless the Tigers' coaches meet his demand — offer his high school teammate a scholarship.

"I am waiting on Clemson to offer Ryan; when that happens, it's locked ... it's a done deal ... it's over," Nkemdiche, a defensive end, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ryan Carter is a 5-foot-10, 175-pound safety, who already has scholarship offers from Ole Miss, Georgia State, Tulane, Arkansas State and Southern Miss. According to Nkemdiche, giving Carter a scholarship wouldn't be a big deal because he's already caught the eye of Clemson's coaches.

"Clemson said they like Ryan a lot and that he's at the top of their board. Yes, sir, if Clemson offers Ryan, it would seal the deal. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. David and Ryan, those guys are like family. They are like brothers to me. I'm close to them. We've had success playing football together and I don't want to change it."

Several of Nkemdiche's Grayson High teammates already have committed to play at Clemson — running back Wayne Gallman, defensive back David Kamara and former Grayson quarterback Nick Schuessler gave up his scholarship at Mississippi State to be a preferred walk-on with the Tigers.

Nkemdiche just wants Carter to be invited to the party.

So what if Clemson doesn't offer Carter? Well, Nkemdiche said he plans to look elsewhere like Ole Miss, where Nkemdiche's brother plays and where Carter already has an offer.

"If Clemson doesn't offer Ryan, it would make me look at Ole Miss a little more, it would," Nkemdiche said. "It's very important that I have my boys with me."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/top-recruit-threatens-look-elsewhere-clemson-doesn-t-184812809--ncaaf.html

I'm somewhat bemused by the number of people who are defending this move on the internet.  Andt Staples at SI.com, for instance, argues that

It's always hilarious when people criticize athletes for something they would do every day and twice on Sunday in their own lives. No one who has ever used leverage in a negotiation has any right to rip Nkemdiche here. Used another job offer to squeeze a raise out of your employer? Same concept. Used a connection to get a friend hired? Ditto. When you do it, you're being a good capitalist, but when Nkemdiche does it, he's being a spoiled, entitled brat? That's crazy. Nkemdiche is doing exactly what he should do: using the power he has to his advantage before he enters a system in which he'll have little pull. (This also might be a good place to note that, according to figures provided to the U.S. Department of Education, Clemson football generated $31.7 million in revenue during the 2010-11 school year.)

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/07/06/robert-nkemdiche-clemson-scholarship-demand/index.html#ixzz1zz8T6QQh

I can't see this being worth it to the coaches.  Once you open that door, you've basically set yourself up for a whole series of threats like this, and the fact that Nkemdiche went public with this is a bad sign about how much of a teammate he will be.  Besides, poor Carter now can't get on the team without being known as a pussy who had to have his friend black mail the school into getting him a scholarship.  How is he ever going to overcome that label, if Clemson caves and brings him on.

I don't have a problem with recruits telling schools that they will consider them more highly if they offer a friend and team mate (after all, Nkemdiche did this very thing with his friend kamara).  But to commit, and then start adding conditions tells me that he isn't going to stop here.

Brady Hoke visited Nkemdiche three times, and never offered.  I can now see why, and am glad Michigan isn't so desperate as to offer this kind of player.  And, anyway, how often have we seen these "can't miss prospects" fizzle (Big Will Campbell, I'm looking at you!)?  It just isn't worth it.

[CountDeMoney]

It's one thing to be an All Pro in the last year of your contract and playing hard ball with the front office, but a high school recruit?  Oh, hell no.

Even if I had considered Ryan, I'd reject the demand on general principle, especially when Nkemdiche went public.  I'm the fucking coach, not you, kid.

And fuck that SI article.  Makes me want to invoke Billick:  that's why writers write, and coaches coach.

[Ed Anger]

Urban can stop kicking players off the team now, thanks.

Storm Klein (Cool Jew name bro) kicked off for domestic abuse.

[MadBurgerMaker]

http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/7/23/3179977/michigan-new-uniforms-2012-cowboys-classic-alabama

E: Oh. Seedy, don't know if you had seen this yet:

Report: EA Sports to give up exclusive rights to NCAA football games

The tradition of picking up your copy of EA Sports NCAA Football every summer could be changing in the future.

According to a report from Gamespot.com, EA Sports has agreed to give up its exclusive rights to college football video games for five years.

According to attorneys representing consumers in a class-action antitrust lawsuit over EA's exclusive hold of multiple football league licenses, the publisher has agreed to a proposed settlement that would commit it to going at least five years without NCAA Football exclusivity, as well as paying out a potential $27 million to wronged customers.

Under the terms of the settlement, EA will let its current agreement with the NCAA lapse in 2014, and will not renew it for at least five years.
As far as paying out money to "wronged customers," if you bought a copy of NCAA Football to play on your Gamecube, Playstation 2 or XBox, you may be entitled to $6.79 per game you purchased. For current generation platforms like the Playstation 3, consumers could be entitled to $1.95 per game.

So if you've kept your old copies of the games just lying around the house collecting dust, they might have more value than just being used as coasters.

As for what this news means for the future of college football video games, it may make the experience better. Competition between companies will lead to a better product overall as each company will be competing for their stake in the same market share.

So some of those glitches that have long plagued the NCAA Football franchise might actually be addressed.

This change could also lessen the impact buying these games has on your wallet. A copy of NCAA Football 13 on Playstation 3 or XBox currently costs $60. If another company starts manufacturing a college football game it may do so at a reduced price as a method to increase sales. Which is a move EA Sports might have to respond to with its own price decrease.

In other words, whether or not you ever decide to play a college football franchise other than EA Sports', this decision will likely only mean good things for you.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/eye-on-college-football/19640148/report-ea-sports-to-give-up-exclusivity-of-ncaa-football-games

[CountDeMoney]

E: Oh. Seedy, don't know if you had seen this yet:

Surprising, I didn't think they'd settle so fast.  All the previous press out there made it seem like EA was going to dig in for the final battle.  But, that's how pre-settlement propaganda works.

Meh, whatever punches EA takes to the face is good for everybody.


And I just love the Michigan gloves.

[katmai]

Remember a few years ago when USC got a commitment from 14-year-old David Sills?

Sounds like UW may have its own budding QB prodigy in the fold. A PR firm representing QB coach Steve Clarkson --- who coaches Sills and also counts Nick Montana and Matt Barkley among numerous students and has known UW coach Steve Sarkisian for two decades or so dating to when Sarkisian was one of Clarkson's first pupils--- just sent an e-mail saying UW has gotten a commitment from Tate Martell, a 14-year-old San Diego QB who is entering the eighth grade this fall.

[MadImmortalMan]

You've got to be kidding me. 

Not even in High School yet. We'll have scouts at the Pop Warner fields soon.

[grumbler]

You've got to be kidding me. 

Not even in High School yet. We'll have scouts at the Pop Warner fields soon.

"Commitments" before offers are even extended aren't meaningful.  Hell, they are barely meaningful after offers are made!

[grumbler]

Some interesting views of conferences from what passes for Spencer Hall's brain on SB Nation: http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/7/30/3200883/college-football-conferences-2012

You need to read the analysis before you start to complain.

Big Ten


Big 12


SEC:


ACC:


Pac 12


Poor Berkut.  At least his team is rated as almost fun, even if it's not rated anywhere close to good.