WSJ Article Title: UM wins title. This School Spent Millions to Make Sure Never Happens Again

What are they going to say when it does happen again?  They have less than a year to figure that out..

I donated to our NIL collective right before the NC game.  I'll admit, it felt a little weird.  I was donating money to kids that are either already millionaires or are about to be.  I kept thinking how much more useful that same amount of money would be for a food bank, the Red Cross, or an animal shelter.  

This WSJ article makes me a little sad at the state of the game.  I'd probably feel a little less sad if we were the team loading up on all that talent, but it would still feel a little empty nonetheless.

Strange times.

NCAA - NIL - it's all a joke. Rules need to be put in place. I don't think a nineteen or twenty year old kid that is unproven should be making more money a year than the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

I continue to be of the opinion that this is going to backfire on Ohio State and possibly lead to the end of the Ryan Day era.

From a football point of view, they're going to be very good, especially defensively. But I don't really see the offense being that much better. They lose MHJ and I don't see Howard as an upgrade from McCord. Their offensive line will be good and they have the best RB room in the country, but I am just not sold they can win with another just above average QB. They do have two highly touted prospects coming in, but they're going to be true freshman so likely wont earn the starting nod.

But the even bigger problem now is the expectations. They're good enough to be one of the handful of teams that can win a national championship, but they ALWAYS are that. The difference is this year they basically HAVE to, or the donors that spent all this money aren't going to keep opening up the checkbook.

I can see a scenario where they don't win the national championship, and even a worse case scenario for them, Michigan comes in there and beats them in Columbus (given that Michigan should have an elite defense, they'll be underdogs in this game but the defense will keep it close enough), heads are going to roll in Columbus. They will blow the entire thing up if they lose to Michigan for sure, and probably might still if they don't win the whole thing.

This is for sure an "all-in" scenario for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes, and I'm not that convinced it's going to work.

I just love the way Blake's smile and all of its implications for how successful OSU's attempts have been both defy this blur filter in the header image on this article. They've always spent millions out of spite, whether in investigation firms or homes for recruits' families - that's nothing new. The transfer portal brings another wrinkle that's a little more public in just how much they're spending. The difference is that the last few years we found the antidote. If we continue to focus on ourselves, one-track mind, taking on the next challenge that's in front of our face, we'll continue to enjoy the smile of frustrating those who are driven by spite. We beat a complete NFL roster in the Rose Bowl this year. Looking forward to the challenge of doing the same in Columbus next year. 

I feel bad for the first 90 year old man Ryan Day comes across when we beat them again.

Here's the thing: While going forward o$u may be a stronger team head to head vs UM, now with the new 12 team playoff a loss to them... well, it kind of doesn't matter as much. Any team will have to beat 3 - 4 solid teams in the playoffs. Playoff position matters, but not that much. You still have to grind out some wins to win it all.

I'm still confident that we'll beat them often enough, but even if some seasons we don't, we should safely be in the playoffs and have the chance to make a run. The stakes just are not what they were this season and have been in the past.

I find the narrative around OSU's success in the portal in the last week to be odd. OSU is always in the top 5 in the talent composite. Should I be amazed they added another good QB, the worst center in America, and then some talented underclassmen? How does this change their program arc? The bigger moves by far (imo) is coaching staff changes

And they didn't just get desperate after we won the title - they've been desperate for a while. With the recent news that both Florida and FSU had been under NCAA investigation for months before a peep was heard, I am all the more sure that signgate and the little leaks to Pete Thamel originated from within the Ohio State football program and was probably carried out by OSU boosters. They have been absolutely desperate to change the narrative since at least last November's home loss

Don't worry, OSU. We're probably not going to win the CFP next year because we're losing our coach and don't have a big time QB. I don't think you bringing in Julian Sayin really affects much.

All the money in the world can't buy you a winner. 

Doesn't mean OSU can't win it all next year. They certainly could. But I sure as s**t ain't coronating them until its time to actually coronate someone. For the last three years, OSU has had a roster that (on paper) was exponentially more talented than what Michigan has had. And it didn't make a lick of difference in the end. 

Michigan will have tough sledding beating them in Columbus next year. There's no doubt about that. But that's a team full of guys who have never beaten Michigan. Even most of the guys who have transferred in have played against and lost to Michigan within the last month. That'll count for something. 

when you're lead by old coach cottonelle..... it probably doesn't matter how much they spend on their roster....they still won't have an identity as a team.

Bill O'Brian will be there for 1 year at most, Hartline has to be somewhat pissed that he got passed over for OC....    things aren't great at ohio state and cryin' ryan's desperate player buy isn't going to be a golden bullet.

I'm gonna get downvoted to bolivia, But i would hope michigan tries to buy a championship soon too. Not sure why this is a big deal, Its pretty much legal to do. 

Strong defense and team culture can beat so-called "dream teams."  See: 2004 Pistons vs. Lakers

all that money and he can't get someone competent to dye his beard

What's a good image to capture their squad?

Let's acknowledge this.   They won't be the same team in '24.   Their talent's growing to "Mega" proportions.  

And - they won't be "soft" - they could be "Ultra Soft"...

The fan base in cbus is supper salty about this article.  They want to claim they are winning offseason but don’t want anyone talking about why.  They actually think they get these guys because of some divine mandate that makes them the best at college football, and that it has nothing to do with buying the players.  Still think we are getting bowl bans when the NcAA both said we won the title legitimately and has no authority to keep a team out of the playoffs but you know cope.  

Now that college football season has ended triumphantly, had time to revisit some classic movies that seem appropriate for this season; namely, Godfather I and II.

1. BigTen Commissioner Tony Petitti rant about the Conor Stalions affair seems like Jack Wolz from Godfather I. "A man in my position can't afford to look ridiculous" and of course the BigTen championship in Indianapolis was like waking up with the horse head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhRfNcv_seM

2. This recent news of the literal mercenary efforts of tOSU seems like a scene from Godfather II between Michael Corleone and Hyman Roth.

MC: The soldiers are paid to fight, the rebels aren't.

HR: What does that tell you?

MC: They can win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7gv9aGB7VY

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

The team that runs the ball for the most yards has won The Game the last 22 years straight.

Despite all of the flash, has Ohio State added transfers that assure this for them? 

I don't think so.

As it always is, The Game will be won in the trenches.  I don't see any substantial upgrade for them there.

Duplicate post.

Here's a random picture for your time:

25+ million total including portal players.

Didn’t work with Quinn Ewers took the NIL money and left after one year.

Why isn’t this being reported to the NCAA and the Big Ten? These are textbook cases of inducement. 

Did anyone think they weren't going to respond?  Going to be interesting to see what happens next year and going forward.

So, WSJ is clickbait.

I mean, I knew that, but it seems they’ve even stopped pretending to have dignity. 

I said last year that Ryan Day had the most pressure on him to beat UM last season with Harbaugh suspended, and he failed.  But this upcoming season has immense pressure on him for months to stick the landing, and I'm dubious trying to bring together a team that hasn't won a damn thing for 3 years.  We'll see if he can pull it off but I'm dubious.

Hmmm.  Sounds like it could be an FSU type situation.  NCAA better investigate.

After this next year, OSU may finally realize that the coach is the problem, not the players.

Well, one thing we can be pretty confident of after this: If Day loses to us in Columbus this year, after this orgy of spending, he is surely done.

Can someone summarize it? My browser is still running slow from all the National Championship merch tabs I have open.

Honestly there's not much OSU can do anymore to prevent Michigan from making the playoff and competing for a national title. 

We're moving to a 12-team playoff. 10-2 gets you in the door nine years out of ten. Maybe even 9-3 depending on your schedule and who you've beaten, how close your losses were and to who, etc. 

Gone are the days of the Michigan-OSU essentially being a play-in for the playoff. All it really matters for now is playoff seeding and potentially a spot in the BTCG, depending on what else unfolds in the conference. Its crummy in a way, but at the same time, it does allow your season to not necessarily end as a failure. But if OSU ends the year 11-1 and Michigan ends the year 10-2 with a loss to OSU, Michigan is still getting in. 

So spend away, OSU.