While a great player will certainly make it into the NBA either way. However, there is no doubt that an elite level talent would most likley be better served at Kentucky or Duke than other schools. They get more national playtime. You know they are going to be in the tourney every year and most likely deep into it. More games, higher profile games, to showcase talent.
You would have to hedge Duke first and then Kentucky if State somehow got past them. I am not saying you couldn't walk away with some cash, but it would be expensive to do for sure. You might be able to guarentee yourself 200K if Duke won and knocked them out first. If they went on you might be able to walk away with 100k or so
I would be the BIGGEST Spartan fan on the face of the Earth that day.
I would also hedge my bet, although it would be hard to do. You couldn't just bet Duke and Kentucky though - because they would have to cover as well - or you could lose twice. You would have to buy the points. Really expensive bet, especially for Kentucky if they get there - which State won't
I can't believe the other players let him take a cheap shot like that and just walked back to the huddle. I would have been happier if someone, anyone, got pissed off and defended him. I would even have accepted Hoke going apeshit and getting tossed from the game as opposed to laying down and letting your QB get abused.
They will open the checkbook for Hoke's replacement. They have to. There is too much money at stake to make another chance hire.
You bring in a coach with a name and it automatically stops any recruiting bleed that might normally happen with a change in coaching. (See Urban)
Certainly if Brandon is still around, he will have huge pressure to bring in a name guy. It would be his legacy to the program. If he fails on the next one, he will go down in history as the one of the worst ADs in the history of the program.
There are 2 things that are not going to happen during this year, that (unfortunately) going to get all the press until the play of the field improves.
1. The 100k attendence record is not going to come to an end. Brandon will simply not let that happen. That would be a major embarrsment to him and his ego. They will do everyhting, and I mean everything, to make sure that does not happen. If it is even close, they will fudge the numbers or sell thousands of tickets to businesses for $2 a piece.
2. Hoke will not be fired mid-season. It is not going to happen. I wish the media would stop hammering that story. It hurts the program if the impression is he is "dead man walking". If you don't think other schools that are competing for recruits (Urban especiallly) aren't already using this as a tool, you are kidding yourself.
The general consensus from my State friends is that their defense will take a step back in losing some excellent players. Narduzzi will have the ones that are there ready to fill in adequately, but you can't repeat what they did last year. However, their offense will probably be much better. Cook & Langford have more experience and the WRs are pretty much in tact (minus Fowler) from last year. They return a lot of experience on the OL, because they rotated a lot of players through last year. If they give up a couple of points more per game and score a couple of more per game, it could equal out.
That being said, everything went right for them to have the season they did last year. Many games (inc OSU and Stanford) were decided by one or two plays. That is the way football is.
I see losses to Oregon, OSU, and a game or 2 more. (Hopefully one of those is to us.) A good season, but not Nat Champ/Rose Bowl level like last year.
There are 2 factors in play one that will be tempory (but potentially every other year) and one longer term issue.
Temporry is the AWFUL 2014 schedule. You are paying for Penn State. That is it. You will be able to pick up tickets to any of the others games drastically below face value on StubHub.
However, this will pop up every other year. You could always count on either MSU or OSU being the money game. The only fix is if the Big Ten changes that schedule in future years or UofM actually schedules some quality non conference games.
The longer term problem is one that all schools will face. With the rising expense of the games and the comfort of home viewing it is getting harder to justify the expense. I no longer get season tickets (even those that can afford it), but go to 2-3 games a year. Either from friends who aren't using their tickets or StubHub.
Additionally, I go to AA even when I don't go to the games. Tailgating is great and there are always multiple TVs to hang out and watch the game. You can continue to drink your own beverages and eat better food for 1/4 the cost.
They are going to be better than most people expect, IMO Anywhere from the 2nd - 3rd place Big Ten team to challenging for the title. They are (almost) a guarenteed tourney team.
Loosing 2 first rounders to the NBA (Harris and Payne) will hurt. Appling was as much of a liability as an asset the second half of the year. They were better with Trice running the show.
How good they will be will all depends on how their development is over the offseason. Injuries mean a lot too, because they won't be deep.
Trice is underrated. Dawson is a beast on the boards. Valentine has a lot of potential, but played very sloppy and out of control at times.
Their weakness will be they don't have a true scorer on the roster.
Recent Comments
I can understand the blue boods (Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc) of basketball pulling in most of the top recruits year in and year out.
Now, Cal comes out of no where and all of a sudden in Basketball U ?!
Swanigan just took the Tweet about being committed to MSU
Looks like a real possibility he ends up at Cal or Kentucky
While a great
I disagree.
While a great player will certainly make it into the NBA either way. However, there is no doubt that an elite level talent would most likley be better served at Kentucky or Duke than other schools. They get more national playtime. You know they are going to be in the tourney every year and most likely deep into it. More games, higher profile games, to showcase talent.
You would have to hedge Duke first and then Kentucky if State somehow got past them. I am not saying you couldn't walk away with some cash, but it would be expensive to do for sure. You might be able to guarentee yourself 200K if Duke won and knocked them out first. If they went on you might be able to walk away with 100k or so
I would be the BIGGEST Spartan fan on the face of the Earth that day.
I would also hedge my bet, although it would be hard to do. You couldn't just bet Duke and Kentucky though - because they would have to cover as well - or you could lose twice. You would have to buy the points. Really expensive bet, especially for Kentucky if they get there - which State won't
I can't believe the other players let him take a cheap shot like that and just walked back to the huddle. I would have been happier if someone, anyone, got pissed off and defended him. I would even have accepted Hoke going apeshit and getting tossed from the game as opposed to laying down and letting your QB get abused.
They will open the checkbook for Hoke's replacement. They have to. There is too much money at stake to make another chance hire.
You bring in a coach with a name and it automatically stops any recruiting bleed that might normally happen with a change in coaching. (See Urban)
Certainly if Brandon is still around, he will have huge pressure to bring in a name guy. It would be his legacy to the program. If he fails on the next one, he will go down in history as the one of the worst ADs in the history of the program.
There are 2 things that are not going to happen during this year, that (unfortunately) going to get all the press until the play of the field improves.
1. The 100k attendence record is not going to come to an end. Brandon will simply not let that happen. That would be a major embarrsment to him and his ego. They will do everyhting, and I mean everything, to make sure that does not happen. If it is even close, they will fudge the numbers or sell thousands of tickets to businesses for $2 a piece.
2. Hoke will not be fired mid-season. It is not going to happen. I wish the media would stop hammering that story. It hurts the program if the impression is he is "dead man walking". If you don't think other schools that are competing for recruits (Urban especiallly) aren't already using this as a tool, you are kidding yourself.
The general consensus from my State friends is that their defense will take a step back in losing some excellent players. Narduzzi will have the ones that are there ready to fill in adequately, but you can't repeat what they did last year. However, their offense will probably be much better. Cook & Langford have more experience and the WRs are pretty much in tact (minus Fowler) from last year. They return a lot of experience on the OL, because they rotated a lot of players through last year. If they give up a couple of points more per game and score a couple of more per game, it could equal out.
That being said, everything went right for them to have the season they did last year. Many games (inc OSU and Stanford) were decided by one or two plays. That is the way football is.
I see losses to Oregon, OSU, and a game or 2 more. (Hopefully one of those is to us.) A good season, but not Nat Champ/Rose Bowl level like last year.
Way to keep it classy Asshat
There are 2 factors in play one that will be tempory (but potentially every other year) and one longer term issue.
Temporry is the AWFUL 2014 schedule. You are paying for Penn State. That is it. You will be able to pick up tickets to any of the others games drastically below face value on StubHub.
However, this will pop up every other year. You could always count on either MSU or OSU being the money game. The only fix is if the Big Ten changes that schedule in future years or UofM actually schedules some quality non conference games.
The longer term problem is one that all schools will face. With the rising expense of the games and the comfort of home viewing it is getting harder to justify the expense. I no longer get season tickets (even those that can afford it), but go to 2-3 games a year. Either from friends who aren't using their tickets or StubHub.
Additionally, I go to AA even when I don't go to the games. Tailgating is great and there are always multiple TVs to hang out and watch the game. You can continue to drink your own beverages and eat better food for 1/4 the cost.
They are going to be better than most people expect, IMO Anywhere from the 2nd - 3rd place Big Ten team to challenging for the title. They are (almost) a guarenteed tourney team.
Loosing 2 first rounders to the NBA (Harris and Payne) will hurt. Appling was as much of a liability as an asset the second half of the year. They were better with Trice running the show.
How good they will be will all depends on how their development is over the offseason. Injuries mean a lot too, because they won't be deep.
Trice is underrated. Dawson is a beast on the boards. Valentine has a lot of potential, but played very sloppy and out of control at times.
Their weakness will be they don't have a true scorer on the roster.