CT Tiger

Anyone know if it will be available for those of us with YouTubeTV? It comes with SECN, but I am just worried that ESPN+ and SECN+ means it will only be on that stupid paid ESPN app that Disney is trying to push. 

I genuinely laughed out loud... Love SEC Shorts.

As 3rdgeneration said, this clip feels pretty accurate but I hope we can get to at least 8 wins. 

43 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

It’s not a suggestion. It would 100% happen. Auburn makes a killing from football, and even with that, still barely breaks even. Most schools lose a bit of money every year.

If football revenue stays strictly with football staff, operations, and players then college sports will cease to exist overnight.

Again, the total amount spent by the Athletic department on my hypothetical proposal would depend on specifics (e.g., total number of scholarships available in each tier and the actual amount of the 'stipend' that comes with tier 1-3 scholarships). Let's say the breakdown is 10 tier 1 scholarships ($100k/ea), 20 tier 2 ($50k/ ea) 30 tier 3 ($25k/ ea) and the rest of the scholarships do not include the stipend. That comes out to $2,750,000 total each year. 

Now let's take a look at Auburn's AD financial profit/losses over the past 15 years. Keep in mind this is for all sports, not just football so subsidizing the others are included in the figures. I have highlighted years when this would be an issue. Even then, profit reserves accumulated from previous years (when subtracting by $2,750,000 for player stipends) would easily cover these. Yes, the deficits for the 2013-2014 and 2020-2021 COVID seasons are brutal, but they can be covered. 

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2022/01/auburn-athletics-reports-97-million-loss-in-2021.html

With that said, your point stands because most universities do not have the luxury of having a cash cow football program like we do. My hypothetical model would make more sense if/when these conference expansions are complete and the big boys start their own league/division. Those schools can make it work, especially since they will essentially be the amateur NFL league anyway.

Thoughts?

22 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I think there could be a money system devised to work with some arbitrators involved. But the question I continue to raise that nobody will answer is this - even if we get all the money to work, there’s no scenario where it won’t result in the end of 90% of the other competitive sports at the college level. So are you okay with Auburn only fielding a football and men’s basketball team, is my question. 

To be clear, you're suggesting that revenue sharing with football players will kill the budget for most other sports? 

19 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Well that’s where the narrative comes in. That money is going to a school. It’s being spent to fund other sports and programs. In the same token, what’s the macro amount of money all of high school football brings in per year? If you’re going to look at school programs the same way you’d like at a private business, there’s also an ethical dilemma at the HS level.

Another problem is very VERY few kids have a case to credit themselves, as individuals, for bringing in the money to schools.

Every fan wants their team to succeed, and individual players contribute to that success.

But how can you quantify what a 3rd string WR who never sees the field should make? Does he really have an argument that he is responsible for moving the needle in either direction in terms of his school’s football profits? If you break it down, a player like that is probably overpaid currently with their total scholarship and housing/food/training costs.

People want to apply private business standards to CFB. I just want answers to the questions that are raised when you do that. 

You absolutely raise valid points. Yes, that revenue goes to the school's athletic department and is vital in subsidizing other sports. And yes, a 3rd string WR almost definitely moves the needle less compared to a star player.

But I don't think those aren't things that can be addressed in the creation of a strong framework, uniform across the board for FBS teams. Look, I'm not saying that schools should be paying players 7 figures per season; but just off the top of my head, what about having a five-tier structure that's reevaluated before each season?

(Note: The numbers are just hypothetical for this next part and those specifics should be decided after rigorous analysis to determine appropriate dollar amounts.)

Something like $100,000 for tier 1 players, $50,000 for tier 2, $25,000 for tier 3, the usual full scholarship for tier 4, and tier 5 would be walk-ons without an athletic scholarship. Tiers 1-3 also include a full athletic scholarship. Each school will be allowed the same limited number of tier 1, 2, and 3 "paid" scholarships. (These would effectively be salary caps for teams to ensure that a school with stupidly deep pockets like Texas can't just buy all of the top recruits. Every school would probably offer a 5* recruit tier 1 status, but things could be interesting for the 4* and top 3* recruits. Say there's a promising in-state OL that the gumps and us are chasing hard. They can only offer tier 2 while we still have enough tier 1's and are in serious need of good OL recruits. 

Throw in some reforms to reasonably limit misuse of the transfer portal. Maybe allow one freebie but any after that require either sitting out a season like the old rule? Or maybe one freebie and any transfers afterwards would disqualify them from tier 1-3 for one season. That way they can still play ball without impacting their NFL aspirations. 

NIL would also need to have strong, but fair and LEGAL regulations that can be easily reconciled with any proposed player payment structure to ensure that we see uniform "salary caps" across the board for CFB at the highest level. 

I just came up with this idea on a whim while sitting on the throne after a morning coffee, so I'm sure there are plenty of holes that can be poked in it, and I hope that people will (respectfully, of course). I just want to see if those holes can be patched up to strengthen it. 

13 minutes ago, AUght2win said:

How many bookstore employees were reeling in 6 figures? And being an athlete actually doesn’t provide a necessary function of a university. It’s great and fun but it doesn’t facilitate learning like all the other jobs you named. Not a good parallel.

No, you are right. But I never claimed that it did. 

Let me answer your first question with my own question--how many book store employees helped the university bring in 9 figure revenues as a direct result of their contribution? 

On 8/18/2022 at 3:11 PM, AUght2win said:

I will never, ever, ever understand how we got to a point where we consider a free college education as “no benefit”. I mean monetarily it’s literally be 50k to upwards of 100k. Add in meals, housing, everything. To play a damn game. Doing that for 85 kids at a time, at hundreds of schools.

The college game could very well revolutionize itself into relative obscurity. Won’t happen overnight. But I know personally I don’t spend a quarter of the time I used to watching or following CFB.

If you fundamentally break the appeal - student athletes playing for the schools you attended/are connected to, people are going to tune out. And there’s going to be no other choice but to do exactly that. If the schools pay kids, unions do CBAs, conferences hold high school drafts it will be unfeasible to ask kids to go to class. And that’ll be the severing.

CFB is too big to fail but it’s not too big to recede. MLB has. Boxing has. Hockey did but has finally come back a bit. It’ll be interesting to see.

That is a reasonable argument but the money they generate is disproportionally higher than just a free ride from the university. Not to mention a lot of these kids come from abject poverty and that money might be the difference between rent and bills being paid with food on the table for their families. Even the ones that don't come from poverty may very well be at the highest income generating part of their lives, especially since most will not make it to or in the NFL (e.g., Jamarcus Russell).

Finally, let's not forget about the serious long-term damage, especially neurological, that comes with football, especially at the P5 level in college. That damage can be be prohibitive for football players to truly use that free education they got and they weren't able to capitalize when they were in their prime. Even though he was initially drafted into the NFL, look at what happened to Tre Mason as an example. He wasn't able receive a cut of the profits he helped generate during that 2013 season when Auburn was at the top of the sports world, which subsequently also ended up being the pinnacle of his football career. And that's a damn shame in my book. 

On 8/18/2022 at 8:44 AM, W.E.D said:

Guys, it will never break away from being "College" football.  You see how literally on one gives a damn about arena, europe, or whatever stupid spring semi-pro leagues they have popping up.

There will always be a semi-relationship with schools.  Just b/c kids are getting paid doesn't mean they can't be student athletes.  I've never understood the mindset that everyone can make billions of dollars, coaches salaries are cool exploding to 8 figures per year with 40mm buyouts, OCs can make 1-3 million, and on down the line....but you DEMAND the talent of the league remain poor as eff and get absolutely no benefit when they are the ones killing their bodies. 

This isn't 1985 when there was near no money in the sport and some coaches had 2nd jobs in the offseason.  This is a billion dollar industry and needs to be treated as such.

P5 should break off.  Athletes need to form some kind of players union.  NIL needs to be somewhat regulated, and players need to be paid by the university.  If that means Coaches salaries need to be cut by 40% than so be it

Yeah I am pretty much right there with you. I always found the argument that student athletes can't also be employees because their students to not make much sense. There are all types of student workers on college campuses, from TA and research assistant to working in bookstores, various offices, rec centers and other facilities. Why can't athletes who compete at the highest collegiate level, especially as the workhorses in a multibillion dollar industry, also be considered as a type of employee? (Other than screwing them out of a cut of profits and the ability to unionize.)

Relying solely on an unregulated NIL model with an unrestricted transfer portal is much worse, IMO. The best students can just transfer to the highest bidder after each season. 

 

So according to pay site admins, he got pulled over for riding a moped without a helmet, but he took off.  Cops recognized him and told him to come in about it.  Gave him a few days and TJ never showed.  So today, he got arrested for attempting to elude police.

Mensa candidate right there.

To be clear--so, he initially stopped for the cop pulling him over and then decoded to take off? Something feels off about that if that is the case. 

I honestly was guessing that he didn't hear/notice a cop on foot or a bicycle trying to pull him over because he had earbuds in or something else prevented him from hearing the cop. 

27 minutes ago, KansasTiger said:

I read an article from Auburn wire this morning that stated if Cardwell and Flannigan return, we would have two scholarships left. I was always under the impression that we only had one more scholarship. Which is it?

"As a result, Auburn has some scholarship spots still up for grabs. Both Flanigan and Cardwell are likely to return. If that is the case, two scholarship spots remain. Today, Auburn Wire takes a look at some of the players head coach Bruce Pearl should target in the transfer portal."

Yeah I was also under the impression that we only had one left (which was for Phillips if he chose us). Can anyone shed more light on this?

16 hours ago, War to the Eagle said:

Gimme Mosley.

Agreed. We need someone who can hit their shots and score points... oh, and is reliable from the FT line. 

Anyone know how he plans to announce his decision? 

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

@GwillMac6I wouldn't read that much into it either since almost all recruits post such type pics after nearly every visit.

True but if you look at his IG page, there are only four total posts (with one being his decommit note to the Corndogs). Between that and how little he posts on Twitter, and how quiet his recruitment has been since he decommited in March, it's clear that he doesn't want the spotlight (which is great because humility is an indicator of a good teammate). 

Typically I'd agree with your post, but I think in JP's case, the IG post *could* be a sign for us... Especially coupled with the new CB prediction. 

32 minutes ago, AuburnbasketballGuru said:

Contrary to belief everyone doesn’t live on message boards 

The irony and cognitive dissonance of this post is almost too much 😂

1 minute ago, tgrogan21 said:

Would not consider either a bust. They both had their moments and dealt with adversity but both were crucial in us going to the Final Four. Wiley gets s*** on a lot because of his hands but he was a damn good rebounder and defender. Not every 5* is gonna go to the NBA and they're both playing overseas professionally.

That's fair. I was on the fence when I said it because my sentiments are pretty much the same. There's also a degree of subjectivity; how exactly would you define 'bust'? 

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

My guess is not right now since we aren't ready to take BHH yet & we recruited him hard out of high school & Bates didn't dramatically outperform BHH their freshmen years last year. Julian Phillips is priority #1 right now if we add a 3/4 type of player.

An insider on On3 says Sparty is likely the front runner for Bates FWIW.

Any new updates/rumblings about Phillips and the G League? I wonder if we are trying work an NIL angle in there. 

27 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

All these 5 star transfers…has Bruce ever had a bust at Auburn or a highly rated guy that just didn’t work out here?  Seems like he chooses his guys well and maximizes their potential at a very high rate.  Maybe Heron or the kid that went to Baylor?

Wiley and/or Purifoy? I forget if either one was a 5* out of HS. 

1 hour ago, ellitor said:

Given we didn't go after Mark Sears who has similar & in some cases better skills & is taller, I don't see us going after KD.

Any idea why not? We need some more consistent perimeter shooting. 

Wishing him the best of luck finding success at ASU. Happy for him that he gets to play with his brother too! 

Where should this put us on the 247 2022 recruiting team rankings?

18 hours ago, AUBwins said:

I'm not worried about Arky because as some have said, IF we lose one that's the one to lose. 

Agreed. IMO the other most dangerous games are @UF, @TENN, and @MSU. Although it's a home game and The Jungle will be rockin', aTm this Saturday could be a dogfight too. 

Can't wait to see what our defensive stats look like at the end of this one. 

Assuming we take care of business tonight, I think (hope) that the players will use this as motivation, playing with a chip on their shoulders against UK on Saturday. 

This is amazing on so many levels. First, just because it's hilarious and harmless fun. But more importantly, it's harmless fun that really shows how passionate our fan base is. You know who loves fun, passionate fans, and Twitter? Recruits. 

26 minutes ago, Auburn Tiger said:

Fouls got bama back into the game when we were running away with it in the second half. If the refs call a balanced game, this one is closer to a blowout. Scrutinizing one team over another like that makes one team play less physically and allows the other to be way more physical. It was obvious last night. They were mauling our guys and getting no calls for it. Lots of head scratcher calls last night. Refs should have some sort of consequence for egregious calls. Fine them for it or something. You’d see far less of them in my opinion. 

If the refs called a fair game, we could have been up double digits at the half. Bama's FG % was not looking very impressive and it was clear that FTs kept them in the game.