Bobref

Again, not true.7 It’s more of a knock against me than you. I clearly did not understand what you were trying to get across because I was thinking in rulebook language. Non-officials don’t do that.

It’s finally happened. I have lost the ability to communicate effectively to civilians. I can make myself understood only to other officials. 🙁

Yes, you are wrong on several counts. You can’t have a back “on the line.” Your problem is that you feel compelled to classify a player as either a back or a lineman, and that is incorrect. If any part of his body is breaking the plane of an imaginary line drawn ­parallel to the line of scrimmage through the waist of the nearest teammate who is legally on the line, he cannot be a back. But if his head or foot is not breaking an imaginary plane drawn parallel to the line of scrimmage through the waist of the snapper when the ball is snapped, he cannot be a lineman, either. That is the issue. He’s neither “fish nor fowl,” and that is illegal under the rule as written. Yet, it happens all the time. Picture a wingback, located just outside the tight end, and in a 3 pt. stance. His helmet breaks the plane through the waist of the tight end, but not the plane through the waist of the snapper. That is an illegal formation at the snap.

Not necessarily. He’s on the line if he’s breaking the plane through the waist of the snapper.

I suppose you can win without elite QB play … if you surround your “good” QB with 5 star talent at every other position. But as you pointed out, “ND simply isn't going to "out five star" the usual guys (Bama, OSU, UGA).”

I don’t know about trusting you … 😂🤣 … but we’re in agreement here. But “can” is the operative word. The margin for error is much smaller. So, it certainly “can” happen. But everything has to break right; they have to be lucky with injuries and with the schedule. And most importantly, they need a 1st round draft choice talent at QB.

Notre Dame has held to a particular set of values for over 180 years. Any practice, of any type, that is inconsistent with those values is a nonstarter. They will win their way, or they won’t win … and every true Notre Dame person is fine with that. Believe it or not, the University is bigger than any sport, TV contract, or national championship.

That will never happen.

Their standards are the same, whether you are coming out of high school, or through the portal.

I can’t take credit … if I was correct. I stole it from a post by @temptation, who posted that ND’s “ceiling” under the new plan was #5. Since he is the clearinghouse for all things potentially negative about Notre Dame, I trust his interpretation. 😉

So, the new college football 12 team playoff is in place. Jack Swarbrick (on his way out the door in a few months) was one of the unanimous votes for the plan. Under the new format, even if ND is ranked in the Top 4 at the end of the regular season, the highest they can be seeded is #5, meaning they have to win 4 playoff games to win the natty. If this comes back to bite them (they have to get to the Top 4 first), the inevitable result will be an even louder outcry for the Irish to join a conference. They’ve always said a few things would have to happen for ND to reconsider its position on conference affiliation. One of them is if independent status was a formidable obstacle to competing for a championship. This might be it.

All I can say is that you’re dead wrong about all of that. Take a look at a state like Ohio. That last weekend of the season, you have de facto elimination games, where whether you get in or not depends on that last game. You think those teams, their fans, the coaches, the media, don’t keep track of their Harbin points, and those of other playoff contenders? The last few weeks of the season all they talk about is potential playoff scenarios based on “what ifs.” Just like the pros … and college … and every place else but Indiana.

A very typical “objection” to a qualifying format: all emotion and supposition. No facts or logic. By the way in a top 50% qualification format, you can add a 10th regular season game and the number of games played in the season, in total, is the same as it is now, so the experience is not “minimized.”

Again, you simply make these pronouncements, without any supporting rationale. A qualification format turns regular season games into playoff games. Who gets excited when two 4-4 teams play each other in Week 9? Nobody. But if a playoff qualifying spot is on the line, suddenly a ho-hum game turns into a playoff game. Better for players, coaches, fans … everyone. Now, explain to everyone why the all-in, with its 9 weeks of practice games, is better for a high school football in Indiana.

Says who? I never got to play in a football sectional, and I don’t feel deprived. You “deserve” what you earn. Apparently, thousands and thousands of kids all over the country are just ticking time bombs because they didn’t get to the playoffs in their respective states when they were in high school. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that in Indiana.

I wouldn’t assume the distribution formula was equal shares, although it might well be.

I would say you are technically correct, but not practically. Revenue from the upper levels of the tournament goes into the big pot of money from which IHSAA operating expenses are taken out. But the remainder of the pot is distributed to all schools. So, to the extent the football tournament revenue contributes to that “excess” revenue, it actually does go back to the schools.

Speaking of dynasty programs, MaxPreps published this list of the schools that have appeared most frequently in its Top 25 rankings, over the last decade. Only one school on the list is East of the Mississippi and North of the Mason-Dixon Line. MaxPreps Top 25 finishes over last 10 years 9 — IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) 2015 (No. 7), 2016 (3), 2017 (2), 2018 (5), 2019 (8), 2020 (1), 2021 (17), 2022 (5), 2023 (4) 9 — St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) 2014 (19), 2015 (6), 2016 (5), 2017 (8), 2018 (3), 2019 (1), 2021 (6), 2022 (1), 2023 (6) 8 — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 2014 (12), 2015 (15), 2016 (6), 2019 (3), 2020 (14), 2021 (9), 2022 (6), 2023 (9) 7 — Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) 2014 (2), 2015 (4), 2016 (1), 2017 (13), 2021 (15), 2022 (4), 2023 (1) 7 — Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 2014 (18), 2015 (5), 2016 (15), 2017 (12), 2018 (14), 2021 (10), 2023 (14) 7 — Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 2016 (9), 2017 (1), 2018 (2), 2019 (2), 2021 (1), 2022 (3), 2023 (3) 7 — North Shore (Houston) 2015 (10), 2018 (1), 2019 (4), 2020 (7), 2021 (13), 2022 (9), 2023 (12) 6 — Central (Miami) 2014 (11), 2015 (25), 2018 (20), 2020 (18), 2021 (20), 2022 (2) 6 — Chandler (Ariz.) 2014 (16), 2016 (17), 2017 (11), 2018 (15), 2019 (10), 2020 (5) 6 — Duncanville (Texas) 2018 (4), 2019 (6), 2020 (16), 2021 (21), 2022 (7), 2023 (8) 6 — St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 2014 (17), 2015 (8), 2018 (24), 2021 (25), 2022 (17), 2023 (16)

It’s probably in the Annual Report somewhere. I know their General Counsel, Robert Baker, has a salary of just under $160K. If you compare the IHSAA to the parallel organizations in other states, you’d see that the IHSAA runs pretty lean in terms of staffing and salary.

Here’s the IHSAA’s financial summary from the 2021 Annual Report. The IHSAA keeps about 10% of total revenue for its overhead, salaries, etc. It distributes about 12% of its total revenue back to the schools - $1.3 million in this report. The remainder is operating expense.

Are you aware that tournament revenue that goes “to the IHSAA” is distributed to the schools after IHSAA operating expenses are deducted?

I think you mean “everyone wants to feel like they have a chance to win, even though they didn’t earn that chance during the regular season when they had the opportunity.”

The Region Sports Network is reporting that Rick Good has resigned, after 3 years as head football coach at Lake Central.

“Unique” means one of a kind. It says nothing about good or bad, wise or stupid. There is a reason this format is unique … and it’s not because no one else has thought of it yet.

As we edge ever closer to participation trophies.