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Our Challenge Heading into Saturday, looking to crown the best stadium in all of college football, is shaping up to be an SEC-Big Ten showdown. Here’s how we got here.
The best BFC stadium
Closest race yet
Thanks again for voting for our Until Saturday challenge. In a week, the best college football stadium will be revealed, as voted by you (so no, we don’t expect any disagreements, animosity, or frustration of any kind).
In the Elite Eight round, we saw the closest race yet, between No. 1 Michigan Stadium and No. 2 Beaver Stadium. Here are the results:
In a stunning upset, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium is moving on! Here are some of your comments on the match:
- βI’m curious to see how the Big 10 showdown plays out. I’m going to give the nod to The Big House on the nickname, but Beaver Stadium has the other three categories. The tiny tailgates tucked into city parking lots just aren’t enough, and the atmosphere inside Michigan Stadium is a bit dull.
- βThe Michigan Marching Band solidifies the Big House game day experience as the best for me.β
- βHonestly, the winner of Michigan Stadium vs. Beaver Stadium should win it all.β
- βGo watch βThe Most Electric Moment in College Football Historyβ on YouTube. Shivers!” At Penn State’s 2019 White Out game, the crowd was so loud that it forced Michigan to use a timeout before its first play.
For full effect, watch it with sound.
The rest of the Elite Eight results:
- No. 1 Neyland Stadium in Tennessee (72.1%) vs. Auburn’s No. 5 Jordan-Hare Stadium (27.9%)
- Rose Bowl #1 (58%) vs. No. 5 Oregon Autzen Stadium (42%)
- LSU Tiger Stadium No. 2 (70%) against Texas A&M No. 1 Kyle Field (30%)
The last four
This is how the support currently looks:
Vote for the Final Four teams here. The championship contenders will be revealed next week.
Mandel’s mailbag
Spring events reserved for donors?
What do you think of a program like Minnesota eliminates its spring game and instead organize a practice reserved for members of the NIL collective? βKarl T.
I hadn’t heard of it before seeing Karl’s question, but sure enough, Minnesota is having a public cabinet and another open only to Dinkytown athlete donors, with PJ Fleck saying, “We want to be able to to inspire and create more people. part of the Dinkytown athletes as best we can.
I don’t think football programs are required to have a traditional spring game. Most were cut down anyway because coaches don’t want to risk injury and/or reveal too much to their opponents. If you’re at Ohio State or Alabama and you can get 70,000 fans, you might as well do it. In Minnesota’s case specifically, Fleck mentioned that they’ve rarely been able to hold one as planned, whether because of snow or the pandemic, and I’m guessing attendance would be modest either way.
And in theory, it also makes sense for these collectives to grant their members exclusive access. I’ve been to a lot of college practices, and there are always big boosters roaming the sidelines. From now on, this advantage is no longer reserved only for them.
But it also shows how patently absurd this whole collective story is. Fleck, who makes $6 million a year but isn’t allowed to be directly involved with NIL, essentially has to bribe his fans into donating money to “NIL” so he can build a competitive roster. This is in addition to fans who have already had to make donations for the right to purchase season tickets, have decent parking, etc. There must be a better solution.
And here. As per NCAA President Charlie Baker’s proposal last December, NIL will soon be integrated into schools. I imagine in most cases they will just involve the people who run the collectives. They will always want your money, but they always wanted your money. For now, not everything will be devoted to construction costs.
Read the rest of Mandel’s Mailbag here.
Quick snaps
Speaking of NIL, have you ever heard of a NIL general manager? Austin Meek explains one of college football’s newest positions and why Michigan is about to hire one.
THE Big 12 kicked off its league-wide pro day yesterday. Max Olson explains why the conference takes a new approach to the familiar topic. NFL Draft showcase.
Another move on the AD carousel! π¨ Pat Chun, Washington State AD left Wazzu for the same job at Washington. He will replace Troy Dannen, who left the Huskies to become from Nebraska ANNOUNCEMENT.
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(Top photo: Dan Rainville / USA Today)