Ross Dellenger
@RossDellenger
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Writing about college football for @YahooSports | Email [email protected]
Joined August 2009
The fight over the future of college football’s postseason is growing messy. Discord lingers over a proposed 16-team CFP granting Big Ten & SEC twice as many AQs (4) as Big 12 & ACC (2). Inside the brewing discontent, political pressure & public backlash
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One of Mike Leach’s last acts in life: Writing a check to keep open a Black-owned soul food restaurant along Starkville’s Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. On unexpected friendships & unforeseen good deeds. “He helped us stay open. I’m forever grateful.”.
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I didn't think it was a question. but of course Mississippi State will play in its bowl game. As one State official told me earlier this morning, "Mike would be pissed if we didn't play. The bowl game is at a stadium with an actual pirate ship in it.".
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Marcus Freeman after the Sugar Bowl about being one of two Black coaches competing in the Orange Bowl semifinal: . "Your color shouldn’t matter. Your evidence of your work should.".
With Penn State (James Franklin) and Notre Dame (Marcus Freeman) squaring off in the @CFBPlayoff semifinals in the Orange Bowl, there is guaranteed to be a Black head coach in the FBS national championship game for the first time ever.
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TCU coaches learned from other staffs about Michigan’s “elaborate” sign-stealing before the CFP semifinal. TCU changed signs but used “dummy” (old) signs to trick the Wolverines, coaches tell @YahooSports. TCU players were told to ignore the dummy signs.
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In a stunning show of solidarity during a dark day here, thousands of Virginia students have descended on the school’s South Lawn to sit in complete silence at a vigil for those killed last night. I’ve never seen anything like it.
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Before taking the field for warmups, #LSU OC Steve Ensminger called his son to comfort him over his wife’s death. Steven Jr. was in the hospital with high blood pressure. His dad made him a promise. “We are about to go beat Oklahoma’s ass for you.”.
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Next week in college football:. Ohio State at Notre Dame.Colorado at Oregon.Florida State at Clemson.Ole Miss at Alabama.Iowa at Penn State. My God.
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Bama LB Will Anderson says that the Texas atmosphere was the loudest and craziest he’s ever experienced in his college career.
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Power conference title game situations:. Big Ten.- Oregon.vs.- Ohio State with win; or Indiana or Penn State. ACC.- SMU.vs.- Miami with win; or Clemson. SEC.- Georgia.vs.- Winner of Texas-Texas A&M. Big 12.- I need a drink.vs.- We all need a drink.
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Mike Leach's health situation is critical. Keep the coach and his family in your thoughts.
Mike Leach needs a miracle, folks. Continue to pray.
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Florida State held a CFP selection show watch party at its stadium. I cannot imagine the scene.
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There really is nothing quite like this sport.
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When you hear things from ADs like "football allows us to have other sports," this is what they mean. Take #LSU. Here are profit/loss numbers from each LSU sport in the 2016-17 cycle, from my time as a beat writer. - Football: $56M in profit.- Other sports: ~$23M in losses
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Using tonight’s rankings, here’s how a 12-team playoff would look based on the approved 6+6 format. Format rules: .*6 auto bids to highest ranked conference champs .*6 at-large bids to next highest ranked teams .*top 4 champs get byes .*5-8 seeds host on-campus 1st round games
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Of the Leach stories, the best are those that highlight his inquisitive nature. Example: He once tracked a raccoon thru snow. Always a walker, Leach strolled thru a neighborhood, saw tracks in snow & followed them for a half-mile. Why?. “I was curious where the sucker lived.”.
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Joe Burrow on running to greet the #LSU students: “Obviously I don’t go to class - with online classes - so I don’t see any of those people.”.
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Kirk Herbstreit on GameDay: “We’re all for the players getting paid, but we’re not all for the players having all the control. We went from one extreme where the players didn’t have a lot of control to now the players having all the control.” .
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At LSU, they don’t carry out goal posts. They carry out passed out bodies.
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Notre Dame SPT coach Marty Biagi has endured in two weeks. the birth of twins, death of his dad, hospitalization of his wife & two CFP wins. Today, his unit scored 17 points & executed the game’s biggest trick play. “I know dad’s watching from Heaven.”.
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Penn State's backup QB says he's left with an "impossible decision" as playoffs overlap with the open portal period. He's leaving the team a week before a 1st-round game. The timing of the portal period is not just impacting bowls (ie Marshall); it is impacting playoff games.
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Joe Burrow asked Ed Orgeron if he could wear the jersey with the Cajun version of his name. Orgeron says he told him, “HELL YEAH.” #LSU.
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Pac-12 is holding a scaled-down media event with an open bar here in Vegas. Commissioner Teresa Gould opens the event by gesturing to the bar: “We are drinking tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12.”
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Nick Saban on Cincinnati: "There’s no doubt in my mind they belonged in the playoff. They gave us all we could handle.".
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In 30+ years of watching football, I’ve never seen this happen.
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An #LSU staff member this week called Oklahoma the fifth best team the Tigers have faced this season - behind Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia. Things are materializing as such.
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Rocky Top thunders throughout Ohio Stadium. It’s remarkable. More than 30,000 Tennessee fans expected.
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At 13, CJ Stroud’s dad was imprisoned & his family left in financial ruin. They lived at a storage facility & couldn’t afford him new cleats or contacts. A decade later, he bought his mom a house thru NIL, will be a 1st round pick & forgave his father.
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Breaking: NCAA presented Michigan evidence that points to a UM booster - “Uncle T” - as having partially funded the scouting scheme & an assistant coach, now-fired Chris Partridge, as attempting to destroy computer evidence, sources tell @DanWetzel & me.
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Holy shit. Tulane did it. For their game against Ole Miss, they've brought back Greenie, the team's old mascot during their days in the SEC. (via @GreenWaveFB)
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Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti: “That’s the greatest run in college football history.”.
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Drew Brees, the former NFL quarterback, is being hired as an interim assistant coach at Purdue, source tells @SINow. He wanted to help during the coaching transition. He’ll assist team in prep for the Citrus Bowl and coach in the game. He can also recruit via an NCAA waiver.
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NEWS: NCAA Is expected to levy unprecedented penalties for NIL-related violations committed by Florida State, sources tell @YahooSports, including 3-game suspension for an assistant coach & disassociation from its booster collective and a booster
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As shots began, Mike Hollins ran back onto a bus to save lives. He then ran into the shooter, who pointed his gun & fired. Not all heroes wear capes. Mike Hollins wears scars. The bullet nicked his kidney, hit his intestine & protruded from his stomach.
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Deion Sanders is “pissed,” he says. He says that all of his belongings were stolen out of the locker room during the game.
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One of the people who supplied the Tennessee football team with cigars was none other than Jay Cutler, the former Vanderbilt QB. Why did he do it?. “He wanted us to beat Bama,” says a Vols administrator.
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The Oregon duck enters wearing a white cowboy hat and sunglasses. Oh my.
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UCF WR Javon Baker blew a kiss toward the Oklahoma sideline during his long TD pass. Brent Venables was *not* happy.
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Marcus Freeman did a somewhat unusual thing on Wednesday. A day before a game - a big one at that - he permitted his players three hours to meet up with their families in New Orleans. In time of tragedy, he said, he wanted to bring some comfort to his players & their parents.
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Kirby Smart on the PI reversal: “Now we’ve set a precedent if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, you have a chance to get the call reversed. That’s dangerous.”.
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Marshall has notified officials that it is opting out of the Independence Bowl vs. Army, sources tell @YahooSports. Absent of 6-6 teams, officials are working to determine a replacement thru a ranking of NCAA APR scores of 5-7 teams. Marshall has lost 25+ players in the portal.
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The view at Beaver Stadium from the seat purchased by Connor Stalions for Penn State games against Indiana and UMass. Section WF, Row 1, Seat 4.
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If you have to dip your crawfish in anything, your chef did a poor job. If you dip your crawfish in Ketchup, you should be shot on the spot.
What do you like to dip your crawfish in? Melted butter? Ketchup? Nothing? Let us know your favorite in the comments!
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The lobby restaurant of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, #LSU’s designated team hotel, has already run out of bottled beer. It is 5 pm. Kickoff is in 25 hours.
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One minute before the selection show started, @Brett_McMurphy reported that SMU was in the playoff and Alabama was out, citing anonymous sources. It is believed to be the first leak of any bracket information in the 11-year history of the CFP.
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BREAKING: Multiple sources confirm to The Advocate that #LSU has fired football coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.
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Mike Leach once took a call from Donald Trump - at practice. He tracked raccoons, sang karaoke, hung with Willie Nelson. He paddle boarded, wrestled turtles, swam with sharks. He learned Spanish, ate day-old burritos, dipped Copenhagen. On the Pirate -
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The Pac-12 is mobilizing a long-discussed plan to rebuild the league with additions from the Mountain West, sources tell @YahooSports. Oregon State & Washington State are targeting Boise, SD State, Fresno & CSU. The schools are applying for membership.
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News: The #SEC has lifted the ban on stadium-wide alcohol sales, with restrictions, source says. Effective date is Aug. 1. 🍺 🍸 🍹.
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Nick Saban: “This is like playing an SEC game on the road. They’re going to be in the SEC. If they were in the SEC now, they’d probably be in the top half of the league.”.
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#LSU coach Ed Orgeron was just asked a question at the SEC championship game news conference and it made me think of this quote from him in February 2017 at a banquet in his hometown of Larose.
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Mike Leach was notorious for calling friends deep into the night. Said Bob Stoops at his memorial: “Let’s reach out and call each other after midnight every once in a while in Mike’s honor.”.
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Born on the Bayou is playing and Ed Orgeron is upper cutting air. Fill my veins.
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A former Colorado assistant coach “spent time in the Middle East this past holiday season lobbying Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) funding on behalf of CU Football,” per this story.
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Both Notre Dame, Georgia and CFP officials have made requests to local New Orleans authorities to have the Sugar Bowl kickoff time Thursday be moved earlier in the day. There continues to be active discussion on the time, which is likely determined by local authorities + ESPN.
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Significant news out today from the US Dept. of Ed, which classifies future revenue distributions from a school to an athlete for his/her NIL rights as “financial assistance,” which “must be made proportionately available to male and female athletes” or risk violating Title IX.
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Diego Pavia said God gave him a vision as a kid and then said.
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If you’re wondering why it’s hazy on your TV, the smoke from the pregame fireworks here in Vegas - shot more than an hour ago - cannot escape the stadium.
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The get-in price, per Stubhub, for the Big Ten championship game: $12.
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Lots of late-game officiating calls/no-calls in Athens will be scrutinized heavily over the coming days.
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The SEC confirms that Georgia has clinched a spot into the championship game. Bulldogs will play the winner of Texas and Texas A&M.
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Auburn is finalizing a deal to hire Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, sources tell @SINow. Freeze would return to the SEC, where in 2017 Ole Miss fired him amid NCAA and personal scandal. In 12 years as a college head coach, he’s had one losing season.
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Mike Norvell and Florida State have agreed to a new eight-year contract that will pay him more than $10 million a year, sources tell @YahooSports.
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On Monday, the NCAA notified the Big Ten that there are no known connections between Ohio State coach Ryan Day or his family and the organization’s investigation into Michigan, senior officials at both the NCAA and Big Ten tell @YahooSports.
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Joe Burrow sucking on a cigar and blowing smoke into the air while exiting the #LSU locker room is a thing that has happened.
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Unbearable agony and unnecessary death. The most difficult two weeks of my life.
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CFP chair Boo Corrigan on the Bama-FSU debate: "The questions we do ask from a coaching stand point is who do you want to play and who do you not want to play.". Oh my.
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Will Howard just spotted Joey Chestnut at CFP media day. “The hotdog guy!”
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Will Howard: “We did it, man.” . A long embrace at the end with Chip Kelly.
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Trump is shown here at Bryant-Denny Stadium to roars from the crowd
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Woo. Finger-wagging Kirby Smart was pissed after the PI reversal.
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Lane Kiffin: “We don’t have the funding resources as some schools with the NIL deals. It’s like dealing with salary caps.”. He says some schools can pay “5-10” times more. “I joked I didn’t know if Texas A&M incurred a luxury tax with how much they paid for their signing class.”.
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While on the field after the game, Georgia president Jere Morehead and AD Josh Brooks, clearly frustrated, declined comment on the reversal of the pass interference. Morehead was seen speaking with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey while on the field.
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He has survived 9 head coaches & 6 ADs, has seen 509 games & 14 titles, been dog cussed by Saban & ate Thanksgiving with Burrow. Meet the man behind the #LSU program for the last 45 years. “You’re doing a story about Sam Nader? It’s about damn time.”.
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Last October, Connor Stalions bought a single ticket to Tennessee’s game vs UK. Three minutes later, he transferred it to a person who attended the game in a seat facing Vols’ sideline. Stalions also bought tix to UGA, Bama, CLEM & last 2 SEC title games.
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Two years ago, you fell into a coma & woke up today.-Hugh Freeze is coaching Liberty from a hospital bed .-Tommy Tuberville is running for Congress.-LSU is running the spread.-Jalen Hurts is at OU & Kelly Bryant is at Missouri.-Les Miles is at Kansas & Mack Brown is at UNC
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#LSU staff member pointing toward the A&M sideline during the post-game celebration: “We spent the entire year thinking about those assholes.”. Lawd, this rivalry.
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Series of events:.- #LSU wins national title.- One of its most famous alums gives $100 handshakes to players on field of said game.- Players light celebration cigars in locker room.- Cop threatens to arrest players.- Famous alum slaps ass of cop.- Arrest warrant issued for alum
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Tre White didn't sleep on a bed in high school. He shared a mattress with his brother. His signing bonus: $5,509,279. #LSU.
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Because of a COVID outbreak, Texas A&M is unable to play in the Gator Bowl, sources tell @SINow. Aggies don’t have enough available players. Gator is searching for a replacement bowl team, sources say, but the only way that's possible is if another bowl is impacted.
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