Hunter Plott

[The Coachspeak Index @CoachspeakIndex]

4 things about the Ty Simpson pick that you should not be overreacting to:

1. Simpson saying that he’s never met Sean McVay (McVay hasn’t met with a prospect before drafting him since 2020, per @JourdanRodrigue)

2. Les Snead having a strong relationship with Simpson’s dad (no GM is spending a 1st-round pick as a favor)

3. still photographs (there are plenty of stills of McVay with his hands in his pockets and a blank face in previous draft pressers)

4. a short clip of McVay being asked what his conversation with Matthew Stafford entailed

[I’ll be joining @ScottBarrettDFB on his show today to break down this presser (which *did* have a different feel about it), as well as all of the other pressers from last night]

[Hunter Johnson @BurnerLJohnson]

Once you have had the taste of winning an NIT championship, the allure of running it back to do it again is just too much

[Hunter Plott @hplotter_19]

Someone file a missing persons report for Amari Allen

[Hunter Plott @hplotter_19]

@BrooksAustinBA Have you read Chuck Norris’ autobiography? It’s called the Guinness Book of World Records

[Pardon My Take @PardonMyTake]

USA is rocking game worn United States Olympic men’s hockey jerseys🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Hunter Johnson @BurnerLJohnson]

Today’s IBOB is really important because it decides what time Auburn plays on Wednesday and what time The University plays on Friday in The SEC Tournament.

[College Football Nerds @CFBNerds]

I've talked about the logic here at length (see reply below) as to why Bediako had a pretty good case, but I think this is ultimately the right decision, IF the NCAA applies this rule equally going forward.

The NCAA admitted in court that the Nnaji eligibility ruling (which was an NCAA decision, not a judicial override) was a mistake. I also think it's very hard to square Bediako being ineligible while letting in 22 year olds with 3-4 years of semi-pro experience in Europe.

If this is the catalyst to keep ALL those guys out, that's ultimately a good thing for college athletics.

[Savage @Savageboston]

Perfection.

[Jordan Harper @HarperNation24]

“Players who remain in the draft forfeit college eligibility”

Not “student-athletes”, but “players”.

Therefore, Nnaji should not be eligible and they opened the box for this occurring. They let a guy who was drafted and traded in the NBA to play college.

They’re handcuffed.

[BirminghamSports @BirminghamSport]

AJ McCarron was asked by @griffsz on his thoughts of the HS reclassification:

“I think it’s a terrible look for our state. When I was in the political world, it was one of the things I was going to push on.”

[College Football Nerds @CFBNerds]

An attorney's explainer of the Bediako eligibility ruling: this is actually a small step stemming from a number of bad, inconsistent decisions regarding semi-pro players.

Let me say up front, my opinion is that none of these semi-pro players should be playing. This is bad for college sports, and this suit is another bad move toward making that harder to stop. But that doesn't make the suit wrong or unfair as a matter of law.

It's important to understand why Bediako won the TRO (and will likely win an injunction next week): the NCAA has been chipping away at enforcing its own rules regarding semi-pro players for years, especially those abroad, and it makes making Bediako ineligible an "arbitrary and capricious" decision in view of others that is open to judicial review to be overturned.

The NCAA (not a judge) granted eligibility to Baylor's Nnaji, who played for premier Euro team FC Barcelona after being the 31st pick in the NBA draft but not signing with a team. As another example, the UConn AD came out saying that Bediako's wins shouldn't count for the tourney, but at the same time UConn just signed and is now playing with two Euro players including Uroš Paunović, who spent the last 4 years playing for Serbia's top professional division. Alabama's main rival, Auburn, signed Filip Jović with 2 years professional experience in Bosnia. All of these players are 21-23 years old at enrollment (often as "freshman"). The hypocrisy of everyone involved (Alabama, UConn, the NCAA, etc.) is just absurd.

As to the legal basis, two snippets from Bediako's complaint are below for reference - the NCAA's continued refusal to follow their own rule that "an individual may compete on a professional team
(per Bylaw 12.02.4), provided the individual does not receive more than actual and necessary expenses to participate on the team," by ignoring when players get $1M plus in "semi" professional basketball, opened the door wide for a lawsuit. As the complaint notes, if a player can be drafted and play two years later, or play professional ball in Europe for four years before enrolling, why can a Canadian playing American basketball who enters the draft and goes undrafted not come back when he is otherwise still within his 5 year eligibility window?

The lawsuit itself is a state suit that alleges a restraint on trade and interference with contracts, among other things, based on an arbitrary and capricious application of NCAA rules. A temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted, which is generally based on whether there is an "irreparable harm" and whether there is a "likelihood of success on the merits" in the full suit. That TRO expires next week, but that is tied to a hearing for a preliminary injunction which I would expect to be granted given that the TRO was granted under the same facts.

As we've said in prior tweets, the NCAA is essentially a trade union - they have no real legal backing and are thus totally at the mercy of all state laws and rulings. The TRO includes a strongly worded provision against punishing "or implying to punish" Bediako or Bama for the ruling, so the NCAA is completely bound by the order absent appeal. Even if the ruling is reversed, a retroactive punishment would almost certainly be viewed as contempt of court (violating an order later overturned is generally still contempt), so ignoring the order would potentially open the NCAA up to massive liability. The only real way to supersede these rulings would be if we pass a federal law granting the NCAA legal power to enforce basic eligibility rules.

This is just my personal opinion, but as a legal matter I think the NCAA is responsible for digging their own grave here and the legal basis for Bediako's claim is reasonable. If the NCAA doesn't want Bediako to play, they need to also bar Nnaji, Paunović, and Jović, as well. The NCAA can make this a "one-time" deal, but to do so they need to start enforcing rules across the board. With NIL, state laws in California and Florida "broke" NCAA rules, but in both instances the NCAA had a chance to create reasonable rules and enforce them consistently, and their failure to do so is the ultimate reason this happened - not the lawsuits.

I just don't see how the NCAA can argue that European professional basketball players can be a 22 year old freshman with no issue, but an American player who enters the draft and goes undrafted can't. NONE of these players should be able to play - but the line the NCAA has tried to draw seems legally untenable.

[The Field of 68 @TheFieldOf68]

Nate Oats speaks:

"The system is clearly broken... but since the NCAA has already allowed professionals to play, you tell me how I'm supposed to not support Charles and the team when he's been told he's able to play?"

[Hunter Johnson @BurnerLJohnson]

Best play Noah has made all year.

[Paul Bissonnette @BizNasty2point0]

You guys won’t believe this. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Barstool Bama @BarstoolAlabama]

Would be cool to know what happened to Labaron…if only the broadcast would say ANYTHING AT ALL about the best player in the game being missing from the game almost all half!!!!!!

[Ha Ha Clinton-Dix @haha_cd6]

Go watch the tape and tell me what guys y’all are upset about leaving based off production? I’m in the office all day. I’ll wait.

[Alphonse Taylor @SHANKK50]

There’s not one offensive lineman that is leaving I will lose sleep over. We were soft, uninspiring, and inconsistent at best. A very far cry from the standard of football I’m use to seeing from us up front. Culture in that room has to change.

[Brandon Walker @BFW]

We used to be a proper country and waited until the end of the season to figure out conference supremacy. Now it’s every quarter of every game.

If you root for a conference, you’re a loser.

I’m a fan of one SEC team. I hope the other 15 lose every game.

[SEC Unfiltered @SECUnfiltered]

Zabien Brown with the SUCK IT to OU fans 💀

[Hunter Johnson @BurnerLJohnson]

College Football Playoff Wins

Alabama- 10
Tennessee- 0
Auburn- 0