WTH - you guys are boring.

This is actually, IMHO a pretty interesting event and decision. Let's talk weather:

• Coldest Inauguration since Reagan #2 (1985), which was probably not the event Monday will be. BUT, did you know the #2 coldest inauguration after Reagan's was JFK in 1961? 6 degrees. 14 degrees less than projected for Monday. Bet Jackie and the young kids had to bundle up for that since it WAS held outside
• The estimated temperature and wind in Buffalo for Sunday night's 6:30PM NFL game is within a degree of the expected inauguration 12PM weather

Conspiracy Theorists have at it! Both Sides

Now, seating will be fun. How do you squeeze the 200,000 ticket holders into the 700 seat Rotunda? Well, you don't. Prediction:

• Any High-Ranking Dem who previously felt compelled to show is already going "Thank Gawd I have an excuse"
• Republicans - Top Ranking, no change. From there, a frothy group of second stringers clawing to get in with their master, and a group hoping they can't get in
• All other Democrats. Yippie! MLK Day just got freed up!
• Many of the 200,000 left out ticket holders will still show up outside
• All other sane Americans. Oh shit, here we go

I am swearing off all media on Monday. Will catch up Tuesday once some of the shitshow settles.

Who should we grab in the portal?

ND. Go Domers

Those fires are an absolute tragedy, the videos coming out of the area are simply horrific. It is hard to imagine what those people have gone through already, having to flee the oncoming fire and then returning to find that everything you own is destroyed. Gone. Obliterated. Family heirlooms, treasured awards, letters, gifts, etc-EVERYTHING in your life is gone forever. It is simply heartbreaking to see and think about.

All of what I just said is the immediate impacts, but I am already starting to think about some of the long term implications of this catastrophic event. Haven't heard anything from any official on the following things yet, but these things are going to hit them soon:

1. Where in the world are they going to dispose of all the debris and waste from these fires, and how will they do it? The amount of material that needs to be removed is going to be a colossal amount, is there any existing "garbage disposal site" existing that can handle this amount? I doubt it. Will the city or state come in to areas with large crews and equipment to do it on a vast scale or will they wipe their hands of the task and leave it up to the individual property owners? How many of the individuals will not have the ability and resources to deal with that? Will they be prosecuted if they are unable to do so? Final mostly cynical question- will Newsome require all excavators, loaders, and dump trucks hauling debris be electric?

2. How long before the LA officials realize the tremendous drop in the tax base that will hit them? Huge areas will have individual properties drop 60-90% from existing values, thus tax revenues will face a severe decrease at the exact time that they need more revenues to recover from the disaster. Will the powers that be implement big tax rate increases on those people's properties that were not destroyed by the fires? Will it all just fall upwards to Uncle Sam?

3. How will rebuilding be accomplished? California being California, will they be sticklers for enforcing all kinds of big brother rules and regulations or will they take actions to help expedite individuals being able to rebuild quicker and less expensively? Sadly, I don't have much confidence in the People's Republic of CA relaxing any of their existing restrictions to help those affected individuals. I remain prepared to be surprised.

That's what I'm hearing elsewhere. Pride of the Sun Belt Conference. Not to be confused with N. Texas, UTSA, Sam Houston State, or Rice.

Tough week, especially with the herky jerky scheduling of one on the road, 1 at home. Anyone have a private jet to offer up for the SC trip?

Any word on I Watts being back this week? If SC shoots anything close to how they did vs gu Cougs will need all the help they can get.

It would be nice to watch the game, but unfortunately ESPN+ is not working for any of the 2pm start games. Just looking at the boxscore, WSU leads 17-14.

We can actually see this game.

Always liked him, a catcher from a different time...when you could hit .240 and still find work if you could call a game well (he played in roughly the same period as my great uncle, Sammy White). RIP.

The coaches voted for just one transfer portal period, lasting 10 days from Jan 2-Jan 12. Doesn't mean it will happen, but I do think changes will continue into the future as there are a lot of things about the portal that need to be fixed.

10 day transfer portal proposal

Cougs up 10-0. Great start

Believe this has been predicted by quite a few around here, or at least by a small number of people repeatedly.

Any thoughts? Oh wait, Brand X has wind of it and is already trashing this 10-game 2024 starter

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Cougs lead 33-10 with about 7 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. Cougs playing great defense.

That's a tough guy.

We will hit.

Hey there is a Rivals mod from another site asking about WW on the premium board, in case any paying member wants to opine. I have already offered up an expansive list of freeloaders that should be banned. In case any ears are burning. Although I'm reticent about the idea of anyone bringing rules or order to this lovefest we call home.

That said, I really want to rag on our coaches and recruiting some more but am holding myself back. I am a little curious as to what the "many other offers" were that CJR referred to turning down in his introduction speech, but I'll let it lay. And won't comment on (per another fawning Brand X article) on our focus on in-state (Washington state that is) recruiting. CJR did lure SDSU's ONE Wa-Ca=Or player to Pullman, so there is that. Never mind that his other offer last year was Montana.

How does this premium forum not have any posts for six months?

7 of the last 13 possesions, disgustingly poor coaching

Thank You President Trump!

Good job!

https://x.com/breaking911/status/1879588840396276158?s=46

Pac-12 urges court not to dismiss “poaching penalty” lawsuit against Mountain West
The Pac-12 wants the penalty, which was part of a scheduling partnership, declared invalid
By Jon Wilner
Three months ago, the Pac-12 began legal proceedings against the Mountain West over the poaching penalties included in their scheduling agreement for the 2024 season. The lawsuit called the $55 million penalty anticompetitive and asked the court to declare it “invalid and unenforceable.”
Predictably, the Mountain West responded with a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the Pac-12 failed “to allege any harm to competition or to itself.”
The latest move came Monday in the Northern District of California, where the Pac-12 filed its opposition to the motion to dismiss the case — a response to the response, essentially.
It reads, in part:
“After the Pac-12 accepted applications from five current MWC members to join the Pac-12 beginning in 2026, the MWC sought to enforce this illegal Poaching Penalty by demanding $55 million from the Pac-12—an amount the MWC knows will cripple the Pac-12 moving forward and thwart further competition for member schools.
“Now, the MWC asks the Court to close its eyes while the MWC runs roughshod over basic legal principles promoting fair competition. The Court should reject the MWC’s effort and deny the motion to dismiss.”
The document, obtained by the Hotline from court filings, takes issue with the Mountain West’s categorization of the poaching penalty as “ancillary” to the scheduling agreement — that the former was a necessary component of the latter.
It argues that the poaching penalty was, in fact, “entirely unrelated to scheduling football games and designed to limit the Pac-12’s ability to compete with the MWC for years into the future, even after the Scheduling Agreement has expired.”
The scheduling agreement created six games against the Mountain West for both Washington State and Oregon State in the 2024 season, when the schools were forced to compete as a two-team conference.
(Their purgatorial state will end in the summer of 2026, when Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State and Gonzaga, as a non-football member, join the rebuilt Pac-12.
The conference must add at least one more full-time member to meet NCAA requirements and is expected to make a move this spring.)
The poaching penalty included in the scheduling agreement called for the Pac-12 to pay the Mountain West a baseline figure of $10 million for every team that joined the Pac-12, with a $500,000 increase for each subsequent school.
With five schools making the jump, the penalty is $55 million.
Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez defended her conference after the lawsuit was initially filed in September.
“The (poaching) provision was put in place to protect the Mountain West Conference from this exact scenario,” Nevarez said in a statement. “At no point in the contracting process did the Pac-12 contend that the agreement that it freely entered into violated any laws.”
But a letter to Nevarez from Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould in September, obtained by the Hotline through a court record request, seemingly indicates the Pac-12 opposed the poaching penalty in real time.
Gould wrote that the Mountain West imposed the fees “over the Pac-12’s objection” during the fall of 2023, when the Cougars and Beavers were “desperate to schedule football games” and “had little leverage to reject this clear restraint on competition.”
The lawsuit argues that the poaching penalty was designed “to stifle” competition and create an “artificial barrier to entry” for schools to join the Pac-12 — a barrier that also harms the Mountain West’s own members by limiting their market value in college football realignment.
The Pac-12 is not seeking damages.
Any reduction in, or elimination of the poaching penalties could clear cash for the Pac-12 to use to lure additional members by the NCAA deadline (July 1, 2026).
Meanwhile, the Mountain West is counting on the $55 million to compensate its remaining schools for the damages caused by the defections of the five members.
A hearing is scheduled for March 25, according to a case timeline approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen.
In a separate development, Colorado State and Utah State initiated legal action last month against the Mountain West over the exit fees imposed on the schools departing to the Pac-12.
Yahoo was the first to report the complaint, which included a letter sent by all five schools to Nevarez.
“The Conference’s attempt to impose the Exit Fee on the Five Institutions is improper and unenforceable,” the letter says. “The exit fee, which is completely untethered to any harm to the Conference from a member’s departure, is clearly designed to punish departing members and is therefore invalid as a matter of law.”
To stabilize itself, the Mountain West has added UTEP as a full member, UC Davis and Grand Canyon in all sports except football and Northern Illinois as a football-only member.

I see Gushiken still shows as uncommitted in the portal, as well as several other Cougs (the Roaten Bros, etc.). Thought I read a while back that they are gone. The portal site (below) seems pretty up to date. Lots of guys from other schools out there uncommitted as well. Probably no one special at this point, but guys coming from P4 and maybe G6 schools seem like they might be worth a look?

So, refraining from any digs at our coaches, roster, AD or even P-2 Commissioner today (well maybe later with regards to Teresa), wondering where we stand in terms of roster, remaining holes, etc.

https://247sports.com/season/2025-football/transferportal/

Moved to its own thread.

No Words. Only prayers.

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Draft order is set for the top 6:

tennessee
Cleveland
NY giants
New england
Jacksonville
LV raiders

Only 2 of these are likely set at QB for now - New England with Drake Maye and Jacksonville with Trevor Lawrence.

Tennessee can’t be sold on Will Levis, so might be ready to move on.

Cleveland has a ton of cash tied up in Deshaun Watson, but he’s a massive bust. Best case for them is that his most recent injury is career ending

The Giants and the Raiders have well documented and clear QB issues.

Every one of them has multiple issues, and drafting a QB early won’t turn them into winners. All 6 teams support my longtime feeling that anyone who earns a top 5 pick should never use it - they should trade it for more picks.

So…Cam and Shedeur Sanders are likely to end up off the board in the top 3. Only question really is whether anyone moves up to grab them. Also possible that one of the top 3 signs a FA QB (Cousins?) as a stopgap, because this isn’t a great QB year. Honestly, I’m not sold on Cam Or Sanders as a top QB pick, and Cam in particular will underperform on any team picking this early.

Jalen Milroe is in the mix now too, and there are a couple of others who could declare in the next week or two.

Seahawks are at #18, so they’re not likely to be in the QB sweepstakes unless they make an aggressive move. I’ve also read that they’re looking at $35M for Geno in 2025, which is way too much. I’d be more in favor of them trying to pick up a veteran on the cheap (again, cousins?) for a year, and use their draft picks to shore up the OL, and maybe find an RB that can stay healthy.

Upset he didn’t get the job I guess

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Who is gonna block? Are they gonna coach the kids they have now? Or get new kids?