Luke Combs

[t4pizza]

You are right, no other sport is separated like football. The acceptance by the NCAA of the proposal, based on all the conferences agreeing to it, was the official decision that made autonomous and non-autonomous conferences. Shortly after the NCAA accepted that change the media just started running with the Power (P) conference nomenclature.

[AppStFan1]

Haven’t read all of this and that G5 playoff debate is brutal but I throw this out. How about the 4 highest rated G5’s who don’t get the playoff spot play for a mini championship? Play the “semifinal games” at the home of the higher ranked schools then the two winners square off in a nice bowl game to give those players a great trip. Play it in Florida. You get the potential of an extra game - say in Boone (packed house) before school gets out and whoever loses sort of got their bowl game.

Anything that could lead to justifying a separation of G6 from P4 is a slippery slope.

Totally agree and really what is the difference in the above and a bowl? That mini whatever really doesn't mean any more than the players going to a bowl, does it? If you go that path you are repeating history.

I look at it this way. We moved up to be in the new I-AA/FCS. If you look around the G6 is basically 90% of what I-AA was in the 80s/90s but the addition of some schools who were not around then like Coastal, Georgia State, Charlotte, ODU, Kennesaw St, etc. We are basically going to be back in I-AA but under a different name and more scholarships.

[blunderbuss]

I know I’ve asked this question before but I don’t know if anyone ever really provided a clear answer so I’ll ask again. First it’s easy to see and understand the difference in D3, D2 and FCS levels of football- scholarship numbers and other predetermined factors. I get that there is also a general divide between levels of programs based on athletic budgets but who officially decided that there are P4 (or whatever label we go by) and Group of 5, G6, etc?

I’ve never understood why the “highest” level (D1) football is allowed to be broken into basically another level. At the FCS level there isn’t a segregation of schools. Did the NCAA actually officially determine this? I’m stunned that the presidents of the lower level (G5) allow this to exist. Even though the reality exists that for the most part schools at our level struggle to compete with larger budget schools that has never made any sense to me.

It was part of the negotiations during the initial football playoff committee discussions, the other schools agreed that that the (P5 at the time) would be allowed greater control over making rules for themselves (the other schools could follow if they wanted) and the NCAA agreed to this. Here is an older article from back then that basically explains it.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... -autonomy/

I scanned through that article but how was it officially decided or adopted that within D1 football that there are certified power schools and non-power schools? Perhaps I’m just missing something but at some point different levels were set based upon set criteria and that makes sense to me. We existed at the FCS level based upon number of scholarships and I guess some other things. I believe D3 and maybe D2 do not formally give athletic scholarships. The basic question is who is as given the authority to decide D1 football programs like this? As far as I can tell no other college athletics is separated like football. I do get the reality it really seems as if the larger conferences simply decided it’s going to be this way.

It has its roots in the bowl alliance and the BCS that followed. The BCS conferences were ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC. The major conferences got tie-ins with bowls. The conferences with bigger fanbases got better bowls b/c the bowls want to sell as many tickets as possible. The conferences with bigger fanbases and bigger bowls naturally got bigger TV deals. The NCAA has never controlled the post season of top level of football.

The 6 BCS (or AQ, automatic qualifier) conferences have consolidated into the P4 now.
The BCS era non-AQ conferences are the G6 now.

P4 and G6 aren't an official term but everybody knows what they mean. P4 are the ones driving up TV revenue and I'd assume make up for 75% of college football fans. They've just got way more fans and therefore generate more $$$.

TL/DR - The conferences with the most fans make more money. The conferences with more money have more influence.

[T-Dog]

If anyone is interested, Luke will be on Hot Ones this Thursday.

Let's see how he reacts to Da Bomb.

[311neers]

If anyone is interested, Luke will be on Hot Ones this Thursday.

Let's see how he reacts to Da Bomb.

I just hope he doesn’t do vegan boneless.

[appdaze]

If anyone is interested, Luke will be on Hot Ones this Thursday.

Let's see how he reacts to Da Bomb.

I just hope he can finish the challenge. I know it won't be as entertaining as Shaq's, and I don't expect him to have the massive testicles as Stone Cold, who breezed through it, but I do hope he can handle it. I've done some spicy mess in my life, including things you had to sign for. One of the most ridiculous ones I've had was at one of those Nashville hot chicken places in Nashville. I don't remember the name now, but it was one of the older, famous ones. It wasn't just stupid hot, but the flavor was awful. It is much easier to take the heat when the meat still tastes good.

[AAPP1]

At the end of the podcast he says "I dont mean that I want them to be FCS, but the games just felt like they meant more, and now we are just a farm school for P5 schools. I want my kids to go to App so I can go back to visit, its where my career started, and my favorite and first concert tour happened."

[AppStFan1]

At the end of the podcast he says "I dont mean that I want them to be FCS, but the games just felt like they meant more, and now we are just a farm school for P5 schools. I want my kids to go to App so I can go back to visit, its where my career started, and my favorite and first concert tour happened."

FCS is also the farm system for the P4 as well. Look how many of them are going to P4 schools through the portal. FCS is getting gutted by FBS schools these days. The best players, outside of maybe 10-15, are all underclassmen. Very few rising seniors with a decorated career actually stay.

[AppSt94]

I saw a stats the other day that there are 22 college basketball players from high profile programs (assuming P4) schools that played at their school for four years.

[AppStFan1]

I saw a stats the other day that there are 22 college basketball players from high profile programs (assuming P4) schools that played at their school for four years.

Did it list the colleges? It would be interesting to see if that list of schools is the same for the most part every year or if there is a big difference in the school list from year to year.

[WASU 93]

I saw a stats the other day that there are 22 college basketball players from high profile programs (assuming P4) schools that played at their school for four years.

Did it list the colleges? It would be interesting to see if that list of schools is the same for the most part every year or if there is a big difference in the school list from year to year.

If I remember correctly the SEC had 1 4-Year Senior.

[hapapp]

I saw a stats the other day that there are 22 college basketball players from high profile programs (assuming P4) schools that played at their school for four years.

Did it list the colleges? It would be interesting to see if that list of schools is the same for the most part every year or if there is a big difference in the school list from year to year.

If I remember correctly the SEC had 1 4-Year Senior.

I think that was mentioned during the SEC tournament.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

On the contractual idea, I am with Luke 100%.
Not sure how contractually it would work, my comment on a thread on YC a long time ago was related to multi year contracts. If I had enough funds to fund several players for nil, I would want a contract that would be multi-year. Player does not get all of the individual yearly amount. Some deferred. To get all, player has to stay 3 years or (based on eligibility left if they were a transfer). Forfeit if leave early or does something detrimental to get released from team, etc.

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

[AtlAppMan]

On the contractual idea, I am with Luke 100%.
Not sure how contractually it would work, my comment on a thread on YC a long time ago was related to multi year contracts. If I had enough funds to fund several players for nil, I would want a contract that would be multi-year. Player does not get all of the individual yearly amount. Some deferred. To get all, player has to stay 3 years or (based on eligibility left if they were a transfer). Forfeit if leave early or does something detrimental to get released from team, etc.

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

McLeansville, I don't know where you are getting your information for this statement.
"The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.
A LOT less corruption with organized labor"

I ran the question through Grok as a neutral opinion for "how does corruption compare between labor unions and civil institutions"

Response from Grok:
Bottom Line
Neither is inherently more corrupt—both have persistent issues requiring oversight, and enforcement works where applied (e.g., U.S. union racketeering declined post-RICO). Public sector corruption typically has wider societal impact and more prosecutions due to scale. Union issues are more contained but can erode member trust. Factors like transparency laws, wages, and political power influence both. Data gaps outside the U.S. make sweeping global claims unreliable; context (country, sector, private vs. public unions) matters most.

[AppStFan1]

I saw a stats the other day that there are 22 college basketball players from high profile programs (assuming P4) schools that played at their school for four years.

Did it list the colleges? It would be interesting to see if that list of schools is the same for the most part every year or if there is a big difference in the school list from year to year.

If I remember correctly the SEC had 1 4-Year Senior.

I don't dig into basketball the same. Is that likely because all the top players declared early for the NBA Draft at some point or were there some previous All-SEC players in other conferences this year?

[appdaze]

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

McLeansville, I don't know where you are getting your information for this statement.
"The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.
A LOT less corruption with organized labor"

I ran the question through Grok as a neutral opinion for "how does corruption compare between labor unions and civil institutions"

Response from Grok:
Bottom Line
Neither is inherently more corrupt—both have persistent issues requiring oversight, and enforcement works where applied (e.g., U.S. union racketeering declined post-RICO). Public sector corruption typically has wider societal impact and more prosecutions due to scale. Union issues are more contained but can erode member trust. Factors like transparency laws, wages, and political power influence both. Data gaps outside the U.S. make sweeping global claims unreliable; context (country, sector, private vs. public unions) matters most.

Its rage bait. Don't feed it.

[Bootsy]

On the contractual idea, I am with Luke 100%.
Not sure how contractually it would work, my comment on a thread on YC a long time ago was related to multi year contracts. If I had enough funds to fund several players for nil, I would want a contract that would be multi-year. Player does not get all of the individual yearly amount. Some deferred. To get all, player has to stay 3 years or (based on eligibility left if they were a transfer). Forfeit if leave early or does something detrimental to get released from team, etc.

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

“I am 100% in agreement with this statement.

Sincerely,
Jimmy Hoffa”

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

“I am 100% in agreement with this statement.

Sincerely,
Jimmy Hoffa”

He has been dead for half a century. If that is all you got to make a point then you really are telling me that unions are indeed pretty clean of corruption in the modern day.

Hamlet fire, Enron, The whole 2008 economy meltdown. Just in NC alone $2.5 million in stolen wages were recovered in 2024-2025. That is a lot of theft and corruption there. If you dig you will find more labor union corruption than Hoffa, but not nearly as much as the corporate side.

Heck our own football stadium is named after someone that was involved in white collar corruption. I have made comments about his statement when he left prison, and I do think it was worth a chuckle, but he was still convicted of corruption.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

If we have learned anything from this fiasco, contracts aren’t worth the ink they are written in.

Under the current way of things they are not. Players need to unionize and have a CBA so we can have contracts. Going to have to be like the NFL.

If you get unions you get strikes. Do you really want strikes?

Not to mention organized crime.

The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.

A LOT less corruption with organized labor, than all the tax dodging and unpaid wages from corporate America, not even addressing intentional unsafe working conditions that could be improved.

Certainly a lot less than organized religion with all the child abuse that is all around in both Catholic and Protestant churches. Seems about once a week, at least, some church official is caught doing something bad, and that is just with minors.

Certainly less corruptoin than many elected officials.

Labor unions are far from perfect, and like any human institution, will have things happening that should not happen, either legally, morally, or ethically, but it is far less than most other institutions in this country.

Your statement about unions and corruption is 100% completely not correct.

McLeansville, I don't know where you are getting your information for this statement.
"The last time I looked into corruption in labor unions there was a lot less than about any other civil institution in the country.
A LOT less corruption with organized labor"

I ran the question through Grok as a neutral opinion for "how does corruption compare between labor unions and civil institutions"

Response from Grok:
Bottom Line
Neither is inherently more corrupt—both have persistent issues requiring oversight, and enforcement works where applied (e.g., U.S. union racketeering declined post-RICO). Public sector corruption typically has wider societal impact and more prosecutions due to scale. Union issues are more contained but can erode member trust. Factors like transparency laws, wages, and political power influence both. Data gaps outside the U.S. make sweeping global claims unreliable; context (country, sector, private vs. public unions) matters most.

I am not sure if Grok is going to give you a neutral view. They might give you some AI images of children, which seems to be something Grok is good at. I'll let you decide for yourself if you consider that sort of AI production corruption, unethical, immoral, or what, but I am not sure I would call it trustworthy.

To your question it was some years ago to be honest and I am not sure if I can find that data. It was in a book and not something I found online that I can just post a link to provide the raw data to examine.

[BUTCH1991]

I see I made the correct decision to quit reading this thread a couple of days ago. Should've stayed away, and I will now.