So when do hopscotch, musical chairs, and marbles become Olympic events?

Fall camp for the overwhelming majority of college football teams is just a week away, and we are officially just a month away from live-action football on our screens. In August, teams will take the first step toward making the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. More teams making the postseason means a wider championship-contending field than ever before.

So who is the best of the best? Let’s rank them.

I use play-by-play data to make a projection for each college football team. The projections are not only made up of box score statistics but also returning production, recruiting rankings and transfers. These projections aren’t who the model believes is most likely to win the national championship or make the playoff — more on those in the coming weeks — but instead an overall power ranking. Using the outputs of this model, I’ve built an algorithm to simulate every game of the season 100,000 times to get projected win totals as well as conference title odds for every college football team.

Before we get to the rankings, I should note that the difference between rankings is not equal. For example, the rankings from 20-25 in the model are much different than one to five. As we all know, there are tiers in college football, and my model is fully aware of that, too.

The Power 2?​

The Big Ten and SEC have 12 of the top 13 teams. Notre Dame is the lone wolf in the elite programs of college football before a run of Utah, Kansas State and Florida State gives the Big 12 and ACC some representation.

Runner-up dropoff again​

For the second year in a row, the national title game runner-up is not ranked in the top 25. Washington is 41st in my model. TCU was ranked 26th heading into last season before going 5-7.

Top 25 teams by conference​

• SEC: 9
• Big Ten: 5
• Big 12: 5
• ACC: 5
• Independent: 1

A big three and the rest​

My model has a bit of a gap between No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Texas. It’s no surprise that Georgia and Ohio State find themselves as elite programs, but Oregon is in new territory here. I’m a little skeptical of how the Ducks will transition to the Big Ten and the cross-country travel, but Dan Lanning’s squad has talent up and down the roster and was one of the best teams in the country last season. Replacing Bo Nix may seem like a big hurdle, but grabbing Heisman Trophy-favorite Dillon Gabriel in the transfer portal should keep Oregon as one of the premier offenses in college football.

Alabama is still top five after Nick Saban​

Nick Saban is the GOAT of college football and I’m not sure we will see another run like he had with the Crimson Tide. So you’d naturally expect Alabama to drop a little, right? Not exactly. Kalen DeBoer comes over from Washington and he’s been one of the best college coaches for the last decade. He’s 104-12 in his career as a head coach, and while this will be his toughest task yet, I’m confident he will keep Alabama as one of the top programs in the SEC. Will he match Saban? Unlikely. But holding him to the standard of the greatest of all time is unfair. Alabama will be fine.

Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss ready to arrive?​

This year’s Ole Miss team will be the best of Kiffin’s tenure and the expectations will match it. Kiffin has had an up-and-down coaching career, but he’s coming off arguably his best season, and I think the Rebels might have more talent this season. Can I trust Kiffin and this Ole Miss team to compete against the elite teams? The jury is still out on that, but a favorable schedule will surely have Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff conversation all season long.

they have no idea what crowd they are talking to. It's a liberal rag that thinks it's in Minnesota or somewhere similar. Know your crowd you dumbasses. I'm surprised some reader hasn't tried to straighten them out. Probably have but they just won't print it. Notice I said "reader", not "readers" as I'm sure I'm pretty close to be correct.

Serious question. This came up here decades ago. What’s wrong with monogamy?

Wife just said he was arrested for dui??

The NCAA is such a joke, there's no way he would have gotten hit that hard if he was still coaching. their inconsistency will be their undoing in the end.

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OSU freshman Lucy Darr is T20 and heading to match play. Her last name should ring a bell.

Prologue:

Picking Tim Walz was Kamala Harris’s first campaign mistake​

by Matt K. Lewis, opinion contributor - 08/06/24 3:00 PM ET

When I heard that Vice President Harris had selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate, the first thought to hit me was that of revered baseball manager Casey Stengel: “Can’t anybody here play this game?”

That’s not to say Walz is the worst choice in the world. But Shapiro is the governor of Pennsylvania — probably the most important state for Harris electorally, where he has a 64 percent approval rating. That fact alone might have been dispositive.

Walz, conversely, is the governor of Minnesota, a state that Harris should easily win. And while Walz’s avuncular Midwestern image might play well in the so-called “Blue Wall” states (which include Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), it’s not the same as him being the popular governor of one of those states.

What’s more, by going with Walz, Harris has abandoned the generational change contrast that a Harris-Shapiro ticket would have enjoyed against Trump. (Although Walz is just nine years older than Shapiro — and only months older than Harris — he presents as much older.)

As someone who has been described as a “Never-Trump conservative,” I must also concede that my perspective is biased in favor of the more moderate Shapiro. Nevertheless, there are thousands of politically homeless Americans yearning in vain for someone — anyone — to woo them.

Just the other day, a bunch of current and former Republicans endorsed Harris, presumably with the goal of winning over some disgruntled suburban soccer moms and erstwhile Nikki Haley supporters. Today, that goal became much harder.

Now, it is true that Walz won’t be easily pigeonholed as some effete cosmopolitan liberal — he’s a veteran and a high school football coach, among other things. And it’s also true that some of his past positions would be hard to cast as out of touch (he was once backed by the NRA).

Still, much of Walz’s actual record — such as signing a law that allows undocumented immigrants to receive a driver’s license, and his response to the George Floyd protests — will be easily pilloried.

To be sure, Republicans would have attacked Shapiro, too. But those attacks would have lacked the same plausibility.

Shapiro’s image is clearly that of a moderate. This includes his support for school vouchers, the “middle ground” he has carved with regard to fracking and his forceful condemnation of antisemitism by protesters against the Gaza war.

This brings us to an important question: Did Shapiro being Jewish sink his chances? After all, the last thing Harris needs are protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Likewise, winning Pennsylvania might be a pyrrhic victory if it cost her Michigan.

If that was the deciding factor, it is an indictment of the left. Because Shapiro was (in my opinion) the clear choice, such speculation is impossible to ignore.

But there are other reasons that Team Harris might have made the choice. Walz was great in interviews; indeed, he inspired the whole “Republicans are weird” meme. Maybe Team Harris has some polling that I’m simply not aware of. Or perhaps the vetting of Shapiro turned up something that could haunt him. Or maybe Harris and Walz simply had amazing chemistry, while she and Shapiro didn’t click. It’s impossible to know why Harris made this decision.

Regardless, there is one more thing about this pick that really bothers me.

As Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker, put it, the “Walz picks suggests Harris subscribes to the Obama (and Trump) theory of elections — it’s all about the base. Motivation over persuasion.”
For 20 years now, this cynical electoral strategy (which, with apologies to Glasser, probably goes back to Bush-Cheney ’04) has tremendously harmed America.

Harris’s decision to pick Walz over Shapiro once again prioritizes party unity over outreach. In this regard, she did the same calculus as Trump did when picking his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
Sadly, this is merely the latest example of a politician forgoing the opportunity to reorder the political paradigm and possibly hoist us out of the rut we’ve floundered in for two decades.
But enough of my esoteric long-term concerns. This also strikes me as a short-term electoral mistake — which would be Harris’s first.

From the moment Joe Biden announced he was not seeking reelection until now, Kamala Harris had played perfect baseball. From where I sit in the peanut gallery, this vice presidential choice constitutes her first unforced error.

Matt K. Lewis is a columnist, podcaster and author of the books “Too Dumb to Fail” and “Filthy Rich Politicians.”
Tags Donald Trump JD Vance Josh Shapiro Josh Shapiro Kamala Harris Kamala Harris Tim Walz Tim Walz vice president

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Big 12 football linebacker rankings 2024: Why Oklahoma State's Nick Martin tops the list​

Justin Martinez
The Oklahoman

Linebackers are often viewed as the heart and soul of a defense, and there are plenty of great ones in the Big 12.

There are returners such as Oklahoma State's Nick Martin and Texas Tech's Ben Roberts. But the conference also boasts newcomers such as Arizona's Jacob Manu and Utah's Karene Reid.

Here are the top 10 linebackers in the Big 12 entering the 2024 season:

Big 12 linebacker rankings for 2024 season​

10. Jesiah Pierre, UCF​

Pierre spent the first two seasons of his career at Florida and three seasons at Texas Tech before he transferred to UCF in January.

The 6-foot- 2 linebacker recorded 66 tackles (1.5 for loss) and recovered a fumble as a senior last season. That was good enough to earn an All-Big 12 honorable mention.

Despite only going 6-7 (3-6 Big 12) last season, Central Florida's defense allowed the fifth-fewest points per game (25.8). It now adds Pierre, who should contribute right away alongside fellow transfer linebacker Deshawn Pace.

9. Kaleb Elarms-Orr, TCU​

Elarms-Orr spent the first three seasons of his career at Cal before he transferred to TCU in December.

The 6-2 linebacker recorded 92 tackles (3.5 for loss) and six pass deflections last season as a redshirt sophomore. He earned a Pac-12 second team selection for his strong play.

Elarms-Orr shouldn't have any trouble adjusting to Big 12 play with TCU. He'll form a strong linebacker duo with Namdi Obiazor.

8. Matt Jones, Baylor​

Jones is back for his sixth and final season with Baylor.

The 6-4 linebacker has 33 career starts under his belt. He recorded 82 tackles (11.5 tackles for loss) and three sacks as a redshirt senior in 2023, which earned him an All-Big 12 honorable mention.


Jones was one of the few bright spots on a Baylor defense that allowed a conference-high 33.3 points per game last season. He'll be leaned on heavily once again in 2024.

7. Karene Reid, Utah​

Reid is another experienced player on this list who has made 31 career starts in his three seasons with Utah.

The 6-foot linebacker earned a Pac-12 first team selection as a sophomore in 2022 with 72 tackles (9.5 for loss) and five sacks. He then earned a Pac-12 second team selection last season with 67 tackles (two for loss) and five pass deflections.

Reid's numbers went down. But with fellow linebacker Levani Damuni expected to miss most of this season due to a lower leg injury, Reid will surely have an even larger role.

6. Namdi Obiazor, TCU​

Obiazor spent the first two seasons of his career at Iowa Western Community College, but he has since thrived at the Division I level with TCU.

The 6-3 linebacker recorded a team-high 84 tackles (six for loss) to go along with four sacks as a junior last season. That earned him an All-Big 12 honorable mention and a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honorable mention.

Obiazor's numbers might take a slight dip with Elarms-Orr now in the mix. Still, it's a duo that'll cause problems for opposing offenses this season.

5. Ben Roberts, Texas Tech​

Roberts only made two appearances as a true freshman in 2022, but he enjoyed a breakout campaign last season.

The 6-3 linebacker recorded 107 tackles (6.5 for loss) and forced two fumbles as a redshirt freshman. He earned a share of the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year award as a result.

Roberts didn't just solidify himself as a starter last season. He solidified himself as a top-five linebacker in the Big 12, and he should continue to improve this season.

4. Deshawn Pace, UCF​

Pace spent the first four seasons of his career at Cincinnati before he transferred to UCF in January.

The 6-2 linebacker led the Bearcats in tackles last season as a senior with 80 (11 tackles for loss), and he also recorded six pass deflections. He earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention.

UCF needs to replace the production of linebacker Jason Johnson, who recorded 115 tackles last season and is now in the NFL. Pace should fill that lead role.

3. Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State​

Oliver is a former Edmond Santa Fe standout who has been a consistent contributor for OSU throughout the years.


The 6-2 linebacker has earned an All-Big 12 second team selection in each of his three seasons with the program. He recorded 73 tackles (15.5 for loss) and six sacks as a junior last season.

Oliver earned a spot on the preseason All-Big 12 team. He'll form a lethal linebacker duo with fellow returner Nick Martin this season.

2. Jacob Manu, Arizona​

Manu is the best linebacker to join the Big 12 this season.

The 5-11 linebacker recorded 116 tackles (9.5 for loss) and 6.5 sacks for the Wildcats last season as only a sophomore. He earned an All-Pac 12 first team selection for his strong play.

Expectations are high for Manu as he helps Arizona make the move to a new conference. He earned a spot on the preseason All-Big 12 team.

1. Nick Martin, Oklahoma State​

Martin became a starter for the first time last season, and he never looked back.

The 6-foot linebacker recorded a conference-high 140 tackles (16 for loss) to go along with six sacks as a redshirt sophomore. He earned an All-Big 12 first team selection and a Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honorable mention.

Martin's 140 tackles last season were the most by an OSU player since 1984 and the most by any Big 12 player since 2018. Now that he's back for another season with the Cowboys, Martin is undoubtedly the best linebacker in the conference.

Gonna be honest, I thought he was a mistake. I wanted Little Marco (thought we had a chance to dominate the Hispanic vote). BUT, I have reached the point where I’d prefer DJT to just sit back, be quiet, and let JD attack these 2 dipshits on the democrat ticket at will.

Do we have enough stars? There are championship teams with great qb’s but also some with managerial Qb’s. Can we get there with what we have?

"Speaking of accuracy, I want to remind everyone that FiveThirtyEight had Biden over Trump by more than 8 points in Wisconsin in 2020. Joe won by less than a point."

The Morning Jolt Elections

Kamala Harris’s First Big Mistake​

By Noah Rothman
August 7, 2024 9:09 AM

Harris’s Veep Pick Error

In selecting Minnesota governor Tim Walz to join her on the presidential ticket in November, Harris has declined to make the most of the impossibly rare chance to skip over the fractious and embittering dynamic that typifies primary elections. By selecting Walz over Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, the Harris campaign has signaled that the lady is not for triangulating. Rather than appealing to the middle of the electorate, this will be an election in which both parties try to maximize turnout among their respective partisans.

Partisan Democrats insist that Harris’s pick was the path of least resistance. Walz is inoffensive to every faction of the Democratic Party — progressives, youth voters, minority voters, squishy moderates, and low-information voters whose political preferences are determined by optics and sentiment. But as Nate Silver opined shortly after Harris’s decision was revealed, Walz’s value is not in helping deliver these voters, most of whom are already sufficiently enthused by Harris herself. He is a pick meant to pacify the loathsome malcontents in orbit around the Democratic Party.

“This Walz choice was designed to maintain the social fabric of the Democratic Party,” Silver wrote, “and avoid news cycles about a disappointed left and Democrats’ internal squabbling over the War in Gaza.” This is not a cost-free proposition for Democrats, as former Obama official and CNN commentator Van Jones confessed. “You also have antisemitism that has gotten marbled into this party,” he observed. “How much of what just happened is caving in to some of these darker parts in the party?”

When an honest Democrat is willing to describe anti-Jewish bigotry indelibly woven into the fabric of the party he supports, there’s a much deeper rot spreading within the Democratic firmament. To the extent that Walz’s elevation represents a sop to some of the most odious elements of American society, his selection is indicative not of the Harris campaign’s confidence but its cowardice.

So why did the Harris team pass over Shapiro? Maybe Harris’s vetting team, led by former attorney general Eric Holder, found some horrific skeletons in his closet — far more horrific than the opposition research Shapiro’s opponents dug up. Regardless, we can guess that the explanations for Harris’s choice have so far failed to satisfy Democratic bigwigs who are telling the New York Times that they were unnerved by the sordid, vaguely antisemitic whisper campaign deployed against the governor. So far, the campaign’s efforts to mollify this disquieted group are not convincing.

“Josh Shapiro was seen as not someone who could deliver the state of Pennsylvania based on internal polling,” NBC News reporter Yamiche Alcindor said, citing sources within Harris’s orbit. “The source also said Harris’ team was unconvinced that any one person could guaranteed [sic] any of the battleground states for the ticket.” There’s nothing at all reassuring in this excuse — assuming you are willing to believe that the well-regarded governor of a state he won by 15 points just two years ago is electoral poison in Pennsylvania. The Harris campaign is plying the notion that, with Kamala at the top of the ticket, no one — neither Shapiro nor Walz — has the political skillset necessary to drag her over the finish line. And they’re saying that in her defense.

Internal polling notwithstanding, this rationale doesn’t make a lot of sense. What does make sense is the reporting in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere indicating that Harris felt intimidated both by Shapiro’s natural political talents and his ambition. As NOTUS reported, Harris’s allies believe she was “looking for ‘more of a governing partner’ than an electoral boost.” In other words, Harris would rather leave Electoral College votes on the table than be upstaged by a more talented subordinate. That could soon prove a fatal error.

Nor is it the only example of the Harris campaign’s timidity. It is hard to blame the vice president for basking in the relief enjoyed both by Democratic partisans and media professionals following Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 race. A more daring campaign might have taken that opportunity to reintroduce its candidate to voters by having her sit down for a friendly interview or two with known quantities in the media landscape — the party’s most reliable “homers” who wouldn’t press too hard but would prime the candidate to face sharper interlocutors later in the campaign. Instead, the campaign made Harris into an abstraction in the effort to preserve for as long as possible the Democratic euphoria that followed Biden’s defenestration.

While perusing other websites of our opponents, I’ve found a good amount of information, some of which is unlikely to be found any place else. These include posts from fans and other sources outside our normal channels. Some sites are somewhat down on our team, and expect to beat us.

Almost all the teams I’ve scoped out so far, are more positive than the National media has reported. Some are borderline delusional. Colorado fans are expecting to win at least 8 or 9 games.

One of the best pieces of information is learning who will contribute and those who may not. Injured players and those who have quit are often mentioned.

Would better be called the Truth of the Day. There is a “not so subtle distinction” between capitalism and socialism that our socialist friends either don’t understand or don’t care about in their quest for power. I think the distinction shows without question that for socialists it’s the quest for power that they’re really after.

Watch this clip from the Minnesota riots of 2020. We can see who wears the pants in this family. She’s as woke as it gets.

Watch the clip in 10th and 11th minute and then pick it up inside the 32nd minute.

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By the way, she’s a teacher and a lot of her words echoed what some of my administrators were saying today, which was: “It’s not the kids’ fault when they get in trouble!” and: “We shouldn’t punish people for lashing out.”

She sounds like Hillary 2.0, i.e., I’m on this ride to gain power down the road.

You can tell that she must have heavily influenced her husband, who used to be a U.S. History teacher and a coach.

And, as a history teacher and coach myself, i can tell you that most guys who fall in those two categories are usually pretty conservative.

Obviously, he’s not. But then again, teaching history and coaching in Texas is a lot different than teaching history and coaching in Minnesota, which accounts for why Minnesota sucks in sports in comparison to Oklahoma and Texas.

In this mass murder campaign taking place in Gaza and the West Bank which side is comprised of human animals?

Democratic Socialists of America

From Wikipedia:

Ideology
DSA members espouse a wide variety of ideologies within democratic socialism, including... ...orthodox Marxism.

At the 2023 DSA National Convention, Marxist and revolutionary socialist factions won a majority of seats on the DSA's 2023-2025 National Political Committee.

@my__2cents please contact them and tell them they are not Marxists, and that they don't know what a Marxist is. Thank you in advance.

I think it's hilarious that you come to this board to wag your smelly finger at the United States and Israel, when your own shithole country is infested with savages. Maybe worry about what's going on in your own dump before passing judgement on superior civilizations, weirdo.​

​

Tourist accused of blasphemy killed by mob in Pakistan​

A tourist has been dragged from a police station and killed by a mob in north-west Pakistan after being accused of blasphemy.

The police had been attempting to protect the man from the large group in the town of Madyan, a town in Swat district.

The mob had gathered after the man was accused of desecrating the Quran, Islam's holy book, on Thursday.

Lynchings are not uncommon after an accusation of blasphemy, which is punishable by death in Pakistan.

A Christian man was attacked last month after being accused of burning pages of the Quran, dying shortly afterwards.

Video of this latest incident has prompted outrage on social media in Pakistan. Footage shows the man's body being paraded through the streets and then set alight.

Police confirmed that the tourist had been "torched" and some 11 people were injured in the incident.

Malankand division's regional police chief Mohammad Ali Gandapur accused the local mosque of encouraging people to gather after police first rescued the man, who was reportedly visiting the Swat Valley - a popular destination in summer.

He told Reuters news agency that eight officers were among the injured.

Dr Zahidullah, police officer in the Swat region, told BBC Urdu police made a concerted effort to clear blocked roads to disperse the angry crowds of people on Thursday night.

Police say they have opened a case against hundreds of people involved in the incident - some as young as 13. Local authorities have since deployed additional security forces to the region.

According to BBC Urdu, hotels in the town had been full, but tourists were now scrambling to leave.

Religion-fueled violence in Pakistan has risen since the country made blasphemy punishable by death in the 1980s.

Even unfounded accusations can incite protests and mob violence against alleged perpetrators. Human rights critics have long argued that minorities are often the target of accusations.

Around 96% of Pakistan's population is Muslim. Other countries, including Iran, Brunei, and Mauritania also impose capital punishment for insulting religion.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tourist-accused-blasphemy-killed-mob-133744241.html