Top 10 preseason anticipations:

[Goggles Paisano]

So close you can almost smell it.

1). The starting lineup. Still a half dozen possibilities, and with 5 dates for freshmen with redshirts, we probably won't know for certain until as late as January.
2). Ono's first walkout in Folk (Blue and White?) maybe at an open.
3). Just the rumors of Kasak v PJ in a wrestleoff should prove delicious
4). The match announcement for the all star classic. A case can be made, just have the full PSU squad vs the rest of the NCAA
5). 184 all year long. The top 4 is a mele
6). Blaze - enough said
7). Landon Sidun's commitment
8). Yeah, I know, but the National Duals is stacked and should prove really fun. Is it wrong for a part of me to want the hosting team to lay an Orange colored Easter egg?
9). Cole in his first meaningful Big 10 dual vs a legit, large heavyweight
10). Sadly seeing Zach Ryder in Orange, but I still want to see it. As for Alex, I am happy for him.

 

[a_mshaffer]

I'll add for some considerations (quickly off of the top):
- SVN steamrolling the field
- Bo and Melvin announcement (I'll say it / I like the richness )
- Breaking records

 

[El_Jefe]

9). Cole in his first meaningful Big 10 dual vs a legit, large heavyweight

Who would that be? The B10 HWTs ranked above him are Ferrari, Ghadiali, Kueter, Feldman, and Luffman. None are large HWTs.

 

[LemonPie]

Good thread. I’ll throw out an under-the-radar one: Asher Cunningham’s redshirt year.

I know he’s overlooked because of the room he is walking into. Or maybe because he doesn’t wrestle freestyle and his brother wasn’t a big recruit. But I watch him and think he just might be a folkstyle savant. He’s tough on top, extremely comfortable in scrambles, and appears to get better as he moves up to weight classes where his opponents may be less skilled. Not the twitchiest kid, but strong, and if I’m throwing a comparison out there, I’ll say Tanner Sloan. Even if he can’t hit the lineup, I expect big things from him. Maybe a guy you can plug in while someone takes an Olympic year. Maybe more. We will see soon enough.

 

[manatree]

Good thread. I’ll throw out an under-the-radar one: Asher Cunningham’s redshirt year.

Not the twitchiest kid,

You say that like it's a bad thing.....

 

[AgSurfer]

So close you can almost smell it.

1). The starting lineup. Still a half dozen possibilities, and with 5 dates for freshmen with redshirts, we probably won't know for certain until as late as January.
2). Ono's first walkout in Blue and White - probably at an open.
3). Just the rumors of Kasak v PJ in a wrestleoff should prove delicious
4). The match announcement for the all star classic. A case can be made, just have the full PSU squad vs the rest of the NCAA
5). 184 all year long. The top 4 is a mele
6). Blaze - enough said
7). Landon Sidun's commitment
8). Yeah, I know, but the National Duals is stacked and should prove really fun. Is it wrong for a part of me to want the hosting team to lay an Orange colored Easter egg?
9). Cole in his first meaningful Big 10 dual vs a legit, large heavyweight
10). Sadly seeing Zach Ryder in Orange, but I still want to see it. As for Alex, I am happy for him.

You missed a few:

11. Mat assignment announced for Carton/Pletcher
12. Latest wrestler to beat Nico in the room
13. Next recruit getting full court press!!!
14. Photo of Spencer's mom at Costco eyeglasses counter

 

[BeerLion]

"14. Photo of Spencer's mom at Costco eyeglasses counter"

That is one of the funniest things I have read on this board. Thank you AgSurfer!

 

[Shifty15]

You missed a few:

11. Mat assignment announced for Carton/Pletcher
12. Latest wrestler to beat Nico in the room
13. Next recruit getting full court press!!!
14. Photo of Spencer's mom at Costco eyeglasses counter

Personally, I thought this thread was about perennial top ten Rutgers when I read the title!

 

[Goggles Paisano]

Good thread. I’ll throw out an under-the-radar one: Asher Cunningham’s redshirt year.

You bet. Almost every time I hear something about him, it's praise for his development and the trajectory he is on. I think many were viewing him as an Uber talented kid who's last name was going to be a factor in getting onto the roster, wherein over the past two years he is really showing he has earned it fully on the mat. He might just surprise everyone with who he beats this year, I hope he hits some real collegiate level studs in opens and out of his 5 this season in a dual or two.

He was cut from my list only because I didn't go to 15.

 

[Headlock]

One more...
15. Ono gets at least two years of eligibility

 

[Foreverinbluejeans57]

One more...
15. Ono gets at least two years of eligibility

Yessss, any murmurs out there?

 

[nerfstate]

Yessss, any murmurs out there?

Poster on 247: "I heard a tidbit this morning about Ono from someone who should know. Nothing is set yet with the NCAA, but they fully expect Ono to get 2 years of eligibility and that he will wrestle this year."

 

[An Old Pair of Asics]

16. Improvement from last year’s redshirts and back ups like Sealy, Mirasolas, Nagao, Cunninghams

17. Nick Lee’s influence on the middle weights

 

[tullfan68]

is football over yet!

 

[Goggles Paisano]

is football over yet!

What do you mean by over?

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

James is going to be tarmac'd. I don't see it ending well for him. He's had a REALLY rough two weeks.

 

[El_Jefe]

@Tom McAndrew needs to finally get that football board started.

 

[AgSurfer]

James is going to be tarmac'd. I don't see it ending well for him. He's had a REALLY rough two weeks.

Personally, I like Franklin and I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he’s done well. But after today, I have a feeling that his days might be numbered.

 

[WEAREPSU_LI]

Personally, I like Franklin and I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he’s done well. But after today, I have a feeling that his days might be numbered.

Totally deserves credit for what he has built, but this was wildly bad. Additionally, while he deserves credit for what he has built, he also needs to take the blame for the inability to win the big games. Getting to the playoffs was great, but he needed to win the ranked top ten games and he clearly cannot.

 

[WPIALBrwnPSU]

His buyout is a big chuck of change. Something would have to give, Alumni money for a buyout or alumni NIL money for players and possible transfers.

I'm glad the schedule is out, it helps calm the soul.

 

[AgSurfer]

His buyout is a big chuck of change. Something would have to give, Alumni money for a buyout or alumni NIL money for players and possible transfers.

I'm glad the schedule is out, it helps calm the soul.

Yeah - not going to worry about football for the rest of the year. IT’S TIME TO WRESTLE!!!!

 

[The Pitchfork Rebel]

His buyout is a big chuck of change. Something would have to give, Alumni money for a buyout or alumni NIL money for players and possible transfers.

I'm glad the schedule is out, it helps calm the soul.

Sure to be controversial opinion.

His buyout, which I've read is $50M is quite frankly, economic malfeasance. Worse, the University paid his $1.5 million early exit fee from Vanderbilt.

Surely somebody with a PhD in Econ or Risk/Insurance could have told the AD/Trustees that such a lavish golden parachute that it would be known on Wall Street as "f*** everybody" money destroys incentive because it creates a morale hazard.

Moral Hazard vs. Morale Hazard: What's the Difference?

Insurance industry terms morale hazard and moral hazard are similar but different in one key way—know the difference.

www.investopedia.com

Hell, I could have told them that and all I have is a BS in Econ (and some other stuff, but no Piled Higher and Deeper) In this case, Cortez didn't burn the ships, he anchored a super luxury yacht staffed with super models in bikinis off the coast.

Penn State faces shrinking enrollment (flat to slightly declining, and likely to go down due to the plummeting birthrate) and of course is closing campuses. I have to admit the announcement rivals the fines BS we've ever seen "robust presence" and yet the University tied itself to to a coach with a record of the big choke.

And he laughs all the way to the bank.

I lost interest in football when I saw what it likely did to Steve Smith and Tim Shaw and became a cauldron of politics rather than an escape from it, but if I was still interested, I'd never buy a ticket to support such Franklin's drive to uber wealth.

Thankfully, we'll soon see a competent head coach in action.

 

[SleepyLion]

Sure to be controversial opinion.

His buyout, which I've read is $50M is quite frankly, economic malfeasance. Worse, the University paid his $1.5 million early exit fee from Vanderbilt.

Surely somebody with a PhD in Econ or Risk/Insurance could have told the AD/Trustees that such a lavish golden parachute that it would be known on Wall Street as "f*** everybody" money destroys incentive because it creates a morale hazard.

Moral Hazard vs. Morale Hazard: What's the Difference?

Insurance industry terms morale hazard and moral hazard are similar but different in one key way—know the difference.

www.investopedia.com

Hell, I could have told them that and all I have is a BS in Econ (and some other stuff, but no Piled Higher and Deeper) In this case, Cortez didn't burn the ships, he anchored a super luxury yacht staffed with super models in bikinis off the coast.

Penn State faces shrinking enrollment (flat to slightly declining, and likely to go down due to the plummeting birthrate) and of course is closing campuses. I have to admit the announcement rivals the fines BS we've ever seen "robust presence" and yet the University tied itself to to a coach with a record of the big choke.

And he laughs all the way to the bank.

I lost interest in football when I saw what it likely did to Steve Smith and Tim Shaw and became a cauldron of politics rather than an escape from it, but if I was still interested, I'd never buy a ticket to support such Franklin's drive to uber wealth.

Thankfully, we'll soon see a competent head coach in action.

Agree with this. The good news is CJF's contract is a sunk cost. He gets paid the same as coach or as ex-coach. The the only "additional" costs for his replacement.

Curious, what happened to Steve Smith (I only know of the WR that went to USC and played in the NFL for Carolina)?
Also was Tim Shaw's ALS caused by playing football? Or is there something else you are referring too? I know of no other ailment that he suffers.

 

[WexfordWarrior]

 

[The Pitchfork Rebel]

Agree with this. The good news is CJF's contract is a sunk cost. He gets paid the same as coach or as ex-coach. The the only "additional" costs for his replacement.

Curious, what happened to Steve Smith (I only know of the WR that went to USC and played in the NFL for Carolina)?
Also was Tim Shaw's ALS caused by playing football? Or is there something else you are referring too? I know of no other ailment that he suffers.

I'm thinking of the Steve Smith that was in Penn State's backfield in the mid 80's and Team Captain on the 86 NC team also played for the Raiders-but as as a FB. Smith replaced former Tide/Eagles FB Kevin Turner as the "class representative" in CTE litigation after the latter died in 2016 at 46.

Steve Smith (running back) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I don't know if any case of CTE/ALS can be directly and definitively be said to be caused by playing football, because the linkage is a statistical inference. Of course, the most famous afflictee-Lou Gehrig was also also a football player @ Columbia and had several suspected concussions.