The Cost Of Winning - 5 Things To Know About College Recruiting

Is there anything coaches won’t do?

Whatever it takes,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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1. Making it to the big leagues is a big deal and nearly impossible. Only 3-5% of athletes, in any sport, will make it to the collegiate level, let alone the pros. Some players are recruited as young as junior high. SO YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE?

2. Prospective student athletes have the opportunity to have five “paid” official recruiting visits to schools. This means all expenses related to the prospect’s visit are paid for by the school. These are also the trips you hear about that may or may not involve parties and other tactics to get recruits excited about the schools. But they, nor their families, cannot receive gifts or payments from any school. WILD AND FREE

3. Coaches go to lengths to get their top prospects to commit with school visits and extravagant home visits. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has climbed a tree, went to school with top prospects and had a sleepover complete with some Netflix. One coach wrestled a prospect and another serenaded a recruit or two (and it worked). WHATEVER YOU’RE INTO

4. Head coaches don’t have to only win over the athlete, but their families. One coach went as far as writing a recruiting letter to a prospect’s cat.  And sometimes things don’t always go as planned, like when one mom ran off with the letter of intent and no one could find her. (His dad later signed the paperwork. That led to a court battle). WHEN YOUR MAMA IS THE DRAMA

5. While you might think that a college coach’s job is to call plays and win the big game, 50% of their time is spent recruiting. You might remember a story about Arizona State University’s football coach Herm Edwards, who spent his career in the NFL. He had no idea about having to recruit AND coach. WELCOME TO THE WORLD

Thanks to the Bedford Agency for their help with today’s post. Just like we relied on them for great info for this post, college recruits across the country from all sports (and their families) rely on Bryan, a former division I recruiting director, and his team to navigate the recruiting process.

Wednesday Wisdom

Here’s what everyone will be talking about this morning at the watercooler including how Michael Jordan proved he's the real deal, a NYC Fashion Week debut, more Antonio Brown and why Team U.S.A. is scared. READ

Ho, Ho, Holy College Football Bowl Games – The 5 Things You Need To Know

If football games are on your holiday wish list, then you must have been well behaved this year because there is an abundance of college football coming your way. Been naughty? Don’t worry, here are the five things you should know about bowl game season to put you back on the nice list.

Getting coal again this year,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things To Know About College Football Bowl Games

1. If the Oscars have the most coveted swag bags, bowl games are a close second. Players cannot be paid to play in the games but they can take home some great loot. Gifts this year include nice watches, rocking headphones and a PlayStation PS4.

2. There have been quite a few head coaching positions vacated and with the new coach not starting until next season, you’ll see a handful of teams playing with an interim coach. (Think Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska and Arizona State).

3. What’s in a name? Well for bowl games, it’s big money. The committees will do just about anything to please their title sponsors including naming the game itself something odd. The most memorable bowl game names this season roll off the tongue like the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, Taxslayer Bowl and the Potato Bowl. And yes, there used to be a game called the Salad Bowl.

4. If you want to put your name on it, it’s going to cost you. Collectively, companies spend around $100 million on the naming rights for bowl games. The money, it goes to the conference and they divvy it out amongst the teams in their conference but not before taking a little for themselves.

5. Not all teams are invited to a bowl game. A team has to have a .500-plus record to be considered bowl eligible. The top four teams in the country will play in either the Sugar Bowl or the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. The winner of those two games will play each other in the National Championship Game on January 8th.

- Why does this matter? Once again football is going to dominate the conversation this month. There are 40 games between Sunday, December 16 and Monday, January 8 so there's no escaping the discussion. SCHEDULE

Keep the conversation going

Find out what Lindsey Vonn is doing with cheese that is upping her game, how basketball is overtaking football as the most popular sport in America and why a blizzard may have cost one player $500,000. READ

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Want to learn a little about college football with minimal effort? Join our college football bowl game pool where you can do just that. Simply pick the teams you think will win (or use the autofill function – we’re not judging). There are prizes for the winners (and even a few of the losers).  

Ps – Your picks need to be submitted by this Saturday.

Survival Of The Fittest

Raise your hand if elastic pants are your friend this morning! Luckily today’s weekend preview is full of flavor and fun but light in calories.

Off to the gym,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – Unsure of what to do with those leftovers? Today’s Tailgate Treat has you covered.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Let’s get it on. The Apple Cup, Paul Bunyan’s Axe, the Iron Bowl….it’s rivalry weekend in college football and these are all trophies teams are competing for. The distaste for each other goes back generations but it makes for great football. Arizona and Arizona State will compete for the Territorial Cup, the oldest rivalry trophy in college football. Since rivalry games are full of passion, you never know who might take home a win. SCHEDULE

NFL (NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE)

What’s in a name? Minnesota Vikings' Everson Griffin and his wife welcomed their son into the world right before yesterday’s football game. After a key play, Griffen revealed his undershirt that said "I just had a baby boy, what should we name him?"   

OVERTIME

We saw so many athletes doing the right thing yesterday by giving back to their communities. Miami Marlins owner Derek Jeter (MLB – Major League Baseball) and his team handed out 1,000 meals to families in need, Kyrie Irving and Carmelo Anthony (both NBA players – National Basketball Association) worked with children in need in their cities and DeMarco Murray and 70 of his Tennessee Titan teammates (NFL) feed the homeless in Nashville a hot Thanksgiving meal.

SIDELINE STAT

The Cleveland Browns haven't won a game all season, but through the miracle of math they could still make the playoffs. They have a 1-in-19-quintillion chance. We were never good at math anyway. HOW?

Coaches’ corner

We love a good touchdown celebration and sticking with the Thanksgiving theme, the Minnesota Vikings celebrated with an Oscar worthy touchdown “feast.” WATCH