Stadiums for college football's Final Four, plus spring games falling out of favor?

By Saturday Bulletin 🏈 | It is Athleticcollege football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday straight to your inbox.

Our challenge through Saturday to crown the best stadium in all of college football is shaping up to be an SEC-Big Ten showdown. That’s how we got here.

CFB’s best stadium

Closest race ever

Thanks again for voting in our challenge until Saturday. One week from today, the best stadium in college football, as voted by you, will be revealed (so no, we don’t expect any disagreement, animosity or disappointment).

In the Elite Eight round, we saw the most contested matchup yet between No. 1 Michigan Stadium and No. 2 Beaver Stadium. Here are the results:

In stunning upset, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium moves on! Here are some of your comments about the match:

“I’m curious to see how the Big 10 showdown pans out. I’ll give the nod to the Big House for the nickname, but Beaver Stadium owns the other three categories. The little tailgates tucked into parking lots around town just don’t do it, and the atmosphere at Michigan Stadium is a little boring.”
“The Michigan Marching Band cements the Big House game day experience as the best for me.”
“Honestly, the winner of Michigan Stadium vs. Beaver Stadium should take it all.”
“Watch ‘The Most Electric Moment in College Football History’ on YouTube. Shivers!” At Penn State’s 2019 White Out game, the crowd was so loud it forced Michigan to call a timeout before its first play.

For full effect, watch with sound.

The remaining results of the Elite Eight:

Tennessee’s No. 1 Kneeland Stadium (72.1%) opposite stadium no. 5 at Auburn Jordan-Hare (27.9 percent)
Rose #1 (58 percent) vs. Oregon’s No. 5 Autzen Stadium (42 percent)
LSU Tiger Stadium #2 (70 percent) vs. No. 1 Texas A&M Kyle Field (30 percent)

The final four

Here’s how the bracket looks now:

Vote for the Final Four teams here. The title contenders will become clear next week.

Mandel’s Mailbag

Donor-exclusive spring events?

What do you think about a program like Minnesota scrapping its spring game and instead holding NIL collegiate members-only practices? — Carl T.

I hadn’t heard of this until I saw Carl’s question, but sure enough, Minnesota is holding one public practice, and one that’s only open to Dinkytown Athletes donors, with PJ Fleck saying, “We want to be able to encourage and make more people a part of by Dinkytown Athletes as possible.”

I don’t think football programs are obligated to hold a traditional spring game. Most were cut anyway because coaches don’t want to risk injury and/or give away too much to opponents. If you’re in the state of Ohio or Alabama and you can get 70,000 fans, you can too. In the case of Minnesota specifically, Fleck mentioned that they’ve rarely been able to hold one as planned, either because of the snow or the pandemic, and I’m guessing attendance will be modest regardless.

And in theory, it also makes sense that these collectives would grant their members exclusive access of some sort. I’ve been to a lot of college practices and there are always some big boosters walking around on the sidelines. Now this advantage is not reserved only for them.

But it also speaks to how patently absurd the whole collective thing is. Fleck, who makes $6 million a year but isn’t allowed to directly participate in the NIL, has to resort to essentially bribing his fans to donate money to the “NIL” so he can field a competitive roster. This is in addition to fans already having to make donations for the rights to buy season tickets, get decent parking, etc. There has to be a better way.

And there is. In keeping with NCAA President Charlie Baker’s proposal last December, the NIL will enter schools soon. I guess in most cases they will just attract the people running the collectives. They will still want your money, but they always wanted your money. It’s just that now not everything will go into construction costs.

Read the rest of Mandel’s mailbag here.

Quick photos

Speaking of NIL, have you ever heard of NIL General Manager? Austin Meek breaks down one of the newest positions in college football and why Michigan is about to hire one.

The Big 12 yesterday the league day event started. Max Olson has more on why the conference is taking a new approach to the familiar NFL draft showcase.

Another turn on the AD carousel! 🚨 Washington State AD Pat Chun left Wazzu for the same job in Washington. He will replace Troy Dannon, who left the Huskies of Nebraska A.D.

(Top photo: Dan Rainville/USA Today)

Stadiums for college football’s Final Four, plus spring games falling out of favor?