Never thought I’d ever say this

[greengeezer]

I believe Marshall would be wise to decline the invitation to play Army on the basis that we no longer have the players to be competitive. Even some of the national sports outlets are talking about our unprecedented loss of players to the portal. I don’t want to see us humiliated on January 3.

 

[Marine03]

Nope, play it, so everyone can see how ridiculous this portal thing is. Look at FSU last season, they were obliterated

 

[W-S HerdFan]

Geezer:
BOWL BOUND
ARMY VS. MARSHALL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28 • 9:15 PM EST ESPN
INDEPENDENCE STADIUM • SHREVEPORT, LA
Different date than you thought. Otherwise carry on!

 

[herdftblfan]

Nope, play it, so everyone can see how ridiculous this portal thing is. Look at FSU last season, they were obliterated

My feelings exactly.

 

[YouHerdMe]

I agree with Marine. This, like FSU, needs to be used as an example or how reckless the portal is right now.

 

[greengeezer]

I agree with Marine. This, like FSU, needs to be used as an example or how reckless the portal is right now.

Since nothing changed when a major power like FSU was destroyed in a game, why do you believe Marshall being humiliated will make a difference?

 

[YouHerdMe]

Since nothing changed when a major power like FSU was destroyed in a game, why do you believe Marshall being humiliated will make a difference?

Oh it won't. But I still wanna see it.

 

[BleedsGreen33]

My feelings exactly.

Nope, play it, so everyone can see how ridiculous this portal thing is. Look at FSU last season, they were obliterated

Wouldn't it send a bigger message if schools started to have to opt out because of their roster implosions?

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

I believe Marshall would be wise to decline the invitation to play Army on the basis that we no longer have the players to be competitive. Even some of the national sports outlets are talking about our unprecedented loss of players to the portal. I don’t want to see us humiliated on January 3.

What national sports outlets?

And nothing about the number of players who have entered the portal from Marshall is unprecedented.

People forget that even last year with Huff still our HC we had more than 20 players enter the portal, including guys like Cam Fancher, Elijah Alston, Dyoni Hill, Stephen Dix, Trent Holler and Jayden Harrison.

 

[whf2]

What national sports outlets?

And nothing about the number of players who have entered the portal from Marshall is unprecedented.

People forget that even last year with Huff still our HC we had more than 20 players enter the portal, including guys like Cam Fancher, Elijah Alston, Dyoni Hill, Stephen Dix, Trent Holler and Jayden Harrison.

And we got beat like a drum,

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

And we got beat like a drum,

Not really, no. Game was competitive for the most part.

 

[greengeezer]

What national sports outlets?

https://athlonsports.com/college/marshall-thundering-herd/entire-college-football-team-reportedly-plans-to-enter-transfer-portal

 

[i am herdman]

Alabama had 10 players enter the portal today. They didn't make the playoffs and will likely lose more. They will have players sit out the bowl game. It happens everywhere.

We are placing to much imortance on a coach that left for a lateral move(at best).

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

https://athlonsports.com/college/marshall-thundering-herd/entire-college-football-team-reportedly-plans-to-enter-transfer-portal

That article is really referencing the idiotic tweet from Jerod Smalley as its source? That’s hilarious.

 

[Marine03]

https://athlonsports.com/college/marshall-thundering-herd/entire-college-football-team-reportedly-plans-to-enter-transfer-portal

They got that off X and made an article out of it loo

 

[Marshall2004]

This portal window is a disaster for bowls. Hundreds of starters will be in the portal. It is going to be worse for Marshall, but most of these bowl games are going to be jokes. If ESPN wants to continue to have bowls, it better pressure some sort of change. This is crazy timing for the portal.

 

[muthed]

What national sports outlets?

And nothing about the number of players who have entered the portal from Marshall is unprecedented.

People forget that even last year with Huff still our HC we had more than 20 players enter the portal, including guys like Cam Fancher, Elijah Alston, Dyoni Hill, Stephen Dix, Trent Holler and Jayden Harrison.

They don't compare to Braxton, Green, Turner, Brown, Yates, etc.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

They don't compare to Braxton, Green, Turner, Brown, Yates, etc.

Green isn’t transferring and who is Brown?

Also, you’re willfully being ignorant about how good guys like Alston, Dix, Hill and Harrison were at MU. All of them ended up at major P4 schools for a reason.

 

[Herd-in-ATL]

Green isn’t transferring and who is Brown?

Also, you’re willfully being ignorant about how good guys like Alston, Dix, Hill and Harrison were at MU. All of them ended up at major P4 schools for a reason.

Has any team ever opted out of a bowl, due to not being able field a competitive team? If we were playing a team that was not a service academy, we might have a chance. However the perfect storm is getting ready to rain upon The Herd. Army, Navy and the Airforce Academy do not have to worry about opt outs, the transfer portal, or NIL.

 

[muthed]

Green isn’t transferring and who is Brown?

Also, you’re willfully being ignorant about how good guys like Alston, Dix, Hill and Harrison were at MU. All of them ended up at major P4 schools for a reason.

Bralon Brown. Caught a td pass from Braxton in the champ. game.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

Bralon Brown. Caught a td pass from Braxton in the champ. game.

I didn’t hear that he was in the portal. Even if he is, he caught 15 balls this year for 165 yards. I love Brown’s potential, but potential is all he’s ever really been at this point in his career.

 

[greengeezer]

Has any team ever opted out of a bowl,

Not a bowl, but several teams including Marshall opted out of games back during the COVID era because of not having enough players. This whole portal thing is getting ridiculous. How can you have competitive games when your starting roster has left for other schools? I’d much rather have my school remembered as taking a stand against this silly portal by refusing to play than I would remembering that we got destroyed 77-3 because our team was essentially non existent.

 

[bbcard1]

One interesting argument is that Marshall got a fair number of votes for the top 25...ballpark they were around #30 in the pollls, though there is no such thing as #30. We know that half the teams in front of us will lose their bowl game, more or less. We have little chance to win our bowl game given our current circumstances. If we don't play a bowl game there is a shot that we could end up ranked in the top 25 in the final polls.

 

[johns1124]

One interesting argument is that Marshall got a fair number of votes for the top 25...ballpark they were around #30 in the pollls, though there is no such thing as #30. We know that half the teams in front of us will lose their bowl game, more or less. We have little chance to win our bowl game given our current circumstances. If we don't play a bowl game there is a shot that we could end up ranked in the top 25 in the final polls.

Or could end up dropping.

 

[bbcard1]

Or could end up dropping.

Sure, that's a possibility, but a loss of any kind will mean no votes, and we're very likely to get rung up. I mean, I'll watch and I'll cheer, but I would think that given the team we will be likely to field, an Ohio State-like loss is likely and that our odds of winning are probably less than they were at Ohio State.

 

[Herdguy04]

I believe Marshall would be wise to decline the invitation to play Army on the basis that we no longer have the players to be competitive. Even some of the national sports outlets are talking about our unprecedented loss of players to the portal. I don’t want to see us humiliated on January 3.

Why do you care so much?

It's "a meaningless bowl" remember?

 

[Herdguy04]

Has any team ever opted out of a bowl, due to not being able field a competitive team? If we were playing a team that was not a service academy, we might have a chance. However the perfect storm is getting ready to rain upon The Herd. Army, Navy and the Airforce Academy do not have to worry about opt outs, the transfer portal, or NIL.

Bingo.
If MU were playing literally anyone else, most people wouldn't be in such panic mode since it's likely, the opponent is losing some players too.

But since it's a service academy, they not only had a stellar year, but their entire team CANNOT leave.

It also makes me think, the service academies are going to be very competitive from now on since the NIL and portal doesn't affect them. They will actually be more cohesive than a P5 cobbled together a month prior.

 

[mlblack16.]

C'mon Geez

Do you need us to gather the student body and stand outside your window doing the We are Marshall cheer?

 

[greengeezer]

Why do you care so much?

It's "a meaningless bowl" remember?

Did I ever state that? No. I love bowl season. Do you like watching a game where one nationally ranked team is at full strength and the other will be playing without a majority of their best players?

 

[greengeezer]

C'mon Geez

Do you need us to gather the student body and stand outside your window doing the We are Marshall cheer?

I’d rather you wouldn’t. I just planted spring grass

 

[The Real SamC]

The focus of evil in the sports world remains ESPN. Let's review.

- The woke idiots at ESPN cried and preached about the poor little players. Must be tough getting a FREE college education that others have to pay for, and if good enough, learn a skill that will place you in the 0.1% of wage earners in America. Contrast playing a scholarship sport with studying any medical field, or in getting a PhD, both of which also involve performing unpaid work for the very same institutions. So now the poor little players get paid, and, in a few years, there will only be a few schools actually playing sports at all.

- The same woke idiots at ESPN invented this idiotic playoff. The system was not broken. Play your season, go to a bowl game, the sportswriters pick a "national champion" on Jan. 2. But lots of programs get rewarded, get to believe they had a good year, won their bowl game, etc. Of course, you can have bowls or playoffs, not both. So in a few years, the bowls will die off. ESPN will have its little tournament, and BTW, against the NFL, which will crush it in TV ratings, and nothing else. One winner, 134 losers. Congratulations.

- Then we have ESPN's idiot "transfer portal". The poor little players cannot just change teams every year, so unfair say the woke idiots. So we have these highly paid players moving every year, up and down levels based on how their year was. No loyalty.

They are going to kill college sports, leaving behind what college football really is now. AAA football. And AAA baseball is, what, about 10000 times less important in the sports world than college football was.

 

[Catfanatic1979v1]

They need to get rid of about half of these bowls to make them feel important again. It used to be that only good teams got to play in them.

 

[herdfan93]

Bingo.
If MU were playing literally anyone else, most people wouldn't be in such panic mode since it's likely, the opponent is losing some players too.

But since it's a service academy, they not only had a stellar year, but their entire team CANNOT leave.

It also makes me think, the service academies are going to be very competitive from now on since the NIL and portal doesn't affect them. They will actually be more cohesive than a P5 cobbled together a month prior.

It's true the entire team cannot leave but all the freshmen and sophs can.

 

[mwhiz69]

Bingo.
If MU were playing literally anyone else, most people wouldn't be in such panic mode since it's likely, the opponent is losing some players too.

But since it's a service academy, they not only had a stellar year, but their entire team CANNOT leave.

It also makes me think, the service academies are going to be very competitive from now on since the NIL and portal doesn't affect them. They will actually be more cohesive than a P5 cobbled together a month prior.

Where are you getting your information? In 2024 Army had 8 players portal out, Navy had 8, Air Force had 7. AF currently has 8 in 2025 portal, Army has 1, and Navy has 1 ( I'd look for more after the big game Saturday). They CAN transfer, just almost all choose not too

 

[greengeezer]

I assume if a Service Academy player transfers out, he would also lose his military commission. I thought students at those schools had to sign contracts. I know I watched the Army-Tulane game and the announcers were talking about Army not having to worry about portal losses.

 

[greengeezer]

Where are you getting your information? In 2024 Army had 8 players portal out, Navy had 8, Air Force had 7. AF currently has 8 in 2025 portal, Army has 1, and Navy has 1 ( I'd look for more after the big game Saturday). They CAN transfer, just almost all choose not too

I Googled it and found this:

are athletes at service acadamies allowed to go into thr portal? - Google Search

 

[HerdGradinFL]

I Googled it and found this:

are athletes at service acadamies allowed to go into thr portal? - Google Search

Your link is not very informative.

"At the beginning of their junior year, West Point cadets take an oath committing themselves to fulfill this service obligation. Before doing so, cadets may leave West Point for whatever reason without incurring a service obligation from their time at West Point."

https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/tuition-and-service-commitment

 

[i am herdman]

I assume if a Service Academy player transfers out, he would also lose his military commission. I thought students at those schools had to sign contracts. I know I watched the Army-Tulane game and the announcers were talking about Army not having to worry about portal losses.

They are not a commissioned officer until they graduate the academy.

Another thing they will do is bring guys in and put them in the prep school for a year. They can see if they are good enough to make the team at West Point(the prep school has a team) and also it exposes them to the academy life for a year and prepares or weeds them out for admission into the academy. Navy does the same kind of thing.

 

[Herdguy04]

Where are you getting your information? In 2024 Army had 8 players portal out, Navy had 8, Air Force had 7. AF currently has 8 in 2025 portal, Army has 1, and Navy has 1 ( I'd look for more after the big game Saturday). They CAN transfer, just almost all choose not too

I stand corrected about actually being able to leave.
I thought once you accepted, you committed.
Guess I was wrong.

But if your information is true...

Laaaaaadeee freeeaaaakkkiiiin' daaaaa!!! ONE transfer out!!!
Seems like people don't want to leave given the burden of having said, "I left a US Service Academy."

They will still have the largest retention rate of any sports programs in America.

 

[greengeezer]

Your link is not very informative.

"At the beginning of their junior year, West Point cadets take an oath committing themselves to fulfill this service obligation. Before doing so, cadets may leave West Point for whatever reason without incurring a service obligation from their time at West Point."

https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/tuition-and-service-commitment

If you had opened the lower part of the link, you would have found that it said basically the same thing that you did.