College football’s mega rosters aren’t delivering a return on investment as LSU, Texas A&M and Oregon prove
If you were looking for chaos in college football, this past weekend provided plenty of examples of teams that have sent their fan bases into panic mode, while donors freak out after millions of dollars were spent assembling rosters.
We watched Lane Kiffin get escorted through a swarm of Kentucky fans who stormed the field after the Wildcats pulled off an overtime upset against an LSU team that was one of the biggest stories of the offseason, thanks in part to their self-indulgence.
Just hours earlier, Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko decided it was smart to go after one of the biggest team-centric websites in all college football, because it's obviously TexAgs' fault that the Aggies head coach has fumbled a roster littered with expensive pieces.
Then there was the Red River Rivalry, which delivered one of the most shocking games of the season. Oklahoma knocked off No. 1 Texas on a last-second field goal, forcing Longhorn fans to reevaluate their expectations over the next two months.
And then, it's the story of UCLA going into Eugene and dissecting the Oregon Ducks, behind the incredible coaching job Bob Chesney has done this season with the Bruins that have them undefeated and ranked No. 15 in the latest polls.
What do all of these outcomes from Saturday have in common?
Money can't buy you heart, or even cohesiveness, when you finally spot the ball.
If LSU fans have to hear the word patience one more time from their head coach, Lane Kiffin, the fan base is going to combust with two months left in the regular season.
And no, playing an additional conference game is not the reason why some teams are dealing with the injury bug, even if Kiffin wants to awkwardly joke about why his squad is fighting through a tumultuous time.
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The Tigers were beaten by Kentucky this past weekend because this squad doesn’t know how to finish games, or get fooled by the highlights that Sam Leavitt creates on an occasional basis.
LSU spent over $100 million on a coaching change that saw Kiffin bolt from Ole Miss with the attitude that he was going to immediately build a roster capable of fighting for a CFP title this season, and the school had zero problems flaunting it.
In reality, the steam is starting to rise out of the overcooked gumbo, and the preseason chatter from within Baton Rouge is starting to look like an overcooked crawfish.
You cannot ask for patience from an LSU fan base that has done everything asked of them over the past six years, and that included sitting through the final years of Brian Kelly.
This is a football team that spent over $45 million on its roster, and already has two losses on the season, with the latest coming against first-year Kentucky head coach Will Stein.
There is no time for patience, as Kiffin is finding out just over one month into the regular season.
So, Texas A&M, floundering once again has finally caught up with their head coach, and it came during one of the more awkward press conferences we've seen from a team out of College Station, and that's saying something.
Remember how many times I've written about donors of the Aggies program receiving a return on investment for the amount of money contributed to helping build a roster outside of what the actual school spends?
After their third loss of the season, once again in lopsided fashion, Texas A&M fans are officially hitting the panic button. It wasn’t even close this past weekend, as Missouri thumped the Aggies 27-6.
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And, since we are living in a world of "win now" based off the transfer portal and the amount of money being spent on rosters, Aggie fans are not in the mood to hear about 'building' with quarterback Marcel Reed and this expensive football team.
It's one thing when you're losing games in dramatic fashion, like what transpired with the Texas Longhorns against Oklahoma. But, the Aggies have been destroyed, and it's not the fault of their loyal fans, a majority of which subscribe to TexAgs.com on a monthly basis.
But Mike Elko, when asked about what he would say to the fans who are upset with the Aggies disastrous 1-3 SEC record, decided it would be smart to call out site-owner Billy Lucci.
If you aren’t familiar with Lucci, the man built one of the largest websites in college sports that also hosts a plethora of influential donors on its website message boards in support of Texas A&M athletics.
"There’s a difference to me between the fan base and social media, and so there’s one group that I really don’t care much about. Billy [Liucci’s] cesspool can go be Billy’s cesspool," Elko profoundly mentioned. "Our fan base: Stay with us. Be behind us.
"We’re going to build something. That’s what we told you we were going to build. We’re in a really bad spot right now, but we’ll work our way out of it,"
Going after one of the most influential voices in college athletics' is not the smartest decision, especially when a majority of the fan base subscribes to this website, and is also beyond agitated with results in 2026.
Good luck with that, Mike.
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Let me be clear: just because the Oregon head coach is saying all of the right things does not make this any easier for the fans.
It surely doesn’t make mega-booster and Nike owner, Phil Knight, any less upset with the current results.
But right now, Oregon finds itself with two losses on the season and the latest came without Dante Moore who was still recovering from a concussion. Even then, the story shifted from the Ducks potential Big Ten title run, to Bob Chesney having UCLA looking like the Bruins of old in one of the best stories we've seen this season.
The Ducks find themselves fighting an uphill battle, and cannot afford another loss with a roster that is worth well-north of $40 million. And if we're being honest, this looks like a team bound for an eight-win season, which is another prime example of no return on investment during this chaotic time in college athletics.
As for the Texas Longhorns, someone finally made them pay for the mistakes.
Sure, it's surprising that Oklahoma was the team that handed them their first loss of the season. But if you've really been paying attention to this Texas squad, you'd realize that if Ohio State could’ve finished the job in Austin, and Tennessee had an offensive pulse outside of its running game, this could’ve actually been Texas' third loss of the season.
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For all the headlines that Arch Manning garners, with the the talk of him being a top-10 pick or the second-coming of one of his uncles, the quarterback has had an average season thus far.
He's not a bust, or however one outlet decided to characterize him at one point last season. Manning is just a good college quarterback, with a lot to get better at.
He's not great. Maybe one day he will be. Right now, he's just an average quarterback that threw two interceptions against Oklahoma, with one returned for a touchdown.
For Texas, it can rely on its defense to get them through games, and maybe steal a few in the process (Tennessee). But unless Steve Sarkisian comes up with a number of different looks, or hands over play-calling duty, this team is bound to catch another loss, or two.
You are witnessing one of the more chaotic opening months to a college football season in recent memory.
In the midst of it all, there are a number of very rich boosters across college football who are wondering what they are getting for the millions of dollars spent to help their favorite team have success.
We tried to warn you about that return on investment in college athletics.
It's non-existent unless your team is hoisting the CFP trophy at seasons end.