John Harris shares his winners and losers of CFB schedule reshuffling

Key notes from John Harris interview

• Demond Demas‍ didn't play last season due to the kerfuffle with the UIL. You wonder how good of a player is, and you can see how he looks in his highlights. During COVID, I watched a ton of Elite 11 shows; those are quarterbacks only. I finally got to the one before Demond's senior season, the group Haynes King was in. They spent a portion of the show talking about and showing Demas. In every other show of the Elite 11, there is no mention of any other receiver. They might show highlights and whatever, but they spend two minutes talking about a guy specifically. To me, that was interesting. I made a mental note of that because Demond is a guy to keep an eye on if they're talking about him on a show about quarterbacks.
   
• I submitted my Ultimate 11 2020 SEC pass catchers. Demond Demas did not make it, but I did mention him. I have two Aggies in there. Not just receivers, but pass catchers. You'll have to check it out.
   
• I did not know that Jonathan Owens (Houston Texans' safety) was dating Simone Biles. I saw her at one of our games last year. She cannot be but 4-10. She is tiny, but she has the legs of a linebacker. It's unbelievable. The way she is built and what she can do in gymnastics is amazing. She's arguably the best athlete in the history of the city of Houston. She's going to the Olympics in 2021 and will tear it up again.
   
• It is, and it isn't a training camp. What they did is they took the offseason and jammed it into the beginning of the year. It's a way to ramp up the start of the year. Training camp for me starts when we do our live shows, and that begins on August 14. Training camp will be about three or four weeks long, and it'll ramp up to the game in Kansas City.
   
• The Texans are down to 80 guys. They can have a full practice with all 80 guys now. All 80 probably have a chance of being around Houston for the whole year, given what the roster is going to look like.
   
• The biggest storyline for Houston and the NFL has been the opt-outs. The Texans have only had one, and it was Eddie Vanderdose, who is a high-risk candidate. He had a long talk about with Bill O'Brien about it. I think it's gone about as expected around the league. People understand that players and coaches are going to get COVID throughout the season.
   
• Deshaun Watson's contract is going to be interesting, especially off the heels of the Patrick Mahomes contract. That deal is backloaded because of what is expected to be lost through not having fans and whatnot. That's one way of doing it. Another way is for Deshaun to sign a three or four-year deal so he could double-dip. Pat probably jumped out there too soon by locking himself in for a long time. He'll likely see most of that $500 million, but there is also benefits from going about the Russell Wilson model and signing every few years. Fans are worried in Houston because the city hasn't had a good quarterback in a long time. Deshaun's money is going to go way up, but the cap will come down. Deshaun doesn't want to force his teammates out, but he wants his market value. We have our fingers crossed that he'll be here for a long time.
   
• I don't know if there will be bowl games this year. To me, the losers are the ones that have anywhere from six wins to eight wins. A lot of teams will get wins out of the non-conference and get to six wins and go to a bowl game. Now you're not going to have that. This was one of the things I first thought of.
   
• What if the leagues keep the conference-only schedules and play it on an annual basis? What if you played an SEC-only schedule? Would that impact the teams that finished 6, 7, 8 in the conference who usually are bowl-eligible and now they aren't? Some bubble teams could miss out. Those bowl trips are fun for these players. It could end up being a lot of exposure for the players and university. The mid-tier programs lose.
   
• The sophomores are also going to lose. If you're thinking about the next level, your sophomore year is like moving day in a golf tournament. Your first year, you're just getting your feet wet. When you come back with expectations, you're thinking about your future. It's a big year for a lot of these kids. A lot of three-year players end up being first-round guys. This year has been so disjointed that you might not be able to put enough on tape. It'll make that third year so much more important. I feel like the second-year players are the ones that are going to miss out.
   
• There will be an even bigger chasm divided between the Power 5 and the Group of 5 because of all of this.
   
• The winner is all of us because we get to watch football at the end of all of this.
   
• The ACC is a big winner. They get that Notre Dame TV money. I know a few Domers; they value that independent thing much more than they probably should. If Notre Dame wins that conference, I think I'm going to vomit.
   
• Mack Brown has been a great recruiter everywhere he's been. When he gets those players to North Carolina - which he is doing a great job of right now - lookout. He's doing a great job of getting guys excited to play in that Carolina blue.