Week 13 College Football Recap – Sponsored by the Crazy Coaching Carousel

I could have started all three words with the letter K but thought better of it.

OK, the coaching carousel has hit maximum insanity. I do not remember a time when there have been this many head coach openings in college football. But that’s not even the craziest part. Let’s go over what happened over the past week:

Illinois – The Illini drop the interim tag from Bill Cubit’s title and give him the permanent head coaching job.

Iowa State – After looking at Willie Fritz from Georgia Southern, the Cyclones decide to hire Matt Campbell from Toledo.

Virginia Tech – The Hokies make a great hire in Justin Fuente out of Memphis. Bud Foster to stay on as defensive coordinator.

Tulane – Curtis Johnson fired after a 3-9 season.

Hawaii – They go ahead and hire Nevada OC Nick Rolovich to be their next head coach. Rolovich is a former Hawaii QB and OC.

Rutgers – Head coach Kyle Flood and Athletic Director Julie Hermann out after a complete debacle of a season.

Georgia – Amazingly, Mark Richt is fired.  I think their expectations are way too high in Athens (the Saban Effect).

Maryland – Rumour has come out that Michigan DC D.J. Durkin is a lock to be the next Terps head coach and that he will sign on today.

Memphis – They have wasted no time as it sounds like an offer has been put out to Missouri DC Barry Odom.

USC – The Trojans have reached out to Philadelphia Eagles HC Chip Kelly and are awaiting his response.

Virginia – Mike London resigns, probably days (or hours) before he would have been fired anyway.

Then comes the craziness at LSU. First off, rumours start coming out earlier last week that Les Miles would be let go as coach after the season was over. Then, at a boosters dinner, Miles supposedly mentions that the Texas A&M game will probably be his last as HC. By the time Saturday afternoon arrived, it was thought it was a done deal that Miles was out. Les has an interview with Maria Taylor of ESPN saying he never said what he reportedly said at that boosters dinner but never said he wasn’t done at LSU. LSU ends up winning the game on what basically becomes Les Miles Appreciation Night. Les is carried most of the way off the field and then LSU AD Joe Alleva says that Miles is still their head coach. Wild stuff even for the Year of the Coaching Change.

Ok now that we are done with what’s happening with the endangered species known as the long-term college football head coach, let’s look at what else happened over these past few days:

Boomer Goes the Dynamite! Wow. The Sooners laid the smackdown on Oklahoma State. They clinched the Big XII title and effectively clinched their spot in the College Football Playoff, becoming the first team to do so. The trio of Baker Mayfield, Samaje Perine, and Sterling Shepard are easily the hottest offensive trio in the game right now and will be dangerous in the CFP.

Closer than they wanted. The Iron Bowl was a lot closer than Alabama wanted it to be. They won and that’s all that is important as they go on to the SEC Championship now against Florida. Also, Derrick Henry basically solidified the Heisman (we think) with his performance running the rock.

Closer than they wanted Part II. Clemson seemed to allow a very tough South Carolina team to stay in the game longer than they should have. In the end they won. Didn’t matter how they did it since if they won there and win the ACC Title, they are in the CFP no questions asked.

Closer than they wanted Part III. Iowa didn’t blow Nebraska away like many thought they would. I had Nebraska as my upset pick and thought, at the very least, the Huskers would keep it close and they did. Iowa has the Big Ten Championship coming up for a shot at the College Football Playoff.

Yeah, not even close. Michigan State made a bit of a statement by destroying Penn State in every facet of the game. They are looking very good going to Indy this Saturday.

Now that’s some football weather! You could have said that for a lot of games this week but the Baylor-TCU game was played in absolutely awful conditions. To top it off, they went to overtime where TCU killed any CFP hopes for Baylor. Saying all that, Baylor has the inside track on the Big XII’s Sugar Bowl spot as long as they beat Texas this Saturday.

And the Group of Five spot goes to…Well no one knows yet but we do know this: it’s down to two teams. Houston, after beating Navy and Temple, after beating UConn, will face each other for the first ever AAC Championship and the Group of Five spot in either the Fiesta Bowl or Peach Bowl. If the Cougs are victorious, chances are it’s the Fiesta. If the Owls win, they will probably go to the Peach.

One of the best games of the year. Notre Dame-Stanford lived up to the hype of a top-10 matchup. Eight lead changes and it came down to the final minute. The Irish scored a TD with 30 seconds left and then Stanford was able to get into position for a FG and made it with no time left to win the game on The Farm. The Irish will probably still get a New Year’s Six spot and so will Stanford, unless there are upsets of teams above them; in that case the Cardinal may sneak into the CFP.

The Game was The Joke. Ohio State dominated Michigan and frustrated the Fighting Harbaughs. By early in the second quarter it was pretty evident that the Wolverines probably wouldn’t win this game. And they didn’t. Their NYS shot is gone whereas tOSU waits to see what happens above them.

Alright, let’s look at what I have right now for the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six:

Orange Bowl	Clemson	Oklahoma
Cotton Bowl	Alabama	Michigan State
Sugar Bowl	Florida	Baylor
Rose Bowl	Ohio State	Stanford
Fiesta Bowl	Iowa	Houston
Peach Bowl	Florida State	Notre Dame

It is now cut and dry. Oklahoma is pretty much in. The Big Ten Champion is in. If Clemson wins they are in. If Alabama wins they are in. That’s the most likely scenario. The other ones would be:

• If Clemson loses, Alabama would be #1 and the Big Ten would get two spots as Ohio State would move in at #4.
• If Alabama loses, the Big Ten Champ would move to #2 and Oklahoma would fill at #3. Ohio State would again get the #4 spot.
• If both Clemson and Alabama lose, the Big Ten Champ would be #1. I can’t foresee either North Carolina or Florida getting in. I think Ohio State would be a lock to be #3 and Stanford would pick up the other spot.

So now no Big XII issues on the final day, no leapfrogging thanks to winning a conference championship game. None of that. The Committee must be breathing a sigh of relief after seeing what went down. Now their real issues lie with the New Year’s Six.

I think Houston will win the AAC Championship and be slotted into the Fiesta Bowl. I have Iowa losing the Big Ten Championship and falling here as well.   Baylor, if they beat Texas, clinch the Sugar Bowl spot. Ohio State would be the choice over Iowa to go to the Rose and face the team who I think will win the Pac-12, Stanford. The SEC spot in the Sugar Bowl should still go to Florida. They would have to lose by at least 40 to allow another team (LSU) to slot in there. Florida State’s dominating win over Florida moves them up far enough so that they would grab a Peach Bowl spot. Their opponent? I don’t think The Committee will overlook Notre Dame here for three reasons: 1) the Irish probably won’t fall too far after a last-second loss to a very good Stanford team, 2) if they put North Carolina here they can’t put Florida State here and I think Florida State is a lock (with TCU the next best team and not as good as either FSU or UNC), and 3) the Irish are the Irish. Being Notre Dame carries some cache and this is the time they can use that to their advantage. There could be a lot of debate if North Carolina beats Clemson or Florida beats Bama but we will cross that bridge if we come to it.

I am not even showing you the rest of my bowl predictions because it’s a big massive shitshow right now. There are not enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the bowl spots. They will need at least 2 and perhaps upwards of 5 5-7 teams to go to the postseason. There was a rumour they may let a bowl game or two go dark (not be played) if there aren’t enough teams but I can’t see that happening since, for the most part, they are money makers. The NCAA still hasn’t figured out how they will award these spots. The prevailing thought is that they will go off of APR score but they could look at program prestige, conference prestige, or even location (relative to the bowl game’s location) when picking these teams. At this point, only Middle Tennessee (Bahamas) and Navy (Military) have accepted bids. Expect BYU to accept a Hawaii bowl bid over the next day or two. Then come Saturday morning, the trickle should become a flood as the bowl bids start coming fast and furious up until the Bowl Madness/CFP/NYS/Ratings Winner show is aired Sunday at noon to tell the world who will be sitting at the Bowl Adult Table.

Week 12 NFL TV Schedule – Sponsored by Well the Cowboys are fucked now

That’s an understatement.

No Romo? HUGE PROBLEM! Actually to be honest, I think before Romo was injured was a smokeshow. The Cowboys were never that good this season and now it is showing. With Romo done for the season now, this team could end up with the #1 overall pick which would be VERY interesting.

Anyway, let’s get to the schedule. This is gonna be quick:

Sunday
1:00	Minnesota at Atlanta	FOX (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Western Ontario, K/W-Cambridge, Guelph, Ottawa-Gatineau)/CTV (Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ottawa)
1:00	St. Louis at Cincinnati	FOX (Eastern Canada)
1:00	New Orleans at Houston	No TV
1:00	Tampa Bay at Indianapolis	No TV
1:00	San Diego at Jacksonville	No TV
1:00	Buffalo at Kansas City	CBS (Golden Horseshoe, GTA, Peterborough, Kingston, Belleville)/CTV (Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto)
1:00	Oakland at Tennessee	CBS (BC, Alberta)/TSN2
1:00	NY Giants at Washington	FOX (Northern Ontario, Belleville, Cornwall, Quebec)/CTV (Montreal)
1:00	Miami at NY Jets	CBS (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Northern Ontario, Western Ontario, K/W-Cambridge, Guelph, Ottawa-Gatineau, Cornwall, Quebec, Eastern Canada)/CTV (Atlantic)
4:05	Arizona at San Francisco	FOX (Golden Horseshoe, GTA, Peterborough, Kingston)/CTV2 (Vancouver Island, Alberta, Ontario)
4:25	Pittsburgh at Seattle	CBS (all of Canada)/CTV (all of Canada (except Atlantic))/CTV2 (Atlantic)
8:30	New England at Denver	NBC/TSN2
Monday
8:30	Baltimore at Cleveland	TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5

Quick Notes on the schedule

• As you have probably noticed, the Sunday nighter is only on NBC and TSN2 because of this little thing called the Grey Cup going on that night on the rest of the TSNs. For you CFL fans, the Edmonton Eskimos try to rip out the hearts of an entire city when they face the team with arguably the worst name in pro sports history, the Ottawa Redblacks. The city of Ottawa hasn’t tasted Grey Cup success since before I was born (1976). They have gone through more franchises in that timespan (they’re on their third) than winning seasons (this is the first since 1979). I kind of hope the Rouge-Noirs do win because otherwise we may be out of a team in Ottawa in five years (if history has taught us anything).
• Three games aren’t showing this week on Canadian television and all three are probably games that no one would probably turn to anyway.
• I was so looking forward to Johnny Football doing his thing the rest of the season. Well it appears his thing is standing on the sideline looking like a doofus. What a shitshow that kid is. I don’t mind when an athlete is successful and THEN goes out and parties and gets all the women. But when you were successful in college and have done sweet fuck-all in the pros, you might want to tone it down a bit Gianni Bottle Service. You aren’t Gronk. Don’t pretend you are.

Some Quick Picks

I sincerely hope Baltimore and Cleveland play to a scoreless draw. Well, wait maybe not. Mike Tirico may throw himself out of the press box to his death if that happens. Other picks:

• Buffalo over Kansas City (hey why not, someone has to get that last Wild-Card spot)
• New England over Denver (have they clinched the AFC East yet?)
• Arizona over San Francisco (have they clinched the NFC West yet?)
• NY Giants over Washington (someone has to win the NFC East)

Alright here is what I see for the next three days:

• A lot of football today
• A lot of football tomorrow
• A lot of football Sunday

Got it? Good.

Week 13 College Football TV Schedule – Sponsored by ‘MURICAN TURKEY DAY FOOTBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the fuck else are you doing today (or tomorrow or on Saturday)? WORKING? OK that makes sense since us Canadians beat the Americans to the Thanksgiving punch by a month and a half every year (you think the Yanks would figure this out and try to beat us out once and make their Thanksgiving September 28th one year). But really, there is so much football on the next few days you could go into a coma (not saying it explicitly but that may be my goal). There are about 50 God damn games on from now until Monday night. If you are a football fan, this is your Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter all rolled into one. If not, piss off and let us have this one time of the year (other than the Super Bowl) where we can all go insane about football.

Alright let’s get down to business. First off, let me mention that there are three NFL Murican Turkey Day games today:

• Philadelphia at Detroit (12:30) – FOX
• Carolina at Dallas (4:30) – CBS (Yes CBS….it’s Crossover Craziness!!!!)
• Chicago at Green Bay (8:30) – NBC

Also, all these games are on pretty much all the Sportsnets I am sure.

Now to the college games and I am using a different format this time around. It’s my Murican Thanksgiving format I used last year where I list every game one-by-one. It gives more info and makes this post look that much more impressive (unless you like tables, then you’re gonna be some kind of pissed. Here we go! (* – game isn’t showing up on guide yet but should)

Tonight

USF at UCF (7:30, TSN5) – USF still has a shot at the AAC East title and the opportunity to screw up the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot by winning here. They would need to win and have Temple lose their game for this to happen. On the other side, UCF is finishing one of the worst seasons in recent history. They try to avoid a 0-12 season here.

Friday

#15 Navy at Houston (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – The biggest Group of Five game of the season here. The winner, chances are, clinches the Group of Five spot but they would still have the AAC Championship Game and, in Navy’s case, a game against Army. The fact this game is on ABC shows how much the American is better than any other Go5 conference.

Western Michigan at #24 Toledo (Noon, CBS Sports Network) – Toledo, thanks to Northern Illinois’ somewhat shocking loss the other night to Ohio, has the inside track on the MAC West title and an outside shot at the New Year’s Six. Of course, the Broncos could row that damn boat and basically end the MAC’s chance to sit at the adult table.

Miami at Pittsburgh (Noon, specialty pack) – The teams are better than they were last season when Pitt backed into a bowl game with a win over a Miami team that looked like they had quit on Al Golden (shocking I know). The teams are better this season and this means even less. Both teams are bowling and that’s all.

Missouri at Arkansas (2:30, CBS) – Mizzou has a chance to send Gary Pinkel out with a bowl game. They need to win here to do so. The Fighting Bielemas are already playing over the holidays.

#4 Iowa at Nebraska (3:30, ABC) – Huge game here with huge stakes. For Iowa, they win here, they go to the Big Ten Championship with a shot at the College Football Playoff on the line. For Nebraska, they somehow win, they go to a bowl game like they are supposed to (right?). Mike Riley needs this or else he starts his second season in Lincoln on the hot seat.

Boise State at San Jose State (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – SJSU needs a win here to go bowling. Boise isn’t as good as previous years so it’s a possibility.

#20 Washington State at Washington (3:30, FOX) – The Apple Cup is somewhat big for the Huskies as they have to win to go bowling. The Mike Leach Fun-time Gang has already had a successful season no matter what happens here.

UMass at Buffalo (4:30, specialty pack) – UMass’s final game in the MAC is against a Bulls team that needs a win to go bowling. So much bowl-eligibility going on this coming weekend.

#7 Baylor at #19 TCU (7:30, TSN1/3/4/5) – There has never been a college football game on four TSN stations at one time. Baylor still has an outside shot at getting to the CFP but needs a lot to happen, including beating the piss out of TCU here. The Horny Frogs will try their best not to let that happen. Plus I am sure horny is the last thing thought of at Texas CHRISTIAN University.

Tulsa at Tulane (8:00, specialty pack) – Yet another game involving a team looking for bowl-eligibility. The Golden Hurricane wins here over the Green Wave (two teams without plural team names…interesting) and they play over the holidays.

Saturday early

#8 Ohio State at #10 Michigan (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – The Game is still huge despite the fact both teams would need Michigan State to lose to win the Big Ten East Division crown. It’s been a while since Michigan was this good but Harbaughll has been the name of the game in Ann Arbor. Should be a good one.

Florida Atlantic at Old Dominion (Noon, MyTV) – This game will get eyeballs solely for the fact that Old Dominion has a shot to become bowl-eligible for the first time in program history. Other than that, this will probably suck balls.

Indiana at Purdue (Noon, Big Ten Network) – The Hoosiers can FINALLY make it back to a bowl game by beating their rivals from Purdue here for the Old Oaken Bucket. Purdue is still terrible and Darrell Hazell may very well lose his job with a loss here.

Cincinnati at East Carolina (Noon, CBS Sports Network) – The Pirates need a win here to go, you guessed it, bowling. Team Tubs can ruin ECU’s season with the win here.

Georgia at Georgia Tech (Noon, TSN1) – Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. One of the best rivalry games around…except for this season. Georgia is trending towards average and Tech blows. Let’s just hope for a good game here because otherwise there are other options early.

#1 Clemson at South Carolina (Noon, TSN5) – TSN stepping up their game this weekend. Nice to see. The Tigers can complete their perfect regular season with a win here over the woeful Cocks (I’m sure Woeful Cocks is the name of some porno out there). The USC of the east displaying their, ahem, “talent” for their next coach, whoever that may be (Kirby Smart?)

Virginia Tech at Virginia (Noon, specialty pack) – The Commonwealth Cup is Frank Beamer’s last chance to go to a bowl game before he retires. He has to remember it is UVA he is playing and that they aren’t that good. If the Hoos don’t fire Mike London after this season I will assume it’s a self-esteem issue more than anything…for the university not London.

Maryland at Rutgers (Noon, specialty pack (Rogers only)) – I am guessing the BTN alternate game will head to the specialty pack for Rogers customers. I don’t know why you’d want to watch this game but it is an option.

Louisville at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack (Bell only)) – This feels familiar. Yes, just like last season, Kentucky comes into the Governor’s Cup needing a win to go bowling. Louisville is already in so beating their foes is more of a pride thing for them.

Boston College at Syracuse (12:30, specialty pack*) – With all the options, why would you subject yourself to this.

Duke at Wake Forest (12:30, WSBK/specialty pack) – Another ACC game that is almost unwatchable. Duke has struggled as of late after Miami’s non-touchdown ruined their division championship hopes. And Wake is Wake. Only go here if every other game is on a commercial break.

Saturday afternoon

#14 North Carolina at NC State (3:30, ABC/specialty pack) – OK this needs some explanation. If you get ABC out of Buffalo you get this game on ABC. If not, you get this game on the specialty pack and it’s still not showing up there. North Carolina’s NYS hopes could be gone if they lose here so they need momentum going into their ACC Championship game against the #1 Clemson Tigers.

Wisconsin at Minnesota (3:30, Big Ten Network) – Last season this game was huge. This year, not so much. Minnesota can go bowling with a win in this one. The NCAA is hoping some of these 5-win teams win or otherwise they have to do their jobs and figure out who gets to play in some of the bowl games.

#2 Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – To be honest, this may be the only SEC game that matters this week. Alabama wins and they go into the SEC Championship at #2. Lose and the SEC may be in a heap of trouble when it comes to the College Football Playoff.

BYU at Utah State (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – Two pretty good teams but in a game that means absolutely nothing as both teams are going to bowl games.

#22 UCLA at USC (3:30, ABC/TSN4) – If you get ABC out of Detroit, you get the game on ABC as well. Everyone gets this one on TSN4. Huge game here as the winner goes to the Pac-12 Championship to try and keep Stanford out of the New Year’s Six (since I truly believe the CFP is not happening for the Cardinal).

Penn State at #5 Michigan State (3:30, TSN5) – Sparty wins here and they go to the Big Ten Championship game with a shot at the CFP. Lose and they will be lucky to be in the NYS. It’s pretty cut-and-dry here for MSU.

#16 Northwestern vs. Illinois (in Chicago, 3:30, specialty pack) – So this time around it’s only Illinois needing a win to play in a bowl game. Northwestern has been very good this season (except for that inexplicable hiccup against Michigan) but this game means very little to them other than keeping the Illini out of the postseason.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee (4:00, specialty pack (Bell only)) – To be honest, I don’t have a single reason why you would want to watch this game.

Saturday primetime & late night

UConn at #25 Temple (7:00, specialty pack) – I really do not understand how the later games are already on the guides, yet the earlier ones aren’t. So stupid. Anyway, Temple needs a win here or a loss by USF on Thursday (fat chance) to go to the AAC Championship to possibly destroy the American’s chances at the New Year’s Six. And no, this isn’t a trophy game DIACO!

#18 Ole Miss at #21 Mississippi State (7:15, TSN5/specialty pack) – There is no way this stays on the specialty pack unless they are doing a Finebaum Alternate Viewing thing which, I will admit, was somewhat hilarious last year for the Iron Bowl. This year’s Egg Bowl not nearly as important unless Bama blows a gasket against Auburn. Then it’s massively important.

#6 Notre Dame at #9 Stanford (7:30, FOX) – Huge game for both teams but mostly for the Irish since, even with a win here, I find it hard to believe Stanford could vault themselves into the CFP. Then again, the way this season is going, the Cardinal could end up in the #2 spot for all we know. Stranger things have happened. This has to be considered FOX’s game of the year.

#13 Florida State at #12 Florida (7:30, TSN3/specialty pack) – Again, this will not be on the specialty pack. Good on The Committee for dropping the Gators like a stone (somewhat). That performance against FAU was terrible. But they can go right back into the top 10 with a win here. Winner probably gets an NYS spot, loser won’t. Plain and simple.

Texas A&M at LSU (7:30, specialty pack (Bell only)) – Another game where this no real value to watching it, other than when all the other games are at commercial breaks. Oh, and the fact there is an insane rumour that Les Miles could be shitcanned by LSU. Are they fucking stupid? Unless they have a really good replacement, this would be a boneheaded move because the team only won 7 or 8 games this season. HOW DARE THEY!

#3 Oklahoma at #11 Oklahoma State (8:00, ABC/TSN1) – BEDLAM!!! This game is huge and now that the Sooners are at #3, if they win this game, they pretty much clinch a CFP spot. So the Hee-Haw version of OSU can cost the Big XII yet again and fuel EXPANSION TALK by winning this one.

Colorado State at Fresno State (9:00, CBS Sports Network) – An odd start time for a game that very few people will watch.

Air Force at New Mexico (10:15, specialty pack) – I think by this time, most hardcore college football fans will be in a coma. Lucky for you, with two option offenses playing each other, this game may be done by midnight.

Nevada at San Diego State (10:45, specialty pack) – I may not even be able to make it to the end of this one.

OK, there are more spots on the specialty pack guides than there are games to show. This means one of two things: a) they will be showing some ESPNEWS/ESPN3 games or b) those spots will magically disappear by the end of today. I am going with b) on this one since there’s already enough college football on (I can’t believe I am saying that), there is no reason to put anything extra there.

Enjoy the football when you can and hopefully you survive!

UPDATE: Most of the games appearing on the specialty packs.  Only exclusions (as of right now) are Boston College-Syracuse and Duke-Wake Forest (although Duke-WF is on WSBK already so no loss there).

 

Way-Too-Early Bowl Projections (but not as way-too-early as before)

Alright, my second set of bowl projections this season. I really should start promoting it ten thousand times a week so everyone knows WHO’S IN! (according to me at least). Quite a shakeup at the top of the College Football Playoff Rankings thanks to the losses by the two OSU’s (Oklahoma and Ohio). I don’t fully agree with The Committee’s picks for the top four but that doesn’t really matter because they are looking at right now and what has happened up until now. They do not take into account the rest of the schedule because they can’t. I understand that. I do my rankings based on how I believe the season will end.

So without further adieu, let’s start with the College Football Playoff predictions (I feel like Rece Davis, except infinitely worse looking):

December 31, 2015	8:00	Orange Bowl	Clemson	Michigan State
December 31, 2015	4:00	Cotton Bowl	Alabama	Notre Dame

So yeah, the top two are the same as usual. I still believe Alabama may overtake Clemson by the end of the season but for now I will keep the Tigers at #1. The #3 spot is where it gets interesting. I have Notre Dame there. My reasoning has very little to do with Notre Dame (although I have them beating Stanford and then Stanford winning the Pac-12 Championship which would keep their strength of schedule up). It has more to do with Iowa and Oklahoma. I have Iowa losing the Big Ten Championship (and to be honest, I have them being upset by Nebraska on Black Friday). I have Oklahoma losing Bedlam. That would knock both those teams down a notch in the rankings and allow Michigan State (who I think will win the Big Ten Championship) and Notre Dame to move back in. Convoluted I know so imagine what The Committee has to go through.

OK here is the New Year’s Six set of bowls:

January 1, 2016	8:30	Sugar Bowl	Florida	Oklahoma State
January 1, 2016	5:00	Rose Bowl	Ohio State	Stanford
January 1, 2016	1:00	Fiesta Bowl	Oklahoma	Houston
December 31, 2015	12:00	Peach Bowl	Iowa	Baylor

The Big XII has three very good teams but because they beat each other up, none of them would get into the CFP (cue expansion talk!). I predict Houston will end up beating out Navy for the Group of Five spot but there is still a lot of time left for tomfoolery and shenanigans. Hell, Toledo still has a shot if Houston loses, then Navy loses one of their last two. I have Michigan, North Carolina, and Northwestern being just left out. Northwestern is almost certainly out but the Wolverines and Tar Heels each have a chance at a signature win to push them into the Big Boy Bowls.

And now the rest of the bowls:

January 2, 2016	10:15	Cactus Bowl	Utah State	UCLA
January 2, 2016	6:45	Alamo Bowl	TCU	Oregon
January 2, 2016	3:20	Liberty Bowl	Ole Miss	Texas Tech
January 2, 2016	12:00	TaxSlayer Bowl	Florida State	Georgia
January 1, 2016	1:00	Citrus Bowl	Michigan	Mississippi State
January 1, 2016	12:00	Outback Bowl	Tennessee	Northwestern
December 30, 2015	10:30	Holiday Bowl	Wisconsin	USC
December 30, 2015	7:30	Music City Bowl	Penn State	LSU
December 30, 2015	3:30	Belk Bowl	Pittsburgh	Texas A&M
December 30, 2015	12:00	Birmingham Bowl	Memphis	Auburn
December 29, 2015	9:00	Texas Bowl	Arkansas	Kansas State
December 29, 2015	7:30	Arizona Bowl	Arkansas State	Nevada
December 29, 2015	5:30	Russell Athletic Bowl	North Carolina	West Virginia
December 29, 2015	2:00	Armed Forces Bowl	Washington*	Colorado State
December 28, 2015	5:00	Quick Lane Bowl	Duke	Kentucky*
December 28, 2015	2:30	Military Bowl	Virginia Tech	Navy
December 26, 2015	9:15	Foster Farms Bowl	Nebraska	Washington State
December 26, 2015	5:45	Independence Bowl	NC State	Western Kentucky
December 26, 2015	3:30	Pinstripe Bowl	Louisville	Illinois
December 26, 2015	2:20	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Arizona*	Louisiana Tech
December 26, 2015	2:00	Sun Bowl	Miami	Utah
December 26, 2015	11:00	St. Petersburg Bowl	Marshall	USF
December 24, 2015	8:00	Hawaii Bowl	Temple	BYU
December 24, 2015	12:00	Bahamas Bowl	Middle Tennessee^	Bowling Green
December 23, 2015	8:00	GoDaddy Bowl	Toledo	Georgia Southern
December 23, 2015	4:30	Poinsettia Bowl	Western Michigan	San Diego State
December 22, 2015	7:00	Boca Raton Bowl	Connecticut	Central Michigan
December 22, 2015	3:30	Idaho Potato Bowl	Air Force	Northern Illinois
December 21, 2015	2:30	Miami Beach Bowl	Old Dominion	East Carolina
December 19, 2015	9:00	New Orleans Bowl	Southern Miss	Ohio*
December 19, 2015	5:30	Camellia Bowl	Akron	California*
December 19, 2015	3:30	Las Vegas Bowl	Arizona State	Boise State
December 19, 2015	12:00	New Mexico Bowl	Buffalo*	New Mexico
December 19, 2015	12:00	Cure Bowl	Cincinnati	Appalachian State

Hey, a team has already accepted a bowl! As per Brett McMurphy of ESPN, Middle Tennessee has already accepted a bid to the Bahamas Bowl. That was quick. I just assumed bowl bids would start filtering in Saturday evening and then pick up steam during conference championship week. As of right now, I predict there will be exactly 80 bowl-eligible teams. The NCAA STILL doesn’t know what they are doing in case they have less than 80. Maybe they will play a Press Your Luck style game to figure out the team that gets to go (Big Bucks! Big Bucks! NO WHAMMYS!). I currently have down that six bowl tie-ins will not be fulfilled (2 Big Ten, 1 Big XII, 1 C-USA, 2 Sun Belt). I still believe that tie-ins should be reduced. They could start next year with the following plan:

• Each of the Power Five conferences get five tie-ins (Big XII gets 4 because they only have ten teams). This includes the bowl tie-in among the CFP/NYS bowls.
• Each of the Group of Five conferences gets four tie-ins (Sun Belt gets 3 because they only have 11 teams). This does not include the Go5 spot in the New Year’s Six.
• The rest of the bowls pick teams out of the teams remaining. The order of selections can either be tiered or rotated year-over-year.

We have 40 bowl games to fill. It’s too much, I agree. I like college football but they could easily take ten games out and I wouldn’t care a whole lot. But this method allows the lower-tier bowls the opportunity to pick what they believe will be the best matchup for their game specifically, rather than being constrained by tie-ins that may give us extremely mediocre matchups (which kind of goes against what bowl season is supposed to be about).

I will try and do this whole exercise again after Saturday’s games to see where we are sitting since a lot will shake out over the next three days.

Week 11 (Really) Short NFL Recap – Sponsored by TURNING LEFT!!!!!

Like REALLY short recap. Full disclosure, I watched very little football on Sunday afternoon due to being very busy with the kids. Usually this isn’t a problem since I can tape a highlights show and get a decent look at what happened. Not this time though. Thanks to NASCAR’s late start on their Fandangled Yee-Ha Championship Race, the Sunday Night Football pre-show was basically gone. So I saw about five minutes of highlights, followed by another ten or so the following morning. Not enough to do a proper recap. I did see a good amount of the Bills-Pats game last night as the Bills tried their best to lose that game (and succeeded!). Are we heading straight into an obvious Panthers-Patriots showdown for the Super Bowl? History tells us not a chance. Usually one of the two dominant teams falters in the playoffs to a scrappy underdog (the Giants) and that scrappy underdog (the Giants) will somehow win the Super Bowl (the Giants…twice) against the other dominant team that was left (the Patriots…twice).

So instead of recapping me being very wrong about the Packers and wondering how the Lions are winning games, I will go straight into the playoff predictions. As of right now, this is how I see the playoffs shaping up at the end of the season.

AFC		NFC
Division Champs		Division Champs
1	New England (East)	1	Carolina (South)
2	Cincinnati (North)	2	Arizona (West)
3	Denver (West)	3	Green Bay (North)
4	Indianapolis (South)	4	NY Giants (East)
Wild-Card Spots		Wild-Card Spots
5	Pittsburgh	5	Minnesota
6	Buffalo	6	Seattle

 

All the AFC spots stay the same despite the Buffalo loss. I could replace the Bills with any one of five other teams but what would be the point since it feels like all those teams are trying their best to fall out of the second wild-card spot rather than earn it. I feel the Bills are trying a little less than most at that, so that’s why they get the #6 spot. In the NFC, I have moved Arizona up to the #2 spot and a first-round bye. Carolina and Arizona seem to be the class of the NFC and they are widening the gap between them and the rest of the conference. I could honestly see Green Bay and Minnesota fighting for the division title and neither getting to 11 wins, which would still be enough to beat out the NFC East champ which should be awful. The #6 spot in the NFC is looking a lot like the #6 spot in the AFC in that no one seems to really want to grab it. So whoever fucks up the least the rest of the way should get it (and probably at 9-7). Right now I have Seattle since I still have no belief Atlanta will even have a winning record at the end of the season.

Alright, tonight we have one college game on the specialty pack. Then….Thursday (American Thanksgiving) starts the football explosion! Here’s how the numbers break down (at this point):

• Thursday – 3 NFL games, 1 college game
• Friday – 10 college games
• Saturday – 28 college games
• Sunday – at least 7 NFL games
• Monday – 1 NFL game

Yes. A lot of football. I am going to be in a coma by Sunday night I think. And I don’t care.

Week 12 College Football Recap – Sponsored by The Mighty (and how they have fallen)

THE Ohio State Buckeyes knew that it had to end at some point. Makes sense it was against a really good team like Michigan State. Too bad the Spartans had the lead for all of NO SECONDS in the game and won it on a last second field goal. That makes two games where the Spartans never had the lead during the game but won it at the end. And it may be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff. Then again, who knows because now things are going to possibly get a bit crazy. This Friday and Saturday the CFP rankings could honestly change each hour depending on what is happening on the field. And I am looking forward to every minute of it. Oh, and on another note from this game, I totally get Ezekiel Elliott’s frustration. Only getting the ball 12 times in that weather? He should have got double the carries. Saying all that, what he did afterwards was a dick move and I am almost 100% positive he decided not to come back for his senior season at that very moment out of spite. NFL teams should watch that because for every player who has an attitude issue that turns out fine, there is one that is a complete shitshow. There is no denying Zeke has the talent, but that interview has to leave a bad taste in some people’s mouths (especially many in Columbus as I speak).

And now the rest of the recap from a relatively disjointed Saturday (on my end at least):

Well there goes Oklahoma State’s chances at the CFP. They still have a great shot at the New Year’s Six but absolute insanity would have to occur for them to get back into the top four. And despite the fact Baylor won, their chances of getting into the top four are slim as well (not as slim as OK State’s but slim nevertheless). Basically, the Big XII has to rely on…

BOOMER! SOONER! Yes, Oklahoma is probably the Big XII’s only chance of getting into the CFP and stopping expansion talk for at least another season. And the only reason they pulled it out is because Gary Patterson decided to go for two instead of overtime. Did he not notice his team had come back from way down to get to within one and that the Sooner defense was gassed. He should have tied it up and took them to overtime. I mean it probably would have iced any Big XII CFP chances but still it would have been fun to see.

It’s always fun to see the SEC sweat during Garbage Schedule Week (ESPN should have coined that). I hate the SEC’s penultimate regular season week schedule and I have hated it since they started doing it years ago. I don’t think you need to eliminate FCS games. Far from it. I do believe that they should be played before November though. November is, for the most part, conference game time. To have these cupcake games smack dab in the middle of very important football is a slap in the face for fans.

Which makes what Florida and Georgia went through much more hilarious. I was hoping beyond hope that Florida Atlantic, of all teams, would ruin Florida’s chances at the top four. If the Gators had lost that game, they could have beaten FSU by 40 and Bama by 50 and still have been left out because are you fucking kidding me it’s FLORIDA FUCKING ATLANTIC! As for Georgia, at least they faced a very good Sun Belt team. Georgia Southern ain’t no slouch. And that option offense can be frustrating to defend. Saying all that, if the Dawgs had lost, I am sure Mark Richt would have been lucky to get out of Sanford Stadium alive. And don’t even get me started on South Carolina’s loss to The Citadel. Oh and on another note, if you want a good book to read, Pat Conroy’s My Losing Season is fascinating as it outlines his time on The Citadel basketball team. That place sounds rigid. And fucked. Makes sense for a military school.

Iowa wins out, they’re in. If they don’t, they’re out. Simple. Iowa, more than any other team in the top 10, has to win out. One loss and they have no shot at the College Football Playoff, period. I still believe Nebraska is going to give them fits this Friday. Let’s be honest, the Huskers have nothing to lose. Win and they go bowling, lose and they are home for the holidays and Mike Riley gets forty For Sale signs on his front lawn (isn’t that how it works?). So they will be emptying the playbook for sure. The Hawkeyes cannot be complacent. Luckily for them they have been arguably the steadiest team in the nation this season so they seem fairly unflappable.

It’s all on Stanford now. After UCLA beat Utah, the Pac-12 had to hope Stanford beat Cal in the Big Game. They did and now they play Notre Dame in their one true opportunity to make a serious move up the rankings. With a Pac-12 Championship game against either UCLA or USC coming up in two weeks, they have to win the Notre Dame game if they hope to get into the CFP. Enough things go their way and they may just do it.

They almost sent the home crowd home happy. The Hokies had a spirited comeback against North Carolina fall just short in overtime. Would have been nice to have them win in Frank Beamer’s last home game. Honestly though, they have played like hot garbage for a good part of this season. I sincerely hope they win the Commonwealth Cup against Virginia so they can go bowling to send Frank out the right way. Plus, a Hoos win means almost nothing since they are 4-7 and Mike London should be getting the axe shortly after the season concludes.

UConn? UCONN?!?!?!?!?!? I wonder if Bob Diaco will want a trophy for this rivalry now. The Huskies played really well against Houston and cost the Cougs their undefeated season. I don’t think anyone saw this coming although UConn has quietly put together a really good season. Diaco has shown he can really coach and has brought the program back to respectability. As for Houston, in terms of the AAC West it didn’t fully matter, but when it comes to their NYS hopes, that was a huge blow. They have to beat Navy and then beat the East champ in the AAC Title game and hope Toledo doesn’t go nuts in their final game and the MAC Championship to overtake them. Should be interesting.

And back to coaches getting the axe…Scott Shafer was fired at Syracuse and Paul Rhoads will be done after the season at Iowa State. If you are a halfway-competent coach in FBS (or even a good coordinator) this has to be considered a goldmine. There are so many coaching opportunities out there that ESPN has already locked in 200 hours of future coverage to this (and I believe I am seriously lowballing here). So even though Tom Herman now makes $3 milly at Houston and Justin Fuente was offered even more at Memphis, it may not matter, especially if a bigger school like USC, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, or Miami comes calling. Prestige, a lot of times, means more than a bigger contract since if you do well it will lead into a better contract. OK so yes, the money means the most still but it’s more of a short-term pain for long-term gain kind of focus now.

Can we just have UCF face Kansas and get it over with? I know conferences are SUPER picky with how they are aligned but I almost wish they had relegation/promotion like I outlined in a previous post (you can find it…I am too lazy right now). Just have UCF play Kansas in the Toilet Bowl and loser goes to FCS. Or have them face FCS teams for the right to stay up or move up. I am sure North Dakota State could mop the floor with at least twenty of the current FBS teams and not break a sweat.

Possible coach to sign that no one is talking about. No one is discussing the possibility of hiring Willie Taggart. He has done an amazing job at USF, one of the better turnarounds in the nation. He is also a recruiting master. Miami would be wise to get this guy since he knows Florida very well.

OK as of right now we have 71 bowl-eligible teams. There are 80 bowl slots in total available. The following teams can become bowl-eligible this week (with their next game in parentheses):

• Missouri (at Arkansas, Friday)
• Nebraska (vs. Iowa, Friday)
• San Jose State (vs. Boise State, Friday)
• Washington (vs. Washington State, Friday)
• Buffalo (vs. UMass, Friday)
• Tulsa (at Tulane, Friday)
• Old Dominion (vs. Florida Atlantic, Saturday)
• Indiana (at Purdue, Saturday)
• East Carolina (vs. Cincinnati, Saturday)
• Virginia Tech (at Virginia, Saturday)
• Kentucky (vs. Louisville, Saturday)
• Minnesota (vs. Wisconsin, Saturday)
• Illinois (vs. Northwestern, Saturday)

So out of these 13 teams, I would say 5 of them are favoured. My guess is no more than 7 will clinch this week, meaning there should be at least a couple bowl-eligibility spots left to fill in the final regular season week. As far as I can tell, the NCAA still doesn’t know how they will select a 5-7 team to fill a bowl slot if it’s needed. What a shitshow. This should have been figured out before the season started! It should make the bowl selection process very interesting which I guess brings ratings (and a lot of frustration).
There are two games on tomorrow night. As far as I can tell, they should be on the specialty pack but as of Sunday night I saw no indication of that.  UPDATE: I feel stupid.  First off, one game (BGSU-Ball State) is on ESPN3 and, thus, we won’t get it here.  Second, I just checked online schedules and Ohio-Northern Illinois will be on the specialty pack at 7:30 tomorrow night.   They should appear sometime today especially now that TSN now wants to show a lot of college basketball. That’s fine but I wish they waited until mid-January to go all-in with those games rather than college football but they’ve stepped up so that is good. The College Football Playoff Top 25 show airs on TSN2 at 7:00 tomorrow night for those that want to see that.

Week 11 NFL TV Schedule – Sponsored by Mike Pettine Caving in to the pressure

This picture can probably be recycled throughout the rest of the Browns’ season.

He finally did it. He caved in to pressure from damn near everyone around him and named Johnny Manziel the starting QB for the rest of the season. I think this is a good idea. It comes down to the fact that you need to give the guy a string of games to see if he can hack it or not as a true starting quarterback. The only problem is that the Cleveland Browns suck so who knows if Johnny Football will get a true chance. It reminds me of when I saw Tim Tebow live. Everyone said just give him a chance. The problem was he was such a streaky quarterback. The game in Buffalo he played awful. I said he doesn’t even deserve to be a backup with that performance. Yet a few weeks later he played fairly well and threw that memorable overtime touchdown pass against Pittsburgh to win the Wild-Card game. Still, it’s probably for the best he is on the SEC Network and not playing Sundays.

Alright, on to the schedule:

Sunday
1:00	Indianapolis at Atlanta	No TV
1:00	St. Louis at Baltimore	No TV
1:00	Washington at Carolina	FOX (all of Canada)/CTV (Ontario, Montreal, Atlantic)
1:00	Denver at Chicago	CBS (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Eastern Canada)/CTV (Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg)
1:00	Oakland at Detroit	CBS (Northern Ontario, Western Ontario, K/W-Cambridge, Guelph, Ottawa-Gatineau)
1:00	NY Jets at Houston	CBS (Golden Horseshoe, GTA, Peterborough, Belleville, Kingston, Cornwall, Quebec)/CTV2 (all of Canada)
1:00	Dallas at Miami	No TV
1:00	Tampa Bay at Philadelphia	No TV
4:05	Kansas City at San Diego	CTV (Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ontario, Montreal, Atlantic)
4:25	Green Bay at Minnesota	FOX (all of Canada (except BC & Alberta))/CTV2 (all of Canada)
4:25	San Francisco at Seattle	FOX (BC, Alberta)/CTV (Vancouver, Alberta)
8:30	Cincinnati at Arizona	NBC/TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5*
Monday
8:30	Buffalo at New England	TSN1/TSN5

* – The Cincinnati-Arizona game will be joined in progress on TSN5 after the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Playoff game concludes…so somewhere around halftime.

Um, is that the Dallas Cowboys not appearing on Canadian television for a second straight week? Again, I have nothing really against the Cowboys themselves (although the Greg Hardy thing rubs me the wrong way). It’s the football media’s infatuation with them. They have two fucking wins this season. They are awful. If they don’t win at least two more games the rest of the way, they may find themselves looking at a #1 overall pick at the next NFL Draft. So finally I am glad they are toning down putting the Cowboys on TV everywhere when they are terrible. Good teams should always show up more than bad teams. That’s why the Patriots, Packers, Broncos, Steelers…teams like that should be shown often because for the past few years they have been the best teams. Putting the Cowboys on all the time is akin to making sure the Rams are on Sunday Night Football…it makes no sense.

Other notes:

• 4 games won’t appear here in Canada unless you have Sunday Ticket or RedZone. Out of 11 that isn’t too bad but not that great. I usually only complain if they are not showing half of the games or more or if an important game between two relatively decent teams isn’t showing here. Otherwise that’s fine by me.
• More games than usual spanning almost the entire country this week. Washington-Carolina, Jets-Houston, and Green Bay-Minnesota all have some sort of nationwide range on one network (if not more). I am perplexed by CTV2 going all-in with the Jets and the Texans but what do I know.
• What I hate about FOX having the doubleheader is that we get Joe Buck telling us about 47 times a game that this is AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK! Fuck off Joe. We get that it’s an important game. But the Sunday Night Football game is usually pretty clearly the game of the week. You don’t see Jim Nantz doing that with CBS. Then again, Jim has to contend with Phil Simms (which is awful enough) and shitty Thursday Night Football games between two teams that are pretty bad where one has arguably the worst uniforms in football history.
• Be prepared. It’s going to be Carson Palmer, Carson Palmer, and more Carson Palmer with NBC’s lead-in to the Sunday Night game between Cincinnati and Arizona. I get that he was traded from Cincy to Arizona and it’s a relatively big deal but there has to be other stories as well.

If I had some money

Who am I kidding I would definitely gamble shitloads of money on football if I had shitloads of money to spend. I don’t so I can’t. Life’s not fair. Get used to it. Anyway, here are some picks for the week:

Minnesota over Green Bay – I think the Pack lose their fourth in a row here against the team who should end up winning the NFC North. Green Bay should end up with the Wild-Card but that might not appease their fans. Supposedly this is all Olivia Munn’s fault. Sure it is. A-a-ron getting pussy that most of us could only dream of is the real reason the ENTIRE FUCKING TEAM is playing poorly. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like if the Patriots lose three in a row.

New England over Buffalo – I do think the Bills will put a scare into the Pats but the Pats will prevail again. I am still sticking with New England going 15-0, heading to Miami for the last game of the year, and getting slaughtered by a 6-9 Dolphins team.

Seattle over San Francisco – Future factory worker Jim Tomsula continues to coach the sorriest team in the NFL…kind of. There’s always competition there this year from the likes of the Cowboys, Browns, and Lions (to name a few).

Oakland over Detroit – The Raiders are going to be in a dogfight for that last Wild-Card spot this season. The Steelers, unless they shit the bed, have almost guaranteed themselves the first spot. Oakland has to win games like this. Otherwise they are basically a west coast version of the Buffalo Bills.

Alright, tonight there are two college games and then Saturday and Sunday will be chock full of football (that I may or may not miss a lot of). Enjoy the games!

Week 12 College Football TV Schedule – Sponsored by “That” week in the SEC schedule

I have harped on this before but I feel that every year I should help pile on to the vitriol that the SEC gets for the schedule the week before American Thanksgiving. It is such a god-awful schedule, it boggles the mind.   I truly believe that there should be no FCS games in November at all. I even hate them in October but the way scheduling can be, sometimes they have to be that way. However, in my opinion, pretty much all FBS vs. FCS games should be in September (or August if the season starts then). From here on, until this changes, I hope the best SEC team at the time blows a gasket and either loses against an FCS team or barely wins, making The Committee drop them in the CFP rankings. It will serve them right for this horseshit. I don’t care about the whole “Well, the SEC has the toughest schedule in the land.” Overall, perhaps. But this type of scheduling doesn’t help their cause. So the motto should be “Say no to scheduling FCS teams (in November).”

Alright, this is a good week to have to PVR the games. The worst week of November (and most of October as well) considering the quality of games goes down the shitter (in some conferences…except the Big XII and their backloading craziness). I don’t understand how it is always like this but it is. I am not saying there aren’t a few big games (because there are a few huge ones and I will get to that in a moment) but compared to next week (or last week) it is definitely lacking.

Let’s begin with the easy part…the cable schedule:

			ROGERS	FIBE	SATELLITE
East Carolina at UCF (Thu)	7:30 PM	TSN2	X	X	X
Cincinnati at USF (Fri)	8:00 PM	CBSSN	X	X
#12 Michigan at Penn State	12:00 PM	ABC/TSN4	X	X	X
Princeton at Dartmouth	12:00 PM	MyTV	X	X
Indiana at Maryland	12:00 PM	BTN	X
Rutgers at Army	12:00 PM	CBSSN	X	X
Purdue at #5 Iowa	12:00 PM	TSN2	X	X	X
Syracuse at NC State	12:30 PM	WSBK	X	X	X
#9 Michigan State at #3 Ohio State	3:30 PM	ABC/TSN4	X	X	X
#20 Northwestern at #25 Wisconsin	3:30 PM	BTN	X
#15 LSU at #22 Ole Miss	3:30 PM	CBS	X	X	X
Buffalo at Akron	3:30 PM	CBSSN	X	X
Wake Forest at #1 Clemson	3:30 PM	TSN2	X	X	X
UCLA at #13 Utah	3:30 PM	FOX	X	X	X
#16 Navy at Tulsa	7:00 PM	CBSSN	X	X
Mississippi State at Arkansas	7:00 PM	TSN4	X	X	X
#10 Baylor at #6 Oklahoma State	7:30 PM	FOX	X	X	X
#18 TCU at #7 Oklahoma	8:00 PM	ABC/TSN3	X	X	X
San Diego State at UNLV	10:30 PM	CBSSN	X	X

Quite a few games again as TSN is stepping up. The only thing that irks me a bit is the fact they tend to simsub ABC games a lot. Saying that, I am still glad they show their fair share of games. The biggest games seem to also be on the cable schedule this week as well so that should make non-specialty pack people very happy (as this is not always the case).

And herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre comes the shitshow (specialty pack schedule):

		ROGERS	FIBE	SATELLITE
ULM at Texas State (Thu)	9:30 PM	X
Air Force at Boise State (Fri)	9:30 PM	X
#17 North Carolina at Virginia Tech	12:00 PM	X	X	X
#21 Memphis at Temple	12:00 PM	X	X	X
Florida Atlantic at #8 Florida	12:00 PM		X	X
The Citadel at South Carolina	12:00 PM		X	X
Georgia Tech at Miami	12:30 PM	X	X	X
Chattanooga at #14 Florida State	3:00 PM		X	X
#24 USC at #23 Oregon	3:30 PM	X	X	X
#19 Houston at Connecticut	3:30 PM	X	X	X
Idaho at Auburn	4:00 PM		X	X
Charleston Southern at #2 Alabama	4:00 PM		X	X
Georgia Southern at Georgia	7:00 PM	X	X	X
Tennessee at Missouri	7:15 PM	X	X	X
Charlotte at Kentucky	7:30 PM		X	X
Texas A&M at Vanderbilt	7:30 PM		X	X
California at #11 Stanford	10:30 PM	X	X	X
Colorado at Washington State	10:45 PM	X	X	X

Shitshow is probably putting it mildly. They don’t even have slots open for some of the games this weekend. Ridiculous. OK let’s go through the carnage here:

• The two SEC Network games at 4:00 are not shown on either of the Bell guides (Fibe or Satellite). However, the slots are there so they will be put in eventually (hopefully not Saturday morning). The same goes with the SEC Network Alternate at 7:30 (Charlotte-Kentucky) but I can see it not airing as well.
• The Noon, 3:30, and 10:30 ESPN games are not showing up anywhere, but again, there is a slot open for them. The same cannot be said for the Noon ESPNU game between Memphis and Temple. Mysteriously, it is nowhere to be found. I just don’t get it.
• The same thing can be said for the ACC Network alternate game and the FOX Sports Net ACC game in the middle of the afternoon. These are two games that are not anywhere on the guides and may never show up at all. We may not know this until Saturday morning (or even into Saturday afternoon since they “don’t get the guide info on time”…yeah right).

UPDATE: All games are appearing (for the most part) on the guides.  UTC-FSU still not appearing on Rogers guide as of now.  Also, with Fibe there are some issues with the HD channels.  No guide information for the 3:30 games.  No issues with the games on the SD channels.

The GOTW

#9 Michigan State at #3 Ohio State (3:30, ABC/TSN4) – I’d love to say this is the game that decides the Big Ten East. But it’s not true. Michigan (and technically, Penn State) are lurking in the weeds, waiting for the results of this one. Penn State needs a lot of help but Michigan basically has to win this week, then beat Ohio State and they are going to Indianapolis and will put the CFP on its ear again. I still think tOSU will win this one (being at The Shoe and all) but it should be a close affair.

#10 Baylor at #6 Oklahoma State (7:30, FOX) – Another game in the Big XII Round-Robin Backload Extravaganza Party. This conference better hope one team emerges from this demolition derby. I have this bad feeling that the Big XII’s conference champion will have one loss. Well, bad for them. Good for the 47 expansion candidates.

#18 TCU at #7 Oklahoma (8:00, ABC/TSN3) – Another game in the Big XII Round-Robin, oh you know the deal here. Basically, if Oklahoma wins here and the Pokes win down the road in Stillwater, Bedlam becomes a MASSIVE game and will, in all likelihood, be the ABC Saturday Night game. This means Oklahoma will have three consecutive appearances on ABC Saturday Night. That has to be a record.

#15 LSU at #22 Ole Miss (3:30, CBS) – Two teams who have taken big steps backwards, allowing Alabama to control its own destiny (Bama plays the mighty Charleston Southern Buccaneers on Saturday by the way). The winner still has a slim chance of getting into the New Year’s Six. The loser may be lucky to go to the TaxSlayer Bowl.

#20 Northwestern at #25 Wisconsin (3:30, BTN) – Everyone is basically looking up at Iowa in the Big Ten West. The chances of either of these teams catching the Hawkeyes is almost none. They have to hope for chaos above them to even make the New Year’s Six. Tough times for two teams that, for the most part, have done very well this season but hiccupped at the absolute wrong time.

#24 USC at #23 Oregon (3:30, specialty pack) – The only game of the week on the specialty pack. This could still be big if Stanford falters against Cal and the Ducks pick up the win here. USC still fighting for the Pac-12 South which would be crazy if they ended up winning. If they do, I have a feeling Clay Helton moves up the list of potential permanent head coaches for the Trojans next season.

If I Threw Down Some Money

I would probably be broke. Here are my picks for this week:

Ohio State over Michigan State

Baylor over Oklahoma State (commence the Big XII chaos)

Oklahoma over TCU

Ole Miss over LSU (LSU’s first three-game losing streak in a loooooooong time)

Wisconsin over Northwestern (mini-upset)

Oregon over USC

North Carolina over Virginia Tech (I think Tech may keep the Heels under 50)

Michigan over Penn State

Houston over Connecticut

UCLA over Utah (another mini-upset)

As you will have noticed, Boston College-Notre Dame in Fenway Park is nowhere to be found. That’s because it has been relegated to NBC Sports Network which no one gets in this area (and why the hell would you get it? It looks like a really shitty sports channel). Why was this moved there? NBC wanted to put one Irish game there and figured this was the worst of the bunch (I would have moved the Wake Forest or UMass game myself but anyway). Watch it be an awesome game and BC take Touchdown Jesus to the wire.

Alright, two games tonight, two games tomorrow night. And the worst uniforms in NFL history tonight (which is saying a lot).

Way-too-early Bowl Predictions

OK yes we are midway through November and the bowl games start in exactly 31 days (I counted…don’t judge me). But we are still way too early to do bowl projections. Since ESPN goes nuts over the CFP rankings, however, I figured I might as well start doing them now since many others have beat me to the punch (some by 7 weeks or so). Let us begin…

First we need to start with the College Football Playoff. The new granddaddy of them all (if your granddaddy was 15 when he had a kid and his kid had another kid when he was 15….so yeah, pretty young to be a granddaddy). I am still a bit miffed that the two semi-finals are on New Year’s Eve. Don’t get me wrong, I love college football. But that’s not the kind of action I am looking for on New Year’s Eve. Any other day of the year (say, oh, New Year’s DAY perhaps?) would be so much better for this. But The Committee is sticking to their guns. When they see the ratings drop through the floor for those games, yet stay up for the Rose and Sugar the next day, they will probably change their tune. Anyway, here are my top four. Now for my top four I look at where they will be at the end of the season, not right now (since I think that’s pointless):

December 31, 2015	8:00	Orange Bowl	Alabama	Notre Dame
December 31, 2015	4:00	Cotton Bowl	Clemson	Ohio State

Other than Alabama and Clemson flip-flopping, it’s the same exact rankings as the actual CFP poll. In my opinion, all four of these teams should win out. Notre Dame’s only issues will be holding off the Big XII champ, whoever that may be, and hoping Stanford and USC keep winning to boost their strength of schedule.

Now let’s take a look at my predictions for the New Year’s Six bowls:

January 1, 2016	8:30	Sugar Bowl	Florida	Oklahoma State
January 1, 2016	5:00	Rose Bowl	Iowa	Stanford
January 1, 2016	1:00	Fiesta Bowl	Oklahoma	Houston
December 31, 2015	12:00	Peach Bowl	Michigan State	Baylor

I believe Houston wins out (including a win over Navy) to be the Group of Five representative. The Big XII is going to be interesting. At this point, I have Oklahoma State as winning the Big XII but not winning out. Baylor and Oklahoma also will make it in but not win out. That could all change on a dime if certain things happen. It could be anywhere from one to three teams in. I can’t see TCU getting back in but you never know. Stanford should still win the Pac-12 but I think they will lose to Notre Dame, and then beat one of UCLA, USC, or Utah to win the Pac-12 Championship. At this point, the Pac-12 has almost assured themselves of not being in the CFP. This week may not reveal much other than a bit of a clearer Big Ten and Big XII picture. The following week, we have a big-ass footballgasm coming so that should really shake out Who’s In (as ESPN says probably about 100 times a day…quadruple that on Saturdays).

Finally, the rest of the bowl picture:

January 2, 2016	10:15	Cactus Bowl	Colorado State	Washington State
January 2, 2016	6:45	Alamo Bowl	TCU	Utah
January 2, 2016	3:20	Liberty Bowl	Ole Miss	Kansas State
January 2, 2016	12:00	TaxSlayer Bowl	Florida State	Georgia
January 1, 2016	1:00	Citrus Bowl	Michigan	LSU
January 1, 2016	12:00	Outback Bowl	Texas A&M	Wisconsin
December 30, 2015	10:30	Holiday Bowl	Northwestern	USC
December 30, 2015	7:30	Music City Bowl	Penn State	Arkansas
December 30, 2015	3:30	Belk Bowl	Pittsburgh	Tennessee
December 30, 2015	12:00	Birmingham Bowl	Memphis	Auburn
December 29, 2015	9:00	Texas Bowl	Mississippi State	Texas Tech
December 29, 2015	7:30	Arizona Bowl	Rice	New Mexico
December 29, 2015	5:30	Russell Athletic Bowl	North Carolina	West Virginia
December 29, 2015	2:00	Armed Forces Bowl	Arizona*	Utah State
December 28, 2015	5:00	Quick Lane Bowl	Virginia Tech	Kentucky*
December 28, 2015	2:30	Military Bowl	Duke	Navy
December 26, 2015	9:15	Foster Farms Bowl	Nebraska	UCLA
December 26, 2015	5:45	Independence Bowl	NC State	Missouri
December 26, 2015	3:30	Pinstripe Bowl	Louisville	Illinois
December 26, 2015	2:20	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Arizona State**	Louisiana Tech
December 26, 2015	2:00	Sun Bowl	Miami	Oregon
December 26, 2015	11:00	St. Petersburg Bowl	Western Kentucky	USF
December 24, 2015	8:00	Hawaii Bowl	Temple	BYU
December 24, 2015	12:00	Bahamas Bowl	Marshall	Bowling Green
December 23, 2015	8:00	GoDaddy Bowl	Toledo	Arkansas State
December 23, 2015	4:30	Poinsettia Bowl	Ohio	San Diego State
December 22, 2015	7:00	Boca Raton Bowl	Cincinnati	Western Michigan
December 22, 2015	3:30	Idaho Potato Bowl	Air Force	Northern Illinois
December 21, 2015	2:30	Miami Beach Bowl	Middle Tennessee	Akron***
December 19, 2015	9:00	New Orleans Bowl	Southern Miss	Georgia Southern
December 19, 2015	5:30	Camellia Bowl	Central Michigan	South Alabama
December 19, 2015	3:30	Las Vegas Bowl	California	Nevada
December 19, 2015	12:00	New Mexico Bowl	Old Dominion	Boise State
December 19, 2015	12:00	Cure Bowl	Buffalo***	Appalachian State

A bit of a legend here: * – not enough Big Ten bowl teams; ** – not enough Big XII bowl teams; *** – not enough AAC bowl teams.

At this point, I see 81 bowl-eligible teams at the end of the season. Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough to fill all the bowl slots with one team left over. I predict that team will be UL-Lafayette. Again, a lot can change. As of right now, there are 63 bowl-eligible teams. Either Buffalo or Akron will clinch this week and there is a possibility that up to 15 other teams can clinch as well. Chances are that won’t happen. I see about 70 bowl-eligible teams going into American Thanksgiving week meaning there will be a lot of competition for those last few spots.

A few notes on my bowl predictions at this point:

• The top three teams that would miss out on the big boy bowls would be Michigan, TCU, and LSU. LSU is almost certainly done but TCU and Michigan can easily play their way back in considering their schedule the rest of the way.
• I don’t see Texas making it to a bowl game. No way they win both of their last two games. Charlie Strong better get on that Miami job ASAP.
• I am calling for one upset the next couple weeks and that’s Nebraska beating Iowa on Black Friday. Nebraska needs this one win to go bowling and I think they will pull it out (thus ruining Iowa’s CFP chances).
• The following teams would be going to their first bowl games: Georgia Southern (New Orleans), Old Dominion (New Mexico), Appalachian State (Cure).

I have a feeling I may be way off on these. But you know what means? Most of the other experts (I am not calling myself an expert here by any means) will be way off as well. It all balances out. I think.

For you college football fans out there that have one of the specialty packs, there are two MACtion games tonight. Tomorrow, the NFL Thursday nighter and two college games. Enjoy!

Week 10 Short NFL Recap – Sponsored by Big Dud

Wow, the Cowboys are bad. Like really bad. I know Tony Romo will be coming back soon but is this team too far gone? I think they are. Tony will help them to a few more wins but he won’t be bringing them back for a Wild-Card spot or anything like that. I mean if the rest of the team can’t perform well enough to score more than 6 points against Tampa Bay, then they won’t just magically get better. They should release a lot of dead weight and guys who are basically locker room cancer (ahem, Greg Hardy). Trade Dez Bryant for something since he’s shown he’s basically out for Dez and Dez only and start again. It’s worked in the past and I think if they built it correctly again they can get back to prominence.

Hey there were other things that happened over the past two days:

Cincinnati lost! And to the Texans. Damn. And they looked horrible doing it. Are these the “real” Bengals or was this just an aberration? I guess we have to ask the same thing about the Texans. Let’s be honest, the AFC Dirty South is a terrible division and the NFL deserves to have a 10-loss division champ. I just don’t know if it will be Houston or not.

Green Bay lost! And to the Lions. Damn. That entire team looked shitty. A-a-ron isn’t the same A-a-ron of earlier this season. This team is falling apart while the Vikings are just motoring past them. I would not be surprised now to see Minnesota take the NFC North this season, meaning the Packers would have to fight for a Wild-Card spot. Not easy in the NFC.

New England won! A close game for sure with a couple of interesting (read: controversial) calls. But the Patriots pulled it out yet again. My guess is they will go 15-0 and then lose the season finale in Miami to a Dolphins team that signed some shitty QB because Tannehill couldn’t do the job (think Jason Campbell).

Denver lost! Wow, Peyton Manning was a dumpster fire in that game. Absolutely brutal on a day he breaks Brett Favre’s passing yards record. And to the Chiefs! Ugh.

It now seems like there is one dominant team in each conference (Carolina and New England), one semi-dominant team that’s kind of out of nowhere (Minnesota and Cincinnati), one decent division champ who will get the #3 spot by default (Arizona and Denver), and then a really shitty division champ who may not even deserve to be in the playoffs (NY Giants and Indianapolis). The middle of the pack has become very crowded and with seven weeks to go I think I can confidently say it will go down to the wire this season. Here is how I see things shaking out:

AFC		NFC
Division Champs		Division Champs
1	New England (East)	1	Carolina (South)
2	Cincinnati (North)	2	Minnesota (North)
3	Denver (West)	3	Arizona (West)
4	Indianapolis (South)	4	NY Giants (East)
Wild-Card Spots		Wild-Card Spots
5	Pittsburgh	5	Green Bay
6	Buffalo	6	Washington

 

OK hear me out. I have a feeling I have eleven picks out of the twelve most of you would pick at this point. One of these things is not like the other (sing along!). No I am not smoking crack right now. I have picked the Washington Redskins to win the last wild card spot in the NFC. Here is my reasoning:

• The Skins have, arguably, the hottest quarterback in November in Kirk Cousins. The guy has somehow been on fire. RG Who?
• The Skins overall have played quite well. Well, at least well enough not to lose which has been an issue for the better part of the last decade.
• The Falcons are not for real. Matty Ice has turned into Matty Lukewarm Soup. The team around him is faltering. Yes they have a two-game cushion on the Skins but that will evaporate, mostly because they haven’t played Carolina yet.
• The Skins have a ridiculously easy division to play in, whereas other contenders like the Bears and Seahawks don’t.

There are other reasons. I also put them there partially to piss some people off. Can you imagine, considering so many people want Washington to change their team name, and they make the playoffs? People would be pissed and I would be happy.

Anyway, enough of the NFL for now. College football tonight and tomorrow (with one game tonight on TSN3 and TSN5). NFL back, along with more college football, this Thursday.

Week 11 College Football Recap – Sponsored by the Smack-12

As in smacked into irrelevance. The poor Pac-12. They were still holding on for dear life, hoping among hope that the dominoes fell into place and they could put a team in the College Football Playoff. Well, for starters, they had to have Stanford and Utah win their games on Saturday. At least one of them would do it and both were favourites so everything should be alright going into Week 12 correct? Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso would be so proud). Stanford has to comeback against Oregon, only to fall short on a two-point conversion gone wrong. So now it was up to Utah. They were facing Arizona. No problem right? Well the Fighting RichRods decided to put the final nail in the Pac-12 coffin by beating the Utes in overtime. Better luck next year I guess.

Rest of the Fun-Time Recap

That was closer than it should have been. Two games fit this sentence. Clemson struggled with a pretty bad Syracuse team. You have to wonder if the Carrier Dome noise got to the Tigers but they can’t afford to look like this the last two weeks of the season going into the ACC Championship. As for Oklahoma State they got an even bigger scare. They didn’t take the lead on Iowa State until 3:06 was left in the fourth quarter. Memories of 2011 were flooding Ames on Saturday as many thought it was going to be deja-vu all over again. Fortunately for the Pokes they were able to barely pull this one out as they now head home to Stillwater to face Baylor in another huge Big XII showdown. Yeah this back-loaded schedule is working out perfectly. Speaking of the Big XII…

Don’t count Baylor out yet and don’t count Oklahoma in yet. Two things happen with this obviously back-loaded Big XII sked: 1) It allows teams to make big moves up the CFP rankings and 2) on the flip side, it makes it very difficult for any team to run the table down the stretch. Oklahoma looked like the better team in Waco. Saying that, the Sooners still have TCU and Oklahoma State left on their slate. I can honestly say I am not liking their chances of winning both games. Baylor, on the other hand, has those same two teams, plus Texas, left. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they won all three. It’s been that kind of season in college football.

Hell, don’t even put Bama in yet! Will the Tide win next week against the Southwest Texas School for the Deaf (or whatever FCS team they are playing)? Yes. Will they win the Iron Bowl? Yes. Will they win the SEC Championship over Florida? Hmmmm….that will be a tough game for Alabama. Should be a good one. Won’t put them in the CFP yet but the way they are playing I don’t see anyone stopping them.

The Hawkeyes better play better than that. They have two games remaining. Home against Purdue and at Nebraska on Black Friday. Two games they should win. The issue is, they really have to blow these two teams out of the water. Otherwise, unless other things happen for the teams around them in the rankings, they won’t get into the top 4 come conference championship week. What it comes right down to is this: Iowa must beat Purdue huge, beat Nebraska by a healthy margin, beat tOSU for the Big Ten Championship and THEN they will be in the top four but not before.

And that ends LSU’s chances…I think. You can’t say they are out of the New Year’s Six race yet but it sure looks like it. And now we can say Leonard Fournette has allowed a bunch of players into the Heisman race. I figured the game against Bama was an aberration. I was wrong…sort of. Arkansas played really well as Bret Bielema somehow finds a way to get his team to the win. So they beat LSU in Death Valley at night yet they lose to Toledo at home. Gotcha.

Now that was fun to watch. Michigan’s double overtime win over Indiana was fantastic to watch unless you were a Hoosier football fan. Why Indiana passed the ball on fourth and goal in the second overtime period rather than run it (you know, the same thing they had done over 20 times in a row at that point) is beyond me. They should have passed on third down so they could go back to their bread-and-butter on fourth. Hindsight is always 20-20 though so we will leave it at that. As for the Wolverines, they are STILL in the New Year’s Six conversation. I actually have them in my top 12 so there’s still hope although they have to get through Ohio State to do it.

Wouldn’t that have been crazy? Kansas….KANSAS!…was oh so close to upsetting TCU. And it would have been the upset of the year BY FAR! And that would have made it a lot of fun except for TCU fans. Really, even though TCU won, that should be their nail in the coffin when it comes to the CFP. Their chances were slim but now they should be gone regardless. I don’t care if they score 100 on Baylor and do the same against Oklahoma. That game should keep them out.

Is that the last we’ve seen from Everett Golson? I always thought his stats up until this past Saturday were deceiving. To watch him you would think he was entirely average. Not the same Golson from when he brought Notre Dame to the BCS National Championship. This game kind of proved it. Plus Sean Maguire stepped up in a way that not many could have seen. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimbo went with Maguire the rest of the way.

Don’t look now but Wazzu is 7-3. Washington State has done very well in the Pac-12 this year. And has also lost to Portland State. Typical of this college football season. If they had won that game (like they should have), they would have been 8-2 and probably in the top 20 by now. And there would have been New Year’s Six whispers. Yes it has been that crazy this year.

Keenan is the man. Keenan Reynolds is now the sole owner of the FBS Rushing touchdown career record. He has 81 now. I wonder if he could make it to 90? Probably.

And that’s why Houston should get the New Year’s Six spot. And to be honest, a Big XII invite. That comeback win over Memphis was epic and showed why this team is in the driver’s seat for that NYS spot. The noon game on Black Friday against Navy will decide the AAC West. If, for some reason, Houston loses, there will be more chaos for sure (unless Navy wins out).

Speaking of the AAC, how bout dem Owls….uh oh. Wow, did USF ever lay a beating on Temple. It wasn’t even close. That’s the Temple team we all remember from, well, every other season before this one. They still should close out the AAC East but that loss all but assures they won’t be playing in a big boy bowl this year.

Um, Clemson may want to be very worried now. North Carolina has destroyed Duke and Miami in consecutive weeks. Like absolute destruction. Honestly, over the last two weeks, no team (maybe save Alabama) has looked nearly as good as the Tar Heels. Worst part is they still haven’t clinched the Coastal division as that pesky Pitt Panthers team keeps hanging around. A win over Virginia Tech this weekend would clinch it for the Heels and set up the ACC Championship which should garner a lot of interest now.

I don’t get how it happened that fast. Georgia Tech’s fall from the top of the ACC Coastal is mind-boggling. They look so bad this year and compared to last year it just defies logic. Paul Johnson is fine for now but man, they better come out of the gate strong next season or it could be Johnson’s job.

Mark Richt has to be an intriguing possibility. Every program with a head coach opening would kill to have Mark Richt coach their team. And wouldn’t it be hilarious if he ended up at South Carolina? The only thing funnier would be if the USC of the east hired Clemson’s defensive coordinator Brent Venables. Yes my sense of humour can be odd at times.

Charlie should take one of those jobs NOW! Charlie Strong would be stupid, I think, to stay at Texas. With a 4-6 record and a very good possibility of being home for the holidays, many Longhorns’ faithful are calling for his head. He would be wise to look at the Miami job or the USC job or some other job and truly put his name in the hat. Otherwise, at some point, be it during the off-season or early next season, he could be out of a job completely.

Nebraska is somehow one win away from being bowl-eligible. And to get that win, they have to get through Iowa in Farmageddon on Black Friday. I know technically Kansas State and Iowa State play the Farmageddon game but Iowa-Nebraska suits that name so much more.

Coach of the year? You have to give some love to Todd Monken down at Southern Miss. Ever since Larry Fedora left it was a gongshow there. Monken has brought some stability to the program and now they are 7-3 and going bowling. Also, if they beat Old Dominion on Saturday they set up a showdown during the final week against Louisiana Tech for the Conference USA West Division crown. And to think it wasn’t that long ago when this team lost 22 games in a row.

Hopefully Missouri gets one more win for Gary Pinkel. It would be nice to see at least one coach go out on a high note since so many have not over the past few years. Mizzou needs one more win and they go bowling. I think with the way the players gutted out a victory over BYU, they should be able to pull it off.

Alright, I will be doing an entire post on my early bowl predictions on Wednesday instead of putting it here and making a long post even longer. The short NFL recap is tomorrow and then it’s schedule time starting Thursday.