NCAA Basketball Conference Tournament TV Schedule

As you all know (or will know now), I subscribe to the Bell U.S. College Sports Package. This entails getting all the college football games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network (and a few from ESPN3 and the FSN – ACC feed).  It also entails getting the same thing with college basketball.  I am not really a college basketball fan but conference tournament time sometimes is fun to watch.  There are also a ton of games on at all sorts of times so it gives you some semblance of choice (at times).

For that reason, I figured it would make sense to compile a college basketball conference tournament schedule for the next two weeks. Understand that this schedule isn’t complete since TSN has only sent out info up until Mar. 11^th which is two days before the end of the regular season.

So without further adieu, here is the sked:

March-04-16	OVC Semi-Final #1	7:30 PM	SP
March-04-16	OVC Semi-Final #2	9:30 PM	SP
March-05-16	Missouri Valley Semi-Final #1	3:30 PM	CBSSN
March-05-16	OVC Championship	6:00 PM	SP
March-05-16	Missouri Valley Semi-Final #2	6:00 PM	CBSSN
March-05-16	WCC Quarter-Final #3	10:00 PM	SP
March-05-16	WCC Quarter-Final #4	11:55 PM	SP
March-06-16	Patriot League Semi-Final #1	12:00 PM	CBSSN
March-06-16	Missouri Valley Championship	2:00 PM	CBS
March-06-16	Patriot League Semi-Final #2	2:00 PM	CBSSN
March-06-16	Big South Championship	2:30 PM	SP
March-06-16	Atlantic Sun Championship	7:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	MAAC Championship	7:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	Horizon League Semi-Final #1	7:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	WCC Semi-Final #1	9:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	SoCon Championship	9:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	Horizon League Semi-Final #2	9:00 PM	SP
March-07-16	WCC Semi-Final #2	11:30 PM	SP
March-08-16	ACC First Round Game #1	12:00 PM	SP
March-08-16	ACC First Round Game #2	2:00 PM	SP
March-08-16	Horizon League Championship	7:00 PM	SP
March-08-16	NEC Championship	7:00 PM	SP
March-08-16	WCC Championship	9:00 PM	SP
March-08-16	Summit League Championship	9:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	ACC Second Round Game #1	12:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	ACC Second Round Game #2	2:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	Big Ten First Round Game #1	4:30 PM	SP
March-09-16	ACC Second Round Game #3	7:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	Big XII First Round Game #1	7:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	Big Ten First Round Game #2	7:00 PM	BTN
March-09-16	Patriot League Championship	7:30 PM	CBSSN
March-09-16	SEC First Round Game #1	8:00 PM	SP*
March-09-16	ACC Second Round Game #4	9:00 PM	SP
March-09-16	Big XII First Round Game #2	9:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	ACC Quarter-Final #1	12:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	Big Ten Second Round Game #1	12:00 PM	BTN
March-10-16	Big XII Quarter-Final #1	12:30 PM	SP
March-10-16	SEC Second Round Game #1	1:00 PM	SP*
March-10-16	ACC Quarter-Final #2	2:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	Big XII Quarter-Final #2	2:30 PM	SP
March-10-16	Big Ten Second Round Game #2	2:30 PM	BTN
March-10-16	SEC Second Round Game #2	3:00 PM	SP*
March-10-16	Mountain West Quarter-Final #1	3:00 PM	CBSSN
March-10-16	AAC First Round Game #1	3:30 PM	SP
March-10-16	Mountain West Quarter-Final #2	5:30 PM	CBSSN
March-10-16	Big Ten Second Round Game #3	6:30 PM	SP
March-10-16	ACC Quarter-Final #3	7:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	Big XII Quarter-Final #3	7:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	SEC Second Round Game #3	7:00 PM	SP*
March-10-16	Big Ten Second Round Game #4	8:30 PM	SP
March-10-16	ACC Quarter-Final #4	9:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	Big XII Quarter-Final #4	9:00 PM	SP
March-10-16	SEC Second Round Game #4	9:00 PM	SP*
March-10-16	Mountain West Quarter-Final #3	9:00 PM	CBSSN
March-10-16	Mountain West Quarter-Final #4	11:30 PM	CBSSN
March-11-16	Big Ten Quarter-Final #1	12:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	AAC Quarter-Final #1	12:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	SEC Quarter-Final #1	1:00 PM	SP*
March-11-16	Big Ten Quarter-Final #2	2:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	AAC Quarter-Final #2	2:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	SEC Quarter-Final #2	3:00 PM	SP*
March-11-16	Conference USA Semi-Final #1	4:00 PM	CBSSN
March-11-16	Conference USA Semi-Final #2	6:30 PM	CBSSN
March-11-16	Big Ten Quarter-Final #3	6:30 PM	BTN
March-11-16	ACC Semi-Final #1	7:00 PM	WSBK
March-11-16	Big XII Semi-Final #1	7:00 PM	TSN2/SP
March-11-16	AAC Quarter-Final #3	7:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	SEC Quarter-Final #3	7:00 PM	SP*
March-11-16	ACC Semi-Final #2	9:00 PM	WSBK/SP
March-11-16	Big XII Semi-Final #2	9:00 PM	TSN2/SP
March-11-16	AAC Quarter-Final #4	9:00 PM	SP
March-11-16	SEC Quarter-Final #4	9:00 PM	SP*
March-11-16	Mountain West Semi-Final #1	9:00 PM	CBSSN
March-11-16	Big Ten Quarter-Final #4	9:00 PM	BTN
March-11-16	Mountain West Semi-Final #2	11:30 PM	CBSSN
March-11-16	Big West Semi-Final #2	11:55 PM	SP
March-12-16	America East Championship	11:00 AM	SP
March-12-16	Big Ten Semi-Final #1	1:00 PM	CBS
March-12-16	SEC Semi-Final #1	1:00 PM	SP
March-12-16	MEAC Championship	1:00 PM	SP
March-12-16	Atlantic 10 Semi-Final #1	1:30 PM	CBSSN
March-12-16	SEC Semi-Final #2	3:00 PM	SP
March-12-16	AAC Semi-Final #1	3:00 PM	SP
March-12-16	Big Ten Semi-Final #2	3:30 PM	CBS
March-12-16	Atlantic 10 Semi-Final #2	4:00 PM	CBSSN
March-12-16	Big East Championship	5:30 PM	FOX
March-12-16	AAC Semi-Final #2	5:30 PM	SP
March-12-16	Mountain West Championship	6:00 PM	CBS
March-12-16	Big XII Championship	6:00 PM	TSN2
March-12-16	SWAC Championship	6:30 PM	SP
March-12-16	MAC Championship	7:30 PM	SP
March-12-16	Big Sky Championship	8:45 PM	SP
March-12-16	ACC Championship	9:00 PM	WSBK/SP
March-12-16	Southland Championship	9:30 PM	SP
March-12-16	WAC Championship	11:00 PM	SP
March-12-16	Big West Championship	11:30 PM	SP
March-13-16	Atlantic 10 Championship	1:00 PM	CBS
March-13-16	SEC Championship	1:00 PM	TSN2
March-13-16	Sun Belt Championship	1:00 PM	SP
March-13-16	AAC Championship	3:15 PM	SP
March-13-16	Big Ten Championship	3:30 PM	CBS
March-13-16	Selection Sunday	5:30 PM	CBS

A few notes:

• None of the major conferences really start their tourneys until March 8^th. That’s the day you will start to see a lot of games during the day.
• As far as I can tell, TSN only has the two Big XII semi-final games on the 11^th. They will probably have at least one game on the 12^th. I don’t know about the 13^th since there are only five games on plus the new expanded two-hour Selection Sunday show.
• Not everything is set in stone, especially when it comes to the specialty packs and MyTV broadcasts. As it gets closer to the beginning of the games on the 4^th, the schedule should, for the most part, be set.

The NCAA Tournament First Four starts March 15^th with the actual tournament (you know, the one you can do your bracket selections in) starting March 17^th.

UPDATE #1: All games originally on MyTV have been removed.  UPDATE #2: All games originally on WSBK up until the end of March 10th have been removed.  Only the ACC semi-finals and championship are on WSBK.  All ACC tournament games to appear on the specialty pack however.  UPDATE #3: Big XII Championship moved to TSN2.  UPDATE #4: SEC Tournament games on SEC Network denoted by asterisk (*) and will only be seen on Bell.  UPDATE #5: ACC Semi-Finals will only be seen on WSBK and not the specialty packs for some reason.  UPDATE #6: As of right now, the Big XII Semi-Finals and Championship game are on both TSN2 and the specialty pack.  I can see the games being moved off of the specialty pack at some point.  UPDATE #7: SEC Championship moved to TSN2.

My next mock draft is coming up soon as the NFL combine is now complete. Will be mid-next week at the latest.  God I miss football.

Also, in an unrelated note, I took a quick gander at the new plans for Bell’s skinny basic bundle. Wow, talk about terrible.  They are basically saying that unless you watch very little TV and no sports, there is no way we will allow you to save money.  The new sports package alone costs $25 and it contains TSNs 1, 2, 3, and 5 (not TSN4 for some stupid reason), the four Sportsnets, and Sportsnet One.  Not surprising but it still isn’t great.  Also, most of the pick n’ pay channels they are offering are $7 a pop.  So yeah, until true pick n’ pay comes in late 2016, I definitely won’t be changing my plan despite the fact I have way too many channels I never watch.  Sucks to be a sports fan in 2016.

Time for that dirty word again…that’s right: Realignment

I was going to do the same thing I did last year around this time: a post about how I would change things in college football as a whole. You can read it HERE if you like.  And if you will so kindly notice, none of the changes I put forward happened.  Not a single solitary one.  Fine.  Be that way NCAA.  See if I care.  To be honest, I will still watch and you know it.  Dirty bastards.  Anyway…

Realignment is not as hot a topic as it once was. Other than UAB coming back in 2017 and Coastal Carolina jumping to FBS, I don’t see any realignment for the near future.  That could all change though thanks to one conference: the Big XII.  The Big XII currently has ten teams which seems to piss everyone off except Texas.  They don’t have a conference championship game which I don’t totally care about but I would prefer if all conferences went by the same method to determine their conference champions: you know, do something that’s never really be done in college football before and have consistency across the board.

There is pressure from a few schools within the Big XII, most notably Oklahoma, to expand at least by two teams (if not four) so they can start a conference championship game. The other issue involved here is the creation of a Big XII Network, kind of like what the SEC and Big Ten have (or even the ACC and Pac-12 despite the fact those networks aren’t in the same league as BTN or the SEC Network).  Texas, because of the Longhorn Network, is, for the most part, steadfastly against most of this.  I can understand their point.  Expansion and a creation of a conference network will eat into their share of the conference pie.  Problem is, part of the reason this conference is in trouble in the first place is Texas and them not wanting to share the sandbox with any more kids.

Saying all this, let’s look at a few different scenarios of what will probably happen, either for 2016 or (most likely) 2017:

Scenario 1 – Big XII adds two teams

This seems to be the most likely scenario as it adds the requisite number of schools to have divisions. They could have a conference championship with ten teams but the title game would be a repeat of a regular season game and the conference wants to avoid that as much as possible (or at least avoid it being a guarantee).  The list of schools on the supposed shortlist are as follows:

• Cincinnati
• BYU
• Connecticut
• USF
• UCF

USF and UCF would be paired together if they were the two taken.

My best guess is that Cincinnati is almost a shoo-in here. They would be a travel partner for West Virginia so they don’t feel like they are a complete outlier in their own conference (honestly it would have been better if they were in the ACC but that’s another conversation for another day).

The other team will probably be BYU. BYU is a true national brand.  Yes they have their issues but they are a strong football and basketball program that would elevate the Big XII in the two most important sports.

So since BYU is an independent they wouldn’t have to be replaced. Cincinnati would leave the AAC and probably be replaced by Charlotte since the American would want that market more than any other out there.  I don’t believe that’s the right call (I would personally take Louisiana Tech but with Tulane already in the conference that might not make much sense) but I’m sure that’s what they would do.  In turn, C-USA would probably take either UL-Lafayette or, most likely, Arkansas State.  The Sun Belt would then, in turn, make sure that New Mexico State and Idaho stayed on as football-only members at least through 2017.

Scenario 2 – Big XII adds four teams with two of the newcomers from Florida

I’m sure this is what Oklahoma wants. This would add enough teams that, if for some reason, Texas left to become an independent, there would be enough teams to keep Power Five status.  Setting up divisions may be tricky (think of how the ACC has their divisions set up) but it can be done.  The teams would end up being Cincinnati and BYU.  In this scenario, UCF would be chosen and then USF would be brought in as a travel partner with UCF.  It gets the Big XII into Florida with two rather large schools and makes it so no teams are outliers geographically.

Just like before, BYU needs no replacement as an independent. BYUTV would be used much like many Big XII members use their local stations for early season non-conference games (at least one of them).  I’m sure they could give BYUTV a conference game as well to sweeten the pot.

The AAC would lose three members. More than likely they are replaced with Charlotte (like before), along with FIU and Florida Atlantic to replace the two Florida schools.  Again, it isn’t about the best schools, it’s about conference footprints and shit like that.

This means that C-USA will replace with UL-Lafayette, Arkansas State, and one of South Alabama, Georgia Southern, or Georgia State. The Sun Belt gets put in a tough spot.  They then have to keep New Mexico State and Idaho and probably add James Madison as soon as possible (sooner than they would want I am sure).

Scenario #3 – Big XII adds four teams with none of the newcomers from Florida

Same thing as above except instead of USF and UCF, the Big XII adds Connecticut (because fuck geography and travel costs) and Boise State. Many would say Houston or Rice but the Big XII doesn’t need another Texas team.  Plus Houston, who I would consider before Rice, is still a ways off from the rest of the Texas Big XII contingent.  So BYU and Boise State become travel partners and who knows what the hell they do with Connecticut but hey, UConn basketball right?

So, instead of three teams, the AAC loses two. Replacements would be Charlotte and probably UMass (although Buffalo has been mentioned as well).  The Mountain West loses BSU and replaces with UTEP who probably wants to be in the Mountain West anyways despite Conference USA’s best efforts to add Texas schools left and right.  Conference USA now loses two teams so UL-Lafayette and Arkansas State are probably the nods there.  The Sun Belt keeps NMSU and Idaho on as football-only.  They may add James Madison as well as a precautionary measure but who knows.

I think the only issue in all of this may be what the Sun Belt does with New Mexico State and Idaho. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Sun Belt pressure New Mexico State to put all sports in the Sun Belt.  That would be a coup for Sun Belt basketball as the Aggies have a great basketball program.  If NMSU goes for this, then Idaho is probably gone to the Big Sky with football (and out of FBS).  What the SBC does after that is anyone’s guess but Idaho feels like a bit of a noose around the conference’s neck for many reasons.

Scenario #4 – No teams are added over the next couple years

This is an interesting scenario. It could end up actually strengthening the Big XII as they can wait for other programs to step up even more and invest in their own programs before gaining entrance into the conference.  Or it may just be the death sentence (eventually) for the Big XII.

If no team is added for 2016 or 2017 my guess is one of the following things will, chances are, happen:

• Texas leaves as an independent. This may not be a bad thing for the Big XII if, shortly afterwards, they were able to invite some good programs in and hold on to their P5 status. Texas wants to keep the Longhorn Network so let them. They will be better than BYU has been as an independent but not as good as Notre Dame has it as an independent. The smaller schools in the conference (Kansas State, Iowa State, TCU) wouldn’t be averse to this.
• Oklahoma and Kansas get picked up by the Big Ten. This would be an absolute coup for the B1G and solidify them as either #2 (or #1B) to the SEC’s #1 (or #1A). Texas would probably end up as an independent anyway and the rest of the Big XII’s teams would have to fight for other conference spots.
• Oklahoma and possibly Missouri go to the Big Ten. This creates even more chaos as now the SEC would be involved. Not that Mizzou is doing bad in the SEC but I believe they will always think of themselves as an outlier, more so than Texas A&M is. The SEC will find another school not named Texas and keep on keeping on. Texas goes independent and yada, yada, yada.
• Oklahoma goes to the SEC with either Oklahoma State or another school of the SEC’s choosing. This would make Missouri a bit more happy in their current state. If OSU goes with the Sooners it’s huge for them. Plus they have the money to put into their program if need be. Same as above, Texas is an indy and the rest of the conference is kind of fucked.
• Oklahoma goes to the SEC, Missouri and Kansas go to the Big Ten. Same as above really.
• Larry Scott finally stops screwing around and invites the Texahoma 4 (Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State) to the Pac-12 and obliterates the Big XII in the process. This would be the ultimate screw you to the Big XII and ending of the conference for sure. It would cause a trickle-down effect for sure as the AAC and Mountain West would be watching VERY closely as to who doesn’t get picked up. Those two conferences would be light years ahead of the rest of the Group of Five and quite a bit behind the new Power Four.

So really, this is the last thing most of the Big XII wants. Texas probably doesn’t care since they could easily thrive in the Pac-12 or as an independent.  Oklahoma (and to a lesser extent Kansas and Oklahoma State) have some clout to go to another Power Five conference.  The rest (except for the Longhorn tag-along to the Pac-12) would no longer be a big-time conference team.  This would be realignment insanity never seen before.  In the end though, it may end up being good for college football.  I’m trying to stay positive here.

In the end, the Big XII has a big decision to make. If it weren’t for the Longhorn Network (and ESPN helping Texas with it), this would have been done long ago.  The Big XII would be back to twelve teams for 2016 and no one would have batted an eye.  Instead we have this shitshow.  It’s like the Southwest Conference never died; they just morphed into this new conference with the same kind of idiocy and ridiculousness that you probably wouldn’t find in any other conference (which is basically the truth).  Could be an interesting month or two coming up.  Stay tuned.

I am assuming sometime in the next two weeks I will put out a second version of my mock draft. With the combine starting this Friday, a lot will change in the draft rankings.  Other than that we are into the dark time of the college football season unless something major happens like what I mentioned in this post.  I will be putting out a college basketball conference tournament schedule at some point for you college basketball fans out there.  Again, expect that in the next week or so with updates up until Selection Sunday.

It’s time! It’s time! It’s……mock draft time (Version 1)

I can just hear the boos and jeers now. You know, if people cared.

It is time to start thinking of the NFL Draft. No, I do not follow spring practice nor do I watch spring games.  I think they are pointless unless someone has a major injury.  Then many (including me) will be openly inquiring as to why they have such long spring practices and serious spring games.  But I digress…

This is the first version of my mock draft. Meaning this will not resemble in the slightest what will actually happen on draft day.  So here are my picks followed by a bit of an analysis (only a bit for now since why fully analyze something that’s probably almost completely wrong):

1	Tennessee	Laremy Tunsil, T, Ole Miss
2	Cleveland	Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State
3	San Diego	Noah Spence, DE, Eastern Kentucky
4	Dallas	Jalen Ramsey, DB, Florida State
5	Jacksonville	Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida
6	Baltimore	Ronnie Stanley, T, Notre Dame
7	San Francisco	Myles Jack, LB, UCLA
8	Miami	Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State
9	Tampa Bay	Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson
10	NY Giants	DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon
11	Chicago	A’Shawn Robinson, DT, Alabama
12	New Orleans	Mackensie Alexander, CB, Clemson
13	Philadelphia	Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State
14	Oakland	Joshua Garnett, G, Stanford
15	Los Angeles	Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss
16	Detroit	Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor
17	Atlanta	Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech
18	Indianapolis	Taylor Decker, T, Ohio State
19	Buffalo	Robert Nkemdiche, DE, Ole Miss
20	NY Jets	Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame
21	Washington	Shilique Calhoun, DE, Michigan State
22	Houston	Jared Goff, QB, California
23	Minnesota	Michael Thomas, WR, Ohio State
24	Cincinnati	Sheldon Rankins, DE, Louisville
25	Pittsburgh	Leonard Floyd, LB, Georgia
26	Seattle	Jarran Reed, DT, Alabama
27	Green Bay	Reggie Ragland, LB, Alabama
28	Kansas City	Jack Conklin, T, Michigan State
29	Arizona	Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State
30	Carolina	Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State
31	Denver	Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis

A few notes:

• Laremy Tunsil is quickly becoming more and more of a consensus #1 pick. Not because he is the best player on the board (although he’s top 5). It has more to do with Tennessee desperately needing line help to protect Marcus Mariota (or Marioto as Commissioner Gingersnaps said).
• I don’t think the Browns can pass up Joey Bosa at the #2 spot. While they need a quarterback badly, when a chance at the best player in the draft comes up past the #1 spot then you take it unless you have a real good reason not to.
• Speaking of quarterbacks, I do not have a quarterback in the top 10. The first QB to be taken I believe will be Carson Wentz at #13 to Philadelphia. At this point it has become a bit of a pick’em between Wentz, Jared Goff, and Paxton Lynch as all three seem to have equal value at this point.
• Only two times that I can tell (Cleveland and San Francisco) need quarterbacks that are in the top 10. I could see a trade to move up and grab one but it’s not a big possibility at this point.
• Finally a reminder that New England does not get a first round pick because Tommy Boy broke his phone on purpose (Bad Tommy).

Right now it’s a crapshoot. I am sure you could look at any mock draft and compare it to what actually happens in the first round and show that most of them are very far off.  A lot will be decided at the cattle call, er, I mean, combine.  Many players have climbed the draft rankings and have fallen off the cliff just from those days at the combine alone.

In other news, we may end up getting the Pac-12 Network here in Canada. I don’t know in what form since there are regional networks inside one big network but it’s a good sign.  The network has been authorized for distribution by the CRTC.  I would say this means it’s just a matter of time before we all get it but that isn’t the case.  Especially since every provider has a slightly different lineup of channels.  Again, hopefully by the end of 2016, this becomes less of an issue (not less cost just less of an issue).

The Super Bore Recap

Good lord that was sloppy. Super Bore is the perfect name for that game.  It’s too bad considering the storylines coming in to it.  Let’s begin the recap shall we?  I will go over some tweets I did and saw (my Twitter handle is @LikeABauce1978) and go through the game with the help of them.

Betty White – She resurrected the dab and made it appropriate for white people to do it all in two seconds.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

Phil SEEMS – To pair a guy like Jim Nantz with this tool is something that bugs me about sports broadcasting in general (and something I have touched on before): why can’t they have two good guys in the booth?  I just don’t understand it.

The MVPs – It was kind of cool seeing all the living Super Bowl MVPs there despite the fact it made the opening ceremonies start approaching Olympic-length.  I am also sure the NFL is VERY happy that neither O.J. Simpson nor Aaron Hernandez were Super Bowl MVPs.

Tom gets no respect – Poor Tom Brady.  Getting no respect from the fans.  The only Super Bowl MVP booed.  Wait I take that back.  It’s not poor Tom Brady.  He’s got it all.  Kind of a shame he gets the reactions he gets but he has put some of that on himself.

Peyton likes Gatorade – It would have been better if they announced Peyton’s previous Super Bowl MVP award and cut to a camera shot of him in the can taking a pre-game dump.

The first Broncos drive should have been a harbinger for things to come – Hindsight being 20-20 we should have seen how craptastic the Super Bowl was going to be after the Broncos first drive stalled and Brandon McManus had to hit the field goal instead.  If there was a tagline that would have been attached to this game it should have been Stalled Drives.

OK we get it Jim – Did Nantz get some sort of kickback for every time he promoted the halftime show?  He was talking about it at the 7 minute mark of the first quarter.  It was ridiculous.

Helen Mirren – If you didn’t get the opportunity to see the Helen Mirren commercial on drunk drivers do so.  It was fantasic.  Her telling drunk drivers they are basically pieces of shit was awesome (in her own British way).

The Mike Carey Curse – Man this guy is officiating kryptonite.  Even when he gets it right (according to most), the officials go in the opposite direction.  For example, the first Carolina challenge should have been successful.  It was a catch.  But the booth said there was not enough evidence to overturn.  I don’t know what they were looking at but that was their call.  Carey had (as far as most of us could tell, correctly) said it should be overturned and called a catch.  The refs did not concur.  Poor Mike.

Where was this Cam all season? – Is what most teams were asking.  He was pretty bad.  It was punctuated on two plays.  First, the fumble thanks to Von Miller’s strip sack on him that was recovered for a Broncos touchdown.  And second, when he fumbled late and looked like he quit on the play and didn’t dive for the ball.  Two plays that, during the season, seemed like ones that would never happen.  He just seemed off.  Who knows why.  Not saying the Broncos’ D wasn’t good (because it was awesome) but Cam just wasn’t Cam.  Frustrating if you’re a Panthers fan (or a Panthers’ bandwagon jumper).

Aqib Talib – The only guy among the Broncos defense that didn’t have a good game was this guy.  If Commissioner Gingerhammer’s two-strikes-and-you’re-out rule had been in effect (two personal fouls and you’re ejected), Talib would have been gone pretty damn early.  I’m surprised he played this poorly but it was arguably the only thing that kept the Panthers in the game offensively.

Kony 2012…plus four – Talk about a coming out party.  No I’m not talking about various members of the Denver defense.  I am talking about Kony Ealy who burst onto the national scene with his performance in a losing cause.  He was the Panther defense for a good part of the night.  If Carolina had somehow won the thing, he would have easily taken home the MVP trophy.  He was that dominating.

Oh that halftime show – It was great.  Except for the part when the white guys were involved.  That part wasn’t that good.  Honestly, why do they keep putting acts on that really have no reason to be there.  I’m sure at least one member of Coldplay wondered why the FA Cup final was being played in San Francisco.  Also, they aren’t the type of musical act to get fans to stay hyped during a long halftime.  Beyonce and Bruno Mars are the types of acts they want.  They should always go back and look at Michael Jackson and see how a show should be done.  Or the Justin Timberlake one.  Finally, if Beyonce had had a wardrobe malfunction it would have been the greatest halftime show in the history of ever.

But let’s look at the positives – I went to the 1996 Grey Cup in Hamilton.  The game most people know for three things: 1) the crazy amount of snow (hence the nickname the Snow Bowl), 2) the insane catch by Downtown Eddie Brown and 3) the late Doug Flutie fumble controversy that propelled the then-hated Argos to victory.  Lost in all this was the fact that the halftime show at that event was The Nylons.  Yes, The Nylons.  And not, for you How I Met Your Mother fans, Robin Daggers.  So yeah, maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

Does Ted Ginn (n Juice) hate contact THAT much? – He looked like he was petrified every time a defender got within three yards of him.  It’s actually quite surprising but underlies the fact that he will never be more than a #3 receiver and that’s probably the big reason.  It’s sad because he has so much speed.

Wade Phillips – To be honest, if they could have, the MVP should have gone to Phillips.  The guy did a masterful job with the Broncos defense all season but especially in the playoffs.  He is a classic case of excellent coordinator but mediocre-to-bad head coach.

Super Bowl Babies – Who in the holy fuck gave the greenlight for that ad campaign?  “Hey guys, let’s talk about fans of the winning team fucking each others’ brains out after the game and making babies.”  It was creepy and ridiculous.  This NFL Family advertising thing has to end and yesterday.

Marshawn Lynch – It looks like he won’t be getting fined anymore.  In the third quarter, he sent out a cryptic tweet with his shoes tied up on a wire and a peace sign emoji which seemed to signal he was done.  Richard Sherman tweeted about it being an honour to have played on the same field as him so it looks like we have seen the last of Beast Mode.  Frustrating but entertaining all the time.

Eli’s reaction – Good lord that was comedy gold.  Eli’s reaction to the Broncos essentially clinching the win was good.  His reaction compared to everyone else in that box was priceless.  He looked like he saw a ghost.  Basically, now he can’t be the family favourite anymore in any way since Peyton is either the same or better than him at EVERYTHING (except beating the Patriots more often than losing to them).

Somebody is gonna get paid – And that somebody is Von Miller.  Man what a game he had.  And he becomes a free agent.  He should get big bucks.  My guess is he will be the highest paid defensive player by the time the Hall of Fame Game comes around in the summer.

Peyton ain’t goin’ to no Disneyworld – He’s gonna get shitfaced with a whole batch of motherfucking BUDWEISER!!!!  That guy is marketing gold.  It’s amazing how a guy who looks like he has zero personality and a brother who looks like his IQ might start with a 6 could be such an amazing sports marketer.  The guy’s a genius and so smooth with throwing in little verbal cues to all his sponsors.  The hug and kiss with the Papa John’s guy was probably the icing on the marketing cake (although it was a bit odd).

And that’s all there is folks. Denver wins 24-10 in a rather mediocre game.  The end of another football season.  Other than the NFL draft there is almost nothing to keep us occupied until the summer.  This means that someone, somewhere, must do something stupid to garner some news for the Shield since they almost don’t seem to care whether the news is good or bad.

I plan on doing my first crack at the NFL Draft in the next week (now that I know the exact order). Tennessee…you are now on the clock.

How Did I Do? – Part B

I am still in a bit of shock that my predictions, overall, did so well. A few of my selections were horrendous so I don’t know how that happened.  So let’s break down how I did and even look at a few things that weren’t in the Stassen calculations.

I Shat the Bed

Let’s start with the bad. These picks I definitely shat the bed with.

Missouri – I finally relented and put Mizzou tied at the top of the SEC East with Georgia.  After having them much lower in the previous two seasons and the Tigers exceeding my expectations both times, I figured I would put them at the top.  Bad move.  Missouri played uninspired football at times, Gary Pinkel is now gone, and they finished well down in the second-best division in the two-division SEC.  They even stayed home for bowl season.  Not good.

Georgia Tech – This whole section could have centred around this team.  Good lord, other than one game (that amazing win over Florida State), they were awful.  I really do not know how this team could fall so far.  It’s not like they had a massive change in personnel.  They returned the same coaching staff.  It almost feels like last year was the actual illusion and this is the actual Ramblin’ Wreck.  All of a sudden, Paul Johnson finds himself on a little bit of a hotter seat, something I didn’t think would happen so soon in Hotlanta.

UCF – It feels like every bad pick was a team that I predicted to be way better than they actually ended up being.  UCF would have probably easily lost a relegation game to the FCS.  They were that bad.  George O’Leary resigned by moving to a higher position.  Former CFL all-star Danny Barrett couldn’t right the ship.  It was a whole batch of terrible down in Orlando.  But I guess there is only one way to go but up and it seems like every year there is a team that surprises in the AAC so why not the Knights next season?

Georgia State – The one pick where I put them so low and they exceeded expectations.  Damn you Trent Miles!  The Panthers, somehow, picked themselves up off the floor and made their way to the first bowl game in school history.  An impressive turnaround for a program that many wondered if they were even fit for FBS football after not performing too well in their short FCS stint.  And now with a new field coming (the old Turner Field for this coming season I believe), everything is looking good for GSU.

And now…..the awesome

I am truly amazed at how some of my individual team and full conference picks went. Truly amazed.

The entire Big Ten – My predictions tied for the best of any preseason prediction out there.  I was spot on with five teams, all in the Big Ten East, and was close with every other team.  Not that the Big Ten was super difficult to predict (maybe a bit in the middle of the standings in the West division) but still, I did good!

Clemson – There weren’t many people predicting Clemson to run the table.  I was one of them.  I figured they would get to the College Football Playoff undefeated and that’s exactly what happened.  Then again, I also figured they wouldn’t win their semi-final game so you can’t win em all.

Kansas and Eastern Michigan – I’ll put these two teams together since I think you would have to have no college football knowledge or REALLY wanted to go out on a limb to not put either of these two programs last in their conference or division.  These were easy.

MAC and Conference USA – Two Group of Five conferences where, especially in one division in each conference, it wasn’t shaping up to be too easy to get everything right.  But hey, if you don’t understand the tone of most of this article by now (you’re probably dumb) let me get you up to speed…a lot of my predictions were really good.  In both conferences, I received six points.  Like in golf, the lower the score the better.  This means I was, overall, only six spots different for the ENTIRE CONFERENCE.  Pretty impressive eh?  The MAC was probably the most impressive since I was exactly correct on eight of the thirteen teams.  If it wasn’t for my too-low pick for Buffalo I would have been almost perfect.  Yay me!

Other predictions I made

Battle of the Techs – I do a Mega-Quatro-Post on the biggest games of the upcoming season.  For Week 11 this year, I had down Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech as one of the biggest games of the week.  Good lord was I wrong.  The Hokies had to scratch and claw their way to get to a bowl in Frank Beamer’s final season.  And I already discussed the shitpile that the Yellow Jackets were.  Most of my picks for games of the year weren’t bad but this one wasn’t even close.

Picking games for networks – This is a very inexact science considering some of the times games are on don’t even come close to matching what is predicted.  Saying that, I erred fairly big a few times:

• Auburn at Texas A&M – I had them as the SEC on CBS night game this year. It ended up as the primetime SEC Network game. Yikes.
• Kansas at Oklahoma State and Arizona State at California – Looking back, I should have figured FOX would not put these games on the main network (I even stated the KU-OSU game would probably be changed to a Pac-12 affair) but I went with my gut and I was wrong. Stupid Bossman.
• Rutgers at Wisconsin – I had this pegged as a mid-afternoon ABC national game. Boy was I wrong. It ended up on BTN at noon. Same thing happened a few weeks later with Nebraska at Rutgers as they got the mid-afternoon BTN slot. Really, other than Rutgers hosting Ohio State in primetime, I shouldn’t have put Rutgers anywhere near ABC.

The Coaching Hot Seat List – I had a loooooooong list of coaches on the Hot Seat List.  Two of them, however, did pretty much the exact opposite.  First, Kevin Wilson got Indiana to a bowl game for the first time in what feels like forever.  And Willie Taggart got USF within a hair of going to the AAC Championship.  Impressive stuff.  Other than that it was a good list and a few of the coaches were actually shitcanned (including Tim Beckman, my #1 Hot Seat draft choice who got fired just before the season began).

My Heisman ballot – Good lord this again.  There’s a reason I had Derrick Henry in the honourable mention portion of my ballot: I figured he would split carries almost evenly with the other running backs that he wouldn’t break out as the star.  Boy was I wrong.  Then again, many were wrong because I don’t remember seeing Henry any higher than fifth on anyone’s list.

I picked Trevone Boykin to win it. He was good but not great.  My #3 choice, Deshaun Watson, actually ended up #3.  And for those who somehow got Christian McCaffrey on their preseason Heisman list, good for you since I am sure most didn’t.  And another season goes by where they are smart to never give me a Heisman ballot.

Postseason predictions – Ok so I had two of the four teams of the College Football Playoff selected correctly.  I even got Bama right in the national championship (although I had them losing to TCU).  I also had three more teams in my New Year’s Six picks that actually made it there.  So five out of twelve is pretty good considering everything.  My biggest gaffes were having Missouri finish #12 (and the top team not selected for the NY6), Boise State finish #8 (and in the Fiesta Bowl), and Oklahoma State unranked and relegated to the Liberty Bowl.  But, all in all, I didn’t do too bad.

So there you have it. A decent year on my part.  Hooray for me.  I wouldn’t expect a repeat performance this coming season (I’m sure not).

The Super Bowl is this Sunday. Everyone knows that.  Then we get into the football dead period other than the NFL Draft (and no, spring games aren’t exciting, they are pointless and I will not cover them).  This dead period lasts for almost six months (or a little less than five if you’re a CFL fan).  It’s a loooooooong road ahead but we can make it.  I know we can!

Super Bowl 50 Preview and How Did I Do? Part I

One of the very few NFL/College football split posts that I do. I try to keep them separate.  I would like to say it’s for your (the reader’s) sake but it’s mostly for mine.  I don’t want to confuse myself any more than I do as of this point.

Let’s start with the Super Bowl preview.

First off, if you didn’t know, the actual game is on CBS, starting just after 6:00pm on Sunday. I don’t know how you couldn’t know that but anyway.  Jimmy Nantz (does anyone call him James?) and idiot mitten Phil Simms will call the action.  When was the last time that we had a number one crew for any network that consisted of two of the best at their craft at that time?  I am thinking Al Michaels and John Madden when they were together doing Monday Night Football and then Sunday Night Football through the end of 2009.  Other than that pairing and Summerall/Madden (the greatest of all-time pairing), when we have had any broadcast team like this in the past thirty years.  I don’t think we have.  Says more about the networks themselves than the broadcasters who, for the most part, have very little control over who they work with (unless they become a big deal and can dictate more of what they do).

Alright, now let’s talk about the game. I won’t get into much detail since the pre-game show started six-and-a-half days ago so you should know about all the players’ bowel movements by now.  The reason I am combining this with a college football post is because I don’t have a lot extra to contribute that hasn’t already been said.  Here’s my preview points:

• The NFL got what they wanted for the most part. The top seed in each conference made it to the big game. On top of that, the top two seeds were in each of the conference championship games. If it wasn’t for the Panthers’ annihilation of the Cards, it would have been a full ratings coup for the shield.
• MVP Cam Newton (he should be MVP no doubt) and his offensive weapons should be interesting for the Broncos defense. I don’t know if Denver has seen anything like what the Panthers will bring on Sunday. Expect at least 24 points but don’t be surprised if they go past 30.
• If Peyton Manning doesn’t die on the field, then let’s consider that a victory. I do hope, win or lose, that he retires after the game. I think it’s about time to call it a career. Not that he can’t still play at a high level but that high level comes in short bursts nowadays, not in full games (or even halves).
• I believe the Carolina defense is a bit underrated to be honest. Denver better get their run game up to speed for this one since it looked somewhere around terrible against the Patriots. Can’t rely fully on the pass.

I have a few more points but why bother. Let’s just get to the meat of this preview: my prediction.  I predict it will be close for at least 2.5 quarters, maybe even through the end of three.  At some point, though, the Panthers will pull away and give that franchise their first Super Bowl win.  I have the final score as 34-21.  Now watch me be totally wrong.

OK now for the possibly pathetic part of my post. It’s How Did I Do? The 2016 Edition.  Part 1.  Again we are using the method concocted on the site www.stassen.com.  This site reviews all preseason predictions for college football for the various magazines and websites that do so.  Usually Phil Steele is near the top of the list and a few websites have started to stake their claim to the top spot in the past few years.

The point system is based on how far you are away from what the actual conference standings were. It’s probably the only quantitative way to do this.  If you want to know the methodology of this calculation, you can find it here.  For the 2015 season, Phil Steele was again the top magazine with a score of 131.  The top overall predictions belonged to the website Arena Fanatic who had an amazing score of 127.5.  So after much calculation, my score is (drum roll…)

HOLY SHIT it’s 132!!!!!!

Wow! This is easily the best I have ever done.  I have a feeling it was a bit of a fluke but I am going to take it.  I will go into greater detail in the second part of the How Did I Do? series (that may only have two parts and probably doesn’t warrant being called a series but I digress).