From one legend to another – this is your (very tentative) SEC on CBS schedule

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, along with a couple other games but yeah it’s very SEC heavy.

Yes Verne Lundquist is gone.  God rest his broadcasting soul since he’s not dead but he is no longer doing the SEC on CBS which is still painful in a way.  He is easily on the Mount Rushmore of college football play-by-play men along with Keith Jackson and Brent Musburger.  A while back I stated the same thing, wondering who the fourth one could be.  Well, his replacement might just be it.  Brad Nessler is also a damn legend and CBS somehow got him to replace Uncle Verne.  What a coup!  Well it was either him or Carter Blackburn and his star has fallen quite a bit since he was lured to CBS years ago as the heir apparent.  Poor guy.  Maybe he should try FOX now that they have a bazillion games a week.

Alright onto my projected schedule.  I have noted when the times are confirmed although it seems that some confirmed times have been changed after they were supposedly confirmed.  Yeah.  Anyway, here you go followed by some DEEP ANALYSIS:

 

September 9th	TCU at Arkansas (confirmed)	3:30 PM
September 16th	Tennessee at Florida (confirmed)	3:30 PM
September 23rd	Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington)	3:30 PM
September 30th	Georgia at Tennessee	3:30 PM
October 7th	Alabama at Texas A&M	3:30 PM
October 14th	Auburn at LSU	3:30 PM
October 21st	Tennessee at Alabama	3:30 PM
October 28th	Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (confirmed)	3:30 PM
November 4th	Florida at Missouri	3:30 PM
November 4th	LSU at Alabama	8:00 PM
November 11th	Florida at South Carolina	Noon
November 11th	Arkansas at LSU	3:30 PM
November 18th	Kentucky at Georgia	Noon
November 18th	LSU at Tennessee	3:30 PM
November 24th	Missouri at Arkansas (confirmed)	2:30 PM
November 25th	Alabama at Auburn	3:30 PM
December 2nd	SEC Championship Game (confirmed)	4:00 PM
December 9th	Army vs. Navy (in Philadelphia) (confirmed)	3:00 PM
December 29th	Sun Bowl (confirmed)	3:00 PM

DEEP ANALYSIS:

• This year, from what I can see, the schedule will not be heavily skewed towards the SEC West this season.  Here is the count:
  • 4 times – Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, LSU
  • 3 times – Georgia
  • 2 times – Texas A&M, Auburn, Missouri
  • 1 time – South Carolina, Kentucky
  • Not a single time – Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
• Looking at the numbers it may come as a bit of a surprise to see Arkansas at 4 and Missouri at 2.  Remember, they get the Black Friday game every year.  Also, South Carolina and Kentucky I both have in for Noon games where it is obviously not the first or second SEC choice.  As for the three no-shows, considering the pedigree, I am not surprised at all at this number for them.  Not saying all three haven’t had their moments recently (with the two Mississippi schools near the top of the rankings two seasons ago for a time) but not everyone can be on CBS (unless they do doubleheaders every week which would make the non-specialty pack citizens VERY happy).
• Most of the other SEC games will appear on either ESPN or the SEC Network.  ESPN2 gets probably a dozen at most (I would have to actually count that and I am not in the mood for it right now).  ESPNU gets very few and now with the Big Ten getting a lot of their games moving over to FOX and FS1 I can see a time very soon where no SEC games would go to ESPNU.
• Other conferences get in on the action as well!  TCU gets to appear along with Army and Navy as per usual.  The Sun Bowl again appears on CBS even though the SEC doesn’t send a team to remote El Paso (I have gone over this before a few times).  As you will also see, CBS does not have a game during Week 1 this season.  With what was available, I have a feeling CBS opted out of grabbing a game from ESPN despite the fact they don’t have the US Open tennis tournament anymore.  What does it mean?  CBS will have sweet fuck all on that weekend.  Movie of the week (probably an 80s movie starring Lou Diamond Phillips), infomercials with Billy Mays’ ghost, and reruns of 2 Broke Girls is what you will probably get.

Next up?  ABC.  This shouldn’t be too bad.  Then FOX.  Now that is one schedule I will probably butcher.  Then again, other than the games that FOX itself has said they would broadcast, it’s really a crapshoot this year.  No one knows because there is no historical basis for it.  Plus, there’s tripleheaders!  That’s a good thing right!  Just please don’t put Joe Buck on a broadcast.  Thanks.

Finally, there is 65 days until the first official college football game of the season.  I love doing the countdown.  Gets me anxious but also gets me excited for the days where I spend 14+ hours watching college football on a Saturday and accomplish absolutely nothing.  YAY!

Most Important Games of the 2017 College Football Season – Part V

Finally we get into the absolute best part of most college football seasons: American Thanksgiving.  It’s so good I go into a football coma!  And I love it!  There’s also Conference Championship Week after that which should be renamed CFP Debate Week since the debates over the polls make most years of the BCS look like a preschool scuffle.

Let us begin.  Oh, and because this is a super special week, they get six games on the list instead of five.  Don’t like it?  I file that under TFB: Too Fucking Bad.

Week 13

Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – The Iron Bowl.  CBS will probably NEVER make the mistake of not taking this game on the final regular season weekend.  They’ve learned their lesson.  All it took was both Mississippi SEC schools to tank after they made their selection of the Egg Bowl.  And ESPN reaped the rewards.  This one should be (SHOULD BE) for, at the very least, the SEC West title and if the Gus Bus is rolling along, perhaps for a coveted College Football Playoff spot.

Ohio State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Well FOX kept part of the tradition going.  Still at Noon although with the game on a three-letter network not starting with A, I don’t know if ESPN will do the super long hype job like ESPN Gameday last season for this tilt (although considering the game was a classic you can’t blame them).  This should be another huge matchup unless one of these teams shits the bed earlier in the season more than once.

Florida State at Florida (7:30, TSN3) – This is the day (more like two days) where TSN all of a sudden goes nuts and broadcasts like a dozen games.  Great for the non-specialty pack people out there as they deserve it for missing out on some great games earlier in the season.  Here’s hoping this one will be better than the last few years of this battle for the Florida Cup (I know technically Miami is involved in this too but recently I wouldn’t include them in the conversation).

Texas A&M at LSU (7:30, specialty pack) – Now that we have gone through best game in each timeslot, now we get to the next tier, which is still really good.  With the Egg Bowl going to Thanksgiving night and the SEC Network still wanting to show games on the Saturday, I can see this being the primetime affair on that network.  Amazing they would get a game like this but that’s the final regular season week for ya.

Notre Dame at Stanford (Friday, 9:30, TSN1) – First Black Friday game (potentially) to make this list.  Notre Dame should be a lot better and Stanford will be Stanford.  I am thinking FOX does not pick up this game since they already have Texas Tech-Texas that evening and might not want a game to lead into it with a tripleheader already on the Saturday.

Washington State at Washington (3:30, ABC/TSN1) – Last year, the Cougs had a chance to derail Washington’s dream season and they failed miserably.  Then they failed miserably again in their bowl game.  They did not play classic Mike Leach FOOTBAW!  The Huskies will still be a big favourite here as they are true national championship contenders but the Apple Cup can surprise at times.

Honourable mention: Miami at Pittsburgh (Friday, Noon, TSN1), Georgia at Georgia Tech (8:00, ABC/TSN4), Clemson at South Carolina (Noon, TSN5), Baylor at TCU (Noon, FOX Sports One so nowhere here), West Virginia at Oklahoma (Friday, 3:30, ABC/TSN1).  Let’s be honest, I could put another four or five games here easy and no one would bat an eye at them.  It’s just that good a week of college football.  Well, it is if it follows through on the hype (which did not happen in 2015).

Worst televised game of the week: Wyoming at San Jose State (10:15, specialty pack) – This is the worst televised game of the week.  The worst.  And it contains a team that knocked off Boise State last season.  So yeah, this is a damn good week.

Week 14

Conference Championship Week: Now including the Big XII!  I will laugh if this game ends up being a rematch of a Week 13 game.  It could happen.  West Virginia heads to Norman to face the Sooners on Black Friday.  You never know.

The only conference not involved in this is the Sun Belt and that ends in 2018 as they, too, will have a conference championship game.  Conference Championship games for everyone!

I will not rate the conference championships or have the top five.  Makes no sense.  It will almost always be the Power Five conferences unless we have an undefeated Group of Five team that could make waves in the CFP conversation.

As for timeslots, the SEC Championship, again gets its own slot at 4:00.  That’s a given.  I have a feeling the Pac-12 Championship will end up on Friday night.  It’s never worked before in that timeslot but every other game (at this point) is slated to be on Saturday.  I believe the Big XII (and FOX) will be the smart ones and put their game on at Noon against the G5 title games and leave the Big Ten and ACC to battle it out for viewers in primetime.  As of this time, the Big Ten’s championship is on at 8 on FOX and the SEC Championship is, as usual, on CBS.  Everything else is up in the air including which Sun Belt game will actually get to be aired that day on a network where we are able to watch.

Week 15

Army-Navy game of course.  And some FCS playoff action.  A nice slow week (usually) before bowl season begins.

That’s it, that’s all.  No more games to go through.  Now I plan on playing out the season and seeing how it turns out.  Hopefully my picks aren’t as bad as a lot of last year’s (and they were pretty bad).  Next up, however, will be an early look at the networks and what they will be showing this season.  I should be able to get the first three weeks correct (since they are 90% set already).  After that it’s a toss-up.  Oh well, if it is starting to get you fired up for the impending season (and it is for me) then it’s worth it.  Also, finally, we are 68 days away from the first games of the season.  We are closing in on the two-month mark!

 

Most Important Games of the 2017 College Football Season – Part IV

Now we are getting into the best part of the college football season (or worst depending on your point of view (see above)).  November.  Conference play.  Where championships can be won or lost.  And now, with the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six, more spots to contend for and more chances to screw things up.  Plus we always get a 20+ day span in there somewhere of football (college and NFL) every day.  It’s the glory days for a football fan.

Going to do three weeks in this post and the save the last (and usually, most glorious) week for the final post in this thrilling series.  Let me look up the definition of thrilling…OK thrilling is probably pushing it.

Week 10

LSU at Alabama (8:00, CBS) – For what feels like the 40^th year in a row, Tigers-Tide is your SEC on CBS primetime game of the year.  And usually, these two programs are in the top five of the SEC.  It’s been a long time since that hasn’t been the case.  Again, Ed Orgeron has a chance at being the damn governor of Louisiana if he can win this game (along with the earlier one against Auburn).

Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (4:00, FOX) – BEDLAM!  For most of the last decade, this game has been huge.  This year’s is no exception.  Problem is, it feels like a month later we will see a rematch in the brand spankin’ new (and probably sponsored by Dr Pepper) Big XII Championship game.  C’est la vie.  It’s football and it’s the Big XII so it’s defense-optional.  WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Auburn at Texas A&M (7:00, specialty pack) – I don’t know if I just have Auburn higher than most or what.  I don’t hear much about them being a contender.  I wonder if it’s the Bama effect.  Either way, I see them as a clear Top 20 team (going into the season) and the Fighting Sumlins will be fighting for their ball coach, Kevin of Sumlin, to keep his job (since I am sure anything less than 9 wins will probably mean he is turfed).

Virginia Tech at Miami (3:30, ABC) – This HAS to be the year the Canes finally get to the ACC Championship, right?  That was the entire reason they weren’t put in Florida State’s division.  Saying that, imagine what the divisions would be like if they were truly geographical (north and south)?  It would look like this:

ACC South                                                                                         ACC North

Miami                                                                                                  Boston College

Florida State                                                                                       Virginia

Georgia Tech                                                                                       Virginia Tech

Clemson                                                                                              Louisville

Carolina School #1                                                                              Pittsburgh

Carolina School #2                                                                              Syracuse

Carolina School #3                                                                              Carolina School #4

OK maybe it’s a good thing they went the way they went.  Sweet Jesus that would be divisions so lopsided that the SEC’s divisions would seem even.

Oregon at Washington (7:00, specialty pack) – Will a rejuvenated Ducks team have a chance against a much superior Fighting Petersens squad?  It wasn’t long ago that Nike U had a years-long run as the premier team in the Pac-12 North.  It will be interesting to see if Oregon can somehow keep this close or if I should focus on other games in this timeslot.

Honourable mention: Clemson at NC State (Noon, specialty pack), Stanford at Washington State (3:00, Pac-12 Network…I guess this is what happens when every team has to appear at least once on the network), Ohio State at Iowa (7:30, FOX), Texas at TCU (3:30, specialty pack), Minnesota at Michigan (Noon, ABC).

Worst televised game of the week: Bowling Green at Kent State (Tuesday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Well at least it’s not must-see football on Halloween night with this game and Miami-OH against Ohio.  This way, since I will probably be busy handing out candy and not at a Halloween party (sometimes I hate my life), I won’t have to pause the game in case something happens that I might miss.

Week 11

Florida State at Clemson (3:30, ABC/TSN1) – OK I could see this going to ABC in primetime but I already have Michigan State-Ohio State there.  So if the Spartans suck (again) and make me look like an idiot (again) I will move this game there.  Until that happens, let the disrespect towards the ACC continue.  One of the games of the year.  By this point in the season, with the ACC continuing to get better, both teams may already have a loss (I predict FSU will have one and the Tigers will have two by this game).  So this may truly be a CFP elimination game (or even a New Year’s Six elimination game).

Washington at Stanford (Friday, 10:30, FOX Sports One) – Remember the UW-Utah game last year that went to FS1 and everyone (including yours truly) was a bit miffed and perplexed at the decision (when it was obvious it was because they wanted more eyeballs to FS1 and they didn’t want to fuck around with the World Series which was on FOX that night).  Well this year they done did it again!  No issue with the World Series; just FOX putting higher quality games on FS1.  So we may miss the de facto Pac-12 North Championship.  Great.  Just great.

TCU at Oklahoma (Noon, FOX) – I think I’m going to like these FOX tripleheaders.  I guess in actuality, we are gaining a game (maybe two) a week with this.  We won’t get any less ESPN network games (or at least those with the specialty pack won’t).  I assume TSN will have the same amount of games as last season more or less.  As for this game, I predict the score will be in the 60-50 range with defenders crying for it to stop.

Georgia at Auburn (7:00, specialty pack) – I have this feeling Kirby Smart could be on the hot seat by this point of the season.  Just a feeling.  It will be interesting to see how the Gus Bus is motoring along.  If they are around the Top 10 then that Iron Bowl date becomes bigger and bigger as it approaches.

Notre Dame at Miami (7:00, specialty pack) – Catholics vs. Convicts?  Not quite.  I am sure there are as many players who have had brushes with Johnny Law in South Bend as there are The U nowadays.  It would be fun to get Jimmy Johnson to do some analysis during this game.  Not like he does a ton for FOX as it is.  But leave Lou Holtz at home.  We college football fans have heard enough from this guy (although some of it we may not have understood).

Honourable mention: USC at Colorado (8:00, FOX), Alabama at Mississippi State (Noon, TSN4), Arkansas at LSU (3:30, CBS), Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech (3:30, TSN1), Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30, ABC).

Worst televised game of the week: Akron at Miami-OH (Tuesday, 7:30, specialty pack) – I like being able to watch college football on a Tuesday night.  I really do.  But I know it will be MACtion.  And unless you have one of the better MAC teams in the game, it becomes a bit of a struggle to watch (not that anything else is on but that’s beside the point).  Also, fans hate it since it makes it tougher to go to the games, which kills the atmosphere a bit, etc. etc.  What I’m trying to say is I will watch it but I might not like myself afterwards for doing so.

Week 12

Michigan at Wisconsin (7:00, specialty pack) – Ah now we get to the shitty SEC Puffball week of college football.  You’d think other conferences would have some fantastic matchups to make up for it.  But they don’t.  It’s really weird.  This game would rate no higher than #3 in any other week.  Should be a good game but still, when this is the game of the week, it isn’t good.  I kind of hope I get to use my PVR this week and not the week following.

LSU at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – After this game it drops off pretty precipitously.  Sad really.  And this is EASILY the choice for the SEC on CBS game this week since the rest of the games suck-diddly-uck for the most part.  This is basically the put-up-or-shut-up game for both teams.  Winner may have a chance at something; loser most definitely will not.

UCLA at USC (10:30, TSN2) – See what I mean?  In many years this would have been a legitimately big game.  This year, not so much unless the Bruins surprise a lot of people.  Don’t get me wrong: they will be better than last year.  But USC should take this one in a romp.  So watch them lose like 13-9 or something. *wink*

Kansas State at Oklahoma State (8:00, ABC) – This game is getting the ABC primetime game (as far as I can tell at this point).  This game.  Yeah.  Anyway, nice to see Papa Snyder be on the ABC primetime game in what feels like decades.  Should be an intriguing coaching battle between Snyder, Mike Gundy and Mike Gundy’s hair.

Nebraska at Penn State (Noon, ABC) – Is Nebraska back?  No, not really.  I don’t think they will ever be truly back in the Big Ten.  Or at least at the same level as they were when they were in the Big Eight.  I will be interested to see how long of a leash Mike Riley gets in Lincoln considering what they fired Bo Pelini over (a bunch of consecutive four loss seasons…perish the thought).

Honourable mention: Utah at Washington (8:00, FOX), Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech (3:30, ABC), Texas A&M at Ole Miss (7:00, specialty pack), Kentucky at Georgia (Noon, CBS), Texas at West Virginia (3:30, specialty pack).

Worst televised game of the week: Buffalo at Ball State (Thursday, 7:00, CBS Sports Network) – So the MAC gets the worst game three weeks in a row.  Yikes.  And from my very scientific calculations, I see they have three of the worst four and four of the worst six.  Good god.  I mean I will still watch it since the only other game scheduled for that night is Tulsa-USF.  I am torn.  I love watching college football and to have games on more than just Saturday is awesome.  At the same time, with all the games I watch, including games like this to watch seems counterproductive.  Then again, it’s on Thursday and they do this on purpose to fit in everyone’s viewing schedule.   What a dilemma.  And no alcohol to help me out.

Only two weeks to go in this series.  The awesome American Thanksgiving week and then Conference Championship the week after.  Now that all the conferences except the Sun Belt have championship games, I think CFP rankings will be a little bit easier to figure out.  Then again, after what happened last year, it feels like every year will have at least a bit of controversy which is fine by me.  Not saying it has to be 2007 or 1990 all over again but it does keep our interest, whether we admit it or not.

Predictions start soon.  Well I guess these posts are technically prediction posts as I predict (usually wrongly) the network and time of these games.  But yeah, real predictions start soon enough.  Also, we are 74 days away.  I like summer and all but I do like those days to move fast.

 

 

Most Important Games of the 2017 College Football Season – Part III

OK I got to watch some football.  It was CFL football.  CFL PRESEASON football.  But football nonetheless.  It felt good.  It felt right.  Plus it gave me some better background noise than the hockey game.

Alright, it’s the hump post………..what I mean is it’s the third of five posts on this subject.  Like Wednesday is Hump Day because it’s in the middle of the, oh never mind let’s just get on with this.

Week 7

Auburn at LSU (3:30, CBS) – This could end up being one of the games of the year if both teams come in undefeated.  The only way to dethrone Bama is to win games like these (oh, and to also beat Bama…you need to do that too…duh).  Ed Orgeron would be named governor of Louisiana if he could somehow beat Auburn and Alabama in the same season.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, TSN3) – I have a feeling this will come back to ESPN after some time on FOX (and most notably last year on FS1).  It was fine when it was on FS1 when the Longhorns were not so good.  But now they have TOM FUCKING HERMAN at the helm so expectations are very high.  I read it somewhere that this is the first time in seven decades that both teams come into the Red River Shootout with new head coaches.  That’s pretty crazy.

Texas A&M at Florida (7:00, specialty pack) – This feels a bit meh to me but it’s third in the rankings so I have to go with it.  Either it’s going to be really close which will make it a potential GOTW candidate or Florida will win it going away.  Now watch the Aggies mop the floor with the Gators and make me look like an idiot.

Arkansas at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – The Hogs are another team that, for some reason, gives Bama fits.  I don’t understand why.  Maybe they all believe in the power of Bret Bielema and the six racks of ribs he probably ate before the game.  Who knows?  Only one definitive fact comes out of this game as of this time: Bret still has a smokin’ hot wife.  Sometimes the world is perplexing.

Oregon at Stanford (11:00, FOX Sports One) – I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one move elsewhere.  A lot depends on how the Ducks are doing since I am under the assumption that David Shaw’s boys will be good again this season.  If it doesn’t move then it’s going to suck since, well, you know.

Honourable mention: Ohio State at Nebraska (7:30, ABC), Georgia Tech at Miami (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack), Utah at USC (10:30, specialty pack), Baylor at Oklahoma State (3:30, FOX Sports One (i.e. nowhere in Canada)), TCU at Kansas State (Noon, FOX Sports Net…even worse).

Worst televised game of the week: Texas State at UL-Lafayette (Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – If this wasn’t on a Thursday night then it would be even worse.  Then again, it wouldn’t have been on ESPNU then.  If the GT-Miami game is not close then this game will get a lot of eyeballs…unless it isn’t close either.  I will still watch it.  I have no shame.

Week 8

Michigan at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Now, we’re stepping up.  This week has three huge games.  I have selected this as the most important since I am sure either one of these two teams or Ohio State has a good shot at getting to the College Football Playoff.  Oh and just so you know, the Big Ten has received an exemption to start their ABC primetime games at 7:30 rather than 8:00 this season.  Don’t know why but we get a ton of B1G football on ABC so I guess they have a tiny bit of leverage.  Plus their move to FOX means they are not shy about moving inventory to another network.

Louisville at Florida State (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – This week is pretty stacked.  The best pre-November week of the season.  Case in point: there’s a good chance that this game goes on at Noon.  Usually only a few times a season do games like this end up at Noon.  One of the ACC-A 3 (w/Clemson), this should be more exciting than last year when the Cards mopped the floor with the Noles.

Tennessee at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – This is Butch Jones’ chance.  His Vols win this game, he could go 5-6 the rest of the season, sneak into a shitty bowl game, and it wouldn’t matter.  He will have beaten Bama which is huge.  I think the Volunteers will be much better than 6-6 this season but that’s how big this game is (especially for Jones’ future in Knoxville).

USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – How often will the Bush Push be mentioned?  I hope never but it will be.  Especially if the Trojans are national championship contenders and the Irish are not too far behind.  I recall the last primetime game these two had in front of Touchdown Jesus was almost unwatchable.  Hopefully it’s better this time around (spoiler alert: it should be).

Oklahoma at Kansas State (3:30, specialty pack) – This feels like a reverse mirror possibility.  Meaning there is a good chance Bell and Rogers will fuck it up by putting the same game on ABC as you get on the specialty pack.  This tells me there is almost no quality control when it comes to the SSP/USCSP.  Anyway, if we do get this one, it should be a good one.  Bill Snyder is old enough to be Lincoln Riley’s grandfather I think.

Honourable mention: Oklahoma State at Texas (Noon, FOX), Auburn at Arkansas (6:00, specialty pack), LSU at Ole Miss (Noon, specialty pack), North Carolina at Virginia Tech (7:00, specialty pack), Oregon at UCLA (Friday, 10:30, specialty pack).

Worst televised game of the week: Purdue at Rutgers (Noon, BTN) – Ah, back to lovely Piscataway (or wherever the hell Rutgers plays).  This is the bottom of the barrel matchup of the entire Big Ten Conference season.  It will be buried by the sheer number of good early games (but let’s be honest…it would have been buried by a decent American conference game).  This is one of the reasons I am not that upset I don’t get the Big Ten Network.

Week 9

Penn State at Ohio State (3:30, FOX) – This is how you tell FOX is changing the college football broadcasting game.  Instead of putting this game in primetime where it probably belongs, they just put it in the late afternoon window.  No.  Fucks.  Given.  Now if they can just convince the CRTC that we should get the FS1 games up here then that would be the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.  As for this game, it is one of the games of the year at this point.  This will go a long way to determining who gets out of the VERY tough Big Ten East.

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (3:30, CBS) – It’s time once again for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (or Cocktail Party for short).  CBS absolutely DESPISES that name and will not use it (although Verne always got a dig or two in during the telecast).  I hope Nessler will be the same and mention some sort of drinking reference…or just show pics of the Head Ball Coach plastered somewhere.  There has to be a bunch of those somewhere online, no?

Georgia Tech at Clemson (Noon, TSN4) – By this point in the season we will have a pretty good idea of if Clemson can have a legitimate shot at repeating as national champs and if the Ramblin’ Wreck’s frustrating offense (frustrating for other teams usually) is good enough to win the usually wide open ACC Coastal.

UCLA at Washington (8:00, ABC) – Now this only gets to ABC if the Bruins are WAY better than they were last year and the Rosen One is back to form.  The Huskies are national title contenders so they will get an ABC game this season for sure (if not two or three).  This is they type of game where you just know that Keith Jackson would be welcoming all of us to blustery Seattle.  Back then it was tough to get into college football in Canada with only a few games each week.

NC State at Notre Dame (3:30, NBC) – Remember the last time these two teams played?  Hilarity ensued.  The monsoon conditions in Raleigh made for some horribly hilarious football.  It was like a trainwreck: you couldn’t look away.  The conditions should be better in South Bend as it’s not quite snow season yet.  If both teams are horrible, then I will regret putting them in this section.  And I’ll blame Brian Kelly.

Honourable mention: Texas at Baylor (3:30, FOX Sports Net…seriously?  Hmmmm maybe I should look at this one again), Mississippi State at Texas A&M (7:15, specialty pack), USC at Arizona State (10:45, specialty pack), Tennessee at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack), Utah at Oregon (11:00, Pac-12 Network…another one I might have to have a closer look at).

Worst televised game of the week: South Alabama at Georgia State (Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – This looks familiar.  Another Sun Belt game on ESPNU on a Thursday night.  This one gets some help since Stanford-Oregon State is offset by 90 minutes.  This means if this ends up being a close affair they should get more people over to watch it.  Question: why do people get all on the MAC’s case for MACtion and the mid-week games when the Sun Belt has at least one game on Thursday night pretty much all season?  Just wondering.

Hey I’m getting there.  Over halfway now.  Now we get into the REALLY good part of the season.  Well the really good part with a horrible part in the middle.  It’s like getting one of those chocolates and all of them have like almonds and peanut butter or hazelnut filling inside and then there’s that one with chicken gravy.  Yeah, exactly like that.

Two more posts and then I start “playing out” the season so to speak.  I should start having some predictions going by the end of June.  We are 77 days from the first official college football games of the season.  Yeah I am starting the countdown.  Yeah I know it’s early.  Yeah I don’t care.

 

 

Most Important Games of the 2017 College Football Season – Part II

Yes the wait is still a long one; however, this way everything seems that much better when the games begin again in late August.  At least that’s what I tell myself…

Back to the most important games of the season.  It’s going to be five posts this year, not four.  Wouldn’t want a case of verbal diarrhea for four straight blog posts (like I have done in the past).

 

Week 4

NC State at Florida State (3:30, specialty pack) – Now I understand why this week is near the bottom of the list.  Yeesh.  This is the best game of the week (arguably).  Not a bad game obviously but I am sure Wolfpack fans would not be impressed if I said a Dave Doeren-coached team was part of the GOTW.  Then again, NC State has given FSU troubles in the past so maybe this will be a classic?  Who knows?

Oklahoma at Baylor (7:30, FOX) – A couple seasons ago this would have easily been the game of the week.  My how Baylor has fallen.  Good luck to Matt Rhule dealing with that firestorm.  What this could end up being is Baker Mayfield going all Patrick Mahomes and throwing for a ton of yards and making the game last into the next morning.

TCU at Oklahoma State (3:30, specialty pack) – To be honest, with this Big Ten to FOX deal, I honestly don’t know where many of these games will go past Week 3.  I do know one thing: there are a lot more games this year on the main FOX network.  From a quick glance there’s not quite twice as many with a few tripleheaders sprinkled throughout the season.  I don’t know why I said this here since I see this game going to ESPN (and hence the specialty pack).  I guess I figured I needed to say it at some point.  As for this game, expect a lot of offense.  Basically you will have to win out to keep pace with Oklahoma this season.

Penn State at Iowa (3:30, ABC) – OK maybe I should have put that FOX mini-rant here as this game has a chance to move over to FOX but for now I have stuck it on ABC.  Penn State will have to grind out these types of games if they are to be a College Football Playoff contender (and I fully expect them to be one this season).

Washington at Colorado (8:00, ABC) – See?  My schedule has already broken down a bit.  I don’t think Colorado will fall as far as many feel they will but they won’t be going to the Pac-12 title game this season that is for sure.  This is here more for Washington who is an instant national championship contender and needs solid wins over teams like the Buffs if they are to keep in the Top 4.

Honourable mention: UCLA at Stanford (3:00, FOX Sports One…ugh), Florida at Kentucky (6:00, specialty pack), Alabama at Vanderbilt (Noon, TSN3), Mississippi State at Georgia (Noon, TSN2), Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (3:30, CBS).

Worst televised game of the week: Georgia State at Charlotte (7:00, beIn Sports) – Wow, beIn Sports really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one.  Watch it be an awesome game that comes down to the wire.  Still isn’t enough to make me want to get this channel.

Week 5

Clemson at Virginia Tech (8:00, ABC) – An even worse week than the previous one.  At least this week’s top game is a big one.  Potential ACC Title game preview?  Could be.  I could see the Fighting Fuentes getting over the hump this year and perhaps looking at some CFP talk.  Clemson has to get through a brutal early schedule without Deshaun Watson (and a few others).  Can’t see them repeating but you never know if they find the heir apparent early.

USC at Washington State (Friday, 10:30, specialty pack) – I sincerely hope Mike Leach is at his Leachiest in this one.  It’s the only way I will feel good about staying up VERY late on a Friday night to watch this.  I mean I still will but I might not feel good about it (the next morning).

Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – Has the talk of Tennessee winning the SEC East started yet?  I know they will have to defend their “Champions at Life” crown this season.  I’m sure there will be many contenders for that.

Ole Miss at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – I was just getting used to Ole Miss giving the Tide a tough time every season and then last year happened and the Rebs went to shit (kind of).  This being the fourth most important game of the week tells you how shitty this week is especially since we are almost into full conference play at this point.

Northwestern at Wisconsin (3:30, ABC) – This is a bit of a tasty affair and I am starting to think I should have moved it up a spot.  Well too late!  Northwestern will still be good and Wisky has a pretty easy schedule for a B1G team, one that could see them making a run to the CFP if they don’t fuck up or have injuries to starters.

Honourable mention: Mississippi State at Auburn (7:00, specialty pack), Baylor at Kansas State (Noon, ABC), Indiana at Penn State (3:30, specialty pack), North Carolina at Georgia Tech (3:30, specialty pack), South Carolina at Texas A&M (7:30, specialty pack).

Worst televised game of the week: Nevada at Fresno State (10:15, specialty pack) – ESPN2 and ESPNU get a LOT of Mountain West games in the late night slots.  When they involve Boise State or San Diego State or Wyoming or even Air Force then fine.  But then you get this.  Nevada should be improved from last season but FSU is still pretty bad.  Thankfully there should be other games on in that time slot like…Colorado at UCLA?  Hmmm, maybe I will go to bed early instead.

Week 6

LSU at Florida (7:00, TSN1/TSN5) – Remember last year’s ridiculous circumstances involving the game between these two?  So much controversy.  But hey, the game itself was not bad (OK it was mediocre with an amazing finish).  This year should be no exception…well except that the game is scheduled, probably won’t move, and is earlier on in the season so they may still both think they have national championship aspirations.

Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – Important Game 1B right here.  Will Bama win?  Probably.  At this point I would be interested to see how many times Brad Nessler talks about Kevin Sumlin’s possible shitcanning during this game.

Louisville at NC State (Thursday, 8:00, TSN2) – First true Thursday nighter on this list.  I could see a lot of people (i.e. Wolfpack fans) saying that if Dave Doeren isn’t fired by this point that this game shouldn’t be this high on the list.  I can honestly see NC State becoming a thorn in the side of the ACC Atlantic Big Three (UL, Clemson, FSU) this season.  They will get a chance to prove it here (again…man they have a tough three-game stretch).

Penn State at Northwestern (Noon, TSN3) – I can see this being the week where TSN finally starts getting their shit together and really brings it with a robust college football schedule.  Saying that, this game could end up on FOX for all I know (or the dreaded FS1).  God, I wish we got the games from FS1 (not the channel…I don’t need or want more Skip Bayless in my life).

Kansas State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – Yes we do not get FS1 up here or the FS1 college football games.  However, FOX is showing tripleheaders a few times this season so at least it’s being made up somewhat.  I still say I would pay a premium to get a tailored college football package where I could see all the games I want.  Basically I would want P5 conferences, BYU, Notre Dame, Boise State.  The rest is gravy really but those are the most important teams to watch.  Anyway, where was I?  Oh yes, let’s see what Tom Herman is made of when he goes up against Jesus’s college football coach, Bill Snyder.

Honourable mention: Washington State at Oregon (10:30, FOX Sports One…I hope this changes), Wisconsin at Nebraska (7:30, ABC), Ole Miss at Auburn (7:30, specialty pack), Stanford at Utah (8:00, FOX), Notre Dame at North Carolina (Noon, ABC/TSN5).

Worst televised game of the week: Fresno State at San Jose State (Friday, 10:00, CBS Sports Network) – Two straight weeks with the Fighting Bulldogs of Fresno State in this slot.  Poor Fresno State.  No, really, poor Fresno State.  They will have a poor team this season.  Possibly the worst in the Mountain West.  It’s probably a good thing this is on a Friday night since people too worn out by the rest of the action on Saturday would avoid this game like the plague.

Three more weeks complete.  Not quite halfway through the season.  We will get there but I figured might as well spread out the posts since there’s nothing much college football to talk about except…

Holy shit Bob Stoops retired!  Wow.  Talk about a bombshell.  The timing is a bit odd.  It would have made more sense to retire a few months back around the time of spring ball so that the new head coach would get acclimated to the team.  I get it, it’s Lincoln Riley, the offensive coordinator, taking over but still…new position takes time to iron out the kinks and infuse it with his own personality.  I think there is something else to this but for now I guess we just have to say Goodbye to Big Game Bob.  That’s two sudden retirements in two years (The HBC was the other one).  It will be interesting to see how the Sooners players respond to this.