It’s Turkey Day Time (American Style) – Week 13 NFL TV Schedule

Let’s get right into this.  Fuck waiting until Friday.  I mean yes, at least one if not two of the Thanksgiving games might be over by the time you read this post but who gives a shit, right?  Let’s go!

Thursday

Chicago at Detroit	12:30, CBS, TSN4/5, CTV Two
Buffalo at Dallas	4:30, FOX, TSN4/5, CTV Two
New Orleans at Atlanta	8:15, NBC, TSN4/5, CTV Two

Sunday Early

Cleveland at Pittsburgh	All affiliates		Montreal		All affiliates
Washington at Carolina
Tennessee at Indianapolis
NY Jets at Cincinnati
San Francisco at Baltimore		All affiliates (except Minneapolis & Burlington)	All affiliates (except Montreal)
Green Bay at NY Giants		Minneapolis, Burlington		TSN4
Philadelphia at Miami
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville

Sunday Late

 

Oakland at Kansas City	All affiliates		All affiliates (except Atlantic)	TSN4	Atlantic
LA Chargers at Denver
LA Rams at Arizona

Sunday/Monday Primetime

New England at Houston	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN4/5, CTV Two
Minnesota at Seattle	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4/5

Turkey Weekend NFL-Related Points

• Seven games not being shown on Sunday!  Seriously.  SEVEN!  That’s unheard of.  Worst part of this?  There are five games outside of Sunday this week because it’s Thanksgiving south of the border.  So only four of the seven games will be broadcast up here (unless you have Sunday Ticket).  That’s insane.  And probably shouldn’t happen.
• There’s cross-flex this week but you won’t notice.  Skins-Panthers have moved to CBS for some reason.  I don’t know why.  And I don’t really care.
• Back to amount of games being shown up here.  Gonna be brutally honest here.  The games being shown are, for the most part, WAY better and more important than the ones not being shown.  No surprise Niners-Ravens get a huge audience.  Same with Raiders-Chiefs.  I wouldn’t say the same about Browns-Steelers but then look at the other games and think of whether you would really want to spend three hours watching the Jets and the Bengals.  Yeah, I thought so.
• Buffalo and Dallas highlight the Thanksgiving schedule.  This is a massive game that should get a lot of viewers.  Nice to see the Bills doing so well this season.  Maybe they can finally get their revenge for the Super Bowls from almost three decades ago.

Playoff picture time!  Also a game of who the hell still has a chance at the Wild Card spots:

#1 – New England	#1 – San Francisco
#2 – Baltimore	#2 – New Orleans
#3 – Houston	#3 – Green Bay
#4 – Kansas City	#4 – Dallas
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 – Buffalo	#5 – Seattle
#6 – Pittsburgh/Oakland/Indianapolis/Tennessee	#6 – Minnesota

FOUR teams tied for the final Wild Card spot.  It is a steep drop-off from the top five in the AFC as Buffalo is easily better than the four in the #6 spot.  Also, New England and Baltimore have not mathematically clinched yet but they are sure damn close to it.  The NFC playoff picture isn’t without their issues.  The NFC East is terrible yet again this season with Dallas at 6-5 in the lead.  I hate the fact that the division winner there would get a home game.  The division winners should only be guaranteed not to get the #6 spot.  Other than that it’s fair game.  That is the only way to give praise to any Wild Card team that is really good but ends up being in a division with an even better team, like the Seahawks this year.  Finally, it will be interesting if ESPN decides to start putting Monday Night Football back on ABC if they will get a better Wild Card game or stuck with the worst division winner or a Texans home game.

I hope you enjoy the games everyone.  You will get your fill of football over the next four-plus days, pro and college.  Savour it.

ARE….YOU……..READY? – Week 14 College Football TV Schedule

Footballgasm 2019 has arrived!  There is so much god damn football between American Thanksgiving and the end of the weekend.  I freakin’ love it!  Pretty damn sweet if you ask me.  I wish Canadians would do this as well but I can’t see them corresponding Thanksgiving with football unless it’s like two CFL games.  Definitely no college football that is for sure.

The schedule will be done in the annual Thanksgiving Footballgasm style.  Every game is not important but everything gets its own section.  Yeah.  I know.  Crazy, right?  And if you don’t remember, first logo is the American network and the second logo is where you can see the game in Canada.  You should know that by now though.  Let’s get started!

Thursday

Ole Miss at Mississippi State

7:30 PM

Ole Miss will not be going bowling this year again but this time it’s because of their record, not being under some sort of sanctions.  The Bulldogs, on the other hand, need this Egg Bowl win to be bowl-eligible.  A Rebels win would make the season a success for many Rebels fans.

Friday

#24 Virginia Tech at Virginia

Noon

Winner of the Commonwealth Cup gets their opportunity at the ACC Goliath, Clemson.  There’s also a decent chance that the winner here will get the Orange Bowl slot no matter what happens in the ACC Championship.

Texas Tech at Texas

Noon

Big game here…haha, just kidding.  This means absolutely nothing as Texas is bowl-eligible and Texas Tech can’t qualify for the postseason.  Poor choice by FOX but I have a feeling they were very limited here.  You have to wonder about Tom Herman’s future in Austin after this season that is a huge disappointment.

Miami-OH at Ball State

Noon

Ball State is playing for pride since the best they can do is go 5-7.  Miami-OH clinched the MAC East last week so they are just looking for momentum in this one going into the MAC Championship.

Toledo at Central Michigan

Noon

A Central Michigan win here clinches the MAC West crown  A loss and Western Michigan will represent the MAC West in Detroit despite their loss earlier this week to Northern Illinois.

#17 Iowa at Nebraska

2:30 PM

This game means everything for the Huskers as a win has them bowl-eligible.  They will have a tough time here at Faux Farmageddon against a tough Hawkeyes team who really doesn’t have a shot at the New Year’s Six despite sitting at #17 in the CFP Rankings.

Missouri at Arkansas

2:30 PM

So after posting the bowl projections I find out that the NCAA upheld Missouri’s postseason ban.  So this means 1) I have to change my bowl projections and 2) this game means nothing.  Who knows what will happen with Barry Odom after the season but I can pretty much guarantee that he won’t get the Bret Bielema treatment that Bielema got two years ago after this very same game.

#19 Cincinnati at #18 Memphis

3:30 PM

Game of the year for the Group of Five.  The winner here is way out in front for the Cotton Bowl bid.  Also if the Tigers win, they clinch the AAC West title aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand a rematch with Cincinnati back in Memphis.  A Cincinnati win here, coupled with a Navy win over Houston and the Middies complete their incredible comeback from last year’s disastrous season and will head to Cincy for the AAC Championship although probably not a Cotton Bowl bid (although they still have a chance if a few other things happen).  If it’s anything like a couple of the important American Conference games of the past few years, it should be a wild one.

#20 Boise State at Colorado State

3:30 PM

Boise State is hoping that the winner of the previous game will end up losing the conference championship game as that would leave the Broncos as, probably, the team going to the Cotton Bowl.  That’s if they can get by Colorado State who will not be going bowling this year but at least improved on last season.

Washington State at Washington

4:00 PM

For the first time in a long time, this game means nothing.  Both teams sit at 6-5, are going bowling, and have no chance in the Pac-12 North.  FOX is 0-for-2 today with their selections.​

West Virginia at TCU

4:15 PM

TCU needs this one as they are at five wins.  The Mountaineers are at four so will be home for the holidays.  So it really is all about the Horned Frogs and if they can slip into bowl season.

UCF at USF

8:00 PM

In the past this had been one of the games of the weekend.  This year, instead, we get a game that has no bearing on anything.  UCF is going bowling; USF is not.  Charlie Strong might be out as Bulls head coach after this one so that will be discussed a mere ten thousand times during the telecast.  This is part of the doubleheader on TSN2 on Black Friday which constitutes the only games on TSN on Black Friday.

Saturday Early

#4 Georgia at Georgia Tech

Noon

This tends to be the issue with this weekend of college football.  Games that have very little stakes end up on big-time networks like ABC or FOX or ESPN because of contracts with the conferences.  My guess is this is the case here.  Georgia needs to win but probably will anyway but their spot in the College Football Playoff hinges more on the SEC Championship game against LSU.  Also, with The Game at Noon as well, no point in putting a huge matchup here on ABC.

#1 Ohio State at #13 Michigan

Noon

This is a massive game (as it has been recently) with a lot of different scenarios in play.  An Ohio State win almost guarantees that they would be in the CFP no matter what happens in the Big Ten Championship.  It also makes it so TTUN has no chance of being in the NY6.  A Wolverine win may put Michigan into the New Year’s Six and may knock the Buckeyes down to the NY6.  tOSU has won the Big Ten East already so they may still end up in the CFP even with a loss here.  So much riding on this game.  This is arguably FOX’s Game of the Year and, of course, in the Noon timeslot.  I am surprised College Gameday hasn’t started already although since it’s in Minneapolis they will probably just do the normal three hours.

Indiana at Purdue

Noon

This game means nothing except that it’s for the Old Oaken Bucket.  Purdue is out, Indiana is in.  INdiana if you will.  Otherwise there’s no other stakes here.

#3 Clemson at South Carolina

Noon

TSN with a really weak schedule considering what they have done in the previous few years.  This sucks for people that don’t have the specialty pack.  South Carolina is strictly playing for pride here.  They beat Clemson here and they have state supremacy and make it so Clemson has no chance at the College Football Playoff.  Clemson has to win out no matter what.

FIU at Marshall

Noon

Both of these teams are bowl-eligible but will not go to the conference championship game.  There are better options at this timeslot unless this game is close late.

Tulsa at East Carolina

Noon

Sweet Jesus.  Both teams are home for the holidays.  I wouldn’t bother.  I mean I will end up somehow watching at least three minutes of it but I don’t recommend it to anyone.

Louisville at Kentucky

Noon

Again, another game that means very little except state pride.  Nice to see the Cards playing well again as Scott Satterfield has to be considered a Coach of the Year candidate.

Northwestern at Illinois

Noon

How the tables have turned.  This time around it’s the Illini that are bowl-eligible and the Wildcats who are out of the fun.  I wonder if Pat Fitzgerald is now on the hot seat in Evanston, a sentence I didn’t think I would ever say.

Wake Forest at Syracuse

12:30 PM

Wake needs the win here to have any chance of getting into the New Year’s Six in the Orange Bowl spot.  Syracuse was a massive disappointment and are not bowling this season.  Don’t see this game up yet but it should show up on the specialty pack soon enough.

Saturday Afternoon

UConn at Temple

3:00 PM

Good God really?  Temple is in, UConn is most definitely not.  Look elsewhere.

#12 Wisconsin at #8 Minnesota

3:30 PM

This is for the Big Ten West.  College Gameday is in Minneapolis.  This really is the biggest game in Minnesota Golden Gophers history (unless they win and it will be next week’s game).  The loser of this game is probably eliminated from the New Year’s Six as well.  Minny needs this for any shot at the College Football Playoff.

#5 Alabama at #15 Auburn

3:30 PM

I kind of hope the Tigers can keep things close here just so CBS has a good game to air.  Auburn winning means they have a good chance at the New Year’s Six.  A Bama win has to be convincing since it is their last game before whatever bowl they go to.  It’s their only chance (other than chaos above them) at the CFP.

Miami at Duke

3:30 PM

Man a lot of these games mean nothing.  This is another one.  Unless there is another eight-lateral-kickoff-return-touchdown at the end, this may not be your best option.

#9 Baylor at Kansas

3:30 PM

Baylor’s last regular season game and a must-win to keep their slim College Football Playoff hopes alive.  Kansas, despite improvement, is not bowl-eligible.

Rutgers at #10 Penn State

3:30 PM

A Penn State win here probably clinches a bid to either the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl.  Rutgers is Rutgers.

Boston College at Pittsburgh

3:30 PM

Hey a game that actually means something, at least for one team.  The Eagles need a win or else they do not play in a bowl game and it might be the end of Steve Addazio in Chestnut Hill.  Pitt has nothing to play for and at least they aren’t going to the ACC Championship somehow.

Maryland at Michigan State

3:30 PM

For the first time in a long time, the Spartans are fighting for their bowl lives on the final weekend of the season.  Maryland, who was in the Top 25 at one point this season, will finish 3-9 with a loss.

Southern Miss at Florida Atlantic

3:30 PM

The Conference USA West Division title hinges quite a bit on this game (but not all of it).  FAU is already going to the Conference USA Championship for the second time in three seasons.  But Southern Miss has to win this and hope Louisiana Tech loses.  If that happens, they will replay this game the following weekend.  If they lose, LaTech and UAB both have a chance to win the division title where the tiebreaker is probably a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Tulane at SMU

4:00 PM

Both teams here are bowl-eligible. SMU, despite their breakout season, will not be going to the AAC Championship.  Neither will Tulane obviously as improvement is slow-going in New Orleans.

#16 Notre Dame at Stanford

4:00 PM

Do the Irish have a chance to go to the New Year’s Six?  Yes but it’s slim.  A huge win over Stanford here would help.  The Cardinal are home for bowl season for the first time in quite a few years.  Actually it has never happened under David Shaw and it was way back during Jim Harbaugh’s second season on The Farm.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee

4:00 PM

Tennessee could end up 7-5.  That feels wrong.  But they have done well under Jeremy Pruitt and they may have finally found their way back up to the top of the SEC East.  Vandy will have to make a decision on Derek Mason after the season is over.

Oregon State at #14 Oregon

4:00 PM

The Civil War!  On Pac-12 Network.  Alright then.  The Beavs have to be heartbroken after last Saturday’s loss to Washington State.  But they can make up for it with a win here that would make them bowl-eligible and they would do it against their state rival.  Oregon doesn’t need a win here, per se, but it would basically guarantee them the Rose Bowl spot.

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

North Carolina at NC State

7:00 PM

This game means everything to the Tar Heels.  Win and they are going bowling which is a huge turnaround from the last two years of Larry Fedora’s term as head coach.  Mack Brown has done wonders with the program and infused it with a sense of confidence not seen in a long time.  The Wolfpack will try to play spoiler as they have seriously disappointed this year and will not be going to a bowl game.

Texas A&M at #2 LSU

7:00 PM

Chances are LSU romps in this one.  No way it will be the 74-72 slugfest of last year and not only because the overtime rules have changed.  Who am I kidding, there’s always a chance.  But it’s a very slim one as the Aggie defense has to stop the potent LSU offense in what will probably end up being a tune-up for the Tigers on their way to Atlanta for the SEC Championship.

Navy at Houston

7:00 PM

This could be massive…if Memphis loses to Cincinnati on Black Friday.  Otherwise it means nothing has Navy and Houston are going in opposite directions this season.

#23 Iowa State at Kansas State

7:00 PM

Two 7-4 teams playing in weather that will be frigid at best.  There’s a chance for footbaw weather and if that’s the case would probably be a fun watch.

ULM at Louisiana

7:30 PM

The one time Louisiana gets a primetime national spot and it’s for a game that means little.  They have clinched the Sun Belt West division and will meet Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Championship.  For ULM it’s a big deal since a win means bowl eligibility as they continue to improve under Matt Viator.

Florida State at #11 Florida

7:30 PM

Wow.  If you had told me that Florida State and Florida would end up on the SEC Network on the final weekend of the season I would have thought you were trying to troll the fans of those two schools.  But here we are.  Game means little except for pride and perhaps the final push for Odell Haggins to keep the head coaching position on a permanent basis.

Colorado at #6 Utah

7:30 PM

Colorado must win this game to become bowl-eligible.  Of all games, this one.  Up against Utah who has dreams of the College Football Playoff dancing in their heads.  Can’t see a bump up from #6 unless something happens above them (or the Utes throttle the Buffs) so really it all comes down to next Friday night’s Pac-12 Championship game.  Win that and, in my opinion, they have to garner serious consideration for the Top 4.  No guarantees though.

#7 Oklahoma at #21 Oklahoma State

8:00 PM

FOX has done a lot better with their games today than on Black Friday that is for sure.  The Sooners need this win badly if they want to have any chance at the College Football Playoff.  Hell, a loss here even hurts their New Year’s Six chances so a lot on the line here for them.  For the Pokes, it’s spoilin’ time.

BYU at San Diego State

9:00 PM

So for like the fourth straight year, CBS Sports Network shows college basketball after their afternoon game and then goes to this odd timeslot in the evening.  And they have always been unlucky with it as everyone of those games have been unimportant.  This one is no different as both teams are bowling anyway with the Cougs already slotted into the Hawaii Bowl.

Arizona at Arizona State

10:00 PM

Usually the Territorial Cup has something to it other than bragging rights.  Like a broken record, I will reiterate that this game is really not that important in the grand scheme of things.

Fresno State at San Jose State

10:30 PM

Both teams are not going bowling so not much in terms of stakes here.  Not that people have other great options so if it’s close it will get some eyeballs.

California at UCLA

10:30 PM

Man I know the end of this day is usually a mild ending but this is ridiculous.  There’s like no games that mean anything but I guess it does allow people to get to bed after all that football they have watched.

Army at Hawaii

12:30 AM

Uh, check the starting time.  12:30 in the morning.  AFTER midnight!  Wow.  If you stay up and watch this you are a true college football fan.  I’ll see if my body can handle doing this since that means being up until almost 4 in the morning.

Some gambling fun and games

No point in having the Games of the Week section since I went through every game that could be televised above.  With the amount of games that do have stakes this post would be so ridiculously long, even longer than my last post that was long on purpose.  I called the Navy win over SMU last week which I am proud of but goofed on the Texas over Baylor pick.  Hey, you can’t win em all right?  This is a special few days so you get more picks from the Bossman.  Here we go.

Mississippi State over Ole Miss

Virginia over Virginia Tech

Toledo over Central Michigan

Nebraska over Iowa (upset!)

Memphis over Cincinnati

Boise State over Colorado State

TCU over West Virginia

Georgia over Georgia Tech

Michigan over Ohio State (yes, I am going out on a massive limb here)

Clemson over South Carolina

Wake Forest over Syracuse

Wisconsin over Minnesota

Alabama over Auburn

Baylor over Kansas

Penn State over Rutgers

Pittsburgh over Boston College

Michigan State over Maryland

Florida Atlantic over Southern Miss

Notre Dame over Stanford

Oregon over Oregon State

NC State over North Carolina

LSU over Texas A&M

Navy over Houston

Louisiana over ULM

Utah over Colorado

Oklahoma over Oklahoma State

Army over Hawaii

Plan your days accordingly.  Otherwise you will get nothing done.  In the end though…FOOTBAW!

NFL Turkey Day games are here as well!  Here are your details of these three games today:

• Chicago at Detroit (12:30, FOX, CTV2, TSN4/5)
• Buffalo at Dallas (4:00, CBS, CTV2, TSN4/5)
• New Orleans at Atlanta (8:00, NBC, CTV2, TSN4/5)

I am so damn excited for all this football.  Hope you are too.  Enjoy the games everyone!

SUPER MEGA HYPER OMNI POST! V3.0

I have done this two times before. Let’s go for number three here. Warning: this post is seriously fucking long. So grab a drink (caffeinated would be a good idea) and settle in.
Instead of doing a full recap and then a full bowl projections post, I figured I would combine them into one insanely long post! Why? I am going to tell myself it’s a great way to save time and not have to do two posts. That is completely erroneous to be truthful but I will keep telling myself that little fib. It was a fairly good weekend of college football which had two major upsets. We are headed into an exciting finish to the season.  Also this post is different and exciting to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when Rutgers could be considered a top team in college football.

Let’s start with recapping the week that was.  Some fun stuff happened and I was totally sleep deprived for Sunday.  A Fall tradition.

• The only ranked-on-ranked game of the week had Ohio State outlast Penn State.  The difference here was basically one guy: Chase Young.  His return from his stupid suspension was a boon for the Buckeye defense as he was all over the Nittany Lion backfield.  He is a lot like Ndamukong Suh was at Nebraska; the best player in the nation who won’t get true Heisman hype.  The tOSU offense did just enough as Justin Fields, who is the second best player on the team, may have booked his trip to New York City in December.  In the end, though, it won’t mean nearly as much if they can’t extend their winning streak against The Team Up North this Saturday.
• LSU beat Arkansas easily.  Alabama beat Western Carolina even easier during SEC Sleepwalk Saturday.  The Tide have to be rooting for the Tigers to win this Saturday and at the SEC Championship and hopefully win big both times.  It’s Bama’s best chance to get in if the Fighting Orgerons look like a dominant #1 team (or at least something to include in the argument for them to be included in the CFP).
• You all saw it I’m sure.  The students from Harvard and Yale doing a protest just before the second half was to begin in the annual game between the two Ivy League stalwarts.  I can honestly say this is something I have never seen before during a game.  And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy.  People aligned themselves on one side or the other which is what happens in situations like this nowadays.  Here is my take on this.  Are protests a fabric of both the United States and Canada?  I believe they are.  Saying people can’t protest makes us a lot more like China than the countries we are.  Does this also do a disservice to the people involved in the football game?  Absolutely.  Both of these things are, and can be, true.  If these students truly understood the issues surrounding climate change and Harvard and Yale’s role in it, then great.  It’s very rare that this is the case as I have seen many protests in this country where many really have no idea what they are truly protesting and just want to be loud and want to belong.  I think the police did as good a job as they could and didn’t let it become something violent.  I do wish the students that wouldn’t leave unless they were arrested just left.  Being arrested will probably just be something they can yell and scream about when in reality, no one gives a shit because the protest is over at that point.  On top of all this, the game was played at the Yale Bowl which does not have lights and after an hour-plus delay, went to double overtime.  If it had gone any farther the game probably would have had to end in a tie since darkness was quickly settling in.  Just a bizarre day in college football to say the least.
• Georgia’s offense basically took the day off on Saturday.  If it wasn’t for hipster kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, the Dawgs may have blown it against Texas A&M.  A 19-13 victory over the Aggies doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the team going into the SEC Championship.  They play like this and LSU will put a 50-burger on them and the game will essentially be over by 5:00 Eastern.
• Oregon blew it against Arizona State.  I guess they didn’t play to win the game.  This is bad, not just for the Ducks but for Utah as well (and the Pac-12 as a whole).  Now Utah beating Oregon will not be them beating a Top 10 team.  Chances are Oregon will be a Top 15 team which makes a difference.  It’s also what is needed for the Bama backers who desperately want their team in the College Football Playoff.
• The other huge upset of the day was FIU beating Miami.  Yes this isn’t the Canes of early this century but good God is this team not very good.  And in a pretty bad ACC.  And now they lose to former head coach Butch Davis on the field that was built on the old Orange Bowl grounds.  Yeah this is about as bad as it gets for The U.  Manny Diaz will be on a seriously hot seat to start next season and now some have to look back and take back their thoughts of basically poaching him from Temple as the Owls are doing great under Rod Carey while Miami struggles.
• Some would include Colorado’s victory over Washington as an upset as well.  I do not.  This is easily Chris Petersen’s worst team in all his years of coaching college football.  Mel Tucker has brought the Buffs back to, at least, respectability.  They now have a chance to go bowling.  All they have to do is *checks the schedule* beat Utah.  Aw man.  Sorry guys.
• Cincinnati beat Temple in a very close one.  It all turned on one play.  Temple had an extra point blocked and returned for two points.  So a three point swing on one play.  The Bearcats ended up winning by 2 and seem to be sharing the Group of Five seat with Memphis at the moment.
• If you missed it, there was an absolutely bonkers Pac-12 After Dark affair up in eastern Washington.  It was on the Pac-12 Network (or DAZN up here) so very few would have watched it but it was fantastic.  A back and forth affair where Oregon State scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and LOST!  Wazzu pulled out with a touchdown with 2 seconds left to win 54-53.  So now Oregon State has to *checks the schedule* beat Oregon in the Civil War to become bowl-eligible.  Ugh.  Washington State is now bowl-eligible again and Mike Leach in the postseason is always fun.
• Oklahoma is going to the Big XII Championship!  They clinched their spot by BARELY getting by TCU.  I’m sorry but the Sooners will struggle with Baylor if they play like that (the Bears beat Texas handily).  Then again, if Boomer Sooner wins, do you really want them in the CFP?  I don’t know.
• Wisconsin and Minnesota both won so they are slated to play for the Big Ten West this weekend.  And College Gameday is heading to Minneapolis (finally).  So it is going to be a huge day for the Golden Gophers and if they win they basically clinch no worse than the Rose Bowl in my opinion.
• What a great way to have the Bud Foster send-off.  Virginia Tech whitewashed Pitt and were dominant on defense.  Awesome for Foster’s final game at Lane Stadium.
• Great story of the weekend?  Charlotte becoming bowl-eligible for the first time.  Will Healy did wonders at Austin Peay which was such a terrible FCS program they went almost four years without winning a game and he arrives and they almost go to the playoffs.  Now he does amazing things in his first year in North Carolina and gets the 49ers to the promised land (probably).  Watch them get picked up by the American Conference in a few years to replace UConn.

Now let’s move on to how the conference championships are shaping up as we are down to the ultimate week of the regular season.

It’s the second annual Sun Belt Championship game and I honestly believe Mountain Dew or Peterbilt or something like that should sponsor it.  This is set.  Appalachian State and Louisiana have won their respective divisions and will face off in the championship game at the home of the Mountaineers in Boone, North Carolina.

Conference USA is going to have an exciting race towards the end of the season in the West.  In the East, Florida Atlantic has clinched their spot in the title game.  As for the West, it’s between UAB, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss and it’s messy.  So on Saturday:

• If all three teams win, Southern Miss wins the division.  Same thing if all three teams lose.
• If Louisiana Tech wins and UAB loses, Louisiana Tech wins the division.
• If UAB and Southern Miss win, Southern Miss wins the division.
• If only one of the three teams wins, that winning team obviously wins the division.

Good lord.  But at least it means it will be a fun final Saturday for this oft-ignored conference.

The MAC title tilt is halfway set.  Miami-OH has already clinched the MAC East.  The MAC West could be finished off tonight.  If Western Michigan beats Northern Illinois, they will go to Detroit to face the Redhawks.  If they lose then Central Michigan has a chance to clinch on Black Friday in their Noon game against Toledo.

This is easy.  Boise State clinched with their crushing of Utah State and then a bit of a shock as Hawaii clinched the West Division as they beat San Diego State in an low-scoring affair.  The game will be on the blue turf in Boise.

Alright Cincinnati is already in.  The West is also easy.  Memphis beats Cincy in the season finale they will have a rematch against the Bearcats also at home.  If they don’t win, and then Navy defeats Houston on Saturday night, the Middies will be heading to Cincinnati.  If both teams lose, Memphis will go to southern Ohio and play Cincinnati quite possibly for the Cotton Bowl spot.

It’s Clemson up against the winner of the Commonwealth Cup.  This is the most important game in the battle for Virginia possibly ever.

This has been set.  The surprising Baylor Bears get their chance at revenge on Oklahoma at JerryWorld.

Oregon is in for the game which starts at 5 local time yet again.  The Pac-12 has, by far, the shittiest set of TV contracts for the Power Five.  This is atrocious.  Now, if Utah wins they face Oregon but if Colorado pulls off the upset then it will be USC, of all teams, going against the Ducks.

Ohio State clinched a tough Big Ten East and will await the Wisconsin-Minnesota winner in Indianapolis.

LSU and Georgia.  No Bama.  The way things are going, though, UGA is going to get boatraced by the Tigers.

So there you go.  Coming up later in the week, we have the massive American Thanksgiving post which is, you guessed it, massive.

Alright, on to my bowl projections as of this today:

Fiesta Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	LSU vs. Utah

No changes here.  Utah’s resume took a hit with Oregon’s loss but I still see them holding on to this spot (which means I will probably be wrong).

Has anything changed in the New Year’s Six?

Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs Baylor
Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Michigan vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame/G-5 #1	Wake Forest vs. Georgia
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1	Oklahoma vs. Boise State

One change.  I’ve put Michigan in the Rose Bowl, replacing Penn State which I am sure no one will bat an eye at, right OK let’s move on.  A LOT could very well change on this section this coming week and I kind of expect it to but I have to go with my gut at this point.  The Orange Bowl spot for the ACC champ is still hilariously sad and I think that might be the big change during the next CFP contract and not a move to expand to eight teams (although a move to five would be fine by me to be honest).

Now the rest of bowl season which is a gongshow because even bowl tie-ins mean nothing anymore but not in a good way.

Mobile Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Miami-OH vs. Arkansas State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big Ten vs. MWC	Indiana vs. Utah State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Nevada vs. Ohio
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Minnesota
Birmingham Bowl	SEC/ACC vs. American/ACC	Liberty* vs. Memphis
Outback Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Penn State
Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Iowa State vs. USC
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. Sun Belt	San Diego State vs. Arkansas State
Liberty Bowl	SEC/American vs. Big XII/American	Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State
Sun Bowl	Pac-12 vs. ACC	California vs. Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Texas A&M vs. Virginia
Redbox Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Illinois vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech
First Responder Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	Kansas State vs. Florida Atlantic
Camping World Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Texas vs. Miami
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII/MWC vs. Pac-12/MWC	Hawaii vs. Southern Miss*
Holiday Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Washington State
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Missouri vs. TCU
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh
Military Bowl	ACC vs. American	Louisville vs. Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten/MAC vs. ACC/MAC	Western Michigan vs. Florida State
Independence Bowl	SEC/C-USA vs. ACC/American	Marshall vs. Cincinnati
Hawaii Bowl	BYU vs. American/MWC	BYU vs. Wyoming
Gasparilla Bowl	American/ACC vs. C-USA/ACC	UCF vs. UAB
New Orleans Bowl	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech vs. Louisiana
Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	Washington vs. Air Force
Camellia Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Central Michigan vs. Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl	American vs. MAC	SMU vs. Buffalo
Cure Bowl	American vs. Sun Belt	Temple vs. Georgia State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. C-USA	Army* vs. Western Kentucky
Frisco Bowl	American vs. MAC/C-USA	Tulane vs. Eastern Michigan
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Toledo vs. Charlotte

A few notes for your perusal:

• No 5-7 teams.  And no teams left out at 6-6.  Everything fits perfectly like a puzzle with all the pieces actually in the box.  We all know what will happen right?  Certainly not this.
• I am sticking with the tie-ins as best I can.  I don’t know why though since the bowls don’t seem to care themselves sometimes.
• Hawaii, as far as I know, is not locked in to the Hawaii Bowl now that they are bowl-eligible.  Still a good chance they end up there but I have this feeling they will hit the mainland for their bowl game this season.
• Look at Charlotte!  I have them kicking off the bowl season by going to the Bahamas!  Talk about a great season for those players and staff.
• As for tie-ins that don’t work, I have Army filing in to the New Mexico Bowl thanks to Boise State going to the Cotton Bowl, Southern Miss going to the Cheez-It Bowl because the Big XII and Pac-12 don’t have enough eligible teams (thanks to me putting Utah in the CFP) and Liberty heading to the Birmingham Bowl due to the SEC and ACC not having enough eligible teams.  These split tie-ins are so weird and even dumber when they don’t even work out.  When two conferences can’t fill a single bowl slot you know there’s an issue.

Other than those few items, not much to talk about specifically about the bowl projections.  Nothing much changed except some of my opinions.  That might change starting tonight.  Ohio has a chance to become bowl-eligible and, at the same time, Akron could be the only winless team this season in the FBS.  The game is on ESPN+ so none of us can see it.  The other game, between WMU and NIU, is important for the Broncos as a win there clinches a trip to beautiful Detroit for the MAC Championship which isn’t on Friday night this season.  Then Wednesday, take a deep breath.  There is no football at all.  Don’t drink too much but maybe take the time to do something around the house.  Go out.  Catch up on some Netflix.  Something.  Because you will need the rest to prepare for FOOTBALLGASM 2019!

A couple of quick Canadian football notes:

• The Grey Cup occurred this past Sunday.  I am a bit sad that Hamilton lost but at least it was to Winnipeg who had an even longer Grey Cup drought at 29 years!  Plus, a fan who said, in 1990, he wouldn’t wear pants until the next time the Blue Bombers won the Cup again, can wear pants again!  Which is good in Winnipeg since it is seriously fucking freezing there.
• The Vanier Cup occurred.  I have no idea where it was on.  I think CBC online?  Ridiculous.

Alright that is it.  No more.  A seriously long post is complete.  American Thanksgiving Footballgasm post will show up later this week along with the NFL sked post.  Have a good week everyone!

Really? – Week 12 NFL TV Schedule

Antonio Brown might be back this season?  Seriously?  The possibility is there if you can believe it.  Antonio Brown had a fairly heartfelt apology for Robert Kraft.  So what if Rob’s son, Jonathan, asked AB to do it…or AB’s agent.  Whatever.  It sounds like the first step toward Brown getting back into the NFL.  Whether he can pull through and actually do the rest of the steps (whatever they may be) without doing something that paints him like some kind of asshole, that’s another story.  But for now, we can say that the Patriots are doing what the Patriots somehow do…pick up a player or four that, for whatever reason, no other team will pick up and then they end up deep in the playoffs yet again.  It’s kind of sickening at this point but maybe some other team can do this and compete with the Pats.  Then again, maybe some of these teams have morals….ahahahahahahaha, very few in football care about that shit.

Alright let’s get to the schedule…you know, the games.  The reason we watch football?

Sunday Early

Carolina at New Orleans	Spokane, Minneapolis, Burlington, Boston		Northern Ontario, Ottawa		All affiliates (except Ottawa)
Oakland at NY Jets
Denver at Buffalo	Buffalo, Rochester		Kitchener, Toronto
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati
Seattle at Philadelphia		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Rochester, Boston	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg		Ottawa
NY Giants at Chicago		Buffalo, Burlington	Montreal, Atlantic
Tampa Bay at Atlanta
Detroit at Washington		Detroit		TSN2
Miami at Cleveland

Sunday Late

 

Jacksonville at Tennessee	Seattle, Detroit, Cleveland			TSN2
Dallas at New England		All affiliates	All affiliates (except Atlantic)		Atlantic

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Green Bay at San Francisco	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 2, CTV Two
Baltimore at LA Rams	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/4

Just a few items on sale with coupon

• Every FOX network is showing Cowboys-Patriots for the late game on Sunday.  Not surprised at this at all.  Arguably the two biggest and most insufferable (for different reasons) fanbases in the NFL.  So of course it has to be AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK!  Besides, I don’t remember the last time there has been a better late afternoon-SNF pair than what we have this week so I am not complaining.
• Speaking of the two primetime games…wow!  Two really good games.  I have a feeling that TSN is going to lose some Grey Cup viewers to these games.
• And speaking of the Grey Cup, that is why only TSN2 is showing Sunday Night Football.  It’s cool TSN2 has the tripleheader though, something that almost never happens when the CFL is in the playoffs.
• Only two late games is a weird look that would normally never happen.  I am sure the NFL would never allow it.  But with the Dallas Damn Cowboys and the New England Motherfuckin’ Patriots playing, I can’t see anyone saying “You know what?  This is great but man I want to see the Jags and Titans.”  Except for some Jags and Titans fans and a few degenerate gamblers.
• Four games, all early ones, not showing in Canada.  None of the games are must-see so no one cares.  Oh yeah, if you get Sunday Ticket or RedZone (which I watch now) you will get to see these games so if you are one of those Dolphins fans who probably see none of their games on TV (unless they play New England, Dallas or Buffalo) you would be in luck!

Alright now the playoff picture after Houston barely beating Indianapolis last night:

#1 – New England	#1 – San Francisco
#2 – Baltimore	#2 – Green Bay
#3 – Houston	#3 – New Orleans
#4 – Kansas City	#4 – Dallas
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 – Buffalo	#5 – Seattle
#6 – Oakland	#6 – Minnesota

Minnesota is still in the #6 spot.  They are a game and a half ahead of the Rams.  They probably only need to two of their last five to at least clinch that final spot.  Considering it’s the Vikings though, you have to wonder when they will fuck this up.  In the next five weeks?  In the wild card round?  Will the win the division, get to the conference championship and then Favre the game away?  Who knows but I know Vikings fans are thinking that.  In contrast to the NFC, the AFC Wild Card race is really close right now.  Even the Browns are only two games out.  No, really.  Their Ohio brothers are not doing nearly as well since the Bengals are already eliminated.

Alright, enjoy the games everyone!  Soon I will have to replace the 14+ hours of college football on Saturdays with the 10 or so hours of NFL football on Sundays (not to mention Thursday Night Football and, ugh, Monday Night Football).  I’m surprised anything gets done around my house.  Have a great weekend!

Oh it’s Sleepwalk time! – Week 13 College Football TV Schedule

Yeah it’s time for the annual SEC Sleepwalk Saturday.  I am not a fan, gonna be honest.  I still believe that these kinds of games should be played before November hits.  Many don’t agree with me and I don’t give a shit.  Do you honestly think Western Carolina is going to beat Alabama this weekend?  And no, I don’t mean beat the spread.  And I will include this addendum here since I have had someone say “Well it’s not just the SEC that does it.”  And they are correct.  However, the SEC does it more on this one weekend and they do it better than any other conference.  It’s like the SEC is a Bob Ross painting compared to the other Power Five conferences which are a grade 8 art project.

Saying all this, it isn’t quite as bad as recent years.  Still not the greatest schedule but there are some good games in here mixed in with the crap.  Let’s go!

Thursday

		US	Canada
NC State at Georgia Tech	8:00 PM

It starts with this.  Technically it’s football.

Friday

		US	Canada
Colorado State at Wyoming	9:30 PM

Ho boy this doesn’t get a whole lot better.  Tough when there’s only one game each night.

Saturday Early​

		US	Canada
#10 Minnesota at Northwestern	Noon
Illinois at #17 Iowa	Noon
UCF at Tulane	Noon
Western Carolina at #5 Alabama	Noon
#21 Oklahoma State at West Virginia	Noon
Harvard at Yale	Noon
#8 Penn State at #2 Ohio State	Noon
Michigan State at Rutgers	Noon
Liberty at Virginia	Noon
Samford at #15 Auburn	Noon

A lot of games here.  Like a ton for any timeslot ever.  Are there any important games?  Other than a potential Game of the Year candidate in PSU-tOSU?  Meh.  I would love to say most of my time will be spent on that one game but I know myself.  I will be using my remote control like I need a serious thumb workout.  Also, you will notice Harvard and Yale are on ESPNU here.  They did this last year during SEC Sleepwalk Saturday which tells you that in the end, it’s still not the greatest schedule.  And Western Carolina appears on ESPN.  And Rutgers is on FS1.  I could go on and on but I won’t bore you.

Saturday Afternoon​

		US	Canada
Boston College at #16 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
UCLA at #23 USC	3:30 PM
Nebraska at Maryland	3:30 PM
Texas A&M at #4 Georgia	3:30 PM
#25 SMU at Navy	3:30 PM
#13 Michigan at Indiana	3:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Texas at #14 Baylor	3:30 PM
Mercer at North Carolina	3:30 PM
North Texas at Rice	3:30 PM
UT-Martin at Kentucky	3:30 PM
East Tennessee State at Vanderbilt	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Louisville	4:00 PM
#18 Memphis at USF	4:00 PM
Purdue at #12 Wisconsin	4:00 PM
California at Stanford	4:00 PM

Sweet Jesus that’s a ton of games.  There have never been sixteen games in a timeslot (available to Canadians) ever.  There is no one game that highlights this timeslot but TAMU-UGA should be fun (and I hope it is for Brad Nessler’s sake), Baylor has to avoid another trip up as they host the Longhorns and Michigan and Wisconsin need to look seriously impressive to move back up the chain into the Top 10.  I also see a potential upset alert with Vandy hosting ETSU of the SoCon.  I know the AD said that Derek Mason will be back next season but if the Dores lose this one, I find it hard to believe that will be the case.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Miami vs. FIU (in Marlins Park)	7:00 PM
Arkansas at #1 LSU	7:00 PM
Temple at #19 Cincinnati	7:00 PM
Kansas State at Texas Tech	7:00 PM
#6 Oregon at Arizona State	7:30 PM
Duke at Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Houston at Tulsa	7:30 PM
Tennessee at Missouri	7:30 PM
Abilene Christian at Mississippi State	7:30 PM
TCU at #9 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

Ho boy.  This kind of drops off a cliff and I don’t mean just in sheer quantity.  I mean Oregon-ASU is the ABC Primetime game.  I guess that is what happens when FOX gets the big game of the week.  Anyway, TCU-OU could be interesting if the Horned Frogs don’t let the Sooners get too far ahead too early.  Miami-FIU will make for an interesting visual, harkening back to the times of the Miami Beach Bowl (and the Memphis-BYU brawl).  I wonder if LSU can put a 70-burger on the hapless Hogs.  Also, it will be interesting now that Cincinnati is not in the catbird seat for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six thanks to their performance on the field The Committee putting them one spot below Memphis.  Will they take that anger out on Temple or will their chances end for a Cotton Bowl bid?

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Oregon State at Washington State	9:00 PM
Washington at Colorado	10:00 PM
#7 Utah at Arizona	10:00 PM
#20 Boise State at Utah State	10:30 PM
Nevada at Fresno State	10:30 PM

Five game in the late night timeslot?  Well if you were looking for quantity this is the week you were wanting.  Oregon State could give Wazzu all sorts of problems in the cold of Pullman.  Boise State-Utah State is pretty much for the Mountain West Mountain title.  Welp, looks like I am definitely staying up late since I can’t see all of these games being blowouts that are basically over by 1 in the morning (although yes, 1 in the morning is still late but I digress).

Games to set your eyeballs on

Penn State at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – This is far and away the Game of the Week and could be the Game of the Year.  I guess I am starting to get used to big games being on in the Noon timeslot since that wasn’t a thing before FOX entered the college football game at a national level.  It’s also smart by FOX to say that Noon will be their big game most of the time (Big Noon Saturday, right?) considering the afternoon slot is usually CBS’s and the primetime slot is usually ABC’s.  Anyway, if tOSU wins, they clinch their spot in Indianapolis.  If the Nittany Lions pull off the upset (and it would be an upset if they won), they are in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten East crown.  Also, a loss by either team probably ends their College Football Playoff hopes (unless there’s a bit of chaos).

Texas A&M at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Yeah so there is a bit of a fall from the Game of the Week but this is still a great get for CBS considering the quality of the SEC games this week.  This has to be considered a speed bump game for UGA.  They have already clinched the SEC East but at #4 they still have a very legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff.  A TAMU win, however, puts the CFP in chaos and that is kind of what I am hoping for.  At least for some it would be good since many think the Dawgs’ loss to South Carolina should mean they don’t get in which isn’t a terrible argument.  But in the end, if they win the SEC, they go to the CFP no matter what.  That’s really the only important game for Georgia (as long as they can win this one and beat Georgia Tech next week).

Michigan at Indiana (3:30, TSN3) – Hey the Hoosiers as one of the games of the week!  I don’t know if that says more about Indiana doing well this season or about the quality of games here on SEC Shitgame Saturday.  At least we finally get a huge step up from TSN this week with 8 games on the various channels.  I am surprised it took this long to get to this point (the penultimate week) but I am glad it is here.  Anyway, the Wolverines being at #13 means they have a really good shot at the New Year’s Six so a win here is imperative.  The Hoosiers could play spoiler and maybe, just maybe, rocket up the rankings if they can pull off the upset.

Texas at Baylor (3:30, FloSports) – It seriously falls off a cliff after the first three games.  I picked this one because Baylor is still in the race, not just for the Big XII Championship, but for the New Year’s Six.  Texas could screw this all up and, inadvertently, screw up Oklahoma’s CFP chances with a win here since the more Baylor loses, the worse Oklahoma’s comeback win over the Bears looks.

Temple at Cincinnati (7:00, specialty pack) – Because of TSN having more games this week it means the specialty pack will, consequently, have less games.  But since the week is thin on big games, this slots in as the fifth best game of the week and the only one on this list on the specialty pack.  The American is still the pre-eminent Group of Five conference so the winner will, in all likelihood, go to the Cotton Bowl.  So even though Cincinnati is now one spot below Memphis in the CFP Rankings, it really doesn’t matter as long as they stay above Boise State and end up winning the AAC Championship.  If that happens, they are in no questions asked.  An Owls win means that a) Memphis is probably the AAC’s last hope for the Cotton Bowl and b) the AAC East is still not clinched.

Honourable mention: Boise State at Utah State (10:30, CBS Sports Network); Oregon at Arizona State (7:30, ABC); SMU at Navy (3:30, CBS Sports Network)

Some gambling fun and games

You should go back and look at my picks from last week.  Man was I on.  Called two upsets and if Auburn had been able to come all the way back it would have been three.  Otherwise?  Perfection.  Oh yeah.  I think I need to start learning more about gambling because I clearly have too much debt and need to add more just based on my one day’s worth of picks.  Anyway, here are this week’s picks:

Boise State over Utah State

Texas over Baylor (big upset!)

Oregon over Arizona State

Georgia over Texas A&M

Michigan over Indiana

Ohio State over Penn State

Cincinnati over Temple

Navy over SMU (mild upset)

Wake Forest over Duke

Notre Dame over Boston College

Miami over FIU

The Thursday Night Football affair will be Indianapolis against Houston.  Huge AFC South matchup.  Considering the Thursday night college football schedule of one game, I see myself watching quite a bit of this game.

I have to figure out how to use the PVR functionality with my Android box since there are some things I am missing since moving to IPTV.  I don’t have to use it for Saturdays anymore which is great since, for the most part, I never miss a full timeslot.  I’m sure I will figure it out.  Anyway, NFL sked tomorrow.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Updated Bowl Projections that actually have some substance to them

At least that’s what I am going to tell you.  Since we only have two weeks of the regular season left, these actually have something to back them up so that I can explain it or you can ask me about it.  This also means most of the projections are close to the same since that is what happens as November motors on in college football.  So let’s go to those projections shall we?

Fiesta Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	LSU vs. Utah

OK this becomes interesting as I have Utah at #4.  This coming week it’s Ohio State that has the greatest chance of falling.  A game against Penn State is never really easy.  And a loss definitely pushes them down to at least the #6 spot if not lower.  A big part of this is that they are now out of the driver’s seat in the Big Ten East and I can’t see a team who didn’t win their conference getting in this year.

This means that the New Year’s Six would have changed as well.  Let’s find out how:

Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs Baylor
Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Penn State vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame/G-5 #1	Wake Forest vs. Georgia
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1	Oklahoma vs. Boise State

One change.  Virignia replaced with Wake Forest.  This hasn’t been too tough so far.  I still think Boise State wins out and Cincinnati and Memphis both falter once before the end of the season.  And for once, the War on I-4 isn’t that important.  Too bad since recently it ratcheted up the entertainment factor to 11.

And now to the rest of the bowl games where, in some cases, it really does start to fall apart.

Mobile Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Miami-OH vs. Arkansas State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big Ten vs. MWC	Indiana vs. Utah State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	San Diego State vs. Toledo
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Illinois
Birmingham Bowl	SEC/ACC vs. American/ACC	NC State vs. Memphis
Outback Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Missouri vs. Minnesota
Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Iowa State vs. USC
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. Sun Belt	Nevada vs. Louisiana
Liberty Bowl	SEC/American vs. Big XII/American	Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State
Sun Bowl	Pac-12 vs. ACC	Arizona State vs. Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt
Redbox Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Washington
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech
First Responder Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	Kansas State vs. Marshall
Camping World Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Texas vs. Miami
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII/MWC vs. Pac-12/MWC	Liberty* vs. Hawaii
Holiday Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Michigan vs. Washington State
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. TCU
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh
Military Bowl	ACC vs. American	Florida State vs. Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten/MAC vs. ACC/MAC	Western Michigan vs. Army*
Independence Bowl	SEC/C-USA vs. ACC/American	Florida Atlantic vs. Tulane
Hawaii Bowl	BYU vs. American/MWC	BYU vs. Cincinnati
Gasparilla Bowl	American/ACC vs. C-USA/ACC	UCF vs. Southern Miss
New Orleans Bowl	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech vs. Appalachian State
Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UAB* vs. Air Force
Camellia Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Ohio vs. Troy
Boca Raton Bowl	American vs. MAC	Temple vs. Central Michigan
Cure Bowl	American vs. Sun Belt	Charlotte* vs. Georgia Southern
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. C-USA	Wyoming vs. North Texas
Frisco Bowl	American vs. MAC/C-USA	SMU vs. Northern Illinois
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Buffalo vs. Western Kentucky

A few notes on this:

• I went from two bowl-eligible teams missing out on the fun to three.  Fresno State, Eastern Michigan and Georgia State would miss the cut.
• The Big XII is a bit of a mess.  Not enough teams to make the tie-ins work because the amount of tie-ins is absurd for a ten-team conference.  With two teams in the CFP/NY6 they have six other tie-ins.  That means 8 out of the 10 teams would have to go bowling to fill its slots.  It’s even worse in the Pac-12 but that’s because there are a boatload of underachieving teams in that conference (and, again, two teams in the CFP/NY6).
• Utah State would get their shot at one of the big boys (kind of) as I have them facing Indiana at the Armed Forces Bowl.  Same goes with Memphis going up against NC State in Birmingham, Marshall meeting Kansas State at the (hopefully not weather-cancelled) First Responder Bowl and Navy hosting Florida State for the Military Bowl.  I still believe all the G-5 conference champs should be put in bowls against Power Five teams.  That should be their reward.  For most of those conferences the reward for winning your conference is a trophy and a banner and not a whole lot else.
• I think we will still have an all-Texas Texas Bowl…but it will be Texas A&M facing TCU, not Texas A&M facing Texas.  Because Texas fears Texas A&M.  I think.  I don’t know.  Just go eat brisket.
• Thanks to the Big XII not having enough teams to fill their slots (phrasing?), Liberty goes to their first bowl game in program history and will face Hawaii at the always-hilarious Cheez-It Bowl.
• BYU is the first team to accept an invitation as they were locked in for the Hawaii Bowl if they became bowl-eligible.  I have them facing Cincinnati at this point.
• Feel good story for this season could be Charlotte going to a bowl game for the first time.  A program that really has done nothing since starting their program not too long ago could end up having enough wins to go bowling.  I have them doing so and going to the Cure Bowl because the AAC doesn’t have enough teams to fill all the bowl slots.
• Why don’t they just go with my bowl game method?  It would work so much better.  At least I think so.

MACtion time tonight!  And MACtion time tomorrow night!  I like it because it’s more football to watch.  Anyway, both MAC games appear on the specialty pack tonight.  Tomorrow, same thing.  So we are still in the “football every day” mode and will be until next Wednesday: the only day through the end of the month without football.  I guess I could do some housework or something like that that night.

Same old same old later this week.  SEC Sleepwalk Saturday (but the sleepwalking isn’t I-got-into-a-car-and-drove-into-a-house-sleepwalking but more like I-made-myself-a-turkey-dinner-sleepwalking) schedule on Thursday.  NFL sked on Friday.  Enjoy your week everyone.

Poor Tua – Week 12 College Football Recap

You all saw it.  Tua Tagovailoa’s injury.  Yeah it wasn’t great.  His season is over.  And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy.  Even I was involved a bit.  But I have calmed down since then.  So let’s discuss this situation here.  Yes Tua was in when he didn’t have to be.  But here’s the issue: if he was starting the game, when is the appropriate time to take him out?  Yes a lot of people pointed at the score and said because it was 35-7 he should have been pulled by then.  I kind of disagree.  Very few coaches (and very few fans) would pull a quarterback with a few minutes left in the first half.  It would probably be done at halftime which makes much more sense.  My issue is the fact that he was in the game at all.  Unless the game was close at halftime or any time in the second half, why test it?  I figured he shouldn’t have started at all and just appeared if need be.  But again, hindsight is 20/20.  And in the end, it won’t matter if Bama wins their final two games anyway.

Now on to the rest of the recap.

Recap

• Oklahoma was able to eek out the victory over Baylor.  Baylor had a 28-3 lead (yeah, I know) and blew it.  Amazingly enough it was the largest comeback in Sooner history.  That is actually a pretty wild stat considering how many games Boomer Sooner has won.  Also, this was done without CeeDee Lamb in the lineup.  Have to consider it one of the most impressive wins of the season.  The funny thing is that it looks like there probably will be a rematch in a few weeks time at JerryWorld between these two teams.  And if the Bears win the rematch, ho boy.  The game that the Big XII asked the NCAA for a waiver to hold so that they could get that thirteenth data point making it easier for their teams to get to the College Football Playoff could end up leaving them out in the cold.  That would be quite the irony.
• Clemson beat Wake Forest easily.  Notre Dame beat Navy even easier in what was supposed to be one of the games of the week.  Both teams are in the thick of the CFP/NY6 conversation yet it could be easily derailed over the last two weeks, Clemson’s ACC title game appearance notwithstanding.
• For three quarters, Georgia-Auburn, my choice of the game of the week, was a complete snoozefest.  Georgia had a 21-0 lead and all seemed lost.  Then the Tigers alarm clock must have went off since they started actually playing.  They got to within seven points but could not convert one last time as their final drive was a disaster.  This meant that Georgia was going back to the SEC Championship but won’t have to face Bama this time.  Lucky them they will probably get LSU who is just as dominant as any of the Tide teams of the past few years have been.
• Oregon beat up on Arizona and Utah did the same to UCLA.  So those two teams continue their march to the Pac-12 Championship (on a Friday night).  And all for the opportunity to possibly still be the #5 seed and be on the outside of the CFP looking in.  Because The Committee has always done things the proper way, right?  They won’t let bias come into play.  I’m sure of it.  Seriously………maybe I should have used Comic Sans for those last few sentences.
• One of the upsets of the day was Kansas State falling to West Virginia.  We all knew the Mountaineers were going to struggle this year but it has been a difficult first season for Neal Brown.  What their win did do, however, was possibly weaken Oklahoma’s resume for the College Football Playoff.  Oklahoma’s only loss, remember, is to Kansas State and that loss is looking worse and worse as the weeks go by.
• Minnesota went to the spot where Big Ten CFP hopes go to die and did what a few others have done: lose to a tough Iowa team.  Minnesota isn’t out of the conversation yet but they are on life support for the CFP.  They still have a decent shot at the New Year’s Six though.  But yeah, Kinnick Stadium is not easy as a visitor.  Honestly, neither is Jack Trice Stadium.  Actually, maybe teams should just avoid the state of Iowa altogether.
• Cincinnati beat USF in a very close one.  I feel very bad for the USF kicker.  He missed four field goals and that was the difference in their loss to the Bearcats.  It also keeps Cincinnati in the catbird seat for the Group of Five.  Win out and they should be the Cotton Bowl selection.
• Oregon State beat Arizona State and are now one win away from bowl eligibility.  But since it was on the Pac-12 Network very few people would have watched it.
• Florida State is bowl-eligible!  I mean they did it by beating Alabama State but still.  Now they don’t have to worry about beating Florida to go bowling.
• Iowa State beat Texas (barely) and also became bowl-eligible.  Worst part is they are 11 points away from being undefeated and being three games away from an unlikely College Football Playoff appearance.  They are making losing close games an artform.  One day, they will get to the Big XII Championship and, at the very least, cause some damage to a true contender or, if Matt Campbell keeps progressing as a coach, be the team to beat in the conference.  Which would drive Oklahoma and Texas fans insane.
• I try not to be too biased but I was hoping Indiana could beat Penn State this past Saturday because it would have started an uncomfortable conversation in the College Football Playoff Committee room.  Imagine hearing “OK, let’s look at Indiana’s resume.”  Would have been so good to have them debate the merits of the Hoosiers in the New Year’s Six.
• Oh forgot to mention the photographer that got trucked in the UGA-Auburn game.  She was unconscious for a while and it was a scary moment.  Worst part of the whole thing?  Gary Danielson acting like a complete asshole about it.  I hope CBS doesn’t bring that buffoon back next season.  Promote Aaron Taylor or Rick Neuheisel to that spot and put Danielson in the studio.

We are now getting into the real important part of the season.  Even this coming week is fairly decent and not as “sleepwalk-y” as normal.  Anyway, here’s my Top 25 that, again, had some good movement:

#1	LSU
#2	Georgia
#3	Ohio State
#4	Clemson
#5	Oklahoma
#6	Utah
#7	Alabama
#8	Oregon
#9	Penn State
#10	Florida
#11	Michigan
#12	Notre Dame
#13	Wisconsin
#14	Minnesota
#15	Baylor
#16	Iowa
#17	Cincinnati
#18	Auburn
#19	Memphis
#20	Boise State
#21	SMU
#22	Texas A&M
#23	Oklahoma State
#24	Appalachian State
#25	Indiana

I get it.  You may not be happy with Georgia at #2.  But they just beat Auburn and recently beat Florida so I think they belong there.  Saying that, they don’t move to #1 and will probably move down a spot or three leading up to the SEC Championship.  So no need to worry my friends.  Utah and Oregon are sitting in the weeds at #6 and #7 with the winner of the Pac-12 Championship hoping they aren’t left out at #5.  Baylor and Minnesota, despite both losing, didn’t fall too far and still have (very) slim hopes and at least are in the NY6 race.  Oh, and Cincinnati, Memphis, Boise State, SMU and Appalachian State are between the #17 and #24 spots and there should be a fun race to the finish in the Group of Five.

Alright, Monday Night Football tonight in a game that many people will probably actually watch.  The Chiefs and Chargers travel to Mexico City and there will actually be a game played there this time around.  If the Chiefs lose, then it’s the Raiders (yes, the RAIDERS!) who would lead the AFC West.  That is a fun thought with the Raiders leaving for Las Vegas next season.

Also, we got some more MACtion tomorrow night!  Eastern Michigan-Northern Illinois and Ohio-Bowling Green are on the specialty pack Tuesday night.  Actually all the games through Thursday night are appearing on the specialty pack so if you want weekday football, you know what you have to do.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore).  Thursday there will be the college football week that isn’t so shitty anymore and its TV schedule.  Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Friday.  Enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!

 

I honestly don’t know what to think about this – Week 11 NFL TV Schedule

If you didn’t already know, Colin Kaepernick is having a workout on Saturday to be attended by NFL teams.  Actually it’s the NFL that is hosting this workout.  I honestly don’t know what to make of this.  It is unprecedented since no other player has been granted this ever in the history of the league.  My first thought is that the NFL is doing this to prove, in its own way, that there is no collusion towards Kaepernick.  I think the NFL wants to hopefully show that he doesn’t have the skills to be a starting quarterback in the league anymore.  And this has the feel of a PR move by the NFL as well which is backed up by the fact that this workout will be on a Saturday, in the middle of a big day in college football when most scouts and football executives will be scouting for the next draft.  So you have to wonder how legitimate the workout is meant to be.  As of right now, eleven teams are planning to attend and Hue Jackson will be running the drills in this combine-like atmosphere.  We will know a lot more probably by tomorrow but I still struggle to figure out what it will mean.  My best guess is that this ends up being a bit of a sham and Kaep isn’t signed and we continue hearing about this in the near future.

Alright let’s get to the schedule…you know, the games.  The reason we watch football?

Sunday Early

Houston at Baltimore	Seattle, Spokane, Cleveland, Burlington, Boston		Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montreal		Vancouver Island, Alberta, Ottawa, Atlantic
Denver at Minnesota	Minneapolis, Detroit		Winnipeg
Buffalo at Miami	Buffalo, Rochester		Kitchener, Toronto
Jacksonville at Indianapolis
Dallas at Detroit		Detroit, Rochester, Burlington, Boston	Northern Ontario, Ottawa, Atlantic		London, Toronto
Atlanta at Carolina
NY Jets at Washington
New Orleans at Tampa Bay

Sunday Late

New England at Philadelphia	All affiliates
Cincinnati at Oakland
Arizona at San Francisco		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Buffalo	Vancouver	TSN2	Vancouver Island, Alberta, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Atlantic

Sunday/Monday Primetime

Chicago at LA Rams	Sunday, 8:30, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two
Kansas City vs. LA Chargers (in Mexico City)	Monday, 8:30, TSN 1/3/4

Some Possibly Important Notes and Things

• Luckily for Canadians, no one is stuck with Jets-Redskins.
• It’s Mexico City football!  At least this year they will actually play the game in Mexico City (we hope) after last year’s debacle where they had to move the game back to Los Angeles because the field was in terrible shape.  This is a league that has had the Oakland Raiders play with a god damn baseball diamond in the middle of the field and the field south of the border wasn’t even as good as that.  My god.
• CFL Division Finals air this Sunday but somehow TSN2 will get the Cardinals-49ers game since TSN2 is the weird redheaded stepchild (or step-sibling in this case) that does whatever it wants and ends up showing the same show ten times in a row because there’s nothing else to air.  Kind of like the old TBS Superstation.
• The yearly tradition returns: no NFL football on in the late timeslot on CTV.  The reason?  The Santa Claus Parade.  Let’s be honest: if you are over the age of like 10, most parades are garbage.  Unless it’s a Remembrance Day Parade or something like that.  Other than that?  No.
• FIVE games aren’t being shown in Canada this Sunday.  That never happens to that extent.  This is what happens when that darn Santa Claus Parade interferes.

Alright now the playoff picture after last night’s game at the Dawg Pound where Myles Garrett decided to channel his inner Cactus Jack:

#1 – New England	#1 – San Francisco
#2 – Baltimore	#2 – Green Bay
#3 – Houston	#3 – New Orleans
#4 – Kansas City	#4 – Dallas/Philadelphia
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 – Buffalo	#5 – Seattle
#6 – Oakland/Indianapolis	#6 – Minnesota

Oakland is in the #6 spot.  I love it.  I hope they do get a playoff spot in their final year in the Bay Area.  I know secretly that the Gingerhammer will hate it.  He probably also doesn’t like Buffalo getting in as well because they are a small market.  I can’t fucking stand Roger Goodell.  In the NFC, there are five really good teams and then the NFC East which is a shambles.  Yes there are still quite a few weeks left in the season but I never would have envisioned that division being so bad, even if they do have Washington and the Giants in it.

Remember, this is still a part of football every day.  It lasts another 12 days.  Then a day off.  Then we have the American Thanksgiving Footballgasm Celebration where I will watch way too much football and get nothing done (not exactly true but it feel that way come Sunday evening).  Enjoy the games everyone!

The Footballgasm Continues! – Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

You like that?  You like that!  You can use that Kirk Cousins line for so many different scenarios.

Of course the Footballgasm alludes to football every day until the day before American Thanksgiving.  It is a great time of year to be a football fan, college or pro.  As for what else has been happening lately, the same mid-week things occur every season happened again: the CFP Rankings and MACtion:

• The CFP Rankings came out on Tuesday again.  A lot of movement and contrived controversy.  People who hate Alabama hate the fact that they didn’t fall like 20 spots after their loss to the #1 team in the poll, LSU.  Meanwhile, Georgia sits at #5 with a loss to South Carolina of all teams.  Yuck.  And remember, no Group of Five teams allowed in the Top 4.  Hell keep them out of the Top 10.  This an unofficial rule.  The Committee won’t tell you this but it’s true.
• MACtion graces our screens on weekdays now.  MACtion is fun to watch I will admit.  Usually some pretty good close games.  Attendance, however, at games during mid-week MACtion is abysmal.  This is nothing new.  Going to a sporting event on a weekday night is tough.  As a student, even worse.  Luckily for the MAC, during the season there have been more games getting a national spotlight on Saturdays.  This way, MACtion isn’t the first check-in on the conference all season for most college football fans.

Anyway, other than that, not much to discuss so let’s get into the schedule alright?

Thursday

		US	Canada
Buffalo at Kent State	7:00 PM
North Carolina at Pittsburgh	7:30 PM

So an OK MAC game and an OK ACC game.  Not too bad at all and these games actually have some stakes to them.  Kent State and North Carolina aren’t nearly as bad as they were last year which helps a lot here.  I just hope at least one of these games stays close or otherwise it’s off to Thursday Night Football.

Friday​

		US	Canada
Louisiana Tech at Marshall	7:00 PM
Fresno State at San Diego State	9:30 PM

OK another couple of average, but relatively important, games.  The Conference USA game is important since it could be a preview of the conference championship.  Fresno State, despite not being near the team they were the last two seasons, somehow holds all the cards and sits in the catbird seat in the Mountain West West…win out and they go the Mountain West Championship to somehow keep things close with Boise State (again).

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Indiana at #9 Penn State	Noon
UMass at Northwestern	Noon
#14 Wisconsin at Nebraska	Noon
#11 Florida at Missouri	Noon
VMI at Army	Noon
#5 Alabama at Mississippi State	Noon
TCU at Texas Tech	Noon
Tulane at Temple	Noon
Michigan State at #15 Michigan	Noon
Kansas at #22 Oklahoma State	Noon
Alabama State at Florida State	Noon

We get the Rodney Dangerfield of programs, Indiana, facing Penn State trying to put the nail in the coffin of their College Football Playoff chances.  We get little brother Michigan State trying to derail Michigan’s postseason hopes.  We also get Nebraska’s final chance, really, to look like an important team this season (and not make my preseason projection look even more awful) as they host Wisconsin in Lincoln.  And there’s a few other good games as well.  Oh and also UMass-Northwestern which could be brutal if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#23 Navy at #16 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
Wake Forest at #3 Clemson	3:30 PM
#2 Ohio State at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#4 Georgia at #12 Auburn	3:30 PM
Central Michigan at Ball State	3:30 PM
West Virginia at #24 Kansas State	3:30 PM
#18 Memphis at Houston	3:30 PM
#19 Texas at Iowa State	3:30 PM
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech	3:30 PM
Kentucky at Vanderbilt	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Duke	4:00 PM
Wyoming at Utah State	4:00 PM
#8 Minnesota at #20 Iowa	4:00 PM
Stanford at Washington State	4:30 PM

Three huge games in the afternoon timeslot.  Navy visits South Bend hoping for an upset to put themselves firmly in the Group of Five race, Georgia is on upset alert as they head to the Plains to face Auburn and Minnesota has to prove that their jump in the rankings (the largest jump to get into the Top 10 in the history of those rankings) wasn’t a fluke.  An Auburn win will definitely end UGA’s CFP chances and an Iowa win would do the same to Minnesota.  Also if we get Mississippi State somehow upsetting Bama we are getting close to 1990-style chaos which I would definitely welcome.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#17 Cincinnati at USF	7:00 PM
#1 LSU at Ole Miss	7:00 PM
Air Force at Colorado State	7:00 PM
#10 Oklahoma at #13 Baylor	7:30 PM
Louisville at NC State	7:30 PM
#25 Appalachian State at Georgia State	7:30 PM
Arizona State at Oregon State	7:30 PM
South Carolina at Texas A&M	7:30 PM
UCLA at #7 Utah	8:00 PM

And now a game of the year candidate.  Oklahoma and Baylor, despite both of them being fairly far out of the Top 4, have the biggest Big XII game of the season.  This game will decide if Baylor honestly has what it takes to get to the CFP or if the Sooners are still the cream of the crop in the conference.  The only TSN game of the week appears in this timeslot as LSU heads to face Ole Miss.  Why not show the 3:30 game as well?  Seems weird to me.  They must have something important on in that timeslot.  So what is taking college football out of that timeslot?  The ATP Tennis tour semi-finals.  Wow.  OK then.  That couldn’t be on another of the TSNs?  I get that it is part of the contract to show that (and for tennis fans it’s a huge event) but nothing in the contract says it has to appear on TSN2…or at least I assume that’s the case since that would be really oddly specific.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
New Mexico at #21 Boise State	10:15 PM
Arizona at #6 Oregon	10:30 PM
USC at California	11:00 PM

No big games here but USC-Cal is clearly the least important game of the late night sked.  Never thought I’d say that about a USC game but there you go.  Boise State should continue their charge for the New Year’s Six spot and Oregon tries not to be complacent against an entirely average Wildcats squad.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – This is the Game of the Week but there could be a few choices here.  So we will call it GOTW 1A.  Auburn has a chance to cause major problems for the SEC with a win here.  Well at least the SEC East since it means the Dawgs don’t clinch the division yet and it eliminates them (for sure this time) from the College Football Playoff.  It also keeps Auburn somehow in the hunt.  I would chuckle if Auburn wins and is at like #7 next week with a legitimate shot at the Top 4 and watch the media go crazy over it.

Oklahoma at Baylor (7:30, ABC) – This should have more hype attached to it and it may by the time the game beings.  This game harkens back to the time RGIII passed his way past Oklahoma with a last minute touchdown which was a bit shocking at the time despite the fact the Bears were a good team that year.  I expect the same thing here.  Even if the Bears win, they will probably sit at like #8 and still won’t get the praise they do deserve for still being undefeated.  Matt Rhule really has done the best job in college football this season and should be the Coach of the Year (sorry to Ed Orgeron and P.J. Fleck).  I still believe we could get a Minnesota-Baylor Fiesta Bowl CFP semi-final which would be hilarious and make ESPN somewhat sad.

Minnesota at Iowa (4:00, FOX) – Speaking of big tests, Minnesota has two left.  This is the first one with Wisconsin on the final weekend.  Look, the Gophers are undefeated.  Not their fault they aren’t a blueblood program like some of the others.  To me this is worse than blaming Clemson for being in the shitty ACC or Bama for not beating a ranked opponent.  But at least Minnesota is in the Big Ten so if they beat Iowa, Wisconsin and the East Division champ they are in no matter what.  The tough part about this may be playing in Iowa City since the Hawkeyes tend to be tough to beat at home.

Navy at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – Navy is back!  Now we can definitely say that last season was an aberration and people like me were slightly fooled (since I still had Navy winning six games).  The Irish have been shaky lately so it wouldn’t surprise me if they struggled with the ol’ option offense.  Navy needs this way more than Notre Dame as a win here for them puts them in the G-5 conversation for the NY6.  The Irish do, however, need a win here to keep their New Year’s Six hopes alive.

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, ABC) – Flip a coin between this and like six other games to determine who should inherit this spot.  I picked this game since I believe Indiana should be ranked, even if it was at #25.  And they could give the Nittany Lions some headaches.

Honourable mention: Michigan State at Michigan (Noon, FOX); Louisiana Tech at Marshall (Friday, 7:00, CBS Sports Network); Texas at Iowa State (3:30, FloSports)

Some gambling fun and games

Let’s not look at my last week’s picks.  Things were going well, I got the upset pick of VaTech over Wake Forest and then BLAMMO, four straight wrong picks (including the two big games of the week).  So I am going to forget that and move on with this week’s picks.  Here we go:

Marshall over Louisiana Tech

Oklahoma over Baylor

Auburn over Georgia (big upset!)

Iowa State over Texas (upset?)

Penn State over Indiana

Michigan over Michigan State

Iowa over Minnesota (big upset!)

Notre Dame over Navy

Appalachian State over Georgia State

Clemson over Wake Forest

Oregon over Arizona

Ah more Thursday Night Football.  Better than Monday Night Football!  That should be their new slogan.  I remember a time when Thursday Night Football was hot garbage and should have been abolished.  Now it’s Monday Night Football that might end up going back to ABC?  The last time MNF was any good (and yes I miss the old MNF theme).  Anyway, tonight’s game is the Steelers, who somehow have become good again, and the Browns, who have been playing like the Browns teams we all know and love.  Should be good.  And cold.

Not going to get a full day of watching college football in but will watch most of it.  Plus I will be up until god knows when in the morning so I am sure I will see all the highlights I need to see depending on what I miss.

NFL schedule tomorrow as per usual.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Bowl projection time….yes, again

OK so we have finally come to the part of the year where a) there is snow on the ground and b) bowl projections have some substance to them.  At this point, unless chaos happens, most of us can back up the projections we make with easy answers.  Except when the easy answers become not so easy.  Here we go!

Fiesta Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	LSU vs. Utah

The Fiesta Bowl didn’t change at all.  The Peach Bowl, on the other hand…yeah.  Out goes Bama and the Sooners, in comes LSU and, yes, Utah.  I am sure some would bristle at this but as of right now, they have every opportunity to get that #4 spot.  Problem is the Utes aren’t a blueblood program so I can see them juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust on the outside looking in because The Committee just had to put some team like Alabama in when it is all said and done.  Alright, now to the New Year’s Six:

Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs Baylor
Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Penn State vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame/G-5 #1	Virginia vs. Georgia
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1	Oklahoma vs. Boise State

OK so this has changed:

• Boise State wins the Mountain West and overtakes Appalachian State for the G-5 spot.  I have Cincinnati losing the American Conference Championship.
• Penn State doesn’t even make it to the Big Ten Championship but are one of the better 2-loss teams around.
• Oklahoma loses the Big XII Championship to Baylor but is ranked high enough to get the only at-large spot in the Cotton Bowl.
• Alabama doesn’t make it to the SEC Championship and Georgia loses the SEC Championship.  Both teams get in because it’s the SEC (with Bama in at #5 which will cause a lot of chatter).
• Oh god the ACC.  This is going to be bad.  Right now I have UVA at #21 after the conference championship (and their loss to Clemson).  Thing is they are the best ACC team available other than Clemson so they get the Orange Bowl spot.  They need to put some restrictions on these spots since the Hoos really don’t belong in this kind of bowl game.
• Utah beats Oregon for the Pac-12 Championship.  This is after both the Utes and Ducks run the regular season table.  Oregon is easily ranked high enough to get the Rose Bowl spot.

So far it has been fine.  Not a ton of explanation despite the changes since it’s, well, pretty self-explanatory.  I know some of you may disagree and will have valid points.  That is fine too.  Let’s see the rest of the bowl picture:

Mobile Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Miami-OH vs. Louisiana
Armed Forces Bowl	Big Ten vs. MWC	Indiana vs. Utah State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	San Diego State vs. Ohio
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Nebraska
Birmingham Bowl	SEC/ACC vs. American/ACC	NC State vs. Cincinnati
Outback Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Minnesota
Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Iowa State vs. USC
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. Sun Belt	Wyoming vs. Arkansas State
Liberty Bowl	SEC/American vs. Big XII/American	Missouri vs. Oklahoma State
Sun Bowl	Pac-12 vs. ACC	Arizona State vs. Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Redbox Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Washington
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh
First Responder Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	Army* vs. Marshall
Camping World Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Texas vs. Miami
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII/MWC vs. Pac-12/MWC	Kansas State vs. Fresno State
Holiday Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Michigan vs. Washington State
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. TCU
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Illinois vs. Virginia Tech
Military Bowl	ACC vs. American	Louisville vs. Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten/MAC vs. ACC/MAC	Central Michigan vs. Florida State
Independence Bowl	SEC/C-USA vs. ACC/American	Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis
Hawaii Bowl	BYU vs. American/MWC	BYU vs. Temple
Gasparilla Bowl	American/ACC vs. C-USA/ACC	UCF vs. Southern Miss
New Orleans Bowl	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech vs. Appalachian State
Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UAB* vs. Air Force
Camellia Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Buffalo vs. Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl	American vs. MAC	Tulane vs. Ball State
Cure Bowl	American vs. Sun Belt	Liberty* vs. Georgia State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. C-USA	Nevada vs. Western Kentucky
Frisco Bowl	American vs. MAC/C-USA	SMU vs. Toledo
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Western Michigan vs. North Texas

A few notes on this:

• I went from two bowl-eligible teams out of the fun last week (North Texas and FIU) and now have….the same amount of teams.  But they are different!  It’s now Eastern Michigan and, surprisingly, Troy I have missing the postseason.  You know what this means?  More bowl games.  Remember they have Myrtle Beach and Boston added for the 2020 season.
• Liberty and Army do not have tie-ins this season so they are slotted in where a conference does not have enough bowl-eligible teams.  I have Army ending up at 7-6 although that includes a win over Navy.  I have them going to the First Responder Bowl to face Marshall from Conference USA.  Liberty, I also have making a bowl game at 7-5.  They have a secondary agreement with the Cure Bowl so they would go there if either the AAC or Sun Belt have enough bowl-eligible teams to fulfill that spot.  In this case it’s the American Conference.
• On top of the two teams missing out, I have a bunch of teams who currently have five wins losing out to miss out on bowl season as well.  Fifteen to be exact.  There are a lot of teams in that 5-7 win category this season (or I predict will end up there).
• No Power Five conference had more teams than bowl tie-ins.  Makes things a bit easier on my end.
• We still have no teams accepting bowl bids yet.  It helps that teams like Liberty and Army don’t have bowl tie-ins so they don’t automatically get a specific bowl slot once they hit six wins.  Saying that, BYU is pretty much locked in to the Hawaii Bowl if they are bowl-eligible so this could happen this coming week.

So tonight we got some MACtion.  Both games will appear on the specialty pack starting at 8:00.  Enjoy the games everyone!

I have a proposal – Week 11 College Football Recap

You probably know this already but Chad Morris has been fired as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.  No surprise there.  Arkansas has been awful this season.  No denying that.  While pretty much every other team not named Vanderbilt is improving in the SEC, the Razorbacks are getting worse somehow.  Chad Morris was supposed to be the savior (somewhat) for this program and at least get it back to playing in bowl games every season if not actually competing for the SEC West title.  But in what may be the worst coaching job in the state since John L. Smith was brought in for a short (and disastrous) period of time, nothing went right in Fayetteville (and sometimes Little Rock).  Their shellacking at the hands of Western Kentucky on Saturday was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Not saying Morris would have been back next year since he probably wouldn’t have been but there has to be a huge shot to the ego to be fired during a season.  Basically the school is saying you aren’t even good enough to coach this already shitty team for the rest of the season.  You are so bad that we have to replace you now.

Earlier this season, Rutgers finally shitcanned Chris Ash.  It was about a season or so too late but at least they finally did it.  So I have a proposal here that I think may have been said before but hear me out.  As much as people say there are too many bowl games, people obviously watch them since they usually get more viewers than anything else on at that time, other than the NFL or World Juniors.  So why not add another postseason game?  Here’s what I think: have the two worst Power Five teams face off to figure out the bottom team of the year.  Arkansas vs. Rutgers!  Who says no?  And play it in a spot where there is a good chance of horrible weather like Montana.  Someone will broadcast it for sure.  And I will watch it.  Let’s make it happen!

Alright enough of Relegation Bowl 2019.  On to the recap of what was an amazingly crazy week of college football.  I can honestly say it was one of the most enjoyable weeks of college football this year.  My only hope is that the last few weeks of the regular season are just as good (if not better).

Recap

• Minnesota had a nice win over Penn State in chilly conditions in Minneapolis in one of two battles of undefeated teams.  Row The Boat, indeed.  It was a historic victory for a program not known for playing big-time college football.  This means that the Golden Gophers’ hopes for the College Football Playoff are still alive.  And with Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin left on their sked, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Fighting Flecks are in the Top 4 come conference championship weekend.  As for PSU, they aren’t out of things yet but they have to win out and get a LOT of help.
• Clemson clinched the ACC Atlantic with a relatively easy win over NC State in primetime.  It was actually a close game for all of like a minute and then the Tigers were off to the races in a horribly boring affair.  It was weird to see the primetime sked be so much worse than the earlier two timeslots but there we had it.  If you needed to get anything done on Saturday, that was probably your chance.
• A very slow start for Georgia turned into a bit of a rout when they scored 27 unanswered on Missouri to pick up the win.  They still have two more big games against Auburn and Texas A&M coming up that could put other teams back in the SEC East race.  The Dawgs would have to lose both though and I honestly can’t see that happening.
• Oh yeah there was a kind of big matchup down in Tuscaloosa.  Talk about an instant classic.  Two of the best coaches in the game.  Two of the best quarterbacks (although Tua was obviously in pain late in the game).  Two of the best offenses and defenses in the game.  And it was a great game.  LSU was way up by halftime but there was always that feeling that Alabama could come back.  And come back they did.  They made a game out of it with Tua Tagovailoa’s gutsy play.  But the Tigers were too much and Joe Burrow may have clinched the Heisman with his performance.  Yes it wasn’t under the lights but it was still an amazing game that will be remembered for a long time and may, dare I say it, knock Bama out of the College Football Playoff.
• In Big XII news, Baylor BARELY beat TCU.  It was looking for a while there that the Horned Frogs had the Bears’ number.  The Bears needed a FG late and then some overtime heroics to win this one.  So I just assume the Bears fans’ blood pressure is through the roof for most of this one and will continue to be until they lose (if they lose).
• Illinois was down 28-3 to Michigan State and all the hope for Illini fans seemed to be draining.  Then they started the biggest comeback in program history, about to tie up the game after a touchdown aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand they miss the extra point.  Oh no.  But they persevered and scored late again to pick up the massive win over the Spartans and become bowl-eligible for the first time in five long years.  Amazing how keeping Lovie Smith (and his glorious beard) on for another year (after really not deserving another year) has led to hope inside this program.
• Appalachian State ended up with what was not really an upset as they beat South Carolina in a close one.  Can you imagine what would be going on right now if App State hadn’t looked like shit against Georgia Southern?  You would have been seeing the Mountaineers as a good possibility as the first ever Sun Belt team to get to the New Year’s Six.  Now?  They need some help.
• Could the Oklahoma freakin’ Sooners somehow get back into the CFP race?   They sure could.  I mean their game against Iowa State was pretty tough to watch and they struggled at times but they won and in the end that’s what matters…kind of.  They are just lucky that ISU went to the Mack Brown School of Two Point Conversion Plays.  They need to figure out that defense though as they can’t play like that against Baylor this Saturday or otherwise it will be lights out.  Then again, Baylor struggled to score against TCU so…who knows.
• Your 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes are a God damned juggernaut.  They mopped the floor with Maryland dropping SEVENTY-THREE POINTS on them.  Their path to the Big Ten Championship is now very simple.  Don’t lose to Penn State and they will basically win the Big Ten East and head to Indianapolis.
• So what can we make of the Tennessee Volunteers this season?  They looked OK, I guess, against Kentucky and were able to eek out a win.  They’ve been all over the place this season with some great games and truly awful ones.  Amazingly enough, through all this, the Vols are one win away from being bowl-eligible and maybe, just maybe, they are back to building something good in Knoxville.
• UCF lost to Tulsa.  No New Year’s Six for you!
• There was one more game with two ranked teams going at it and it was a close one as well.  Iowa and Wisconsin played some classic Big Ten West football against each other and very few watched it because it was on at the same time as LSU-Alabama.  Couldn’t this have been a night game?  Anyway, the Hawkeyes missed on the two-point conversion late and Paul Chryst’s Badgers survived and now remain the only real challenger to Minnesota in the division.
• Wow Boise State is making it very difficult to give them the New Year’s Six spot.  Or is it that Boise State is making it tough to keep them out of the New Year’s Six spot?  Probably a bit of both.  They probably should have lost that game against Wyoming but somehow, someway, pulled out the win in overtime.  They are still right in the thick of the hunt for the Group of Five spot and it would not surprise me to see them get it if they can blow through the rest of their schedule.
• Oh Kansas State.  It’s like they couldn’t handle the rarified air of the Top 25.  I get that it’s been a struggle since 109-year-old Bill Snyder left the program but hopefully Chris Klieman has them back to where they had been during the Snyder era.  And Texas is back……in the Top 25 (I think).
• Florida beat Vanderbilt.  In other news, sometimes we get snow in the winter.
• Wake Forest had a ton of trouble with the Bud Foster Hokie defense and now will be out of the Top 25 (I think).  So who in the hell is going to go to the Orange Bowl out of the ACC?  It’s going to be an unranked Virginia I think.  Sad.  I think it’s about time to cut back a bit on the bowl tie-ins since that is ridiculous.
• Finally, SMU put up almost 60 points on East Carolina.  Unfortunately, East Carolina put up a bit more than 50 on the Mustangs.  Not good for a team that is hoping for a wing and a prayer and a chance to somehow get to the AAC Championship.

We are now getting into the real important part of the season.  OK not as important as American Thanksgiving Footballgasm time but still important.  This past weekend, though, led to some big changes in the polls.  That’s the way these things go in November.  Here’s my Top 25:

#1	LSU
#2	Ohio State
#3	Georgia
#4	Clemson
#5	Utah
#6	Minnesota
#7	Alabama
#8	Oregon
#9	Baylor
#10	Oklahoma
#11	Auburn
#12	Florida
#13	Penn State
#14	Michigan
#15	Wisconsin
#16	Notre Dame
#17	Cincinnati
#18	Memphis
#19	Texas
#20	Boise State
#21	SMU
#22	Iowa
#23	Indiana
#24	Navy
#25	Texas A&M

Something has happened at the top and more is to come.  Unless something weird happens, both LSU and Georgia won’t get to the CFP.  LSU is almost a shoo-in at this point unless they don’t just shit the bed but fill the bedroom with diarrhea.  Clemson wins out and they are essentially a lock.  Ohio State is the same.  I still think Ohio State blows it against Michigan though.  I am going to continue to drink the Kool-Aid and say Michigan will finally break the streak this season.  The most important thing here though?  Indiana is in the Top 25.  Every year it seems there has to be a basketball school in the Top 25.  Last year it was Kentucky.  The few years before that was Duke.  Lately, that is the case.  I would love to see Indiana win out and get in the conversation for the College Football Playoff because I like the discomfort of a team like that being in the mix.  The media, as much as they they say otherwise, do not want these non-traditional football powers in these big games.  Except for the ones who love controversy like it’s crack.

So this post is a day late so I won’t hype the Monday Night Football game (not that I ever hype it).  But last night’s game was great.  One of the best MNF games in a long time.  And now there are no undefeated teams.  The ’72 Dolphins can pop that champagne.

We got some MACtion tonight!  Eastern Michigan and Akron tussle starting at 6:00 on the specialty pack and Western Michigan faces off against Ohio starting at 6:30.  The games aren’t early because of the CFP Rankings Show.  It’s because the weather is supposed to be bad so they are starting the games an hour or so earlier than normal.  It is supposed to frigid in Ohio tonight so don’t expect to see packed stands there.  Then tomorrow night is another set of MACtion games both on the specialty pack: Northern Illinois-Toledo and Bowling Green-Miami-OH.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore).  Thursday it’s another weekend-plus of college football and its TV schedule.  Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Friday.  Enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!