WELCOME….TO THE X…………..F………………………L (in Vince McMahon voice)

Alright let’s try this one again!  They need to get He Hate Me to come back, even if it’s as a sideline reporter.  It’s all about the entertainment, right?  Anyway, this is what will link us from the Super Bowl to at least the start of the CFL season without having to resort to watching arena football.  I will watch it.  I won’t pay a ton of attention but hey it’s football so I will watch to see how it is.  Just like the AAF, I will provide what I can see for a schedule so far:​​​​​​​

 

	Date	Time	Network
Seattle at DC	Feb. 8	2:00 PM
Los Angeles at Houston	Feb. 8	5:00 PM
Tampa Bay at New York	Feb. 9	2:00 PM
St. Louis at Dallas	Feb. 9	5:00 PM
New York at DC	Feb. 15	2:00 PM
Tampa Bay at Seattle	Feb. 15	5:00 PM
Dallas at Los Angeles	Feb. 16	3:00 PM
St. Louis at Houston	Feb. 16	6:00 PM
Houston at Tampa Bay	Feb. 22	2:00 PM
Dallas at Seattle	Feb. 22	5:00 PM
New York at St. Louis	Feb. 23	3:00 PM
DC at Los Angeles	Feb. 23	6:00 PM
Los Angeles at New York	Feb. 29	2:00 PM
Seattle at St. Louis	Feb. 29	5:00 PM
Houston at Dallas	Mar. 1	4:00 PM
DC at Tampa Bay	Mar. 1	7:00 PM
Seattle at Houston	Mar. 7	2:00 PM
New York at Dallas	Mar. 7	5:00 PM
St. Louis at DC	Mar. 8	3:00 PM
Tampa Bay at Los Angeles	Mar. 8	9:00 PM
Houston at New York	Mar. 14	2:00 PM
St. Louis at Tampa Bay	Mar. 14	5:00 PM
Dallas at DC	Mar. 15	4:00 PM
Los Angeles at Seattle	Mar. 15	7:00 PM
Dallas at Tampa Bay	Mar. 21	2:00 PM
Los Angeles at St. Louis	Mar. 21	5:00 PM
New York at Seattle	Mar. 22	3:00 PM
DC at Houston	Mar. 22	6:00 PM
Tampa Bay at DC	Mar. 28	2:00 PM
St. Louis at New York	Mar. 28	5:00 PM
Houston at Los Angeles	Mar. 29	3:00 PM
Seattle at Dallas	Mar. 29	6:00 PM
Dallas at Houston	Apr. 2	8:00 PM
DC at New York	Apr. 4	2:00 PM
Tampa Bay at St. Louis	Apr. 5	Noon
Seattle at Los Angeles	Apr. 5	6:00 PM
Los Angeles at Dallas	Apr. 9	8:00 PM
Houston at Seattle	Apr. 11	2:00 PM
DC at St. Louis	Apr. 12	TBA
New York at Tampa Bay	Apr. 12	TBA
Eastern Division Championship	Apr. 18	3:00 PM
Western Division Championship	Apr. 19	3:00 PM
XFL Championship	Apr. 26	TBA

So let’s compare this to what that AAF has.  All four games each week are available in Canada whereas one each week would not be available to us in the Great White North.  The AAF had CBS, CBS Sports Network and the NFL Network.  The XFL has ABC, ESPN, FOX, ESPN2 and FS1.  The AAF was all pretty much in the south in mid-sized cities.  The XFL are in mostly big cities with a lot of football fans.  So from what I can see, the XFL has a clear advantage over the AAF.  Whether this translates into more than one season being played is a different story.

Also, yes I have put TSN3 for all the games.  I don’t know if this is true.  TSN3 is showing all the earlier games of the season but after the first few weeks I have no insight into which TSN station it is on.  But it will be on a TSN station.  Every single XFL game will appear on the network.  As I said, EVERY SINGLE GAME is in a place Canadians can watch it.

So yeah there’s no college football anytime soon.  Pro football sure but we have to wait 210 days for the first college football game of the 2020 season.  It will be a looooooooooooooooooooong wait for sure.  I mean I’m a busy guy but I always love those Saturdays when I have nothing to do and I can just watch college football all day.  We are in for a long wait my friends.

Alright have a good rest of the week and enjoy the Super Bowl and all the bad drink and food that comes along with it.

It’s time to see how I did on my 2019 college football predictions…hold your applause

The college football season has ended.  Grab the Kleenex, dab your eyes and blow your nose.  We are seven long months away from college football starting again.  I might actually watch a few spring games this time around only if there’s nothing else to watch.  The mock drafts will commence soon although I will not cover the Kreepy Kombine.  I don’t care what a player prefers on his pizza or what he would do if he wasn’t a college football player or whether his parents are swingers.  I would be very uncomfortable as a scout to ask this shit.  The CFL starts in late May again this year with their pre-season (May 24th to be exact).  I still don’t understand why the pre-season games aren’t all in neutral locations.  Grow the damn league for god’s sake.  Oh and the XFL starts soon.  We shall see how version 2.0 goes.  I think with the TV contracts they will be able to do what the AAF couldn’t…finish their first season.  Beyond that who knows.  If they can go two full seasons I would consider it at least a slight success.

Let’s get to the main event: my predictions and how I did.  I am assuming I did crappy but you never know until you reflect.  And if the reflection is bad, break the mirror.  Anyway, let’s go.

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• My College Football Playoff Final Four was very close!
  • Clemson – Picked them #1 and they ended up #3 and undefeated.  God I’m good.  OK yes most people picked them in the CFP but still.
  • Oklahoma – I had them #2.  They were #4 so technically I am 2-for-2.  Again, this was another easy pick considering I thought no one would be close in the Big XII.
  • Alabama – I figured this was a no-brainer.  That’s what two losses will do to you as they didn’t even get into the New Year’s Six (although they weren’t too far out).
  • Michigan – Same deal as Bama had although it was less of a shoo-in with the Wolverines.  They ended up facing the Tide in the Citrus Bowl so not too bad but a little off with this pick.
• How about my New Year’s Six picks? Not as good.  Didn’t get a single bowl game fully correct.  Utah?  Should have been there but no.  Texas?  Nope.  Washington?  Nada.  Notre Dame?  Close but no cigar.  Syracuse?  Jesus Christ what was I thinking?
• I did have the Group of Five pick correct though as I had Memphis going to the Cotton Bowl.
• I had LSU, Oregon and Nebraska being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in but playing in good bowls. LSU was awesome, Oregon looks like they’re back being a Pac-12 power and I drank the Nebraska Kool-Aid.  Two out of three isn’t bad.

Heisman Trophy

• I had Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa as my #1 and #2.  If Tua hadn’t got injured he would have finished higher.  Lawrence just didn’t have the greatest start to his season but ended strong.
• I didn’t have Joe Burrow on my list.  The only LSU player I had up there was Grant Delpit.  Major fail on my part.
• My picks were mostly bad.  I mean Sam Ehlinger at #4?  Jake Fromm at #6?  Adrian Martinez at #10?  Sweet Jesus.  I had Hurts at #5 and Fields at #8 so at least they were in my Top 10.  But no Chase Young.  Yikes.

Let’s Look at Some Bad Team Predictions

• Look, Army was supposed to be better and most thought they would be.  I will include it here but almost everyone made that goof.
• Western Kentucky was a bit of a revelation this season.  I figured they would fall to the basement again but Tyson Helton did a great job with the Hilltoppers, getting back to their high-octane offensive ways.
• Indiana was really good which is not what I said at the start of the year.  I have to apologize to the Hoosiers.  Maybe they are not just a basketball school anymore.
• I also need to apologize to P.J. Fleck.  He got the Golden Gophers to Row The Boat like he wanted them to.  I thought they would struggle just to get bowl-eligible.  Not even close there.
• North Texas was quite a bit worse than I thought they would be (I figured they would challenge for the division title).  Not good.  And they were home for the holidays.  An overall sad season for the Mean Green.
• Shawn Elliott is doing some great things at Georgia State.  Along with WKU they have to be considered the surprises of the season so I don’t feel too bad with my prediction here.
• What Billy Napier did at Louisiana this season was amazing.  He has brought the Ragin’ Cajuns back to prominence and solidified his spot as a good head coach.  I figured they would win the Sun Belt West but not by as much as they did.
• Nebraska.  Sweet Jesus they just can’t seem to get it together.  So Scott Frost isn’t quite the mastermind many thought he would be.
• Northwestern was tough to watch.  Like seriously tough to watch.  Last year they clinched the Big Ten West with like four weeks to go.  This year?  Brutal.
• I’m trying to remember why I had Troy so high up in the Sun Belt standings.  I have a feeling I didn’t think there would be a huge drop-off even though Neal Brown left for West Virginia.  I was wrong.
• Nice to see Oregon State have a decent year for the first time in what felt like forever.  One prediction I don’t feel too bad about since most had the Beavers at the bottom of the Pac-12 North.
• The Bay Area schools had way different years than I predicted.  Cal ended up being much better than my prediction and the Big Trees out at Stanford were much worse.  This is getting out of hand.  I wonder if the actual experts are this bad.
• Chris Klieman proved his mettle as a head coach as he had the Wildcats playing much better than many experts predicted.  Eight wins is no joke in the Little Apple.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
• Obviously that one terrible season last year was an aberration for Navy.  The Middies turned it around and quickly back into the double-digit win club.  I had them just bowl-eligible.
• SMU parlayed a hot start, and a win in the Iron Skillet game, to a primetime game on ABC and the best season in the Metroplex since the death penalty in the mid-80s.  I had them also just bowl-eligible.
• Jim Bob McElwain did wonders in Central Michigan with the Chippewas, getting them to the MAC Championship after a horrific year last season.  I didn’t think he’d turn it around that quick.
• I really have to just take my Air Force predictions every year and give them an extra win or two since I am always off with them.
• Well the Jeff Tedford shine wore off in the valley with Fresno State.  I thought he would almost bring them to another conference championship game.
• It is nice to see Hawaii do well.  Will be interesting to see how well they do with Nick Rolovich off to Wazzu.
• Don’t get me started with Syracuse and Florida State and Miami.

Let’s Look at Some Good Team Predictions

• I’ve already discussed Oklahoma and Clemson.  I also did well with my Memphis, Ohio State and Georgia predictions, even though I thought the Tigers would run the table.
• I figured Tennessee would be back in bowl season this year and I was right on the mark.
• Boise State, despite being an easy pick, was a good prediction on my part.  I will ignore the fact that almost everyone had them winning the Mountain West.
• Did not take the bait about NC State being awesome this year.  They were quite good but I still figured them third in the ACC Atlantic.
• Oregon and Utah pretty much dominating the Pac-12 this season.  Who called it?  This guy…OK you might not be able to see it but I was pointing at myself.
• Kansas only winning three games.  I use this example every year.
• I nailed the AAC East pretty much dead-on.  Only real difference was UCF and Cincinnati being switched in the top two spots.
• And of course Appalachian State being pretty close to the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six.  Then again, EVERYONE thought that.

Coaching Hot Seat Fun-Time Extravaganza

• How the fuck does UConn justify keeping Randy Edsall?  My guess is along with the ridiculous bonuses he gets for getting three first downs in a quarter or leading after one quarter or not shitting his pants, he has a clause that says he is paid a bajillion dollars if he is fired before his contract is up.
• From the rest of the top five, only one remains and I understand why.  Other than one awesome season like a decade ago, Ball State has been brutal in football.  I didn’t figure Mike Neu would be able to turn this around but he has.  They were almost bowl-eligible and were battling for the MAC West title up until the final two weeks.  The rest of the coaches…yeah, no surprise they are all gone.
• Bob Davie gone in New Mexico.  No surprise there since I think everyone there was getting sick of his shit, especially the players.  That only works when you win.  When you lose, being a hard-ass never works.  And Charlie Strong is also gone.  He was fired at USF for basically getting worse every season since he started there.  We will see him again in the next couple years I’m sure.
• Philip Montgomery somehow got a stay of execution at Tulsa.  I think part of this is the fact that who wants to go to coach at Tulsa?
• My Doubtful Shitcanning list, yet again, had a few guys who had pretty good to great years.  Mike Bloomgren did what I didn’t think he could do…win a game at Rice this season (they actually won three).  Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers beat Alabama and almost got to the New Year’s Six.  And Lovie Smith did unreal things at a woebegone program at Illinois and put them in a bowl game this season so yes, I was very wrong with him since he defied logic and has this program headed in the right direction.
• As for the rest of that section, I am a bit surprised Matt Luke was fired since I didn’t think Ole Miss did that bad this season.  Also Brent Brennan is probably off the hot seat list after his work at San Jose State.

So again I decided to compare myself to the Stassen method of pre-season predictions.  Every single year…I don’t know why I subject myself to this but I am always curious as to how I stand compared to real experts who truly study the game and don’t do this on the side…meaning it’s their actual job.  So…using specialized computer software (it’s an app called Calculator), my score was calculated as (drum roll)…

134.

A little bit better than this year.  So where did I land among the experts?  I tied The Sporting News!  Nice!  Problem is they were 14th out of 19.  But at least I wasn’t at the bottom.  So suck it all you lesser predictors!

I am going to consider this season a quasi-success for me.  Mostly because I have low expectations for my predictions.  But since I am talking about my predictions and how good they were, you know what this means…college football is so far away now.  218 days away.  Good god.  How am I going to shirk all Saturday responsibilities now?

Super Bowl is this Sunday.  No I did not watch the Pro Bowl at all.  I don’t even know who won.  I was more immersed in the tragic Kobe Bryant story than anything else yesterday.  Anyway, I have not heard anything about changes to the broadcast info so all I can say is it is on FOX or CTV.  That’s it.

Alright what do we have to look forward to: Mock drafts.  I might do an XFL schedule.  I have the college basketball conference tournament schedule as well which is always a crapshoot when it comes to the specialty packs (although Bell and Rogers are much better now than they were a few years back with assuring games that were scheduled actually appear).  Alright have a great rest of the week folks!

I agree there should be a holiday after the Super Bowl

First of all, it wasn’t exactly an amazing Sunday.  But at least we didn’t have officials causing issues with the game.  The games weren’t even that close.  But let’s be honest as well: the officials rarely completely fuck up a game with a single call.  Bottlegate and the Saints pass interference non-call are the two most egregious times where an official definitely screwed up a game completely.  Otherwise, they get way too much crap from everyone.  Saying that, I will still be upset if a bad call goes against the Buffalo Bills.

Before I get to the recap, let’s discuss the day after the Super Bowl.  I don’t get drunk for the Super Bowl.  But I can see why some would especially if your team is in the game.  Why this isn’t a holiday I don’t know.  Why not?  Productivity will be in the shitter anyway so why not use it to be a holiday so that you, as an employer or manager, don’t have to deal with that.  Man, if someone said they were going to stop with the Daylight Savings Time horseshit and make the day after the Super Bowl a holiday, I would vote for them for Prime Minister.

Let us start this mini-recap with the NFC Championship.  A terrible game despite the Packers trying to make it a game late.  Raheem Mostert made the six teams that cut him look stupid (for one night) as he went off on Green Bay.  Second-most rushing yards in a playoff game in NFL history.  At one point he looked like he would best the record in the first three quarters but he tailed off late.  He was so good that Jimmy Garoppolo only threw eight passes.  EIGHT!  He had to do basically nothing in this game and it was still enough.  And A-A-Ron Rodgers was awful and the Packers couldn’t stop the run at all.  The Niners also became the third team in NFL history to go from four wins or less to going to the Super Bowl the following season.  The last one to do so, the Rams, ended up winning the Super Bowl that year.  So there’s that.

Now let’s get to the AFC Championship.  Not nearly as bad.  But the Chiefs did what the Chiefs do and pulled away after the second half.  It’s like Kansas City needs to let the other team score first or else they can’t play great.  No difference here.  The Titans looked great early on and you had to wonder if they were the team of destiny.  Then Patrick Mahomes took over and that was it.  That one touchdown run he had was insanely athletic.  We now have two Michael Vicks for this generation (without the issues with dogs) in Lamar Jackson and Mahomes.  So now the Chiefs get their chance at a Super Bowl victory fifty years after their only win in the big game.

And of course something happened that Twitterers went off on.  This weekend it was Rob Lowe showing up in an NFL hat.  Just the shield.  No teams.  Just the NFL logo.  It is kind of weird.  A friend of mine showed me that these hats do exist and that you can buy them.  I have never seen anyone but officials where these hats.  So anyway, Rob was given this hat to wear and Twitter did what Twitter does and sent out hundreds of memes and comments that ranged from pretty fucking funny to dumb and stupid and just don’t post anything more ever again please.

I am not doing a huge preview of the Super Bowl just like last year.  If you need yet another Super Bowl preview you may just be insane.  The pre-shows have already started for fuck’s sake.

Anyway, the Super Bowl is on FOX.  So everyone’s favourite broadcaster, Joe Buck, will be calling the game.  The game is also on all CTV affiliates.  Last year I figured it wouldn’t be on CTV2 or TSN and lo and behold, it showed up on both.  So chances are I will need an update here but for now let’s say it’s just FOX and CTV and then, just like last year, I will have to add an update like an idiot.

So now let’s get to the breakdown of the game portion of the big show.  Two new teams in the mix this season with Kansas City and San Francisco.  We were very close to recreating Super Bowl I but it was not to be.  I don’t know about 49ers fans per se, but Chiefs fans are insane and very loud.  If they are in the majority at all for this game (which I believe they will be) then it will be almost like a home-field advantage of sorts for the Fighting Andy Reids.

Alright, let’s break down the game very quickly and go to my pick:

Offense – I want to say not even close but it’s closer than many may believe.  The Chiefs have a ton of weapons to choose from and if Patrick Mahomes plays the way he has been then it’s going to be much worse for the Niners.  But San Fran has Garoppolo and Mostert and Kittle and Deebo and a great offensive line.  But still have to go with the MVP here.  Advantage: Kansas City.

Defense – This is also closer than many will think.  The Niners have some stars on defense but their defense, as a whole, is pretty damn good.  Meanwhile the Chiefs haven’t had defense as their calling card for years but they do enough to win and they are actually great if you take out the first quarter.  I still would be surprised if this game was a defensive game in any form or fashion.  Advantage: San Francisco.

Special Teams – This is very close.  The Chiefs have Harrison Butker and one of the Flying Colquitts.  The Niners have Bears legend Robbie Gould and probably Foster’s drinker Mitch Wishnowsky.  Advantage: San Francisco (but it’s VERY close).

Coaching – With all due respect to Kyle Shanahan, this isn’t even close.  Andy Reid has the most wins in NFL history without ever winning a Super Bowl.  He’s been around for what seems like forever.  Reid is solidly in the second tier under Bill Belichick.  Shanahan might get there and make a legacy like his dad did but at this point he is too new.  Advantage: Kansas City.

This is going to be close.  The spread, at this point, is Kansas City -1.  That is insanely close.  I don’t think there’s ever been a pick’em for a Super Bowl but this is the game where I could see it.  Anyway, my choice will be Chiefs winning 31-28 with KC pulling it off with a last-minute field goal.

Next up in the college football schedule will be the Senior Bowl.  It’s this Saturday at 2:30 on the NFL Network.  Then that’s it, that’s all.  No more college football until late August.  I have to cry a bit at that.  Then comes the XFL (said in Vince McMahon’s voice).  It will be very interesting to see if this league lasts.  It is the XFL and it is spring football so I understand the skepticism.  However, the XFL has a great TV deal for a new league so this may work.  And by work I mean that it gets into its second season.  I doubt I will have a blog post about the XFL though.  I got some mock draft posts although I don’t know if I will do as many this time around.  And also some posts about how I did this season in my college and NFL predictions.  Then there’s a bit of a dead period which I should try and fill in with something…ANYTHING.  So I beg of you…enjoy the Senior Bowl, enjoy the Super Bowl, don’t watch the Pro Bowl and at least check out the XFL because it may be not too bad.

One final thing: Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 29th.  Five cents will be donated to mental health initiatives for every text, call and pretty much every social media post possible. I think the long-distance calls and texts have to be on Bell phones as an FYI. They have raised over $100 million for mental health initiatives.  This is near and dear to my heart so I hope you will, if you can, do something to help raise money since mental health funding, medical help, and even understanding is still woefully low in this country.  It’s getting better but we have a LONG way to go here.  It’s the same message I had last year, the year before and the year before that.

Final Four, NFL Style

Just like last year, one game will be quite cold and one game will be fairly warm.  Or as we would interpret it, a relatively normal January day and around the temp you would put your furnace at.

Sunday

AFC Championship: Tennessee at Kansas City (3:00)	All affiliates		All affiliates
NFC Championship: Green Bay at San Francisco (6:30)		All affiliates	All affiliates

A few notes

• We have the normal afternoon and evening times for conference championships.  It’s kind of a nice change from the regular Sunday sked.  I enjoy it.  And the games aren’t done super late Sunday night.  That’s a win-win.  I noticed they did that last weekend on the Sunday as well.  I wonder if they will move to that for every round.
• CTV gets both conference championship games as well as the American networks CBS and FOX.
• TSN2 will show NFL Primetime at 10:00.  So if you want to watch the best highlights show possibly in history, you can this one time.

Let’s be realistic: if one of these games is good, I will consider it a good Sunday of football.  I mean hell, that’s 50% right?  Now will I gorge on shitty food?  Probably.  I’m weak that way.

As for college ball, I already discussed the all-star games this weekend.  The East-West Shrine game is on at 2:00 on the NFL Network on Saturday.  If I recall correctly, they have some weird hybrid NFL/college rules in this one but hey, it’s still college football.  I won’t be watching it but still, it’s college football so don’t complain…at least as much as you could.  The other one is the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl pretty much right after the Shrine game and they may have weird rules as well.  I might catch this one.  We shall see.

Enjoy the games everyone!

Ranking the Bowl Games from First to Worst – 2019-20 Edition

Hey how did you think the bowl games went?  There was definitely some good and definitely some bad.  We will get to that in the rankings but overall, 2019’s college football season was much better than the 2018 season.  Less disappointment that is for sure.  Don’t get me wrong, I watched a bit of every game.  Every single, fucking one.  No matter how “useless” the game appeared to be (on paper at least).  Not to the players and coaches and fans.  Those games mean a shit-ton to them.  And that sometimes lends to the games as the atmosphere can be great in a bowl game with a stadium that seems barely half-full.

Alright, time for reading, folks.  An absolute deluge of text about bowl season.  Now you can remember games that you really did not want to remember anymore.  You’re welcome.

1. Hawaii Bowl (Hawaii 38 BYU 34) – I don’t think this has ever happened before but yes, the Christmas Eve tradition was the best bowl game.  Damn was it ever fun to watch.  The Hawaii Bowl is rarely this exciting.  It felt like an old school WAC game.  The closest thing to a really good boxing match where both boxers traded haymakers for most of the match.
2. Belk Bowl (Kentucky 37 Virginia Tech 30) – Should I make this number one?  It’s a tough call.  It was the only walkoff touchdown of bowl season which is fun (not so much for gamblers).  A great back-and-forth affair in Bud Foster’s final game at VaTech.  Another great game to watch.  Lynn Bowden Jr. going off and cementing his draft status.  Also, it’s the final Belk Bowl.  So it was a bit bittersweet as well.  Everything a bowl game should be.
3. Fiesta Bowl (Clemson 29 Ohio State 23) – Now this is the kind of semi-final game we kind of want all the time.  This kind of proves that no matter what conference you are in, if you are a good team, you are a good team, period.  Anyway, big plays, drama, ref issues, controversy.  Sounds like a good time to me.
4. Rose Bowl (Oregon 28 Wisconsin 27) – Seeing the Badgers piss this one away was like a trainwreck: you couldn’t look away.  The Ducks were absolutely dominated in this one.  But they did enough off the Wisky turnovers to pull out the victory.  We also found out that Justin Herbert has some wheels.
5. Outback Bowl (Minnesota 31 Auburn 24) – Considering Michigan and Alabama were playing at the exact same time, this is a good thing for both programs, especially the Gophers.  Minnesota has brought the fun all season and P.J. Fleck’s energy can be infectious so I definitely look forward to seeing them play.  This also showed that maybe, just maybe, Minnesota has arrived in the college football world.  Also, I assume the Fire Gus rumblings will prevail well into August yet again.  Poor guy.
6. Frisco Bowl (Kent State 51 Utah State 41) – Over 1000 yards of offense.  One of the better college football games of the year, period.  Nice to see the underdog Golden Flashes keep up with USU.  And let’s give Sean Lewis some credit here.  This team has done almost nothing for, well, the entire time the program has been around.  And now Lewis, a young head coach (younger than me at least), comes along and is already turning this program around.  The MAC is pretty wide open so don’t be surprised if Kent State is a conference contender next season.  We also might have to get used to seeing Jordan Love on Sundays because that guy was special in this one.  Too bad his defense wasn’t.
7. Liberty Bowl (Navy 20 Kansas State 17) – Talk about a close game!  The Midshipmen and Wildcats played a tight game that wasn’t high on offense.  Navy put together a Navy-like drive to set up the game-winning field goal which felt fitting in this one.
8. Quick Lane Bowl (Pittsburgh 34 Eastern Michigan 30) – One of the barnburners of the season and it was very unexpected.  Basically what ended up being a walkoff punch by Eastern Michigan’s quarterback ended a very exciting (and surprisingly so) Quick Lane Bowl, a bowl that is usually forgotten about.
9. Cotton Bowl (Penn State 53 Memphis 39) – Yet again, the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six brought their A Game.  But man Penn State was something else.  In the end, Penn State’s passing game was better than Memphis’s running game and pulled away for the win.  It helped that there was a terrible bowl game on at the same time as the eyeballs stayed here.
10. Orange Bowl (Florida 36 Virginia 28) – OK I will admit when I was wrong.  I figured the Hoos had no chance but this turned into quite the competitive game.  I mean Florida had control of the game most of the time but Bryce Perkins made it so you thought maybe, just maybe, the Cavaliers could pull this out.  In the end, the Fighting Mullens were too much.
11. Texas Bowl (Texas A&M 24 Oklahoma State 21) – Thrilling?  Not exactly.  It felt like the Pokes were going to run away with this one, much to the chagrin of the many Aggie fans in attendance.  Anyway, this game’s score doesn’t tell the whole story as other than early and very late, Texas A&M controlled the pace of the game.  But it was close.  So there’s that.
12. Gator Bowl (Tennessee 23 Indiana 22) – I thought this was a pretty sexy matchup for bowl season.  A resurgent Vols team against an up-and-coming Hoosiers team.  Normally the games after New Year’s aren’t watched (other than the National Championship) but this was one fantastic.  It was kind of painful to watch Indiana blow this game that they really did have in the bag.  Now I await Tennessee’s inclusion in the preseason Top 25 for next season.
13. First Responder Bowl (Western Kentucky 23 Western Michigan 20) – Is it First Responder or First Responders?  Anyway, this had a crazy finish to a rather mundane game.  Western Michigan was flagged for too many men on the field on a WKU Hail Mary on the last play of the game.  The Hilltoppers then decided to go for the 52-yard field goal and hit it to walk it off.  I think many are just glad that this bowl game was actually played after last year’s cancellation.
14. Camellia Bowl (Arkansas State 34 FIU 27) – Surprisingly fun to watch!  The Panthers made it quite the game with their late comeback (that came up just short).  Not much else to say about a bowl that is historically ignored and poorly attended.
15. Pinstripe Bowl (Michigan State 27 Wake Forest 21) – I was really looking forward to this game as it had two teams that, for some reason, can bring it during bowl season.  Honestly, most thought this would be boring and they were part-correct.  It wasn’t super exciting but it was close and it was a game you had to watch to the end.  Now the Mark Dantonio watch begins as the rumours are swirling on his status in East Lansing.
16. National Championship (LSU 42 Clemson 25) – This was a pretty damn good game for about 2.5 quarters.  Then Joe Burrow.  That’s it.  Can we call it the greatest season by a player in college football history?  It’s easily Top 10 for sure.
17. Peach Bowl (LSU 63 Oklahoma 28) – Basically this game was over early.  If it wasn’t for the fact it was a semi-final and Joe Burrow going crazy in the first half it would have been unwatchable.  Oklahoma might just want to decline their invite next year if they are selected for the College Football Playoff.
18. Sun Bowl (Arizona State 20 Florida State 14) – This game looked like the Redbox Bowl from last year for over a half.  It was like neither team really wanted to win.  It did lead to a fairly wild finish though which is one of the things we like as college football fans.  I am sure Noles fans want to put James Blackman into a cannon and fire him straight into the transfer portal after his performance.  Also, nice touch with Herm Edwards getting the Frosted Flakes dumped on him at the end.  This needs to continue even during the regular season.
19. Cheez-It Bowl (Air Force 31 Washington State 21) – Ah, the hilarious Cheez-It Bowl.  This year’s edition was much less hilarious and much less exciting.  I mean Wazzu made it close early in the fourth quarter but the Falcons’ rushing offense ground the Cougs defense into dust, as most of us thought would happen.  Realistically though, the final score doesn’t portray how much Air Force dominated this.
20. Music City Bowl (Louisville 38 Mississippi State 28) – No real stars in this one didn’t help this bowl game but it was another case of a game where the score does not indicate how not close this game was.  Louisville looked dominant most of this one.  If it wasn’t for the Joe Moorhead rumours (which turned out to be true) this game might have gone down a few notches.
21. Cure Bowl (Liberty 23 Georgia Southern 16) – Not exciting.  Not terrible.  Kind of in the middle.  Which is where it ranks.  Nice to see Liberty win their first bowl game ever, I guess.
22. Sugar Bowl (Georgia 26 Baylor 14) – Look this went exactly as most people thought it would go, no offense to Baylor.  Really it was not very memorable and, to be honest, it was so late on New Year’s Day that I was getting tired (plus I had to work the next day).
23. Boca Raton Bowl (Florida Atlantic 52 SMU 28) – This was set up to be one of the better bowl games between the two great Power Five teams.  So good that it was being aired on ABC.  I thought it would be really close and it ended up being anything but.  Plus all the Lane Kiffin talk really got to be too much by the second half.  We get it: he left the Owls.  Let’s move on.
24. Holiday Bowl (Iowa 49 USC 24) – Everything was going great for this game until Kedon Slovis got injured.  Then it went to shit for the Trojans and the fans watching at home.  The only good thing is that we were able to actually see this game in Canada despite it being on FOX Sports One.
25. Mobile Bowl (Louisiana 27 Miami-OH 17) – This game was the final bowl game before the national championship.  The only reason to watch is if you weren’t bowled out yet and kind of missed Monday Night Football.  I have to get the game credit since a botched snap near the goal line for the Redhawks was all that separated this from moving up the chain.  Also, I guess this is now called the LendingTree Bowl.  Ugh.
26. Citrus Bowl (Alabama 35 Michigan 16) – Michigan was in this exact same spot last year.  And they scored one more point than last year’s bowl game.  The Wolverines were boatraced by Bama in the second half, just like last year’s game against Florida.  The Outback Bowl, on at the same time, was a much more satisfying game to watch and so that’s where I spent most of my time.
27. Redbox Bowl (California 35 Illinois 20) – I was hoping for Lovie Smith to pick up a bowl win but hey, the Illini just getting to a bowl game is huge enough.  If it wasn’t for this possibility, this may have gone farther down the list as Cal never seemed to be out of control of the game.
28. Gasparilla Bowl (UCF 48 Marshall 25) – I guess it’s good this game isn’t at Tropicana Field anymore.  Otherwise, this game was over early.
29. New Orleans Bowl (Appalachian State 31 UAB 17) – All UAB early, All App State late.  Hell, the Mountaineers even almost covered the spread.  They didn’t though (considering the spread was like 16.5).
30. Idaho Potato Bowl (Ohio 30 Nevada 21) – The score makes it seem like it might have been close.  It wasn’t.  The only exciting thing about this game, other than how much Ohio might win by, is Frank Solich getting showered in french fries after the bowl win.
31. Armed Forces Bowl (Tulane 30 Southern Miss 13) – I will be completely honest…after the first half I watched very little of this game.  Came back with about half the fourth quarter to play, saw Tulane was handily in front, and felt good about my decision.  I guess sometimes morning football isn’t that great.
32. Military Bowl (North Carolina 55 Temple 13) – Was there really anything good about this game?  Now we have got a lot of people on the North Carolina bandwagon for 2020.  Sam Howell could end up being a darkhorse Heisman contender if the Heels contend in the ACC.
33. Las Vegas Bowl (Washington 38 Boise State 7) – The only intriguing part of this game is seeing how Washington would fare in the Chris Petersen farewell game.  Looks like they did well.
34. New Mexico Bowl (San Diego State 48 Central Michigan 11) – The normally first FBS bowl game of the year was a dud.  Maybe because they weren’t the first bowl game of the season.  Either way it was not exciting after about the 12 minute mark of the first quarter.  Jimmy Mac’s great season in Mount Pleasant ends in a dud.  And, shock of all shocks, Rocky Long retired so that was his last game as well.
35. Bahamas Bowl (Buffalo 31 Charlotte 9) – This was the first bowl game of the season, on a Friday afternoon.  So I barely watched any of this one.  But the fact this is Charlotte’s first bowl game and Buffalo’s first bowl win ever keeps it from falling even further (even though there isn’t far to fall from here).
36. Alamo Bowl (Texas 38 Utah 10) – Maybe the Utes were honestly that crushed with losing the Pac-12 title game and their chance at the College Football Playoff.  This was pretty non-competitive and now I am sure we will hear about Texas being in the preseason Top 25 like almost every year.  Let’s not give in to the media peer pressure folks!
37. Camping World Bowl (Notre Dame 33 Iowa State 9) – God this was awful.  Notre Dame is that weird team that is probably better than playing in any bowl game except when it gets to the New Year’s Six where they play terrible and are “exposed” as a not-so-good team.
38. Independence Bowl (Louisiana Tech 14 Miami 0) – This should have been a better game.  Miami, who is usually at least not too bad and LaTech who is a good Group of Five team.  This ended up being a mess of a game and showed how bad Miami really is.  The entire program will be under the microscope for the next season.
39. Birmingham Bowl (Cincinnati 38 Boston College 6) – Hey remember what the Birmingham Bowl has been like in recent years?  Forget all that.  This was shit.  It would be the worst bowl game this season if it wasn’t for the next horrific, forgettable game.
40. Arizona Bowl (Wyoming 38 Georgia State 17) – On CBS Sports Network.  When other bowl games were on.  And it was boring.  It’s the bowl game shitfest trifecta.  I think I watched one minute of this.

So in the end, better than last bowl season but not awesome by any stretch of the imagination.  This weekend we have some college all-star games.  The East-West Shrine Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl are on the NFL Network on Saturday at 2:00 and 6:00 respectively.  Yes they tend to have some weird rules but it’s still college football (technically).

Your very short NFL schedule will be coming your way either tomorrow or Friday.  Have a great hump day everyone!

Well wasn’t that a great Wild Card Weekend (oh, also the Divisional Playoffs schedule)

Was that ever a great Wild Card Weekend!  I say that even though my Buffalo Bills lost in rather heartbreaking fashion.  How they couldn’t close out the Texans after leading 16-0 I don’t know.  16-0!  Anyway, the Patriots lost so there will be a new Super Bowl champ this season and the other two games were great ones as well.  I am not holding my breath that this weekend will be nearly as good.

Let’s get right to that Divisional Playoff sked shall we?

Saturday

Minnesota at San Francisco (4:30)		All affiliates	All affiliates
Tennessee at Baltimore (8:00)	All affiliates		All affiliates

Sunday

Houston at Kansas City (3:00)	All affiliates		All affiliates
Seattle at Green Bay (6:30)		All affiliates	All affiliates

A few Divisional Round notes

• This year CBS gets two games in the divisional round and FOX gives up one of theirs to NBC.  Last year it was the reverse.  And ABC/ESPN still gets none.  Fine by me.  Same old, same old.
• CTV gets all the divisional playoffs again this season.  Now that I have IPTV I flat-out refuse to watch CTV during the NFL playoffs.  It means less Canadian Tire commercials (which are good and I will kind of miss), Tim Horton’s commercials (which are ALWAYS fucking awful), and commercials about CTV’s Winter lineup of “awesome” shows (which are not awesome…I mean c’mon, Young Sheldon?  Fuck off with that shit).

Again, Wild-Card Weekend was awesome.  All close games for the first time in, well, ever?  Even Philadelphia somehow kept things interesting against the Seahawks before losing in the end because with Carson Wentz out they had to put in a McCown.  At that point everyone had to know all hope was lost for the Eagles.  I am still a bit shellshocked about the Bills’ exit from the playoffs.  I still can’t believe they blew that lead when it looked like the Texans could do nothing.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the Titans beating the Patriots.  And they looked good doing it.  It wasn’t the Pats looking horrible although the offense…yeesh.  If Tom Brady does retire they are in some big-time trouble on that side of the ball for the 2020 season.

OK guys.  Let’s cross our fingers and toes for another good weekend of NFL football.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Quasi-Lazy Bowl Recap and National Championship Preview

Let’s get right to the bowl recap (the non-CFP portion).  No introduction, nothing.  FUCK IT, WE’LL DO IT LIVE!

• I watched at least a part of every bowl this season despite the fact I was sick over the holidays.  I would say that is pretty fucking awesome but let’s be honest: it’s kind of pathetic.  I don’t care though.  I know what we are facing in a short while.
• Iowa THUMPED USC in the Holiday Bowl (which we could actually watch here this year!).  I am assuming people are already questioning keeping Clay Helton for another season.
• The Hawaii Bowl was back on Christmas Eve!  It felt so right.  And it was a great game as Hawaii became the first 10-5 team in college football in over a century after their win over BYU.  It beats being the first 9-6 team in over a century if they had lost to the Cougs.
• The Cheez-It Bowl was stupid fun yet again.  But you kind of knew what you were getting into with that game.  It was one of the best rushing offenses against one of the best passing offenses.  Now it wasn’t has hilarious as the first iteration of this hilariously named bowl game but it was still a really fun watch.
• The Quick Lane Bowl was your normal Quick Lane Bowl: unexciting.  Until the end (or close to it).  The Eastern Michigan quarterback Mike Glass became a legend.  Last minute of play, down four, he gets into some rough stuff with a Pitt lineman and tries to kind of punch him.  Instead, he missed and hit one of the officials…well more like grazed his face.  But still!  Has anyone done that near the end of a close bowl game ever?  No.  So for that, thank you Mike Glass.  He went out with style.
• Some tragedy over the holidays.  ESPN’s Edward Aschoff died at 34 from pneumonia.  And LSU OC Steve Ensminger’s daughter-in-law died in a plane crash on the way to the Peach Bowl.  It sucks to lose loved ones at any time but around Christmas is almost a little bit extra heartbreaking.
• Yet again, the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six gives a really good Power Five team a run for their money in a New Year’s Six bowl.  Memphis kept it close with Penn State for most of the game and showed that they belong.  Yes, I get it’s only one game but this continues to be the strongest proponent for an expanded playoff is the fact that the best of the best among the Group of Five can compete when given the chance.  I still think growing to eight is not a good idea (I like the idea of five) but I think we know it’s happening sometime in the middle of this decade.
• Miami was TERRIBLE in Shreveport.  The Manny Diaz 2020 Shitcan Watch has commenced!
• The Rose Bowl, again, was a banger.  Almost every year that game delivers.  I would love to attend one year.  Also, I am starting to wonder if they should just make the Rose and Sugar into the semi-finals permanently since New Year’s Day seemed a tiny bit less important in the college football world than it normally is.
• Look, if you are an NFL team, you should be salivating over the possibility of drafting Lynn Bowden, Jr.  The guy is electric.  Will he play quarterback?  Doubtful.  He isn’t Lamar Jackson in terms of the fact of actually being a good throwing quarterback.  But he can do everything else.  He could play both ways.  With the way the NFL is evolving, some teams need a guy like Bowden.
• Talk about two programs going in opposite directions.  Louisville is looking like an emerging ACC power (as much good as that is these days) whereas Mississippi State is starting to falter a bit under Joe Moorhead.  The Music City Bowl confirmed this.  I am starting to wonder if Moorhead is now on the hot seat.  If you had told me that a year ago, I would have thought you were nuts.  UPDATE: It is confirmed that Joe Moorhead will be fired.  Shocking.
• Whoever thought to dump the Frosted Flakes on Herm Edwards after Arizona State’s win in the Sun Bowl is brilliant.  Also, is it just me or is starting to feel normal that Miami and Florida State are just mediocre and that’s the way it’s supposed to be?
• Boston College almost got rained out for a second consecutive year.  The Birmingham Bowl was delayed but ended up being played.  I mean, the Eagles never showed up as they were destroyed by Cincinnati but at least they got to play the game right?

OK now to the College Football Playoff National Championship.  One good semi-final, one not-so-good one.  At least Joe Burrow made the first game exciting as he accounted for eight touchdowns.  Eight.  That was insane.  The Clemson-tOSU game was the game we all thought it would be.  One of the best semi-finals on paper in the CFP era was one of the best CFP games ever, period.  This sets up LSU-Clemson for all the Tostitos.  This is why the #1 ranking was so important as there were three good teams and then the next set of teams was easily a tier below.  This should be a great game so let’s cross our fingers it is. Expect a massive LSU home advantage being in the Superdome.

Anyway, the game will be shown on all the TSNs, except for TSN2, not this Monday, but the next Monday (January 13th).  The game starts at 8:00 with the pre-show on for half an hour beforehand.  Last year they didn’t have Coach’s Film Room.  They should bring it back since it was some unintentional comedy along with learning a lot from various college coaches.  As for my pick for the game I am going to go with LSU getting their first national championship of the College Football Playoff era, 40-27.

I understand that all the bowl games aren’t complete but unless something crazy happens, it will just be some good football to watch (like last night’s Gator Bowl) and nothing really worth recapping (at least by me).  This also jives with the quasi-lazy feel of this post.

One more quick thing: the FCS Championship between James Madison and North Dakota State is on tomorrow at Noon on ABC.  Good for the FCS to have a game appear on ABC which, if I recall, is the first time this has ever happened.

UPDATE #2: I’m an idiot.  The FCS Championship is NEXT Saturday at Noon.  I need some sleep.

Enjoy the NFL games and enjoy the CFP National Championship everyone!

NFL Wild-Card Weekend Schedule

First of all, welcome to 2020 (how often did Barbara Walters say that?).  So far, feels like 2019.  Hopefully things get at least a bit better.

Hey it’s playoff time in the NFL!  It feels a bit more wide open than most years with very few teams really having no chance to win the whole thing.  Hell, I am sure even the Bills have a chance.  Imagine they win a Super Bowl?  The Bills Mafia would probably destroy the city (or at least Orchard Park) in celebration.  Almost every player on that team would be a legend for eternity in Western New York.  I might just have to go whatever would pass for a parade there.  Anyway, let’s get to the Wild-Card schedule which may or may not be wild.  Just a warning.

Saturday

Buffalo at Houston (4:30)	All affiliates		All affiliates
Tennessee at New England (8:00)		All affiliates	All affiliates

Sunday

Minnesota at New Orleans (1:00)	All affiliates		All affiliates
Seattle at Philadelphia (4:30)		All affiliates	All affiliates	All channels (except TSN2)

Wild Wild-Card Notes which are neither wild nor cards:

• I still think division winners should only be guaranteed a top 5 seed.  The fact the Seahawks have to go to Philadelphia is ridiculous.
• CTV will show all four games this weekend.  TSN gets the final game between the Eagles and Seahawks.  CTV Two is shut out which is fine to be honest.  If you can’t get the game this weekend, I don’t know what to say.
• The Bills are looking for their first playoff win in a quarter of a century (1995).
• The Vikings and the Saints combine for the most wins in a Wild Card matchup since 2002.  Now watch it be a blowout.

Again it was an exciting Week 17 in the National Football League.  They have found something that basically guarantees excitement in the final week unless there’s a very odd year where all the playoff spots are wrapped up a week early.  It’s been yet another great year for the NFL with the usual few lows matching many highs.  Nice to just be able to watch football and have it be mostly just about football.

Next post will be the bowl recap and preview of the College Football Playoff national championship.

One more quick thing: the FCS Championship between James Madison and North Dakota State is on Saturday at Noon on ABC!  This is new and a very good thing for the FCS.  TSN is not showing it because the World Juniors semi-finals are that day which is fine since NOTHING overshadows that tournament here.

Enjoy the start of the NFL playoffs and the rest of your week.