Most Important Games of the 2022 College Football Season: Prepare for Change

Alright let’s be honest here.  It has been a slooooooow return for ol’ Bossman.  This is partially done on purpose, though, not because I have forgotten about all of you.  I am going with the less is more approach…kind of.  At least in the off-season.  I think an explanation is warranted here.  The plan, on my part, is to post less but to put a lot more in each post.  Like not going to Wendy’s as often but when you do…it’s Dave’s Triple Cheeseburger time!  I think this might just work.  Or it won’t.  I mean you never know with these things, right?  Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes: change.  Change is sometimes tough but is also sometimes needed.  So as it pertains to the usual four-post Most Important College Games series, it is going to go through an overhaul.  This post will be just about the most important games but I won’t be going week-by-week.  It will be a relatively well-thought out selection of the best 30 games of this coming year (at least at this very early point).  Don’t worry, I will still rate the weeks.  Can’t change everything.  Then I will post again later on with some other lists of games.  You know, the worst Power Five games, best Group of Five games, etc.  You ready?  I am.  Let’s go.

Remember the rules (my rules).  Most of the games after Week 3 are not set in terms of time or network.  Any game that is confirmed, I will let you know that it is.  This time I won’t include Canadian info because, especially with TSN, it’s a complete crapshoot.  Just assume that ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network and SEC Network games will appear on TSN or on the specialty packs.

It’s…time!  IT’S….TIME!  IT’S……RANKING TIME!  (cue Vader theme)  Alright the first piece of college football to discuss is the ranking of the weeks.  We know how this usually goes and it is almost never a surprise when it comes out that way.  So let’s get right to it and then I can tell you how I did this (if you didn’t know before) and all that jazz:

1. Week 13 (November 26 – American Thanksgiving)
2. Week 6 (October 8)
3. Week 10 (November 5)
4. Week 5 (October 1)
5. Week 9 (October 29)
6. Week 12 (November 19)
7. Week 7 (October 15)
8. Week 11 (November 12)
9. Week 4 (September 24)
10. Week 8 (October 22)
11. Week 3 (September 17)
12. Week 1 (September 3)
13. Week 2 (September 10)

Same as always, there are thirteen weeks of the regular season.  Week Zero is starting to get more games as more waivers are being granted but until they have I’d say at least 30 games on the schedule that Saturday then it can’t be counted as its own week.  I mean I could but it would be last place every year without a doubt.  I’ve said this before but I wish they would always have fourteen weeks in a season.  This way, every team gets two bye weeks and it’s perfect for the health and safety of the players (something that is sometimes put on the backburner).  I’m sure the NCAA will go along with my idea by the year 2058.  As for the rankings this season, not too many surprises.  The final week of the regular season is back on its perch as the best weekend of college football this season.  Week 1 has dropped off a cliff and doesn’t look  that great but the hype around it will be off the charts, I can guarantee you that.  October has a massive week as Week 6 truly starts the conference season in a big way (and you’ll see later on why I say that).  Just like last year, November is great, even SEC Sleepwalk Saturday which is a middle-of-the-road week rather than the awful week of games it used to be.  And of course, September is, well, September in college football.  A few really good games surrounded by a lot of meh but you know what will happen.  That’s right, Frank Stallone quite a few upsets since that’s how college football works.

Normally this would be the time I start the weekly breakdowns but those are no more (at least for this year).  This is a long list but I think it will be a good list.  It’s the top 30 most important games of the college football season (until some team like Northwestern comes out of nowhere and is battling for a conference title).

1. Texas A&M at Alabama (Week 6, 8:00, CBS) – Yes, Bama is again the favourite to win it all this season.  But the Aggies might be as ready as they have ever been during the Jimbo Fisher era.  Almost a guarantee this will end up as the lone CBS primetime game of the year.
2. Michigan at Ohio State (Week 13, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Captain Khaki brings his Wolverines to Columbus to see if he can get his team to relive the magic of last season once again.  They haven’t won at the Horseshoe in 22 years.  Winner of this one most likely heads to the Big Ten Championship so huge stakes, as it usually is with this rivalry.
3. Notre Dame at Ohio State (Week 1, 7:30, ABC, confirmed) – As is normally the case, the Irish have a bunch of landmine games this season.  No game is a bigger landmine than this one.  If Notre Dame can pull this off, then the season is already turned on its head and Marcus Freeman immediately becomes a legend in his second game as head coach.
4. Clemson at Notre Dame (Week 10, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – Clemson will be looking for a tiny bit of a rebound this year and retake control of the ACC.  Yes, this isn’t an ACC conference game but winning this game would put every other team in the conference on notice.  I am wondering, with all this realignment happening, if we may get to the point where the Irish are the only Independent team remaining.  This is something I wouldn’t have said even two years ago.
5. Georgia vs. Oregon (in Atlanta) (Week 1, 3:30, ABC, confirmed) – Is this an early-season College Football Playoff elimination game?  Could very well be.  Georgia is still loaded for bear again and the Ducks are ready to make that final climb back into the CFP.  This game (plus the ND-tOSU game later in the night) are the easy highlights of a relatively bland Week 1 schedule.
6. Notre Dame at USC (Week 13, 7:30, ABC) – It would be either a) horrible for Notre Dame fans if the Irish came in undefeated and blew a tire here against a probably good USC team or b) great for Notre Dame haters who don’t want them anywhere near the College Football Playoff (or the New Year’s Six for that matter).  This could end up being a massively important game in the grand scheme of things.
7. Utah at Oregon (Week 12, 7:30, ABC) – This might just be a preview of the Pac-12 title game and a statement game for both teams…as long as both teams are ranked at this point.  With the Pac-12 finally on the rise again (I think), this could bring in a lot of eyeballs during a week that is usually not the greatest on paper.
8. NC State at Clemson (Week 5, 3:30, ABC) – This is probably the game for the Atlantic Division title…the final Atlantic Division title if I get my way and divisions are abolished going forward.  With all due respect to Wake Forest, unless they pull off at least one upset, they aren’t getting close to these two teams.  This being in Death Valley may give the Tigers the slight edge but the Wolfpack have had some seriously huge wins on the road in their past.
9. USC at Utah (Week 7, 3:30, ESPN) – As I said above, I am only including American broadcast info at this point.  That will change when I get to network-specific posts later in the summer.  The Utes should worry about this USC team.  They are finally poised to get back into Top 10 territory and an upset of Utah isn’t a crazy idea at this point.  If Lincoln Riley can get the Trojans to pull this off, it may be off to the races and a return to glory in Los Angeles.
10. Michigan State at Michigan (Week 9, Noon, FOX) – Big brother and little brother are both good.  This always make this rivalry game extra spicy.  This game could honestly derail Michigan’s season before they get to the Game.  This should end up on FOX which means no THERE’S A TROUBLE WITH THE SNAP!  AND THE BALL IS FREE AND IT’S PICKED UP BY MICHIGAN STATE’S JALEN WATTS-JACKSON AND HE SCORES ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME!  All in Sean McDonough Cracked-Voice perfection.
11. Clemson at Wake Forest (Week 4, 3:30, ESPN2) – This might be the first game I get seriously wrong.  Saying that, the ACC tends to get neglected in favour of the other Power Five conferences when it comes to game placement…especially when Wake Forest is involved.  And some would still consider this a surprising pick in the #11 spot but I stand by it.  Remember what I said above about the Deacs?  Well this would be their chance, at home, to shock the world and announce their true arrival as contenders for at least the New Year’s Six.
12. Ohio State at Michigan State (Week 6, 7:30, ABC) – Another THE Ohio State University roadblock game here.  Nothing would please Spartans fans (and Wolverine fans) for Sparty to knock off the mighty Buckeyes here.
13. Baylor at Oklahoma (Week 10, Noon, FOX) – Dave Aranda might be the most popular coach in college football and he wouldn’t give two shits about that nor would his facial expression change.  He’s in Waco to coach college football, dammit, and that’s all.  I’m sure his family has seen him smile before but those rumours are unconfirmed.  Lincoln Riley-less Oklahoma could be an interesting team to watch this year since no one knows how they will fare.  As much of a wild card as any team expected to be in the Top 25 to start the season.
14. Tennessee at Georgia (Week 10, Noon, ESPN) – This could very well be an SEC East title match although you never know what team will kind of come out of nowhere to cause havoc at the top.  Kentucky may still be good and the rest of the teams, sans Vanderbilt, could make a run if they get an upset or three.  Until further notice, though, the Dawgs are the defending champs so someone has to knock them off their perch.  Who better than the Vols?  I’m sure there would be many people who could give me quite a few examples.
15. Miami at Clemson (Week 12, 3:30, ESPN2) – If this was the 80s or early 90s or early 2000s, this wouldn’t be here because Miami would be like a 30-point favourite.  I’m sure there’d be a lot more cocaine and steroids involved as well, but I digress.  Instead, it’s the Tigers who could be a double-digit favourite coming into this potentially huge conference matchup for both teams.
16. Alabama at Tennessee (Week 7, 3:30, CBS) – Man, it took long enough to get to our first afternoon CBS game.  I guess that’s what happens when Alabama is on the network all the time.  So speaking of heavy favourites, the Tide will be those here.  The Vols, however, are better than they have been in over a decade and with the game at Neyland, who knows.  If this game is close going into the fourth quarter, watch out.
17. Miami at Texas A&M (Week 3, 9:00, ESPN, confirmed) – Oh god the weird three-hour windows rear their ugly head this week.  Game at 6:00 followed by a game at 9:00.  Can ESPN just fuck off with this horseshit?  What’s the big deal putting this at 9:30?  Half an hour won’t make a difference.  Anyway, this should be a pretty good game I think but those FUCKING THREE-HOUR WINDOWS…OK I’m gonna stop now.
18. Wisconsin at Ohio State (Week 4, 7:30, ABC) – If the Big Ten abolished divisions, this would become a much bigger game.  I mean it’s still huge but…OK fine I just hate divisions.  I’m sure Wisky’s gameplan here is to run the ball 60 times and hope tOSU’s run defense is snoozing for most of the game.
19. Wake Forest at NC State (Week 10, 7:30, ACC Network) – Look, this might change between now and then but as I’ve said before, this is how little respect the Demon Deacons get.  If both teams only have one loss (or less) at this point, then it definitely gets moved to ESPN or ABC.  Otherwise, there’s a good chance this is where this game will end up, sadly.  The winner here is probably the one and only contender to screw up Clemson’s ACC run this season.
20. Oklahoma State at Baylor (Week 5, Noon, FOX) – First appearance for the Fighting Mullets from Stillwater on this list.  The Pokes are almost always in contention even when it feels like they aren’t.  Eleventh-year starter Spencer Sanders hopes to finally find some consistency at quarterback and beat a Baylor team that could be even more special than last year’s squad.
21. Georgia at Kentucky (Week 12, 3:30, CBS) – Fine, I will put this game here but it’s iffy whether it belongs.  It isn’t like the SEC West where even the worst team usually isn’t that bad.  Saying that, UK could be good again.  It wouldn’t fully shock me.  The only thing on their side is this is in Lexington which is underrated for how rowdy the fans can get.
22. Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (Week 4, 3:30, CBS) – Considering the SEC slate of games this week, it is almost a guarantee that this game will be on CBS.  Last year, the Razorbacks won this game rather easily and a good thing they did since they lost three straight right afterwards.  If both teams are as good as they are predicted to be, maybe JerryWorld will be at least three-quarters full this time around.  I still don’t get this always being a neutral-site game but whatever.
23. Ohio State at Penn State (Week 9, 7:30, ABC) – Now we are getting into the games that might not look close on paper but have a history of being inexplicably close.  I’ve seen the Nittany Lions make things difficult for tOSU so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for them to pull off an upset on a night that will most certainly be a White-Out.
24. Alabama at Arkansas (Week 5, 3:30, CBS) – See what I mean?  Saying that, it’s not like this game will be relegated to the SEC Network as Sam Pittman has the Hogs looking good.  Not Bama-good, but definitely a far cry from the Bret Bielema/Chad Morris years.
25. Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (Week 12, Noon, FOX) – BEDLAM!  Normally near the top of these kinds of lists, this could be a sneaky-good game this season for once.  The Sooners feel like they are in rebuild mode when they really aren’t and the Pokes always feel like they are a step behind one team every season in the Big XII.  By this point, we will know if either of these teams have a hope for the Big XII Championship and a trip to good ol’ JerryWorld or not.
26. Penn State at Michigan (Week 7, 3:30, ABC) – Not exactly a CFP elimination matchup but it will be very important in terms of the Big Ten East Division race.  Look, PSU now has Sean Clifford hopefully back for a full, healthy year.  That alone makes the Nittany Lions a bit more dangerous than they were last year.  Michigan is loaded for bear so this will not be easy between the two teams with the biggest stadiums in the land.
27. LSU at Texas A&M (Week 13, Noon, ESPN) – This could end up being a forgotten matchup by this point of the season.  LSU is certainly not the Joe Burrow LSU Tigers.  And Texas A&M has been hanging on the periphery of greatness for a while now.  At some point, you think something has to give.  My guess is there is a good possibility a NY6 spot could be on the line here.
28. Wisconsin at Michigan State (Week 7, 7:30, ESPN2) – At this point I would call this an underrated game as many would probably put it in the same spot I’m putting it now.  The Badgers are probably the odds-on favourite to win the Big Ten West which is never on par with winning the much more difficult Big Ten East.  The Spartans need to win games like this to have any chance of doing what they did last year (or even more).
29. BYU vs. Notre Dame (in Las Vegas) (Week 6, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – BYU’s final year as an Independent and as usual they have loaded up.  Call it a Western version of the typical Notre Dame schedule.  These teams don’t play nearly enough against each other if you ask me so it’s fun when they do.  And boy, will they have a TV audience, there is no denying that.  The Irish love these games because it’s a recruiting bonanza.  I guess the same for the Cougs.  Independent supremacy is on the line in this one.
30. Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (Week 9, 3:30, CBS, confirmed) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.  How can this not be on this list of games?  I guess if both teams were bad which hasn’t happened in….well, it’s been a while.  This is my seventh straight year, I believe, imploring CBS to give the broadcast crew an open bar for this one.  Hey, either Gary Danielson becomes seriously fun to listen to or…he’s still Gary Danielson.

There you go.  Top 30 games of the season.  That wasn’t so bad, eh?  There is only 60 days left until the season begins.  That is much closer than I am used to when doing this post.  I may have to up my game over the next two months.

I’m not going to lie, this felt like a lot of work but it also felt good to do.  The craziness hasn’t stopped in my life and so this is my chance to start getting a break from “reality” by doing this blog again.  I think I’ve needed it (although I had to be sure I was ready to go again).  Have a great week everyone!

I think I want to be the football commissioner

No, not this fucker.

I don’t mean commissioner of the NFL. I mean commissioner of football. All of it…ok maybe not all of it. I don’t really need to deal with high school football. For now. So no worries, Texas, you can still go batshit crazy over a game being played by 14-17 year-olds. When you say it that way, ugh.

So I will go through some of the changes I feel should be made to make various leagues better. You may agree. You may disagree. You may not care. Whatever. I’m bored and trying to figure out how to do the schedule posts in a slightly different manner this year so this is what you get, dammit. Let’s begin.

Just don’t bother. How there are multiple arena football leagues I will never understand.

• We need to take out the rouge for punts. I think it’s a dumb rule and I get that it has been around forever but still. I don’t mind if the receiving team didn’t get the ball way out at the 20 or 25 but had to start at the 10 instead. At least that’s some sort of “punishment” for allowing the opposition to punt into your end zone. But other than that, I think it’s dumb. And would it be missed? Doubtful.
• Get rid of the salary cap. Why does it exist? They make it sound like a couple of the teams are super rich. Newsflash: none of them are. It’s either that or have one player on both sides of the ball be excluded from the salary cap calculations. Something has to change there.
• Now let’s to a bit of a thorny issue. Expansion. I know the CFL (and many of their fans) are very hesitant to talk about this after being snakebitten before. Problem is, the American expansion, outside of Baltimore was completely dumb and never thought out. A team in fucking Shreveport? Who’s bright idea was that? So I figured I would come up with some potential candidates over the next decade and explain the rationale behind at least considering these cities/areas. Let’s start with Canadian locales:
  • Quebec City – This is the first and obvious choice to everyone not named the Montreal Alouettes. They “claim” Quebec as their own when it comes to the CFL. It’s archaic. They don’t like it? Fold. You’ve done it before. Yes, there are issues with Quebec City but I am sure they would gladly expand Telus Stadium to at least 20,000 to make it CFL-ready.
  • Moncton/Halifax – Ah, the Atlantic Schooners. Ready to take the field in 1984. 1984! Yeah they missed by only four decades. Good job. Realistically, either city would have to build a brand new stadium since even the sites of the Touchdown Atlantic games aren’t big enough for a full-time CFL team. But it’s doable.
  • London/Saskatoon/Windsor/Waterloo/Victoria – No, I will not put Guelph there. I live in Guelph. There is no fucking way this city would support a CFL team. And no, they really did not support the Ti-Cats when they were here for one year. Remember, there were only like 12,000 seats. So stop. Saying that, I would be shocked if any of these other cities in this point could do it as well. A lot would have to be done to get these cities ready for that, not including a brand new stadium.
• OK so realistically there are two Canadian spots. Now, how about CFL American Expansion 2.0? Hear me out. There’s a way this could work. Let’s start with not having some of the teams 50,000 miles away from the Canadian border. There’s a good start. Alright, here we go:
  • Portland, Oregon – This seems to be the most obvious choice for a south of the border team. If they could use Providence Park (home of the Timbers), it would be perfect. 25,000 seat stadium, not too far from the border, an almost instant rivalry with the BC Lions. And other than those aforementioned Timbers and the Trailblazers, there are no other pro sports and probably won’t be. So this could be a win-win for the league and the city.
  • Fargo/Grand Forks – Yes, North Dakota State football is huge here. But there’s nothing else. For miles. This would be the only pro game in town and with two good football stadiums (domed as well) it would make for a great atmosphere. Are the stadiums a little small? Sure but I am sure at least early on they could get around that.
  • Syracuse – This is an interesting one since the Carrier Dome (or whatever it’s called now) might actually be too big for CFL standards. Almost 50,000 seats so it would be around Commonwealth Stadium size. And that stadium looks like shit when it’s less than half full. So they might want to watch it. Along with Fargo/Grand Forks, there might be an issue with the size of the field and how they would be able to go back and forth between that and an American-sized field.
  • Spokane – This is a city that I don’t think is on anyone’s list. They have a stadium big enough (28,000 capacity) and really nothing in the area in terms of pro sports. They are not too far of a drive from Calgary (Google Maps tells me seven hours…OK so that’s relatively far). It feels like it could work. And we see horrible weather in Calgary and Regina anyway for games so seeing 12 feet of snow for a game in Eastern Washington state wouldn’t be a tough sell.
  • Utah/Idaho/South Dakota/Montana/Wyoming – Like any state in the West that has almost nothing going for it that’s actually near the border (somewhat). So no, no franchise for Vegas at Sam Boyd Stadium where the field is hotter than the surface of the sun. Be realistic. Honestly, these spots aren’t totally realistic but some of them have big stadiums (Provo, Salt Lake City, Boise) that could easily handle a CFL team.
  • Milwaukee – Hmmm…this is an odd one. Remember, there was a time when the Green Bay Packers would play at least one game every season in Milwaukee. That’s when the city had County Stadium. I doubt the Brewers would allow football to be played in their probably baseball-only stadium so this might have to be ruled out.
• There are other cities you could consider like Omaha or Norfolk or some in the Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine area but really those are longshots.
• The other part that many will hate to discuss is a relationship with the NFL. Most don’t want it because “I don’t want to deal with those damn ‘Muricans.” Well, at some point, there should be an agreement. If the CFL isn’t going to partner with the XFL (which is fine), they should at least talk to the NFL about some partnership agreement. This would help the CFL in the long run. Rules don’t have to be changed to mirror the NFL: it would just allow players on practice rosters to get real game action which can only help them and their NFL contract holders.

My god where do I start with this. U Sports is a mess. It has never meant less than it does now. Apologies to all the athletes playing university sports (I was once one, myself) but this is ridiculous. It’s like no one cares anymore. If there weren’t students who, every so often, went out to support these football teams, I’m sure everything would be shut down. I don’t know what the answer is to be honest. Realistically, joining the NCAA in some capacity would be difficult and the rule changes would call for a lot of money needing to be spent at these football stadiums…money that some of these schools don’t have. Really, though, until every conference has a serious TV partner (and no, local cable is not a serious TV partner), then nothing can change. Not being able to watch the games has been a bit of a death knell for U Sports. And no, just having the final three games on CBC is not nearly good enough.

Hell, I could put any other spring league here as well like the AAF. Can someone figure out how to run a proper league in the Spring? Because it feels like no one has a clue. Here are a few things that almost need to be done:

• Have one league. The XFL and USFL competing means, probably, that both leagues will cease to exist in a couple years. Figure this shit out and combine forces. It’s not like everyone is clamoring for Spring football. It’s obvious they aren’t. So watching two leagues will be done by almost nobody.
• Continue with having good TV partners. This is one thing that these leagues have somehow done well with. Keep that up.
• Do not use just one stadium for all the games. It’s dumb. And it’s Legion Field which is a shithole. Someone should get their ass fired for that idea. I get that it saved travel expenses but if that’s the case, don’t have a fucking league in the first place. Which leads me to my next point…
• Regionalize the teams. You want two divisions? Perfect. Have the teams in each division, at this point, be relatively close. This way, travel costs are cut down immensely. So don’t put a team in Birmingham then have them in the same division as a team in New York. It’s stupid.
• Saying that, have more than eight teams. If you have twelve teams, you can have three divisions. Home and away inside the division is six games. Either two or four games outside the division and that’s it. Short season, not a ton of travel, and rivalries can blossom inside the divisions. When the league is making some serious coin, then expand and go elsewhere.
• Do what I told the CFL to do: have a partnership with the NFL. A real one. Ask for players from practice squads so they can get some game experience. It’s worth it.

I actually don’t have too many things that I would want to change about the NFL. It’s great. And they’ve done a great job with tweaking things as the years have gone on. Take a look at overtime. Now it seems as fair and logical as it has ever been. Yes, it took time but we got there. Saying that, there are still a few more issues at hand:

• I have discussed this at length before but here we go again. Division winners should only be guaranteed a top 5 seed. They shouldn’t automatically get a home playoff game in the Wild Card round because they were lucky enough to be in a shitty division. Also, the best Wild Card team, if they have a better record than the worst division winner, shouldn’t be penalized for having the audacity to be in a division with an even better team.
• Stop making pass interference a spot foul. Some of these quarterbacks heave balls 40 yards down the field hoping for this call and some get it which is absurd. If they want to punish teams more than the 15-yard penalty that is done in college, then make it a 20-yard penalty (or spot foul if it’s less than a 20-yard pass). But making it a spot foul is too detrimental to defenses and defensive backs for merely trying to do their job.
• The fumble through the end zone rule. Good lord. This goes for the college game as well. That should never be a touchback. I don’t know what the rule should be but that is honestly one of the worst in football. The ball should either be returned to the spot of the fumble or automatically put somewhere, like the ten-yard line. Penalizing a team that much for a fumble that isn’t recovered by either team is preposterous.

See, not too much right? Oh and don’t put a team in London. Please. I am not a fan of the early morning Sunday games.

Man, where do I start here? For a game that I love, I sure do want a lot of changes. So let’s just get to them and hope it doesn’t make this post so long that I need to include chapters.

• I’ve mentioned this before but don’t stop the clock for first downs in the first and third quarters. You’d be amazed at how much time can be made up with this. Drop ten minutes off the average college game and a lot less games go over that magical 3.5 hour window.
• Let the players taunt. Who gives a shit? Horns Down? Perfect. Do it. What’s the problem? We want to treat these kids as adults then tell them not to do stuff like this. Can the professionalism argument. It’s not like it happens 100 times a game. Besides, you want to stop the taunts? Score on them. That shuts them up real quick.
• There needs to be two separate kinds of targeting fouls. I’m not the only one who has said this and the NCAA seems to be waffling over this decision. I don’t understand why. If there is clear intent to injure (or more like it definitely wasn’t accidental), it’s 15-yards and a 1-game suspension. If it is accidental or deemed to be not egregious, 15 yards and the offending player stays in the game. I get that it becomes up to the officials to call this and it might not be fully consistent but you have to start somewhere with this.
• Can we stop with making overtime ridiculous? If they want to go college-style fine. Both teams get a chance from the 35-yard line. Keep going until one team wins. No 2-point shootouts. Hell, no need to even go to two-point conversions only after a touchdown. That’s fine. If we want full possessions, give both teams at least one shot. If it’s still tied, then it’s sudden death. Why does this have to be needlessly complicated?
• Now to conference schedules. Have every conference play a nine-game conference schedule. What this does is two-fold. It heightens rivalries inside the conference and also makes non-conference games that much more exciting since you will see 25% less of them (approximately). This lends itself to bowl games as well as you might see a matchup that has never happened before and this also piques fans’ interest in these exhibition games.
• I think the structure of college football when it comes to the players has to be adjusted. NIL has been a good thing. It is, however, getting to the point where these players are just being given money by the schools. OK then. If we’re being honest, college football is THE college sport. Brings in more money than any other sport by a wide margin. So it should be treated differently. Like why are players forced to carry an entire semester schedule? This leads to some cheating, some taking stupidly easy courses, some even in degree programs that are useless. So make it so they only have to take two or three courses during the Fall semester. Remember, they can always come back after being a pro or once their college career is over to finish all the credits needed. This way, you’d have less problems with academics (I think) and coaches would kind of get their way but not allowing said academics to get in the way of fielding a winning program.
• A better way to determine first downs. Lasers? Microchips in the footballs? Something. Anything. It’s 2022. Come on guys. And while you’re at it, goal line cameras at all FBS stadiums!
• Finally, the bowl/playoff system. I’ve kind of gone back-and-forth on this and even done different scenarios in the same season to show how things could be altered as to who wins in the end. This is very tough. If there were only a few bowl games (like 20 years ago or so), then this becomes less of an issue. But with the sheer amount of bowl games, they have to mean something. I mentioned above that nine-game conference schedules would help in this regard as it would create a bit more uniqueness when it comes to the bowl matchups. I think, though, in the end, despite the fact that the playoff is here to stay, it’s not the best option. Why do I believe that? Because it won’t stop at 8 or 12 or even 16. It will go to at least 24 and bowl games will either be cut altogether or used as sites for playoff games. We know this. It’s inevitable. It may take three decades but we will get there. Does this make the sport as a whole better? I don’t know if it does. If you want the bowl games to matter and you want to keep the exclusiveness of playing for a national championship to very few teams every season, then going back to a quasi-poll n’ bowl system would work best. Do it the way it was back in the 80s and 90s but add the plus-one game. Or do the four-team playoff after the bowls. I am not saying the current playoff is bad because it isn’t. I kind of like it even though many of the semi-final games end up being crap. But when we start talking about quarter-finals and first round games, it may lose its lustre. Actually, I know it will. Will it change the sport forever? We will find out soon enough.

OK that’s about enough. There are more things I probably missed and things I, at some point, wanted to mention and just plain forgot. Oh well. My application is ready. I’ll send it off to….that’s probably the first thing I have to figure out. Probably ESPN. They run things don’t they? Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!

Guess who’s back…

Back again. Bossman’s back. Tell a friend (who likes football).

That’s right I have finally decided to return to the ol’ blogosphere (do they still call it that). I’ve been off for about four months and it feels like it has been four years. Are things better for me? Meh. I guess. Now I feel I need a distraction again to keep me sane so it’s back to this thing. Not like much has happened in the football world since I was gone AW SHIT TOM BRADY DIDN’T RETIRE. Sometimes the offseason is much more entertaining than the actual season. But I digress.

I figured I would return by doing a little bit of research. I know what you’re thinking: when has this jagoff ever really delved into researching stuff? Well I have…every so often. OK not enough. Maybe this is part of my metamorphosis into a newer, better Bossman. Or, I just have a bit of time on my hands. Oh yeah, the research! I am going to research….me! More specifically my blog.

You see, over the years I have made demands or requests or said things I would like to see change about college football or the NFL. I don’t know how often I have followed up on those but I am going to venture a guess and say almost never. So I am rectifying that by going back into the vault to see some of the things I’ve said and update on what has happened with them. In some cases, quite a bit. In others, nothing at all. So strap in and let’s go on a journey…or more like one of those car trips where everything looks the same and you crave any new scenery or you’re going to veer off the road and crash into the guardrail.

August 13, 2013: I think it’s high time for them (Tulane) to move out of the Superdome and into a smaller stadium considering they wouldn’t be able to fill a Texas high school football stadium these days. First off, some Texas high school football stadiums are big. Like 10-20,000 seats big. And they damn near fill them! Insane. But anyway, this was my first, let’s call it request on this blog. And it worked! I don’t want to take credit for this but I am going to take credit for this. Tulane moved into on-campus Yulman Stadium one year after this comment. And they arguably get more fans in a stadium that, by all accounts, looks quite nice.

November 24, 2013: I still believe they need to cut down on the individual bowl tie-ins as there could be some somewhat unwatchable matchups come December that could be avoided with better flexibility. At the Power Five level, this has not changed and we could argue it has got a bit worse. At the Group of Five level, we now see a bit more flexibility with bowl bids. Some bowls just pick out of the G-5 conferences as a whole. And other bowls get a choice of two or three conferences. So it’s slightly better but really I was hoping there would be more at-large bids. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear.

October 15, 2014: I would say it makes the most sense to put all the ESPNU games, for example, on one channel throughout the day. Bell (and, presumably, Rogers) doesn’t think that way for some odd reason. And they still don’t. I don’t get it. It seems so easy but obviously someone in programming suffers from temporary brain damage when they are figuring out the schedule. IT’S THE SAME FUCKING THING FOR LIKE THIRTEEN WEEKS EVERY YEAR!

February 17, 2015: In OT, they should start farther back than the 25-yard line. Instead, the NCAA decided “Fuck it” and changed OT completely after the second overtime. That nine-overtime debacle between Illinois and Penn State should be proof that the new method is garbage. Should have listened to me guys. Even starting overtime from the 30 could have changed things radically since not many college kickers can routinely hit 47-yard field goals.

February 17, 2015: Stop time after EVERY first down makes the game a little longer than most can handle. Why they haven’t dealt with this I don’t know. There is no need for the clock to stop after a first down in the first or third quarters. You could make the argument that other than the final five minutes of either half you don’t need to either and I would be fine with that too. Shave about ten minutes off the average game? Sounds like a win for the college game if you ask me.

February 17, 2015: Three-hour TV windows are dumb. I was on a roll this day (although, to be fair, the whole point of this blog post was changed I’d make). And yes, whoever thinks these make sense are morons. I’m looking at you, ESPN, since you are the only ones that do it. Well, that isn’t entirely true. The ACC Network, for one week early on in the season every year now, does the same thing. It’s stupid. Just stop it.

July 6, 2015: TSN and Sportsnet both would be smart to stop the regional channel horseshit and make one channel a full news channel (a la Headline Sports way back in the day). This hasn’t happened and probably never will. Whether it should now is a matter of debate. I don’t know how many viewers Sportscentre and Sports Central get but it can’t be nearly as many as there were back in 2015. So to have a full sports news channel would still make sense but they would both have to restructure the way there channels operate (and, in Sportsnet’s case, talk to the NHL about the archaic blackout policy).

November 19, 2015: However, in my opinion, pretty much all FBS vs. FCS games should be in September (or August if the season starts then). I have softened my stance a bit on this. Buy games are necessary for FCS teams and I understand that. I still am not a fan of seeing these games in November but having them in October would be fine as well. With more conferences going to a 9-game conference schedule, I have a feeling there will be less of these games in November but we shall see.

August 4, 2017: Let’s be honest here: Conference USA is a hodge-podge bag of crap. If they were smart they would start talks with the Sun Belt to “create” two new conferences with more of a geographical natured to them. Oh this is one of my favourite blog posts of all-time. The amount of flack I got for this from Conference USA fans was hilarious. But look what happened. The conference is on the brink of disaster now because they did nothing, thinking they were even remotely special. Fucking dumb. So let them die. Many of the teams left for greener pastures and the rest…well, sorry for your damn luck.

November 20, 2018: I look forward, though, to balanced divisions in 2020, which I believe is the year the Atlantic Schooners begin play. Oh Bossman, what were you thinking? Forget adding a tenth team: almost every year it seems like one of the current nine CFL teams is in some sense of financial peril.

January 20, 2020: I agree there should be a holiday after the Super Bowl. Hasn’t even been discussed in the U.S. so no chance of it happening here yet. At least my plea for Daylight Savings Time to end might come to fruition!

August 3, 2020: If a division winner has a worse record than a Wild Card team, they should get the #5 seed and not the #4. I have said this in previous seasons when there were only two Wild Card teams but it goes the same now with three. You shouldn’t be rewarded for winning a shitty division with a bad record. You already get into the playoffs. That’s your reward. Same the other way as a really good Wild Card team shouldn’t be punished for having the audacity to be in a division with one of the best teams in the league. It’s dumb. And won’t be changed. Dumb owners and dumb Commissioner Gingerhammer.

December 17, 2020: I will say it again for the millionth time: why bother with the conference affiliation towards either CBS or FOX? It doesn’t matter anymore. Well look at that! They are finally getting rid of the completely archaic NFC-to-FOX and AFC-to-CBS way of broadcasting NFL games. It will now be a bit of a free-for-all which, honestly, is much better. You want the best games, at the best times, with the best available crew. Many times that didn’t happen in the past because of how things were done. Not anymore!

August 11, 2021: I still believe every team should have one road, one home and one neutral-site game during the preseason but that’s a conversation I’ve had many times before that no one wants to listen to. Naw, much better to have regular season games in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Baghdad, rural Kazakhstan and the Maldives. And no bye week afterwards ya pussies!

Every time I did a post on if I ran the bowl games. Look, my plan would work. Or the various plans I’ve had over the years. Cut a few bowls and make it a 7-win minimum to be bowl-eligible for sure. Give as many games a national spotlight (which they almost do but they could be better at it). Put a few more games on non-ESPN networks (I don’t know when this will ever happen). And the selection show. It would work so much better and make that thing worth watching.

So there you go. I know I have made other requests or had other ideas but I think you get the picture…I’m not influential at all. Saying that, some of my ideas have come to fruition which makes me happy if not a tiny bit proud. Maybe in the next few years a few more of my ideas will come true and I will be a very happy Bossman.

Alright. First post back. Feels good. Shake the cobwebs off. I am goofing around with new themes for the site to see what works. So if you notice things changing from week to week, it’s probably my undiagnosed ADD.

It’s already June. Where does the time go? I guess that happens when the days start melting together and you have very little sense of time. Have a great rest of the week everyone.