HEY, YOU WANT ALL THE NETWORK SCHEDULES IN ONE LONG POST?

“Well, I was kind of hoping for all of them on separate post…”

“THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT YOU COLLEGE FOOTBALL-ADDICTED MOTHERFUCKER SO HERE YOU FUCKING GO.  ALL.  THE.  SCHEDULES.”

Remember what I said?  Less is more.  Meaning less posts but a shit-ton more information.  So get ready since this is going to be a seriously long (but informative) post.

I can’t even call this the SEC on CBS schedule because the Mountain West has squeezed in a few games now.  And remember, this is the second-last season that the SEC will have their game of the week on CBS.  I said last year that the Pac-12 was the favourite to pick up this package but, how about that, the Pac-12 might not even exist by 2024.  So who knows what will happen since FOX and ESPN will have almost taken over college football broadcasting by that point.  Maybe the new supersized Big XII can sneak in there.

But for this year it’s still the SEC (plus some MWC) on CBS.  Brad, Gary and not Jamie will be back for another season as far as I know.  Same old, same old for now.  At least one thing in college football is staying the same…for now.  Anyway, let’s get to the predicted schedule (confirmed games are in BOLD):

September 3rd		Arizona at San Diego State		3:30 PM
September 10th		Colorado at Air Force		3:30 PM
September 17th		Penn State at Auburn		3:30 PM
September 24th		Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington)		3:30 PM
October 1st		Navy at Air Force		Noon
October 1st		Alabama at Arkansas		3:30 PM
October 8th		Auburn at Georgia		3:30 PM
October 8th		Texas A&M at Alabama		8:00 PM
October 15th		Alabama at Tennessee		3:30 PM
October 22nd		Ole Miss at LSU		3:30 PM
October 29th		Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)		3:30 PM
November 5th		Army vs. Air Force (in Arlington)		11:30 AM
November 5th		Alabama at LSU		3:30 PM
November 12th		Missouri at Tennessee		Noon
November 12th		Georgia at Mississippi State		3:30 PM
November 19th		Georgia at Kentucky		3:30 PM
November 25th		Utah State at Boise State		Noon
November 25th		Arkansas at Missouri		3:30 PM
November 26th		Auburn at Alabama		3:30 PM
December 3rd		SEC Championship Game		4:00 PM
December 10th		Army vs. Navy (in Philadelphia)		3:00 PM
December 30th		Sun Bowl		Noon

CBS stuff (for now):

• Projected SEC on CBS appearances:
  • 5 times – Alabama
  • 4 times – Georgia
  • 3 times – Auburn, Arkansas
  • 2 times – Tennessee, Texas A&M, Missouri, LSU
  • 1 time – Ole Miss, Florida, Mississippi State, Kentucky
  • Not a single time – Vanderbilt, South Carolina
• Only two teams on my list won’t get an appearance: Vanderbilt and South Carolina.  Vandy is self-explanatory.  The Gamecocks on the other hand…I do feel a bit weird not putting them on CBS.  Problem is there are only so many spots and this is about as spread out as it has been in years with only two schools getting more than three games.
• And now we get into service academy football!  For the second straight year, the entire Commander’s-in-Chief Trophy will be broadcast on CBS.  It starts on October 1st when Navy travels to Colorado Springs to face Air Force in a game starting at 10:00 in the morning local time.  The now-annual Army-AFA game in Arlington is back in early November.  Then, of course, the Army-Navy Game.  I don’t know about you but I kind of like service academy football.  Some people call it boring but I enjoy watching it.  Now, if most teams used the option I’m sure it would get seriously tiring (although all games would fit into broadcast windows, no problem).
• The Mountain West is back with more games this time around.  CBS gets the choice of putting Boise State home games on the main network or CBS Sports Network so that’s why we have the Black Friday game against Utah State on the main network.  Also, a bit of an odd choice, but Arizona-SDSU is confirmed for Week 1.  Hey, at least we have college football on CBS every week of the season.
• Yeah I said not Jamie.  Jamie Erdahl is now going to be on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network.  Jenny Dell will replace her on the SEC on CBS.

Now we have the network where I do kind of miss Keith Jackson and Brent Musburger.  Not saying Chris Fowler isn’t good.  He is.  Unfortunately, once you get past him and a couple others, the play-by-play takes a bit of a nosedive.  But, in the end, I am going to watch the games.  I don’t care if the worst announcing team is calling the game, I will watch.  Man, I need help.

September 3rd		Colorado State at Michigan		Noon
September 3rd		Georgia vs. Oregon (in Atlanta)		3:30 PM
September 3rd		Notre Dame at Ohio State		7:30 PM
September 4th		LSU vs. Florida State (in New Orleans)		7:30 PM
September 10th		Ohio at Penn State		Noon
September 10th		Tennessee at Pittsburgh		3:30 PM
September 10th		USC at Stanford		7:30 PM
September 17th		UConn at Michigan		Noon
September 17th		Ole Miss at Georgia Tech		3:30 PM
September 17th		Michigan State at Washington		7:30 PM
September 24th		Baylor at Iowa State		Noon
September 24th		Iowa at Rutgers		3:30 PM
September 24th		Wisconsin at Ohio State		7:30 PM
October 1st		Michigan State at Maryland		Noon
October 1st		NC State at Clemson		3:30 PM
October 1st		Northwestern at Penn State		7:30 PM
October 8th		Texas vs. Oklahoma (in Dallas)		Noon
October 8th		Florida State at NC State		3:30 PM
October 8th		Ohio State at Michigan State		7:30 PM
October 15th		Kansas at Oklahoma		Noon
October 15th		Penn State at Michigan		3:30 PM
October 15th		Oklahoma State at TCU		7:30 PM
October 22nd		Purdue at Wisconsin		Noon
October 22nd		UCLA at Oregon		3:30 PM
October 22nd		Iowa at Ohio State		7:30 PM
October 29th		Baylor at Texas Tech		Noon
October 29th		Oklahoma State at Kansas State		3:30 PM
October 29th		Ohio State at Penn State		7:30 PM
November 5th		Ohio State at Northwestern		Noon
November 5th		Oregon at Colorado		3:30 PM
November 5th		Florida State at Miami		7:30 PM
November 12th		Notre Dame vs. Navy (in Baltimore)		Noon
November 12th		Pittsburgh at Virginia		3:30 PM
November 12th		Oklahoma at West Virginia		7:30 PM
November 19th		Iowa at Minnesota		Noon
November 19th		Ohio State at Maryland		3:30 PM
November 19th		Utah at Oregon		7:30 PM
November 25th		Tulsa at Houston		Noon
November 25th		Baylor at Texas		3:30 PM
November 25th		Florida at Florida State		7:30 PM
November 26th		Pittsburgh at Miami		Noon
November 26th		Michigan State at Penn State		3:30 PM
November 26th		Notre Dame at USC		7:30 PM
December 3rd		Big XII Championship Game		Noon
December 3rd		AAC Championship Game		4:00 PM
December 3rd		ACC Championship Game		8:00 PM
December 17th		Celebration Bowl		Noon
December 17th		LA Bowl		3:30 PM
December 17th		Las Vegas Bowl		7:30 PM
December 31st		Music City Bowl		Noon
January 2nd		Citrus Bowl		1:00 PM

ABC things (at this moment):

• This year I am going to do a slightly different calculation for appearances by conference.  I am going to count having one team in the game as one appearance and having both teams in a game as two appearances.  This will give a better idea as to how different the conferences are.
• So here are the predicted ABC appearances by conference:
  • Big Ten – 31 appearances
  • Big XII – 16 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • ACC – 14 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • Pac-12 – 11 appearances
  • SEC – 5 appearances
  • AAC – 3 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • Notre Dame – 3 appearances
  • Mountain West – 1 appearance
  • MAC – 1 appearance
  • UConn – 1 appearance
• ABC still loves the Big Ten and loves to put them on in primetime.  I can safely say that will change in 2024 what with the SEC coming to ESPN/ABC and all the crazy realignment going on.  Big Ten will tether itself to FOX for sure.  Now, whether that starts next season or not is a different story.
• The Big XII, ACC and Pac-12 will pick up those games the Big Ten leaves next season (if this occurs).  As for now, the Pac-12 is the low man on the totem pole and I can’t see that changing regardless of what happens this season.
• I have a feeling the American could pick up another game somewhere but there wasn’t a spot that made sense from what I could see when I mapped out the schedules at this point.

We have what looks like the “ESPN conference” in the SEC and the “FOX conference” in the Big Ten.  Everything else is up for grabs and if there is ever a time for FOX to really start using FOX Sports Two (and put it in more homes), it would be starting next season since the seismic shifts begin at that point.

For now, Canadians can’t get FOX Sports 2.  Hell, we don’t even get FOX Sports 1.  So forget about that for now.  Let’s see what I have predicted for the FOX college football schedule for this season:

August 27th		Nebraska vs. Northwestern (in Dublin, Ireland)		12:30 PM
September 1st		Penn State at Purdue		8:00 PM
September 3rd		UTEP at Oklahoma		3:30 PM
September 10th		Alabama at Texas		Noon
September 10th		Washington State at Wisconsin		3:30 PM
September 17th		Oklahoma at Nebraska		Noon
September 17th		BYU at Oregon		3:30 PM
September 17th		Toledo at Ohio State		7:00 PM
September 17th		Fresno State at USC		10:30 PM
September 24th		Kansas State at Oklahoma		Noon
September 24th		Texas at Texas Tech		3:30 PM
October 1st		Oklahoma State at Baylor		Noon
October 1st		Iowa State at Kansas		3:30 PM
October 8th		Michigan at Indiana		Noon
October 8th		Iowa at Illinois		4:00 PM
October 8th		Utah at UCLA		8:00 PM
October 15th		Iowa State at Texas		Noon
October 15th		Washington State at Oregon State		8:30 PM
October 22nd		Texas at Oklahoma State		Noon
October 22nd		Arizona State at Stanford		3:30 PM
October 29th		Michigan State at Michigan		Noon
October 29th		USC at Arizona		3:30 PM
November 5th		Baylor at Oklahoma		Noon
November 5th		Michigan at Rutgers		3:30 PM
November 5th		Michigan State at Illinois		7:30 PM
November 12th		Wisconsin at Iowa		Noon
November 12th		Nebraska at Michigan		4:00 PM
November 12th		Iowa State at Oklahoma State		8:00 PM
November 19th		Oklahoma State at Oklahoma		Noon
November 19th		Kansas State at West Virginia		4:00 PM
November 19th		Oregon State at Arizona State		8:00 PM
November 25th		Oklahoma at Texas Tech		Noon
November 25th		UCLA at California		4:30 PM
November 26th		Michigan at Ohio State		Noon
November 26th		Oregon at Oregon State		4:00 PM
November 26th		Minnesota at Wisconsin		8:00 PM
December 2nd		Pac-12 Championship Game		Noon
December 3rd		Mountain West Championship Game		4:00 PM
December 3rd		Big Ten Championship Game		8:00 PM
December 28th		Holiday Bowl		8:00 PM

FOX crap (this second):

• Predicted FOX appearances by conference using the method I mentioned above:
  • Big XII – 25 appearances
  • Big Ten – 24 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • Pac-12 – 16 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • MWC – 1 appearance (plus conference championship)
  • MAC – 1 appearance
  • BYU – 1 appearance
  • SEC – 1 appearance
  • Conference USA – 1 appearance
• I have the Big Ten and Big XII with roughly the same amount of appearances.  This might change if my Big XII number for ESPN is low. The Mountain West has an interesting deal with the network. Unlike CBS, FOX does not have to put any of their games on the main network. Fresno State is the only team making an appearance during the regular season in the conference.
• Quick quiz: what does FOX do that ABC and CBS don’t?  You guessed it, Frank Stallone an early season QUADRUPLEHEADER!!!! Week 3 will be highlighted by four games in a row on the main network. Not saying all the games will be good because they probably won’t be but hey, it’s nice to see FOX doing something like this. Late night main network college football is good for everyone in my biased opinion.

This will be the one schedule that people either really pay attention to or could not care less about.  At least with this schedule, I can confidently say that all the games are confirmed.  I will bold them anyway for people who don’t like to read things not near nice pictures:

September 10th		Marshall at Notre Dame		2:30 PM
September 17th		California at Notre Dame		2:30 PM
October 8th		BYU vs. Notre Dame (in Las Vegas)		7:30 PM
October 15th		Stanford at Notre Dame		7:30 PM
October 22nd		UNLV at Notre Dame		2:30 PM
November 5th		Clemson at Notre Dame		7:30 PM
November 19th		Boston College at Notre Dame		2:30 PM

Three primetime games this year for the Irish on NBC!  The BYU and Clemson games are not surprising to be put in primetime.  The Stanford one is a bit surprising but I guess if they were putting three games on in primetime this season, which one would you replace this with?  UNLV?  It also looks like NBC has decided to stick with the 2:30 start time.  It flows better into the evening news on local NBC affiliates as the games end at around the 6:00 mark.  If they had multiple games on each week (which may happen soon enough) this would probably have to change.  But for now, if an Irish game is close, they will get a lot of people to change the channel, either hoping the Irish pull another close one out or they lose a game they should have won which makes them happy.  It’s one extreme or the other with this program, I tell ya!

Alright that’s just about…oh wait, we’re still going?  Yeah I might as well.  A lot of people have this channel and, amazingly enough, most of the schedule is set.  It’s crazy how they have done this the past few years but they are able to get most of their schedule announced a few months before the season even starts.  It’s honestly impressive.  And remember, this channel has had some of the best college football finishes of the past few years.  So don’t ignore it.  Let’s get to this schedule which is a fairly large one:​

August 27th		Austin Peay at Western Kentucky		Noon
August 27th		Idaho State at UNLV		3:30 PM
August 27th		Charlotte at Florida Atlantic		7:00 PM
August 27th		Vanderbilt at Hawaii		10:30 PM
September 1st		Alabama A&M at UAB		8:00 PM
September 3rd		Delaware at Navy		Noon
September 3rd		Houston at UTSA		3:30 PM
September 3rd		SMU at North Texas		7:30 PM
September 9th		Boise State at New Mexico		9:00 PM
September 10th		UTSA at Army		Noon
September 10th		Memphis at Navy		3:30 PM
September 10th		Syracuse at UConn		7:00 PM
September 10th		Oregon State at Fresno State		10:30 PM
September 16th		Air Force at Wyoming		8:00 PM
September 17th		Villanova at Army		Noon
September 17th		Vanderbilt at Northern Illinois		3:30 PM
September 17th		UCF at Florida Atlantic		7:30 PM
September 23rd		Boise State at UTEP		9:00 PM
September 24th		Buffalo at Eastern Michigan		Noon
September 24th		FIU at Western Kentucky		3:30 PM
September 24th		UNLV at Utah State		7:00 PM
September 24th		Western Michigan at San Jose State		10:30 PM
September 30th		UTSA at Middle Tennessee		7:30 PM
September 30th		New Mexico at UNLV		11:00 PM
October 1st		Georgia State at Army		Noon
October 1st		Fresno State at UConn		3:30 PM
October 1st		San Jose State at Wyoming		7:30 PM
October 7th		UNLV at San Jose State		10:30 PM
October 8th		Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan		Noon
October 8th		Tulsa at Navy		3:30 PM
October 8th		Wyoming at New Mexico		7:00 PM
October 8th		Hawaii at San Diego State		10:30 PM
October 14th		UTSA at FIU		8:00 PM
October 15th		Colgate at Army		Noon
October 15th		Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan		3:30 PM
October 15th		Utah State at Colorado State		7:00 PM
October 15th		Air Force at UNLV		10:30 PM
October 21st		UAB at Western Kentucky		8:00 PM
October 22nd		ULM at Army		Noon
October 22nd		Akron at Kent State		3:30 PM
October 22nd		Boise State at Air Force		7:00 PM
October 22nd		San Diego State at Nevada		10:30 PM
October 28th		Louisiana Tech at FIU		8:00 PM
October 29th		Boston College at UConn		Noon
October 29th		Temple at Navy		3:30 PM
October 29th		UAB at Florida Atlantic		7:00 PM
October 29th		Nevada at San Jose State		10:30 PM
November 3rd		UTEP at Rice		7:00 PM
November 4th		UMass at UConn		7:00 PM
November 5th		Western Kentucky at Charlotte		Noon
November 5th		New Mexico at Utah State		3:30 PM
November 5th		UNLV at San Diego State		7:00 PM
November 8th		Ohio at Miami-OH		7:00 PM
November 9th		Buffalo at Central Michigan		7:00 PM
November 11th		Fresno State at UNLV		10:30 PM
November 12th		Liberty at UConn		Noon
November 12th		New Mexico at Air Force		3:30 PM
November 12th		Wyoming at Colorado State		7:00 PM
November 12th		Boise State at Nevada		10:30 PM
November 16th		Western Michigan at Central Michigan		7:00 PM
November 19th		UConn at Army		Noon
November 19th		Akron at Buffalo		3:30 PM
November 19th		Boise State at Wyoming		7:00 PM
November 19th		Fresno State at Nevada		10:30 PM
November 25th		Toledo at Western Michigan		Noon
November 25th		New Mexico at Colorado State		3:30 PM
November 26th		Western Kentucky at Florida Atlantic		Noon
November 26th		UAB at Louisiana Tech		3:30 PM
November 26th		Air Force at Colorado State		9:00 PM
December 2nd		Conference USA Championship Game		8:00 PM

Just some CBS Sports Network notes and garbage:

• Predicted CBSSN appearances by conference:
  • Mountain West – 52 appearances
  • Conference USA – 29 appearances (plus conference championship)
  • MAC – 20 appearances
  • American (excluding Navy) – 6 appearances
  • FCS – 6 appearances
  • Army – 6 appearances
  • UConn – 6 appearances
  • Navy – 4 appearances
  • SEC – 2 appearances (both by Vanderbilt)
  • ACC – 2 appearances
  • Sun Belt – 2 appearances
  • Pac-12 – 1 appearance
  • UMass – 1 appearance
  • Liberty – 1 appearance
• Every conference except the Big Ten and Big XII appear at least once on CBS Sports Network. Nice.
• The Mountain West absolutely dominates the appearance list even with a portion of the MWC football TV contract with FOX. It helps that all Boise State conference road games have to appear here.
• Army and Navy and now UConn have their own CBS Sports Network contracts for home games. How that is affected by realignmentpalooza I have no idea. Army’s agreement runs through 2028, UConn has there’s until the end of the 2023 season and Navy’s contract goes until 2027.
• Most of the games are set. The few that aren’t are all MAC games that should end up being 12-day choices during the season.

No.  Just, no.  This isn’t happening.  I can’t piece together this schedule yet.  To be honest, I probably won’t be able to at all before the season commences.  TSN struggles enough with setting up the schedule a week in advance.  I can’t expect them to have the entire season’s worth (or at least the timeslots set for the games) a month-and-a-half in advance!  Silly Bossman.

Alright, that’s it.  Not doing the Big Ten Network either and not including their logo because I think this has gone on long enough, don’t you think?

Next up will be, finally, predictions for the season.  I don’t know when I will have that up but I am hoping I can get going by the end of the month.  Best laid plans…

Have a great week and avoid the heat…unless you love the heat then get all you can!

Man, this Realignment Coaster just never ends

Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC. OK.

USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Oh my.

A bunch of Group of Five teams change conferences. Alright then.

Ready for the next one? It has been reported that the Big XII is making a move. After getting Cincinnati, Houston, UCF and BYU to join, it looks like they will also be inviting Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado. So once Texas and Oklahoma leave the conference, that would put the Big XII at 16 teams. Maybe they will finally change their name to the Big XVI (since I believe they have the rights to that name if they want to use it).

So now what? Look, the next domino, whether they or their fans like it or not, is Notre Dame. And it will all come down to TV contracts. The Irish, as I’ve mentioned before, have a great deal with NBC. To give that up would be asinine. Saying that, who knows what the long game could be. When this contract is up, will they get another one on par (at least) with what they are getting now? Maybe not if there are three mega-conferences and Notre Dame is not in any of them.

The other part is that these conference expansion plans tend to involve “partners.” A school comes along with another school (their partner) as kind of a package. There is the possibility that Notre Dame and Stanford could partner up and move to the Big Ten. As much as people would say the Cardinal should be partners with Cal, well, Cal is a mess and their athletic department isn’t doing so well. I could see them being left behind if this is the way things turn out.

As much as some experts are saying Oregon and Washington might be left out of the fun for now, there is a feeling that eventually the Big Ten will pick them up as well. They aren’t as valuable, as a whole, as USC or UCLA but they are still valuable schools to have and to just allow the Big XII to scoop them up (which they might try and do anyway) would make no sense.

Then does the Big XII raid the Pac-12 or does the Pac-12 raid the Big XII? The Pac-12 is the bigger name brand but the Big XII is in a better position at this point, at least when it comes to college football. Or does the Pac-12 just start backfilling with Mountain West members? That seems unlikely but you never know as this has gone from a kind of wait-and-see type atmosphere to full-blown panic mode and moves have to be thought out much quicker.

And again, how does this affect the Group of Five? I’m sure there will be at least cursory looks at the American Conference and anything that happens there will have a trickle-down effect to the rest of the conferences, even the MAC which doesn’t seem to want to change at all.

We could be looking at a wild week here in college football. The kind of week we really haven’t seen many of during the entire history of this sport. Buckle up, this could get even more interesting or weird or crazy or any of the above.

As for now, I am done talking about realignment. I could go into detail into what I think the conferences will look like in a couple years but I’m not ready to get into that now. I am trying to focus on getting my season predictions ready to go so I can get started on those posts. Plus, I have network specific posts that I may condense into a couple of posts instead (like I did with the games lists posts). We’ll see. Anyway, have a great week everyone.

This is your brain on college football. Now this is your brain on college football realignment.

So if you have not been living under a rock, you know by now that USC and UCLA are going to be joining the Big Ten in 2024. Yes. The Big Ten. This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a realignment earthquake. Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC may have been big but it feels so tiny compared to this Earth-shattering news.

So what happens now? We know this isn’t the end…for some it’s the beginning of the end and they may be right. College football as it was is dead. Yes, it has been pushing into semi-pro status for a long time now. Many thought NIL was going to be the thing that pushed this over the edge. I disagree. This is what has done it. A blatant cash-grab that’s classic college football for the past three decades or so. If you had said this would happen ten years ago, people would have laughed at you and rightfully so. The idea of conferences with any regional identity has gone up in smoke. Might as well go to a promotion-relegation system at this point to spice things up even more.

What are we looking at now?

So now the Big Ten is at 16 teams, same as the SEC. Both conferences are seriously damn close to being considered mega-conferences. The Pac-12 is now back to technically being the Pac-10. We thought all the realignment was done for at least a few years but boy, were we wrong.

It will be interesting to see if any TV contracts are reworked after what has happened here. The Big Ten is so much stronger now and I am sure ESPN or FOX would love to add to their contracts. CBS might also be lurking to see what they can provide. The Pac-whatever is now weaker so, yeah, don’t expect too many ABC Primetime games going forward once this all comes to fruition.

What is coming up for the Big Ten?

I can’t see the Big Ten being finished here. I also can’t see USC and UCLA being the only teams from the Pac-12 moving to the Big Ten. Main reason being they need a few more travel partners to make it so they aren’t spending a boatload on travel. Here are some options of what could be done here:

• The Big Ten might invite two more Pac-12 members to get to 18. Oregon and Washington come to mind. There might be a linking of state schools to the main universities, so if the Big Ten wanted them they would have to either take Oregon State and Wazzu or come up with something creative to just take the two. Yes, they weren’t invited now but I’d be shocked if they weren’t being at least considered at this point.
• Could the Big Ten make a controversial splash and take Arizona and Arizona State? Probably not considering ASU’s current problems but you never know.
• Is the Big Ten waiting to see what Notre Dame will do? If so, they might be waiting for a long time since the Irish have the best TV contract in college football and would need an absolute sweetheart deal to do anything else.

What does this do to the Pac-12?

Well, first of all, I guess we should call them the Pac-10 again. With two major lynchpins leaving the conference, the rest of the programs have to have a bit of a plan as to what to do next. This isn’t Larry Scott’s Pac-12 (by the way, fuck that guy for what he did and then walked away with millions of dollars).

• The Pac-12 Network, not that it was worth a lot to begin with, is worth much less now. Not having USC two times a season is a blow to the network which, at this point, is an abject failure.
• Who is the big program now in the Pac-12? Is it Oregon? Washington? Maybe it’s the educational base that is Stanford and Cal. Who knows. But not having it in Los Angeles is a massive hit to this conference.
• Do they look to expand immediately with Mountain West teams? It feels like this is Boise State and San Diego State’s chance to get into a Power Five conference. Not to mention teams like Colorado State and Air Force. Do they bring a lot to the table? Boise and SDSU have their pluses so they would but otherwise it’s dicey.
• Does the Pac-12 approach the Big XII? There are a few programs that would be good for the Pac-12 to poach for expansion purposes, especially with the Big XII’s big expansion coming next year.
• Or does the Big XII approach the Pac-12? Look, the Pac-12/10 isn’t exactly in a position of strength right now. They have almost nothing going for them that other Power Five conferences don’t have. So maybe the Big XII is the one that initiates contact. Guaranteed they have already decided that the two Arizona schools would be good adds at this point.

What about the rest of the conferences?

All the conferences are watching this unfold and a few may be…ok panicking might be the wrong word but they are a bit stressed. The most stressed conference has to be the ACC. They know that the SEC will look at this and immediately start talking about expanding to 18 or even 20 teams. And who will they poach from?

Don’t give me that crap that they want to expand into newer markets. They just got Texas for fuck’s sake. So Clemson and North Carolina would seem like relatively obvious choices for the SEC, followed by Florida State and Miami. Beyond that, who knows. Especially since the Big Ten isn’t done and could now go anywhere in the country. Oregon? Sure. Pitt? Why not. UConn? Uh, no let’s not get crazy.

I mentioned the Big XII in the previous section but how about the Group of Five conferences? They may come out of this relatively unscathed but you never know, especially in the case of the Mountain West. Then there’s Notre Dame who holds a lot of cards now and, as per usual, can kind of write their own ticket if they so choose.

What about the Rose Bowl?

Yes, the granddaddy of them all. The Rose Bowl normally pits the Big Ten champion against the Pac-12 champion. Yes, the BCS and College Football Playoff has changed that sometimes but that is the normal state of things. You have to wonder if that might change. The Pac-12, in particular commissioner George Kliavkoff, has to be pretty upset with the Big Ten. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rose Bowl was as well. Two conferences that had worked fairly well together when they needed to and it all collapsed in one fell swoop. Does the Rose Bowl change their tie-ins? Do they decide they don’t need to be on New Year’s Day anymore? Who knows. Which leads us to…

What happens to the bowl system in general?

Despite the fact there are more bowl games than ever and I’m sure there are more potential bowl game destinations out there, the bowl system is on thin ice. The CFP will be expanded to at least 12 teams for the next contract and perhaps even to 16. Yes, some of the bowl games might be used as sites for playoff games but then are they really bowl games anymore? They’re just playoff sites: no different than the site of the national championship.

And what about the rest of the bowls that aren’t involved in the playoff in any way? They will now become less important than they ever have in the history of college football. It will still be a nice reward for players at the end of the season but won’t mean nearly as much to the school or some of its fans.

Then there’s tie-ins. The Pac-12 has to lose some tie-ins since they will never fulfill them. Do they lose the Rose Bowl tie-in? Doubtful but you never know. I’ve always said they need less tie-ins for bowl games, not more. Maybe this is a way to force that.

There are other issues that will arise from this for sure. This is as huge an off-season college football event as there has been in a long time. There is a good chance it changes college football forever. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hey, how about some more lists of games?

No, no, this won’t be bad, I promise you. OK, promise is a strong word. It will be fine. No need to worry. Look, I will just get right to the lists and then if you want to tell me afterwards that it was all bullshit then I may listen.

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

Let’s start with the games I would consider underrated or sneaky-good. These games are not in the Top 30 list but should be very good (and close) games. Now watch half of them be blowouts. Let’s begin.

1. Cincinnati at Arkansas (Week 1, 3:30, ESPN, confirmed) – A lot of college football fans (including myself) are looking forward to this one. Let’s just see how good the Bearcats still are after their glass ceiling-shattering performance of 2021. And the Hogs are no slouch either. This gun be good.
2. Kentucky at Tennessee (Week 9, 7:00, ESPNU) – These two teams feel like the only ones that can truly challenge Georgia in the SEC East (no offense to Florida). Whether this gets off of ESPNU is another story but if at least one of these teams is doing really well, I would think that would be considered.
3. Pittsburgh at Miami (Week 13, Noon, ABC) – This could be a massive game if either team plays above their talent this season. Pitt is coming off an amazing ACC title run and Miami feels like they may be starting to actually get back to those 80s and 90s Hurricane squads. Now watch both teams be 6-5 and this game mean absolutely jack shit.
4. Tennessee at LSU (Week 6, Noon, ESPN) – I am sure Tigers fans will be pissed off that this game isn’t at night since ALL GAMES AT DEATH VALLEY SHOULD BE AT NIGHT according to them. Not saying it’s a great atmosphere but you have to be realistic. Both teams will need this early conference win to have any hopes of a potential New Year’s Six berth.
5. Michigan State at Penn State (Week 13, 3:30, ABC) – Chances of this being part of a huge Big Ten doubleheader after tOSU-Michigan are slim. Who knows where this game will land when it comes to importance. I assume at least one of these teams will have an outside shot at an NY6 slot going into this week.
6. Tennessee at Pittsburgh (Week 2, 3:30, ABC, confirmed) – Wow, I have the Volunteers in a lot of these games. Their season could be the most volatile of all teams, at least in the SEC. We are looking at anywhere from five to maybe ten wins for this squad. If they do get to double digit wins, fans in Knoxville are going to build a statue (a small one but still a statue) of Josh Heupel in front of Neyland Stadium.
7. Kentucky at Ole Miss (Week 5, 7:30, SEC Network) – Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Lane Kiffin is entertaining. And he brings an offense that could average 40 a game if he wanted to really let go of the reins. The Wildcats are no pushovers and it is a bit of a surprise that Mark Stoops hasn’t been offered a more prominent head coaching position. Maybe after this season he will get that if the Cats hit heights that have never been achieved in Lexington.
8. Arkansas at BYU (Week 7, 10:30, ESPN) – Honestly, this could be one of the most fun games to watch all year. Two great coaches, two teams that score a lot of points, and two great fanbases (no matter what you think about the people of Provo). BYU’s only possible chance at the New Year’s Six is to win games like this and they have to hope the raucous crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium will help them in this one.
9. Baylor at Texas (Week 13, Friday, 3:30, ABC) – This could game could end up being even more important than Bedlam, which is saying something. There are even some that say that this could be foreshadowing a rematch the following week at Jerrah’s house. I mean I’m not one of them but there are some out there.
10. Purdue at Wisconsin (Week 8, Noon, ABC) – Alright, hear me out. Is Purdue now a Top 25 team? Debatable. Could they make some noise in the Big Ten West? Absolutely. And someone has to challenge the Badgers, right?

Best Group of Five Games

Let’s give the G5 some love! These games are ones that only include Group of Five teams (so no G5 vs. P5 games here). Something tells me the American Conference will show up a lot here. Oh, and by the way, I am also not putting BYU games in this section. To me they are a Power Five team.

1. Cincinnati at UCF (Week 9, Noon, ESPN) – For the second straight fucking year, Cincinnati and Houston do not play each other during the regular season. I honestly don’t get how the AAC does their schedules but it’s fucking bonkers. This means that this game ends up being the G5 game of the year and it might not even mean anything if UCF isn’t improved. Let’s hope the Gus Bus has a full tank and is ready to go.
2. Fresno State at Boise State (Week 6, 3:30, FS1) – The first game on any of these lists that we won’t be able to see here (unless you have IPTV or an illegal stream or something that most of us can probably easily find). And no, there is no way it can be moved unless FOX decides to put it on the national network because all Broncos home games are on FOX, FS1 or FS2.
3. Boise State at Air Force (Week 8, 7:00, CBSSN, confirmed) – Here’s the other part of Boise’s TV contract. Their road games must be on CBS or CBSSN. They are the special team of the Mountain West, make no mistake about it. They are the ones that bring in the eyeballs. Considering what has happened in realignment, the conference might want to add a couple teams to strengthen it and potentially weaken another FBS conference because soon enough, the Broncos will go to another conference and not change their mind.
4. Cincinnati at SMU (Week 8, 4:00, ESPNU) – Every year lately I have heard that SMU might put it all together and make a run. SMU has the pass offense to do some great things. SMU’s defense is good enough to stop the best American Conference teams. Blah, blah, blah. Until they actually do these things, I won’t believe any of the hype. If they keep this close, colour me impressed. I mean they do have the offense to do so but they have to keep the Bearcats under 50 points to have a shot here.
5. Houston at UTSA (Week 1, 3:30, CBSSN, confirmed) – I’m kind of surprised that CBS picked Arizona-San Diego State instead of this game for Week 1. Houston is the one team that many believe could knock Cincy off their perch but UTSA was amazing last year. Such a fun ride watching the Roadrunners reel off eleven straight wins and give them a much deserved national spotlight. This game will show all of us which of these two teams (if not both of them) are ready to do some damage again this year. Maybe I should have put this at #4. Too late now.
6. East Carolina at Cincinnati (Week 11, Friday, 7:30, ESPN2, confirmed) – Now here’s a team in ECU that likes to throw the ball all over the damn field. I’m sure Mike Houston’s strategy is to throw the ball until Holton Ahlers’ arm falls off…and then make him use the other arm. Bet the over.
7. Air Force at Utah State (Week 6, 7:00, FS1) – Both teams rolled past Boise State last year and don’t want to give up that top spot in the Mountain West. One team has to lose here, though, since the NCAA would rather have 53 overtimes of two-point conversions than a tie.
8. Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina (Week 10, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN, confirmed) – The Fighting Mullets are back to see if they can go back-to-back-to-back double digit win seasons. And let’s be honest: App State is always at the top of the Sun Belt heap (or near it). I love late season weekday night college football and the Fun Belt may be the top conference in providing it (no offense, MACtion).
9. UTSA at UAB (Week 10, 6:00, Facebook) – Yes, Facebook. There’s a reason these two teams (with four others) are leaving Conference USA for the American Conference next season. It’s the TV contract. It has been horrifically bad basically since the conference was created and nothing they’ve done has made it any better. And with these teams leaving, don’t think ESPN or FOX will step up to pick up games from this woebegone conference that may have completely lost its way and dropped to the bottom of the FBS pecking order.
10. San Diego State at Fresno State (Week 9, 10:30, FS1) – Your Mountain West Squared Division Championship (probably). Winner most likely ends up as the road team for the Mountain West Championship and the loser will go to Albuquerque or Boise or some other odd bowl destination. I know I’ll be watching…until about 2 in the morning.

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

A new section this year! I figured I would put in just a few of these games. Group of Five teams always dream to have their shot at a Power Five team and every year there are legitimate possibilities for upsets among these games. Some P5 teams hate scheduling the better G5 teams for this reason.

1. Cincinnati at Arkansas (Week 1, 3:30, ESPN, confirmed) – I already covered this in the last post so I won’t bother here. But yeah this should be a good one.
2. Fresno State at USC (Week 3, 10:30, FOX, confirmed) – Late night FOX football is back! And if USC wants to be considered back in the Pac-12 saddle, these are the games they have to win. The Bulldogs are no pushover and they are almost feeling like the Pat Hill Anywhere, Anytime, Fresno State of the 2000s.
3. Appalachian State at Texas A&M (Week 2, 3:30, ESPN2, confirmed) – Is App State the best Sun Belt team again? A win here might confirm that. They are usually a fun team to watch but this is a brutal early season trip that won’t be easy. Almost 110,000 crazy fans (and if you’ve seen the Midnight Yell, you know they’re crazy) will make sure of it.
4. San Diego State at Utah (Week 3, 10:00, ESPN2, confirmed) – Last year these two teams played a hell of a game in front of a not-even-half-filled Dignity Health Sports Park all the way in Carson, the former home of the formerly homeless Los Angeles Chargers. The Aztecs pulled off the upset in triple overtime. This year, yeah, the MUSS will be loud and Rice-Eccles Stadium will be full so SDSU better be ready for a much different atmosphere this time around.
5. Boise State at Oregon State (Week 1, 10:30, ESPN, confirmed) – I can’t see the Broncos having two straight mediocre seasons. So expect fireworks in this one. I implore you to stay up late for this one since it should be good. Also, there’s a good chance this game makes it to TSN although that is not confirmed at this point obviously.

Worst Power Five Games

Honestly, this is one of my favourite sections to look at because it tells me the games I should avoid. Unless they are really close late in the fourth quarter and I will bite my tongue and go and watch it because I am a deranged college football fan.

1. Duke at Kansas (Week 4, Noon, FS1) – Oh my, look at what we start with. This is absolutely disgusting and glorious all at the same time. Watch it be one of the games of the year with a ton of offense and a close finish.
2. Duke at Georgia Tech (Week 6, 12:30, FSN – Regional) – It feels like Duke is going to be in this section a lot. Poor Blue Devils football fans thought they were out of this basement. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Don’t worry, though: college basketball is only about three-and-a-half months away.
3. Arizona State at Colorado (Week 9, 3:30, ESPN2) – Kind of surprised this isn’t a Pac-12 Network game. I mean, it could end up being that so I should stop before I make any guarantees. I’m wondering if by this point we know the fate of good ol’ Herm Edwards since it is just a matter of time before he is shitcanned down in Tempe.
4. Duke at Northwestern (Week 2, Noon, FS1, confirmed) – Should I just put all of Duke’s road games on this list? Luckily for most Canadians, you don’t have to subject yourself to this one since you can’t get FOX Sports One.
5. Indiana at Rutgers (Week 8, 3:00, BTN) – Ah, Rutgers our old friend is back in the list they are so very accustomed to. I mean I guess rabid college football fans are happy that they get the Big Ten Network as part of their normal cable packages now. I do miss the Big East, though. What could have been.
6. Colorado at Arizona (Week 5, 5:30, Pac-12 Network) – There we go. The Pac-12 Network has made their first appearance here. Many are saying Zona will be better than last year. Well no shit. They couldn’t be much worse. They made Kansas look competent last season.
7. Virginia at Duke (Week 5, 3:30, ACC Network) – Hey, how about one more Duke game? First ACC Network appearance. Three conference networks down, one to go.
8. Kansas at Texas Tech (Week 11, 7:00, FS1) – If the Big XII had a network AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, I couldn’t finish that sentence. FOX Sports One might be the most extreme of channels when it comes to game quality. They always get at least one very good game a season and then they get this. Sometimes on the same day. Imagine being on that Zoom call when they figure out announcer assignments and you are praying you aren’t being sent to Lubbock. Good times.
9. Virginia at Georgia Tech (Week 8, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN, confirmed) – Not all Thursday night games are made equal. I’m sure there’s a Sun Belt game on at the same time that would be much more intriguing.
10. Illinois at Northwestern (Week 13, 7:00, FS1) – Hey maybe one of these teams will be bowl-eligible by this point so it won’t feel so bad.

Alright, that wasn’t too bad, eh? Maybe I will go this route again this coming year. We will see about that.

So it looks like everything is calm right now and HOLY SHIT, USC AND UCLA ARE GOING TO THE BIG TEN! What in the fuck? OK then, I think this kind of derails my immediate posting plans. I may have to just do an analysis of this because this is realignment insanity. This is what we call college football media crack-cocaine.

Well…have a great Canada Day weekend everyone (or, if you are reading this south of the border, have a happy Fourth of July weekend). Stay tuned for the next post!