Yeah it’s that time of the year. The coaching carousel has begun! And what I am going to do this time around is actually compare it to my start-of-the-year predictions. I mean what could go wrong, right?
Let’s look at who has already been shown the door. Jimbo Fisher, Andy Avalos, Zach Arnett and now soon-to-be-retired Brady Hoke…none of who were on my list. Great start, Bossman. Mel Tucker was on my list in the Doubtful Shitcanning section although even I couldn’t think that the way he went out would be the way he went out. What a fucking perv. As for who is currently on the hot seat and was on my list?
- Neal Brown. Now Neal probably just has to win one of his final two games to secure his job for next season. Lose both those games and end up 6-6? That would be an interesting conversation.
- Dana Holgorsen. You can give them a bit of slack as they stepped up their competition by joining the Big XII. But Drunk Uncle Dana has been a hot seat regular for a while now and at some point he’s either got to prove he’s still the guy or find a coordinator position somewhere.
- Danny Gonzales. One of the toughest places to be an FBS head coach, Gonzales probably would have been safe for another year. But with New Mexico State doing so well, some in the New Mexico athletic department might wonder if they should try someone else at the helm.
- Tom Allen. It’s pretty damn obvious now that the 2020 season was an anomaly and that the Hoosiers are barely treading water with Allen. I doubt he makes it to 2024.
I really don’t want to talk much about certain coaches appearing my list. Guys like Jeff Hafley or Scot Loeffler or Shawn Elliott or Greg Schiano or Brent Pry or Mike Bloomgren and definitely not Eliah Drinkwitz. Nope. Got nothing. So let’s just move on and stop talking about my hot seat list, ALRIGHT ALREADY?
Ok calm down Bossman. Time to give the people what they want: hot, nasty college football TV schedules for Canadians who enjoy watching college football on their television sets.
Tuesday
| US | Canada | ||
| Akron at Eastern Michigan | 7:00 |  | |
| Toledo at Bowling Green | 7:00 |  |   |
| Western Michigan at Northern Illinois | 7:00 |  | |
Toledo has already clinched a spot in the MAC Championship. Now we are looking at bowl eligibility battles. Eastern Michigan has to beat the Zips to stay alive for a bowl game. And the WMU-NIU game is a Loser Won’t Go Bowling matchup. Big stakes on MACtion Tuesday.
Wednesday
| US | Canada | ||
| Buffalo at Miami-OH | 7:00 | | |
| Central Michigan at Ohio | 7:00 | |  |
The Redhawks clinch the MAC East with a victory here and will get their rematch with Toledo in Detroit in December. And the Chippewas become bowl-eligible if they can somehow beat Ohio. Another important MACtion evening.
Thursday
| US | Canada | ||
| Boston College at Pittsburgh | 7:00 |  | |
Yeah this is about as unimportant a weeknight slate as you can get. One game. No stakes. Meh.
Friday
| US | Canada | ||
| USF at UTSA | 9:00 | | |
This, on the other hand, is a much more important night. Both teams with a lot to play for and USF is definitely not the USF of recent years (as we could see from their near-upset of Alabama earlier in the season).
Saturday Early
| US | Canada | ||
| #10 Louisville at Miami | Noon |  | |
| Michigan State at Indiana | Noon |  | |
| Purdue at Northwestern | Noon | | |
| Coastal Carolina at Army | Noon | | |
| #14 Oklahoma at BYU | Noon | |  |
| Chattanooga at #8 Alabama | Noon |  | |
| East Carolina at Navy | Noon | | |
| SMU at Memphis | Noon | | |
| Harvard at Yale | Noon | | |
| #3 Michigan at Maryland | Noon |  | |
| ULM at #13 Ole Miss | Noon |  | |
A pretty heavy early slate with two ESPN+ games appearing on TSN+. I can see that being a feature all next season. As for the important games in this window I count one big one. The Mustangs and Tigers face off in a matchup that essentially eliminates the loser but doesn’t automatically guarantee the winner a spot in the American Championship. Everything else is kind of meh, although the Sooners could keep up their hopes of one final Big XII Championship appearance in JerryWorld. Finally, the annual Harvard-Yale game appears in this timeslot as per usual.
Saturday Afternoon
| US | Canada | ||
| #22 Utah at #17 Arizona | 2:30 |  | |
| Duke at Virginia | 3:00 |  | |
| UCLA at USC | 3:30 | | |
| NC State at Virginia Tech | 3:30 |  | |
| #1 Georgia at #18 Tennessee | 3:30 |  | |
| UNLV at Air Force | 3:30 | | |
| #20 North Carolina at Clemson | 3:30 | | |
| Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M (in Orlando) | 3:30 | | |
| Wake Forest at #19 Notre Dame | 3:30 |  | |
| Louisiana at Troy | 3:30 |  | |
| Minnesota at #2 Ohio State | 4:00 | | |
| #23 Oklahoma State at Houston | 4:00 | | |
| #6 Oregon at Arizona State | 4:00 | | |
| New Mexico State at Auburn | 4:00 | | |
UGA-UT is the big one, obviously, here. A lot of other choice with a lot of other teams looking to stay near the top of the rankings. Oregon, tOSU, and Utah are in must-win mode if they want to keep any CFP or even NY6 possibilities alive. Also, the Rebels of Nevada-Las Vegas play in what could be considered the biggest football game in school history. A win here and they all but clinch a spot in the conference title game. And this is something I never thought of. If UNLV is the #1 team, will they play at home? That game would be about 16 hours after the end of the Pac-12 Championship which is already being played at Allegiant Stadium (which I think is a dumb idea but that’s for another post). So the turnaround would be crazy for the stadium crew.
Saturday Primetime
| US | Canada | ||
| North Alabama at #4 Florida State | 6:30 | | |
| California at Stanford | 6:30 | | |
| Boise State at Utah State | 7:00 | | |
| #5 Washington at #11 Oregon State | 7:30 | | |
| Florida at #9 Missouri | 7:30 | | |
| FIU at Arkansas | 7:30 | | |
| Nebraska at Wisconsin | 7:30 | | |
| Kentucky at South Carolina | 7:30 | | |
| Syracuse at Georgia Tech | 8:00 | | |
| Georgia State at #15 LSU | 8:00 | | |
| #7 Texas at Iowa State | 8:00 | | |
Speaking of big games, U-Dub has to try and win in one of the toughest small stadiums to win in, Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Lose and the Pac-12 is all but done in the College Football Playoff race and it opens up a bevy of possibilities to replace the Huskies at the top. The Longhorns are trying to do what the Sooners are also trying to do: give the Big XII one last Fuck You before leaving for the SEC by playing for their conference championship. And finally, you are not seeing things. It is true. A god damn CW DOUBLEHEADER! I hate to admit that the CW has delivered but it has. It has had some great games which has made up for some sub-par production values.
Saturday Late Night
| US | Canada | ||
| San Diego State at San Jose State | 10:30 | | |
Yeah. You could probably go to bed early if you wanted.
Hey, Watch This
Washington at Oregon State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – I think it’s been a long time since the Beavers have been in the Game of the Week. And I would honestly call this Game 1A since you could easily switch it with the next game on this list and no one would bat an eye. I just think this game has the possibility of being much closer than the other one. The Huskies put themselves in the Pac-12 Championship with a win in Corvallis but Oregon State could put the entire college football world on its head if they pull off the upset.
Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – One of the final SEC on CBS games ever and it’s a huge one. If this game was Between the Hedges it wouldn’t be this high. But this game is on the shores of the Tennessee River and it will be one of the loudest Neyland Stadium crowds in recent memory. Another game where an upset is not crazy talk and it would also cause absolute chaos at the top of the college football food chain.
Utah at Arizona (2:30, Pac-12 Network) – Jesus Christ who made the call to get this game on the fucking Pac-12 Network? Well at least us Canadians have an easy time of getting it. Hop on YouTube and search for the Pac-12 Network channel and you’re good to go. Americans…well, they have a much tougher time if it’s not a part of their cable package. What a dumb network. Anyway, both teams have outside chances of getting to the Pac-12 Championship but they would need a lot to happen. A win here isn’t enough. Also, you have to be impressed with the job Jedd Fisch has done in Tucson. This team could be a force in the expanded Big XII next season.
Kansas State at Kansas (7:00, FOX Sports One) – Man, you know it’s kind of a fucked week when two of the top four games are on the Pac-12 Network and FS1. So yeah, can’t see this one if you are a Canadian unless you have other means. I have IPTV. There are also many streams out there to watch. Go find one. Shouldn’t be too hard. Plus, this should be the best Sunflower Showdown maybe ever. Has there been one where both teams were ranked? I don’t think so. Plus, the Wildcats have extra incentive here as they have an outside shot at spoiling a potential Texas-Oklahoma conference championship if they can win here.
Sickos Game of the Week
Michigan State at Indiana (Noon, Big Ten Network) – There are quite a few options for this spot but I will give it to a Big Ten game for once. Here are two terrible teams who will probably have a terrible game that will somehow be close near the end. Think 13-10 which means you almost have to watch because the finish could be spectacular. I almost feel dirty watching games like that.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Chattanooga at Alabama (Noon, TSN+) – Once I saw TSN+ was showing this game I knew which game would go in this section. This will be over by halftime. The question is how long does Nick Saban leave Jalen Milroe in.
Wanna Bet?
How about we look back at my picks from last week………..alright, maybe not. I mean I got my first upset pick right with Southern Miss and then it went downhill from there. Stupid Penn State. Anyway, let’s get going with this week’s pickaroos…that sounded dumb.
Miami-OH 31 Buffalo 28
Michigan 42 Maryland 10
Ole Miss 48 ULM 20
Utah 40 Arizona 19
Duke 38 Virginia 24
Tennessee 31 Georgia 27 (yes, I am calling this massive upset)
USC 36 UCLA 26
Ohio State 51 Minnesota 16
Oregon 59 Arizona State 24
South Carolina 42 Kentucky 37
Oregon State 46 Washington 35 (yep, going out on a limb again)
Missouri 41 Florida 20
San Jose State 34 San Diego State 28
Look, normally I am up into the wee hours of the morning watching college football. And I rarely miss games. Well, rarely miss full ones. But I am looking at the Saturday late night sked and asking myself “Bossman, do you really need to watch this game?” The answer is obviously no but I have to convince my brain that that is the correct answer. We shall see how it goes this Saturday. Enjoy the games everyone!
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