2024 NCAA Basketball Conference Tournament TV Schedule

Holy shit that came up fast. It felt like only a week ago we were a ways away from conference tournament time. Then BOOM! Here we are. Even with a leap year, March crept up on me.

This is my eighth time doing this. This will be some of the last games of any sport shown on the Pac-12 Network so indulge yourself. Or don’t. Not like it’s a great conference network or anything. Alright, let us begin.

March 8th	OVC Semi-Final #1	8:00
March 8th	OVC Semi-Final #2	10:30
March 9th	MVC Semi-Final #1	3:30
March 9th	MVC Semi-Final #2	6:00
March 9th	OVC Championship	8:00
March 9th	WCC Quarter-Final #1	10:00
March 10th	WCC Quarter-Final #2	12:30 AM
March 10th	Big South Championship	Noon
March 10th	MVC Championship	2:00
March 10th	A-Sun Championship	2:00
March 10th	Patriot League Semi-Final #1	2:00
March 10th	SoCon Semi-Final #1	4:00
March 10th	Patriot League Semi-Final #2	4:00
March 10th	SoCon Semi-Final #2	6:30
March 11th	CAA Semi-Final #1	6:00
March 11th	Horizon Semi-Final #1	7:00
March 11th	SoCon Championship	7:00
March 11th	Sun Belt Championship	7:00
March 11th	CAA Semi-Final #2	8:30
March 11th	WCC Semi-Final #1	9:00
March 11th	Horizon Semi-Final #2	9:30
March 11th	WCC Semi-Final #2	11:30
March 12th	ACC First Round #1	2:00
March 12th	ACC First Round #2	4:30
March 12th	America East Semi-Final #1	5:00
March 12th	Southland Semi-Final #1	6:30
March 12th	ACC First Round #3	7:00
March 12th	NEC Championship	7:00
March 12th	CAA Championship	7:00
March 12th	Horizon Championship	7:00
March 12th	Big Sky Semi-Final #1	8:30
March 12th	WCC Championship	9:00
March 12th	Summit Championship	9:30
March 12th	Big Sky Semi-Final #2	11:00
March 13th	ACC Second Round #1	Noon
March 13th	Big XII Second Round #1	12:30
March 13th	ACC Second Round #2	2:30
March 13th	Pac-12 First Round #1	3:00
March 13th	Southland Championship	5:00
March 13th	Pac-12 First Round #2	5:30
March 13th	ACC Second Round #3	7:00
March 13th	SEC First Round #1	7:00
March 13th	Patriot Championship	7:00
March 13th	Pac-12 First Round #3	9:00
March 13th	SEC First Round #2	9:30
March 13th	ACC Second Round #4	9:30
March 13th	Big XII Second Round #4	9:30
March 13th	Big Sky Championship	11:30
March 13th	Pac-12 First Round #4	11:30
March 14th	ACC Quarter-Final #1	Noon
March 14th	Big Ten Second Round #1	Noon
March 14th	Big XII Quarter-Final #1	12:30
March 14th	American Second Round #1	12:30
March 14th	SEC Second Round #1	1:00
March 14th	ACC Quarter-Final #2	2:30
March 14th	Big Ten Second Round #2	2:30
March 14th	Big XII Quarter-Final #2	3:00
March 14th	American Second Round #2	3:00
March 14th	MWC Quarter-Final #1	3:00
March 14th	Pac-12 Quarter-Final #1	3:00
March 14th	SEC Second Round #2	3:30
March 14th	MWC Quarter-Final #2	5:30
March 14th	Pac-12 Quarter-Final #2	5:30
March 14th	Big Ten Second Round #3	6:30
March 14th	ACC Quarter-Final #3	7:00
March 14th	Big XII Quarter-Final #3	7:00
March 14th	American Second Round #3	7:00
March 14th	SEC Second Round #3	7:00
March 14th	Big Ten Second Round #4	9:00
March 14th	MWC Quarter-Final #3	9:00
March 14th	Pac-12 Quarter-Final #3	9:00
March 14th	ACC Quarter-Final #4	9:30
March 14th	Big XII Quarter-Final #4	9:30
March 14th	American Second Round #4	9:30
March 14th	SEC Second Round #4	9:30
March 14th	MWC Quarter-Final #4	11:30
March 15th	Big Ten Quarter-Final #1	Noon
March 15th	C-USA Semi-Final #1	12:30
March 15th	American Quarter-Final #1	1:00
March 15th	SEC Quarter-Final #1	1:00
March 15th	Big Ten Quarter-Final #2	2:30
March 15th	American Quarter-Final #2	3:00
March 15th	C-USA Semi-Final #2	3:00
March 15th	SEC Quarter-Final #2	3:30
March 15th	MAC Semi-Final #1	5:00
March 15th	Big East Semi-Final #1	5:30
March 15th	MAAC Semi-Final #1	6:00
March 15th	Big Ten Quarter-Final #3	6:30
March 15th	ACC Semi-Final #1	7:00
March 15th	Big XII Semi-Final #1	7:00
March 15th	American Quarter-Final #3	7:00
March 15th	SEC Quarter-Final #3	7:00
March 15th	MAC Semi-Final #2	7:30
March 15th	Pac-12 Semi-Final #1	8:00
March 15th	MAAC Semi-Final #2	8:30
March 15th	American Quarter-Final #4	9:00
March 15th	Big Ten Quarter-Final #4	9:00
March 15th	ACC Semi-Final #2	9:30
March 15th	Big XII Semi-Final #2	9:30
March 15th	SEC Quarter-Final #4	9:30
March 15th	MWC Semi-Final #1	9:30
March 15th	WAC Semi-Final #2	11:30
March 15th	Big West Semi-Final #2	11:30
March 16th	MWC Semi-Final #2	Midnight
March 16th	America East Championship	11:00 AM
March 16th	Ivy League Semi-Final #1	11:00 AM
March 16th	A-10 Semi-Final #1	1:00
March 16th	Big Ten Semi-Final #1	1:00
March 16th	SEC Semi-Final #1	1:00
March 16th	MEAC Championship	1:00
March 16th	American Semi-Final #1	3:00
March 16th	SEC Semi-Final #2	3:00
March 16th	A-10 Semi-Final #2	3:30
March 16th	Big Ten Semi-Final #2	3:30
March 16th	American Semi-Final #2	5:00
March 16th	SWAC Championship	5:30
March 16th	MWC Championship	6:00
March 16th	Big XII Championship	6:00
March 16th	Big East Championship	6:30
March 16th	MAAC Championship	7:30
March 16th	MAC Championship	7:30
March 16th	ACC Championship	8:30
March 16th	C-USA Championship	8:30
March 16th	Pac-12 Championship	9:00
March 16th	Big West Championship	9:30
March 16th	WAC Championship	11:30
March 17th	Ivy League Championship	Noon
March 17th	A-10 Championship	1:00
March 17th	SEC Championship	1:00
March 17th	American Championship	3:15
March 17th	Big Ten Championship	3:30
March 17th	Selection Sunday	6:00

Some Greg Gumbel-ish notes

• Hey what happened to the Selection Sunday show being on TBS every other year? They tried it once, realized it was one of the dumbest ideas in recent college basketball broadcasting history and turfed it. Greg Gumbel (and his Selection Sunday pals) belong on CBS at 6:00 after the Big Ten Championship. Period.
• There are still so many conference tournaments in the New York City and Las Vegas areas. I find it hilarious that some of these conferences, despite not even having NYC or Vegas in their conference footprint, continue to put the tournaments there and then wonder why they aren’t selling out games. Mindblowing.
• So it looks like if you don’t have TSN+ you aren’t watching much conference tournament action. Damn near every game that TSN is showing is going to their new streaming platform. Is it surprising? Not really. Now, if TSN+ starts getting a shit-ton of everything, including more college basketball and football, junior hockey, maybe some Canadian university sports as well, then I can say it may be worth the cost. It’s the path we are heading towards so if you are a big-time cablehead and don’t want to move off of it then get ready to be frustrated.
• As I mentioned above, this is the last few months of the Pac-12 Network, which we have more access to than most Americans. How stupid is that conference. Or was that conference…*pause to shed a tear*…Anyway, the final Pac-12 Network basketball game ever will air on March 15th so if you want to, um, witness some history, watch that game. Then all that will be left, in terms of team sports, is baseball and softball. Then no more Pac-12 come the summer. What a quiet, sad end.

I am under the assumption that the First Four will also go to TSN+. I would be shocked if it didn’t. As for the first round games, with TSN’s wraparound coverage on a few different channels, you should be able to see portions of every single game so no problems there. I will keep things updated here if any conference tournament games magically get pushed from TSN+ to one of the TSN stations (although I don’t see that happening).

The Kreepy Kombine is over so I will be putting up another mock draft. Maybe I will add another round in there. Who knows!

I am slowly putting together the schedule for this upcoming season and it is quite difficult since so much has changed that there are some things I can’t compare to previous years. Hell, the MAC hasn’t even put out their schedule yet so that makes it damn near impossible to complete this puzzle (the MAC finally announced their schedule yesterday). I mean I would I love to put out schedule-based posts in May? Sure. I may even do that and not worry about broadcast information at that point. Everything is up in the air. Have a great week everyone!

Yes, it’s already the first mock draft of the year (along with some network change news)

Do I have time to do this? No. So why am I doing it? I honestly don’t know. I think I just feel I should put a bit more into the offseason portion of my blog. I mean it is half the year and there have been times I have gone dark for like a month. What will people read? The newspaper? Get the fuck outta here.

Honestly, I feel that even though this blog will turn 11 in a few months, I haven’t tried enough to take it to the next level, so to speak. Maybe not more posts but better posts. More informative stuff. It almost feels like this may be a make-or-break twelve months for me. With all the shit I have to do to get my career to the next step, it means there will be less and less time to do stuff I enjoy, like this blog. I always have to remind myself why I started this in the first place: to organize my own college football viewing. It allowed me to watch more college football than ever before and be efficient with it as well, while still making time for my kids. Then again, I ended up separated four months after the blog started so…..yeah.

So let’s just get on with the first mock draft of who knows how many leading up to the draft and hey how about that, look who’s going first overall.

1	Chicago	Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
2	Washington	Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
3	New England	Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina)
4	Arizona	Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State)
5	LA Chargers	Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
6	NY Giants	Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas)
7	Tennessee	Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame)
8	Atlanta	Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
9	Chicago	Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
10	NY Jets	Olumuyiwa Fashanu, OT (Penn State)
11	Minnesota	Dallas Turner, OLB (Alabama)
12	Denver	Laiatu Latu, DE (UCLA)
13	Las Vegas	Bo Nix, QB (Oregon)
14	New Orleans	J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama)
15	Indianapolis	Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson)
16	Seattle	Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan)
17	Jacksonville	Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo)
18	Cincinnati	Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State)
19	LA Rams	Kamren Kitchens, S (Miami)
20	Pittsburgh	Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona)
21	Miami	Troy Fautanu, OG (Washington)
22	Philadelphia	Jared Verse, DE (Florida State)
23	Houston	Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia)
24	Dallas	Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU)
25	Green Bay	Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa)
26	Tampa Bay	Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
27	Arizona	Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama)
28	Buffalo	Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama)
29	Detroit	Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame)
30	Baltimore	Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
31	San Francisco	Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma)
32	Kansas City	Tallies Fuaga, OT (Oregon State)

I am firmly in the camp that says that the Bears will trade Justin Fields. Whether it’s before the draft, during the draft, or after the draft, I don’t know. I just can’t see them passing up on Williams when they could get him AND a really good receiver for their first two picks. On top of that, they could get more picks that will help them later in the draft or in the following year’s event. Not quite a win-win but damn near close. The Commanders and Patriots also need quarterbacks desperately so they will be watching what the Bears do very closely…and possibly even calling them to inquire about how much it would take to trade for that top pick of theirs. Other interesting notes from this first kick at the can:

• The first team that doesn’t need a quarterback is the Cardinals and they are very much hoping the Bears take Caleb Williams since it will mean that Marvin Harrison Jr. will fall into their lap. Pairing him with Kyler Murray could be quite something for a moribund Cards’ offense.
• The Chargers need almost everything that isn’t the quarterback position. If I am them, I nab Bowers, pick another receiver up later on, and bulk up the offense. Win games in true Big XII fashion this coming season. It may be their only hope at getting close to a playoff spot.
• Any potential steals here? Not really but the Saints nabbing Latham at #14 would be good value as would the Eagles picking up Jared Verse at #22.

Will I do more mock drafts? Of course. When? I have no clue.

Now let’s look at the changes coming to conferences and broadcast networks in the Fall. There really is only one major change but it does have a domino effect. The SEC is now fully on ABC/ESPN/SEC Network/ESPN2/ESPNU (if they absolutely have to be) and ESPN+ because they are contractually obligated to be once a season (at least that’s the way the previous SEC contract played out). With the SEC on ABC, they will easily get the majority of the Saturday night games. Not all, but with 14 weeks worth of games, the SEC will get no less than ten of those.

So that domino effect…SEC had every evening ESPN game last year. I can’t see that being the case since that would compete directly with the game on ABC. So they should get a lot less of those and they should get filled with the ACC and Big XII. The American might end up actually getting more games on ESPN with this new arrangement which seems crazy but with the ACC and, to a lesser extent, the Big XII getting hurt by this from a Disney/ESPN perspective, the American Conference is ready to pick up a few pieces here and there.

The Big XII won’t cry about this though. For everything they will end up losing from ESPN/ABC, they will gain more than that quite possibly from the FOX side of things. Sure, the Big Ten will get many of the Big Noon Kickoff games. But beyond that? Remember, the Big Ten has a game a week on CBS, a game a week on NBC and eight games on Peacock. Also, you might see a couple of late night Big Ten affairs on the Big Ten Network. So there will be plenty of spots on FOX and FOX Sports One for the Big XII to fill in since there is no more Pac-12. The other conference that wins here? The Mountain West. They should get a lot more FS1 games with how things are shaking out.

So even though the SEC and Big Ten will start to dominate the landscape of college football, we might get more chances than ever to watch other conferences. Now if they can just figure out how to get FS1 games up here legally and Canadians won’t have any reason to complain about access to CFB games in the future ever again (other than the one Notre Dame game a season on Peacock and weird stuff like the Hawaii Tests).

Alright more posts to come but no football for over a month. The UFL starts in late March and I’m…honestly not that excited about it but it’s football so I am sure will watch some at some point since it’s football and I love football. Better than watching the news, right? Have a good weekend everyone!

It’s time for another SUPER Wild Card Weekend

Playoff time is here! And what a last week it was in the regular season. Fun times! And for what feels like the first time in a long time, there really isn’t a true Super Bowl favourite. The #1 seeds, San Francisco and Baltimore, have their issues and have been exposed already this season. Plus, until Lamar Jackson can do his normal Lamar Jackson things in the playoffs, it’s tough to trust the Ravens. Even the other division champs have their wrinkles. The Bills, Cowboys, Chiefs and Lions have all looked bad at times this season. So who knows? Maybe we get the worst division champ coming out of it all smelling like roses. Maybe we see the first ever seventh seed Wild Card win. It’s all up in the air. So let’s get down to what could truly end up being a SUPER Wild Card Weekend.

Saturday

Cleveland at Houston	4:30, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/+
Miami at Kansas City	8:15, CTV, TSN 1/3/+

Sunday

Pittsburgh at Buffalo	1:00, CBS, CTV, TSN 4/5/+
Green Bay at Dallas	4:30, FOX, CTV, TSN 4/5/+
LA Rams at Detroit	8:00, NBC, CTV, TSN 4/5/+

Monday

Pittsburgh at Buffalo	4:30, CBS, CTV, TSN 3/5/+
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay	8:00, ABC, CTV, TSN 3/5/+

Juuuuuuuuuuuuust a Few Wild Card Notes

• I don’t know how many years I have been saying this but I will keep saying it: division winners should not be guaranteed a home playoff game. Period. End of story. It’s like saying it’s Philadelphia’s fault for being in a division with Dallas. How dare they. See how stupid that sounds? Well that’s what the NFL says.
• It is going to be one of the coldest NFL games on record on Saturday night in KC. Tickets are now going for $33 which is completely fucking insane for an NFL playoff game. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to some crazy weather games, including the 1996 Grey Cup, better known as the Snow Bowl. I don’t think I’ve ever been to one that, as of right now, looks like it could dip to a windchill of -34 Celsius by the end of the game. That’s too cold for even my blood.
• Other weather issues will come about in Buffalo. Right now, as I type this, the snow has just started here in the Guelph area and I can’t see across the street. I can just imagine what Buffalo might look like by Sunday morning. The issue shouldn’t be the snow that has already fallen as they are getting people to start shovelling now. It’s the fact that there is supposed to be a good amount of snow just before and during the game. That’s when the chaos happens. This is great fodder for the “Buffalo should build a dome for their next stadium” people.
• The ManningCast will be back for the Monday night playoff game…but only if you have TSN+ (or another way of getting it that may or may not be illegal).
• Back to the Dolphins-Chiefs game, you will notice it is the only one without an American network listed. That’s because it will air on Peacock. And yes, it is pissing off a lot of Americans. Lucky for us we have a few different options to watch but down there? Nope. I hear Peacock is a pretty decent streaming service but still, to have to subscribe to it to get this one game is insane. Then again, Amazon Prime has their own night of the week for pro football so we can’t be too surprised at this point.

UPDATE: Due to the snowfall that has hit the Buffalo area and the snow still to come, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a State of Emergency for the area to go throughout the weekend. This means that the Steelers-Bills game will now be played at 4:30 on Monday (think of the ratings!) on CBS, CTV and a couple of TSNs. You know, they could have avoided this by, oh I don’t know, HAVING ALL THE GAMES ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY! This way you could have used Monday night but oh no, can’t do that. Money over brains. Every time.

Like last year am I going to add my updated predictions. Actually, my original prediction of Niners-Chiefs in the Superb Owl could still hold up. The biggest disappointment from my original playoff picks? Jacksonville. What a fucking collapse in a relatively easy division. Alright so let’s get to the updated Bossman Playoff Picks of Passion and Probable Disappointment.

Wild Card Round

Cleveland def. Houston

Kansas City def. Miami

Buffalo def. Pittsburgh

Green Bay def. Dallas (yes, a big upset)

Detroit def. LA Rams

Philadelphia def. Tampa Bay

Divisional Playoffs

Baltimore def. Cleveland

Buffalo def. Kansas City

San Francisco def. Green Bay

Detroit def. Philadelphia

Conference Championships

Baltimore def. Buffalo

San Francisco def. Detroit

Super Bowl LVIII

San Francisco def. Baltimore

Would I love to see the Bills win? Absolutely. It would make my year already. Even with the chaos that this year’s playoffs is bringing, I don’t think they quite have the team to do it. I still believe the Niners will win it all but the Chiefs I just don’t have as much faith in as I did at the beginning of the season. Lamar Jackson finally looks good in the playoffs even with a Super Bowl loss and gets a lot of people off his back about his poor playoff performances of the past.

So….it looks like pretty much all of Canada is going to be either snowy or cold or somehow both. So why not stay inside and watch some football? Enjoy the games everyone!

Alright, Let’s Do This! The Week 18 NFL TV Schedule

Last year around this time we were discussing the final week of the regular season, sure. However, we were also kind of recovering from what happened to Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest. It was one of the craziest times in NFL history and I hope we never have to deal with something like that again.

This year, let’s look at the positive. All the playoff races that are left. And there are plenty. Let’s get to that schedule and then we will do my typical final NFL regular season week analysis. Here we go!

American Networks

Atlanta at New Orleans	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
Cleveland at Cincinnati	1:00	Cleveland
Jacksonville at Tennessee	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Minnesota at Detroit	1:00		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at New England	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Chicago at Green Bay	4:25	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
Philadelphia at NY Giants	4:25	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Seattle at Arizona	4:25		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Dallas at Washington	4:25		Minneapolis, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
LA Rams at San Francisco	4:25		Detroit

Canadian Networks

Jacksonville at Tennessee	1:00	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlantic
Atlanta at New Orleans	1:00		Vancouver Island, Alberta	TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
Minnesota at Detroit	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg	All affiliates (except Vancouver Island & Alberta)
Chicago at Green Bay	4:25	Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Ottawa		TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
Philadelphia at NY Giants	4:25	Montreal, Atlantic
Dallas at Washington	4:25	Kitchener, Toronto
Seattle at Arizona	4:25	Vancouver

Saturday Games and Sunday Night Game

Pittsburgh at Baltimore	Saturday, 4:30, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5
Houston at Indianapolis	Saturday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5
Buffalo at Miami	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3*/4*/5/+

Some Super Special Last Regular Season Weekend Notes

• As per usual, it’s all divisional matchups for the final week of the season. And there are a lot of playoff races as I will discuss later on.
• You see the asterisks for the Bills-Dolphins game for TSN3 and TSN4. Well, the game will start airing on TSN3 after the Jets-Coyotes game and, for some unknown and stupid reason, Sportscentre. So it will start around 10:00: a little into the third quarter. As for TSN4, they have the Raptors and Warriors so they won’t get to the game until about 11:00. The football game should be well into the fourth quarter at that point. So really, stick to TSN1 or 5 (or + if you like the “enhanced” game feed).
• The three national games were pretty easy choices, for the most part. Bills-Dolphins felt like a lock for the Sunday nighter once Miami was blown away by Baltimore. Texans-Colts was also pretty much a lock for a standalone game considering it’s win-or-go-home. The other choice was interesting for sure. A lot of possibilities. Steelers-Ravens makes sense just because a win by the Steelers makes the Buffalo-Miami game all the more important for the Bills. It becomes a much bigger risk-reward game for the Bills as they almost assuredly out with a loss in this case.
• Games not being shown here unless you have the Sunday Ticket or RedZone magic potion:
  • Kansas City at LA Chargers
  • Tampa Bay at Carolina
  • Denver at Las Vegas
• No surprise really with the first and third games on that list not being available up here. The second one is a bit interesting since the Bucs win the NFC South with a win, no matter what happens with the Saints and Falcons. I think the issue north of the border was where would this be shown that would take the place of the other two games on in this timeslot on FOX. It probably could have replaced the Jets-Patriots game to be honest but I have a feeling that FOX figured the AFC East, even with a meaningless game, would be more watched than an NFC South matchup in the Northeastern United States and most of Eastern Canada. And they are probably right.
• Hey thankfully I don’t have to go over the strangest set of scenarios ever like last season. Let’s hope that never happens again…more for Damar Hamlin’s case than anything.

So this is it. We have made it. The final playoff picture of the season:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (13-3) (clinched home-field advantage)	#1 San Francisco (12-4) (clinched home-field advantage)
#2 Miami (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)	#2 Dallas (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)
#3 Kansas City (10-6) (clinched AFC West)	#3 Detroit (11-5) (clinched NFC North)
#4 Jacksonville (9-7)	#4 Tampa Bay (8-8)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)	#5 Philadelphia (11-5) (clinched playoff berth)
#6 Buffalo (10-6)	#6 LA Rams (9-7) (clinched playoff berth)
#7 Indianapolis (9-7)	#7 Green Bay (8-8)

Alright so what do we have left to determine? Four divisions still up for grabs as the AFC East, AFC South, NFC East and NFC South still hasn’t determined their champion. Also, one Wild Card spot in the NFC and two in the AFC with still a few teams in the mix there. A lot can happen during this weekend so let’s get right to the scenarios.

Pittsburgh at Baltimore

• Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot under the following scenarios:
  • A win AND either a Buffalo loss OR a Jacksonville loss/tie
  • A win AND an Indianapolis tie
  • A tie AND two of Indianapolis, Jacksonville, or Houston lose
  • Jacksonville loses AND Denver wins AND either Indianapolis or Houston lose
• Pittsburgh is eliminated under the following scenarios:
  • A Jacksonville win AND a Buffalo win/tie AND either an Indianapolis OR Houston win
  • A loss/tie AND either a Jacksonville win/tie OR an Indianapolis tie
  • A loss AND a Denver loss/tie

Houston at Indianapolis

• Indianapolis clinches the AFC South with (a win AND a Jacksonville loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville loss)
• Houston clinches the AFC South with a win AND a Jacksonville loss/tie
• Indianapolis clinches a playoff spot with a win OR (a tie AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie)
• Houston clinches a playoff spot wth a win OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie)
• Houston is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND either a Jacksonville win/tie OR a Pittsburgh win)
• Indianapolis is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a Jacksonville win/tie AND a Pittsburgh win)

Jacksonville at Tennessee

• Jacksonville clinches the AFC South with a win OR (a tie and an Indianapolis tie)
• Jacksonville clinches a playoff spot with (a tie AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss/tie AND either Houston OR Indianapolis loses)
• Jacksonville is eliminated with (a tie AND a Pittsburgh win AND either a Houston or Indianapolis win) OR (a loss AND either a Pittsburgh win/tie OR a Denver win OR an Indianapolis tie)

Atlanta at New Orleans

• Atlanta clinches the NFC South with a win AND a Tampa Bay loss
• New Orleans clinches the NFC South with (a win AND a Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Tampa Bay loss)
• New Orleans clinches a playoff spot with (a win AND a Green Bay loss/tie AND a Seattle loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Green Bay loss AND a Seattle loss)
• Atlanta is eliminated with a loss/tie OR a Tampa Bay win/tie
• New Orleans is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a Tampa Bay win/tie AND either a Green Bay or Seattle win/tie) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND either a Green Bay or Seattle win)

Minnesota at Detroit

• Minnesota clinches a playoff spot with a win AND a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss AND either a Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss
• Minnesota is eliminated with a loss/tie OR a Seattle win/tie OR a Green Bay win/tie OR Tampa Bay and New Orleans both winning or tying

Tampa Bay at Carolina

• Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win OR (a tie and a New Orleans loss/tie)
• Tampa Bay clinches a playoff spot with a tie AND a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss/tie
• Tampa Bay is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a New Orleans win AND either a Seattle win/tie or a Green Bay win)

Chicago at Green Bay

• Green Bay clinches a playoff spot with a win OR:
  • a tie AND (a Seattle loss/tie AND a New Orleans loss/tie) OR (a Seattle tie AND a Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Tampa Bay loss)
  • a loss AND a Seattle loss AND a Minnesota loss/tie AND either a Tampa Bay or New Orleans loss
• Green Bay is eliminated with (a loss AND either (a Minnesota win or a Seattle win/tie or (a Tampa Bay win/tie and a New Orleans win/tie)) OR a tie AND either (a Seattle win or (a Tampa Bay win and a New Orleans win) or (a Seattle loss AND a New Orleans win AND a Tampa Bay tie)

Philadelphia at NY Giants

• Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with (a win AND a Dallas loss/tie) OR (a tie AND a Dallas loss)

Dallas at Washington

• Dallas clinches the NFC East with a win OR (a tie and a Philadelphia tie) OR a Philadelphia loss

Seattle at Arizona

• Seattle clinches a playoff spot with a win AND a Green Bay loss AND either a New Orleans or Tampa Bay loss/tie) OR (a win AND a Green Bay loss/tie)
• Seattle is eliminated with a loss OR (a tie AND a New Orleans win AND a Tampa Bay win) OR (a tie AND a Green Bay tie) OR a Green Bay win

Buffalo at Miami

• Buffalo clinches the AFC East with a win
• Miami clinches the AFC East with a win OR a tie
• Buffalo clinches a playoff spot with a tie OR a Pittsburgh loss/tie OR a Jacksonville loss/tie OR an Indianapolis tie
• Buffalo is eliminated with a loss AND one of the following three scenarios:
  • a Jacksonville win AND a Houston win AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie
  • a Jacksonville win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Pittsburgh loss/tie
  • a Pittsubrgh win AND an Indianapolis tie
  • a Jacksonville loss/tie AND a Pittsburgh win

If there is a tie….in almost any game….this is going to become a mess. Although it does become super interesting if that is the case and I do love chaos.

I was going to do tables to show where teams could land based on the scenarios above (obviously leaving ties out) but the NFC one alone would be insane. Viewing it on a cell phone would be impossible. Hell, viewing it on a wide-screen TV might be difficult. So I will not bother with that. Instead, I will do a seeding breakdown like I did last year. I will not include ties here. Here are the seeding scenarios.

AFC

#1 seed

• Baltimore locked in

#2 seed

• Miami – win
• Buffalo – win

#3 seed

• Kansas City locked in

#4 seed

• Jacksonville – win
• Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville loss
• Houston – win AND Jacksonville loss

#5 seed

• Cleveland locked in

#6 seed

• Miami – loss
• Buffalo – loss AND Pittsburgh loss AND Jacksonville loss
• Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo loss
• Houston – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo loss
• Pittsburgh – win AND Jacksonville loss AND Buffalo loss

#7 seed

• Buffalo – loss AND (Jacksonville win AND Pittsburgh loss AND either Houston or Indianapolis loss) OR (Jacksonville loss AND Pittsburgh win)
• Indianapolis – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo win
• Pittsburgh – dog’s breakfast (win AND Buffalo win AND Jacksonville loss) OR (win AND Buffalo loss AND Jacksonville win AND either Houston OR Indianapolis win) OR (loss AND Jacksonville loss AND Denver win AND either Houston OR Indianapolis win)
• Jacksonville – loss AND Pittsburgh loss AND Denver loss AND either Houston OR Indianapolis loss
• Houston – win AND Jacksonville win AND Buffalo win

NFC

#1 seed

• San Francisco locked in

#2 seed

• Dallas – win OR (loss AND Philadelphia loss AND Detroit loss)
• Philadelphia – win AND Dallas loss
• Detroit – win AND Dallas loss AND Philadelphia loss

#3 seed

• Dallas – loss AND Philadelphia loss AND Detroit win
• Detroit – loss OR Dallas win OR Philadelphia win

#4 seed

• Tampa Bay – win
• New Orleans – win AND Tampa Bay loss
• Atlanta – win AND Tampa Bay loss

#5 seed

• Philadelphia – loss OR Dallas win
• Dallas – loss AND Philadelphia win

#6 seed

• Green Bay – win AND LA Rams loss
• LA Rams – win OR Green Bay loss

#7 seed

• Green Bay – (win AND LA Rams win) OR (loss AND Seattle loss AND Minnesota loss AND either Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss)
• Minnesota – win AND Seattle loss AND Green Bay loss AND either Tampa Bay OR New Orleans loss
• New Orleans – win AND Tampa Bay win AND Green Bay loss AND Seattle loss
• LA Rams – loss AND Green Bay win
• Seattle – win AND Green Bay loss

Holy shit we are in for one hell of a weekend of American Professional Football. I really don’t need to say this but enjoy the games everyone!

Remember when this used to be the end? The Week 17 NFL TV Schedule

It wasn’t long ago that Week 17 was the ultimate week. So much on the line. Playoff spots gained or lost. First round byes on the line. Entire seasons on the brink. Fantastic stuff.

Now, Week 17 is the penultimate week of the regular season. With the seventeenth game added to the regular season, it meant that Week 18 had to be added. My guess is Week 19 will be added soon enough to give each team two byes during the season and push the Super Bowl to around Valentine’s Day.

But just because this isn’t the final week doesn’t mean this isn’t a huge week! So let’s get to the schedule!

American Networks

Miami at Baltimore	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland
New England at Buffalo	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
LA Rams at NY Giants	1:00		Rochester, Watertown, Burlington
Pittsburgh at Seattle	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Boston, Presque Isle
Cincinnati at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

New England at Buffalo	1:00	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Atlantic
Miami at Baltimore	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg	All affiliates (except Vancouver Island & Alberta)
San Francisco at Washington	1:00		Vancouver Island, Alberta	TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
New Orleans at Tampa Bay	1:00			TSN+
Pittsburgh at Seattle	4:05	Vancouver, Alberta		TSN1, TSN4, TSN5
Cincinnati at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates (except Vancouver & Alberta)

Primetime Games

NY Jets at Cleveland	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, ABC Cleveland, CTV2, TSN 1/4/+
Detroit at Dallas	Saturday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/5
Green Bay at Minnesota	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+

New Year’s Notes and Thoughts

• There are games upcoming that you will not be able to see if you do not have Sunday Ticket and/or RedZone. They are as follows:
  • Las Vegas at Indianapolis
  • Carolina at Jacksonville
  • Atlanta at Chicago
  • Arizona at Philadelphia
  • Tennessee at Houston
  • LA Chargers at Denver
• Now this is some horseshit right here. Six games? SIX? That’s insane. And that’s after TSN decides to put a different game on TSN+ for some variety. I don’t get it. Not saying many of these games are worth watching but if you are trying to push people to order Sunday Ticket or RedZone, you may be succeeding. Or you may be pushing them to go the route I took that I will never come back from, IPTV. Either one, congratulations assholes.
• No Monday Night Football this week as that would go up against the College Football Playoff semi-finals and even the NFL knows when to take a step back. What does that mean? We have the game essentially being moved to Saturday night. And it is a massive one. Lions-Cowboys in what could be an NFC Championship preview.
• I don’t know how many people can even get ABC out of Cleveland so I listed it here. UPDATE: No one can but there are some who can get it out of Toledo. How about that? You learn something new every day.

Things are getting very interesting. It’s the second-last playoff picture of the season:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (12-3) (clinched playoff spot)	#1 San Francisco (11-4) (clinched NFC West)
#2 Miami (11-4) (clinched playoff spot)	#2 Philadelphia (11-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#3 Kansas City (9-6)	#3 Detroit (11-4) (clinched NFC North)
#4 Jacksonville (8-7)	#4 Tampa Bay (8-7)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (10-5)	#5 Dallas (10-5) (clinched playoff spot)
#6 Buffalo (9-6)	#6 LA Rams (8-7)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati (8-7)	#7 Seattle (8-7)

Look at the ridiculous logjam in the AFC. So many teams for, well, still quite a few spots. The Wild Card race is going to be insane and will require some logic puzzle-style explanations. The NFC is not much different even though it doesn’t look like it. There are 4 teams just a game back of the Bucs, Rams and Seahawks. Hell, even the Bears are technically still in it. Yeah it’s this crazy.

Before we get to the clinching scenarios, here is your updated list of eliminated teams (in order of draft position):

• Carolina
• Arizona
• Washington
• New England
• NY Giants
• LA Chargers
• Tennessee
• NY Jets

Just a reminder that the Bears have the Panthers pick because the Panthers’ front office are idiots.

Now it’s time for the clinching scenarios and, as per usual, I will not include ties until the final weekend of the regular season.

First Round Bye and Home Field Advantage

• San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss
• Baltimore clinches with a win

Division Title

• Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win AND a Dallas loss
• Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
• Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win OR a Cleveland loss
• Miami clinches the AFC East with a win OR a Buffalo loss
• Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win OR (a Denver loss AND a Las Vegas loss)
• Jacksonville clinches the AFC South with a win AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss

Playoff Berth

• LA Rams clinch a playoff berth with a win AND a Seattle loss
• Cleveland clinches a playoff berth with a win OR a Pittsburgh loss OR a Buffalo loss OR a Jacksonville loss OR (a Houston loss AND an Indianapolis loss)
• Buffalo clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Cincinnati loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss)

Elimination

• Minnesota is eliminated with a loss AND a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win
• Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Seattle win OR an LA Rams win OR (a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND an Arizona win AND a Dallas win AND a Washington win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND an Jacksonville win AND a Denver win))
• Chicago is eliminated with a loss OR (a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Green Bay win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win)
• New Orleans is eliminated with a loss
• Atlanta is eliminated with a Tampa Bay win AND (a loss) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Seattle win)
• Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss AND a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Kansas City win) OR (a Jacksonville win AND a Denver loss)
• Cincinnati is eliminated with a win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Buffalo win
• Houston is eliminated with a loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville win AND (a Buffalo win) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss)
• Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
• Denver is eliminated with a loss OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Pittsburgh loss)

Alright, should be a fun few days of football. Chances are this will be my final post of the season so I hope each and every one of you have a happy New Year! See you all in 2024 and, as always, enjoy the games!

What a dreadful existence – Week 16 NFL TV Schedule

This was the scene at Bank of America Stadium this past weekend in Charlotte for the Falcons-Panthers game. And if you think that’s just maybe part of the upper deck, think again. The entire stadium looked like this. Don’t believe me?

That is during the game as you can see a play going on in this picture. How sad is this? How dreadful must it be to be a Carolina Panthers fan right now? Not only does your team suck-diddly-uck but you don’t even get the chance at the number one draft choice. Why? Well, the Panthers wanted Bryce Young so badly that they exchanged first round picks with the Bears last year. The Panthers had to sweeten the deal so sent a 2025 second rounder, D.J. Moore and…..their first round pick in the upcoming draft. Yeesh. There is a good chance that will be the #1 pick and Bears fans are salivating at the thought. Marvin Harrison Jr.? Caleb Williams? Drake Maye? Maybe another position of need since they aren’t very good either? The possibilities are endless.

For Panthers fans, though, the possibilities aren’t. They won’t pick first overall, they very well might finish last in the league and unless some of their young players (and 2024 draftees) step up in a hurry, this is not a playoff team next season. Nowhere close. Frustrating for sure.

Not frustrating? Getting to watch NFL football on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!! Let’s fucking go! Here’s the schedule to get you all amped up!

American Networks

Seattle at Tennessee	1:00	Seattle, Spokane
Cleveland at Houston	1:00	Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Detroit at Minnesota	1:00		All affiliates
Jacksonville at Tampa Bay	4:05	Minneapolis, Detroit
Dallas at Miami	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Seattle at Tennessee	1:00		Vancouver Island, Alberta	TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
Cleveland at Houston	1:00		All affiliates (except Vancouver Island & Alberta)
Detroit at Minnesota	1:00	All affiliates
Indianapolis at Atlanta	1:00			TSN+
Jacksonville at Tampa Bay	4:05			TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
Dallas at Miami	4:25	All affiliates

Primetime & Saturday & Monday (Christmas Day!) Games

New Orleans at LA Rams	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/+
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	Saturday, 4:30, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4
Buffalo at LA Chargers	Saturday, 8:00, NBC Buffalo, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5
New England at Denver	Sunday, 8:00, NFL Network, ABC Boston, CTV2, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
Las Vegas at Kansas City	Monday, 1:00, CBS, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5/+
NY Giants at Philadelphia	Monday, 4:30, FOX, CTV, TSN 1/3
Baltimore at San Francisco	Monday, 8:15, ABC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/5

Christmas-y Type Notes

• There are some games on this week that, somehow, are not being shown here in Canada without the assistance of a Sunday Ticket or a RedZone:
  • Washington at NY Jets
  • Green Bay at Carolina
  • Arizona at Chicago
• How in the blue hell can three games not be shown at all here with how spread out the games are this week? The power of scheduling. Maybe they do need to go to Matt Zemek’s idea of three Sunday timeslots.
• Look at all the national and almost-national telecasts. It is, I believe, an NFL record for the most national broadcasts in one week with seven. Then there’s two on Sunday that might as well be national broadcasts as well.
• Just so you know, the Bills-Chargers game will be joined in progress on TSN3 and TSN5 at about 10:30 after the World Juniors pre-competition game between Canada and the U.S. (on TSN3) or the Lakers-Thunder game (on TSN5). Man, TSN loves the World Juniors.
• As I said before, a lot of nationwide broadcasts. If you love watching football on CTV, then I hope you love one of four teams because those are the only ones appearing on Sunday afternoon. Lions-Vikings followed by Cowboys-Dolphins across the entire network. At least they should be two really good games.
• Finally, the Nickolodeon game is back. This year’s “Nickmas” game will be the early Christmas Day affair between the Raiders and the Chiefs. It’s only on TSN+ up here but if you have it and have younger kids who may be interested it’s….kinda fun, not gonna lie.

OK we are getting close to the end of the season. Three games remain. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (11-3) (clinched playoff spot)	#1 San Francisco (11-3) (clinched NFC West)
#2 Miami (10-4)	#2 Dallas (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#3 Kansas City (9-5)	#3 Detroit (10-4)
#4 Jacksonville (8-6)	#4 Tampa Bay (7-7)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (9-5)	#5 Philadelphia (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#6 Cincinnati (8-6)	#6 Minnesota (7-7)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Buffalo (8-6)	#7 LA Rams/Seattle/New Orleans (7-7)

As I’ve said before, this Wild Card race may be the wildest in years, no pun intended. Oh and my dream of a 7-10 NFC South champion has gone up in flames as the Bucs and Saints face each other next week so the division champion can have no fewer than eight wins. Damn.

And behold, your list of eliminated teams:

• Carolina
• New England
• Arizona
• Washington
• NY Jets
• Tennessee

Only six. And only maybe three or four will join the list after this week. Good to see a lot of teams still in the mix instead of a few of the seasons in the recent past where half the league was pretty much done with a couple weeks to go.

Now some clinching scenarios. That’s what we are looking at these days anyways and wait until you see some of the scenarios. Fucking ridiculous:

First-Round Bye and Home-Field Advantage

• San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Dallas loss AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss

Division Title

• Detroit clinches the NFC North with a win
• Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Cleveland loss
• Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win
• Miami clinches the AFC East with a win AND a Buffalo loss

Playoff Berth

• Detroit clinches with an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss
• Miami clinches with a win
• Cleveland clinches with a win AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Buffalo loss AND a Miami win) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Denver loss AND a Miami win and one of Buffalo/Indianapolis/Jacksonville losing) OR (a Buffalo loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND (a Miami win OR a Kansas City win)))

Elimination

• Chicago is eliminated with loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/NY Giants winning)
• NY Giants are eliminated with a loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win) OR (a Green Bay win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win)
• Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
• LA Chargers are eliminated with a loss OR a Jacksonville win OR (a Cincinnati win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win OR a Denver win OR two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win AND (a Denver win OR three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Denver win AND (a Las Vegas win OR one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND four of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/New Orleans/Arizona/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Denver win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cleveland win AND one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win AND two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a New Orleans win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/Arizona/LA Rams/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND an LA Rams win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)

For fuck’s sake that is crazy. But if you are a betting man (or woman) you could make a boatload of money if one of these stupid Chargers scenarios hits.

So there you go. Enjoy the NFL football over the holidays and have a Merry Christmas!

Brazil? – The Week 15 NFL TV Schedule

Yep, the NFL is heading to Brazil next year! Not Rio, which is pictured here but Sao Paulo. The plan is to have a game at Corinthians Arena and it will be the fifth country outside the U.S. to host a regular season game after Canada, England, Mexico and Germany.

So how do I feel about this? Eh, I’m fine with it. It won’t be played in the morning which makes me happy and I’m sure the NFLers that get to go there will be happy to enjoy some Brazilian culture like walking down the beach and things that occur on LiveLeak.

I think the bigger story was after this when it was announced that there would be EIGHT international games in 2025. My guess is, at some point, every team in the league will play one international game a season until the NFL eventually expands there because that’s what Commissioner Goodell wants, dammit!

Until then we are stuck with 32 teams and schedules that still aren’t too large. So let’s get to that not-too-big schedule followed by a few musings:

American Networks

Tampa Bay at Green Bay	1:00	Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at Miami	1:00	Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Presque Isle
Kansas City at New England	1:00		All affiliates (except Rochester & Watertown)
NY Giants at New Orleans	1:00		Rochester, Watertown
San Francisco at Arizona	4:05	Seattle, Spokane, Cleveland, Boston
Dallas at Buffalo	4:25		All affiliates

Canadian Networks

NY Jets at Miami	1:00		All affiliates
Tampa Bay at Green Bay	1:00			TSN1, TSN4
Kansas City at New England	1:00	All affiliates
Chicago at Cleveland	1:00			TSN+
San Francisco at Arizona	4:05			TSN1, TSN4
Dallas at Buffalo	4:25	All affiliates

Primetime and Saturday Games!

LA Chargers at Las Vegas	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN 1/3/+
Minnesota at Cincinnati	Saturday, 1:00, NFL Network, CBS Minneapolis, TSN 1/3
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis	Saturday, 4:30, NFL Network, TSN 1/3
Denver at Detroit	Saturday, 8:15, NFL Network, FOX Detroit, TSN 1/3
Baltimore at Jacksonville	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+
Philadelphia at Seattle	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+

Non-Brazilian Musings

• Are you ready? Are you ready for some football? A, uh, Saturday afternoon and evening partayyyyyyyyy? Yep, it’s that time of year where the NFL says fuck it, we are taking over more days and if we were allowed we’d have games every day of the damn week. Problem for me is that it’s the start of Bowl Season. Will I watch some of these games? Sure but my focus is almost always on college football (sorry pro football enthusiasts/college football haters).
• Games not being shown in the region of Canada without the use of Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
  • Houston at Tennessee
  • Atlanta at Carolina
  • Washington at LA Rams
• Quite the mixed bag for all the non-Sunday afternoon games. For every Ravens-Jags there’s a Chargers-Raiders. Can’t win em all with six games in those timeslots. Hey, at least we get Kevin Fucking Harlan on the call for the Saturday nighter which is a Mount Everest-sized step up from the earlier play-by-play guys, Chris Rose and Rich Eisen.
• For the first time in a long time, we have an Absolute National Game. The Cowboys and Bills are on every FOX station in the U.S. meaning the same thing in Canada. Not surprising with so many games not on Sunday but in previous years the Niners and Cardinals would have been shown on televisions in about 53 combined city blocks in the cities of San Francisco and Phoenix. Why I’m so glad the true AFC on CBS/NFC on FOX thing has ended. Progress. Should have done it years ago.

Hey let’s get an updated playoff picture since there’s a team ACTUALLY ALREADY IN THE PLAYOFFS (it’s the Niners):

AFC	NFC
#1 Baltimore (10-3)	#1 San Francisco (10-3) (clinched playoff spot)
#2 Miami (9-4)	#2 Dallas (10-3)
#3 Kansas City (8-5)	#3 Detroit (9-4)
#4 Jacksonville (8-5)	#4 Tampa Bay (6-7)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (8-4)	#5 Philadelphia (10-3)
#6 Pittsburgh (7-6)	#6 Minnesota (7-6)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Denver/Cincinnati/Buffalo (7-6)	#7 Green Bay/LA Rams/Seattle/Atlanta/New Orleans (6-7)

Holy shit. What an absolute clusterfuck at the bottom of the Wild Card list. In each conference, five teams are tied for the final spot with the first team in each list (the Colts and Packers) holding what I assume are insane tiebreakers over the other four teams. This could end up being one of the best final months of a season in a long time.

And now on to the teams that have been officially eliminated:

• Carolina
• New England

That’s it. Two. With three games to go. Yeah this is nuts. This week that number should go up but maybe by only a couple as you will see in all the clinching scenarios:

Division Title

• San Francisco clinches the NFC West with a win OR an LA Rams loss

Playoff Berth

• Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Minnesota loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Tampa Bay win AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win)))
• Dallas clinches with a win OR (a Tampa Bay loss AND (a Detroit win AND a San Francisco win) OR (a Detroit win AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Detroit win) OR (a Minnesota loss AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Seattle loss)) OR (an Atlanta loss AND a Green Bay loss AND (a Detroit win OR an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss)) OR (a Seattle loss AND (an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a NY Giants win AND a New England win AND a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Tennessee win AND an LA Chargers win))
• Detroit clinches with a win AND (a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (a Seattle win AND a LA Rams loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND an Atlanta loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Tampa Bay loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss)
• Baltimore clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss and a Denver loss) OR a (Buffalo loss and a Denver loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a a Buffalo loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Denver loss)

Elimination

• Arizona is eliminated with a loss OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a New Orleans win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)
• Washington is eliminated with a loss
• Tennessee is eliminated with a loss AND (a Pittsburgh win) OR (an Indianapolis win) OR (a Cincinnati win) OR (a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Denver win AND a LA Chargers win)
• NY Jets are eliminated with a loss AND (a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Houston win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win) OR (a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win)

For fuck’s sake that is ridiculous. And it’s only Week 15. Can you imagine that last Dallas scenario hitting? It would be the ultimate parlay win. A $10 bet would probably make you a millionaire. OK enjoy the games everyone and remember there are Saturday games this week (although the NFL will never, EVER let you forget).

What a Mess (and the Week 14 NFL TV schedule)

OK where do I begin here with the MILF Hunter? So The Athletic (I won’t say much about that website other than they believe much more highly of themselves than they probably should) reports that Zach Wilson does not want to start for the Jets. Would I blame him? No. The Jets O-line is basically papier-mache. Saying that, he’s a professional athlete and it is EXTREMELY rare to find the one that does not want to compete. And Wilson isn’t that guy.

So after seeing Tim Boyle (TIM FUCKING BOYLE) start and Trevor Siemian pass Wilson as the backup, Jets head coach Robert Saleh has finally seen the light (kind of) and put Wilson back under centre as the starting quarterback. Boyle has been released (and shouldn’t have got a shot in the first place) and Siemian can be the experienced backup. If…IF the Jets can somehow win their next three games, don’t be surprised if a certain recurring guest on the Pat McAfee Show makes his long-awaited return. That’s also if the Jets aren’t mathematically eliminated at that point as well which is a dicey proposition in the AFC as you will see later in this post. Look, the Jets do have a somewhat bright future if they can get some O-line help and have Rodgers for a full season. Barring that, it’s more agony for fans of the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

Huh, that’s two Jets introductions in a row. Must be a record. OK now let’s get to the schedule which does include the Jets and a very weird occurrence that’s never happened before.

American Networks

Jacksonville at Cleveland	1:00	All affiliates (except Burlington)
Houston at NY Jets	1:00	Burlington
Detroit at Chicago	1:00		Detroit
LA Rams at Baltimore	1:00		Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Seattle at San Francisco	4:05		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane
Minnesota at Las Vegas	4:05		Minneapolis
Buffalo at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Jacksonville at Cleveland	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ottawa	Windsor, London, Toronto, Atlantic
Houston at NY Jets	1:00		Ottawa
LA Rams at Baltimore	1:00	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Montreal, Atlantic	Vancouver Island, Alberta
Detroit at Chicago	1:00			TSN1, TSN4
Indianapolis at Cincinnati	1:00			TSN+
Seattle at San Francisco	4:05		Vancouver Island, Alberta	TSN1, TSN3, TSN4
Minnesota at Las Vegas	4:05	Winnipeg
Buffalo at Kansas City	4:25	All affiliates (except Winnipeg)

Primetime Games

New England at Pittsburgh	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, FOX Boston, CTV2, TSN 1/+
Philadelphia at Dallas	Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/4/5/+
Green Bay at NY Giants	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 3/+
Tennessee at Miami	Monday, 8:15, TSN 1/+

Just a Bunch of Schedule Notes

• The games that will not appear on Canadian television networks (or American ones you can view) unless you have Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
  • Tampa Bay at Atlanta
  • Denver at LA Chargers
  • Carolina at New Orleans
• Oh, the NFC South. The worst division in football. And all four teams are not being shown here. Sounds like justice to me.
• So you notice something about Monday night? Yeah, two games going on at the same time. The only thread between them? The ManningCast which is on TSN+. Get that, you can watch Peyton and Eli and whatever stupid guests they have try to watch and analyze two games at once. Interesting idea and again it’s a lookahead towards when the NFL expands (and they will expand, make no mistake about it).
• The Thursday Nighter. My god. The schedule maker must have thought this was hilarious. Then again, I don’t think he could have even envisioned two offenses so woeful. At least the Steelers got rid of Matt Canada and are opening up somewhat on the offensive side of the ball. The Pats? They might as well tank at this point and get that long snapper quarterback of the future since Mac Jones ain’t it.
• The Bills and the Chiefs get a national audience this week which is nice to see (only one really…Jags-Browns are close but no cigar). Now while the two teams are only two games apart in the standings, it feels like they are miles apart on how good they really are. The Chiefs are doing OK by recent KC standards but the Bills have been terrible at times. Just don’t have the Chiefs needing to score with 13 seconds to go since it might send the Bills (and their fans) over the edge.

Updated playoff picture time bitches!

AFC	NFC
#1 Miami (9-3)	#1 Philadelphia (10-2)
#2 Baltimore (9-3)	#2 San Francisco (9-3)
#3 Kansas City (8-4)	#3 Detroit (9-3)
#4 Jacksonville (8-4)	#4 Atlanta (6-6)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Pittsburgh (7-5)	#5 Dallas (9-3)
#6 Cleveland (7-5)	#6 Minnesota (6-6)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston (7-5)	#7 Green Bay/LA Rams/Seattle (6-6)

Not quite three-quarters of the way through the season but with 17 games there is no way to do fractions nicely so let’s just say we are in the home stretch. It’s December. Close enough. No one has clinched yet but there will be opportunities as I will state below. The NFC South is a complete fucking mess and I hate to say this but I hope the, ugh, Cowboys mop the fucking floor with whoever wins that sorry division. Pains me to even type that but I believe it.

Might as well get right to clinching scenarios. As you know, I do not include ties until the final week of the regular season and even then, only if I absolutely have to since otherwise the amount of scenarios goes through the roof. Let us begin.

Playoff Berth

• Philadelphia clinches with a win AND (an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Green Bay loss AND a Detroit loss))
• Dallas clinches with a win AND a Detroit win AND a Tampa Bay loss AND a Seattle loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR a New Orleans loss) AND a Green Bay loss AND a Minnesota loss
• San Francisco clinches with a win AND (a Minnesota loss OR a Green Bay loss)

Elimination

• Arizona is eliminated with an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win
• New England is eliminated with a loss OR a Houston win OR a Cincinnati win OR (a Las Vegas win AND a Buffalo win)

OK that Dallas scenario is insane. Would be fun if it happened!

Everyone have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games…even tonight’s affair.

The Absolute Final CONFIRMED Bowl Schedule (I hope)

Sugar Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Washington vs. Texas
Rose Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Michigan vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Oregon vs. Liberty
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Florida State vs. Georgia
Peach Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Penn State vs. Ole Miss
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Missouri vs. Ohio State

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Wisconsin
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Wyoming vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Maryland
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Memphis vs. Iowa State
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Notre Dame vs. Oregon State
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. Clemson
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. Arizona
Pop Tarts Bowl	ACC vs. Big XII	NC State vs. Kansas State
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Rutgers vs. Miami
Fenway Bowl	2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA	Boston College vs. SMU
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Louisville vs. USC
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Virginia Tech vs. Tulane
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC	UNLV vs. Kansas
First Responder Bowl	2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA	Rice vs. Texas State
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	Minnesota vs. Bowling Green
Hawaii Bowl	AAC vs. MWC	Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State
Las Vegas Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Northwestern vs. Utah
68 Ventures Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan
Idaho Potato Bowl	2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt	Utah State vs. Georgia State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	James Madison vs. Air Force
Birmingham Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Duke vs. Troy
Camellia Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Georgia Tech vs. UCF
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Syracuse vs. USF
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	UTSA vs. Marshall
Famous Toastery Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Old Dominion vs. WKU
Independence Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Texas Tech vs. California
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UCLA vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl	2 of Group of Five	Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

• Looks like the ACC finally got their shit together!
• Virginia Tech will head to the Military Bowl to face off against Tulane.
• Ok big surprise: Miami, who I had heard from multiple sources would be heading to the Sun Bowl, is actually going to play Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl.
• This means Notre Dame will play Oregon State which will be one of the better Sun Bowl matchups in a long time.
• North Carolina is WVU’s opponent in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Mack Brown getting doused by a shit-ton of mayo? That would be hilarious.
• Kentucky gets Clemson as their opponent in the Gator Bowl.
• The Cardinals of Louisville will head west to San Diego to face USC.
• And finally, NC State, the last team remaining, slots in as KSU’s opponent for the Pop Tarts Bowl.

UPDATE: I didn’t even realize that Duke and Georgia Tech switched bowl games. Duke now plays Troy in the Birmingham Bowl with GaTech heading to Tampa to play UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl. Why? Who the fuck knows. I guess the ACC took a nap earlier today and missed what happened so had to scramble to get things done while all the other conferences were mostly finished. Idiots.

That took longer than it should have (although I was out for over an hour so that’s partly my fault). I think they need to remove some of these tie-ins and make them complete at-larges. Or they can say it’s a Power Five at-large or a Group of Five at-large. Something. Anything. Because this isn’t working. But at least we now have a finalized schedule. Finally.

Was going to be final Confirmed Bowl Schedule but the ACC is sitting on their hands

Sugar Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Washington vs. Texas
Rose Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Michigan vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Oregon vs. Liberty
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Florida State vs. Georgia
Peach Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Penn State vs. Ole Miss
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Missouri vs. Ohio State

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Wisconsin
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Wyoming vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Maryland
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Memphis vs. Iowa State
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Miami vs. Oregon State
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. NC State
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. Arizona
Pop Tarts Bowl	ACC vs. Big XII	Louisville vs. Kansas State
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Rutgers vs. Notre Dame
Fenway Bowl	2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA	Boston College vs. SMU
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Clemson vs. USC
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Virginia Tech vs. Tulane
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC	UNLV vs. Kansas
First Responder Bowl	2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA	Rice vs. Texas State
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	Minnesota vs. Bowling Green
Hawaii Bowl	AAC vs. MWC	Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State
Las Vegas Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Northwestern vs. Utah
68 Ventures Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan
Idaho Potato Bowl	2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt	Utah State vs. Georgia State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	James Madison vs. Air Force
Birmingham Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Georgia Tech vs. Troy
Camellia Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Duke vs. UCF
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Syracuse vs. USF
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	UTSA vs. Marshall
Famous Toastery Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Old Dominion vs. WKU
Independence Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Texas Tech vs. California
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UCLA vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl	2 of Group of Five	Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

• UNLV will face Kansas in what shapes up to be a very interesting Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
• Wisconsin has their opponent for the ReliaQuest Bowl. They will play the Tigers of LSU (said in Greg Gumbel voice).
• It is official: Boston College will play pretty much at home in the Fenway Bowl against SMU.
• Texas Tech and California have been selected to play in the Independence Bowl, one of the very few bowls I have had set for over a week now.
• Texas A&M, not surprisingly, will take on Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl in a matchup of former Big XII teams.
• UTSA and Marshall are going to Frisco (site of the FCS Championship) for the Frisco Bowl.
• Georgia Tech will be heading down Birmingham to face off against the Troy Trojans in the Birmingham Bowl which never seems to have a long-term sponsor.
• A tiny bit of a surprise as Auburn goes to the Music City Bowl to face Maryland.
• A bunch of teams have slotted in without opponents which would all be from the ACC. Oregon State goes to the Sun, Kansas State to the Pop Tarts, West Virginia to the Duke’s Mayo and Kentucky to the Gator. I get there was chaos earlier but what the hell is happening at ACC head offices?

Alright, I will be back with one more post with the FINAL bowl schedule…if the ACC can get their act together.

Bowl Projections as of 3:45 PM EST

Sugar Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Washington vs. Texas
Rose Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Michigan vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Oregon vs. Liberty
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Florida State vs. Georgia
Peach Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Penn State vs. Ole Miss
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Missouri vs. Ohio State

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Wyoming vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Maryland
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Memphis vs. Iowa State
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Miami vs. Oregon State
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. NC State
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. Arizona
Pop Tarts Bowl	ACC vs. Big XII	Louisville vs. Oklahoma State
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Rutgers vs. Georgia Tech
Fenway Bowl	2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA	Boston College vs. SMU
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Clemson vs. USC
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Notre Dame vs. North Carolina
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Virginia Tech vs. Tulane
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC	UNLV vs. West Virginia
First Responder Bowl	2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA	Rice vs. Texas State
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	Minnesota vs. Bowling Green
Hawaii Bowl	AAC vs. MWC	Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State
Las Vegas Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Northwestern vs. Utah
68 Ventures Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan
Idaho Potato Bowl	2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt	Utah State vs. Georgia State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	James Madison vs. Air Force
Birmingham Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	UTSA vs. Marshall
Camellia Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Duke vs. UCF
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Syracuse vs. USF
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Kansas vs. Troy
Famous Toastery Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Old Dominion vs. WKU
Independence Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Texas Tech vs. California
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UCLA vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl	2 of Group of Five	Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

• If I had waited like two minutes I would have seen that Iowa State will be Memphis’ opponent in (and at) the Liberty Bowl.
• Oklahoma State gets a bid to the Texas Bowl and will probably play Texas A&M.
• The greatest season in Texas State history means their first bowl game ever. They will face fellow state of Texas school, Rice, in the First Responder Bowl.
• Northwestern will be going to Vegas after a surprisingly good season. Their opponent? Utah, a team who somehow did quite well despite the rash of injuries they incurred.
• Toledo, after losing the MAC Championship, is going to the Arizona Bowl. Their opponent will be Wyoming, who played in this bowl game the previous year. Also, this bowl game will now be on The CW!!!
• Wisconsin has been selected to go to the ReliaQuest Bowl to play an SEC team.
• Conference championship losers App State and, a bit shockingly, Miami-OH have been confirmed for the Cure Bowl.
• South Alabama and Eastern Michigan will be opponents at the 68 Ventures Bowl which is essentially a home game for the Jaguars.
• Bowl tie-in? What bowl tie-in? UCF will face off against Duke in the Gasparilla Bowl.
• Cuse gets USF at the Boca Bowl.
• Bowling Green will have a chance against a Big Ten team as they will take on Minnesota at Ford Field in the Quick Lane Bowl.
• Georgia Southern and Ohio will kick off Bowl Season in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.

Still more bowl announcements to come as the ACC is scrambling to fill bowl slots.