OK this happens every year but it feels like it has been jumped up a notch or two. Like what is being talked about more right now, the coaching carousel and hot seat or the Heisman race? It’s easily the coaching situations in college football. Might as well start this with the USC sitch. The rumour mill is going crazy with potential names to be the next head coach in LA. The candidates listed since Clay Helton was fired include Luke Fickell, Matt Campbell, James Franklin and Kalani Sitake. Jeff Fisher was mentioned as a possibility and he fairly quickly refuted it, probably because it would be impossible for him to go 7-9. Mike Tomlin was also mentioned which is weird since unless the Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to fire him, I don’t know why he’d leave one of the better coaching spots in the NFL to coach at a place with high expectations like USC. With Franklin getting a new agent, my guess is he has become the odds-on favourite and if Penn State loses badly this weekend, expect that talk to heat up a lot.
So now let’s head to the Bayou and the LSU Tigers. Ed Orgeron probably doesn’t give a single solitary shit now so is off fucking co-eds and getting drunk instead of fulfilling his head coaching duties at LSU. I kid, but I’m sure he has been hungover at his desk in the morning at least once since his shitcanning. So what’s next in Baton Rouge? Campbell, Franklin and Fickell show up on this list as well but there are other, possibly more intriguing, options. Like Dave Aranda. LSU’s former defensive coordinator would be welcomed back with open arms after the job he has done at Baylor. Billy Napier has been lights out at Louisiana, making them one of the best Group of Five programs around. And the most intriguing of possibilities, Mel Tucker. Michigan State is a very unexpected Top 10 team and Tucker is a big reason why.
This will be a story that won’t go away for a while. For my money, I think it will end up being Franklin going to USC and Aranda heading to LSU. There will be other openings showing up soon I’m sure and Fickell is almost certain to get one of them. Matt Campbell, on the other hand, I could see staying at Iowa State for at least one more season, especially if they somehow make their way to the Big XII Championship. Anyway, enough coach talk, on to the schedule!
Thursday
| US | Canada | ||
| USF at East Carolina | 7:30 PM |  |
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| Troy at #24 Coastal Carolina | 7:30 PM |  |
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Very soon we will be at the point where it’s football every day! It means that the football matchups don’t have to always be fantastic because it’s football every damn day so let’s enjoy it! What would you rather watch, football or something meaningless like poker? Other than the NFL Thursday Nighter, nothing else worth watching will be on this night. It’s a travel day for the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves so no baseball to distract you. So unless the pro game is good, you can sit down and watch…let’s see here….oh my….um….well, it’s college football technically. With Coastal losing last week, neither of these games are really that appealing to be perfectly honest.
Friday
| US | Canada | ||
| Princeton at Cornell | 7:00 PM |  |
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| Navy at Tulsa | 7:30 PM | |
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| UNLV at Nevada | 10:00 PM |  |
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OK so things don’t get a whole lot better on Friday night. Saying that, the Battle for the Fremont Cannon is always fun and, two years ago, ended in a massive brawl. Good times!
Saturday Early
| US | Canada | ||
| Texas at #16 Baylor | Noon |  |
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| Miami at #17 Pittsburgh | Noon |  |
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| Indiana at Maryland | Noon |  |
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| Rutgers at Illinois | Noon | |
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| Bowling Green at Buffalo | Noon | |
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| #9 Iowa at Wisconsin | Noon | |
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| #2 Cincinnati at Tulane | Noon | |
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| Texas State at Louisiana | Noon | |
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| #6 Michigan at #8 Michigan State | Noon |  |
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| Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech | Noon |  |
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One game here will get all the attention and rightfully so. The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry hits a new high with both teams ranked in the Top 10. That’s not the only game here though as Iowa-Wisky could end up being interesting on the other side of the Big Ten division menu. Pitt and Baylor try to continue their magical seasons and Cincy has to beat Tulane by a lot to probably keep that lofty #2 ranking. Finally there is Techmo Bowl to see if one of the coaches coaching in the game get fired during the halftime show. I give the odds at 10-1.
Saturday Afternoon
| US | Canada | ||
| Missouri at Vanderbilt | 3:00 PM |  |
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| Texas Tech at #4 Oklahoma | 3:30 PM | |
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| Minnesota at Northwestern | 3:30 PM | |
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| Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville) | 3:30 PM |  |
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| Louisiana Tech at Old Dominion | 3:30 PM | |
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| Florida State at Clemson | 3:30 PM | |
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| Purdue at Nebraska | 3:30 PM | |
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| TCU at Kansas State | 3:30 PM | |
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| Colorado at #7 Oregon | 3:30 PM | |
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| Boston College at Syracuse | 3:30 PM | |
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| Duke at #13 Wake Forest | 4:00 PM | |
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I’m sure Brad Nessler would love to have an open bar for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Dealing with Gary Danielson and blowouts every week has to be gnawing at him and I think he might snap, despite the fact he is very professional. I know I would. The SEC Network going with some odd timeslots this week and I don’t know if this is a test for going forward or they had to do so because of other programming. I’m going with the former until I can find something concrete that HAD to be on from Noon until 3:00. Other than that there’s not much of note here. Maybe watch Wake keep their undefeated streak going until the second quarter once they pull away from Dook or Texas Tech pretend they can stay with Oklahoma for more than 10 minutes if you want.
Saturday Primetime
| US | Canada | ||
| Boise State at Colorado State | 7:00 PM | |
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| #10 Ole Miss at #18 Auburn | 7:00 PM | |
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| #19 SMU at Houston | 7:00 PM | |
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| Arizona at USC | 7:00 PM | |
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| #12 Kentucky at Mississippi State | 7:00 PM | |
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| #20 Penn State at #5 Ohio State | 7:30 PM | |
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| Louisville at NC State | 7:30 PM | |
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| North Carolina at #11 Notre Dame | 7:30 PM |  |
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Penn State-Ohio State was going to be a huge game for ABC. Then last weekend’s nine-overtime clusterfuck happens and this game doesn’t mean nearly as much. It’s almost the same thing that happened last year as PSU lost to Indiana the week before tOSU. It’s like they’re looking ahead to the Buckeyes and taking their eye off the ball (or Franklin is checking his email every few minutes for something from a certain west coast school). And there’s no guarantee they get the most viewers in this timeslot, especially if it becomes a blowout. You have Ole Miss-Auburn which should be a dandy and SMU trying to stay undefeated, mostly for Cincinnati’s gain. You could also watch North Carolina who is way worse than some thought they would be (*AHEM* me *AHEM*), travel to South Bend and hopefully not get beaten up by the Irish.
Saturday Late Night
| US | Canada | ||
| UCLA at Utah | 10:00 PM | |
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| Virginia at #25 BYU | 10:15 PM | |
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| Fresno State at #21 San Diego State | 10:30 PM | |
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Late night college football returns this week after last week’s odd scheduling. The biggest match will happen in San Diego Carson, California where the Aztecs hope to remain undefeated against a very good Bulldogs team. CBS Sports Network really lucked out with getting this one. We also have the return of Bronco as Mr. Mendenhall brings his Cavaliers to Provo to face his old team.
Games to set your eyeballs on
Michigan at Michigan State (Noon, FOX) – Put up your hands if you figured both teams would be undefeated coming into this one. Absolutely no hands should be up right now, not even Spartans and Wolverines fans. One of these teams will have a legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff after this coming weekend. That sounds absurd but it’s very true. The winner here will have Ohio State later on in the season for what will probably be a winner-take-all game for the Big Ten East crown. Michigan is considered the slight favourite to win here. I would wonder about Sparty’s chances though. They really will all come down to what Kenneth Walker III does in this game. Walker has vaulted himself into the Heisman race and really if the season ended now he should get strong consideration to win the damn thing. Really, this should be a solid Game of the Year candidate so let’s hope it’s not a blowout…otherwise we get Sad Gus Johnson which never sounds good.
Ole Miss at Auburn (7:00, specialty pack) – Will either of these teams usurp Bama at the top of the SEC West? Not likely but this year there is at least a tiny sliver of hope. The winner of this one is in the driver’s seat to have that opportunity, especially if it’s Auburn who still has a game against the Tide. And with Lane Kiffin coaching in this game, the interviews, along with the offense, should be fun.
Penn State at Ohio State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – If this was in State College I probably move it up to the number two spot on this list. Tough to move them up farther with neither team undefeated and Penn State suffering a horrible loss to Illinois. As I mentioned above, the Nittany Lions had the same fate last year, losing the game before the Ohio State one. Yes it was their first game of the year so take it with a grain of salt. They did end up losing to Ohio State last year (and the three games after that). Can’t see that kind of losing streak from this team this year but you never know. Either way, the winner here will face the winner of the Michigan-MSU game later in the season for the division crown and the rest of the teams will battle for the slight chance at a New Year’s Six spot.
SMU at Houston (7:00, specialty pack) – Yes SMU is undefeated but the Cougs are undefeated in the conference as well. This game pretty much determines who gets to face Cincinnati in the AAC Championship in December. This could also be the beginning of the end of Sonny Dykes in the Metroplex as there are rumours he will end up as the head coach at Texas Tech. Wouldn’t surprise me at all, what with his dad coaching there years ago.
Fresno State at San Diego State (10:30, CBS Sports Network) – Another surprising team shows up on the list here. Somehow, the Bulldogs are 6-2 and in the driver’s seat in the Mountain West West Division with a win here in Carson. Kalen DeBoer has done a fantastic job in the Valley for a team that many (myself included) wouldn’t even get to .500 this season. And look who is doing a great coaching job at SDSU. Brady Hoke is back, baby! He has proven to be a great coach at the Group of Five level and he’s doing it once again. The Aztecs somewhat surprising run to, hopefully, a NY6 spot hinges on winning games like this (and hoping Cincinnati loses at least once before the end of the season).
Honourable mention: Texas Tech at Oklahoma (3:30, ABC); Florida vs. Georgia (3:30, CBS); Virginia at BYU (10:15, specialty pack)
Wanna bet?
OK at least I got one upset pick right. I thought Air Force could somehow come back and beat San Diego State but sadly, for me, it did not happen. As for the rest of my picks, yeah there were a couple bad ones there as well. Look, let’s forget that and just move forward, OK?
Houston over SMU (let’s start with an upset)
Michigan over Michigan State
Ohio State over Penn State
BYU over Virginia
Georgia over Florida
Auburn over Ole Miss
San Diego State over Fresno State
Oklahoma over Texas Tech
Buffalo over Bowling Green
Louisiana Tech over Old Dominion
Coastal Carolina over Troy
Will I watch the approximately 24 hours of college football being served up over the next few days? It will be pretty close, not gonna lie. It’s mostly a free weekend so add in about 11 hours of NFL football and we get to the 35-hour mark. I am such a fucking degenerate when it comes to football. Kind of glad I don’t do the recaps anymore since it usually cut into in my NFL watching time. Honestly, I struggle with that kind of multi-tasking. Anyway. enjoy the games everyone!
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