Let’s just call this a Scheduling Update post alright?

I’m going to be honest with you: I have no idea what is going to happen.  Let’s go through what has happened on a college football scheduling front:

• The Ivy League kicked things off by saying they would not have any fall sports.  Many in the media said this would basically make the decision for all the Power Five conferences which we all knew was bullshit because very few people care about Ivy League football.
• The Big Ten decided on a conference-only schedule.  This was the real first domino to fall as it affected many teams and their non-conference schedules, especially the MAC.  Because let’s be honest: Illinois going to play Rutgers is a lot safer than Illinois going to play Northern Illinois.  That makes sense, right?
• The Pac-12 followed suit with the conference only schedule.  Again, some of it doesn’t make sense although some games, like USC-Notre Dame, make sense to cancel.
• The MEAC became the first Division I HBCU conference to shut things down for the fall.  For us in Canada, it meant specialty packs lost a few Thursday night games.  The SWAC followed suit, officially, yesterday.
• The Patriot League has decided to not have fall sports.  Army and Navy, who are in the PL for basketball, would not be affected by this decision.
• The CAA has decided to not have football but James Madison and Elon are potentially looking at playing independent schedules for the season, with the thought that the FCS playoffs will still happen closer to winter.

The ACC is possibly going to a conference-only football schedule as well.  If this came to fruition, they would include Notre Dame in this agreement.  The SEC and Big XII have said very little on this so at this point we have to assume that it is business as usual (as much as it can be) when it comes to football.

The idea of conference-only schedules is kind of weird and, in some cases, really makes no sense.  When some of the teams would still have to travel over 1000 miles to get to some of these games means this has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with…well, I don’t know what it has to do with.

Now let’s look at how this affects what us as Canadians now will be seeing, if nothing else changes (and that includes predicted broadcast networks and times).  I am just going to look at the first three weeks, along with Week Zero.

September 5th		Colorado at Colorado State		3:30 PM
September 12th		Boise State at Air Force		3:30 PM
September 19th		Georgia at Alabama		3:30 PM

With the Pac-12’s decision to only have conference games, the Rocky Mountain Showdown has now been cancelled.  A possible replacement for that week would be Louisiana Tech-UNLV which is a weak replacement but they are almost out of potential Mountain West replacement games.

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September 5th		Michigan State at Northwestern		Noon
September 5th		Bowling Green at Ohio State		3:30 PM
September 5th		Alabama vs. USC (in Arlington)		7:30 PM
September 12th		Penn State at Virginia Tech		Noon
September 12th		Auburn vs. North Carolina (in Atlanta)		3:30 PM
September 12th		Tennessee at Oklahoma		7:30 PM
September 19th		Maryland at West Virginia		Noon
September 19th		Arkansas State at Michigan		3:30 PM
September 19th		USC at Stanford		7:30 PM

Weeks 1 and 3 have two games cancelled and Week 2 would have one.  Here are the possible replacements:

• BG-tOSU could be replaced by Indiana-Wisconsin if it will move from Friday.
• Bama-USC was one of the few headline matchups during Week 1.  I could see Florida State-West Virginia, that I originally had on at Noon on ABC, move from 3:30 to primetime as it is a neutral-site game.
• PSU-VT could be replaced by Mississippi State-NC State which is a non-conference game but the ACC hasn’t made the call just yet to off the non-conference schedule.
• UMD-WVU could be replaced by Vanderbilt-Kansas State which would put Vandy on ABC for the first time I think ever.
• ASU-UM could be replaced by Iowa-Minnesota if it moves off of Friday night.

USC-Stanford would be the first conference game of the year shown on ABC.

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September 5th		Purdue at Nebraska		Noon
September 5th		Michigan at Washington		3:30 PM
September 12th		Iowa State at Iowa		Noon
September 12th		Ohio State at Oregon		3:30 PM
September 12th		Syracuse at Rutgers		7:30 PM
September 19th		Florida State at Boise State		Noon
September 19th		Buffalo at Ohio State		4:00 PM
September 19th		Arizona at Texas Tech		8:00 PM

Shit talking about a schedule being ruined.  FOX is almost to the point they might as well put everything they thought about the season into the shredder, pour a few stiff drinks and re-do everything.

• UM-UW could be replaced by USF-Texas if the Longhorn Network determines it can get a game later on in the season to air.
• ISU-Iowa doesn’t need to be replaced.  The teams are like two hours apart.  Why the fuck do this?  Anyway, this could be replaced by Kansas-Baylor since as a conference game there is a better chance this will end up staying on the schedule.
• tOSU-UO, one of the biggest games of the season, cannot be replaced by something of equal value.  Best bet could be Tulsa-Oklahoma State just to get something in that timeslot as Week 2, as a whole, looks like the biggest mess of them all.
• Oh man how many people will complain that Syracuse-Rutgers won’t air?  Again, they have almost nothing available but if they want to keep a primetime game and not just have MLB show a game, they could put UTEP-Nevada in that timeslot since CBS will not be giving up Boise State-Air Force, especially now.
• UB-tOSU could be replaced by Boston College-Kansas.  The MAC is going to suffer immensely with the loss of so many money games against Big Ten teams.
• UA-TTU could be replaced by UNLV-Iowa State.

This is where I believe the schedules could end up being put in a blender and all sorts of games moving to earlier weeks.

September 3rd		Eastern Washington at Florida (TSN5)		7:00 PM
September 3rd		BYU at Utah (TSN5)		10:15 PM
September 4th		North Carolina at UCF (TSN5)		8:00 PM
September 5th		Clemson at Georgia Tech (TSN2)		Noon
September 5th		UTSA at LSU (TSN2)		7:00 PM
September 5th		TCU at California (TSN2)		10:30 PM
September 6th		Notre Dame at Navy (TSN2)		2:00 PM
September 6th		Ole Miss vs. Baylor (in Houston) (TSN2)		7:30 PM
September 7th		Georgia at Virginia (TSN1, TSN4, TSN5)		8:00 PM
September 12th		Tennessee at Oklahoma (TSN2)		7:30 PM
September 18th		UCF at Georgia Tech (TSN2)		8:00 PM
September 19th		Maryland at West Virginia (TSN1, TSN4)		Noon
September 19th		Rutgers at Temple (TSN3, TSN5)		Noon

Huh, how about that?  My predicted TSN schedule isn’t altered that much.  That kind of surprises me.

• The Holy War being cancelled is dumb.  They are so close, you could probably shoot a cannon between the two schools and hit the campus…I think.  I don’t know.  All I know is that they are in the same state so cancelling this game but allowing Utah to travel to southern California is OK.  Alright then.  Anyway, this could be replaced by Georgia Southern-Boise State if that game gets moved from FOX Sports One to an ESPN channel.
• TCU-Cal could be replaced by probably nothing.  I am guessing TSN just doesn’t show a college football game in that timeslot.  It’s a late night timeslot so it’s not really a huge deal for most people.  UPDATE: TCU will now play UNLV during Week Zero.  Whether this game is on TSN is up in the air.
• UMD-WVU could be replaced by Auburn-Ole Miss which is appearing on ESPN.
• RU-TU could be replaced by NC State-Troy which is appearing on ESPNU.

I will not bother with the other schedules since there will be loads of changes.  I would drive myself nuts as I am still trying to edit out just the games that won’t be happening.  I will try and send an update to this post if another conference, mostly the ACC, makes a decision that alters the schedule before any games are moved back into September which is what I assume will happen.

Anyway, at this point, Week Zero is still on although there will only be a few games, at most.  As of right now we are 39 days away from the college football season starting.  What it will look like I have no fucking idea.  I have a better chance of finding a single specific bolt in an IKEA store.  Have a great rest of the week and let’s cross our fingers and hope for at least some semblance of team sports (not including soccer) returning soon.

Finally! – Week 7 College Football Recap

It wasn’t a ton of chaos but there was still a bit which makes Professor Chaos happy…I think.  It was about damn time.  We’ve needed some movement in the rankings since the first month-and-a-bit of the season had very little of that.  So let’s get on to the recap:

Hold that Tiger!  LSU had the biggest win in the biggest game as they beat Florida in a rivalry that seems to be blooming.  And for once it’s all about LSU’s offense.  It’s the one thing the Tigers have been missing for years but now that they have it, it is scary for other teams in the SEC for sure.  After many failed attempts, LSU has arrived again.  I am sure CBS is already working to get the Bama-LSU game in primetime.  They’d be smart to give ESPN whatever they want to make that happen.

QUACK!  QUACK!  Oregon is starting to look like the dominating force they once were.  The Ducks made easy work of Cal and has created a bit of a stranglehold at the top of the Pac-12.  It is their Pac-12 North to lose now although we know how the Pac-12 has worked as of late.  They are probably the Pac-12’s only College Football Playoff hope at this point.

Can’t blame Mark Richt for this one:  Georgia never seemed in this one.  South Carolina wasn’t dominating play but there certainly seemed like the better team.  But Georgia had chances to win.  And they could never capitalize on those.  The playcalling of Kirby Smart was also strange especially down the stretch.  Nothing went right for UGA and now their CFP chances have taken a huge hit.

I don’t know why I keep falling for this:  Maybe it’s because I hope Bama will lose because it will create CHAOS.  I honestly thought the Aggies would keep it close with the Tide.  Boy was I ever wrong.  Alabama keeps on rolling and very little seems in their way that could stop them (at least during the regular season).

Bronco Buster:  I figured it would be Miami and Virginia for the ACC Coastal title.  Well the Canes haven’t exactly lit it up so far this season.  Both teams played quite well on defense and the Turnover Chain got to make a few appearances.  The offenses were less than good in this one.  However it was The U that did just enough to get into the division catbird seat.  Or not.  I don’t really know.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up a 7-way tie for the title with every team at 4-4.  Oh wait, Georgia Tech is in that division.  Six-way tie.   Yeah, six-way tie.

Red River Battle Royale:  Hey wasn’t that fun?  It was a good game that started with a bit of a brew-ha-ha which prompted “The Gun Show” Mike Defee to give everyone an unsportsmanlike penalty.  Can you imagine if the entire sideline got two warnings during the game.  What happens then?  Technically the entire team would be thrown out.  That would have been something to behold.  Anyway, the Sooners basically outlasted Texas in this one and has taken a big stranglehold on the Big XII that might only be broken by Baylor.  Yes, Baylor.

You just got LAWRENCED!  That sounds disgusting but may be true for some women on the campus at Clemson University.  Florida State was never able to hang with the Tigers.  In the end it was Trevor Lawrence who had one of his best games of his career as they annihilated the Seminoles.  Clemson keeps on chugging and really has no roadblocks now to get to the CFP.  Florida State is going to have to do some work to be bowl eligible and to save Willie Taggart’s job as he is on quite the hot seat now in Tallahassee.

Is Wisconsin’s defense that good?  Their defense could be the best this century.  Forget Clemson’s defense a year ago: this Badger D could be better.  They are halfway through their season and have allowed only 29 points with four shutouts.  Geez.  Their game in two weeks with Ohio State could be something special.  Interesting to see how Justin Fields does with this.

Baylor?  Baylor!  If anyone of you thought Baylor would be 6-0, put your hands down because I know you’re lying.  Will they finish undefeated?  I doubt it.  But this is still a huge accomplishment for Matt Rhule and the Bears.  And it took two overtimes to beat a fairly good Texas Tech team to remain unblemished.  There is now a very real possibility that the Bears could be 9-0 when they play Oklahoma in November.  This is the kind of chaos I love.

So is Utah finally going to get its chance?  Kyle Whittingham and the Utes really do have the Pac-12 South by its balls.  They have everything going for them and hold their destiny in their hands.  Utah destroyed Oregon State on Saturday and looks to be set up to cause some major damage the rest of the way.  And maybe this time the Utes will score more than 3 points in the Pac-12 Championship if they get there.

Biggest upset of the week goes to…  Bowling Green.  Yes, Bowling Fucking Green.  In a game very few watched because of the schedule, the Falcons came in to their game against Toledo as 26.5 point underdogs.  Yet they thoroughly whipped the hapless Rockets in spectacular fashion.  First win for BG over Toledo in a decade to win the Battle of I-75.  Nice.

Another close call for the Irish:  Not saying USC is horrible but Notre Dame should have beaten pretty handily.  This shouldn’t have been close yet it was.  They don’t have a super easy schedule the rest of the way but all the games are winnable.  They go 11-1 and they would have a really good shot at the College Football Playoff and, again, many people wouldn’t like that at all.  Knowing this team, I can see one slip up the rest of the way to make The Committee’s job easier…well at least when it comes to the CFP.  The New Year’s Six, not as easy.

Good lord Vanderbilt:  What the fuck is going on in Nashville?  Vandy loses big to UNLV.  UNLV.  Unbelievable.  I think Derek Mason’s time as head man of the Commodores is about to come to an end as this could be the worst Vandy team since before James Franklin was coaching there.

Orange Britches!  The Volunteers of Tennessee have won an SEC game!  There had to be a few people out there who wondered when that would be said again.  But against Mississippi State?  I think the Joe Moorhead honeymoon is now over.  I hate to say he may be on the hot seat but it’s getting warm.  And Tennessee may not be as bad as we thought?  I say that six days before they play Alabama in Bryant-Denny at night.  Let’s hope they keep it within 30 so Saban gets REALLY angry.

Frost Warning:  OK nobody thought Minnesota would be that good.  But Nebraska is, yet again, worse than most people thought.  You know, except for all those people who are going “Oh yeah I definitely didn’t think Nebraska would be that good.  I figured they would be exactly where they are right now.”  And then you see they have no proof of that and you then know you are talking to one of “those people.”  The ones who tell everyone about what they did right but man, when it’s something wrong, they lack that one thing…what’s it called?  Oh yeah, accountability.  Wow, that took a bit of a dark turn.

Well all in all it was a fun weekend of college football.  So now let’s get to the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	LSU
#3	Oklahoma
#4	Ohio State
#5	Clemson
#6	Penn State
#7	Notre Dame
#8	Wisconsin
#9	Florida
#10	Oregon
#11	Auburn
#12	Georgia
#13	Michigan
#14	Utah
#15	Boise State
#16	Arizona State
#17	Texas
#18	Baylor
#19	Missouri
#20	SMU
#21	Minnesota
#22	Washington
#23	Iowa
#24	Cincinnati
#25	Iowa State

That was quite the week in movements in the Top 25.  Basically #1 is set and after that it is a complete gongshow and no one would be wrong with their own personal rankings (well, unless you put Illinois in your Top 25).  Some would put Boise State higher up after a win over Hawaii but I don’t buy that…yet.  Let’s be honest: their schedule will not help them and any hope of them getting to the CFP hinges on chaos above them (which I am fully for).  This weekend helped but won’t be nearly enough.  As a bit of an aside, what is with College Gameday going to State College instead of Dallas to showcase a Top 25 SMU team?  The stories write themselves there.  Nope, go for the Whiteout.  Of course.  Nothing against Penn State but this is another mark against the Group of Five and college football’s perception of those programs.

As for what I think the CFP combatants will be, here is what I think will end up being the rankings at the top (at this time):

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. Utah
7. Georgia

The top three are basically set as long as they don’t mess things up royally.  It’s the number four spot that will be under a lot of scrutiny.  The rest of those teams all will or might have black marks on their resume.  None of the Group of Five teams will be in this conversation and I am pretty sure about that.  This basically says that Bama will beat LSU later on which means that the Big Ten would probably send its champ at that point.  At this point, I think Ohio State but Wisconsin could be in the mix as well.  Way too much football to play to make any definitive statements.

Alright, in the end, it was a good weekend of college football.  Let’s hope for a lot more the rest of the way.  Enjoy your week everyone!