I have to say it was a fun final regular season weekend of college football. Especially the Iron Bowl. What a ridiculous finish. Now we get into the postseason part of the season. So there has to be some chaos, right? Some upset? Any upset? Sure there were a few during the season but really the big upset has taken a big nap this year. And that’s part of college football. Not having those has taken something away from this season. Let’s hope this coming weekend can bring some of that chaos back. Fingers crossed. Let’s get on with the schedule.
Friday
Conference USA Championship: New Mexico State (+10.5) at #24 Liberty
7:00
This network continues to be smart in the way they figure out WHEN to put a game. They get an entire national audience for almost an entire half and then, if the game is close, many people will stick with it to the end. Brilliant. Plus, with the added possibility of seeing a potential New Year’s Six berth clinched here, it means they should get more eyeballs on this game than ever before. Prediction: This game is the biggest one, not only in Liberty’s history, but in Conference USA’s history. This is their chance to put a team in the New Year’s Six for the first time. The first part gets done this night. Liberty 39 New Mexico State 34.
Pac-12 Championship: #5 Oregon (-9.5) vs. #3 Washington (in Paradise, NV)
8:00
The final Pac-12 Championship and, arguably, the most important conference championship is being held on a Friday night starting at 5:00 local time. Hell, ESPN/ABC is sending their best crew to this. This feels like the final slap in the face to the Pac-12. Anyway, this is massive. The winner is a lock for the College Football Playoff and the loser gets relegated to the New Year’s Six. It’s that simple. Prediction: This is going to be an offensive showcase between two of the Heisman contenders in Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. The guy who wins, I believe, won’t be the Heisman winner. Although I guess there’s always a possibility Jayden Daniels wins it instead of either of these two. Washington 49 Oregon 38.
Saturday Early
Big XII Championship: #18 Oklahoma State (+14.5) vs. #7 Texas (in Arlington)
Noon
Easily the only game that matters early on. Texas has to win and get quite a bit of help to get into the College Football Playoff. They will know the lay of the land after the Pac-12 Championship, especially if Oregon wins since that will mean a better shot to join the party. Prediction: The Longhorns do what they need to do but will have to wait to see if it is enough. Texas 52 Oklahoma State 27.
MAC Championship: Miami-OH (+7.5) vs. Toledo (in Detroit)
Noon
Well, from the College Football Playoff rankings we now know that Toledo has no chance at the NY6, despite having an 11-1 record. Nothing will allow them to leapfrog Tulane, Liberty or SMU. I would say this is for a trip back to Detroit for the Quick Lane Bowl but even that is in doubt thanks to tie-ins that don’t even tie a conference in to a bowl game. Prediction: Should be close like their regular season matchup. Toledo 24 Miami-OH 20.
Saturday Afternoon
Mountain West Championship: Boise State (-2) at UNLV
3:00
Now that the strange computer rankings saga to figure out who would actually be in the conference championship game is over, we can focus ont the game itself. Really, they are probably playing for a spot in the LA Bowl but who the hell knows. It will be interesting to see how many people are in Allegiant Stadium as it hosts its second conference championship in less than 24 hours. Prediction: This isn’t on the Smurf Turf so you have to give the advantage to the Rebels here. UNLV 41 Boise State 38.
Sun Belt Championship: Appalachian State (+6.5) at Troy
4:00
Where does the winner go? Who the fuck knows anymore. Prediction: I will be thinking about how this would have been a hundred times better if James Madison was hosting Troy. Troy 34 Appalachian State 16.
SEC Championship: #8 Alabama (+5.5) vs. #1 Georgia (in Atlanta)
4:00
Is Georgia in no matter what? Probably although you never know how things will shake out with The Committee. Bama is going to have win this by like 50 to even get a glance from them as they are probably too far out to get their shot. Prediction: This is going to be really close and really good. I just feel it. Georgia 49 Alabama 42.
American Championship: SMU (+4) at #22 Tulane
4:00
Tulane goes back to the NY6 with a win in this one. But what happens if SMU wins? That is where the fun begins (as long as Liberty wins their game on Friday). I still believe that SMU would have to hope Liberty loses since there is no way to pass them but I could be wrong. Prediction: Tulane is heading back to the promised land but it won’t be easy. Tulane 41 SMU 34.
SWAC Championship: Prairie View A&M at Florida A&M
4:00
Florida A&M has been money since joining the SWAC. Honestly, I think Deion Sanders may have been right. Have all the MEAC schools join the SWAC. One huge mega-HBCU-conference. ESPN might not like that though because they have the Celebration Bowl on the opening day of Bowl Season and you know how ESPN is about their bowls. Even with the 12-team playoff they will want to add bowls so that 4-8 Houston can face 4-8 Colorado. Prediction: The Rattlers are going to beat the brakes off of Prairie View and move on to the Celebration Bowl where they will be in an uncomfortably close game with a team that’s not even close to their level in Howard. Like most of the Celebration Bowls. Florida A&M 56 Prairie View A&M 14.
Saturday Primetime
ACC Championship: #14 Louisville (+2.5) vs. #4 Florida State (in Charlotte)
8:00
All the FSU talk is about the loss of Jordan Travis. I get it. With him, you look like a national championship contender. Without him, not so much. Saying that, they know what they have to do. Win. Doesn’t matter how. Just win. And I wondered if they were going to be able to do that against this Cardinals team but after Louisville’s performance against Kentucky, I started to wonder about that. Prediction: The Noles do enough to win. The defense keeps the Cardinals offense at bay. FSU off to the CFP. Florida State 37 Louisville 27.
Big Ten Championship: #16 Iowa (+23) vs. #2 Michigan (in Indianapolis)
8:00
The spread is almost as high as the over/under for Iowa’s game last week against Nebraska. How sad/hilarious is that? Michigan is in with a win and maybe even with a loss depending on what has happened before this point. Prediction: Iowa has survived a lot of games with their defense. They won’t here. This could get ugly. Michigan 44 Iowa 10.
FCS Second Round: Southern Illinois at Idaho
10:00 PM
Hey, an added bonus! Some FCS playoff action! From what I can tell this may be close but we shall see since my FCS knowledge isn’t that great. And despite the fact they are playing in the awesome Kibbie Dome, wouldn’t it have been ten times more hilarious if this were outdoors…in Moscow, Idaho…in December? Oh my. Prediction: Watch this prediction be WAY off. Idaho 38 Southern Illinois 33.
We are almost at the end. It’s college football’s Judgment Day and it’s coming quickly. And we are slowly heading towards bowl season and the end of the college football season. So enjoy the games everyone!
The 2023 version of Footballgasm has arrived! Get ready for an absolute fuck-ton of college football and NFL football from Thursday through to Monday night. Why does this happen? Americans need something to do while they let all that food settle in their stomachs. I mean our Thanksgiving comes first and is pretty good but we really missed the mark. Take out green bean casserole and there’s very little to dislike about American Thanksgiving.
Alright time to unleash the college football schedule for this week, the final week of the regular season. This is done in traditional Bossman’s Blog American Thanksgiving style. Every game is listed. Some are not important. Some are very important. But every game gets their own section. College football deserves it (for the most part).
Tuesday
Bowling Green (-1.5) at Western Michigan
7:00
Does this mean anything? No. But it’s the final night of MACtion so enjoy it. Predicted score: Western Michigan 27 Bowling Green 24.
Eastern Michigan (+6.5) at Buffalo
7:30
Now this game is more important…well, at least for one team. The Eagles can become bowl eligible with a win here. The Bulls are just here to try and play spoiler. Predicted score: Buffalo 31 Eastern Michigan 21.
Thursday
#12 Ole Miss (-11) at Mississippi State
7:30
The Rebels are juuuuuuuuuuuust on the outside looking in at the New Year’s Six. Could they leapfrog Missouri or Penn State without those two teams losing? It’s doubtful but they could strengthen their case by putting a beating on Mississippi State. Predicted score: Ole Miss 34 Mississippi State 30.
Friday
Miami (-9) at Boston College
Noon
Miami destroyed any chance of doing anything this season, mostly with piss-poor coaching (although Tyler Van Dyke seriously regressed this season). The Eagles on the other hand, they played much better than expected and Jeff Hafley has saved his job. Predicted score: Miami 38 Boston College 15.
#17 Iowa (+2) at Nebraska
Noon
Big game here for the Huskers. Win and they are bowl-eligible in Matt Rhule’s first season in Lincoln. Maybe, just maybe, the sun is finally shining on Huskerland for the first time in quite a few years. To do that, though, they will have to upset the Hawkeyes who have defied every odd and probably some theories of offensive football to become Big Ten West champs. Take the under (even though the over/under is a record-low 26.5). Predicted score: Iowa 14 Nebraska 7.
Ohio (-14) at Akron
Noon
Ohio can win their ninth game of the season which is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, it won’t be enough to win the division. Akron is hoping to stay out of double digits in the loss column. Predicted score: Ohio 30 Akron 10.
Memphis (-11.5) at Temple
Noon
Memphis lost their shot at a potential American Conference championship spot last weekend. So really, this means nothing. Predicted score: Memphis 31 Temple 7.
Toledo (-10.5) at Central Michigan
Noon
The Rockets will need a win and a lot of help to somehow sneak into the New Year’s Six. The Chips are trying to get to their sixth win. Actually, quite a bit at stake here. Predicted score: Toledo 34 Central Michigan 16.
TCU (+10) at #13 Oklahoma
Noon
Huge game here for the Sooners. An Oklahoma win and they still have a shot at going to JerryWorld one last time, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Big XII members. TCU isn’t going to lie down for them, though. They have to win to go bowling. Predicted score: TCU 38 Oklahoma 26.
UTSA (+3) at #23 Tulane
3:30
Tulane gets to eleven wins with a win here. More importantly, a win here puts them in the AAC Championship game and makes them the favourite to go back to the New Year’s Six. I am honestly shocked that no team has taken a flyer on Willie Fritz, despite his age. A Roadrunners win doesn’t eliminate the Green Wave either although they would need some help from Navy. A UTSA win would put them in the conference championship and would finish one of the best conference moves (outside the Sun Belt) in recent memory. Predicted score: Tulane 29 UTSA 24.
Utah State (-7.5) at New Mexico
3:30
The Aggies go bowling if they beat the Lobos. A UNM win would put them at five for the season which, honestly, would probably save Danny Gonzales’ job and constitute one of their better seasons in a long time. Predicted score: Utah State 49 New Mexico 31.
#9 Missouri (-7.5) at Arkansas
4:00
Mizzou locks themselves into the New Year’s Six if they can defeat the lowly Hogs. Sam Pittman has already been retained for next year so no surprise shitcanning in Fayetteville like Bret Bielema got a few years back. Predicted score: Missouri 33 Arkansas 14.
Texas Tech (+13) at #7 Texas
7:30
A massive game for the Longhorns. There is honestly so much on the line here. The most important being a spot in the final four-team College Football Playoff. It’s within their grasp but they have to stop allowing teams to stick around in games. The Red Raiders, on the other hand, are playing for one thing since they are already bowl eligible: spoiling the Horns’ entire season. Predicted score: Texas 31 Texas Tech 17.
#11 Penn State (-21) vs. Michigan State (in Detroit)
7:30
Do the Nittany Lions deserve to be in a New Year’s Six bowl? It’s debatable but at this point, a win probably clinches a spot unless Ole Miss goes nuts on Mississippi State the night before. The Spartans just want to end one of the most miserable seasons in their program’s history, on and off the field. Predicted score: Penn State 49 Michigan State 28.
#16 Oregon State (+13.5) at #6 Oregon
8:30
The Ducks want a rematch with Washington for the Pac-12 Championship. The Beavers just want to spoil Oregon’s season as all teams do in rivalry games. Predicted score: Oregon 44 Oregon State 29.
Saturday Early
Kentucky (+7) at #10 Louisville
Noon
Louisville needs a win to keep their slim CFP hopes alive. That alone will make this game interesting. Kentucky has no stakes other than maybe trying not to lose too badly so that Mark Stoops can be guaranteed for 2024. Predicted score: Louisville 31 Kentucky 10.
Pittsburgh (+6) at Duke
Noon
Duke is already going bowling and are middle of the ACC standings. Pitt is pretty awful (other than playing lights out against Louisville) and are looking forward to the offseason. A lot of better options in this window. Predicted score: Duke 20 Pittsburgh 7.
Indiana (+3) at Purdue
Noon
The Old Oaken Bucket. Even with this being a rivalry game, it’s really not worth watching. Predicted score: Purdue 32 Indiana 13.
Miami-OH (-6.5) at Ball State
Noon
Redhawks are in. Cardinals are out. Let’s see if Mike Neu finally gets the axe like I’ve predicted for a few seasons now. Predicted score: Miami-OH 30 Ball State 28.
Texas A&M (+10.5) at #14 LSU
Noon
For two good teams (OK one quite good team and one OK team), this game does not mean a whole lot. The Aggies are bowling and playing under an interim coach. LSU would need a damn miracle to get into the New Year’s Six so should start packing for a Florida bowl game. Predicted score: LSU 45 Texas A&M 31.
Navy (+20) at SMU
Noon
Now with TSN pushing a lot to TSN+, games like this will almost never make it to the regular TSN channels again which sucks for people who don’t subscribe. It feels like it has finally come to the point where you have to either get one off the specialty packs, get TSN+ or go the IPTV route to see as much college football as you want as a Canadian. Anyway, Navy has two shots to go bowling and would like to close that out here. The Mustangs are in the American Championship with a win in Big D. Predicted score: SMU 48 Navy 20.
Troy (-17) at Southern Miss
Noon
Troy has no shot at the New Year’s Six and is already hosting the Sun Belt Championship. Southern Miss is home for the holidays. Meh. Predicted score: Troy 23 Southern Miss 8.
#2 Ohio State (+3.5) at #3 Michigan
Noon
Another huge version of The Game. Not a total surprise. The winner is in the Big Ten Championship and all but guarantees a spot in the playoff. And just like last year, the loser isn’t out with a loss depending on what happens on conference championship weekend. If GUS JOHNSON would ever pass out from lack of oxygen, this would be the game he would do it in. Predicted score: Michigan 28 Ohio State 24.
Saturday Afternoon
Wake Forest (+3) at Syracuse
2:00
The two worst teams in the ACC but it’s still important for one team. The Orange need a win here to somehow become bowl eligible. Wake would be just outside at five wins if they win here and could nab a spot due to their great APR score if it comes down to that. Predicted score: Syracuse 35 Wake Forest 15.
Southern vs. Grambling (in New Orleans)
2:00
Prairie View A&M has already clinched the SWAC West so this means nothing for either team other than bragging rights: both for the football teams and the bands. Predicted score: Southern 23 Grambling 18.
Colorado (+22) at Utah
3:00
Utah has been very good considering the sheer amount of injuries that team sustained. The Buffaloes season finally ends after the most hype ever given to a one-win team before the season began (and well into the season as well). Predicted score: Utah 39 Colorado 17.
BYU (+17.5) at #20 Oklahoma State
3:30
BYU needs to win here to be in a bowl game. It would be a pretty big upset if they did, but hey, crazier things have happened. The Pokes are holding on to an outside shot at the Big XII Championship. They need to win and have a few other things go their way but again, it’s not impossible. Predicted score: BYU 49 Oklahoma State 31.
Virginia Tech (-3) at Virginia
3:30
Last year’s Commonwealth Cup was cancelled after the murders of three Virginia players. Just having this game will bring back quite a few emotions I’m sure for the Cavs. For the Hokies, they can do the improbable and become bowl eligible if they beat their rivals. Predicted score: Virginia 40 Virginia Tech 35.
Northwestern (+6) at Illinois
3:30
If you had told me at the start of the season that this game would have Northwestern already going bowling and the Illini fighting for their bowl lives, I would have thought you had just went to a cannabis shop for the first time in your life and ate a few too many edibles. But here we are. The Wildcats have been amazing considering their offseason. David Braun has done a masterful job in Evanston. Bret Bielema on the other hand is still at the helm of a struggling Illini team. He will make it to 2024 but a loss here will put him on a much shorter leash. Predicted score: Illinois 31 Northwestern 23.
Maryland (-1.5) at Rutgers
3:30
I have this game showing in most homes in this area. I have no idea what will happen. Hell, I have Big Ten Network and three alternate BTNs and even then, one game usually gets left out for everyone. Why do they do this when they honestly don’t have to? Anyway, both teams are going bowling so are looking for momentum heading into the postseason and nothing else. Predicted score: Maryland 20 Rutgers 17.
#8 Alabama (-14.5) at Auburn
3:30
How close can the Tigers keep this game? The spread honestly seems way too low. Don’t even bother talking about an upset. Kind of a dud for the final SEC on CBS regular season game if you ask me. Now watch it be close deep into the fourth quarter. Predicted score: Alabama 41 Auburn 21.
#25 Liberty (-17) at UTEP
3:30
In what is feeling like a broken record, here’s another game that means very little. Sure, the Flames can finish an undefeated season with a win over the terrible Miners. Problem is they need quite a bit of help to get that coveted NY6 spot. I just can’t see it happening. Predicted score: Liberty 38 UTEP 20.
#15 Arizona (-11.5) at Arizona State
3:30
ASU is already home for the Christmas holidays. The Wildcats have to win here and hope Oregon has already lost the Civil War. So we will know going in whether this game means anything or not. Predicted score: Arizona 23 Arizona State 13.
James Madison (-9) at Coastal Carolina
3:30
Big game in the Sun Belt and unfortunately only for one team. The Dukes are almost guaranteed a bowl slot after all the bowl eligible teams get their spots. For the Chants, because of JMU’s ineligibility for the Sun Belt title, they win this and they will face Troy for the Sun Belt Championship. Predicted score: James Madison 42 Coastal Carolina 24.
Georgia Southern (+8.5) at Appalachian State
3:30
The Mountaineers will be scoreboard-watching and trying to pay attention to the task at hand. Not easy for sure. If CCU can’t beat JMU then App State, with a win, will head to Troy and face the Trojans as the champions of the Sun Belt East. Predicted score: Appalachian State 26 Georgia Southern 10.
Vanderbilt (+27) at #21 Tennessee
3:30
This would have been at least a bit more humourous being played at Vanderbilt’s stadium with their ongoing construction issues. Predicted score: Tennessee 49 Vanderbilt 21.
Washington State (+16.5) at #4 Washington
4:00
The Apple Cup continues to produce high drama. The Huskies’ dream season could come crashing down if they get upset by the Cougs. Wazzu has to win to become bowl-eligible. This should nab a lot of viewers until it gets out of hand. Predicted score: Washington 52 Washington State 17.
Saturday Primetime
#5 Florida State (-6.5) at Florida
7:00
If this had been discussed a week ago the spread might have been over 20 points. Instead, we will find out if the Noles can continue their success without Jordan Travis. The Gators could do the improbable by going bowling with a win here. Predicted score: Florida State 36 Florida 27.
South Alabama (-6) at Texas State
7:00
Two teams that are already bowl-eligible here. Good for them but it means that the NFL Network’s final game of the year will not get a whole lot of viewers. Predicted score: South Alabama 20 Texas State 14.
#18 Notre Dame (-26) at Stanford
7:00
I’m sorry but this is fucking hilarious. The final Pac-12 Network football game ever and it will feature Notre Dame. NOTRE DAME. Irish fans are going to be so damn pissed off trying to find a way to watch this. That alone makes this fun. Not quite worth watching a lot of but still, you’ll be seeing history at the end as the worst conference network closes its football doors for good. Predicted score: Notre Dame 42 Stanford 32.
#1 Georgia (-24) at Georgia Tech
7:30
A little Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. I love some of the names of these rivalries. There might be a bit of intrigue to see if UGA can cap off another undefeated regular season but other than that, you can avoid this one. Predicted score: Georgia 34 Georgia Tech 10.
Kansas (-6) at Cincinnati
7:30
Kansas is pretty good again this season. It’s nice to see. Cincinnati, on the other hand, may be regretting the Scott Satterfield hire although he deserves another season to see how they can truly compete in the Big XII. Predicted score: Kansas 28 Cincinnati 14.
Charlotte (+5.5) at USF
7:30
Speaking of teams playing much better than most thought they would, the Bulls are one win away from going bowling. They showed a lot in the near-upset of Alabama back in September and have scratched and clawed their way to this point. The only thing standing in their way? The bare arms of Biff Poggi and his Charlotte 49ers. Might not be as easy as USF thinks it should be. Predicted score: USF 31 Charlotte 30.
#24 Clemson (-7) at South Carolina
7:30
Gotta give Dabo Swinney from credit for turning around the team after that poor start. Either that or we give all the praise to Tyler from Spartanburg for lighting a fire under the Tigers. Either way, they come into this game as actually one of the hottest teams in the country. And they could actually make their season for a lot of fans by ruining South Carolina’s. The Gamecocks need the win to be bowl eligible. I don’t think this will be as feisty as their brawl-filled game many years ago but I could see it getting chippy. Predicted score: Clemson 41 South Carolina 24.
North Carolina (-3) at #22 NC State
8:00
North Carolina was supposed to be one of the teams to go to the ACC Championship this year. NC State was supposed to be fighting for a .500 record. Instead, they both come in at 8-3 with maybe something other than bragging rights on the line. Let’s be honest: teams would much rather go to a Florida destination than the Sun Bowl or Military Bowl. Predicted score: North Carolina 28 NC State 27.
Iowa State (+10) at #19 Kansas State
8:00
By this point, we will know if the Wildcats have any shot at the Big XII Championship. Other than that, neither team has anything to play for other than to win…FARMAGEDDON. Predicted score: Kansas State 50 Iowa State 34.
Saturday Late Night
Wyoming (-11) at Nevada
9:00
Yes, the odd CBS Sports Network Thanksgiving Saturday timeslot is back again. At least they do their best to cram in as much live sports as humanly possible into this day. Predicted score: Wyoming 35 Nevada 27.
California (+9.5) at UCLA
10:30
It’s really hit or miss with this final game of the regular season. Sometimes, it’s a massively important game that is must-watch and keeps everyone up well past Midnight. Other times we get games that have absolutely no importance. For once, it’s somewhere in the middle. Shockingly, the Bears are in line for a bowl spot if they can pull the upset on a Bruins team who might still be on a high after defeating USC for the Victory Bell this past weekend. Predicted score: UCLA 38 California 34.
That’s a lot of football. I am not complaining. At all. I would have thought TSN might have stepped up for the final regular season weekend but, alas, that is not the case. They are pushing TSN+ for college football so that is the future we have to live with. Oh well…progress, right? Ugh.
I will update the rankings when I see them. I figured I should get this post out in some form so my MACtion predictions don’t look too fishy. Enjoy the games everyone!
This post is in honour of the new Grey Cup champions, les Montreal Alouettes. Les Montreal Carabins are favoured (heavily, I believe) to win the Vanier Cup this coming weekend. This is shaping up to be the biggest week in Montreal football history. If anyone talks about issues surrounding Canadian football, just tell them to take a look at the province of Quebec where football is thriving more than anywhere else in the country.
Now, to the American version of football. College football to be exact. And this post. I have done this now for the seventh time. It is a serious long post. Reader discretion is strongly advised. I wouldn’t read this in the bathroom unless you have a monster shit coming and are going to be spending a good amount of time in there. So get your favourite drink and let’s go. Who cares what time it is. Time is just a social construct so drink em if you got em!
We start with the conference championship scenarios. Some are stupidly easy to figure out. Some are…less so. Here we go.
It’s a rematch. Miami-Ohio gets their chance at revenge against Toledo at Ford Field.
Another one that is set. Two very different stories here. Undefeated Liberty has to win and get some help to get consideration for the New Year’s Six. New Mexico State, on the other hand, is looking at their best season ever and may be the fan favourite coming into this one.
The Troy Trojans are back in the Sun Belt Championship for the second straight season looking for a second straight conference title. As for the East, well…..
James Madison is not eligible. That much we know. It’s Coastal Carolina that controls its own destiny. If they win, they are in. That’s it. Their opponent? That’s right, James Madison. So it won’t be easy.
If the Chanticleers can’t get it done, it opens up a couple of possibilities:
Appalachian State can now get in after beating James Madison this past Saturday. Win and hope for a Chants loss. That will punch their ticket to Troy.
The other team that can get to the title game? Shockingly, it’s Old Dominion. The Monarchs need to take care of their own business first against Georgia State which also doubles as a bowl-eligibility game for them. Win that and they have to hope for CCU and App State to both lose and they get the spot.
If all three of those teams lose, it’s Coastal’s spot.
Georgia Southern would have been in Old Dominion’s spot if they had beat the Monarchs on Saturday. They are now just playing out the string and then finding out where they will be bowling.
If you had bet that UNLV would control their own destiny going into the final week of the regular season, you would have made a lot of money. No one thought they would be in this spot but here we are. Their path is easy. Beat San Jose State and they don’t just qualify for the Mountain West Championship, they will host it. I could see quite a big crowd at Allegiant Stadium for that one.
Their probable opponent? Well, it will be one of Air Force, Boise State or San Jose State. Fresno State was eliminated after last week’s upset loss to New Mexico. What are the scenarios? Buckle up because it involves composite computer rankings if there are no head-to-head results. Oh boy.
San Jose State beats UNLV and Air Force beats Boise State. There would be a three-way tie between the Spartans, Rebels and Falcons. Chances are we are looking at a SJSU-UNLV rematch in the championship because all three teams are 1-1 against each other. The game would likely be in Las Vegas because the Rebels are way ahead of the other three teams in the rankings. Air Force is the lowest ranked of the four teams.
San Jose State and Boise State win. In this case, it’s probably UNLV-Boise State in the title game. Those two teams did not play each other and Boise is slightly ahead of San Jose State in the rankings.
UNLV and Boise State win. It will be Boise at UNLV. Done and done. The easiest scenario.
If SJSU and the AFA win, chances are it will still be SJSU-UNLV but there’s no guarantee Vegas would host. Also, if the Falcons just absolutely obliterate the Broncos they could move up enough to surpass both the Spartans and Broncos. It is a long shot, though.
Ugh, that’s a lot with only two games in play next week but it makes for high drama for sure. We will know quite a bit by Friday evening as the Falcons and Broncos face off on Black Friday afternoon.
No team has clinched yet but all the teams left with a shot all control their destiny. Easiest to do this in chart form as UTSA faces Tulane in a loser-goes-home game and SMU plays Navy where the Middies have a chance to become bowl-eligible.
UTSA/Tulane
SMU/Navy
Championship Game
Scenario 1
UTSA
Navy
Tulane at UTSA
Scenario 2
UTSA
SMU
UTSA at SMU
Scenario 3
Tulane
Navy
SMU at Tulane
Scenario 4
Tulane
SMU
SMU at Tulane
So really, the Roadrunners have to win to get in. The Green Wave doesn’t have to and neither do the Mustangs. So follow the chart and you can understand what’s going on!
This is pretty easy. For Washington, they are in. So one half of the championship is set. If Oregon wins, they will meet the Huskies in Las Vegas. If they lose the Civil War to Oregon State, then Arizona can get in. Beat rival Arizona State for the Territorial Cup and they would be in thanks to the tiebreaker that would kick in, winning percentage versus common opponents based on order of finish. That first team they would look at? Oregon State. The Wildcats beat OSU earlier this season.
Georgia. Bama. Atlanta.
Third straight easy scenario. Iowa is in. Somehow. And they will face the winner of The Game.
Louisville’s win this past weekend over Miami clinched their spot opposite Florida State in Charlotte. This game has got a lot more interesting now that Jordan Travis is out for the season.
I have saved the best for last (although the Mountain West scenarios are quite something). Four teams still have a shot to go to JerryWorld: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. No real surprises there. Because all teams don’t play each other, confusion has set in. Get used to it going forward with even bigger conferences. I still prefer it over divisions where a 6-6 division champ could cause chaos by beating an undefeated division champ. Anyway I have said enough about that over the years so let’s continue.
This is much easier to do it by team since to do it otherwise might take like fourteen paragraphs and confuse everyone, including me, even more.
Clinching Scenarios
Texas is in with a win over Texas Tech OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma State loss) OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma win AND an Oklahoma State win AND a Kansas State win).
Oklahoma State is in with (a win over BYU and a Texas win) OR (a win AND a Texas loss AND a Kansas State loss) OR (a loss AND a Texas win AND an Oklahoma loss) OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma loss AND a Kansas State loss).
Oklahoma is in with a win over TCU AND (an Oklahoma State loss) OR (a Texas loss AND a Kansas State loss).
Kansas State is in with a win over Iowa State AND (an Oklahoma State loss AND an Oklahoma loss) OR (a Texas loss).
So no team is in yet. Texas is in the best spot. I know most fans of the Remaining Eight are praying for an Oklahoma State-Kansas State championship but looking at these scenarios I don’t think that’s possible. I’m just not going to take the time to figure it out.
Let’s continue with this long-ass post with the Bossman Top 26:
#1
Georgia (11-0)
#2
Washington (11-0)
#3
Michigan (11-0)
#4
Oregon (10-1)
#5
Ohio State (10-1)
#6
Florida State (11-0)
#7
Texas (10-1)
#8
Alabama (10-1)
#9
Louisville (10-1)
#10
Missouri (9-2)
#11
Penn State (9-2)
#12
Ole Miss (9-2)
#13
LSU (8-3)
#14
Arizona (8-3)
#15
Oklahoma (9-2)
#16
Oregon State (8-3)
#17
Notre Dame (8-3)
#18
Tulane (10-1)
#19
Oklahoma State (8-3)
#20
Iowa (9-2)
#21
Kansas State (8-3)
#22
Utah (7-4)
#23
Liberty (11-0)
#24
NC State (8-3)
#25
Toledo (10-1)
#26
Kansas (7-4)
My top three control their own destiny for the College Football Playoff. Win next week, then win your conference championship. Done. Florida State should be in the same boat but we know how The Committee feels about big time injuries. This injury to Jordan Travis could end up feeling like the Dennis Dixon injury for Oregon back in 2007 if the Noles falter to Florida. I still think we are in for a bit of chaos for the final four-team playoff. We’re due right? There’s been like no chaos all season. Sure there are some weird results like UMass beating New Mexico State or Louisville falling to Pitt but really it’s been smooth sailing for the top teams. We need this. Give us something. Please!
OK now we get to the good stuff. Not that the stuff before this hasn’t been good. So…the better stuff? Sure, why not. Bowl projections. Let’s go.
Sugar Bowl
CFP #1 vs. CFP #4
Georgia vs. Texas
Rose Bowl
CFP #2 vs. CFP #3
Washington vs. Michigan
I have done a few changes here. Sure, nothing really happened this past weekend but the Jordan Travis injury…it’s got me thinking for sure. I think the Big XII could end up being the beneficiary if things don’t go the Seminoles’ way their next two games. I have Texas winning the Big XII Championship so they would sneak into the final spot. That won’t cause too much controversy, right? So what does this mean for the New Year’s Six?
Fiesta Bowl
CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1
Oregon vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl
ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC
Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl
CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1
Florida State vs. Alabama
Cotton Bowl
CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1
Missouri vs. Tulane
Some changes. Nothing super crazy but let’s figure this out.
The easiest one is seeing FSU here. This means that they must lose the ACC Championship to Louisville. That would also mean the Cardinals get the Orange Bowl spot. That doesn’t change from my last set of bowl projections but it means they truly earned it this time around. I have them being the first team out, so to speak, so I am sure many in that area of the country will be mighty pissed off.
Obviously my Memphis selection, for one week, was dumb. So now I have Tulane back in a familiar spot. But now I have them facing off against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers have almost guaranteed themselves a spot in the NY6 as long as they can take care of business on Black Friday against a woeful Arkansas team.
The rest is pretty much the same. We will know a lot more even after this Friday’s games so expect some of these selections to almost be set in stone or be drastically changed.
Finally, let’s get to the gong show portion of our show with the rest of the bowl projections. You’d think with all these tie-ins it would be much easier to project but some of these bowls don’t even follow them. I’m always an advocate for more at-large spots so I say they should go that route starting next season, especially since there’s a chance some of these bowls won’t exist with the new 12-team playoff.
Citrus Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
Ole Miss vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
LSU vs. Wisconsin
Arizona Bowl
MWC vs. MAC
Boise State vs. Ohio
Music City Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
Auburn vs. Northwestern
Liberty Bowl
SEC vs. Big XII
Tennessee vs. Kansas
Sun Bowl
ACC vs. Pac-12
Boston College vs. USC
Gator Bowl
SEC vs. ACC
Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl
Big XII vs. Pac-12
Kansas State vs. Arizona
Pop Tarts Bowl
ACC vs. Big XII
North Carolina vs. Oklahoma State
Pinstripe Bowl
Big Ten vs. ACC
Illinois vs. NC State
Fenway Bowl
2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA
Georgia Tech vs. Memphis
Texas Bowl
SEC vs. Big XII
Kentucky vs. Oklahoma
Holiday Bowl
ACC vs. Pac-12
Clemson vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
SEC vs. ACC
UCF vs. Duke
Military Bowl
ACC vs. AAC
Syracuse vs. UTSA
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC
Minnesota vs. Iowa State
First Responder Bowl
2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA
Texas Tech vs. Appalachian State
Quick Lane Bowl
Big Ten vs. MAC
Rutgers vs. Toledo
Hawaii Bowl
AAC vs. MWC
Rice vs. Fresno State
Las Vegas Bowl
Big Ten vs. Pac-12
Maryland vs. Utah
68 Ventures Bowl
2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Troy vs. Liberty
Idaho Potato Bowl
2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt
Air Force vs. Texas State
Armed Forces Bowl
Big XII vs. C-USA
TCU vs. Jacksonville State
Birmingham Bowl
2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA
BYU vs. James Madison
Camellia Bowl
2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Gasparilla Bowl
2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA
Miami vs. Army
Boca Raton Bowl
2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Coastal Carolina vs. Bowling Green
Frisco Bowl
2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Marshall vs. San Jose State
Famous Toastery Bowl
MAC vs. C-USA
Miami-OH vs. WKU
Independence Bowl
Big XII vs. AAC
West Virginia vs. SMU
LA Bowl
Pac-12 vs. MWC
UCLA vs. UNLV
New Mexico Bowl
2 of Group of Five
Utah State vs. Louisiana
Cure Bowl
2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Georgia State vs. Wyoming
New Orleans Bowl
Sun Belt vs. C-USA
South Alabama vs. New Mexico State
Myrtle Beach Bowl
2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC
Georgia Southern vs. Mississippi State
A few notes for your perusal which you may or may not read after all you’ve had to read up to this point:
James Madison and Jacksonville State are getting closer to being locks for bowl games. It would take the wildest of scenarios for there not to be bowl slots for both teams. Now watch it happen, which would suck for both teams.
I decided to forget the asterisks. What’s the point. If they bowl committees won’t follow their tie-ins I will only follow them until I can’t. Which leads me to…
I have a better idea about APR ratings now. That is why you will see a team like Mississippi State (who I don’t think will win the Egg Bowl) in a bowl slot in my bowl projections. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were multiple 5-7 teams in but for now, I have one. Army, at 6-6, will get in before Mississippi State even with their two FCS wins. They would be slotted after JMU and Jax State as far as I know.
You will notice most of my projections have changed from the previous week. I saw a few rumours online that showed up with multiple Twitter/X accounts and figured there might be some realness to them. So I had to move a few teams around. And once you do that, you almost end up rewriting the whole damn thing. Oh well.
Finally, you will notice something called the Famous Toastery Bowl has popped up. It is replacing the Bahamas Bowl and will be played in Charlotte. Supposedly it’s a good breakfast spot. Whatever.
I can’t add anything more to the bowl projections at this point. Eastern Michigan will have their chance to clinch bowl eligibility tomorrow night against Buffalo in the final night of MACtion this season and the final night of almost two months of football every day. What a ride it’s been. I hope you cherished it. I know I did. Not saying I saw every game but I tried my best to watch most weeknights and would keep watching until it felt like the games were well in hand (which almost bit me in the ass a couple of times and did finally bite me in the ass with Colorado allowing Stanford to come back in that wild one last month). Every Saturday night I was in for the long haul so no worries there. It’s the final regular season week of the season. Get in as much viewing as you can. I don’t try to push people to cancel other plans on other Saturdays. You can always catch highlights and sometimes these other plans are quite important. Like the tongue-in-cheek ban on Fall weddings is a little over the top. I wouldn’t even abide by that. But this is the final week of the regular season so I would try my best to keep the Saturday (and even the Black Friday) clear so I can soak in the college football goodness. Enjoy the rest of your week, everyone!
Yeah it’s that time of the year. The coaching carousel has begun! And what I am going to do this time around is actually compare it to my start-of-the-year predictions. I mean what could go wrong, right?
Let’s look at who has already been shown the door. Jimbo Fisher, Andy Avalos, Zach Arnett and now soon-to-be-retired Brady Hoke…none of who were on my list. Great start, Bossman. Mel Tucker was on my list in the Doubtful Shitcanning section although even I couldn’t think that the way he went out would be the way he went out. What a fucking perv. As for who is currently on the hot seat and was on my list?
Neal Brown. Now Neal probably just has to win one of his final two games to secure his job for next season. Lose both those games and end up 6-6? That would be an interesting conversation.
Dana Holgorsen. You can give them a bit of slack as they stepped up their competition by joining the Big XII. But Drunk Uncle Dana has been a hot seat regular for a while now and at some point he’s either got to prove he’s still the guy or find a coordinator position somewhere.
Danny Gonzales. One of the toughest places to be an FBS head coach, Gonzales probably would have been safe for another year. But with New Mexico State doing so well, some in the New Mexico athletic department might wonder if they should try someone else at the helm.
Tom Allen. It’s pretty damn obvious now that the 2020 season was an anomaly and that the Hoosiers are barely treading water with Allen. I doubt he makes it to 2024.
I really don’t want to talk much about certain coaches appearing my list. Guys like Jeff Hafley or Scot Loeffler or Shawn Elliott or Greg Schiano or Brent Pry or Mike Bloomgren and definitely not Eliah Drinkwitz. Nope. Got nothing. So let’s just move on and stop talking about my hot seat list, ALRIGHT ALREADY?
Ok calm down Bossman. Time to give the people what they want: hot, nasty college football TV schedules for Canadians who enjoy watching college football on their television sets.
Tuesday
US
Canada
Akron at Eastern Michigan
7:00
Toledo at Bowling Green
7:00
Western Michigan at Northern Illinois
7:00
Toledo has already clinched a spot in the MAC Championship. Now we are looking at bowl eligibility battles. Eastern Michigan has to beat the Zips to stay alive for a bowl game. And the WMU-NIU game is a Loser Won’t Go Bowling matchup. Big stakes on MACtion Tuesday.
Wednesday
US
Canada
Buffalo at Miami-OH
7:00
Central Michigan at Ohio
7:00
The Redhawks clinch the MAC East with a victory here and will get their rematch with Toledo in Detroit in December. And the Chippewas become bowl-eligible if they can somehow beat Ohio. Another important MACtion evening.
Thursday
US
Canada
Boston College at Pittsburgh
7:00
Yeah this is about as unimportant a weeknight slate as you can get. One game. No stakes. Meh.
Friday
US
Canada
USF at UTSA
9:00
This, on the other hand, is a much more important night. Both teams with a lot to play for and USF is definitely not the USF of recent years (as we could see from their near-upset of Alabama earlier in the season).
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#10 Louisville at Miami
Noon
Michigan State at Indiana
Noon
Purdue at Northwestern
Noon
Coastal Carolina at Army
Noon
#14 Oklahoma at BYU
Noon
Chattanooga at #8 Alabama
Noon
East Carolina at Navy
Noon
SMU at Memphis
Noon
Harvard at Yale
Noon
#3 Michigan at Maryland
Noon
ULM at #13 Ole Miss
Noon
A pretty heavy early slate with two ESPN+ games appearing on TSN+. I can see that being a feature all next season. As for the important games in this window I count one big one. The Mustangs and Tigers face off in a matchup that essentially eliminates the loser but doesn’t automatically guarantee the winner a spot in the American Championship. Everything else is kind of meh, although the Sooners could keep up their hopes of one final Big XII Championship appearance in JerryWorld. Finally, the annual Harvard-Yale game appears in this timeslot as per usual.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
#22 Utah at #17 Arizona
2:30
Duke at Virginia
3:00
UCLA at USC
3:30
NC State at Virginia Tech
3:30
#1 Georgia at #18 Tennessee
3:30
UNLV at Air Force
3:30
#20 North Carolina at Clemson
3:30
Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M (in Orlando)
3:30
Wake Forest at #19 Notre Dame
3:30
Louisiana at Troy
3:30
Minnesota at #2 Ohio State
4:00
#23 Oklahoma State at Houston
4:00
#6 Oregon at Arizona State
4:00
New Mexico State at Auburn
4:00
UGA-UT is the big one, obviously, here. A lot of other choice with a lot of other teams looking to stay near the top of the rankings. Oregon, tOSU, and Utah are in must-win mode if they want to keep any CFP or even NY6 possibilities alive. Also, the Rebels of Nevada-Las Vegas play in what could be considered the biggest football game in school history. A win here and they all but clinch a spot in the conference title game. And this is something I never thought of. If UNLV is the #1 team, will they play at home? That game would be about 16 hours after the end of the Pac-12 Championship which is already being played at Allegiant Stadium (which I think is a dumb idea but that’s for another post). So the turnaround would be crazy for the stadium crew.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
North Alabama at #4 Florida State
6:30
California at Stanford
6:30
Boise State at Utah State
7:00
#5 Washington at #11 Oregon State
7:30
Florida at #9 Missouri
7:30
FIU at Arkansas
7:30
Nebraska at Wisconsin
7:30
Kentucky at South Carolina
7:30
Syracuse at Georgia Tech
8:00
Georgia State at #15 LSU
8:00
#7 Texas at Iowa State
8:00
Speaking of big games, U-Dub has to try and win in one of the toughest small stadiums to win in, Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Lose and the Pac-12 is all but done in the College Football Playoff race and it opens up a bevy of possibilities to replace the Huskies at the top. The Longhorns are trying to do what the Sooners are also trying to do: give the Big XII one last Fuck You before leaving for the SEC by playing for their conference championship. And finally, you are not seeing things. It is true. A god damn CW DOUBLEHEADER! I hate to admit that the CW has delivered but it has. It has had some great games which has made up for some sub-par production values.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
San Diego State at San Jose State
10:30
Yeah. You could probably go to bed early if you wanted.
Hey, Watch This
Washington at Oregon State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – I think it’s been a long time since the Beavers have been in the Game of the Week. And I would honestly call this Game 1A since you could easily switch it with the next game on this list and no one would bat an eye. I just think this game has the possibility of being much closer than the other one. The Huskies put themselves in the Pac-12 Championship with a win in Corvallis but Oregon State could put the entire college football world on its head if they pull off the upset.
Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – One of the final SEC on CBS games ever and it’s a huge one. If this game was Between the Hedges it wouldn’t be this high. But this game is on the shores of the Tennessee River and it will be one of the loudest Neyland Stadium crowds in recent memory. Another game where an upset is not crazy talk and it would also cause absolute chaos at the top of the college football food chain.
Utah at Arizona (2:30, Pac-12 Network) – Jesus Christ who made the call to get this game on the fucking Pac-12 Network? Well at least us Canadians have an easy time of getting it. Hop on YouTube and search for the Pac-12 Network channel and you’re good to go. Americans…well, they have a much tougher time if it’s not a part of their cable package. What a dumb network. Anyway, both teams have outside chances of getting to the Pac-12 Championship but they would need a lot to happen. A win here isn’t enough. Also, you have to be impressed with the job Jedd Fisch has done in Tucson. This team could be a force in the expanded Big XII next season.
Kansas State at Kansas (7:00, FOX Sports One) – Man, you know it’s kind of a fucked week when two of the top four games are on the Pac-12 Network and FS1. So yeah, can’t see this one if you are a Canadian unless you have other means. I have IPTV. There are also many streams out there to watch. Go find one. Shouldn’t be too hard. Plus, this should be the best Sunflower Showdown maybe ever. Has there been one where both teams were ranked? I don’t think so. Plus, the Wildcats have extra incentive here as they have an outside shot at spoiling a potential Texas-Oklahoma conference championship if they can win here.
Sickos Game of the Week
Michigan State at Indiana (Noon, Big Ten Network) – There are quite a few options for this spot but I will give it to a Big Ten game for once. Here are two terrible teams who will probably have a terrible game that will somehow be close near the end. Think 13-10 which means you almost have to watch because the finish could be spectacular. I almost feel dirty watching games like that.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Chattanooga at Alabama (Noon, TSN+) – Once I saw TSN+ was showing this game I knew which game would go in this section. This will be over by halftime. The question is how long does Nick Saban leave Jalen Milroe in.
Wanna Bet?
How about we look back at my picks from last week………..alright, maybe not. I mean I got my first upset pick right with Southern Miss and then it went downhill from there. Stupid Penn State. Anyway, let’s get going with this week’s pickaroos…that sounded dumb.
Miami-OH 31 Buffalo 28
Michigan 42 Maryland 10
Ole Miss 48 ULM 20
Utah 40 Arizona 19
Duke 38 Virginia 24
Tennessee 31 Georgia 27 (yes, I am calling this massive upset)
USC 36 UCLA 26
Ohio State 51 Minnesota 16
Oregon 59 Arizona State 24
South Carolina 42 Kentucky 37
Oregon State 46 Washington 35 (yep, going out on a limb again)
Missouri 41 Florida 20
San Jose State 34 San Diego State 28
Look, normally I am up into the wee hours of the morning watching college football. And I rarely miss games. Well, rarely miss full ones. But I am looking at the Saturday late night sked and asking myself “Bossman, do you really need to watch this game?” The answer is obviously no but I have to convince my brain that that is the correct answer. We shall see how it goes this Saturday. Enjoy the games everyone!
Deion Sanders did it this past weekend. So did Pat Narduzzi. And other coaches have done it in the past.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about calling our your players during a press conference and basically running them down in front of the entire college football world. I honestly don’t get the point of it.
Let me start by being VERY clear here: I am not saying players don’t need the proverbial boot up their ass every so often. It’s part of coaching. As long as it’s not abusive, it will probably help in a player’s overall development. Players need to hear what they are doing wrong or otherwise how can they not do that thing wrong again? It’s the same with management in the rest of the working world (I won’t get into the fact that I estimate a good 70% or so of managers don’t know how to manage and that management is a skill because this blog post would end up taking you three hours to read). You have to help your team get better. It makes everything a bit easier, a bit better, and reflects well on the manager.
Saying all that, telling a ton of people that a player or group of players suck(s) is not the way to go about it. I get that coaches can be frustrated but doing that just makes you a bad manager/coach/mentor/teacher/trainer, etc. You do that in private.
Worst part of all this, in Sanders’ case, is Deion’s son is the quarterback and he verbally lambasted the offensive line in that press conference. Look, I agree: their offensive line is not good at all and Shedeur is getting his ass handed to him back there. So will these players step up and do a whole lot better or will they get pissed off and maybe allow a defensive lineman or two by a little bit easier? It’s not Shedeur’s fault but he may end up taking the brunt of this. Is it right to do this? No, but you never know how people are going to act when the coach tells everyone you suck and he has no faith in you.
As for Narduzzi’s, this may be worse. Unlike Deion, Narduzzi recruited all these players. They’re essentially his choices to play at Pitt. So if they don’t do well or don’t develop, he has to take at least a part of the blame as head coach and recruiter. So to throw them under the bus (or at least appear to) looks very poorly on him. And the players are obviously upset. Again, this really isn’t the way to push a player to do better. It may work but it would almost be out of spite rather than from Narduzzi’s choice words.
OK we are still in the midst of football EVERY DAMN DAY! So we must rejoice, no matter the quality of the games. Hey, Conference USA had a few good ones in October and now MACtion and the Fun Belt take over in the final regular season month of the college football season. Let’s get to that schedule which includes more weekday fun!
Tuesday
US
Canada
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan
7:00
Buffalo at Toledo
7:30
Ah, it’s that time of year. MACtion on a Halloween night. By the time the games start, most of the kids are finished trick-or-treating so we can sit down and watch all four of these teams play, probably in relatively frigid temperatures, all for our enjoyment. God bless college football.
Wednesday
US
Canada
Ball State at Bowling Green
7:00
Kent State at Akron
7:00
OK not nearly as good a MACtion night as the previous one but Bowling Green is way better than they probably had any right to be so far this season so there’s that.
Thursday
US
Canada
Wake Forest at Duke
7:30
South Alabama at Troy
7:30
Mississippi Valley State at Bethune-Cookman
7:30
I figured the USA-Troy game would be for the Sun Belt West title but both teams have stumbled a bit. Now, the loser is pretty much out and has no shot at a conference championship game appearance.
Friday
US
Canada
Princeton at Dartmouth
7:00
Boston College at Syracuse
7:30
Colorado State at Wyoming
8:00
Have you noticed there are never ranked teams playing on weeknights? It’s like the schedule makers understood the assignment. “Give them football but not great football teams.” Anyway, the hilariously awful bottom half of the ACC continues their march to…can’t even say mediocrity for this one. Loser will have it rough to become bowl eligible the rest of the way.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#12 Notre Dame at Clemson
Noon
Campbell at North Carolina
Noon
Wisconsin at Indiana
Noon
#3 Ohio State at Rutgers
Noon
Texas A&M at #11 Ole Miss
Noon
Arkansas at Florida
Noon
Jacksonville State at South Carolina
Noon
#25 Kansas State at #7 Texas
Noon
UConn at #19 Tennessee
Noon
Quite a few decent games here. I figured Notre Dame-Clemson was going to be a much bigger game but Dabo decided he’s allergic to NIL. KSU-UT could decide one of the teams going to the Big XII Championship. And…if you had said Jacksonville State would be the favoured Cocks in this matchup I would have thought you were on serious drugs. Not the unserious ones.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Georgia Tech at Virginia
2:00
Arizona State at #18 Utah
2:00
Army vs. #17 Air Force (in Denver)
2:30
#10 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
3:30
Virginia Tech at #15 Louisville
3:30
Illinois at Minnesota
3:30
#14 Missouri at #1 Georgia
3:30
#4 Florida State at Pittsburgh
3:30
#23 James Madison at Georgia State
3:30
#21 Tulane at East Carolina
3:30
#9 Penn State at Maryland
3:30
Auburn at Vanderbilt
4:00
California at #6 Oregon
5:30
OK things start to pick up here. One big game against two ranked teams where Mizzou could shock the entire college football world. Plus another NINE games involving ranked teams. It’s rare to see that many ranked teams in one timeslot. Realistically, all the ranked teams should worry at least a bit as you never know when the underdog can rise up and bite you in the ass. Except for Tulane. I have a feeling they will do just fine with East Carolina.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Louisiana Tech at Liberty
6:00
Marshall at Appalachian State
6:00
#22 Kansas at Iowa State
7:00
#5 Washington at #24 USC
7:30
SMU at Rice
7:30
Purdue at #2 Michigan
7:30
Kentucky at Mississippi State
7:30
#13 LSU at #8 Alabama
7:45
Miami at NC State
8:00
Ah, the annual SEC on CBS primetime matchup between LSU and Alabama. A tradition unlike any other. Well, that tradition comes to an end on this night. Other than possible Ole Miss shenanigans, this game should determine the SEC West champion. The Huskies’ game against the Trojans looked much bigger a few weeks ago but USC has struggled mightily on defense and really should move on from Alex Grinch if they are to have any chance at becoming a true contender. Finally, it will be interested to see what happens if Liberty ends up the only undefeated Group of Five team. At this point, their schedule is so weak that they wouldn’t be able to pass most of the one-loss teams if that was the case. But there is a month left so you never really know what could happen.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
Stanford at Washington State
9:00
Boise State at Fresno State
10:00
#16 Oregon State at Colorado
10:00
Big Mountain West game. Even with Boise starting the season off pretty badly, they still have a very good shot at getting back to the Mountain West Championship game. The Broncos will need a win down in the valley in Fresno to keep their hopes alive. The Bulldogs held on for a big win last week over UNLV and are sitting second behind Air Force for that other conference championship spot. Stakes are high.
Hey, Watch This
LSU at Alabama (7:45, CBS) – Don’t mind the bizarre start time. It may be something they are trying out for the future since even the slightest edge can help in the ratings war. This is CBS’s only primetime pick of the season and yet again, it’s the Tigers and the Tide. Unless Ole Miss makes a run, this is for the SEC West crown. LSU is going to be trying their damndest to be the first ever two-loss College Football Playoff team but they need a lot of help. First off, they need to take care of business in one of the toughest stadiums to play in as a visitor against one of the toughest coaches to ever play against. Easy, right?
Missouri at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Both ends of the SEC on CBS doubleheader are the top two games of the week. Just like they drew it up. Mizzou has played way above their heads all season. Not saying they have talent. They do but Eli Drinkwitz has, I don’t know, finally figured things out and is doing the best coaching of his career. And if the Tigers win here, boy oh boy, there is going to be a lot of talk about this in the college football media and you probably won’t hear of anything else.
Kansas State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – This and the next game could be swapped and no one would bat an eye. This feels like a Big XII semi-final as neither team probably has a shot at going to JerryWorld if they lose here. I am sure GUS JOHNSON and Joel Klatt are praying for a close game here. They switched to the 3:30 game last week and, lo and behold, the Big Noon Kickoff game ended up being a classic. Poor guys. There’s only so much excitement you can infuse into a blowout, you know? Unless you’re Joe Tessitore and everything is exciting.
Washington at USC (7:30, ABC/TSN+) – Washington is still undefeated. It feels like they are trying not to be but they have pulled out some close ones against *checks notes* Arizona State and Stanford. OK then. Look, if the Huskies don’t put at least 40 on the board here, they should consider it a loss. USC’s defense is atrocious. Their offense, on the other hand…they can put up points in bunches so U-Dub better watch out and not fall too far behind early in this one at the Coliseum.
Sickos Game of the Week
Iowa vs. Northwestern (at Wrigley Field) (3:30, Peacock) – Look, I know. I am breaking my own rules here. We can’t this game (legally) up here. But the over/under is 29.5. TWENTY-NINE-AND-A-HALF. That is so fucking absurd. And yes, I would still consider betting the under. This feels like a game straight out of 1912. Maybe it’s a good thing we can’t see it.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
UConn at Tennessee (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – I think we have to consider that last season’s UConn Huskies football squad’s performance may have been a fluke. This team is not good again. Not as bad as the years before 2022. But still bad. Plus, the Vols need the warmup for when they head to CoMo the following Saturday.
Wanna Bet?
How about my two upset picks last week? Yeah, they were shit. As were my Oklahoma, Clemson and Oregon State picks. Yeesh. Let’s just get on to the new week and see if I can somehow do better.
Tennessee 56 UConn 6
South Carolina 31 Jacksonville State 17
Texas 34 Kansas State 28
Virginia 41 Georgia Tech 23
Utah 31 Arizona State 14
Florida State 43 Pittsburgh 20
Minnesota 23 Illinois 13
Georgia 30 Missouri 24
Auburn 26 Vanderbilt 19
Appalachian State 48 Marshall 21
USC 56 Washington 46 (small upset)
Alabama 42 LSU 37
Oregon State 34 Colorado 16
As is the usual, I will be on X/Twitter/Elon Musk’s money-losing venture this Saturday. I always hope to be able to interact with other college football fans because that is part of the fun of all this. It’s one thing to watch the games: bantering with others while doing it makes it more enjoyable. As long as no one acts like a complete asshat. Then it brings everyone down. That’s why I stick with college football Twitter (which is honestly OK to pretty good) compared to, say, NFL Twitter, which can be rough. Or political Twitter which is a fucking cesspool. Anyway, many hours of college football coming up for all of us. Enjoy the games everyone!
Last year I decided to do some looking ahead in the middle of the season. Did it work out then? Eh. So why not try it again? What’s the worst that could happen? Why so many questions?
Will one of the surprise Group of Five teams keep things going into November? Air Force realistically has a clear path to 10-0 now. They end up with UNLV and Boise State and that’s where their mettle will be tested. If they don’t get there undefeated then they may not deserve that Group of Five New Year’s Six spot. James Madison, at this point, really has nothing to play for although that could be scary. They could run the table almost to spite the NCAA at this point. Finally, if things go awry for the AFA, JMU (and Liberty), watch out for Miami-Ohio. Quietly they are 6-1 and have the biggest game of the MAC season against the other 6-1 team in the conference, Toledo. Win that and they could conceivably go 11-1 and pout a lot of pressure on the top G-5 teams.
Is there anyone who will stop a Georgia-Alabama SEC Championship? Are there some small landmines left on UGA’s schedule? Sure. And now with Brock Bowers out for the season, any one of Tennessee, Missouri and, yes, Florida could upend the apple cart so to speak. Out in the SEC West, Bama has a much tougher road to hoe but if they can get through their next two games against the Vols and LSU, it might be clear sailing to Atlanta.
Can Penn State finally push through in the Big Ten East? Yes. This might be their best chance ever. They have to show that, though, this coming Saturday. Lose to Ohio State and forget about it. Win and they will make all Michigan fans nervous until their mega-matchup. This next month will define James Franklin’s tenure at State College.
Which conference will miss the College Football Playoff? Or will it be conferences…plural? If UGA and Bama make it to conference championship weekend undefeated then it will be two conferences being left out almost guaranteed. If not, then it will be a dogfight but I still worry about the Pac-12 and what feels like the inevitable cannibalization which has kind of already started. Washington is their best best but absolutely cannot lose more than one game the rest of the way.
The biggest upset the rest of the way will be…I am going to go with Oklahoma losing to either Oklahoma State in Bedlam or TCU on Black Friday. Something tells me they will not get through unscathed.
Now who will win the Heisman? Caleb Williams isn’t out of the race but man he looked awful in South Bend. Michael Penix Jr. is now the frontrunner but he will have to basically outlast Bo Nix, Jordan Travis, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy of all people who is slowly and efficiently powering Michigan through everyone on their schedule. This might be one of the tightest races in recent memory.
OK enough Nostradamusing….it’s sked time!
Tuesday
US
Canada
Middle Tennessee at Liberty
7:00
Southern Miss at South Alabama
7:30
WKU at Jacksonville State
7:30
Time for some CU(SA) Next Tuesday action as the two conference favourites play…in two separate games. Some Fun Belt action alongside it as well. I am so loving football every day for damn near two months.
Wednesday
US
Canada
FIU at Sam Houston
7:00
New Mexico State at UTEP
9:00
Maybe, just maybe, Sam Houston can finally get their first FBS win. Also, the Battle of I-10 (now a conference game!) is later on as the Aggies and Miners play for the Silver Spade. I also love these less-well-known trophy games. You can always tell it means a lot to these teams even if they don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Thursday
US
Canada
James Madison at Marshall
7:00
Rice at Tulsa
7:00
NC Central at Morgan State
7:30
Easily the highlight of the weeknight games is the Dukes travelling to Huntington to face off against the Thundering Herd. I hope that JMU can get a waiver to go bowling because if they keep going like this they deserve it. Also, the first of two HBCU games this weekend that you can see up here. Other than Week Zero that is something that almost never happens.
Friday
US
Canada
SMU at Temple
7:00
Look, there’s nothing else on…maybe baseball. So hopefully this one gets weird.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
UCF at #6 Oklahoma
Noon
Boston College at Georgia Tech
Noon
Rutgers at Indiana
Noon
#22 Air Force at Navy
Noon
Western Michigan at Ohio
Noon
Mississippi State at Arkansas
Noon
Memphis at UAB
Noon
Norfolk State at Howard
Noon
#7 Penn State at #3 Ohio State
Noon
The absolute main course of the week goes off at noon hour with PSU and tOSU facing off. Many hate the fact these big games are on at Noon but I saw a tweet that said this is a good way to get people to watch college football all day as since they introduced the ABC Saturday Night game, viewers shifted their viewing habits and were watching the games starting 3:30 and after way more than the Noon games. Not anymore.
We also have a big Group of Five matchup as Air Force looks to continue their undefeated run in a Commander’s-In-Chief Trophy game against Navy. Finally, Rutgers (RUTGERS!) could clinch bowl-eligibility with a win over the lowly Indiana Hoosiers.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Washington State at #9 Oregon
3:30
Pittsburgh at Wake Forest
3:30
Northwestern at Nebraska
3:30
#17 Tennessee at #11 Alabama
3:30
USF at UConn
3:30
Oklahoma State at West Virginia
3:30
North Texas at #23 Tulane
3:30
Minnesota at #24 Iowa
3:30
South Carolina at #20 Missouri
3:30
Toledo at Miami-OH
4:00
#8 Texas at Houston
4:00
Could the Vols upset the Tide? It’s entirely possible considering how average Bama has sometimes been. Wazzu and Oregon face off in a Pac-12 elimination game of sorts. The two most surprising teams in the Big XII will try and keep their surprising runs going. Imagine one of Texas or Oklahoma loses out on a Big XII Championship spot in their final year in the conference because of Oklahoma State? Or even worse, West Virginia? Big XII fans would never let either school live it down.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Virginia at #10 North Carolina
6:30
Utah State at San Jose State
7:00
#13 Ole Miss at Auburn
7:00
TCU at Kansas State
7:00
Appalachian State at Old Dominion
7:00
#16 Duke at #4 Florida State
7:30
#2 Michigan at Michigan State
7:30
Army at #19 LSU
7:30
Clemson at Miami
8:00
Georgia State at Louisiana
8:00
#14 Utah at #18 USC
8:00
The biggest game of the night is…*checks notes*…Florida State hosting Duke? DUKE? Yep. This could be a massive upset if the Blue Devils can pull it off. Also, let’s not understate that if the Noles win it counts as a big win and gives them another big push towards the College Football Playoff.
The rest of the primetime schedule features another Pac-12 elimination game. Imagine saying that the Trojans and Caleb Williams are eliminated from the Pac-12 race over a week before Halloween? Say that at the start of the season and some would have thought you were crazy.
Also, we have a potential Fight Night II as Michigan heads to East Lansing to face Baby Brother, the Spartans. If there’s even a sniff of a potential brawl it will get a lot of attention. I’m sure Captain Khaki will tell his players to steer clear of any of that shit because they have national championship aspirations and any suspensions could cause serious problems.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
#25 UCLA at Stanford
10:30
Montana State at Sacramento State
10:30
Wow this is….this is technically the late night schedule. Look, if the Montana State-Sac State game is anything like the Montana-Idaho game last Saturday night then this could be a fun one to watch.
Hey, Watch This!
Penn State at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – There is no other game that could occupy this top spot. This is one of the three-team Big Ten East Round Robin Games of the Year (along with the games against Michigan) where one or even two teams will be eliminated from the CFP conversation for having the audacity to be in the same division as the other teams. A loss here doesn’t fully eliminate either team from contention as you will know from my preview posts back in August.
Duke at Florida State (7:30, ABC) – The Blue Devil Dream Season could hit a crescendo at around 11:00. Weeks after, arguably, their biggest win in program history over Clemson they could one-up that if they pull off the monumental upset here. On the other hand, Jordan Travis could re-introduce himself into the Heisman race if he can put on a big performance and lead FSU to victory.
Tennessee at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – Gee, I wonder who Gary Danielson will be pulling for in this one? Look, I am sure there are some people who are surprised that the Vols are only 6 spots behind the Tide in the rankings. You shouldn’t be. As I said above, Bama has looked entirely average at times this season (see their game against USF). Saying all that, this is still the Alabama Damn Crimson Tide and you know Nick Saban will have the players up for this game so UT can’t afford a slow start here.
Utah at USC (8:00, FOX) – If USC hadn’t played poorly last Saturday in South Bend and if the Utes hadn’t looked terrible against Oregon State a couple weeks back, this game could have been close to number one on the list. Instead, both squads will be fighting for their Pac-12 lives which is something no one figured for this game considering there is still more than a month left in the season.
Sickos Game of the Week
Northwestern at Nebraska (3:30, Big Ten Network) – This is why conference networks exist. To bury games like this far away from many eyes while still being able to say it’s being broadcast to a fairly wide audience. I can’t see there being much interest in this game anywhere, except for Wildcat and Cornhusker fans (and even then).
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Army at LSU (7:30, TSN+/SP) – There are speed bump games and then there is this. Unless LSU shits the bed, this is not going to end well for the Black Knights. So no, this is not a speed bump game or a lookahead game or anything else you want to call it. It will probably end up being a good old fashioned beatdown.
Wanna Bet?
Who called the Pitt upset? This fucking guy….I’m pointing at myself. Enough said. Let’s get on to this week’s picks!
UTEP 29 New Mexico State 23
Ohio State 34 Penn State 24
Air Force 39 Navy 38
Ohio 20 Western Michigan 16
Arkansas 21 Mississippi State 14
UAB 38 Memphis 35 (upset!)
Oklahoma State 27 West Virginia 23
Alabama 31 Tennessee 28
North Carolina 41 Virginia 33
Michigan 45 Michigan State 17
Florida State 30 Duke 13
USC 20 Utah 16
Louisiana 25 Georgia State 24
The Bossman Top 26!
It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Yeah, I figured it was about time to whip out the Bossman Top 25 so here it is in all its….well, glory might be too strong a word…wait hold on…oh no. Not the Top 25. I’m going one better. Top 26, motherfuckers! Let’s ride!
#1
Georgia
#2
Michigan
#3
Ohio State
#4
Washington
#5
Florida State
#6
Penn State
#7
Oklahoma
#8
Alabama
#9
Oregon State
#10
Texas
#11
North Carolina
#12
Oregon
#13
Ole Miss
#14
Notre Dame
#15
Utah
#16
Tennessee
#17
USC
#18
LSU
#19
Duke
#20
Missouri
#21
Louisville
#22
Tulane
#23
UCLA
#24
Iowa
#25
Air Force
#26
James Madison
“Bossman, why don’t you have Michigan at #1?” “Bossman, why do you have Bama up at #8?” “Bossman, why don’t you have James Madison in the Top 25?” Look, I try to base this on how good a team is, their record, and who they have played. You could exchange Air Force and JMU and it makes not a lick of difference. You could flip flop Georgia and Michigan. You could have Oregon State above Alabama. You could do all these things, sure. And it may end up working out that way. I find it much easier (now) to start the rankings in the middle of the season because I have a better idea of where most of the teams should be. Plus I know that all the big games coming up will actually alter how the season plays out, something that can’t be done with a preseason poll.
Football every day, folks. FOOTBALL….EVERY DAMN DAY! Until American Thanksgiving Eve. Embrace it. Everyone have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games!
Look, did Colorado surprise a lot of people this past weekend? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Deion Sanders is proving, whether you like him or not, that he can flat-out coach. And overhauling the roster like he did was not a bad idea at all. It does suck for the players that had to transfer out but unfortunately it’s football and the name of the game is winning.
Saying that………the amount of people I saw on Twitter that said Colorado will win 10 or 11 games this season was way too much. It should have been zero. Colorado may be better than advertised but they aren’t all of a sudden a New Year’s Six possibility. But hey, that’s the reactions from Week 1 of college football. Every. Single. Fucking. Year.
So let’s do it again on here! It’s overreaction time! Let’s look at some of the other overreactions you may (or may not) have heard after the Week 1 games were complete:
Ohio State is just an average team. Do we expect more from the Buckeyes against a team like Indiana? Sure. But they are bringing in a new quarterback and their best receiver was not 100%. The defense was amazing. Now the offense does have to be ready since in about a week and a half they get Notre Dame and that could get ugly if they don’t produce more points.
Colorado will have not one, but TWO Heisman finalists. What in the fuck? Who are the morons saying this? They are out there for sure. I saw them. Sure, they did great in their opening week win over TCU but calm the fuck down. TCU isn’t the TCU of last season for one and it’s only WEEK ONE. Anyway, moving on…
Gene Chizik has finally got the defense cooking in Chapel Hill. Again, it’s one game. Do the Heels look improved? Sure. But it’s not like South Carolina played well at all because, for the most part they didn’t. That, and the chain gang wouldn’t eat their hot dogs fast enough. Let’s see how UNC does when a top-notch offense is staring them in the face.
Jalen Milroe is already looking like another Alabama Jalen…that being Hurts. My God where do these people come up with this shit? Milroe looked OK but it was Middle Tennessee and he’s playing for Ala-frickin-Bama. We will see how he handles SEC competition before crowning him anything.
Washington has the best offense in the country. Could that end up being the case? Possibly. Michael Penix Jr. has already started his Heisman campaign in style. But let’s slow our roll here. There are at least four teams who looked better on offense (Colorado, Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon) during Week 1. And I wouldn’t even say any of those teams will be the best offense in the country so why go ahead and put the Huskies at #1?
Book the Sooners for the Big XII Championship NOW! As I said, their offense was on fire but they were playing Arkansas State. We are all waiting to see if Brent Venables can have a Venables-type defense in Norman. If that happens, this could very well happen. But for now, I wouldn’t book any tickets yet if I were a Sooners fan.
Miami is BACK. Ho boy. Pump the damn brakes.
Let’s just put Week 1 behind us, shall we? Let’s move on to Week 2 which…oh my. Well, it’s better than Week 1. That’s really all I can say. But you know what that usually means. That’s right…chaos!
Thursday
US
Canada
Murray State at Louisville
7:30
Yep, that’s a new logo you see. TSN+ will be showing college football games this year. It kind of mimics the specialty pack but there are a few differences. But if you want to get TSN+ rather than the specialty pack for your college football fix, you are getting close to the same. Not a bad alternative and a good move by TSN to copy ESPN for the 10,000th time.
Friday
US
Canada
Indiana State at Indiana
7:00
Illinois at Kansas
7:30
It kind of feels like this could be a relatively important game when the Illini travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks. Imagine saying that even two years ago. You’d be laughed out of whatever building you were in.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest
11:00 AM
#10 Notre Dame at NC State
Noon
Youngstown State at #5 Ohio State
Noon
Delaware State at Army
Noon
#12 Utah at Baylor
Noon
Purdue at Virginia Tech
Noon
James Madison at Virginia
Noon
Nebraska at #22 Colorado
Noon
Ball State at #1 Georgia
Noon
Is the quality there? Eh, not really. But there’s choice. A lot of it. Can’t ask for much else. Also…MORNING FOOTBAW! The ACC Network’s weird annual Week 2 quadrupleheader hits again with the odd three hour-and-fifteen-minute windows. This will be a lot easier to do next year when Stanford and California join as you know one of them will host the ACC After Dark Week 2 matchup, guaranteed.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Charleston Southern at #25 Clemson
2:15
#23 Texas A&M at Miami
3:30
UTEP at Northwestern
3:30
Richmond at Michigan State
3:30
UNLV at #2 Michigan
3:30
Wagner at Navy
3:30
#20 Ole Miss at #24 Tulane
3:30
Iowa at Iowa State
3:30
Marshall at East Carolina
4:00
Kent State at Arkansas
4:00
Tulsa at #8 Washington
5:00
Appalachian State at #17 North Carolina
5:15
Is the afternoon slate better than the Noon slate? Sure. Not by much though. Some intriguing matchups though. As per the rules, one of Texas A&M or Miami must win their game against each other. Ties were outlawed almost three decades ago. Will CyHawk feature more than 30 points? Can App State and UNC put up ridiculous numbers like last year? And this will be Tulane’s opportunity to get a huge leg up in the Group of Five. A win over Ole Miss would be massive.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Ohio at FAU
6:00
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
6:30
#11 Texas at #3 Alabama
7:00
#13 Oregon at Texas Tech
7:00
Houston at Rice
7:00
#19 Wisconsin at Washington State
7:30
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
7:30
Temple at Rutgers
7:30
UCLA at San Diego State
7:30
Grambling at #14 LSU
7:30
McNeese State at Florida
7:30
Charlotte at Maryland
7:30
Arizona at Mississippi State
7:30
Air Force vs. Sam Houston (in NRG Stadium)
8:00
Southern Miss at #4 Florida State
8:30
FIFTEEN GAMES! Holy shit! I think this has to be the most in one timeslot ever on this blog. I don’t feel like checking so let’s just say we have a new record! Plenty of games but most people will be watching one game in particular, that being the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide. If Texas can somehow do what they were robbed of last season and upset Bama, this season turns on its head. This game is so big that they are also showing it on ESPN2 in the US and on TSN+ and the specialty packs. But it’s not the same broadcast. It’s the Pat McAfee Show alternate broadcast. So if you like that kind of thing, have at it.
Also, you will notice we have a new network showing college football. That’s right, the CW, with such hits as 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Smallville and LIV Golf (well it was a hit with the golfers who got fucking PAID with that Saudi blood money) will be showing ACC football (and later on, ACC basketball) this year. This replaces Bally which, for all intents and purposes, is flat broke. There will be games most weeks and, it looks like, at odd times. 6:30? Weird.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
UC-Davis at #16 Oregon State
9:00
Auburn at California
10:30
Stanford at #6 USC
10:30
FOX quadrupleheader? Don’t mind if I do. TSN2 quadrupleheader? Yes, please. A good week if you are a Canadian as I don’t remember seeing this much college football being shown up here in a while. Maybe things are turning around. Looks like TSN finally gives a shit about things that aren’t the CFL, NFL, and NHL (which they don’t even have the national broadcasting rights to).
Hey, Watch This!
Texas at Alabama (7:00, TSN2/TSN+/specialty pack) – Unequivocally the game of the week and there’s nothing else close. That also means there will be some wild and wacky finishes that might overshadow this game. That is, unless, this is a close one and the Longhorns pull off the upset. Then it will be THE story in college football no matter what else happens.
Ole Miss at Tulane (3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – As I mentioned above, if the Green Wave pull off a win here in front of what should be a raucous crowd in hot and humid New Orleans, there’s not a whole lot that will prevent them from a perfect regular season and another New Year’s Six spot. Normally I would say this is a lose-lose situation for any Power Five team in this situation but when the Group of Five team is ranked it can count as a big win (as long as that team doesn’t totally shit the bed the rest of the way).
Texas A&M at Miami (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I made the joke above that one of these teams has to win, as per the rules of college football. We may actually see which one of these teams is back (for the most part) and which team still has some work to do. Now watch it be a 13-10 almost-unwatchable slog.
Nebraska at Colorado (Noon, FOX) – Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s see if the hype matches what ends up happening. Some might have put this higher but that’s crazy. It makes this list because of the talk, not because of the teams involved. And Colorado can’t just win this game by a little. That would prove nothing. If they beat the brakes off the Huskers, then we all have to take notice and maybe think the Buffs could be for real.
Sickos Game of the Week
Temple at Rutgers (7:30, specialty pack) – Look, Rutgers is probably going to start 2-0 which really doesn’t mean a whole lot considering their schedule but still, that’s something right? With everything on at this time, you would have to be a complete psychopath to watch this game. I will make sure to tune in and watch at least a few plays. I feel like I owe it to everyone and myself.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Ball State at Georgia (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – Time to bring back the blowout of the week segment. And this could be the dictionary definition of blowout. I could see UGA putting up 60 on the poor Cardinals.
Wanna Bet?
Nebraska was actually a good bet. That game ended up exactly how I thought it would (for the most part). Florida, however….well the less said about that one the better. Time for my gambling picks for the second week of the college football season. Use them at your own peril.
Indiana (-30.5) over Indiana State
Purdue (+3) over Virginia Tech (and the outright win)
Ohio State (-41.5) over Youngstown State
Utah (-8) over Baylor
Nebraska (+2.5) over Colorado (and the upset win…definitely going out on a limb with this one)
Michigan (-37.5) over UNLV
Tulane (+7.5) over Ole Miss (but the Rebs will hold on for a close victory)
Texas A&M (-4) over Miami
Alabama (-7) over Texas
Washington State (+6) over Wisconsin (with the Badgers winning a tight affair)
Minnesota (-20.5) over Eastern Michigan
Mississippi State (-9) over Arizona
Stanford (+29.5) over USC (I feel a backdoor cover in this one)
I will be on the Twitter/X machine again this weekend. Even without Tweetdeck I am figuring out how to navigate fairly well. We shall see if I can make it two Saturdays in a row making it all the way to the end. Enjoy the games everyone!
It felt like things were calm. We were all lulled into this. It was just the eye of the storm. Sure the wind wasn’t moving but about 200 metres away, a cow just went flying headlong into a barn.
What am I talking about? Realignment, of course! Another shoe has dropped…OK let me use a different analogy. Sorry Deion. We have another big move as Colorado will be going back to the Big XII starting next season. And that probably won’t be all. The rumours have at least one of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon or Washington following the Buffaloes. Or, if no other schools leave the Pac-12, the Big XII is more than willing to dip into the American Conference (hello SMU, Memphis, Tulane) or even way out east…yes, UConn! And maybe once the Pac-12 (or more like Pac-9) gets their act together, they can start bringing in teams from the Group of Five. The same teams from the American would be in play, especially SMU. Also, the Mountain West would be watching closely as San Diego State, Boise State and perhaps Colorado State and UNLV could be looked at. There will be a lot of meetings in the next month or so to determine where this all leads.
For now let’s focus on what this post was supposed to be (and still will be). It’s time for the Power Five conference predictions. This will give a better indication on how I think things will go during this season. So let’s dive right in!
Changes are coming soon for the Ess Ee Cee. Texas and Oklahoma join the conference next season. Also, no more SEC on CBS after this year. Everything moves to ABC and ESPN. And finally, no divisions. Halle-fucking-lujah.
As for this year, all the talk is about Georgia and doing something no team has done (fully) in the AP Poll era: win three national championships in a row. It’s not like they will fall apart, despite the fact they lost their starting quarterback and a bunch of other players in the NFL Draft. Then again, I’m sure Kirby Smart has looked them all dead in the eye and told them “Everyone thinks you are going to go 5-7 and lose to Vanderbilt. Prove them wrong!” And they will believe it because college football head coaches are just a notch-and-a-half below cult leaders in the pecking order of how much they can make their “followers” drink their Kool-Aid.
Remember, though, there are other teams in the conference as well. Like those lovable underdogs from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the team that just reeks of success (in the classroom and on the baseball diamond), Vanderbilt. And eleven other teams. Want to find out how I think they will do? OK. I will do that. Just for you.
Â
Â
Conference
Overall
Â
East
W
L
W
L
Georgia
7
1
11
1
Tennessee
6
2
10
2
South Carolina
5
3
8
4
Kentucky
3
5
6
6
Missouri
2
6
5
7
Florida
2
6
5
7
Vanderbilt
1
7
4
8
Â
West
Â
Â
Â
Â
Alabama
8
0
12
0
LSU
6
2
9
3
Ole Miss
4
4
8
4
Texas A&M
4
4
8
4
Arkansas
3
5
7
5
Auburn
3
5
7
5
Mississippi State
2
6
6
6
Just For You
You might think I am crazy for having UGA not run the table. I do think they will lose a regular season game and it will be to those upstart Tennessee Volunteers. It won’t keep them from winning the division though as you can see I have those same Vols losing two conference games during the regular season.
As for the SEC West, though, Bama will once again rule the roost….as long as they figure out their quarterback situation. I am thinking they will and will go undefeated and be #1 in the nation going into conference championship weekend. If they don’t get their QB situation settled…well, maybe they lose two games? Three? It’s not like they will fall to 6-6.
I could see South Carolina or last year’s SEC West champs, LSU, making a bit of a run this time around. They have the top two quarterbacks in the SEC and could each put up piles of points. Watch for the Cocks’ game against Georgia early on in the season and LSU’s post-Halloween trip to Bryant-Denny to face the Tide. Upsets in either of those games will seriously upset the apple cart.
Look, the Gators were barely .500 with who I think may be one of the most overhyped quarterbacks in recent memory. I don’t think Anthony Richardson was that great. And now they don’t even have him. Unless every other part of the roster improved (it didn’t), how do people expect this team to bounce back and all of a sudden become an eight or nine win team? Spoiler alert: they won’t.
I have Mississippi State at 6-6. They will do just enough to get a bowl game. I wonder how tough it will be after the loss of Mike Leach but I can see them straightening things out just in time late in the season.
As for the SEC Championship, SURPRISE! I have the Dawgs beating the Tide and creating a massive clusterfuck in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Fun times!
Eleven bowl teams from the SEC with two juuuuuust on the outside. That’s insane and I don’t think I will be that far off with this prediction. Next year could be even crazier with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference that just means more.
Man have things really changed in terms of where you will see Big Ten games this season. Gone are ABC and ESPN. In is NBC and CBS. This is gonna feel weird the first time I see it. And maybe the next few times as well. I will get used to it at some point. Now if you want the opportunity to watch every Big Ten game, better find a way to get FOX Sports One and Peacock otherwise you will be shit out of luck to watch potential bangers like Northwestern-Purdue and Indiana-Rutgers (if they end up there and not the Big Ten Network).
Alright, let’s get into the final conference predictions before the B1G gives a big Fuck You to geography and brings in USC and UCLA.
Â
Â
Conference
Overall
Â
East
W
L
W
L
Michigan
8
1
11
1
Penn State
8
1
11
1
Ohio State
8
1
10
2
Michigan State
5
4
7
5
Maryland
5
4
8
4
Indiana
1
8
3
9
Rutgers
1
8
4
8
Â
West
Â
Â
Â
Â
Minnesota
6
3
8
4
Wisconsin
6
3
9
3
Iowa
6
3
9
3
Illinois
5
4
7
5
Nebraska
2
7
5
7
Purdue
2
7
5
7
Northwestern
0
9
2
10
Geogpraphy, Go Eat a Dick
Look, I know some might look at the Big Ten East standings and think I am a bit crazy. I am not. Although that is what a crazy person would tell you. Yep, a three-way tie at the top at 8-1 between Big Blue, tOSU and PSU. Because each team will be 1-1 against the other two, the CFP Rankings will decide the winner. I believe the Wolverines will somehow win that. And yes, I think Ohio State also loses to Notre Dame. O-H! I-No.
If Sparty doesn’t make it to a bowl game, they may end up giving Mel Tucker the Herm Edwards treatment and fire him before he can leave the playing surface one game. I get they have a tough division but they should be able to do well enough against the rest of their schedule to get back in the postseason after last year’s debacle.
No, I don’t have Wisconsin winning the West division. Meaning I am different than almost every expert out there. Also, there’s the fact I’m not an expert but I digress. Again I have a damn three-way tie but no need to look at the rankings for this one as I believe the Gophers will Row the Fucking Boat all the way to Indianapolis after beating both Wisky and the high-octane Iowa Hawkeyes. See what I did there? Yeah, I don’t care that the Hawkeyes have a new quarterback in town. Until Kirk tells his son to do better, Iowa will be pushing for some 7-6 victories. Sorry. 8-6. Two field goals and a late safety to win.
Nebraska will be better but I think the Huskers are a season away from getting back to the top of the West…just in time for the West to just not exist anymore.
As for Northwestern…man. What a shitshow. Look, I played a lot of sports earlier in my life and did so at the university level. Are there fun little pranks and stupid things the rookies have to do? Sometimes. But it’s usually harmless. Carrying bags, standing up during a team dinner to get embarrassed by singing some Mariah Carey song, dumb things like that. Not getting fucking dry humped in some cultish fashion by weirdos in robes. What the fuck is wrong with that school? And yes, it’s not just the football program. Sounds like at least half the teams there have serious issues. Ugh.
Now let’s get crazy. Yeah! The Big Ten Championship will…OK who am I kidding. It won’t be close. I have Michigan plowing through Minny to clinch their spot, yet again, in the College Football Playoff.
Might as well call this the Stable Conference…for now. Just nothing happening here which is just fine for most of the teams in the ACC. Status quo isn’t a bad thing. There are some changes with where you will see games. The CW…yes, the C-Fucking-W, will have an ACC game during most of the weeks of the season. You can take the ACC out of Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) but you can’t take the Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) out of the ACC. Or something like that.
So before this conference possibly gets pillaged by the Big Ten and SEC, let’s get to the predictions followed by some deep tissue massage and/or analysis.
Â
Â
Conference
Overall
Â
Â
W
L
W
L
Clemson
8
0
12
10
Florida State
7
1
11
1
North Carolina
6
2
9
3
Pittsburgh
5
3
8
4
Louisville
5
3
8
4
Duke
4
4
8
4
Wake Forest
4
4
7
5
NC State
4
4
7
5
Miami
4
4
7
5
Syracuse
3
5
6
6
Boston College
2
6
5
7
Virginia
2
6
4
8
Georgia Tech
2
6
4
8
Virginia Tech
0
8
1
11
Deep Tissue Massage and/or Analysis
I should book a massage. My back is in horrible shape.
Some may scoff at me having Clemson going undefeated this season. They have the schedule to do it and if Cade Klubnik is as good as he can be this could relatively easily happen. If Klubnik struggles…well then this entire set of standings might need to be scrubbed from existence.
Reader Gord will like where I have Florida State. This team could be scary good. And at the very least, they will be near the top of the ACC standings this season. Mike Norvell has done a great job getting this team back to what it was like during the Jimbo Fisher days. I had my doubts about him but I have to admit he has been the right guy to right the ship in Tallahassee.
Hey did you notice? NO DIVISIONS! I love it.
Don’t be surprised that if Clemson or FSU stumbles that there are no shortage of teams that could get one of the two ACC title game slots. A list of seven teams could pull off a couple of upsets and be at the top and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. A slight surprise sure. Maybe a slightly bigger surprise if it was Miami or NC State. But not a massive surprise.
Poor Virginia Tech. I think this will be their worst team since before Frank Beamer graced Blacksburg. It feels like it has been forever since the Hokies were contenders. It was only seven years ago when they were in the ACC Championship and almost upset the eventual national champions, Clemson. This team is pretty bad in almost every aspect of the game and the schedule will not be helpful to them. Other than Old Dominion I don’t see them winning any other game and the Monarchs have given VT all sorts of fits the past few years.
Look for a tiny bit of a bounce back from Virginia. Just them taking the field after what happened last year is a win in my books.
For that ACC title game, how about another game that will turn everything on its head. Yep, I think the Noles will get revenge for a regular season loss by inching out the Tigers. Chaos!
OK it’s about time the Big XII rebrands. They will have at least thirteen teams by the time the 2024 season starts and it may be as high as sixteen. So change the fucking name. They have the rights to the Big Fourteen and Big Sixteen so use one of those. It would be easy. Find a graphic design student at Kansas and have them do a new logo. Easy peasy. Why do I have to come up with everything?
Where was I? Oh that’s right, predictions. Let’s see if this conference will go all Pac-12 and cannibalize itself or if they can see a team get to the CFP once again. Also, Texas and Oklahoma will be trying their best to leave the conference on a high note much to the chagrin of the rest of the schools in the conference. So here are the Big XII standings predictions, followed by Belly Expansions.
Â
Â
Conference
Overall
Â
Â
W
L
W
L
Texas
8
1
10
2
Kansas State
7
2
10
2
Baylor
6
3
8
4
TCU
6
3
9
3
Oklahoma
6
3
9
3
Texas Tech
5
4
8
4
Oklahoma State
5
4
8
4
Kansas
4
5
7
5
UCF
4
5
7
5
BYU
3
6
5
7
Cincinnati
3
6
5
7
Houston
2
7
4
8
Iowa State
2
7
4
8
West Virginia
2
7
3
9
Belly Expansions
No I don’t mean pregnancy. I mean eating a big meal and having to loosen the ol’ belt or just unbuckle the pants altogether. Funny enough, people in the restaurant don’t appreciate that.
Let’s start at the bottom. There won’t be one truly bad team. There will be a bunch of below-average ones. West Virginia, Iowa State, Houston, Cincinnati and BYU could all finish last and I am sure no one would bat an eye.
I see the Longhorns making their final Big XII season a special one. They have the team, the schedule and the head coach (I think) to be the top team in this conference this season. The only question will be can Quinn Ewers hold off Arch Manning. Will one of them transfer in the offseason? Remember, when you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none. I think.
How about this lukewarm take: Kansas State will be good again. Yeah really going out on a limb there Bossman. This team has become so steady-as-she-goes it’s almost boring. The people in the Little Apple are fine with this.
I do think one of the newcomers will make a bowl game and that team will be UCF. I think they are the most prepared of the newbies coming into this conference. But make no mistake about it: all four teams will be good at various points over the next few years.
I can’t see Oklahoma taking enough of a leap to get to the Big XII Championship. Nor do I think the Horned Frogs of TCU have the, uh, toads? to make it back to the conference title game. Good seasons for both, yes, but not great.
The Longhorns should win the conference title game in their final season in the Big XII. Will this get them into the CFP or will it “relegate” them to the New Year’s Six? I think you can tell from my predictions so far but you will know for sure in a different post.
So where are we going to be able to watch Pac-12 games in the future? Who the hell knows. My money is on PBS.
But seriously, the Pac-12 is quickly dropping from the Conference of Champions to almost a Group of Five conference. They are losing USC and UCLA next year to the Big Ten. They knew that already. The bombshell of Colorado leaving now has them at nine teams starting the 2024 season. And it may not end there. The only schools I haven’t heard potentially leaving are Oregon State and Washington State. That’s not to say all these rumours will be correct but I will be pretty surprised if no more teams leave for the Big XII before next season. It’s sad for a conference that really started their slide once Pete Carroll left USC for the NFL. Thanks a bunch, Peter.
Prediction time! No divisions which is one thing they are ahead of the game with, starting that last year. Let’s get to those divisionless predictions followed by some California Nightmarin’.
Â
Â
Conference
Overall
Â
Â
W
L
W
L
USC
8
1
10
2
Utah
7
2
9
3
Oregon
7
2
9
3
Oregon State
7
2
10
2
Washington State
6
3
8
4
Washington
6
3
9
3
UCLA
5
4
8
4
Colorado
3
6
4
8
California
2
7
4
8
Arizona
2
7
4
8
Arizona State
1
8
3
9
Stanford
0
9
2
10
California Nightmarin’
No state will have it better this year in the Pac-12 than the state of Oregon. Both the Ducks and the Beavers look to be serious contenders and only need the ball to bounce their way one extra time to maybe get to the Pac-12 Championship. And considering the way that title game has gone, who knows what may happen after that.
The strongest team, though, should be USC. They have Caleb Williams coming back to try and do what no one other than some guy named Archie has ever done, and that’s win two Heisman Trophies. The hope there is that the sting of the two season-ending losses will motivate them to push themselves that final step into the CFP.
OK look, I know you see Washington in sixth place and you are wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. This is another case where the schedule is just flat-out against them. A slightly easier schedule and I might put this team at eleven or even, dare I say it, twelve wins. It will be that close at the top of the conference.
On the other hand, I am sure no will think I’m crazy for putting Stanford in last place. It’s been a long time since the Cardinal have been this bad and it doesn’t look like they will be ready for bowl action for another year at least.
I think I was fair putting Colorado at 4-8 for this season and playing fairly meaningful football going into November. There seems to be two schools of thought with this team. One section thinks Coach Prime has done wonders and with all the fresh faces in the lineup it will push the team over the line and into bowl-eligibility territory. The other section thinks the entire program is overhyped and they will win maybe two games. I am in the middle on this. This team won’t go bowling this year. That would be too much of a leap. But they should win more games than they did last year. If not, what the hell was all this hoopla for?
As for the Pac-12 title game, USC gets the Pac-12 Championship they probably should have won last year. Problem is that by this point there will be a lot of teams in the mix for those four College Football Playoff spots and in typical Pac-12 fashion, the league will have cannabilized itself again and missed out on the CFP again.
There you go! You now have a complete set of Bossman conference predictions. Next up, is kind of the wrap-up post where I put everything in a nice, neat little ball and let you know who I believe will win the whole damn deal. Have a great week everyone!
OK not all the schedules but quite a few. I mean there’s some I may not even take a guess at.
Just like last year I am going to put all my schedule predictions in one long-ass post. So wait until you have to take an absolute monster of a shit before taking this one into the bathroom to read. Let’s go!
This is a crazy transition year for CBS. Out with the old (SEC) and in with the new (Big Ten). A few sprinkles (Mountain West) and you have a brand new college football sundae. Sorry fans, Gary Danielson, as far as I can tell, is still around. Worst part is we have heard him be one of the best analysts in the business. More often than not, though, he goes off on some stupid tangent that ends up with him declaring he has a college football boner for Bama.
As is the norm, I will let you know which games are confirmed. The ones that are not…well, some of them will be right because it makes sense and the rest will be not right because one or both of the teams I predicted to play at that time or not nearly as good as I thought they would be and/or I’m an idiot. So let’s start this bizarrely stupid puzzle and follow it with some It Just Means More Sweet Tea Analysis (which may or may not contain grits):
September 2nd
Ohio State at Indiana
3:30 PM
September 2nd
Texas Tech at Wyoming
7:30 PM
September 3rd
Northwestern at Rutgers
Noon
September 3rd
Oregon State at San Jose State
3:30 PM
September 9th
UNLV at Michigan
3:30 PM
September 9th
UCLA at San Diego State
7:30 PM
September 16th
South Carolina at Georgia
3:30 PM
September 23rd
Ole Miss at Alabama
3:30 PM
September 23rd
Iowa at Penn State
7:30 PM
September 30th
Alabama at Mississippi State
3:30 PM
October 7th
Kentucky at Georgia
3:30 PM
October 14th
Arkansas at Alabama
Noon
October 14th
Auburn at LSU
3:30 PM
October 21st
Air Force at Navy
Noon
October 21st
Tennessee at Alabama
3:30 PM
October 28th
Purdue at Nebraska
Noon
October 28th
Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)
3:30 PM
November 4th
Penn State at Maryland
Noon
November 4th
Kentucky at Mississippi State
3:30 PM
November 4th
LSU at Alabama
8:00 PM
November 11th
Ole Miss at Georgia
3:30 PM
November 11th
Rutgers at Iowa
7:30 PM
November 18th
Minnesota at Ohio State
Noon
November 18th
Georgia at Tennessee
3:30 PM
November 24th
Iowa at Nebraska
Noon
November 24th
Missouri at Arkansas
4:00 PM
November 24th
San Jose State at UNLV
7:30 PM
November 25th
Alabama at Auburn
3:30 PM
December 2nd
SEC Championship
4:00 PM
December 9th
Army vs. Navy (in Foxborough)
3:00 PM
December 29th
Sun Bowl
2:00 PM
It Just Means More (Games other than the SEC on CBS) Analysis:
I feel like I shouldn’t have to remind you but in all these tables, a game in bold means it has been confirmed. Not bold? Bossman used his dumb brain to try and figure it out.
The appearance list will look a bit different this time as it will have a few conferences involved so let’s start with the SEC appearances:
5 times – Alabama, Georgia
3 times – Ole Miss, LSU
2 times – Kentucky, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee
1 time – South Carolina, Mississippi State, Florida, Missouri
No times – Vanderbilt, Texas A&M
Wait, WHAT? No TAMU on CBS? Wow, I honestly didn’t notice until now when I started breaking out the different schedules. Crazy. I guess they will have to prove it this season to maybe get on late in the year.
Now we have the Big Ten appearance list:
3 times – Iowa
2 times – Ohio State, Rutgers, Penn State, Nebraska
1 time – Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan, Purdue, Maryland, Minnesota
No times – Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois
I look at these numbers and can glean….well, nothing from it. Wisconsin is good and appears no times and Rutgers appears twice. However, tOSU also appears twice and Michigan State doesn’t appear at all. Seems all very random. Which could very well be the case at least for this first season.
I’m not going to get into the Mountain West game count since there aren’t enough games to see any trends.
The Army-Navy game heads to New England for the first time ever. Foxborough gets the game this year and I like this idea. Not saying they have to move it around all over the place but every two or three years to take it out of Philly is a smart move.
What is ABC going to do for this one season without the Big Ten and with the SEC showing up in 2024? They will have to lean heavily on the other three Power Five conferences to carry the load, especially when it comes to the primetime schedule. Don’t worry though: there are enough good teams in these conferences to fill most of these spots where it looks like the network won’t have missed a beat. Then next year, might as well pencil (or pen…or Sharpie) the SEC in for the majority of those primetime games.
But hey we haven’t hit 2024 yet. It’s still 2023 so let’s get to the ESPN on ABC regular season college football schedule for the FBS for this season. I will follow it up with some Power(ful) Two Thoughts:
August 26th
Jackson State vs. South Carolina State (in Atlanta)
7:30 PM
September 2nd
Tennessee vs. Virginia (in Nashville)
Noon
September 2nd
Boise State at Washington
3:30 PM
September 2nd
South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte)
7:30 PM
September 3rd
LSU vs. Florida State (in Orlando)
7:30 PM
September 9th
Notre Dame at NC State
Noon
September 9th
Texas A&M at Miami
3:30 PM
September 9th
Wisconsin at Washington State
7:30 PM
September 16th
Florida State at Boston College
Noon
September 16th
Alabama at USF
3:30 PM
September 16th
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
7:30 PM
September 23rd
Texas Tech at West Virginia
Noon
September 23rd
Texas at Baylor
3:30 PM
September 23rd
Florida State at Clemson
7:30 PM
September 30th
Notre Dame at Duke
Noon
September 30th
Kansas at Texas
3:30 PM
September 30th
Clemson at Syracuse
7:30 PM
October 7th
Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas)
Noon
October 7th
Notre Dame at Louisville
3:30 PM
October 7th
Wake Forest at Clemson
7:30 PM
October 14th
Kansas at Oklahoma State
Noon
October 14th
Kansas State at Texas Tech
3:30 PM
October 14th
BYU at TCU
7:30 PM
October 21st
Duke at Florida State
Noon
October 21st
Clemson at Miami
3:30 PM
October 21st
Utah at USC
7:30 PM
October 28th
Duke at Louisville
Noon
October 28th
Clemson at NC State
3:30 PM
October 28th
Oregon at Utah
7:30 PM
November 4th
Florida State at Pittsburgh
Noon
November 4th
Notre Dame at Clemson
3:30 PM
November 4th
Kansas State at Texas
7:30 PM
November 11th
Baylor at Kansas State
Noon
November 11th
Miami at Florida State
3:30 PM
November 11th
USC at Oregon
7:30 PM
November 18th
Kansas State at Kansas
Noon
November 18th
Texas at Iowa State
3:30 PM
November 18th
North Carolina at Clemson
7:30 PM
November 24th
Miami at Boston College
Noon
November 24th
Navy at SMU
3:30 PM
November 24th
Texas Tech at Texas
7:30 PM
November 25th
Pittsburgh at Duke
Noon
November 25th
Houston at UCF
3:30 PM
November 25th
Washington State at Washington
7:30 PM
December 1st
Pac-12 Championship
8:00 PM
December 2nd
Big XII Championship
Noon
December 2nd
American Championship
4:00 PM
December 2nd
ACC Championship
8:00 PM
December 16th
Celebration Bowl
Noon
December 16th
Cure Bowl
3:30 PM
December 23rd
Birmingham Bowl
Noon
December 23rd
Armed Forces Bowl
3:30 PM
December 23rd
Las Vegas Bowl
7:30 PM
December 30th
Music City Bowl
2:00 PM
January 1st
Citrus Bowl
1:00 PM
Power(ful) Two Thoughts
Once again, ABC puts on a mega-matchup on the night before Labour Day. LSU-FSU, if it is anything like last year’s game, should be a massive ratings success. Oh and also a game that could shape the entire college football season.
With the Big Ten saying adios to ESPN/ABC, the primetime slots really opened up. I expect the ACC to pick up most of those times the Big Ten has left behind with the Big XII and Pac-12 coming in just behind. Right now I have 6 ACC primetime games, 5 Pac-12, and 4 Big XII. Even if I’m wrong with which games go where I see this being pretty equitable.
I am not doing a TSN schedule because there is no point right now. TSN struggles to get anything that’s not the CFL scheduled out more than a couple of weeks. Right now I have 23 ABC games that would be simulcast on TSN. That seems high but I am going off of last year’s numbers and it was actually very close to that. So we shall see.
I am calling for three games to be on Black Friday on ABC. Miami-BC at Noon and TTU-UT at 7:30 are set. I think they select an American conference game in the middle so that there isn’t a gap in the middle of the day with nothing to show AND to fulfill the American’s contract. Now watch it not happen at all that way.
First few weeks are confirmed but that’s pretty much it. The rest is a bit of a crapshoot. Also, if you couldn’t tell Week 2 was a pretty bad week, look at the ABC schedule. Woof. Wisky-Wazzu as the primetime game? Ouch. It’s been a while since there has been that poor a game for the ABC Saturday Night game.
Finally it’s time for the conference breakdown. Remember I am doing things slightly differently. Every time a team appears, they get counted as an appearance. So Miami-Boston College, for example, counts as two appearances for the ACC. Here we go:
ACC – 37 (including conference championship)
Big XII – 29 (including conference championship)
Pac-12 – 12 (including conference championship)
AAC – 5 (including conference championship)
SEC – 5
Notre Dame – 4
FCS – 2
Mountain West – 1
Big Ten – 1
The ACC is really picking up the slack here. The Big XII is not all that far behind and, ho boy, is the Pac-12 lagging here. Problem is other than their top five teams I don’t feel right putting the rest of the teams in any of the ABC timeslots and that includes Colorado. Also, I have not included bowl tie-ins here because we know that bowls break them all the time.
Speaking of bowl games, ABC has SEVEN this time! That’s great! A step in the right direction. I still think the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl should move back to ABC as well but that’s just my opinion (and the opinion of a lot of other people).
For quite a long time it felt like there was quite a drop-off in play-by-play prowess after GUS JOHNSON. But now with Jason Benetti cemented as the number two man, you know you have two solidly called games every week on FOX. Tim Brando is the #3 guy and is pretty good although I still think it would be great to hear him back in the studio.
OK so the Big Ten is a bit more in with FOX meaning the Big XII and Pac-12 might suffer because of that. Let’s find out! Here’s the predicted 2023 FOX college football broadcast schedule followed by some Johnsonian rhetoric.
August 31st
Nebraska at Minnesota
8:00 PM
September 2nd
Colorado at TCU
Noon
September 2nd
Rice at Texas
3:30 PM
September 9th
Nebraska at Colorado
Noon
September 9th
Iowa at Iowa State
3:30 PM
September 9th
Oregon at Texas Tech
7:00 PM
September 9th
Stanford at USC
10:30 PM
September 16th
Penn State at Illinois
Noon
September 16th
WKU at Ohio State
4:00 PM
September 16th
TCU at Houston
8:00 PM
September 22nd
BYU at Kansas
8:00 PM
September 23rd
UCF at Kansas State
Noon
September 23rd
Oklahoma State at Iowa State
4:00 PM
September 23rd
USC at Arizona State
8:00 PM
September 30th
Michigan at Nebraska
Noon
September 30th
Iowa State at Oklahoma
3:30 PM
October 7th
TCU at Iowa State
Noon
October 7th
Texas Tech at Baylor
3:30 PM
October 7th
Michigan at Minnesota
7:30 PM
October 14th
Ohio State at Purdue
Noon
October 14th
Illinois at Maryland
4:00 PM
October 14th
Oregon at Washington
8:00 PM
October 21st
Penn State at Ohio State
Noon
October 21st
Minnesota at Iowa
3:30 PM
October 28th
Ohio State at Wisconsin
Noon
October 28th
Oregon State at Arizona
3:30 PM
November 4th
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
Noon
November 4th
Houston at Baylor
7:00 PM
November 11th
Michigan at Penn State
Noon
November 11th
Indiana at Illinois
3:30 PM
November 11th
Texas at TCU
7:00 PM
November 11th
Arizona State at UCLA
10:30 PM
November 18th
Baylor at TCU
Noon
November 18th
Illinois at Iowa
4:00 PM
November 18th
UCLA at USC
8:00 PM
November 24th
TCU at Oklahoma
Noon
November 24th
Oregon State at Oregon
8:30 PM
November 25th
Ohio State at Michigan
Noon
November 25th
BYU at Oklahoma State
4:00 PM
November 25th
West Virginia at Baylor
8:00 PM
December 2nd
Mountain West Championship
3:00 PM
December 2nd
Big Ten Championship
8:00 PM
December 27th
Holiday Bowl
8:00 PM
SOME JOHNSONIAN RHETORIC…..WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
So FOX has abandoned putting a game on Labour Day for putting a game on the Thursday before it. Interesting. Not a bad strategy as they can try and get a jump start on the season. Sure Florida-Utah could get more eyeballs but starting with a Big Ten conference game? That will get their fair share of looks for sure.
With the Big Ten leaving ESPN/ABC, it means most of their big games will land on FOX. That is a huge coup for the network. Couple that with the few huge games out of the Big XII and Pac-12 and you can finally, honestly, put their Big Noon Saturday schedule up against ABC’s Saturday Primetime schedule. Of course that may all change next year when ESPN/ABC gets the SEC. But for one year, let’s savour this.
FOX only going with two Black Friday games again this season and they are both confirmed. And it is two huge games (or could be). TCU-OU could be for a spot in the Big XII Championship. Same with the Civil War game between Oregon State and Oregon. I guess they will be moving WWE Smackdown to FS1 for this night which I’m sure won’t upset wrestling fans in the least.
Conference breakdown time! Remember, a conference game I am counting as two appearances for that conference:
Big XII – 32
Big Ten – 30 (including conference championship)
Pac-12 – 17
Shockingly, the Big XII has moved to the top of the list. Now, this has more to do with the Big Ten moving some games to NBC and CBS than anything but still, it proves that the Big XII carries a bit more weight than the Pac-12 these days.
I have no Mountain West games on the main FOX network. They have quite a few on FOX Sports One, though. I don’t know if FOX’s strategy is to eventually put more than the MWC conference championship on the main network or if they just stay the way they are. I suspect starting next year we will see at least a couple of Mountain West games on the main network, especially when there’s a quadrupleheader.
And speaking of quadrupleheaders, I have a feeling we will see two of them just like last season. One is confirmed for Week 2 and I believe the other will land, just like last year, during Week 11. I love the quadrupleheader idea, especially if you only do it twice since it feels special.
FOX has only one bowl game and it is the only bowl game, at this time, without a confirmed date. The Holiday Bowl, I believe, will end up on December 27th but that is definitely subject to change.
I honestly don’t know what will happen come October with the MLB playoffs. I know during the early rounds, FOX tends not to be used nearly as much as FS1 for their baseball games. Come World Series time though, expect FOX to scale back on college football broadcasting windows.
Alright let’s get to the Notre Dame on NBC sched…WAIT JUST A MINUTE! THAT’S THE BIG TEN’S MUSIC!!!!
For the first time in a loooooooooooong time, Notre Dame will share NBC’s college football coverage with other teams under other contracts. The Big Ten will have games almost every week on the network and usually in primetime going forward. So yeah, this will be the longest NBC schedule I will ever predict unless the network really goes all-in with college football and invites another party (COUGH*Pac-12*COUGH) in to the pool. Let’s get to it!
August 26th
Navy vs. Notre Dame (in Dublin)
2:30 PM
September 2nd
Tennessee State at Notre Dame
3:30 PM
September 2nd
West Virginia at Penn State
7:30 PM
September 9th
Charlotte at Maryland
7:30 PM
September 16th
Syracuse at Purdue
7:30 PM
September 23rd
Ohio State at Notre Dame
7:30 PM
September 30th
Penn State at Northwestern
Noon
September 30th
Illinois at Purdue
7:30 PM
October 7th
Purdue at Iowa
7:30 PM
October 14th
Michigan State at Rutgers
Noon
October 14th
USC at Notre Dame
7:30 PM
October 21st
Michigan at Michigan State
7:30 PM
October 28th
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
3:30 PM
October 28th
Indiana at Penn State
7:30 PM
November 4th
Purdue at Michigan
7:30 PM
November 11th
Michigan State at Ohio State
7:30 PM
November 18th
Wake Forest at Notre Dame
3:30 PM
November 18th
Michigan at Maryland
7:30 PM
November 24th
Penn State vs. Michigan State (in Detroit)
7:30 PM
November 25th
Southern vs. Grambling (in New Orleans)
2:00 PM
November 25th
Wisconsin at Minnesota
7:30 PM
Touchdown Jesus, Meet Purdue Pete
Look, it’s not like the Irish haven’t seen Big Ten teams before. They play at least one every year and probably will until the Earth explodes. But sharing the entire network with them? I have a feeling this may impact Notre Dame’s next contract talks with NBC which will start soon with the contract ending at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Only two primetime Notre Dame games this season but they add a game during Week Zero against Navy over in Ireland. I have the Big Ten moving their game to Noon when the Irish are on in primetime.
As for the Big Ten, let’s look at the breakdown:
4 times – Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State
3 times – Michigan
2 times – Maryland, Ohio State
1 time – Northwestern, Illinois, Iowa, Rutgers, Indiana, Wisconsin, Northwestern
No times – Nebraska
I think more so than the CBS breakdown for the Big Ten, the better teams, for the most part, will appear on NBC more often. I believe that will be the case going forward as well.
Let’s be honest here: nothing much will change for this network. It’s not like they will all of a sudden be showing Michigan-Ohio State. Saying that, it’s one of the channels you almost need to complete your college football viewing experience. I don’t want to speak for anyone else but I love watching close finishes, regardless of the game, so if Rutgers and Northwestern are going down to the wire, I want to watch that shit. Alright let’s get to my projected schedule:
September 2nd
Fresno State at Purdue
Noon
September 2nd
Towson at Maryland
3:30 PM
September 2nd
Toledo at Illinois
7:30 PM
September 8th
Indiana State at Indiana
7:00 PM
September 9th
Youngstown State at Ohio State
Noon
September 9th
UTEP at Northwestern
3:30 PM
September 9th
Richmond at Michigan State
3:30 PM
September 9th
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota
7:30 PM
September 9th
Temple at Rutgers
7:30 PM
September 16th
Louisville vs. Indiana (in Indianapolis)
Noon
September 16th
Georgia Southern at Wisconsin
Noon
September 16th
Western Michigan at Iowa
3:30 PM
September 16th
Virginia Tech at Rutgers
3:30 PM
September 16th
Bowling Green at Michigan
7:30 PM
September 21st
Louisiana Tech at Nebraska
7:30 PM
September 23rd
Akron at Indiana
Noon
September 23rd
Maryland at Michigan State
3:30 PM
September 23rd
Florida Atlantic at Illinois
7:30 PM
September 30th
Louisiana at Minnesota
Noon
September 30th
Wagner at Rutgers
3:30 PM
September 30th
Indiana at Maryland
7:30 PM
October 7th
Howard at Northwestern
3:00 PM
October 14th
Iowa at Wisconsin
Noon
October 14th
UMass at Penn State
3:30 PM
October 14th
Indiana at Michigan
7:30 PM
October 21st
Rutgers at Indiana
Noon
October 21st
Wisconsin at Illinois
3:30 PM
October 28th
Maryland at Northwestern
2:30 PM
November 4th
Ohio State at Rutgers
Noon
November 4th
Iowa vs. Northwestern (in Chicago)
3:30 PM
November 4th
Nebraska at Michigan State
7:30 PM
November 11th
Northwestern at Wisconsin
Noon
November 11th
Minnesota at Purdue
3:30 PM
November 18th
Michigan State at Indiana
Noon
November 18th
Purdue at Northwestern
3:30 PM
November 18th
Rutgers at Penn State
7:30 PM
November 24th
Indiana at Purdue
3:00 PM
November 25th
Maryland at Rutgers
Noon
November 25th
Northwestern at Illinois
3:30 PM
B1G Country Notes (no, not Bryant Reeves)
The first three weeks are completely booked. After that…nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. There are a few homecoming games that are almost guaranteed to hit BTN but I won’t call them confirmed until, well, they are actually confirmed.
Let’s get right to the appearance list (with the conference and non-conference split) and then some explanations on the numbers:
8 times – Indiana (3 non-con, 5 conference)
7 times – Northwestern (2 NC, 5 C), Rutgers (3 NC, 4 C)
5 times – Maryland (1 NC, 4 C)
4 times – Purdue (1 NC, 3 C), Illinois (2 NC, 2 C), Michigan State (1 NC, 3 C), Wisconsin (1 NC, 3 C)
3 times – Minnesota (2 NC, 1 C), Iowa (1 NC, 2 C), Penn State (1 NC, 2 C)
2 times – Ohio State (1 NC, 1 C), Michigan (1 NC, 1 C), Nebraska (1 NC, 1 C)
Every school must make at least 2 BTN appearances. Plus, one of those appearances has to be a conference game. My predictions satisfy that criteria and I think the amount of appearances will be failry close to what actually happens. I was a bit surprised to see what I had done with Nebraska. Maybe I am drinking a tiny bit of Husker Kool-Aid.
Alright now we have what could be the longest schedule of the bunch. Surprisingly though, it has the most confirmed games, easily. I guess when you have a good portion of the Group of Five stationed here, you will have a lot of games. And if you don’t watch college football on CBSSN? Shame on you. There are some great games on there and you get to see teams you wouldn’t normally see. Time for the huge-ass schedule followed by a few G5 musings:
August 26th
UTEP at Jacksonville State
5:30 PM
August 26th
FIU at Louisiana Tech
9:00 PM
August 31st
NC State at UConn
7:30 PM
September 1st
Stanford at Hawaii
11:00 PM
September 2nd
Bowling Green at Liberty
Noon
September 2nd
USF at WKU
3:30 PM
September 2nd
Washington State at Colorado State
7:00 PM
September 2nd
Idaho State at San Diego State
10:30 PM
September 9th
Delaware State at Army
Noon
September 9th
Wagner at Navy
3:30 PM
September 9th
Air Force vs. Sam Houston (in Houston)
8:00 PM
September 15th
Utah State at Air Force
8:00 PM
September 16th
Liberty at Buffalo
Noon
September 16th
FIU at UConn
3:30 PM
September 16th
Vanderbilt at UNLV
7:00 PM
September 16th
Kansas at Nevada
10:30 PM
September 22nd
Delaware State at Miami-OH
7:00 PM
September 22nd
Boise State at San Diego State
10:30 PM
September 23rd
Tulsa at Northern Illinois
Noon
September 23rd
Duke at UConn
3:30 PM
September 23rd
Appalachian State at Wyoming
7:00 PM
September 23rd
Kent State at Fresno State
10:30 PM
September 28th
Middle Tennessee at WKU
7:30 PM
September 29th
Louisiana Tech at UTEP
9:00 PM
September 30th
Utah State at UConn
Noon
September 30th
USF at Navy
3:30 PM
September 30th
San Diego State at Air Force
8:00 PM
October 4th
FIU at New Mexico State
9:00 PM
October 5th
Sam Houston at Liberty
7:00 PM
October 7th
Boston College at Army
Noon
October 7th
North Texas at Navy
3:30 PM
October 7th
San Jose State at Boise State
8:00 PM
October 10th
Louisiana Tech at Middle Tennessee
7:00 PM
October 11th
Sam Houston at New Mexico State
9:00 PM
October 13th
Fresno State at Utah State
8:00 PM
October 14th
Kent State at Eastern Michigan
Noon
October 14th
Troy at Army
3:30 PM
October 14th
Wyoming at Air Force
7:00 PM
October 14th
San Diego State at Hawaii
11:00 PM
October 17th
Middle Tennessee at Liberty
7:00 PM
October 18th
FIU at Sam Houston
7:00 PM
October 21st
Akron at Bowling Green
Noon
October 21st
USF at UConn
3:30 PM
October 21st
Utah State at San Jose State
7:00 PM
October 21st
Colorado State at UNLV
10:30 PM
October 24th
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech
7:00 PM
October 25th
Jacksonville State at FIU
7:00 PM
October 28th
UMass at Army
Noon
October 28th
Miami-OH at Ohio
3:30 PM
October 28th
Air Force at Colorado State
7:00 PM
October 28th
New Mexico at Nevada
10:30 PM
November 3rd
Colorado State at Wyoming
8:00 PM
November 4th
Army vs. Air Force (in Denver)
2:30 PM
November 4th
Louisiana Tech at Liberty
6:00 PM
November 4th
Boise State at Fresno State
10:00 PM
November 7th
Central Michigan at Western Michigan
7:00 PM
November 8th
Akron at Miami-OH
7:00 PM
November 11th
Holy Cross at Army
Noon
November 11th
UAB at Navy
3:30 PM
November 11th
San Diego State at Colorado State
7:00 PM
November 11th
Fresno State at San Jose State
10:30 PM
November 14th
Akron at Eastern Michigan
7:00 PM
November 18th
Coastal Carolina at Army
Noon
November 18th
UNLV at Air Force
3:30 PM
November 18th
Boise State at Utah State
7:00 PM
November 18th
San Diego State at San Jose State
10:30 PM
November 24th
Ohio at Akron
Noon
November 24th
Utah State at New Mexico
3:30 PM
November 25th
Northern Illinois at Kent State
Noon
November 25th
Liberty at UTEP
3:30 PM
November 25th
Wyoming at Nevada
9:00 PM
Gee-Five Musings
Really, CBS Sports Network doesn’t have to lock in over 80% of the games. Nice to see that they do though. Honestly, over the past few years, CBSSN has had their fair share of exciting games so waiting to see what ESPN doesn’t take really doesn’t make sense for them. It won’t change the amount of viewers they get (for the most part). Just scoreboard watch like I do.
CBSSN lands a couple of Black Friday games this season, which seems to be the norm now. One is confirmed and the other is a MAC game. Which leads us to…
The non-confirmed games. Most of them are MAC-controlled games. They will be 12-day selections during the season. The others might not end up happening as those timeslots may be used for something else.
Conference breakdown time!
Mountain West – 49
Conference USA – 33
MAC – 21
Army – 7
AAC (other than Navy) – 6
UConn – 5
FCS – 5
Navy – 4
ACC – 3
Sun Belt – 3
Pac-12 – 2
SEC – 1
Big XII – 1
UMass – 1
OK so it was more than conferences but it gives you an idea of what is happening this year versus previous years. During October, Conference USA will have all their conference games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. A crazy idea but hey, that’s how MACtion was born. It also means we will go nearly two months with football almost every day! What’s wrong with that?
We made it! Schedule Journey 2023 is over! Christ, that was long. And no, I will not do a TSN schedule. That would be a complete guess. Up next are the season predictions. Expect that post (which will also be a stupidly long one) some time in late July.
Have a fantastic rest of your Sunday and let’s hope for nice weather this coming week…for people who aren’t stuck working in an office. For those people, I am sure you are fine if it rains all week.
You’d think I was employed by Buzzfeed with all these lists I’m making.
So just like last year, I will add a few more lists to accompany the Most Important Games post. It should give you a good idea of the important games to watch (at least at this point) and maybe some games to avoid (unless you are a Sicko like me and will watch any football…even, yes…arena football!)
I know, I know, I have always stated my disgust for arena football but I have to admit it does have its own trashy charm to it. OK let’s just get to the lists, shall we?
Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games
I used to list a game like this for every week of the season. This time I will rank the top dozen games that should be considered underrated but very good and that didn’t rank in the Top 35 from the previous post.
Oklahoma vs. Texas (at the Cotton Bowl) (Week 6, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – First of all, I am not on drugs. Not many are talking about the Sooners and most are calling for the Longhorns to walk off to the SEC with a Big XII Championship title. Do you remember what game this is? It’s the god damn Red River Shootout/Rivalry/Game/Brawl/Drinking Contest. Many times it is ridiculous, crazy, wild and just plain dumbfounding. Don’t count OU out…at least in this one game…….oh the second thing. Yeah, ABC has picked up this game but the time hasn’t been set. It will be either Noon or 3:30 because the State Fair of Texas becomes a gangland shootout at night or something like that.
TCU at Kansas State (Week 8, Noon, specialty pack) – The rematch of last year’s Big XII title game loses a bit of its luster but should still be important in the grand scheme of things in the conference. I get it’s not Gary Patterson anymore but Sonny Dykes is already showing he can also make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Chris Klieman will get every opportunity to show off why he got a big extended contract and this is one of those opportunities at home in front of the Wildcat faithful.
Iowa at Wisconsin (Week 7, Noon, Big Ten Network) – As I said in the Most Important Games post, it feels like all the conference networks get at least one good game a season now. This could be that game, if it ends up there. Once again this could be for the Big Ten West title but it’s going to feel weird with Wisconsin not running the ball as much. Iowa, on the other hand, should be exactly the same, trying to win games 6-5.
Texas A&M at Ole Miss (Week 10, Noon, specialty pack) – Many will sleep on these two teams…wait, bad analogy. I forgot Petrino was at College Station. Anyway, two teams that many will cast aside but it’s almost a guarantee one of them will cause a bit of a stink in the conference. Also, take the over.
UCLA at Oregon State (Week 7, 5:30, Pac-12 Network) – Speaking of conference networks, here’s the worst of the bunch. That includes the Big XII’s non-existent network. Look, one of these two teams is going to be very good (I think) and will cause quite a few headaches at the top of the Pac-12 food chain (I think) and will end up being in the Pac-12 Championship (ehhhh, I don’t know).
TCU at Oklahoma (Week 13, Friday, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Black Friday will start with a game between a team who just got destroyed in the national championship and a team that normally is great and struggled to be bowl-eligible. Both teams will have something to prove and this could be their last real chance to do so (and make it count) this season.
Kansas State at Texas Tech (Week 7, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I guess it makes sense that the Big XII fills a good portion of this section after almost being shut out of my Top 35 most important games of the season. The Red Raiders always put up the points, no matter who the quarterback, head coach, or receivers are. And KSU can also do that when they want to. Should be a shootout (of sorts).
South Carolina at Texas A&M (Week 9, Noon, specialty pack) – More Fun Bobby! And Fun Shane…ok that one doesn’t have as good a ring to it. But BeamerBall 2.0 is a lot of fun to watch.
Arkansas at Ole Miss (Week 6, 7:30, specialty pack) – Could Sam Pittman be the most lovable coach in the game right now? Perhaps. He still feels like a bit of an underdog and you always root for the underdog, right? Wait…I’m getting something here….a message…ah, OK. Lane Kiffin doesn’t agree.
Minnesota at Iowa (Week 8, 3:30, FOX) – Row The Boat vs. Single-Digit Scoring. I am intrigued, I’m not going to lie. Plus we will see the best new tradition in all of not just college football but sports in general, the Iowa Wave.
Duke at North Carolina (Week 11, 8:00, specialty pack) – The Eastern version of the Victory Bell could be important once again. Both teams look like they could slot in anywhere from three to six in the ACC this year (with no divisions thank god). So a win here and maybe an upset or two somewhere else and one of these programs will duke it out for a conference championship.
Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – The game time is confirmed. I assume it heads to the specialty pack. Too bad because TSN would be smart to pick up this game. The Green Wave, who have to be considered to have the best odds to make it back as the best Group of Five team, hosting Ole Miss in what will be stiflingly hot weather in New Orleans…yeah I like Tulane’s chances but I still think it will be a close one.
Best Group of Five Games
Next up is our friends from the Group of Five. Three of them got invited to sit up at the adult table so overall this group is a tiny bit weaker. That just means other teams will have opportunities that they may not have had before. So let’s look at the best Group of Five games this season. And no, the Ole Miss-Tulane game above doesn’t count. This is full G5-on-G5 violence, bruh.
UTSA at Tulane (Week 13, 7:00, specialty pack) – As per usual, the American Conference should make up the bulk of this list. The defending Group of Five champion (and Cotton Bowl champion), Tulane is the favourite to do it again. UTSA is in its first season in the American but already could be the team to knock the Green Wave off their perch. Huge game where I have to favour Tulane only because it’s in New Orleans not the Alamodome where the Roadrunners have a huge home advantage.
Air Force at Boise State (Week 13, Friday, 4:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Not having FS1 will deprive Canadians of a lot of good Mountain West action. This should be the conference’s game of the year and the winner probably goes to the Mountain West Championship. Being on the Smurf Turf, I would give the Broncos the slight edge here.
South Alabama at Tulane (Week 1, 8:00, specialty pack) – This game is set for ESPNU on opening Saturday and, I can almost guarantee, will head to the specialty pack. The Jaguars (Jag-you-ares) came out of nowhere last season to almost win the Sun Belt. They are the favourites to win the conference and if they can pull the mini-upset here, could feasibly run the table. I guess I could say the same thing about Tulane.
Boise State at Fresno State (Week 10, 10:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – Hey it’s CBSSN’s first foray onto any of these lists. CBSSN is a nice palette cleanser really. It shows games you never would have normally watched. Plus it shows most of UConn’s games. I am liking CBSSN having the CFL. Yes it’s just a simulcast of TSN’s showing but it works. Kind of wish they would come up with at least their own play-by-play and analysis and just use the TSN visuals.
Tulane at Memphis (Week 7, Friday, 7:00, TSN2) – It’s the time of year when the American and ACC split most of the Thursday and Friday night games on ESPN and their dysfunctional family of networks. TSN tends to show more Friday night games because they can put it on TSN2 and not have it interfere with the CFL’s Friday Night Football. Anyway, yes, it’s the Green Wave again. Bored yet? They might be that good. Maybe even legit Top 12 good if everything falls right.
Boise State at San Diego State (Week 4, Friday, 10:30, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – And here comes Boise State again. I mean I want to say there aren’t two obvious frontrunners in the G5 but there are. Both the Broncos and Tulane should be in it to the end to see who gets that single spot.
South Alabama at Troy (Week 10, Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Hey it’s not Tulane, Boise State, the American or the Mountain West! Let’s give the Sun Belt a lot of respect. They have become the third-best Group of Five conference and it’s a pretty wide gap between them and the two conferences below them, the MAC and Conference USA. The Battle for the Belt (so good to have a wrestling title belt as the rivalry trophy) should be for the de facto Sun Belt West title unless Louisiana or maybe Southern Miss has something to say about it.
Boise State at Memphis (Week 5, 3:30, specialty pack) – This might end up on ESPN or ESPN2 depending on how both teams are doing at this point. I could see it happening because ESPN made a point to trade with CBS for this BSU road game.
Tulane at East Carolina (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – I figured East Carolina would have to find someone to replace Holton Ahlers and his 245 passes per game. Instead they plan to completely turn to the running game and grind teams into the turf. If this somehow works, Georgia Tech fans are gonna be real mad.
WKU at Troy (Week 4, 3:30, ESPN+) – First Conference USA appearance and it heads to ESPN+. I have that this year for the first time so I am going to have a lot of fun and totally destroy my remote control this season with that. Kind of wish it even got to ESPNU so that the specialty packs could pick it up. I still think WKU and MTSU were foolish not to take the MAC’s potential invite as they are stuck now in arguably the worst FBS conference with not much in the way of rivalries.
San Diego State at Air Force (Week 5, 8:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – OK two teams that aren’t quite fitting the mold of the top G5 teams. Nice. And, if things go according to plan, we should see a bazillion yards rushing and the game might be over by 10:00.
Eastern Michigan at Toledo (Week 11, Wednesday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Finally we end this list with a MACtion game since I have to. MACtion is awesome. We also have Fun Belt now and whatever the American conference calls their weeknight games. Oh and Conference USA is doing pretty much all weeknight games in October. Crazy! Anyway, this could very well be the two best MAC teams so let’s call this the de facto MAC West championship.
Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games
Let’s bring back this section because these games are the ones many college football fans feast on. What is better than watching your hated rival lose to a Group of Five team? Not much. And I have always said, Group of Five teams, at least the better ones, should get their shot at Power Five teams to see what they are worth. If it wasn’t for that happening, very few teams would have moved up and the Power Five may have already separated from the rest of college football by now.
Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – This was already discussed above but it is the biggest G5 vs. P5 game of the season and hosted by the Group of Five team which is a rarity but happening more often these days which is nice to see.
UTSA at Tennessee (Week 4, 7:30, specialty pack) – The Roadrunners meep their way up the food chain to the American Conference this season and are already a contender for the league title (and perhaps a NY6 spot). The Vols will be really good this season but a UTSA win her would be massive for the program and for the college football season as a whole.
Boise State at Washington (Week 1, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Everything is confirmed except for if the game will appear on TSN. I believe it will but we won’t know for like another two months. Ridiculous. Washington is looking to ride their Heisman contender quarterback all the way, hopefully, to the College Football Playoff so a slip-up here would almost derail that entire plan.
WKU at Ohio State (Week 3, 4:00, FOX, confirmed) – Look, are the Hilltoppers going to win this? No. All we can hope for is for WKU to put a scare into tOSU. If, somehow, they ended up with the upset, it would be the biggest upset in the history of college football and you wouldn’t be able to convince me otherwise.
Troy at Kansas State (Week 2, Noon, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – OK now this one has intrigue written all over it. Troy is one of a handful of teams that has legit New Year’s Six aspirations out of the Group of Five. Kansas State is the defending Big XII champions but have a few question marks. This feels ripe for an upset.
SMU at TCU (Week 4, Noon, specialty pack) – The Battle for the Iron Skillet. This might be the best one yet if the Mustangs are as good as some say they will be. Not the favourite in the American so they will have to show out in games like this to catch voters’ eyes. This could be a good litmus test to see how far TCU has fallen from last year’s national runner-up team.
San Diego State at Oregon State (Week 3, 3:30, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – This could be a tasty affair if the Aztecs step up and prove they could be eventually Pac-12 worthy in football. Otherwise, you might hear a lot of chainsaws going in this one since Oregon State is definitely a dark horse contender this season.
SMU at Oklahoma (Week 2, 6:00, ESPN+, confirmed) – Ouch. Seeing this relegated to ESPN+ surprises me a bit but the Sooners are not the team they had been for the past few decades. The Sooners are going to try and come out of the gate swinging but don’t be surprised if the Stangs give them some trouble in this one.
UCF at Boise State (Week 2, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Last year this would have been in the previous section. Now the Knights are in the Big XII but they may still be an underdog on this one. If I were a betting man I would put my money on the Broncos here as they are hoping to run the table and get back to where they believe they belong: as the top dog among the Group of Five.
East Carolina at Michigan (Week 1, Noon, Peacock, confirmed) – The debut of Peacock on these lists. I am sure at some point it will be available for Canadians but we aren’t quite there yet. Yeah I don’t think this will be really close but you never know. I wonder if ECU can run on this Michigan offense. If they can, the entire Big Ten will be watching tape of this game all season to see if they can replicate it.
UCLA at San Diego State (Week 2, 7:30, CBS, confirmed) – Nice to see the Mountain West appearing on CBS. The week before this we get Texas Tech/Wyoming and here we get a very interesting matchup that could easily lead to an upset, if SDSU has things going by the second week of the season.
UTSA at Houston (Week 1, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – The Cougs have stepped up to the Big XII conference. Good for them. Problem is they start their first season back on the top tier of college football against one of the best Group of Five teams. The only thing helping Houston is that the game is in Houston and not San Antonio. I am sure Drunk Uncle Dana will be about seven Red Bulls in by the time this one starts.
Worst Power Five Games
Didn’t think I’d forget this section, right? These are the games that you can probably avoid, unless they are close. They fill conference networks (and really are the reason those networks exist but I will not complain about that) and even sometimes creep onto FOX or an ESPN2 or ESPNU. Sad but true. Spoiler alert: I will still watch most of these games.
Northwestern at Rutgers (Week 1, Sunday, Noon, CBS, confirmed) – What a way to show off the new Big Ten on CBS with a game between *checks notes* uh….Northwestern and Rutgers? My God that is not good at all. Who the hell is picking these games at CBS? The only thing I can think happened was that it was the last game remaining…like picking the last kid in dodgeball. Well, nothing else will be on at that time at least in a college football sense so guess what ol’ Bossman will be watching?
Stanford at Colorado (Week 7, Friday, 10:00, TSN2) – This is confirmed for ESPN2 but who knows if TSN will pick it up or not. Look I understand there is a lot of hype with Deion Sanders now coaching at Colorado. And that’s a good thing for that program. But they will struggle to be bowl-eligible this season. Now Stanford….that’s a different story. They are back to the days before Jim Harbaugh and then David Shaw resurrected this program. They may just be the worst Power Five team at this point. What a fall from grace.
Virginia Tech at Virginia (Week 13, Noon, specialty pack) – What happened last year at Virginia was tragic. Three players gunned down late in the season. UVA rightfully cancelled their final two games, including the Commonwealth Cup game against VaTech. Now they are back but this will not be an easy season for the Hoos, both on the field and emotionally. The Hokies are as bad as I have ever seen them be. Then again, I only mostly saw them as a Frank Beamer team. Beamerball, this is not. Look, I hate putting this game here but these two teams might be god-awful this season.
Rutgers at Indiana (Week 8, Noon, Big Ten Network) – Rutgers is, unfortunately, back to being Rutgers. And Indiana without Michael Penix Jr…well we found out they were bad. Both coaches will be on the hot seat with Tom Allen in the much hotter seat for sure. The loser might not win a Big Ten game this season.
Virginia at Boston College (Week 5, Noon, specialty pack) – As for non-Virginia teams in the ACC who probably won’t be going bowling, BC comes to mind. I can’t see them finding the magic formula especially with a young, relatively untested quarterback manning the ship.
California at Stanford (Week 12, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Ah, the worst of the conference networks. What a shitshow it is. Anyway, The Big Game will be anything but big this season as I already mentioned how bad Stanford will be and I don’t know how many people outside the Cal football program care about Cal football. A shame, really.
Colorado at Arizona State (Week 6, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Remember when ASU was the laughing stock of the Pac-12 for like a second? Everyone thought their ship was going to come crashing down. Well it did but other teams flew past them into the basement. That doesn’t mean this is some kind of comeback story, though. They still aren’t good and will be fighting for bowl eligibility. Wins in games like this are a must for that to happen.
Georgia Tech at Virginia (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – It feels kind of weird watching Georgia Tech play football when they aren’t running the Paul Johnson option offense. You know, I’m starting to think they never should have changed from that. Made them unique and helped them win just as often as they lost.
Virginia Tech at Rutgers (Week 3, 3:30, Big Ten Network, confirmed) – Hey let’s dip into some non-con action now. I would ask who the hell scheduled a game like this but it was probably scheduled back when the Hokies played their first season in the ACC.
Arizona at Stanford (Week 4, 7:00, FOX Sports One) – I have to be honest: Jedd Fisch has already exceeded my expectations for a) his coaching in Tucson and b) a guy named Jedd. This team is on the brink of getting back to postseason play for the first time in years. I will put the over/under on fans attending this game at 14,000.
Arizona State at California (Week 5, 9:30, Pac-12 Network) – I am still on the record saying that there should be a pure sports-style Netflix or Amazon Prime out there. One where you can add or subtract whatever channels you want based on sport, country, etc. Would it be the death knell to cable? No but it would be quite the flesh wound. By the way, this game has some pretty good Pac-12 After Dark vibes to it and could get wacky because both teams are just not that good.
Northwestern at Nebraska (Week 8, 2:30, Peacock) – I would be remiss if I didn’t include Nebraska somewhere on this list. They’ve fooled and many others over the past few years. So until they prove it, I will not take the bait. Nope, no more. I refuse to drink the Husker Koolaid.
Alright, done and dusted. A reminder that tomorrow is the end of the fiscal year for pretty much all the FBS schools. There are rumours that something on the realignment (oh god that word) front could happen by the end of the night or the very next day. Last year it was USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Can’t see anything as big as that but you never know.
Well, I would like to wish everyone a great Canada Day weekend and Fourth of July celebration. We are less than two months away folks. Nice to be talking college football again.
It’s official. For the 2024 FBS season, the College Football Playoff will expand to twelve teams. Everyone involved had to wait for the Rose Bowl, college football’s stubborn grandpa, to come to an agreement to be a part of the newly expanded playoff format. The Rose Bowl wanted to keep its status and it’s Big Ten vs. Pac-12 format. The officials basically told the Rose Bowl to fuck themselves with a rusty hammer and if they didn’t at least come to a compromise with the College Football Playoff, they would be out for good. If that had happened, the future of the Rose Bowl would have been in serious doubt. In the end, they all figured out a way to still make the Rose Bowl an integral part of the CFP (which they should be) without the Rose Bowl getting special treatment.
The new CFP will take the top six conference champions, regardless of conference, and six Wild Card teams. This guarantees at least one spot for the Group of Five with the possibility for two. As you probably know, first round games will be on campus and will be played around December 21st to give teams enough times to prepare for the quarterfinals which will be held between December 31st and January 2nd. What this does for the future of Bowl Season is up in the air. I can’t see the rest of the bowls all continuing going forward but who knows. The NCAA may just make it so 5 wins is the new cutoff for bowl-eligibility.
Alright let’s just get to what you’re here for: conference championship weekend. Everything comes into (mostly) perfect vision once these games are completed. And now that divisions are slowly going away in conferences (the Pac-12 has no divisions this year), we will be getting better games going forward. I honestly wonder if they should just have a regular week going forward but I know there’s a lot of money in staging these championship games.
Friday
Conference USA Championship: New Mexico State (+10.5) at Liberty
7:00
This network continues to be smart in the way they figure out WHEN to put a game. They get an entire national audience for almost an entire half and then, if the game is close, many people will stick with it to the end. Brilliant. Plus, with the added possibility of seeing a potential New Year’s Six berth clinched here, it means they should get more eyeballs on this game than ever before. Prediction: This game is the biggest one, not only in Liberty’s history, but in Conference USA’s history. This is their chance to put a team in the New Year’s Six for the first time. The first part gets done this night. Liberty 39 New Mexico State 34.
Pac-12 Championship: #11 Utah vs. #4 USC (in Paradise, NV)
8:00 PM
Now FOX I don’t think is smart at all putting this game here. 6:00 local time on a Friday night? Ugh. The conference and the network never seem to learn. I guess it’s better than having it in Santa Clara but it’s only a slight improvement. Maybe one day FOX will figure it out and keep this game on Saturday. Prediction: USC makes a bit of a statement and solidifies their spot in the College Football Playoff. USC 44 Utah 17.
Saturday Early
Big XII Championship: #10 Kansas State vs. #3 TCU (in Arlington)
Noon
No Texas. No Oklahoma. This feels a bit weird. But nice. It’s a fresh matchup, at least in terms of conference championship weekend. TCU wins here and they get their College Football Playoff spot, much to the chagrin of a few fanbases and ESPN as a whole. A Wildcats win and all hell may break loose. I normally like chaos but TCU would be a CFP newbie and I like that as well. Prediction: The Horned Frogs will prevail and then we will wait to see if they can prove they belonged in the first place. TCU 39 Kansas State 32.
MAC Championship: Ohio vs. Toledo (in Detroit)
Noon
One of only two conference championship games on TSN this Saturday. Again, blame the World Cup but I have a feeling this may be the future of what we see with college football on TSN. And it was going so well for a while. Oh well. Important? Not really as there isn’t even a 100% guarantee that the MAC champion would play in Detroit again at the Quick Lane Bowl. Prediction: Meaningless game but it should be a close one. Ohio 31 Toledo 30.
Saturday Afternoon
Valparaiso at New Mexico State
3:00 PM
Up until yesterday, this game was super important to the Aggies. They needed to win to get in. Now, the game means less because the Aggies’ waiver has been accepted and they will be chosen before schools in the 5-7 APR pool. So it’s almost a guarantee that they will be going bowling. Prediction: This shouldn’t be close. New Mexico State 51 Valparaiso 7.
Sun Belt Championship: Coastal Carolina at Troy
3:30 PM
It’s amazing how few of these games have any importance. Especially with how Group of Five tie-ins are almost never adhered to…at least in any particular conference order. Prediction: It’s football and if it’s close I will venture to it at some point. Like flies to shit (or maybe a better analogy than that). Troy 40 Coastal Carolina 24.
Mountain West Championship: Fresno State at Boise State
4:00 PM
If the Bulldogs and Broncos hadn’t had such terrible non-conference starts to their season, this might have been important. Prediction: I have no preference here as it’s a game that should probably be on at night in the cold on the blue turf. Fresno State 38 Boise State 35.
SEC Championship: #14 LSU vs. #1 Georgia (in Atlanta)
4:00 PM
It used to be that no conference dared to go up against the SEC Championship, at least in full. Now they do. It’s not an overall bad idea because if this game is not close then a lot of people will change the channel (or should…I don’t understand people who will stick with games that are way out of hand unless you are a fan of either team). Prediction: This will be close…for maybe about three quarters. Georgia 42 LSU 20.
American Championship: #22 UCF at #18 Tulane
4:00 PM
This is for the Cotton Bowl spot. Does UCF really deserve to be here with this opportunity? I don’t think so. Saying that, other than Tulane, no Group of Five team has really knocked it out of the park this season and even the Green Wave have had their hiccups. Prediction: Tulane will be the next new team to clinch a New Year’s Six bowl spot. Tulane 26 UCF 23.
SWAC Championship: Southern at Jackson State
4:00 PM
I still think Jackson State should have gone into the FCS Playoffs as I think they would have a good chance to go far, if not win the whole damn thing. Instead, they are here playing for the SWAC Championship. I’m sorry; who in their right fucking mind would think JSU is not the best HBCU football school this year if they lose here? So dumb. Prediction: JSU mops the floor with Southern in what should be Deion Sanders’ coaching finale in Jackson. Jackson State 52 Southern 21.
Saturday Primetime
ACC Championship: #23 North Carolina vs. #9 Clemson (in Charlotte)
8:00 PM
This is for the Orange Bowl spot. That’s it. Loser goes into the regular bowl pool. I still don’t understand why either the ACC or Big Ten doesn’t move their championship game to Noon but I think I’ve beaten that horse to the point where it’s pulp now. Prediction: I think this may be an unpopular pick but as I stated in my bowl projections post, I think Drake Maye goes off and the Tar Heels win a shootout and shock the Tigers. North Carolina 47 Clemson 43.
Big Ten Championship: Purdue vs. #2 Michigan (in Indianapolis)
8:00 PM
Do I think this game has meaning? Not really. Michigan is in the CFP. They may fall to #4 if they lose here but I can’t see them falling any farther. I guess there’s more to this game for the Boilermakers since a win puts them, improbably, in the Rose Bowl. Prediction: No Purdue fan should book a ticket to Pasadena. Just don’t. Michigan 45 Purdue 17.
We are nearing the end. Regular season is over. Conference championships will end tomorrow night. However, this is where the excitement should ramp up. Games sometimes mean a hell of a lot more than they would have two months ago. Cross your fingers that we have some dandies this weekend. I am crossing mine. Enjoy the games everyone!
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