Bowl Games? Yep. New Year’s Six? Sure. College Football Playoff? Uh-huh. Coaching Hot Seat List? Why not? My Heisman Ballot? I mean, if you have to…

Hey remember last year when I dumped all that stuff I mentioned above into one post? Guess what I’m doing again.

Look, you could say that it would take the same amount of time to put all this in separate posts. And you’d be wrong. These tags don’t just create themselves. Although if there is a way to do tags automatically I would feel like a big fucking moron. Oh well, I’m just going to keep on living thinking I have to type in all the pertinent tags to this post. Ignorance is bliss!

Let’s start with some postseason predictions. You read the two posts where I predicted the standings for all the conferences (and those four mangy Independents). At least I hope you did. If not, you might want to so it can prepare you for this because, ho boy, this could cause some people to think twice about my mental capacity. We begin with the top of the mountain, the College Football Playoff. Here is what I think the semi-finals will look like along with the rankings of the teams involved:

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#1 Georgia	#4 Florida State
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#2 Michigan	#3 Alabama

Am I close to the experts’ picks? I don’t really know. I think Georgia is the easiest call here but the road to get there isn’t easy. Their regular season loss to Tennessee means they had to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship to be in the Top 4. I believe they do. I also believe Bama, being #1 going into conference championship weekend, wouldn’t fall four spots on a single loss to one of the best teams in the nation. So they stay in at #3 which I am sure will cause a ton of people to become irrational and use Twitter as a ridiculous sounding board and causing people to not want to talk about college football. Sorry…use X as a ridiculous sounding board and cause people to not want to talk about college football on social media. X. What a dumb fucking name. Anyway, Michigan should get in with a in in the Big Ten Championship, even if it is over a Minnesota team that would be near the bottom of the Top 25 going in. Finally, remember what I said about the Tide? Triple that hatred for this one. Florida State, I predict, will beat Clemson for the ACC title. The Tigers would come in to the game at #2 and FSU would be #5. I have the Noles moving up a spot and the Tigers being that one-loss team that loses out in this bunch. The amount of venom spewed by college football media and fans about this, rightly or wrongly, would be way over the top. I think it would be the first time (and would be the only time) that a team goes into conference championship weekend undefeated, loses, and tumbles out of the College Football Playoff when the smoke clears. And because of that, I hope this, or something like this happens because we need a ton of chaos for the final four-team CFP ever.

Now we go to the next tier down: the New Year’s Six. The final New Year’s Six. I would shed a tear but it feels like it’s hardly been around long enough:

January 1st	Fiesta Bowl	#9 USC	#11 Ohio State
December 30th	Orange Bowl	#5 Clemson	#7 Tennessee
December 30th	Peach Bowl	#8 Penn State	#10 Notre Dame
December 29th	Cotton Bowl	#6 Texas	#14 UTSA

Do the games look interesting? Absolutely. Could there be some debate as to who is here, who isn’t and where everyone should go (and how they get there)? Absolutely. Am I backing down from these predictions? Absolutely not. I mean if this was the 12-team playoff, I am sure people would debate that as well but you can’t tell me none of these teams would be worthy of being there. That’s crazy. “Durr, Texas doesn’t deserve to be there. They won’t even be bowl-eligible.” Yeah go fuck yourself if you think that. That’s just plain dumb.

Alright, enough anger, more analysis. Let’s start with Clemson since that’s the easiest one to explain. They were #2 and undefeated, lost to Florida State in the ACC Championship, so they get the Orange Bowl spot reserved for the top ACC team remaining. Simple. The Pac-12, in their final unglorious season, will again beat each other up making it impossible for one team to come out unscathed. So the ninth-ranked Trojans will head to the Fiesta Bowl after winning the Pac-12 title. Ohio State slots in as their opponent although it could easily be Penn State. The reasoning here is that tOSU already plays Notre Dame during the season and it makes more sense for USC to play in Phoenix than Penn State for bowl season. Those Longhorns I mentioned? They go off into the sunset, leaving the Big XII as conference champions. It puts them in the Cotton Bowl against the best Group of Five team. I think Tulane almost runs the table during the regular season and gets a pretty healthy lead in the rankings over the next best teams, UTSA and Boise State. The Roadrunners’ win in the AAC Championship would trump anything the Broncos do and, should be enough to leapfrog the Green Wave to sneak into the final NY6 spot. Let’s be honest here: Texas-UTSA at AT&T Stadium for the Cotton Bowl is an instant sellout, no doubt about it.

Now for the rest of the bowl extravaganza:

January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#12 LSU	Minnesota
January 1st	ReliaQuest Bowl	#20 South Carolina	Michigan State
December 30th	Arizona Bowl	San Diego State	Toledo
December 30th	Music City Bowl	Ole Miss	#17 Iowa
December 29th	Liberty Bowl	Texas A&M	#16 TCU
December 29th	Sun Bowl	Duke	#24 Utah
December 29th	Gator Bowl	Kentucky	#21 North Carolina
December 28th	Alamo Bowl	#19 Kansas State	#18 Oregon
December 28th	Pop Tarts Bowl	Pittsburgh	Oklahoma
December 28th	Pinstripe Bowl	Maryland	Louisville
December 28th	Fenway Bowl	Syracuse	FAU
December 27th	Texas Bowl	Arkansas	Baylor
December 27th	Holiday Bowl	Miami	#13 Oregon State
December 27th	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Wake Forest	Auburn
December 27th	Military Bowl	NC State	#15 Tulane
December 26th	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	San Jose State	Oklahoma State
December 26th	First Responder Bowl	UCF	East Carolina
December 26th	Quick Lane Bowl	Illinois	Ohio
December 23rd	Hawaii Bowl	SMU	Fresno State
December 23rd	Las Vegas Bowl	#23 Wisconsin	Washington State
December 23rd	68 Ventures Bowl	South Alabama	Middle Tennessee
December 23rd	Idaho Potato Bowl	Air Force	Miami-OH
December 23rd	Armed Forces Bowl	Kansas	UTEP
December 23rd	Birmingham Bowl	Mississippi State	North Texas
December 23rd	Camellia Bowl	Appalachian State	New Mexico State
December 22nd	Gasparilla Bowl	UCLA	James Madison
December 21st	Boca Raton Bowl	Coastal Carolina	UConn
December 19th	Frisco Bowl	Marshall	Navy
December 18th	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Southern Miss	Buffalo
December 16th	Independence Bowl	Texas Tech	Memphis
December 16th	LA Bowl	#22 Washington	#25 Boise State
December 16th	New Mexico Bowl	Wyoming	Louisiana
December 16th	Cure Bowl	Army	Georgia Southern
December 16th	New Orleans Bowl	Troy	WKU
December 16th	Bahamas Bowl	Eastern Michigan	Liberty

That is a lot of bowl games. I am not complaining. I am fully embracing the Sickos mentality of all football is good football. Even arena football if you can believe it! And why am I not complaining? Because I am desperate for the season to start. Talk to me in mid-December and I may have a slightly different answer. Some notes on these bowl games:

• The teams that juuuuuuust missed out on the New Year’s Six train to nowhere include LSU, Oregon State, Tulane and TCU.
• Quite a few teams would be playing close to home, including Mississippi State travelling to relatively close by Birmingham, Air Force with a not-so-long drive north into Idaho, South Alabama playing exactly 0 kilometres from their home stadium in the renamed 68 Ventures Bowl, Ohio venturing into hostile territory to play in the Quick Lane Bowl and Wake Forest making their way to hopefully get their coach dumped with mayo in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
• Hey remember what I said two posts ago about James Madison and a surprise for their fans? I know that was a lot of reading ago. Look, there won’t be enough teams to satisfy all the bowl slots. I have a feeling that will be a trend going forward. And because of that, the Dukes will have the opportunity to go to a bowl if they are invited before the team with the best APR score. And I’m sure at least one bowl would do that since JMU should be good once again this season. Man, do I ever hate the transition rule. I get the first year coming up that you shouldn’t qualify for anything. Get your feet wet. Sure. Longer than that is just the NCAA being insufferable dicks and not updating policies that are over 50 years old.
• As for those 5-7 teams making bowls they would be Georgia Southern, Buffalo, and Navy (which would kill my scenario for the Army-Navy Game).

I guess I should mention who I think will win the whole thing. Well, I’ve got Georgia beating Florida State and Michigan beating Bama in the semis and then the Wolverines ending the three-peat talk by beating the Dawgs in Houston for the title. Then Khaki Jim can ride off into the sunset…that sunset being back to the NFL.

Well look who is back in the FBS. Rich God Damn Rodriguez! He is at the helm of one of FBS’s newest teams, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. I’m sure it won’t be an amazing season for the team but man, who thought he would be back at the top level of college football? Probably a few although I wondered if he was basically done being a head coach at this level. Shows what I know.

Hey, hey it’s HOT SEAT TIME! Last year my top two were jettisoned and Herm got an all-timer of an on-field shitcanning. I am still surprised some made it to this season (I am looking at you Mike Bloomgren) but all in all this list is a list I am actually proud of since I actually do well at it, as morbid as that sounds.

Alright let’s get to the list. Going with the new categorizations as well this time around. Let’s go!

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Neal Brown (West Virginia) – He was #3 on my list last season and I honestly don’t know how he is still employed in Morgantown. And it’s not like things are looking super rosy there. Needed to keep his job – Honestly? A fucking miracle. Prediction – A mid-to-late-season shitcanning and no job next year as he starts quite a few rungs down the ladder in 2025.
2. Danny Gonzales (New Mexico) – Now let’s head to the southwest and a place that is very difficult to win at. Other than Rocky Long I don’t think anyone has really done anything of note in Albuquerque. The problem becomes how long do you give a coach a chance to win at a place where victories are at a premium? Honestly, Gonzales would be lower down the list if it wasn’t for what Jerry Kill did down the road in Las Cruces last year. Needed to keep his job – Vying for a bowl spot in the final two weeks of the regular season. Prediction – Near the bottom of the Mountain West pecking order yet again and maybe even a late-season firing.
3. Dana Holgorsen (Houston) – Look, Drunk Uncle Dana is entertaining. But the shtick gets old. And if they are as mediocre as I believe they will be in their first year in the Big XII, it’ll be lights out for Holgorsen. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility, period. Prediction – I don’t think they will even have a shot at a bowl game in the final week of the season meaning Dana’s fate will be pretty much sealed by that point.
4. Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri) – I don’t like harping on a guy’s looks but this guy looks more like Milton from Office Space than a college football head coach. Which is perfectly fine…if you win. This guy has hovered around .500 since coming to CoMo and I think a year under .500 would be the final straw. Needed to keep his job – At least a .500 record if not an upset or two inside the SEC. Prediction – I see him falling one game short of his goal and the athletic department feeling like they have to make a move now rather than wait.
5. Mike Neu (Ball State) – Neu has had his moments at Ball State but really hasn’t rose above an also-ran in the MAC. The Cardinals seem to consistently sit near the bottom of the MAC West which gives plenty of reason for a coach to get jettisoned. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility. That’s it, that’s all. Prediction – I can’t see them winning more than four games this season so expect him to be the most likely MAC head coach to be fired first.

Probable Shitcanning

6. Ricky Rahne (Old Dominion) – Rahne really has not been able to recreate some of the magic that his predecessor, Bobby Wilder, had.  I’m not saying the Monarchs were great under Wilder: but they were fun to watch and competed hard. Haven’t seen as much of that under Double R.  Needed to keep his job – Be competitive and play some meaningful November football.  Prediction – Quite possibly the worst Group of Five team and a tough decision to be made by the athletic director.
7. Tom Allen (Indiana) – Where are the 2020 Indiana Hoosiers?  We can finally say that that version of the team was a complete aberration which sucks for their fans.  Allen really is on borrowed time but there is the slight possibility he is kept on when the brand-new Big Ten starts next season without divisions.  A SLIGHT possibility.  Needed to keep his job – 4 or even 5 wins and looking more competitive against some better Big Ten teams.  Prediction – 3 wins and a quiet exit (for Tom).
8. Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – The bloom comes off the rose yadda, yadda, yadda.  One of these years I am going to be right about this guy.  Not that I want to be: I am just genuinely befuddled as to why this guy is still the head coach at Rice.  Needed to keep his job – Not looking like a punching bag moving up to the American Conference.  Prediction – Four wins which isn’t bad but some bad losses inside the conference and finally his removal from the sidelines.

Possible Shitcanning

9. Billy Napier (Florida) – Napier suffers from the fact that even if the previous few coaches have ended up as disasters they had their successes as well.  He hasn’t done anything and the Gators were barely bowl-eligible with a supposed franchise quarterback under centre.  Now it’s a step back.  It comes down to how far of a step back he will be allowed.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility should do the trick.  Prediction – I have them missing out on the postseason so there should be plenty of angry fans in Gainesville.
10. Brent Pry (Virginia Tech) – Poor Brent.  Last season wasn’t too bad when he took over the Hokies.  This season on the other hand…I don’t see good things in Blacksburg.  Maybe I’ll be wrong (and lord knows I have been wrong in the past) but if it’s as tough a season as I think it will be for VaTech, Pry might be fine with being done as head coach.  Needed to keep his job – Some improvement over last year.  Prediction – I have the Hokies winning only one game this season. One. That is not improvement. At all.
11. Greg Schiano (Rutgers) – I don’t know where Rutgers goes from here.  They’ve had a tough slog since joining the Big Ten.  They are the butt of pretty much every realignment joke and meme.  And I’m not sure firing Schiano, their best coach ever, will fix anything. But at some point, changes have to be made to at least try and improve.  Needed to keep his job – At least 4 wins but more to be competitive inside the Big Ten.  Prediction – 4 wins but the competitiveness part…yeah I don’t know about that.
12. Terry Bowden (ULM) – Same spot for Terry as last year.  I honestly don’t know the end game for all of this.  I can’t see him coaching the Warhawks into being a top notch Sun Belt team. Is he grooming the next head coach? It’s very confusing. That’s why I put him here and not higher up the list.  Needed to keep his job – Have a better record than last year and put a scare into a few of the better Sun Belt teams.  Prediction – Last year I predicted one win for them. This year it’s two. Something has to give at some point.
13. Shawn Elliott (Georgia State) – Look, it’s not like Georgia State is a destination coaching spot.  Saying that, the Sun Belt has become a lot tougher over the past half-a-decade.  So if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling further behind. And this is what it feels like with Georgia State. They aren’t getting worst but they aren’t improving and quite a few teams are leaving them in their dust.  Needed to keep his job – Competitive football in November and possibility for bowl eligibility during the final week.  Prediction – I have them at 4 wins this season so this could be an interesting off-season decision in Atlanta.
14. Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green) – This is Scott (with one T)’s fifth season at Bowling Green.  I don’t know why that surprises me but it does.  The Falcons really haven’t done anything other than sneak into one bowl game in his tenure.  It is, however, Bowling Green so the expeectations are a lot lower here. At some point, though, thre has to be some semblance of results and this guy just isn’t delivering.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and looking like a contender in the MAC East.  Prediction – No bowl game and they won’t look like a contender. Saying that, he may still be around for 2024 but on a very short leash.
15. Jeff Hafley (Boston College) – It has been a struggle on the Hill for Hafley and with no divisions there’s nowhere really to hide now in the ACC. The lack of success over the past decade-plus could be what keeps Hafley on for 2024. Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and having a shot at a bowl on the final weekend. Prediction – 5 wins and they will have two shots to claim bowl eligibilty and will fail at both but it will be enough for another year with Hafley.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

16. Justin Wilcox (California) – Wilcox might not have to worry if Cal just shuts down the entire program.  I’m only half-joking with that sentence.  I think the athletic department has much bigger things to worry about right now.  Meaning if Wilcox is fired it might be done by text.  Needed to keep his job – Possible bowl contention.  Prediction – They aren’t going to a bowl game and it looks like, for now, they have to be thinking about filling a schedule for 2024 more than dealing with their below-average head coach.
17. Mel Tucker (Michigan State) – Tucks signed for a lot of money to coach in East Lansing so last year better be an aberration.  Let’s be honest: even with being in arguably the toughest division in college football, the Spartans will be much improved this season. Shouldn’t be much of a worry here unless they come out of the gate VERY slowly.  Needed to keep his job – Probably 7 wins.  Prediction – He will get them to 7 and maybe, just maybe, they will put a scare into one of the top three teams in the division.
18. Dana Dimel (UTEP) – Dimel must have been thanking his lucky stars once he saw the exodus from Conference USA.  Having a few newcomers join makes things a bit easier for the Miners this year and gives Dimel one more year, almost certainly, on the job.  Next season? Who knows.  Needed to keep his job –  Fighting for bowl eligibility during the final weekend.  Prediction – They should be bowl eligible in early November so the pressure will be off…for now.
19. Thomas Hammock (Northern Illinois) – It feels like every other year at NIU things look good.  And then every other year things look bad. And so forth. So it should be good this year in Dekalb, no?.  Needed to keep his job – Look like a contender in the MAC West.  Prediction – I have them at five wins so maybe they will shock me?
20. Don Brown (UMass) – Probably the toughest job for a head coach in FBS is being the head man at UMass.  I have said for years now that the Minutemen should just drop to the FCS. I still think they should but I do understand the financial ramifications. Still, at some point don’t you think the fans yearn for something more than a couple of wins a season at most?  Needed to keep his job – Win a game. Any game.  Prediction – I think they win one game and I’m not guaranteeing it will be against their one FCS opponent. Brown should be fine going into 2024.

I think I say this ever year but I have to go back one day and really determine how good I am at this coaching hot seat list. I feel I do well and I hope the numbers would back me up. But I am used to disappointment so I am not holding my breath.

There’s a reason I don’t get a Heisman ballot. I am sure if even if I was the most prominent college football journalist in the land they would say “Sorry, Bossman, no can do.” Probably because my ballots have been mostly garbage in the past. Let’s see if I can somehow do better this year. Let’s just get to my ballot before I regret even posting this.

Bossman’s Heisman Ballot of Mediocrity

1. Jordan Travis, Florida State – I know everyone and their mother is picking Caleb Williams to win the Heisman. I can’t see that happening because voters almost seem to want to avoid giving any player not named Archie Griffin back-to-back Heismans and most of the time it goes to a player on a team that’s in the Top 4 (or close to it). Travis is predicted to at least go to New York for the ceremony so it’s not like I am way off here. Plus, I think his passing stats will explode as FSU hits the CFP for the first time in what feels like forever.
2. Caleb Williams, USC – Because I don’t have the Trojans winning the title this season or getting to the College Football Playoff is one of the main reasons I think Williams doesn’t win his second Heisman. He should be close to his passing stats from last season and at least he will make the voters think twice all year as he will never be far from the top of the Heisman hopefuls list.
3. Drake Maye, North Carolina – Maye is only a sophomore this season so he may be prepping for his true Heisman run in 2024. He will turn a lot of heads this season, though, with UNC battling FSU and Clemson at the top of the ACC.
4. Bo Nix, Oregon – Bo’s move from the SEC to the Pac-12 was huge and reinvigorated his fledgling career. Much of the Ducks’ hopes this year to win the Pac-12 in their swan song season rests on his shoulders and it is going to be a dogfight at the top. One huge game from Bo in a big conference game could put Oregon in the national title picture.
5. Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State – As long as the Buckeyes can figure out who is going to be flinging the ball over the field at quarterback, Harrison should have a monster season. There is an outside chance that he will be the #1 pick in the NFL Draft so I am sure he will be going all-out all season. As long as Ryan Day doesn’t decide to run the ball a lot more this season, Harrison is tOSU’s ticket to New York.
6. Michael Penix Jr., Washington – I believe that, as is the case lately, that the Pac-12 teams will beat each other up and no one will be high enough in the rankings to be in the CFP. For some players it’s not a huge issue (see: Williams, Caleb last year). For some, it’s the main reason they either don’t win the Heisman or don’t get invited to New York at all. I see Penix being one of those guys. Washington will be very good but not quite good enough and stuck in a group of six teams that are all pretty damn good this year. Playing out west doesn’t help either, despite what some may say.
7. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan – Here is the guy under center (centre?) who will finally push Michigan over the top this year. He won’t throw for a shit-ton of yards but it will be enough (along with this ground game) to put him in the Heisman conversation for a bit at least. A win over tOSU alone may give him the New York invite (if it was up to Michigan fans).
8. Quinn Ewers, Texas – Texas is probably a huge dark horse pick to win it all this year and Ewers has to be considered a bit of a dark horse Heisman cadidate. The only thing that could make this not the case is if he has a bad quarter or two and Sark gets an itchy trigger finger and puts Arch Manning in for longer than a few series.
9. Cade Klubnik, Clemson – The Fighting Dabos are going to be back on top…at least through the regular season. I don’t think many will be surprised with this. I’m not fully sold on Klubnik but he is an improvement on D.J. Uiagalelei and the Tigers defense will be able to pick up the slack when he struggles a bit. But those struggles will cost him a seat at the Heisman table I’m sure.
10. Jayden Daniels, LSU – Hey, have you ever remembred a time where the quality of the quarterbacks in the SEC has been this low? Not saying Daniels isn’t good because he is. But there are a few teams, Alabama and Georgia most notably, that have potential QB issues this season in the SEC and a few other teams that have returning quarterbacks that are honestly just above-average at best. Daniels may get some Heisman talk just because he may end up being that much better than any other QB in the conference.

Honourable Mention

• Blake Corum, Michigan
• Sam Hartman, Notre Dame
• Joe Milton III, Tennessee
• Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
• Kyle McCord, Ohio State
• Drew Allar, Penn State
• Harold Perkins, LSU
• Brock Bowers, Georgia
• J.T. Tuimoloau, Ohio State

There you go. If one of those nineteen aforementioned players wins the Heisman, I will feel…well, good is not quite correct. Satisfied? Sure, let’s go with that.

The college football predictions…..they are complete! In a little less than half a year from now, I will find out how poorly I did. Gee, I can’t wait.

At some point soon I will do my lovely NFL predictions which are sure to also be not fully correct. Then…….Week…..Fucking…….ZERO!!!!!! I will have the schedule up at least a few days before the games commence. And yes, if you are looking for games on the specialty pack, don’t. Week Zero has almost never shown Week Zero games. Almost. Kind of a crapshoot with these idiotic Canadian cable companies. Enjoy your week everyone!

A CFP without Bama? – Week 14 College Football Recap

It is true: the Alabama Crimson Tide will not be in the College Football Playoff this season.  This will be the first time this has ever happened if you can believe it.  We will get to the recap of what happened in the Iron Bowl including what is going on in that picture above when we get to it.

As per tradition (I think I did this last year for the first time) I will be using the Thanksgiving Day schedule template to do the recap.  This should go well, right?

Thursday

Mississippi State 21 Ole Miss 20

7:30 PM

You cannot make this shit up.  Ole Miss is bailed out by a ton of penalties on their final drive where they final score a touchdown.  So what happens next?  Receiver Elijah Moore pretended to pee like a dog and was given an unsportsmanlike penalty.  It was tacked on to the PAT which the Rebels then missed, allowing the Bulldogs to win the Egg Bowl and become bowl eligible.  That will go down as one of the all-time boneheaded moves in college football history.

Friday

Virginia 39 Virginia Tech 30

Noon

The Commonwealth Cup and the ACC Chaos Division title goes to the Hoos.  I was definitely one of many who thought the hire of Bronco Mendenhall was perplexing at the time but man has it turned out great for the Cavs.  This also means that the Coastal division has had every team win the division once over the last seven years.  Crazy.

Texas 49 Texas Tech 24

Noon

This was actually a pretty good game well into the third quarter and the Horns pulled away (as they should have).  Tom Herman is going to be on quite the hot seat going into 2020 as this has to be considered nothing short of a disappointment for this team.

Ball State 41 Miami-OH 27

Noon

Meaningless game won by Ball State.  You have to wonder about Miami-OH as they have a total lack of momentum going into the MAC Championship on Saturday.

Central Michigan 49 Toledo 7

Noon

Central Michigan, with the beatdown, clinches the MAC West and will face those Redhawks in the MAC Championship.  Good job by Jim McElwain in his first season in Mount Pleasant.

Iowa 27 Nebraska 24

2:30 PM

Iowa wins this one on a last-second field goal yet again.  The Huskers will be home for the holidays for the third straight season.  Sad times in Lincoln.  I will not drink the Husker Kool-Aid next season (now watch me forget that and have them going 10-2 again).

Missouri 24 Arkansas 14

2:30 PM

Despite the Mizzou win, it was announced that they would their bowl ban was upheld by the NCAA.  So they aren’t going bowling anyway and now they are without a head coach as Barry Odom was fired yesterday.  I wonder if CBS is starting to regret always showing this shitty game on Black Friday and will try and get the SEC to move another game to this date instead next season.

Memphis 34 Cincinnati 24

3:30 PM

Slow start but the Tigers pulled away late to beat the Bearcats and set up…a rematch the next weekend on the same field.  If Memphis wins, they pretty much lock up the Cotton Bowl bid.  If they lose, then Cincinnati is back in the Group of Five fray along with Boise State and Appalachian State.

Boise State 31 Colorado State 24

3:30 PM

Not surprising that the Broncos won.  It’s surprising that they struggled with a team like the Rams.  They host Hawaii on Saturday and have to win and get some help in the American Championship to go to the Cotton Bowl.

Washington 31 Washington State 13

4:00 PM

In what seems like a broken record, the Cougs beat Wazzu yet again for the Apple Cup.  It meant nothing really but Chris Petersen’s continuing ownership of this series over Mike Leach is at least somewhat baffling at this point.

West Virginia 20 TCU 17

4:15 PM

This was about the least Big XII game ever.  More like a Big Ten game from the 70s.  In the end, we have something that doesn’t happen very often: a postseason without TCU.  Going to be feel kind of odd, not gonna lie.

UCF 34 USF 7

8:00 PM

Not like the War on I-4 editions of the past that is for sure.  No chance for UCF to go to the New Year’s Six so their consolation is a bowl game and a win here.  Charlie Strong might be out as head coach as we are at that time of season where the firings come quick.

Saturday Early

Georgia 52 Georgia Tech 7

Noon

Speaking of games that weren’t close, here’s a great example.  Not that anyone thought it would be the case.  Biggest thing coming out of this one was George Pickens, who had already sat out the first half, was ejected in the second half for a senseless punch-up with a Georgia Tech player and will miss the first half of the LSU game.  I guess sometimes the game gets the better of these kids but still, that could be a tough one to swallow for a UGA offense that needs all the help they can get.

Ohio State 56 Michigan 27

Noon

tOSU is still Michigan’s kryptonite.  Another destruction at the hands of the Buckeyes and people are talking about Harbaugh’s future yet again.  Even when it was close into the second quarter, I thought that maybe this would be different.  Boy was I wrong.  Ohio State might have already clinched their spot in the College Football Playoff even if they lose to Wisconsin on Saturday.  That’s how dominant they have been this season.  The Wolverines will probably be in a Florida-based bowl yet again (but not the Orange).

Indiana 44 Purdue 41 (2OT)

Noon

Indiana won and has won eight games this year.  This is how you know college football always comes up with crazy things every season as the Hoosiers could end up being a nine-win team and ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 going into 2020.

Clemson 38 South Carolina 3

Noon

Hate to see that TSN had such a weak schedule and that this ended up being one of the games they had.  This game was not close from the jump and Trevor Lawrence showed why he still has to be considered one of the best college quarterbacks in America.  The Tigers now head to Charlotte to face Virginia in a must-win to be in the Top 4 once again.

Marshall 30 FIU 27 (OT)

Noon

Hey at least it was a fun, close game right?

Tulsa 49 East Carolina 24

Noon

Didn’t matter.  Wasn’t close.  I wonder if even Tulsa and/or East Carolina alumni were watching this one in the fourth quarter.  I am going to go with no.

Kentucky 45 Louisville 13

Noon

Nice to see these two programs playing pretty well these days.  Despite the loss, Scott Satterfield has emerged as one of the Coach of the Year candidates.  Mark Stoops is still rollin’ in Lexington and it’s amazing to think that football in the state of Kentucky (remember WKU had a great turnaround season as well) is doing a lot better than many other states.  Something you never hear about when you think of Kentucky.

Northwestern 29 Illinois 10

Noon

The Illini shouldn’t have had problems with the Northwestern offense but they did.  Their loss, much like Northwestern’s win, didn’t mean anything at least.  Now we start something new: Pat Fitzgerald on the hot seat.  Will be an interesting 2020 in Evanston.

Syracuse 39 Wake Forest 30 (OT)

12:30 PM

Yes, a nine-point victory in overtime.  The Orange got a field goal in their turn and then had a pick-six to end the game.  Strange victory to end a disappointing season in western New York.  The Deacs have basically blown any shot at going to the Orange Bowl now.

Saturday Afternoon

Temple 49 UConn 17

3:00 PM

UConn’s final game in the American Conference was yet another loss.  Other than a couple of seasons, the Huskies struggled mightily in the conference and now start as an Independent next season.

Wisconsin 38 Minnesota 17

3:30 PM

In some serious FOOTBAW WEATHER in Minneapolis, the dream season came crashing down for the Gophers.  Their loss to Wisconsin probably also means they are out of the New Year’s Six.  A tough end to what was a great season.  Wisconsin, on the other hand, can try and beat the juggernaut Buckeyes and hopefully cause some chaos in the College Football Playoff.

Auburn 48 Alabama 45

3:30 PM

This ended up being the game of the day and one of the best games of the year.  The Tide now cannot make it into the College Football Playoff and are not even a guarantee for the New Year’s Six (although I think they will end up there).  As for the pic at the top of the post, that was Saban being irate over the officials saying that Auburn had one second left in the first half when they shouldn’t have had enough time left after a Tiger ballcarrier was tackled.  Auburn made the long field goal and then Bama missed a field goal to tie it up late which provided the difference in the score.  The game essentially ended when the Tide were called for an illegal substituion on a punt which would have given the ball back to Alabama.  The punter lined up near the sidelines and the Crimson Tide sideline was confused and it cost them as they had 12 men on the field.  Huge upset and just a fantastic display of what is good about college football.

Duke 27 Miami 17

3:30 PM

If we could put multiple ACC teams in Shreveport I’d be all for it.

Baylor 61 Kansas 6

3:30 PM

Baylor didn’t need the “style points” in this one but it serves as good momentum going into the biggest game in school history.

Penn State 27 Rutgers 6

3:30 PM

Rutgers was only down 7-6 at one point.  OK so maybe style points do matter a bit although the Nittany Lions are still poised to go to either the Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl.

Boston College 26 Pittsburgh 19

3:30 PM

Well the Eagles won so they go bowling this season.  And on Twitter I had mentioned that this probably gave Steve Addazio another year on the job.  I was wrong.  He was fired yesterday.  I guess they got sick of the mediocrity but when, other than a season or two, have they not been mediocre?

Michigan State 19 Maryland 16

3:30 PM

Yes Sparty won but they looked bad doing it.  Now watch them blow out their opponent in the bowl game.

Florida Atlantic 34 Southern Miss 17

3:30 PM

Huge game here that, if Southern Miss had won, would have taken us into some Conference USA tiebreaker action.  Alas, the Golden Eagles did not win and lost the division title to UAB.  Florida Atlantic already had the division won but now clinched home field for the conference championship.

SMU 37 Tulane 20

4:00 PM

Compared to previous games between these two teams, this came off as an average game that bordered on unwatchable.

Notre Dame 45 Stanford 24

4:00 PM

Yes Stanford is not going bowling.  No, David Shaw will not be fired.  Yes, Notre Dame is going bowling.  I don’t know if they will get into the New Year’s Six considering the teams ranked above them (despite the fact the Irish could top out at #9).  Will Brian Kelly be around next year to try and get Notre Dame back to the promised land?

Tennessee 28 Vanderbilt 10

4:00 PM

Not even close this one.  The Vols really wanted this one and it showed.  Maybe it’s time to believe in what Jeremy Pruitt is doing in Knoxville.  Vandy on the other hand is in an interesting situation.  With coaches already being fired, don’t be surprised if Derek Mason’s name is added to that list.

Oregon 24 Oregon State 10

4:00 PM

Poor Beavs.  They really had their chance the previous week against Washington State with that amazing comeback that came up just short.  They tried and didn’t look too bad against their state rivals but could not win the Civil War and a chance to go to a bowl game.  The Ducks will now try to destroy the final Pac-12 CFP chance in the Pac-12 Championship.

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

North Carolina 41 NC State 10

7:00 PM

What a way to become bowl-eligible.  Mack Brown completes the turnaround and the Tar Heels rout the Wolfpack to win the in-state rivalry and will be going to a bowl game for the first time in three years.  Talk about a feel-good story as many thought the Brown hiring was not a good idea and talked about his age being a factor working against him.  Well he got the last laugh for sure.

LSU 50 Texas A&M 7

7:00 PM

And I was right.  LSU destroyed the Aggies.  Joe Burrow probably clinched the Heisman with his performance in this one, including breaking the SEC record for most passing yards in a season.  LSU has probably also clinched a spot in the Top 4 regardless of what happens in the SEC Championship.

Navy 56 Houston 41

7:00 PM

Since Memphis won their match yesterday, it meant this really didn’t mean a lot.  Don’t tell that to Navy who hung a 50-burger on Houston.  In two weeks they have Army in a game that means a lot to the players even if it means nothing to the bowl season schedule.

Kansas State 27 Iowa State 17

7:00 PM

I still think Nebraska-Iowa is the real Farmageddon but whatever.

Louisiana 31 ULM 30

7:30 PM

This was actually a great one to watch.  ULM had missed an extra point earlier so were down one with a chance to win and they missed the field goal.  It also means ULM didn’t become the 80th team to become bowl-eligible this season.  Louisiana might have been looking ahead to their huge showdown with Appalachian State next weekend.

Florida 40 Florida State 17

7:30 PM

I honestly forgot this game was even on.  I am sure a lot of fans felt the same way.

Utah 45 Colorado 15

7:30 PM

A really slow start here by the Utes and I wondered if maybe this was it for their own dream season.  Instead they revved things up and pulled away with ease.  They will most likely be #5 when the CFP Rankings come out and it will all come down to the Pac-12 Championship to see if they get to the CFP.

Oklahoma 34 Oklahoma State 16

8:00 PM

The only thing that was going right for the Pokes in this one was Mike Gundy’s hair flowing in the wind.

San Diego State 13 BYU 3

9:00 PM

San Diego State might be the quietest 9-3 team in the land.  Rocky Long continues to do an amazing job with the Aztecs as they churn out good team after good team.  BYU is already contracted to go to the Hawaii Bowl whereas SDSU will find out where they go in about six days’ time.

Arizona State 24 Arizona 14

10:00 PM

Kevin Sumlin has to be feeling the hot seat in the desert.  Not saying the Wildcats have ever done anything of note on the football field but still, another bad season with a player of Khalil Tate’s talent is not going to put you in a positive light.

San Jose State 17 Fresno State 16

10:30 PM

Nice to see the Spartans finish with five wins since they are not known for their football prowess at all.  And I know that the stadium is going to be renovated soon but having one side, the hard camera side if you will, be just grass looks really bush league, pun not intended.

California 28 UCLA 18

10:30 PM

By this point I was pretty exhausted.  Watching the Bruins play poorly again was something I just didn’t feel like doing.  So I mostly watched the other games on at the time and ignored this one.

Hawaii 52 Army 31

12:30 AM

Going to be honest: I went to bed when the score was 38-31 for Hawaii.  I knew it was close but I just couldn’t stay awake any longer.  I think I made a good choice.  I would have been somewhat miffed if the game had been close or gone to overtime but I figured making it to almost 3 in the morning is a feat onto itself, no?

Bowl Eligibility

These are the teams that clinched bowl eligibility this past week of college football:

Ohio

Mississippi State

Kent State

Liberty

Boston College

North Carolina

Michigan State

No games other than conference championships this coming weekend so we don’t have that weird instance where a team loses a game due to usually hurricane conditions and makes it up on the final weekend of the year (conference championship weekend).  Come to think of it, were there any weather-related cancellations?  I don’t know if there was which is pretty remarkable since the past few years have been mired with them.

Coaching Carousel

Cue Homer Simpson goes to Clown College music.

So what is happening on the ol’ coaching carousel?  Let’s take a look.

• Get this.  There was basically a petition to bring Greg Freakin’ Schiano back to Rutgers after he seemed to show no interest in the open head coaching spot.  In the end, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse (I guess) and he is back in the place where he brought Rutgers very close to the promised land in the only time Rutgers was ever any good at football.
• Matt Luke was shitcanned at Ole Miss.  Their loss to Mississippi State was the final straw.  Wait, no, it’s the way it happened that was the final straw.  Luke seems to have a bit of a lack of control over his team and it showed there.  He is now gone.
• Barry Odom was dismissed at Missouri.  No real surprise there.  Who will replace him?  Who the hell knows but, as someone pointed out on Twitter, the name better rhyme with Barry.
• Charlie Strong is actually out at USF.  Again, not a surprise.  I see him coming back as a coordinator somewhere since no team will pick him up as a head coach at this point.
• Steve Addazio out at Boston College even after they became bowl-eligible yet again.  It makes me wonder if this decision had been made at least a week ago and they didn’t announce anything until after Saturday’s game.
• Bob Davie resigned at New Mexico.  After all the shit that was happening in Albuquerque, this feels like him quitting before he was actually fired for some sort of pride reasons.
• Frank Wilson was fired at UTSA after another brutal season.  No one thought the Roadrunners would contend in the Conference USA but they thought they’d at least be competitive.  At this point it’s them and UTEP battling for the worst team in the division.  Even Rice has surpassed them.
• Only a season-and-a-half after that massive upset of Virginia Tech, Old Dominion fired Bobby Wilder after their worst FBS season to date.
• And finally, Chris Petersen has stepped down at Washington.  This is a huge shock!  Jimmy Lake will replace him for the bowl game.

Potential coaches on the move and where they could go:

• Lane Kiffin – Arkansas might be interested in him.  Lane back in the SEC!  Sign me up!  He is also getting interest from Florida State which would be very interesting.
• Shane Beamer – He will get a lot of looks because of his last name, whether you like that or not.  The obvious fit would be at Old Dominion since he would be able to recruit well in that area.
• Willie Taggart – Supposedly the former Seminoles head man is interested in returning to USF.  Whether the Bulls feel the same way about him could be a different story after his failures in Tallahassee.
• Mike Norvell – This guy is the top choice to go to a Power Five school.  Arkansas seems to be the favourite to get him but now that Missouri and Ole Miss are looking for head coaches, he could end up at one of those schools.
• Billy Napier – Ole Miss might want to look at what Napier has done at Louisiana.  This team is one of the premier Group of Five teams and it was a quick turnaround after Mark Hudspeth’s firing.
• Willie Fritz – It would take quite a bit to pry him away from Tulane as he is still looking to get the Green Wave over the hump and into a true contender in the AAC.  A lot of schools would be definitely interested in him with Missouri probably at the top of this list.
• Bryan Harsin – Don’t laugh.  Especially if USC does actually fire Clay Helton which they haven’t…yet.
• Bill Clark – Everyone is also looking at Clark for what he has done at UAB.  He is seemingly an expert on taking a program from scratch and making it a contender.  Maybe Florida State takes a flyer on him since Clark would be better off at a southern school (Ole Miss and Arkansas could also be possibilities).
• Mike Leach – His name comes up all the time for job openings at the end of every year.  If a school could give him at least a couple of years to put his vaunted offense in it may work like it did on the Palouse.  Boston College might look at Leach although Leach at Florida State would bring all kinds of hilarity.

Are there more possibilities?  Absolutely.  I won’t list them all though.  Later in the week will be the bowl projections post, conference championship weekend schedule post and the NFL post.  Have a great week everyone!

The 2019 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List

Clay might want to avoid airport tarmacs this season.

Look, I get it.  USC is one of the toughest coaching jobs in the nation.  Thanks to Pete Carroll, the standards are now always high in L.A.  That’s why you see guys like Lane Kiffin flame out and get fired on an airport tarmac (which is still one of the most hilarious coach firings ever).  Helton will need to get the Trojans to perform this year or he is in trouble.  How much trouble?  Well…

IT’S HOT SEAT TIME!  This post has been actually fairly accurate over the years.  I am holding on to this as much as I can considering a lot of my predictions turn out to be shit.

List time!  This is ordered (like every year) from most likely to be fired to least:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Randy Edsall (UConn) – Things are looking terrible for UConn football.  They have decided to move to the Big East for all sports, except football.  This means the AAC didn’t want them so next year, the Huskies become Independents.  Let’s just say Edsall’s second stint in Storrs has been drastically worse than his first stint.  Needed to keep his job – UConn to actually look like a decently competitive team.  Prediction – Will be gone before the end of the season but not before he gets more ridiculous bonuses thanks to his clause-laden contract.
2. Mike Neu (Ball State) – Ball State has looked like a MAC also-ran every year since they ran the regular season table over a decade ago.  Former Cardinal quarterback Neu has not righted the ship in the slightest.  It also doesn’t look like things will improve any time soon considering many players have transferred out as well.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – He will be gone with either one or two games to go and will become a quarterback coach somewhere at a lower level in the next year or two.
3. Tony Sanchez (UNLV) – It was a bit of a risk getting Sanchez, a successful high school coach at Bishop Gorman in Vegas, to be the head man for the Rebels.  No offense to Tony but it’s a much different game and he has been overrated almost every year there.  Needed to keep his job – Play meaningful football in late November.  Prediction – He will end up being a lame duck coach for a game or two and then the search will be on for someone to coach this program into that brand new shiny stadium.
4. Mike Bobo (Colorado State) – This is a tough one.  It isn’t Bobo’s fault that he has had health concerns.  But he is the head coach so he is ultimately responsible for the program.  The Rams have become worse ever since they got their new stadium.  I see it getting worse before it gets better.  Needed to keep his job – Creeping towards bowl eligibility so like 4 or 5 wins.  Prediction – Bobo may resign before he gets fired if anything goes on with his health.  Either way, 2019 should be his last year in Fort Collins.
5. Frank Wilson (UTSA) – I thought of putting him in the next section but I am starting to think this is almost a guarantee now.  I am glad the Roadrunners gave him another chance to get things going again in San Antonio.  It’s a new program and they need some stability but at some point stability is less important than changing the program to get better. Needed to keep his job – At least four wins.  Prediction – I honestly can’t see the Roadrunners winning more than two games.  Other than Rice they are probably the worst team in Conference USA and Wilson will be shitcanned but this might wait until after the season is over.

Probable Shitcanning

6. Bob Davie (New Mexico) – This is the exact same spot Bob was in last season.  And he wasn’t fired.  Why?  Who knows, especially since it sounds like Davie is too much of a disciplinarian.  My guess is the buyout is too large and UNM can’t afford it.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and the look of a program on the rise in the Mountain West.  Prediction – Three wins (AGAIN!) and a 95% chance of being canned as long as they have the money in Albuquerque to do so.
7. Philip Montgomery (Tulsa) – Tulsa has struggled in the American for the last two years.  Another can’t miss head coaching prospect has fallen pretty far.  I don’t see anything that lends to Tulsa improving but they really can’t get worse at this point.  Needed to keep his job – Four wins may be enough here.  Prediction – Less than 4 wins and probably a coaching change at some point after the season.
8. Charlie Strong (USF) – I am going out on a serious limb with this call.  He started off great and challenged UCF that first year in Tampa.  Last year the Bulls dropped to 7 wins and I see them missing out on bowl season this year.  Needed to keep his job – At least seven wins and not fall too far behind “twin brother” UCF.  Prediction – Below .500 and a surprising ousting (at least to the college football media).

Possible Shitcanning

9. Clay Helton (USC) – You would have thought him having his picture at the top of this blog post would have him at #1.  Not so fast, my friend (copyright Lee Corso).  His status all depends on how the Trojans do and do many think they will be as bad as they were last season?  Needed to keep his job – Back to at least 7 wins and challenging for the Pac-12 South title.  Prediction – I see the Trojans at the 7-win mark but considering the fans and alumni, that still might not be enough for poor Clay.
10. Chris Ash (Rutgers) – I know this might make no sense and I am wondering if I am doubting myself here.  No one really wants this job so why would they fire a guy who wants to stay there and build the program back up.  Needed to keep his job – 3 wins.  Prediction – I can’t see them winning over two games but again who else would they get to coach there?
11. Steve Addazio (Boston College) – Boston College is not bad.  Hasn’t been for years (for the most part).  But the fans and alumni might be getting a bit tired of the 7-win ceiling in Chestnut Hill.  It’s like a poor man’s Bo Pelini at this point.  Needed to keep his job – More than seven wins for God’s sake!  Prediction – I think they actually fall to 5 despite having one of the best running backs in the country.  So will they pull the trigger and do something to really try and make the Eagles a threat in the ACC or are the admins satisfied with being fourth or fifth in the ACC Atlantic for the foreseeable future?
12. Brent Brennan (San Jose State) – This program is bad.  Has been for the better part of, well, forever.  It’s got to the point where there are rumours that SJSU would be kicked out of the Mountain West to create a better conference.  That’s how bad things are for the Spartans (and that’s not just in football).  I think Brennan could be an OK coach but unless something drastic changes or they get a program-changing player to come to San Jose, nothing really will.  In the end, though, would letting Brennan go be the answer?  Needed to keep his job – For SJSU to win more than a couple games.  Prediction – I have the Spartans winning two games but who the hell knows what happens with this team and their coach.
13. Doug Martin (New Mexico State) – The coach could always be fired here.  This program is used to not being good at all.  I still believe that very few good coaches would want to go to Las Cruces to coach football (no offense to Las Cruces) so firing Martin may not make sense.  Needed to keep his job – Not be the worst Independent team.  Prediction – They should be better than UMass but that’s it.  Lucky for them, UConn joins their “team” of Independent teams so there could be one more team the Aggies feel superior to.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

14. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – I have made peace with the fact that Lovie will not get fired.  Now watch him get canned midway through the year.  Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season.  Prediction – I’ve got them at 4 wins so technically with two games to go they should still have a chance to go to a bowl game.
15. Willie Taggart (Florida State) – Willie needs to get some slack here.  It’s not like Jimbo Fisher left him with an amazing program.  He deserves time to see if he can do what he did at USF.  Needed to keep his job – Back to a bowl game for now.  Prediction – I have the Noles winning 9 so they should at least be in the New Year’s Six conversation into November which might garner Taggart an extension instead of a spot on this list.
16. Gus Malzahn (Auburn) – Gus is going to be on this list forever I think.  Even when the Tigers beat both Georgia and Bama, the Gus Bus veers into the hot seat.  Something has to give I think…or not.  If he keeps winning 7 or 8 games then this will continue ad infinitum.  Needed to keep his job –  Honestly?  Another 7 or 8 win season.  Prediction – 8 wins so we will see you next year when I discuss Gus again.
17. Matt Luke (Ole Miss) – Two seasons of sanctions doesn’t help Luke’s cause here.  But now with two really good coordinators he will have no excuses for failure.  Not doing well, even in the SEC West, would, at the very least put Luke on a hotter seat than he is on now.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility in their first year back after being barred from the postseason.  Prediction – Four wins and the rumours that Rich Rod will get the job for 2020.
18. Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – It’s a tale of two schools in the Houston area.  There’s Houston and then there’s Rice.  Houston is one of the better Group of Five teams.  Rice is Rice.  Don’t expect much from Bloomgren and the Owls although at some point the admins will want to see some progress.  Needed to keep his job – Don’t do anything stupid.  Prediction – A winless season which will move Bloomgren up this list despite the fact Rice has no talent.
19. Bobby Wilder (Old Dominion) – Things were looking great for the Monarchs.  A relatively new school and they went to the Bahamas Bowl back in 2016.  Wilder was even being considered for other openings.  Fast forward two-and-a-half years and, other than their massive upset of Virginia Tech last season, not much is going right for this program.  Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and playing meaningful football in Conference USA well into November.  Prediction – 5 wins and playing meaningful football in Conference USA well into November.

As you may have noticed there is no mention of Jim Harbaugh on this list.  First of all, I think the Wolverines get to the College Football Playoff.  And secondly, it is apparent that the admins at Michigan don’t have any inkling of firing Captain Khaki.  He will probably leave to go back to the NFL before he gets fired in Ann Arbor.

The final post is coming up for my predictions and it is my normally horrible Heisman ballot.  Then the season begins!  4 days away!  I will do a small post later this week on the Week Zero schedule.  Everything should be in place in the next day or two for the weekend (and the huge schedule of four games).  Enjoy your day everyone!

Ranking the Bowl Games from First to Worst

Before we begin, let me just put this here:

That franchise is a complete mess.  This is coming from someone who lives, technically, in the Buffalo Bills area and knows how shitty a franchise can get.  So let me get this straight…the Chargers are moving to the fucking StubHub Center to play the 2017 season?  It only has about 30,000 seats!  I would laugh (out loud even) if they had a game where they didn’t sell out.  Why don’t they move to a city that actually wants a team and MAY be able to support it with their current infrastructure?  There has to be some city that at least has something in place to do that.  Instead they go to Los Angeles, a city that wants the Raiders back and gets the lowly Rams instead and it showed with their pathetic attendance totals.  What a gongshow.    I am starting to wonder if the NFL has reached its peak and will now come back to Earth a bit and not be the mega-league that can do whatever the hell they feel like and get away with it.

OK back to college football.  The bowl games are now over.  They have come and gone.  And me, being a bit of an idiot, watched at least a part of every game except the Arizona Bowl.  I don’t get MyTV anymore (downgraded my package so to speak) and wasn’t around to watch it live online.  I feel like I didn’t miss much there.  For other games, I was glad I watched all or nearly all of the game since we had a few epic bowl games that will be remembered for a long time (at least by college football fans).  Let’s get to the rankings shall we?

1. National Championship (Clemson 35 Alabama 31) – What a game. You can argue whether this game or the 2006 Rose Bowl was the better national championship game and you wouldn’t be wrong on either side of the fence.  An absolute instant classic.  Deshaun Watson cemented his legacy in this one.  A great way to end a somewhat average year in college football.
2. Rose Bowl (USC 52 Penn State 49) – Another awesome game. I, along with many others, figured this would be the best game of the bowl season and the national championship would be a letdown.  Expect both of these teams to be College Football Playoff contenders next season.
3. Orange Bowl (Florida State 33 Michigan 32) – Yet another amazing game. The New Year’s Six this year was light years better than last year’s despite the fact the CFP semi-finals were pretty bad.  This had almost everything, including the Wolverines getting within one late with a returned extra point.  Almost anything Jim Harbaugh is involved in is worth watching and this was no exception.
4. Birmingham Bowl (USF 46 South Carolina 39 (OT)) – I am amazed how good this game was. And at one point it looked like the Bulls had this one in the bag.  A furious Gamecock comeback sent it to overtime where USF ended up winning it.  For such a crappy bowl in a crappy stadium it was a fun watch.
5. Armed Forces Bowl (Louisiana Tech 48 Navy 45) – This game came down to a walk-off field goal for the Bulldogs. I like option football to be honest (I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea) and Navy showed why they are the best in the biz at it (even over Georgia Tech).  But their defense was horrid which kept this game close much to the glee of, well, me (and a lot of other viewers).
6. Idaho Potato Bowl (Idaho 61 Colorado State 50) – This game was scoreless through the first quarter. So they put 111 points on the board between them in the last three quarters.  That has to be a record.  Add in that it was one of the coldest games on record and that the blue turf was basically a skating rink made it that much more exciting.  Cherry on top of the bowl game sundae?  Idaho wins in their second-last season in FBS before moving DOWN to FCS.  All the insanity of college football in one game.  WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
7. Sun Bowl (Stanford 25 North Carolina 23) – No McCaffrey? No problem.  CBS gets a gift with this amazing bowl game despite the fact it was missing a superstar and it was played in El Paso, a place no one seems to want to play.  This is all without an SEC team (for CBS’s sake) or a Big XII team (for El Paso’s local fans’ sake).  I still think the Browns are going to try their best to get their homegrown college star, Mitch Trubisky, to be the next QB for that god-awful franchise.
8. Foster Farms Bowl (Utah 26 Indiana 24) – It’s nice to see CBS and FOX getting good games considering the crap they have to put up with at bowl time. Then again, most people seem to just expect every bowl game is on ESPN so I wonder how many people watched this one.  Indiana did their Hoosier thing and played the annoying pest to Utah’s person trying to swat the mosquito away.  Great game and it was close and it had GUS JOHNSON!
9. Camellia Bowl (Appalachian State 31 Toledo 28) – A great game that was close from the opening gun. Also, two of the better Group of Five teams from the two conferences that tend to get left behind in the G-5 shuffle (Sun Belt and MAC).  This is the argument for keeping bowl games.
10. Poinsettia Bowl (BYU 24 Wyoming 21) – A good game in San Diego. You can insert your own joke here about how rare that is.  This was played in FOOTBAW WEATHER as all the rain that the San Diego area gets in a year fell during this one game (or at least it felt that way).  Also, BYU is usually a fun (albeit sometimes too rough) team to watch and Wyoming’s resurgence under Craig Bohl (Game) was a nice heartwarming story.
11. Cotton Bowl (Wisconsin 24 Western Michigan 16) – I think the lead-up to this game helped it a lot. It felt like we were just waiting for the Broncos to Row That Damn Boat and start their comeback.  When they finally did we felt the Broncos would then tie it up.  Alas, that didn’t happen but it showed that WMU was deserving of this spot and that Wisky will still be a tough out next season in the Big Ten.
12. Dollar General Bowl (Troy 28 Ohio 23) – How is it that a dollar store can sponsor a bowl game? If, let’s say, Value Village decided to sponsor any game of this magnitude, I would assume it would be played on a not-so-well-manicured high school field with wooden bleachers.  Anyway, this was a good game.  Not great, but worth watching.
13. Texas Bowl (Kansas State 33 Texas A&M 28) – To be honest, I really want to put this lower but I hear that it was a good game. Thanks to the colossal shitshow that occurred with TSN, Rogers, and Bell, none of us got to see this game.    Worst part is I still don’t know where to lay the majority of the blame but I am going with TSN at this point (which is surprising since, normally, TSN is really good with this).
14. Heart of Dallas Bowl (Army 38 North Texas 31 (OT)) – Option football. And this was a rematch.  It was setup for (most) fans to look away.  Instead it was a pretty good game with a lot of intrigue.  And now I honestly wouldn’t mind Army joining the AAC.  I mean why not?
15. Bahamas Bowl (Old Dominion 24 Eastern Michigan 20) – A team going to their first bowl game ever against a team going to their first bowl in 30 years. Great storylines for the media which turned into a fun game to watch.  Bobby Wilder alone pushes this game into the top 15.  He’s like the eastern seaboard P.J. Fleck.  Just like Fleck going to Minnesota will be good for college football, Wilder moving up the line will be good for college football as well (once it happens).
16. Belk Bowl (Virginia Tech 35 Arkansas 24) – The absolute meltdown of the Razorbacks in this one was hilarious and sad to watch all at once. No one should lose a 24-0 lead in a bowl game ever.  It’s happened twice now in the last two seasons (let’s remember Oregon last season).  Bret Bielema is now on a VERY hot seat in Fayetteville and wishing he never left the Badgers (and all the cheese he could eat) in the Big Ten.
17. Military Bowl (Wake Forest 34 Temple 26) – WAKEYLEAKS! It felt like it was brought up about a dozen separate times.  Honestly it was a pretty good game to watch with a near-Temple comeback.  It solidified that the Demon Deacons’ season wasn’t a fluke (and actually could have been better considering what occurred).
18. Quick Lane Bowl (Boston College 36 Maryland 30) – If Maryland had taken the lead late, this game would have moved way up the list considering the Terrapins’ comeback in this one. Oh well, there’s probably not much more we can expect in a game between Boston College and Maryland in Detroit during the afternoon between Christmas and New Year’s.
19. Pinstripe Bowl (Northwestern 31 Pittsburgh 24) – I remember a few years ago when they announced they would be playing a bowl game at Yankee Stadium. I thought it was a stupid idea at the time.  It has turned out to be one of the most consistently better bowl games in the past few years.  This year was no exception.
20. St. Petersburg Bowl (Mississippi State 17 Miami-OH 16) – I hate putting this game this high on the list. I really do.  It is such a shitty bowl.  But it was a close game the entire time and the game was decided on a blocked field goal, giving the Bulldogs the W.  I still think that bowl game and the field itself should cease to exist.
21. Liberty Bowl (Georgia 31 TCU 23) – It was close but never felt like that great a game. It was good because it was college football but not fantastic by any means.
22. Holiday Bowl (Minnesota 17 Washington State 12) – P.J. Fleck is the right man to right the ship (pun VERY intended) in Minneapolis. It was a shitshow and I am almost angry they won after what the players (and Tracy Claeys) did earlier that week.  Plus what the hell happened to the vaunted Mike Leach offense we saw all season?
23. New Mexico Bowl (New Mexico 23 UTSA 20) – The first bowl of the season (other than the wacky Celebration Bowl) was pretty good. I am surprised that they didn’t fill the stands for this one though.  Doesn’t make sense since the home team and a team from Texas were there.  It felt like there should have been more fans there.  A strike against the bowl system.
24. Sugar Bowl (Oklahoma 35 Auburn 19) – After the Rose Bowl I was almost worn out. Auburn scoring a touchdown on the final play was very Gus Malzahn-y. If Jim Harbaugh had been the other coach, it would have been a brawl afterwards.
25. Music City Bowl (Tennessee 38 Nebraska 24) – I sure hope this doesn’t spur the same reactions almost everyone had last year after Tennessee won their bowl game handily. Look, they will be good but don’t get a Sharpie and write them in as SEC East champs just yet.
26. Peach Bowl (Alabama 24 Washington 7) – The first semi-final felt close for a while. Bama didn’t play that great and neither did the Huskies and you thought that maybe Washington has a chance.  Then the pick-six happened and you knew it was pretty much over so let’s get to the next game quickly.
27. Boca Raton Bowl (Western Kentucky 51 Memphis 31) – I figured there would be more fight from the Tigers but the sheer amount of offense in this one makes up for it being a relatively boring game.
28. New Orleans Bowl (Southern Miss 28 UL-Lafayette 21) – It was close but it came after a few not-so-great bowl games so interest (at least on my end) was relatively low. The Ragin’ Cajuns have to be sick of this bowl by now despite the fact it still gets decent fan attendance.
29. Cactus Bowl (Baylor 31 Boise State 12) – Admittedly I didn’t watch much of this game once Baylor went up by a good margin. It felt weird to see the Bears win considering how the second half of their season went and how their program has been viewed in general.  It will take a few years for people to focus on the football aspect of things in Waco.
30. Hawaii Bowl (Hawaii 52 Middle Tennessee 35) – This defense-optional matchup was fine if you like arena football-like scores but other than that?   Also, the stands were basically empty.  Can we scrap this game please?  If the home team can’t even bring in fans I don’t know what will.
31. Citrus Bowl (LSU 29 Louisville 9) – Man that was rough to watch. Lamar Jackson looked terrible and the Tigers didn’t even blink an eye even with Leonard Fournette skipping this one.  So many fumbles by the Cardinals this season; it is actually surprising that they led the FBS in that category.  It truly shows how good Lamar Jackson was for most of the season to have to overcome that.
32. Russell Athletic Bowl (Miami 31 West Virginia 14) – Is The U back? It sure looks like it.  You have to feel good for Mark Richt.  He has already done a great job in Miami and it’s only his first season.  I expect them to contend for the division title next year and, perhaps, finally closing it out and making their first trip to the ACC Championship.  Also, watching Drunk Uncle Dana go apeshit on the sideline is kind of fun to watch.
33. TaxSlayer Bowl (Georgia Tech 33 Kentucky 18) – Kentucky has to consider this a successful season. Same with Georgia Tech.  Other than that, it was a game that was on while other bowl games were on as well.  Didn’t bode well for this one.
34. Las Vegas Bowl (San Diego State 34 Houston 10) – I think the media would put this higher considering the Tom Herman saga and Donnel Pumphrey breaking (kind of) the NCAA all-time rushing yards record. But really?  The game sucked.
35. Independence Bowl (NC State 41 Vanderbilt 17) – I am kind of a Vandy fan in a way. I always like to see them do well.  But they were awful here.  Not even Dancin’ Derek Mason could help the team out here.  And is NC State good?  Who knows.  Ask Wolfpack fans and you would get varying responses, all ending with “Fire Doeren.”
36. Fiesta Bowl (Clemson 31 Ohio State 0) – This may be worse than Alabama’s drubbing of Michigan State last season. It was brutal and I stopped watching early in the fourth quarter since the game was already in hand.
37. Arizona Bowl (Air Force 45 South Alabama 21) – I didn’t watch this game. Don’t get MyTV.  Wasn’t able to watch it live so watching it online wasn’t an option either.  However, saying all that, there were four games worse than one I didn’t even watch.  Yeah they were that bad and it’s an argument against more bowl games (or an argument for less bowl games than we have now).
38. Alamo Bowl (Oklahoma State 38 Colorado 8) – The only reason a lot of people (including myself) continued to watch was to see if the Buffs could break the goose egg. And they did.  And then I turned it off because it was awful.
39. Outback Bowl (Florida 30 Iowa 3) – I had rated this game lower than many online experts had. It gives me a small amount of satisfaction to say I was right.  This game sucked.  No surprise here.
40. Miami Beach Bowl (Tulsa 55 Central Michigan 10) – I think the thing people were waiting for was to see if Tulsa would put up a 60-burger. They did not.  I wish they would just scrap this game.  It’s on in the afternoon on a weekday before Christmas.  Who the fuck thinks this is a good idea?
41. Cure Bowl (Arkansas State 31 UCF 13) – All this game cured was people’s insomnia.

There you go.  We’re done.  And I am a bit sad.  But we still have some football.  Usually the best weekend of playoff football is upon us in the NFL with the Divisional Playoffs.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Your Special Boxing Day Bowl Recap #2

I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you didn’t get too drunk.  I could understand if you did but sometimes moderation really is the way to go.  Anyway, where was I…

Oh that’s right.  Bowl games!  Yes they are still going on and will be through January 2^nd.  As I have said before, savour these games, even if they suck because soon enough we will be sans college football for months.  The horror!

Alright let’s get to the recap and maybe you can then work off all the eggnog you drank.

Miami Beach Bowl – Tulsa 55 Central Michigan 10

This was about as dominating performance I have ever seen in a bowl game.  This wasn’t even close from the get-go.  I am honestly surprised Philip Montgomery hasn’t got any feelers for Power Five coaching jobs.  He is an offensive guru and deserves a lot of credit for what he has done for the Golden Hurricane.  He has been overshadowed by coaches like Tom Herman and Matt Rhule in the AAC this season.  With them gone, expect Montgomery to get a lot of attention next season.

Boca Raton Bowl – Western Kentucky 51 Memphis 31

Boring bowl number two.  These games that get out of hand relatively early are, a lot of times, tough to watch.  This one was no exception.  I think many expected the Hilltoppers to pour on the points but I, for one, figured that Memphis would keep it close.  Not the case.  Alright so let’s move on to the next bowl and see if things get better…

Poinsettia Bowl – BYU 24 Wyoming 21

Now this is what I’m talking about.  I will say that the quality of play wasn’t exactly the best.  Thanks to San Diego getting one of their four days of rain for the year on that exact night, the Murph/Qualcomm/Former Chargers Stadium ended up being a bit of a quagmire.  But it was a close game.  Wyoming is looking good under Craig Bohl and should continue that next season.  The Cougs are almost always good so it will be interesting how much attention the next time realignment comes up.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Idaho 61 Colorado State 50

Hey another great bowl game.  Again with some extreme weather conditions.  It was one of the coldest bowl games on record in Boise and it showed.  The blue turf (which is getting old btw), turned into a huge skating rink.  It made defense basically impossible.  For once I don’t fully blame the two teams for that.  But it was fun to watch.  Points and points and points and points and points, etc.  I find it a bit ironic that a team that is moving down to FCS just put 61 up on the scoreboard in a bowl game.

Bahamas Bowl – Old Dominion 24 Eastern Michigan 20

This bowl is the bane of my existence (well, one of several banes).  A bowl game before Christmas on at 1 in the afternoon.  Who thinks up this shit?  I get that they want to show the beauty of the Bahamas during the day time and so we also get to see Mack Brown in terrible island tourist wear.  It’s too bad since the game was great and it really was two teams who very much wanted to be there and played their hearts out.  I would watch out for the Monarchs next season in Conference USA as they look to be pretty damn good under Bobby Wilder.  I sure hope EMU can put together two decent seasons in a row but the jury is out on them.

Armed Forces Bowl – Louisiana Tech 48 Navy 45

Of all the good bowl games thus far, this could have been the best.  An absolute classic.  Navy is always fun football to watch but the Bulldogs are a bit of a revelation if you don’t watch much Conference USA (which we here in Canada really don’t).  And speaking of Conference USA, why the hell do they look so bad as a conference during the regular season and then so good in bowl season?  I don’t get it.  Anyway, great game, still not happy with the start time of 4:30 but this is the argument to keep as many bowl games as possible on the schedule.

Dollar General Bowl – Troy 28 Ohio 23

One of the greatest turnaround seasons of the decade ended with the Trojans beating the Fighting Soliches of Ohio in yet another close bowl game.  Neal Brown is already being touted as a coach who may move up to a better program.

Hawaii Bowl – Hawaii 52 Middle Tennessee 35

This is one of the arguments against more bowl games.  It was a pretty good game with a lot of points but there weren’t that many people there to enjoy it.  You know, with the HOME TEAM playing in its own stadium.  They said there were over 20,000 people there.  I don’t buy that.  If there were more than 12,000 I would have been shocked.  It’s a bit of a sad state that a home team can’t at least half fill their own stadium for a bowl game.  No wonder teams move down to FCS.  I can see more of that happening.

There you go!  Again, I hope you had a great Christmas.  Boxing Day’s bowl schedule looks like, possibly, the worst day of multiple bowl games ever.  I sure as hell hope that some of the games are good today.  Also, there is the Monday nighter in the NFL.  Easily the best one of the year as the Lions face the Cowboys.  So there’s always that.  Enjoy the games everyone!