The beginning of a new era (and the Conference Championship Weekend TV schedule)

Posted on December 2, 2022 by guelphbossman

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

This is just awful (and the Week 12 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on November 15, 2022 by guelphbossman

If you haven’t heard, there was a huge tragedy on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Three players on the Cavaliers, Lavel Davis, D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were killed in a shooting at the end of a field trip. Two other students were severely injured and are in hospital. The shooter is a former UVA football player. I have not heard anything about a motive. This is just awful. Seems like more senseless violence. I don’t know how the team is going to move on for the final two games of their season. At this point, it feels pointless to move on but many of them probably need football as a distraction to help healing and mourning the loss of their teammates and friends. Condolences to everyone at the University of Virginia. I would say hopefully lessons are learned from this but they never are, unfortunately.

UPDATE: The Virginia-Coastal Carolina game will not be played this Saturday. This does not affect Canadians and what they can watch but it is noteworthy. And also not surprising in the least. There is also no word about what will happen with the Commonwealth Cup game against Virginia Tech the following weekend.

Alright, it seems much less important this week but let’s get on with the schedule.

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Ohio at Ball State	7:00 PM
Bowling Green at Toledo	7:00 PM

A couple of big MACtion games to start the week. If the Bobcats can beat Ball State and the Rockets beat Bowling Green, then Toledo will help Ohio win the MAC East. This would mean that Ohio would go to Ford Field in a couple weeks to face…Toledo. Interesting how that works out.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Eastern Michigan at Kent State	6:00 PM
Miami-OH at Northern Illinois	7:00 PM
Western Michigan at Central Michigan	8:00 PM

If Ohio loses the previous night, then the EMU-KSU game becomes quite a bit more important as the MAC East will still be up for grabs. Otherwise we got some bowl-eligibility issues here: Kent State, Miami-OH and Central Michigan all have to win to keep their bowl game chances alive.

Thursday

		US	Canada
SMU at #21 Tulane	7:30 PM

Only one game Thursday night (not even a game on a network Canadians can’t get). It’s a big game for the Green Wave as they absolutely need to win this one to stay alive for a berth in the AAC Championship.

Friday

		US	Canada
USF at Tulsa	9:00 PM

One game here. TSN is picking it up. I don’t know why because it means nothing. Neither team can go bowling.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Navy at #17 UCF	11:00 AM
Illinois at #3 Michigan	Noon
Duke at Pittsburgh	Noon
Indiana at Michigan State	Noon
UConn at Army	Noon
Wisconsin at Nebraska	Noon
Yale at Harvard	Noon
#4 TCU at Baylor	Noon
Florida at Vanderbilt	Noon

I’d say the most interesting game here is the TCU-Baylor game. It’s your classic trap game as the Bears are a good team and the game is in Waco. The other truly interesting one out of the bunch is the Wisky-Nebraska game in the Big Ten West Chaos Carnival. No one is in the driver’s seat (but the Huskers aren’t on the trip at all). All the teams are in seats on the bus trying to see who can last to the final stop. I think I got that analogy right.

Yes, you see that right. We have morning football. ESPN2 still has their quadrupleheader but it starts an hour early. I will explain more later in the post. And yes, you see that right. Yale and Harvard, once again, appearing on ESPNU. Despite the fact there are other teams that might deserve that spot, it’s nice to see ESPN embracing FCS football. I just wish they would do that when Gameday goes to an FCS school, like this Saturday when they head to Bozeman for the Brawl of the Wild between Montana and Montana State. That game is on at 2 in the afternoon on ESPN+. Ridiculous. Give it the late ESPNU spot for Christ’s sake!

Finally, a little bit about the UConn bowl situation. The Huskies are bowl-eligible. They do, however, have to hope that there are not enough teams to fill all the spots. There is no guarantee for them as they have no tie-in to any other bowl. Even worse, Liberty is in the same boat and is ranked way ahead of them so will get the first chance when a bowl doesn’t have two teams to fulfill the tie-ins. So the program is still fingers crossed to make a bowl as it’s not set in stone just yet.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Washington State at Arizona	2:00 PM
#25 Oregon State at Arizona State	2:15 PM
Boston College at #18 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
#2 Ohio State at Maryland	3:30 PM
NC State at Louisville	3:30 PM
#11 Penn State at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#1 Georgia at Kentucky	3:30 PM
Akron at Buffalo	3:30 PM
Miami at #9 Clemson	3:30 PM
South Alabama at Southern Miss	3:30 PM
#22 Cincinnati at Temple	4:00 PM
Iowa at Minnesota	4:00 PM
WKU at Auburn	4:00 PM
Georgia Tech at #13 North Carolina	5:30 PM
Stanford at California	5:30 PM

This might be the biggest afternoon schedule I have ever seen. Saying that, it’s definitely quantity over quality as there isn’t a ton here to whet the appetite. What does this mean? We are in for something crazy. It never fails.

I talked about TCU’s trap game earlier. You could say the same for Georgia here. I like UGA’s chances more than TCU’s obviously but if the Dawgs let the Cats stay around into the fourth quarter, expect a lot of nervous Georgia fans around the country. The Big Ten West Round Robin Fun-Time Carousel continues in this timeslot with Iowa and Minnesota facing off to see if we can get some clarity going into the final regular season week.

UPDATE #2: Akron-Buffalo has been postponed due to the snowstorm that has already hit the Buffalo area and moved this weekend’s Bills game to Detroit. The game is reportedly going to be moved to Sunday but I don’t see that happening with what the area will be like through the end of the weekend.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Boise State at Wyoming	7:00 PM
#5 Tennessee at South Carolina	7:00 PM
#24 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma	7:30 PM
New Mexico State at Missouri	7:30 PM
#14 Ole Miss at Arkansas	7:30 PM
Syracuse at Wake Forest	8:00 PM
#7 USC at #16 UCLA	8:00 PM

A huge Pac-12 game that could have been one of the biggest in years if the Bruins hadn’t blown a gasket against Arizona, of all teams, last weekend. Plus the Oklahoma Sooners are in a very odd spot, at least for this program: they need a win to become bowl-eligible in November. This is a stark difference to some Bedlam games of the past decade or so where it was the Pokes who needed that win badly to play some postseason ball. The Sooners don’t need to win this one but if they lose here they only have one more shot to keep their bowl game streak going.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
UAB at #6 LSU	9:00 PM
Colorado at #15 Washington	9:00 PM
Fresno State at Nevada	10:30 PM
#10 Utah at #12 Oregon	10:30 PM

So the entire reason for ESPN2 starting their schedule at 11 in the morning is so that LSU could host UAB on the station at night? Are you fucking serious? That might be one of the dumbest things I’ve heard. The schedule could have easily been shuffled around to accommodate this in a normal way but ESPN is really upping how much they kowtow to the SEC. It’s probably a good thing the Big Ten is leaving for FOX. Also here we have the other high stakes Pac-12 match of the weekend that is, once again, a little less high stakes than it could have been. Both the Utes and Ducks still have Pac-12 Championship and New Year’s Six opportunities available…well, one will after this game.

Big Games O’ The Week

USC at UCLA (8:00, FOX) – I don’t remember a time when I’ve done this blog where the Pac-12 is the conference to watch on any given week. I think every other Power Five conference has had their week to shine (with the SEC and Big Ten having a lot of weeks to shine) but this may be a first for the Pac-12 on this blog. Look, a USC win may move them up to #6 or even #5 going into the final regular season week. It clinches their spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game and possibly sets them up to return to glory. A UCLA win doesn’t fully eliminate any team but makes it a lot tougher for any team from the conference to get to the College Football Playoff. What it does do, though, is cause massive Pac-12 chaos inside the conference which is also fun…for me at least.

Utah at Oregon (10:30, TSN2) – Hey a TSN quadrupleheader! That’s nice. What’s not so nice? This is probably the high water mark for TSN college football coverage this season. I will explain later. Anyway, the other big Pac-12 game this week pits two teams who still have big aspirations which hopefully lead to a Rose Bowl spot. No matter the result, there will still be a bit of chaos left in the Pac-12 to just determine it’s title game participants. Thankfully there are no divisions this year as it’s so much better to just have the best teams in.

Illinois at Michigan (12:00, ABC/TSN2) – Most years, this has the makings of a blowout. Not this time around. Yes it’s in the Big House so the Wolverines have a big home field advantage. Other than that though, this is not a game Michigan should take lightly. Illinois still has a shot at the Big Ten West title but a few other things have to go their way. A win here REALLY helps though. Michigan is heading into The Game with Ohio State and a win here, coupled with Ohio State winning, would set up the biggest matchup since…well, you could say last year but I would say since 2016’s double overtime classic.

Georgia at Kentucky (3:30, CBS) – This could be the game of a lifetime for Mark Stoops and Kentucky if they could pull off the upset. It would also completely upset the college football apple cart with very little time left. Let’s be honest though: it’s going to take a lot for the Cats to keep this close. Hopefully they have watched UGA’s games against Kent State and Missouri to figure out the best approach.

TCU at Baylor (Noon, FOX) – Dave Aranda’s Baylor Bears could throw a huge monkey wrench into TCU’s national title plans. If they beat the Horned Frogs, that probably spells the end for TCU’s CFP hopes. TCU has to be very careful with this one. It is the very definition of a college football speed bump game.

Tennessee at South Carolina (7:00, TSN2) – So it drops off a bit of a cliff after the first five games. But this could be a sneaky good one. Tennessee is not out of the College Football Playoff conversation just yet. South Carolina could put the nail in that coffin and potentially destroy the Vols’ New Year’s Six possibilities in one fell swoop if they can pull off the upset in Columbia.

Psycho Game of the Week

USF at Tulsa (Friday, 9:00, TSN2) – The Bulls are here for a second straight week. I would call that a trend. I get that TSN2, somehow, has nothing to air that night so this goes there by default. But of all the games to show. You know what, TSN? You’d be better off showing Best of Curling or World’s Most Incredible Darts Throws or something like that. This is terrible.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Colorado at Washington (9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Man, Colorado is bad. Worst Power Five team? It’s between them and Northwestern. Maybe they should play a bowl game to determine the worst of the worst. The Huskies should annihilate Colorado here in a game that might be long over by halftime.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

Time for my picks for the upcoming week of college football. Is there any basis for these picks? Not really. I mostly wing it.

Ball State (+3.5) over Ohio (and the mild upset win!)
Central Michigan (-11) over Western Michigan
Navy (+16.5) over UCF (they’ll cover but not win)
Northwestern (+20) over Purdue (the Boilermakers will win though)
Illinois (+18) over Michigan (covering but not winning)
TCU (-2.5) over Baylor
Oregon State (-8) over Arizona State
South Alabama (-7.5) over Southern Miss
Penn State (-19.5) over Rutgers
Miami (+19) over Clemson (the Canes will cover but the Tigers will win this one)
Minnesota (-2.5) over Iowa
Wyoming (+14) over Boise State (the Broncos will end up with the win)
Ole Miss (-2.5) over Arkansas
Oregon (-3) over Utah

OK an explanation about the TSN comment I made earlier. Normally, the final week of the regular season would bring at least 8 games on TSN if not up to 13 or 14. TSN would go all in because the CFL would be done for the season. Just like this year, the Grey Cup lands on Week 12 of the college football season. One wrinkle, though: the World Cup. It begins Sunday. TSN and CTV are showing every game of the tournament. If I just take a look at the schedule, it means the following:

It’s almost a guarantee that there will be on early Black Friday games aired on TSN.
TSN 2, 4 and 5 are available for afternoon/night Black Friday games.
The next day (Saturday, American Thanksgiving weekend) might be mostly out for college football games as there are World Cup games that overlap the early and afternoon windows. I can see TSN stepping up for primetime and late night games, though.

So, 14 games? Not going to happen. 10? Doubtful. Maybe they get back to that 8 mark but it will be dicey. Is this one of the reasons why the World Cup shouldn’t be in November and December? Yes. But it’s far down the list. Like WAY down the list. Remember…it’s in Qatar. That’s all you got to say.

Tomorrow you should get the bowl projection and rankings post and on Thursday the NFL post. Not guaranteeing anything but this is the time of year where staying on schedule is pretty imperative. Enjoy the games everyone!

Injuries, Injuries, Injuries…and the Week 7 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 12, 2022 by guelphbossman

It happens every year. Some of the best college players get injured and teams have to go without them for a game up to an entire season. Here’s a short list of just some of the players who have gone down to injury so far this season:

Bryce Young (Alabama) – Injured his shoulder this past Saturday and is questionable for the most important game of the year so far (vs. Tennessee).
Zach Calzada (Auburn) – A shoulder injury against Missouri has knocked Calzada out for the rest of the season.
Charlie Brewer (Liberty) – Had issues with his thumb in their opener against Southern Miss and has had surgery to repair it. Could be back in a couple weeks.
Cade McNamara (Michigan) – A leg injury could have McNamara out for the season.
Chris Autman-Bell (Minnesota) – All that is known is that he had a lower-body injury that he sustained in the Gophers’ victory over Colorado that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
Tyler Buchner (Notre Dame) – The man who was supposed to start for the Irish has been knocked out for the season with a joint sprain in his shoulder.
Cedric Tillman (Tennessee) – The Vols wide receiver might return before the end of October if his ankle is strong enough.

Hell it’s got to the point that injuries are being reported that the players are denying. There was a report that Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels would be out for the season with a shoulder injury: a report that Daniels thought was interesting and news to him. He’s still doubtful for the Jayhawks’ next game but he is disputing that he would be done for the season.

Also, there are some teams that are suffering because of the sheer amount of injuries. Want to know why Wisconsin might not be as good as had been advertised? Currently they have seventeen players out with injuries. Seventeen. Good god.

Part of the point of all this is to say football is a contact sport. Players will get hurt. So for the powers that be to essentially want to add games to the schedule makes the season more of a war of attrition than anything. Until North Dakota State started their run of FCS championships, that’s what the FCS playoffs was. The healthiest team won and they were almost never the best (or second-best or third-best or fourth-best, etc.) team going in. And we know what college football media can be like. They will be all over the injury angle if, say, the top three teams in an expanded College Football Playoff don’t win it all because of injuries to important players. It’ll happen. You just watch.

OK that was enough of a rant. Time for what you came here for. Some hot college football schedule action. Or more like slightly warm since the weather has started to change.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Louisiana at Marshall	7:30 PM

Hey, we have our first instance of Fun Belt football this season! I figured both of these teams would be better than they have been so far. Marshall is trying to make a name for itself in its first season in the Sun Belt, whereas Louisiana is trying their hardest to get back to the Sun Belt Championship for a fourth consecutive time.

Thursday

Neither of these games should be close; however, we know what Thursday Night Football has been like so far this season so pick your poison.

Friday

		US	Canada
Brown at Princeton	7:00 PM
Navy at SMU	7:30 PM
UTSA at FIU	8:00 PM

Woof. This is….technically a schedule with three football games on it. Hopefully one of them is close.

Saturday Early

Alright now this is what I’m talking about. If there was a ever a need for a college football-style RedZone channel, this would be the week for it. The sheer amount of good-to-great games this week is staggering. And it starts here with PSU-Michigan in a massive Big Ten East game. Kansas gets to prove that they really are for real this season against an average Sooners team. And how about Coastal Carolina? It may be the first of a bunch of national games for them if they keep winning.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
California at Colorado	2:00 PM
#8 Oklahoma State at #13 TCU	3:30 PM
#15 NC State at #18 Syracuse	3:30 PM
#3 Alabama at #6 Tennessee	3:30 PM
Ohio at Western Michigan	3:30 PM
Arkansas at BYU	3:30 PM
Maryland at Indiana	3:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #1 Georgia	3:30 PM
Tulane at USF	4:00 PM
Wisconsin at Michigan State	4:00 PM
Arizona at Washington	5:30 PM

Great early schedule is followed by an even better afternoon schedule, if you can believe it. I guess you could say the highlight is Bama-UT but you also have the Pokes and Horned Frogs as well. Undefeated teams falling everywhere by force! The fact that NC State-Syracuse is on the ACC Network has made no one bat an eye. Normally, people would be a bit outraged by this. But there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s how good this schedule is in this timeslot. Oh and Vandy-UGA might be essentially over by 4:15 if you are a sadist.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Utah State at Colorado State	7:00 PM
LSU at Florida	7:00 PM
ULM at South Alabama	7:00 PM
#4 Clemson at Florida State	7:30 PM
Nebraska at Purdue	7:30 PM
Memphis at East Carolina	7:30 PM
Stanford at Notre Dame	7:30 PM
#16 Mississippi State at #22 Kentucky	7:30 PM
North Carolina at Duke	8:00 PM
#7 USC at #20 Utah	8:00 PM

And then we have yet another huge game. The Trojans get a huge test heading to Utah. Win this and they might be headed for a Victory Bell showdown with UCLA that has CFP implications. Maybe Florida State can prove something against Clemson and upset the ACC apple cart while doing it.

One game I am looking forward to is the battle for first place in the Big Ten West between…Nebraska and Purdue? Yep! Oh my. Oh and who thought putting Stanford and Notre Dame in primetime was a good idea?

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Washington State at Oregon State	9:00 PM
Air Force at UNLV	10:30 PM

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd the week ends with a thud. I guess there’s always a Hawaii Test if you feel the need to stay up extremely late.

Big Games O’ The Week

Alabama at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – So many games could be the Game of the Week but I went with this one mostly because the Vols are really good and if Bryce Young doesn’t end up playing, this is ripe for a huge upset. If you had said at the start of the season that there was even a possibility of an undefeated Georgia having to beat an undefeated Tennessee to win the SEC East I would have laughed. Well, who’s laughing now? Uh…not me, I guess. Bama doesn’t want to lose because it brings all the teams that are essentially eliminated in the SEC West back into play along with Ole Miss who is nipping at their heels. Huge stakes.

Penn State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Let’s call it 1B to Bama-Tennessee’s 1A. Or more like 1E because it is a bit down the list from that game. Luckily it’s in the Big Noon Saturday spot…or more like Big Blue Saturday. Seriously, what is FOX’s deal with Michigan? They in love or something? Anyway, winner faces Ohio State for the Big Ten East title. Loser, though, is still not out of the race for, well, anything really.

Oklahoma State at TCU (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I am praying for people who have to rely on their PVR this weekend. Decisions, decisions. Who would have thought there would be three games between undefeated teams this week. Nobody. Especially this game. Realistically, this could end up being a Big XII Championship preview if things shake out right for both teams. Either way, big New Year’s Six implications with this one.

USC at Utah (8:00, FOX) – For the first time in quite a while, USC is in a game that truly matters. The Utes are used to these kinds of games now and the MUSS is no joke for visiting teams. The Trojans can continue to drive a final stake in the Pac-12 heart with a win here. Poor Conference of Champions.

NC State at Syracuse (3:30, specialty pack) – The Wolfpack’s only loss is to Clemson and the Orange have made it through the first part of their schedule unscathed. The winner here still has a shot at usurping Clemson at the top of the ACC Atlantic, especially Syracuse. I don’t know if either team is ready for College Football Playoff conversation but it will be there for the winner.

Mississippi State at Kentucky (7:30, specialty pack) – The Wildcats have stumbled a bit since their hot start while MSU is soaring under Mike Leach as Will Rogers throws the ball like fifty times a game. At some point Rogers’ arm will fall clean off but until then, Leach will ride him as the captain of the offense. If the Bulldogs can win this one, is a New Year’s Six spot in their future? They will be in the conversation for sure.

Minnesota at Illinois (Noon, Big Ten Network) – The Illini in the Games of the Week list? Wow, this year has been crazy but this might be over the top. A win here and Bert’s Boys would be the odds-on favourite to win the Big Ten West and get absolutely slaughtered by whoever wins the Big Ten East. Fun times. I can’t wait for divisions to be abolished for good.

Clemson at Florida State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Holy crap we’re still going with this. So many good games. Now, to be honest, this might not be as good as the rest on this list but if the Noles decide to show up and cause problems, you never know. This could cause the greatest earthquake in the rankings if FSU pulls off the upset.

Psycho Game of the Week

California at Colorado (2:00, Pac-12 Network) – Good lord, why would you torture yourself with this? I mean with this game you have to put forth more effort to even watch it. This is definitely for psychos.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

UTSA at FIU (Friday, 8:00, CBS Sports Network) – Most would put Vandy-Georgia in this spot but may I present to you this affair. UTSA is a good Group of Five team. FIU, despite winning two games this season, is not a good team. At all. The Roadrunners will make the Golden Panthers look like then Wile E. Coyotes in this one.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Nick Saban is 15-0 vs. Tennessee.
Mack Brown has won 11 straight Victory Bells over Duke during his two stints at North Carolina.
Oklahoma has won 17 straight games over Kansas but has failed to cover the spread in three of the last four meetings.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

Oh god I picked Oklahoma last week to win. OK let’s just get going on this week’s picks. I can’t believe I did that.

Baylor (-3.5) over West Virginia
Coastal Carolina (-12) over Old Dominion
Michigan (-7) over Penn State
Ole Miss (-14.5) over Auburn
Maryland (-11.5) over Indiana
BYU (+1.5) over Arkansas (and the outright victory)
Michigan State (+7.5) over Wisconsin (and the upset!)
Washington (-14) over Arizona
ULM (+17) over South Alabama (but the Jaguars will win a close one)
Kentucky (+4) over Mississippi State (and the win!)
Nebraska (+14) over Purdue (but the Boilermakers will win the game)
North Carolina (-7) over Duke
UNLV (+10) over Air Force (the Falcons will grind this one out but it won’t be easy)

We are finally into true mid-week college football! And this is shaping up to be a monster week, one that could shape the rest of the season. Enjoy the games everyone!

So I wonder how he got back from Ireland? Oh, and the Week 1 college football schedule

Posted on August 31, 2022 by guelphbossman

I can’t see the Nebraska team and staff and everyone else who made the trip to Dublin allowing Frosty the Coachman to board the same flight as him. Probably safer for him anyway. He would have been thrown out of the plane over the Atlantic somewhere. All because of a horrible onside kick playcall that was not needed (among other poor coaching decisions). Just a complete fucking disaster for that team and now Frost’s hot seat is basically the surface of the sun.

Finally we have made it! Week One! And a full schedule. Hell, more than a full schedule it feels like. So much football and I will watch as much as I can because come January, it feels bad when it’s all gone. Let’s right to the (true) opening weekend schedule.

Thursday

		US	Canada
West Virginia at #17 Pittsburgh	7:00 PM
Central Michigan at #12 Oklahoma State	7:00 PM
Ball State at Tennessee	7:00 PM
VMI at #22 Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Alabama A&M at UAB	8:00 PM
Louisiana Tech at Missouri	8:00 PM
Penn State at Purdue	8:00 PM
New Mexico State at Minnesota	9:00 PM
Northern Arizona at Arizona State	10:00 PM
Cal Poly at at Fresno State	10:30 PM

As I said during the Week Zero schedule post, I would be including games that most Canadians won’t get up here, even with the specialty packs. I’m doing this because some have switched to an IPTV provider and can get some (or all) of these games. So while the NAU-ASU game might not look exciting (and it probably won’t be), I will still list it.

Nice to see the Backyard Brawl back as WVU and Pitt get a bit of a national spotlight for this one. Also, you have to wonder if Mike Gundy has the last game the Pokes played against CMU in his mind when the Chips won on a Hail Mary play that shouldn’t have even been allowed. Also, FOX will show a Thursday night game on the network to start the season. I wish they did that more often and they honestly could with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package moving to Amazon Prime.

Friday

		US	Canada
Western Michigan at #15 Michigan State	7:00 PM
Virginia Tech at Old Dominion	7:00 PM
Temple at Duke	7:30 PM
Illinois at Indiana	8:00 PM
TCU at Colorado	10:00 PM

3-hour windows. Good lord. Yes, TSN’s schedule says that the TCU-CU game starts at 10:30 but that’s not true. Stupid ESPN.

UPDATE: If you were planning on watching the WMU-MSU game on ESPN, you will have to move to ESPN2 as ESPN is now showing US Open tennis.

Saturday Early

First full slate of Saturday games. Feels good. Nothing big here. The UNC-App State game could be the most intriguing as you don’t often see Power Five teams travel to Group of Five teams so there is some upset potential there.

Saturday Afternoon

Now we get to the meat of Week One. I am not really a fan of neutral-site games but let’s be honest: we are all watching a good portion of that UGA-UO matchup. Perhaps a College Football Playoff elimination game there (although we know one loss almost never kills a Power Five team’s chances). I’m interested to see what the brand new era of Sooner football will look like with Brent Venables now at the helm. And CBS opens with SDSU’s brand new stadium as they finally left the cavernous Murph for a more intimate viewing arrangement.

Also, you will notice a couple of other things. First, no games on ESPN2. As is usually the case, the U.S. Open tennis tournament is on ESPN2 all Saturday so that’s why there are no games airing there. It’s also why most of the TSNs aren’t available to show games this week. Secondly, the odd timing of the Pac-12 Network games. Well, thanks to the brains of Larry Scott (and others, yes, I know, but he was the commish), the Pac-12 Network has a national feed and regional feeds for all the schools. Each pair of schools shares a region. In this timeslot, the UCD-Cal game is actually only available on the P12N Bay Area feed. The BGSU-UCLA game is the P12N National game. Confused? Yeah it’s dumb.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Rice at #14 USC	6:00 PM
#7 Utah at Florida	7:00 PM
Illinois State at #18 Wisconsin	7:00 PM
#5 Notre Dame at #2 Ohio State	7:30 PM
SMU at North Texas	7:30 PM
Memphis at Mississippi State	7:30 PM
Utah State at #1 Alabama	7:30 PM
Louisville at Syracuse	8:00 PM
Colgate at Stanford	8:00 PM

Game of the year in the opening weekend? You could argue that. The Irish and the Buckeyes face off in a massive non-conference matchup (I don’t know why I’m even saying that since the Irish will NEVER join a conference, right?). This will hopefully be worth the hype (and boy is ESPN/ABC going to push the hype to the next level for this one). So you could watch that OR you can watch Bama beat the snot out of USU. Your choice. Now watch that game be closer than the ND-tOSU game.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Idaho at Washington State	9:30 PM
Boise State at Oregon State	10:30 PM
Kent State at Washington	10:30 PM

One of the more interesting matchups of the weekend goes down in Corvallis. I would normally say Boise is the favorite here but the Beavs have been a much improved team as of late. Also, there’s a true Hawaii Test if you can find a way to stream it (it starts at midnight).

Sunday

		US	Canada
Florida A&M vs. Jackson State (in Miami)	3:00 PM
Tuskegee vs. Fort Valley State (in Montgomery)	7:00 PM
LSU vs. Florida State (in New Orleans)	7:30 PM

Speaking of interesting matchups, LSU-FSU is a juicy one down at the Superdome. Both teams are popular picks to improve this year. Let’s see how definitely Southern Brian Kelly fares in his opening contest in the SEC.

I am not sure about the two non-FBS games appearing on the specialty pack. Over the years, these opening Sunday games have been hit or miss so stay tuned.

Monday

		US	Canada
#4 Clemson at Georgia Tech	8:00 PM

Geoff Collins wouldn’t be fired after Week 1 would he?

Big Games O’ The Week

Notre Dame at Ohio State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Sure there is another game that’s huge but this is THE big game of the week. I don’t remember the Irish starting with a game like this in recent memory and no, Texas doesn’t count. Now we have to hope ND doesn’t play like shit and makes the game unwatchable in the second half.

Georgia vs. Oregon (in Atlanta) (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – A new head coach for the Ducks up against a team trying to do the toughest thing in sports: repeat as champs. If you want, you can call this Game 1A of the Week (especially if you are a whiny SEC fan). A few questions will definitely be asked here, chief among them being can Bo Nix thrive outside the SEC, because last season he certainly didn’t thrive inside it.

Cincinnati at Arkansas (3:30, specialty pack) – If you had said three years ago that this would be the third best game of opening weekend, I would have drove you to the nearest AA or NA meeting. It’s a new college football world, though, and the Bearcats are still the Group of Five’s signature team until they are beaten. And Arkansas is slowly moving up the SEC ranks under possibly the most underrated head coach in the land, Sam Pittman. The Cats lost a lot of talent so this will give everyone a good idea as to what we can expect from them this season.

West Virginia at Pittsburgh (Thursday, 7:00, TSN2) – The Backyard Brawl is BACK! I am sure we will see references to 13-9 up until and throughout the game. Let’s see if the ‘Eers can put a bit of hurt on a Pitt team that believes they can repeat as ACC champs.

Psycho Game of the Week

Temple at Duke (Friday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Every week now instead of listing honourable mentions in the games of the week section, I will list a game that we all can get here but you would have to be a complete psycho to watch the entirety of (or you are a fan of one of the teams and even then). This week we have Temple travelling to the Carolinas to face Duke. Ugh. This feels like it could be a torture device used by the military. Anyway, unless it’s close, just avoid it.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

This section is the section for all you gambling degenerates out there and you KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I do bet on the NFL from time to time but I stopped gambling on college games. I think it took the fun out of it to be honest. Also, I sucked at it.

Alright, this season I am going to do something different. I am going to pick AGAINST THE SPREAD. That’s right! Make things a bit more difficult for me and gives all the more reason for you to not use these picks for your own gambling. I’ve warned you. Let’s begin.

Pittsburgh (-7.5) over West Virginia

Missouri (-19.5) over Louisiana Tech

Purdue (+3.5) over Penn State (with the Boilermakers winning outright)

Duke (-7.5) over Temple

TCU (-14) over Colorado

Appalachian State (+1.5) over North Carolina (with the Mountaineers winning outright)

San Diego State (-6) over Arizona

Oregon (+17) over Georgia (with the Bulldogs winning the game)

Florida (+3) over Utah (Gators win outright in upset)

Notre Dame (+17.5) over Ohio State (tOSU wins but game will be close)

Oregon State (-3) over Boise State

LSU (-3) over Florida State

And there you go! We are at Week 1 so rejoice, college football fans! I am so happy we have made it to this point. I will try to keep things updated over the next couple of days (if need be). I will be on Twitter (@TheBauceman) for a good portion of the action so check me there if you wish. And everyone enjoy the games!

The Coaching Carousel is in full swing already – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 10, 2021 by guelphbossman

The amount of coaches, both head and otherwise, shitcanned so far this year has hit a staggering amount. I get that it’s been the second kind of wacky year in a row for college football (for very different reasons) but you have to wonder if many coaches got a bit of a COVID exemption, like some of the super seniors that they coach (or used to coach). So let’s go through what’s happened so far this season. Strap in.

Remember way back in September when Captain Bonus, Randy Edsall, decided to retire and then the next day resigned instead? Seems like so long ago. It was 64 days ago. Barely over two months.
How about when Clay Helton was finally fired at USC? For many of the Trojan faithful, it was about four years too late.
But Helton wasn’t out of work for long. He was recently hired to replace Chad Lunsford who had been fired by Georgia Southern back in late September. Probably a good spot for him.
Ed Orgeron was fired because he likes sexing up hot women in Baton Rouge rather than coaching LSU after he divorced his wife. Thinking with your dick is fine in certain situations, this may not be one of them. Then again, the buyout will be ridiculous for him. Good shit.
You knew this was coming as soon as you heard the backstory. Nick Rolovich’s firing was a surprise to no one…except maybe Nick Rolovich.
This one was a bit of a shocker. Matt Wells was fired after Kansas State came back to beat his Texas Tech team dropping them to *checks notes* 5-2? What? Now the Red Raiders have hired a successful high school coach to replace him. This is either seriously stupid or seriously brilliant.
The end of an era in Fort Worth as Gary Patterson was let go. Some thought he should have been allowed to finish the season but with this new early signing period many teams who have fired their head coaches are going to want to get their new guy sooner rather than later to take advantage of this signing period.
Tom Arth was fired. He was 3-24 at Akron. I know it’s Akron but good lord.
But again, it could be worse. Walt Bell dropped to 2-23 in his tenure at UMass after they lost to Rhode Island. Maybe this team should be not long for FBS.

Now, many, including myself, wondered if Scott Frost would be on this list by the end of the season. Instead, he got his contract restructured and he will be back for 2022. Now his buyout has been slashed in half and his yearly contract went down by a million bucks so it’s not like he made out like a bandit. He celebrated this by firing four assistants. Maybe bringing in a better offensive coordinator will help and with the extra money, they might be able to afford it. But Frosty the Coachman’s hot seat will be molten lava if the Huskers get off to a bad start next season (or finish this season on a losing streak).

OK enough coaching crap, on to the schedule!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Toledo at Bowling Green	7:00 PM
Ball State at Northern Illinois	7:00 PM
Kent State at Central Michigan	8:00 PM

Gotta love Midweek MACtion. Nothing better than cozying up and watching some college football on a weeknight as the weather gets colder outside. And there are some important games. Ball State-NIU might very well be for the MAC West title. Also, Kent State tries to take advantage of the MAC East being pathetic by winning to put some room between themselves and the rest of the division.

Thursday

		US	Canada
North Carolina at #21 Pittsburgh	7:30 PM

Only one game but it’s important in the ACC Coastal. The division synonymous with chaos could become even more chaotic if the Tar Heels can pull off the slight upset of Pitt.

Friday

		US	Canada
#5 Cincinnati at USF	6:00 PM

Only one game that is being shown in Canada tonight and it starts at an odd time. Why so early for this one? The reason is that there is a huge World Cup Qualifying game with the United States facing Mexico. That starts at 9:00 on ESPN2 which makes it so this game had to start no later than 6:00.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#6 Michigan at Penn State	Noon
UConn at Clemson	Noon
Rutgers at Indiana	Noon
Bucknell at Army	Noon
Mississippi State at #17 Auburn	Noon
Northwestern at #18 Wisconsin	Noon
UCF at SMU	Noon
#8 Oklahoma at #13 Baylor	Noon
Syracuse at Louisville	Noon
New Mexico State at #2 Alabama	Noon

I wouldn’t say there are any massive games in this timeslot but there are some interesting ones. Michigan-PSU is an elimination game of sorts in the Big Ten East. Baylor needs to win or we will most definitely have a Bedlam rematch in the Big XII Championship. And of course, TSN picks up (for their only early game)…New Mexico State heading to Alabama? For fuck’s sake, why? This will probably be the most lopsided game of the weekend and that’s what they pick? With a few other options open? Plus it’s on the SEC Network! I honestly don’t get it. That makes no fucking sense whatsoever. I guess I should feel kind of happy they didn’t simulcast the ABC game but there are three ESPN games they bypassed.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#19 Purdue at #4 Ohio State	3:30 PM
Duke at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Minnesota at #20 Iowa	3:30 PM
#1 Georgia at Tennessee	3:30 PM
UAB at Marshall	3:30 PM
Miami at Florida State	3:30 PM
Iowa State at Texas Tech	3:30 PM
Boston College at Georgia Tech	3:30 PM
Tulsa at Tulane	4:00 PM
Maryland at #7 Michigan State	4:00 PM
South Carolina at Missouri	4:00 PM

Just like the opening salvo of Saturday, no real huge games here but some interesting ones. Purdue-tOSU is obviously a pretty big game knowing what the Boilermakers have done this season. I don’t know if UGA will play down to the Vols’ level since they haven’t done that all season, except maybe against Clemson in their opening week win. And somehow, Miami and Florida State still get a prime ESPN spot on the weekend. You don’t see too many teams keep getting prime TV spots like The U does. Florida State less so since they have been appearing on the ACC Network quite often the past few seasons.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Air Force at Colorado State	7:00 PM
#11 Texas A&M at #19 Ole Miss	7:00 PM
Kentucky at Vanderbilt	7:00 PM
#9 Notre Dame at Virginia	7:30 PM
#16 NC State at #12 Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Kansas at Texas	7:30 PM
#25 Arkansas at LSU	7:30 PM
TCU at #10 Oklahoma State	8:00 PM

Look, when ND-UVA is your ABC primetime game you know it’s not the greatest week on paper. And you know what means, right? We are in for some wackiness for sure and there are a couple of games in this timeslot where an upset would really cause some upheaval. Oklahoma State has to beat TCU to continue their run to JerryWorld and Notre Dame can’t trip up against the Fighting Mendenhalls of Charlottesville. Oh, and we all remember Kansas upsetting Texas a few seasons ago. You never know.

I have noticed TSN really has started showing a lot less college football which is pissing off some fans and rightfully so. I think the premise that people will pay for what they want just totally escapes Rogers, Bell, Eastlink, Cogeco, the CRTC and others in the broadcasting industry. You want to lose cable subscribers? Keep doing what you’re doing.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Nevada at #22 San Diego State	10:30 PM
Washington State at #3 Oregon	10:30 PM

Two late games, both fairly important. Oregon needs to look a lot better against Wazzu or they could blow up this opportunity that’s been handed to them. As for the other game, it probably decides the Mountain West West Division, no offense to Fresno State or San Jose State.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Oklahoma at Baylor (Noon, FOX) – Amazingly enough, it’s the Baylor Bears that still seem to register as arguably the biggest shock in a season full of shocking results. Honestly, they are a couple of botches against TCU from being 8-1 and in the Top 10. Saying that, the Bears probably do need to win this game as a loss here clinches a spot in the Big XII Championship for Oklahoma and may end up doing the same for Oklahoma State. With this being in Waco, the hope for Baylor is that the Sooner defense, which has been shaky all season, crumbles under the pressure of a good Baylor offense. Also, if Baylor wins this they have Kansas State and Texas Tech left where they would be favoured by quite a bit. The Sooners, on the other hand, are at the start of a very difficult three-game stretch with this game followed by Iowa State and OSU.

NC State at Wake Forest (7:30, specialty pack) – Man, did the ACC Network ever luck out getting this one. It really does show how little people feel about Wake Forest (and to a lesser extent, NC State). This is arguably the biggest game of the season in the ACC Atlantic and it gets relegated to the ACC Network? Completely ridiculous and something I would understand if we were still in October (or better yet, September). The winner here is in the driver’s seat in the division and would only have to contend with Clemson if the Tigers win the following week against those same Demon Deacons.

Michigan at Penn State (Noon, ABC) – Honestly, this could have been the primetime ABC game and I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t despite the fact the Nittany Lions aren’t ranked. Penn State still could cause a massive amount of issues in the Big Ten East with games here against the Wolverines and later on against Michigan State. A Big Blue win here will set them possibly for a winner-take-all showdown against Ohio State two days after American Thanksgiving.

Purdue at Ohio State (3:30, ABC) – And of course the Wolverines and Nittany Lions will be scoreboard watching to see if Purdue can pull off yet another huge upset. If the Boilermakers can pull it off, it blows the Big Ten wide open and gives quite a few teams a true chance at the crown. In the East, that would bring Michigan, Michigan State and even Penn State back into the fray whereas in the West, all of a sudden Purdue might be the favourite to head to Indianapolis. That would be interesting to see them play close to home for a chance at the Big Ten title.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (7:00, specialty pack) – When the game where College Gameday is going to be ends up fifth on this list, isn’t it a good week? Both of these teams have two losses in the SEC West. It means they have to hope for at least one Alabama loss in their final two conference games for them to have any chance at the division title. This game should be relatively evenly matched. I’ll have to check but I am sure Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be there so for their sake I hope they get a good game although they have been a lot luckier than, say, Brad Nessler or Gus Johnson in that regard this season.

Honourable mention: Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS); Notre Dame at Virginia (7:30, ABC/TSN2); Nevada at San Diego State (10:30, CBS Sports Network)

Wanna bet?

I had some pretty damn fantastic picks last week. I picked North Carolina over Wake Forest. But I went against my gut with Michigan State and I paid for it. Also, Washington was oh so close to upsetting Oregon although thanks to Jimmy Lake’s playcalling, they didn’t get the chance. But that’s the past, let’s talk about now. The picks for this week are below!

Georgia over Tennessee

Texas A&M over Ole Miss

Wake Forest over NC State

Nevada over San Diego State

Oklahoma over Baylor

Notre Dame over Virginia

Ohio State over Purdue

Penn State over Michigan (slight upset)

Tulane over Tulsa

Central Michigan over Kent State

Marshall over UAB

As per usual, I will be up past 2 in the morning watching games. This is the time where I really up my game so to speak. I know the end is a mere couple of months away so I want to get in as much viewing as I possibly can. Personal issues have made things rough for me lately but the one thing it has done has opened the door for me to watch more college football. That’s not a bad thing, right? Anyway, enjoy the games this week everyone!

Let the debates begin! – Week 10 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 3, 2021 by guelphbossman

The debates have already commenced. And it won’t be fun to hear this shit for over a month. But let’s just get used to it and go through this information.

We all had to know that Cincinnati wouldn’t be as high as their AP (or Bossman) poll ranking. They were never going to be #2 but the hope is that they would get some semblance of respect and be put in at #4. You have to wonder if their last two games, where they didn’t exactly light it up against weak American Conference competition, cost them as they start at #6. Behind Ohio State, which will also stick in their craw. I’m not too surprised with this, but Alabama at #2 is surprising. Even worse is Kirk Herbstreit, Joey Galloway and, I believe, Rece Davis all saying that it’s cut and dry for Bama: if they win the SEC Championship they’re in and if they don’t they’re out. Please. If Bama stays at #2 until conference championship weekend and then loses to Georgia, I see them getting a lot of support to stay in the Top 4, and maybe even be #3 to avoid a rematch in the semis with the Dawgs. That’s why these first rankings are still somewhat important because it can frame where you end up later in the season.

But on to better news…last night started football almost every day until November 29th! The only day with no football will be the day before American Thanksgiving which I don’t understand but whatever. They should put some MACtion or Fun Belt on there. Who says no to that? This is when the serious meat (the brisket even) of the college football season starts so let’s dig in to the schedule for this week!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Northern Illinois at Kent State	7:00 PM
Central Michigan at Western Michigan	7:00 PM

MACTION!!!!!! It has finally returned. I mean it’s not like last year where they put all six games on a Wednesday night but still, it just feels right. There were three games last night and two tonight. Always nice to have some Wednesday night football (hear that ESPN? So schedule a game the night before Thanksgiving god dammit!). Anyway, if you thought Northern Illinois and Kent State would be leading their respective divisions heading into November then head to Vegas because you are extremely lucky (or go to a doctor to get the horseshoe out of your ass).

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Louisiana	7:30 PM
Delaware State at Morgan State	7:30 PM

Two games, one in FBS, one in FCS. It is technically football but I see a lot of people changing the channel to the NFL Thursday Night Football game featuring….the Jets and the Colts. OK, maybe not.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Dartmouth	6:00 PM
Virginia Tech at Boston College	7:30 PM

Technically, Virginia Tech is still in the hunt for the ACC Coastal title because that conference, and that division in particular, are almost always a mess, behind the top team (which was usually Clemson and is now Wake Forest). A loss by the Hokies may just pretty much hand the division to Pittsburgh but who knows considering the season we’ve seen so far.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Army vs. Air Force (in Arlington, TX)	11:30 AM
#9 Wake Forest at North Carolina	Noon
#25 Pittsburgh at Duke	Noon
Louisiana Tech at UAB	Noon
Missouri at #1 Georgia	Noon
Illinois at #20 Minnesota	Noon
SMU at Memphis	Noon
#5 Ohio State at Nebraska	Noon
Liberty at #16 Ole Miss	Noon
Georgia Tech at Miami	12:30 PM

A good amount of games but nothing hugely special although that could be the theme of the week to be honest. Nothing is huge but Wake heading to North Carolina as an undefeated underdog will be an interesting watch. It’s insane that they are not favoured but it shows that Wake still doesn’t quite get the respect that most Power Five teams do. Army-AFA could be done by 1 in the afternoon. And perhaps even a halftime coach shitcanning? I can’t see things going well for the Huskers in this one. This would mean the hot seat Scott Frost currently inhabits would get even hotter. Does he make it to the end of the season? Maybe, but I doubt he coaches in 2022, at least in Lincoln.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#3 Michigan State at Purdue	3:30 PM
#21 Wisconsin at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#13 Auburn at #14 Texas A&M	3:30 PM
Colorado State at Wyoming	3:30 PM
#11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia	3:30 PM
Tulsa at #6 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
#12 Baylor at TCU	3:30 PM
Navy at #10 Notre Dame	3:30 PM
#19 NC State at Florida State	4:00 PM
Tulane at UCF	4:00 PM
#17 Mississippi State at Arkansas	4:00 PM

Now this gets…better. Still not great though with only one game involving two ranked teams. But there’s also EIGHT other games involving a ranked team. That has to be a record I’m sure. Saying that, you have to be careful with the assertion that having a ranked team involved makes the game good. Like, Tulsa-Cincy and Wisconsin-Rutgers probably will not be any good. MSU-Arkansas should be but that’s only because the Bulldogs being ranked #17 is some kind of joke…I think. Oh and Cincinnati will be scoreboard watching for sure. They have to blow Tulsa out of the water and then hope Notre Dame does the same to Navy. It’s the only way for them to potentially move up to #5 in the next rankings (unless something drastic happens).

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#22 Iowa at Northwestern	7:00 PM
Boise State at #23 Fresno State	7:00 PM
LSU at #2 Alabama	7:00 PM
Tennessee at #18 Kentucky	7:00 PM
#4 Oregon at Washington	7:30 PM
Clemson at Louisville	7:30 PM
Houston at USF	7:30 PM
Indiana at #7 Michigan	7:30 PM
Florida at South Carolina	7:30 PM

At the start of the year, you could have pointed to a few games here as potentially massive games in the grand scheme of things. Now, not so much. Indiana is not nearly as good as many thought they would be. Same goes for Washington, LSU, Boise State, Clemson and Louisville. Let’s throw Florida in there but I think it doesn’t matter since South Carolina is really not that good. So we will call it a comprehensive primetime slate but not an overly amazing one.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
UTSA at UTEP	10:15 PM
USC at Arizona State	10:30 PM

We were so close to College Gameday going to El Paso this weekend. I mean I’m not a huge College Gameday watcher and I usually only watch the picks every week but still, that would have been cool to have it there for the first time. Instead they are heading to Cincinnati where I’m sure they will treat the ESPN reporters with kindness after what we saw last night.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Auburn at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – Alright so this week does not have a marquee game of the week, that is for sure. Nothing against the Tigers or Aggies but it doesn’t even contain a Top 10 team. Saying that, it’s the only game this week with two ranked teams playing each other so it pretty much goes here by default. The winner here is on the inside track for a New Year’s Six spot as a CFP spot is probably completely out of sight. That is unless Bama falls again against either these very same Tigers. Or the Razorbacks. Or the Tigers of the LSU variety. Or New Mexico State….you know what, no that won’t happen.

Michigan State at Purdue (3:30, ABC) – I will say that the afternoon does have the best schedule of the day so at least there’s that. While many would not think much of this game, this could be a serious trip-up game for the Spartans. On the road, against a fairly good Boilermaker team, with Ohio State to look ahead to in two weeks. Don’t be surprised if this is a close game. Now watch Sparty be up by like 31 at halftime.

Wake Forest at North Carolina (Noon, ABC) – The ACC hasn’t made this list too much this year. And for good reason since their top team, Clemson, has been average. Enter the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They are 8-0 and ranked #9 in the first CFP Poll. And they are a 2.5-point underdog going to Chapel Hill. The disrespect! They could make a huge statement by winning this game over the Heels as they have NC State the following week, at home, in arguably the biggest game in the ACC Atlantic this season. Imagine saying that at the start of the year. Many would think you were smoking crack.

Oregon at Washington (7:30, ABC) – Oregon is at #4. I don’t know about that ranking but then again, it’s 13 (possibly drunk) people who are or have been prominent in college football setting these rankings. This all means that the Pac-12 is somehow already back in the game when just a few weeks ago, everyone wrote the conference off after the Ducks’ loss to Stanford. Oregon has to continue to win, and possibly beat some teams pretty badly, to stay in the Top 4 though. Man, ABC lucked out this week with their game selection, despite the fact it’s really just an average week, on paper.

Mississippi State at Arkansas (4:00, specialty pack) – To be honest, it’s not like there are a lot of great choices for this spot. I could put like 6 different games here and could argue for any of them. I think this will be the closest and the toughest to predict so that’s why it gets the final spot on the list. The Bulldogs are somehow #17 and play an Arkansas team who could have been in the Top 25. The Hogs are favoured by 5 so at least Vegas kind of understands. A win would definitely but Arkansas in the Top 25 and a loss would probably push Mississippi State right out of the Top 25 as both teams try to keep their slim New Year’s Six hopes alive.

Honourable mention: Missouri at Georgia (Noon, TSN2); Liberty at Ole Miss (Noon, specialty pack); LSU at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack).

Wanna bet?

How about my Houston over SMU pick? Or Auburn over Ole Miss? Didn’t do too badly if I do say so myself (don’t look at the Michigan or Buffalo picks). Let’s not think about the past but forge on with new picks for the future. Let’s begin!

Ole Miss over Liberty

North Carolina over Wake Forest (massive upset)

Michigan State over Purdue (but it will be close)

Georgia over Missouri

Alabama over LSU

Arkansas over Mississippi State

Texas A&M over Auburn

Washington over Oregon (another massive upset)

Western Michigan over Central Michigan

UAB over Louisiana Tech

TCU over Baylor (yet another big upset)

Yes I truly believe that this may be a huge shakeup weekend in college football. Which is saying something considering what the 2021 season has already brought us. I hope I didn’t jinx things and all the ranked teams win now. Because that would suck and I would have to take some of the blame.

I have been on Twitter again but am doing a bit less tweeting these days. Not just because of the issues I’ve stated earlier this year but just general fatigue. I’ve always said I usually enjoy interacting with others on the platform but I have to take small breaks or otherwise I’ll just collapse in front of my laptop. Not saying I don’t get in viewing for most of those 14+ hours but hey, you need bathroom breaks, breaks for food and drink, breaks to even lift weights or go on the treadmill for a bit. Something to break up the day. I’m the same on NFL Sunday. I guess I’m just getting old. Enjoy the games everyone!

The 2021 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List

Posted on August 4, 2021 by guelphbossman

This is going to be a very interesting season in college football as it pertains to the college football coaching hot seat list.

Last year was an aberration, obviously. There are many programs that normally would have thought on pulling the trigger and ending their ties with their head coach. COVID-19 changed that. And we’re not out of the woods with all this pandemic shit. Saying that, 2021 is different. We are slowly getting back to normal, or at least what the new normal will look like. And the college football world is no different. Hey, look, realignment issues! The new NIL legislation! We are back to offseason craziness in the world of, let’s still call it amateur athletics. Which means some coaches are back to squarely being on the hot seat. Not good for them. Incredibly exciting for the (sometimes) bloodthirsty college football media. So let’s do this!

IT’S HOT SEAT TIME, GUYS! Got to give myself some credit: this list is somewhat accurate. That’s the history of this post. And I am hoping it continues since accuracy with predictions isn’t exactly my strong suit. Please don’t go back to previous posts to test this theory.

Let’s get to the damn list! Like every year, this is ordered from most likely to be fired to most likely to keep their job:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

Jeff Brohm (Purdue) – It feels like a decade ago since the Boilermakers’ upset of Ohio State. It was actually in 2018. Since then it has been pretty much a disaster in West Lafayette. And I don’t really see any sign of improvement. Needed to keep his job – Going into the final two weeks of the season with a chance at bowl eligibility. Prediction – He won’t make it to the end of the season as Purdue will limp to a 3-win season.
Walt Bell (UMass) – It wasn’t like this in Tallahassee. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have done a good job at this school since, well since they moved up from FCS. Needed to keep his job – Play at least one meaningful November game. Prediction – He may quit before he’s fired. Nah, he’s a college football coach. He’ll be fired before he even thinks of quitting. And fired he will be at some point in November.
Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green) – Bowling Green really isn’t historically bad. And I am sure they have never had a horrible run like this. Scotty has not done anything of note here so it’s time to move on. Quite an easy move. Also, never trust a guy who spells his first name like that. Needed to keep his job – At least three wins with one over a good MAC team. Prediction – I honestly can’t see the Falcons winning any games this season. They are easily the worst team in the MAC right now, quite a ways below Akron who is also pretty shitty.
Dino Babers (Syracuse) – It’s been a long time since so much hope was dashed so fast in Western New York. It’s been mostly bad since joining the ACC (at least in football). But this is the worst stretch they’ve had and that’s after things looked so good early on. I can’t see Babers recovering from recent performances by the Orange. Needed to keep his job – Syracuse to look halfway competitive in the ACC. Prediction – Could very well be gone before the end of the season.
Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee) – This is a tough one. I don’t really like the guy, especially since all the shit his team pulled in their bowl game with Navy a few years back. But he has been in Murfreesboro for so long it feels like he will retire before he gets shitcanned. I think the shine has finally come off as the Blue Raiders are struggling with no sign of real improvement. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility, plain and simple. Prediction – Stockstill might be one of those few coaches who resigns before they are fired. Mostly out of pride. And yes, I believe Stockstill will be fired but maybe not until after the regular season is complete.

Probable Shitcanning

Chip Lindsey (Troy) – Troy hasn’t had a string this bad for a while. I’m sounding like a broken record here. Not saying Lindsey was a hyped coaching hire but Troy was always one of the better Sun Belt teams. Now? Not so much. Expect an interesting decision by the end of the season. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and the look of a program on the rise again in the Sun Belt. Prediction – Four wins and a very good chance that he’s looking for another job come December.
Randy Edsall (UConn) – UConn has struggled for a long time now. Ever since they somehow got to a BCS bowl. Any other program (almost) Edsall has been long fired. It’s different in Storrs, and I get that, but with him getting bonuses for making sure he eats breakfast every day, the bloom might have come off the rose a bit. Needed to keep his job – Be more competitive, especially on defense. Prediction – Three wins and a surprisingly tough call for the powers that be.
Jonathan Smith (Oregon State) – I am going out bit of a limb with this one. Things were looking very promising in Corvallis and then last year the Beavers came back to Earth a bit. I think my prediction would be enough to move Smith out of the job. Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility or a win over Oregon. Prediction – Three wins, no bowl, no win over Oregon, no head coaching position for Johnny Beaver.

Possible Shitcanning

Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) – Yes, his picture is one of the pictures at the top of this post. And yes, he has been on the hot seat since the first time he lost to Ohio State. He almost got a pass from many in Ann Arbor (and the voracious college football media) which surprises me to no end. So the seat is cooler than normal but he’s not out of the woods yet. Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins and maybe an upset inside the Big Ten. Prediction – I have the Wolverines getting right to the 7-win mark. I think he survives but then the seat becomes scorching going into next season.
Scott Frost (Nebraska) – For many having Frosty the Coachman in this spot makes no sense. I think he might get a bit of leeway and if the Huskers do what I think they will do this season, this spot makes a lot more sense so I should just stop second-guessing myself. Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility at the very least. Prediction – I have them winning seven games so hopefully I haven’t drank the Husker Koolaid yet again.
Herm Edwards (Arizona State) – This is a tricky situation here. This program could be in a heap of trouble. The alleged recruiting scheme that was concocted during the worst of COVID-19 looks horrible on the Sun Devils and especially on Herm. If the NCAA can prove their point enough, Edwards may be forced out. This will have nothing to do with performance since the Sun Devils are a nearly-top-level Pac-12 team. Needed to keep his job – Herm not being found guilty in this. Prediction – A lot of times programs will fire a coach because of potential sanctions and most of those times, the team isn’t doing well anyway because they’re distracted. If ASU does as well as I predict it will, then only the NCAA coming down hard on the program will push Edwards out the door.
Matt Wells (Texas Tech) – It has been a while since this program was good. Kute Kliff Kingsbury couldn’t get the job done and he was punished with an NFL head coaching gig and probably a bunch of women at his beck and call. Wells will not have those opportunities if this doesn’t work out. For now, things are OK for the most part but it could quickly change if the Red Raiders bottom out this year. Needed to keep his job – TTU to be playing meaningful ball in November. Prediction – Define meaningful. I have the Red Raiders winning four games so if they can pull off an upset or two then you may have a bowl team down in Lubbock which could get Wells an ill-advised extension.
Scott Satterfield (Louisville) – Wow has the bloom come off the rose here. Satterfield was coaching so well early on that the fanbase had all but forgotten about their own Son of Anarchy, Bobby Petrino. Now? I am sure there is at least a decent amount of Cardinals fans who would bring Fun Bobby back in a heartbeat. That’s how much things have changed for Satterfield. He’s no longer Great Scott. More Below Average Scott. Needed to keep his job – Showing some obvious improvement from a horrible 2020. Prediction – Well, I think the Cards will win three games. That’s not many and whether they are competitive in many of their losses will signal whether Satterfield will be Satterfired or not.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

Jeff Scott (USF) – I watched a YouTube video the other day about the crazy 2007 season. Remember that? At one point, the Bulls got to #2 in the nation. Good times. The times are not so good now and Scott is going to be starting to take a lot of heat for that, fair or not. Needed to keep his job – Not be worse than last season. Prediction – I’ve got them at 2 wins so technically, yes, they will be better. Plus I think they plan to give Scott at least halfway through the 2022 season before potentially pulling the trigger.
Clay Helton (USC) – Can’t Clay get a little slack here? Not like the Pac-12 as a whole is doing all that great these days. I do believe, however, this could be the year that Helton *GASP* gets off the hot seat for at least a season. What will Trojan fans complain about then? Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins. Prediction – I have the Trojans winning 10 games meaning it’s almost an automatic to get to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Justin Fuente (Virginia Tech) – Fuente is the new Gus Malzahn. He will never get off this list. Ever. He basically has to win a national championship to do so and even then there’s no guarantee. Fans in Blacksburg are antsy for some true success. Not gonna happen yet though. Needed to keep his job – It will be a seven win season to keep his job, which will probably be the case for a long time. Prediction – 8 wins so stay tuned for next season when I put him on this exact same fucking list…again.
Thomas Hammock (Northern Illinois) – He was always going to get a lot of rope but after last year’s winless campaign, the rope has been shortened quite a bit. He has nowhere to go but up although technically he could do the same this year which would absolutely get him shitcanned. Needed to keep his job – At least a couple of victories. It’s a low bar at this point. Prediction – Three wins and Tom moving up this list next year.
Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – Again it will be a tale of two schools in the Houston area. Houston is looking for a huge rebound and I think they will be a big player in the AAC this season. Rice, on the other hand, will be just like they’ve been for most of the program’s history: below-average. Not the easiest job in the world for sure but at some point, someone has to have some semblance of success at this school, no? Needed to keep his job – Win a few games and pull off a good upset or three. Prediction – Four wins should be considered not bad and he will again be on a hot seat next season.
Marcus Arroyo (UNLV) – A bright, relatively new shiny stadium for a full season. The fact that, of all teams, the UNLV Rebels get to play at a place like Allegiant Stadium seems bizarrely funny. It really doesn’t match. I don’t think they care as long as they are out of the heat magnet masquerading as a football field called Sam Boyd Stadium. Needed to keep his job – A couple of wins and an upset at Allegiant. Prediction – They’ll win 3. As for the upset, I don’t think that will happen.
Mel Tucker (Michigan State) – OK last year he had to be given a pass. He started very late in the off-season cycle and basically did what he could for a Spartans team that needs an overhaul. He will probably get a pass for the most part this year unless they do so horribly that even Maryland is destroying them. Needed to keep his job – A move up the standings and at least 3 wins. Prediction – He should get his three wins. Moving up the standings might not happen though and the seat will most definitely get hotter next year for Mel.

Hey guess what’s next? That’s right, my Heisman ballot (which I never will, and never should, get). Then I need to do the NFL preview as well which is always a bit of a dog’s breakfast as well. 24 days away! Soon enough I will have info for Week Zero! Enjoy your day everyone!

Is this the end for Captain Khaki? – Week 12 College Football Recap

Posted on November 23, 2020 by guelphbossman

You all saw it. Rutgers took Michigan to three overtimes before falling to the Wolverines thanks to terrible playcalling. Yeah it wasn’t great for Michigan. And definitely not great for Jim Harbaugh. And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy. I stayed out of the Harbaugh talk at the time but I have finally decided to break the silence. I know it would take a lot of money to fire Harbaugh. He is only under contract through the end of next season. The way this season has gone, it is clear Jimmy Beige Pants ain’t the answer. But here’s the issue: so what do you do then? If you do fire him (and pay out an enormous buyout fee which, in a pandemic, might not be a thing athletic directors want to do), who do you bring in to replace him? Despite the fact most people might disagree, the Michigan head coaching spot is one of the Top 10 head coaching gigs in the nation. That has not changed since the days of Bo Schembechler. Pat Fitzgerald is a name that comes up but he has already declined the NFL so I assume he would decline to coach in Ann Arbor as well. Is there another Power Five coach who could be poached? Or will the fanbase accept an up-and-coming Group of Five head coach like Luke Fickell or Bryan Harsin? No matter what happens, it is going to be a complete shitshow. Which, I will admit, is entertaining. For me, not for fans of Big Blue.

Now on to the rest of the recap.

Recap

Oklahoma throttled Oklahoma State in Bedlam. The Sooners piled on 21 points in the first quarter and never looked back. It still amazes me that people say anything can happen in Bedlam. No, it can’t. Oklahoma has won over 80% of the games in this rivalry. This is the epitome of big brother beating up little brother (sorry Michigan and Michigan State fans). This now makes it so Oklahoma controls their own destiny to get to the Big XII Championship. Still probably no shot at the College Football Playoff, though. And I feel bad for Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit. Those two can’t catch a break. They rarely have good games to announce. Even when they don’t do the ABC primetime game they end up calling a shitty game. A lot like Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson over at CBS.
Tulsa beat Tulane in an absolutely insane Thursday nighter. The game was tied at 0 with 6 minutes to go in the third. Then both teams went crazy and scored a bunch of points, with the Golden Hurricane racking up 21 in the final 10 minutes of regulation. This was capped off by a 37-yard touchdown pass with no time left. Then in double overtime, Tulsa ends it on a walk-off pick six by Zaven Collins. Tulsa has comeback to beat UCF, East Carolina, SMU and now Tulane to be an improbably 5-1 and it looks like they may be heading to the AAC Championship game as long as they take care of business this coming week in Houston.
For most of the Mississippi State-Georgia game, a game I thought wouldn’t be close, it was seriously looking like a huge upset for the Bulldogs. UGA just couldn’t put them away. I mean Georgia pulled it out with a late touchdown. But man, they were playing a home game, in front of actual fans, and barely beat one of the worst teams in the SEC. I think it may be high time for Kirby Smart to take a step back and look what he has done with the program. Start with the mostly terrible decision to start Stetson Bennett over JT Daniels. I believe Daniels was injured earlier in the year but once he was ready to go, they should have given him the ball to see what he could do. Not doing so, is a failure of the coaches, namely Smart.
Oregon beat UCLA (barely) and USC did the same to Utah. So those two teams continue their march to the Pac-12 Championship. And all for the opportunity to possibly still be the #5 seed and be on the outside of the CFP looking in. This is what the Pac-12 gets for himming and hawing over starting the season. They should have just opted out completely but we all know now that money brought them back. Hell, look at the way they are doing things. No Pac-12 Network. And now non-conference games can be scheduled but must be hosted by the Pac-12 team. Everyone’s got a price (just like Ted DiBiase’s theme told us).
Man, Kansas State got absolutely BOATRACED by Iowa State. I figured the Cyclones would win but they utterly destroyed the Wildcats in that shutout win. What their win has done was put them in the driver’s seat for the Big XII Championship. At this point, if Oklahoma or Texas lose another game, the Clones are in no matter what they do. But I am sure Matt Campbell would prefer to go in the front door to JerryWorld.
What can you say about the Big Ten officiating crews other than they are awful? Purdue got jobbed Friday night against Minnesota on a phantom offensive pass interference call that negated a late touchdown. It probably would have given the Boilermakers a huge win and move them to 3-1 (and possibly into the Top 25). Instead, the Flying Flecks survive. I don’t understand how officials aren’t suspended for a game without pay for game-altering calls like that. Not saying refs should get shit for every bad call but ones of that nature, absolutely.
Cincinnati beat UCF in a very close one. For a while it looked like the Knights had the Bearcats number. Two fourth quarter touchdowns made the difference for Cincy. It also keeps Cincinnati in the catbird seat for the Group of Five. Win out and they will be, at least, in the New Year’s Six.
Alabama beat Kentucky and are still undefeated. If it hadn’t been aired on a TSN network as well as the SEC Network, I don’t think I would have watched a single minute of it.
Indiana gave Ohio State quite the scare. It would feel like tOSU would be pulling away and then Indiana came back to make it close. Make no mistake about it: these Hoosiers are for real. But they aren’t quite College Football Playoff material. Yet. The Buckeyes kept their CFP hopes alive with the slim win and might end up murdering Michigan by about 60 points this coming weekend.
Coastal Carolina beat Appalachian State to lay claim as the best Sun Belt team this season. They became the first 8-0 team in Sun Belt history (which shocks me to be honest). Will they make the College Football Playoff? Absolutely not but they may still have a path to the New Year’s Six. Keep winning and they may ascend high enough to warrant inclusion. Again, this makes it tough on the College Football Playoff Committee which always loved by me.
Penn State got destroyed by Iowa and now is sitting at 0-5 and last place in the Big Ten East. This is the worst start in Nittany Lion history and puts James Franklin in a very bad spot. It would not surprise me to see that PSU fires Franklin in the off-season due to this season and some off-field incidents that are painting him in a bad light.
Northwestern put themselves in the catbird seat in the Big Ten West with their huge win over Wisconsin in a defensive slugfest. Pat Fitzgerald also made mention of the Wildcats being a bunch of “Fighting Rece Davises.” That is from a comment by Joey Galloway earlier in the week where he said Northwestern was a bunch of Rece Davises on the field. A slap in the face to Northwestern for sure. Well they made sure to throw it back in Galloway’s face with that win. And they still have a shot at the College Football Playoff if things go their way.
Finally, to the delight of a lot of people, Liberty lost their first game of the season. In a low-scoring affair, NC State blocked a Flames field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter to lock up the win. Could this be Hugh Freeze’s final big game at Liberty before moving on? It sure seems that way as he has done a masterful job in Lynchburg. Liberty is a certified FBS team and has to be considered a tough out going forward. It might not be that way if Freeze leaves but he has certainly laid a good foundation for his successor.

We are now getting into the real important part of the season. Three more weeks of the regular season (kind of) means every week is super important. Anyway, here’s my Top 25 that, again, had some good movement:

#1	Alabama
#2	Ohio State
#3	Florida
#4	Notre Dame
#5	Cincinnati
#6	BYU
#7	Clemson
#8	Texas A&M
#9	Oregon
#10	Miami
#11	Oklahoma
#12	Georgia
#13	Northwestern
#14	Coastal Carolina
#15	Indiana
#16	Marshall
#17	USC
#18	Iowa State
#19	Auburn
#20	Wisconsin
#21	Texas
#22	Oklahoma State
#23	Louisiana
#24	Washington
#25	North Carolina

I get it. You may not be happy with Ohio State at #2. But they just beat Indiana so I think they belong there. Saying that, Notre Dame could usurp them in upcoming weeks thanks to Michigan being trash. So no need to worry my friends. Cincinnati and BYU are sitting in the weeds at #5 and #6 with the hope that something happens to at least one of the four teams above them. Indiana and Wisconsin, despite both losing, didn’t fall too far and still have (very) slim hopes and at least are in the NY6 race. Oh, and Coastal Carolina, as I mentioned above, are at the #14 spot and has a legitimate shot at the NY6 as long as they keep winning.

Alright, Monday Night Football tonight in a game that many people will probably actually watch. The Rams and Buccaneers in a huge NFC matchup. If the Rams win, then they move into a tie with Seattle at the top of the NFC West. A Bucs win puts them in a great spot, just half-a-game behind New Orleans and easily at the top of the Wild Card race.

So we usually would be heading into a MACtion night but that is not to be this week. We have no college football games the next two nights. No football at all. Yes that’s sad. But then we get Footballgasm weekend which is not as much of a huge thing this season. Thanks, 2020.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore). Wednesday there will be the college football week that isn’t so shitty anymore and its TV schedule. Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Thursday. Enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!

It’s coming soon and the debates will be ridiculous – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 11, 2020 by guelphbossman

The College Football Playoff rankings come out for the first time in a couple of weeks. It’s a few weeks later than normal but not surprising for what’s happening during this wacky year. And of course I am sure there will be controversy. Remember the first ever CFP Rankings that had Texas A&M at #4 and everyone lost their fucking minds? Or when TCU was #3, destroyed Iowa State and ended up #5 at the end of the day? Or when Alabama became the first team not to even win their division to be in the Top 4? Good shit. You know the first rankings will create a ton of debate in the college football media. To be frank, it annoys the hell out of me. It’s one thing to have a discussion on it. It’s a whole other thing for it to dominate talks and create complete assholes out of people who are normally very nice people.

And again, I have an issue with these rankings in general. The first time the College Football Playoff Committee should give their rankings out is before conference championship weekend. Before that there is no point in it. All of a sudden these rankings are supposed to be used instead of the AP Rankings that were used all season up until that point? That is so dumb. Then again, I believe that all these rankings are done so that many in the group I call college football media can debate them and talk about something. Otherwise why would they even be needed?

Alright we are over two months into this season (even though it definitely doesn’t feel that way). Are you used to no fans in the stands? Gonna be honest: I’m used to it but I don’t like it. I much prefer when there is even 10% of the stands filled for a game. The games that look like midweek MACtion or Fun Belt games just seem to have a better atmosphere. Big Ten and Pac-12 of course are not allowing fans. It’s not like I didn’t totally agree with them not starting on time but scrambling then to start late has been a disaster for those conferences already. What a complete mess. If you couldn’t tell from my bowl projections post, that almost hammers the point home. Anyway, I will say it is nice to see more Sun Belt games on Saturdays that we can actually see here. That’s a plus through all this.

Alright enough of this let’s get to the damn schedule already!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Eastern Michigan at Ball State	7:00 PM

So this is football. It’s starting to get cold outside for good after a pretty nice early November. So might as well stay in and watch some college football. That’s what MACtion is all about.

Thursday

No football tonight. Well there is a game on FOX Sports One if you get that. You’re stuck with NFL Thursday Night Football otherwise!

Friday

		US	Canada
Florida Atlantic at FIU	7:00 PM
East Carolina at #7 Cincinnati	7:30 PM

The second game might be over by the end of the first quarter. Or we could get Bizarro East Carolina who keeps it close and frustrates the Bearcats all night long. The other game is the annual Shula Bowl game. Again, it’s college football so I will definitely watch.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#10 Indiana at Michigan State	Noon
Illinois at Rutgers	Noon
#9 Miami at Virginia Tech	Noon
TCU at West Virginia	Noon
Penn State at Nebraska	Noon
Middle Tennessee at #16 Marshall	~~1:30 PM~~ Noon

No seriously huge games but definitely some interesting ones early on. ESPN2 gets The U and VaTech which could be very interesting and ripe for an upset. I have it down as being on TSN2 but I honestly don’t know. Georgia-Missouri was supposed to be on TSN2 in this timeslot and it is one of four SEC games cancelled due to COVID-19. Christ’s sake. I will get into more detail as this post goes on.

UPDATE #3: UM-VT has been moved to ESPN.

UPDATE #5: IU-RU moves to 1:00.

UPDATE #6: I guessed wrong on Miami-VT being on TSN. It will now be IU-MSU going there.

UPDATE #8: MTSU-Marshall has been moved to Noon for some reason.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#2 Notre Dame at Boston College	3:30 PM
~~#3 Ohio State at Maryland~~	3:30 PM
Colorado at Stanford	3:30 PM
#20 USC at Arizona	3:30 PM
Baylor at Texas Tech	4:00 PM

“Why is there no CBS game at 3:30?” I can see people asking this and it’s a simple answer. Thanks to the insanity that is 2020, the Masters is on this weekend. CBS and Augusta National did a good job to accommodate both college football and the NFL this weekend. So the third round of the Masters was going to air until 5:30 so that the SEC on CBS pre-game show can start on time. I will get to that in the next timeslot.

Again, no real huge games here but some interesting ones. The Pac-12 games are still important at this point as we all kind of know one loss kills any team’s chance at the College Football Playoff. Also, you have to wonder when the Notre Dame Speedbump Game is going to happen. This may be it and if it is that would be entertaining.

UPDATE: Yet another game cancelled. Ohio State-Maryland is not being played due to, you guessed it, ~~Frank Stallone~~ COVID-19.

UPDATE #2: CU-Stanford has been moved to ESPN.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Southern Miss at Western Kentucky	6:00 PM
Arkansas at #6 Florida	7:00 PM
#19 SMU at Tulsa	7:00 PM
#11 Oregon at Washington State	7:00 PM
#13 Wisconsin at Michigan	7:30 PM
#23 Northwestern at Purdue	7:30 PM

OK so now you are noticing no CBS game. Well four (yes, FOUR) SEC games have been postponed this weekend and one of them was Alabama-LSU which was supposed to air at 6:00 on CBS right after the third round of the Masters. I have a feeling this game will end up being outright cancelled because LSU has no open weeks before the SEC Championship. Why didn’t they just move all the conference championships to Boxing Day? Oh that’s right, because the fucking Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl just have to be on New Year’s Day otherwise the world will explode or something like that. Give me a break.

And the Masters is also the reason why TSN isn’t showing many games today. Normally TSN would fill in all the spots after 3:30 with worthless dreck that most people won’t watch. At least this year they have a reason to not show much college football on this particular weekend.

UPDATE #4: Northwestern-Purdue has moved to 5:00 EST. It will still be on the Big Ten Network.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
~~California at Arizona State~~	10:30 PM
~~Utah at UCLA~~	10:30 PM
Oregon State at Washington	11:00 PM

FOX QUADRUPLEHEADER!!!!!!! Thanks to issues within the Utah Utes football team with COVID and contact tracing they asked for a move of their game from Friday night to Saturday night. And this was the only spot where it could go. First network college football broadcast to go this late ever. Glorious!

UPDATE #7: Cal-ASU has been cancelled due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests inside the Sun Devils program, including head coach Herm Edwards. I don’t know what TSN’s plan is now but I guess is they just won’t show a late game.

UPDATE #9: Another cancellation: Utah-UCLA is now cancelled. No FOX quadrupleheader. No history being made. So sad.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Miami at Virginia Tech (Noon, TSN2) – Amazingly enough, with all the conferences back, this is arguably the best game of the week (although you could make an argument for a few others). Honestly, if it wasn’t for a Fuente fuck-up in the Liberty game, they could be 5-2 and ranked and this would be truly a big game. Miami needs this victory badly since their chances of getting to the ACC Championship are slim so they may have to take the backdoor route to get to the College Football Playoff. It does feel like a game that could be an upset possibility, though so at the very least it should be very entertaining. The fact this game is on ESPN2 in the United States shows how little respect the ACC still gets, despite the fact they have Notre Dame this season.

Notre Dame at Boston College (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Speaking of games where one team winning would cause a bit of carnage, here’s one. Everyone is expecting the Irish to mop the floor with the Eagles here. Then again, this could get weird as it should be pretty damn cold in Chestnut Hill and if there’s snow, watch out. I wonder how far Notre Dame would fall with a loss here. Despite the fact many would want the Irish out of the Top 10, I don’t see them dropping more than three spots regardless of what happens here.

Oregon at Washington State (7:00, FOX) – Let’s see how fucked up the Pac-12 North can get. If Oregon loses then Wazzu becomes the leader of the division. Like that would not look good on that division. And who else would really contend for the Pac-12 crown out of the North? Nobody. Brutal. The conference is praying the Ducks can win this and win it big.

SMU at Tulsa (7:00, TSN1) – I would say we’ve fallen off a cliff now but really, were we at the top of the cliff to begin with? If the Golden Hurricane can pull off the upset here, this throws the AAC into potential disarray. At the very least, it means SMU will be shot like a cannon down the rankings where everyone seems to think they belong. It would also leave just Cincinnati to carry the conference’s hopes of getting to the New Year’s Six.

Northwestern at Purdue (7:30, BTN) – Honestly, this could have been the primetime ABC game. I know Michigan is a college football blueblood but this game is basically a Big Ten West elimination game. A Wildcat win puts Pat Fitzgerald firmly back in the echelon of best coaches in college football. I guess I have to say the same if the Boilermakers come up victorious. Purdue winning, though, would be an upset no matter which way you slice it. The Big Ten Network lucked out with this one, in my opinion.

Honourable mention: Coastal Carolina at Troy (Noon, ESPNU); Wake Forest at North Carolina (Noon, ACC Network); Hawaii at San Diego State (4:00, Spectrum PPV…yes, I’m serious)

UPDATE #10: Yep, double digits for the first time this season and it’s not hurricane-related. CCU-Troy has been postponed but will most likely be cancelled due to COVID-related issues.

Some gambling fun and games

My picks last week were actually pretty fantastic. I got a minor upset in Florida beating Georgia. I even called the BYU win. Only losses were on picks that almost everyone would have got wrong. So here are this week’s possibly also pretty great picks.

SMU over Tulsa

Notre Dame over Boston College

Troy over Coastal Carolina (pretty big upset)

Virginia Tech over Miami (another upset)

Northwestern over Purdue

San Diego State over Hawaii

Oregon over Washington State

North Carolina over Wake Forest

Florida over Arkansas

Baylor at Texas Tech

Marshall over Middle Tennessee

For the second week in a row I will probably be up until 2 in the morning watching games. Maybe there’s something wrong with me. But with only three months (actually almost four this year) of regular season college football I have to watch as much as I can. The other nine months have bowl games (good), Week Zero (which was basically nothing this year), college football all-star games (who knows if these will even happen) and then…nothing. Then again, who knows what is going to happen with sports schedules from now on thanks to this insane year. Anyway, enjoy the games this weekend everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2020 College Football Season – Part I

Posted on May 24, 2020 by guelphbossman

Alright it’s time to get to the good stuff finally! Actual college football posts about the next season…whenever that may begin. As cathartic as this feels, we really have no idea what we are looking at for the 2020 season. The schedules are out, at least in terms of what days the games will be played. Of course, games can, and will be, moved around, usually for national television purposes. I haven’t got any preview magazines yet though. I will be ordering my Phil Steele magazine soon but obviously with bookstores closed, there is no timeframe as to when I will get other magazines. Some schools are adamant they will be pretty much fully open in the fall whereas others are hesitant. With many other sports starting to slowly put out plans as to when they will commence play again, there are a lot of balls still up in the air. Here’s hope that things do improve as it pertains to the Coronavirus pandemic so that we can get back to semblance of normality.

Anyway, I figured I might as well get a jump on these schedules. I am sure many things will change and some games might be outright cancelled but I am going with what I can see at this moment. Remember, we are in May so these lists will definitely not be correct later in the season. As the season progresses, there are always surprises and disappointments. It happens. For example, we all know that for the next few years, CBS has the big SEC game of the week on at 3:30. This has been the case for years until 2024 when they no longer will have the rights to the best SEC game of the week. Saying that, let’s say that for some unknown reason, the Iron Bowl is not shown on CBS on American Thanksgiving weekend (this happened when the Egg Bowl moved there and it was a bit of a ratings disaster for CBS and a coup for ESPN) and in its place, the Missouri-Arkansas game is moved into that timeslot. Two of the following three things would have had to have happened:

Eliah Drinkwitz continues to drink success and does the same thing he did at Appalachian State.
Sam Pittman becomes the most shocking coaching success story in a long time at Arkansas.
To the absolute joy of everyone outside of the state of Alabama, the Tide and the Tigers are both unranked.

So let’s just say I feel quite secure in putting the Iron Bowl at that time instead of the Battle Line Rivalry. I think they need to come up with a better name than that. Like Orgy in the Ozarks. Wait, no, don’t do that.

Disclaimer: Just so you know, some of the broadcast info may change between now and the time I do my network-specific posts. I say it every year and luckily no one says anything about it. Which is great because I wouldn’t want my feelings hurt or something like that. I am sure some people do it in private and that’s fine. We aren’t like much of Twitter where the smallest thing ends up being a massive argument.

For the third year in a row, the Important Games list will be broken down week-by-week and then as per the following:

Game of the Week – This is my opinion of the game of the week. It may differ from your opinion. That is OK. Because the next part is…
Other Really Important Games – See? One of these games might be your game of the week choice.
Sneaky-Good Underrated Game – Some games are underrated. I will try to find one each week that could fulfill that criterion.
Best Group of Five Game – Pretty self-explanatory but has to have TWO G5 teams involved.
Worst Power Five Game – Just like above, except the opposite (with two P5 teams involved).

The “Other Really Important Games” section is the one section where the number of games I include may vary. In some weeks you will only see one or two. Others there may be like seven. We pretty much know which weeks will have better games and which ones won’t so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Let’s start with the official commencement of college football blogging season (for me): the weekly rankings. If you were looking for something similar to every other year then ho boy are you in for a shock. Just a reminder that I list the week and the date that corresponds to the Saturday of that week so you can follow along:

Week 5 (October 3)
Week 6 (October 10)
Week 13 (November 28 – American Thanksgiving)
Week 12 (November 21)
Week 2 (September 12)
Week 7 (October 17)
Week 10 (November 7)
Week 9 (October 31)
Week 4 (September 26)
Week 8 (October 24)
Week 11 (November 14)
Week 1 (September 5)
Week 3 (September 19)

First off, we are back to thirteen weeks. Do I like this? No I do not. Honestly I would prefer 14 if not 15 weeks in a season. I understand that the way the Saturdays fall makes this a difficult venture but it is tough on the players to go through these three-plus months with only one bye week. This year’s Week 1 is much like last year’s Week 1: weak. It should be called Weak One. Really, the Notre Dame-Navy Week Zero game is almost better than any other game in the Week 1 schedule. American Thanksgiving falls to third…THIRD! Weeks 5 and 6 are the big weeks so far on paper. I don’t remember a time when the October schedule has been this good but here we are. But here’s the craziest thing. SEC Sleepwalk Week is NUMBER FOUR!!!!!!! And no I am not high saying this. I can’t even call it Sleepwalk Week anymore which does kind of make me sad. There are a lot of good conference games this week including a couple in the SEC. For the first time, Week 3 is the worst week of college football. It’s a lot like many worst weeks in the past. At least one potential game of the year. Maybe another good game or two and then it falls off a massive cliff. It’s when you get past the first three or four games of a week where you find out how good a day of college football it will be and man, this is not shaping up to be a good one. In the end, it is college football, which I am craving right now, so I will watch as much as I can. Also, last year the networks stepped up and Week Zero football appeared in Canada. Nice.

Now it’s time for the weekly breakdowns. I will be guessing with quite a few of them, especially when it comes to TSN coverage. Again, keep in mind there is a lot that could change here, especially with this season kind of being up in the air. At least the lists of games I will be presenting should, for the most part, be important games throughout the 2020 college football season. Let’s begin.

Week 1

Game of the Week: Alabama vs. USC (in Arlington) (7:30, ABC) – Remember, it’s all 7:30 games for the ABC Primetime game, not just something for the Big Ten because it might get chilly. Honestly, it could start at 9 and it wouldn’t matter to me since I am up through 2 in the morning watching college football so I may just have a problem. About five or six years ago this would be a game of the year candidate. Not so much this time around and it shows that Week One is back to being what it used to be: the introduction to the season that gets everyone excited but rarely has huge matchups. Saying all this, a USC win here would be huge for Clay Helton’s future in Los Angeles. You also wonder how Bama is feeling after playing in the Citrus Bowl last year which might as well have been the Independence Bowl in Shreveport for all they care. It’s always New Year’s Six or bust for this program.

Other Really Important Games: Georgia at Virginia (Monday, 8:00, TSN1/TSN4/TSN5) – The annual Labour Day SEC-ACC Football Challenge takes on more importance this year thanks to the Hoos actually being good now. Bronco Mendenhall has done wonders in Charlottesville and this might be the year they put it all together and make a real run at the ACC title. It’s a lock that the Dawgs will be a great team again this year despite their losses on offense. With it being in Virginia, this could be a big test for Georgia and could affect their CFP plans. UVA could throw the first staple in the shredder for this season if they pull off the upset.

Michigan at Washington (3:30, FOX) – FOX steps up on opening weekend unlike, well, any year before now. A game between two teams that many believe underachieve most seasons. How many times will we hear that Jim Harbaugh’s job is on the line in this one? I put the over/under at 12. As for the Huskies they are now in the post-Chris Petersen era. Jimmy Lake takes over and has a lot of pressure right out the gate.

Florida Atlantic at Minnesota (Thursday, 8:00, BTN) – I am not joking with this one. Minnesota should still be really good rowing that boat. And FAU should still be good despite the fact the Lane Train departed for Oxford. Now watch both teams be about .500 so I look like a moron.

Indiana at Wisconsin (Friday, 8:00, FloSports) – This is the first instance of me including FloSports in the important games posts. It means that this game will be on FOX Sports One. I used to hate when these games ended up on the list since it meant I couldn’t see it, nor could any Canadians. Now, we have the means. This is good. Progress. The more we are allowed to see, the better. It’s not about giving us all the games, it’s about giving us the avenues to watch these games legally. And it’s becoming more and more that way. Anyway, it looks like four of the five nights on opening week have big games so at least you can say it’s spread out and not all in one or two timeslots.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: BYU at Utah (Thursday, 10:15, TSN5) – This is going to be an interesting year for the Utes. They came within one poor performance at the Pac-12 Championship from getting into the College Football Playoff. This is the kind of high-profile game they need to win. On the other side of the field is their Holy War rivals, the Cougs. Unfortunately for them, the only way for them to even get into the New Year’s Six is to lose no more than one game on the season. For their sake, a win here gets them into the conversation.

Best Group of Five Game: Georgia Southern at Boise State (9:00, FloSports) – This is why it is important that we get FOX Sports One games here now. The Mountain West inked a new deal with FOX meaning some games end up on the main network and also FS1 (FS2 as well but we won’t discuss that). Part of the deal is that Boise State games are to appear on either FOX or FS1. Meaning it is imperative that we get to view FS1 games because otherwise we would miss the blue turf every season for the next several years. As for the game, the Broncos are again looking to break through into the CFP whereas Georgia Southern is trying to just win the Sun Belt for once after being very close for most of their seasons up in the FBS.

Worst Power Five Game: Purdue at Nebraska (Noon, FOX) – These are two teams that are never supposed to end up in this spot. But really, the Huskers have been no better than average for a long time now and the Boilermakers, other than one good season, have been pretty bad since Drew Brees was quarterback there. Worst part is that the other choice for worst P5 game is another Big Ten game, Michigan State and Northwestern. Really, the bottom part of the Big Ten is not looking good and could be considered the worst of the Power Five conferences (if you include Rutgers and Maryland). I will watch part of it, I know I will. It’s just that there are other options so unless this game is close I won’t be clocking in much more than a few minutes here.

Week 2

Game of the Week: Ohio State at Oregon (3:30, FOX) – Last year this was the worst week, on paper, in the college football season. This year it is way up the list and has an early candidate for game of the year. The Ryan Day Buckeye Juggernaut Express rolls into Eugene for this one and tOSU is going to try and do what they always do…win big games. An Oregon win here probably blows the national championship race wide open and cements Mario Cristobal as one of the upper tier coaches in the game.

Other Really Important Games: Texas at LSU (7:00, specialty pack) – I kind of wish CBS would pick up games like this but they never do. Probably due to the contract that they can only show two SEC teams. I, am, however glad that this game is at night in Death Valley. One, it is arguably the best atmosphere in college football. And two, if this was at Noon, the temperature would be approximately lava. Hey let’s find out if Texas is back here. God am I ever glad that horseshit is over. Saying that, the Horns are good and are the first speed bump for the Tigers defending their national championship. Without Joe Burrow this could be a very interesting matchup.

Tennessee at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Tennessee should be back in the mix this season. And Oklahoma has one of the brightest head coaches around, Lincoln Riley, at the helm, so they will be good as well. As much as the Vols are improved I would be shocked if they pulled off a win here. If they did it would be another grenade thrown on the national championship race.

Kentucky at Florida (Noon, specialty pack) – Now that the streak is over and Kentucky finally got their victory over the Gators a couple seasons ago, the Wildcats have gained a modicum of respect in the college football world. Unfortunately, they have to travel to Gainesville and play a game on a field that will be slightly cooler than the surface of the sun. Without Lynn Bowden, the Cats could be in real tough here for a team that has to be considered a legitimate SEC title contender.

Louisville at Clemson (7:30, specialty pack) – We all desperately need more ACC contenders. I, for one, am getting tired of Clemson and the Thirteen Dwarfs. The Cardinals might not be quite there yet but they had a young team last year and one of the better coaches around so who knows. The Tigers have had at least one early season struggle the past couple years (Texas A&M and then North Carolina) so this could be that game that gets the Tiger faithful’s heart racing.

Penn State at Virginia Tech (Noon, ABC) – Does anyone realize that this could have ended up as a conference matchup? Check out my what-if post on the Big East and you will learn why. This is one of those matchups you never get and, as a college football fan, is a real eye-opener. I am so looking forward to this one as it should be a great match. Now watch one team blow out the other.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Iowa State at Iowa (Noon, FOX) – This is quite a good week when this is considered an underrated game. Cy-Hawk has been a fantastic game the past few years despite the fact that the Hawkeyes continue to dominate the rivalry. This is definitely a statement game for the Cyclones as this is one of the humps they can’t seem to get over. The other is the Big XII title (or at least getting into the Big XII title game). I am positive this will end up with a score of like 16-15 and Kirk Ferentz will do something Ferentzian to somehow help Iowa to the W.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at Air Force (3:30, CBS) – No that is not a misprint. The Mountain West’s new contract with CBS calls for games to appear on the main network three times a season. Huge for the conference as this allows it to compete with the American for the title of best Group of Five conference (and believe me, that does mean something). This may be the biggest Mountain West conference game of the season and hearing Brad and Gary call it will be all kinds of weird but fun at the same time.

Worst Power Five Game: Syracuse at Rutgers (7:30, FOX) – As per tradition, at least once a year FOX absolutely shits the bed for a primetime choice and to be honest, I don’t think they even care. This is what happens with more of these conference networks in play: you will get a terrible game or two on FOX or ABC. I just wonder about the fact that there are other better options. The only thing I can think of is that they would have to fulfill their Big Ten total games on the main network for the year and this is a relatively easy way to do it. I mean I would have picked WKU-Indiana or Memphis-Purdue or even Ball State-Michigan but I am not a network exec so I obviously don’t know what I’m talking about.

Week 3

Game of the Week: Georgia at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – This will have serious national championship implications but I don’t need to tell you that. Now I did have a choice as to whether this game would end up as the lone SEC on CBS primetime affair. I did not choose this one and I will explain it in a later blog post. I think you will hear a hundred-some-odd times that Kirby Smart will need this win to get over the Nick Saban’s assistant hump. Nick Saban destroys his assistant coaches and probably relishes doing so. Also, if you noticed above, this is the worst week of the season and you will see why in a bit.

Other Really Important Games: Iowa at Minnesota (Friday, 8:30, FloSports) – See? It’s already starting to go downhill. Saying that, this could be the de facto Big Ten West Championship depending on what happens in Madison this season. This is another big test for a Gophers team that likes to schedule difficult in non-conference knowing they are going to probably get a brutal Big Ten schedule anyway.

Appalachian State at Wisconsin (3:30, BTN) –The number two and three games on this list are a Friday night FOX Sports One affair and a mid-afternoon Big Ten Network matchup. Good fucking God. To be honest, the bigger deal here is obviously the Mountaineers. I have this feeling that this might be the season App State makes a serious run to becoming the first Sun Belt team to reach the New Year’s Six. If this wasn’t a non-conference matchup I might have considered it elsewhere and I still think it might end up on FOX seeing what the week three schedule is like. Plus it’s not like ABC has a stellar schedule on this week so it may be a week to bring eyeballs over to FOX.

Hawaii at Oregon (6:30, DAZN) – Some of you may be asking what DAZN is. It is another site that, like FloSports, allows Canadians to get games on a channel we won’t normally get. In this case it’s the Pac-12 Network. This week is such a shit sandwich. Now watch it be one of the most exciting weeks in college football history because if it isn’t, it may be one of the worst.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Florida State at Boise State (Noon, FOX) – Boise State on FOX! This is thanks to the new Mountain West contract with FOX but man, Boise making some serious concessions with this game going off at 10 AM. Ten…in the morning. I honestly do think this is underrated because of the Noles but you never know with this team. If they ever get a good quarterback this team could be relatively dangerous.

Best Group of Five Game: Navy at Tulane (3:30, specialty pack) – To be honest, the early season doesn’t usually give us a bunch of good G5-on-G5 violence. The previous week has a huge AFA-Boise matchup. The first week got, well Boise State again, that time against Georgia Southern. These two teams have been two of the most exciting recently which I know sounds weird when we talk about Navy but I like watching them play. Tulane is like a pseudo-Navy where they also pass the ball more but run the option as well. This game could be over by dinner.

Worst Power Five Game: Maryland at West Virginia (Noon, ABC/TSN1/TSN4) – This may be the only time you ever see an ABC game in this section. I could see TSN deciding not to show this game so they can show a repeat of Motoring 2017. Look the ‘Eers may end up being good soon with Neal Brown at the helm. Maybe the Terps can turn it around with Mike Locksley, the hometown boy, in town and starting to recruit his own brand of team. But as of right now, neither team is very good and there are other, somewhat less shitty options in this timeslot. OK remember what I said about TSN not airing this game? I wonder if instead of ABC this goes to FSN and we don’t get to see it at all here.

There you go. The first three weeks are complete. And it’s the first official blog post for what could be a very weird 2020 college football season. I’d love to say we are getting close but are we? Nobody knows. As of right now there is only 97 days until the start of the season. That could very well change. I mean I love college football but if there isn’t a way to do it at that point then better to delay the start of the season. Saying that, it’s more than three months away so anything more than two weeks into the future should really not be speculated on since no one has an idea of how things will go. Hopefully you have a great rest of the weekend with this nicer weather (at least in my part of the world).

CHOO CHOO! – Week 8 College Football Recap

Posted on October 22, 2018 by guelphbossman

It was a relatively mundane college football Saturday (or at least as mundane as a college football Saturday can be). Nothing super exciting, at least from a Power Five perspective. Then came what happened in West Lafayette in primetime and it was quite the shocker and woke up everyone in the college football world. This feels weirdly similar to Iowa’s dismantling of Ohio State last year when the Buckeyes went to Iowa City and got lambasted. Same thing the other night. Purdue dominated in almost every aspect and looked like they were overpowering tOSU. Ohio State had no answer for anything the Boilermakers threw at them. And now, another domino has fallen as another undefeated team has been felled. We might get to November with not even a few undefeated teams (we’re already down to five). I can just see the sheer amount of HOT TAKES about the College Football Playoff now. We think it was crazy in 2007 with just the BCS? Oh, just wait because of something like that happens again, then look out because the college football media will honestly loses its ever-loving mind and I will enjoy every minute of it.

The rest of the recap

How about them Trojans? Yeah not that great. A somewhat crushing loss to Utah where they weren’t even close. Clay Helton is now on the hot seat in Los Angeles. I still believe they have the inside track to win the Pac-12 South though considering the division has been pretty disgusting all season. And watch the winner of this division win the conference championship and obliterate any hopes of the College Football Playoff or even more than one team in the New Year’s Six.
Penn State struggle quite a bit with Indiana but was able to hold on for the win. Not like many people were actually in the stadium to see it. It looked like the ruins of some long-ago Summer Olympics venue with tourists wandering around seeing what the fuss was all about. I’m sure there are many in Bloomington longing for basketball season to just begin already.
It was a battle of undefeateds between Clemson and NC State. OK maybe battle is too strong a word. The Wolfpack took a shellacking at the hands of the Tigers in Death Valley. Trevor Lawrence looked like a Heisman candidate. And the defense is the kind of defense that can win national championships. It was also the first real proof that Clemson is for real as not many thought so after their game against Texas A&M. Are we headed for another round of Clemson-Bama? Perhaps.
Tennessee was fired up for their games with Alabama…ahahahahahaha, just kidding. They got smoked. The Tide put 58 points up on the Vols, the most in the series’ history. And Tua Tagovailoa kept up his streak of not playing in the fourth quarter. Good job, kid.
LSU seemingly had no problem with Nick Fitzgerald, Joe Moorhead or anyone from the Mississippi State team. Are we finally going to say they are for real yet? Nope. Their biggest test, by far, is a week this Saturday when they face Alabama in primetime. Win that and people will finally say the Tigers are for real and national championship contenders. Also Coach O will get a 20-year extension if that happens (and a lifetime supply of gumbo).
The Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy had a little bit of everything: pre-game near-fighting; fairly long weather delay; true Big Ten weather; great defense. The one thing it didn’t have was a great ending. Michigan kind of mopped the floor with Sparty. MSU ended up with 94 yards of offense. That is terrible. Although Michigan’s defense is that good. Are we finally going to say they are for real yet? Perhaps although everyone is waiting for the game against Ohio State where they may be a slight favourite going in. How about that!
Oklahoma looked good in a victory over TCU. Kyler Murray looked good in a victory over TCU. Pretty much everyone involved for Oklahoma looked good in a victory over TCU. We are headed straight for a second OU-UT clash this season and this one will be at JerryWorld and it is gonna be LIT!
How about the day that was had in Pullman, Washington this past Saturday? It started really early as College Gameday went there for the first time ever after the Wazzu flag, Ol’ Crimson, had appeared on the show 216 consecutive times. That’s crazy. Then the Cougs went out and went up big on Oregon early and held on for the upset. Now it looks like the Apple Cup between them and Washington (who looked just OK in beating Colorado) will be for the Pac-12 North title and the winner might have the only feasible shot at the College Football Playoff left for the conference (and even then they would need a lot of help to be in that position).
UCF wins pretty easily even with McKenzie Milton injured. USF wins but it wasn’t easy over a terrible UConn team. We are headed, yet again, for an epic War On I-4 on Black Friday. Remember last year’s matchup between these two teams? Game of the year…well, regular season at least. Nothing says that can’t happen again.
Benny Snell went off on Saturday night yet Kentucky barely beat Vanderbilt. Not befitting of a Top 15 team but hey, a win’s a win and if they keep winning then their game against Georgia could very well be for the SEC East crown. Can you imagine everyone’s reaction if Kentucky makes it to the SEC Championship?
Cincinnati is also no longer undefeated although that just felt like a matter of time really. But to lose the way they did to Temple has to hurt. Let up a TD in the final minute and in the first part of overtime then get pushed back to almost the 50 before getting intercepted to end the game. Ugh.
Finally, NEBRASKA WON A GAME! Scott Frost finally got that monkey off his back. Thankfully. Them going 0-12 would have been not pretty to see.

Man I honestly thought that weekend was going to turn out pretty crappy. And it wasn’t honestly that great (in a college football sense) until primetime hit. Thank you Purdue. Now to the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	Clemson
#3	LSU
#4	Michigan
#5	Notre Dame
#6	Texas
#7	UCF
#8	Oklahoma
#9	Georgia
#10	Florida
#11	Ohio State
#12	Washington
#13	Washington State
#14	Kentucky
#15	West Virginia
#16	Penn State
#17	Texas A&M
#18	Iowa
#19	Wisconsin
#20	Oregon
#21	USF
#22	Stanford
#23	NC State
#24	Utah
#25	Texas Tech

Yes I have Notre Dame down at #5. I don’t care what anyone thinks about that. Let’s be honest here: if the Irish win out they’re in, no ifs, ands or buts. I also have UCF at #7 but I wonder if that’s where they top out. They seem to have plateaued in the AP Poll at #10. They need to start beating teams to a pulp. Starters in all the time. Fuck it, who cares at this point. Finally, I himmed and hawed over whether to put Texas Tech or Appalachian State in at #25. I put Tech in for now knowing that App State will get there eventually. Also, if UCF loses before the War on I-4 then the Mountaineers will have a good opportunity to be the first Sun Belt team to go to the New Year’s Six.

Guess what? We get more mid-week college football this week! And actually it’s before mid-week. Troy heads to South Alabama for the Sun Belt version of the Iron Bowl. So…the Aluminum Bowl? Anyway, it’s tomorrow night at 8:00 on the specialty pack. I’ll be back later this week with a full college football schedule. Enjoy your week everyone!

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Sunday

Monday

Wednesday​​

Thursday

Friday​​

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime​​

Saturday Late Night​

Wednesday​​

Thursday​​

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday​

Thursday

Friday​​

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime​​

Saturday Late Night​

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday

Thursday

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night