Urban Warfare – Week 6 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 6, 2021 by guelphbossman

OK I know this is an NFL issue but really it does have college connections. If you don’t know what’s going on with Urban Meyer…actually, you know what I will just assume you will know he got wasted and tried fingering a younger woman’s ass on the dance floor after she was grinding on him. Gonna be honest I have never had that happen to me but then again I’m not a multi-millionaire former college/current NFL coach so there’s that. So now Urban has gone in to full blown PR apology mode. His press conference was ridiculous where he wouldn’t even look into the camera or at the people asking him questions. Supposedly the team has no confidence in him anymore although I wonder why they would have had confidence in him in the first place since he has a history of things “happening” when things aren’t going his way. Not saying he didn’t do this on purpose to get fired but you never know with this guy. He obviously doesn’t give a shit about his wife and family so there’s also that. Like why do trust this guy to coach? Oh that’s right, he won. A lot. No one gives a shit if you’re a complete asshole if you win/are successful. That seems to be the modus operandi of society in general. The fact that people may be shocked by this is ridiculous.

Anyway, how does this relate to college football? Come on, really? There is one job opening available that’s lucrative with another on the way (probably). The Urban Meyer to USC (or Miami) chatter has started and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if this was his angle. If these schools had any dignity they wouldn’t hire the fucker but, again, winning is the only thing so these schools will do whatever it takes. Let’s be honest: all you have to do is look at a bunch of college football programs, see the issues that have happened there, and realize that many of these coaches get away with way too much and are way too powerful on campus. The sooner this type of crap ends, the better. But it won’t so I’ll just stop right there.

Enough of the rant, let’s get to the schedule.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Houston at Tulane	7:30 PM
#15 Coastal Carolina at Arkansas State	7:30 PM

Uncle Dana may have a good thing going in H-Town. It would really suck for them to stumble in New Orleans. Same goes for the Chants but I think they will have an easier time of it.

Friday

		US	Canada
Charlotte at FIU	7:00 PM
Temple at #5 Cincinnati	7:00 PM
Morgan State at Howard	8:00 PM
Stanford at #22 Arizona State	10:30 PM

Four games and only one that could end up being truly interesting. Weeknight Pac-12 After Dark could be fun with a pretty good ASU team hosting a Stanford team coming off a massive (albeit controversial) upset of Oregon. I am just going to assume that Cincy has to win by 50 to stay in the Top 5.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#6 Oklahoma vs. #21 Texas (in Dallas)	Noon
#11 Michigan State at Rutgers	Noon
Northern Illinois at Toledo	Noon
#13 Arkansas at #17 Ole Miss	Noon
South Carolina at Tennessee	Noon
Maryland at #7 Ohio State	Noon
Vanderbilt at #20 Florida	Noon
Georgia Tech at Duke	12:30 PM

As big as last week? No, but still fairly good. Five games with ranked teams and two with some ranked team-on-ranked team violence. The biggest game in this timeslot is, by far, the Red River Shootout. And again I will mention that this will never be in primetime because of the area the Cotton Bowl is in. It’s not the safest of neighbourhoods and that is not a great look to have 80,000 fans leaving a stadium to an area like that.

Arkansas-Ole Miss would have been on CBS if one of those teams had won last week. Instead, both teams got blown out and end up at Noon and don’t even get the ESPN primetime spot. The rest of the games, even the ones with ranked teams, aren’t the greatest but you can be sure at least one of them will be really good because that’s how college football operates. If I had to pick, I would go with Rutgers giving MSU a hard time.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Virginia at Louisville	3:00 PM
Boise State at #10 BYU	3:30 PM
Wisconsin at Illinois	3:30 PM
#2 Georgia at #18 Auburn	3:30 PM
#24 SMU at Navy	3:30 PM
Florida State at North Carolina	3:30 PM
#19 Wake Forest at Syracuse	3:30 PM
Ball State at Western Michigan	3:30 PM
#4 Penn State at #3 Iowa	4:00 PM
North Texas at Missouri	4:00 PM

OK things pick up in the afternoon. PSU-Iowa is a Game of the Year candidate for sure. UGA also gets a test on the Plains (if Bo Nix goes all Johnny Manziel again). Glad to see BYU and Boise State getting to be on ABC. It’s too bad that Boise isn’t as good as it has been in the past few years but still a big game. It’s too bad that TSN isn’t really stepping up just yet. I get that they still have other contractual obligations to deal with but this is part of the reason people like me move to IPTV. Not like they care though.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Wyoming at Air Force	7:00 PM
TCU at Texas Tech	7:00 PM
Buffalo at Kent State	7:00 PM
#9 Michigan at Nebraska	7:30 PM
#14 Notre Dame at Virginia Tech	7:30 PM
LSU at #16 Kentucky	7:30 PM
#1 Alabama at Texas A&M	8:00 PM
Utah at USC	8:00 PM

For the first few weeks of the season, it looked like we would get a Game of the Year candidate. I had pegged Bama and TAMU to be in the primetime CBS game. It was looking huge. Yeah that has fizzled out. Bama is looking like one of the best two teams in college football and Aggie fans are wondering how much more money that will give to/waste on Jimbo Fisher. I have a feeling CBS may regret making this their singular primetime affair of the season. Honestly, you have to consider ND-VT and even Michigan-Nebraska as better games than the aforementioned CBS primetime affair. Also, we get to see Kentucky hopefully not blow a Top 20 ranking. I get that Mark Stoops has done a good job in Lexington but his blood pressure must be all over the place.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Memphis at Tulsa	9:00 PM
New Mexico State at Nevada	10:30 PM
UCLA at Arizona	10:30 PM

This is a less than stellar late night schedule. Three games that might end up being over relatively early. With no Hawaii Test it might be an early night for the ol’ Bossman.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Penn State at Iowa (4:00, FOX) – This is an absolutely massive game now that Ohio State has hit a bit of a speed bump. Whoever wins this becomes the de facto new Big Ten favourite. It doesn’t disqualify either team from the College Football Playoff with a loss but it does make it difficult for sure. Is this the biggest game ever in Iowa City? Perhaps. At the very least it’s probably the biggest game in Kirk Ferentz’s time at the helm of the Hawkeyes. A win here may allow us to eventually see some new blood in the CFP (although I guess I could say the same about Penn State).

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – Auburn absolutely needs this win here. They still don’t seem to be getting a whole lot of respect and Bo Nix, in particular, despite the fact he went off against LSU is still considered not much of a starting quarterback. A Tiger victory proves they, and Bo, are for real. Georgia won’t be treating this as a letdown spot and will be aggressive from the opening bell like they were against Arkansas. I think in the end we just hope they all have fun and that Brad gets to call a good game, right?

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, ABC) – Ah, the Red River Shootout. In the decrepit Cotton Bowl. I get that it’s historic but one of these days one of the stands is going to collapse. I mean at least UAB figured out to move out equally broken down Legion Field and get their own stadium. Anyway, this game should be wild and wacky because most of the time it is. So don’t write in the Sooners as the victors just yet.

Arkansas at Ole Miss (Noon, TSN2) – If both of these teams had won, would CBS have tried to switch the primetime game? I think they are already a bit miffed with the choice: kind of like when they picked the Egg Bowl over the Iron Bowl a few years back and both Mississippi teams fell off their perch before that. Not saying both of these teams aren’t good because they are. They are, however, still second-tier in the SEC and in the SEC West and will not get above that this season. I see both squads being angry after coming off ass-whoopings so expect a chippy affair in Oxford.

Notre Dame at Virginia Tech (7:30, specialty pack) – It falls off a steep cliff after the first four games. How far of a fall you ask? Well, this game is on the ACC Network. This may be their first appearance in the top 5 games of the week and I’m too lazy to look back so I will just say that’s the case. The Irish could be a tad upset after dropping a game to Cincinnati last week (despite the fact the Bearcats are really good). But it is in Blacksburg and Justin Fuente, as is the norm, is fighting for his job as we kind of knew would happen once Frank Beamer and Bud Foster left. So it could end up being a sneaky good game.

Honourable mention: Alabama at Texas A&M (8:00, CBS); LSU at Kentucky (7:30, specialty pack); Stanford at Arizona State (Friday, 10:30, specialty pack)

Wanna Bet?

Man, I made a lot of wrong picks last week. Yes I got quite a few right but picking Notre Dame, UCLA, LSU and Florida don’t look good. Alright, well this is the gambling section so here it is, you degenerates.

Georgia over Auburn

LSU over Kentucky (upset!)

Alabama over Texas A&M

Ole Miss over Arkansas

Oklahoma over Texas

Iowa over Penn State

Arizona State over Stanford

Notre Dame over Virginia Tech

Nevada over New Mexico State

Kent State over Buffalo

Missouri over North Texas

I will be probably live-tweeting most of Saturday (@TheBauceman). I do end up taking Twitter breaks because I just can’t handle it for that many hours in a row. But I do scoreboard watch and Twitter watch to see if there are games I have to turn to soon to watch a great finish. I always try to be smart in that way so I don’t miss anything good since it’s much better to watch live than during a highlight package (especially when you already know what happened but haven’t seen it). Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Ranking the Bowl Games from First to Worst – 2019-20 Edition

Posted on January 15, 2020 by guelphbossman

Hey how did you think the bowl games went? There was definitely some good and definitely some bad. We will get to that in the rankings but overall, 2019’s college football season was much better than the 2018 season. Less disappointment that is for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I watched a bit of every game. Every single, fucking one. No matter how “useless” the game appeared to be (on paper at least). Not to the players and coaches and fans. Those games mean a shit-ton to them. And that sometimes lends to the games as the atmosphere can be great in a bowl game with a stadium that seems barely half-full.

Alright, time for reading, folks. An absolute deluge of text about bowl season. Now you can remember games that you really did not want to remember anymore. You’re welcome.

Hawaii Bowl (Hawaii 38 BYU 34) – I don’t think this has ever happened before but yes, the Christmas Eve tradition was the best bowl game. Damn was it ever fun to watch. The Hawaii Bowl is rarely this exciting. It felt like an old school WAC game. The closest thing to a really good boxing match where both boxers traded haymakers for most of the match.
Belk Bowl (Kentucky 37 Virginia Tech 30) – Should I make this number one? It’s a tough call. It was the only walkoff touchdown of bowl season which is fun (not so much for gamblers). A great back-and-forth affair in Bud Foster’s final game at VaTech. Another great game to watch. Lynn Bowden Jr. going off and cementing his draft status. Also, it’s the final Belk Bowl. So it was a bit bittersweet as well. Everything a bowl game should be.
Fiesta Bowl (Clemson 29 Ohio State 23) – Now this is the kind of semi-final game we kind of want all the time. This kind of proves that no matter what conference you are in, if you are a good team, you are a good team, period. Anyway, big plays, drama, ref issues, controversy. Sounds like a good time to me.
Rose Bowl (Oregon 28 Wisconsin 27) – Seeing the Badgers piss this one away was like a trainwreck: you couldn’t look away. The Ducks were absolutely dominated in this one. But they did enough off the Wisky turnovers to pull out the victory. We also found out that Justin Herbert has some wheels.
Outback Bowl (Minnesota 31 Auburn 24) – Considering Michigan and Alabama were playing at the exact same time, this is a good thing for both programs, especially the Gophers. Minnesota has brought the fun all season and P.J. Fleck’s energy can be infectious so I definitely look forward to seeing them play. This also showed that maybe, just maybe, Minnesota has arrived in the college football world. Also, I assume the Fire Gus rumblings will prevail well into August yet again. Poor guy.
Frisco Bowl (Kent State 51 Utah State 41) – Over 1000 yards of offense. One of the better college football games of the year, period. Nice to see the underdog Golden Flashes keep up with USU. And let’s give Sean Lewis some credit here. This team has done almost nothing for, well, the entire time the program has been around. And now Lewis, a young head coach (younger than me at least), comes along and is already turning this program around. The MAC is pretty wide open so don’t be surprised if Kent State is a conference contender next season. We also might have to get used to seeing Jordan Love on Sundays because that guy was special in this one. Too bad his defense wasn’t.
Liberty Bowl (Navy 20 Kansas State 17) – Talk about a close game! The Midshipmen and Wildcats played a tight game that wasn’t high on offense. Navy put together a Navy-like drive to set up the game-winning field goal which felt fitting in this one.
Quick Lane Bowl (Pittsburgh 34 Eastern Michigan 30) – One of the barnburners of the season and it was very unexpected. Basically what ended up being a walkoff punch by Eastern Michigan’s quarterback ended a very exciting (and surprisingly so) Quick Lane Bowl, a bowl that is usually forgotten about.
Cotton Bowl (Penn State 53 Memphis 39) – Yet again, the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six brought their A Game. But man Penn State was something else. In the end, Penn State’s passing game was better than Memphis’s running game and pulled away for the win. It helped that there was a terrible bowl game on at the same time as the eyeballs stayed here.
Orange Bowl (Florida 36 Virginia 28) – OK I will admit when I was wrong. I figured the Hoos had no chance but this turned into quite the competitive game. I mean Florida had control of the game most of the time but Bryce Perkins made it so you thought maybe, just maybe, the Cavaliers could pull this out. In the end, the Fighting Mullens were too much.
Texas Bowl (Texas A&M 24 Oklahoma State 21) – Thrilling? Not exactly. It felt like the Pokes were going to run away with this one, much to the chagrin of the many Aggie fans in attendance. Anyway, this game’s score doesn’t tell the whole story as other than early and very late, Texas A&M controlled the pace of the game. But it was close. So there’s that.
Gator Bowl (Tennessee 23 Indiana 22) – I thought this was a pretty sexy matchup for bowl season. A resurgent Vols team against an up-and-coming Hoosiers team. Normally the games after New Year’s aren’t watched (other than the National Championship) but this was one fantastic. It was kind of painful to watch Indiana blow this game that they really did have in the bag. Now I await Tennessee’s inclusion in the preseason Top 25 for next season.
First Responder Bowl (Western Kentucky 23 Western Michigan 20) – Is it First Responder or First Responders? Anyway, this had a crazy finish to a rather mundane game. Western Michigan was flagged for too many men on the field on a WKU Hail Mary on the last play of the game. The Hilltoppers then decided to go for the 52-yard field goal and hit it to walk it off. I think many are just glad that this bowl game was actually played after last year’s cancellation.
Camellia Bowl (Arkansas State 34 FIU 27) – Surprisingly fun to watch! The Panthers made it quite the game with their late comeback (that came up just short). Not much else to say about a bowl that is historically ignored and poorly attended.
Pinstripe Bowl (Michigan State 27 Wake Forest 21) – I was really looking forward to this game as it had two teams that, for some reason, can bring it during bowl season. Honestly, most thought this would be boring and they were part-correct. It wasn’t super exciting but it was close and it was a game you had to watch to the end. Now the Mark Dantonio watch begins as the rumours are swirling on his status in East Lansing.
National Championship (LSU 42 Clemson 25) – This was a pretty damn good game for about 2.5 quarters. Then Joe Burrow. That’s it. Can we call it the greatest season by a player in college football history? It’s easily Top 10 for sure.
Peach Bowl (LSU 63 Oklahoma 28) – Basically this game was over early. If it wasn’t for the fact it was a semi-final and Joe Burrow going crazy in the first half it would have been unwatchable. Oklahoma might just want to decline their invite next year if they are selected for the College Football Playoff.
Sun Bowl (Arizona State 20 Florida State 14) – This game looked like the Redbox Bowl from last year for over a half. It was like neither team really wanted to win. It did lead to a fairly wild finish though which is one of the things we like as college football fans. I am sure Noles fans want to put James Blackman into a cannon and fire him straight into the transfer portal after his performance. Also, nice touch with Herm Edwards getting the Frosted Flakes dumped on him at the end. This needs to continue even during the regular season.
Cheez-It Bowl (Air Force 31 Washington State 21) – Ah, the hilarious Cheez-It Bowl. This year’s edition was much less hilarious and much less exciting. I mean Wazzu made it close early in the fourth quarter but the Falcons’ rushing offense ground the Cougs defense into dust, as most of us thought would happen. Realistically though, the final score doesn’t portray how much Air Force dominated this.
Music City Bowl (Louisville 38 Mississippi State 28) – No real stars in this one didn’t help this bowl game but it was another case of a game where the score does not indicate how not close this game was. Louisville looked dominant most of this one. If it wasn’t for the Joe Moorhead rumours (which turned out to be true) this game might have gone down a few notches.
Cure Bowl (Liberty 23 Georgia Southern 16) – Not exciting. Not terrible. Kind of in the middle. Which is where it ranks. Nice to see Liberty win their first bowl game ever, I guess.
Sugar Bowl (Georgia 26 Baylor 14) – Look this went exactly as most people thought it would go, no offense to Baylor. Really it was not very memorable and, to be honest, it was so late on New Year’s Day that I was getting tired (plus I had to work the next day).
Boca Raton Bowl (Florida Atlantic 52 SMU 28) – This was set up to be one of the better bowl games between the two great Power Five teams. So good that it was being aired on ABC. I thought it would be really close and it ended up being anything but. Plus all the Lane Kiffin talk really got to be too much by the second half. We get it: he left the Owls. Let’s move on.
Holiday Bowl (Iowa 49 USC 24) – Everything was going great for this game until Kedon Slovis got injured. Then it went to shit for the Trojans and the fans watching at home. The only good thing is that we were able to actually see this game in Canada despite it being on FOX Sports One.
Mobile Bowl (Louisiana 27 Miami-OH 17) – This game was the final bowl game before the national championship. The only reason to watch is if you weren’t bowled out yet and kind of missed Monday Night Football. I have to get the game credit since a botched snap near the goal line for the Redhawks was all that separated this from moving up the chain. Also, I guess this is now called the LendingTree Bowl. Ugh.
Citrus Bowl (Alabama 35 Michigan 16) – Michigan was in this exact same spot last year. And they scored one more point than last year’s bowl game. The Wolverines were boatraced by Bama in the second half, just like last year’s game against Florida. The Outback Bowl, on at the same time, was a much more satisfying game to watch and so that’s where I spent most of my time.
Redbox Bowl (California 35 Illinois 20) – I was hoping for Lovie Smith to pick up a bowl win but hey, the Illini just getting to a bowl game is huge enough. If it wasn’t for this possibility, this may have gone farther down the list as Cal never seemed to be out of control of the game.
Gasparilla Bowl (UCF 48 Marshall 25) – I guess it’s good this game isn’t at Tropicana Field anymore. Otherwise, this game was over early.
New Orleans Bowl (Appalachian State 31 UAB 17) – All UAB early, All App State late. Hell, the Mountaineers even almost covered the spread. They didn’t though (considering the spread was like 16.5).
Idaho Potato Bowl (Ohio 30 Nevada 21) – The score makes it seem like it might have been close. It wasn’t. The only exciting thing about this game, other than how much Ohio might win by, is Frank Solich getting showered in french fries after the bowl win.
Armed Forces Bowl (Tulane 30 Southern Miss 13) – I will be completely honest…after the first half I watched very little of this game. Came back with about half the fourth quarter to play, saw Tulane was handily in front, and felt good about my decision. I guess sometimes morning football isn’t that great.
Military Bowl (North Carolina 55 Temple 13) – Was there really anything good about this game? Now we have got a lot of people on the North Carolina bandwagon for 2020. Sam Howell could end up being a darkhorse Heisman contender if the Heels contend in the ACC.
Las Vegas Bowl (Washington 38 Boise State 7) – The only intriguing part of this game is seeing how Washington would fare in the Chris Petersen farewell game. Looks like they did well.
New Mexico Bowl (San Diego State 48 Central Michigan 11) – The normally first FBS bowl game of the year was a dud. Maybe because they weren’t the first bowl game of the season. Either way it was not exciting after about the 12 minute mark of the first quarter. Jimmy Mac’s great season in Mount Pleasant ends in a dud. And, shock of all shocks, Rocky Long retired so that was his last game as well.
Bahamas Bowl (Buffalo 31 Charlotte 9) – This was the first bowl game of the season, on a Friday afternoon. So I barely watched any of this one. But the fact this is Charlotte’s first bowl game and Buffalo’s first bowl win ever keeps it from falling even further (even though there isn’t far to fall from here).
Alamo Bowl (Texas 38 Utah 10) – Maybe the Utes were honestly that crushed with losing the Pac-12 title game and their chance at the College Football Playoff. This was pretty non-competitive and now I am sure we will hear about Texas being in the preseason Top 25 like almost every year. Let’s not give in to the media peer pressure folks!
Camping World Bowl (Notre Dame 33 Iowa State 9) – God this was awful. Notre Dame is that weird team that is probably better than playing in any bowl game except when it gets to the New Year’s Six where they play terrible and are “exposed” as a not-so-good team.
Independence Bowl (Louisiana Tech 14 Miami 0) – This should have been a better game. Miami, who is usually at least not too bad and LaTech who is a good Group of Five team. This ended up being a mess of a game and showed how bad Miami really is. The entire program will be under the microscope for the next season.
Birmingham Bowl (Cincinnati 38 Boston College 6) – Hey remember what the Birmingham Bowl has been like in recent years? Forget all that. This was shit. It would be the worst bowl game this season if it wasn’t for the next horrific, forgettable game.
Arizona Bowl (Wyoming 38 Georgia State 17) – On CBS Sports Network. When other bowl games were on. And it was boring. It’s the bowl game shitfest trifecta. I think I watched one minute of this.

So in the end, better than last bowl season but not awesome by any stretch of the imagination. This weekend we have some college all-star games. The East-West Shrine Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl are on the NFL Network on Saturday at 2:00 and 6:00 respectively. Yes they tend to have some weird rules but it’s still college football (technically).

Your very short NFL schedule will be coming your way either tomorrow or Friday. Have a great hump day everyone!

SUPER MEGA HYPER OMNI POST! V3.0

Posted on November 26, 2019 by guelphbossman

I have done this two times before. Let’s go for number three here. Warning: this post is seriously fucking long. So grab a drink (caffeinated would be a good idea) and settle in.
Instead of doing a full recap and then a full bowl projections post, I figured I would combine them into one insanely long post! Why? I am going to tell myself it’s a great way to save time and not have to do two posts. That is completely erroneous to be truthful but I will keep telling myself that little fib. It was a fairly good weekend of college football which had two major upsets. We are headed into an exciting finish to the season. Also this post is different and exciting to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when Rutgers could be considered a top team in college football.

Let’s start with recapping the week that was. Some fun stuff happened and I was totally sleep deprived for Sunday. A Fall tradition.

The only ranked-on-ranked game of the week had Ohio State outlast Penn State. The difference here was basically one guy: Chase Young. His return from his stupid suspension was a boon for the Buckeye defense as he was all over the Nittany Lion backfield. He is a lot like Ndamukong Suh was at Nebraska; the best player in the nation who won’t get true Heisman hype. The tOSU offense did just enough as Justin Fields, who is the second best player on the team, may have booked his trip to New York City in December. In the end, though, it won’t mean nearly as much if they can’t extend their winning streak against The Team Up North this Saturday.
LSU beat Arkansas easily. Alabama beat Western Carolina even easier during SEC Sleepwalk Saturday. The Tide have to be rooting for the Tigers to win this Saturday and at the SEC Championship and hopefully win big both times. It’s Bama’s best chance to get in if the Fighting Orgerons look like a dominant #1 team (or at least something to include in the argument for them to be included in the CFP).
You all saw it I’m sure. The students from Harvard and Yale doing a protest just before the second half was to begin in the annual game between the two Ivy League stalwarts. I can honestly say this is something I have never seen before during a game. And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy. People aligned themselves on one side or the other which is what happens in situations like this nowadays. Here is my take on this. Are protests a fabric of both the United States and Canada? I believe they are. Saying people can’t protest makes us a lot more like China than the countries we are. Does this also do a disservice to the people involved in the football game? Absolutely. Both of these things are, and can be, true. If these students truly understood the issues surrounding climate change and Harvard and Yale’s role in it, then great. It’s very rare that this is the case as I have seen many protests in this country where many really have no idea what they are truly protesting and just want to be loud and want to belong. I think the police did as good a job as they could and didn’t let it become something violent. I do wish the students that wouldn’t leave unless they were arrested just left. Being arrested will probably just be something they can yell and scream about when in reality, no one gives a shit because the protest is over at that point. On top of all this, the game was played at the Yale Bowl which does not have lights and after an hour-plus delay, went to double overtime. If it had gone any farther the game probably would have had to end in a tie since darkness was quickly settling in. Just a bizarre day in college football to say the least.
Georgia’s offense basically took the day off on Saturday. If it wasn’t for hipster kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, the Dawgs may have blown it against Texas A&M. A 19-13 victory over the Aggies doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the team going into the SEC Championship. They play like this and LSU will put a 50-burger on them and the game will essentially be over by 5:00 Eastern.
Oregon blew it against Arizona State. I guess they didn’t play to win the game. This is bad, not just for the Ducks but for Utah as well (and the Pac-12 as a whole). Now Utah beating Oregon will not be them beating a Top 10 team. Chances are Oregon will be a Top 15 team which makes a difference. It’s also what is needed for the Bama backers who desperately want their team in the College Football Playoff.
The other huge upset of the day was FIU beating Miami. Yes this isn’t the Canes of early this century but good God is this team not very good. And in a pretty bad ACC. And now they lose to former head coach Butch Davis on the field that was built on the old Orange Bowl grounds. Yeah this is about as bad as it gets for The U. Manny Diaz will be on a seriously hot seat to start next season and now some have to look back and take back their thoughts of basically poaching him from Temple as the Owls are doing great under Rod Carey while Miami struggles.
Some would include Colorado’s victory over Washington as an upset as well. I do not. This is easily Chris Petersen’s worst team in all his years of coaching college football. Mel Tucker has brought the Buffs back to, at least, respectability. They now have a chance to go bowling. All they have to do is *checks the schedule* beat Utah. Aw man. Sorry guys.
Cincinnati beat Temple in a very close one. It all turned on one play. Temple had an extra point blocked and returned for two points. So a three point swing on one play. The Bearcats ended up winning by 2 and seem to be sharing the Group of Five seat with Memphis at the moment.
If you missed it, there was an absolutely bonkers Pac-12 After Dark affair up in eastern Washington. It was on the Pac-12 Network (or DAZN up here) so very few would have watched it but it was fantastic. A back and forth affair where Oregon State scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and LOST! Wazzu pulled out with a touchdown with 2 seconds left to win 54-53. So now Oregon State has to *checks the schedule* beat Oregon in the Civil War to become bowl-eligible. Ugh. Washington State is now bowl-eligible again and Mike Leach in the postseason is always fun.
Oklahoma is going to the Big XII Championship! They clinched their spot by BARELY getting by TCU. I’m sorry but the Sooners will struggle with Baylor if they play like that (the Bears beat Texas handily). Then again, if Boomer Sooner wins, do you really want them in the CFP? I don’t know.
Wisconsin and Minnesota both won so they are slated to play for the Big Ten West this weekend. And College Gameday is heading to Minneapolis (finally). So it is going to be a huge day for the Golden Gophers and if they win they basically clinch no worse than the Rose Bowl in my opinion.
What a great way to have the Bud Foster send-off. Virginia Tech whitewashed Pitt and were dominant on defense. Awesome for Foster’s final game at Lane Stadium.
Great story of the weekend? Charlotte becoming bowl-eligible for the first time. Will Healy did wonders at Austin Peay which was such a terrible FCS program they went almost four years without winning a game and he arrives and they almost go to the playoffs. Now he does amazing things in his first year in North Carolina and gets the 49ers to the promised land (probably). Watch them get picked up by the American Conference in a few years to replace UConn.

Now let’s move on to how the conference championships are shaping up as we are down to the ultimate week of the regular season.

It’s the second annual Sun Belt Championship game and I honestly believe Mountain Dew or Peterbilt or something like that should sponsor it. This is set. Appalachian State and Louisiana have won their respective divisions and will face off in the championship game at the home of the Mountaineers in Boone, North Carolina.

Conference USA is going to have an exciting race towards the end of the season in the West. In the East, Florida Atlantic has clinched their spot in the title game. As for the West, it’s between UAB, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss and it’s messy. So on Saturday:

If all three teams win, Southern Miss wins the division. Same thing if all three teams lose.
If Louisiana Tech wins and UAB loses, Louisiana Tech wins the division.
If UAB and Southern Miss win, Southern Miss wins the division.
If only one of the three teams wins, that winning team obviously wins the division.

Good lord. But at least it means it will be a fun final Saturday for this oft-ignored conference.

The MAC title tilt is halfway set. Miami-OH has already clinched the MAC East. The MAC West could be finished off tonight. If Western Michigan beats Northern Illinois, they will go to Detroit to face the Redhawks. If they lose then Central Michigan has a chance to clinch on Black Friday in their Noon game against Toledo.

This is easy. Boise State clinched with their crushing of Utah State and then a bit of a shock as Hawaii clinched the West Division as they beat San Diego State in an low-scoring affair. The game will be on the blue turf in Boise.

Alright Cincinnati is already in. The West is also easy. Memphis beats Cincy in the season finale they will have a rematch against the Bearcats also at home. If they don’t win, and then Navy defeats Houston on Saturday night, the Middies will be heading to Cincinnati. If both teams lose, Memphis will go to southern Ohio and play Cincinnati quite possibly for the Cotton Bowl spot.

It’s Clemson up against the winner of the Commonwealth Cup. This is the most important game in the battle for Virginia possibly ever.

This has been set. The surprising Baylor Bears get their chance at revenge on Oklahoma at JerryWorld.

Oregon is in for the game which starts at 5 local time yet again. The Pac-12 has, by far, the shittiest set of TV contracts for the Power Five. This is atrocious. Now, if Utah wins they face Oregon but if Colorado pulls off the upset then it will be USC, of all teams, going against the Ducks.

Ohio State clinched a tough Big Ten East and will await the Wisconsin-Minnesota winner in Indianapolis.

LSU and Georgia. No Bama. The way things are going, though, UGA is going to get boatraced by the Tigers.

So there you go. Coming up later in the week, we have the massive American Thanksgiving post which is, you guessed it, massive.

Alright, on to my bowl projections as of this today:

Fiesta Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	LSU vs. Utah

No changes here. Utah’s resume took a hit with Oregon’s loss but I still see them holding on to this spot (which means I will probably be wrong).

Has anything changed in the New Year’s Six?

Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs Baylor
Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Michigan vs. Oregon
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. SEC #2/Big Ten #2/Notre Dame/G-5 #1	Wake Forest vs. Georgia
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1	Oklahoma vs. Boise State

One change. I’ve put Michigan in the Rose Bowl, replacing Penn State which I am sure no one will bat an eye at, right OK let’s move on. A LOT could very well change on this section this coming week and I kind of expect it to but I have to go with my gut at this point. The Orange Bowl spot for the ACC champ is still hilariously sad and I think that might be the big change during the next CFP contract and not a move to expand to eight teams (although a move to five would be fine by me to be honest).

Now the rest of bowl season which is a gongshow because even bowl tie-ins mean nothing anymore but not in a good way.

Mobile Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Miami-OH vs. Arkansas State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big Ten vs. MWC	Indiana vs. Utah State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Nevada vs. Ohio
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Minnesota
Birmingham Bowl	SEC/ACC vs. American/ACC	Liberty* vs. Memphis
Outback Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Penn State
Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Iowa State vs. USC
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. Sun Belt	San Diego State vs. Arkansas State
Liberty Bowl	SEC/American vs. Big XII/American	Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State
Sun Bowl	Pac-12 vs. ACC	California vs. Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Texas A&M vs. Virginia
Redbox Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Illinois vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech
First Responder Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	Kansas State vs. Florida Atlantic
Camping World Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Texas vs. Miami
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII/MWC vs. Pac-12/MWC	Hawaii vs. Southern Miss*
Holiday Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Iowa vs. Washington State
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Missouri vs. TCU
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Nebraska vs. Pittsburgh
Military Bowl	ACC vs. American	Louisville vs. Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten/MAC vs. ACC/MAC	Western Michigan vs. Florida State
Independence Bowl	SEC/C-USA vs. ACC/American	Marshall vs. Cincinnati
Hawaii Bowl	BYU vs. American/MWC	BYU vs. Wyoming
Gasparilla Bowl	American/ACC vs. C-USA/ACC	UCF vs. UAB
New Orleans Bowl	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	Louisiana Tech vs. Louisiana
Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	Washington vs. Air Force
Camellia Bowl	MAC vs. Sun Belt	Central Michigan vs. Georgia Southern
Boca Raton Bowl	American vs. MAC	SMU vs. Buffalo
Cure Bowl	American vs. Sun Belt	Temple vs. Georgia State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. C-USA	Army* vs. Western Kentucky
Frisco Bowl	American vs. MAC/C-USA	Tulane vs. Eastern Michigan
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Toledo vs. Charlotte

A few notes for your perusal:

No 5-7 teams. And no teams left out at 6-6. Everything fits perfectly like a puzzle with all the pieces actually in the box. We all know what will happen right? Certainly not this.
I am sticking with the tie-ins as best I can. I don’t know why though since the bowls don’t seem to care themselves sometimes.
Hawaii, as far as I know, is not locked in to the Hawaii Bowl now that they are bowl-eligible. Still a good chance they end up there but I have this feeling they will hit the mainland for their bowl game this season.
Look at Charlotte! I have them kicking off the bowl season by going to the Bahamas! Talk about a great season for those players and staff.
As for tie-ins that don’t work, I have Army filing in to the New Mexico Bowl thanks to Boise State going to the Cotton Bowl, Southern Miss going to the Cheez-It Bowl because the Big XII and Pac-12 don’t have enough eligible teams (thanks to me putting Utah in the CFP) and Liberty heading to the Birmingham Bowl due to the SEC and ACC not having enough eligible teams. These split tie-ins are so weird and even dumber when they don’t even work out. When two conferences can’t fill a single bowl slot you know there’s an issue.

Other than those few items, not much to talk about specifically about the bowl projections. Nothing much changed except some of my opinions. That might change starting tonight. Ohio has a chance to become bowl-eligible and, at the same time, Akron could be the only winless team this season in the FBS. The game is on ESPN+ so none of us can see it. The other game, between WMU and NIU, is important for the Broncos as a win there clinches a trip to beautiful Detroit for the MAC Championship which isn’t on Friday night this season. Then Wednesday, take a deep breath. There is no football at all. Don’t drink too much but maybe take the time to do something around the house. Go out. Catch up on some Netflix. Something. Because you will need the rest to prepare for FOOTBALLGASM 2019!

A couple of quick Canadian football notes:

The Grey Cup occurred this past Sunday. I am a bit sad that Hamilton lost but at least it was to Winnipeg who had an even longer Grey Cup drought at 29 years! Plus, a fan who said, in 1990, he wouldn’t wear pants until the next time the Blue Bombers won the Cup again, can wear pants again! Which is good in Winnipeg since it is seriously fucking freezing there.
The Vanier Cup occurred. I have no idea where it was on. I think CBC online? Ridiculous.

Alright that is it. No more. A seriously long post is complete. American Thanksgiving Footballgasm post will show up later this week along with the NFL sked post. Have a good week everyone!

I have a proposal – Week 11 College Football Recap

Posted on November 12, 2019 by guelphbossman

You probably know this already but Chad Morris has been fired as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. No surprise there. Arkansas has been awful this season. No denying that. While pretty much every other team not named Vanderbilt is improving in the SEC, the Razorbacks are getting worse somehow. Chad Morris was supposed to be the savior (somewhat) for this program and at least get it back to playing in bowl games every season if not actually competing for the SEC West title. But in what may be the worst coaching job in the state since John L. Smith was brought in for a short (and disastrous) period of time, nothing went right in Fayetteville (and sometimes Little Rock). Their shellacking at the hands of Western Kentucky on Saturday was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not saying Morris would have been back next year since he probably wouldn’t have been but there has to be a huge shot to the ego to be fired during a season. Basically the school is saying you aren’t even good enough to coach this already shitty team for the rest of the season. You are so bad that we have to replace you now.

Earlier this season, Rutgers finally shitcanned Chris Ash. It was about a season or so too late but at least they finally did it. So I have a proposal here that I think may have been said before but hear me out. As much as people say there are too many bowl games, people obviously watch them since they usually get more viewers than anything else on at that time, other than the NFL or World Juniors. So why not add another postseason game? Here’s what I think: have the two worst Power Five teams face off to figure out the bottom team of the year. Arkansas vs. Rutgers! Who says no? And play it in a spot where there is a good chance of horrible weather like Montana. Someone will broadcast it for sure. And I will watch it. Let’s make it happen!

Alright enough of Relegation Bowl 2019. On to the recap of what was an amazingly crazy week of college football. I can honestly say it was one of the most enjoyable weeks of college football this year. My only hope is that the last few weeks of the regular season are just as good (if not better).

Recap

Minnesota had a nice win over Penn State in chilly conditions in Minneapolis in one of two battles of undefeated teams. Row The Boat, indeed. It was a historic victory for a program not known for playing big-time college football. This means that the Golden Gophers’ hopes for the College Football Playoff are still alive. And with Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin left on their sked, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Fighting Flecks are in the Top 4 come conference championship weekend. As for PSU, they aren’t out of things yet but they have to win out and get a LOT of help.
Clemson clinched the ACC Atlantic with a relatively easy win over NC State in primetime. It was actually a close game for all of like a minute and then the Tigers were off to the races in a horribly boring affair. It was weird to see the primetime sked be so much worse than the earlier two timeslots but there we had it. If you needed to get anything done on Saturday, that was probably your chance.
A very slow start for Georgia turned into a bit of a rout when they scored 27 unanswered on Missouri to pick up the win. They still have two more big games against Auburn and Texas A&M coming up that could put other teams back in the SEC East race. The Dawgs would have to lose both though and I honestly can’t see that happening.
Oh yeah there was a kind of big matchup down in Tuscaloosa. Talk about an instant classic. Two of the best coaches in the game. Two of the best quarterbacks (although Tua was obviously in pain late in the game). Two of the best offenses and defenses in the game. And it was a great game. LSU was way up by halftime but there was always that feeling that Alabama could come back. And come back they did. They made a game out of it with Tua Tagovailoa’s gutsy play. But the Tigers were too much and Joe Burrow may have clinched the Heisman with his performance. Yes it wasn’t under the lights but it was still an amazing game that will be remembered for a long time and may, dare I say it, knock Bama out of the College Football Playoff.
In Big XII news, Baylor BARELY beat TCU. It was looking for a while there that the Horned Frogs had the Bears’ number. The Bears needed a FG late and then some overtime heroics to win this one. So I just assume the Bears fans’ blood pressure is through the roof for most of this one and will continue to be until they lose (if they lose).
Illinois was down 28-3 to Michigan State and all the hope for Illini fans seemed to be draining. Then they started the biggest comeback in program history, about to tie up the game after a touchdown aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand they miss the extra point. Oh no. But they persevered and scored late again to pick up the massive win over the Spartans and become bowl-eligible for the first time in five long years. Amazing how keeping Lovie Smith (and his glorious beard) on for another year (after really not deserving another year) has led to hope inside this program.
Appalachian State ended up with what was not really an upset as they beat South Carolina in a close one. Can you imagine what would be going on right now if App State hadn’t looked like shit against Georgia Southern? You would have been seeing the Mountaineers as a good possibility as the first ever Sun Belt team to get to the New Year’s Six. Now? They need some help.
Could the Oklahoma freakin’ Sooners somehow get back into the CFP race? They sure could. I mean their game against Iowa State was pretty tough to watch and they struggled at times but they won and in the end that’s what matters…kind of. They are just lucky that ISU went to the Mack Brown School of Two Point Conversion Plays. They need to figure out that defense though as they can’t play like that against Baylor this Saturday or otherwise it will be lights out. Then again, Baylor struggled to score against TCU so…who knows.
Your 2019 Ohio State Buckeyes are a God damned juggernaut. They mopped the floor with Maryland dropping SEVENTY-THREE POINTS on them. Their path to the Big Ten Championship is now very simple. Don’t lose to Penn State and they will basically win the Big Ten East and head to Indianapolis.
So what can we make of the Tennessee Volunteers this season? They looked OK, I guess, against Kentucky and were able to eek out a win. They’ve been all over the place this season with some great games and truly awful ones. Amazingly enough, through all this, the Vols are one win away from being bowl-eligible and maybe, just maybe, they are back to building something good in Knoxville.
UCF lost to Tulsa. No New Year’s Six for you!
There was one more game with two ranked teams going at it and it was a close one as well. Iowa and Wisconsin played some classic Big Ten West football against each other and very few watched it because it was on at the same time as LSU-Alabama. Couldn’t this have been a night game? Anyway, the Hawkeyes missed on the two-point conversion late and Paul Chryst’s Badgers survived and now remain the only real challenger to Minnesota in the division.
Wow Boise State is making it very difficult to give them the New Year’s Six spot. Or is it that Boise State is making it tough to keep them out of the New Year’s Six spot? Probably a bit of both. They probably should have lost that game against Wyoming but somehow, someway, pulled out the win in overtime. They are still right in the thick of the hunt for the Group of Five spot and it would not surprise me to see them get it if they can blow through the rest of their schedule.
Oh Kansas State. It’s like they couldn’t handle the rarified air of the Top 25. I get that it’s been a struggle since 109-year-old Bill Snyder left the program but hopefully Chris Klieman has them back to where they had been during the Snyder era. And Texas is back……in the Top 25 (I think).
Florida beat Vanderbilt. In other news, sometimes we get snow in the winter.
Wake Forest had a ton of trouble with the Bud Foster Hokie defense and now will be out of the Top 25 (I think). So who in the hell is going to go to the Orange Bowl out of the ACC? It’s going to be an unranked Virginia I think. Sad. I think it’s about time to cut back a bit on the bowl tie-ins since that is ridiculous.
Finally, SMU put up almost 60 points on East Carolina. Unfortunately, East Carolina put up a bit more than 50 on the Mustangs. Not good for a team that is hoping for a wing and a prayer and a chance to somehow get to the AAC Championship.

We are now getting into the real important part of the season. OK not as important as American Thanksgiving Footballgasm time but still important. This past weekend, though, led to some big changes in the polls. That’s the way these things go in November. Here’s my Top 25:

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

Something has happened at the top and more is to come. Unless something weird happens, both LSU and Georgia won’t get to the CFP. LSU is almost a shoo-in at this point unless they don’t just shit the bed but fill the bedroom with diarrhea. Clemson wins out and they are essentially a lock. Ohio State is the same. I still think Ohio State blows it against Michigan though. I am going to continue to drink the Kool-Aid and say Michigan will finally break the streak this season. The most important thing here though? Indiana is in the Top 25. Every year it seems there has to be a basketball school in the Top 25. Last year it was Kentucky. The few years before that was Duke. Lately, that is the case. I would love to see Indiana win out and get in the conversation for the College Football Playoff because I like the discomfort of a team like that being in the mix. The media, as much as they they say otherwise, do not want these non-traditional football powers in these big games. Except for the ones who love controversy like it’s crack.

So this post is a day late so I won’t hype the Monday Night Football game (not that I ever hype it). But last night’s game was great. One of the best MNF games in a long time. And now there are no undefeated teams. The ’72 Dolphins can pop that champagne.

We got some MACtion tonight! Eastern Michigan and Akron tussle starting at 6:00 on the specialty pack and Western Michigan faces off against Ohio starting at 6:30. The games aren’t early because of the CFP Rankings Show. It’s because the weather is supposed to be bad so they are starting the games an hour or so earlier than normal. It is supposed to frigid in Ohio tonight so don’t expect to see packed stands there. Then tomorrow night is another set of MACtion games both on the specialty pack: Northern Illinois-Toledo and Bowling Green-Miami-OH.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore). Thursday it’s another weekend-plus of college football and its TV schedule. Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Friday. Enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!

I don’t know why people are surprised by this – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 7, 2019 by guelphbossman

The College Football Playoff rankings came out on Tuesday evening. And of course there is a spot of controversy. Not a whole lot though. Ohio State is considered #1 with LSU at #2. This is fine. Alabama gets the #3 spot and it’s Penn State, not Clemson, at #4 (the Tigers are #5). This is good. Clemson doesn’t deserve to be above Penn State. To be honest, I would have put Bama at #4 as well but I don’t think The Committee has balls that big (yet). Georgia is #6 which is a lot of people upset since their lone loss is a terrible one at home to South Carolina where as Oregon’s only loss is to Auburn. I’d have to look at the rest of their schedules but I have a feeling the rest of UGA’s schedule is tougher than Oregon’s so it still kind of makes sense and there is an argument for it.

The problem with this is the same problem with the AP rankings. Having pre-season rankings should be abolished. There is no reason they should be done before Week 1 is over. Hell, make a whole AP Rankings show if you want, ESPN. I don’t care. The same goes for the CFP Rankings. Honestly I think they are one week too soon. The more weeks are over, the better the rankings will be but it’s tough for The Committee, who are made up of human beings, won’t take the previous week’s rankings into account. This will lead to certain teams being ranked too high to start not falling as far as they should and some teams who are too low right now having the opposite problem if they continue to win. Maybe this is something they can think of next year. They won’t because MONEY but they should consider it as the more teams that are truly in the race, the better. And that will also lead to more money.

Another point I have to make is that we are in the middle of MACtion. It’s the same point I make every year. It is great for people watching on TV since they now have football to watch on a Tuesday night rather than having to find something on Netflix or watching Sword Wars or Bagel Wars or whatever the fuck reality show is on. The problem is the stands look empty. There is proof that less fans go to these weekday night games (Friday excepted). MACtion was the first but the Sun Belt does it as does the ACC and Pac-12. But I have noticed this year that MACtion started later in the season (as did Fun Belt) and there are less weekday night games up until now. What caused this? The biggest thing is, amazingly enough, the ACC Network. More MAC and Sun Belt games have ended up on ESPNU on a Saturday than ever before. This means that attendance will increase as well as still having national visibility on a Saturday. It really is a win-win. I wonder what would happen if the Big XII ever got their act together and created a Big XII Network.

Alright let’s get right to the schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
Louisiana at Coastal Carolina	7:30 PM
Temple at USF	8:00 PM

So this is football. It’s cold outside. So might as well stay in and watch some college football. I have a feeling a lot of people will be watching Thursday Night Football instead.

Friday

		US	Canada
UCF at Tulsa	7:00 PM
Washington at Oregon State	10:30 PM

The first game might be over by the end of the first quarter. Or we could get Weird Tulsa who keeps it close and frustrates the Knights all night long. The nightcap actually might be fairly entertaining considering the Beavers have improved immensely over the past few years. Still, it would be considered a massive upset if OSU upended the Huskies.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#4 Penn State at #17 Minnesota	Noon
Florida State at Boston College	Noon
Purdue at Northwestern	Noon
UMass at Army	Noon
Vanderbilt at #10 Florida	Noon
Texas Tech at West Virginia	Noon
East Carolina at #25 SMU	Noon
Maryland at #1 Ohio State	Noon
#12 Baylor at TCU	Noon
Western Kentucky at Arkansas	Noon
Georgia Tech at Virginia	12:30 PM

Huge game in the early window and it’s not on FOX. ABC gets the huge Penn State-Minnesota game early because Minnesota declined to have night games in November. I understand this since it is probably fucking freezing in Minneapolis on a Saturday night under the stars (and possibly snowflakes). Other than that it isn’t the greatest schedule. Baylor-TCU could be interesting but the rest is just merely OK and will only be great if the game is close going into the fourth quarter.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Stanford at Colorado	3:00 PM
USC at Arizona State	3:30 PM
#19 Wake Forest at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
#2 LSU at #3 Alabama	3:30 PM
UConn at #20 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
#16 Kansas State at Texas	3:30 PM
Louisville at Miami	3:30 PM
Dartmouth vs. Princeton (in Yankee Stadium)	3:30 PM
Illinois at Michigan State	3:30 PM
UAB at Southern Miss	3:30 PM
#16 Iowa at #13 Wisconsin	4:00 PM
New Mexico State at Ole Miss	4:00 PM

“WHY ISN’T LSU-BAMA ON IN PRIMETIME???????” CBS already used their primetime matchup early in the season with Notre Dame-Georgia and I assume they couldn’t get a deal to get another primetime game. Sucks but it is what it is but it does mean that the first two timeslots of the day have at least one absolute must-see game which is somewhat rare.

Iowa-Wisky is also a big game and we also see KSU-UT and Dartmouth-Princeton? Huh? Yeah I mean this is the biggest Ivy League game in a long time between two really good (FCS) teams but the fact this game got a national spot in the middle of Saturday tells you what the entirety of the week’s schedule is like.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Utah State at Fresno State	7:00 PM
Missouri at #6 Georgia	7:00 PM
Appalachian State at South Carolina	7:00 PM
Washington State at California	7:00 PM
#5 Clemson at NC State	7:30 PM
#15 Notre Dame at Duke	7:30 PM
Liberty at BYU	7:30 PM
Tennessee at Kentucky	7:30 PM
Iowa State at #9 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

Nothing really that huge in primetime which is kind of a letdown after the first seven hours of the day. Notre Dame-Duke could be good as both teams do actually have something at stake. Missouri could end the so-called CFP Rankings controversy with UGA if they can pull off the win Between The Hedges.

As for TSN, they have TSN3 showing Mizzou-UGA and show two games early which is about on par with most of the weeks this season. Let’s see what else TSN has on their schedule on this day:

October Plays/Bloopers of the Month. Good god.
Engraved on a Nation. Why are they replaying this AGAIN?
Plays of the Week.
Top TFC Moments. Ok considering the MLS Cup is the next day, this is fine.
CFL Wired. Seriously?
Under-18 Women’s National Championship. It’s hockey so I get it.
Under-17 Challenge. More hockey.
Tennis. Probably contractually obligated to do so.
NASCAR. Another thing that is contractually obligated.
UFC Fight Night from Russia. That’s why it is being shown starting at Noon.
NBA game. Yep. Contract.
SportsCentre. Of course.
Must See SC. Another worthless show.

This is almost as bad as Sportsnet showing Hockey Night in Canada replays on Sundays. I still maintain that live sports are the reason that we even have two different sports networks in this nation. That’s why the hockey and tennis and NASCAR and UFC and NBA is all fine. The rest is mostly dreck and not needed.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Wyoming at #22 Boise State	10:15 PM
Nevada at San Diego State	10:30 PM

Nothing big although Wyoming-Boise could be a fun game to watch on the blue turf. Plus if it’s frozen it will basically become a skating rink which would be hilarious to watch.

Games to set your eyeballs on

LSU at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – Now this is what I’m talking about! I get it, it would be better at night but still, this is a game fans have to watch. Both teams are playing crazy good so far this season and it’s honestly a surprise that the Tigers aren’t #1. I believe the Tide is actually an underdog for this one so Nick Saban can try and play that up for his plucky, beleaguered squad. Both teams still have challenges the rest of the way so this doesn’t clinch anything but LSU has an easier path than Bama at this point.

Penn State at Minnesota (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – Speaking of games where one team winning would cause a bit of carnage, here’s one. Everyone is expecting PSU to mop the floor with the Fighting Flecks here. Then again, this could get weird as it should be pretty damn cold in Minneapolis and if there’s snow, watch out. I wonder if The Committee would put the Gophers in the Top 10 if they win this one. Honestly, I don’t think they have the guts to do so.

Iowa at Wisconsin (4:00, FOX) – Let’s see how fucked up the Big Ten West can get. If Minnesota starts losing, then the best this division may have is a 4-loss champion. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good teams in the division. Really, only Purdue and Northwestern aren’t good at all (and Illinois and Nebraska are just OK really). Problem is, these teams beat up on each other and there may not be a single dominating team, unless the Gophers start to lose games and fast. Loser here has no shot at going to Indianapolis.

Missouri at Georgia (7:00, TSN3) – I guess I can put these here despite the fact we still don’t know if Mizzou can go bowling this year or not. If the Tigers can pull off the upset here, this throws the SEC East into potential disarray. At the very least, it means UGA will be shot like a cannon down the rankings where everyone seems to think they belong. Remember, depending on what happens, the Dawgs might be in the Top 4 come Tuesday which I am sure would make some experts’ heads explode.

Wake Forest at Virginia Tech (3:30, specialty pack) – I almost think this should have been the ACC Primetime game rather than Clemson-NC State. Wake is probably in the Top 15 and on the precipice of the New Year’s Six with a win. A VaTech win means Bud Foster’s final season is not totally in vain as at least the Hokies will be bowl-eligible. All I know is that no matter what, Dave Clawson is one of the most severely underrated coaches in college football and it will be a shock if some program throws a boatload of money at him to turn their program around (maybe Florida State should look into him).

Honourable mention: Wyoming at Boise State (10:15, specialty pack); Iowa State at Oklahoma (8:00, FOX); Clemson at NC State (7:30, ABC)

Some gambling fun and games

My picks last week were well short of fantastic. At least I got two upsets correct, even if they were minor upsets (Georgia and Memphis). I even called the Illinois win (although it was against Rutgers but hey, a win is a win. Here are this week’s possibly not-so-good picks.

Notre Dame over Duke

Clemson over NC State

Virginia Tech over Wake Forest

Boise State over Wyoming

Oklahoma over Iowa State

Georgia over Missouri

Alabama over LSU

Penn State over Minnesota

South Carolina over Appalachian State

Arizona State over USC

Southern Miss over UAB

Alright Thursday Night Football so what sad sack teams are playing…wait a minute…this isn’t the case anymore since it’s shown on FOX (as well as the NFL Network but most importantly, FOX). We get the Chargers and Raiders in what is actually a pretty big AFC West mid-season game. I find it hilarious that CBS and NBC never got games even this good when they aired TNF. Anyway, since it’s an important game, and considering the college football sked tonight, I will probably end up watching a good amount of this one in front of the rabid Raiders fanbase.

Yet again I will probably be up until 2 in the morning watching games. Maybe there’s something wrong with me. But with only three months (and a bit) of regular season college football I have to watch as much as I can. The other nine months have bowl games (good), Week Zero (not too bad), college football all-star games (with their weird rules) and then the X…………..F……………L!!!!!! At least they get Steve Levy and Tom Hart to call games with Greg McElroy, Joey Galloway and Pat Fucking McAfee with the analysis. Pretty good crews. Let’s hope the XFL is better than the AAF although I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, enjoy the games this weekend everyone!

The American Conference does it again – Week 10 College Football Recap

Posted on November 4, 2019 by guelphbossman

The Memphis Tigers outlasted SMU this past weekend in a 54-48 thriller. This game was a ton of fun to watch and it shows again that the American Conference might be the most exciting conference in college football. The SEC might be the best. The Big XII has the best offenses/worst defenses and the ACC is completely chaotic (at least in one division). But the AAC always brings it, even if it’s just their signature games. The War on I-4 two years ago was the gold standard and there have been plenty of other examples. Now with SMU and Appalachian State falling from the realms of the undefeated (more on that below), the Group of Five is getting close to full chaos mode. Quite a few teams still with legitimate shots at the New Year’s Six spot open to the G-5 schools. At this point, however, you might have to say that Memphis is the favourite and if they win out they are definitely in. But there’s still a month of football yet to play so don’t want them to count their chickens before they hatch or some other cliche that some other media member might come up with.

Other recap points!

Speaking of beatdowns, how about the one that Michigan laid on Maryland? I mean it’s just Maryland but still, the Wolverines have looked dominant since starting their (failed) comeback against Penn State. Look don’t forget about this team. They could cause some serious damage in the College Football Playoff race. Until they beat Ohio State, though, Jim Harbaugh will still on be on an (undeserved) hot seat in Ann Arbor. Oh and remember when Maryland was ranked? Yeah, good times.
It ended up being a really good World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. As an aside, I get they don’t want to promote drinking for college students but let’s be honest here: half the people there were probably drunk so what does it really matter at this point? Just be honest with the fans. Anyway, the Gators couldn’t seem to stop the Bulldogs when it counted which has to lay at the feet of Todd Grantham. But the lasting image I will have will be Dan Mullen, not yelling at Grantham, but losing his shit on most of the offensive coaching staff for burning a timeout early in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t quite Muschamp-ian but still, it made for good TV.
The Pac-12 ain’t dead yet! Washington did what Washington does and blew an early lead to Utah. The Utes looked dominant after the Huskies took the early lead. Then they had to wait for the Oregon-USC game to see if they held their destiny in their hands or if the Trojans, of all teams, would sit in the catbird seat of the Pac-12 South. Well it didn’t take too long to see that the Ducks were easily the better team. They blew USC out of the water and probably ended the Clay Helton era in one fell swoop. We are going headlong into a Pac-12 Championship with 11-1 Oregon and 11-1 Utah and the winner could make things very difficult for the College Football Playoff Committee.
Notre Dame kept rolling along…ok rolling is the wrong word. They are doing terrible somersaults forward. They struggled all day with Bud Foster’s Virginia Tech defense. Not saying they looked like they did last week against Michigan but the Irish sure didn’t look like a Top 25 team, let alone a contender for the New Year’s Six. This won’t be Notre Dame’s last tough game as they have Duke, Navy, Boston College and Stanford to finish their season. Win every game, even if they’re close, and they deserve a NY6 spot.
Let’s go to the Big Ten and one of the big stories there…the Illinois Fighting Illini. Yes, seriously. OK they only beat Rutgers. Not a big deal per se. But Illinois is now one win away from being bowl-eligible. No one thought this would be the case. Maybe it was smart to give Lovie Smith that extension. This may be one of the most perplexingly good teams of the year. I always enjoy down on their luck teams turning it around to have one relatively special season, even if they head back to the basement shortly afterwards.
Oh Florida State? We thought two years ago was the bottom. Then it was last year that was the bottom and things were going to improve. Now, after their loss to Miami where they looked terrible, they have finally hit a new bottom (at least that’s what Noles fans hope). And to top it off, Willie Taggart was just fired today. This program needs someone to save it. Is there someone willing to take this on knowing the expectations on the program? It is an absolute mess in Tallahassee.
OK I will admit it: I drank the Nebraska hype Kool-aid. I truly thought Scott Frost had things going in Lincoln after the finish to their 2018 season. They also had Adrian Martinez who looked like a bona fide Heisman candidate. Well that’s all gone to shit now. The Huskers loss to Purdue (who is also way worse than many thought they would be) means they have to win two of their final three to go bowling. They have Wisconsin, Maryland and Iowa coming up. Good luck, Frosty.
Pitt beat Georgia Tech. Not really a big deal to beat the Yellow Jackets. But this means that Pitt might win the ACC Coastal again. Can we stomach that?
Let’s give some hype to a guy who should have some more Heisman chatter: Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State. First of all, he’s Canadian! It would be awesome to have a Canadian win the Heisman. But he is carrying the Pokes on his shoulders this season. And he is arguably the best running back not named Jonathan Taylor and Hubbard had been in the Big Ten, he would be on many Heisman lists. OSU is going to be going bowling and maybe in the Top 25, mostly due to this guy which is shocking considering that the Cowboys are known for their high-flying passing game.
I normally don’t talk about FCS games in this post but did you see the end of the Dartmouth-Harvard game? A crazy Hail Mary winner by the Big Green to beat the Crimson 9-6. This also keeps Dartmouth undefeated and sets up the unusual next week. Dartmouth plays Princeton, in Yankee Stadium, and this game will be on at 3:30 on ESPNU. Yes, an Ivy League game in November is getting a national broadcast spot. That’s pretty awesome.
Air Force has been quite the team this season. There is a good chance they will win at least ten games and still won’t be in the Mountain West Championship or in the NY6 chatter. They held on to beat Army in a Commander’s-In-Chief Trophy game. What followed was hilarious. Army football’s Twitter account actually blocked Air Force’s football account. See, even the service academies get into this petty rivalry stuff and I love it.
UCF beat Houston (also known from here on in as Redshirt U) and it honestly looked pretty easy. What I find odd is that people still believe the Knights could make the New Year’s Six. For that to happen, the amount of chaos that would have to occur would be monumental. I mean I would love watching it but still, the chances are VERY slim.
Don’t forget about San Diego State in the Group of Five race. They were idle this past week but with only one loss they are right in the thick of things. They have almost certainly clinched the Mountain West West Division and if they can beat Boise State for the conference championship, they have the resume to be selected.
Baylor played like a team who was barely an average Big XII game for most of Saturday. Yes they beat West Virginia and yes it means they stay undefeated but three point victories over the Mountaineers don’t exactly scream College Football Playoff contender. They get a possible speed bump game in Fort Worth against TCU this Saturday. Win that and they have one of the biggest games of the year against Oklahoma (and I wonder if Gameday would travel to Waco for this one).
Hey guess who holds their own destiny in the Pac-12 North? You guessed it, the Oregon State Beavers. I know, right? They put a pink bill (50-burger) up on Arizona this past weekend and now sit at 3-2 in the conference. If they win out, they go to the Pac-12 Championship. How ridiculous would that be? I mean they would have to beat Oregon in the Civil War so chances of it happening are almost none but it would be fun to even see them in that position to do so.
Kansas State won pretty easily over Kansas. Chris Klieman has done a masterful job in the Little Apple and they are just on the outside of the Big XII title game race. Don’t be surprised if they can somehow sneak in. But let’s give Les Miles some kudos here for what he has done in Lawrence. The Jayhawks have hope now going forward. They may not be the doormat of the Big XII for much longer and Miles has a lot to do with that.
Going back to the service academies, it looks like Navy is having the season Army was supposed to have and vice versa. Ken Niumatalolo doing a great job with the Midshipmen in a bounce back year after last season’s horrible results. They have to be the favourite in the Army-Navy game now and might win it for the first time in a few years.

That was a fun weekend of college football. Now for the Bossman Top 25!

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

Yes I have Alabama at #3 behind LSU and Ohio State. If the Tide win this Saturday then they are going to be #1 come this time next week, no ifs, ands or buts. Clemson I have dropped to #7. Don’t worry Tigers fans: win out and there’s no way you’re out of the CFP. Penn State is at #8 and still could end up left out of the Big Ten Championship. Florida and SMU didn’t fall far considering who they lost to. Also, watch out for Indiana. They are severely underrated and could sneak it’s way up the chain and be looking at a New Year’s Six spot. Sounds crazy but it is still technically possible.

OK it’s that time of year folks! MACtion Tuesdays. And MACtion Wednesdays! Tomorrow night will see Kent State face Toledo and the top of the MAC West, Ball State, travelling to Western Michigan to take on the Broncos. KSU-Toledo is on CBSSN and BSU-WMU goes to the specialty pack. Wednesday night’s game is also on the specialty pack and is the 150th Anniversary of college football so expect a lot of history and nostalgia to be discussed during the game. Miami-OH plays Ohio if you want to know the combatants.

Also the first CFP Rankings of the season will be revealed tomorrow night between the two NCAA basketball games on TSN1. It might be delayed depending on how long the first college basketball game goes. Oh yeah college basketball starts up again as well. So there’s that. Tomorrow I will have a crazy bowl projections post. Do not take it seriously. Have a great week everyone!

Could it be? – Week 10 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 31, 2019 by guelphbossman

The NCAA decided, two days ago, to modify their rules about how players can make money off their name, image and likeness (NIL). If you had said this would happen even a month or so ago I would have scoffed at the notion. But once California passed a bill to allow collegiate athletes to make money off their NIL it felt like a matter of time where the NCAA would have to at least meet them halfway. Whether they just let it be carte blanche or there will be some relatively strict rules doesn’t matter so much at this point. It’s a step in the right direction. Funny how SMU is in the Top 15 for the first time since before they got their death penalty for paying players.

What else does this mean? Oh yes it will be happening soon: the return of the NCAA Football video games. I will actually buy a new system to get this game. I still love it on my PS3 and don’t play it near enough to be honest with you. This is super exciting. Sorry Doug Flutie Maximum Football. Your stay at the top (so to speak) will be temporary and probably lost to history but hey, you gave it a shot, right?

We are now starting almost a month straight of FOOTBAW on every day! Rejoice all you college football hooligans! Normally I would say this is where the schedules become seriously stacked. You might notice something different about this week’s schedule though…that it’s about as stacked as a single, sad pancake. Let’s get to the schedule and examine this odd phenomenon (at least for college football).

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia Southern at #20 Appalachian State	8:00 PM
West Virginia at #12 Baylor	8:00 PM

Baylor tries to stay perfect with a below-average Mountaineers team coming to Waco. Speaking of Mountaineers, App State also tries to stay undefeated and in the Group of Five race against rival Georgia Southern. This is one of very few high points to the schedule.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Cornell	6:00 PM
Navy at UConn	8:00 PM

Technically this is football. I guess you could be interested on how UConn’s defense handles Navy who is playing like Army was supposed to play this season (and vice versa).

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#14 Michigan at Maryland	Noon
Boston College at Syracuse	Noon
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan	Noon
NC State at #23 Wake Forest	Noon
Houston at UCF	Noon
Buffalo at Eastern Michigan	Noon
Nebraska at Purdue	Noon
UTSA at Texas A&M	Noon

Not a ton here as it really is the appetizer to the rest of the day which is I guess better but not amazing by any stretch of the imagination. Big games for Nebraska and Wake Forest but for slightly different reasons. UB-EMU could end up being the surprise great early game. Other than that, it’s football and that’s all that counts at this point.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Virginia Tech at #16 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
Miami at Florida State	3:30 PM
Rutgers at Illinois	3:30 PM
#6 Florida vs. #8 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM
Army at Air Force	3:30 PM
TCU at Oklahoma State	3:30 PM
Arkansas State at ULM	3:30 PM
#22 Kansas State at Kansas	3:30 PM
UTEP at North Texas	3:30 PM
Wofford at #4 Clemson	4:00 PM
Tulsa at Tulane	4:00 PM
#9 Utah at Washington	4:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech	4:00 PM
Mississippi State at Arkansas	4:00 PM
Oregon State at Arizona	4:30 PM

Now this gets good. The Cocktail Party! Another four games involving a ranked team. Plus Pitt and Georgia Tech in the crazy ACC Coastal. Makes for quite a good afternoon slate which I won’t call great because it isn’t. OSU-UA, MSU-Arkansas and Arkansas State-ULM (which somehow gets on to ESPNU) aren’t exactly must-watch. Considering we are into November now, these are not really the kinds of games that would even come close to highlighting anything.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#17 Cincinnati at East Carolina	7:00 PM
Ole Miss at #11 Auburn	7:00 PM
UAB at Tennessee	7:00 PM
Northwestern at Indiana	7:00 PM
#15 SMU at #24 Memphis	7:30 PM
Virginia at North Carolina	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at South Carolina	7:30 PM
#7 Oregon at USC	8:00 PM

If it wasn’t for SMU-Memphis which, at this point, could be a candidate for game of the year if it comes close to past AAC big games, the primetime timeslot wouldn’t be as good as the afternoon timeslot which seems to be happening with more and more regularity. Oregon-USC should be a good one as this could be the game that gives Clay Helton his safety into next season (and perhaps continues to destroy the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff chances. Don’t sleep on UAB-Tennessee as that could be VERY interesting. UVA-UNC is a big ACC (Crazy) Coastal Division matchup. Despite all I’ve said here, though, it is still one of the weaker primetime skeds of the season.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Colorado at UCLA	9:00 PM
BYU at Utah State	10:00 PM
#21 Boise State at San Jose State	10:30 PM
New Mexico at Nevada	10:30 PM

Any big games here? No. But Boise State has to not trip up against a surprisingly decent SJSU team. The other games are college football games so I will watch them as well and get less sleep than I should going into Sunday morning.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (3:30, CBS) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party! They should have Uncle Verne come back to help out in the booth even it’s for just part of the game. Or they could do what I have said they should do: have an open bar in the booth. Drunk Gary Danielson? Think of the ratings! Anyway, the winner here has basically clinched the SEC East since no other team is close to these two. Should be electric in the home of the Jag-You-Ares.

SMU at Memphis (7:30, ABC) – I love to see these American Conference games in primetime on ABC. It usually means it’s a game that will probably be the biggest piece of the Group of Five race for the New Year’s Six spot. Also, it’s SMU. SMU! Really this shouldn’t be happening but the Mustangs have surprised everyone and now get the biggest national spotlight since…well you know. Don’t sleep on Memphis either. They were my pick for the New Year’s Six and other than a terrible loss to Temple and a surprisingly tough win over Tulsa, they have looked damn good. They could actually put Appalachian State into the driver’s seat if they can defeat the Stangs here.

Oregon at USC (8:00, FOX) – Oregon at #7. Are we back to the Oregon Ducks of old? Who knows but I would honestly consider this a speed bump game for Oregon as we don’t know which USC will show up. Considering what these two teams can be like, don’t be surprised if the game is going on after midnight (which is official Pac-12 After Dark time). As I say almost every week, the favourite here (Oregon) losing would be disastrous to the conference’s (Pac-12) CFP chances, which may be in the negative at this point anyway.

Virginia Tech at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – NBC going with the classic 2:30 start time for this one to give it more of a spotlight. Smart move. The Hokies are just outside the Top 25 which is surprising until you realize they are 5-2 and have been playing pretty good. Justin Fuente’s hot seat is now a lot less hot and the last chapter of the Bud Foster story might actually end up being great. A second straight loss here by the Irish could spell trouble for Brian Kelly as the rumours are hot and heavy that Urban Meyer might be hired to bring Touchdown Jesus back to glory. Wouldn’t that just piss off all the Fighting Irish haters?

Georgia Southern at Appalachian State (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – When has a Sun Belt game ever been in my top five games of the week? I don’t feel like looking so I will just say never. Depending on what happens in the second best game of the week, this could end up being hugely important in the whole Group of Five rankings. I don’t see the Mountaineers losing this one but Georgia Southern has given them fits in the past so don’t put it past them to knock App State out of the ranks of the undefeated. Plus it’s Halloween night so let’s say it could be a weird night to start this week of college football.

Honourable mention: NC State at Wake Forest (Noon, TSN1); Kansas State at Kansas (yes, the battle for Kansas and it goes off at 3:30, FloSports); Utah at Washington (4:00, FOX).

Some gambling fun and games

How about my Michigan over Notre Dame pick! And my Florida State over Syracuse pick! Just ignore most of the rest of my picks last week though. But hey we are on to a new week with new picks so let’s do this!

Notre Dame over Virginia Tech

NC State over Wake Forest (upset number one!)

Appalachian State over Georgia Southern

Kansas State over Kansas

Georgia over Florida (upset number two!)

Oregon over USC

Washington over Utah (upset number three!)

Memphis over SMU (upset number four?)

Eastern Michigan over Buffalo (upset number five!)

Tennessee over UAB

Illinois over Rutgers

Thursday Night Football is upon us again and hey this could be pretty good. San Francisco at Arizona. I am very interested to see if the Niners can get to 8-0 which would be something special. The execs at FOX have to be super happy to get an up-and-coming Cardinals team against a really good San Fran team. FOX (and I guess the NFL Network) have got a pretty darn good schedule this year for Thursday Night Football. Honestly, Monday Night Football is the one thing I don’t watch nearly as much anymore. If they took it off the air, I don’t think I would miss it. Crazy I know but it rarely has good games anymore. I would say “Poor ESPN” but it’s ESPN so no.

I, as per usual, will be on Twitter this Saturday although I have to take breaks throughout the day. I am showing my age. But I do enjoy interacting with people online and it adds to the day of watching 14+ hours of college football (which may or may not require some caffeine assistance). I try my best to not get into online arguments because people who are willing to go into full argument mode are not ones to even debate because you can’t win a debate against an idiot. Enjoy the games everyone!

So close, Mack. So close. – Week 5 College Football Recap

Posted on September 30, 2019 by guelphbossman

There are some that don’t understand the reasoning behind Mack Brown’s call near the end of the game. I do, though. Mack Brown is trying to build the North Carolina program back up. Winning this game would have been huge for the team. Was the playcall the best one? Not really but that’s not the point here. Chances are if they did go to overtime, it definitely favours Clemson. Not saying the Heels couldn’t have pulled it out in OT but I like them going for it. Take the risk. Too many coaches play it safe and it’s more to save their own hides rather than make a statement. I get that too but I wish more coaches would have a spine and take more risks…not a ton more, just a few more.

Other than that, was it a awesome weekend? No. No it was not. In college football parlance, it was rather mundane to be honest. Let’s get to the recap.

It looked like some crazy football could happen with what went on Friday night. California was hosting Arizona State as the only undefeated team left in the Pac-12. But remember…you play…to win…the game. And that’s what the Sun Devils did. A close game but they were able to hold off Cal and, for now, put the Pac-12 on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. The conference has to hope for some chaos elsewhere to get back in the race.

Notre Dame put on show against Virginia. The Irish never looked like they were in trouble in this one. They still have a few difficult games left (USC, Michigan, Duke) but they don’t have a seriously difficult one left this year. If they win out, they could be an outside choice for the College Football Playoff depending on what else happens. That should piss the anti-Notre Dame folks off but they would be firmly in the Top 10 all season. As for UVA, this isn’t a bad loss for them as they still have to be considered the favourite in the ACC Coastal division.

Hey guess what? Maryland cancelled classes so that students could fill the stadium for their huge game against Penn State. They should have just let the kids have a long weekend. Penn State put a colossal beatdown on the Terps, winning 59-0. The Terps couldn’t do anything right and the Nittany Lions, consequently, looked like everything they did was near-perfect. I mean I get that PSU is an outside contender for the New Year’s Six but it shouldn’t have been this much of a lopsided game. The Terrapins had no life it seemed. And now they look like they will struggle to get to a bowl game after all the early season hype. Mike Locksley has quite the job ahead of him.

Another game that many thought would be closer went down on The Plains (see a pattern here?). The Bulldogs were boatraced by what seems like a seriously good Auburn team. And yes Bo Nix looks like the real deal. Not amazing but the kind of QB that can do enough to propel a team to victory. Hell, even Bully, the Bulldogs’ mascot, was hit by an Auburn player after being pushed out of bounds. So yeah, MSU was beaten on all fronts on Saturday.

Minnesota is quietly undefeated. They don’t have a true Heisman contender. They barely beat all the teams in their non-conference schedule. So them holding on to beat Purdue to start their conference was a slight surprise but not enough to even put them in the Top 25. But the way things are going, don’t be surprised if they are 8-0 when they host Penn State in early November. P.J. Fleck doing some work in the Twin Cities rowing that damn boat.

I think Virginia Tech is going to be in tough to keep their bowl game streak alive which is at 26 seasons right now. They were knocked around by Duke and have looked terrible in Bud Foster’s final season as defensive coordinator. And I get they are in the ACC but their schedule isn’t exactly easy and now they have to win four of their final eight to go bowling. Part of me wants them not to make it so other teams get an opportunity, I’m not gonna lie.

Bama has absolutely crushed pretty much all their opponents this season. They just destroyed the Ole Miss recently. That matters little at this point. What will be more important is what they do when the tougher games begin. That starts in two weeks when they travel to College Station to play Texas A&M. And now that they are #1 in the AP Poll (and rightfully so), they become a bigger target and all it takes is one loss to get many of the media pundits talking about Bama’s demise and shit like that. Let’s start with them not making the CFP for once and then MAYBE we can discuss it. Until that point, there’s no point. Saban is Saban and always has the horses to be in the Top 4.

Ohio State laid a beating on Nebraska. I, along with many others, fell for the preseason Husker hype. As for Ohio State, this team is really good and could make a case for being #1 at this point. They still have a very tough schedule left but it wouldn’t be a total surprise if they did run the table. Ryan Day is looking like the right choice in Columbus. Back to Nebraska, that was the worst loss by a team who hosted College Gameday ever. That’s pretty sad. Saying that, I had them not doing that great early on and then winning almost all of their conference games after the Ohio State game. I mean it could still happen but they are not inspiring hope that is for sure.

Wake Forest is sneaking up on everyone in the ACC. They were the first 5-0 team in FBS after beating Boston College. Honestly, there is a possibility that the Deacs could be 9-0 when they head to Clemson to face the defending champs. Again, not a team of stars but very few holes and Dave Clawson is one of the better coaches in America right now. I would love to see them get some New Year’s Six chatter and soon enough they will if they keep winning.

UCF annihilated UConn but has given up their spot as the New Year’s Six favourite from the Group of Five conferences. That honour goes to Boise State. For now.

Michigan might actually be good. Who knows? But it was just Rutgers they beat so that is not a barometer of anything. It’s Rutgers after all. It also was the end of the Chris Ash era in Piscataway as he was finally shitcanned, probably more than a year after he should have been fired in the first place.

The other ranked-on-ranked game was Washington hosting USC and it was the bad Trojans that showed up as the Huskies looked like they were never in trouble all game. More are calling for Clay Helton’s dismissal. Keyshawn Johnson talked about Tarmac in an Instagram post, referencing Lane Kiffin’s firing on an airport tarmac. So yeah, things not going well in southern California.

Alright enough recappin’. Time for another Bossman Top 25. I am sure you might bristle at some of my rankings. I will explain below:

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

Yep, I put Alabama at #1. Yeah I know I had them farther down last week but things change. And honestly they are looking better than Clemson at this point of the season. I could also say the same thing about Georgia and Ohio State but I am not ready to pull the trigger on those yet. And also remember that this is on September 30th, not what I think it will be at the end of the year. Plus you have Auburn and LSU right there close to the top and at some point they may all become interchangeable and no one’s opinion would be truly wrong. There’s still plenty of games to separate all these teams and, as per usual, I hope for chaos because chaos in college football is fun.

See you back on Thursday for the college football TV schedule. Until then, enjoy your week everyone!

Week 1 College Football Recap – And the MVP of the first weekend was…

Posted on September 4, 2018 by guelphbossman

The weather caused the cancellation of two complete games and caused loads of delays. Fun times. This is obviously a point in the column of the neutral-site game crowd since many of those end up being in domed stadiums. I still think that many neutral-site games is dumb and I am honestly getting sick of it. FOX really got the short end of the stick with Akron-Nebraska being completely cancelled. That was their primetime game (as bad as it was) so they had to go to the Abilene Christian-Baylor game. Ugh. Honestly though the networks did a pretty good job with all the weather issues. Much better than in the past when they would go into panic mode and games would end up on local cable access because they had no idea what to do.

Anyway, welcome back everyone! Was it a super awesome, amazing first weekend of college football? Not quite. But it was still really good. Kind of cathartic really. We really needed it. Let’s get right to the recap shall we?

The game of the week ended up being a close affair but not a particularly well played one. Both Auburn and Washington looked a bit rusty, especially on offense. Thankfully both defenses showed up to give us a good game. Also, on a side note, Mark Jones will not call any Washington games this season after rehashing last year’s Pac-12 After Dark beef Chris Petersen had with ESPN. I kind of understand: I wouldn’t be too happy if all of my games were buried in the late night timeslot where much of the East Coast (other than crazy people like myself) is in bed already. But it was blown way out of proportion. The Pac-12 could fix this by inviting Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Then they could have games all day. Just sayin.
Michigan looked awful Saturday night. Seriously awful. Yet, somehow, they were within a score late in the game because the Irish couldn’t close the deal, something they seem to be good at. Shea Patterson looked pretty uncomfortable back there and who knows if he is even the saviour of this Wolverine offense. Could be another long season in Ann Arbor.
Michigan State and Wisconsin both looked….OK on Friday night. Nothing spectacular and Utah State even gave Sparty a bit of a scare before MSU pulled away. Not a good way to start the season for two teams who are in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Appalachian State almost pulled off the stunner of the early season in State College. Penn State had to march down the field in the waning moments to tie the game and then won it in overtime. And no, this is not the same as when App State went to Ann Arbor back in 2007 and had what many believe is the biggest upset of all-time. App State is arguably the class of the Sun Belt (along with Arkansas State) and a really good Group of Five team. Penn State though…yeesh. I have them as one of my Top Four at the end of the season and they almost ended my prediction in one fell swoop.
We get it Saban. You’re tired of talking about the quarterback situation. Well you know what? Too fucking bad. You have two very talented quarterbacks and I am sure Jalen Hurts is a bit, uh, hurt by what has transpired in the past few months. Not saying Jalen will transfer to keep this year of eligibility but if he does, the Tide have no safety net whatsoever. It’s Tua and that’s it and if something happens to him or he doesn’t perform well, they may be in trouble…well in as much trouble as Bama can get into these days (so like 10-2 and still a New Year’s Six bowl bid).
What a great moment in the Texas-Maryland game. After Jordan McNair’s passing during fall training camp and D.J. Durkin’s suspension (and potential firing), the Terps seemed to be in disarray. But Matt Canada, their interim coach has kept them focused and it led to a touching moment on the first play from scrimmage. Maryland lined up with ten guys, leaving the right guard spot, McNair’s position, open. They took a delay of game penalty and Texas immediately declined it. Awesome. Not so awesome for the Horns was the fact that Maryland beat them again. Second year in a row. Tom Herman may end up on the hot seat a lot earlier than many had thought.
The Lane Train wasn’t just derailed on Saturday: it was broken down at the station. Oklahoma put an absolute ass-whipping on the Owls in a game that many (including myself) thought would be fairly close. Boy, were we wrong. Also, yes it’s “just” Florida Atlantic but Oklahoma looked really good. They will have bigger tests later on in the season to prove that was no fluke.
You may not have noticed but Ed Oliver had a monster game for Houston. And they barely beat Rice. We know he will get very little Heisman conversation but that’s because a) he plays in Houston and not at a major Power Five school and b) he plays defense. Either way, I still think he’s the #1 pick overall in next year’s NFL Draft until further notice. But Houston’s overall performance doesn’t help him that is for sure.
T.J. Vasher made what could be the catch of the year already. It was an insane, Odell Beckham-like, one-handed catch along the sidelines. Unfortunately Ole Miss pretty much beat up Texas Tech most of the game and Kliff Kingsbury’s hot seat just got hotter.
The Sunday night affair turned into a debacle as LSU completely obliterated Miami. It really wasn’t even close. I don’t know if this is a sign that LSU is better than expected (and may have finally found a good QB) or if Miami isn’t as good as advertised. Don’t want to do the whole Week One overreaction thing that some do. Either way, this means LSU is on course for still another good but not great season which means many people will call for Orgeron’s head as per usual. Some things never change.
The Labour Day ACC game was at least better and showed that Virginia Tech had to be considered underrated by most (not me though since I figured they would go 11-1). That Lunch Pail Defense of Bud Foster’s is as strong as ever although maybe part of that was FSU’s woeful offense. Cam Akers was swallowed up other than one 86-yard run in the second half. With the many changes in Tallahassee, maybe thinking this would be a Top 20 team by the end of the season is too much for 2018 and more of a 2019 deal.
Boise State went to Troy and beat up on the Trojans, just like I figured they would. I am sticking with my assumption that the Broncos will win every game by a decent-to-huge margin this season and walk into the New Year’s Six fairly highly ranked (like Top 10).
BYU had a good start to the season beating the sexy pick to win the Pac-12 South, Arizona. Is BYU back? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but they certainly started off on the right foot. Khalil Tate’s Heisman campaign started off with a little speed bump and if he doesn’t turn it around then it will be more than East Coast bias that will keep him from winning it.

OK Week 1 is in the books! It was a nice start to the season. Glad to be back watching live college football. Let’s savour this since we know how we all fell come mid-January.

I am leaving the Top 25 and other things to later recaps. Don’t want to throw too much out too early.

Now we are almost back into the swing of things. Starting Thursday it will be the regular schedule:

College football schedule on Thursday
NFL schedule on Friday
College football recap on Monday
a few special columns here and there to fill Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Hope you enjoyed the game and hope you have a good week everybody!

Most Important Games of the 2018 College Football Season – Part II: Football Boogaloo

Posted on June 5, 2018 by guelphbossman

God I wish. Can you even fucking imagine how popular this would be? I mean I only have a PS3 right now but would run out IMMEDIATELY to get a new system if EA Sports was putting out a new college football game. I hear rumblings that another company is going to put out a game without licensing. I don’t know how well that would work but hey, it’s something at this point, right?

So now I feel like a big dummy. I could have waited a few days but noooooooooo I just had to jump the gun and post the first of this series of most important games of the season. So what happens yesterday? A big schedule dump. ESPN. FOX. CBS. The first three weeks are almost set now. So now that those are pretty much set, I have a few announcements *clears throat*:

I had the FAU-OU game on the right network, just at the wrong time. This game will now start at Noon. Nice start to the day I would say.
Again I was right with the network on another one but REALLY had the wrong time. Ole Miss-Texas Tech will now go off at noon from Houston rather than the weird 9:30 start time that ESPN has used the last couple of seasons on opening Saturday.
We will not get to see Boise State-Troy because it is now on ESPNEWS. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
I got USC-Stanford VERY wrong. Not on ABC. It’s on FOX. Not in the afternoon. At 8:30. Yeah.
Speaking of FOX again, UCLA-Oklahoma now begins at 1:00. You see that right…1:00. That is not very PVR-friendly but in this day and age, who gives a shit anymore. Hell, I don’t even use my PVR as much as I have in previous years.
I think I underestimated how bad Week 2 is. Case in point: Colorado-Nebraska has been moved to ABC at 3:30. Not reverse-mirror: national broadcast. Yeesh.
In Week 3, Washington-Utah and USC-Texas have slightly different start times but otherwise they are correct.
On the other hand, Boise State-Oklahoma State was wildly wrong. They are now at 3:30, probably on the specialty pack.
We still can’t see Rutgers-Kansas but it has been demoted to FSN.
And here’s something new: Southern Miss-Appalachian State is not on ESPN3. It’s on ESPN+. I will have to do a bit of digging to see if this is available to Canadians but I assume it isn’t because Jesus doesn’t love us. Or is that the CRTC?

Alright, enough of the Ya Blew It section, let’s move on. Now we get to what is truly speculative as 95% of games from Week 4 on have little to no information attached to them. This is where I can REALLY screw things up. So let’s begin shall we?

Week 4

Game of the Week: Texas A&M at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – Jimbo Fisher has a rough early going in his first season in College Station. Clemson early on and then his first SEC game will be against Evil Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide Juggernaut Brigade. If he can somehow, SOMEHOW, coax this team (which should actually be pretty good) into keeping this game close into the fourth quarter, then at least we can say he is already starting to earn his money from that fat contract he has or hasn’t signed yet.

Other Really Important Games: Georgia at Missouri (7:30, specialty pack) – First two games on the specialty pack this week. Not good for you non-specialty pack people. And the fact that Mizzou is near the top of this list is another interesting thing. I think they will be wildly improved from last season and this has to be considered an early trap game for UGA. I mean Georgia is the team to beat in the East by far but if they lose, say, two conference games then it is a complete free-for-all for that division.

Notre Dame at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC/TSN3) – I’m just going to say this here: this could be the game that makes or breaks Brian Kelly’s season. Serious. Let’s look at this: the Irish can lose to Michigan on the opening weekend and many will just say “Michigan’s back.” So it buys the Irish a reprieve if that happens. Then they have Ball State and Vandy in consecutive weeks meaning they should be 2-1, at worst, going into this game. But the Deacs are a good team. They will give Notre Dame a fight in this one. But it’s also Wake Forest. A team with not the greatest winning pedigree. A loss here will fan the flames to the point of possibly no return. Makes for exciting drama, no?

Stanford at Oregon (3:30, ABC) – I feel bad for poor Oregon State and Cal in the Pac-12 North. They have these two teams, plus the two Washington schools, to deal with every season. No wonder neither program has done anything of note in years. As for this game, it’s game one of the Pac-12 North Round Robin of Doom and Destruction that is sure to knock every team out of the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six yet again.

Florida Atlantic at UCF (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Going out on a bit of a limb but I am saying that this could be the Group of Five game of the year right here. Inter-Florida battle. The Lane Train. New coach in Orlando. All kinds of storylines going into this one. Should be fun. Plus it gets the ESPN national broadcast so it shows that both of these programs are starting to get a lot of respect from the media.

Wisconsin at Iowa (7:30, ABC) – Will Wisconsin be as good as last season? Probably not so I don’t have the worry of saying they will run the regular season table (which they did) and then lose the Big Ten Championship (which they did) and still make it to the CFP (which they didn’t). Two out of three ain’t bad. And we all know how the Fighting Ferentzes do in big B1G games. Wouldn’t call it an upset if Iowa won but it’s definitely not being expected here by anyone, probably even most Hawkeye fans.

TCU at Texas (3:30, specialty pack) – Is Texas back? Is Texas back? IS TEXAS BACK? I get that ESPN and FOX (especially ESPN) desperately wants Texas to be back. To be good again. Even great again. But this narrative is so tiring. Meanwhile, Gary Patterson is one of the best coaches of this era and tends to not get as much love for what he’s done with a Horned Frogs program that I think has been in every single FBS conference that has ever existed. OK maybe not the MAC. But still.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Pittsburgh at North Carolina (3:30, specialty pack) – OK hear me out. I fully expect one of these teams, if not both of them, to not be very good this season. But saying that, this could be a very close, very good game. The proof comes from some of the games these two teams have played since Pitt joined the ACC. It was either this or Texas Tech-Oklahoma State. I stand by my choice.

Best Group of Five Game: Florida Atlantic at UCF (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – See in Other Really Important Games section.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Baylor (Noon, FSN) – I foresee Kansas being in this section a lot. At least we aren’t subjected to it this time around.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ohio State at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Not just Game of the Week but potential Game of the Year. You can make the argument that the Big Ten could all come down to this one game and you probably wouldn’t be far off. Both teams will have potential Heisman candidates. Should be a lot of offense. Interesting thing is that even a loss here might not kill their CFP chances which is crazy since in 99% of games the loser of a game would destroy any chance of a possible national title.

Other Really Important Games: Stanford at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – Two very good early season games on in primetime. This is when you know the college football broadcasting gods are shining down on us, the lowly viewers. Brian Kelly may be pulling out all the stops at this point to secure his job. And David Shaw is David Shaw. I am sure he could have a loaded gun pointed at him and he would still look like he is as calm as someone watching a Bob Ross marathon (although not quite as sleepy…that shit works for insomnia I’m tellin ya!).

Ole Miss at LSU (Noon, TSN5) – This year’s Ole Miss squad reminds me a bit of Urban Meyer’s first Ohio State team: a team that was pretty damn good but wasn’t going anywhere thanks to being on probation/sanctions/whatever they call it now. As I said, a bit. They aren’t nearly as good as that team that probably would have had a good shot at winning the natty. But this time will be better than last year’s that is for sure. Oh and Orgeron Hot Seat Watch 2018 continues here.

Florida at Mississippi State (7:00, specialty pack) – The return of Dan Mullen to Starkville. I hope he gets a really good reception from the Bulldog faithful. He deserves it for taking a pretty bad program and turning it around rather quickly. It will be interesting to see if he follows the path of his predecessor, Jim Bob McElwain. Start off good, tail off a decent amount and then something happens and you’re out of a job after it looks like you made sweet, sweet love to a shark.

Florida State at Louisville (3:30, ABC) – Maybe giving a bit too much love to the Cardinals here. I honestly don’t know how well they will do this season without all-world Lamar Jackson. I’m giving them the better of the two daytime ABC spots because I have a feeling Bobby Petrino would have figured things out by now (sans a potential Alabama massacre to start their season) and the Noles will be rebounding quite nicely after a not-so-good year last season.

Michigan at Northwestern (Noon, ABC) – I am still torn as to which game should get the mid-afternoon timeslot and which should get the supposed Noon death spot. I will go with the Big Ten here since to be honest, they draw better than any conference without the words Southeastern and Conference in it. Michigan will be obviously overrated coming into this one and Northwestern will be underrated. Almost always how it is. How these teams are at this point of the season will dictate where this game ends up.

USC at Arizona (9:00, specialty pack) – Yes I have this game at the odd 9:00 timeslot. I know at some point again this season, ESPN will play around with three-hour timeslots, knowing they won’t work but doing them anyway. Really it’s an excuse to say the games didn’t end at 2:30 in the morning, they ended at 1:00 in the morning. Either way, the people staying up to watch it (on the east coast) are quite possibly insane (like me) or it’s their job to report on these games (unlike me). Anyway, Khalil Tate could end up being the real story here since he has to be a Heisman frontrunner coming out of the gate. Unless the Wildcats suck, they will get more national attention than they have in years.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Virginia Tech at Duke (Noon, TSN3) – Even when Duke wasn’t that good, they seemed to give the Hokies fits for some reason. The Dookies (aha) should be better this season and Tech may be an outside national title contender if their offense can put some points on the board (since we all know the Hokies defense should be solid as per usual thanks to Bud Foster).

Best Group of Five Game: Toledo at Fresno State (10:30, TSN2) – I see people looking at this and thinking I have no idea what I am talking about. Let me explain my thinking here. TSN2, at this point, has a 10:30pm window that night for college football. I have ESPN using their funky three-hour windows this week meaning they would not have a game at 10:30 that night. The only other ESPN2/ESPNU game that night would be this one. And for the G5, it’s a very good one. Toledo will try to keep making it into the New Year’s Six as they have been one of the consistently good MAC teams for the past decade or so. Fresno State tries to build off of last year’s success. Should be good.

Worst Power Five Game: Oregon State at Arizona State (8:00, Pac-12 Network) – Hey maybe Herm Edwards will keep ASU doing well this year. Crazier things have happened.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Auburn at Mississippi State (Noon, specialty pack) – I would say there is a possibility this moves to the SEC on CBS afternoon slot but LSU-Florida is there so no, that won’t happen. This despite the fact this game has two potential dark horse CFP contenders. I could also call this the SNEAKY-GOOD UNDERRATED GAME of the week but I made a solemn vow to myself that never shall these two paths meet, Amen. Anyway, loser probably forfeits their chance to usurp Alabama as the king of the SEC West (for this season).

Other Really Important Games: Notre Dame at Virginia Tech (3:30, ABC) – Many would say this should be the game of the week. I would but Notre Dame is still a bit of a mystery to me (and many others). I am interested to see how many times Brian Kelly’s possible shitcanning comes up. I am putting the over/under at 9.

Florida State at Miami (8:00, ABC) – A few of the most recent games between these two programs have been fantastic. ABC is surely hoping this continues. Also lately it has been a night game recently so I am assuming it ends up here and ND-VT gets the afternoon spot (but I can see them easily switch spots). So get ready for ample talk of: Bobby Bowden, Jimmy Johnson, Jimbo Fisher, Wide Rights 1, 2 and 3 and Butch Davis. We may hear more of that than actual talk about the game just as an FYI.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – Time once again for the Red River SHOOTOUT. I wish they would stop being idiots about this kind of thing. Like if you were to look at gun crime statistics for Washington, D.C. for when their NBA team was called the Bullets and when it was called the Wizards, I am sure you will see no discernible difference between the two. Anyway, for once, this feels like we are almost back to way it was last decade when both teams were in the Top 25 and the result was almost always weird and wacky (and devastating for the higher ranked team). The Sooners will be there for sure: will Tom Herman have his team trending back towards glory by this point?

Clemson at Wake Forest (7:15, specialty pack) – This feels like the type of game that in 2019 would be potentially moved to the ACC Network to anchor the primetime slate. And when it comes up some would say it’s a bit of a coup to get this game there for the ACC Network. In the end it would be good because it would get a huge game out of the way early and allow ABC/ESPN to air more Clemson (and perhaps Wake Forest) games down the stretch. We’ve been through this with the SEC Network and especially the Big Ten Network so it’s old hat at this point. Should be a good game though! Don’t expect the Tigers to run away with this one.

Washington at UCLA (8:00, FOX) – This will be one of those weeks where FOX gladly takes a back seat to ABC/ESPN and doesn’t go all out to get the best games (at least on paper). Not saying this one won’t be good but FOX is sure hoping Chip Kelly brings his magic early to Westwood since the Huskies will still be (arguably) the team to beat in the Pac-12.

LSU at Florida (3:30, CBS) – They might as well put a camera on each head coach since that’s what will be talked about for at least half the game. I am sure Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson wouldn’t want to do that (and would instead, you know, want to call the action) but their hands will be tied. Dan Mullen was a huge hire in Gainesville and the Ed Orgeron Hot Seat Tour continues in earnest. Should be good fun. Honestly, CBS should switch this with the Auburn-MSU game but the storylines for this one will be too big to ignore (unless Gus Malzahn or Joe Moorhead maim a football player during practice or something).

Utah at Stanford (10:45, TSN3) – Some late-night TSN action! Expect a bit more of this type of thing this year as TSN spreads their coverage out a bit more than in past years (more evening and late-night games, less going all-in at Noon). If Kyle Whittingham EVER wants to get his team over the hump to the Pac-12 Championship (and possibly the Rose Bowl) these are the games they must win. And it won’t be easy against Cool Hand Dave and his Cardinal crew.

Northwestern at Michigan State (Noon, TSN2) – Man there are a LOT of good games this week. This is why this is the best week of college football before November. This is another game that could go in the underrated category since everyone seems to underrate Northwestern every season but it’s a bit too good to go there (plus I will continue to follow my own rules, as ridiculous as they may be). First week with two TSN games in the best games of the week since Week 1.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Missouri at South Carolina (Noon, specialty pack) – One of these teams will be at least an 8-win team and will cause serious waves in the SEC East. I guarantee* it (*guarantee is not guaranteed).

Best Group of Five Game: San Diego State at Boise State (3:30, specialty pack) – I think ESPN will make a bit more effort to put big Mountain West games on either in the afternoon or in primetime, even if they end up on ESPNU. This is one of those games. It behooves ESPN to do this because it will make for more eyeballs on the late-night games where people would rather sleep. Haha, what a joke. Sleep? On a college football Saturday? What the hell is that?

Worst Power Five Game: Illinois at Rutgers (Noon, BTN) – Kansas and Oregon State would have spots here if we got FS1/FSN or the Pac-12 Network was something worth getting. Since that’s not the case, Rutgers will be the King of the Power Five Basement Television Games Seen in Canada. I need to work on that. A little too wordy.

Pretty much halfway through the season now. I am assuming a few more gametimes will come in over the next week. After Week 3 though it is a tiny bit of a crapshoot with many games going on a 12-day hold where networks have up until 12 days before the Saturday to select which games will be on that week. So there is a good chance none of this correct. I hope that’s not the case but no guarantees.

As for preview magazines, I finally got one: the Street & Smith one. I will be getting Athlon’s later this week and then the Lindy’s magazine in a week or two. I am also getting the Phil Steele preview (of course) but going the digital route this year so I actually get it before the end of July (which I always hate). Makes it so I can’t take it into the shitter and read but oh well, some sacrifices have to be made. Have a good rest of the week everyone.

It’s my second bowl recap of the season…wait, don’t leave!

Posted on December 29, 2017 by guelphbossman

Alright I will level with you. Has bowl season been fantastic? No. There have been a few good games but a few duds as well. Can’t win em all right? The hope is always that the bowl games are relatively close because when they aren’t (or if some sort of record isn’t being set) it can be tough viewing. I will admit there have been some games I haven’t watched all of. Hell, there are some games I have watched maybe a quarter of. Christmas is a busy time and unless it captures my attention I can’t give a ton of time to it. And this is coming from a college football fan whose fandom approaches what some might say is sheer insanity. But enough about my issues (since that is a post that would be way too long). Let’s get to the recap alright?

Bahamas Bowl – Ohio 41 UAB 6 (My pick: UAB 35-31)

UAB had a great season. We have all heard a lot about it. Bill Clark should have got some Coach of the Year consideration. Then the Bahamas Bowl began (on the Friday before Christmas at 12:30 in the afternoon) and all that was forgotten. Ohio won in front of a few thousand fans and it wasn’t even close. Worst part is there were probably still about a million people in the States watching this game live. There’s your reason why bowl season won’t be altered in the near future.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Wyoming 37 Central Michigan 14 (My pick: Wyoming 39-28)

This was one of the worst bowl games of the season according to my very accurate ranking system. And it sure delivered in that regard. Again, a game that starts at 4 in the afternoon on a weekday before Christmas better be a good game. This wasn’t. Craig Bohl sure has done some good things in a short time in Laramie though. They will miss Josh Allen, or as the announcers wanted to make us think, “sure-fire Top 10 pick Josh Allen.” Not saying it won’t happen but man that was pretty much the entire narrative during this one.

Birmingham Bowl – USF 38 Texas Tech 34 (My pick: USF 55-21)

This game was a lot closer than I thought it would be. Good thing because Legion Field only beats Tropicana Field when looking at the worst fields hosting bowl games. Also, close bowl games are fun no? Anyway, Kute Kliff Kingsbury’s trip to the hot seat area starts now.

Armed Forces Bowl – Army 42 San Diego State 35 (My pick: San Diego State 38-21)

Two great bowl games in a row. This is awesome! And I will say, I do love watching option football. Probably because normally with college football we see the Air Raid or RPO or something along those lines. It’s a lot of passing to set up the run. So the scarcity of option football makes it fun to watch. Army played in two straight fun games and it’s nice to see them be successful after so many years of being, well, not.

Dollar General Bowl – Appalachian State 34 Toledo 0 (My pick: Appalachian State 43-40)

Well all good things come to an end. My hope for a three-for-three for great bowl games for the day went down the shitter quickly. App State sure does look good though and will be an early favourite to win the inaugural Sun Belt Championship next season.

Hawaii Bowl – Fresno State 33 Houston 27 (My pick: Fresno State 27-21)

Normally the Hawaii Bowl is good background noise when I finish wrapping presents. This year I had the presents pretty much all wrapped before the game started so I could actually pay attention to it. Good thing too since it was a great game won by one of the most improved teams in college football history. Let’s hope this would continue after a break on Christmas Day.

Heart of Dallas Bowl – Utah 30 West Virginia 14 (My pick: West Virginia 39-33)

Nope it didn’t. Boxing Day started with a lacklustre bowl game played in some FOOTBAW weather in front of not very many fans in the cavernous Cotton Bowl. Just looking at the stadium during the aerial views or shots from the pressbox makes me believe one day the stadium could come crumbling down at any point.

Quick Lane Bowl – Duke 36 Northern Illinois 14 (My pick: Duke 26-20 and attendance <15,000)

I figured this would be closer. It wasn’t. Two-for-two in the crap column so far. The reported attendance was 20,211. Bull and shit.

Cactus Bowl – Kansas State 35 UCLA 17 (My pick: Kansas State 33-28)

Well this wasn’t bad for like two-and-a-half quarters. Still though. A poor set of Boxing Day bowl games. Luckily Canada played their first game of the World Juniors that day as well.

Independence Bowl – Florida State 42 Southern Miss 13 (My pick: Florida State 39-13)

Now that is a close prediction. Other than the first few minutes of the game, where the Noles looked like the shitty middle-of-the-road ACC team they had been all season, Florida State dominated. This was not close. This is how most figured FSU would be this season. Noles fans are hoping with Willie Taggart coming in that things turn around and fast.

Pinstripe Bowl – Iowa 27 Boston College 20 (My pick: Boston College 29-28)

I knew this game would be close. I figured somehow these two teams, who I wouldn’t normally want to watch on their own, would get together and have an exciting game. And they did. Also, Yankee Stadium was a skating rink for this one with horrible footing for the players. Sounds like this has been an issue every year this bowl game has existed. But who gives a shit right? It’s Yankee Stadium! What a cool backdrop. To be honest, the novelty of this game has worn off. But watching football in FOOTBAW weather is usually fun (Heart of Dallas Bowl notwithstanding).

Foster Farms Bowl – Purdue 38 Arizona 35 (My pick: Purdue 44-38)

This, so far, had been a good day for predictions for me. And this game was a ton of fun to watch. Now I am glad FOX picked this game for the main network and the Holiday Bowl to go to FS1. I don’t remember as dominating a performance in a loss as Khalil Tate had. Five touchdowns and the Wildcats still lost. That’s college football for ya!

Texas Bowl – Texas 33 Missouri 16 (My pick: Texas 36-35)

Mizzou’s offense never really woke up and this game turned into a bit of a bore. Going up against one of the best bowl games of the season so far didn’t help. The biggest issue from this game was Tom Herman mocking Drew Lock’s touchdown celebration late in the game. Man people get all upset about nothing in 2017. Who cares about this? Oh that’s right, everyone has to put in their two cents (or more like a nickel in Canada). Gets tiring at times.

Military Bowl – Navy 49 Virginia 7 (My pick: Virginia 27-17)

Wow was I ever wrong about this one. Navy looked like a team that has been to bowl games pretty much every season of the last decade and Virginia looked like a team that hasn’t been to a bowl game in years. It was equal parts Navy being overwhelming to Virginia’s defense and Virginia looking out of place.

Camping World Bowl – Oklahoma State 30 Virginia Tech 21 (My pick: Virginia Tech 41-35)

Well at least I figured this would be a close game and it was…kind of. It was supposed to be the Irresistible Force vs. the Immovable Object. OSU’s highly powerful offense up against Bud Foster’s Lunch Pail Defense. In the end, it was the Fighting Gundys that prevailed. Mason Rudolph also showed why maybe some NFL teams shouldn’t overlook him as, at the very least, a good backup in the draft coming up this spring.

Alamo Bowl – TCU 39 Stanford 37 (My pick: Stanford 26-23)

Well I’m an idiot. Why would I pick against TCU at the Alamo Bowl? Remember two years ago they tied the largest bowl comeback in history. They were down 31-0 to Oregon and ended up winning in triple overtime. This time around they were down 21-3 and came back to win this one by two. The Horned Frogs should just move their home games to San Antonio with this kind of luck.

Holiday Bowl – Michigan State 42 Washington State 17 (My pick: Michigan State 29-23)

You know how happy I am that this game ended up being a blowout? Very. Couldn’t see it do didn’t want it to be good. And it wasn’t. The end.

Alright my second recap is complete. I will have one more bowl recap before the national championship game.

Since this is my last post of 2017, I want to wish everyone a Happy (and safe…and hopefully relatively warm) New Year. Enjoy the college and NFL games everyone and see you all in 2018.

Bossman's Blog

A lot of college football (and perhaps a bit of miscellaneous crap that I think warrants a post)

Tag Archives: Bud Foster

Urban Warfare – Week 6 College Football TV Schedule

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

I don’t know why people are surprised by this – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

It’s my second bowl recap of the season…wait, don’t leave!