Le Super Mega Hyper Omni Post Version Sept!

This post is in honour of the new Grey Cup champions, les Montreal Alouettes. Les Montreal Carabins are favoured (heavily, I believe) to win the Vanier Cup this coming weekend. This is shaping up to be the biggest week in Montreal football history. If anyone talks about issues surrounding Canadian football, just tell them to take a look at the province of Quebec where football is thriving more than anywhere else in the country.

Now, to the American version of football. College football to be exact. And this post. I have done this now for the seventh time. It is a serious long post. Reader discretion is strongly advised. I wouldn’t read this in the bathroom unless you have a monster shit coming and are going to be spending a good amount of time in there. So get your favourite drink and let’s go. Who cares what time it is. Time is just a social construct so drink em if you got em!

We start with the conference championship scenarios. Some are stupidly easy to figure out. Some are…less so. Here we go.

It’s a rematch. Miami-Ohio gets their chance at revenge against Toledo at Ford Field.

Another one that is set. Two very different stories here. Undefeated Liberty has to win and get some help to get consideration for the New Year’s Six. New Mexico State, on the other hand, is looking at their best season ever and may be the fan favourite coming into this one.

The Troy Trojans are back in the Sun Belt Championship for the second straight season looking for a second straight conference title. As for the East, well…..

James Madison is not eligible. That much we know. It’s Coastal Carolina that controls its own destiny. If they win, they are in. That’s it. Their opponent? That’s right, James Madison. So it won’t be easy.

If the Chanticleers can’t get it done, it opens up a couple of possibilities:

• Appalachian State can now get in after beating James Madison this past Saturday. Win and hope for a Chants loss. That will punch their ticket to Troy.
• The other team that can get to the title game? Shockingly, it’s Old Dominion. The Monarchs need to take care of their own business first against Georgia State which also doubles as a bowl-eligibility game for them. Win that and they have to hope for CCU and App State to both lose and they get the spot.

If all three of those teams lose, it’s Coastal’s spot.

Georgia Southern would have been in Old Dominion’s spot if they had beat the Monarchs on Saturday. They are now just playing out the string and then finding out where they will be bowling.

If you had bet that UNLV would control their own destiny going into the final week of the regular season, you would have made a lot of money. No one thought they would be in this spot but here we are. Their path is easy. Beat San Jose State and they don’t just qualify for the Mountain West Championship, they will host it. I could see quite a big crowd at Allegiant Stadium for that one.

Their probable opponent? Well, it will be one of Air Force, Boise State or San Jose State. Fresno State was eliminated after last week’s upset loss to New Mexico. What are the scenarios? Buckle up because it involves composite computer rankings if there are no head-to-head results. Oh boy.

• San Jose State beats UNLV and Air Force beats Boise State. There would be a three-way tie between the Spartans, Rebels and Falcons. Chances are we are looking at a SJSU-UNLV rematch in the championship because all three teams are 1-1 against each other. The game would likely be in Las Vegas because the Rebels are way ahead of the other three teams in the rankings. Air Force is the lowest ranked of the four teams.
• San Jose State and Boise State win. In this case, it’s probably UNLV-Boise State in the title game. Those two teams did not play each other and Boise is slightly ahead of San Jose State in the rankings.
• UNLV and Boise State win. It will be Boise at UNLV. Done and done. The easiest scenario.
• If SJSU and the AFA win, chances are it will still be SJSU-UNLV but there’s no guarantee Vegas would host. Also, if the Falcons just absolutely obliterate the Broncos they could move up enough to surpass both the Spartans and Broncos. It is a long shot, though.

Ugh, that’s a lot with only two games in play next week but it makes for high drama for sure. We will know quite a bit by Friday evening as the Falcons and Broncos face off on Black Friday afternoon.

No team has clinched yet but all the teams left with a shot all control their destiny. Easiest to do this in chart form as UTSA faces Tulane in a loser-goes-home game and SMU plays Navy where the Middies have a chance to become bowl-eligible.

	UTSA/Tulane	SMU/Navy	Championship Game
Scenario 1	UTSA	Navy	Tulane at UTSA
Scenario 2	UTSA	SMU	UTSA at SMU
Scenario 3	Tulane	Navy	SMU at Tulane
Scenario 4	Tulane	SMU	SMU at Tulane

So really, the Roadrunners have to win to get in. The Green Wave doesn’t have to and neither do the Mustangs. So follow the chart and you can understand what’s going on!

This is pretty easy. For Washington, they are in. So one half of the championship is set. If Oregon wins, they will meet the Huskies in Las Vegas. If they lose the Civil War to Oregon State, then Arizona can get in. Beat rival Arizona State for the Territorial Cup and they would be in thanks to the tiebreaker that would kick in, winning percentage versus common opponents based on order of finish. That first team they would look at? Oregon State. The Wildcats beat OSU earlier this season.

Georgia. Bama. Atlanta.

Third straight easy scenario. Iowa is in. Somehow. And they will face the winner of The Game.

Louisville’s win this past weekend over Miami clinched their spot opposite Florida State in Charlotte. This game has got a lot more interesting now that Jordan Travis is out for the season.

I have saved the best for last (although the Mountain West scenarios are quite something). Four teams still have a shot to go to JerryWorld: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. No real surprises there. Because all teams don’t play each other, confusion has set in. Get used to it going forward with even bigger conferences. I still prefer it over divisions where a 6-6 division champ could cause chaos by beating an undefeated division champ. Anyway I have said enough about that over the years so let’s continue.

This is much easier to do it by team since to do it otherwise might take like fourteen paragraphs and confuse everyone, including me, even more.

Clinching Scenarios

Texas is in with a win over Texas Tech OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma State loss) OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma win AND an Oklahoma State win AND a Kansas State win).

Oklahoma State is in with (a win over BYU and a Texas win) OR (a win AND a Texas loss AND a Kansas State loss) OR (a loss AND a Texas win AND an Oklahoma loss) OR (a loss AND an Oklahoma loss AND a Kansas State loss).

Oklahoma is in with a win over TCU AND (an Oklahoma State loss) OR (a Texas loss AND a Kansas State loss).

Kansas State is in with a win over Iowa State AND (an Oklahoma State loss AND an Oklahoma loss) OR (a Texas loss).

So no team is in yet. Texas is in the best spot. I know most fans of the Remaining Eight are praying for an Oklahoma State-Kansas State championship but looking at these scenarios I don’t think that’s possible. I’m just not going to take the time to figure it out.

Let’s continue with this long-ass post with the Bossman Top 26:

#1	Georgia (11-0)
#2	Washington (11-0)
#3	Michigan (11-0)
#4	Oregon (10-1)
#5	Ohio State (10-1)
#6	Florida State (11-0)
#7	Texas (10-1)
#8	Alabama (10-1)
#9	Louisville (10-1)
#10	Missouri (9-2)
#11	Penn State (9-2)
#12	Ole Miss (9-2)
#13	LSU (8-3)
#14	Arizona (8-3)
#15	Oklahoma (9-2)
#16	Oregon State (8-3)
#17	Notre Dame (8-3)
#18	Tulane (10-1)
#19	Oklahoma State (8-3)
#20	Iowa (9-2)
#21	Kansas State (8-3)
#22	Utah (7-4)
#23	Liberty (11-0)
#24	NC State (8-3)
#25	Toledo (10-1)
#26	Kansas (7-4)

My top three control their own destiny for the College Football Playoff. Win next week, then win your conference championship. Done. Florida State should be in the same boat but we know how The Committee feels about big time injuries. This injury to Jordan Travis could end up feeling like the Dennis Dixon injury for Oregon back in 2007 if the Noles falter to Florida. I still think we are in for a bit of chaos for the final four-team playoff. We’re due right? There’s been like no chaos all season. Sure there are some weird results like UMass beating New Mexico State or Louisville falling to Pitt but really it’s been smooth sailing for the top teams. We need this. Give us something. Please!

OK now we get to the good stuff. Not that the stuff before this hasn’t been good. So…the better stuff? Sure, why not. Bowl projections. Let’s go.

Sugar Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Georgia vs. Texas
Rose Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Washington vs. Michigan

I have done a few changes here. Sure, nothing really happened this past weekend but the Jordan Travis injury…it’s got me thinking for sure. I think the Big XII could end up being the beneficiary if things don’t go the Seminoles’ way their next two games. I have Texas winning the Big XII Championship so they would sneak into the final spot. That won’t cause too much controversy, right? So what does this mean for the New Year’s Six?

Fiesta Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Oregon vs. Penn State
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Florida State vs. Alabama
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Missouri vs. Tulane

Some changes. Nothing super crazy but let’s figure this out.

• The easiest one is seeing FSU here. This means that they must lose the ACC Championship to Louisville. That would also mean the Cardinals get the Orange Bowl spot. That doesn’t change from my last set of bowl projections but it means they truly earned it this time around. I have them being the first team out, so to speak, so I am sure many in that area of the country will be mighty pissed off.
• Obviously my Memphis selection, for one week, was dumb. So now I have Tulane back in a familiar spot. But now I have them facing off against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers have almost guaranteed themselves a spot in the NY6 as long as they can take care of business on Black Friday against a woeful Arkansas team.

The rest is pretty much the same. We will know a lot more even after this Friday’s games so expect some of these selections to almost be set in stone or be drastically changed.

Finally, let’s get to the gong show portion of our show with the rest of the bowl projections. You’d think with all these tie-ins it would be much easier to project but some of these bowls don’t even follow them. I’m always an advocate for more at-large spots so I say they should go that route starting next season, especially since there’s a chance some of these bowls won’t exist with the new 12-team playoff.

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Ole Miss vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Wisconsin
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Boise State vs. Ohio
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Auburn vs. Northwestern
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Tennessee vs. Kansas
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Boston College vs. USC
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Texas A&M vs. Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Kansas State vs. Arizona
Pop Tarts Bowl	ACC vs. Big XII	North Carolina vs. Oklahoma State
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Illinois vs. NC State
Fenway Bowl	2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA	Georgia Tech vs. Memphis
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Kentucky vs. Oklahoma
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Clemson vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	UCF vs. Duke
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Syracuse vs. UTSA
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC	Minnesota vs. Iowa State
First Responder Bowl	2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA	Texas Tech vs. Appalachian State
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	Rutgers vs. Toledo
Hawaii Bowl	AAC vs. MWC	Rice vs. Fresno State
Las Vegas Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Maryland vs. Utah
68 Ventures Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Troy vs. Liberty
Idaho Potato Bowl	2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt	Air Force vs. Texas State
Armed Forces Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	TCU vs. Jacksonville State
Birmingham Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	BYU vs. James Madison
Camellia Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Miami vs. Army
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Coastal Carolina vs. Bowling Green
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Marshall vs. San Jose State
Famous Toastery Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Miami-OH vs. WKU
Independence Bowl	Big XII vs. AAC	West Virginia vs. SMU
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UCLA vs. UNLV
New Mexico Bowl	2 of Group of Five	Utah State vs. Louisiana
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia State vs. Wyoming
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	South Alabama vs. New Mexico State
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia Southern vs. Mississippi State

A few notes for your perusal which you may or may not read after all you’ve had to read up to this point:

• James Madison and Jacksonville State are getting closer to being locks for bowl games. It would take the wildest of scenarios for there not to be bowl slots for both teams. Now watch it happen, which would suck for both teams.
• I decided to forget the asterisks. What’s the point. If they bowl committees won’t follow their tie-ins I will only follow them until I can’t. Which leads me to…
• I have a better idea about APR ratings now. That is why you will see a team like Mississippi State (who I don’t think will win the Egg Bowl) in a bowl slot in my bowl projections. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were multiple 5-7 teams in but for now, I have one. Army, at 6-6, will get in before Mississippi State even with their two FCS wins. They would be slotted after JMU and Jax State as far as I know.
• You will notice most of my projections have changed from the previous week. I saw a few rumours online that showed up with multiple Twitter/X accounts and figured there might be some realness to them. So I had to move a few teams around. And once you do that, you almost end up rewriting the whole damn thing. Oh well.
• Finally, you will notice something called the Famous Toastery Bowl has popped up. It is replacing the Bahamas Bowl and will be played in Charlotte. Supposedly it’s a good breakfast spot. Whatever.

I can’t add anything more to the bowl projections at this point. Eastern Michigan will have their chance to clinch bowl eligibility tomorrow night against Buffalo in the final night of MACtion this season and the final night of almost two months of football every day. What a ride it’s been. I hope you cherished it. I know I did. Not saying I saw every game but I tried my best to watch most weeknights and would keep watching until it felt like the games were well in hand (which almost bit me in the ass a couple of times and did finally bite me in the ass with Colorado allowing Stanford to come back in that wild one last month). Every Saturday night I was in for the long haul so no worries there. It’s the final regular season week of the season. Get in as much viewing as you can. I don’t try to push people to cancel other plans on other Saturdays. You can always catch highlights and sometimes these other plans are quite important. Like the tongue-in-cheek ban on Fall weddings is a little over the top. I wouldn’t even abide by that. But this is the final week of the regular season so I would try my best to keep the Saturday (and even the Black Friday) clear so I can soak in the college football goodness. Enjoy the rest of your week, everyone!

Iiiiiiiiiiit’s…TIME! For another Thanksgiving* FOOTBALLGASMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

*of course I mean American Thanksgiving but you already knew that….right?

Just because it’s Thanksgiving south of the border doesn’t mean we can’t have turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and peas and sweet potatoes and stuffing and pumpkin pie and…oh man I’m getting hungry. I think it’s a good way to support our ‘Murican friends on Turkey Day, don’t you think?

One sad thing is that everyday college football ends tonight. Tomorrow there are no games. I think there should be one. When I become commissioner of college football, I will do that. For all of you. There’s still college football on American Thanksgiving Day along with the usual NFL fare and then things ramp the fuck up starting Black Friday. I am so ready. Let’s get to the schedules and again it will be in the normal Thanksgiving style that I use….with a bit of a twist this year. Again, I am using AP Poll rankings because this blog post will come out a few hours before the next College Football Playoff Rankings come out.

Tuesday

Bowling Green (+6.5) at Ohio

7:00 PM

The week starts with the MAC East Division title game. If the Bobcats win, they head to Detroit. If the Falcons win, as of right now, they also head to Detroit. What is planned for Buffalo with their cancelled game against Akron is anyone’s guess. Predicted score: Ohio 38 Bowling Green 28.

Thursday

Mississippi State (+2.5) at #20 Ole Miss

7:00 PM

There is no chance this game could be important. It would have been if the Rebs could have beat Arkansas last week. Instead they were run out of the building. There may also be the distraction of Lane Kiffin possibly being named head coach of Auburn soon. Oh, and if you’ve noticed, I’m including the spread and a predicted score for each game. Predicted score: Ole Miss 41 Mississippi State 24.

Friday

#19 Tulane (+2) at #24 Cincinnati

Noon

I’m glad that ABC has made sure to have the AAC appear a few times on the main network during a season. Otherwise, this would have gone to, at best, ESPN if not lower. Huge game. Winner goes into the catbird seat for the Cotton Bowl spot. The loser could still go to the AAC Championship Game with a UCF loss later on. Predicted score: Cincinnati 43 Tulane 27.

Utah State (+16.5) at Boise State

Noon

I’m sure CBS was hoping for a much bigger game here. USU is already bowl-eligible and Boise has clinched their spot in the Mountain West Championship. That’ll be a pass for me, dawg. Predicted score: Boise State 34 Utah State 27.

Central Michigan (-2) at Eastern Michigan

Noon

Speaking of games that mean nothing, here’s another one. CMU is not going bowling. EMU is. Predicted score: Eastern Michigan 35 Central Michigan 27.

Baylor (+8.5) at #23 Texas

Noon

This could mean big things for Texas. They have to take care of business on their own end and beat the Bears here. If they do, they can then watch Kansas State-Kansas and hope the Wildcats lose for them to get a Big XII Championship opportunity. Predicted score: Texas 41 Baylor 39.

Toledo (-7.5) at Western Michigan

Noon

Nothing really to see here. Toledo is going to Ford Field for the MAC Championship and WMU is home for the holidays. Predicted score: Toledo 30 Western Michigan 19.

NC State (+6.5) at #17 North Carolina

3:30 PM

The Tar Heels will use this as a tune-up for their game against Clemson the following weekend. Beating the Tigers is the only probably way for UNC to get to the Orange Bowl. Predicted score: NC State 30 North Carolina 29.

Arkansas (-3) at Missouri

3:30 PM

Mizzou needs a win here to go bowling. Arkansas is already in…barely. Could be fun. Predicted score: Arkansas 26 Missouri 24.

New Mexico (+7.5) at Colorado State

3:30 PM

Arguably the two worst teams in the Mountain West here. There are better options on at the same time. Predicted score: Colorado State 18 New Mexico 12.

Nebraska (+10.5) at Iowa

4:00 PM

I do find it a bit funny that this seems to get relegated more and more to the Big Ten Network. Anyway, a win here and the offensively challenged Hawkeyes get a trip to Indianapolis. Lose and there are ways in which they still go to the Big Ten Championship and other ways where they don’t. I went over that in the previous post and flat-out refuse to go into it here. Predicted score: Iowa 32 Nebraska 17.

#18 UCLA (-10) at California

4:30 PM

The Bruins played themselves out of a potential Pac-12 Championship berth so they are playing for the extremely slim possibility of going to a New Year’s Six bowl. And it is EXTREMELY slim. Predicted score: UCLA 45 California 27.

Florida (+9.5) at #16 Florida State

7:30 PM

Does this game mean much in the grand scheme of things? Not really. The Noles would need a lot to happen to get into the NY6 and the Gators are bowl-eligible. Does this game mean much to fans of either team? Abso-fucking-lutely. Predicted score: Florida State 33 Florida 14.

Saturday Early

South Carolina (+14.5) at #8 Clemson

Noon

With so many options, this is one of them. Could the Cocks shock the Tigers? Yeah I guess. I can’t see it happening though. Clemson does need to win here, though, to keep any small College Football Playoff possibilities alive. Predicted score: Clemson 43 South Carolina 24.

Rutgers (+14) at Maryland

Noon

Rutgers is out, Maryland is in. I think we will see a fair amount of these types of games for this week. Predicted score: Maryland 38 Rutgers 24.

WKU (-7) at Florida Atlantic

Noon

The Owls are fighting for their bowl lives here. The Hilltoppers need a win (and a North Texas loss) to play for the Conference USA Championship. For once, there are some good stakes from the noon CBSSN game. Predicted score: WKU 38 Florida Atlantic 31.

Georgia Tech (+35.5) at #1 Georgia

Noon

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. There actually is quite a bit of importance to this one. Georgia cannot slip up if they want to go into conference championship week as the number one team in the land. Tech needs a victory to go bowling which would be an absolutely remarkable turnaround from the dreadful Geoff Collins era. Predicted score: Georgia 52 Georgia Tech 20.

West Virginia (+8.5) at Oklahoma State

Noon

No. I mean why? To see if Neal Brown gets fired after the game ends, Herm Edwards-style? Predicted score: Oklahoma State 30 West Virginia 28.

Coastal Carolina (+13.5) at James Madison

Noon

This seems like a huge spread in favour of JMU considering how good the Chanticleers have been this season. I guess it does show what kind of home field advantage the Dukes have. Unfortunately, thanks to stupid NCAA rules, JMU can’t go to a bowl game because they had the audacity to be good in their first year at the FBS level. Stupid. CCU needs a win and a LOT of help to be considered in the Cotton Bowl conversation. Predicted score: Coastal Carolina 24 James Madison 18.

#3 Michigan (+7.5) at #2 Ohio State

Noon

The Game. The biggest one in a few years. Winner almost guarantees themselves a spot in the College Football Playoff. The loser isn’t out either if things go their way. High, HIGH stakes here in a game where Gus Johnson might lose his voice. Predicted score: Ohio State 38 Michigan 37.

Saturday Afternoon

Southern vs. Grambling (in New Orleans)

2:00 PM

Prairie View A&M had a chance to wrap up the SWAC West Division title and were stunned by lowly Mississippi Valley State. This means that Southern can now sneak in and win the division and a date with Jackson State in the SWAC Championship if they beat Grambling. Predicted score (I couldn’t find any gambling lines for this game): Southern 40 Grambling 24.

#25 Louisville (+3.5) at Kentucky

3:00 PM

And odd start time here, especially by SEC Network standards. Both teams are bowling. Neither team can get to the New Year’s Six. People will watch if this game stays close but otherwise there is no reason to. Predicted score: Kentucky 33 Louisville 26.

#9 Oregon (-3) at #21 Oregon State

3:30 PM

Look, Oregon State is a good team. No, I’m not lying. No wonder the spread is so low. Could be very loud in Corvallis for this one. The Ducks need a win here to get to the Pac-12 Championship and keep their CFP hopes alive. Oregon State is going for their ninth victory of the season, their highest win total since 2012. Predicted score: Oregon 41 Oregon State 40.

Illinois (-14) at Northwestern

3:30 PM

We will know by now whether this game actually means anything to Illinois. I could see Bret Bielema getting a nice, fat extension in the offseason. As of right now, I have no idea whether this game or the other BTN game on at this time will be shown on the specialty pack. The specialty pack schedules show neither at this point which is always a bad sign. Hopefully this gets rectified by Saturday. Predicted score: Illinois 41 Northwestern 21.

UPDATE #2: This is now showing on the specialty pack guide.

Purdue (-10.5) at Indiana

3:30 PM

The Old Oaken Bucket. Again, we will know by start time whether Purdue has a shot at the Big Ten West or not. I have this game in the BTN slot that Canadians would get. Who the hell knows what will happen though. Predicted score: Purdue 30 Indiana 15.

Auburn (+22) at #7 Alabama

3:30 PM

Alabama doesn’t really have a chance at the College Football Playoff, do they? I mean I don’t think so but I know ESPN’s love for the Bama brand. Oh and do you want some laughs? Auburn needs a win here to be bowl-eligible AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Barely got that out before laughing. Predicted score: Alabama 41 Auburn 17.

UAB (-17.5) at Louisiana Tech

3:30 PM

The Blazers are having a down year. At least a down for year for this program since they were resurrected. They can get in to a bowl game with a win here. Predicted score: UAB 35 Louisiana Tech 18.

Minnesota (+3.5) at Wisconsin

3:30 PM

Look there’s nothing much going on here. Neither team really has a legit shot at the Big Ten West title. And they are both going bowling. Meh. Predicted score: Wisconsin 30 Minnesota 26.

Wake Forest (-3.5) at Duke

3:30 PM

Duke has been a massive surprise this season. They have been seriously competitive all season and Mike Elko is going to get a bit of Coach of the Year consideration (even though he won’t win). This game doesn’t mean anything as both teams are comfortably bowl-eligible. Predicted score: Wake Forest 38 Duke 26.

UPDATE #3: This still isn’t showing on the specialty pack guide although it should in the next 24 hours.

Virginia at Virginia Tech

3:30 PM

cancelled

The Commonwealth Cup game between UVA and VT has been cancelled. I am not surprised by this decision and it was made a lot easier by the fact that neither team would be going to a bowl game this year anyway. I put forth an idea on Twitter of maybe having the game during Army-Navy week (before the game perhaps) and have the ticket money go to the families or charity or something like that. Don’t think that would go through as I have a feeling the Virginia football program just needs this season to end so they can continue their mourning.

Memphis (+4.5) at SMU

3:30 PM

Both teams are 6-5. This means very little in the grand scheme of things. Predicted score: SMU 31 Memphis 25.

UPDATE #4: This isn’t showing on the specialty pack guide. I am sure the UVA-VT cancellation has to be adjusted before this will show up.

Troy (-13.5) at Arkansas State

3:30 PM

This is an odd one. This game was moved here during the shuffle caused by the Hoos-Hokies cancellation. Non-cable users in the U.S. can get this game on ESPN+ as an ESPNU game. I have a feeling this might be enough to screw things up on the specialty pack end of things meaning this game would show up nowhere here. We shall see. Predicted score: Troy 36 Arkansas State 13.

UPDATE #5: Well I am right that at this point the specialty pack is not showing this game. I have a feeling that will change by Thursday afternoon but I will keep you all updated.

Iowa State (+10) at #4 TCU

4:00 PM

The Horned Frogs cannot falter here. They are closing in on a dream season and the last thing they need is a struggle against the Cyclones. I could see ISU keeping this one close in what could be Matt Campbell’s final game as head coach of the Clones. Predicted score: TCU 34 Iowa State 24.

#14 Utah (-29.5) at Colorado

4:00 PM

Utah doesn’t have a shot at the Pac-12 Championship so this means little to them. Colorado is horrendously awful so I am sure they want this season to end quickly. Predicted score: Utah 42 Colorado 10.

Saturday Primetime

#5 LSU (-10) at Texas A&M

7:00 PM

LSU cannot look ahead to Georgia despite the fact that the Aggies might very well be the worst team in the SEC this year. Never thought I would say that about a Jimbo Fisher-coached team but they are awful. Predicted score: LSU 39 Texas A&M 23.

#22 UCF (-19.5) at USF

7:00 PM

The Knights should mop the floor with USF. They need to, otherwise they unbelievably won’t go to the AAC Championship and destroyed their Cotton Bowl chances in a matter of one week. Predicted score: UCF 48 USF 14.

#15 Notre Dame (+5.5) at #6 USC

7:30 PM

Notre Dame looked dead to rights earlier in the season. Now, if they win here, they probably lock up an Orange Bowl bid. Incredible. USC, on the other hand, has already clinched a spot in the Pac-12 title game and have to win here to keep their CFP hopes alive. ABC was smart to put this in primetime. Predicted score: USC 43 Notre Dame 40.

Tulsa (+12) at Houston

7:30 PM

Nothing to play for here. Unless it’s close, don’t bother. Predicted score: Houston 31 Tulsa 26.

#10 Tennessee (-14) at Vanderbilt

7:30 PM

This is actually a big game for both teams. Crazy, right? The Dores win here and they go bowling which would be huge for this program that has struggled since James Franklin left. The Vols need to keep up with the rest of the teams above them if they want any hope of getting into the College Football Playoff, as much of a long shot as it is. And both teams will want to destroy the chances of the other. Too bad for Vandy that I have a feeling Tennessee will show up VERY angry. Predicted score: Tennessee 49 Vanderbilt 13.

Pittsburgh (-6.5) at Miami

8:00 PM

A Miami win gets the Canes bowl-eligible. It’s shocking how far this team has fallen. Good call shitcanning Manny Diaz for no reason other than to nab Mario Cristobal, right? Some of these programs just overthink these kinds of things, usually to their detriment. Predicted score: Miami 22 Pittsburgh 15.

Kansas (+12) at #12 Kansas State

8:00 PM

OK sure the primetime slate doesn’t have some of the pizazz as the earlier games of the day (minus the ND-USC game) but a lot of these games still have importance. KSU wins here and they head to JerryWorld for the first time for the Big XII Championship. Kansas can stop that from happening. And it could happen. Kansas is actually pretty good. Predicted score: Kansas State 36 Kansas 30.

Saturday Late Night

Air Force (-1.5) at San Diego State

9:00 PM

SDSU and the AFA squandered any chances of promising seasons early on in the season. Both teams are still having decent years but they are being overshadowed by a few other teams who have just been that much better when it counted. Predicted score: San Diego State 23 Air Force 17.

SE Missouri State at Montana

10:00 PM

How about this? FCS Playoffs on ESPN2? Sure. But the first round of the playoffs? This has not happened since they expanded to 24 teams in 2013. Should be a nice change of pace. And it should be seriously cold up in Missoula. Predicted score: Montana 38 SE Missouri State 36.

UPDATE #6: For some reason, this isn’t appearing on the specialty pack guide. I’m sure it will soon enough but being an FCS game I am a bit worried it won’t end up appearing at all.

#13 Washington (-2) at Washington State

10:30 PM

If Oregon loses to Oregon State earlier in the day, this game becomes massive. The Huskies can then clinch a Pac-12 Championship Game spot with a win here in the Apple Cup. Otherwise, this game isn’t really that important. I mean I will watch it. Hell, I will also watch the BYU-Stanford game that starts half an hour after this. Why? Because that’s what I do. I honestly can’t totally figure it out anymore. Predicted score: Washington State 24 Washington 14.

UPDATE: I have updated the rankings to match the CFP Rankings.

Holy shit that’s a lot of football! No complaints though since we know what it will be like in a few months. I will be on Twitter often but not all the time as even I need sleep/pass out. As I mentioned about TSN last week, their coverage is much reduced this year for the final week of the college football regular season. I wouldn’t look too much into this as the World Cup takes up most of the early window and that’s where TSN usually had three or four games alone. Does it suck for college football fans who don’t have the specialty pack? Absolutely. But I guess if you are a college football fan, buying a specialty pack would be the least you would do, no?

I will keep this post updated when need be. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were some specialty pack updates. I hope TSN is set but I don’t trust them fully. Anyway, have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games everyone!

Four? Eight? Twelve? Sixteen?

I’m sure some would love to go to 24 teams like FCS.  Honestly?  Fuck that.  But expansion is coming and we know it.  Could be here as early as the 2023 season so the graphic above will only make sense for this season and possibly next and that’s it, that’s all.  The new era of college football truly begins (regardless of what happens in realignment).

But for now we stick with the way things are meaning it’s bowl projection time!  I can now take all I’ve done over the past few weeks and wrap it up in a nice, neat, little package.  OK maybe neat is too strong a word.  I’m sure it will be somewhat messy.  And you won’t agree with all the choices.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Let’s get right to it and start with the College Football Playoff matchups.  If you read all the conference preview posts (every single one, right?) you have a good idea who’s here.  Remember, the rankings I have here are the rankings I believe these teams will be going into the bowl season.  Most of the time I have hit pretty well on these picks although I have had some real stinkers like picking Michigan State when they went 3-9.  So yeah it’s not all good for ol’ Bossman:

December 31st	Orange Bowl	#2 Alabama	#3 Ohio State
December 31st	Cotton Bowl	#1 Oklahoma	#4 North Carolina

First of all, ugh.  New Year’s Eve semi-final games.  I’m sure most will hate this.  Bama was an easy pick as everyone would have them #1 for the season but with one loss they would get in at #2.  Most have Oklahoma as well and I have them running the table to this point so makes sense to have them #1.  Ohio State should outlast their Big Ten foes and with only one loss as well they should easily slot in to #3 and a huge matchup with the Tide out in Miami.  And at #4….not Clemson!  This is probably the Tar Heels’ best shot at winning the ACC.  Clemson has a new quarterback and UNC has a Heisman hopeful in Sam Howell.  Despite the Tigers running the table and heading into the conference championships at #1, their loss would do enough to harm them and move them down the rankings.  Plus it would look really shitty on The Committee if they kept Clemson above Mack Brown’s boys after a conference title game loss.  North Carolina should be #5 going into the ACC Championship and I think The Committee will do the right thing after a Heels win.  Yes, Clemson fans will scream bloody murder but to no avail.  It’s about time they learn how to lose (somewhat) again after so many years at the top.

Now we get the New Year’s Six with three of those four games actually on New Year’s Day (why couldn’t the other one have been on New Year’s Eve?):

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#11 Texas A&M	#9 Iowa State
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#14 Wisconsin	#8 USC
January 1st	Fiesta Bowl	#6 Notre Dame	#10 Washington
December 30th	Peach Bowl	#5 Clemson	#7 Cincinnati

Cue the debates.  As is usually the case, the top 11 ranked teams will head to the CFP or NY6.  Georgia will not get in after, once again, losing the SEC Championship to Alabama.  I see Georgia falling to #12, just below the Aggies, who will sneak into the New Year’s Six, still probably seething from Texas coming to the SEC.  Cincinnati actually won’t be the undefeated Group of Five team this season.  Coastal Carolina will be but the Bearcats’ schedule is quite difficult whereas the Chanticleers’ schedule, not so much.  Therefore, it’s an easy choice for Cincy to be well in the Top 10 and heading to Atlanta.  Notre Dame has, yet again, a brutal schedule but will navigate enough of it to be clearly a Top 10 team and have their shot out in the desert to win a New Year’s Six bowl game.  Iowa State finishes at #9 and could end up with their best finish ever (again) with a win over the Aggies in New Orleans.  USC and Washington will both get in probably no matter the result of the Pac-12 Championship.

And then we have the Big Ten runner-up, the 14th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers.  The Big Ten is contractually obligated to send a team to the Rose Bowl unless the Rose is a College Football Playoff semi-final.  The Badgers luck out with Iowa and Georgia losing in their respective conference championships as Wisky sits at home and watches.  Let’s be honest: this isn’t all that bad.  Better than having a team that’s ranked like #20 getting into a prestigious bowl game because of stupid bowl tie-ins.  That issue goes away for the most part with the 12-team playoff but then a different problem comes up.  You think being #13 or #14 and missing out on the New Year’s Six rankles the fans?   Wait until the #13 team misses out on the CFP.  Their fans will be livid for sure.  Good times.

Now for the rest of my predicted bowl matchups:

January 4th	Texas Bowl	#12 Georgia	Iowa
January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#19 Florida	#16 Penn State
January 1st	Outback Bowl	Auburn	Indiana
December 31st	Sun Bowl	Virginia Tech	#22 Utah
December 31st	Gator Bowl	#24 Ole Miss	#17 Miami
December 30th	Las Vegas Bowl	#25 Northwestern	#15 Oregon
December 30th	Arizona Bowl	Boise State	Ball State
December 30th	Redbox Bowl	Nebraska	#20 Arizona State
December 30th	Music City Bowl	#18 LSU	Michigan
December 30th	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Kentucky	Wake Forest
December 29th	Alamo Bowl	#21 Texas	UCLA
December 29th	Cheez-It Bowl	#23 TCU	Boston College
December 29th	Pinstripe Bowl	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
December 29th	Fenway Bowl	UTSA	Memphis
December 28th	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Tennessee	Oklahoma State
December 28th	Holiday Bowl	NC State	California
December 28th	Liberty Bowl	Missouri	West Virginia
December 28th	First Responder Bowl	Houston	Liberty
December 28th	Birmingham Bowl	Arkansas	UCF
December 27th	Military Bowl	Florida State	Eastern Michigan
December 27th	Quick Lane Bowl	Rice	Ohio
December 25th	Camellia Bowl	Louisiana	Buffalo
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	Tulsa	Hawaii
December 23rd	Union Home Mortgage Bowl	Mississippi State	SMU
December 22nd	Armed Forces Bowl	Army	Baylor
December 21st	Frisco Bowl	Air Force	Texas State
December 21st	Idaho Potato Bowl	San Jose State	Toledo
December 20th	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Western Michigan	#13 Coastal Carolina
December 18th	New Orleans Bowl	Appalachian State	Florida Atlantic
December 18th	LA Bowl	Stanford	Nevada
December 18th	LendingTree Bowl	Kansas State	Central Michigan
December 18th	Independence Bowl	BYU	UAB
December 18th	New Mexico Bowl	Wyoming	Louisiana Tech
December 18th	Boca Raton Bowl	San Diego State	Southern Miss
December 17th	Cure Bowl	New Mexico	FIU
December 17th	Bahamas Bowl	Marshall	Kent State

Fenway Bowl!  LA Bowl!!! And they added the Myrtle Beach Bowl last year.  And now with the new 12-team playoff on the horizon there may be downsizing.  Hilarious.  At least Canadians can see most of the bowl games as per usual.  Well, as long as the specialty packs cooperate.  Here’s some notes on the wacky fun-time bowl season predictions:

• I have three games predicted between ranked teams: Florida-Penn State in the Citrus, Ole Miss-Miami in the Gator, & Northwestern-Oregon in the Las Vegas.  Really good games that you honestly would rarely get to see.  This is really what bowl season always used to be about (at least on the field).
• I’m not even bothering with showing you which tie-ins couldn’t be satisfied or which bowls have teams with 5-7 records (there are a few).  Trying to decipher how bowl season will shape up is difficult as is going into December.  Imagine how difficult (or near impossble) it is to do now.  Showing you all that info doesn’t matter much to be honest.
• Some of the better matchups include:
  • the three ranked-on-ranked matchups mentioned above
  • Auburn-Indy in the Outback Bowl
  • Georgia-Iowa in the Texas Bowl
  • BYU-UAB in the Independence Bowl
  • Louisiana-Buffalo in the Camellia Bowl
  • Texas-UCLA in the Alamo Bowl
  • Virginia Tech-Utah in the Sun Bowl
• Now, the naming rights to the Arizona Bowl has gone to Barstool Sports.  Interesting and not totally surprising.  What is surprising is that it won’t air on regular television as far as I know.  It will, as of this point, air on Barstool Sports’ website (which you would need to pay to see the game I believe).  That’s the weird part and I wonder what kind of viewership they will get.  Then again it is the Arizona Bowl so it’s not like they were getting a ton of viewers to begin with having it air on CBS Sports Network in the past.

The College Football Playoff semi-final games should actually both be good for once.  Bama-tOSU should be a classic with the Tide pulling out the win.  The other one should also be relatively close but the Sooners will finally get their semi-final win and their first berth in the national championship in the playoff era.  But the winning streak will end in the national championship as I have Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide winning their second straight championship and their third in five seasons.

Next up is the post where I actually make some pretty good predictions: the Coaching Hot Seat Report.  After that is a post I always do horrifically bad at for some reason, the Heisman Predictions.  After that I might as well do some NFL predictions which are also historically kinda bad.  We are 26 days away from the start of the college football season but at least now we have some actual football on the horizon to get us in the football watching mood…not that I usually need that but watching live football is gonna feel great after over six months of none.  And soon enough I will have a schedule up for Week Zero.  Will be interesting to see what ends up going to the specialty pack and if the specialty pack even starts that day.  Wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t.  Why?  Because fuck you that’s why.  Enjoy your Civic Holiday if you are actually celebrating it (by being civic-minded I guess).

It’s pronounced SHONTZ. SHONTZ.

SHON-TUH-CLEERZ.  Say it with me.  SHON-TUH-CLEERZ.  Repeat it.  Learn it.

Learn it because this could end up being the next big thing in underdog college football.  Coastal Carolina was amazing last year and came within a hair of running the table even through bowl season.  Add Louisiana and Appalachian State and you have a Top 3 that rivals any Group of Five conference.  Really, other than Texas State, this conference is full of teams that have had at least one successful season over the past decade.  And the Bobcats are expected to be not too bad.

Let’s get to those Fun Belt conference predictions!  I will follow that with some Sun Belt Midweek Musings and Such:

		Conference		Overall
	East	W	L	W	L
	Coastal Carolina	8	0	12	0
	Appalachian State	6	2	9	3
	Georgia State	3	5	4	8
	Troy	3	5	4	8
	Georgia Southern	2	6	3	9
	West
	Louisiana	8	0	10	2
	Texas State	4	4	6	6
	South Alabama	2	6	4	8
	ULM	2	6	2	10
	Arkansas State	2	6	3	9

Sun Belt Midweek Musings and Such

• If there’s ever a conference that needs to go back to no divisions, it’s this one.  The Sun Belt has been lucky that the first couple of years of the conference championship the best two teams have been in opposite divisions.  But at some point that won’t happen and it might cause an undefeated team to miss out on a College Football Playoff spot in the future.  So Sun Belt?  Don’t be stupid.  Abolish divisions.  Make the right move.
• The West Division this year…well, it may be a cakewalk.  Louisiana might clinch the division at the beginning of November.  They are that far in front of everyone else.  The only team that looks like they’d be relatively close is, somehow, Texas State!  Jake Spavital, I believe, will get the Bobcats into bowl season for the first time ever.  And yes, Arkansas State will drop off that much from last season.  Doesn’t help they have a tough schedule.
• The East is at least a bit more competitive.  Coastal is still the team to beat and should be just as good, if not better, than last year’s breakout season.  Appalachian State will try to keep things close and they luckily get their game against the Chanticleers at home in mid-October.  Win that and they have the inside step to the division title.  The rest of teams are OK but will struggle to make a bowl game.
• The Sun Belt Championship we should have got last year should happen again.  It could low-key be the best conference championship game this season.  Should be an awesome one but I don’t think the Chants are going to be denied the Sun Belt championship belt this time around.
• At this point, only four teams would be bowl-eligible.  Yikes!  But hey, Texas State would be going to a bowl game with my predictions.  Start the parade in San Marcos!
• Is this the year?  Does the Sun Belt finally have a representative in the New Year’s Six?  I’m…not going to tell you until the bowl predictions.  I think it will be closer than people want to believe this season.

Let’s keep the conference prediction train going!  Next up will be the soon-to-be-expanding SEC!  Have a great weekend everyone!  Oh and remember…35 days.  Exactly five weeks.

Let’s talk about this shitshow – The Bowl Game Schedule

How many of the bowls in that picture either don’t exist anymore or were cancelled this year?  I shudder to think of it.  Maybe I should get a different graphic for next year.  For now it works because it shows how many bowls there usually are.  Somewhere in the 40 range.  This year it is under 30 and it’s almost a guarantee at least one more will be cancelled now that the schedule has been released.  It’s been a shitshow…even more than the season was, if you can believe it.

The biggest piece of horseshit when it comes to this is Army not getting into a bowl game.  They were tied in to the Independence Bowl, which ended up being cancelled.  So instead of being invited to another bowl game, they are left home…at 9-2.  That is completely absurd.  I know what some people will say.  “Well, the other games have contracts for certain conferences and they have to abide by that.”  Not saying you’re wrong.  What I am saying is the system is completely broken when a 2-8 South Carolina team “deserves” to go to a bowl game and Army does not.  All it says is one thing…MONEY.  That’s all.  The Power Five has money and the Group of Five has very little.  It has come to a head.  The College Football Playoff Committee is a joke and ESPN is being forced to parrot that because they are in bed with the whole thing.  It has gone off the rails and needs a refresh.  This is the kind of thing that might drive people away from watching.  Might.  Who knows…I mean it is football and in the United States, football is king.

Alright, so TSN kind of has their bowl game broadcast schedule up, kind of.  I don’t blame them for not being prepared for this since games were being cancelled two days ago.  Completely ridiculous.  I’m sure things will change on their end, but for once, it’s not really their fault.  Blame college football at large for this.  Anyway, here’s the fairly long (but not as long as normal) bowl schedule!

Monday December 21st

Myrtle Beach Bowl: North Texas vs. Appalachian State

2:30 PM

Again, why does this happen?  WHY?  On a Monday before Christmas.  Completely stupid.  Also, North Texas gets in a bowl game?  North Texas.  The Mean Green.  A team that was 4-5 this season.  This just blows my mind.

UPDATE #3: My pick, as I stated before was Appalachian State.  I said they would win 41-13 on Twitter.  Well App State won.  And they won by 28.  Just like I thought.

Tuesday December 22nd

Idaho Potato Bowl: Tulane vs. Nevada

3:30 PM

Another game on in the middle of a weekday afternoon before Christmas.  I get that you have to air these games some time but this ain’t it, pal.  Even with less games, ESPN completely messes this up.  The one good thing about this is that it’s a cold-weather bowl game.  And those are (almost) always fun to watch.

Boca Raton Bowl: UCF vs. #16 BYU

7:00 PM

If it wasn’t for that one loss, BYU might be in the New Year’s Six.  Instead, because they lacked a tie-in, they took the first bowl bid available to them.  Luckily for them, UCF should be a good foe, even if they aren’t the Knights of the previous few years.  A good primetime national showcase for two of the better non-Power Five teams.  Hey, maybe the American should invite BYU to join their conference.  Why not at this point?

Wednesday December 23rd

New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Louisiana Tech

3:30 PM

This was supposed to be the Conference USA champion facing the Sun Belt champion.  What in the hell happened?  Then again, with no fans, does it really matter?

Montgomery Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis

7:00 PM

This was supposed to be the inaugural Fenway Bowl in Boston but it was moved here because of COVID concerns.  Two teams who were slightly better than some thought they would be land here.  Willie Taggart’s coaching sojourn is back the Group of Five level here but he’s doing a good job in Boca.  Memphis seems to always be near the top of the American.  This could be a sneaky good game (that won’t be shown on TSN…probably because of opening night in the NBA).

Thursday December 24th

New Mexico Bowl: Hawaii vs. Houston

3:30 PM

Christmas Eve was always the day of the Hawaii Bowl.  Unfortunately, this was one of the bowl game casualties of COVID-19.  Instead, we get Hawaii themselves playing on Christmas Eve.  Not as satisfying but the Rainbow Warriors are a fun team to watch.  A reminder that this New Mexico Bowl is being played in Frisco, Texas.  Why it wasn’t cancelled when so many others were?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Friday December 25th

Camellia Bowl: Marshall vs. Buffalo

2:30 PM

Christmas Day college football.  That hasn’t been a thing since the Hula Bowl and when the Blue-Gray Classic would be this day.  Two really good G-5 teams in this one so it can be considered a must-see for the die hard fan (for college football, not the Christmas movie).  It will be interesting to see if Lance Leipold gets any offers for Power Five jobs before this game.

Saturday December 26th

Gasparilla Bowl: South Carolina vs. UAB

Noon

This is bullshit.  South Carolina should just give up their spot to Army.  Actually, no.  UAB can give up their spot to Army…and then Army can put up a 70-burger on the Gamecocks.  Stupid SEC.

UPDATE #4: South Carolina has dropped out of this game.  No word on if there will be a replacement team or what.

UPDATE #5: The Gasparilla Bowl has been cancelled.  Hopefully, UAB gets to be put on some sort of a waiting list if there’s another cancellation.

First Responder Bowl: UTSA vs. #19 Louisiana

3:30 PM

UTSA made history as this is the second bowl bid they accepted this season.  The first one to the Frisco Bowl was gone once that bowl game was cancelled.  Funny how they were able to be moved into another bowl immediately.  It’s kind of like all this wasn’t planned…at all…in any way.  This is another game that has potential to be really good.

LendingTree Bowl: Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky

3:30 PM

Two decent Group of Five teams.  Look, it’s this or the World Juniors so if you’re not a hockey fan, then this is it.

Cure Bowl: Liberty vs. #12 Coastal Carolina

7:30 PM

This is EASILY the best bowl game outside the New Year’s Six in almost everyone’s opinion.  This game was scheduled for a few weeks ago where the Flames had to cancel and BYU filled in for them.  Now they get their chance against the Chanticleers, the feel good story of the college football season.  This is their chance to finish the best season in Sun Belt history undefeated.

UPDATE #9: TSN has come to their senses and will put one of the best bowl games of the season on TSN2 now.

Tuesday December 29th

Cheez-It Bowl: #21 Oklahoma State vs. #18 Miami

5:30 PM

Let’s call this the second best bowl game outside the New Year’s Six.  Both teams are probably not that happy to be here but they both played horrible at the wrong time to play themselves out of a conference championship chance.  The Mullet vs. The Manny here is a nice coaching matchup.

Alamo Bowl: Colorado vs. #20 Texas

9:00 PM

Big-time game of former Big XII conference foes.  Both of these teams should be ranked (I don’t get why Colorado isn’t, to be honest).  The Longhorns were about as good as many thought they would be this season, just missing out on a conference title and continuing to frustrated fans.  The Buffaloes were much better than advertising, harkening back to, well, I guess a couple years ago.

Wednesday December 30th

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest

Noon

This is the reincarnated Belk Bowl.  I miss the Belk Bowl’s hilarious Twitter account.  I mean the Duke’s Mayo Bowl account is good, but nothing beat the Belk Bowl.  So fun and entertaining.  Rest In Bowl Peace, Belk Bowl.

Music City Bowl: Missouri vs. #15 Iowa

3:30 PM

Iowa thought they had a bit of a hope to make the New Year’s Six.  They could have given them a better game but even the one that was scheduled could have been good enough to move up the rankings.  Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to Michigan’s ongoing issues with the Coronavirus.  They face Missouri here in a game that, on paper, shouldn’t be close.  Now watch it be a great one.

UPDATE #10: This game will no longer be seen on TSN5.

UPDATE #15: Due to COVID-19 issues at Missouri, this game has been cancelled.

Cotton Bowl: #7 Florida vs. #6 Oklahoma

7:15 PM

This should be a really good one.  Both teams have looked really good at times this season.  And both teams have had their shit moments, with the Gators losing to LSU during Shoegate and the Sooners dropping one to Kansas State early on in the season.  It will be interesting to see which teams show up as this is the kind of game where you see teams sometimes mail it in.

Thursday December 31st

Armed Forces Bowl: #24 Tulsa vs. Mississippi State

Noon

Hey Tulsa going to a bowl game!  Good for them!  Their reward?  Playing a Mississippi State team that was figured out about five quarters into the season.  Tulsa should win this going away.​

Arizona Bowl: #22 San Jose State vs. Ball State

Noon 2:00 PM

Because of the cancellation of the Sun Bowl, the Arizona Bowl goes to the main network and man do they get a good game.  Undefeated Mountain West champ San Jose State against MAC champ Ball State.  Honestly, it feels like the Group of Five have more interesting games than the Power Five contingent.

UPDATE #17: I don’t know why I put Noon.  I believe it’s Noon local time.  If it was Noon Eastern time, it would be a 10:00 am local start.  Actually, I wouldn’t put it past them to do that.  Anyway, this is on at 2:00 Eastern.

Liberty Bowl: Tennessee Army vs. West Virginia

4:00 PM

The Liberty Bowl has wanted the Volunteers there for years.  Now they finally get their wish.  It’s not really what they had in mind though.

UPDATE: Well that didn’t take long.  Tennessee has too many COVID positives, head coach Jeremy Pruitt among them, to play in the Liberty Bowl.

UPDATE #2: Army will replace Tennessee.  This is good.  How it came about is not.

Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs. TCU

8:00 PM

An old school Southwest Conference matchup here.  If the SWC hadn’t been such a crazy, destructive conference, I would say bring it back somehow.  Why not, right?

UPDATE #16: The Texas Bowl has been cancelled because of COVID issues at TCU.

Friday January 1st

Peach Bowl: #9 Georgia vs. #8 Cincinnati

12:30 PM Noon

Alright.  Look, I am glad to see the Bearcats here.  First time in the New Year’s Six.  This is good.  Saying that, the total disrespect for them, and all Group of Five teams, from The Committee (and college football as a whole) is appalling.  It needs to be fixed and seeing what happened surrounding the end of this season is a blight on the sport.  Anyway…this should be a very good game and you will see a very motivated Cincy team against, hopefully, a very motivated Dawgs team.  They are coached by Kirby Smart so I am going to go out on a limb and say they will be motivated as well.

UPDATE #6: This game has been moved up to Noon.

Citrus Bowl: Auburn vs. #14 Northwestern

1:00 PM

Northwestern had a great season, no doubt about it.  Auburn…it’s a season they would like to forget.  Gus Malzahn is now gone and we still don’t know who the new coach will be, since a few have already turned down the job.  Bo Nix really doesn’t look like the man for the job, at this point, at quarterback for the Tigers.  The offense has been rudderless.  Just a mess.  The Wildcats on the other hand, have to deal with the almost-yearly rumours of Pat Fitzgerald possibly going to the NFL or another coaching job.  Chances are it won’t happen but you never know.

Rose Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Notre Dame

5:00 PM 4:00 PM

Bama by 30?  Bama by 40?  Naw, Bama by 60!  You will hear that and more in the days leading up to this game.  And maybe for good reason.  I mean Clemson beat the Irish pretty badly in the ACC Championship.  The only hope is that this is a halfway competitive game.  Or not.  If it’s not, more pressure for this asinine setup to change.

UPDATE #7: This game has been moved up to 4:00.  Whether it starts at 4 or not is a different story.

Sugar Bowl: #2 Clemson vs. #3 Ohio State

8:45 PM 8:00 PM

Now this should be an exciting semi-final, despite people’s thoughts about tOSU’s 2020 season.  Expect a lot of good stuff from Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields as they look for this to be their second-last chance to wow the scouts in game action before the NFL draft.

UPDATE #8: This game has been moved up to 8:00.  It starting on time all depends on the two bowl games before it on ESPN.

Saturday January 2nd

Gator Bowl: Kentucky vs. #23 NC State

Noon

Could this be an interesting game?  Sure, it could be.  I do expect the Wolfpack to blow the doors of the Wildcats but you never know with these bowl games.

UPDATE #12: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.

Outback Bowl: Ole Miss vs. #11 Indiana

12:30 PM

Poor Indiana.  I honestly believed (as did many) that the Hoosiers would end up in the New Year’s Six.  But since they are a “basketball school” they would probably have to go undefeated to get in and forget the College Football Playoff for these guys.  They get Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels.  Take Indy in this one.

UPDATE #11: This game will also air on TSN3.​

Fiesta Bowl: #25 Oregon vs. #10 Iowa State

4:00 PM

This is what I cannot stand.  I get the idea of bowl tie-ins.  I really do.  But this is supposed to be one of the top four bowl games of the season and it has a team that is BARELY in the Top 25 playing in it?  Come on.  Anyway, this should be part of a TSN tripleheader but this day hasn’t been set yet.  Expect this (and the other non-ABC games) to end up on a TSN station, I just don’t know which ones yet and most of that has to do with the World Juniors.

UPDATE #13: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.​

Orange Bowl: #13 North Carolina vs. #5 Texas A&M

8:00 PM

Yes another tie-in issue but at least Mack Brown’s boys are a pretty good team.  If it wasn’t for a puzzling loss to Florida State, UNC probably resides in the Top 10 with the Aggies.  This should be a great finish to bowl season, before the national championship.

UPDATE #14: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.

Monday January 11th

College Football Playoff National Championship

8:00 PM

We’ve had some good and some not-so-good championship games.  Let’s hope this is the former.

The breakdown for Canadian fans looks like the following:

• TSN – 24 bowl games (with 3 simulcasts from ABC)
• ABC – 4 bowl games
• CBS – 1 bowl game

With only 29 bowl games, TSN is showing almost all of them.  That is seriously impressive.  With no specialty pack, Canadians won’t have access to three games which isn’t too bad.  The only day where the schedule is not finalized, as I mentioned, is January 2nd.  My thought is that we won’t get less games on TSN but that the channels I have chosen might not be the right ones.  I will make sure to update this when there are updates to be had so always check the post out for the latest.

Alright I have a lot of posts to do with my rankings and the NFL schedule and I am sure a few others.  So gear up for more Bossman’s Blog this week.  Have a great week everyone!

A CFP without Clemson? – Week 14 College Football Recap

Last year I did this and talked about the College Football Playoff without Alabama.  This time I posit about Clemson possibly not making the CFP.  And that could happen.  Their win over Virginia Tech looks good on paper but man it was a struggle until about the last part of the third quarter once they finally started pulling away (and after ABC hilariously aired an interview with Ian Book during the game probably thinking the Tigers would have essentially put the game away by then).  They clinch their spot in the ACC Championship and get a rematch with Notre Dame.  If they lose, they are guaranteed not to be in the CFP since the first one back in the 2014 season.  That would honestly feel odd.  Like Bama missing it last year.

Alright, enough of Clemson’s potential issues.  Let’s get to the recap!

The Recap!

• Let’s start with what ended up being the game of the week (of the year?): the game that was scheduled on THURSDAY between BYU and Coastal Carolina.  An epic affair between two Top 20 teams with the winner getting a possible legitimate shot at the New Year’s Six.  The final play looked very similar to when the Titans came up one yard short against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.  Coastal ended up holding on for the victory which should move them up in the CFP rankings.  What it probably ended up doing though is far more important: BYU deciding to fill in for Liberty (who had COVID issues that made it so they couldn’t play) on a few days’ notice will create a new way to schedule games going forward.  This is huge for college football and is a much needed change from scheduling non-conference games 20 years out (which everyone, except ADs, think is absolutely ludicrous).
• Michigan State wasn’t even within an area code of Ohio State.  To be honest, it was painful to watch.  The Buckeyes continue their run to the Big Ten Championship (hopefully).  The game against Michigan this Saturday looms large.  Michigan’s game this past weekend was cancelled and if they still have issues with COVID-19 then they may have to have this one be cancelled as well.  As per the Big Ten rules, this would make tOSU in eligible for the Big Ten title game.  It’s ridiculous that this could happen but it’s possible that they would not even make their conference championship but get to the CFP.  If the Big Ten is smart, they find a way to get the Buckeyes a game if the the game against The Team Up North has to be cancelled.
• I think Iowa State heard the haters.  What they did to West Virginia was nasty.  That huge victory clinched their trip to JerryWorld for the first time in team history.  The Cyclones are trying to erase the memory of the early season loss to Louisiana although I don’t know why since the Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked.
• Speaking of the Ragin’ Cajuns that was something else down in Boone Friday night.  Some disgusting footbaw weather (rain this time) made it very difficult, especially for Louisiana’s poor long snapper who made multiple horrible snaps that kept the Cajuns from pulling away from the Mountaineers.  In the end, a missed App State field goal allowed Louisiana to get the duke and also stay ranked going into their bye week as they prepare for Coastal Carolina in the biggest Sun Belt Championship ever.
• Good job, Oklahoma State. Any hope to sneak into the Big XII Championship went up in flames Saturday in Fort Worth.  Not like TCU played all that well.  But the Cowboys were finally exposed and we have another season where the Mullet Express will not head to the Metroplex which has to be frustrating Oklahoma State fans at this point.
• Who picked Colorado to start 4-0?  Put your hands down you liars.  The Buffaloes were lead by Jarek Broussard’s insane day on the ground as he ran for 301 yards!  I get it, it was just Arizona.  But it was still impressive.  The worst part about all this?  Because their game against USC was cancelled, the Pac-12 might have two undefeated teams in the same division and only one of those teams will head to the Pac-12 Championship game.  For the final time, ABOLISH DIVISIONS!  It has run its course.  There is no need for them now.  Plus having no divisions ensures the best two teams (on the season) will play for the conference title.  Instead, we may see Oregon or even Washington in the Pac-12 title game.  Yuck.
• It felt like an upset was in the making for a while.  But Texas A&M did enough to hold on for the win over Auburn and keep their slim College Football Playoff hopes alive.  They have done this despite the team not looking all that good for much of the season.  Saying that, if the Aggies can make the CFP, the 10-year contract given to Jimbo Fisher starts to look a whole lot smarter.
• Let’s see if I get this correct:  Rice’s 20-0 win over Marshall was a shocker for sure.  The Herd threw five interceptions and looked horrible all day.  This marked the Owls’ first win over a ranked team in 23 years and their first shutout of a ranked opponent in 60 years!  It’s Marshall’s first loss, ending their slim NY6 hopes.  And it is probably the first time that a 1-win team has shut out a ranked team in December.  And of course it was on ESPN3 so barely anyone got to watch it.
• Texas scored 69 points against Kansas State.  Nice.
• The other game of the week ended up being Arkansas-Missouri.  What an amazing finish.  The Hogs go down the field, score the TD and decide to go for two.  The two-point conversion pass is in the Mizzou defender’s hands and just tips out and into the Arkansas receiver’s hands to give the Razorbacks the lead.  Then the Tigers go down the field and their freshman kicker nails the winning field goal.  Missouri is quietly 5-3 under first-year head coach Eli Drinkwitz.  Pretty impressive.
• Finally, Akron won its first game in 770 days.  That is not a typo.  They beat Bowling Green who is probably the worst FBS team this season.

Coaching Carousel

Hey let’s have some fun and look at the coaching carousel.

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

• Get this.  Scott Satterfield, despite saying he wasn’t going to look for another coaching position, talked with South Carolina anyway.  Many people are very upset, especially at Louisville.  Don’t be surprised if Satterfield is shitcanned in the next few weeks.
• As for the Gamecocks job, it goes to Shane Beamer.  Yes, Frank’s son.  He wasn’t the first two choices, that we know since Billy Napier also turned down the job after Satterfield did.  He is going to have his work cut out for him making South Carolina a contender in the SEC East.
• Derek Mason was dismissed at Vanderbilt.  No real surprise there.  Who will replace him?  It seems like whoever it is really has to change the perception of the program and convince the university to spend more money on the program and/or get better recruits.
• Jay Hopson was fired a few months ago.  Yes it has been that long ago.  Will Hall, Tulane’s offensive coordinator, has been hired by the Golden Eagles to bring that program out of the dumps.
• Gary Andersen was fired a while ago at Utah State.  If I was a program, even at the FCS level, I would stay away from this clown since he is totally unreliable.

Potential other coaching moves:

• Texas – Even with Texas’s shellacking of Kansas State on Saturday, Tom Herman’s time in Austin may be over soon.  And of course who is the top candidate to replace him?  Urban Meyer, of course!  The other candidate looks to be Penn State’s James Franklin, of all people.  The real straw that may have broken the proverbial camel’s back at Texas is losing Quinn Ewers, the top-ranked quarterback for two seasons from now, to Ohio State.
• Kansas – The Les Miles Experiment really has not worked in Lawrence.  And who may be the first to admit it?  Les himself.  He may decide to retire rather than stick around knowing it will take at least another two years to get the Jayhawks back into contention in the Big XII for the first time in over a decade.
• Brent Venables – Every off-season his name comes up as it pertains to the coaching carousel.  This season is no different.  Expect a less polished Power Five program throwing out a bunch of money to possibly lure him into his first head coaching job.
• ULM – Things were on the up-and-up in Monroe under Matt Viator.  Then came this year’s collapse as the Warhawks are now the worst team in the Sun Belt.  They will look probably to the FCS to find candidates.  UPDATE: Viator has been fired.
• FIU – After two great years, things have been horrible for Butch Davis in 2020.  They thought they had their man but he may not be the guy to grow this program.  Problem is his buyout is over $1 million so that may keep him with the Golden Panthers for another season.
• Middle Tennessee – The thing I can’t believe is the buyout for Rick Stockstill.  $5.8 million!  Who the fuck put that into his contract?  Anyway, his contract runs for three more seasons so I could see MTSU bringing him back at least for 2021 to see if the Blue Raiders improve and then make a decision.
• Luke Fickell – This is probably the guy every Power Five program that has fired their coach or might let theirs go is looking at.  He has done some unreal things at Cincinnati.  And remember, so did Brian Kelly and Mark Dantonio and they both had very good coaching careers at the Power Five level.
• Jim Harbaugh/Michigan – Good lord, here we go again.  The buyout is large but his next season is technically his last in Ann Arbor under his current deal.  The Wolverines have been nothing short of awful this year and you have to wonder if Harbaugh has lost his spark.  He almost seems destined to go back to the NFL, if not for next season then definitely for 2021.  If Michigan pulls the trigger and fires him after this season, this automatically becomes the best coaching opening available with nothing else even close.
• Tom Allen – Don’t laugh.  This guy cemented his Coach of the Year with the big win over Wisconsin this past weekend.  The players and other coaches love him and he has endless energy.  If one of Michigan, Florida State, Penn State or Tennessee decides to move on, he is the guy.  It’s pricey.  They will have to probably chip in for his buyout which is, *GASP* $23.5 million.  Holy shit.  But it may be worth it.

Remember last week I said I would talk about the conference championship races?  Well here we go.  Man this post is getting into Super Mega Hyper Omni Post territory.

It’s the third annual Sun Belt Championship game and they still haven’t got Mountain Dew or Skoal or Shoney’s or some place like that to sponsor it.  This will be the first Sun Belt Championship not to feature Appalachian State.  Coastal Carolina and Louisiana have won their respective divisions and will face off in the championship game at the home of the Chanticleers in Conway, South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach (which you should know if you watched Mormons vs. Mullets on Saturday).

Conference USA has been a mess all season.  The conference seems to be limping to the end.  In the East, no-longer-undefeated Marshall must beat Charlotte to win the division.  If they don’t win, it feels like there will be some tiebreaker action between the Herd and Florida Atlantic (and possibly even Charlotte).  Stay tuned.  In the West, UTSA leads the way followed closely by UAB.  It all comes down to next week’s game between UAB and Rice.  Blazers win and they play in the conference title game.  If they lose, it goes to UTSA.

The MAC title tilt is halfway set, I think.  Nothing has been officially said but it feels like Buffalo has clinched the MAC East.  I don’t know why it hasn’t been announced yet though.  In the MAC West, Ball State faces Western Michigan this Saturday and the winner heads to Detroit.

San Jose State and Boise State seem primed to make up for their cancelled game in the conference championship with both teams still undefeated in the conference.  Boise plays Wyoming and SJSU plays Nevada this weekend.  Here are the scenarios:

• Broncos and Spartans win and they both go to the conference championship.
• Broncos win and Spartans lose, it’s Nevada and Boise in the title game.
• Both Broncos and Spartans lose, it’s Boise and SJSU in the championship.

Alright Cincinnati is already in.  And Tulsa clinched their spot this past Saturday.  Now Cincinnati heads to Tulsa this Saturday and then will host them the following weekend.  It would not surprise me to see this game cancelled to give both teams a week of rest.

It’s Clemson up against Notre Dame in a massive rematch of their earlier game.  Huge implications for this game.

This has been set.  The somewhat surprising Iowa State Cyclones get their chance against Oklahoma at JerryWorld.

The Pac-12 is a complete shitshow.  Let me try and make some understanding of all this.

• Washington could have clinched on Saturday but lost to Stanford.  So now if Washington beats Oregon they go to the Pac-12 title game, wherever that may be.
• Oregon, on the other hand, is in if they beat Washington thanks to Oregon State’s loss to Utah.
• USC, after beating Washington State, is tied with Colorado at the top of the South.
• If both teams win next weekend, it comes to who is higher up in the CFP rankings.  Meaning the Trojans will have the edge.

So, of course, the Pac-12 fucks things up again.  Undefeated Colorado quite possibly could be left out of the Pac-12 title game because they have divisions.  Can someone fire Larry Scott already?

Northwestern clinched the Big Ten West despite sitting at home and will await to see if the Ohio State-Michigan game gets played.  If the Wolverines have to cancel, that makes tOSU ineligible for the conference championship game.  This would mean Indiana would travel a short way to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten crown.  If the game is played and the Buckeyes beat Michigan, then they are heading there.  Or, the Big Ten could change the rules and allow Ohio State to go anyway.  Who the hell knows anymore.

Alabama and Florida.  No LSU, who could be one of the worst defending champs in recent memory.  But in an interesting twist, it will be the Texas A&M Football Aggies who will be watching in earnest (as long as they take of business this weekend).

Alright that was a super long post.  But it keeps you informed going into next week, the quasi-last week of the regular season.  Now we can remember what it was like when Army-Navy shared the week with a bunch of other weird games.  Later in the week will be the normal bowl projection, college football schedule and NFL schedule posts.  Have a great week everyone!

And now it begins…with bowl games – Week 14 College Football TV Schedule

We have had it happen so often this season it has become old hat at this point.  Cancellations.  Postponements.  Postponements of earlier postponements.  The college football schedule has been a disaster.  I don’t know why anyone would be surprised by this anymore.  If it doesn’t get to double-digits’ worth of postponed/cancelled games then that’s more of a shock these days.

So it doesn’t surprise me in the least that the Sun Bowl has been cancelled this year.  This is the first time since 1934 that the Sun Bowl hasn’t been played.  Why hadn’t it been played that year?  Because it didn’t exist!  This is huge for college football.  This is not like the Pinstripe Bowl or Quick Lane Bowl, both which were cancelled earlier this year.  This bowl game, while not a huge game anymore, has been around for 85 years and now will not be played.  The city of El Paso has struggled with the pandemic (as has neighbouring New Mexico and much of far west Texas) so they made the choice to shut the game down.  This will not be the only bowl game cancelled.  I can guarantee it.  The Las Vegas Bowl still has not been confirmed for this year and a couple other bowl games have already been moved.  How many get cancelled?  Who knows at this point although amazingly enough we are 17 days away from the first bowl game!  So this needs to be figured out quick since college football refuses to push things back a bit to allow the season to be played as fully as possible.

So we have now finally hit the penultimate week of the college football regular season.  Sort of.  Conference championship week will also have regular season games including the Big Ten’s “Champions Week” which is the fucking dumbest tagline for a week of college football ever.  If I were a conference,  I would promote the hell out of the conference championship (for the most part) and not really talk about the other games being played, especially if they are previously postponed games that have been rescheduled.  Oh wait, no.  What I REALLY would try to avoid is discussing why a first place team is not in a conference championship since that’s what the Big Ten is looking at with Wisconsin (and Ohio State if they have one more cancelled game).  Let’s just get to the schedule for god’s sake!

Thursday​

		US	Canada
Louisiana Tech at North Texas	6:00 PM
Air Force at Utah State	9:30 PM

Two games.  One with a bizarre time.  Why is this happening?  I think less and less programs are caring as long as they get these games in and move on with their season.  Also, I assume, because the AFA-USU game was scheduled a month ago, the LaTech-UNT game was kind of shoehorned into the 6pm slot (5pm local time).  And not having to worry about fans makes this pretty easy to do.  Anyway, the Bulldogs still have a shot, albeit slim, to go to the Conference USA Championship.  But they need help.  They can start now by beating a Mean Green program that is on the decline.  The other game is technically football.

Friday

		US	Canada
#25 Louisiana at Appalachian State	8:30 PM
Boise State at UNLV	9:30 PM

Two games on Friday as well.  Are they any more important than the previous night’s games?  I don’t know about that.  Boise State’s game is important as they continue their run to the Mountain West Championship.  Their New Year’s Six chances are almost gone but they can keep those slim hopes by destroying their opposition.  Louisiana beating App State big can help one team: Coastal Carolina.  If the Chanticleers want any chance at the NY6, the Ragin’ Cajuns winning huge over App State would definitely help.

UPDATE #5: BSU-UNLV has been cancelled.  It sounds like both teams have issues with COVID so this is not surprising.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#4 Ohio State at Michigan State	Noon
Nebraska at Purdue	Noon
Kent State at Miami-OH	Noon
#5 Texas A&M at Auburn	Noon
#15 Oklahoma State at TCU	Noon
Texas at Kansas State	Noon
Penn State at Rutgers	Noon

Last week began the annual TSN step-up when it comes to airing college football games.  This week isn’t as huge but still pretty good.  Again, I am not understanding why this wasn’t the case more since the CFL didn’t play this year.  In terms of this timeslot, TSN hasn’t stepped up much but I don’t blame them.  It’s not exactly the greatest timeslot.  At least TSN has been smart and have kept networks (for the most part) with the same American network all day.  Something they struggled with in years past for some odd reason.  Again, I don’t know why, they just do that.  As for the games, nothing huge here.  tOSU tries to avoid the upset, as does TAMU, as does the Big XII’s version of OSU.  Rutgers is still not favoured but could be considered a good shot to beat Penn State.  And Nebraska might play good football.  Or not.  I’m going with not.

UPDATE: And it begins.  Kent State-Miami (OH) has been cancelled.  No news on if CBS Sports Network will replace it with another game.

Saturday Afternoon​​

		US	Canada
Liberty at #18 Coastal Carolina	2:00 PM
Syracuse at #2 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
#12 Indiana at #16 Wisconsin	3:30 PM
Maryland at Michigan	3:30 PM
#6 Florida at Tennessee	3:30 PM
Buffalo at Ohio	3:30 PM
West Virginia at #9 Iowa State	3:30 PM
#24 Tulsa at Navy	3:30 PM
#19 Iowa at Illinois	3:30 PM
Stanford at #22 Washington	4:00 PM
Vanderbilt at #8 Georgia	4:00 PM

Notice something here?  Yeah, the weird ESPNU time.  I would have to check but I am sure there is a college basketball game on before this.  Plus with no game to put on in the late night timeslot on ESPNU, it allowed for this to happen.  And it’s where College Gameday is (Conway, South Carolina).  Biggest game in the history of both Liberty and Coastal Carolina so if you can get it, watch it.  Also, Indiana’s New Year’s Six hopes probably hinge on this game against Wisconsin.

UPDATE #3: Maryland-Michigan has been cancelled due to COVID issues inside the Michigan program.

UPDATE #6: Biggest update for the weekend.  Liberty is out.  They cannot play due to COVID issues.  In their place?  BYU!  Wow!  A huge matchup between undefeateds.  This game now moves to 5:30 on ESPNU and the Ball State-Central Michigan game moves up to 2:00.

UPDATE #7: Vandy-UGA has been postponed because the Dores just don’t have enough players to play.  You don’t say?

UPDATE #8: Man, CBS Sports Network’s schedule is slowly being decimated for this Saturday.  Now Buffalo-Ohio is cancelled so we don’t get the encore Jaret Patterson performance.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Ball State at Central Michigan	5:30 PM
Colorado State at San Diego State	7:00 PM
#23 Oregon at California	7:00 PM
Colorado at Arizona	7:00 PM
#3 Clemson at Virginia Tech	7:30 PM
South Carolina at Kentucky	7:30 PM
#1 Alabama at LSU	8:00 PM
Baylor at #11 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

Oh man.  Remember when a Bama-LSU game was a huge thing?  Yeah, I do…sadly.  I do think this is an aberration in the LSU program considering how many players they lost but CBS putting this in primetime was an interesting choice.  Then again, with the rumour that this could be the final year of the SEC on CBS with the rest of the contract being bought by ESPN, they need one more good primetime game so fingers crossed this is the one.

Oh yeah and Clemson will probably destroy Virginia Tech in another horrendous ABC primetime game.  Ya gotta feel bad for Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit at this point.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Houston at SMU	9:00 PM
Wyoming at New Mexico	10:30 PM
Oregon State at Utah	10:30 PM
UCLA at Arizona State	10:30 PM

OK at least there are a few choices late.  The interesting game could be Oregon State-Utah since who knows which teams will show up for this one.  This does mean I will be up late so I have to prepare for this.

UPDATE #4: Houston-SMU has been cancelled due to some position groups being completely wiped out from contact tracing in the SMU program.

Sunday​

		US	Canada
UAB at Middle Tennessee	2:30 PM
Washington State at #20 USC	7:30 PM

Sunday football?  And of the college variety?  Well this is interesting.  Thanks to our friend that fucking virus, this happens.  The Wazzu-USC game is set for FS1.  The UAB-MTSU game, however, has a time but not a place, so to speak.  It’s assumed it will end up on CBS Sports Network but it hasn’t been announced yet.  Anyway, the woeful Pac-12 sees their odds-on favourite try and keep on that perch.  And the Blazers need this game to be allowed to qualify for the Conference USA Championship!  What a mess.

UPDATE #2: The UAB-MTSU game has now been cancelled.  The Blazers don’t need to add a game as far as I know since their game the following weekend against Rice would make for enough conference games to qualify for the C-USA Championship.  Now if that game gets cancelled…not good news for the Blazers.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Indiana at Wisconsin (3:30, ABC/TSN1/TSN5) – The fact this is the biggest game of the week says all you need about the new Sleepwalk Week (can’t say it’s the SEC anymore).  Anyway, both of these teams are ranked but division titles are not really an issue here.  The Hoosiers’ loss to Ohio State means they won’t win the Big Ten East (unless the Buckeyes have another game cancelled) and the Badgers are already ineligible for the Big Ten Championship.  Indy is poised for the New Year’s Six but must win here or else that dream might end.

Texas A&M at Auburn (Noon, TSN2) – Can the Aggies get to the College Football Playoff?  We will have to stay tuned but they are set up for a great possibility.  TAMU, with a win here, may move into the Top 4 in the CFP Rankings which would be crazy for a team that really doesn’t have a chance at this point to win their division even, let alone their conference.  An Auburn loss may be the nail in the coffin for the Gus Malzahn era.  Do I agree with this?  I don’t know.  He’s done a lot for the program but ever since the Kick Six the team has been just above-average and that’s not really enough anymore for the War Eagle fans.

Liberty at Coastal Carolina (2:00, ESPNU) – Oh baby!  First time for College Gameday to be near Myrtle Beach!  And two programs having the season of a lifetime.  This could be the biggest game for any team in Sun Belt history as well.  The Chants continue their run to try and be the first Sun Belt team in the NY6.  The Flames, on the other hand, looking to complete an improbable ten-win season.  The worst part about this?  There’s a rumour that they may not even be selected for a bowl game.  How the fuck is that possible?  Anyway, this could end up being the game of the week.

West Virginia at Iowa State (3:30, TSN2) – Alright it falls off a bit here.  Not off a cliff but a decent size hill.  Matt Campbell has done wonders in Ames and if the Cyclones win here, they clinch their first trip to the Big XII Championship.  The Mountaineers try to play spoilers and continue a pretty good year of their own.  Texas and Oklahoma State will be watching this game closely as they have to hope for an ISU loss to keep their own conference championship hopes alive.

Louisiana at Appalachian State (Friday, 8:30, TSN1/TSN3) – If this was 2019, I would actually put this game farther up the list.  Both of these programs are still good and among the best of the Group of Five.  ULL has already clinched their Sun Belt Championship spot.  And the Mountaineers are playing for pride really (and potentially a better bowl game bid).  But hey, it’s Friday night football on two TSN stations so I am happy with this.

Honourable mention: Buffalo at Ohio (3:30, CBS Sports Network); Ball State at Central Michigan (5:30, ESPNU); Fresno State at Nevada (10:30, FOX Sports One)

Some gambling fun and games

A couple games didn’t happen and the rest I didn’t do too well on.  Yes I picked Texas (ugh). Yes I picked North Carolina (double ugh).  Yes I picked Navy…ok enough of this let’s just get on to the fucking picks this week alright?

Appalachian State over Louisiana (slight upset)

Coastal Carolina over Liberty

Auburn over Texas A&M (saving Gus’s job….for a week at least!)

Iowa State over West Virginia

Wisconsin over Indiana (upset?)

Nevada over Fresno State

Central Michigan over Ball State

Buffalo over Ohio

USC over Washington State

UAB over Middle Tennessee

SMU over Houston

Well it’s a college football week.  Now, these are the kinds of weeks that usually give us some insanity and chaos and that is what I am hoping for.  Enjoy the games everyone.

‘Tis the season for some football – Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

So much damn football!  You gotta love it!

Of course the Footballgasm alludes to football every day until a couple of days before American Thanksgiving.  It is a great time of year to be a football fan, college or pro.  Here’s the news stories going into this week since none of them, I don’t think, warrant the entire introduction (I’m picky that way):

• Thanks to Miami’s COVID-19 issues, a bunch of ACC games were moved around.  I won’t go through them all here.  One of the games moved, however, is Miami’s game against Georgia Tech which has been moved to December 19th.  What else is that day?  Oh yeah the ACC Championship.  So this game will only be played if Miami is not in the ACC Championship and if the result wouldn’t impact who plays in the title game.  Good god.
• MACtion graces our screens on weekdays now.  MACtion is fun to watch I will admit.  Usually some pretty good close games.  Or if they aren’t close they usually have some awesome performances, like Buffalo’s Jaret Pattersion last night.  And the attendance issue isn’t an issue because it’s really an issue everywhere.  So enjoy MACtion!
• Back to COVID, more games have been postponed or outright cancelled.  The latest two are two American Conference games.  Houston-SMU and Navy-USF are being moved into December (hopefully).  As I said before, move the conference championships to December 26th and use December 19th as a make-up date.  Why is this so difficult?
• The conversation on BYU and Cincinnati is intensifying.  Many are saying that they should have a shot in the College Football Playoff if they both run the table.  The chances are still slim and they have to hope for upsets above them.  First up is this week where these two teams hope Clemson and Florida somehow lose to teams that are 30+ point underdogs.  Good luck.

Anyway, other than that, not much to discuss so let’s get into the schedule alright?

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Toledo at Eastern Michigan	7:00 PM
Western Michigan at Central Michigan	7:00 PM

MACtion!  Hey it’s weekday football.  So for you basketball fans, between every pick of the NBA draft, head over to one of these games.  You’ll thank me later.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Tulane at #25 Tulsa	7:30 PM
Utah State at Wyoming	9:00 PM

Ranked Tulsa!  The Golden Hurricane could cause a lot of issues inside the AAC if they keep winning.  The other game is a Mountain West game so let’s just be happy we can watch Mountain West football this Fall.  I just hope at least one of these games stays close or otherwise it’s off to Thursday Night Football.

UPDATE #2: USU-Wyoming has been cancelled and will be declared a no contest.  I prefer double disqualification or double countout but that’ll do.

Friday​

		US	Canada
Purdue at Minnesota	7:30 PM
Syracuse at Louisville	7:30 PM
UMass at Florida Atlantic	8:00 PM

OK let’s be honest here: we have three relatively average games.  The Conference USA game is important since FAU is probably the only team that could possibly challenge Marshall in the East division.  Minnesota, despite not being near the team they were last season, are still a dangerous team and Purdue might be better than advertised if they can stay healthy.

Saturday Early​

		US	Canada
#4 Clemson at Florida State	Noon
Michigan State at Maryland	Noon
Georgia Southern at Army	Noon
#6 Florida at Vanderbilt	Noon
Appalachian State at #15 Coastal Carolina	Noon
#9 Indiana at #3 Ohio State	Noon
Illinois at Nebraska	Noon
LSU at Arkansas	Noon

We get the Rodney Dangerfield of programs (well maybe not anymore), Indiana, facing Ohio State in a game with serious College Football Playoff implications.  We get a pretty bad Florida State team trying to derail Clemson’s postseason hopes.  We also get Coastal Carolina’s next big game on the path to a historic season as they host the Sun Belt’s preeminent team (up until now) Appalachian State.  And there’s a few other good games as well.  Oh and also Illinois-Nebraska which will be cool to watch if the weather is bad.

UPDATE #4: Clemson-FSU has now been postponed.   So Florida-Vandy has been moved to ABC, almost 25 years to the day since the last time a regular season SEC game was aired on ABC.  AppState-CCU moves to ESPN and, I believe, TSN2.  (I was wrong.  UF-Vandy stays on TSN2).

Saturday Afternoon​

		US	Canada
#10 Wisconsin at #19 Northwestern	3:30 PM
Iowa at Penn State	3:30 PM
San Diego State at Nevada	3:30 PM
#7 Cincinnati at UCF	3:30 PM
#22 Texas at Kansas	3:30 PM
California at Oregon State	3:30 PM
Kansas State at #17 Iowa State	4:00 PM
Kentucky at #1 Alabama	4:00 PM

Two huge games in the afternoon timeslot.  Cincinnati visits Orlando hoping for a win that would make them the undisputed king of the Group of Five going into the final quarter of the season and Northwestern has one of their biggest games in program history as the Big Ten West title is essentially on the line in Evanston with Wisky coming into town.  Now will this Big Ten West matchup have College Football Playoff impact?  Perhaps if either team runs the table.  Also if we get Kentucky somehow upsetting Bama we will finally fully get a season that matches the kind of year it has been (although it’s getting close already).  This game will start on TSN1 in progress starting at about 5:00 but will be shown, in its entirety, on TSN3.  And yes, the Mountain West is on CBS!

UPDATE: We are barely into this and UT-KU has been postponed to December 12th.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
San Jose State at Fresno State	7:00 PM
Tennessee at #23 Auburn	7:00 PM
#14 Oklahoma State at #18 Oklahoma	7:30 PM
Michigan at Rutgers	7:30 PM
Arizona at Washington	8:00 PM

And now, we have Bedlam!  Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, despite both of them being fairly far out of the Top 4, have the biggest Big XII game of the season.  This game will decide if Oklahoma State honestly has what it takes to get to the CFP or if the Sooners are still the cream of the crop in the conference.  TSN gets Tennessee-Auburn in this timeslot.  I don’t understand this.  Normally they would just also broadcast the ABC game if it was the better game, deciding to ignore showing another game for Canadians to watch.  This week they, ahem, volunteer to show this one.  I’m at a loss.  I’m very interested in seeing if Rutgers can actually beat what could be considered a team closer to the top than the bottom in the Big Ten.  Now the Wolverines aren’t the Wolverines of even last season but still, they can be a tough out.

Saturday Late Night​

		US	Canada
#20 USC at Utah	10:30 PM
Boise State at Hawaii	11:00 PM
Washington State at Stanford	11:00 PM

USC-Utah is a pretty big game in the Pac-12.  Winner still has Colorado to deal with but gets a big step up in the Pac-12 South.  Boise State needs to absolutely destroy Hawaii to get back in the New Year’s Six race and the race to leave last place in the Pac-12 North ends the week.

UPDATE #3: The race for last place in the Pac-12 North has been cancelled due to issues with COVID for Wazzu.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Indiana at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – This is the Game of the Week and I don’t think others are close.  So it’s not GOTW A, it’s just GOTW.  Indiana could do what no one thought they could and that’s beat the Buckeyes and take control of the Big Ten East.  Honestly here, the winner basically clinches the division because unless something crazy happens, they have essentially a two-game lead with three regular season weeks to go.  The loser is probably still in play for the NY6 though.  Plus, when does Big Noon Saturday ever get the big game of the week?  This is one of the very few times that has happened.

Wisconsin at Northwestern (3:30, ABC) – This should have more hype attached to it and it may by the time the game beings.  This game just feels like a classic Big Ten matchup despite the fact we will see two underrated quarterbacks in this one.  But the defense and the running game will show up because it is a B1G game and we know this.  And even if the Wildcats win, I wonder how much they will rise in the rankings because it feels like a team that will receive their fair share of disrespect.  I mean not like Pat Fitzgerald will get the Coach of the Year award (hell, he won’t even get the Big Ten COY) but he has done an amazing job getting the Cats back to the top of the Big Ten West.  I would love if somehow the Big Ten got two CFP spots and those two teams were Indiana and Northwestern.  The college football media would explode.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – Speaking of big tests, Oklahoma State has, arguably, their final regular season test here.  Win Bedlam and they are off to JerryWorld for the Big XII title game.  It would be a nice turnaround for a team that, despite their record, looked outright bad early on in the season.  This is not the case of a non-traditional power doing well and even the AP Poll not giving them their due.  They fully deserved to be where they were in the rankings.  But the Pokes are high enough in the rankings now that four straight wins to finish their regular season would put them, at least, in the Top 6 going into conference championship weekend.  I don’t know if we can say the same thing for the two-loss Sooners as even winning their final three will probably not be enough for a semi-final matchup in New Orleans or Pasadena.

Cincinnati at UCF (3:30, TSN2) – Is UCF back?  A win here would convince everyone that the Knights are back as one of the premier Group of Five teams.  But this is the Bearcats, one of the best G-5 teams ever.  Cincinnati wins this and they cement their spot at the top of the G-5 rankings and plant themselves in the catbird seat for the NY6 spot.  A loss by them opens this up to a lot of teams as we shall see in the next paragraph.

Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina (Noon, ESPN2) – This is the game that everyone in the Sun Belt has waited for.  The Chanticleers have their chance to prove their mettle and actually move up the rankings a bit if they can beat the Mountaineers here.  They will also be closely watching the game above as well since a loss by Cincinnati could put this team, of all teams, in the New Year’s Six driver’s seat.  Now that would be 2020-esque.

Honourable mention: Kansas State at Iowa State (4:00, FOX); Liberty at NC State (7:00, ESPN3…no I am not joking); USC at Utah (10:30, TSN2)

Some gambling fun and games

My picks weren’t all bad last week.  I mean I lost on SMU but many people did, Troy-CCU never got played, and lost my other upset pick as Miami pulled one out of the fire.  So hey it wasn’t so bad so let’s go for not-so-bad this week (keeping my expectations low).  Here we go:

Iowa State over Kansas State

Appalachian State over Coastal Carolina (minor upset)

NC State over Liberty (I don’t know if this is an upset or not)

UCF over Cincinnati (huge upset!)

Oklahoma over Oklahoma State

Northwestern over Wisconsin

Ohio State over Indiana

Utah over USC

Auburn over Tennessee

San Jose State over Fresno State

Florida Atlantic over UMass

Am I going to try and watch all 14+ hours of college football on Saturday, plus Friday nights games, plus the Thursday night affairs, PLUS tonight’s games?  Yes.  Yes I will be.  I might just be crazy.

NFL schedule tomorrow as per usual.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Another proposal from yours truly – Week 11 College Football Recap

You probably know this already but over 15% of the college football games this past weekend were postponed or outright cancelled.  Unfortunately this is not a surprise considering we are in the throes of the second wave of COVID-19.  College football doesn’t get exempted from this.  And to be honest, it feels like even though the powers that be are doing the best they can, they are screwing things up.  Considering it’s the kind of year it has been you have to be flexible with a lot of things these days.  College football is doing that as well.  Just look at the Pac-12 with UCLA and California.  They both had their games cancelled so on Friday, set up a game for yesterday.  This has never been done before in the history of college football considering some teams schedule non-conference games 25 years out.  So it shows you don’t need weeks to prepare for scheduling changes.  Which brings me to my proposal.

Just so you know, this is something that has been bandied about by quite a few people in and out of the college football mediasphere.  Really, it is the same thing I have said about the NFL: create a week (or two) at the end of the season (or near the end) to fill in these games that have been lost to allow for a fuller season to be played.  The SEC has kind of done that as during conference championship week, teams can reschedule lost games if they can’t find an open week any other time.  A good idea but mine would be better.  Just move conference championship day to Boxing Day.  Now you have December 19th for make-up games which could end up being very important.  And don’t start bowl season the day of the conference championships.  I mean way to make those two teams playing that bowl game feel like shit.  Start the bowls on the 28th, and move the damn Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl back.  Many are saying you can’t but have you noticed how fucked up everything is these days?  Is the most important thing to get the season finished properly?  Oh that’s right, it’s not.  It’s about money.  Just not for the players.

Alright enough of my awesome plan to help college football (yet again).  On to the recap of what was a pretty good week of college football.  It wasn’t the best week and I think a lot had to do with all the games cancelled.  My only hope is that the last month of the regular season is better (fingers crossed).

Recap

• Nebraska had a nice win over Penn State in a battle of winless teams.  Scott Frost has to be relieved.  It was a huge victory that has been mired in a slump not seen in this part of the country in decades.  Not saying this makes it so the Huskers now have a shot at the division title because they really don’t.  Saying that, it’s not like their schedule is super difficult.  Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, and Minnesota left for them.  Win out and they are 5-2 and with some help who knows.  As for PSU, wow the bottom has dropped out for them.  Only winless team left in the Big Ten.  This is not looking good for them and for James Franklin.
• NC State is quietly at 5-3 on the season after their win over the hapless Florida State Seminoles.  The game wasn’t even as close as the 38-22 score would make you believe.  FSU being relegated to the ACC Network says all you need to know about the state of that program.  They are in dire straits meaning Mike Norvell will be on a hot seat starting next season for sure.
• A very slow start for Cincinnati turned into an absolute rout when they scored 28 second quarter points on East Carolina to pick up the win.  They still have two more big games against UCF and Tulsa coming up that could put other teams back in the race to get to the American Conference Championship.  The Bearcats would have to lose at least one of those, if not both, though and I honestly can’t see that happening.
• No big matchups this day but there was the Red Bandana Game at Boston College.  If you haven’t heard about it, it’s in honour of Welles Crowther.  He was a lacrosse player at BC who ended up moving to New York City to become an equities trader.  The other thing he was was a volunteer firefighter.  He ended up helping people get out of the South Tower during 9/11 and ended up dying.  One of the people who survived talked about being saved by a man who wore a red bandana and that man was Crowther .  So this game was created annually and it’s a great tradition that was created in Boston.  And then Notre Dame came in and beat the Eagles pretty badly.  Actually that may have been a little bit of an exaggeration but the Eagles were never really close.  The Irish were too much for BC and Ian Book may have pushed himself into the Heisman conversation.  Notre Dame continues their run to the ACC Championship but have to get through North Carolina first which could be a very interesting game.
• In Big XII news, Texas Tech BARELY beat Baylor.  It was looking for a while there that the Bears had the Red Raiders’ number.  Tech needed a FG late to win this one and got it.  Neither team is doing any good, especially Baylor who has only won against Kansas and may not win another game this year.  Rough start for Dave Aranda in Waco.
• Illinois had an actual great game against Rutgers and no, I am not joking.  It looked like the Scarlet Knights were driving for the winning score until an unfortunate interception.  Huge for the Illini.  This allowed them to hit a long field goal with almost no time left to get their first win of the season.  And with all teams bowl-eligible, Lovie Smith could take his team to a bowl game in two consecutive seasons.  The last time that happened in Champaign?  2010 and 2011 in the last two years under Ron Zook.  Yeah.
• Appalachian State ended up with what ended up as a huge win as they beat Georgia State in a close one.  This makes it so their game against Coastal Carolina is still huge and for the Sun Belt East division crown.  The Mountaineers have no real shot at the New Year’s Six so now their goal is to kill the Chanticleers’ chances.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they were the favourite when those two teams meet up this coming Saturday.
• Could the Florida Gators somehow be a true factor in the CFP race?   They sure could.  I mean their offense took Arkansas to the woodshed and now Kyle Trask has to be considered a real Heisman candidate.  And the Hogs aren’t bad this year.  The Gators still need to truly figure out their defense since the entire conference has decided to become the Big XII East.  A game against Vanderbilt coming up should help them figure things out before the final stretch of games.
• Are the Wisconsin Badgers a juggernaut?  They mopped the floor with Michigan dropping 49 relatively easy points on them.  Their path to the Big Ten Championship is now very simple.  Beat Northwestern this Saturday, don’t lose anymore games to COVID and they are headed to Indianapolis.
• So what can we make of the Kentucky Wildcats this season?  They looked OK, I guess, against Vanderbilt and were able to eek out a win.  They’ve been all over the place this season and no one can quite figure them out.  Unfortunately for them, their next two games against Alabama and Florida.  Good fucking luck.
• SMU lost to Tulsa.  No New Year’s Six for you!
• There were no games between ranked teams this past weekend.  The closest we probably got is Miami’s thrilling victory over Virginia Tech.  A back-and-forth affair that came down to the wire with The U pulling out the win with a touchdown with six minutes to go and a defensive stand shortly after that.  The Canes need to keep winning to move up the chain and hope that one of Clemson or Notre Dame loses down the stretch so they can get back into the ACC Championship.
• Maybe we should call them Windiana.  Are the Hoosiers ready for real pressure?  They have it coming up.  They went way out in front against Michigan State and cruised to the shutout this past weekend to move themselves squarely into the Top 10.  Now they have, arguably, the biggest game in program history as they play Ohio State this coming Saturday.  They win that and they have to be considered, amazingly enough, a true College Football Playoff contender.  Amazing.
• It looked for a while that Oregon was not going to be able to pull through in their game against Washington State.  A 22-point fourth quarter helped them to the big win.  At this point, other than maybe USC, the Ducks are feeling like the only Pac-12 hope for the CFP.  And struggling to beat a team like Wazzu just doesn’t cut it.
• Marshall beat Middle Tennessee.  I would honestly be shocked if the Thundering Herd don’t get to 10-0 going into the Conference USA Championship.
• Is the ACC the new Big XII?  North Carolina and Wake Forest both put up 50-burgers in their defense-optional matchup.  Both teams are the epitome of the ACC mid-card.  Good teams but none of them seem like contenders, even if they are ranked as such.  Both of these teams are good and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them both ranked at the end of the season but neither of them look like they could contend with Clemson or Notre Dame.  Now watch the Heels beat the Irish.
• Finally, USC and Arizona had a fun match out in Pac-12 land.  Another back-and-forth match with three touchdowns in the final four minutes.  The Trojans keep rolling with the win and are looking like the only challenger to Oregon in the entire Pac-12.

Normally at this point of the season we would be heading into SEC Sleepwalk Saturday followed by Footballgasm Weekend and that would end the regular season.  Instead, we have a good week coming up, followed by American Thanksgiving, followed by two more weeks of the regular season.  So yeah these games are important but still not as important as those final regular season games.  Anyway, let’s get to my Top 25 which may or may not be of any importance:

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

Not much has happened at the top but there should be a lot to come in the last few weeks of the regular season.  Unless something weird happens, both Georgia and Auburn won’t get to the CFP.  Alabama is almost a shoo-in at this point unless they don’t just shit the bed but fill the bedroom with diarrhea.  Notre Dame wins out and they are essentially a lock.  Ohio State is probably the same.  I can’t see a game that Ohio State would lose the rest of the way.  I am going to continue to drink the Kool-Aid and say Cincinnati and BYU are going to make things very difficult for The Committee.  The most important thing here though?  Indiana is in the Top 10 in the AP Poll but not quite in my poll.  They beat tOSU though, they are easily in the Top 10 if not the Top 5 in both of those venerable polls.  And let’s not forget about Coastal Carolina.  And Marshall.  Two Group of Five teams who are playing well, haven’t lost, and could cause other issues for The Committee.  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 that is not a college football blueblood 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.  Those are the people I like.

We got some MACtion tomorrow night!  Buffalo and Bowling Green tussle starting at 7:00 on CBS Sports Network and Akron faces off against Kent State starting at 7:00 on ESPNU (if you can get that).  Ohio and Miami-OH were supposed to play but they are the first MACtion game to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus.  Even MACtion can’t handle the virus.  Then the next night is another set of MACtion games with one of them being on CBSSN: Toledo-Eastern Michigan.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore).  Wednesday, I will try and get the weekend-plus of college football and its TV schedule up.  Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Thursday (hopefully).  Wish me luck and enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!

We are almost there – Week 7 College Football TV Schedule

If you don’t know, schedules for some of the games are set at the start of the season.  But for the rest of the games, it goes on a 12-day wait.  So 12 days before the week, the rest of the games are scheduled unless they are put on a hold which some of the bigger conferences sometime do (especially the ACC and SEC).  Which means I just saw the first games scheduled for the Big Ten a few days ago.  Yes, we are getting ever closer to all the conferences being back and having a real, full college football schedule.  I hope I haven’t got too used to having the games be done by 11:30.

That’s all I got.  But man is it huge news.  Gets you excited, doesn’t it?  I know it does for me but I think it takes a lot less to get me excited these days.  Anyway, let’s just get to the god damn schedule already, OK Bossman?  Alright let’s go.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Arkansas State	7:30 PM

One game.  Really nothing big but with the rest of the conferences coming back, we will get more weeknight football so this is a win-win in my opinion.

Friday

		US	Canada
#17 SMU at Tulane	6:00 PM
#14 BYU at Houston	9:30 PM

Two games, both being fairly important.  The winner of SMU-Tulane will have a great shot at the AAC West Division crown but may have to get through Houston, who faces still undefeated BYU who is trying to reach the New Year’s Six.  Now, there’s a lot of in progress stuff here.  TSN4 will start showing the Mustangs-Green Wave game in progress, probably around halftime.  TSN4 will also show the Cougars-Cougars game (ha ha) in progress, also probably around halftime because for some reason TSN4 needs to show Sportscentre.  HAS TO!  TSN1 will also get to BYU-UH in progress at some point.

Saturday Early​​

		US	Canada
#1 Clemson at Georgia Tech	Noon
Pittsburgh at #13 Miami	Noon
#15 Auburn at South Carolina	Noon
#8 Cincinnati at Tulsa	Noon
Kansas at West Virginia	Noon
Kentucky at #18 Tennessee	Noon
Army at UTSA	1:30 PM

I think TSN will really have to up their game if they want to keep people at Bell and Rogers…well, Bell at least.  I have decided to still include a few games that you could have even with the specialty packs in flux.  Honestly there is not one huge game here but a few decent ones.  I think the sheer amount of options helps here.  Especially since I don’t know how many of these games will be close although the Army-UTSA game could be a good one (and could be over by around 4:00).

UPDATE #2: UC-Tulsa has been postponed to December 5th.  It has been replaced on ESPN2 by Navy-East Carolina.

UPDATE #4: UK-UT now will be on TSN1.

UPDATE #5: Auburn-South Carolina no longer on TSN3.  It has been replaced by Pitt-Miami.  Instead, AU-SC moves to TSN4.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Louisville at #4 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
UCF at Memphis	3:30 PM
Ole Miss at Arkansas	3:30 PM
LSU at #10 Florida	4:00 PM
#11 Texas A&M at Mississippi State	4:00 PM

The afternoon sked is a definite improvement on the Noon schedule even with less games.  Now we shall see what happens with the LSU-UF game.  With the Gators having positive Covid-19 tests in their ranks, the game may end up being postponed.  This has happened before due to weather concerns and it can be a bit of a nightmare to reschedule.  For this reason, as of right now, I believe TSN will pick up Rebels-Razorbacks instead for the sure thing (also because the broadcast window on TSN starts at 3:30 and the ESPN one has moved to 4).  Nice to see the American conference on ABC but this could be the last time this season, just so they understand.  The other two games could be over real quick.

UPDATE:  Yes, there’s an update already.  LSU-Florida has now been moved to December 12th.

UPDATE #3: Oh god this is ridiculous.  OK, so TAMU-MSU has been moved to ESPN to replace the LSU-Florida game.  Ole Miss-Arkansas has been moved to the SEC Network.  Finally, UMass-Georgia Southern has moved to ESPN2.  As for the Canadian side of things, Ole Miss-Arkansas will no longer appear on a TSN channel whereas TAMU-MSU moves to TSN4.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
Marshall at Louisiana Tech	6:00 PM
#5 North Carolina at Florida State	7:30 PM
Southern Miss at UTEP	7:30 PM
Boston College at #23 Virginia Tech	8:00 PM
#3 Georgia at #2 Alabama	8:00 PM

Oh baby.  Now this…this is a primetime schedule.  UGA-Bama.  And….um…..well….damn.  I can’t see Florida State keeping it close with UNC, BC could surprise the Hokies, Marshall-LaTech is a tasty Conference USA matchup and the other game should appear on TSN.  But yeah it’s all about the Dawgs and the Tide.

UPDATE #6: USM-UTEP will no longer be on TSN3.

UPDATE #7: That last update wouldn’t have mattered anyway since USM-UTEP has been postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Georgia at Alabama (8:00, CBS) – Easily the biggest game of the week, if not a great candidate for Game of the Year.  A Georgia win keeps the Bulldog train running towards Jacksonville and a (still somewhat) mega-matchup with Florida in the Cocktail Party.  An Alabama win means we are running headlong into running the table through the regular season unless the Iron Bowl has a good Auburn team in it.  The loser still has a chance at the College Football Playoff, despite what many people hope.  I still wouldn’t be totally shocked to see two SEC teams in the CFP.

Pittsburgh at Miami (Noon, ACC Network) – Holy fuck does it ever drop off from the game of the week.  Two teams coming off rough games for opposite reasons.  The U couldn’t keep up with Clemson and Pitt loses an overtime heartbreaker to BC.  For some reason, though, this game always has something weird happen.  We have seen enough from this series to know this should be good.  So don’t be surprised if this in absolute blowout either way.

Boston College at Virginia Tech (8:00, ACC Network) – Virginia Tech losing means Notre Dame and North Carolina would be in the catbird seat in the ACC to face Clemson in the ACC Championship (and probably get slaughtered).  But hold on…the Boston College football Eagles are making a claim that maybe they should have that opportunity in this division-less season.  BC has played quite well under new head coach Jeff Hafley and a win here means other teams will have to take notice.  ABC/Disney might be a bit miffed they didn’t pick this game over the other ACC game in this timeslot since this should, most likely, be a better game.

BYU at Houston (Friday, 9:30, TSN3) – Remember what I said above?  Houston basically just started their season so we don’t know what we are going to get with them.  But if the Cougs (the Houston ones) keep winning then they should end up passing all the teams in their conference and become the NY6 representative (although they still have Memphis, SMU and a potential AAC Championship game to try and get through).  A Cougs (of the BYU variety) victory keeps their undefeated streak going and could have The Committee having to make a tough decision come CFP time.

Marshall at Louisiana Tech (6:00, CBS Sports Network) – CBSSN kind of lucked out with this game.  Marshall is a pretty good team and Louisiana Tech is contending in the C-USA West Division.  The winner will almost assuredly be in the Top 25 come Sunday.  This could also end up being a surprising shootout who could get a lot of viewers thanks to the odd start time.

Honourable mention: Army at UTSA (1:30, CBS Sports Network); SMU at Tulane (Friday, 6:00, TSN3); Clemson at Georgia Tech (Noon, ABC/TSN5)

Some gambling fun and games

I’m sure most people didn’t pick the Sooners to beat Texas last week, right?  I will say yes so I feel great about that pick.  I got two of four upset picks correct (WOOHOO!) but some of the other picks were so very wrong.  Let’s erase that from our memories (I know that’s what I’m doing) and move on to this week’s picks.  Here we go:

Miami over Pittsburgh (but it will be close)

BYU over Houston

Virginia Tech over Boston College

Army over UTSA

Clemson over Georgia Tech

Louisiana Tech over Marshall

Alabama over Georgia (although I think this will also be close)

SMU over Tulane

West Virginia over Kansas

Arkansas State over Georgia State

North Carolina over Florida State

Last night’s game was a good one with Coastal Carolina kicking a late field goal to beat Louisiana.  Basically, it looks like the Sun Belt East (and perhaps the Sun Belt, period) will come down to the Chanticleers’ game with Appalachian State in late November.

No Thursday Night Football game!  OK maybe I shouldn’t have put the exclamation mark there since I am not excited about it.  It was supposed to be a massive game between the Chiefs and the Bills.  Instead, thanks to the Titans and all their positive Covid cases, they had to play the Bills two nights ago, meaning there was no way the KC-BUF game could happen Thursday night.  Instead it has moved to Monday as part of a Monday Night Football doubleheader.  Expect more of this throughout the season.

This will be the final Saturday where I won’t watch college football into Sunday morning.  Not gonna lie: it wasn’t a bad thing to wake up at a relatively normal time Sunday morning.  But still…I can’t wait for all those late night affairs and, oh, Hawaii football!  I think I have a problem.  Anyway, everyone enjoy the games since I know I will!

Guess who’s back. Back again. Guess who’s back. Tell a friend. – Week 3 College Football TV Schedule

Yes the Big Ten is back.  They will start their fall season in late October and go straight through to conference championship weekend on December 19th.  Also during that week they will have an East-West Challenge of sorts which looks weird but we all know we will watch.  My guess is they thought they would be the trend setters with sitting out the Fall season.  The Pac-12 followed along, as did the MAC and the Mountain West, essentially the two G-5 conferences paired with the Big Ten and Pac-12, respectively.  Then they watched as most of the rest of the FBS teams and conferences decided to play anyway.  So now they look like idiots even though their initial thoughts weren’t bad.  But money and ego rule the day and that means the B1G is back.  It also means schedules will become a gongshow in about a month but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Alright enough about the Big Ten and everything going on with them.  Let’s talk about the teams that are playing right now and if we can see them in this country.  Not looking too great to be honest.

Friday

		US	Canada
Campbell at Coastal Carolina	7:30 PM

Yep, no Thursday games again.  That ends next week, I believe.  Anyway, how about Campbell getting more national exposure?  Same with the Chanticleers.  This actually could be interesting considering the Fighting Camels (one of the best team names in football) took Georgia Southern down to the wire and lost by one.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Navy at Tulane	Noon
Syracuse at #25 Pittsburgh	Noon
Tulsa at #11 Oklahoma State	Noon
#19 Louisiana at Georgia State	Noon
Liberty at Western Kentucky	Noon
Houston at Baylor	Noon
Boston College at Duke	Noon

So TSN is showing games all day but only on TSN2.  OK.  Tulsa-OSU is the only game that is for sure scheduled though.  The others are TBA.  Really?  There aren’t many games this week in college football that you could show.  Figure it out!  It is not rocket science.  Then again, I find anyone associated with Canadian media finds college football to be so very difficult to figure out.  It boggles the mind for sure.  And if any of them see this, please, don’t blame COVID and don’t blame ESPN and don’t blame whatever else.  Blame your own lazy asses.

UPDATE: Houston-Baylor has been postponed.  So FOX gave up the U.S. Open to NBC to broadcast other sports today.  Now they don’t have college football.  Maybe they are showing some baseball.  What a waste though.  Thanks to Twitter follower @pinopanza.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#14 UCF at Georgia Tech	3:30 PM
#23 Appalachian State at Marshall	3:30 PM
Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern	3:30 PM
The Citadel at #1 Clemson	4:00 PM
Troy at Middle Tennessee	4:00 PM

App State-Marshall could end up being a great game.  And how about that getting to be on CBS!  Even though the Mountain West made what they thought was the smart move considering the pandemic, they must feel shitty since this spot was supposed to go to Boise State and Air Force.  This is huge for the Sun Belt and Conference USA.  FAU-Georgia Southern should also be pretty good and gets an ESPN spot.  And finally, Troy and MTSU play their first of two games this season.  Yep, just like Liberty and New Mexico State last season.  2020 in college football is so all over the place.

UPDATE #2: Another cancellation.  FAU-Georgia Southern is now cancelled.  So now The Citadel-Clemson moves to TSN2.

UPDATE #4: Troy-MTSU has been moved to ESPN.  Filling in their original ESPN2 timeslot will be Stephen F. Austin-UTSA.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
SMU at North Texas	6:00 PM
#17 Miami at #18 Louisville	7:30 PM
Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss	7:30 PM
Texas State at ULM	7:30 PM
Wake Forest at NC State	8:00 PM

Well at least we have The U against the Cards here.  That could be good.  Or……ummmm……yeah.  Honestly any of the rest of the games, other than the SMU-UNT game, could be close which would at least make them exciting.  But really this is a bad primetime schedule.

UPDATE #3: LaTech-USM has been moved out of the TSN2 spot and WF-NCST has been put there instead.  My guess is that has a lot to do with The Citadel-Clemson being put on earlier in the day.  Makes for a smoother transition for TSN to stay on the same network.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Miami at Louisville (7:30, ABC) – Not many decent games this week as we slowly get into the season.  And none would be considered Game of the Year possibilities.  But this is the ABC Primetime affair and College Gameday will be in Louisville in front of approximately zero fans so this is as good a pick as any for the Game of the Week.  This could end up being a great game to be honest.  The loser of this game is probably eliminated from contention for the ACC Championship.  Yes it’s early to be saying that but I can be confident of that thought.

Appalachian State at Marshall (3:30, CBS) – Let’s be frank here: this is a really bad schedule this week.  But this is when we usually have some of the craziest college football moments.  And how about these two teams getting a spot on CBS!  Crazy!  Only in 2020.  Expect a good game but the Mountaineers, I think, are the best Group of Five team this season and should win this and keep their momentum going as they get close to conference play.

UCF at Georgia Tech (3:30, ABC) – Look the Ramblin’ Wreck were able to come back and beat Florida State last week.  No, UCF is not Florida State.  But maybe Geoff Collins has got them acclimated to more of a pro-style offense already.  You never know.  UCF is UCF and this is the kind of game they need to win to capture the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six…if we have a New Year’s Six.

USF at Notre Dame (2:30, USA Network) – So do I think the Bulls can upset the Irish?  Not really.  But I needed to put this here to point out that this game is not on NBC.  It’s on the USA Network.  The USA NETWORK!  Because the U.S. Open has gone back to NBC from FOX, that will be shown on the main network meaning this was relegated.  But not to NBC Sports Network.  Oh no.  All the way to the USA Network.  The same network that shows WWE Monday Night Raw.  Wow.  And no, it is not being shown here anywhere.

Honourable mention: Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern (3:30, TSN2); Navy at Tulane (Noon, ABC).

Some gambling fun and games

Alright let’s see what I can do with this week’s games:

Baylor over Houston

Pittsburgh over Syracuse

Louisville over Miami (no, not an upset)

UCF over Georgia Tech

Florida Atlantic over Georgia Southern

Appalachian State over Marshall

Notre Dame over USF

Tulane over Navy

As for the specialty packs, I am going to contact the cable companies to see if there is an update.  It sounds like Bell Satellite might have had their specialty pack up.  I don’t know why they would have theirs up for Satellite customers but not Fibe customers but I don’t pretend to know why Bell does the things they do with college sports.  I hope to get better news this time around.  Not like you would miss a ton of games but nine games is nine games and the point is so that Canadian college football fans have options to watch.  Otherwise they try other methods and these cable companies lose out.  Then again, I don’t think they truly understand that.

Anyway, enjoy the games everyone and have a great weekend!