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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now for the rest of the bowl extravaganza:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

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

Probable Shitcanning

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

Possible Shitcanning

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

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

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

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

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

Bossman’s Heisman Ballot of Mediocrity

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

Honourable Mention

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

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

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

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

OK that’s a new one (and the Week 4 College Football TV schedule)

Hey, remember when Lane Kiffin was fired on the tarmac while at USC? Good times. Well, Herm Edwards has just done one better.

After Arizona State’s horrible loss to Eastern Michigan, he was called over to the end zone by ASU athletic director Ray Anderson and ASU president Michael Crow. They had a brief conversation with Herm nodding a few times and then he said OK a couple of times and then was escorted off the field. It seems like he was fired in the fucking end zone after the game. That is impressive. The ASU brass are not messing around with this. I am honestly surprised Herm lasted this long. I guess he didn’t play to win the game in the end.

Coaches are getting fired left and right. It’s like the coaching hot seat is trying to out do realignment. Look, let’s just get to the games and try and move most of that shit to the offseason. Agreed?

Thursday

		US	Canada
West Virginia at Virginia Tech	7:30 PM
Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	7:30 PM
Chattanooga at Illinois	8:00 PM

Three games to start the week in college football. None of them super important. The best game actually might come from the Sun Belt as both Coastal and GSU are looking to somehow win the crowded East Division. The other game is between two Power Five teams who could be considered disappointing so far this year. The Mountaineers lost to Kansas and Tech lost to Old Dominion. I don’t know which loss is worse but they are both bad (as of this point). And with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football game being the Steelers and Browns, I can see not a lot of people watching any of these games (unless they are close, obviously).

Friday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Syracuse	7:00 PM
Nevada at Air Force	8:00 PM
Boise State at UTEP	9:00 PM

This is better than Thursday night’s sked for sure. At least here there is a team that should be ranked in Syracuse. They could be 4-0 if they can beat the Cavaliers which would feel crazy but there are always a few teams that surprise everyone and the Orange are definitely one of them. As for the other games, does anyone want to win the Mountain West Mountain Division? Boise State has looked poor and Air Force laid an egg against Wyoming last week. Utah State got destroyed by an FCS school and New Mexico and Colorado State have been predictably below-average. Maybe Wyoming is the team to beat in the division, who knows?

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#5 Clemson at #21 Wake Forest	Noon
Rhode Island at #24 Pittsburgh	Noon
Central Michigan at #14 Penn State	Noon
Buffalo at Eastern Michigan	Noon
Missouri at Auburn	Noon
#17 Baylor at Iowa State	Noon
TCU at SMU	Noon
Maryland at #4 Michigan	Noon
Duke at Kansas	Noon
Bowling Green at Mississippi State	Noon

The best early slate so far this season by a country mile. Clemson and Wake Forest square off in the first round of the ACC Atlantic round-robin, that will eventually include Florida State, NC State and possibly even Syracuse. I still believe College Gameday should have gone to Lawrence for Duke against Kansas. That would have been wild. Both teams are undefeated. I don’t want to guarantee that the winner will be ranked but they should be. Also, I am sure Nebraska is watching the Baylor-ISU game closely as Matt Campbell is one of their coaching targets, along with Mark Stoops and Gary Patterson. No, Urban Meyer is not going to coach the Huskers.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
UCLA at Colorado	2:00 PM
Notre Dame at North Carolina	3:30 PM
Middle Tennessee at #25 Miami	3:30 PM
Minnesota at Michigan State	3:30 PM
#20 Florida at #11 Tennessee	3:30 PM
FIU at WKU	3:30 PM
#22 Texas at Texas Tech	3:30 PM
Indiana at Cincinnati	3:30 PM
Toledo at San Diego State	3:30 PM
Georgia Tech at UCF	4:00 PM
#15 Oregon at Washington State	4:00 PM
Tulsa at #16 Ole Miss	4:00 PM
Arizona at California	5:30 PM

The Third Saturday in September highlights the afternoon timeslot. Too bad it’s actually the Fourth Saturday in September. Why the hell is the UF-UT rivalry even called the Third Saturday in September if you’re not going to SCHEDULE IT FOR THE THIRD SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER? Dumb. If you had Wazzu undefeated and a challenge for Oregon, raise your hand. Now put them down because no one thought that. That could be an intriguing and close matchup on the Palouse. Somehow Cincy is favoured by more than two touchdowns against Indy. I feel a close game there. Finally, the Irish have a chance to prove that they are not going to struggle to go bowling this year although the Tar Heels are better than last season.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UNLV at Utah State	7:00 PM
#10 Arkansas vs. #23 Texas A&M (in Arlington)	7:00 PM
Northern Illinois at #8 Kentucky	7:00 PM
Iowa at Rutgers	7:00 PM
Marshall at Troy	7:00 PM
Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State	7:30 PM
Miami-OH at Northwestern	7:30 PM
Florida Atlantic at Purdue	7:30 PM
Charlotte at South Carolina	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #2 Alabama	7:30 PM
Boston College at Florida State	8:00 PM
Kansas State at #6 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

You’ll notice the only TSN game this week is here. And of course they simulcast the ABC game. Nice. TSN has President’s Cup golf and the CFL on during the afternoon so that meant college football is out earlier in the day. Oh and they also have curling and NASCAR pushing college football aside. I just wish they would do the ESPN game and not the ABC one for people that don’t have the specialty pack. Oh well. Wildcats-Sooners is always interesting as OU always seems to have trouble with KSU. And the Southwest Classic (I think that’s what it’s called) is in JerryWorld and this time both teams are ranked so the stakes are a bit higher this time around.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#7 USC at Oregon State	9:30 PM
Wyoming at #19 BYU	10:15 PM
Western Michigan at San Jose State	10:30 PM
#13 Utah at Arizona State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #18 Washington	10:30 PM

Wow the Pac-12 Network scored a big one. Or, you could say that USC-Oregon State was somehow relegated to the Pac-12 Network. I know they are doing this so that they can get a USC conference game early in the season since they need to show at least one of every team as per the contract. Thing is, Oregon State is probably just outside the Top 25 and USC is solidly in and may be the Pac-12’s best shot at the College Football Playoff this year. So not a good look. Well, it would be OK if the Pac-12 Network was shown in more homes but it’s not.

Big Games O’ The Week

Clemson at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC) – Many thought that this would be a huge early ACC game and they are right. Clemson, despite being ranked 5th in the nation, have looked shaky at times, especially at the quarterback position. Sam Hartman has looked great returning from injury but the Wake defense has been subpar. Why this didn’t get the ABC primetime spot, oh yes…the Big Ten. Say no more.

Florida at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – This is the Vols’ chance to prove they are…well, at least the third-best team in the SEC East. The division is improving. The Gators are better. The Gamecocks are better. Vandy is playing well. Kentucky has been lights out so far this season. It’s not the case anymore that one team dominates and the rest kind of suck.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (7:00, specialty pack) – I don’t know if the Aggies are still stinging from the Appalachian State loss or the video that came out of their Midnight Yell practice that made fun of App State. All I know is that the swagger might be gone from this squad. Arkansas, on the other hand, survived Petrinomania last weekend in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was. So, really we have two teams who aren’t playing their best against each other inside a division that is still a damn juggernaut. Should be fun!

USC at Oregon State (9:30, YouTube) – The Beavers’ 3-0 start has to be shocking some people. And they’ve looked pretty good doing it. You know who has looked even better? Yep, the men of Troy. Again, I get why this game is on the Pac-12 Network but man does it suck from a visibility standpoint for the conference. No wonder USC and, at this point, UCLA are heading to the Big Ten.

Baylor at Iowa State (Noon, specialty pack) – Baylor lost once, to BYU, but has looked good otherwise. Iowa State is undefeated thanks to a sloppy game (that’s putting it mildly) beating Iowa for the CyHawk Trophy. Both teams have sights on JerryWorld in December so games like this are almost must-win. Plus, I’m sure many in the Cornhuskers athletic department will have interest in this game, as I mentioned above. If I’m Matt Campbell, I use that interest to get a bigger deal in Ames since I don’t know if I’d want to coach in Lincoln. Now if it was me, I’d take the massive contract, not give a shit, make them buy me out, and never work again but that’s just me.

Duke at Kansas (Noon, FOX Sports One) – College Gameday, you cowards. I have to lean Kansas in this one because Duke has had success in the past decade; the Jayhawks, not so much.

Psycho Game of the Week

UNLV at Utah State (7:00, CBS Sports Network) – Utah State is quite bad. Worse than pretty much anyone thought they’d be. Sure, the Rebels are a better team this season but until they become bowl-eligible, they will be considered a below-average program at best. Too many choices in the primetime schedule to this is an easy one to avoid.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Vanderbilt at Alabama (7:30, specialty pack) – As good as the Commodores have been so far this season, this is a whole different animal. I expect the Tide to punish Vandy all night.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Figured I would add another section to the blog posts. Feeling generous, I am. So here we go with some stats to send you into the weekend:

• Since the Badgers upset Ohio State in 2004, Wisconsin is 0-5 in Columbus.
• Oklahoma has lost six Big XII games in the last decade. Three of those have been to Kansas State.
• Cincinnati is 17-5 in non-conference games since Luke Fickell was hired as head coach.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

9-4 this past week against the spread. That’s quite good if I say so myself. I picked WKU to lose but cover against Indiana. Same with LSU against Mississippi State. Unfortunately I also thought BYU would do that and that game wasn’t close. Can’t win em all. OK, on to this week’s picks:

• Virginia Tech (+1.5) over West Virginia with the outright win
• Virginia (+9) over Syracuse (but Cuse wins)
• Buffalo (+6) over Eastern Michigan (but EMU wins by a field goal)
• Central Michigan (+28) over Penn State (but the Nittany Lions win fairly easily)
• Bowling Green (+30) over Mississippi State (the Bulldogs win by about three touchdowns)
• SMU (+2) over TCU (with an outright win)
• WKU (-31) over FIU
• Texas (-6.5) over Texas Tech
• Notre Dame (+1.5) over North Carolina with the outright win
• Washington State (+6.5) over Oregon (but UO wins a close one)
• Marshall (-3.5) over Troy
• Iowa (-7.5) over Rutgers
• Wisconsin (+18.5) over Ohio State (tOSU wins but it may be closer than we think)
• Wyoming (+22.5) over BYU (Cougs win this but it’s close)

There you go. A lot of info for ya to peruse before your viewing commences. I’m hoping for another solid weekend of college football action. It’s never good when there’s a full slate of games and by the end you feel completely underwhelmed. Hasn’t happened often but when it does it’s such an empty feeling. Anyway, enjoy the games everyone!

Hey how did I do? Also, my updated NFL playoff predictions.

Basically, this is a post of how shitty my predictions are.  And some of them are BAD.

Let’s start with the college football portion of our show.  As I usually do, despite the fact I make my predictions public, I always assume some of them will be horrible.  But I made my choices, dammit, and I’m gonna stick with them.  Unlike some of you loser experts out there.  Alright let’s get going with this.

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• OK then here we go.  This is gonna be bad, I can just feel it:
  • Alabama – Picked them #2 and they ended up #1.  Nice.  Good start for the ol’ Bossman.
  • Ohio State – I figured this was a no-brainer.  It wasn’t.  I had then #3 and they ended up at the Rose Bowl.  So not too bad as a lot of experts had them in their Top 4.
  • Oklahoma – I had them #1.  Then the first game of the season happened and I realized it wouldn’t happen.  Ended up outside the New Year’s Six and lost both quarterbacks to the transfer portal.  Not good.
  • North Carolina – What in the fuck was I thinking?  I did not bank on the O-line being possibly the worst in the country, that’s what I was thinking.  Anyway, they came oh so close to not even being bowl-eligible.  Completely gross pick on my part.
• How about my New Year’s Six picks?  Might as well go through them one-by-one as well:
  • I had Notre Dame going to the Fiesta Bowl.  Spot on!
  • Clemson to the Peach Bowl.  Ugh.  Not that Clemson had a terrible season but they were really never close to the New Year’s Six.
  • Cincinnati to the Peach Bowl.  They did better than I thought they would.  Congrats to them and for breaking the Group of Five ceiling.
  • Iowa State to the Sugar Bowl.  I honestly though ISU would finally break through and get that Sugar Bowl bid.  They hung in there but really were never in the Big XII race.
  • Texas A&M to the Sugar Bowl.  I figured after they beat Bama that they would be in this spot.  Man, was I wrong.
  • Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl.  Honestly, they were a tough loss to Minnesota away from the Big Ten Championship and then who knows what happens if they get there.
  • USC to the Rose Bowl.  Holy shit.
  • Washington to the Fiesta Bowl.  Double holy shit.  I whiffed so badly on my two Pac-12 picks.
• Other terrible predictions included Texas at #21 and going to the Alamo Bowl, TCU being #23 and heading to the Cheez-It Bowl and Nebraska going to a bowl at all.  I fall for it every year it seems.
• I had Georgia, Coastal Carolina and Oregon being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in.  Georgia was a huge miss on my part.  Oregon ended up pretty much right where I thought they would.  Coastal Carolina wasn’t as good but still won double-digit games.  So I would call those not so bad picks.

Heisman Trophy

• I had Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell as my #1 and #2.  Well this is a great start.
• OK this isn’t bad.  I had Bryce Young at #5.  I wondered if he could come out from under Mac Jones’ shadow and he did more than that for sure, especially in the SEC Championship where he clinched the trophy.
• Let’s look at some of the rest of my Top 10:
  • D.J. Uiagalelei at #3.  Ouch.  Despite the fact Clemson still did pretty good this season, D.J. was mediocre for much of it.
  • J.T. Daniels at #7.  Oh my.  Georgia fans are very happy that Stetson Bennett, the former walk-on, came through for them to win the title.
  • Kedon Slovis at #8.  OK then.  He’s now in the transfer portal which says all you need to know about how his season went.
  • D’Eriq King at #10.  Alright, I’m done here.

Coaching Hot Seat

I usually do pretty well with this.  Let’s see.

• Normally I do pretty well with the coaches on Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning section.  Not so this season.  Only Walt Bell was fired on this list with Jeff Brohm and Dino Babers possibly saving their jobs well into 2022.  Even the things I do well at I’m not doing well at.
• The next section I predicted better.  Two out of three.  Saying that, Jonathan Smith almost did a good enough job to be considered for other coaching openings.
• I should apologize to Jim Harbaugh though.  I shouldn’t have even put him on the list and I did in the Possible Shitcanning section.  Stupid me.  He had the best season he’s had in Ann Arbor and may end up back in the NFL in 2022.
• Honestly, most of the coaches did not get fired on my list and some actually did quite a bit better than most thought.  My excuse?  Look at how the season was.  It was insane!  How was I to know it would be this crazy?

Just A Bunch of Predictions, Good and Bad

Let’s be honest: it’s probably mostly bad but let’s go through this exercise anyway.

• Most of the teams I had with good records (at least 10 wins) did well if you don’t include North Carolina, Washington and USC, which I mentioned earlier.
• I predicted a fair amount of games on TSN during the regular season.  Boy, was I wrong.  It was very weird since TSN totally dropped the ball during the regular season.  Then come bowl season, TSN went nuts and broadcast almost every game.  They did more college games during the past few weeks then they had during the three-plus months before it.  Just bizarre.  So, in the end, I wish they would balance it out a bit more but they didn’t do too badly, I guess.
• Hey look who got the UTSA conference title win correct?  This guy…I’m pointing at myself.  They may be building something big in San Antonio with the Roadrunners.  I mean it’s in Texas, a big city with only one pro team and they are joining the best Group of Five conference, the American, for 2023.  Things are looking up for this quite new football team.
• Boise State.  Talk about being overshadowed in the Mountain West.  They haven’t looked this average in a long, loooooooong time.  I figured they would win the Mountain West, like they usually do, and it ended up they didn’t even get to the title game and had five teams legitimately better than them during the season.
• I shouldn’t have gone all-in with Oklahoma.  I think I bought the Spencer Rattler hype.  OK, I know I did.  I should have remembered him in that QB1 series.  He’s a dick.
• It still seems like no one can win at Kansas.  It looks like Lance Leipold is on the right track, especially with a win over Texas, but I nailed the pick (almost) and know it will take at least another year to get all the kinks out of the program so that Leipold can put his stamp on it.  I hope he gets that chance.
• Who did I get right in the Pac-12?  Almost none of the teams.   I had Oregon winning 10 games, Utah winning 9 and Arizona State winning 9.  Not bad.  I also had Washington winning 11 (ugh), Oregon State winning 3 (yikes) and Washington State winning 4 (oops).
• I got all 7 teams in the SEC West going bowling.  I’ll give myself a light pat on the back for that because it wasn’t a huge stretch to think that would happen.  I will say, though, that South Carolina was quite a bit better than I thought they would be.  Same with Tennessee.  Florida?  Yeah that was a surprise.  Same with the Dan Mullen firing.  Didn’t see that coming…back in July.
• Maybe I overestimated how good Coastal Carolina would be.  They still won 10 games though so I wasn’t THAT far off.
• Yeah I couldn’t see all the realignment that happened just before the season commenced.  Could anyone have foreseen this?  Probably not.  I’ll go with that.
• Hey who got the AAC Championship pairing correct?  I think I may have been one of very few to nail the Houston pick (having them be second to Cincinnati).
• The Independents were, honestly, pretty easy.  Notre Dame, Liberty, Army, BYU: good.  New Mexico State, UConn, UMass: bad.  Simple.
• Ugh, my ACC predictions.  Oof, my Big Ten predictions (although I did have Iowa in the Big Ten title game).  Oh god, my MAC predictions.  Not even fucking close.  OK enough of this.

I don’t feel like doing a Stassen score to be honest with you.  I’m not as good as some of the normal prediction mags and that’s fine.  I have fun doing the predictions, even when they end up being shitty.

Now, the NFL Playoffs.  I have to revise my choices from August since some teams (COUGH*Seattle*COUGH) underperformed and others were better than advertised because the NFL season was almost as crazy as the college season.  So here goes:

Wild Card Round

Buffalo def. New England

Kansas City def. Pittsburgh

Cincinnati def. Las Vegas

LA Rams def. Arizona

San Francisco def. Dallas

Tampa Bay def. Philadelphia

Divisional Playoffs

Tennessee def. Cincinnati

Buffalo def. Kansas City

LA Rams def. Tampa Bay

Green Bay def. San Francisco

Conference Championships

Buffalo def. Tennessee (revenge for the Music City Miracle)

LA Rams def. Green Bay

Super Bowl

Buffalo def. LA Rams

So I still have the Bills winning over an NFC West team.  So not a huge change, I guess.

Now that the college football season is over it’s time for the weird all-star games they have.  Some of them have bizarre rules.  But at least it’s still a chance to see some college players before they head to the NFL or an NFL practice squad or the CFL or the XFL or the USFL.  Man, there’s a lot of leagues.  You’d think the CFL would cave and put some teams in strategic NORTHERN American cities.  It worked in Baltimore, it could work again.  Just don’t put a team in fucking Shreveport.  Anyway, here is the schedule for the crazy all-star games:

• Hula Bowl – January 15th at Noon on CBS Sports Network
• NFLPA Collegiate Bowl – January 29th on NFL Network (time TBA)
• East West Shrine Game – February 3rd at 8:00 on NFL Network
• Senior Bowl – February 5th at 2:30 on NFL Network

After those games, no more college football until late August.  Prepare for the dry season.

What will the upcoming posts be?

• Spring football?  No.  Not a chance.
• The NCAA basketball conference tournament schedules will definitely return.  Those start in a little over a month so learn about some of the teams that may try and bust your brackets.
• The NFL Draft.  How many mock drafts will I do?  I don’t know.  One for sure just before the draft.  I may do others.  I may not.  Who knows.
• I’m sure there will be a random post or two in there.  You know, when I’m bored.

So as I said before we are getting into the dead period…for college football.  A sad, sad time.  Maybe one of these years I will take the time away from watching the greatest sport on Earth (after Chess Boxing) to improve myself top to bottom.  Ah, who am I kidding.  Have a great weekend 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).

The Coaching Hot Seat Report, My Heisman Ballot and whatever the Big Ten is doing all in one post!

That’s what this is: a god damned dumpster fire.

Alright I am going to leave the Big Ten stuff to the end as I don’t want this to go off the rails so early.  First up will be the HOT SEAT REPORT!  My most accurate predictions of all.  This year, though I have no clue.  Let’s get right to it and as it is every year, this is ordered from most likely to be fired to least likely (NOW with Big Ten coaches!).  Let us begin:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Dana Dimel (UTEP) – Things are looking terrible for UTEP football right now.  All the rest of the teams seem to be leaving the Miners in their dust except for Old Dominion but that’s because they aren’t playing this Fall.  And with most teams having smaller non-conference schedules, this doesn’t look like UTEP’s time to improve.  Needed to keep his job – UTEP to be competitive in most of their conference games.  Prediction – Will be gone before the end of the season as UTEP will struggle to get more than two wins.
2. Derek Mason (Vanderbilt) – Vanderbilt has been an SEC also-ran for most of their time in the conference other than the James Franklin years.  Unfortunately, Mason hasn’t improved things in Nashville in his stint here.  It is tough because he’s a great coach and a great interview but you have to wonder if he is just better as a defensive coordinator somewhere, especially at the Power Five level.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – He will be gone with either one or two games to go and will become a defensive coordinator somewhere at a lower level in the next year or two.
3. Will Muschamp (South Carolina) – At the time, the hiring of Muschamp looked like a good one even though he had been fairly mediocre at Florida.  But he hasn’t been able to make a dent in the SEC and is 2-13 against ranked teams, something that will keep him near the bottom of the division.  Needed to keep his job – Play meaningful football in late November and beat a ranked team or two.  Prediction – He will probably be fired with one or two games left but be the lame duck coach and finish out the string.

Probable Shitcanning

4. Philip Montgomery (Tulsa) – Tulsa has struggled for most of Montgomery’s reign here except for one great season.  He was a can’t miss coaching prospect who so far has missed badly.  I think the Golden Hurricane is going to be worse this season so it may signal the end for him in Oklahoma (the state, not the school).  Needed to keep his job – Battling for .500 late in the season.  Prediction – One win and a coaching search to start shortly after the season ends.
5. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – Being successful this past season may have actually been the worst thing for Lovie’s coaching future in Champaign.  Now the expectations will be higher and with Northwestern improving, I can’t see the Illini going bowling once they get back to playing in October.  Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season.  Prediction – I think they end up winning three or four games but won’t be enough to go bowling and will probably cost him his job but who knows with Illinois.

Possible Shitcanning

6. Manny Diaz (Miami) – Let’s just say the Manny Diaz era did not get off to a great start after he left Temple (after a few weeks) for his dream job.  But things are looking up with transfer quarterback D’Eriq King under centre (well, in the shotgun because no one goes under centre these days).  His status will fully depend on the improvement the Canes show on the field.  Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins but preferably at least 8 and looking at a possible conference championship berth.  Prediction – I see The U at the 8-win mark so that should placate the fans in south Florida.
7. Scott Frost (Nebraska) – Look, I drank the Nebraska Koolaid last year.  I admit it.  But the bloom is off the rose now in Lincoln and anything short of at least .500 and a bowl game could spell the end for the guy that was supposed to lead the Huskers back to prominence.  Needed to keep his job – .500 record.  Prediction – I see them being around that mark so he might not be fired but it will be a huge discussion in the off-season about his future.
8. Steve Campbell (South Alabama) – It was looking like the Jaguars were going to have a 2-0 start and it probably would have kept Campbell off this list.  But their collapse against Tulane makes it so his job is at least in some jeopardy.  With the opening of their brand-new stadium, I am sure the brass were hoping for a team that could maybe even contend in the Sun Belt West.  With Louisiana in the division that won’t happen but maybe a bowl game for them?  The other thing is, if they let Campbell go, who would be up to replace him?  Not like this is a sought-after job.  Needed to keep his job – For USA to win close to five games.  Prediction – I have the Jaguars winning four games so at the very least, Campbell is looking at a hotter seat for next season.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

9. Dino Babers (Syracuse) – Dino needs to get some slack here.  There were some injuries last year and a lot of underperforming.  Saying that, with only one great season under his belt, this season will have to at least look like an improvement over last year or he may be jettisoned.  Needed to keep his job – Battling for bowl eligibility late in the season.  Prediction – I have the Orange winning 4 so they need an upset to go bowling, if not two.  No bowl game means Babers will have at least a molten lava hot seat going into next season.
10. Matt Viator (ULM) – Things were looking good in Monroe.  Then the Ragin’ Cajuns down in Lafayette burned some rubber and left them in their dust.  Now they will be battling South Alabama and Texas State to stay out of the bottom of the Sun Belt West division.  Needed to keep his job –  Honestly?  Just don’t finish last in the division.  Prediction – Ummmm….well….I do have them finishing last so this could get interesting.
11. Tom Herman (Texas) – Herman hasn’t exactly set the Big XII on fire in Austin.  The fans at UT want to be in the Big XII Championship (OK they want to win the Big XII but baby steps).  Not getting there this year would put Herman on a bit of a hot seat going into 2021.  Needed to keep his job – Like keep his job for sure and maybe get an extension?  A trip to the Big XII Championship game.  Prediction – Losing to Oklahoma State to be left out of the title game and a lot of grumblings in Longhorn land.

Yes a much shorter list.  Blame COVID.

Now I will post my (shorter) Heisman ballot.  This is usually less accurate but at least I am on par with many so-called experts since many frosh and sophomores are in contention and it’s tough to figure them out compared to the juniors and seniors.  Alright here we go:

My Usually Awful Heisman Ballot

1. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – Alright I had Lawrence winning it last year and he came up well short.  This year he is one of the favourites to win it so I am picking him yet again.  Maybe this time he won’t let me down…and the team.  Most importantly the team.  And the fanbase.  But me too.
2. Justin Fields, Ohio State – I feel a bit hesitant to put Fields this high.  This time it is because the Big Ten is starting later and he will have to be in Heisman form from the beginning.  I haven’t even done Big Ten predictions yet but I assume Ohio State will be favoured in all their games.  So as long as the Buckeyes aren’t upset along the way and Fields has a bad game or two, he should be in the Heisman conversation.
3. Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma – The streak ended last year.  Jalen Hurts had a good season but it wasn’t enough to bag the Sooners their third straight Heisman winner (who was also a transfer quarterback).  Rattler is a Lincoln Riley recruit so this is a little different than what we are used to with OU.  I still predict Oklahoma to get to the College Football Playoff which probably will mean Rattler will have had a great season so that puts him here.
4. D’Eriq King, Miami – This is the big transfer of the off-season and he could be the guy that saves Manny Diaz his job (and may get him an extension).  It was a bit of a shock that he first decided to redshirt at Houston and then transfer to Miami but here we are.  I think the Canes are going to be in New Year’s Six contention all season so the dual threat King will be a big part of that.
5. Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State – Hubbard for some reason came back for his senior year.  What it does is sets Hubbard up to become the next big running back to come out of Oklahoma State after Barry Sanders.  It also could make him the first Canadian to win the Heisman.  That would be cool.  He will actually need to run for more yards than he did last year so it may be difficult but if he does it, he will be at least the best running back in college football and a surefire first round pick in the 2021 draft.
6. Ian Book, Notre Dame – I know people will be upset at this.  Slow your roll and check your Notre Dame hate at the door.  The Irish are in a conference for the first time ever and are a contender to make their first-ever conference championship.  And if that does come to fruition, Book will be the biggest reason why.  And he could be a hero in South Bend forever if they somehow get to the College Football Playoff and don’t count them out of that.
7. Sam Ehlinger, Texas – For the second straight year, Ehlinger might be the second best quarterback in the Big XII.  Now if he somehow gets the Longhorns to the conference championship then he might rocket up this list.
8. Bo Nix, Auburn – The son of former Auburn star Patrick Nix plays in the toughest division in college football.  And if the Tigers have any thoughts of going to the New Year’s Six (if not the CFP), it will have to ride on his strong arm.  With a lot of new quarterbacks in the SEC, he could end up getting the lion’s share of the attention at the position which could be good for him to move up this list.

Honourable Mention

• Travis Etienne, Clemson
• Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
• Myles Brennan, LSU
• Zamir White, Georgia
• Najee Harris, Alabama
• Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
• Sam Howell, North Carolina

OK now we get to the Big Ten insanity.  Remember when they decided they weren’t going to have a Fall season and there was a huge uproar because three of the five Power Five conferences decided to plow ahead with a season anyway?  Pepperidge Farms (and all of us) remembers.  Now the Big Ten has decided to reverse course.  They plan on having a nine-week conference season.  It will start on October 24th and go through to December 19th when the Big Ten Championship will occur.  But that’s not all!  They will also have a kind of East vs. West challenge that week where the 2nd place team from the East faces the 2nd place team from the West, 3rd place against 3rd place, etc. all the way down to the last place teams in both divisions.  Just crazy.  This conference is a shitshow.  But money and FOMO ruled the day with the announcement.  Now the Pac-12 is the only P5 conference sitting out and that will be, unfortunately, horrible for the conference going into 2021.  College football, everybody!

Alright a slight change for this week’s posts.  I will be posting the NFL schedule on Thursday and the college sked on Friday since there are no college games on Thursday night.  I will do that for any other weeks this happens but as of this point, I can only see it happening maybe once more.  Anyway, hope you have had a great hump day!

Now are we looking at Clemson-Alabama V: Return of the Nickpire?

Honestly I forget what the Star Wars titles are.  I think Return of the Empire is the fifth movie.  Even though it was made second.  Thanks for making it nice and confusing, George.

Alright it’s bowl projection time.  Yes this is late and really, it is pieced together because really, bowl season looks like a dog’s breakfast at this point.  Who knows what bowl eligibility will look like.  Nobody knows which bowl games will go ahead and which won’t.  It’s a gongshow.  And wait until the Big Ten decides to return in October.  Ho boy, this is seriously fucked up.

Let us begin with the College Football Playoff matchups.  These will be played and I am almost sure of it.  Remember, the rankings I have here are the rankings I believe these teams will be going into the bowl season.  I know some will be very wrong but I am hoping to hit on most and I have a feeling the CFP is a good start on my behalf:

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#1 Clemson	#4 Texas A&M
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#2 Alabama	#3 Oklahoma

Two of these were automatics.  Bama and Clemson are easy picks since everyone (and I do mean everyone) is selecting those two for the CFP.  Again, I don’t have Alabama as running the table like the Tigers but I think they win the SEC Championship which puts them in the Final Four.  I think Oklahoma gets in as the Big XII champ even though they fail as well in their push to go undefeated.  The only problem could end up being the rematch in the Big XII Championship, whoever ends up getting there.  And the controversial fourth team…Texas A&M!  Look I get it.  I don’t have the Aggies even winning their division.  But think who else could be there.  Even though there are less teams playing, the Group of Five will continue to be shutout.  There are very few teams who would have as tough a schedule as TAMU would have.  And yes, two losses.  Problem there again is I have no other Power Five teams with one or no losses.  In the end, though it is a crapshoot as you could put any one of Florida, Auburn, LSU, Texas, North Carolina or Notre Dame here and it would have to be the same argument.  So for once, the #5 team can bitch and complain because this will not be easy on The Committee.

This leads us to the New Year’s Six with only one game actually on New Year’s Day.  College football, everybody!

January 2nd	Orange Bowl	#5 North Carolina	#6 Auburn
January 2nd	Fiesta Bowl	#9 Texas	#7 Notre Dame
January 1st	Peach Bowl	#8 LSU	#12 Appalachian State
December 28th	Cotton Bowl	#11 Oklahoma State	#10 Florida

I can see some debate here with these picks, as per usual.  This year, more than any other, being in the Top 12 pretty much will assure you a spot in the NY6 since I believe a Group of Five team will crack that mark this season.  Florida will get in after losing their conference championship to Bama.  They should be high enough in the rankings that they wouldn’t fall out of the NY6 or the Top 10 (I see the Gators being #6 going into conference championship weekend).  I think Appalachian State will beat up most of the teams they face and sneak into the Top 12 undefeated.  I want to say Notre Dame will take advantage of finally being in a conference but they won’t.  They will, however, still be good enough to snag a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.  North Carolina should be in the Top 10 most of the season and even two losses to Clemson won’t push them out.  Auburn, Texas and LSU all will not be in their conference championships but in this pandemic year, that will matter a lot less.  Finally, Oklahoma State should hang on to the final spot and get to go to the Cotton Bowl.  I think it will be a close call at the end of the year between the Cowboys and BYU for the final spot but I can’t see The Committee leaving Oklahoma State out.  Most of this will come into play thanks to BYU’s extremely easy schedule so despite me calling them to go undefeated I see them on the outside looking in.

Not often is it that the Top 12 all get in to the New Year’s Six but I see it happening this year.  The ACC Champion is contractually obligated to go to the Orange Bowl.  Since Clemson is obviously in the CFP, North Carolina would be the highest ranked team to go here but they should be high enough all year that no one will bat an eye.  It will be a nice change from seeing a team ranked somewhere around #20 getting in.

Now the rest of the bowl matchups and this is something I had to Frankenstein together.  This is a mess and no one really knows what’s going on so this will probably change but it’s the best I can do for now:

January 6th	LendingTree Bowl	Troy	#13 BYU
January 4th	Gator Bowl	Kentucky	#17 Miami
January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#14 Georgia	#23 Memphis
December 31st	Liberty Bowl	#22 Tennessee	West Virginia
December 31st	Sun Bowl	Arkansas State	#21 Florida State
December 31st	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	#20 UCF	#18 Louisville
December 29th	Alamo Bowl	#16 Baylor	Southern Miss
December 28th	Camping World Bowl	#19 Iowa State	#15 Virginia Tech
December 26th	Pinstripe Bowl	#25 Cincinnati	Pittsburgh
December 26th	Independence Bowl	Army	Charlotte
December 19th	New Orleans Bowl	#24 UAB	Louisiana
December 19th	Boca Raton Bowl	Navy	Florida Atlantic
December 19th	New Mexico Bowl	Tulane	Western Kentucky
December 19th	Frisco Bowl	SMU	Louisiana Tech
December 18th	Cure Bowl	Georgia Southern	Marshall

This is starting to look like the 90s when there were a lot less bowl games.  Bowl games are supposed to be played in Boston and Myrtle Beach but I can’t see those happening with the truncated bowl game schedule.  The “We Need Less Bowl Games” crowd will love this obviously.  Again, this is all conjecture.  There has been no talk about what will happen with bowl games because most teams have just been worried about getting their seasons going and rightfully so.  I assume we will have a better idea by the end of the month as to what will happen here.  I just hope they don’t decide this is time to expand to an 8-team playoff because it’s not.  At all.  Anyway, some notes on the shortened fun-time magical bowl season:

• I somehow only have three games predicted between ranked teams: UGA-Memphis in the Citrus, UCF-UL in the new Duke’s Mayo Bowl (which is replacing the Belk Bowl and it’s hilarious Twitter account), & ISU-VT in the Camping World.  Three very good matchups for bowl season that people would watch no matter the time of year.
• Normally I put asterisks when teams fill in for other conferences because those conferences can’t fulfill their tie-ins.  No point in that right now since teams will have been shifted around.
• As for what I have done here, here are a few points about that:
  • I put every team in their bowl tie-in spot to begin with.
  • I added Army and BYU in the Independence and LendingTree Bowls, respectively.
  • Bowl games that had two participants I left as is.
  • The rest of the teams that did not have an opponent I shifted around.
  • I really didn’t look at which bowls would be most likely played and which wouldn’t at this point since that would be an exercise in futility.

See?  Ridiculous.  And this will change as the season goes on so don’t look for much accuracy at this point.  Alright, as you could probably tell from the title of the post, I have Clemson and Bama winning their CFP semi-final games and clashing in the championship.  This time around, I have Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide winning yet another title.

Next up is my most accurate report I do (other than the schedules): the Coaching Hot Seat Report.  I will follow that with my worst post in terms of accuracy, my Heisman ballot.  I am not doing a recap this week since I have to get through all these prediction posts instead.  Plus there weren’t a ton of games so it’s not like it would fully require it’s own post.  I may do the same thing with recaps next week but we will see about that.  Hopefully the specialty pack has decided to run games this week but I am not holding my breath.  Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Another one bites the dust (the Conference USA preview)

I couldn’t even get my Coaching Hot Seat post out before a coach was shitcanned!  Jay Hopson is out as the head coach at Southern Miss.  OK he resigned but I have a feeling he would have been fired shortly if he hadn’t quit.  Now this may come as a surprise to some and initially I tilted my head to the side in wonderment of this move.  Saying that, the Golden Eagles have been stuck being pretty good in the conference but nothing better.  They aren’t back in the Larry Fedora days.  And now that there are reports that players basically quit on Hopson late last year and in this year’s opening week upset loss to South Alabama, it makes a lot more sense.  Also, he didn’t exactly get along with the president of the university after trying to hire Art Briles last year.  So this was just a situation waiting to happen and they just need the proverbial straw to break the camel’s back.  The loss to South Alabama provided that.

OK so I am not going into get into my feelings on Conference USA.  They are fairly well known.  And I don’t think they are wrong.  The good thing (one of very few good things) about COVID-19 is that Conference USA will get more national attention.  They don’t have the NFL Network deal anymore which kind of disappeared out of nowhere.  But they should have more games on CBS Sports Network to replace the MAC and also should appear on ESPN networks to replace other conferences who would usually show up there.  This is all good stuff.  So let’s get to my predicted standings and then we will get to Conference USA Comments:

		Conference		Overall
	East	W	L	W	L
	Marshall	6	1	6	3
	Florida Atlantic	5	2	7	2
	Western Kentucky	5	2	7	4
	Charlotte	4	3	5	6
	FIU	2	5	3	6
	Middle Tennessee	1	6	2	8
	West
	UAB	7	0	9	2
	Louisiana Tech	6	2	8	3
	Southern Miss	6	2	8	4
	Rice	3	5	3	5
	UTSA	2	5	3	9
	North Texas	2	6	3	8
	UTEP	0	8	2	10

Conference USA Comments

• God where do I begin with this.  So many issues.  The first you will notice is that there are only six teams in the East.  That’s because Old Dominion decided to opt out of playing in the Fall.  I respect their decision as everyone else should too.  But if the conference can finish their season, it paints the Monarchs in a bad light, rightly or wrongly.  That could affect recruiting going forward, especially for a newer FBS program.
• The other big thing you will notice is the unbalanced schedules.  With Old Dominion out, there was almost no way to change the conference schedule to make it so all teams played the same amount of conference games without completely starting over.  Also, each team has a different amount of non-conference affairs.  Rice has none now thanks to their game against Houston being postponed at the very least.  Meanwhile there are some teams that have full four-game non-conference schedules.  So it will be definitely a bit of a dog’s breakfast here with the standings.
• In the West, things have spread out a bit.  UAB is quickly becoming the class of the division, a step above Louisiana Tech.  And yes, even though there is the Hopson issue in Hattiesburg, I still think Southern Miss will have a good season.  North Texas, on the other hand, without Mason Fine, will drop to near the bottom of the standings, ending their sojourn at the top of the West.
• UTEP is seriously bad.  I mean they’re a bit better than last year but not by much.  Watch out for Rice starting to improve and sneaking up the standings.
• Marshall looked seriously good this past weekend.  And I believe they will hold off the few teams below them to win the division crown.  Not like a 6-3 record scares anyone in college football but hey, it’s 2020, and that’s what you’re gonna get.
• On the other end of the scale is Middle Tennessee who looked atrocious against Army this past weekend.  Yes it’s the Black Knights and it can be difficult to defend against the option offense but seriously, they looked overmatched in every single way.
• As for the conference championship game, I think the Blazers will win it and it might not be close.  Or it will be.  Hell I don’t even know anymore.
• Again, no real discussions about bowl eligibility here but I have a feeling five wins, instead of six, will be the qualification point this season.  Just a thought with schedules being all over the place.

Alright so we have actually gone through a weekend of college football, albeit one that more resembles Week Zero.  We have another one coming up.  More games, but still not nearly as many as we are used to.  But the lack of late night games I’m starting to think will be a good thing…at least for my sleep patterns.  I will not do a recap for this past weekend since there’s not much to report.  BYU looked amazing against Navy last night, as did Army against Middle Tennessee.  You already heard about the upset South Alabama laid on Southern Miss and then there were some other FBS vs. FCS games.  Nothing huge.

OK next up is the Big XII in my conference predictions.  And of course, I will be doing my schedule post later this week.  Soon enough we will get into the real swing of things.  It feels like we are going up a steep hill right now, like the first part of a roller coaster.  Soon enough, we will put our arms up and scream in excitement of a college football season (or at least what we will end up getting in 2020).

The NFL also starts in two days so there’s going to be a lot more football soon.  This is a good thing.  Let’s hope there are no issues with the Coronavirus for all the teams and for any of us.  Have a great week everyone!

The 2019 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List

Clay might want to avoid airport tarmacs this season.

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

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

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

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

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

Probable Shitcanning

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

Possible Shitcanning

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

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

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

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

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

Get ready for Clemson-Alabama V: Collision Course

Oh and other bowl games and stuff.  But yeah.  CLEMSON AND BAMA Y’ALL!

Alright it’s bowl projection time.  I would say postseason projections but I am not including conference championship games since those are technically also postseason games.  Yet the Army/Navy Game, which is after the conference championship games, is still a regular season.  College football ladies and gentlemen!  Anyway, most of these games are on when the World Juniors are on and they are games that many say they won’t watch because there’s too many bowl games.  Who cares.  It’s college football so I will watch it.

Let us begin with the College Football Playoff matchups.  I think you have a good idea of who will go here if you have read all the conference previews (and you did, RIGHT?).  Remember, the rankings I have here are the rankings I believe these teams will be going into the bowl season.  I know some will be very wrong but I am hoping to hit on most and I have a feeling the CFP is a good start on my behalf:

December 28th	Fiesta Bowl	#2 Oklahoma	#3 Alabama
December 28th	Peach Bowl	#1 Clemson	#4 Michigan

Two of these were automatics.  Bama and Clemson are easy picks since everyone (and I do mean everyone) is selecting those two for the CFP.  Now yes I don’t have Bama undefeated but they will win the SEC and that will be enough.  I think Oklahoma gets in as the Big XII champ after running the table.  Their schedule is not THAT difficult for a Power Five team so other than a couple games (Texas, Iowa State) they shouldn’t have much of a problem.  Finally, yes….BIG BLUE!  This could be Jim Harbaugh’s best chance to win the Big Ten…or even the Big Ten East.  Ohio State has a new head coach and a new starting quarterback.  Michigan State will drop a game or two they really shouldn’t.  Penn State also will have some growing pains with a new quarterback.  Really, the Wolverines will do enough and win the Big Ten Championship which will have them high enough .  I have Michigan losing one conference game but it won’t be to tOSU!  It will be to Penn State.  Other than that, I think Michigan has the schedule and the team to run the table (including beating the Buckeyes) and then winning the Big Ten title over Nebraska.  Now this won’t be easy as the #5 team will give them a run for their money but I will discuss that below.

This leads us to the New Year’s Six where only two of the four games are actually on New Year’s Day (who said college football had to make sense?):

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#6 Georgia	#11 Texas
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#8 Ohio State	#5 Utah
December 30th	Orange Bowl	#13 Syracuse	#7 Notre Dame
December 28th	Cotton Bowl	#9 Washington	#10 Memphis

I can see some debate here with these picks, as per usual.  The top 11 teams will go to either the CFP or the NY6 so that is pretty much on par with a lot of people and with CFP history.  Georgia will get in after losing their conference championship to Bama.  They should be high enough in the rankings that they wouldn’t fall out of the NY6 or the Top 10 (I see UGA being #4 going into conference championship weekend).  I think Memphis will beat up most of the teams they face and sneak into the Top 10 undefeated.  Notre Dame might be more talented but with a slightly tougher schedule, they will “fall” to the Orange Bowl.  Ohio State should be in the Top 10 all season and even a season-ending loss to Michigan won’t push them out.  Texas, Syracuse and Washington also won’t even be in their conference championship but will leap over the CCG losers to get here.  Finally, it’s Utah’s year.  I think it will be a close call at the end of the year between the Utes and Michigan for the #4 spot but I can’t see The Committee leaving Michigan out.  This is where being a college football blueblood certainly helps.

The lowest seed in here is at #13 and that’s the Syracuse Orange.  The ACC Champion is contractually obligated to go to the Orange Bowl.  Since Clemson is obviously in the CFP, Syracuse would be the highest ranked team to go here.  Honestly this is a good-case scenario as the last thing the powers that be want is like the #20 team getting into the New Year’s Six.  I get it’s all about bowl tie-ins but still, some would be upset for sure, especially if you are the #12 team (which this year I have LSU in that spot).

Now for the rest of our bowl matchups:

January 6th	Dollar General Bowl	Toledo	Louisiana
January 4th	Armed Forces Bowl	Northwestern	San Diego State
January 3rd	Idaho Potato Bowl	Fresno State	Ohio
January 2nd	Gator Bowl	#18 Florida	Michigan State
January 2nd	Birmingham Bowl	Kentucky	#21 Army*
January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#12 LSU	#15 Nebraska
January 1st	Outback Bowl	#22 Texas A&M	#17 Penn State
December 31st	Alamo Bowl	Iowa State	#14 Oregon
December 31st	Arizona Bowl	Utah State	Troy
December 31st	Liberty Bowl	Auburn	Baylor
December 31st	Sun Bowl	USC	#16 Miami
December 31st	Belk Bowl	Mississippi State	#24 NC State
December 30th	Redbox Bowl	Wisconsin	Stanford
December 30th	Music City Bowl	Tennessee	Virginia Tech
December 30th	First Responder Bowl	Arizona State*	Marshall
December 28th	Camping World Bowl	Oklahoma State	Florida State
December 27th	Cheez-It Bowl	Wyoming*	Washington
December 27th	Holiday Bowl	#25 Iowa	#20 Washington State
December 27th	Texas Bowl	South Carolina	TCU
December 27th	Pinstripe Bowl	Purdue	Virginia
December 27th	Military Bowl	Pittsburgh	UCF
December 26th	Quick Lane Bowl	Minnesota	UAB*
December 26th	Independence Bowl	Southern Miss*	Liberty*
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	BYU	Cincinnati
December 23rd	Gasparilla Bowl	Navy	Florida Atlantic
December 21st	New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana Tech	Appalachian State
December 21st	Las Vegas Bowl	UCLA	#19 Boise State
December 21st	Camellia Bowl	Buffalo	Arkansas State
December 21st	Boca Raton Bowl	Houston	Western Michigan
December 21st	Cure Bowl	SMU	Georgia Southern
December 21st	New Mexico Bowl	Air Force	North Texas
December 20th	Frisco Bowl	Temple	Northern Illinois
December 20th	Bahamas Bowl	Eastern Michigan	FIU

Oh and they are adding more games next season!  Bowl games are starting in Boston and Myrtle Beach with ones in Los Angeles and Chicago proposed.  Look, it’s more college football.  If games don’t go to FOX Sports One, Canadian college football fans won’t bat an eye.  I mean should they actually have more of a structure with the bowl season, especially considering ESPN owns more than half the bowls?  Of course.  But it won’t happen anytime soon which is messed.  Anyway, some notes on the fun-time magical bowl season:

• I have three games predicted between ranked teams: LSU-Nebraska in the Citrus, TAMU-Penn State in the Outback, & Iowa-Wazzu in the Holiday.  Three very good matchups for bowl season that people would watch no matter the time of year.
• One asterisk (*) means the conference tie-in couldn’t be satisfied or that BYU wasn’t able to secure their Hawaii Bowl bid.  Two asterisks (**) means we have got into APR territory.  If you notice, no APR teams in there.  Actually, I had exactly the right amount of teams.  I think that’s the first time ever.
• Some of the better matchups include:
  • the three ranked-on-ranked matchups mentioned above
  • Northwestern-SDSU in the Armed Forces Bowl
  • Kentucky-Army in the Birmingham Bowl
  • USC-Miami in the Sun Bowl
  • Purdue-UVA in the Pinstripe Bowl
  • ISU-Oregon in the Alamo Bowl
  • UCLA-Boise in the Las Vegas Bowl

As for the actual College Football Playoff semi-final games, I have Clemson and Alabama both winning relatively easily.  Then we get Clemson-Bama V.  I include the semi-final matchup these two teams had as well.  And yes, Clemson will repeat.

Next up is my most accurate report I do (other than the schedules): the Coaching Hot Seat Report.  I will follow that with my worst post in terms of accuracy, my Heisman ballot.  I will have to include an NFL preview at some point since we are getting into the thick of the preseason with all those “fabulous” homer announcers.  We are FIVE days away from the start of the college football season.  I will do a short post for Week Zero (hopefully sponsored by Coke Zero) to go over the tiny schedule there will be.  Whether these games will end up in the specialty pack guide if they aren’t on CBSSN or a TSN channel, who knows.  I am guessing no, they won’t.  Enjoy the rest of your week and the weekend everyone.

The 2018 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List – Sponsored by these two jamokes

You know, it was a relatively quiet college football offseason.  It really was.  Then these two became stories and all that went to shit.  Personally, I think universities have to take it upon themselves to hold these coaches to a high standard.  Otherwise this stuff happens and, more often than not, the head coach comes out relatively unscathed and many others are thrown under the bus in his stead.  Durkin should be gone and I would be shocked if he wasn’t.  I also believe Urban should be fired even if you want to say it’s just for the optics of the program.  Hell, Jim Tressel was fired for less and people acted like he was the devil.

HOT SEAT TIME!  This post has been actually fairly accurate over the years.  Hopefully I can keep it up because let’s be honest, it’s not like my predictions, as a whole, are setting any records here.

Let’s just get to the list shall we?  This is ordered (like every year) from most likely to be fired to least:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. D.J. Durkin (Maryland) – Things were looking up for the Terps.  Then we find out that this guy is a shitbag bully…well, more of a shitbag bully than your average college football coach.  Let’s be honest: most college football players have thick skins.  But this guy went WAY over the line and often.  Needed to keep his job – Maryland admin to put their heads in the sand.  Prediction – Will be gone before the season even commences leading to a gongshow of a season for the Terrapins.
2. Scottie Montgomery (East Carolina) – ECU is wanting to step into the way-back machine and not fire Ruffin McNeill.  It has been an unmitigated disaster since he left.  That’s not all on Montgomery but man it’s been tough to watch how things have deteriorated in Greenville.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – Will be gone mid-season and will end up as a position coach in the next year or two somewhere.
3. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – I think this experiment is about dead.  No offense to Lovie but it’s different than coaching in the NFL (you hear that Herm Edwards?) and they still don’t have the players needed to compete in the Big Ten.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility, plain and simple.  Prediction – He will either be fired late in the season or will coach the last one or two games as a lame duck coach.  So yeah, he’ll get to November but that’s where it will be the end of the line for ol’ Lovie.
4. Brad Lambert (Charlotte) – This is a tough one…kind of.  Charlotte has been awful since becoming a football program.  To be frank, they should have stayed in FCS for another few years if not a decade.  Instead they move right into Conference USA and get pummeled every season.  This year should be no different for the only coach the 49ers have ever known.  Needed to keep his job – Creeping towards bowl eligibility so like 4 or 5 wins.  Prediction – Lambert will slink back to FCS (if not lower) after they fire him at season’s end.

Probable Shitcanning

5. David Beaty (Kansas) – I should probably put him in the top section but Kansas is kind of weird that way.  Honestly, he should have been fired after last season’s debacle.  Lawrence is a tough place to coach football but the higher-ups at Kansas seem to be giving him a lot of chances so who knows what the plans are beyond this season. Needed to keep his job – At least four wins.  Prediction – I honestly cannot see the Jayhawks winning a conference game…maybe they’ll upset a team and win one.  So the chances of them winning four games is slim so I see him being fired after the season ends.
6. Bob Davie (New Mexico) – Things were looking up for Bobby down in Albuquerque.  The Lobos were getting better running the option offense almost like they were a military academy or Georgia Tech.  Becoming bowl contenders on the reg.  Now, a pretty bad season and reports that Davie treats his players like shit.  Great.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and probably more since it’s New Mexico and letting that kind of crap happen can’t be good for a program that has done almost nothing in football ever.  Prediction – Under .500 and him hoping that he might be able to snag an ESPN job for 2019.
7. Everett Withers (Texas State) – Texas State.  Another FBS disaster.  Even Dennis Franchione couldn’t truly turn this program into a bowl game contender.  Needed to keep his job – Surprisingly 4 may do the job.  Prediction – Less than 4 wins and another coach search for the Bobcats.
8. Mike Neu (Ball State) – Ball State has been more of a non-factor in the MAC than any other program not named Kent State in the past five years.  Despite the fact that he’s a former Ball State QB, they may figure out that he was not the right hire to make at the time.  Needed to keep his job – Making some of the teams in the MAC West play hard to beat them.  Prediction – Will be at the bottom of the MAC West and will be let go after the season.
9. Mike MacIntyre (Colorado) – MacIntyre actually suffers from the 2016 season where the Buffaloes played out of their damn minds and won the Pac-12 South.  Other than that year, Colorado has been mostly a doormat their entire Pac-12 stay.  They won’t be in the basement this year but it might take a lot to quell a fairly unhappy fanbase.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and being competitive against some of the upper echelon conference teams.  Prediction – Just missing out on a bowl game giving the AD and the brass a tough decision to chew on in the offseason.
10. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) – I don’t foresee any way that the Red Raiders are anything more than the one team better than Kansas in the Big XII this season.  I believe the Kute Kliff Kingsbury era is probably pretty much done in Lubbock.  Needed to keep his job – 6 wins.  Prediction – He won’t make it to 6 and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was let go with a game or two remaining on the sked so they can start the search for a new head coach early.

Possible Shitcanning

11. Randy Edsall (UConn) – His return to Storrs has not been good.  Saying that, he is trying to rebuild the program in his image the way it was in his first go-around with the Huskies.  I just think he won’t be sticking around to see what happens with his recruits.  Needed to keep his job – Any sort of noticeable improvement.  Prediction – Not a whole lot of improvement but that’s tough to judge.  This will again be a case of an AD having to take a long, hard look as to what the future of the football program should look like and who should lead it.
12. Urban Meyer (Ohio State) – This is a tough one.  Should he be fired?  Probably.  Will he be?  That’s a different story.  He left Florida a bit of a mess and looks like he is starting to do so in Columbus as well.  I think it’s very possible he will be fired but I can see it being a bit of a mid-season knee-jerk reaction type of thing rather than a “we are doing this at the start of the season” type of thing.  Because for all the good they may want to do, they remember the Luke Fickell disaster.  Needed to keep his job – For tOSU to value winning over, well, pretty much everything.  Prediction – He  will be on the sidelines for opening day at least.  Beyond that, who knows.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

13. Kalani Sitake (BYU) – As patient as BYU will be, they can only show so much patience.  This is a program that is used to, at the very least, winning records.  I still think as long as there is some semblance of improvement they will give him more time.  Needed to keep his job – Get back to a bowl game.  Prediction – 6 wins, invitation to a lower-level bowl game and another year to hopefully continue improving the Cougars.
14. Mark Stoops (Kentucky) – Another place that is tough to coach because of the conference they are in.  The Wildcats haven’t too bad considered the few coaches they had previous to Big Game Bob’s brother.  Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season.  Prediction – This will be interesting.  I only have them down for four wins so this could be a borderline call here.
15. Ed Orgeron (LSU) – I honestly feel for ol’ Eddie here.  Unless the Tigers win 10 games in the regular season, his job will always be in jeopardy according to the rabid LSU fanbase.  And the fact he replaced Les Miles who was a damn good coach for most of his time in Baton Rouge doesn’t help him any.  Needed to keep his job – 8 wins at the very least.  Prediction – I have LSU winning exactly that many which means the rumblings will continue well into the 2019 season.
16. Larry Fedora (North Carolina) – Look we all know that injuries took their toll on a North Carolina team that was already going to be hard-pressed to get to even 7 wins.  But that was definitely a collapse of somewhat epic proportions last year.  Anything resembling that this season and they will tip their fedoras to Fedora and bid him adieu.  Needed to keep his job –  Improvement toward being a contender again.  Prediction – Tough to measure but the Tar Heels won’t be as bad as last season.  That’s almost a certainty.
17. Chris Ash (Rutgers) – I could have just copied what was here last year because he is in the exact same spot.  Rutgers has, again, become a terrible place to coach Power Five football.  They long for the days of the Big East that’s for sure…well, except for that Big Ten cashola, know what I’m sayin?  Needed to keep his job – He’s fine for now because no one wants to coach in Piscataway or wherever the hell Rutgers is.  Prediction – Does it really matter?  They aren’t going bowling anyway.  Maybe next year.
18. Tony Sanchez (UNLV) – As much as it has ever been in Vegas, it’s a make or break year for the Rebels.  They were one horrifically bad loss last year from going bowling.  Not going bowling this year would be disastrous considering the state of the MW West Division (other than SDSU and FSU).  Needed to keep his job – At least go bowling.  Prediction – 8 wins and possibly even a spot in the Mountain West Championship and Sanchez should get an extension of sorts.

As you may have noticed there is no mention of Brian Kelly or Jim Harbaugh on this list.  I have fully come around to the fact that unless either of these two guys shit the bed with their respective teams, they will be back next season.  Man, some fanbases are seriously harsh.  Then again, these guys are multi-millionaires so they better have thick skin and a propensity not to listen to most people.

The final post is coming up for my predictions and it is my Heisman ballot (if anyone had been foolish enough to give me a Heisman ballot).  Then the season begins!  4 days away!  Other than the game on CBS Sports Network I still have no idea what’s happening with the specialty pack.  I have a feeling I will have to figure this out over the next day or two.  At least this year I won’t be duped into fully believing that any ESPN games would appear during Week Zero and then get pissed off when they don’t.  At least that’s what I am telling myself.  Enjoy your day everyone!

And now begins the coaching carousel – Week 9 College Football Recap

Hey, remember what I posted on Thursday?  Well forget all that.  Well, some of it.  Do fans go overboard?  Sure.  But in this instance, with Jim Bob McElwain, it appears that it did not.  Or did it?  Who knows?  The only thing we know is that the university doesn’t believe him at all.  And him “parting ways” with the team (read: he got shitcanned and they negotiated a lot less than what the buyout would have been normally) means we are starting the coaching carousel a tiny bit early.  And not just the college football coaching carousel but the SEC Coaching Carousel!  Let’s look at the coaches that could be in peril:

• Butch Jones (why he hasn’t been fired yet boggles my mind)
• Kevin Sumlin (the goodwill I think has finally worn out at College Station)
• Gus Malzahn (he seems to get in his own way a lot and has coached his way out of a few Auburn wins)
• Bret Bielema (it has not been rosy at all since leaving Madison)
• Matt Luke (I think we all figured he was truly an interim and would never get that tag removed)
• Barry Odom (Mizzou is not back to the way they were during back-to-back SEC East titles)

And with that we have some very hot coaching prospects out there including Matt Campbell, Scott Frost, Jason Candle, Blake Anderson, Chad Morris, Dave Clawson and of course, oh yes, Butch Davis and Lane Fucking Kiffin.  Having Kiffin back in the SEC would be worth the weekly gongshow we would most likely see.

So yeah, at least two of the six coaches above will be gone if not more.  And that affects a lot of other schools, especially good Group of Five schools.  It’s a domino effect that can have crazy repercussions.  And in the end, if these rumours start too early, it is awful for the players.  And by rumours I mean actual documented probability and not just people throwing out names (like I just did).  It’s going to be an interesting last four weeks of the regular season (before the conference championships).

And now the rest of the fun-time recap!

No, I didn’t really write off Ohio State.  But I did figure their road would be tough to get there.  I did, however, think they would beat Penn State.  They did, in ridiculous comeback fashion.  I still think tOSU stumbles at some point down the stretch but for now they are looking pretty damn good.  And Penn State isn’t looking too bad either if this ends up being their only loss.  Especially after last year when The Committee made it perfectly clear that the entire season’s worth of schedule strength means more than winning a conference championship.  So you’re saying there’s still a chance!

Um, these aren’t the Iowa State Cyclones we know and well…  Most people love upsets.  Except the fans of the team who just got upset.  So who has not thoroughly enjoyed Iowa State upsetting two Top 5 teams in a span of a month.  That’s absurd for some of the elite programs to do it but for a program like Iowa State to pull it off?  Crazy!  It does throw the Big XII for a loop and makes it a lot more difficult to make the College Football Playoff but since this season is trending towards 2007 or 1990 it isn’t out of the realm for more chaos to happen.

So Bedlam is important again?  Yes, yes it seems to be.  We are now back to thinking that there will be a Bedlam II in December at JerryWorld.  A lot still has to happen for that to occur but it’s not as crazy as some might think.  And I honestly don’t think the Sooners should be prohibitive favourites next week when these two teams meet in Stillwater next Saturday (on FOX Sports One for fuck’s sake).

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame!  Notre Dame made quick work of NC State.  They are starting to look like a serious CFP contender.  Now they still have to win out.  A single loss pretty much ends their chances (although it would still give them a great New Year’s Six resume).  The ACC is also in a bit of chaos.  Miami wins out it’s easy.  They don’t and they have to hope for at least a bit of help elsewhere.

There will be a new #1.  Yep.  Seriously.  Georgia should be #1 in the first CFP Poll come Tuesday night.  Their resume is light years better than Alabama’s.  Who has Bama faced that was really any good so far?  Every team they’ve played has turned out to be mediocre at best.  They will have a tough November with LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn to bolster their strength of schedule so get through those unscathed and they probably move back to #1.  But until then…Kirby Smart, a Nick Saban disciple, has his team on top of the mountain.  My god.

RichRod is again coaching a good team.  Yes, that RichRod.  No one (and I mean no one!) thought Arizona would be this good this year.  But after another upset, this one over Washington State, they have to be considered at least somewhat of a contender in the Pac-12 South.  They are really one big win over USC away from going back to the Pac-12 Championship for the first time since 2014.

And then there was one.  USF’s late loss to Houston was heartbreaking for the Bulls.  It also made it so there is only one undefeated Group of Five team left.  And that’s UCF.  The same UCF that put up a 70-burger on Austin Peay Saturday.  Impressive, somewhat.  But they also allowed the Governors to score 33 points.  An FCS team.  That has to be somewhat concerning.  I have a feeling they will have a tough go of it next week against SMU.  A Knights loss would cause huge G-5 chaos.

Lying in the weeds…  This is all very interesting with the Toledo Rockets lying in the weeds.  There is almost nothing (save a game against Western Michigan and the MAC Championship) keeping them from finishing with one loss and they could be a major factor if other teams drop by the wayside.

Back to those unlucky Vols…  The end of the game between Tennessee and Kentucky was quintessential 2017 Tennessee football.  The Vols tossed a Hail Mary that was actually caught by a Tennessee receiver who was promptly brought down at the 4-yard line.  Ugh.  So close yet so far away.

Alright, now time for my Bossman Top 25!

#1	Georgia
#2	Alabama
#3	Ohio State
#4	Notre Dame
#5	Wisconsin
#6	Miami
#7	Penn State
#8	Oklahoma State
#9	Clemson
#10	Oklahoma
#11	Virginia Tech
#12	Washington
#13	TCU
#14	Iowa State
#15	UCF
#16	USC
#17	Auburn
#18	Stanford
#19	LSU
#20	NC State
#21	Mississippi State
#22	Washington State
#23	USF
#24	Memphis
#25	Arizona

Yes I do believe Georgia is #1.  This would change in a few weeks if Bama continues to win.  The Buckeyes and Irish move into the all-important Top Four.  Well, somewhat all-important.  It means nothing since the CFP rankings might be different making the AP Poll (and my rankings…and everyone’s rankings) moot.  Wisconsin still has the easiest route into the Top Four at least going into conference championship week.  But I don’t trust them to get to the CFP unbeaten.  Neither do I think it will happen with Miami.  They have struggled to beat a lot of teams this year.  I just can’t see the whole Cardiac Kids act working out all season for the Canes.  Yes I have TCU one spot ahead of Iowa State.  Remember, TCU is 7-1 and ISU is 6-2.  I am sure some people would scoff at the fact that this is the case but remember, one game does not make a season (but can sure break a season).

Alright no NFL recaps until later on in the season.  I should be doing a bowl projection post either tomorrow or Wednesday.  We shall see.

Remember we are now in the midst of football every day until the day before American Thanksgiving (which feels more like a calm before the storm really).  Meaning Monday Night Football tonight and then some MACtion tomorrow night!  From what I can tell, both games (Miami-OH at Ohio and Bowling Green at Kent State) should appear on the specialty pack.  Aren’t there yet but that’s not surprising.  Enjoy the games everyone!