We have to have some chaos…right? – Conference Championship Weekend TV schedule

Posted on November 30, 2023 by guelphbossman

I have to say it was a fun final regular season weekend of college football. Especially the Iron Bowl. What a ridiculous finish. Now we get into the postseason part of the season. So there has to be some chaos, right? Some upset? Any upset? Sure there were a few during the season but really the big upset has taken a big nap this year. And that’s part of college football. Not having those has taken something away from this season. Let’s hope this coming weekend can bring some of that chaos back. Fingers crossed. Let’s get on with the schedule.

Friday

Conference USA Championship: New Mexico State (+10.5) at #24 Liberty

7:00

This network continues to be smart in the way they figure out WHEN to put a game. They get an entire national audience for almost an entire half and then, if the game is close, many people will stick with it to the end. Brilliant. Plus, with the added possibility of seeing a potential New Year’s Six berth clinched here, it means they should get more eyeballs on this game than ever before. Prediction: This game is the biggest one, not only in Liberty’s history, but in Conference USA’s history. This is their chance to put a team in the New Year’s Six for the first time. The first part gets done this night. Liberty 39 New Mexico State 34.

The final Pac-12 Championship and, arguably, the most important conference championship is being held on a Friday night starting at 5:00 local time. Hell, ESPN/ABC is sending their best crew to this. This feels like the final slap in the face to the Pac-12. Anyway, this is massive. The winner is a lock for the College Football Playoff and the loser gets relegated to the New Year’s Six. It’s that simple. Prediction: This is going to be an offensive showcase between two of the Heisman contenders in Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. The guy who wins, I believe, won’t be the Heisman winner. Although I guess there’s always a possibility Jayden Daniels wins it instead of either of these two. Washington 49 Oregon 38.

Saturday Early

Easily the only game that matters early on. Texas has to win and get quite a bit of help to get into the College Football Playoff. They will know the lay of the land after the Pac-12 Championship, especially if Oregon wins since that will mean a better shot to join the party. Prediction: The Longhorns do what they need to do but will have to wait to see if it is enough. Texas 52 Oklahoma State 27.

MAC Championship: Miami-OH (+7.5) vs. Toledo (in Detroit)

Noon

Well, from the College Football Playoff rankings we now know that Toledo has no chance at the NY6, despite having an 11-1 record. Nothing will allow them to leapfrog Tulane, Liberty or SMU. I would say this is for a trip back to Detroit for the Quick Lane Bowl but even that is in doubt thanks to tie-ins that don’t even tie a conference in to a bowl game. Prediction: Should be close like their regular season matchup. Toledo 24 Miami-OH 20.

Saturday Afternoon

Now that the strange computer rankings saga to figure out who would actually be in the conference championship game is over, we can focus ont the game itself. Really, they are probably playing for a spot in the LA Bowl but who the hell knows. It will be interesting to see how many people are in Allegiant Stadium as it hosts its second conference championship in less than 24 hours. Prediction: This isn’t on the Smurf Turf so you have to give the advantage to the Rebels here. UNLV 41 Boise State 38.

Sun Belt Championship: Appalachian State (+6.5) at Troy

4:00

Where does the winner go? Who the fuck knows anymore. Prediction: I will be thinking about how this would have been a hundred times better if James Madison was hosting Troy. Troy 34 Appalachian State 16.

SEC Championship: #8 Alabama (+5.5) vs. #1 Georgia (in Atlanta)

4:00

Is Georgia in no matter what? Probably although you never know how things will shake out with The Committee. Bama is going to have win this by like 50 to even get a glance from them as they are probably too far out to get their shot. Prediction: This is going to be really close and really good. I just feel it. Georgia 49 Alabama 42.

Tulane goes back to the NY6 with a win in this one. But what happens if SMU wins? That is where the fun begins (as long as Liberty wins their game on Friday). I still believe that SMU would have to hope Liberty loses since there is no way to pass them but I could be wrong. Prediction: Tulane is heading back to the promised land but it won’t be easy. Tulane 41 SMU 34.

SWAC Championship: Prairie View A&M at Florida A&M

4:00

Florida A&M has been money since joining the SWAC. Honestly, I think Deion Sanders may have been right. Have all the MEAC schools join the SWAC. One huge mega-HBCU-conference. ESPN might not like that though because they have the Celebration Bowl on the opening day of Bowl Season and you know how ESPN is about their bowls. Even with the 12-team playoff they will want to add bowls so that 4-8 Houston can face 4-8 Colorado. Prediction: The Rattlers are going to beat the brakes off of Prairie View and move on to the Celebration Bowl where they will be in an uncomfortably close game with a team that’s not even close to their level in Howard. Like most of the Celebration Bowls. Florida A&M 56 Prairie View A&M 14.

Saturday Primetime

All the FSU talk is about the loss of Jordan Travis. I get it. With him, you look like a national championship contender. Without him, not so much. Saying that, they know what they have to do. Win. Doesn’t matter how. Just win. And I wondered if they were going to be able to do that against this Cardinals team but after Louisville’s performance against Kentucky, I started to wonder about that. Prediction: The Noles do enough to win. The defense keeps the Cardinals offense at bay. FSU off to the CFP. Florida State 37 Louisville 27.

The spread is almost as high as the over/under for Iowa’s game last week against Nebraska. How sad/hilarious is that? Michigan is in with a win and maybe even with a loss depending on what has happened before this point. Prediction: Iowa has survived a lot of games with their defense. They won’t here. This could get ugly. Michigan 44 Iowa 10.

FCS Second Round: Southern Illinois at Idaho

10:00 PM

Hey, an added bonus! Some FCS playoff action! From what I can tell this may be close but we shall see since my FCS knowledge isn’t that great. And despite the fact they are playing in the awesome Kibbie Dome, wouldn’t it have been ten times more hilarious if this were outdoors…in Moscow, Idaho…in December? Oh my. Prediction: Watch this prediction be WAY off. Idaho 38 Southern Illinois 33.

We are almost at the end. It’s college football’s Judgment Day and it’s coming quickly. And we are slowly heading towards bowl season and the end of the college football season. So enjoy the games everyone!

The Bossman Top 26. My first true Bowl Projections. And it’s firing season!

Posted on November 13, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yep, firing season in college football has commenced! In what was, honestly, a shocking shitcanning, Texas A&M followed up an absolute drubbing of Mississippi State by keeping the good times going and firing Jimbo Fisher. Yes, Jimbo has been let go and will get $76 god damn million dollars as a buyout. Holy shit. Stupid me trying to be a teacher, then an accountant when the real money was in being a failed college football head coach. How dumb can I be?

Following that, Boise State announced that they, too, followed an easy win by firing their head coach. Andy Avalos was never really accepted in that position and he never kept the Broncos at the level everyone expects them to be. I guess that’s what happens: a long string of good seasons means expectations go up for everyone.

Then Mississippi State decided that Zach Arnett isn’t the right guy going forward and he was dismissed from his head coaching position. That one game put huge dents in two coaching staffs. Impressive.

Back to the Aggies situation, they now will have to hire someone after the season is over. As fucking hilarious as it would be to promote Bobby Petrino, they will definitely go outside the school in their search. And remember: the Texas A&M job is still a big one. So most coaches would love to have it. Right now I would put Mike Norvell, Mike Elko and Dan Lanning as 1A, 1B and 1C to be hired. Don’t rule out a guy like Lance Leipold, though. He has done amazing things at Kansas and will get a lot of looks in the offseason.

OK let’s get to the Bossman Top 26 which will probably not resemble the College Football Playoff rankings whatsoever:

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

There are five undefeated Power Five teams at the top. There could end up being four going into conference championship weekend. Something’s gotta give but honestly, will it? Georgia, Washington, Florida State and the Michigan/Ohio State winner in two weeks have clear paths to the playoff. Run the table and you’re in, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If one falters, that’s where the fun begins. Also, yes I have Tulane at #14 and I’m sure The Committee will have them at like #23 at best. I know it pained them to have Cincinnati so high a couple years back and they never wanted to replicate that again. And if they have their choice, they still won’t even with the expanded playoff starting next season.

Now we turn to bowl projections which actually have a bit of meat to them now that we are closing in on the end of the regular season. Unless we see chaos (which I always hope for), many of these projections can be backed up with relatively easy answers. Let’s go!

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

I believe Michigan ends up winning The Game and then the Big Ten Championship. Florida State and Washington I have running the table. Georgia, I think, will have a hiccup this week against Tennessee but still end up winning the SEC Championship to move back into the Top 4. Pretty easy, right? Let’s see if the New Year’s Six predictions make just as much sense.

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

I’m sure one thing really stands out here so let’s get to that first.

Yes, I have Memphis winning the American and the Group of Five spot in the NY6. How does the current fourth-place team rise to the top? It starts with Memphis beating SMU this coming Saturday. Then Tulane defeats UTSA on the final weekend and, due to tiebreakers, the Tigers get the spot opposite Tulane. Then they pull the upset and beat the Green Wave to move up high enough to get the spot. That shouldn’t be too hard with James Madison ineligible, Liberty’s stupidly easy schedule and The Committee’s MAC disrespect which kills Toledo’s chances.
As for the rest, they are pretty self-explanatory. Louisville ends up losing the ACC Championship but is the best representative from the conference and gets the Orange Bowl spot. The Orange Bowl selects Ohio State as the top team left from the Big Ten or SEC. Oregon, Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss are almost shoo-ins at this point. I do think Penn State sneaks back into the Top 10 and passes Missouri to garner the final spot. Whether they face a pissed off Alabama or a Bama that doesn’t care would remain to be seen.

So far, so good. Nothing crazy (other than Memphis). I’m sure there could be some debate but it would be minor (other than Memphis). Let’s look at the rest of the bowl picture:

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

A few notes on this:

One asterisk (*) means there weren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill that bowl slot. Two asterisks (**) means that all bowl-eligible teams have been slotted in a bowl game and there are still spots remaining. Three asterisks (***) means a team that gets in due to APR. That final one I have no idea how it will be filled since I don’t have a great idea as to the smarter schools compared to the not-so-smart schools.
James Madison and Jacksonville State are almost guaranteed bowl games. JMU is pretty much a lock since I can’t see many scenarios where all the bowl games are filled with bowl-eligible teams.
Remember, Notre Dame gets an ACC spot as long as they have one more win than a team they would be replacing….which is pretty much every team left in the ACC to slot into a bowl game.
The other Independents are not going bowling so that doesn’t really matter.
We are WAY too early to see bowl bids being accepted. And with the Bahamas Bowl having to be played in Charlotte there are no issues with issuing passports that would make it so bowl bids would have to be accepted in November. For this reason, I see no bowl bids going out until the first of December at the earliest.

Tomorrow night we have more MACtion. I will try my best to put out the college football TV schedule post tomorrow as well. Rankings will have to be edited in since the CFP rankings aren’t being released until 9:00 tomorrow night. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

Let’s bid farewell to a couple of legends – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 7, 2023 by guelphbossman

I don’t think we have ever seen two football minds like this get let go within a week of each other. It is crazy to think this could happen, but it did. Two legends who didn’t get their proper sendoff on here. So here we go.

*deep breath*

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to say farewell to two of, arguably……….the worst coordinators in recent Power Five football history. Brian Ferentz, son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, had to be put on a points minimum to be able to keep his contract after this season was over. And Alex Grinch, one of Lincoln Riley’s loyal soldiers. Two men who undoubtdedly pushed football back 50 years with their horrendous playcalling and obvious lack of attention to detail.

Ferentz wasn’t even allowed to take a shot at the points amount (it had to be at least an average of 25 a game). He was told by interim Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz, who obviously knew his chances of hitting that mark were slim, that he would not be retained for the 2024 season. So technically he is still around although he’s in a lame duck position. Not so for Grinch who wasn’t allowed to continue putting out awful defense after awful defense, something that has almost killed USC’s chances of anything but going to a bowl game. Riley had no choice in the end but to axe him.

Realistically, these two guys should have been let go weeks ago. It was apparent to anyone with some knowledge of college football that these two weren’t cutting it. But nepotism and loyalty can go a long way in this sport and we have seen it time and again in the past. And it will continue to do so. Hopefully head coaches learn to take a step back and look at a situation from a bird’s-eye view so that they can honestly assess it. Otherwise you hurt the team and, potentially, yourself.

Alright, enough of fired coaches. Let’s get to the damn schedule!

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Ball State at Northern Illinois	7:00
Central Michigan at Western Michigan	7:00
Ohio at Buffalo	7:30

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s MACTION!!!!!!! Second week of MACtion and boy do I love it. Also, the College Football Playoff rankings come out a few minutes into the early games so I am sure the announcers will stick to calling the games and not mention anything about the rankings. I’m sure of it.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Bowling Green at Kent State	7:00
Eastern Michigan at Toledo	7:00
Akron at Miami-OH	7:00

EMU-Toledo is easily the biggest game here. Depending on a few other results, the Rockets could clinch the MAC West with a win.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia at #11 Louisville	7:30
Southern Miss at Louisiana	7:30

Louisville’s potential run to the New Year’s Six might have some potholes. This shouldn’t be one of them. Thing is, it’s either that, the Fun Belt game or one of the worst Thursday Night Football games ever. I’ll stick with the ACC matchup as long as I can (with some check-ins on the Southern Miss-Louisiana game of course).

Friday

		US	Canada
North Texas at SMU	9:00
Grambling at Arkansas-Pine Bluff	9:00

The Mustangs feel like a bit of a surprise team at the top of the American Conference and they shouldn’t be. Some had them at least getting to the conference championship. Take the over with this one.

Saturday Early

Absolutely colossal matchup in the early window. Yes, I am talking about ~~Indiana-Illinois~~ Michigan-Penn State. The second of the three-game Big Ten East round robin of Fun and Frolic lands in State College. Should this be under the lights with a Penn State Whiteout? Yeah, probably. But FOX is adamant that Noon is their big game. Big Noon Saturday. It’s not called Big Evening Saturday for a reason.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
NC State at Wake Forest	2:00
#21 Arizona at Colorado	2:00
Miami at #4 Florida State	3:30
Pittsburgh vs. Syracuse (in the Bronx)	3:30
Rutgers at #22 Iowa	3:30
#13 Tennessee at #14 Missouri	3:30
UAB at Navy	3:30
#15 Oklahoma State at UCF	3:30
NC Central at Howard	3:30
#18 Utah at #5 Washington	3:30
Minnesota at Purdue	3:30
Washington State at California	4:00
Auburn at Arkansas	4:00
Stanford at #12 Oregon State	5:30

Utah-Washington. Big game. Tennessee-Missouri. Big game (but not as big as the first one). Miami-FSU. Big game, mostly for one team. So there are some important games in this timeslot. It’s rare to see a November Saturday timeslot not to have an important game at all. Now, all games are not equal. Let’s be honest: very few will give a shit about Pitt-Cuse even if it is at Yankee Stadium.

And on that note, can we quit with putting football games on in baseball stadiums? Look at last week’s shitshow at Wrigley. I mean the game was hilariously bad as is considering the two teams playing. But the turf was in shambles. At one point they were trying to fix a patch that looked to be about two feet long and one foot wide. Like, seriously? Want to go to new places? Play in more NFL stadiums. Play in big high school stadiums. Hell, go to Barrow, Alaska and play on their field that borders the Arctic Ocean. Just stay away from the baseball stadiums or otherwise one day some guy is going to get seriously hurt.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
San Diego State at Colorado State	7:00
#9 OIe Miss at #2 Georgia	7:00
West Virginia at #17 Oklahoma	7:00
Georgia Southern at Marshall	7:00
#7 Texas at TCU	7:30
Mississippi State at Texas A&M	7:30
Rice at UTSA	7:30
Michigan State at #1 Ohio State	7:30
Florida at #19 LSU	7:30
Duke at #25 North Carolina	8:00

You are going to notice that TSN (other than TSN+) is barely appearing this Saturday. Well, just like last week, the CFL has their playoff games on a Saturday. I guess it makes sense from a viewer perspective since I am sure they lose viewers to the NFL on Sunday and would lose less viewers going up against college football. I think it has become apparent that TSN is pushing college football (among a few other live sports properties) to TSN+ and putting much less on their actual television networks. Sad for fans who either don’t want to spend more money on an online platform or just would struggle figuring out the online platform to begin with. Sure, live sports on TV is still a huge thing and will be for a long time but slowly…SLOWLY…more and more things are moving online. Give it, let’s say, 20 years and I could see a big difference in what you see now.

Anyway, the actual schedule has Ole Miss-Georgia as the main game and a few other games that could have been huge if certain teams hadn’t shit the bed. Take Duke-UNC. UNC losing on the CW to Virginia and then to Georgia Tech made this game an afterthought. Same with WVU-Oklahoma. The Sooners’ upset losses to Kansas and then Oklahoma State in the final Bedlam have killed the hype for this matchup. It happens every season.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Arizona State at UCLA	9:00
Iowa State at BYU	10:15
Fresno State at San Jose State	10:30
USC at #6 Oregon	10:30

FOX quadrupleheader! Gotta love when they do this. I wish ABC would just do it once. I think they’d be surprised how many people would tune in to a late night game on ABC. USC could put a massive wrench in Oregon’s plans of at least getting to the New Year’s Six with a win here and Fresno State needs to keep winning to have any hope of having the same kind of plans.

Hey, Watch This

Michigan at Penn State (Noon, FOX) – This is easily the most hyped game of the weekend and rightly so. Penn State (and James Franklin) has a chance to do what many have been waiting for them to do: take that final step towards the CFP. This is their final chance this season. Lose this and perhaps even an NY6 spot is gone. Lose and The Game becomes so massive it may overshadow last year’s affair and maybe even 2006’s Game of the Century. Win and they move up the rankings and then pray for a Michigan victory over Ohio State. Then they would head way down the tiebreaker list to see who wins the division. Oh, and the last tiebreaker? A random draw. I am not joking. Wouldn’t that be insane television? ESPN and FOX would go nuts.

Ole Miss at Georgia (7:00, TSN+/specialty pack) – This should be almost as hyped as the UM-PSU game but for one thing: the Rebels need Bama to lose two conference games for them to win the division. So the Fighting Kiffins’ best shot is to win out, go 11-1, and hope for some chaos around them. Then they might sneak into the playoff. As for Georgia, this is yet another prove-it game. Last week was Missouri, this week Ole Miss, next week Tennessee. Survive those then they may not even have to win the conference championship to go to the playoff.

Utah at Washington (3:30, FOX) – Man, FOX has a crazy-good set of games for their quadrupleheader this Saturday. The Huskies have been sort of hanging on lately. Almost like TCU did last year winning games late and winning games that are close. That has to be their mantra right now though: Al Davis’s popular “Just Win Baby.” As for the Utes, could they almost kill the Pac-12’s playoff hopes with a win here? Not totally but they would do a lot of damage and something tells me they would be happy doing that.

USC at Oregon (10:30, FOX) – Two ranked teams facing each other warrants a spot (most of the time) on this list. Well, ranked in the AP Poll at least (sorry, USC). USC could be just like Utah in the previous game: be the spoiler. Oregon has recovered very nicely from their close loss to Washington. Win here, don’t stumble against Arizona State and then win the Civil War over the Beavers and they get their chance at revenge (probably) on Washington.

Tennessee at Missouri (3:30, CBS) – This is an interesting one. The Vols were expected to at least be in the New Year’s Six conversation. Mizzou? Not at all. They have played out of their minds most of the season and put a scare into UGA last week. They can’t win the SEC East so they have to push to win out and give The Committee something to think about. The Vols actually can win the East but it would take the craziest of scenarios to have that happen.

Sickos Game of the Week

Vanderbilt at South Carolina (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – The SEC never ends up here. Nor should they. But this game has awful written all over it. It was down to this one and Pitt-Cuse but I will give this game the nod. The Pitt-Cuse game is at Yankee Stadium which is kind of cool but I am sure the field conditions will not be. But the aura of it being in a baseball stadium is what I will use to grudgingly tip the scales towards Vandy and the Cocks getting this spot. Now, if this game had been played at Vandy’s Bob the Builder Stadium then it would have been a no doubter.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30, NBC) – OK hear me out. At some point, the Buckeyes have to stop with their extremely slow starts. Enough of them being in a dogfight with Rutgers or Maryland. One game it will catch up to them. I think that Ryan Day might finally push them hard to come out of the gate strong. If they do, this game will essentially be over at the half and NBC will be less than pleased with the viewers flocking elsewhere (but, that’s what they signed up for).

Wanna Bet?

I was SO close on the score of my Tennessee-UConn bet. And honestly, I wasn’t too far off with USC-Washington even if I did have the Trojans winning in an upset. And I got Bama’s points dead on. Don’t look at my Virginia pick. Let’s get to this week’s picks, shall we?

Southern Miss 29 Louisiana 28 (upset!)

North Texas 31 SMU 27 (another upset!)

Alabama 34 Kentucky 21 (no upset)

Penn State 30 Michigan 23 (yet another upset!)

Tulane 41 Tulsa 10

Wake Forest 31 NC State 27 (minor upset)

Florida State 42 Miami 32

Washington 34 Utah 14

Tennessee 45 Missouri 35

Washington State 31 California 24 (very slight upset)

Georgia 38 Ole Miss 27

UTSA 37 Rice 21

Oregon 63 USC 33

OK I picked a ton of upsets here and look at Oregon. Yeah I think they are going to have a field day with the USC defense even with Alex Grinch not there to fuck things up.

I am preparing for another day of college football, starting Saturday at Noon and going into Sunday morning. Remember, we are in November, people. We don’t have much longer to go. Soon enough it will be conference championship weekend and the schedules like these go away. So savour it. Take your time to watch a lot of football before it’s gone and the only thing to watch (after the Super Bowl is over at least) is the Xtreme United States Football Association and/or League, also known as the XUSFAL. That acronym will probably end up being better than what they come up with. I’d put money on it. Like ten bucks. Enjoy the games everyone!

Oh man, here we go again

Posted on August 1, 2023 by guelphbossman

It felt like things were calm. We were all lulled into this. It was just the eye of the storm. Sure the wind wasn’t moving but about 200 metres away, a cow just went flying headlong into a barn.

What am I talking about? Realignment, of course! Another shoe has dropped…OK let me use a different analogy. Sorry Deion. We have another big move as Colorado will be going back to the Big XII starting next season. And that probably won’t be all. The rumours have at least one of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon or Washington following the Buffaloes. Or, if no other schools leave the Pac-12, the Big XII is more than willing to dip into the American Conference (hello SMU, Memphis, Tulane) or even way out east…yes, UConn! And maybe once the Pac-12 (or more like Pac-9) gets their act together, they can start bringing in teams from the Group of Five. The same teams from the American would be in play, especially SMU. Also, the Mountain West would be watching closely as San Diego State, Boise State and perhaps Colorado State and UNLV could be looked at. There will be a lot of meetings in the next month or so to determine where this all leads.

For now let’s focus on what this post was supposed to be (and still will be). It’s time for the Power Five conference predictions. This will give a better indication on how I think things will go during this season. So let’s dive right in!

Changes are coming soon for the Ess Ee Cee. Texas and Oklahoma join the conference next season. Also, no more SEC on CBS after this year. Everything moves to ABC and ESPN. And finally, no divisions. Halle-fucking-lujah.

As for this year, all the talk is about Georgia and doing something no team has done (fully) in the AP Poll era: win three national championships in a row. It’s not like they will fall apart, despite the fact they lost their starting quarterback and a bunch of other players in the NFL Draft. Then again, I’m sure Kirby Smart has looked them all dead in the eye and told them “Everyone thinks you are going to go 5-7 and lose to Vanderbilt. Prove them wrong!” And they will believe it because college football head coaches are just a notch-and-a-half below cult leaders in the pecking order of how much they can make their “followers” drink their Kool-Aid.

Remember, though, there are other teams in the conference as well. Like those lovable underdogs from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the team that just reeks of success (in the classroom and on the baseball diamond), Vanderbilt. And eleven other teams. Want to find out how I think they will do? OK. I will do that. Just for you.

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Georgia	7	1	11	1
Tennessee	6	2	10	2
South Carolina	5	3	8	4
Kentucky	3	5	6	6
Missouri	2	6	5	7
Florida	2	6	5	7
Vanderbilt	1	7	4	8
West
Alabama	8	0	12	0
LSU	6	2	9	3
Ole Miss	4	4	8	4
Texas A&M	4	4	8	4
Arkansas	3	5	7	5
Auburn	3	5	7	5
Mississippi State	2	6	6	6

Just For You

You might think I am crazy for having UGA not run the table. I do think they will lose a regular season game and it will be to those upstart Tennessee Volunteers. It won’t keep them from winning the division though as you can see I have those same Vols losing two conference games during the regular season.
As for the SEC West, though, Bama will once again rule the roost….as long as they figure out their quarterback situation. I am thinking they will and will go undefeated and be #1 in the nation going into conference championship weekend. If they don’t get their QB situation settled…well, maybe they lose two games? Three? It’s not like they will fall to 6-6.
I could see South Carolina or last year’s SEC West champs, LSU, making a bit of a run this time around. They have the top two quarterbacks in the SEC and could each put up piles of points. Watch for the Cocks’ game against Georgia early on in the season and LSU’s post-Halloween trip to Bryant-Denny to face the Tide. Upsets in either of those games will seriously upset the apple cart.
Look, the Gators were barely .500 with who I think may be one of the most overhyped quarterbacks in recent memory. I don’t think Anthony Richardson was that great. And now they don’t even have him. Unless every other part of the roster improved (it didn’t), how do people expect this team to bounce back and all of a sudden become an eight or nine win team? Spoiler alert: they won’t.
I have Mississippi State at 6-6. They will do just enough to get a bowl game. I wonder how tough it will be after the loss of Mike Leach but I can see them straightening things out just in time late in the season.
As for the SEC Championship, SURPRISE! I have the Dawgs beating the Tide and creating a massive clusterfuck in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Fun times!
Eleven bowl teams from the SEC with two juuuuuust on the outside. That’s insane and I don’t think I will be that far off with this prediction. Next year could be even crazier with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference that just means more.

Man have things really changed in terms of where you will see Big Ten games this season. Gone are ABC and ESPN. In is NBC and CBS. This is gonna feel weird the first time I see it. And maybe the next few times as well. I will get used to it at some point. Now if you want the opportunity to watch every Big Ten game, better find a way to get FOX Sports One and Peacock otherwise you will be shit out of luck to watch potential bangers like Northwestern-Purdue and Indiana-Rutgers (if they end up there and not the Big Ten Network).

Alright, let’s get into the final conference predictions before the B1G gives a big Fuck You to geography and brings in USC and UCLA.

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Michigan	8	1	11	1
Penn State	8	1	11	1
Ohio State	8	1	10	2
Michigan State	5	4	7	5
Maryland	5	4	8	4
Indiana	1	8	3	9
Rutgers	1	8	4	8
West
Minnesota	6	3	8	4
Wisconsin	6	3	9	3
Iowa	6	3	9	3
Illinois	5	4	7	5
Nebraska	2	7	5	7
Purdue	2	7	5	7
Northwestern	0	9	2	10

Geogpraphy, Go Eat a Dick

Look, I know some might look at the Big Ten East standings and think I am a bit crazy. I am not. Although that is what a crazy person would tell you. Yep, a three-way tie at the top at 8-1 between Big Blue, tOSU and PSU. Because each team will be 1-1 against the other two, the CFP Rankings will decide the winner. I believe the Wolverines will somehow win that. And yes, I think Ohio State also loses to Notre Dame. O-H! I-No.
If Sparty doesn’t make it to a bowl game, they may end up giving Mel Tucker the Herm Edwards treatment and fire him before he can leave the playing surface one game. I get they have a tough division but they should be able to do well enough against the rest of their schedule to get back in the postseason after last year’s debacle.
No, I don’t have Wisconsin winning the West division. Meaning I am different than almost every expert out there. Also, there’s the fact I’m not an expert but I digress. Again I have a damn three-way tie but no need to look at the rankings for this one as I believe the Gophers will Row the Fucking Boat all the way to Indianapolis after beating both Wisky and the high-octane Iowa Hawkeyes. See what I did there? Yeah, I don’t care that the Hawkeyes have a new quarterback in town. Until Kirk tells his son to do better, Iowa will be pushing for some 7-6 victories. Sorry. 8-6. Two field goals and a late safety to win.
Nebraska will be better but I think the Huskers are a season away from getting back to the top of the West…just in time for the West to just not exist anymore.
As for Northwestern…man. What a shitshow. Look, I played a lot of sports earlier in my life and did so at the university level. Are there fun little pranks and stupid things the rookies have to do? Sometimes. But it’s usually harmless. Carrying bags, standing up during a team dinner to get embarrassed by singing some Mariah Carey song, dumb things like that. Not getting fucking dry humped in some cultish fashion by weirdos in robes. What the fuck is wrong with that school? And yes, it’s not just the football program. Sounds like at least half the teams there have serious issues. Ugh.
Now let’s get crazy. Yeah! The Big Ten Championship will…OK who am I kidding. It won’t be close. I have Michigan plowing through Minny to clinch their spot, yet again, in the College Football Playoff.

Might as well call this the Stable Conference…for now. Just nothing happening here which is just fine for most of the teams in the ACC. Status quo isn’t a bad thing. There are some changes with where you will see games. The CW…yes, the C-Fucking-W, will have an ACC game during most of the weeks of the season. You can take the ACC out of Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) but you can’t take the Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) out of the ACC. Or something like that.

So before this conference possibly gets pillaged by the Big Ten and SEC, let’s get to the predictions followed by some deep tissue massage and/or analysis.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Clemson	8	0	12	10
Florida State	7	1	11	1
North Carolina	6	2	9	3
Pittsburgh	5	3	8	4
Louisville	5	3	8	4
Duke	4	4	8	4
Wake Forest	4	4	7	5
NC State	4	4	7	5
Miami	4	4	7	5
Syracuse	3	5	6	6
Boston College	2	6	5	7
Virginia	2	6	4	8
Georgia Tech	2	6	4	8
Virginia Tech	0	8	1	11

Deep Tissue Massage and/or Analysis

I should book a massage. My back is in horrible shape.
Some may scoff at me having Clemson going undefeated this season. They have the schedule to do it and if Cade Klubnik is as good as he can be this could relatively easily happen. If Klubnik struggles…well then this entire set of standings might need to be scrubbed from existence.
Reader Gord will like where I have Florida State. This team could be scary good. And at the very least, they will be near the top of the ACC standings this season. Mike Norvell has done a great job getting this team back to what it was like during the Jimbo Fisher days. I had my doubts about him but I have to admit he has been the right guy to right the ship in Tallahassee.
Hey did you notice? NO DIVISIONS! I love it.
Don’t be surprised that if Clemson or FSU stumbles that there are no shortage of teams that could get one of the two ACC title game slots. A list of seven teams could pull off a couple of upsets and be at the top and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. A slight surprise sure. Maybe a slightly bigger surprise if it was Miami or NC State. But not a massive surprise.
Poor Virginia Tech. I think this will be their worst team since before Frank Beamer graced Blacksburg. It feels like it has been forever since the Hokies were contenders. It was only seven years ago when they were in the ACC Championship and almost upset the eventual national champions, Clemson. This team is pretty bad in almost every aspect of the game and the schedule will not be helpful to them. Other than Old Dominion I don’t see them winning any other game and the Monarchs have given VT all sorts of fits the past few years.
Look for a tiny bit of a bounce back from Virginia. Just them taking the field after what happened last year is a win in my books.
For that ACC title game, how about another game that will turn everything on its head. Yep, I think the Noles will get revenge for a regular season loss by inching out the Tigers. Chaos!

OK it’s about time the Big XII rebrands. They will have at least thirteen teams by the time the 2024 season starts and it may be as high as sixteen. So change the fucking name. They have the rights to the Big Fourteen and Big Sixteen so use one of those. It would be easy. Find a graphic design student at Kansas and have them do a new logo. Easy peasy. Why do I have to come up with everything?

Where was I? Oh that’s right, predictions. Let’s see if this conference will go all Pac-12 and cannibalize itself or if they can see a team get to the CFP once again. Also, Texas and Oklahoma will be trying their best to leave the conference on a high note much to the chagrin of the rest of the schools in the conference. So here are the Big XII standings predictions, followed by Belly Expansions.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Texas	8	1	10	2
Kansas State	7	2	10	2
Baylor	6	3	8	4
TCU	6	3	9	3
Oklahoma	6	3	9	3
Texas Tech	5	4	8	4
Oklahoma State	5	4	8	4
Kansas	4	5	7	5
UCF	4	5	7	5
BYU	3	6	5	7
Cincinnati	3	6	5	7
Houston	2	7	4	8
Iowa State	2	7	4	8
West Virginia	2	7	3	9

Belly Expansions

No I don’t mean pregnancy. I mean eating a big meal and having to loosen the ol’ belt or just unbuckle the pants altogether. Funny enough, people in the restaurant don’t appreciate that.
Let’s start at the bottom. There won’t be one truly bad team. There will be a bunch of below-average ones. West Virginia, Iowa State, Houston, Cincinnati and BYU could all finish last and I am sure no one would bat an eye.
I see the Longhorns making their final Big XII season a special one. They have the team, the schedule and the head coach (I think) to be the top team in this conference this season. The only question will be can Quinn Ewers hold off Arch Manning. Will one of them transfer in the offseason? Remember, when you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none. I think.
How about this lukewarm take: Kansas State will be good again. Yeah really going out on a limb there Bossman. This team has become so steady-as-she-goes it’s almost boring. The people in the Little Apple are fine with this.
I do think one of the newcomers will make a bowl game and that team will be UCF. I think they are the most prepared of the newbies coming into this conference. But make no mistake about it: all four teams will be good at various points over the next few years.
I can’t see Oklahoma taking enough of a leap to get to the Big XII Championship. Nor do I think the Horned Frogs of TCU have the, uh, toads? to make it back to the conference title game. Good seasons for both, yes, but not great.
The Longhorns should win the conference title game in their final season in the Big XII. Will this get them into the CFP or will it “relegate” them to the New Year’s Six? I think you can tell from my predictions so far but you will know for sure in a different post.

So where are we going to be able to watch Pac-12 games in the future? Who the hell knows. My money is on PBS.

But seriously, the Pac-12 is quickly dropping from the Conference of Champions to almost a Group of Five conference. They are losing USC and UCLA next year to the Big Ten. They knew that already. The bombshell of Colorado leaving now has them at nine teams starting the 2024 season. And it may not end there. The only schools I haven’t heard potentially leaving are Oregon State and Washington State. That’s not to say all these rumours will be correct but I will be pretty surprised if no more teams leave for the Big XII before next season. It’s sad for a conference that really started their slide once Pete Carroll left USC for the NFL. Thanks a bunch, Peter.

Prediction time! No divisions which is one thing they are ahead of the game with, starting that last year. Let’s get to those divisionless predictions followed by some California Nightmarin’.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
USC	8	1	10	2
Utah	7	2	9	3
Oregon	7	2	9	3
Oregon State	7	2	10	2
Washington State	6	3	8	4
Washington	6	3	9	3
UCLA	5	4	8	4
Colorado	3	6	4	8
California	2	7	4	8
Arizona	2	7	4	8
Arizona State	1	8	3	9
Stanford	0	9	2	10

California Nightmarin’

No state will have it better this year in the Pac-12 than the state of Oregon. Both the Ducks and the Beavers look to be serious contenders and only need the ball to bounce their way one extra time to maybe get to the Pac-12 Championship. And considering the way that title game has gone, who knows what may happen after that.
The strongest team, though, should be USC. They have Caleb Williams coming back to try and do what no one other than some guy named Archie has ever done, and that’s win two Heisman Trophies. The hope there is that the sting of the two season-ending losses will motivate them to push themselves that final step into the CFP.
OK look, I know you see Washington in sixth place and you are wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. This is another case where the schedule is just flat-out against them. A slightly easier schedule and I might put this team at eleven or even, dare I say it, twelve wins. It will be that close at the top of the conference.
On the other hand, I am sure no will think I’m crazy for putting Stanford in last place. It’s been a long time since the Cardinal have been this bad and it doesn’t look like they will be ready for bowl action for another year at least.
I think I was fair putting Colorado at 4-8 for this season and playing fairly meaningful football going into November. There seems to be two schools of thought with this team. One section thinks Coach Prime has done wonders and with all the fresh faces in the lineup it will push the team over the line and into bowl-eligibility territory. The other section thinks the entire program is overhyped and they will win maybe two games. I am in the middle on this. This team won’t go bowling this year. That would be too much of a leap. But they should win more games than they did last year. If not, what the hell was all this hoopla for?
As for the Pac-12 title game, USC gets the Pac-12 Championship they probably should have won last year. Problem is that by this point there will be a lot of teams in the mix for those four College Football Playoff spots and in typical Pac-12 fashion, the league will have cannabilized itself again and missed out on the CFP again.

There you go! You now have a complete set of Bossman conference predictions. Next up, is kind of the wrap-up post where I put everything in a nice, neat little ball and let you know who I believe will win the whole damn deal. Have a great week everyone!

Rankings: The Season Finale. Also, bowl projections!

Posted on November 30, 2022 by guelphbossman

Yeah you’re gonna get like 20 sets of projections before everything is finalized so buckle up, friends.

This will be the last set of rankings I do since doing them after conference championship weekend makes no sense. I’m already doing a bowl projection post every couple hours. Adding rankings on to it is pointless. So, the season finale of the Bossman Top 25!

#1	Georgia
#2	Michigan
#3	TCU
#4	USC
#5	Ohio State
#6	Tennessee
#7	Alabama
#8	Penn State
#9	Utah
#10	Washington
#11	Clemson
#12	Kansas State
#13	Florida State
#14	LSU
#15	Oregon State
#16	Oregon
#17	Tulane
#18	UCLA
#19	South Carolina
#20	Notre Dame
#21	Texas
#22	UCF
#23	Troy
#24	North Carolina
#25	Cincinnati

It seems like this is pretty close to what’s actually happening with the College Football Playoff rankings. And I didn’t need a stupid show to announce them. I had debated putting Michigan at #1 but can’t with their shit schedule and an honestly down Big Ten conference. I know ESPN would fucking LOVE it if Bama made it into the College Football Playoff but I believe they shouldn’t even be ranked ahead of Tennessee and that’s why I have them at #7. Honestly, they shouldn’t get there, even if both TCU and USC lose. I have a feeling my opinion is not shared by The Committee.

Oh I need a cliffhanger since it’s the season finale. OK how about this: some teams get so pissed off at The Committee’s rankings that they threaten to leave to form their own division. Yeah, that sounds good.

OK now I can get to the bowl projections. This is the last set before Saturday when I start doing them on a far-too-often basis as things change by the half hour it seems. Let us being with the College Football Playoff:

Fiesta Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Michigan vs. TCU
Peach Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Georgia vs. USC

The question remains: Who here can be pushed out of the Top 4? Michigan and Georgia seem to be locked in, even if they lose their conference championship games. TCU and USC, on the other hand, are still on relatively shaky ground. Either team loses their respective conference championship, expect a huge groundswell of people to want either Ohio State or Alabama to replace them. I guess if both the Horned Frogs and Trojans lose, you have to have the conversation but if only one loses…oof that is going to spark some serious controversy.

Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Ohio State vs. Washington
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. G-5 #1	Penn State vs. Tulane
Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs. Kansas State
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	North Carolina vs. Tennessee

I’m sure you’ll look at this and see one really odd team. So let’s get right to the elephant in the room…yes, I think Penn State will get to the Cotton Bowl. I know there could be a few teams that would fill that spot just as good as the Nittany Lions but I am going with Penn State to be there when it’s all said and done.

Oh….OH! You thought I meant North Carolina? Well I have a feeling that Drake Maye is going to light up the Clemson defense and the Tar Heels will pull off the upset of Clemson. That would relegate Clemson into the rest of the bowl games, which wouldn’t sit well with Dabo Swinney I’m sure.

Alright, finally time for the rest of the projected bowl matchups.

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Purdue
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Ole Miss vs. Maryland
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	South Carolina vs. Illinois
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Florida vs. NC State
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Wyoming vs. Ohio
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Florida State vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Iowa vs. Notre Dame
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Texas vs. Oregon
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Oklahoma vs. Clemson
Pinstripe Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Duke vs. UCLA
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Kentucky vs. Texas Tech
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Syracuse vs. UCF
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Big Ten vs. Big XII	Wisconsin vs. Baylor
Birmingham Bowl	SEC vs. AAC/ACC/C-USA	Missouri vs. Memphis
First Responder Bowl	Two of AAC, Big XII, C-USA, Sun Belt, MWC	Kansas vs. SMU
Camellia Bowl	Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA	South Alabama vs. North Texas
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	UConn vs. Buffalo
Hawaii Bowl	BYU/AAC/C-USA vs. MAC	Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State
Independence Bowl	AAC vs. Army	Houston vs. Army
Gasparilla Bowl	Two of AAC, ACC, SEC, Pac-12	East Carolina vs. Louisville
Armed Forces Bowl	Two of Big XII, C-USA, AAC	WKU vs. BYU
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Southern Miss vs. UTSA
Boca Raton Bowl	Two of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Marshall vs. New Mexico State
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Air Force vs. Bowling Green
Myrtle Beach Bowl	Two of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Troy vs. Liberty
Frisco Bowl	Two from Group of Five	Utah State vs. Georgia Southern
Las Vegas Bowl	SEC vs. Pac-12	Arkansas vs. Washington State
LendingTree Bowl	Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA	Coastal Carolina vs. Toledo
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	Utah vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. AAC/C-USA/MAC	Fresno State vs. Eastern Michigan
Fenway Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati
Cure Bowl	Two from Group of Five	San Jose State vs. Louisiana
Bahamas Bowl	C-USA vs. MAC	UAB vs. Miami-OH

The Bahamas and Hawaii Bowls are already set. The Bahamas Bowl is always set around conference championship time because the teams have to make sure everyone that is going to the islands have their passports and that takes time. As for the Hawaii Bowl, I have no idea. But if you just look at it from a bowl destination standpoint, that’s a much better place to go than, say, Shreveport.

Oh one thing before I continue, I had one of the tie-ins wrong this entire season. The SEC sends a team every other year to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. In the off years they send a team to Las Vegas Bowl. I had them with tie-ins to both. I have fixed that. Maybe this way I won’t always run out of SEC teams before they come close to filling their tie-ins.

OK, on to the bowl eligibility fiasco of sorts. There are 82 bowl spots. 41 bowl games. As of right now, 79 teams are bowl-eligible. Three spots remain. This is where things get a little complicated. Let’s go through this one-by-one:

Buffalo hosts Akron on Friday. This is the make-up game after Snowpocalypse hit the area a couple weeks back. The Bulls win, they are bowl-eligible. I have them winning and becoming Team #80.
New Mexico State was supposed to play San Jose State over a month ago. Unfortunately, the tragic death of SJSU’s Camdan McWright meant the game was cancelled. With the way the schedules were, it couldn’t be played. The Spartans won’t play this week because they are already bowl-eligible and want to rest. That’s very fair. The Aggies have been able to schedule a game with FCS Valparaiso. The Aggies should win and if they get a waiver they would become bowl-eligible even with two wins over FCS opponents. I think this all happens and they become Team #81.
Army is 5-6. I have them beating Navy. Here’s the thing though: they have two wins over FCS opponents and the Army-Navy game is AFTER all the bowl games are set out. So my guess is they are Team #82 and if they lose, then we get some chaos. A bit.
Appalachian State is 6-6 with two wins over FCS opponents. If they ask for a waiver and get it AND they need a bowl-eligible team, they would be next in line.
James Madison is on this list because the NCAA is, as always, a fucked up organization that makes money by accident. Since they are a transitional team, they can’t win a conference or go to a bowl. Even if they are good. Which JMU has been this year. Normally I would say it has to do with an easier schedule but that’s not really the case. They won 2 games over FCS opponents but had a regular Sun Belt conference schedule and ran roughshod over a lot of teams, including Coastal Carolina. Them only having 11 games is more of an issue in my opinion. But for people saying they should have scheduled another game, why? They already knew their fate was pretty much sealed. Anyway, if they applied for a waiver and it was accepted they would have to wait to see if the NCAA chose them or a team off the APR list (which I will explain in the next point).
Next up is the APR list. APR stands for Academic Progress Rate. Not necessarily a metric on how “smart” a school is but how well schools are graduating their athletes. So a school like Stanford, which is a tough academic school, might not graduate as many football players (as a percentage) as, say, ULM which has far less stringent academic entrance criteria but may graduate more of their students. Anyway, here is the list:
- Rice
- UNLV
- Auburn
- Michigan State
The rest don’t matter because it will never get to those schools. If there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams, Rice would be given first choice to accept an offer. Then UNLV, Auburn and, finally, Michigan State. I don’t think it will get to these teams but it can if some of the things that happened above don’t happen. Plus, there are rumours abound that UNLV, after inexplicably firing Marcus Arroyo after the best season since 2013 under Bobby Hauck, would reject a bowl offer even if it got to them on the APR list.

Did you get all that? That needs to be a college class. I’m sure the failure rate would still be about 50%.

Alright, I won’t update this until sometime on Saturday since, chances are, nothing much will happen until then. I doubt I will be on Twitter until later in the day on Saturday. Then Sunday it will be all day, going over the bowl games as they get filled. Going to be a busy weekend. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

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

Posted on November 22, 2022 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

Tuesday

Bowling Green (+6.5) at Ohio

7:00 PM

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

Thursday

Mississippi State (+2.5) at #20 Ole Miss

7:00 PM

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

Friday

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

Utah State (+16.5) at Boise State

Noon

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

Central Michigan (-2) at Eastern Michigan

Noon

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

Baylor (+8.5) at #23 Texas

Noon

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

Toledo (-7.5) at Western Michigan

Noon

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

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

Arkansas (-3) at Missouri

3:30 PM

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

New Mexico (+7.5) at Colorado State

3:30 PM

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

Nebraska (+10.5) at Iowa

4:00 PM

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

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

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

Saturday Early

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

Rutgers (+14) at Maryland

Noon

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

WKU (-7) at Florida Atlantic

Noon

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

Georgia Tech (+35.5) at #1 Georgia

Noon

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

West Virginia (+8.5) at Oklahoma State

Noon

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

Coastal Carolina (+13.5) at James Madison

Noon

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

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

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

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

Illinois (-14) at Northwestern

3:30 PM

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

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

Purdue (-10.5) at Indiana

3:30 PM

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

Auburn (+22) at #7 Alabama

3:30 PM

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

UAB (-17.5) at Louisiana Tech

3:30 PM

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

Minnesota (+3.5) at Wisconsin

3:30 PM

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

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

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

Virginia at Virginia Tech

3:30 PM

cancelled

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

Memphis (+4.5) at SMU

3:30 PM

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

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

Troy (-13.5) at Arkansas State

3:30 PM

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

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

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

#14 Utah (-29.5) at Colorado

4:00 PM

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

Saturday Primetime

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

7:00 PM

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

#22 UCF (-19.5) at USF

7:00 PM

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

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

Tulsa (+12) at Houston

7:30 PM

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

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

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

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

Saturday Late Night

Air Force (-1.5) at San Diego State

9:00 PM

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

SE Missouri State at Montana

10:00 PM

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

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

#13 Washington (-2) at Washington State

10:30 PM

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

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

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

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

Crazy Bowl Projections V5.0!

Posted on November 16, 2022 by guelphbossman

This is the fifth edition of this completely ridiculous post. I still wish one year we get close to what I post on these but it would cement that season as the new craziest season ever. Even more so than 2007. And then if it happened I would do anything I could to get to Vegas. Fly, drive, hitchhike, I don’t give a shit. That’s a heater you ride until it ends.

I will not do all the bowl games. What would be the point? To see how WILD it would be to see Eastern Michigan in the, say, Gasparilla Bowl? Ooooooooooh, so crazy. No I’m just looking at the top because the amount of upsets it would take just to get to what I’m suggesting is staggering.

Fiesta Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	TCU vs. Illinois
Peach Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Utah vs. Tennessee

Illinois? ILLINOIS? Coached by this guy?

Alright just give me a minute or two here. Let’s go through everything that would get us to this point (since it’s a lot to absorb). Hell, it even took me a bit of time to go back through everything to say “Yep, this is fucked but it seems to work.”

TCU wins out. That’s it. OK, we’re off to a good start. Is it crazy? No, but after last night’s College Football Playoff Rankings Show of Destruction and Doom El Fantastico, it seems like many at ESPN would love if the Horned Frogs would fuck right off already.
Utah also wins out. That would include wins over Oregon, mighty Colorado, and UCLA in the Pac-12 title game. Oregon would also lose the Civil War to Oregon State pulling them right out of contention for anything. USC would lose to UCLA (who also wins their final regular season game to stay near the top of the rankings) and Notre Dame who is on quite the run as the season goes on. Washington loses to Wazzu and that wraps up the Pac-12 picture. OK, not too bad honestly. All this has the potential to happen.
Tennessee. The Vols! I think Rece Davis wants them in so here you go ya Chris Fowler doppelganger. How they get here? Buckle up.
- Georgia loses to Kentucky. Chaos ensues.
- Tennessee beats the holy hell out of South Carolina.
- LSU beats UAB. Big deal.
- Alabama beats Austin Peay. Who cares.
- Ole Miss beats Arkansas. No surprise.
- The following week Georgia loses to GEORGIA TECH? OK then. Couldn’t handle the option I guess.
- Tennessee beats Vanderbilt by 50.
- LSU loses to, oh no, Texas A&M.
- Alabama loses the Iron Bowl to Auburn!
- Ole Miss wins the Egg Bowl over Mississippi State.
- UGA then beats LSU for the SEC Championship.
- All this means, LSU and Georgia would both be outside the Top 10 going into the SEC Championship. Meaning neither could get into the Top 4. Tennessee and Ole Miss would be the only two teams and UT gets in at 11-1 and Ole Miss falls just short.
- Gary Danielson would lose his ever-loving mind over all this.
Oh man we haven’t even got Illinois yet. OK. First of all, the Illini pull off a huge upset and beat Michigan. That is paired with Ohio State being stunned by Maryland (finally getting Mike Locksley and the program their signature Big Ten win). The following week, Michigan wins The Game and Purdue loses to Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket. Illinois calmly beats Northwestern by about 40 and wins the Big Ten West. This means they get a rematch with Big Ten East champ, Michigan. They beat them yet again and leapfrog a few teams, including Michigan, to nab the final CFP spot. Penn State wins out but doesn’t have enough left to climb into the Top 4 so they barely miss out.

You’re probably asking where the ACC is. Well, North Carolina wins out but Clemson loses their final two. The ACC Championship, which was already set, has the Tigers regaining their crown in an upset over the Tar Heels. North Carolina was ranked too low in the previous rankings and needed to completely win out to have any shot at the CFP and they come up just short.

OK so that was ridiculous. It was looking good until we got to the SEC. If some of those results happen….I will be so fucking excited. But some of those game results I mentioned? They aren’t that far-fetched. On we go to the New Year’s Six where things may get weirder.

Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Penn State vs. UCLA
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. G-5 #1	Michigan vs. Tulane
Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Georgia vs. Texas
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Clemson vs. Ole Miss

OK so not totally messed up. Explanation:

As I said above, Ole Miss wins out but they won’t have enough to move up the rankings without being in a conference championship game so they fall just short of the CFP but are easily in the New Year’s Six.
Tulane is not the current G-5 favourite after their loss to UCF. Tulane, though, will win out while UCF gets shocked by Navy. The Green Wave winning their final two includes a victory over Cincinnati. No other conference has a team close enough and Tulane wins the AAC Championship to get the Cotton Bowl bid.
Clemson, despite their problems to end the season, shock North Carolina and win the ACC title which gives them the automatic Orange Bowl spot.
Speaking of teams kind of coming back out of nowhere to win their conference championship, here come the Georgia Bulldogs. Their win over LSU in the SEC Championship means their ranking doesn’t matter. They go to the Sugar Bowl no matter what as they would have been well out of the Top 4 after their late season collapse.
With Illinois getting into the College Football Playoff, the Rose Bowl spot opens up to the best Big Ten team remaining. And that team would be the Penn State Nittany Lions who just kind of hid and waited for all the other teams to collapse around them.
This puts Michigan in the Cotton Bowl as the only true at-large team in the New Year’s Six. Honestly, you could interchange Penn State and the Wolverines and it’s fine either way.
I briefly discussed UCLA above. They slot into the Rose Bowl after losing the Pac-12 Championship which comes after their slight upset of USC.
Finally, the Big XII spot in the Sugar Bowl. I have it going to Texas. In what would mirror what will probably happen, the Big XII would still have the lowest-ranked team in the New Year’s Six as past TCU there are a lot of good teams but no teams that could be considered great. Texas is the best of this bunch, barely beating out Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

So there you go. Yeah it’s pretty insane and makes no sense but was fun to do and if even half this stuff happens it would be quite the roller coaster for college football fans.

Next up is the Bossman Top 25.

#1	Georgia
#2	Ohio State
#3	TCU
#4	Michigan
#5	USC
#6	Tennessee
#7	LSU
#8	Alabama
#9	Utah
#10	Clemson
#11	Penn State
#12	Washington
#13	North Carolina
#14	Oregon
#15	Kansas State
#16	Ole Miss
#17	UCF
#18	UCLA
#19	Notre Dame
#20	Florida State
#21	Oklahoma State
#22	Tulane
#23	NC State
#24	Texas
#25	Cincinnati

My Top 4 is close to everyone else’s Top 4. Michigan may actually be a better team than TCU but sorry, they haven’t shown it and their non-conference schedule was horrific. If they beat Ohio State, then they can lay claim to a better ranking than the Horned Frogs. LSU is sitting there waiting and if they win the SEC Championship, it could cause some major issues at the top. And ESPN’s favourite, Alabama sits at #8. Unfortunately for them, they have no real way to move up except for complete chaos above them. And even then.

Alright next week I will be back with, let’s call them regular bowl projections. Enjoy the rest of your week!

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

Posted on November 3, 2021 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

Wednesday

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

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

Thursday

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

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

Friday

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

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

Saturday Early

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

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

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

Saturday Primetime

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

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

Saturday Late Night

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

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

Games to set your eyeballs on

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wanna bet?

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

Ole Miss over Liberty

North Carolina over Wake Forest (massive upset)

Michigan State over Purdue (but it will be close)

Georgia over Missouri

Alabama over LSU

Arkansas over Mississippi State

Texas A&M over Auburn

Washington over Oregon (another massive upset)

Western Michigan over Central Michigan

UAB over Louisiana Tech

TCU over Baylor (yet another big upset)

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

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

It’s time for CRAZY bowl projections (that may not be that crazy).

Posted on November 17, 2020 by guelphbossman

I have done this three times before. I wonder if I should go back and check how close those crazy projections were. I might just do that one day but today is not that day. Today is the day for stupidly ridiculous projections that actually follow some sort of logic.

Every time I have done this exercise in the past I have done all the bowl games. Except for last year where I decided that was stupid. So this will not happen this time around again. I will just do the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six games because there’s no real point in doing the rest of the bowl games to be honest with you. So let’s….get………CRAZY!

Sugar Bowl	CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4	Florida vs. Cincinnati
Rose Bowl	CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3	Indiana vs. Miami

Jesus Christ, what the fuck happened? Let me explain how I get to this point:

Alabama loses to Auburn and also to Arkansas. Texas A&M sneaks up from behind, running the table and shockingly winning the SEC West. Who else runs the table the rest of the way? Florida, with Heisman hopeful Kyle Trask leading the way. In a very close game, Florida beats Texas A&M to claim the SEC Championship, the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff rankings, and relegates TAMU to the New Year’s Six.
Clemson loses to Virginia Tech as their second loss. Notre Dame also loses…twice! Once to North Carolina and then, in an upset, to Wake Forest. This allows The U to make their way back into the Top 4 by winning out. Miami beats Notre Dame in another close conference championship game, and claims the #3 spot in the College Football Playoff.
Ohio State loses to Indiana, while the Hoosiers win out. So the Fighting Tom Allens finish 8-0 and win the Big Ten East and get undefeated Northwestern (who beats Wisconsin). The Hoosiers beat the Wildcats pretty handily to win their first Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Colorado (yes, Colorado) wins out and easily wins the Pac-12 South. Washington upsets Oregon along the way to winning the Pac-12 North. The Buffs beats the Huskies to capture the Pac-12 Championship but thanks to the Pac-12’s late start (and both teams losing a game to COVID), they fall short of getting into the College Football Playoff.
Iowa State runs the table, including a win over Texas, then takes loses to Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship. Oklahoma goes 9-2 which is obviously not enough for a spot in the CFP.
Cincinnati runs the table and with all that happened around them, ascends to #5. They win the AAC Championship in an absolute romp over Tulsa and wait to see what happens on the rest of conference championship weekend.

All this means Florida is your new #1, Indiana gets in at #2, Miami takes the #3 spot. The #4 spot has been a tough one since the College Football Playoff came to fruition. Controversy almost every year. This year it’s a bit easier as Cincinnati becomes the first Group of Five team to ever get into the College Football Playoff thanks to the Aggies loss to the Gators in the SEC Championship (which is in primetime this year). I assume the 8-team playoff talk will be deafening because only Florida and Miami could be considered close to college football bluebloods in this scenario. Hopefully they stick to their guns and wait at least a few more years before discussing an expansion (and that that expansion only goes to five teams as I have explained before). Alright, let’s see how nuts the New Year’s Six is.

Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. SEC #2	Clemson vs. Texas A&M
Fiesta Bowl	CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1	BYU vs. Colorado
Peach Bowl	CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1	Ohio State vs. Coastal Carolina
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1	Oklahoma vs. Oregon

I mean this doesn’t look as nuts as the College Football Playoff. Time to explain:

BYU is #5 since they are the best team not to go to a conference championship since, you know, they aren’t in a conference at all. They end up winning out and making it so The Committee has to put them in a NY6 game.
Colorado will be #6 since the Pac-12 gets a spot in the NY6 bowls no matter what (unless they have a team in the CFP). They are slotted in the Fiesta Bowl as the Pac-12’s best team after their win over Washington. I assume they would end up playing BYU there as they two of the three western-most teams here.
Remember I told you that Texas A&M somehow gets to the SEC Championship after Bama’s collpase? Yep, considering the chaos, even with a conference championship loss they land at #7 and the Orange Bowl as the SEC’s second-best team.
Oklahoma will be #8 which is damn high for the Big XII this season considering what has happened with that conference. They head to the Cotton Bowl.
This is going to be controversial but Ohio State ends up at #9. They don’t even get to the Big Ten Championship thanks to their loss to Indiana but finishing with only one loss gives them the Peach Bowl spot.
In a bit more controversy, Oregon ends up behind Ohio State at #10. They get the other at-large spot to go to the Cotton Bowl to face Oklahoma.
Even though Clemson lost and was left out of the ACC Championship, you think The Committee is leaving them out of the NY6? Close losses to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech allowing them to move into the #11 spot. This puts them in the Orange Bowl as the ACC representative because Miami is in the CFP.
The final spot. Who to send? There’s really only one team that probably should be there considering their season. And that team is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. I have two assumptions here: a) the Group of Five still gets a representative in the New Year’s Six even though Cincinnati is in the Top 4 and b) the Chants go undefeated and destroy every team the rest of the way. Remember, BYU cannot qualify as a Group of Five team for the New Year’s Six and this is why this would work.

What in the hell? Again, I don’t care about the rest of the bowl games in this exercise. Let’s be honest: what are the chances that all the other bowl games are played? The answer is fucking zero.

Alright tonight we got some MACtion! Hey it’s college football on a Tuesday so let’s rejoice about that. Also more football the next night as well. We have football every day between now and the day before American Thanksgiving. Oh yeah!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

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

Posted on November 11, 2020 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Eastern Michigan at Ball State	7:00 PM

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

Thursday

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

Friday

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

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

Saturday Early

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday Primetime

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

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

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

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

Saturday Late Night

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

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

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

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

Games to set your eyeballs on

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some gambling fun and games

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

SMU over Tulsa

Notre Dame over Boston College

Troy over Coastal Carolina (pretty big upset)

Virginia Tech over Miami (another upset)

Northwestern over Purdue

San Diego State over Hawaii

Oregon over Washington State

North Carolina over Wake Forest

Florida over Arkansas

Baylor at Texas Tech

Marshall over Middle Tennessee

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

Everything was going so smoothly for the SEC this off-season…

Posted on July 27, 2017 by guelphbossman

Hugh Freeze _OP_AP photo

…then that happened.

And that’s not all for the SEC. The Big Ten signed a nice big deal with FOX for half of their games. The ACC houses the most recent national champion. The Pac-12 is making a lot of inroads and looking better year-by-year as it feels more like the (somewhat) glory days when USC ran college football and there was always a few other Pac-12 teams who were very tough to beat. And the Big XII…OK let’s not go too far.

What I’m saying is that the SEC’s absolute dominance over college football has waned quite a bit in the past two years. No longer does everyone expect that the SEC champ (most likely Bama) will waltz into the postseason and win the title and it will be ho-hum, seen that before. Now we expect the SEC to have to fight to keep their number one status. And that’s good for college football as a whole. Not saying dynasties are a bad thing: it’s more that conference dynasties are.

Let’s be honest, though, the SEC is still king (although not by as much). Also, they are the only conference where we receive every one of their games in this area. That’s nice. Not even the Big Ten can say that anymore (damn FOX and damn CRTC and damn everyone who is making so we can’t get FS1 games up here…DAMN!).

Now for the task at hand: predictions. Let’s do that, shall we? Then I will follow that up with some good ol’ Southern homecookin’!

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Florida	8	0	11	1
Tennessee	6	2	10	2
Georgia	5	3	7	5
South Carolina	2	6	4	8
Vanderbilt	2	6	5	7
Kentucky	2	6	5	7
Missouri	1	7	5	7
West
Alabama	7	1	11	1
Auburn	6	2	9	3
LSU	5	3	9	3
Texas A&M	4	4	7	5
Ole Miss	3	5	7	5
Arkansas	3	5	7	5
Mississippi State	2	6	6	6

Good Ol’ Southern Homecookin!

I came to my senses and had Bama winning the SEC West. However, they will not come out of the regular season unscathed. I think they will lose a single game. I have that game being the Iron Bowl which would make for a very interesting College Football Playoff rankings the following Tuesday (since I would also be under the assumption that the Tide would be #1 going into that game…don’t worry Auburn won’t be #4 although that would be creepy wouldn’t it?).
Florida will rule the SEC East…as long as they have a good quarterback. I also see them only losing one game during the regular season. They will barely beat out the Champions of Life, Tennessee who might just save Butch Jones’ job with a 10-win season.
Many have Georgia as the favourite in the East. I don’t think they will win more than seven games. Their schedule is brutally tough with road games at Notre Dame, Tennessee, Florida (Cocktail Party in Jacksonville), Auburn, and Georgia Tech. That’s on top of home games against Mississippi State, South Carolina, and dangerous Appalachian State. Not an easy schedule to navigate for sure.
South Carolina, Vandy, Kentucky, and Mizzou, the four SEC also-rans (or more like the forgotten ones) will all be under .500 but should be competitive throughout the season. It wouldn’t surprise me to see one of these teams win seven or even eight games and make life tough for the top of the SEC East.
I still have Ole Miss at 7-5. Maybe I should change it. Nah. Go with your first instinct (even though that first instinct came well before Escortgate).
I have Bama beating Florida in the SEC title game to go back to the College Football Playoff. Florida and Tennessee would land somewhere in the New Year’s Six.
Ten bowl teams from the SEC with four just on the outside. Another good year (and dominating non-conference play helps immensely there).

Ok we are done the Power Five conferences. So as a bridge to our Group of Five friends, the next predictions will be the Independent teams. All four of them. Less than a month away from the beginning. Exactly thirty days. Awesome!

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Hey, Watch This

Sickos Game of the Week

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Wanna Bet?

Tuesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday​​

Thursday​​

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday​

Thursday

Friday​​

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime​​

Saturday Late Night​

Wednesday

Thursday

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night