Coaching Carousel Time! And the Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 14, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yeah it’s that time of the year. The coaching carousel has begun! And what I am going to do this time around is actually compare it to my start-of-the-year predictions. I mean what could go wrong, right?

Let’s look at who has already been shown the door. Jimbo Fisher, Andy Avalos, Zach Arnett and now soon-to-be-retired Brady Hoke…none of who were on my list. Great start, Bossman. Mel Tucker was on my list in the Doubtful Shitcanning section although even I couldn’t think that the way he went out would be the way he went out. What a fucking perv. As for who is currently on the hot seat and was on my list?

Neal Brown. Now Neal probably just has to win one of his final two games to secure his job for next season. Lose both those games and end up 6-6? That would be an interesting conversation.
Dana Holgorsen. You can give them a bit of slack as they stepped up their competition by joining the Big XII. But Drunk Uncle Dana has been a hot seat regular for a while now and at some point he’s either got to prove he’s still the guy or find a coordinator position somewhere.
Danny Gonzales. One of the toughest places to be an FBS head coach, Gonzales probably would have been safe for another year. But with New Mexico State doing so well, some in the New Mexico athletic department might wonder if they should try someone else at the helm.
Tom Allen. It’s pretty damn obvious now that the 2020 season was an anomaly and that the Hoosiers are barely treading water with Allen. I doubt he makes it to 2024.

I really don’t want to talk much about certain coaches appearing my list. Guys like Jeff Hafley or Scot Loeffler or Shawn Elliott or Greg Schiano or Brent Pry or Mike Bloomgren and definitely not Eliah Drinkwitz. Nope. Got nothing. So let’s just move on and stop talking about my hot seat list, ALRIGHT ALREADY?

Ok calm down Bossman. Time to give the people what they want: hot, nasty college football TV schedules for Canadians who enjoy watching college football on their television sets.

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Akron at Eastern Michigan	7:00
Toledo at Bowling Green	7:00
Western Michigan at Northern Illinois	7:00

Toledo has already clinched a spot in the MAC Championship. Now we are looking at bowl eligibility battles. Eastern Michigan has to beat the Zips to stay alive for a bowl game. And the WMU-NIU game is a Loser Won’t Go Bowling matchup. Big stakes on MACtion Tuesday.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Buffalo at Miami-OH	7:00
Central Michigan at Ohio	7:00

The Redhawks clinch the MAC East with a victory here and will get their rematch with Toledo in Detroit in December. And the Chippewas become bowl-eligible if they can somehow beat Ohio. Another important MACtion evening.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Boston College at Pittsburgh	7:00

Yeah this is about as unimportant a weeknight slate as you can get. One game. No stakes. Meh.

Friday

		US	Canada
USF at UTSA	9:00

This, on the other hand, is a much more important night. Both teams with a lot to play for and USF is definitely not the USF of recent years (as we could see from their near-upset of Alabama earlier in the season).

Saturday Early

A pretty heavy early slate with two ESPN+ games appearing on TSN+. I can see that being a feature all next season. As for the important games in this window I count one big one. The Mustangs and Tigers face off in a matchup that essentially eliminates the loser but doesn’t automatically guarantee the winner a spot in the American Championship. Everything else is kind of meh, although the Sooners could keep up their hopes of one final Big XII Championship appearance in JerryWorld. Finally, the annual Harvard-Yale game appears in this timeslot as per usual.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#22 Utah at #17 Arizona	2:30
Duke at Virginia	3:00
UCLA at USC	3:30
NC State at Virginia Tech	3:30
#1 Georgia at #18 Tennessee	3:30
UNLV at Air Force	3:30
#20 North Carolina at Clemson	3:30
Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M (in Orlando)	3:30
Wake Forest at #19 Notre Dame	3:30
Louisiana at Troy	3:30
Minnesota at #2 Ohio State	4:00
#23 Oklahoma State at Houston	4:00
#6 Oregon at Arizona State	4:00
New Mexico State at Auburn	4:00

UGA-UT is the big one, obviously, here. A lot of other choice with a lot of other teams looking to stay near the top of the rankings. Oregon, tOSU, and Utah are in must-win mode if they want to keep any CFP or even NY6 possibilities alive. Also, the Rebels of Nevada-Las Vegas play in what could be considered the biggest football game in school history. A win here and they all but clinch a spot in the conference title game. And this is something I never thought of. If UNLV is the #1 team, will they play at home? That game would be about 16 hours after the end of the Pac-12 Championship which is already being played at Allegiant Stadium (which I think is a dumb idea but that’s for another post). So the turnaround would be crazy for the stadium crew.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
North Alabama at #4 Florida State	6:30
California at Stanford	6:30
Boise State at Utah State	7:00
#5 Washington at #11 Oregon State	7:30
Florida at #9 Missouri	7:30
FIU at Arkansas	7:30
Nebraska at Wisconsin	7:30
Kentucky at South Carolina	7:30
Syracuse at Georgia Tech	8:00
Georgia State at #15 LSU	8:00
#7 Texas at Iowa State	8:00

Speaking of big games, U-Dub has to try and win in one of the toughest small stadiums to win in, Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Lose and the Pac-12 is all but done in the College Football Playoff race and it opens up a bevy of possibilities to replace the Huskies at the top. The Longhorns are trying to do what the Sooners are also trying to do: give the Big XII one last Fuck You before leaving for the SEC by playing for their conference championship. And finally, you are not seeing things. It is true. A god damn CW DOUBLEHEADER! I hate to admit that the CW has delivered but it has. It has had some great games which has made up for some sub-par production values.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
San Diego State at San Jose State	10:30

Yeah. You could probably go to bed early if you wanted.

Hey, Watch This

Washington at Oregon State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – I think it’s been a long time since the Beavers have been in the Game of the Week. And I would honestly call this Game 1A since you could easily switch it with the next game on this list and no one would bat an eye. I just think this game has the possibility of being much closer than the other one. The Huskies put themselves in the Pac-12 Championship with a win in Corvallis but Oregon State could put the entire college football world on its head if they pull off the upset.

Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – One of the final SEC on CBS games ever and it’s a huge one. If this game was Between the Hedges it wouldn’t be this high. But this game is on the shores of the Tennessee River and it will be one of the loudest Neyland Stadium crowds in recent memory. Another game where an upset is not crazy talk and it would also cause absolute chaos at the top of the college football food chain.

Utah at Arizona (2:30, Pac-12 Network) – Jesus Christ who made the call to get this game on the fucking Pac-12 Network? Well at least us Canadians have an easy time of getting it. Hop on YouTube and search for the Pac-12 Network channel and you’re good to go. Americans…well, they have a much tougher time if it’s not a part of their cable package. What a dumb network. Anyway, both teams have outside chances of getting to the Pac-12 Championship but they would need a lot to happen. A win here isn’t enough. Also, you have to be impressed with the job Jedd Fisch has done in Tucson. This team could be a force in the expanded Big XII next season.

Kansas State at Kansas (7:00, FOX Sports One) – Man, you know it’s kind of a fucked week when two of the top four games are on the Pac-12 Network and FS1. So yeah, can’t see this one if you are a Canadian unless you have other means. I have IPTV. There are also many streams out there to watch. Go find one. Shouldn’t be too hard. Plus, this should be the best Sunflower Showdown maybe ever. Has there been one where both teams were ranked? I don’t think so. Plus, the Wildcats have extra incentive here as they have an outside shot at spoiling a potential Texas-Oklahoma conference championship if they can win here.

Sickos Game of the Week

Michigan State at Indiana (Noon, Big Ten Network) – There are quite a few options for this spot but I will give it to a Big Ten game for once. Here are two terrible teams who will probably have a terrible game that will somehow be close near the end. Think 13-10 which means you almost have to watch because the finish could be spectacular. I almost feel dirty watching games like that.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Chattanooga at Alabama (Noon, TSN+) – Once I saw TSN+ was showing this game I knew which game would go in this section. This will be over by halftime. The question is how long does Nick Saban leave Jalen Milroe in.

Wanna Bet?

How about we look back at my picks from last week………..alright, maybe not. I mean I got my first upset pick right with Southern Miss and then it went downhill from there. Stupid Penn State. Anyway, let’s get going with this week’s pickaroos…that sounded dumb.

Miami-OH 31 Buffalo 28

Michigan 42 Maryland 10

Ole Miss 48 ULM 20

Utah 40 Arizona 19

Duke 38 Virginia 24

Tennessee 31 Georgia 27 (yes, I am calling this massive upset)

USC 36 UCLA 26

Ohio State 51 Minnesota 16

Oregon 59 Arizona State 24

South Carolina 42 Kentucky 37

Oregon State 46 Washington 35 (yep, going out on a limb again)

Missouri 41 Florida 20

San Jose State 34 San Diego State 28

Look, normally I am up into the wee hours of the morning watching college football. And I rarely miss games. Well, rarely miss full ones. But I am looking at the Saturday late night sked and asking myself “Bossman, do you really need to watch this game?” The answer is obviously no but I have to convince my brain that that is the correct answer. We shall see how it goes this Saturday. Enjoy the games everyone!

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

Posted on August 8, 2023 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now for the rest of the bowl extravaganza:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

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

Probable Shitcanning

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

Possible Shitcanning

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

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

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

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

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

Bossman’s Heisman Ballot of Mediocrity

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

Honourable Mention

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

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

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

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

Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

Posted on June 29, 2023 by guelphbossman

You’d think I was employed by Buzzfeed with all these lists I’m making.

So just like last year, I will add a few more lists to accompany the Most Important Games post. It should give you a good idea of the important games to watch (at least at this point) and maybe some games to avoid (unless you are a Sicko like me and will watch any football…even, yes…arena football!)

I know, I know, I have always stated my disgust for arena football but I have to admit it does have its own trashy charm to it. OK let’s just get to the lists, shall we?

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

I used to list a game like this for every week of the season. This time I will rank the top dozen games that should be considered underrated but very good and that didn’t rank in the Top 35 from the previous post.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (at the Cotton Bowl) (Week 6, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – First of all, I am not on drugs. Not many are talking about the Sooners and most are calling for the Longhorns to walk off to the SEC with a Big XII Championship title. Do you remember what game this is? It’s the god damn Red River Shootout/Rivalry/Game/Brawl/Drinking Contest. Many times it is ridiculous, crazy, wild and just plain dumbfounding. Don’t count OU out…at least in this one game…….oh the second thing. Yeah, ABC has picked up this game but the time hasn’t been set. It will be either Noon or 3:30 because the State Fair of Texas becomes a gangland shootout at night or something like that.
TCU at Kansas State (Week 8, Noon, specialty pack) – The rematch of last year’s Big XII title game loses a bit of its luster but should still be important in the grand scheme of things in the conference. I get it’s not Gary Patterson anymore but Sonny Dykes is already showing he can also make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Chris Klieman will get every opportunity to show off why he got a big extended contract and this is one of those opportunities at home in front of the Wildcat faithful.
Iowa at Wisconsin (Week 7, Noon, Big Ten Network) – As I said in the Most Important Games post, it feels like all the conference networks get at least one good game a season now. This could be that game, if it ends up there. Once again this could be for the Big Ten West title but it’s going to feel weird with Wisconsin not running the ball as much. Iowa, on the other hand, should be exactly the same, trying to win games 6-5.
Texas A&M at Ole Miss (Week 10, Noon, specialty pack) – Many will sleep on these two teams…wait, bad analogy. I forgot Petrino was at College Station. Anyway, two teams that many will cast aside but it’s almost a guarantee one of them will cause a bit of a stink in the conference. Also, take the over.
UCLA at Oregon State (Week 7, 5:30, Pac-12 Network) – Speaking of conference networks, here’s the worst of the bunch. That includes the Big XII’s non-existent network. Look, one of these two teams is going to be very good (I think) and will cause quite a few headaches at the top of the Pac-12 food chain (I think) and will end up being in the Pac-12 Championship (ehhhh, I don’t know).
TCU at Oklahoma (Week 13, Friday, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Black Friday will start with a game between a team who just got destroyed in the national championship and a team that normally is great and struggled to be bowl-eligible. Both teams will have something to prove and this could be their last real chance to do so (and make it count) this season.
Kansas State at Texas Tech (Week 7, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I guess it makes sense that the Big XII fills a good portion of this section after almost being shut out of my Top 35 most important games of the season. The Red Raiders always put up the points, no matter who the quarterback, head coach, or receivers are. And KSU can also do that when they want to. Should be a shootout (of sorts).
South Carolina at Texas A&M (Week 9, Noon, specialty pack) – More Fun Bobby! And Fun Shane…ok that one doesn’t have as good a ring to it. But BeamerBall 2.0 is a lot of fun to watch.
Arkansas at Ole Miss (Week 6, 7:30, specialty pack) – Could Sam Pittman be the most lovable coach in the game right now? Perhaps. He still feels like a bit of an underdog and you always root for the underdog, right? Wait…I’m getting something here….a message…ah, OK. Lane Kiffin doesn’t agree.
Minnesota at Iowa (Week 8, 3:30, FOX) – Row The Boat vs. Single-Digit Scoring. I am intrigued, I’m not going to lie. Plus we will see the best new tradition in all of not just college football but sports in general, the Iowa Wave.
Duke at North Carolina (Week 11, 8:00, specialty pack) – The Eastern version of the Victory Bell could be important once again. Both teams look like they could slot in anywhere from three to six in the ACC this year (with no divisions thank god). So a win here and maybe an upset or two somewhere else and one of these programs will duke it out for a conference championship.
Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – The game time is confirmed. I assume it heads to the specialty pack. Too bad because TSN would be smart to pick up this game. The Green Wave, who have to be considered to have the best odds to make it back as the best Group of Five team, hosting Ole Miss in what will be stiflingly hot weather in New Orleans…yeah I like Tulane’s chances but I still think it will be a close one.

Best Group of Five Games

Next up is our friends from the Group of Five. Three of them got invited to sit up at the adult table so overall this group is a tiny bit weaker. That just means other teams will have opportunities that they may not have had before. So let’s look at the best Group of Five games this season. And no, the Ole Miss-Tulane game above doesn’t count. This is full G5-on-G5 violence, bruh.

UTSA at Tulane (Week 13, 7:00, specialty pack) – As per usual, the American Conference should make up the bulk of this list. The defending Group of Five champion (and Cotton Bowl champion), Tulane is the favourite to do it again. UTSA is in its first season in the American but already could be the team to knock the Green Wave off their perch. Huge game where I have to favour Tulane only because it’s in New Orleans not the Alamodome where the Roadrunners have a huge home advantage.
Air Force at Boise State (Week 13, Friday, 4:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Not having FS1 will deprive Canadians of a lot of good Mountain West action. This should be the conference’s game of the year and the winner probably goes to the Mountain West Championship. Being on the Smurf Turf, I would give the Broncos the slight edge here.
South Alabama at Tulane (Week 1, 8:00, specialty pack) – This game is set for ESPNU on opening Saturday and, I can almost guarantee, will head to the specialty pack. The Jaguars (Jag-you-ares) came out of nowhere last season to almost win the Sun Belt. They are the favourites to win the conference and if they can pull the mini-upset here, could feasibly run the table. I guess I could say the same thing about Tulane.
Boise State at Fresno State (Week 10, 10:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – Hey it’s CBSSN’s first foray onto any of these lists. CBSSN is a nice palette cleanser really. It shows games you never would have normally watched. Plus it shows most of UConn’s games. I am liking CBSSN having the CFL. Yes it’s just a simulcast of TSN’s showing but it works. Kind of wish they would come up with at least their own play-by-play and analysis and just use the TSN visuals.
Tulane at Memphis (Week 7, Friday, 7:00, TSN2) – It’s the time of year when the American and ACC split most of the Thursday and Friday night games on ESPN and their dysfunctional family of networks. TSN tends to show more Friday night games because they can put it on TSN2 and not have it interfere with the CFL’s Friday Night Football. Anyway, yes, it’s the Green Wave again. Bored yet? They might be that good. Maybe even legit Top 12 good if everything falls right.
Boise State at San Diego State (Week 4, Friday, 10:30, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – And here comes Boise State again. I mean I want to say there aren’t two obvious frontrunners in the G5 but there are. Both the Broncos and Tulane should be in it to the end to see who gets that single spot.
South Alabama at Troy (Week 10, Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Hey it’s not Tulane, Boise State, the American or the Mountain West! Let’s give the Sun Belt a lot of respect. They have become the third-best Group of Five conference and it’s a pretty wide gap between them and the two conferences below them, the MAC and Conference USA. The Battle for the Belt (so good to have a wrestling title belt as the rivalry trophy) should be for the de facto Sun Belt West title unless Louisiana or maybe Southern Miss has something to say about it.
Boise State at Memphis (Week 5, 3:30, specialty pack) – This might end up on ESPN or ESPN2 depending on how both teams are doing at this point. I could see it happening because ESPN made a point to trade with CBS for this BSU road game.
Tulane at East Carolina (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – I figured East Carolina would have to find someone to replace Holton Ahlers and his 245 passes per game. Instead they plan to completely turn to the running game and grind teams into the turf. If this somehow works, Georgia Tech fans are gonna be real mad.
WKU at Troy (Week 4, 3:30, ESPN+) – First Conference USA appearance and it heads to ESPN+. I have that this year for the first time so I am going to have a lot of fun and totally destroy my remote control this season with that. Kind of wish it even got to ESPNU so that the specialty packs could pick it up. I still think WKU and MTSU were foolish not to take the MAC’s potential invite as they are stuck now in arguably the worst FBS conference with not much in the way of rivalries.
San Diego State at Air Force (Week 5, 8:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – OK two teams that aren’t quite fitting the mold of the top G5 teams. Nice. And, if things go according to plan, we should see a bazillion yards rushing and the game might be over by 10:00.
Eastern Michigan at Toledo (Week 11, Wednesday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Finally we end this list with a MACtion game since I have to. MACtion is awesome. We also have Fun Belt now and whatever the American conference calls their weeknight games. Oh and Conference USA is doing pretty much all weeknight games in October. Crazy! Anyway, this could very well be the two best MAC teams so let’s call this the de facto MAC West championship.

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

Let’s bring back this section because these games are the ones many college football fans feast on. What is better than watching your hated rival lose to a Group of Five team? Not much. And I have always said, Group of Five teams, at least the better ones, should get their shot at Power Five teams to see what they are worth. If it wasn’t for that happening, very few teams would have moved up and the Power Five may have already separated from the rest of college football by now.

Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – This was already discussed above but it is the biggest G5 vs. P5 game of the season and hosted by the Group of Five team which is a rarity but happening more often these days which is nice to see.
UTSA at Tennessee (Week 4, 7:30, specialty pack) – The Roadrunners meep their way up the food chain to the American Conference this season and are already a contender for the league title (and perhaps a NY6 spot). The Vols will be really good this season but a UTSA win her would be massive for the program and for the college football season as a whole.
Boise State at Washington (Week 1, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Everything is confirmed except for if the game will appear on TSN. I believe it will but we won’t know for like another two months. Ridiculous. Washington is looking to ride their Heisman contender quarterback all the way, hopefully, to the College Football Playoff so a slip-up here would almost derail that entire plan.
WKU at Ohio State (Week 3, 4:00, FOX, confirmed) – Look, are the Hilltoppers going to win this? No. All we can hope for is for WKU to put a scare into tOSU. If, somehow, they ended up with the upset, it would be the biggest upset in the history of college football and you wouldn’t be able to convince me otherwise.
Troy at Kansas State (Week 2, Noon, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – OK now this one has intrigue written all over it. Troy is one of a handful of teams that has legit New Year’s Six aspirations out of the Group of Five. Kansas State is the defending Big XII champions but have a few question marks. This feels ripe for an upset.
SMU at TCU (Week 4, Noon, specialty pack) – The Battle for the Iron Skillet. This might be the best one yet if the Mustangs are as good as some say they will be. Not the favourite in the American so they will have to show out in games like this to catch voters’ eyes. This could be a good litmus test to see how far TCU has fallen from last year’s national runner-up team.
San Diego State at Oregon State (Week 3, 3:30, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – This could be a tasty affair if the Aztecs step up and prove they could be eventually Pac-12 worthy in football. Otherwise, you might hear a lot of chainsaws going in this one since Oregon State is definitely a dark horse contender this season.
SMU at Oklahoma (Week 2, 6:00, ESPN+, confirmed) – Ouch. Seeing this relegated to ESPN+ surprises me a bit but the Sooners are not the team they had been for the past few decades. The Sooners are going to try and come out of the gate swinging but don’t be surprised if the Stangs give them some trouble in this one.
UCF at Boise State (Week 2, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Last year this would have been in the previous section. Now the Knights are in the Big XII but they may still be an underdog on this one. If I were a betting man I would put my money on the Broncos here as they are hoping to run the table and get back to where they believe they belong: as the top dog among the Group of Five.
East Carolina at Michigan (Week 1, Noon, Peacock, confirmed) – The debut of Peacock on these lists. I am sure at some point it will be available for Canadians but we aren’t quite there yet. Yeah I don’t think this will be really close but you never know. I wonder if ECU can run on this Michigan offense. If they can, the entire Big Ten will be watching tape of this game all season to see if they can replicate it.
UCLA at San Diego State (Week 2, 7:30, CBS, confirmed) – Nice to see the Mountain West appearing on CBS. The week before this we get Texas Tech/Wyoming and here we get a very interesting matchup that could easily lead to an upset, if SDSU has things going by the second week of the season.
UTSA at Houston (Week 1, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – The Cougs have stepped up to the Big XII conference. Good for them. Problem is they start their first season back on the top tier of college football against one of the best Group of Five teams. The only thing helping Houston is that the game is in Houston and not San Antonio. I am sure Drunk Uncle Dana will be about seven Red Bulls in by the time this one starts.

Worst Power Five Games

Didn’t think I’d forget this section, right? These are the games that you can probably avoid, unless they are close. They fill conference networks (and really are the reason those networks exist but I will not complain about that) and even sometimes creep onto FOX or an ESPN2 or ESPNU. Sad but true. Spoiler alert: I will still watch most of these games.

Northwestern at Rutgers (Week 1, Sunday, Noon, CBS, confirmed) – What a way to show off the new Big Ten on CBS with a game between *checks notes* uh….Northwestern and Rutgers? My God that is not good at all. Who the hell is picking these games at CBS? The only thing I can think happened was that it was the last game remaining…like picking the last kid in dodgeball. Well, nothing else will be on at that time at least in a college football sense so guess what ol’ Bossman will be watching?
Stanford at Colorado (Week 7, Friday, 10:00, TSN2) – This is confirmed for ESPN2 but who knows if TSN will pick it up or not. Look I understand there is a lot of hype with Deion Sanders now coaching at Colorado. And that’s a good thing for that program. But they will struggle to be bowl-eligible this season. Now Stanford….that’s a different story. They are back to the days before Jim Harbaugh and then David Shaw resurrected this program. They may just be the worst Power Five team at this point. What a fall from grace.
Virginia Tech at Virginia (Week 13, Noon, specialty pack) – What happened last year at Virginia was tragic. Three players gunned down late in the season. UVA rightfully cancelled their final two games, including the Commonwealth Cup game against VaTech. Now they are back but this will not be an easy season for the Hoos, both on the field and emotionally. The Hokies are as bad as I have ever seen them be. Then again, I only mostly saw them as a Frank Beamer team. Beamerball, this is not. Look, I hate putting this game here but these two teams might be god-awful this season.
Rutgers at Indiana (Week 8, Noon, Big Ten Network) – Rutgers is, unfortunately, back to being Rutgers. And Indiana without Michael Penix Jr…well we found out they were bad. Both coaches will be on the hot seat with Tom Allen in the much hotter seat for sure. The loser might not win a Big Ten game this season.
Virginia at Boston College (Week 5, Noon, specialty pack) – As for non-Virginia teams in the ACC who probably won’t be going bowling, BC comes to mind. I can’t see them finding the magic formula especially with a young, relatively untested quarterback manning the ship.
California at Stanford (Week 12, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Ah, the worst of the conference networks. What a shitshow it is. Anyway, The Big Game will be anything but big this season as I already mentioned how bad Stanford will be and I don’t know how many people outside the Cal football program care about Cal football. A shame, really.
Colorado at Arizona State (Week 6, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Remember when ASU was the laughing stock of the Pac-12 for like a second? Everyone thought their ship was going to come crashing down. Well it did but other teams flew past them into the basement. That doesn’t mean this is some kind of comeback story, though. They still aren’t good and will be fighting for bowl eligibility. Wins in games like this are a must for that to happen.
Georgia Tech at Virginia (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – It feels kind of weird watching Georgia Tech play football when they aren’t running the Paul Johnson option offense. You know, I’m starting to think they never should have changed from that. Made them unique and helped them win just as often as they lost.
Virginia Tech at Rutgers (Week 3, 3:30, Big Ten Network, confirmed) – Hey let’s dip into some non-con action now. I would ask who the hell scheduled a game like this but it was probably scheduled back when the Hokies played their first season in the ACC.
Arizona at Stanford (Week 4, 7:00, FOX Sports One) – I have to be honest: Jedd Fisch has already exceeded my expectations for a) his coaching in Tucson and b) a guy named Jedd. This team is on the brink of getting back to postseason play for the first time in years. I will put the over/under on fans attending this game at 14,000.
Arizona State at California (Week 5, 9:30, Pac-12 Network) – I am still on the record saying that there should be a pure sports-style Netflix or Amazon Prime out there. One where you can add or subtract whatever channels you want based on sport, country, etc. Would it be the death knell to cable? No but it would be quite the flesh wound. By the way, this game has some pretty good Pac-12 After Dark vibes to it and could get wacky because both teams are just not that good.
Northwestern at Nebraska (Week 8, 2:30, Peacock) – I would be remiss if I didn’t include Nebraska somewhere on this list. They’ve fooled and many others over the past few years. So until they prove it, I will not take the bait. Nope, no more. I refuse to drink the Husker Koolaid.

Alright, done and dusted. A reminder that tomorrow is the end of the fiscal year for pretty much all the FBS schools. There are rumours that something on the realignment (oh god that word) front could happen by the end of the night or the very next day. Last year it was USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Can’t see anything as big as that but you never know.

Well, I would like to wish everyone a great Canada Day weekend and Fourth of July celebration. We are less than two months away folks. Nice to be talking college football again.

All Aboard the Coaching Carousel! (and the Week 6 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on October 5, 2022 by guelphbossman

The fun-time coaching carousel has been filling up a bit earlier this year. None of us are used to this many coaches being shitcanned this early on. We are just into October and many of the good horses (or the one cool love seat thing that seems to be on every carousel) are going fast. And the tickets are EXPENSIVE.

This week it started with Karl Dorrell getting fired at Colorado which is no surprise because Colorado is easily the worst Power Five team out there. No team is close to their ineptitude so far this season. But the real bombshell came later the same day when Paul Chryst, he of the 67-26 record, seven straight winning seasons before this year, six bowl victories, and two New Year’s Six triumphs, was fired by Wisconsin. I knew he might be in a bit of trouble but that was shocking. And his buyout? Remember I talked about the tickets on this carousel being expensive? Yeah, his cost is around $11 million. My god. These buyout clauses are just completely absurd now and mean nothing to these schools anymore.

Anyway, this actually may be strategic on Wisky’s part. Jim Leonhard is the interim head coach and the prevailing sentiment is that they want to see what he can do over the final seven games of the season. If he can turn the ship around, there’s a good chance he will be named the permanent replacement. If not, well he had more than half a season and that would be enough of a barometer to know they have to send a Brinks truck to Lance Leipold’s house as soon as possible after the season ends.

I know, the coaching carousel is interesting. I wouldn’t call it fun. That would be a bit morbid. But enough of that; it’s schedule time and it starts on Wednesday this week and it’s not MACtion!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
SMU at UCF	7:00 PM

Tonight, we only have the one game. Technically this is a Week 5 game but the Mustangs and Knights both have this week as a bye week so you can all it a Week 6 game if you want. This is rescheduled because of Hurricane Ian.

Friday

		US	Canada
Harvard at Cornell	7:00 PM
Nebraska at Rutgers	7:00 PM
Houston at Memphis	7:30 PM
Colorado State at Nevada	10:00 PM
UNLV at San Jose State	10:30 PM

Is the highlight here the Nebraska-Rutgers game? Sure, I guess. The Huskers could be in the first in the Big Ten West for about 17 hours if they win this one. Speaking of that game, it’s the first of a doubleheader with three-hour fucking windows. Stupid FS1. I hope the early game goes to 16 overtimes now.

Dana Holgorsen might be on the hot seat if the Cougs don’t beat Memphis, Jay Norvell is hating life in Fort Collins and UNLV continues to try to look like a contender in the Mountain West! Makes up for the night before where there is no college football. It’s like they don’t want to compete with the NFL anymore. I mean it’s not a bad idea.

Saturday Early

A couple of good ones here with UT-LSU and Gameday going to Lawrence before TCU plays Kansas. It’s too bad they decided to go to that football hotbed of Bloomington, Indiana for Big Noon Saturday rather than Kansas. What the hell was FOX thinking? Oh that’s right…they’re hard for the Big Ten.

How about the Red River Shootout having both teams come in unranked? I’m sure if I went to ESPN’s website it would tell me the last time this happened but I have a feeling it was a looooooooooooooooooong time ago. We also have a couple potential sneaky-good games with Arkansas-MSU and Purdue-Maryland. So a relatively loaded start to the day.

Saturday Afternoon

For some reason the ABC afternoon game starts at 4:00. I don’t remember the last time that has happened. I mean it all comes out in the wash anyway but it’s odd this has happened this weekend for no rhyme or reason. CBS was hoping Auburn would have won last week to set up the AU-UGA game with both teams ranked. Alas, it was not to be and I have this feeling this will be an absolute drubbing.

I find it odd that Utah-UCLA, a game between two very good teams, is the FOX afternoon game which is basically the third best game most of the time in the FOX tripleheader. I would have thought it was heading to ABC in primetime. Again, the Pac-12 seems to be getting shafted and if things don’t change, we may have to get used to less coverage from that conference in this area.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Wyoming at New Mexico	7:00 PM
Air Force at Utah State	7:00 PM
James Madison at Arkansas State	7:00 PM
#5 Clemson at Boston College	7:30 PM
Iowa at Illinois	7:30 PM
#20 Kansas State at Iowa State	7:30 PM
Washington State at #6 USC	7:30 PM
#16 BYU vs. Notre Dame (in Las Vegas)	7:30 PM
South Carolina at #13 Kentucky	7:30 PM
Florida State at #14 NC State	8:00 PM
Texas A&M at #1 Alabama	8:00 PM

Not as big as the early sked but still pretty darn good. This is the one primetime game the SEC on CBS has and it’s….well, not as good as CBS had hoped for. The Aggies have been a major disappointment and the Tide are dominant. This could be over by 10:00.

BYU has a massive game in Vegas. A must-win for them. Lose this and it’s pretty much the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. Win and they stay alive for a New Year’s Six spot. Clemson-BC is a special game in Boston as it’s the Red Bandana Game. It’s in honour of Welles Crowther, a former BC lacrosse player who headed a rescue effort on 9/11 and got a lot of people rescued. He was known for wearing a red bandana and that’s what one of the people who were saved that day saw from the guy heading up the building when everyone was escaping down. Good to see this game in a huge national spotlight.

Finally, James Madison has a national game. Sure it’s the NFL Network but the Dukes are undefeated in their first FBS season. They really need to get rid of that archaic rule that says teams can’t qualify for a bowl game in their first season in FBS, transitioning up from FCS.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#12 Oregon at Arizona	9:00 PM
Fresno State at Boise State	9:45 PM
Hawaii at San Diego State	10:30 PM
Oregon State at Stanford	11:00 PM

This is….not a good late night schedule. Which means something wacky is coming our way. That’s the way it works in college football. I don’t make the rules.

TSN has their first quadrupleheader of the season which is always nice to see, especially for the non-specialty pack people. And let’s discuss the ESPN schedule this week. Early game. VERY late game. Nothing in between. What are they showing? Ah, that’s right. They have the Wild Card games in baseball this season. So as long as the second Wild Card game doesn’t go too far into extra innings, the Beavers-Cardinal game will start precisely at…11:00 eastern. This is almost as crazy as the Hawaii Test.

Big Games O’ The Week

Utah at UCLA (3:30, FOX) – Ya know, some people are going to bristle at this choice for top game of the week. Here are the facts: Utah is ranked #11 and is still the favourite to win the Pac-12 South. UCLA is ranked #18 and is undefeated. The winner here faces USC later in the season for the de facto Pac-12 South championship and, potentially a New Year’s Six or, dare I say it, College Football Playoff spot. So yeah, this is huge.

Tennessee at LSU (Noon, TSN3/TSN5) – Are the Vols for real (I refuse to ask if they are back…aw shit, I just did)? This is a big chance for them to prove it as the Tigers have started to claw their way back after a seriously shaky start under new head coach Jim Bob Brian Kelly. Tennessee can move up towards the Top 4 with a win here and an eventual showdown with Georgia. Maybe, LSU could put a scare in some teams…even…Bama? Wouldn’t that be something…that Saban would hate.

TCU at Kansas (Noon, FOX Sports One) – In your wildest imagination, did you think this could be one of the games of the week when this season started? No. No one did. Even TCU and Kansas fans thought that would be ridiculous. But here we are. Early October. Ranked TCU. Ranked Kansas. College Gameday in Lawrence. Its put up or shut up time for both teams. And man, if the Jayhawks pull this one out, they will be safely in the Top 15 and looking at heights that haven’t been seen around those parts since the magical 2007 season.

Florida State at NC State (8:00, specialty pack) – I’m sure many feel this is a game the Wolfpack will easily win to get back on track. This isn’t the Noles of the past five or six years though. These guys can play. I have a feeling this could very close. The ACC Network with a bit of a coup getting this one at this point of the season.

Washington State at USC (7:30, FOX) – A tiny bit surprised this didn’t end up on either ABC or ESPN but FOX gets a good primetime game here that actually will match up well with CBS’s offering. USC is on a roll and it feels like nothing will stop them. That’s why this is such a speed bump game for the Trojans. Win here and their game against Utah is probably one of the Games of the Year the following week.

Psycho Game of the Week

Wisconsin at Northwestern (3:30, Big Ten Network) – Another game where, at the start of the season, I never would have thought it would end up in this particular spot in the blog post. Northwestern is thankful that Colorado exists and Wisconsin has been a shell of its former self. Should be a fun one! And by fun, I mean horribly painful to watch.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Auburn at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – I have a feeling that this is going to get really bad, really fast for the Tigers. I also have a feeling that Bryan Harsin will not be fired after this one since everyone expects Auburn to get boatraced Between The Hedges.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Rutgers has lost all five of their meetings with Nebraska but every game the margin of victory has decreased. Last time they met, they only lost by 7.
Washington has lost the last seven times they traveled to Tempe to face Arizona State.
New Mexico has more wins over Wyoming than any other Mountain West team. They have beat the Cowboys 36 times.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

I made some picks last week. Some were good. I picked Illinois to cover the spread against Wisconsin. As for the rest don’t bother since I was horrible. Let’s just move on to this week’s picks that people should only use at Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Nebraska (-3) over Rutgers
UNLV (+7) over San Jose State (SJSU will win in a close one)
Eastern Michigan (+5) over Western Michigan (WMU will win the battle for Directional Michigan though)
Oklahoma (+7) over Texas (and the outright victory)
Tennessee (-3) over LSU
Wisconsin (-10) over Northwestern
UCLA (+4.5) over Utah (but the Utes will win a very close affair)
Michigan State (+26.5) over Ohio State (but tOSU will win by approximately three touchdowns just to make it feel close for gamblers)
James Madison (-11.5) over Arkansas State
Wyoming (-3.5) over New Mexico
Iowa (+3.5) over Illinois (and the outright win)
Washington State (+13) over USC (Trojans win)
Oregon (-13) over Arizona

Alright we have the rare October Wednesday night game that doesn’t involve Sun Belt teams, nothing tomorrow night and then things really get into action on Friday. And it’s Thanksgiving this weekend! So enjoy the games and enjoy the turkey (or ham, if you don’t like turkey).

Group of Five Conference Predictions. All of them.

Posted on August 4, 2022 by guelphbossman

“Oh god, not again. Look the last post was…”

“HERE ARE THE PREDICTIONS FOR EVERY SINGLE DAMN GROUP OF FIVE TEAM! PLUS THE INDEPENDENTS!!!!!!!”

That’s right! Back at it again with the predictions. Remember what I said…less is more. Meaning less posts. Not less information.

Annnnnyway, this means I will be putting all my predictions for the G-5 conference standings right here. Hell, I’ll include the Independents as well as a treat since they don’t really belong anywhere and some of them know it. So let’s get started!

We begin with what is still the best Group of Five conference in the land. And next year…looks like they still will probably be in that spot despite all the realignment. Here are my predicted standings followed by musings and other nonsense:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Houston	8	0	12	0
UCF	7	1	11	1
Cincinnati	7	1	10	2
Memphis	5	3	8	4
SMU	5	3	8	4
Tulsa	3	5	5	7
East Carolina	3	5	5	7
USF	3	5	4	8
Navy	2	6	3	9
Tulane	1	7	4	8
Temple	0	8	2	10

Musings and Other Nonsense

Remember what Cincinnati was like last year? That is Houston this season…almost. They almost have too easy of a schedule and now that we know what the ceiling is (for now) for the Group of Five, that could come back to haunt them. Realistically, their opening contest of the season could be their most difficult. They travel to the Alamodome to face the Roadrunners of UTSA in a great Group of Five battle. Win that one and I can’t see how they don’t run the table.
UCF and Cincinnati will tie for second but the Bearcats’ lone loss, I believe, will be to the Knights. It seems since the American went to no divisions, at least two of the top few teams don’t play each other in a season. One of the few perils of having no divisions in a big conference, I guess. I don’t mind though since I hate divisions (if you didn’t already know).
Memphis should see a lot of improvement. As should USF. For the Bulls it won’t be enough to be bowl-eligible but anything is better than what they have seen the past few years.
I think Tulsa and East Carolina will slip below .500. Both teams don’t exactly have nice schedules and it could cost them down the stretch when they need victories and they have to play some of the better teams in the conference.
Conference Championship prediction: Houston 41 UCF 13. I can’t see it being close to be perfectly honest. Uncle Dana is going to be so hopped up on Red Bull his head might explode.

Hey, number two ain’t bad.

The Mountain West is still firmly in the number two spot among Group of Five conferences and were left alone during this round of realignment. Will they do something in the near future to bolster their ranks? There is always rumblings of them bringing in some Dakota schools or Montana/Montana State (or both) or even bringing UTEP and perhaps…ugh….New Mexico State along for the ride. But for now, it’s status quo. Well…almost.

	Conference		Overall
Mountain	W	L	W	L
Air Force	7	1	10	2
Boise State	7	1	10	2
Colorado State	4	4	6	6
Utah State	4	4	6	6
Wyoming	3	5	5	7
New Mexico	1	7	3	9
West
Fresno State	7	1	9	3
San Diego State	6	2	9	3
San Jose State	3	5	6	6
UNLV	3	5	5	7
Nevada	2	6	5	7
Hawaii	1	7	3	10

Status Quo?

Yes…for a few more months. Then…no divisions! Fuck yeah! So now we might finally get two teams from what were the same division playing each other for the right to win the Mountain West title and, perhaps, the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six. Glad to see the conference doing it and look forward to the rest of the conferences abolishing their shitty divisions. I’m Bossman and I approve this message (of hating divisions).
I think it’s finally time we see Air Force truly soar. The Falcons are the most complete team in the entire conference. Yes, I get that they run the option but they are actually somewhat dangerous in the passing game. And their defense should be pretty tough to beat this season. I think they can pull out that one victory they need, over Boise State, to clinch the division.
Remember my last place prediction for Fresno State last season? Ah, good times. I’m not falling for that again. I think they have enough to outlast perennial contender SDSU for the West Division crown. Now watch Hawaii win it and make me look like an idiot again.
Speaking of the Fighting Rainbow Warriors, I do have them sinking to the bottom of the West Division. The program is a bit of a gongshow at this point. They’re basically the Arizona Coyotes of the Mountain West, playing in a smallish high school stadium for another few years until Aloha Stadium is renovated or a new stadium is built or something. They can’t keep recruits on the island anymore and being on that island is becoming very difficult for the football program as a whole. I hope it turns around again and not just for a single season but this will not be that year (despite what I said in the previous point).
Conference Championship prediction: Air Force 38 Fresno State 14. Air Force will finally win their first Mountain West title. They haven’t won a conference championship since the WAC so it’s a long time coming for Troy Calhoun’s squad.

Look, I know Notre Dame doesn’t belong here but it’s not my fault they are an Independent still and they are grouped with a few teams that barely qualify as FCS programs. Let’s just get to the standings before I start swearing too much.

	Overall
	W	L
Notre Dame	10	2
Army	10	2
BYU	9	3
Liberty	8	4
New Mexico State	2	10
UConn	2	10
UMass	1	11

No Profanity Notes

- No profanity? Let’s see how long this lasts.
- Let’s start with the kings of the group: the Fighting Irish. The question is always “Will they make the College Football Playoff this season?” I honestly can’t see it this season. Their schedule is brutal with trips to Columbus and the LA Coliseum along with home dates against Clemson and BYU. I have them losing two of those four and it wouldn’t shock me if they dropped all four of those. They always have a shot at the New Year’s Six and I see them sneaking in but it won’t be easy.
- I have, yet again, got Army winning ten games. They are a good team with a breeze of a schedule. One year, they might enter that Army-Navy Game at 11-0 and at least will have some people wondering if they deserve that one spot in the NY6.
- BYU is finally joining a conference again. The Cougs are headed for the Big XII next year so this is their final season as an Independent. And once again they are hoping to do enough to get into the Top 20 and make the College Football Playoff Committee really take a hard look at what they’ve done. Their schedule is, once again, quite difficult. Not Notre Dame difficult but not easy at all. They won’t come out of it unscathed and I don’t think they have enough in the tank to be ranked. Expect another trip to a mediocre bowl game…but at least the Provo faithful can be done with that after this year.
- Hey, speaking of teams leaving the Independent world, it’s the fighting Hugh Freezes of Liberty. They head to whatever the hell Conference USA is going to be next season. I can’t see this being the end goal for them as they have a lot of resources to move up even more. I know most people hate to hear that but it’s the truth. This year, expect them in another low-level bowl before next year when they will have a chance to win one of Conference USA’s bowl slots to go to…yet another low-level bowl.
- And yet another team moving to a conference. The Aggies join Liberty in going to Conference USA. Someone invited them to a party! Yay for them! They are still light years away from competing in any sense and when other teams from FCS join them there (like Sam Houston State) they will be blown by in no time flat. It’s not easy recruiting for Las Cruces but something has to change there.
- Just a reminder…UConn has their own contract with CBS Sports Network. Say that again in your head. Yeah I don’t get it either. I mean if it was football AND basketball then sure, it makes a ton of sense since UConn basketball is a huge brand. But just UConn football. CBS can’t be making any money off this deal. Anyway, you can watch them get their ass kicked (at least at home) if you so choose.
- I don’t know what UMass will be able to do with three teams leaving the Independent ranks for conferences next season. It means we will be back down to four teams for next season. Sure, they can get their ass kicked by Notre Dame and Army, if they choose to play the Huskies. They can be competitive with UConn. Other than that? It’s two FCS opponents and find at least seven other FBS teams to play them. Not an easy task. Honestly, unless the American wants to take them on at some point (which I can’t see happening), it may be best for them to head back to FCS. I’ve said it before and I’m not wavering from that.
- See? Didn’t swear! I am fuuuuuuuuuuny and smart. Yeah. Phew! That was a close one.

One of the winners of realignment is the Sun Belt. Four new members! Good additions to a conference that has solidified itself as the number three conference in the Group of Five. Now let’s get to some of these sunny predictions and I will discuss some of the changes going on here:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Marshall	8	0	11	1
Coastal Carolina	7	1	10	2
Appalachian State	6	2	9	3
Georgia State	5	3	6	6
Old Dominion	3	5	3	9
Georgia Southern	2	6	4	8
James Madison	2	6	3	8
West
Louisiana	7	1	10	2
Troy	5	3	6	6
South Alabama	4	4	6	6
Southern Miss	4	4	5	7
Texas State	2	6	4	8
Arkansas State	1	7	3	9
ULM	0	8	1	11

Sunny Predictions (see what I did there)

I’m going to say it again…this conference, like all conferences, need to go to no divisions. One year it will bite them in the ass. Guaranteed. And they better hope it’s not the year when they have a legitimate shot to put a team in the New Year’s Six.
It won’t be the normal cakewalk for Louisiana to win the West Division this season. Saying that, it’s not like they have real good competition like the East. The best bet to dethrone the Ragin’ Cajuns are Troy and South Alabama and they have a ways to go to be considered conference title contenders. So chances are, we will see this team, yet again, in the Sun Belt title game.
Coastal and App State can’t be happy to have Marshall in their division now. The Thundering Herd are a very dangerous team and I believe they have enough to sneak up the middle in their first year of Sun Belt competition and take the East crown. And yes, I know I have James Madison at 3-8 or 11 games played. That’s how many they’re playing. I guess they couldn’t get another non-conference game quickly enough so don’t think I am having issues with counting.
Conference Championship prediction: Marshall 33 Louisiana 30. Louisiana will not repeat as champ. I think Marshall is going to make good on their move to a new conference by winning the Sun Belt.

I’m not going to put them last. I could. This conference has just irritated me for a long time. They have had the worst TV contracts in recent memory for an FBS conference, constantly allow the better schools to leave and backfill with worse options and had the audacity to turn down the Sun Belt when discussion of making geographically better conferences came up. Stupidity. Alright, let’s just get to the conference standings before I blow a gasket:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
UTSA	8	0	9	3
WKU	6	2	9	4
UAB	6	2	9	3
UTEP	6	2	8	4
Florida Atlantic	4	4	6	6
Louisiana Tech	4	4	5	7
North Texas	4	4	5	7
Middle Tennessee	3	5	5	7
Charlotte	3	5	4	8
FIU	0	8	3	9
Rice	0	8	1	11

Alright Let’s Just Get This Over With

No divisions so at least that’s a plus even though it happened because teams left.
Many are discounting UTSA but I think they have it in them to run the table in the conference this season, something they didn’t do last year during their glorious run to a C-USA title. Second place, on the other hand, I see being a complete dogfight. WKU, UAB and UTEP are all good teams and because of scheduling quirks, I have the Hilltoppers getting the opportunity to travel to San Antonio for the conference championship.
It is going to be a long season for Rice and FIU, two programs who honestly really don’t understand success in the first place so maybe it won’t hit them so hard.
Conference Championship prediction: UTSA 45 WKU 38. I think this may actually end up being one of the more fun conference championship games. Both teams can score and even without Bailey Zappe, I’m sure WKU will be tossing the ball all over the field.

And finally….IT’S MACTION TIME, BABY! I know we don’t get much MACtion before late October but I always look forward to it. And yes, the attendance figures for these games, for the most part, aren’t exactly stellar. But to be able to watch these games when I would have had absolutely no opportunity to otherwise? Love it! Here are your 2022 MAC predicted standings:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Miami-OH	7	1	8	4
Kent State	5	3	6	6
Ohio	3	5	4	8
Buffalo	3	5	5	7
Bowling Green	1	7	2	10
Akron	0	8	1	11
West
Northern Illinois	7	1	9	3
Toledo	7	1	9	3
Central Michigan	6	2	9	3
Western Michigan	5	3	6	6
Eastern Michigan	3	5	5	7
Ball State	1	7	3	9

MACtion Magic

Look I’m going to level with you. The MAC East is a terrible division. Realistically, none of the teams deserve to be in the MAC Championship and I am sure I could make a case for none of them to go bowling either. Alas, the rules state otherwise. The Redhawks should be the best of a not-that-good bunch with Kent State giving them a bit of a run.
The West, on the other hand, will be a lot of fun. Three good teams at the top with very little to separate them. The schedule favours Northern Illinois to pull out a squeaker to win the West but you could put them, Toledo or CMU in the conference championship and they would all make sense and you could make strong arguments for them.
Ball State. Bowling Green. Akron. All bad.
Conference Championship prediction: Miami-OH 27 Northern Illinois 26. Because of course this is the way it would work out in this crazy conference.

We made it! The Group of Five is done! Who out of this group will make it to the New Year’s Six? Seriously? You couldn’t figure it out from all the info I gave you? Well, I will be doing bowl predictions later this month so no need to worry if you can’t put this puzzle together.

Next up is the Power Five. When will that happen? Who fucking knows?!!!! Have a great rest of the week everybody!

Conference Championship Week TV Schedule…plus one

Posted on December 1, 2021 by guelphbossman

After last year, doing these scheduling posts was a lot easier. Last year, everything was fucked with all the changes to the schedule due to COVID. So when something weird happens (with the schedules, not with the actual football because all of it has been weird this year), I wonder what the reason is for it.

Which brings me to conference championship week. In a normal season, the ten FBS conferences have their conference championship games and that’s it. We also get to hear a lot of chatter that we don’t want about the College Football Playoff. This time around we have an eleventh game. One game was postponed this year. There were issues a few weeks ago in Cal’s program which meant their game against USC could not be played. I, along with many others, thought the game would just be cancelled or a forfeit for USC. Instead, this game was rescheduled for this coming Saturday. Which, going into last week’s games, made a lot of sense. If Cal and USC both won this past Saturday, it would have been a battle for bowl eligibility. Instead both teams lost. Now we have a pointless game between two 4-7 teams at 11 AT NIGHT on FOX Sports One. Why? I mean I love watching college football but this may be too much for me…………………………………………………………OK I’m sure I’ll watch at least a few minutes of it.

Annnnnnnnnnnyway let’s get to the week’s schedule:

Friday

Conference USA Championship: Western Kentucky at UTSA

7:00 PM

CBS Sports Network has decided to put this game on Friday night rather than in a weird spot on Saturday. Honestly. either strategy is good and I’m glad CBSSN thinks of these things, unlike ESPN who feels like they sometimes just use a roulette wheel to figure out what games are on when and on what channel. It’ll be interesting to see the Roadrunners, now no longer undefeated, dealing with Bailey Zappe, a guy who might be tailor-made for the CFL.

Pac-12 Championship: #10 Oregon vs. #17 Utah

8:00 PM

Alright at least the Pac-12 got it right by moving this game to Allegiant Stadium. I still find it odd it starts before 7:00 on a weeknight. I’m guessing with a new commissioner that could change in the future. Anyway, this is a rematch of Utah’s pretty easy victory over the Ducks a couple weeks ago. Neither team is up for the College Football Playoff so this is all for the Rose Bowl spot. The loser is most definitely not in the New Year’s Six so this is huge for both programs.

Saturday Early

Big XII Championship: #9 Baylor vs. #5 Oklahoma State

Noon

Only two early games and this is the big one which will get pretty much all the viewers. If Oklahoma State wins, they are pretty much a lock for the CFP. Baylor won’t have a chance being down at #9 so they are looking at getting that Sugar Bowl spot with a win here. Even if the Bears lose, they might stay high enough in the rankings to go to the Sugar as they would take the best Big XII team after the Pokes.

UPDATE: This game is also appearing on TSN4.

MAC Championship: Kent State vs. Northern Illinois

Noon

Kent State kind of came out of nowhere and had a great finish to their season to nab the MAC East in a season where it felt like no one wanted to win the division. As for the Huskies, let’s give them credit: the MAC West was amazing this year. Every team in the division is bowl-eligible so to win the division before the final weekend is a great turnaround for the program. Thomas Hammock did an incredible job and may be up for another coaching spot since it seems like every fourth FBS team has an opening. If it’s like most MAC title games, this should be an awesome game.

UPDATE #2: As I stated above in the first update, TSN4 is no longer showing the MAC Championship.

Saturday Afternoon

Mountain West Championship: Utah State at #19 San Diego State

3:00 PM

Looks weird to not see Boise State in this game. I like the fact that the Aggies had a great season and Boise is nowhere to be found. Honestly, this game doesn’t mean a whole lot as SDSU cannot get into the New Year’s Six even if they beat USU by 70.

Sun Belt Championship: Appalachian State at #24 Louisiana

3:30 PM

This is the third Sun Belt Championship (since last year’s was cancelled). And, lo and behold, it’s the same two teams that were in the first two. It almost feels like Coastal Carolina was a small blip on the radar and now it’s “back to normal.” I assume that will change with the new members joining. At least this year the game is in Lafayette so we get to see a different venue.

AAC Championship: #21 Houston at #4 Cincinnati

4:00 PM

From what CFP Chairman Gary Barta said, if the Bearcats win this one it’s almost a guarantee they are in the Top 4 come Sunday. That’s the good news. If Drunk Uncle Dana and his Cougar Crew somehow pull this off, it probably puts the Bearcats in the Peach Bowl. It might make it easier for Luke Fickell to take another head coaching job if that happens.

SEC Championship: #1 Georgia vs. #3 Alabama

4:00 PM

Georgia is in no matter what. Saying that, a UGA win more than likely pushes the Tide down into the New Year’s Six. Cincinnati’s worst nightmare would be Bama beating Georgia (and also Oklahoma State and Michigan winning).

SWAC Championship: Prairie View A&M at Jackson State

4:00 PM

Hey, the SWAC Championship. Remember this game? Well, when it’s good, it’s good. I do enjoy some SWAC football. It’s a nice change of pace although they still sometimes get big crowds as well. Many are thinking it will be the first part of the Deion Sanders coronation for making Jackson State the team it is now (I’d say easily the best HBCU football team out there and one of the better FCS squads). I wonder if Sanders will be poached for an FBS job with so many of them out there. I’m sure this won’t come up more than a dozen times during this telecast.

Saturday Primetime

ACC Championship: #15 Pittsburgh vs. #16 Wake Forest

8:00 PM

This is probably the most interesting conference championship game. No Clemson which does breathe a bit of fresh air into this game. It’s pretty cut-and-dry here what the stakes are: the winner will most likely head to the Peach Bowl with the loser going to one of the other bowls with an ACC tie-in.

Big Ten Championship: #2 Michigan vs. #13 Iowa

8:00 PM

Michigan is coming off their biggest win in over a decade. Who knows what Iowa team will show up. The one that looked damn good early on in the season? Or the one that struggled against Purdue? The Wolverines still need to win this one to assure their spot in the College Football Playoff. Iowa is playing for a Rose Bowl berth.

Wanna bet?

My second-last betting section of the season since I don’t do one for the Army-Navy week (I would bet Army if I were you). As is the case in most years, I do not bad with my picks throughout the season but I don’t know how much money I would have made (or lost) and I don’t want to find out. It’s easy when you don’t have a lot of money to bet in the first place. Alright let’s just get to the conference championship picks:

UTSA over Western Kentucky

Oregon over Utah

Baylor over Oklahoma State

Kent State over Northern Illinois

San Diego State over Utah State

Louisiana over Appalachian State

Cincinnati over Houston

Georgia over Alabama

Jackson State over Prairie View A&M

Wake Forest over Pittsburgh

Michigan over Iowa

And a bonus one! USC over California in the Who Fucking Cares Bowl.

Hey, we’re nearing the end of this crazy season! Will we finally see Cincinnati break through for the Group of Five? Will Michigan exorcise the demons of the past, well, quite a few years and get into the Top 4? And will Alabama win the SEC Championship and put a wrench in a lot of teams’ possibilities? It should be a wild weekend and I am looking forward to it.

Enjoy the games everyone and have a great hump day!

Urban Warfare – Week 6 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 6, 2021 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

Thursday

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

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

Friday

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

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

Saturday Early

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

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

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

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

Saturday Primetime

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

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

Saturday Late Night

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

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

Games to set your eyeballs on

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wanna Bet?

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

Georgia over Auburn

LSU over Kentucky (upset!)

Alabama over Texas A&M

Ole Miss over Arkansas

Oklahoma over Texas

Iowa over Penn State

Arizona State over Stanford

Notre Dame over Virginia Tech

Nevada over New Mexico State

Kent State over Buffalo

Missouri over North Texas

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

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – IV

Posted on June 12, 2021 by guelphbossman

If you don’t know who these guys are well….you’ve never watched the hit HBO series, Entourage. Look, it’s a fun show that I actually really enjoyed. If you didn’t take it seriously, it was a good watch. I also remember it very well because I had bought the box set years ago and then decided to sell it for $100. Exchanged the DVDs for the money in a somewhat seedy Tim Horton’s parking lot and left. When I got home, I realized I was holding four $20 bills. I emailed the guy and of course he never responded. I was less than pleased. Anyway, I am going to do a kind of rating system like I’ve done every year for the final important games post. Hopefully you understand and perhaps even agree with who I assign to each week. If not…well, it really doesn’t mean much since some people I know think Entourage was shit.

We’re at the end of this exercise for this season. Final four weeks of the regular season. And you know what? All four are at least decent weeks with two of them being the best of the season. I have to retire SEC Sleepwalk Saturday into the rafters of Bossman Arena (The Bossman Dome? Oriole Park at Bossman Yards?). Can’t use the term since that week is at least decent now. I kind of miss it……ok I lied. I like this better. Let’s begin!

Week 10

This week is seriously good. The number one weekend of college football for the 2021 season. It doesn’t get any better than this (on paper). So, of course, this has to be represented by the best character on Entourage, by far, Ari Gold. If it wasn’t for Jeremy Piven’s work as the most ridiculous agent in television history, Entourage is not nearly as good of a show.

Game of the Week: LSU at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – There are four games that could inhabit this top spot and all are deserving. This is one of the deepest non-American Thanksgiving weekends in college football in recent memory. And it is LSU. I know they are down from their turn as national champs but if anyone understands how to beat Bama, it’s Ed Orgeron. Either that or this is a blowout by dinnertime.

Other Really Important Games: Oregon at Washington (10:30, specialty pack) – When a late night game is the number two game of the week, you know it’s either a really weak week or a very strong week. Nothing in between. Now this game could end up in a lot of different spots. Hell, they could end up as the BIG NOON SATURDAY game and have a 9:00 am local start which I’m sure everyone at Husky Stadium would love. This is where the schedule predictions are really a stretch unless I can use an already set game as evidence for my choice (which is usually still a bad prediction but whatever).

Texas at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – This is the game that, at this point, I have being the BIG NOON SATURDAY game. Obviously that could change but I would be shocked if FOX passes on this game unless ABC gets it for primetime. This is essentially the game that will probably determine who faces Oklahoma at JerryWorld in December. The Big XII, not surprisingly, has fewer marquee games than the rest of the conferences. And yes, realignment and them expanding would help that. To say it wouldn’t is laughable. Maybe they should make a shocking first move and invite Arizona and Arizona State, just to see what they say.

Clemson at Louisville (3:30, ABC) – Louisville looked good last year. I say this every year but one of these times, Clemson is going to be knocked off their perch for real. None of this one loss during the season but still get out of the ACC crap. More like possibly not even going to the ACC Championship kind of thing. Yeah, I said it.

Ohio State at Nebraska (8:00, BTN) – Just like the Pac-12 Network, the Big Ten Network gets a great game or two every year. It’s mostly to make sure each team gets their two games on the network (with one having to be a conference game). But, in another way, it is to also shine a spotlight on the network to remind people that, hey, conference networks can be good sometimes as well. So I have put this game here and it wouldn’t surprise me if it stayed here. I am not a Husker fan but any stretch of the imagination, but I really do hope they can keep it within 30.

Auburn at Texas A&M (7:00, specialty pack) – I still think back to the Aggies playing the Tide early in the season. Say they win that game. They could actually be undefeated at this point and looking at the College Football Playoff! Even with one loss this game is mucho important for the Aggies. Probably not as important for Auburn as the Gus Bus seems to be having some transmission problems these days. UPDATE: Man I’m really not ready for the season. Gus Malzahn is at UCF. Bryan Harsin is now at Auburn. Hopefully the mass transit system in Orlando is better than it was in Auburn.

USC at Arizona State (8:00, FOX) – OK if there is a game (IF!) that would be put on BIG DAMN NOON SATURDAY from the Pac-12, this might be the one. For now I have it in the primetime FOX timeslot since ABC will probably go with a Big Ten game meaning FOX may actually win primetime for once. Man, it feels like I might need to change this entire week around. I will be honest, this was probably the toughest week to map out and, as you can see, I’m still not too sure of my choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Indiana at Michigan (3:30, specialty pack) – Don’t laugh. I think there is almost no way Michigan is as bad as they were last season. I hate using the fucked-up season of last year as an excuse but for the Wolverines it may be true. Now watch them lose this one by 40 and I am off watching whatever’s on the ACC Network to pass the time.

Best Group of Five Game: Tulsa at Cincinnati (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – It’s either this or Tulane-UCF on Saturday. I picked this one because this game should end up on a network we can watch whereas I have Tulane-UCF on ESPN+. After last year’s shocking Tulsa season, it will be interesting to see if the Golden Hurricane can duplicate the feat or if Cincy shows their superiority in the American.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas State at Kansas (Thursday, 8:00, FOX Sports One) – You know what? This is fine. Do I really need to see this game? Not really (as long as there is other football on at the time and this game isn’t close).

Week 11

This week is the worst of the bunch but still pretty good. And let’s be honest: are there any really bad characters on Entourage other than Sasha Grey? I don’t really think so. I would say this is LLOYD but I think he’s not this bad. This will be Vinny Chase. Yes, despite the fact he’s supposed to be the main character of the show, he seems like the least important, ya know? Saying that, he is still VERY important to Entourage as this week is to the regular season.

Game of the Week: Arizona State at Washington (6:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Um……………..I don’t know what to say. Honestly there’s a good possibility this is not on the P12N but this is a first on here. I’d have to look but I am pretty positive no conference network has been in this spot until now. History has been (possibly) made! And if this doesn’t tell you this is the thinnest week of this bunch, I don’t know what will.

Other Really Important Games: Michigan at Penn State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK this fully about Penn State and almost not about Michigan at all. I’m actually kind of curious about the Nittany Lions since they look like they should be in the Top 10 early on if not in the preseason poll. But I’m honestly racking my brain trying to figure out what talent they have that would make it so they are that kind of contender right off the hop. And I’m coming up with nothing. God, I need a preview magazine. The college football part of my brain is turning to mush.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (3:30, CBS) – No Bama? No Georgia? No LSU? And it’s still this high on the list? Count me interested. Really though, these are two teams to watch as both are at least New Year’s Six contenders this season despite being the horrendously tough SEC West.

Georgia at Tennessee (7:00, TSN3) – There is a part of me that hopes Tennessee can pull this off. Just to see the reaction of fans and the media…and Twitter. I’m sure all the discourse would be rational and everyone would take it in stride…….BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Northwestern at Wisconsin (8:00, FOX) – I was so close to putting this in the section above. But I just can’t. I have this feeling that Northwestern might not be as good as some are saying and/or Wisconsin will regress a bit towards the back end of the Top 25. This could end up on *deep breath* BIG NOON SATURDAY because of the lack of options.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at SMU (7:00, specialty pack) – The AAC continues to deliver and this one is no exception. I don’t know about SMU being a contender in the AAC West this year but it does seem relatively wide open. The East, on the other hand is UCF chasing Cincinnati and everyone else chasing UCF.

Worst Power Five Game: Duke at Virginia Tech (7:30, specialty pack) – I feel almost bad putting a Hokies game here especially when it’s in Blacksburg. But Duke might just be that bad.

Week 12

Better than the previous week but not by a lot. Enough for it shed it’s SEC Sleepwalk Saturday moniker. God rest your terrible scheduling soul. You can go two ways with this. The first is to say this is represented by Turtle and Johnny Drama. Two important characters who’s stories are sometimes more important than whatever the main idea of the episode happens to be. Or you can go with Sloan and Ari’s wife. Sloan and Ari’s wife. Yes, please.

Game of the Week: Iowa State at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – This feels like almost a guarantee for ABC in primetime. Possibly a preview of the Big XII Championship. And really, that’s not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. It happens so damn often that you almost expect it now. Also, it’s a huge plus for Sooners fans since they will be able to watch their team start playing a game not before Noon!

Other Really Important Games: Texas at West Virginia (Noon, FOX) – *big deep breath* BIG FUCKIN’ NOON SATURDAY!!!! I would laugh if somehow the Cyclones-Sooners game ends up in this timeslot but I feel pretty safe about these two picks. By this point we will have a pretty good idea if Sark is the real deal in Austin and if not-Dana Holgorsen can keep the ‘Eers trending in the right direction.

Michigan State at Ohio State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK I am giving Mel Tucker another chance. OK not just me. Makes me sound way more important than I am. I predict that Sparty will be better than last year, maybe not by much, but enough to give the Buckeyes a scare through at least two-and-a-half quarters. If ESPN gets this game (which I predict) they have to hope for it to be close. If that happens watch a shit-ton of people move over to the four-letter network.

UCLA at USC (8:00, FOX) – Hey maybe the Victory Bell (or at least this version of it since there seems to be a bunch) could be exciting and important this season! Isn’t it nice when both of these teams are playing well? Unless you’re a fan of one of the other teams in the Pac-12 South, this is a good thing for the conference. This could be Chip Kelly’s second coming out party kinda sorta. Or Clay Helton’s last stand. Or neither. Who knows?

Oregon at Utah (10:30, specialty pack) – Honestly this could move to Thursday or Friday night and be a late night offering of FS1. That would honestly suck since it’s always nice to have a really good game on the late night sked. Otherwise it feels like I am staying up past 2 in the morning for little reason. I mean I’m gonna do it anyway but this at least gives me some semblance of justification for my irrational choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Minnesota at Indiana (8:00, BTN) – Minnesota is a bit of a mystery to me. But with the Big Ten’s version of Dana Holgorsen coaching them in P.J. Fleck, they will always be at least a bit better than advertised. These are the kind of games that the Hoosiers have to win if they want any shot at the NY6 this season.

Best Group of Five Game: SMU at Cincinnati (Noon, specialty pack) – Yeah I had to go down the list a bit to find the best G-5 game. This will probably end up being a blowout but it was either this or Louisiana-Liberty. Or maybe Memphis-Houston. Yeah, not exactly great choices here.

Worst Power Five Game: Arizona at Washington State (Friday, 9:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Very rarely do you see a Pac-12 game here but Jesus Christ this looks like it would suck-diddly-uck. Wazzu isn’t the Wazzu we knew and loved a couple seasons ago and, well, Zona hasn’t been relevant in quite a long time. Lucky for us, Memphis-Houston and Air Force-Nevada (and perhaps even Kansas-TCU) will be on around the same time. OK that’s sad.

Week 13

The final weekend. The four-day stretch where I am at my least productive possibly all year because I watching FOOTBAW. This is nooooooooot quite the best week of the season but it might be the most important. For that reason, this week is represented by E. Not the drug although…no forget it. E, Vince’s manager. Eric. Yeah. I’d say the most important guy in the quartet for Entourage. And I stand by that choice.

Game of the Week: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (3:30, specialty pack) – This could move into the ABC primetime slot depending on what is left over for ABC to show. If they don’t have to show a Big Ten or Pac-12 game then I can definitely see it. I mean it’s Bedlam. Usually good. Usually. And the Sooners hate going to Stillwater. Remember that. The Fighting Mullets could drop OU out of the Big XII Championship if the opportunity arises.

Other Really Important Games: Ohio State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Most years this would be at least in the running to be the Game of the Week. Instead it drops into this section and honestly, for this season, it’s all because Ohio State is still quite good. But without Justin Fields, how will the Buckeyes’ passing game be? That will be the big question for this team. If that has worked itself out by this point, look out because this could be over by 1:00.

Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – The Iron Bowl is relegated to this spot. You can thank Auburn taking a step back for that. Like the tOSU-UM game, this could be a blowout. I think the one thing at least helping the Tigers is that it is at Jordan-Hare and not in Tuscaloosa. Usually that’s not a bother for the Tide but this is Auburn. I’m sure the fans aren’t exactly cordial to them. I wonder if this becomes a shoo-in in a couple years when the SEC goes to ABC/ESPN to be the primetime ABC game on American Thanksgiving weekend going forward.

Texas A&M at LSU (7:00, TSN2) – There is no chance they can recreate that insane seven overtime affair from a couple seasons ago. Makes me sad. I mean a 3:30 game or a 7:00 game going seven overtimes? Sure. A late night game going seven overtimes? God help me. I mean I’ll stay up and try not to pass out but man that would be difficult.

North Carolina at NC State (Friday, 7:30, ABC) – Black Friday’s premier game is in Raleigh this year. Everyone in the media wants to hop on Mack Brown’s dick (not literally) but ignore that the Wolfpack could very well sneak up the middle and cause a lot of trouble in the ACC. The Heels are a legit CFP contender whereas Dave Doeren hopes to get a massive contract extension and he would probably get it if he can will NCSU to the New Year’s Six.

TCU at Iowa State (Friday, 3:30, FOX) – The Big XII continues to take advantage of Black Friday although the other Power Five conferences are waking up to it. This could be the game that puts the Cyclones into the Big XII title game or ends their chances early.

Penn State at Michigan State (Noon, BTN) – Will this ultimately end up on the Big Ten Network? Well, I was shocked to see FS1 pick up Utah State-New Mexico for the odd 1:00 start time. So if this game stays in it’s Noon timeslot the amount of options are dwindling. If both teams are doing well, maybe a push to get it to ABC.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Kentucky at Louisville (7:00, specialty pack) – Unless one or both of these teams has an outside shot at a NY6 bid, this game will most likely fall to the ACC Network. Kind of sad since this is the first time both of these teams will be potentially good at the same time in quite a while.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at San Diego State (Friday, Noon, CBS) – That is not a misprint. This game will kickoff on Black Friday at Noon. Which makes it a 9:00 am local kickoff. We knew this was coming but it’s still a bit jarring to see it confirmed. Expect FOX and CBS do this more in the future now that they have essentially split the Mountain West conference football contract between them.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Syracuse (12:30, specialty pack) – Don’t be surprised if this gets moved to Black Friday. Remember when these two teams played in the Big East? I watched a fair amount of Big East football when I was younger because the Noon Big East game was one of the few games we got in this area pretty much every Saturday. Now, we have choice. So I will choose not to watch this unless it’s a good game late.

Weeks 14 and 15

No point in rating these weeks. Week 15 is Army-Navy which is always fun. I still believe that one of these days, Navy will be 12-0, coming off a conference championship and having to play Army to finish their season. Imagine if they lose? Holy shit that would be massive! Again, the Pac-12 has their conference championship on a Friday. That conference perplexes me sometimes. There was a time where the SEC Championship was rumoured to move to primetime on CBS. Instead it is confirmed to be back in the afternoon at its normal 4:00 time. I have a feeling the ACC will move their game out of primetime and go either with the Noon(ish) timeslot or up against the SEC since you have to wonder how many viewers they are losing to the Big Ten most years.

The important games blog posts are complete! Done and dusted! Still haven’t received my Athlon magazine. Haven’t phoned Phil Steele to get that magazine. Haven’t gone to Indigo to look for Lindy’s or Street and Smith. Life has got in the way so I just haven’t had that chance. Soon. And then it’s probably all I will read about between now and late August when the season begins.

Next up is the network specific posts. Remember, “Card Subject to Change”…meaning I will be wrong more than I am right…possibly. But the fact that I am about to do these posts means we are getting a bit closer to the season. We are 77 days away from Week Zero. Feels like still such a long time.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – The Third Part

Posted on June 9, 2021 by guelphbossman

It’s getting seriously hot and (at times) seriously humid outside. Meaning summer is basically here. Thank God this province wants us not to engage in any sports or camping or get togethers of any kind. Think of all the money we save on sunscreen! I need to work on this blog to get my mind off the bullshit. So let’s just get on with this already!

Week 7

Game of the Week: Oklahoma State at Texas (7:30, ABC) – You don’t see many Big XII games in this spot anymore. To be honest, you don’t see many Big XII games in Canada either. Will these games mean as much when the playoff expands (which it most certainly is now)? Who knows to be honest. All I can say is I will continue to enjoy the games as much as I can as they try to, well, “make the postseason better.” To be honest, expanding the playoff would be down my list a bit. Number one on my list? Abolishing divisions.

Other Really Important Games: Miami at North Carolina (3:30, ABC) – If Miami truly gets their act together, this could end up being the Game of the Week (and possibly a Game of the Year candidate). Either way this is probably a huge game for both teams in the ACC. The winner of this game gets a leg up on the division that Clemson is not in (see my point about getting rid of divisions?).

Florida at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Hey it’s one of those weeks where the main networks (ABC, CBS…let’s throw FOX in there as well) have the biggest games. Another game that you could argue has a chance to be GOTW. Still wondering what will happen once the SEC on CBS contract ends. We have three more seasons of this and then all SEC games will be on ESPN/ABC (or ESPN2…or the SEC Network…or maybe ESPN+ you get the idea). Will CBS acquire another conference’s games? I think they’d be dumb not to. The Pac-12 could be ripe for the picking to be honest.

UCLA at Washington (3:30, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Let me explain since that might look like Greek to some of you. As of right now I have the Bruins and Huskies on the Pac-12 Network. First of all, it’s in the afternoon so Chris Petersen shouldn’t be upset. Secondly, Pac-12 teams have to have a minimum amount of games on the Pac-12 Network and the network usually gets a good game or two every season because it has to fill its quota. And finally, it looks like the Pac-12 Network will be available on DAZN in Canada. That may change by the time the season commences. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

TCU at Oklahoma (4:00, FOX Sports One) – This could be worse. At first I had this game on FSN. I honestly don’t know if FSN will even have Big XII games. I have a feeling they won’t but who knows with the Mountain West invading the FOX networks. Anyway, until further notice, the Sooners will continue to be the class of the conference. At some point, though, a team is going to come along and knock them off their perch…for real. Maybe Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs can do the trick.

Kentucky at Georgia (7:00, specialty pack) – There are a lot of good games this week. Unfortunately, after the top games (and a few others), it drops off a cliff. Normally, I wouldn’t put Kentucky in the Games of the Week but, by all accounts, this seems to be a team that could cause a lot of problems inside the SEC East. A win here and the Cats could, once again, be a contender in the SEC East. Look, I get they are very pessimistic about their football program in Lexington but if Mark Stoops somehow gets this team to the SEC Championship, they should offer him like a 15-year deal. No questions asked.

UCF at Cincinnati (4:00, specialty pack) – Yes a Group of Five game in the Games of the Week section! I have a feeling this will be the only G-5 game in this section this season. This is seriously huge too as these are the two teams that most would consider the top contenders for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six (along with Boise State and maybe Coastal Carolina). Don’t be surprised if ABC pulls the trigger and gets this game in primetime knowing it may be their best chance at getting a really good AAC game on in primetime.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Ole Miss at Tennessee (Noon, specialty pack) – Don’t laugh. Both teams could be quite good this year. I said don’t laugh. Either team could win nine games. I told you not to laugh. Both teams could win their division. OK now you can laugh.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at Memphis (4:00, specialty pack) – See above.

Worst Power Five Game: Texas Tech at Kansas (7:00, ESPN+) – Jesus Christ who would watch this? This game would have to be seriously close for me to even consider watching it. Which I can’t if I predict right and this ends up on ESPN+. Crisis averted.

Week 8

Game of the Week: Oregon at UCLA (4:00, FOX) – Wow, ok. Yeah this week, on paper, does not deliver. This is easily the worst week that I will cover in these final two posts. I mean you have to think Oregon blows the doors off the Bruins but what if UCLA has one of those crazy games they’ve had in recent years under Chip Kelly? It would be fun to see them just go off and score like 50 on the Ducks. They still might lose but hey…50-burger!

Other Really Important Games: Oklahoma State at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – Hmmm…maybe this should be game of the week especially since it’s on BIG NOON SATURDAY. I still wait for the day where Matt Campbell finally gets a job offer he can’t refuse and leaves Ames. As horrible as it sounds for Cyclone fans, I could see Iowa trying to hire him once Kirk Ferentz decides to retire.

USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – Remember when almost every year a game between these two teams was a big deal? Sometimes for only of these teams but a handful of times for both programs. This may be one of those games. The Irish will once again feed off the hatred of all non-Irish fans and hope to get into the College Football Playoff yet again, pissing off a bunch of people. USC is in the wide open Pac-12 South and a win like this doesn’t help them inside the conference but will be a huge plus when it comes to their place in the Top 25.

Ohio State at Indiana (7:30, ABC) – I think it every year. Ohio State is going to visit a Big Ten East team not named Penn State or Michigan State and lose. Haha, of course I don’t mean Michigan, silly! The Hoosiers still look like they could make some noise in the Big Ten East but they have to hope to recreate some of last year’s magic to have any hope of beating the Fighting Ryan Days.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: LSU at Ole Miss (6:00, specialty pack) – Ugh, I hate the three-hour timeslots. They serve no purpose whatsoever. Like unless you are showing Army or Navy or any other team who might want to try the option, this won’t work. And SEC games are not known for ending before the three-and-a-half hour mark. So good luck to the game after this one (I have BYU-Wazzu starting at 9). Have fun on ESPNEWS for perhaps an hour.

Best Group of Five Game: Coastal Carolina at Appalachian State (Wednesday, 7:30, TSN1/TSN4) – I don’t know if I am in the minority but I like watching Sun Belt football. And despite App State’s success since their move up to FBS, last year’s performance by the Chants shone a huge light on the conference and proved that one of these years, their champion will make the New Year’s Six. This is probably the Sun Belt East Division championship. See? Divisions suck (no offense to the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana).

Worst Power Five Game: Georgia Tech at Virginia (Noon, specialty pack) – Honestly, this isn’t too bad. For the worst of the week? I’ve seen much worse games in this spot. Not saying I’m watching the bulk of the game but I wouldn’t mind tuning in for a bit. For such a not-so-good week it seems to have a good mid-card set of matches.

Week 9

Game of the Week: Penn State at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Oh my. This could be…well, this could be an amazing game. Penn State should be finally back at least sniffing the Top 10 and tOSU is tOSU. This is almost a shoo-in to end up on BIG NOON SATURDAY.

Other Really Important Games: North Carolina at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – A second consecutive week that Notre Dame on NBC will be in primetime. If the Irish can somehow get through this rough two-game stretch they could be home-free the rest of the way. I will admit, I am a sucker for good primetime Notre Dame football on NBC. I don’t know what it is. It just feels special, kind of like when the SEC has their one primetime game on CBS every season.

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (3:30, CBS) – THE MOTHERFUCKING GOD DAMNED WORLD’S LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY!!!!! Perhaps you could put this at number one. I wouldn’t argue. I also wouldn’t argue if you said it would be the best football game played in Jacksonville all year. I still say an open bar is the way to go for Brad and Gary in this one. Imagine a drunk Gary Danielson crying over a call that went against Alabama three seasons ago? Actually, maybe we should cancel the open bar.

Iowa at Wisconsin (Noon, specialty pack) – The Big Ten West Championship game? Maybe? Honestly these are the only two teams I would trust to win the Big Ten, despite the fact they haven’t won all the West division titles. But would you trust Northwestern? Minnesota? NEBRASKA? I thought so.

Florida State at Clemson (3:30, ABC) – OK this might be a stretch. Especially since this is in Death Valley. But one of these years, FSU is going to beat Clemson and everyone is going to be left with their jaw on the floor. You might snicker at that but Pitt beat them at Clemson a few years back. So there is hope you Nole fans.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Iowa State at West Virginia (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – I am not going to make the mistake of saying Dana Holgorsen is the Mountaineers’ head coach like last time. I mean, I miss him as WVU’s coach because he was in some big games meaning he would blow his stack more often than he does now at Houston. I wonder if he just drinks less Monster Energy or Red Bull or whatever he has ten of before Noon.

Best Group of Five Game: SMU at Houston (3:30, ESPN+) – I had to dig a bit deeper this week for a good Group of Five game. It was either this or Troy-Coastal Carolina. I am sticking with this one although the Sun Belt game is on Thursday night and at least on the specialty pack where as this one I have on ESPN+. Why? Same problem every year when we get into mid-October towards the end of the season: so many good conference games and only so many slots to put them in. Every so often the American gets the shaft. This looks like it will be one of those weeks.

Worst Power Five Game: Rutgers at Illinois (Noon, BTN) – Good lord. Just don’t. If it plays out the way I think it will, there is probably two games at this time meaning you wouldn’t get it even if you had the Big Ten Network. Probably for the best.

A mixed bag (as October usually is). But still…it’s a bag full of college football games. I am getting excited. I’m also getting a bit nervous as I know what I am like during those Saturdays. A completely unproductive glutton. I can live with the unproductive part but I am trying to get back into some semblance of decent shape after gaining a lot of weight during the pandemic. And the type of food I would eat on college football Saturdays is no bueno anymore…at least that amount of food. I might have to do food prep Friday night just to get through the day!

Still have not got a preview magazine although I haven’t really tried. Hoping the Athlon one (which is part of my subscription) comes in the mail soon. At least unlike last year, Indigo is open so I can go in and check it out one of these days. Also I am still going back and forth on whether to order the Phil Steele magazine. It’s rather expensive and takes a while to come in the mail. I might do the thing I did a few years back and pair it with the NFL magazine (if they do one) and get them shipped at the same time. It sucks because it means I wouldn’t get it until early August but it’s such a great magazine that I don’t know if I can not buy it, you know? If you have never seen the magazine before you don’t know but believe me, it’s PACKED with info. Can I really go into the season not knowing who the Rutgers long snapper will be?

Normally, the CFL would be starting their preseason soon. However, with the NBA and NHL seasons going into July this year and the U.S. Open coming up (yeah I watch the golf majors, don’t judge me), I won’t be missing football nearly as much. Instead it looks like the CFL will start August 5th with a slightly shortened schedule. And the Grey Cup will be moved into December and is in Hamilton. The only Grey Cup I’ve ever went to was the 1996 one that has been dubbed the Snow Bowl. It was cold, snowy, and a shit-ton of fun to watch. Maybe I will buy tickets to this one as long as they aren’t brutally expensive. OK so yeah I miss football. Have a great week everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – Let’s Go For Two!

Posted on May 30, 2021 by guelphbossman

I hate what they have done to college football overtime. I was fine when they said you had to start going for two starting with the third overtime. Would I prefer they make the teams start at the 30 or the 35 rather than the 25? Yes but I am OK with the way that is. Now it has become a two-point conversion shootout starting with the fifth overtime. Why? Because one stupidly awesome game went to seven overtimes and it was a classic? Seems like a serious overreaction to me (and probably many others). It has got to the point that maybe the NFL overtime is starting to look a bit better. I never would have said that even a couple of years ago but here we are.

So normally, I do the first post of this series and a day or two later more schedule updates appear changing my original guesses already. It would make me feel a bit dumb. This year? The same fucking thing happened! God damn when will I ever learn? Anyway, it was the mother of all schedule dumps. Like a crazy amount of games were set. Let’s look at what has changed with the first post in this series:

Penn State-Wisconsin I had right in terms of it being on FOX. But it’s not on at 4:00. It’s the BIG NOON SATURDAY game for Week One.
Now here’s a headscratcher. Iowa-Indiana is not the BIG NOON SATURDAY game on FOX. It’s not even on FOX. It’s on BTN. BTN! At 3:30 in the afternoon. It has to be due to the amount of appearances that one or both of these teams are perceived to have later on in the season on BTN since all Big Ten teams must have a minimum of two BTN appearances on the season with one of those appearances being a conference game. That’s the only thing I can think of since this is FOX or ESPN/ABC worthy in my opinion.
I was sooooooo close with LSU-UCLA. It’s on FOX. In primetime. But not at 8:00. It’s at 8:30. To me that seems like a weird time but I guess FOX is fine with the game ending probably around midnight if not a little later. Not like they have anything other than TMZ and infomercials to show afterwards on most of their affiliates.
Again, so close with one. Boise State-UCF is on at 7:00, not 7:30. My guess is it will be on at least one TSN station.
Oregon State-Purdue is now on FS1 in primetime. Big deal.
ABC nabbed CyHawk for their afternoon game.
Liberty-Troy has moved to primetime. But it’s still on ESPN+. So in the end it doesn’t matter anyway.
I totally forgot about how the ACC Network does Week 2. They show four games, starting at 11 in the morning to fit them all in so they don’t have to send a bunch to a regional FOX Sports Network (hmmm…should I call them Bally’s now?) or, even worse, ACC Network Extra which they are loathe to do. Anyway, it’s not at noon, it’s at 2:00 and should be on the specialty pack.
Cincinnati-Indiana has been picked up by ESPN/ABC. It will probably air on ABC and is definitely scheduled for Noon.
Oklahoma State-Boise State will be on FOX Sports One. But now it’s at 9:00. In the evening. Why? Because there is a game at 12:30 Sunday morning! Yep, for you crazies that can watch this game, San Jose State and Hawaii kick off after midnight and won’t end until about 4 in the morning. That’s crazy. I will watch at least three quarters of that.
Hey Coastal Carolina-Buffalo isn’t being relegated to ESPN+! It’s on at Noon, probably on the specialty pack here. Good to see some respect for these two schools.
Speaking of respect, let’s look at the absolute lack of respect ESPN/ABC has for the Kansas Jayhawks football program. Like no respect at all. They aren’t the Thursday night ESPN game. They aren’t even available to Canadians. Hell, it isn’t even available to most Americans. It’s on at 3:30, Saturday afternoon…on ESPN+. Yeah. That’s sad. But understandable.

I will probably make this same mistake next year because I’m an idiot who never learns.. Let’s just get to the second part of this series.

Week 4

Game of the Week: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin (in Chicago) (Noon, FOX) – This kind of tells you what kind of weekend this will be, on paper. Not saying these aren’t two good teams because they are. But the Badgers are always juuuuuust on the outside looking in and don’t feel like an elite team. And the Irish are considered an elite team more often than they actually are. Not saying I wouldn’t be surprised if either team is in contention for the College Football Playoff late in the season but this being the game of the week means we aren’t looking at a ton of great games. Now watch this one go to like four overtimes and be an instant classic.

Other Really Important Games: West Virginia at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – Will the Sooners finally get over the top now with Spencer Rattler in his second year at quarterback? That is the question for Boomer Sooner this season as they could be in for a special two-season stretch (before Rattler goes to the NFL as a high first round pick). Unless they can get yet another great QB, this may be the best two-year stretch possibility for Lincoln Riley’s boys (before Riley gets an offer from the Dallas Cowboys that he can’t refuse). As for the Mountaineers, they have Dana Holgorsen. That’s fun enough since you are assured of him going off on the refs or his players or his coaches or the other team’s coaches or the other team’s players or the fans at least once a game. That’s what happens when you down six Red Bulls by lunch.

Clemson at NC State (3:30, ABC) – I could see this moving to primetime but it really has more to do with how many Big XII game would appear on ABC in the primetime timeslot all season (or at least how many they believe will appear there). The first three games listed this week cover the top three timeslots so you can kind of figure out where all the hype will be. This could be Dave Doeren’s final chance to get his program-defining win. Pull this off and he will never have to pay for another drink in Raleigh again. It also puts the entire conference in an interesting spot as Clemson is their hope for the CFP until another team steps up. Most believe it will be NC State’s interstate rivals, North Carolina, but the Wolfpack are known for their upsets over the past two decades. Just ask Florida State.

Tennessee at Florida (3:30, CBS) – Can Tennessee just be back already? It took so damn long for Texas to be back and now they aren’t quite back again so who knows if the college football media will be asking that question (that I will not type here) all season. Luckily for the fans (and haters) of Texas, that question is no longer asked. For Vol fans, it’s becoming the conversation every day in Knoxville. Until this team truly competes in the SEC East (and no, being third doesn’t count as competing) this may be the most annoying, pathetic fanbase in college football. So maybe, just maybe, they can pull this off and look like the program that everyone on Rocky Top desperately wants them to be. Now watch them lose this one by 40 and we wonder if they can beat a down Vanderbilt squad.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Nebraska at Michigan State (3:30, BTN) – You are looking LIVE…at two programs who are struggling, one more than the other. The Huskers feel like an afterthought now that they have been in the Big Ten for a while and for good reason. Their fans long for even the days of the Big XII, forget the Big Eight. And let’s be honest: other than the one year where Sparty went to the College Football Playoff, it’s not like they have been setting the college football world on fire the past couple of decades. This could be a very good game that could propel one of these programs back into prominence. This will almost assuredly go to the Big Ten Network.

Best Group of Five Game: Marshall at Appalachian State (Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Two of the Group of Five’s stalwarts meet here in a much deserved Thursday night ESPN spot. Both teams had weird years this past season but that’s to be expected since the whole damn season was kind of weird. Expect both of these programs to at least flirt with the Top 25 most of the season. This should be an early Group of Five New Year’s Six elimination game as I am sure both teams will come into this undefeated (or in App State’s case, maybe a close loss to Miami early on).

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Duke (Noon, specialty pack) – Good god. You have to be some kind of masochist to want to watch more than maybe a few minutes of this game. Kansas is Kansas and Duke is nowhere near the heights they got to a few years back. You can easily avoid this one. I wouldn’t be surprised if doesn’t even go to the ACC Network and gets relegated to ACC Network Extra even if they have a timeslot available for them.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ole Miss at Alabama (Noon, TSN5) – I have this game on ESPN2. Seriously. Look, there is a limit as to how many times a team can appear on the SEC on CBS. Otherwise Bama would appear like 8 times every season (the max is five by the way). This could still move to ESPN or even CBS so who knows. Ole Miss is expected to start the season either just inside or just outside the Top 25 and besides, it’s Lane Kiffin getting another shot at Nick Saban. He would be a God in Oxford if the Rebels can win this game.

Other Really Important Games: Cincinnati at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – I’m honestly confused as to why some Irish on NBC games are on at 2:30 and why some are on at 3:30. There is really no rhyme or reason as to why these happen the way they do. Maybe they anticipate a hot newscast on this night. Anyway, this game is ripe for an upset…kind of. If Cincy upset Notre Dame would it be considered an upset? If it was up to me, I would have put this game on in primetime. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they don’t draw so that would be a no go.

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, ABC/TSN1/TSN4) – This does not feel like a Noon Big Ten Game. At all. This is the kind of game that is usually on ABC in primetime. Or should be especially after last year’s amazing finish. I can honestly say that maybe, just maybe, it’s the Hoosiers, not Penn State (or Michigan or Michigan State) that will be the team that will finally knock Ohio State off their perch atop the Big Ten East. Seeing the Hoosiers win this game and run the table into November would be great because it would make some TV executives at Disney a trifle nervous.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon, FOX) – Is Jim Harbaugh still special enough to warrant a BIG NOON SATURDAY timeslot? I could see this being moved, especially if the brass at FOX decides that the Big XII has a game they could show instead here. Or maybe they do another Pac-12 morning kickoff like they did with Arizona State-USC last year. This has to be a bounce-back season for the Wolverines. If not, what happens to Kaptain Khaki? Could he be fired? For the first time during his tenure in Ann Arbor, it would make sense to at least consider it, especially after last season’s disastrous season.

Texas at TCU (6:30, FOX Sports One) – Again, don’t be surprised if this, among almost every game this week, gets moved from where I have it. The Big XII has quickly become the major conference that Canadians rarely see. Not that they care down there if Canadians get to see their conference or not but it’s the same in the States. With no conference network, they are being left out in the cold. And their expansion blunder of a few years back is still being felt. They’ve already gone to Disney to look for a contract extension and ESPN/ABC said no. The contract ends after the 2025 season and with other TV contracts also ending around that time, realignment talk will heat up yet again. The conference is in trouble and really hinges on what Texas and Oklahoma decide to do. Expect a lot of changes in the next few years.

Florida at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack) – Remember when the Wildcats were SEC East contenders? It wasn’t too long ago. Kentucky could be primed for another breakthrough and the fans in Lexington are chomping at the bit to see that happen. At some point, some team has to break the Florida-Georgia stranglehold in the division and what better year than this one? Right now, I have this on the SEC Network because I honestly had no idea where to put it once other better timeslots started filling up. I could see this somehow getting to ESPN or ESPN2 though since I have the SEC Network with four games during this week.

Arizona State at UCLA (3:30, specialty pack) – It feels like we are getting less and less late night games that are any good. I mean it won’t stop me from watching them but I’m used to a few each year at least. This is supposed to be the season where we finally see what Chip Kelly can do in Westwood. A good Bruins team is always welcome in college football. The Sun Devils are also expected to be quite good so maybe we will see a logjam at the top of the Pac-12 South. Not like that hasn’t happened before, am I right? Guys? Hello?

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Tennessee at Missouri (Noon, specialty pack) – No, we aren’t looking at two amazing teams. Or even one. But man, for such a good week, there are a lot of games (outside of the ones I listed above) that look like they won’t be close at all. I’d love to call this a SEC East eliminator game. But it’s not. With two teams so closely matched, though, it should be fun to watch and could be the surprise game of the early timeslot (if not the whole week).

Best Group of Five Game: Nevada at Boise State (10:00, FOX Sports One) – Could FS1, of all channels, have one of the best lineups this week? Look there were a few choices I could have put here instead of this one. Houston-Tulsa and Liberty-UAB fit the bill as well but neither really scream “Top Group of Five game.” Plus I am a bit fascinated with FOX’s foray into the Mountain West, mostly because I can see all the games now. This could end up being very lucrative for the conference as long as FOX continues to invest heavily into college football.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech (Noon, specialty pack) – I mean it’s not a bad game per se. But with the rest of the Noon options (and there are a lot of them), I can’t see this game getting many eyeballs.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas A&M (8:00, CBS) – God damn this could be a MASSIVE game this season. Jimbo Fisher has guaranteed a win over Bama (not the smartest idea in the world but hey, gotta shot your shot). Even with the loss of Kellen Mond, this could be the Aggies year to get into the College Football Playoff. And now with probably a full house in College Station, the 100,000 plus members of the 12th Man will make life very difficult for the Tide. CBS has chosen this week to be the SEC doubleheader with the primetime game so it’s almost assured that this will be the pick.

Other Really Important Games: Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – Back where this belongs…almost. Depending on how the Aggies look early on, this could be considered the true GOTW. I’m still waiting for the day the Cotton Bowl collapses during the Red River Shootout. It’s going to happen and it’s going to be a tragedy that could be avoided by either fixing the fucking place or moving this game to JerryWorld. There’s almost no doubt in my mind this ends up being the BIG NOON SATURDAY pick by FOX.

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – Wow, does CBS ever get an amazing doubleheader this season. Saying that, the Tigers aren’t the Tigers they have been in the past. Unless Bo Nix all of a sudden figures things out, Auburn will be middle of the pack, at best, in the SEC West. Still a good team but not close to contending in the always extremely tough SEC West. I just wish they would do away with divisions. Don’t get me wrong, the SEC East champ is usually good but who wouldn’t have enjoyed Bama playing LSU or TAMU playing Mississippi State or Ole Miss playing Auburn or any one of those combinations in Atlanta in December?

Maryland at Ohio State (Noon, TSN4) – This is guaranteed for Noon and almost a shoo-in to be on ESPN. Will this be close? Eh, who knows. OK I am pretty positive it won’t be. But if there’s any year where Ohio State could be vulnerable, it is this one. If the Terps can’t keep it close this time around they may never do so. I’m sure there are many who long to be back in the ACC, regardless of TV money.

Florida State at North Carolina (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – No, this isn’t here because it’s the Noles. I probably don’t have to say that anymore and it is sad that FSU just can’t seem to get over the hump and get back to the way they were. You never know, though. They beat the Heels here, it’s massive and could lead to huge things for this squad. North Carolina is in New Year’s Six or Bust mode this season as the NY6 is their floor. Anything less would be a disappointment with Sam Howell a serious Heisman contender.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: LSU at Kentucky (Noon, TSN1) – No, I’m not joking with this. The Tigers will be close to the bottom spot of the Top 25 and the Cats will be just outside looking in, at least at the start of the season. This is probably a bigger game for Kentucky than it is for LSU as there is no way that Ed Orgeron’s guys will be competing for the SEC West this season.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at BYU (10:30, specialty pack) – Is this considered a Group of Five game? I’m going to say it is. BYU seems to be in this no-man’s land when it comes to where they belong. I know they want to be Power Five and they should be Power Five but they aren’t quite there yet and until they are invited into a conference or get closer in reputation to Notre Dame, they won’t be. It is usually a lot of fun when these two teams meet. I am looking forward to Provo After Dark which sounds like a show on at Midnight on Vision TV or some other religious network where they do nasty things like drink coffee or say “fuck.”

Worst Power Five Game: Georgia Tech at Duke (12:30, specialty pack) – Two straight weeks for the Ramblin’ Wreck in this spot. The thing is they aren’t even that bad. But last week was a pretty good schedule, at least in the Power Five and this week the next worse choice would be Wake Forest-Syracuse which isn’t nearly as bad as this.

We are almost halfway through the season now (with these posts). With only thirteen weeks this season I had to have one longer post because of it. It will be the final one. The final two posts are usually the most difficult since almost none of the games are scheduled this far out, at least from a Power Five perspective. So the chances of me getting many of these predictions wrong are quite good. Just letting you know in advance.

It’s getting close to College Football Preview magazine season. Or maybe it has already started and I just don’t know about it. I have an Athlon subscription now so I am just waiting for that one to come in the mail. If there are others available I will check Indigo to see if I can get it. As for the Phil Steele magazine, I am going back and forth whether to order it or get the online version (if they have it this year). I love the magazine, don’t get me wrong. It’s an awesome read and has a shit-ton of information. Problem is, it shows up sometime in late July at the earliest which doesn’t help me at all with my predictions and makes it tough to read before the season begins (yes I am one of those insane people who try to read that magazine front-to-back). So we shall see. Anyway, have a great upcoming week and let’s hope the warm weather is here to stay and that we can forget what it was like on Friday.

That was LSU’s Shoeper Bowl! – Week 15 College Football Recap

Posted on December 14, 2020 by guelphbossman

This is a new one. Gators’ Marco Wilson tackled Kole Taylor short of the first down marker late in the fourth quarter in Florida’s game against LSU. Then he got up with Taylor’s shoe in his hand and, in the words of the referee, threw it 20 yards downfield. This meant he got a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which kept LSU going and lead to Cade York’s insane 57-yard field goal into the fog at The Swamp to win the game. This could end up costing Florida even a New Year’s Six spot (as their College Football Playoff chances are gone). Horrible. And stupid. You couldn’t script this to be more ridiculous.

As per tradition, when I use the Footballgasm template, I must complete the week by doing the recap in the same manner. Let’s go!

Thursday

Southern Miss 45 Florida Atlantic 31

6:30 PM

This was a nice ending to a horrible season in Hattiesburg for the Golden Eagles. Now they can hopefully start fresh with new coach Will Hall. And to find out that even if FAU won, they wouldn’t have gone to the conference championship game was a big letdown. Oh well. Decent start to the week.

Friday

Arizona State 70 Arizona 7

7:30 PM

The Territorial Cup goes to the Sun Devils in one of the biggest beatdowns in Pac-12 history. I was definitely one who thought Arizona’s hire of Kevin Sumlin a few years back was a coup. Yeah now we know that it was his great quarterbacks at Houston and Texas A&M that really helped him along. Paging Brent Brennan!

San Jose State 30 Nevada 20

10:00 PM

OK this game was being played between the Spartans and the Wolf Pack in Las Vegas at the field being used by the New Mexico Lobos. Got it? Anyway, the Spartans win puts them in the Mountain West Championship and also puts Boise State in as well. This has been an amazing season for SJSU which means what I said above may happen…again.

Saturday Early

Penn State 39 Michigan State 24

Noon

This was actually a pretty good game into the fourth quarter and the Nittany Lions pulled away to win their first home game of the season (if you can believe that). James Franklin is going to be on quite the hot seat going into 2021 as this has to be considered nothing short of a disappointment for this team, despite what 2020 brought.

Rutgers 27 Maryland 24

Noon

Meaningless game won by Rutgers. Well maybe not meaningless to the Scarlet Knights and especially Greg Schiano. The hiring of Schiano may make Rutgers look very smart (and Tennessee very stupid for deciding not to hire him).

Northwestern 28 Illinois 10

Noon

Northwestern, already clinching the Big Ten West, put a beatdown on the Illini. And guess what happened yesterday? Lovie Smith was finally shitcanned. Oh wait, he agreed to part ways with the team. Whatever. Just a few years too late in my humble opinion.

Alabama 52 Arkansas 3

Noon

Not surprising that the Tide won. Now we await to see what devastation they will wreak on Florida in the SEC Championship. I don’t think it will be very pretty. I’ve said it already but CBS may regret putting that game in primetime.

Utah 38 Colorado 21

Noon

The Buffs shouldn’t have had problems with the Utah offense but they did. Their loss made things super easy for the Pac-12 as now they wouldn’t be undefeated along with USC. At least we got to see some FOOTBAW WEATHER in Boulder for this one.

Georgia 49 Missouri 14

Noon

Speaking of games that weren’t close, here’s a great example. Many people, myself included, thought it would be though. For a while it looked like UGA was what everyone thought they were: a good team not deserving of a New Year’s Six spot. It was tied at 14 late in the second quarter. 35 unanswered points later, the Dawgs proved that maybe they should be put in an important bowl game.

Minnesota 24 Nebraska 17

Noon

Minnesota wins this one as they hold on to beat the Huskers. Is there anyone that can turn this program around? Not saying Scott Frost had all the pieces when he arrived but man this has been an unbridled disaster in Lincoln. Definite hot seat material for next season.

Saturday Afternoon

Buffalo 56 Akron 7

2:30 PM

Disappointing. I was hoping for Jaret Patterson to score ten touchdowns.

Army 15 Navy 0

3:00 PM

I wonder if a lot of people forgot this game was even on. Sad for a game with this kind of history but 2020 has wreaked havoc on college football (along with damn near everything else). Unfortunately the game was not good at all which meant few people would even watch to the end to see Army sing second.

North Carolina 62 Miami 26

3:30 PM

Not even close this one. The Heels really wanted this one and it showed. I think it’s about time I believe that Miami is not a College Football Playoff team under Manny Diaz. Or maybe Mack Brown is still pissed about that game against BYU years ago when Diaz was his defensive coordinator. Either way.

Oklahoma State 42 Baylor 3

3:30 PM

What a way to finish a season. Even without Chuba Hubbard, who has declared for the NFL Draft, the Fighting Mullets blew the doors of Baylor in this one. This was a rough season as the Pokes never got respect all season and could very well end up in the Top 15 at the end of it all. Probably still behind Oklahoma though which will irk all their fans but hey, can’t win em all.

Iowa 28 Wisconsin 7

3:30 PM

Slow start but the Hawkeyes pulled away in the second half to beat the Badgers and set up…an almost useless game next week. I know the Big Ten doesn’t want to overshadow the conference championship game but Iowa-Indiana would have been a huge matchup with big NY6 implications. Instead, they fucked up Champions Week. Way to go, guys.

Memphis 30 Houston 27

3:45 PM

Well the Tigers won which really meant nothing since both teams are going bowling. Now the question is will Ryan Silverfield be around next season in Memphis. He is a dark horse candidate for a couple of jobs so it will be interesting to see if he ends up heading elsewhere like his predecessors, Mike Norvell and Justin Fuente, did. As for Dana Holgorsen, he has already downed four cans of Red Bull by the time you got to this point in this post.

Tennessee 42 Vanderbilt 17

4:00 PM

Tennessee won. Sarah Fuller kicked two extra points and made many men mad. That’s about all I can say about the battle for state supremacy (no offense, Middle Tennessee).

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

Boise State 17 Wyoming 9

6:00 PM

A really slow start here by both teams and it never really got going after that. Blame all the snow that fell in Laramie as it made for a sloppy game. Honestly, they should have a bowl game there. That would be fun to watch. Probably horrible for the players and the coaching staffs though. Anyway, this meant nothing after San Jose State’s win the previous night but good to see Boise finish off the regular season with a win as they try to win yet another Mountain West conference championship.

LSU 37 Florida 34

7:00 PM

Hey at least it was a fun, close game right? Forget the Shoe Throw of Doom that I mentioned at the beginning. Florida did not look like a Top 10 team here at all. Either that or LSU looked better than their record states. Both are probably correct. The Gators needed this game and couldn’t pull away from the Tigers. Their punishment will probably be the Outback Bowl or Citrus Bowl or some close-by bowl game.

TCU 52 Louisiana Tech 10

7:00 PM

Well, at least TCU was able to get their non-conference game in.

Auburn 24 Mississippi State 10

7:30 PM

Didn’t matter. Wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. And now Gus Malzahn has finally, mercifully, been fired. He is now almost $22 million richer because of it. Ain’t college football a great sport?

USC 43 UCLA 38

7:30 PM

This ended up being one of the best finishes of the season. The Trojans, in my opinion, will not get into the CFP (fuck you ESPN Playoff Predictor). The Bruins, I have to say, have really improved (FINALLY) under Chiop Kelly. Took long enough. UCLA scored late in this one to take the three point lead and it looked like the Pac-12 was completely ruined (as opposed to mostly ruined which they are at this point). Instead, the men of Troy march down the field quickly and score a touchdown to win the game. And to the chagrin of some USC fans, I have a feeling Clay Helton will get a contract extension in the offseason.

BYU 28 San Diego State 14

10:00 PM

Nice to see the Cougars finish with ten wins since their original schedule was completely obliterated. People still like to underestimate BYU (or downright hate them) but Kalani Sitake has shown that this program is still one to watch, year in and year out. Still won’t get them a New Year’s Six spot but still has to be considered a successful season.

New Mexico 49 Fresno State 39

10:30 PM

New Mexico is quietly turning things around while they are banished to Vegas. Danny Gonzales has done a masterful job starting this turnaround. Don’t be surprised if they are over .500 next season and, perhaps, back to the Rocky Long days of prosperity.

Stanford 27 Oregon State 24

10:00 PM

This was actually a great Pac-12 After Dark game (as is tradition). Back-and-forth throughout the entire game and it meant that you had to continue to watch well into the night. Jet Toner (great name for, well, anything) hit the game-winning field goal with a little less than two minutes left. Stanford, somehow, ended up 3-2 going into whatever the Pac-12 is calling the final week of the season. That feels weird considering how they have played the past almost-two seasons.

Normally the next week is conference championship week ONLY. But man this has been such a crazy year that there are a bunch of games also scheduled. So this could end up being a bit more interesting than usual when it comes to this week in college football. Also, there’s a bowl game that day as well. Yeah, none of this makes sense.

Alright so next up is the bowl projections list with a few bowl games actually already confirming their matchups. Nice to see but really it is a necessity considering the way the bowl schedule is structured. College and NFL schedules later in the week.

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: Dana Holgorsen

Coaching Carousel Time! And the Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

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