I talk about the coaching carousel a lot. Maybe a bit too much. So I have seen a lot of different stories of coaches getting fired and the methods and back stories of how it came to be. I may not have seen anything like this, though.
Butch Davis has decided he is done at Florida International. He was 23-21 coming into this season with FIU but the bottom fell out for the team and they have gone 1-9 so far in 2021. No one knows yet if he will finish out the season with the team. None of this is all that odd. What is a bit different is Davis’ assertion that the school’s administration is sabotaging the football program and that is why he wants out. Not saying other coaches haven’t thought this but for a coach to actually verbalize it says a lot about what is going on down there. Here are a few of the things that have happened:
- FIU posted the head coaching position online with the American Football Coaches Association…last month. Good god, not a good start.
- The school is using old uniforms and old equipment and won’t put any money in to purchase anything new. Cheap bastards.
- The school has refused to offer multi-year contracts to any of Davis’ assistants. I can kind of understand this considering how poorly the team has performed.
- The school also did not allow any of the coaches to go out and recruit the past two years. Part of this is due to COVID-19 concerns but the bigger issue is financial reasons.
It sounds like Davis is probably correct here. And if the school can’t afford to play football at the FBS level, drop to FCS. There are a few schools at the top level that lose money almost every year and justify doing it as a recruiting tool not just to get athletes to come to the school, but students, in general. That may work at a school like Alabama but less so at a school like FIU. This and the fact that the Panthers are in Conference USA which now has set themselves up as easily the worst FBS conference all point to potential disaster in the years to come. Something to keep an eye on.
Anyway, let’s get to more pertinent matters, that being the upcoming schedule!
Wednesday
| US | Canada | ||
| Northern Illinois at Buffalo | 7:00 PM |  |
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| Central Michigan at Ball State | 7:00 PM |  |
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MACtion! Hey it’s weekday football. And one of the games is on TSN! This is good. Hopefully at least one of these games is a nailbiter.
Thursday
| US | Canada | ||
| Louisville at Duke | 7:30 PM |  |
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So technically this is a college football game. The only other football on this night is a pretty good New England Patriots team facing a woeful Atlanta Falcons team. So your options are limited.
Friday
| US | Canada | ||
| Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech | 8:00 PM |  |
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| Memphis at #24 Houston | 9:00 PM | |
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| #19 San Diego State at UNLV | 11:30 PM | |
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Nothing huge here although SDSU and Houston need wins here. We have a different kind of test game tonight: the weeknight Vegas Test. A lot like Hawaii Test games, this game won’t end until well into the morning. I will test my resolve and try to watch this thing but I have this funny feeling it will be over at some point in the third quarter, allowing me (and other viewers) at least some chance at sleep.
Saturday Early
| US | Canada | ||
| #7 Michigan State at #4 Ohio State | Noon |  |
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| Florida State at Boston College | Noon |  |
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| Rutgers at Penn State | Noon |  |
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| Purdue vs. Northwestern (in Chicago) | Noon | |
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| UMass at Army | Noon | |
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| #10 Wake Forest at Clemson | Noon | |
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| Texas at West Virginia | Noon | |
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| Harvard at Yale | Noon | |
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| Iowa State at #13 Oklahoma | Noon |  |
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| Wofford at North Carolina | Noon |  |
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| New Mexico State at Kentucky | Noon |  |
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I’m honestly perplexed as to why MSU-tOSU did not get the primetime treatment. I guess it’s so we get to possibly see Kirk Herbstreit sprint to the booth after finishing College Gameday. We also get Oklahoma trying to avoid an upset at the hands of a team they’ve struggled with in the recent past, Iowa State. There are a lot of other games in the early timeslot but not a ton of must-watch material. Also, New Mexico State does not get to be on TSN again.
Saturday Afternoon
| US | Canada | ||
| Georgia Tech at #8 Notre Dame | 2:30 PM |  |
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| Nebraska at #15 Wisconsin | 3:30 PM | |
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| #6 Michigan at Maryland | 3:30 PM | |
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| Minnesota at Indiana | 3:30 PM | |
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| #21 Arkansas at #2 Alabama | 3:30 PM |  |
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| East Carolina at Navy | 3:30 PM | |
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| SMU at #5 Cincinnati | 3:30 PM | |
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| Virginia at #18 Pittsburgh | 3:30 PM | |
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| Syracuse at #20 NC State | 4:00 PM | |
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| Louisiana at Liberty | 4:00 PM | |
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| UCLA at USC | 4:00 PM | |
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| Florida at Missouri | 4:00 PM | |
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Nothing massive here although Cincinnati may have their toughest conference test before they face Houston in the AAC Championship. The de facto ACC Coastal Championship occurs today as well as Michigan trying to avoid the speed bump as they travel to College Park. I don’t get why the Big Ten Network puts two games on simultaneously and then doesn’t have anything in the primetime slot. Not a huge deal up here but I am sure it’s a big deal in the States where some fans will miss their team’s game because BTN can’t get their act together.
Saturday Primetime
| US | Canada | ||
| Auburn at South Carolina | 7:00 PM | |
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| #3 Oregon at #23 Utah | 7:30 PM | |
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| Virginia Tech at Miami | 7:30 PM | |
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| South Alabama at Tennessee | 7:30 PM | |
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| Vanderbilt at #12 Ole Miss | 7:30 PM | |
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| Wyoming at Utah State | 8:00 PM | |
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| #9 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech | 8:00 PM | |
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A big Pac-12 matchup highlights the primetime timeslot. Utah could cause yet another disruption of the Top 4 in what will probably end up being a preview of the Pac-12 Championship. CBS Sports Network is going with an odd 8:00 start time for the Mountain West game and there’s no real reason for it. My only guess on this is that because they do not have a late night game that they put a highlights show on at 7:00 to hopefully keep people watching through that time until this game begins. This feels more like a lack of organization because I am sure they could have put this game on late night and stuck a MAC or Conference USA game in here and just didn’t for….I don’t know.
Saturday Late Night
| US | Canada | ||
| ULM at LSU | 9:00 PM | |
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| Arizona State at Oregon State | 10:30 PM | |
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Another weird choice here for start time but at least this has a reason. ESPN2 has the ULM-LSU game starting at 9:00 because there are preliminary fights before a boxing pay-per-view card starting at 7:00. The only game on here in a true late night spot is a very important one for teams needing a win and some help to win their division.
Games to set your eyeballs on
Michigan State at Ohio State (Noon, ABC/TSN3) – This is the Game of the Week and none of the other games are really that close. I would consider it a possible Game of the Year candidate because of the high stakes. Michigan State could do what no one thought they could do and that is unseat Ohio State at the top of the Big Ten East ladder. A Sparty win puts them in the driver’s seat with wins over both tOSU and Michigan. The loser of this is probably still a lock for the New Year’s Six though. As I said above, I am still confused as to why this didn’t get the ABC primetime slot but I have a feeling it has to do with contracted games and the Pac-12 may not have quite got to where they should be. For this reason ESPN/ABC took the next game on this list instead of this one knowing that the final week of the season would have a better selection to choose from and they wouldn’t be forced to go with one conference over another.
Oregon at Utah (7:30, ABC) – As much as the Pac-12 tends to be ignored on the East Coast, I can see a lot of eyeballs descending on this one. As mentioned above, it is probably a preview of the Pac-12 title match. The stakes are high, especially for the Ducks after their inexplicable loss to Stanford earlier this season. The Utes could cause a lot of issues for the Pac-12 and put themselves in the Top 15 going into the final week of the regular season with a win. Realistically, the conference championship game is much more important than this one but the path there for both teams will dictate where they stand in terms of what bowl destination they will have. Either way, at least we know the winner here clinches their spot in Santa Clara and at least will play for the Rose Bowl spot.
SMU at Cincinnati (3:30, specialty pack) – So what happens if the Bearcats lose here? A win here leaves them at probably no lower than #5 in the CFP rankings. But a loss…well then we have to see how far they fall. The next best Group of Five team is San Diego State and they sit at #19 and won’t surpass Cincy even if they win and the Bearcats lose. Yes, Luke Fickell has his sights set much higher than the NY6. This game will show whether they can do what they need to do to capture the attention of The Committee: by blowing the doors off the Mustangs.
Wake Forest at Clemson (Noon, specialty pack) – Here’s a huge test for Wake. Win this game and they clinch the ACC Atlantic and end the reign of Clemson at the top. Would it be the beginning of the end of Dave Clawson in Winston-Salem? He has done another masterful job of coaching and many teams will be looking his way with all the openings needing to be filled in the off-season. Also, how much higher do the Deacs rise in the poll with a win here? I can’t see them climbing higher than #8 but there still would be one more regular season week remaining, plus conference championships and this season has taught me that you can’t really predict anything week-to-week.
Virginia at Pittsburgh (3:30, specialty pack) – As for the other side of the ACC ledger, this is pretty much the game for the ACC Coastal division title. I’m sure Wake Forest hopes Pitt wins because the better the Panthers are, the better their schedule looks. Virginia doesn’t automatically clinch the division with a win but they put themselves in the catbird seat if they are triumphant here going into the Commonwealth Cup game with the now Justin Fuente-less Virginia Tech Hokies.
Honourable mention: Arkansas at Alabama (3:30, CBS); UAB at UTSA (3:30, ESPN+); Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (8:00, FOX)
Wanna bet?
My picks were not good last week. I don’t even want to talk about it. So now I have to hope that these picks are better for…some reason. I don’t know why. Note: do not use these picks for actual gambling purposes:
Alabama over Arkansas
Clemson over Wake Forest (minor upset)
Pittsburgh over Virginia
UTSA over UAB
Cincinnati over SMU
Oklahoma State over Texas Tech
Ohio State over Michigan State
Utah over Oregon (upset!)
Ball State over Central Michigan
Tennessee over South Alabama
San Diego State over UNLV
I’m gearing myself up. Tonight. Tomorrow night. Friday night. Saturday all day. Then NFL Sunday all day. Then NFL Monday night. My god. I love it.
NFL schedule tomorrow as per usual. Enjoy the games everyone!
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