It wasn’t long ago that Week 17 was the ultimate week. So much on the line. Playoff spots gained or lost. First round byes on the line. Entire seasons on the brink. Fantastic stuff.
Now, Week 17 is the penultimate week of the regular season. With the seventeenth game added to the regular season, it meant that Week 18 had to be added. My guess is Week 19 will be added soon enough to give each team two byes during the season and push the Super Bowl to around Valentine’s Day.
But just because this isn’t the final week doesn’t mean this isn’t a huge week! So let’s get to the schedule!
There are games upcoming that you will not be able to see if you do not have Sunday Ticket and/or RedZone. They are as follows:
Las Vegas at Indianapolis
Carolina at Jacksonville
Atlanta at Chicago
Arizona at Philadelphia
Tennessee at Houston
LA Chargers at Denver
Now this is some horseshit right here. Six games? SIX? That’s insane. And that’s after TSN decides to put a different game on TSN+ for some variety. I don’t get it. Not saying many of these games are worth watching but if you are trying to push people to order Sunday Ticket or RedZone, you may be succeeding. Or you may be pushing them to go the route I took that I will never come back from, IPTV. Either one, congratulations assholes.
No Monday Night Football this week as that would go up against the College Football Playoff semi-finals and even the NFL knows when to take a step back. What does that mean? We have the game essentially being moved to Saturday night. And it is a massive one. Lions-Cowboys in what could be an NFC Championship preview.
I don’t know how many people can even get ABC out of Cleveland so I listed it here. UPDATE: No one can but there are some who can get it out of Toledo. How about that? You learn something new every day.
Things are getting very interesting. It’s the second-last playoff picture of the season:
Look at the ridiculous logjam in the AFC. So many teams for, well, still quite a few spots. The Wild Card race is going to be insane and will require some logic puzzle-style explanations. The NFC is not much different even though it doesn’t look like it. There are 4 teams just a game back of the Bucs, Rams and Seahawks. Hell, even the Bears are technically still in it. Yeah it’s this crazy.
Before we get to the clinching scenarios, here is your updated list of eliminated teams (in order of draft position):
Carolina
Arizona
Washington
New England
NY Giants
LA Chargers
Tennessee
NY Jets
Just a reminder that the Bears have the Panthers pick because the Panthers’ front office are idiots.
Now it’s time for the clinching scenarios and, as per usual, I will not include ties until the final weekend of the regular season.
First Round Bye and Home Field Advantage
San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss
Baltimore clinches with a win
Division Title
Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win AND a Dallas loss
Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win OR a Cleveland loss
Miami clinches the AFC East with a win OR a Buffalo loss
Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win OR (a Denver loss AND a Las Vegas loss)
Jacksonville clinches the AFC South with a win AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss
Playoff Berth
LA Rams clinch a playoff berth with a win AND a Seattle loss
Cleveland clinches a playoff berth with a win OR a Pittsburgh loss OR a Buffalo loss OR a Jacksonville loss OR (a Houston loss AND an Indianapolis loss)
Buffalo clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Cincinnati loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Cincinnati loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Houston loss)
Elimination
Minnesota is eliminated with a loss AND a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win
Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Seattle win OR an LA Rams win OR (a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND an Arizona win AND a Dallas win AND a Washington win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND an Jacksonville win AND a Denver win))
Chicago is eliminated with a loss OR (a Seattle win AND an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Green Bay win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win)
New Orleans is eliminated with a loss
Atlanta is eliminated with a Tampa Bay win AND (a loss) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Seattle win)
Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss AND a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Kansas City win) OR (a Jacksonville win AND a Denver loss)
Cincinnati is eliminated with a win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Buffalo win
Houston is eliminated with a loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville win AND (a Buffalo win) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss)
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
Denver is eliminated with a loss OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Buffalo win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Kansas City win AND a Houston win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND a Pittsburgh loss)
Alright, should be a fun few days of football. Chances are this will be my final post of the season so I hope each and every one of you have a happy New Year! See you all in 2024 and, as always, enjoy the games!
This was the scene at Bank of America Stadium this past weekend in Charlotte for the Falcons-Panthers game. And if you think that’s just maybe part of the upper deck, think again. The entire stadium looked like this. Don’t believe me?
That is during the game as you can see a play going on in this picture. How sad is this? How dreadful must it be to be a Carolina Panthers fan right now? Not only does your team suck-diddly-uck but you don’t even get the chance at the number one draft choice. Why? Well, the Panthers wanted Bryce Young so badly that they exchanged first round picks with the Bears last year. The Panthers had to sweeten the deal so sent a 2025 second rounder, D.J. Moore and…..their first round pick in the upcoming draft. Yeesh. There is a good chance that will be the #1 pick and Bears fans are salivating at the thought. Marvin Harrison Jr.? Caleb Williams? Drake Maye? Maybe another position of need since they aren’t very good either? The possibilities are endless.
For Panthers fans, though, the possibilities aren’t. They won’t pick first overall, they very well might finish last in the league and unless some of their young players (and 2024 draftees) step up in a hurry, this is not a playoff team next season. Nowhere close. Frustrating for sure.
Not frustrating? Getting to watch NFL football on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!! Let’s fucking go! Here’s the schedule to get you all amped up!
There are some games on this week that, somehow, are not being shown here in Canada without the assistance of a Sunday Ticket or a RedZone:
Washington at NY Jets
Green Bay at Carolina
Arizona at Chicago
How in the blue hell can three games not be shown at all here with how spread out the games are this week? The power of scheduling. Maybe they do need to go to Matt Zemek’s idea of three Sunday timeslots.
Look at all the national and almost-national telecasts. It is, I believe, an NFL record for the most national broadcasts in one week with seven. Then there’s two on Sunday that might as well be national broadcasts as well.
Just so you know, the Bills-Chargers game will be joined in progress on TSN3 and TSN5 at about 10:30 after the World Juniors pre-competition game between Canada and the U.S. (on TSN3) or the Lakers-Thunder game (on TSN5). Man, TSN loves the World Juniors.
As I said before, a lot of nationwide broadcasts. If you love watching football on CTV, then I hope you love one of four teams because those are the only ones appearing on Sunday afternoon. Lions-Vikings followed by Cowboys-Dolphins across the entire network. At least they should be two really good games.
Finally, the Nickolodeon game is back. This year’s “Nickmas” game will be the early Christmas Day affair between the Raiders and the Chiefs. It’s only on TSN+ up here but if you have it and have younger kids who may be interested it’s….kinda fun, not gonna lie.
OK we are getting close to the end of the season. Three games remain. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:
AFC
NFC
#1 Baltimore (11-3) (clinched playoff spot)
#1 San Francisco (11-3) (clinched NFC West)
#2 Miami (10-4)
#2 Dallas (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#3 Kansas City (9-5)
#3 Detroit (10-4)
#4 Jacksonville (8-6)
#4 Tampa Bay (7-7)
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:
#5 Cleveland (9-5)
#5 Philadelphia (10-4) (clinched playoff spot)
#6 Cincinnati (8-6)
#6 Minnesota (7-7)
#7 Indianapolis/Houston/Buffalo (8-6)
#7 LA Rams/Seattle/New Orleans (7-7)
As I’ve said before, this Wild Card race may be the wildest in years, no pun intended. Oh and my dream of a 7-10 NFC South champion has gone up in flames as the Bucs and Saints face each other next week so the division champion can have no fewer than eight wins. Damn.
And behold, your list of eliminated teams:
Carolina
New England
Arizona
Washington
NY Jets
Tennessee
Only six. And only maybe three or four will join the list after this week. Good to see a lot of teams still in the mix instead of a few of the seasons in the recent past where half the league was pretty much done with a couple weeks to go.
Now some clinching scenarios. That’s what we are looking at these days anyways and wait until you see some of the scenarios. Fucking ridiculous:
First-Round Bye and Home-Field Advantage
San Francisco clinches with a win AND a Dallas loss AND a Philadelphia loss AND a Detroit loss
Division Title
Detroit clinches the NFC North with a win
Baltimore clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Cleveland loss
Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win
Miami clinches the AFC East with a win AND a Buffalo loss
Playoff Berth
Detroit clinches with an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss
Miami clinches with a win
Cleveland clinches with a win AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis loss AND a Buffalo loss AND a Miami win) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND (a Denver loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss) OR (a Denver loss AND a Miami win and one of Buffalo/Indianapolis/Jacksonville losing) OR (a Buffalo loss AND an Indianapolis win AND a Jacksonville loss AND (a Miami win OR a Kansas City win)))
Elimination
Chicago is eliminated with loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND one of Minnesota/Green Bay/NY Giants winning)
NY Giants are eliminated with a loss AND (an LA Rams win) OR (a Seattle win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay/Tampa Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND (one of Minnesota/Green Bay winning) OR (an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win) OR (a Green Bay win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win)
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss
LA Chargers are eliminated with a loss OR a Jacksonville win OR (a Cincinnati win AND an Indianapolis win AND (a Houston win OR a Denver win OR two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win AND (a Denver win OR three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND a Denver win AND (a Las Vegas win OR one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)) OR (a Cincinnati win AND four of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Houston win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/New Orleans/Arizona/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Denver win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cleveland win AND one of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win AND two of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND a New Orleans win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Green Bay/Arizona/LA Rams/Baltimore/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND a Denver win AND an LA Rams win AND one of Washington/Detroit/Arizona/Tennessee winning) OR (a Pittsburgh win AND a Cleveland win AND three of Washington/Detroit/New Orleans/Arizona/Tennessee winning)
For fuck’s sake that is crazy. But if you are a betting man (or woman) you could make a boatload of money if one of these stupid Chargers scenarios hits.
So there you go. Enjoy the NFL football over the holidays and have a Merry Christmas!
Yep, the NFL is heading to Brazil next year! Not Rio, which is pictured here but Sao Paulo. The plan is to have a game at Corinthians Arena and it will be the fifth country outside the U.S. to host a regular season game after Canada, England, Mexico and Germany.
So how do I feel about this? Eh, I’m fine with it. It won’t be played in the morning which makes me happy and I’m sure the NFLers that get to go there will be happy to enjoy some Brazilian culture like walking down the beach and things that occur on LiveLeak.
I think the bigger story was after this when it was announced that there would be EIGHT international games in 2025. My guess is, at some point, every team in the league will play one international game a season until the NFL eventually expands there because that’s what Commissioner Goodell wants, dammit!
Until then we are stuck with 32 teams and schedules that still aren’t too large. So let’s get to that not-too-big schedule followed by a few musings:
Saturday, 1:00, NFL Network, CBS Minneapolis, TSN 1/3
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis
Saturday, 4:30, NFL Network, TSN 1/3
Denver at Detroit
Saturday, 8:15, NFL Network, FOX Detroit, TSN 1/3
Baltimore at Jacksonville
Sunday, 8:15, NBC, CTV, TSN 1/3/4/+
Philadelphia at Seattle
Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/+
Non-Brazilian Musings
Are you ready? Are you ready for some football? A, uh, Saturday afternoon and evening partayyyyyyyyy? Yep, it’s that time of year where the NFL says fuck it, we are taking over more days and if we were allowed we’d have games every day of the damn week. Problem for me is that it’s the start of Bowl Season. Will I watch some of these games? Sure but my focus is almost always on college football (sorry pro football enthusiasts/college football haters).
Games not being shown in the region of Canada without the use of Sunday Ticket or RedZone:
Houston at Tennessee
Atlanta at Carolina
Washington at LA Rams
Quite the mixed bag for all the non-Sunday afternoon games. For every Ravens-Jags there’s a Chargers-Raiders. Can’t win em all with six games in those timeslots. Hey, at least we get Kevin Fucking Harlan on the call for the Saturday nighter which is a Mount Everest-sized step up from the earlier play-by-play guys, Chris Rose and Rich Eisen.
For the first time in a long time, we have an Absolute National Game. The Cowboys and Bills are on every FOX station in the U.S. meaning the same thing in Canada. Not surprising with so many games not on Sunday but in previous years the Niners and Cardinals would have been shown on televisions in about 53 combined city blocks in the cities of San Francisco and Phoenix. Why I’m so glad the true AFC on CBS/NFC on FOX thing has ended. Progress. Should have done it years ago.
Hey let’s get an updated playoff picture since there’s a team ACTUALLY ALREADY IN THE PLAYOFFS (it’s the Niners):
#7 Green Bay/LA Rams/Seattle/Atlanta/New Orleans (6-7)
Holy shit. What an absolute clusterfuck at the bottom of the Wild Card list. In each conference, five teams are tied for the final spot with the first team in each list (the Colts and Packers) holding what I assume are insane tiebreakers over the other four teams. This could end up being one of the best final months of a season in a long time.
And now on to the teams that have been officially eliminated:
Carolina
New England
That’s it. Two. With three games to go. Yeah this is nuts. This week that number should go up but maybe by only a couple as you will see in all the clinching scenarios:
Division Title
San Francisco clinches the NFC West with a win OR an LA Rams loss
Playoff Berth
Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Minnesota loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Tampa Bay win AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win))) OR (a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss AND (an LA Rams loss OR (a San Francisco win AND a Detroit win)))
Dallas clinches with a win OR (a Tampa Bay loss AND (a Detroit win AND a San Francisco win) OR (a Detroit win AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Detroit win) OR (a Minnesota loss AND an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a Seattle loss)) OR (an Atlanta loss AND a Green Bay loss AND (a Detroit win OR an LA Rams loss OR a Seattle loss)) OR (a Seattle loss AND (an LA Rams loss) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a NY Giants win AND a New England win AND a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Tennessee win AND an LA Chargers win))
Detroit clinches with a win AND (a Seattle loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (a Seattle win AND a LA Rams loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND an Atlanta loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Tampa Bay loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (an LA Rams loss AND a Green Bay loss AND an Atlanta loss)
Baltimore clinches with a win AND (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss and a Denver loss) OR a (Buffalo loss and a Denver loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a a Buffalo loss) OR (a Cleveland loss AND a Denver loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Buffalo loss) OR (a Houston loss AND a Denver loss)
Elimination
Arizona is eliminated with a loss OR (an LA Rams win AND a Minnesota win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a Green Bay win) OR (an LA Rams win AND a New Orleans win AND a Chicago win AND an Atlanta win) OR (a Minnesota win AND a Green Bay win AND a New Orleans win AND an Atlanta win AND a Chicago win)
Washington is eliminated with a loss
Tennessee is eliminated with a loss AND (a Pittsburgh win) OR (an Indianapolis win) OR (a Cincinnati win) OR (a Denver win AND a Las Vegas win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Denver win AND a LA Chargers win)
NY Jets are eliminated with a loss AND (a Buffalo win AND an Indianapolis win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Pittsburgh win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Houston win) OR (a Buffalo win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win AND a Houston win) OR (a Cleveland win AND an Indianapolis win AND a Cincinnati win) OR (a Cleveland win AND a Pittsburgh win AND a Houston win)
For fuck’s sake that is ridiculous. And it’s only Week 15. Can you imagine that last Dallas scenario hitting? It would be the ultimate parlay win. A $10 bet would probably make you a millionaire. OK enjoy the games everyone and remember there are Saturday games this week (although the NFL will never, EVER let you forget).
Sign stealing. Cheating or an art? Or both? Or neither?
Look, this whole University of Michigan sign-stealing controversy is sounding a bit like the Houston Astros sign-stealing horseshit of a few years back, albeit with less garbage can banging and more just buying tickets for games involving conference opponents. It isn’t just the person above who is involved though. That man’s name is Connor Stalions. For fuck’s sake. Connor Stalions. Sounds like the name of a spy in a Tom Clancy novel or a jobber in WWE.
Anyway, Stalions was just hired a little over year ago by the Wolverines after being a volunteer with the team for seven years. A volunteer for seven years? OK then. On his LinkedIn (Corporate Facebook) profile, he mentions he can identify and exploit critical vulnerabilities and centers of gravity in the opponent scouting process. OK then. And over the past three years he has bought tickets for over 30 games at eleven different Big Ten schools and that many times it’s tickets on the exact opposite side of the season where the other person can hold their smartphone up to film the home team’s sideline. OK then.
Does this sound like something that is illegal? Yes. Yes it does. Well, not illegal in a criminal sense but illegal in a “that shouldn’t happen in a sporting event” kind of way. And yes, the NCAA, as corrupt an organization as it is, prohibits doing this and rightfully so.
So the question is who else knew. Stalions isn’t buying all those tickets himself. Not on a $55,000 per year salary. Someone is doing it for him. That person should be given a hell of a lot more than a slap on the wrist. And if Jim Harbaugh knew (which is the issue EVERYONE wants to know), he should be punished as well.
Will these punishments for Harbaugh, everyone involved and the school happen this season? Are you crazy? Of course not! The Wolverines are probably the favourite at this moment to win the national championship and there’s no way they will be derailed by this. Next season, sure why not. Relegate all their games to the Big Ten Network. Fine them. Suspend everyone. Do whatever. But don’t expect to see any 2023 punishment for the Michigan Wolverines football team. Besides, won’t Captain Khaki be in the NFL next season anyway?
Well that was…interesting………Wyld Stalions AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *ahem* sorry about that. Let’s just get to the schedules alright?
Tuesday
US
Canada
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech
7:00
Liberty at WKU
7:30
We have a potential conference championship preview here…OK it’s pretty much going to be the conference championship unless something crazy happens in November. I guess the question will be if that game will be in Bowling Green (Kentucky) again or in Lynchburg, Virginia. Also, the Aggies look to take another giant step towards two straight years of bowl eligibility, cementing Jerry Kill as one of the most underrated head coaches this century.
Wednesday
US
Canada
Jacksonville State at FIU
7:00
UTEP at Sam Houston
8:00
Well……it’s football. Enjoy it. I just hope one of the games is close.
Thursday
US
Canada
Long Island at CCSU
7:00
Syracuse at Virginia Tech
7:30
Georgia State at Georgia Southern
7:30
South Carolina State at NC Central
7:30
We are looking at some seriously important Modern Day Hate down in Statesboro. With James Madison not eligible for the division title, the Sun Belt East could very well come down to this game. Both teams are playing well but think of this: if Georgia State wins, they would be 7-1 and could end up hosting 8-0 James Madison next weekend. Not saying College Gameday should go there (they won’t) but it’s not often that a Sun Belt game itself deserves that honour.
Also, yes, the Long Island University Sharks will be on your television screen this Thursday night. Funny how CBS inks a contract with the NEC to show their football games and they lose two of their schools just the other day with Merrimack and Sacred Heart moving on. The conference is now down to six schools and is teetering on not even having an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs which has to be up to like 60 teams or something like that now (it’s actually 24 teams but still….that’s quite a few teams).
Friday
US
Canada
Brown at Penn
7:00
FAU at Charlotte
7:30
I think it could be -4 degrees out and Biff Poggi would still wear the cut-off sleeved shirt. Got to respect that.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#4 Florida State at Wake Forest
Noon
UConn at Boston College
Noon
Maryland at Northwestern
Noon
Indiana at #10 Penn State
Noon
UMass at Army
Noon
South Carolina at Texas A&M
Noon
Houston at Kansas State
Noon
Tulsa at SMU
Noon
#6 Oklahoma at Kansas
Noon
This schedule is not the greatest to be honest. It’s not bad. But really, nothing stands out except maybe Oklahoma travelling to Lawrence to face Kansas in what can, for the first time in a long time, be considered a speed bump kind of game for the Sooners. Other than that, there are quite a few teams playing games that could dictate whether they go bowling or not, including South Carolina, Army, and Boston College.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Clemson at NC State
2:00
BYU at #7 Texas
3:30
Virginia at Miami
3:30
Michigan State at Minnesota
3:30
Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)
3:30
Miami-OH at Ohio
3:30
#20 Duke at #18 Louisville
3:30
#8 Oregon at #13 Utah
3:30
Pittsburgh at #14 Notre Dame
3:30
Mississippi State at Auburn
3:30
#22 Tulane at Rice
4:00
Prairie View A&M at Florida A&M
4:00
USC at California
4:00
We have a ton of games in the afternoon window with quite a few of the day’s best games. Oregon and Utah in another Pac-12 Cannibalization Game, the Blue Devils and Cardinals face off where the winner might have the inside track to facing Florida State for the ACC Championship and, of course, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Look, maybe Gary Danielson would be a whole lot more likeable if he was shitfaced. “Brad, this is a good game and I love how Duvalllllllllllllll County smells *BURP* but I have to profess my love for the Alabama God Damn Crimson Tide. They are GOD’S TEAM GOD DAMMIT (as he points a finger in Brad’s face). But this red team here is pretty good…too……” *immediately vomits all over the broadcast booth* OK, maybe not.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Marshall at Coastal Carolina
6:00
#19 Air Force at Colorado State
7:00
#21 Tennessee at Kentucky
7:00
Colorado at #23 UCLA
7:30
#3 Ohio State at Wisconsin
7:30
Vanderbilt at #12 Ole Miss
7:30
#17 North Carolina at Georgia Tech
8:00
Cincinnati at Oklahoma State
8:00
Old Dominion at #25 James Madison
8:00
Washington State at Arizona State
8:00
Hmmm….one of the weaker primetime schedules since early September. I don’t think anyone thought it would be that way, though. Many would have picked Tennessee-Kentucky as a huge game and tOSU-Wisky as another super important game. Not saying it isn’t important at all but probably a whole lot less important than it was predicted to be.
Saying all that, just remember the old college football adage: the weaker the window, the more chaos we see.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
New Mexico at Nevada
10:30
#11 Oregon State at Arizona
10:30
The Beavs cannot afford to lose here against a pretty good Wildcats team. The other game is borderline-unwatchable. Remember, Nevada beat San Diego State 6-0 last week. Yawn.
Hey, Watch This!
Oregon at Utah (3:30, FOX) – Is there any doubt that this is the Game of the Week? Well there would have been about a month ago but now we’re here and this is the easy choice. With both teams at 3-1 in the conference, there is a very good chance that the loser here has their hopes dashed of a Pac-12 Championship game berth. Forget the College Football Playoff. Forget the New Year’s Six. It’s off to like the Holiday Bowl or something like that. Not bad. But not what they played this season for.
Oklahoma at Kansas (Noon, FOX) – I think we have all figured out that you can’t sleep on Lance Leipold’s Kansas Jayhawks. Last season was a revelation and this year it continues as they are just getting better which is bad news for the rest of the Big XII. The Sooners were going along quietly until they beat Texas and held off UCF at the end. Now, everyone is watching. I said it above: this is a big speed bump game for OU. Win and you head to Stillwater and Bedlam for the biggest game of the season. Lose and the playoff might be just out of reach.
Duke at Louisville (3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – I do wish that TSN had picked this game up. To put it on their online platform seems like a bit of a slap in the face to both programs. But, for once, it feels like every channel is showing live sports and big-time properties from NASCAR to Formula 1 to the CFL to the Rugby World Cup. So I understand. Look, the Cardinals are not out of this race yet. Win out and they probably head to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. Duke also has an opportunity if they run the table but they will need some help.
Ohio State at Wisconsin (7:30, NBC) – Please don’t be Jac Collinsworth, please don’t be Jac Collinsworth, please don’t be Jac Collinsworth…..hey Noah Eagle is calling the game! Good. Eagle is good. Comes by it honestly with his dad one of the best at calling the NFL. Jac on the other hand is fucking terrible. He is there because his name is Collinsworth and not something else. Hopefully, NBC does the right thing and puts him elsewhere next season. As for this game, the Buckeyes should not take the Badgers lightly as an upset loss here would screw over a potential 1 vs. 2 matchup in The Game in late November.
Sickos Game of the Week
UConn at Boston College (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – The battle for Northeastern supremacy starts and ends with this game since UMass sucks. Amazingly enough, if the Eagles win here they are 5-3 and closing in on bowl eligibility. That’s huge for Jeff Hafley who started the season on a massive hot seat. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the bottom half of the ACC is not good and last season’s UConn might be an aberration.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Indiana at Penn State (Noon, CBS) – A lot of people are questioning whether James Franklin is the guy that can get Penn State over the hump and into the CFP. Next year will be the ultimate test. If they can’t get in with an expanded field, they should move on. Putting all that aside, the Nittany Lions played awful last week and will be taking out their anger on the lowly Hoosiers, I can pretty much guarantee that.
Wanna Bet?
Man, looking back most of my picks fucking sucked. UAB over Memphis? Woof. UNC over Virginia? Yikes. USC over Utah. Oh no. I would say let’s keep the ball rolling but the ball, at this point, is a square. Need to start over and get some of these picks right.
FIU 40 Jacksonville State 27 (upset pick!)
Georgia State 26 Georgia Southern 21
FAU 38 Charlotte 7
Oklahoma 43 Kansas 30
Kansas State 34 Houston 23
SMU 44 Tulsa 9
Clemson 49 NC State 16
Louisville 23 Duke 19
Utah 24 Oregon 17 (slight upset)
Auburn 37 Mississippi State 20
Air Force 32 Colorado State 6
Ohio State 31 Wisconsin 17
Oregon State 49 Arizona 35
The Bossman Top 26
It’s time for another rousing version of the Bossman Top 26. OK, it’s the second time doing this many teams. Let’s just get going with it.
#1
Michigan
#2
Georgia
#3
Ohio State
#4
Florida State
#5
Washington
#6
Alabama
#7
Oklahoma
#8
Texas
#9
Oregon State
#10
Utah
#11
Oregon
#12
Ole Miss
#13
Penn State
#14
Notre Dame
#15
LSU
#16
Missouri
#17
Louisville
#18
North Carolina
#19
Tulane
#20
UCLA
#21
Tennessee
#22
Air Force
#23
Duke
#24
USC
#25
James Madison
#26
Liberty
Yep, I have added Liberty in at the final spot. Sure, their schedule is arguably the easiest in the land; but if they run the table and get some help they might sneak into the New Year’s Six much to the chagrin of many college football fans. James Madison continues to wait for a waiver that may never come but at least we know that if there aren’t enough bowl eligible teams, they would be the first call to fill a bowl spot. And yes, I have Michigan in the top spot. Despite their cheating ways (it seems), they still look like the best team in college football, even better than UGA. I know SEC fans will scrunch their noses at that since they think their conference is the be-all-and-end-all and that the CFP should be Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU. Well you know what? Fuck you. This is my rankings. Make your own.
Getting these blog posts out before the Tuesday night games is basically impossible for me. Not complaining since it means there’s Tuesday night football. It’s still not easy though. Enjoy the games everyone!
Ugh. I’ll be honest: I am not an Aaron Rodgers fan. Never really have been. I don’t hate the guy. I respect what he’s done on the football field. I just think he’s fucking weird and can be a complete crybaby pussy when things don’t go his way. Then again, I guess I could say that last part for many pro athletes.
OK Bossman, then why did you put his picture up to start this blog post? Well, as much as I dislike A-A-Ron, he’s still a top tier quarterback. And his move to the New York Jets after what seemed like a bunch of seasons being pissed off with Green Bay management (and rightfully so at times, I will admit) is the biggest offseason move in my opinion. It also makes it so he will be facing my favourite team, the Buffalo Bills, twice every season (and three if they meet in the playoffs). That’s a big deal. There is a shift in the AFC East and the AFC in general that’s a little more than your normal “Team A has improved and should fight for a playoff spot after not making it last year.” This is “Team A has acquired a gamechanger and could compete for the division title if the chips fall in their favour.”
It seems like every season I take a quick look at how I did the previous year with some of my predictions. So why not do that again right now? Because I don’t want to? Too fucking bad, it’s tradition. This is making me sound a bit schizophrenic.
I had Buffalo beating the Rams in the Super Bowl. Good fucking God. I mean yeah the Rams had injuries but what was I thinking?
Had the Chargers losing the AFC title game. Hey, they made the playoffs but lost in an epic collpase against Jacksonville.
In the other conference championship I figured Tampa Bay would make it there and then lose. Actually I had them with the second-best record in the league. They were good…but not that good. Even with Tom Brady.
I also had the Colts and Titans to make the playoffs. Woof.
I did have Houston near the bottom to get the top pick of the NFL Draft. I had the Falcons actually “winning” that pick and they weren’t too far off. Having the Jags, Giants and Seahawks that low though? Damn.
Alright enough of that memory shit. I think I’ll do better this time, no….I WILL do better this time. I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the butt. Let’s go with the projected standings where a funny little asterisk beside a team means they get to be a Wild Card team this season (I think):
AFC East
NFC East
Buffalo
13-4
Philadelphia
13-4
NY Jets*
10-7
Dallas*
10-7
Miami*
9-8
NY Giants
8-9
New England
7-10
Washington
7-10
AFC North
NFC North
Cincinnati
12-5
Detroit
10-7
Baltimore*
12-5
Minnesota*
9-8
Pittsburgh
9-8
Green Bay
7-10
Cleveland
8-9
Chicago
6-11
AFC South
NFC South
Jacksonville
10-7
New Orleans
9-8
Tennessee
7-10
Atlanta
8-9
Houston
6-11
Carolina
6-11
Indianapolis
4-13
Tampa Bay
5-12
AFC West
NFC West
Kansas City
13-4
San Francisco
13-4
LA Chargers
9-8
Seattle*
9-8
Denver
8-9
LA Rams
7-10
Las Vegas
5-12
Arizona
3-14
Notes on all this fun and crazy crap
I figured there would be a lot of parity last year. It didn’t quite work out that way with a few teams running away to the top of the league. I can’t see a 14-win team this season but you never know. I have the Bills, Chiefs, 49ers and Eagles all getting to the 13-win mark.
The best race in the AFC will definitely be in the AFC North. Cincinnati and Baltimore look like they should be neck-and-neck to win the division and you can’t totally count out the Steelers either there although they will have to show out and garner a couple of upsets to make it a three-way race.
In the NFC, the North is going to be closest divisional race there too. The Lions might finally be the class of the division although the Vikings are lurking and have been at the top many times over the last decade.
The NFC South should also be a good race but for many of the wrong reasons. I do have the Saints getting over .500 but I could see the division winner having eight wins which I cannot stand.
As for the Wild Card race in the NFC, it’ll be…alright. There’s going to be some eight-win teams in the mix late in December and into January and perhaps even a team like the Packers still alive going into the final week. Yeah, it might be that dire.
In the AFC it won’t be quite the same. The Dolphins, Steelers and Chargers I have fighting down to the wire for that final Wild Card spot with the Broncos and Browns maybe, just maybe, being in the mix as well.
It just feels like the Cardinals are already starting their race to the bottom of the league. Sure I have the Colts, Bucs and Raiders also not doing very well but Arizona…man, I wonder if three wins is too much for them. They could be that bad…even with Kyler Murray as their quarterback.
I thought Josh Allen would win the MVP last season. He had a good year but nothing compared to Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts, who battled it out for the award with Mahomes winning it. This year…I believe Joe Burrow channels his inner “final year at LSU” and goes off for a monster season to lead the Bengals to the AFC North title.
Should I pick a Rookie of the Year? Hey, I did well with my Aidan Hutchinson choice since I think he won one of the various rookie awards (although Sauce Gardner was the real revelation last season). This year I will go with Bijan Robinson on the offensive side of the ball and Jalen Carter on defense.
I should have went with Dan Campbell last year as Coach of the Year. Trust your gut, Bossman! This year my gut says Robert Saleh of the Jets will win it but don’t count out Sean Payton or Dan Campbell yet again.
Playoffpredictionslet’sjustfuckinggo!
Wild Card Round
Buffalo (2) def. Miami (7)
NY Jets (6) def. Cincinnati (3)
Jacksonville (4) def. Baltimore (5)
San Francisco (2) def. Minnesota (7)
Detroit (3) def. Seattle (6)
Dallas (5) def. New Orleans (4)
Divisional Playoffs
Kansas City (1) def. NY Jets (6)
Jacksonville (4) def. Buffalo (2)
Philadelphia (1) def. Dallas (5)
San Francisco (2) def. Detroit (3)
Conference Championships
Kansas City (1) def. Jacksonville (4)
San Francisco (2) def. Philadelphia (1)
Super Bowl LVIII
San Francisco (2) def. Kansas City (1)
Yes the Chiefs will get back to the Super Bowl yet again. It’ll help that I have the Bengals getting upset in the Wild Card Round by the Jets. The Niners will finally get the Super Bowl that has eluded them for almost three decades and they get revenge for the Chiefs beating them four years prior. Jacksonville will get close by getting to the AFC Championship and the Lions will win their first playoff game since 1991. I can feel it. I think.
We are getting closer. That’s right, the first college football schedule of the season is right around the corner. Sure it’s Week Zero but still…it’s WEEK ZERO! As is the norm, I am so looking forward to this season. Hell, I will be on the edge of my seat watching New Mexico State hosting UMass in less than two weeks! That’s how much I am looking forward to college football returning. You all have a great upcoming week!
I kind of joked earlier in the year that I think Nathaniel Hackett should have been fired during the season. I think quite a few people said it as well. The thing is, that happens rarely in the NFL. This isn’t college football where there are coaching changes all the time.
But guess what? It happened! It actually happened! The Denver Broncos pulled the trigger and shitcanned Hackett. I am actually surprised since I figured they would let him finish out the season and then fire him on Black Monday. Problem is, the Broncos looked so horrifically bad in their loss to the Rams this past weekend (where I am surprised Nickolodeon didn’t run out of slime despite the fact it’s all animated) that I think they had no choice but to axe him. It’s a smart move. No head coach has looked as inept at his job than Hackett did (although Jeff Saturday is trying his best to change that mindset). He was not ready and to be honest, I don’t think he will ever be ready to be a head coach. Good offensive coordinator, bad head coach. It’s the Wade Phillips corollary (paradox? equation?). Not every coordinator can run a team. And Hackett can’t…..hack it.
Let’s get to the schedule, which will not contain Nathaniel Hackett. It’s the second-last week of the season so a lot can happen and I’m not just talking about the standings. Here we go.
Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal
Atlantic
Primetime Games
Dallas at Tennessee
Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1
Pittsburgh at Baltimore
8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/3/4
Buffalo at Cincinnati
8:30, ABC, CTV, TSN3
Non-Nathaniel Things
I get that Jeff Saturday is an interim head coach and not the full-time guy but still, he’s terrible. And shouldn’t be back next year in any capacity.
If all you can get is games from the American networks (I don’t know why that would be the case) then this may be the worst week ever. Five games over the entire afternoon? That’s the kind of schedule you would get in 1992, not 2022.
Canadians have it a bit better obviously but they are still missing games: Jaguars/Texans, Rams/Chargers, Saints/Eagles, Browns/Commanders, Cardinals/Falcons, 49ers/Raiders. Six. That’s not good either.
I am sure at least a few people are pissed off that the NFL is on New Year’s Day and the Rose Bowl isn’t. Too fucking bad. They decided to move last week’s games to Christmas Eve and they damn well weren’t going to do that this weekend. Put the games on New Year’s Eve when you don’t have to? Ratings suicide. And this is coming from a huge college football fan who still thinks ESPN is leaving viewers on the table by having the College Football Playoff semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.
UPDATE: I forgot about the small tweak to the smart time of the Monday night game. It will start at 8:30 and not 8:15. The Rose Bowl is on immediately before it so don’t be surprised if we don’t get to actually start watching the Bills-Bengals game until close to 9:00.
Almost there! This week and next week and it’s playoff time. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:
AFC
NFC
#1 Buffalo (clinched AFC East)
#1 Philadelphia (clinched playoff berth, leads NFC East)
#2 Kansas City (clinched AFC West)
#2 Minnesota (clinched NFC North)
#3 Cincinnati (clinched playoff berth, leads AFC North)
#3 San Francisco (clinched NFC West)
#4 Jacksonville (leads AFC South)
#4 Tampa Bay (leads NFC South)
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:
#5 Baltimore (clinched playoff berth)
#5 Dallas (clinched playoff berth)
#6 LA Chargers (clinched playoff berth)
#6 NY Giants
#7 Miami
#7 Washington
And here is your list of eliminated teams (whether you like it or not):
Houston
Chicago
Denver
Arizona
Indianapolis
Atlanta
LA Rams
Cleveland
That’s it? Yep. This is what happens when you have two atrocious divisions. I don’t think that’s ever happened before and I hope this makes it so the NFL changes their ridiculously dumb playoff structure. Division winners should only be guaranteed a playoff spot. Maybe a top 5. But not a home playoff game. That’s dumb. It’s why I hope both the AFC South and NFC South champs have losing records. To shed light on stupidity.
Anyway, when it comes to the draft, the Texans can clinch with a loss and a Bears win. It feels like a guarantee that Bryce Young is going to be Houston’s new quarterback but stranger things have happened.
Now for the clinching scenarios list which is getting much longer (and what’s most of us are watching these games for anyway):
First Round Bye
Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Dallas loss AND a San Francisco loss AND a Minnesota loss)
Buffalo clinches with a win AND a Kansas City loss
Division Title
Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win OR a Dallas loss
Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
Cincinnati clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Baltimore loss
Playoff Berth
NY Giants clinch with a win OR (a Washington loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Washington loss AND a Seattle loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss)
Washington clinches with a win AND a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss
Miami clinches with a win AND a NY Jets loss
Elimination
New Orleans is eliminated with a loss OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Washington win) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
Carolina is eliminated with a loss
Washington is eliminated with a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win
Detroit is eliminated with a loss AND a Washington win
Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Detroit win OR a Washington win)
Seattle is eliminated with (a loss AND a Washington win) OR (a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
New England is eliminated with a loss
NY Jets are eliminated with a loss
Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win OR a NY Jets win
Washington is in an interesting and relatively rare spot. It’s the penultimate week of the season yet they have both playoff clinching and elimination scenarios and both of them involve the same two teams, the Lions and Packers. You don’t see that very often. Also, there aren’t that many clinching scenarios to be honest. Yet, look at the sheer list of teams that could be eliminated this week. Ten. That’s a lot. Won’t happen but it’s still a lot.
As for the final week, the schedule will have, as far as I know, two Saturday games, one Sunday night game, and the rest of the games on Sunday afternoon with the more important ones falling in the 4:25 timeslot. What could we see? Here is what I think will probably happen:
It is a foregone conclusion that the Tennessee-Jacksonville game will be either the Saturday night or Sunday night game. I am going out on a limb and saying they will be the Saturday nighter.
Baltimore-Cincinnati is the favorite to be the Sunday nighter. I can’t see NBC picking Baltimore twice in a row. It’s their fault for picking them this week to begin with (I believe the pick this week is baffling). So no Ravens-Bengals Sunday nighter and they can’t be on Saturday because the Bengals are playing Monday night this week. So as long as the Bengals don’t clinch the AFC North this week, it will be a Sunday late game.
If New England and the NY Jets win this week, I see the Pats-Bills game being the Sunday nighter. The Pats would be in a win-and-in situation. The Bills could also be in a situation where they would need to win to get the first round bye. So a lot would be on the line.
If New England loses but the Jets win, then we could see the Jets-Dolphins game slot into the Sunday night spot.
Alright I will have to make a concession: if the Pats and Jets both lose this week then I do have a feeling NBC might just pick the Ravens-Bengals game (as long as the Bengals haven’t clinched the division).
Now…..ugh…if all three situations above don’t occur then the next game up would somehow be Lions-Packers but a bit has to happen for this game to get this slot (and we might be in a situation where the final game of the season means nothing because of what could happen earlier in the day).
If the Bucs don’t clinch the NFC South this week then the Saturday afternoon will probably be Panthers-Saints, especially if the Saints also win this week. It would be for the NFC South title I believe (I would have to check the tiebreakers but I think the Bucs would have the lowest percentage chance to win the division if both Carolina and New Orleans win this weekend).
So there you go. A lot of possibilities for next week’s single-game timeslots and we should find out late in the afternoon Sunday as to what we will see. It’s the time of season where there is a shit-ton of football on, both college and the NFL. So enjoy it because you know it doesn’t last. Have a Happy New Year everyone!
This picture might be from the craziest part of one of the crazier weekends in NFL history. Let’s take a quick stroll down (relatively recent) memory lane:
It started with the greatest comeback in NFL history. Minnesota was down 33-0 at halftime to the woeful Indianapolis Colts. This felt like one of the bigger upsets of the season. The Vikings would claw all the way back and beat the Colts in overtime to erase the Buffalo Bills’ Wild Card comeback against the Houston Oilers back in 1993 from the record books. Poor Frank Reich. His comeback record is gone thanks to the team that fired him earlier this season for a guy who had never coached at the pro level. He is not having a good last half of 2022.
The Bills Mafia was getting a bit rowdy during Saturday night’s game between the Bills and the Dolphins. The referee had to stop the game to warn fans not to throw snowballs as if one hit a Dolphins player it would have been a 15-yard penalty. The snow picked up in the second half, the snowballs thrown decreased and the Bills beat the Dolphins in a great affair that clinched them a playoff spot.
Every game in the early Sunday window was a one-possession game. I don’t remember that ever happening. It also provided us with two near-upsets as the Bears and Texans almost pulled off the near-impossible against the Eagles and Chiefs, respectively. We did end up seeing an actual upset as the Jaguars keep their playoff hopes alive by outlasting the Cowboys in a wild shootout. Finally, more clock management buffoonery, this time by Robert Saleh as his not using timeouts in a timely manner probably cost the Jets at least a chance to go to overtime with the Lions.
Tom Brady had been 89-0 when leading by at least 17 points at home. Eighty-nine and oh. Crazy. Now it’s 89-1, though, after Joe Burrow and the Bengals outscored the Bucs 34-6 the rest of the way in yet another come-from-behind victory.
And finally, let’s get to the pic at the start and the worst lateral (if not worst bonehead play) in NFL history. I still don’t quite get what Jakobi Meyers was doing there. When Rhamondre Stevenson lateraled the ball to Meyers, Meyers was a few yards away. Meyers had to heave the ball back to (he hoped) Mac Jones and it didn’t even make it there. Just completely perplexing and an absolute stroke-of-luck at the gong of midnight for the Raiders.
So yeah it was a whole heap of fun to watch it all. I almost needed a smoke afterwards. Now let’s get to the schedule for this week and yeah it looks different than normal thanks to this thing called Christmas. Let’s go!
So since I can’t seem to figure out the way to indent things properly yet (and I don’t feel like fiddling around with it anymore out of frustration), I will just mention that the games we can’t get in Canada (unless you have the almighty RedZone) are the Texans-Titans and Falcons-Ravens. Unless you are clamoring to see if the Texans can pretty much wrap up the top pick in the draft, or you like bird teams, it doesn’t matter to you.
Christmas being on a Sunday has really messed with the schedule this week. A reminder to you that all the games in the two main sections are on SATURDAY, not Sunday. So don’t get pissed off if you are eating the cookies left out for Santa (you pig) and see that there are highlights of all the games that you missed because you didn’t read this. I’ve warned you.
The NFL is going to mop the damn floor with the NBA on Christmas Day. Guaranteed.
For once, most people actually want to see an Eagles-Cowboys game. Not all, because some people still can’t stand either team or their fanbase and that’s fair. Too bad for them though because damn near everyone gets that game in the late window.
The 4:30 Sunday game is also the Nickolodeon regular season game. It’s going to suck for all the kids watching when there’s no slime because neither team scores a touchdown.
We are getting close to the end of the season. Three weeks to go! Let’s look at what the playoff picture is looking like:
AFC
NFC
#1 Buffalo (leads AFC East/clinched playoff berth)
#1 Philadelphia (leads NFC East/clinched playoff berth)
#2 Kansas City (clinched AFC West)
#2 Minnesota (clinched NFC North)
#3 Cincinnati (leads AFC North)
#3 San Francisco (clinched NFC West)
#4 Tennessee (leads AFC South)
#4 Tampa Bay (leads NFC South)
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:
#5 Baltimore
#5 Dallas (clinched playoff berth)
#6 LA Chargers
#6 NY Giants
#7 Miami
#7 Washington
And here is your list of eliminated teams starting with the, uh, most eliminated I guess:
Houston
Chicago
Denver
LA Rams
Arizona
The Texans can actually already clinch the #1 pick if the lose and the Bears win their game. Not likely but you never know. Now, on the other end of the spectrum, here are the clinching scenarios:
First Round Bye
Philadelphia clinches with a win
Division Title
Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win
Buffalo clinches the AFC East with a win OR a Miami loss
Playoff Berth
NY Giants clinch with (a win AND a Washington loss AND a Detroit loss) OR (a win AND a Washington loss AND a Seattle loss) OR (a win AND a Detroit loss AND a Seattle loss)
Cincinnati clinches with a win OR a NY Jets loss
Baltimore clinches with (a win AND a New England loss AND a NY Jets loss) OR (a win AND a New England loss AND a Miami loss) OR (a win AND a NY Jets loss AND a Miami loss) OR (a NY Jets loss AND a New England loss AND a Cleveland loss AND a Las Vegas loss AND a LA Chargers win AND a Tennessee loss)
LA Chargers clinch with a win AND a Las Vegas loss AND a NY Jets loss AND a New England loss
Elimination
New Orleans is eliminated with a loss AND a Tampa Bay win
Atlanta is eliminated with (a loss AND a Tampa Bay win) OR (a loss AND a Carolina win AND a New Orleans win)
Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND a Washington win
Indianapolis is eliminated with a loss OR a Tennessee win OR a Jacksonville win
NY Jets are eliminated with a loss AND a LA Chargers win AND a Miami win AND a New England win AND (a Baltimore win OR a Cleveland loss)
Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss OR (a LA Chargers win AND a Miami win) OR (a LA Chargers win AND a New England win AND a NY Jets win)
Cleveland is eliminated with a loss OR (a Baltimore win AND a LA Chargers win AND a Miami win) OR (a Baltimore win AND a LA Chargers win AND a New England win AND a NY Jets win)
Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss AND a LA Chargers win AND (a Miami win OR a NY Jets win OR a New England win)
So a lot of things can happen over the next few days but there’s still a lot of intrigue that will be left for the final two weeks no matter what. One thing that might not happen: a team in the NFC South having a winning record.
Alright, there you go. Enjoy the games (both NFL and bowl) everyone!
Does this guy look irrelevant to you? OK, don’t answer that. Let’s not be mean here but yeah he looks pretty bland. Like plain oatmeal. This guy, Brock Purdy, was the final pick of the previous year’s draft. Which gives him the title of Mr. Irrelevant. A kind of backhanded compliment if you will and a tradition started back in 1976 and has become quite a big thing nowadays.
Most of the men picked with the final pick of the draft don’t amount to much in the NFL. I’d say the most prominent Mr. Irrelevant is Ryan Succop who is now in his 14th season in the league. That might change, though. Purdy, now the starter for the San Francisco 49ers because of season-ending injuries to both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, had his first start at quarterback this past weekend. All he did was go 16-21, passing for 185 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Oh, and he beat Tom Brady. Yeah. Pretty good start to a career wouldn’t you say? And now, he is at the helm of the Niners until at least the end of the regular season and San Fran, chances are, will be the NFC West champions so Purdy could play a huge role as to how far this team goes. Just goes to show you that sometimes it doesn’t matter where you’re drafted as long as you get an opportunity. Just ask Brady.
Schedule time! We have an extra day of games this week so let’s get to it.
Remember when cross-flexing was this huge ordeal that many had an issue with? Now we see it (sometimes) and don’t give a shit anymore. This is good. It should be a non-story and it has now become that.
Games not being shown in Canada (unless you have the almighty Redzone and yes I’m sorry for not putting this in the notes last week):
Atlanta at New Orleans
Arizona at Denver
Hey we have Saturday NFL football this weekend! And it’s going up against a bunch of bowl games so I know where my main interest will lie. Also, that’s why I have two screens.
Now remember when Thursday Night Football ended before Christmas? Yeah that’s not the case anymore. Kind of wish Monday Night Football would ended before Christmas. The games, as a whole, in this timeslot have been underwhelming, to be nice.
Did you want more Tom Brady because you ARE GETTING MORE TOM BRADY WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT GOD DAMMIT! Honestly, I’m also getting sick with the full national Brady broadcasts. Almost like FOX is giving him a handy so he will stick to the idea of being a FOX game analyst when his playing days are over.
Hey now let’s update the playoff picture as teams are starting to clinch playoff spots:
AFC
NFC
#1 Buffalo (leads AFC East)
#1 Philadelphia (leads NFC East/clinched playoff berth)
#2 Kansas City (leads AFC West)
#2 Minnesota (leads NFC North)
#3 Baltimore (leads AFC North)
#3 San Francisco (leads NFC West)
#4 Tennessee (leads AFC South)
#4 Tampa Bay (leads NFC South)
Wild Cards:
Wild Cards:
#5 Cincinnati
#5 Dallas
#6 Miami
#6 Washington
#7 New England/LA Chargers/NY Jets
#7 NY Giants
Also going to toss you a short elimination list while I’m at it:
Houston
Denver
Chicago
I told you it would be short. Only three teams eliminated with four weeks to go. So a lot of teams still in the mix although one loss for many could end their season. Now to the scenarios, both for clinching and eliminating.
Division Title
Minnesota clinches the NFC North with a win OR a Detroit loss
San Francisco clinches the NFC West with a win
Kansas City clinches the AFC West with a win OR a LA Chargers loss
Playoff Berth
Dallas clinches with a win OR (a Seattle loss AND a Washington loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss)
Buffalo clinches with a win
Elimination
New Orleans is eliminated with (a loss AND a Tampa Bay win) OR (a loss AND a Carolina win)
Arizona is eliminated with a loss OR (a Seattle win AND a NY Giants win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Washington win)
LA Rams are eliminated with a loss OR (a Seattle win AND a NY Giants win) OR (a Seattle win AND a Washington win)
Indianapolis is eliminated with (a loss AND a Tennessee win AND a NY Jets win) OR (a loss AND a Tennessee win AND a New England win)
Pittsburgh is eliminated with (a loss AND a New England win) OR (a loss AND a NY Jets win AND a LA Chargers win)
Cleveland is eliminated with (a loss AND a LA Chargers win) OR (a loss AND a NY Jets win) OR (a loss and a New England win)
Las Vegas is eliminated with (a loss AND a Miami win) OR (a loss AND a NY Jets win)
Man that is a lot of elimination possibilities for one week. Imagine if they all happen? The NFL hopes not. The NFL (and myself) hope as many teams as possible are still technically alive for playoff spots going into the final Sunday. If you’ve watched a final week of the NFL regular season when multiple playoff spots and/or division titles are on the line then you know how exciting can be even if it involves a team you are a not a fan of. Anyway, enjoy the NFL games (and college games too!) this weekend everyone!
I have sent out the warning before so if you know about it you can skip to the next section. But if you are new to this, here it is: this post is insanely long. Don’t read this on the toilet since I am sure you could get hemorrhoids for being on the can that long. Hell, don’t even take it into the bath with you. I don’t think your skin can wrinkle that much. You have been forewarned. So get your favourite drink, sit down and enjoy this absolute avalanche of information.
This is the sixth version of this stupidly long post; however, it’s only the second with the same format as last year’s. Longer and uncut. No recaps since I don’t do those anymore but my Top 25, bowl projections, conference championship scenarios and some other crazy crap that you may or may not have even wanted to look at. Let’s get the ball rolling with the Bossman Top 25.
#1
Georgia
#2
Ohio State
#3
TCU
#4
USC
#5
Michigan
#6
LSU
#7
Oregon
#8
Clemson
#9
Alabama
#10
Penn State
#11
Tennessee
#12
Washington
#13
Utah
#14
Kansas State
#15
Notre Dame
#16
Florida State
#17
Tulane
#18
UCLA
#19
North Carolina
#20
Oregon State
#21
Cincinnati
#22
Ole Miss
#23
Texas
#24
Coastal Carolina
#25
UCF
So nothing really happened near the top although I have adjusted my rankings a bit. I have USC in now and Michigan out. I still think Michigan’s schedule has been mostly shit this season. That will all change if they beat tOSU so really, this doesn’t matter. I think USC has put themselves in the driver’s seat to get one of the Top 4 spots. Beat Notre Dame and win the Pac-12 Championship and they are golden…I think. The Group of Five will go through the American Conference although UCF’s loss to Navy has opened the door for a trio of Sun Belt teams (Coastal Carolina, Troy and South Alabama) to still have a sliver of hope although a lot has to happen for them to even have a legitimate shot. Finally, I think the Big XII will have the lowest ranked team in the New Year’s Six because I can’t see Kansas State beating TCU for the Big XII title.
Alright so far so good. I think. I hope. Let’s get on with the second part of this massive post, the conference championship game scenarios.
Toledo has clinched the MAC West already. In the MAC East, Ohio can clinch tomorrow night with a win over Bowling Green. Now, with Buffalo’s game against Akron getting postponed and probably cancelled outright, I don’t know what happens if Ohio loses and then the Bulls beat Kent State. The Bulls would have played one less conference game and would win the division if they had been allowed to play Akron and then won. An odd scenario that may become moot if the Bobcats win.
UTSA has clinched a spot in the conference title game and will host (I had wondered if the game would be moved permanently to the Alamodome but that won’t happen now that UTSA heads to the AAC next season).
North Texas is in the driver’s seat for the other spot (remember there are no divisions in Conference USA this season thank fucking God). If the Mean Green beat Rice they are off to San Antonio. Lose then that opens the door for WKU. If they can beat FAU they will play the Roadrunners.
Coastal Carolina is already in the championship game. It’s going to be close but I have a feeling the Chants will host the game as well. The host is the highest ranked team in the CFP Poll.
Troy beat South Alabama earlier this season so if they beat Arkansas State they will win the Sun Belt West. A loss and a USA win and it’s the Jaguars who will win. Both teams are looking for their first division title.
Boise State and Fresno State punched their tickets to the conference championship game with wins this weekend.
UCF had a chance to claim one of the conference title game spots but lost against Navy. They are still in with a win in the War on I-4 against USF. If they lose then the loser of the Tulane-Cincinnati game will play…the winner of the Tulane-Cincinnati game in the championship.
This was looking like a complete shitshow going into the previous week. Things have really been clarified after the results on Saturday.
USC is already in thanks to their amazing win over UCLA in one of the best Pac-12 games in recent memory (that actually meant something). Oregon eliminated Utah by beating them two nights ago. They are in the driver’s seat for the other spot. Washington still has a chance. They must win the Apple Cup and hope Oregon loses the Civil War to go to Santa Clara.
It feels like TCU clinched about a month ago. Kansas State sits in second and just has to beat Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown to make it to JerryWorld. Most years that would be a foregone conclusion but not so this season. If the Wildcats lose, Texas can get there if they beat Baylor on the final weekend.
Clemson vs. North Carolina has been booked for a couple weeks now.
We know what it comes down to. The Game. Ohio State-Michigan. Winner is in, loser has to await their fate for the College Football Playoff. In the West, Iowa, with their horrible offense, is somehow in the lead and has the easiest path to the Big Ten Championship. Beat Nebraska on Black Friday and none of the other games matter in the Big Ten West. If they lose, it opens up a few possibilities. Purdue can win it by then beating Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket. If they also lose, well then God help us all. Illinois should handle Northwestern. Wisconsin and Minnesota play each other. It would give us a four-way tie between Purdue, Iowa, Illinois and the Minny/Wisky winner. Here’s how all this would look in terms of the head-to-head tiebreaker:
Iowa lost to Illinois but beat Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Purdue beat Minnesota and Illinois and lost to Wisconsin and Iowa.
Illinois beat Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin but lost to Purdue.
Minnesota lost to Purdue, Illinois and Iowa and still have to face Wisconsin.
Wisconsin still has to play Minnesota. They lost to Illinois and Iowa, but beat Purdue.
So, after all that, if there was a four-way tie and Minnesota beat Wisconsin, then Iowa, Purdue and Illinois would all be 2-1 in the head-to-head standings. Then comes divisional records where Iowa and Illinois would be tied at 4-1. The next tiebreaker is record against progressively worse teams in the division. Iowa and Illinois both beat Wisconsin and Nebraska and Northwestern. So now we go to common conference opponents. Meaning the divisional record plus any games they both played against the same teams in the East. The only team both faced was Michigan and both teams lost. This is getting insane. Next up is the cumulative conference record of their non-conference opponents and here is where it’s not really that close. Illinois’ East Division opponents have gone 13-11 in the conference going into the final week. Iowa’s opponents from the East have gone 17-7. So Iowa would get in.
If Wisconsin beats Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois would be tied at 2-1 with Purdue and Wisconsin at 1-2 in head-to-head matchups. I am not going through all the tiebreakers again but Iowa beats Illinois.
So if we get the four-way tie, no matter what, Iowa will go to face the East Division winner. Man, I hope I have that all right.
Well this will be a lot easier than the Big Ten scenarios. Georgia and LSU have already clinched their divisions and will face off in Atlanta. See? Much easier.
I’m already tired. But I will soldier on. Time for the updated bowl projections.
Fiesta Bowl
CFP #2 vs. CFP #3
Ohio State vs. TCU
Peach Bowl
CFP #1 vs. CFP #4
Georgia vs. Michigan
From my previous bowl projections two weeks ago, the Fiesta Bowl has not changed one bit. As for the Peach Bowl, Georgia is still #1. Now I have Michigan in instead of UCLA. UCLA not being in is an easy choice after they lost to USC. I see Michigan losing a close one to Ohio State. That is the first step. I also see LSU and USC losing their conference championship games. Finally, even though I think Clemson beats North Carolina in a relatively close ACC Championship, they don’t have the strength of schedule anymore to leapfrog Michigan for the #4 spot. Many will bitch and complain, much like they have when two SEC teams got in but I think this has a really good shot at happening.
Now on to the New Year’s Six which has got quite interesting over the past couple weeks.
Rose Bowl
Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1
Penn State vs. Oregon
Cotton Bowl
CFP At-large vs. G-5 #1
USC vs. UCF
Sugar Bowl
SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1
Alabama vs. Kansas State
Orange Bowl
ACC #1 vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC
Clemson vs. LSU
OK so a lot more changed here than in the CFP projections. Here we go:
Normally the Big Ten champ would go to the Rose Bowl. With Ohio State and Michigan both in the CFP, the next best team out of the Big Ten would get this spot and that would be Penn State since it’s a long drop to whoever would be next.
I believe Oregon beats USC in the Pac-12 Championship. This boots the Pac-12 out of the CFP and puts the Ducks in the Rose against the Nittany Lions.
USC’s loss won’t drop them far and they should nab the only true at-large spot to go to the Cotton Bowl.
The Trojans opponent will be UCF as I think they win their final regular season game and then the AAC Championship.
Clemson’s victory over North Carolina gives them the ACC’s Orange Bowl spot.
It’s a big drop from TCU to the next team and that won’t change from my last set of bowl projections until bowl selection day. I have Kansas State there and I think they will be juuuuuuust in the Top 20, making them the lowest ranked team in the NY6.
Alabama will get the Sugar Bowl spot because Georgia is in the CFP. It could go to LSU, which would put Bama in the Orange. Honestly, they are fairly interchangeable.
Quite a bit of change there that would leave Tennessee, Washington, Utah and Florida State outside looking in. Very few would argue for those teams to get in so at least it would be, well, less controversy than normal since there’s always an argument (and if there isn’t, ESPN will find one). Alright now on to the rest of the bowl projections.
Citrus Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
Ole Miss vs. Purdue
ReliaQuest Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
South Carolina vs. Iowa
Music City Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
Tennessee vs. Illinois
Gator Bowl
SEC vs. ACC
Arkansas vs. North Carolina
Arizona Bowl
MWC vs. MAC
San Jose State vs. Toledo
Sun Bowl
ACC vs. Pac-12
NC State vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
SEC vs. Big Ten
Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl
Big XII vs. Pac-12
Texas vs. Washington
Cheez-It Bowl
Big XII vs. ACC
Oklahoma State vs. Florida State
Pinstripe Bowl
Big Ten vs. ACC
Maryland vs. Notre Dame
Texas Bowl
SEC vs. Big XII
Mississippi State vs. Baylor
Holiday Bowl
ACC vs. Pac-12
Louisville vs. UCLA
Liberty Bowl
SEC vs. Big XII
Miami* vs. Oklahoma
Military Bowl
ACC vs. AAC
Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Big Ten vs. Big XII
Minnesota vs. Kansas
Birmingham Bowl
SEC vs. AAC/ACC/C-USA
Liberty* vs. Duke
First Responder Bowl
2 of AAC, Big XII, C-USA, Sun Belt, MWC
Texas Tech vs. Memphis
Camellia Bowl
Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA
South Alabama vs. UTSA
Quick Lane Bowl
Big Ten vs. MAC
UConn* vs. Eastern Michigan
Hawaii Bowl
BYU/AAC/C-USA vs. MWC
BYU vs. Wyoming
Independence Bowl
AAC vs. Army
Tulane vs. Army
Gasparilla Bowl
2 of AAC, ACC, SEC, Pac-12
Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina
Armed Forces Bowl
2 of Big XII, C-USA, AAC
SMU vs. Middle Tennessee
New Orleans Bowl
Sun Belt vs. C-USA
Troy vs. WKU
Boca Raton Bowl
2 of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC
Marshall vs. Bowling Green
Idaho Potato Bowl
MWC vs. MAC
San Diego State vs. Ohio
Myrtle Beach Bowl
2 of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC
Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH
Frisco Bowl
2 of AAC, MWC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC
Fresno State vs. Southern Miss
Las Vegas Bowl
SEC vs. Pac-12
Kentucky vs. Washington State
LendingTree Bowl
Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA
Coastal Carolina vs. UTEP
LA Bowl
Pac-12 vs. MWC
Utah vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl
MWC vs. AAC/C-USA/MAC
Utah State vs. UAB
Fenway Bowl
ACC vs. AAC
Syracuse vs. Houston
Cure Bowl
2 of AAC, MWC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC
Air Force vs. Louisiana
Bahamas Bowl
C-USA vs. MAC
Florida Atlantic vs. Buffalo
There are just enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the bowl spots; however, the SEC and Big Ten will fall short of fulfilling all their tie-ins. This has to do with more teams in the CFP and NY6 than other conferences. Miami, Liberty and UConn will fill in there (as noted by an asterisk). The ACC actually has more bowl-eligible teams than tie-ins so Miami gets slotted into the Liberty Bowl to face Oklahoma in a game straight out of the 80s. Liberty and UConn technically have to wait until all other bowl-eligible teams get their spots before they can find out where they go. With exactly two bowl games not having two teams, they go there (Liberty to the Birmingham and UConn to the Quick Lane). Finally, despite the fact North Texas won six games, in my scenario they lose the Conference USA Championship and fall to 6-7. If there weren’t enough teams available they would get a waiver to compete. Unfortunately for them there are no spots available to them so they will be home for the holidays.
Hey let’s continue! Time to look at various postseason scenarios. I will not use the AP Poll for some of these. I will use where I think teams will end up going into bowl season (my end-of-season rankings) for the first two.
12-Team College Football Playoff
This is the playoff format that’s coming soon. And if that pesky Rose Bowl can fall in line, it could be as early as 2024. Crazy to think but this is the case. So, if we had that this year, this is what it would look like:
Remember, only conference champions can get a first-round bye in this soon-to-be new format. That’s why Oregon replaces Michigan at #4. Where these teams would play I would leave out other than the first round games which are at the home field of the higher seed. Is it too much? Probably, but it’s college football so I will watch it and hope it works out properly (which no postseason format has been able to do every time but I digress).
6-Team College Football Playoff
This is what I started advocating for even though I had also pushed for just one new playoff team for a while. That dream is gone but here is what it would look like at the end of this season:
Pretty self-explanatory. They would still use bowl games for this. For this year, I think it would be the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl for the first round since the Rose and Sugar, being on January 1st, would not give enough time for the playoffs to be done before the middle of the month. The semis would remain the Fiesta and Peach Bowls.
Poll-and-Bowl
Let’s go back to a simpler time. When the talk of a playoff or a plus-one was just that: talk. The only committees we knew were the bowl committees that went to all sorts of games in November to figure out which teams to select. Now let’s see what that might look like with the better teams in the polls. As I did last year when I did this exercise I have to take some liberty with bowl tie-ins. Also for this I will use current AP Poll listings for variety’s sake:
Rose Bowl (Big Ten Champ vs. Pac-12 Champ): #2 Ohio State vs. #5 USC
Sugar Bowl (SEC Champ vs. Big XII Champ): #1 Georgia vs. #4 TCU
Cotton Bowl (Big XII #2 vs. Pac-12 #2): #15 Kansas State vs. #10 Oregon
Orange Bowl (ACC Champ vs. SEC #2): #7 Clemson vs. #6 LSU
Peach Bowl (ACC #2 vs. at-large): #16 Florida State vs. #3 Michigan
Citrus Bowl (SEC #3 vs. Big Ten #2): #8 Alabama vs. #11 Penn State
Fiesta Bowl (Big XII #3 vs. at-large): #24 Texas vs. #9 Tennessee
I’ll stop there as I have the top ten teams. Maybe there would be more at-large teams involved (say in the Cotton or Orange Bowls) but realistically this is what you would see in and around New Year’s Day. Sure there are some lopsided bowl matchups (see the Fiesta Bowl) but I think it’s that way to an extent anyway. Really this would come down to three games: the Sugar, Rose and Peach Bowls. Georgia wins they are the champ. Only way that doesn’t happen is if UGA barely beats TCU and Ohio State drops the hammer on USC. If the Dawgs lose and tOSU win, they are the champs. If both those teams lose, then Michigan could win it all in the Peach Bowl. If the top three teams lose, it will come down to TCU and USC and might end up being who looked better in the bowl game (or won by a larger margin). It would make things interesting that is for sure. Better? Debatable.
24-Team College Football Playoff
Oh god, why am I doing this to myself. Maybe I’m trying to prove some point. Well, to be fair, I have hammered this point home before. The longer the tournament, the more it becomes a war of attrition. The winning team, in the end, becomes the healthiest one, not necessarily the best one. It’s been seen often in FCS football, even with some of those North Dakota State teams that won it all. So….*deep breath*, let’s look at how at 24-team playoff would work (I’ll just use AP rankings again):
OK that’s a lot. To me this feels like WAY too much. Overkill. When the 24th-ranked team, Texas, has a chance to win the national championship, college football, at least at the FBS level, has lost a lot of what makes it special. Some want to go even farther and I say to that, put down the crackpipe.
Done. No more. I can’t do it. It’s so much information. But there it is. Read it, do with it what you will. Then in about a week’s time we can forget all of it since it will change…in some cases a lot.
Tomorrow, it’s time for the super American Thanksgiving schedule so prepare for a lot more reading but at least this you can use the rest of the week through late Saturday night. Have a great week, everyone!
Let’s be honest: many of us want chaos in our college football. It makes things exciting, no? Not saying we haven’t seen a bit of it already. Alabama has lost two times already. TWO! Clemson got absolutely waxed by Notre Dame. Texas A&M is fucking terrible!
But we want more. We are insatiable for chaos. And why? We know The Committee will do Committee things and rank teams in an odd way and then try to justify it. I’m sure if Ohio State lost they would drop maybe three spots because it feels like The Committee wants them in the College Football Playoff. I get they have to look at a whole season of work but it’s the same shit every year. I still think the first rankings should be no earlier than before the final regular season week but I know that will never happen. If it did, what would ESPN talk about?
OK enough of that. It’s time for this week’s schedule and the continuation of FOOTBALL EVERY DAY!
Tuesday
US
Canada
Eastern Michigan at Akron
7:00 PM
Ohio at Miami-OH
7:30 PM
Ball State at Toledo
8:00 PM
More Tuesday night MACtion! Toledo can essentially clinch the MAC West if they can beat the Cardinals here.
UPDATE: As per reader Gordo, it looks like the Ball State-Toledo game isn’t on the specialty pack.
Wednesday
US
Canada
Kent State at Bowling Green
7:00 PM
Buffalo at Central Michigan
7:00 PM
Northern Illinois at Western Michigan
7:00 PM
Still MACtion but maybe not as MACtiony as the previous night’s MACtion.
UPDATE #2: Ugh, both ESPN games aren’t appearing on the specialty pack. Not a good start to MACtion this week for specialty pack subscribers.
Thursday
US
Canada
Tulsa at Memphis
7:30 PM
Georgia Southern at Louisiana
7:30 PM
Woof. Well it’s technically college football so I will watch.
Friday
US
Canada
East Carolina at Cincinnati
8:00 PM
Fresno State at UNLV
10:30 PM
Cincinnati has a fairly meaningful game here if they want to keep in the American Conference/Cotton Bowl hunt. And, interestingly enough, the late game also could be big as both Fresno State and UNLV still have division title aspirations. Yes, UNLV.
Oh, you may have noticed I have not included FOX Sports One listings here. I decided to stop that practice since, really, unless you have a specific setup you can’t get the games here. Doesn’t help that I missed listing the late night FS1 game last week so I am already getting into the habit of forgetting them in these posts.
UPDATE #3: Good lord this is ridiculous. On the TSN website it still shows ECU-Cincy. Every other guide I am looking at, it says that TSN2 will now be showing, get this, Women’s Aussie Rules football. I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. Anyway, it looks like it is appearing on the specialty pack instead so at least it’s probably been moved there (unless the specialty packs fuck that up as well). Stupid TSN. Thanks to readers Gordo and Mike pointing out that they couldn’t see the game on their guide.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#20 Notre Dame vs. Navy (in Baltimore)
Noon
Pittsburgh at Virginia
Noon
Rutgers at Michigan State
Noon
Missouri at #5 Tennessee
Noon
#19 Liberty at UConn
Noon
#7 LSU at Arkansas
Noon
Purdue at #21 Illinois
Noon
SMU at USF
Noon
Indiana at #2 Ohio State
Noon
Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Noon
One of UConn’s final two chances at bowl eligibility comes here. Unfortunately, it’s against a ranked Liberty team. This may still end up being one of the best games CBS Sports Network has had all year. As for the main network, it’s their doubleheader that includes a Noon game. It means they only get the fourth choice of games out of the SEC for the early affair. Can’t give whoever the #2 guy at CBS is a good game!
Notre Dame may still have an outside shot at the New Year’s Six. It would take a lot of chaos but we know how The Committee feels about them so they win their last three and win them big (a tall order for sure) they could sneak in. That has to start in this neutral-site affair against the Middies.
So normally I peruse ESPN to get rankings for the teams for the posts. Normally this isn’t an issue but late in the season it becomes one. According to the schedule currently on the site, it lists Tennessee at #1. We know that isn’t the case but they use the College Football Playoff rankings rather than the AP poll once it comes out. And the CFP poll doesn’t get revealed until Tuesday night, after the week of games starts. So I will be using the AP poll for the rest of the regular season. So if you see the rankings here don’t jive with what they look like on Saturday, there’s your answer.
UPDATE #4: TSN has switched from LSU-Arkansas to Purdue-Illinois. Why? Because fuck you, that’s why.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Nebraska at #3 Michigan
3:30 PM
Boston College at #17 NC State
3:30 PM
Northwestern at Minnesota
3:30 PM
#10 Alabama at #11 Ole Miss
3:30 PM
New Mexico at Air Force
3:30 PM
Louisville at #12 Clemson
3:30 PM
#22 UCF at #16 Tulane
3:30 PM
Iowa State at Oklahoma State
3:30 PM
Maryland at #14 Penn State
3:30 PM
Army at Troy
3:30 PM
Arizona State at Washington State
3:30 PM
South Carolina at Florida
4:00 PM
There was a time when TSN really started ramping up the amount of games they would show around this time of the year. Not so. Sure, they have a quadrupleheader on TSN2 but that’s it. Nothing else. I just think they have contracts with way too many sports that college football gets lost in the shuffle.
Anyway, this could be a huge week for Bama haters because if they lose this one to Ole Miss it would be catastrophic. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tulane is on ESPN2 during the regular season in a big matchup for the first time in…well I’m sure it’s a long time. Win and they take a stranglehold of one spot in the AAC Championship.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Wyoming at Colorado State
7:00 PM
#1 Georgia at Mississippi State
7:00 PM
#24 Washington at #6 Oregon
7:00 PM
#4 TCU at #18 Texas
7:30 PM
#15 North Carolina at Wake Forest
7:30 PM
Southern Miss at Coastal Carolina
7:30 PM
Texas A&M at Auburn
7:30 PM
#25 Florida State at Syracuse
8:00 PM
TCU and Oregon aren’t just playing for themselves but could be playing for their conference’s CFP hopes as well, especially in the case of TCU since past them, there really isn’t a contender at all. UGA needs to avoid a letdown after that huge win over Tennessee so their pass defense better be ready for Will Rogers to throw the ball about 80 times. Finally, surprising UNC can pretty much punch their ticket to Charlotte and a date with Clemson if they can win in Winston-Salem.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
California at Oregon State
9:00 PM
Boise State at Nevada
10:30 PM
Stanford at #13 Utah
10:30 PM
Arizona at #9 UCLA
10:30 PM
FOX QUADRUPLEHEADER ALERT! For the second time this season we get a FOX quadruplehader of college football. Love that FOX is upping their game this season. Two important Pac-12 games, one important Mountain West game and a game involving California. There you go.
Big Games O’ The Week
Alabama at Ole Miss (3:30, CBS) – This is an SEC West elimination match. Tell someone that two months ago and they’d laugh in your face. Bama might be in panic mode as another loss probably leaves them out of the NY6 which would be massive. Both teams are chasing LSU but need some help from the Tigers in the form of the Tigers shitting the bed at some point down the stretch.
TCU at Texas (7:30, ABC) – I mentioned this above but the Big XII’s CFP chances really do ride on TCU winning this game (and winning out, really). If the Longhorns win this, and they are talented enough to do so, you can kiss the conference’s chances goodbye.
North Carolina at Wake Forest (7:30, specialty pack) – One of the stories that seems to be ignored this season is what Mack Brown and the Tar Heels are doing. 8-1, in complete control of the ACC Coastal, and with a good shot at the New Year’s Six if they win their last three regular season games. No one is talking about them! A win here and they basically clinch the division. Wake is just playing for a better bowl game now.
UCF at Tulane (3:30, specialty pack) – The Green Wave on the other hand are not being ignored. Many pushed for College Gameday to go to New Orleans (which I think would have been a good idea). All the other two-loss teams in the Group of Five are watching this game closely this weekend (that being Cincinnati, UTSA, San Jose State, Troy and South Alabama) along with one-loss Coastal Carolina. A Tulane loss here brings those teams back into the fold to have at least a sliver of hope to go to the Cotton Bowl. If Tulane wins and goes to 9-1 it’s pretty much game over for most of those teams (unless they lay an egg in their final two games). For the Knights, a win here may actually put them in the driver’s seat for the Group of Five NY6 spot. A lot at stake. Yeah, I think they should have sent Gameday to Nawlins.
Washington at Oregon (7:00, FOX) – In all the hoopla surrounding the Battle for Los Angeles between Pac-12 turncoats UCLA and USC, some have forgotten that the Ducks are right there with those two teams. Win out and they have a legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff. They cannot sleep on the Huskies though. They’ve been better than advertised and Kalen Deboer just wins everywhere he goes. Could be a low-key great game.
Maryland at Penn State (3:30, FOX) – The Terps are finally playing as well as their recruiting classes said they would. Mike Locksley is finally making things work in the DMV. Saying that, these are the kinds of games Maryland has to win and has never been able to do since joining the Big Ten. A statement win is needed. And what a statement it would be since the Nittany Lions have a relatively good chance at a New Year’s Six bowl if they can run the table the rest of the way.
Psycho Game of the Week
SMU at USF (Noon, specialty pack) – First of all, I will not call this the Sickos Game of the Week. Do I enjoy the Sickos Committee Twitter account? Absolutely. But Sickos content is their thing. I won’t steal it. Besides, I think it makes just as much sense to call you a psycho for watching this abomination. USF just fired Jeff Scott, though, so they should come out and give the Mustangs all sorts of problems. Seriously this is an easy one to avoid.
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Missouri at Tennessee (Noon, CBS) – I am not making the same mistake I did last week. I picked Ohio State to mop the floor with Northwestern and they barely beat the Wildcats. Sure, there was bad weather but come on, the Buckeyes played like shit. So even though I think they will beat Indiana to a pulp, I am going with another Noon game. I think the Vols are going to come into this game angry and wanting to prove a point. Poor Mizzou is going to take this one on the chin.
The Degenerate Portion of Our Show
Look, are these picks of the same quality as The Committee’s rankings for the College Football Playoff? Eh, it’s debatable.
Miami-OH (+2.5) over Ohio (and the outright win!)
Kent State (-2.5) over Bowling Green
Liberty (-14.5) over UConn
Rutgers (+10) over Michigan State (RU will cover the spread but won’t win)
Virginia Tech (+9.5) over Duke (Duke will win, however)
Kentucky (-18) over Vanderbilt
Army (+9) over Troy (The Black Knights cover but don’t win)
Air Force (-22) over New Mexico
Clemson (-7) over Louisville
Ole Miss (+11.5) over Alabama (Bama will win outright)
Wyoming (-8.5) over Colorado State
Wake Forest (-3.5) over North Carolina
Stanford (+24) over Utah (Utes will win relatively easily)
There you go! I will keep a watch on potential specialty pack changes but I don’t foresee any. It gets a bit difficult having to do the schedule so early but I make due…I think. Have a great rest of the week everyone and enjoy the games!
Really, who knows what we are looking at in the next few years. For sure, the two conferences on the left are the major players. I would be very shocked if neither conference went to 18 teams by 2025. As for the other three conferences, it’s a big game of conference chicken right now. I would say the Big XII has the slight upper hand at this point but that could change in an instant. So if you love realignment, ho boy, you must have a raging hard-on right now (and will for the next few years).
OK enough of that disgusting talk. Let’s get to the meat of this post. The Power Five conference predictions. All of them. Don’t lie, you liked all the Group of Five conference (and Independent) predictions in the last post, DIDN’T YOU? So one more time, I will cram as much information down your gullet I possibly can without choking you to death with college football information. Let’s begin.
Let’s start with the….well I can’t call them the undisputed king of conferences anymore because the Big Ten is making a big charge at them. Saying that, I can still call them #1…for now. Here are the predicted SEC standings followed by some grits and chitlins and other weird Southern “delicacies.”
Conference
Overall
East
W
L
W
L
Georgia
8
0
12
0
Tennessee
5
3
9
3
Florida
5
3
8
4
Kentucky
3
5
7
5
South Carolina
3
5
6
6
Missouri
1
7
4
8
Vanderbilt
0
8
2
10
West
Alabama
8
0
12
0
Texas A&M
7
1
11
1
Ole Miss
4
4
8
4
Arkansas
4
4
7
5
Auburn
3
5
7
5
LSU
3
5
7
5
Mississippi State
2
6
6
6
Chitlins…GROSS!
Who the fuck figured out to eat the large intestine of a hog?
Yep, two undefeated teams coming from the SEC. Bama and UGA don’t play each other during the regular season. UGA has a relatively easy schedule (in an SEC sense). Yes they have Oregon in a neutral-site game to start the season but they avoid the Tide, Aggies and Ole Miss out of the West. Lucky Dawgs!
As for the Fighting Nick Sabans, damn near everyone has them running the table, at least during the regular season, and I am going right along with that prediction. Other than their matchup against TAMU (at home) and Ole Miss in Oxford, I can’t foresee any close games all season.
As for the Aggies and their weird traditions (just watch a Midnight Yell practice…it’s fucking bizarre), I see them ending up one game short of getting to the SEC Championship. Also one game short of the College Football Playoff. Critics of Jimbo Fisher will find a way to make this sound like a failure of a season if they do comfortably make it to the New Year’s Six.
As per usual, the SEC West is an absolute minefield. The worst team is Mississippi State and they wouldn’t be last in any other conference…not by a long shot. Unfortunately, Bama’s continued dominance and TAMU and Ole Miss not falling at all will mean the rest of the teams are playing for fourth.
The Tennessee Volunteers are my Drinking The Kool-Aid pick of the year. I’m buying that they will be improved enough to be on the precipice of a double-digit win season. I can see them beating Pitt and South Carolina on the road and being perfect at home. Now watch them go 5-7 and make me look like a dummy.
Conference Championship prediction: Alabama 38 Georgia 30. Closer than last year’s win by the Tide but still not enough for UGA.
When are they going to change the name of this conference? Just call it the BIG Conference now or something like that. Big Ten. For a conference with sixteen schools. Schools. Educational institutions. And they can’t count. Glorious. Anyway, here are the predictions followed by some BTN After Dark comments:
Conference
Overall
East
W
L
W
L
Ohio State
8
1
11
1
Michigan
8
1
11
1
Michigan State
6
3
9
3
Penn State
6
3
8
4
Maryland
4
5
7
5
Indiana
1
8
3
9
Rutgers
1
8
3
9
West
Wisconsin
6
3
9
3
Minnesota
6
3
9
3
Purdue
6
3
9
3
Nebraska
5
4
8
4
Iowa
5
4
8
4
Northwestern
1
8
4
8
Illinois
0
9
3
9
BTN After Dark Comments
I am so looking forward to Rutgers travelling clear across the country to face UCLA on Big Ten Network starting at 10:30 at night.
Can The Fighting Ann Arbor Khaki Warriors repeat as Big Ten champs? To be honest, I don’t think they will even repeat as Big Ten East champs. It will come down to their big matchup with tOSU two days after American Thanksgiving. This one is in Columbus so I am giving the nod to the Buckeyes here which will be huge when it comes to what The Committee has to look at.
You know, considering how good the Terps’ recruiting has been lately, do you think they kind of wish, money aside, that they were back in the ACC? Not saying they could beat Clemson but man, they would look like a really good team there.
The Big Ten West is going to be ridiculous. I just have this feeling. Five teams within one game of each other. Yes, even Nebraska is in there. In the end, Wisconsin will win some sort of game of Spin The Bottle, except using an ear of corn, and end up getting to the Big Ten Championship where they can scare the Buckeyes for a quarter-and-a-half.
Conference Championship prediction: Ohio State 32 Wisconsin 10. As I said in the previous point, this will be close well into the second quarter and then the Buckeyes will decide enough’s enough and do away with Wisky on their way to the CFP.
I think that right there tells you all you need to know about what’s going on with the rest of the Power Five. The ACC, at this point, might as well chill since their contract with ESPN lasts for more than another decade and any change would require a hell of a lot more money to leave than what USC and UCLA will have to deal with.
Now, there are rumblings that ESPN is stepping in and trying to broker an ACC/Pac-12 merger of sorts but I can’t see that happening to be perfectly honest with you. As long as the Big Ten or SEC doesn’t decide to poach any of their members (which is still a possibility), they should be fine for the time being. Alright, let’s get to the predictions, followed by a bong hit or five:
Conference
Overall
Atlantic
W
L
W
L
Clemson
8
0
11
1
NC State
7
1
11
1
Florida State
5
3
8
4
Louisville
5
3
7
5
Wake Forest
4
4
8
4
Boston College
3
5
6
6
Syracuse
1
7
3
9
Coastal
Miami
6
2
9
3
Pittsburgh
6
2
9
3
Virginia Tech
4
4
6
6
North Carolina
4
4
6
6
Virginia
2
6
5
7
Georgia Tech
1
7
2
10
Duke
0
8
2
10
Hey Dude
I’ve honestly thought of going to one of those cannabis shops to see what’s there. It’s basically punishable by death here (in this condo area) to have anything weed-related so I’d have to be super sneaky about it.
Hey, is Clemson back on top? Sure looks like it although NC State is going to give them a serious run for their money. Both teams look like they are a tier above the rest (sorry Miami and Pitt) and their game on October 1st will probably be for the division title. High stakes for sure.
Coastal Chaos is…not back. Speaking of the Canes and Panthers, they are also a step above all the other teams in that division. They will battle it out in another important ACC game on American Thanksgiving weekend which might just decide who gets their shit pushed in by the Tigers or Wolfpack.
I don’t consider this a Kool-Aid pick. Florida State will be better. No stupid upset losses to FCS schools. Just the slow ascent back to, potentially, the top of the ACC. Same goes for Louisville (without the FCS issue).
I did have Wake also in the ACC title hunt but the news that Sam Hartman will be out for at least a bit is a massive worry in Winston-Salem. He steers the ship and without him, sorry Deacs fans, the offense just doesn’t go like it normally does.
Remember last year when I had North Carolina bullying their way into the College Football Playoff? Yeah, not falling for that this time, Mack.
Conference Championship prediction: Clemson 47 Miami 14. Yeah this won’t be close.
OK now we get to the first of the quasi-feuding brothers (sisters? cousins?). The Big XII is adding four teams next season and is pushing hard to get the rest of the Pac-12 teams to join them. It’s almost a certainty Oregon and Washington would rather drop football than join this conference but the rest of the schools remaining could very well be up for grabs, especially the two Arizona schools and the Mountain region schools. Until the next shoe drops, though, it’s another year of the Big XII with X schools. Here are my predictions followed by musings from a pissed off Count Von Count:
Conference
Overall
W
L
W
L
Baylor
8
1
10
2
Oklahoma
8
1
10
2
Texas
7
2
9
3
Oklahoma State
7
2
9
3
TCU
4
5
6
6
Iowa State
4
5
6
6
Kansas State
3
6
6
6
West Virginia
2
7
4
8
Texas Tech
2
7
3
9
Kansas
0
9
2
10
ZERO! ZERO FUCKS GIVEN! AH AH AH!
Funny that if things stay as they are, the Big XII will actually get back to twelve teams so at least one conference understands preschool math.
The bottom of the Big XII looks to be the same. Kansas at the bottom. Texas Tech not far from them. And it always feels like one of West Virginia, Kansas State or TCU ending up in eighth. Will this change with the newcomers? I’m gonna say no.
Not quite their swan song in the conference but I see the Sooners, despite all the defections, getting back to the Big XII Championship. They are just too deep a team to not contend for, at the very least, a NY6 spot. I expect Baylor to continue to do well under Dave Aranda and join OU at JerryWorld.
Conference Championship prediction: Baylor 25 Oklahoma 23. Yeah I am predicting the Bears to finish the Big XII Championship State of Oklahoma sweep by beating the Sooners in a very close game.
I remember doing a post eight years ago on my Pac-12 predictions. Here is what I said in that post:
The Pac-12 has become the de facto second best conference in the land and it’s by a long shot as well.
Wow. I mean eight years is a long time but the fall off the cliff of the Pac-12 started not long after this post. It has been a near-disastrous eight years for the Conference of Champions in football and with USC and UCLA leaving for the Big Ten things are looking even worse for the soon-to-be Pac-10.
Look, let’s just get to the predictions before I make Bill Walton cry:
Conference
Overall
North
W
L
W
L
Oregon
9
0
11
1
Oregon State
4
5
7
5
Washington
4
5
6
6
California
3
6
5
7
Washington State
3
6
5
7
Stanford
3
6
4
8
South
Utah
8
1
10
2
UCLA
7
2
10
2
USC
6
3
9
3
Arizona State
4
5
6
6
Arizona
2
7
3
9
Colorado
1
8
1
11
Bill Walton’s Tears
Hey remember I had U of A being terrible last year and I was right? Well, this year I am doubling down with the Colorado Buffaloes. I have a feeling Karl Dorrell is going to be taking a lot of ibuprofen this season. And may start drinking if he doesn’t already do so.
I see a lot of experts saying USC is going to win the Pac-12 South. They will be better, there’s no doubt about it. But win the division after going 4-8 last year? Let’s pump the brakes a bit. I think Lincoln Riley is still a season away from really pushing USC to the heights they were at during the Pete Carroll era.
So who will win the South Division? I think Utah repeats as South Division champions but it will be UCLA that will give them the toughest time. The Bruins should be really good…like New Year’s Six good. Now watch them go 4-8 and Chip Kelly get fired.
As for the North Division, Oregon should clinch by Thanksgiving…our Thanksgiving. There is no one close to them.
Conference Championship prediction: Utah 32 Oregon 20. Closer than last year but this time the Utes will destroy the Ducks’ dreams of the CFP.
There you go! All conference standings predictions complete! Next up I will put it all together and tell you who I think will win the whole thing. Have a great week everyone!
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