Tag Archives: ECU

Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

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

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

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

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

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

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

Best Group of Five Games

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

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

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

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

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

Worst Power Five Games

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

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

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

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

Well what do you know? The 2022 Bowl Game TV Schedule

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I am honestly shocked. I was not impressed with TSN’s coverage of college football this season. The World Cup didn’t help and I understand that but it seemed like TSN was hellbent on showing less college football than they had in years.

Then I find the TSN bowl game schedule and holy shit! Damn near most of the games are being shown on a TSN channel. Very impressive. I have to, for once, give TSN props for really going all in with the college football postseason: the most important but also weirdest part of the college football schedule.

Anyway, let’s get right to the sked!

Friday December 16th

Bahamas Bowl: UAB vs. Miami-OH11:30 AM

Bowl season starts with the Bahamas Bowl in front of maybe 10,000 fans. Maybe. Probably not. This is the most extreme version of the destination bowl game. Attendance can’t be good because Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau only holds 15,000. And I don’t remember the stands ever being half-full for this game. But for the players and staff? Holy shit this is great. Playing football in great weather and being able to experience the GOD DAMN BAHAMAS! It’ll be a trip of a lifetime for at least 90% involved.

Cure Bowl: #25 UTSA vs. #24 Troy3:00 PM

As I said, TSN has seriously stepped up this season. I will show how much they have stepped up after the schedule. This game is EASILY the best pre-Christmas game and it’s not even close. How the Cure Bowl got two Top 25 teams, who are also both conference champions, I will never know. But I’m glad it happened.

Saturday December 17th

Fenway Bowl: Louisville vs. Cincinnati11:00 AM

This was always going to be an odd bowl game what with the Fenway Park configuration and the Green Monster in the background. Now with Scott Satterfield leaving Louisville to coach at Cincinnati? Ho boy this is going to be something.

Celebration Bowl: North Carolina Central vs. Jackson StateNoon

Look, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter if Jackson State loses here. They are the best HBCU football team in the land by a country mile. It’s not even close. And really, the MEAC isn’t close anymore to the SWAC. Outgoing JSU head coach Deion Sanders said the SWAC and MEAC should merge into one super-HBCU conference. I agree. What would this do to the Celebration Bowl? Probably end it. However, I am of the opinion that every so often there is an HBCU school that could do serious damage in the FCS Playoffs. This year would have been Jackson State. Do I think they would have been a dark horse contender for the FCS title? Yes, absolutely. It would have also been a way to probably get more FCS playoff games on channels everyone can see (as in not ESPN+) but that’s another story.

Las Vegas Bowl: Florida vs. #14 Oregon State2:15 PM

This was supposed to become somewhat of a premier bowl game once the SEC was tagged to replace the Mountain West here. Hasn’t happened that way. Sure, Florida is a good brand but it’s not nearly a good football team as some other SEC teams (or MWC teams for that matter). Oregon State probably deserved better. Also, this game was originally slated for ABC in primetime but because the Las Vegas Raiders are a terrible football franchise, their game the next day was flexed out of Sunday Night Football and moved back into the afternoon. It meant there wouldn’t be enough time to make sure the stadium was ready after this game. So this game swapped with the New Mexico Bowl and gets a 12:15 local start.

LA Bowl: Washington State vs. Fresno State3:30 PM

It’s the opening Saturday for bowl games. Will I watch this? Yes, of course. Will I pay full attention to this? Depends on other overlapping bowl games and what happens with the NFL games being played on the same day.

LendingTree Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Rice5:45 PM

Rice got in thanks to the fact they are graduating students at a better rate than all the other football programs at the FBS level who had 5-7 records. Seems awfully specific. Anyway, it’s a bowl game so I’m there.

New Mexico Bowl: BYU vs. SMU7:30 PM

It’s been 42 years but SMU might finally get its revenge for one of the greatest bowl comebacks of all time: the 1980 Holiday Bowl. I remember playing that on Heisman level in NCAA Football 2005 (or was it 2004?). Talk about one of the toughest challenges to defeat. Anyway, this should be fun.

Frisco Bowl: North Texas vs. Boise State9:15 PM

The site of the FCS Championship also hosts the Frisco Bowl and the short-lived Frisco Football Classic which we should never talk about again. I’m surprised they don’t move the FCS title game around but I guess it gets good crowds and decent weather so why mess with a good thing. Boise will definitely be the visiting team here.

Monday December 19th

Myrtle Beach Bowl: UConn vs. Marshall2:30 PM

UConn in a bowl game! That alone is worth watching. Will anyone care that poor Marshall is there and had a pretty good first Sun Belt season? No because the UCONN HUSKIES ARE BOWLING! Now if we can somehow get UMass to go bowling…God help us all.

Tuesday December 20th

Idaho Potato Bowl: San Jose State vs. Eastern Michigan3:30 PM

A rematch of the 1987 California Bowl. Back when these two teams were not highly regarded at all. I guess you could have said the same thing like a decade ago as well. These two programs have become relatively consistent winners and have stabilized themselves. I think many of the fans would be pulling for the Spartans here considering the tragedy that befell the team late in the season. I still wish this game was on at night so that blue turf could basically become an ice rink.

Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo vs. Liberty7:30 PM

So why wasn’t this game put on during the day? Play in Boca in the afternoon sun? That would be good, no? Anyway, I have somewhat softened my stance on bowl games during weekdays (days!) before Christmas so when it comes right down to it, I don’t really care when it airs. I guess this is the attitude that comes about thanks to COVID and being home a lot more than we were ever used to.

Wednesday December 21st

New Orleans Bowl: South Alabama vs. WKU9:00 PM

The first game to appear on the specialty pack. So if you had the specialty pack all year, you were thrilled because TSN didn’t exactly light it up with college football game coverage on their schedule. Bowl time…well, that’s where things fall apart for you. Yes there are a few games that head to the specialty pack but TSN ends up with the majority of the games. I guess it’s the price you pay to get a good amount of college football throughout the season.

Thursday December 22nd

Armed Forces Bowl: Baylor vs. Air Force7:30 PM

Air Force loves to run the ball. Baylor is alright defensively but this seems to be a step below a Dave Aranda defense. Expect a lopsided time of possession battle.

Friday December 23rd

Independence Bowl: Houston vs. Louisiana3:00 PM

Aesthetically, the Independence Bowl looks the worst now that the Gasparilla Bowl moved outdoors to Raymond James Stadium. But I like it. Gives off that 80s grungy college football old-school style that you just don’t see anymore…partially thanks to cameras that give us better than Betamax quality.

Gasparilla Bowl: Missouri vs. Wake Forest6:30 PM

I never get why TSN does this though. Early game on a TSN station. Later game…not. I know there are other live sports contracts that TSN has to deal with but it just seems odd, especially when a game goes over that three hour, thirty minute time window.

Saturday December 24th

Hawaii Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State8:00 PM

The annual Present Wrapping Bowl. Or more like Stocking Stuffer Bowl since I make sure to have all the presents wrapped before Christmas Eve. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do during this bowl game?

Monday December 26th

Quick Lane Bowl: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green2:30 PM

Normally, very few would want to watch this. But it’s a Monday. And for college football fans, it’s a chance to see New Mexico State in a bowl game. At one point they were the Halley’s Comet of FBS schools when it came to bowl games but now they go every few years. Not bad. Helps to have a good coach like Jerry Kill there. Hey, how the hell did they get Jerry Kill to coach in Las Cruces in the first place?

Tuesday December 27th

Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. BuffaloNoon

I see the Christmas Day Camellia Bowl idea died a quiet death. Probably a good thing. If I recall correctly, the only bowl game that ever worked on Christmas Day was the Aloha Bowl back in the 80s and 90s. I remember watching it at my aunt and uncle’s house one year during Christmas dinner. I don’t think you’d catch anyone watching college football during Christmas dinner in this part of the world anymore.

First Responder Bowl: Memphis vs. Utah State3:15 PM

This is technically a bowl game. Look it’s on a Tuesday afternoon. Many people are working (although some get between Christmas and New Year’s off). It just screams low-level bowl game and is the example used by the “Too Many Bowl Games” crowd.

Birmingham Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina6:45 PM

Coastal has fallen off a cliff in their last few games this season. Barely beating App State and Southern Miss and then getting destroyed by James Madison and Troy. Not a good look. Now their coach is off to Liberty. They are hoping to get some momentum going into next year against ECU. Also, I wonder when this bowl game will get a sponsor. Isn’t Pornhub looking to invest in sports?

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State10:15 PM

Wisconsin got a great head coach hire in Luke Fickell. I don’t know if he’s coaching the team in this bowl game but I’m sure that will be most of the talk here. Otherwise, it’s a late night bowl game that everyone hopes becomes super wacky.

Wednesday December 28th

Military Bowl: Duke vs. UCF2:00 PM

Always nice to see Duke in a bowl game. It’s funny: everyone kind of likes Duke football. Duke basketball: not so much.

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas5:30 PM

It’s the battle for Kansas (kind of)! This is a nice consolation prize for us not getting Kansas-Missouri in a bowl game. And I know Missouri said they didn’t duck the Jayhawks but you think they would admit that? It’s like Texas repeatedly dodging Texas A&M in bowl games. Like just man up and if you get a bid there, play them. Stop being such pussies.

Holiday Bowl: North Carolina vs. #15 Oregon8:00 PM

I honestly thought the Tar Heels would give Clemson a good game in the ACC Championship. Boy, was I ever wrong. This isn’t a bad spot to land though. Bo Nix will play so I can see this being a VERY motivated Ducks team.

Texas Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech9:00 PM

A team that looked like an honest contender up against a team who had a good season under a fiery coach. Oh and their fans love to throw tortillas. The Lane Train vs. The Taco Express.

Thursday December 29th

Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota vs. Syracuse2:00 PM

I always sincerely hope it is snowing like crazy when this game is played. I remembered the Kansas State-Syracuse classic from years ago and it was a great game and fun to watch. I’m sure not pleasant at all for players or coaches or fans but who cares. It’s all about entertaining me!

Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma vs. #13 Florida State5:30 PM

If this was 1992, people would be putting this game at the top of the must-watch lists. Alas, Oklahoma was as bad as its been since before Bob Stoops took over. FSU on the other hand is a fun team finally on the rise. And they will definitely be a heavy home favourite here in the 19th bowl game out of 254 played in Orlando every year (unofficially).

Alamo Bowl: #20 Texas vs. #12 Washington9:00 PM

Almost a home game for the Longhorns and that could spell trouble for the Huskies in a packed Alamodome. The Alamo Bowl almost always has one of the top three non-CFP, non-NY6 bowl games and this year is no exception.

Friday December 30th

Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. #18 UCLANoon

OK so now that CBS will be done with the SEC after next season…I still haven’t changed what I think about the bowl tie-ins. An SEC West team should be here. Or a Big XII team. Or hell, a Mountain West team. Against a Pac-12 team. That’s how this should work. You want fans? Do this. Guaranteed there will be plenty of good seats available for this one in El Paso for the *checks notes* 10:00 AM LOCAL KICKOFF?

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Maryland vs. #23 NC StateNoon

So who gets the big vat of mayo dumped on them at the end of this one? I think it would be funnier if Mike Locksley gets doused in mayo rather than Dave Doeren so I will pull for the Terps here.

Gator Bowl: #19 South Carolina vs. #21 Notre Dame3:30 PM

Two good underrated teams here at a game that hasn’t been used to getting good teams lately. So move the game to the middle of the day on December 30th and watch what happens. Supposedly, the Gator Bowl committee pushed hard to get Notre Dame. Probably a good idea instead of an ACC team.

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Ohio4:30 PM

The second year of Barstool Sports being the sponsor for this bowl game. I don’t know how many people go to Barstool Sports’ website to watch this one. I can’t see it being very high but this very much is the future of bowl games. I do kind of wish they would partner up with some network, even one like NESN, so that at least some people can watch this bowl game until it becomes a bigger deal.

Orange Bowl: #7 Clemson vs. #6 Tennessee8:00 PM

And finally we get to the New Year’s Six bowl games and holy shit is this one orange. Orange Bowl. Orange uniforms. Orange logos. Orange everywhere. You’ll be able to see this game from space. This should be a really good game as you have two teams who weren’t that far away from being in the College Football Playoff getting that national spotlight.

Saturday December 31st

Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. IowaNoon

The over/under for this one is 31.5. 31.5. I repeat, THIRTY-ONE POINT FIVE. That is ridiculous. I would still bet the under. This bowl needed its own timeslot and they aren’t getting it so I see a lot of people flocking to the other game on at the exact same time.

Sugar Bowl: #5 Alabama vs. #9 Kansas StateNoon

This could be an interesting game. If both teams show up to play then I see the Wildcats giving the Tide all they can handle. I don’t know how Nick Saban will hide his disappointment in not getting into the College Football Playoff after that ridiculous halftime interview he was allowed to give to state his team’s case for the playoff. Dumb. It is also going to be weird to see the Sugar Bowl on at Noon. On New Year’s Eve.

Fiesta Bowl: #2 Michigan vs. #3 TCU4:00 PM

So many think TCU shouldn’t have even been in this game meaning there are many who want the Horned Frogs to be blown out in this one. I could see this being closer than many people think. Also, the 2-3 matchup is almost always better, historically, than the 1-4 matchup in the College Football Playoff.

Peach Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. #4 Ohio State8:00 PM

The Buckeyes backing into the playoff has left a sour taste in some people’s mouths. I get it but I still think there is way too much emphasis on conference championship games. Until they get rid of divisions in every conference, some of the conference championships look horrible. It is kind of weird to see this one on TSN2 when the previous game is on TSN3 but my guess is that the Canada-Sweden World Juniors game will end up on all the other TSNs other than TSN2 (which is still seen as an alternate channel to an extent).

Monday January 2nd

ReliaQuest Bowl: #22 Mississippi State vs. IllinoisNoon

Two of the more popular head coaches in college football will clash here in the former Outback Bowl. Complete contrast in styles: Mike Leach’s Run n’ Gun up against Bret Bielema’s Ground n’ Pound. Should be a good first game of the new year.

Citrus Bowl: #17 LSU vs. Purdue1:00 PM

It’s always a tiny bit weird to have these college bowl games on January 2nd instead of New Year’s Day. You can’t have them going up against the NFL, though, and no one would probably even attempt it (plus TSN might be a bit miffed if that happened). So on the first day back at work for some people, they may miss some good football. I guess that’s one of the downsides of a lot of bowl games.

Cotton Bowl: #10 USC vs. #16 Tulane1:00 PM

I find with the way the College Football Playoff has been set up, the best Group of Five team, more often than not, is in a bit of a lose-lose situation. They show up to this big bowl game and if they win, there will be piles of excuses heaped on to why (and it usually revolves around injuries). If they lose, then they didn’t belong in the first place. This is something you don’t get for Power Five teams (except in the semi-finals). I do find college football media a bit odd that way.

Rose Bowl: #11 Penn State vs. #8 Utah5:00 PM

It is going to be really weird to watch this bowl game and realize that the next game is the national championship. No Sugar Bowl. No odd bowl game here and there between now and the title game. This is it. I think this will be the underrated bowl game of the year (or at least as much as it can be when both teams are in the Top 15).

Monday January 9th

College Football Playoff National Championship8:00 PM

This is the one game that, at this point, is not confirmed for where it will appear on TSN. I am putting down these three channels because ESPN usually does like 43 different broadcasts for this event and TSN always picks up the main broadcast, plus one or two of the others. I sincerely hope they have the Coaches Room again and if they do, it should be a open bar for them. Free food. The works. Want to know how they really feel? That’s how you do it. Talk about ratings gold!

Let’s look at the breakdown for the games:

  • TSN – 30 games
  • ABC & TSN – 5 games
  • FOX – 1 game
  • CBS – 1 game
  • Barstool Sports – 1 game
  • specialty pack – 5 games

See what I mean? TSN will be showing 35 of the 43 bowl games this season. Over 80%. Amazing. I just wish they would show more games during the season.

Alright I have started toying with a new format for the blog posts. Not saying this is set in stone but I am going to try it out for a bit and if I feel it’s working then this is what it will look like going forward (until I get bored and want to change it again). Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

Hey, how about some more lists of games?

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No, no, this won’t be bad, I promise you. OK, promise is a strong word. It will be fine. No need to worry. Look, I will just get right to the lists and then if you want to tell me afterwards that it was all bullshit then I may listen.

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

Let’s start with the games I would consider underrated or sneaky-good. These games are not in the Top 30 list but should be very good (and close) games. Now watch half of them be blowouts. Let’s begin.

  1. Cincinnati at Arkansas (Week 1, 3:30, ESPN, confirmed) – A lot of college football fans (including myself) are looking forward to this one. Let’s just see how good the Bearcats still are after their glass ceiling-shattering performance of 2021. And the Hogs are no slouch either. This gun be good.
  2. Kentucky at Tennessee (Week 9, 7:00, ESPNU) – These two teams feel like the only ones that can truly challenge Georgia in the SEC East (no offense to Florida). Whether this gets off of ESPNU is another story but if at least one of these teams is doing really well, I would think that would be considered.
  3. Pittsburgh at Miami (Week 13, Noon, ABC) – This could be a massive game if either team plays above their talent this season. Pitt is coming off an amazing ACC title run and Miami feels like they may be starting to actually get back to those 80s and 90s Hurricane squads. Now watch both teams be 6-5 and this game mean absolutely jack shit.
  4. Tennessee at LSU (Week 6, Noon, ESPN) – I am sure Tigers fans will be pissed off that this game isn’t at night since ALL GAMES AT DEATH VALLEY SHOULD BE AT NIGHT according to them. Not saying it’s a great atmosphere but you have to be realistic. Both teams will need this early conference win to have any hopes of a potential New Year’s Six berth.
  5. Michigan State at Penn State (Week 13, 3:30, ABC) – Chances of this being part of a huge Big Ten doubleheader after tOSU-Michigan are slim. Who knows where this game will land when it comes to importance. I assume at least one of these teams will have an outside shot at an NY6 slot going into this week.
  6. Tennessee at Pittsburgh (Week 2, 3:30, ABC, confirmed) – Wow, I have the Volunteers in a lot of these games. Their season could be the most volatile of all teams, at least in the SEC. We are looking at anywhere from five to maybe ten wins for this squad. If they do get to double digit wins, fans in Knoxville are going to build a statue (a small one but still a statue) of Josh Heupel in front of Neyland Stadium.
  7. Kentucky at Ole Miss (Week 5, 7:30, SEC Network) – Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Lane Kiffin is entertaining. And he brings an offense that could average 40 a game if he wanted to really let go of the reins. The Wildcats are no pushovers and it is a bit of a surprise that Mark Stoops hasn’t been offered a more prominent head coaching position. Maybe after this season he will get that if the Cats hit heights that have never been achieved in Lexington.
  8. Arkansas at BYU (Week 7, 10:30, ESPN) – Honestly, this could be one of the most fun games to watch all year. Two great coaches, two teams that score a lot of points, and two great fanbases (no matter what you think about the people of Provo). BYU’s only possible chance at the New Year’s Six is to win games like this and they have to hope the raucous crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium will help them in this one.
  9. Baylor at Texas (Week 13, Friday, 3:30, ABC) – This could game could end up being even more important than Bedlam, which is saying something. There are even some that say that this could be foreshadowing a rematch the following week at Jerrah’s house. I mean I’m not one of them but there are some out there.
  10. Purdue at Wisconsin (Week 8, Noon, ABC) – Alright, hear me out. Is Purdue now a Top 25 team? Debatable. Could they make some noise in the Big Ten West? Absolutely. And someone has to challenge the Badgers, right?

Best Group of Five Games

Let’s give the G5 some love! These games are ones that only include Group of Five teams (so no G5 vs. P5 games here). Something tells me the American Conference will show up a lot here. Oh, and by the way, I am also not putting BYU games in this section. To me they are a Power Five team.

  1. Cincinnati at UCF (Week 9, Noon, ESPN) – For the second straight fucking year, Cincinnati and Houston do not play each other during the regular season. I honestly don’t get how the AAC does their schedules but it’s fucking bonkers. This means that this game ends up being the G5 game of the year and it might not even mean anything if UCF isn’t improved. Let’s hope the Gus Bus has a full tank and is ready to go.
  2. Fresno State at Boise State (Week 6, 3:30, FS1) – The first game on any of these lists that we won’t be able to see here (unless you have IPTV or an illegal stream or something that most of us can probably easily find). And no, there is no way it can be moved unless FOX decides to put it on the national network because all Broncos home games are on FOX, FS1 or FS2.
  3. Boise State at Air Force (Week 8, 7:00, CBSSN, confirmed) – Here’s the other part of Boise’s TV contract. Their road games must be on CBS or CBSSN. They are the special team of the Mountain West, make no mistake about it. They are the ones that bring in the eyeballs. Considering what has happened in realignment, the conference might want to add a couple teams to strengthen it and potentially weaken another FBS conference because soon enough, the Broncos will go to another conference and not change their mind.
  4. Cincinnati at SMU (Week 8, 4:00, ESPNU) – Every year lately I have heard that SMU might put it all together and make a run. SMU has the pass offense to do some great things. SMU’s defense is good enough to stop the best American Conference teams. Blah, blah, blah. Until they actually do these things, I won’t believe any of the hype. If they keep this close, colour me impressed. I mean they do have the offense to do so but they have to keep the Bearcats under 50 points to have a shot here.
  5. Houston at UTSA (Week 1, 3:30, CBSSN, confirmed) – I’m kind of surprised that CBS picked Arizona-San Diego State instead of this game for Week 1. Houston is the one team that many believe could knock Cincy off their perch but UTSA was amazing last year. Such a fun ride watching the Roadrunners reel off eleven straight wins and give them a much deserved national spotlight. This game will show all of us which of these two teams (if not both of them) are ready to do some damage again this year. Maybe I should have put this at #4. Too late now.
  6. East Carolina at Cincinnati (Week 11, Friday, 7:30, ESPN2, confirmed) – Now here’s a team in ECU that likes to throw the ball all over the damn field. I’m sure Mike Houston’s strategy is to throw the ball until Holton Ahlers’ arm falls off…and then make him use the other arm. Bet the over.
  7. Air Force at Utah State (Week 6, 7:00, FS1) – Both teams rolled past Boise State last year and don’t want to give up that top spot in the Mountain West. One team has to lose here, though, since the NCAA would rather have 53 overtimes of two-point conversions than a tie.
  8. Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina (Week 10, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN, confirmed) – The Fighting Mullets are back to see if they can go back-to-back-to-back double digit win seasons. And let’s be honest: App State is always at the top of the Sun Belt heap (or near it). I love late season weekday night college football and the Fun Belt may be the top conference in providing it (no offense, MACtion).
  9. UTSA at UAB (Week 10, 6:00, Facebook) – Yes, Facebook. There’s a reason these two teams (with four others) are leaving Conference USA for the American Conference next season. It’s the TV contract. It has been horrifically bad basically since the conference was created and nothing they’ve done has made it any better. And with these teams leaving, don’t think ESPN or FOX will step up to pick up games from this woebegone conference that may have completely lost its way and dropped to the bottom of the FBS pecking order.
  10. San Diego State at Fresno State (Week 9, 10:30, FS1) – Your Mountain West Squared Division Championship (probably). Winner most likely ends up as the road team for the Mountain West Championship and the loser will go to Albuquerque or Boise or some other odd bowl destination. I know I’ll be watching…until about 2 in the morning.

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

A new section this year! I figured I would put in just a few of these games. Group of Five teams always dream to have their shot at a Power Five team and every year there are legitimate possibilities for upsets among these games. Some P5 teams hate scheduling the better G5 teams for this reason.

  1. Cincinnati at Arkansas (Week 1, 3:30, ESPN, confirmed) – I already covered this in the last post so I won’t bother here. But yeah this should be a good one.
  2. Fresno State at USC (Week 3, 10:30, FOX, confirmed) – Late night FOX football is back! And if USC wants to be considered back in the Pac-12 saddle, these are the games they have to win. The Bulldogs are no pushover and they are almost feeling like the Pat Hill Anywhere, Anytime, Fresno State of the 2000s.
  3. Appalachian State at Texas A&M (Week 2, 3:30, ESPN2, confirmed) – Is App State the best Sun Belt team again? A win here might confirm that. They are usually a fun team to watch but this is a brutal early season trip that won’t be easy. Almost 110,000 crazy fans (and if you’ve seen the Midnight Yell, you know they’re crazy) will make sure of it.
  4. San Diego State at Utah (Week 3, 10:00, ESPN2, confirmed) – Last year these two teams played a hell of a game in front of a not-even-half-filled Dignity Health Sports Park all the way in Carson, the former home of the formerly homeless Los Angeles Chargers. The Aztecs pulled off the upset in triple overtime. This year, yeah, the MUSS will be loud and Rice-Eccles Stadium will be full so SDSU better be ready for a much different atmosphere this time around.
  5. Boise State at Oregon State (Week 1, 10:30, ESPN, confirmed) – I can’t see the Broncos having two straight mediocre seasons. So expect fireworks in this one. I implore you to stay up late for this one since it should be good. Also, there’s a good chance this game makes it to TSN although that is not confirmed at this point obviously.

Worst Power Five Games

Honestly, this is one of my favourite sections to look at because it tells me the games I should avoid. Unless they are really close late in the fourth quarter and I will bite my tongue and go and watch it because I am a deranged college football fan.

  1. Duke at Kansas (Week 4, Noon, FS1) – Oh my, look at what we start with. This is absolutely disgusting and glorious all at the same time. Watch it be one of the games of the year with a ton of offense and a close finish.
  2. Duke at Georgia Tech (Week 6, 12:30, FSN – Regional) – It feels like Duke is going to be in this section a lot. Poor Blue Devils football fans thought they were out of this basement. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Don’t worry, though: college basketball is only about three-and-a-half months away.
  3. Arizona State at Colorado (Week 9, 3:30, ESPN2) – Kind of surprised this isn’t a Pac-12 Network game. I mean, it could end up being that so I should stop before I make any guarantees. I’m wondering if by this point we know the fate of good ol’ Herm Edwards since it is just a matter of time before he is shitcanned down in Tempe.
  4. Duke at Northwestern (Week 2, Noon, FS1, confirmed) – Should I just put all of Duke’s road games on this list? Luckily for most Canadians, you don’t have to subject yourself to this one since you can’t get FOX Sports One.
  5. Indiana at Rutgers (Week 8, 3:00, BTN) – Ah, Rutgers our old friend is back in the list they are so very accustomed to. I mean I guess rabid college football fans are happy that they get the Big Ten Network as part of their normal cable packages now. I do miss the Big East, though. What could have been.
  6. Colorado at Arizona (Week 5, 5:30, Pac-12 Network) – There we go. The Pac-12 Network has made their first appearance here. Many are saying Zona will be better than last year. Well no shit. They couldn’t be much worse. They made Kansas look competent last season.
  7. Virginia at Duke (Week 5, 3:30, ACC Network) – Hey, how about one more Duke game? First ACC Network appearance. Three conference networks down, one to go.
  8. Kansas at Texas Tech (Week 11, 7:00, FS1) – If the Big XII had a network AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, I couldn’t finish that sentence. FOX Sports One might be the most extreme of channels when it comes to game quality. They always get at least one very good game a season and then they get this. Sometimes on the same day. Imagine being on that Zoom call when they figure out announcer assignments and you are praying you aren’t being sent to Lubbock. Good times.
  9. Virginia at Georgia Tech (Week 8, Thursday, 7:30, ESPN, confirmed) – Not all Thursday night games are made equal. I’m sure there’s a Sun Belt game on at the same time that would be much more intriguing.
  10. Illinois at Northwestern (Week 13, 7:00, FS1) – Hey maybe one of these teams will be bowl-eligible by this point so it won’t feel so bad.

Alright, that wasn’t too bad, eh? Maybe I will go this route again this coming year. We will see about that.

So it looks like everything is calm right now and HOLY SHIT, USC AND UCLA ARE GOING TO THE BIG TEN! What in the fuck? OK then, I think this kind of derails my immediate posting plans. I may have to just do an analysis of this because this is realignment insanity. This is what we call college football media crack-cocaine.

Well…have a great Canada Day weekend everyone (or, if you are reading this south of the border, have a happy Fourth of July weekend). Stay tuned for the next post!

2021 Bowl Game Rankings and Predictions!

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It is the holiday season which always coincides with Bowl Season!  This is our last chance to watch college football during the 2021 season and what a season it has been.  Honestly I don’t want it to end but all good things must come to an end.  That’s the rule (from what I’ve been told).

After last year’s complete shitshow of a bowl season, I am going back to the College Football Broadcasting Ranking System.  It works as it shows what games everyone can enjoy and what games only complete lunatics like myself will enjoy.  Strap in and let’s get going!

10 out of 10!  Put these games on ABC in primetime!

abc college football

This is game of the year stuff right here.  So, as per usual, both College Football Playoff games and the top two New Year’s Six games show up here.

Orange Bowl – Michigan vs. Georgia (Dec. 31, 7:30, TSN3/TSN5) – Two amazing defenses.  Aidan Hutchinson on one side, one of the most historically amazing defenses (bar the SEC Championship) on the other side.  Not saying this will automatically be a defensive affair but don’t expect a Big XII-style shootout.  I would say this is easily the most anticipated bowl game of the season.  This should be a great competitive game which will finish very close to the time the clock strikes midnight on 2021.  My pick: Georgia 24-20.

Cotton Bowl – Alabama vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 31, 3:30, TSN3/TSN5) – Ugh, semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.  Not that I’m huge into going out on NYE anymore.  It’s not that I’m too old, it’s more that I don’t see the point in paying three times the amount for everything to go out drinking when it’s possibly freezing out and yeah I’m sounding old.  Anyway, there are two ways this could go and I sure hope it’s the one where the Bearcats keep it close.  Fingers crossed.  My pick: Alabama 43-34.

Peach Bowl – Michigan State vs. Pittsburgh (Dec. 30, 7:00, TSN3/TSN5) – This is a VERY intriguing matchup.  Two different ways these teams generate offense: Kenny Pickett and the pass vs. Kenneth Walker III and the run.  The Peach Bowl seems to always come up with a great game and this should be no exception.  My pick: Michigan State 37-32.

Rose Bowl – Ohio State vs. Utah (Jan. 1, 5:00, TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) – The biggest thing here is whether the Utes can handle the pressure of the first Rose Bowl in team history.  The Kyle Whittingham rumours will be flowing throughout the game I’m sure.  Honestly, this is huge for the Pac-12 as a whole as they have been the runt of the Power Five litter for a while now and need a favourable outcome.  I just don’t think it will happen here.  My pick: Ohio State 37-24.

9 out of 10! I would even go so far as to say some of these could approach SEC on CBS in PRIMETIME!

sec-on-cbs-718x490_LI

This is going to change a couple years from now but during daylight hours, nothing beats the SEC on CBS.

Sugar Bowl – Ole Miss vs. Baylor (Jan. 1, 8:45, TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) – Not quite the worst of the NY6 bunch meaning it will still probably be an amazing game.  These two squads have a lot to be proud of this season and will want to keep that momentum going into what could be a national championship contending season in 2022.  It’s going to be another amazing offense vs. tough defense game so we will see who breaks first.  Get your popcorn ready.  My pick: Ole Miss 39-30.

Fiesta Bowl – Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State (Jan. 1, 1:00, TSN3/TSN5) – One team has a new head coach after theirs bolted for LSU.  The other team was so close to crashing the CFP party (possibly at Cincinnati’s expense).  Touchdown Jesus vs. The Mullet.  This will totally overshadow the other bowl game on at the exact same time.  ESPN just doesn’t understand nor do I think they care.  My pick: Notre Dame 34-20.

Alamo Bowl – Oklahoma vs. Oregon (Dec. 29, 9:15, specialty pack) – The best non-NY6 bowl and it’s also the Interim Coach Bowl.  It’s the return of Bob Stoops to coach the Sooners.  I think they need to get Mike Bellotti to coach the Ducks to make things even.  Both teams disappointed this season so they are playing for some pride here.  Oklahoma has to be the favourite here with Kayvon Thibodaux deciding to skip the bowl and declare for the NFL Draft.  My pick: Oklahoma 35-29.

Frisco Bowl – San Diego State vs. UTSA (Dec. 21, 7:30, TSN1) – The best pre-Christmas bowl game is surprisingly in Frisco.  Two teams who probably deserved better bowl destinations face off in a big Group of Five battle.  This should be a close one and we shall see if the Roadrunners are for real or not.  My pick: UTSA 36-33.

8 out of 10! This is FOX territory.  Definitely a BIG NOON SATURDAY kind of game!

Fox_College_Football_logo

You will never see Kansas in these games, just like they are never on Big Noon Saturday.  Can you even imagine GUS JOHNSON calling a Kansas game?

Gator Bowl – Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 31, 11:00 AM, specialty pack) – Not quite the Alamo Bowl but still a great bowl game.  If it’s anything like their last meeting, this will be a barnburner.  Now watch one team completely blow out the other.  My pick: Texas A&M 49-40.

Cheez-It Bowl – Iowa State vs. Clemson (Dec. 29, 5:45, specialty pack) – The team who was still the favourite to win the ACC and disappointed big time takes on the team who was expected to at least challenge for a spot in the Big XII Championship.  It will be interesting to see how Dabo Swinney deals with both coordinators leaving in the last couple weeks.  I think it’s the loss of Brent Venables that will be bigger here as the Cyclones can pile on the points.  My pick: Iowa State 33-13.

Holiday Bowl – NC State vs. UCLA (Dec. 28, 8:00, FOX) – The only bowl on FOX this year so we know we will get GUS JOHNSON on the call.  Nice!  I wonder if Chip Kelly will even be the Bruins head coach by the time we hit gameday.  Now with Clemson being knocked down a peg, NC State seems like an ideal candidate to rise up the ranks so they are looking to get some momentum going into 2022.  My pick: NC State 32-31.

Citrus Bowl – Kentucky vs. Iowa (Jan. 1, 1:00, ABC) – I wonder why Mark Stoops didn’t get more looks from teams looking for a new head coach.  He has a chance to put another ten-win season on the board for the Wildcats.  They will have to try and figure out the stingy defense of Iowa in this one.  Take the under.  My pick: Kentucky 17-13.

7 out of 10!  I’ll call this ESPN…on Saturday…or maybe Thursday night…but not always Saturday late night

Casual fans may skip these but college football fans will consider these still must-see bowl games.

Outback Bowl – Arkansas vs. Penn State (Jan. 1, Noon, specialty pack) – This is an interesting spot.  Penn State was supposed to be better but had some injuries and some bad luck.  Arkansas had a great season and was in the Top 25 for a while.  It would be easy to say the Nittany Lions don’t care about this bowl game but I’m sure they do.  James Franklin won’t let them not care.  My pick: Arkansas 27-12.

Music City Bowl – Tennessee vs. Purdue (Dec. 30, 3:00, TSN3) – This could be a dark horse contender for bowl game of the season.  It’s buried on New Year’s Eve Eve so it might be overlooked but you should not overlook it.  If David Bell plays this would have gone up a section but no one knows if he will so I have to hedge my bets.  My pick: Purdue 44-41.

Boca Raton Bowl – Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky (Dec. 18, 11:00 AM, TSN4) – I’m sure WKU is going to try to throw for a thousand yards in this one.  App State will reply with a good rushing attack going up against a horrible Hilltoppers run defense.  If you like offense, this is one of the games for you.  My pick: Appalachian State 41-35.

LA Bowl – Oregon State vs. Utah State (Dec. 18, 7:30, ABC) – Jimmy Kimmel sponsors this bowl.  I used to watch Kimmel back in the day.  His talk show?  Not so much.  I still don’t get why they didn’t get UCLA here but I’m done trying to figure that out.  My pick: Oregon State 24-23.

Las Vegas Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Arizona State (Dec. 30, 10:30, specialty pack) – Jesus Christ, I hope the city gets all the beer they can get for this one.  Expect a lot of ground game from the Badgers, relatively uninspired football from the Sun Devils (even though it has somehow worked most of the season) and the smell of Coors and puke in the stands.  My pick: Wisconsin 35-25.

6 out of 10.  Even when Toledo plays Notre Dame, it somehow becomes exciting.

ND_on_NBC_logo

NBC is all about quality over quantity.  OK I lied.  NBC is about Notre Dame.  Saying that, even in a down year, a lot of people watch Notre Dame football so they have to be in the upper half of these rankings.

Independence Bowl – UAB vs. BYU (Dec. 18, 3:30, ABC/TSN3) – This is a terrible tie-in for the Cougs.  They should have got something better but that’s the life of a non-Notre Dame Independent team.  Anyway, they get their shot to finish as a Top 10 team against a rather tough UAB team that shouldn’t be overlooked.  Honestly, I see BYU taking out a lot of their frustrations on the Blazers.  My pick: BYU 52-14.

Birmingham Bowl – Auburn vs. Houston (Dec. 28, Noon, specialty pack) – Now this is how you get a sellout.  Auburn’s fans will pack UAB’s new stadium so it will feel like a home crowd for the Tigers.  It could be tough sledding against a really good Cougars team led by Marcus Jones, one of the best return men ever.  My pick: Houston 28-27.

New Orleans Bowl – Louisiana vs. Marshall (Dec. 18, 9:15, specialty pack) – The Ragin Cajuns are back at the Superdome.  Should be loud and at least half full.  My pick: Louisiana 41-36.

Cure Bowl – Coastal Carolina vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 17, 6:00, TSN2) – The best quarterback in college football history (if you go by QB Rating) will lead the Chants into Orlando to face the MAC Champs.  This game could be done in a little over two hours as both teams love to run the ball.  My pick: Coastal Carolina 26-13.

5 out of 10. ESPN2 and FS1 get good games every so often.

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I’d say that happens at least a few times for each of these channels during the college football year.  I mean it sucks that Canadians don’t get FOX Sports One but it is what it is.

First Responder Bowl – Air Force vs. Louisville (Dec. 28, 3:15, specialty pack) – Louisville barely got to bowl eligibility and struggled quite often during the season.  Air Force, of course, ran the ball a ton and looked good all year.  Unless Malik Cunningham puts the Cards on his shoulders, this game might not be too close.  My pick: Air Force 29-14.

Sun Bowl – Miami vs. Washington State (Dec. 31, 12:30, CBS) – Both teams will have new coaches next season.  So who knows where either of these teams are at going into a bowl game that possibly neither team wants to be in.  My pick: Miami 24-18.

Fenway Bowl – Virginia vs. SMU (Dec. 29, 11:00 AM, specialty pack) – My curiosity is all about how this game looks at Fenway Park.  I would love to see a quarterback rifle a ball too high and it just caroms off the Green Monster.  You want people to be interested in a game like this?  Have the wall be in play.  I would definitely watch that.  My pick: Virginia 20-17.

Liberty Bowl – Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 28, 6:45, specialty pack) – The Mike Leach Bowl!  The Air Raid up against a team that struggles to stop the pass.  This feels like a blowout.  My pick: Mississippi State 44-19.

4 out of 10.  ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network…take your pick.

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I call these the unsung heroes of college football broadcasting.  They give you a ton of games and you’re assured of at least one of them every week being a really good one.  Maybe the Big XII will wake up now and realize a conference network is a good thing.

Gasparilla Bowl – UCF vs. Florida (Dec. 23, 7:00, specialty pack) – This has already sold out.  Is it safe to say UCF should be heavily favoured here?  Well they aren’t; however, any time a team loses their head coach before a bowl game it’s a red flag.  Couple that with the fact that I’m sure the Gators feel like they are slumming it in this bowl game leads me to believe this won’t be that close.  My pick: UCF 40-28.

Quick Lane Bowl – Nevada vs. Western Michigan (Dec. 27, 11:00 AM, TSN5) – Expect a lot of points in this one.  This is probably the final game for Carson Strong so he will be flinging the ball all over the field.  WMU upset Pitt and scored a boatload of points in conference play.  It will be a nice thing to watch while you finish your brunch/begin eating lunch/wake up.  My pick: Nevada 41-31.

Arizona Bowl – Boise State vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 31, 2:00, Barstool Sports) – So let me get this straight: this game gets a New Year’s Eve timeslot and will partially go up against the Cotton Bowl and is on the Barstool Sports website which not many people are signed up for.  Who fucking thought this was a good idea?  My pick: Boise State 42-24.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Minnesota vs. West Virginia (Dec. 28, 10:15, TSN1/TSN5) – Both of these teams come into this game on a roll.  So at least both teams want to be here.  It is the ghost of the old Cheez-It Bowl so hopefully it doesn’t devolve into a TCU-Cal 10-7 type of affair.  My pick: Minnesota 32-18.

3 out of 10. CBS Sports Network type games.  You’ll head here if it’s close.

CBSSN gets a ton of games every season.  Usually four games every Saturday and a bunch of weekday games sprinkled throughout the season.  So you’re bound to get a gem in there somewhere but quite often the quality of these games is rather low.

Texas Bowl – LSU vs. Kansas State (Jan. 4, 9:00, TSN5) – This is the only bowl game on between New Year’s Day and the national championship.  Saying that, it’s not exactly the greatest matchup.  If Ed Orgeron had decided to coach instead of heading off to Destin to get a piece of ass, this might be a lot more interesting.  My pick: Kansas State 40-23.

New Mexico Bowl – Fresno State vs. UTEP (Dec. 18, 2:15, TSN4) – Kalen DeBoer, gone.  Jake Haener, also gone.  So the Bulldogs are going to be a bit shorthanded for this one.  As for the Miners, they are limping into this game after a seriously hot start to their season (which almost led to College Gameday heading there).  This feels like a game that is just technically a game and nothing more.  This would have been on Stadium at best during the season.  My pick: Fresno State 23-3.

Military Bowl – Boston College vs. East Carolina (Dec. 27, 2:30, TSN5) – If ECU has another good season in 2022, expect Mike Houston to get a lot of looks.  What he has done in Greenville is nothing short of remarkable.  And they are a very dangerous underdog here against the Eagles.  BC started hot but like a few other teams are crawling into the postseason.  This feels ripe for a mini-upset.  My pick: East Carolina 34-14.

Armed Forces Bowl – Army vs. Missouri (Dec. 22, 8:00, TSN1) – This could be the worst matchup of bowl season.  Army runs the ball.  A lot.  Mizzou has one of the worst rushing defenses in the nation.  This won’t be pretty.  My pick: Army 42-9.

2 out of 10. Stupid Pac-12 Network.

Maybe with new commissioner George Kliavkoff things will get better.  It can’t get any worse.  Larry Scott really dropped the ball with this for years.  Anyway, we have now firmly got into insane-o territory.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – South Carolina vs. North Carolina (Dec. 30, 11:30 AM, TSN3) – Carolina Bragging Rights Game…sort of.  Look I’m just interested to see if either coach has the sack to be doused in Duke’s Mayo if their team wins.  My pick: North Carolina 23-20 (meaning Mack Brown would get that mayo bath).

LendingTree Bowl – Liberty vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 18, 5:45, specialty pack) – For those who feel this is pointless to watch, let me make a case for at least tuning in for a bit.  Malik Willis is competing to be the top quarterback taken in the NFL Draft.  This game would be the national spotlight he sorely needs to move up the rankings.  Other than that, not much to see here.  My pick: Liberty 26-19.

Pinstripe Bowl – Maryland vs. Virginia Tech (Dec. 29, 2:15, TSN3/TSN5) – It is a heartwarming story to see the Terps back in a bowl game for the first time since 2016 (and looking for their first bowl victory since 2010).  Lucky for them they had a 4-0 start since they struggled the rest of the way and needed to beat mighty Rutgers to go here.  Justin Fuente was fired as the Hokies did not live up to expectations again.  Sounds like a broken record.  The only hopes this game has for being watchable is it being close near the end or if there is some ridiculous FOOTBAW WEATHER.  My pick: Maryland 20-17.

Bahamas Bowl – Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo (Dec. 17, Noon, TSN3/TSN5) – This shouldn’t be a very close game at all.  The first bowl game of the season should be played under sunny skies in the Caribbean and with the Blue Raiders getting boatraced by the Rockets.  My pick: Toledo 51-24.

1 out of 10.  Who watches these games?  Guys like me.

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Let’s be honest: very few are watching these games.  The Too Many Bowl Games crowd uses these as examples of why there are, well, too many bowl games.  You won’t be saying that in March when there’s no football to watch at all.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Wyoming vs. Kent State (Dec. 21, 3:30, TSN1) – Again, why does the MAC have a tie-in here?  At least this makes sense for the Mountain West.  And I’m going to be honest: I am over the blue turf in Boise.  It is fine if it’s nasty weather or super cold but otherwise it kind of looks like shit and these gimmicky fields became old a few years ago.  My pick: Wyoming 46-31.

Myrtle Beach Bowl – Tulsa vs. Old Dominion (Dec. 20, 2:30, TSN1) – Speaking of off-colour turf.  The only thing I hope for is that Tulsa plays a normal Tulsa game, meaning it will be very close.  Otherwise it’s two completely average teams and with it being on a weekday afternoon before Christmas, you may not be missing much.  My pick: Tulsa 42-39.

Camellia Bowl – Georgia State vs. Ball State (Dec. 25, 2:30, TSN2) – College football on Christmas Day.  Will I watch this?  Yeah some of it but it might end up being background noise at best.  I guess it’s a better timeslot than the same time on a weekday before Christmas (sounds familiar) but still not great. My pick: Georgia State 28-24.

Hawaii Bowl – Memphis vs. Hawaii (Dec. 24, 8:00, TSN2) – This is a good distraction on Christmas Eve while I finish wrapping any final presents that arrived late from Amazon or gift cards I forgot to get weeks earlier.  This might not be the most aesthetically pleasing bowl game since it will be played in a high school stadium.  The reason for this is that Aloha Stadium is so structurally unsound it makes Legion Field look like a fortress.  My pick: Hawaii 36-29.

0 out of 10.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  Brutal.

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A made-up game.  That’s all you need to know here.

Frisco Football Classic – North Texas vs. Miami-OH (Dec. 23, 3:30, specialty pack) – As I said, this bowl was just created so all bowl-eligible teams (plus Hawaii who was 6-7 on the season) could play in a bowl game.  I don’t know what to say except that you might be insane if you watch this.  Which means I am probably insane.  My pick: North Texas 21-10.

Bowl schedule and bowl predictions complete!  Now you have info you need (I think) to do pools, either straight up or confidence-style.

I hope you all enjoy the bowl games, all 42 of them…well 43 if you include the national championship.

So….many……BOWL GAMES!!!!! The Bowl Game TV Schedule

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Let’s look at this graphic.  I think it’s like four or five years old.  How many of these bowls don’t exist anymore?  Well, let’s take a look.  The Russell Athletic Bowl, Cactus Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl, Miami Beach Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl and Heart of Dallas Bowl all don’t exist, at least under those names.  I’m not even going to start on the sponsors.  There have been some absurd bowl sponsors but I am sincerely hoping they get even more absurd.  Like why not bring back the International Bowl in Toronto but call it the Timbit Bowl sponsored by Tim Hortons?  Or get Pornhub to sponsor a bowl game.  The possibilities are endless.

So supposedly TSN has at least part of their bowl schedule up.  I can see a link but it links to a previous year’s bowl schedule.  Hopefully it’s fixed and once it does, I can make sure the schedule is proper on this post.  I would try and predict it but considering what they are doing on the first three days of bowl season, I don’t know what’s going on there.  And with the World Juniors coming soon…yeah I’ll try my best but I will let you know when it’s all set.

So after last year where Bowl Season was an absolute shitshow, we are back to some normality.  Now let’s hope none of these bowls get cancelled for any reason.  Let’s get going with the even longer bowl schedule!

Friday December 17th

Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo Noon

This may be the one case where I think it’s OK to have a game on a weekday before Christmas.  I know there are logistical hurdles with this game so there’s a lot to do and also I am sure the stadium there wouldn’t be able to do a night game.  So I give this bowl game a pass.  Oh well, if this is like Bahamas Bowls of the past this should be good.

Cure Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. Northern Illinois 6:00 PM espn2_hd

This bowl got some good Group of Five teams for once in its short history.  The Chants are still a team people love and the Huskies won the MAC.  It’s the passing acumen of Grayson McCall vs. the stingy defense of NIU.  Nice contrast of styles.  This is also only one of two bowl games on ESPN2 this season.  Why not give it to CBS if that’s the case?

Saturday December 18th

Boca Raton Bowl: Appalachian State vs. Western Kentucky 11:00 AM

Morning football.  We will see a lot of this for the first time ever as ESPN restructures how their bowl schedule shapes up.  And what a way to wake up than with a game where we could see 100 combined points.  This is a national showcase for Bailey Zappe as he is rocketing up draft boards around the NFL.

Celebration Bowl: Jackson State vs. South Carolina State Noon

The only FCS bowl around as the rest of the teams play in the FCS Playoffs.  If you really like the college bands that HBCU schools have then this is the game for you.  Also, you will see one of the best HBCU teams in recent memory.  I still await the time when Deion Sanders gets a legit offer to coach at the FBS level.  It could come around this time considering the sheer amount of openings still around.

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State vs. UTEP 2:15 PM

I know I am going to watch this.  Yes there are other games on at the same time but I am such a channel flipper that I end up watching games that probably don’t warrant watching.  Like I’ve watched at least an hour’s worth of UMass football this season.  What the fuck is wrong with me?  Anyway, two teams who were once WAC teams face off in this one.  I wonder if this will get close to a sell-out considering UTEP doesn’t exactly go to a lot of bowls and Albuquerque isn’t too far from El Paso.

UPDATE #4: With the Raiders-Browns game being postponed, this game will also be on TSN5.

Independence Bowl: #13 BYU vs. UAB 3:30 PM

I’m wondering how much BYU fans can’t wait to be in the Big XII.  This right here shows that being a college football Independent really only works if you’re Notre Dame.  People can crow about their good schedule and all that crap.  But your reward for almost getting into the New Year’s Six is to be in fucking Shreveport before Christmas?  The bowl system is broken and this is a perfect example.  Also, the Cougs are only favoured by 7?  I just don’t get this.

UPDATE #3: With the Raiders-Browns game being postponed, this game will also be on TSN1.

LendingTree Bowl: Liberty vs. Eastern Michigan 5:45 PM

Two relatively average Group of Five teams.  As I’ve said earlier, I watch games like this.  I am hoping it is a close one to keep my attention.

LA Bowl: Oregon State vs. Utah State 7:30 PM

So let met get this straight.  It’s the first ever Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.  And instead of having UCLA there to hopefully pack a good portion of the stadium, they get Oregon State.  This is completely stupid.  This isn’t even about getting the best bowl matchup, as they love to say.  UCLA against USU would be just as good as the matchup we see here.  And this is on ABC to boot.  Dumb.

New Orleans Bowl: #23 Louisiana vs. Marshall 9:00 PM

Finally, the Ragin Cajuns ascended to the top of the Sun Belt mountain.  Their reward was to stay near home to play at the Superdome.  This should sell quite a few tickets.  They go up against a really good Marshall offense in this one to finish the first big day of bowl season (no offense to the previous day but come on).

Monday December 20th

Myrtle Beach Bowl: Tulsa vs. Old Dominion 2:30 PM

So they have this game on in the middle of the day, five days before Christmas.  I get that Monday Night Football is on at night.  So if that’s the case, don’t put a fucking bowl game on that day.  There are ways around this and ESPN just doesn’t seem to understand that they can do that.  They control the broadcasts for over 90% of the bowl games.  Figure it out!  On top of that, Coastal isn’t in this game so they may not even sell out the small stadium near Myrtle Beach.  Ugh.

UPDATE #5: This game has been moved to TSN2 with the NFL game now being on TSN1.

Tuesday December 21st

Idaho Potato Bowl: Wyoming vs. Kent State 3:30 PM

Why don’t they put this game on late and have the Frisco Bowl on in early spot?  Do I have to do everything around here?  Hopefully it’s a good Footbaw Weather game and we witness some crazy shenanigans because otherwise many of you will only be able to see the second half at most.

Frisco Bowl: #24 San Diego State vs. UTSA 7:30 PM

This could be the first bowl game that comes close to must-see territory.  And it gets a primetime spot which is good.  Both teams are two of the better Group of Five teams this season with UTSA coming within one destruction at the hands of North Texas from being undefeated this season and SDSU looking great all year except for getting boatraced by Utah State in the Mountain West Championship.

UPDATE #8: This game has been moved to TSN3 because of the WFT-Eagles game being put on TSN1.

Wednesday December 22nd

Armed Forces Bowl: Army vs. Missouri 8:00 PM

The Armed Forces Bowl with Army.  Makes sense.  Mizzou being here?  Sure I guess although I am surprised they didn’t get a team from the state of Texas to play here against the Black Knights.

Thursday December 23rd

Frisco Football Classic: North Texas vs. Miami-OH 3:30 PM

So ESPN created a bowl game so that all bowl-eligible teams (plus Hawaii who had six wins but also seven losses) to play in bowl games this season.  That is very nice of them.  That’s why we get this game, the (not-so) awesomely named Frisco Football Classic.  This one-off game (we think) will pit two teams who are positively average.  And (this sounds like a broken record….Google what a record is, kids) this game is on in the afternoon on a weekday before Christmas.  Not ideal.​

UPDATE #11: This is now airing on TSN1 and TSN3.

Gasparilla Bowl: UCF vs. Florida 7:00 PM TSN2

I wonder if this game will sell out Raymond James Stadium.  You have to think there’s a great opportunity here.  See, this is the best of what bowl games can provide.  Two teams that really never play each other and aren’t too far from each other facing off in a national spotlight game.  UCF really could close the door on any debate for state supremacy with a win here.

UPDATE #12: This is now airing on TSN2.

UPDATE: This game is a sellout.

Friday December 24th

Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Memphis 8:00 PM TSN2

The Christmas Eve tradition continues!  I love having this on while I finish last minute wrapping and stocking stuffer stuffing.  Not going to lie to you all…I just got my Christmas tree up.  Yeah I’m crawling slowly into Christmas season unlike others who have 15,000 lights on outside and have bought the 146 presents that are already sitting under the tree.

UPDATE #13: Due to COVID (and other things), Hawaii has pulled out of the Hawaii Bowl meaning this game is cancelled.  Now what the hell am I going to do while I put the finishing touches on Christmas wrapping?

Saturday December 25th

Camellia Bowl: Georgia State vs. Ball State 2:30 PM TSN2

Football on Christmas Day.  Will this compete with the NBA and their traditional Christmas Day games?  Probably not, but it’s football so I will watch.  And if it’s close, even better.  Means I won’t change the channel.  My remote control would be happy.

Monday December 27th

Quick Lane Bowl: Nevada vs. Western Michigan 11:00 AM

This is one of those games that the Too Many Bowls crowd would point to and say “Hey…there’s too many bowls.”  I honestly don’t care because, as I have said often, it’s football so I will watch it.  We’ll see how I feel about the sheer amount of morning starts during bowl season.  I can see it getting old fast but who knows.

Military Bowl: Boston College vs. East Carolina 2:30 PM

Mike Houston has done a fantastic job down in Greenville with the Pirates.  I don’t think anyone, including ECU fans, thought this team would be bowling this season.  Instead, they have a chance to close out their season with eight wins if they can beat a very inconsistent BC squad.​

UPDATE #14: This game has been cancelled because of major COVID issues with the BC football team.

Tuesday December 28th

Birmingham Bowl: Auburn vs. #20 Houston Noon

Good to see this game has moved to UAB’s new Protective Stadium.  Gets it out of Legion Field which always looked like it was about to collapse during a game.  This also gets quite the good matchup.  This is the kind of game I would get more of during bowl season: P5 vs. G5.

First Responder Bowl: Air Force vs. Louisville 3:15 PM

I still remember back to the 2018 version of this game between Boston College and Boise State.  If you remember, the weather was so bad in the area that they had to completely cancel the game.  I am honestly shocked they did that since I figured they would do anything to get a bowl game completed.  I guessed wrong.  Anyway, Air Force will run a lot (spoiler alert) so let’s see if the Cards’ defense can stop the Falcons attack and keep this close.

Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech 6:45 PM

The Mike Leach Bowl!  Mike Leach’s current team, the Bulldogs, face a team he used to coach and left on less-than-nice terms, the Red Raiders.  If it was totally up to Leach, the game would end up 77-76 with about 1400 yards passing between the two teams.

Holiday Bowl: #18 NC State vs. UCLA 8:00 PM Fox_College_Football_logo Fox_College_Football_logo

FOX is now down to one bowl game, this one.  At least it ended up a pretty good matchup in what could be Chip Kelly’s final game as Bruins head coach.  I assume that soon enough, Wolfpack fans will be back to wanting to fire Dave Doeren but it won’t happen after this game…unless they lose by like 30.

UPDATE #19: 19 updates.  Sweet Jesus.  Hey, stop me if you’ve heard this before.  Another bowl game cancelled.  UCLA basically has almost no defensive line to play tonight (among issues with some of the other units) thanks to COVID so this game is being cancelled.  This means FOX will not broadcast a bowl game this season.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Minnesota vs. West Virginia 10:15 PM

The former Cheez-It Bowl (the current Cheez-It Bowl is actually the old Camping World Bowl…yeah it’s confusing) isn’t exactly a sexy matchup.  I think we can be assured, though, that we won’t see the TCU-Cal debacle from a few years back.  At least I hope not since that was awful football.

Wednesday December 29th

Fenway Bowl: Virginia vs. SMU 11:00 AM

I am curious as to the setup of the field for this one.  I would laugh if it was like the games at Wrigley where there is no room between the end line and the ivy of the outfield wall.  Imagine a receiver catching a ball, taking two steps and crashing into the Green Monster?

UPDATE #15: I guess I have to wait another year to see how this will look since this game has been cancelled due to, you guessed it, Frank Stallone COVID.

Pinstripe Bowl: Maryland vs. Virginia Tech 2:15 PM

This should be a very close game between these two teams.  Nice to see the Terps back in a bowl game as Mike Locksley has FINALLY had a good season at the helm…of any team.  He was terrible as coach at New Mexico and wasn’t looking a whole lot better in College Park but has finally figured it out.  The Hokies will be in a showcase game for new coach Brent Pry as any returning players will try their best to show why they should get a lot of playing time next year on a team that clearly has fallen to the middle of the pack in the ACC.​

Cheez-It Bowl: #19 Clemson vs. Iowa State 5:45 PM

Does it feel like Clemson should be the 19th-ranked team in college football?  They weren’t even that good this season.  Despite the fact they are no longer the standard bearer in the ACC, this feels like a good spot to land because, honestly, they should have gone to a place like Shreveport to play.  Hey, just checked the spread and I think I’m justified in how I’m thinking.  Cyclones are favoured by 1 and not ranked.  And Clemson lost both coordinators to head coaching positions elsewhere.  Now watch the Tigers win by 50.

Alamo Bowl: #16 Oklahoma vs. #14 Oregon 9:15 PM

Best non-CFP, non-NY6 bowl?  You could make the case here.  The Sooners come in actually with a head coach as Mario Cristobal left the Ducks for Miami not too long ago.  I don’t think Brent Venables is coaching this game although it would be funny if the Sooners defense is playing like shit and he just decides to show up and coach the rest of the way out of disgust.

UPDATE #2: As soon as I post this, I learn that Dan Lanning will be the next head coach at Oregon.

Thursday December 30th

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: South Carolina vs. North Carolina 11:30 AM

This bowl has so much at stake.  OK it has two things at stake.  One, this is the battle for Carolina Supremacy.  OK more like teams with Carolina in their name Supremacy.  OK fine, North vs. South (excluding NC State).  The other is that the person who runs the Duke’s Mayo Bowl said he would donate $10,000 to the winning coach’s charity of choice if he is willing to have a Gatorade cooler full of Duke’s Mayo dumped on him after the win.  This is what we’ve all wanted.  This must happen.  And please let it be Mack Brown.

Music City Bowl: Tennessee vs. Purdue 3:00 PM

Another bowl game that was smart to get at least one close team to play in it.  Having the Vols play in Nashville pretty much guarantees a sellout.  And with Purdue, it looks like we will see a good, relatively close game.  It’s probably a good thing that college football fans aren’t like certain sets of soccer fans since seeing tens of thousands of people clad in bright orange tearing a stadium apart, attacking the other fans and taking on police officers would be a terrifying site (especially when the band plays Rocky Top and the Vol fans continue their attacks while singing).

Peach Bowl: #10 Michigan State vs. #12 Pittsburgh 7:00 PM

Alright, we finally have got to the first New Year’s Six bowl game.  The Pat Narduzzi Bowl.  If you had either of these two teams in a New Year’s Six bowl at the start of the season, then head to Vegas or buy a lottery ticket because you totally defeated the odds.  Two of the best college football players of the season will be on display in this one: Kenny Pickett and Kenneth Walker III.  I kind of wish the Heisman voting was done after bowl games because these showcases would be good for some of these players who are just outside the #1 spot and could use a great showing in front of a national audience to propel them to the top.

Las Vegas Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Arizona State 10:30 PM

Are the bars and casinos in Vegas ready for this one?  Forget the game: the Badger fans (and to a lesser extent, Sun Devil fans) will wipe out the beer economy in this city if they are allowed to.  The amount of puke in the streets and near the hotels (not to mention at the stadium) will be enormous.  It’s gonna stink.  I don’t know how good the game will be but the amount of fights in the stands has an over/under of 7.5.

Friday December 31st

Gator Bowl: #25 Texas A&M Rutgers vs. #17 Wake Forest 11:00 AM TSN2

One of the other candidates for non-NY6 bowl game of the season.  Somehow, Dave Clawson wasn’t hired by another team.  Texas A&M lost their defensive coordinator, Mike Elko, to Duke so this could be a bad day for the Aggie defense against Sam Hartman, who should have received more Heisman consideration if you ask me.

UPDATE #9: Texas A&M has major COVID issues inside the football program and will not have enough players ready for this game so they have pulled out.  As of right now, Rutgers, Texas & Illinois seem to be up next using APR calculations.  There is also the possibility that Marshall or Utah State, both teams already played in bowls this season, could be selected if a 5-7 team doesn’t accept.

UPDATE #10: Rutgers (RUTGERS!) will replace Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl.  Oh my.

Sun Bowl: Miami Central Michigan vs. Washington State 12:30 PM

I will say it for what feels like the twentieth year in a row: this is where I hate the way bowls do tie-ins.  The ACC does not belong in the Sun Bowl.  Either put in the Big XII (which is what I would prefer) or do a Mountain West tie-in.  You will struggle to fill half the stadium when an ACC team is there.  And not having UTEP there makes this even worse since that would at least get 30,000 fans or so inside the stadium and create a great atmosphere for the game.

UPDATE #16: Miami has pulled out of the Sun Bowl due to not wanting to go to El Paso COVID protocols.  I will keep you updated on if another team, maybe one that has already had a bowl game cancelled, will step up to play Wazzu.

UPDATE #18: Due to the Arizona Bowl being cancelled, Central Michigan is free to play in another bowl and has been invited to play in El Paso.  I think it’s only like a four hour drive and now the Chips get a shit-ton more money to play in the postseason.  Good work guys!

Arizona Bowl: Boise State vs. Central Michigan 2:00 PM barstool sports barstool sports

So….how can you even watch this game?  I guess you have to go to the Barstool Sports website?  How many people will watch this game, with the Cotton Bowl starting 90 minutes later, on New Year’s Eve, on a website that quite a few college football fans wouldn’t go to at gunpoint?  This may work like 5 years or so from now but in 2021, this still doesn’t fly.

UPDATE #17: Well, Barstool will have to wait another year to broadcast their first bowl game.  Boise State have way too many COVID issues to bring a team to Tucson so the bowl game has been cancelled.

Cotton Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Cincinnati 3:30 PM TSN2

OK we have got to the semi-final games.  This looks like it could go one of two ways.  The first way, and the one most people think it will go, is Bama absolutely annihilating the Bearcats and the game being essentially over by halftime.  The other way is that Cincy keeps this game very close going into the fourth quarter and social media goes apeshit at the potential for one of the biggest upsets in college football history.  I am praying for the latter.

Orange Bowl: #2 Michigan vs. #3 Georgia 7:30 PM TSN2

This is obviously the more exciting of the two semi-final matchups.  And it’s in primetime on New Year’s Eve?  I get sick of the Rose (and to a lesser extent, the Sugar) Bowl getting such preferential treatment when it comes to restructuring the playoff and Bowl Season.  Not saying they have to move off of New Year’s Day if they absolutely don’t need to but those two bowls sticking to those times makes it impossible in a situation like this to have the College Football Playoff semi-finals on anything other than New Year’s Eve.  It’s ridiculous and needs to be part of the conversation when they expand the playoff (which they will).  Anyway, this is going to very interesting as other than the SEC Championship, UGA’s defense was one of the best in recent memory.  Meanwhile, Michigan used the run better than almost any team in the nation and no team was really able to stop them, just maybe trip them up a bit.  I believe this is basically a pick’em.

Saturday January 1st

Outback Bowl: #21 Arkansas vs. Penn State Noon espn2_hd

Good for this game that it starts an hour earlier than the two games coming up next.  Otherwise it would probably get very few viewers.

Citrus Bowl: #22 Kentucky vs. #15 Iowa 1:00 PM

Final candidate for best non-New Year’s Six bowl game and it is on at an awful time.  I get that it gets crowded on New Year’s Day but overlapping with another game, a better game, is a recipe for disaster.  And frankly, it’s unfair for the Wildcats and Hawkeyes who both had great seasons.  Both teams will be looking to finish their seasons on a high note and go into the next season ranked in the preseason poll.

Fiesta Bowl: #5 Notre Dame vs. #9 Oklahoma State 1:00 PM

Now this should be interesting.  Will the Irish feel slighted about not getting into the CFP or will they run through a brick wall for new coach Marcus Freeman?  They are going to need everyone on point in this one going up against the OSU Fighting Mullets.  One day, we will get the glory of Mike Gundy in the College Football Playoff.  Maybe next year.

UPDATE #6: The Fiesta Bowl will also be on TSN5 around the start of the fourth quarter after the Outback Bowl is over.

Rose Bowl: #6 Ohio State vs. #11 Utah 5:00 PM

The Utes are in the Rose Bowl for the first time.  This is huge for the program and proves the Pac-12 made the right call bringing them in (Colorado is still up in the air).  They face a good Ohio State team who might be playing angry since they might feel they have been “relegated” to the Rose Bowl.  The question going into this one (and during the game) will be what Kyle Whittingham decides to do after this one is over since there is a rumour out there that he might retire after the Rose Bowl, win or lose.

Sugar Bowl: #8 Ole Miss vs. #7 Baylor 8:45 PM

Dave Aranda has done a masterful job in Waco.  As has Lane Kiffin in Oxford.  This feels like a matchup of completely opposite head coaches, at least in terms of personality.

UPDATE #7: The Sugar Bowl will also be on TSN4 at around 11:00.  I don’t get why they just HAVE to show Sportscentre after the Clippers-Nets game but obviously they do.

Tuesday January 4th

Texas Bowl: LSU vs. Kansas State 9:00 PM

Interesting that the Texas Bowl didn’t get a team from Texas to play in it.  Saying that, they got two fanbases that travel very well so it would be surprising if this wasn’t at least close to a sellout.  By this point, I will probably be bowled out but I will still watch because I know what’s coming shortly after this.

UPDATE #14: This is not being shown on a TSN channel.

Monday January 10th

College Football Playoff National Championship 8:00 PM TSN2

The final game of the season (other than the weird All-Star games).  Cherish it…even if it’s not good.

OK at this point this is what the breakdown looks like for Canadians with cable packages:

  • TSN – 26 bowl games (with 2 simulcast from ABC)
  • ABC – 4 bowl games
  • FOX – 1 bowl game
  • CBS – 1 bowl game
  • Barstool Sports – 1 bowl game
  • specialty pack – 12 bowl games

OK now I am officially confused (if this works out the way I think it will).  26 bowl games being shown on TSN?  The schedule is only finalized through Christmas Day but there are 16 games up until then definitely scheduled on TSN.  So after a season where TSN had very little coverage of college football at all (it felt like they had gone back about a decade), they push forward by showing more than 50% of the bowl games.  Crazy.  We will see how the World Juniors affects this but I have a feeling it’s pretty close to the true number.

Alright, that was a seriously long post.  But it was needed as the postseason begins now…at least at the FBS level.  Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

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I’m going to warn you again.  This post is stupidly long.  So if you are reading this on the toilet, I hope you have a massive shit brewing so you have the time to read it all.  I won’t even rate this but it would be an NC-17 post if it had to be rated…which means I just technically rated it.  Dammit.  Oh well, viewer discretion is advised.

This is the fifth version of this ridiculously long post.

It is going to be different this year without the recap portion.  But there will be my Top 25, plus bowl projections, plus conference championship scenarios, PLUS different versions of the playoff.  This is going to take forever.  I don’t know why I put myself through this to be honest.

Let’s going with the Bossman Top 25 which has obviously had some changes after yet another crazy week.

#1 Georgia
#2 Ohio State
#3 Alabama
#4 Cincinnati
#5 Michigan
#6 Notre Dame
#7 Oklahoma State
#8 Ole Miss
#9 Baylor
#10 Oklahoma
#11 BYU
#12 Utah
#13 UTSA
#14 Oregon
#15 Michigan State
#16 Iowa
#17 Texas A&M
#18 Wisconsin
#19 Houston
#20 Pittsburgh
#21 Louisiana
#22 Wake Forest
#23 NC State
#24 San Diego State
#25 Penn State

Well looky here.  Cincinnati finally gets into the Top 4.  And they finally figured things out, thrashing SMU in a game they desperately needed to win by a lot.  Saying that, it mostly helped that Oregon got destroyed by Utah.  And with Notre Dame laying waste to Georgia Tech, the big Bearcat win over the Irish keeps looking really good as we get to the final week of the regular season.  The Irish, Wolverines, and Pokes are laying in the weeds, just waiting for the current top teams to lose but I honestly can’t see that happening this coming weekend.  What I will be interested in is BYU’s possibility of a New Year’s Six spot.  I have them higher than the College Football Playoff rankings but still, they win this coming week and a few other things happen, they could be ranked high enough to make The Committee at least ponder what to do with them.

Now it’s time to get to something I didn’t do last year: conference championship scenarios.  Last season was a mess so there was no point in doing it but we are back to mostly normal (at least in the college football world) so it’s time to do these.

The MAC title tilt has one team qualified.  Northern Illinois has clinched what turned out to be a very good MAC West divisional race.  The MAC East race will end on Saturday.  Miami-OH and Kent State face off in a winner-take-all showdown for the right to face the Huskies.

Much like the MAC, Conference USA has one part of their title game set up.  In the West, UTSA has clinched the division.  As for the East, one final game between Western Kentucky and Marshall for the division.

After not getting a Sun Belt superclash between Louisiana and Coastal Carolina last year, we get it this year…with one exception.  Coastal will not be there.  Appalachian State and Louisiana have won their respective divisions and will face off, yet again, in the Sun Belt title game, this time in Lafayette.

This is quite interesting.  San Diego State has only one loss this year; problem is it’s to the team one game behind them, Fresno State.  If the Aztecs take care of business on Black Friday against Boise State, they will host the Mountain West Championship.  Before that occurs, Fresno State goes to San Jose to face the Spartans.  The Bulldogs lose, SDSU clinches the division.  If the Bulldogs win, the Aztecs must win.

In the Mountain Division, it’s even more confusing as there is a current three-way tie between Boise State, Air Force and Utah State.  Here’s how this works:

  • Boise State clinches the division if they beat San Diego State and Air Force loses to UNLV.
  • Utah State clinches the division if they beat New Mexico and Boise State loses to San Diego State.
  • Air Force clinches the division if they beat UNLV and Utah State loses to New Mexico.
  • In the case of a three-way tie, the winner of the division would be, you guessed it, Frank Stallone Air Force.

Alright this is simple.  Houston finished the conference schedule undefeated.  Cincinnati, if they defeat East Carolina on Friday, will also finish undefeated.  They are both locked in to the conference title game.  The only thing left to figure out is who hosts.  Obviously, it comes down to the Cincy-ECU result.

Utah is in for the ridiculous Friday early evening start time.  I wonder if that changes after this season since that is so ridiculous.  As for the North, it’s still a bit interesting.  Three teams still with a chance to go face the Utes in Santa Clara.  Here are the scenarios:

  • Oregon clinches the division if they beat Oregon State.
  • Oregon State clinches the division if they beat Oregon and Washington beats Washington State.
  • Washington State clinches the division if they beat Washington to win the Apple Cup and Oregon State beats Oregon in the Civil War.  It would go to tiebreakers.  Head-to-head would produce nothing as all three teams would have 1-1 records against the other two.  Division record is next, where Wazzu’s 4-1 mark would best Oregon and OSU’s 3-2.

The Cougs going to the Pac-12 Championship would be the cherry on a ridiculous cake after having to fire their coach earlier this season.

Somehow, the ACC Coastal has already been clinched.  No chaos!  Pittsburgh has already booked their flights to Charlotte.  As for the ACC Atlantic, it’s down to three teams: Wake Forest, Clemson and NC State.

  • Wake Forest has the easiest way.  Win over Boston College and they win the division.
  • NC State has it slightly harder.  They need Wake to lose to BC and they need to take care of their own business and beat North Carolina to win the division.
  • For Clemson to head to Charlotte in a little less than two weeks, they need Wake and NC State to lose.  They are done their conference schedule and face South Carolina in their annual rivalry game this weekend.

Oklahoma State is already set to head to JerryWorld.  Oklahoma has to beat the Pokes in Bedlam to clinch the other spot.  If they lose, and Baylor beats Texas Tech then it will be the Bears facing OSU in the Metroplex.

The winner of the The Game clinches the East Division.  In the West, it’s….complicated.  Here goes nothing:

  • Wisconsin beats Minnesota they are in.
  • Iowa is in if they beat Nebraska and Minnesota defeats Wisconsin.
  • Minnesota goes to Indianapolis with a win over Wisconsin, an Iowa loss AND a Purdue win in the Old Oaken Bucket over Indiana.

Purdue cannot get in but can play spoiler to help the Gophers get in.

Georgia against Alabama.  It’s set.

OK it’s bowl projection time now!

Orange Bowl CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4 Georgia vs. Notre Dame
Cotton Bowl CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3 Ohio State vs. Cincinnati

Oregon is now out and Notre Dame is in.  I think with what happens around them, the Irish should clinch the #4 spot which would guarantee the Bearcats the #3 spot.  Ohio State needs to beat Michigan or else The Committee will have a much tougher time with this.

Alright let’s see how the New Year’s Six has changed.

Sugar Bowl SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1 Alabama vs Oklahoma State
Rose Bowl Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1 Michigan vs. Oregon
Fiesta Bowl CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1 Oklahoma vs. Michigan State
Peach Bowl CFP At-Large vs. CFP At-Large/G-5 #1 Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss

Definitely some changes in the past couple weeks.  I already mentioned Oregon being out after their loss to Utah but I think they avenge it in the Pac-12 Championship after winning the Civil War.  I don’t think Wake Forest will get to the ACC Championship and then Pitt would beat Clemson to get to the Peach Bowl.  Oklahoma has struggled as of late but even losing the Big XII title game won’t drop them below the NY6.  I’m sure The Committee wants to avoid putting BYU in until they are actually in the Big XII so Michigan State will get the nod there.  I believe Ole Miss wipes the floor with Mississippi State to win the Egg Bowl and also grab an at-large spot.

Now the rest of Bowl SZN.  I’m sure this won’t be correct by the end of Black Friday.

Texas Bowl SEC vs. Big XII Auburn vs. Baylor
Citrus Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten Kentucky vs. Wisconsin
Outback Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten Tennessee vs. Iowa
Arizona Bowl MWC vs. MAC Nevada vs. Central Michigan
Sun Bowl ACC vs. Pac-12 Louisville vs. Washington State
Gator Bowl SEC vs. ACC Texas A&M vs. Clemson
Las Vegas Bowl Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Penn State vs. Arizona State
Music City Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten Arkansas vs. Purdue
Duke’s Mayo Bowl SEC vs. ACC South Carolina vs. Wake Forest
Alamo Bowl Big XII vs. Pac-12 Iowa State vs. Utah
Cheez-It Bowl Big XII vs. ACC Texas Tech vs. Virginia
Pinstripe Bowl Big Ten vs. ACC Minnesota vs. Miami
Fenway Bowl ACC/C-USA vs. American Boston College vs. East Carolina
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Big Ten vs. Big XII Florida* vs. Texas**
Holiday Bowl ACC vs. Pac-12 NC State vs. Oregon State
Liberty Bowl SEC vs. Big XII Missouri vs. Kansas State
First Responder Bowl 2 from Big XII, ACC, Pac-12, American USC vs. Memphis
Birmingham Bowl SEC vs. American Mississippi State vs. Houston
Military Bowl ACC vs. American Virginia Tech vs. UCF
Quick Lane Bowl Big Ten vs. MAC Rutgers vs. Kent State
Camellia Bowl Sun Belt/C-USA vs. MAC Coastal Carolina vs. Northern Illinois
Hawaii Bowl American vs. MWC SMU vs. Air Force
Gasparilla Bowl 2 from SEC, ACC, Pac-12, American LSU vs. North Carolina
Armed Forces Bowl 2 from Big XII, Pac-12, C-USA, Army Army vs. Florida Atlantic
Frisco Bowl 2 from Group of Five Fresno State vs. UAB
Idaho Potato Bowl MWC vs. MAC Boise State vs. Western Michigan
Myrtle Beach Bowl American/MAC/G-5 vs. Sun Belt Miami-OH vs. Appalachian State
New Orleans Bowl Sun Belt vs. C-USA Louisiana vs. UTSA
LA Bowl Pac-12 vs. MWC UCLA vs. San Diego State
LendingTree Bowl Sun Belt vs. MAC Georgia State vs. Eastern Michigan
Independence Bowl BYU vs. C-USA BYU vs. Marshall
New Mexico Bowl MWC vs. C-USA Utah State vs. UTEP
Boca Raton Bowl 2 from Group of Five Liberty vs. San Jose State
Cure Bowl 2 from Group of Five Wyoming vs. Ball State
Bahamas Bowl C-USA vs. MAC Western Kentucky vs. Toledo

A few notes after that deluge of information:

  • BYU is already locked in to the Independence Bowl but Army has a few options.  The Armed Forces Bowl seems the most likely place for them.
  • I like the fact some of the ESPN Events bowl games have looser tie-ins.  Putting all the G5 teams in a bowl tie-in makes for easier placement.
  • You will notice Florida has an asterisk (*) beside it.  They are filling in at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl because the Big Ten will not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill this slot.
  • Texas has two asterisks (**) beside its name.  I have it that the bowl games will be one team short of fulfilling all the bowl slots.  So a 5-7 team would have to fill in.  I am assuming Texas would have as good a shot as any program because it is based on APR score (Academic Progress Rate) and last time I checked, UT-Austin is a really good school.

I am assuming a bit more will be known after this week’s games.  I’m just glad that all the bowl games are back after last year with the pandemic cancelling about half of them.  It’s a mess we don’t need to see repeated.

And now the final part of this hilariously long post that has drained me of my mental energy.  It’s time to look at what various different playoff scenarios would look like.  I will use the current AP Poll rankings since the CFP ones won’t be out until tonight.

The six-team CFP

I used to advocate for one extra team to be including in the CFP to bring it to five teams.  That definitely won’t happen so I will look at what adding two teams does to this.  Let’s go:

  • Rose Bowl: #4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Notre Dame
  • Sugar Bowl: #3 Alabama vs. #6 Michigan
  • Orange Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. lower-ranked winner from play-in weekend
  • Cotton Bowl: #2 Ohio State vs. higher-ranked winner from play-in weekend

Since this solely based on current AP rankings, it would have Cincy facing the Fighting Irish in a rematch.  I doubt that would happen in reality but we are going to go with it here.  I’m sure the Rose Bowl would be adamant about their bowl game staying with their current New Year’s Day timeslot so this would extend the season out to Monday January 17th which is seriously late but I think we are approaching that anyway with an expanded playoff.

The eight-team CFP

  • Orange Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. #8 Ole Miss
  • Sugar Bowl: #2 Ohio State vs. #7 Oklahoma State
  • Cotton Bowl: #3 Alabama vs. #6 Michigan
  • Rose Bowl: #4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Notre Dame

Now we got eight teams which seems to be a popular idea out there.  Here’s the thing: I am not including all Power Five conference champions.  That is fucking absurd with only eight teams.

This would mean some teams might play four postseason games if you include the conference championship games.  Would this be smart?  I don’t know but it feels like the wave of the future.  I guess the powers that be think that now that students get NIL money they can surely play an extra game or two.

The twelve-team CFP

Oh boy.  I think this is where we are headed so let’s dive in!

  • Las Vegas Bowl: #7 Oklahoma State vs. #9 Baylor
  • Citrus Bowl: #6 Michigan vs. #11 Oregon
  • Peach Bowl: #8 Ole Miss vs. #10 Oklahoma
  • Fiesta Bowl: #5 Notre Dame vs. #20 Pittsburgh
  • Orange Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. Ole Miss/Oklahoma winner
  • Cotton Bowl: #4 Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame/Pitt winner
  • Sugar Bowl: #3 Alabama vs. Michigan/Oregon winner
  • Rose Bowl: #2 Ohio State vs. Oklahoma St./Baylor winner

I can’t make Oklahoma State and Oklahoma play three weeks in a row.  That would be completely ridiculous.  Now with this setup, all Power Five conference champions get in.  Pitt is the best ACC team right now.  Sad, but true.  So they get in over current #12 Michigan State.  The brackets would have to be set up beforehand because I can’t see how they could re-seed teams after the first round.  Also, I am assuming they would use bowl games for the playoffs so that is why I included the Citrus Bowl (I’m sure it was between them and the Peach when originally coming up with the New Year’s Six) and the Las Vegas Bowl (because they would want a splashy bowl in a brand-new stadium).  This wouldn’t be bad but I wonder if it would feel like overload.

G-5 Playoffs

Let’s go back to an idea that has been brought up before.  One that would see the Group of Five run their own eight-team playoff.  The quarter-finals would look like this:

  • Cincinnati vs. Air Force
  • BYU vs. Appalachian State
  • UTSA vs. Louisiana
  • Houston vs. San Diego State

I would love to watch this.  Imagine these four games being on in one day?  Cincinnati at Noon, Houston at 3:30, UTSA at 7:00, BYU finishes off the day at 10:30.  Brilliant.

Poll-and-Bowl

Let’s go back to the 80s and early 90s shall we?  A simpler time…ok maybe not simpler overall, but in terms of how teams were picked for bowl games it was.  No committees.  Just teams go to the bowls they are tied in to based on their conference.  Let’s look what the top teams would do in these case.  I’ve had to take some liberty with some of the bowl games:

  • Orange Bowl (ACC champ vs. SEC #2): #5 Notre Dame vs. #3 Alabama
  • Cotton Bowl (Big XII #2 vs. Pac-12 #2): #9 Baylor vs. #16 Utah
  • Sugar Bowl (SEC champ vs. Big XII champ): #1 Georgia vs. #7 Oklahoma State
  • Rose Bowl (Big Ten champ vs. Pac-12 champ): #2 Ohio State vs. #11 Oregon
  • Peach Bowl (Big Ten #2 vs. ACC #2): #6 Michigan vs. #20 Pittsburgh
  • Fiesta Bowl (Big XII #3 vs. ACC #3): #10 Oklahoma vs. #13 BYU
  • Citrus Bowl (SEC #3 vs. Big Ten #3): #8 Ole Miss vs. #12 Michigan State
  • Las Vegas Bowl (Pac-12 #3 vs. G-5 #1): Oregon State vs. #4 Cincinnati

The one caveat here is that Independent teams like Notre Dame can be slotted anywhere.  It’s only fair.  That’s why I put the Irish in the Orange Bowl.  Would this give us some lopsided bowl matchups?  Absolutely.  Teams like Texas A&M, UTSA, Iowa and Wisconsin would be left out in the cold (kind of) for a team like Pitt or Oregon State.  Wow, the ACC really sucks this season (and the Pac-12 isn’t a whole lot better).  So in this scenario, it really comes down to three games: the Orange, Sugar and Rose Bowls.  Georgia wins they probably are voted champs unless they win close and Ohio State wins big.  Now if both Georgia and Ohio State lose, it’s up for grabs to the Irish and Tide.  Interesting.  Would it work?  Who the hell knows.

OK I’ve had enough.  I can’t do anymore.  I’m worded out (is that even a thing).  More posts later this week.  Footballgasm is upon us.  Oh, wait, one more thing: MACtion tomorrow night!  Western Michigan and Northern Illinois will be on the specialty pack.  Buffalo-Ball State is on ESPN+ and not available to us Canadians.  Have a great week everyone!

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This post is really long.  Like seriously fucking long.  So if you are not fully awake or have some caffeine in your system, you might want to wait to read this.  Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

I have done this three times before.  It’s time for number four!

Instead of doing a full recap and then a full bowl projections post, I figured I would combine them into one insanely long post!  Why?  To save time! That is complete bullshit but that is what I have told myself every year so I will continue to do so.  It was an…let’s call it an OK week of college football that contained a few exciting games.  We are headed into an exciting finish to the season.  Now we can see how COVID will wreak havoc on it since it will most certainly happen.  We just don’t know when and to what team(s).

Let’s start with recapping the week that was.  There were a few fun things that happened and I slept in way too long Sunday morning.  A Fall tradition.

  • One of three ranked-on-ranked games on the week had Iowa State outlast Texas.  The difference here was mostly one guy: Breece Hall.  His work on the ground was a boon for the Cyclone offense as he was able to help ISU milk a lot of clock in this one.  He is a lot like a Clone legend: Troy Davis.  A great player who won’t get any Heisman hype because of the team he plays for.  So now Iowa State has almost clinched their ticket to JerryWorld which will be a nice change from seeing mostly bluebloods in the Big XII Championship since it returned.
  • Florida beat Kentucky easily.  Georgia beat South Carolina even easier this past weekend.  The Dawgs have to be rooting for the Vols to win this Saturday over Florida to have any chance at being in the SEC Championship.  I can see many UGA fans having a bad taste in their mouth for having to root for Tennessee but it is what it is.  You know what?  Blame it on COVID.  It will make it feel a bit better.
  • You all saw it I’m sure.  Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power Five football game.  That, in and of itself, is a huge accomplishment.  And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy over it.  Many loved it but there were some that said it was nothing but a PR stunt.  Here is my take on this.  Vandy had no kickers.  They needed to find someone to kick the damn ball during their game against Missouri.  Was Fuller the best option?  Who knows but she was at least a decent option as she played for the Dores’ SEC Championship women’s soccer team.  So let’s get to her kicking off to start the second half of the game which was her first opportunity to kick the ball.  It was a squib kick that went a little over 30 yards.  For people that don’t think it was a squib kick, give me a fucking break.  The ball wasn’t on a tee, it was held by a player and the Commodores overloaded on the right side, where the squib went.  They wanted to do something different to hopefully get anything going for them in this game.  That was Fuller’s only kick of the game as Vandy was shutout 41-0 by Mizzou.  I think people have to realize something about all this.  Vandy is straight trash this season.  No COVID excuses here: they are just awful.  This felt like trying something different to try something different.  That it was historic is icing on the cake.  Now there seems to be other issues as Derek Mason was just fired and it sounded, from the words of Fuller, a few players and a couple of coaches, that there was no energy on the sideline most of the season and it’s like many had given up before the season had started.  They need a jolt in Nashville to get this team at least being competitive in the SEC.  And that might involve a complete rethinking of the football program at Vanderbilt.  Thank you for coming to my college football Ted Talk.
  • LSU’s offense basically took the day off on Saturday.  If it wasn’t for a late touchdown they would have been shutout by Texas A&M.  It’s funny that a 20-7 dominating win over the defending national champions does very little to move the needle for the Aggies.  I still think they have an inside shot at the College Football Playoff but will need to run their next two opponents off the field to convince The Committee.
  • Oregon blew it against Oregon State.  But that wasn’t the story.  The story was the Pac-12 officiating crew calling the game.  Oregon goes offside (that anyone could see) and it’s not called.  The Beavers scored a touchdown but it was called short.  This meant another play had to be run where their quarterback got injured.  This was all in the final minute.  And the officials seemed to have no idea how to call anything.  It was atrocious.  I am sure they will get a pay raise for it.
  • In almost-upset news, Iowa almost gakked their game away to Nebraska in the annual Black Friday CornHub game.  And this is not really a good Huskers program these days.  They really have not been a contender for a long time (and no I don’t include that time they started 7-0 a few years back and then were terrible the rest of the way).  I am sure they long for the days of Bo Pelini.  Hell they may desire the Bill Callahan days!  Scott Frost will be on a seriously hot seat to start next season and now some have to look back and take back their thoughts of basically poaching him from UCF as the Knights are still doing quite well under Josh Heupel.
  • The game that was created mere days in advance, put on late night on ESPN because of other cancellations, then moved into the ABC primetme spot due to MORE cancellations, did not disappoint.  It was all Utah in the first half and then all Washington in the second half.  The Huskies ended up holding on for the victory after taking a late lead and stay undefeated.  This may only lead to a possible New Year’s Six bid but at this point I am sure Pac-12 teams are very happy to be playing (when they get the opportunity to play that is).
  • SMU got boatraced for most of the game by *checks notes* East Carolina?  What the hell?  It was 45-7 at the half for the Pirates.  So either ECU is much better than most of us figured or the Mustangs are not nearly as good as many of us thought.  I’m going to go with the latter so this doesn’t seem like a massive upset.
  • If you missed it, history was made in western New York.  Buffalo Bulls running back Jaret Patterson went off on Kent State.  Patterson scored eight rushing touchdowns, tying Howard Griffith’s 30-year-old record!  He also came within 18 yards of Samaje Perine’s single-game record of 427 rushing yards.  An absolutely unreal performance.  And get this: Bulls head coach Lance Leipold had no idea he had tied the record and took him out for their final drive (where Patterson’s backup scored a touchdown).  Worst part is Patterson will get no Heisman hype at all.  But some NFL team will be very happy to have him on Sundays (and Thursdays and Mondays and sometimes Tuesdays).
  • A game that almost no one would have watched had a great finish in Big XII country.  Baylor finally got their second win under first-year head coach Dave Aranda.  It was a wild fourth quarter against Kansas State where 31 points were scored and the Bears scored with no time remaining.  Hey remember early on in the season when the Wildcats were getting some contender hype?  Yeah, neither do I.
  • Penn State and Michigan played football on Saturday.  That’s almost all I can say about that.  At least the Nittany Lions got their first win of the season.
  • Let’s get back to some insane football, Big XII Style.  Oklahoma State and Texas Tech put on an (offensive) performance for the ages during the third quarter of their game.  The two teams combined for five touchdowns in six minutes of play.  Crazy!  That included the Cowboys getting a touchdown off a Red Raider onside kick.  The Pokes ended up winning, keeping their very slim Big XII Championship hopes alive.
  • And now to look at something that was not so good.  Late in their game against NC State, Syracuse quarterback Rex Culpepper gets sacked on third and long.  So now, with no timeouts, they have to run a play as there is less than 10 seconds remaining.  Instead, he gets under centre, gets the ball, and spikes it.  That is really the perfect example of Syracuse’s season.
  • Finally, a week after Northwestern beat Wisconsin to take full control of the Big Ten West, they get upset by Michigan State and look terrible doing it.  College football, everybody!

Normally I would look at the conference championships and give out scenarios as to what may happen.  With two weeks left, I won’t be doing that.  Also, the fact most of the conference races are a mess doesn’t help.  I will try and bring you this next week..

Alright, on to my bowl projections as of this moment, which may have no worth to them:

Sugar Bowl CFP Poll #1 vs. CFP Poll #4 Alabama vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl CFP Poll #2 vs. CFP Poll #3 Notre Dame vs. Miami

Clemson out, Notre Dame in.  I think the Irish win the rematch in the ACC Championship to clinch the #2 spot.  Ohio State’s resume took a hit with the cancellation of their game but I still see them holding on to the #4 spot.

Which means the New Year’s Six has changed.  But how has it changed?

Orange Bowl ACC Champ vs. SEC #2 Clemson vs. Texas A&M
Fiesta Bowl CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1 USC vs. Oklahoma
Peach Bowl CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1 Florida vs. Cincinnati
Cotton Bowl CFP At-large vs. CFP At-large/G5 #1 Iowa State vs. Georgia

A lot of changes.  I already mentioned Clemson losing to Notre Dame again but with Miami in the Top 4, they are slotted in the Orange Bowl as the ACC representative.  I have decided that Texas A&M might be picked instead of Florida for the Orange Bowl.  I don’t know why, I just thought that.  So that moves Florida to the Peach Bowl.  Oklahoma, losers of the Big XII Championship, would still be high enough to get the Fiesta Bowl bid since The Committee obviously doesn’t want to put BYU in.  Iowa State, now Big XII champions in my projections, go to the Cotton Bowl and face Georgia who replaces Texas as the final team in.

Now the rest of bowl season which is a shitshow with the pandemic and every team being bowl-eligible and no one knowing the criteria anymore and man I think I need to make myself a drink.

Outback Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten Kentucky vs. Northwestern
Gator Bowl SEC vs. ACC Ole Miss vs. NC State
Citrus Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten Auburn vs. Indiana
Birmingham Bowl SEC/ACC vs. G5 Mississippi State vs. BYU
Texas Bowl SEC vs. Big XII Missouri vs. TCU
Liberty Bowl SEC vs. Big XII Tennessee vs. West Virginia
Arizona Bowl MWC vs. MAC Nevada vs. Buffalo
Sun Bowl Pac-12 vs. ACC Colorado vs. Boston College
Armed Forces Bowl Big XII vs G5 Baylor vs. Liberty
LA Bowl Pac-12 vs. MWC Arizona State vs. San Jose State
Music City Bowl SEC vs. Big Ten LSU vs. Iowa
Duke’s Mayo Bowl Big Ten vs. ACC Wisconsin vs. North Carolina
Alamo Bowl Big XII vs. Pac-12 Texas vs. Oregon
Cheez-It Bowl Big XII vs. ACC Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech
Military Bowl American vs. ACC Memphis vs. Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl Big XII vs. Big Ten Kansas State vs. Nebraska
Independence Bowl Army vs. Pac-12 Army vs. Utah
LendingTree Bowl Sun Belt vs. G5 Appalachian State vs. SMU
First Responder Bowl Big XII/ACC vs. G5 Texas Tech vs. Louisiana
Cure Bowl G5 vs. G5 Florida Atlantic vs. UCF
Gasparilla Bowl SEC/ACC vs. G5 Wake Forest vs. Miami-OH
Camellia Bowl G5 vs. G5 UTSA vs. Fresno State
New Mexico Bowl MWC vs. G5 Air Force vs. Louisiana Tech
Montgomery Bowl ACC vs. American Pittsburgh vs. Tulsa
New Orleans Bowl C-USA vs. Sun Belt Marshall vs. Coastal Carolina
Boca Raton Bowl G5 vs. G5 Central Michigan vs. Charlotte
Idaho Potato Bowl MWC vs. MAC Boise State vs. Western Michigan
Myrtle Beach Bowl G5 vs. G5 Ohio vs. San Diego State
Las Vegas Bowl SEC vs. Pac-12 Arkansas vs. Washington
Frisco Bowl G5 vs. G5 UAB vs. Troy

A few notes for your perusal:

  • Did you notice the missing bowl?  I am guessing probably not.  The Pinstripe Bowl has been cancelled due to concerns over COVID-19 and I have a feeling it won’t be the last.
  • The tie-ins actually work better this year with the pandemic parameters (pandameters?).  Putting all the G5 teams into a pool after the conference tie-ins are satisfied and having all teams eligible makes it easier to fill in the bowls.  Now the chances of me being right have gone way down because of it but that’s a different conversation.
  • Army, as far as I know, is still the only team that has accepted a bowl bid.  They accepted it over a month ago.  I am not joking.
  • I still have no idea if the Las Vegas Bowl is being run.  The website says the 2020 Las Vegas Bowl will be run but it doesn’t mention a date.  So I will keep it in until I find out otheriwse.
  • I still don’t understand the idea of split tie-ins.  Just pick a conference and go with it.  Or have a pool of teams to pick from like they have done this year (and I hope they do in the future).  That would at least make more sense.  Then again, nothing much makes sense this year.

Other than those few items, not much to talk about specifically about the bowl projections.  A fair amount has changed in terms of what I am projecting but they aren’t wild changes.  That might change starting this coming weekend.  With only two weeks left in the regular season (kind of), much will happen over this time.  The problem is, with all teams bowl eligible, I can’t see many accepting bowl bids until conference championship weekend.

UPDATE:  The Sun Bowl, one of the longest running bowl games in college football, has been cancelled this year.  See what I mean?

Now I figured instead of doing the conference championship scenarios, I will look into potential scenarios of the future and what they would like in this crazy 2020 season (using the current AP poll rankings).

The five-team CFP

I have advocated for one more team to be added to the College Football Playoff instead of going to eight which is what many want.  What would that do this season?  This:

  • Peach Bowl (play-in game): #4 Clemson vs. #5 Texas A&M
  • Sugar Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. Clemson/TAMU winner
  • Rose Bowl: #2 Notre Dame vs. #3 Ohio State

I would dig this.  Doing the Peach Bowl on the opening day of bowl season would allow this to happen.  Now, other things would have to take place because the schedule is a fucking mess but if it had been set up properly, this could occur.  Ratings, baby!

The six-team CFP

Two teams added.  OK.  Let’s see how this could work out:

  • Orange Bowl: #3 Ohio State vs. #6 Florida
  • Peach Bowl: #4 Clemson vs. #5 Texas A&M
  • Sugar Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. lower-ranked winner from play-in weekend
  • Rose Bowl: #2 Notre Dame vs. higher-ranked winner from play-in weekend

Again, I could go for this for sure.  Is it adding a game for two teams possibly?  Yes.  There are ways around this for sure.  Like get rid of conference championships?  Oh wait, that’s money in the conference’s pockets.  Can’t do that.  And yes, I have ISU predicted at #6.

The eight-team CFP

This is what people want.  OK what would it look like for this season?

  • Peach Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #8 BYU
  • Fiesta Bowl: #2 Notre Dame vs. #7 Cincinnati
  • Orange Bowl: #3 Ohio State vs. #6 Florida
  • Cotton Bowl: #4 Clemson vs. #5 Texas A&M

I mean this gets Cincinnati and BYU in so that would be a plus.  I still kind of don’t like the idea of moving to eight teams but I know it will happen for the new CFP contract.

G-5 Playoffs

What if the Group of Five decided “Fuck it we are having our own tournament to crown a champion.”  They won’t but I could see a lot of people watching these games.  The quarter-finals would look like this:

  • Cincinnati vs. Buffalo
  • BYU vs. Liberty
  • Coastal Carolina vs. Tulsa
  • Marshall vs. Louisiana

I would watch the hell out of this, not going to lie.  Now I assume that, at least for the quarter-finals, the higher-ranked teams would play at home but who knows.

Alright that is it.  No more.  A seriously long post is complete.  Later this week I will try and piece together the college and pro schedules.  I think I have a better chance of herding squirrels.  Have a good week everyone!

Well this certainly makes things interesting – Week 9 College Football Recap

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Look I knew that Trevor Lawrence being out due to a positive COVID-19 test would be huge and would hamper Clemson’s offense a bit.  But man, I didn’t think the defense would be affected as much.  Clemson had to come back from 18 down to beat Boston College.  This does not bode well for next Saturday night’s game against Notre Dame where they will be without Lawrence again.  DJ Uiagalelei looks like the quarterback of the future but he will have to seriously step up to combat the Irish’s fairly stingy defense.  Makes thinks a lot more interesting next weekend for sure.

Alright let’s get to the final recap that doesn’t include Pac-12 After Dark or MACtion.  Things are really starting to heat up.  Let’s go!

Don’t write off Oklahoma just yet.  We knew the Sooners would have a bit of a tough road to even get to the Big XII Championship, let alone the New Year’s Six.  The losses to Kansas State and Iowa State definitely did not help.  I mean yes they didn’t lose by much and were competitive in both games.  But a loss is a loss and even in this pandemic year, two losses pretty much ruins a College Football Playoff opportunity.  As for the Red Raiders, who the Sooners destroyed, even with every team being bowl-eligible, I can’t see them being selected for one unless they win most of the rest of their games.

I think most of us thought Oklahoma State would win.  And, of course, I was one of them.  This game was all over the place but Texas was carrying things most of the way in the first half.  Problem was it didn’t lead to, well, a lead.  The Cowboys actually went up by 11 in the third.  Texas immediately started their comeback with a kickoff return for a touchdown and then a long drive in the fourth to take the lead.  The Pokes needed a field goal late in the fourth just to get to overtime.  But man, they looked awful in overtime.  Six plays that gained no yards.  Brutal.  This effectively eliminates the Big XII from the CFP picture…at Halloween.

Could Ohio State-Indiana become the pivotal Big Ten game of the season?  Don’t be surprised.  Indiana made sure that Rutgers didn’t get that Schiano magic once again (except for that eight-lateral touchdown that didn’t count that would have been one of the greatest touchdowns in college football history if it had counted).  The Buckeyes are still damn good as they showed in holding off a game Penn State team.  So this brings us to November 21st when the Buckeyes host the Hoosiers.  As of this point, this looks like the most important Big Ten game of the season by a country mile.  Are there any teams really close to these two?  You could argue Wisconsin could be but we haven’t seen much of them yet after their game against Nebraska was cancelled due to a ton of positive COVID tests within the Badgers team.  Other than that, nah.  Tom Allen should get a big raise if somehow he is able to coax a win over tOSU from his Indy squad.

Let’s talk about Atlantic Coast Conference contender, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  Brian Kelly has a damn good team in South Bend this season.  Well, the offense is good, not great, to be honest.  But the defense has been phenomenal and has mostly carried this team to a 6-0 record.  The Irish are solidly in the College Football Playoff conversation.  That will make a lot of people cringe due to their hatred of everything Notre Dame.  But really, they are two games against Clemson (probably) from being in the Final Four.  Georgia Tech is still improving…slowly.  It takes time to do what Geoff Collins is doing in Atlanta and it’s a good thing to see he is getting that time.

Yep, Cincinnati is still undefeated.  Not totally surprised but man have the Bearcats looked good this season.  Let’s be real here: the Bearcats being in the American Conference will probably make it so they are excluded from the CFP.  Saying that though, they are now #6 in the country.  If a few things happen to the teams above them then who knows?  Honestly, it’s not like the Bearcats have a tough schedule the rest of the way.  If they can mow down the opposition and look good doing it, they may not fall out of the Top 10 and may be close enough to sniff that rarified air of the College Football Playoff which would be a huge news story going into December.

Back to Big XII Upset Watch.  The other upset of the day in the Big XII came in Morgantown.  The West Virginia Mountaineers kept Kansas State from doing much of anything all day and ran away with a huge win.  This may have ruined KSU’s chances of getting to the Big XII Championship but considering the way the conference has been this year, who the fuck even knows anymore.  I am sure Drunk Uncle Dana was at his Red Bull-infused best during this one.

Well we know there will be a new champion.  Man has the bloom come off the rose quickly in Baton Rouge.  LSU got boatraced by Auburn in a game that was never close.  And it’s not like Auburn is great because they aren’t.  Bo Nix has been underwhelming this season and yet looked almost like Auburn Cam Newton in this one.  LSU’s defense couldn’t stop anything.  Again the SEC on CBS was a complete waste of time to watch.  Maybe it’s not a bad thing the contract will be going to another network in a few years.

Yes, a Mike Leach team didn’t score a point.  Yep, it looks like it took one game for the SEC to figure out the Air Raid.  Alabama toasted Mississippi State to the tune of 41-0.  And that’s with Bama only getting two touchdowns in the second half.  It feels like it was years ago when that massive win over LSU happened and it’s looking worse and worse every week…for both teams.  The Pirate is going to have to do something slightly different or it could be a long year in Starkville for the Bulldogs.

How about the crazy finish in Tulsa?  Or more like the refs robbing East Carolina?  Tulsa never led until their touchdown with 29 seconds left.  But it shouldn’t have even got to the point where the Golden Hurricane could take the lead.  It had looked like Tulsa’s T.K. Wilkerson fumbled with the Pirates recovering the ball, essentially ending the game.  Somehow the replay booth said Wilkerson recovered the ball when he hadn’t.  This allowed the drive to continue and for Tulsa to get the winning score.  My hope is that the replay official is at least suspended for that mistake since that cost ECU a victory.  Problem is, the officials almost never get punished.  And you wonder why people hate the refs.  There’s one reason why.

Is Georgia any good?  Like I honestly don’t know after this weekend’s horrible performance against Kentucky.  They won 14-3 but the Wildcats are a complete disaster on offense so it’s not like the UGA defense had a tough fight out there.  Stetson Bennett only threw 13 passes and had 2 interceptions.  A horrible day all around.  They should feel lucky to escape Lexington with a win.  With the Cocktail Party coming up, the Bulldogs have to be considered the easy underdog here (no pun intended).

Lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllet’s get ready to RUMBLE!  Oh man did you see that halftime brawl between Florida and Missouri?  Florida players were pretty upset at a non-call when Missouri defenders should have been called for roughing the quarterback.  Then Dan Mullen comes sprinting off the sideline at the officials, screaming his damn head off.  This gets some of the players involved and then the fists starting flying.  For football, it was quite the brawl.  Then, as heads into the tunnel for halftime, Mullen acts like a babyface wrestler riling up the crowd.  So fucking hilarious.  I’m not saying we need more brawls in football because we definitely don’t.  But Mullen to me is a great personality and we need more coaches and players showing personality (without getting violent of course.

Well the Tar Heels to the College Football Playoff train just crashed into a wall.  Many of us wondered if the loss to Florida State was just a speedbump on North Carolina’s season.  Well, maybe that wasn’t the case.  Virginia’s win over the Heels means UNC’s chances at the College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six…hell, the ACC Championship game are pretty much gone.  Don’t get me wrong: I still expect Mack Brown to get this team to seven or eight wins this year.  Which is a step in the right direction.  But they are obviously still a year away from truly contending.

Alright, enough recappin’.  Let’s get to the Bossman Top 25!

#1 Clemson
#2 Alabama
#3 Ohio State
#4 Notre Dame
#5 Cincinnati
#6 Georgia
#7 Florida
#8 Miami
#9 BYU
#10 Texas A&M
#11 Wisconsin
#12 Oklahoma State
#13 Oregon
#14 Coastal Carolina
#15 Marshall
#16 SMU
#17 Indiana
#18 Iowa State
#19 Oklahoma
#20 USC
#21 Michigan
#22 Auburn
#23 Louisiana
#24 North Carolina
#25 Boise State

Yes I have Alabama at #2.  They have looked really good but compared to Clemson I don’t think they measure up…yet.  Cincinnati is at #5 but we know what their schedule is like so this might end up being their peak ranking.  The first CFP Rankings don’t come out for over three weeks due to this season being a bit of a mess.  There is a possibility Cincinnati is barely in the Top 10 at that point even if they are undefeated.  It’s just the way things are unfortunately.  This is mostly because the Pac-12 starts their season (finally) this coming week and expect teams to move up the rankings rapidly if they do well.  With the Big XII already a shitshow, there could be room for a Pac-12 champ in there if a few things happen above them.  But there will have to be an undefeated season in there first.  Without that, there is no possible way, in my opinion, that a Pac-12 team gets into the CFP.  As for BYU I have them at #9 and the AP Poll has them the same and I feel that their ceiling is #12 or #13 unless a lot of chaos happens.  This is due to their quite weak schedule which is an unfortunate byproduct of the pandemic.

Football.  Every.  Day.  That’s right.  Every day between Wednesday and the day before American Thanksgiving.  And that day is the only day off between now and the end of November.  Let’s drink it in and enjoy this!  Saying that we are a little late to the party but we know what starts Wednesday night: MACtion Baby!  If it wasn’t for the American election it would have started Tuesday night but hey, good things come to those who wait, right?  Have a great week everyone.

The Big XII: A big toilet bowl of college football diarrhea – Week 4 College Football Recap

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I am not putting a picture of diarrhea here OK?  I think that would be in bad taste…even for me.

The Big XII is quite awful.  I am trying to be nice here.  I mean it’s bad.  The American is light years ahead of them.  Hell I would put the Pac-12 ahead of them and they won’t be playing for another month.  Should I recap what happened?  Yeah why not.  Here we go:

  • Oklahoma held a 21-point lead on Kansas State.  Things seemed to be going swimmingly.  Spencer Rattler was having a great day.  Then Oklahoma’s defense remembered they were Oklahoma’s defense and shit the bed in a major way.  K-State came all the way back and beat the Sooners.  Are the Wildcats great? No, they are not.  They are quite good.  But Oklahoma is supposed to be the class of the conference.  To do this.  Ugh.  They may actually be shut out of the College Football Playoff this year.  Now who is the SEC supposed to boatrace in the semi-finals?
  • Texas looked like they were done.  Texas Tech went up 15 with very little time left.  Texas scores, recovers the onside kick (maybe the Red Raiders accidentally watched Falcons’ tape of how to recover an onside kick) and the Longhorns scored again, got the 2, went to overtime and scored the only touchdown.  63-56.  Yeesh.  Again, no defense.  It’s like arena football.  Fun to watch but also pathetically hilarious.
  • Brock Purdy threw one of the worst pick-sixes in college football history, yet somehow the Cyclones were able to beat TCU.  If you haven’t seen it, check it out.  It’s awful.
  • Oklahoma State again looked pedestrian, this time against West Virginia.  I don’t know what’s up with their offense but it’s just not that good.  And they have Chuba Hubbard so I don’t get it.
  • Baylor beat Kansas.  Whatever.

So yeah, the Big XII better pick things up before the Big Ten and Pac-12 start play or they will be already out of contention by the time November comes.  Now some recaps of my predictions.  Oh this should be fun.  And by fun, I mean brutal.

Week 4 Prediction Recap Time!

UAB at South Alabama:  Only one game.  Not good.

And it wasn’t.  This game was over early.  But the pro Jags were playing just as bad as the college Jags.  There were no happy Jags this night.

Middle Tennessee at UTSA:  Anyway, UTSA has to be considered the favourite here.  Again, I am not joking.

And I wasn’t.  And the Roadrunners proved me right.  Yes it wasn’t an easy go of it but they held off the Blue Raiders to go to 3-0.  First 3-0 of the season.  UTSA.  Yeah.  I love it.

#13 UCF at East Carolina:  Oh yeah, UCF-ECU on ABC might be the most bizarre change to a college football schedule ever.

This was so true.  Never has a game gone from ESPN+ to ABC.  It was the only game that could be put there unless you moved a game off of ESPN2 there since the SEC was on ESPN and they can’t be on ABC (at this point).  And yeah, I barely watched any of it since it was an easy win for the Knights.

Mississippi State at #6 LSU:  Mississippi State might now have Mike Leach but I don’t think they have the quarterback to run a Mike Leach offense.

Could I have been more wrong?  K.J. Costello just went out and broke the SEC record for passing yards in a game.  Over 600.  Those are Big XII numbers.  And the Bulldogs upset LSU.  I am thinking the SEC will have to watch out for this team despite the fact LSU isn’t the LSU of last year.

Florida State at #12 Miami:  And after FSU’s loss to Georgia Tech, it doesn’t feel like their game against The U will be close either.  So by halftime you may be looking for something else to watch.

Oh yes.  Let’s look at the halftime score: Miami 38 Florida State 3.  I am sure ABC had to be so pleased with this.  What an absolutely terrible choice for the ABC Primetime game.  Let’s hope Fowler and Herbstreit get some better games to call as the season goes on.  They should once we get close to Halloween as the rest of the conferences will finally begin play.

Troy at #18 BYU:  Seriously though this should be a good game and we will find out if BYU is seriously for real.

No this was not a good game at all.  And BYU is very much for real.

Other games I didn’t mention above

#4 Georgia at Arkansas:  Man I was really worried here for a bit.  The halftime score was 7-5…for the Razorbacks.  Actually worried is the wrong word: excited is a better word.  To start the SEC season with an upset like that would have been massive (although the upset we got was something).  Instead, the Dawgs pulled away and I still assume the Hogs will not be good at all.  Like zero wins not good.

#24 Louisville at #21 Pittsburgh:  What a big early season ACC matchup that was overshadowed by the first big timeslot of the season.  Pitt’s defense is something to behold and they may have a say in at least who gets to the ACC Championship as I still don’t see them being a Top 2 team in the conference but you never know.

#22 Army at#14 Cincinnati:  This never felt close, despite the final score.  The Bearcats looked the real deal and was even able to use the option effectively against Army’s defense.  All around great performance.

Tulane at Southern Miss:  Tulane put up 66 points against the Golden Eagles.  This is going to be a long season in Hattiesburg as I think the Jay Hopson resignation/firing is just the tip of the iceberg here.

UTEP at ULM:  UTEP is 3-1.  UTEP.  No this is not a joke.  Not saying they’ve played some amazing talent but Dana Dimel may have done the most incredible coaching job in college football so far this season.

Texas State at Boston College:  Texas State had the Eagles dead to rights.  And then they allowed BC to score 10 late points to pull out the home opener.  The Bobcats might be the most unlucky team in college football right now.  They lost to undefeated (yes, undefeated) UTSA in overtime and to SMU by a touchdown.  Now this.  One of these times they will close a team out and it may be an upset.

Tennessee at South Carolina:  It felt like no one wanted to really win this one.  No other way to put it.  Lucky for the Vols, a late Gamecock muffed punt return allowed them to close out their seventh straight victory.  Oh yes, one of the longest winning streaks in college football belongs to Rocky Top.  College football, everyone!

No rankings again.  I am strongly considering including them next week for the recap but I’ll see.

So that was a great college football Saturday.  Every week is better than the previous one.  Let’s hope it keeps up.  Have a great week everyone!

This continues to be a gongshow – Week 4 College Football TV Schedule

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So here we go again with more cancellations/postponements.  I think we need to expect this pretty much all season.  The Coronavirus is not going away any time soon.  And football is a contact sport so expect at least a few positive tests every week.  Saying that, when you have a position that you can’t even have a two-deep at, that’s troubling considering how many players are technically on a college football team.  The recap of issues from Week 4:

  • USF-Florida Atlantic has been postponed.
  • North Texas-Houston has been postponed.
  • Tulsa-Arkansas State has been outright cancelled.
  • Notre Dame-Wake Forest has been postponed to December 12th.

It wouldn’t surprise me to hear, in the next 24 hours, that there is another postponement.  I mean I do this on the side but I can’t imagine people who follow college football for a living trying to piece together schedules, predictions, bowl game projections, etc.  If I had any hair on my head I’d pull it out.

So after three weeks of, well, what we saw, we finally get some really good college football this week.  The SEC returns this week!  You can love or hate the SEC but you have to admit that it’s still the top conference in college football.  So having them back is a huge plus and makes this college football Saturday that much more exciting.  Now will it end up being an amazing weekend?  We have to watch the games to find out.  That’s part of the fun of college football because you just never know.  Let’s get to the schedule!

Thursday

US Canada
UAB at South Alabama 7:30 PM

Only one game.  Not good.  What is good?  UAB is still the Conference USA favourite and South Alabama is much improved since last year in the suddenly difficult Sun Belt.  And no I’m not joking.  Remember, it’s also mid-week college football and that is good.  Especially if the Thursday Night Football game is awful.  Which, lo and behold, it is.  I know people go apeshit over the NFL (and fine I do too at times) but it’s the Dolphins and the Jags.  Hell, the college football Jags will be more fun to watch I think than the pro Jags.

Friday

US Canada
Middle Tennessee at UTSA 8:00 PM

Only one game on Friday as well.  And if you’re a CBS Sports Network fan, it’s their only game of the entire weekend.  When they don’t have an Army or Navy home game this season, there won’t be much to air I don’t think.  Especially with all the conferences getting more opportunities on bigger networks.  Anyway, UTSA has to be considered the favourite here.  Again, I am not joking.  College football is messed this year and I am kind of enjoying it, not gonna lie.  Now let’s hope for some 2007 shenanigans and it will be the most talked about college football season ever.

Saturday Early

US Canada
#13 UCF at East Carolina Noon
#24 Louisville at #21 Pittsburgh Noon
#5 Florida at Ole Miss Noon
Georgia Southern at #19 Louisiana Noon
Kansas State at #3 Oklahoma Noon
#23 Kentucky at #8 Auburn Noon

We are now at the beginning of the annual TSN step-up when it comes to airing college football games.  Kind of.  With no CFL, there is no real reason why there shouldn’t be a bunch of games on TSN channels this year but we shall see.  In terms of this specific timeslot, it is, so far, the best timeslot of the season so far.  Every game we can see up here has at least one ranked team in it.  And you will notice TSN2 should have issues this day since they will jump from ESPN2 here to ABC in the next timeslot to ESPN in the final two timeslots.  Why don’t they just stay with one American network all day?  Nope, gotta make it more difficult because reasons.  Oh yeah, UCF-ECU on ABC might be the most bizarre change to a college football schedule ever.  Basically it’s the only Noon game that could be moved there.  Pirate fans must be pleased.  Funny story about East Carolina: years ago there was a possibility myself and my family would have been moving to Greenville, North Carolina, home of the East Carolina Pirates.  I dreamed of being a season ticket holder there.  Alas, it was not to be.  And considering the way the team has been for almost a decade, maybe not a bad thing.

Saturday Afternoon

US Canada
West Virginia at #15 Oklahoma State 3:30 PM
Mississippi State at #6 LSU 3:30 PM
#8 Texas at Texas Tech 3:30 PM

Notice something here?  Yeah, no specialty pack games.  I will get to that later on in this post.  But CBS finally returns with SEC football!  And it’s a pretty big one to start with Mississippi State travelling to Baton Rouge to face the defending national champs.  The other two games could provide some intrigue as well only because we are early in the schedule and in OSU’s case, the team doesn’t look nearly as good as many people (myself included) thought they’d be.

Saturday Primetime

US Canada
#2 Alabama at Missouri 7:00 PM
Florida State at #12 Miami 7:30 PM

Oh man.  This is just…meh.  Bama is obviously way superior to Mizzou.  And after FSU’s loss to Georgia Tech, it doesn’t feel like their game against The U will be close either.  So by halftime you may be looking for something else to watch.

Saturday Late Night

US Canada
Troy at #18 BYU 10:15 PM

Mormon After Dark!  Seriously though this should be a good game and we will find out if BYU is seriously for real.  Because if they are, the rest of their schedule might be a cakewalk.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Kentucky at Auburn (Noon, TSN1) – This could end up being a great game as both teams have a lot on the line here.  Both teams are ranked and both are in their divisional race at the start.  Not saying either team is CFP-worthy but with an upset or two, either team could be in the New Year’s Six which would be big for the Tigers and MASSIVE for the Wildcats.  Funny how this game is not on CBS but I am sure they had to have the defending national champions be the first team on the SEC on CBS for 2020.

Army at Cincinnati (3:30, ESPN but not here) – So normally this game would be on the specialty pack.  Stay tuned for that horseshit.  Anyway, the Group of Five favourite Bearcats face Army who could be headed for a special season of their own face off, I think for the first time since Army’s ill-fated Conference USA run.  The loser may struggle to get anything during bowl season.  The winner here continues their early hot run before the Big Ten ruins the AP rankings.

Georgia Southern at Louisiana (Noon, TSN2) – Fun Belt Time!  The Ragin Cajuns!  The option offense!  This conference is fun and now everyone gets to see it way more often.  Louisiana continues their run to try and be the first Sun Belt team in the NY6.  The Eagles, however, are known as spoilers in this conference.  Just ask Appalachian State.  Could low-key be the best game of the early timeslot.

Mississippi State at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Nope, the first game on the SEC on CBS (and the first one to be called by our pals Brad and Gary) is not the game of the week.  Yes, it has LSU but they lost damn near everyone on offense it feels like.  Mississippi State might now have Mike Leach but I don’t think they have the quarterback to run a Mike Leach offense.  So this could be a really weird one.  I mean I expect LSU to win but I don’t like the chances of either team this season to make some real noise.

West Virginia at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I would love to say this is your PEW! PEW! PEW! matchup of the week.  But after what happened last week with the Pokes I don’t know anymore.  This could team could be the worst Top 15 team in September not named Michigan or Florida State in a long time.  And it’s bizarre considering they have Mike Gundy, an offensive guru and former star quarterback in Stillwater, at the helm.  Don’t count out the Mountaineers here as they could shock a lot of people in Neal Brown’s second year in Morgantown.  Now watch them combine for over a hundo and make me look like an idiot.

Honourable mention: Louisville at Pittsburgh (Noon, TSN5); Florida State at Miami (7:30, ABC); Troy at BYU (10:15, TSN2)

Some gambling fun and games

A couple games didn’t happen and the rest I didn’t do too well on.  Yes I picked Louisville (ugh). Yes I picked Appalachian State (double ugh).  Yes I picked Tulane…ok enough of this let’s just get on to the fucking picks this week alright?

Florida over Ole Miss

Florida State over Miami (yes a huge upset)

Texas over Texas Tech

UAB over South Alabama

LSU over Mississippi State

Louisiana over Georgia Southern

Oklahoma State over West Virginia

Pittsburgh over Louisville

Cincinnati over Army

BYU over Troy

Auburn over Kentucky

OK so now the story of the specialty packs.  Last week I received a message from Rogers saying they would not be airing college football games on the Super Sports Pack.  Reader Gordo had a great take on this saying that because all the sports seasons have been shifted, nothing would be on the Super Sports Pack starting in October except for college football.  And with it being, unfortunately for us, the least popular of the Super Sports Pack sports (yeah I don’t get it either), Rogers probably decided it made no sense to put effort or money into putting these games on there.  Their thought probably is that TSN will show anywhere from one to three more games per week than they did last season.  Whether that happens we don’t know.  I assume the other cable companies with these specialty packs are doing the same and that is the reason.  This is awful for college football fans in Canada.  Pair this with FloSports not showing FS1 games means that Canadians get less games now than they have in over a decade.  And they wonder why people go to other means to get their college football fix.  I hope with the Big Ten planning their return in late October that this decision will be reversed for November but for now it looks grim.

Anyway, there is also a Thursday Night Football game.  And it’s……………….the Dolphins and the Jags.  Good lord.  Saying that, I hope one of the quarterbacks, let’s say Gardner Minshew because he is fun, to go off and throw for like 400 yards tonight.  I honestly think this is the time where they should have an open bar for the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for TNF.  Call it a Hall of Fame celebration for Buck, I don’t care.  It could be the most entertaining game of the year if they allow two drunk commentators just say whatever the fuck they feel like.  Anyway, enjoy the games everyone.

It just means more….cupcake games! – Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

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Yep it’s “that” week of the college football season. SEC Sleepwalk Saturday.  I hate this.  I am of the opinion that these types of games should be restricted to September and October. And what I mean by this is the FBS vs. FCS games. Don’t get me wrong, I know upsets can happen but other than bad SEC teams being beaten, this never happens with the better SEC teams.  It would be pretty crazy to see The Citadel beat Bama this weekend.  I mean we all know it’s not going to happen but I can dream.  And I get the argument that most teams play cupcake games during the season but college football is entertainment.  So it should be entertaining.  Watching these kinds of games late in the season when College Football Playoff rankings and division titles and things of that nature are in play doesn’t feel as entertaining as it should be.  (Full disclosure: I know this happens with a few other Power Five teams as well but the SEC has made an artform of it).

Now let’s go to the schedule.  You will see what I mean.  It’s pretty bad.  I mean it’s still college football.  But a lesser version of a normal college football week.

Thursday

US Canada
Toledo at Kent State 6:00 PM
Tulane at Houston 8:00 PM
Florida Atlantic at North Texas 9:30 PM

It starts with this.  Now this could be considered interesting because Tulane and Houston are tied at the top of the AAC West.  SMU is the other team tied with them and Memphis is just a game behind all three.  So maybe instead of looking at what games are good from a College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six perspective, I should be looking at divisional matchups that could end up being huge when it comes to conference championship week.  I mean I am becoming less and less a fan of divisions but they are still important at this point.

Friday

US Canada
#25 Boise State at New Mexico 9:00 PM
Memphis at SMU 9:00 PM

Hey there’s SMU and Memphis who I mentioned above.  So this is also an important game.  Boise will most likely mop the floor with New Mexico so you can probably focus on the game on the specialty pack.

Saturday Early

US Canada
#10 Ohio State at Maryland Noon
Michigan State at Nebraska Noon
Arkansas at #21 Mississippi State Noon
Colgate at Army Noon
#14 Penn State at Rutgers Noon
#22 Northwestern at Minnesota Noon
Harvard at Yale Noon
Idaho at #13 Florida Noon
Middle Tennessee at #17 Kentucky Noon
The Citadel at #1 Alabama Noon
Pittsburgh at Wake Forest Noon
NC State at Louisville 12:30 PM

A lot of games here.  Like a ton for any timeslot ever.  Are there any important games?  I hate to say it but Pitt-Wake might be super important since a Pitt loss keeps Virginia alive in the ACC Coastal race.  Most everything else is meh.  I will watch it and hopefully get a couple fantastic finishes in there.  Also, TSN2 has a quadrupleheader today so that’s a good thing!  Also, you will notice Harvard and Yale are on ESPN2 here.  Yes, that’s not a misprint.  That is how bad this schedule is that they can just put this game on one of their major networks.

Saturday Afternoon

US Canada
#12 Syracuse vs. #3 Notre Dame (in The Bronx) 2:30 PM
#9 West Virginia at Oklahoma State 3:30 PM
Missouri at Tennessee 3:30 PM
USC at UCLA 3:30 PM
Miami at Virginia Tech 3:30 PM
Tulsa at Navy 3:30 PM
Wisconsin at Purdue 3:30 PM
Iowa at Illinois 3:30 PM
#20 Boston College at Florida State 3:30 PM
Texas Tech at Kansas State 3:30 PM
Virginia at Georgia Tech 3:30 PM
UMass at #5 Georgia 4:00 PM
Liberty at Auburn 4:00 PM

OK I guess the positive side of looking at this is the sheer number of games you can watch. That’s a plus no?  The easy game of the week is at Yankee Stadium but WVU-OKSt could be quite the PEW! PEW! game.  I sincerely hope Mizzou-UT is a good game or else Brad Nessler might just commit seppuku in the booth.

Saturday Primetime

US Canada
Duke at #2 Clemson 7:00 PM
UConn at East Carolina 7:00 PM
UAB at Texas A&M 7:00 PM
Kansas at #6 Oklahoma 7:30 PM
UTEP at Western Kentucky 7:30 PM
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt 7:30 PM
Chattanooga at South Carolina 7:30 PM
Rice at #7 LSU 7:30 PM
#24 Cincinnati at #11 UCF 8:00 PM

Ho boy.  Well at least the American conference gets the ABC primetime slot for once.  That’s a nice twist.  I mean it helps that almost nothing else is good that ABC/ESPN could contractually get (I say contractually because of the Notre Dame/NBC pairing above).  Duke-Clemson could be interesting.  But the sheer fact that CBS Sports Network, which normally has decent games, has UConn-ECU in their primetime slot.  Good lord.  Oh and look who gets primetime again.  Welcome back Kansas.  It would be fun if they upset the Sooners now that David Beaty is fired and just coaching out the string.

Saturday Late Night

US Canada
New Mexico State at BYU 10:15 PM
Arizona at #8 Washington State 10:30 PM
San Diego State at Fresno State 10:30 PM

Another reminder how mediocre this week is: New Mexico State is on ESPN2.  And it’s not Week Zero.  Arizona could give Wazzu fits but it is in Pullman where it should be about 20 below zero so the Cougs should win.  SDSU-FSU might be one of the better games all day.  Looks like I have to stay up and watch all these and not nod off on the couch or slump in my office chair because I can’t keep my eyes from fighting gravity and fatigue.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Syracuse vs. Notre Dame (in the Bronx) (2:30, NBC) – I don’t even remember the last time Syracuse was in the game of the week.  I mean never on my blog but even before that.  I guess you have to go back to the days of Dick McPherson and the Orangemen of the late-80s.  The Cuse could put themselves firmly in a New Year’s Six bowl spot with a win here where as the Golden Domers have their final test here (since USC shouldn’t be that tough an out). Win this one and Brian Kelly has his team in the College Football Playoff, almost guaranteed.

Cincinnati at UCF (8:00, ABC) – So the American conference finally gets the ABC primetime slot all to themselves.  Not sharing it with another Power Five team: all to themselves.  And it’s a good game.  But the fact this is the second-best game of the week shows how lowly rated this week would be versus all of the other weeks in the schedule (except Week Zero of course).  Saying all that, a Cincinnati win puts the entire Group of Five into a spot of chaos.  Then there will not be a single undefeated G-5 team.  Also, UCF would most likely fall below Utah State and possibly Boise State and Cincinnati in the CFP rankings.  Utah State in the Fiesta Bowl?  I kind of wish this happens since it would be the most un-P5 team ever to play in a New Year’s Six/BCS bowl.

Iowa State at Texas (8:00, Longhorn Network) – Jesus Christ.  The fucking Longhorn Network?  Hell, most Americans don’t get that.  The Longhorn Network, if you hadn’t heard of it before, is a steroid-riddled version of those Big XII school “networks” that air one game a year, usually against an FCS opponent or a poverty version of the SEC/Big Ten/Pac-12/soon-to-be-ACC Network that centres around everything University of Texas at Austin.  The Longhorns, like every other Big XII school, gets one game to air on their own network.  Usually it’s a game that wouldn’t make a better channel anyway.  LHN is allowed to take more games but they count towards the Big XII’s ESPN commitment.  So chances are this is a way to try to bump the amount of people who don’t have the Longhorn Network but would want it because “Hey this is a pretty good game, let’s see what the rest of the network is like.”  It’s too bad for all of us since this could be a huge game and technically it might end up being a Big XII elimination game.

Duke at Clemson (7:00, TSN2) – Still nothing on the specialty pack.  Nice.  Duke gets no respect from The Committee.  It’s kind of like that with the ACC as a whole but I find it with a team like Duke a lot more.  Perception means a lot.  It’s why Washington State may have hit their ceiling unless teams above them lose.  This could be a close game.  Could be.  It is David Cutcliffe after all and he seems to be a coaching genius.  A Duke win eliminates the ACC from the College Football Playoff I think.  A Clemson win probably assures that they will be there with South Carolina and probably Pitt on the horizon left.

West Virginia at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC) – It seriously falls off a cliff after the first four games.  I picked this one because a) the Mountaineers are in the thick of the Big XII Championship race and b) there should be a lot of points scored.  Other than that it’s not a whole lot different than probably the next best ten games.

Honourable mention: Arizona at Washington State (10:30, TSN2); Ohio State at Maryland (Noon, ABC); Utah at Colorado (1:30, Pac-12 Network)

Some gambling fun and games

Go back and take a look at my picks last week. LOOK AT THEM! Man I was good. Except for Iowa and USC.  Oh and USF.  OK maybe I was just OK last week.  Mediocre even.  I could never advertise my picks on one of those old late-night shows they used to do.  Remember those?  God they were sleazy.  Anyway, here are this week’s picks:

UCF over Cincinnati

Notre Dame over Syracuse

Oklahoma State over West Virginia (UPSET!)

Texas over Iowa State

Ohio State over Maryland

Clemson over Duke

Washington State over Arizona

Utah over Colorado

Fresno State over San Diego State

Texas A&M over UAB (although I think it will be closer than many people want to believe)

North Texas over Florida Atlantic

The guides are mostly up.  The FSN-ACC games aren’t showing up yet but considering what has happened all season, I am sure they will.  I am sure the weekend will have a couple of upsets and some craziness.  It’s college football.  And I do love watching it.  And I will watch it this weekend.  But I am not going to say it’s a great week on paper because it’s not.

UPDATE: The FSN regional games are appearing on the guide.

The Thursday Night Football affair will be Green Bay against Seattle.  OK not too bad.  Not great but I remember the days of old (like two years ago) when most of the games were garbage.  And in other NFL news, they have moved the Monday Night Football game from Mexico City back to Los Angeles due to the bad field conditions at Estadio Azteca.  I do find it a bit interesting they are moving it because of that.  I mean, yes, the field conditions are bad.  But they still play games in Oakland and Washington and their fields are terrible too.  The Oakland problem is being rectified by leaving the area entirely but the Washington situation perplexes me.  Anyway, bad news for people who were traveling to Mexico for this game and good news for Los Angeles residents who now have an extra game to go to.  It’s a 5:20 start locally though so I can see the stands being relatively empty through the first quarter.

I may have to actually use the PVR this weekend.  Crazy I know.  At least I am not using it to the extent I used to use it.  That got insane.  Plus I started to hate watching games well into Sunday.  Not saying football weekends are super productive for me but sometimes I have to make the call and say I love college football…but there is a limit.  Anyway, enjoy the games everyone!