Bowl Recap #5 – Sponsored by Going 6 for 6

No, that’s not 30 for 30’s younger, dumber brother. It refers to the fact that, for the most part, the New Year’s Six bowls went six for six for being horrible.  Not a single one of the bowls had much drama at all.  You could say Florida State kept it relatively close with Houston and there was a bit of drama during the Fiesta Bowl but other than that it was relatively unwatchable football.  And this is coming from a guy who watches as much college football as he can.  Alright, let’s get to the recap starting with the College Football Playoff semi-finals:

ORANGE BOWL – Clemson 37 Oklahoma 17

So many complained that this game started at 4 on New Year’s Eve because many people were working that day. Understandable I guess.  Yet many of those same people didn’t complain that the other semi-final was on from 8 until midnight on New Year’s Eve.  Makes no sense to me.  Anyway, this bowl was the closer of the two semi-finals.  It was the Clemson D that stepped up in this one.  Mayfield, Perine, Shepard, et al just couldn’t do much.  Also, Deshaun Watson showed why he was a Heisman finalist.  Which leads us to the other semi-final…

COTTON BOWL – Alabama 38 Michigan State 0

Good lord this wasn’t even close. It did allow the Twitterverse to go crazy saying Sparty didn’t belong in the College Football Playoff at all.  Hindsight is 20-20 but it’s also annoying and sometimes very wrong.  Who knew Jake Coker would have the game of his life?  Who knew Connor Cook would have the worst game of his life?  Who knew Alabama’s defense would be that good?  OK I’ll give you that last one.  Bama has all the momentum going into the national championship now.

Now the other New Year’s Six bowls which weren’t a whole lot better:

PEACH BOWL – Houston 38 Florida State 24

Arguably the closest of the NY6 bowls. Terrible.  However it did show that Houston, much like Boise State in years past, is a cut above most of the rest of the Group of Five teams.  Not having Everett Golson or, really, a healthy Sean Maguire didn’t help the Noles in this one.  Honestly though they looked sloppy.  It’s like the put it all on the field against Florida so they could destroy their rivals and had nothing left for this one.

FIESTA BOWL – Ohio State 44 Notre Dame 28

Ugh, the targeting penalty rears its ugly head again. Joey Bosa’s Ohio State career ends on a targeting call that is technically correct but kind of goes against the spirit of the rule.  There were at least six other instances where targeting should have been called and never was in the past few days.  That has to be the NCAA’s number one priority in the offseason: getting the targeting call correct and locking down when it should be called.  I get that it’s still referee’s discretion but the variation on when it’s called is ridiculous.  I feel bad for the kid since there’s a possibility he will end up on the Browns next season.  Oh, as for the game, despite the fact the Irish acted like a rash that wouldn’t quite go away, tOSU seemed to be in control the entire time.  NEXT!

ROSE BOWL – Stanford 45 Iowa 16

This was also known as the McCaffrey Bowl since he was the single most dominating player on that field (as he was in a few other games during the season). He scored a touchdown a mere eleven seconds in and that ended up being a prelude to one of the greatest performances in bowl game history.  His 368 all-purpose yards broke the Rose Bowl record and he put the stake in the ground as the 2016 Heisman early frontrunner.  Iowa was never in this one and this seemed like more of a beatdown than what their Big Ten brethren Michigan State suffered the previous day.  I hope this, for now, shows people why a four-team playoff is better than an eight-team playoff.  As much as people said Stanford and Ohio State were reasons for playoff expansion, Iowa and Notre Dame showed that it shouldn’t be since they would have been two of the eight teams vying for the title.  Moving on…

SUGAR BOWL – Ole Miss 48 Oklahoma State 20

At this point I got fed up. Once Laquon Treadwell caught his third touchdown pass in the second quarter I put the rest of the game on the PVR (we will get to that in a later bowl recap).  I had had it with the New Year’s Six.  What a set of horrible games.  So New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and (to a lesser extent) American Thanksgiving Saturday, the three biggest college football days of any season, were pretty shitty.  Not impressed as a college football fan.  I was right to check the game on the PVR later to see that, um, yes Ole Miss destroyed the Cowboys.

OK enough of these bowls, let’s get to the rest of the bowls from New Year’s Day and yesterday:

OUTBACK BOWL – Tennessee 45 Northwestern 6

Your 2016 SEC East Champion Tennessee Volunteers…is what many will now say for the next eight months. Don’t get me wrong, the Vols made Northwestern their bitch in this one but one game does not a champion make.  I will say this: Tennessee is set up well for the next season but more so for the fact that the rest of the SEC East doesn’t look too hot right now so really it’s an open competition (except for you Vanderbilt).  I assume this bowl game lost many viewers pretty early on.  That’s the con of a New Year’s Day bowl when other bowl games are on.

CITRUS BOWL – Michigan 41 Florida 7

See what I mean about the SEC East? Let’s be honest, the Gators overperformed this season.  They didn’t have the players to be a true CFP contender yet somehow they came within one poor game in the SEC Championship of going to a New Year’s Six bowl game.  They were exposed here by a good Michigan team that was probably one horrifically bad last-second play from also being in the New Year’s Six.  Jim Harbaugh has the Wolverines going in the right direction and Florida fans hope Jim Bob McElwain is doing the same in Gainesville.  Again, another bowl that lost plenty of viewers due to the game being basically over in the early third quarter.

TAXSLAYER BOWL – Georgia 24 Penn State 17

Hey a bowl game that was actually somewhat close. Saying that, the Dawgs had a 24-3 lead before the non-Hackenberg Nittany Lions made a comeback.  Christian Hackenberg is smart to declare for the NFL Draft despite the fact he won’t be a first round pick.  The one thing that kept Penn State from a better season was that brutal offensive line.  I wouldn’t want to play behind those guys another season knowing there’s a decent payday awaiting you instead.  Also, this game felt weird with no Mark Richt involved.

LIBERTY BOWL – Arkansas 45 Kansas State 23

I took a break from watching football (I know, insane right?) for the last quarter-and-a-half of this one. I was starting to get worn out from the craptastic games I had seen.  Yes, we get it, the SEC West is awesome, all hail the SEC West, whatever.  KSU making a bowl game was a miracle in and of itself and if my proposal would go through, we would never see teams like this in postseason play again.

ALAMO BOWL – TCU 47 Oregon 41 (3OT)

It feels like all the excitement that we could have had in all the bowls were concentrated here. And I nearly missed it.  Once Oregon went up 28-0, I put the game on the PVR (much like the Sugar Bowl) and stopped watching.  What I missed was Vernon Adams getting injured and Gary Patterson feeling the POWER OF THE PURPLE SHIRT.  Bram Kohlhausen’s only career start at TCU ended up being legendary as TCU came back from 31 down to tie the game.  I decided, for some reason, to turn it back on to see what was going on with it with about 3 minutes left in the game.  I was astounded at what the score was.  The Horned Frogs would end up winning in triple overtime, sending Phil Knight into shock and making Ducks fans wonder which of their ten million uniform combinations would have been the right one to wear in hindsight.

CACTUS BOWL – West Virginia 43 Arizona State 42

I put this one on the PVR, watched the first half, and went to bed. I put in a four-hour window just to be safe.  Yeah, not even close.  By the time the recording ended there was still seven minutes left to play.  Why are some of these games so damn long.  Now I am worried that the national championship will be six hours and I will be exhausted the next day at work.  Worst part is this was a great game and I missed the end.  Don’t know who to complain to but I am going to complain anyways.  No wonder the Pac-12 doesn’t want too many late-night games considering I stayed up until 2 (if not later) on too many Saturday nights to count (it was probably like seven of them).  What an interesting way to finish watching bowl season.

One game left and it’s for all the marbles. Clemson will face Alabama for the national championship and now Dabo Swinney can use the underdog tag properly since they will definitely be one for this game (as of right now it’s Alabama favoured by 7).  Also, the FCS title game kicks off at noon on Saturday if you’re interested (and have the specialty pack).  College football season is almost over folks and I type that with a bit of a tear in my eye.  Enjoy the national championship (and the NFL games today).

Week 11 College Football Recap – Sponsored by the Smack-12

As in smacked into irrelevance. The poor Pac-12. They were still holding on for dear life, hoping among hope that the dominoes fell into place and they could put a team in the College Football Playoff. Well, for starters, they had to have Stanford and Utah win their games on Saturday. At least one of them would do it and both were favourites so everything should be alright going into Week 12 correct? Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso would be so proud). Stanford has to comeback against Oregon, only to fall short on a two-point conversion gone wrong. So now it was up to Utah. They were facing Arizona. No problem right? Well the Fighting RichRods decided to put the final nail in the Pac-12 coffin by beating the Utes in overtime. Better luck next year I guess.

Rest of the Fun-Time Recap

That was closer than it should have been. Two games fit this sentence. Clemson struggled with a pretty bad Syracuse team. You have to wonder if the Carrier Dome noise got to the Tigers but they can’t afford to look like this the last two weeks of the season going into the ACC Championship. As for Oklahoma State they got an even bigger scare. They didn’t take the lead on Iowa State until 3:06 was left in the fourth quarter. Memories of 2011 were flooding Ames on Saturday as many thought it was going to be deja-vu all over again. Fortunately for the Pokes they were able to barely pull this one out as they now head home to Stillwater to face Baylor in another huge Big XII showdown. Yeah this back-loaded schedule is working out perfectly. Speaking of the Big XII…

Don’t count Baylor out yet and don’t count Oklahoma in yet. Two things happen with this obviously back-loaded Big XII sked: 1) It allows teams to make big moves up the CFP rankings and 2) on the flip side, it makes it very difficult for any team to run the table down the stretch. Oklahoma looked like the better team in Waco. Saying that, the Sooners still have TCU and Oklahoma State left on their slate. I can honestly say I am not liking their chances of winning both games. Baylor, on the other hand, has those same two teams, plus Texas, left. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they won all three. It’s been that kind of season in college football.

Hell, don’t even put Bama in yet! Will the Tide win next week against the Southwest Texas School for the Deaf (or whatever FCS team they are playing)? Yes. Will they win the Iron Bowl? Yes. Will they win the SEC Championship over Florida? Hmmmm….that will be a tough game for Alabama. Should be a good one. Won’t put them in the CFP yet but the way they are playing I don’t see anyone stopping them.

The Hawkeyes better play better than that. They have two games remaining. Home against Purdue and at Nebraska on Black Friday. Two games they should win. The issue is, they really have to blow these two teams out of the water. Otherwise, unless other things happen for the teams around them in the rankings, they won’t get into the top 4 come conference championship week. What it comes right down to is this: Iowa must beat Purdue huge, beat Nebraska by a healthy margin, beat tOSU for the Big Ten Championship and THEN they will be in the top four but not before.

And that ends LSU’s chances…I think. You can’t say they are out of the New Year’s Six race yet but it sure looks like it. And now we can say Leonard Fournette has allowed a bunch of players into the Heisman race. I figured the game against Bama was an aberration. I was wrong…sort of. Arkansas played really well as Bret Bielema somehow finds a way to get his team to the win. So they beat LSU in Death Valley at night yet they lose to Toledo at home. Gotcha.

Now that was fun to watch. Michigan’s double overtime win over Indiana was fantastic to watch unless you were a Hoosier football fan. Why Indiana passed the ball on fourth and goal in the second overtime period rather than run it (you know, the same thing they had done over 20 times in a row at that point) is beyond me. They should have passed on third down so they could go back to their bread-and-butter on fourth. Hindsight is always 20-20 though so we will leave it at that. As for the Wolverines, they are STILL in the New Year’s Six conversation. I actually have them in my top 12 so there’s still hope although they have to get through Ohio State to do it.

Wouldn’t that have been crazy? Kansas….KANSAS!…was oh so close to upsetting TCU. And it would have been the upset of the year BY FAR! And that would have made it a lot of fun except for TCU fans. Really, even though TCU won, that should be their nail in the coffin when it comes to the CFP. Their chances were slim but now they should be gone regardless. I don’t care if they score 100 on Baylor and do the same against Oklahoma. That game should keep them out.

Is that the last we’ve seen from Everett Golson? I always thought his stats up until this past Saturday were deceiving. To watch him you would think he was entirely average. Not the same Golson from when he brought Notre Dame to the BCS National Championship. This game kind of proved it. Plus Sean Maguire stepped up in a way that not many could have seen. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimbo went with Maguire the rest of the way.

Don’t look now but Wazzu is 7-3. Washington State has done very well in the Pac-12 this year. And has also lost to Portland State. Typical of this college football season. If they had won that game (like they should have), they would have been 8-2 and probably in the top 20 by now. And there would have been New Year’s Six whispers. Yes it has been that crazy this year.

Keenan is the man. Keenan Reynolds is now the sole owner of the FBS Rushing touchdown career record. He has 81 now. I wonder if he could make it to 90? Probably.

And that’s why Houston should get the New Year’s Six spot. And to be honest, a Big XII invite. That comeback win over Memphis was epic and showed why this team is in the driver’s seat for that NYS spot. The noon game on Black Friday against Navy will decide the AAC West. If, for some reason, Houston loses, there will be more chaos for sure (unless Navy wins out).

Speaking of the AAC, how bout dem Owls….uh oh. Wow, did USF ever lay a beating on Temple. It wasn’t even close. That’s the Temple team we all remember from, well, every other season before this one. They still should close out the AAC East but that loss all but assures they won’t be playing in a big boy bowl this year.

Um, Clemson may want to be very worried now. North Carolina has destroyed Duke and Miami in consecutive weeks. Like absolute destruction. Honestly, over the last two weeks, no team (maybe save Alabama) has looked nearly as good as the Tar Heels. Worst part is they still haven’t clinched the Coastal division as that pesky Pitt Panthers team keeps hanging around. A win over Virginia Tech this weekend would clinch it for the Heels and set up the ACC Championship which should garner a lot of interest now.

I don’t get how it happened that fast. Georgia Tech’s fall from the top of the ACC Coastal is mind-boggling. They look so bad this year and compared to last year it just defies logic. Paul Johnson is fine for now but man, they better come out of the gate strong next season or it could be Johnson’s job.

Mark Richt has to be an intriguing possibility. Every program with a head coach opening would kill to have Mark Richt coach their team. And wouldn’t it be hilarious if he ended up at South Carolina? The only thing funnier would be if the USC of the east hired Clemson’s defensive coordinator Brent Venables. Yes my sense of humour can be odd at times.

Charlie should take one of those jobs NOW! Charlie Strong would be stupid, I think, to stay at Texas. With a 4-6 record and a very good possibility of being home for the holidays, many Longhorns’ faithful are calling for his head. He would be wise to look at the Miami job or the USC job or some other job and truly put his name in the hat. Otherwise, at some point, be it during the off-season or early next season, he could be out of a job completely.

Nebraska is somehow one win away from being bowl-eligible. And to get that win, they have to get through Iowa in Farmageddon on Black Friday. I know technically Kansas State and Iowa State play the Farmageddon game but Iowa-Nebraska suits that name so much more.

Coach of the year? You have to give some love to Todd Monken down at Southern Miss. Ever since Larry Fedora left it was a gongshow there. Monken has brought some stability to the program and now they are 7-3 and going bowling. Also, if they beat Old Dominion on Saturday they set up a showdown during the final week against Louisiana Tech for the Conference USA West Division crown. And to think it wasn’t that long ago when this team lost 22 games in a row.

Hopefully Missouri gets one more win for Gary Pinkel. It would be nice to see at least one coach go out on a high note since so many have not over the past few years. Mizzou needs one more win and they go bowling. I think with the way the players gutted out a victory over BYU, they should be able to pull it off.

Alright, I will be doing an entire post on my early bowl predictions on Wednesday instead of putting it here and making a long post even longer. The short NFL recap is tomorrow and then it’s schedule time starting Thursday.

Can we play basketball? No. Can we play basketball? No. Can we play basketball? No. Can we….NO WE ARE PLAYING FOOTBALL DAMN IT! Welcome to your ACC predictions.

OK honestly we can’t say the ACC is just a basketball conference anymore. Florida State did win the national title but two seasons ago. Still though, it feels like there are no more than two contenders in any one season coming out of the ACC. The bottom end of the conference is so horrendous, you’d think we were almost talking about the Sun Belt (ALMOST).

So there will be an ACC team that is a true national title contender but it might not be the one you’re thinking about (you’re thinking Florida State right?). Now we get to the predictions, followed by notes sponsored by the ACC’s newest quasi-member, Notre Dame (except in football because NBC and TV and money and FUCK YEAH!):

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

Notes

• Yes.  Clemson.  Undefeated.  Seriously.  Their schedule lines up perfectly for this squad this season.  The most difficult games (Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Florida State) are all at Death Valley.  The toughest road test will probably be at Louisville against a Cardinals team that may regress a bit this season.
• Yes.  Florida State.  Not undefeated.  Seriously.  They lost Jameis Heisman for fuck sakes!  I get it, they replaced him with Everett Golson who is a damn good quarterback in his own right.  But again, it’s all about the schedule and for an ACC team, the Noles have a doozy of one.  They are on the road against Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Florida.  I have them winning only one of those three.
• Yes.  Virginia Tech.  Almost pulling out the Coastal Division.  Seriously.  Beamer will have his great-grandkids back to play some of that Hokie football that we all know and (possibly) love.  They will be a tough out and if the breaks fall their way, they may find themselves in contention for a New Year’s Six spot.
• Yes.  Miami.  Out of a bowl.  Seriously.  I don’t get the hype around The U this season.  I think Brad Kaaya is still a year away from being a top-rate ACC quarterback and Al Golden and Al Golden’s Tie’s time is running out fast.  I can honestly see him being let go before the season ends.  Whoever comes in next season though may have a good shot at doing something special.
• No realignment talk really here.  It all begins and ends with what Notre Dame does.  And that will have to wait until sometime next decade.  Their TV contract with NBC is so lucrative they would be nuts to give that up partway through the length of the contract.  The bigger question should be whether the ACC would go with 15 teams (in 3 divisions) or go for the ultimate…16 teams.  And if they do want 16 teams which program will they look at?  And that may hinge on another conference poaching a team from them.  Too much discussion for something that probably won’t happen in the next five years.

Anyway, cut and dry. Clemson is the class of this league (with Florida State and Georgia Tech slightly behind). The Ramblin Wreck will give the Tigers a run but ultimately, Dabo’s boys are going to be undefeated and off to the College Football Playoff.

Next up is the SEC for all you SEC die-hards (and I know there’s a lot of you out there).

Biggest Games of the 2015 College Football season – Part THREE!

Now we are in the thick of the college football schedule.  A couple of fantastic weeks mixed in with a couple of not-so-fantastic weeks in the third quarter of the sked.

Week 7

USC at Notre Dame – It wasn’t long ago that I only turned the channel to watch these two play because the other game I was watching was such a blowout it was almost unwatchable (FSU-Clemson if I’m not mistaken).  This year we get back to the time when both teams were contenders so it should be a good one AND it’s in primetime which is nice for anyone without either of the specialty packs.  (7:30, NBC)

Alabama at Texas A&M – Hey, it’s Alabama again.  Shocking.  OK not really.  Other than when they have their annual FCS ass-whoopin game in mid-fucking-November (thanks a lot assholes), pretty much every Bama game could be on a list of most important games.  I digress.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bama blow the Aggies out of the water.  It also wouldn’t surprise me if the Aggies kept it close especially because of the 12^th Man.  Thus is life in the SEC West.  (3:30, CBS)

UCLA at Stanford – Last year’s UCLA-Stanford game was fun to watch…unless you’re UCLA alumni.  Then it suck-diddly-ucked.  You had one job guys and you blew it.  Worst part is for the Bruins is that Stanford won’t be as mediocre as they were last season so it gets a lot tougher.  These are the types of games either school have to win to get to the Pac-12 title game.  (Thursday, 10:30, specialty pack)

Michigan State at Michigan – I have this feeling that Jumpin’ Jim Harbaugh is going to be flat-out fucking insane going into this one.  I’d love to see the Wolverines play Louisville just to see who would have an aneurysm first: Jimmy or Fun Bobby.  Michigan will be more competitive this season, that is a fact.  However, it’s still Sparty and until otherwise noted, they and tOSU are still the class of the Big Ten.  (Noon, ABC/TSN3)

Florida at LSU– Death Valley at night.  Yikes.  Hey Jimmy McElwain, here’s a fun test for you in your first season in Gainesville.  I have a feeling the leash won’t be nearly as long for Mr. McElwain so he better get his Gators up for games like this.  Also, over/under on how many blades of grass Les Miles eats is sitting at 400.  (9:00, specialty pack)

Penn State at Ohio State – Who thinks Penn State is a true contender in the Big Ten East this season?  Put your hand down James.  Other than Coach Franklin I am sure no one believes that.  Saying that, they are pretty much a lock for a bowl and they are always good for playing spoiler.  Remember, they almost did just that last season to the Buckeyes and Christian Hackenberg is a year older now. (8:00, ABC)

Other candidates: Louisville at Florida State (6:00, specialty pack), Oklahoma at Kansas State (4:00, FOX), Oregon at Washington (10:30, specialty pack), Nebraska at Minnesota (Noon, TSN2)

Week 8

Tennessee at Alabama – Bryant-Denny.  At night.  I will be perfectly honest.  If the Vols can keep it within 20, Butch Jones should consider it a success and get on the first plane back to Knoxville ASAP. (7:00, specialty pack)

Auburn at Arkansas – Another team that is much improved but still not quite a contender in their division.  Much like Penn State, the Razorbacks can do some damage to one of the actual contenders and I would say are almost a lock for a bowl (although I haven’t done my predictions so I can’t be totally sure on that).  Auburn has to be careful since this has all the makings of a trap game.  (3:30, CBS)

Florida State at Georgia Tech – What I wouldn’t have given to see Georgia Tech pull off the upset and beat the Noles in the ACC Championship last season.  OK not a whole lot but still it would have been fun.  Chaos is always fun when dealing with the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six.  FSU won’t be as good and nothing says Paul Johnson’s squad is any worse so don’t be surprised to see the Ramblin’ Wreck win this one at home. (Noon, TSN3)

Texas A&M at Ole Miss – I can’t believe I am saying this may be a trap game for Hugh Freeze and his Rebs but it very well could be.  A&M should be on the low end of the totem pole in the SEC West (which, conceivably, could have given them a conference title in some other conferences).  Ole Miss cannot look ahead to Auburn.  (3:30, specialty pack)

Utah at USC – The steady Utes battle the up-and-down Trojans.  Both teams will need a win here for different reasons.  Utah needs it to keep up the level of respect they finally have received from the rest of the college football world.  USC needs it to prove they are a contender this season.  So it’s kind of about respect as well.  Which means I am wrong, it’s for the same exact reason. (3:30, ABC)

Clemson at Miami – Alright, time for some action at the good ol’ Orange Bowl….wait…damn.  There is almost nothing that sucks the life out of a college football game than a sparse crowd.  And Dolphins Stadium has been an atrocious home for the U.  They desperately need a new stadium.  Hopefully with the Tigers coming into town they can fill the building but I will believe it when I see it.  (3:30, specialty pack)

Other candidates: Kansas State at Texas (7:00, specialty pack), Duke at Virginia Tech (3:30, specialty pack), Ohio State at Rutgers (8:00, ABC/TSN2), Penn State vs. Maryland (in Baltimore) (Noon, TSN2)

Week 9

Oregon at Arizona State – Not that this is a bad game.  It could very well turn out to be an awesome one.  The fact that this is the best game of the week (and that it’s on a Thursday night) and we are almost in November doesn’t bode well for the week’s schedule.  I digress.  I will stay up to watch this because I love college football and I must have some sort of brain issue.  (Thursday, 10:30, specialty pack)

Ole Miss at Auburn – There is a slight possibility that both teams could be coming into this game undefeated.  If that’s the case, this game rockets to the top of the list and the ESPN family of networks spends about 186 hours of pre-game coverage.  If not, it will be their normal 48 for an SEC West game.  (7:15, specialty pack)

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (despite what CBS has to say) is usually a great game.  This is my third time imploring CBS to allow Verne and Gary to drink in the booth (if Verne is even around…is he?) and just let fly on whatever they want to say.  That alone would make me want to PVR that and save it for months to watch over and over again.  (3:30, CBS)

West Virginia at TCU – First appearance for Drunk Uncle Dana and his Magic Mountaineer Jug Band on this list.  The Mountaineers, despite the fact they don’t really belong in the Big XII, really want to feel like they belong in the Big XII.  To do that, they need to win some big games (and not lose the easy ones they should win…like when they play Kansas).  This would be massive if they pulled this one off and would throw the entire conference into disarray (and possibly cost them a CFP spot…which in turn would hasten invitations to new teams).  Too bad we won’t be able to see it all unfold.  (Thursday, 7:30, ugh…it’s FS1)

South Carolina at Texas A&M – A game between two teams who were the hot picks to go far…two years ago.  Now this could be a game to see who goes to a bowl this season.  Lucky for the HBC’s boys, they have Vandy AND Kentucky in their division (although UK is becoming a not-so-easy out these days).  A&M being in the SEC West makes games like these extremely important.   (7:30, specialty pack)

Michigan at Minnesota – Two of the trendy picks to make noise in the Big Ten this season get a national primetime slot to show how far they’ve come.  Expect to see some full-on Harbaugh intensity although he may have a rival to that on the other sideline.  Jerry Kill is not known for being quiet on the sidelines either.  (8:00, ABC)

Other candidates: Arizona at Washington (3:30, specialty pack), Miami at Duke (7:30, specialty pack), Rutgers at Wisconsin (3:30, ABC), UCF at Cincinnati (4:00, hell if I know…probably ESPNEWS which means “not gonna see it” to us Canadians)

Week 10

LSU at Alabama – This might be switched with the Auburn-Texas A&M game to go to primetime so I can’t say for sure it’s an afternoon game yet.  CBS will surely pick it up as it’s one of the games of the year.  The Hat gets to eat The Grass in The Bryant-Denny hoping he can lead The Tigers to The Victory.  Evil Saban knows this is a must-have win to go to the CFP.  Otherwise the road becomes a whole hell of a lot tougher.  (3:30, CBS)

Florida State at Clemson – Clemson came oh so close to upsetting the Noles last year in the somewhat infamous Sean Maguire Deer in the Headlights Game.  I was pulling for the Tigers, I will be honest, since FSU had already set themselves up as one of the worst undefeated teams in recent memory.  This year may be different but FSU did pick up Everett Golson in the off-season so Dabo better have his team up to snuff yet again.  The road to the CFP for Clemson runs straight through Tallahassee.  (3:30, ABC)

Arkansas at Ole Miss – Is it just me or does it feel like almost every game that features SEC-West-on-SEC-West violence could be included in these lists (and honestly it almost looks like the case).  Arkansas and Texas A&M are the worst teams in the division but could still end up with 7 wins.  How ridiculous is that?  Anyway, another game that should be a good one…if you have the specialty pack.  (7:30, specialty pack)

Auburn at Texas A&M  – Speaking of the worst team in the SEC West, I could see them pulling this one off at home.  Where this is scheduled (afternoon or evening) wholly depends on how good Auburn and Texas A&M are.  If both are undefeated or one-loss teams at this point it slots here.  Anything else may have CBS putting Verne and Gary in this spot and Boy Wonder Carter Blackburn and whoever the hell wants to work with him in the afternoon.  (8:00, CBS)

Baylor at Kansas State  – We seem to miss a lot of Big XII games in this area thanks to their inclusion on FOX Sports One and Rogers’ dumb NHL contract.  I’ve already talked about that contract a lot (especially here) so I won’t say anything more about how idiotic it is…even in Canada.  Too bad since I really wanted to see this game.  (Thursday, 7:30, FOX………………………….Sports One (damn))

Michigan State at Nebraska – Pelini-less Nebraska has their work cut out for them this season and this game could be the epitome of that.  Thankfully for them it’s at home but still, Sparty ain’t no slouch.  If Mike Riley loses four games exactly does he immediately go on the hot seat?  Question of the day in Lincoln.  (7:00, specialty pack)

Other candidates: Arizona at USC (7:30, FOX), Minnesota at Ohio State (8:00, ABC), Mississippi State at Missouri (Thursday, 7:30, TSN4), Wisconsin at Maryland (3:30, specialty pack)

Into the home stretch now.  Next post will be the last on the important games of the season.  Then on to playing out the season game-by-game to determine predictions.  Ordered my Phil Steele College Football Preview magazine earlier this week so I am hoping to get it by the end of next week.  And we are a mere 71 days away from the first game of the season (albeit an FCS game).

Hey, now that the season is over…

Well the college football season at least.  The NFL still has two rounds left to go in their playoffs (playoffs?  You mean the NFL has already instituted playoffs?  I guess it’s a good thing since, according to the media, New England would have won at least six of the last dozen titles if they voted on it).  This means college football has devolved into a fun game of Q&A where hundreds upon hundreds of college football pundits and experts weigh in on the most important questions going into next season.  I will try to the same although I do not consider myself an expert of any kind.

Question #1: What should the reigning and defending national championships do with the mother of all quarterback battles?  Might as well start with this one since I’m sure #Cardale has trended for at least 72 hours now.  I guess it all depends on whose perspective you’re looking at it from.

• If you’re Braxton Miller – you either transfer, since you can without penalty, or you move to wide receiver or tight end.  I think his best bet to make it in the NFL is at wide receiver but who knows what could happen if he transfers to another big-time school and has an exceptional year.  He may go from a 5^th or 6^th round QB to a 2^nd or even a late-1^st round pick at QB with an awesome year.  At least at wide receiver, the chances of him not being drafted drop to almost nothing.
• If you’re Cardale Jones – you’ve made your choice.  You also hope at least one of Miller or Barrett transfers, if not both of them.  If one of them transfers, there is no guarantee of a starting spot next season.  However…
• If you’re J.T. Barrett – you transfer IMMEDIATELY.  So what if you have to sit out a year.  It feels like everyone has gone aboard the Cardale Train (and for good reason).  Momentum is on his side, not J.T.’s.  His best bet, probably, is to transfer, sit out a year, then shoot for Heisman candidacy at another Power Five school.  I’m not saying he wouldn’t beat Jones in a QB battle in camp but it won’t be easy.
• If you’re Ohio State/Urban Meyer – first thing is to get Braxton Miller to fully believe in moving to wide receiver.  Then you also convince J.T. Barrett to at least spend his sophomore season in Columbus, see how it goes.  If he doesn’t like it after this coming season, then he can do whatever he wants.  This way, you lose nobody and still have a great starter and a great backup, just in case something happens (you don’t think it would happen two years in a row, do you?).

Question #2: Will Oregon be in trouble with Marcus Mariota gone?  I wouldn’t say “Stick a fork in them, they’re done.”  Saying that, don’t expect them to be an almost foregone conclusion to be in either the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six bowl.  They will still be competitive.  They will contend in the Pac-12 North.  Stanford and Washington will get closer to the top but may come up short again when trying to unseat the Ducks; however, the chances of Oregon beating a Pac-12 South team in the conference championship are not nearly as good this coming season.  They may surprise and win 11 regular season games again but expect more of a 9 or 10 win season.

Question #3: Has the Pac-12 usurped the SEC as the top conference in the land?  Short answer, no.  Long answer…well…the Pac-12 is quickly gaining on the SEC.  Like, extremely quickly.  I’m even surprised they’ve overtaken the Big XII and put a lot of pavement between them and their brothers to the east.  It really is the SEC, Pac-12, then the other Power Five conferences, despite Ohio State’s national championship win.  If the same thing happens this season, then we can say the Pac-12 is, at the very least, on par with the SEC.  It would have to be another very good season from the conference though.

Question #4: With UAB eliminating their football program, will other schools follow suit and who would those schools be?  There is an immediate, obvious answer to this one and it’s HOURS away.  Hawaii’s football program is on the ropes and it’s not surprising in the least.  I would not be shocked to see them discontinue their program in the next three years.  The bigger question is will it lead to other schools quitting.  Much of that has to do with the autonomy of the Power Five and how scheduling is done in the future.  Hope is a big thing: it’s what’s propelled Boise State into the conversation of going to a Power Five conference when fifteen years ago that would have been scoffed at.  If there’s a possibility a program, at the very least, would be a huge thing at the Group of Five level then they would be safe.  Some other programs, like UNLV, Eastern Michigan, and New Mexico State, might start to think hard about dropping football if it becomes more untenable than it is now.

Question #5: Will the SEC East become a good division again?  I make it sound like they are a terrible division.  This year they were mediocre at best.  And I am sure no one is saying inviting Missouri was a bad thing anymore.  I can see this coming year being a boon for the second-best division in the SEC and you will see a lot more balance.  Vanderbilt will be the bottom again as they have gone back to ten years ago it seems.  Other than them, every one of those teams has a chance to go to the SEC Championship and a few of them have a shot at doing some real damage (i.e. New Year’s Six and, dare I say it, the College Football Playoff).

Question #6: Will the Heisman Trophy stop being the Best Quarterback Trophy?  This year it was cut and dry.  To say Mariota shouldn’t have won it is idiotic.  However, it should take an AMAZING year by a quarterback to be a slam-dunk for the Heisman.  This coming year could be a great chance for a wide receiver or a running back to win.  Or maybe they finally decide to give it to a defensive player for the first time in way too long.  Nah, that’s crazy talk.

Question #7: Now that Navy is in a conference, how quickly will the other three independent teams join conferences (if ever)?  Navy joins The American conference this season.  I hope they are 11-0, get to the conference championship game, win it, and then be 12-0 going into the Army-Navy game and struggle.  The Committee would shit their pants.  Anyway where was I?  Oh yeah, the other independents.  Well, here’s my take on them:

• BYU – They will join a conference as fast as they can.  Forget byuTV and scheduling advantages and all that crap.  They know that if they have a really good team (which, with Taysom Hill they were very close to), then being an independent sucks a bag of dicks.  They want to join the Big XII it seems and the Big XII should want them I think.  Whether it will be a polygamous marriage made in heaven I don’t know.  Expect it to happen, especially if the Texas & Oklahoma & 10 other Jabronies conference gets left out of the CFP again this coming season.
• Army – Tough one here.  They were in Conference USA years ago and struggled mightily.  I could see them going back there since the conference is a hodge-podge of all sorts of programs.  Either that or the MAC.  Now with their brothers in arms at the Naval Academy joining a conference, it makes a ton of sense for them to eventually join one too.  Give this one about 6-8 years.
• Notre Dame – Until Notre Dame doesn’t have home games on NBC, don’t expect them to even consider joining a conference.  Yes, I know, they have an agreement with the ACC.  And they get put in the ACC bowl-tie-in conversation as well.  But that’s where it will end unless the Notre Dame-NBC marriage ends for some reason.  I can’t see why that would be the case.  The only thing that might be for consideration is if they are the only independent left.  Then they may start to take a more serious look.  Until then, forget Touchdown Jesus playing for Conference X’s championship.

As for any future independent teams occurring, I think we can put the kibosh on that right now.  Texas, wisely, stayed in the Big XII and will for a long time.  FCS schools never move up now unless they have a conference affiliation waiting.  Me personally, it has to be one way or the other.  Either back to the early 90s when there were 20-some-odd independents or have none at all.  Being in the middle feels weird and will for BYU and Army when it comes to scheduling.  Time to bite the bullet and join boys.

Question #8: Who will come from farthest back this season to make the College Football Playoff next season?  Don’t think I am saying SMU is going from arguably the worst team to be one of the final four.  Except the top four this season, plus contenders like TCU, Baylor, Michigan State, UCLA, Kansas State, Clemson, Georgia, etc.  I think the team that will come the farthest towards next year (at least at this point) is Notre Dame.  They will have a choice to make at QB as Malik Zaire looked great in their bowl win over LSU and I can’t see Everett Golson struggling as much as he did for the last half of the season.  They’re deep enough to go at least 11-1 and they always make it so strength of schedule isn’t an issue.  I’m not saying for sure they’ll make it but they have a really good shot.

Question #9: What can Canadians look forward to next year in terms of college football coverage on TV?  I think TSN took a bit of a chance showing as much college football as they did.  I say a bit and not a lot since college football got some pretty good ratings throughout the year and got a lot of traction with the College Football Playoff.  Saying that, I don’t see much difference next season from what we saw this season.  For people who don’t get the specialty pack it will be ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC with Notre Dame, TSN, and MyTV.  That’s about it and that won’t change.  As for the specialty pack, should be similar.  I could see them adding ESPNEWS games.  It looks like Bell has decided to put some regional FOX Sports Net ACC games on every week as long as they also appear on ESPN3.  The big move has to be made by Rogers.  I still don’t understand not having the SEC Network and it would make total sense to add it this season.  They can’t turn their back on 45 potential games when there is room in the channel lineup for the games already.  We probably won’t know much about this for a few months now.

Question #10: The NFL Draft will be upon us before we know it.  Who will go top 3?  This happens every year.  A few guys start at the top in the first few mock drafts and one of them eventually falls back and potentially out of the top 10 completely once the draft actually happens.  I believe Tampa Bay, with the first choice, should pick Marcus Mariota.  They may, however, choose Jameis Winston instead if they feel he fits better (and wants publicity picking an FSU player).  Leonard Williams seems to be a top 3 lock and I can see either Tennessee or Jacksonville picking him.  I hate to say it but one of Mariota or Winston will probably fall and we will see them replaced at #2 or #3 by either Amari Cooper or Randy Gregory.  Saying that, four teams in the top 10 (TB, TEN, NYJ, STL) need a QB so Mariota and Winston can be rest assured that they will be top 10 picks come the spring.

OK that’s all the question and answer time we have for now boys and girls.  I plan on a few posts through the end of January.  First mock draft, a post on how terrible my predictions were, and probably one with some random thoughts and some NFL stuff to boot.

Finally, I want to congratulate the Ohio State Buckeyes for winning the first ever College Football Playoff.  They won in stunning fashion when very few thought they could.  And it makes sense that this team had a crazy last three games to win the championship in one of the craziest seasons ever.  You have to thank the CFP for a lot of this; it seemed to create a lot more matchups that meant something this season.  I think we can all safely say this was a success.  So why the fuck didn’t this happen like 20 years ago?

Week 10 NFL TV Schedule – Sponsored by the potential end of the Bills in Toronto Series

And thank God for that.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or in NFL terms, Phil Simms (according to Phil Simms)) to figure out that this Bills in Toronto series was doomed from the start.  It’s like they did very little research into this.  It would be like having only the Patriots play in London for the International Series because they are “the closest team to London.”  Pure stupidity.  Combine that with stupidly high ticket prices, a stadium not large enough for NFL attendance figures and the fact that most Bills fans in this region come from the Golden Horseshoe, not Toronto, made this an ill-fated idea at best.  Thankfully Terry Pegula isn’t Ralph Wilson and, despite the fact his Sabres are a middle-of-the-road AHL team masquerading as an NHL team (and doing a poor job of it…hello Connor McDavid), he seems to be progressive in his thinking.  A new stadium in Buffalo is the most important thing, not sending his team across the border.  Man, am I ever amped up with this post so far.  I better calm down.

And now for the TV schedule for Week 10:

Thursday
8:30	Cleveland at Cincinnati	NFLN/SNE/SNO/SNW/SNP
Sunday
1:00	Kansas City at Buffalo	CBS (Golden Horseshoe, GTA, Peterborough, Belleville, Eastern Canada)/CTV (Toronto, Kitchener, Northern Ontario, Ottawa)/CKPR (Thunder Bay)
1:00	Miami at Detroit	CBS (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Northern Ontario, Midwestern Ontario, Western Ontario, Ottawa)/TSN2
1:00	Dallas vs. Jacksonville (in London)
1:00	San Francisco at New Orleans	FOX (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, Belleville, Cornwall, Quebec, Eastern Canada)/CTV (Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Atlantic)/CITL (Lloydminster)
1:00	Tennessee at Baltimore
1:00	Pittsburgh at NY Jets	CBS (Kingston, Cornwall, Quebec)/CTV (Montreal)
1:00	Atlanta at Tampa Bay
4:05	Denver at Oakland	CTV (Toronto, Kitchener, Ottawa, Northern Ontario, Montreal, Vancouver, Alberta, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan)/CTV2 (Atlantic)/CKPR (Thunder Bay)/CITL (Lloydminster)/TSN2
4:25	St. Louis at Arizona
4:25	NY Giants at Seattle	FOX (all of Canada)
8:30	Chicago at Green Bay	NBC/TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5
Monday
8:30	Carolina at Philadelphia	TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5

So of course since I talk about the International Series I have to show that the International Series game this week won’t be shown in Canada (you know, except for RedZone and Sunday Ticket yada, yada, yada).  Not that it matters.  If the Cowboys can’t beat the Fighting Bortles(s) then they ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE (thanks again to Dennis Green).  I’m also glad CTV/TSN decided not to show the Giants/Seahawks game which is being shown in every household in Canada anyway on FOX.  Despite the fact I would struggle to take Oakland against the point spread even if they were given 30 points, it shows some forethought to put on a game that otherwise no one would see in this area.

Gambling with money I don’t really have

OK I was slightly better last week but still light years away from the promised land…being perfect.  I actually did a whole lot better with my NHL pools.  One away from a cool six grand.  Only loss?  Picking Chicago over Toronto.  My favourite team screwing it up.  Thanks a bunch guys.  OK here’s my picks for this week:

Cleveland over Cincinnati

Buffalo over Kansas City

Detroit over Miami

Dallas over Jacksonville

San Francisco over New Orleans

Baltimore over Tennessee

Pittsburgh over NY Jets

Tampa Bay over Atlanta

Denver over Oakland

Arizona over St. Louis

Seattle over NY Giants

Green Bay over Chicago

Carolina over Philadelphia

College Games of the Week

Stupid me, I forgot to put my college games of the week in my last post.  So this ends up being a bit of a hybrid post which is perfect for you fans of both the college and the pro game.  For others who have no interest in this section, just look away I guess (or go read one of my other amazing posts).

Kansas State at TCU (7:30, FOX) – You could make a case for many of this week’s games to be the game of the week.  It has, of course, been branded “Separation Saturday.”  As for this game, FOX has to feel very lucky.  They had this and Baylor-Oklahoma earlier in the day.  It’s like they can’t go wrong no matter which game they put in primetime.  Saying that, this was the right choice.  Two teams playing better than most thought and the loser has their College Football Playoff dreams end in one foul swoop.  Expect a great game between these two.  Winner has the inside track on the Big XII title.

Notre Dame at Arizona State (3:30, ABC) – Another elimination game of sorts.  More so for ASU than the Golden Domers but an elimination game nevertheless.  With the way things are going, Everett Golson could make a late entry into the Heisman race with a great performance here.  The Irish, even with a loss here, at the very least can get into the New Year’s Six with ease.  A loss here by Todd Graham’s bunch probably eliminates them from the CFP and the NYS.  Big stakes and the biggest game (by far) in the afternoon.

Oregon at Utah (10:00, specialty pack) – It’s a good sign when only one of the biggest five games is on the specialty pack.  I love my extra college football channels but it’s always nicer to have more of the better games on cable.  Oregon can call this a trap game all they want but it would be a bit disrespectful to the Utes to do so.  If the Ducks don’t watch it, their CFP dreams go up in smoke as well.  Isn’t this fun?

Alabama at LSU (8:00, CBS) – Verne and Gary in PRIMETIME!  Amazing that this may be the fourth or fifth biggest game of the week.  If this doesn’t show how important this week in college football is, I don’t know what will.  Everyone seems to be penciling the Tide into the final four.  Problem is they have three big games left before the conference championship.  Win all three and they may be able to write their own ticket.  For LSU, any chance at a New Year’s Six birth rides on this game.  The Hat better be ready.

Ohio State at Michigan State (8:00, ABC) – When is the last time there were TWO huge games on ABC in one week?  I remember a time when that happened at least three or four times a season.  I think that time was about four years ago.  Jim Delany has to be watching this one closely.  If the Buckeyes somehow pull this one out, that shuts the door on the Big Ten participating in the CFP despite the fact tOSU and Team Pelini only having one loss apiece.

Baylor at Oklahoma (12:00, we won’t be able to see it) – I figured this could have been the game of the week at the start of the year.  Not so now.  They both have to hope for a win here and a trip-up by both K-State and TCU by the end of the regular season.  Saying that it should be an enjoyable affair with a lot of offense.  Too bad none of us will get to see it.

A reminder that tonight we have some college and pro action.  The Battle of Ohio is on all the Sportsnets (and the NFL Network) between the Bengals and Browns.  Clemson plays lowly Wake Forest on TSN1 and Bethune-Cookman takes on Norfolk State on the specialty pack.  Enjoy the games tonight and for the next four days.

Week 10 College Football Recap – Sponsored by Insult…it’s what you add to Injury

The way Ole Miss ended up losing that game couldn’t have been worse.  The Laquon Treadwell injury was bad enough but the fact replays showed he fumbled just inches from the goalline makes it that much worse.  I feel for the poor guy.  Break your leg on a play that ends up being called a touchback.  His season is over for sure.  That’s the biggest part of this.  The lesser part is that Ole Miss had their chances of being in the College Football Playoff go up in smoke (unless something crazy happens in the coming weeks).

Other Highlights and Recaps and Stuff and Things

I had to go PVR-crazy this past Saturday.  Having the kids is always good.  It does make it much more difficult to figure out everything that happened on a college football Saturday however.  Even with wanting to watch as much college football into the wee hours of the morning, my eyes started to betray me.  Watching college football on a Sunday seems weird but that’s what I end up doing on most of those weekends.  Not an excuse nor is it me complaining.  Just telling it how it is.  So if my recap in certain spots looks like all I watched was the highlights then that’s probably the correct assessment.  This coming Saturday it’s no kids, all college football, and probably an expanding waistline.  So there’s pros and cons to both.

• Florida State still looks shaky to me.  Yes they ended up beating Louisville and, barring a huge upset, they will head to the ACC Championship 12-0 yet again.  And Duke isn’t looking like much of a world-beater despite the fact they have the inside track on the Coastal Division title.  So should we book their spot in the final four?
• Georgia Southern is PRAYING that there are not enough bowl-eligible teams this season.  From what I have seen it looks like there should be at least one extra that won’t go to a bowl but you never know until the regular season is over.  Only if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams this season can the Eagles go bowling.  And they would deserve it as they run roughshod through the Sun Belt conference this season.
• Maryland has balls.  Big balls.  Start a fight.  Refuse to handshake.  And then eek out their first-ever win in State College.  Gotta give Randy Edsall some props.  Taking them back to a bowl in their first Big Ten season.
• As for the other Big Ten newbie, Rutgers has a knack of looking HORRIBLE in conference games.  They just need one win to go bowling but it won’t be easy considered how their crap-tastic offense has gone these past few weeks.
• Temple destroyed the American’s chances of putting a team in the New Year’s Six.  The MAC and Sun Belt are also already eliminated.  Basically it’s down to Marshall and Colorado State.  Wouldn’t it be fun if both of them lost one game down the stretch?
• I wonder if there were 19,000 loud fans at Eastern Michigan’s game against Central Michigan like there supposedly was when they played Northern Illinois (if there were over 3,000 fans in that stadium for that game I would have been shocked).  Official attendance?  19,613.  Wow, so either a lot of people dressed up as empty seats for Halloween or many people bought season tickets and then realized EMU has sucked at football for the better part of 30 years and don’t bother using them.
• I thought Drunk Uncle Dana (soon to be re-branded Red Bull-fueled Dana if they keep winning) would pull out the upset of TCU.  Would have put the Big XII in chaos and all but guaranteed they would be the odd conference out come selection for the CFP.  Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs found a way to win…barely.  And now they have K-State this Saturday.  They win that one, they become the clear favourite in the conference.
• WILL MUSCHAMP!’s seat became a lot cooler after that performance.  They ran the ball.  Then ran the ball.  Then ran the ball some more.  And it worked.  And now Missouri is in the driver’s seat in the SEC East…again.
• And going back to near-upsets, what was Mississippi State doing?  Allowing Arkansas (2014 Arkansas to boot) to stay close with them and almost force overtime looks dreadful on them.  They better hope they run the table because any loss removes them from any opportunity for the CFP semis.
• OK no one, and I mean no one, could have figured South Carolina would be that bad.  The Cocks (yeah I went there) looked like bums in their loss to Tennessee.  It will be a bit of a struggle to get to bowl-eligibility.  I think they do it but it won’t be easy.  Poor HBC.
• Back again to near-upsets, style points may rear their ugly head again.  Notre Dame allowed Navy to stay in that game.  If they don’t have Everett Golson, then they don’t win.  Then again, if they don’t have Golson, they’re probably 5-4 right now.
• Arizona loses.  Utah loses.  It’s now Arizona State’s division to lose.  Run the table and they face Oregon for the Pac-12 title game in what should be an epic battle.  Lose once and they bring every team not named Colorado back into the mix.

Now we get into the fun part of the college football schedule where Sundays and Mondays are the only days without college football.  Tomorrow night we have two MAC games, followed by two on Wednesday.  All four games will appear on the specialty pack.  College game schedule will appear Wednesday but it seems like, thanks to Bell (especially) and Rogers (a little bit), they like to move things around and not show all the information until Friday night or Saturday morning.  So if you rely on this schedule, watch for any updates.  NFL TV schedule to follow on Thursday.

October 4, 2014 – The best day in college football history…

…and the two nights before it weren’t all bad either.

That picture above is from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after Ole Miss’ stunning upset of Alabama.  Images like this were all over the college football landscape this weekend.  It was easily the craziest, stupidest, most exciting, best damn weekend in college football history and I defy someone to tell me of another regular season week that has matched this (believe me I have heard many ESPN personalities trying their best to come up with something and they can’t).  It was a great day to be a college football fan.

Let’s put this in perspective.  The Giants and Nationals played the longest postseason game in MLB history on Saturday night.  On any other day, this would DOMINATE the sports shows.  Like a full third of any SportsCentre (or SportsCenter for our American neighbours).  Any other day but yesterday.  Yes it got a lot of play.  But the sheer insanity of what happened in college football truly dominated the broadcast.  Hell, you can be sure that pretty much everyone from the American south couldn’t have cared less about that epic baseball game.

Alright.  Let me try to recap what happened this past weekend.  This could be a looooooooong post.

Thursday night

• It all started late Thursday night (into Friday morning).  Oregon had to be a bit nervous after what Arizona did to them last week.  And they had every right to be.  Zona kept it close all game and was able to pull it out at the end, upsetting the #2 team in the nation.  It also damaged Marcus Mariota’s Heisman chances.

Friday night

• Not many people thought much of Friday’s late game between Utah State and BYU.  Chuckie Keeton was (again) out for the season.  But remember what happened last year?  Same thing.  Keeton goes down, everyone writes the Aggies off, Darrell Garretson comes in and lifts the team to the Mountain West title game.  This year?  Same thing.  No one gave them a chance against the Cougars yet it wasn’t even close.  Saying that, BYU losing Taysom Hill is HUGE.  A broken leg and his season is over.  BYU’s chances at the CFP and the New Year’s Six gone on one play.  Feel bad for the guy since he was a dark horse Heisman contender.  That’s gone too.

Saturday noon

• If you watched Florida-Tennessee you would have thought it was highly attended high school game.  It was painful to watch.  Both teams did not look like they belonged in the SEC with that performance.  And of course WILL MUSCHAMP! was oh so classy after the win.
• It has been a while since Mississippi State has been THIS good.  Dan Mullen is doing wonders in Starkville.  Also, Texas A&M was way better than I thought they would be this season.  However, once the Bulldogs got the lead they basically ran away with it.  They were dominant over the last three quarters and staked their claim to be included in the New Year’s fun.  Oh and that Dak Prescott kid is pretty good.
• How does East Carolina allow SMU to stay around that long?  The Stangs were like a trainwreck: you shouldn’t look but sometimes you just have to.  They finally scored their first points in what seemed like eternity (since three games ago).  And at one point they were within a score of the Pirates.  ECU is still one of two teams from the Poor Group of Five left that even make sense in the New Year’s Six but they are holding on by a thread with performances like this.
• Speaking of the Poor Group of Five, Marshall laid a beating on Old Dominion.  They are the other team I alluded to earlier.  Other than the Herd and East Carolina, no other teams seem to want that spot.
• Maryland: Welcome to the Big Ten.  Just sit their quietly and take your ass-kicking like a man.
• I laugh at everyone who chose North Carolina to win their division.  They’ve been pretty bad to start the season and are lucky to even be 2-3.  They will be in tough just to be bowl-eligible.

Saturday afternoon

• The Grove was hopping.  Katy Perry was there to make her picks (although I was disappointed she didn’t look hotter…she had a bit of a Miley Cyrus thing going on Gameday).  She was the only one to pick Ole Miss.  What a prognosticator!  An awesome game that had a bit of everything.  And Blake Sims and Bama played relatively well.  Just that the Rebs were that much better.  This was what really set off the insanity.
• Have problems winning?  Need some help?  Just call UMass!  This team boggles my mind.  They have had leads in a few of their games so far this season, some of them double-digit.  Yet they have lost every single one.  And the end of the game against Miami (OH) was atrocious.  You can kick a field goal to win and you instead run a play down one?  The entire coaching staff should have been fired on the spot over the loudspeakers after that.
• Where was this NC State last week? That’s what Florida State was asking.  Clemson annihilated the Wolfpack.  You’d have though NC State was from the FCS with the beating the Tigers put on them.  And speaking of Florida State…
• They just hate playing first quarters don’t they?  You knew they would win in the end but it’s almost like they are purposely teasing the viewers into thinking this could be close when it won’t be close at all.  Saying that, they sure didn’t look like a #1 team playing a woeful Wake Forest squad.
• Quietly, Baylor keeps chugging along.  They beat the Longhorns easily.  Yes they didn’t score a boatload of points but their defense kept the Horns in check.  Charlie Strong may be regretting his decision to come coach in Texas after the start they’ve had.
• Yet another upset…TCU showed they were for real.  They went toe-to-toe with the Sooners and pulled out the win.  Too bad for Trevor Knight.  I am guessing the Katy Perry love got to his head…the one under his helmet.
• Perfect opportunity for Wisconsin.  So what do they do?  Play horrible.  Taking nothing away from Northwestern but this game was tailor-made for the Badgers.  A crisp day on real grass at Ryan Field.  They should have ran for 600 yards.  Melvin Gordon had a good day so at least his Heisman hopes weren’t hurt but Wisky’s Big Ten West hopes took a huge hit.
• Why does hardly anyone have the Irish taking a big move up the rankings?  Their win, while looking ugly doing it, was still impressive over a really good Stanford team.  Everett Golson had ice in his veins on that last drive that put the Irish up with a minute to go.  Does he get some Heisman love now?
• Lost in all this may be the fact that Air Force is 4-1.  After last season, many (including me) had the Falcons in trouble and probably looking for a new coach.  Troy Calhoun may get an extension after the start which included yesterday’s victory over Navy.  The Middies on the other hand look positively average this season.  All they can do now is go at least 4-2 so they can go to a bowl game.

Saturday primetime

• Unlike Florida State, Auburn showed why they should be #1.  They probably didn’t expect to be in that conversation going into Saturday but they sure as hell are now.  They thoroughly dominated The Hat and his Tigers from start to finish.
• OK, how is Brady Hoke still employed?  This is unreal.  Rutgers was clearly the better team but the Wolverines had chances to win and blew them.  I can’t foresee how Hoke makes it to the next game but the Michigan AD is adamant he wants to wait until the end of the season to make any decisions on the coaching staff.  If this continues, his hand may be forced.
• Cincinnati was looking like an outside shot for the golden ticket to the New Year’s Six and then was beaten badly by Memphis.  Maybe Memphis’ game against UCLA wasn’t a fluke.
• Paul Johnson has quietly got his Ramblin’ Wreck to 5-0 after an impressive victory over Miami.  It hasn’t been easy but for all those doubters out there, know this: if, for some reason, Tech goes 12-0, no matter how they do in the ACC Championship, they SHOULD be in the CFP semi-finals.  That last sentence alone tells you what this last weekend has done to the college football world.
• Mike London looks like he will keep his job now.  The win over Pitt moves them to 4-2.  Pretty surprising.  More surprising is Pitt’s fall from grace.  Paul Chryst has to be worried now with the meat of his schedule coming up and five of those last six looking like possible losses.
• Arizona State pulled off a win that they shouldn’t have got.  Logic dictates it shouldn’t have happened.  The Trojans had the game in the bag.  Hell, I switched over to South Carolina-Kentucky because I thought it was over.  The Sun Devils were down by 9 with 3 minutes to go.  So what do they do?  They take the first play from scrimmage 73 yards for a touchdown, stop the Trojans, get the ball back, then the Hail Mary…oh that Hail Mary.  What were the Trojans’ DBs doing?  It looked like one of them was going to call for a fair catch.  Horrible defense.
• Speaking of South Carolina-Kentucky, time to give the Wildcats some respect.  They held their own against the Gamecocks and with an ill-timed pick-six, pulled out the victory.  I’m sure the Head Ball Coach made the entire team walk back to Columbia after that one.
• Another game I thought was long over.  Don’t know why considering what had happened all day.  If Nebraska had somehow come back to beat the Spartans, I think almost no one would have been surprised.  The fact that they almost did says more about Michigan State than it does about Nebraska.  Dantonio’s team HAS to run the table or else it will be no semi-final for them.  To allow opponents to get back into games that are essentially over is not good for style points.

Saturday late night

• To cap things off, Utah went into Westwood and stunned UCLA.  To put the candle on it so to speak, UCLA’s kicker missed a field goal with no time left.  Utah was called for running into the kicker, putting the kicker (Kai’mi Fairbairn) in the running for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his masterful performance.  Lines up again, still at 50 yards out, and doinks it off the right upright.  Game over.  Insane day over.  Oh wait, not quite…
• How does someone break the NCAA passing yardage record and lose?  I feel bad for Connor Halliday (well to be more accurate, I feel more bad for Connor Halliday’s throwing arm).  The Wazzu defense is so bad, they kept allowing Cal back into this one.  Not taking away anything from the Bears (although Sonny Dykes has his team at 4-1, another complete shocker), but the Cougs had this one.  And here’s the topper…first place in the Pac-12 North?  Yep, it’s Cal.  Let that stew for a bit.

OK just recapping that felt crazy.  So much happened.  I could have easily split it into two separate posts.  I was going to add my rankings (and really, anyone’s rankings at this point have to be considered somewhat correct) and updated New Year’s Six bowls.  I think that will come tomorrow.

Oh so THAT’S how a coin toss works (the Week 3 CFB recap)

Seriously, Charlie.  SERIOUSLY??!?!?  You cannot be that dumb.  I would say that’s a high school move but even 100% of high school coaches wouldn’t make it so the opposing team gets the ball to start BOTH HALVES.  Mack Brown must be shaking his head right now.

Lightning crashes – So what is it with game delays due to weather?  There’s been more delays this season than any season I can remember ever…and we are only three weeks in!  Hell, Verne and Gary basically were into primetime calling that Dawgs-Cocks game thanks to Mother Nature.  Speaking of which….

SEC East-on-SEC East violence – It seems like the SEC East teams are going to beat up on each other and then watch helplessly as Missouri runs straight up the middle and goes back to Atlanta.  It’s deja-vu all over again.

The Book of Mormon – BYU didn’t exactly look impressive against Houston after destroying the Longhorns; however, the question came up about 83 times during the game…if the Cougs (the BYU variety) run the table are they into a New Year’s Six bowl?  I had them losing only once but closely missing out on a big-time bowl.  But I predicted that loss to be to Texas.  I think you are looking at one of the biggest, most interesting questions for The Committee.

Same Ol, Same Ol – The Volunteers that is.  They are who we thought they were.  Thanks Dennis Green.

And now the Pac-12 South has gone crazy as well – USC gets upset by Boston College.  UCLA looks pedestrian versus Memphis and barely beats Texas at JerryWorld.  Arizona State doesn’t look THAT great against the Buffs and loses Taylor Kelly (for who knows how long).  And Arizona hasn’t looked too great either.  What does this all mean?  Could Utah (of all teams) pull a Mizzou and sneak through into the Pac-12 title game?  Don’t count them out.

Everybody Poops – And by everybody, I mean the Big Ten.  Two fairly awful weekends in a row.  And to make things worse, one of the games didn’t even involve a Big Ten team.  Thanks to college football media’s use of the transitive property (A loses to B and then B loses to C so A is much worse than C), East Carolina’s victory over Virginia Tech makes tOSU look that much worse.  But are we surprised?  They lost their starting QB and everyone thinks they still win 10 or 11 games?  Remember Notre Dame last year without Everett Golson?  Compare to this year with him.  I rest my case.  As for the rest of the Big Ten, the signature win was Nebraska’s thumping of an overrated Fresno State team.  Ohio State was supposed to destroy Kent State (and did).  Michigan was supposed to beat up on Miami-OH (and didn’t really).  Iowa was supposed to win Cy-Hawk (and didn’t…and Future Mountain West Conference member North Dakota State is becoming more and more unimpressed with much of the FBS).  Nothing is going right for this conference.  The one bright spot?  Penn State is now eligible for postseason and the Big Ten Championship.

Welcome to the ACC, you can park your motorcycle over there in the marked space – Louisville and Fun Bobby Petrino looked overmatched against Mike London’s Cavs.  Virginia should have won by more but for them to win at all cools London’s hot seat and shows Louisville you have to play the games.  Welcome to mediocrity, ACC style.

There are 34 undefeated teams remaining in the FBS – And eight of them (almost a quarter of them) are in the SEC.  Think about that.

Yes, this is how we used to play up in Wisconsin – BielemaBall is back!  Arkansas ran roughshod over Texas Tech.  And we mean ran.  They played textbook Badger football which makes sense considering who their coach is.  Like the SEC West needs to get any tougher.  Could they be the first division ever to have every single one of their teams make it to a bowl game?  I wouldn’t bet against it yet.

And the one token New Year’s Six spot goes to… – At this point it’s still Marshall because of their stunningly easy schedule; but, Cincinnati looked damn good in their opener against Toledo.  And Gunner Kiel IS the real deal.  Would be really fun if the Bearcats made it to a big-time bowl and got to play Notre Dame, the program Kiel transferred from.

I still stand by Pitt starting 8-0 – But they are not going to make it easy on me.  Their first half against FIU was deplorable and if they play like that against an Iowa or a Virginia Tech then forget even being close in either of those games.

Vanderbilt is still horrible – Count me as one of the people who thought Vandy would take a step back but still eek out a bowl bid.  Now you can say Derek Mason may be one of the worst SEC head coaching hires in the past decade.  You may be off the hook now Derek Dooley.

The play clock WAS at zero – There is no explanation possible to explain how Florida was able to run that play when the clock was at zero.  Then again, maybe this can be the impetus to put tenths of a second on the play clock starting next season since the refs sorely need it for replay purposes.

WILL MUSCHAMP!  Don’t get too comfortable – You beat Kentucky.  By six.  In triple overtime.  The hot seat is still quite hot in Gainesville.

I hope to have a week 4 TV schedule up around Wednesday this week.  Problem is I have noticed so many changes between mid-week and Saturday morning the first three weeks with the TV schedules.  I hope now that the season has settled in that we won’t get the pseudo-insanity we’ve had with the TV schedule so far.  Not likely but a guy can dream.

Now introducing the new member of the Group of Five….the Big Ten! The Week 2 recap.

So I guess that would make them the Poor Group of Six now.

Wow, did the Big Ten ever shit the bed this weekend.  This was their chance to make a statement.  This was the conference’s opportunity to prove they weren’t the weakest of the Power Five conferences.  And they blew it.  And they did it in masterful fashion.  Let’s recap what the Big Ten did this weekend shall we?

Let’s start with Sparty.  It was looking like they were going to pull this one out.  Then they let Marcus Mariota do his thing and they let the Ducks blow it wide open.  Yes, the score is not totally indicative of how close the game was since it was quite close for a little more than three quarters.

Michigan looked terrible against the Irish.  Totally overmatched.  Don’t get me wrong, Everett Golson makes the Irish better and probably keeps them a top 20 team this season.  But the game shouldn’t have been that much of a blowout.

Urban, meet Frank.  Frank’s been around the block a bit.  He’s faced adversity.  He also knows how to get the most out of his players.  Not saying Urban doesn’t but anyone who believed tOSU was going to still win 10 games, if not 11 or run the table without Braxton Miller now knows that probably won’t be the case.

Illinois had to work hard to beat Western Kentucky (without Fun Bobby Petrino).  If Ameer Abdullah isn’t a Husker, Nebraska loses to McNeese State.  Penn State wasn’t exactly impressive against Akron.  Purdue got blown out by a middle-of-the-road MAC team.  Rutgers had trouble with Howard.  HOWARD.  And on and on and on.

I don’t think any of the Big Ten teams had a stellar Saturday.  And that includes Wisconsin who was only up 9-3 against Western Illinois early in the 3rd before actually starting to play some FBS ball.  Overall, pathetic.

Now for the rest of the weekend (and a couple of days) that was in college football:

• Pitt looks like the real deal and I do believe they will start 8-0 and make some noise in the ACC.

 

• I might have been wrong about Missouri.  Gary Pinkel has his Tigers back where they were last season and that could be scary.  Also, I am glad they won just for the fact it shut up those stupid vuvuzelas.  Who’s brilliant marketing idea was that?

 

• Iowa State came within a hair of upsetting Papa Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats.  Future Mountain West Conference member North Dakota State was not impressed.  Speaking of the Bison…

 

• …their former head coach Craig Bohl pulled out a huge victory in Wyoming as his Cowboys hit the win column over Air Force.  I think we need to watch out for this team in a year or two.

 

• There are quite a few teams still 2-0.  One of them is New Mexico State.  Another is Cal.  Yet another is Kentucky.  Yes, it is crazy but that’s September in college football.  Usually quite a few ridiculous things happen before conference play ramps up in October.

 

• Poor Vandy.  I really thought they wouldn’t slip that far.  They looked totally outclassed against Ole Miss.  Yes it’s Ole Miss but it was the same against Temple.

 

• South Carolina pulls out a win to go to 1-1 but man they still look shaky.  Georgia is up next and this is where we will see if it’s the Dawgs or the Cocks who have the edge in the SEC East.

 

• Was it just me or was it just odd for Brent Musberger to be calling a game involving Sam Houston State?

 

• Didn’t have the game to watch but I noticed UCLA struggled against Memphis.  Ugh, they have to hope this isn’t a sign of things to come with Zona and USC looking good early on.

 

• Finally, WAAAAAY out west, Hawaii has actually kept it close against Washington and Oregon State.  Maybe the program isn’t in dire straits after all.  But they better be competitive inside the conference or else it’s all for naught.

 

Now for you NFL fans, if you see this in time, NFL Sunday ticket is supposed to be on FREE PREVIEW today.  Nice to start the season with that for sure, even if it is just for one week.  As of right now (1:04 pm) nothing is showing.  NFL RedZone is showing as a free preview so I don’t really know what’s going on here.  Typical Bell (and probably Rogers too).

My Heisman Ballot (purely for entertainment purposes since hell might freeze over before I get chosen to select the Heisman winner)

I say this in jest but remember my picks last year?  Close to terrible.  Didn’t have Jameis CrabLegs on my ballot, no Andre Williams, no Jordan Lynch (although I did give him honourable mention).  Hopefully this year I won’t look like a complete idiot with my pre-season Heisman predictions (although I have made sure to leave poor Braxton Miller out this year).

1. Marcus Mariota, Oregon – I have the Ducks winning the CFP Deal-i-o this season.  And this is the guy that will lead them there.  On top of that, he has a good shot at being the #1 pick in next year’s NFL draft.  I think this a solid pick as the next Heisman winner.  And finally, he will get one of the first massive showcase games against Michigan State in less than two weeks.  Get yourself out front early and you have a better chance at taking home the Heisman at the end.
2. Jameis Winston, Florida State – “Jameis, meet Archie.  Archie, meet Jameis.  Now just so you understand Mr. Winston, you are no Mr. Griffin.  Your journey stops at one Heisman.  Now go take a seat.”  The voters, despite the fact they may say otherwise, will penalize Winston because he already won it.  Seems silly but to be honest, is there a way for him to top what he did last season?  Because if he did, then that would be super impressive.
3. Bryce Petty, Baylor – Heisman voters love QBs who put up massive stats.  There will be a few this year who will do that but none better than Petty and none for a better team than Baylor.  By my calculations (and I’m a former math teacher so you can take this type of calculation to the bank), he should throw about 65 times a game and should easily top 5000, if not flirt with 6000 yards, especially with the early sked the Bears have.
4. Rakeem Cato, Marshall – Everyone loves the plucky underdog.  Last year, Jordan Lynch finished third in the Heisman voting.  The worst part?  If he had been at a bowl-eligible BCS school, he probably would have won the whole thing.  Marshall has a stupidly easy schedule this season.  And Cato can throw and run.  He could break all sorts of Conference USA records this season and should lead the Herd to the first CFP New Year’s Bowl-a-thon Extravaganza.
5. Todd Gurley, Georgia – Running backs, over the past decade, haven’t got a lot of Heisman looks, especially as the college game leans towards more passing and higher-octane offenses.  Saying that, Gurley is part of the two-headed running back beast at Georgia (with Keith Marshall) and should put up some monster numbers and looks like he will be playing on Sundays.
6. Nick Marshall, Auburn – Amazingly enough, this guy will be the best quarterback in the SEC this season.  After a few years of amazing QB play, the level has dropped off.  No offense to Marshall as he is still an awesome QB and looks to prove that last year’s Tigers team wasn’t a fluke.  If he can somehow go crazy in a couple of the more difficult games and has an incredible Iron Bowl, he could be considered a dark horse contender for the title.
7. Brett Hundley, UCLA – Here is possibly the first player on this list who could be considered a victim of having a better player at the same position in his conference.  Hundley should be lights-out as he continues the football renaissance in Westwood but to have Mariota in the same conference will take a lot of the spotlight off of him.  Sometimes that’s a good thing but when it comes to the Heisman, you have to be at your best when the entire nation is looking right at you to perform.
8. Leonard Fournette, LSU – This will be a shocking choice to some.  It is now commonplace to put a freshman in the Heisman mix at the start.  Many will go for a quarterback but I am leaning towards Fournette, who will carry a heavy load in Death Valley.  Could he be our next freshman Heisman winner?
9. Everett Golson, Notre Dame – Another potential surprise pick.  The Irish showed why they so sorely missed Golson last season as they dropped from the BCS title game to the Pinstripe Bowl.  He should help get the team back into a College Football Playoff New Year’s FunTime Bowl this season and I count him as a dark horse Heisman contender if the Irish make doubters out of all of us and somehow run the table.
10. Myles Jack, UCLA – Defensive players get almost no respect when it comes to the Heisman Trophy.  The offensive players have the flashy plays and crazy stats and the defensive players can’t say the same.  Even Clowney wasn’t close last year.  Could be different for Jack as he plays running back from time to time and is a beast in the front seven for the Bruins.  Also, with no Anthony Barr, he is the man they will all look to.  If they make waves in the Pac-12, don’t be surprised to hear some experts saying this name as a potential Heisman candidate.

Honourable Mention

• TJ Yeldon, Alabama

• Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin

• Taysom Hill, BYU

• Shane Carden, East Carolina

• Karlos Williams, Florida State

• Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

• Bo Wallace, Ole Miss

• Trevor Knight, Oklahoma

 

OK we are finally here.  The schedules are (slowly) starting to come out.  TSN has really upped the ante with SEVEN games this coming weekend; two Thursday night and five on Saturday.  They have really done well with more college football coverage (not to mention they are already looking like they are going to hit home runs with tennis and soccer coverage as well).  I am hoping Rogers and Bell get on their horses this year (more than last year at least) and get their specialty pack schedules out soon.  As of right now, only the one game has come up and it’s on Wednesday night (Abilene Christian-Georgia State).  We should see at least 20 games a week on the specialty packs this season.  I am curious as to how they are handling the SEC Network games.  I would be shocked if Texas A&M-South Carolina and Temple-Vanderbilt weren’t on the specialty packs Thursday night but there has still been no indication at this point that they will be.  I hope to find info soon on this.