Hey let’s do some Bowl Game Rankings!!!!

Posted on December 12, 2022 by guelphbossman

I’ve done some different scales for this post. In some cases I have done just a straight ranking, other times I have done the Network Scale and of course there is the Uncle Verne scale.

This year I will go slightly different. I am introducing the Play-by-Play Announcer Scale! That’s right, I am going to rank the bowl games going from best play-by-play announcers down to, well, not as good ones let’s say. I mean if you aren’t Mike Goldberg you are at least competent at calling football, right?

So let’s get started. 41 bowl games. 8 tiers. 1 blog post. This sounds like Survivor.

The Jackson/Musburger Tier

Must-see games. No matter what. Even if you are a casual college football fan, you will want to watch these.

Peach Bowl – Georgia vs. Ohio State (Dec. 31, 8:00, TSN2) – There is a reason this game was chosen for primetime and not the other College Football Playoff semi-final. On paper, this is the bowl game of the season and nothing else is really close. Yes, the Buckeyes backed in to the CFP which will make a few fans upset but don’t worry: in two years that won’t make a difference. Georgia does look primed to repeat as national champs but this one will not be easy and it might not end before 2022 ends. My pick: Georgia 40 Ohio State 34.

Fiesta Bowl – Michigan vs. TCU (Dec. 31, 4:00, TSN3) – Normally I would rail against the College Football Playoff semi-final games being on New Year’s Eve but to be honest, I don’t care this year. Not going out for New Year’s so it’s football watching time. I can see many people up here, who are watching TV at least, being split between this and Canada’s World Juniors game against Sweden. How close this is will probably dictate what kind of viewing audience the hockey game gets. Anyway, fingers crossed this is a good one as many think TCU can’t hang with the Wolverines. To be honest, as much as I would love to see the Horned Frogs pull this out, I can’t see it happening. My pick: Michigan 39 TCU 21.

Rose Bowl – Penn State vs. Utah (Jan. 2, 5:00, TSN2) – I always wish the Rose Bowl would go back to ABC. It just feels like it belongs there. The Nittany Lions come in here exactly where pretty much everyone thought they would be. Losses to Michigan and Ohio State and relatively mundane victories over everyone else. Utah is probably the hotter team coming in, coming off their Pac-12 Championship win over USC. My pick: Utah 35 Penn State 30.

Orange Bowl – Clemson vs. Tennessee (Dec. 30, 7:30, TSN2) – This bowl is orange. ORANGE bowl. ORANGE tigers. ORANGE volunteers. ORANGE everything! Let’s just hope both teams don’t figure they should be wearing orange uniforms. This might end up being the most competitive of the New Year’s Six bowl games. This might have been the top New Year’s Six game if not the top bowl game period (seriously) but without Hendon Hooker, it won’t be the case. My pick: Clemson 27 Tennessee 24.

Alamo Bowl – Texas vs. Washington (Dec. 29, 9:00, specialty pack) – It felt like these two teams had good chances to be involved in conference championship weekend. Alas, they both came up short in odd circumstances (especially in hindsight) so they land here in San Antonio. The Alamo Bowl is usually one of the top non-CFP, non-NY6 bowl games and this one is no exception. There should be a LOT of points with Quinn Ewers and Michael Penix Jr. chucking the ball over the field indoors. Take the over. My pick: Washington 48 Texas 40.

The Lundquist/Nessler Tier

These are still big although these guys were hampered by some, uh, questionable analysts *COUGH*Gary Danielson*COUGH*

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane (Jan. 2, 1:00, TSN2) – Some may call this the worst of the New Year’s Six games. I disagree. It could end up being a fun one especially if USC tackles like they did in the Pac-12 Championship. A lot will ride on if Caleb Williams is 100% or not because if he isn’t, the Green Wave could pull off the biggest victory in the long history of that program. My pick: USC 44 Tulane 31.

Holiday Bowl – North Carolina vs. Oregon (Dec. 28, 8:00, FOX) – If you watch this game for one thing, it should be the quarterbacks. Oregon’s Bo Nix is confirmed to be ready to go and Drake Maye will be there as well and hopefully not playing like he did in the ACC Championship (which was easily his worst game of the season). My pick: Oregon 38 North Carolina 25.

Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs. Kansas State (Dec. 31, Noon, TSN3) – This is gonna feel REAL odd to see the Sugar Bowl on at Noon on New Year’s Eve. Let’s consider this the lesser of the New Year’s Six games. Still good but it’s a wonder whether one of the teams will show up. The Wildcats certainly will be ready to go but will Bama be ready for this one? I could see several Bama players opting out or entering the transfer portal or just not caring. Also, Nick Saban is either going to seriously pissed off and motivating his players like crazy or barely wanting to be there himself. My pick: Kansas State 31 Alabama 28.

Cure Bowl – UTSA vs. Troy (Dec. 16, 3:00, TSN1) – EASILY the best pre-Christmas bowl game. And it is played on a Friday afternoon. Ugh. Surprisingly, this is the only bowl game that features two conference champions. And it’s a bit of a classic offense vs. defense matchup as the Roadrunners, who definitely live up to their name, take their high-octane offense to Orlando to face the all-time leader in tackles in FBS in Carlton Martial. Should be a good one. My pick: UTSA 33 Troy 26.

Gator Bowl – South Carolina vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 30, 3:30, TSN2) – The Gamecocks had, arguably, the two biggest season-changing wins this season, destroying Tennessee and eeking out a victory against Clemson. These two games changed the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six for sure. As for the Irish, things looked bleak but Marcus Freeman has turned things around and are trying to finish his first season with a big bowl win. My pick: Notre Dame 28 South Carolina 17.

The Fowler/McDonough Tier

You know, at the very least, that a game called by either of these two will be a great one…on paper. No guarantees otherwise.

ReliaQuest Bowl – Mississippi State vs. Illinois (Jan. 2, Noon, specialty pack) – The Outback Bowl is history. Honestly I went once and it was pretty overrated (except for the Bloomin’ Onion which was fantastic). Now it’s sponsored by ReliaQuest which is supposedly a cybersecurity company. Fun. My pick: Illinois 27 Mississippi State 19.

Citrus Bowl – LSU vs. Purdue (Jan. 2, 1:00, ABC/TSN3) – The first game on ABC on this list. How sad. I guess this a nice consolation for getting boatraced in a conference championship game as both of these teams were. Let’s see which team is hungrier and wants to create some momentum going into the offseason. My pick: Purdue 39 LSU 36 (OT)

Texas Bowl – Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 28, 9:00, TSN3) – Do not, and I repeat, do not go grab a snack or a drink unless you are sure it’s a commercial break. These two teams will light up the scoreboard. I can see this game not ending until after 1 in the morning. My pick: Ole Miss 51 Texas Tech 42.

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Fresno State (Dec. 17, 3:30, ABC/TSN3) – This could be another game where you should probably take the over. At the very least, Jake Haener should light the Wazzu defense up. Whether the Cougs can do what the Cougs usually do (throw the ball about 2,000 times a game) is up for debate. My pick: Fresno State 49 Washington State 28.

Sun Bowl – Pittsburgh vs. UCLA (Dec. 30, Noon, CBS) – If it wasn’t for Pitt actually turning things around late in the season, I would have had the Bruins winning this one in a cakewalk. My pick: UCLA 35 Pittsburgh 29.

The Franklin/Enberg Tier

Two old-school announcers who might actually be underrated. It was always good to hear their voice though.

Cheez-It Bowl – Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Dec. 29, 5:30, specialty pack) – This game is at the top of the list if it’s 1987. Now? Not so much. I mean at least the Noles are holding up their end of the bargain. The Sooners? That’s a different story. My pick: Florida State 40 Oklahoma 30.

Las Vegas Bowl – Florida vs. Oregon State (Dec. 17, 2:15, TSN2) – Thanks to the Raiders being terrible, this game was moved back from their ABC primetime slot to a mid-afternoon slot on ESPN. Ugh. I think the Beavers deserved better. This could be a 10-win season for a team that almost never hits that plateau. And with Anthony Richardson opting out of this one, it won’t be pretty. My pick: Oregon State 36 Florida 10.

Military Bowl – Duke vs. UCF (Dec. 28, 2:00, TSN3) – This game may be overlooked by many and it shouldn’t be. I mean the timeslot doesn’t help but I could see this being a good game. A really good Group of Five team up against a much-improved Power Five team. It’s kind of what bowl season is partially about. My pick: Duke 31 UCF 27.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Maryland vs. NC State (Dec. 30, Noon, TSN2) – It’s always fun when you know the winning coach gets a big vat of mayo dumped on them at the end. This also being a matchup of former ACC foes gives this at least a bit of intrigue. My pick: Maryland 41 NC State 38 (OT).

Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 17, 11:00 AM, TSN2) – This would have been well down the list if it weren’t for the fact that Scott Satterfield just left Louisville to become the new head coach at Cincinnati. He should try and coach both teams. I would definitely love to see that. My pick: Louisville 29 Cincinnati 21.

The GUS/TESSITORE Tier

MY GOD! DID YOU JUST…..SEE………THAT THREE-YARD RUN! FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC. Lots of enthusiasm for this tier from two guys who get enthusiastic for a touchback.

Armed Forces Bowl – Baylor vs. Air Force (Dec. 22, 7:30, TSN2) – Other than the Bears nearly beating TCU they did nothing of note this season. A big downgrade from the previous season. The academy is actually winning games because of their defense. So a great defense against a coach who is known for great defenses. Choose the under. My pick: Air Force 24 Baylor 20.

Liberty Bowl – Arkansas vs. Kansas (Dec. 28, 5:30, TSN3) – The Jayhawks were the feel-good story through the end of October this season. Unfortunately they are not playing very good football lately. Arkansas on the other hand…well, they’ve been no more than mediocre all season but they have the talent to put up points especially if they get the running game going. My pick: Arkansas 26 Kansas 21.

Music City Bowl – Kentucky vs Iowa (Dec. 31, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – Thankfully for all of us there is another bowl game on at the same time. This could end up being a yawner. You would have to be a moron to pick the over here. My pick: Kentucky 14 Iowa 10.

Pinstripe Bowl – Minnesota vs. Syracuse (Dec. 29, 2:00, TSN1) – The Cuse is back in the Bronx and I remember the last time they were here. A fabulous FOOTBAW WEATHER game against Kansas State. I hope the weather is shit for this one. Sorry to all the players and coaches and fans. My pick: Minnesota 29 Syracuse 17.

Gasparilla Bowl – Missouri vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 23, 6:30, specialty pack) – Still wish this was sponsored by Bad Boy Mowers. That was fun. This should be the swansong for Sam Hartman so expect the Deacs to throw the ball over the field. I can’t see Mizzou stopping them, plus they have already lost a few players to the transfer portal. My pick: Wake Forest 36 Missouri 14.

The Jones/Criqui Tier

Ah remember when these two would call a game on NBC? It was either a great bowl game or perhaps even a Notre Dame game when they started on NBC. Those were the days. They don’t quite measure up to the ones above them but are still great play-by-play guys.

New Mexico Bowl – BYU vs. SMU (Dec. 17, 7:30, ABC/TSN3) – And we start this section with a rematch of the 1980 Holiday Bowl that had an absolutely insane ending (look it up if you haven’t seen it before). I could see another shootout here, especially from SMU since they did put up 77 on a pretty good Houston team. My pick: SMU 39 BYU 34.

New Orleans Bowl – South Alabama vs. WKU (Dec. 21, 9:00, specialty pack) – This used to be the game where the Sun Belt and Conference USA champs went. Not anymore. At least we have two programs on the rise, especially South Alabama who is looking for their first 11-win season. My pick: South Alabama 38 WKU 16.

Birmingham Bowl – Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina (Dec. 27, 6:45, TSN2) – Let’s call it the Battle for Lesser Carolina since the five ACC Carolina schools (as well as South Carolina) would have a fit if I called it the Battle for the Carolinas. If Grayson McCall plays this could be one of the best bowls of the season. We know Holton Ahlers will throw the ball about 50 times so there will be no shortage of offense. I’m going out on a limb and saying McCall will be ready. My pick: Coastal Carolina 49 East Carolina 47.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 27, 10:15, TSN2) – Wisky comes in with no head coach as Luke Fickell won’t start with the team until after the bowl game. The Pokes definitely have a head coach and Captain Mullet watched his quarterback and the Badgers’ QB head to the transfer portal. It should be close but might not have as many points as the previous game on this list. And by might not, I mean definitely won’t. My pick: Wisconsin 28 Oklahoma State 23.

Arizona Bowl – Wyoming vs. Ohio (Dec. 30, 4:30, Barstool Sports) – The only bowl game you can’t get here. Hell, there may not even be an illegal stream for this one. Ohio has to be disappointed that they came pretty close to winning their first conference title in over five decades. I can see them coming in here wanting to prove a point. My pick: Ohio 32 Wyoming 21.

The Patrick/Hammond Tier

Here’s some 90s guys for you. They weren’t the greatest but they were pretty good and you knew their voices. They just tended to fuck up every so often…Patrick more than Hammond because Hammond only had to cover Notre Dame and whatever team Notre Dame was playing that weekend.

Boca Raton Bowl – Toledo vs. Liberty (Dec. 20, 7:30, TSN2) – Hey, the Rockets won the MAC and the Flames started 8-1 so it’s not like we have two teams who crawled into bowl season. Neither team scores much and both have had their embarrassing losses so maybe it’s time for some players to impress their coach, right? My pick: Toledo 34 Liberty 33.

Myrtle Beach Bowl – UConn vs. Marshall (Dec. 19, 2:30, TSN1) – Sorry for Marshall fans but no one gives a fuck that your team is in this bowl. It’s all about UConn. An unreal turnaround by Jim Mora Jr. and the Huskies as this team improbably going bowling on the teal turf on the South Carolina coast. Now watch the Herd destroy the fun. My pick: Marshall 35 UConn 17.

Independence Bowl – Houston vs. Louisiana (Dec. 23, 3:00, TSN2) – This feels like the death spot in the bowl schedule. Pre-Christmas, Christmas Eve Eve if you will. In the afternoon. Ugh. Also you have two up-and-down teams that really don’t have a calling card. I’ll watch it but if it gets to be out of hand in the second half, there’s no guarantees I will keep it on. My pick: Houston 32 Louisiana 14.

Idaho Potato Bowl – San Jose State vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 20, 3:30, TSN2) – Many fans will pull for the Spartans considering the tragedy that happened late in the season. Don’t forget there’s another team in Boise for this game, though. The Eagles have quietly gone to five bowl games since Chris Creighton took over in a stunning turnaround for a once terrible program. I still wish this game was played at night so it could be icy cold and the field may or may not turn into an ice rink. My pick: San Jose State 24 Eastern Michigan 20.

Frisco Bowl – North Texas vs. Boise State (Dec. 17, 9:15, TSN2) – Almost a home game for North Texas here. And no this isn’t the legendary Frisco Football Classic that had a one-and-done deal last year. Another classic offense vs. defense matchup as the Mean Green can move the ball but Boise has had their best defense in a long time. I wonder how UNT will be considering they just fired Seth Littrell in a bit of shocking move. My pick: Boise State 27 North Texas 10.

The Ward/Bestwick Tier

OK I lied. Not that there are bowl games that you shouldn’t watch. But that there are announcers that are fucking terrible. These two are arguably the worst ever. I would never turn off a game but I definitely did mute it at times with these two on the call. Brutal.

Hawaii Bowl – Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State (Dec. 24, 8:00, TSN2) – I love this game. Why? Because it’s the perfect time to get all the stocking stuffers wrapped and in their stockings. This is the first time since 2019 we will see this game and it is at the converted high school in Honolulu that the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors play at. Fun times. My pick: San Diego State 26 Middle Tennessee 21.

First Responder Bowl – Memphis vs. Utah State (Dec. 27, 3:15, TSN2) – Utah State was surprisingly good this season. Memphis did about as expected. Both teams like to move FAST on offense. This one might be over by 5:30. My pick: Memphis 37 Utah State 31.

Bahamas Bowl – UAB vs. Miami-OH (Dec. 16, 11:30 AM, TSN1) – Two teams, playing in front of about 5,000 fans in usually breezy weather near the ocean. Yeah these two programs lucked out wouldn’t you say? I sure would. Better than Shreveport or Boise, at least in terms of the weather. My pick: UAB 34 Miami-OH 13.

Quick Lane Bowl – New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green (Dec. 26, 2:30, TSN3) – The Aggies are back in a bowl game! The drought was only six years this time so it’s not nearly as exciting. The bowl drought was actually longer for the Falcons, at seven years. This is NMSU’s final game as an Independent as they join Conference USA next season. I might be out, playing Free Uber for my kids as they spend their gift cards that day so we shall see how much of this I get to watch. My pick: Bowling Green 21 New Mexico State 20.

Camellia Bowl – Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo (Dec. 27, Noon, TSN2) – Both teams BARELY made it to bowl eligibility. The Eagles beat Appalachian State in double overtime and the Bulls squeaked by Akron in a rescheduled game. The only oddity here is that Georgia Southern is not a running team anymore: they pass the ball almost as much as any team in the land. Feels weird to day. My pick: Georgia Southern 37 Buffalo 28.

LendingTree Bowl – Southern Miss vs. Rice (Dec. 17, 5:45, TSN2) – Alright the worst bowl game of the bunch. A Southern Miss team that doesn’t feel like a bowl eligible team and a Rice team that lead the APR list to get here at 5-7. Ugh. There are other bowls at the same time so unless this is close, I hate to say it, you can probably avoid it. My pick: Southern Miss 35 Rice 10.

Done! All the bowl games ranked and my predictions locked in place. I am going to make another prediction: that my predictions won’t be that great. Enjoy the bowl games everybody!

Hey let’s storm the field (and give you the Week 9 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on October 26, 2022 by guelphbossman

First off, remember this classic? It was awesome. So the powers that be decided to quash the possibility of it ever happening again. Instead, we get a nine-overtime affair that made me want to pour bleach into my eyes.

Anyway, as you can see from the pic, the Aggie faithful stormed the field after the win. It was a big win. An exhausting one, even for the fans who were there for over five hours. Now, rushing the field like this is now fined by certain conferences. And the fines can be hefty. LSU was just fined a quarter of a million dollars for their fans rushing the field after the Tigers thoroughly destroyed previously undefeated Ole Miss. It was a big win.

Here’s the dilemma from what I see: seeing fans rush the field can be, most of the time, an amazing visual. They are just so happy their team pulled off the victory. Can there be dangers to it? Absolutely. And there can be altercations. Look at that asshole Jermaine Burton who punched a female Tennessee fan after the Vols’ win over Bama. He said he was scared. Bullshit. He could have punched any fan and chose her. Funny he didn’t choose a bigger guy who might have taken offense to it and retaliated. Look, my point is this…I don’t think rushing the field should be fined. At all. That sounds crazy but I believe it. Now, if something happens when the fans rush the field, then the school should be punished (as long as it was not someone from the opposing team doing something wrong). And the fines should be hefty. Forget $250,000. Start at $500K and go up from there. And if students cause issues at games when they storm the field? Guess what? Pack your shit and fuck off to another university. Instead, we have these blanket fines that do nothing really except move money from one coffer to another coffer. Dumb.

Alright, let’s get down to some schedules, shall we?

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia Tech at #24 NC State	7:30 PM
Louisiana at Southern Miss	7:30 PM
#14 Utah at Washington State	10:00 PM

Two pretty important games here. NC State has to win here to have any chance to move back up the rankings and perhaps sneak into the New Year’s Six. Utah has the same issue going for them although they are closer to the Top 10 which basically guarantees a spot. OK make it three important games since Louisiana has to keep pace with Troy and South Alabama in the Sun Belt West.

Friday

		US	Canada
Yale at Columbia	6:30 PM
Louisiana Tech at FIU	8:00 PM
East Carolina at BYU	8:00 PM

Kind of a lacklustre night to be honest. I guess you could see some importance in the Cougs’ game since a loss might actually have them struggling to make a bowl game this season.

Saturday Early

Massive early game in State College. You could still consider it a Game of the Year candidate. This is a prove-it game for Penn State. Win this and it puts all the tough games they’ve had behind them and puts them in a great spot to make the College Football Playoff. A tOSU win means it comes down to them and Michigan for any Big Ten CFP possibilities.

If you had told me that Toledo and Eastern Michigan would be facing off in late October, essentially, for the MAC West championship I would have thought you were on some great drugs. But that is the case. EMU has shocked a lot of people this year. Chris Creighton has done a great job in Ypsilanti. It also helps that every other team in the division (other than these two) has looked below-average at best.

Syracuse has a potential speed bump game to get back on track as they host the Irish and honestly it feels weird to see Oklahoma face Iowa State where neither team is ranked.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Rutgers at Minnesota	2:30 PM
#17 Illinois at Nebraska	3:30 PM
#10 Wake Forest at Louisville	3:30 PM
Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM
Temple at Navy	3:30 PM
#20 Cincinnati at UCF	3:30 PM
Northwestern at Iowa	3:30 PM
#9 Oklahoma State at #22 Kansas State	3:30 PM
#8 Oregon at California	3:30 PM
South Alabama at Arkansas State	4:00 PM
Missouri at #25 South Carolina	4:00 PM

No huge games but a lot of games of importance in this timeslot. OK fine you can say Oklahoma State-Kansas State is huge but there are still a lot of things that could happen in the Big XII with one possibility being that the conference cannibalizes itself and no one makes it to the College Football Playoff.

Illinois is actually on ABC! And they are the reason they are there! Bert doing a great job in Champaign and a win here puts them into a showdown with Purdue for the Big Ten West as long as no other screwy things happen…meaning something will happen. Yes there is an odd start for the Big Ten Network game and no, I don’t know why although I haven’t taken too hard a look to find that out.

Some are saying Georgia may be looking past Florida. I know I would if I was Georgia. I can’t see the Gators doing anything here but you never know as the Cocktail Party can get weird some years. Finally, South Alabama is in a nationally televised game on Saturday probably for the first time ever. They should easily beat ASU in this one. Maybe they are a dark horse for the NY6.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UAB at Florida Atlantic	7:00 PM
#19 Kentucky at #3 Tennessee	7:00 PM
Colorado State at Boise State	7:00 PM
Coastal Carolina at Marshall	7:00 PM
#10 USC at Arizona	7:00 PM
Michigan State at #4 Michigan	7:30 PM
Baylor at Texas Tech	7:30 PM
Arizona State at Colorado	7:30 PM
#15 Ole Miss at Texas A&M	7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at #21 North Carolina	8:00 PM

In almost any week of any season, UK-UT is the SEC on CBS Game of the Week (and potentially the primetime choice). But with the Cocktail Party this week, they are “relegated” to the primetime ESPN game. Still a good slot. Plus, this game is an elimination game. Winner has a shot at the SEC East and the loser has to hope to make up ground to get a nice January bowl game.

Speaking of relegation, USC is on the Pac-12 Network this week. OK, they are at Arizona who, while improved, is still not that good a team. But when you see that Arizona State and Colorado are on ESPNU (which is slightly better if you ask me), it makes you scratch your head a bit. I know the Trojans were picked for the P12N to fulfill their contracted amount of appearances on the network and this game was as good as any to put there. Still…it feels odd to see a Top 10 team on a conference network, especially the worst conference network around.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Nevada at San Jose State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #12 UCLA	10:30 PM
San Diego State at Fresno State	10:30 PM

The Spartans actually have a big game here. By the time the calendar turns, they might be the favourites to represent the West Division in the Mountain West Championship. Also, the Bruins look to bounce back and maybe get back into the Top 10 against the Cardinal who may have a tough decision with David Shaw ahead. Not saying Shaw will be fired this season (or even in the offseason) but something has to give here as the team has been pretty bad for a few years now.

Big Games O’ The Week

Ohio State at Penn State (Noon, FOX) – Just a reminder that this game is at Beaver Stadium so it gives the Nittany Lions more of a chance than if it was at the Horseshoe. This might not be exactly easy for the Fighting Ryan Days but a win here will put them into a one-game showdown in a month against Michigan for the Big Ten East and may put them at #1 in the first College Football Playoff poll on Tuesday.

Kentucky at Tennessee (7:00, specialty pack) – I’m sure there are many who wished this game would have been on TSN instead of the Michigan State-Michigan game but yeah, a good Big Ten game will almost always rate higher for TSN than a game from any other conference. As I said above, this is an SEC East elimination game so the stakes are high. It will be interesting to see if the Vols have a letdown after their big win over Alabama a couple weeks ago or if the Cats can get up for this game, dealing with a loud Knoxville crowd.

Oklahoma State at Kansas State (3:30, FOX) – FOX has quite the lineup this week. I know some marvel when I say that but it honestly doesn’t happen often. It probably helps that it’s only two games this week that lead into the World Series which starts after this game. This is part of the Big XII gauntlet that is happening before our eyes that involves more than half the conference (and maybe not even Oklahoma). FOX is probably hoping this game doesn’t go to a bunch of overtimes since we know it would be moved to like FOX Business Network or some channel no one in the world gets.

Notre Dame at Syracuse (Noon, ABC/TSN5) – The Cuse looks to rebound from their tough loss to Clemson. Meanwhile, Notre Dame continues their roller coaster first season under Marcus Freeman. A win by Syracuse here still keeps them in the hunt for…something. A New Year’s Six at-large spot perhaps? The Irish are just trying to make their season feel like it’s less of a failure than it has been and one where 2023 looks optimistic.

Cincinnati at UCF (3:30, specialty pack) – It feels like most years this is a battle between the top two teams in the American. I would have said Houston at the start of the season but yeah I whiffed on that one pretty hard. Tulane may have something to say about that first sentence and they may get their shot in the AAC Championship if they can keep playing as well as they are. Until then, this feels like the winner is in the driver’s seat for the Cotton Bowl spot.

Psycho Game of the Week

Arizona State at Colorado (7:30, specialty pack) – You have got to be some sort of masochist to spend more than one minute watching this one. I guess maybe hoping for some weird score like 5-3 could get you interested in this but otherwise, it is so easy to avoid this abomination.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Georgia Tech at Florida State (Noon, specialty pack) – This might seem like a bit of a surprise but I have this feeling that the Noles will come into this one a bit angry and ready to beat the absolute shit out of whoever they face. The Ramblin’ Wreck are playing better not under Geoff Collins but at some point their lack of talent will come to the forefront. This is the game that will happen.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Last time UAB traveled to Boca Raton to face FAU they were embarrassed 49-6.
This is the first time in four years that Ole Miss has had to play back-to-back road games.
NC State has lost five straight to the Hokies.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

For some reason I can delve into picking NFL games (which I still do from time to time on top of fantasy football) but when it comes to college football I draw a blank. I can’t seem to come up with a way to pick games other than just pick them off the top of my head for the most part. That’s something I would never say when my late night betting show commences. I wonder what the most ridiculous channel to put that on would be. OMNI?

Louisiana (+1) over Southern Miss (and the outright win…why is Southern Miss even favoured here?)
Louisiana Tech (-6.5) over FIU
Toledo (-7) over Eastern Michigan
Boston College (-7.5) over UConn (only 7.5? Who is making these odds?)
Oklahoma (-1) over Iowa State
Minnesota (-14) over Rutgers
Navy (-13.5) over Temple
Louisville (+3.5) over Wake Forest (big upset pick!)
Florida (+22.5) over Georgia (UGA will cover but the Gators will make things interesting for about three quarters)
Kentucky (+12.5) over Tennessee (the Vols will win a tight one)
Coastal Carolina (+2.5) over Marshall (and they will win outright)
Ole Miss (-2.5) over Texas A&M
UCLA (-16.5) over Stanford (only 16.5? Yeah I’m not getting some of these)

Let’s see how much of a tool I look like with these picks. Anyway, I will be on the Twitter machine for most of the day (I think) so catch me there if you want. Hey, I got a secret for ya. Come closer….

There’s football every day between tomorrow and November 22nd!

Oh. Hell. YEAH! Enjoy the games everyone!

Hey let’s look ahead (and also give you the Week 8 College Football TV schedule)

Posted on October 19, 2022 by guelphbossman

I tend to do most of my psychic work in the offseason…or when looking at bowl projections. Neither of which I do very well. So yeah sounds like a great idea to do it again in the middle of the season right? I never learn.

Will the SEC send a team not from Alabama or Georgia to the College Football Playoff? Tennessee and Ole Miss are both looking the real deal this season. The Vols already pulled off a big upset with their win over the Tide. The Rebels get their shot next month. Tennessee still has to get by Georgia to win the division. So maybe we could be looking at a Vols-Rebels SEC Championship? Honestly, I don’t think so but you never know.

Does the Big Ten still come down to The Big Game? Yes. I think Illinois is doing great and Purdue might end up being the new power in the Big Ten West but it still all comes down to the The Big Game between Michigan and Ohio State. Winner probably wins the conference and heads to the CFP. Loser to the New Year’s Six and the Rose Bowl. I don’t see another scenario unless one of the teams is upset before then.

What’s going to happen with the Pac-12? If Oregon loses this Saturday to UCLA then it will be either the Bruins or Trojans with the only shot for the College Football Playoff. How sad is that for this conference? USC and UCLA leave in 2024 and there are a lot of rumours that Oregon and Washington will follow, possibly for that same season. It’s been bad for the conference for a while but they somehow are coming up with new lows. I assume they poach the Mountain West for at least two teams to stay at the Pac-10 going forward but it won’t be the conference that it’s been in the past, much to Bill Walton’s chagrin.

Is TCU the Big XII’s only hope? No, nor are they a good choice either. I can’t see the Horned Frogs running the table. There is a much better chance of Oklahoma State or even Texas having a shot. A lot would have to happen for the Longhorns to be in contention but it could happen. Me? I’m hoping for chaos and a two-loss team in the CFP. Wouldn’t that be wild?

Who’s the next coach to be fired? It feels like it will be Bryan Harsin and that it will happen any day now. I think he will be after the next coach to be fired. I believe the next coach fired will be Neal Brown instead. It hasn’t been an abject disaster in Morgantown but Brown has shown no signs of improving this program. With Texas Tech and Kansas possibly passing them in the Big XII pecking order, they maybe sitting in the basement by the end of 2022.

Who will win the Heisman? I think if Tennessee goes undefeated through the regular season, it’s Hendon Hooker’s Heisman (Triple H) to lose. One loss or a really bad game from Hooker and it opens the door to like half-a-dozen others, including C.J. Stroud, Dorian Thompson-Robinsion, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams.

Alright that’s enough predictions for now. You didn’t come for that (I don’t think). You came for schedules, right? So let’s get right to them!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Appalachian State	7:30 PM

Before the season this felt like it could be huge in deciding the Sun Belt East. Not so much anymore.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Georgia Tech	7:30 PM
Troy at South Alabama	7:30 PM

The highlight here, honestly, is what could be the Sun Belt West title game. South Alabama is WAY better than advertised and Troy has improved from last year as well. Also, Georgia Tech might actually be favoured in a conference game as the Hoos come to Atlanta. Wouldn’t have been that way with Geoff Collins still in charge, I can guarantee that.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Harvard	7:00 PM
Tulsa at Temple	7:30 PM
UAB at WKU	8:00 PM

Nothing of serious importance although it could be interesting to see what happens in Bowling Green (not the university, the town). Winner there stays in the hunt to get to the Conference USA Championship game.

Saturday Early

I would say this is a good appetizer for the games later on but there’s a main course mixed in there. Syracuse travels to Death Valley East with legitimate upset aspirations. They win here and they turn the ACC (and college football in general) kind of upside down. What many would have picked as the game of the afternoon at the start of the season could look like an absolute blowout. Could Iowa lose by 50? Quite possibly.

Kansas still getting no love. ESPN2 for a big game against Baylor? Come on man. What really is perplexing, though, is UT-Martin getting on to TSN. UT-Martin? I get that Tennessee is good but there are a few other games that could have gone there…like the KU-BU game I just mentioned!

Saturday Afternoon

If UCLA and USC don’t get to the Victory Bell game in November both undefeated then the Bruins’ game against Oregon here might be the Pac-12 Game of the Year (and their best chance to put a team into the College Football Playoff).

You may notice that the UNLV-Notre Dame game isn’t on this list. That’s because this is the one game this season that NBC moves to Peacock. I hope the Rebels somehow win. The Longhorns and Pokes might be in a quasi-elimination game, especially if TCU keeps winning. Ole Miss and Purdue have landmine games where an upset or two wouldn’t be a total surprise.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Boise State at Air Force	7:00 PM
#24 Mississippi State at #6 Alabama	7:00 PM
Minnesota at #16 Penn State	7:30 PM
UCF at East Carolina	7:30 PM
Texas A&M at South Carolina	7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Louisville	8:00 PM
#17 Kansas State at #8 TCU	8:00 PM
Colorado at Oregon State	8:00 PM

Two underrated teams no more as Kansas State travels to Fort Worth to face an undefeated Horned Frogs team. This is absolutely massive for both teams and would have been on FOX if FOX didn’t have baseball that night.

The rest of the primetime schedule could be considered a bit weak unless the Bulldogs can put a scare into Bama. The ABC primetime matchup is very weak considering some of the games that are on this Saturday. I don’t get it sometimes with these picks but at least the network won’t lean on the Big Ten all the time like they’ve been doing in recent years. FOX has taken up that mantle.

Also, we have what might as well be the de facto Mountain West Mountain championship between Boise and AFA. And we have another Pat McAfee night on ESPN2. Great…..

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
San Diego State at Nevada	10:30 PM
Washington at California	10:30 PM
Montana at Sacramento State	11:00 PM

OK so the primetime schedule might be weak in spots but this is brutal. Meaning either Cal is beating the Huskies or Nevada ends the Brady Hoke era at SDSU. Otherwise this is a fucking joke. Oh, plus we are stuck with the Sacramento Test this week. And no, that’s not a test of Sacramento Kings’ fans’ patience.

Big Games O’ The Week

UCLA at Oregon (3:30, FOX) – There are a few games that could occupy this top spot but I picked the one which I believe has the most at stake. If the Bruins win, it sets them up perfectly for the Battle for Los Angeles against their crosstown rivals, USC. A loss and, quite frankly, the Pac-12 could be sitting out the CFP yet again. As I said, huge stakes.

Syracuse at Clemson (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – The Orange Dream Season Express rolls on here as The Fighting Babers look to pull off the upset of all upsets. And we’ve seen that D.J. Uiagalelei has had poor games in the past. A Cuse win here would throw everyone’s ACC predictions into a dumpster (and then that dumpster to be set on fire).

Kansas State at TCU (8:00, FOX Sports One) – This still will not get as much attention as the Texas-Oklahoma State game earlier in the day and I think that suits these two teams just fine. A TCU win keeps their CFP hopes very much alive whereas a Kansas State win puts a bunch of teams back in the mix for the Big XII title game at JerryWorld.

Mississippi State at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – Some are actually wondering why Mississippi State is in the Top 25. I think if the Bulldogs had any semblance of a running game they’d be clearly in the Top 20 and contending for an SEC West title. Instead, they have Will Rogers throw the ball a million times and hope for the best. Classic Mike Leach. I kind of hope this is close but don’t be surprised if it’s over by 8:00.

Texas at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC) – ABC’s ongoing love affair with the Big Ten, despite the fact they will be leaving the network soon, pushes a game like this to the afternoon timeslot. I don’t think many thought Texas would be in a game that, if they win, could put them in the driver’s seat to get to the Big XII Championship. Kansas State, TCU and even Kansas will watch this game with quite a bit of interest.

Ole Miss at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Ole Miss can’t have this be a speed bump game. LSU is better than they were last year and may be shaking of the early season shitshow and are playing good ball under Brian Kelly. The Lane Train needs to mow teams like this down knowing that Bama is coming down the line.

Minnesota at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Is it one of the big time games you’d want to see in the ABC Primetime window? No. This could end up being a good game though. And James Franklin certainly wants his Nittany Lions to play well after the disaster that was their game in Ann Arbor last weekend.

Psycho Game of the Week

Arizona State at Stanford (4:00, Pac-12 Network) – Two terrible Pac-12 teams here. This is the second straight week the Pac-12 has appeared in this section. And it won’t be the last. I honestly do wonder if David Shaw will get to 2023 considering how poor Stanford has been this year (and the past couple of years).

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Iowa at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Yep, I am officially calling it. This could get VERY ugly. Iowa’s offense is anemic and shouldn’t fare too well against the Buckeye defense. They might cover the 29 point spread by 1:00.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Kansas’ last win over Baylor was fifteen years ago. They have also ten in a row to the Bears against the spread.
Notre Dame is 30-6 vs. the Mountain West.
Appalachian State has never lost to Georgia State in eight meetings. They’ve also won seven of those games by double digits.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

I don’t consider myself a gambler. Mostly because I’m not very good at it. I’m sure I am not too far away from some of the experts though in terms of success. Remember that guy on the late night commercials? What was his name? I want to say Cash Palmer. Anyway, him, along with a bunch of other guys who I wouldn’t hire to mow my townhouse lawn, would hock their picks at like 3 in the morning to degenerates who figured they couldn’t do this themselves. I assume all those guys are dead or in an old folks’ home. Anyway, enough of that. Call me Boss Bucks, or something equally stupid, and let’s get the show on the road.

Georgia State (+9.5) over Appalachian State (the Mountaineers win a nailbiter)
Troy (+3) over South Alabama with the outright win
Tulsa (-13) over Temple
UT-Martin (+37.5) over Tennessee with the Vols still winning by four touchdowns
Baylor (-8) over Kansas
Army (-7) over ULM
Liberty (+6.5) over BYU (the Cougs will win this game though in a close one)
Maryland (-13.5) over Northwestern
Boston College (+20.5) over Wake Forest (the Deacs cruise to a relatively easy victory)
Vanderbilt (+14) over Missouri (Mizzou will win the game)
Mississippi State (+21) over Alabama (Tide win after Bulldogs keep it close for three quarters)
UCF (-5) over East Carolina for the road victory
Nevada (+7) over San Diego State (with the Aztecs winning)

The Bossman Top 25!

It’s back! I figured it was about time to whip out a set of rankings for everyone. It’s early so there isn’t a reason to debate but I’m sure some of the spots will make you do a double take. Here we go:

#1	Georgia
#2	Tennessee
#3	Ohio State
#4	Michigan
#5	Clemson
#6	TCU
#7	Ole Miss
#8	Alabama
#9	Oregon
#10	Oklahoma State
#11	Syracuse
#12	UCLA
#13	Utah
#14	Wake Forest
#15	USC
#16	Kansas State
#17	Kentucky
#18	Penn State
#19	Cincinnati
#20	NC State
#21	Illinois
#22	North Carolina
#23	Texas
#24	Purdue
#25	Mississippi State

I’m sure some will look and say why is Tennessee in the #2 spot. Or why is TCU ahead of Alabama. Or why UCLA is not in the Top 10. Look, as I say every year, these things will work themselves out. It’s still early remember. We are only at the halfway point. Come mid-November, then some true debates can be had but until then, it’s just preference. Unless someone puts Alabama at #20 because they don’t like Bama. In that case, that’s fucking stupid.

It’s a little late to get the blog posted and I apologize for that. Just been feeling under the weather and I’m sure how crappy it’s been outside hasn’t helped matters. Looking forward to another great week of college football. Enjoy the games everyone!

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

Posted on October 5, 2022 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

		US	Canada
SMU at UCF	7:00 PM

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

Friday

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

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

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

Saturday Early

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

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

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

Saturday Primetime

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

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

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

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

Saturday Late Night

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

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

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

Big Games O’ The Week

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

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

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

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

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

Psycho Game of the Week

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

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

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

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

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

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

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

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

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

OK this is slightly different – Week 12 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 17, 2021 by guelphbossman

I talk about the coaching carousel a lot. Maybe a bit too much. So I have seen a lot of different stories of coaches getting fired and the methods and back stories of how it came to be. I may not have seen anything like this, though.

Butch Davis has decided he is done at Florida International. He was 23-21 coming into this season with FIU but the bottom fell out for the team and they have gone 1-9 so far in 2021. No one knows yet if he will finish out the season with the team. None of this is all that odd. What is a bit different is Davis’ assertion that the school’s administration is sabotaging the football program and that is why he wants out. Not saying other coaches haven’t thought this but for a coach to actually verbalize it says a lot about what is going on down there. Here are a few of the things that have happened:

FIU posted the head coaching position online with the American Football Coaches Association…last month. Good god, not a good start.
The school is using old uniforms and old equipment and won’t put any money in to purchase anything new. Cheap bastards.
The school has refused to offer multi-year contracts to any of Davis’ assistants. I can kind of understand this considering how poorly the team has performed.
The school also did not allow any of the coaches to go out and recruit the past two years. Part of this is due to COVID-19 concerns but the bigger issue is financial reasons.

It sounds like Davis is probably correct here. And if the school can’t afford to play football at the FBS level, drop to FCS. There are a few schools at the top level that lose money almost every year and justify doing it as a recruiting tool not just to get athletes to come to the school, but students, in general. That may work at a school like Alabama but less so at a school like FIU. This and the fact that the Panthers are in Conference USA which now has set themselves up as easily the worst FBS conference all point to potential disaster in the years to come. Something to keep an eye on.

Anyway, let’s get to more pertinent matters, that being the upcoming schedule!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Northern Illinois at Buffalo	7:00 PM
Central Michigan at Ball State	7:00 PM

MACtion! Hey it’s weekday football. And one of the games is on TSN! This is good. Hopefully at least one of these games is a nailbiter.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Louisville at Duke	7:30 PM

So technically this is a college football game. The only other football on this night is a pretty good New England Patriots team facing a woeful Atlanta Falcons team. So your options are limited.

Friday

		US	Canada
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech	8:00 PM
Memphis at #24 Houston	9:00 PM
#19 San Diego State at UNLV	11:30 PM

Nothing huge here although SDSU and Houston need wins here. We have a different kind of test game tonight: the weeknight Vegas Test. A lot like Hawaii Test games, this game won’t end until well into the morning. I will test my resolve and try to watch this thing but I have this funny feeling it will be over at some point in the third quarter, allowing me (and other viewers) at least some chance at sleep.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#7 Michigan State at #4 Ohio State	Noon
Florida State at Boston College	Noon
Rutgers at Penn State	Noon
Purdue vs. Northwestern (in Chicago)	Noon
UMass at Army	Noon
#10 Wake Forest at Clemson	Noon
Texas at West Virginia	Noon
Harvard at Yale	Noon
Iowa State at #13 Oklahoma	Noon
Wofford at North Carolina	Noon
New Mexico State at Kentucky	Noon

I’m honestly perplexed as to why MSU-tOSU did not get the primetime treatment. I guess it’s so we get to possibly see Kirk Herbstreit sprint to the booth after finishing College Gameday. We also get Oklahoma trying to avoid an upset at the hands of a team they’ve struggled with in the recent past, Iowa State. There are a lot of other games in the early timeslot but not a ton of must-watch material. Also, New Mexico State does not get to be on TSN again.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Georgia Tech at #8 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
Nebraska at #15 Wisconsin	3:30 PM
#6 Michigan at Maryland	3:30 PM
Minnesota at Indiana	3:30 PM
#21 Arkansas at #2 Alabama	3:30 PM
East Carolina at Navy	3:30 PM
SMU at #5 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
Virginia at #18 Pittsburgh	3:30 PM
Syracuse at #20 NC State	4:00 PM
Louisiana at Liberty	4:00 PM
UCLA at USC	4:00 PM
Florida at Missouri	4:00 PM

Nothing massive here although Cincinnati may have their toughest conference test before they face Houston in the AAC Championship. The de facto ACC Coastal Championship occurs today as well as Michigan trying to avoid the speed bump as they travel to College Park. I don’t get why the Big Ten Network puts two games on simultaneously and then doesn’t have anything in the primetime slot. Not a huge deal up here but I am sure it’s a big deal in the States where some fans will miss their team’s game because BTN can’t get their act together.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Auburn at South Carolina	7:00 PM
#3 Oregon at #23 Utah	7:30 PM
Virginia Tech at Miami	7:30 PM
South Alabama at Tennessee	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #12 Ole Miss	7:30 PM
Wyoming at Utah State	8:00 PM
#9 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech	8:00 PM

A big Pac-12 matchup highlights the primetime timeslot. Utah could cause yet another disruption of the Top 4 in what will probably end up being a preview of the Pac-12 Championship. CBS Sports Network is going with an odd 8:00 start time for the Mountain West game and there’s no real reason for it. My only guess on this is that because they do not have a late night game that they put a highlights show on at 7:00 to hopefully keep people watching through that time until this game begins. This feels more like a lack of organization because I am sure they could have put this game on late night and stuck a MAC or Conference USA game in here and just didn’t for….I don’t know.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
ULM at LSU	9:00 PM
Arizona State at Oregon State	10:30 PM

Another weird choice here for start time but at least this has a reason. ESPN2 has the ULM-LSU game starting at 9:00 because there are preliminary fights before a boxing pay-per-view card starting at 7:00. The only game on here in a true late night spot is a very important one for teams needing a win and some help to win their division.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Michigan State at Ohio State (Noon, ABC/TSN3) – This is the Game of the Week and none of the other games are really that close. I would consider it a possible Game of the Year candidate because of the high stakes. Michigan State could do what no one thought they could do and that is unseat Ohio State at the top of the Big Ten East ladder. A Sparty win puts them in the driver’s seat with wins over both tOSU and Michigan. The loser of this is probably still a lock for the New Year’s Six though. As I said above, I am still confused as to why this didn’t get the ABC primetime slot but I have a feeling it has to do with contracted games and the Pac-12 may not have quite got to where they should be. For this reason ESPN/ABC took the next game on this list instead of this one knowing that the final week of the season would have a better selection to choose from and they wouldn’t be forced to go with one conference over another.

Oregon at Utah (7:30, ABC) – As much as the Pac-12 tends to be ignored on the East Coast, I can see a lot of eyeballs descending on this one. As mentioned above, it is probably a preview of the Pac-12 title match. The stakes are high, especially for the Ducks after their inexplicable loss to Stanford earlier this season. The Utes could cause a lot of issues for the Pac-12 and put themselves in the Top 15 going into the final week of the regular season with a win. Realistically, the conference championship game is much more important than this one but the path there for both teams will dictate where they stand in terms of what bowl destination they will have. Either way, at least we know the winner here clinches their spot in Santa Clara and at least will play for the Rose Bowl spot.

SMU at Cincinnati (3:30, specialty pack) – So what happens if the Bearcats lose here? A win here leaves them at probably no lower than #5 in the CFP rankings. But a loss…well then we have to see how far they fall. The next best Group of Five team is San Diego State and they sit at #19 and won’t surpass Cincy even if they win and the Bearcats lose. Yes, Luke Fickell has his sights set much higher than the NY6. This game will show whether they can do what they need to do to capture the attention of The Committee: by blowing the doors off the Mustangs.

Wake Forest at Clemson (Noon, specialty pack) – Here’s a huge test for Wake. Win this game and they clinch the ACC Atlantic and end the reign of Clemson at the top. Would it be the beginning of the end of Dave Clawson in Winston-Salem? He has done another masterful job of coaching and many teams will be looking his way with all the openings needing to be filled in the off-season. Also, how much higher do the Deacs rise in the poll with a win here? I can’t see them climbing higher than #8 but there still would be one more regular season week remaining, plus conference championships and this season has taught me that you can’t really predict anything week-to-week.

Virginia at Pittsburgh (3:30, specialty pack) – As for the other side of the ACC ledger, this is pretty much the game for the ACC Coastal division title. I’m sure Wake Forest hopes Pitt wins because the better the Panthers are, the better their schedule looks. Virginia doesn’t automatically clinch the division with a win but they put themselves in the catbird seat if they are triumphant here going into the Commonwealth Cup game with the now Justin Fuente-less Virginia Tech Hokies.

Honourable mention: Arkansas at Alabama (3:30, CBS); UAB at UTSA (3:30, ESPN+); Oklahoma State at Texas Tech (8:00, FOX)

Wanna bet?

My picks were not good last week. I don’t even want to talk about it. So now I have to hope that these picks are better for…some reason. I don’t know why. Note: do not use these picks for actual gambling purposes:

Alabama over Arkansas

Clemson over Wake Forest (minor upset)

Pittsburgh over Virginia

UTSA over UAB

Cincinnati over SMU

Oklahoma State over Texas Tech

Ohio State over Michigan State

Utah over Oregon (upset!)

Ball State over Central Michigan

Tennessee over South Alabama

San Diego State over UNLV

I’m gearing myself up. Tonight. Tomorrow night. Friday night. Saturday all day. Then NFL Sunday all day. Then NFL Monday night. My god. I love it.

NFL schedule tomorrow as per usual. Enjoy the games everyone!

The Fun-Time College Coaching Carousel – Week 9 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 27, 2021 by guelphbossman

OK this happens every year but it feels like it has been jumped up a notch or two. Like what is being talked about more right now, the coaching carousel and hot seat or the Heisman race? It’s easily the coaching situations in college football. Might as well start this with the USC sitch. The rumour mill is going crazy with potential names to be the next head coach in LA. The candidates listed since Clay Helton was fired include Luke Fickell, Matt Campbell, James Franklin and Kalani Sitake. Jeff Fisher was mentioned as a possibility and he fairly quickly refuted it, probably because it would be impossible for him to go 7-9. Mike Tomlin was also mentioned which is weird since unless the Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to fire him, I don’t know why he’d leave one of the better coaching spots in the NFL to coach at a place with high expectations like USC. With Franklin getting a new agent, my guess is he has become the odds-on favourite and if Penn State loses badly this weekend, expect that talk to heat up a lot.

So now let’s head to the Bayou and the LSU Tigers. Ed Orgeron probably doesn’t give a single solitary shit now so is off fucking co-eds and getting drunk instead of fulfilling his head coaching duties at LSU. I kid, but I’m sure he has been hungover at his desk in the morning at least once since his shitcanning. So what’s next in Baton Rouge? Campbell, Franklin and Fickell show up on this list as well but there are other, possibly more intriguing, options. Like Dave Aranda. LSU’s former defensive coordinator would be welcomed back with open arms after the job he has done at Baylor. Billy Napier has been lights out at Louisiana, making them one of the best Group of Five programs around. And the most intriguing of possibilities, Mel Tucker. Michigan State is a very unexpected Top 10 team and Tucker is a big reason why.

This will be a story that won’t go away for a while. For my money, I think it will end up being Franklin going to USC and Aranda heading to LSU. There will be other openings showing up soon I’m sure and Fickell is almost certain to get one of them. Matt Campbell, on the other hand, I could see staying at Iowa State for at least one more season, especially if they somehow make their way to the Big XII Championship. Anyway, enough coach talk, on to the schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
USF at East Carolina	7:30 PM
Troy at #24 Coastal Carolina	7:30 PM

Very soon we will be at the point where it’s football every day! It means that the football matchups don’t have to always be fantastic because it’s football every damn day so let’s enjoy it! What would you rather watch, football or something meaningless like poker? Other than the NFL Thursday Nighter, nothing else worth watching will be on this night. It’s a travel day for the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves so no baseball to distract you. So unless the pro game is good, you can sit down and watch…let’s see here….oh my….um….well, it’s college football technically. With Coastal losing last week, neither of these games are really that appealing to be perfectly honest.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Cornell	7:00 PM
Navy at Tulsa	7:30 PM
UNLV at Nevada	10:00 PM

OK so things don’t get a whole lot better on Friday night. Saying that, the Battle for the Fremont Cannon is always fun and, two years ago, ended in a massive brawl. Good times!

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Texas at #16 Baylor	Noon
Miami at #17 Pittsburgh	Noon
Indiana at Maryland	Noon
Rutgers at Illinois	Noon
Bowling Green at Buffalo	Noon
#9 Iowa at Wisconsin	Noon
#2 Cincinnati at Tulane	Noon
Texas State at Louisiana	Noon
#6 Michigan at #8 Michigan State	Noon
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech	Noon

One game here will get all the attention and rightfully so. The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry hits a new high with both teams ranked in the Top 10. That’s not the only game here though as Iowa-Wisky could end up being interesting on the other side of the Big Ten division menu. Pitt and Baylor try to continue their magical seasons and Cincy has to beat Tulane by a lot to probably keep that lofty #2 ranking. Finally there is Techmo Bowl to see if one of the coaches coaching in the game get fired during the halftime show. I give the odds at 10-1.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Missouri at Vanderbilt	3:00 PM
Texas Tech at #4 Oklahoma	3:30 PM
Minnesota at Northwestern	3:30 PM
Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM
Louisiana Tech at Old Dominion	3:30 PM
Florida State at Clemson	3:30 PM
Purdue at Nebraska	3:30 PM
TCU at Kansas State	3:30 PM
Colorado at #7 Oregon	3:30 PM
Boston College at Syracuse	3:30 PM
Duke at #13 Wake Forest	4:00 PM

I’m sure Brad Nessler would love to have an open bar for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Dealing with Gary Danielson and blowouts every week has to be gnawing at him and I think he might snap, despite the fact he is very professional. I know I would. The SEC Network going with some odd timeslots this week and I don’t know if this is a test for going forward or they had to do so because of other programming. I’m going with the former until I can find something concrete that HAD to be on from Noon until 3:00. Other than that there’s not much of note here. Maybe watch Wake keep their undefeated streak going until the second quarter once they pull away from Dook or Texas Tech pretend they can stay with Oklahoma for more than 10 minutes if you want.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Boise State at Colorado State	7:00 PM
#10 Ole Miss at #18 Auburn	7:00 PM
#19 SMU at Houston	7:00 PM
Arizona at USC	7:00 PM
#12 Kentucky at Mississippi State	7:00 PM
#20 Penn State at #5 Ohio State	7:30 PM
Louisville at NC State	7:30 PM
North Carolina at #11 Notre Dame	7:30 PM

Penn State-Ohio State was going to be a huge game for ABC. Then last weekend’s nine-overtime clusterfuck happens and this game doesn’t mean nearly as much. It’s almost the same thing that happened last year as PSU lost to Indiana the week before tOSU. It’s like they’re looking ahead to the Buckeyes and taking their eye off the ball (or Franklin is checking his email every few minutes for something from a certain west coast school). And there’s no guarantee they get the most viewers in this timeslot, especially if it becomes a blowout. You have Ole Miss-Auburn which should be a dandy and SMU trying to stay undefeated, mostly for Cincinnati’s gain. You could also watch North Carolina who is way worse than some thought they would be (*AHEM* me *AHEM*), travel to South Bend and hopefully not get beaten up by the Irish.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
UCLA at Utah	10:00 PM
Virginia at #25 BYU	10:15 PM
Fresno State at #21 San Diego State	10:30 PM

Late night college football returns this week after last week’s odd scheduling. The biggest match will happen in ~~San Diego~~ Carson, California where the Aztecs hope to remain undefeated against a very good Bulldogs team. CBS Sports Network really lucked out with getting this one. We also have the return of Bronco as Mr. Mendenhall brings his Cavaliers to Provo to face his old team.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Michigan at Michigan State (Noon, FOX) – Put up your hands if you figured both teams would be undefeated coming into this one. Absolutely no hands should be up right now, not even Spartans and Wolverines fans. One of these teams will have a legitimate shot at the College Football Playoff after this coming weekend. That sounds absurd but it’s very true. The winner here will have Ohio State later on in the season for what will probably be a winner-take-all game for the Big Ten East crown. Michigan is considered the slight favourite to win here. I would wonder about Sparty’s chances though. They really will all come down to what Kenneth Walker III does in this game. Walker has vaulted himself into the Heisman race and really if the season ended now he should get strong consideration to win the damn thing. Really, this should be a solid Game of the Year candidate so let’s hope it’s not a blowout…otherwise we get Sad Gus Johnson which never sounds good.

Ole Miss at Auburn (7:00, specialty pack) – Will either of these teams usurp Bama at the top of the SEC West? Not likely but this year there is at least a tiny sliver of hope. The winner of this one is in the driver’s seat to have that opportunity, especially if it’s Auburn who still has a game against the Tide. And with Lane Kiffin coaching in this game, the interviews, along with the offense, should be fun.

Penn State at Ohio State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – If this was in State College I probably move it up to the number two spot on this list. Tough to move them up farther with neither team undefeated and Penn State suffering a horrible loss to Illinois. As I mentioned above, the Nittany Lions had the same fate last year, losing the game before the Ohio State one. Yes it was their first game of the year so take it with a grain of salt. They did end up losing to Ohio State last year (and the three games after that). Can’t see that kind of losing streak from this team this year but you never know. Either way, the winner here will face the winner of the Michigan-MSU game later in the season for the division crown and the rest of the teams will battle for the slight chance at a New Year’s Six spot.

SMU at Houston (7:00, specialty pack) – Yes SMU is undefeated but the Cougs are undefeated in the conference as well. This game pretty much determines who gets to face Cincinnati in the AAC Championship in December. This could also be the beginning of the end of Sonny Dykes in the Metroplex as there are rumours he will end up as the head coach at Texas Tech. Wouldn’t surprise me at all, what with his dad coaching there years ago.

Fresno State at San Diego State (10:30, CBS Sports Network) – Another surprising team shows up on the list here. Somehow, the Bulldogs are 6-2 and in the driver’s seat in the Mountain West West Division with a win here in Carson. Kalen DeBoer has done a fantastic job in the Valley for a team that many (myself included) wouldn’t even get to .500 this season. And look who is doing a great coaching job at SDSU. Brady Hoke is back, baby! He has proven to be a great coach at the Group of Five level and he’s doing it once again. The Aztecs somewhat surprising run to, hopefully, a NY6 spot hinges on winning games like this (and hoping Cincinnati loses at least once before the end of the season).

Honourable mention: Texas Tech at Oklahoma (3:30, ABC); Florida vs. Georgia (3:30, CBS); Virginia at BYU (10:15, specialty pack)

Wanna bet?

OK at least I got one upset pick right. I thought Air Force could somehow come back and beat San Diego State but sadly, for me, it did not happen. As for the rest of my picks, yeah there were a couple bad ones there as well. Look, let’s forget that and just move forward, OK?

Houston over SMU (let’s start with an upset)

Michigan over Michigan State

Ohio State over Penn State

BYU over Virginia

Georgia over Florida

Auburn over Ole Miss

San Diego State over Fresno State

Oklahoma over Texas Tech

Buffalo over Bowling Green

Louisiana Tech over Old Dominion

Coastal Carolina over Troy

Will I watch the approximately 24 hours of college football being served up over the next few days? It will be pretty close, not gonna lie. It’s mostly a free weekend so add in about 11 hours of NFL football and we get to the 35-hour mark. I am such a fucking degenerate when it comes to football. Kind of glad I don’t do the recaps anymore since it usually cut into in my NFL watching time. Honestly, I struggle with that kind of multi-tasking. Anyway. enjoy the games everyone!

The 2021 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List

Posted on August 4, 2021 by guelphbossman

This is going to be a very interesting season in college football as it pertains to the college football coaching hot seat list.

Last year was an aberration, obviously. There are many programs that normally would have thought on pulling the trigger and ending their ties with their head coach. COVID-19 changed that. And we’re not out of the woods with all this pandemic shit. Saying that, 2021 is different. We are slowly getting back to normal, or at least what the new normal will look like. And the college football world is no different. Hey, look, realignment issues! The new NIL legislation! We are back to offseason craziness in the world of, let’s still call it amateur athletics. Which means some coaches are back to squarely being on the hot seat. Not good for them. Incredibly exciting for the (sometimes) bloodthirsty college football media. So let’s do this!

IT’S HOT SEAT TIME, GUYS! Got to give myself some credit: this list is somewhat accurate. That’s the history of this post. And I am hoping it continues since accuracy with predictions isn’t exactly my strong suit. Please don’t go back to previous posts to test this theory.

Let’s get to the damn list! Like every year, this is ordered from most likely to be fired to most likely to keep their job:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

Jeff Brohm (Purdue) – It feels like a decade ago since the Boilermakers’ upset of Ohio State. It was actually in 2018. Since then it has been pretty much a disaster in West Lafayette. And I don’t really see any sign of improvement. Needed to keep his job – Going into the final two weeks of the season with a chance at bowl eligibility. Prediction – He won’t make it to the end of the season as Purdue will limp to a 3-win season.
Walt Bell (UMass) – It wasn’t like this in Tallahassee. Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have done a good job at this school since, well since they moved up from FCS. Needed to keep his job – Play at least one meaningful November game. Prediction – He may quit before he’s fired. Nah, he’s a college football coach. He’ll be fired before he even thinks of quitting. And fired he will be at some point in November.
Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green) – Bowling Green really isn’t historically bad. And I am sure they have never had a horrible run like this. Scotty has not done anything of note here so it’s time to move on. Quite an easy move. Also, never trust a guy who spells his first name like that. Needed to keep his job – At least three wins with one over a good MAC team. Prediction – I honestly can’t see the Falcons winning any games this season. They are easily the worst team in the MAC right now, quite a ways below Akron who is also pretty shitty.
Dino Babers (Syracuse) – It’s been a long time since so much hope was dashed so fast in Western New York. It’s been mostly bad since joining the ACC (at least in football). But this is the worst stretch they’ve had and that’s after things looked so good early on. I can’t see Babers recovering from recent performances by the Orange. Needed to keep his job – Syracuse to look halfway competitive in the ACC. Prediction – Could very well be gone before the end of the season.
Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee) – This is a tough one. I don’t really like the guy, especially since all the shit his team pulled in their bowl game with Navy a few years back. But he has been in Murfreesboro for so long it feels like he will retire before he gets shitcanned. I think the shine has finally come off as the Blue Raiders are struggling with no sign of real improvement. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility, plain and simple. Prediction – Stockstill might be one of those few coaches who resigns before they are fired. Mostly out of pride. And yes, I believe Stockstill will be fired but maybe not until after the regular season is complete.

Probable Shitcanning

Chip Lindsey (Troy) – Troy hasn’t had a string this bad for a while. I’m sounding like a broken record here. Not saying Lindsey was a hyped coaching hire but Troy was always one of the better Sun Belt teams. Now? Not so much. Expect an interesting decision by the end of the season. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and the look of a program on the rise again in the Sun Belt. Prediction – Four wins and a very good chance that he’s looking for another job come December.
Randy Edsall (UConn) – UConn has struggled for a long time now. Ever since they somehow got to a BCS bowl. Any other program (almost) Edsall has been long fired. It’s different in Storrs, and I get that, but with him getting bonuses for making sure he eats breakfast every day, the bloom might have come off the rose a bit. Needed to keep his job – Be more competitive, especially on defense. Prediction – Three wins and a surprisingly tough call for the powers that be.
Jonathan Smith (Oregon State) – I am going out bit of a limb with this one. Things were looking very promising in Corvallis and then last year the Beavers came back to Earth a bit. I think my prediction would be enough to move Smith out of the job. Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility or a win over Oregon. Prediction – Three wins, no bowl, no win over Oregon, no head coaching position for Johnny Beaver.

Possible Shitcanning

Jim Harbaugh (Michigan) – Yes, his picture is one of the pictures at the top of this post. And yes, he has been on the hot seat since the first time he lost to Ohio State. He almost got a pass from many in Ann Arbor (and the voracious college football media) which surprises me to no end. So the seat is cooler than normal but he’s not out of the woods yet. Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins and maybe an upset inside the Big Ten. Prediction – I have the Wolverines getting right to the 7-win mark. I think he survives but then the seat becomes scorching going into next season.
Scott Frost (Nebraska) – For many having Frosty the Coachman in this spot makes no sense. I think he might get a bit of leeway and if the Huskers do what I think they will do this season, this spot makes a lot more sense so I should just stop second-guessing myself. Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility at the very least. Prediction – I have them winning seven games so hopefully I haven’t drank the Husker Koolaid yet again.
Herm Edwards (Arizona State) – This is a tricky situation here. This program could be in a heap of trouble. The alleged recruiting scheme that was concocted during the worst of COVID-19 looks horrible on the Sun Devils and especially on Herm. If the NCAA can prove their point enough, Edwards may be forced out. This will have nothing to do with performance since the Sun Devils are a nearly-top-level Pac-12 team. Needed to keep his job – Herm not being found guilty in this. Prediction – A lot of times programs will fire a coach because of potential sanctions and most of those times, the team isn’t doing well anyway because they’re distracted. If ASU does as well as I predict it will, then only the NCAA coming down hard on the program will push Edwards out the door.
Matt Wells (Texas Tech) – It has been a while since this program was good. Kute Kliff Kingsbury couldn’t get the job done and he was punished with an NFL head coaching gig and probably a bunch of women at his beck and call. Wells will not have those opportunities if this doesn’t work out. For now, things are OK for the most part but it could quickly change if the Red Raiders bottom out this year. Needed to keep his job – TTU to be playing meaningful ball in November. Prediction – Define meaningful. I have the Red Raiders winning four games so if they can pull off an upset or two then you may have a bowl team down in Lubbock which could get Wells an ill-advised extension.
Scott Satterfield (Louisville) – Wow has the bloom come off the rose here. Satterfield was coaching so well early on that the fanbase had all but forgotten about their own Son of Anarchy, Bobby Petrino. Now? I am sure there is at least a decent amount of Cardinals fans who would bring Fun Bobby back in a heartbeat. That’s how much things have changed for Satterfield. He’s no longer Great Scott. More Below Average Scott. Needed to keep his job – Showing some obvious improvement from a horrible 2020. Prediction – Well, I think the Cards will win three games. That’s not many and whether they are competitive in many of their losses will signal whether Satterfield will be Satterfired or not.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

Jeff Scott (USF) – I watched a YouTube video the other day about the crazy 2007 season. Remember that? At one point, the Bulls got to #2 in the nation. Good times. The times are not so good now and Scott is going to be starting to take a lot of heat for that, fair or not. Needed to keep his job – Not be worse than last season. Prediction – I’ve got them at 2 wins so technically, yes, they will be better. Plus I think they plan to give Scott at least halfway through the 2022 season before potentially pulling the trigger.
Clay Helton (USC) – Can’t Clay get a little slack here? Not like the Pac-12 as a whole is doing all that great these days. I do believe, however, this could be the year that Helton *GASP* gets off the hot seat for at least a season. What will Trojan fans complain about then? Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins. Prediction – I have the Trojans winning 10 games meaning it’s almost an automatic to get to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Justin Fuente (Virginia Tech) – Fuente is the new Gus Malzahn. He will never get off this list. Ever. He basically has to win a national championship to do so and even then there’s no guarantee. Fans in Blacksburg are antsy for some true success. Not gonna happen yet though. Needed to keep his job – It will be a seven win season to keep his job, which will probably be the case for a long time. Prediction – 8 wins so stay tuned for next season when I put him on this exact same fucking list…again.
Thomas Hammock (Northern Illinois) – He was always going to get a lot of rope but after last year’s winless campaign, the rope has been shortened quite a bit. He has nowhere to go but up although technically he could do the same this year which would absolutely get him shitcanned. Needed to keep his job – At least a couple of victories. It’s a low bar at this point. Prediction – Three wins and Tom moving up this list next year.
Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – Again it will be a tale of two schools in the Houston area. Houston is looking for a huge rebound and I think they will be a big player in the AAC this season. Rice, on the other hand, will be just like they’ve been for most of the program’s history: below-average. Not the easiest job in the world for sure but at some point, someone has to have some semblance of success at this school, no? Needed to keep his job – Win a few games and pull off a good upset or three. Prediction – Four wins should be considered not bad and he will again be on a hot seat next season.
Marcus Arroyo (UNLV) – A bright, relatively new shiny stadium for a full season. The fact that, of all teams, the UNLV Rebels get to play at a place like Allegiant Stadium seems bizarrely funny. It really doesn’t match. I don’t think they care as long as they are out of the heat magnet masquerading as a football field called Sam Boyd Stadium. Needed to keep his job – A couple of wins and an upset at Allegiant. Prediction – They’ll win 3. As for the upset, I don’t think that will happen.
Mel Tucker (Michigan State) – OK last year he had to be given a pass. He started very late in the off-season cycle and basically did what he could for a Spartans team that needs an overhaul. He will probably get a pass for the most part this year unless they do so horribly that even Maryland is destroying them. Needed to keep his job – A move up the standings and at least 3 wins. Prediction – He should get his three wins. Moving up the standings might not happen though and the seat will most definitely get hotter next year for Mel.

Hey guess what’s next? That’s right, my Heisman ballot (which I never will, and never should, get). Then I need to do the NFL preview as well which is always a bit of a dog’s breakfast as well. 24 days away! Soon enough I will have info for Week Zero! Enjoy your day everyone!

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

Posted on December 14, 2020 by guelphbossman

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

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

Thursday

Southern Miss 45 Florida Atlantic 31

6:30 PM

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

Friday

Arizona State 70 Arizona 7

7:30 PM

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

San Jose State 30 Nevada 20

10:00 PM

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

Saturday Early

Penn State 39 Michigan State 24

Noon

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

Rutgers 27 Maryland 24

Noon

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

Northwestern 28 Illinois 10

Noon

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

Alabama 52 Arkansas 3

Noon

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

Utah 38 Colorado 21

Noon

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

Georgia 49 Missouri 14

Noon

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

Minnesota 24 Nebraska 17

Noon

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

Saturday Afternoon

Buffalo 56 Akron 7

2:30 PM

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

Army 15 Navy 0

3:00 PM

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

North Carolina 62 Miami 26

3:30 PM

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

Oklahoma State 42 Baylor 3

3:30 PM

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

Iowa 28 Wisconsin 7

3:30 PM

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

Memphis 30 Houston 27

3:45 PM

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

Tennessee 42 Vanderbilt 17

4:00 PM

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

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

Boise State 17 Wyoming 9

6:00 PM

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

LSU 37 Florida 34

7:00 PM

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

TCU 52 Louisiana Tech 10

7:00 PM

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

Auburn 24 Mississippi State 10

7:30 PM

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

USC 43 UCLA 38

7:30 PM

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

BYU 28 San Diego State 14

10:00 PM

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

New Mexico 49 Fresno State 39

10:30 PM

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

Stanford 27 Oregon State 24

10:00 PM

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

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

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

A CFP without Clemson? – Week 14 College Football Recap

Posted on December 7, 2020 by guelphbossman

Last year I did this and talked about the College Football Playoff without Alabama. This time I posit about Clemson possibly not making the CFP. And that could happen. Their win over Virginia Tech looks good on paper but man it was a struggle until about the last part of the third quarter once they finally started pulling away (and after ABC hilariously aired an interview with Ian Book during the game probably thinking the Tigers would have essentially put the game away by then). They clinch their spot in the ACC Championship and get a rematch with Notre Dame. If they lose, they are guaranteed not to be in the CFP since the first one back in the 2014 season. That would honestly feel odd. Like Bama missing it last year.

Alright, enough of Clemson’s potential issues. Let’s get to the recap!

The Recap!

Let’s start with what ended up being the game of the week (of the year?): the game that was scheduled on THURSDAY between BYU and Coastal Carolina. An epic affair between two Top 20 teams with the winner getting a possible legitimate shot at the New Year’s Six. The final play looked very similar to when the Titans came up one yard short against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. Coastal ended up holding on for the victory which should move them up in the CFP rankings. What it probably ended up doing though is far more important: BYU deciding to fill in for Liberty (who had COVID issues that made it so they couldn’t play) on a few days’ notice will create a new way to schedule games going forward. This is huge for college football and is a much needed change from scheduling non-conference games 20 years out (which everyone, except ADs, think is absolutely ludicrous).
Michigan State wasn’t even within an area code of Ohio State. To be honest, it was painful to watch. The Buckeyes continue their run to the Big Ten Championship (hopefully). The game against Michigan this Saturday looms large. Michigan’s game this past weekend was cancelled and if they still have issues with COVID-19 then they may have to have this one be cancelled as well. As per the Big Ten rules, this would make tOSU in eligible for the Big Ten title game. It’s ridiculous that this could happen but it’s possible that they would not even make their conference championship but get to the CFP. If the Big Ten is smart, they find a way to get the Buckeyes a game if the the game against The Team Up North has to be cancelled.
I think Iowa State heard the haters. What they did to West Virginia was nasty. That huge victory clinched their trip to JerryWorld for the first time in team history. The Cyclones are trying to erase the memory of the early season loss to Louisiana although I don’t know why since the Ragin’ Cajuns are ranked.
Speaking of the Ragin’ Cajuns that was something else down in Boone Friday night. Some disgusting footbaw weather (rain this time) made it very difficult, especially for Louisiana’s poor long snapper who made multiple horrible snaps that kept the Cajuns from pulling away from the Mountaineers. In the end, a missed App State field goal allowed Louisiana to get the duke and also stay ranked going into their bye week as they prepare for Coastal Carolina in the biggest Sun Belt Championship ever.
Good job, Oklahoma State. Any hope to sneak into the Big XII Championship went up in flames Saturday in Fort Worth. Not like TCU played all that well. But the Cowboys were finally exposed and we have another season where the Mullet Express will not head to the Metroplex which has to be frustrating Oklahoma State fans at this point.
Who picked Colorado to start 4-0? Put your hands down you liars. The Buffaloes were lead by Jarek Broussard’s insane day on the ground as he ran for 301 yards! I get it, it was just Arizona. But it was still impressive. The worst part about all this? Because their game against USC was cancelled, the Pac-12 might have two undefeated teams in the same division and only one of those teams will head to the Pac-12 Championship game. For the final time, ABOLISH DIVISIONS! It has run its course. There is no need for them now. Plus having no divisions ensures the best two teams (on the season) will play for the conference title. Instead, we may see Oregon or even Washington in the Pac-12 title game. Yuck.
It felt like an upset was in the making for a while. But Texas A&M did enough to hold on for the win over Auburn and keep their slim College Football Playoff hopes alive. They have done this despite the team not looking all that good for much of the season. Saying that, if the Aggies can make the CFP, the 10-year contract given to Jimbo Fisher starts to look a whole lot smarter.
Let’s see if I get this correct: Rice’s 20-0 win over Marshall was a shocker for sure. The Herd threw five interceptions and looked horrible all day. This marked the Owls’ first win over a ranked team in 23 years and their first shutout of a ranked opponent in 60 years! It’s Marshall’s first loss, ending their slim NY6 hopes. And it is probably the first time that a 1-win team has shut out a ranked team in December. And of course it was on ESPN3 so barely anyone got to watch it.
Texas scored 69 points against Kansas State. Nice.
The other game of the week ended up being Arkansas-Missouri. What an amazing finish. The Hogs go down the field, score the TD and decide to go for two. The two-point conversion pass is in the Mizzou defender’s hands and just tips out and into the Arkansas receiver’s hands to give the Razorbacks the lead. Then the Tigers go down the field and their freshman kicker nails the winning field goal. Missouri is quietly 5-3 under first-year head coach Eli Drinkwitz. Pretty impressive.
Finally, Akron won its first game in 770 days. That is not a typo. They beat Bowling Green who is probably the worst FBS team this season.

Coaching Carousel

Hey let’s have some fun and look at the coaching carousel.

So what is happening on the ol’ carousel? Let’s take a look.

Get this. Scott Satterfield, despite saying he wasn’t going to look for another coaching position, talked with South Carolina anyway. Many people are very upset, especially at Louisville. Don’t be surprised if Satterfield is shitcanned in the next few weeks.
As for the Gamecocks job, it goes to Shane Beamer. Yes, Frank’s son. He wasn’t the first two choices, that we know since Billy Napier also turned down the job after Satterfield did. He is going to have his work cut out for him making South Carolina a contender in the SEC East.
Derek Mason was dismissed at Vanderbilt. No real surprise there. Who will replace him? It seems like whoever it is really has to change the perception of the program and convince the university to spend more money on the program and/or get better recruits.
Jay Hopson was fired a few months ago. Yes it has been that long ago. Will Hall, Tulane’s offensive coordinator, has been hired by the Golden Eagles to bring that program out of the dumps.
Gary Andersen was fired a while ago at Utah State. If I was a program, even at the FCS level, I would stay away from this clown since he is totally unreliable.

Potential other coaching moves:

Texas – Even with Texas’s shellacking of Kansas State on Saturday, Tom Herman’s time in Austin may be over soon. And of course who is the top candidate to replace him? Urban Meyer, of course! The other candidate looks to be Penn State’s James Franklin, of all people. The real straw that may have broken the proverbial camel’s back at Texas is losing Quinn Ewers, the top-ranked quarterback for two seasons from now, to Ohio State.
Kansas – The Les Miles Experiment really has not worked in Lawrence. And who may be the first to admit it? Les himself. He may decide to retire rather than stick around knowing it will take at least another two years to get the Jayhawks back into contention in the Big XII for the first time in over a decade.
Brent Venables – Every off-season his name comes up as it pertains to the coaching carousel. This season is no different. Expect a less polished Power Five program throwing out a bunch of money to possibly lure him into his first head coaching job.
ULM – Things were on the up-and-up in Monroe under Matt Viator. Then came this year’s collapse as the Warhawks are now the worst team in the Sun Belt. They will look probably to the FCS to find candidates. UPDATE: Viator has been fired.
FIU – After two great years, things have been horrible for Butch Davis in 2020. They thought they had their man but he may not be the guy to grow this program. Problem is his buyout is over $1 million so that may keep him with the Golden Panthers for another season.
Middle Tennessee – The thing I can’t believe is the buyout for Rick Stockstill. $5.8 million! Who the fuck put that into his contract? Anyway, his contract runs for three more seasons so I could see MTSU bringing him back at least for 2021 to see if the Blue Raiders improve and then make a decision.
Luke Fickell – This is probably the guy every Power Five program that has fired their coach or might let theirs go is looking at. He has done some unreal things at Cincinnati. And remember, so did Brian Kelly and Mark Dantonio and they both had very good coaching careers at the Power Five level.
Jim Harbaugh/Michigan – Good lord, here we go again. The buyout is large but his next season is technically his last in Ann Arbor under his current deal. The Wolverines have been nothing short of awful this year and you have to wonder if Harbaugh has lost his spark. He almost seems destined to go back to the NFL, if not for next season then definitely for 2021. If Michigan pulls the trigger and fires him after this season, this automatically becomes the best coaching opening available with nothing else even close.
Tom Allen – Don’t laugh. This guy cemented his Coach of the Year with the big win over Wisconsin this past weekend. The players and other coaches love him and he has endless energy. If one of Michigan, Florida State, Penn State or Tennessee decides to move on, he is the guy. It’s pricey. They will have to probably chip in for his buyout which is, *GASP* $23.5 million. Holy shit. But it may be worth it.

Remember last week I said I would talk about the conference championship races? Well here we go. Man this post is getting into Super Mega Hyper Omni Post territory.

It’s the third annual Sun Belt Championship game and they still haven’t got Mountain Dew or Skoal or Shoney’s or some place like that to sponsor it. This will be the first Sun Belt Championship not to feature Appalachian State. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana have won their respective divisions and will face off in the championship game at the home of the Chanticleers in Conway, South Carolina, near Myrtle Beach (which you should know if you watched Mormons vs. Mullets on Saturday).

Conference USA has been a mess all season. The conference seems to be limping to the end. In the East, no-longer-undefeated Marshall must beat Charlotte to win the division. If they don’t win, it feels like there will be some tiebreaker action between the Herd and Florida Atlantic (and possibly even Charlotte). Stay tuned. In the West, UTSA leads the way followed closely by UAB. It all comes down to next week’s game between UAB and Rice. Blazers win and they play in the conference title game. If they lose, it goes to UTSA.

The MAC title tilt is halfway set, I think. Nothing has been officially said but it feels like Buffalo has clinched the MAC East. I don’t know why it hasn’t been announced yet though. In the MAC West, Ball State faces Western Michigan this Saturday and the winner heads to Detroit.

San Jose State and Boise State seem primed to make up for their cancelled game in the conference championship with both teams still undefeated in the conference. Boise plays Wyoming and SJSU plays Nevada this weekend. Here are the scenarios:

Broncos and Spartans win and they both go to the conference championship.
Broncos win and Spartans lose, it’s Nevada and Boise in the title game.
Both Broncos and Spartans lose, it’s Boise and SJSU in the championship.

Alright Cincinnati is already in. And Tulsa clinched their spot this past Saturday. Now Cincinnati heads to Tulsa this Saturday and then will host them the following weekend. It would not surprise me to see this game cancelled to give both teams a week of rest.

It’s Clemson up against Notre Dame in a massive rematch of their earlier game. Huge implications for this game.

This has been set. The somewhat surprising Iowa State Cyclones get their chance against Oklahoma at JerryWorld.

The Pac-12 is a complete shitshow. Let me try and make some understanding of all this.

Washington could have clinched on Saturday but lost to Stanford. So now if Washington beats Oregon they go to the Pac-12 title game, wherever that may be.
Oregon, on the other hand, is in if they beat Washington thanks to Oregon State’s loss to Utah.
USC, after beating Washington State, is tied with Colorado at the top of the South.
If both teams win next weekend, it comes to who is higher up in the CFP rankings. Meaning the Trojans will have the edge.

So, of course, the Pac-12 fucks things up again. Undefeated Colorado quite possibly could be left out of the Pac-12 title game because they have divisions. Can someone fire Larry Scott already?

Northwestern clinched the Big Ten West despite sitting at home and will await to see if the Ohio State-Michigan game gets played. If the Wolverines have to cancel, that makes tOSU ineligible for the conference championship game. This would mean Indiana would travel a short way to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten crown. If the game is played and the Buckeyes beat Michigan, then they are heading there. Or, the Big Ten could change the rules and allow Ohio State to go anyway. Who the hell knows anymore.

Alabama and Florida. No LSU, who could be one of the worst defending champs in recent memory. But in an interesting twist, it will be the Texas A&M Football Aggies who will be watching in earnest (as long as they take of business this weekend).

Alright that was a super long post. But it keeps you informed going into next week, the quasi-last week of the regular season. Now we can remember what it was like when Army-Navy shared the week with a bunch of other weird games. Later in the week will be the normal bowl projection, college football schedule and NFL schedule posts. Have a great week everyone!

So let me get this straight – Week 3 College Football Recap

Posted on September 21, 2020 by guelphbossman

Alright I want to get this crystal clear in my brain. This week’s AP Poll includes SEC teams as they start this coming week. But no Big Ten teams because they don’t start for another month. OK. Here is the issue with this. These rankings will mean nothing then. I mean I will do them the same way but I contemplated putting Big Ten teams in. Why did I not do it? Because they won’t be playing for a month. This is why pre-season rankings shouldn’t happen and maybe, just maybe, rankings shouldn’t happen at all until after the first set of games in October. Maybe then we would have rankings that kind of mean something. Or not. I mean who knows. It’s college football. A sport that likes to rewrite the rules all the time is rewriting them like they are on speed. On-brand for this year and this sport.

Alright enough of the rankings (until later). Let’s get to the action from the weekend of college football!

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

Ugh. The Cowboys did not look too sharp against Tulsa. And now Spencer Sanders could be out for a while. And the offensive line couldn’t really block for Chuba Hubbard. Overall a shitshow on offense which makes me wonder why I picked the Pokes to go to the Big XII Championship in the first place. I hope you didn’t use my post to bet on that. I always tell you not to.
If you missed the Citadel-Clemson game, don’t worry. I can recap it for you. Clemson went up 49-0 just before halftime. And that ended up being the final score. I am sure gamblers everywhere were livid at that happening. Dabo even offered to go to the running clock and The Citadel said no. And on top of that, I found out that the running clock isn’t an option. You can shorten the amount of time in a quarter but you cannot go to a running clock in college football. You learn something new every weekend in college football (or something like that).
The U is…back? Maybe Manny Diaz’s biggest victory so far as they looked awesome against Louisville. I am sure many will be jumping on to the D’Eriq King bandwagon now and rightfully so. He looked like money and could be the difference maker that the Canes have needed for years now to get over the hump. As for the Cardinals, I wouldn’t worry. They are ahead of their gameplan under Scott Satterfield so expect them to still have a winning record this season.
College Gameday was in Louisville this past weekend. And where are they going this coming weekend? Miami, who played Louisville this past Saturday and will host Florida State this weekend. I get it: it’s to ease up the travel for Kirk Herbstreit to get from the Gameday set to the ABC primetime game location (or wherever he ends up calling a game on Saturdays). Saying that, I still think they should go places they have never gone before. With no fans, who cares if Herbie is actually there? Let him join via satellite when he needs to. So saying this, I think Week 5’s College Gameday should emanate from Cincinnati for the first time to see the Bearcats host USF.
Notre Dame is a good ACC team. I’m not kidding! Savour this as this may be the only year we can ever say that.
A week after Louisiana helped the Sun Belt to their best week ever with their upset of Iowa State, they struggled mightily with fellow conference member, Georgia State. The Panthers kept things very close and the Ragin’ Cajuns had to pull out all the stops to win in overtime. Man, the Sun Belt is going to be a surprisingly fun conference to watch this season.
I regretted it last year for a bit and I may do so again this season. UCF looked mighty good in their win over Georgia Tech and their ~~option offense~~ normal pro-style offense. I know it’s just Georgia Tech so I have to temper things a bit. Saying that, I am already regretting my choice of Appalachian State as the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six. UCF could prove me wrong once again and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
Oh Dino Babers. Syracuse really has not looked good so far this season. Two seasons ago, it looked like Babers was really building something in Syracuse. Instead, that season is looking like an anomaly that was all caused by the presence of Eric Dungey. An 0-2 start to the 2020 season is putting Dino on a serious hot seat. If things doesn’t improve, Babers will not get another season to attempt to rectify the issues surrounding the program.
UTSA is 2-0! Another thing we may never say again (no offense Roadrunner fans). So embrace it.
Look, do you want to know how small the schedule still is? Texas State and ULM got to play on ESPNU…on Saturday afternoon. Yeah.
How about what went down in the bayou? Navy was down 24-0 to Tulane with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. I was starting to think I was so wrong about this team and that the lack of practices really hurt the Midshipmen. Instead, they scored the final 27 points of the game to complete the biggest comeback in Navy history (in football). So we cannot count them out when it comes to the American race. Also, Army-Navy looks like it could be something seriously special this season, despite the fact it will share the schedule for the first time in a long time.
Marshall beat Appalachian State. Doesn’t feel like an upset despite my thoughts about App State. Doc Halladay continues to do wonders in Huntington with this program. Maybe, just maybe, the Thundering Herd have to be considered a dark horse contender for the NY6. If the Mountain West decides not to have a Fall season (and that is still up in the air), the Group of Five race could be very wide open.
Southern Miss has had a ROUGH start to their season. They looked hapless in their opener against South Alabama and Jay Hopson ended up resigning before he was fired. But things looked up on Saturday as the Golden Eagles were taking it to Louisiana Tech for most of the game. Then LaTech starts their comeback from down 17 and a spectacular catch by Griffin Hebert on fourth-and-goal with only 14 seconds left that had to be reviewed and overturned sunk Southern Miss. This could be a tough time in Hattiesburg this season.

So really it did end up being a fun day of college football despite having much fewer games to watch. I am sure my remote control was happy…more like happier. As for my Top 25, I won’t do one yet. I don’t think it’s fair to rank teams when the season is in flux like it has been and will be for at least another month. Once the Big Ten is about to begin their season I will do my first set of rankings. Otherwise there will be way too much movement and teams will move down the rankings for having the audacity to watch the Big Ten (and perhaps other conferences) just decide to play football. How dare they!

I will go back to the regular schedule this week. College football schedule Thursday. NFL schedule Friday. Have a good week everyone.

Another one bites the dust (the Conference USA preview)

Posted on September 8, 2020 by guelphbossman

I couldn’t even get my Coaching Hot Seat post out before a coach was shitcanned! Jay Hopson is out as the head coach at Southern Miss. OK he resigned but I have a feeling he would have been fired shortly if he hadn’t quit. Now this may come as a surprise to some and initially I tilted my head to the side in wonderment of this move. Saying that, the Golden Eagles have been stuck being pretty good in the conference but nothing better. They aren’t back in the Larry Fedora days. And now that there are reports that players basically quit on Hopson late last year and in this year’s opening week upset loss to South Alabama, it makes a lot more sense. Also, he didn’t exactly get along with the president of the university after trying to hire Art Briles last year. So this was just a situation waiting to happen and they just need the proverbial straw to break the camel’s back. The loss to South Alabama provided that.

OK so I am not going into get into my feelings on Conference USA. They are fairly well known. And I don’t think they are wrong. The good thing (one of very few good things) about COVID-19 is that Conference USA will get more national attention. They don’t have the NFL Network deal anymore which kind of disappeared out of nowhere. But they should have more games on CBS Sports Network to replace the MAC and also should appear on ESPN networks to replace other conferences who would usually show up there. This is all good stuff. So let’s get to my predicted standings and then we will get to Conference USA Comments:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Marshall	6	1	6	3
Florida Atlantic	5	2	7	2
Western Kentucky	5	2	7	4
Charlotte	4	3	5	6
FIU	2	5	3	6
Middle Tennessee	1	6	2	8
West
UAB	7	0	9	2
Louisiana Tech	6	2	8	3
Southern Miss	6	2	8	4
Rice	3	5	3	5
UTSA	2	5	3	9
North Texas	2	6	3	8
UTEP	0	8	2	10

Conference USA Comments

God where do I begin with this. So many issues. The first you will notice is that there are only six teams in the East. That’s because Old Dominion decided to opt out of playing in the Fall. I respect their decision as everyone else should too. But if the conference can finish their season, it paints the Monarchs in a bad light, rightly or wrongly. That could affect recruiting going forward, especially for a newer FBS program.
The other big thing you will notice is the unbalanced schedules. With Old Dominion out, there was almost no way to change the conference schedule to make it so all teams played the same amount of conference games without completely starting over. Also, each team has a different amount of non-conference affairs. Rice has none now thanks to their game against Houston being postponed at the very least. Meanwhile there are some teams that have full four-game non-conference schedules. So it will be definitely a bit of a dog’s breakfast here with the standings.
In the West, things have spread out a bit. UAB is quickly becoming the class of the division, a step above Louisiana Tech. And yes, even though there is the Hopson issue in Hattiesburg, I still think Southern Miss will have a good season. North Texas, on the other hand, without Mason Fine, will drop to near the bottom of the standings, ending their sojourn at the top of the West.
UTEP is seriously bad. I mean they’re a bit better than last year but not by much. Watch out for Rice starting to improve and sneaking up the standings.
Marshall looked seriously good this past weekend. And I believe they will hold off the few teams below them to win the division crown. Not like a 6-3 record scares anyone in college football but hey, it’s 2020, and that’s what you’re gonna get.
On the other end of the scale is Middle Tennessee who looked atrocious against Army this past weekend. Yes it’s the Black Knights and it can be difficult to defend against the option offense but seriously, they looked overmatched in every single way.
As for the conference championship game, I think the Blazers will win it and it might not be close. Or it will be. Hell I don’t even know anymore.
Again, no real discussions about bowl eligibility here but I have a feeling five wins, instead of six, will be the qualification point this season. Just a thought with schedules being all over the place.

Alright so we have actually gone through a weekend of college football, albeit one that more resembles Week Zero. We have another one coming up. More games, but still not nearly as many as we are used to. But the lack of late night games I’m starting to think will be a good thing…at least for my sleep patterns. I will not do a recap for this past weekend since there’s not much to report. BYU looked amazing against Navy last night, as did Army against Middle Tennessee. You already heard about the upset South Alabama laid on Southern Miss and then there were some other FBS vs. FCS games. Nothing huge.

OK next up is the Big XII in my conference predictions. And of course, I will be doing my schedule post later this week. Soon enough we will get into the real swing of things. It feels like we are going up a steep hill right now, like the first part of a roller coaster. Soon enough, we will put our arms up and scream in excitement of a college football season (or at least what we will end up getting in 2020).

The NFL also starts in two days so there’s going to be a lot more football soon. This is a good thing. Let’s hope there are no issues with the Coronavirus for all the teams and for any of us. Have a great week everyone!

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: fired

Hey let’s storm the field (and give you the Week 9 College Football TV Schedule)

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Hey let’s look ahead (and also give you the Week 8 College Football TV schedule)

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

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

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

The 2021 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List

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

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

A CFP without Clemson? – Week 14 College Football Recap

Another one bites the dust (the Conference USA preview)

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Wednesday​​

Thursday

Friday​

Saturday Early​​

Saturday Afternoon​

Saturday Primetime​

Saturday Late Night​

Thursday​​

Friday

Saturday Early​​

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime​​

Saturday Late Night​​

Thursday​

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime & Late Night​

Wednesday

Friday

Saturday Early

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Thursday

Saturday Early

Saturday Primetime

Saturday Late Night

Thursday

Saturday Primetime & Late Night