Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

Posted on June 29, 2023 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

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

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

Best Group of Five Games

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

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

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

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

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

Worst Power Five Games

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

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

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

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

OK that’s a new one (and the Week 4 College Football TV schedule)

Posted on September 21, 2022 by guelphbossman

Hey, remember when Lane Kiffin was fired on the tarmac while at USC? Good times. Well, Herm Edwards has just done one better.

After Arizona State’s horrible loss to Eastern Michigan, he was called over to the end zone by ASU athletic director Ray Anderson and ASU president Michael Crow. They had a brief conversation with Herm nodding a few times and then he said OK a couple of times and then was escorted off the field. It seems like he was fired in the fucking end zone after the game. That is impressive. The ASU brass are not messing around with this. I am honestly surprised Herm lasted this long. I guess he didn’t play to win the game in the end.

Coaches are getting fired left and right. It’s like the coaching hot seat is trying to out do realignment. Look, let’s just get to the games and try and move most of that shit to the offseason. Agreed?

Thursday

		US	Canada
West Virginia at Virginia Tech	7:30 PM
Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	7:30 PM
Chattanooga at Illinois	8:00 PM

Three games to start the week in college football. None of them super important. The best game actually might come from the Sun Belt as both Coastal and GSU are looking to somehow win the crowded East Division. The other game is between two Power Five teams who could be considered disappointing so far this year. The Mountaineers lost to Kansas and Tech lost to Old Dominion. I don’t know which loss is worse but they are both bad (as of this point). And with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football game being the Steelers and Browns, I can see not a lot of people watching any of these games (unless they are close, obviously).

Friday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Syracuse	7:00 PM
Nevada at Air Force	8:00 PM
Boise State at UTEP	9:00 PM

This is better than Thursday night’s sked for sure. At least here there is a team that should be ranked in Syracuse. They could be 4-0 if they can beat the Cavaliers which would feel crazy but there are always a few teams that surprise everyone and the Orange are definitely one of them. As for the other games, does anyone want to win the Mountain West Mountain Division? Boise State has looked poor and Air Force laid an egg against Wyoming last week. Utah State got destroyed by an FCS school and New Mexico and Colorado State have been predictably below-average. Maybe Wyoming is the team to beat in the division, who knows?

Saturday Early

The best early slate so far this season by a country mile. Clemson and Wake Forest square off in the first round of the ACC Atlantic round-robin, that will eventually include Florida State, NC State and possibly even Syracuse. I still believe College Gameday should have gone to Lawrence for Duke against Kansas. That would have been wild. Both teams are undefeated. I don’t want to guarantee that the winner will be ranked but they should be. Also, I am sure Nebraska is watching the Baylor-ISU game closely as Matt Campbell is one of their coaching targets, along with Mark Stoops and Gary Patterson. No, Urban Meyer is not going to coach the Huskers.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
UCLA at Colorado	2:00 PM
Notre Dame at North Carolina	3:30 PM
Middle Tennessee at #25 Miami	3:30 PM
Minnesota at Michigan State	3:30 PM
#20 Florida at #11 Tennessee	3:30 PM
FIU at WKU	3:30 PM
#22 Texas at Texas Tech	3:30 PM
Indiana at Cincinnati	3:30 PM
Toledo at San Diego State	3:30 PM
Georgia Tech at UCF	4:00 PM
#15 Oregon at Washington State	4:00 PM
Tulsa at #16 Ole Miss	4:00 PM
Arizona at California	5:30 PM

The Third Saturday in September highlights the afternoon timeslot. Too bad it’s actually the Fourth Saturday in September. Why the hell is the UF-UT rivalry even called the Third Saturday in September if you’re not going to SCHEDULE IT FOR THE THIRD SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER? Dumb. If you had Wazzu undefeated and a challenge for Oregon, raise your hand. Now put them down because no one thought that. That could be an intriguing and close matchup on the Palouse. Somehow Cincy is favoured by more than two touchdowns against Indy. I feel a close game there. Finally, the Irish have a chance to prove that they are not going to struggle to go bowling this year although the Tar Heels are better than last season.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UNLV at Utah State	7:00 PM
#10 Arkansas vs. #23 Texas A&M (in Arlington)	7:00 PM
Northern Illinois at #8 Kentucky	7:00 PM
Iowa at Rutgers	7:00 PM
Marshall at Troy	7:00 PM
Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State	7:30 PM
Miami-OH at Northwestern	7:30 PM
Florida Atlantic at Purdue	7:30 PM
Charlotte at South Carolina	7:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #2 Alabama	7:30 PM
Boston College at Florida State	8:00 PM
Kansas State at #6 Oklahoma	8:00 PM

You’ll notice the only TSN game this week is here. And of course they simulcast the ABC game. Nice. TSN has President’s Cup golf and the CFL on during the afternoon so that meant college football is out earlier in the day. Oh and they also have curling and NASCAR pushing college football aside. I just wish they would do the ESPN game and not the ABC one for people that don’t have the specialty pack. Oh well. Wildcats-Sooners is always interesting as OU always seems to have trouble with KSU. And the Southwest Classic (I think that’s what it’s called) is in JerryWorld and this time both teams are ranked so the stakes are a bit higher this time around.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#7 USC at Oregon State	9:30 PM
Wyoming at #19 BYU	10:15 PM
Western Michigan at San Jose State	10:30 PM
#13 Utah at Arizona State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #18 Washington	10:30 PM

Wow the Pac-12 Network scored a big one. Or, you could say that USC-Oregon State was somehow relegated to the Pac-12 Network. I know they are doing this so that they can get a USC conference game early in the season since they need to show at least one of every team as per the contract. Thing is, Oregon State is probably just outside the Top 25 and USC is solidly in and may be the Pac-12’s best shot at the College Football Playoff this year. So not a good look. Well, it would be OK if the Pac-12 Network was shown in more homes but it’s not.

Big Games O’ The Week

Clemson at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC) – Many thought that this would be a huge early ACC game and they are right. Clemson, despite being ranked 5th in the nation, have looked shaky at times, especially at the quarterback position. Sam Hartman has looked great returning from injury but the Wake defense has been subpar. Why this didn’t get the ABC primetime spot, oh yes…the Big Ten. Say no more.

Florida at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – This is the Vols’ chance to prove they are…well, at least the third-best team in the SEC East. The division is improving. The Gators are better. The Gamecocks are better. Vandy is playing well. Kentucky has been lights out so far this season. It’s not the case anymore that one team dominates and the rest kind of suck.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (7:00, specialty pack) – I don’t know if the Aggies are still stinging from the Appalachian State loss or the video that came out of their Midnight Yell practice that made fun of App State. All I know is that the swagger might be gone from this squad. Arkansas, on the other hand, survived Petrinomania last weekend in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was. So, really we have two teams who aren’t playing their best against each other inside a division that is still a damn juggernaut. Should be fun!

USC at Oregon State (9:30, YouTube) – The Beavers’ 3-0 start has to be shocking some people. And they’ve looked pretty good doing it. You know who has looked even better? Yep, the men of Troy. Again, I get why this game is on the Pac-12 Network but man does it suck from a visibility standpoint for the conference. No wonder USC and, at this point, UCLA are heading to the Big Ten.

Baylor at Iowa State (Noon, specialty pack) – Baylor lost once, to BYU, but has looked good otherwise. Iowa State is undefeated thanks to a sloppy game (that’s putting it mildly) beating Iowa for the CyHawk Trophy. Both teams have sights on JerryWorld in December so games like this are almost must-win. Plus, I’m sure many in the Cornhuskers athletic department will have interest in this game, as I mentioned above. If I’m Matt Campbell, I use that interest to get a bigger deal in Ames since I don’t know if I’d want to coach in Lincoln. Now if it was me, I’d take the massive contract, not give a shit, make them buy me out, and never work again but that’s just me.

Duke at Kansas (Noon, FOX Sports One) – College Gameday, you cowards. I have to lean Kansas in this one because Duke has had success in the past decade; the Jayhawks, not so much.

Psycho Game of the Week

UNLV at Utah State (7:00, CBS Sports Network) – Utah State is quite bad. Worse than pretty much anyone thought they’d be. Sure, the Rebels are a better team this season but until they become bowl-eligible, they will be considered a below-average program at best. Too many choices in the primetime schedule to this is an easy one to avoid.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Vanderbilt at Alabama (7:30, specialty pack) – As good as the Commodores have been so far this season, this is a whole different animal. I expect the Tide to punish Vandy all night.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Figured I would add another section to the blog posts. Feeling generous, I am. So here we go with some stats to send you into the weekend:

Since the Badgers upset Ohio State in 2004, Wisconsin is 0-5 in Columbus.
Oklahoma has lost six Big XII games in the last decade. Three of those have been to Kansas State.
Cincinnati is 17-5 in non-conference games since Luke Fickell was hired as head coach.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

9-4 this past week against the spread. That’s quite good if I say so myself. I picked WKU to lose but cover against Indiana. Same with LSU against Mississippi State. Unfortunately I also thought BYU would do that and that game wasn’t close. Can’t win em all. OK, on to this week’s picks:

Virginia Tech (+1.5) over West Virginia with the outright win
Virginia (+9) over Syracuse (but Cuse wins)
Buffalo (+6) over Eastern Michigan (but EMU wins by a field goal)
Central Michigan (+28) over Penn State (but the Nittany Lions win fairly easily)
Bowling Green (+30) over Mississippi State (the Bulldogs win by about three touchdowns)
SMU (+2) over TCU (with an outright win)
WKU (-31) over FIU
Texas (-6.5) over Texas Tech
Notre Dame (+1.5) over North Carolina with the outright win
Washington State (+6.5) over Oregon (but UO wins a close one)
Marshall (-3.5) over Troy
Iowa (-7.5) over Rutgers
Wisconsin (+18.5) over Ohio State (tOSU wins but it may be closer than we think)
Wyoming (+22.5) over BYU (Cougs win this but it’s close)

There you go. A lot of info for ya to peruse before your viewing commences. I’m hoping for another solid weekend of college football action. It’s never good when there’s a full slate of games and by the end you feel completely underwhelmed. Hasn’t happened often but when it does it’s such an empty feeling. Anyway, enjoy the games everyone!

The Coaching Carousel is in full swing already – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 10, 2021 by guelphbossman

The amount of coaches, both head and otherwise, shitcanned so far this year has hit a staggering amount. I get that it’s been the second kind of wacky year in a row for college football (for very different reasons) but you have to wonder if many coaches got a bit of a COVID exemption, like some of the super seniors that they coach (or used to coach). So let’s go through what’s happened so far this season. Strap in.

Remember way back in September when Captain Bonus, Randy Edsall, decided to retire and then the next day resigned instead? Seems like so long ago. It was 64 days ago. Barely over two months.
How about when Clay Helton was finally fired at USC? For many of the Trojan faithful, it was about four years too late.
But Helton wasn’t out of work for long. He was recently hired to replace Chad Lunsford who had been fired by Georgia Southern back in late September. Probably a good spot for him.
Ed Orgeron was fired because he likes sexing up hot women in Baton Rouge rather than coaching LSU after he divorced his wife. Thinking with your dick is fine in certain situations, this may not be one of them. Then again, the buyout will be ridiculous for him. Good shit.
You knew this was coming as soon as you heard the backstory. Nick Rolovich’s firing was a surprise to no one…except maybe Nick Rolovich.
This one was a bit of a shocker. Matt Wells was fired after Kansas State came back to beat his Texas Tech team dropping them to *checks notes* 5-2? What? Now the Red Raiders have hired a successful high school coach to replace him. This is either seriously stupid or seriously brilliant.
The end of an era in Fort Worth as Gary Patterson was let go. Some thought he should have been allowed to finish the season but with this new early signing period many teams who have fired their head coaches are going to want to get their new guy sooner rather than later to take advantage of this signing period.
Tom Arth was fired. He was 3-24 at Akron. I know it’s Akron but good lord.
But again, it could be worse. Walt Bell dropped to 2-23 in his tenure at UMass after they lost to Rhode Island. Maybe this team should be not long for FBS.

Now, many, including myself, wondered if Scott Frost would be on this list by the end of the season. Instead, he got his contract restructured and he will be back for 2022. Now his buyout has been slashed in half and his yearly contract went down by a million bucks so it’s not like he made out like a bandit. He celebrated this by firing four assistants. Maybe bringing in a better offensive coordinator will help and with the extra money, they might be able to afford it. But Frosty the Coachman’s hot seat will be molten lava if the Huskers get off to a bad start next season (or finish this season on a losing streak).

OK enough coaching crap, on to the schedule!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Toledo at Bowling Green	7:00 PM
Ball State at Northern Illinois	7:00 PM
Kent State at Central Michigan	8:00 PM

Gotta love Midweek MACtion. Nothing better than cozying up and watching some college football on a weeknight as the weather gets colder outside. And there are some important games. Ball State-NIU might very well be for the MAC West title. Also, Kent State tries to take advantage of the MAC East being pathetic by winning to put some room between themselves and the rest of the division.

Thursday

		US	Canada
North Carolina at #21 Pittsburgh	7:30 PM

Only one game but it’s important in the ACC Coastal. The division synonymous with chaos could become even more chaotic if the Tar Heels can pull off the slight upset of Pitt.

Friday

		US	Canada
#5 Cincinnati at USF	6:00 PM

Only one game that is being shown in Canada tonight and it starts at an odd time. Why so early for this one? The reason is that there is a huge World Cup Qualifying game with the United States facing Mexico. That starts at 9:00 on ESPN2 which makes it so this game had to start no later than 6:00.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#6 Michigan at Penn State	Noon
UConn at Clemson	Noon
Rutgers at Indiana	Noon
Bucknell at Army	Noon
Mississippi State at #17 Auburn	Noon
Northwestern at #18 Wisconsin	Noon
UCF at SMU	Noon
#8 Oklahoma at #13 Baylor	Noon
Syracuse at Louisville	Noon
New Mexico State at #2 Alabama	Noon

I wouldn’t say there are any massive games in this timeslot but there are some interesting ones. Michigan-PSU is an elimination game of sorts in the Big Ten East. Baylor needs to win or we will most definitely have a Bedlam rematch in the Big XII Championship. And of course, TSN picks up (for their only early game)…New Mexico State heading to Alabama? For fuck’s sake, why? This will probably be the most lopsided game of the weekend and that’s what they pick? With a few other options open? Plus it’s on the SEC Network! I honestly don’t get it. That makes no fucking sense whatsoever. I guess I should feel kind of happy they didn’t simulcast the ABC game but there are three ESPN games they bypassed.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#19 Purdue at #4 Ohio State	3:30 PM
Duke at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Minnesota at #20 Iowa	3:30 PM
#1 Georgia at Tennessee	3:30 PM
UAB at Marshall	3:30 PM
Miami at Florida State	3:30 PM
Iowa State at Texas Tech	3:30 PM
Boston College at Georgia Tech	3:30 PM
Tulsa at Tulane	4:00 PM
Maryland at #7 Michigan State	4:00 PM
South Carolina at Missouri	4:00 PM

Just like the opening salvo of Saturday, no real huge games here but some interesting ones. Purdue-tOSU is obviously a pretty big game knowing what the Boilermakers have done this season. I don’t know if UGA will play down to the Vols’ level since they haven’t done that all season, except maybe against Clemson in their opening week win. And somehow, Miami and Florida State still get a prime ESPN spot on the weekend. You don’t see too many teams keep getting prime TV spots like The U does. Florida State less so since they have been appearing on the ACC Network quite often the past few seasons.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Air Force at Colorado State	7:00 PM
#11 Texas A&M at #19 Ole Miss	7:00 PM
Kentucky at Vanderbilt	7:00 PM
#9 Notre Dame at Virginia	7:30 PM
#16 NC State at #12 Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Kansas at Texas	7:30 PM
#25 Arkansas at LSU	7:30 PM
TCU at #10 Oklahoma State	8:00 PM

Look, when ND-UVA is your ABC primetime game you know it’s not the greatest week on paper. And you know what means, right? We are in for some wackiness for sure and there are a couple of games in this timeslot where an upset would really cause some upheaval. Oklahoma State has to beat TCU to continue their run to JerryWorld and Notre Dame can’t trip up against the Fighting Mendenhalls of Charlottesville. Oh, and we all remember Kansas upsetting Texas a few seasons ago. You never know.

I have noticed TSN really has started showing a lot less college football which is pissing off some fans and rightfully so. I think the premise that people will pay for what they want just totally escapes Rogers, Bell, Eastlink, Cogeco, the CRTC and others in the broadcasting industry. You want to lose cable subscribers? Keep doing what you’re doing.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Nevada at #22 San Diego State	10:30 PM
Washington State at #3 Oregon	10:30 PM

Two late games, both fairly important. Oregon needs to look a lot better against Wazzu or they could blow up this opportunity that’s been handed to them. As for the other game, it probably decides the Mountain West West Division, no offense to Fresno State or San Jose State.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Oklahoma at Baylor (Noon, FOX) – Amazingly enough, it’s the Baylor Bears that still seem to register as arguably the biggest shock in a season full of shocking results. Honestly, they are a couple of botches against TCU from being 8-1 and in the Top 10. Saying that, the Bears probably do need to win this game as a loss here clinches a spot in the Big XII Championship for Oklahoma and may end up doing the same for Oklahoma State. With this being in Waco, the hope for Baylor is that the Sooner defense, which has been shaky all season, crumbles under the pressure of a good Baylor offense. Also, if Baylor wins this they have Kansas State and Texas Tech left where they would be favoured by quite a bit. The Sooners, on the other hand, are at the start of a very difficult three-game stretch with this game followed by Iowa State and OSU.

NC State at Wake Forest (7:30, specialty pack) – Man, did the ACC Network ever luck out getting this one. It really does show how little people feel about Wake Forest (and to a lesser extent, NC State). This is arguably the biggest game of the season in the ACC Atlantic and it gets relegated to the ACC Network? Completely ridiculous and something I would understand if we were still in October (or better yet, September). The winner here is in the driver’s seat in the division and would only have to contend with Clemson if the Tigers win the following week against those same Demon Deacons.

Michigan at Penn State (Noon, ABC) – Honestly, this could have been the primetime ABC game and I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t despite the fact the Nittany Lions aren’t ranked. Penn State still could cause a massive amount of issues in the Big Ten East with games here against the Wolverines and later on against Michigan State. A Big Blue win here will set them possibly for a winner-take-all showdown against Ohio State two days after American Thanksgiving.

Purdue at Ohio State (3:30, ABC) – And of course the Wolverines and Nittany Lions will be scoreboard watching to see if Purdue can pull off yet another huge upset. If the Boilermakers can pull it off, it blows the Big Ten wide open and gives quite a few teams a true chance at the crown. In the East, that would bring Michigan, Michigan State and even Penn State back into the fray whereas in the West, all of a sudden Purdue might be the favourite to head to Indianapolis. That would be interesting to see them play close to home for a chance at the Big Ten title.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (7:00, specialty pack) – When the game where College Gameday is going to be ends up fifth on this list, isn’t it a good week? Both of these teams have two losses in the SEC West. It means they have to hope for at least one Alabama loss in their final two conference games for them to have any chance at the division title. This game should be relatively evenly matched. I’ll have to check but I am sure Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will be there so for their sake I hope they get a good game although they have been a lot luckier than, say, Brad Nessler or Gus Johnson in that regard this season.

Honourable mention: Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS); Notre Dame at Virginia (7:30, ABC/TSN2); Nevada at San Diego State (10:30, CBS Sports Network)

Wanna bet?

I had some pretty damn fantastic picks last week. I picked North Carolina over Wake Forest. But I went against my gut with Michigan State and I paid for it. Also, Washington was oh so close to upsetting Oregon although thanks to Jimmy Lake’s playcalling, they didn’t get the chance. But that’s the past, let’s talk about now. The picks for this week are below!

Georgia over Tennessee

Texas A&M over Ole Miss

Wake Forest over NC State

Nevada over San Diego State

Oklahoma over Baylor

Notre Dame over Virginia

Ohio State over Purdue

Penn State over Michigan (slight upset)

Tulane over Tulsa

Central Michigan over Kent State

Marshall over UAB

As per usual, I will be up past 2 in the morning watching games. This is the time where I really up my game so to speak. I know the end is a mere couple of months away so I want to get in as much viewing as I possibly can. Personal issues have made things rough for me lately but the one thing it has done has opened the door for me to watch more college football. That’s not a bad thing, right? Anyway, enjoy the games this week everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – The Third Part

Posted on June 9, 2021 by guelphbossman

It’s getting seriously hot and (at times) seriously humid outside. Meaning summer is basically here. Thank God this province wants us not to engage in any sports or camping or get togethers of any kind. Think of all the money we save on sunscreen! I need to work on this blog to get my mind off the bullshit. So let’s just get on with this already!

Week 7

Game of the Week: Oklahoma State at Texas (7:30, ABC) – You don’t see many Big XII games in this spot anymore. To be honest, you don’t see many Big XII games in Canada either. Will these games mean as much when the playoff expands (which it most certainly is now)? Who knows to be honest. All I can say is I will continue to enjoy the games as much as I can as they try to, well, “make the postseason better.” To be honest, expanding the playoff would be down my list a bit. Number one on my list? Abolishing divisions.

Other Really Important Games: Miami at North Carolina (3:30, ABC) – If Miami truly gets their act together, this could end up being the Game of the Week (and possibly a Game of the Year candidate). Either way this is probably a huge game for both teams in the ACC. The winner of this game gets a leg up on the division that Clemson is not in (see my point about getting rid of divisions?).

Florida at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Hey it’s one of those weeks where the main networks (ABC, CBS…let’s throw FOX in there as well) have the biggest games. Another game that you could argue has a chance to be GOTW. Still wondering what will happen once the SEC on CBS contract ends. We have three more seasons of this and then all SEC games will be on ESPN/ABC (or ESPN2…or the SEC Network…or maybe ESPN+ you get the idea). Will CBS acquire another conference’s games? I think they’d be dumb not to. The Pac-12 could be ripe for the picking to be honest.

UCLA at Washington (3:30, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Let me explain since that might look like Greek to some of you. As of right now I have the Bruins and Huskies on the Pac-12 Network. First of all, it’s in the afternoon so Chris Petersen shouldn’t be upset. Secondly, Pac-12 teams have to have a minimum amount of games on the Pac-12 Network and the network usually gets a good game or two every season because it has to fill its quota. And finally, it looks like the Pac-12 Network will be available on DAZN in Canada. That may change by the time the season commences. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

TCU at Oklahoma (4:00, FOX Sports One) – This could be worse. At first I had this game on FSN. I honestly don’t know if FSN will even have Big XII games. I have a feeling they won’t but who knows with the Mountain West invading the FOX networks. Anyway, until further notice, the Sooners will continue to be the class of the conference. At some point, though, a team is going to come along and knock them off their perch…for real. Maybe Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs can do the trick.

Kentucky at Georgia (7:00, specialty pack) – There are a lot of good games this week. Unfortunately, after the top games (and a few others), it drops off a cliff. Normally, I wouldn’t put Kentucky in the Games of the Week but, by all accounts, this seems to be a team that could cause a lot of problems inside the SEC East. A win here and the Cats could, once again, be a contender in the SEC East. Look, I get they are very pessimistic about their football program in Lexington but if Mark Stoops somehow gets this team to the SEC Championship, they should offer him like a 15-year deal. No questions asked.

UCF at Cincinnati (4:00, specialty pack) – Yes a Group of Five game in the Games of the Week section! I have a feeling this will be the only G-5 game in this section this season. This is seriously huge too as these are the two teams that most would consider the top contenders for the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six (along with Boise State and maybe Coastal Carolina). Don’t be surprised if ABC pulls the trigger and gets this game in primetime knowing it may be their best chance at getting a really good AAC game on in primetime.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Ole Miss at Tennessee (Noon, specialty pack) – Don’t laugh. Both teams could be quite good this year. I said don’t laugh. Either team could win nine games. I told you not to laugh. Both teams could win their division. OK now you can laugh.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at Memphis (4:00, specialty pack) – See above.

Worst Power Five Game: Texas Tech at Kansas (7:00, ESPN+) – Jesus Christ who would watch this? This game would have to be seriously close for me to even consider watching it. Which I can’t if I predict right and this ends up on ESPN+. Crisis averted.

Week 8

Game of the Week: Oregon at UCLA (4:00, FOX) – Wow, ok. Yeah this week, on paper, does not deliver. This is easily the worst week that I will cover in these final two posts. I mean you have to think Oregon blows the doors off the Bruins but what if UCLA has one of those crazy games they’ve had in recent years under Chip Kelly? It would be fun to see them just go off and score like 50 on the Ducks. They still might lose but hey…50-burger!

Other Really Important Games: Oklahoma State at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – Hmmm…maybe this should be game of the week especially since it’s on BIG NOON SATURDAY. I still wait for the day where Matt Campbell finally gets a job offer he can’t refuse and leaves Ames. As horrible as it sounds for Cyclone fans, I could see Iowa trying to hire him once Kirk Ferentz decides to retire.

USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – Remember when almost every year a game between these two teams was a big deal? Sometimes for only of these teams but a handful of times for both programs. This may be one of those games. The Irish will once again feed off the hatred of all non-Irish fans and hope to get into the College Football Playoff yet again, pissing off a bunch of people. USC is in the wide open Pac-12 South and a win like this doesn’t help them inside the conference but will be a huge plus when it comes to their place in the Top 25.

Ohio State at Indiana (7:30, ABC) – I think it every year. Ohio State is going to visit a Big Ten East team not named Penn State or Michigan State and lose. Haha, of course I don’t mean Michigan, silly! The Hoosiers still look like they could make some noise in the Big Ten East but they have to hope to recreate some of last year’s magic to have any hope of beating the Fighting Ryan Days.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: LSU at Ole Miss (6:00, specialty pack) – Ugh, I hate the three-hour timeslots. They serve no purpose whatsoever. Like unless you are showing Army or Navy or any other team who might want to try the option, this won’t work. And SEC games are not known for ending before the three-and-a-half hour mark. So good luck to the game after this one (I have BYU-Wazzu starting at 9). Have fun on ESPNEWS for perhaps an hour.

Best Group of Five Game: Coastal Carolina at Appalachian State (Wednesday, 7:30, TSN1/TSN4) – I don’t know if I am in the minority but I like watching Sun Belt football. And despite App State’s success since their move up to FBS, last year’s performance by the Chants shone a huge light on the conference and proved that one of these years, their champion will make the New Year’s Six. This is probably the Sun Belt East Division championship. See? Divisions suck (no offense to the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana).

Worst Power Five Game: Georgia Tech at Virginia (Noon, specialty pack) – Honestly, this isn’t too bad. For the worst of the week? I’ve seen much worse games in this spot. Not saying I’m watching the bulk of the game but I wouldn’t mind tuning in for a bit. For such a not-so-good week it seems to have a good mid-card set of matches.

Week 9

Game of the Week: Penn State at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Oh my. This could be…well, this could be an amazing game. Penn State should be finally back at least sniffing the Top 10 and tOSU is tOSU. This is almost a shoo-in to end up on BIG NOON SATURDAY.

Other Really Important Games: North Carolina at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – A second consecutive week that Notre Dame on NBC will be in primetime. If the Irish can somehow get through this rough two-game stretch they could be home-free the rest of the way. I will admit, I am a sucker for good primetime Notre Dame football on NBC. I don’t know what it is. It just feels special, kind of like when the SEC has their one primetime game on CBS every season.

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (3:30, CBS) – THE MOTHERFUCKING GOD DAMNED WORLD’S LARGEST OUTDOOR COCKTAIL PARTY!!!!! Perhaps you could put this at number one. I wouldn’t argue. I also wouldn’t argue if you said it would be the best football game played in Jacksonville all year. I still say an open bar is the way to go for Brad and Gary in this one. Imagine a drunk Gary Danielson crying over a call that went against Alabama three seasons ago? Actually, maybe we should cancel the open bar.

Iowa at Wisconsin (Noon, specialty pack) – The Big Ten West Championship game? Maybe? Honestly these are the only two teams I would trust to win the Big Ten, despite the fact they haven’t won all the West division titles. But would you trust Northwestern? Minnesota? NEBRASKA? I thought so.

Florida State at Clemson (3:30, ABC) – OK this might be a stretch. Especially since this is in Death Valley. But one of these years, FSU is going to beat Clemson and everyone is going to be left with their jaw on the floor. You might snicker at that but Pitt beat them at Clemson a few years back. So there is hope you Nole fans.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Iowa State at West Virginia (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – I am not going to make the mistake of saying Dana Holgorsen is the Mountaineers’ head coach like last time. I mean, I miss him as WVU’s coach because he was in some big games meaning he would blow his stack more often than he does now at Houston. I wonder if he just drinks less Monster Energy or Red Bull or whatever he has ten of before Noon.

Best Group of Five Game: SMU at Houston (3:30, ESPN+) – I had to dig a bit deeper this week for a good Group of Five game. It was either this or Troy-Coastal Carolina. I am sticking with this one although the Sun Belt game is on Thursday night and at least on the specialty pack where as this one I have on ESPN+. Why? Same problem every year when we get into mid-October towards the end of the season: so many good conference games and only so many slots to put them in. Every so often the American gets the shaft. This looks like it will be one of those weeks.

Worst Power Five Game: Rutgers at Illinois (Noon, BTN) – Good lord. Just don’t. If it plays out the way I think it will, there is probably two games at this time meaning you wouldn’t get it even if you had the Big Ten Network. Probably for the best.

A mixed bag (as October usually is). But still…it’s a bag full of college football games. I am getting excited. I’m also getting a bit nervous as I know what I am like during those Saturdays. A completely unproductive glutton. I can live with the unproductive part but I am trying to get back into some semblance of decent shape after gaining a lot of weight during the pandemic. And the type of food I would eat on college football Saturdays is no bueno anymore…at least that amount of food. I might have to do food prep Friday night just to get through the day!

Still have not got a preview magazine although I haven’t really tried. Hoping the Athlon one (which is part of my subscription) comes in the mail soon. At least unlike last year, Indigo is open so I can go in and check it out one of these days. Also I am still going back and forth on whether to order the Phil Steele magazine. It’s rather expensive and takes a while to come in the mail. I might do the thing I did a few years back and pair it with the NFL magazine (if they do one) and get them shipped at the same time. It sucks because it means I wouldn’t get it until early August but it’s such a great magazine that I don’t know if I can not buy it, you know? If you have never seen the magazine before you don’t know but believe me, it’s PACKED with info. Can I really go into the season not knowing who the Rutgers long snapper will be?

Normally, the CFL would be starting their preseason soon. However, with the NBA and NHL seasons going into July this year and the U.S. Open coming up (yeah I watch the golf majors, don’t judge me), I won’t be missing football nearly as much. Instead it looks like the CFL will start August 5th with a slightly shortened schedule. And the Grey Cup will be moved into December and is in Hamilton. The only Grey Cup I’ve ever went to was the 1996 one that has been dubbed the Snow Bowl. It was cold, snowy, and a shit-ton of fun to watch. Maybe I will buy tickets to this one as long as they aren’t brutally expensive. OK so yeah I miss football. Have a great week everyone!

Texas Is Not Back. OK, Boomer (Sooner). And the Week 5 College Football Recap

Posted on October 5, 2020 by guelphbossman

That is the Big XII in a nutshell right there. The usual top teams are terrible. The only undefeated team barely survived Tulsa previously. The second-best team right now was upset by a Sun Belt team to start their season. Again, a complete shitshow. Spencer Rattler never seemed comfortable against Iowa State but that O-line is horrendous. The poor guy played well considering that…oh and the defense. Can’t forget them. Such a Mike Stoops defense this Sooners team has. Then there is Texas. Not back. Not even close. Again it felt like they were going to lose to TCU pretty much all game. You got to wonder what would happen in Austin if Gary Patterson was the coach there with all that talent. Makes you think, huh?

Other than that, it was a pretty fun weekend (not that that wasn’t fun…it was, except for Sooner and Longhorn fans).

BYU is continuing their march towards something that could be very hotly debated. Louisiana Tech is a good team, yet was no match at all for the Cougs. BYU stays undefeated, moves up in the rankings and could be looking at being undefeated late in the season. So then what does The Committee do? BYU has a cupcake schedule (and that could be an insult to other cupcake schedules). So do you put them into the New Year’s Six? Will they ever crack the Top 10? My guess is now that the rest of the conferences are slowly returning that won’t happen.

Clemson put on show against Virginia. The Tigers never looked like they were in trouble in this one. For once, though, they don’t have a super easy conference schedule. Meaning if they win out then there is almost no debate against having them probably #1 going into the College Football Playoff. I get that some people are getting sick of Clemson but they are a fun team to watch and this is probably their best offense ever under Dabo Swinney. As for UVA, my guess is they will be lucky to go bowling this season.

Hey guess what? Alabama destroyed Texas A&M. Just like everyone thought would happen. I mean Bama put a colossal beatdown on the Aggies, up 35-14 at the half and winning by 28. The Aggies couldn’t really do anything right and the Tide, consequently, looked like everything they did was near-perfect. This shows how much better the Tide (and Clemson for that matter) are compared to every other team in college football. Not saying either team couldn’t be upset this season because it very much could in this already crazy 2020 season. Oh and I am sure Aggie fans are so happy with the Brinks truck that they parked in Jimbo Fisher’s driveway.

Another game that many thought would be closer went down Between The Hedges. The Tigers were boatraced by what seems like a seriously good Georgia team. Stetson Bennett had his coming out party in this one as he proved Kirby Smart right to choose him to start this one. But Tigers fans shouldn’t be quick to put Gus on the hot seat just yet because I know they are doing it. If Malzahn wasn’t paid so much I would feel sorry for the guy.

Florida is still undefeated. They might have the best college tight end in ages in Kyle Pitts. Kyle Trask is looking like money. Saying all that, it’s not like they blew South Carolina out. Still have to consider them in a spot of trouble later in the season when they head to Jacksonville for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to face Georgia who, as I said in the previous paragraph, looked damn good.

Virginia Tech might just be a dark horse contender for the ACC Championship game (to get plowed by Clemson). But they have to do better than they did against Duke this past weekend. Chase Brice has not looked good and yet somehow the Blue Devils kept it close with the Hokies until late. This is not good news when VaTech gets into the meat of their ACC schedule.

What an absolutely wild game in Lexington. Kentucky and Ole Miss went to overtime. Then the poor Kentucky kicker missed an extra point after an OT touchdown. While he tried to find a spot in the turf to crawl under, the Rebels won the game with a converted touchdown. Slowly, the Lane Train is starting their journey in the SEC (well, Lane Train Version 2.0). As for Mark Stoops, he may be kicking himself for not taking better coaching offers a couple years back. He now has a very difficult job going forward with no true stars leading the way. Don’t be surprised if he is mentioned as a hot seat candidate later on in the season.

Oh, UCF. That was brutal to watch. They allowed Tulsa to stay close with an absolute deluge of penalties and undisciplined play. Now the Golden Hurricane might actually be better than we all think. They beat the Knights here and kept things close with Oklahoma State a few weeks back. But back to UCF, they can kiss that New Year’s Six opportunity goodbye unless chaos happens throughout the entire Group of Five.

North Carolina still living up to the preseason hype (that many thought was bullshit). But again, a really good team struggles with a not-so-good team. The Eagles were within two after a touchdown late. They went for the two-point conversion and the Tar Heels picked the pass off and went for a pick-two, pretty much ending the game. Some of these teams that are sniffing the Top 10 are going to have to really destroy some teams going forward or there is no way they have a chance at the CFP, even if they are getting through with no losses.

Uh, what the hell is happening with Mississippi State? Oh that’s right, it’s Mike Leach. After upsetting LSU and K.J. Costello setting the new SEC record for passing yards in a game in his first SEC game ever, the Bulldogs look like garbage and get beaten by Arkansas. Alright, the Hogs played some great defense and did just enough to win but still, this is a team MSU shouldn’t be losing to. Congrats to Sam Pittman for the win as it may end up being his only win this season.

Pittsburgh is not great. Still good, but not great as evidenced by their loss to NC State. The Wolfpack are not expected to be good this season at all yet gave the Panthers all they could handle. I kind of expect that from Pat Narduzzi these days. Beat a team or two that they should have had no right to beat and then shit the bed against an also-ran.

In more shitty Big XII action, West Virginia was able to outlast Baylor in two overtimes. Honestly, this was a terrible game. But it was close so I felt compelled to watch the last half of the fourth quarter and all of both overtimes. So yeah, Big XII football not exactly lighting the world of college football on fire.

Alright enough recappin’. Time for the first Bossman Top 25 of the season. Yes I know I had mentioned I was not going to do it but I thought, fuck it, I might as well. FOMO and all that. Anyway let’s do this:

#1	Clemson
#2	Georgia
#3	Alabama
#4	Florida
#5	Notre Dame
#6	Miami
#7	North Carolina
#8	Ohio State
#9	Auburn
#10	Oklahoma State
#11	Cincinnati
#12	Penn State
#13	Tennessee
#14	LSU
#15	Oregon
#16	BYU
#17	Texas A&M
#18	Texas
#19	Virginia Tech
#20	Wisconsin
#21	SMU
#22	Louisiana
#23	Michigan
#24	Mississippi State
#25	UCF

Yep, I have Georgia above Alabama. Look, it’s what the polls are at this time. Georgia’s win over Auburn was way more impressive than Bama’s win over the Aggies. Again, this could all change by next week at this time. It’s only October 5th. Plus with Florida and Auburn still in the Top 10, I am assuming the SEC will have a lot of change in the rankings as the season goes on. And yes, I included Big Ten teams. And Pac-12 teams. I would have included Mountain West and MAC teams if I thought they should be in the Top 25 which I don’t just yet.

See you back on Thursday for the college football TV schedule. Until then, enjoy your week everyone!

Well it took about two months but we finally got it! – Week 9 College Football Recap

Posted on October 28, 2019 by guelphbossman

Oh. Yes. Was it the craziest weekend in college football history? No. But it was damn good and it led to a LOT of change in the Top 25.

Look let’s just get right to the recap to talk about the craziest week of the 2019 season. Saturday started with a banger and it just kept going from there. It’s the kind of college football Saturday I love to see. Let’s get to it!

Don’t write off Oklahoma just yet. We knew the Sooners would have a bit of a tough road to the College Football Playoff. The loss to Kansas State, however, was a bit shocking. I mean yes, they came back from being down three scores to within a crazy onside kick of having a shot to win. But it’s still a loss to an unranked team and those aren’t always forgivable. As for the Wildcats, they may be in the running to have a rematch with those same Sooners in a little over a month if they can keep this up and somehow pass Baylor who is now…leading the Big XII? Wow, OK then.

One of the craziest finishes you will ever see. And, of course, it stars The Hat, Les Miles. Kansas stays close with Texas Tech and then comes back to tie it up. They drive for the winning field goal and it’s blocked! This is where everything went haywire. A Red Raider player, Douglas Coleman, picked it up. This is the same guy that leads the nation in interceptions so he knows what to do with the ball. Except this time when he tried to lateral it to…nobody. This led to a Jayhawk lineman falling on the ball with 2 seconds left to allow them to get another chance to win the game. And they made the most of it, ending a wild game and giving Kansas their first win over Texas Tech in 17 years and their first road Big XII win in….look it’s been a long time since Kansas has done anything of note in football.

Florida State-Miami could be actually somewhat important again. So Florida State used some crazy trickeration to beat Syracuse. OK that wasn’t the only thing they used as they beat the Orange into dust. The Orange are so much worse than pretty much everyone thought it’s insane. I wonder if Dino Babers survives this. I guess we now know how valuable Eric Dungey was…more valuable than two Lamar Jacksons. On the other hand, Miami won thanks, in part, to Pitt’s ineptness and Pat Narduzzi’s insistence on yet again going for a field goal when it made sense to try for the touchdown. It allowed the Canes to drive late and win the game on a 32-yard TD with under a minute left in the game. Anyway, this means that the winner of the FSU-UM game is almost assuredly going bowling and the loser might not. Big stakes for two programs who, up until ten years ago, would have scoffed at a game like this.

Rain, Rain on Old Notre Dame! Brian Kelly has a serious problem with precipitation. And the fact he loves to pass the damn ball in rainstorms. I honestly don’t get it and I don’t think many watching understood it either. At least now the Irish are assuredly out of the College Football Playoff conversation. That’s music to many people’s ears. As for the Fighting Harbaughs, they aren’t done yet! Somehow they stick around and really Michigan would be stupid to fire Jimbo since he has been averaging 10 wins a season. Unless your last name is Saban or Swinney, you just don’t do that in this day and age.

We are down to a single digit amount of undefeated teams. And one of them is, yep, you guessed it, Minnesota. Let’s be real here: the Golden Gophers’ schedule hasn’t been exactly scintillating and full of great teams. In the end though, it doesn’t matter. This team will play Penn State, probably, in a battle of undefeateds in November. Who the hell thought that would happen? P.J. Fleck is again, rowing the damn boat harder than any coach in America and is changing how the fanbase feels about a team that really hasn’t been this good in about eight decades.

Back to Big XII Upset Watch. The THIRD upset of the day in the Big XII came in Fort Worth. The TCU Horned Frogs kept Texas from doing much of anything all day and held on for the victory. This may have ruined Texas’ chances of getting to the Big XII Championship but considering the way the conference was on this particular day, nothing is out of the question. We also got to listen to Gary Patterson who barely has a voice at the best of times, try to get through a post-game interview. He should just learn sign language at this point.

And then there was one. Well, one team to beat Alabama for the SEC West title. That team is LSU after winning a close one over Auburn. Auburn was able to keep up defensively with the amazing LSU offense. Problem is that their offense could barely do anything. Bo Nix looked every but the freshman and the running attack mustered basically nothing. It shows that teams have to play a complete game to beat the Tigers…of LSU.

Yes, the other Wildcats didn’t score a point. One set of Wildcats got an upset for the ages. The other, the Northwestern version, has struggled to score all year and are now the worst offense in the FBS. Yes, even worse than UMass or New Mexico State or Akron or any shitty teams like that. This week’s loss was to Iowa, a team praying that Minnesota falls off a cliff so that they can sneak through and go to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship. It would be a very Ferentzian way for the Hawkeyes to get to a conference championship game.

How about the crazy finish in Tulsa? What was it about crazy finishes in midwestern states? Memphis certainly didn’t look like a team that was still a New Year’s Six contender. But it was enough to stay ahead of the Golden Hurricane for most of the game. But with the Tigers (yes another Tigers) up by one, Tulsa drove down the field and set up a chip shot field goal to win the game. The fans, as much as they could be in Tulsa, were electric. Then Tulsa’s kicker pushed the 29-year field goal try left of the uprights and Memphis escaped. You had to feel for Tulsa who has had some shitty luck this season to be sure.

Oregon should have been punished. How do you live with yourself when you decide to punt from the opponent’s 33-yard line with 3 minutes to go and a six-point lead? It’s the kind of playcall that should lead to disaster. And for a bit, it looked like Mario Cristobal would be punished for it when Wazzu went up by 1 on his Oregon Ducks. Luckily, they were playing Washington State’s defense and were able to drive for the winning field goal. Still, someone should slap Cristobal in the face for that bullshit. You do that if you are up by like 40, not in a close game against an offensive guru.

And now to the other half of the Pac-12… Yeah Utah leads the Pac-12 South. After shellacking Cal they look like they are in the driver’s seat. But they aren’t. Get this…the team that holds its own destiny is USC. Yes, that USC. Clay Helton’s USC. Their win over Colorado has kept them at the point where they hold the keys to the divisional kingdom thanks to their upset win over the Utes earlier this season. Crazy.

Oh and who is in the ABC Primetime game next week? Yep, it’s your Southern Methodist University Mustangs. No kidding. SMU’s win over hapless Houston, along with Memphis surviving Tulsa, means the Mustangs will travel to the Liberty Bowl to play the Tigers in the big game of the week and the biggest game in the American conference this season. An SMU win, and they are that much closer to that coveted Group of Five spot in the NY6. It also means college football has another team playing well in the Metroplex and that’s always good.

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

#1	LSU
#2	Ohio State
#3	Alabama
#4	Penn State
#5	Clemson
#6	Oregon
#7	Florida
#8	Utah
#9	Baylor
#10	Georgia
#11	Michigan
#12	Minnesota
#13	Oklahoma
#14	Auburn
#15	SMU
#16	Iowa
#17	Notre Dame
#18	Wisconsin
#19	Cincinnati
#20	Appalachian State
#21	Boise State
#22	Wake Forest
#23	Texas
#24	Kansas State
#25	Washington

Yes I have Alabama at #3. They have looked really good but compared to LSU and Ohio State I don’t think they measure up…yet. Clemson is down at #5 but we know what their schedule is like so no worries there yet. The first CFP Rankings come out in a little over a week and I am sure The Committee won’t totally agree with my rankings and I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass. Other than Clemson, no one in the Top 10 has an easy road to the CFP so a lot will change over the next week or two. Let’s not sleep on Oregon/Utah out of the Pac-12 since they are not far from the Top 4. With the Big XII becoming a shitshow and the ACC already a disaster, there could be room for a Pac-12 champ in there if a few things happen above them. Also, remember that Baylor is lurking in the weeds. Beat Oklahoma and they start looking really good (despite the Sooners loss to KSU). As for SMU I have them at #15 and the AP Poll has them the same and I feel that their ceiling is #10 unless more of that sweet chaos happens.

Football. Every. Day. That’s right. Every day between Halloween and the day before American Thanksgiving. And that day is the only day off between now and December 2nd. Let’s drink it in and enjoy this! Saying that we are a little late to the party this year as there is no Tuesday or Wednesday night MACtion or Fun Belt action yet. But soon. Be patient. Have a great week everyone.

Most Important Games of the 2019 College Football Season – Part Deux

Posted on June 4, 2019 by guelphbossman

It looks like we are getting closer to this. I mean we won’t have NCAA 20 but NCAA 21 is not out of the question. And all it took is for the NCAA to realize that maybe these players should earn some money on their likeness. This would also solve the problem of stars getting the same as third-string guards. So simple yet it took so damn long to figure this out. Hopefully it pushes through and then I can get a new system to get the newest NCAA game. Oh you can bet your bottom dollar I would get whatever new system it’s on.

So for the second straight year I feel like a complete moron. I thought I was smart starting a day earlier than last year’s first CFB blog post. So what happens yesterday? A big schedule dump. ESPN. FOX. CBS. Hell, Stadium, Facebook, CBS Sports Network. So much updating (although I will admit I had some right). But the ones that were wrong…well, here are the updates for those:

I had the Northwestern-Stanford game on the on FOX Sports One. This game will now be at 4:00 on FOX. This is a good thing to be wrong about, no?
FIU-Tulane, the de facto best Group of Five game of Week 1, has been relegated to ESPN3. Wow, that’s terrible. It also means we can’t see it up here which may not be that big a loss to be honest with you.
The OSU Bowl (Oklahoma and Oregon versions) is now not on the specialty pack. It will be on FOX Sports One. Had the time right, but the network wrong. Damn.
For the second straight year, I got a USC-Stanford game very wrong. I had the game at 8 on FOX. It is now on at 10:30 on the specialty pack. Instead, FOX chose Buffalo-Penn State. Yeah I don’t get it either.
With WVU-Mizzou, I hilariously used 24-hour time to say that it was at 7:00. That is wrong. It is at noon. It will probably still be on the specialty pack though so at least that is (probably) correct…probably.
Arkansas-Ole Miss has moved to 7:30. I had it 3:30. Will still be specialty pack.
I had a feeling that Oklahoma-UCLA might be picked up FOX. And it was! It will now air at 8:00.
Stanford-UCF still will probably go to ABC but not at Noon anymore. It has been moved to 3:30 which I am sure the people who bought tickets to that game are very happy about.
We still can’t see Cy-Hawk but the time was moved from Noon to 4:00.

So to be honest it wasn’t THAT bad. Now we get to what is truly speculative as 95% of games from Week 4 on have little to no information attached to them. This is where I can REALLY screw things up. So let’s begin shall we?

Week 4

Game of the Week: Notre Dame at Georgia (8:00, CBS) – CBS gets one primetime game a season (unless they lobby for 2 but it costs them). Normally this is LSU-Alabama but this season they could not, in good conscience, let this one opportunity pass them by. You can say whatever you want about the Fighting Irish but they deliver ratings and if this game lives up to the previous game these two teams, it should be massive. It helps that the week that houses LSU-Bama is not a good week, schedule-wise, for the SEC.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – First two games this week are CBS games. Happens pretty much never and is a coup for the network. The other thing that strikes me is this is happening and neither game involves Alabama. Which I am sure someone will mention in the hype going into these two games. Anyway, the winner keeps their shot at usurping the Tide while the loser probably hopes to go to the Outback Bowl.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon, FOX) – Last year, the game in this very spot was Notre Dame-Wake Forest. Seriously. Look it up if you want. This is a deadly game for both teams so early on in the season. The Big Ten is not known for having huge September conference games but here we are. This feels like it is more important for Michigan because of two obvious facts: 1) they play in the very difficult Big Ten East which should be really good again this year, and 2) Ohio State fans won’t let them forget it if they lose. I don’t know which is worse to be honest.

Oregon at Stanford (7:30, ABC) – At this point you still have to feel for the Oregon State Beavers. They play these two teams, U-Dub, Wazzu and Cal every season. They’d have to pay me a lot to even consider coaching for this program. Not that that will be an issue but it has to be one of the toughest jobs in Power Five football. This game here should be yet another classic between these two as (at one point) consensus 2020 #1 pick Justin Herbert faces off against a usually tough Stanford defense. I’d love to say the winner has a leg up in the Pac-12 North but considering what happened last year, that is not a guarantee.

Michigan State at Northwestern (8:30, FOX) – This might be overshadowed by the above-mentioned Michigan-Wisky battle. Also being on the late FOX broadcast might hurt a bit too. Not sure it will go on this late but it is in Evanston which is Central Time Zone so who the hell knows.

Oklahoma State at Texas (7:00, specialty pack) – Will Texas be as good as last season? There’s a good possibility yes so Tom Herman and his fancy grill can keep smiling at this point. But you can never count out The Mullet. Mike Gundy almost always has good teams and this year’s Cowboys should be better than last year’s so an upset is not impossible. Sooner fans will be watching this one in earnest.

Tennessee at Florida (7:00, specialty pack) – It’s not “Is Texas Back?” anymore. It’s “Is Tennessee back?” Now that the Longhorns are good again, many are craving for the good ol’ days of the Vols being good as well. Maybe once they apologize for shitcanning Phil Fulmer they can truly turn the corner since they have never really recovered from that. No longer the Champions of Life, the Vols will try to eek out a new existence under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt who will try to become another Kirby Smart. Oh yeah, and Florida is in this and they will be good and have one of the best coaches in the land but who cares about that right?

Utah at USC (Friday, 9:00, FOX Sports One) – Can’t win em all right? This may still move although it seems to be cemented on Friday night. With no ESPN game on that night, it may appear there so who knows. Even though it is Week Four it is still rather early to figure some of these things out.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: South Carolina at Missouri (Noon, TSN1) – This may essentially end up being an early season SEC East elimination game. The loser here will have pretty much no shot at going to Atlanta on December 7th. Also, this should be a pretty evenly-matched game. Now watch it be a blowout. Look it was either this or Cal-Ole Miss for this spot. My options were thin.

Best Group of Five Game: Air Force at Boise State (Friday, 9:00, specialty pack) – You know, after one bad Air Force season many people, including myself, figured the Falcons would be that way for a while. So what did Troy Calhoun do? Just coach them to back-to-back good seasons. And I am sure this year will be no different. It is on the blue turf in Boise which is tough for any team but the AFA has done fairly well here in the past.

Worst Power Five Game: West Virginia at Kansas (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Let’s be honest: it will take a lot more than hiring Les Miles to turn this program around. Even the hype of him arriving isn’t leading many to anoint Kansas as an up-and-coming team just yet.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ohio State at Nebraska (8:30, FOX) – Not a bad week but not a great one as you can see by my choice of GOTW. No earth-shattering potential games of the year this week (barring any upsets of course). However, there is a caveat here: if Scott Frost can somehow make this Husker team an 8 or 9-win team this season then watch out because this could be a prime candidate for a massive upset and season-changing game. Or it could end up being a blowout. Who knows.

Other Really Important Games: Mississippi State at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – CBS really racking up the good games early on in the season. Brad Nessler must be so happy…now he just needs a close game to call, for once. I wonder what these two programs would be like if they didn’t have Alabama in their division. I am sure these fanbases have thought of that many times before as these two teams should be firmly in the Top 20 by this point of the season.

Virginia at Notre Dame (3:30, NBC) – The Fighting Irish’s ACC-heavy schedule continues this season (and will for the next 18 years I believe) with a game against the Hoos. Remember the last time these two teams met? A last-minute long touchdown pass by the Irish followed by that one fan just hanging over the wall to show his despair. Many tried to emulate that student in subsequent games in Charlottesville but he was the original. Anyway, I am sure many college football fans around the country would love to see the Irish faithful look that way after this game.

Washington State at Utah (9:15, specialty pack) – There were a couple of weeks last year where ESPN did not have a 3:30 game and instead ran a 6:00 and 9:15 game instead. I have a feeling this will be one of those weeks. Don’t ask me why though since it’s more like “they had one in September last season so I am sure they will have one in September this season”. As for the two combatants, this should be some really good Pac-12 After Dark action between teams that are looking to make a bigger mark on the conference and win a conference title.

Northwestern at Wisconsin (Noon, ABC) – This feels like your typical early-afternoon Big Ten game. A lot of offense although much of it will be on the ground. Great defense, especially on the Wisky side of things. And potentially a Big Ten West elimination game depending on how these two teams fare the rest of the way. Should be good.

USC at Washington (7:30, ABC) – The Pac-12 always gets a couple of primetime ABC games and so does the Big XII. Honestly it sometimes feels weird to put anything other than a Big Ten game there since they get way more games in that timeslot. I figured this is one of the better games as long as USC is already playing better. Let’s be honest: if the Trojans aren’t doing well at this point it might be the end for Clay Helton since that shit won’t fly (for very long) in southern California.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: NC State at Florida State (7:00, specialty pack) – Even when the Noles were really good, they seemed to have problems with the Wolfpack. This becomes potentially one of the more important games of the week if A) NC State doesn’t lose too much with the graduation of Ryan Finley and B) Willie Taggart truly has the Seminoles firing on most, if not all, cylinders.

Best Group of Five Game: Houston at North Texas (8:00, Facebook) – Yes. Facebook. We are living in a bit of a new age my friend. I watched a few minutes of a game on Twitter a couple years back and it wasn’t bad to be honest. I prefer watching it on TV but sometimes you take what you can get. Here we have Houston who should once again be trying to usurp UCF as the American Conference’s top dog and North Texas who should, once again, be a contender in Conference USA. On paper this looks good. Let’s hope it lives up to that and it will be interesting to see what it’s like to watch a game on Facebook. I am intrigued I gotta tell ya.

Worst Power Five Game: Wake Forest at Boston College (3:30, specialty pack) – And honestly this isn’t even that bad a game. It’s just one of those weeks with quite a few decent games but no eye-openers.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30, ABC) – There is a small possibility that this moves to FOX at Noon so this, like most of this post, is not set in stone yet. Two Big Ten East contenders. Two Big Ten contenders. Potentially, two CFP contenders. Now if it does go to FOX, there’s a possibility of seeing GUS JOHNSON lose his voice or have an aneurysm. Neither of which would be nice to see at all.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Florida (7:00, TSN2) – Many would say this should be the game of the week. And I wouldn’t say you were wrong. Both teams look good heading into the season and there’s always talk about Gus Malzahn being shitcanned so that is fun for people who like that kind of thing.

Virginia Tech at Miami (3:30, ABC) – Hey remember when these two teams were in the Big East and it was awesome? Miami is finally back to a level where they are competing for a Top 10 spot and VaTech takes a big dump for a couple years. This could be the first year in a long time that both teams are very good and should compete for the ACC crown (yes, even with Clemson in the conference). Ya know, I kind of wish the Big East was back. It was a fun conference.

Washington at Stanford (7:30, FOX) – The four-team round-robin of doom and destruction for the Pac-12 North (say that five times fast) continues here. The Pac-12 needs one of those four to just break out and win every game so they don’t look like a terrible conference yet again. And also it’s not late night so Chris Petersen has to be happy. Now watch it get moved to like an 11:00 pm timeslot.

Georgia at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – The “Is Texas Back?” game is now being replaced with the “Is Tennessee back?” game. And it may be just as annoying. Despite the fact Florida looks like a bonafide SEC East contender and despite the fact Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina just need a couple of breaks this season to seriously contend, many college football experts will be telling everyone who will listen how the Vols are the real scary team in the SEC East. Uh, they have to show it first. The former Champions of Life need to prove they compete. This may end up as a game that shouldn’t have been in this section but for now I am going with the fact that Tennessee, at the very least, will be quite improved this season.

Iowa at Michigan (3:30, TSN2) – FOX seems to be taking a back seat to Disney this week with their (predicted) selections. Then again, they may surprise me and take this game and not Northwestern-Nebraska for their Noon start. Man, the Pac-12 has to be pissed that FOX said that their best games will be on at Noon. I am sure, at some point, someone will ask if 9:00 am start times out on the West Coast are feasible.

TCU at Iowa State (3:30, specialty pack) – I would love to have them mic up the coaches for this game. Not as much for Matt Campbell (he’s a great, young coach with a bright future), but more for Gary Patterson. I’m sure that guy would be a ton of fun to listen to and he has shown that during those ESPN Super-Duper-MegaCast things. Plus I am sure some stathead could come up with a metric that shows how much of his voice Gary loses during a game since it sounds like he has bronchitis every time he does an interview after a game.

Texas at West Virginia (4:00, FOX) – These are the times when I wonder if Sportsnet will ever get back into the college football game. I know they, for some reason, have hockey games on at 2:00. If they were ever able to push that afternoon game to 3:30 then they could simsub a game from FS1 perhaps (although we all know it would be a simsub of the FOX game instead) at Noon. Anyway, I am quite interested to see how a Holgorsen-less Mountaineers squad does this year. They also don’t have Will Grier but that might be less of an issue. And Texas is (back) Texas.

Northwestern at Nebraska (Noon, FOX) – There are a lot of pretty good games this weekend. Considering that, it is still only the 7th best week of the college football season. And only the fifth-best before November. Oh man I am getting stoked for this season. So let’s see if Coach Frosty and his merry band of Huskers can improve this season and go to a bowl game or if it has just become the norm in Lincoln to have a team that does not, in any way, resemble those crazy-good teams of the 80s and 90s.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Arizona at Colorado (4:00, Pac-12 Network) – Both of these teams could put a huge monkey wrench in the often-ridiculous Pac-12 South. And I guess some of you can watch this game if you have the means to watch the Pac-12 Network this year (I am working on that myself).

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at Cincinnati (Friday, 8:00, specialty pack) – This could end up being the game that decides the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot. UCF is UCF and has been good for a few years now and the Bearcats have had a resurgence under Luke Fickell. And they get most of the national spotlight on the Friday night so a lot of people will again be reminded that football in the American Conference can be pretty damn good when it doesn’t involve UConn.

Worst Power Five Game: Maryland at Rutgers (3:30, BTN) – Ah Rutgers back in the Rutgers spot. I might even struggle to put Kansas here with the hiring of Les Miles. Oregon State is still shitty but less people watch those games because of that damn East Coast bias and the fact that the majority of their games are on a network (Pac-12 Network) that most people in Canada don’t get. So by default, Rutgers is the garbage juice of the Power Five this season until further notice.

Week 7

Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – The SEC has a huge week this week. And this is the biggest game of a huge bunch. Jimbo might have his Aggies ready to go for this one and Kyle Field should be shaking (literally). A Bama loss turns the College Football Playoff on its head. I am sure that will mentioned a few hundred times early on in the game by Brad and Gary.

Other Really Important Games: Florida at LSU (7:00, TSN2) – Basically GOTW 1B to Bama-TAMU’s GOTW 1A. Considering both of these teams are legitimate dark horse contenders for the CFP and the Gators are in the SEC’s easier division, this should be great and means, at least in the SEC’s mind, they own the late afternoon and early timeslots. Sometimes it does just mean more, you know what I’m sayin?

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – It’s the God Damn Red River Shootout! Can we call this Game of the Week 1C? Sure we can! I hate the pussified version of the rivalry name because they don’t want you to use the word shoot. Give me a fucking break. Such a complete overreaction. I would like to know the amount of times someone brought that up when they accused of some sort of gun-related violence. “Yeah officer I wasn’t going to shoot but then I saw the rotten corpse of what used to be the great Cotton Bowl and remembered the Red River Shootout is still played there and I couldn’t help myself so I shot the guy eighteen times.”

Michigan State at Wisconsin (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Every year, FOX Sports One gets at least a couple of games that would easily be candidates for the main FOX network. They are put there to raise the profile of FS1 and try to get more Americans to add the channel to their cable packages. Unfortunately that leaves us Canadians out in the cold. Let’s just be thankful that the College Football Playoff wasn’t moved to FS1. I have no idea why that would happen but the uproar would be massive.

South Carolina at Georgia (Noon, TSN2) – Man this week is packed with good games. No wonder it’s the second best week of the college football season (and the best before November). That this is the fifth-best game of the week says it all. I am still waiting for South Carolina to finally win the SEC one of these days. They have been to one SEC Championship, back in 2010, and got absolutely crushed by Auburn. It would definitely make for a good story if they made it back to Atlanta this year. Of course the Bulldogs don’t care about good stories and Kirby Smart wants another shot at the top prize after the heartbreaking loss two years ago in the National Championship.

Virginia at Miami (Friday, 8:00, TSN2) – The Hoos are good again! Helps to have a guy who takes no bullshit, uh, I mean, bull-phooey like Bronco Mendenhall in charge. He didn’t take long to turn the Cavaliers around but now with guys actually being drafted it will be interesting to see the encore. Miami has a new QB in oft-transferred Tate Martell. He was in that Netflix show QB1: Beyond the Lights. A good show if you want something to watch.

Florida State at Clemson (7:30, ABC) – It is rare that the ABC Primetime game would be this low on the list. This is more of a classic matchup than the current huge games and rivalries. Until the Noles prove that they are truly back, this should go down as an easy Clemson win. But that’s why you play the game (as Clemson fans hark back to their upset loss a while back to Syracuse).

USC at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – This feels like a trap game. For both the Irish and us fans. First of all, the Irish have to expect to come into this game as the relatively heavy favourites even if the Trojans turn it on to start the season. Touchdown Jesus has a tougher schedule this season so they can’t take games like this likely or otherwise they can forget the CFB or even the NY6. As for us fans, this could end up being a primetime blowout which feels like the worst kind of blowout. The hype coming in gets crushed quickly. At least this week there are other options during the same timeslot.

Penn State at Iowa (Noon, ABC) – You know what? I just love that Iowa Wave. Just wanted to say that.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Syracuse at NC State (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – Rarely does the college football week start of with a really good Thursday nighter. I mean it’s happened before and these contests are hyped to the tits! Until Clemson falters, these games will always feel a bit second-rate though but it should be a nice matchup for a Thursday night for sure.

Best Group of Five Game: Cincinnati at Houston (3:30, specialty pack) – I have this down as one of the very few reverse mirrors of the season and one of the very few AAC games on ABC. Depending on what the other game is (right now I have Michigan-Illinois) we might get this game in our area as the ABC game. Highly doubtful though. Possible move to TSN could happen as well and I can’t even guess that at this time. I am very intrigued to see Drunk Uncle Dana with the Cougs. I wonder if he parlays this new job into a G5 NY6 spot.

Worst Power Five Game: Louisville at Wake Forest (4:00, specialty pack) – This is around the time the ACC Network will regress like the SEC Network does. They get the shittier games every week and with a 12-day hold on most of them, there’s almost no chance they get a big game unless a team needs to make an appearance on the network to satisfy one of the criteria. I feel almost sad that Wake Forest has now appeared in this spot twice. They aren’t even a bad team. But when they face teams like North Carolina and Louisville there’s not a whole lot they can do, right?

We are halfway through the season now (with these posts). 14 weeks this year! WOOHOO! And remember that networks have the options for 12-day holds on selecting games to show. This means many of these could be wrong because of that. That’s who I will blame if this happens. Not myself. No sir.

I have not picked up a college football preview magazine yet. Are there any out? I haven’t seen any yet but then again I haven’t been in many places that would have them. I have ordered the Phil Steele magazine (as I have mentioned before) and will probably get Street & Smith’s, Athlon and Lindy’s. Enough reading for the summer to set me up for college football season which is…still 82 days away. Ugh. Have a great week everyone!

It was a case of premature gatoration – Week 13 College Football Recap

Posted on November 26, 2018 by guelphbossman

Welp, that was something. If you weren’t able to watch the LSU-Texas A&M marathon then that’s too bad. It was something to witness. It had a bit of everything it seemed. Let’s recap what happened from about the last couple minutes of regulation through to the last of the seven (yes SEVEN!) overtimes:

That Gatorade bath you see above for Ed Orgeron was after it looked like LSU had the game-winning interception late in the fourth quarter. Replays showed Kellen Mond’s knee was down when he struggled to pick up the ball after a bad snap. So it was still Texas A&M’s ball.
The next play was 4th & 18 and it looked like the Aggies were short of the line to gain. No review. Bad call by the SEC officials there.
Kellen Mond then spiked the ball and it looked like time had expired. Instead, there was actually one second left. That set up Mond’s game-tying TD throw to Quartney Davis with no time left to send the game to overtime.
Both teams scored in the first two overtimes. In the third overtime, LSU scored a touchdown and got the two-point conversion. That set up Kendrick Rogers’ TD catch which was one of the most ridiculous catches of the year to tie things up again.
The teams traded scores in the next three overtimes to get to the seventh overtime period. This tied the NCAA record for the longest game ever.
LSU scored first but failed on the two-point conversion. Texas A&M scored a TD then failed on their two-point conversion so it looked like we would be witnessing history with the first ever eight-overtime game. Instead a somewhat questionable pass interference call allowed the Aggies another shot. They converted and ended the highest scoring game in FBS history, 74-72.

It capped a week of college football that, up until that game was looking like a pretty good but not great week, continuing a string of weeks that have peaked at being good but not great. For the rest of the recap I will do exactly what I did last year, just keeping the broadcast information and going through it in chronological order. So let’s go!

Thursday

Air Force 27 Colorado State 19

3:30 PM

A pretty good game to start the week (if you don’t include the MACtion from Tuesday). Air Force pulled away as Cole Fagan ran for 260 yards. Typical Air Force running game.

Mississippi State 35 Ole Miss 3

7:30 PM

This game was marred a bit by a brawl in the second half. The Bulldogs dominated this game from start to finish. It was nice to see Nick Fitzgerald play this game after the brutal injury he suffered at last year’s Egg Bowl.

Friday

Memphis 52 Houston 31

Noon

Memphis had a slow start but pulled away in the second half to earn their spot in the AAC Championship. For everyone that thinks it will be a blowout, remember Memphis took UCF to overtime last year before losing.

Iowa 31 Nebraska 28

Noon

Iowa wins this one on a walk-off field goal. Nebraska will somehow be within sniffing distance of the preseason Top 25 before the 2019 season.

Ohio 49 Akron 28

Noon

Meaningless game won big by Ohio.

Buffalo 44 Bowling Green 14

Noon

Buffalo, with the easy win, clinches the MAC East and will face Northern Illinois Friday night in Detroit for the MAC Championship.

Missouri 38 Arkansas 0

2:30 PM

Arkansas is terrible. This proved it. Missouri is good but this was such a poor performance by Chad Morris’ Hogs. I am sure CBS may look to try and snag LSU-TAMU for Black Friday next season rather than this game that almost always disappoints.

Virginia Tech 34 Virginia 31

3:30 PM

Ugh. The Hokies win a close one over UVA. This means next week’s game against Marshall is on and if VaTech wins, they go bowling. This also means a Group of Five team will be home rather than go bowling. Or perhaps BYU which would not make that fanbase happy at all.

Cincinnati 56 East Carolina 6

3:30 PM

Cincinnati had a great season other than that loss to UCF and a crushing loss to Temple. If it wasn’t for those two games, we may have been talking about Luke Fickell’s Bearcats for the New Year’s Six spot.

UCF 38 USF 10

4:00 PM

Not nearly as exciting as last year’s epic War on I-4. UCF had already clinched the AAC East. This keeps them undefeated and in the driver’s seat for the Group of Five spot in the NY6. Their chances of a College Football Playoff spot, however, are zero.

Oklahoma 59 West Virginia 56

8:00 PM

This was about the most Big XII game you could ask for. A lot of offense and a close game with high stakes. Oklahoma will now face Texas, who beat Kansas, at JerryWorld for the Big XII Championship and perhaps a spot in the CFP.

Washington 28 Washington State 15

8:30 PM

This game was played in a huge snowstorm. Visually it was fun to watch. I can’t imagine it was as fun for the players. Washington outlasted Wazzu as the Cougs troubles in the Apple Cup continue since Mike Leach took over. This also means the Pac-12 is shut out of the College Football Playoff for sure.

Saturday Early

Florida 41 Florida State 14

Noon

Florida State could not pull off the upset so for the first time since 1982, will not appear in a bowl game. Florida, on the other hand, may have played their way into the New Year’s Six with this impressive win.

Ohio State 62 Michigan 39

Noon

tOSU seems to be Michigan’s kryptonite. Especially Jim Harbaugh’s. It’s like a mental block. 62 points? Most scored on Michigan in regulation ever. Ohio State just dominated, thanks to a breakout performance from freshman Chris Olave who caught two touchdown passes and blocked a punt leading to a touchdown. Ohio State now has a potential shot at the College Football Playoff if they beat Northwestern next week in the Big Ten Championship. Michigan is probably in a New Year’s Six bowl and will go to the Rose Bowl if the Buckeyes end up in the Top 4.

Purdue 28 Indiana 21

Noon

Purdue is, fittingly, going bowling. An up-and-down year highlighted by a massive win over Ohio State (the Buckeyes’ only loss) was capped by this close victory over Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket in the winner-goes-bowling matchup.

Syracuse 42 Boston College 21

Noon

This really wasn’t close. Steve Addazio, after BC’s hot start, may be on the hot seat after the Eagles’ disappointing finish. Syracuse will be left out of the New Year’s Six although it has to be considered a massive success as Dino Babers has finally brought the team to the heights he said he would bring them to when he was hired.

Western Kentucky 30 Louisiana Tech 15

Noon

WKU was awful this year but ended the season with two straight victories and played their best game of the year trying to save Mike Sanford’s job. Alas, it didn’t work.

Tulane 29 Navy 28

Noon

Willie Fritz showed some balls, going for two after a late Tulane TD got the Green Wave to within one. They converted and beat Navy to become bowl-eligible for the first time in five years. I am honestly surprised this game wasn’t over by 2:30.

Georgia 45 Georgia Tech 21

Noon

Speaking of games that weren’t close, this one was it. Georgia rolled the Yellow Jackets and should be in the Top 4 going into the SEC Championship.

NC State 34 North Carolina 28 (OT)

12:30 PM

What a way to end Raycom’s ACC telecasts. NC State defeats North Carolina in overtime and right afterwards there is a huge brawl. I will be interested to see if there are any hiccups bringing ACC Network telecasts to us Canadians next year. I am not holding my breath.

Wake Forest 59 Duke 7

12:30 PM

Yeah I think the Deacs really wanted to go bowling. A 52-point shellacking of an already bowl-bound Duke proved that the Demon Deacons could be a tough out in a bowl game.

Saturday Afternoon

Penn State 38 Maryland 3

3:30 PM

It would have been nice to see Maryland come back from all the adversity they have had from the D.J. Durkin/Jordan McNair issues from before the season but they couldn’t beat a really good Penn State team (who may end up in the New Year’s Six). Matt Canada may have done enough to secure the job next season and remove the interim tag.

Alabama 52 Auburn 21

3:30 PM

Bama wins. Ho hum. They should get a good match with Georgia next week though.

Minnesota 37 Wisconsin 15

3:30 PM

Row the damn Boat! P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers beat up on Wisconsin to earn bowl-eligibility. Huge for Fleck as it keeps him off the hot seat. Wisconsin was seriously disappointing this season and never felt like a contender in the Big Ten West.

Miami 24 Pittsburgh 3

3:30 PM

Does anyone have any faith in Pitt to keep things close in the ACC Championship? Because I don’t.

Tulsa 27 SMU 24

3:30 PM

SMU had their chance to go to a bowl game but their loss to Tulsa shuts them out of bowl season.

Northwestern 24 Illinois 16

3:30 PM

Northwestern shouldn’t have had any problems with the Illini but did. They pulled out the victory, though, and look forward to their Big Ten Championship match against Ohio State. Somehow, Lovie Smith will stay on as Illinois’ head coach. I don’t get it either.

Temple 57 UConn 7

3:30 PM

UConn has now allowed the most points and yards of any FBS team in history. They have to be considered among the worst Div. 1-A/FBS teams ever. So of course we have to assume that Randy Edsall will be back next season.

Michigan State 14 Rutgers 10

4:00 PM

It almost looked like Rutgers was going to win a game on national TV. It would have been one of the craziest things to happen all season. In the end, they came up just short. The Scarlet Knights are a ways away from competing in the Big Ten and it’s almost sad they are in that conference rather than the American, where they belong.

Vanderbilt 38 Tennessee 13

4:00 PM

Wow. Not even close. Vandy really wanted this. Derek Mason has done a pretty good job taking over for James Franklin after a very rocky start. I don’t know what to say about Tennessee. This program has been mired in mediocrity for years and it seems like there is no way out of it.

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

Clemson 56 South Carolina 35

7:00 PM

At times it looked like the Gamecocks were in this game but you had that feeling they weren’t going to be close enough. In the end, those feelings were correct. Clemson marches on to Charlotte to face Pitt in what should be an ACC Championship victory.

Kentucky 56 Louisville 10

7:00 PM

It’s amazing not too long ago that Mark Stoops was on a perpetual hot seat. Now he has to be considered a candidate for coach of the year and has the Wildcats very close to a 10-win season. On the other side, Louisville is a disaster. I don’t know what head coach wants to pick this up but they have to expect next season to be a rough one as well.

Fresno State 31 San Jose State 13

7:00 PM

San Jose State was actually close for a while in this one. But the possibility of an upset left early in the third quarter.

Texas A&M 74 LSU 72 (7OT)

7:30 PM

This was talked about above but it was still amazing to watch this game. The game didn’t end until Nevada and UNLV were halfway through the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame 24 USC 17

8:00 PM

OK this is really starting to look like the Notre Dame of 2012. A bunch of close wins over teams where the wins shouldn’t have been that close. I get that USC played one of their better games of the season but still: the Irish will get into the CFP and might be a double-digit underdog which never bodes well. As for the Trojans, athletic director Lynn Swann has stated that Clay Helton will return for the 2019 season. I, along with many others, still have my doubts about that.

TCU 31 Oklahoma State 24

8:00 PM

This feels like a defensive battle considered it was a Big XII game. Nevertheless, Gary Patterson’s defense was good enough to get the Horned Frogs to bowl eligibility. Seven out of the ten Big XII teams are bowl eligible with two just on the outside at 5 wins. That’s a pretty deep conference.

UNLV 34 Nevada 29

9:30 PM

For a game that had no bearing on anything, it ended up being a really good one. I mean I was stuck on LSU-TAMU until this one got well into the fourth quarter but it was a great last nine minutes. UNLV may have saved Tony Sanchez’s job by winning the Fremont Cannon which is a hilariously huge rivalry trophy (about 500 lbs.).

Boise State 33 Utah State 24

10:15 PM

Huge game here but we all have to remember that Boise is nearly unstoppable on the blue turf at Albertson’s Stadium. They again pull off the huge victory and will now play Fresno State in the Mountain West Championship and pray that UCF loses their game earlier on in the day.

Hawaii 31 San Diego State 30 (OT)

10:30 PM

A phenomenal game to end the night. Rocky Long decided to go for two in the first overtime after his kicker missed what would have been the game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Bad playcall (50-50 jump ball) and Hawaii held on to win.

Bowl eligibility

The following teams clinched bowl eligibility this past week:

Vanderbilt

Purdue

Minnesota

TCU

Baylor

Wake Forest

Tulane

Wyoming

Miami-OH

Southern Miss

Also, with Virginia Tech’s win, they will play Marshall with a chance to go to 6-6. Good lord, that’s a lot of teams to clinch in the final weekend but it was pretty much the same thing last season. This eliminates any 5-7 team from going bowling. As far as I can tell, at least three teams will sit at home even though they are bowl-eligible. I figured out Liberty’s bowl-eligibility picture as well. They will probably end up 6-6 after next week’s game against Norfolk State; however, they will have two wins over FCS teams and only one is eligible to count towards your overall win total. So technically they would be a 5-win team and would be ineligible for a bowl game.

Coaching Carousel

I always remember the music when Homer Simpson was going to go to clown college. It fits here as well.

It started with Les Miles being hired (after David Beaty was fired but coached the last few games). What else happened on the coaching carousel?

Louisville pulled the trigger on firing Bobby Petrino. Problem is, other than this season, Petrino had been a good college coach. He clearly was at the end of the line at Louisville but he will end up coaching somewhere else in the next couple seasons. Question now is who wants to inherit this mess? And would it be someone who would be considered a big hire? Probably not.
Kute Kliff Kingsbury was shitcanned at Texas Tech. Their loss to Baylor was probably a good thing because who knows if gaining bowl eligibility would have changed the minds of the brass in Lubbock.
Larry Fedora was dismissed at North Carolina. No surprise there. The surprise comes from the rumour about who would replace him. The rumour is that Mack Brown would come back to coach and would bring Kingsbury as his offensive coordinator and Gene Chizik out of the SEC Network as his defensive coordinator. Wow.
Lovie Smith got a contract extension….wait, what? You read it. A contract extension. Everything is so messed up in Champaign.
Mike Sanford was let go after a horrible season at Western Kentucky. They won their last two games but my guess is this was decided at least a week ago and didn’t fire him then so he could coach out the string.
Mark Whipple is out at UMass. I have this feeling they need to drop back to FCS but that’s just me.
John Bonamego was fired at Central Michigan after an absolutely brutal season. No one thought the Chippewas would drop to 1-10 and a change was obviously needed.
After starting 5-0, Colorado went 0-7 to end the season and it was the end of the Mike MacIntyre era in Boulder. Not surprising since other than one good season, his tenure had not been that great.

So who’s going where now? Hey remember what I said about Mack Brown above?

North Carolina has hired Mack Brown to be their new head coach. Full disclosure, I put this in just before this blog went up.

Potential coaches on the move and where they could go:

Mike Leach – Texas Tech might be interested in him. Texas. Tech. That would just be surreal.
Matt Wells – He has done huge things at Utah State and this year was probably the peak. If he wants to move on, he should consider doing it now when his value is at its highest. Colorado seems like a fairly obvious destination for him but I wouldn’t rule out another Pac-12 school, USC.
Mike Locksley – Alabama’s offensive coordinator is getting some looks but I would be wary. He was awful coaching at New Mexico and it would be a risk to hire him at a huge school. Some guys are just not made out to be the top guy. Paging Charlie Weis. Charlie Weis.
Jeff Brohm – Louisville wants this guy in the worst way. But it seems Brohm wants to stay at Purdue. That might change if Louisville parks a Brinks truck in his driveway.
Neal Brown – If Louisville doesn’t get their number one choice, they would probably push for Brown. I am surprised Brown’s name hasn’t come up for more coaching vacancies.
Brent Venables – It would take a lot to pry him away from Clemson but it’s almost time for him to give it a shot on his own. A lot of schools would be definitely interested in him with Louisville and Texas Tech at the top of the list (although the Cards have their sights elsewhere).
James Franklin – Don’t laugh. He has not outright said he is not interested in other opportunities. USC might just come knocking at his door once Lynn Swann wakes up and realizes he may not want another season of Clay Helton.
Ryan Day – He is almost certainly gone from Ohio State, regardless of what happens with Urban Meyer. He did well coaching the team in Meyer’s absence and will get a shot almost anywhere.
Luke Fickell – This guy has done amazing work at Cincinnati and will be sought after. He would have been a no brainer for Illinois except they extended Lovie Smith. He won’t leave, though, for another Group of Five job. At this point it’s stand pat unless another Power Five school let’s their coach go.

I am sure there are more possibilities but I don’t feel like listing them at this time. Tomorrow I will have my bowl projections up then it’s back to the normal college schedule on Thursday, NFL schedule on Friday bit. Enjoy your week everyone!

Oh yes it was Chaos and I loved every minute of it! – Week 7 College Football Recap

Posted on October 16, 2018 by guelphbossman

Professor Chaos agrees with me: this past weekend was full of CHAOS! And it was oh-so-wonderful. Upsets galore which caused a big heave in the rankings…except at the top where Alabama still rules the college football roost but let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about the CHAOS!

Hold that Tiger! LSU had arguably the biggest upset of the weekend as they beat Georgia. And I mean they BEAT Georgia. This wasn’t even close. LSU sure looks like they have arrived. We could be back to years gone by with the annual LSU-Bama SEC on CBS primetime game being a massive deal. We are sure headed that way right now.

QUACK! QUACK! Washington had a chance to put away the Ducks in regulation and couldn’t do it. Oregon was able to finish off the Huskies in the extra frame. This makes the Pac-12 North wide open as these two teams, plus Stanford and Washington State, all have a legitimate chance to win the division. It also dropped the Pac-12’s College Football Playoff chances to almost none.

Brandon Weeden’s Nightmare: The West Virginia Mountaineers got to relive that, kind of. This wasn’t in overtime as Iowa State had no problem with the previously undefeated Mountaineers in this one. There’s something about Ames every couple of years. Something wacky seems to happen there. Also, there is almost no way Matt Campbell is the Cyclones’ head coach past this season since some team is going to snatch him up.

You know what? Maybe the Iron Bowl won’t be all that great: Most thought the Vols would have no chance against Auburn. Then the Tigerswent out and laid an egg and lost to a decent Tennessee team who is playing hard for new head coach Jeremy Pruitt. And now Gus Malzahn is on the hot seat as I am sure half of Auburn’s fan base wants Malzahn’s head on a platter.

Bronco Buster: I figured Miami would still be giving Virginia Tech (they of the massive upset loss to Old Dominion) a run for their money for the ACC Coastal Division crown. Well I may have been wrong there. Virginia looked dominant (on defense at least) and it wasn’t really as close as the score indicated. Both quarterbacks were terrible for the Canes. Oh, and of course, Mark Richt is getting heat from the fan base for it. Might as well melt down the Turnover Chain and hock it for a used guitar or something at this point.

A little too close for comfort: After a beatdown of Oklahoma the previous week, Texas hosted Baylor (BAYLOR!) and it should have been an easy win. Yes, Baylor is a bit better this year than last year’s debacle but still aren’t truly a bowl contender. And yes, Texas is back (we finally think this is true). So what happens? Considering what happened all Saturday it is no surprise that Texas struggled with the Bears and had to hold on at the end for the win. Also Sam Ehlinger was injured so it will be interesting to hear the prognosis for him going forward.

You just got DANTONIOED! Back to the theme of the week. Michigan State was able to hang in there with Penn State (in State College) for most of the game. And in the end they were able to drive late and score the game-winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining. If the Nittany Lions had any College Football Playoff hopes, the Spartans basically destroyed them with this win. It also means The Game has become massive again since the Wolverines may be the only contenders to Ohio State in the Big Ten East.

The National Champs* keep on winning: But man it was close. This might have gone down as the biggest story of the day if UCF had lost to Memphis. They were down 13 in the fourth quarter but were able to come back when McKenzie Milton did his best John Elway Super Bowl helicopter tackle impression for the winning score.

Friday Night Lights on Thursday: TCU is not ranked but this still has to be considered an upset of sorts. Texas Tech came into Fort Worth and came out with a big victory in a place the Horned Frogs rarely lose. TCU has not looked like a typical Gary Patterson team this year and maybe, just maybe, Kute Kliff Kingsbury has something going in Lubbock. With the way the Big XII has gone this season, there isn’t really a clear favourite so the Red Raiders could cause all sorts of trouble for some teams going forward.

So is Utah finally going to get its chance? Kyle Whittingham and his Utes could sneak right up the middle and take the Pac-12 South. It’s that wide-open….ok not THAT wide-open but USC, Colorado, and Utah all have legitimate chances at it and none of these teams can be considered the favourite. Utah destroyed Arizona on Friday night and looks to be set up to cause some major damage the rest of the way. And a reminder that the Utes are the only Pac-12 South school not go to the Pac-12 Championship since it was instituted.

Well that wasn’t that exciting: Shea Patterson is really in his groove now and Michigan had no problem with a Wisconsin team that seemed to have no fight in them at all. Hell, they were punting in Wolverine territory when they needed a few scores to tie the game. It’s like they’ve given up any hope at the College Football Playoff and, perhaps, even the New Year’s Six.

Another close call for the Irish: OK these close calls are not painting Notre Dame in a great light. Yes they are undefeated. Yes they don’t have a super difficult schedule the rest of the way. But close calls to some of these teams aren’t a good look. This feels very 2012-like and no one will change that perception unless they are competitive in the College Football Playoff (if they get there). Also remember that the same Pitt team that ND had to hold on to defeat UCF blew out earlier in the season.

Man I was hoping for a fight: And not among the players mind you. Florida-Vandy was actually a pretty good game with the Gators coming back to beat the Dores. The bigger part of this was Todd Grantham and Dan Mullen getting pissed off at Derek Mason for something or other and another coach having to hold Mullen back. I was hoping for a good ol’ fashioned tag team match: Mullen and Grantham vs. Mason and a mystery partner. Since it was in Nashville I nominate “Double J” Jeff Jarrett.

I had a feeling this would happen: The Buffaloes of Colorado are no longer undefeated. I mean let’s be honest here: how many of you thought they would run the table? None of you so put your hands down. And I had a feeling going into Saturday that the Trojans would be the one to end the winning streak and I was correct. All this means is that the Pac-12’s CFP chances are basically zero now. Cue the somewhat warm takes on this news.

Frost Warning: This is getting epically bad in Lincoln. Nebraska is now in their worst start in program history, falling to 0-6 after allowing Northwestern to score on a 99-yard drive to tie the game late and then win it in overtime. I wouldn’t be worried about Scott Frost since he will have a chance to do something the rest of the way and in 2019 but this is not the start Husker fans envisioned, that is for sure.

Wow, what a fun weekend of college football. So now let’s get to the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Alabama
#2	Notre Dame
#3	Ohio State
#4	Michigan
#5	Clemson
#6	LSU
#7	UCF
#8	Texas
#9	Oregon
#10	Georgia
#11	Oklahoma
#12	Florida
#13	Washington
#14	West Virginia
#15	Texas A&M
#16	Kentucky
#17	Penn State
#18	Iowa
#19	NC State
#20	Wisconsin
#21	USF
#22	Washington State
#23	Cincinnati
#24	Stanford
#25	Mississippi State

That was quite the week in movements in the Top 25. Basically #1 is set and after that it is a complete gongshow and no one would be wrong with their own personal rankings (unless you put Rutgers in the Top 25). UCF should be higher up and didn’t move despite a big win over Memphis. Their schedule will not help them and any hope of them getting to the CFP hinges on chaos above them. This weekend helped but won’t be nearly enough. And as an aside, guess where College Gameday is FINALLY going? That’s right. Pullman, Washington and the home of the Washington State Cougars. About god damn time. I’m sure there will still be some that are pissed about it though.

As for what I think the CFP combatants will be, here is what I think will end up being the rankings at the top (at this time):

Alabama
Ohio State
Clemson
Notre Dame
Texas
Georgia
UCF

Again, after Bama there can be no real definitive statements made with any list like this. Texas and Georgia, considering their schedules, could easily get in with one loss but only if one of the teams above them loses. Otherwise it will be a hard sell. UCF I think will top out at #7 which is better than last year going into the NY6 but still not where they want to be. I know this will start the 8-team playoff conversation but can we get through the first CFP contract first before starting that?

Alright it was a day late but I still did it. Enjoy your week everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2018 College Football Season – Part II: Football Boogaloo

Posted on June 5, 2018 by guelphbossman

God I wish. Can you even fucking imagine how popular this would be? I mean I only have a PS3 right now but would run out IMMEDIATELY to get a new system if EA Sports was putting out a new college football game. I hear rumblings that another company is going to put out a game without licensing. I don’t know how well that would work but hey, it’s something at this point, right?

So now I feel like a big dummy. I could have waited a few days but noooooooooo I just had to jump the gun and post the first of this series of most important games of the season. So what happens yesterday? A big schedule dump. ESPN. FOX. CBS. The first three weeks are almost set now. So now that those are pretty much set, I have a few announcements *clears throat*:

I had the FAU-OU game on the right network, just at the wrong time. This game will now start at Noon. Nice start to the day I would say.
Again I was right with the network on another one but REALLY had the wrong time. Ole Miss-Texas Tech will now go off at noon from Houston rather than the weird 9:30 start time that ESPN has used the last couple of seasons on opening Saturday.
We will not get to see Boise State-Troy because it is now on ESPNEWS. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
I got USC-Stanford VERY wrong. Not on ABC. It’s on FOX. Not in the afternoon. At 8:30. Yeah.
Speaking of FOX again, UCLA-Oklahoma now begins at 1:00. You see that right…1:00. That is not very PVR-friendly but in this day and age, who gives a shit anymore. Hell, I don’t even use my PVR as much as I have in previous years.
I think I underestimated how bad Week 2 is. Case in point: Colorado-Nebraska has been moved to ABC at 3:30. Not reverse-mirror: national broadcast. Yeesh.
In Week 3, Washington-Utah and USC-Texas have slightly different start times but otherwise they are correct.
On the other hand, Boise State-Oklahoma State was wildly wrong. They are now at 3:30, probably on the specialty pack.
We still can’t see Rutgers-Kansas but it has been demoted to FSN.
And here’s something new: Southern Miss-Appalachian State is not on ESPN3. It’s on ESPN+. I will have to do a bit of digging to see if this is available to Canadians but I assume it isn’t because Jesus doesn’t love us. Or is that the CRTC?

Alright, enough of the Ya Blew It section, let’s move on. Now we get to what is truly speculative as 95% of games from Week 4 on have little to no information attached to them. This is where I can REALLY screw things up. So let’s begin shall we?

Week 4

Game of the Week: Texas A&M at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – Jimbo Fisher has a rough early going in his first season in College Station. Clemson early on and then his first SEC game will be against Evil Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide Juggernaut Brigade. If he can somehow, SOMEHOW, coax this team (which should actually be pretty good) into keeping this game close into the fourth quarter, then at least we can say he is already starting to earn his money from that fat contract he has or hasn’t signed yet.

Other Really Important Games: Georgia at Missouri (7:30, specialty pack) – First two games on the specialty pack this week. Not good for you non-specialty pack people. And the fact that Mizzou is near the top of this list is another interesting thing. I think they will be wildly improved from last season and this has to be considered an early trap game for UGA. I mean Georgia is the team to beat in the East by far but if they lose, say, two conference games then it is a complete free-for-all for that division.

Notre Dame at Wake Forest (Noon, ABC/TSN3) – I’m just going to say this here: this could be the game that makes or breaks Brian Kelly’s season. Serious. Let’s look at this: the Irish can lose to Michigan on the opening weekend and many will just say “Michigan’s back.” So it buys the Irish a reprieve if that happens. Then they have Ball State and Vandy in consecutive weeks meaning they should be 2-1, at worst, going into this game. But the Deacs are a good team. They will give Notre Dame a fight in this one. But it’s also Wake Forest. A team with not the greatest winning pedigree. A loss here will fan the flames to the point of possibly no return. Makes for exciting drama, no?

Stanford at Oregon (3:30, ABC) – I feel bad for poor Oregon State and Cal in the Pac-12 North. They have these two teams, plus the two Washington schools, to deal with every season. No wonder neither program has done anything of note in years. As for this game, it’s game one of the Pac-12 North Round Robin of Doom and Destruction that is sure to knock every team out of the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six yet again.

Florida Atlantic at UCF (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Going out on a bit of a limb but I am saying that this could be the Group of Five game of the year right here. Inter-Florida battle. The Lane Train. New coach in Orlando. All kinds of storylines going into this one. Should be fun. Plus it gets the ESPN national broadcast so it shows that both of these programs are starting to get a lot of respect from the media.

Wisconsin at Iowa (7:30, ABC) – Will Wisconsin be as good as last season? Probably not so I don’t have the worry of saying they will run the regular season table (which they did) and then lose the Big Ten Championship (which they did) and still make it to the CFP (which they didn’t). Two out of three ain’t bad. And we all know how the Fighting Ferentzes do in big B1G games. Wouldn’t call it an upset if Iowa won but it’s definitely not being expected here by anyone, probably even most Hawkeye fans.

TCU at Texas (3:30, specialty pack) – Is Texas back? Is Texas back? IS TEXAS BACK? I get that ESPN and FOX (especially ESPN) desperately wants Texas to be back. To be good again. Even great again. But this narrative is so tiring. Meanwhile, Gary Patterson is one of the best coaches of this era and tends to not get as much love for what he’s done with a Horned Frogs program that I think has been in every single FBS conference that has ever existed. OK maybe not the MAC. But still.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Pittsburgh at North Carolina (3:30, specialty pack) – OK hear me out. I fully expect one of these teams, if not both of them, to not be very good this season. But saying that, this could be a very close, very good game. The proof comes from some of the games these two teams have played since Pitt joined the ACC. It was either this or Texas Tech-Oklahoma State. I stand by my choice.

Best Group of Five Game: Florida Atlantic at UCF (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – See in Other Really Important Games section.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Baylor (Noon, FSN) – I foresee Kansas being in this section a lot. At least we aren’t subjected to it this time around.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ohio State at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Not just Game of the Week but potential Game of the Year. You can make the argument that the Big Ten could all come down to this one game and you probably wouldn’t be far off. Both teams will have potential Heisman candidates. Should be a lot of offense. Interesting thing is that even a loss here might not kill their CFP chances which is crazy since in 99% of games the loser of a game would destroy any chance of a possible national title.

Other Really Important Games: Stanford at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – Two very good early season games on in primetime. This is when you know the college football broadcasting gods are shining down on us, the lowly viewers. Brian Kelly may be pulling out all the stops at this point to secure his job. And David Shaw is David Shaw. I am sure he could have a loaded gun pointed at him and he would still look like he is as calm as someone watching a Bob Ross marathon (although not quite as sleepy…that shit works for insomnia I’m tellin ya!).

Ole Miss at LSU (Noon, TSN5) – This year’s Ole Miss squad reminds me a bit of Urban Meyer’s first Ohio State team: a team that was pretty damn good but wasn’t going anywhere thanks to being on probation/sanctions/whatever they call it now. As I said, a bit. They aren’t nearly as good as that team that probably would have had a good shot at winning the natty. But this time will be better than last year’s that is for sure. Oh and Orgeron Hot Seat Watch 2018 continues here.

Florida at Mississippi State (7:00, specialty pack) – The return of Dan Mullen to Starkville. I hope he gets a really good reception from the Bulldog faithful. He deserves it for taking a pretty bad program and turning it around rather quickly. It will be interesting to see if he follows the path of his predecessor, Jim Bob McElwain. Start off good, tail off a decent amount and then something happens and you’re out of a job after it looks like you made sweet, sweet love to a shark.

Florida State at Louisville (3:30, ABC) – Maybe giving a bit too much love to the Cardinals here. I honestly don’t know how well they will do this season without all-world Lamar Jackson. I’m giving them the better of the two daytime ABC spots because I have a feeling Bobby Petrino would have figured things out by now (sans a potential Alabama massacre to start their season) and the Noles will be rebounding quite nicely after a not-so-good year last season.

Michigan at Northwestern (Noon, ABC) – I am still torn as to which game should get the mid-afternoon timeslot and which should get the supposed Noon death spot. I will go with the Big Ten here since to be honest, they draw better than any conference without the words Southeastern and Conference in it. Michigan will be obviously overrated coming into this one and Northwestern will be underrated. Almost always how it is. How these teams are at this point of the season will dictate where this game ends up.

USC at Arizona (9:00, specialty pack) – Yes I have this game at the odd 9:00 timeslot. I know at some point again this season, ESPN will play around with three-hour timeslots, knowing they won’t work but doing them anyway. Really it’s an excuse to say the games didn’t end at 2:30 in the morning, they ended at 1:00 in the morning. Either way, the people staying up to watch it (on the east coast) are quite possibly insane (like me) or it’s their job to report on these games (unlike me). Anyway, Khalil Tate could end up being the real story here since he has to be a Heisman frontrunner coming out of the gate. Unless the Wildcats suck, they will get more national attention than they have in years.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Virginia Tech at Duke (Noon, TSN3) – Even when Duke wasn’t that good, they seemed to give the Hokies fits for some reason. The Dookies (aha) should be better this season and Tech may be an outside national title contender if their offense can put some points on the board (since we all know the Hokies defense should be solid as per usual thanks to Bud Foster).

Best Group of Five Game: Toledo at Fresno State (10:30, TSN2) – I see people looking at this and thinking I have no idea what I am talking about. Let me explain my thinking here. TSN2, at this point, has a 10:30pm window that night for college football. I have ESPN using their funky three-hour windows this week meaning they would not have a game at 10:30 that night. The only other ESPN2/ESPNU game that night would be this one. And for the G5, it’s a very good one. Toledo will try to keep making it into the New Year’s Six as they have been one of the consistently good MAC teams for the past decade or so. Fresno State tries to build off of last year’s success. Should be good.

Worst Power Five Game: Oregon State at Arizona State (8:00, Pac-12 Network) – Hey maybe Herm Edwards will keep ASU doing well this year. Crazier things have happened.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Auburn at Mississippi State (Noon, specialty pack) – I would say there is a possibility this moves to the SEC on CBS afternoon slot but LSU-Florida is there so no, that won’t happen. This despite the fact this game has two potential dark horse CFP contenders. I could also call this the SNEAKY-GOOD UNDERRATED GAME of the week but I made a solemn vow to myself that never shall these two paths meet, Amen. Anyway, loser probably forfeits their chance to usurp Alabama as the king of the SEC West (for this season).

Other Really Important Games: Notre Dame at Virginia Tech (3:30, ABC) – Many would say this should be the game of the week. I would but Notre Dame is still a bit of a mystery to me (and many others). I am interested to see how many times Brian Kelly’s possible shitcanning comes up. I am putting the over/under at 9.

Florida State at Miami (8:00, ABC) – A few of the most recent games between these two programs have been fantastic. ABC is surely hoping this continues. Also lately it has been a night game recently so I am assuming it ends up here and ND-VT gets the afternoon spot (but I can see them easily switch spots). So get ready for ample talk of: Bobby Bowden, Jimmy Johnson, Jimbo Fisher, Wide Rights 1, 2 and 3 and Butch Davis. We may hear more of that than actual talk about the game just as an FYI.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – Time once again for the Red River SHOOTOUT. I wish they would stop being idiots about this kind of thing. Like if you were to look at gun crime statistics for Washington, D.C. for when their NBA team was called the Bullets and when it was called the Wizards, I am sure you will see no discernible difference between the two. Anyway, for once, this feels like we are almost back to way it was last decade when both teams were in the Top 25 and the result was almost always weird and wacky (and devastating for the higher ranked team). The Sooners will be there for sure: will Tom Herman have his team trending back towards glory by this point?

Clemson at Wake Forest (7:15, specialty pack) – This feels like the type of game that in 2019 would be potentially moved to the ACC Network to anchor the primetime slate. And when it comes up some would say it’s a bit of a coup to get this game there for the ACC Network. In the end it would be good because it would get a huge game out of the way early and allow ABC/ESPN to air more Clemson (and perhaps Wake Forest) games down the stretch. We’ve been through this with the SEC Network and especially the Big Ten Network so it’s old hat at this point. Should be a good game though! Don’t expect the Tigers to run away with this one.

Washington at UCLA (8:00, FOX) – This will be one of those weeks where FOX gladly takes a back seat to ABC/ESPN and doesn’t go all out to get the best games (at least on paper). Not saying this one won’t be good but FOX is sure hoping Chip Kelly brings his magic early to Westwood since the Huskies will still be (arguably) the team to beat in the Pac-12.

LSU at Florida (3:30, CBS) – They might as well put a camera on each head coach since that’s what will be talked about for at least half the game. I am sure Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson wouldn’t want to do that (and would instead, you know, want to call the action) but their hands will be tied. Dan Mullen was a huge hire in Gainesville and the Ed Orgeron Hot Seat Tour continues in earnest. Should be good fun. Honestly, CBS should switch this with the Auburn-MSU game but the storylines for this one will be too big to ignore (unless Gus Malzahn or Joe Moorhead maim a football player during practice or something).

Utah at Stanford (10:45, TSN3) – Some late-night TSN action! Expect a bit more of this type of thing this year as TSN spreads their coverage out a bit more than in past years (more evening and late-night games, less going all-in at Noon). If Kyle Whittingham EVER wants to get his team over the hump to the Pac-12 Championship (and possibly the Rose Bowl) these are the games they must win. And it won’t be easy against Cool Hand Dave and his Cardinal crew.

Northwestern at Michigan State (Noon, TSN2) – Man there are a LOT of good games this week. This is why this is the best week of college football before November. This is another game that could go in the underrated category since everyone seems to underrate Northwestern every season but it’s a bit too good to go there (plus I will continue to follow my own rules, as ridiculous as they may be). First week with two TSN games in the best games of the week since Week 1.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Missouri at South Carolina (Noon, specialty pack) – One of these teams will be at least an 8-win team and will cause serious waves in the SEC East. I guarantee* it (*guarantee is not guaranteed).

Best Group of Five Game: San Diego State at Boise State (3:30, specialty pack) – I think ESPN will make a bit more effort to put big Mountain West games on either in the afternoon or in primetime, even if they end up on ESPNU. This is one of those games. It behooves ESPN to do this because it will make for more eyeballs on the late-night games where people would rather sleep. Haha, what a joke. Sleep? On a college football Saturday? What the hell is that?

Worst Power Five Game: Illinois at Rutgers (Noon, BTN) – Kansas and Oregon State would have spots here if we got FS1/FSN or the Pac-12 Network was something worth getting. Since that’s not the case, Rutgers will be the King of the Power Five Basement Television Games Seen in Canada. I need to work on that. A little too wordy.

Pretty much halfway through the season now. I am assuming a few more gametimes will come in over the next week. After Week 3 though it is a tiny bit of a crapshoot with many games going on a 12-day hold where networks have up until 12 days before the Saturday to select which games will be on that week. So there is a good chance none of this correct. I hope that’s not the case but no guarantees.

As for preview magazines, I finally got one: the Street & Smith one. I will be getting Athlon’s later this week and then the Lindy’s magazine in a week or two. I am also getting the Phil Steele preview (of course) but going the digital route this year so I actually get it before the end of July (which I always hate). Makes it so I can’t take it into the shitter and read but oh well, some sacrifices have to be made. Have a good rest of the week everyone.

Ranking the Bowl Games from First to Worst – 2017-18 Edition

Posted on January 17, 2018 by guelphbossman

First off, holy shit with that game on Sunday. First walk-off touchdown in playoff history EVER. Poor Marcus Williams will never live that down despite the fact he is a key reason that a) the Saints were still in the game to begin with and b) the Saints were even in the playoffs this season. Either way, other than in New Orleans, he will get shit on forever. Ask Scott Norwood (who is still revered in Western New York and treated like a goat (and not the good kind of goat) everywhere else). So now we have Case Keenum vs. Nick Foles in a conference championship game. What a time to be alive!

Alright it’s time to rank the bowl games after they have been played for, I believe, the second year in a row. This is such a text heavy blog and I know it will probably look like shit (i.e. an absolute wall of words) so if you read the whole thing then congratulations. I mean you don’t get a prize but that shows how focused you can be which is good in real life, correct? Let’s begin.

National Championship (Alabama 26 Georgia 23 (OT)) – Jesus Christ this was an amazing game. And that final touchdown throw in overtime: it was a thing of beauty. Tua can really chuck the ball. I see Jalen Hurts transferring soon enough although he will still try to win the starting job for the 2018 season. It was a great way to end the season and gives us something to cling to (even you absolute despise Bama) for the next seven months or so. OK I am getting sad already. Somebody hold me (a female preferably).
Rose Bowl (Georgia 54 Oklahoma 48 (2OT)) – Should I make this number one? Part of me thinks it should be but when the national title game is an all-time classic you almost have to put it number one right? Anyway, this made last year’s Rose Bowl (one of the best ever) look like a mediocre game. This game had almost everything and you couldn’t look away. I think I needed a smoke after it was done and I don’t smoke. Also, there was no Baker Mayfield crotch-grabbing so it was definitely a win-win…unless you’re a Sooners fan.
Belk Bowl (Wake Forest 55 Texas A&M 52) – Until the College Football Playoff again this stood a chance at being the best bowl game of the season. Wake and the Aggies (this sounds like a horrible band name) decided “Fuck Defense” and put on an arena football-like performance for the ages. The fact the Deacs could hang with TAMU shows that the ACC has really narrowed the gap recently on the field.
Alamo Bowl (TCU 37 Stanford 35) – Don’t bet against TCU when they play in San Antonio. If TCU wants to schedule a series against your team and at least one of the games will be in San Antonio, DO NOT DO IT! It’s a trick! Gary Patterson owns the Alamodome. Period. No matter what colour shirt he wears.
Birmingham Bowl (USF 38 Texas Tech 34) – If this was based on everything up until early in the fourth quarter this game would be WAY down the list. But Quentin Flowers went all Quentin Flowers and willed the Bulls to a victory over Texas Tech who had to reaffirm that, yes, Kute Kliff Kingsbury is safe and his job is not in jeopardy…until the first weekend of the college football season when we begin the serious hot seat discussions.
Armed Forces Bowl (Army 42 San Diego State 35) – Don’t let the final score fool you: this game was MUCH closer than that. It was old-school football at its finest. Running the ball a boatload of times to set up a few big passes. It was glorious to watch. The Black Knights scored with 18 seconds left to tie the game up, went for two, got it, then got a scoop n’ score on the final play of the game. And even with all that, the Aztecs’ Rashaad Penny was a sight to watch. Ran for over two bills and four touchdowns. Unreal.
Arizona Bowl (New Mexico State 26 Utah State 20 (OT)) – And now for the game almost no one watched but should have. The Aggies winning their first bowl game appearance in 57 years pushed this into the top ten although it was a damn good game in the fourth quarter. This is why these bowls need at least partial national spotlights. So they get their moment in the sun that’s not overshadowed by another bowl game at the same time.
Foster Farms Bowl (Purdue 38 Arizona 35) – Even though there was no GUS JOHNSON in this one and the better game on paper looked to be the Holiday Bowl, we lucked out when this one ended up on the main FOX network. Quite a few lead changes in this one from two teams that almost no one expected to be bowling this season.
Citrus Bowl (Notre Dame 21 LSU 17) – That ridiculous catch-and-run in the final minute put this game into the top ten. Otherwise it might have dropped into the 20s and maybe even farther considering the field was in atrocious condition thanks to all the rain (although it could have been worse *COUGH*Outback Bowl*COUGH*). Expect Brian Kelly to sign that 12-year contract extension any day now.
Peach Bowl (UCF 34 Auburn 27) – True national champions? Meh, I don’t think so but UCF was the only unbeaten (and untied LOL) team in FBS. Scott Frost finishing what he started should be a reminder to almost all coaches to do the same before getting on the first private jet to your new destination. Not just from a PR standpoint but also from a “Don’t be an Asshole” standpoint.
TaxSlayer Bowl (Mississippi State 31 Louisville 27) – If this wasn’t on at the same time as two other bowl games, I might have watched more of it (and may have moved it up a slot or two. Lamar Jackson was good not great in his last college game (probably) but the story here was the Bulldogs. Lose their coach to Florida. Lose their quarterback a month prior due to a horrific injury on national television. And what do they do? Come back and win a bowl game against a good Cardinals squad.
Liberty Bowl (Iowa State 21 Memphis 20) – From the massive crowd at Liberty Bowl Stadium to the noise to the quality of football, this felt like a big-time bowl game; something completely lost from all non-New Year’s Six games (and non-College Football Playoff games also although this should be obvious). The only thing that kept this from going up the list is the lack of points from two teams we figured would shoot the lights out in a potential pew-pew game.
Pinstripe Bowl (Iowa 27 Boston College 20) – A game that most people, including myself, figured would be a bit of a bore. It wasn’t. On the frozen tundra of Yankee Stadium, we witnessed slippin’ and slidin’ and more slippin’ and slidin’. Part of me thinks it’s complete stupidity to put a game on this kind of field. The other part of me thinks this is fucking fantastic and we need more of this!
Music City Bowl (Northwestern 24 Kentucky 23) – This will forever be known as the Benny Snell game for Snell being thrown out for…what I don’t really know. Basically the ref was being a dick and took it out on this kid. Both coaches said it was one of the worst officiated games they had ever seen. I tend to agree. From what I watched it was piss-poor which is saying something since bowl season was rife with terrible officiating. Too bad since this was a close game that came down to the wire.
Hawaii Bowl (Fresno State 33 Houston 27) – For the first time in what feels like forever, these two teams made the annual “Finish up Wrapping Presents and Put this on in the Background” Bowl exciting. I had to actually watch the entire second half since it was that good. Fresno State finished up a remarkable turnaround year with this victory. Oh and Ed Oliver will be a beast on Sundays. Bank on it.
Outback Bowl (South Carolina 26 Michigan 19) – First off, the field conditions were atrocious. The Bucs played a late afternoon game the day before this game which started at Noon. And it rained a lot. So yeah, not fun for the players. Secondly, Michigan had the fate of the Big Ten’s ridiculous perfect bowl record on the line. They couldn’t close out the Cocks and now they have the scorn of an entire conference and Big Jim Harbaugh on a Big Hot Seat next season.
Fiesta Bowl (Penn State 35 Washington 28) – No matter how close the Huskies tried to make this, it always felt like the Nittany Lions were at least a couple steps ahead. Which meant I felt just a bit dirty after watching it since the hype didn’t match the actual game despite the score saying it was close when it really wasn’t. Ugh.
Orange Bowl (Wisconsin 34 Miami 24) – The New Year’s Six itself, I would say, was underwhelming. Some great storylines coming in but the games didn’t match the hype. I was kind of hoping this would have been closer, especially once Mark Richt went fucking crazy on the sidelines before halftime. Having him lose his shit again late in the game would have pushed this possibly into Top Ten territory.
New Mexico Bowl (Marshall 31 Colorado State 28) – Hey this wasn’t a bad bowl at all. Too bad it was lumped in with a few bowl games on at the same time. When that happens you really have to stand out to be high in these rankings.
Camping World Bowl (Oklahoma State 30 Virginia Tech 21) – Here is where things start to fall off a cliff. I was really hoping and expecting this game to be good. It was OK at times but there weren’t enough huge defensive plays or big offensive shootouts going on in this one. It was just there. At least we still had Mike Gundy’s mullet to keep us entertained.
Camellia Bowl (Middle Tennessee 35 Arkansas State 30) – A misleading final score as ASU wasn’t really in this one. It did have a few bizarre plays that only bowl games seem to unearth.
Sugar Bowl (Alabama 24 Clemson 6) – This game suffered from it not being really close for a game that started at 8:50 on the night before many of us had to go back to work. The other thing was it came on after that crazy Rose Bowl. Not enviable at all.
Cure Bowl (Georgia State 27 Western Kentucky 17) – This was the game that ruined my chance at bowl perfection. Yes, I know it was only like the fourth game of bowl season, leave me alone.
Texas Bowl (Texas 33 Missouri 16) – The punter was the MVP of this game. Let that sink in.
Cactus Bowl (Kansas State 35 UCLA 17) – There were a lot of questions about the Rosen One (or Chosen Rosen which sounds infinitely worse but whatever) before this game. He ended up not playing. The first half had UCLA out to a lead and I thought this would be a good game. It wasn’t KSU blew them out in the second half and I’m being kind.
Las Vegas Bowl (Boise State 38 Oregon 28) – Boise State did everything in their power to keep Oregon in this game. Oregon was terrible. TERRIBLE! It should have been 49-0. That it was a ten-point game is a testament to college football getting wacky at times.
Heart of Dallas Bowl (Utah 30 West Virginia 14) – It was so depressing watching this game seeing the Cotton Bowl with barely any people in it. It doesn’t look like the most, um, stable stadium I guess is the term I am looking for. What a difference between that and the Red River Shootout.
Sun Bowl (NC State 52 Arizona State 31) – This was never close. And it was on at the same time as a few other, better bowl games. And it doesn’t include an SEC team on the network that has the SEC.
Cotton Bowl (Ohio State 24 USC 7) – For a New Year’s Six game, this was brutal. Not fun to watch. And it was the first NY6 game this season. It gave everyone a bit of anxiety hoping that the rest of the games wouldn’t be this way. They weren’t thankfully.
Quick Lane Bowl (Duke 36 Northern Illinois 14) – I will be completely honest…after the first half I watched very little of this game. Fast forwarded through, noticed Duke was handling this game pretty easily, and felt good about my decision.
New Orleans Bowl (Troy 50 North Texas 30) – Only good thing about this one was that there were a lot of points. I mean it was close for the first half but that was about it.
Idaho Potato Bowl (Wyoming 37 Central Michigan 14) – Did you know Josh Allen is a TOP-NOTCH quarterback that should be taken high in the first round? If not, then you didn’t watch this game. I don’t think the announcers were relatives of Allen but it sure felt like it.
Independence Bowl (Florida State 42 Southern Miss 13) – This had a certain car crash quality to it. Would the Noles crash and burn and end one of their worst seasons in recent memory on a terrible note? Or would they rise to the occasion and show everyone why this game shouldn’t be close. It was definitely the latter which kind of made it more boring than the first option would have been.
Bahamas Bowl (Ohio 41 UAB 6) – I honestly hate this bowl game. I don’t want to. But it’s on at a horrible time every year (during the day on a weekday before Christmas). So other than that one year with the ridiculous Central Michigan comeback with the crazy final touchdown and they still lost by 1, it hasn’t impressed me at all. I guess the players get to go to Bahamas so that’s fun. And UAB was there. It was a fun story to talk about…during the first quarter. After that? Blah.
Gasparilla Bowl (Temple 28 FIU 3) – I was more in awe of the absolutely stupidly massive Bad Boy Mowers dog inflatable mascot than anything. That thing was huge! They really should have just had mower races. I think the St. Pete crowd would have been more appreciative. And I still think the Trop is a fucking dump even if they do have slightly nicer turf now.
Holiday Bowl (Michigan State 42 Washington State 17) – This may tell you how bad the worst five bowl games are. I rated this game, a blowout that no Canadian could watch live, better than those ones. Yeah.
Dollar General Bowl (Appalachian State 34 Toledo 0) – This should have been a better game. Two Group of Five conference champs going toe-to-toe. It was anything but. The only interesting thing was if the Mountaineers would hold on to get the goose egg. They did.
Boca Raton Bowl (Florida Atlantic 50 Akron 3) – A fair amount of Lane Kiffin talk and John Franklin acting like a douchebag and dropping the ball before the goal line on a long touchdown run are the only highlights here.
Military Bowl (Navy 49 Virginia 7) – At least the Hoos celebrated their first decent season in a long time with an opening kickoff return for a touchdown. After that this game suck-diddly-ucked.
Frisco Bowl (Louisiana Tech 51 SMU 10) – New location, same shitty bowl game. Other than the Memphis-BYU brawl a few years back the Miami Beach-turned-Frisco Bowl has been horrendous. The game they had in Frisco recently (the FCS Championship) was tons better and might have had two better teams competing.

So a lot of good and a lot of not-so-good. It was college football but some of the not-so-good games were tough to watch. Tomorrow (or Friday depending on time) I will have the conference championship schedule up (all two games of it!). Enjoy the rest of the 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: Gary Patterson

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