YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?

Posted on September 9, 2022 by guelphbossman

It’s COMPLETE OVERREACTION TIME!!!! Yay, I guess. It happens every year and is one of the worst college football traditions in college football. I would say it’s up there with Midnight Yell practice at Texas A&M but that’s not fair. Midnight Yell isn’t bad. It’s just seriously fucking weird. Anyway, let’s begin with the first set of overreactions to the college football season after a crazy Week 1:

Ohio State is not that good on offense! Look, the Irish played damn good on defense all night and kept things close. Plus, the Buckeyes were without Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a good portion of the game. I’m sure when tOSU gets to play Maryland they will aim for a 60-burger.
Stetson Bennett could win the Heisman! I mean, technically he could. But he won’t. Yes he had a good game and it was against a fairly good Oregon team. He’s not on the level of the top 10 quarterbacks in college football, though, and will have at least a couple of games where the UGA defense (and perhaps the rushing attack) has to carry him to victory.
The Pac-12 is toast! Yes, the Oregon and Utah losses look bad. Saying that, USC looked pretty good in their opener (albeit against Rice). And there are a couple of other teams who could do the unthinkable and make a run for it. But don’t count this conference out just yet. Let’s wait until like Week 8 to do that.
The ACC is screwed! Clemson looked pedestrian for most of their game against Georgia Tech. D.J. Uiagelelei doesn’t seem to be the answer at quarterback. Cade Klubnik looked good though and it’s only Week 1. Plus, NC State, Wake Forest and Pitt are undefeated (NC State barely) and you never know what will happen inside the other conferences. Let’s not write off the ACC just yet.
Florida/Florida State/USC is back! We’ve played this game before. At least one of these teams won’t be back really, if not all three. I think all three make bowl games and it wouldn’t surprise me if at least one team enters November with still a legitimate shot at the New Year’s Six. But neither of these teams are back…yet.
Scott Frost is going to be fired soon! OK not everything on this list is an overreaction.

Hey it’s also time for the Week 2 college football TV schedule as well. Which leads us to another unfortunate tradition: the lacklustre Week 2 schedule that we see almost every season. I rank the weeks in terms of how good the games are and Week 2 almost always falls near the bottom. You know what we say about these kinds of weeks, though…we usually get a fantastic finish or five out of them. After last weekend, can we handle it? Yes. Yes we can.

Friday

		US	Canada
Louisville at UCF	7:30 PM
Boise State at New Mexico	9:00 PM

Last year we had undefeated Kansas against undefeated Coastal Carolina in this timeslot. This year we get the molten hot lava seat of Scott Satterfield hoping his team can pull out what might have to be considered an upset over the Gus Bus and a Boise State team that is not the Boise State team we’ve known and mostly loved for the past almost two decades. Fun times.

Saturday Early

An absolute shit-ton of games in this timeslot. I’m not complaining whatsoever.

Bama-Texas is the big game early and FOX is praying that it is at least remotely close. Then maybe they can say “Texas is Back” a bunch of times because you know they are itching to. Big Ten Network goes nuts this week with eight games total throughout the day. So you will see plenty of them in the specialty packs. I wonder if Wake can handle UNDEFEATED VANDY (of course they can) and thanks to reader Dan, I have added the YouTube logo for Pac-12 Network games because they are available there for Canadian viewers. I mean I don’t know if you want to watch Southern Utah against Utah but you can if you want.

Finally, it’s no longer FOX Sports Network regional games for the ACC. Bally now has all those channels. So there’s another new logo for you to remember. As of right now, the CSU-NCST game isn’t showing on the specialty pack guides but it should soon.

Saturday Afternoon

I thought there were a lot of games in the early timeslot. My god. Again, no complaints.

No Week 2 game of the year candidates this season, unlike the previous few years where among the rubble there was one massive matchup that towered over everything else and gobbled up all the hype. CyHawk is relegated to the Big Ten Network along with three other games. Funny thing, Wagner-Rutgers is not showing yet on the specialty pack guides. I don’t get it.

Also, a point about P12N games: only the national feed shows up on YouTube. The regional games do not. Just like the Big Ten this week, there is an overload of Pac-12 games so they get a couple of them on the Pac-12 Network regional feeds. I am still shocked no one told Larry Scott and his crew back then that this regional feed stuff is horseshit.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Syracuse at UConn	7:00 PM
#20 Kentucky at #12 Florida	7:00 PM
Eastern Michigan at Louisiana	7:00 PM
#10 USC at Stanford	7:30 PM
Arizona State at #11 Oklahoma State	7:30 PM
San Jose State at Auburn	7:30 PM
Georgia Southern at Nebraska	7:30 PM
Southern at LSU	7:30 PM
Boston College at Virginia Tech	8:00 PM
Idaho at Indiana	8:00 PM
Hawaii at #4 Michigan	8:00 PM
Eastern Washington at Oregon	8:30 PM

This shows how lacklustre the schedule is. Nothing special here unless you think the USC-Stanford game could be a trap game. The most interesting game here might just be UK-UF. No one is going to catch Georgia in the SEC East but if one of these teams can get to ten wins then a New Year’s Six bowl is in their future. And yes, that is a game on the NFL Network. This week and next there is a college football game on the NFL Network. Kind of odd but I wonder if it’s more of a test run to see if they will get more involved next season.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#9 Baylor at #21 BYU	10:15 PM
Oregon State at Fresno State	10:30 PM
Mississippi State at Arizona	11:00 PM

Big-time game in Provo and we move to TSN5 for this one because the ABC game won’t be done by the time this one starts. The game in Tucson starts at 11. Not exactly a Hawaii Test but that’s a late start.

Big Games O’ The Week

Baylor at BYU (10:15, TSN5) – Not to put down either of these teams but this is not the kind of game that usually is the highlight of a week. But here we are. And honestly, it is a big game. It’s the kind of non-conference game that Baylor is not known for scheduling. It’s the kind of game that BYU must win to have a chance at the New Year’s Six (or more). The stakes are high.

Tennessee at Pittsburgh (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Last year’s game between these two teams was fantastic. And if you had told me a few years ago that this would be one of the big games of this week I would have thought you took a little bit too much advantage of the legal weed here. The winner here could be in for some big things but both teams are going to have to pull off upsets later on in the season (the Vols especially).

Kentucky at Florida (7:00, specialty pack) – As I said above, no one is catching Georgia in the SEC East (probably). But second place in the division could be huge if it means a potential New Year’s Six spot or, at worst, a good New Year’s Day bowl (or more like January 2nd this season). Both teams look better than advertised so far, especially the Gators after their huge win over Utah. Expect a close game.

Arizona State at Oklahoma State (7:30, specialty pack) – It really drops off a cliff after the first three games. I’m sure many would put Bama-UT in this spot but do you really think that game will be close? This might also be not very close but I have faith on either a) Herm rallying his team and getting them to put together a good four quarters or b) the Pokes fucking up left, right and centre and keeping the Sun Devils in the game.

Psycho Game of the Week

Syracuse at UConn (7:00, CBS Sports Network) – Honestly, despite the lack of high-level matchups this week, there aren’t any ridiculously bad games with two teams that almost no one would want to watch. Yes, Syracuse beat Louisville pretty badly but I think the Cards may be a lot worse than I thought they’d be. And UConn is UConn.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Arkansas State at Ohio State (Noon, BTN) – Another new segment! Here I will put the obvious blowout of the week that there is really no point in watching. This one is, well, plainly obvious. Butch Jones is going to have a long day. At least they get paid a lot to just show up. Well, the school does.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

Hey, who picked Florida to beat Utah? This guy…I’m pointing to myself. Honestly there were quite a few who also picked the Gators so it’s not a massive deal but I am impressed with myself. So on to Week 2’s picks. And remember…I’m picking against the spread. Let’s go!

Notre Dame (-20.5) over Marshall

Memphis (-6.0) over Navy

Pittsburgh (+6.5) over Tennessee (but the Vols win this one)

Boise State (-16.5) over New Mexico

USC (-9) over Stanford

Colorado (+17.5) over Air Force (Falcons still win but it’ll be closer than you think)

UCF (-6.5) over Louisville

Syracuse (-23.5) over UConn

Baylor (+3.5) over BYU (Cougs win by a field goal)

Arizona State (+11) over Oklahoma State (Pokes win but don’t make it easy for themselves)

Alabama (-20) over Texas

Iowa State (+3.5) over Iowa (Hawkeyes will somehow win it 9-8)

OK so from what I can tell, everything is up on the specialty pack other than those two games I mentioned earlier. I assume they will pop up at some point. Even if this week is a bit lacking of big games, I will still be watching as much as I possibly can. I can catch up on sleep sometime in March. Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the games!

Hey, how about some more lists of games?

Posted on July 1, 2022 by guelphbossman

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

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

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

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

Best Group of Five Games

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

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

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

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

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

Worst Power Five Games

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

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

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

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

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

Week 7 College Football TV Schedule with no real intro

Posted on October 13, 2021 by guelphbossman

Yep, I got nothing. Nothing really happened that was huge…I mean compared to the NFL which is a complete shitshow. So why don’t we just get to the damn schedule? Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Navy at Memphis	7:30 PM
Georgia Southern at South Alabama	7:30 PM

Two games. Neither game really being big as none of these teams are near the top of their conference or division. I mean the Thursday Night Football matchup is Tampa Bay against Philadelphia so we kind of know that will be a blowout so maybe one of these games can be close and give us something fun to watch.

Friday

		US	Canada
Marshall at North Texas	7:00 PM
Clemson at Syracuse	7:00 PM
Montana State at Weber State	10:00 PM
#24 San Diego State at San Jose State	10:30 PM
California at #9 Oregon	10:30 PM

Five games, one in the FCS on this night. SDSU has a date with Nevada later in the year and need a win to keep pace. Oregon trying desperately to keep the Pac-12’s almost non-existent playoff hopes alive. I’m very curious as to why ESPN is all of a sudden showing Big Sky games. They already have the MEAC, SWAC and Ivy League, all leagues that don’t go to the FCS playoffs. Going this route is something different and I, for one, welcome it. If it’s anything like the Montana-Eastern Washington game two weeks ago, then buckle up.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
UCF at #3 Cincinnati	Noon
Rutgers at Northwestern	Noon
Auburn at #17 Arkansas	Noon
Yale at UConn	Noon
#20 Florida at LSU	Noon
Nebraska at Minnesota	Noon
Tulsa at USF	Noon
#12 Oklahoma State at #25 Texas	Noon
#21 Texas A&M at Missouri	Noon
Duke at Virginia	12:30 PM

OK not the sexiest lineup per se but it has some decent quality. CBS gets their one Noon game of the season and actually didn’t get too bad a pick with the Tigers and Razorbacks. Remember that when CBS has a Noon SEC game, they get the top SEC pick for their afternoon game and then ESPN gets the next two choices. THEN CBS gets to select their Noon SEC game. Other than that, UCF and the Gus Bus try to derail the Bearcat Express, Oklahoma State hopes to continue their unexpected undefeated run against the Longhorns and Yale and UConn face off in yet another game where CBS regrets ever signing the Huskies to a broadcast contract.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Purdue at #2 Iowa	3:30 PM
Miami at North Carolina	3:30 PM
#11 Kentucky at #1 Georgia	3:30 PM
#19 BYU at Baylor	3:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Kent State at Western Michigan	3:30 PM
Vanderbilt at South Carolina	4:00 PM

The afternoon shows that many times quality is much better than quantity. We shall see if the craziness continues in Athens. TSN has really not stepped up yet and it has nothing to do with the CFL for the most part. I’ve mentioned it before but it feels like they are going slightly backwards with their college football coverage (and then will wonder why college football fans go different routes that aren’t TSN to get their college football fix). Anyway, Purdue gets a rare ABC spot (which should result in them getting obliterated) and the specialty pack picks up the rest of the games. Brutal.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Utah State at UNLV	7:00 PM
#5 Alabama at Mississippi State	7:00 PM
TCU at #4 Oklahoma	7:30 PM
#22 NC State at Boston College	7:30 PM
Iowa State at Kansas State	7:30 PM
Stanford at Washington State	7:30 PM
#13 Ole Miss at Tennessee	7:30 PM
Army at Wisconsin	8:00 PM
UCLA at Washington	8:30 PM

Technically this is a primetime schedule. Nothing impressive but if you don’t have quality get some quantity (I know what I said in the last section). Again, no TSN games but at least FOX, BTN and CBSSN are back in this timeslot. Got to hope there is at least one close game or one upset here or it’s looking pretty grim going into the late night portion of our schedule.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#18 Arizona State at Utah	10:00 PM
Hawaii at Nevada	10:30 PM

Only two games but both of them could end up being pretty good. Hawaii could make it so San Diego State is clearly in the driver’s seat if they can beat the Wolf Pack in Reno. And Utah isn’t as bad as their record indicates and could cause all sorts of problems for the Sun Devils, especially with their rowdy student section.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Kentucky at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Easily the biggest game of the week, if not a great candidate for Game of the Year. I know, even with Kentucky involved! An expected Bulldog victory would put them in the driver’s seat in the SEC East with, realistically, a win in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party the only thing standing between them and a trip to Atlanta. If the Wildcats win then ho boy, the insanity meter gets ratcheted up a whole lot more (and also puts Bama back in the mix to get back to #1). I’m hoping, for Brad Nessler’s sake, it’s a good game.

Oklahoma State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – OK so there is a bit of a drop off after the Game of the Week. But, the Pokes are seriously good and we could be heading for the best Bedlam in a long time if they can keep this up. Texas helped the cause by losing an absolute heartbreaker in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. I have this feeling that if Okie State wins this, it’s basically a foregone conclusion that we will have a Bedlam rematch at JerryWorld in December. We almost need the Longhorns to pull something out here to keep things exciting in the Big XII.

UCF at Cincinnati (Noon, ABC) – Look I will be honest: the quality of this game all depends on which Knights team shows up. We’ve seen the quite good Knights where the team is rolling along and the Gus Bus is humming. And we’ve seen the horrible Knights where the Gus Bus has serious mechanical problems and/or is on fire. Here’s hoping we get the former. You could say this is the last true hurdle to the Bearcats running the table until the AAC Championship as they don’t have Houston on their schedule.

BYU at Baylor (3:30, specialty pack) – BYU losing last week means they are locked into the Independence Bowl unless a bunch of crazy shit happens. Don’t want to say they have nothing to play for but they have a lot less to play for now. Baylor, on the other hand, could be the surprise team of the season if they keep winning as Dave Aranda is doing a miraculous job in Waco. The Cougs need to win big and the Bears just need to win. Could be the sneaky good game of the week.

NC State at Boston College (7:30, specialty pack) – The ACC Network kind of lucked out in getting this game. Both teams are somehow contending in the ACC Atlantic division since Clemson is not the Clemson of the past decade. The Wolfpack are obviously in better shape here since they actually beat the Tigers whereas the Eagles lost (albeit with a backup quarterback). With a relatively weak primetime schedule, this game could shine.

Honourable mention: Auburn at Arkansas (Noon, CBS); Alabama at Mississippi State (7:00, specialty pack); TCU at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC)

You wanna bet?

Before the season I said Alabama would lose one game and I thought, at the time, it would be Texas A&M. Then I chickened out last week and had Bama beating the Aggies. Should have gone with my gut! Other than that (and picking LSU over Kentucky) it was a pretty good week. Wonder if I can replicate it….I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. Here we go:

Baylor over BYU (an upset!)

NC State over Boston College

Oklahoma over TCU

Texas over Oklahoma State (another upset!)

Cincinnati over UCF

Georgia over Kentucky

Alabama over Mississippi State

Auburn over Arkansas

Marshall over North Texas

Utah over Arizona State (slight upset)

UNLV over Utah State (to get their first win of the season)

Going to be honest: I feel like I put less than my best effort into this post. It’s been a rough time for me lately and I try to push through it. Part of that is doing this blog as it gets my mind off of everything I’m going through for a few hours. Part of my therapy so to speak. So as much as there is work involved in doing these posts on a near-daily basis these days, it’s also cathartic and something I enjoy doing. Everyone needs a hobby or something they do outside of work and this is the one real thing I’m doing these days. I’m sure I will get back to doing a better job soon enough (hey, there’s an NFL post tomorrow). Anyway, take some time for yourself and watch some college football these next few nights. You deserve it! Have a great week!

The Bearcats are the real deal and the rest of the Week 5 College Football Recap

Posted on October 4, 2021 by guelphbossman

If you didn’t watch the Cincinnati-Notre Dame game this past weekend you missed the coming out party of, I would say, the best Group of Five team in the College Football Playoff era. The Bearcats showed they are for real as the 24-13 score doesn’t show how lopsided this game really was. If it wasn’t for the Bearcats kicking game, they would have won by probably 20 or so. Desmond Ridder may have even kickstarted his Heisman campaign with his performance. And Notre Dame is still a heavy favourite to go to the New Year’s Six so that will look damn good on the Bearcats’ resume. They do have to hope Indiana ends up doing well the rest of the way and they have to beat most of the teams on their conference schedule pretty easily. But this team is primed to do what no Group of Five team has really had a chance to do before: be a legitimate threat for the College Football Playoff. If they do what they need to do, then we have to see what kind of help they will get. The way this season has gone, it’s pretty much a given that at least a few more Top 10 teams will falter the rest of the way. As of this point, 32 ranked teams have lost games. That’s an average of over 6 a week. That is absurd. I can’t see that rate continuing all season but if it comes close then this will be a ridiculous season where it would make sense for a G-5 team to break through the glass ceiling. I’ve mentioned it before but I don’t have a favourite school but it would be a lot of fun to see what Cincy could do in the CFP, right?

Other than that, it was a pretty fun weekend if you weren’t fans of Ole Miss or Arkansas. Both teams looked completely outmatched against Alabama and Georgia, respectively. Let’s be honest here: the Tide and Dawgs are easily the top two teams in college football and every other program is at least a tier below them. I know it feels like we will be heading towards the inevitable Bama-UGA national championship game but the season has already been crazy so who knows.

BYU continues their undefeated march as they also have some pretty high aspirations for this season. Utah State is a pretty good team in the Mountain West this year and looked like nothing special against the Cougs. BYU is now in the Top 10 of the AP Poll and just keep plugging along. What will The Committee do with the Cougs (not to mention Cincy)? BYU still has Boise State, Baylor and USC left on their schedule and have to take care of business on their end. Even one loss would probably push them to the brink of the New Year’s Six, especially with no automatic in that the best Group of Five team gets. Much like Cincinnati, they have to take care of business and then hope the chips fall in their favour around them.

Clemson survived Boston College. The Tigers looked to be in a bit of trouble all game and were lucky that Boston College had to play their backup quarterback. Their time at the top of the ACC may be coming to an end. D.J. Uiagalelei has not been good at all which has been a massive shock to many people, especially Tiger fans. As for the rest of the ACC, it honestly doesn’t look too good but there is still…

Wake Forest! Huge victory over an improved Louisville team. They are 5-0 just like everyone thought they would be, right? Well, I had them starting 5-0 so there had to have been others. Actually, I have them getting to 8-0 and undefeated going into November. Not saying the ACC’s hopes lie with the Demon Deacons but they really do lie with the Demon Deacons. In a completely crazy season (so far), Dave Clawson has done a masterful job at Wake and it will be interesting to see what bigger Power Five team will try to poach him in the offseason.

A game that shouldn’t have been close but was went down on The Farm. Oregon played horrible for much of their game against Stanford but still had a chance to win at the end. A controversial PI call allowed Stanford one untimed down to score a touchdown to tie it and send it to overtime and they did. The Cardinal finished off the #3 team in the land in overtime and now the Pac-12 has no unbeaten teams. We are four days into October. Yikes.

Florida goes down to Kentucky! I don’t know what it is about Mark Stoops but the Gators do not like playing against that man. The Wildcats could be an interesting team this season. Picking up Wan’Dale Robinson from Nebraska could end up being the thing that pushes them up the ladder in the SEC East. I mean it still comes down to Florida having to beat Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to even give the Cats a chance but man wouldn’t that be something.

Oklahoma could be one of the worst 5-0 teams I have ever seen. They are barely winning most of their games and not looking the true contender I (and many in the actual college football media) thought they would be. Really you can’t blame this on Spencer Rattler this time since he played well but their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. They now have the Red River Shootout to deal with and this is always a weird game so we will see how the Sooners pull this one out.

So is Jimbo going to get another contract extension? The Aggies looked dreadful at times and Will Rogers picked them apart as they drop to 3-2 and out of the Top 25. Their game against Auburn at the start of November could be to stay out of last place in the SEC West. Auburn has made it so they are not at the bottom after Bo Nix went all Johnny Manziel and willed the Tigers to a huge victory in hostile territory. Normally I don’t like the 9:00 start times for ESPN games but this was fine with very little in the late night window. A fun game that came down to the end and now Ed Orgeron is on the hot seat, yet again. It’s funny how some schools would never think of firing a successful coach even after a mediocre season or two. Then there are some schools that give not a single solitary squirt of shit about that and want to win RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Oh, UCF. That was a tough one. The Gus Bus really never kept it on the road against a Navy team that was winless up until this point. Now I am sure people will start griping about Gus Malzahn but they have struggled with injuries and really aren’t that team that will challenge Cincinnati this season. They should still be bowl-eligible and at the very least, it assures Malzahn can’t just grab a Power Five head coaching opportunity after this season.

Did anyone pass the Hawaii Test? Well, yours truly did! Stayed up to see a great game in front of no fans in a high school stadium in Honolulu. I might have some serious problems. Anyway, Fresno State’s loss to the Rainbow Warriors has pretty much sealed the Mountain West’s NY6 fate this season.

Let’s take a look at how the seasons are going at Pittsburgh and Tennessee. They met three weeks ago in a barnburner and none of us could have known that these two teams would, for the most part, be playing very good ball at this point of the season. The Vols are 3-2 with a probable win over South Carolina next weekend. The Panthers are even better, 4-1, with a baffling loss to Western Michigan their only defeat. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both teams with at least 8 wins and causing some havoc in their conferences later on in the season.

Does the Big XII deserve a bit more respect? Baylor and Oklahoma State played in a back-and-forth affair that many people probably avoided watching because the Big XII seems like Power Five cooties to a lot of people. People would rather watch the Pac-12…yeah, I said it. Saying all that, the conference would get the last laugh if Oklahoma and the Pokes are undefeated and play in late November in Bedlam in one of the biggest games of the season.

Hey, how about The U? Ugh. A chance to beat the Fighting Mendenhalls on a chip-shot walk-off field goal and doinks it off the upright. Miami is 2-3 and looking a whole lot worse than most expected. Manny Diaz might not be able to escape the hot seat which is essentially lava now.

Finally, did you watch the game of the week? If not, it was a great one with a walk-off field goal. I, of course, am talking about UConn and Vanderbilt! As sad as it sounds, this was a really good game with a fun finish and Vandy is now at 2 wins which may be more than many thought they would get. UConn is still winless but will have a chance to rectify that in the GAME OF THE CENTURY when they face UMass.

Alright enough recappin’. Time for the Bossman Top 25. Let’s do this!

#1	Alabama
#2	Georgia
#3	Cincinnati
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Iowa
#7	Ohio State
#8	BYU
#9	Oregon
#10	Arkansas
#11	Notre Dame
#12	Michigan
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	Michigan State
#15	Oklahoma State
#16	Auburn
#17	Kentucky
#18	Ole Miss
#19	Florida
#20	Wake Forest
#21	NC State
#22	Texas
#23	Clemson
#24	Arizona State
#25	Oregon State

Yep, I have Alabama over Georgia although I took my time with that decision. I believe the difference between the two teams is razor thin. I would say the Dawgs’ win over Arkansas was a bit more impressive than the Tide’s victory over Ole Miss but not by much. Every week there has been so much change that the next two weeks could have a completely different top two. The amount of ranked teams that have lost, as I stated earlier, is absurd. And yes I have Cincy in the #3 spot. They may not hold on to it depending on what other teams do but for now I think they deserve it. The Pac-12 and ACC are inhabiting the bottom part of the Top 25 so don’t be shocked if one or two of those teams sneaks up and somehow gets to the Top 10 by the final weekend. It’s been that kind of year.

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

Week 1 College Football Recap – Can we call this the greatest Week 1 ever?

Posted on September 7, 2021 by guelphbossman

mackb

“AH don’t think so” – what Mack Brown probably said.

Honestly, I do not have a dog in this hunt. I don’t have a favourite team that I only root for and the rest of the teams can eat shit. I just love watching college football. Saying all that, I had selected (not too long ago and you know that since you are a faithful reader) North Carolina to go to the College Football Playoff. I had the Tar Heels overcoming Clemson in the ACC Championship to get in. I was dead serious about it. So of course their O-line goes and plays like shit and Mack looked hungover most of the night and the Heels lost to a game Virginia Tech team. The Hokies played well…on defense. But the Heels were supposed to win this one relatively easily and they laid an egg. I’ve had this happen before. Years ago I picked Michigan State to get to the CFP and they were horrible all season. Another year I picked LSU and Wisconsin upset them in Lambeau of all places to start the season. It happens. UNC may still get to the playoff. Run the table and they are probably there but man it looks bad (not to mention the Sam Howell-for-Heisman takes getting a creamy dump all over them).

Enough of the bad (and it’s not even really that bad). Let’s look at the fact that college football is back! It feels like a real season after last year’s COVID-stained debacle. And I have to ask the question: is this the greatest Week 1 in college football history? Let’s recap and put the pieces together.

The game of the week was a war of attrition. It was a slugfest from the opening bell and both Georgia and Clemson weren’t going to give an inch. The defenses were on point all night. The only touchdown was a pick six by UGA. Both quarterbacks, D.J. Uiagalelei and J.T. Daniels, struggled as the defense pressured them all game. In the end, the Dawg defense held out and look like a serious national title contender. Not saying Clemson is done, especially after North Carolina’s loss the night before, but it’s a rough start and the offense does not look in sync at all. It was, in the end, a close game with two contenders and a lot of fun to watch.
How about those Washington Huskies? Woof. The 20th ranked possible Pac-12 favourites lost to Montana. Montana. And the score was 13-7. Are you fucking kidding me? The hype over the first game back at Husky Stadium was palpable and the team goes out and shits the bed. An unreal start for poor Jimmy Lake who will have to turn things around fast or he will be on a most-unexpected hot seat soon enough.
But hey, it’s not like Oregon played awesome. They could not put Fresno State away. The Bulldogs are obviously better than I (and many others) thought they were but the Ducks are considered the team that could bring the Pac-12 back to the CFP dance. Instead, they looked mediocre for most of the game and pulled the game out at the end. Not good either. Pac-12 North struggling to start the year. Don’t even get me started on Stanford and Washington State.
Wisconsin and Penn State, for three quarters, was a gongshow. Neither team seemed to want to win. The kickers didn’t want to help matters either. Wisconsin was inside the PSU 10, three separate times and came away with no points. The Nittany Lions were hardly better on offense. It felt like a classic Big Ten three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust matchup. PSU’s defense held up and it was again, at least for the fourth quarter, a really fun game to watch that came down to the wire. And honestly, it was nice to see Jump Around at Camp Randall once again. Almost brought tears to my eyes.
How about them Jayhawks? OK look it was only South Dakota and they barely squeaked out a win. But at least they weren’t like five other FBS teams who fell to FCS squads, including Vanderbilt getting pasted by East Tennessee State and Colorado State getting hammered by South Dakota State’s potent offense. Also, you can say, for now, that Lance Leipold is undefeated in Lawrence. Good times.
Yes, Alabama beat Miami up pretty good. Not that that was unexpected. The way they did it, combined with the way other top teams handled their opening contests says something that was a bit unexpected, though. That Bama is still heads above the field until we see otherwise. Bryce Young looked great in his first start. The rest of the Tide offense did their thing and the defense was all over D’Eriq King and the Canes all day. Even the turnover chain didn’t feel great for Canes fans after a turnover was overturned and they had to put the chain back in the box. Nothing went right for The U yesterday.
Hey, maybe Chip Kelly has finally figured it out in Westwood. UCLA looked damn good in their upset victory of LSU and should hit the rankings this week. Maybe, just maybe, the Bruins could sneak through and win the Pac-12 South. Wouldn’t that be a coup for this program.
I am hereby starting a petition. All Duke’s Mayo Bowls/Classics/Kickoffs/Whatevers need to finish with the following: the winning coach getting a big bucket of mayo dumped on them. It is only fitting and would provide some excitement. This also means we will see Bret Bielema beg to be in every Duke’s Mayo game from here until he stops coaching.
At one point it looked like the Gus Bus had gone off the rails already in Orlando. Then UCF came back and pulled out the victory over Boise State in a huge Group of Five opener. Now Gus Malzahn is hailed as a great coach and maybe the guy who will bring the Knights back to glory. This guy’s blood pressure either goes up and down every few minutes or is so stationary that it’s statistically impossible since I don’t know how one man can go through the roller-coaster stuff he’s gone through as a coach.
I honestly wondered if Tulane would get blown out by Oklahoma. Man, was I ever wrong. The Green Wave, who couldn’t host the game in New Orleans due to the effects of Hurricane Ida, made things VERY difficult for the Sooners. After recovering an onside kick late, they had a chance to win the game and couldn’t get it done. What it did do is two things though: show us that Tulane might be a darkhorse contender in the American conference and that the Sooners defense is brutal which seems to be the same story every year. This team will never win a national championship if they can’t shore up that side of the ball.
The Labour Day ACC game was pretty bad…well for one team it was. I mean Ole Miss played really well but Louisville is awful. I don’t think Scott Satterfield is long for coaching in the ACC. Is Bobby Petrino available?
Who picked Iowa to win the Big Ten West? That’s right, this guy….I’m pointing at myself. The Hawkeyes looked like the northern version of Alabama as they beat the tar out of Indiana. Sure the Hoosiers may have been a tad overrated going into this season but this was a joke from the word go. Maybe Iowa can now get some national respect going forward this season (until they lose a game to a team they should have easily beat).
Finally, the Sunday night game was an unreal one. Jack Coan proved that Brian Kelly was right in having faith in him as their new starting quarterback. And Florida State? Well, they may finally be looking like the Florida State we all know for the first time truly since the Jameis Winston days. Also a great tribute to Bobby Bowden at halftime and it’s always great to see the Doak rockin’ like it was in the 90s. And how can I forget McKenzie Milton. What a return from a guy who wasn’t even supposed to be walking ever again after that brutal leg injury almost three years ago. Almost brought the Noles to victory in his comeback when he came in late in the game. And let’s not talk about Brian Kelly’s callback to John McKay of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the postgame interview.

So let’s go back to the question I posed earlier. Is this the greatest Week 1 in college football history? I’m not sure. We have to be careful here. After not having a big start to last season, this felt amazing. And yes there were quite a few important games right out of the gate and also a fair share of upsets and FCS wins over FBS teams. But is it the very best? I’ll say it’s one of the best. Definitely the best since I started this blog almost a decade ago. And a great start to the season where many are hoping that we don’t get into any kind of COVID madness. We are still slowly getting back to normality (and have a ways to go) and some cannot afford a step back in any situation.

I will not do a Top 25 after Week 1. This is what I’ve been doing. I wish college football waited a while but they won’t.

Now I can hopefully get back into the swing of things. We can get back to the normal college football schedule/NFL schedule/college football recap/rinse and repeat deal that seems to work. The world is getting back to normal, including in my little portion of the globe.

I sincerely hope you had fun watching the games during Week 1. I know I did. I kind of needed it in a way. Sounds weird to some that I need that but I did especially with my life (along with many other lives) being so topsy-turvy for about a year-and-a-half now. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – IV

Posted on June 12, 2021 by guelphbossman

If you don’t know who these guys are well….you’ve never watched the hit HBO series, Entourage. Look, it’s a fun show that I actually really enjoyed. If you didn’t take it seriously, it was a good watch. I also remember it very well because I had bought the box set years ago and then decided to sell it for $100. Exchanged the DVDs for the money in a somewhat seedy Tim Horton’s parking lot and left. When I got home, I realized I was holding four $20 bills. I emailed the guy and of course he never responded. I was less than pleased. Anyway, I am going to do a kind of rating system like I’ve done every year for the final important games post. Hopefully you understand and perhaps even agree with who I assign to each week. If not…well, it really doesn’t mean much since some people I know think Entourage was shit.

We’re at the end of this exercise for this season. Final four weeks of the regular season. And you know what? All four are at least decent weeks with two of them being the best of the season. I have to retire SEC Sleepwalk Saturday into the rafters of Bossman Arena (The Bossman Dome? Oriole Park at Bossman Yards?). Can’t use the term since that week is at least decent now. I kind of miss it……ok I lied. I like this better. Let’s begin!

Week 10

This week is seriously good. The number one weekend of college football for the 2021 season. It doesn’t get any better than this (on paper). So, of course, this has to be represented by the best character on Entourage, by far, Ari Gold. If it wasn’t for Jeremy Piven’s work as the most ridiculous agent in television history, Entourage is not nearly as good of a show.

Game of the Week: LSU at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – There are four games that could inhabit this top spot and all are deserving. This is one of the deepest non-American Thanksgiving weekends in college football in recent memory. And it is LSU. I know they are down from their turn as national champs but if anyone understands how to beat Bama, it’s Ed Orgeron. Either that or this is a blowout by dinnertime.

Other Really Important Games: Oregon at Washington (10:30, specialty pack) – When a late night game is the number two game of the week, you know it’s either a really weak week or a very strong week. Nothing in between. Now this game could end up in a lot of different spots. Hell, they could end up as the BIG NOON SATURDAY game and have a 9:00 am local start which I’m sure everyone at Husky Stadium would love. This is where the schedule predictions are really a stretch unless I can use an already set game as evidence for my choice (which is usually still a bad prediction but whatever).

Texas at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – This is the game that, at this point, I have being the BIG NOON SATURDAY game. Obviously that could change but I would be shocked if FOX passes on this game unless ABC gets it for primetime. This is essentially the game that will probably determine who faces Oklahoma at JerryWorld in December. The Big XII, not surprisingly, has fewer marquee games than the rest of the conferences. And yes, realignment and them expanding would help that. To say it wouldn’t is laughable. Maybe they should make a shocking first move and invite Arizona and Arizona State, just to see what they say.

Clemson at Louisville (3:30, ABC) – Louisville looked good last year. I say this every year but one of these times, Clemson is going to be knocked off their perch for real. None of this one loss during the season but still get out of the ACC crap. More like possibly not even going to the ACC Championship kind of thing. Yeah, I said it.

Ohio State at Nebraska (8:00, BTN) – Just like the Pac-12 Network, the Big Ten Network gets a great game or two every year. It’s mostly to make sure each team gets their two games on the network (with one having to be a conference game). But, in another way, it is to also shine a spotlight on the network to remind people that, hey, conference networks can be good sometimes as well. So I have put this game here and it wouldn’t surprise me if it stayed here. I am not a Husker fan but any stretch of the imagination, but I really do hope they can keep it within 30.

Auburn at Texas A&M (7:00, specialty pack) – I still think back to the Aggies playing the Tide early in the season. Say they win that game. They could actually be undefeated at this point and looking at the College Football Playoff! Even with one loss this game is mucho important for the Aggies. Probably not as important for Auburn as the Gus Bus seems to be having some transmission problems these days. UPDATE: Man I’m really not ready for the season. Gus Malzahn is at UCF. Bryan Harsin is now at Auburn. Hopefully the mass transit system in Orlando is better than it was in Auburn.

USC at Arizona State (8:00, FOX) – OK if there is a game (IF!) that would be put on BIG DAMN NOON SATURDAY from the Pac-12, this might be the one. For now I have it in the primetime FOX timeslot since ABC will probably go with a Big Ten game meaning FOX may actually win primetime for once. Man, it feels like I might need to change this entire week around. I will be honest, this was probably the toughest week to map out and, as you can see, I’m still not too sure of my choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Indiana at Michigan (3:30, specialty pack) – Don’t laugh. I think there is almost no way Michigan is as bad as they were last season. I hate using the fucked-up season of last year as an excuse but for the Wolverines it may be true. Now watch them lose this one by 40 and I am off watching whatever’s on the ACC Network to pass the time.

Best Group of Five Game: Tulsa at Cincinnati (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – It’s either this or Tulane-UCF on Saturday. I picked this one because this game should end up on a network we can watch whereas I have Tulane-UCF on ESPN+. After last year’s shocking Tulsa season, it will be interesting to see if the Golden Hurricane can duplicate the feat or if Cincy shows their superiority in the American.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas State at Kansas (Thursday, 8:00, FOX Sports One) – You know what? This is fine. Do I really need to see this game? Not really (as long as there is other football on at the time and this game isn’t close).

Week 11

This week is the worst of the bunch but still pretty good. And let’s be honest: are there any really bad characters on Entourage other than Sasha Grey? I don’t really think so. I would say this is LLOYD but I think he’s not this bad. This will be Vinny Chase. Yes, despite the fact he’s supposed to be the main character of the show, he seems like the least important, ya know? Saying that, he is still VERY important to Entourage as this week is to the regular season.

Game of the Week: Arizona State at Washington (6:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Um……………..I don’t know what to say. Honestly there’s a good possibility this is not on the P12N but this is a first on here. I’d have to look but I am pretty positive no conference network has been in this spot until now. History has been (possibly) made! And if this doesn’t tell you this is the thinnest week of this bunch, I don’t know what will.

Other Really Important Games: Michigan at Penn State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK this fully about Penn State and almost not about Michigan at all. I’m actually kind of curious about the Nittany Lions since they look like they should be in the Top 10 early on if not in the preseason poll. But I’m honestly racking my brain trying to figure out what talent they have that would make it so they are that kind of contender right off the hop. And I’m coming up with nothing. God, I need a preview magazine. The college football part of my brain is turning to mush.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (3:30, CBS) – No Bama? No Georgia? No LSU? And it’s still this high on the list? Count me interested. Really though, these are two teams to watch as both are at least New Year’s Six contenders this season despite being the horrendously tough SEC West.

Georgia at Tennessee (7:00, TSN3) – There is a part of me that hopes Tennessee can pull this off. Just to see the reaction of fans and the media…and Twitter. I’m sure all the discourse would be rational and everyone would take it in stride…….BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Northwestern at Wisconsin (8:00, FOX) – I was so close to putting this in the section above. But I just can’t. I have this feeling that Northwestern might not be as good as some are saying and/or Wisconsin will regress a bit towards the back end of the Top 25. This could end up on *deep breath* BIG NOON SATURDAY because of the lack of options.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at SMU (7:00, specialty pack) – The AAC continues to deliver and this one is no exception. I don’t know about SMU being a contender in the AAC West this year but it does seem relatively wide open. The East, on the other hand is UCF chasing Cincinnati and everyone else chasing UCF.

Worst Power Five Game: Duke at Virginia Tech (7:30, specialty pack) – I feel almost bad putting a Hokies game here especially when it’s in Blacksburg. But Duke might just be that bad.

Week 12

Better than the previous week but not by a lot. Enough for it shed it’s SEC Sleepwalk Saturday moniker. God rest your terrible scheduling soul. You can go two ways with this. The first is to say this is represented by Turtle and Johnny Drama. Two important characters who’s stories are sometimes more important than whatever the main idea of the episode happens to be. Or you can go with Sloan and Ari’s wife. Sloan and Ari’s wife. Yes, please.

Game of the Week: Iowa State at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – This feels like almost a guarantee for ABC in primetime. Possibly a preview of the Big XII Championship. And really, that’s not as big of a deal as people make it out to be. It happens so damn often that you almost expect it now. Also, it’s a huge plus for Sooners fans since they will be able to watch their team start playing a game not before Noon!

Other Really Important Games: Texas at West Virginia (Noon, FOX) – *big deep breath* BIG FUCKIN’ NOON SATURDAY!!!! I would laugh if somehow the Cyclones-Sooners game ends up in this timeslot but I feel pretty safe about these two picks. By this point we will have a pretty good idea if Sark is the real deal in Austin and if not-Dana Holgorsen can keep the ‘Eers trending in the right direction.

Michigan State at Ohio State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK I am giving Mel Tucker another chance. OK not just me. Makes me sound way more important than I am. I predict that Sparty will be better than last year, maybe not by much, but enough to give the Buckeyes a scare through at least two-and-a-half quarters. If ESPN gets this game (which I predict) they have to hope for it to be close. If that happens watch a shit-ton of people move over to the four-letter network.

UCLA at USC (8:00, FOX) – Hey maybe the Victory Bell (or at least this version of it since there seems to be a bunch) could be exciting and important this season! Isn’t it nice when both of these teams are playing well? Unless you’re a fan of one of the other teams in the Pac-12 South, this is a good thing for the conference. This could be Chip Kelly’s second coming out party kinda sorta. Or Clay Helton’s last stand. Or neither. Who knows?

Oregon at Utah (10:30, specialty pack) – Honestly this could move to Thursday or Friday night and be a late night offering of FS1. That would honestly suck since it’s always nice to have a really good game on the late night sked. Otherwise it feels like I am staying up past 2 in the morning for little reason. I mean I’m gonna do it anyway but this at least gives me some semblance of justification for my irrational choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Minnesota at Indiana (8:00, BTN) – Minnesota is a bit of a mystery to me. But with the Big Ten’s version of Dana Holgorsen coaching them in P.J. Fleck, they will always be at least a bit better than advertised. These are the kind of games that the Hoosiers have to win if they want any shot at the NY6 this season.

Best Group of Five Game: SMU at Cincinnati (Noon, specialty pack) – Yeah I had to go down the list a bit to find the best G-5 game. This will probably end up being a blowout but it was either this or Louisiana-Liberty. Or maybe Memphis-Houston. Yeah, not exactly great choices here.

Worst Power Five Game: Arizona at Washington State (Friday, 9:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Very rarely do you see a Pac-12 game here but Jesus Christ this looks like it would suck-diddly-uck. Wazzu isn’t the Wazzu we knew and loved a couple seasons ago and, well, Zona hasn’t been relevant in quite a long time. Lucky for us, Memphis-Houston and Air Force-Nevada (and perhaps even Kansas-TCU) will be on around the same time. OK that’s sad.

Week 13

The final weekend. The four-day stretch where I am at my least productive possibly all year because I watching FOOTBAW. This is nooooooooot quite the best week of the season but it might be the most important. For that reason, this week is represented by E. Not the drug although…no forget it. E, Vince’s manager. Eric. Yeah. I’d say the most important guy in the quartet for Entourage. And I stand by that choice.

Game of the Week: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (3:30, specialty pack) – This could move into the ABC primetime slot depending on what is left over for ABC to show. If they don’t have to show a Big Ten or Pac-12 game then I can definitely see it. I mean it’s Bedlam. Usually good. Usually. And the Sooners hate going to Stillwater. Remember that. The Fighting Mullets could drop OU out of the Big XII Championship if the opportunity arises.

Other Really Important Games: Ohio State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Most years this would be at least in the running to be the Game of the Week. Instead it drops into this section and honestly, for this season, it’s all because Ohio State is still quite good. But without Justin Fields, how will the Buckeyes’ passing game be? That will be the big question for this team. If that has worked itself out by this point, look out because this could be over by 1:00.

Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – The Iron Bowl is relegated to this spot. You can thank Auburn taking a step back for that. Like the tOSU-UM game, this could be a blowout. I think the one thing at least helping the Tigers is that it is at Jordan-Hare and not in Tuscaloosa. Usually that’s not a bother for the Tide but this is Auburn. I’m sure the fans aren’t exactly cordial to them. I wonder if this becomes a shoo-in in a couple years when the SEC goes to ABC/ESPN to be the primetime ABC game on American Thanksgiving weekend going forward.

Texas A&M at LSU (7:00, TSN2) – There is no chance they can recreate that insane seven overtime affair from a couple seasons ago. Makes me sad. I mean a 3:30 game or a 7:00 game going seven overtimes? Sure. A late night game going seven overtimes? God help me. I mean I’ll stay up and try not to pass out but man that would be difficult.

North Carolina at NC State (Friday, 7:30, ABC) – Black Friday’s premier game is in Raleigh this year. Everyone in the media wants to hop on Mack Brown’s dick (not literally) but ignore that the Wolfpack could very well sneak up the middle and cause a lot of trouble in the ACC. The Heels are a legit CFP contender whereas Dave Doeren hopes to get a massive contract extension and he would probably get it if he can will NCSU to the New Year’s Six.

TCU at Iowa State (Friday, 3:30, FOX) – The Big XII continues to take advantage of Black Friday although the other Power Five conferences are waking up to it. This could be the game that puts the Cyclones into the Big XII title game or ends their chances early.

Penn State at Michigan State (Noon, BTN) – Will this ultimately end up on the Big Ten Network? Well, I was shocked to see FS1 pick up Utah State-New Mexico for the odd 1:00 start time. So if this game stays in it’s Noon timeslot the amount of options are dwindling. If both teams are doing well, maybe a push to get it to ABC.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Kentucky at Louisville (7:00, specialty pack) – Unless one or both of these teams has an outside shot at a NY6 bid, this game will most likely fall to the ACC Network. Kind of sad since this is the first time both of these teams will be potentially good at the same time in quite a while.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at San Diego State (Friday, Noon, CBS) – That is not a misprint. This game will kickoff on Black Friday at Noon. Which makes it a 9:00 am local kickoff. We knew this was coming but it’s still a bit jarring to see it confirmed. Expect FOX and CBS do this more in the future now that they have essentially split the Mountain West conference football contract between them.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Syracuse (12:30, specialty pack) – Don’t be surprised if this gets moved to Black Friday. Remember when these two teams played in the Big East? I watched a fair amount of Big East football when I was younger because the Noon Big East game was one of the few games we got in this area pretty much every Saturday. Now, we have choice. So I will choose not to watch this unless it’s a good game late.

Weeks 14 and 15

No point in rating these weeks. Week 15 is Army-Navy which is always fun. I still believe that one of these days, Navy will be 12-0, coming off a conference championship and having to play Army to finish their season. Imagine if they lose? Holy shit that would be massive! Again, the Pac-12 has their conference championship on a Friday. That conference perplexes me sometimes. There was a time where the SEC Championship was rumoured to move to primetime on CBS. Instead it is confirmed to be back in the afternoon at its normal 4:00 time. I have a feeling the ACC will move their game out of primetime and go either with the Noon(ish) timeslot or up against the SEC since you have to wonder how many viewers they are losing to the Big Ten most years.

The important games blog posts are complete! Done and dusted! Still haven’t received my Athlon magazine. Haven’t phoned Phil Steele to get that magazine. Haven’t gone to Indigo to look for Lindy’s or Street and Smith. Life has got in the way so I just haven’t had that chance. Soon. And then it’s probably all I will read about between now and late August when the season begins.

Next up is the network specific posts. Remember, “Card Subject to Change”…meaning I will be wrong more than I am right…possibly. But the fact that I am about to do these posts means we are getting a bit closer to the season. We are 77 days away from Week Zero. Feels like still such a long time.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Most Important Games of the 2020 College Football Season – The Second Part

Posted on June 2, 2020 by guelphbossman

Hey remember when I mentioned that we were getting closer to the NCAA Football video game series returning? It now looks like that may not be the case. Even with the NCAA allowing players to receive money for their name and likeness, without school licensing, the players would not be able to be represented in the video game. The next step would have to be some sort of group licensing that involves school logos, names, stadiums, etc. So the sadness remains with all those people who would buy a PS4 or PS5 or whatever the most recent X-Box is just for this game. Which includes me. I say that even though I just sold the game since I just don’t play anymore…the PlayStation going up to my son’s room accelerated that. Am I officially a miserable adult now?

So normally, I do the first post of this series and a day or two later more schedule updates appear changing my original guesses already. It would make me feel a bit dumb. This year? Of course that didn’t happen. COVID-19 has changed so much and this is yet another thing that has changed. Instead of some games being confirmed, this year we have the question of which schools would even participate in a college football season in 2020. Here is what I know so far:

The SEC seems all in. This is not a surprise. Hell even Mizzou is showing their SEC-ness. Did you see the picture of the Lake of the Ozarks the other day? Marty Byrde would be all over that action.
The Big Ten seems iffy. Michigan has already stated that unless students are on campus and everything is back to some sense of normalcy, there may not be a season for the Wolverines. I have heard rumblings of other schools feeing the same way.
John Swofford of the ACC had a more measured approach. He said with his conference being in ten different states there may be a possibility that some schools are playing this season and others may not. It’s a wait-and-see approach there.
The rest of the conferences, for the most part, have said nothing.

This could lead to a massive amount of schedule changes. If some schools don’t play, the schools that have scheduled them would have to replace them on the sked. It means we could see some huge matchups throughout the season. It also may mean that conference play doesn’t matter. A lot could happen.

Saying all that, I feel better about my predictions for the schedule this season because in the end, it may not matter. So let’s go with the second part of this series.

Week 4

Game of the Week: Wisconsin at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – FOX gets a few marquee games to put at Noon during the season. This is definitely one of them. You can say what you want about the Wolverines but they bring ratings, love em or hate em. It does help that there aren’t many other games this week so FOX could easily have the biggest game of the week and win the ratings war. I would love to say this could be a Big Ten Championship preview but I would be lying.

Other Really Important Games: Virginia at Clemson (3:30, ABC) – I could see this moving to primetime but again, it all hinges on every conference getting their contracted amount of primetime games on ABC in. On a week with not a lot of great options, this could get a lot of eyeballs. It is yet another opportunity for an ACC team to topple the mighty Fighting Dabo Swinneys. Until it happens, we have to continue to believe that the Tigers are a favourite to get to the College Football Playoff. If the Hoos can somehow pull off the upset, that entire conference could be in a heap of trouble to get a team to the dance.

Florida at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – “Is Tennessee Back” is the new “Texas is Back.” There were hints last year that maybe, just maybe, the Volunteers are back to the Phil Fulmer days of being in the top tier of the SEC every year. I will be honest: it is almost sad to see a fanbase of a team that used to be good go through five-plus years of no better than mediocrity. Almost…those same fans tend to be complete assholes at times which means the hate is still there for every other fanbase. On the other side of the fence is one of the best coaches in the land and a team that is nipping at Georgia’s heels in the SEC East. These are the kinds of games they have to win if they want to get back to the SEC Championship for the first time since 2016.

Louisiana Tech at Baylor (Noon, FloSports) – Will Baylor be as good as last season? That is the question since Dr. Matt Rhule, D.D.S. left for the greener pastures of the NFL and the Carolina Panthers. The Bears have a history of having a season every so often that makes them seem like a real contender followed by a few seasons of being a pretender. As for the Bulldogs, this is their first time in the important games section. Congratulations to them. This is the kind of game they must win if they want to be the first Conference USA team to make it to the New Year’s Six.

Notre Dame at Wake Forest (3:30, specialty pack) – Can we just finally say that the Deacs are an upper tier ACC team? I’m serious. This may say more about the conference as a whole, beyond Clemson, than anything but I think you can’t help but agree. I wouldn’t say this is a massive game for both teams but it’s one that both programs have on their radar right now. This is part of the Notre Dame-ACC agreement that runs for a long time, like until the year 2245 or something. It still feels weird to this day and probably always will. Anyway, this should be fun so watch it. Or don’t. I mean I’m not going to force you to or anything.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Arizona State at USC (7:00, specialty pack) – This may essentially end up being an early season Pac-12 South elimination game. This may also end up being one of the Pac-12 South round robin games where the division winner has three conference losses. This should be a pretty even match and these two teams have had some great games in the past. Now watch it be a blowout. I am glad this game was this week since my next pick would have been Western Kentucky-Louisville. My god.

Best Group of Five Game: Temple at Navy (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – You know, after one bad Navy season many people, including myself, figured the Midshipmen would get back to .500 and maybe end up with a winning season. So what did Ken Niumatalolo do? Put them in the Top 25 for a while. This year should be no different for this team. And I have noticed in the past few years that playing at Navy is not an easy thing for teams to do. I don’t know what it is but it feels like an intimidating place to play, something the other two military academies can’t boast.

Worst Power Five Game: Stanford at UCLA (6:30, DAZN) – It is a bit odd to see Stanford in this spot but they were not good last year and I can’t see them being a ton better this year. And I wonder when the Chip Kelly Experience will actually pay dividends for the Bruins since nothing has really worked so far.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Baylor at Oklahoma (3:30, ABC) – The best week of the year has one of the potential games of the year right here. But this is only if Baylor doesn’t struggle with Matt Rhule not around. That is the caveat. We know the Sooners will be good since they are always good, like it or not. Now watch this game end up being a blowout. And in the Big XII, blowouts can get crazy.

Other Really Important Games: Wisconsin at Notre Dame (in Green Bay) (7:30, NBC) – Despite the fact that the Irish have five ACC games every season, they always find a way to schedule their rivals (like USC, Michigan and Navy). They also add a juicy game or two every season. I remember the last time there was a game at Lambeau Field: the Badgers upset LSU and destroyed my national championship pick early on in the season. Thanks a bunch guys. This ends up being a primetime NBC game so we should be expecting something special here.

Penn State at Michigan (Noon, ABC/TSN1/TSN4) – This does not feel like a Noon Big Ten Game. At all. This is the kind of game that is usually on ABC in primetime. We should hear the familiar refrain of the Woes of James Harbaugh throughout this one. The continued talk about James Franklin resurrecting the program at Happy Valley. And somewhere in there will be an actual college football game. Let’s call it a Big Ten East elimination game since it probably is one.

Washington at Oregon (10:30, specialty pack) – Well at least Chris Petersen isn’t around to freak the fuck out about this game being on in the late night timeslot. Now this could end up on ABC in primetime since my current choice, Florida State-NC State, really does not look like a good game on paper. I guess it’s the problem with these conferences having these kinds of minimums in their television contracts. Although can you imagine if that wasn’t the case? I am sure we would almost never see the Pac-12 or the ACC ever again. Anyway, as of right now, this is Pac-12 After Dark which is sometimes good for some late night insanity. I will most certainly be watching, losing some sleep in the process.

USC at Utah (10:30, FloSports) – This could be one of the best late night schedules ever and you will see why below. We have the game above and now this one that we can now see! I am sure Clay Helton will be sweating all throughout this one as he continues his rocky tenure as the head coach in LA. I do wonder if Utah can recreate the magic of last season and make another run at the College Football Playoff. Now that LSU broke through and won the whole thing, we need another new team to get into the mix so why not the Utes?

Kentucky at Auburn (7:30, specialty pack) – I have this game on the SEC Network. Seriously. If the Wildcats are any good this season, we could be watching a barnburner on an American specialty sports network that is shown on a specialty pack here in Canada. It’s also kind of interesting that this is the best week of the season and this is the first appearance of the SEC on this list.

Texas at Kansas State (Noon, FloSports) – Normally one of the games we wouldn’t be able to see. Before this season, it’s the Big XII that we Canadians would miss most of. The one conference without a conference network (and no, the Longhorn Network does not count) has struggled overall compared to the other Power Five conferences to get their games on in the best timeslots. If it wasn’t for the Sooners and at least one other Big XII team, no one would notice this conference. Both these programs are trying to be that “one other team” this season. Would be fun to see Kansas State back being a true contender. Especially since what the hell else is there to do in the Little Apple?

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: North Carolina at Virginia (7:00, specialty pack) – The Tar Heels are fun again under Mack Brown for the first time since, well, Mack Brown was coaching. Bronco Mendenhall is doing the same types of things he did at BYU in Charlottesville. These are the two teams I would consider as the best bets to dethrone Clemson (or at least give them a conference loss). No this is not a de facto division title game since this is the ACC Coastal division and this division is utterly insane. I wait for the season that everyone ends up 4-4 and there’s a seven-way tie for the division crown. God that would be glorious.

Best Group of Five Game: Navy at Air Force (10:30, specialty pack) – This is the third game in the late night triple threat this week. There were a few choices I could have put here. Memphis-SMU and Utah State-BYU fit the bill as well and on any other week would have been here. But this game should be great and considering the way the two offenses are, should be over before Saturday Night Live’s episode that week is done. I think this is the first time a Navy-AFA game could be this big. It could also be the first time, as far as I know, that both teams come into this one ranked. Now that would be something.

Worst Power Five Game: Nebraska at Northwestern (Noon, TSN5) – Now this…this feels like a Big Ten game at Noon. It means that either Beth Mowins or Steve Levy has to call it, right?

Week 6

Game of the Week: LSU at Florida (3:30, CBS) – God damn this could be a MASSIVE game this season. Two SEC contenders. Potentially, two CFP contenders. This is still a possibility to be moved to a primetime SEC on CBS game as it is that big. Or for some reason CBS allows ESPN to pick it up and even put it at that odd 6:00 start time. You never really know. Anyway, this could be a CFP elimination game. By this point we should know if the Tigahs are ready to defend their national championship or not.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Georgia (7:00, specialty pack) – Many would say this should be the game of the week. It’s a good game but I don’t think it hits the heights of the previous game. Also this could be a good week for CBS to exercise that doubleheader they get to do once a year. 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. Some also hate Kirby Smart as well because he hasn’t won an SEC title yet. Life can’t be easy for an SEC head coach (although I am sure the crap-ton of money they get eases the pain a bit).

Iowa at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – FOX not taking a back seat to Disney this week for game selections. Then again this could end up as the ABC primetime game. You just never know with the schedules. Man, the Pac-12 still has to be livid that FOX said that their best games will be on at Noon. When do they finally say Fuck it and say “Fine, put a game on at 9 local time. I’m sure no one will care and besides, we want the main event!” If Chris Petersen was still around I am sure this would have been pushed.

Minnesota at Wisconsin (Noon, TSN4) – Man the Noon timeslot is fantastic this week. Many would consider this further down the list to be honest. I still have faith that the Golden Gophers can Row The Boat and stay atop the Big Ten West. Wisky will be Wisky and try and run the ball for like 500 yards on what looks like seriously uncomfortable turf in Madison. I can’t imagine what’s that like to get tackled on in late November.

Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – It’s something when this is the fifth-best game of the week. The Red River Shootout (SHOOTOUT!) is always a crazy game so I always enjoy watching it. Now we have to continue hoping that the decrepit Cotton Bowl doesn’t collapse during one of these games. This could end up being a FOX selection just for the teams involved but there are a lot of options this week so both networks will have to pick carefully.

Utah at Washington (8:00, FOX) – This could be a preview of the Pac-12 title game and it is this far down the list. That tells you more about the Pac-12 than the state of college football. Call it East Coast bias if you want but the teams out west just don’t seem to have the cache these days that many teams east of them do. Knowing that, I could see them moving this to 10:30 or 11:00 at night.

Clemson at Florida State (3:30, specialty pack) – Hey remember when both of these teams were legitimate contenders and this could be counted on as a potential game of the year? The Tigers have been carrying the conference so their shoulders must be tired at this point. The Noles have been average, at best, and are looking to re-establish their identity in the ACC. A win here would be a fans-storm-the-field kind of instance for Florida State.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Virginia Tech at North Carolina (8:00, specialty pack) – One team has to emerge from the ACC Coastal Division, technically. The Hokies and the Heels are as good a bet as any to make it to the ACC Championship. I’d like to say the loser here is eliminated from the race but not in this wacky division.

Best Group of Five Game: Louisiana at Appalachian State (Wednesday, 7:00, specialty pack) – This could end up being one of the games that decides the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot. Don’t laugh. The Sun Belt has been steadily improving over the past few years. Everyone knows what App State can do but the Ragin’ Cajuns have been underrated recently. This could be a breakout game. It also could be a preview of the Sun Belt Championship game.

Worst Power Five Game: Rutgers at Purdue (Noon, BTN) – Ah Rutgers back in the Rutgers spot. Remember what I said about the huge Noon slate? Well it’s still true so I wonder how many people would actually watch this game. Not many I think.

Week 7

Game of the Week: Iowa at Penn State (Noon, ABC/TSN1) – The Big Ten has a huge week this week. And this is the biggest game of a huge bunch. Kirk Ferentz will try and do some Kirk Ferentz things to lead his Hawkeyes to a victory. Penn State has been close to the big dance and needs a win here to try and break through to the next level for the first time in a long time.

Other Really Important Games: Texas A&M at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – This is one of three games that could be considered the game of the week. It really isn’t a huge week for top-of-the-line game quality but there are a lot of good games this week. It used to be that everyone was trying to catch Alabama. Now it’s everyone in the SEC West trying to catch LSU. The Gus Bus and whatever vehicle you want to associate with Jimbo Fisher will be hard up to win the division if they lose here.

Michigan at Minnesota (7:30, FloSports) – See now that Canadians can access these FOX Sports One games, I don’t care that they move some big games there. I understand the reasoning behind doing that because it makes it so FS1 would eventually be in more homes in the U.S.. Saying this, this game could be moved anywhere on the FOX schedule this week, especially if both teams have had hot starts to the season.

Oklahoma at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – It’s nice to see a program like Iowa State have a sustained string of successful seasons. Matt Campbell has done a phenomenal job in Ames. And they have pulled a massive upset on the Sooners in recent years. Nothing says it can’t happen again. I know the rest of the Big XII will be rooting for the Cyclones even if they don’t admit it. Anything to knock the Sooners off their perch would be a good thing for the rest of the conference.

Ohio State at Michigan State (7:30, ABC) – A lot of good games this week as I mentioned above. Now there’s a caveat with this one: the Spartans have to be better than they were this year to make this a reality. In most years this would be in consideration for Game of the Week. With the Mark Dantonio era over, things start anew in East Lansing with Mel Tucker. They always have a gauntlet with the Big Ten East, having to face Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and, these days, Indiana every year. Don’t be surprised if FOX picks this one up for their primetime game if ABC passes on it.

Oregon at California (Friday, 10:00, FloSports) – The Golden Bears are good again! A young enthusiastic head coach and a program that is on the right recruiting trails helps. The Pac-12 not being the Pac-12 of old is also a factor here but make no mistake about it, Cal could make some noise in the Pac-12 North with a win here. The Mario Cristobal Show rolls on in Eugene as he tries to take the final step to get the Ducks into the College Football Playoff. It would be good since we need some new blood in there (I know, Oregon has been once before but it feels like that was DECADES ago).

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Wake Forest at Florida State (Noon, specialty pack) – OK I had to dig a bit deeper to find a good underrated game. I would say that this is the only one that truly qualifies and it’s more because of Wake than FSU. With the way the Noon schedule is, if this does appear in that timeslot it will be drowned out by the other bigger games so it better be close to be relevant.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at Memphis (Friday, 8:00, specialty pack) – As of right now, this game will sort of split the national spotlight with the UO-Cal game I mentioned above. The American conference loves their Friday night games and they usually get some good ones in on those nights (unlike the ACC that drops whatever shit there and doesn’t think of the matchup). This should be a barnburner as per usual between these two teams. This could possibly move to TSN. This game is one of the G-5 games of the year and will shape the New Year’s Six, guaranteed.

Worst Power Five Game: Maryland at Northwestern (3:30, BTN) – Man the Big Ten has some bad games this season. The bottom tier of the conference can compete with any of the other Power Five conferences to stay they are the bottom of the barrel. I guess the silver lining here is that it isn’t Rutgers this time? I wonder if the Big Ten is still happy with getting the Scarlet Knights and the Terrapins into the conference a few years back. I mean I know the money is a big part of it but man, on the football field they have been atrocious.

We are more than halfway through the season now (with these posts). With only thirteen weeks this season I had to have one longer post because of it. Sorry about that. The next two posts will be the most difficult as almost none of it is set out beforehand and with 6 and 12-day holds on scheduling games, many of the choices are done later in the season. This means many of these could be wrong because of that. And in those cases I will blame the networks. Not me.

I have not picked up a college football preview magazine yet. Why? Because none of them are out yet. I can’t even order the Phil Steele magazine because of everything that is going on with the pandemic. I am hoping to get it sometime in early August but no guarantees. With bookstores closed I will have to keep an eye out for the others and order them when I get a chance. Anyway, we are 88 days from the scheduled opening of the college football season. A lot is up in the air at this point but as of right now I am assuming they will start, with empty stadiums, on time. Hope everyone has a great week and enjoy the weather!

2019 Bowl Game Rankings and Predictions!

Posted on December 18, 2019 by guelphbossman

It’s almost Christmas. Meaning it is bowl season! And then college football is over. This is sad. Maybe this is the year I finally get ripped in the offseason. Haha, I will believe it when I see it.

I’ve decided to stick with the College Football Broadcast Ranking System for the bowls this year. It works well. It separates the games that even the most casual of college football fans will watch from the ones that only the complete maniacs like myself would watch. Let’s begin.

10 out of 10! This is Saturday Night on ABC kind of games

Game of the week quality. So the College Football Playoff and the best two New Year’s Six games land here.

Fiesta Bowl – Ohio State vs. Clemson (Dec. 28, 8:00, TSN3/TSN5) – Chase vs. Trevor. Defense vs. Offense. Which isn’t quite true since tOSU’s offense is spectacular and the Tigers’ defense is still Top 10. But this really is the face-off that many want to see. This should be a very close, very exciting game between two undefeated teams. Now watch it be a blowout. My pick: Clemson 40-33.

Peach Bowl – LSU vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 28, 4:00, TSN3/TSN5) – They should never have the semi-finals on New Year’s Eve again. This day is perfect. Even when the College Football Playoff expands they shouldn’t do that. It also allows avoidance of many of the World Juniors games this year since the WJHC is in the Czech Republic (or is it called Czechia now?). Both semi-finals are good games but this will be the lesser of the two. Sorry Sooner fans. My pick: LSU 44-24.

Rose Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Oregon (Jan. 1, 5:00, TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) – I am glad this is getting quite a bit of hype. These two teams are fun to watch for very different reasons. And it’s the Rose Bowl…doesn’t it have to be a great game by default? My pick: Oregon 32-24.

Cotton Bowl – Penn State vs. Memphis (Dec. 28, Noon, specialty pack) – It’s not the Rose and Sugar at the top of the New Year’s Six list this year. This game is much more intriguing than the Sugar Bowl. Memphis is in the NY6 for the first time and we will see the first game where they are Norvell-less. It used to be these games were a no-win situation for the Power Five team but this is becoming less of an issue as the playoff gets older. Also, it’s James Franklin and hearing James Franklin makes you want to run through a brick wall. Very few guys can motivate like he can. My pick: Penn State 42-27.

9 out of 10! This is the SEC on CBS quality…normally

Arguably the biggest game of the day but goes here because the SEC is never on ABC (at least as the home team).

Outback Bowl – Auburn vs. Minnesota (Jan. 1, 1:00, TSN2) – One team is the team that ended Bama’s chances at competing for another national championship. The other team was very close to being this season’s Cinderella squad. Row The Boat vs. The Gus Bus. I am sad that this is going to be totally overshadowed by the Citrus Bowl starting at the exact same time. Why didn’t they schedule this to start at Noon? My pick: Minnesota 30-27.

Citrus Bowl – Alabama vs. Michigan (Jan. 1, 1:00, ABC) – This is the best non-New Year’s Six game (along with the Outback Bowl). Not surprised the Wolverines are in this game. But Alabama? It is honestly a bit of a shock to the system to see the Tide in a game like this. If they lose this game, could this be the worst season of the Saban era (other than his first in Tuscaloosa)? My pick: Alabama 34-30.

Las Vegas Bowl – Washington vs. Boise State (Dec. 21, 7:30, ABC) – And yet again this is the best pre-Christmas bowl game. And it is the much-ballyhooed Petersen Bowl. Final game for ol’ Chris Petersen before he returns in a few years because he missed coaching. I think the Huskies might keep this closer than many believe it will be as they will playing on a lot of emotion. My pick: Boise State 20-17.

Sugar Bowl – Georgia vs. Baylor (Jan. 1, 8:45, TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) – Normally this is the kind of game that would be the worst of the NY6 bunch. Not so this season. It should be a decent game and hey, it’s Baylor in a huge bowl game although I know that won’t sit well with some. Well tough shit. My pick: Georgia 26-16.

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

Still really good games. Must-see for college football fans at this point.

Alamo Bowl – Texas vs. Utah (Dec. 31, 7:30, specialty pack) – This could be higher but hear me out. Texas was supposed to better than this and are limping into this bowl game. Utah was on the precipice of going to the CFP and now aren’t even in the NY6. So I can see one, or both, of these teams not really caring as much as they should that they are in this particular bowl game. Also it’s the final college football game of 2019 and the time is not ideal for TV watchers. My pick: Utah 20-13.

Holiday Bowl – Iowa vs. USC (Dec. 27, 8:00, FloSports) – First season where we can see all the bowl games…legally! I know that FOX is trying to bolster FS1 by putting the better of their two bowl games on there but it still feels weird for this to be here. But at least they won’t be talking as much about coaching controversies or, hopefully, players sitting out this bowl game so they can actually call the damn game. And if it’s GUS and Joel then that’s even better. My pick: USC 26-10.

Camping World Bowl – Iowa State vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 28, Noon, ABC) – Notre Dame probably doesn’t want to be here. That’s too fucking bad though. If you think this sucks, hire Charlie Weis and get back to me with how it goes. Let’s hope the players, at least, are up for this one because the Clones definitely will be. My pick: Iowa State 20-7.

Liberty Bowl – Navy vs. Kansas State (Dec. 31, 3:45, specialty pack) – Navy is good again and Kansas State is also good again. I hope Chris Klieman has taught his guys how to stop the run. My pick: Navy 46-34.

7 out of 10! This is FOX territory. You could move this up 1 if GUS JOHNSON! is calling the game

Most college football fans should watch these games but we are getting eerily close to the equivalent of a game where Rutgers is involved (despite the fact they are in a Power Five conference).

Orange Bowl – Virginia vs. Florida (Dec. 30, 8:00, TSN3) – This might be the worst New Year’s Six game ever. No offense to the Cavaliers but they really don’t belong here. This is the shitty part of bowl tie-ins. Yeah you can figure out which teams are going where (for the most part) but then we get instances like this. Now watch the Hoos mop the floor with the Gators and prove me wrong. My pick: Florida 27-14.

Cheez-It Bowl – Air Force vs. Washington State (Dec. 27, 10:15, TSN1/TSN5) – The team that was one loss against Boise State away from being in the New Year’s Six conversation will face off against the Fighting Mike Leachs of the Palouse. How Troy Calhoun did not get any Coach of the Year consideration is baffling to be honest. Again, it’s another contrast of styles game so we shall see if the run or the pass reign supreme. My pick: Air Force 54-41.

Boca Raton Bowl – SMU vs. Florida Atlantic (Dec. 21, 3:30, ABC) – The Boca Bowl gets the ABC treatment! Nice! I still don’t know if Lane Kiffin will be coaching in this one but it is starting to look less and less likely as the game approaches. This also has SMU who is back, kinda, sorta. Being an elite Group of Five team is better than being a basement Conference USA team though, right? My pick: SMU 29-20.

Texas Bowl – Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 27, 6:45, TSN1/TSN5) – Why wasn’t Texas put here? This was their best chance since the Aggies left the Big XII and the bowl organizers fucked it up. Either that or one of the programs are still little bitches and won’t allow this to happen. Anyway, Canadian Chuba Hubbard could run wild in this one. My pick: Oklahoma State 37-32.

6 out of 10. We will put NBC here because they have to go somewhere.

Let’s be honest, NBC has very few games during a college football season. Like seven of them. But one or two are REALLY big games so on average, you have to put them above some other networks right? Plus all the Notre Dame fanboys would have a shit fit if I put NBC any lower.

Gator Bowl – Tennessee vs. Indiana (Jan. 2, 7:00, specialty pack) – This was supposed to be a different SEC team. I can’t even remember who it was but I know the Vols all of a sudden decided they wanted to be here rather than the Music City Bowl. I don’t know why there were just allowed to switch or that a bowl game could have allowed that but here we are. Anyway, I am interested at how much interest there is in the bowl games between New Year’s Day and the national championship, something that is back after a short hiatus. My pick: Indiana 37-36 (2OT).

Belk Bowl – Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech (Dec. 31, Noon, TSN3) – The final Belk Bowl. The best bowl Twitter account ever is done, for now, with sponsoring a bowl game. Knowing our luck there will be some weird company that steps up to sponsor this one. Or we get a hilarious one. Maybe Skoal wants to sponsor a bowl game. The Skoal Bandit Bowl. I’m smiling just thinking about it. My pick: Kentucky 24-17.

New Orleans Bowl – UAB vs. Appalachian State (Dec. 21, 9:00, TSN2) – I don’t get this tie-in. Really you should have a Louisiana team here no matter what. It’s a way to get a good crowd into the stadium since having less than half a stadium full is bad: in the Superdome it is so much worse. As much as I like what UAB is doing, I can’t see the Mountaineers taking it easy on them after barely missing the Cotton Bowl bid. My pick: Appalachian State 44-20.

Gasparilla Bowl – UCF vs. Marshall (Dec. 23, 2:30, TSN3/TSN5) – Weekday. Afternoon. Before Christmas. What do I always say about these games? My pick: UCF 46-30.

5 out of 10. Some hot ESPN2/ESPNU/SEC Network/ACC Network action right here!

These are the networks I really love to be honest with you. They provide a shit-ton of football on the specialty pack and at least once a week you get a great game on it. Well a great finish at least which is what we might have to hope for with this group of games. Also, we add the ACC Network this year!

Sun Bowl – Arizona State vs. Florida State (Dec. 31, 2:00, CBS) – Florida State barely got into a bowl game and fired their head coach. Arizona State did about as good as everyone thought they would and Herm Edwards has done great in Tempe. Now the question is how many will actually show up for this game. I put the over/under at 25,000 and that’s only because the Sun Devils are there. My pick: Arizona State 36-17.

Birmingham Bowl – Boston College vs. Cincinnati (Jan. 2, 3:00, specialty pack) – Luckily for this bowl game, it has been usually a good game in the past. Sucks that it is played in a dump like Legion Field but it could be worse. They could be at the Trop. Back to the game, the Bearcats should have no problem with the Eagles who finally fired Steve “The Dude” Addazio. About three years to late for many BC fans. My pick: Cincinnati 31-10.

Military Bowl – North Carolina vs. Temple (Dec. 27, Noon, TSN5) – Mack Brown in a bowl game in 2019. This tells you how crazy college football can be. The Tar Heels will have their work cut out for them as Temple is one of the most complete Group of Five teams around. I kind of hope it’s snowing for this one as we don’t get near enough bad weather bowl games. My pick: Temple 28-21.

Music City Bowl – Mississippi State vs. Louisville (Dec. 30, 4:00, TSN3) – The game Tennessee should have been in. Then they switched with Kentucky but Kentucky had already played Louisville for the Governor’s Cup so they switched with Mississippi State. So yeah I figured it out a few sections after I was struggling to remember. Bowl Selection Alzheimers. My pick: Mississippi State 37-23.

4 out of 10. FOX Sports One goes here although some could argue it should be higher.

Now that we can technically get FS1 games up here, I can’t use that as an excuse to put this in the 4 spot. FS1 is kind of all over the place so many times, ESPN2 has much better games but mostly ESPNU never has better games. I may have to rethink this for next season. For now, I don’t have time so here it is!

Pinstripe Bowl – Michigan State vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 27, 3:20, TSN1/TSN5) – Again, snow here would be fun. Wake Forest should be heavily favoured here but instead we will get everyone overrating Sparty. My wonder is if it will be Mark Dantonio’s last stand as MSU’s head coach. My pick: Wake Forest 47-34.

Mobile Bowl – Miami-OH vs. Louisiana (Jan. 6, 7:30, specialty pack) – Louisiana has a great run the last two seasons. If it isn’t for App State, the Ragin’ Cajuns are the best Sun Belt team around. Anyway, they go up against Miami-OH. The Cradle of Coaches probably won’t have a chance in this one and, to be honest, I can see many people taking a break before the natty by skipping this one. My pick: Louisiana 50-23.

Bahamas Bowl – Buffalo vs. Charlotte (Dec. 20, 2:00, TSN2) – This could end up being a fantastic game. Who knows? And I barely care because I won’t be able to watch it live. Oh well I guess it’s nice to see Charlotte in their first bowl ever and getting to go to the Bahamas. My pick: Buffalo 37-29.

Hawaii Bowl – BYU vs. Hawaii (Dec. 24, 8:00, specialty pack) – This is on Christmas Eve again. Where it belongs. This is an interesting game since most of the recruits on the islands go to, I believe, either Hawaii or BYU (and BYU even has a school in Hawaii somewhere). These two used to be conference foes but if it was BYU’s choice they never would be again because BYU is above the Mountain West/WAC in football I guess. My pick: BYU 26-24.

3 out of 10. CBS Sports Network or Big Ten Network type games. The whole “it’s about quantity, not quality” rule.

BTN, for some reason, gets one really good game all year and then a bunch of Rutgers games. CBSSN just has so many games but it’s all Group of Five so they have to be ranked this low. And now I can watch all these games which is really great, right? I think I need my head examined.

First Responder Bowl – Western Michigan vs. Western Kentucky (Dec. 30, 12:30, specialty pack) – Hey maybe this game will actually be played this time around. Saying that, it would be fucking hilarious if it was cancelled again. If that happened I could see this bowl just being jettisoned since it’s obviously bad luck. My pick: Western Kentucky 35-30 (if it doesn’t get cancelled).

New Mexico Bowl – San Diego State vs. Central Michigan (Dec. 21, 2:00, TSN2) – Jim McElwain did a fantastic job at Central Michigan this season. Rocky Long has been doing amazing work at SDSU for years. Top quality coaches here. I just…I don’t know. It feels like a game that’s just meh. A game that would struggle to get out of ESPN3 territory during the regular season. Nothing special. And to answer your question, yes, I will watch it. My pick: San Diego State 31-7.

Independence Bowl – Louisiana Tech vs. Miami (Dec. 26, 4:00, TSN5) – First game after Christmas. And it’s Shreveport, everyone’s least favourite bowl destination. This harkens back to like the 80s when no one really cared about things like this. Anyway, it’s the perfect bowl game for a team like Miami that barely made it to the postseason. And Louisiana Tech is almost at home for this one so hopefully the crowd is good. My pick: Louisiana Tech 21-17.

Armed Forces Bowl – Southern Miss vs. Tulane (Jan. 4, 11:30 AM, specialty pack) – I still wait for the day where Willie Fritz is picked up by a higher profile school. What he has done at Tulane is great. They are no longer a laughing stock and an easy out. Jay Hopson isn’t a slouch either. I do like the fact this starts late morning on the Saturday of Wild Card weekend. Morning college football!!! My pick: Tulane 40-20.

2 out of 10. This is some Pac-12 Network dreck over here.

The Pac-12 Network is now easily the worst of the conference networks. We don’t have a Big XII Network yet so once we get that in like 2031 we may finally get the definitive ranking. Anyway, most games on this network are pretty bad, especially for a Power Five conference. Yes, there are games that end up being great but the schedule is atrocious.

Redbox Bowl – Illinois vs. California (Dec. 30, 4:00, FOX) – It is a nice story to see Illinois in a bowl game for the first time in a few years. They are in an odd spot since they aren’t considered the worst of the Power Five bunch (even though they are in the conversation) but they are mostly forgotten in college football these days which is sad. Lovie Smith has finally done wonders in Champaign. Really though, this bowl game is between two average programs who have a good chance to be home for next year’s bowl season. My pick: Illinois 16-12.

Camellia Bowl – FIU vs. Arkansas State (Dec. 21, 5:30, TSN2) – Former Sun Belt foes (and I use that term really loosely) face off. Good chance this will be overshadowed by other game on this day, the first Saturday of bowl season. My pick: Arkansas State 36-33.

Cure Bowl – Liberty vs. Georgia Southern (Dec. 21, 2:30, CBS Sports Network) – The Cure Bowl is almost always near the bottom of the bowl rankings and this year is no different. At least they don’t have crazy competition to get viewers but the network won’t help things here. Even Liberty being in their first bowl game ever will be shit on because people just hate Liberty or they hate the man who doesn’t understand the concept of a burner phone, Hugh Freeze. My pick: Liberty 31-24.

Quick Lane Bowl – Eastern Michigan vs. Pittsburgh (Dec. 26, 8:00, TSN5) – MAC vs. Big Ten would have been better. ACC vs. Big Ten would have been better. Big Ten here would have been better, period. Thanks to stupid bowl tie-ins they didn’t have enough teams to get down to this bowl game. Oh well, at least it’s on in primetime. My pick: Pittsburgh 31-17.

1 out of 10. Or zero. Or negative numbers Who really gives a shit here? I sure don’t.

I will watch these if I can. I am a working man after all. I am an insane college football fan and even I can only take so much. In April I will be regretting treating these bowl games like a pile of diarrhea.

Frisco Bowl – Utah State vs. Kent State (Dec. 20, 7:30, TSN2) – I like the way this bowl is set up. Small-ish stadium. Football-mad state. The actual game though? Meh. It’s football and it’s on opening night so I will watch but it’s not high up on my list and they are lucky to have the audience to themselves. My pick: Kent State 39-36.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Nevada vs. Ohio (Jan. 3, 3:30, TSN2) – I always find it interesting that they make the MAC go to bowl games like this. And the Potato Bowl is always far down both conferences’ lists of where to send teams. Let’s be honest here; it’s Boise. Yes the blue turf is fun but other than it turning into a skating rink or them playing in a blizzard, this game, which is after New Year’s on a weekday in the afternoon, isn’t exactly must watch.. My pick: Ohio 47-31.

Arizona Bowl – Wyoming vs. Georgia State (Dec. 31, 4:30, CBS Sports Network) – The worst bowl game of the bunch. CBS Sports Network seems to own this spot with this bowl or the Cure Bowl. And to top it off, this game is around dinnertime on New Year’s Eve. Geez talk about a shitty spot for a lower-tier bowl. My pick: Wyoming 37-27.

So there you go! The bowl schedule and rankings are done. So now you can enjoy the games!

And hey I am posting this before bowl season begins! Nice change from last year and it means I am on the ball (for once).

Are they going to just keep falling? – Week 9 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on October 24, 2019 by guelphbossman

OK we all know the facts here. Clemson plays in a shitty conference. They have won a bunch of games in a row. But they play in a SHITTY CONFERENCE. They haven’t played well so far this season yet are undefeated. It’s the ACC for God’s sake!. So of course they have been passed by Alabama, LSU and, now, Ohio State in the AP rankings. Clemson sits at #4 yet they are one of only ten undefeated teams remaining and they are the defending national champions.

We get it. If you win out, you should get in to the College Football Playoff. But the ACC, again, is horrible (outside of your team). It’s not your fault. But maybe now you kind of have an idea of how UCF has felt lately. They play in the American which is a Group of Five conference. It’s the best G-5 conference but still a G-5 conference. So they went undefeated and had almost no chance of making it in to the Final Four. If there isn’t promotion and relegation you are going to get a year like this every so often where this is one team in a conference that is great and the rest of the conference is average to horrible. So Tigers fans, calm down. People who think they know college football and are pissed about this? Do the same. Smoke a J. It’s legal. Things will work itself out…unless they for some reason drop a game to Boston College and then you’re shit out of luck.

Alright, enough about the ACC situation. On to more important matters (for us). The schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
Jackson State at Prairie View A&M	7:30 PM
#16 SMU at Houston	7:30 PM

Last year at this time we had some Sun Belt and MAC games on Thursday nights, if not earlier. Up until this point, that isn’t the case. I am a little disappointed since this would normally be the time where the month-long FOOTBALLGASM would begin with football on every damn day for over four weeks! I think a few things are in play here: First, the MAC has been pushing to have more games on Saturdays for attendance purposes. And second, with the advent of the ACC Network, both the MAC and Sun Belt have reaped the rewards by having games on ESPNU on Saturday when that never happened in the past. So anyway, at least the American is on tonight and the team that might just be America’s Darling right now, SMU, hopes to stay undefeated as they play a Houston team where everyone seems to want to redshirt the rest of this season. SMU being a favourite of fans is kind of interesting after what they have gone through for three-plus decades but it’s fun to watch, I will admit.

Friday

		US	Canada
Columbia at Dartmouth	6:00 PM
USC at Colorado	9:00 PM

The Clay Helton Roller Coaster of Fun and/or Doom continues as the Trojans head to the Rocky Mountains to face the Buffaloes. USC can continue their slow run at the Pac-12 South title that they probably won’t get but them being actually still in it is hilarious and pathetic all at once.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#5 Oklahoma at Kansas State	Noon
Illinois at Purdue	Noon
Liberty at Rutgers	Noon
San Jose State at Army	Noon
Miami at Pittsburgh	Noon
#20 Iowa at Northwestern	Noon
#21 Appalachian State at South Alabama	Noon
#13 Wisconsin at #3 Ohio State	Noon
Mississippi State at Texas A&M	Noon

I am still not understanding why the ACC Network does not show all the ACC games not being shown on ABC or an ESPN network. The fact that the regional FOX networks still exist to show these games are weird. I guess that’s part of the weird agreement as these FOX RSN’s kind of flap in the wind and no one really owns them.

As for the schedule, it’s pretty good. tOSU-Wisky a little less important than it was before the Badgers’ upset loss to Illinois. Huge Sun Belt game as App State continues to try and stay in the New Year’s Six conversation.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#6 Penn State at Michigan State	3:30 PM
Virginia at Louisville	3:30 PM
Indiana at Nebraska	3:30 PM
#9 Auburn at #2 LSU	3:30 PM
Tulane at Navy	3:30 PM
Maryland at #17 Minnesota	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Florida State	3:30 PM
#15 Texas at TCU	3:30 PM
Oklahoma State at #23 Iowa State	3:30 PM
FIU at Middle Tennessee	3:30 PM
Arizona at Stanford	3:30 PM
USF at East Carolina	3:45 PM
Duke at North Carolina	4:00 PM
South Carolina at Tennessee	4:00 PM

A massive CBS game overshadows pretty much everything in this timeslot. We shall see whether LSU is looking ahead to Bama or is smart enough to realize that the Tide’s big rival is a force as well. CBS (and more importantly, poor Brad Nessler) gets a gift from the college football gods and gets this game between two Top 10 teams in their SEC on CBS afternoon timeslot. Easily the game of the day (which I will tell you again below) and could be one of the most important games of this season.

I have noticed something this year: no reverse mirrors. That’s nice to see to be honest. Honestly, in 2019, it has to be a headache to have these reverse mirrors. Especially since pretty much all college football fans would probably have both ABC and ESPN2 so it would make no difference which channel it’s on. Also, for us Canadians, the specialty packs (or more like the people running the specialty packs) don’t have to worry about fucking up and showing the same game as is being shown on ABC.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Memphis at Tulsa	7:00 PM
Arkansas at #1 Alabama	7:00 PM
UCF at Temple	7:00 PM
Texas Tech at Kansas	7:00 PM
#8 Notre Dame at #19 Michigan	7:30 PM
Boston College at #4 Clemson	7:30 PM
Colorado State at Fresno State	7:30 PM
Arizona State at UCLA	7:30 PM
Missouri at Kentucky	7:30 PM

Notre Dame-Michigan. What else do we need to say? These two teams could both be under .500 and they would still get a huge audience. It’s just the facts. It also helps that there is nothing else that could really be the top game in this timeslot.

Not quite as good as the afternoon slate. Not even really close. But these are the kinds of schedules that can give us great games. Clemson has to show they are still CFP-worthy, Temple has a test hosting UCF and could Les Miles finally get his Jayhawks to crawl out of the basement?

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
California at #12 Utah	10:00 PM
Utah State at Air Force	10:15 PM
San Diego State at UNLV	10:30 PM
Washington State at #11 Oregon	10:30 PM

Two Pac-12 After Dark games and two Late Night Mountain West games. I would say Wazzu-Oregon is the most important game in this timeslot but Cal-Utah could be interesting as well. Oregon and Utah are on a collision course in the Pac-12 title game so any hiccups would be a huge blow to the entire conference (I feel like I say this every week).

Games to set your eyeballs on

Auburn at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Tiger Bowl time! At one point there was doubt whether this would be the game of the week. That’s not the case now. I am finally used to offensive juggernaut LSU. It took a while but I am all in with this. I think we are heading towards a 1 vs. 2 showdown with the Tigers and Bama…unless the Gus Bus decides to run over Da Coach O and sets up a huge Iron Bowl about a month from now.

Wisconsin at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – No one should sleep on the Badgers despite their crushing loss to Illinois. Paul Chryst is still one of the better coaches in college football right now. They have Jonathan Taylor on the ground. They have a team that could still sneak into the College Football Playoff. We know what can happen here. Wisky is still looking up at Minnesota in the Big Ten West but the Badgers hold their fate in their hands. Win out and it’s off to Indianapolis. Ohio State, on the other hand, is sneaking up on nobody and there are some that think this team is the best in the country. Justin Fields has been better than advertised and Chase Young is, arguably, the best defensive player in college football. This could end up being a slobberknocker (as ol’ JR would say).

Notre Dame at Michigan (7:30, ABC) – I may even be stretching it putting this game at #3 but I am going with my gut here. I am starting to get a little sick of the Harbaugh Hot Seat talks. The guy wins, on average, almost ten games a season. Some programs would kill to have a coach like that. Yet Michigan fans think the year starts with a 1 and that they should be Top 10 every year and in the national championship conversation. Not saying Michigan has underperformed at times, but they aren’t terrible. Plus, who else would you hire that would be willing to come to the pressure cooker in Ann Arbor?

Washington State at Oregon (10:30, specialty pack) – Here is Wazzu’s chance to destroy the Pac-12’s CFP hopes. A surprisingly pedestrian 4-3 Cougs team could give the Ducks some trouble with Anthony Gordon throwing the ball like 83 times a game. Oregon’s defense will be tested for sure. As I mentioned above, this is the kind of game the Ducks need to win easily, not like they did against Washington the previous week. In the end though, you have to admit that Mario Cristobal has done a great job in Eugene which isn’t surprising (except to schools like FIU who fired him for some odd reason a few years ago).

Oklahoma at Kansas State (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – The list of best games falls off a cliff here. There could have been like six or seven different games here and every one of them would have been fine in this spot. Anyway, this may be the best spot for something weird to happen as Kansas State is pretty good under Chris Klieman and could pull off the upset to create at least a bit more chaos at the top.

Honourable mention: Penn State at Michigan State (3:30, ABC); Oklahoma State at Iowa State (3:30, FloSports); California at Utah (10:00, FloSports)

Some gambling fun and games

OK I got none of my upset picks correct. For a bit, I thought Washington and Oklahoma State would pull it off but no. As for the rest of my picks I was almost perfect so let’s see if we can keep that ball rolling this week.

Michigan over Notre Dame (upset to start things off)

Utah over California

Oregon over Washington State

Michigan State over Penn State (another upset!)

Ohio State over Wisconsin

LSU over Auburn

Oklahoma over Kansas State

Iowa State over Oklahoma State

FIU over Middle Tennessee

Florida State over Syracuse

San Diego State over UNLV

As I said before…we are not quite at football every day. Soon though.

Thursday Night Football again! We get Washington heading to Minnesota. Not the greatest game but they can’t all be. I have heard a few people marvel at the games that TNF gets. Well since they aren’t ESPN, the NFL isn’t going to give them the shittiest games. That’s basically the gist of it. It really has replaced Monday Night Football as the second-best night game of the week. Like I know MNF is an institution but to be honest, I could do without it. And many teams would feel the same way I’m sure as a lot of times these teams get a short week to prepare after their MNF game and it’s amazing what one less day of rest and practice can do.

Also, you may have noticed I finally have Pac-12 Network listings on DAZN. So if you get DAZN, you’re welcome.

Will I watch like 26 hours of football this weekend? No. But I will do my best to watch as much as I can. At some point I have other plans and have certain things to do. Not making excuses. Just saying that some of my recaps might make it seem like I barely watched the game. And that might be true. Enjoy the games everyone!

PONY UP! – Week 6 College Football Recap

Posted on October 7, 2019 by guelphbossman

It’s like 1982 all over again!

If you don’t know much about the history of SMU and the Southwest Conference, then let’s take a trip down memory lane. Back to the early to mid-80s. The days of Eric Dickerson (who definitely didn’t know about any improprieties…sure), hooker killer Craig James and a merry band of insane boosters. The days when the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University were the toast of the Southwest Conference (along with Texas of course). Then came the NCAA and they came down hard on the school giving them the only football death penalty ever given. What it did to the football program was catastrophic. It has taken them over three decades to return to being a contender of sorts. But it finally has come. They came into their home game with Tulsa ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1982. So how did they start? By going down 30-9 after three quarters to an average-at-best Golden Hurricane team. Ouch.

Then one of the best comebacks in recent memory occurred. The Mustangs scored three straight touchdowns to force overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime. Then SMU fumbled and Tulsa recovered. All they had to do was get a field goal and they win. Instead they fail to gain a yard and a kicker who had never kicked a field goal in a college football game missed just wide left to send the game to triple overtime. There, Tulsa was stopped again and James Proche caught a Shane Buechele pass in the corner of the end zone for the TD and to finish the wild comeback. Things are hopping in Dallas right now and there is some serious New Year’s Six chatter following this team. Good to see a team who has struggled for decades finally put it all together.

As for the rest of the weekend it was…technically college football. A couple more really good games but for the most part it wasn’t the greatest week of college football I have watched. Closer to the worst to be honest. Let’s get down to recapping all this shall we?

And now for the rest of the recap

A great game down in Gainesville this past weekend. Florida won over Auburn in a game many would call an upset. I would kind of agree since up until this point the Tigers looked like a great team and Florida looked like a very overrated Top 10 team. Instead the Gators gutted out a win and now their Cocktail Party game against Georgia could have massive implications. As for the ol’ Gus Bus, it was a flat tire for sure. The bus needs some work and wasn’t roadworthy on Saturday. They have a fairly difficult rest of the schedule so games like that can’t be repeated if they are looking at a NY6 spot.
Another kinda sorta upset type of thing on Friday night. Cincinnati held on to beat UCF in front of a raucous home crowd. For a while it looked like the Knights would pull away and get back to being in the New Year’s Six conversation. Problem is, the Fighting Fickells wouldn’t go away. If it wasn’t for UC’s defense (in the second half) and the running of Michael Warren II, the Bearcats probably wouldn’t have been close. I was right with my pick so now I wonder if UCF can even get back into the NY6 talk. I say no.
How about that game down in south Florida? Miami was way down to Virginia Tech, 28-7 going into the second half. They came all the way back only to gack the game away in the end. The ACC Coastal is a mess, let’s be honest. Other than Virginia, no team seems to want to be on top. So knowing how things are going, we can expect Pitt to somehow win the division.
Speaking of Pitt, they almost allowed Duke to come back from down 23 points in the third quarter. It felt like the Pittening was about to happen. The Panthers were able to hold on as they continue to confound media pundits who can’t get a true read on this team.
Louisville beat Boston College. Seriously. I watched none of it since I couldn’t find the ending of the damn game. Louisville could be good again. That seems shocking. Also, I think the end of the line is coming for Mister Dudes Being Dudes, Steve Addazio. The fanbase is fine with winning seven games every year and not coming close to contending for a division title. But winning four games is unacceptable goddamit.
Let history show that the Tennessee football Volunteers led Georgia 14-13 in a game in 2019. I know that UGA scored the last thirty points of the game but for a bit, the Vols were competitive. It was nice to see. Now we have to wonder if Jeremy Pruitt will survive to the next decade. I’m skeptical. Good ol’ Rocky Bottom.
I thought Michigan State could keep it close. I really did. This Buckeyes team looks like it could be more dominant than any of Urban Meyer’s squads. Justin Fields has pushed his way into the Heisman conversation and the whole offense just looks overwhelming. I mean don’t get me wrong: I could probably coach this team to bowl eligibility. But Ryan Day is doing something special in Columbus and it could lead to a spot in the College Football Playoff if things keep going this way.
Texas kind of struggled with the Mountaineers of West Virginia. Not a good look for the Longhorns that’s for sure. Whether anyone can even approach the Sooners in the Big XII (they beat Kansas pretty thoroughly) is up in the air but it doesn’t look to be the case. The Big XII has basically become Oklahoma and nine other teams.
For a while, the Cal-Oregon game was resembling last year’s Cheez-It Bowl. A hilariously poor showing of football in all facets. I mean Oregon pulled it out in the end but geez they didn’t actually look that great. The Pac-12 is a bit of a dumpster fire at this point.
P.J. Fleck is Rowing That God Damn Boat in Minneapolis. The Gophers are 5-0 and look like they will probably be 8-0 when they get into November. I find it interesting that this team is STILL not in the Top 25 and are getting no CFP chatter. This team could be one of the most underrated teams in recent memory and they may shock a few teams along the way.
In yet another upset, Texas Tech PEW! PEW! PEWed their way over Oklahoma State. It was a fun game that had no shortage of offense and shows that the Big XII mid-card is rather strong.
What is Washington’s deal with Stanford? They looked great last week against USC and then can’t do anything against an average Cardinal team. It’s yet another nail in the Pac-12’s CFP coffin. And it’s early October. Good lord.
Back to speaking about games that resembled the Cheez-It Bowl. Michigan beat Iowa 10-3 in an absolute snoozer…unless you love punting. If you love punting this was the game for you. This was so awful to watch and really does not show either team in a good light going forward. One of these teams is going to somehow end up in the New Year’s Six, I just know it.
USF’s game against UConn was moved to Noon thanks to a mosquito-borne infection of sorts in the Hartford/Storrs area. Only at UConn. Anyway, it was supposed to be live on CBS Sports Network at 7:00 and instead went to the website with a tape delayed broadcast at 7. How many people watched this rebroadcast? Did it even hit triple digits? They should have just ran a long version of their highlights show, Inside College Football.
Finally, Tulane took down Army. So now you have to include the Green Wave (of all teams) in the Group of Five conversation. Who knows if they can actually crack the top tier but Willie Fritz has to be commended for taking what was mostly a woebegone program and has steered it in the right direction.

Not the most amazing weekend, not gonna lie. We need a seriously crazy weekend of college football so even at 2 in the morning I am still wide awake because I can’t believe what has happened in the previous 14 hours.

Alright, let’s now look at the Bossman Top 25:

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

Yes there are some differences between my rankings and the AP Poll. I have Ohio State at #2 and Clemson down at #5. Clemson will definitely move up as at least one of the teams above them lose. As for #6 through #9, pick the teams out of a hat to figure out the order. A lot can happen the rest of the way and at this point, no one team is that much better than another. Yes I have Minnesota at #25. I know the AP Poll doesn’t have them in there but man they deserve to be there in my humble opinion. Also, yes I have Missouri at #24. It sounds like they won’t be bowling this year but still, they are playing well. Of course this year, of all years, they are under sanctions. Bad luck.

Hey guess what we have? FUN BELT! Yes, weekday Sun Belt action is back and it starts on Wednesday night. 8:00 but only on the specialty pack. And it’s a big one. Appalachian State and Louisiana. I love weekday football. Honestly, and I know I rail on the NFL being on Thursday but between late August and early January, the more football the better. Have a good week everyone!

The Land of the Undefeated 5.0

Posted on October 1, 2019 by guelphbossman

It’s the fifth edition of The Land of The Undefeated! If you haven’t read the first four, no worries. Spoiler alert: it has to do with a serious lack of losing.

For the fifth year in a row I will look at the current undefeated teams and predict how they will do the rest of the way. This should be fun, right? Don’t answer that. We know how this will turn out in some cases.

#1 Alabama (5-0) – The Tide, again, have crushed everyone in their path so far. However, they have Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn on the schedule the rest of the way. I think they lose one of those. It won’t be enough to knock them out of the SEC Championship or College Football Playoff though. Predicted record: 11-1.

#2 Clemson (5-0) – I can’t say the same about Clemson. They almost lost to North Carolina. But they are still in the ACC so I can’t see them losing a game the rest of the way. They should still make the ACC Championship rather easily. But imagine if they do lose to like, Wake Forest? The media would have a field day. Predicted record: 12-0.

#3 Georgia (4-0) – I figured they would be undefeated until now. Other than Notre Dame the sked has been pretty easy. Not saying it won’t all go to shit at some point. They’ve probably already clinched the SEC East despite the fact Florida is ranked so highly at this point. But I still think they will lose once along the way and it will be, at least, a mild upset. Predicted record: 11-1.

#4 Ohio State (5-0) – Some have them #1 right now. I think they have almost peaked and will drop a bit towards the end of the season. They won’t get out of the Big Ten unscathed despite their fantastic start. Predicted record: 10-2.

#5 LSU (4-0) – Is Joe Burrow a legitimate Heisman candidate now? He sure is and now that the Tigers have a passing game, they are seriously dangerous. Unfortunately, the SEC is difficult and I see them tripping up once the rest of the way. Predicted record: 11-1.

#6 Oklahoma (4-0) – The Sooners have all the ingredients now to make a serious run. They get past Texas this coming Saturday then there’s probably nothing that can stop them down the stretch. As much as the Big XII has improved as a whole, no one matches Oklahoma at this point. Predicted record: 12-0.

#7 Auburn (5-0) – Here may be the big surprise near the top of the rankings. No one believed the Gus Bus would be rolling this well into October. They have a bunch of minefields the rest of the way and there’s no way they run the table but I can see them at least being in the College Football Playoff conversation into November. Predicted record: 11-1.

#8 Wisconsin (4-0) – They’ve looked quite good so far. OK they have looked awesome. They have decided that the Nebraska hype and the good Iowa start means nothing to them and they plan to continue to dominate the Big Ten West. A game between them and Ohio State could be an explosive Big Ten Championship and I would look forward to GUS JOHNSON on the call. Predicted record: 10-2.

#10 Florida (5-0) – At this point I can say the Gators are probably the most overrated team in the Top 10. But their schedule is kind of in their favour for a bit. Once they get to the Cocktail Party though I think the dream ends. Now watch them blow Georgia out and ascend into the Top 4. Predicted record: 9-3.

#12 Penn State (4-0) – No one talks about Penn State yet here they are at twelve. The Nittany Lions are rolling so far but soon enough they get into the meat of their Big Ten schedule. I think they will start to struggle soon with the week-in-week-out of the second toughest conference in the land (despite what some people love to say). Also, Penn State in, say, the New Year’s Six would drive some people nuts because in their mind the entire university (and the forty towns around it) should have been burned to the ground. Predicted record: 9-3.

#14 Iowa (4-0) – I would say the Hawkeyes are a bit of a surprise at this point. No one thought this team would be this good. Kirk Ferentz may be doing his best job yet in Iowa City. Saying that, they have a full Big Ten schedule ahead of him so it will be not easy going forward. Predicted record: 9-3.

#16 Boise State (4-0) – It’s Boise. It doesn’t seem surprising to see them here. They just need Hank Bachmeier to seriously step up despite the fact he’s a freshman and he’s already done not bad. Plus how can’t you cheer for this team? They are always considered one of the Group of Five powers and the smurf turf is fun even though sometimes it’s not easy on the eyes. They stay undefeated, the spot in the New Year’s Six is theirs. Lose and it opens up to a LOT of teams. Predicted record: 12-0.

#22 Wake Forest (5-0) – Dave Clawson is doing an amazing job in Winston-Salem with the Demon Deacons. I mean it won’t continue but for now it’s a nice surprise. Predicted record: 7-5.

#24 SMU (5-0) – Quite the start for the Stangs. Big wins over TCU and USF. And realistically they could be 8-0 when they head to Memphis in November. The Fighting Dykes (man that sounds wrong) are hoping that this is the case as they have to be considered a dark horse Group of Five contender as we head into October. Predicted record: 10-2.

Minnesota (4-0) – The Gophers have not made it easy on themselves. A sneaky tough non-conference schedule and then a conference opener against Purdue. And all the games were close. It is kind of surprising to see an undefeated Power Five team not in the Top 25 going into October but here we are. Soon enough we will know why as their boat will hit a whirlpool. Predicted record: 8-4.

Baylor (4-0) – Speaking of fantastic coaching jobs, you have to put Matt Rhule near the top of the list. Considering what it was like there at the end of the Art Briles era, this is a quick turnaround. Again, it’s another team that many people like to hate for non-football reasons (kind of…although some of it is very justified) but it’s a nice story what is happening in Waco. It won’t continue, so they better savour it for now. Predicted record: 8-4.

Memphis (4-0) – I’ll be honest with you: I still have the Tigers as my Group of Five pick for the NY6. Juuuuuuuuuuuuust ahead of Boise State. They haven’t inspired a lot of hope with their play so far but they continue to win and that’s good enough for me. Predicted record: 12-0.

Appalachian State (4-0) – When is the last time that a Sun Belt team has gone into October with a perfect record? I can’t remember it. App State may be the best chance the Sun Belt has ever had for being in a big-time bowl game at the end of the season. I see them tripping once the rest of the way which would be enough to eliminate them but for now it’s exciting times in Boone. Predicted record: 11-1.

18 undefeated teams left as we move from September into October. Seems like a lot but don’t be surprised if have less than half of that by the time the calendar turns to November. Or we could have total chaos and have like only two or three left by Halloween. God would that be fun. Who disagrees with that?

Thursday is the college football schedule and Friday is the NFL schedule as usual. Nothing changes there. Have a great Tuesday!

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: Gus Bus

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