What’s Gonna Happen Next? – Week 15 NFL TV Schedule

2021 has not been as ridiculous as 2020 was…except for one team.  The Jacksonville Jaguars have basically been a sitcom this season.  And their main character is Urban Meyer.  To say this has been a disastrous few months for Meyer and the Jags is an understatement.  Not like anyone thought they would good but no one could have predicted the drama surrounding this franchise.  And it has continued with the latest story out of Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuval.  Looks like Urbs decided to kick Josh Lambo’s leg while he was stretching before a preseason practice.  Lambo is their kicker.  Lambo was pissed off about this and in the end Urban said “I’m the head ball coach.  I’ll kick you whenever the fuck I want.”  First of all, asshole, Steve Spurrier is the HBC.  Secondly, Lambo is your fucking kicker.  What was the point of even doing that?  Maybe he knew it was going to be a shitshow and decided to start things early.  All I know is I would hate to be a Jag-you-ares fan right now, that is for sure.

UPDATE: Urb was kicked to the curb.  He was shitcanned overnight.

Alright on to the schedule which also includes a certain team that we almost never see up here from Duval County in Florida.

Thursday

Kansas City at LA Chargers

8:20, FOX, TSN1/3/4, CTV Two

Saturday

New England at Indianapolis

8:15, TSN1/5, CTV Two

Sunday Early

Tennessee at Pittsburgh	All affiliates (except Detroit & Buffalo)		Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Atlantic		London, Toronto
Houston at Jacksonville
NY Jets at Miami
Carolina at Buffalo		Buffalo, Rochester, Boston	Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto		Atlantic
Arizona at Detroit		Detroit		TSN1, TSN5	Ottawa
Washington at Philadelphia (moved to Tuesday)
Dallas at NY Giants		Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Minneapolis, Burlington	Montreal		Vancouver Island, Alberta

Sunday Late

Cincinnati at Denver	Buffalo			TSN1
Atlanta at San Francisco	Detroit
Seattle at LA Rams (moved to Tuesday)
Green Bay at Baltimore		Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Boston, Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane	Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Alberta		Atlantic

Sunday/Monday/TUESDAY! Primetime

New Orleans at Tampa Bay	Sunday, 8:20, NBC, TSN1/3/4, CTV Two
Las Vegas at Cleveland	Monday, 5:00, TSN1
Minnesota at Chicago	Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN1/3
Washington at Philadelphia	Tuesday, 7:00, FOX (Minneapolis, Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Boston)
Seattle at LA Rams	Tuesday, 7:00, FOX (Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Detroit)

Potentially Exciting Notes (probably not from Duval)

• Hey remember those good Monday Night Football Games we’ve been getting?  Well fuck all that noise because now we are given the Vikings and the Bears in an NFC Norris battle that no one really asked for.  Then again, I’d say the SNF game is only slightly better since I can’t see the Saints beating the Bucs.  I really don’t care as long as Taysom Hill does well for me in fantasy.
• The cross-flex train hits again.  CBS gets the Falcons-Niners game in the late window which very few people in North America (let alone Canada) can watch (except for Sunday Ticket and RedZone of course).  I’m thinking it’s about time to stop talking about this since finally, after doing this for years now, very few people care about the supposed ramifications of the cross-flex.
• TSN is still using very few stations during the day on Sunday to show the NFL.  I just don’t get it.  Let’s see what they are showing instead:
  • On TSN2 there’s NCAA women’s basketball.  OK.  And the WNBA Draft Lottery.  That’s fine.  Both are live.  Then the Top 50 Best and Worst Celebrations.  Good lord.
  • On TSN3, the Blues-Jets game is right in the middle of the timeslot at 3:00 so there’s nothing much you can do about that.
  • On TSN4, there’s NCAA women’s basketball and then a LaLiga game?  And then they plan to go to the Bengals-Broncos game around halftime.  OK then.
  • And then on TSN5, the Bruins-Senators game is on at 5:00.  What the fuck is it with these weird start times for NHL games?
• OK so much of the stuff is live sports or events which is fine.  So I will give TSN a pass this time.

UPDATE #2: The Raiders-Browns game has been moved to Monday at 5:00 due to the Browns being decimated by positive COVID tests.  I don’t know how two days is going to make that much of a difference but that’s what the NFL has decided for now.

UPDATE #3: People who get their CBS affiliate out of Detroit will no longer get the Bengals-Broncos game as it has been switched to the Falcons-49ers game.  Kind of sucks but at least Kevin Harlan is on the call.

UPDATE #4: The WFT-Eagles and Seahawks-Rams games have been moved to Tuesday night because of issues with COVID.  Both games start at 7:00.  The plan is to split the country: one part will get one game and one will get another.  The game you don’t get you can get if you have Sunday Ticket.  I will update you once that map comes available from 506sports.

UPDATE #5: Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane and Detroit will receive the Seahawks-Rams game on Tuesday.  The rest of the affiliates will get WFT-Eagles.  I will update you on what the CTV/CTV2/TSN info will be on these games (plus the new Monday afternooner/early eveninger).

UPDATE #6: The Raiders-Browns game will not be seen on CTV2.  It can be seen on TSN1.

UPDATE #7: The two Tuesday games will only be seen on FOX as far as I can tell.  The other game not shown in your area can be seen on Sunday Ticket if you have it.  Otherwise, from what I can tell, you will be shit out of luck.  Kind of surprised they didn’t get go with a 7:00/10:00 split on the games but I assume it has a lot to do with local news on FOX channels.

UPDATE #8: The WFT-Eagles game can be seen on TSN1 and TSN5.  The Seahawks-Rams game will be on TSN4.

Updated playoff picture time!

#1 – New England	#1 – Green Bay
#2 – Tennessee	#2 – Tampa Bay
#3 – Kansas City	#3 – Arizona
#4 – Baltimore	#4 – Dallas
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 – LA Chargers	#5 – LA Rams
#6 – Indianapolis	#6 – San Francisco
#7 – Buffalo/Cleveland/Cincinnati/Denver	#7 – Washington/Minnesota/Philadelphia/Atlanta/New Orleans

Look at that dog’s breakfast.  The good thing is that with no teams clinched yet this is going to be one of the wildest final quarters of the season ever.  Let’s see what can happen in terms of solidifying the playoff picture this week:

First Round Bye

• No team can clinch a first round bye this week

Division Title

• Tennessee clinches with a win AND an Indianapolis loss
• Green Bay clinches with a win OR a Minnesota loss
• Tampa Bay clinches with a win

Playoff Berth

• New England clinches with a win AND a Miami loss AND a Cleveland loss AND (a Baltimore loss AND a Cincinnati loss AND a Kansas City loss) OR (a Baltimore loss AND a Denver loss AND a LA Chargers loss) OR (a Pittsburgh loss AND a Denver loss AND a LA Chargers loss) OR (a Baltimore loss AND a Pittsburgh loss AND a Cincinnati loss) OR (a Baltimore loss AND a Cincinnati loss AND a LA Chargers loss)
• Green Bay clinches with a New Orleans loss AND a San Francisco loss
• Tampa Bay clinches with a Minnesota loss AND a San Francisco loss
• Arizona clinches with a win OR (a New Orleans loss AND a Minnesota loss) OR (a New Orleans loss AND a Philadelphia loss AND an Atlanta loss AND a Green Bay win) OR (a Minnesota loss AND a San Francisco loss)
• Dallas clinches with a win AND a New Orleans loss OR a San Francisco loss
• LA Rams clinch with a win AND a New Orleans loss AND a Minnesota loss

So the Patriots are not clinching this week.

Hey the elimination list has more than one team!

• Detroit
• Jacksonville
• Houston
• NY Jets

Four teams and every one of them is a gongshow (with the Jags being the worst of the bunch somehow).  No other teams can join this list this week.  This is crazy.  Again, the NFL has to be loving this.

Alright enjoy all the games and enjoy the upcoming weekend!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

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

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

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

Poor Tua – Week 12 College Football Recap

You all saw it.  Tua Tagovailoa’s injury.  Yeah it wasn’t great.  His season is over.  And of course Twitter, being full of very level-headed people, went crazy.  Even I was involved a bit.  But I have calmed down since then.  So let’s discuss this situation here.  Yes Tua was in when he didn’t have to be.  But here’s the issue: if he was starting the game, when is the appropriate time to take him out?  Yes a lot of people pointed at the score and said because it was 35-7 he should have been pulled by then.  I kind of disagree.  Very few coaches (and very few fans) would pull a quarterback with a few minutes left in the first half.  It would probably be done at halftime which makes much more sense.  My issue is the fact that he was in the game at all.  Unless the game was close at halftime or any time in the second half, why test it?  I figured he shouldn’t have started at all and just appeared if need be.  But again, hindsight is 20/20.  And in the end, it won’t matter if Bama wins their final two games anyway.

Now on to the rest of the recap.

Recap

• Oklahoma was able to eek out the victory over Baylor.  Baylor had a 28-3 lead (yeah, I know) and blew it.  Amazingly enough it was the largest comeback in Sooner history.  That is actually a pretty wild stat considering how many games Boomer Sooner has won.  Also, this was done without CeeDee Lamb in the lineup.  Have to consider it one of the most impressive wins of the season.  The funny thing is that it looks like there probably will be a rematch in a few weeks time at JerryWorld between these two teams.  And if the Bears win the rematch, ho boy.  The game that the Big XII asked the NCAA for a waiver to hold so that they could get that thirteenth data point making it easier for their teams to get to the College Football Playoff could end up leaving them out in the cold.  That would be quite the irony.
• Clemson beat Wake Forest easily.  Notre Dame beat Navy even easier in what was supposed to be one of the games of the week.  Both teams are in the thick of the CFP/NY6 conversation yet it could be easily derailed over the last two weeks, Clemson’s ACC title game appearance notwithstanding.
• For three quarters, Georgia-Auburn, my choice of the game of the week, was a complete snoozefest.  Georgia had a 21-0 lead and all seemed lost.  Then the Tigers alarm clock must have went off since they started actually playing.  They got to within seven points but could not convert one last time as their final drive was a disaster.  This meant that Georgia was going back to the SEC Championship but won’t have to face Bama this time.  Lucky them they will probably get LSU who is just as dominant as any of the Tide teams of the past few years have been.
• Oregon beat up on Arizona and Utah did the same to UCLA.  So those two teams continue their march to the Pac-12 Championship (on a Friday night).  And all for the opportunity to possibly still be the #5 seed and be on the outside of the CFP looking in.  Because The Committee has always done things the proper way, right?  They won’t let bias come into play.  I’m sure of it.  Seriously………maybe I should have used Comic Sans for those last few sentences.
• One of the upsets of the day was Kansas State falling to West Virginia.  We all knew the Mountaineers were going to struggle this year but it has been a difficult first season for Neal Brown.  What their win did do, however, was possibly weaken Oklahoma’s resume for the College Football Playoff.  Oklahoma’s only loss, remember, is to Kansas State and that loss is looking worse and worse as the weeks go by.
• Minnesota went to the spot where Big Ten CFP hopes go to die and did what a few others have done: lose to a tough Iowa team.  Minnesota isn’t out of the conversation yet but they are on life support for the CFP.  They still have a decent shot at the New Year’s Six though.  But yeah, Kinnick Stadium is not easy as a visitor.  Honestly, neither is Jack Trice Stadium.  Actually, maybe teams should just avoid the state of Iowa altogether.
• Cincinnati beat USF in a very close one.  I feel very bad for the USF kicker.  He missed four field goals and that was the difference in their loss to the Bearcats.  It also keeps Cincinnati in the catbird seat for the Group of Five.  Win out and they should be the Cotton Bowl selection.
• Oregon State beat Arizona State and are now one win away from bowl eligibility.  But since it was on the Pac-12 Network very few people would have watched it.
• Florida State is bowl-eligible!  I mean they did it by beating Alabama State but still.  Now they don’t have to worry about beating Florida to go bowling.
• Iowa State beat Texas (barely) and also became bowl-eligible.  Worst part is they are 11 points away from being undefeated and being three games away from an unlikely College Football Playoff appearance.  They are making losing close games an artform.  One day, they will get to the Big XII Championship and, at the very least, cause some damage to a true contender or, if Matt Campbell keeps progressing as a coach, be the team to beat in the conference.  Which would drive Oklahoma and Texas fans insane.
• I try not to be too biased but I was hoping Indiana could beat Penn State this past Saturday because it would have started an uncomfortable conversation in the College Football Playoff Committee room.  Imagine hearing “OK, let’s look at Indiana’s resume.”  Would have been so good to have them debate the merits of the Hoosiers in the New Year’s Six.
• Oh forgot to mention the photographer that got trucked in the UGA-Auburn game.  She was unconscious for a while and it was a scary moment.  Worst part of the whole thing?  Gary Danielson acting like a complete asshole about it.  I hope CBS doesn’t bring that buffoon back next season.  Promote Aaron Taylor or Rick Neuheisel to that spot and put Danielson in the studio.

We are now getting into the real important part of the season.  Even this coming week is fairly decent and not as “sleepwalk-y” as normal.  Anyway, here’s my Top 25 that, again, had some good movement:

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

I get it.  You may not be happy with Georgia at #2.  But they just beat Auburn and recently beat Florida so I think they belong there.  Saying that, they don’t move to #1 and will probably move down a spot or three leading up to the SEC Championship.  So no need to worry my friends.  Utah and Oregon are sitting in the weeds at #6 and #7 with the winner of the Pac-12 Championship hoping they aren’t left out at #5.  Baylor and Minnesota, despite both losing, didn’t fall too far and still have (very) slim hopes and at least are in the NY6 race.  Oh, and Cincinnati, Memphis, Boise State, SMU and Appalachian State are between the #17 and #24 spots and there should be a fun race to the finish in the Group of Five.

Alright, Monday Night Football tonight in a game that many people will probably actually watch.  The Chiefs and Chargers travel to Mexico City and there will actually be a game played there this time around.  If the Chiefs lose, then it’s the Raiders (yes, the RAIDERS!) who would lead the AFC West.  That is a fun thought with the Raiders leaving for Las Vegas next season.

Also, we got some more MACtion tomorrow night!  Eastern Michigan-Northern Illinois and Ohio-Bowling Green are on the specialty pack Tuesday night.  Actually all the games through Thursday night are appearing on the specialty pack so if you want weekday football, you know what you have to do.

Tomorrow we got some bowl projections (which aren’t early anymore).  Thursday there will be the college football week that isn’t so shitty anymore and its TV schedule.  Finally, the NFL gets the sked treatment on Friday.  Enjoy your week (and the games) everyone!