2023 Bowl Game Rankings and Predictions for those Bowl Games!

Posted on December 15, 2023 by guelphbossman

We are a little over a week away from Christmas. You have your Bowl Season schedule and now you need some Bowl Game rankings and Bowl Game predictions from your friendly neighbourhood Bossman.

Time to go back to basics…I think? After introducing the Play-by-Play Announcer Scale last year we are heading back in time to the broadcasting network scale. An oldie but a goodie but since much has changed in the past few years, there are a couple of newbies and some networks that just don’t broadcast college football anymore. So let’s get right into this!

Now one thing that will change is this will be in tiers. 8 tiers like last year but with networks instead of announcers. Let’s fucking go!

The ABC Saturday Night Tier

Game of the Year type games right here. The games that matter. In this day and age that means the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six.

Rose Bowl – #1 Michigan vs. #4 Alabama (Jan. 1, 5:00, TSN3) – This will get a lot of viewers. I am starting to wonder if ESPN kind of helped with all the controversy to get even more people to watch. Let’s be honest: these two teams may be the two most hated college football teams in the land right now. And they are both just fine with that. Expect this to be a very close and very exciting game. My pick: Michigan 36 Alabama 31.

Sugar Bowl – #2 Washington vs. #3 Texas (Jan. 1, 8:45, TSN3) – They should have had the Rose and Sugar as the College Football Playoff semi-finals from the get-go. But it’s college football so they sometimes trip over themselves figuring things out. They still haven’t learned from having games on New Year’s Eve where the ratings, while still good, were probably much lower than they could have been. Normally one CFP semi-final is a fair amount worse than the other. This is the case this year and it has nothing to do with the Huskies or the Longhorns. At least it feels like both game will be really good because it’s rough to watch a CFP game get out of hand (see 2022 national championship). My pick: Washington 27 Texas 24.

Peach Bowl – #10 Penn State vs. #11 Ole Miss (Dec. 30, Noon, TSN5) – Two teams with head coaches that their fanbase doesn’t fully trust. I kind of get it but, because it’s college football, many go overboard. I mean who is going to State College or Oxford and doing a lot better than James Frankin or Lane Kiffin are? It would be a tough sell at Penn State to get a truly elite coach and even tougher at Ole Miss. Honestly, both coaches will probably be around through the end of next season so fans might as well focus on this game and stop talking about their next hypothetical coach. My pick: Penn State 21 Ole Miss 14.

Orange Bowl – #5 Florida State vs. #6 Georgia (Dec. 30, 4:00, TSN1/5) – This bowl has gone off the rails and it’s two weeks away. Now we have some Georgia lawmaker wanting to make the Orange Bowl another semi-final. So how the fuck is that going to work, Jethro? The winners get together for a hot game of rock, paper, scissors? Or maybe a three-way Cage of Death match up in Barrow, Alaska. Televised LIVE by ESPN AND NO ONE ELSE of course. What a fucking shitshow. I’m almost ready for the 2024 season to start so we can be done with this season. My pick: Georgia 35 Florida State 25.

Alamo Bowl – #12 Oklahoma vs. #14 Arizona (Dec. 28, 9:15, TSN3) – Well hey look at this. Not a CFP bowl and not an NY6 bowl! I say it almost every year but the Alamo Bowl, on paper, is one of, if not the very, best bowl games outside the major bowls. I wonder what will happen with the tie-ins with the Pac-12 being history. Either way, a great game to watch even if you end up exhausted at work the next day. My pick: Arizona 42 Oklahoma 39.

The SEC on CBS Tier

I’m shedding a tear right now looking at that logo. Long live the SEC on CBS. Things will never be the same again.

Cotton Bowl – #7 Ohio State vs. #9 Missouri (Dec. 29, 8:00, TSN2) – One team who was one win away from being in the College Football Playoff against one team who played way better than anyone expected. I can’t see this game being done before Midnight. Thankfully it’s Saturday the next day. We shall see if the absence of Kyle McCord really does affect the Buckeyes. I think it will. My pick: Missouri 34 Ohio State 20.

Armed Forces Bowl – James Madison vs. Air Force (Dec. 23, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – The best pre-Christmas bowl game and of course it features America’s (Eastern) Team, the James Madison Dukes (America’s (Western) Team resides in Las Cruces as you already know). As for the Falcons, talk about a horrible slide to end their season. They were at the top of the Group of Five mountain going into November and by Selection Sunday were an afterthought. My pick: James Madison 31 Air Force 10.

Pop Tarts Bowl – #18 NC State vs. #25 Kansas State (Dec. 38, 5:45, TSN3) – This has to be the bowl game with the most questions. Nothing to do with the two teams involved who did very well this season but were one or two bad losses away from causing potential chaos. No, I’m talking about the edible Pop Tarts Bowl mascot. You read that right. Edible. Mascot. We don’t even know what flavour it is. Watch it be a really shitty flavour like blueberry or the disappointing chocolate fudge one or grass and dirt. Wait, there’s a pumpkin pie one? That one then. Ugh, just the thought of that makes my stomach churn. My pick: Kansas State 36 NC State 28.

Fiesta Bowl – #8 Oregon vs. #23 Liberty (Jan. 1, 1:00, TSN3) – The worst of the New Year’s Six games and it’s really not even close. That seems to be the take everyone has, partly because Oregon is one win over Washington from being in the playoff and partly because many hate Liberty because of the university itself. Ugh. Oh well, I’d love to say this could be close. I just don’t think it will be. My pick: Oregon 52 Liberty 28.

Citrus Bowl – #17 Iowa vs. #21 Tennessee (Jan. 1, 1:00, ABC/TSN+) – It must look weird to have an Iowa game here but hey, the Iowa defense was one of the best in the country. Sure they couldn’t score for the life of them but defense wins championships, right? It feels like football is trying to do away with that adage. Look, at least the over/under isn’t as ridiculous as the last few Hawkeye games this season (it’s 36.5 the last time I checked which is still low but I digress). My pick: Tennessee 21 Iowa 14.

The Big Noon Kickoff Tier

Really good games that are approaching the SEC on CBS level except when they end up showing Indiana or Nebraska playing a team like Ohio State. Then it’s not so fun and you fear for Gus and Joel’s sanity.

Holiday Bowl – #15 Louisville vs. USC (Dec. 27, 8:00, FOX) – Of course the BNK section has to have the only FOX bowl game. I’m just happy they don’t have a bowl game on FOX Sports One anymore. Sure I can watch it but many Canadians can’t and I am a man of the people. Anyway, GUS won’t get to call any Caleb Williams on-field action because he’s not playing. Between players opting out and players transferring before bowl games, Bowl Season is becoming, I hate to say, a bit of a mess. Hopefully someone fixes it. They won’t though. My pick: Louisville 36 USC 19.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Kansas vs. UNLV (Dec. 26, 9:00, TSN2) – UNLV has been better than advertised this season. Barry Odom has done an unbelievable job in Vegas. And you know my thoughts on Lance Leipold and the direction of the Jayhawk football program. Hell, the renovations are going to be so big that it may cause them to have to play at least one game at Arrowhead Stadium next season. That wouldn’t have happened with the 2010s Kansas Jayhawks. This may end up being one of the most fun games to watch. My pick: Kansas 31 UNLV 27.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – North Carolina vs. West Virginia (Dec. 27, 5:30, TSN5) – I don’t usually like picking sides. But there is something intriguing about the idea of Mack Brown being buried in Duke’s Mayo. OK wait, buried was the wrong word. I didn’t mean… My pick: North Carolina 45 West Virginia 42.

Liberty Bowl – Memphis vs Iowa State (Dec. 29, 3:30, TSN2) – This could be a bit of a track meet game if the Tigers get rolling in front of their home crowd. What I’m saying is: take the over. My pick: Memphis 49 Iowa State 40.

Sun Bowl – #16 Notre Dame vs. #19 Oregon State (Dec. 29, 2:00, CBS) – At one point this was going to be THE non-CFP/non-NY6 bowl game. Then we have D.J. Uiagalelei transferring. Jonathan Smith is now head coach at Michigan State. Sam Hartman might not play for the Irish. From a game that looked like it would be loaded with points, it might not end up being that way now. My pick: Notre Dame 23 Oregon State 21.

The Notre Dame and/or B1G on NBC Tier

Notre Dame games still hold a lot of reverance for fans and the Big Ten will slowly make their mark, especially with Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge calling their games.

Arizona Bowl – Wyoming vs. Toledo (Dec. 30, 4:00, The CW) – Yes the C Fucking W. They may go down in the list of notable networks that have broadcast bowl games like Mizlou Network and the American Sports Network. This bowl is sponsored by Barstool Sports so many won’t watch it just for that. I do kind of get it since it’s like watching a game at one of those sportsbooks in Vegas with 10,000 screens and odds on everything and anything. But it could end up being a good game and I don’t want to miss that, right? My pick: Toledo 33 Wyoming 27.

Cure Bowl – Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH (Dec. 16, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Even though it’s on ABC it might be overshadowed by other bowl games. Which is too bad since we have the MAC champs and the Mountaineers that are back after missing Bowl Season last year (in one of the craziest seasons in Sun Belt history). Don’t sleep on this matchup despite the fact it could be a bit of a defensive slugfest. Like if you enjoy Iowa football this may be your type of game. My pick: Appalachian State 20 Miami-OH 18.

ReliaQuest Bowl – #13 LSU vs. Wisconsin (Jan. 1, Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – The first football game of 2024 is also the first game on this list that is on TSN+ and the specialty packs. Also, if Heisman winner Jayden Daniels does decide to play, this shouldn’t be cloase at all. My pick: LSU 48 Wisconsin 13.

Music City Bowl – Auburn vs. Maryland (Dec. 30, 2:00, ABC/TSN+) – Auburn has been all over the place this year. The highs are always high playing in the SEC. The lows can be very low although a loss to New Mexico State doesn’t look as bad as some may think. This is the younger Tagovailoa’s final game at Maryland and I think he goes out with a bang against an inconsistent Tigers team. My pick: Maryland 49 Auburn 29.

Gator Bowl – #22 Clemson vs. Kentucky (Dec. 29, Noon, TSN2) – If the Tigers hadn’t had a hell of a November, this may have been an even matchup. But it won’t be. At least I doubt it. My pick: Clemson 41 Kentucky 15.

The Late Night ESPN Tier

Jesus Christ that looks horrible. Oh well, I don’t feel like finding another logo. Basically this tier is the ESPN game that’s not the SEC primetime ESPN game of the week. So it could be the Noon, 3:30 or late night affair. So still a pretty good game but a step below the rest.

Independence Bowl – Texas Tech vs. California (Dec. 16, 9:15, TSN+/specialty pack) – This feels like an odd pairing in Shreveport of all places. Maybe next season they can get the Sun Belt champ to play an SEC team here, like God (or the Bossman in various posts) intended. I’m going with the team that scratched and clawed their way to bowl eligibility and have a bit of momentum as they head to the ACC. My pick: California 41 Texas Tech 27.

LA Bowl – UCLA vs. Boise State (Dec. 16, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – This is going up against the rest of opening day of Bowl Season plus a few NFL games plus a couple of lower-level playoff games. So, yeah this isn’t exactly high up on anyone’s list of appointment viewing I’m sure. Considering Gronk is involved, my interest has dwindled even farther. Maybe it will be close and keep my attention. I don’t think it will be though. My pick: Boise State 39 UCLA 26.

New Mexico Bowl – Fresno State vs. New Mexico State (Dec. 16, 5:45, TSN+/specialty pack) – Hey it’s America’s (Western) Team, the New Mexico State Aggies! They ended up giving Liberty quite the run for the Conference USA Championship. They get a head coach-less Bulldogs squad that had the inside track to the Mountain West Championship and blew it because of a loss to, well how about that, New Mexico. The script writes itself. My pick: New Mexico State 44 Fresno State 31.

Texas Bowl – Texas A&M vs. #20 Oklahoma State (Dec. 27, 9:00, TSN5) – Usually this game has been a fairly good one so at least we have that going for it. Problem is you have a team that might not have one of the best running backs in the nation for the game up against a team that just spent a shit-ton of money to get rid of their old coach. It will be close only because neither team will be able to pull away. My pick: Texas A&M 28 Oklahoma State 23.

Birmingham Bowl – Duke vs. Troy (Dec. 23, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – This was looking like a really even game and the kind of game I love to see during bowl season. Instead, Duke loses their quarterback and I have a feeling the Trojans will run away with this one. My pick: Troy 36 Duke 20.

The FS1/ESPN2/ESPNU/SEC Network/ACC Network Tier

If you’re a college football fan you are watching these games. If not, well………

Fenway Bowl – Boston College vs. SMU (Dec. 28, 11:00 AM, TSN3) – It’s late morning football in what should be chilly BAW-stun. This could be considered the Mustangs’ first ACC game as they join the conference next season. I believe they will show the Eagles why they were coveted by the conference. My pick: SMU 48 Boston College 21.

Gasparilla Bowl – Georgia Tech vs. UCF (Dec. 22, 6:30, TSN5) – I don’t get the start time but whatever. The Knights have to consider their first season in the Big XII a success as they go bowling. And Brent Key may have just started the Ramblin’ Wreck’s ascent back up the ACC standings. This should be another good one but I will go with the home cookin’. My pick: UCF 22 Georgia Tech 17.

Hawaii Bowl – Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State (Dec. 24, 10:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – Coastal has had a great run recently so this season feels…a little blah by their now lofty standards. Much of that has to do with the rest of the conference catching up and, for some teams, passing them. I honestly have no real intuition about this game so I will pick the team that doesn’t have to travel clear across the entire country and then half the Pacific Ocean. My pick: San Jose State 45 Coastal Carolina 24.

New Orleans Bowl – Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State (Dec. 16, 2:15, TSN+/specialty pack) – The Ragin’ Cajuns are close to home where they have played in front of some good bowl game crowds at the Superdome. But the Gamecocks are playing in their first bowl game ever and are doing it with RichRod at the helm! No offense to Cajun fans but I have to go with my heart. My pick: Jacksonville State 36 Louisiana 28.

Military Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. Tulane (Dec. 27, 2:00, TSN5) – I am shocked at how well the Hokies did this season. And I was so close at getting my G-5 NY6 pick correct but the Green Wave fell in the American Conference Championship. I usually don’t feel good about teams whose coaches have left for (usually) greener pastures but I think this will be a very close and competitive game. My pick: Tulane 30 Virginia Tech 29.

The CW Tier

When it was announced The CW would be doing an ACC game most weeks, most laughed. I sure did. But holy shit, despite the average commentary, the sub-HD look and the overall lack of production values, they had a few games that hit it out of the park. So you can’t sleep on this station because you might miss a really good game!

Pinstripe Bowl – Rutgers vs. Miami (Dec. 28, 2:15, TSN3) – Ah, an old Big East showdown. Maybe years from now, when conferences hit 28 teams, some teams start to hate it and they break off into smaller conferences, like the Big East. Just a thought. I don’t trust Mario Cristobal to coach this team to a bowl victory as far as I can throw my car. My pick: Rutgers 34 Miami 19.

First Responder Bowl – Rice vs. Texas State (Dec. 26, 5:30, TSN2) – G.J. Kinne has done a fantastic job in San Marcos, coaching the team to its first bowl game ever. Rice did better than expected and could look even better next year in the AAC. This feels like the kind of game that should be on ESPNU that everyone will turn to because there’s the possibility of a fantastic finish. My pick: Texas State 45 Rice 39.

Las Vegas Bowl – Northwestern vs. Utah (Dec. 23, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Got to give the Wildcats kudos for a great season considering what things were looking like heading into it. But they are facing a Utah team that, if it weren’t for injuries, would have been in that super dogfight at the top of the Pac-12. I still think the Utes on most nights are safe pick and this is no exception. My pick: Utah 31 Northwestern 10.

Myrtle Beach Bowl – Georgia Southern vs. Ohio (Dec. 16, 11:00 AM, TSN+/specialty pack) – Ohio has Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke here so…wait…they don’t? Looks like Rourke entered the transfer portal and has already been picked up by Indiana of all the teams. So my Bobcats pick has to be changed to an Eagles pick since without Rourke I don’t think they have a shot here. My pick: Georgia Southern 32 Ohio 13.

Frisco Bowl – UTSA vs. Marshall (Dec. 19, 9:00, TSN3) – This is the same spot the Frisco Bowl was in last year. So yeah it’s not like they are getting amazing teams to come to Frisco (other than North Dakota State most seasons). At least it’s another Texas team here as the Roadrunners meep their way up the state to face the Thundering Herd. I see Frank Harris, in what his finally his final game, lighting it up one last time. My pick: UTSA 51 Marshall 27.

The Pac-12 Network Tier

They should have taken the two worst teams in football and had them play a “bowl game” on a weeknight at 11 Eastern on the Pac-12 Network. Just to show how little that conference network mattered. I don’t get it. You create a conference network and make it available to most people and people will watch. Hell, the Longhorn Network is still around and that thing is garbage. Yet, this network will die sometime in the late Spring (I assume) and pretty much no one will miss it because they COULDN’T FUCKING WATCH IT! Man. Anyway, this is the bottom tier. Still games I will watch but if you miss them it’s not the end of the world (at least watch the highlights though).

Famous Toastery Bowl – Old Dominion vs. WKU (Dec. 18, 2:30, TSN1/3) – This was supposed to be the Bahamas Bowl but because of renovations to their only stadium on the island capable of hosting this game, it had to be moved. Thus is the creation of the Famous Toastery Bowl. My hope is that the winning coach gets a whole whack of toast dumped on him. Or even French toast. Ugh that would be so sticky (especially if you include syrup which you should) but would be worth it for my entertainment. The game? It will probably be close only because these two are arguably the worst two teams to make bowl season. The closeness keeps it from the bottom. My pick: Old Dominion 23 WKU 20.

Camellia Bowl – Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 23, Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – Despite the fact ASU has done better than I thought they would this season, their defense is still atrocious. They couldn’t stop a slight breeze. NIU loves to run the ball so despite the clock always moving this could see a lot of points. My pick: Northern Illinois 50 Arkansas State 38.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Utah State vs. Georgia State (Dec. 23, 3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – Let’s follow one lowly bowl with another. Sometimes Boise gets a great matchup. This, I’m sure, does not qualify as one. GSU limped into the postseason on a 5-game losing streak. Make it six. My pick: Utah State 37 Georgia State 13.

Quick Lane Bowl – Minnesota vs. Bowling Green (Dec. 26, 2:00, TSN2) – Almost everything about this spot on the list is the same as last year. Same bowl. Bowling Green is in it. It’s on Boxing Day. Hell, it’s on a TSN station and only half-an-hour earlier than last year’s edition. Kind of creepy. I remember a time when the MAC champion would go here and face a fairly decent Big Ten team. I guess those days are gone. My pick: Minnesota 21 Bowling Green 14.

Boca Raton Bowl – Syracuse vs. USF (Dec. 21, 8:00, TSN+/specialty pack) – USF might get a boost from being so close to home. That is until their defense hits the field and they have to try to stop the pass which they couldn’t all season. Look, their game against Alabama was wild and fun to watch but Bama struggled to throw the ball all day. Syracuse won’t. My pick: Syracuse 45 USF 14.

68 Ventures Bowl – South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 23, 7:00, TSN+/specialty pack) – Different name, same shitty bowl game. This is the second straight year the former LendingTree Bowl ends up in the bottom spot on my list. Even the Jag-you-ares playing in front of a home crowd isn’t enough to pull this out from the bottom rung of the ladder. I like EMU but this won’t be even remotely close. My pick: South Alabama 44 Eastern Michigan 9.

There you go! Bowl schedule, bowl rankings, bowl predictions: all complete. All there is now to do is watch the games.

As an add-on, there are some lower-level playoff games. Hell, let’s do another mini-schedule right here!

FCS Semi-Final: UAlbany at South Dakota State	Friday, 7:00
Division III Championship: Cortland vs. North Central (in Salem, VA)	Friday, 7:00
Celebration Bowl: Howard vs. Florida A&M (in Atlanta)	Saturday, Noon
Division II Championship: Harding vs. Colorado School of Mines (in McKinney, TX)	Saturday, 1:00
FCS Semi-Final: North Dakota State at Montana	Saturday, 4:30

All of these games are on TSN+ and the specialty pack except for the Celebration Bowl which goes to ABC.

It looks like other than one game, your boy Bossman can watch every game if he wishes. I most definitely will, thank you very much. And you too…enjoy the games. We’re almost ready to wrap up this season of college football season so get as much viewing in as you can.

What is wrong with the Week 3 College Football TV Schedule?

Posted on September 14, 2023 by guelphbossman

Nothing, really.

Now if you asked me what is wrong with Mel Tucker? Or Jeff Lebby? Or a host of past football coaches? I’d say plenty. I mean what the fuck is up with some people?

If you haven’t heard about ol’ Tucks, here’s a brief rundown:

Brenda Tracy, a well-known rape victim advocate (and victim herself), was hired to speak to the Spartans football team two years ago. Depending on who you believe, Tucker and Tracy became friends and then developed a bit of a romantic interest in each other. Tucker says this is true, Tracy denies this. He said, she said. Then last April, there was a phone call between the two where Tucker decided it should be phone sex (Tucker says they were both speaking in that manner) and then decided to whip it out and jerk off on the phone.

Tracy filed a formal complaint in December and then a report was filed in July to say that they should have a hearing to discuss whether Tucker violated a school policy on sexual misconduct. This hearing was to be next month. Now Tucker is suspended and probably will be fired with cause.

Crazy. And ridiculous. And even if it isn’t all true, the stuff Tucker admits paints him as a guy who can’t control himself. Then his letter on the matter makes him sound like a fucking idiot. No matter what, this is not going to turn out well for someone.

As for Jeff Lebby, he decided this was a perfect time to let his father-in-law, disgraced piece of shit former head coach Art Briles, on to the field after an Oklahoma victory on Saturday. Lebby just wanted his family on the field. Which includes Briles. I don’t know if Lebby understood the whole situation which makes him a complete dummy. He did apologize, though. Whether he meant it or did it while Brent Venables held a gun to his nuts, we will never know.

All of this is to say that there are some college football head coaches, past and present, who seem to think they can do whatever the fuck they feel like and get away with it. Again, even if Tucker is deemed not guilty, he admitted to cheating on his wife and pretty much seems OK with it. Lebby didn’t think once that “hey, my father-in-law, who has not been hired anywhere else since he was fired from Baylor for pretty fucking terrible reasons, should get to have Sooners gear on and come on the Sooners field and celebrate with the Sooners because…”…..why exactly? Oh, because he pretty much doesn’t give a shit. That’s why some of these players need to be told “Don’t be like your coach. He’s an asshole.”

Alright, enough of that nonsense. It’s schedule time.

Thursday

Nothing much of note here but I am interested in seeing Navy truly for the first time this season (after watching very little of them earlier on).

Friday

		US	Canada
Army at UTSA	7:00
Utah State at Air Force	8:00

Interestingly enough, the other two military academies play on Friday night. So all three are done before Midnight on Friday. Odd. But fun that they are all pretty much getting national play on their own.

Saturday Early

Big games? Ah no. So devoid of big games that Big Noon Kickoff decided not to stick with Champaign as the site before the Illini host Penn State. They moved it to Colorado so they can keep that Deion Boner going. I guess you got to strike while the iron is hot.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
VMI at NC State	2:00
Weber State at #12 Utah	2:00
#10 Alabama at USF	3:30
Northwestern at #21 Duke	3:30
Western Michigan at #25 Iowa	3:30
Virginia Tech at Rutgers	3:30
South Carolina at #1 Georgia	3:30
FIU at UConn	3:30
Minnesota at #20 North Carolina	3:30
East Carolina at Appalachian State	3:30
#19 Oklahoma at Tulsa	3:30
Tulane at Southern Miss	4:00
WKU at #6 Ohio State	4:00
ULM at Texas A&M	4:00
NC Central at #24 UCLA	5:00

A ton of choice here. The CW gets to show an afternoon game. Also a Pac-12 Network quardrupleheader. Well, a quadrupleheader here if you watch Pac-12 International on YouTube. See, the games on Pac-12 International are the Pac-12 Network national feed games. There are a couple other games that won’t be shown in Canada because they are regional only. Again, no big games here but we all remember what South Carolina did Between the Hedges back in 2019. If an upset of that magnitude happened again, it immediately changes the season and turns it on its head. Finally, Notre Dame is playing today…at home. But it’s on Peacock so no getting it here.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader William, I have found out about Fighting Irish TV (https://fightingirishtv.live/login). If you want to watch the game on Peacock, there’s your ticket.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Vanderbilt at UNLV	7:00
#11 Tennessee at Florida	7:00
James Madison at Troy	7:00
Pittsburgh at West Virginia	7:30
Bowling Green at #2 Michigan	7:30
BYU at Arkansas	7:30
Akron at Kentucky	7:30
Syracuse at Purdue	7:30
Georgia Tech at #17 Ole Miss	7:30
FAU at Clemson	8:00
TCU at Houston	8:00
Wyoming at #4 Texas	8:00
Hawaii at #13 Oregon	8:00

No massive games but Tennessee travelling to The Swamp to face Florida bears some interest since the Vols have struggled there a lot in years past. Still no Harbaugh on the sidelines (unless you count Jack) as the Wolverines host Bowling Green who hopes to keep things relatively close. And lookie here…the Longhorn Network? That’s right. For the first time ever (as far as I can tell), LHN can be viewed (legally) in Canada. Hopefully Wyoming can play like they did against Texas Tech and keep this game competitive.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Colorado State at #18 Colorado	10:00
Kansas at Nevada	10:30
UTEP at Arizona	11:00

Finally, the game that’s being played where both ESPN and FOX’s pregame shows were at…Colorado hosting mighty Colorado State. It must be since both networks were there. Don’t get me wrong, I totally get the hype but with two much bigger games coming up for the Buffaloes you think they would save this for the next couple of weeks. Or they might just camp out there until October. I mean why take the set down if you are just going to put it back up again a few days later?

Hey, Watch This!

South Carolina at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Yes this is, arguably, the best game of the week. Kind of sad, not gonna lie. Saying that, if 2019 happens again, the SEC is seriously wide open. Don’t bet against the Gamecocks, even if they did look mediocre against North Carolina earlier this year. Or do because you think UGA will win. Either way.

Washington at Michigan State (5:00, Peacock) – This feels a bit icky but there is a ton of intrigue now with this one. A very good Huskies team against a team that will have to fight some adversity without their disgraced head coach. And it’s on Peacock of all places. NBC might have inadvertantly struck it rich by putting this game on the streaming service a while back.

Tennessee at Florida (7:00, TSN+/SP) – As I said above, the Vols, and many teams, have struggled in the hot and humid Swamp in Septembers past. Will it happen here? Eh, probably not. Man, how can a week be that devoid of big games?

Minnesota at North Carolina (3:30, TSN+/SP) – Um……well, it’s two undefeated teams so there’s that. Yeah, I got nothing.

Sickos Game of the Week

Vanderbilt at UNLV (7:00, CBSSN) – Look, there is a possibility that we see a 3-0 UNLV team by the end of Saturday night. So yeah, you could say the season is already a bit strange. And if Barry Odom wants a signature victory of sorts, this game is ripe for the picking. Or…OR…this could be a hilariously bad game that one team has to win. I am morbidly curious.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Alabama at USF (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Why is this game on ABC? Well, it’s not like there are a ton of strong contenders *waves wildly at the Games of the Week list*. Coming off a loss, Nick Saban is going to be uber-pissed. Which will make the rest of the coaches pissed. Which will make the players very angry. And they are going to take it out on a Bulls team who might not know what hit them until long after this one is over.

Wanna Bet?

Will this list be decent? After looking back at my picks last week, I am going to venture to say that’s a no.

Bethune-Cookman (+53.5) over Miami (but the U wins by 40)

Buffalo (+3.5) over Liberty (and the outright win)

LSU (-9.5) over Mississippi State

UConn (-7) over FIU

North Carolina (-7.5) over Minnesota

South Carolina (+27.5) over Georgia (and I think this will be relatively close but the Dawgs will hold on for the W)

Tulane (-13) over Southern Miss

Florida (+6.5) over Tennessee (the Vols win a VERY close one)

Vanderbilt (-4.5) over UNLV

Michigan (-40.5) over Bowling Green

Clemson (-24.5) over FAU

Oregon (-38) over Hawaii

Colorado (-23) over Colorado State

Spotty information so far for the specialty packs as I see some information but not all of it. It should all be up by tomorrow and should match what I have. Funny enough, TSN+ has their shit together and has their full schedule up (and has since Monday).

I’ll be on the TwiXter machine this Saturday (@TheBauceman) so you can interact mwith me there if you like. Or you can just sit in your favourite chair like a normal person and watch more than 14 hours of football unlike a normal person. Enjoy the games everyone!

Oh man, here we go again

Posted on August 1, 2023 by guelphbossman

It felt like things were calm. We were all lulled into this. It was just the eye of the storm. Sure the wind wasn’t moving but about 200 metres away, a cow just went flying headlong into a barn.

What am I talking about? Realignment, of course! Another shoe has dropped…OK let me use a different analogy. Sorry Deion. We have another big move as Colorado will be going back to the Big XII starting next season. And that probably won’t be all. The rumours have at least one of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon or Washington following the Buffaloes. Or, if no other schools leave the Pac-12, the Big XII is more than willing to dip into the American Conference (hello SMU, Memphis, Tulane) or even way out east…yes, UConn! And maybe once the Pac-12 (or more like Pac-9) gets their act together, they can start bringing in teams from the Group of Five. The same teams from the American would be in play, especially SMU. Also, the Mountain West would be watching closely as San Diego State, Boise State and perhaps Colorado State and UNLV could be looked at. There will be a lot of meetings in the next month or so to determine where this all leads.

For now let’s focus on what this post was supposed to be (and still will be). It’s time for the Power Five conference predictions. This will give a better indication on how I think things will go during this season. So let’s dive right in!

Changes are coming soon for the Ess Ee Cee. Texas and Oklahoma join the conference next season. Also, no more SEC on CBS after this year. Everything moves to ABC and ESPN. And finally, no divisions. Halle-fucking-lujah.

As for this year, all the talk is about Georgia and doing something no team has done (fully) in the AP Poll era: win three national championships in a row. It’s not like they will fall apart, despite the fact they lost their starting quarterback and a bunch of other players in the NFL Draft. Then again, I’m sure Kirby Smart has looked them all dead in the eye and told them “Everyone thinks you are going to go 5-7 and lose to Vanderbilt. Prove them wrong!” And they will believe it because college football head coaches are just a notch-and-a-half below cult leaders in the pecking order of how much they can make their “followers” drink their Kool-Aid.

Remember, though, there are other teams in the conference as well. Like those lovable underdogs from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the team that just reeks of success (in the classroom and on the baseball diamond), Vanderbilt. And eleven other teams. Want to find out how I think they will do? OK. I will do that. Just for you.

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Georgia	7	1	11	1
Tennessee	6	2	10	2
South Carolina	5	3	8	4
Kentucky	3	5	6	6
Missouri	2	6	5	7
Florida	2	6	5	7
Vanderbilt	1	7	4	8
West
Alabama	8	0	12	0
LSU	6	2	9	3
Ole Miss	4	4	8	4
Texas A&M	4	4	8	4
Arkansas	3	5	7	5
Auburn	3	5	7	5
Mississippi State	2	6	6	6

Just For You

You might think I am crazy for having UGA not run the table. I do think they will lose a regular season game and it will be to those upstart Tennessee Volunteers. It won’t keep them from winning the division though as you can see I have those same Vols losing two conference games during the regular season.
As for the SEC West, though, Bama will once again rule the roost….as long as they figure out their quarterback situation. I am thinking they will and will go undefeated and be #1 in the nation going into conference championship weekend. If they don’t get their QB situation settled…well, maybe they lose two games? Three? It’s not like they will fall to 6-6.
I could see South Carolina or last year’s SEC West champs, LSU, making a bit of a run this time around. They have the top two quarterbacks in the SEC and could each put up piles of points. Watch for the Cocks’ game against Georgia early on in the season and LSU’s post-Halloween trip to Bryant-Denny to face the Tide. Upsets in either of those games will seriously upset the apple cart.
Look, the Gators were barely .500 with who I think may be one of the most overhyped quarterbacks in recent memory. I don’t think Anthony Richardson was that great. And now they don’t even have him. Unless every other part of the roster improved (it didn’t), how do people expect this team to bounce back and all of a sudden become an eight or nine win team? Spoiler alert: they won’t.
I have Mississippi State at 6-6. They will do just enough to get a bowl game. I wonder how tough it will be after the loss of Mike Leach but I can see them straightening things out just in time late in the season.
As for the SEC Championship, SURPRISE! I have the Dawgs beating the Tide and creating a massive clusterfuck in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Fun times!
Eleven bowl teams from the SEC with two juuuuuust on the outside. That’s insane and I don’t think I will be that far off with this prediction. Next year could be even crazier with Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference that just means more.

Man have things really changed in terms of where you will see Big Ten games this season. Gone are ABC and ESPN. In is NBC and CBS. This is gonna feel weird the first time I see it. And maybe the next few times as well. I will get used to it at some point. Now if you want the opportunity to watch every Big Ten game, better find a way to get FOX Sports One and Peacock otherwise you will be shit out of luck to watch potential bangers like Northwestern-Purdue and Indiana-Rutgers (if they end up there and not the Big Ten Network).

Alright, let’s get into the final conference predictions before the B1G gives a big Fuck You to geography and brings in USC and UCLA.

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Michigan	8	1	11	1
Penn State	8	1	11	1
Ohio State	8	1	10	2
Michigan State	5	4	7	5
Maryland	5	4	8	4
Indiana	1	8	3	9
Rutgers	1	8	4	8
West
Minnesota	6	3	8	4
Wisconsin	6	3	9	3
Iowa	6	3	9	3
Illinois	5	4	7	5
Nebraska	2	7	5	7
Purdue	2	7	5	7
Northwestern	0	9	2	10

Geogpraphy, Go Eat a Dick

Look, I know some might look at the Big Ten East standings and think I am a bit crazy. I am not. Although that is what a crazy person would tell you. Yep, a three-way tie at the top at 8-1 between Big Blue, tOSU and PSU. Because each team will be 1-1 against the other two, the CFP Rankings will decide the winner. I believe the Wolverines will somehow win that. And yes, I think Ohio State also loses to Notre Dame. O-H! I-No.
If Sparty doesn’t make it to a bowl game, they may end up giving Mel Tucker the Herm Edwards treatment and fire him before he can leave the playing surface one game. I get they have a tough division but they should be able to do well enough against the rest of their schedule to get back in the postseason after last year’s debacle.
No, I don’t have Wisconsin winning the West division. Meaning I am different than almost every expert out there. Also, there’s the fact I’m not an expert but I digress. Again I have a damn three-way tie but no need to look at the rankings for this one as I believe the Gophers will Row the Fucking Boat all the way to Indianapolis after beating both Wisky and the high-octane Iowa Hawkeyes. See what I did there? Yeah, I don’t care that the Hawkeyes have a new quarterback in town. Until Kirk tells his son to do better, Iowa will be pushing for some 7-6 victories. Sorry. 8-6. Two field goals and a late safety to win.
Nebraska will be better but I think the Huskers are a season away from getting back to the top of the West…just in time for the West to just not exist anymore.
As for Northwestern…man. What a shitshow. Look, I played a lot of sports earlier in my life and did so at the university level. Are there fun little pranks and stupid things the rookies have to do? Sometimes. But it’s usually harmless. Carrying bags, standing up during a team dinner to get embarrassed by singing some Mariah Carey song, dumb things like that. Not getting fucking dry humped in some cultish fashion by weirdos in robes. What the fuck is wrong with that school? And yes, it’s not just the football program. Sounds like at least half the teams there have serious issues. Ugh.
Now let’s get crazy. Yeah! The Big Ten Championship will…OK who am I kidding. It won’t be close. I have Michigan plowing through Minny to clinch their spot, yet again, in the College Football Playoff.

Might as well call this the Stable Conference…for now. Just nothing happening here which is just fine for most of the teams in the ACC. Status quo isn’t a bad thing. There are some changes with where you will see games. The CW…yes, the C-Fucking-W, will have an ACC game during most of the weeks of the season. You can take the ACC out of Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) but you can’t take the Jefferson-Pilot (or Raycom) out of the ACC. Or something like that.

So before this conference possibly gets pillaged by the Big Ten and SEC, let’s get to the predictions followed by some deep tissue massage and/or analysis.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Clemson	8	0	12	10
Florida State	7	1	11	1
North Carolina	6	2	9	3
Pittsburgh	5	3	8	4
Louisville	5	3	8	4
Duke	4	4	8	4
Wake Forest	4	4	7	5
NC State	4	4	7	5
Miami	4	4	7	5
Syracuse	3	5	6	6
Boston College	2	6	5	7
Virginia	2	6	4	8
Georgia Tech	2	6	4	8
Virginia Tech	0	8	1	11

Deep Tissue Massage and/or Analysis

I should book a massage. My back is in horrible shape.
Some may scoff at me having Clemson going undefeated this season. They have the schedule to do it and if Cade Klubnik is as good as he can be this could relatively easily happen. If Klubnik struggles…well then this entire set of standings might need to be scrubbed from existence.
Reader Gord will like where I have Florida State. This team could be scary good. And at the very least, they will be near the top of the ACC standings this season. Mike Norvell has done a great job getting this team back to what it was like during the Jimbo Fisher days. I had my doubts about him but I have to admit he has been the right guy to right the ship in Tallahassee.
Hey did you notice? NO DIVISIONS! I love it.
Don’t be surprised that if Clemson or FSU stumbles that there are no shortage of teams that could get one of the two ACC title game slots. A list of seven teams could pull off a couple of upsets and be at the top and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. A slight surprise sure. Maybe a slightly bigger surprise if it was Miami or NC State. But not a massive surprise.
Poor Virginia Tech. I think this will be their worst team since before Frank Beamer graced Blacksburg. It feels like it has been forever since the Hokies were contenders. It was only seven years ago when they were in the ACC Championship and almost upset the eventual national champions, Clemson. This team is pretty bad in almost every aspect of the game and the schedule will not be helpful to them. Other than Old Dominion I don’t see them winning any other game and the Monarchs have given VT all sorts of fits the past few years.
Look for a tiny bit of a bounce back from Virginia. Just them taking the field after what happened last year is a win in my books.
For that ACC title game, how about another game that will turn everything on its head. Yep, I think the Noles will get revenge for a regular season loss by inching out the Tigers. Chaos!

OK it’s about time the Big XII rebrands. They will have at least thirteen teams by the time the 2024 season starts and it may be as high as sixteen. So change the fucking name. They have the rights to the Big Fourteen and Big Sixteen so use one of those. It would be easy. Find a graphic design student at Kansas and have them do a new logo. Easy peasy. Why do I have to come up with everything?

Where was I? Oh that’s right, predictions. Let’s see if this conference will go all Pac-12 and cannibalize itself or if they can see a team get to the CFP once again. Also, Texas and Oklahoma will be trying their best to leave the conference on a high note much to the chagrin of the rest of the schools in the conference. So here are the Big XII standings predictions, followed by Belly Expansions.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Texas	8	1	10	2
Kansas State	7	2	10	2
Baylor	6	3	8	4
TCU	6	3	9	3
Oklahoma	6	3	9	3
Texas Tech	5	4	8	4
Oklahoma State	5	4	8	4
Kansas	4	5	7	5
UCF	4	5	7	5
BYU	3	6	5	7
Cincinnati	3	6	5	7
Houston	2	7	4	8
Iowa State	2	7	4	8
West Virginia	2	7	3	9

Belly Expansions

No I don’t mean pregnancy. I mean eating a big meal and having to loosen the ol’ belt or just unbuckle the pants altogether. Funny enough, people in the restaurant don’t appreciate that.
Let’s start at the bottom. There won’t be one truly bad team. There will be a bunch of below-average ones. West Virginia, Iowa State, Houston, Cincinnati and BYU could all finish last and I am sure no one would bat an eye.
I see the Longhorns making their final Big XII season a special one. They have the team, the schedule and the head coach (I think) to be the top team in this conference this season. The only question will be can Quinn Ewers hold off Arch Manning. Will one of them transfer in the offseason? Remember, when you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none. I think.
How about this lukewarm take: Kansas State will be good again. Yeah really going out on a limb there Bossman. This team has become so steady-as-she-goes it’s almost boring. The people in the Little Apple are fine with this.
I do think one of the newcomers will make a bowl game and that team will be UCF. I think they are the most prepared of the newbies coming into this conference. But make no mistake about it: all four teams will be good at various points over the next few years.
I can’t see Oklahoma taking enough of a leap to get to the Big XII Championship. Nor do I think the Horned Frogs of TCU have the, uh, toads? to make it back to the conference title game. Good seasons for both, yes, but not great.
The Longhorns should win the conference title game in their final season in the Big XII. Will this get them into the CFP or will it “relegate” them to the New Year’s Six? I think you can tell from my predictions so far but you will know for sure in a different post.

So where are we going to be able to watch Pac-12 games in the future? Who the hell knows. My money is on PBS.

But seriously, the Pac-12 is quickly dropping from the Conference of Champions to almost a Group of Five conference. They are losing USC and UCLA next year to the Big Ten. They knew that already. The bombshell of Colorado leaving now has them at nine teams starting the 2024 season. And it may not end there. The only schools I haven’t heard potentially leaving are Oregon State and Washington State. That’s not to say all these rumours will be correct but I will be pretty surprised if no more teams leave for the Big XII before next season. It’s sad for a conference that really started their slide once Pete Carroll left USC for the NFL. Thanks a bunch, Peter.

Prediction time! No divisions which is one thing they are ahead of the game with, starting that last year. Let’s get to those divisionless predictions followed by some California Nightmarin’.

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
USC	8	1	10	2
Utah	7	2	9	3
Oregon	7	2	9	3
Oregon State	7	2	10	2
Washington State	6	3	8	4
Washington	6	3	9	3
UCLA	5	4	8	4
Colorado	3	6	4	8
California	2	7	4	8
Arizona	2	7	4	8
Arizona State	1	8	3	9
Stanford	0	9	2	10

California Nightmarin’

No state will have it better this year in the Pac-12 than the state of Oregon. Both the Ducks and the Beavers look to be serious contenders and only need the ball to bounce their way one extra time to maybe get to the Pac-12 Championship. And considering the way that title game has gone, who knows what may happen after that.
The strongest team, though, should be USC. They have Caleb Williams coming back to try and do what no one other than some guy named Archie has ever done, and that’s win two Heisman Trophies. The hope there is that the sting of the two season-ending losses will motivate them to push themselves that final step into the CFP.
OK look, I know you see Washington in sixth place and you are wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. This is another case where the schedule is just flat-out against them. A slightly easier schedule and I might put this team at eleven or even, dare I say it, twelve wins. It will be that close at the top of the conference.
On the other hand, I am sure no will think I’m crazy for putting Stanford in last place. It’s been a long time since the Cardinal have been this bad and it doesn’t look like they will be ready for bowl action for another year at least.
I think I was fair putting Colorado at 4-8 for this season and playing fairly meaningful football going into November. There seems to be two schools of thought with this team. One section thinks Coach Prime has done wonders and with all the fresh faces in the lineup it will push the team over the line and into bowl-eligibility territory. The other section thinks the entire program is overhyped and they will win maybe two games. I am in the middle on this. This team won’t go bowling this year. That would be too much of a leap. But they should win more games than they did last year. If not, what the hell was all this hoopla for?
As for the Pac-12 title game, USC gets the Pac-12 Championship they probably should have won last year. Problem is that by this point there will be a lot of teams in the mix for those four College Football Playoff spots and in typical Pac-12 fashion, the league will have cannabilized itself again and missed out on the CFP again.

There you go! You now have a complete set of Bossman conference predictions. Next up, is kind of the wrap-up post where I put everything in a nice, neat little ball and let you know who I believe will win the whole damn deal. Have a great week everyone!

Bye Bye Bryan (and the Week 10 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on November 1, 2022 by guelphbossman

There have been a lot of bad head coaching reigns in college football over the last decade or so. This one will be right up there.

Bryan Harsin was brought in to Auburn and it felt like the Tigers had found a head coach who was on the rise and would bring the Tigers back to serious relevance. Boy were they wrong. The fact that after only one season there was an investigation into how he was handling the program had to tell everyone that his time on the Plains wasn’t going to be a long one. And it wasn’t. But at least he will get 15 million reasons to sit at home and contemplate his future. Man, I picked the wrong profession.

Alright enough of people with money. I, a man with very little, will now present to you the college football TV schedules for this week. Enjoy.

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Ball State at Kent State	7:00 PM
Buffalo at Ohio	7:30 PM

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACTION!!!!! It is back everyone! And we return with a bit of a bang as the MAC East might be on the line (depending on what Kent State does the rest of the season) in Athens (the Ohio version).

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Western Michigan at Bowling Green	7:00 PM
Central Michigan at Northern Illinois	7:00 PM

OK not as good as yesterday’s slate but it’s still mid-week MACtion so let’s enjoy it.

Thursday

		US	Canada
UTEP at Rice	7:00 PM
Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina	7:30 PM
Alabama A&M at Mississippi Valley State	7:30 PM

App State continues their odd season at Coastal Carolina. They looked like world beaters against Texas A&M. Since then the Aggies have looked terrible so maybe this is starting to make a bit more sense.

Friday

		US	Canada
UMass at UConn	7:00 PM
Duke at Boston College	7:00 PM
Alcorn State at Prairie View A&M	8:30 PM
#24 Oregon State at Washington	10:30 PM

Duke hoping to avoid an upset here to become bowl-eligible. I didn’t think I’d be typing that sentence in early November. You could consider Oregon State and Washington two surprise teams in the Pac-12. Look, the winner will only have two losses heading into mid-November so anything is possible there. Finally, the Clam Chowder Chalice (a trophy I created and should be awarded for this game) is up for grabs as UMass faces surprising UConn who, with a win, is one win away from bowl eligibility. Another sentence I didn’t think I’d type this season.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Army vs. Air Force (in Arlington)	11:30 AM
#2 Ohio State at Northwestern	Noon
#17 North Carolina at Virginia	Noon
Maryland at Wisconsin	Noon
WKU at Charlotte	Noon
Florida at Texas A&M	Noon
Minnesota at Nebraska	Noon
#19 Tulane at Tulsa	Noon
Texas Tech at #7 TCU	Noon
Iowa at Purdue	Noon
Kentucky at Missouri	Noon

Army and Air Force give us some morning football as the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series continues. Northwestern gets to appear on ABC thanks to tOSU. Is this a trap game for the Horned Frogs? Texas Tech has been sneaky good this season. Finally, Tulane continues their possible improbable march to the Cotton Bowl. They really can’t have any hiccups the rest of the way.

Saturday Afternoon

Everyone will be watching the Game of the Year (up to this point) in Athens (the Georgia one). It’s not often we get #1 vs. #2 during the regular season so savour this one and hope it doesn’t become a blowout. Otherwise there are a lot of ranked teams playing but not too many super important games which is odd for a college football Saturday in November (not named SEC Sleepwalk Saturday).

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UNLV at San Diego State	7:00 PM
#6 Alabama at #15 LSU	7:00 PM
Texas at #13 Kansas State	7:00 PM
BYU at Boise State	7:00 PM
Houston at SMU	7:00 PM
Florida State at Miami	7:30 PM
#4 Michigan at Rutgers	7:30 PM
Auburn at Mississippi State	7:30 PM
James Madison at Louisville	7:30 PM
#5 Clemson at Notre Dame	7:30 PM
Arizona at #12 Utah	7:30 PM
South Carolina at Vanderbilt	7:30 PM
#20 Wake Forest at #21 NC State	8:00 PM

An absolutely massive schedule available for Canadians. Thirteen games available to Canadians. That’s impressive especially since only one of those games appears on TSN. The SEC undercard occurs here as Bama and LSU play in a game that could, essentially, give the Tide the SEC West title. Nice to see James Madison in primetime. I just wish they would cut it with that bullshit transitional crap that will keep JMU from a bowl game this season.

The Irish have another NBC primetime game and this could get ugly fast unless the Notre Dame defense can step up. And a note about the FOX and FS1 games: if the World Series goes to a sixth game, it will impact where these games are shown. If this happens, the UT-KSU game moves to FS1 and the BYU-Boise game moves to FS2, both unavailable to Canadians.

UPDATE: With the rain-postponed World Series game, Game 6 now lands on Saturday night. This means UT-KSU moves to FS1 and BYU-Boise goes to FS2.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
California at #9 USC	10:30 PM

We go from a ton of games to one game. And I can’t see it being close. I guess the fact it’s on TSN is a plus.

Big Games O’ The Week

Tennessee at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – No shock that this game is here and that it’s on CBS. The Vols are having a magical season, one they haven’t even sniffed since the days of Tee Martin. The Dawgs are also undefeated but, at times, have looked unlike the #1 team in the land. The winner goes to #1 and clinches the SEC East (basically). The loser isn’t out of it but a College Football Playoff spot becomes less likely.

Alabama at LSU (7:00, TSN4) – This should also be a good one as the Tide are just slightly worse than they have been in the past decade and the Tigers are slowly climbing back to national title relevance. Not saying LSU is playing like that 2019 team because no one is but they are better than advertised. If Bama wins, as I mentioned above, the SEC West is probably decided.

Wake Forest at NC State (8:00, specialty pack) – It is rare that the ACC Network appears on this list but here we are. I guess it’s one of those “we have to get one more appearance from one or both of these teams on the conference network to satisfy the contract” kind of deals. Both teams are still in an OK spot for the New Year’s Six, surprisingly enough. That has more to do with the fact that if Clemson gets into the CFP, there could be up to two more ACC teams that get into the NY6. So a lot to play for here. Plus I’m sure Sam Hartman wants to make up for that abomination of a game he had last week.

Oregon State at Washington (Friday, 10:30, specialty pack) – Two surprisingly good teams this year face off late Friday night for people who feel like staying up that late. Both the Beavers and Huskies still have dreams of making it into the New Year’s Six, either to the Rose Bowl or the lone at-large bid to the Cotton Bowl. To do that, they have to run the table including this game. Not going to be easy and I would put money on neither of them doing it but I do love some chaos so seeing one of them go on a run would be satisfying.

Clemson at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – Let’s be honest: Clemson might be the quietest 8-0 team in college football. Everyone wants to talk about the SEC East duo or TCU or Ohio State or Michigan and they all seem to forget about the Tigers. This could be a statement game for them. Win big and they put everyone on high alert for their run to the playoff. Lose and they probably destroy that shot and Marcus Freeman gets his signature win and justifies his hiring in one fell swoop.

Psycho Game of the Week

Central Michigan at Northern Illinois (Wednesday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Look, it’s MACtion. So I will watch it. But…this is a pretty terrible matchup. Both of these teams are WAY worse than they were supposed to be and one of them will drop to 2-7 after this. There’s a better matchup in the other MACtion game of the night.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Ohio State at Northwestern (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – Good work TSN picking this one out of all the Noon games you could have chose. Northwestern is still looking for the first non-Ireland win of the year and they won’t get it here. This should be over by 12:30 eastern.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

The underdog has won five times since 2015 in the UCLA-Arizona State series.
From 1989-2016, Army went 3-25 against Air Force.
Coastal Carolina has only beaten Appalachian State once in nine tries (the win was in 2020).

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

Louisiana? Kentucky? BOSTON COLLEGE? Yeesh I was not good last week. At least I picked Louisville over Wake Forest for the upset. So I will give myself a slight pat on the back and then move on to this week’s picks.

Western Michigan (+4.5) over Bowling Green and to win outright!
Washington (-3.5) over Oregon State
Tulane (-7.5) over Tulsa
TCU (-9.5) over Texas Tech
New Mexico (+16.5) over Utah State (USU will get the win)
Pittsburgh (-3.5) over Syracuse
Georgia (-8) over Tennessee
Navy (+19.5) over Cincinnati (the Bearcats will pull out the victory)
Houston (+3) over SMU (and the outright victory)
Texas (-2.5) over Kansas State
Michigan (-26.5) over Rutgers
South Carolina (-7) over Vanderbilt
California (+21.5) over USC (the Trojans should win fairly easily though)

So there ya go. Early in the week so those lines could change a bit but they shouldn’t move too much. We are in to three-plus weeks of everyday football so relish it because after American Thanksgiving weekend it will feel like there’s not nearly as much action. Enjoy the games everyone!

Alright let’s wrap this up in a nice, neat little package

Posted on August 21, 2022 by guelphbossman

Oh man did you actually believe that? LITTLE? Have you not noticed what I’ve been doing the last little while? Oh this will not be a little package I assure you; but it will be an important package of information that you, the college football fan, would like to see (I hope).

So yes, you will see what I believe the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six will look like. You will get bowl projections from yours truly. You will also get my Heisman ballot which is usually a big steaming pile of horseshit. And you will get my coaching hot seat list which, honestly, is usually pretty good if I say so myself.

Let’s get right to it with the top of the pyramid (scheme)…the College Football Playoff predictions. You probably have a good idea from the conference predictions as to who will end up here and you also know that there is a good chance I will fail miserably with one of these picks:

December 31st	Fiesta Bowl	#2 Ohio State	#3 Georgia
December 31st	Peach Bowl	#1 Alabama	#4 Clemson

New Year’s Eve semi-finals. Will they never learn? Anyway, Bama is the easy call here as I see them running the table and then beating UGA in what may be the biggest SEC Championship ever (and that’s saying a lot). This also means that Georgia is probably a fairly easy call as well. Sure, they will lose to the Tide but if they go in at #2 (which I expect them to) and lose to #1 (which I assume Bama would be) then a drop to #3 is as far as they will go. No way they are leaving out a one-loss Big Ten champ so tOSU gets in and takes advantage of one of Alabama or Georgia having to lose to get to the #2 spot. OK take advantage is a strong phrase since being #2 means very little other than avoiding #1 until, potentially, the title game. Clemson ends up beating out Texas A&M, Michigan and NC State, all one-loss teams who didn’t win their division, rather easily to grab the final semi-final spot. Oregon would have their shot at the Pac-12 Championship but lose to Utah making The Committee’s job (at least for these two games) rather straightforward.

Now we will go to the New Year’s Six bowl games where, thanks to the NFL, none of them are on New Year’s Day. Eat shit, Rose Bowl.

January 2nd	Rose Bowl	#6 Michigan	#10 Utah
January 2nd	Cotton Bowl	#11 Oregon	#8 Houston
December 31st	Sugar Bowl	#5 Texas A&M	#9 Baylor
December 30th	Orange Bowl	#7 NC State	#12 Notre Dame

As always, it’s debate time. Every year which is fine as long as the debates devolve into some stupid Twitter spat. Only one conference championship loser is getting in here and that’s Oregon. They’ll be high enough in the rankings (potentially in the Top 4) going into Conference Championship weekend that there is no way they drop out of a NY6 bowl. Houston won’t be this year’s Cincinnati but they will be this year’s Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six and they will coast to get here. Michigan is going to have another good year but they have the audacity to be in the same division as Ohio State. Assholes. This will be enough to keep them out of the CFP. Same goes for TAMU and NC State. What were they thinking being in a division with other good schools. And you wonder why I hate divisions. We could have a tOSU-UM rematch and a Clemson-NCST rematch for conference championships. Talk about a lot more being on the line and a hell of a lot more intrigue.

Utah, with their win over Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship, gets the other Rose Bowl spot opposite Michigan. Luckily, they should ascend to somewhere around the #10 ranking that I have them in so they will look like they belong. Baylor also gets the benefit of a good bowl tie-in and I have them facing their old Southwest Conference foe, the Aggies of Texas A&M. Just like Utah, the Bears will be good enough to belong here and not spark any crazy debate about bowl tie-ins. The only debate will be for the final spot. Look, it’s Notre Dame. If the Irish go 10-2, they are not being left out of this group of bowl games. As much as some of you want that to be the case, it never will be (until the CFP structure changes). They beat out UCLA, Oklahoma and Marshall. Very few, other than those schools’ fans, will be super upset they were left out.

Now it’s time for the rest of BOWL SZN. At least I know these bowls won’t be cancelled…I hope.

January 2nd	Citrus Bowl	#17 Tennessee	#18 Michigan State
January 2nd	ReliaQuest Bowl	Florida	#20 Minnesota
December 31st	Music City Bowl	Ole Miss	#22 Purdue
December 30th	Gator Bowl	Arkansas	#19 Pittsburgh
December 30th	Arizona Bowl	Boise State	Northern Illinois
December 30th	Sun Bowl	Louisville	Oregon State
December 30th	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Kentucky	Penn State
December 29th	Alamo Bowl	#15 Oklahoma	#13 UCLA
December 29th	Cheez-It Bowl	Iowa State	Miami
December 29th	Pinstripe Bowl	Iowa	Florida State
December 28th	Texas Bowl	LSU	#21 Texas
December 28th	Holiday Bowl	Virginia Tech	#24 USC
December 28th	Liberty Bowl	South Carolina	#23 Oklahoma State
December 28th	Military Bowl	Wake Forest	#16 UCF
December 27th	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Nebraska	Kansas State
December 27th	Birmingham Bowl	Auburn	#25 Cincinnati
December 27th	First Responder Bowl	Colorado State	Troy
December 27th	Camellia Bowl	Coastal Carolina	UAB
December 26th	Quick Lane Bowl	Maryland	Miami-OH
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	BYU	Fresno State
December 23rd	Independence Bowl	Memphis	Army
December 23rd	Gasparilla Bowl	Boston College	Tulsa
December 22nd	Armed Forces Bowl	TCU	UTEP
December 21st	New Orleans Bowl	#14 Marshall	UTSA
December 20th	Boca Raton Bowl	Appalachian State	Florida Atlantic
December 20th	Idaho Potato Bowl	San Diego State	Toledo
December 19th	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Georgia State	Liberty
December 17th	Frisco Bowl	San Jose State	South Alabama
December 17th	Las Vegas Bowl	Mississippi State	Arizona State
December 17th	LendingTree Bowl	Louisiana	Kent State
December 17th	LA Bowl	Washington	Air Force
December 17th	New Mexico Bowl	Utah State	Western Michigan
December 17th	Fenway Bowl	North Carolina	SMU
December 16th	Cure Bowl	East Carolina	UNLV
December 16th	Bahamas Bowl	WKU	Central Michigan

More bowl games! Honestly, I don’t care nearly as much as I used to. It’s more football at this point. Once the 12-team playoff (or whatever it ends up being) comes to fruition, I will be interested to see what happens to some of the lower-level bowl games. Hey, as long as Canadians can see most of these games on TSN then there’s no real problem. Let’s look at a few points from that long table of information I just posted:

Only two games between ranked teams? Good lord. UT-MSU at the Citrus and Oklahoma-UCLA at the Alamo and that’s it. Those two bowls are used to having fairly big matchups. It would probably be more of a shock if the Bahamas Bowl had a Top 25 matchup (although it would definitely intrigue me that’s for sure).
I’m not bothering with listing bowl tie-ins and or conferences that couldn’t fill their bowl quota or even 5-7 teams that I have in to fill the bowl games that don’t have two teams.
Some of the other good matchups after the Citrus and Alamo:
- Ole Miss-Purdue in Nashville
- Arkansas-Pitt at the Gator
- Iowa-Florida State playing in the cold of the Bronx
- Wake-UCF in the Military Bowl
- LSU going into Longhorn country (kind of) to play Texas
- Marshall-UTSA in Nawlins
- Nebraska-Kansas State in a Big Eight matchup in Tempe
The Husker one is very interesting because they have the longest Big Ten bowl drought. Can you fucking believe it? I would have bet money that it was Rutgers or…Rutgers. Nope. The Huskers went to the Music City Bowl in late 2016 and haven’t gone back to a bowl game since. Wow.

History states at least one of the CFP semi-final games will not be that good. I hate to do this to the Tigers but sorry, Bama should win that one easy. The Buckeyes will have big problems with the Dawgs but in the end, they will punch their ticket to the national title game to lose to the Tide who will be back on top once again. No real surprises here.

So now that COVID is…well not behind us but it is not nearly as serious as it was, we can really get back to normality. That means that the college football head coaches are getting shorter leashes again, folks! The shitcanning season will be upon us at some point this Fall!

And when I mean short leashes I mean seriously short. Like maybe a foot long. Some athletic directors are now realizing that the college football world is pretty much fully back to normal and they have some time to make up. Some coaches received reprieves in the past two seasons thanks to the pandemic but that leeway is fucking gone now.

Look I don’t want to toot my own horn but I usually do fairly well with this list. So let’s just get right down to it, shall we? If you recall, the order is from most likely to be fired to most likely to keep their job. They are also categorized in a few different sections. Let’s go!

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

Geoff Collins (Georgia Tech) – This should be a surprise to absolutely no one. The experiment to move away from the option to more of a pro-style offense has failed spectacularly in the ATL. I honestly see no possible improvement here and a possible in-season firing. Needed to keep his job – Get into the final few weeks of the season with at least a mathematical possibility of going bowling. Prediction – He’s going to get shitcanned some time in November in the midst of a ten-loss season for the Rambling Wreck.
Karl Dorrell (Colorado) – Can we say that weird 2020 season was an aberration? I think we can as the Buffaloes are dropping down the ladder once again in the Pac-12 as realignment goes wild everywhere. Needed to keep his job – Have a shot at bowl eligibility going into the final two games. Prediction – A whole lot of frustration for Dorrell, the Buffaloes, the other coaches, alumni and current students. And no job for Dorrell…he may end up not coaching the final game of the season.
Neal Brown (West Virginia) – Brown’s first year in Morgantown was considered a success. Last year’s, not so much. And with an improving Big XII around them, I see them falling even farther in Brown’s third year when he has most of his recruits in. Not looking good for a guy who was a big up-and-comer not too long ago. Needed to keep his job – Not continue the downward slide. Prediction – I remember going to Wet n’ Wild as a kid. It doesn’t exist anymore. But it had some cool waterslides. That is how ol’ Neal is going to feel this season. He’ll end the season on the unemployment line.
Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – No one is really expecting Rice to be a power player in football. Saying that, they had to the American Conference next season and I can’t see Bloomgren being the head coach. Other than a couple of good seasons, he’s done very little in the Houston area and has fallen FAR behind their neighbour. Needed to keep his job – Something more than what I feel they will do this year. Prediction – The bloom has come off the rose (ha ha) and he will be looking for a new school to coach at for 2023.
Herm Edwards (Arizona State) – It feels inevitable that, at the very best, Herm will be done at the end of the season. Their recruiting issues are well known and it may end up being the NCAA coming down hard on ASU (and, eventually, Herm himself). It won’t help his cause that the Sun Devils won’t be as good as they were last year. Needed to keep his job – I don’t know if there is anything short of a Pac-12 title that would save his job (and even then). Prediction – Herm is shown the door before the last game of the season as the powers that be in Tempe decide it’s time to rebuild again.

Probable Shitcanning

Dino Babers (Syracuse) – How long has Dino been on the hot seat? Everything was looking golden in 2018 for Babers but since then…yeesh. I’m not saying Syracuse is a destination spot for coaching but you know things are getting tense within the athletic department with this. Needed to keep his job – The Orange to recapture at least some of that 2018 magic. Prediction – Dino will be a coordinator somewhere next year.
Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green) – I’m sure there are times where Scotty (Scoty?) would love to be back at any of the schools he used to be at. This is his first head coaching gig and it has been a rough one to be honest. Even though Bowling Green isn’t exactly a hotspot in college football, at some point the athletic director will be done with the team not performing. 7-22 isn’t exactly the type of record that keeps a job. Needed to keep his job – 4 or 5 wins and look competitive inside the MAC. Prediction – Double-digit losses and a pink slip.
Danny Gonzales (New Mexico) – Speaking of tough places to coach, here are the Lobos looking at potentially another coaching change on the horizon. Definitely a spot a younger coach in the West would maybe take a shot at. Beware though: the last time UNM won at least ten games was four decades ago. Unfortunately between them and NMSU, the state is a dead spot for college football. Needed to keep his job – Close to bowl eligibility. Prediction – Three wins and a tough decision to be made from the higher ups.

Possible Shitcanning

Seth Littrell (North Texas) – Littrell hasn’t done bad in Denton. Five bowls in his six seasons there is pretty darn good for a team in Conference USA. Problem is he has lost every single one. It truly does feel like they are kind of stuck in the middle of the conference and that’s getting some people antsy. Needed to keep his job – At least 5 wins and competing for bowl eligibility near the end of the season. Prediction – That’s exactly where I have the Mean Green. I think he probably survives the season but the leash will be extremely short going forward.
Bryan Harsin (Auburn) – This was considered a coup when the Tigers plucked him from Boise State. His first season on the Plains was…rocky to put it mildly. There was an attempt to get him ousted after last season ended. Obviously it didn’t work but there are some thinking maybe he just doesn’t fit at Auburn (or the SEC for that matter). Needed to keep his job – A winning record and better recruiting. Prediction – I got the Tigers winning 7 to stay out of the basement of the SEC West. That should be enough to save him at least into ‘crootin season. That’s where he needs to improve or otherwise he may not see the 2023 season on the field at Jordan-Hare.
Ken Niumatalolo (Navy) – It is tough putting Ken on this list, I’m not going to lie. Problem is, Navy has been pretty bad for three of the past four seasons. That 2019 season where they won 11 games seems like a fluke, almost. I’m sure it would take a lot to fire Niumatalolo but another season like the previous two and who knows. Needed to keep his job – At least 6 wins. Prediction – I have the Middies only winning three so this could be a very interesting offseason in Annapolis.
Terry Bowden (ULM) – I might get some flak for this one. I know he’s only been in Monroe for a season. I do think this year the Warhawks are going to be one of the worst teams in the FBS. Maybe there is someone on his staff who will take over for him next year so that ULM brass will feel OK to fire him? I don’t know but this doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere in a much-improved Sun Belt Conference. Needed to keep his job – Improvement from the previous season. Prediction – As I said, they won’t be good. I have them predicted at 1-11. I can see this being done relatively quietly in the offseason (Terry’s shitcanning that is).
Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee) – Stockstill has been at Middle for what seems like forever. And it doesn’t feel like anything would happen because of that. Saying that, the Blue Raiders need to do something since they have been mediocre most of the last few seasons. They also turned down a (possible?) invitation to the MAC so this is their chance to become the best of a not-so-good bunch. Will Rick lead them through that though? Needed to keep his job – Got to be bowl eligibility really. Prediction – I got MTSU winning 5 games which will make for some very interesting offseason chatter in Murfreesboro.
Greg Schiano (Rutgers) – This isn’t the Schiano that went 56-33 in his final seven seasons during his first run in Piscataway. That was in the Big East and Rutgers is…well, they definitely aren’t in a conference like that anymore. Still, fans were hoping for something a bit more from a guy who runs blitzes during kneel down plays. Unfortunately, I think this won’t be that year. Needed to keep his job – Real bowl eligibility, not the 5-7 you are a smart school kind. Prediction – I have the Scarlet Knights regressing a bit this year. Whether Schiano returns has a lot to do with whether they think they’ve truly bottomed out and if they believe they can get a good coach in.
Jake Spavital (Texas State) – Has anyone ever expected the Bobcats to do anything of significance on the football field? Really, that lack of winning culture could be the one thing that gives Spavital one more season at the helm. Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and some meaningful November football. Prediction – 4 wins and a short leash into 2023.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

Jeff Scott (USF) – Not a whole lot has gone well for the former Clemson coordinator down in Tampa. Remember when the Bulls were #2 in the nation? Not even Pepperidge Farms remembers that I don’t think. What it does say, though, is that you can win at this school. Now it’s just a matter of how long the USF athletic department will give Scott to truly turn things around. Needed to keep his job – Stay out of the American Conference basement. Prediction – They aren’t going to a bowl game but expect them to win around four games and be quite clear of the bottom rung of the AAC.
Scott Frost (Nebraska) – It has become a difficult job to recruit players to Lincoln. I think Frost has finally figured it out and the Huskers, at the very least, should be back bowling this season. Now watch them completely tank. Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility at the very least. Prediction – No Kool-Aid this time but I have the Huskers winning eight games. Don’t laugh.
David Shaw (Stanford) – I remember when Shaw was getting Stanford to bowl games and contending in the Pac-12 on a consistent basis. Make no bones about it, he’s still a great head coach. Give him time and he will have the Cardinal back on top of what will be the Pac-10 going forward. Needed to keep his job – Look better than the 2021 season. Prediction – I have Stanford winning 4 games but the bottom of the Pac-12 North is crowded so an upset or two isn’t out of the realm of possibility for this team. Shaw is safe for another season at the very least.
Mike Norvell (Florida State) – Things are finally looking up in Tallahassee. For real this time. It would have to get really bad for the Noles this season for Norvell to be let go. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least. Prediction – Eight wins and a new lease on life. Teams won’t have it easy against this team this season.
Tom Allen (Indiana) – I would put Tom farther up this list as Indiana was BAD last year and won’t be a whole lot better this season. Thing is, his buyout is huge so unless the Hoosiers absolutely have to fire him, he won’t be let go. Needed to keep his job – Don’t do something illegal or unethical. Prediction – Other than punching the coach of the opposing team, I can’t see Allen doing anything bad. Yes I only have them winning three games this season but that doesn’t really matter here in the grand scheme of things.

One of these days I have to go back and see how truly successful I have been at this hot seat list. I still think the numbers will back me up.

Now from a normally good section (for me) to a notoriously horrible section (for me). My Heisman ballot is back. And I don’t know if it can be any worse than what I have done for the past few years. But, I always give it my all so here’s another edition of Bossman’s Heisman Trophy Ballot If He Got a Vote (which he most certainly should not):

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Heisman Ballot

C.J. Stroud, Ohio State – Last year’s ballot was horrifically bad but I did have Stroud in at #4 (and Bryce Young at #5). So it wasn’t all bad (but mostly it was). I have the Buckeyes getting to the National Championship and he will be the main reason why. It will be a close race this year, I believe, but Stroud will put up the numbers and get the big victories that put him over the top.
Bryce Young, Alabama – Yes, I do have the Tide winning the national title this year. It still won’t be enough to not join the list of players who had a shot at pulling an Archie Griffin and came up short. Unlike everyone else on the list, he won’t make it easy on the other contenders. The only thing holding him back is how many other Heisman candidates this team has. They are loaded.
Caleb Williams, USC – It was a huge coup for Lincoln Riley to convince Williams to follow him from Oklahoma to USC. Among the contenders, Williams may have the toughest job helping turn around a 4-8 team so quickly. This is one of the few instances where a team only being so good might end up costing a player during a Heisman campaign.
Will Anderson Jr., Alabama – I believe Anderson is the best defensive player in the country and it’s really not even close. He’s also one small part of the reason that I think Bryce Young won’t win the Heisman. He will take some of the votes that would have been thrown Young’s way. It could work in reverse as well. Anderson could be primed to be the first defensive player in a long time to win the Heisman Trophy but all the good Bama players, including Young, makes it a bit more difficult for him.
D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson – Should we try this again? Why not. *clears throat* Ahem…Oo-ee-un-guh-luh-lay. Just like last year. And just like last year I have him #5 in my Heisman rankings. He will have to show some serious improvement and I am betting he will. It will help that he will have a better team around him that will be competing fort he College Football Playoff. I think we will have a good idea what kind of season he will have once September ends.
Tyler Van Dyke, Miami – This guy looked like the real deal down the stretch last season and could have been considered the best ACC player the last few weeks of the regular season. The Canes will be better but, as per usual, doing better will help a lot. If the Canes can somehow win the ACC title, Van Dyke’s chances might soar.
Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma – A fantastic quarterback at UCF. And thanks to TransferPortalMania, he ends up in Norman, replacing Caleb Williams (and, sure, Spencer Rattler). Being the quarterback for the Sooners is always a pressure situation but the pressure should be a lot less this season which may allow Gabriel to thrive.
Bijan Robinson, Texas – Running backs still get shafted, to an extent, when it comes to Heisman voting. It takes a phenomenal year for one to win it and you have to pair it with no outstanding quarterbacks. An uphill battle for sure. But if there’s one running back who could break through this season, it could be the new king of dijon mustard, Bijan Robinson. He will be the guy who makes the Texas offense go so if they win even 9 games this year, look for him to get a lot of attention from voters.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State – Hey, how about the guy who had a breakout game for the ages at the Rose Bowl? He will have arguably the best quarterback in the country throwing to him. As we know, that’s a plus and a minus when it comes to the Heisman. At the very least, he is the highest rated receiver coming into the season so that counts for something.
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee – This may feel to some like an out-of-nowhere kind of pick. Hooker showed what he could do running a decent Vols offense. With Tennessee having a lot more talent on that side of the ball this season, he may have some crazy stats. If Tennessee somehow gets to a New Year’s Six bowl, he will get a ton of hype.

Honourable Mention

TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama
Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Quinn Ewers, Texas
Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
Jordan Addison, USC
Devin Leary, NC State

I am going to wish the players on this list good luck since there is a chance the winner is nowhere to be found here. Because I am terrible at this.

All the predictions I have are now complete! In about five months or so I will find out how poorly I did.

Next up will be…hold on let me check my notes…yes….YES……YEEEEEES! College football is back! Week Zero! I mean it’s just Week Zero but still….WEEK ZERO! I will have the schedule up at some point early in the week. I’ve already been asked about the specialty packs as it pertains to this coming Saturday. My guess is they won’t show anything since normally they don’t because…who knows but I will chalk it up to some sort of incompetence since what they (Bell and Rogers) tell me makes no sense. I will keep everyone updated. Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

It’s time to see how I did on my 2019 college football predictions…hold your applause

Posted on January 27, 2020 by guelphbossman

The college football season has ended. Grab the Kleenex, dab your eyes and blow your nose. We are seven long months away from college football starting again. I might actually watch a few spring games this time around only if there’s nothing else to watch. The mock drafts will commence soon although I will not cover the Kreepy Kombine. I don’t care what a player prefers on his pizza or what he would do if he wasn’t a college football player or whether his parents are swingers. I would be very uncomfortable as a scout to ask this shit. The CFL starts in late May again this year with their pre-season (May 24th to be exact). I still don’t understand why the pre-season games aren’t all in neutral locations. Grow the damn league for god’s sake. Oh and the XFL starts soon. We shall see how version 2.0 goes. I think with the TV contracts they will be able to do what the AAF couldn’t…finish their first season. Beyond that who knows. If they can go two full seasons I would consider it at least a slight success.

Let’s get to the main event: my predictions and how I did. I am assuming I did crappy but you never know until you reflect. And if the reflection is bad, break the mirror. Anyway, let’s go.

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

My College Football Playoff Final Four was very close!
- Clemson – Picked them #1 and they ended up #3 and undefeated. God I’m good. OK yes most people picked them in the CFP but still.
- Oklahoma – I had them #2. They were #4 so technically I am 2-for-2. Again, this was another easy pick considering I thought no one would be close in the Big XII.
- Alabama – I figured this was a no-brainer. That’s what two losses will do to you as they didn’t even get into the New Year’s Six (although they weren’t too far out).
- Michigan – Same deal as Bama had although it was less of a shoo-in with the Wolverines. They ended up facing the Tide in the Citrus Bowl so not too bad but a little off with this pick.
How about my New Year’s Six picks? Not as good. Didn’t get a single bowl game fully correct. Utah? Should have been there but no. Texas? Nope. Washington? Nada. Notre Dame? Close but no cigar. Syracuse? Jesus Christ what was I thinking?
I did have the Group of Five pick correct though as I had Memphis going to the Cotton Bowl.
I had LSU, Oregon and Nebraska being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in but playing in good bowls. LSU was awesome, Oregon looks like they’re back being a Pac-12 power and I drank the Nebraska Kool-Aid. Two out of three isn’t bad.

Heisman Trophy

I had Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa as my #1 and #2. If Tua hadn’t got injured he would have finished higher. Lawrence just didn’t have the greatest start to his season but ended strong.
I didn’t have Joe Burrow on my list. The only LSU player I had up there was Grant Delpit. Major fail on my part.
My picks were mostly bad. I mean Sam Ehlinger at #4? Jake Fromm at #6? Adrian Martinez at #10? Sweet Jesus. I had Hurts at #5 and Fields at #8 so at least they were in my Top 10. But no Chase Young. Yikes.

Let’s Look at Some Bad Team Predictions

Look, Army was supposed to be better and most thought they would be. I will include it here but almost everyone made that goof.
Western Kentucky was a bit of a revelation this season. I figured they would fall to the basement again but Tyson Helton did a great job with the Hilltoppers, getting back to their high-octane offensive ways.
Indiana was really good which is not what I said at the start of the year. I have to apologize to the Hoosiers. Maybe they are not just a basketball school anymore.
I also need to apologize to P.J. Fleck. He got the Golden Gophers to Row The Boat like he wanted them to. I thought they would struggle just to get bowl-eligible. Not even close there.
North Texas was quite a bit worse than I thought they would be (I figured they would challenge for the division title). Not good. And they were home for the holidays. An overall sad season for the Mean Green.
Shawn Elliott is doing some great things at Georgia State. Along with WKU they have to be considered the surprises of the season so I don’t feel too bad with my prediction here.
What Billy Napier did at Louisiana this season was amazing. He has brought the Ragin’ Cajuns back to prominence and solidified his spot as a good head coach. I figured they would win the Sun Belt West but not by as much as they did.
Nebraska. Sweet Jesus they just can’t seem to get it together. So Scott Frost isn’t quite the mastermind many thought he would be.
Northwestern was tough to watch. Like seriously tough to watch. Last year they clinched the Big Ten West with like four weeks to go. This year? Brutal.
I’m trying to remember why I had Troy so high up in the Sun Belt standings. I have a feeling I didn’t think there would be a huge drop-off even though Neal Brown left for West Virginia. I was wrong.
Nice to see Oregon State have a decent year for the first time in what felt like forever. One prediction I don’t feel too bad about since most had the Beavers at the bottom of the Pac-12 North.
The Bay Area schools had way different years than I predicted. Cal ended up being much better than my prediction and the Big Trees out at Stanford were much worse. This is getting out of hand. I wonder if the actual experts are this bad.
Chris Klieman proved his mettle as a head coach as he had the Wildcats playing much better than many experts predicted. Eight wins is no joke in the Little Apple. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Obviously that one terrible season last year was an aberration for Navy. The Middies turned it around and quickly back into the double-digit win club. I had them just bowl-eligible.
SMU parlayed a hot start, and a win in the Iron Skillet game, to a primetime game on ABC and the best season in the Metroplex since the death penalty in the mid-80s. I had them also just bowl-eligible.
Jim Bob McElwain did wonders in Central Michigan with the Chippewas, getting them to the MAC Championship after a horrific year last season. I didn’t think he’d turn it around that quick.
I really have to just take my Air Force predictions every year and give them an extra win or two since I am always off with them.
Well the Jeff Tedford shine wore off in the valley with Fresno State. I thought he would almost bring them to another conference championship game.
It is nice to see Hawaii do well. Will be interesting to see how well they do with Nick Rolovich off to Wazzu.
Don’t get me started with Syracuse and Florida State and Miami.

Let’s Look at Some Good Team Predictions

I’ve already discussed Oklahoma and Clemson. I also did well with my Memphis, Ohio State and Georgia predictions, even though I thought the Tigers would run the table.
I figured Tennessee would be back in bowl season this year and I was right on the mark.
Boise State, despite being an easy pick, was a good prediction on my part. I will ignore the fact that almost everyone had them winning the Mountain West.
Did not take the bait about NC State being awesome this year. They were quite good but I still figured them third in the ACC Atlantic.
Oregon and Utah pretty much dominating the Pac-12 this season. Who called it? This guy…OK you might not be able to see it but I was pointing at myself.
Kansas only winning three games. I use this example every year.
I nailed the AAC East pretty much dead-on. Only real difference was UCF and Cincinnati being switched in the top two spots.
And of course Appalachian State being pretty close to the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six. Then again, EVERYONE thought that.

Coaching Hot Seat Fun-Time Extravaganza

How the fuck does UConn justify keeping Randy Edsall? My guess is along with the ridiculous bonuses he gets for getting three first downs in a quarter or leading after one quarter or not shitting his pants, he has a clause that says he is paid a bajillion dollars if he is fired before his contract is up.
From the rest of the top five, only one remains and I understand why. Other than one awesome season like a decade ago, Ball State has been brutal in football. I didn’t figure Mike Neu would be able to turn this around but he has. They were almost bowl-eligible and were battling for the MAC West title up until the final two weeks. The rest of the coaches…yeah, no surprise they are all gone.
Bob Davie gone in New Mexico. No surprise there since I think everyone there was getting sick of his shit, especially the players. That only works when you win. When you lose, being a hard-ass never works. And Charlie Strong is also gone. He was fired at USF for basically getting worse every season since he started there. We will see him again in the next couple years I’m sure.
Philip Montgomery somehow got a stay of execution at Tulsa. I think part of this is the fact that who wants to go to coach at Tulsa?
My Doubtful Shitcanning list, yet again, had a few guys who had pretty good to great years. Mike Bloomgren did what I didn’t think he could do…win a game at Rice this season (they actually won three). Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers beat Alabama and almost got to the New Year’s Six. And Lovie Smith did unreal things at a woebegone program at Illinois and put them in a bowl game this season so yes, I was very wrong with him since he defied logic and has this program headed in the right direction.
As for the rest of that section, I am a bit surprised Matt Luke was fired since I didn’t think Ole Miss did that bad this season. Also Brent Brennan is probably off the hot seat list after his work at San Jose State.

So again I decided to compare myself to the Stassen method of pre-season predictions. Every single year…I don’t know why I subject myself to this but I am always curious as to how I stand compared to real experts who truly study the game and don’t do this on the side…meaning it’s their actual job. So…using specialized computer software (it’s an app called Calculator), my score was calculated as (drum roll)…

134.

A little bit better than this year. So where did I land among the experts? I tied The Sporting News! Nice! Problem is they were 14th out of 19. But at least I wasn’t at the bottom. So suck it all you lesser predictors!

I am going to consider this season a quasi-success for me. Mostly because I have low expectations for my predictions. But since I am talking about my predictions and how good they were, you know what this means…college football is so far away now. 218 days away. Good god. How am I going to shirk all Saturday responsibilities now?

Super Bowl is this Sunday. No I did not watch the Pro Bowl at all. I don’t even know who won. I was more immersed in the tragic Kobe Bryant story than anything else yesterday. Anyway, I have not heard anything about changes to the broadcast info so all I can say is it is on FOX or CTV. That’s it.

Alright what do we have to look forward to: Mock drafts. I might do an XFL schedule. I have the college basketball conference tournament schedule as well which is always a crapshoot when it comes to the specialty packs (although Bell and Rogers are much better now than they were a few years back with assuring games that were scheduled actually appear). Alright have a great rest of the week folks!

I better get myself ready for a lot of late Saturday nights…

Posted on August 12, 2019 by guelphbossman

Sunday morning. 2:30 am. This is what I am looking at for fourteen weeks in a row. Oh wait, that’s not true. The final regular season week has a game between Army and Hawaii that STARTS at 1:30 in the morning. Good fucking God. I mean I will try my best to watch it since I am not the sharpest tool in the shed but that may break me…for a day. Then the next week I will go back to watching more college football. And why? Because COLLEJ FOOTBAW!

Now I am going to touch on a somewhat touchy subject: realignment. Wait, don’t leave! Look, the Mountain West has dropped to #2 in the Group of Five rankings and the American dropping UConn has made them better (at least in football). The MWC will probably wait to see what happens with the American in 2020. Will they add teams or won’t they? So does the MWC get proactive? And with whom? That becomes the problem. There still seems to be real animosity between the Mountain West and BYU. And on top of that, the rumours are that the conference may CONTRACT and not expand. San Jose State is a problem in almost every sport (but especially football) and Hawaii will always be a logistical nightmare of sorts. Thank God Alaska doesn’t have a football team in the FBS. So if they drop to ten do they become more of a valuable conference and add at that point to strengthen? Too many questions at this point but the fact is this: at some point, a big ball will drop and it will cause a major ripple effect. It’s up to the Mountain West if they want to be in front of that and take a risk or be behind it and hope they weren’t, well, left behind.

Anyway, let’s get on to the conference predictions followed by some Caffeine-Induced Hallucinations (and potentially Lucid Thoughts):

	Conference		Overall
Mountain	W	L	W	L
Boise State	8	0	11	1
Utah State	6	2	9	3
Wyoming	4	4	6	6
Air Force	4	4	6	6
New Mexico	1	7	3	9
Colorado State	1	7	2	10
West
San Diego State	7	1	9	3
Fresno State	7	1	10	2
Nevada	3	5	5	7
Hawaii	3	5	5	8
UNLV	2	6	3	9
San Jose State	1	7	2	10

Caffeine-Induced Hallucinations (and potentially Lucid Thoughts)

Boise State is the favourite to win the Mountain Division but they aren’t overwhelming favourites. Will they win out? Probably not. I see them losing to a much-improved Florida State team. Other than that? They play BYU and Utah State on the road so those could be issues but nothing else that would be considered difficult. So no I wouldn’t be super surprised if they won out but they have a habit of losing a game they should win in conference play.
Hey look who’s at the top of the West Division! Oh wait it’s the same two teams that have been there for the better part of the last decade (give or take a year or two). No other teams are really that close to the Bulldogs or Aztecs. Really, the game between these two teams on November 15th is the de facto MWC West Division Championship.
Sorry folks. Air Force isn’t contending for a division title. Nevada also won’t be contending for a division title. Enough of that crazy talk.
San Jose State will be, as per usual, terrible. New Mexico probably will still be a trainwreck. Colorado State will not improve that much. And UNLV is just waiting to get into the air conditioning. Honestly, all four of these head coaches should be shitcanned. I put the over/under at 1.5.
I don’t see an upset in the Mountain West Championship. The Broncos should be able to easily dispatch the Aztecs in the title game. Will they make the New Year’s Six? Ah, no. No they won’t. Second-best Group of Five team behind Memphis this season.
Six bowl teams from the conference. With no New Year’s Six team this would mean the appropriate amount of teams to fill all the bowl slots. Like a nice puzzle.

This is the kind of post I would make at 3 in the morning if I was dumb enough to do that. Not great, gets the point across, but when I look back at it I will marvel at the fact that it’s even in English.

Next up is the final set of conference previews. The conference that is still basically Clemson and Thirteen Other Teams: the ACC. They do have something new and shiny though. Their brand new ACC Network debuts soon. How this will appear in Canada I have no clue. It should be relatively seamless which means it absolutely won’t be Again, I get their are some obstacles, but if you were able to give people what they wanted on TV, then we wouldn’t have nearly as many of these issues. Instead it’s like this country is stuck back in time. It’s not that Bell and Rogers don’t get it: they do. They just prefer money. For now. They have to pivot at some point or otherwise their revenue may drop like a few hundred million, or 1% for those who prefer percentages. Anyway, we are 12 days away from real live college football! A little less than two weeks. It’s right around the corner! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Alright let’s look at the Pac-12 and……wait, what?

Posted on August 1, 2018 by guelphbossman

………………………………………………….what in the fuck?

So a guy in Wisconsin is an avid Arizona Wildcats basketball fan so he made calls, claiming to be an employee of this restaurant Buffalo Phil’s, to get the Pac-12 Network on the restaurant’s cable package so he could go watch the games there. This is some next level craziness right here. There was no other way for this guy to get his Arizona basketball fix? Seriously? I’m sure he could watch it on his phone but I guess that would be too easy.

Through all of this, it does show what people will do to watch college sports (well, football and basketball at least). And there are quite a few of us up here in Canada that are like that. Not like this guy but we love our college football and/or basketball. So what do we get? A heaping helping of bullshit most of the time. I still believe that a package that contains just the college football games would sell very well. It gives people exactly what they want and nothing more. Which leads me to the fact that the Pac-12 Network is now available on DAZN. Remember DAZN? The people that fucked up Sunday Ticket so bad they basically begged Rogers and Bell to take it back? Yeah those guys. I will be honest about DAZN: if they ever get their shit together, they could easily bid on something huge and it would be a big hit to live sports TV watchers in Canada. It feels like this could happen in the next few years. I would hate to have to have multiple platforms to watch college football on but if that’s the wave of the future then I guess I better go along for the ride.

Alright enough of that short rant. Let’s get to the Pac-12 predictions followed by some West Coast Flavour, Bruh:

	Conference		Overall
North	W	L	W	L
Washington	9	0	11	1
Stanford	7	2	9	3
Oregon	6	3	9	3
California	3	6	6	6
Washington State	2	7	5	7
Oregon State	0	9	1	11
South
USC	7	2	9	3
Utah	6	3	9	3
Arizona	6	3	9	3
UCLA	4	5	6	6
Colorado	3	6	5	7
Arizona State	1	8	1	11

West Coast Flavour, Bruh

Could all four California teams go bowling this season? If I was a betting man (and depending on the day you will get a different answer) I would say yes. The worst of the bunch is probably Cal and they should be better than Wazzu and OSU in the North. Same with UCLA who should get a jolt from Chip Kelly’s arrival in Westwood. USC and Stanford battle for division titles, ho hum.
USC and Stanford’s main competition will come from Utah and Washington, respectively. All four of these teams have to be careful though that they all don’t beat each other up and no one gets to the College Football Playoff…again.
Do not sleep on Oregon in the North. Even with Mario Cristobal as their new head coach. Despite the fact FIU had a good season last year, they have to be kicking themselves for shitcanning Super Mario. His recruiting alone means he won’t be below a coordinator ever again until he retires.
Khalil Tate is arguably the Pac-12’s top Heisman hopeful. And with the South being a bit more wide open than usual, don’t be surprised if Kevin Sumlin comes in and bags the Wildcats a division title and a chance at their first ever Rose Bowl. He’s done it before…comes in with a bang. Unfortunately his last stop ended in a whimper but we won’t go there…yet.
Arizona State is going to be awful I think. The Herm Edwards Experiment is one thing that won’t help. But their schedule is quite difficult and, other than probably Oregon State, there isn’t a sure win there. Hell, I even have UTSA beating them.
So for the Pac-12 title game I have Washington defeating USC. Do they go to the CFP? You’ll have to wait and find out after all the conference predictions are complete. NOTE: I’m an idiot. I always had Washington losing this game to USC. Which makes it easy to figure out if the Huskies would go to the CFP (spoiler alert: absolutely not). Thanks to reader John for pointing that out.
I see the Pac-12 getting eight bowl teams and perhaps winning more than one this time around. Think you can do that guys? Shouldn’t be that difficult.

Next time we hit the halfway mark with the American Conference. I would argue it is the best Group of Five conference out there and, honestly, if they want to really kickstart this Power Six thing, actually land two (if not four) other big G-5 schools. Then, at the very least, you are in a tier of your own if not outright pushing yourself into the power schools.

Before I bid you farewell, I want to say that my hot list post doesn’t usually occur until just before the start of the season. But there is one name I can safely say will be on there: Urban Meyer. Wow, what a mess he is in now. Wouldn’t surprise me if they fired him in the next couple weeks after basically knowing one of his assistants, Zach Smith, was a domestic abusing shitbag since the first set of allegations three years ago. And what did he do about it then? Nothing. And he may pay for it now that Smith is again facing charges of domestic violence. Sorry college football head coaches but you have to be held to a higher standard, especially in the FBS. Most of you make quite a bit of money and have quite a bit of power and prestige so you better be relatively squeaky-clean as well. It’s only fair.

Alright, there is one more thing I have to add. Wyoming-New Mexico State has been sent to ESPN2 on August 25th. This means that we should get it on the specialty pack (would be the first SP game of the season). However, last year I found out we didn’t get these Week 0 games. Why? Fuck you, that’s why. At least that’s basically the answer I got. So I won’t hold my breath that we will be able to see this game but stranger things have happened. We are 24 days away from Week Zero. This month, we will have college football. Everyone rejoice!

Oh god…it’s that time again. Alright deep breath……let’s take a look at my 2017 CFB predictions

Posted on February 13, 2018 by guelphbossman

No more football this season. Yes this is sad. We are six-and-a-half months away from college football starting again. No, I will not watch spring games. I think it’s somewhat ridiculous. I get the point of them (kind of) but still won’t watch them. It helps that most of them are on ESPN so I won’t get them anyway. I will do more mock draft posts (pin drop in the audience) but will not watch the Combine…at least live. I will watch some analysis of it but for the most part I find the NFL’s Kreepy Kombine to be bizarre. I guess you could call it Football Scouting Porn. The CFL starts in like late May this year with their pre-season (May 27th to be exact). Why most (if not all) of these games aren’t in neutral locations I can never figure out. There are only eight pre-season games in total. Eight. Not hard to figure out other places to put them if you really want to grow the game.

Anyway, let’s get on to the meat of this post (the roast beef if you will)…my college football predictions this season. Some were pretty good. Others….my god they were so off the mark. Let us begin shall we?

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

My College Football Playoff Final Four was…well, off the mark:
- Alabama – They got in. And won the whole thing. I had them losing in the semis though so I struck out there. And that was the best of my picks.
- USC – I figured they would be #1. They were not. They struggled a bit but still made the New Year’s Six. To face…
- Ohio State – I figured they would find a way to get out of the tough Big Ten and into the CFP. They did win the Big Ten Championship and lost out on the spot to Alabama and ended up at the Cotton Bowl where they beat the Trojans pretty handily. So still not too bad with my picks so far.
- Wisconsin – The first part I got right. I said they’d run the table going into the Big Ten title game and they did. But they weren’t high enough up in the rankings to survive the loss they had to Ohio State which is what I also said would happen. So in the end, these picks weren’t too bad considering Wisky also made the New Year’s Six.
How about my New Year’s Six picks? Let’s see…Florida? Tennessee? Florida State? Fuck.
I had Northwestern, Auburn and Michigan being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in but playing in good bowls. Not bad Bossman. Not bad at all.

Heisman Trophy

Yes I had Sam Darnold to win it but a lot of other people did too. I did have Baker Mayfield as runner-up though. I am impressed with myself.
The only misses would be Deondre Francois (who could have been if he hadn’t been injured in game one) and Bo Scarbrough. Other than the Mark Ingram season, Saban likes to use the committee in the backfield kind of thing. I should know this by now.

Let’s Look at Some Bad Team Predictions

Should we start in the SEC? Why not since I was such shit in the SEC East (SEC West I fucking ROCKED!). I had Florida 1st, followed by Tennessee. Good god. I also had Missouri last and South Carolina tied for fourth although those don’t look TOO bad considering I think I was on par with many other actual experts on this.
I thought it would be Purdon’t again. It wasn’t.
Both Arizonas did much better than I thought. And even then both head coaches were still shitcanned (for wildly different reasons).
Baylor was trash (which many were overjoyed with).
Florida State was WAY worse than it should have been.
BYU was God awful…..hehe.
Tulsa was terrible.
The Florida Initial Universities did much better than I figured. The Atlantic version (thanks to Lane Kiffin) and the International version (thanks to Butch Davis).
North Texas was also really good (and fun to watch).

Let’s Look at Some Good Team Predictions

There are many I got absolutely correct (or pretty close to it) so let’s look at some odd ones like Alabama losing a game (to Auburn) and still winning the SEC West. OK the last part wasn’t right but I was close otherwise.
Wisconsin running the regular season table. Oh yeah.
Low hanging fruit but I almost aced the Pac-12 North.
Texas finishing fourth. Not at the top or near the bottom like many others thought.
Toledo being ALMOST the class of the Group of Five.
Appalachian State kind of doing the same thing.
And the Mountain West as a whole. Staying up until ungodly times in the morning to watch their games paid off!

Coaching Hot Seat Fun-Time Extravaganza

I had Paul Haynes at the top of my list. No surprise he got fired.
I had Todd Graham #3 on my list. He was fired although many were shocked he was. And he was replaced by Herm Edwards. That’s gonna be a real interesting 2018 in Tempe.
Sean Kugler, Kevin Sumlin and Rich Rodriguez were all in my Probable Shitcanning section. Good times. David Beaty was also on the list and will be brought back for 2018 which is another reason we need promotion and relegation in college football.
Not even I could have predicted how poorly they treated Bret Bielema when they fired him.
My Doubtful Shitcanning list had the most hits. God damn it! Then again I couldn’t put everyone in the predicted-to-be-fired bucket. It would get too crowded.

So again I decided to compare myself to the Stassen method of pre-season predictions. I do want to know where I stand despite the fact I usually stand near the bottom of the ladder looking up on people much, much smarter than myself on this topic. So after much calculation (including perhaps some trigonometry and calculus), I got…drum roll please………………

145.

That puts me TIED FOR FIFTH! Wow. That’s pretty damn good if I must say so myself. Then again I don’t have near the knowledge every one of the actual participants in that list have but still….yay me! It helps that I would have had the best marks for my Big Ten East, Big XII and Mountain West West Division and had damn good predictions for the Pac-12 North (although one magazine got it perfect…nice).

So hey I did well…for once. This just makes me more sad that we are without college football for at least another 190 days. Ugh.

So yeah mock drafts, college basketball conference tournament post, and some other filler until we get back to the good stuff sometime in the Spring. Have a great week everyone…unless you are like me and dread Valentine’s Day and all that goes on with it. Ugh. The 15th can’t come soon enough.

And now begins the coaching carousel – Week 9 College Football Recap

Posted on October 30, 2017 by guelphbossman

Hey, remember what I posted on Thursday? Well forget all that. Well, some of it. Do fans go overboard? Sure. But in this instance, with Jim Bob McElwain, it appears that it did not. Or did it? Who knows? The only thing we know is that the university doesn’t believe him at all. And him “parting ways” with the team (read: he got shitcanned and they negotiated a lot less than what the buyout would have been normally) means we are starting the coaching carousel a tiny bit early. And not just the college football coaching carousel but the SEC Coaching Carousel! Let’s look at the coaches that could be in peril:

Butch Jones (why he hasn’t been fired yet boggles my mind)
Kevin Sumlin (the goodwill I think has finally worn out at College Station)
Gus Malzahn (he seems to get in his own way a lot and has coached his way out of a few Auburn wins)
Bret Bielema (it has not been rosy at all since leaving Madison)
Matt Luke (I think we all figured he was truly an interim and would never get that tag removed)
Barry Odom (Mizzou is not back to the way they were during back-to-back SEC East titles)

And with that we have some very hot coaching prospects out there including Matt Campbell, Scott Frost, Jason Candle, Blake Anderson, Chad Morris, Dave Clawson and of course, oh yes, Butch Davis and Lane Fucking Kiffin. Having Kiffin back in the SEC would be worth the weekly gongshow we would most likely see.

So yeah, at least two of the six coaches above will be gone if not more. And that affects a lot of other schools, especially good Group of Five schools. It’s a domino effect that can have crazy repercussions. And in the end, if these rumours start too early, it is awful for the players. And by rumours I mean actual documented probability and not just people throwing out names (like I just did). It’s going to be an interesting last four weeks of the regular season (before the conference championships).

And now the rest of the fun-time recap!

No, I didn’t really write off Ohio State. But I did figure their road would be tough to get there. I did, however, think they would beat Penn State. They did, in ridiculous comeback fashion. I still think tOSU stumbles at some point down the stretch but for now they are looking pretty damn good. And Penn State isn’t looking too bad either if this ends up being their only loss. Especially after last year when The Committee made it perfectly clear that the entire season’s worth of schedule strength means more than winning a conference championship. So you’re saying there’s still a chance!

Um, these aren’t the Iowa State Cyclones we know and well… Most people love upsets. Except the fans of the team who just got upset. So who has not thoroughly enjoyed Iowa State upsetting two Top 5 teams in a span of a month. That’s absurd for some of the elite programs to do it but for a program like Iowa State to pull it off? Crazy! It does throw the Big XII for a loop and makes it a lot more difficult to make the College Football Playoff but since this season is trending towards 2007 or 1990 it isn’t out of the realm for more chaos to happen.

So Bedlam is important again? Yes, yes it seems to be. We are now back to thinking that there will be a Bedlam II in December at JerryWorld. A lot still has to happen for that to occur but it’s not as crazy as some might think. And I honestly don’t think the Sooners should be prohibitive favourites next week when these two teams meet in Stillwater next Saturday (on FOX Sports One for fuck’s sake).

Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame! Notre Dame made quick work of NC State. They are starting to look like a serious CFP contender. Now they still have to win out. A single loss pretty much ends their chances (although it would still give them a great New Year’s Six resume). The ACC is also in a bit of chaos. Miami wins out it’s easy. They don’t and they have to hope for at least a bit of help elsewhere.

There will be a new #1. Yep. Seriously. Georgia should be #1 in the first CFP Poll come Tuesday night. Their resume is light years better than Alabama’s. Who has Bama faced that was really any good so far? Every team they’ve played has turned out to be mediocre at best. They will have a tough November with LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn to bolster their strength of schedule so get through those unscathed and they probably move back to #1. But until then…Kirby Smart, a Nick Saban disciple, has his team on top of the mountain. My god.

RichRod is again coaching a good team. Yes, that RichRod. No one (and I mean no one!) thought Arizona would be this good this year. But after another upset, this one over Washington State, they have to be considered at least somewhat of a contender in the Pac-12 South. They are really one big win over USC away from going back to the Pac-12 Championship for the first time since 2014.

And then there was one. USF’s late loss to Houston was heartbreaking for the Bulls. It also made it so there is only one undefeated Group of Five team left. And that’s UCF. The same UCF that put up a 70-burger on Austin Peay Saturday. Impressive, somewhat. But they also allowed the Governors to score 33 points. An FCS team. That has to be somewhat concerning. I have a feeling they will have a tough go of it next week against SMU. A Knights loss would cause huge G-5 chaos.

Lying in the weeds… This is all very interesting with the Toledo Rockets lying in the weeds. There is almost nothing (save a game against Western Michigan and the MAC Championship) keeping them from finishing with one loss and they could be a major factor if other teams drop by the wayside.

Back to those unlucky Vols… The end of the game between Tennessee and Kentucky was quintessential 2017 Tennessee football. The Vols tossed a Hail Mary that was actually caught by a Tennessee receiver who was promptly brought down at the 4-yard line. Ugh. So close yet so far away.

Alright, now time for my Bossman Top 25!

#1	Georgia
#2	Alabama
#3	Ohio State
#4	Notre Dame
#5	Wisconsin
#6	Miami
#7	Penn State
#8	Oklahoma State
#9	Clemson
#10	Oklahoma
#11	Virginia Tech
#12	Washington
#13	TCU
#14	Iowa State
#15	UCF
#16	USC
#17	Auburn
#18	Stanford
#19	LSU
#20	NC State
#21	Mississippi State
#22	Washington State
#23	USF
#24	Memphis
#25	Arizona

Yes I do believe Georgia is #1. This would change in a few weeks if Bama continues to win. The Buckeyes and Irish move into the all-important Top Four. Well, somewhat all-important. It means nothing since the CFP rankings might be different making the AP Poll (and my rankings…and everyone’s rankings) moot. Wisconsin still has the easiest route into the Top Four at least going into conference championship week. But I don’t trust them to get to the CFP unbeaten. Neither do I think it will happen with Miami. They have struggled to beat a lot of teams this year. I just can’t see the whole Cardiac Kids act working out all season for the Canes. Yes I have TCU one spot ahead of Iowa State. Remember, TCU is 7-1 and ISU is 6-2. I am sure some people would scoff at the fact that this is the case but remember, one game does not make a season (but can sure break a season).

Alright no NFL recaps until later on in the season. I should be doing a bowl projection post either tomorrow or Wednesday. We shall see.

Remember we are now in the midst of football every day until the day before American Thanksgiving (which feels more like a calm before the storm really). Meaning Monday Night Football tonight and then some MACtion tomorrow night! From what I can tell, both games (Miami-OH at Ohio and Bowling Green at Kent State) should appear on the specialty pack. Aren’t there yet but that’s not surprising. Enjoy the games everyone!

Week 9 College Football TV Schedule – Sponsored by my new game show idea

Posted on October 29, 2015 by guelphbossman

Of course I would get Chuck Woolery to host it! It’s called “Who Wants to Coach?” Since we have had a rash of coaches getting fired or resigning, there are a lot of openings. The lists of who could fill these jobs tend to be lengthy, especially for the USC job. Anyway, now for how the game works. We could have two wheels like on the Price is Right. Spin the first one to see what job opening we are talking about. Then spin the next (much bigger) wheel to see who will become the next head coach at the school from the first wheel. So, for example, you could spin the first one and land on USC and the second one lands on Kyle Whittingham. Or the first one lands on UCF and the second one lands on Mark Mangino. The possibilities are endless! And on that note, it was with a bit of sadness to see Jerry Kill have to retire due to health issues. He was a great coach who took a program that really wasn’t that good and made them a contender in the Big Ten West. He will be replaced by Tracy Claeys who doesn’t care that his first name is Tracy or that he doesn’t look like he’s a coach at all. He’s a great defensive coordinator and filled in nicely for Kill before so it should be steady as she goes in the Twin Cities. Now if someone could only beat those pesky Iowa Hawkeyes…

Alright, time for the TV schedules this week. Sucks that Halloween is on a Saturday this year. Not for the kids. I mean that’s fantastic for them. And not for Halloween party goers since they can get completely wasted and use Sunday to recover. It sucks for me in terms of watching college football since there will be very little opportunity to watch live action since I will busy for a good part of the afternoon and an even greater part of the evening. I was going to carve Nick Saban’s face as our jack-o-lantern this year but my kids would have no idea who he was and I am sure it would scare at least a few adults from allowing their kids to trick-or-treat at my house (would you like this snack-size Snickers bar or this recruitment letter?). So PVR my good friend, you will be maxed out again. Sorry for your damn luck but it is what it is. One day my PVR is going to give me the ultimate F-U and die at 11:59 on a Saturday morning when I’m out of town. I probably deserve it.

Alright, let’s start with the cable schedule:

				ROGERS	FIBE	SATELLITE
October-29-15	Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan (Thu)	7:30 PM	CBSSN	X	X
October-31-15	Syracuse at #17 Florida State	12:00 PM	ABC	X	X	X
October-31-15	Elon at Stony Brook	12:00 PM	MyTV	X	X
October-31-15	Rutgers at Wisconsin	12:00 PM	BTN	X
October-31-15	USF at Navy	12:00 PM	CBSSN	X	X
October-31-15	Virginia Tech at Boston College	12:30 PM	WSBK	X	X	X
October-31-15	USC at California	3:00 PM	FOX	X	X	X
October-31-15	#11 Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM	CBS	X	X	X
October-31-15	Maryland at #10 Iowa	3:30 PM	ABC	X	X	X
October-31-15	San Diego State at Colorado State	3:30 PM	CBSSN	X	X
October-31-15	Tulane at #16 Memphis	7:00 PM	CBSSN	X	X
October-31-15	#15 Michigan at Minnesota	7:00 PM	TSN2	X	X	X
October-31-15	#9 Notre Dame at #21 Temple	8:00 PM	ABC	X	X	X
October-31-15	Air Force at Hawaii	10:30 PM	CBSSN	X	X

Yikes. You can definitely notice when TSN shows almost no college football. Only 13 games on cable on Saturday (with only 6 for Satellite customers). This is where the specialty pack comes in handy, big time! Anyway, the highlight of the cable schedule is (brace yourself) Notre Dame travelling to Temple to face the Owls. This is the coming-out party for this program (which has been around for a long time and has sucked for that same amount of time). Win this and they move into the driver’s seat for the Go5 spot in the New Year’s Six (which would end up being either the Peach or Cotton Bowl).

Now on to the specialty pack schedule which is a quasi-shitshow but explainable at least:

			ROGERS	FIBE	SATELLITE
October-29-15	North Carolina at #23 Pittsburgh (Thu)	7:00 PM	X	X	X
October-29-15	Texas State at Georgia Southern (Thu)	7:30 PM	X	X	X
October-29-15	Oregon at Arizona State (Thu)	10:30 PM	X	X	X
October-30-15	Louisville at Wake Forest (Fri)	7:00 PM	X	X	X
October-30-15	East Carolina at Connecticut (Fri)	7:00 PM	X	X	X
October-30-15	Wyoming at Utah State (Fri)	10:15 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	#19 Ole Miss at Auburn**	12:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Nebraska at Purdue	12:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Illinois at Penn State	12:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	South Carolina at Texas A&M	12:00 PM		X	X
October-31-15	Virginia Tech at Boston College	12:30 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Georgia Tech at Virginia	3:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	#3 Clemson at NC State	3:30 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	#12 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech	3:30 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Boise State at UNLV	3:30 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	UT-Martin at Arkansas	4:00 PM		X	X
October-31-15	Vanderbilt at #18 Houston***	7:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Miami at #22 Duke***	7:00 PM	X	X	X
October-31-15	Tennessee at Kentucky	7:30 PM		X	X
October-31-15	#8 Stanford at Washington State	10:30 PM	X	X	X

OK follow me on this. There are seven games where there are scheduling issues here (not in the States where that shit is set at least a week in advance). Here is a little legend to help you out:

1 asterisk (*) means the game isn’t appearing on any of the guides but there is a spot for them there
2 asterisks (**) means the game isn’t appearing on the Rogers guide only but there is a spot for it there
3 asterisks (***) means the game isn’t appearing on the Satellite guide only but there is a spot for them there

I am not even going to try to comprehend why these games aren’t appearing there when the spots just say “College Football” with no additional information. It’s like they found the laziest person possible to do this and he’ll get around to it Friday night while he’s cleaning the Dorito dust off his shirt. Update: Bell Fibe is showing games on the guide. Haven’t been able to find an updated Rogers Super Sports Pack schedule but I assume they have been added. Satellite guide is up to date as well.

Anyway, there are no standout games but a lot of good ones on the specialty pack. Plus pretty much all the games tonight and tomorrow night are there so if college football is your heroin, you might want to get it (despite the cost).

This one’s gonna be a dandy

OK maybe not a dandy (in some cases) but there are some good games. These good games become way more important because in some cases they will have huge conference ramifications. Alright here we go.

Notre Dame at Temple (8:00, ABC) – This is the only game between two ranked teams this week. So we are now at two weeks in a row with very little marquee value. The thing is about this game is that there is a lot of hype surrounding it. College Gameday is in Philly. This is a big deal for both teams for somewhat similar reasons. Notre Dame still has a good shot at the New Year’s Six and an outside chance at the College Football Playoff. If the Owls pull this off, they probably go to the Peach Bowl which would be massive for this program. Someone’s dreams will end Saturday night.

West Virginia at TCU (Thursday, 7:30, we don’t get it here) – Yes, this would be considered a trap game. TCU is looking down the barrel at three massive games (with an easy one at Kansas mixed in) after this encounter with the Mountaineers. They trip up here, they basically blow up their chances at the College Football Playoff. Uncle Dana will be licking his chops hoping for the upset.

Ole Miss at Auburn (Noon, specialty pack) – This game probably would have went to TSN if TSN was showing more than one game this Saturday. The Rebels have to recover after last week’s loss to Memphis if they have any hope of going to a major bowl. Auburn needs a win just to keep their bowl-eligibility chances alive after their marathon loss to Arkansas.

Clemson at NC State (3:30, specialty pack) – I had thought this game would be on ABC in our area but instead we get Maryland-Iowa. Oh well. This should still be a good game. Another trap game here since I am sure the Tigers are looking ahead to their date with Florida State. A loss here by Clemson could really hamper the ACC’s chances of having a representative in the College Football Playoff.

Stanford at Washington State (10:30, specialty pack) – I don’t get the Pac-12’s problem with late-night games. I totally get it when there is more than one on but to have just one in the late-night slot is good because let’s be honest, it’s not like the Mountain West would usurp them as the game of the night. I will say it again, this season has been crazy. Want proof? College Gameday producers agonized over whether to go to Temple or Washington State for Gameday. Seriously. Fucking insane. Anyway, if Stanford doesn’t watch it, the Cougs could hamper the Pac-12’s chances of having a representative in the College Football Playoff. Isn’t college football fun?

Georgia vs. Florida (in Jacksonville, 3:30, CBS) – Ah, the Cocktail Party. I don’t give a flying fuck what the NCAA says, that’s what I am calling it. Still hoping they provide free booze to Verne and Gary for the game. As long as there was no puking it would be a whole lot more enjoyable to watch. This is now the de facto SEC East championship game. Usually this game is exciting and I see this being no different. Will it make my PVR? I don’t know about that.

Picking teams n’ shit

I have decided to curb my football gambling. I started early last year with stopping gambling on college football games. I have now extended it to NFL games. More of a cost-cutting measure, plus I found I was too wrapped up in hoping my teams would win rather than enjoying the games. Same with fantasy football which I have now not played for two seasons in a row (suck on that DraftKings and FanDuel). Alright, saying all that, here are my picks for the week (think of me as that guy that used to be on those greasy gambling shows hosted by guys you would never invite into your own house, except my suits aren’t nearly as flashy and I look a lot less like a used car salesman than those douchebags):

Notre Dame over Temple (it pains me to do this…I think it will be close but I gotta do this….actually you know what, fuck it…)

Temple over Notre Dame (throw all caution to the wind and hope for the underdog!)

TCU over West Virginia

Ole Miss over Auburn

Clemson over NC State

Stanford over Washington State

Georgia over Florida

Oklahoma State over Texas Tech

Minnesota over Michigan

North Carolina over Pittsburgh

UCLA over Colorado

Alright, so as you can see there are four games tonight and three tomorrow. There’s also the NFL Thursday Nighter and for once I am actually interested in it as Miami travels to New England to try and stop two undefeated streaks: the Patriots’ 2015 season and the Patriots’ Thursday Night record.

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: head coaches

What is wrong with the Week 3 College Football TV Schedule?

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