The Land of the Undefeated 8.0

Posted on October 9, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yep. It’s that time again. It’s the eighth (EIGHTH?) edition of looking at the undefeated teams left in college football around the halfway mark of the season. Fun stuff, right? One day I should go back and see how accurate I was with these predictions. Though to be honest, I think I would be scared to do so since my predictions have been so great, right (see Tigers, Clemson). Anyway, let’s get going with this!

#1 Georgia (6-0) – The Dawgs have, at times, looked a bit shaky. Tough wins over South Carolina and Auburn made it seem like this team may struggle at some point. Then they demolish Kentucky and it feels like all is normal again. I still think there is a loss in there but they will, once again, walk to another SEC East title and a berth in the SEC Championship. Predicted record: 11-1.

#2 Michigan (6-0) – Now here is a team that has not struggled. At all. In any sense. The Wolverines are just that good. I do, however, think they will lose a game this season (I have it being a loss to Penn State although it could just as easily be Ohio State). They will still make the Big Ten Championship and throttle whichever sad sack team comes out of the Big Ten West and head to the College Football Playoff. Predicted record: 11-1.

#3 Ohio State (5-0) – Speaking of tOSU, I figure they will also lose one game. I have them losing The Game to Michigan which would knock them out of a shot at the Big Ten Championship (in what could be the most scrutinized tiebreaker ever). The Buckeyes, though, have to quit with the slow starts or otherwise some other team is going to surprise them and it will be lights out for their national championship hopes. Predicted record: 11-1.

#4 Florida State (5-0) – They may end up dropping even more if they can’t show how dominant they really are. Then again, they may not have to since I honestly believe they will be the only undefeated team at the end of the regular season (can you smell those 2007 vibes?). Predicted record: 12-0.

#5 Oklahoma (6-0) – Quite a few people are suprised Oklahoma is doing this well. I figured that they would lose against Texas but would only have that one loss against them at this point. Look, Dillon Gabriel wasn’t going to be as bad as he was last season and the defense was definitely going to be better under Captain Defense himself, Brent Venables. Will they go the rest of the way unscathed. Eh…. Predicted record: 10-2.

#6 Penn State (5-0) – PSU really doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. They could go on a serious run, the likes which haven’t been seen in State College in quite a long time. It is Penn State, though. They are bound to lose one and I think they will to Ohio State (which would make for a fun three-way tie at 11-1). Predicted record: 11-1.

#7 Washington (5-0) – The Pac-12 is up for grabs. The worry is that the conference will cannibalize itself. I agree with that notion. Predicted record: 9-3.

#8 Oregon (5-0) – If you take out the weird Texas Tech game, the Ducks have looked awesome. They would seem to be on a fast track to the Pac-12 Championship if USC, Washington, UCLA, Oregon State and Washington State weren’t in their conference. If one Pac-12 team gets out with only one loss, I wonder if The Committee gives them a bit of a bump because of how difficult the road to get there would have been. Predicted record: 10-2.

#10 USC (6-0) – Now we get to the Trojans, the preseason Pac-12 favourites. Man, have they had a roller coaster season so far. Three close games in a row now for this team. And their defense is atrocious. If Lincoln Riley wants to stick with Alex Grinch as his defensive coordinator then so be it. It will most likely cost USC a trip to the CFP (if not also the New Year’s Six). Predicted record: 10-2.

#12 North Carolina (5-0) – Maybe this will finally be the Heels’ year. They are flying under the radar and playing really good football if you take away the game against Appalachian State where they survived in double overtime. Will they struggle with their ACC schedule? Looking at it, they probably should be 9-0 going into the Victory Bell game against Duke. Then all bets are off. Predicted record: 11-1.

#14 Louisville (6-0) – This is arguably the biggest surprise on this list. Not saying no one thought Louisville wouldn’t be good. Just not this good. I had them 4-2 at this point which is pretty good but not undefeated. I would say they now have the meat of their conference schedule remaining but realistically, if they can beat Duke, they could conceivably be 11-0 and playing Kentucky for the Governor’s Cup in late November. Sounds crazy but you never know. Predicted record: 10-2.

Air Force (5-0) – They have ascended to the top of the Group of Five pecking order…for now. They have Wyoming this weekend in what could be the biggest game of the season. Other than that, it could end up being a showdown with Boise State to end the regular season which will tell us whether the Falcons will have their first shot at the New Year’s Six or not. Predicted record: 10-2.

Liberty (5-0) – The Flames are playing….pretty good. Holding on to beat Sam Houston isn’t a good look though. They also might have the easiest schedule remaining of any team in FBS. So even if they ran the table it would probably mean nothing unless utter chaos happened. Predicted record: 10-2.

James Madison (5-0) – Now here’s a frustrating one. JMU is undefeated. Would be bowl-eligible except for the NCAA’s ridiculous rule that teams moving up from FCS must serve a two-year transition. The thing is, that is to keep teams from not having full FBS schedules from becoming bowl-eligible. The Dukes weren’t even like that last year in their first year in FBS. Hopefully someone comes to their senses and gives this team a shot at a bowl game, if not the Sun Belt Championship. Predicted record: 10-2.

14 teams left unscathed. We are in mid-October. I wouldn’t be surprised if we headed into November with only 5 or 6 undefeated teams. At least we know for sure that by early Sunday morning there will only be a maximum of 13 undefeated teams with Washington and Oregon meeting in a mega-matchup.

Tomorrow…yes, TOMORROW…is the start of the college football week. Conference USA continues their October Weekday Warrior schedule with two games. The Fun Belt adds to the mix with a game of their own. Wednesday then has two more C-USA games. Football every day folks. Gotta love it! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day!

Man, oh man, were there some overreactions this week…oh and the Week 2 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on September 7, 2023 by guelphbossman

Look, did Colorado surprise a lot of people this past weekend? Absolutely. No doubt about it. Deion Sanders is proving, whether you like him or not, that he can flat-out coach. And overhauling the roster like he did was not a bad idea at all. It does suck for the players that had to transfer out but unfortunately it’s football and the name of the game is winning.

Saying that………the amount of people I saw on Twitter that said Colorado will win 10 or 11 games this season was way too much. It should have been zero. Colorado may be better than advertised but they aren’t all of a sudden a New Year’s Six possibility. But hey, that’s the reactions from Week 1 of college football. Every. Single. Fucking. Year.

So let’s do it again on here! It’s overreaction time! Let’s look at some of the other overreactions you may (or may not) have heard after the Week 1 games were complete:

Ohio State is just an average team. Do we expect more from the Buckeyes against a team like Indiana? Sure. But they are bringing in a new quarterback and their best receiver was not 100%. The defense was amazing. Now the offense does have to be ready since in about a week and a half they get Notre Dame and that could get ugly if they don’t produce more points.
Colorado will have not one, but TWO Heisman finalists. What in the fuck? Who are the morons saying this? They are out there for sure. I saw them. Sure, they did great in their opening week win over TCU but calm the fuck down. TCU isn’t the TCU of last season for one and it’s only WEEK ONE. Anyway, moving on…
Gene Chizik has finally got the defense cooking in Chapel Hill. Again, it’s one game. Do the Heels look improved? Sure. But it’s not like South Carolina played well at all because, for the most part they didn’t. That, and the chain gang wouldn’t eat their hot dogs fast enough. Let’s see how UNC does when a top-notch offense is staring them in the face.
Jalen Milroe is already looking like another Alabama Jalen…that being Hurts. My God where do these people come up with this shit? Milroe looked OK but it was Middle Tennessee and he’s playing for Ala-frickin-Bama. We will see how he handles SEC competition before crowning him anything.
Washington has the best offense in the country. Could that end up being the case? Possibly. Michael Penix Jr. has already started his Heisman campaign in style. But let’s slow our roll here. There are at least four teams who looked better on offense (Colorado, Florida State, Oklahoma, Oregon) during Week 1. And I wouldn’t even say any of those teams will be the best offense in the country so why go ahead and put the Huskies at #1?
Book the Sooners for the Big XII Championship NOW! As I said, their offense was on fire but they were playing Arkansas State. We are all waiting to see if Brent Venables can have a Venables-type defense in Norman. If that happens, this could very well happen. But for now, I wouldn’t book any tickets yet if I were a Sooners fan.
Miami is BACK. Ho boy. Pump the damn brakes.

Let’s just put Week 1 behind us, shall we? Let’s move on to Week 2 which…oh my. Well, it’s better than Week 1. That’s really all I can say. But you know what that usually means. That’s right…chaos!

Thursday

Yep, that’s a new logo you see. TSN+ will be showing college football games this year. It kind of mimics the specialty pack but there are a few differences. But if you want to get TSN+ rather than the specialty pack for your college football fix, you are getting close to the same. Not a bad alternative and a good move by TSN to copy ESPN for the 10,000th time.

Friday

		US	Canada
Indiana State at Indiana	7:00
Illinois at Kansas	7:30

It kind of feels like this could be a relatively important game when the Illini travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks. Imagine saying that even two years ago. You’d be laughed out of whatever building you were in.

Saturday Early

Is the quality there? Eh, not really. But there’s choice. A lot of it. Can’t ask for much else. Also…MORNING FOOTBAW! The ACC Network’s weird annual Week 2 quadrupleheader hits again with the odd three hour-and-fifteen-minute windows. This will be a lot easier to do next year when Stanford and California join as you know one of them will host the ACC After Dark Week 2 matchup, guaranteed.

Saturday Afternoon

Is the afternoon slate better than the Noon slate? Sure. Not by much though. Some intriguing matchups though. As per the rules, one of Texas A&M or Miami must win their game against each other. Ties were outlawed almost three decades ago. Will CyHawk feature more than 30 points? Can App State and UNC put up ridiculous numbers like last year? And this will be Tulane’s opportunity to get a huge leg up in the Group of Five. A win over Ole Miss would be massive.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Ohio at FAU	6:00
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh	6:30
#11 Texas at #3 Alabama	7:00
#13 Oregon at Texas Tech	7:00
Houston at Rice	7:00
#19 Wisconsin at Washington State	7:30
Eastern Michigan at Minnesota	7:30
Temple at Rutgers	7:30
UCLA at San Diego State	7:30
Grambling at #14 LSU	7:30
McNeese State at Florida	7:30
Charlotte at Maryland	7:30
Arizona at Mississippi State	7:30
Air Force vs. Sam Houston (in NRG Stadium)	8:00
Southern Miss at #4 Florida State	8:30

FIFTEEN GAMES! Holy shit! I think this has to be the most in one timeslot ever on this blog. I don’t feel like checking so let’s just say we have a new record! Plenty of games but most people will be watching one game in particular, that being the Longhorns and the Crimson Tide. If Texas can somehow do what they were robbed of last season and upset Bama, this season turns on its head. This game is so big that they are also showing it on ESPN2 in the US and on TSN+ and the specialty packs. But it’s not the same broadcast. It’s the Pat McAfee Show alternate broadcast. So if you like that kind of thing, have at it.

Also, you will notice we have a new network showing college football. That’s right, the CW, with such hits as 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Smallville and LIV Golf (well it was a hit with the golfers who got fucking PAID with that Saudi blood money) will be showing ACC football (and later on, ACC basketball) this year. This replaces Bally which, for all intents and purposes, is flat broke. There will be games most weeks and, it looks like, at odd times. 6:30? Weird.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
UC-Davis at #16 Oregon State	9:00
Auburn at California	10:30
Stanford at #6 USC	10:30

FOX quadrupleheader? Don’t mind if I do. TSN2 quadrupleheader? Yes, please. A good week if you are a Canadian as I don’t remember seeing this much college football being shown up here in a while. Maybe things are turning around. Looks like TSN finally gives a shit about things that aren’t the CFL, NFL, and NHL (which they don’t even have the national broadcasting rights to).

Hey, Watch This!

Texas at Alabama (7:00, TSN2/TSN+/specialty pack) – Unequivocally the game of the week and there’s nothing else close. That also means there will be some wild and wacky finishes that might overshadow this game. That is, unless, this is a close one and the Longhorns pull off the upset. Then it will be THE story in college football no matter what else happens.

Ole Miss at Tulane (3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – As I mentioned above, if the Green Wave pull off a win here in front of what should be a raucous crowd in hot and humid New Orleans, there’s not a whole lot that will prevent them from a perfect regular season and another New Year’s Six spot. Normally I would say this is a lose-lose situation for any Power Five team in this situation but when the Group of Five team is ranked it can count as a big win (as long as that team doesn’t totally shit the bed the rest of the way).

Texas A&M at Miami (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I made the joke above that one of these teams has to win, as per the rules of college football. We may actually see which one of these teams is back (for the most part) and which team still has some work to do. Now watch it be a 13-10 almost-unwatchable slog.

Nebraska at Colorado (Noon, FOX) – Alright, I’ll bite. Let’s see if the hype matches what ends up happening. Some might have put this higher but that’s crazy. It makes this list because of the talk, not because of the teams involved. And Colorado can’t just win this game by a little. That would prove nothing. If they beat the brakes off the Huskers, then we all have to take notice and maybe think the Buffs could be for real.

Sickos Game of the Week

Temple at Rutgers (7:30, specialty pack) – Look, Rutgers is probably going to start 2-0 which really doesn’t mean a whole lot considering their schedule but still, that’s something right? With everything on at this time, you would have to be a complete psychopath to watch this game. I will make sure to tune in and watch at least a few plays. I feel like I owe it to everyone and myself.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Ball State at Georgia (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – Time to bring back the blowout of the week segment. And this could be the dictionary definition of blowout. I could see UGA putting up 60 on the poor Cardinals.

Wanna Bet?

Nebraska was actually a good bet. That game ended up exactly how I thought it would (for the most part). Florida, however….well the less said about that one the better. Time for my gambling picks for the second week of the college football season. Use them at your own peril.

Indiana (-30.5) over Indiana State

Purdue (+3) over Virginia Tech (and the outright win)

Ohio State (-41.5) over Youngstown State

Utah (-8) over Baylor

Nebraska (+2.5) over Colorado (and the upset win…definitely going out on a limb with this one)

Michigan (-37.5) over UNLV

Tulane (+7.5) over Ole Miss (but the Rebs will hold on for a close victory)

Texas A&M (-4) over Miami

Alabama (-7) over Texas

Washington State (+6) over Wisconsin (with the Badgers winning a tight affair)

Minnesota (-20.5) over Eastern Michigan

Mississippi State (-9) over Arizona

Stanford (+29.5) over USC (I feel a backdoor cover in this one)

I will be on the Twitter/X machine again this weekend. Even without Tweetdeck I am figuring out how to navigate fairly well. We shall see if I can make it two Saturdays in a row making it all the way to the end. Enjoy the games everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2023 College Football Season

Posted on June 25, 2023 by guelphbossman

Yeah I’m that fucking excited.

Spoiler alert: UConn does not appear on this list. If you were expecting them, I apologize for their absence.

Alright it’s time to start getting on the next season’s worth of college football posts and I always start with the most important games of the upcoming season. Remember last season when I did this post? I didn’t do three or four posts. I did one long-ass post. So guess what? No, we are not going back to three or four posts. It’s one massive post once again. I think it worked last year so I’m going back to the newer well rather than the older well that did me….well, over a bunch of years.

Now some might say “Bossman, it’s too early for this.” To them I say “Eat shit.” FBSchedules has their helmet schedules out and preview magazines are out. I’ve almost ready all of the Lindy’s one and I have the Athlon one ready to go right after. The Phil Steele magazine, the god damn granddaddy of them all, will be here in the next couple of weeks. So yeah I’m getting ready and yeah, it’s time to talk some college football.

Remember how this goes: I am listing the most important games that will shape the outcome of the entire college football season. Sure, Army-Navy is a huge game but unless either team is undefeated going into that one, the game means very little in the grand scheme of things, bowl-wise or other.

So boys and girls (maybe), how do we always start this post? That’s right, with the ranking of the weeks of the season. It is sponsored by the letter R and the number 0. Every year it is usually pretty close to the same. Week 2 is not all of a sudden going to be the biggest week of the college football season. It just never happens. So here are those rankings followed by some witty and potentially insightful banter (a reminder that the week is listed by the Saturday it corresponds to):

Week 11 – November 11
Week 13 – November 25
Week 10 – November 4
Week 4 – September 23
Week 8 – October 21
Week 7 – October 14
Week 12 – November 18
Week 6 – October 7
Week 5 – September 30
Week 9 – October 28
Week 3 – September 16
Week 2 – September 9
Week 1 – September 2

Sweet Jesus, Week 1 looks fucking awful. I mean it’s the first full week of the season so I will be all in but still…it’s like college football has taken several steps backwards from a few years ago when Week 1 was about the fifth or sixth-best week of the season and there were five or six HUGE games. This season, the opening week is highlighted by LSU/Florida State which is great. Then the quality falls off a massive cliff with the next biggest game being the annual Labour Day ACC clash, this time with Clemson and Duke. Woof. Three weeks in November, as per usual, are at the top with Week 11 being the top week this season. It was the same thing five years ago as the week is crammed with huge conference games. I don’t know if I can even call it SEC Sleepwalk/Sleepover/Shitbreak Week anymore as Week 12, the penultimate regular season week, is again near the middle of the rankings. Also, I don’t rate Week Zero. But it will be a ton of fun since it will be the first college football action in over 7 months. So yeah my eyeballs will be fucking glued to Navy/Notre Dame out in Dublin, Ireland, Hawaii/Vanderbilt and UMass/New Mexico State of course!

OK just like last year I will not be going week-to-week. I’m just listing the top games. The top 35 (up from 30) most important games of the college football season. I’ll do this list and then in late November we will all watch a team like Arkansas or Iowa or NC State play in a game that could send them well on their way to the College Football Playoff. It is what it is. Let’s get to the list! For this list, any confirmed broadcast info will be noted. Of course, nothing for TSN will be confirmed until like the night before any of these games because fuck you that’s why.

Ohio State at Michigan (Week 13, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Chances are this is essentially for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Next year, this might be for a first-round bye in the CFP. How times change. Either way, this is unequivocally the biggest game of the season and the one where FOX sends basically everyone that works under the sports umbrella to work on the 83-hour BIG NUDE SATURDAY.
LSU at Alabama (Week 10, 8:00, CBS) – Alabama is pretty much the go-to pick for CBS’s lone primetime game of the season for the SEC and this year will be no different. This is the final SEC on CBS primetime game and should be a great one as these two teams are, once again, the pillars of the SEC West. The winner here is almost guaranteed (jury is still out on Ole Miss and TAMU) a spot in Atlanta to try and dethrone Georgia (probably).
Michigan at Penn State (Week 11, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – This game, like the first game on the list, could have national championship implications. It really is just a hair below the top two games on this list. FOX is hitting it out of the park with big games this season. I think the Big Ten might be just fine not being on ESPN/ABC going forward.
LSU at Florida State (Week 1, Sunday, 7:30, ABC, confirmed) – Two games in the top four for LSU means they will have a very tough road to get back to having some semblance of a shot at the College Football Playoff (or even the New Year’s Six). This seems like it could finally be the year that FSU returns to the top of the ACC mountain as Mike Norvell has his most talented team in Tallahassee. I love seeing ABC put a great game on the night before Labour Day. At least Week One can always rely on that.
Georgia at Tennessee (Week 12, 3:30, CBS) – If Joe Milton III continues to throw piss rockets like he did against Clemson in the Orange Bowl, this could ascend to Game of the Year territory. The Vols may have the best chance to beat the Dawgs with the game being at what should be a raucous Neyland Stadium. Not confirmed but I would be shocked if this isn’t CBS’s choice for the SEC on CBS this week.
Penn State at Ohio State (Week 8, Noon, FOX) – Man, GUS JOHNSON is getting a great set of games this season to call (if my predictions hold up). This is the final game on this list in the three-team Big Ten East Round Robin Tournament El Fantastico to determine which team (if not two) go to the CFP. I would say the Nittany Lions are pretty good underdogs here but they finally have a quarterback who looks like he can throw the ball downfield a bit so you never know. tOSU has question marks at QB so this could be quite the interesting matchup.
Florida State at Clemson (Week 4, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Could the Noles be the favourite here? It’s possible. Unlikely but I wouldn’t go much past a pickem for this one. With the Big Ten leaving ESPN/ABC, these primetime ABC slots open up a lot. And really, it is still the biggest timeslot of the week. This is the year the ACC has to hopefully grab as many of these as possible as next year…yeah, the SEC may end up with all of them.
Tennessee at Alabama (Week 8, 3:30, CBS) – Not going to lie: it is going to feel very weird when the SEC isn’t on CBS every Saturday afternoon. I guess that’s where a huge Big Ten game will go but I can’t see them getting most of the big games because FOX gets their pick of the litter most weeks. Going to be very interesting to watch going forward. Man, I thought figuring out this year’s schedule was difficult. Next year’s is going to seriously tough.
Ohio State at Notre Dame (Week 4, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – The first non-conference affair on this list and it is a juicy one. Both teams should be undefeated coming into this one unless the Irish have an inexplicable loss like they had last season to Marshall or Stanford. If Touchdown Jesus pulls this one out, expect Sam Hartman to rocket up most Heisman lists.
Texas at Alabama (Week 2, 7:00, specialty pack) – This game is confirmed for ESPN but I have this funny feeling TSN won’t pick it up. Call it a CFL or US Open-based hunch. We shall see though. Let’s be clear: the Horns were fucking robbed of the win last year by the referees. This time they will have a chance to make up for that but it is not easy winning in Tuscaloosa. Ask almost every team that’s travelled there in the past decade-plus.
Utah at USC (Week 8, 7:30, ABC) – Hey, the Pac-12 has joined the party. This is the swansong season in the conference for the Trojans and they are hoping to win the conference championship in their final year. Winning games like these is a must for that to happen. This could be the game that either elevates Caleb Williams to college football history and only the second player to win two Heismans or destroy his chances at repeating.
Ohio State at Wisconsin (Week 9, 7:30, NBC) – Yeah I think NBC will get a couple good Big Ten games and this will be one of them it sounds like. Wisconsin has a new head coach and a new quarterback and a new offensive coordinator that won’t run the ball as much as Wisconsin is supposed to. Hmmm…that is going to feel very unAlvarez-like. At least the kids will get to jump around after the third quarter, testing the structure of Camp Randall like a bunch of engineers.
Washington at USC (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – Again, I have this feeling that TSN will not show this game and that it will head to the specialty pack, much to the chagrin of regular Canadian cable subscribers (which I am not one of). It feels like either this game or the aforementioned Utes-Trojans game will be the game of the year in the conference and will decide at least one of the championship game participants (thanks to no divisions). It’s too bad FOX has their premiere game every week at Noon since this would be a great pick as their game of the week.
Ole Miss at Georgia (Week 11, 3:30, CBS) – Wouldn’t it be something if the Fighting Kiffins of Oxford upset UGA here? The entire college football world would be flipped upside down. And you know how I love upsets. We need another 2007!
Utah at Washington (Week 11, 3:30, TSN2) – Alright, the first game I predict will hit TSN that isn’t already on ABC. Kind of sad that TSN barely cares about their college football contract until bowl season when they suddenly show almost every bowl game despite also showing every World Juniors hockey game. Crazy. If Cam Rising is able to return for opening week then this could be a massive game. I am hoping for his sake (and for Utes fans’ sake) that is the case.
USC at Notre Dame (Week 7, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – The traditional yearly matchup is back again and even with the Trojans moving to the Big Ten, this matchup will continue. By this point in the season, both of these teams should be in the Top 15 looking at a potential College Football Playoff berth. The loser here loses that and perhaps an NY6 spot.
Alabama at Texas A&M (Week 6, Noon, TSN3/TSN5) – OK I am sure you are looking at this and wondering if I suddenly developed brain damage. I truly believe that the Aggies will be a ton better than they were last season when they essentially bottomed out under Jimbo Fisher. Plus, the Aggies always play the Tide tough so they could throw a big-ass monkey wrench in the entire SEC West picture here with a win.
Notre Dame at Clemson (Week 10, 3:30, ABC) – OK so this is confirmed for ABC but the time is not confirmed. I am guessing it will be on in the afternoon with Kansas State-Texas being the ABC Primetime game. This could end up being switched if both the Irish and Tigers are undefeated going into this one. For once, Clemson isn’t the ACC favourite. It’s kind of refreshing. It will be interesting to see if Cade Klubnik, the next man up at quarterback, can lead the Tigers back to the promised land. I don’t see it but then again, I thought D.J. Uiagelelei was going to be the guy and he’s now out in the boonies of Oregon.
USC at Oregon (Week 11, 7:30, ABC) – Speaking of Oregon, the Trojans head there on Remembrance Day night (or I guess it’s Veterans Day down in the States). Yet another tough test for the Trojans. We all know what’s going to happen though. The best four or five Pac-12 teams will beat on each other and no team will get out unscathed so no team will go to the CFP yet again. That conference just loves to cannibalize itself.
Ole Miss at Alabama (Week 4, 3:30, CBS) – A bit of an early shit-test game for the Tide. A game that they should win but they may have trouble with because their opponent is so damn pesky and annoying. I mean it is Lane Kiffin’s boys so you expect the Ole Miss offense to chug along. Bet the over.
Oregon at Utah (Week 9, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Could the Utes fall back to the middle of the pack if they don’t have Cam Rising to start the season? Quite possibly. I mean seeing this game in the Top 25 games of the season means I clearly think Rising will be ready to play on opening night. If not, pray for the Utes since it could be a long season (comparatively…I mean they will still win 8 or 9 games regardless).
Washington at Oregon State (Week 12, 10:30, TSN2) – Hey remember when I mentioned D.J. Uiagelelei? Here’s where he ended up. The metropolis of Corvallis. The Beavs might actually have a contender if D.J. can do what he was supposed to do at Clemson. On the other side of the line, Michael Penix Jr. should be considered the Heisman favourite since I can’t see voters giving it to Caleb Williams again (unless he has an all-timer of a season).
Texas A&M at LSU (Week 13, 3:00, specialty pack) – I actually have this game on the SEC Network. Yeah it may sound weird but this has happened before. And that final week of the regular season is ridiculous for scheduling anyway. At least one of the conference networks ends up getting a beauty of a game. Now if this is somehow for the SEC West title then yeah, it won’t even sniff the SEC Network. But I feel it won’t be so it will end up there.
Oregon at Washington (Week 7, 8:00, FOX) – Last year’s game was crazy with the Huskies having a huge comeback win to keep their Pac-12 hopes alive and ruin Oregon’s. I wonder if Mario Cristobal wishes he was back in Eugene considering how piss poor his Miami Hurricanes did in his first season back with his alma mater.
Utah at Oregon State (Week 5, Friday, 9:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – And finally we get a game that, well, Canadians won’t get (unless you have IPTV or find some probably illegal stream). You know, for a stadium that’s been under construction and only holds 27,000, those games in Corvallis can sound VERY loud. Then again, when they start that chainsaw, that’s loud enough. You ever been near one of those? Sweet fucking Jesus they are loud with great ear protection so I can imagine what it’s like being within twenty feet of the thing.
LSU at Ole Miss (Week 5, Noon, TSN2) – A lot of people will feel like this is a game for second place in the SEC West but with Bama’s QB questions, this could hold a lot more importance than that. Not saying the division is a free-for-all but I have these two teams, Bama and even the Aggies having legitimate shots at winning the division so they can be pummeled by UGA in the SEC Championship.
Iowa at Penn State (Week 4, 7:30, CBS, confirmed) – The first game on this list that has the Big Ten on CBS (man that sounds weird). This is confirmed and I believe the Penn State Whiteout Game is also confirmed. To say it’s an intimidating sight for a visiting team would be an understatement.
South Carolina at Georgia (Week 3, 3:30, CBS, confirmed) – This may be the first game that feels like it might not be that close. Saying that, Shane Beamer has the Gamecocks playing great football and they have the enthusiasm and work ethic to give the Dawgs a very tough time. Problem is they are playing this game between the hedges and not at Williams-Brice. If UGA can’t win this by a bunch, the rest of the SEC East should take notice.
Oregon State at Oregon (Week 13, Friday, 8:30, FOX, confirmed) – This could be one of the biggest Civil War games ever. Oh wait, I can’t call it’s the Civil War, can I? Anyway, the winner of this game probably will have a good chance to be in the Pac-12 Championship.
Kansas State at Texas (Week 10, 8:30, FOX) – It took until the thirtieth game to get a Big XII conference game. Look, as much crap as the Pac-12 has taken over the Spring (and rightfully so), the Big XII might be at its weakest in a long time unless a few programs step up (Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor) or maintain what they did last season (Kansas State, TCU, Kansas). This conference should feel lucky that the Pac-12 is in such dire straits. The latest rumor has Colorado and Arizona headed to the Big XII and it wouldn’t surprise me but from a football standpoint…woof.
Texas A&M at Tennessee (Week 7, Noon, TSN3) – OK maybe I should have stopped at 30. No, no, I promised 35 for some strange reason and dammit I am going to pull through. I am actually looking forward to Texas A&M’s season for one reason…Bobby Fucking Petrino. At some point you know it will be a disaster in College Station. It is bound to happen. Until then though you have one of the best offensive minds in college football trying to push this Aggie team to the next level. Just tell him to steer clear of motorcycles and young female former athletes-turned-office staff.
Texas at TCU (Week 11, 7:00, FOX) – What a run the Horned Frogs had last year (if you don’t include the thrashing they took in the national championship game). They probably won’t be as good this season. To lose who they lost and somehow come back and do what they did would be almost impossible. Saying that, the Longhorns should not take this team lightly as they have struggled in the past with them even when TCU wasn’t that great. We should also definitely know by this point whether Quinn Ewers has completely taken that quarterback job or if Arch Manning’s time has arrived in Austin.
North Carolina at Clemson (Week 12, 7:30, ABC) – Look let’s not look past the Tar Heels. They have a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Drake Maye and sometimes that is enough to propel a team to an extra win or two, which is pretty much what UNC would need to get to the ACC Championship. Death Valley East is still Death Valley East and playing there at night is very difficult for opponents. But again, don’t look past the Heels and Mack Brown.
UCLA at USC (Week 12, 8:00, FOX) – Time once again for the Victory Bell and it is gonna feel weird. Final Victory Bell in the Pac-12. No DTR means possible trouble for the Bruins and if they can’t find a quarterback to lead them this season then this game has no right to be in the Top 35.
Clemson at South Carolina (Week 13, 7:00, TSN2) – My hope is that TSN does pick up the ball a bit for the final week of the season like they used to. It was 2019 when they were doing double digits’ worth of games for the final college football weekend. Now, we are lucky to get 4 or 5 which is crazy since there’s almost nothing to compete with it in the live sports arena. Anyway, it’s the Battle for the Palmetto State and it is usually a fun game that can get way too rough at times. Should be good. I hope.

Finished! Top 35 games of the season. I am sure there will be some that end up not coming close to being as important as I thought. That’s the nature of the game. Can’t always be right with these things. I will have another blog post shortly highlighting some other good (and perhaps not-so-good) games this season coming up shortly. 62 days left until Week Zero! Sure it’s not the best college football you will see all season but it will be college football so yeah I’m gonna fucking watch it all if I can! Have a great week, everyone!

Hey, Let’s Rank the Bowl Games!

Posted on January 12, 2023 by guelphbossman

It’s been a bit since I’ve done this and since I’m currently unemployed and watching my bank account get redder than a super-ripe tomato I figured I have some time to do this.

College football is now over for another season and I am sad. But I have to say it was a pretty good bowl season, despite some in the college football media saying it was bad. Really? I’ve been through some not-so-good bowl seasons and this was not one of them. Then again, some just have to be the counterpoint so that they feel special and/or their life sucks. Oh well, let’s get to the rankings!

Peach Bowl (Georgia 42 Ohio State 41) – This was, without exaggeration, the greatest College Football Playoff game of all-time. It had a bit of everything from two teams throwing haymakers at each other. And when it looked like tOSU had it in the bag, UGA stormed back and took the lead late. And as the clock struck midnight on 2022, the Buckeyes’ season struck midnight as the game-winning field goal attempt went wide left. Just an amazing football game and what college football is all about.
Cotton Bowl (Tulane 46 USC 45) – For most of this game, it felt like a validation of Caleb Williams’ Heisman campaign. Then the Green Wave hit. Down 15 with four minutes to go, Tulane came back to score two touchdowns, the final one with just seconds left, to complete a great comeback and announce their arrival as the newest Group of Five power program.
Fiesta Bowl (TCU 51 Michigan 45) – This is the second of the two semi-final games that makes the best set of semi-finals ever in the College Football Playoff era and it’s not even close. Funny enough, the lead never changed in this game. TCU never trailed which is odd for such a high-scoring, close game. Still an incredible affair and a bit of a surprising result for some.
Liberty Bowl (Arkansas 55 Kansas 53 3OT) – I’ll be honest: once Arkansas went up 38-13 I went to put some laundry on and make something to eat. What an idiot I am. Kansas came all the way back to tie it up. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for an insane 544 yards and still ended up losing. Arkansas did everything they could early on to win and everything late to lose and still ended up winning in the end. One of the wildest bowl games of the last decade and I ended up missing a decent chunk of it. Stupid.
Sun Bowl (Pittsburgh 37 UCLA 35) – This was a wild game that came down to a late Pitt field goal to win it. Honestly it was kind of ho-hum until a bit into the fourth quarter when it went completely off the rails. The Sun Bowl is weird to me: it seems like the game is always either really good or barely mediocre and nothing in between. I still think they should have a Big XII tie-in but that’s a conversation I’ve had here many times before.
Arizona Bowl (Ohio 30 Wyoming 27 OT) – If this game is on a network, a lot more people watch it. Going in, it felt like a bowl that you could forget. Wyoming with a lot of players out and Ohio’s defense somewhat decimated. Instead, it was an exciting close affair. And, to be honest, the commentary, while less informative, was hilarious, especially down the stretch with the two colour commentators being very open as to which team they were hoping to win (and had bet on).
Cheez-It Bowl (Florida State 35 Oklahoma 32) – I mean we were only told that this was a REMATCH OF THE 2001 BCS CHAMPIONSHIP a few times, right? This ended up being, unlike that 2001 affair, a great see-saw battle with the Noles kicking the game-winning field goal late to get the victory and all the Cheez-Its. In a somewhat related note, I like Cheez-Its. A lot. It’s very easy to eat a whole box of those fuckers.
Holiday Bowl (Oregon 28 North Carolina 27) – FOX ends up getting a dandy of a game for their only bowl broadcast of the season. Oregon came back in the final quarter to defeat the Heels on an extra point that doinked off the upright and in. Even then, the Tar Heels had one final shot as they somehow got the ball into Oregon territory with no time left but the Hail Mary didn’t work. Again, another fantastic game.
Gator Bowl (Notre Dame 45 South Carolina 38) – It was seriously loud in Jacksonville for this one. It felt like a huge regular season game. The fans were rowdy and it felt like both teams were desperate to win. And credit to Shane Beamer: he left nothing on the table. He threw every trick play he could at the Irish, including a fake kick/pass for a touchdown. In the end, though, Notre Dame was too much for the Gamecocks. Super fun to watch.
Hawaii Bowl (Middle Tennessee 25 San Diego State 23) – A really good game out in Honolulu on Christmas Eve (as it should be). It felt like the Aztecs were going to run away with this, going up 14 with five minutes left in the first quarter. After that, it was mostly Middle. Another game that ended with a late game-winning field goal. A nice trend to have for bowl season for sure.
Camellia Bowl (Buffalo 23 Georgia Southern 21) – This game was awful close as neither team could pull away until midway through the final stanza. I will be honest: this game would have been much lower had the Eagles not scored a late touchdown and made it interesting near the end.
New Mexico Bowl (BYU 24 SMU 23) – The 1980 Holiday Bowl this was not; however, it was still a fun game to watch…for the final quarter. Up until that point, this looked like a relatively poorly played game where one team will win because the other made too many mistakes. Instead, it was an amazing finish where SMU went for the win on a two-point conversion and came up short. I love to see teams just go for it since this is your final game of the season. Why not leave it all out on the field?
Frisco Bowl (Boise State 35 North Texas 32) – Did you know Austin Aune is 29 years old? Christ, we only heard it a million times. At least it didn’t take away from the actual game which was a really good one. A 36-point third quarter will do that after a rather blah first half.
Bahamas Bowl (UAB 24 Miami-OH 20) – How about this to start the bowl season? A very entertaining game with a wild ending, reminiscent of the Titans loss to the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Boca Raton Bowl (Toledo 21 Liberty 19) – This had the advantage of being played in FOOTBAW WEATHER. A lot of rain and muck. I keep forgetting though that, as hilarious and fun as it is to see this type of weather for a football game, it really makes the actual football tough to watch. Luckily, this came down to another great ending (there’s that phrase again) with a failed Liberty two-point conversion being the difference.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Maryland 16 NC State 12) – The game wasn’t the greatest, let’s be honest here. It did have a close finish and Mike Locksley got a bunch of mayo dumped on him. Those were the redeeming qualities of this bowl game.
Cure Bowl (Troy 18 UTSA 12) – On paper this was a great Group of Five matchup. Two conference champions. Troy’s defense definitely showed up for this one so if you liked defensive contests, this one was for you.
ReliaQuest Bowl (Mississippi State 19 Illinois 10) – A very emotional game as it was the Bulldogs’ first outing after the death of Mike Leach. The game wasn’t very good but again, it was close. The ending on the other hand? Insane. MSU scored on a fumble return touchdown on the last play for one of the worst bad beats of the season. Some gamblers must have been crying afterwards.
Quick Lane Bowl (New Mexico State 24 Bowling Green 19) – This was a game between two teams who had not been to a bowl game in a few years. And it showed. Both teams put it all out there and the Aggies ended up with a win in their final season as an Independent.
LendingTree Bowl (Southern Miss 38 Rice 24) – Frank Gore Jr. went off in this one, to the tune of 329 rushing yards and a new FBS bowl record. And he told his auntie to chill after the game on national TV. The best night of that young man’s life so far.
Independence Bowl (Houston 23 Louisiana 16) – Another game that languished for about three quarters and had a great finish. I still feel like an idiot for picking the Cougs as my Group of Five Cotton Bowl pick.
Gasparilla Bowl (Wake Forest 27 Missouri 17) – It was a nice send-off for Sam Hartman who will transfer next season to Notre Dame. It will be interesting to see how the Deacs fare next season with some important players leaving.
Alamo Bowl (Washington 27 Texas 20) – There were high hopes for this one and it kind of fell flat. Don’t let the close score fool you since it wasn’t really close at all.
Pinstripe Bowl (Minnesota 28 Syracuse 20) – The Gophers won pretty easily. The highlight for me was people on Twitter telling me that P.J. Fleck was an awful coach. OK then.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Wisconsin 24 Oklahoma State 17) – The Badgers should be better next season with Luke Fickell at the helm. They’ve already brought in a bunch of new players. None of that mattered here as they were able to outlast a Cowboys team that struggled with a capital ‘S’ down the stretch.
Rose Bowl (Penn State 35 Utah 21) – Everything was looking like a classic until Cam Rising went down with an injury. Then things all went to shit for the Utes and Penn State cruised to an easy victory.
Idaho Potato Bowl (Eastern Michigan 41 San Jose State 27) – This was a tale of two sections. The first had the Spartans dominate early, looking like they were going to blow the Eagles out of the water. The second and last section saw EMU score 33 straight points to put this one out of reach. Entertaining for a bit but not enough to warrant a better spot on this list.
Myrtle Beach Bowl (Marshall 28 UConn 14) – I was honestly hyped for this one. I thought it was going to be interesting to see how the Huskies fared in what is basically brand new territory for them. Instead, the game was rather bland and Marshall controlled for most of it.
Orange Bowl (Tennessee 31 Clemson 14) – Clemson ran over 100 plays in this one and only scored 14 points. That feels like it would be impossible to do but there you go. The offense wasn’t better with Cade Klubnik under centre rather than D.J. Uiagalelei so there may need to be significant changes in the offseason for the Tigers. This game might have ranked even lower if it wasn’t for Joe Milton tossing piss rockets all over the place like his arm was an actual cannon.
Birmingham Bowl (East Carolina 53 Coastal Carolina 29) – This looked like it would have been far up the list after the first quarter. Then Grayson McCall went down and it was kind of easy to figure out which team was going to put up the points the rest of the way (hint: not the Chants).
Texas Bowl (Texas Tech 42 Ole Miss 25) – Ole Miss looked completely flat in this one. Like they didn’t want to be there. Texas Tech, on the other hand, looked great and played hard for first-year coach Joey McGuire who has instilled a new confidence in Lubbock. The Red Raiders also did a nice tribute to Mike Leach on their first play, lining up in the Air Raid offense.
Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force 30 Baylor 15) – The classic bowl conundrum: can a team defend against a good option team. In this case it was no. The Falcons wore the Bears down and ran for almost 300 yards in a ho-hum affair.
Sugar Bowl (Alabama 45 Kansas State 20) – Hey, for a while it looked like this was going to be a fun start to college football on New Year’s Eve. Then Bama realized they are Bama and woke up and put an absolute beatdown on the Wildcats.
Military Bowl (Duke 30 UCF 13) – I thought this would be a better game. The Blue Devils ran away with this and it wasn’t even really close. A great turnaround for Duke, I must say.
Fenway Bowl (Louisville 24 Cincinnati 7) – Other than the Scott Satterfield drama, this game was pretty boring. The unique setup of this being at Fenway Park and the potential for FOOTBAW WEATHER didn’t help enough to move this up the rankings.
New Orleans Bowl (WKU 44 South Alabama 23) – South Alabama was the fairly big favorites here and the Hilltoppers ended up mopping the floor with them. This game was good for about 17 or 18 minutes and then that was all she wrote.
LA Bowl (Fresno State 29 Washington State 6) – Man, looking back, that first Saturday of bowl games was not good. Three of the worst bowl games of the season were this day. This was one of them. Wazzu just didn’t really show up for this one.
First Responder Bowl (Memphis 38 Utah State 10) – I’ll be honest: I did not watch more than one minute of the second half of this game. It was over long before that.
College Football Playoff National Championship (Georgia 65 TCU 7) – A beatdown of monumental proportions. I don’t know if I consider it a bowl game but if you do, it’s the biggest bowl game margin of victory ever. I was wondering if the Dawgs would score 80. A rough end to a damn good season.
Las Vegas Bowl (Oregon State 30 Florida 3) – The Gators resorted to kicking a field goal in the final minute of this game. Why? To preserve their record non-shutout streak. Other than that, they were run off the field by the Beavers.
Citrus Bowl (LSU 63 Purdue 7) – “See what those Tigers did? You content with only winning by 56? Let’s beat that!” – Kirby Smart, probably
Music City Bowl (Iowa 21 Kentucky 0) – I think everyone thought it would be bad. It may have been worse than what we thought. Memories of the infamous 2018 Cheez-It Bowl come to mind as this is one of the ugliest, most unwatchable bowl game of all-time.

Hey that wasn’t so bad was it? Then again, I tend to be short and sweet with a lot of these. Maybe it’s because I run out of steam near the end. Who knows. Anyway, enjoy the NFL playoffs coming up and if you still have a hankering for some college football, there are a few all-star games coming up. The Hula Bowl is this Saturday at Noon on CBS Sports Network if that tickles your fancy. Hey, at least it’s something.

Let the debates begin! – Week 10 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 3, 2021 by guelphbossman

The debates have already commenced. And it won’t be fun to hear this shit for over a month. But let’s just get used to it and go through this information.

We all had to know that Cincinnati wouldn’t be as high as their AP (or Bossman) poll ranking. They were never going to be #2 but the hope is that they would get some semblance of respect and be put in at #4. You have to wonder if their last two games, where they didn’t exactly light it up against weak American Conference competition, cost them as they start at #6. Behind Ohio State, which will also stick in their craw. I’m not too surprised with this, but Alabama at #2 is surprising. Even worse is Kirk Herbstreit, Joey Galloway and, I believe, Rece Davis all saying that it’s cut and dry for Bama: if they win the SEC Championship they’re in and if they don’t they’re out. Please. If Bama stays at #2 until conference championship weekend and then loses to Georgia, I see them getting a lot of support to stay in the Top 4, and maybe even be #3 to avoid a rematch in the semis with the Dawgs. That’s why these first rankings are still somewhat important because it can frame where you end up later in the season.

But on to better news…last night started football almost every day until November 29th! The only day with no football will be the day before American Thanksgiving which I don’t understand but whatever. They should put some MACtion or Fun Belt on there. Who says no to that? This is when the serious meat (the brisket even) of the college football season starts so let’s dig in to the schedule for this week!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Northern Illinois at Kent State	7:00 PM
Central Michigan at Western Michigan	7:00 PM

MACTION!!!!!! It has finally returned. I mean it’s not like last year where they put all six games on a Wednesday night but still, it just feels right. There were three games last night and two tonight. Always nice to have some Wednesday night football (hear that ESPN? So schedule a game the night before Thanksgiving god dammit!). Anyway, if you thought Northern Illinois and Kent State would be leading their respective divisions heading into November then head to Vegas because you are extremely lucky (or go to a doctor to get the horseshoe out of your ass).

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Louisiana	7:30 PM
Delaware State at Morgan State	7:30 PM

Two games, one in FBS, one in FCS. It is technically football but I see a lot of people changing the channel to the NFL Thursday Night Football game featuring….the Jets and the Colts. OK, maybe not.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Dartmouth	6:00 PM
Virginia Tech at Boston College	7:30 PM

Technically, Virginia Tech is still in the hunt for the ACC Coastal title because that conference, and that division in particular, are almost always a mess, behind the top team (which was usually Clemson and is now Wake Forest). A loss by the Hokies may just pretty much hand the division to Pittsburgh but who knows considering the season we’ve seen so far.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Army vs. Air Force (in Arlington, TX)	11:30 AM
#9 Wake Forest at North Carolina	Noon
#25 Pittsburgh at Duke	Noon
Louisiana Tech at UAB	Noon
Missouri at #1 Georgia	Noon
Illinois at #20 Minnesota	Noon
SMU at Memphis	Noon
#5 Ohio State at Nebraska	Noon
Liberty at #16 Ole Miss	Noon
Georgia Tech at Miami	12:30 PM

A good amount of games but nothing hugely special although that could be the theme of the week to be honest. Nothing is huge but Wake heading to North Carolina as an undefeated underdog will be an interesting watch. It’s insane that they are not favoured but it shows that Wake still doesn’t quite get the respect that most Power Five teams do. Army-AFA could be done by 1 in the afternoon. And perhaps even a halftime coach shitcanning? I can’t see things going well for the Huskers in this one. This would mean the hot seat Scott Frost currently inhabits would get even hotter. Does he make it to the end of the season? Maybe, but I doubt he coaches in 2022, at least in Lincoln.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#3 Michigan State at Purdue	3:30 PM
#21 Wisconsin at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#13 Auburn at #14 Texas A&M	3:30 PM
Colorado State at Wyoming	3:30 PM
#11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia	3:30 PM
Tulsa at #6 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
#12 Baylor at TCU	3:30 PM
Navy at #10 Notre Dame	3:30 PM
#19 NC State at Florida State	4:00 PM
Tulane at UCF	4:00 PM
#17 Mississippi State at Arkansas	4:00 PM

Now this gets…better. Still not great though with only one game involving two ranked teams. But there’s also EIGHT other games involving a ranked team. That has to be a record I’m sure. Saying that, you have to be careful with the assertion that having a ranked team involved makes the game good. Like, Tulsa-Cincy and Wisconsin-Rutgers probably will not be any good. MSU-Arkansas should be but that’s only because the Bulldogs being ranked #17 is some kind of joke…I think. Oh and Cincinnati will be scoreboard watching for sure. They have to blow Tulsa out of the water and then hope Notre Dame does the same to Navy. It’s the only way for them to potentially move up to #5 in the next rankings (unless something drastic happens).

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#22 Iowa at Northwestern	7:00 PM
Boise State at #23 Fresno State	7:00 PM
LSU at #2 Alabama	7:00 PM
Tennessee at #18 Kentucky	7:00 PM
#4 Oregon at Washington	7:30 PM
Clemson at Louisville	7:30 PM
Houston at USF	7:30 PM
Indiana at #7 Michigan	7:30 PM
Florida at South Carolina	7:30 PM

At the start of the year, you could have pointed to a few games here as potentially massive games in the grand scheme of things. Now, not so much. Indiana is not nearly as good as many thought they would be. Same goes for Washington, LSU, Boise State, Clemson and Louisville. Let’s throw Florida in there but I think it doesn’t matter since South Carolina is really not that good. So we will call it a comprehensive primetime slate but not an overly amazing one.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
UTSA at UTEP	10:15 PM
USC at Arizona State	10:30 PM

We were so close to College Gameday going to El Paso this weekend. I mean I’m not a huge College Gameday watcher and I usually only watch the picks every week but still, that would have been cool to have it there for the first time. Instead they are heading to Cincinnati where I’m sure they will treat the ESPN reporters with kindness after what we saw last night.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Auburn at Texas A&M (3:30, CBS) – Alright so this week does not have a marquee game of the week, that is for sure. Nothing against the Tigers or Aggies but it doesn’t even contain a Top 10 team. Saying that, it’s the only game this week with two ranked teams playing each other so it pretty much goes here by default. The winner here is on the inside track for a New Year’s Six spot as a CFP spot is probably completely out of sight. That is unless Bama falls again against either these very same Tigers. Or the Razorbacks. Or the Tigers of the LSU variety. Or New Mexico State….you know what, no that won’t happen.

Michigan State at Purdue (3:30, ABC) – I will say that the afternoon does have the best schedule of the day so at least there’s that. While many would not think much of this game, this could be a serious trip-up game for the Spartans. On the road, against a fairly good Boilermaker team, with Ohio State to look ahead to in two weeks. Don’t be surprised if this is a close game. Now watch Sparty be up by like 31 at halftime.

Wake Forest at North Carolina (Noon, ABC) – The ACC hasn’t made this list too much this year. And for good reason since their top team, Clemson, has been average. Enter the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They are 8-0 and ranked #9 in the first CFP Poll. And they are a 2.5-point underdog going to Chapel Hill. The disrespect! They could make a huge statement by winning this game over the Heels as they have NC State the following week, at home, in arguably the biggest game in the ACC Atlantic this season. Imagine saying that at the start of the year. Many would think you were smoking crack.

Oregon at Washington (7:30, ABC) – Oregon is at #4. I don’t know about that ranking but then again, it’s 13 (possibly drunk) people who are or have been prominent in college football setting these rankings. This all means that the Pac-12 is somehow already back in the game when just a few weeks ago, everyone wrote the conference off after the Ducks’ loss to Stanford. Oregon has to continue to win, and possibly beat some teams pretty badly, to stay in the Top 4 though. Man, ABC lucked out this week with their game selection, despite the fact it’s really just an average week, on paper.

Mississippi State at Arkansas (4:00, specialty pack) – To be honest, it’s not like there are a lot of great choices for this spot. I could put like 6 different games here and could argue for any of them. I think this will be the closest and the toughest to predict so that’s why it gets the final spot on the list. The Bulldogs are somehow #17 and play an Arkansas team who could have been in the Top 25. The Hogs are favoured by 5 so at least Vegas kind of understands. A win would definitely but Arkansas in the Top 25 and a loss would probably push Mississippi State right out of the Top 25 as both teams try to keep their slim New Year’s Six hopes alive.

Honourable mention: Missouri at Georgia (Noon, TSN2); Liberty at Ole Miss (Noon, specialty pack); LSU at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack).

Wanna bet?

How about my Houston over SMU pick? Or Auburn over Ole Miss? Didn’t do too badly if I do say so myself (don’t look at the Michigan or Buffalo picks). Let’s not think about the past but forge on with new picks for the future. Let’s begin!

Ole Miss over Liberty

North Carolina over Wake Forest (massive upset)

Michigan State over Purdue (but it will be close)

Georgia over Missouri

Alabama over LSU

Arkansas over Mississippi State

Texas A&M over Auburn

Washington over Oregon (another massive upset)

Western Michigan over Central Michigan

UAB over Louisiana Tech

TCU over Baylor (yet another big upset)

Yes I truly believe that this may be a huge shakeup weekend in college football. Which is saying something considering what the 2021 season has already brought us. I hope I didn’t jinx things and all the ranked teams win now. Because that would suck and I would have to take some of the blame.

I have been on Twitter again but am doing a bit less tweeting these days. Not just because of the issues I’ve stated earlier this year but just general fatigue. I’ve always said I usually enjoy interacting with others on the platform but I have to take small breaks or otherwise I’ll just collapse in front of my laptop. Not saying I don’t get in viewing for most of those 14+ hours but hey, you need bathroom breaks, breaks for food and drink, breaks to even lift weights or go on the treadmill for a bit. Something to break up the day. I’m the same on NFL Sunday. I guess I’m just getting old. Enjoy the games everyone!

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

Posted on September 7, 2021 by guelphbossman

mackb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four? Eight? Twelve? Sixteen?

Posted on August 2, 2021 by guelphbossman

new-years-six

I’m sure some would love to go to 24 teams like FCS. Honestly? Fuck that. But expansion is coming and we know it. Could be here as early as the 2023 season so the graphic above will only make sense for this season and possibly next and that’s it, that’s all. The new era of college football truly begins (regardless of what happens in realignment).

But for now we stick with the way things are meaning it’s bowl projection time! I can now take all I’ve done over the past few weeks and wrap it up in a nice, neat, little package. OK maybe neat is too strong a word. I’m sure it will be somewhat messy. And you won’t agree with all the choices. Oh well, it is what it is.

Let’s get right to it and start with the College Football Playoff matchups. If you read all the conference preview posts (every single one, right?) you have a good idea who’s here. Remember, the rankings I have here are the rankings I believe these teams will be going into the bowl season. Most of the time I have hit pretty well on these picks although I have had some real stinkers like picking Michigan State when they went 3-9. So yeah it’s not all good for ol’ Bossman:

December 31st	Orange Bowl	#2 Alabama	#3 Ohio State
December 31st	Cotton Bowl	#1 Oklahoma	#4 North Carolina

First of all, ugh. New Year’s Eve semi-final games. I’m sure most will hate this. Bama was an easy pick as everyone would have them #1 for the season but with one loss they would get in at #2. Most have Oklahoma as well and I have them running the table to this point so makes sense to have them #1. Ohio State should outlast their Big Ten foes and with only one loss as well they should easily slot in to #3 and a huge matchup with the Tide out in Miami. And at #4….not Clemson! This is probably the Tar Heels’ best shot at winning the ACC. Clemson has a new quarterback and UNC has a Heisman hopeful in Sam Howell. Despite the Tigers running the table and heading into the conference championships at #1, their loss would do enough to harm them and move them down the rankings. Plus it would look really shitty on The Committee if they kept Clemson above Mack Brown’s boys after a conference title game loss. North Carolina should be #5 going into the ACC Championship and I think The Committee will do the right thing after a Heels win. Yes, Clemson fans will scream bloody murder but to no avail. It’s about time they learn how to lose (somewhat) again after so many years at the top.

Now we get the New Year’s Six with three of those four games actually on New Year’s Day (why couldn’t the other one have been on New Year’s Eve?):

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#11 Texas A&M	#9 Iowa State
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#14 Wisconsin	#8 USC
January 1st	Fiesta Bowl	#6 Notre Dame	#10 Washington
December 30th	Peach Bowl	#5 Clemson	#7 Cincinnati

Cue the debates. As is usually the case, the top 11 ranked teams will head to the CFP or NY6. Georgia will not get in after, once again, losing the SEC Championship to Alabama. I see Georgia falling to #12, just below the Aggies, who will sneak into the New Year’s Six, still probably seething from Texas coming to the SEC. Cincinnati actually won’t be the undefeated Group of Five team this season. Coastal Carolina will be but the Bearcats’ schedule is quite difficult whereas the Chanticleers’ schedule, not so much. Therefore, it’s an easy choice for Cincy to be well in the Top 10 and heading to Atlanta. Notre Dame has, yet again, a brutal schedule but will navigate enough of it to be clearly a Top 10 team and have their shot out in the desert to win a New Year’s Six bowl game. Iowa State finishes at #9 and could end up with their best finish ever (again) with a win over the Aggies in New Orleans. USC and Washington will both get in probably no matter the result of the Pac-12 Championship.

And then we have the Big Ten runner-up, the 14th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The Big Ten is contractually obligated to send a team to the Rose Bowl unless the Rose is a College Football Playoff semi-final. The Badgers luck out with Iowa and Georgia losing in their respective conference championships as Wisky sits at home and watches. Let’s be honest: this isn’t all that bad. Better than having a team that’s ranked like #20 getting into a prestigious bowl game because of stupid bowl tie-ins. That issue goes away for the most part with the 12-team playoff but then a different problem comes up. You think being #13 or #14 and missing out on the New Year’s Six rankles the fans? Wait until the #13 team misses out on the CFP. Their fans will be livid for sure. Good times.

Now for the rest of my predicted bowl matchups:

January 4th	Texas Bowl	#12 Georgia	Iowa
January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#19 Florida	#16 Penn State
January 1st	Outback Bowl	Auburn	Indiana
December 31st	Sun Bowl	Virginia Tech	#22 Utah
December 31st	Gator Bowl	#24 Ole Miss	#17 Miami
December 30th	Las Vegas Bowl	#25 Northwestern	#15 Oregon
December 30th	Arizona Bowl	Boise State	Ball State
December 30th	Redbox Bowl	Nebraska	#20 Arizona State
December 30th	Music City Bowl	#18 LSU	Michigan
December 30th	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Kentucky	Wake Forest
December 29th	Alamo Bowl	#21 Texas	UCLA
December 29th	Cheez-It Bowl	#23 TCU	Boston College
December 29th	Pinstripe Bowl	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
December 29th	Fenway Bowl	UTSA	Memphis
December 28th	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Tennessee	Oklahoma State
December 28th	Holiday Bowl	NC State	California
December 28th	Liberty Bowl	Missouri	West Virginia
December 28th	First Responder Bowl	Houston	Liberty
December 28th	Birmingham Bowl	Arkansas	UCF
December 27th	Military Bowl	Florida State	Eastern Michigan
December 27th	Quick Lane Bowl	Rice	Ohio
December 25th	Camellia Bowl	Louisiana	Buffalo
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	Tulsa	Hawaii
December 23rd	Union Home Mortgage Bowl	Mississippi State	SMU
December 22nd	Armed Forces Bowl	Army	Baylor
December 21st	Frisco Bowl	Air Force	Texas State
December 21st	Idaho Potato Bowl	San Jose State	Toledo
December 20th	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Western Michigan	#13 Coastal Carolina
December 18th	New Orleans Bowl	Appalachian State	Florida Atlantic
December 18th	LA Bowl	Stanford	Nevada
December 18th	LendingTree Bowl	Kansas State	Central Michigan
December 18th	Independence Bowl	BYU	UAB
December 18th	New Mexico Bowl	Wyoming	Louisiana Tech
December 18th	Boca Raton Bowl	San Diego State	Southern Miss
December 17th	Cure Bowl	New Mexico	FIU
December 17th	Bahamas Bowl	Marshall	Kent State

Fenway Bowl! LA Bowl!!! And they added the Myrtle Beach Bowl last year. And now with the new 12-team playoff on the horizon there may be downsizing. Hilarious. At least Canadians can see most of the bowl games as per usual. Well, as long as the specialty packs cooperate. Here’s some notes on the wacky fun-time bowl season predictions:

I have three games predicted between ranked teams: Florida-Penn State in the Citrus, Ole Miss-Miami in the Gator, & Northwestern-Oregon in the Las Vegas. Really good games that you honestly would rarely get to see. This is really what bowl season always used to be about (at least on the field).
I’m not even bothering with showing you which tie-ins couldn’t be satisfied or which bowls have teams with 5-7 records (there are a few). Trying to decipher how bowl season will shape up is difficult as is going into December. Imagine how difficult (or near impossble) it is to do now. Showing you all that info doesn’t matter much to be honest.
Some of the better matchups include:
- the three ranked-on-ranked matchups mentioned above
- Auburn-Indy in the Outback Bowl
- Georgia-Iowa in the Texas Bowl
- BYU-UAB in the Independence Bowl
- Louisiana-Buffalo in the Camellia Bowl
- Texas-UCLA in the Alamo Bowl
- Virginia Tech-Utah in the Sun Bowl
Now, the naming rights to the Arizona Bowl has gone to Barstool Sports. Interesting and not totally surprising. What is surprising is that it won’t air on regular television as far as I know. It will, as of this point, air on Barstool Sports’ website (which you would need to pay to see the game I believe). That’s the weird part and I wonder what kind of viewership they will get. Then again it is the Arizona Bowl so it’s not like they were getting a ton of viewers to begin with having it air on CBS Sports Network in the past.

The College Football Playoff semi-final games should actually both be good for once. Bama-tOSU should be a classic with the Tide pulling out the win. The other one should also be relatively close but the Sooners will finally get their semi-final win and their first berth in the national championship in the playoff era. But the winning streak will end in the national championship as I have Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide winning their second straight championship and their third in five seasons.

Next up is the post where I actually make some pretty good predictions: the Coaching Hot Seat Report. After that is a post I always do horrifically bad at for some reason, the Heisman Predictions. After that I might as well do some NFL predictions which are also historically kinda bad. We are 26 days away from the start of the college football season but at least now we have some actual football on the horizon to get us in the football watching mood…not that I usually need that but watching live football is gonna feel great after over six months of none. And soon enough I will have a schedule up for Week Zero. Will be interesting to see what ends up going to the specialty pack and if the specialty pack even starts that day. Wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t. Why? Because fuck you that’s why. Enjoy your Civic Holiday if you are actually celebrating it (by being civic-minded I guess).

Is it time for the Return of the Mack?

Posted on July 18, 2021 by guelphbossman

Mark-Morrison-resized

No, not THAT Return of the Mack (although that is honestly one of my all-time favourite songs).

Mack Brown has already done amazing things in his second stint in Chapel Hill. But he has one more hill to climb, at least when it comes to the ACC. And man is it ever a huge hill. An escarpment. Maybe even consider it a small mountain.

Clemson is never ready to relinquish their crown, the same crown they’ve had for years now since Florida State decided it didn’t want to be good at football for a while. Almost like they said “You know what? We’ve won so much for over two decades. Let’s give another team a chance.” And now Clemson is the same way. When will they fall from their perch? Who the hell knows. Dabo Swinney is not known for sharing the ACC sandbox.

OK let’s get right to the predictions followed by some sweet, smoky Carolina BBQ thoughts:

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

Sweet & Smoky Carolina BBQ Thoughts

I always love watching the ongoing battle between different parts of the U.S. claiming they have the best barbecue. Honestly, barbecue has got close to the spot where pizza occupies: very rarely is it so bad you can’t eat it. Most barbecue is probably very good. Unfortunately it’s not like we have very many barbecue spots up here or any sort of barbecue tradition.
Clemson is still the best team in the conference, despite their loss of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne. D.J. Uiagalelei (I always wonder where the n sound comes in) looked great against Notre Dame last year so there shouldn’t be a huge drop-off but there will be some. The defense will pick up the slack and be the backbone of the team that will fairly easily walk to the Atlantic Division title.
The Coastal might not have Coastal Chaos this season. I know, I know, hard to believe. But UNC is pulling slightly away from the field, especially with one of the Heisman favourites, Sam Howell, at QB. Miami is good but need a full, healthy season from D’Eriq King or there’s no chance they will push for the division crown. Expect a bounceback season from Virginia Tech which could give Justin Fuente an extension as the fans in Blacksburg are getting a little antsy based on the past few years on the field for the Hokies.
Florida State truly starts their climb this year. I absolutely believe it. This is Mike Norvell’s chance to put his stamp on the program. If he can’t at least get this program to a bowl game this year, I think his days are numbered in Tallahassee.
It’s going to be quite the battle…for the basement of the ACC. I have five teams all within one game of each other at the bottom (in terms of overall record). Georgia Tech, Duke, UVA, Louisville and Syracuse all have a claim to being the worst team in the conference. If I had to choose, I would go with Syracuse. I fear that time’s almost up for Dino Babers in western New York. He had one great season but other than that the train went off the rails there and things aren’t looking a whole lot better for the near future either, forget this season.
The bloom has also come off the rose for Scott Satterfield. Cards fans sure turned on him quick and I can’t see him turning it around right away. If Bobby Petrino is available, I’m sure the Louisville brass would look at him and this is not a joke.
I predict nine bowl teams from the ACC. And if bowls have to dip into the 5-7 pool of teams, don’t look at this conference…there won’t be any.
Oh baby, ready for the bombshell? OK here it is. I have the Tar Heels beating Clemson to wrest the ACC title from the Tigers. Yeah, there. I said it. OK more like I typed it. I have this feeling hardly anyone, outside of most Tar Heel fans, think this could happen. I believe in the Mack and believe in the Heels this year. Now watch them lose six games and I look like a fucking idiot.

That’s it for the ACC. Three conferences in. Next up will be the teams with no conference to call home, the Independents. Have a great Sunday everyone! Remember, we are a mere 41 days away from the start of the college football season! Soon enough we will be down to single digits.

For the first time in two years, it’s time for Grab-Bag Mania! Yeah it really doesn’t have much of a ring to it.

Posted on July 4, 2021 by guelphbossman

I’m sure I could have come up with something better. Give me some time and if I feel like it I will figure it out. Or not. Who knows. Anyway, if you’re looking for an ESPN+ schedule here, you probably don’t live in Canada or have one of those fancy VPNs (and maybe an American credit card for all I know) and even then…why you would care about the damn ESPN+ schedule?

Grab-BagCade? No that’s awful. Let’s start with what might be the longest schedule I do most seasons. Why do I not give it its own post? Be honest: would you go out of your way to read a post that’s only about college football games that will appear on CBS Sports Network? I mean I would but I’m not normal. Look, CBSSN always has a few amazing games each season, just not on paper. Remember when Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech three seasons ago? A crazy-good game with a massive upset. And you will see those kinds of games every season on this network which is the home of to three of the Group of Five conferences, most of Navy’s home games, most of UConn’s home games and all of Army’s home games. What they may not have in quality they definitely have in quantity. Let’s get going on this monster followed by some quality comments (games NOT confirmed will have an asterisk):

August 28th	UConn at Fresno State	2:00 PM
August 28th	Southern Utah at San Jose State	10:00 PM
September 3rd	Duke at Charlotte	7:00 PM
September 4th	Holy Cross at UConn	Noon
September 4th	Marshall at Navy	3:30 PM
September 4th	Syracuse at Ohio	7:00 PM
September 4th	New Mexico State at San Diego State	10:30 PM
September 10th	North Dakota at Utah State	9:00 PM
September 11th	Western Kentucky at Army	11:30 AM
September 11th	Purdue at UConn	3:00 PM
September 11th	Houston at Rice	6:30 PM
September 11th	Vanderbilt at Colorado State	10:00 PM
September 18th	UConn at Army	Noon
September 18th	SMU at Louisiana Tech	3:30 PM
September 18th	Utah at San Diego State	7:00 PM
September 18th	Iowa State at UNLV	10:30 PM
September 24th	Middle Tennessee at Charlotte	6:30 PM
September 24th	UNLV at Fresno State	10:00 PM
September 25th	Miami-OH at Army	Noon
September 25th	Wyoming at UConn	3:30 PM
September 25th	Indiana at Western Kentucky	8:00 PM
October 1st	BYU at Utah State	9:00 PM
October 2nd	Army at Ball State*	Noon
October 2nd	UCF at Navy	3:30 PM
October 2nd	Liberty at UAB	7:00 PM
October 2nd	Fresno State at Hawaii	11:00 PM
October 8th	Charlotte at FIU	7:00 PM
October 9th	Miami-OH at Eastern Michigan*	Noon
October 9th	SMU at Navy	3:30 PM
October 9th	Wyoming at Air Force	7:00 PM
October 9th	New Mexico State at Nevada	10:30 PM
October 15th	Marshall at North Texas	7:00 PM
October 15th	San Diego State at San Jose State	10:30 PM
October 16th	Yale at UConn	Noon
October 16th	Toledo at Central Michigan*	3:30 PM
October 16th	Utah State at UNLV	7:00 PM
October 16th	Hawaii at Nevada	10:30 PM
October 21st	Florida Atlantic at Charlotte	7:30 PM
October 22nd	Middle Tennessee at UConn	6:00 PM
October 22nd	Colorado State at Utah State	9:30 PM
October 23rd	Wake Forest at Army	Noon
October 23rd	Miami-OH at Ball State*	3:30 PM
October 23rd	San Diego State at Air Force	7:00 PM
October 23rd	San Jose State at UNLV	10:30 PM
October 29th	UNLV at Nevada	10:00 PM
October 30th	Bowling Green at Buffalo*	Noon
October 30th	Louisiana Tech at Old Dominion	3:30 PM
October 30th	Boise State at Colorado State	7:00 PM
October 30th	Fresno State at San Diego State	10:30 PM
November 2nd	Eastern Michigan at Toledo*	7:30 PM
November 6th	Louisiana Tech at UAB	Noon
November 6th	Colorado State at Wyoming	3:30 PM
November 6th	Boise State at Fresno State	7:00 PM
November 9th	Buffalo at Miami-OH*	7:00 PM
November 10th	Toledo at Bowling Green*	7:30 PM
November 13th	Bucknell at Army	Noon
November 13th	UAB at Marshall	3:30 PM
November 13th	Air Force at Colorado State	7:00 PM
November 13th	Nevada at San Diego State	10:30 PM
November 19th	Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech	8:00 PM
November 20th	UMass at Army	Noon
November 20th	East Carolina at Navy	3:30 PM
November 20th	Wyoming at Utah State	7:00 PM
November 20th	San Diego State at UNLV	10:30 PM
November 26th	Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan*	Noon
November 26th	UNLV at Air Force	3:30 PM
November 27th	Houston at UConn	Noon
November 27th	Western Kentucky at Marshall	3:30 PM
November 27th	Nevada at Colorado State	9:00 PM
December 4th	Conference USA Championship Game*	12:30 PM
December 30th	Arizona Bowl*	5:00 PM

Continue reading →

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – IV

Posted on June 12, 2021 by guelphbossman

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

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

Week 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 12

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weeks 14 and 15

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

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

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

Everyone have a great weekend!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – Let’s Go For Two!

Posted on May 30, 2021 by guelphbossman

I hate what they have done to college football overtime. I was fine when they said you had to start going for two starting with the third overtime. Would I prefer they make the teams start at the 30 or the 35 rather than the 25? Yes but I am OK with the way that is. Now it has become a two-point conversion shootout starting with the fifth overtime. Why? Because one stupidly awesome game went to seven overtimes and it was a classic? Seems like a serious overreaction to me (and probably many others). It has got to the point that maybe the NFL overtime is starting to look a bit better. I never would have said that even a couple of years ago but here we are.

So normally, I do the first post of this series and a day or two later more schedule updates appear changing my original guesses already. It would make me feel a bit dumb. This year? The same fucking thing happened! God damn when will I ever learn? Anyway, it was the mother of all schedule dumps. Like a crazy amount of games were set. Let’s look at what has changed with the first post in this series:

Penn State-Wisconsin I had right in terms of it being on FOX. But it’s not on at 4:00. It’s the BIG NOON SATURDAY game for Week One.
Now here’s a headscratcher. Iowa-Indiana is not the BIG NOON SATURDAY game on FOX. It’s not even on FOX. It’s on BTN. BTN! At 3:30 in the afternoon. It has to be due to the amount of appearances that one or both of these teams are perceived to have later on in the season on BTN since all Big Ten teams must have a minimum of two BTN appearances on the season with one of those appearances being a conference game. That’s the only thing I can think of since this is FOX or ESPN/ABC worthy in my opinion.
I was sooooooo close with LSU-UCLA. It’s on FOX. In primetime. But not at 8:00. It’s at 8:30. To me that seems like a weird time but I guess FOX is fine with the game ending probably around midnight if not a little later. Not like they have anything other than TMZ and infomercials to show afterwards on most of their affiliates.
Again, so close with one. Boise State-UCF is on at 7:00, not 7:30. My guess is it will be on at least one TSN station.
Oregon State-Purdue is now on FS1 in primetime. Big deal.
ABC nabbed CyHawk for their afternoon game.
Liberty-Troy has moved to primetime. But it’s still on ESPN+. So in the end it doesn’t matter anyway.
I totally forgot about how the ACC Network does Week 2. They show four games, starting at 11 in the morning to fit them all in so they don’t have to send a bunch to a regional FOX Sports Network (hmmm…should I call them Bally’s now?) or, even worse, ACC Network Extra which they are loathe to do. Anyway, it’s not at noon, it’s at 2:00 and should be on the specialty pack.
Cincinnati-Indiana has been picked up by ESPN/ABC. It will probably air on ABC and is definitely scheduled for Noon.
Oklahoma State-Boise State will be on FOX Sports One. But now it’s at 9:00. In the evening. Why? Because there is a game at 12:30 Sunday morning! Yep, for you crazies that can watch this game, San Jose State and Hawaii kick off after midnight and won’t end until about 4 in the morning. That’s crazy. I will watch at least three quarters of that.
Hey Coastal Carolina-Buffalo isn’t being relegated to ESPN+! It’s on at Noon, probably on the specialty pack here. Good to see some respect for these two schools.
Speaking of respect, let’s look at the absolute lack of respect ESPN/ABC has for the Kansas Jayhawks football program. Like no respect at all. They aren’t the Thursday night ESPN game. They aren’t even available to Canadians. Hell, it isn’t even available to most Americans. It’s on at 3:30, Saturday afternoon…on ESPN+. Yeah. That’s sad. But understandable.

I will probably make this same mistake next year because I’m an idiot who never learns.. Let’s just get to the second part of this series.

Week 4

Game of the Week: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin (in Chicago) (Noon, FOX) – This kind of tells you what kind of weekend this will be, on paper. Not saying these aren’t two good teams because they are. But the Badgers are always juuuuuust on the outside looking in and don’t feel like an elite team. And the Irish are considered an elite team more often than they actually are. Not saying I wouldn’t be surprised if either team is in contention for the College Football Playoff late in the season but this being the game of the week means we aren’t looking at a ton of great games. Now watch this one go to like four overtimes and be an instant classic.

Other Really Important Games: West Virginia at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – Will the Sooners finally get over the top now with Spencer Rattler in his second year at quarterback? That is the question for Boomer Sooner this season as they could be in for a special two-season stretch (before Rattler goes to the NFL as a high first round pick). Unless they can get yet another great QB, this may be the best two-year stretch possibility for Lincoln Riley’s boys (before Riley gets an offer from the Dallas Cowboys that he can’t refuse). As for the Mountaineers, they have Dana Holgorsen. That’s fun enough since you are assured of him going off on the refs or his players or his coaches or the other team’s coaches or the other team’s players or the fans at least once a game. That’s what happens when you down six Red Bulls by lunch.

Clemson at NC State (3:30, ABC) – I could see this moving to primetime but it really has more to do with how many Big XII game would appear on ABC in the primetime timeslot all season (or at least how many they believe will appear there). The first three games listed this week cover the top three timeslots so you can kind of figure out where all the hype will be. This could be Dave Doeren’s final chance to get his program-defining win. Pull this off and he will never have to pay for another drink in Raleigh again. It also puts the entire conference in an interesting spot as Clemson is their hope for the CFP until another team steps up. Most believe it will be NC State’s interstate rivals, North Carolina, but the Wolfpack are known for their upsets over the past two decades. Just ask Florida State.

Tennessee at Florida (3:30, CBS) – Can Tennessee just be back already? It took so damn long for Texas to be back and now they aren’t quite back again so who knows if the college football media will be asking that question (that I will not type here) all season. Luckily for the fans (and haters) of Texas, that question is no longer asked. For Vol fans, it’s becoming the conversation every day in Knoxville. Until this team truly competes in the SEC East (and no, being third doesn’t count as competing) this may be the most annoying, pathetic fanbase in college football. So maybe, just maybe, they can pull this off and look like the program that everyone on Rocky Top desperately wants them to be. Now watch them lose this one by 40 and we wonder if they can beat a down Vanderbilt squad.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Nebraska at Michigan State (3:30, BTN) – You are looking LIVE…at two programs who are struggling, one more than the other. The Huskers feel like an afterthought now that they have been in the Big Ten for a while and for good reason. Their fans long for even the days of the Big XII, forget the Big Eight. And let’s be honest: other than the one year where Sparty went to the College Football Playoff, it’s not like they have been setting the college football world on fire the past couple of decades. This could be a very good game that could propel one of these programs back into prominence. This will almost assuredly go to the Big Ten Network.

Best Group of Five Game: Marshall at Appalachian State (Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Two of the Group of Five’s stalwarts meet here in a much deserved Thursday night ESPN spot. Both teams had weird years this past season but that’s to be expected since the whole damn season was kind of weird. Expect both of these programs to at least flirt with the Top 25 most of the season. This should be an early Group of Five New Year’s Six elimination game as I am sure both teams will come into this undefeated (or in App State’s case, maybe a close loss to Miami early on).

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Duke (Noon, specialty pack) – Good god. You have to be some kind of masochist to want to watch more than maybe a few minutes of this game. Kansas is Kansas and Duke is nowhere near the heights they got to a few years back. You can easily avoid this one. I wouldn’t be surprised if doesn’t even go to the ACC Network and gets relegated to ACC Network Extra even if they have a timeslot available for them.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ole Miss at Alabama (Noon, TSN5) – I have this game on ESPN2. Seriously. Look, there is a limit as to how many times a team can appear on the SEC on CBS. Otherwise Bama would appear like 8 times every season (the max is five by the way). This could still move to ESPN or even CBS so who knows. Ole Miss is expected to start the season either just inside or just outside the Top 25 and besides, it’s Lane Kiffin getting another shot at Nick Saban. He would be a God in Oxford if the Rebels can win this game.

Other Really Important Games: Cincinnati at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – I’m honestly confused as to why some Irish on NBC games are on at 2:30 and why some are on at 3:30. There is really no rhyme or reason as to why these happen the way they do. Maybe they anticipate a hot newscast on this night. Anyway, this game is ripe for an upset…kind of. If Cincy upset Notre Dame would it be considered an upset? If it was up to me, I would have put this game on in primetime. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they don’t draw so that would be a no go.

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, ABC/TSN1/TSN4) – This does not feel like a Noon Big Ten Game. At all. This is the kind of game that is usually on ABC in primetime. Or should be especially after last year’s amazing finish. I can honestly say that maybe, just maybe, it’s the Hoosiers, not Penn State (or Michigan or Michigan State) that will be the team that will finally knock Ohio State off their perch atop the Big Ten East. Seeing the Hoosiers win this game and run the table into November would be great because it would make some TV executives at Disney a trifle nervous.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon, FOX) – Is Jim Harbaugh still special enough to warrant a BIG NOON SATURDAY timeslot? I could see this being moved, especially if the brass at FOX decides that the Big XII has a game they could show instead here. Or maybe they do another Pac-12 morning kickoff like they did with Arizona State-USC last year. This has to be a bounce-back season for the Wolverines. If not, what happens to Kaptain Khaki? Could he be fired? For the first time during his tenure in Ann Arbor, it would make sense to at least consider it, especially after last season’s disastrous season.

Texas at TCU (6:30, FOX Sports One) – Again, don’t be surprised if this, among almost every game this week, gets moved from where I have it. The Big XII has quickly become the major conference that Canadians rarely see. Not that they care down there if Canadians get to see their conference or not but it’s the same in the States. With no conference network, they are being left out in the cold. And their expansion blunder of a few years back is still being felt. They’ve already gone to Disney to look for a contract extension and ESPN/ABC said no. The contract ends after the 2025 season and with other TV contracts also ending around that time, realignment talk will heat up yet again. The conference is in trouble and really hinges on what Texas and Oklahoma decide to do. Expect a lot of changes in the next few years.

Florida at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack) – Remember when the Wildcats were SEC East contenders? It wasn’t too long ago. Kentucky could be primed for another breakthrough and the fans in Lexington are chomping at the bit to see that happen. At some point, some team has to break the Florida-Georgia stranglehold in the division and what better year than this one? Right now, I have this on the SEC Network because I honestly had no idea where to put it once other better timeslots started filling up. I could see this somehow getting to ESPN or ESPN2 though since I have the SEC Network with four games during this week.

Arizona State at UCLA (3:30, specialty pack) – It feels like we are getting less and less late night games that are any good. I mean it won’t stop me from watching them but I’m used to a few each year at least. This is supposed to be the season where we finally see what Chip Kelly can do in Westwood. A good Bruins team is always welcome in college football. The Sun Devils are also expected to be quite good so maybe we will see a logjam at the top of the Pac-12 South. Not like that hasn’t happened before, am I right? Guys? Hello?

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Tennessee at Missouri (Noon, specialty pack) – No, we aren’t looking at two amazing teams. Or even one. But man, for such a good week, there are a lot of games (outside of the ones I listed above) that look like they won’t be close at all. I’d love to call this a SEC East eliminator game. But it’s not. With two teams so closely matched, though, it should be fun to watch and could be the surprise game of the early timeslot (if not the whole week).

Best Group of Five Game: Nevada at Boise State (10:00, FOX Sports One) – Could FS1, of all channels, have one of the best lineups this week? Look there were a few choices I could have put here instead of this one. Houston-Tulsa and Liberty-UAB fit the bill as well but neither really scream “Top Group of Five game.” Plus I am a bit fascinated with FOX’s foray into the Mountain West, mostly because I can see all the games now. This could end up being very lucrative for the conference as long as FOX continues to invest heavily into college football.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech (Noon, specialty pack) – I mean it’s not a bad game per se. But with the rest of the Noon options (and there are a lot of them), I can’t see this game getting many eyeballs.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas A&M (8:00, CBS) – God damn this could be a MASSIVE game this season. Jimbo Fisher has guaranteed a win over Bama (not the smartest idea in the world but hey, gotta shot your shot). Even with the loss of Kellen Mond, this could be the Aggies year to get into the College Football Playoff. And now with probably a full house in College Station, the 100,000 plus members of the 12th Man will make life very difficult for the Tide. CBS has chosen this week to be the SEC doubleheader with the primetime game so it’s almost assured that this will be the pick.

Other Really Important Games: Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – Back where this belongs…almost. Depending on how the Aggies look early on, this could be considered the true GOTW. I’m still waiting for the day the Cotton Bowl collapses during the Red River Shootout. It’s going to happen and it’s going to be a tragedy that could be avoided by either fixing the fucking place or moving this game to JerryWorld. There’s almost no doubt in my mind this ends up being the BIG NOON SATURDAY pick by FOX.

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – Wow, does CBS ever get an amazing doubleheader this season. Saying that, the Tigers aren’t the Tigers they have been in the past. Unless Bo Nix all of a sudden figures things out, Auburn will be middle of the pack, at best, in the SEC West. Still a good team but not close to contending in the always extremely tough SEC West. I just wish they would do away with divisions. Don’t get me wrong, the SEC East champ is usually good but who wouldn’t have enjoyed Bama playing LSU or TAMU playing Mississippi State or Ole Miss playing Auburn or any one of those combinations in Atlanta in December?

Maryland at Ohio State (Noon, TSN4) – This is guaranteed for Noon and almost a shoo-in to be on ESPN. Will this be close? Eh, who knows. OK I am pretty positive it won’t be. But if there’s any year where Ohio State could be vulnerable, it is this one. If the Terps can’t keep it close this time around they may never do so. I’m sure there are many who long to be back in the ACC, regardless of TV money.

Florida State at North Carolina (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – No, this isn’t here because it’s the Noles. I probably don’t have to say that anymore and it is sad that FSU just can’t seem to get over the hump and get back to the way they were. You never know, though. They beat the Heels here, it’s massive and could lead to huge things for this squad. North Carolina is in New Year’s Six or Bust mode this season as the NY6 is their floor. Anything less would be a disappointment with Sam Howell a serious Heisman contender.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: LSU at Kentucky (Noon, TSN1) – No, I’m not joking with this. The Tigers will be close to the bottom spot of the Top 25 and the Cats will be just outside looking in, at least at the start of the season. This is probably a bigger game for Kentucky than it is for LSU as there is no way that Ed Orgeron’s guys will be competing for the SEC West this season.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at BYU (10:30, specialty pack) – Is this considered a Group of Five game? I’m going to say it is. BYU seems to be in this no-man’s land when it comes to where they belong. I know they want to be Power Five and they should be Power Five but they aren’t quite there yet and until they are invited into a conference or get closer in reputation to Notre Dame, they won’t be. It is usually a lot of fun when these two teams meet. I am looking forward to Provo After Dark which sounds like a show on at Midnight on Vision TV or some other religious network where they do nasty things like drink coffee or say “fuck.”

Worst Power Five Game: Georgia Tech at Duke (12:30, specialty pack) – Two straight weeks for the Ramblin’ Wreck in this spot. The thing is they aren’t even that bad. But last week was a pretty good schedule, at least in the Power Five and this week the next worse choice would be Wake Forest-Syracuse which isn’t nearly as bad as this.

We are almost halfway through the season now (with these posts). With only thirteen weeks this season I had to have one longer post because of it. It will be the final one. The final two posts are usually the most difficult since almost none of the games are scheduled this far out, at least from a Power Five perspective. So the chances of me getting many of these predictions wrong are quite good. Just letting you know in advance.

It’s getting close to College Football Preview magazine season. Or maybe it has already started and I just don’t know about it. I have an Athlon subscription now so I am just waiting for that one to come in the mail. If there are others available I will check Indigo to see if I can get it. As for the Phil Steele magazine, I am going back and forth whether to order it or get the online version (if they have it this year). I love the magazine, don’t get me wrong. It’s an awesome read and has a shit-ton of information. Problem is, it shows up sometime in late July at the earliest which doesn’t help me at all with my predictions and makes it tough to read before the season begins (yes I am one of those insane people who try to read that magazine front-to-back). So we shall see. Anyway, have a great upcoming week and let’s hope the warm weather is here to stay and that we can forget what it was like on Friday.

		US	Canada
Charleston Southern at #25 Clemson	2:15
#23 Texas A&M at Miami	3:30
UTEP at Northwestern	3:30
Richmond at Michigan State	3:30
UNLV at #2 Michigan	3:30
Wagner at Navy	3:30
#20 Ole Miss at #24 Tulane	3:30
Iowa at Iowa State	3:30
Marshall at East Carolina	4:00
Kent State at Arkansas	4:00
Tulsa at #8 Washington	5:00
Appalachian State at #17 North Carolina	5:15

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: Heels

Most Important Games of the 2023 College Football Season

Let the debates begin! – Week 10 College Football TV Schedule

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