“We are having a season come hell or high water!” – Roger Goodell, probably (also the NFL Preview)

I know, Roger takes his directives from the 32 buffoons running the NFL franchises.  Saying that, I am pretty sure this is how he feels as well.  They will do almost anything to have a season because money, right?  Hell, the NBA and NHL are working relatively well but they have their issues.  But they are in bubbles.  Not flying all over the fucking place like Major League Baseball and look how that’s going?  I would not be surprised if MLB decided to shut things down, even if its temporarily, by the weekend.  So I don’t get how the NFL thinks they can make this work, especially with concerns over Coronavirus and now players starting to opt out of the season for those very same concerns.  But they are going to try, dammit!

Alright normally I wouldn’t do an NFL preview post this early in August.  But yeah everything has been put in a blender so figured with the college football schedule and season a bit of a mess, I would start with this and see how things go.  To begin, I will do what I did last year and look at my previous preview and see how well I did with those predictions.  I am sure this went well (I’m rolling my eyes):

• I had the Saints beating the Chargers for the Super Bowl.  Good fucking God already with a horrible start.  This isn’t good.
• The Chargers beating the Chiefs on the way to the title game.  If it wasn’t so sad, it would be hilarious.
• Patriots losing the AFC Championship.  They didn’t even get that far but I don’t think that’s a bad prediction.  So I am giving myself a checkmark for that one.
• I had Cleveland making the playoffs.  Oof.  I definitely drank the Kool-Aid on that one.
• I was quite wrong about Buffalo which makes me happy.  I was also kind of wrong about the Rams but they barely missed the playoffs despite the Todd Gurley mess.
• All the teams I thought would be bad, were bad.  So at least I got something right.

End on a high note I say.  Even the worst prognosticator has to get things right, yes?  It’s basically in line with my previous predictions with some good and some bad (like really bad).  So now let’s focus on this year’s predictions for a season that may or may not happen.  Standings time…with records this time around! (* means I predict them to be a Wild Card team and the number in the brackets will be their playoff seed):

AFC East	NFC East
(3) Buffalo 12-4	(4) Dallas 11-5
(5) New England* 10-6	(7) Philadelphia* 8-8
NY Jets 7-9	NY Giants 5-11
Miami 5-11	Washington 4-12
AFC North	NFC North
(2) Baltimore 12-4	(3) Minnesota 12-4
(6) Pittsburgh* 9-7	Green Bay 8-8
Cleveland 7-9	Chicago 7-9
Cincinnati 3-13	Detroit 4-12
AFC South	NFC South
(4) Indianapolis 10-6	(1) New Orleans 14-2
(7) Houston 9-7	(6) Tampa Bay* 9-7
Tennessee 7-9	Atlanta 7-9
Jacksonville 2-14	Carolina 5-11
AFC West	NFC West
(1) Kansas City 13-3	(2) San Francisco 12-4
LA Chargers* 9-7	(5) Seattle* 10-6
Las Vegas 7-9	Arizona 6-10
Denver 6-10	LA Rams 6-10

Notes

• The biggest change this year is there is an extra Wild Card team for each conference.  So it’s almost a guarantee there will be a .500 team getting into the playoffs every season.  This year I have the Eagles getting in at the 8-win mark.  Also, you won’t see many teams with winning records now miss the playoffs.  Houston I have at 9-7 will miss the second season.
• Where will the good division races be?  The AFC South, AFC East and NFC West should be fairly close races with the top two teams being very close in terms of talent.  The Saints will blow everyone away to win the NFC South and I can’t see the Chiefs having any trouble this season winning their division.
• The NFC Wild Card race should be exciting down to the end.  The Seahawks should get in rather easily.  The Buccaneers, now with Brady and Gronk, should do enough to be one game clear of the field for the second Wild Card spot.  The Eagles, Packers, Falcons and, yes, the Bears will be in the race for the final spot in the final weekend of the season.  I think the Eagles will beat the Packers in their Week 13 matchup to clinch the tiebreaker for the seventh playoff spot in the NFC.
• In the AFC, not as much of a race but still a few teams in the mix.  The Patriots (or the Bills if they finish second in the AFC East) will get the first Wild Card spot easily.  The Steelers, Texans and Chargers I all have at 9-7 for that final spot with Pittsburgh and Los Angeles going through (as I mentioned above).  I doubt anyone else would even be close.
• There won’t be much of a race to the bottom this season.  The Jaguars are awful and will be awful and if they don’t even get Gardner Minshew back for the season, they could be even worse than the 2-14 record I have them at.  That franchise is a gongshow and that one year making the AFC title game we can definitely say was now an aberration and not the norm.
• Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are the two MVP favourites.  But let met throw another dark horse contender into the mix: Dak Prescott.  Despite the fact this means the Cowboys will be good it will make for some VERY uncomfortable times in the Metroplex and for Jerry Jones.
• As for the Rookie of the Year choices, I will go with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Chase Young.  As always it is a crapshoot as to who could win this but these two seemed to be set up for success right out of the gate.

Playoffs?  PLAYOFFS?  God I love that Jim Mora promo.

Wild Card Round

(2) Baltimore def. (7) LA Chargers

(3) Buffalo def. (6) Pittsburgh

(4) Indianapolis def. (5) New England

(2) San Francisco def. (7) Philadelphia

(6) Tampa Bay def. (3) Minnesota

(5) Seattle def. (4) Dallas

Divisional Playoffs

(1) Kansas City def. (4) Indianapolis

(2) Baltimore def. (3) Buffalo

(1) New Orleans def. (6) Tampa Bay

(2) San Francisco def. (5) Seattle

Conference Championships

(2) Baltimore def. (1) Kansas City

(1) New Orleans def. (2) San Francisco

Super Bowl

(2) Baltimore def. (1) New Orleans

Lamar Jackson is going to get his chance to erase the memory of last year’s playoff run, as short as it was.  Last year I had the Saints winning the whole thing and Drew Brees riding off into the sunset.  This time I have the Saints losing…and then Drew Brees riding off into the sunset.  I don’t think the top Wild Card teams are better than the worst division winners this year though which is different than my normal stance.  Even though I say that this season, I still believe that the division winner should not automatically get a top four seed.  If a division winner has a worse record than a Wild Card team, they should get the #5 seed and not the #4.  I will continue to hammer this idea home until hopefully Roger Goodell does it because it makes the NFL more money somehow.

As for what the next post will be and when it will happen, I have no idea.  I am still awaiting more information on new college football schedules.  The Pac-12 did the nice thing and have the whole schedule out already.  Most of the rest of the conferences should be doing similar over the next few days depending on the amount of changes that have to be made.  For the most part, it looks like there will not be nearly as much football until late September as most of the Power Five schools won’t be starting until then.  It’s all a shitshow at this point so until I see something that I can honestly piece together and work with, I won’t be doing anything.  Anyway, have a great week and let’s hope that football is truly on its way back.

And now for the NFL Playoff Preview

Yes, Jim.  Playoffs.

This is the second part of my pretty short NFL preview.  I would have loved to have had more time to do this.  Alas, the summer has just flown by at the speed of light.  My kids go back to school next week and the evenings are already getting cooler.  This means football starts though so it’s all good.

So let’s get right to the games shall we?  I will try to put more effort in here than I do trying to catch preseason games.  Then again, I exert absolutely no effort trying to catch NFL preseason games so this should be pretty easy.

AFC Wild Card

Tennessee (3) def. Cincinnati (6) – I feel a bit dirty picking the Bengals to even make the playoffs after disappointing me last season.  Either way, I think they will sneak in thanks to some fun TIEBREAKER ACTION that no one understands but everyone loves.  No matter, Marcus Marioto (oh we still remember that Roger) and the Titans offense should pour it on against the Bengals defense who may or may not have Vontaze Burfict, depending on if he is suspended (again) for doing something stupid (again) and/or violent (again).

Pittsburgh (4) def. Kansas City (5) – This should be a close game.  The question will be whether Patrick Mahomes has wrested the starting QB spot from Alex Smith yet or not by this point.  Either way, the Steelers should win this one in what I believe will be Big Ben’s swan song.

NFC Wild Card

Dallas (3) def. Arizona (6) – Another dirty pick.  I had the Cards facing Cincinnati in the Super Bowl last season.  See how well that worked out for me?  Anyway, luckily for them there aren’t many Wild-Card contenders in the NFC so they should get in and immediately get beat badly by the Cowboys.  The Cowboys should be close to as good as last season (as long as Ezekiel Elliott plays all season) but will get just plain passed in the NFC by Green Bay and Seattle.

Tampa Bay (5) def. Atlanta (4) – The Bucs and Falcons will battle all season long for the right to basically host this game.  And it won’t matter.  Atlanta will not get the chance to return to the Super Bowl and rectify their mistakes.  It’s Famous Jameis time!

AFC Divisional Playoffs

New England (1) def. Pittsburgh (4) – The Patriots still have a lot of weapons despite the loss of Julian Edelman for the season.  This only works if Gronk comes back and can play pretty much a full season.  Otherwise this might fully change.  But for now, this could be very well be the last game of Ben Roethlisberger’s career.

Oakland (2) def. Tennessee (3) – Man the AFC is kind of boring so far.  No upsets.  And probably not even close.  Well this game could be close but the Raiders, if they can keep their core group together for more than a couple seasons, should be near the top for years to come.  All those Vegas fans should be very happy if this is the case.

NFC Divisional Playoffs

Tampa Bay (5) def. Green Bay (1) – There has to be one upset in the playoffs, no?  This would be it.  And this will be Jameis Winston’s coming out party I am sure.  To beat the Packers on the Frozen Tundra in the playoffs would be something special.  I see this being one of those 15-1 or 14-2 teams being inexplicably beaten before the Super Bowl which will lead to many questions including how fast Mike McCarthy should be shitcanned despite losing very few games all year.

Seattle (2) def. Dallas (3) – Both NFC divisional playoff games should be close ones.  Seattle will be improved from last year but somehow will not run away with the division.  I see them playing second fiddle to Green Bay all season since Green Bay will just be really, REALLY good (during the regular season).  I am still unsure about my pick of Dallas in the three spot but until I see Elliott having to serve his suspension this year at any time, I am convinced the Cowboys have the horses (oh pun VERY intended) to win the NFC East.

AFC Championship

Oakland (2) def. New England (1) – With the Patriots losing a big weapon and the Raiders still on the upswing, this could be the only chance Oakland has of making it to the Super Bowl before they aren’t in Oakland anymore.  Having the Raiders move to Vegas a couple years after going to the Super Bowl will not look good on the NFL, no matter how Commissioner Fuckface spins it.

NFC Championship

Seattle (2) def. Tampa Bay (5) – The magical run ends for the Bucs.  And we were so close to redoing that classic Bucs-Raiders Super Bowl from years ago.  Hey, maybe Jon Gruden could have come out of retirement to coach BOTH TEAMS!  Anyway, the Seahawks should win this going away now that the Packers are out of their way.

Super Bowl LII

Are they going with Roman numerals or numbers this year?  I don’t even know anymore.

Oakland (2) def. Seattle (1) – A classic AFC West showdown for the title.  It’s funny to realize that two decades ago this Super Bowl matchup could never happen.  And now it may be a reality.  And a fun one at that considering the Raiders are gonzo after the 2018 season probably.  I wonder how the parade will be.  I am sure the ghost of Al Davis will be there, mocking, well, everyone.  Good times for the Silver & Black I think!

All done.  The NFL season officially begins on a Thursday night as per usual.  September 7th as the Chiefs face the Patriots.

I will be doing the Week 1 super-duper college football schedule by Thursday afternoon.  The specialty pack channels have finally appeared.  Only Thursday games so far but it’s a start, right?

Also, a reader had asked about the NFL Sunday Ticket issue here in Canada.  I have gone over it before but I will go over it again and I am sure I will reiterate it when I do my first NFL TV schedule of the year (oh won’t that be balls of fun!).  To get Sunday Ticket now you will have to get it through DAZN or go to a bar/tavern/restaurant that has it.  Some have noticed that Bell Fibe has a channel in the 3000s that says NFL Sunday Ticket.  That is only for business purposes (and is probably expensive).  Bell has tried to rectify this by adding all the regional CTVs (that you will have to pay extra for).  There will also be a concerted effort to put any games that we wouldn’t be able to normally get here on a TSN station (and perhaps even a CTV Two station).  So yeah, if you really want to get all the games again (like a poor man’s Sunday Ticket) you can do so.

The 2017 College Football Coaching Hot List – Sponsored by the Lane Kiffin Redemption Story

 

Yep. This guy again.

He’s on the road back to redemption and he had one of the greatest firings of all-time, being shitcanned on an airport tarmac while at USC. Nice!  I love stories like that.

It’s HOT SEAT TIME!  Last year, two of my four top selections and three of my top six were sent packing.  Unfortunately some coaches (like Craig Bohl) made me look like a fool by being really successful.  Thanks a lot Craig.  Like the haircut though.

Alright, here we go with the list.  I have ordered this (like last year) from most likely to be in the unemployment line to least likely:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Paul Haynes (Kent State) – He was #4 on my list last season.  How he kept his job is beyond me.  He just was put into a bad situation when he had to replace Darrell Hazell (who went on to do sweet fuck all at Purdue himself).  Needed to keep his job – A god damn miracle.  Prediction – Mid-season shitcanning and perhaps a year off of coaching altogether.
2. Lance Leipold (Buffalo) – Let’s stay in the MAC shall we?  Leipold came into much fanfare (well as much as you can get in the MAC).  He had guided Wisconsin-Whitewater to what seemed like a bajillion D-III titles.  His first year in Buffalo showed promise.  This past season not so much.  I can’t see this ending well for Sir Lance-a-not-so-much.  Needed to keep his job – vying for bowl eligibility in the final weekend.  Prediction – Scraping the bottom of the MAC barrel and heading back to FCS at the highest (if not back to D-III).
3. Todd Graham (Arizona State) – I remember when this guy liked to hop from job to job because he could. He was a good head coach and many programs wanted to have him.  Now he will be hopping to his next job but not of his own volition.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and a victory over Arizona.  Prediction – 3 wins and who really cares at that point if the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats or not (see below for the reason why).
4. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) – Looks matter.  How do I know?  Well, many things in my life that I won’t get into now.  Also, Kute Kliff Kingsbury.  Here’s a guy who hit his high point halfway through his first season in Lubbock and is still around.  Why?  If it’s not his looks he must have damning photos of the athletic director in a compromising position.  Needed to keep his job – Some semblance of defense from his squad.  Prediction – Thousands of female college football fans crying and taking his offensive acumen to the FCS.

Probable Shitcanning

5. Sean Kugler (UTEP) – He was good for a soundbite or three when UTEP was good that one season.  Well, good enough in a Conference USA kind of way.  Since then, El Paso has once again become a college football outpost that no one wants to be in. Needed to keep his job – bowl eligibility.  Prediction – I can’t see them winning more than one game so this may happen during the season rather than wait for the misery to be over.
6. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) – He seems to be on this list a lot.  But he is never in the almost-guaranteed-to-be-fired part.  He just hasn’t seemed to recreate the magic when Johnny Manziel was around.  And yes, a big part was Gianni Party’s play but Sumlin had done wonders in Houston and appeared to be doing them in College Station.  That may not be the case anymore.  Needed to keep his job – 9 wins and be at least on the cusp of contending in the SEC West.  Prediction – 7 wins and the top Group of Five opening next season for Mr. Sumlin.
7. Mark Whipple (UMass) – When is UMass heading back to FCS?  Whenever it is, I can’t foresee Coach Whipple being there when it happens.  Needed to keep his job – at least 4 wins and to stay competitive in more games.  Prediction – 2 wins and a quiet exit.
8. Rich Rodriguez (Arizona) – Remember what I said above about Todd Graham?  I think RichRod is also in a hot seat but not nearly as hot as T-Graham’s.  No improvement in the desert may seal his fate though.  Needed to keep his job – being better than Arizona State.  Prediction – will not be better than Arizona State…and will be fired for it (along with many other reasons).
9. Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) – Kelly suffers from two things: 1) the Irish got to the national championship not too long ago and 2) the expectations in South Bend are ALWAYS at least 10 wins.  If he wasn’t such an insufferable prick at times I would feel sorry for him.  Needed to keep his job – 10 wins.  Did you not just read what I typed?  Prediction – 8 wins and I am sure he will yell at at least one player in plain view of a camera in front of a national audience.
10. David Beaty (Kansas) – Poor Dave Beaty.  Does he really have a chance in Lawrence to do anything except maybe (MAYBE) win four games at most?  I fail to see how he can win more with the state the program is.  God, I wish there was promotion/relegation.  Needed to keep his job – 4 wins.  Prediction – Half of that.  Or 2 wins for the less mathematically inclined.  Again, Poor Dave.

Possible Shitcanning

11. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – This isn’t the NFL, Lovie.  I think he understands that now.  An unenviable task in Champaign to turn around a program that has had little success in the past two decades (save the crazy 2007 season).  Needed to keep his job – 4 wins but be competitive and look like they could be a bowl team next year.  Prediction – 3 wins and the AD is going to have to take a long, hard look as to whether to retain Lovie or not.
12. Bret Bielema (Arkansas) – The SEC is still a gauntlet.  Saying that, the SEC is not known for a ton of coaching turnover.  One or two each season usually.  Bielema has a tough task ahead as the SEC West especially is difficult to say the least.  Needed to keep his job – Stay in the middle of the pack in the SEC West and at least scare one of Bama, Auburn, or LSU.  Prediction – 7 wins and at least some fans calling for his firing.

Doubtful Shitcanning

13. Steve Addazio (Boston College) – This is the exact same spot Steve-O was in last year.  And he came through with a 7-win season that led BC fans to still call for his head.  Guy can’t catch a break!  Needed to keep his job – Get to bowl eligibility again and hope the fans calm down a bit.  Prediction – 4 wins and it will be tough not to move way up this list next year.
14. David Bailiff (Rice) – I remember when he was consistently getting the Owls to bowl games.  I also remember when the Owls were in the Southwest Conference.  Times change.  Sometimes coaches have to as well.  But maybe not quite yet with Mr. Bailiff.  Needed to keep his job – some sense of improvement from last year’s down season.  Prediction – they will improve even if it doesn’t show up in their record.
15. Tyson Summers (Georgia Southern) – One year in and the athletic department had to send out a press release saying Summers would be retained for this season.  Confidence, gone.  Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and at least look like a potential bowl team.  Prediction – 5 wins and they will look like a bowl team for the most part.
16. Jim Mora (UCLA) – Jim needs the Rosen One to play like he has a shot at winning the Heisman this season.  And I think it will happen.  Not saying he will win the Heisman but he will be much improved and so will the Bruins.  Needed to keep his job –  7 wins.  Prediction – 9 wins and making USC sweat for the Victory Bell.
17. Chris Ash (Rutgers) – Coaching at Rutgers must be tough now that the team is firmly in the Big Ten basement.  Let’s be honest: very few people want that job.  Ash is a hero!  Needed to keep his job – he’s safe since no one else wants it for now.  Prediction – 3 wins and keeping Michigan under 60 points.
18. Butch Jones (Tennessee) – The Champions of Life.  Butch really needs to learn to just shut his mouth and coach sometimes.  Needed to keep his job – 9 wins and being a contender in the SEC East.  Prediction – 10 wins and STILL….CHAMPIONS OF LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE…THE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS!!!!

Done.  That took too long.  I don’t want to say I hope all these coaches get fired but I do like being accurate.

Next up will be my Heisman ballot.  No one should give me a Heisman ballot.  I will demonstrate why in the next post.  After that will have to be…yes, it’s the FIRST SCHEDULE POST OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Woohoo!  Finally made it.  We are four days out.  Problem is, I still don’t know where all the U.S. College Sports Package channels have gone to now that they have been replaced by regional CTV channels which, in essence, replaced the need for Sunday Ticket since DAZN now has it.  I will say this often I believe but if DAZN somehow gets a good college football package then I might be changing my tune about it.

The Game…did anything else happen this past weekend? – Week 13 College Football Recap

Yes tOSU fans were pretty happy afterward

If you had believed College GameDay, there was nothing else on that day.  Oh, maybe a couple coaching changes.  That’s it.  Nothing else.  That 5-hour GameDay was absurdly long.  They could have gone with 4 and it would have been plenty.  Worst part is, The Game was awesome.  So the hype kind of justified it.  So expect longer GameDays in the future for bigger games.  Speaking of The Game, did I mention it was amazing?  Double overtime.  Two missed field goals in regulation.  Controversy over a spot in double overtime.  Curtis Samuel running about 50 yards to gain a little over ten to be just short that set up the fourth down that had that controversial spot.  Crazy.  And so good.  It’s why we watch college football: for games like these.  I do think it would have been better as the 8:00 ABC game but I understand tradition has it at Noon on ABC.  Remember, realignment and money has robbed the game of a lot of traditions so let’s not quibble over this one.  It did make it tough to get through the rest of the day thought I will say that.  Energy was an issue later on.

Warning: this post will be long.  Viewer discretion strongly advised.

Tuesday

The week started on Tuesday with some MACtion.  Ohio clinched the MAC East with their win over Akron.  Then Miami-OH completed the most incredible in-season turnaround ever.  They had started the season 0-6.  With their win Tuesday night over Ball State they finished 6-6 and became bowl eligible.  Very impressive.

Thursday

LSU beat Texas A&M on American Thanksgiving night and that was the secondary story.  Ed Orgeron was the main story all night.  Whether LSU was going to take the interim tag off or hire someone else.  The intrigue would last into Saturday morning.  We will get to that in a bit.

Friday

NC State ruined North Carolina’s chances of going to the ACC Championship and made the Commonwealth Cup the next day meaningless with their win over the Heels.  Other than a skirmish in the middle of the game, nothing much of note here.  The Wolfpack became bowl eligible much to the chagrin of the 5-7 crew.

Memphis with the mild upset of Houston.  Again nothing really of note except the constant reminder that Tom Herman was probably coaching his last game on the Cougar sideline.

Missouri beat Arkansas in front of, well, a lot less than a sell-out.  I kind of wonder if Mizzou fans long for the days of the Big Eight.  Not the Big XII, the Big Eight.

Northern Illinois beat Kent State to go to 5-7 and start the slew of conversations about which teams had better APRs and how many spots would be available after all eligible teams were selected.  I love college football, I really do.  But this APR nonsense is stupid.  A few less bowl games, that’s all I ask.

The Apple Cup was so incredibly non-competitive.  Did Mike Leach realize it was a big game?  Washington clinched their spot in the Pac-12 Championship and come very close to clinching one of the coveted four College Football Playoff spots.

Western Michigan continued their dream season, beating Toledo and clinching the MAC West title.  They go into the MAC Championship undefeated and as big favourites to get the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six.  However, we do know that the MAC Title game has been rife with upsets since it began so don’t rule anything out.

Texas played awful, again.  Poor Charlie Strong.

Iowa laid a beating on Nebraska, guaranteeing Wisconsin the Big Ten West crown.  At least Wisconsin’s game the next day still had meaning since Wisky is still in the hunt for a CFP spot.

Texas Tech beat Baylor and the Bears’ season will end in a whimper.  Many were wishing that they didn’t become bowl eligible at all.  Many should be thankful The Committee didn’t have to make any sort of decision on them.  Also, Patrick Mahomes plays video game football.  He should play on Sundays.  Maybe the Browns need a…you know what, don’t bother.

Boise State loses inexplicably to Air Force.  This means another game on Saturday, this one the Wyoming-New Mexico affair, means nothing now.  Black Friday college football not helping Saturday college football any.

All Arizona State needed was a win to go bowling again.  The Fighting RichRods beat them pretty handily and won the Territorial Cup.  Also, one Sun Devil fan wasn’t impressed with me over Twitter.  That surprises me so much since Twitter is such a bastion of friendliness and great debate that never goes over the line or gets personal.  Notice the italics.

Southern Miss also pulled an upset, beating Louisiana Tech meaning they would become bowl eligible.  The APR spots were dwindling FAST.

Oh and Tubs is as good as done in Cincinnati.  Can’t see the Bearcats retaining Tuberville after their loss to Tulsa who came back from quite a ways down to force overtime and then win.

Saturday REALLY Early

Five hour GameDay and The Game.  Oh and some coaching carousel fun.  Luckily for our sanity, Charlie Strong was fired early on by Texas (no surprise).  It sounds like Tom Herman was demanding around $6 million a season (or more like his agents were demanding this).  LSU balked and refused to wait for any counter-offer.  So they went ahead and removed the interim tag from Ed Orgeron and made him the permanent head coach.  Then Texas hired Tom Herman to the surprise of no one either.

Saturday Early

The Game was good.  I mentioned it above.  Forgot to mention Jim Harbaugh’s rant on the officiating after the game.  Epic.  And will cost him some money.  However, there were other games on Saturday.  No really!

Rutgers lost.  Again.  Which made Maryland bowl eligible.  The APR schools are decreasing more and more.  Actually made me a smile a bit.

How about those Kentucky Wildcats?  What a game against Louisville and they pull it out with a last-minute FG to upset the Cardinals.  Mark Stoops has done a great job building the program in Lexington.  Also, this pretty much makes it so the Fighting Petrinos will not be in a New Year’s Six bowl.  Also, I don’t think Lamar Jackson is a shoo-in anymore for the Heisman.  Three straight weeks of less-than-Heisman performance and some good performances by other great players has made this a race again.

Another meaningless game but considering it’s a rivalry game, it does feel somewhat important.  I’m talking about Clean, Old Fashioned Hate.  Georgia and Georgia Tech.  And the Ramblin’ Wreck spoiled yet another COFH game by beating Georgia Between the Hedges again.  Bulldog fans already wondering if Kirby Smart is the right guy for the job.

Pittsburgh beat Syracuse 76-61…in football.  It shattered the previous mark for points in a regulation game by almost 20.  Every time I turned back to the game, someone else had scored.  It was the only reason I was watching this game.  Such a defense-optional game to the extreme.

Indiana and Northwestern did what they had to do: win to become bowl eligible in their rivalry games.  To be honest, I am sure very few people watched these two games.

Saturday Afternoon

What the hell is up with Notre Dame?  The program is in shambles.  Brian Kelly is now actually looking for other coaching possibilities despite the fact the AD hasn’t fired him or doesn’t seem to want to.  One of Kelly’s captains had two egregious personal fouls that were missed and should have necessitated him being kicked out of the game.  A complete mess.  Worst part is, the Irish have the talent to have at least gone bowling. They need to start over and it starts with shitcanning Kelly soon.  Oh and USC is good.  Adoree Jackson is REALLY good.

The Iron Bowl was more of a Tin Foil Bowl.  Nothing much to see.  Bama won.  Auburn was close for almost three quarters despite the fact they played terrible.  It is obvious to anyone that after the Tide, there is no team in that conference that is even close to elite.  They will have the worst New Year’s Six representative (unless Florida upsets Alabama in the SEC Championship…which I highly doubt).

In Canadian university football, Laval won the Vanier Cup again.  In front of what looked like less than 10,000 fans.  Not a good look for the newly rechristened U Sports.  We can put part of the blame on Rogers for their piss-poor coverage up until the week of the game.  Not surprising at all.

Ole Miss had a shot to go bowling but came up with egg on their face (see what I did there).  They lost the Egg Bowl to Mississippi State.  And by lost, I mean got destroyed.  The Bulldogs now become a potential APR bowl team.

Navy put a whole whack of points up on SMU.  Along with the Middies, Pitt (as I mentioned above), and Middle Tennessee all put up 70+ points on the day.  Crazy.

Penn State clinched the Big Ten East by beating Michigan State easily.  They are probably the worst of the three top Big Ten East teams (PSU, tOSU, Michigan) but thanks to their improbable upset of Ohio State earlier in the year, they get a chance to win the Big Ten title and put a MASSIVE monkey wrench in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Boston College is bowl eligible after beating Wake Forest.  Both teams aren’t that great but were helped with soft schedules.  I will say Dave Clawson has done a good job in Winston-Salem whereas Steve Addazio, not so much.  I think it’s time to let him go and start fresh, especially with a lot of good head coaching candidates out there.

Saturday Primetime

Clemson laid a beating on South Carolina to win the battle of the Palmetto state.  Clemson is one win away from the CFP.  WILL MUSCHAMP! has done a great job in Columbia with that many freshmen and sophomores.  The Gamecocks will be a LOT better next season.

Your winner….and NEW Champion of Life….the Vanderbilt Commodores!  Derek Mason’s squad pulls off the upset of Tennessee and is going bowling the right way (not through the back door as many said they would).  I think Butch Jones is another guy who should be fired.  Whether he is or not, I don’t know.  Many crowned the Vols this season’s SEC East champs back in the pre-season.  I didn’t fall for it.  Then again I picked Georgia.  Yeah.

UCLA lost to fall to 4-8.  How is Jim Mora getting no heat?  This has to be one of the most disappointing seasons in college football this season.

Colorado beat Utah to clinch the Pac-12 South, meaning USC would not have a chance to beat Washington twice this season.  The Buffs could also put a huge wrench in the CFP if they beat Washington on Friday.

Western Kentucky destroyed Marshall and is a very underrated Group of Five team…again.  Marshall has fallen from grace fast.  Doc Holliday should have pushed for another job last season when he was a hot commodity.  Too late now.

It took Florida State a while but they were able to pull away and beat Florida.  If they could have erased either the loss to Louisville or the loss to Clemson they would have been almost a shoo-in for a NY6 bowl.  Not anymore.

Saturday Late Night

I don’t know what Wyoming and San Diego State were thinking.  They still had an outside shot at the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot if they both won tonight.  But they both looked awful.  Worse than awful.  New Mexico ran all over the Cowboys and Colorado State put 63 on the board against the Aztecs.  This means the Mountain West is officially out of the G-5 race.  Boise State is now kicking themselves after losing to Air Force the previous day.

Alright after a mostly great day of college football, it is clear Alabama will go to the College Football Playoff.  Even if they somehow lose to Florida in the SEC Championship, they will still hold a spot.  Clemson and Washington, I believe will also go with wins in their respective conference championships.  It’s that number four spot.  I will be doing a post later this week on what is really my final bowl projections before Conference Championship week.  I honestly believe that Ohio State will end up being #4, no matter if Wisconsin or Penn State wins the Big Ten Championship.  Is it right?  That is up for debate.  I think there will be a lot of debate this season on who the #4 team should be.  This all basically goes to shit if Clemson and Washington lose.  So having that happen would be a lot of fun.  It means The Committee would earn their money…which is none.

Tomorrow I will have my NFL recap and then the aforementioned rankings/bowl projections post on Wednesday.  Hope you all had a great weekend.

The Perfect Ones….so far (cue Mr. Perfect theme song)

There are still quite a few undefeated teams left in college football or more specifically FBS for the ones who want to tell me about Shitsburg State being undefeated.  But as we all know, we’ve only gone through five weeks of the season and the next five will undoubtedly whittle this list down to 5 or 6 tops.  Here is a list of the undefeated teams still remaining and where I think they will be at the end of the season:

#1 Florida State (4-0): The Noles have looked a bit shaky, especially with their defense, so far this season.  Thing is, other than Notre Dame, Louisville, or Miami, it looks like clear sailing for Jimbo’s boys.  Prediction: 12-0.

#2 Oregon (4-0): Another really good team who had a really big scare early (Wazzu).  They still have a big game against UCLA.  If this was in Eugene, I’d give it to the Ducks but they travel to Westwood.  It’s not that the Bruins have a huge home-field advantage; it’s more like the Ducks won’t have theirs.  Prediction: 11-1.

#3 Alabama (4-0): It’s the SEC West so they have to expect at least a couple very difficult games inside the division.  My best guess is still that Bama loses the Iron Bowl but they could also lose to Ole Miss, Texas A&M, LSU, or even Mississippi State.  But I’m pretty sure it will only be one loss.  Prediction: 11-1.

#4 Oklahoma (4-0): The Sooners have all their difficult conference games either at home or at the Cotton Bowl.  Unless something crazy happens (Baylor’s high octane offense presses the nitro button let’s say), the Sooners should run the table.  Prediction: 12-0.

#5 Auburn (4-0): A very difficult schedule.  Yes I have them beating Bama (which may or may not happen) but they don’t come out unscathed.  A couple of tough ones on the road (Georgia being a key one) make me think there is no way the Tigers are in the CFP.  Prediction: 10-2.

#6 Texas A&M (5-0): OK, let’s do the broken record thing.  SEC West.  Dominant division.  Tough schedule, blah, blah, blah.  Yes Kenny Hill is good but man did the Aggies struggle against Arkansas in a game they should have lost.  Way too many tough games have me still seeing them drop off the map by the end of the month.  Prediction: 8-4.

#7 Baylor (4-0): Much like Oklahoma, the Bears have most of their difficult games at home (except for maybe Texas this coming weekend).  Probably the entire conference comes to their mega-matchup against Oklahoma.  Because it’s in Norman, I give the edge to the Sooners (and pray to God it’s not on Fox Sports One again).  Prediction: 11-1.

#8 UCLA (4-0): Every one of UCLA’s tougher games are at home.  Almost seems to lopsided to have both USC and Stanford have to come to Westwood.  However, the way Washington played at home this past weekend makes me believe that will be the only bump in the road for Jim Mora’s crew.  Predicted: 11-1.

#9 Notre Dame (4-0): Stanford isn’t as much of a roadblock with the Cardinal coming to South Bend.  But going to Arizona State, USC, and Florida State?  For anyone saying the Irish don’t have a tough schedule, I’d like to meet your dealer and find out what he is lacing your pot with.  Prediction: 9-3.

#11 Ole Miss (4-0): Yeah, they struggled for three quarters against Memphis but was it really in doubt?  I mean UCLA did the same thing a few weeks ago.  The month of October is horrific for the Rebels and if they somehow don’t lose three of the four games, then they have a good shot at the SEC West division crown.  Prediction: 9-3.

#12 Mississippi State (4-0): This year’s Egg Bowl could be the biggest ever, especially if either the Bulldogs or Rebels (or both) are in the top 10.  Don’t count on it since the SEC West-on-SEC West violence kicks in to high gear starting this weekend and Dan Mullen’s team won’t come out unharmed (although it would be awesome to see).  Prediction: 9-3.

#18 BYU (4-0): They have one of the easier schedules in the country.  They should be blowing teams out and they aren’t.  But despite all this, can you honestly tell me one team that has a truly legitimate chance to beat BYU the rest of the way?  Their hardest stretch starts this week (Utah State, UCF, Nevada, Boise State).  If they win all four, then they have to get a New Year’s Six bowl and then they wait and see what everyone else does to find out if they sneak into one of the four spots (probably won’t happen though).  Prediction: 12-0.

#19 Nebraska (5-0): Only well into the 21^st century does an undefeated Huskers team scare all of nobody…even with Bo Pelini as their coach.  Many figure them for four losses (still a good joke) but I am going off the board and saying they will only have three, with one an almost-certainty (Michigan State).  Prediction: 9-3.

#25 TCU (3-0): Samford, Minnesota, SMU with two byes.  Yeah, I’m not buying it either.  Prediction: 7-5.

Georgia Tech (4-0): OK yes, I will be honest; I figured them to lose to Virginia Tech.  But that’s it.  I had them at 3-1 to start so not far off.  The Ramblin’ Wreck are playing well enough to win but that’s about all.  Not overpowering at all but it might be enough in the extremely wide open ACC Coastal division.  They still have a tough road ahead and I think the magic of the option offense will wear off soon enough.  Prediction: 7-5.

Marshall (4-0): Every week, one of the Weak Sisters of the Holy FBS knocks one out of the park.  They beat a team they shouldn’t have and look dominant doing it (see East Carolina v. Virginia Tech or East Carolina v. North Carolina).  Then they inevitably shit the bed (see (potentially) East Carolina v. Cincinnati or East Carolina v. UCF).  Marshall has such an FCS-riffic schedule that the chances of them losing are remote.  They haven’t looked dominant but they should run the table.  The BYU situation could cost them a New Year’s Six bowl but I have to research that some more since you need to know advanced calculus to determine who qualifies.  Prediction: 12-0.

Arizona (4-0): This is quite a big surprise.  Ok not really since their schedule was pretty easy so far.  But in two weeks it ramps up in a big way with a trip to Eugene.  So their time as part of the Undefeateds will most surely come to an end.  Prediction: 9-3.

So 17 perfect teams left (cue Mr. Perfect theme music again).  I am going to predict that by Halloween, that number will be down to 8.