2023 Bowl Game Rankings and Predictions for those Bowl Games!

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

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

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

The ABC Saturday Night Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

The SEC on CBS Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Big Noon Kickoff Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Notre Dame and/or B1G on NBC Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Late Night ESPN Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The CW Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Pac-12 Network Tier

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You asked for it (I think). So here it is. The 2023 Bowl Game TV Schedule in HIGH DEFINITION!!!

Does anyone say that anymore? That something is in high definition (or the now-even cringier term, High Def)? Feels very 2008-ish.

TSN seems to always deliver during bowl season. It’s funny how they absolutely don’t deliver at all during the rest of the season but with TSN+ they now have their very own built-in excuse to not have many games on the main five stations. Now, as I say every year, the TSN portion of the schedule could change so keep coming back for any updates.

Let’s not waste any more time. Bowl schedule. NOW!

Saturday December 16th

Myrtle Beach Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

11:00 AM

Thanks to issues with the Bahamas Bowl (that will be explained below if you don’t already know) Bowl Season begins on the eastern coast of South Carolina. This game pits two teams who were kind of forgotten in their conferences this season but quietly put together good seasons. Should be a good start to the college football postseason on the teal turf in Conway.

Celebration Bowl: Florida A&M vs. Howard

Noon

It feels like many times this game features one team that could have caused some damage in the FCS playoffs and one team that scraped their way into this game. This year’s edition is no different. Florida A&M ran roughshod through most of its opponents whereas Howard barely won the MEAC. And as it usually happens, the not-so-good team gives the really good a team a run for their money and sometimes ends up winning. So don’t necessarily think this will be a blowout.

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State

2:15

Opening bowl day brings the return of RichRod to postseason competition. With the Cajuns already being there, this should at least have a raucous crowd and really, that’s a big part of the bowl experience. It’s great to see a bowl game with a great crowd as it just continues to prove that most of these bowl games mean something.

Cure Bowl: Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH

3:30

What used to be the worst bowl game matchup almost every season is now being shown on ABC on opening bowl day. Great turnaround for the Cure Bowl for sure. I think we need to have more bowl games set up like this: where a good portion of the money goes to some sort of charity or towards some type of research. I think this way we can decrease the amount of people who think there are too many bowl games. I mean there will always be some that will hate it. I see their point but it’s more football. Would you prefer to take 35 minutes to find something worth watching on Netflix or Amazon Prime or would you rather watch LIVE FOOTBALL? It really shouldn’t be a choice to be honest (at least if you read this blog).

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State vs. New Mexico State

5:45

Time to watch America’s Team in this one. No, the Dallas Cowboys aren’t playing (and no, they aren’t America’s team and haven’t been since a year that started with a 1). The New Mexico State Aggies, coached by, arguably, the best coach in the land Jerry Kill, is now America’s Team. That’s unfortunate for the Fresno State Bulldogs who won’t have their head coach, Jeff Tedford, on the sideline. They have to face the Aggies in almost a quasi-home game for them. I want to say this won’t be close but the Bulldogs are pretty good so at the very least you should see a good game here. America’s Team. Now you know. And knowing’s half the battle…………………………………………GI JOE!!!!!!

LA Bowl: UCLA vs. Boise State

7:30

For once, the Broncos had to grind to get to a bowl game. 5-5 with their head coach being shitcanned and they somehow win the Mountain West Championship. But now with no potential Chip Kelly drama, this game loses a lot of spots in the rankings.

Independence Bowl: Texas Tech vs. California

9:15

Shreveport seems like an odd spot for two Power Five teams in their bowl game but that used to be the norm. Maybe the Independence Bowl should have been used in the new 12-team playoff somehow. I mean who says no, other than ESPN who would prefer to put every game in the biggest neutral site stadium they can find for MAXIMUM MONEY.

Monday December 18th

Famous Toastery Bowl: Old Dominion vs. WKU

2:30

This will most likely be my favourite one-off bowl ever. Because of renovations at Thomas Robinson Stadium, the Bahamas Bowl could not be played on the island since there are no other stadiums able to hold the game there. Charlotte got the call and this game will be played at the 49ers’ home field and with a new sponsor, Famous Toastery. I don’t think it’s even famous at all in that area of the country but I like their confidence. I pray that the winning coach gets buried in a mountain of toast.

Tuesday December 19th

Frisco Bowl: UTSA vs. Marshall

9:00

Frisco gets two postseason games: this one and then the FCS Championship. The FCS title game is there through at least next season but beyond that, who knows. The Frisco Bowl, on the other hand, is here to stay. At least we have two good Group of Five teams here and with UTSA not being too far away it may approach a sellout.

Thursday December 21st

Boca Raton Bowl: Syracuse vs. USF

8:00

Back to grinding for bowl-eligibility, here are two teams that epitomized that. Syracuse, who has completely re-done their coaching staff and USF, whose close game with Bama earlier on in the season made the College Football Playoff debate that much worse. Look it’s either this or the Saints and the Rams on Amazon Prime. You know what to choose.

Friday December 22nd

Gasparilla Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. UCF

6:30

Interesting start time for this game. I get that it’s only half-an-hour before games normally would start locally but why do that? Bizarre. This is probably the highest-profile matchup this bowl game has ever had and it should bring a good amount of fans with one team not too far from Tampa. Hey, at least’s it not at the Trop.

Saturday December 23rd

Birmingham Bowl: Duke vs. Troy

Noon

This should be a good game and it’s the kind of game I always talk about. A Group of Five conference champion getting their shot at a Power Five team. That’s part of what bowl season should be all about and I have said that often in the past. Will college football listen to me? No. And it’s their loss.

Camellia Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois

Noon

Two teams that have got basically no coverage this season. I’m honestly surprised that no team looked at Butch Jones to be their new head coach. He’s brought ASU back from being horrible for both of Jones’ first two seasons (and Blake Anderson’s last in Jonesboro) to being respectable. I think the fact that the Sun Belt is so damn good now (in G-5 terms), this team gets overshadowed a lot.

Idaho Potato Bowl: Utah State vs. Georgia State

3:30

Again, two teams who were overshadowed by a bunch of better teams in their respective conferences. Plus it’s on the blue turf and that’s always a bit of fun, especially if it’s freezing cold (OK not so much for the players and fans but hilarious for us viewers at home).

Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs. James Madison

3:30

The Dukes in a bowl game! As it should be. And it shouldn’t have taken the lengths it did but luckily there weren’t enough 6-win teams to fill all the bowl slots. Air Force had a monumental collapse to end their season after being the Group of Five favourite to go to the New Year’s Six coming into November so momentum is not on their side.

68 Ventures Bowl: South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan

7:00

Chris Creighton has done amazing things in Ypsilanti. He has made EMU relevant for really the first time ever. As for South Alabama, it looked like they would be the Sun Belt’s darling this year after an early win over Oklahoma State. The bottom fell out for this team and they barely made it to bowling. Massive contrast of seasons here.

Las Vegas Bowl: Northwestern vs. Utah

7:30

Northwestern and Utah aren’t exactly the fanbases I think of when I think of fans who could completely wreck hotel rooms and drink a bar dry…well, Utah maybe. Maybe that is by design. Have to give credit to a Northwestern team that should have been terrible and ended up doing quite well in the final Big Ten West season. And we will never know how good the Utes could have been with the injuries they had.

Hawaii Bowl: San Jose State vs. Coastal Carolina

10:30

It’s the annual Stocking Stuffer Bowl where many parents finally fill the stockings of their children so that when they wake up they will know Santa (or some other fat white dude) came down the chimney (or more like through a window because he’s fat) to give them presents because…we as parents didn’t give them enough? Is that how the story goes? Anyway, I will enjoy a nice scotch after all that stocking stuffer stuff is done and watch some great football during a bowl that should start at one minute before Midnight on Spectrum Sports so most of the college football world has to scramble to find it.

Tuesday December 26th

Quick Lane Bowl: Minnesota vs. Bowling Green

2:00

OK not exactly what I’ve always had in mind but still. It’s a G-5 team against a P-5 team. The P-5 team is in because they are smart. The G-5 team is in because the MAC, past the top three teams, was pretty bad this year. Advantage? The fans who get to watch college football on a weekday afternoon when you probably will be off work. Probably. For those who must work I hope you have a good PVR setup.

First Responder Bowl: Rice vs. Texas State

5:30

Hey remember when this bowl game was cancelled because of weather? What a shitshow that was. I’d be surprised if they ever let that happen again considering the fallout. When it comes to this year’s First Responder Bowl, you have to like what you see in Texas State. In a really good Sun Belt, they were able to go 7-5 and get to their first bowl game ever. Tulsa is going to rue the day they decided not to hire G.J. Kinne as their coach. Rice, I believe, lucked out due to a much-less powerful AAC. Not to say they didn’t play well but I believe the Sun Belt, top to bottom, is the best Group of Five conference.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Kansas vs. UNLV

9:00

This is why bowl games matter. UNLV is back in a bowl game for the first time in a decade thanks in large part to a guy who should have got more votes for Coach of the Year, Barry Odom. Speaking of guys who should have got Coach of the Year consideration, Lance Leipold has done wonders and the Jayhawks are doing everything they can to keep him in Lawrence. Big question for this game will be if Jalon Daniels will play after his somewhat mysterious back injury from earlier this year kept him out of action for most of the season.

Wednesday December 27th

Military Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Tulane

2:00

Maybe we will see some snow for this one. Not gonna lie: VaTech was WAY the fuck better than I thought they would be. They did a masterful job in an ACC that, below FSU and Louisville, wasn’t that great. They will face a Tulane squad that just lost Willie Fritz to Houston. I know some teams struggle when their coach leaves before a bowl game and I could see that happening here.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: North Carolina vs. West Virginia

5:30

North Carolina with a big home advantage at the Mayo Bowl. In the end, though, that advantage means little. The game itself only means so much. No, what really matters, is who is going to get a big tub of mayo dumped on them, Mack Brown or Neal Brown? Either way, Duke’s Mayo is going to be down on Brown in this one………wait, that doesn’t sound right.

Holiday Bowl: #15 Louisville vs. USC

8:00

Caleb Williams has opted out of this one. No surprise there. But they could be playing a team that, despite being ranked 15th in the nation, hasn’t exactly lit it up lately. Let’s see if Louisville can actually play a decent game for the first time in weeks after shitting the bed against Kentucky and looking mediocre against Florida State.

Texas Bowl: Texas A&M vs. #20 Oklahoma State

9:00

Some classic Big XII action here. Cue the Big XII on FOX Sports Net music and get Joel Meyers back to call this one. The Aggies should be doubly pissed since the Pokes had a chance to knock those damn Longhorns off their perch and they couldn’t get it done. So now they have to watch Texas play in the College Football Playoff while the Aggies are in a decent bowl but one quite a ways down the pecking order.

Thursday December 28th

Fenway Bowl: Boston College vs. #24 SMU

11:00 AM

Morning football at Fenway. See, morning football is fine if it bleeds into the afternoon. None of this 9:30 in the morning horseshit. I guess this could be considered the Ponies’ first ACC test as these two teams will be roommates next year.

Pinstripe Bowl: Rutgers vs. Miami

2:15

I honestly think this will end up being a good game. I mean what’s not to like? OK there are probably a few things not to like, such as Mario Cristobal’s continued contract as head coach of the Miami football Hurricanes but I digress. It’s Rutgers football. In NYC. An old Big East matchup (I really wish the Big East was back…in football). I look forward to it, especially if there is some serious football weather that day.

Pop Tarts Bowl: #18 NC State vs. #25 Kansas State

5:45

OK so get this. The mascot for the new Pop Tarts Bowl is, of course, a Pop Tart. So far, so uninteresting. Then everything goes off the rails when we are told that this will be the first edible mascot ever and that the winning team gets to eat it. What? I mean, hey, it’s got me interested just to see what absurdity will unfold after what should be one of the better non-CFP/non-NY6 bowl games.

Alamo Bowl: #12 Oklahoma vs. #14 Arizona

9:15

Usually the Alamo Bowl gives us one of, if not the, best non-CFP/non-NY6 bowl matchups. This year is no exception. Oklahoma’s final ride in the Big XII before they head to the prosperous SEC. Jedd Fisch’s resurgent Arizona Wildcats who are looking to head to the Big XII next year with a lot of momentum. This feels like it will be a slobberknocker to quote good ol’ JR.

Friday December 29th

Gator Bowl: Kentucky vs. #22 Clemson

Noon

If Kentucky hadn’t beat Louisville I would have said this could end up being complete domination by the Tigers. It probably still will be but at least there feels like the Cats could have a fighting chance here.

Sun Bowl: #19 Oregon State vs. #16 Notre Dame

2:00

This game sold out in about an hour or so. And all because of a random draw. All the bowls left with ACC tie-ins wanted Notre Dame so I guess they did the whole coin toss thing they did in Friday Night Lights or a no holds barred cage fight or whatever the fuck they do to figure these things out. The Sun Bowl won out. So for the last time that they get a Pac-12 team, one of the oldest bowl games around got the one with one of the most rabid fanbases and then got them paired with Notre Dame, the team whose fans travel, arguably, the best. OK I changed my mind…this is the best non-CFP/non-NY6 matchup. I’m starting to feel like Bobby Heenan changing my pick all the time.

Liberty Bowl: Iowa State vs. Memphis

3:30

So Memphis is playing at home so this bowl game should have a great turnout. They will have to wait to get eyeballs on their game since the Sun Bowl will overlap the Liberty Bowl’s first half.

Cotton Bowl: #9 Missouri vs. #7 Ohio State

8:00

Quite the prove-it game for a team that some still don’t feel truly belong in the SEC. This is the type of big time bowl game that people expect the Buckeyes to be in but the Tigers, not so much. This will be a definite contrast of styles. Missouri’s run game with one of the best running backs in the country, Cody Schrader going up against the Ohio State passing attack led by Marvin Harrison Jr. The absence of Kyle McCord, as average as he could be at times, could play a role here.

Saturday December 30th

Peach Bowl: #11 Ole Miss vs. #10 Penn State

Noon

Interesting matchup. Fans were making a myriad of arguments as to why one of these teams shouldn’t be in the New Year’s Six. And then both make it and get paired up down in Atlanta. No matter how some fans feel, a potential Top 10 season should cut down on the hate for both teams’ head coaches. It won’t but it should.

Music City Bowl: Auburn vs. Maryland

2:00

Divisions in the Big Ten are going away. “Hooray” – Maryland. Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA are joining the conference. “FUCK!” – Maryland. Hey Terps fans, look, it could be worse. You could be in the ACC, a conference that seems to be ready to join the Pac-12 in completely imploding.

Orange Bowl: #6 Georgia vs. #5 Florida State

4:00

My brief thoughts on the whole Florida State/College Football Playoff situation is this: The Committee have no plans for anything. Everything is a knee-jerk reaction. Want proof? They knew what they were heading towards. They were going to have to make a decision between a Jordan Travis-less Noles team and two of Texas, Georgia or Alabama, depending on the outcomes on conference championship weekend. So what did they do in the final CFP rankings before that weekend? Have FSU at #4. They could have moved Oregon ahead of them instead into the #4 spot but didn’t. It set everything up for the chaos that occurred during Selection Sunday. Deep down I don’t really care who made it but if The Committee were more transparent and thought about things for more than two minutes then the anger would have been reduced immensely. But no, they fucked up and now FSU fans have a right to be furious. Anyway, I hope this game is at least close because otherwise SEC fans and talking head morons like Paul Finebaum will never let anyone hear the end of it.

One note about this game: it will start on TSN1 at about 6:30. My guess is that it will be because of a World Juniors game being aired at the same time as the start of the Orange Bowl but who knows since the tournament is in Sweden.

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Toledo

4:00

Could this be an interesting game? Perhaps. Unfortunately, it will be overshadowed by two things: that this game is the first bowl game ever to appear on The CW and that it is sponsored by Barstool Sports. The game is also being called by Barstool personalities and seeing what it was like last year, they go overboard on certain things, especially the gambling aspect of college football. Not saying others don’t talk about it because they do but they beat you over the head with it all game. Oh well, you don’t have to watch if you don’t want to since the Orange Bowl is on at the exact same time (someone didn’t think this one through).

Monday January 1st

ReliaQuest Bowl: #13 LSU vs. Wisconsin

Noon

I have a feeling this game might not be that close. Wisconsin feels like a shell of Badger teams in the past. Then again, there have been crazier bowl results.

UPDATE: Looks like this bowl game is on TSN2 which is a bit surprising. This means no TSN+ and no specialty pack.

Fiesta Bowl: #8 Oregon vs. #23 Liberty

1:00

This could be an big-time shootout if Liberty can keep up. Nice to see Conference USA finally get into the New Year’s Six for the first time. All it took was for a program that many people do not like to jump up from the FCS and immediately become the conference favourite. Easy stuff. Look, I’m sure many players don’t care about what the leaders at Liberty are all about. Same as at BYU or Notre Dame or Baylor or any other university with a religious affiliation. They just want to play football. I think people forget that (or want to forget that).

UPDATE #2: This game will also appear on TSN 1, 4 and 5. It will start on TSN5 right at 1:00 and join in progress on the other three stations at about 3:30.

Citrus Bowl: #21 Tennessee vs. #17 Iowa

1:00

Thankfully Tennessee is in this game. Otherwise, this could smash the record that is repeatedly set by this year’s Iowa team for lowest over/under ever. Kirk Ferentz is desperately hoping for a 7-6 with a good ol’ Iowa touchdown (a field goal and two safeties).

Rose Bowl: #1 Michigan vs. #4 Alabama

5:00

Did Nick Saban do one of his best coaching jobs ever with this group? Yes. Yes he did. Should Michigan be allowed in the College Football Playoff? I’m sure there are many (SEC fans) who think that Michigan should have their entire football program shut down because “Michigan cheated.” Not that I disagree that Michigan cheated because it sure felt like they did but I am under the assumption that at least half the Power Five schools cheat in some manner. It’s college football: it’s never been squeaky clean. Ever. To think it was…well, you’re just wrong.

UPDATE #3: This will appear on TSN1, 4 and 5 as well. There will be an update sometime in the next few days to determine which feed appears where.

UPDATE #6: The entire game will appear on TSN1, 4 and 5.

Sugar Bowl: #2 Washington vs. #3 Texas

8:45

Will I watch this entire game? Abso-fucking-lutely. Will I be a bit tired at work the next day? Maybe. I wonder if I should just book a vacation day. “Hey Bossman, doing anything fun on your vacation day?” “Well I’m definitely not recovering from watching the Sugar Bowl, that’s for sure.” Then they’d look at me like I have six heads.

UPDATE #4: Same update as the Rose Bowl.

UPDATE #7: The entire game will appear on TSN1, 4, and 5.

Monday January 9th

College Football Playoff National Championship

8:00

At this point, this game isn’t appearing on the TSN schedule. Neither are the New Year’s Day ones although that might come as early as tomorrow. If it’s the same as last year then those are three stations it will appear on. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the special feeds goes to TSN+. Final game of the year (other than the wacky all-star games that are fun but not as exciting as the rest of the games). I will probably be wearing a frown when this game ends.

UPDATE #5: This game will also appear on TSN4. Determination of feed will probably happen closer to New Year’s Day.

Breakdown time!

• TSN only (regular channels) – 22 games
• TSN+ & specialty pack – 10 games
• ABC & TSN – 6 games
• ABC & TSN+ – 2 games
• FOX – 1 game
• CBS – 1 game
• The CW – 1 game

TSN is showing EVERY bowl game. Every. Single. One. With a caveat. We are starting to see the TSN+ effect. TSN+ will have 12 of the bowl games, either paired with airing on ABC or paired with appearing on the specialty pack. This is the future. Get ready for it. And also get ready for a day when at least the college football portion of the specialty pack goes away since I think that day is coming as well.

Next up are the bowl game rankings and the NFL schedule post for the upcoming week. I am still going back and forth on whether I will do another post on how I would fix the postseason. It’s a bit tougher now that they have gone to a 12-team playoff but with less conferences. Expect at least (AT LEAST) seven Big Ten/SEC teams in every playoff going forward unless something wacky happens. That would leave, at most, the G-5 champ and two each from the ACC and Big XII. Sounds about right (unfortunately for many schools). Anyway, I will make the decision at some point over the next week or so. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone and get ready for the bowl games in THREE DAYS!

The Bossman Top 26. My first true Bowl Projections. And it’s firing season!

Yep, firing season in college football has commenced! In what was, honestly, a shocking shitcanning, Texas A&M followed up an absolute drubbing of Mississippi State by keeping the good times going and firing Jimbo Fisher. Yes, Jimbo has been let go and will get $76 god damn million dollars as a buyout. Holy shit. Stupid me trying to be a teacher, then an accountant when the real money was in being a failed college football head coach. How dumb can I be?

Following that, Boise State announced that they, too, followed an easy win by firing their head coach. Andy Avalos was never really accepted in that position and he never kept the Broncos at the level everyone expects them to be. I guess that’s what happens: a long string of good seasons means expectations go up for everyone.

Then Mississippi State decided that Zach Arnett isn’t the right guy going forward and he was dismissed from his head coaching position. That one game put huge dents in two coaching staffs. Impressive.

Back to the Aggies situation, they now will have to hire someone after the season is over. As fucking hilarious as it would be to promote Bobby Petrino, they will definitely go outside the school in their search. And remember: the Texas A&M job is still a big one. So most coaches would love to have it. Right now I would put Mike Norvell, Mike Elko and Dan Lanning as 1A, 1B and 1C to be hired. Don’t rule out a guy like Lance Leipold, though. He has done amazing things at Kansas and will get a lot of looks in the offseason.

OK let’s get to the Bossman Top 26 which will probably not resemble the College Football Playoff rankings whatsoever:

#1	Georgia (10-0)
#2	Michigan (10-0)
#3	Washington (10-0)
#4	Oregon (9-1)
#5	Alabama (9-1)
#6	Ohio State (10-0)
#7	Florida State (10-0)
#8	Texas (9-1)
#9	Louisville (9-1)
#10	Missouri (8-2)
#11	Oregon State (8-2)
#12	Ole Miss (8-2)
#13	LSU (7-3)
#14	Tulane (9-1)
#15	Penn State (8-2)
#16	Utah (7-3)
#17	Oklahoma (8-2)
#18	James Madison (10-0)
#19	Arizona (7-3)
#20	Notre Dame (7-3)
#21	Tennessee (7-3)
#22	Liberty (10-0)
#23	North Carolina (8-2)
#24	Oklahoma State (7-3)
#25	Iowa (8-2)
#26	Kansas State (7-3)

There are five undefeated Power Five teams at the top. There could end up being four going into conference championship weekend. Something’s gotta give but honestly, will it? Georgia, Washington, Florida State and the Michigan/Ohio State winner in two weeks have clear paths to the playoff. Run the table and you’re in, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If one falters, that’s where the fun begins. Also, yes I have Tulane at #14 and I’m sure The Committee will have them at like #23 at best. I know it pained them to have Cincinnati so high a couple years back and they never wanted to replicate that again. And if they have their choice, they still won’t even with the expanded playoff starting next season.

Now we turn to bowl projections which actually have a bit of meat to them now that we are closing in on the end of the regular season. Unless we see chaos (which I always hope for), many of these projections can be backed up with relatively easy answers. Let’s go!

Sugar Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Michigan vs. Washington
Rose Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Florida State vs. Georgia

I believe Michigan ends up winning The Game and then the Big Ten Championship. Florida State and Washington I have running the table. Georgia, I think, will have a hiccup this week against Tennessee but still end up winning the SEC Championship to move back into the Top 4. Pretty easy, right? Let’s see if the New Year’s Six predictions make just as much sense.

Fiesta Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Oregon vs. Memphis
Orange Bowl	ACC Champ vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Louisville vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Alabama vs. Penn State
Cotton Bowl	CFP at-large vs. CFP at-large/G-5 #1	Texas vs. Ole Miss

I’m sure one thing really stands out here so let’s get to that first.

• Yes, I have Memphis winning the American and the Group of Five spot in the NY6. How does the current fourth-place team rise to the top? It starts with Memphis beating SMU this coming Saturday. Then Tulane defeats UTSA on the final weekend and, due to tiebreakers, the Tigers get the spot opposite Tulane. Then they pull the upset and beat the Green Wave to move up high enough to get the spot. That shouldn’t be too hard with James Madison ineligible, Liberty’s stupidly easy schedule and The Committee’s MAC disrespect which kills Toledo’s chances.
• As for the rest, they are pretty self-explanatory. Louisville ends up losing the ACC Championship but is the best representative from the conference and gets the Orange Bowl spot. The Orange Bowl selects Ohio State as the top team left from the Big Ten or SEC. Oregon, Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss are almost shoo-ins at this point. I do think Penn State sneaks back into the Top 10 and passes Missouri to garner the final spot. Whether they face a pissed off Alabama or a Bama that doesn’t care would remain to be seen.

So far, so good. Nothing crazy (other than Memphis). I’m sure there could be some debate but it would be minor (other than Memphis). Let’s look at the rest of the bowl picture:

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	LSU vs. Iowa
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Kentucky vs. Maryland
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	Fresno State vs. Miami-OH
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Texas A&M vs. Wisconsin
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Missouri vs. Kansas State
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Miami vs. Arizona
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Auburn vs. North Carolina
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Oklahoma vs. Utah
Pop Tarts Bowl	ACC vs. Big XII	Notre Dame vs. Kansas
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Rutgers vs. NC State
Fenway Bowl	2 of ACC/AAC/C-USA	Georgia Tech vs. Tulane
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Tennessee vs. Oklahoma State
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Boston College vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	UCF* vs. Clemson
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Duke vs. UTSA
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	2 of Big Ten/Big XII/MWC	Wyoming vs. Iowa State
First Responder Bowl	2 of ACC/Big XII/AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA	Syracuse vs. Texas Tech
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	Illinois vs. Northern Illinois
Hawaii Bowl	AAC vs. MWC	Rice vs. Boise State
Las Vegas Bowl	Big Ten vs. Pac-12	Minnesota vs. USC
68 Ventures Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia Southern vs. WKU
Idaho Potato Bowl	2 of MWC/MAC/Sun Belt	UNLV vs. Marshall
Armed Forces Bowl	Big XII vs. C-USA	BYU vs. Utah State*
Birmingham Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	Louisiana* vs. Jacksonville State**
Camellia Bowl	2 of Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	South Alabama vs. Toledo
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of SEC/ACC/AAC/C-USA	James Madison** vs. Florida***
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Appalachian State vs. Bowling Green
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Arkansas State vs. North Texas***
Bahamas Bowl	MAC vs. C-USA	Ohio vs. New Mexico State
Independence Bowl	Big XII vs. AAC	West Virginia vs. SMU
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	UCLA vs. Air Force
New Mexico Bowl	2 of Group of Five	San Jose State vs. Texas State
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Coastal Carolina vs. Eastern Michigan
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Troy vs. Liberty
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC/Sun Belt/C-USA/MAC	Georgia State vs. Central Michigan

A few notes on this:

• One asterisk (*) means there weren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill that bowl slot. Two asterisks (**) means that all bowl-eligible teams have been slotted in a bowl game and there are still spots remaining. Three asterisks (***) means a team that gets in due to APR. That final one I have no idea how it will be filled since I don’t have a great idea as to the smarter schools compared to the not-so-smart schools.
• James Madison and Jacksonville State are almost guaranteed bowl games. JMU is pretty much a lock since I can’t see many scenarios where all the bowl games are filled with bowl-eligible teams.
• Remember, Notre Dame gets an ACC spot as long as they have one more win than a team they would be replacing….which is pretty much every team left in the ACC to slot into a bowl game.
• The other Independents are not going bowling so that doesn’t really matter.
• We are WAY too early to see bowl bids being accepted. And with the Bahamas Bowl having to be played in Charlotte there are no issues with issuing passports that would make it so bowl bids would have to be accepted in November. For this reason, I see no bowl bids going out until the first of December at the earliest.

Tomorrow night we have more MACtion. I will try my best to put out the college football TV schedule post tomorrow as well. Rankings will have to be edited in since the CFP rankings aren’t being released until 9:00 tomorrow night. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

Wyld Stalions (and the Week 9 College Football TV Schedule)

Sign stealing. Cheating or an art? Or both? Or neither?

Look, this whole University of Michigan sign-stealing controversy is sounding a bit like the Houston Astros sign-stealing horseshit of a few years back, albeit with less garbage can banging and more just buying tickets for games involving conference opponents. It isn’t just the person above who is involved though. That man’s name is Connor Stalions. For fuck’s sake. Connor Stalions. Sounds like the name of a spy in a Tom Clancy novel or a jobber in WWE.

Anyway, Stalions was just hired a little over year ago by the Wolverines after being a volunteer with the team for seven years. A volunteer for seven years? OK then. On his LinkedIn (Corporate Facebook) profile, he mentions he can identify and exploit critical vulnerabilities and centers of gravity in the opponent scouting process. OK then. And over the past three years he has bought tickets for over 30 games at eleven different Big Ten schools and that many times it’s tickets on the exact opposite side of the season where the other person can hold their smartphone up to film the home team’s sideline. OK then.

Does this sound like something that is illegal? Yes. Yes it does. Well, not illegal in a criminal sense but illegal in a “that shouldn’t happen in a sporting event” kind of way. And yes, the NCAA, as corrupt an organization as it is, prohibits doing this and rightfully so.

So the question is who else knew. Stalions isn’t buying all those tickets himself. Not on a $55,000 per year salary. Someone is doing it for him. That person should be given a hell of a lot more than a slap on the wrist. And if Jim Harbaugh knew (which is the issue EVERYONE wants to know), he should be punished as well.

Will these punishments for Harbaugh, everyone involved and the school happen this season? Are you crazy? Of course not! The Wolverines are probably the favourite at this moment to win the national championship and there’s no way they will be derailed by this. Next season, sure why not. Relegate all their games to the Big Ten Network. Fine them. Suspend everyone. Do whatever. But don’t expect to see any 2023 punishment for the Michigan Wolverines football team. Besides, won’t Captain Khaki be in the NFL next season anyway?

Well that was…interesting………Wyld Stalions AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *ahem* sorry about that. Let’s just get to the schedules alright?

Tuesday

		US	Canada
New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech	7:00
Liberty at WKU	7:30

We have a potential conference championship preview here…OK it’s pretty much going to be the conference championship unless something crazy happens in November. I guess the question will be if that game will be in Bowling Green (Kentucky) again or in Lynchburg, Virginia. Also, the Aggies look to take another giant step towards two straight years of bowl eligibility, cementing Jerry Kill as one of the most underrated head coaches this century.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Jacksonville State at FIU	7:00
UTEP at Sam Houston	8:00

Well……it’s football. Enjoy it. I just hope one of the games is close.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Long Island at CCSU	7:00
Syracuse at Virginia Tech	7:30
Georgia State at Georgia Southern	7:30
South Carolina State at NC Central	7:30

We are looking at some seriously important Modern Day Hate down in Statesboro. With James Madison not eligible for the division title, the Sun Belt East could very well come down to this game. Both teams are playing well but think of this: if Georgia State wins, they would be 7-1 and could end up hosting 8-0 James Madison next weekend. Not saying College Gameday should go there (they won’t) but it’s not often that a Sun Belt game itself deserves that honour.

Also, yes, the Long Island University Sharks will be on your television screen this Thursday night. Funny how CBS inks a contract with the NEC to show their football games and they lose two of their schools just the other day with Merrimack and Sacred Heart moving on. The conference is now down to six schools and is teetering on not even having an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs which has to be up to like 60 teams or something like that now (it’s actually 24 teams but still….that’s quite a few teams).

Friday

		US	Canada
Brown at Penn	7:00
FAU at Charlotte	7:30

I think it could be -4 degrees out and Biff Poggi would still wear the cut-off sleeved shirt. Got to respect that.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#4 Florida State at Wake Forest	Noon
UConn at Boston College	Noon
Maryland at Northwestern	Noon
Indiana at #10 Penn State	Noon
UMass at Army	Noon
South Carolina at Texas A&M	Noon
Houston at Kansas State	Noon
Tulsa at SMU	Noon
#6 Oklahoma at Kansas	Noon

This schedule is not the greatest to be honest. It’s not bad. But really, nothing stands out except maybe Oklahoma travelling to Lawrence to face Kansas in what can, for the first time in a long time, be considered a speed bump kind of game for the Sooners. Other than that, there are quite a few teams playing games that could dictate whether they go bowling or not, including South Carolina, Army, and Boston College.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Clemson at NC State	2:00
BYU at #7 Texas	3:30
Virginia at Miami	3:30
Michigan State at Minnesota	3:30
Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30
Miami-OH at Ohio	3:30
#20 Duke at #18 Louisville	3:30
#8 Oregon at #13 Utah	3:30
Pittsburgh at #14 Notre Dame	3:30
Mississippi State at Auburn	3:30
#22 Tulane at Rice	4:00
Prairie View A&M at Florida A&M	4:00
USC at California	4:00

We have a ton of games in the afternoon window with quite a few of the day’s best games. Oregon and Utah in another Pac-12 Cannibalization Game, the Blue Devils and Cardinals face off where the winner might have the inside track to facing Florida State for the ACC Championship and, of course, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Look, maybe Gary Danielson would be a whole lot more likeable if he was shitfaced. “Brad, this is a good game and I love how Duvalllllllllllllll County smells *BURP* but I have to profess my love for the Alabama God Damn Crimson Tide. They are GOD’S TEAM GOD DAMMIT (as he points a finger in Brad’s face). But this red team here is pretty good…too……” *immediately vomits all over the broadcast booth* OK, maybe not.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Marshall at Coastal Carolina	6:00
#19 Air Force at Colorado State	7:00
#21 Tennessee at Kentucky	7:00
Colorado at #23 UCLA	7:30
#3 Ohio State at Wisconsin	7:30
Vanderbilt at #12 Ole Miss	7:30
#17 North Carolina at Georgia Tech	8:00
Cincinnati at Oklahoma State	8:00
Old Dominion at #25 James Madison	8:00
Washington State at Arizona State	8:00

Hmmm….one of the weaker primetime schedules since early September. I don’t think anyone thought it would be that way, though. Many would have picked Tennessee-Kentucky as a huge game and tOSU-Wisky as another super important game. Not saying it isn’t important at all but probably a whole lot less important than it was predicted to be.

Saying all that, just remember the old college football adage: the weaker the window, the more chaos we see.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
New Mexico at Nevada	10:30
#11 Oregon State at Arizona	10:30

The Beavs cannot afford to lose here against a pretty good Wildcats team. The other game is borderline-unwatchable. Remember, Nevada beat San Diego State 6-0 last week. Yawn.

Hey, Watch This!

Oregon at Utah (3:30, FOX) – Is there any doubt that this is the Game of the Week? Well there would have been about a month ago but now we’re here and this is the easy choice. With both teams at 3-1 in the conference, there is a very good chance that the loser here has their hopes dashed of a Pac-12 Championship game berth. Forget the College Football Playoff. Forget the New Year’s Six. It’s off to like the Holiday Bowl or something like that. Not bad. But not what they played this season for.

Oklahoma at Kansas (Noon, FOX) – I think we have all figured out that you can’t sleep on Lance Leipold’s Kansas Jayhawks. Last season was a revelation and this year it continues as they are just getting better which is bad news for the rest of the Big XII. The Sooners were going along quietly until they beat Texas and held off UCF at the end. Now, everyone is watching. I said it above: this is a big speed bump game for OU. Win and you head to Stillwater and Bedlam for the biggest game of the season. Lose and the playoff might be just out of reach.

Duke at Louisville (3:30, TSN+/specialty pack) – I do wish that TSN had picked this game up. To put it on their online platform seems like a bit of a slap in the face to both programs. But, for once, it feels like every channel is showing live sports and big-time properties from NASCAR to Formula 1 to the CFL to the Rugby World Cup. So I understand. Look, the Cardinals are not out of this race yet. Win out and they probably head to Charlotte for the ACC Championship. Duke also has an opportunity if they run the table but they will need some help.

Ohio State at Wisconsin (7:30, NBC) – Please don’t be Jac Collinsworth, please don’t be Jac Collinsworth, please don’t be Jac Collinsworth…..hey Noah Eagle is calling the game! Good. Eagle is good. Comes by it honestly with his dad one of the best at calling the NFL. Jac on the other hand is fucking terrible. He is there because his name is Collinsworth and not something else. Hopefully, NBC does the right thing and puts him elsewhere next season. As for this game, the Buckeyes should not take the Badgers lightly as an upset loss here would screw over a potential 1 vs. 2 matchup in The Game in late November.

Sickos Game of the Week

UConn at Boston College (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – The battle for Northeastern supremacy starts and ends with this game since UMass sucks. Amazingly enough, if the Eagles win here they are 5-3 and closing in on bowl eligibility. That’s huge for Jeff Hafley who started the season on a massive hot seat. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the bottom half of the ACC is not good and last season’s UConn might be an aberration.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, CBS) – A lot of people are questioning whether James Franklin is the guy that can get Penn State over the hump and into the CFP. Next year will be the ultimate test. If they can’t get in with an expanded field, they should move on. Putting all that aside, the Nittany Lions played awful last week and will be taking out their anger on the lowly Hoosiers, I can pretty much guarantee that.

Wanna Bet?

Man, looking back most of my picks fucking sucked. UAB over Memphis? Woof. UNC over Virginia? Yikes. USC over Utah. Oh no. I would say let’s keep the ball rolling but the ball, at this point, is a square. Need to start over and get some of these picks right.

FIU 40 Jacksonville State 27 (upset pick!)

Georgia State 26 Georgia Southern 21

FAU 38 Charlotte 7

Oklahoma 43 Kansas 30

Kansas State 34 Houston 23

SMU 44 Tulsa 9

Clemson 49 NC State 16

Louisville 23 Duke 19

Utah 24 Oregon 17 (slight upset)

Auburn 37 Mississippi State 20

Air Force 32 Colorado State 6

Ohio State 31 Wisconsin 17

Oregon State 49 Arizona 35

The Bossman Top 26

It’s time for another rousing version of the Bossman Top 26. OK, it’s the second time doing this many teams. Let’s just get going with it.

#1	Michigan
#2	Georgia
#3	Ohio State
#4	Florida State
#5	Washington
#6	Alabama
#7	Oklahoma
#8	Texas
#9	Oregon State
#10	Utah
#11	Oregon
#12	Ole Miss
#13	Penn State
#14	Notre Dame
#15	LSU
#16	Missouri
#17	Louisville
#18	North Carolina
#19	Tulane
#20	UCLA
#21	Tennessee
#22	Air Force
#23	Duke
#24	USC
#25	James Madison
#26	Liberty

Yep, I have added Liberty in at the final spot. Sure, their schedule is arguably the easiest in the land; but if they run the table and get some help they might sneak into the New Year’s Six much to the chagrin of many college football fans. James Madison continues to wait for a waiver that may never come but at least we know that if there aren’t enough bowl eligible teams, they would be the first call to fill a bowl spot. And yes, I have Michigan in the top spot. Despite their cheating ways (it seems), they still look like the best team in college football, even better than UGA. I know SEC fans will scrunch their noses at that since they think their conference is the be-all-and-end-all and that the CFP should be Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU. Well you know what? Fuck you. This is my rankings. Make your own.

Getting these blog posts out before the Tuesday night games is basically impossible for me. Not complaining since it means there’s Tuesday night football. It’s still not easy though. Enjoy the games everyone!

All Aboard the Coaching Carousel! (and the Week 6 College Football TV Schedule)

The fun-time coaching carousel has been filling up a bit earlier this year. None of us are used to this many coaches being shitcanned this early on. We are just into October and many of the good horses (or the one cool love seat thing that seems to be on every carousel) are going fast. And the tickets are EXPENSIVE.

This week it started with Karl Dorrell getting fired at Colorado which is no surprise because Colorado is easily the worst Power Five team out there. No team is close to their ineptitude so far this season. But the real bombshell came later the same day when Paul Chryst, he of the 67-26 record, seven straight winning seasons before this year, six bowl victories, and two New Year’s Six triumphs, was fired by Wisconsin. I knew he might be in a bit of trouble but that was shocking. And his buyout? Remember I talked about the tickets on this carousel being expensive? Yeah, his cost is around $11 million. My god. These buyout clauses are just completely absurd now and mean nothing to these schools anymore.

Anyway, this actually may be strategic on Wisky’s part. Jim Leonhard is the interim head coach and the prevailing sentiment is that they want to see what he can do over the final seven games of the season. If he can turn the ship around, there’s a good chance he will be named the permanent replacement. If not, well he had more than half a season and that would be enough of a barometer to know they have to send a Brinks truck to Lance Leipold’s house as soon as possible after the season ends.

I know, the coaching carousel is interesting. I wouldn’t call it fun. That would be a bit morbid. But enough of that; it’s schedule time and it starts on Wednesday this week and it’s not MACtion!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
SMU at UCF	7:00 PM

Tonight, we only have the one game. Technically this is a Week 5 game but the Mustangs and Knights both have this week as a bye week so you can all it a Week 6 game if you want. This is rescheduled because of Hurricane Ian.

Friday

		US	Canada
Harvard at Cornell	7:00 PM
Nebraska at Rutgers	7:00 PM
Houston at Memphis	7:30 PM
Colorado State at Nevada	10:00 PM
UNLV at San Jose State	10:30 PM

Is the highlight here the Nebraska-Rutgers game? Sure, I guess. The Huskers could be in the first in the Big Ten West for about 17 hours if they win this one. Speaking of that game, it’s the first of a doubleheader with three-hour fucking windows. Stupid FS1. I hope the early game goes to 16 overtimes now.

Dana Holgorsen might be on the hot seat if the Cougs don’t beat Memphis, Jay Norvell is hating life in Fort Collins and UNLV continues to try to look like a contender in the Mountain West! Makes up for the night before where there is no college football. It’s like they don’t want to compete with the NFL anymore. I mean it’s not a bad idea.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Texas vs. Oklahoma (in Dallas)	Noon
Louisville at Virginia	Noon
Purdue at Maryland	Noon
Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan	Noon
#8 Tennessee at #25 LSU	Noon
Missouri at Florida	Noon
#4 Michigan at Indiana	Noon
#17 TCU at #19 Kansas	Noon
Arkansas at #23 Mississippi State	Noon

A couple of good ones here with UT-LSU and Gameday going to Lawrence before TCU plays Kansas. It’s too bad they decided to go to that football hotbed of Bloomington, Indiana for Big Noon Saturday rather than Kansas. What the hell was FOX thinking? Oh that’s right…they’re hard for the Big Ten.

How about the Red River Shootout having both teams come in unranked? I’m sure if I went to ESPN’s website it would tell me the last time this happened but I have a feeling it was a looooooooooooooooooong time ago. We also have a couple potential sneaky-good games with Arkansas-MSU and Purdue-Maryland. So a relatively loaded start to the day.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh	3:30 PM
Wisconsin at Northwestern	3:30 PM
Auburn at #2 Georgia	3:30 PM
Tulsa at Navy	3:30 PM
East Carolina at Tulane	3:30 PM
#11 Utah at #18 UCLA	3:30 PM
Texas Tech at #7 Oklahoma State	3:30 PM
#3 Ohio State at Michigan State	4:00 PM
North Carolina at Miami	4:00 PM
#21 Washington at Arizona State	4:00 PM
#9 Ole Miss at Vanderbilt	4:00 PM

For some reason the ABC afternoon game starts at 4:00. I don’t remember the last time that has happened. I mean it all comes out in the wash anyway but it’s odd this has happened this weekend for no rhyme or reason. CBS was hoping Auburn would have won last week to set up the AU-UGA game with both teams ranked. Alas, it was not to be and I have this feeling this will be an absolute drubbing.

I find it odd that Utah-UCLA, a game between two very good teams, is the FOX afternoon game which is basically the third best game most of the time in the FOX tripleheader. I would have thought it was heading to ABC in primetime. Again, the Pac-12 seems to be getting shafted and if things don’t change, we may have to get used to less coverage from that conference in this area.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Wyoming at New Mexico	7:00 PM
Air Force at Utah State	7:00 PM
James Madison at Arkansas State	7:00 PM
#5 Clemson at Boston College	7:30 PM
Iowa at Illinois	7:30 PM
#20 Kansas State at Iowa State	7:30 PM
Washington State at #6 USC	7:30 PM
#16 BYU vs. Notre Dame (in Las Vegas)	7:30 PM
South Carolina at #13 Kentucky	7:30 PM
Florida State at #14 NC State	8:00 PM
Texas A&M at #1 Alabama	8:00 PM

Not as big as the early sked but still pretty darn good. This is the one primetime game the SEC on CBS has and it’s….well, not as good as CBS had hoped for. The Aggies have been a major disappointment and the Tide are dominant. This could be over by 10:00.

BYU has a massive game in Vegas. A must-win for them. Lose this and it’s pretty much the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. Win and they stay alive for a New Year’s Six spot. Clemson-BC is a special game in Boston as it’s the Red Bandana Game. It’s in honour of Welles Crowther, a former BC lacrosse player who headed a rescue effort on 9/11 and got a lot of people rescued. He was known for wearing a red bandana and that’s what one of the people who were saved that day saw from the guy heading up the building when everyone was escaping down. Good to see this game in a huge national spotlight.

Finally, James Madison has a national game. Sure it’s the NFL Network but the Dukes are undefeated in their first FBS season. They really need to get rid of that archaic rule that says teams can’t qualify for a bowl game in their first season in FBS, transitioning up from FCS.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#12 Oregon at Arizona	9:00 PM
Fresno State at Boise State	9:45 PM
Hawaii at San Diego State	10:30 PM
Oregon State at Stanford	11:00 PM

This is….not a good late night schedule. Which means something wacky is coming our way. That’s the way it works in college football. I don’t make the rules.

TSN has their first quadrupleheader of the season which is always nice to see, especially for the non-specialty pack people. And let’s discuss the ESPN schedule this week. Early game. VERY late game. Nothing in between. What are they showing? Ah, that’s right. They have the Wild Card games in baseball this season. So as long as the second Wild Card game doesn’t go too far into extra innings, the Beavers-Cardinal game will start precisely at…11:00 eastern. This is almost as crazy as the Hawaii Test.

Big Games O’ The Week

Utah at UCLA (3:30, FOX) – Ya know, some people are going to bristle at this choice for top game of the week. Here are the facts: Utah is ranked #11 and is still the favourite to win the Pac-12 South. UCLA is ranked #18 and is undefeated. The winner here faces USC later in the season for the de facto Pac-12 South championship and, potentially a New Year’s Six or, dare I say it, College Football Playoff spot. So yeah, this is huge.

Tennessee at LSU (Noon, TSN3/TSN5) – Are the Vols for real (I refuse to ask if they are back…aw shit, I just did)? This is a big chance for them to prove it as the Tigers have started to claw their way back after a seriously shaky start under new head coach Jim Bob Brian Kelly. Tennessee can move up towards the Top 4 with a win here and an eventual showdown with Georgia. Maybe, LSU could put a scare in some teams…even…Bama? Wouldn’t that be something…that Saban would hate.

TCU at Kansas (Noon, FOX Sports One) – In your wildest imagination, did you think this could be one of the games of the week when this season started? No. No one did. Even TCU and Kansas fans thought that would be ridiculous. But here we are. Early October. Ranked TCU. Ranked Kansas. College Gameday in Lawrence. Its put up or shut up time for both teams. And man, if the Jayhawks pull this one out, they will be safely in the Top 15 and looking at heights that haven’t been seen around those parts since the magical 2007 season.

Florida State at NC State (8:00, specialty pack) – I’m sure many feel this is a game the Wolfpack will easily win to get back on track. This isn’t the Noles of the past five or six years though. These guys can play. I have a feeling this could very close. The ACC Network with a bit of a coup getting this one at this point of the season.

Washington State at USC (7:30, FOX) – A tiny bit surprised this didn’t end up on either ABC or ESPN but FOX gets a good primetime game here that actually will match up well with CBS’s offering. USC is on a roll and it feels like nothing will stop them. That’s why this is such a speed bump game for the Trojans. Win here and their game against Utah is probably one of the Games of the Year the following week.

Psycho Game of the Week

Wisconsin at Northwestern (3:30, Big Ten Network) – Another game where, at the start of the season, I never would have thought it would end up in this particular spot in the blog post. Northwestern is thankful that Colorado exists and Wisconsin has been a shell of its former self. Should be a fun one! And by fun, I mean horribly painful to watch.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Auburn at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – I have a feeling that this is going to get really bad, really fast for the Tigers. I also have a feeling that Bryan Harsin will not be fired after this one since everyone expects Auburn to get boatraced Between The Hedges.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

• Rutgers has lost all five of their meetings with Nebraska but every game the margin of victory has decreased. Last time they met, they only lost by 7.
• Washington has lost the last seven times they traveled to Tempe to face Arizona State.
• New Mexico has more wins over Wyoming than any other Mountain West team. They have beat the Cowboys 36 times.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

I made some picks last week. Some were good. I picked Illinois to cover the spread against Wisconsin. As for the rest don’t bother since I was horrible. Let’s just move on to this week’s picks that people should only use at Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

• Nebraska (-3) over Rutgers
• UNLV (+7) over San Jose State (SJSU will win in a close one)
• Eastern Michigan (+5) over Western Michigan (WMU will win the battle for Directional Michigan though)
• Oklahoma (+7) over Texas (and the outright victory)
• Tennessee (-3) over LSU
• Wisconsin (-10) over Northwestern
• UCLA (+4.5) over Utah (but the Utes will win a very close affair)
• Michigan State (+26.5) over Ohio State (but tOSU will win by approximately three touchdowns just to make it feel close for gamblers)
• James Madison (-11.5) over Arkansas State
• Wyoming (-3.5) over New Mexico
• Iowa (+3.5) over Illinois (and the outright win)
• Washington State (+13) over USC (Trojans win)
• Oregon (-13) over Arizona

Alright we have the rare October Wednesday night game that doesn’t involve Sun Belt teams, nothing tomorrow night and then things really get into action on Friday. And it’s Thanksgiving this weekend! So enjoy the games and enjoy the turkey (or ham, if you don’t like turkey).

Hey how did I do? Also, my updated NFL playoff predictions.

Basically, this is a post of how shitty my predictions are.  And some of them are BAD.

Let’s start with the college football portion of our show.  As I usually do, despite the fact I make my predictions public, I always assume some of them will be horrible.  But I made my choices, dammit, and I’m gonna stick with them.  Unlike some of you loser experts out there.  Alright let’s get going with this.

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• OK then here we go.  This is gonna be bad, I can just feel it:
  • Alabama – Picked them #2 and they ended up #1.  Nice.  Good start for the ol’ Bossman.
  • Ohio State – I figured this was a no-brainer.  It wasn’t.  I had then #3 and they ended up at the Rose Bowl.  So not too bad as a lot of experts had them in their Top 4.
  • Oklahoma – I had them #1.  Then the first game of the season happened and I realized it wouldn’t happen.  Ended up outside the New Year’s Six and lost both quarterbacks to the transfer portal.  Not good.
  • North Carolina – What in the fuck was I thinking?  I did not bank on the O-line being possibly the worst in the country, that’s what I was thinking.  Anyway, they came oh so close to not even being bowl-eligible.  Completely gross pick on my part.
• How about my New Year’s Six picks?  Might as well go through them one-by-one as well:
  • I had Notre Dame going to the Fiesta Bowl.  Spot on!
  • Clemson to the Peach Bowl.  Ugh.  Not that Clemson had a terrible season but they were really never close to the New Year’s Six.
  • Cincinnati to the Peach Bowl.  They did better than I thought they would.  Congrats to them and for breaking the Group of Five ceiling.
  • Iowa State to the Sugar Bowl.  I honestly though ISU would finally break through and get that Sugar Bowl bid.  They hung in there but really were never in the Big XII race.
  • Texas A&M to the Sugar Bowl.  I figured after they beat Bama that they would be in this spot.  Man, was I wrong.
  • Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl.  Honestly, they were a tough loss to Minnesota away from the Big Ten Championship and then who knows what happens if they get there.
  • USC to the Rose Bowl.  Holy shit.
  • Washington to the Fiesta Bowl.  Double holy shit.  I whiffed so badly on my two Pac-12 picks.
• Other terrible predictions included Texas at #21 and going to the Alamo Bowl, TCU being #23 and heading to the Cheez-It Bowl and Nebraska going to a bowl at all.  I fall for it every year it seems.
• I had Georgia, Coastal Carolina and Oregon being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in.  Georgia was a huge miss on my part.  Oregon ended up pretty much right where I thought they would.  Coastal Carolina wasn’t as good but still won double-digit games.  So I would call those not so bad picks.

Heisman Trophy

• I had Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell as my #1 and #2.  Well this is a great start.
• OK this isn’t bad.  I had Bryce Young at #5.  I wondered if he could come out from under Mac Jones’ shadow and he did more than that for sure, especially in the SEC Championship where he clinched the trophy.
• Let’s look at some of the rest of my Top 10:
  • D.J. Uiagalelei at #3.  Ouch.  Despite the fact Clemson still did pretty good this season, D.J. was mediocre for much of it.
  • J.T. Daniels at #7.  Oh my.  Georgia fans are very happy that Stetson Bennett, the former walk-on, came through for them to win the title.
  • Kedon Slovis at #8.  OK then.  He’s now in the transfer portal which says all you need to know about how his season went.
  • D’Eriq King at #10.  Alright, I’m done here.

Coaching Hot Seat

I usually do pretty well with this.  Let’s see.

• Normally I do pretty well with the coaches on Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning section.  Not so this season.  Only Walt Bell was fired on this list with Jeff Brohm and Dino Babers possibly saving their jobs well into 2022.  Even the things I do well at I’m not doing well at.
• The next section I predicted better.  Two out of three.  Saying that, Jonathan Smith almost did a good enough job to be considered for other coaching openings.
• I should apologize to Jim Harbaugh though.  I shouldn’t have even put him on the list and I did in the Possible Shitcanning section.  Stupid me.  He had the best season he’s had in Ann Arbor and may end up back in the NFL in 2022.
• Honestly, most of the coaches did not get fired on my list and some actually did quite a bit better than most thought.  My excuse?  Look at how the season was.  It was insane!  How was I to know it would be this crazy?

Just A Bunch of Predictions, Good and Bad

Let’s be honest: it’s probably mostly bad but let’s go through this exercise anyway.

• Most of the teams I had with good records (at least 10 wins) did well if you don’t include North Carolina, Washington and USC, which I mentioned earlier.
• I predicted a fair amount of games on TSN during the regular season.  Boy, was I wrong.  It was very weird since TSN totally dropped the ball during the regular season.  Then come bowl season, TSN went nuts and broadcast almost every game.  They did more college games during the past few weeks then they had during the three-plus months before it.  Just bizarre.  So, in the end, I wish they would balance it out a bit more but they didn’t do too badly, I guess.
• Hey look who got the UTSA conference title win correct?  This guy…I’m pointing at myself.  They may be building something big in San Antonio with the Roadrunners.  I mean it’s in Texas, a big city with only one pro team and they are joining the best Group of Five conference, the American, for 2023.  Things are looking up for this quite new football team.
• Boise State.  Talk about being overshadowed in the Mountain West.  They haven’t looked this average in a long, loooooooong time.  I figured they would win the Mountain West, like they usually do, and it ended up they didn’t even get to the title game and had five teams legitimately better than them during the season.
• I shouldn’t have gone all-in with Oklahoma.  I think I bought the Spencer Rattler hype.  OK, I know I did.  I should have remembered him in that QB1 series.  He’s a dick.
• It still seems like no one can win at Kansas.  It looks like Lance Leipold is on the right track, especially with a win over Texas, but I nailed the pick (almost) and know it will take at least another year to get all the kinks out of the program so that Leipold can put his stamp on it.  I hope he gets that chance.
• Who did I get right in the Pac-12?  Almost none of the teams.   I had Oregon winning 10 games, Utah winning 9 and Arizona State winning 9.  Not bad.  I also had Washington winning 11 (ugh), Oregon State winning 3 (yikes) and Washington State winning 4 (oops).
• I got all 7 teams in the SEC West going bowling.  I’ll give myself a light pat on the back for that because it wasn’t a huge stretch to think that would happen.  I will say, though, that South Carolina was quite a bit better than I thought they would be.  Same with Tennessee.  Florida?  Yeah that was a surprise.  Same with the Dan Mullen firing.  Didn’t see that coming…back in July.
• Maybe I overestimated how good Coastal Carolina would be.  They still won 10 games though so I wasn’t THAT far off.
• Yeah I couldn’t see all the realignment that happened just before the season commenced.  Could anyone have foreseen this?  Probably not.  I’ll go with that.
• Hey who got the AAC Championship pairing correct?  I think I may have been one of very few to nail the Houston pick (having them be second to Cincinnati).
• The Independents were, honestly, pretty easy.  Notre Dame, Liberty, Army, BYU: good.  New Mexico State, UConn, UMass: bad.  Simple.
• Ugh, my ACC predictions.  Oof, my Big Ten predictions (although I did have Iowa in the Big Ten title game).  Oh god, my MAC predictions.  Not even fucking close.  OK enough of this.

I don’t feel like doing a Stassen score to be honest with you.  I’m not as good as some of the normal prediction mags and that’s fine.  I have fun doing the predictions, even when they end up being shitty.

Now, the NFL Playoffs.  I have to revise my choices from August since some teams (COUGH*Seattle*COUGH) underperformed and others were better than advertised because the NFL season was almost as crazy as the college season.  So here goes:

Wild Card Round

Buffalo def. New England

Kansas City def. Pittsburgh

Cincinnati def. Las Vegas

LA Rams def. Arizona

San Francisco def. Dallas

Tampa Bay def. Philadelphia

Divisional Playoffs

Tennessee def. Cincinnati

Buffalo def. Kansas City

LA Rams def. Tampa Bay

Green Bay def. San Francisco

Conference Championships

Buffalo def. Tennessee (revenge for the Music City Miracle)

LA Rams def. Green Bay

Super Bowl

Buffalo def. LA Rams

So I still have the Bills winning over an NFC West team.  So not a huge change, I guess.

Now that the college football season is over it’s time for the weird all-star games they have.  Some of them have bizarre rules.  But at least it’s still a chance to see some college players before they head to the NFL or an NFL practice squad or the CFL or the XFL or the USFL.  Man, there’s a lot of leagues.  You’d think the CFL would cave and put some teams in strategic NORTHERN American cities.  It worked in Baltimore, it could work again.  Just don’t put a team in fucking Shreveport.  Anyway, here is the schedule for the crazy all-star games:

• Hula Bowl – January 15th at Noon on CBS Sports Network
• NFLPA Collegiate Bowl – January 29th on NFL Network (time TBA)
• East West Shrine Game – February 3rd at 8:00 on NFL Network
• Senior Bowl – February 5th at 2:30 on NFL Network

After those games, no more college football until late August.  Prepare for the dry season.

What will the upcoming posts be?

• Spring football?  No.  Not a chance.
• The NCAA basketball conference tournament schedules will definitely return.  Those start in a little over a month so learn about some of the teams that may try and bust your brackets.
• The NFL Draft.  How many mock drafts will I do?  I don’t know.  One for sure just before the draft.  I may do others.  I may not.  Who knows.
• I’m sure there will be a random post or two in there.  You know, when I’m bored.

So as I said before we are getting into the dead period…for college football.  A sad, sad time.  Maybe one of these years I will take the time away from watching the greatest sport on Earth (after Chess Boxing) to improve myself top to bottom.  Ah, who am I kidding.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Someone might want to avoid airport tarmacs – the Week 2 Recap

The camera’s not on him all the time so I am sure he has that reaction a lot.  And that reaction definitely came up the other night a lot.  USC looked like complete garbage in most of their loss against Stanford.  It feels like Kedon Slovis, after a promising start to his young career, has had his progress stall.  A lot of that has to land on Helton.  This team has had the talent to contend before and they have underperformed almost every season under his watch.  It feels like, with ten games left in the season, that he will have to win at least eight of those to keep his job.  And even then, that might not be enough.  He is on one of the hottest seats right now for sure.

This week of college football really had a dearth of marquee games (other than the top two), as is somewhat usual for Week 2.  But, as per usual, it overdelivered giving us a wild weekend of football.  Let’s go through the week that was!

• Michigan 31 Washington 10 – What a game this was for the Wolverines.  Washington is, to put it one word, awful.  This team should have the talent to at least be sniffing the Top 25 and they are nowhere close.  Maybe that loss against Montana wasn’t an aberration after all but more a warning for things to come in Jimmy Lake’s first full season at the helm.  As for Michigan, this could be an interesting year in Ann Arbor with perhaps a shot at a New Year’s Six bowl?  The next few weeks will tell a lot about this team.
• Texas A&M 10 Colorado 7 – A classic Big XII matchup that had an absolute dearth of offense.  Yes, the defenses both played well but the offenses were pretty bad.  There were a couple of opportunities for the Buffs to extend their lead and they just couldn’t do it.  The Aggies survived and may have lost their quarterback Haynes King for an extended period of time.  A little bit of sweating in College Station going forward.
• Oregon 35 Ohio State 28 – It felt that the Buckeyes would, at some point, comeback and win this one.  I mean it’s Ohio State in the Horseshoe.  They almost never lose there.  Even without Kayvon Thibodaux, the Ducks played very well on defense for most of the game and didn’t allow tOSU to really get their offense humming.  Oregon did just enough and Joe Morehead showed he still has quite the mind for offense as he called a masterful game.
• Jacksonville State 20 Florida State 17 – For fuck’s sake Mike Norvell.  If everyone thought it was bad during the Willie Taggart era, then strap in for this one.  The Noles allowed JSU to stay close with their offense just not playing well at all.  McKenzie Milton looked off and the running game was non-existent.  But it looked like FSU would still hold on for the somewhat undeserving victory.  Then it happened.  The Gamecocks score on the final play of the game on a pass to the 20-yard line that the receiver was able to run in.  No laterals.  Not a Hail Mary.  Just a pass and run.  Norvell didn’t think to put more players closer to the goal line because there was, and I quote, “still six seconds and they were on their own side of the field.”  What in the blue hell are you talking about, Mike?  They only had one play left.  That was it.  Yes the tackling, or lack there of, was horrible there but no excuse not to put more players back there.  What a fucking disgrace.  And yes, Norvell is on a seat that’s only a couple degrees cooler than Clay Helton’s.
• BYU 26 Utah 17 – The Cougars celebrated their acceptance into the Big XII by beating the Utes in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.  BYU was superior in pretty much every aspect of the game.  They look better than advertised, even with Zach Wilson gone, as Jaren Hall had a great game.  Definitely quelled the worries of the Provo faithful over the quarterback position.
• Coastal Carolina 49 Kansas 22 – As I’ve said before many times, I don’t have a horse in this entire college football race.  I just hope to watch some exciting football and with the college game, I get that at least once a weekend during the season.  Saying all that, I was kind of pulling for the Jayhawks to at least keep it close.  They didn’t, but even in a 27-point loss, it felt like they have taken more strides in game two under Lance Leipold than they had in the previous two entire coaching regimes.  That’s how bad things have got in Lawrence and how much ground they have to make up in the Big XII, now with extra BYU and AAC sauce.
• TCU 34 California 32 – Now let’s go to a game that very few people watched but probably should have.  I am not being facetious here.  This was just a fantastic game from start to finish.  Don’t think TCU played poorly or down to the Bears.  They are a good team and could start moving up the rankings soon.  California has had a rough start.  Two good games played and no wins to show for it.  Yes, starting with Nevada and TCU isn’t exactly a recipe for sure success but it has to be a bit frustrating to not be at least 1-1 at this point.  I expect they will still be a bit of a player in the Pac-12 North though.
• Alabama 48 Mercer 14 – Alabama beat Mercer.  Ho hum.  It was fun, though, to turn to TSN2 (yes this game was actually aired on TSN2) and see Nick Saban getting seriously pissed off at his squad after they went up 31-0.  Only Saban.
• Notre Dame 32 Toledo 29 – Toledo almost upset Notre Dame.  In the hindsight is 20/20 department, it would have made more sense for Toledo’s quarterback, instead of running for that 30+ yard touchdown late in the game, to fall around the 1 and then drain the clock to allow the Rockets to kick the winning field goal.  But they didn’t and Toledo’s defense decided to get a flag on almost every play, and the Irish made them pay.  If Brian Kelly wanted to execute his team last week, I can’t imagine what he is thinking today.  And all this was over on the ‘Cock!  Yep, that’s right, it was on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, not on NBC proper.  I’m sure no one was upset by this at all because college football fans tend to be rational people, right?
• Miami 25 Appalachian State 23 – It was quite the exciting game down at Hard Rock Stadium and I wasn’t that surprised by it.  People getting on the Canes have to realize that the Mountaineers are quite a good team.  So not totally shocking for it to go almost down to the end.  The most exciting thing to happen there that game, though, had nothing to do with what was happening on the field.  A cat all of a sudden was shown dangling from the upper deck.  No, I do not know how it got there or why it was dangling there.  All the fans in the area were watching and hoping the cat didn’t get hurt or die by falling.  The cat did fall…right into a guy holding an American flag who caught the cat in the flag.  On the 20th anniversary of 9/11.  Don’t be surprised if there’s a 30 for 30 Short on that one day.
• Iowa 27 Iowa State 17 – Um, could this finally be the year that Kirk Ferentz takes the Iowa Hawkeyes to the Big Dance?  This team is looking seriously good.  No mistake that they looked overpowering compared to Iowa State on Saturday.  And don’t think the Cyclones are out of it just yet.  I think their College Football Playoff hopes, however slim, are probably squashed but a New Year’s Six spot is still theirs if they can win out the rest of the regular season.  Don’t be surprised if both of these teams are playing on conference championship weekend in games that mean a whole lot.
• Rutgers 17 Syracuse 7 – Don’t look now but the 2021 version of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team is 2-0.  And looking pretty good doing it, especially on defense.  Yes it’s early and yes the Scarlet Knights might be in the second toughest division in college football but things are finally looking up for a team that has been not a lot better than hot garbage since joining the Big Ten.
• Arkansas 40 Texas 21 – Oh boy is Texas not back.  The Longhorns were boatraced by Arkansas in a game that may not even been as close as the score indicated.  I’m mistaken.  Texas is back…..back bacon.
• Pittsburgh 41 Tennessee 34 – At times this game was like snorting coke off a hooker’s ass, then taking a shot of absinthe, then getting on a motorcycle and gunning the engine to jump out of a plane.  It was that ridiculous.  At times both teams did everything they could to win, then not minutes later both teams would be trying their darndest to lose.  Completely bonkers.  In the end, it was a Volunteering that happened, not a Pittening.  I’m sure fans on Rocky Top are not happy right now because Tennessee?  Not back.
• Oklahoma State 28 Tulsa 23 –  I know people love to use the College Football Transitive Property.  Team A beat Team B who beat Team C so Team A is better than Team C.  It was almost to the point in this one where we’d have to say that UC-Davis was better than Oklahoma State because of that.  Now Vanderbilt’s victory over Colorado State probably does fit.  East Tennessee State beat Vanderbilt who beat Colorado State.  So ETSU is better than CSU.  Which may be true because the Rams got trounced by South Dakota State in Week 1.  Ouch.
• Houston 44 Rice 7 – Hey, who was possibly the only guy on the Internet to pick Rice to win this one?  That would be me.  And it’s a lesson to all you out there that I have mentioned multiple times before: do not use my picks to gamble with.  You are playing with fire if you do so.
• Army 38 Western Kentucky 35 – It seemed fitting that Army won on the anniversary of 9/11.  WKU did not make it easy as they have a seriously prolific passing game with Bailey Zappe under centre.  But Army’s option offense is, much of the time, too difficult to defend against because they don’t deviate from it, ever.  Georgia Southern and Navy and Air Force, they have times were they pass the ball a decent amount.  Hell, Georgia Tech has abandoned it altogether.  Not the Black Knights.  The option.  That’s it.  And it works most of the time.
• Purdue 49 UConn 0 – The Huskies have not scored a point since Randy Edsall quit/retired.  Not that they scored a lot of points anyway during his second tenure in Storrs.  This is going to be a looooooooooooong season for that fanbase.

Recap complete!  As I always say, some of the worst looking weeks on paper end up being some of the best to watch and this past weekend was a ton of fun to watch.  You know what?  Let’s bust out the first Bossman Top 25!

#1	Alabama
#2	Oregon
#3	Georgia
#4	Texas A&M
#5	Oklahoma
#6	Iowa
#7	Cincinnati
#8	Notre Dame
#9	Clemson
#10	Penn State
#11	Ohio State
#12	Florida
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	Wisconsin
#15	Iowa State
#16	UCLA
#17	North Carolina
#18	Virginia Tech
#19	Ole Miss
#20	Miami
#21	Arizona State
#22	Auburn
#23	TCU
#24	Arkansas
#25	Liberty

Always seem to be close to the AP Poll but there’s always interesting differences.  Yes, I had Oregon moving all the way up to #2 and deservedly so.  Also, I didn’t quite move Iowa into the Top 5 as many had (and AP did).  Give it time and I’m sure they will get there.  I try not to go crazy and overrate a team after one huge victory.  That is why I only put Arkansas at #24.  If they start stringing more victories together, then sure I will definitely move them up.  They have to earn it right?  Well, it is college football polls so “earning it” can be a very subjective measure.

Another recap done and getting in the football groove with Fall just around the corner.  I will be going back to the normal college football schedule on Thursday, NFL schedule on Friday format that you all know and love (well, at least I think you love….I know you know).  It’s getting slightly cooler (although it was quite humid today) and it is starting to feel a bit like football weather.  I love it.  Have a great week everyone!

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

“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.

Could things get any worse for the Big XII?

Bob Bowlsby is trying his best but it’s like bringing a gummy worm to a bazooka fight.

The Big XII is having a bad month.  OK that’s an understatement.  The Big XII is having the worst month any conference has had in years.  First, it comes to light that Texas and Oklahoma are wanting to get into the SEC.  We also find out that the talks have been going on for potentially upwards of six months.  And now Bob Bowlsby sends a cease and desist letter to ESPN as he has proof that the four-letter network is trying to coerce the rest of the Big XII teams to look into going into the American Conference, of all places, before things get tougher and they may have no conference to go to.  And it does kind of all make sense.  ESPN has the entirety of the SEC contract starting in a couple years.  And they hold almost the entirety of the AAC TV contract as well.  The Big XII?  Of course they have some games on ESPN but also are in bed with FOX (you network-jumping whore).  This makes things tougher for ESPN to control everything.  But if most (or all) of the Big XII teams move to the AAC, they have more control over more teams and can move more games to ESPN+ meaning more people have to purchase a subscription.  The other reason this is important?  ESPN would then get out from having to pay the Big XII almost $1 BILLION for the remainder of the TV deal and the Longhorns and Sooners would save on exit fees because the Big XII wouldn’t exist so there’s no conference to take those fees.  Fuck, college football is wild.

Alright let’s get to why you’re here (I think): the Big XII conference predictions.  I will follow that with some Escape Plans:

		Conference		Overall
		W	L	W	L
	Oklahoma	9	0	12	0
	Iowa State	8	1	11	1
	Texas	6	3	9	3
	TCU	6	3	9	3
	Oklahoma State	5	4	8	4
	West Virginia	3	6	6	6
	Kansas State	3	6	4	8
	Baylor	3	6	6	6
	Texas Tech	2	7	4	8
	Kansas	0	9	1	11

Escape Plans

• The Sooners might have it difficult (in possibly their final year in the conference).  Not saying their schedule is easy but the Cyclones could be the best they’ve ever been and Texas and TCU aren’t far off.  But they still do enough to win the conference regular season crown by running the table.
• The Les Miles era didn’t last long in Lawrence.  It felt like things were going well and then it turned into an unmitigated disaster.  Sounds like The Hat has an affinity for the young female student population as there were issues with him at LSU.  I’m sure there were issues at Kansas as well.  They made a great hire in Lance Leipold but man does he have a tough road ahead of him.  Give him time though.  And if it doesn’t work….MARK…..FUCKING….MANGINO.  Make the god damn call, Jayhawks!
• I can see the Big XII staying at 8 even if the lawyers can get Texas and Oklahoma out before the 2025 season.  It’s the only way they get that money from the two programs and the TV money from ESPN.  If they are smart, they either move to pull in as many teams as possible or have the other eight teams wait to announce their intentions to go to other conferences.  Would be hilarious to see ESPN pay a billion for a conference that is essentially dead.
• For this year’s title game, the Sooners will once again vanquish the upstart Iowa State Cyclones.  It will be a close one, yet again.  And honestly, these two teams are far and away the best two teams in the conference (as it currently stands).
• I got seven Big XII teams going bowling this season.  Kansas State and Texas Tech will struggle unless they can sweep their non-conference schedule which won’t be easy for either squad.  And Kansas will be Kansas.
• This shouldn’t be rocket science but yes, I do have Oklahoma getting to the College Football Playoff.  13-0 in a Power Five conference will do that.  As for ISU, you’ll have to wait and see if I have them in a New Year’s Six bowl.

Guess what?  We are almost home!  Two more conferences to go.  Next up is the conference that always keeps me up at night…literally…because their games are always on late…………it’s the Mountain West.  Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – Part I (plus a blurb about the NFL Draft)

It’s been too damn long since I’ve written a post directed solely to college football.  Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd….this won’t be one either.  I did not do a full NFL draft review post because, honestly, I didn’t feel like it.  There are enough reviews of the draft so I can put a paragraph or two at the end of this post and that should suffice.  I will say it was nice to watch that.  And then to watch some actual college football?  An absolute delight.  The FCS, as a whole, has got a lot of publicity with this Spring season.  To play games on ESPN and even ABC is huge for some of those teams.  Don’t be surprised when realignment talk starts again (and oh it will), that some of these teams that got big national audiences in April and May surface as possible FBS teams.

Anyway, now to the task at hand: the upcoming 2021 college football schedules.  At least this year I am almost 100% positive that games won’t be cancelled except for reasons that aren’t COVID-related but those rarely happen.  I’m doing this a tiny bit later than I normally do so if for some reason you were waiting for these posts, I apologize.  As the saying goes, life sometimes gets in the way.  I will say the same thing I have said every year I have done this.  Very few of the games are confirmed.  I will try and note if they are in these important game posts.  A lot more should be set by the time I get to network-specific schedule posts but even then, it’s really a crapshoot once October comes around.

Saying that, there are a few probables.  Like let’s be honest here: the Iron Bowl will be on CBS.  The only way this doesn’t happen is if both teams are somehow under .500.  I’d bet everything I have (which isn’t much) on that not being the case.  So you can be rest assured some things will be the same as they’ve always been.

For the fourth year in a row, the Important Games list will be broken down week-by-week and then as per the following:

• Game of the Week – This is my opinion of the game of the week.  It may differ from your opinion.  That is OK.  Because the next part is…
• Other Really Important Games – See?  One of these games might be your game of the week choice.
• Sneaky-Good Underrated Game – Some games are underrated.  I will try to find one each week that could fulfill that criterion.
• Best Group of Five Game – Pretty self-explanatory but has to have TWO G5 teams involved.
• Worst Power Five Game – Just like above, except the opposite (with two P5 teams involved).

The “Other Really Important Games” section is the one section where the number of games I include may vary.  In some weeks you will only see one or two.  Others there may be like seven.  We pretty much know which weeks will have better games and which ones won’t so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

SOUND THE TRUMPETS!  Hear ye, hear ye!  It’s time for the commencement of the Bossman’s Blog college football blog posting season: the ranking of the weeks.  If you were looking for something similar to every other year then ho boy are you in for a shock…again.  For all that stays the same with college football, these weekly rankings have been changing a fair bit lately.  Just a reminder that I list the week and the date that corresponds to the Saturday of that week so you can follow along at home:

1. Week 10 (November 6)
2. Week 13 (November 27 – American Thanksgiving)
3. Week 5 (October 2)
4. Week 9 (October 30)
5. Week 1 (September 4)
6. Week 7 (October 16)
7. Week 12 (November 20)
8. Week 11 (November 13)
9. Week 8 (October 23)
10. Week 6 (October 9)
11. Week 3 (September 18)
12. Week 4 (September 25)
13. Week 2 (September 11)

First off, same as last year there are thirteen weeks to the regular season.  Do I like this?  I have not changed my stance from last year that no I do not like this.  Honestly I would prefer 14 if not 15 weeks in a season.  I understand there are issues there when it comes to the schools and players’ courses but for the health and safety of the players, this is a no-brainer.  Which means the NCAA will take another decade to figure this out.  For the first time since they did that Sunday night Notre Dame-Texas thriller years ago, Week 1 is really good.  Top 5 even!  There are some great games to start the season and that is what college football needs this season: a strong start.  American Thanksgiving moves up to second but still hasn’t regained its crown.  Weeks 10 looks ridiculously good.  Honestly, all of November is great, even the former SEC Sleepwalk Saturday which I really can’t call it that anymore because it’s a good week now.  October is a big drop from last year as it feels like we are really easing into the end of the season and then building to the November crescendo, if you will.  Then there’s September.  Ouch.  After Week 1 it’s a bit of a shitshow.  As per usual, there are a couple of potential games of the year in there with a lot of crap surrounding it.  Meaning at least one of those weeks will end up being the most exciting week of the year.  Why?  It’s what the college football universe has decided.  I don’t make the rules.

Now it’s time for the weekly breakdowns.  Many of the TSN times will be wrong but hey, it’s May.  If the game time has been confirmed it will be in bold.  Let’s GO!

Week 1

Game of the Week: Georgia vs. Clemson (in Charlotte) (7:30, ABC) – Wow this is quite the game of the week to start the season.  College football is seriously not fucking around.  I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s a neutral-site game which I am not the fondest of but I understand the reasoning behind them (spoiler: it’s money).  You can honestly say this game is a Game of the Year candidate right off the hop.  Let’s also be honest here: when the College Football Playoff expands to 8 teams, you could make the argument that this game isn’t nearly as big since a loss doesn’t even close to eliminate either of these teams from contention.  It will be interesting to see who gets the bigger start on the road to topple Bama from their throne.  Clemson is the favourite here but there will be a lot of questions after losing Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne in the NFL Draft.  Both teams are at least New Year’s Six or bust but the winner takes a step up in their bid for the College Football Playoff which is still four teams.

Other Really Important Games: Alabama vs. Miami (in Atlanta) (3:30, ABC) – Maybe the ACC and SEC should do an opening week ACC-SEC Challenge from now on.  Who the hell says no to this?  I mean yes it means that you will get a Duke-Vanderbilt game possibly somewhere but if you don’t want to head to the ACC or SEC Network then don’t.  No one is forcing you to.  But with the annual Labour Day game that seems to always end up being the SEC and ACC to opening up the day before Labour Day for college football and neutral-site games all over the place, this might be a good idea.  I’m sure there’s a party pooper out there that would say it’s a dumb idea but that might also be the same person who thinks scheduling games two decades out makes sense.  Anyway, Bama will probably win by three touchdowns.  NEXT!

Penn State at Wisconsin (4:00, FOX) – At least FOX has realized that opening weekend is a good weekend to at least try and get a good slate of games on.  Now if they can just realize that for the rest of the weeks during the regular season that only getting one good game to show with two mediocre ones after is not the greatest approach to grow a fanbase.  It looks like the Big Ten will be a huge part of FOX’s opening week which is no surprise since the B1G is to FOX like the SEC is to CBS (almost).  Both of these teams looking to rebound from bad years (at least for each of these programs).  The Big Ten West is always wide open so the Badgers have as good a chance as any team not named Illinois.  The Nittany Lions will be looking up once again at Ohio State so every game is huge and these are the games they have to win to have a shot at a division title.  I wish they would just do away with division titles but let’s not start that talk again.  Speaking of the Buckeyes…

Ohio State at Minnesota (Thursday, 8:00, FOX) – Will this be close?  Probably not but it’s an early Big Ten game on a night that Ohio State is not used to playing.  And now with no Justin Fields, we shall see if it’s steady as she goes for Ryan Day or a bit of stress and a higher blood pressure for Ryan Day.  See what I mean about FOX really stepping up this opening weekend?  This is the first Thursday night FOX college football regular season game ever if I’m not mistaken.

Indiana at Iowa (Noon, FOX) – The third straight FOX game and the third straight Big Ten game.  The Big Ten may have a good idea here with putting a few big conference games during Week One when pretty much no other conference is doing so.  I guess that’s the advantage of having nine conference games instead of eight.  Both of these teams have to be considered dark-horse contenders this season.  No one will put them in their College Football Playoff predictions.  Hell, I’m sure most won’t put either team in their New Year’s Six predictions.  I haven’t done my predictions yet but I have a feeling that will be the case with me.  And that’s fine since I wouldn’t mind either of these teams surprising a lot of people and being in contention late into November.

LSU at UCLA (8:00, FOX) – Four of the most important games of the week are on FOX (from what I believe).  That’s FOX’s entire weekend schedule.  Seriously impressive.  And something ABC does rarely and ESPN does never.  Here’s to hoping LSU is at least not worse than last year’s team (which they have the reasons why so I can give them that) and that UCLA is better than what they’ve been the past few years.  Many believe both those things will be true so we could be in for a great end to at least the Saturday portion of the 5-day Labour Day College Football Fiesta.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Ole Miss at Louisville (Monday, 8:00, TSN1/TSN4/TSN5) – Maybe some will consider this not so underrated.  Louisville was much better under Scott Satterfield this past season and, well, Lane Kiffin is Lane Kiffin.  But until either or both of these teams shows some serious Top 25 consistency, I can’t buy that we would be looking at one of the best games of the week.  Both teams have almost no chance to win their conference considering the teams on top but they could certainly put a scare in those same top teams if they are better than advertised.  We may look back at this game and realize this was, in actuality, a huge game in the battle for a New Year’s Six spot.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at UCF (Thursday, 7:30, TSN2) – Interesting that I have the chance to watch games on all sorts of different networks now and the best games of Week One will all be available quite easily in Canada.  C’est la vie.  Boise State has a very interesting part of the Mountain West’s new television deals (which started last year but really do come into play starting this season).  FOX gets ALL of Boise State’s home games on the season so there’s a good chance at least one time that the Broncos will get to the main network which would be huge for the conference.  CBS gets all of Boise State’s conference road games.  I don’t know if any of those will be shown late night on CBS (which is the plan at least once this season) but if I were them I would try and do so.  As for the other couple games that Boise State has, they can be shown anywhere.  Like this one, which will probably be on ESPN.  Bizarre?  Not really for a team that should have been picked up by the Big XII by now and is somewhat stuck in a Group of Five conference.  A good Group of Five conference but a G-5 conference nonetheless.

Worst Power Five Game: Oregon State at Purdue (3:30, Big Ten Network) – I had to go through a lot of games to find this one.  The next worst game?  Stanford and Kansas State in Arlington.  And this isn’t a part of Week One having a much better schedule than normal.  Week One is not really known for too many P5 vs. P5 games so it’s slim pickings trying to find a really bad one.  We will really see if either of these teams are worse than what they were last year: probably near the bottom of their conferences but honestly not that bad and a couple of breaks away from a bowl game.

Week 2

Game of the Week: Oregon at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Hey, how about that?  Same two teams occupy the Game of the Week spot for Week 2 and have to be considered a Game of the Year candidate.  I will not refer to the Oregon Ducks as the defending Pac-12 North champions.  They didn’t fucking win the division.  They only went to the Pac-12 Championship because Washington couldn’t due to COVID.  See this would have been a great year for USC to have been Top 5 and looking at a College Football Playoff spot and it’s ruined by a 4-3 team.  Considering what some people want, Oregon would have to also be put in the CFP.  How stupid is that?  It’s really fucking stupid.

Other Really Important Games: Washington at Michigan (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Not fully confirmed for TSN2 but it will be on at least one TSN channel.  This could be a lot better than the two teams have been as of late.  Washington hasn’t hit the heights from early on in the Chris Petersen era.  And, Michigan is Michigan under Jim Harbaugh.  Usually good for at least 8 wins and a loss to Ohio State.  Big Blue can’t be as bad as they were last year can they?  No one thinks that but you never know.  This shows how bad Week 2 is since this may not even be an important game in the New Year’s Six story of the season.

Iowa at Iowa State (3:30, FOX) – Iowa State should be back in the Big XII title mix this season.  And Iowa has one of the longest tenured head coaches, Kirk Ferentz, who is good for at least one Ferentzing every season.  It’s why he gets these crazy contracts and great bonuses for a team that is almost never a Top 10 team.  Saying that, I would love to see one of these two teams on the precipice of the CFP because it needs some new blood, especially from non-blue blood programs.

Texas at Arkansas (7:00, specialty pack) – The first appearance of the specialty pack in this year’s important games series.  Not quite the Game of the Century of 1969…ok not even close to that.  But Arkansas is somehow trending in the right direction with one of the more popular coaches in college football nowadays and we get to see what Steve Sarkisian is really all about.  I sincerely hope he does well and doesn’t fall off the wagon again.  Now that doesn’t mean I want Texas to win the national championship.  I just mean I want Sark to have a good time in Austin and for people in Austin to give him a chance.  OK, I’m now officially worried for his well-being.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Missouri at Kentucky (7:30, specialty pack) – This will be buried in the schedule but could end up being a gem for the SEC Network.  We have two teams that really are on the rise (and in the Cats’ case, again).  It’s never the case that the SEC East is wide open but you need to win games like this to have a shot at the division title.  Kentucky knows that from a few years back when they still had a shot in November to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship.  I kind of wish this somehow gets to ESPN or ESPN2 but I doubt it.  And no, it won’t go to CBS, I’m almost certain of it.

Best Group of Five Game: Liberty at Troy (2:00, ESPN+) – Yes…ESPN+.  It was either this or UTEP-Boise State which I have going to FOX Sports One which, yes, is a better network.  But the Broncos should win that one by about 50 whereas this game should be fairly competitive.  It will be very interesting to see if the Flames are as good as they were last season.  It was funny watching the begrudging respect from so-called open minded college football media members last year so I hope they do well again this season.  Maybe, Conference USA finally gets their act together and invites them (unless the Sun Belt or even, dare I say, the American gets to them first).

Worst Power Five Game: Rutgers at Syracuse (Noon, ACC Network) – Funny I had these same two teams in this exact same spot last season before shit went sideways.  At least this season it would go to the proper network, unlike last year where the rumour was it would be on FOX because FOX just doesn’t care about their primetime window nearly as much as they should.  Again, I had other options here.  The one that stood out most was Illinois-Virginia but I think that might end up being good.  Just the Bronco Mendenhall-Bret Bielema coaching matchup is intriguing in itself.  RU-SU has none of that intrigue.  Zero.

Week 3

Game of the Week: Alabama at Florida (3:30, CBS) – This will have serious national championship implications but I don’t need to tell you that.  Now could this end up as a primetime game for CBS?  Possibly and it wouldn’t surprise me if they do it just for the fact that it would then be on at night and not in the afternoon where the players (and fans) would bake in the Gainesville sun.  This is a rematch of the SEC Championship where the Gators honestly looked like they could beat the Tide which is surprising considering how good Bama was last year.  It was the only time where the Tide looked like they were in trouble.  I wouldn’t even mind seeing a Bama loss here as it would make the SEC season, if not the entire college football season, a lot more interesting.

Other Really Important Games: Auburn at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – OK we’re still doing good with the high-profile games.  A definite step down from the Game of the Week but still a great game.  It was also really the only choice for ABC in primetime, especially since Boise State can’t be on the network for any of their home games and I can’t see them putting Cincinnati-Indiana on in that spot (although that would be a great idea in my opinion).  Two teams who have definitely taken a step, or two, back from previous seasons.  This should be a highly heated matchup as a loss could be devastating and portend not-so-good things to come on their season.

Nebraska at Oklahoma (Noon, FOX) – The story of this game was almost too good to be true.  Nebraska was trying desperately to get out of this game.  Social media found out and, predictably, took a huge creamy dump all over the Huskers organization.  In the end, they relented and kept this game on the schedule.  This is Scott Frost’s biggest chance since coming to Lincoln to put a huge stamp on the program and show that they are turning the corner.  A win here, as unlikely as it seems, would be the jolt the program needs to get back to prominence.  Now watch the Sooners win by 60.

Cincinnati at Indiana (4:00, FOX) – I would say FOX is kicking ABC/ESPN’s ass early on.  I mean they are but when it’s a week like this it doesn’t exactly mean a whole lot.  It’s a pretty good drop from the second best game of the week which was already a drop from the Game of the Week.  Much like last year’s Week 3 (or what it was supposed to be) this week is such a shit sandwich.  Meaning there is a very good opportunity for it to be an exciting and crazy week of college football, something that happens at least once a season.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Oklahoma State at Boise State (3:30, FOX Sports One) – Could this end up on the main FOX network?  If they take all of their broadcast windows seriously, then yes.  Which is why I have this game on FS1.  At least it’s not like last season when the Broncos were slated to host Florida State on FOX at Noon Eastern, 10:00 in the morning local.  Not saying they won’t have to do that in the future to get that big national audience but it’s a tough introduction to Big Noon Saturday (if it had ended up happening).  Hey, maybe this game will end up at Noon.  May be a better option than Nebraska-Oklahoma even if it’s just to promote the Mountain West.

Best Group of Five Game: Coastal Carolina at Buffalo (3:30, ESPN+) – Look I’m going to be honest again here.  I go through the season, setting up these schedules based on what I believe will happen by using current TV contract info and what has happened over the past year or two.  This does not mean that all the “choices” I make are good ones or ones that I agree with.  I may change my mind even before I start doing these posts.  This feels like a game, if it were in October, would easily be on ESPNU if not ESPN2.  So between now and the network-specific posts, I may change my mind.  This will be the first test to see if the Chants are as good as advertised and potentially a Group of Five favourite for the NY6 spot.

Worst Power Five Game: Baylor at Kansas (Thursday, 8:00, specialty pack) – This is more for Kansas than it is for Baylor.  Not saying the Bears are great because it was a struggle last year in Dave Aranda’s first season in Waco.  But until the Jayhawks show they can contend for a bowl game on a consistent basis, they will be treated like the Big XII’s ugly redheaded stepchild.  The hope is that the hire of Lance Leipold to coach the team will be a good one.  It should be but we won’t see any of that good stuff this season.  They should feel lucky that they get to be on ESPN, even if it is on a Thursday night up against the NFL.

There you go.  The first three weeks are complete.  And it’s the first official blog post for what should be a much more normal college football season.  96 days to the start of a regular regular season.  With fans in the stands.  Maybe not full stadiums but man, hearing fans is so much better than the empty arenas.

Now, let’s have that quick talk about the draft.  It was nice to see fans there in Cleveland despite the chilly weather.  It was nice to see Roger Goodell there even though him in his barcalounger was pretty damn funny.  I wonder how many fans just farted their brains out on that chair on stage.  I followed along with my mock draft and saw it was crap after the first few picks, as per usual.  I got a couple right later on but was way off on some.  It is what it is.  I won’t do a recap.  There are too many out there and I might be repeating what they say.  The Jags got Lawrence.  The Jets got Wilson.  The 49ers reached for Lance (in my opinion) but it was a better choice than Mac Jones who ended up a Patriot.  The Bears may have made the smartest move in the draft.  Yes the same Bears who traded up to get Mitchell Trubisky traded up this time to get Justin Fields in a trade that most everyone thought was brilliant.  The team I cheer for, the Buffalo Bills, did alright.  Not great but then again, they didn’t have serious needs.  They just needed to shore up some areas.  All in all, it was a good watch and I enjoyed it, even watching Mel Kiper try valiantly to keep his blood pressure from going through the roof with some of the picks.

Alright this felt good.  It’s a bit cathartic to do this post.  I’ve been through a pretty crazy last 15 months and now that my life (and hopefully, soon, life in this province) is getting back to normal, this is one of the final parts that need to return, so to speak.  Make my life as whole as it was before my life turned upside-down (not that it’s an amazing life but it wasn’t bad at the time).  Anyway, have a great Victoria Day, whatever you decide to do and have a great (and short!) work week as well…unless you don’t work Monday to Friday.  In that case, still have a good week even if you aren’t working all those days.

Let’s talk about this shitshow – The Bowl Game Schedule

How many of the bowls in that picture either don’t exist anymore or were cancelled this year?  I shudder to think of it.  Maybe I should get a different graphic for next year.  For now it works because it shows how many bowls there usually are.  Somewhere in the 40 range.  This year it is under 30 and it’s almost a guarantee at least one more will be cancelled now that the schedule has been released.  It’s been a shitshow…even more than the season was, if you can believe it.

The biggest piece of horseshit when it comes to this is Army not getting into a bowl game.  They were tied in to the Independence Bowl, which ended up being cancelled.  So instead of being invited to another bowl game, they are left home…at 9-2.  That is completely absurd.  I know what some people will say.  “Well, the other games have contracts for certain conferences and they have to abide by that.”  Not saying you’re wrong.  What I am saying is the system is completely broken when a 2-8 South Carolina team “deserves” to go to a bowl game and Army does not.  All it says is one thing…MONEY.  That’s all.  The Power Five has money and the Group of Five has very little.  It has come to a head.  The College Football Playoff Committee is a joke and ESPN is being forced to parrot that because they are in bed with the whole thing.  It has gone off the rails and needs a refresh.  This is the kind of thing that might drive people away from watching.  Might.  Who knows…I mean it is football and in the United States, football is king.

Alright, so TSN kind of has their bowl game broadcast schedule up, kind of.  I don’t blame them for not being prepared for this since games were being cancelled two days ago.  Completely ridiculous.  I’m sure things will change on their end, but for once, it’s not really their fault.  Blame college football at large for this.  Anyway, here’s the fairly long (but not as long as normal) bowl schedule!

Monday December 21st

Myrtle Beach Bowl: North Texas vs. Appalachian State

2:30 PM

Again, why does this happen?  WHY?  On a Monday before Christmas.  Completely stupid.  Also, North Texas gets in a bowl game?  North Texas.  The Mean Green.  A team that was 4-5 this season.  This just blows my mind.

UPDATE #3: My pick, as I stated before was Appalachian State.  I said they would win 41-13 on Twitter.  Well App State won.  And they won by 28.  Just like I thought.

Tuesday December 22nd

Idaho Potato Bowl: Tulane vs. Nevada

3:30 PM

Another game on in the middle of a weekday afternoon before Christmas.  I get that you have to air these games some time but this ain’t it, pal.  Even with less games, ESPN completely messes this up.  The one good thing about this is that it’s a cold-weather bowl game.  And those are (almost) always fun to watch.

Boca Raton Bowl: UCF vs. #16 BYU

7:00 PM

If it wasn’t for that one loss, BYU might be in the New Year’s Six.  Instead, because they lacked a tie-in, they took the first bowl bid available to them.  Luckily for them, UCF should be a good foe, even if they aren’t the Knights of the previous few years.  A good primetime national showcase for two of the better non-Power Five teams.  Hey, maybe the American should invite BYU to join their conference.  Why not at this point?

Wednesday December 23rd

New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Louisiana Tech

3:30 PM

This was supposed to be the Conference USA champion facing the Sun Belt champion.  What in the hell happened?  Then again, with no fans, does it really matter?

Montgomery Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis

7:00 PM

This was supposed to be the inaugural Fenway Bowl in Boston but it was moved here because of COVID concerns.  Two teams who were slightly better than some thought they would be land here.  Willie Taggart’s coaching sojourn is back the Group of Five level here but he’s doing a good job in Boca.  Memphis seems to always be near the top of the American.  This could be a sneaky good game (that won’t be shown on TSN…probably because of opening night in the NBA).

Thursday December 24th

New Mexico Bowl: Hawaii vs. Houston

3:30 PM

Christmas Eve was always the day of the Hawaii Bowl.  Unfortunately, this was one of the bowl game casualties of COVID-19.  Instead, we get Hawaii themselves playing on Christmas Eve.  Not as satisfying but the Rainbow Warriors are a fun team to watch.  A reminder that this New Mexico Bowl is being played in Frisco, Texas.  Why it wasn’t cancelled when so many others were?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Friday December 25th

Camellia Bowl: Marshall vs. Buffalo

2:30 PM

Christmas Day college football.  That hasn’t been a thing since the Hula Bowl and when the Blue-Gray Classic would be this day.  Two really good G-5 teams in this one so it can be considered a must-see for the die hard fan (for college football, not the Christmas movie).  It will be interesting to see if Lance Leipold gets any offers for Power Five jobs before this game.

Saturday December 26th

Gasparilla Bowl: South Carolina vs. UAB

Noon

This is bullshit.  South Carolina should just give up their spot to Army.  Actually, no.  UAB can give up their spot to Army…and then Army can put up a 70-burger on the Gamecocks.  Stupid SEC.

UPDATE #4: South Carolina has dropped out of this game.  No word on if there will be a replacement team or what.

UPDATE #5: The Gasparilla Bowl has been cancelled.  Hopefully, UAB gets to be put on some sort of a waiting list if there’s another cancellation.

First Responder Bowl: UTSA vs. #19 Louisiana

3:30 PM

UTSA made history as this is the second bowl bid they accepted this season.  The first one to the Frisco Bowl was gone once that bowl game was cancelled.  Funny how they were able to be moved into another bowl immediately.  It’s kind of like all this wasn’t planned…at all…in any way.  This is another game that has potential to be really good.

LendingTree Bowl: Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky

3:30 PM

Two decent Group of Five teams.  Look, it’s this or the World Juniors so if you’re not a hockey fan, then this is it.

Cure Bowl: Liberty vs. #12 Coastal Carolina

7:30 PM

This is EASILY the best bowl game outside the New Year’s Six in almost everyone’s opinion.  This game was scheduled for a few weeks ago where the Flames had to cancel and BYU filled in for them.  Now they get their chance against the Chanticleers, the feel good story of the college football season.  This is their chance to finish the best season in Sun Belt history undefeated.

UPDATE #9: TSN has come to their senses and will put one of the best bowl games of the season on TSN2 now.

Tuesday December 29th

Cheez-It Bowl: #21 Oklahoma State vs. #18 Miami

5:30 PM

Let’s call this the second best bowl game outside the New Year’s Six.  Both teams are probably not that happy to be here but they both played horrible at the wrong time to play themselves out of a conference championship chance.  The Mullet vs. The Manny here is a nice coaching matchup.

Alamo Bowl: Colorado vs. #20 Texas

9:00 PM

Big-time game of former Big XII conference foes.  Both of these teams should be ranked (I don’t get why Colorado isn’t, to be honest).  The Longhorns were about as good as many thought they would be this season, just missing out on a conference title and continuing to frustrated fans.  The Buffaloes were much better than advertising, harkening back to, well, I guess a couple years ago.

Wednesday December 30th

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest

Noon

This is the reincarnated Belk Bowl.  I miss the Belk Bowl’s hilarious Twitter account.  I mean the Duke’s Mayo Bowl account is good, but nothing beat the Belk Bowl.  So fun and entertaining.  Rest In Bowl Peace, Belk Bowl.

Music City Bowl: Missouri vs. #15 Iowa

3:30 PM

Iowa thought they had a bit of a hope to make the New Year’s Six.  They could have given them a better game but even the one that was scheduled could have been good enough to move up the rankings.  Unfortunately, it was cancelled due to Michigan’s ongoing issues with the Coronavirus.  They face Missouri here in a game that, on paper, shouldn’t be close.  Now watch it be a great one.

UPDATE #10: This game will no longer be seen on TSN5.

UPDATE #15: Due to COVID-19 issues at Missouri, this game has been cancelled.

Cotton Bowl: #7 Florida vs. #6 Oklahoma

7:15 PM

This should be a really good one.  Both teams have looked really good at times this season.  And both teams have had their shit moments, with the Gators losing to LSU during Shoegate and the Sooners dropping one to Kansas State early on in the season.  It will be interesting to see which teams show up as this is the kind of game where you see teams sometimes mail it in.

Thursday December 31st

Armed Forces Bowl: #24 Tulsa vs. Mississippi State

Noon

Hey Tulsa going to a bowl game!  Good for them!  Their reward?  Playing a Mississippi State team that was figured out about five quarters into the season.  Tulsa should win this going away.​

Arizona Bowl: #22 San Jose State vs. Ball State

Noon 2:00 PM

Because of the cancellation of the Sun Bowl, the Arizona Bowl goes to the main network and man do they get a good game.  Undefeated Mountain West champ San Jose State against MAC champ Ball State.  Honestly, it feels like the Group of Five have more interesting games than the Power Five contingent.

UPDATE #17: I don’t know why I put Noon.  I believe it’s Noon local time.  If it was Noon Eastern time, it would be a 10:00 am local start.  Actually, I wouldn’t put it past them to do that.  Anyway, this is on at 2:00 Eastern.

Liberty Bowl: Tennessee Army vs. West Virginia

4:00 PM

The Liberty Bowl has wanted the Volunteers there for years.  Now they finally get their wish.  It’s not really what they had in mind though.

UPDATE: Well that didn’t take long.  Tennessee has too many COVID positives, head coach Jeremy Pruitt among them, to play in the Liberty Bowl.

UPDATE #2: Army will replace Tennessee.  This is good.  How it came about is not.

Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs. TCU

8:00 PM

An old school Southwest Conference matchup here.  If the SWC hadn’t been such a crazy, destructive conference, I would say bring it back somehow.  Why not, right?

UPDATE #16: The Texas Bowl has been cancelled because of COVID issues at TCU.

Friday January 1st

Peach Bowl: #9 Georgia vs. #8 Cincinnati

12:30 PM Noon

Alright.  Look, I am glad to see the Bearcats here.  First time in the New Year’s Six.  This is good.  Saying that, the total disrespect for them, and all Group of Five teams, from The Committee (and college football as a whole) is appalling.  It needs to be fixed and seeing what happened surrounding the end of this season is a blight on the sport.  Anyway…this should be a very good game and you will see a very motivated Cincy team against, hopefully, a very motivated Dawgs team.  They are coached by Kirby Smart so I am going to go out on a limb and say they will be motivated as well.

UPDATE #6: This game has been moved up to Noon.

Citrus Bowl: Auburn vs. #14 Northwestern

1:00 PM

Northwestern had a great season, no doubt about it.  Auburn…it’s a season they would like to forget.  Gus Malzahn is now gone and we still don’t know who the new coach will be, since a few have already turned down the job.  Bo Nix really doesn’t look like the man for the job, at this point, at quarterback for the Tigers.  The offense has been rudderless.  Just a mess.  The Wildcats on the other hand, have to deal with the almost-yearly rumours of Pat Fitzgerald possibly going to the NFL or another coaching job.  Chances are it won’t happen but you never know.

Rose Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Notre Dame

5:00 PM 4:00 PM

Bama by 30?  Bama by 40?  Naw, Bama by 60!  You will hear that and more in the days leading up to this game.  And maybe for good reason.  I mean Clemson beat the Irish pretty badly in the ACC Championship.  The only hope is that this is a halfway competitive game.  Or not.  If it’s not, more pressure for this asinine setup to change.

UPDATE #7: This game has been moved up to 4:00.  Whether it starts at 4 or not is a different story.

Sugar Bowl: #2 Clemson vs. #3 Ohio State

8:45 PM 8:00 PM

Now this should be an exciting semi-final, despite people’s thoughts about tOSU’s 2020 season.  Expect a lot of good stuff from Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields as they look for this to be their second-last chance to wow the scouts in game action before the NFL draft.

UPDATE #8: This game has been moved up to 8:00.  It starting on time all depends on the two bowl games before it on ESPN.

Saturday January 2nd

Gator Bowl: Kentucky vs. #23 NC State

Noon

Could this be an interesting game?  Sure, it could be.  I do expect the Wolfpack to blow the doors of the Wildcats but you never know with these bowl games.

UPDATE #12: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.

Outback Bowl: Ole Miss vs. #11 Indiana

12:30 PM

Poor Indiana.  I honestly believed (as did many) that the Hoosiers would end up in the New Year’s Six.  But since they are a “basketball school” they would probably have to go undefeated to get in and forget the College Football Playoff for these guys.  They get Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels.  Take Indy in this one.

UPDATE #11: This game will also air on TSN3.​

Fiesta Bowl: #25 Oregon vs. #10 Iowa State

4:00 PM

This is what I cannot stand.  I get the idea of bowl tie-ins.  I really do.  But this is supposed to be one of the top four bowl games of the season and it has a team that is BARELY in the Top 25 playing in it?  Come on.  Anyway, this should be part of a TSN tripleheader but this day hasn’t been set yet.  Expect this (and the other non-ABC games) to end up on a TSN station, I just don’t know which ones yet and most of that has to do with the World Juniors.

UPDATE #13: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.​

Orange Bowl: #13 North Carolina vs. #5 Texas A&M

8:00 PM

Yes another tie-in issue but at least Mack Brown’s boys are a pretty good team.  If it wasn’t for a puzzling loss to Florida State, UNC probably resides in the Top 10 with the Aggies.  This should be a great finish to bowl season, before the national championship.

UPDATE #14: This game will now appear on TSN2 instead of TSN3.

Monday January 11th

College Football Playoff National Championship

8:00 PM

We’ve had some good and some not-so-good championship games.  Let’s hope this is the former.

The breakdown for Canadian fans looks like the following:

• TSN – 24 bowl games (with 3 simulcasts from ABC)
• ABC – 4 bowl games
• CBS – 1 bowl game

With only 29 bowl games, TSN is showing almost all of them.  That is seriously impressive.  With no specialty pack, Canadians won’t have access to three games which isn’t too bad.  The only day where the schedule is not finalized, as I mentioned, is January 2nd.  My thought is that we won’t get less games on TSN but that the channels I have chosen might not be the right ones.  I will make sure to update this when there are updates to be had so always check the post out for the latest.

Alright I have a lot of posts to do with my rankings and the NFL schedule and I am sure a few others.  So gear up for more Bossman’s Blog this week.  Have a great week everyone!