Iiiiiiiiiiit’s…TIME! For another Thanksgiving* FOOTBALLGASMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Posted on November 22, 2022 by guelphbossman

*of course I mean American Thanksgiving but you already knew that….right?

Just because it’s Thanksgiving south of the border doesn’t mean we can’t have turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and peas and sweet potatoes and stuffing and pumpkin pie and…oh man I’m getting hungry. I think it’s a good way to support our ‘Murican friends on Turkey Day, don’t you think?

One sad thing is that everyday college football ends tonight. Tomorrow there are no games. I think there should be one. When I become commissioner of college football, I will do that. For all of you. There’s still college football on American Thanksgiving Day along with the usual NFL fare and then things ramp the fuck up starting Black Friday. I am so ready. Let’s get to the schedules and again it will be in the normal Thanksgiving style that I use….with a bit of a twist this year. Again, I am using AP Poll rankings because this blog post will come out a few hours before the next College Football Playoff Rankings come out.

Tuesday

Bowling Green (+6.5) at Ohio

7:00 PM

The week starts with the MAC East Division title game. If the Bobcats win, they head to Detroit. If the Falcons win, as of right now, they also head to Detroit. What is planned for Buffalo with their cancelled game against Akron is anyone’s guess. Predicted score: Ohio 38 Bowling Green 28.

Thursday

Mississippi State (+2.5) at #20 Ole Miss

7:00 PM

There is no chance this game could be important. It would have been if the Rebs could have beat Arkansas last week. Instead they were run out of the building. There may also be the distraction of Lane Kiffin possibly being named head coach of Auburn soon. Oh, and if you’ve noticed, I’m including the spread and a predicted score for each game. Predicted score: Ole Miss 41 Mississippi State 24.

Friday

I’m glad that ABC has made sure to have the AAC appear a few times on the main network during a season. Otherwise, this would have gone to, at best, ESPN if not lower. Huge game. Winner goes into the catbird seat for the Cotton Bowl spot. The loser could still go to the AAC Championship Game with a UCF loss later on. Predicted score: Cincinnati 43 Tulane 27.

Utah State (+16.5) at Boise State

Noon

I’m sure CBS was hoping for a much bigger game here. USU is already bowl-eligible and Boise has clinched their spot in the Mountain West Championship. That’ll be a pass for me, dawg. Predicted score: Boise State 34 Utah State 27.

Central Michigan (-2) at Eastern Michigan

Noon

Speaking of games that mean nothing, here’s another one. CMU is not going bowling. EMU is. Predicted score: Eastern Michigan 35 Central Michigan 27.

Baylor (+8.5) at #23 Texas

Noon

This could mean big things for Texas. They have to take care of business on their own end and beat the Bears here. If they do, they can then watch Kansas State-Kansas and hope the Wildcats lose for them to get a Big XII Championship opportunity. Predicted score: Texas 41 Baylor 39.

Toledo (-7.5) at Western Michigan

Noon

Nothing really to see here. Toledo is going to Ford Field for the MAC Championship and WMU is home for the holidays. Predicted score: Toledo 30 Western Michigan 19.

The Tar Heels will use this as a tune-up for their game against Clemson the following weekend. Beating the Tigers is the only probably way for UNC to get to the Orange Bowl. Predicted score: NC State 30 North Carolina 29.

Arkansas (-3) at Missouri

3:30 PM

Mizzou needs a win here to go bowling. Arkansas is already in…barely. Could be fun. Predicted score: Arkansas 26 Missouri 24.

New Mexico (+7.5) at Colorado State

3:30 PM

Arguably the two worst teams in the Mountain West here. There are better options on at the same time. Predicted score: Colorado State 18 New Mexico 12.

Nebraska (+10.5) at Iowa

4:00 PM

I do find it a bit funny that this seems to get relegated more and more to the Big Ten Network. Anyway, a win here and the offensively challenged Hawkeyes get a trip to Indianapolis. Lose and there are ways in which they still go to the Big Ten Championship and other ways where they don’t. I went over that in the previous post and flat-out refuse to go into it here. Predicted score: Iowa 32 Nebraska 17.

The Bruins played themselves out of a potential Pac-12 Championship berth so they are playing for the extremely slim possibility of going to a New Year’s Six bowl. And it is EXTREMELY slim. Predicted score: UCLA 45 California 27.

Does this game mean much in the grand scheme of things? Not really. The Noles would need a lot to happen to get into the NY6 and the Gators are bowl-eligible. Does this game mean much to fans of either team? Abso-fucking-lutely. Predicted score: Florida State 33 Florida 14.

Saturday Early

With so many options, this is one of them. Could the Cocks shock the Tigers? Yeah I guess. I can’t see it happening though. Clemson does need to win here, though, to keep any small College Football Playoff possibilities alive. Predicted score: Clemson 43 South Carolina 24.

Rutgers (+14) at Maryland

Noon

Rutgers is out, Maryland is in. I think we will see a fair amount of these types of games for this week. Predicted score: Maryland 38 Rutgers 24.

WKU (-7) at Florida Atlantic

Noon

The Owls are fighting for their bowl lives here. The Hilltoppers need a win (and a North Texas loss) to play for the Conference USA Championship. For once, there are some good stakes from the noon CBSSN game. Predicted score: WKU 38 Florida Atlantic 31.

Georgia Tech (+35.5) at #1 Georgia

Noon

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. There actually is quite a bit of importance to this one. Georgia cannot slip up if they want to go into conference championship week as the number one team in the land. Tech needs a victory to go bowling which would be an absolutely remarkable turnaround from the dreadful Geoff Collins era. Predicted score: Georgia 52 Georgia Tech 20.

West Virginia (+8.5) at Oklahoma State

Noon

No. I mean why? To see if Neal Brown gets fired after the game ends, Herm Edwards-style? Predicted score: Oklahoma State 30 West Virginia 28.

Coastal Carolina (+13.5) at James Madison

Noon

This seems like a huge spread in favour of JMU considering how good the Chanticleers have been this season. I guess it does show what kind of home field advantage the Dukes have. Unfortunately, thanks to stupid NCAA rules, JMU can’t go to a bowl game because they had the audacity to be good in their first year at the FBS level. Stupid. CCU needs a win and a LOT of help to be considered in the Cotton Bowl conversation. Predicted score: Coastal Carolina 24 James Madison 18.

The Game. The biggest one in a few years. Winner almost guarantees themselves a spot in the College Football Playoff. The loser isn’t out either if things go their way. High, HIGH stakes here in a game where Gus Johnson might lose his voice. Predicted score: Ohio State 38 Michigan 37.

Saturday Afternoon

Prairie View A&M had a chance to wrap up the SWAC West Division title and were stunned by lowly Mississippi Valley State. This means that Southern can now sneak in and win the division and a date with Jackson State in the SWAC Championship if they beat Grambling. Predicted score (I couldn’t find any gambling lines for this game): Southern 40 Grambling 24.

And odd start time here, especially by SEC Network standards. Both teams are bowling. Neither team can get to the New Year’s Six. People will watch if this game stays close but otherwise there is no reason to. Predicted score: Kentucky 33 Louisville 26.

Look, Oregon State is a good team. No, I’m not lying. No wonder the spread is so low. Could be very loud in Corvallis for this one. The Ducks need a win here to get to the Pac-12 Championship and keep their CFP hopes alive. Oregon State is going for their ninth victory of the season, their highest win total since 2012. Predicted score: Oregon 41 Oregon State 40.

Illinois (-14) at Northwestern

3:30 PM

We will know by now whether this game actually means anything to Illinois. I could see Bret Bielema getting a nice, fat extension in the offseason. As of right now, I have no idea whether this game or the other BTN game on at this time will be shown on the specialty pack. The specialty pack schedules show neither at this point which is always a bad sign. Hopefully this gets rectified by Saturday. Predicted score: Illinois 41 Northwestern 21.

UPDATE #2: This is now showing on the specialty pack guide.

Purdue (-10.5) at Indiana

3:30 PM

The Old Oaken Bucket. Again, we will know by start time whether Purdue has a shot at the Big Ten West or not. I have this game in the BTN slot that Canadians would get. Who the hell knows what will happen though. Predicted score: Purdue 30 Indiana 15.

Auburn (+22) at #7 Alabama

3:30 PM

Alabama doesn’t really have a chance at the College Football Playoff, do they? I mean I don’t think so but I know ESPN’s love for the Bama brand. Oh and do you want some laughs? Auburn needs a win here to be bowl-eligible AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Barely got that out before laughing. Predicted score: Alabama 41 Auburn 17.

UAB (-17.5) at Louisiana Tech

3:30 PM

The Blazers are having a down year. At least a down for year for this program since they were resurrected. They can get in to a bowl game with a win here. Predicted score: UAB 35 Louisiana Tech 18.

Minnesota (+3.5) at Wisconsin

3:30 PM

Look there’s nothing much going on here. Neither team really has a legit shot at the Big Ten West title. And they are both going bowling. Meh. Predicted score: Wisconsin 30 Minnesota 26.

Duke has been a massive surprise this season. They have been seriously competitive all season and Mike Elko is going to get a bit of Coach of the Year consideration (even though he won’t win). This game doesn’t mean anything as both teams are comfortably bowl-eligible. Predicted score: Wake Forest 38 Duke 26.

UPDATE #3: This still isn’t showing on the specialty pack guide although it should in the next 24 hours.

Virginia at Virginia Tech

3:30 PM

cancelled

The Commonwealth Cup game between UVA and VT has been cancelled. I am not surprised by this decision and it was made a lot easier by the fact that neither team would be going to a bowl game this year anyway. I put forth an idea on Twitter of maybe having the game during Army-Navy week (before the game perhaps) and have the ticket money go to the families or charity or something like that. Don’t think that would go through as I have a feeling the Virginia football program just needs this season to end so they can continue their mourning.

Memphis (+4.5) at SMU

3:30 PM

Both teams are 6-5. This means very little in the grand scheme of things. Predicted score: SMU 31 Memphis 25.

UPDATE #4: This isn’t showing on the specialty pack guide. I am sure the UVA-VT cancellation has to be adjusted before this will show up.

Troy (-13.5) at Arkansas State

3:30 PM

This is an odd one. This game was moved here during the shuffle caused by the Hoos-Hokies cancellation. Non-cable users in the U.S. can get this game on ESPN+ as an ESPNU game. I have a feeling this might be enough to screw things up on the specialty pack end of things meaning this game would show up nowhere here. We shall see. Predicted score: Troy 36 Arkansas State 13.

UPDATE #5: Well I am right that at this point the specialty pack is not showing this game. I have a feeling that will change by Thursday afternoon but I will keep you all updated.

The Horned Frogs cannot falter here. They are closing in on a dream season and the last thing they need is a struggle against the Cyclones. I could see ISU keeping this one close in what could be Matt Campbell’s final game as head coach of the Clones. Predicted score: TCU 34 Iowa State 24.

#14 Utah (-29.5) at Colorado

4:00 PM

Utah doesn’t have a shot at the Pac-12 Championship so this means little to them. Colorado is horrendously awful so I am sure they want this season to end quickly. Predicted score: Utah 42 Colorado 10.

Saturday Primetime

#5 LSU (-10) at Texas A&M

7:00 PM

LSU cannot look ahead to Georgia despite the fact that the Aggies might very well be the worst team in the SEC this year. Never thought I would say that about a Jimbo Fisher-coached team but they are awful. Predicted score: LSU 39 Texas A&M 23.

#22 UCF (-19.5) at USF

7:00 PM

The Knights should mop the floor with USF. They need to, otherwise they unbelievably won’t go to the AAC Championship and destroyed their Cotton Bowl chances in a matter of one week. Predicted score: UCF 48 USF 14.

Notre Dame looked dead to rights earlier in the season. Now, if they win here, they probably lock up an Orange Bowl bid. Incredible. USC, on the other hand, has already clinched a spot in the Pac-12 title game and have to win here to keep their CFP hopes alive. ABC was smart to put this in primetime. Predicted score: USC 43 Notre Dame 40.

Tulsa (+12) at Houston

7:30 PM

Nothing to play for here. Unless it’s close, don’t bother. Predicted score: Houston 31 Tulsa 26.

This is actually a big game for both teams. Crazy, right? The Dores win here and they go bowling which would be huge for this program that has struggled since James Franklin left. The Vols need to keep up with the rest of the teams above them if they want any hope of getting into the College Football Playoff, as much of a long shot as it is. And both teams will want to destroy the chances of the other. Too bad for Vandy that I have a feeling Tennessee will show up VERY angry. Predicted score: Tennessee 49 Vanderbilt 13.

A Miami win gets the Canes bowl-eligible. It’s shocking how far this team has fallen. Good call shitcanning Manny Diaz for no reason other than to nab Mario Cristobal, right? Some of these programs just overthink these kinds of things, usually to their detriment. Predicted score: Miami 22 Pittsburgh 15.

OK sure the primetime slate doesn’t have some of the pizazz as the earlier games of the day (minus the ND-USC game) but a lot of these games still have importance. KSU wins here and they head to JerryWorld for the first time for the Big XII Championship. Kansas can stop that from happening. And it could happen. Kansas is actually pretty good. Predicted score: Kansas State 36 Kansas 30.

Saturday Late Night

Air Force (-1.5) at San Diego State

9:00 PM

SDSU and the AFA squandered any chances of promising seasons early on in the season. Both teams are still having decent years but they are being overshadowed by a few other teams who have just been that much better when it counted. Predicted score: San Diego State 23 Air Force 17.

SE Missouri State at Montana

10:00 PM

How about this? FCS Playoffs on ESPN2? Sure. But the first round of the playoffs? This has not happened since they expanded to 24 teams in 2013. Should be a nice change of pace. And it should be seriously cold up in Missoula. Predicted score: Montana 38 SE Missouri State 36.

UPDATE #6: For some reason, this isn’t appearing on the specialty pack guide. I’m sure it will soon enough but being an FCS game I am a bit worried it won’t end up appearing at all.

#13 Washington (-2) at Washington State

10:30 PM

If Oregon loses to Oregon State earlier in the day, this game becomes massive. The Huskies can then clinch a Pac-12 Championship Game spot with a win here in the Apple Cup. Otherwise, this game isn’t really that important. I mean I will watch it. Hell, I will also watch the BYU-Stanford game that starts half an hour after this. Why? Because that’s what I do. I honestly can’t totally figure it out anymore. Predicted score: Washington State 24 Washington 14.

UPDATE: I have updated the rankings to match the CFP Rankings.

Holy shit that’s a lot of football! No complaints though since we know what it will be like in a few months. I will be on Twitter often but not all the time as even I need sleep/pass out. As I mentioned about TSN last week, their coverage is much reduced this year for the final week of the college football regular season. I wouldn’t look too much into this as the World Cup takes up most of the early window and that’s where TSN usually had three or four games alone. Does it suck for college football fans who don’t have the specialty pack? Absolutely. But I guess if you are a college football fan, buying a specialty pack would be the least you would do, no?

I will keep this post updated when need be. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were some specialty pack updates. I hope TSN is set but I don’t trust them fully. Anyway, have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games everyone!

The Bearcats are the real deal and the rest of the Week 5 College Football Recap

Posted on October 4, 2021 by guelphbossman

If you didn’t watch the Cincinnati-Notre Dame game this past weekend you missed the coming out party of, I would say, the best Group of Five team in the College Football Playoff era. The Bearcats showed they are for real as the 24-13 score doesn’t show how lopsided this game really was. If it wasn’t for the Bearcats kicking game, they would have won by probably 20 or so. Desmond Ridder may have even kickstarted his Heisman campaign with his performance. And Notre Dame is still a heavy favourite to go to the New Year’s Six so that will look damn good on the Bearcats’ resume. They do have to hope Indiana ends up doing well the rest of the way and they have to beat most of the teams on their conference schedule pretty easily. But this team is primed to do what no Group of Five team has really had a chance to do before: be a legitimate threat for the College Football Playoff. If they do what they need to do, then we have to see what kind of help they will get. The way this season has gone, it’s pretty much a given that at least a few more Top 10 teams will falter the rest of the way. As of this point, 32 ranked teams have lost games. That’s an average of over 6 a week. That is absurd. I can’t see that rate continuing all season but if it comes close then this will be a ridiculous season where it would make sense for a G-5 team to break through the glass ceiling. I’ve mentioned it before but I don’t have a favourite school but it would be a lot of fun to see what Cincy could do in the CFP, right?

Other than that, it was a pretty fun weekend if you weren’t fans of Ole Miss or Arkansas. Both teams looked completely outmatched against Alabama and Georgia, respectively. Let’s be honest here: the Tide and Dawgs are easily the top two teams in college football and every other program is at least a tier below them. I know it feels like we will be heading towards the inevitable Bama-UGA national championship game but the season has already been crazy so who knows.

BYU continues their undefeated march as they also have some pretty high aspirations for this season. Utah State is a pretty good team in the Mountain West this year and looked like nothing special against the Cougs. BYU is now in the Top 10 of the AP Poll and just keep plugging along. What will The Committee do with the Cougs (not to mention Cincy)? BYU still has Boise State, Baylor and USC left on their schedule and have to take care of business on their end. Even one loss would probably push them to the brink of the New Year’s Six, especially with no automatic in that the best Group of Five team gets. Much like Cincinnati, they have to take care of business and then hope the chips fall in their favour around them.

Clemson survived Boston College. The Tigers looked to be in a bit of trouble all game and were lucky that Boston College had to play their backup quarterback. Their time at the top of the ACC may be coming to an end. D.J. Uiagalelei has not been good at all which has been a massive shock to many people, especially Tiger fans. As for the rest of the ACC, it honestly doesn’t look too good but there is still…

Wake Forest! Huge victory over an improved Louisville team. They are 5-0 just like everyone thought they would be, right? Well, I had them starting 5-0 so there had to have been others. Actually, I have them getting to 8-0 and undefeated going into November. Not saying the ACC’s hopes lie with the Demon Deacons but they really do lie with the Demon Deacons. In a completely crazy season (so far), Dave Clawson has done a masterful job at Wake and it will be interesting to see what bigger Power Five team will try to poach him in the offseason.

A game that shouldn’t have been close but was went down on The Farm. Oregon played horrible for much of their game against Stanford but still had a chance to win at the end. A controversial PI call allowed Stanford one untimed down to score a touchdown to tie it and send it to overtime and they did. The Cardinal finished off the #3 team in the land in overtime and now the Pac-12 has no unbeaten teams. We are four days into October. Yikes.

Florida goes down to Kentucky! I don’t know what it is about Mark Stoops but the Gators do not like playing against that man. The Wildcats could be an interesting team this season. Picking up Wan’Dale Robinson from Nebraska could end up being the thing that pushes them up the ladder in the SEC East. I mean it still comes down to Florida having to beat Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to even give the Cats a chance but man wouldn’t that be something.

Oklahoma could be one of the worst 5-0 teams I have ever seen. They are barely winning most of their games and not looking the true contender I (and many in the actual college football media) thought they would be. Really you can’t blame this on Spencer Rattler this time since he played well but their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. They now have the Red River Shootout to deal with and this is always a weird game so we will see how the Sooners pull this one out.

So is Jimbo going to get another contract extension? The Aggies looked dreadful at times and Will Rogers picked them apart as they drop to 3-2 and out of the Top 25. Their game against Auburn at the start of November could be to stay out of last place in the SEC West. Auburn has made it so they are not at the bottom after Bo Nix went all Johnny Manziel and willed the Tigers to a huge victory in hostile territory. Normally I don’t like the 9:00 start times for ESPN games but this was fine with very little in the late night window. A fun game that came down to the end and now Ed Orgeron is on the hot seat, yet again. It’s funny how some schools would never think of firing a successful coach even after a mediocre season or two. Then there are some schools that give not a single solitary squirt of shit about that and want to win RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Oh, UCF. That was a tough one. The Gus Bus really never kept it on the road against a Navy team that was winless up until this point. Now I am sure people will start griping about Gus Malzahn but they have struggled with injuries and really aren’t that team that will challenge Cincinnati this season. They should still be bowl-eligible and at the very least, it assures Malzahn can’t just grab a Power Five head coaching opportunity after this season.

Did anyone pass the Hawaii Test? Well, yours truly did! Stayed up to see a great game in front of no fans in a high school stadium in Honolulu. I might have some serious problems. Anyway, Fresno State’s loss to the Rainbow Warriors has pretty much sealed the Mountain West’s NY6 fate this season.

Let’s take a look at how the seasons are going at Pittsburgh and Tennessee. They met three weeks ago in a barnburner and none of us could have known that these two teams would, for the most part, be playing very good ball at this point of the season. The Vols are 3-2 with a probable win over South Carolina next weekend. The Panthers are even better, 4-1, with a baffling loss to Western Michigan their only defeat. It wouldn’t be a shock to see both teams with at least 8 wins and causing some havoc in their conferences later on in the season.

Does the Big XII deserve a bit more respect? Baylor and Oklahoma State played in a back-and-forth affair that many people probably avoided watching because the Big XII seems like Power Five cooties to a lot of people. People would rather watch the Pac-12…yeah, I said it. Saying all that, the conference would get the last laugh if Oklahoma and the Pokes are undefeated and play in late November in Bedlam in one of the biggest games of the season.

Hey, how about The U? Ugh. A chance to beat the Fighting Mendenhalls on a chip-shot walk-off field goal and doinks it off the upright. Miami is 2-3 and looking a whole lot worse than most expected. Manny Diaz might not be able to escape the hot seat which is essentially lava now.

Finally, did you watch the game of the week? If not, it was a great one with a walk-off field goal. I, of course, am talking about UConn and Vanderbilt! As sad as it sounds, this was a really good game with a fun finish and Vandy is now at 2 wins which may be more than many thought they would get. UConn is still winless but will have a chance to rectify that in the GAME OF THE CENTURY when they face UMass.

Alright enough recappin’. Time for the Bossman Top 25. Let’s do this!

#1	Alabama
#2	Georgia
#3	Cincinnati
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Iowa
#7	Ohio State
#8	BYU
#9	Oregon
#10	Arkansas
#11	Notre Dame
#12	Michigan
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	Michigan State
#15	Oklahoma State
#16	Auburn
#17	Kentucky
#18	Ole Miss
#19	Florida
#20	Wake Forest
#21	NC State
#22	Texas
#23	Clemson
#24	Arizona State
#25	Oregon State

Yep, I have Alabama over Georgia although I took my time with that decision. I believe the difference between the two teams is razor thin. I would say the Dawgs’ win over Arkansas was a bit more impressive than the Tide’s victory over Ole Miss but not by much. Every week there has been so much change that the next two weeks could have a completely different top two. The amount of ranked teams that have lost, as I stated earlier, is absurd. And yes I have Cincy in the #3 spot. They may not hold on to it depending on what other teams do but for now I think they deserve it. The Pac-12 and ACC are inhabiting the bottom part of the Top 25 so don’t be shocked if one or two of those teams sneaks up and somehow gets to the Top 10 by the final weekend. It’s been that kind of year.

See you back on Wednesday for the college football TV schedule. Until then, enjoy your week everyone!

This week could change everything – Week 5 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on September 29, 2021 by guelphbossman

We’ve got through most of September now. And you don’t expect to have great weeks of college football early on. We have truly lucked out with how quality the first part of the season has been. Which leads us to this week. This is looking like one of the best non-Thanksgiving weeks in a long time. So many matches between ranked teams. Still a few unranked teams that are undefeated and playing in important games. It’s the kind of week that can put the entire season on its head. You have to expect at least one upset if not more. This week, as it says in the title, could change everything. Maybe we finally get some new blood in the College Football Playoff picture. The college football world would do well to hope for that as well. It puts more teams in the mix without resorting to expansion of the playoff (which is now being hotly debated among the ten conferences and Independents).

OK, let’s get to the task at hand which is getting you the college football schedule TV information for what looks like an awesome Week 5.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Miami	7:30 PM
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Prairie View A&M	7:30 PM

Virginia might be not bad. Miami is looking worse than advertised and Manny Diaz is on the hot seat. This has the potential to be a crazy game. The other options are a SWAC game or Thursday Night Football featuring the Jacksonville Football Jaguars. So what I’m saying is, your options are limited.

Friday

		US	Canada
Dartmouth at Penn	7:00 PM
Houston at Tulsa	7:30 PM
#13 BYU at Utah State	9:00 PM

NOW we get into some stuff, kinda, sorta. BYU continues their run to try and go undefeated and get to the New Year’s Six. Utah State is a good team and may cause the Cougs some problems with their firepower on offense. A win here would make the Aggies an instant Mountain West contender. Houston is going to try and be that second team in the AAC Championship Game that gets fucking hammered by Cincinnati. They need to win games like this over Tulsa to do so.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Texas at TCU	Noon
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech	Noon
Charlotte at Illinois	Noon
Minnesota at Purdue	Noon
Western Michigan at Buffalo	Noon
#8 Arkansas at #2 Georgia	Noon
Duke at North Carolina	Noon
Memphis at Temple	Noon
#14 Michigan at Wisconsin	Noon
Tennessee at Missouri	Noon
Louisville at #24 Wake Forest	12:30 PM

Oh my. This is quite the early schedule and a harbinger for what we are all in for this Saturday. If you want to know how special Arkansas’s season is shaping up to be, realize that Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are calling this game. Yes, Fowler and Herbie are calling a Noon game for the first time ever. That is insane. Pair that with GUS JOHNSON calling a game where Michigan could win and continue to move up the rankings and you got a great pair of games. Add Louisville-Wake, WMU-Buffalo, and Texas-TCU and this is a seriously loaded early slate. Buckle up.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#7 Cincinnati at #9 Notre Dame	2:30 PM
#3 Oregon at Stanford	3:30 PM
Syracuse at Florida State	3:30 PM
#11 Ohio State at Rutgers	3:30 PM
#12 Ole Miss at #1 Alabama	3:30 PM
UCF at Navy	3:30 PM
Texas Tech at West Virginia	3:30 PM
#6 Oklahoma at Kansas State	3:30 PM
Troy at South Carolina	3:30 PM
USF at SMU	4:00 PM

And the amazing schedule continues. Holy moly it’s been a while since I’ve seen two timeslots in a row that were this good. Where do I begin? Let’s start with Cincinnati and their road to glory. They beat the Irish and there is no reason for this team to not be in the Top 4 by Sunday afternoon. The Sooners get Kansas State and you know how well they tend to do in Manhattan (spoiler: not very good). Also, Lane Kiffin gets another shot at Bama. You will notice there are no TSN games in this timeslot, nor the next one. Nothing until the late night sked which is odd considering what ESPN is doing today with the 6:00/9:00 games. Unfortunately, TSN’s contracts with UFC, MLS, CFL and NASCAR usurp anything college football-related. I get it. I just don’t like it.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#10 Florida at Kentucky	6:00 PM
Liberty at UAB	7:00 PM
#21 Baylor at #19 Oklahoma State	7:00 PM
Mississippi State at #15 Texas A&M	7:00 PM
Indiana at #4 Penn State	7:30 PM
Boston College at #25 Clemson	7:30 PM
Western Kentucky at Michigan State	7:30 PM
Northwestern at Nebraska	7:30 PM
UConn at Vanderbilt	7:30 PM

OK not as good as the first two timeslots but still a solid set of games. It’s highlighted by, you guessed it, ~~UConn-Vandy~~ Baylor-OSU. And expect UF-UK to be a sneaky good game and an important SEC one. I think ABC might be a bit miffed now to have picked Indy-PSU considering the Hoosiers’ start to the season. Maybe they can push the Nittany Lions to the limit in this one. And if you like pain, yes, UConn against Vanderbilt on the specialty pack. I just don’t get it. How many games could have been put there and then you can send this game to ESPN+ but no. Somehow we are going to get a lot of UConn football on our TV sets this year and that’s not a good thing.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
#22 Auburn at LSU	9:00 PM
Montana at Eastern Washington	10:30 PM
#18 Fresno State at Hawaii	11:00 PM

This is an…interesting way to finish off the day. I guess it’s a nice cooldown compared to the pure insanity we will receive all day. The fact that TSN2 has 10:30 as a game to be determined is interesting since the only game available at that time is Montana-EWU. UPDATE: TSN is now not showing a college football game, going with Must See SC. I guess they saw the game and decided not to bother. It would be the first non-Week Zero, non-FCS Playoff game on a TSN station ever (I believe). Also, another Hawaii Test as Fresno State heads to a high school field in Honolulu for a game that will end around 2:30 or so in the morning.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Arkansas at Georgia (Noon, TSN3) – There is not an easy choice for Game of the Week with four games between ranked teams on the docket. I do believe with the top ABC/ESPN crew going to Athens for this one, it pushes it to the top. This is a massive game for both teams but really a bigger one for the Hogs. If the Razorbacks can pull this one out, you might want to at least pencil Sam Pittman in as Coach of the Year already since this is already the best coaching job we’ve seen in quite some time. It would also set up a crazy Bama-Arkansas game later on in the year between possibly two undefeated teams the week before American Thanksgiving. Giddy up!

Cincinnati at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – Still no respect for this Bearcats football team. The fact this is a day game shows what many still believe about Cincinnati and the Group of Five as a whole. Let’s be honest: this is Cincinnati’s best chance ever to make some noise in college football. I know they went to a BCS bowl in the past (where they were blown out by Florida). But this is their one true shot to get into the College Football Playoff before it expands, whenever that ends up happening. They need to win this because there are a few games on their American Conference schedule that will not help them at all, even if they win big. I kind of hope it happens only to make The Committee’s job difficult. I still wonder if they need an open bar when they have their meetings. Could be fun to watch one member who goes way too far and ends up puking before inexplicably stumping for UConn to be in the New Year’s Six.

Ole Miss at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – Normally a game with the Tide in it has a shot at being the GOTW. On almost any week this would end up being the case. It’s still going to be a good game I think as Lane Kiffin and his offense figured out the Tide last year, putting 48 points up on the board against them. Expect the same against a team that is not as good as last year’s. Nick Saban’s squad is still a heavy favourite but we know what the Rebels have been able to do in the past to them. Another game that could upset the balance in college football if an upset occurs.

Baylor at Oklahoma State (7:00, specialty pack) – If you thought this was going to be a game between two ranked teams at the start of the season, I would have taken you to Vegas to bet on roulette. The Cowboys are a bit of a shock at this point but the Bears are a full-blown surprise. Kind of surprised this didn’t end up being the ABC Primetime game but it does show what ABC/ESPN thinks of the Big XII (and it won’t get any better in a couple years). Anyway, both of these teams have a serious chance to be the team that gets to surprise everyone and get to go to JerryWorld for the Big XII Championship. With the conference being a bit of a mess right now, nothing says either of these teams can’t go all the way.

Oklahoma at Kansas State (3:30, FOX) – There are quite a few games that could go in this spot. We know about the Sooners’ struggles in Manhattan. Kansas State has looked good so far this season going 3-1 so it’s a team just outside the Top 25 here. Don’t be surprised if the Sooners defense struggles yet again. Or their offense. Who knows with this team. Now watch Oklahoma win by like 50 and prove me wrong.

Honourable mention: Iowa at Maryland (Friday, 8:00, FOX Sports One); BYU at Utah State (Friday, 9:00, CBS Sports Network); Louisville at Wake Forest (Noon, specialty pack); Oregon at Stanford (3:30, ABC); Florida at Kentucky (6:00, specialty pack); Ohio State at Rutgers (3:30, Big Ten Network); Indiana at Penn State (7:30, ABC); Boston College (7:30, specialty pack); Auburn at LSU (9:00, specialty pack); Arizona State at UCLA (10:30, FOX Sports One). I told you there were a lot of good games this weekend.

You bet!

My picks were not that good although they were all upset losses. That makes me feel at least a bit better. I have a feeling I will do better this week. I am adding more picks just for this week just because of the sheer number of great games. Alright *deep breath* let’s go!

Florida over Kentucky

Georgia over Arkansas

Alabama over Ole Miss

LSU over Auburn

BYU over Utah State

Notre Dame over Cincinnati

Oregon over Stanford

UCLA over Arizona State

Clemson over Boston College

Wake Forest over Louisville

Penn State over Indiana

Iowa over Maryland

Ohio State over Rutgers

Oklahoma State over Baylor

Oklahoma over Kansas State

Alright it seems like the specialty pack schedules are still a bit slow in coming out. I haven’t seen any definitive information for the Saturday games on any of the schedules I have looked at. I’m sure the info will come up shortly but really this info should be ready pretty much the day after the previous week’s games are done. I don’t buy the whole idea that it’s up to ESPN to “release” games to the cable companies. That’s horseshit. You have the contract, you show the games. It’s not like you get all the ESPN and ESPN2 games this week but next week, nope, only ESPNU games. Like, fuck off.

I went against my own advice (kind of) and did do the Twitter thing last weekend and it wasn’t bad at all. I guess I shouldn’t judge it based on one day but I know what Twitter can be like if you get into the wrong part of Twitter…the Twitter on the other side of the tracks. Enjoy the games everyone!

OK now that Clay’s gone, who’s next? – Week 4 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on September 22, 2021 by guelphbossman

Clay Helton started the Coaching Carousel for us early this year. Pair that with Randy Edsall’s resignation/retirement/whatever/bonus payment and it’s been a rough start for the Hot Seat coaches. So the question now is, who will be next. Let’s look at the candidates:

Got to start with Manny Diaz. He hasn’t exactly lit things up in Miami and brought back memories of The U. The problem is, it’s not like they have a lot of money to throw around to pay a buyout and bring in another coach. So they may be stuck at least through this season unless things get really bad in south Florida.
Mike Norvell. Good lord have the Noles been awful this year. I wonder when enough will be enough. This program doesn’t need to get back to the Bobby Bowden era but they have to get back to approaching the Jimbo Fisher era or they could have problems for years.
Geoff Collins. I know he needed time to change the team from an option team to run a pro-style offense. But when is it supposed to happen? It feels like it never will and that Collins really doesn’t deserve a chance to continue his quest in Atlanta.
Rod Carey. Let’s get out of the ACC and move to the American. Carey left a good gig at Northern Illinois to replace dental hygienist-in-training Matt Rhule at Temple and it has been an unmitigated disaster. If it wasn’t for USF they would be looking at an easy trip to the AAC basement.
Nick Rolovich. Rolovich’s problems aren’t just on the field where Wazzu has struggled mightily so far. His ideas about the COVID vaccine have rankled a lot of people and I honestly wonder if they will get rid of him just because he has become an annoying pest.
Walt Bell. Are they really going to get anyone great to come to UMass?

As you can see, I haven’t put some of the usual suspects like Frost, Brohm, Babers or Harbaugh. Probably because they have at least not done worse than expectations at this point and, in Harbaugh’s case, has exceeded them (so far). We are only a quarter of the way through the season so now that conference play is slowly beginning we will see how these coaches’ fortunes turn out.

So far after three weeks we have had a damn good season. Like a return to college football, if you will. Here’s hoping this continues. Let’s get to the schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
Marshall at Appalachian State	7:30 PM
Alcorn State at Arkansas-Pine Bluff	7:30 PM

Two games. Neither of them really that good. I mean, yeah, App State is still pretty good and could sneak through and cause a lot of problems in the Sun Belt. Marshall just a blew a big fourth quarter lead and lost to East Carolina. Nothing against the Pirates but yeesh that’s bad. But it is still mid-week college football which is always better than no mid-week college football. Especially if the Thursday Night Football matchup is not exactly great. And, how about that, it isn’t. The Panthers, they’re good. The Texans…yes I know they’re 1-1 but they beat the Jaguars so no, they are not good.

Friday

		US	Canada
Middle Tennessee at Charlotte	6:30 PM
Wake Forest at Virginia	7:00 PM
Brown at Harvard	7:00 PM
Liberty at Syracuse	8:00 PM
UNLV at #22 Fresno State	10:00 PM

OK this is better. Five games. And CBS Sports Network is doing a doubleheader with their weird 6:30 start time. It will be interesting to see how badly Fresno State will beat the Rebels, who now have Tate Fucking Martell as their quarterback. I really don’t get how he gets so many opportunities. Anyway, we also have the first look at Ivy League action for the first time since 2019. OK Wake-Hoos could be good so maybe put your focus on that one.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Texas Tech at Texas	Noon
Richmond at Virginia Tech	Noon
Ohio at Northwestern	Noon
Villanova at #6 Penn State	Noon
Boise State at Utah State	Noon
Miami-OH at Army	Noon
LSU at Mississippi State	Noon
Missouri at Boston College	Noon
Bowling Green at Minnesota	Noon
#12 Notre Dame vs. #18 Wisconsin (in Chicago)	Noon
#2 Georgia at Vanderbilt	Noon
CCSU at Miami	12:30 PM

Normally TSN would be just starting to step up with a bit more college football coverage. Not this weekend though. The Ryder Cup will dominate the TSN airwaves for a good part of Saturday so that moves all college football to TSN2 where there will be a quadrupleheader. As for the games themselves, past ND-Wisky, not a whole lot that would be considered must-watch. And you know what happens during weeks like this. So expect one of the following to happen:

Villanova comes close to upsetting Penn State but the Nittany Lions close it late.
Richmond shocks Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
The Red Raiders throw for like 600 yards and beat Texas in a barnburner.
Mizzou and BC go to eight overtimes and maybe, just maybe, the new overtime rules aren’t as bad as I thought (they still are but anyway).

Finally, the Mountain West finally makes their way to CBS with Boise State who is just somewhat average going to Utah State who suddenly may have a prolific offense again. 1-3 start for the Broncos? Wouldn’t be a total shock.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Rutgers at #19 Michigan	3:30 PM
Illinois at Purdue	3:30 PM
Kent State at Maryland	3:30 PM
#7 Texas A&M vs. #16 Arkansas (in Arlington)	3:30 PM
Wyoming at UConn	3:30 PM
#9 Clemson at NC State	3:30 PM
Louisville at Florida State	3:30 PM
UTSA at Memphis	3:30 PM
#14 Iowa State at Baylor	3:30 PM
Kansas at Duke	4:00 PM
Georgia State at #23 Auburn	Noon

A good old Southwest Conference showdown highlights the afternoon sked. For once, this neutral site game that Arkansas plays every year at JerryWorld is between two good teams. And Rutgers is on ABC! I was so hoping they would be on in primetime but I’ll take it. Other than that there’s not much of note unless you really need to watch Kansas and Duke play…in football. Oh and how does CBS now think about the UConn contract? This Huskies could be worse than the 2019 version which was one of the worst teams in a long time. To see some of the teams that end up on ESPN+ (or somehow worse) and then know that UConn is getting a national game many weeks is pretty sad (except for Conference USA teams who unfortunately are stuck with horrible TV contracts as it is).

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Tennessee at #11 Florida	7:00 PM
Kentucky at South Carolina	7:00 PM
Navy at Houston	7:00 PM
West Virginia at #4 Oklahoma	7:30 PM
#21 North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech (in Mercedes-Benz Stadium)	7:30 PM
Akron at #10 Ohio State	7:30 PM
Southern Miss at #1 Alabama	7:30 PM
Indiana at Western Kentucky	8:00 PM

Oh man. Feels like such a drop-off from the first two timeslots. WVU-Sooners could be pretty good if the Mountaineers get their offense going early. Navy and Houston, no matter how good or bad they both are, usually put on a great show. As for the rest? Bleh.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
USF at #15 BYU	10:15 PM
Arizona at #3 Oregon	10:30 PM
Colorado at Arizona State	10:30 PM

Mormon After Dark! If the Cougs play like the Cougs have played so far, that game should be done by halftime. As should the Zona-UO game. The only interesting one could be Colorado, who struggles to score, against Arizona State, who struggles to hold on to the ball. Fun times. Just a reminder, the Arizona-Oregon game will start in progress after Southern Miss-Alabama is done. Thus are the perils of hopping from network to network throughout the day and I always wonder why TSN does this.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas (in Arlington) (3:30, CBS) – If you thought Arkansas would be in the Top 20 at this point of the season, raise your hand. Now put your hands down, you dirty liars. No one thought the Hogs would be this good. Maybe bowl-eligible. But they have looked seriously good and could put a serious damper on the Aggies’ national title aspirations and it wouldn’t be a total shock if the Razorbacks won. Also good to see Arkansas on CBS since they almost never get on there (except for the Black Friday game against Mizzou).

Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin (in Chicago) (Noon, FOX) – So the first two games on this list are neutral-site games. In late September. I mean they are great games and I am looking forward to them but I find all these neutral-site games usually take away from the pageantry and specialness of games in actual college football stadiums. It’s part of what sets it apart from the NFL. Anyway, the Irish continue their schedule hoping to win a game without struggling…..BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That was a good one. This should be close which will make Irish fans sweat once again.

West Virginia at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – Is this the PEW! PEW! PEW! matchup of the week? Considering the Sooners defense and the Sooners offense, I would put the over/under at about 90. One of the worst Top 5 teams I’ve seen in a while. At some point, they are going to either blow a team out and remind them what they are really about or will lose a game they probably shouldn’t have and confirm what many think about them. Don’t count the ‘Eers out of this one as long as their offense plays like they did early against Virginia Tech and not late.

Rutgers at Michigan (3:30, ABC) – Fuck, yeah! Rutgers, baby! They haven’t been 3-0 in so long and haven’t been in a relatively important game on ABC in a long time as well. And they have a challenge because Michigan is also playing better than many believed. The winner stays alive in a seriously competitive Big Ten East. But the way things are going, both teams will be going bowling and maybe, just maybe, all seven teams in the division will be in the postseason as well for the first time ever.

Iowa State at Baylor (3:30, FOX) – No specialty pack games on the Games of the Week list, which is good for many Canadians. Yes, Iowa State was expected to be good and they have been underperforming. And Baylor has not been good since Matt Rhule left. Things, however, are changing in Waco with Dave Aranda in charge as they have started 3-0. And ISU should still have quite a good season so this could be a darkhorse great game.

Honourable mention: Clemson at NC State (3:30, TSN2); Tennessee at Florida (7:00, TSN2); Kansas State at Oklahoma State (7:00, not able to be seen in this country)

You wanna bet?

Eight out of eleven isn’t too bad. I mean it’s not awesome but hey I’ve had much worse weeks. Yes I picked Arizona State. Yes I picked UCF (which most others did) and yeah I also picked Miami (which most others did as well). So really not that bad I think OK fine let’s just get to this week’s picks already:

Michigan over Rutgers

Wisconsin over Notre Dame

Florida over Tennessee

Texas A&M over Arkansas

Clemson over NC State

Iowa State over Baylor

Oklahoma State over Kansas State

Oklahoma over West Virginia

Charlotte over Middle Tennessee

Arizona State over Colorado

Houston over Navy

OK here’s hoping we have another solid weekend of college football action. Enjoy the games everyone!

Bossman’s Shitty Heisman Ballot: A tradition unlike any other

Posted on August 8, 2021 by guelphbossman

Heisman-Fantasy1

I don’t understand myself sometimes. Why do I put myself through this? I guess I’m just a creature of habit. Like a dog who knows it gets fed at 4:00 every day. Anyway, here is my (quite probably terrible) ballot for the Heisman for the 2021 season:

My Brutally Bad Heisman Ballot

Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma – Rattler is pretty much everyone’s favourite to win the Heisman this season. We know what this means: either he runs away with it with no real challengers or something happens and he falls out of the Top 10. With how I predict Oklahoma will do this season, I have a feeling he could approach some Joe Burrow-type numbers and run (not walk) away with the Heisman.
Sam Howell, North Carolina – Nice to see a player from a basketball school up for the Heisman. All kidding aside, he will be the main reason my prediction (hopefully) comes true and the Tar Heels end up in the College Football Playoff. He will be in tough to pass Rattler in the Heisman list but if he also puts up some Joe Burrow-like numbers it could become an interesting race. A lot will have to do with how much these players play in the fourth quarters of some games.
D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson – Alright, let’s try this. *clears throat* Ahem…Oo-ee-un-guh-luh-lay. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle. The replacement for Trevor Lawrence has huge shoes to fill but looked damn good in the game against Notre Dame last season. So it wouldn’t be too far fetched to consider him a Heisman threat. D.J. may need a conference championship (and of course some great performances throughout the season) to garner some true Heisman hype.
C.J. Stroud, Ohio State – Just like with Justin Fields a couple years ago, I am hesitant to put Stroud this high. No real work at the college level along with a really good running game doesn’t look like Heisman material. But with a very good Buckeyes team (again), he may get enough hype to carry him into November at the very least.
Bryce Young, Alabama – Yet another Bama quarterback on the Heisman watch list. The Tide is the Tide so Young will get a lot of media play this season. It’ll be up to him to come out from under Mac Jones’ shadow much like Mac Jones came out from under Tua Tagovailoa’s shadow.
Matt Corral, Ole Miss – OK hear me out. The Rebels are going to be much better this season than they have been the past few years. Like Top 25 good. And nothing says the Heisman winner has to be on a team that’s Top 10. With Lane Kiffin’s offense, the sky is almost the limit for Corral as long as he doesn’t have a 5-interception performance or something dreadful like that which kills his Heisman chances.
J.T. Daniels, Georgia – DJ, CJ, JT. Part of me hopes those three are the top Heisman vote getters. Daniels looked really good in the final few games of Georgia’s season. He has to have a hot start to stay in the Heisman mix, even with the Dawgs opening against Clemson.
Kedon Slovis, USC – It feels like a prerequisite that a USC quarterback has to be at least on the Heisman preseason watch list. Now if USC does what they did last year and continues that into this year, Slovis will probably be a big reason for it. And despite the fact a receiver won last year, we all know the Heisman is predominantly a quarterback award. Otherwise, Slovis might not crack the Top 10 but I have to be realistic and realize it’s not always about the best player to win the Heisman (despite the fact that’s the whole point of the fucking award but I digress).
Brock Purdy/Breece Hall, Iowa State – OK I am cheating a bit but does it really matter? I don’t want to pick between these two since who knows who will have the better season. Whoever has the better season obviously will have the better chance at the Heisman, despite the point I made above. This also makes Hall the first non-quarterback on this list. Congrats, I guess.
D’Eriq King, Miami – Back to quarterbacks (kind of). Manny Diaz should have his best Miami team since he spurned Temple and went to South Beach. If King can stay healthy, he may rocket up this list as he is a huge running threat along with having a good arm.

Honourable Mention

Emory Jones, Florida
Bijan Robinson, Texas
Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
D’Andre Swift, Georgia
Casey Thompson, Texas
Michael Penix, Indiana
Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
Dillon Gabriel, UCF
Malik Willis, Liberty

Good luck to the players on this list! You might need it with my history with this list. I’m not even going to bother threatening not doing this post again because I know I will. As I stated above, I will never learn.

Guess what? That was the final college football prediction post before the college football season begins! Week Zero is only 20 days away. No real huge games this year during the opening week but it’s still college football. So I will watch it all.

I am hoping soon to get the Week Zero schedule up. I have seen nothing from TSN although it is almost three weeks away so I got to give them a break for now. I hope it will be up soon. Even as I go on three years-plus doing the IPTV thing, I still plan to give out the most complete college football schedule for Canadians I can muster. Can’t forget the roots of the blog.

So chances are I will be going with my NFL preview first. Plenty of time before the season begins as we just had the Hall of Fame Game. Man I’m really ahead of the game. I shouldn’t jinx it. Everyone have a great final day of the weekend!

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

Posted on December 21, 2020 by guelphbossman

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!

That was LSU’s Shoeper Bowl! – Week 15 College Football Recap

Posted on December 14, 2020 by guelphbossman

This is a new one. Gators’ Marco Wilson tackled Kole Taylor short of the first down marker late in the fourth quarter in Florida’s game against LSU. Then he got up with Taylor’s shoe in his hand and, in the words of the referee, threw it 20 yards downfield. This meant he got a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which kept LSU going and lead to Cade York’s insane 57-yard field goal into the fog at The Swamp to win the game. This could end up costing Florida even a New Year’s Six spot (as their College Football Playoff chances are gone). Horrible. And stupid. You couldn’t script this to be more ridiculous.

As per tradition, when I use the Footballgasm template, I must complete the week by doing the recap in the same manner. Let’s go!

Thursday

Southern Miss 45 Florida Atlantic 31

6:30 PM

This was a nice ending to a horrible season in Hattiesburg for the Golden Eagles. Now they can hopefully start fresh with new coach Will Hall. And to find out that even if FAU won, they wouldn’t have gone to the conference championship game was a big letdown. Oh well. Decent start to the week.

Friday

Arizona State 70 Arizona 7

7:30 PM

The Territorial Cup goes to the Sun Devils in one of the biggest beatdowns in Pac-12 history. I was definitely one who thought Arizona’s hire of Kevin Sumlin a few years back was a coup. Yeah now we know that it was his great quarterbacks at Houston and Texas A&M that really helped him along. Paging Brent Brennan!

San Jose State 30 Nevada 20

10:00 PM

OK this game was being played between the Spartans and the Wolf Pack in Las Vegas at the field being used by the New Mexico Lobos. Got it? Anyway, the Spartans win puts them in the Mountain West Championship and also puts Boise State in as well. This has been an amazing season for SJSU which means what I said above may happen…again.

Saturday Early

Penn State 39 Michigan State 24

Noon

This was actually a pretty good game into the fourth quarter and the Nittany Lions pulled away to win their first home game of the season (if you can believe that). James Franklin is going to be on quite the hot seat going into 2021 as this has to be considered nothing short of a disappointment for this team, despite what 2020 brought.

Rutgers 27 Maryland 24

Noon

Meaningless game won by Rutgers. Well maybe not meaningless to the Scarlet Knights and especially Greg Schiano. The hiring of Schiano may make Rutgers look very smart (and Tennessee very stupid for deciding not to hire him).

Northwestern 28 Illinois 10

Noon

Northwestern, already clinching the Big Ten West, put a beatdown on the Illini. And guess what happened yesterday? Lovie Smith was finally shitcanned. Oh wait, he agreed to part ways with the team. Whatever. Just a few years too late in my humble opinion.

Alabama 52 Arkansas 3

Noon

Not surprising that the Tide won. Now we await to see what devastation they will wreak on Florida in the SEC Championship. I don’t think it will be very pretty. I’ve said it already but CBS may regret putting that game in primetime.

Utah 38 Colorado 21

Noon

The Buffs shouldn’t have had problems with the Utah offense but they did. Their loss made things super easy for the Pac-12 as now they wouldn’t be undefeated along with USC. At least we got to see some FOOTBAW WEATHER in Boulder for this one.

Georgia 49 Missouri 14

Noon

Speaking of games that weren’t close, here’s a great example. Many people, myself included, thought it would be though. For a while it looked like UGA was what everyone thought they were: a good team not deserving of a New Year’s Six spot. It was tied at 14 late in the second quarter. 35 unanswered points later, the Dawgs proved that maybe they should be put in an important bowl game.

Minnesota 24 Nebraska 17

Noon

Minnesota wins this one as they hold on to beat the Huskers. Is there anyone that can turn this program around? Not saying Scott Frost had all the pieces when he arrived but man this has been an unbridled disaster in Lincoln. Definite hot seat material for next season.

Saturday Afternoon

Buffalo 56 Akron 7

2:30 PM

Disappointing. I was hoping for Jaret Patterson to score ten touchdowns.

Army 15 Navy 0

3:00 PM

I wonder if a lot of people forgot this game was even on. Sad for a game with this kind of history but 2020 has wreaked havoc on college football (along with damn near everything else). Unfortunately the game was not good at all which meant few people would even watch to the end to see Army sing second.

North Carolina 62 Miami 26

3:30 PM

Not even close this one. The Heels really wanted this one and it showed. I think it’s about time I believe that Miami is not a College Football Playoff team under Manny Diaz. Or maybe Mack Brown is still pissed about that game against BYU years ago when Diaz was his defensive coordinator. Either way.

Oklahoma State 42 Baylor 3

3:30 PM

What a way to finish a season. Even without Chuba Hubbard, who has declared for the NFL Draft, the Fighting Mullets blew the doors of Baylor in this one. This was a rough season as the Pokes never got respect all season and could very well end up in the Top 15 at the end of it all. Probably still behind Oklahoma though which will irk all their fans but hey, can’t win em all.

Iowa 28 Wisconsin 7

3:30 PM

Slow start but the Hawkeyes pulled away in the second half to beat the Badgers and set up…an almost useless game next week. I know the Big Ten doesn’t want to overshadow the conference championship game but Iowa-Indiana would have been a huge matchup with big NY6 implications. Instead, they fucked up Champions Week. Way to go, guys.

Memphis 30 Houston 27

3:45 PM

Well the Tigers won which really meant nothing since both teams are going bowling. Now the question is will Ryan Silverfield be around next season in Memphis. He is a dark horse candidate for a couple of jobs so it will be interesting to see if he ends up heading elsewhere like his predecessors, Mike Norvell and Justin Fuente, did. As for Dana Holgorsen, he has already downed four cans of Red Bull by the time you got to this point in this post.

Tennessee 42 Vanderbilt 17

4:00 PM

Tennessee won. Sarah Fuller kicked two extra points and made many men mad. That’s about all I can say about the battle for state supremacy (no offense, Middle Tennessee).

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

Boise State 17 Wyoming 9

6:00 PM

A really slow start here by both teams and it never really got going after that. Blame all the snow that fell in Laramie as it made for a sloppy game. Honestly, they should have a bowl game there. That would be fun to watch. Probably horrible for the players and the coaching staffs though. Anyway, this meant nothing after San Jose State’s win the previous night but good to see Boise finish off the regular season with a win as they try to win yet another Mountain West conference championship.

LSU 37 Florida 34

7:00 PM

Hey at least it was a fun, close game right? Forget the Shoe Throw of Doom that I mentioned at the beginning. Florida did not look like a Top 10 team here at all. Either that or LSU looked better than their record states. Both are probably correct. The Gators needed this game and couldn’t pull away from the Tigers. Their punishment will probably be the Outback Bowl or Citrus Bowl or some close-by bowl game.

TCU 52 Louisiana Tech 10

7:00 PM

Well, at least TCU was able to get their non-conference game in.

Auburn 24 Mississippi State 10

7:30 PM

Didn’t matter. Wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. And now Gus Malzahn has finally, mercifully, been fired. He is now almost $22 million richer because of it. Ain’t college football a great sport?

USC 43 UCLA 38

7:30 PM

This ended up being one of the best finishes of the season. The Trojans, in my opinion, will not get into the CFP (fuck you ESPN Playoff Predictor). The Bruins, I have to say, have really improved (FINALLY) under Chiop Kelly. Took long enough. UCLA scored late in this one to take the three point lead and it looked like the Pac-12 was completely ruined (as opposed to mostly ruined which they are at this point). Instead, the men of Troy march down the field quickly and score a touchdown to win the game. And to the chagrin of some USC fans, I have a feeling Clay Helton will get a contract extension in the offseason.

BYU 28 San Diego State 14

10:00 PM

Nice to see the Cougars finish with ten wins since their original schedule was completely obliterated. People still like to underestimate BYU (or downright hate them) but Kalani Sitake has shown that this program is still one to watch, year in and year out. Still won’t get them a New Year’s Six spot but still has to be considered a successful season.

New Mexico 49 Fresno State 39

10:30 PM

New Mexico is quietly turning things around while they are banished to Vegas. Danny Gonzales has done a masterful job starting this turnaround. Don’t be surprised if they are over .500 next season and, perhaps, back to the Rocky Long days of prosperity.

Stanford 27 Oregon State 24

10:00 PM

This was actually a great Pac-12 After Dark game (as is tradition). Back-and-forth throughout the entire game and it meant that you had to continue to watch well into the night. Jet Toner (great name for, well, anything) hit the game-winning field goal with a little less than two minutes left. Stanford, somehow, ended up 3-2 going into whatever the Pac-12 is calling the final week of the season. That feels weird considering how they have played the past almost-two seasons.

Normally the next week is conference championship week ONLY. But man this has been such a crazy year that there are a bunch of games also scheduled. So this could end up being a bit more interesting than usual when it comes to this week in college football. Also, there’s a bowl game that day as well. Yeah, none of this makes sense.

Alright so next up is the bowl projections list with a few bowl games actually already confirming their matchups. Nice to see but really it is a necessity considering the way the bowl schedule is structured. College and NFL schedules later in the week.

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

Posted on September 21, 2020 by guelphbossman

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

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

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

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

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

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

The Coaching Hot Seat Report, My Heisman Ballot and whatever the Big Ten is doing all in one post!

Posted on September 16, 2020 by guelphbossman

That’s what this is: a god damned dumpster fire.

Alright I am going to leave the Big Ten stuff to the end as I don’t want this to go off the rails so early. First up will be the HOT SEAT REPORT! My most accurate predictions of all. This year, though I have no clue. Let’s get right to it and as it is every year, this is ordered from most likely to be fired to least likely (NOW with Big Ten coaches!). Let us begin:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

Dana Dimel (UTEP) – Things are looking terrible for UTEP football right now. All the rest of the teams seem to be leaving the Miners in their dust except for Old Dominion but that’s because they aren’t playing this Fall. And with most teams having smaller non-conference schedules, this doesn’t look like UTEP’s time to improve. Needed to keep his job – UTEP to be competitive in most of their conference games. Prediction – Will be gone before the end of the season as UTEP will struggle to get more than two wins.
Derek Mason (Vanderbilt) – Vanderbilt has been an SEC also-ran for most of their time in the conference other than the James Franklin years. Unfortunately, Mason hasn’t improved things in Nashville in his stint here. It is tough because he’s a great coach and a great interview but you have to wonder if he is just better as a defensive coordinator somewhere, especially at the Power Five level. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least. Prediction – He will be gone with either one or two games to go and will become a defensive coordinator somewhere at a lower level in the next year or two.
Will Muschamp (South Carolina) – At the time, the hiring of Muschamp looked like a good one even though he had been fairly mediocre at Florida. But he hasn’t been able to make a dent in the SEC and is 2-13 against ranked teams, something that will keep him near the bottom of the division. Needed to keep his job – Play meaningful football in late November and beat a ranked team or two. Prediction – He will probably be fired with one or two games left but be the lame duck coach and finish out the string.

Probable Shitcanning

Philip Montgomery (Tulsa) – Tulsa has struggled for most of Montgomery’s reign here except for one great season. He was a can’t miss coaching prospect who so far has missed badly. I think the Golden Hurricane is going to be worse this season so it may signal the end for him in Oklahoma (the state, not the school). Needed to keep his job – Battling for .500 late in the season. Prediction – One win and a coaching search to start shortly after the season ends.
Lovie Smith (Illinois) – Being successful this past season may have actually been the worst thing for Lovie’s coaching future in Champaign. Now the expectations will be higher and with Northwestern improving, I can’t see the Illini going bowling once they get back to playing in October. Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season. Prediction – I think they end up winning three or four games but won’t be enough to go bowling and will probably cost him his job but who knows with Illinois.

Possible Shitcanning

Manny Diaz (Miami) – Let’s just say the Manny Diaz era did not get off to a great start after he left Temple (after a few weeks) for his dream job. But things are looking up with transfer quarterback D’Eriq King under centre (well, in the shotgun because no one goes under centre these days). His status will fully depend on the improvement the Canes show on the field. Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins but preferably at least 8 and looking at a possible conference championship berth. Prediction – I see The U at the 8-win mark so that should placate the fans in south Florida.
Scott Frost (Nebraska) – Look, I drank the Nebraska Koolaid last year. I admit it. But the bloom is off the rose now in Lincoln and anything short of at least .500 and a bowl game could spell the end for the guy that was supposed to lead the Huskers back to prominence. Needed to keep his job – .500 record. Prediction – I see them being around that mark so he might not be fired but it will be a huge discussion in the off-season about his future.
Steve Campbell (South Alabama) – It was looking like the Jaguars were going to have a 2-0 start and it probably would have kept Campbell off this list. But their collapse against Tulane makes it so his job is at least in some jeopardy. With the opening of their brand-new stadium, I am sure the brass were hoping for a team that could maybe even contend in the Sun Belt West. With Louisiana in the division that won’t happen but maybe a bowl game for them? The other thing is, if they let Campbell go, who would be up to replace him? Not like this is a sought-after job. Needed to keep his job – For USA to win close to five games. Prediction – I have the Jaguars winning four games so at the very least, Campbell is looking at a hotter seat for next season.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

Dino Babers (Syracuse) – Dino needs to get some slack here. There were some injuries last year and a lot of underperforming. Saying that, with only one great season under his belt, this season will have to at least look like an improvement over last year or he may be jettisoned. Needed to keep his job – Battling for bowl eligibility late in the season. Prediction – I have the Orange winning 4 so they need an upset to go bowling, if not two. No bowl game means Babers will have at least a molten lava hot seat going into next season.
Matt Viator (ULM) – Things were looking good in Monroe. Then the Ragin’ Cajuns down in Lafayette burned some rubber and left them in their dust. Now they will be battling South Alabama and Texas State to stay out of the bottom of the Sun Belt West division. Needed to keep his job – Honestly? Just don’t finish last in the division. Prediction – Ummmm….well….I do have them finishing last so this could get interesting.
Tom Herman (Texas) – Herman hasn’t exactly set the Big XII on fire in Austin. The fans at UT want to be in the Big XII Championship (OK they want to win the Big XII but baby steps). Not getting there this year would put Herman on a bit of a hot seat going into 2021. Needed to keep his job – Like keep his job for sure and maybe get an extension? A trip to the Big XII Championship game. Prediction – Losing to Oklahoma State to be left out of the title game and a lot of grumblings in Longhorn land.

Yes a much shorter list. Blame COVID.

Now I will post my (shorter) Heisman ballot. This is usually less accurate but at least I am on par with many so-called experts since many frosh and sophomores are in contention and it’s tough to figure them out compared to the juniors and seniors. Alright here we go:

My Usually Awful Heisman Ballot

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – Alright I had Lawrence winning it last year and he came up well short. This year he is one of the favourites to win it so I am picking him yet again. Maybe this time he won’t let me down…and the team. Most importantly the team. And the fanbase. But me too.
Justin Fields, Ohio State – I feel a bit hesitant to put Fields this high. This time it is because the Big Ten is starting later and he will have to be in Heisman form from the beginning. I haven’t even done Big Ten predictions yet but I assume Ohio State will be favoured in all their games. So as long as the Buckeyes aren’t upset along the way and Fields has a bad game or two, he should be in the Heisman conversation.
Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma – The streak ended last year. Jalen Hurts had a good season but it wasn’t enough to bag the Sooners their third straight Heisman winner (who was also a transfer quarterback). Rattler is a Lincoln Riley recruit so this is a little different than what we are used to with OU. I still predict Oklahoma to get to the College Football Playoff which probably will mean Rattler will have had a great season so that puts him here.
D’Eriq King, Miami – This is the big transfer of the off-season and he could be the guy that saves Manny Diaz his job (and may get him an extension). It was a bit of a shock that he first decided to redshirt at Houston and then transfer to Miami but here we are. I think the Canes are going to be in New Year’s Six contention all season so the dual threat King will be a big part of that.
Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State – Hubbard for some reason came back for his senior year. What it does is sets Hubbard up to become the next big running back to come out of Oklahoma State after Barry Sanders. It also could make him the first Canadian to win the Heisman. That would be cool. He will actually need to run for more yards than he did last year so it may be difficult but if he does it, he will be at least the best running back in college football and a surefire first round pick in the 2021 draft.
Ian Book, Notre Dame – I know people will be upset at this. Slow your roll and check your Notre Dame hate at the door. The Irish are in a conference for the first time ever and are a contender to make their first-ever conference championship. And if that does come to fruition, Book will be the biggest reason why. And he could be a hero in South Bend forever if they somehow get to the College Football Playoff and don’t count them out of that.
Sam Ehlinger, Texas – For the second straight year, Ehlinger might be the second best quarterback in the Big XII. Now if he somehow gets the Longhorns to the conference championship then he might rocket up this list.
Bo Nix, Auburn – The son of former Auburn star Patrick Nix plays in the toughest division in college football. And if the Tigers have any thoughts of going to the New Year’s Six (if not the CFP), it will have to ride on his strong arm. With a lot of new quarterbacks in the SEC, he could end up getting the lion’s share of the attention at the position which could be good for him to move up this list.

Honourable Mention

Travis Etienne, Clemson
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
Myles Brennan, LSU
Zamir White, Georgia
Najee Harris, Alabama
Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
Sam Howell, North Carolina

OK now we get to the Big Ten insanity. Remember when they decided they weren’t going to have a Fall season and there was a huge uproar because three of the five Power Five conferences decided to plow ahead with a season anyway? Pepperidge Farms (and all of us) remembers. Now the Big Ten has decided to reverse course. They plan on having a nine-week conference season. It will start on October 24th and go through to December 19th when the Big Ten Championship will occur. But that’s not all! They will also have a kind of East vs. West challenge that week where the 2nd place team from the East faces the 2nd place team from the West, 3rd place against 3rd place, etc. all the way down to the last place teams in both divisions. Just crazy. This conference is a shitshow. But money and FOMO ruled the day with the announcement. Now the Pac-12 is the only P5 conference sitting out and that will be, unfortunately, horrible for the conference going into 2021. College football, everybody!

Alright a slight change for this week’s posts. I will be posting the NFL schedule on Thursday and the college sked on Friday since there are no college games on Thursday night. I will do that for any other weeks this happens but as of this point, I can only see it happening maybe once more. Anyway, hope you have had a great hump day!

Most Important Games of the 2020 College Football Season – The Final Portion

Posted on June 17, 2020 by guelphbossman

If you don’t know who these guys are well….I guess that just means you never watched wrestling (same thing I have now said two years running for the final post of this series). No, Degeneration X isn’t the greatest stable of all-time and no, their “invasion” of WCW was not important at all (despite what WWE might want you to think with their revisionist history bullshit). I am going to do a rating system for the final weeks of the system using DX members. I have to be careful since you may not agree with my ratings and I have to use members that may have been forgotten (look them up if you like). If you have no idea what I am talking about then don’t worry…it probably means you’re normal.

We’re at the end of this exercise for this season. Final three weeks of the regular season. Two great weeks and one not-so-good week. And get this: that not-so-good week is NOT SEC Sleepwalk Saturday. I think I have to finally retire that name. It’s a sad day in the history of the blog. The retirement ceremony to raise the banner to the rafters will happen sometime in the future. For now, let’s get to the final post of this series.

Week 11

This week is easily the worst of the bunch. I mean still somewhat important in the grand scheme of the season but not nearly as important as the two weeks after it. I want to say Week 11 is Tori but that would be mean as it’s not nearly that bad. So I will say Week 11 is X-Pac or the New Age Outlaws or even Chyna. So still pretty damn important because it will shape part of this season.

Game of the Week: Kansas State at Oklahoma (8:00, FOX) – OK so here is all you need to know about this week in college football. I mean there are some good games but when this is the GOTW, you know it’s not one of the better weeks of the season. As of right now, I have this in the primetime FOX slot although I can see that moving to Noon. Now this goes way up the list if both of these teams are contenders for the Big XII title and possibly the College Football Playoff.

Other Really Important Games: Tennessee at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Tennessee is an interesting team coming into this season. Jarrett Guarantano is back which is a huge plus to the Vols. They have a good enough offense to be considered a possible contender in the SEC East. Saying that, if they beat the Dawgs here, it would be considered a colossal upset and the defining game (up to this point) of the Jeremy Pruitt era.

Memphis at Navy (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – CBS Sports Network almost never shows up on this part of the list. And this is the huge game of the AAC West this season (apologies to Tulane and SMU). Two favourites for the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot. And a place that, honestly, very few visiting teams win at. This is seriously must-see football and could upend the two games previous on this list as the Game of the Week if both of these teams are in the Top 25 coming into this one.

Arizona State at Oregon (Thursday, 10:00, FloSports) – Oregon feels like the easy, no-questions-asked favourite of the Pac-12. Saying that, Herm Edwards can get his Sun Devils up for big games so they will be ready here. Plus if ASU pulls off the upset, it continues the Pac-12’s new tradition of being a complete minefield of a conference with no one team that has to be considered a surefire CFP team.

Baylor at Iowa State (Noon, specialty pack) – Honestly it still feels weird to put Baylor in this spot. But thanks to Matt Rhule they have to be put here until they fall from grace. This is Dave Aranda’s first shot at being a head coach after years being one of the best defensive coordinators in the game. He gets a better chance than most first-time head coaches, starting at a Power Five school. Most people don’t get that opportunity. Which means it really is a huge risk-reward season for him since anything worse than bowl-eligibility would put him on a lava-hot seat in football-mad Texas.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Wake Forest at Louisville (3:30, specialty pack) – Underrated? For sure. But don’t be surprised if one, or both, of these teams are in the Top 25 at this point. Then of course it would be in the most important games section but I digress. This is your typical regional sports network game that would never see the light of day in Canada before now. It’s the kind of game both teams will feel they have to win. Especially since a loss probably eliminates them from winning the ACC Clemson Division.

Best Group of Five Game: Memphis at Navy (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – See above. Seriously good game.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Texas Tech (7:30, FloSports) – Isn’t it nice to have access to FOX Sports One games so you can see this barnburner? Now watch it be one of the more exciting games of the week.

Week 12

Fourth best week of the college football season. The former SEC Sleepwalk Saturday (R.I.P.) is now one of the more important weeks in college football. This means that Week 12 is the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.

Game of the Week: LSU at Auburn (8:00, CBS) – Yes I have selected this game as the SEC on CBS primetime selection for the season. The Tigahs of Louisiana State are the defending national champions and the Tigahs from the Plains could have one of the best quarterbacks in the land in Bo Nix. It was not difficult at all to pick the GOTW for this week. And doesn’t it make sense that the death of SEC Sleepwalk Saturday is headlined by a massive SEC game? It’s just perfect.

Other Really Important Games: Texas A&M at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – Jesus Christ the SEC has put Sleepwalk Week to sleep. Tiger Bowl will be lead into with this game which could be huge again for the first time, truly, since Johnny Manziel was scrambling like a maniac in the Aggie backfield and A.J. McCarron had a girlfriend that Brent Musburger was slobbering all over. This may be the best one-two game combination on CBS ever which is saying something since the SEC on CBS has had many huge doubleheaders (OK it’s not really a doubleheader but work with me here). If CBS is smart, this doesn’t make it to ESPN meaning CBS will win the college football ratings war for the week.

Oregon at Washington (7:30, ABC/TSN5) – Chris Petersen, at home in his La-Z-Boy, will be so happy that this game is a 4:30 local start for his former Huskies team. I’m glad that whole thing is over with. It was whining to the nth degree at the time. You’re still getting on ESPN and FOX quite often so stop bitching. And honestly, many people in the Eastern time zone, myself included, would honestly love to have college football start at 9 in the morning and end at 11:30 at night. How fucking glorious would that be?

Georgia at Kentucky (Noon, TSN3) – Glad to see Kentucky isn’t automatically earmarked for the SEC Network regardless of who they play. This is the third SEC game on this list. It feels like someone is seriously P.O.’ed at me for coining the phrase SEC Sleepwalk Week. Seriously, though, who the fuck did the Bulldogs anger at the SEC main offices? Their schedule, starting October 10th, goes like this: Auburn, at Missouri, Cocktail Party, at South Carolina, Tennessee, at Kentucky. Good fucking God. For an SEC East team that is a gauntlet. They somehow win all those, they should get a CFP spot, regardless of how they do in the other games.

Clemson at Wake Forest (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Another game, another ACC team trying to dethrone Clemson. I mean Wake is too the point where I expect them to win between six and eight games a season and be a thorn in the side of at least one team. I could see this moving to the ABC primetime slot if the Deacs are in the Top 25 which would make it the first time ever they have put that game in Winston-Salem to a full national audience (Wake’s game against Notre Dame in 2011 was a reverse mirror).

Oklahoma State at Kansas State (3:30, FloSports) – This could end up as the premier game on FOX…meaning at Noon Eastern. I am sure that some Big XII fans absolutely loathe 11:00 am start times. Let’s be honest: you either can’t tailgate too much or have to start at like 6 in the morning. As of right now, I have this as the “premier” game on FS1 but considering the state of all the non-SEC games this week, I don’t feel that great about putting them here. But that’s the prediction for now.

Indiana at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – See it’s either the above game or this one. I know the networks love Michigan (and why not with their fanbase) so as of this point, this is the favourite for the Big Noon Saturday spot. How many times has Indiana ended up on these lists this year? God, they better not end up 5-7.

Louisville at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – The weird 2:30 NBC time rears its ugly head again. I hate to say that these games end up being partially forgotten but for their sake, this game better be close to gain serious eyeballs. This may move to a 3:30 timeslot depending on what is on NBC in primetime.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Iowa State at Texas (Noon, ABC/TSN5) – This will not be the Game of the Week and probably wouldn’t make the important games list. But one of these teams will be in serious contention for the Big XII Championship game and that’s almost a guarantee. ABC still might end up with a great schedule if this one turns out good, along with the other two games they have (the aforementioned UO-Washington game and the Battle for L.A. which I have at 3:30).

Best Group of Five Game: Cincinnati at UCF (7:00, specialty pack) – UCF isn’t the UCF of old. The Bearcats have probably surpassed the Knights in the AAC East hierarchy. There are so many possible teams that could come out of the American as true contenders that many of these games feel less important. I think there are honestly six teams, at least, that seem to have an honest shot at the New Year’s Six spot. Most of the conferences are not like this and with UConn gone from the conference, this conference actually becomes stronger funnily enough.

Worst Power Five Game: Miami at Georgia Tech (3:30, specialty pack) – This tells you how fall the Canes have fallen from being The U. Don’t get me wrong: at some point in early October, they will probably be in the Top 25. And then the bottom will fall out and Manny Diaz will be scrambling for his coaching life in south Florida. Geoff Collins is in his second year of leaving the option offense so the Ramblin’ Wreck might actually be a formidable foe here for Miami.

Week 13

The crowning moment of the regular season for college football fans. The week most college football fans look forward to. It’s American Thanksgiving Week(end). And God damn it am I ever going to watch a shitload of football. But, amazingly enough, this is only the third best week of the season! I know right? But it’s still the biggest week of this post. Since this is the pinnacle (again, of this post), there is only one person that belongs in this spot: Triple H. Meaning some teams’ hopes will be buried this week.

Game of the Week: Auburn at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – The Iron Bowl is once again the premier game of this final regular season week but not by much to a few other contenders. I remember last year when they thought of moving this game to Friday and I said it was not a bad idea. I take that back now. It’s probably a terrible idea especially if you were working that day. So I can’t see it ever moving to Black Friday considering how big football has become. Thanksgiving night? That’s a different story.

Other Really Important Games: Michigan at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – One of the other potential Games of the Week. I’d love to say that Michigan has a great chance to finally beat tOSU. But let’s be honest: I will believe it when I see it (which is the same thing almost everyone, even Michigan fans, will say). I know GUS JOHNSON will be hoping that this game is actually exciting since you can tell these days when he is calling a blowout. It’s like all the life is sucked out of him.

LSU at Texas A&M (7:30, specialty pack) – Right now I have this on the SEC Network. For real. I know, I know but this week has a lot of non-SEC games on network TV so I have this feeling that this game may end up on the SEC Network. There, at least I have reasoning behind it. Saying that, it wouldn’t surprise me if this ends up on ESPN.

Wisconsin at Iowa (7:30, ABC) – For the first time, I believe, since Nebraska joined the Big Ten, Iowa does not play them on Black Friday. And considering this might be the de facto Big Ten West Division championship, I can see it ending up here or in the afternoon timeslot on ABC. Both of these teams will be hoping to jump over this hurdle (and the hurdle the following week) to get to the College Football Playoff, something both programs have barely missed.

Kansas State at Baylor (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – OK now that I remember I put this in the afternoon timeslot, there is no way Wisconsin-Iowa would be put here instead of this, unless one of these two teams is in the Top 10. Chris Klieman has done a good job in the Little Apple and he seems to be a bit underappreciated. Then again, that’s the norm for the Wildcats who are almost always underrated.

Texas at Oklahoma State (Friday, Noon, FOX) – The Big XII moving some of their games to Black Friday is an excellent idea as the Power Five mostly ignores that day. With the recent news out of Stillwater, I have this funny felling that Mike Gundy will not be around to see this game. Call it a hunch.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Virginia at Virginia Tech (Friday, Noon, ABC) – After last year’s Commonwealth Cup game, this could be considered the marquee Black Friday game (even though right now I have the UT-OSU game there at this point). I also have a feeling this won’t be as underrated as I think it will be. So why is it here? Well the other options were Kentucky-Louisville, Boston College-Wake Forest and Duke-Miami and I can’t see any of those actually being good games which is kind of part of the criteria here.

Best Group of Five Game: Troy at Appalachian State (Noon, specialty pack) – Troy should be back. I can feel it. And App State is App State. A possible Group of Five elimination game here. This will almost certainly end up on the specialty pack this time around. Other games that could be in this spot include Memphis-Tulane, Air Force-Utah State and Hawaii-San Diego State but I think this Sun Belt game carries the most importance.

Worst Power Five Game: Arkansas at Missouri (Friday, 2:30, CBS) – I was actually tempted to put Illinois-Northwestern here since I don’t know if the Illini will be as good but the Wildcats were atrocious last year. But Arkansas may end up being the worst Power Five team of the season so I kind of had to put them here. Oh well, it’s still college football and if I’m off that day, I know I will watch at least some of it.

Weeks 14 and 15

I don’t rate these weeks, ever (or at least I don’t now). Week 15 is Army-Navy which is always fun. I still wish for a day when we have an 11-0 Navy or an 11-0 Army coming in with a New Year’s Six spot on the line. Talk about ratings! As for all the conference championship games, the Pac-12 is the only one that still ends up on Friday which is fucking dumb but whatever. Any conference based in the Eastern or Central time zones would work much better on the Friday night but hey I’m just a blogger with smart reasoning powers.

All done! The most important games blog posts are in the books and it officially means I am gearing up for college football. Got my first preview magazine: Athlon. I have to call the Phil Steele offices to see when they will be beginning to ship magazines and then hope that Indigo opens up soon so I can buy Lindy’s and Street & Smith magazines. And then I will have all my summertime reading material, whether I am reading in bed, on the couch, on the can while taking a huge shit or in the bathtub (yes I sometimes take baths and read up on college football).

Next up is the network specific posts. I always hope to get it as accurate as possible but as they say, “Card Subject to Change.” This means we are getting closer to the summer (technically it’s four days away) and the final countdown towards college football season. 73 days away from Week Zero and counting down.

Everyone have a happy Hump Day and enjoy the rest of your week!

Quasi-Lazy Bowl Recap and National Championship Preview

Posted on January 3, 2020 by guelphbossman

Let’s get right to the bowl recap (the non-CFP portion). No introduction, nothing. FUCK IT, WE’LL DO IT LIVE!

I watched at least a part of every bowl this season despite the fact I was sick over the holidays. I would say that is pretty fucking awesome but let’s be honest: it’s kind of pathetic. I don’t care though. I know what we are facing in a short while.
Iowa THUMPED USC in the Holiday Bowl (which we could actually watch here this year!). I am assuming people are already questioning keeping Clay Helton for another season.
The Hawaii Bowl was back on Christmas Eve! It felt so right. And it was a great game as Hawaii became the first 10-5 team in college football in over a century after their win over BYU. It beats being the first 9-6 team in over a century if they had lost to the Cougs.
The Cheez-It Bowl was stupid fun yet again. But you kind of knew what you were getting into with that game. It was one of the best rushing offenses against one of the best passing offenses. Now it wasn’t has hilarious as the first iteration of this hilariously named bowl game but it was still a really fun watch.
The Quick Lane Bowl was your normal Quick Lane Bowl: unexciting. Until the end (or close to it). The Eastern Michigan quarterback Mike Glass became a legend. Last minute of play, down four, he gets into some rough stuff with a Pitt lineman and tries to kind of punch him. Instead, he missed and hit one of the officials…well more like grazed his face. But still! Has anyone done that near the end of a close bowl game ever? No. So for that, thank you Mike Glass. He went out with style.
Some tragedy over the holidays. ESPN’s Edward Aschoff died at 34 from pneumonia. And LSU OC Steve Ensminger’s daughter-in-law died in a plane crash on the way to the Peach Bowl. It sucks to lose loved ones at any time but around Christmas is almost a little bit extra heartbreaking.
Yet again, the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six gives a really good Power Five team a run for their money in a New Year’s Six bowl. Memphis kept it close with Penn State for most of the game and showed that they belong. Yes, I get it’s only one game but this continues to be the strongest proponent for an expanded playoff is the fact that the best of the best among the Group of Five can compete when given the chance. I still think growing to eight is not a good idea (I like the idea of five) but I think we know it’s happening sometime in the middle of this decade.
Miami was TERRIBLE in Shreveport. The Manny Diaz 2020 Shitcan Watch has commenced!
The Rose Bowl, again, was a banger. Almost every year that game delivers. I would love to attend one year. Also, I am starting to wonder if they should just make the Rose and Sugar into the semi-finals permanently since New Year’s Day seemed a tiny bit less important in the college football world than it normally is.
Look, if you are an NFL team, you should be salivating over the possibility of drafting Lynn Bowden, Jr. The guy is electric. Will he play quarterback? Doubtful. He isn’t Lamar Jackson in terms of the fact of actually being a good throwing quarterback. But he can do everything else. He could play both ways. With the way the NFL is evolving, some teams need a guy like Bowden.
Talk about two programs going in opposite directions. Louisville is looking like an emerging ACC power (as much good as that is these days) whereas Mississippi State is starting to falter a bit under Joe Moorhead. The Music City Bowl confirmed this. I am starting to wonder if Moorhead is now on the hot seat. If you had told me that a year ago, I would have thought you were nuts. UPDATE: It is confirmed that Joe Moorhead will be fired. Shocking.
Whoever thought to dump the Frosted Flakes on Herm Edwards after Arizona State’s win in the Sun Bowl is brilliant. Also, is it just me or is starting to feel normal that Miami and Florida State are just mediocre and that’s the way it’s supposed to be?
Boston College almost got rained out for a second consecutive year. The Birmingham Bowl was delayed but ended up being played. I mean, the Eagles never showed up as they were destroyed by Cincinnati but at least they got to play the game right?

OK now to the College Football Playoff National Championship. One good semi-final, one not-so-good one. At least Joe Burrow made the first game exciting as he accounted for eight touchdowns. Eight. That was insane. The Clemson-tOSU game was the game we all thought it would be. One of the best semi-finals on paper in the CFP era was one of the best CFP games ever, period. This sets up LSU-Clemson for all the Tostitos. This is why the #1 ranking was so important as there were three good teams and then the next set of teams was easily a tier below. This should be a great game so let’s cross our fingers it is. Expect a massive LSU home advantage being in the Superdome.

Anyway, the game will be shown on all the TSNs, except for TSN2, not this Monday, but the next Monday (January 13th). The game starts at 8:00 with the pre-show on for half an hour beforehand. Last year they didn’t have Coach’s Film Room. They should bring it back since it was some unintentional comedy along with learning a lot from various college coaches. As for my pick for the game I am going to go with LSU getting their first national championship of the College Football Playoff era, 40-27.

I understand that all the bowl games aren’t complete but unless something crazy happens, it will just be some good football to watch (like last night’s Gator Bowl) and nothing really worth recapping (at least by me). This also jives with the quasi-lazy feel of this post.

One more quick thing: the FCS Championship between James Madison and North Dakota State is on tomorrow at Noon on ABC. Good for the FCS to have a game appear on ABC which, if I recall, is the first time this has ever happened.

UPDATE #2: I’m an idiot. The FCS Championship is NEXT Saturday at Noon. I need some sleep.

Enjoy the NFL games and enjoy the CFP National Championship everyone!

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: Manny Diaz

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