Last year I decided to do some looking ahead in the middle of the season. Did it work out then? Eh. So why not try it again? What’s the worst that could happen? Why so many questions?
Will one of the surprise Group of Five teams keep things going into November? Air Force realistically has a clear path to 10-0 now. They end up with UNLV and Boise State and that’s where their mettle will be tested. If they don’t get there undefeated then they may not deserve that Group of Five New Year’s Six spot. James Madison, at this point, really has nothing to play for although that could be scary. They could run the table almost to spite the NCAA at this point. Finally, if things go awry for the AFA, JMU (and Liberty), watch out for Miami-Ohio. Quietly they are 6-1 and have the biggest game of the MAC season against the other 6-1 team in the conference, Toledo. Win that and they could conceivably go 11-1 and pout a lot of pressure on the top G-5 teams.
Is there anyone who will stop a Georgia-Alabama SEC Championship? Are there some small landmines left on UGA’s schedule? Sure. And now with Brock Bowers out for the season, any one of Tennessee, Missouri and, yes, Florida could upend the apple cart so to speak. Out in the SEC West, Bama has a much tougher road to hoe but if they can get through their next two games against the Vols and LSU, it might be clear sailing to Atlanta.
Can Penn State finally push through in the Big Ten East? Yes. This might be their best chance ever. They have to show that, though, this coming Saturday. Lose to Ohio State and forget about it. Win and they will make all Michigan fans nervous until their mega-matchup. This next month will define James Franklin’s tenure at State College.
Which conference will miss the College Football Playoff? Or will it be conferences…plural? If UGA and Bama make it to conference championship weekend undefeated then it will be two conferences being left out almost guaranteed. If not, then it will be a dogfight but I still worry about the Pac-12 and what feels like the inevitable cannibalization which has kind of already started. Washington is their best best but absolutely cannot lose more than one game the rest of the way.
The biggest upset the rest of the way will be…I am going to go with Oklahoma losing to either Oklahoma State in Bedlam or TCU on Black Friday. Something tells me they will not get through unscathed.
Now who will win the Heisman? Caleb Williams isn’t out of the race but man he looked awful in South Bend. Michael Penix Jr. is now the frontrunner but he will have to basically outlast Bo Nix, Jordan Travis, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy of all people who is slowly and efficiently powering Michigan through everyone on their schedule. This might be one of the tightest races in recent memory.
OK enough Nostradamusing….it’s sked time!
Tuesday
US | Canada | ||
Middle Tennessee at Liberty | 7:00 | ||
Southern Miss at South Alabama | 7:30 | ||
WKU at Jacksonville State | 7:30 |
Time for some CU(SA) Next Tuesday action as the two conference favourites play…in two separate games. Some Fun Belt action alongside it as well. I am so loving football every day for damn near two months.
Wednesday
US | Canada | ||
FIU at Sam Houston | 7:00 | ||
New Mexico State at UTEP | 9:00 |
Maybe, just maybe, Sam Houston can finally get their first FBS win. Also, the Battle of I-10 (now a conference game!) is later on as the Aggies and Miners play for the Silver Spade. I also love these less-well-known trophy games. You can always tell it means a lot to these teams even if they don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Thursday
US | Canada | ||
James Madison at Marshall | 7:00 | ||
Rice at Tulsa | 7:00 | ||
NC Central at Morgan State | 7:30 |
Easily the highlight of the weeknight games is the Dukes travelling to Huntington to face off against the Thundering Herd. I hope that JMU can get a waiver to go bowling because if they keep going like this they deserve it. Also, the first of two HBCU games this weekend that you can see up here. Other than Week Zero that is something that almost never happens.
Friday
US | Canada | ||
SMU at Temple | 7:00 |
Look, there’s nothing else on…maybe baseball. So hopefully this one gets weird.
Saturday Early
US | Canada | ||
UCF at #6 Oklahoma | Noon | ||
Boston College at Georgia Tech | Noon | ||
Rutgers at Indiana | Noon | ||
#22 Air Force at Navy | Noon | ||
Western Michigan at Ohio | Noon | ||
Mississippi State at Arkansas | Noon | ||
Memphis at UAB | Noon | ||
Norfolk State at Howard | Noon | ||
#7 Penn State at #3 Ohio State | Noon |
The absolute main course of the week goes off at noon hour with PSU and tOSU facing off. Many hate the fact these big games are on at Noon but I saw a tweet that said this is a good way to get people to watch college football all day as since they introduced the ABC Saturday Night game, viewers shifted their viewing habits and were watching the games starting 3:30 and after way more than the Noon games. Not anymore.
We also have a big Group of Five matchup as Air Force looks to continue their undefeated run in a Commander’s-In-Chief Trophy game against Navy. Finally, Rutgers (RUTGERS!) could clinch bowl-eligibility with a win over the lowly Indiana Hoosiers.
Saturday Afternoon
US | Canada | ||
Washington State at #9 Oregon | 3:30 | ||
Pittsburgh at Wake Forest | 3:30 | ||
Northwestern at Nebraska | 3:30 | ||
#17 Tennessee at #11 Alabama | 3:30 | ||
USF at UConn | 3:30 | ||
Oklahoma State at West Virginia | 3:30 | ||
North Texas at #23 Tulane | 3:30 | ||
Minnesota at #24 Iowa | 3:30 | ||
South Carolina at #20 Missouri | 3:30 | ||
Toledo at Miami-OH | 4:00 | ||
#8 Texas at Houston | 4:00 |
Could the Vols upset the Tide? It’s entirely possible considering how average Bama has sometimes been. Wazzu and Oregon face off in a Pac-12 elimination game of sorts. The two most surprising teams in the Big XII will try and keep their surprising runs going. Imagine one of Texas or Oklahoma loses out on a Big XII Championship spot in their final year in the conference because of Oklahoma State? Or even worse, West Virginia? Big XII fans would never let either school live it down.
Saturday Primetime
US | Canada | ||
Virginia at #10 North Carolina | 6:30 | ||
Utah State at San Jose State | 7:00 | ||
#13 Ole Miss at Auburn | 7:00 | ||
TCU at Kansas State | 7:00 | ||
Appalachian State at Old Dominion | 7:00 | ||
#16 Duke at #4 Florida State | 7:30 | ||
#2 Michigan at Michigan State | 7:30 | ||
Army at #19 LSU | 7:30 | ||
Clemson at Miami | 8:00 | ||
Georgia State at Louisiana | 8:00 | ||
#14 Utah at #18 USC | 8:00 |
The biggest game of the night is…*checks notes*…Florida State hosting Duke? DUKE? Yep. This could be a massive upset if the Blue Devils can pull it off. Also, let’s not understate that if the Noles win it counts as a big win and gives them another big push towards the College Football Playoff.
The rest of the primetime schedule features another Pac-12 elimination game. Imagine saying that the Trojans and Caleb Williams are eliminated from the Pac-12 race over a week before Halloween? Say that at the start of the season and some would have thought you were crazy.
Also, we have a potential Fight Night II as Michigan heads to East Lansing to face Baby Brother, the Spartans. If there’s even a sniff of a potential brawl it will get a lot of attention. I’m sure Captain Khaki will tell his players to steer clear of any of that shit because they have national championship aspirations and any suspensions could cause serious problems.
Saturday Late Night
US | Canada | ||
#25 UCLA at Stanford | 10:30 | ||
Montana State at Sacramento State | 10:30 |
Wow this is….this is technically the late night schedule. Look, if the Montana State-Sac State game is anything like the Montana-Idaho game last Saturday night then this could be a fun one to watch.
Hey, Watch This!
Penn State at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – There is no other game that could occupy this top spot. This is one of the three-team Big Ten East Round Robin Games of the Year (along with the games against Michigan) where one or even two teams will be eliminated from the CFP conversation for having the audacity to be in the same division as the other teams. A loss here doesn’t fully eliminate either team from contention as you will know from my preview posts back in August.
Duke at Florida State (7:30, ABC) – The Blue Devil Dream Season could hit a crescendo at around 11:00. Weeks after, arguably, their biggest win in program history over Clemson they could one-up that if they pull off the monumental upset here. On the other hand, Jordan Travis could re-introduce himself into the Heisman race if he can put on a big performance and lead FSU to victory.
Tennessee at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – Gee, I wonder who Gary Danielson will be pulling for in this one? Look, I am sure there are some people who are surprised that the Vols are only 6 spots behind the Tide in the rankings. You shouldn’t be. As I said above, Bama has looked entirely average at times this season (see their game against USF). Saying all that, this is still the Alabama Damn Crimson Tide and you know Nick Saban will have the players up for this game so UT can’t afford a slow start here.
Utah at USC (8:00, FOX) – If USC hadn’t played poorly last Saturday in South Bend and if the Utes hadn’t looked terrible against Oregon State a couple weeks back, this game could have been close to number one on the list. Instead, both squads will be fighting for their Pac-12 lives which is something no one figured for this game considering there is still more than a month left in the season.
Sickos Game of the Week
Northwestern at Nebraska (3:30, Big Ten Network) – This is why conference networks exist. To bury games like this far away from many eyes while still being able to say it’s being broadcast to a fairly wide audience. I can’t see there being much interest in this game anywhere, except for Wildcat and Cornhusker fans (and even then).
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Army at LSU (7:30, TSN+/SP) – There are speed bump games and then there is this. Unless LSU shits the bed, this is not going to end well for the Black Knights. So no, this is not a speed bump game or a lookahead game or anything else you want to call it. It will probably end up being a good old fashioned beatdown.
Wanna Bet?
Who called the Pitt upset? This fucking guy….I’m pointing at myself. Enough said. Let’s get on to this week’s picks!
UTEP 29 New Mexico State 23
Ohio State 34 Penn State 24
Air Force 39 Navy 38
Ohio 20 Western Michigan 16
Arkansas 21 Mississippi State 14
UAB 38 Memphis 35 (upset!)
Oklahoma State 27 West Virginia 23
Alabama 31 Tennessee 28
North Carolina 41 Virginia 33
Michigan 45 Michigan State 17
Florida State 30 Duke 13
USC 20 Utah 16
Louisiana 25 Georgia State 24
The Bossman Top 26!
It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Yeah, I figured it was about time to whip out the Bossman Top 25 so here it is in all its….well, glory might be too strong a word…wait hold on…oh no. Not the Top 25. I’m going one better. Top 26, motherfuckers! Let’s ride!
#1 | Georgia |
#2 | Michigan |
#3 | Ohio State |
#4 | Washington |
#5 | Florida State |
#6 | Penn State |
#7 | Oklahoma |
#8 | Alabama |
#9 | Oregon State |
#10 | Texas |
#11 | North Carolina |
#12 | Oregon |
#13 | Ole Miss |
#14 | Notre Dame |
#15 | Utah |
#16 | Tennessee |
#17 | USC |
#18 | LSU |
#19 | Duke |
#20 | Missouri |
#21 | Louisville |
#22 | Tulane |
#23 | UCLA |
#24 | Iowa |
#25 | Air Force |
#26 | James Madison |
“Bossman, why don’t you have Michigan at #1?” “Bossman, why do you have Bama up at #8?” “Bossman, why don’t you have James Madison in the Top 25?” Look, I try to base this on how good a team is, their record, and who they have played. You could exchange Air Force and JMU and it makes not a lick of difference. You could flip flop Georgia and Michigan. You could have Oregon State above Alabama. You could do all these things, sure. And it may end up working out that way. I find it much easier (now) to start the rankings in the middle of the season because I have a better idea of where most of the teams should be. Plus I know that all the big games coming up will actually alter how the season plays out, something that can’t be done with a preseason poll.
Football every day, folks. FOOTBALL….EVERY DAMN DAY! Until American Thanksgiving Eve. Embrace it. Everyone have a great rest of the week and enjoy the games!