How my predictions did, short Super Bowl preview, and a few other things

College football is pretty much done for the season (kind of…I will explain this towards the end of the post).  The NFL is almost done for the season.  I have made the decision to not do as many mock drafts this year.  I will do at least one, just before the draft but that may end up being all.  I have no idea when the CFL will begin.  If they are planning a 2021 season then it will begin in late May.  It would be nice to have a season after not having one in 2020.

But let’s get to the main crux of this post: how good or bad my predictions were.  I always assume I did bad so when I do good, I feel good.  Set the bar low and you will always leap over it.  I should be a motivational speaker (a la Matt Foley).  Alright let’s get on with this:

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• I don’t even know if I need to go through this since I did it before the Big Ten and Pac-12 even decided to play:
  • Clemson – Picked them #1 and they ended up #2 and avenged a regular season Trevor Lawrence-less loss against Notre Dame in the ACC Championship.  One for one.
  • Alabama – I figured this was a no-brainer.  I will say I was a bit surprised at how dominant they were though as they rolled to #1 and the national championship.
  • Oklahoma – I had them #3.  Unfortunately the Big XII was trash so the Sooners fell just outside of the Top 4.  And by just outside, I mean WAY outside (even though they were still Top 10).
  • Texas A&M – If the Irish hadn’t beat Clemson earlier in the year, Jimbo would finally get his chance to win the big one in College Station.  #5 ain’t bad, right?
• How about my New Year’s Six picks? Not as good.  But I am taking a pass here.  Having two conferences not in my predictions made it near impossible to match what actually happened.  Saying that, I REALLY whiffed on LSU.  I figured they wouldn’t be as good as last season but that was quite the drop.
• Let’s see, I had Cincinnati ranked….#25.  Damn.  I thought App State would run the table and finally get to a New Year’s Six bowl.  Instead, Coastal Carolina took the conference, and the college football viewing public, on a ride that few will forget.
• I had BYU, Georgia and Virginia Tech being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in but playing in good bowls. BYU was awesome all season, Georgia was also really good despite not winning the SEC East and VaTech wasn’t that bad (but not nearly as good as I thought they would be).  So I did well with these three picks.

Heisman Trophy

• I had Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields as my #1 and #2.  Hey at least they were in the Top 10 at the end.
• I didn’t have DeVonta Smith on my list.  I had put his teammate, Najee Harris on the list, and he ended up as a finalist.  I have a feeling a lot of experts didn’t have Smith on their list so this non-expert feels just fine.
• My picks were mostly OK but I missed BADLY on some.  I mean Bo Nix at #8?  Myles Brennan and Adrian Martinez in the Honourable Mention section?  Sweet Jesus.  Brutal.  Nothing more to say here.

Just A Bunch of Predictions

Normally I would split the good and the bad and the hot seat stuff into separate sections.  I’m not going to bother here

• So many in the media said the Ivy League cancelling Fall sports would be the catalyst for FBS being entirely cancelled.  Guys like Dan Wolken.  It’s amazing who keeps employed in this day and age but we have all seen sports media go to shit so it’s not surprising.
• I couldn’t figure out which conferences were starting their schedules or when and at one point I had the MAC and Mountain West completely opting out and playing in the Spring.  What a gongshow.
• I have said a few times that the Spring season will not happen.  And now it is starting to look more and more like I will be correct.  As of this point, I believe about 15% of the FCS schools have opted out with a few weeks still to before the season begins.
• I figured Texas A&M would lose two games and they would be close and I was bang on.
• Normally the guys in the Doubtful Shitcanning section of my Coaching Hot Seat list do well.  Let’s see how that went this season.  Dino Babers and Syracuse were awful.  Matt Viator was fired and then Tom Herman was also fired at Texas.  So yeah, not a good time for that list.
• I should apologize to Philip Montgomery though.  Man was Tulsa fun to watch this season and came very close to upsetting Cincinnati in the AAC Championship and putting Coastal Carolina in the New Year’s Six.  I thought Tulsa would win one game.  Yikes.
• I said you would see a lot more Sun Belt football on television this year.  I was right.  Which is good because you got to see a lot of Coastal Carolina.  That’s a good thing.
• One more Coastal Carolina point.  I don’t know if there has been a bigger surprise in college football in a long time.  Jamey Chadwell deserved every accolade he got (and some he didn’t get).  If they repeat this next year, look for another conference to take a closer look at the team from Myrtle Beach (OK they are in Conway, but close enough).
• Somehow, no one picked up Billy Napier to coach at a bigger school.  I am a bit surprised.  But Louisiana is very happy he is staying for at least one more season since the Ragin’ Cajuns have become one of the new standards of the Sun Belt (and the Group of Five to a lesser extent).
• Marshall.  An amazingly hot start that went to shit during their last three games.  And it cost Doc Holliday his job.  They are now hoping another coach from the Nick Saban coaching tree can put this program over the hump.
• I should have gone all-in with Oklahoma in the Big XII.  Yes, Sooner fans.  At least plan out your trip to JerryWorld in December every year for the next few.  Nothing is going to change.
• Can anyone win at Kansas?  I am hoping that I am right that next year is the year that Les Miles can pull them out of the basement but I’m not so sure.
• Notre Dame almost won a conference in their first try!  Good for them.   I guess the ACC doesn’t like that so Notre Dame will not be in a conference again starting in 2021.  Poor Irish.
• I had the top 4 in the ACC correct.  NC State did well as the fifth best team in the conference so I missed on them.  But beyond that?  Ugh.  Again, I fell for the Florida State Koolaid.  Damn it.
• Nice to see BYU do so well.  That game against Coastal Carolina was a fun contest that was set up TWO DAYS IN ADVANCE.  See college football?  It can be done.
• Full disclosure: Liberty did WAY better than I ever thought they could have.  But I think that happened to most people, including Liberty fans.
• I almost nailed the American conference except for Tulsa, which I mentioned above.  Had Navy improving, Tulane getting a bit better, Temple struggling, and USF not being good.  I’ll give myself a pat on the bat and a wee bit of scotch.

I had no predictions for the Big Ten and the Pac-12 because they are stupid and started late and thought everyone would follow them.  Same with the MAC and Mountain West.  God, I hope we don’t have to deal with this again.  So yeah, the amount of predictions that I am looking at is a rather short list but there’s not a whole lot I can do.  Also, I am not even going to bother doing a Stassen score since I didn’t have a full set of predictions.

Am I going to even gauge how well I did?  No.  No point.  It was a mess this season.  Let’s forget about 2020.  I know I am trying to.  Now, we are 211 days away from the 2021 FBS season beginning.  Maybe I should try and improve my life in that time.  We’ll see.

The Pro Bowl would have been this Sunday but somehow we have received some luck and it won’t happen.  The Pro Bowl fucking blows.  I don’t understand why it continues like it does now.  Make it completely different or just abolish it already.  Anyway, there will be some weird Pro Bowl Celebration show airing on ABC, TSN1 and TSN5.  It starts at 3.  Who knows what it is.  I doubt I will watch it.

As for the Super Bowl itself, we have Tampa Bay and Kansas City.  I was hoping for Buffalo but they had a great season nonetheless.  The game will air on CBS, CTV, and TSN 1, 4, and 5 on February 7th.  Right now, KC is the 3 point favourites.  That could (and probably will) change between now and game time).  I am not going into a huge preview.  Instead I will just give my prediction.

Chiefs 35 Bucs 23.

I believe Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offensive weapons will be too much for Tampa’s defense.  The game should be close into the second half but I see KC pulling away, giving the Chiefs their second straight Super Bowl win.  So even though the Buccaneers are the first team ever to play the Super Bowl at their home stadium, I think we will have to wait at least another season before a team wins a Super Bowl at their home stadium.

Alright what do we have to look forward to:

• How my NFL predictions panned out.  I already took a look.  Not good.
• Spring football schedAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.   No.  I can’t see us getting any of those spring games up here and really, I don’t care.  And I don’t mean the normal Spring Games that most of the programs have.  I’m talking about quite a bit of the FCS (and New Mexico State) playing Spring football.  I wouldn’t be surprised if most of it got shut down to be honest with you.
• Conference tournament schedule leading up to March Madness.  This could be very interesting because we know March Madness is different this year.  Will the conference tournaments be different?  I’d be surprised if they weren’t.
• Then a pretty big break until the NFL Draft.  I will have a mock draft close to draft time.  I may have one earlier than that but at this point I haven’t determined if I will do that or not.  If you want mock drafts, there are plenty out there.  My favourite is from the site WalterFootball.com.  A lot of great analysis there.

So not much coming up over the next three months.  As per usual.  Remember, the Senior Bowl and Polynesian Bowl college all-star games are still scheduled for this Saturday.  UPDATE: The Polynesian Bowl will not be shown on Saturday on CBS Sports Network.  However, the Hula Bowl, another college all-star game, will be shown on CBS Sports Network.  This game will be at 9:30 on Sunday.  Then that’s it, that’s all for college football for the 2020 season (kind of…I don’t really count the spring schedule as the 2020 season).  Have a great weekend everyone!

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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

4. 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.
5. 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

6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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)

9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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!