Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

You’d think I was employed by Buzzfeed with all these lists I’m making.

So just like last year, I will add a few more lists to accompany the Most Important Games post. It should give you a good idea of the important games to watch (at least at this point) and maybe some games to avoid (unless you are a Sicko like me and will watch any football…even, yes…arena football!)

I know, I know, I have always stated my disgust for arena football but I have to admit it does have its own trashy charm to it. OK let’s just get to the lists, shall we?

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

I used to list a game like this for every week of the season. This time I will rank the top dozen games that should be considered underrated but very good and that didn’t rank in the Top 35 from the previous post.

1. Oklahoma vs. Texas (at the Cotton Bowl) (Week 6, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – First of all, I am not on drugs. Not many are talking about the Sooners and most are calling for the Longhorns to walk off to the SEC with a Big XII Championship title. Do you remember what game this is? It’s the god damn Red River Shootout/Rivalry/Game/Brawl/Drinking Contest. Many times it is ridiculous, crazy, wild and just plain dumbfounding. Don’t count OU out…at least in this one game…….oh the second thing. Yeah, ABC has picked up this game but the time hasn’t been set. It will be either Noon or 3:30 because the State Fair of Texas becomes a gangland shootout at night or something like that.
2. TCU at Kansas State (Week 8, Noon, specialty pack) – The rematch of last year’s Big XII title game loses a bit of its luster but should still be important in the grand scheme of things in the conference. I get it’s not Gary Patterson anymore but Sonny Dykes is already showing he can also make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Chris Klieman will get every opportunity to show off why he got a big extended contract and this is one of those opportunities at home in front of the Wildcat faithful.
3. Iowa at Wisconsin (Week 7, Noon, Big Ten Network) – As I said in the Most Important Games post, it feels like all the conference networks get at least one good game a season now. This could be that game, if it ends up there. Once again this could be for the Big Ten West title but it’s going to feel weird with Wisconsin not running the ball as much. Iowa, on the other hand, should be exactly the same, trying to win games 6-5.
4. Texas A&M at Ole Miss (Week 10, Noon, specialty pack) – Many will sleep on these two teams…wait, bad analogy. I forgot Petrino was at College Station. Anyway, two teams that many will cast aside but it’s almost a guarantee one of them will cause a bit of a stink in the conference. Also, take the over.
5. UCLA at Oregon State (Week 7, 5:30, Pac-12 Network) – Speaking of conference networks, here’s the worst of the bunch. That includes the Big XII’s non-existent network. Look, one of these two teams is going to be very good (I think) and will cause quite a few headaches at the top of the Pac-12 food chain (I think) and will end up being in the Pac-12 Championship (ehhhh, I don’t know).
6. TCU at Oklahoma (Week 13, Friday, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Black Friday will start with a game between a team who just got destroyed in the national championship and a team that normally is great and struggled to be bowl-eligible. Both teams will have something to prove and this could be their last real chance to do so (and make it count) this season.
7. Kansas State at Texas Tech (Week 7, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I guess it makes sense that the Big XII fills a good portion of this section after almost being shut out of my Top 35 most important games of the season. The Red Raiders always put up the points, no matter who the quarterback, head coach, or receivers are. And KSU can also do that when they want to. Should be a shootout (of sorts).
8. South Carolina at Texas A&M (Week 9, Noon, specialty pack) – More Fun Bobby! And Fun Shane…ok that one doesn’t have as good a ring to it. But BeamerBall 2.0 is a lot of fun to watch.
9. Arkansas at Ole Miss (Week 6, 7:30, specialty pack) – Could Sam Pittman be the most lovable coach in the game right now? Perhaps. He still feels like a bit of an underdog and you always root for the underdog, right? Wait…I’m getting something here….a message…ah, OK. Lane Kiffin doesn’t agree.
10. Minnesota at Iowa (Week 8, 3:30, FOX) – Row The Boat vs. Single-Digit Scoring. I am intrigued, I’m not going to lie. Plus we will see the best new tradition in all of not just college football but sports in general, the Iowa Wave.
11. Duke at North Carolina (Week 11, 8:00, specialty pack) – The Eastern version of the Victory Bell could be important once again. Both teams look like they could slot in anywhere from three to six in the ACC this year (with no divisions thank god). So a win here and maybe an upset or two somewhere else and one of these programs will duke it out for a conference championship.
12. Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – The game time is confirmed. I assume it heads to the specialty pack. Too bad because TSN would be smart to pick up this game. The Green Wave, who have to be considered to have the best odds to make it back as the best Group of Five team, hosting Ole Miss in what will be stiflingly hot weather in New Orleans…yeah I like Tulane’s chances but I still think it will be a close one.

Best Group of Five Games

Next up is our friends from the Group of Five. Three of them got invited to sit up at the adult table so overall this group is a tiny bit weaker. That just means other teams will have opportunities that they may not have had before. So let’s look at the best Group of Five games this season. And no, the Ole Miss-Tulane game above doesn’t count. This is full G5-on-G5 violence, bruh.

1. UTSA at Tulane (Week 13, 7:00, specialty pack) – As per usual, the American Conference should make up the bulk of this list. The defending Group of Five champion (and Cotton Bowl champion), Tulane is the favourite to do it again. UTSA is in its first season in the American but already could be the team to knock the Green Wave off their perch. Huge game where I have to favour Tulane only because it’s in New Orleans not the Alamodome where the Roadrunners have a huge home advantage.
2. Air Force at Boise State (Week 13, Friday, 4:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Not having FS1 will deprive Canadians of a lot of good Mountain West action. This should be the conference’s game of the year and the winner probably goes to the Mountain West Championship. Being on the Smurf Turf, I would give the Broncos the slight edge here.
3. South Alabama at Tulane (Week 1, 8:00, specialty pack) – This game is set for ESPNU on opening Saturday and, I can almost guarantee, will head to the specialty pack. The Jaguars (Jag-you-ares) came out of nowhere last season to almost win the Sun Belt. They are the favourites to win the conference and if they can pull the mini-upset here, could feasibly run the table. I guess I could say the same thing about Tulane.
4. Boise State at Fresno State (Week 10, 10:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – Hey it’s CBSSN’s first foray onto any of these lists. CBSSN is a nice palette cleanser really. It shows games you never would have normally watched. Plus it shows most of UConn’s games. I am liking CBSSN having the CFL. Yes it’s just a simulcast of TSN’s showing but it works. Kind of wish they would come up with at least their own play-by-play and analysis and just use the TSN visuals.
5. Tulane at Memphis (Week 7, Friday, 7:00, TSN2) – It’s the time of year when the American and ACC split most of the Thursday and Friday night games on ESPN and their dysfunctional family of networks. TSN tends to show more Friday night games because they can put it on TSN2 and not have it interfere with the CFL’s Friday Night Football. Anyway, yes, it’s the Green Wave again. Bored yet? They might be that good. Maybe even legit Top 12 good if everything falls right.
6. Boise State at San Diego State (Week 4, Friday, 10:30, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – And here comes Boise State again. I mean I want to say there aren’t two obvious frontrunners in the G5 but there are. Both the Broncos and Tulane should be in it to the end to see who gets that single spot.
7. South Alabama at Troy (Week 10, Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Hey it’s not Tulane, Boise State, the American or the Mountain West! Let’s give the Sun Belt a lot of respect. They have become the third-best Group of Five conference and it’s a pretty wide gap between them and the two conferences below them, the MAC and Conference USA. The Battle for the Belt (so good to have a wrestling title belt as the rivalry trophy) should be for the de facto Sun Belt West title unless Louisiana or maybe Southern Miss has something to say about it.
8. Boise State at Memphis (Week 5, 3:30, specialty pack) – This might end up on ESPN or ESPN2 depending on how both teams are doing at this point. I could see it happening because ESPN made a point to trade with CBS for this BSU road game.
9. Tulane at East Carolina (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – I figured East Carolina would have to find someone to replace Holton Ahlers and his 245 passes per game. Instead they plan to completely turn to the running game and grind teams into the turf. If this somehow works, Georgia Tech fans are gonna be real mad.
10. WKU at Troy (Week 4, 3:30, ESPN+) – First Conference USA appearance and it heads to ESPN+. I have that this year for the first time so I am going to have a lot of fun and totally destroy my remote control this season with that. Kind of wish it even got to ESPNU so that the specialty packs could pick it up. I still think WKU and MTSU were foolish not to take the MAC’s potential invite as they are stuck now in arguably the worst FBS conference with not much in the way of rivalries.
11. San Diego State at Air Force (Week 5, 8:00, CBS Sports Network, confirmed) – OK two teams that aren’t quite fitting the mold of the top G5 teams. Nice. And, if things go according to plan, we should see a bazillion yards rushing and the game might be over by 10:00.
12. Eastern Michigan at Toledo (Week 11, Wednesday, 7:00, specialty pack) – Finally we end this list with a MACtion game since I have to. MACtion is awesome. We also have Fun Belt now and whatever the American conference calls their weeknight games. Oh and Conference USA is doing pretty much all weeknight games in October. Crazy! Anyway, this could very well be the two best MAC teams so let’s call this the de facto MAC West championship.

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

Let’s bring back this section because these games are the ones many college football fans feast on. What is better than watching your hated rival lose to a Group of Five team? Not much. And I have always said, Group of Five teams, at least the better ones, should get their shot at Power Five teams to see what they are worth. If it wasn’t for that happening, very few teams would have moved up and the Power Five may have already separated from the rest of college football by now.

1. Ole Miss at Tulane (Week 2, 3:30, specialty pack) – This was already discussed above but it is the biggest G5 vs. P5 game of the season and hosted by the Group of Five team which is a rarity but happening more often these days which is nice to see.
2. UTSA at Tennessee (Week 4, 7:30, specialty pack) – The Roadrunners meep their way up the food chain to the American Conference this season and are already a contender for the league title (and perhaps a NY6 spot). The Vols will be really good this season but a UTSA win her would be massive for the program and for the college football season as a whole.
3. Boise State at Washington (Week 1, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – Everything is confirmed except for if the game will appear on TSN. I believe it will but we won’t know for like another two months. Ridiculous. Washington is looking to ride their Heisman contender quarterback all the way, hopefully, to the College Football Playoff so a slip-up here would almost derail that entire plan.
4. WKU at Ohio State (Week 3, 4:00, FOX, confirmed) – Look, are the Hilltoppers going to win this? No. All we can hope for is for WKU to put a scare into tOSU. If, somehow, they ended up with the upset, it would be the biggest upset in the history of college football and you wouldn’t be able to convince me otherwise.
5. Troy at Kansas State (Week 2, Noon, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – OK now this one has intrigue written all over it. Troy is one of a handful of teams that has legit New Year’s Six aspirations out of the Group of Five. Kansas State is the defending Big XII champions but have a few question marks. This feels ripe for an upset.
6. SMU at TCU (Week 4, Noon, specialty pack) – The Battle for the Iron Skillet. This might be the best one yet if the Mustangs are as good as some say they will be. Not the favourite in the American so they will have to show out in games like this to catch voters’ eyes. This could be a good litmus test to see how far TCU has fallen from last year’s national runner-up team.
7. San Diego State at Oregon State (Week 3, 3:30, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – This could be a tasty affair if the Aztecs step up and prove they could be eventually Pac-12 worthy in football. Otherwise, you might hear a lot of chainsaws going in this one since Oregon State is definitely a dark horse contender this season.
8. SMU at Oklahoma (Week 2, 6:00, ESPN+, confirmed) – Ouch. Seeing this relegated to ESPN+ surprises me a bit but the Sooners are not the team they had been for the past few decades. The Sooners are going to try and come out of the gate swinging but don’t be surprised if the Stangs give them some trouble in this one.
9. UCF at Boise State (Week 2, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – Last year this would have been in the previous section. Now the Knights are in the Big XII but they may still be an underdog on this one. If I were a betting man I would put my money on the Broncos here as they are hoping to run the table and get back to where they believe they belong: as the top dog among the Group of Five.
10. East Carolina at Michigan (Week 1, Noon, Peacock, confirmed) – The debut of Peacock on these lists. I am sure at some point it will be available for Canadians but we aren’t quite there yet. Yeah I don’t think this will be really close but you never know. I wonder if ECU can run on this Michigan offense. If they can, the entire Big Ten will be watching tape of this game all season to see if they can replicate it.
11. UCLA at San Diego State (Week 2, 7:30, CBS, confirmed) – Nice to see the Mountain West appearing on CBS. The week before this we get Texas Tech/Wyoming and here we get a very interesting matchup that could easily lead to an upset, if SDSU has things going by the second week of the season.
12. UTSA at Houston (Week 1, 7:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – The Cougs have stepped up to the Big XII conference. Good for them. Problem is they start their first season back on the top tier of college football against one of the best Group of Five teams. The only thing helping Houston is that the game is in Houston and not San Antonio. I am sure Drunk Uncle Dana will be about seven Red Bulls in by the time this one starts.

Worst Power Five Games

Didn’t think I’d forget this section, right? These are the games that you can probably avoid, unless they are close. They fill conference networks (and really are the reason those networks exist but I will not complain about that) and even sometimes creep onto FOX or an ESPN2 or ESPNU. Sad but true. Spoiler alert: I will still watch most of these games.

1. Northwestern at Rutgers (Week 1, Sunday, Noon, CBS, confirmed) – What a way to show off the new Big Ten on CBS with a game between *checks notes* uh….Northwestern and Rutgers? My God that is not good at all. Who the hell is picking these games at CBS? The only thing I can think happened was that it was the last game remaining…like picking the last kid in dodgeball. Well, nothing else will be on at that time at least in a college football sense so guess what ol’ Bossman will be watching?
2. Stanford at Colorado (Week 7, Friday, 10:00, TSN2) – This is confirmed for ESPN2 but who knows if TSN will pick it up or not. Look I understand there is a lot of hype with Deion Sanders now coaching at Colorado. And that’s a good thing for that program. But they will struggle to be bowl-eligible this season. Now Stanford….that’s a different story. They are back to the days before Jim Harbaugh and then David Shaw resurrected this program. They may just be the worst Power Five team at this point. What a fall from grace.
3. Virginia Tech at Virginia (Week 13, Noon, specialty pack) – What happened last year at Virginia was tragic. Three players gunned down late in the season. UVA rightfully cancelled their final two games, including the Commonwealth Cup game against VaTech. Now they are back but this will not be an easy season for the Hoos, both on the field and emotionally. The Hokies are as bad as I have ever seen them be. Then again, I only mostly saw them as a Frank Beamer team. Beamerball, this is not. Look, I hate putting this game here but these two teams might be god-awful this season.
4. Rutgers at Indiana (Week 8, Noon, Big Ten Network) – Rutgers is, unfortunately, back to being Rutgers. And Indiana without Michael Penix Jr…well we found out they were bad. Both coaches will be on the hot seat with Tom Allen in the much hotter seat for sure. The loser might not win a Big Ten game this season.
5. Virginia at Boston College (Week 5, Noon, specialty pack) – As for non-Virginia teams in the ACC who probably won’t be going bowling, BC comes to mind. I can’t see them finding the magic formula especially with a young, relatively untested quarterback manning the ship.
6. California at Stanford (Week 12, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Ah, the worst of the conference networks. What a shitshow it is. Anyway, The Big Game will be anything but big this season as I already mentioned how bad Stanford will be and I don’t know how many people outside the Cal football program care about Cal football. A shame, really.
7. Colorado at Arizona State (Week 6, 9:00, Pac-12 Network) – Remember when ASU was the laughing stock of the Pac-12 for like a second? Everyone thought their ship was going to come crashing down. Well it did but other teams flew past them into the basement. That doesn’t mean this is some kind of comeback story, though. They still aren’t good and will be fighting for bowl eligibility. Wins in games like this are a must for that to happen.
8. Georgia Tech at Virginia (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – It feels kind of weird watching Georgia Tech play football when they aren’t running the Paul Johnson option offense. You know, I’m starting to think they never should have changed from that. Made them unique and helped them win just as often as they lost.
9. Virginia Tech at Rutgers (Week 3, 3:30, Big Ten Network, confirmed) – Hey let’s dip into some non-con action now. I would ask who the hell scheduled a game like this but it was probably scheduled back when the Hokies played their first season in the ACC.
10. Arizona at Stanford (Week 4, 7:00, FOX Sports One) – I have to be honest: Jedd Fisch has already exceeded my expectations for a) his coaching in Tucson and b) a guy named Jedd. This team is on the brink of getting back to postseason play for the first time in years. I will put the over/under on fans attending this game at 14,000.
11. Arizona State at California (Week 5, 9:30, Pac-12 Network) – I am still on the record saying that there should be a pure sports-style Netflix or Amazon Prime out there. One where you can add or subtract whatever channels you want based on sport, country, etc. Would it be the death knell to cable? No but it would be quite the flesh wound. By the way, this game has some pretty good Pac-12 After Dark vibes to it and could get wacky because both teams are just not that good.
12. Northwestern at Nebraska (Week 8, 2:30, Peacock) – I would be remiss if I didn’t include Nebraska somewhere on this list. They’ve fooled and many others over the past few years. So until they prove it, I will not take the bait. Nope, no more. I refuse to drink the Husker Koolaid.

Alright, done and dusted. A reminder that tomorrow is the end of the fiscal year for pretty much all the FBS schools. There are rumours that something on the realignment (oh god that word) front could happen by the end of the night or the very next day. Last year it was USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. Can’t see anything as big as that but you never know.

Well, I would like to wish everyone a great Canada Day weekend and Fourth of July celebration. We are less than two months away folks. Nice to be talking college football again.

This continues to be a gongshow – Week 4 College Football TV Schedule

So here we go again with more cancellations/postponements.  I think we need to expect this pretty much all season.  The Coronavirus is not going away any time soon.  And football is a contact sport so expect at least a few positive tests every week.  Saying that, when you have a position that you can’t even have a two-deep at, that’s troubling considering how many players are technically on a college football team.  The recap of issues from Week 4:

• USF-Florida Atlantic has been postponed.
• North Texas-Houston has been postponed.
• Tulsa-Arkansas State has been outright cancelled.
• Notre Dame-Wake Forest has been postponed to December 12th.

It wouldn’t surprise me to hear, in the next 24 hours, that there is another postponement.  I mean I do this on the side but I can’t imagine people who follow college football for a living trying to piece together schedules, predictions, bowl game projections, etc.  If I had any hair on my head I’d pull it out.

So after three weeks of, well, what we saw, we finally get some really good college football this week.  The SEC returns this week!  You can love or hate the SEC but you have to admit that it’s still the top conference in college football.  So having them back is a huge plus and makes this college football Saturday that much more exciting.  Now will it end up being an amazing weekend?  We have to watch the games to find out.  That’s part of the fun of college football because you just never know.  Let’s get to the schedule!

Thursday

		US	Canada
UAB at South Alabama	7:30 PM

Only one game.  Not good.  What is good?  UAB is still the Conference USA favourite and South Alabama is much improved since last year in the suddenly difficult Sun Belt.  And no I’m not joking.  Remember, it’s also mid-week college football and that is good.  Especially if the Thursday Night Football game is awful.  Which, lo and behold, it is.  I know people go apeshit over the NFL (and fine I do too at times) but it’s the Dolphins and the Jags.  Hell, the college football Jags will be more fun to watch I think than the pro Jags.

Friday

		US	Canada
Middle Tennessee at UTSA	8:00 PM

Only one game on Friday as well.  And if you’re a CBS Sports Network fan, it’s their only game of the entire weekend.  When they don’t have an Army or Navy home game this season, there won’t be much to air I don’t think.  Especially with all the conferences getting more opportunities on bigger networks.  Anyway, UTSA has to be considered the favourite here.  Again, I am not joking.  College football is messed this year and I am kind of enjoying it, not gonna lie.  Now let’s hope for some 2007 shenanigans and it will be the most talked about college football season ever.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#13 UCF at East Carolina	Noon
#24 Louisville at #21 Pittsburgh	Noon
#5 Florida at Ole Miss	Noon
Georgia Southern at #19 Louisiana	Noon
Kansas State at #3 Oklahoma	Noon
#23 Kentucky at #8 Auburn	Noon

We are now at the beginning of the annual TSN step-up when it comes to airing college football games.  Kind of.  With no CFL, there is no real reason why there shouldn’t be a bunch of games on TSN channels this year but we shall see.  In terms of this specific timeslot, it is, so far, the best timeslot of the season so far.  Every game we can see up here has at least one ranked team in it.  And you will notice TSN2 should have issues this day since they will jump from ESPN2 here to ABC in the next timeslot to ESPN in the final two timeslots.  Why don’t they just stay with one American network all day?  Nope, gotta make it more difficult because reasons.  Oh yeah, UCF-ECU on ABC might be the most bizarre change to a college football schedule ever.  Basically it’s the only Noon game that could be moved there.  Pirate fans must be pleased.  Funny story about East Carolina: years ago there was a possibility myself and my family would have been moving to Greenville, North Carolina, home of the East Carolina Pirates.  I dreamed of being a season ticket holder there.  Alas, it was not to be.  And considering the way the team has been for almost a decade, maybe not a bad thing.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
West Virginia at #15 Oklahoma State	3:30 PM
Mississippi State at #6 LSU	3:30 PM
#8 Texas at Texas Tech	3:30 PM

Notice something here?  Yeah, no specialty pack games.  I will get to that later on in this post.  But CBS finally returns with SEC football!  And it’s a pretty big one to start with Mississippi State travelling to Baton Rouge to face the defending national champs.  The other two games could provide some intrigue as well only because we are early in the schedule and in OSU’s case, the team doesn’t look nearly as good as many people (myself included) thought they’d be.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
#2 Alabama at Missouri	7:00 PM
Florida State at #12 Miami	7:30 PM

Oh man.  This is just…meh.  Bama is obviously way superior to Mizzou.  And after FSU’s loss to Georgia Tech, it doesn’t feel like their game against The U will be close either.  So by halftime you may be looking for something else to watch.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Troy at #18 BYU	10:15 PM

Mormon After Dark!  Seriously though this should be a good game and we will find out if BYU is seriously for real.  Because if they are, the rest of their schedule might be a cakewalk.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Kentucky at Auburn (Noon, TSN1) – This could end up being a great game as both teams have a lot on the line here.  Both teams are ranked and both are in their divisional race at the start.  Not saying either team is CFP-worthy but with an upset or two, either team could be in the New Year’s Six which would be big for the Tigers and MASSIVE for the Wildcats.  Funny how this game is not on CBS but I am sure they had to have the defending national champions be the first team on the SEC on CBS for 2020.

Army at Cincinnati (3:30, ESPN but not here) – So normally this game would be on the specialty pack.  Stay tuned for that horseshit.  Anyway, the Group of Five favourite Bearcats face Army who could be headed for a special season of their own face off, I think for the first time since Army’s ill-fated Conference USA run.  The loser may struggle to get anything during bowl season.  The winner here continues their early hot run before the Big Ten ruins the AP rankings.

Georgia Southern at Louisiana (Noon, TSN2) – Fun Belt Time!  The Ragin Cajuns!  The option offense!  This conference is fun and now everyone gets to see it way more often.  Louisiana continues their run to try and be the first Sun Belt team in the NY6.  The Eagles, however, are known as spoilers in this conference.  Just ask Appalachian State.  Could low-key be the best game of the early timeslot.

Mississippi State at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Nope, the first game on the SEC on CBS (and the first one to be called by our pals Brad and Gary) is not the game of the week.  Yes, it has LSU but they lost damn near everyone on offense it feels like.  Mississippi State might now have Mike Leach but I don’t think they have the quarterback to run a Mike Leach offense.  So this could be a really weird one.  I mean I expect LSU to win but I don’t like the chances of either team this season to make some real noise.

West Virginia at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I would love to say this is your PEW! PEW! PEW! matchup of the week.  But after what happened last week with the Pokes I don’t know anymore.  This could team could be the worst Top 15 team in September not named Michigan or Florida State in a long time.  And it’s bizarre considering they have Mike Gundy, an offensive guru and former star quarterback in Stillwater, at the helm.  Don’t count out the Mountaineers here as they could shock a lot of people in Neal Brown’s second year in Morgantown.  Now watch them combine for over a hundo and make me look like an idiot.

Honourable mention: Louisville at Pittsburgh (Noon, TSN5); Florida State at Miami (7:30, ABC); Troy at BYU (10:15, TSN2)

Some gambling fun and games

A couple games didn’t happen and the rest I didn’t do too well on.  Yes I picked Louisville (ugh). Yes I picked Appalachian State (double ugh).  Yes I picked Tulane…ok enough of this let’s just get on to the fucking picks this week alright?

Florida over Ole Miss

Florida State over Miami (yes a huge upset)

Texas over Texas Tech

UAB over South Alabama

LSU over Mississippi State

Louisiana over Georgia Southern

Oklahoma State over West Virginia

Pittsburgh over Louisville

Cincinnati over Army

BYU over Troy

Auburn over Kentucky

OK so now the story of the specialty packs.  Last week I received a message from Rogers saying they would not be airing college football games on the Super Sports Pack.  Reader Gordo had a great take on this saying that because all the sports seasons have been shifted, nothing would be on the Super Sports Pack starting in October except for college football.  And with it being, unfortunately for us, the least popular of the Super Sports Pack sports (yeah I don’t get it either), Rogers probably decided it made no sense to put effort or money into putting these games on there.  Their thought probably is that TSN will show anywhere from one to three more games per week than they did last season.  Whether that happens we don’t know.  I assume the other cable companies with these specialty packs are doing the same and that is the reason.  This is awful for college football fans in Canada.  Pair this with FloSports not showing FS1 games means that Canadians get less games now than they have in over a decade.  And they wonder why people go to other means to get their college football fix.  I hope with the Big Ten planning their return in late October that this decision will be reversed for November but for now it looks grim.

Anyway, there is also a Thursday Night Football game.  And it’s……………….the Dolphins and the Jags.  Good lord.  Saying that, I hope one of the quarterbacks, let’s say Gardner Minshew because he is fun, to go off and throw for like 400 yards tonight.  I honestly think this is the time where they should have an open bar for the Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for TNF.  Call it a Hall of Fame celebration for Buck, I don’t care.  It could be the most entertaining game of the year if they allow two drunk commentators just say whatever the fuck they feel like.  Anyway, enjoy the games everyone.

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

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.

Another one bites the dust (the Conference USA preview)

I couldn’t even get my Coaching Hot Seat post out before a coach was shitcanned!  Jay Hopson is out as the head coach at Southern Miss.  OK he resigned but I have a feeling he would have been fired shortly if he hadn’t quit.  Now this may come as a surprise to some and initially I tilted my head to the side in wonderment of this move.  Saying that, the Golden Eagles have been stuck being pretty good in the conference but nothing better.  They aren’t back in the Larry Fedora days.  And now that there are reports that players basically quit on Hopson late last year and in this year’s opening week upset loss to South Alabama, it makes a lot more sense.  Also, he didn’t exactly get along with the president of the university after trying to hire Art Briles last year.  So this was just a situation waiting to happen and they just need the proverbial straw to break the camel’s back.  The loss to South Alabama provided that.

OK so I am not going into get into my feelings on Conference USA.  They are fairly well known.  And I don’t think they are wrong.  The good thing (one of very few good things) about COVID-19 is that Conference USA will get more national attention.  They don’t have the NFL Network deal anymore which kind of disappeared out of nowhere.  But they should have more games on CBS Sports Network to replace the MAC and also should appear on ESPN networks to replace other conferences who would usually show up there.  This is all good stuff.  So let’s get to my predicted standings and then we will get to Conference USA Comments:

		Conference		Overall
	East	W	L	W	L
	Marshall	6	1	6	3
	Florida Atlantic	5	2	7	2
	Western Kentucky	5	2	7	4
	Charlotte	4	3	5	6
	FIU	2	5	3	6
	Middle Tennessee	1	6	2	8
	West
	UAB	7	0	9	2
	Louisiana Tech	6	2	8	3
	Southern Miss	6	2	8	4
	Rice	3	5	3	5
	UTSA	2	5	3	9
	North Texas	2	6	3	8
	UTEP	0	8	2	10

Conference USA Comments

• God where do I begin with this.  So many issues.  The first you will notice is that there are only six teams in the East.  That’s because Old Dominion decided to opt out of playing in the Fall.  I respect their decision as everyone else should too.  But if the conference can finish their season, it paints the Monarchs in a bad light, rightly or wrongly.  That could affect recruiting going forward, especially for a newer FBS program.
• The other big thing you will notice is the unbalanced schedules.  With Old Dominion out, there was almost no way to change the conference schedule to make it so all teams played the same amount of conference games without completely starting over.  Also, each team has a different amount of non-conference affairs.  Rice has none now thanks to their game against Houston being postponed at the very least.  Meanwhile there are some teams that have full four-game non-conference schedules.  So it will be definitely a bit of a dog’s breakfast here with the standings.
• In the West, things have spread out a bit.  UAB is quickly becoming the class of the division, a step above Louisiana Tech.  And yes, even though there is the Hopson issue in Hattiesburg, I still think Southern Miss will have a good season.  North Texas, on the other hand, without Mason Fine, will drop to near the bottom of the standings, ending their sojourn at the top of the West.
• UTEP is seriously bad.  I mean they’re a bit better than last year but not by much.  Watch out for Rice starting to improve and sneaking up the standings.
• Marshall looked seriously good this past weekend.  And I believe they will hold off the few teams below them to win the division crown.  Not like a 6-3 record scares anyone in college football but hey, it’s 2020, and that’s what you’re gonna get.
• On the other end of the scale is Middle Tennessee who looked atrocious against Army this past weekend.  Yes it’s the Black Knights and it can be difficult to defend against the option offense but seriously, they looked overmatched in every single way.
• As for the conference championship game, I think the Blazers will win it and it might not be close.  Or it will be.  Hell I don’t even know anymore.
• Again, no real discussions about bowl eligibility here but I have a feeling five wins, instead of six, will be the qualification point this season.  Just a thought with schedules being all over the place.

Alright so we have actually gone through a weekend of college football, albeit one that more resembles Week Zero.  We have another one coming up.  More games, but still not nearly as many as we are used to.  But the lack of late night games I’m starting to think will be a good thing…at least for my sleep patterns.  I will not do a recap for this past weekend since there’s not much to report.  BYU looked amazing against Navy last night, as did Army against Middle Tennessee.  You already heard about the upset South Alabama laid on Southern Miss and then there were some other FBS vs. FCS games.  Nothing huge.

OK next up is the Big XII in my conference predictions.  And of course, I will be doing my schedule post later this week.  Soon enough we will get into the real swing of things.  It feels like we are going up a steep hill right now, like the first part of a roller coaster.  Soon enough, we will put our arms up and scream in excitement of a college football season (or at least what we will end up getting in 2020).

The NFL also starts in two days so there’s going to be a lot more football soon.  This is a good thing.  Let’s hope there are no issues with the Coronavirus for all the teams and for any of us.  Have a great week everyone!

The 2018 College Football Coaching Hot Seat List – Sponsored by these two jamokes

You know, it was a relatively quiet college football offseason.  It really was.  Then these two became stories and all that went to shit.  Personally, I think universities have to take it upon themselves to hold these coaches to a high standard.  Otherwise this stuff happens and, more often than not, the head coach comes out relatively unscathed and many others are thrown under the bus in his stead.  Durkin should be gone and I would be shocked if he wasn’t.  I also believe Urban should be fired even if you want to say it’s just for the optics of the program.  Hell, Jim Tressel was fired for less and people acted like he was the devil.

HOT SEAT TIME!  This post has been actually fairly accurate over the years.  Hopefully I can keep it up because let’s be honest, it’s not like my predictions, as a whole, are setting any records here.

Let’s just get to the list shall we?  This is ordered (like every year) from most likely to be fired to least:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. D.J. Durkin (Maryland) – Things were looking up for the Terps.  Then we find out that this guy is a shitbag bully…well, more of a shitbag bully than your average college football coach.  Let’s be honest: most college football players have thick skins.  But this guy went WAY over the line and often.  Needed to keep his job – Maryland admin to put their heads in the sand.  Prediction – Will be gone before the season even commences leading to a gongshow of a season for the Terrapins.
2. Scottie Montgomery (East Carolina) – ECU is wanting to step into the way-back machine and not fire Ruffin McNeill.  It has been an unmitigated disaster since he left.  That’s not all on Montgomery but man it’s been tough to watch how things have deteriorated in Greenville.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – Will be gone mid-season and will end up as a position coach in the next year or two somewhere.
3. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – I think this experiment is about dead.  No offense to Lovie but it’s different than coaching in the NFL (you hear that Herm Edwards?) and they still don’t have the players needed to compete in the Big Ten.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility, plain and simple.  Prediction – He will either be fired late in the season or will coach the last one or two games as a lame duck coach.  So yeah, he’ll get to November but that’s where it will be the end of the line for ol’ Lovie.
4. Brad Lambert (Charlotte) – This is a tough one…kind of.  Charlotte has been awful since becoming a football program.  To be frank, they should have stayed in FCS for another few years if not a decade.  Instead they move right into Conference USA and get pummeled every season.  This year should be no different for the only coach the 49ers have ever known.  Needed to keep his job – Creeping towards bowl eligibility so like 4 or 5 wins.  Prediction – Lambert will slink back to FCS (if not lower) after they fire him at season’s end.

Probable Shitcanning

5. David Beaty (Kansas) – I should probably put him in the top section but Kansas is kind of weird that way.  Honestly, he should have been fired after last season’s debacle.  Lawrence is a tough place to coach football but the higher-ups at Kansas seem to be giving him a lot of chances so who knows what the plans are beyond this season. Needed to keep his job – At least four wins.  Prediction – I honestly cannot see the Jayhawks winning a conference game…maybe they’ll upset a team and win one.  So the chances of them winning four games is slim so I see him being fired after the season ends.
6. Bob Davie (New Mexico) – Things were looking up for Bobby down in Albuquerque.  The Lobos were getting better running the option offense almost like they were a military academy or Georgia Tech.  Becoming bowl contenders on the reg.  Now, a pretty bad season and reports that Davie treats his players like shit.  Great.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and probably more since it’s New Mexico and letting that kind of crap happen can’t be good for a program that has done almost nothing in football ever.  Prediction – Under .500 and him hoping that he might be able to snag an ESPN job for 2019.
7. Everett Withers (Texas State) – Texas State.  Another FBS disaster.  Even Dennis Franchione couldn’t truly turn this program into a bowl game contender.  Needed to keep his job – Surprisingly 4 may do the job.  Prediction – Less than 4 wins and another coach search for the Bobcats.
8. Mike Neu (Ball State) – Ball State has been more of a non-factor in the MAC than any other program not named Kent State in the past five years.  Despite the fact that he’s a former Ball State QB, they may figure out that he was not the right hire to make at the time.  Needed to keep his job – Making some of the teams in the MAC West play hard to beat them.  Prediction – Will be at the bottom of the MAC West and will be let go after the season.
9. Mike MacIntyre (Colorado) – MacIntyre actually suffers from the 2016 season where the Buffaloes played out of their damn minds and won the Pac-12 South.  Other than that year, Colorado has been mostly a doormat their entire Pac-12 stay.  They won’t be in the basement this year but it might take a lot to quell a fairly unhappy fanbase.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and being competitive against some of the upper echelon conference teams.  Prediction – Just missing out on a bowl game giving the AD and the brass a tough decision to chew on in the offseason.
10. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) – I don’t foresee any way that the Red Raiders are anything more than the one team better than Kansas in the Big XII this season.  I believe the Kute Kliff Kingsbury era is probably pretty much done in Lubbock.  Needed to keep his job – 6 wins.  Prediction – He won’t make it to 6 and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was let go with a game or two remaining on the sked so they can start the search for a new head coach early.

Possible Shitcanning

11. Randy Edsall (UConn) – His return to Storrs has not been good.  Saying that, he is trying to rebuild the program in his image the way it was in his first go-around with the Huskies.  I just think he won’t be sticking around to see what happens with his recruits.  Needed to keep his job – Any sort of noticeable improvement.  Prediction – Not a whole lot of improvement but that’s tough to judge.  This will again be a case of an AD having to take a long, hard look as to what the future of the football program should look like and who should lead it.
12. Urban Meyer (Ohio State) – This is a tough one.  Should he be fired?  Probably.  Will he be?  That’s a different story.  He left Florida a bit of a mess and looks like he is starting to do so in Columbus as well.  I think it’s very possible he will be fired but I can see it being a bit of a mid-season knee-jerk reaction type of thing rather than a “we are doing this at the start of the season” type of thing.  Because for all the good they may want to do, they remember the Luke Fickell disaster.  Needed to keep his job – For tOSU to value winning over, well, pretty much everything.  Prediction – He  will be on the sidelines for opening day at least.  Beyond that, who knows.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

13. Kalani Sitake (BYU) – As patient as BYU will be, they can only show so much patience.  This is a program that is used to, at the very least, winning records.  I still think as long as there is some semblance of improvement they will give him more time.  Needed to keep his job – Get back to a bowl game.  Prediction – 6 wins, invitation to a lower-level bowl game and another year to hopefully continue improving the Cougars.
14. Mark Stoops (Kentucky) – Another place that is tough to coach because of the conference they are in.  The Wildcats haven’t too bad considered the few coaches they had previous to Big Game Bob’s brother.  Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season.  Prediction – This will be interesting.  I only have them down for four wins so this could be a borderline call here.
15. Ed Orgeron (LSU) – I honestly feel for ol’ Eddie here.  Unless the Tigers win 10 games in the regular season, his job will always be in jeopardy according to the rabid LSU fanbase.  And the fact he replaced Les Miles who was a damn good coach for most of his time in Baton Rouge doesn’t help him any.  Needed to keep his job – 8 wins at the very least.  Prediction – I have LSU winning exactly that many which means the rumblings will continue well into the 2019 season.
16. Larry Fedora (North Carolina) – Look we all know that injuries took their toll on a North Carolina team that was already going to be hard-pressed to get to even 7 wins.  But that was definitely a collapse of somewhat epic proportions last year.  Anything resembling that this season and they will tip their fedoras to Fedora and bid him adieu.  Needed to keep his job –  Improvement toward being a contender again.  Prediction – Tough to measure but the Tar Heels won’t be as bad as last season.  That’s almost a certainty.
17. Chris Ash (Rutgers) – I could have just copied what was here last year because he is in the exact same spot.  Rutgers has, again, become a terrible place to coach Power Five football.  They long for the days of the Big East that’s for sure…well, except for that Big Ten cashola, know what I’m sayin?  Needed to keep his job – He’s fine for now because no one wants to coach in Piscataway or wherever the hell Rutgers is.  Prediction – Does it really matter?  They aren’t going bowling anyway.  Maybe next year.
18. Tony Sanchez (UNLV) – As much as it has ever been in Vegas, it’s a make or break year for the Rebels.  They were one horrifically bad loss last year from going bowling.  Not going bowling this year would be disastrous considering the state of the MW West Division (other than SDSU and FSU).  Needed to keep his job – At least go bowling.  Prediction – 8 wins and possibly even a spot in the Mountain West Championship and Sanchez should get an extension of sorts.

As you may have noticed there is no mention of Brian Kelly or Jim Harbaugh on this list.  I have fully come around to the fact that unless either of these two guys shit the bed with their respective teams, they will be back next season.  Man, some fanbases are seriously harsh.  Then again, these guys are multi-millionaires so they better have thick skin and a propensity not to listen to most people.

The final post is coming up for my predictions and it is my Heisman ballot (if anyone had been foolish enough to give me a Heisman ballot).  Then the season begins!  4 days away!  Other than the game on CBS Sports Network I still have no idea what’s happening with the specialty pack.  I have a feeling I will have to figure this out over the next day or two.  At least this year I won’t be duped into fully believing that any ESPN games would appear during Week Zero and then get pissed off when they don’t.  At least that’s what I am telling myself.  Enjoy your day everyone!

Bowl Game Rankings starring Uncle Verne

OK so the TSN schedule is finally out for all the bowl games.  I am a bit shocked it took this long since the first bowl game is tomorrow.  Oh well, it’s up and that’s good…I guess.  Except the fact that more games are on the specialty pack than are on TSN.

Before we begin with the bowl game rankings, let’s discuss the Army-Navy game.  Wasn’t that fun?  I tend to forget why it has its own Saturday.  I get the pageantry and the importance of it all but the logical side of me considers it a tiny bit of an annoyance to come after the College Football Playoff rankings come out.  Very small bit but it’s still there.  But then I remember how often the game is good.  Like really exciting.  This past Saturday’s affair was no different.  Army breaks a fourteen game losing streak to the Midshipmen with their win, sparking a massive celebration.  Is Army finally a decent team for good?  We shall see.  Navy and Air Force have been good for years now so there’s no reason why the Black Knights, with that frustrating-to-defend-against option offense, shouldn’t be good.  Also, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump was there to shit on the quality of football played on the field.  He should know a thing or two about a shitty football organization: he was a part of the USFL.

And this time around it was special for another reason: the last college football game ever called by one Verne Lundquist.  No matter if you thought he was good or not is beside the point.  He’s a legend in the college football broadcasting business, plain and simple.  If you did a college football broadcasting Mount Rushmore, you would have him, Brent Musburger, and Keith Jackson as shoo-ins.  The fourth?  Who knows?  Pick one.  Brad Nessler perhaps (who incidentally is Verne’s replacement)?  I don’t really know.  That would be a tough call.

And speaking of Verne….I am bringing back the UNCLE VERNE SCALE for the bowl rankings this year.  It is only fitting.  Let’s not waste any time!  I am also going to put times and dates and networks.  I will do this in order of amount of Vernes, five being the most, one being the least.

FIVE VERNE TERRITORY! (Yes, SIR!)

This set of games are your must-see ones.  So basically the College Football Playoff, New Year’s Six, and one other bowl game.

Fiesta Bowl – #2 Clemson vs. #3 Ohio State (Dec. 31, 7:00, TSN2) – Yes, the New Year’s Eve CFP games are annoying.  I get it.  I don’t know what I am doing for this New Year’s but I do know it will probably involve my kids.  Hey why is it so difficult to find babysitters these days?  When I used to babysit as a teenager there were a ton of people my age doing it.  Now not so much.  This game is probably the cream of the crop and is the one CFP game that seems to be in doubt.  My pick: Ohio State 34-28.

Peach Bowl – #1 Alabama vs. #4 Washington (Dec. 31, 3:00, TSN2) – Remember, the World Juniors is on between Boxing Day and the first week of January.  Every.  Single.  Game.  And it takes up a whole bunch of channels.  Also the Spengler Cup is still a thing.  So the two most important games of the year go to one TSN channel.  Not impressed.  My pick: Alabama 44-23.

Rose Bowl – #5 Penn State vs. #9 USC (Jan. 2, 5:00, TSN2) – USC is the hottest team in college football not from the Dirty South.  Even though the Nittany Lions are ranked higher, I can see them being in real tough here.  I kind of wish the Rose Bowl (and the Sugar) went back to being on ABC.  It won’t but it makes it easier for a lot of fans to not play TSN Channel Roulette to determine where the Granddaddy of Them All is on.  My pick: USC 38-20.

Orange Bowl – #6 Michigan vs. #11 Florida State (Dec. 30, 8:00, TSN2) – The World Junior schedule gets mighty crowded at this time of the year.  So again, only one TSN channel because god forbid we miss that hot Czech Republic-Switzerland matchup (or whatever the fuck is on this day).  Also, we were denied a Harbaugh-Fleck mega-matchup but this will be quite good too.  My pick: Michigan 32-24.

Cotton Bowl – #8 Wisconsin vs. #15 Western Michigan (Jan. 2, 1:00, TSN2) – I really want to pick Western Michigan.  I really want the Broncos to row that damn boat all over the field.  I do because I believe PJ Fleck, waiting until after bowl season is done to entertain job offers, is going to miss out on all of those job offers.  And let’s be honest: this is a once-in-a-lifetime team at WMU.  Will never happen again.  So I am going to pick them.  That makes me feel happy.  My pick: Western Michigan 40-27.

Alamo Bowl – #10 Colorado vs. #12 Oklahoma State (Dec. 29, 9:00, specialty pack) – Nice to see the Buffs back in the top tier again.  It feels like the 90s again!  Actually, going back to the Big Eight would be a good idea I think.  Bringing back the Southwest Conference would be a little less exciting considering how the last decade went for them.  Ouch.  My pick: Colorado 38-35.

Sugar Bowl – #7 Oklahoma vs. #14 Auburn (Jan. 2, 8:30, TSN2) – I do find it kind of funny that the worst team in the New Year’s Six is probably Auburn.  From the SEC.  Yeah.  Let’s be honest: the SEC this season was Bama and a bunch of mediocre teams.  Kind of a sad send-off to Verne dontcha think?  My pick: Oklahoma 36-10.

FOUR VERNES!  QUATRO VERNE-OS! (In your life have you seen anything like that???)

Just a cut below the must-see games, most of these will still be good to watch and most college football fans will try to catch most of these games (usually with a beer or four and a couple bags of nachos).

Las Vegas Bowl – Houston vs. San Diego State (Dec. 17, 3:30, ABC) – One of the very few games (nine in all) that aren’t on ESPN.  The best pre-Christmas bowl, without a shadow of a doubt, is this one.  Houston has already had a lot of national attention but this will be the country’s best look at Donnell Pumphrey, the best running back nobody knows.  An NFL team would be smart to pick this guy up in the draft.  My pick: Houston 24-20.

Citrus Bowl – #13 Louisville vs. #20 LSU (Dec. 31, 11:00, ABC/TSN2) – Morning FOOTBAW!!!!!  It should be like this every week to be honest with you.  Who really cares if the game starts at 11:30 or even 11?  OK maybe the players and the coaching staffs but when has the NCAA cared about them in the past?  Final look at one Leonard Fournette before he enters the draft.  Watch him decide to sit out to avoid injury.  My pick: Lamar Jackson’s Team 27-26.  UPDATE: Fournette is done and will turn pro.

Sun Bowl – #18 Stanford vs. North Carolina (Dec. 30, 2:00, CBS) – Hey the Sun Bowl gets a great matchup.  One of the best non-CFP/non-NY6 bowls this season.  I still think it is ridiculous that the SEC does not get to be in the Sun Bowl, a game broadcast on CBS, the home of the SEC (kind of).  Then again, when has the bowl tie-ins ever really made sense?  My pick: North Carolina 37-28.

Russell Athletic Bowl – #16 West Virginia vs Miami (Dec. 28, 5:30, specialty pack) – It’s BIG EAST WARFARE!  You know, I used to like the Big East.  Then again, when you get a game almost every week in your area (whether you like it or not), you start to appreciate the nuances of the conference.  Except Rutgers.  I don’t think anyone really appreciates Rutgers these days.  My pick: West Virginia 27 Miami 17 Drunk Uncle Dana 6 (Red Bulls)

Music City Bowl – #21 Tennessee vs. Nebraska (Dec. 30, 3:30, specialty pack) – So this would be probably the best game on the specialty pack.  Means you get the best games without ordering it.  That’s a good thing (for them).  I would be very interested to see what happens if the Vols get blown out in this one.  Do they take ol’ Butch out behind the barn or do they give him another chance?  Either way can you hurry up?  Les Miles is waiting.  My pick: Tennessee 29-28.

Boca Raton Bowl – Memphis vs. Western Kentucky (Dec. 20, 7:00, TSN1/TSN4) – This game will have a lot of points.  This is almost suited to arena football.  My advice?  Take the over.  My pick: Western Kentucky 53-48.

Texas Bowl – Kansas State vs. Texas A&M (Dec. 28, 9:00, TSN2) – Too bad Texas hadn’t blown a gasket in at least one of their seven losses.  A Texas-TAMU matchup would be huge for ratings, despite the fact the Aggies were mediocre this season and the Longhorns were below-average.  Instead we get Bill Snyder, the best 108-year-old coach I know.  I don’t know how he is still alive to be honest.  My pick: Texas A&M 21-14.

THREE VERNES! (An answered prayer!)

These are the games where if you are a college football fan you will watch these.  Many others will not though.  Especially up here in Canada.  And ESPECIALLY when the World Juniors are on.  I mean what would you rather watch: a hot Latvia-Slovakia barnburner or the Belk Bowl?  If you’re reading this I have a pretty good idea what you would pick……………….it’s the Belk Bowl right?

Camellia Bowl – Appalachian State vs. Toledo (Dec. 17, 5:30, TSN2) – Two teams that probably would have been fun to watch against a mid-card Power Five team.  Either way, one of the best G-5-on-G-5 matchups during bowl season.  Oh and is Appalachian State going to evolve into the next Boise State?  The way they have played their last two seasons it kinda feels that way.  My pick: Appalachian State 30-13.

Belk Bowl – #22 Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas (Dec. 29, 5:30, specialty pack) – I am hoping for at least one shot of Bret Bielema’s hot wife during the telecast.  It will make up for the fact that we have no clue which Arkansas will be showing up.  Let’s hope for the “good” Arkansas.  Oh, and got to give Justin Fuente credit for what he did in Blacksburg.  Let’s see how he follows this up.  My pick: Virginia Tech 42-23.

TaxSlayer Bowl – Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky (Dec. 31, 11:00, specialty pack) – I feel this game is not getting its due.  Probably because of the fact it’s New Year’s Eve and the other two games are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more important than this one.  But the Wildcats are competing once again in the SEC and the Fighting Option Offense of Georgia Tech is back after an awful season last year.  I still don’t think it will be amazing but it should entertaining leading into the College Football Playoff.  My pick: Kentucky 39-34.

Outback Bowl – #17 Florida vs. Iowa (Jan. 2, 1:00, ABC) – If you take the over in this game you are a fucking fool!  I was about to knock this down a star but I was reminded that despite the fact this game will be a nightmare to people who love scoring, the game could very well be close and it’s still two Power Five teams.  A close game between 2 P-5 teams should always be watched.  My pick: Florida 12-9.

Holiday Bowl – Minnesota vs. Washington State (Dec. 27, 7:00, specialty pack) – Member when the Holiday Bowl always had good teams playing?  I member.  Not saying neither of these teams are good but the cache isn’t there this time around.  Wazzu is fun to watch on offense but their defense makes people cry.  Minnesota is just…well….Minnesota.  And they may not even play.  If they truly boycott the game and Northern Illinois has to take the red eye in to San Diego to play this will go to 5 Verne territory just for the media shitstorm.  My pick: Washington State 41-22.

Armed Forces Bowl – #25 Navy vs. Louisiana Tech (Dec. 23, 4:30, TSN1) – Before the Army-Navy game I would have favoured Navy by a ton.  Not so much anymore.  They’ll still win but it will be close for at least a quarter-and-a-half.  Still surprised Ken Niumatalolo didn’t get any play for the head coaching vacancies.  My pick: Navy 39-23.

Dollar General Bowl – Ohio vs. Troy (Dec. 23, 8:00, specialty pack) – Is Dollar General like the Dollarama up here?  If so, how the hell do they afford sponsoring a bowl game?  I think we are going backwards with this.  Soon enough very few bowl games will have sponsors in the name.  Maybe it will lead to less bowl games.  Not a bad trade-off if they can space them out properly.  My pick: Troy 29-28.

Military Bowl – #24 Temple vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 27, 3:30, TSN2) – Can you believe this Wakeyleaks stuff?  Ridiculous.  And totally glossed over because it’s Wake Forest.  If this was at Florida State, the entire program would be shuttered because it would be a COLLEGE FOOTBALL TRAGEDY or some shit like that.  That radio guy is a dick though.  My pick: Wake Forest 38-35 (even without the Owls getting any “help”).

Poinsettia Bowl – BYU vs Wyoming (Dec. 21, 9:00, specialty pack) – I feel like half the bowl games are in San Diego or Orlando.  It’s actually six but that’s still nuts.  Especially since Qualcomm (or the Murph as it is somewhat affectionately called) is a bit of a shithole.  Anyway, Craig Bohl has done great things with Wyoming this season.  Winning a bowl game won’t be one of them.  My pick: BYU 35-15.

Two Vernes (Nope.  No Awesome Verne call here.)

Now we are getting into the games that you would have to be a real college football fan to watch.  I will watch most of these but may not like myself after doing so.

Liberty Bowl – Georgia vs. TCU (Dec. 30, Noon, specialty pack) – A year ago if you had said Georgia-TCU many ears would have perked up.  Not so much this season.  Not that either team is bad.  They are just both a shell of their former selves.  I’m not worried about the Horned Frogs since Gary Patterson is that the helm there.   The jury is still out on Kirby Smart (and Alabama assistants moving into head coaching positions in general…I think).  My pick: TCU 24-16.

Pinstripe Bowl – #23 Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern (Dec. 28, 2:00, specialty pack) – James Conner has been the inspiration for the Pitt Panthers this season.  I sincerely hope he does well at the next level.  Also, by the way this team plays offense (see their game against Syracuse for example), this could be over quickly.  My pick: Pitt 43-7.

Independence Bowl – NC State vs. Vanderbilt (Dec. 26, 5:00, specialty pack) – To the chagrin of all Wolfpack fans, NC State has decided to retain Dave Doeren as head coach for next season.  It’s not like he’s bad; he just hasn’t helped the team progress really at all.  Vandy on the other hand is fun to watch and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them give Derek Mason an extension.  Also, bonus points if he starts dancing on the sidelines.  My pick: Vandy 28-17.

Cactus Bowl – Baylor vs. Boise State (Dec. 27, 10:15, specialty pack) – Baylor has gone through a rough season.  Starting 6-0 and giving everyone hope and then they go 0-6 to finish the season.  Brutal.  Plus with all the issues with some of the players and Art Briles and Art throwing the assistants under the bus.  Such a mess.  Good luck to Matt Rhule as he has to try to make chicken salad out of rotten chicken shit.  This shouldn’t be close.  My pick: Boise State 44-16.

Foster Farms Bowl – #19 Utah vs. Indiana (Dec. 28, 8:30, FOX) – How FOX got this game of all games is beyond me.  Well, not beyond me.  I understand it’s a Pac-12 vs. Big Ten showdown.  But the calibre of this game…ugh.  The Utes should mop the floor with them.  Should.  Who knows now that the Hoosiers have a new head coach.  No, the Utes should blow them out of the water.  My pick: Utah 42-17.

Idaho Potato Bowl – Colorado State vs. Idaho (Dec. 22, 7:00, specialty pack) – I can see the Vandals (that’s Idaho’s team name if you didn’t know since we never see Idaho on TV here) playing some inspired ball in a bowl game in their much, much more talented state brethren’s stadium.  I think the Fighting Petrinos of the Middle of Nowhere end their penultimate FBS season with a win.  Kind of looks good on the NCAA as a whole that this program is moving down to FCS but could win a bowl game in their second last season.  My pick: Idaho 39 (potatoes) – Colorado State 28.

Bahamas Bowl – Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion (Dec. 23, 1:00, specialty pack) – 1:00 on the specialty pack before Christmas.  How in the hell can anyone watch this game?  It will go to my PVR but I can’t promise I will watch most of it.  I am interested in seeing a game between a first-time bowl team and a team that hasn’t bowled in thirty years.  I can see it being a very jittery first quarter.  My pick: Old Dominion 42-31.

New Mexico Bowl – New Mexico vs. UTSA (Dec. 17, 2:00, TSN1/TSN3) – The first bowl game of the season has been the New Mexico Bowl in the past few years.  And usually we have a pretty exciting game.  I can see this one being pretty good.  New Mexico’s underrated option offense against first-time bowlers UTSA.  Going to be close, but I see the Roadrunners pulling this one out.  Meep Meep!  My pick: UTSA 31-23.

Birmingham Bowl – South Carolina vs. USF (Dec. 29, 2:00, specialty pack) – This is my fourth season (I believe) imploring the Birmingham Bowl to just cease to exist.  They play in a shitty field that either needs major renovations or to be set on fire and usually it’s between two teams that no one really wants to see.  I am very interested to see how USF does with Willie Taggart now gone to Oregon but I can’t foresee South Carolina winning this (although next year will be VERY interesting in the SEC East).  My pick: USF 45-24.

Quick Lane Bowl – Boston College vs. Maryland (Dec. 26, 2:30, TSN2) – OK.  First off, it is going to sound like everything is echoing inside Ford Field.  There is no chance that the stadium will be even half full with these two teams playing.  Secondly, of all the games TSN could pick up (and it was only 16 this year), they choose this one?  This is what the World Juniors does to us.  Makes TSN pick up bowl games that probably even they don’t want.  Ugh.  My pick: Does it matter?  OK fine it’s Maryland 31-13.

One measly Verne

This would be like if they decided to replace Uncle Verne with Pam Ward or had Teddy Atlas do “analysis” on college football games on CBS from now on.  It would be a big disaster and CBS would lose their SEC contract to ESPN and then everyone would hate both networks a lot more.

I don’t know how much of these games I will watch but I can safely say that unless I have NOTHING else going on (which probably won’t happen), I won’t watch the whole thing.  I will just keep checking the ticker on my phone and if it’s close in the second half I’ll turn it on (or at least leave it on PVR until I can watch it).

Cure Bowl – Arkansas State vs. UCF (Dec. 17, 5:30, CBS Sports Network) – I actually ended up getting CBSSN again recently as part of a package.  I wasn’t paying no $7 a month for this channel.  But $2 a month I can handle…I think.  So I get to see this bowl now.  I am not that excited.  UCF is essentially playing at home and has to feel lucky that Scott Frost wasn’t lured back to Oregon.  I don’t think the home advantage will help but I can see this being a close game which is the only thing that keeps it from being named Worst Bowl Game of the Year.  My pick: Arkansas State 39-35.

Miami Beach Bowl – Central Michigan vs. Tulsa (Dec. 19, 2:30, specialty pack) – Oklahoma State fans are STILL stewing over that loss to Central Michigan.  And I STILL think it’s hilarious that they even allowed that play to happen, never mind that the game should have been over before then.  But don’t worry Pokes fans, CMU will lose and probably lose big to the juggernaut Tulsa offense.  My pick: Tulsa 52-20.

Hawaii Bowl – Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee (Dec. 24, 8:00, specialty pack) – My Christmas Eve tradition has become having this game on in the background while I do the finishing touches on wrapping presents.  So yeah I don’t pay a ton of attention, at least through the first half.  And why should I?  It’s a sparsely attended bowl game that is usually shit.  I hope with the Fighting Rainbow Warrior Roloviches playing that they get a good crowd.  If not, scuttle this bowl.  Even if it is a destination that the players will love.  My pick: Hawaii 47-37.

New Orleans Bowl – Southern Miss vs. UL-Lafayette (Dec. 17, 9:00, TSN2) – Isn’t UL-Lafayette sick of going to this bowl?  Don’t get me wrong, I know going to a bowl game is a big deal to the players but when you go to the same one almost every time it has to get old.  I can’t see the magic of that first time the Ragin Cajuns went there.  And it was an awesome game with a game-winning field goal with no time left from 50 yards out.  That’s the college football I love.  This, not so much.  My pick: UL-Lafayette 31-14.

Arizona Bowl – Air Force vs. South Alabama (Dec. 30, 5:30, MyTV) – This bowl game finally gets its own timeslot (kind of).  I know Air Force is there to give this newer bowl game some street cred but South Alabama being there is not moving the needle at all.  This should be over relatively early.  My pick: Air Force 37-7.

Heart of Dallas Bowl – Army vs. North Texas (Dec. 27, Noon, specialty pack) – I had this at the very bottom of my list for a while but after the Black Knights’ performance in the Army-Navy game I moved them up a spot.  But only one spot.  This still will be a tough game to watch from start to finish.  And to be honest, I don’t know if I will.  If I have my kids then it goes to the PVR to an uncertain viewing future.  My pick: Army 33-20.

St. Petersburg Bowl – Miami-OH vs. Mississippi State (Dec. 26, 11:00, specialty pack) – This is the dirt worst.  The field sucks.  The Trop is a shithole.  They never have decent teams.  I like morning football but not this.  I mean Miami-OH is a nice story.  Started 0-6 and won six straight to go bowling.  Good for them.  And Mississippi State was in the SEC which made the mediocre this year because every team not named Alabama was average.  This shouldn’t be even close though.  This is the bowl game that should tell the college football world that they’ve gone too far with the postseason.  My pick: Mississippi State 54-14.

Done.  The bowl schedule is set.  We have a lot of college football to watch between tomorrow and the day after New Year’s Day.  Savour it.  Drink it in because come January 10^th there will be no football for seven-and-a-half months.  I am starting to get queasy just thinking about it.  Either that or I am getting the flu.  Anyway, enjoy the games everyone!

Week 13 College Football TV Schedule – Sponsored by ‘MURICAN TURKEY DAY FOOTBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the fuck else are you doing today (or tomorrow or on Saturday)? WORKING? OK that makes sense since us Canadians beat the Americans to the Thanksgiving punch by a month and a half every year (you think the Yanks would figure this out and try to beat us out once and make their Thanksgiving September 28th one year). But really, there is so much football on the next few days you could go into a coma (not saying it explicitly but that may be my goal). There are about 50 God damn games on from now until Monday night. If you are a football fan, this is your Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter all rolled into one. If not, piss off and let us have this one time of the year (other than the Super Bowl) where we can all go insane about football.

Alright let’s get down to business. First off, let me mention that there are three NFL Murican Turkey Day games today:

• Philadelphia at Detroit (12:30) – FOX
• Carolina at Dallas (4:30) – CBS (Yes CBS….it’s Crossover Craziness!!!!)
• Chicago at Green Bay (8:30) – NBC

Also, all these games are on pretty much all the Sportsnets I am sure.

Now to the college games and I am using a different format this time around. It’s my Murican Thanksgiving format I used last year where I list every game one-by-one. It gives more info and makes this post look that much more impressive (unless you like tables, then you’re gonna be some kind of pissed. Here we go! (* – game isn’t showing up on guide yet but should)

Tonight

USF at UCF (7:30, TSN5) – USF still has a shot at the AAC East title and the opportunity to screw up the Group of Five New Year’s Six spot by winning here. They would need to win and have Temple lose their game for this to happen. On the other side, UCF is finishing one of the worst seasons in recent history. They try to avoid a 0-12 season here.

Friday

#15 Navy at Houston (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – The biggest Group of Five game of the season here. The winner, chances are, clinches the Group of Five spot but they would still have the AAC Championship Game and, in Navy’s case, a game against Army. The fact this game is on ABC shows how much the American is better than any other Go5 conference.

Western Michigan at #24 Toledo (Noon, CBS Sports Network) – Toledo, thanks to Northern Illinois’ somewhat shocking loss the other night to Ohio, has the inside track on the MAC West title and an outside shot at the New Year’s Six. Of course, the Broncos could row that damn boat and basically end the MAC’s chance to sit at the adult table.

Miami at Pittsburgh (Noon, specialty pack) – The teams are better than they were last season when Pitt backed into a bowl game with a win over a Miami team that looked like they had quit on Al Golden (shocking I know). The teams are better this season and this means even less. Both teams are bowling and that’s all.

Missouri at Arkansas (2:30, CBS) – Mizzou has a chance to send Gary Pinkel out with a bowl game. They need to win here to do so. The Fighting Bielemas are already playing over the holidays.

#4 Iowa at Nebraska (3:30, ABC) – Huge game here with huge stakes. For Iowa, they win here, they go to the Big Ten Championship with a shot at the College Football Playoff on the line. For Nebraska, they somehow win, they go to a bowl game like they are supposed to (right?). Mike Riley needs this or else he starts his second season in Lincoln on the hot seat.

Boise State at San Jose State (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – SJSU needs a win here to go bowling. Boise isn’t as good as previous years so it’s a possibility.

#20 Washington State at Washington (3:30, FOX) – The Apple Cup is somewhat big for the Huskies as they have to win to go bowling. The Mike Leach Fun-time Gang has already had a successful season no matter what happens here.

UMass at Buffalo (4:30, specialty pack) – UMass’s final game in the MAC is against a Bulls team that needs a win to go bowling. So much bowl-eligibility going on this coming weekend.

#7 Baylor at #19 TCU (7:30, TSN1/3/4/5) – There has never been a college football game on four TSN stations at one time. Baylor still has an outside shot at getting to the CFP but needs a lot to happen, including beating the piss out of TCU here. The Horny Frogs will try their best not to let that happen. Plus I am sure horny is the last thing thought of at Texas CHRISTIAN University.

Tulsa at Tulane (8:00, specialty pack) – Yet another game involving a team looking for bowl-eligibility. The Golden Hurricane wins here over the Green Wave (two teams without plural team names…interesting) and they play over the holidays.

Saturday early

#8 Ohio State at #10 Michigan (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – The Game is still huge despite the fact both teams would need Michigan State to lose to win the Big Ten East Division crown. It’s been a while since Michigan was this good but Harbaughll has been the name of the game in Ann Arbor. Should be a good one.

Florida Atlantic at Old Dominion (Noon, MyTV) – This game will get eyeballs solely for the fact that Old Dominion has a shot to become bowl-eligible for the first time in program history. Other than that, this will probably suck balls.

Indiana at Purdue (Noon, Big Ten Network) – The Hoosiers can FINALLY make it back to a bowl game by beating their rivals from Purdue here for the Old Oaken Bucket. Purdue is still terrible and Darrell Hazell may very well lose his job with a loss here.

Cincinnati at East Carolina (Noon, CBS Sports Network) – The Pirates need a win here to go, you guessed it, bowling. Team Tubs can ruin ECU’s season with the win here.

Georgia at Georgia Tech (Noon, TSN1) – Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. One of the best rivalry games around…except for this season. Georgia is trending towards average and Tech blows. Let’s just hope for a good game here because otherwise there are other options early.

#1 Clemson at South Carolina (Noon, TSN5) – TSN stepping up their game this weekend. Nice to see. The Tigers can complete their perfect regular season with a win here over the woeful Cocks (I’m sure Woeful Cocks is the name of some porno out there). The USC of the east displaying their, ahem, “talent” for their next coach, whoever that may be (Kirby Smart?)

Virginia Tech at Virginia (Noon, specialty pack) – The Commonwealth Cup is Frank Beamer’s last chance to go to a bowl game before he retires. He has to remember it is UVA he is playing and that they aren’t that good. If the Hoos don’t fire Mike London after this season I will assume it’s a self-esteem issue more than anything…for the university not London.

Maryland at Rutgers (Noon, specialty pack (Rogers only)) – I am guessing the BTN alternate game will head to the specialty pack for Rogers customers. I don’t know why you’d want to watch this game but it is an option.

Louisville at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack (Bell only)) – This feels familiar. Yes, just like last season, Kentucky comes into the Governor’s Cup needing a win to go bowling. Louisville is already in so beating their foes is more of a pride thing for them.

Boston College at Syracuse (12:30, specialty pack*) – With all the options, why would you subject yourself to this.

Duke at Wake Forest (12:30, WSBK/specialty pack) – Another ACC game that is almost unwatchable. Duke has struggled as of late after Miami’s non-touchdown ruined their division championship hopes. And Wake is Wake. Only go here if every other game is on a commercial break.

Saturday afternoon

#14 North Carolina at NC State (3:30, ABC/specialty pack) – OK this needs some explanation. If you get ABC out of Buffalo you get this game on ABC. If not, you get this game on the specialty pack and it’s still not showing up there. North Carolina’s NYS hopes could be gone if they lose here so they need momentum going into their ACC Championship game against the #1 Clemson Tigers.

Wisconsin at Minnesota (3:30, Big Ten Network) – Last season this game was huge. This year, not so much. Minnesota can go bowling with a win in this one. The NCAA is hoping some of these 5-win teams win or otherwise they have to do their jobs and figure out who gets to play in some of the bowl games.

#2 Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – To be honest, this may be the only SEC game that matters this week. Alabama wins and they go into the SEC Championship at #2. Lose and the SEC may be in a heap of trouble when it comes to the College Football Playoff.

BYU at Utah State (3:30, CBS Sports Network) – Two pretty good teams but in a game that means absolutely nothing as both teams are going to bowl games.

#22 UCLA at USC (3:30, ABC/TSN4) – If you get ABC out of Detroit, you get the game on ABC as well. Everyone gets this one on TSN4. Huge game here as the winner goes to the Pac-12 Championship to try and keep Stanford out of the New Year’s Six (since I truly believe the CFP is not happening for the Cardinal).

Penn State at #5 Michigan State (3:30, TSN5) – Sparty wins here and they go to the Big Ten Championship game with a shot at the CFP. Lose and they will be lucky to be in the NYS. It’s pretty cut-and-dry here for MSU.

#16 Northwestern vs. Illinois (in Chicago, 3:30, specialty pack) – So this time around it’s only Illinois needing a win to play in a bowl game. Northwestern has been very good this season (except for that inexplicable hiccup against Michigan) but this game means very little to them other than keeping the Illini out of the postseason.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee (4:00, specialty pack (Bell only)) – To be honest, I don’t have a single reason why you would want to watch this game.

Saturday primetime & late night

UConn at #25 Temple (7:00, specialty pack) – I really do not understand how the later games are already on the guides, yet the earlier ones aren’t. So stupid. Anyway, Temple needs a win here or a loss by USF on Thursday (fat chance) to go to the AAC Championship to possibly destroy the American’s chances at the New Year’s Six. And no, this isn’t a trophy game DIACO!

#18 Ole Miss at #21 Mississippi State (7:15, TSN5/specialty pack) – There is no way this stays on the specialty pack unless they are doing a Finebaum Alternate Viewing thing which, I will admit, was somewhat hilarious last year for the Iron Bowl. This year’s Egg Bowl not nearly as important unless Bama blows a gasket against Auburn. Then it’s massively important.

#6 Notre Dame at #9 Stanford (7:30, FOX) – Huge game for both teams but mostly for the Irish since, even with a win here, I find it hard to believe Stanford could vault themselves into the CFP. Then again, the way this season is going, the Cardinal could end up in the #2 spot for all we know. Stranger things have happened. This has to be considered FOX’s game of the year.

#13 Florida State at #12 Florida (7:30, TSN3/specialty pack) – Again, this will not be on the specialty pack. Good on The Committee for dropping the Gators like a stone (somewhat). That performance against FAU was terrible. But they can go right back into the top 10 with a win here. Winner probably gets an NYS spot, loser won’t. Plain and simple.

Texas A&M at LSU (7:30, specialty pack (Bell only)) – Another game where this no real value to watching it, other than when all the other games are at commercial breaks. Oh, and the fact there is an insane rumour that Les Miles could be shitcanned by LSU. Are they fucking stupid? Unless they have a really good replacement, this would be a boneheaded move because the team only won 7 or 8 games this season. HOW DARE THEY!

#3 Oklahoma at #11 Oklahoma State (8:00, ABC/TSN1) – BEDLAM!!! This game is huge and now that the Sooners are at #3, if they win this game, they pretty much clinch a CFP spot. So the Hee-Haw version of OSU can cost the Big XII yet again and fuel EXPANSION TALK by winning this one.

Colorado State at Fresno State (9:00, CBS Sports Network) – An odd start time for a game that very few people will watch.

Air Force at New Mexico (10:15, specialty pack) – I think by this time, most hardcore college football fans will be in a coma. Lucky for you, with two option offenses playing each other, this game may be done by midnight.

Nevada at San Diego State (10:45, specialty pack) – I may not even be able to make it to the end of this one.

OK, there are more spots on the specialty pack guides than there are games to show. This means one of two things: a) they will be showing some ESPNEWS/ESPN3 games or b) those spots will magically disappear by the end of today. I am going with b) on this one since there’s already enough college football on (I can’t believe I am saying that), there is no reason to put anything extra there.

Enjoy the football when you can and hopefully you survive!

UPDATE: Most of the games appearing on the specialty packs.  Only exclusions (as of right now) are Boston College-Syracuse and Duke-Wake Forest (although Duke-WF is on WSBK already so no loss there).

 

Biggest Games of the 2015 College Football season – Part ONE!

Hey, hey, it’s that time kids!  Time to look at the biggest games of the college football season.  It’s the one thing I can do mostly right and be pretty close to what all those fancy experts say.  I can do this a bit earlier this year because more scheduling information has come out at an earlier time than in previous years.  I have to make some good educated guesses as to what channels they will show up on here in Canada (and more specifically Southern Ontario) but those are usually pretty bang on as well (and Sportsnet makes it easy by not showing any college football….thanks Rogers!).

Unfortunately we are still 79 days away from the opening of the college football season.  Well, 79 days from the first game being aired that we can see (if you have one of the specialty packs).  It’s an FCS game but it’s still college football dammit, and I will watch it come hell or high water (what a stupid saying).  Speaking of specialty packs, I wonder what will happen to them for the 2016 season when pick n’ pay is all the rage?  I can save that for another post.

Before we begin with the actual games, let’s take a look at a week-by-week ranking.  I have ranked the weeks based on best games scheduled (as of this point) to worst schedule of games.  For the most part, this ranking makes sense.  The weekly schedule rankings from first to worst go a little something like this (I have included the Saturday the schedule is focused on in parentheses):

1. Week 13 (November 28 – American Thanksgiving)
2. Week 10 (November 7)
3. Week 7 (October 17)
4. Week 5 (October 3)
5. Week 11 (November 14)
6. Week 3 (September 19)
7. Week 1 (September 5)
8. Week 6 (October 10)
9. Week 12 (November 21)
10. Week 8 (October 24)
11. Week 4 (September 26)
12. Week 9 (October 31)
13. Week 2 (September 12)

I did not include the final week of the season since that’s conference championship week and of course they are important.  It’s probably also sponsored by Capital One or Chick-Fil-A or one of the other few companies ESPN tends to use over and over again.  I also haven’t included that pesky Army-Navy game since it is also very important but is messing up that darn brand-spankin new College Football Playoff.  I think it would be hilarious if Navy was undefeated, won the American conference championship, and then either barely beat Army or laid an egg and lost.

It makes perfect sense that the American Thanksgiving week has the best schedule pretty much every season.  At least a dozen rivalry games, games all day Friday and Saturday, and games of huge importance littered throughout makes it special.  So special I try to get the Friday off to watch them all day.  Another thing that isn’t surprising is that two of the bottom three weeks are in September.  Other than Week 1 (which has the excitement of the start of a new season) and Week 3 (there’s always one fairly good week in September), the other two are filled with non-conference affairs and many of them not that great.  But, hey, it’s college football so again, I will watch as much as I can.

Alright, here we go with the top games of the season (part one):

Week 1

Alabama vs. Wisconsin (in Dallas) – Opening week and Wisconsin is playing in Texas in a neutral-site game yet again.  Will they play three decent quarters and then shit the bed again?  To be honest, depending on Nick Saban’s mood, the Badgers may not be that close to begin with. (8:00, ABC/TSN3)

Ohio State at Virginia Tech – Hey, remember what happened last season?  That’s right, the one thing that made tOSU’s inclusion controversial was The Fighting Beamers’ shocking win over the Buckeyes.  Then after that the Hokies were fantastic, right?  Right?  Is this mic on? (Monday, 8:00, TSN3)

Arizona State vs. Texas A&M (in Houston) – Another one of the way-too-many neutral site games nowadays.  It makes it feel a lot cheaper when there are about 40 of them scattered across the college football schedule.  Anyway, this should be a good one.  Both teams are considered dark horse contenders for the New Year’s Six and the loser here has a much tougher road to hoe for sure. (3:30, specialty pack)

Texas at Notre Dame – This feels like it would have been more important like ten years ago.  Back when Vince Young wasn’t broke.  Back when Charlie Weis was semi-successful as a head coach.  Ah, the good ol’ days.  Honestly, the Irish look like they could break through this year and this opening game will show everyone how good they are against fairly stiff competition.  This may be the beginning of the Charlie Strong Termination Watch as well. (7:00, NBC)

Auburn vs. Louisville (in Atlanta) – Fun Bobby and Malzahni coaching in the same game.  Should be fun to watch.  Another one of the Chick-Fil-A Combo #48 Neutral-Site Games El Fantastico.  This may be the last time they hold it in the Georgia Dome since the Georgia Dome seems like a dump (as evidenced by the Atlanta Falcons wanted to leave there, like, yesterday).  Also, since the US Open has moved to ESPN, CBS of all networks got this game from ESPN to show.  Some very early season Verne and Gary perhaps?  (3:30, CBS)

TCU at Minnesota – Now it’s time to get down to brass tacks, brah!  Arguably, the two teams that had the biggest coming-out parties last season hook up on opening night….that sentence doesn’t look right.  Anyway, two of the better coaches in college football square off with potential Heisman candidate Trevone Boykin being the first one to get a leg up on the Heisman competition. (Thursday, 9:00, TSN3)

Other candidates: Michigan at Utah (Thursday, 8:30, FOX Sports One so none of us will see it), South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte) (Thursday, 6:00, specialty pack), Washington at Boise State (Friday, 10:15, specialty pack), BYU at Nebraska (3:30, ABC/TSN3)

Week 2

Oregon at Michigan State – Arguably the worst week of the college football schedule for 2015 has, arguably, the biggest game.  Go figure.  Sparty is going to try and get some revenge on the Ducks, this time in the friendly confines of East Lansing.  This is where we will see how good the Mariota-less Ducks are, but I will say this…I have a feeling Vernon Adams is the real deal and could be a darkhorse Heisman contender.  This could be the ultimate coming-out party for him.  (8:00, ABC)

LSU at Mississippi State – This will be a good game and a rather important one I am sure (especially being an early season SEC conference game).  But for this to be the second-best game of the week shows how weak the rest of the sked is.  I am sticking with Leonard Fournette in the Heisman race until he wins or goes to the NFL.  (7:00, specialty pack)

Oklahoma at Tennessee – Butch Jones saved his job by getting the Vols to a bowl game last season.  He will be expected to do more this season and it probably starts with this massive game against Oklahoma.  The biggest question?  How many times will you hear Turn Down For What during the telecast?  I have the over/under at 14.  (7:45, specialty pack)

Notre Dame at Virginia – Yes, the fourth most important game is the Irish visiting the Wahoos.  This would be a perfect PVR weekend for me that is for sure.  Anyway….the Irish need a strong start to a season where it looks like they contend and Mike London needs to continue the upward trend of the Cavs as of late.  This is one of the quasi-ACC-conference-but-non-conference-Notre-Dame-involved games that…oh hell, just join the damn conference already!  (3:30, ABC/TSN3)

Boise State at BYU – Taysom Hill is back!  Hopefully his leg holds up.  Not that I am a BYU fan at all but he sure is fun to watch.  A game between arguably the top two programs not in a Power-Five conference (although the Big XII office may be watching this game closely).  (10:15, specialty pack)

UCF at Stanford – The worst college football week comes to a close with this game.  Then again it’s still college football so I guess I shouldn’t complain.  Stanford has to be the Stanford from the UCLA game last year and not the rest of last season.  UCF is the type of school the ACC would love to poach (especially if they lost Florida State…ugh talking about realignment happens way too often in the off-season).  (10:30, FOX Sports Fucking One so no)

Other candidates: Utah State at Utah (Friday, 9:00, specialty pack), Oregon State at Michigan (Noon, ABC), Minnesota at Colorado State (3:30, CBS Sports Network), Iowa at Iowa State (4:30, FOX)

Week 3

Ole Miss at Alabama – This early SEC conference showdown gets the slight nod for the best game of the week.  A good early test for both teams and a chance for Evil Saban and his Crimson Tide Juggernaut Express to get some revenge after the Rebs’ win last year (during the craziest week in college football history…relive it HERE!).  (7:00, specialty pack)

Auburn at LSU – Best Game #1B for Week 3.  And again, it’s in the SEC West, the best division in football (until the Pac-12 South or Big Ten East goes crazy).  The gauntlet starts here in Death Valley.  Lucky for the Tigers (of the Auburn variety) that it isn’t a night game since the Tigers (of the LSU variety) are almost unbeatable at night at home.  (3:30, CBS)

Georgia Tech at Notre Dame – Georgia Tech is a bit like Missouri…not enough respect is given to them.  They came within a hair of putting the first College Football Playoff on its ear in the ACC Championship against Florida State.  They run the option to near-perfection (which frustrates the hell out of many defensive coordinators).  But to show they are real they have to win the big games.  They have a bunch of them this year with this being an early one.  Win in South Bend and they have to be considered a contender.  (3:30, NBC)

Stanford at USC – Supposedly USC is back as a Pac-12 contender.  I want to believe the hype since I, too, feel they have a great shot at winning the Pac-12 South at the very least.  But it’s USC.  And since the Trojans played the Longhorns for the national title oh so many years ago (nine-and-a-half years to be exact), they have been, for the most part, a disappointment.  Stanford was a disappointment for the first time in many years last season.  Something has to give here.  (8:00, ABC)

South Carolina at Georgia – Yet another SEC game.  Are we surprised?  To be honest this feels like a lot of SEC conference action for September.  I don’t remember this many conference games this early.  Maybe my memory just sucks.  Aaaaaaaaaaanywho…the Dawgs have to be considered the clear favourite here but never count out the Head Ball Coach.  The kids might be scared enough about having to walk all the way back to Columbia to play well enough to make Mark Richt sweat.  And no, there is no Mark Richt Firing Watch this season…unless UGA tanks.  Then it would be fair game.  (12:00, TSN2)

Clemson at Louisville – More Fun Bobby!  Louisville has been such a frustrating team to watch since they joined the ACC.  Some weeks they look like world-beaters. Then during others, they look like they’d have trouble beating an FCS school.  It’s maddening.  But Senor Petrino’s near-aneurysm look every game makes up for it somehow.  And from frustrating to frustrated we find Clemson who is tired of playing second fiddle to Team Jimbo (who, by the way is now divorced and no, I wouldn’t call his wife hot…just average).  (Thursday, TSN1/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5)

Other candidates: BYU at UCLA (10:30, FOX Sports One god damn it!), Nebraska at Miami (3:30, specialty pack), California at Texas (7:30, FOX), Air Force at Michigan State (Noon, ABC/TSN4)

Bowl Game Rankings & Schedule (kind of)

Alright we are finally at the bowl season…almost.  We have some games this coming Friday and Saturday highlighted by the Army-Navy game.  That game will be on CBS at 3:00 on Saturday.  Also for people who have the specialty packs, a couple of FCS semifinals are coming your way.  Chattanooga-New Hampshire is showing at 8:00 on Friday night and then Coastal Carolina-North Dakota State is on at noon on Saturday.  The other two semifinals are on ESPN3, thus not available in our area.

The bowl lineup has been set and, of course, some games are better than others.  This happens every season.  I will say, though, that there seem to be quite a few more good games to watch than in previous years.  First off, The Committee did a great job with the College Football Playoff matchups and also with the New Year’s Six pairings.  I think the bigger turning point is more subtle.  It comes from the SEC and ACC.  Their idea to put bowl games in tiers rather than the traditional method of having numbered slots for all their tie-ins proved to be a smart one.  This allowed some teams that never would have been selected for a bowl (either they would already have been selected or ranked too low to be picked) to actually be selected.  It allowed for some better matchups than we normally would have seen. Conferences from the Group of Five like Conference USA allowed the best team to choose their bowl destination, then the next best team, and so on, until all the tie-ins have been filled.

What follows will be my totally biased (somewhat) look at the bowl games and ranking them based on their watchability (if that’s even a word…I’m being told no).  And in honour of a man who has called many of the best SEC games over the past two decades, this will be done on the Verne Lundquist scale, from a whopping 6 Vernes for games you have to watch even if you aren’t a college football fan to 1 Verne which are the games that only diehard fans (like myself) would watch because FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTBALLLLLLLLL!  Alright here we go:

We are going to do this in chronological order and I will have the broadcasting information (for us Canucks) as best as possible here.  The rankings for each bowl are after the bowl game’s paragraph.

New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Nevada (Dec. 20, 11:00 am, TSN3) – We start with the New Orleans Bowl this season.  And to be honest, this is probably the least likable bowl of the bunch this season.  ULL is here for a fourth straight season.  They might as well change the name to the Ragin Cajun Bowl.  Sun Belt participation award winners (since the true champs from Georgia Southern aren’t eligible) against a mediocre Nevada team that limped to the finish line.  This would have been ranked in negative Vernes if it wasn’t for the fact they should have a decent turnout.

 New Mexico Bowl: Utah State vs. UTEP (Dec. 20, 2:20, TSN3) – Another low-rated bowl, this year the start of bowl season isn’t the New Mexico Bowl, which had been the case the last few years.  The last couple New Mexico Bowls have ended up being thrillers.  Not enough to get it out of 1 Verne range since this is one of the most lopsided matchups but you never know with this one.

Las Vegas Bowl: Colorado State vs. #22 Utah (Dec. 20, 3:30, ABC/TSN2) – The first game of the year that, on paper, looks like a sweet matchup.  Two mountain schools, both who have been quite good this year, facing off in a bowl on ABC, a rarity these days.  Colorado State was so close to going to the New Year’s Six and Utah hung with the big boys of the Pac-12 South most of the season.  Should be a good one although I am still not sure if Jimmy McElwain is coaching the Rams in this one before he heads to Gainesville or not.

Idaho Potato Bowl: Air Force vs. Western Michigan (Dec. 20, 5:45, TSN3) – This is a sneaky good matchup.  Air Force is back to their old tricks and look better than they have in at least a decade.  P.J. Fleck, the youngest FBS head coach, has turned around his Broncos FAST!  His “Row the Boat” philosophy has gone over very well with his team.  Could he be moving up the chain to a better conference soon?  Wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

Camellia Bowl: Bowling Green vs. South Alabama (Dec. 20, 9:15, TSN3) – It is honestly very tough to get excited about this game.  I mean I love college football but considering this will be the fifth game of a relatively mediocre bowl day, it will be hard to watch.  Not saying I won’t because I definitely will watch every minute.  I am curious as to how many fans will show up to this brand new bowl game as I was skeptical when they announced the damn thing.

Miami Beach Bowl: BYU vs. Memphis (Dec. 22, 2:00, TSN1/TSN4) – Seriously?  A bowl game on a Monday at 2 in the afternoon?  Who the fuck thought of this?  Also, this is a 5-Verne bowl.  A seriously good matchup (although it would have been one of the best if the Cougs still had Taysom Hill).  Instead I have to put it on the PVR and watch it later since I, you know, have to work.

Boca Raton Bowl: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois (Dec. 23, 6:00, specialty pack) – For viewers who don’t get the specialty pack (Super Sports Pack for Rogers or U.S. College Sports Package for Bell), you are missing out on this one.  This one has the makings of one the best non-CFP, non-NYS games this season.  Still waiting for when one of these teams will move onto another conference as they are that good.

Poinsettia Bowl: Navy vs. San Diego State (Dec. 23, 9:30, TSN2) – This game was played a few years ago.  Same bowl, same two teams.  As much as I enjoy service academy football (and option offense football), there’s very little to watch here.  Let’s either hope that a) it’s a close game or b) Keenan Reynolds rushes for eight touchdowns.

Bahamas Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Western Kentucky (Dec. 24, Noon, TSN1/TSN4) – Talk about some lucky players.  I mean there may only be 7,000 people watching this game but it’s in the BAHAMAS!  What’s not to like?  I would say something about it being an afternoon game again but it is Christmas Eve so I will lay off a bit.

Hawaii Bowl: Fresno State vs. Rice (Dec. 24, 8:00, TSN2) – I remember when this bowl used to be on Christmas Day.  Now it’s Christmas Eve night.  And usually it’s relatively unwatchable.  It’s almost like college football is giving this bowl the Pro Bowl treatment; flaunting its importance in a half-assed way, yet doing nothing to really promote it.  I’ll watch it while finishing wrapping my kids’ presents.

Heart of Dallas Bowl: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech (Dec. 26, 1:00, specialty pack) – If you don’t get the specialty pack, don’t worry…you’re probably not missing a whole lot here.  At least the Heart of Dallas Bowl, sponsored by Zaxby’s (which looks like a restaurant I wouldn’t even take my kids to) got to move from early afternoon on New Year’s Day when no one watched it (because there were so many other things to watch at the same time) to Boxing Day where there’s a chance at least some people will watch.  Too bad the teams they got were still kind of crappy, although LaTech gave Marshall a run for their money last weekend.

Quick Lane Bowl: North Carolina vs. Rutgers (Dec. 26, 4:30, specialty pack) – I don’t even know what Quick Lane is or does and I don’t feel like Googling it to find out.  It’s probably automotive since it’s in Detroit.  I don’t really know what to say with this bowl.  It’s two teams who disappoint on the reg so I can see this being either a 10-7 snorefest or a 56-55 defense-optional game.  It should be close since neither team is that much better than the other.  I really have put way much more thought into this matchup than I should have.

Bitcoin Bowl: NC State vs. UCF (Dec. 26, 8:00, TSN2) – Something else I truly do not understand.  Bitcoin.  Or is it bitcoins?  I don’t know and I don’t care.  At least I have heard of this, unlike Beef O’Brady’s which sounds like a place that would make Zaxby’s look like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.  Anyway, this should be good.  A decent ACC team against a team that should put the American conference in their rear-view mirror if they’re smart (and get the opportunity).

Military Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech (Dec. 27, 1:00, specialty pack) – This seems to be the day when they start showing a ton of bowl games over about a six-day span, which I am totally not complaining about at all.  Starts with this game which should be a good one if Frank Beamer gets his Hokies to actually show up.  Otherwise Tubs is gonna make him pay.

Sun Bowl: #15 Arizona State vs. Duke (Dec. 27, 2:00, CBS) – This is Uncle Verne’s last college football broadcast so lucky for him he gets a 4-Verne game here.  If David Cutcliffe can get his Blue Devils jacked up for this game, this should be one of the best pre-New Year’s games on the entire slate.  I still don’t get why CBS’s only bowl telecast is a bowl that doesn’t involve SEC teams but no point in continuing to ask.  We’ll just blame ESPN.

Independence Bowl: Miami vs. South Carolina (Dec. 27, 3:30, ABC) – I refuse to put sponsor names for the bowl game name unless it’s actually called that.  I don’t give a shit if the Duck Dynasty guys are sponsoring this one.  I hate the show, period.  And considering these two teams are highly disappointing this season, it may not even be a fun bowl game to watch.  Then again it’s Al Golden & Al Golden’s Tie against the Head Ball Coach…yeah that still doesn’t excite me.

Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College vs. Penn State (Dec. 27, 4:30, specialty pack) – Have you noticed that TSN’s coverage drops off the cliff come Christmas?  That’s called the World Junior Hockey Championship effect.  I love college football but even I understand the World Juniors are a MASSIVE ratings hit.  So why fight it?  Oh as for this game, it’s between two teams that should have been part of that super-East-Coast conference back in the 80s but they wouldn’t let the Nittany Lions in.  Idiots.  Maybe James Franklin can make them pay for that egregious error.

Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. #24 USC (Dec. 27, 8:00, TSN2) – A very good matchup that luckily TSN picked up.  USC, I think, is underrated and Nebraska is Nebraska.  Always good but never great.  I do feel bad for Bo Pelini but unfortunately, Husker football works a little differently than most programs.  I just hope Mike Riley doesn’t turn into the second coming of Bill Callahan.  Remember that guy?  Yeah he sucked big time.

Liberty Bowl: Texas A&M vs. West Virginia (Dec. 29, 2:00, specialty pack) – And after a day off we are back with more bowl game fun.  Here’s the cowards from Texas A&M facing off against West Virginia and their Red Bull and vodka-drinking coach Drunk Uncle Dana Holgorsen.  A&M was supposed to face Texas in the Texas Bowl but it sounds like they pussed out.  Too bad, would have been a good game.  This game not so much since the Aggies should mop the floor here.

Russell Athletic Bowl: #17 Clemson vs. Oklahoma (Dec. 29, 5:30, specialty pack) – Here is, what I believe, the best non-CFP, non-NYS bowl of the season.  Clemson was so very close to grabbing the Orange Bowl bid.  Oklahoma has been shaky late in the season but with Perine running the rock, who knows what could happen.  Definitely a must-watch.

Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs. Texas (Dec. 29, 9:00, specialty pack) – Should have been the Longhorns and Aggies.  I will say this is still an interesting matchup though.  Can BielemaBall make a statement here?  Is this the launching point for Charlie Strong and his Longhorns?  I see this one being really close which says more about the SEC West than the Big XII as a whole.

Music City Bowl: #23 LSU vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 30, 3:00, TSN2) – Well it’s not like the Irish wouldn’t be invited to a bowl game.  I just find the whole ACC affiliation thing to be ridiculous to be honest with you.  Just invite the damn team and let them keep their NBC contract.  You can be a big shot by not allowing them to be shown on shitty ACC Network telecasts or something like that.  Just do it already.  Oh, and I have this feeling that LSU will mop the floor with Touchdown Jesus in this one.  Not that I would be complaining.  This coming from a moderate Notre Dame fan.  Oh, and Rudy was offside.

Belk Bowl: #13 Georgia vs. #21 Louisville (Dec. 30, 6:30, TSN2) – I guess TSN2 gets almost no World Juniors action today.  In my estimation, this bowl has the best team not in the Big Boy bowls (Georgia) against a team who one day soon will dominate the ACC (Louisville).  Plus it will be fun to see Fun Bobby Petrino get all worked up.  Looks like he will have an aneurysm about six times a game.

Foster Farms Bowl: Maryland vs. Stanford (Dec. 30, 10:00, TSN2) – Wow, now that’s a huge swing.  We go from LSU-ND to UGA-UL to this.  I can see not many people watching this affair.  I will but I think there may be something wrong with me.

Peach Bowl: #9 Ole Miss vs. #6 TCU (Dec. 31, 12:30, TSN2) – And now we get into the big games.  The first game is the HOLY SHIT they dropped Chick-fil-A from the name!  About damn time.  Peach Bowl name is iconic despite the fact they play in the shithole known as the Georgia Dome.  This is the second best game of the bowl season right here and should be a great one.

Fiesta Bowl: #10 Arizona vs. #20 Boise State (Dec. 31, 4:00, specialty pack) – Now this is a heaping pile of bullshit.  A New Year’s Six bowl and it is relegated to the specialty pack?  Problem is it is going up against Canada-USA at the World Juniors.  If TSN had ten channels, they would put this game on damn near every one.  Sucks that a huge game like this gets this treatment but what can you do?

Orange Bowl: #12 Georgia Tech vs. #7 Mississippi State (Dec. 31, 8:00, TSN3/TSN5) – This game will make one of these programs.  Not saying neither of these teams have been good in the past.  But they are programs that are ignored more than they should be.  And they both had great seasons.  The winner probably starts a new era of being consistent top 25 teams for the next decade or so.

Citrus Bowl: #25 Minnesota vs. #16 Missouri (Jan. 1, 12:30, ABC/TSN2) – This is the start of the pinnacle day of the college football season.  New Year’s Day.  And what a start.  Two great underrated teams with two great underrated coaches.  And it’s not the Capital One Bowl anymore thank God.  Back to the Citrus Bowl name where it belongs.

Cotton Bowl: #5 Baylor vs. #8 Michigan State (Jan. 1, 12:30, TSN3) – This is, in my very honest opinion, the best game of the bowl season other than the title game.  Arguably the best offense in the nation versus arguably the best defense in the nation.  Going to have to work my remote control into a frenzy with this one plus two other great games to watch early afternoon.

Outback Bowl: #19 Auburn vs. #18 Wisconsin (Jan. 1, 1:00, specialty pack) – I sure hope Wisconsin can recover from the ass kicking they took at the hands of Ohio State.  That was beyond brutal.  And it probably cost Melvin Gordon any chance of winning the Heisman (although it was still a long shot at best).  Unfortunately, you’ll need the specialty pack for this one.

Rose Bowl: #2 Oregon vs. #3 Florida State (Jan. 1, 5:00, TSN1) – With no World Juniors on today, college football gets to take centre stage.  We now being the College Football Playoff, revolutionary for FBS football (which is known for being only about 40 years behind when it comes to this type of thing).  This year’s Heisman winner against last year’s Heisman winner is most of the storyline going into this one.  Still, Oregon has to get out to an early lead because the Noles will play their typical last 35 minutes-plus of amazing football to make up for the first 25 minutes of crap.

Sugar Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Ohio State (Jan. 1, 8:30, TSN1) – Ohio State will need to play the same way they did in the Big Ten Championship to have a chance against the Tide.  Many thought Baylor or TCU should be here.  I believe The Committee made the right choice but it might not matter.  This has the makings to be a blowout if the Buckeyes don’t handle things early on.  Don’t want to see Urban ordering that pizza sometime during the first quarter.

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Pittsburgh (Jan. 2, Noon, specialty pack) – Colour me shocked that Pitt somehow didn’t end up in Birmingham.  I think this may be the last year I can use that joke since it’s becoming apparent that ULL’s ties to the New Orleans Bowl are becoming even more ridiculous.  Anyway, I don’t think you’re missing much by not seeing this game so let’s all hope it’s close.

TaxSlayer Bowl: Iowa vs. Tennessee (Jan. 2, 3:20, specialty pack) – Another not-so-great bowl game.  And no, it’s the Gator Bowl.  Please get that TaxSlayer shit out of here.

Alamo Bowl: #11 Kansas State vs. #14 UCLA (Jan. 2, 6:45, TSN2) – Now things get interesting.  Many are saying this is one of the bowls they are looking forward to and I wholeheartedly agree.  The Wildcats were so close to a New Year’s Six bowl so I am hoping they don’t play like they’re disappointed here since UCLA will show no quarter.  Should be a fantastic bowl and makes up for a sloppy Jan. 2 schedule otherwise.

Cactus Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Washington (Jan. 2, 10:15, TSN2) – Some of these bowl names are getting absurd although at least it’s not a corporate sponsor (although I am sure one is attached to this).  Two VERY disappointing teams with two good coaches.  Chris Petersen is already looking towards next year when Oregon is Mariota-less and it’s their chance to pounce on the Pac-12 North while OSU is trying their damnedest to get out of the Big XII midcard and get back to contending.

Birmingham Bowl: East Carolina vs. Florida (Jan. 3, Noon, TSN2) – An interesting pairing here.  East Carolina has that run-and-gun offense that’s fun to watch, whereas Florida has, well, what Florida has, which is a mediocre team these days.  Storyline will of course be Jim McElwain so the game might be overshadowed by that.

GoDaddy Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Toledo (Jan. 4, 9:00, TSN2) – Even though it will be in a timeslot all its own, it’s ratings will undoubtedly be hurt by the NFL playoff games earlier that day.  It should be a fun game to watch with possible future Conference USA member Arkansas State facing a Toledo team that has always been upper echelon in the MAC.  A nice way to head into the week-long break before the national title game.

College Football Playoff Championship Game (Jan. 12, 8:30, TSN1) – The season ends with the first-ever FBS playoff championship game.  Yes, it’s only a four-team playoff but it has created so much excitement that it will be considered a huge success.  Then in twelve years, we are probably looking at an 8-team playoff since people will bitch and complain and whine and moan.  But until then, enjoy this as college football at the highest level has finally done what should have been done 30 years ago…created a playoff.