It started last week when the Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers for four draft picks. I wouldn’t say it’s a hefty cost for McCaffrey but it is a lot for a guy who has injury concerns. Saying that, when healthy, he’s the best running back in the league.
Then, yesterday, the Eagles traded for Robert Quinn. And it only cost them a fourth round pick. I don’t really know what the Bears are thinking but that is a low cost for a guy that’s still a great defensive end and a probable Hall of Famer.
That’s two big trades as we head toward the trade deadline on Tuesday. With the way the NFC has been, the Eagles are going for broke and the Niners have entered contender territory. Other names that are out there as potential trade chips are Brandin Cooks, Chase Claypool, Cam Akers, Bradley Chubb and Antonio Gibson. Expect at least one AFC team to add someone as that conference is a minefield where you will see a good team in the #7 spot going into the postseason.
Alright, done with the trades for now. On to the schedule!
Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal
Atlantic
San Francisco at LA Rams
4:25
Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Ottawa
TSN1
Primetime (and Morning!) Games
Baltimore at Tampa Bay
Thursday, 8:20, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1/4
Denver vs. Jacksonville (in London)
9:30 AM, CTV, TSN1
Green Bay at Buffalo
8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/5
Cincinnati at Cleveland
8:15, TSN1/4
Semi-Random Schedule Analysis
God damn London games. We have another one this week and it’s…the Broncos and the Jags. Fuck that. Maybe I’ll get up to watch the second half. Maybe.
Games not being shown in Canada (unless you have the almighty RedZone):
Las Vegas at New Orleans
Carolina at Atlanta
Washington at Indianapolis
Other than the Raiders-Saints game, no one here really cares about those ones we are missing. And even that’s a stretch.
A big Sunday nighter that should bring in big ratings and a big rivalry game for the Monday nighter. The primetime schedule looking good….even with the Ravens and Bucs on Thursday night. Yeah, I said it.
It is amazing to see the New York Football Giants in the prime late window spot. When is the last time that happened? Probably their Super Bowl season since they’ve been hot garbage since then.
That’s it, that’s all. Not a whole lot to say here. We are almost at the halfway point of the season and other than some terrible Thursday Night Football games, the season has been fun. Let’s hope that continues. I mean…we know it won’t but we have to hope, right?
I tend to do most of my psychic work in the offseason…or when looking at bowl projections. Neither of which I do very well. So yeah sounds like a great idea to do it again in the middle of the season right? I never learn.
Will the SEC send a team not from Alabama or Georgia to the College Football Playoff? Tennessee and Ole Miss are both looking the real deal this season. The Vols already pulled off a big upset with their win over the Tide. The Rebels get their shot next month. Tennessee still has to get by Georgia to win the division. So maybe we could be looking at a Vols-Rebels SEC Championship? Honestly, I don’t think so but you never know.
Does the Big Ten still come down to The Big Game? Yes. I think Illinois is doing great and Purdue might end up being the new power in the Big Ten West but it still all comes down to the The Big Game between Michigan and Ohio State. Winner probably wins the conference and heads to the CFP. Loser to the New Year’s Six and the Rose Bowl. I don’t see another scenario unless one of the teams is upset before then.
What’s going to happen with the Pac-12? If Oregon loses this Saturday to UCLA then it will be either the Bruins or Trojans with the only shot for the College Football Playoff. How sad is that for this conference? USC and UCLA leave in 2024 and there are a lot of rumours that Oregon and Washington will follow, possibly for that same season. It’s been bad for the conference for a while but they somehow are coming up with new lows. I assume they poach the Mountain West for at least two teams to stay at the Pac-10 going forward but it won’t be the conference that it’s been in the past, much to Bill Walton’s chagrin.
Is TCU the Big XII’s only hope? No, nor are they a good choice either. I can’t see the Horned Frogs running the table. There is a much better chance of Oklahoma State or even Texas having a shot. A lot would have to happen for the Longhorns to be in contention but it could happen. Me? I’m hoping for chaos and a two-loss team in the CFP. Wouldn’t that be wild?
Who’s the next coach to be fired? It feels like it will be Bryan Harsin and that it will happen any day now. I think he will be after the next coach to be fired. I believe the next coach fired will be Neal Brown instead. It hasn’t been an abject disaster in Morgantown but Brown has shown no signs of improving this program. With Texas Tech and Kansas possibly passing them in the Big XII pecking order, they maybe sitting in the basement by the end of 2022.
Who will win the Heisman? I think if Tennessee goes undefeated through the regular season, it’s Hendon Hooker’s Heisman (Triple H) to lose. One loss or a really bad game from Hooker and it opens the door to like half-a-dozen others, including C.J. Stroud, Dorian Thompson-Robinsion, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams.
Alright that’s enough predictions for now. You didn’t come for that (I don’t think). You came for schedules, right? So let’s get right to them!
Wednesday
US
Canada
Georgia State at Appalachian State
7:30 PM
Before the season this felt like it could be huge in deciding the Sun Belt East. Not so much anymore.
Thursday
US
Canada
Virginia at Georgia Tech
7:30 PM
Troy at South Alabama
7:30 PM
The highlight here, honestly, is what could be the Sun Belt West title game. South Alabama is WAY better than advertised and Troy has improved from last year as well. Also, Georgia Tech might actually be favoured in a conference game as the Hoos come to Atlanta. Wouldn’t have been that way with Geoff Collins still in charge, I can guarantee that.
Friday
US
Canada
Princeton at Harvard
7:00 PM
Tulsa at Temple
7:30 PM
UAB at WKU
8:00 PM
Nothing of serious importance although it could be interesting to see what happens in Bowling Green (not the university, the town). Winner there stays in the hunt to get to the Conference USA Championship game.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#14 Syracuse at #5 Clemson
Noon
Indiana at Rutgers
Noon
ULM at Army
Noon
#21 Cincinnati at SMU
Noon
Kansas at Baylor
Noon
Houston at Navy
Noon
Iowa at #2 Ohio State
Noon
UT-Martin at #3 Tennessee
Noon
I would say this is a good appetizer for the games later on but there’s a main course mixed in there. Syracuse travels to Death Valley East with legitimate upset aspirations. They win here and they turn the ACC (and college football in general) kind of upside down. What many would have picked as the game of the afternoon at the start of the season could look like an absolute blowout. Could Iowa lose by 50? Quite possibly.
Kansas still getting no love. ESPN2 for a big game against Baylor? Come on man. What really is perplexing, though, is UT-Martin getting on to TSN. UT-Martin? I get that Tennessee is good but there are a few other games that could have gone there…like the KU-BU game I just mentioned!
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
West Virginia at Texas Tech
3:00 PM
#20 Texas at #11 Oklahoma State
3:30 PM
Boston College at #13 Wake Forest
3:30 PM
Northwestern at Maryland
3:30 PM
#7 Ole Miss at LSU
3:30 PM
Western Michigan at Miami-OH
3:30 PM
Purdue at Wisconsin
3:30 PM
Memphis at #25 Tulane
3:30 PM
BYU at Liberty
3:30 PM
#9 UCLA at #10 Oregon
3:30 PM
Arizona State at Stanford
4:00 PM
Vanderbilt at Missouri
4:00 PM
If UCLA and USC don’t get to the Victory Bell game in November both undefeated then the Bruins’ game against Oregon here might be the Pac-12 Game of the Year (and their best chance to put a team into the College Football Playoff).
You may notice that the UNLV-Notre Dame game isn’t on this list. That’s because this is the one game this season that NBC moves to Peacock. I hope the Rebels somehow win. The Longhorns and Pokes might be in a quasi-elimination game, especially if TCU keeps winning. Ole Miss and Purdue have landmine games where an upset or two wouldn’t be a total surprise.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Boise State at Air Force
7:00 PM
#24 Mississippi State at #6 Alabama
7:00 PM
Minnesota at #16 Penn State
7:30 PM
UCF at East Carolina
7:30 PM
Texas A&M at South Carolina
7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Louisville
8:00 PM
#17 Kansas State at #8 TCU
8:00 PM
Colorado at Oregon State
8:00 PM
Two underrated teams no more as Kansas State travels to Fort Worth to face an undefeated Horned Frogs team. This is absolutely massive for both teams and would have been on FOX if FOX didn’t have baseball that night.
The rest of the primetime schedule could be considered a bit weak unless the Bulldogs can put a scare into Bama. The ABC primetime matchup is very weak considering some of the games that are on this Saturday. I don’t get it sometimes with these picks but at least the network won’t lean on the Big Ten all the time like they’ve been doing in recent years. FOX has taken up that mantle.
Also, we have what might as well be the de facto Mountain West Mountain championship between Boise and AFA. And we have another Pat McAfee night on ESPN2. Great…..
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
San Diego State at Nevada
10:30 PM
Washington at California
10:30 PM
Montana at Sacramento State
11:00 PM
OK so the primetime schedule might be weak in spots but this is brutal. Meaning either Cal is beating the Huskies or Nevada ends the Brady Hoke era at SDSU. Otherwise this is a fucking joke. Oh, plus we are stuck with the Sacramento Test this week. And no, that’s not a test of Sacramento Kings’ fans’ patience.
Big Games O’ The Week
UCLA at Oregon (3:30, FOX) – There are a few games that could occupy this top spot but I picked the one which I believe has the most at stake. If the Bruins win, it sets them up perfectly for the Battle for Los Angeles against their crosstown rivals, USC. A loss and, quite frankly, the Pac-12 could be sitting out the CFP yet again. As I said, huge stakes.
Syracuse at Clemson (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – The Orange Dream Season Express rolls on here as The Fighting Babers look to pull off the upset of all upsets. And we’ve seen that D.J. Uiagalelei has had poor games in the past. A Cuse win here would throw everyone’s ACC predictions into a dumpster (and then that dumpster to be set on fire).
Kansas State at TCU (8:00, FOX Sports One) – This still will not get as much attention as the Texas-Oklahoma State game earlier in the day and I think that suits these two teams just fine. A TCU win keeps their CFP hopes very much alive whereas a Kansas State win puts a bunch of teams back in the mix for the Big XII title game at JerryWorld.
Mississippi State at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – Some are actually wondering why Mississippi State is in the Top 25. I think if the Bulldogs had any semblance of a running game they’d be clearly in the Top 20 and contending for an SEC West title. Instead, they have Will Rogers throw the ball a million times and hope for the best. Classic Mike Leach. I kind of hope this is close but don’t be surprised if it’s over by 8:00.
Texas at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC) – ABC’s ongoing love affair with the Big Ten, despite the fact they will be leaving the network soon, pushes a game like this to the afternoon timeslot. I don’t think many thought Texas would be in a game that, if they win, could put them in the driver’s seat to get to the Big XII Championship. Kansas State, TCU and even Kansas will watch this game with quite a bit of interest.
Ole Miss at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Ole Miss can’t have this be a speed bump game. LSU is better than they were last year and may be shaking of the early season shitshow and are playing good ball under Brian Kelly. The Lane Train needs to mow teams like this down knowing that Bama is coming down the line.
Minnesota at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Is it one of the big time games you’d want to see in the ABC Primetime window? No. This could end up being a good game though. And James Franklin certainly wants his Nittany Lions to play well after the disaster that was their game in Ann Arbor last weekend.
Psycho Game of the Week
Arizona State at Stanford (4:00, Pac-12 Network) – Two terrible Pac-12 teams here. This is the second straight week the Pac-12 has appeared in this section. And it won’t be the last. I honestly do wonder if David Shaw will get to 2023 considering how poor Stanford has been this year (and the past couple of years).
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Iowa at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Yep, I am officially calling it. This could get VERY ugly. Iowa’s offense is anemic and shouldn’t fare too well against the Buckeye defense. They might cover the 29 point spread by 1:00.
Fun-Time Stats of the Week
Kansas’ last win over Baylor was fifteen years ago. They have also ten in a row to the Bears against the spread.
Notre Dame is 30-6 vs. the Mountain West.
Appalachian State has never lost to Georgia State in eight meetings. They’ve also won seven of those games by double digits.
The Degenerate Portion of Our Show
I don’t consider myself a gambler. Mostly because I’m not very good at it. I’m sure I am not too far away from some of the experts though in terms of success. Remember that guy on the late night commercials? What was his name? I want to say Cash Palmer. Anyway, him, along with a bunch of other guys who I wouldn’t hire to mow my townhouse lawn, would hock their picks at like 3 in the morning to degenerates who figured they couldn’t do this themselves. I assume all those guys are dead or in an old folks’ home. Anyway, enough of that. Call me Boss Bucks, or something equally stupid, and let’s get the show on the road.
Georgia State (+9.5) over Appalachian State (the Mountaineers win a nailbiter)
Troy (+3) over South Alabama with the outright win
Tulsa (-13) over Temple
UT-Martin (+37.5) over Tennessee with the Vols still winning by four touchdowns
Baylor (-8) over Kansas
Army (-7) over ULM
Liberty (+6.5) over BYU (the Cougs will win this game though in a close one)
Maryland (-13.5) over Northwestern
Boston College (+20.5) over Wake Forest (the Deacs cruise to a relatively easy victory)
Vanderbilt (+14) over Missouri (Mizzou will win the game)
Mississippi State (+21) over Alabama (Tide win after Bulldogs keep it close for three quarters)
UCF (-5) over East Carolina for the road victory
Nevada (+7) over San Diego State (with the Aztecs winning)
The Bossman Top 25!
It’s back! I figured it was about time to whip out a set of rankings for everyone. It’s early so there isn’t a reason to debate but I’m sure some of the spots will make you do a double take. Here we go:
#1
Georgia
#2
Tennessee
#3
Ohio State
#4
Michigan
#5
Clemson
#6
TCU
#7
Ole Miss
#8
Alabama
#9
Oregon
#10
Oklahoma State
#11
Syracuse
#12
UCLA
#13
Utah
#14
Wake Forest
#15
USC
#16
Kansas State
#17
Kentucky
#18
Penn State
#19
Cincinnati
#20
NC State
#21
Illinois
#22
North Carolina
#23
Texas
#24
Purdue
#25
Mississippi State
I’m sure some will look and say why is Tennessee in the #2 spot. Or why is TCU ahead of Alabama. Or why UCLA is not in the Top 10. Look, as I say every year, these things will work themselves out. It’s still early remember. We are only at the halfway point. Come mid-November, then some true debates can be had but until then, it’s just preference. Unless someone puts Alabama at #20 because they don’t like Bama. In that case, that’s fucking stupid.
It’s a little late to get the blog posted and I apologize for that. Just been feeling under the weather and I’m sure how crappy it’s been outside hasn’t helped matters. Looking forward to another great week of college football. Enjoy the games everyone!
This happens almost every year. It’s hurricane season in Florida (and other parts of the southern United States). Scary times for the residents there. It’s a time where some need to make the decision of staying or leaving for a time, depending on the severity of the hurricane.
Which brings us to Hurricane Ian. It looks like it is going to batter a good part of the state. I hope the residents don’t get hit too hard with it. This does affect the college football schedule. Yes it’s a minor thing but considering the subject matter of this blog, I need to cover it. The following games have had their times and/or dates altered:
SMU at UCF has been moved to Sunday at 1:00
EWU at Florida has been moved to Sunday at Noon
SC State at South Carolina has been moved to Thursday at 7:00
More changes are coming I’m sure. The one interesting thing might be the ABC primetime game. It’s at Clemson. The Gamecocks have already moved their game from Saturday up to Thursday. This could be a very interesting scenario that hasn’t come into play ever for the big timeslot of the week.
UPDATE #3: SMU-UCF has now been moved to Wednesday night. No word if it will be shown here or not.
UPDATE #4: OK it looks like SMU-UCF will be Wednesday at 7:00 PM. The game will be on ESPN2 so there is a good chance it will be on the specialty pack as well.
Alright, let’s get to the schedule and see how this goes.
Thursday
US
Canada
South Carolina State at South Carolina
7:00 PM
Utah State at #19 BYU
8:00 PM
Two games on tonight although originally it was supposed to only be the one. As I mentioned above SC State-USC was moved to Thursday because of Hurricane Ian. I don’t know why some games are being moved up and some are being moved back but I am sure there is a good reason for it. Anyway, both games should be blowouts so you can definitely check out the…wait a second…undefeated Miami Dolphins? OK then.
UPDATE: OK I see that games in Florida are being moved back because the hurricane is hitting there…well, pretty much right now. The hurricane will start moving up the east coast starting Friday night/Saturday early morning so it makes sense to move games in Georgia and South Carolina up to avoid that and allow road teams to leave the area before it hits.
Friday
US
Canada
Tulane at Houston
7:00 PM
Penn at Dartmouth
7:00 PM
UTSA at Middle Tennessee
7:30 PM
San Diego State at Boise State
8:00 PM
#15 Washington at UCLA
10:30 PM
New Mexico at UNLV
11:00 PM
A heavy Friday schedule with six games. That is quite unusual. One of these games is a rather big one as the somewhat surprising Washington Huskies travel to Los Angeles to face UCLA. Maybe the Bruins will finally get a good crowd for a game as the early attendance has been dismal. The Ivy League has their first game on ESPNU this season and we shall see if Boise State can turn around this season at all or if they will be pining for the return of Bryan Harsin the rest of the season.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
#18 Oklahoma at TCU
Noon
Louisville at Boston College
Noon
Illinois at Wisconsin
Noon
Navy at Air Force
Noon
Georgia State at Army
Noon
#7 Kentucky at #14 Ole Miss
Noon
Purdue at #21 Minnesota
Noon
Temple at Memphis
Noon
#4 Michigan at Iowa
Noon
This is…different. It is the first time that the ACC Network has a game on multiple TSN channels. I’d have to look to see how often the ACC Network has been on TSN, period since I am sure I can count that on one hand. CBS has a doubleheader this week that starts with the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and ends at the normal SEC on CBS time later on. Finally, there is one quite big game that will fall under the radar this weekend and it occurs in Oxford. Kentucky and Ole Miss are both wanting to prove they are for real. A UK win here…that would make things awful interesting in the SEC East where I figured Georgia would easily win the division.
Oh you will notice the SEC Network doesn’t have a game in this timeslot. It was the one moved to Thursday night. Will they put another game here to replace it? Probably not.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Oregon State at #12 Utah
2:00 PM
#22 Wake Forest at #23 Florida State
3:30 PM
Virginia Tech at North Carolina
3:30 PM
Rutgers at #3 Ohio State
3:30 PM
#2 Alabama at #20 Arkansas
3:30 PM
Fresno State at UConn
3:30 PM
Northwestern at #11 Penn State
3:30 PM
Iowa State at Kansas
3:30 PM
#9 Oklahoma State at #16 Baylor
3:30 PM
Michigan State at Maryland
3:30 PM
Central Michigan at Toledo
3:30 PM
#17 Texas A&M at Mississippi State
4:00 PM
California at Washington State
5:30 PM
OK now we are getting into weeks where some timeslots are loaded with good games. This is one of them. Wake-FSU, Bama-Hogs and Pokes-BU are all big games that could shape how the season pans out. And if you can watch them live and not have to use a PVR, all the better. I am thankful I don’t have to do that anymore.
Not everything makes sense though here. And it has more to do with the specialty packs than anything. There should be four games in this window on the specialty packs. Right now I only see one confirmed: TAMU-MSU. Why? It makes no sense. We know they will end up there. So just do it all at once. Then again, maybe they won’t because things almost seem worse than ever at times with these specialty packs. Just schedule all the games you’re allowed to show. It’s easy. I don’t get why this is so complicated. Christ, I’m getting worked up and I don’t even have cable anymore.
UPDATE #2: If I just waited a few minutes, I could have looked again and saw that the specialty packs were updated and all the games that should appear there, are appearing there.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
LSU at Auburn
7:00 PM
Cincinnati at Tulsa
7:00 PM
#10 NC State at #5 Clemson
7:30 PM
Indiana at Nebraska
7:30 PM
San Jose State at Wyoming
7:30 PM
West Virginia at Texas
7:30 PM
#1 Georgia at Missouri
7:30 PM
Georgia Tech at #24 Pittsburgh
8:00 PM
NC State-Clemson. A huge ACC game. And I have this funny feeling it will be moved, rescheduled, something. I mentioned it above and I will say it again. It really makes no sense for South Carolina to move their home game up two days and Clemson, a mere two hours away, is doing nothing at this point. Just feels like a disaster waiting to happen. Fingers crossed nothing bad occurs.
As for the rest of the primetime schedule, it’s alright. LSU-Auburn get an undeserved ESPN spot, Georgia is yet again on the SEC Network, and we will see if Georgia Tech learned what not to do from the Geoff Collins era.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
Colorado at Arizona
9:30 PM
UC-Davis at Montana State
10:15 PM
Arizona State at #6 USC
10:30 PM
Stanford at #13 Oregon
11:00 PM
Four games in the late night sked and one really stands out like a sore thumb. Yes you are reading that correctly: the game on ESPNU will be UC-Davis against Montana State. ESPN has done this before, putting a Big Sky match on in the late night window because there wasn’t much else to put on there. This is especially the case now with ESPN not having Mountain West games. So it’s Pac-12 or bust and if any other network has Pac-12 games, it really dials back the inventory they can choose from. There’s three Pac-12 games on in this window but one is on the Pac-12 Network and another on FOX Sports One. So yeah, either ESPNU shows the FCS game, a rerun of an HBCU game (which they do from time-to-time) or something that isn’t live sports that won’t get the same ratings.
Big Games O’ The Week
NC State at Clemson (7:30, ABC) – One of the games of the year and, I would say, a pretty easy choice for Game of the Week. Let’s see if D.J. Uiagalelei can keep things going and play well enough to beat a very good Wolfpack team. No offense to Wake Forest but this is the Tigers’ greatest competition of the regular season. Win this and they are a win over Florida State away from going back to the ACC Championship. If the Pack win…ho boy this gets very interesting.
Kentucky at Ole Miss (Noon, TSN2) – Did I fool you there? You thought another SEC game would fall here. Not so fast. This game has a lot on the line and will send the winner into the hype zone, at least for the immediate future. Don’t want to use the terms “College Football Playoff” or “New Year’s Six” here for two teams that aren’t used to that much success (especially Kentucky) but you’ll hear that during the broadcast, I can guarantee that.
Alabama at Arkansas (3:30, CBS) – This is the game that most people would have put at least in the #2 spot and I wholeheartedly disagree. I believe Bama won’t have a ton of trouble with the Hogs. I’d love to see the Razorbacks win; mostly because I love chaos in college football. But until they show they can hang with the Tide, then I can’t believe they will get it done. Now watch them put up a 40-burger against them just to prove me wrong.
Oklahoma State at Baylor (3:30, FOX) – Yeah I’m going to go ahead and call this Okie State’s first true test of the season. No offense to Central Michigan, Arizona State or mighty Arkansas-Pine Bluff but they don’t hold a candle to the Bears. Also, I am waiting to see if Spencer Sanders truly can take this team to new heights since I have never been fully impressed with him.
Wake Forest at Florida State (3:30, ABC) – Look, Wake Forest isn’t completely out of the ACC Atlantic race just yet. To get back in the race, though, they have to win here. The Noles have finally found their footing under Mike Norvell and want the opportunity to at least play for the division later in the season.
Washington at UCLA (Friday, 10:30, TSN2) – I never would have thought I’d have this game on the list when the season started. The Huskies are better than advertised. The Bruins…well at least we can say they are undefeated. They haven’t made it look easy and they haven’t exactly played tough competition. A Friday night test for both teams.
Oklahoma at TCU (Noon, ABC) – The Sooners came crashing down to Earth last week against Kansas State…kind of. I think part of this is the horrendous non-conference schedule they had with no real competition. More teams really have to get away from that kind of thinking as it never prepares them for conference season. At least TCU had SMU last week after beating the worst Power Five team in the land, Colorado, and Tarleton State, who honestly might beat Colorado if they played each other.
Psycho Game of the Week
Colorado at Arizona (9:30, YouTube) – You have to be some kind of sick to want to watch this. Sure, the Wildcats are improved but they couldn’t have been any worse than they were last season. And the Buffs…my God. They are seriously awful. If they lose this one, the Karl Dorrell hot seat talk will be top of the list in that state (at least when it comes to college football).
Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week
Rutgers at Ohio State (3:30, BTN) – With all due respect to the Fighting Schianos of Piscataway, this won’t be close. I am almost thinking of praying for Rutgers to keep tOSU under 60 points in this one.
Fun-Time Stats of the Week
BYU and Utah State are actually in a trophy game on Thursday. They play for the Old Wagon Wheel. The Cougs have won it 17 times since 1994.
The only team that Boise State has a losing record against in the Mountain West is San Diego State.
The Crimson Tide have won 15 in a row against Arkansas.
The Degenerate Portion of Our Show
I’m not going to delve into my picks from last week. I just won’t. You shouldn’t either. Let’s just move on to this week’s picks:
Houston (-2.5) over Tulane
UNLV (-14.5) over New Mexico
Illinois (+7) over Wisconsin (Wisky to win game)
Oklahoma (-6.5) over TCU
Oregon State (+10.5) over Utah (Utes to win game)
Fresno State (-24) over UConn
Penn State (-26.5) over Northwestern
Florida State (-7) over Wake Forest
Auburn (+9) over LSU (and the Tigers to win outright in my upset of the week)
NC State (+6.5) over Clemson (Tigers win a close one)
Pittsburgh (-22) over Georgia Tech
Arizona State (+25) over USC (USC will win the game)
Oregon (-17) over Stanford
I will keep watching and keep you up to date on anything that changes the schedule due to Hurricane Ian. It already looks bad along Florida’s west coast and the storm just hit. Hopefully there are no casualties down that way.
Yep, I got nothing. Nothing really happened that was huge…I mean compared to the NFL which is a complete shitshow. So why don’t we just get to the damn schedule? Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.
Thursday
US
Canada
Navy at Memphis
7:30 PM
Georgia Southern at South Alabama
7:30 PM
Two games. Neither game really being big as none of these teams are near the top of their conference or division. I mean the Thursday Night Football matchup is Tampa Bay against Philadelphia so we kind of know that will be a blowout so maybe one of these games can be close and give us something fun to watch.
Friday
US
Canada
Marshall at North Texas
7:00 PM
Clemson at Syracuse
7:00 PM
Montana State at Weber State
10:00 PM
#24 San Diego State at San Jose State
10:30 PM
California at #9 Oregon
10:30 PM
Five games, one in the FCS on this night. SDSU has a date with Nevada later in the year and need a win to keep pace. Oregon trying desperately to keep the Pac-12’s almost non-existent playoff hopes alive. I’m very curious as to why ESPN is all of a sudden showing Big Sky games. They already have the MEAC, SWAC and Ivy League, all leagues that don’t go to the FCS playoffs. Going this route is something different and I, for one, welcome it. If it’s anything like the Montana-Eastern Washington game two weeks ago, then buckle up.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
UCF at #3 Cincinnati
Noon
Rutgers at Northwestern
Noon
Auburn at #17 Arkansas
Noon
Yale at UConn
Noon
#20 Florida at LSU
Noon
Nebraska at Minnesota
Noon
Tulsa at USF
Noon
#12 Oklahoma State at #25 Texas
Noon
#21 Texas A&M at Missouri
Noon
Duke at Virginia
12:30 PM
OK not the sexiest lineup per se but it has some decent quality. CBS gets their one Noon game of the season and actually didn’t get too bad a pick with the Tigers and Razorbacks. Remember that when CBS has a Noon SEC game, they get the top SEC pick for their afternoon game and then ESPN gets the next two choices. THEN CBS gets to select their Noon SEC game. Other than that, UCF and the Gus Bus try to derail the Bearcat Express, Oklahoma State hopes to continue their unexpected undefeated run against the Longhorns and Yale and UConn face off in yet another game where CBS regrets ever signing the Huskies to a broadcast contract.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
Purdue at #2 Iowa
3:30 PM
Miami at North Carolina
3:30 PM
#11 Kentucky at #1 Georgia
3:30 PM
#19 BYU at Baylor
3:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech
3:30 PM
Kent State at Western Michigan
3:30 PM
Vanderbilt at South Carolina
4:00 PM
The afternoon shows that many times quality is much better than quantity. We shall see if the craziness continues in Athens. TSN has really not stepped up yet and it has nothing to do with the CFL for the most part. I’ve mentioned it before but it feels like they are going slightly backwards with their college football coverage (and then will wonder why college football fans go different routes that aren’t TSN to get their college football fix). Anyway, Purdue gets a rare ABC spot (which should result in them getting obliterated) and the specialty pack picks up the rest of the games. Brutal.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
Utah State at UNLV
7:00 PM
#5 Alabama at Mississippi State
7:00 PM
TCU at #4 Oklahoma
7:30 PM
#22 NC State at Boston College
7:30 PM
Iowa State at Kansas State
7:30 PM
Stanford at Washington State
7:30 PM
#13 Ole Miss at Tennessee
7:30 PM
Army at Wisconsin
8:00 PM
UCLA at Washington
8:30 PM
Technically this is a primetime schedule. Nothing impressive but if you don’t have quality get some quantity (I know what I said in the last section). Again, no TSN games but at least FOX, BTN and CBSSN are back in this timeslot. Got to hope there is at least one close game or one upset here or it’s looking pretty grim going into the late night portion of our schedule.
Saturday Late Night
US
Canada
#18 Arizona State at Utah
10:00 PM
Hawaii at Nevada
10:30 PM
Only two games but both of them could end up being pretty good. Hawaii could make it so San Diego State is clearly in the driver’s seat if they can beat the Wolf Pack in Reno. And Utah isn’t as bad as their record indicates and could cause all sorts of problems for the Sun Devils, especially with their rowdy student section.
Games to set your eyeballs on
Kentucky at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Easily the biggest game of the week, if not a great candidate for Game of the Year. I know, even with Kentucky involved! An expected Bulldog victory would put them in the driver’s seat in the SEC East with, realistically, a win in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party the only thing standing between them and a trip to Atlanta. If the Wildcats win then ho boy, the insanity meter gets ratcheted up a whole lot more (and also puts Bama back in the mix to get back to #1). I’m hoping, for Brad Nessler’s sake, it’s a good game.
Oklahoma State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – OK so there is a bit of a drop off after the Game of the Week. But, the Pokes are seriously good and we could be heading for the best Bedlam in a long time if they can keep this up. Texas helped the cause by losing an absolute heartbreaker in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. I have this feeling that if Okie State wins this, it’s basically a foregone conclusion that we will have a Bedlam rematch at JerryWorld in December. We almost need the Longhorns to pull something out here to keep things exciting in the Big XII.
UCF at Cincinnati (Noon, ABC) – Look I will be honest: the quality of this game all depends on which Knights team shows up. We’ve seen the quite good Knights where the team is rolling along and the Gus Bus is humming. And we’ve seen the horrible Knights where the Gus Bus has serious mechanical problems and/or is on fire. Here’s hoping we get the former. You could say this is the last true hurdle to the Bearcats running the table until the AAC Championship as they don’t have Houston on their schedule.
BYU at Baylor (3:30, specialty pack) – BYU losing last week means they are locked into the Independence Bowl unless a bunch of crazy shit happens. Don’t want to say they have nothing to play for but they have a lot less to play for now. Baylor, on the other hand, could be the surprise team of the season if they keep winning as Dave Aranda is doing a miraculous job in Waco. The Cougs need to win big and the Bears just need to win. Could be the sneaky good game of the week.
NC State at Boston College (7:30, specialty pack) – The ACC Network kind of lucked out in getting this game. Both teams are somehow contending in the ACC Atlantic division since Clemson is not the Clemson of the past decade. The Wolfpack are obviously in better shape here since they actually beat the Tigers whereas the Eagles lost (albeit with a backup quarterback). With a relatively weak primetime schedule, this game could shine.
Honourable mention: Auburn at Arkansas (Noon, CBS); Alabama at Mississippi State (7:00, specialty pack); TCU at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC)
You wanna bet?
Before the season I said Alabama would lose one game and I thought, at the time, it would be Texas A&M. Then I chickened out last week and had Bama beating the Aggies. Should have gone with my gut! Other than that (and picking LSU over Kentucky) it was a pretty good week. Wonder if I can replicate it….I hope I didn’t just jinx myself. Here we go:
Baylor over BYU (an upset!)
NC State over Boston College
Oklahoma over TCU
Texas over Oklahoma State (another upset!)
Cincinnati over UCF
Georgia over Kentucky
Alabama over Mississippi State
Auburn over Arkansas
Marshall over North Texas
Utah over Arizona State (slight upset)
UNLV over Utah State (to get their first win of the season)
Going to be honest: I feel like I put less than my best effort into this post. It’s been a rough time for me lately and I try to push through it. Part of that is doing this blog as it gets my mind off of everything I’m going through for a few hours. Part of my therapy so to speak. So as much as there is work involved in doing these posts on a near-daily basis these days, it’s also cathartic and something I enjoy doing. Everyone needs a hobby or something they do outside of work and this is the one real thing I’m doing these days. I’m sure I will get back to doing a better job soon enough (hey, there’s an NFL post tomorrow). Anyway, take some time for yourself and watch some college football these next few nights. You deserve it! Have a great week!
Yes the Big Ten is back. They will start their fall season in late October and go straight through to conference championship weekend on December 19th. Also during that week they will have an East-West Challenge of sorts which looks weird but we all know we will watch. My guess is they thought they would be the trend setters with sitting out the Fall season. The Pac-12 followed along, as did the MAC and the Mountain West, essentially the two G-5 conferences paired with the Big Ten and Pac-12, respectively. Then they watched as most of the rest of the FBS teams and conferences decided to play anyway. So now they look like idiots even though their initial thoughts weren’t bad. But money and ego rule the day and that means the B1G is back. It also means schedules will become a gongshow in about a month but I will cross that bridge when I come to it.
Alright enough about the Big Ten and everything going on with them. Let’s talk about the teams that are playing right now and if we can see them in this country. Not looking too great to be honest.
Friday
US
Canada
Campbell at Coastal Carolina
7:30 PM
Yep, no Thursday games again. That ends next week, I believe. Anyway, how about Campbell getting more national exposure? Same with the Chanticleers. This actually could be interesting considering the Fighting Camels (one of the best team names in football) took Georgia Southern down to the wire and lost by one.
Saturday Early
US
Canada
Navy at Tulane
Noon
Syracuse at #25 Pittsburgh
Noon
Tulsa at #11 Oklahoma State
Noon
#19 Louisiana at Georgia State
Noon
Liberty at Western Kentucky
Noon
Houston at Baylor
Noon
Boston College at Duke
Noon
So TSN is showing games all day but only on TSN2. OK. Tulsa-OSU is the only game that is for sure scheduled though. The others are TBA. Really? There aren’t many games this week in college football that you could show. Figure it out! It is not rocket science. Then again, I find anyone associated with Canadian media finds college football to be so very difficult to figure out. It boggles the mind for sure. And if any of them see this, please, don’t blame COVID and don’t blame ESPN and don’t blame whatever else. Blame your own lazy asses.
UPDATE: Houston-Baylor has been postponed. So FOX gave up the U.S. Open to NBC to broadcast other sports today. Now they don’t have college football. Maybe they are showing some baseball. What a waste though. Thanks to Twitter follower @pinopanza.
Saturday Afternoon
US
Canada
#14 UCF at Georgia Tech
3:30 PM
#23 Appalachian State at Marshall
3:30 PM
Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern
3:30 PM
The Citadel at #1 Clemson
4:00 PM
Troy at Middle Tennessee
4:00 PM
App State-Marshall could end up being a great game. And how about that getting to be on CBS! Even though the Mountain West made what they thought was the smart move considering the pandemic, they must feel shitty since this spot was supposed to go to Boise State and Air Force. This is huge for the Sun Belt and Conference USA. FAU-Georgia Southern should also be pretty good and gets an ESPN spot. And finally, Troy and MTSU play their first of two games this season. Yep, just like Liberty and New Mexico State last season. 2020 in college football is so all over the place.
UPDATE #2: Another cancellation. FAU-Georgia Southern is now cancelled. So now The Citadel-Clemson moves to TSN2.
UPDATE #4: Troy-MTSU has been moved to ESPN. Filling in their original ESPN2 timeslot will be Stephen F. Austin-UTSA.
Saturday Primetime
US
Canada
SMU at North Texas
6:00 PM
#17 Miami at #18 Louisville
7:30 PM
Louisiana Tech at Southern Miss
7:30 PM
Texas State at ULM
7:30 PM
Wake Forest at NC State
8:00 PM
Well at least we have The U against the Cards here. That could be good. Or……ummmm……yeah. Honestly any of the rest of the games, other than the SMU-UNT game, could be close which would at least make them exciting. But really this is a bad primetime schedule.
UPDATE #3: LaTech-USM has been moved out of the TSN2 spot and WF-NCST has been put there instead. My guess is that has a lot to do with The Citadel-Clemson being put on earlier in the day. Makes for a smoother transition for TSN to stay on the same network.
Games to set your eyeballs on
Miami at Louisville (7:30, ABC) – Not many decent games this week as we slowly get into the season. And none would be considered Game of the Year possibilities. But this is the ABC Primetime affair and College Gameday will be in Louisville in front of approximately zero fans so this is as good a pick as any for the Game of the Week. This could end up being a great game to be honest. The loser of this game is probably eliminated from contention for the ACC Championship. Yes it’s early to be saying that but I can be confident of that thought.
Appalachian State at Marshall (3:30, CBS) – Let’s be frank here: this is a really bad schedule this week. But this is when we usually have some of the craziest college football moments. And how about these two teams getting a spot on CBS! Crazy! Only in 2020. Expect a good game but the Mountaineers, I think, are the best Group of Five team this season and should win this and keep their momentum going as they get close to conference play.
UCF at Georgia Tech (3:30, ABC) – Look the Ramblin’ Wreck were able to come back and beat Florida State last week. No, UCF is not Florida State. But maybe Geoff Collins has got them acclimated to more of a pro-style offense already. You never know. UCF is UCF and this is the kind of game they need to win to capture the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six…if we have a New Year’s Six.
USF at Notre Dame (2:30, USA Network) – So do I think the Bulls can upset the Irish? Not really. But I needed to put this here to point out that this game is not on NBC. It’s on the USA Network. The USA NETWORK! Because the U.S. Open has gone back to NBC from FOX, that will be shown on the main network meaning this was relegated. But not to NBC Sports Network. Oh no. All the way to the USA Network. The same network that shows WWE Monday Night Raw. Wow. And no, it is not being shown here anywhere.
Honourable mention: Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern (3:30, TSN2); Navy at Tulane (Noon, ABC).
Some gambling fun and games
Alright let’s see what I can do with this week’s games:
Baylor over Houston
Pittsburgh over Syracuse
Louisville over Miami (no, not an upset)
UCF over Georgia Tech
Florida Atlantic over Georgia Southern
Appalachian State over Marshall
Notre Dame over USF
Tulane over Navy
As for the specialty packs, I am going to contact the cable companies to see if there is an update. It sounds like Bell Satellite might have had their specialty pack up. I don’t know why they would have theirs up for Satellite customers but not Fibe customers but I don’t pretend to know why Bell does the things they do with college sports. I hope to get better news this time around. Not like you would miss a ton of games but nine games is nine games and the point is so that Canadian college football fans have options to watch. Otherwise they try other methods and these cable companies lose out. Then again, I don’t think they truly understand that.
Anyway, enjoy the games everyone and have a great weekend!
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