Bowl Recap #5 – Sponsored by Going 6 for 6

No, that’s not 30 for 30’s younger, dumber brother. It refers to the fact that, for the most part, the New Year’s Six bowls went six for six for being horrible.  Not a single one of the bowls had much drama at all.  You could say Florida State kept it relatively close with Houston and there was a bit of drama during the Fiesta Bowl but other than that it was relatively unwatchable football.  And this is coming from a guy who watches as much college football as he can.  Alright, let’s get to the recap starting with the College Football Playoff semi-finals:

ORANGE BOWL – Clemson 37 Oklahoma 17

So many complained that this game started at 4 on New Year’s Eve because many people were working that day. Understandable I guess.  Yet many of those same people didn’t complain that the other semi-final was on from 8 until midnight on New Year’s Eve.  Makes no sense to me.  Anyway, this bowl was the closer of the two semi-finals.  It was the Clemson D that stepped up in this one.  Mayfield, Perine, Shepard, et al just couldn’t do much.  Also, Deshaun Watson showed why he was a Heisman finalist.  Which leads us to the other semi-final…

COTTON BOWL – Alabama 38 Michigan State 0

Good lord this wasn’t even close. It did allow the Twitterverse to go crazy saying Sparty didn’t belong in the College Football Playoff at all.  Hindsight is 20-20 but it’s also annoying and sometimes very wrong.  Who knew Jake Coker would have the game of his life?  Who knew Connor Cook would have the worst game of his life?  Who knew Alabama’s defense would be that good?  OK I’ll give you that last one.  Bama has all the momentum going into the national championship now.

Now the other New Year’s Six bowls which weren’t a whole lot better:

PEACH BOWL – Houston 38 Florida State 24

Arguably the closest of the NY6 bowls. Terrible.  However it did show that Houston, much like Boise State in years past, is a cut above most of the rest of the Group of Five teams.  Not having Everett Golson or, really, a healthy Sean Maguire didn’t help the Noles in this one.  Honestly though they looked sloppy.  It’s like the put it all on the field against Florida so they could destroy their rivals and had nothing left for this one.

FIESTA BOWL – Ohio State 44 Notre Dame 28

Ugh, the targeting penalty rears its ugly head again. Joey Bosa’s Ohio State career ends on a targeting call that is technically correct but kind of goes against the spirit of the rule.  There were at least six other instances where targeting should have been called and never was in the past few days.  That has to be the NCAA’s number one priority in the offseason: getting the targeting call correct and locking down when it should be called.  I get that it’s still referee’s discretion but the variation on when it’s called is ridiculous.  I feel bad for the kid since there’s a possibility he will end up on the Browns next season.  Oh, as for the game, despite the fact the Irish acted like a rash that wouldn’t quite go away, tOSU seemed to be in control the entire time.  NEXT!

ROSE BOWL – Stanford 45 Iowa 16

This was also known as the McCaffrey Bowl since he was the single most dominating player on that field (as he was in a few other games during the season). He scored a touchdown a mere eleven seconds in and that ended up being a prelude to one of the greatest performances in bowl game history.  His 368 all-purpose yards broke the Rose Bowl record and he put the stake in the ground as the 2016 Heisman early frontrunner.  Iowa was never in this one and this seemed like more of a beatdown than what their Big Ten brethren Michigan State suffered the previous day.  I hope this, for now, shows people why a four-team playoff is better than an eight-team playoff.  As much as people said Stanford and Ohio State were reasons for playoff expansion, Iowa and Notre Dame showed that it shouldn’t be since they would have been two of the eight teams vying for the title.  Moving on…

SUGAR BOWL – Ole Miss 48 Oklahoma State 20

At this point I got fed up. Once Laquon Treadwell caught his third touchdown pass in the second quarter I put the rest of the game on the PVR (we will get to that in a later bowl recap).  I had had it with the New Year’s Six.  What a set of horrible games.  So New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and (to a lesser extent) American Thanksgiving Saturday, the three biggest college football days of any season, were pretty shitty.  Not impressed as a college football fan.  I was right to check the game on the PVR later to see that, um, yes Ole Miss destroyed the Cowboys.

OK enough of these bowls, let’s get to the rest of the bowls from New Year’s Day and yesterday:

OUTBACK BOWL – Tennessee 45 Northwestern 6

Your 2016 SEC East Champion Tennessee Volunteers…is what many will now say for the next eight months. Don’t get me wrong, the Vols made Northwestern their bitch in this one but one game does not a champion make.  I will say this: Tennessee is set up well for the next season but more so for the fact that the rest of the SEC East doesn’t look too hot right now so really it’s an open competition (except for you Vanderbilt).  I assume this bowl game lost many viewers pretty early on.  That’s the con of a New Year’s Day bowl when other bowl games are on.

CITRUS BOWL – Michigan 41 Florida 7

See what I mean about the SEC East? Let’s be honest, the Gators overperformed this season.  They didn’t have the players to be a true CFP contender yet somehow they came within one poor game in the SEC Championship of going to a New Year’s Six bowl game.  They were exposed here by a good Michigan team that was probably one horrifically bad last-second play from also being in the New Year’s Six.  Jim Harbaugh has the Wolverines going in the right direction and Florida fans hope Jim Bob McElwain is doing the same in Gainesville.  Again, another bowl that lost plenty of viewers due to the game being basically over in the early third quarter.

TAXSLAYER BOWL – Georgia 24 Penn State 17

Hey a bowl game that was actually somewhat close. Saying that, the Dawgs had a 24-3 lead before the non-Hackenberg Nittany Lions made a comeback.  Christian Hackenberg is smart to declare for the NFL Draft despite the fact he won’t be a first round pick.  The one thing that kept Penn State from a better season was that brutal offensive line.  I wouldn’t want to play behind those guys another season knowing there’s a decent payday awaiting you instead.  Also, this game felt weird with no Mark Richt involved.

LIBERTY BOWL – Arkansas 45 Kansas State 23

I took a break from watching football (I know, insane right?) for the last quarter-and-a-half of this one. I was starting to get worn out from the craptastic games I had seen.  Yes, we get it, the SEC West is awesome, all hail the SEC West, whatever.  KSU making a bowl game was a miracle in and of itself and if my proposal would go through, we would never see teams like this in postseason play again.

ALAMO BOWL – TCU 47 Oregon 41 (3OT)

It feels like all the excitement that we could have had in all the bowls were concentrated here. And I nearly missed it.  Once Oregon went up 28-0, I put the game on the PVR (much like the Sugar Bowl) and stopped watching.  What I missed was Vernon Adams getting injured and Gary Patterson feeling the POWER OF THE PURPLE SHIRT.  Bram Kohlhausen’s only career start at TCU ended up being legendary as TCU came back from 31 down to tie the game.  I decided, for some reason, to turn it back on to see what was going on with it with about 3 minutes left in the game.  I was astounded at what the score was.  The Horned Frogs would end up winning in triple overtime, sending Phil Knight into shock and making Ducks fans wonder which of their ten million uniform combinations would have been the right one to wear in hindsight.

CACTUS BOWL – West Virginia 43 Arizona State 42

I put this one on the PVR, watched the first half, and went to bed. I put in a four-hour window just to be safe.  Yeah, not even close.  By the time the recording ended there was still seven minutes left to play.  Why are some of these games so damn long.  Now I am worried that the national championship will be six hours and I will be exhausted the next day at work.  Worst part is this was a great game and I missed the end.  Don’t know who to complain to but I am going to complain anyways.  No wonder the Pac-12 doesn’t want too many late-night games considering I stayed up until 2 (if not later) on too many Saturday nights to count (it was probably like seven of them).  What an interesting way to finish watching bowl season.

One game left and it’s for all the marbles. Clemson will face Alabama for the national championship and now Dabo Swinney can use the underdog tag properly since they will definitely be one for this game (as of right now it’s Alabama favoured by 7).  Also, the FCS title game kicks off at noon on Saturday if you’re interested (and have the specialty pack).  College football season is almost over folks and I type that with a bit of a tear in my eye.  Enjoy the national championship (and the NFL games today).

Week 11 College Football Recap – Sponsored by the Smack-12

As in smacked into irrelevance. The poor Pac-12. They were still holding on for dear life, hoping among hope that the dominoes fell into place and they could put a team in the College Football Playoff. Well, for starters, they had to have Stanford and Utah win their games on Saturday. At least one of them would do it and both were favourites so everything should be alright going into Week 12 correct? Not so fast my friend (Lee Corso would be so proud). Stanford has to comeback against Oregon, only to fall short on a two-point conversion gone wrong. So now it was up to Utah. They were facing Arizona. No problem right? Well the Fighting RichRods decided to put the final nail in the Pac-12 coffin by beating the Utes in overtime. Better luck next year I guess.

Rest of the Fun-Time Recap

That was closer than it should have been. Two games fit this sentence. Clemson struggled with a pretty bad Syracuse team. You have to wonder if the Carrier Dome noise got to the Tigers but they can’t afford to look like this the last two weeks of the season going into the ACC Championship. As for Oklahoma State they got an even bigger scare. They didn’t take the lead on Iowa State until 3:06 was left in the fourth quarter. Memories of 2011 were flooding Ames on Saturday as many thought it was going to be deja-vu all over again. Fortunately for the Pokes they were able to barely pull this one out as they now head home to Stillwater to face Baylor in another huge Big XII showdown. Yeah this back-loaded schedule is working out perfectly. Speaking of the Big XII…

Don’t count Baylor out yet and don’t count Oklahoma in yet. Two things happen with this obviously back-loaded Big XII sked: 1) It allows teams to make big moves up the CFP rankings and 2) on the flip side, it makes it very difficult for any team to run the table down the stretch. Oklahoma looked like the better team in Waco. Saying that, the Sooners still have TCU and Oklahoma State left on their slate. I can honestly say I am not liking their chances of winning both games. Baylor, on the other hand, has those same two teams, plus Texas, left. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they won all three. It’s been that kind of season in college football.

Hell, don’t even put Bama in yet! Will the Tide win next week against the Southwest Texas School for the Deaf (or whatever FCS team they are playing)? Yes. Will they win the Iron Bowl? Yes. Will they win the SEC Championship over Florida? Hmmmm….that will be a tough game for Alabama. Should be a good one. Won’t put them in the CFP yet but the way they are playing I don’t see anyone stopping them.

The Hawkeyes better play better than that. They have two games remaining. Home against Purdue and at Nebraska on Black Friday. Two games they should win. The issue is, they really have to blow these two teams out of the water. Otherwise, unless other things happen for the teams around them in the rankings, they won’t get into the top 4 come conference championship week. What it comes right down to is this: Iowa must beat Purdue huge, beat Nebraska by a healthy margin, beat tOSU for the Big Ten Championship and THEN they will be in the top four but not before.

And that ends LSU’s chances…I think. You can’t say they are out of the New Year’s Six race yet but it sure looks like it. And now we can say Leonard Fournette has allowed a bunch of players into the Heisman race. I figured the game against Bama was an aberration. I was wrong…sort of. Arkansas played really well as Bret Bielema somehow finds a way to get his team to the win. So they beat LSU in Death Valley at night yet they lose to Toledo at home. Gotcha.

Now that was fun to watch. Michigan’s double overtime win over Indiana was fantastic to watch unless you were a Hoosier football fan. Why Indiana passed the ball on fourth and goal in the second overtime period rather than run it (you know, the same thing they had done over 20 times in a row at that point) is beyond me. They should have passed on third down so they could go back to their bread-and-butter on fourth. Hindsight is always 20-20 though so we will leave it at that. As for the Wolverines, they are STILL in the New Year’s Six conversation. I actually have them in my top 12 so there’s still hope although they have to get through Ohio State to do it.

Wouldn’t that have been crazy? Kansas….KANSAS!…was oh so close to upsetting TCU. And it would have been the upset of the year BY FAR! And that would have made it a lot of fun except for TCU fans. Really, even though TCU won, that should be their nail in the coffin when it comes to the CFP. Their chances were slim but now they should be gone regardless. I don’t care if they score 100 on Baylor and do the same against Oklahoma. That game should keep them out.

Is that the last we’ve seen from Everett Golson? I always thought his stats up until this past Saturday were deceiving. To watch him you would think he was entirely average. Not the same Golson from when he brought Notre Dame to the BCS National Championship. This game kind of proved it. Plus Sean Maguire stepped up in a way that not many could have seen. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimbo went with Maguire the rest of the way.

Don’t look now but Wazzu is 7-3. Washington State has done very well in the Pac-12 this year. And has also lost to Portland State. Typical of this college football season. If they had won that game (like they should have), they would have been 8-2 and probably in the top 20 by now. And there would have been New Year’s Six whispers. Yes it has been that crazy this year.

Keenan is the man. Keenan Reynolds is now the sole owner of the FBS Rushing touchdown career record. He has 81 now. I wonder if he could make it to 90? Probably.

And that’s why Houston should get the New Year’s Six spot. And to be honest, a Big XII invite. That comeback win over Memphis was epic and showed why this team is in the driver’s seat for that NYS spot. The noon game on Black Friday against Navy will decide the AAC West. If, for some reason, Houston loses, there will be more chaos for sure (unless Navy wins out).

Speaking of the AAC, how bout dem Owls….uh oh. Wow, did USF ever lay a beating on Temple. It wasn’t even close. That’s the Temple team we all remember from, well, every other season before this one. They still should close out the AAC East but that loss all but assures they won’t be playing in a big boy bowl this year.

Um, Clemson may want to be very worried now. North Carolina has destroyed Duke and Miami in consecutive weeks. Like absolute destruction. Honestly, over the last two weeks, no team (maybe save Alabama) has looked nearly as good as the Tar Heels. Worst part is they still haven’t clinched the Coastal division as that pesky Pitt Panthers team keeps hanging around. A win over Virginia Tech this weekend would clinch it for the Heels and set up the ACC Championship which should garner a lot of interest now.

I don’t get how it happened that fast. Georgia Tech’s fall from the top of the ACC Coastal is mind-boggling. They look so bad this year and compared to last year it just defies logic. Paul Johnson is fine for now but man, they better come out of the gate strong next season or it could be Johnson’s job.

Mark Richt has to be an intriguing possibility. Every program with a head coach opening would kill to have Mark Richt coach their team. And wouldn’t it be hilarious if he ended up at South Carolina? The only thing funnier would be if the USC of the east hired Clemson’s defensive coordinator Brent Venables. Yes my sense of humour can be odd at times.

Charlie should take one of those jobs NOW! Charlie Strong would be stupid, I think, to stay at Texas. With a 4-6 record and a very good possibility of being home for the holidays, many Longhorns’ faithful are calling for his head. He would be wise to look at the Miami job or the USC job or some other job and truly put his name in the hat. Otherwise, at some point, be it during the off-season or early next season, he could be out of a job completely.

Nebraska is somehow one win away from being bowl-eligible. And to get that win, they have to get through Iowa in Farmageddon on Black Friday. I know technically Kansas State and Iowa State play the Farmageddon game but Iowa-Nebraska suits that name so much more.

Coach of the year? You have to give some love to Todd Monken down at Southern Miss. Ever since Larry Fedora left it was a gongshow there. Monken has brought some stability to the program and now they are 7-3 and going bowling. Also, if they beat Old Dominion on Saturday they set up a showdown during the final week against Louisiana Tech for the Conference USA West Division crown. And to think it wasn’t that long ago when this team lost 22 games in a row.

Hopefully Missouri gets one more win for Gary Pinkel. It would be nice to see at least one coach go out on a high note since so many have not over the past few years. Mizzou needs one more win and they go bowling. I think with the way the players gutted out a victory over BYU, they should be able to pull it off.

Alright, I will be doing an entire post on my early bowl predictions on Wednesday instead of putting it here and making a long post even longer. The short NFL recap is tomorrow and then it’s schedule time starting Thursday.

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

Now we are in the thick of the college football schedule.  A couple of fantastic weeks mixed in with a couple of not-so-fantastic weeks in the third quarter of the sked.

Week 7

USC at Notre Dame – It wasn’t long ago that I only turned the channel to watch these two play because the other game I was watching was such a blowout it was almost unwatchable (FSU-Clemson if I’m not mistaken).  This year we get back to the time when both teams were contenders so it should be a good one AND it’s in primetime which is nice for anyone without either of the specialty packs.  (7:30, NBC)

Alabama at Texas A&M – Hey, it’s Alabama again.  Shocking.  OK not really.  Other than when they have their annual FCS ass-whoopin game in mid-fucking-November (thanks a lot assholes), pretty much every Bama game could be on a list of most important games.  I digress.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bama blow the Aggies out of the water.  It also wouldn’t surprise me if the Aggies kept it close especially because of the 12^th Man.  Thus is life in the SEC West.  (3:30, CBS)

UCLA at Stanford – Last year’s UCLA-Stanford game was fun to watch…unless you’re UCLA alumni.  Then it suck-diddly-ucked.  You had one job guys and you blew it.  Worst part is for the Bruins is that Stanford won’t be as mediocre as they were last season so it gets a lot tougher.  These are the types of games either school have to win to get to the Pac-12 title game.  (Thursday, 10:30, specialty pack)

Michigan State at Michigan – I have this feeling that Jumpin’ Jim Harbaugh is going to be flat-out fucking insane going into this one.  I’d love to see the Wolverines play Louisville just to see who would have an aneurysm first: Jimmy or Fun Bobby.  Michigan will be more competitive this season, that is a fact.  However, it’s still Sparty and until otherwise noted, they and tOSU are still the class of the Big Ten.  (Noon, ABC/TSN3)

Florida at LSU– Death Valley at night.  Yikes.  Hey Jimmy McElwain, here’s a fun test for you in your first season in Gainesville.  I have a feeling the leash won’t be nearly as long for Mr. McElwain so he better get his Gators up for games like this.  Also, over/under on how many blades of grass Les Miles eats is sitting at 400.  (9:00, specialty pack)

Penn State at Ohio State – Who thinks Penn State is a true contender in the Big Ten East this season?  Put your hand down James.  Other than Coach Franklin I am sure no one believes that.  Saying that, they are pretty much a lock for a bowl and they are always good for playing spoiler.  Remember, they almost did just that last season to the Buckeyes and Christian Hackenberg is a year older now. (8:00, ABC)

Other candidates: Louisville at Florida State (6:00, specialty pack), Oklahoma at Kansas State (4:00, FOX), Oregon at Washington (10:30, specialty pack), Nebraska at Minnesota (Noon, TSN2)

Week 8

Tennessee at Alabama – Bryant-Denny.  At night.  I will be perfectly honest.  If the Vols can keep it within 20, Butch Jones should consider it a success and get on the first plane back to Knoxville ASAP. (7:00, specialty pack)

Auburn at Arkansas – Another team that is much improved but still not quite a contender in their division.  Much like Penn State, the Razorbacks can do some damage to one of the actual contenders and I would say are almost a lock for a bowl (although I haven’t done my predictions so I can’t be totally sure on that).  Auburn has to be careful since this has all the makings of a trap game.  (3:30, CBS)

Florida State at Georgia Tech – What I wouldn’t have given to see Georgia Tech pull off the upset and beat the Noles in the ACC Championship last season.  OK not a whole lot but still it would have been fun.  Chaos is always fun when dealing with the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six.  FSU won’t be as good and nothing says Paul Johnson’s squad is any worse so don’t be surprised to see the Ramblin’ Wreck win this one at home. (Noon, TSN3)

Texas A&M at Ole Miss – I can’t believe I am saying this may be a trap game for Hugh Freeze and his Rebs but it very well could be.  A&M should be on the low end of the totem pole in the SEC West (which, conceivably, could have given them a conference title in some other conferences).  Ole Miss cannot look ahead to Auburn.  (3:30, specialty pack)

Utah at USC – The steady Utes battle the up-and-down Trojans.  Both teams will need a win here for different reasons.  Utah needs it to keep up the level of respect they finally have received from the rest of the college football world.  USC needs it to prove they are a contender this season.  So it’s kind of about respect as well.  Which means I am wrong, it’s for the same exact reason. (3:30, ABC)

Clemson at Miami – Alright, time for some action at the good ol’ Orange Bowl….wait…damn.  There is almost nothing that sucks the life out of a college football game than a sparse crowd.  And Dolphins Stadium has been an atrocious home for the U.  They desperately need a new stadium.  Hopefully with the Tigers coming into town they can fill the building but I will believe it when I see it.  (3:30, specialty pack)

Other candidates: Kansas State at Texas (7:00, specialty pack), Duke at Virginia Tech (3:30, specialty pack), Ohio State at Rutgers (8:00, ABC/TSN2), Penn State vs. Maryland (in Baltimore) (Noon, TSN2)

Week 9

Oregon at Arizona State – Not that this is a bad game.  It could very well turn out to be an awesome one.  The fact that this is the best game of the week (and that it’s on a Thursday night) and we are almost in November doesn’t bode well for the week’s schedule.  I digress.  I will stay up to watch this because I love college football and I must have some sort of brain issue.  (Thursday, 10:30, specialty pack)

Ole Miss at Auburn – There is a slight possibility that both teams could be coming into this game undefeated.  If that’s the case, this game rockets to the top of the list and the ESPN family of networks spends about 186 hours of pre-game coverage.  If not, it will be their normal 48 for an SEC West game.  (7:15, specialty pack)

Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (despite what CBS has to say) is usually a great game.  This is my third time imploring CBS to allow Verne and Gary to drink in the booth (if Verne is even around…is he?) and just let fly on whatever they want to say.  That alone would make me want to PVR that and save it for months to watch over and over again.  (3:30, CBS)

West Virginia at TCU – First appearance for Drunk Uncle Dana and his Magic Mountaineer Jug Band on this list.  The Mountaineers, despite the fact they don’t really belong in the Big XII, really want to feel like they belong in the Big XII.  To do that, they need to win some big games (and not lose the easy ones they should win…like when they play Kansas).  This would be massive if they pulled this one off and would throw the entire conference into disarray (and possibly cost them a CFP spot…which in turn would hasten invitations to new teams).  Too bad we won’t be able to see it all unfold.  (Thursday, 7:30, ugh…it’s FS1)

South Carolina at Texas A&M – A game between two teams who were the hot picks to go far…two years ago.  Now this could be a game to see who goes to a bowl this season.  Lucky for the HBC’s boys, they have Vandy AND Kentucky in their division (although UK is becoming a not-so-easy out these days).  A&M being in the SEC West makes games like these extremely important.   (7:30, specialty pack)

Michigan at Minnesota – Two of the trendy picks to make noise in the Big Ten this season get a national primetime slot to show how far they’ve come.  Expect to see some full-on Harbaugh intensity although he may have a rival to that on the other sideline.  Jerry Kill is not known for being quiet on the sidelines either.  (8:00, ABC)

Other candidates: Arizona at Washington (3:30, specialty pack), Miami at Duke (7:30, specialty pack), Rutgers at Wisconsin (3:30, ABC), UCF at Cincinnati (4:00, hell if I know…probably ESPNEWS which means “not gonna see it” to us Canadians)

Week 10

LSU at Alabama – This might be switched with the Auburn-Texas A&M game to go to primetime so I can’t say for sure it’s an afternoon game yet.  CBS will surely pick it up as it’s one of the games of the year.  The Hat gets to eat The Grass in The Bryant-Denny hoping he can lead The Tigers to The Victory.  Evil Saban knows this is a must-have win to go to the CFP.  Otherwise the road becomes a whole hell of a lot tougher.  (3:30, CBS)

Florida State at Clemson – Clemson came oh so close to upsetting the Noles last year in the somewhat infamous Sean Maguire Deer in the Headlights Game.  I was pulling for the Tigers, I will be honest, since FSU had already set themselves up as one of the worst undefeated teams in recent memory.  This year may be different but FSU did pick up Everett Golson in the off-season so Dabo better have his team up to snuff yet again.  The road to the CFP for Clemson runs straight through Tallahassee.  (3:30, ABC)

Arkansas at Ole Miss – Is it just me or does it feel like almost every game that features SEC-West-on-SEC-West violence could be included in these lists (and honestly it almost looks like the case).  Arkansas and Texas A&M are the worst teams in the division but could still end up with 7 wins.  How ridiculous is that?  Anyway, another game that should be a good one…if you have the specialty pack.  (7:30, specialty pack)

Auburn at Texas A&M  – Speaking of the worst team in the SEC West, I could see them pulling this one off at home.  Where this is scheduled (afternoon or evening) wholly depends on how good Auburn and Texas A&M are.  If both are undefeated or one-loss teams at this point it slots here.  Anything else may have CBS putting Verne and Gary in this spot and Boy Wonder Carter Blackburn and whoever the hell wants to work with him in the afternoon.  (8:00, CBS)

Baylor at Kansas State  – We seem to miss a lot of Big XII games in this area thanks to their inclusion on FOX Sports One and Rogers’ dumb NHL contract.  I’ve already talked about that contract a lot (especially here) so I won’t say anything more about how idiotic it is…even in Canada.  Too bad since I really wanted to see this game.  (Thursday, 7:30, FOX………………………….Sports One (damn))

Michigan State at Nebraska – Pelini-less Nebraska has their work cut out for them this season and this game could be the epitome of that.  Thankfully for them it’s at home but still, Sparty ain’t no slouch.  If Mike Riley loses four games exactly does he immediately go on the hot seat?  Question of the day in Lincoln.  (7:00, specialty pack)

Other candidates: Arizona at USC (7:30, FOX), Minnesota at Ohio State (8:00, ABC), Mississippi State at Missouri (Thursday, 7:30, TSN4), Wisconsin at Maryland (3:30, specialty pack)

Into the home stretch now.  Next post will be the last on the important games of the season.  Then on to playing out the season game-by-game to determine predictions.  Ordered my Phil Steele College Football Preview magazine earlier this week so I am hoping to get it by the end of next week.  And we are a mere 71 days away from the first game of the season (albeit an FCS game).

Jameis was THIS close to wanting to crawl under the turf (the Week 4 recap)

That was a lot closer than I thought it would be.  I was starting to think Clemson had the Noles’ number.  I was almost sad when Florida State pulled it out in the extra frame since I live for the upsets in college football.  Always fun to watch.  And as for the QB situation, as much as he was decent enough to help the Noles win, Sean Maguire showed why he shouldn’t take the field again unless (God forbid) Winston either gets injured or does something stupid again.  I give credit to pretty much everyone else on that field for the Noles before I give credit to Maguire.  He looked like he wasn’t ready; he looked like he couldn’t handle it; he had that deer in the headlights look often that night.  But then again, he can honestly say he was the QB on a team that beat a top 25 team on an ABC Saturday night college football game.   Sometimes life isn’t fair.

And what about Oregon? – The late game also had the air of a classic finish.  Crazy Mike Leach and his Fightin’ Wazzus kept in it with, who I believe is, the best team in the nation.  To lose by a touchdown against that Ducks team is pretty impressive.  Then again, the Cougs should have had at least a shot at tying the game but thanks to the refs that didn’t happen.  I mean, how does every official on the field miss the Oregon DB basically molesting the Cougar receiver on that play late in the fourth?  An atrocious non-call.

Not a good day to be a Tiger – Clemson gave it their all but came up short.  Auburn looked not as good as many think they are on Thursday.  LSU was shocked (somewhat) against Mississippi State.  Missouri was shocked (absolutely) against Indiana of all teams.  I’m pretty sure many other teams named Tigers lost or didn’t play that well this weekend also.

A little shaky in Tuscaloosa – That final score is misleading.  Yes, the Tide won by 21 but the Gators hung in there when they absolutely shouldn’t have.  Blake Sims had one of the best quarterbacking days in Alabama history, yet didn’t finish the game due to injury and his defense sure didn’t help him out.  They can’t play this way against a Texas A&M or an Auburn or a Mississippi State or else their chances at a semi-final spot diminish drastically.

The Big Ten is BACK! – OK not really.  ESPN went on and on about how much better the Big Ten’s record was this weekend.  But what did the conference really accomplish?  Other than the Hoosiers with a massive upset of Missouri, nothing impressive really happened and Michigan got beat up by Utah.  The conference is basically going to have to hitch their bags to Michigan State and hope Sparty can run the table and sneak into the CFP (with a bit of help of course).

What to do with BYU – Again, the Cougs do not blow out an opponent they probably should have.  Virginia is better than last year, I will give them that.  Mike London gets all the credit in the world for turning this around and probably saving his job if they can get to a bowl.  The Cougs (of the Mormon variety) should run the table this season.  Does that ensure a playoff spot?  The way they have played I would almost venture to say no unless some drastic things happen in other Power Five conferences.

Thanks a lot Pitt – My predictions are usually not that great…at best.  But I was sure Pitt would start 8-0 and I felt like a bit like one of those ESPN talking heads going out on a limb.  When they’re right they look like geniuses.  Pitt let Iowa hang around too long and blew a game they should have won.

Who’s perfect? – OK maybe that’s a misnomer.  None of the college football teams are perfect.  But for some, their record is (so far).  25 to be exact.  Even though we are still in September that is a lot of undefeated teams.  Expect that number to be cut by at least a dozen in the next three weeks.

It sounds like people who are Rogers customers are getting frustrated with the Super Sports Pak and the somewhat lack of coverage they get for college football.  I don’t understand how Rogers can’t show SEC Network games but can show ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU games.  Same company if they didn’t know that.  This means it’s a choice with Rogers, not with what they can show.  I still believe they’d be smarter to split up the Super Sports Pack into individual sports or smaller groups.  I mean I love football and would hate to have some of that money go to getting an MLB package I want no part of.  Seems ridiculous.  Especially in this day and age where cable is getting hammered on all sides.  The last huge bastion of true cable-TV watchers and subscribers are sports fans.  Until there is a GOOD way of watching live sports in another fashion in this country, we will all need cable (and spare me the garbage ideas I have heard on some forums…in Canada, there still isn’t a GOOD way of getting college football especially since we can’t get ESPN3, GamePlan (which isn’t that great to begin with) or the WatchESPN app).  So why would they play with the emotions of a subsection of sports fans (ones who like college football) and exclude games that they have rights for but for which they’ve decided not to show.  Sounds like the way they used the FOX college football rights…as in to not use them at all.  Completely ridiculous if you ask me.  But hey, I’m on Bell Fibe so I have to say they have finally stepped up and showed what they can show.  TSN has also stepped up but they are owned by Bell and have very little hockey to show so there’s that.  Hopefully Rogers wakes up but we are already four weeks in so that seems a bit unlikely now.

Should be out with the schedules Wednesday although both Rogers and Bell aren’t making it easy on me this season.  As for now, we will get Texas Tech-Oklahoma State on Thursday night on TSN1 and TSN3 and Appalachian State-Georgia Southern on the specialty pack.  Oh, and some D-II action for the Rogers customers that get CBS Sports Network.  Also, Friday night looks like Fresno State-New Mexico on the specialty pack and that’s it for this point.  There’s a few games set for Saturday so far so I hope the majority of them will be ready for me to report in a couple days time.