It’s the Final Mock Draft!

…..the final Mock Draft!

Yep, not kidding. This is it. I’m not going to do like four in a matter of six days or something ridiculous like that. I have a job and a life (sort of) outside of this blog. I also know things may change on the day of the draft (or more like opening day of the draft). Nothing I can do about that. Let the experts deal with it. Between ESPN and the NFL Network there has to be about 70 mock drafts ready to go in the half hour before the draft begins. So without further adieu, let’s get to l’ébauche finale:

First Round

1	Chicago	Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
2	Washington	Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
3	New England	Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina)
4	Arizona	Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State)
5	LA Chargers	Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
6	NY Giants	Dallas Turner, EDGE (Alabama)
7	Tennessee	Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama)
8	Atlanta	J.J. McCarthy, QB (Michigan)
9	Chicago	Laiatu Latu, EDGE (UCLA)
10	NY Jets	Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame)
11	Minnesota	Bo Nix, QB (Oregon)
12	Denver	Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
13	Las Vegas	Olu Fashanu, OT (Penn State)
14	New Orleans	Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
15	Indianapolis	Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo)
16	Seattle	Troy Fautanu, G (Washington)
17	Jacksonville	Taliese Fuaga, OT (Oregon State)
18	Cincinnati	J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama)
19	LA Rams	Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama)
20	Pittsburgh	Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas)
21	Miami	Jer’Zhan Newton, DT (Illinois)
22	Philadelphia	Jared Verse, DE (Florida State)
23	Minnesota	Chop Robinson, EDGE (Penn State)
24	Dallas	Amarius Mims, OT (Georgia)
25	Green Bay	Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa)
26	Tampa Bay	Michael Penix Jr., QB (Washington)
27	Arizona	Darius Robinson, EDGE (Minnesota)
28	Buffalo	Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU)
29	Detroit	Jackson Powers-Johnson, G (Oregon)
30	Baltimore	Graham Barton, G (Duke)
31	San Francisco	Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma)
32	Kansas City	Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona)

Second Round

33	Carolina	Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
34	New England	Kingsley Suamataia, OT (BYU)
35	Arizona	Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson)
36	Washington	Zach Frazier, C (West Virginia)
37	LA Chargers	T.J. Tampa, CB (Iowa State)
38	Tennessee	Patrick Paul, OT (Houston)
39	Carolina	Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB (Missouri)
40	Washington	Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon)
41	Green Bay	Chris Braswell, EDGE (Alabama)
42	Houston	Ruke Orhorhoro, DT (Clemson)
43	Atlanta	Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia)
44	Las Vegas	Christian Haynes, G (UConn)
45	New Orleans	Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE (Western Michigan)
46	Indianapolis	Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
47	NY Giants	Cooper Beebe, G (Kansas State)
48	Jacksonville	Adonai Mitchell, WR (Texas)
49	Cincinnati	T’Vondre Sweat, DT (Texas)
50	Philadelphia	Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia)
51	Pittsburgh	Edgerrin Cooper, LB (Texas A&M)
52	LA Rams	Kamren Kinchens, S (Miami)
53	Philadelphia	Ricky Pearsall, WR (Florida)
54	Cleveland	Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State)
55	Miami	Keon Coleman, WR (Florida State)
56	Dallas	Trey Benson, RB (Florida State)
57	Tampa Bay	Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington)
58	Green Bay	Sedrick Van Pran, C (Georgia)
59	Houston	Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame)
60	Buffalo	Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan)
61	Detroit	Javon Bullard, CB (Georgia)
62	Baltimore	Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan)
63	San Francisco	Austin Booker, DE (Kansas)
64	Kansas City	Braden Fiske, DT (Florida State)

Third Round

65	Carolina	Cedric Gray, LB (North Carolina)
66	Arizona	Payton Wilson, LB (NC State)
67	Washington	Bralen Trice, EDGE (Washington)
68	New England	Jonathan Brooks, RB (Texas)
69	LA Chargers	Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas)
70	NY Giants	Caelan Carson, CB (Wake Forest)
71	Arizona	Leonard Taylor III, DT (Miami)
72	NY Jets	Tyler Nubin, S (Minnesota)
73	Detroit	Adisa Isaac, EDGE (Penn State)
74	Atlanta	Brandon Dorius, EDGE (Oregon)
75	Chicago	Christian Mahogany, G (Boston College)
76	Denver	DeWayne Carter, DT (Duke)
77	Las Vegas	Mike Sainristil, CB (Michigan)
78	Washington	Junior Colson, LB (Michigan)
79	Atlanta	Justin Egoigbe, DT (Alabama)
80	Cincinnati	Max Melton, CB (Rutgers)
81	Seattle	Tommy Eichenberg, LB (Ohio State)
82	Indianapolis	Calen Bullock, S (USC)
83	LA Rams	Spencer Rattler, QB (South Carolina)
84	Pittsburgh	Roger Rosengarten, OT (Washington)
85	Cleveland	Kiran Amedagije, OT (Yale)
86	Houston	Malachi Corley, WR (WKU)
87	Dallas	Jermaine Burton, WR (Alabama)
88	Green Bay	Blake Fisher, OT (Notre Dame)
89	Tampa Bay	Cole Bishop, S (Utah)
90	Arizona	Zak Zinter, G (Michigan)
91	Green Bay	Nehemiah Pritchett, CB (Auburn)
92	Tampa Bay	Javion Cohen, G (Miami)
93	Baltimore	Jaylen Wright, RB (Tennessee)
94	Kansas City	Blake Corum, RB (Michigan)
95	San Francisco	Elijah Jones, CB (Boston College)
96	Jacksonville	Kris Abrams-Draine, CB (Missouri)
97	Cincinnati	Johnny Wilson, WR (Florida State)
98	Pittsburgh	Jonah Ellliss, LB (Utah)
99	LA Rams	Jalyx Hunt, EDGE (Houston Christian)
100	Washington	Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington)

There are some strong opinions out there about this draft (like every draft) so let’s go through a few of them:

• The Vikings are going to trade up. This is a likely option but I don’t put trades in my mock drafts because I think dreaming up the trade packages would be insane. Saying that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded up to #4 or #5 to get J.J. McCarthy.
• The Cardinals are fielding a lot of trade offers. The top three picks are mostly set even though Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels seem to flip-flop in the second and third spots. The Cards are probably fielding a few offers but not as many as some might think. It will take a lot for them to trade down as they know they would get, arguably, the best overall player of the draft at a position they need.
• The Giants might be the toughest to figure out in the Top 10. Absolutely. They have all sorts of needs so there are probably 10-12 players on their board that they could conceivably take. I still like Dallas Turner at that spot but Terrion Arnold, Laiatu Latu, Brock Bowers, Quinyon Marshall and, hell, even Bo Nix could be picked at #6 by the Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-Men (done in extreme Chris Berman voice).
• If Brock Bowers isn’t picked Top 10 he will fall…FAR. I don’t think so. The Broncos, Colts, Bengals and Dolphins might all take a gander at the big man if he is still sitting in the back room after the tenth pick (which I think he will be).

Other than that there are questions that mostly don’t have answers at this point. Like will the Bills make a surprising leap up the draft now that Stefon Diggs has been dealt? Is Michael Penix Jr. poised to have the biggest leap up the draft boards in the past couple months? Will there be actual players involved in any of the trades over the next few days? It’s a crapshoot and not my expertise so I will steer clear of most of those questions (possibly, possibly and probably are my answers).

Reminder that the draft starts tonight at 8:00 and is emanating from Detroit. Moving the draft around has been fun so let’s see what it’s like in the Motor City. As per usual, ESPN and NFL Network will be doing the entire draft…all seven rounds. I have the ESPN draft pick is in ringtone on my phone but I am still debating which network to watch, at least for night one. I have leaned NFL Network in the past but I have done both over the past decade. It’s a game-time decision.

Finally, on the Twitter Machine (fuck you, Elon) I will be live-tweeting at least the first round and am hoping to do ALL SEVEN this year. Can I do it? Who the fuck knows. Around halfway through round five is where things usually go off the rails and I might struggle to keep going at that point. I mean I will but who knows if I will be posting tweets at that point or semi-conscious, staring at the bag of pretzels on my desk and wondering about important questions in life like “Would Nathan Peterman be successful in the CFL?”

Anyway, enjoy the draft, however much you watch of it.

Alright let’s wrap this up in a nice, neat little package

Oh man did you actually believe that?  LITTLE?  Have you not noticed what I’ve been doing the last little while?  Oh this will not be a little package I assure you; but it will be an important package of information that you, the college football fan, would like to see (I hope).

So yes, you will see what I believe the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six will look like.  You will get bowl projections from yours truly.  You will also get my Heisman ballot which is usually a big steaming pile of horseshit.  And you will get my coaching hot seat list which, honestly, is usually pretty good if I say so myself.

Let’s get right to it with the top of the pyramid (scheme)…the College Football Playoff predictions.  You probably have a good idea from the conference predictions as to who will end up here and you also know that there is a good chance I will fail miserably with one of these picks:

December 31st	Fiesta Bowl	#2 Ohio State	#3 Georgia
December 31st	Peach Bowl	#1 Alabama	#4 Clemson

New Year’s Eve semi-finals.  Will they never learn?  Anyway, Bama is the easy call here as I see them running the table and then beating UGA in what may be the biggest SEC Championship ever (and that’s saying a lot).  This also means that Georgia is probably a fairly easy call as well.  Sure, they will lose to the Tide but if they go in at #2 (which I expect them to) and lose to #1 (which I assume Bama would be) then a drop to #3 is as far as they will go.  No way they are leaving out a one-loss Big Ten champ so tOSU gets in and takes advantage of one of Alabama or Georgia having to lose to get to the #2 spot.  OK take advantage is a strong phrase since being #2 means very little other than avoiding #1 until, potentially, the title game.  Clemson ends up beating out Texas A&M, Michigan and NC State, all one-loss teams who didn’t win their division, rather easily to grab the final semi-final spot.  Oregon would have their shot at the Pac-12 Championship but lose to Utah making The Committee’s job (at least for these two games) rather straightforward.

Now we will go to the New Year’s Six bowl games where, thanks to the NFL, none of them are on New Year’s Day.  Eat shit, Rose Bowl.

January 2nd	Rose Bowl	#6 Michigan	#10 Utah
January 2nd	Cotton Bowl	#11 Oregon	#8 Houston
December 31st	Sugar Bowl	#5 Texas A&M	#9 Baylor
December 30th	Orange Bowl	#7 NC State	#12 Notre Dame

As always, it’s debate time.  Every year which is fine as long as the debates devolve into some stupid Twitter spat.  Only one conference championship loser is getting in here and that’s Oregon.  They’ll be high enough in the rankings (potentially in the Top 4) going into Conference Championship weekend that there is no way they drop out of a NY6 bowl.  Houston won’t be this year’s Cincinnati but they will be this year’s Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six and they will coast to get here.  Michigan is going to have another good year but they have the audacity to be in the same division as Ohio State.  Assholes.  This will be enough to keep them out of the CFP.  Same goes for TAMU and NC State.  What were they thinking being in a division with other good schools.  And you wonder why I hate divisions.  We could have a tOSU-UM rematch and a Clemson-NCST rematch for conference championships.  Talk about a lot more being on the line and a hell of a lot more intrigue.

Utah, with their win over Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship, gets the other Rose Bowl spot opposite Michigan.  Luckily, they should ascend to somewhere around the #10 ranking that I have them in so they will look like they belong.  Baylor also gets the benefit of a good bowl tie-in and I have them facing their old Southwest Conference foe, the Aggies of Texas A&M.  Just like Utah, the Bears will be good enough to belong here and not spark any crazy debate about bowl tie-ins.  The only debate will be for the final spot.  Look, it’s Notre Dame.  If the Irish go 10-2, they are not being left out of this group of bowl games.  As much as some of you want that to be the case, it never will be (until the CFP structure changes).  They beat out UCLA, Oklahoma and Marshall.  Very few, other than those schools’ fans, will be super upset they were left out.

Now it’s time for the rest of BOWL SZN.  At least I know these bowls won’t be cancelled…I hope.

January 2nd	Citrus Bowl	#17 Tennessee	#18 Michigan State
January 2nd	ReliaQuest Bowl	Florida	#20 Minnesota
December 31st	Music City Bowl	Ole Miss	#22 Purdue
December 30th	Gator Bowl	Arkansas	#19 Pittsburgh
December 30th	Arizona Bowl	Boise State	Northern Illinois
December 30th	Sun Bowl	Louisville	Oregon State
December 30th	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Kentucky	Penn State
December 29th	Alamo Bowl	#15 Oklahoma	#13 UCLA
December 29th	Cheez-It Bowl	Iowa State	Miami
December 29th	Pinstripe Bowl	Iowa	Florida State
December 28th	Texas Bowl	LSU	#21 Texas
December 28th	Holiday Bowl	Virginia Tech	#24 USC
December 28th	Liberty Bowl	South Carolina	#23 Oklahoma State
December 28th	Military Bowl	Wake Forest	#16 UCF
December 27th	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Nebraska	Kansas State
December 27th	Birmingham Bowl	Auburn	#25 Cincinnati
December 27th	First Responder Bowl	Colorado State	Troy
December 27th	Camellia Bowl	Coastal Carolina	UAB
December 26th	Quick Lane Bowl	Maryland	Miami-OH
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	BYU	Fresno State
December 23rd	Independence Bowl	Memphis	Army
December 23rd	Gasparilla Bowl	Boston College	Tulsa
December 22nd	Armed Forces Bowl	TCU	UTEP
December 21st	New Orleans Bowl	#14 Marshall	UTSA
December 20th	Boca Raton Bowl	Appalachian State	Florida Atlantic
December 20th	Idaho Potato Bowl	San Diego State	Toledo
December 19th	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Georgia State	Liberty
December 17th	Frisco Bowl	San Jose State	South Alabama
December 17th	Las Vegas Bowl	Mississippi State	Arizona State
December 17th	LendingTree Bowl	Louisiana	Kent State
December 17th	LA Bowl	Washington	Air Force
December 17th	New Mexico Bowl	Utah State	Western Michigan
December 17th	Fenway Bowl	North Carolina	SMU
December 16th	Cure Bowl	East Carolina	UNLV
December 16th	Bahamas Bowl	WKU	Central Michigan

More bowl games!  Honestly, I don’t care nearly as much as I used to.  It’s more football at this point.  Once the 12-team playoff (or whatever it ends up being) comes to fruition, I will be interested to see what happens to some of the lower-level bowl games.  Hey, as long as Canadians can see most of these games on TSN then there’s no real problem.  Let’s look at a few points from that long table of information I just posted:

• Only two games between ranked teams?  Good lord.  UT-MSU at the Citrus and Oklahoma-UCLA at the Alamo and that’s it.  Those two bowls are used to having fairly big matchups.  It would probably be more of a shock if the Bahamas Bowl had a Top 25 matchup (although it would definitely intrigue me that’s for sure).
• I’m not bothering with listing bowl tie-ins and or conferences that couldn’t fill their bowl quota or even 5-7 teams that I have in to fill the bowl games that don’t have two teams.
• Some of the other good matchups after the Citrus and Alamo:
  • Ole Miss-Purdue in Nashville
  • Arkansas-Pitt at the Gator
  • Iowa-Florida State playing in the cold of the Bronx
  • Wake-UCF in the Military Bowl
  • LSU going into Longhorn country (kind of) to play Texas
  • Marshall-UTSA in Nawlins
  • Nebraska-Kansas State in a Big Eight matchup in Tempe
• The Husker one is very interesting because they have the longest Big Ten bowl drought.  Can you fucking believe it?  I would have bet money that it was Rutgers or…Rutgers.  Nope.  The Huskers went to the Music City Bowl in late 2016 and haven’t gone back to a bowl game since.  Wow.

History states at least one of the CFP semi-final games will not be that good.  I hate to do this to the Tigers but sorry, Bama should win that one easy.  The Buckeyes will have big problems with the Dawgs but in the end, they will punch their ticket to the national title game to lose to the Tide who will be back on top once again.  No real surprises here.

So now that COVID is…well not behind us but it is not nearly as serious as it was, we can really get back to normality. That means that the college football head coaches are getting shorter leashes again, folks! The shitcanning season will be upon us at some point this Fall!

And when I mean short leashes I mean seriously short. Like maybe a foot long. Some athletic directors are now realizing that the college football world is pretty much fully back to normal and they have some time to make up. Some coaches received reprieves in the past two seasons thanks to the pandemic but that leeway is fucking gone now.

Look I don’t want to toot my own horn but I usually do fairly well with this list. So let’s just get right down to it, shall we? If you recall, the order is from most likely to be fired to most likely to keep their job. They are also categorized in a few different sections. Let’s go!

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Geoff Collins (Georgia Tech) – This should be a surprise to absolutely no one.  The experiment to move away from the option to more of a pro-style offense has failed spectacularly in the ATL.  I honestly see no possible improvement here and a possible in-season firing.  Needed to keep his job – Get into the final few weeks of the season with at least a mathematical possibility of going bowling.  Prediction – He’s going to get shitcanned some time in November in the midst of a ten-loss season for the Rambling Wreck.
2. Karl Dorrell (Colorado) – Can we say that weird 2020 season was an aberration?  I think we can as the Buffaloes are dropping down the ladder once again in the Pac-12 as realignment goes wild everywhere.  Needed to keep his job – Have a shot at bowl eligibility going into the final two games.  Prediction – A whole lot of frustration for Dorrell, the Buffaloes, the other coaches, alumni and current students. And no job for Dorrell…he may end up not coaching the final game of the season.
3. Neal Brown (West Virginia) – Brown’s first year in Morgantown was considered a success.  Last year’s, not so much.  And with an improving Big XII around them, I see them falling even farther in Brown’s third year when he has most of his recruits in.  Not looking good for a guy who was a big up-and-comer not too long ago.  Needed to keep his job – Not continue the downward slide.  Prediction – I remember going to Wet n’ Wild as a kid. It doesn’t exist anymore. But it had some cool waterslides. That is how ol’ Neal is going to feel this season. He’ll end the season on the unemployment line.
4. Mike Bloomgren (Rice) – No one is really expecting Rice to be a power player in football.  Saying that, they had to the American Conference next season and I can’t see Bloomgren being the head coach.  Other than a couple of good seasons, he’s done very little in the Houston area and has fallen FAR behind their neighbour.  Needed to keep his job – Something more than what I feel they will do this year.  Prediction – The bloom has come off the rose (ha ha) and he will be looking for a new school to coach at for 2023.
5. Herm Edwards (Arizona State) – It feels inevitable that, at the very best, Herm will be done at the end of the season.  Their recruiting issues are well known and it may end up being the NCAA coming down hard on ASU (and, eventually, Herm himself).  It won’t help his cause that the Sun Devils won’t be as good as they were last year.  Needed to keep his job – I don’t know if there is anything short of a Pac-12 title that would save his job (and even then).  Prediction – Herm is shown the door before the last game of the season as the powers that be in Tempe decide it’s time to rebuild again.

Probable Shitcanning

6. Dino Babers (Syracuse) – How long has Dino been on the hot seat?  Everything was looking golden in 2018 for Babers but since then…yeesh.  I’m not saying Syracuse is a destination spot for coaching but you know things are getting tense within the athletic department with this.  Needed to keep his job – The Orange to recapture at least some of that 2018 magic.  Prediction – Dino will be a coordinator somewhere next year.
7. Scot Loeffler (Bowling Green) – I’m sure there are times where Scotty (Scoty?) would love to be back at any of the schools he used to be at.  This is his first head coaching gig and it has been a rough one to be honest.  Even though Bowling Green isn’t exactly a hotspot in college football, at some point the athletic director will be done with the team not performing.  7-22 isn’t exactly the type of record that keeps a job.  Needed to keep his job – 4 or 5 wins and look competitive inside the MAC.  Prediction – Double-digit losses and a pink slip.
8. Danny Gonzales (New Mexico) – Speaking of tough places to coach, here are the Lobos looking at potentially another coaching change on the horizon.  Definitely a spot a younger coach in the West would maybe take a shot at.  Beware though: the last time UNM won at least ten games was four decades ago.  Unfortunately between them and NMSU, the state is a dead spot for college football.  Needed to keep his job – Close to bowl eligibility.  Prediction – Three wins and a tough decision to be made from the higher ups.

Possible Shitcanning

9. Seth Littrell (North Texas) – Littrell hasn’t done bad in Denton.  Five bowls in his six seasons there is pretty darn good for a team in Conference USA.  Problem is he has lost every single one.  It truly does feel like they are kind of stuck in the middle of the conference and that’s getting some people antsy.  Needed to keep his job – At least 5 wins and competing for bowl eligibility near the end of the season.  Prediction – That’s exactly where I have the Mean Green. I think he probably survives the season but the leash will be extremely short going forward.
10. Bryan Harsin (Auburn) – This was considered a coup when the Tigers plucked him from Boise State.  His first season on the Plains was…rocky to put it mildly.  There was an attempt to get him ousted after last season ended.  Obviously it didn’t work but there are some thinking maybe he just doesn’t fit at Auburn (or the SEC for that matter).  Needed to keep his job – A winning record and better recruiting.  Prediction – I got the Tigers winning 7 to stay out of the basement of the SEC West. That should be enough to save him at least into ‘crootin season. That’s where he needs to improve or otherwise he may not see the 2023 season on the field at Jordan-Hare.
11. Ken Niumatalolo (Navy) – It is tough putting Ken on this list, I’m not going to lie.  Problem is, Navy has been pretty bad for three of the past four seasons.  That 2019 season where they won 11 games seems like a fluke, almost.  I’m sure it would take a lot to fire Niumatalolo but another season like the previous two and who knows.  Needed to keep his job – At least 6 wins.  Prediction – I have the Middies only winning three so this could be a very interesting offseason in Annapolis.
12. Terry Bowden (ULM) – I might get some flak for this one.  I know he’s only been in Monroe for a season.  I do think this year the Warhawks are going to be one of the worst teams in the FBS. Maybe there is someone on his staff who will take over for him next year so that ULM brass will feel OK to fire him? I don’t know but this doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere in a much-improved Sun Belt Conference.  Needed to keep his job – Improvement from the previous season.  Prediction – As I said, they won’t be good. I have them predicted at 1-11. I can see this being done relatively quietly in the offseason (Terry’s shitcanning that is).
13. Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee) – Stockstill has been at Middle for what seems like forever.  And it doesn’t feel like anything would happen because of that.  Saying that, the Blue Raiders need to do something since they have been mediocre most of the last few seasons. They also turned down a (possible?) invitation to the MAC so this is their chance to become the best of a not-so-good bunch. Will Rick lead them through that though?  Needed to keep his job – Got to be bowl eligibility really.  Prediction – I got MTSU winning 5 games which will make for some very interesting offseason chatter in Murfreesboro.
14. Greg Schiano (Rutgers) – This isn’t the Schiano that went 56-33 in his final seven seasons during his first run in Piscataway.  That was in the Big East and Rutgers is…well, they definitely aren’t in a conference like that anymore.  Still, fans were hoping for something a bit more from a guy who runs blitzes during kneel down plays.  Unfortunately, I think this won’t be that year.  Needed to keep his job – Real bowl eligibility, not the 5-7 you are a smart school kind.  Prediction – I have the Scarlet Knights regressing a bit this year. Whether Schiano returns has a lot to do with whether they think they’ve truly bottomed out and if they believe they can get a good coach in.
15. Jake Spavital (Texas State) – Has anyone ever expected the Bobcats to do anything of significance on the football field? Really, that lack of winning culture could be the one thing that gives Spavital one more season at the helm. Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and some meaningful November football. Prediction – 4 wins and a short leash into 2023.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

16. Jeff Scott (USF) – Not a whole lot has gone well for the former Clemson coordinator down in Tampa.  Remember when the Bulls were #2 in the nation?  Not even Pepperidge Farms remembers that I don’t think.  What it does say, though, is that you can win at this school.  Now it’s just a matter of how long the USF athletic department will give Scott to truly turn things around.  Needed to keep his job – Stay out of the American Conference basement.  Prediction – They aren’t going to a bowl game but expect them to win around four games and be quite clear of the bottom rung of the AAC.
17. Scott Frost (Nebraska) – It has become a difficult job to recruit players to Lincoln.  I think Frost has finally figured it out and the Huskers, at the very least, should be back bowling this season. Now watch them completely tank.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl-eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – No Kool-Aid this time but I have the Huskers winning eight games. Don’t laugh.
18. David Shaw (Stanford) – I remember when Shaw was getting Stanford to bowl games and contending in the Pac-12 on a consistent basis.  Make no bones about it, he’s still a great head coach.  Give him time and he will have the Cardinal back on top of what will be the Pac-10 going forward.  Needed to keep his job –  Look better than the 2021 season.  Prediction – I have Stanford winning 4 games but the bottom of the Pac-12 North is crowded so an upset or two isn’t out of the realm of possibility for this team. Shaw is safe for another season at the very least.
19. Mike Norvell (Florida State) – Things are finally looking up in Tallahassee.  For real this time. It would have to get really bad for the Noles this season for Norvell to be let go.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least.  Prediction – Eight wins and a new lease on life. Teams won’t have it easy against this team this season.
20. Tom Allen (Indiana) – I would put Tom farther up this list as Indiana was BAD last year and won’t be a whole lot better this season.  Thing is, his buyout is huge so unless the Hoosiers absolutely have to fire him, he won’t be let go.  Needed to keep his job – Don’t do something illegal or unethical.  Prediction – Other than punching the coach of the opposing team, I can’t see Allen doing anything bad. Yes I only have them winning three games this season but that doesn’t really matter here in the grand scheme of things.

One of these days I have to go back and see how truly successful I have been at this hot seat list. I still think the numbers will back me up.

Now from a normally good section (for me) to a notoriously horrible section (for me). My Heisman ballot is back. And I don’t know if it can be any worse than what I have done for the past few years. But, I always give it my all so here’s another edition of Bossman’s Heisman Trophy Ballot If He Got a Vote (which he most certainly should not):

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Heisman Ballot

1. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State – Last year’s ballot was horrifically bad but I did have Stroud in at #4 (and Bryce Young at #5).  So it wasn’t all bad (but mostly it was).  I have the Buckeyes getting to the National Championship and he will be the main reason why. It will be a close race this year, I believe, but Stroud will put up the numbers and get the big victories that put him over the top.
2. Bryce Young, Alabama – Yes, I do have the Tide winning the national title this year.  It still won’t be enough to not join the list of players who had a shot at pulling an Archie Griffin and came up short.  Unlike everyone else on the list, he won’t make it easy on the other contenders. The only thing holding him back is how many other Heisman candidates this team has. They are loaded.
3. Caleb Williams, USC – It was a huge coup for Lincoln Riley to convince Williams to follow him from Oklahoma to USC.  Among the contenders, Williams may have the toughest job helping turn around a 4-8 team so quickly.  This is one of the few instances where a team only being so good might end up costing a player during a Heisman campaign.
4. Will Anderson Jr., Alabama – I believe Anderson is the best defensive player in the country and it’s really not even close.  He’s also one small part of the reason that I think Bryce Young won’t win the Heisman.  He will take some of the votes that would have been thrown Young’s way.  It could work in reverse as well. Anderson could be primed to be the first defensive player in a long time to win the Heisman Trophy but all the good Bama players, including Young, makes it a bit more difficult for him.
5. D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson – Should we try this again? Why not.  *clears throat*  Ahem…Oo-ee-un-guh-luh-lay.  Just like last year.  And just like last year I have him #5 in my Heisman rankings.  He will have to show some serious improvement and I am betting he will.  It will help that he will have a better team around him that will be competing fort he College Football Playoff.  I think we will have a good idea what kind of season he will have once September ends.
6. Tyler Van Dyke, Miami – This guy looked like the real deal down the stretch last season and could have been considered the best ACC player the last few weeks of the regular season.  The Canes will be better but, as per usual, doing better will help a lot. If the Canes can somehow win the ACC title, Van Dyke’s chances might soar.
7. Dillon Gabriel, Oklahoma – A fantastic quarterback at UCF.  And thanks to TransferPortalMania, he ends up in Norman, replacing Caleb Williams (and, sure, Spencer Rattler).  Being the quarterback for the Sooners is always a pressure situation but the pressure should be a lot less this season which may allow Gabriel to thrive.
8. Bijan Robinson, Texas – Running backs still get shafted, to an extent, when it comes to Heisman voting.  It takes a phenomenal year for one to win it and you have to pair it with no outstanding quarterbacks.  An uphill battle for sure.  But if there’s one running back who could break through this season, it could be the new king of dijon mustard, Bijan Robinson. He will be the guy who makes the Texas offense go so if they win even 9 games this year, look for him to get a lot of attention from voters.
9. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State – Hey, how about the guy who had a breakout game for the ages at the Rose Bowl?  He will have arguably the best quarterback in the country throwing to him.  As we know, that’s a plus and a minus when it comes to the Heisman.  At the very least, he is the highest rated receiver coming into the season so that counts for something.
10. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee – This may feel to some like an out-of-nowhere kind of pick.  Hooker showed what he could do running a decent Vols offense.  With Tennessee having a lot more talent on that side of the ball this season, he may have some crazy stats. If Tennessee somehow gets to a New Year’s Six bowl, he will get a ton of hype.

Honourable Mention

• TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
• Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama
• Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
• Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
• Quinn Ewers, Texas
• Spencer Rattler, South Carolina
• Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
• Jordan Addison, USC
• Devin Leary, NC State

I am going to wish the players on this list good luck since there is a chance the winner is nowhere to be found here. Because I am terrible at this.

All the predictions I have are now complete! In about five months or so I will find out how poorly I did.

Next up will be…hold on let me check my notes…yes….YES……YEEEEEES! College football is back! Week Zero! I mean it’s just Week Zero but still….WEEK ZERO! I will have the schedule up at some point early in the week. I’ve already been asked about the specialty packs as it pertains to this coming Saturday. My guess is they won’t show anything since normally they don’t because…who knows but I will chalk it up to some sort of incompetence since what they (Bell and Rogers) tell me makes no sense. I will keep everyone updated. Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

Hey how did I do? Also, my updated NFL playoff predictions.

Basically, this is a post of how shitty my predictions are.  And some of them are BAD.

Let’s start with the college football portion of our show.  As I usually do, despite the fact I make my predictions public, I always assume some of them will be horrible.  But I made my choices, dammit, and I’m gonna stick with them.  Unlike some of you loser experts out there.  Alright let’s get going with this.

College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six

• OK then here we go.  This is gonna be bad, I can just feel it:
  • Alabama – Picked them #2 and they ended up #1.  Nice.  Good start for the ol’ Bossman.
  • Ohio State – I figured this was a no-brainer.  It wasn’t.  I had then #3 and they ended up at the Rose Bowl.  So not too bad as a lot of experts had them in their Top 4.
  • Oklahoma – I had them #1.  Then the first game of the season happened and I realized it wouldn’t happen.  Ended up outside the New Year’s Six and lost both quarterbacks to the transfer portal.  Not good.
  • North Carolina – What in the fuck was I thinking?  I did not bank on the O-line being possibly the worst in the country, that’s what I was thinking.  Anyway, they came oh so close to not even being bowl-eligible.  Completely gross pick on my part.
• How about my New Year’s Six picks?  Might as well go through them one-by-one as well:
  • I had Notre Dame going to the Fiesta Bowl.  Spot on!
  • Clemson to the Peach Bowl.  Ugh.  Not that Clemson had a terrible season but they were really never close to the New Year’s Six.
  • Cincinnati to the Peach Bowl.  They did better than I thought they would.  Congrats to them and for breaking the Group of Five ceiling.
  • Iowa State to the Sugar Bowl.  I honestly though ISU would finally break through and get that Sugar Bowl bid.  They hung in there but really were never in the Big XII race.
  • Texas A&M to the Sugar Bowl.  I figured after they beat Bama that they would be in this spot.  Man, was I wrong.
  • Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl.  Honestly, they were a tough loss to Minnesota away from the Big Ten Championship and then who knows what happens if they get there.
  • USC to the Rose Bowl.  Holy shit.
  • Washington to the Fiesta Bowl.  Double holy shit.  I whiffed so badly on my two Pac-12 picks.
• Other terrible predictions included Texas at #21 and going to the Alamo Bowl, TCU being #23 and heading to the Cheez-It Bowl and Nebraska going to a bowl at all.  I fall for it every year it seems.
• I had Georgia, Coastal Carolina and Oregon being just on the outside of the NY6 looking in.  Georgia was a huge miss on my part.  Oregon ended up pretty much right where I thought they would.  Coastal Carolina wasn’t as good but still won double-digit games.  So I would call those not so bad picks.

Heisman Trophy

• I had Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell as my #1 and #2.  Well this is a great start.
• OK this isn’t bad.  I had Bryce Young at #5.  I wondered if he could come out from under Mac Jones’ shadow and he did more than that for sure, especially in the SEC Championship where he clinched the trophy.
• Let’s look at some of the rest of my Top 10:
  • D.J. Uiagalelei at #3.  Ouch.  Despite the fact Clemson still did pretty good this season, D.J. was mediocre for much of it.
  • J.T. Daniels at #7.  Oh my.  Georgia fans are very happy that Stetson Bennett, the former walk-on, came through for them to win the title.
  • Kedon Slovis at #8.  OK then.  He’s now in the transfer portal which says all you need to know about how his season went.
  • D’Eriq King at #10.  Alright, I’m done here.

Coaching Hot Seat

I usually do pretty well with this.  Let’s see.

• Normally I do pretty well with the coaches on Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning section.  Not so this season.  Only Walt Bell was fired on this list with Jeff Brohm and Dino Babers possibly saving their jobs well into 2022.  Even the things I do well at I’m not doing well at.
• The next section I predicted better.  Two out of three.  Saying that, Jonathan Smith almost did a good enough job to be considered for other coaching openings.
• I should apologize to Jim Harbaugh though.  I shouldn’t have even put him on the list and I did in the Possible Shitcanning section.  Stupid me.  He had the best season he’s had in Ann Arbor and may end up back in the NFL in 2022.
• Honestly, most of the coaches did not get fired on my list and some actually did quite a bit better than most thought.  My excuse?  Look at how the season was.  It was insane!  How was I to know it would be this crazy?

Just A Bunch of Predictions, Good and Bad

Let’s be honest: it’s probably mostly bad but let’s go through this exercise anyway.

• Most of the teams I had with good records (at least 10 wins) did well if you don’t include North Carolina, Washington and USC, which I mentioned earlier.
• I predicted a fair amount of games on TSN during the regular season.  Boy, was I wrong.  It was very weird since TSN totally dropped the ball during the regular season.  Then come bowl season, TSN went nuts and broadcast almost every game.  They did more college games during the past few weeks then they had during the three-plus months before it.  Just bizarre.  So, in the end, I wish they would balance it out a bit more but they didn’t do too badly, I guess.
• Hey look who got the UTSA conference title win correct?  This guy…I’m pointing at myself.  They may be building something big in San Antonio with the Roadrunners.  I mean it’s in Texas, a big city with only one pro team and they are joining the best Group of Five conference, the American, for 2023.  Things are looking up for this quite new football team.
• Boise State.  Talk about being overshadowed in the Mountain West.  They haven’t looked this average in a long, loooooooong time.  I figured they would win the Mountain West, like they usually do, and it ended up they didn’t even get to the title game and had five teams legitimately better than them during the season.
• I shouldn’t have gone all-in with Oklahoma.  I think I bought the Spencer Rattler hype.  OK, I know I did.  I should have remembered him in that QB1 series.  He’s a dick.
• It still seems like no one can win at Kansas.  It looks like Lance Leipold is on the right track, especially with a win over Texas, but I nailed the pick (almost) and know it will take at least another year to get all the kinks out of the program so that Leipold can put his stamp on it.  I hope he gets that chance.
• Who did I get right in the Pac-12?  Almost none of the teams.   I had Oregon winning 10 games, Utah winning 9 and Arizona State winning 9.  Not bad.  I also had Washington winning 11 (ugh), Oregon State winning 3 (yikes) and Washington State winning 4 (oops).
• I got all 7 teams in the SEC West going bowling.  I’ll give myself a light pat on the back for that because it wasn’t a huge stretch to think that would happen.  I will say, though, that South Carolina was quite a bit better than I thought they would be.  Same with Tennessee.  Florida?  Yeah that was a surprise.  Same with the Dan Mullen firing.  Didn’t see that coming…back in July.
• Maybe I overestimated how good Coastal Carolina would be.  They still won 10 games though so I wasn’t THAT far off.
• Yeah I couldn’t see all the realignment that happened just before the season commenced.  Could anyone have foreseen this?  Probably not.  I’ll go with that.
• Hey who got the AAC Championship pairing correct?  I think I may have been one of very few to nail the Houston pick (having them be second to Cincinnati).
• The Independents were, honestly, pretty easy.  Notre Dame, Liberty, Army, BYU: good.  New Mexico State, UConn, UMass: bad.  Simple.
• Ugh, my ACC predictions.  Oof, my Big Ten predictions (although I did have Iowa in the Big Ten title game).  Oh god, my MAC predictions.  Not even fucking close.  OK enough of this.

I don’t feel like doing a Stassen score to be honest with you.  I’m not as good as some of the normal prediction mags and that’s fine.  I have fun doing the predictions, even when they end up being shitty.

Now, the NFL Playoffs.  I have to revise my choices from August since some teams (COUGH*Seattle*COUGH) underperformed and others were better than advertised because the NFL season was almost as crazy as the college season.  So here goes:

Wild Card Round

Buffalo def. New England

Kansas City def. Pittsburgh

Cincinnati def. Las Vegas

LA Rams def. Arizona

San Francisco def. Dallas

Tampa Bay def. Philadelphia

Divisional Playoffs

Tennessee def. Cincinnati

Buffalo def. Kansas City

LA Rams def. Tampa Bay

Green Bay def. San Francisco

Conference Championships

Buffalo def. Tennessee (revenge for the Music City Miracle)

LA Rams def. Green Bay

Super Bowl

Buffalo def. LA Rams

So I still have the Bills winning over an NFC West team.  So not a huge change, I guess.

Now that the college football season is over it’s time for the weird all-star games they have.  Some of them have bizarre rules.  But at least it’s still a chance to see some college players before they head to the NFL or an NFL practice squad or the CFL or the XFL or the USFL.  Man, there’s a lot of leagues.  You’d think the CFL would cave and put some teams in strategic NORTHERN American cities.  It worked in Baltimore, it could work again.  Just don’t put a team in fucking Shreveport.  Anyway, here is the schedule for the crazy all-star games:

• Hula Bowl – January 15th at Noon on CBS Sports Network
• NFLPA Collegiate Bowl – January 29th on NFL Network (time TBA)
• East West Shrine Game – February 3rd at 8:00 on NFL Network
• Senior Bowl – February 5th at 2:30 on NFL Network

After those games, no more college football until late August.  Prepare for the dry season.

What will the upcoming posts be?

• Spring football?  No.  Not a chance.
• The NCAA basketball conference tournament schedules will definitely return.  Those start in a little over a month so learn about some of the teams that may try and bust your brackets.
• The NFL Draft.  How many mock drafts will I do?  I don’t know.  One for sure just before the draft.  I may do others.  I may not.  Who knows.
• I’m sure there will be a random post or two in there.  You know, when I’m bored.

So as I said before we are getting into the dead period…for college football.  A sad, sad time.  Maybe one of these years I will take the time away from watching the greatest sport on Earth (after Chess Boxing) to improve myself top to bottom.  Ah, who am I kidding.  Have a great weekend everyone!

The Student Finally Defeats the Master – Week 6 College Football Recap

Up until early Saturday evening, Nick Saban had been 24-0 against his former assistants.  24-0.  That’s like an Undertaker-like streak.  Completely insane.  Then came the game.

The Aggies came out strong and it looked like the Crimson Tide defense was struggling.  Yes we had seen this earlier in the year but it’s not like things had gone off the rails for them.  But Bama’s offense could only do so much and couldn’t pull away.  And even though TAMU was keeping pace, it felt to me (and I assume a lot of others) that eventually the Tide would win.  Until Seth Small hit the field goal with no time left to clinch the Aggie victory, I still thought the Tide would pull it off, somehow.  That’s just what they do.  This time it did not happen.  The field goal was good (barely) and the fans stormed the field.  The mighty Alabama Crimson Tide had been defeated, 41-38 in a thriller.

For people saying this is starting to feel like 2007, you might want to tuck that away.  This is shaping up as being way more volatile than 2007 could ever think to be.  I’ve said something every week about this and major things continue to happen.  We aren’t even halfway through the season.  And this past week could have been considered one of the best Saturdays of college football in a long time.  A lot of good games, a lot of close games and just a lot of shit happening that is turning the college football world upside down.  If it’s chaos you want, this season is bringing it.  Now let’s see what pitfall Georgia will fall victim to because we kind of know that’s coming, right?

Let’s get right to the recap as it was a fun (for the most part) 14+ hours of football.

And now for the rest of the recap

• A great game down in Iowa City this past weekend.  Iowa grinded out a victory over Penn State in a Top 5 matchup.  Sean Clifford was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with the Nittany Lions leading 17-3 and the offense fell apart.  Iowa’s defense saved the day and now the Hawkeyes have legit College Football Playoff aspirations.  I think everyone agrees except for one Penn State fan who was pretty upset that I had mentioned Iowa and the CFP.  He basically said I was dumb and that Iowa should be ranked 6th in the new poll, so three spots down…after a win.  Riiiiiiiiiiight.  I mentioned Iowa should be #3 and I will admit I was wrong.  They are actually #2 now.  My mistake.
• An absolutely insane game went down at the Cotton Bowl for the Red River Shootout and it’s no surprise since this game is almost always nuts.  Texas looked like they had Oklahoma on the ropes early.  Then Spencer Rattler was benched so I assume most thought it was over.  But Caleb Williams came in and did a good job in bringing the Sooners all the way back from a 21-point deficit to win the game.  Let’s be honest here though: the combination of Kennedy Brooks going crazy (including what was essentially a walk-off touchdown to win the game) and the Longhorn defense self-destructing was what gave Boomer Sooner the big win.  Oklahoma had looked like the worst undefeated Top 10 team in quite some time but this victory could be a turning point for a team who may not meet an equal until Bedlam in late November.
• How about that game down in Lincoln?  As the game went along, I really started to believe that finally the Huskers, under Scott Frost, would get that huge victory to start turning the program around.  Man, was I wrong.  In typical heartbreaking fashion, Nebraska blew the game late and allowed Michigan a late game-winning field goal.  The Wolverines honestly looked pretty pedestrian for a good portion of the game.  They really can’t be like that going forward considering how brutally difficult the Big Ten East looks.  As for Nebraska, oof.  Another loss, another black mark on Scott Frost’s record and unless things turn around I could see the program moving on since nothing is really improving at the end of the day.
• Speaking of hot seats, there was another great game on the night, this one in Blacksburg.  It felt like the Hokies would hand Notre Dame their second straight loss and almost destroy their New Year’s Six chances.  Instead, Jack Coan, who played like shit early on, came on, drove the Irish down the field for the touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion and then drove them again for the winning field goal with only 17 seconds remaining.  Great performance but Virginia Tech had their chances to stop the Irish as their defense had been pretty good in the second half.  Unfortunately they came up short and Justin Fuente’s seat gets juuuuuuust a bit hotter.
• To start Saturday there was the Arkansas-Ole Miss game which was basically drugs.  So damn ridiculous and completely defense-optional.  Both offenses went crazy and both teams got 50-burgers on the day.  It came down to the end where Sam Pittman decided he has balls the size of coconuts and would go for 2 and the lead instead of the extra point to send it to overtime.  The pass fell incomplete and the Rebels won a game that raised the blood pressure of both team’s fanbases.  Now the Rebel fans can truly enjoy that popcorn.
• Let history show that the Auburn Tigers were, at one point, tied with the Georgia Bulldogs 3-3. I’m sure most fans on The Plains who watched the game would love to just remember up to that point and forget the rest.  Georgia proved they are the undisputed number one team in the land (for now) as they destroyed Auburn by 24.  And this is with Stetson “The Mailman” Bennett at quarterback.  What happens when J.T. Daniels comes back?  Or do they platoon?  This team has looked better than Bama all season and now they will have the #1 ranking to back that up.  Their next two games against Kentucky and Florida will either prove that’s where they belong or bring them back down to Earth a bit.
• I didn’t think Florida State could keep close with North Carolina.  So what did they do?  Just beat them fairly easily and look as good as they were back in the Jameis Winston days (OK maybe not THAT good but still pretty good).  I am ruing the day I decided to be a smart guy and pick North Carolina as my chic pick to get to the College Football Playoff.  I feel like an idiot.  So they can now go 3-9 for all I care since it doesn’t really matter anymore (to me, anyway).
• Another game that was bonkers that no one saw was the game between South Alabama and Texas State.  I believe this is the longest game since they changed the overtime rules yet again.  I am not a fan of the new rules.  If you don’t know, starting in the second overtime, you must go for two after a touchdown and then starting with the third overtime, it becomes a two-point conversion contest.  The college football equivalent of hockey’s shootout.  Ugh.  Anyway, this game went to four overtimes and there were so many reviews it got ridiculous.  Like the replay booth was being paid per review.  Texas State won after stopping USA’s two-point conversion attempt.
• If I told you in, say, August of 2020 that Ed Orgeron would be on one of the hottest seats in the nation by October of 2021 you would have thought I was smoking crack.  But LSU’s loss to Kentucky this past Saturday will put Coach Eaux in that seat.  Look, Kentucky is a damn good team and losing to them is not a bad thing.  Not looking competitive when you are a team that should be in the Top 25 range is a different story altogether.  The team looks like there is a lack of effort and it shows.  The next few weeks will probably help determine Eddie O’s future.
• Ugh what a fall from grace for BYU.  The Cougars were stunned by Boise State and are now not undefeated.  Unless a lot of truly wacky things occur (and I’m not saying they won’t), BYU’s chances of the New Year’s Six are essentially gone.  What does this mean?  It means when they do become bowl-eligible they will be locked in to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.  Yuck.  Imagine dropping from a potential Fiesta Bowl berth to that.  Brutal.
• Put up your hand if you thought Wake Forest…ok I am going to stop there since no one really thought much of Wake Forest this season.  OK that’s not totally true.  I had them going 9-3 this season and many had them in the 6-8 win range.  But to think this team is the only ACC hope left for the College Football Playoff in mid-October?  Yeah, no one thought that.  Wake had to survive a surprisingly tough Syracuse team, in overtime, to stay undefeated.  Now, with their next three games against Army, Duke and North Carolina, it looks like the Deacs could be 9-0 and firmly in the Top 10 when they host NC State in mid-November.  They have Clemson and Boston College after that so they have a rough end of the season to look forward to but get through all those unscathed?  They could make some history in December.
• Welp, Oregon State’s time in the sun went quick.  The Beavers were looking like they could make some hay in the Pac-12 with all the turmoil in the conference.  Instead, they shit the bed and lost to a Washington State team who’s biggest news has been coach Nick Rolovich and his absolute refusal to get the COVID vaccine.  That conference is an absolute mess.
• Another great game was shockingly at the Naval Academy.  No I’m not kidding.  The Midshipmen played undefeated SMU very tough.  The Ponies needed a fourth quarter touchdown and a couple of big defensive stops to escape Annapolis with the W.  I think Navy, despite being 1-4, is probably quite a bit better than their record indicates.  SMU?  They are very lucky considering some of the games they’ve been in this season.  If they can win their next four, a massive, probably primetime, game with Cincinnati looms large.
• Louisville…ugh.  They had the game won against Virginia.  But instead of going for it on 4th and about 3 fairly deep in Hoos territory, they kicked the field goal.  Then their defense allowed Virginia to drive the length of the field in two minutes for the touchdown and the win.  Cowardly coaching from Scott Satterfield and it might cost him his job.  And did anyone think this Cavaliers team would be 4-2 at this point?  I highly doubt it.  The ACC is another conference that’s just a dog’s breakfast (other than Wake Forest).
• Finally, UTSA was able to outlast Western Kentucky’s potent offense.  Quietly, the Roadrunners are 6-0, undefeated, and no one is noticing.  So what happens if this team finishes undefeated?  My guess is they will get no respect in the polls but they really should, despite the conference they are in.

Alright that was seriously fun.  And the late night schedule was light so it made it easier to pay a bit of attention rather than have my full attention which can get tiring into the wee hours of the morning.  Alright, let’s now look at the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Georgia
#2	Iowa
#3	Cincinnati
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Ohio State
#6	Oregon
#7	Alabama
#8	Michigan
#9	Penn State
#10	Ole Miss
#11	Notre Dame
#12	Michigan State
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	Kentucky
#15	Oklahoma State
#16	Wake Forest
#17	Florida
#18	Texas A&M
#19	Arkansas
#20	BYU
#21	Arizona State
#22	NC State
#23	Auburn
#24	Clemson
#25	SMU

Yes there are a few somewhat glaring differences between my poll and the AP Poll and that happens of course.  I have Alabama at #7 and they only dropped to #5 in the AP Poll.  AP dropped Oregon whereas I moved them up to #6 since they didn’t play so why should they drop?  You can put the #8 through #12 teams in a hat and mix them up and any combination would probably be fine.  A lot is going to happen for these teams the next three weeks so no point in getting all bent out of shape about it now.  And I did mention undefeated UTSA earlier.  I also don’t have them in my Top 25 but they are just outside of it meaning a win next week should put them in.  Finally, I got Coastal at #13 and they are #15 in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.  I have a feeling they may get to #12 or even #11 but that would be their ceiling unless a lot of crazy shit happens to the teams currently above them.  Which, considering the way this season has gone, wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

WEEKDAY FUN BELT ACTION!  Yes, it’s that time of year that we start getting more weekday football.  And this one, between Appalachian State and Louisiana, is a pretty big game.  And it’s tomorrow night!  Hell yeah!  God, I love Tuesday and Wednesday night college football.  Kind of feels like now we can say that Autumn has truly commenced.  Have a good week everyone!

The Bearcats are the real deal and the rest of the Week 5 College Football Recap

If you didn’t watch the Cincinnati-Notre Dame game this past weekend you missed the coming out party of, I would say, the best Group of Five team in the College Football Playoff era.  The Bearcats showed they are for real as the 24-13 score doesn’t show how lopsided this game really was.  If it wasn’t for the Bearcats kicking game, they would have won by probably 20 or so.  Desmond Ridder may have even kickstarted his Heisman campaign with his performance.  And Notre Dame is still a heavy favourite to go to the New Year’s Six so that will look damn good on the Bearcats’ resume.  They do have to hope Indiana ends up doing well the rest of the way and they have to beat most of the teams on their conference schedule pretty easily.  But this team is primed to do what no Group of Five team has really had a chance to do before: be a legitimate threat for the College Football Playoff.  If they do what they need to do, then we have to see what kind of help they will get.  The way this season has gone, it’s pretty much a given that at least a few more Top 10 teams will falter the rest of the way.  As of this point, 32 ranked teams have lost games.  That’s an average of over 6 a week.  That is absurd.  I can’t see that rate continuing all season but if it comes close then this will be a ridiculous season where it would make sense for a G-5 team to break through the glass ceiling.  I’ve mentioned it before but I don’t have a favourite school but it would be a lot of fun to see what Cincy could do in the CFP, right?

Other than that, it was a pretty fun weekend if you weren’t fans of Ole Miss or Arkansas.  Both teams looked completely outmatched against Alabama and Georgia, respectively.  Let’s be honest here: the Tide and Dawgs are easily the top two teams in college football and every other program is at least a tier below them.  I know it feels like we will be heading towards the inevitable Bama-UGA national championship game but the season has already been crazy so who knows.

BYU continues their undefeated march as they also have some pretty high aspirations for this season.  Utah State is a pretty good team in the Mountain West this year and looked like nothing special against the Cougs.  BYU is now in the Top 10 of the AP Poll and just keep plugging along.  What will The Committee do with the Cougs (not to mention Cincy)?  BYU still has Boise State, Baylor and USC left on their schedule and have to take care of business on their end.  Even one loss would probably push them to the brink of the New Year’s Six, especially with no automatic in that the best Group of Five team gets. Much like Cincinnati, they have to take care of business and then hope the chips fall in their favour around them.

Clemson survived Boston College.  The Tigers looked to be in a bit of trouble all game and were lucky that Boston College had to play their backup quarterback.  Their time at the top of the ACC may be coming to an end.  D.J. Uiagalelei has not been good at all which has been a massive shock to many people, especially Tiger fans.  As for the rest of the ACC, it honestly doesn’t look too good but there is still…

Wake Forest!  Huge victory over an improved Louisville team.  They are 5-0 just like everyone thought they would be, right?  Well, I had them starting 5-0 so there had to have been others.  Actually, I have them getting to 8-0 and undefeated going into November.  Not saying the ACC’s hopes lie with the Demon Deacons but they really do lie with the Demon Deacons.  In a completely crazy season (so far), Dave Clawson has done a masterful job at Wake and it will be interesting to see what bigger Power Five team will try to poach him in the offseason.

A game that shouldn’t have been close but was went down on The Farm.  Oregon played horrible for much of their game against Stanford but still had a chance to win at the end.  A controversial PI call allowed Stanford one untimed down to score a touchdown to tie it and send it to overtime and they did.  The Cardinal finished off the #3 team in the land in overtime and now the Pac-12 has no unbeaten teams.  We are four days into October.  Yikes.

Florida goes down to Kentucky!  I don’t know what it is about Mark Stoops but the Gators do not like playing against that man.  The Wildcats could be an interesting team this season.  Picking up Wan’Dale Robinson from Nebraska could end up being the thing that pushes them up the ladder in the SEC East.  I mean it still comes down to Florida having to beat Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to even give the Cats a chance but man wouldn’t that be something.

Oklahoma could be one of the worst 5-0 teams I have ever seen.  They are barely winning most of their games and not looking the true contender I (and many in the actual college football media) thought they would be.  Really you can’t blame this on Spencer Rattler this time since he played well but their defense still leaves a lot to be desired.  They now have the Red River Shootout to deal with and this is always a weird game so we will see how the Sooners pull this one out.

So is Jimbo going to get another contract extension?  The Aggies looked dreadful at times and Will Rogers picked them apart as they drop to 3-2 and out of the Top 25.  Their game against Auburn at the start of November could be to stay out of last place in the SEC West.  Auburn has made it so they are not at the bottom after Bo Nix went all Johnny Manziel and willed the Tigers to a huge victory in hostile territory.  Normally I don’t like the 9:00 start times for ESPN games but this was fine with very little in the late night window.  A fun game that came down to the end and now Ed Orgeron is on the hot seat, yet again.  It’s funny how some schools would never think of firing a successful coach even after a mediocre season or two.  Then there are some schools that give not a single solitary squirt of shit about that and want to win RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Oh, UCF.  That was a tough one.  The Gus Bus really never kept it on the road against a Navy team that was winless up until this point.  Now I am sure people will start griping about Gus Malzahn but they have struggled with injuries and really aren’t that team that will challenge Cincinnati this season.  They should still be bowl-eligible and at the very least, it assures Malzahn can’t just grab a Power Five head coaching opportunity after this season.

Did anyone pass the Hawaii Test?  Well, yours truly did!  Stayed up to see a great game in front of no fans in a high school stadium in Honolulu.  I might have some serious problems.  Anyway, Fresno State’s loss to the Rainbow Warriors has pretty much sealed the Mountain West’s NY6 fate this season.

Let’s take a look at how the seasons are going at Pittsburgh and Tennessee.  They met three weeks ago in a barnburner and none of us could have known that these two teams would, for the most part, be playing very good ball at this point of the season.  The Vols are 3-2 with a probable win over South Carolina next weekend.  The Panthers are even better, 4-1, with a baffling loss to Western Michigan their only defeat.  It wouldn’t be a shock to see both teams with at least 8 wins and causing some havoc in their conferences later on in the season.

Does the Big XII deserve a bit more respect?  Baylor and Oklahoma State played in a back-and-forth affair that many people probably avoided watching because the Big XII seems like Power Five cooties to a lot of people.  People would rather watch the Pac-12…yeah, I said it.  Saying all that, the conference would get the last laugh if Oklahoma and the Pokes are undefeated and play in late November in Bedlam in one of the biggest games of the season.

Hey, how about The U?  Ugh.  A chance to beat the Fighting Mendenhalls on a chip-shot walk-off field goal and doinks it off the upright.  Miami is 2-3 and looking a whole lot worse than most expected.  Manny Diaz might not be able to escape the hot seat which is essentially lava now.

Finally, did you watch the game of the week?  If not, it was a great one with a walk-off field goal.  I, of course, am talking about UConn and Vanderbilt!  As sad as it sounds, this was a really good game with a fun finish and Vandy is now at 2 wins which may be more than many thought they would get.  UConn is still winless but will have a chance to rectify that in the GAME OF THE CENTURY when they face UMass.

Alright enough recappin’.  Time for the Bossman Top 25.  Let’s do this!

#1	Alabama
#2	Georgia
#3	Cincinnati
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Iowa
#7	Ohio State
#8	BYU
#9	Oregon
#10	Arkansas
#11	Notre Dame
#12	Michigan
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	Michigan State
#15	Oklahoma State
#16	Auburn
#17	Kentucky
#18	Ole Miss
#19	Florida
#20	Wake Forest
#21	NC State
#22	Texas
#23	Clemson
#24	Arizona State
#25	Oregon State

Yep, I have Alabama over Georgia although I took my time with that decision.  I believe the difference between the two teams is razor thin.  I would say the Dawgs’ win over Arkansas was a bit more impressive than the Tide’s victory over Ole Miss but not by much.  Every week there has been so much change that the next two weeks could have a completely different top two.  The amount of ranked teams that have lost, as I stated earlier, is absurd.  And yes I have Cincy in the #3 spot.  They may not hold on to it depending on what other teams do but for now I think they deserve it.  The Pac-12 and ACC are inhabiting the bottom part of the Top 25 so don’t be shocked if one or two of those teams sneaks up and somehow gets to the Top 10 by the final weekend.  It’s been that kind of year.

See you back on Wednesday for the college football TV schedule.  Until then, enjoy your week everyone!

OK this is a new one – Week 4 College Football Recap

I don’t think I have ever seen something like this before.  And it sounds like most of college football media had never seen it before either.

Let’s see if I can wrap my head around all that happened here.  K’Vaughan Pope, Ohio State’s senior linebacker had been grumbling about lack of playing time.  Totally understandable.  So during this weekend’s game against Akron, Pope tried to enter the game but another linebacker waved him off.  So Pope decided to head towards the locker room until someone from the Ohio State staff brought him back to the sideline.  What happens next seems ridiculous.  Pope gets back to the sideline, briefly argues with a coach, throws his gloves into the stands and starts taking his jersey off.  He had a further conversation with another coach who then got someone to take Pope off the field and to the locker room.  While the game was still happening, Pope tweeted “Fucc Ohio State.”  He deleted that tweet, then tweeted “Good lucc to my teammates” (I see he did well in English class).  Yesterday he apologized and instead of quitting said he was taking some time off.  Ohio State removed him from the roster anyway.  That is so completely insane.  In a way, though, it speaks to the pressures some of these athletes are under.  We don’t know how he’s doing in school or what his family life is like or anything else going on with him.  Things could be going poorly away from the field.  No excuses for doing what he did but there may be reasons behind it.

So yeah, some excitement at least in a game where Akron was blown out of the water by Ohio State.  Normally I would do recaps of my predictions during this week’s recap but instead I will do just a straight recap of a rather insane weekend of college football.  Let’s begin.

Week 4 Recap Time!

Fresno State 38 UNLV 30

Oof.  For a good part of the game the Rebels were handling the Bulldogs and it felt like it would be one and done in the Top 25 for the surprising Fresno State.  But they were able to get ahead and hold on for the victory and, amazingly enough, may be the Mountain West’s best hope for the New Year’s Six.  I will be glad to say I was very wrong with my prediction for this team.

Oregon 41 Arizona 19

This was actually a close game a few minutes into the fourth quarter.  I am not joking.  Arguably, the worst Power Five team in the nation kept things close with a Top 5 team.  The Ducks did make quick work of them in the final 12 minutes but still.  I’d say this looks bad for Oregon and the Pac-12 but this isn’t shaping up to be a normal year.

Oklahoma 16 West Virginia 13

It was so bad this night for Spencer Rattler that Sooner fans were chanting for his backup and openly booing him.  Worst part is he didn’t do that bad.  One interception and a few bad passes and the fans made it out like he threw two pick-sixes in succession.  I will say this though: this team does not look like a national championship contender in any way, shape or form.  At least their defense was better, right?

Oregon State 45 USC 27

To the USC fans who gave me shit last week: you can all suck it.  Kedon Slovis was merely pedestrian and the Trojan defense was fucking atrocious.  It’s a sad state of affairs in L.A. (at least for one team).  As for the Beavers, it’s a better start than most believed and they could be looking at 7-1 or even 8-1 going into November if they play like this.  Another strange occurrence of this football season that is already starting to feel like the norm.

Louisville 31 Florida State 23

Oh my.  It’s not a matter of if but when Mike Norvell will be shitcanned.  I mean Louisville is turning out to be a decent team so no shame in losing to them.  Let’s just look at the Noles schedule coming up: vs. Syracuse, at North Carolina, then vs. UMass.  So they could conceivably be 0-6 when they host the Minutemen who are god awful.  Will Norvell be gone by then?  I think many Noles fans hope so, so that the coaching search can start sooner rather than later, knowing they will have to compete with at least one team (USC) for potential head coaches.

Washington 31 California 24 (OT)

The Huskies may actually be back in the hunt in the Pac-12 North.  And it’s not like they deserved to win this one since they didn’t but the Golden Bears made enough mistakes to allow Washington to get the duke with the final mistake, a fumble near the goal line in overtime, being the difference.

Arkansas 20 Texas A&M 10 

Man, the Hogs may be for real, folks.  They built a 17-0 lead until late in the first half and then the defense took over.  If you put money down on the Razorbacks being the team that might have the best shot to usurp Alabama in the SEC West then congratulations.  Also, maybe you can help me with my NFL picks since they are, well, let’s say less than good.

NC State 27 Clemson 21 (2OT)

What a huge upset that has turned the ACC upside down…sort of.  Clemson really hasn’t looked good at all so far this season and it showed here.  Their offense can’t get anything going and D.J. Uiagalelei is not looking like the heir apparent that many thought he would be.  As for the sort of comment, the ACC was already in a mess and this makes things worse for the conference as a whole.

Baylor 31 Iowa State 29

OK the Cyclones fooled a lot of us.  Matt Campbell doesn’t look like the guy who will head to USC to try and turn around their fortunes.  All this could change if ISU runs the table the rest of the way.  The real surprise here is Baylor who, at the very least, looks like they will be bowl bound this season.  Dave Aranda is showing why he finally deserved a shot at his own head coaching gig.

BYU 35 USF 27

BYU is slowly moving its way up the rankings.  They may regret allowing the Bulls to get so close but if they keep winning then the New Year’s Six is a lock for them.

Bowling Green 14 Minnesota 10

Ouch.  The same team that went toe-to-toe with Ohio State for three quarters earlier this season looked overmatched against who I (and some others) thought would be the worst team in FBS this season.  This also hurts Ohio State as their win over Minnesota may mean almost nothing if the Gophers continue to struggle.

Arizona State 35 Colorado 13

Hey, the Buffaloes finally scored a touchdown!  I don’t think anyone thought they’d be as good as last year’s surprise showing but the offense is putrid in Boulder.  Arizona State, on the other hand, is motoring along and could luck out based on everyone else in their division struggling at times so far this season.

UTSA 31 Memphis 28

This was a great game that not many people would have ended up watching (even though they could have).  The Roadrunners are the surprise Group of Five team for some but I figured they’d be really good.  OK, not this good.  Honestly, they may very well be a game against UAB later this season away from a perfect regular season and a potential New Year’s Six bowl.  This all for a program that didn’t start playing football until 2011.

Notre Dame 41 Wisconsin 13

It looked close for three quarters.  We were getting ready for a fantastic fourth quarter at Soldier Field.  Then the Fighting Irish went crazy, scoring 31 points in the final frame to completely decimate the Badgers.  It was a very impressive showing and proved this team could be a tough out the rest of the way.

Alright that was a fun and crazy weekend.  How about a Top 25?  Alright, here you go:

#1	Alabama
#2	Georgia
#3	Oregon
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Penn State
#6	Notre Dame
#7	Iowa
#8	Cincinnati
#9	Arkansas
#10	Ohio State
#11	Florida
#12	Texas A&M
#13	Coastal Carolina
#14	BYU
#15	Ole Miss
#16	Michigan State
#17	Michigan
#18	Fresno State
#19	Auburn
#20	UCLA
#21	Oklahoma State
#22	Baylor
#23	Maryland
#24	Wake Forest
#25	NC State

I thought of putting Boston College or Kentucky in the Top 25 but had Maryland, Wake and NC State in the final three spots.  You could debate those five teams in any order and it would make perfect sense.  I have the Irish at #6 and don’t understand how they are barely in the Top 10 of the AP Poll after their big win over Wisconsin.  Yet Arkansas, who won by less, rocketed up 8 spots.  How do you not think there’s an SEC bias of sorts when shit like that happens in the polls?  I still believe polls shouldn’t start until after Week 1’s games are completed, at the absolute earliest.  I am sure almost no one in college football media would agree even if some say they would because rankings are talking points and sometimes they need them when they don’t have some Tom Rinaldi-esque story to talk about.

So that was a great college football Saturday.  It has been a great season so far.  I hope I haven’t jinxed it by saying that.  Have a great week everyone!

Are we looking at chaos? – Week 3 College Football Recap

After this past week, you have to wonder.  Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma all won but they were close games against teams they should have blown out of the water.  Cincinnati struggled for a little over a half with Indiana but was able to pull away late.  Virginia Tech and UCLA lost.  Even Alabama almost allowed Florida to come all the way back to beat them.  Remember what I said last week about Bama?  You can scratch that…kind of.  I still think Alabama, and probably Georgia, are a cut above the rest.  But it’s not like they are unbeatable.  And the rest of the Top 10, at this point, has looked vulnerable.  Many in the college football media are already looking at possibly comparing this season to 2007.  It may be a bit too soon to say that but there has been more chaos than normal through three weeks.  Usually, as Fall officially begins, you can still look at like 10-15 teams and say they are serious contenders and they are in that tier above everyone else.  This season?  Yeah, might want to put the brakes on that idea.  I hope it does end up that way because it’s always fun to see some college football chaos!  I mean unless you’re a college football coach and fans of certain teams.

Alright, enough comparisons.  Let’s get to the action from the weekend of college football!

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

• Well, the Buckeyes sure didn’t look too sharp against Tulsa.  Luckily they had TreVeyon Henderson go off for over 250 yards on the ground since other than that, no one would be scared of the rest of the Buckeyes that played this past Saturday.  Remember, this is the Tulsa team that lost to UC-Davis.  It totally fits in to what I mentioned above with teams having fairly big questions already in the season.  Now that I say that, watch them blow through the rest of their schedule to finish 11-1 and be #1 at some point.
• If you missed the Arizona State-BYU game, boy did you miss a good one.  Just look up this one play.  Jaren Hall throws an ill-timed interception as he’s falling down.  Arizona State picks it up and the defender runs down the sidelines.  Then Tyler Allgeier catches up to him, jumps over his back and knocks the ball out of his hands and back into play.  After all that, Jaren Hall is the one that recovers the fumble.  Absolutely insane.  The Cougs would win this one and are now 3-0 against the Pac-12.  The Pac-12 had a pretty horrific weekend unless you talk about to the people I encountered on Twitter…
• So I made a tweet during the third quarter of the USC-Washington State game.  The score was tied at 14 and I said “I see the Clay Helton firing really got the Trojans going.”  Then Kedon Slovis goes down with an injury and Jaxson Dart replaces him and plays amazing and the Trojans score 31 unanswered.  So yeah, the tweet did not age well and I said that.  That wasn’t enough for some USC fans.  Some mentioned the same thing and I am fine with it.  Someone called me “son” for some reason.  And some buffoon put a pic that said “I don’t even have a meme for this kind of fuckery.”  Really?  Very classy.  I don’t mind normal discourse on Twitter which a few of them did (and rightfully so) but why go over the line?  To make themselves feel better.  Maybe because their lives are shitty so they want to take it out on someone else.  Who knows.  It’s the one major thing I hate about Twitter (and social media in general): people can’t help but be assholes to others just because they can.  As Mike Tyson said, “Social media has made acceptable to say things to people that they would never say to their face.”  So true.  By the way, Mike Tyson Mysteries?  Hilarious show (RIP Norm MacDonald).
• College Gameday was in State College this past weekend.   The whiteout was in full effect and it showed during their primetime game with Auburn.  The offense struggled at times with the crowd noise.  They still didn’t play poorly as if it wasn’t for a couple of miscues, the Tigers would have had a chance to win.  I think both teams could be en route to the New Year’s Six if they keep playing like that (especially against lesser teams).
• I did not pass the Hawaii test.  I just couldn’t.  I assume the game didn’t end until 4 in the morning and I was already feeling kind of crappy by 11 so I felt good just to get to the end of the normal late night slate.
• A horrible blown call (one of quite a few this past weekend) cost Boise State a touchdown against Oklahoma State and, eventually, the game.  I mean not that either team really wanted to win after the first half since there was absolutely no scoring in the second half.  None.  Very un-Boise and un-Poke like for sure.  I’m surprised Mike Gundy’s mullet didn’t start shedding from the panic.  Also, I can’t remember the last time Boise State started 1-2.  I assume it was in Division 1-AA (remember that?).
• Uh, what the hell happened in Clemson?  I get that a two-hour lightning delay can mess up a team’s flow.  But how do they allow Georgia Tech, who is still learning how to live without the option, almost beat them at home?  I would say that maybe their run at the top of the ACC is done but then I see what Virginia Tech did in their loss to West Virginia and, even worse, how Miami got beat up by Michigan State and realize they’re still fine for now.
• Oh, UCLA.  The Bruins were looking pretty damn good through their first two games this season.  Then in comes Fresno State to the Rose Bowl, a team I figured would suck this season.  Boy was I (along with many others) wrong.  This was an amazing game that had four lead changes in the final eight minutes that ended with injured Bulldog quarterback Jake Haener willing his team to the winning touchdown and the upset.  After getting off the hot seat it seemed for the rest of the season, Chip Kelly maybe feeling a tiny bit of a temperature hike now.
• Alabama plays Ole Miss in two weeks.  Considering what Ole Miss did to Tulane (yes the same Tulane that almost beat Oklahoma), the over/under for this one should be 100 and I think I’m being conservative with that number.
• I don’t like the new overtime rules.  After one overtime, it becomes a two-point conversion contest.  The equivalent of hockey’s shootout (which I also despise).  It may have finally got to the point that the NFL somehow has the better overtime system (and it’s still not that great).  Can there be a perfect system for overtime?  I don’t know to be honest but it feels like college football is going backwards.
• How about what went down in The Swamp?  Early on it looked like yet another Bama rout as they were up 21-3 14 minutes into the game.  So I stopped watching for a bit and focused on other games.  I would see in the ticker that Florida got a touchdown.  Then another.  The Tide responded but then the Gators got another TD to get it within 5.  Florida would score a touchdown with three minutes to go but couldn’t convert on the two-pointer and that was the margin of victory.  So the Fighting Sabans aren’t so dominating it seems.  This is a very interesting turn of events for this already crazy 2021 season.
• In another episode of “Refs Make The Darndest Calls,” Memphis’ Calvin Austin scored on a questionable punt return where the back official seemed to have signaled for the clock to stop but the play kept going.  In the end, Mississippi State had a chance to tie it on a two-point conversion but failed, losing by the same 31-29 score as the game in the previous point.  Look, I get that officials aren’t perfect.  And this is fine.  It is what it is.  But when something happens that becomes a turning point or the reason (at the end) that one team wins or loses, then it’s tough to swallow.  Let’s not even get into the gambling aspect of what this can do.
• It looked like Louisiana Tech was going to get a huge home victory over a good SMU squad.  But LaTech allowed SMU one final shot and they took advantage with a 33-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play of the game.  This was a game with almost 750 yards passing combined from two former Oklahoma quarterbacks.  How are the Sooners losing these quarterbacks?  I get that Spencer Rattler is really good but it’s not like the two starters in this one, Austin Kendall and Tanner Mordecai, aren’t.  It’s nice to see these guys get their shot at other programs.
• Finally, speaking of Oklahoma, that was yet another less than impressive showing by the Sooners.  They barely got out with a win yesterday over Nebraska.  Yes, the same Nebraska that has struggled for a few years now and lost to Illinois to start their season.  Scott Frost had to be happy with his team’s performance and the fact that his hot seat will get slightly cooler.  Oklahoma, on the other hand, does not look like the national title contender I thought they were going to be and that has to be a bit concerning in Norman.  Conference play will show all of us what this Sooners team is really made of.

So another great weekend of college football.  My remote control suffered as I believe I watched portions of almost 40 games.  As for my Top 25, well, here it is!

#1	Alabama
#2	Georgia
#3	Oregon
#4	Oklahoma
#5	Texas A&M
#6	Penn State
#7	Cincinnati
#8	Iowa
#9	Notre Dame
#10	Clemson
#11	Ohio State
#12	Iowa State
#13	Florida
#14	Coastal Carolina
#15	Wisconsin
#16	Ole Miss
#17	BYU
#18	North Carolina
#19	Arkansas
#20	Michigan State
#21	Michigan
#22	Auburn
#23	TCU
#24	Liberty
#25	Fresno State

Is it really truly fair to rank teams this early in the season?  That’s debatable but everyone else is doing it so I might as well, too.  Nice to see Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Liberty and Fresno State in the Top 25 with a few other Group of Five teams lurking just outside.  Should be an exciting race to the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six.  Also, are we heading to undefeated Michigan State playing undefeated Michigan the night before Halloween?  Can you even imagine the media hype, let alone the fan banter?  I’m almost getting sick of it already.

Have a good week everyone.

It’s OVERREACTION time! Oh, and the Week 2 College Football TV Schedule.

Isn’t this almost the worst tradition in college football?  When college football media and fans go to ridiculous extremes after one week of college football (shut up, Week Zero).  So let’s get right to those reactions that are probably overreactions (at least at this point):

• “UCLA is gonna win the Pac-12!”  Look it’s quite a good start for the team in sissy blue.  But they still have their entire conference schedule to go through.  Could they be better than I thought (which was .500)?  Absolutely.  But to say they will win 9 or 10 games.  Let’s just pump the brakes a bit.
• “The ACC is terrible!” Yeah, no.  They aren’t.  Yes, the conference as a whole had a bad first week.  But North Carolina lost to what looks like could be a really good Virginia Tech team and Clemson lost to national title contender Georgia.  Not much else of note but give them some time.  Now if the highest ranked team in the ACC is at like #18 going into October then yes, they should start to panic.
• “Cincinnati or UCF is the Group of Five team to go to the New Year’s Six!”  Don’t book it just quite yet.  Yes, UCF’s victory over Boise State was impressive and Gus Malzahn may have brought something to the program that they slightly lost the past couple years.  And Cincy is Cincy.  But there are still a bunch of teams that have opportunities and you never know what surprise Group of Five team will be out there.
• “Oklahoma has no shot now.”  Wait, what?  First off, they won.  Yes, it was closer than it should have been and it was Tulane but they still won.  I can see their defense needs work but if they can figure it out, they have the offense to beat every team on their schedule.
• “Well, Indiana sucks again.”  One game against what looks like a seriously good Iowa team shouldn’t mar the Hoosiers’ season.  Let’s see how they do the rest of the month before saying they are coming back down to Earth a bit (yeah, like Tom Allen is going to allow that to happen).
• “Spencer Rattler and Sam Howell aren’t Heisman contenders at all.”  Howell has fallen farther than Rattler in many people’s minds but they are still near the top of the Heisman contender list.  Remember, some players really have won the Heisman in November so let’s chill here.
• “Randy Edsall is going to get shitcanned.”  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  So silly.  He quit instead.

Another tradition seems to be a quite bad Week 2 schedule (on paper) that somehow gets one really good Game of the Year candidate.  Unfortunately, this is not an overreaction.  It happens damn near every year.  Oh well, if it sets us up for better weeks, then fine.

Friday

		US	Canada
Kansas at #17 Coastal Carolina	7:30 PM
North Carolina A&T at Duke	8:00 PM
North Dakota at Utah State	9:00 PM

UNDEFEATED KANSAS!  UNDEFEATED COASTAL CAROLINA!  Irresistible force, immovable object, and all that jazz.  If it’s anything like last year’s Chants game against BYU, the crowd will be rocking which is amazing since there aren’t many seats in their stadium.  There are also two other games you can watch but really, we all know what you’ll be watching.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Illinois at Virginia	11:00 AM
Western Kentucky at Army	11:30 AM
Youngstown State at Michigan State	Noon
Indiana State at Northwestern	Noon
Pittsburgh at Tennessee	Noon
South Carolina at East Carolina	Noon
Miami-OH at Minnesota	Noon
#12 Oregon at #3 Ohio State	Noon
Kennesaw State at Georgia Tech	Noon
Alabama State at #25 Auburn	Noon
#13 Florida at USF	1:00 PM
Rutgers at Syracuse	2:00 PM

Jesus Christ that is a lot of games in the Noon timeslot.  And oh man, morning football!  It’s funny: I like morning college football but early morning NFL games in London?  Not so much.  Probably because I am up until like 2 or 3 into Sunday morning and getting up like six hours or so later to watch NFL football is actually too much for me.  And yes, there is a weird start time for the game on ABC.  If you have been living under several rocks, you might not have realized that this Saturday is the 20th anniversary of 9/11.  So there will be a lot of shows on in the morning about it, which makes a lot of sense considering when that tragedy occurred.  ABC is running a special until 1:00 meaning college football is waiting a little bit to start on there.  No big deal really and to many Americans it’s a huge thing this day so we can all wait an other for a game featuring…USF?  Yeah definitely not a big deal then.

Saturday Afternoon​​

		US	Canada
Purdue at UConn	3:00 PM
Buffalo at Nebraska	3:30 PM
Air Force at Navy	3:30 PM
UAB at #2 Georgia	3:30 PM
California at TCU	3:30 PM
#5 Texas A&M vs. Colorado (in Denver)	3:30 PM
Mercer at #1 Alabama	4:00 PM
#10 Iowa at #9 Iowa State	4:30 PM
South Carolina State at #6 Clemson	5:00 PM

Here is our Game of the Year candidate, funny enough (well the second one after Oregon-tOSU earlier).  Would you ever have thought that CyHawk could be Game of the Anything?  It’s such a huge game this year that College Gameday is there as well.  You will notice that the Notre Dame home game against Toledo is not on NBC.  That’s because it’s on Peacock, the streaming app for NBC.  Meaning, I am pretty sure none of us will be able to watch it.  Slowly, these streaming platforms are getting into the sports game.  Soon enough there will be multiple big games every week on like Hulu and will be shit out of luck if you don’t have Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Peacock, and whatever else is out there.  Two final things here: yes, TSN2 is showing a game featuring the Mercer Bears.  And yes, the ACC Network is doing their three-hour broadcast window thing.  Stupid, but they can’t have games starting at 10:00 pm locally so they do what they feel like they have to do.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Houston at Rice	6:30 PM
#15 Texas at Arkansas	7:00 PM
Appalachian State at #22 Miami	7:00 PM
NC State at Mississippi State	7:00 PM
Howard at Maryland	7:30 PM
Idaho at Indiana	7:30 PM
Georgia State at North Carolina	7:30 PM
Missouri at Kentucky	7:30 PM
Washington at Michigan	8:00 PM
Jacksonville State at Florida State	8:00 PM

Yeah there really isn’t much here in terms of hugely important games.  But see?  The ABC started at 1pm “issue” worked itself out and we get the normal-for-about-a-decade 8:00 start in Ann Arbor where Washington might be the underdog?  No TSN games in this timeslot which kind of sucks but it’s not like they are going to grab any ratings hits here.  Texas-Arkansas might be the most interesting game here although there could actually be a fair amount riding on Mizzou-UK as the winner could actually contend in the SEC East (as long as Georgia falters at least once inside the conference).

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Vanderbilt at Colorado State	10:00 PM
#21 Utah at BYU	10:15 PM
UNLV at #23 Arizona State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #14 USC	10:30 PM

FOX Pac-12 After Dark?  FOX Pac-12 After Dark!!!  It’s too bad that Gus Johnson will be calling the Big Noon Saturday game because Gus After Dark would have been tons of fun.  It’s unfortunate Stanford looked like shit on opening weekend but, hey, remember what I said about overreactions?  Now watch the Trojans blow them out by like 40.  Also, we have the Holy War between Utah and the soon-to-be-in-the-Big XII BYU Cougars.  TSN is smart to pick up this once since it should be a raucous crowd in Provo.

Games to set your eyeballs on

Oregon at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – One of, surprisingly, two Game of the Year candidates.  And both teams looked, well, a bit off during Week 1.  The Ducks struggled with Fresno State and needed a late score to win and the Buckeyes took quite a long time to finally shake off Minnesota and get the victory.  This should be good and should be close.  This game has been hyped since last year when people were already looking forward to this season.  Let’s hope it matches the hype.

Iowa at Iowa State (4:30, ABC) – This has quickly become a massive game and could actually be a big part of the College Football Playoff story.  The winner here may vault into the Top 5 depending on what else happens.  The loser isn’t out of anything though and could still be in a good spot to get to a New Year’s Six bowl.  This is easily the biggest and most important version of CyHawk ever.

Utah at BYU (10:15, TSN2) – OK so it doesn’t drop off too much after the first two.  The Holy War is always a hotly contested matchup.  College football is always good when rivalries have two good teams playing.  Like if Alabama and Auburn are both good or if Michigan and Ohio State are both good.  This one is no different.  Utes are in the Top 25 and the Cougs are just outside it.  This game is in Provo which has arguably the craziest crowd in the Mountain or Pacific time zones except for the one in Salt Lake City.  As I said above, TSN was smart to pick up this one and it should be the gem of the late night window.

UAB at Georgia (3:30, specialty pack) – OK now it falls off a cliff.  Don’t me wrong.  UGA is a fantastic team and UAB has been a great story since reviving their team a few years back.  But this probably won’t be close and as the fourth-best game of the week it doesn’t really scream quality to be honest with you.

Kansas at Coastal Carolina (Friday, 7:30, TSN2) – Aw fuck it why not?  Kansas is in the Games of the Week list, BAYBEE!  Let’s be honest: the Chants will probably mop the floor with the Jayhawks.  But what if Kansas keeps it close through three quarters?  Man, that would be quite the interesting final segment and bring in a lot of viewers…way more than Kansas football is used to.

Honourable mention: Texas at Arkansas (7:00, specialty pack), Stanford at USC (10:30, FOX), Appalachian State at Miami (7:00, specialty pack).

You wanna bet?

Only the most degenerate of gamblers will bet on these Week 2 games.  I mean if it was NFL I’d for sure be doing it but not college.  I’ve told you all my reasons, I won’t rehash them here again.  Here are the picks!

Oregon over Ohio State

Iowa State over Iowa

Miami over Appalachian State

Coastal Carolina over Kansas

USC over Stanford

BYU over Utah

Texas over Arkansas

Georgia over UAB

Rice over Houston (big upset!)

Nebraska over Buffalo (Upset?  Ahahahahahahahahahahaha…no wait….really…….Upset?)

Navy over Air Force (kind of an upset)

From what I can tell, everything is up on the specialty pack.  Only thing I haven’t seen anywhere is the second BTN games at Noon and 7:30 but I’m sure that will be sorted out.  As for the Pac-12 Network, no it is not on DAZN.  Frustrating.  So I won’t be listing those games on the schedules since there is no real point to doing so.  Hopefully they scrap the current setup and then be smart and pair up with FOX or CBS and set up a proper conference network like the ACC, Big Ten and SEC have.  It would be the best thing for that conference for sure and bring in some more money.

I assume by now you’ve heard the news: the Big XII is (finally) expanding.  BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF are expected to be voted in to the conference today sometime after they all sent in their applications a couple days ago.  The vote is a no-brainer.  The question will be when will the teams join and what happens to the American Conference now.  The last thing I have heard is that BYU is probably moving for next season.  The three AAC teams would then move the following year.  Whether Oklahoma and Texas will still be around by then is anybody’s guess although I’d be shocked if they weren’t in the SEC by 2023.  As for the AAC, I expect that they will look to expand.  They would be down to eight teams with not exactly a murderer’s row of football programs.  The schools that have already been bandied about include Marshall, Appalachian State, UAB and even Boise State and San Diego State (although I am sure the Mountain West will do everything they can to hold on to their new spot at the top of the Group of Five).  So yeah, realignment news isn’t going anywhere after those four teams officially join.

Once I get back home, hell yes I will be watching football the rest of the weekend (sometime near the end of the Noon timeslot).  Will I be watching football past midnight?  Does a bear shit in the woods?  I’ll catch up on sleep maybe in February.  Enjoy the games everyone!

Bossman’s Shitty Heisman Ballot: A tradition unlike any other

I don’t understand myself sometimes.  Why do I put myself through this?  I guess I’m just a creature of habit.  Like a dog who knows it gets fed at 4:00 every day.  Anyway, here is my (quite probably terrible) ballot for the Heisman for the 2021 season:

My Brutally Bad Heisman Ballot

1. Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma – Rattler is pretty much everyone’s favourite to win the Heisman this season.  We know what this means: either he runs away with it with no real challengers or something happens and he falls out of the Top 10.  With how I predict Oklahoma will do this season, I have a feeling he could approach some Joe Burrow-type numbers and run (not walk) away with the Heisman.
2. Sam Howell, North Carolina – Nice to see a player from a basketball school up for the Heisman.  All kidding aside, he will be the main reason my prediction (hopefully) comes true and the Tar Heels end up in the College Football Playoff.  He will be in tough to pass Rattler in the Heisman list but if he also puts up some Joe Burrow-like numbers it could become an interesting race.  A lot will have to do with how much these players play in the fourth quarters of some games.
3. D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson – Alright, let’s try this.  *clears throat*  Ahem…Oo-ee-un-guh-luh-lay.  Now you know.  And knowing is half the battle.  The replacement for Trevor Lawrence has huge shoes to fill but looked damn good in the game against Notre Dame last season.  So it wouldn’t be too far fetched to consider him a Heisman threat.  D.J. may need a conference championship (and of course some great performances throughout the season) to garner some true Heisman hype.
4. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State – Just like with Justin Fields a couple years ago, I am hesitant to put Stroud this high.  No real work at the college level along with a really good running game doesn’t look like Heisman material.  But with a very good Buckeyes team (again), he may get enough hype to carry him into November at the very least.
5. Bryce Young, Alabama – Yet another Bama quarterback on the Heisman watch list.  The Tide is the Tide so Young will get a lot of media play this season.  It’ll be up to him to come out from under Mac Jones’ shadow much like Mac Jones came out from under Tua Tagovailoa’s shadow.
6. Matt Corral, Ole Miss – OK hear me out.  The Rebels are going to be much better this season than they have been the past few years.  Like Top 25 good.  And nothing says the Heisman winner has to be on a team that’s Top 10.  With Lane Kiffin’s offense, the sky is almost the limit for Corral as long as he doesn’t have a 5-interception performance or something dreadful like that which kills his Heisman chances.
7. J.T. Daniels, Georgia – DJ, CJ, JT.  Part of me hopes those three are the top Heisman vote getters.  Daniels looked really good in the final few games of Georgia’s season.  He has to have a hot start to stay in the Heisman mix, even with the Dawgs opening against Clemson.
8. Kedon Slovis, USC – It feels like a prerequisite that a USC quarterback has to be at least on the Heisman preseason watch list.  Now if USC does what they did last year and continues that into this year, Slovis will probably be a big reason for it.  And despite the fact a receiver won last year, we all know the Heisman is predominantly a quarterback award.  Otherwise, Slovis might not crack the Top 10 but I have to be realistic and realize it’s not always about the best player to win the Heisman (despite the fact that’s the whole point of the fucking award but I digress).
9. Brock Purdy/Breece Hall, Iowa State – OK I am cheating a bit but does it really matter?  I don’t want to pick between these two since who knows who will have the better season.  Whoever has the better season obviously will have the better chance at the Heisman, despite the point I made above.  This also makes Hall the first non-quarterback on this list.  Congrats, I guess.
10. D’Eriq King, Miami – Back to quarterbacks (kind of).  Manny Diaz should have his best Miami team since he spurned Temple and went to South Beach.  If King can stay healthy, he may rocket up this list as he is a huge running threat along with having a good arm.

Honourable Mention

• Emory Jones, Florida
• Bijan Robinson, Texas
• Jayden Daniels, Arizona State
• D’Andre Swift, Georgia
• Casey Thompson, Texas
• Michael Penix, Indiana
• Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati
• Dillon Gabriel, UCF
• Malik Willis, Liberty

Good luck to the players on this list!  You might need it with my history with this list.  I’m not even going to bother threatening not doing this post again because I know I will.  As I stated above, I will never learn.

Guess what?  That was the final college football prediction post before the college football season begins!  Week Zero is only 20 days away.  No real huge games this year during the opening week but it’s still college football.  So I will watch it all.

I am hoping soon to get the Week Zero schedule up.  I have seen nothing from TSN although it is almost three weeks away so I got to give them a break for now.  I hope it will be up soon.  Even as I go on three years-plus doing the IPTV thing, I still plan to give out the most complete college football schedule for Canadians I can muster.  Can’t forget the roots of the blog.

So chances are I will be going with my NFL preview first.  Plenty of time before the season begins as we just had the Hall of Fame Game.  Man I’m really ahead of the game.  I shouldn’t jinx it.  Everyone have a great final day of the weekend!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – Let’s Go For Two!

I hate what they have done to college football overtime.  I was fine when they said you had to start going for two starting with the third overtime.  Would I prefer they make the teams start at the 30 or the 35 rather than the 25?  Yes but I am OK with the way that is.  Now it has become a two-point conversion shootout starting with the fifth overtime.  Why?  Because one stupidly awesome game went to seven overtimes and it was a classic?  Seems like a serious overreaction to me (and probably many others).  It has got to the point that maybe the NFL overtime is starting to look a bit better.  I never would have said that even a couple of years ago but here we are.

So normally, I do the first post of this series and a day or two later more schedule updates appear changing my original guesses already.  It would make me feel a bit dumb.  This year?  The same fucking thing happened!  God damn when will I ever learn?  Anyway, it was the mother of all schedule dumps.  Like a crazy amount of games were set.  Let’s look at what has changed with the first post in this series:

• Penn State-Wisconsin I had right in terms of it being on FOX.  But it’s not on at 4:00.  It’s the BIG NOON SATURDAY game for Week One.
• Now here’s a headscratcher.  Iowa-Indiana is not the BIG NOON SATURDAY game on FOX.  It’s not even on FOX.  It’s on BTN.  BTN!  At 3:30 in the afternoon.  It has to be due to the amount of appearances that one or both of these teams are perceived to have later on in the season on BTN since all Big Ten teams must have a minimum of two BTN appearances on the season with one of those appearances being a conference game.  That’s the only thing I can think of since this is FOX or ESPN/ABC worthy in my opinion.
• I was sooooooo close with LSU-UCLA.  It’s on FOX.  In primetime.  But not at 8:00.  It’s at 8:30.  To me that seems like a weird time but I guess FOX is fine with the game ending probably around midnight if not a little later.  Not like they have anything other than TMZ and infomercials to show afterwards on most of their affiliates.
• Again, so close with one.  Boise State-UCF is on at 7:00, not 7:30.  My guess is it will be on at least one TSN station.
• Oregon State-Purdue is now on FS1 in primetime.  Big deal.
• ABC nabbed CyHawk for their afternoon game.
• Liberty-Troy has moved to primetime.  But it’s still on ESPN+.  So in the end it doesn’t matter anyway.
• I totally forgot about how the ACC Network does Week 2.  They show four games, starting at 11 in the morning to fit them all in so they don’t have to send a bunch to a regional FOX Sports Network (hmmm…should I call them Bally’s now?) or, even worse, ACC Network Extra which they are loathe to do.  Anyway, it’s not at noon, it’s at 2:00 and should be on the specialty pack.
• Cincinnati-Indiana has been picked up by ESPN/ABC.  It will probably air on ABC and is definitely scheduled for Noon.
• Oklahoma State-Boise State will be on FOX Sports One.  But now it’s at 9:00.  In the evening.  Why?  Because there is a game at 12:30 Sunday morning!  Yep, for you crazies that can watch this game, San Jose State and Hawaii kick off after midnight and won’t end until about 4 in the morning.  That’s crazy.  I will watch at least three quarters of that.
• Hey Coastal Carolina-Buffalo isn’t being relegated to ESPN+!  It’s on at Noon, probably on the specialty pack here.  Good to see some respect for these two schools.
• Speaking of respect, let’s look at the absolute lack of respect ESPN/ABC has for the Kansas Jayhawks football program.  Like no respect at all.  They aren’t the Thursday night ESPN game.  They aren’t even available to Canadians.  Hell, it isn’t even available to most Americans.  It’s on at 3:30, Saturday afternoon…on ESPN+.  Yeah.  That’s sad.  But understandable.

I will probably make this same mistake next year because I’m an idiot who never learns..  Let’s just get to the second part of this series.

Week 4

Game of the Week: Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin (in Chicago) (Noon, FOX) – This kind of tells you what kind of weekend this will be, on paper.  Not saying these aren’t two good teams because they are.  But the Badgers are always juuuuuust on the outside looking in and don’t feel like an elite team.  And the Irish are considered an elite team more often than they actually are.  Not saying I wouldn’t be surprised if either team is in contention for the College Football Playoff late in the season but this being the game of the week means we aren’t looking at a ton of great games.  Now watch this one go to like four overtimes and be an instant classic.

Other Really Important Games: West Virginia at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – Will the Sooners finally get over the top now with Spencer Rattler in his second year at quarterback?  That is the question for Boomer Sooner this season as they could be in for a special two-season stretch (before Rattler goes to the NFL as a high first round pick).  Unless they can get yet another great QB, this may be the best two-year stretch possibility for Lincoln Riley’s boys (before Riley gets an offer from the Dallas Cowboys that he can’t refuse).  As for the Mountaineers, they have Dana Holgorsen.  That’s fun enough since you are assured of him going off on the refs or his players or his coaches or the other team’s coaches or the other team’s players or the fans at least once a game.  That’s what happens when you down six Red Bulls by lunch.

Clemson at NC State (3:30, ABC) – I could see this moving to primetime but it really has more to do with how many Big XII game would appear on ABC in the primetime timeslot all season (or at least how many they believe will appear there).  The first three games listed this week cover the top three timeslots so you can kind of figure out where all the hype will be.  This could be Dave Doeren’s final chance to get his program-defining win.  Pull this off and he will never have to pay for another drink in Raleigh again.  It also puts the entire conference in an interesting spot as Clemson is their hope for the CFP until another team steps up.  Most believe it will be NC State’s interstate rivals, North Carolina, but the Wolfpack are known for their upsets over the past two decades.  Just ask Florida State.

Tennessee at Florida (3:30, CBS) – Can Tennessee just be back already?  It took so damn long for Texas to be back and now they aren’t quite back again so who knows if the college football media will be asking that question (that I will not type here) all season.  Luckily for the fans (and haters) of Texas, that question is no longer asked.  For Vol fans, it’s becoming the conversation every day in Knoxville.  Until this team truly competes in the SEC East (and no, being third doesn’t count as competing) this may be the most annoying, pathetic fanbase in college football.  So maybe, just maybe, they can pull this off and look like the program that everyone on Rocky Top desperately wants them to be.  Now watch them lose this one by 40 and we wonder if they can beat a down Vanderbilt squad.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Nebraska at Michigan State (3:30, BTN) – You are looking LIVE…at two programs who are struggling, one more than the other.  The Huskers feel like an afterthought now that they have been in the Big Ten for a while and for good reason.  Their fans long for even the days of the Big XII, forget the Big Eight.  And let’s be honest: other than the one year where Sparty went to the College Football Playoff, it’s not like they have been setting the college football world on fire the past couple of decades.  This could be a very good game that could propel one of these programs back into prominence.  This will almost assuredly go to the Big Ten Network.

Best Group of Five Game: Marshall at Appalachian State (Thursday, 7:30, specialty pack) – Two of the Group of Five’s stalwarts meet here in a much deserved Thursday night ESPN spot.  Both teams had weird years this past season but that’s to be expected since the whole damn season was kind of weird.  Expect both of these programs to at least flirt with the Top 25 most of the season.  This should be an early Group of Five New Year’s Six elimination game as I am sure both teams will come into this undefeated (or in App State’s case, maybe a close loss to Miami early on).

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas at Duke (Noon, specialty pack) – Good god.  You have to be some kind of masochist to want to watch more than maybe a few minutes of this game.  Kansas is Kansas and Duke is nowhere near the heights they got to a few years back.  You can easily avoid this one.  I wouldn’t be surprised if doesn’t even go to the ACC Network and gets relegated to ACC Network Extra even if they have a timeslot available for them.

Week 5

Game of the Week: Ole Miss at Alabama (Noon, TSN5) – I have this game on ESPN2.  Seriously.  Look, there is a limit as to how many times a team can appear on the SEC on CBS.  Otherwise Bama would appear like 8 times every season (the max is five by the way).  This could still move to ESPN or even CBS so who knows.  Ole Miss is expected to start the season either just inside or just outside the Top 25 and besides, it’s Lane Kiffin getting another shot at Nick Saban.  He would be a God in Oxford if the Rebels can win this game.

Other Really Important Games: Cincinnati at Notre Dame (2:30, NBC) – I’m honestly confused as to why some Irish on NBC games are on at 2:30 and why some are on at 3:30.  There is really no rhyme or reason as to why these happen the way they do.  Maybe they anticipate a hot newscast on this night.  Anyway, this game is ripe for an upset…kind of.  If Cincy upset Notre Dame would it be considered an upset?  If it was up to me, I would have put this game on in primetime.  Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they don’t draw so that would be a no go.

Indiana at Penn State (Noon, ABC/TSN1/TSN4) – This does not feel like a Noon Big Ten Game.  At all.  This is the kind of game that is usually on ABC in primetime.  Or should be especially after last year’s amazing finish.  I can honestly say that maybe, just maybe, it’s the Hoosiers, not Penn State (or Michigan or Michigan State) that will be the team that will finally knock Ohio State off their perch atop the Big Ten East.  Seeing the Hoosiers win this game and run the table into November would be great because it would make some TV executives at Disney a trifle nervous.

Michigan at Wisconsin (Noon, FOX) – Is Jim Harbaugh still special enough to warrant a BIG NOON SATURDAY timeslot?  I could see this being moved, especially if the brass at FOX decides that the Big XII has a game they could show instead here.  Or maybe they do another Pac-12 morning kickoff like they did with Arizona State-USC last year.  This has to be a bounce-back season for the Wolverines.  If not, what happens to Kaptain Khaki?  Could he be fired?  For the first time during his tenure in Ann Arbor, it would make sense to at least consider it, especially after last season’s disastrous season.

Texas at TCU (6:30, FOX Sports One) – Again, don’t be surprised if this, among almost every game this week, gets moved from where I have it.  The Big XII has quickly become the major conference that Canadians rarely see.  Not that they care down there if Canadians get to see their conference or not but it’s the same in the States.  With no conference network, they are being left out in the cold.  And their expansion blunder of a few years back is still being felt.  They’ve already gone to Disney to look for a contract extension and ESPN/ABC said no.  The contract ends after the 2025 season and with other TV contracts also ending around that time, realignment talk will heat up yet again.  The conference is in trouble and really hinges on what Texas and Oklahoma decide to do.  Expect a lot of changes in the next few years.

Florida at Kentucky (Noon, specialty pack) – Remember when the Wildcats were SEC East contenders?  It wasn’t too long ago.  Kentucky could be primed for another breakthrough and the fans in Lexington are chomping at the bit to see that happen.  At some point, some team has to break the Florida-Georgia stranglehold in the division and what better year than this one?  Right now, I have this on the SEC Network because I honestly had no idea where to put it once other better timeslots started filling up.  I could see this somehow getting to ESPN or ESPN2 though since I have the SEC Network with four games during this week.

Arizona State at UCLA (3:30, specialty pack) – It feels like we are getting less and less late night games that are any good.  I mean it won’t stop me from watching them but I’m used to a few each year at least.  This is supposed to be the season where we finally see what Chip Kelly can do in Westwood.  A good Bruins team is always welcome in college football.  The Sun Devils are also expected to be quite good so maybe we will see a logjam at the top of the Pac-12 South.  Not like that hasn’t happened before, am I right?  Guys?  Hello?

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Tennessee at Missouri (Noon, specialty pack) – No, we aren’t looking at two amazing teams.  Or even one.  But man, for such a good week, there are a lot of games (outside of the ones I listed above) that look like they won’t be close at all.  I’d love to call this a SEC East eliminator game.  But it’s not.  With two teams so closely matched, though, it should be fun to watch and could be the surprise game of the early timeslot (if not the whole week).

Best Group of Five Game: Nevada at Boise State (10:00, FOX Sports One) – Could FS1, of all channels, have one of the best lineups this week?  Look there were a few choices I could have put here instead of this one.  Houston-Tulsa and Liberty-UAB fit the bill as well but neither really scream “Top Group of Five game.”  Plus I am a bit fascinated with FOX’s foray into the Mountain West, mostly because I can see all the games now.  This could end up being very lucrative for the conference as long as FOX continues to invest heavily into college football.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech (Noon, specialty pack) – I mean it’s not a bad game per se.  But with the rest of the Noon options (and there are a lot of them), I can’t see this game getting many eyeballs.

Week 6

Game of the Week: Alabama at Texas A&M (8:00, CBS) – God damn this could be a MASSIVE game this season.  Jimbo Fisher has guaranteed a win over Bama (not the smartest idea in the world but hey, gotta shot your shot).  Even with the loss of Kellen Mond, this could be the Aggies year to get into the College Football Playoff.  And now with probably a full house in College Station, the 100,000 plus members of the 12th Man will make life very difficult for the Tide.  CBS has chosen this week to be the SEC doubleheader with the primetime game so it’s almost assured that this will be the pick.

Other Really Important Games:  Oklahoma vs. Texas (in Dallas) (Noon, FOX) – Back where this belongs…almost.  Depending on how the Aggies look early on, this could be considered the true GOTW.  I’m still waiting for the day the Cotton Bowl collapses during the Red River Shootout.  It’s going to happen and it’s going to be a tragedy that could be avoided by either fixing the fucking place or moving this game to JerryWorld.  There’s almost no doubt in my mind this ends up being the BIG NOON SATURDAY pick by FOX.

Georgia at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – Wow, does CBS ever get an amazing doubleheader this season.  Saying that, the Tigers aren’t the Tigers they have been in the past.  Unless Bo Nix all of a sudden figures things out, Auburn will be middle of the pack, at best, in the SEC West.  Still a good team but not close to contending in the always extremely tough SEC West.  I just wish they would do away with divisions.  Don’t get me wrong, the SEC East champ is usually good but who wouldn’t have enjoyed Bama playing LSU or TAMU playing Mississippi State or Ole Miss playing Auburn or any one of those combinations in Atlanta in December?

Maryland at Ohio State (Noon, TSN4) – This is guaranteed for Noon and almost a shoo-in to be on ESPN.  Will this be close?  Eh, who knows.  OK I am pretty positive it won’t be.  But if there’s any year where Ohio State could be vulnerable, it is this one.  If the Terps can’t keep it close this time around they may never do so.  I’m sure there are many who long to be back in the ACC, regardless of TV money.

Florida State at North Carolina (Noon, ABC/TSN2) – No, this isn’t here because it’s the Noles.  I probably don’t have to say that anymore and it is sad that FSU just can’t seem to get over the hump and get back to the way they were.  You never know, though.  They beat the Heels here, it’s massive and could lead to huge things for this squad.  North Carolina is in New Year’s Six or Bust mode this season as the NY6 is their floor.  Anything less would be a disappointment with Sam Howell a serious Heisman contender.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: LSU at Kentucky (Noon, TSN1) – No, I’m not joking with this.  The Tigers will be close to the bottom spot of the Top 25 and the Cats will be just outside looking in, at least at the start of the season.  This is probably a bigger game for Kentucky than it is for LSU as there is no way that Ed Orgeron’s guys will be competing for the SEC West this season.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at BYU (10:30, specialty pack) – Is this considered a Group of Five game?  I’m going to say it is.  BYU seems to be in this no-man’s land when it comes to where they belong.  I know they want to be Power Five and they should be Power Five but they aren’t quite there yet and until they are invited into a conference or get closer in reputation to Notre Dame, they won’t be.  It is usually a lot of fun when these two teams meet.  I am looking forward to Provo After Dark which sounds like a show on at Midnight on Vision TV or some other religious network where they do nasty things like drink coffee or say “fuck.”

Worst Power Five Game: Georgia Tech at Duke (12:30, specialty pack) – Two straight weeks for the Ramblin’ Wreck in this spot.  The thing is they aren’t even that bad.  But last week was a pretty good schedule, at least in the Power Five and this week the next worse choice would be Wake Forest-Syracuse which isn’t nearly as bad as this.

We are almost halfway through the season now (with these posts).  With only thirteen weeks this season I had to have one longer post because of it.  It will be the final one.  The final two posts are usually the most difficult since almost none of the games are scheduled this far out, at least from a Power Five perspective.  So the chances of me getting many of these predictions wrong are quite good.  Just letting you know in advance.

It’s getting close to College Football Preview magazine season.  Or maybe it has already started and I just don’t know about it.  I have an Athlon subscription now so I am just waiting for that one to come in the mail.  If there are others available I will check Indigo to see if I can get it.  As for the Phil Steele magazine, I am going back and forth whether to order it or get the online version (if they have it this year).  I love the magazine, don’t get me wrong.  It’s an awesome read and has a shit-ton of information.  Problem is, it shows up sometime in late July at the earliest which doesn’t help me at all with my predictions and makes it tough to read before the season begins (yes I am one of those insane people who try to read that magazine front-to-back).  So we shall see.  Anyway, have a great upcoming week and let’s hope the warm weather is here to stay and that we can forget what it was like on Friday.

Let’s talk about bacon – Week 6 College Football Recap

If you know what you are looking at then chances are your blood may be already starting to boil.  If not, let me explain.

Late in the Arkansas-Auburn game, Arkansas had the lead but Auburn was driving for a score, only needing a field goal to win.  The play above is where things really go off the rails.  Bo Nix takes the snap and immediately fumbles it.  He picks it up and then immediately spikes it.  First of all, you can’t do that in college football.  That’s considered intentional grounding.  What’s worse is that Nix spiked it behind his foot.  So that is a backwards pass…a lateral if you will.  At this point, a few officials blow their electronic whistles, one official definitely doesn’t, and one official throws a bean bag.  In the aftermath of this, an Arkansas player eventually recovers the ball.  So of course this is chaos already.

The referee calls it intentional grounding.  Of course many know that there is more to this than that.  And some are perplexed because the NFL does not have that rule about fumbling the snap (as far as I know).  The play gets reviewed.  It is pretty obvious the spike was behind Nix so it’s technically a fumble.  What does the replay official conclude?  He sticks with the call of intentional grounding, basically to bail out the officials on the field.  What a fucking joke.  According to Terry McAulay, retired official who does the rules for Sunday Night Football, said that because the Arkansas player continued to play through the whistle to recover the ball and that an Auburn player also continued to play at that point, that the whistle is irrelevant and that Arkansas should have been considered to have had an immediate recovery.  Instead, Auburn gets their chance at the field goal and hits it to win, robbing the Hogs of a deserved win.  So the SEC doubles down hours later about the rules.  And probably nothing will happen to either the replay official or the officiating team on the field.  This was not a missed call that was bad but really didn’t affect the outcome of the game.  It certainly did.  And Arkansas will not get the win they deserve.  Sad.

As for the rest of the weekend it was the best weekend so far.  A low bar for sure but there was a lot of exciting football.  Kept me glued to the TV for over 11 hours.  Let’s get down to recapping all this shall we?

And now for the rest of the recap

• A great game down in College Station this past weekend.  Texas A&M won over Florida in a game many would call an upset.  I have to agree especially since Florida was a Top 5 team and I picked the Aggies to win in an upset (which makes me feel good).  Instead the Aggies gutted out a last-second walk-off field goal win and now their College Football Playoff aspirations are legit.  As for Florida, ugh….  When you think they are about to be a threat to Georgia in the SEC East, something like this happens.  It definitely won’t be easy for the Aggies the rest of the way in the SEC West but if they can somehow win out, then you have to take them seriously.  Also good for Jimbo Fisher for finally getting a signature win as the Aggies head coach.
• Another upset occurred early in the day in a game that had to be moved because of Hurricane Delta (Burke?).  Missouri held on to beat the defending champs from LSU in a game moved from Baton Rouge to Columbia.  Everyone kind of knew the Tigers (of LSU) weren’t the same team but many their defense has looked terrible so far.  But you have to give Mizzou some credit.  If it wasn’t for them finally finding a starting quarterback in freshman Connor Bazelak, this game would have been an easy LSU win.  I am positive now that there will be rumblings of Ed Orgeron being fired because it’s college football and many fans are shitty people.
• How about that game down in the other Death Valley (or the first Death Valley depending on which Tigers you prefer)?  Many felt the Canes would have a chance against Clemson.  Man were they ever fucking wrong.  This was not close, in any way, shape, or form.  Clemson just looks that much better than everyone in the conference.  Saying that, they do have new conference mate (for this season), Notre Dame later in the season which should be a banger.  As for Miami, they should still be fine.  It’s one blemish but they can work their way back into the New Year’s Six pretty easily if they run the table the rest of the way.  OK so pretty easily is a strong term.
• And there is the unluckiness that is Pitt.  It was the Pittening yet again.  Kicker Alex Kessman made a 58-yard field goal with 40 seconds left just to send their game with Boston College into overtime.  Then, after BC had scored a TD and Pitt scored one of their own, Kessman missed the extra point.  You can’t make this stuff up.   Poor guy probably wanted to crawl under the turf at that point.
• Alabama beat Ole Miss.  OK not a big deal.  What was amazing was Lane cutting the brakes off his offense and going nuts with it.  And it worked.  The Tide could not keep up with the Rebel offense.  It’s too bad the Rebel defense was equally as bad.  Although let’s be honest: Alabama’s offense is seriously good.  Not quite Clemson good, but arguably the best in the SEC.  And now Evil Nick Saban is 21-0 against his former assistants.  The student has not surpassed the teacher yet.
• Let history show that the Tennessee football Volunteers led Georgia 21-17 at the half in this game. Again, the Vols allowed the the Dawgs to close out the game on a huge run, this one 27 points, but it’s still not a bad thing to see the Vols at least somewhat competitive.  They may be a year or two away from contending in the SEC East but the fans can see the light at the end of that tunnel.  Now they just have to allow Jeremy Pruitt to continue to improve things in Knoxville and it will work out (possibly).
• I didn’t think Florida State could keep it close.  Like not at all.  But they were surprisingly effective until late in the second quarter.  But the Irish were still way too much for the Noles.  They are a legit contender to go to the ACC Championship.  Mike Norvell is struggling so far at Tallahassee and it will be interesting to see if he gets the same amount of chances as Willie Taggart got before he was dumped.
• Back to games that were completely bonkers, look no further than the Red River Shootout.  And a shootout it was.  This game went to four overtimes and it felt like neither team wanted to win despite the fact they were putting up some gaudy stats.  Finally, Spencer Rattler didn’t fuck up and Sam Ehlinger couldn’t get it done and the Sooners pulled off the victory.  Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see neither of these two teams in the Big XII Championship in December.
• That Virginia Tech-North Carolina game was more of a Big XII game than pretty much all the Big XII games on Saturday.  A hilariously poor showing of defense on both teams’ accounts.  North Carolina was able to pull away late but it wasn’t pretty.  The Tar Heels can’t afford to be like that on the defensive side of the ball when they play Notre Dame later on in the season or it could be a long day for Mack Brown and the boys from Chapel Hill.
• Don’t sleep on the BYU Cougars.  The Cougars are 4-0 and look like they will probably be 7-0 when they get into November and their game against Boise State.  They are solidly in the Top 25 but will need to win and win big to move up the rankings.  Winning by a touchdown over UTSA won’t cut it, despite the fact the Roadrunners are going to be at least a contender to go bowling if not an outside shot at being a thorn in UAB’s side for the Conference USA West crown.
• Iowa State keeps trundling along in the Big XII after that horrible opening loss to what is really a good Louisiana team.  The way things are going, it wouldn’t surprise me (and shouldn’t surprise others) if the Cyclones were heading to Dallas for the Big XII Championship in about two months.
• What the hell happened at Mississippi State?  They looked great two weeks ago against LSU and then can’t do anything in their previous game and were even worse at Kentucky.  300 yards passing and 2 points.  So of course Mike Leach is already starting to blame some of the players.  This usually takes like two or three seasons to occur: it’s happening in two weeks in Starkville.  Yikes.
• Another great game just happened to be Temple’s first game of the season.  No I’m not kidding.  And they played the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of college football, Navy.  Navy doesn’t know if they want to be good or they’re really fucking bad.  All I know is this ended up being a close finish after Navy took a fairly large lead and then allowed the Owls to crawl their way back for a chance to tie late.  I am sure Ken Niumatalolo secretly drinks heavily after games like this.
• USF…what can you say?  They got throttled by East Carolina.  Yes, the East Carolina football Pirates.  The Bulls are so bad that when I tweeted about them being bad, a few people replied and agreed and they’re USF FANS!  Wow.
• Finally, Charlotte took down North Texas.  That’s not really news.  The news is about the graphics used on the ESPN scoreboard.  Charlotte has a C with a pickaxe in the middle of it.  North Texas has UNT with an eagle.  Yes, it was a C followed by a UNT.

Alright that was seriously fun.  And soon enough we will get college football that lasts past 2 in the morning, like God intended it.  Oh man, there goes my sleep, which has already been bad but is about to get much worse.

Alright, let’s now look at the Bossman Top 25:

#1	Clemson
#2	Georgia
#3	Alabama
#4	North Carolina
#5	Notre Dame
#6	Ohio State
#7	Oklahoma State
#8	Florida
#9	Cincinnati
#10	Auburn
#11	Miami
#12	Penn State
#13	BYU
#14	Oregon
#15	Texas A&M
#16	Tennessee
#17	Wisconsin
#18	SMU
#19	Louisiana
#20	Michigan
#21	Iowa State
#22	Virginia Tech
#23	Kansas State
#24	Marshall
#25	Minnesota

Yes there are some differences between my rankings and the AP Poll, as usual.  I have Georgia at #2 and Notre Dame down at #5.  The Irish should move up just for the fact that I doubt we will have two SEC teams in the top three (I hope).  As for #6 through #12, pick the teams out of a hat to figure out the order.  A lot can happen the rest of the way and at this point, no one team is that much better than another.  And how about Marshall at #24.  I know the AP Poll doesn’t have them in there but man they deserve to be there in my humble opinion.  Also, yes I have BYU at #13.  It sounds like they probably won’t move that much further up from there but they are still undefeated and shouldn’t fall unless they lose.

Hey guess what we have?  FUN BELT!  Yes, weekday Sun Belt action is back and it starts on Wednesday night.  8:00 but who knows if Canadians can get it.  And it’s a big one.  Coastal Carolina and Louisiana.  I love weekday football.  Honestly, and I know I rail on the NFL being on Thursday but between late August and early January, the more football the better.  Have a good week everyone!