The Land of the Undefeated 7.0

Posted on October 11, 2022 by guelphbossman

Yes we are at that point of the season where I am going to look at all the undefeated teams left. I can’t believe this is the seventh version of this post. And I can safely assume that Alabama was probably in all of them.

I’m glad I do this after Week 6 now since otherwise it would end up being like a fifth of the entire FBS that would be undefeated and that’s quite a few teams. Conference play tends to pare that down pretty fast. Alright, let’s get to the list!

#1 Georgia (6-0) – They were in this spot in last year’s post and they are here again. It hasn’t been as smooth as their start last year. A sloooow start against Kent State and a tough game against Missouri has kept them from being the overwhelming #1 at the mid-point of the season. And if they sweep the rest of the schedule, they will deserve the #1 ranking. Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky in consecutive weeks. Yikes. That’s a gauntlet. But, I think they will pull it off. Barely. But they will. Predicted record: 12-0.

#2 Ohio State (6-0) – No surprise at the #2 spot…ok maybe some surprise since I assume some would have Alabama at #2 at this point. The top three are kind of interchangeable at this point to be honest. Will they have a tough time going undefeated the rest of the way? Possibly with Penn State and Michigan on the schedule but I think they will do it. Predicted record: 12-0.

#3 Alabama (6-0) – Yes I’m sure Nick Saban is secretly pissed off that the Tide are #3 in the rankings, despite getting eleven first place votes (out of the 63 total). They’ve had quite the roller coaster first half of the season…at least for them. By all rights, they should have lost to Texas and thanks to Jimbo Fisher Jimboing all over himself, they survived the Aggies. I assume Bryce Young will be back for the rest of the season and that is why I also have them running the table. If he isn’t back right away, well…. Predicted record: 12-0.

#4 Clemson (6-0) – D.J. Uiagalelei has looked quite a bit better than most predicted he would. He’s done enough to hold up their end while a good Clemson defense does their thing (other than against Wake Forest). They basically escaped Winston-Salem with a win but have looked great otherwise. I don’t see them quite running the table but they will do enough to make them a College Football Playoff possibility come conference championship time. Predicted record: 11-1.

#5 Michigan (6-0) – Despite the fact that FOX has a serious Michigan fetish this season, not that many are discussing the Wolverines as a true contender. They are rolling so far but have a tough back half of the schedule. Their undefeated run could end as early as six days from now (I don’t think it will but it’s very possible). They won’t make it to the end unscathed. Predicted record: 11-1.

#6 Tennessee (5-0) – Quite the start for the Vols this season. Many, especially Volunteer fans, have been waiting for this for a long time. They have their biggest test of the season coming up next week with a game against Bama. If they win, or lose a close one, we can confirm that Tennessee is finally back where they should be…competing for SEC East crowns at the very least. I don’t think they’re quite there yet…but they’re close. Predicted record: 10-2.

#7 USC (6-0) – The Trojans are fun again! Ever since the Pete Carroll days, this team has struggled to maintain their spot at or near the top of the Pac-12. One or two years they are quite good; then they lay an egg. Frustrating to say the least for USC fans. I might catch some flak for this but I don’t see USC running the table. Actually, I see their run ending this coming Saturday. Predicted record: 10-2.

#8 Oklahoma State (5-0) – The Pokes were on this list last year. Mullet Mike continues to do a fantastic job coaching this team. Spencer Sanders is finally looking like a big-time Big XII quarterback. And they are being virtually ignored in their own conference. The rest of their schedule is BRUTAL with a capital B so there is almost no way they run the table. Saying that, this is a team that could potentially make The Committee have to take a hard look at them. Predicted record: 11-1.

#9 Ole Miss (6-0) – You might not want to hear this but Lane Kiffin is, once again, doing an amazing coaching job in Oxford. Yes, this team was going to improved from last year but this has been a great start for the Rebels. If they can beat Bama in a month’s time, they could make the Egg Bowl extremely relevant for the first time in forever. I see them falling short there and in one other game, unfortunately for them. Predicted record: 10-2.

#10 Penn State (5-0) – I’ll be honest with you: I don’t like Penn State’s chances against Michigan and Ohio State. The rest of the schedule? Sure, they’re fine. Predicted record: 10-2.

#11 UCLA (6-0) – Eleven straight undefeated teams at the top of the rankings. I don’t think this has ever happened. No, I’m not going to check. Some will be surprised the Bruins are here but I am not. I had this team playing very good ball and Chip Kelly finally (FINALLY!) doing what he did when he was at Oregon. It won’t be clean but expect this team at least to be looking at the New Year’s Six come early December. Predicted record: 11-1.

#13 TCU (5-0) – If the Big XII was going to have a team on this list, other than the Pokes, most would have figured Oklahoma. Or Baylor. Maybe Texas. Not TCU. Sonny Dykes is doing some amazing things in Fort Worth with this Horned Frogs squad but it has become a very tough conference and the road will be rife with speed bumps. Expect them to have a bit of a rough ride the rest of the way. Predicted record: 9-3.

#18 Syracuse (5-0) – I’ll be honest: I didn’t think the Orange would even win five games all season let alone win their first five games of the season. At some point the bubble will burst. I say it happens this coming weekend and it’s mostly downhill from there. I’d love to be wrong but I don’t think I will be. Predicted record: 6-6.

#25 James Madison (5-0) – This should be a huge story. I mean it is, but it should be bigger. But it won’t be. Why? Because the NCAA are full of fucking idiots who can’t figure out that archaic rules need to be changed. JMU is not eligible to play in a bowl game because they are “transitioning” from FCS to FBS. There’s no real “transition” per se. They are playing one less game than everyone else because of needing to change up their schedule. Other than that, they are like every FBS team. But they aren’t treated like one. Hopefully the NCAA gets off their ass and does something about this. But they won’t. we know that. Too bad for the Dukes who are doing something no other team has done moving to FBS/Division 1-A ever: be ranked in their first year. Will they finish undefeated? I highly doubt it. That’s not really the point here. The point is they deserve respect…plain and simple. Predicted record: 7-4.

Coastal Carolina (6-0) – Now here’s where things get even more interesting. Coastal really has the only legitimate shot among Group of Five teams to go undefeated and may be the only G-5 team to have less than two losses. So how do you keep them out of the Cotton Bowl (which is where the best G-5 team most likely goes)? I wonder if The Committee will find a way. If there are other one loss teams in the G-5 that have played amazing, even in their lone loss then sure, there’s a good debate brewing. But if no other G-5 team has less than two losses? Come on. I kind of hope they do get in so that the Sun Belt will finally get their New Year’s Six payday. Predicted record: 12-0.

We have fifteen undefeated teams as we motor past (Canadian) Thanksgiving. There’s still a lot of time for chaos on this list. Before November hits, the Nittany Lions play both the Buckeyes and Wolverines, the Tide faces off against the Volunteers, the Tigers get the surprising Orange at home and Oklahoma State travels to Fort Worth to face TCU. So this number will dip to at least eleven by the time the calendar turns to the next month. Knowing the chaos we have seen already, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were down to seven or even six by that point.

College football schedule and NFL schedule upcoming later on this week as per usual. Have a great (taco) Tuesday everyone!

The Week 5 College Football TV Schedule is important…but not as important as this

Posted on September 28, 2022 by guelphbossman

This happens almost every year. It’s hurricane season in Florida (and other parts of the southern United States). Scary times for the residents there. It’s a time where some need to make the decision of staying or leaving for a time, depending on the severity of the hurricane.

Which brings us to Hurricane Ian. It looks like it is going to batter a good part of the state. I hope the residents don’t get hit too hard with it. This does affect the college football schedule. Yes it’s a minor thing but considering the subject matter of this blog, I need to cover it. The following games have had their times and/or dates altered:

SMU at UCF has been moved to Sunday at 1:00
EWU at Florida has been moved to Sunday at Noon
SC State at South Carolina has been moved to Thursday at 7:00

More changes are coming I’m sure. The one interesting thing might be the ABC primetime game. It’s at Clemson. The Gamecocks have already moved their game from Saturday up to Thursday. This could be a very interesting scenario that hasn’t come into play ever for the big timeslot of the week.

UPDATE #3: SMU-UCF has now been moved to Wednesday night. No word if it will be shown here or not.

UPDATE #4: OK it looks like SMU-UCF will be Wednesday at 7:00 PM. The game will be on ESPN2 so there is a good chance it will be on the specialty pack as well.

Alright, let’s get to the schedule and see how this goes.

Thursday

Two games on tonight although originally it was supposed to only be the one. As I mentioned above SC State-USC was moved to Thursday because of Hurricane Ian. I don’t know why some games are being moved up and some are being moved back but I am sure there is a good reason for it. Anyway, both games should be blowouts so you can definitely check out the…wait a second…undefeated Miami Dolphins? OK then.

UPDATE: OK I see that games in Florida are being moved back because the hurricane is hitting there…well, pretty much right now. The hurricane will start moving up the east coast starting Friday night/Saturday early morning so it makes sense to move games in Georgia and South Carolina up to avoid that and allow road teams to leave the area before it hits.

Friday

A heavy Friday schedule with six games. That is quite unusual. One of these games is a rather big one as the somewhat surprising Washington Huskies travel to Los Angeles to face UCLA. Maybe the Bruins will finally get a good crowd for a game as the early attendance has been dismal. The Ivy League has their first game on ESPNU this season and we shall see if Boise State can turn around this season at all or if they will be pining for the return of Bryan Harsin the rest of the season.

Saturday Early

This is…different. It is the first time that the ACC Network has a game on multiple TSN channels. I’d have to look to see how often the ACC Network has been on TSN, period since I am sure I can count that on one hand. CBS has a doubleheader this week that starts with the first leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and ends at the normal SEC on CBS time later on. Finally, there is one quite big game that will fall under the radar this weekend and it occurs in Oxford. Kentucky and Ole Miss are both wanting to prove they are for real. A UK win here…that would make things awful interesting in the SEC East where I figured Georgia would easily win the division.

Oh you will notice the SEC Network doesn’t have a game in this timeslot. It was the one moved to Thursday night. Will they put another game here to replace it? Probably not.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Oregon State at #12 Utah	2:00 PM
#22 Wake Forest at #23 Florida State	3:30 PM
Virginia Tech at North Carolina	3:30 PM
Rutgers at #3 Ohio State	3:30 PM
#2 Alabama at #20 Arkansas	3:30 PM
Fresno State at UConn	3:30 PM
Northwestern at #11 Penn State	3:30 PM
Iowa State at Kansas	3:30 PM
#9 Oklahoma State at #16 Baylor	3:30 PM
Michigan State at Maryland	3:30 PM
Central Michigan at Toledo	3:30 PM
#17 Texas A&M at Mississippi State	4:00 PM
California at Washington State	5:30 PM

OK now we are getting into weeks where some timeslots are loaded with good games. This is one of them. Wake-FSU, Bama-Hogs and Pokes-BU are all big games that could shape how the season pans out. And if you can watch them live and not have to use a PVR, all the better. I am thankful I don’t have to do that anymore.

Not everything makes sense though here. And it has more to do with the specialty packs than anything. There should be four games in this window on the specialty packs. Right now I only see one confirmed: TAMU-MSU. Why? It makes no sense. We know they will end up there. So just do it all at once. Then again, maybe they won’t because things almost seem worse than ever at times with these specialty packs. Just schedule all the games you’re allowed to show. It’s easy. I don’t get why this is so complicated. Christ, I’m getting worked up and I don’t even have cable anymore.

UPDATE #2: If I just waited a few minutes, I could have looked again and saw that the specialty packs were updated and all the games that should appear there, are appearing there.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
LSU at Auburn	7:00 PM
Cincinnati at Tulsa	7:00 PM
#10 NC State at #5 Clemson	7:30 PM
Indiana at Nebraska	7:30 PM
San Jose State at Wyoming	7:30 PM
West Virginia at Texas	7:30 PM
#1 Georgia at Missouri	7:30 PM
Georgia Tech at #24 Pittsburgh	8:00 PM

NC State-Clemson. A huge ACC game. And I have this funny feeling it will be moved, rescheduled, something. I mentioned it above and I will say it again. It really makes no sense for South Carolina to move their home game up two days and Clemson, a mere two hours away, is doing nothing at this point. Just feels like a disaster waiting to happen. Fingers crossed nothing bad occurs.

As for the rest of the primetime schedule, it’s alright. LSU-Auburn get an undeserved ESPN spot, Georgia is yet again on the SEC Network, and we will see if Georgia Tech learned what not to do from the Geoff Collins era.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Colorado at Arizona	9:30 PM
UC-Davis at Montana State	10:15 PM
Arizona State at #6 USC	10:30 PM
Stanford at #13 Oregon	11:00 PM

Four games in the late night sked and one really stands out like a sore thumb. Yes you are reading that correctly: the game on ESPNU will be UC-Davis against Montana State. ESPN has done this before, putting a Big Sky match on in the late night window because there wasn’t much else to put on there. This is especially the case now with ESPN not having Mountain West games. So it’s Pac-12 or bust and if any other network has Pac-12 games, it really dials back the inventory they can choose from. There’s three Pac-12 games on in this window but one is on the Pac-12 Network and another on FOX Sports One. So yeah, either ESPNU shows the FCS game, a rerun of an HBCU game (which they do from time-to-time) or something that isn’t live sports that won’t get the same ratings.

Big Games O’ The Week

NC State at Clemson (7:30, ABC) – One of the games of the year and, I would say, a pretty easy choice for Game of the Week. Let’s see if D.J. Uiagalelei can keep things going and play well enough to beat a very good Wolfpack team. No offense to Wake Forest but this is the Tigers’ greatest competition of the regular season. Win this and they are a win over Florida State away from going back to the ACC Championship. If the Pack win…ho boy this gets very interesting.

Kentucky at Ole Miss (Noon, TSN2) – Did I fool you there? You thought another SEC game would fall here. Not so fast. This game has a lot on the line and will send the winner into the hype zone, at least for the immediate future. Don’t want to use the terms “College Football Playoff” or “New Year’s Six” here for two teams that aren’t used to that much success (especially Kentucky) but you’ll hear that during the broadcast, I can guarantee that.

Alabama at Arkansas (3:30, CBS) – This is the game that most people would have put at least in the #2 spot and I wholeheartedly disagree. I believe Bama won’t have a ton of trouble with the Hogs. I’d love to see the Razorbacks win; mostly because I love chaos in college football. But until they show they can hang with the Tide, then I can’t believe they will get it done. Now watch them put up a 40-burger against them just to prove me wrong.

Oklahoma State at Baylor (3:30, FOX) – Yeah I’m going to go ahead and call this Okie State’s first true test of the season. No offense to Central Michigan, Arizona State or mighty Arkansas-Pine Bluff but they don’t hold a candle to the Bears. Also, I am waiting to see if Spencer Sanders truly can take this team to new heights since I have never been fully impressed with him.

Wake Forest at Florida State (3:30, ABC) – Look, Wake Forest isn’t completely out of the ACC Atlantic race just yet. To get back in the race, though, they have to win here. The Noles have finally found their footing under Mike Norvell and want the opportunity to at least play for the division later in the season.

Washington at UCLA (Friday, 10:30, TSN2) – I never would have thought I’d have this game on the list when the season started. The Huskies are better than advertised. The Bruins…well at least we can say they are undefeated. They haven’t made it look easy and they haven’t exactly played tough competition. A Friday night test for both teams.

Oklahoma at TCU (Noon, ABC) – The Sooners came crashing down to Earth last week against Kansas State…kind of. I think part of this is the horrendous non-conference schedule they had with no real competition. More teams really have to get away from that kind of thinking as it never prepares them for conference season. At least TCU had SMU last week after beating the worst Power Five team in the land, Colorado, and Tarleton State, who honestly might beat Colorado if they played each other.

Psycho Game of the Week

Colorado at Arizona (9:30, YouTube) – You have to be some kind of sick to want to watch this. Sure, the Wildcats are improved but they couldn’t have been any worse than they were last season. And the Buffs…my God. They are seriously awful. If they lose this one, the Karl Dorrell hot seat talk will be top of the list in that state (at least when it comes to college football).

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Rutgers at Ohio State (3:30, BTN) – With all due respect to the Fighting Schianos of Piscataway, this won’t be close. I am almost thinking of praying for Rutgers to keep tOSU under 60 points in this one.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

BYU and Utah State are actually in a trophy game on Thursday. They play for the Old Wagon Wheel. The Cougs have won it 17 times since 1994.
The only team that Boise State has a losing record against in the Mountain West is San Diego State.
The Crimson Tide have won 15 in a row against Arkansas.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

I’m not going to delve into my picks from last week. I just won’t. You shouldn’t either. Let’s just move on to this week’s picks:

Houston (-2.5) over Tulane
UNLV (-14.5) over New Mexico
Illinois (+7) over Wisconsin (Wisky to win game)
Oklahoma (-6.5) over TCU
Oregon State (+10.5) over Utah (Utes to win game)
Fresno State (-24) over UConn
Penn State (-26.5) over Northwestern
Florida State (-7) over Wake Forest
Auburn (+9) over LSU (and the Tigers to win outright in my upset of the week)
NC State (+6.5) over Clemson (Tigers win a close one)
Pittsburgh (-22) over Georgia Tech
Arizona State (+25) over USC (USC will win the game)
Oregon (-17) over Stanford

I will keep watching and keep you up to date on anything that changes the schedule due to Hurricane Ian. It already looks bad along Florida’s west coast and the storm just hit. Hopefully there are no casualties down that way.

Most Important Games of the 2022 College Football Season: Prepare for Change

Posted on June 28, 2022 by guelphbossman

Alright let’s be honest here. It has been a slooooooow return for ol’ Bossman. This is partially done on purpose, though, not because I have forgotten about all of you. I am going with the less is more approach…kind of. At least in the off-season. I think an explanation is warranted here. The plan, on my part, is to post less but to put a lot more in each post. Like not going to Wendy’s as often but when you do…it’s Dave’s Triple Cheeseburger time! I think this might just work. Or it won’t. I mean you never know with these things, right? Anyway, where was I?

Ah yes: change. Change is sometimes tough but is also sometimes needed. So as it pertains to the usual four-post Most Important College Games series, it is going to go through an overhaul. This post will be just about the most important games but I won’t be going week-by-week. It will be a relatively well-thought out selection of the best 30 games of this coming year (at least at this very early point). Don’t worry, I will still rate the weeks. Can’t change everything. Then I will post again later on with some other lists of games. You know, the worst Power Five games, best Group of Five games, etc. You ready? I am. Let’s go.

Remember the rules (my rules). Most of the games after Week 3 are not set in terms of time or network. Any game that is confirmed, I will let you know that it is. This time I won’t include Canadian info because, especially with TSN, it’s a complete crapshoot. Just assume that ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network and SEC Network games will appear on TSN or on the specialty packs.

It’s…time! IT’S….TIME! IT’S……RANKING TIME! (cue Vader theme) Alright the first piece of college football to discuss is the ranking of the weeks. We know how this usually goes and it is almost never a surprise when it comes out that way. So let’s get right to it and then I can tell you how I did this (if you didn’t know before) and all that jazz:

Week 13 (November 26 – American Thanksgiving)
Week 6 (October 8)
Week 10 (November 5)
Week 5 (October 1)
Week 9 (October 29)
Week 12 (November 19)
Week 7 (October 15)
Week 11 (November 12)
Week 4 (September 24)
Week 8 (October 22)
Week 3 (September 17)
Week 1 (September 3)
Week 2 (September 10)

Same as always, there are thirteen weeks of the regular season. Week Zero is starting to get more games as more waivers are being granted but until they have I’d say at least 30 games on the schedule that Saturday then it can’t be counted as its own week. I mean I could but it would be last place every year without a doubt. I’ve said this before but I wish they would always have fourteen weeks in a season. This way, every team gets two bye weeks and it’s perfect for the health and safety of the players (something that is sometimes put on the backburner). I’m sure the NCAA will go along with my idea by the year 2058. As for the rankings this season, not too many surprises. The final week of the regular season is back on its perch as the best weekend of college football this season. Week 1 has dropped off a cliff and doesn’t look that great but the hype around it will be off the charts, I can guarantee you that. October has a massive week as Week 6 truly starts the conference season in a big way (and you’ll see later on why I say that). Just like last year, November is great, even SEC Sleepwalk Saturday which is a middle-of-the-road week rather than the awful week of games it used to be. And of course, September is, well, September in college football. A few really good games surrounded by a lot of meh but you know what will happen. That’s right, ~~Frank Stallone~~ quite a few upsets since that’s how college football works.

Normally this would be the time I start the weekly breakdowns but those are no more (at least for this year). This is a long list but I think it will be a good list. It’s the top 30 most important games of the college football season (until some team like Northwestern comes out of nowhere and is battling for a conference title).

Texas A&M at Alabama (Week 6, 8:00, CBS) – Yes, Bama is again the favourite to win it all this season. But the Aggies might be as ready as they have ever been during the Jimbo Fisher era. Almost a guarantee this will end up as the lone CBS primetime game of the year.
Michigan at Ohio State (Week 13, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Captain Khaki brings his Wolverines to Columbus to see if he can get his team to relive the magic of last season once again. They haven’t won at the Horseshoe in 22 years. Winner of this one most likely heads to the Big Ten Championship so huge stakes, as it usually is with this rivalry.
Notre Dame at Ohio State (Week 1, 7:30, ABC, confirmed) – As is normally the case, the Irish have a bunch of landmine games this season. No game is a bigger landmine than this one. If Notre Dame can pull this off, then the season is already turned on its head and Marcus Freeman immediately becomes a legend in his second game as head coach.
Clemson at Notre Dame (Week 10, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – Clemson will be looking for a tiny bit of a rebound this year and retake control of the ACC. Yes, this isn’t an ACC conference game but winning this game would put every other team in the conference on notice. I am wondering, with all this realignment happening, if we may get to the point where the Irish are the only Independent team remaining. This is something I wouldn’t have said even two years ago.
Georgia vs. Oregon (in Atlanta) (Week 1, 3:30, ABC, confirmed) – Is this an early-season College Football Playoff elimination game? Could very well be. Georgia is still loaded for bear again and the Ducks are ready to make that final climb back into the CFP. This game (plus the ND-tOSU game later in the night) are the easy highlights of a relatively bland Week 1 schedule.
Notre Dame at USC (Week 13, 7:30, ABC) – It would be either a) horrible for Notre Dame fans if the Irish came in undefeated and blew a tire here against a probably good USC team or b) great for Notre Dame haters who don’t want them anywhere near the College Football Playoff (or the New Year’s Six for that matter). This could end up being a massively important game in the grand scheme of things.
Utah at Oregon (Week 12, 7:30, ABC) – This might just be a preview of the Pac-12 title game and a statement game for both teams…as long as both teams are ranked at this point. With the Pac-12 finally on the rise again (I think), this could bring in a lot of eyeballs during a week that is usually not the greatest on paper.
NC State at Clemson (Week 5, 3:30, ABC) – This is probably the game for the Atlantic Division title…the final Atlantic Division title if I get my way and divisions are abolished going forward. With all due respect to Wake Forest, unless they pull off at least one upset, they aren’t getting close to these two teams. This being in Death Valley may give the Tigers the slight edge but the Wolfpack have had some seriously huge wins on the road in their past.
USC at Utah (Week 7, 3:30, ESPN) – As I said above, I am only including American broadcast info at this point. That will change when I get to network-specific posts later in the summer. The Utes should worry about this USC team. They are finally poised to get back into Top 10 territory and an upset of Utah isn’t a crazy idea at this point. If Lincoln Riley can get the Trojans to pull this off, it may be off to the races and a return to glory in Los Angeles.
Michigan State at Michigan (Week 9, Noon, FOX) – Big brother and little brother are both good. This always make this rivalry game extra spicy. This game could honestly derail Michigan’s season before they get to the Game. This should end up on FOX which means no THERE’S A TROUBLE WITH THE SNAP! AND THE BALL IS FREE AND IT’S PICKED UP BY MICHIGAN STATE’S JALEN WATTS-JACKSON AND HE SCORES ON THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME! All in Sean McDonough Cracked-Voice perfection.
Clemson at Wake Forest (Week 4, 3:30, ESPN2) – This might be the first game I get seriously wrong. Saying that, the ACC tends to get neglected in favour of the other Power Five conferences when it comes to game placement…especially when Wake Forest is involved. And some would still consider this a surprising pick in the #11 spot but I stand by it. Remember what I said above about the Deacs? Well this would be their chance, at home, to shock the world and announce their true arrival as contenders for at least the New Year’s Six.
Ohio State at Michigan State (Week 6, 7:30, ABC) – Another THE Ohio State University roadblock game here. Nothing would please Spartans fans (and Wolverine fans) for Sparty to knock off the mighty Buckeyes here.
Baylor at Oklahoma (Week 10, Noon, FOX) – Dave Aranda might be the most popular coach in college football and he wouldn’t give two shits about that nor would his facial expression change. He’s in Waco to coach college football, dammit, and that’s all. I’m sure his family has seen him smile before but those rumours are unconfirmed. Lincoln Riley-less Oklahoma could be an interesting team to watch this year since no one knows how they will fare. As much of a wild card as any team expected to be in the Top 25 to start the season.
Tennessee at Georgia (Week 10, Noon, ESPN) – This could very well be an SEC East title match although you never know what team will kind of come out of nowhere to cause havoc at the top. Kentucky may still be good and the rest of the teams, sans Vanderbilt, could make a run if they get an upset or three. Until further notice, though, the Dawgs are the defending champs so someone has to knock them off their perch. Who better than the Vols? I’m sure there would be many people who could give me quite a few examples.
Miami at Clemson (Week 12, 3:30, ESPN2) – If this was the 80s or early 90s or early 2000s, this wouldn’t be here because Miami would be like a 30-point favourite. I’m sure there’d be a lot more cocaine and steroids involved as well, but I digress. Instead, it’s the Tigers who could be a double-digit favourite coming into this potentially huge conference matchup for both teams.
Alabama at Tennessee (Week 7, 3:30, CBS) – Man, it took long enough to get to our first afternoon CBS game. I guess that’s what happens when Alabama is on the network all the time. So speaking of heavy favourites, the Tide will be those here. The Vols, however, are better than they have been in over a decade and with the game at Neyland, who knows. If this game is close going into the fourth quarter, watch out.
Miami at Texas A&M (Week 3, 9:00, ESPN, confirmed) – Oh god the weird three-hour windows rear their ugly head this week. Game at 6:00 followed by a game at 9:00. Can ESPN just fuck off with this horseshit? What’s the big deal putting this at 9:30? Half an hour won’t make a difference. Anyway, this should be a pretty good game I think but those FUCKING THREE-HOUR WINDOWS…OK I’m gonna stop now.
Wisconsin at Ohio State (Week 4, 7:30, ABC) – If the Big Ten abolished divisions, this would become a much bigger game. I mean it’s still huge but…OK fine I just hate divisions. I’m sure Wisky’s gameplan here is to run the ball 60 times and hope tOSU’s run defense is snoozing for most of the game.
Wake Forest at NC State (Week 10, 7:30, ACC Network) – Look, this might change between now and then but as I’ve said before, this is how little respect the Demon Deacons get. If both teams only have one loss (or less) at this point, then it definitely gets moved to ESPN or ABC. Otherwise, there’s a good chance this is where this game will end up, sadly. The winner here is probably the one and only contender to screw up Clemson’s ACC run this season.
Oklahoma State at Baylor (Week 5, Noon, FOX) – First appearance for the Fighting Mullets from Stillwater on this list. The Pokes are almost always in contention even when it feels like they aren’t. Eleventh-year starter Spencer Sanders hopes to finally find some consistency at quarterback and beat a Baylor team that could be even more special than last year’s squad.
Georgia at Kentucky (Week 12, 3:30, CBS) – Fine, I will put this game here but it’s iffy whether it belongs. It isn’t like the SEC West where even the worst team usually isn’t that bad. Saying that, UK could be good again. It wouldn’t fully shock me. The only thing on their side is this is in Lexington which is underrated for how rowdy the fans can get.
Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (in Arlington) (Week 4, 3:30, CBS) – Considering the SEC slate of games this week, it is almost a guarantee that this game will be on CBS. Last year, the Razorbacks won this game rather easily and a good thing they did since they lost three straight right afterwards. If both teams are as good as they are predicted to be, maybe JerryWorld will be at least three-quarters full this time around. I still don’t get this always being a neutral-site game but whatever.
Ohio State at Penn State (Week 9, 7:30, ABC) – Now we are getting into the games that might not look close on paper but have a history of being inexplicably close. I’ve seen the Nittany Lions make things difficult for tOSU so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for them to pull off an upset on a night that will most certainly be a White-Out.
Alabama at Arkansas (Week 5, 3:30, CBS) – See what I mean? Saying that, it’s not like this game will be relegated to the SEC Network as Sam Pittman has the Hogs looking good. Not Bama-good, but definitely a far cry from the Bret Bielema/Chad Morris years.
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (Week 12, Noon, FOX) – BEDLAM! Normally near the top of these kinds of lists, this could be a sneaky-good game this season for once. The Sooners feel like they are in rebuild mode when they really aren’t and the Pokes always feel like they are a step behind one team every season in the Big XII. By this point, we will know if either of these teams have a hope for the Big XII Championship and a trip to good ol’ JerryWorld or not.
Penn State at Michigan (Week 7, 3:30, ABC) – Not exactly a CFP elimination matchup but it will be very important in terms of the Big Ten East Division race. Look, PSU now has Sean Clifford hopefully back for a full, healthy year. That alone makes the Nittany Lions a bit more dangerous than they were last year. Michigan is loaded for bear so this will not be easy between the two teams with the biggest stadiums in the land.
LSU at Texas A&M (Week 13, Noon, ESPN) – This could end up being a forgotten matchup by this point of the season. LSU is certainly not the Joe Burrow LSU Tigers. And Texas A&M has been hanging on the periphery of greatness for a while now. At some point, you think something has to give. My guess is there is a good possibility a NY6 spot could be on the line here.
Wisconsin at Michigan State (Week 7, 7:30, ESPN2) – At this point I would call this an underrated game as many would probably put it in the same spot I’m putting it now. The Badgers are probably the odds-on favourite to win the Big Ten West which is never on par with winning the much more difficult Big Ten East. The Spartans need to win games like this to have any chance of doing what they did last year (or even more).
BYU vs. Notre Dame (in Las Vegas) (Week 6, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – BYU’s final year as an Independent and as usual they have loaded up. Call it a Western version of the typical Notre Dame schedule. These teams don’t play nearly enough against each other if you ask me so it’s fun when they do. And boy, will they have a TV audience, there is no denying that. The Irish love these games because it’s a recruiting bonanza. I guess the same for the Cougs. Independent supremacy is on the line in this one.
Florida vs. Georgia (in Jacksonville) (Week 9, 3:30, CBS, confirmed) – The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. How can this not be on this list of games? I guess if both teams were bad which hasn’t happened in….well, it’s been a while. This is my seventh straight year, I believe, imploring CBS to give the broadcast crew an open bar for this one. Hey, either Gary Danielson becomes seriously fun to listen to or…he’s still Gary Danielson.

There you go. Top 30 games of the season. That wasn’t so bad, eh? There is only 60 days left until the season begins. That is much closer than I am used to when doing this post. I may have to up my game over the next two months.

I’m not going to lie, this felt like a lot of work but it also felt good to do. The craziness hasn’t stopped in my life and so this is my chance to start getting a break from “reality” by doing this blog again. I think I’ve needed it (although I had to be sure I was ready to go again). Have a great week everyone!

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

Posted on September 21, 2020 by guelphbossman

Alright I want to get this crystal clear in my brain. This week’s AP Poll includes SEC teams as they start this coming week. But no Big Ten teams because they don’t start for another month. OK. Here is the issue with this. These rankings will mean nothing then. I mean I will do them the same way but I contemplated putting Big Ten teams in. Why did I not do it? Because they won’t be playing for a month. This is why pre-season rankings shouldn’t happen and maybe, just maybe, rankings shouldn’t happen at all until after the first set of games in October. Maybe then we would have rankings that kind of mean something. Or not. I mean who knows. It’s college football. A sport that likes to rewrite the rules all the time is rewriting them like they are on speed. On-brand for this year and this sport.

Alright enough of the rankings (until later). Let’s get to the action from the weekend of college football!

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

Ugh. The Cowboys did not look too sharp against Tulsa. And now Spencer Sanders could be out for a while. And the offensive line couldn’t really block for Chuba Hubbard. Overall a shitshow on offense which makes me wonder why I picked the Pokes to go to the Big XII Championship in the first place. I hope you didn’t use my post to bet on that. I always tell you not to.
If you missed the Citadel-Clemson game, don’t worry. I can recap it for you. Clemson went up 49-0 just before halftime. And that ended up being the final score. I am sure gamblers everywhere were livid at that happening. Dabo even offered to go to the running clock and The Citadel said no. And on top of that, I found out that the running clock isn’t an option. You can shorten the amount of time in a quarter but you cannot go to a running clock in college football. You learn something new every weekend in college football (or something like that).
The U is…back? Maybe Manny Diaz’s biggest victory so far as they looked awesome against Louisville. I am sure many will be jumping on to the D’Eriq King bandwagon now and rightfully so. He looked like money and could be the difference maker that the Canes have needed for years now to get over the hump. As for the Cardinals, I wouldn’t worry. They are ahead of their gameplan under Scott Satterfield so expect them to still have a winning record this season.
College Gameday was in Louisville this past weekend. And where are they going this coming weekend? Miami, who played Louisville this past Saturday and will host Florida State this weekend. I get it: it’s to ease up the travel for Kirk Herbstreit to get from the Gameday set to the ABC primetime game location (or wherever he ends up calling a game on Saturdays). Saying that, I still think they should go places they have never gone before. With no fans, who cares if Herbie is actually there? Let him join via satellite when he needs to. So saying this, I think Week 5’s College Gameday should emanate from Cincinnati for the first time to see the Bearcats host USF.
Notre Dame is a good ACC team. I’m not kidding! Savour this as this may be the only year we can ever say that.
A week after Louisiana helped the Sun Belt to their best week ever with their upset of Iowa State, they struggled mightily with fellow conference member, Georgia State. The Panthers kept things very close and the Ragin’ Cajuns had to pull out all the stops to win in overtime. Man, the Sun Belt is going to be a surprisingly fun conference to watch this season.
I regretted it last year for a bit and I may do so again this season. UCF looked mighty good in their win over Georgia Tech and their ~~option offense~~ normal pro-style offense. I know it’s just Georgia Tech so I have to temper things a bit. Saying that, I am already regretting my choice of Appalachian State as the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six. UCF could prove me wrong once again and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
Oh Dino Babers. Syracuse really has not looked good so far this season. Two seasons ago, it looked like Babers was really building something in Syracuse. Instead, that season is looking like an anomaly that was all caused by the presence of Eric Dungey. An 0-2 start to the 2020 season is putting Dino on a serious hot seat. If things doesn’t improve, Babers will not get another season to attempt to rectify the issues surrounding the program.
UTSA is 2-0! Another thing we may never say again (no offense Roadrunner fans). So embrace it.
Look, do you want to know how small the schedule still is? Texas State and ULM got to play on ESPNU…on Saturday afternoon. Yeah.
How about what went down in the bayou? Navy was down 24-0 to Tulane with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. I was starting to think I was so wrong about this team and that the lack of practices really hurt the Midshipmen. Instead, they scored the final 27 points of the game to complete the biggest comeback in Navy history (in football). So we cannot count them out when it comes to the American race. Also, Army-Navy looks like it could be something seriously special this season, despite the fact it will share the schedule for the first time in a long time.
Marshall beat Appalachian State. Doesn’t feel like an upset despite my thoughts about App State. Doc Halladay continues to do wonders in Huntington with this program. Maybe, just maybe, the Thundering Herd have to be considered a dark horse contender for the NY6. If the Mountain West decides not to have a Fall season (and that is still up in the air), the Group of Five race could be very wide open.
Southern Miss has had a ROUGH start to their season. They looked hapless in their opener against South Alabama and Jay Hopson ended up resigning before he was fired. But things looked up on Saturday as the Golden Eagles were taking it to Louisiana Tech for most of the game. Then LaTech starts their comeback from down 17 and a spectacular catch by Griffin Hebert on fourth-and-goal with only 14 seconds left that had to be reviewed and overturned sunk Southern Miss. This could be a tough time in Hattiesburg this season.

So really it did end up being a fun day of college football despite having much fewer games to watch. I am sure my remote control was happy…more like happier. As for my Top 25, I won’t do one yet. I don’t think it’s fair to rank teams when the season is in flux like it has been and will be for at least another month. Once the Big Ten is about to begin their season I will do my first set of rankings. Otherwise there will be way too much movement and teams will move down the rankings for having the audacity to watch the Big Ten (and perhaps other conferences) just decide to play football. How dare they!

I will go back to the regular schedule this week. College football schedule Thursday. NFL schedule Friday. Have a good week everyone.

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

Posted on September 16, 2020 by guelphbossman

That’s what this is: a god damned dumpster fire.

Alright I am going to leave the Big Ten stuff to the end as I don’t want this to go off the rails so early. First up will be the HOT SEAT REPORT! My most accurate predictions of all. This year, though I have no clue. Let’s get right to it and as it is every year, this is ordered from most likely to be fired to least likely (NOW with Big Ten coaches!). Let us begin:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

Dana Dimel (UTEP) – Things are looking terrible for UTEP football right now. All the rest of the teams seem to be leaving the Miners in their dust except for Old Dominion but that’s because they aren’t playing this Fall. And with most teams having smaller non-conference schedules, this doesn’t look like UTEP’s time to improve. Needed to keep his job – UTEP to be competitive in most of their conference games. Prediction – Will be gone before the end of the season as UTEP will struggle to get more than two wins.
Derek Mason (Vanderbilt) – Vanderbilt has been an SEC also-ran for most of their time in the conference other than the James Franklin years. Unfortunately, Mason hasn’t improved things in Nashville in his stint here. It is tough because he’s a great coach and a great interview but you have to wonder if he is just better as a defensive coordinator somewhere, especially at the Power Five level. Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility at the very least. Prediction – He will be gone with either one or two games to go and will become a defensive coordinator somewhere at a lower level in the next year or two.
Will Muschamp (South Carolina) – At the time, the hiring of Muschamp looked like a good one even though he had been fairly mediocre at Florida. But he hasn’t been able to make a dent in the SEC and is 2-13 against ranked teams, something that will keep him near the bottom of the division. Needed to keep his job – Play meaningful football in late November and beat a ranked team or two. Prediction – He will probably be fired with one or two games left but be the lame duck coach and finish out the string.

Probable Shitcanning

Philip Montgomery (Tulsa) – Tulsa has struggled for most of Montgomery’s reign here except for one great season. He was a can’t miss coaching prospect who so far has missed badly. I think the Golden Hurricane is going to be worse this season so it may signal the end for him in Oklahoma (the state, not the school). Needed to keep his job – Battling for .500 late in the season. Prediction – One win and a coaching search to start shortly after the season ends.
Lovie Smith (Illinois) – Being successful this past season may have actually been the worst thing for Lovie’s coaching future in Champaign. Now the expectations will be higher and with Northwestern improving, I can’t see the Illini going bowling once they get back to playing in October. Needed to keep his job – To be in contention for bowl-eligibility late into the season. Prediction – I think they end up winning three or four games but won’t be enough to go bowling and will probably cost him his job but who knows with Illinois.

Possible Shitcanning

Manny Diaz (Miami) – Let’s just say the Manny Diaz era did not get off to a great start after he left Temple (after a few weeks) for his dream job. But things are looking up with transfer quarterback D’Eriq King under centre (well, in the shotgun because no one goes under centre these days). His status will fully depend on the improvement the Canes show on the field. Needed to keep his job – At least 7 wins but preferably at least 8 and looking at a possible conference championship berth. Prediction – I see The U at the 8-win mark so that should placate the fans in south Florida.
Scott Frost (Nebraska) – Look, I drank the Nebraska Koolaid last year. I admit it. But the bloom is off the rose now in Lincoln and anything short of at least .500 and a bowl game could spell the end for the guy that was supposed to lead the Huskers back to prominence. Needed to keep his job – .500 record. Prediction – I see them being around that mark so he might not be fired but it will be a huge discussion in the off-season about his future.
Steve Campbell (South Alabama) – It was looking like the Jaguars were going to have a 2-0 start and it probably would have kept Campbell off this list. But their collapse against Tulane makes it so his job is at least in some jeopardy. With the opening of their brand-new stadium, I am sure the brass were hoping for a team that could maybe even contend in the Sun Belt West. With Louisiana in the division that won’t happen but maybe a bowl game for them? The other thing is, if they let Campbell go, who would be up to replace him? Not like this is a sought-after job. Needed to keep his job – For USA to win close to five games. Prediction – I have the Jaguars winning four games so at the very least, Campbell is looking at a hotter seat for next season.

Doubtful Shitcanning (although it still could happen)

Dino Babers (Syracuse) – Dino needs to get some slack here. There were some injuries last year and a lot of underperforming. Saying that, with only one great season under his belt, this season will have to at least look like an improvement over last year or he may be jettisoned. Needed to keep his job – Battling for bowl eligibility late in the season. Prediction – I have the Orange winning 4 so they need an upset to go bowling, if not two. No bowl game means Babers will have at least a molten lava hot seat going into next season.
Matt Viator (ULM) – Things were looking good in Monroe. Then the Ragin’ Cajuns down in Lafayette burned some rubber and left them in their dust. Now they will be battling South Alabama and Texas State to stay out of the bottom of the Sun Belt West division. Needed to keep his job – Honestly? Just don’t finish last in the division. Prediction – Ummmm….well….I do have them finishing last so this could get interesting.
Tom Herman (Texas) – Herman hasn’t exactly set the Big XII on fire in Austin. The fans at UT want to be in the Big XII Championship (OK they want to win the Big XII but baby steps). Not getting there this year would put Herman on a bit of a hot seat going into 2021. Needed to keep his job – Like keep his job for sure and maybe get an extension? A trip to the Big XII Championship game. Prediction – Losing to Oklahoma State to be left out of the title game and a lot of grumblings in Longhorn land.

Yes a much shorter list. Blame COVID.

Now I will post my (shorter) Heisman ballot. This is usually less accurate but at least I am on par with many so-called experts since many frosh and sophomores are in contention and it’s tough to figure them out compared to the juniors and seniors. Alright here we go:

My Usually Awful Heisman Ballot

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson – Alright I had Lawrence winning it last year and he came up well short. This year he is one of the favourites to win it so I am picking him yet again. Maybe this time he won’t let me down…and the team. Most importantly the team. And the fanbase. But me too.
Justin Fields, Ohio State – I feel a bit hesitant to put Fields this high. This time it is because the Big Ten is starting later and he will have to be in Heisman form from the beginning. I haven’t even done Big Ten predictions yet but I assume Ohio State will be favoured in all their games. So as long as the Buckeyes aren’t upset along the way and Fields has a bad game or two, he should be in the Heisman conversation.
Spencer Rattler, Oklahoma – The streak ended last year. Jalen Hurts had a good season but it wasn’t enough to bag the Sooners their third straight Heisman winner (who was also a transfer quarterback). Rattler is a Lincoln Riley recruit so this is a little different than what we are used to with OU. I still predict Oklahoma to get to the College Football Playoff which probably will mean Rattler will have had a great season so that puts him here.
D’Eriq King, Miami – This is the big transfer of the off-season and he could be the guy that saves Manny Diaz his job (and may get him an extension). It was a bit of a shock that he first decided to redshirt at Houston and then transfer to Miami but here we are. I think the Canes are going to be in New Year’s Six contention all season so the dual threat King will be a big part of that.
Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State – Hubbard for some reason came back for his senior year. What it does is sets Hubbard up to become the next big running back to come out of Oklahoma State after Barry Sanders. It also could make him the first Canadian to win the Heisman. That would be cool. He will actually need to run for more yards than he did last year so it may be difficult but if he does it, he will be at least the best running back in college football and a surefire first round pick in the 2021 draft.
Ian Book, Notre Dame – I know people will be upset at this. Slow your roll and check your Notre Dame hate at the door. The Irish are in a conference for the first time ever and are a contender to make their first-ever conference championship. And if that does come to fruition, Book will be the biggest reason why. And he could be a hero in South Bend forever if they somehow get to the College Football Playoff and don’t count them out of that.
Sam Ehlinger, Texas – For the second straight year, Ehlinger might be the second best quarterback in the Big XII. Now if he somehow gets the Longhorns to the conference championship then he might rocket up this list.
Bo Nix, Auburn – The son of former Auburn star Patrick Nix plays in the toughest division in college football. And if the Tigers have any thoughts of going to the New Year’s Six (if not the CFP), it will have to ride on his strong arm. With a lot of new quarterbacks in the SEC, he could end up getting the lion’s share of the attention at the position which could be good for him to move up this list.

Honourable Mention

Travis Etienne, Clemson
Spencer Sanders, Oklahoma State
Myles Brennan, LSU
Zamir White, Georgia
Najee Harris, Alabama
Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
Sam Howell, North Carolina

OK now we get to the Big Ten insanity. Remember when they decided they weren’t going to have a Fall season and there was a huge uproar because three of the five Power Five conferences decided to plow ahead with a season anyway? Pepperidge Farms (and all of us) remembers. Now the Big Ten has decided to reverse course. They plan on having a nine-week conference season. It will start on October 24th and go through to December 19th when the Big Ten Championship will occur. But that’s not all! They will also have a kind of East vs. West challenge that week where the 2nd place team from the East faces the 2nd place team from the West, 3rd place against 3rd place, etc. all the way down to the last place teams in both divisions. Just crazy. This conference is a shitshow. But money and FOMO ruled the day with the announcement. Now the Pac-12 is the only P5 conference sitting out and that will be, unfortunately, horrible for the conference going into 2021. College football, everybody!

Alright a slight change for this week’s posts. I will be posting the NFL schedule on Thursday and the college sked on Friday since there are no college games on Thursday night. I will do that for any other weeks this happens but as of this point, I can only see it happening maybe once more. Anyway, hope you have had a great hump day!

Bossman's Blog

A lot of college football (and perhaps a bit of miscellaneous crap that I think warrants a post)

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