This kind of thing bugs me (and the Week 10 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on October 31, 2023 by guelphbossman

Deion Sanders did it this past weekend. So did Pat Narduzzi. And other coaches have done it in the past.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about calling our your players during a press conference and basically running them down in front of the entire college football world. I honestly don’t get the point of it.

Let me start by being VERY clear here: I am not saying players don’t need the proverbial boot up their ass every so often. It’s part of coaching. As long as it’s not abusive, it will probably help in a player’s overall development. Players need to hear what they are doing wrong or otherwise how can they not do that thing wrong again? It’s the same with management in the rest of the working world (I won’t get into the fact that I estimate a good 70% or so of managers don’t know how to manage and that management is a skill because this blog post would end up taking you three hours to read). You have to help your team get better. It makes everything a bit easier, a bit better, and reflects well on the manager.

Saying all that, telling a ton of people that a player or group of players suck(s) is not the way to go about it. I get that coaches can be frustrated but doing that just makes you a bad manager/coach/mentor/teacher/trainer, etc. You do that in private.

Worst part of all this, in Sanders’ case, is Deion’s son is the quarterback and he verbally lambasted the offensive line in that press conference. Look, I agree: their offensive line is not good at all and Shedeur is getting his ass handed to him back there. So will these players step up and do a whole lot better or will they get pissed off and maybe allow a defensive lineman or two by a little bit easier? It’s not Shedeur’s fault but he may end up taking the brunt of this. Is it right to do this? No, but you never know how people are going to act when the coach tells everyone you suck and he has no faith in you.

As for Narduzzi’s, this may be worse. Unlike Deion, Narduzzi recruited all these players. They’re essentially his choices to play at Pitt. So if they don’t do well or don’t develop, he has to take at least a part of the blame as head coach and recruiter. So to throw them under the bus (or at least appear to) looks very poorly on him. And the players are obviously upset. Again, this really isn’t the way to push a player to do better. It may work but it would almost be out of spite rather than from Narduzzi’s choice words.

OK we are still in the midst of football EVERY DAMN DAY! So we must rejoice, no matter the quality of the games. Hey, Conference USA had a few good ones in October and now MACtion and the Fun Belt take over in the final regular season month of the college football season. Let’s get to that schedule which includes more weekday fun!

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan	7:00
Buffalo at Toledo	7:30

Ah, it’s that time of year. MACtion on a Halloween night. By the time the games start, most of the kids are finished trick-or-treating so we can sit down and watch all four of these teams play, probably in relatively frigid temperatures, all for our enjoyment. God bless college football.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Ball State at Bowling Green	7:00
Kent State at Akron	7:00

OK not nearly as good a MACtion night as the previous one but Bowling Green is way better than they probably had any right to be so far this season so there’s that.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Wake Forest at Duke	7:30
South Alabama at Troy	7:30
Mississippi Valley State at Bethune-Cookman	7:30

I figured the USA-Troy game would be for the Sun Belt West title but both teams have stumbled a bit. Now, the loser is pretty much out and has no shot at a conference championship game appearance.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Dartmouth	7:00
Boston College at Syracuse	7:30
Colorado State at Wyoming	8:00

Have you noticed there are never ranked teams playing on weeknights? It’s like the schedule makers understood the assignment. “Give them football but not great football teams.” Anyway, the hilariously awful bottom half of the ACC continues their march to…can’t even say mediocrity for this one. Loser will have it rough to become bowl eligible the rest of the way.

Saturday Early

Quite a few decent games here. I figured Notre Dame-Clemson was going to be a much bigger game but Dabo decided he’s allergic to NIL. KSU-UT could decide one of the teams going to the Big XII Championship. And…if you had said Jacksonville State would be the favoured Cocks in this matchup I would have thought you were on serious drugs. Not the unserious ones.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Georgia Tech at Virginia	2:00
Arizona State at #18 Utah	2:00
Army vs. #17 Air Force (in Denver)	2:30
#10 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State	3:30
Virginia Tech at #15 Louisville	3:30
Illinois at Minnesota	3:30
#14 Missouri at #1 Georgia	3:30
#4 Florida State at Pittsburgh	3:30
#23 James Madison at Georgia State	3:30
#21 Tulane at East Carolina	3:30
#9 Penn State at Maryland	3:30
Auburn at Vanderbilt	4:00
California at #6 Oregon	5:30

OK things start to pick up here. One big game against two ranked teams where Mizzou could shock the entire college football world. Plus another NINE games involving ranked teams. It’s rare to see that many ranked teams in one timeslot. Realistically, all the ranked teams should worry at least a bit as you never know when the underdog can rise up and bite you in the ass. Except for Tulane. I have a feeling they will do just fine with East Carolina.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Louisiana Tech at Liberty	6:00
Marshall at Appalachian State	6:00
#22 Kansas at Iowa State	7:00
#5 Washington at #24 USC	7:30
SMU at Rice	7:30
Purdue at #2 Michigan	7:30
Kentucky at Mississippi State	7:30
#13 LSU at #8 Alabama	7:45
Miami at NC State	8:00

Ah, the annual SEC on CBS primetime matchup between LSU and Alabama. A tradition unlike any other. Well, that tradition comes to an end on this night. Other than possible Ole Miss shenanigans, this game should determine the SEC West champion. The Huskies’ game against the Trojans looked much bigger a few weeks ago but USC has struggled mightily on defense and really should move on from Alex Grinch if they are to have any chance at becoming a true contender. Finally, it will be interested to see what happens if Liberty ends up the only undefeated Group of Five team. At this point, their schedule is so weak that they wouldn’t be able to pass most of the one-loss teams if that was the case. But there is a month left so you never really know what could happen.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Stanford at Washington State	9:00
Boise State at Fresno State	10:00
#16 Oregon State at Colorado	10:00

Big Mountain West game. Even with Boise starting the season off pretty badly, they still have a very good shot at getting back to the Mountain West Championship game. The Broncos will need a win down in the valley in Fresno to keep their hopes alive. The Bulldogs held on for a big win last week over UNLV and are sitting second behind Air Force for that other conference championship spot. Stakes are high.

Hey, Watch This

LSU at Alabama (7:45, CBS) – Don’t mind the bizarre start time. It may be something they are trying out for the future since even the slightest edge can help in the ratings war. This is CBS’s only primetime pick of the season and yet again, it’s the Tigers and the Tide. Unless Ole Miss makes a run, this is for the SEC West crown. LSU is going to be trying their damndest to be the first ever two-loss College Football Playoff team but they need a lot of help. First off, they need to take care of business in one of the toughest stadiums to play in as a visitor against one of the toughest coaches to ever play against. Easy, right?

Missouri at Georgia (3:30, CBS) – Both ends of the SEC on CBS doubleheader are the top two games of the week. Just like they drew it up. Mizzou has played way above their heads all season. Not saying they have talent. They do but Eli Drinkwitz has, I don’t know, finally figured things out and is doing the best coaching of his career. And if the Tigers win here, boy oh boy, there is going to be a lot of talk about this in the college football media and you probably won’t hear of anything else.

Kansas State at Texas (Noon, FOX) – This and the next game could be swapped and no one would bat an eye. This feels like a Big XII semi-final as neither team probably has a shot at going to JerryWorld if they lose here. I am sure GUS JOHNSON and Joel Klatt are praying for a close game here. They switched to the 3:30 game last week and, lo and behold, the Big Noon Kickoff game ended up being a classic. Poor guys. There’s only so much excitement you can infuse into a blowout, you know? Unless you’re Joe Tessitore and everything is exciting.

Washington at USC (7:30, ABC/TSN+) – Washington is still undefeated. It feels like they are trying not to be but they have pulled out some close ones against *checks notes* Arizona State and Stanford. OK then. Look, if the Huskies don’t put at least 40 on the board here, they should consider it a loss. USC’s defense is atrocious. Their offense, on the other hand…they can put up points in bunches so U-Dub better watch out and not fall too far behind early in this one at the Coliseum.

Sickos Game of the Week

Iowa vs. Northwestern (at Wrigley Field) (3:30, Peacock) – Look, I know. I am breaking my own rules here. We can’t this game (legally) up here. But the over/under is 29.5. TWENTY-NINE-AND-A-HALF. That is so fucking absurd. And yes, I would still consider betting the under. This feels like a game straight out of 1912. Maybe it’s a good thing we can’t see it.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

UConn at Tennessee (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – I think we have to consider that last season’s UConn Huskies football squad’s performance may have been a fluke. This team is not good again. Not as bad as the years before 2022. But still bad. Plus, the Vols need the warmup for when they head to CoMo the following Saturday.

Wanna Bet?

How about my two upset picks last week? Yeah, they were shit. As were my Oklahoma, Clemson and Oregon State picks. Yeesh. Let’s just get on to the new week and see if I can somehow do better.

Tennessee 56 UConn 6

South Carolina 31 Jacksonville State 17

Texas 34 Kansas State 28

Virginia 41 Georgia Tech 23

Utah 31 Arizona State 14

Florida State 43 Pittsburgh 20

Minnesota 23 Illinois 13

Georgia 30 Missouri 24

Auburn 26 Vanderbilt 19

Appalachian State 48 Marshall 21

USC 56 Washington 46 (small upset)

Alabama 42 LSU 37

Oregon State 34 Colorado 16

As is the usual, I will be on X/Twitter/Elon Musk’s money-losing venture this Saturday. I always hope to be able to interact with other college football fans because that is part of the fun of all this. It’s one thing to watch the games: bantering with others while doing it makes it more enjoyable. As long as no one acts like a complete asshat. Then it brings everyone down. That’s why I stick with college football Twitter (which is honestly OK to pretty good) compared to, say, NFL Twitter, which can be rough. Or political Twitter which is a fucking cesspool. Anyway, many hours of college football coming up for all of us. Enjoy the games everyone!

The G-5. It’s like that big vat of McDonald’s orange drink…

Posted on July 23, 2023 by guelphbossman

Many of the better teams have gone on to greener pastures. They have been replaced (kind of) by weaker teams from FCS. So yeah, they keep watering down the Group of Five. How far can they water it down? Groundskeeper Willie thinks we need to stop. I sort of agree with the angry Scot.

As you already know, Houston, UCF and Cincinnati left the American Conference for the Big(ger) XII. BYU joined them from the Independent ranks but the Cougs were always a weird hybrid since leaving the Mountain West. Not quite Power Five but better than Group of Five. Either way, they moved up as well.

Coming up from FCS is Sam Houston (not the wrestler) and Jacksonville State (two Gamecocks? What is this, the CFL?). Kennesaw State joins next season. All three teams will be in Conference USA. Yeah, the teams coming in don’t exactly measure up to the teams leaving.

What this does, though, is open the door for other teams to ascend to a level where they are almost always competing for the Group of Five crown. Boise State is the only program left who constantly contends for the one G-5 spot in the New Year’s Six. Tulane went last season and looks like a team that should continue that kind of success this season. UTSA, SMU, San Diego State and a few Sun Belt squads also have their eye on that singular prize. Let’s get to the conference standings and see where I believe thing will head this season.

Man, imagine the Big East was back? That conference would be…well, it would be pretty good. Not amazing. But a step above the Group of Five. Anyway…

The cream of the crop among Group of Five conferences is the AAC until further notice. The Mountain West has tried their best but it feels like that competition is over, even if Boise State does win the G-5 title. The Sun Belt is gaining but I can never see them catching the American under the current format. So let’s look at the predictions for the Kings of the G-5 followed by some marinations:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Tulane	8	0	11	1
UTSA	7	1	10	2
Memphis	6	2	8	4
SMU	6	2	8	4
FAU	4	4	6	6
East Carolina	4	4	7	5
Navy	4	4	5	7
North Texas	4	4	7	5
UAB	3	5	4	8
Tulsa	3	5	4	8
USF	3	5	3	9
Rice	2	6	4	8
Temple	2	6	4	8
Charlotte	0	8	1	11

Marinating in American Sauce

Honestly, that sounds disgusting. I am surprised no one has created it…whatever it might end up being.
Look, Tulane is not coming down from their perch. The schedule is, once again, in their favour and other than a huge matchup against South Alabama to start their season and their season-ending matchup with UTSA, the rest of the schedule is more than manageable. Expect the American Championship to go through New Orleans for the second straight year.
No surprise with the Roadrunners of UTSA (I just said that in Greg Gumbel voice) being the team that will end up facing the Green Wave for the conference title. This program is seriously on the rise and could soon enough be called the premiere Group of Five team (until they are poached by the Big XII).
Memphis and SMU will be good once again. But as has been the case, both teams will probably drop at least one game they should win and that is what will ultimately cost them the chance to upset Tulane for the league title.
Some people are very high on Florida Atlantic with their new head coach Tom Herman. I am taking more of a wait and see approach. The same goes for North Texas as they break in a new head coach as well.
I believe Navy will go into the Army-Navy Game needing a win for bowl eligibility. Well, you can tell by their record what I think will happen. I wonder how bowl committees will deal with this. Maybe some bowl gives them the first ever conditional bowl bid? That would actually be kind of exciting. Win and you’re in. Lose and your bid goes to James Madison.
As for the AAC Championship, I see Tulane winning their second game against UTSA in as many weeks to be crowned the AAC champion. I don’t see the Green Wave having an easy time in either game though but they will feel lucky not to be in the Alamodome for either of these games.
Seven projected bowl bids for a conference with fourteen teams. Not exactly great but I think it will take some time for teams like Charlotte and Rice to get acclimated to their new surroundings. Especially since they weren’t that great in the conference they came from.

I am a bit worried that I won’t be ready to do the long Saturday nights that the Mountain West (and Pac-12) give us. Don’t even mention the Hawaii Tests. And this is at a time when I am desperately trying to restrict my caffeine intake. Ugh, this could be very interesting. Maybe I’ll just drink the entire time.

This is the second year of the Mountain West deal with FOX so we won’t see nearly as many MWC games. Yes there will be at least one every week on CBS Sports Network and we get some early-season CBS affairs but with no conference games on any of the ESPN networks, it really hinders our ability as Canadians to watch this conference. Hell, we can probably watch more Conference USA this season.

OK let’s get to this season’s predictions followed by sleep deprived lunacy:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Boise State	8	0	10	2
San Diego State	6	2	8	4
Fresno State	6	2	8	4
Air Force	5	3	9	3
Wyoming	5	3	7	5
San Jose State	4	4	6	6
UNLV	4	4	5	7
Utah State	3	5	4	8
Nevada	3	5	3	9
Colorado State	2	6	3	9
New Mexico	1	7	2	10
Hawaii	1	7	3	10

Juuuuust a tiny bit of Sleep-Deprived Lunacy

You will notice something different with these standings compared to all the others I have predicted in the past. No divisions! About damn time. Divisions are just useless in this day and age. And soon enough, no FBS conference will have divisions. I am certain of that.
Reader John might not be too pleased with this but I think Boise State runs through the conference schedule with relative ease. Not saying teams like SDSU, FSU or Air Force aren’t good. It’s just that the Broncos’ schedule is so favourable you’d have to be crazy to think they don’t have a great shot not just to win the conference, but that one New Year’s Six spot. Really, their September will shape their season. Be at least 3-2 at the end of the month and they will be on their way. Less than that and the conference might just be up for grabs.
In terms of teams just below that top tier, Wyoming should ho-hum their way into another bowl game. I can’t believe Craig Bohl has been in Laramie for almost half of the life of the Mountain West conference it self. SJSU and UNLV will be in a dogfight for a bowl spot and I could honestly see it going either way. But no, I don’t agree with that one voter who thinks the Rebels will win the conference crown. I think that person was obviously coming off a gambling-coke-and-booze fueled bender when they made that choice.
I’ve got the Aztecs winning the tiebreaker with Fresno to get the other MWC Championship spot opposite Boise on the frigid smurf turf. I think the weather is what gives the Broncos the edge in this one as I have them winning the conference championship and then awaiting to see what happens in the rest of the Group of Five.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd we’re back down to four teams. Liberty and New Mexico State fucked off to Conference USA and BYU headed to the Big XII, leaving Notre Dame less little brothers to have to hang around with. The thing is, if you took UMass out of the equation…well, you’ll see. Let’s get right to the short set of predictions followed by some actual team-by-team analysis (which is much easier with just four teams):

	Overall
	W	L
Notre Dame	10	2
Army	6	6
UConn	6	6
UMass	1	11

Actual Team-by-Team Analysis (I wasn’t lying!)

Of course we have to start with the team that doesn’t belong in this entire post, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was tough going through their schedule because I don’t know how much they will improve from last year. But they have Sam Hartman. A bonafide Heisman contender at quarterback for the first time in I don’t know how many years. So my ten win prediction for them doesn’t seem too far off the mark and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were able to get to eleven either and get in the College Football Playoff converstaion.
Hey, remember what I said about Navy earlier? That they would be playing for their bowl-eligibility lives in the Army-Navy game? Well, guess who else I think will be in the same boat. Oh yes. I think this will be, easily, the most important Army-Navy Game in a long time. I now wonder if the provisional bowl selection will be a winner-take-all type of deal. Which would be so damn awesome to see.
Will UConn get back to a bowl game? That seems to be a huge question. And to be honest, I think bowl eligibility is almost the floor for this program. Amazing what can happen when you get the right coach in the right spot. Is Jim Mora Jr. an amazing coach? Not really. But he’s good and he landed in the perfect spot for him and the Huskies. Now they have to avoid what happened in the past even when they were somewhat decent: lose games to teams they should beat. Do that and they should be in the postseason once again.
And finally we get to the Minutemen and yes, they will be awful. Quite possibly the worst FBS team once again. I predict them to win one game. That’s it. And it won’t be against Merrimack. I think they squeak by New Mexico and that’s all. And even then, I could see this team go winless. I’m not as huge an advocate of moving teams back down to FCS as I used to be but I do wonder if UMass just needs to drop down. There’s nothing keeping them up in FBS. No conference affiliation and no possibilities in the near future. It might be time to pull the trigger on this program’s demotion.

The Sun Belt (and MAC) are being joined by Conference USA when it comes to mid-week action this season. I will have to check but we may have football every day for over a month.

Other than that, there are less similarties than ever between the Sun Belt and the MAC or Conference USA. The Fun Belt has set themselves up pretty well as the third best Group of Five conference. They are actually closer in quality to the Mountain West than the MAC which is something that never would have been said even five years ago. Also, they seem to be pretty safe from any realignment unless some doomsday scenario comes about and college football conferences as we know it change forever. And I’m not going to say that won’t happen.

Anyway, for now, let’s get to my predictions for the eighth-best FBS conference followed by some upbeat comments:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Appalachian State	7	1	8	4
James Madison	6	2	8	4
Coastal Carolina	6	2	9	3
Marshall	5	3	7	5
Georgia State	2	6	4	8
Georgia Southern	2	6	5	7
Old Dominion	0	8	1	11
West
South Alabama	7	1	9	3
Troy	7	1	10	2
Southern Miss	5	3	6	6
Louisiana	4	4	7	5
Arkansas State	2	6	4	8
Texas State	2	6	3	9
ULM	1	7	2	10

Upbeat Comments

Well…upbeat for some teams.
The top of each of the divisions continue to be exciting. It’s the one conference that defies my No Divisions preference. In the East, you have four legitimate contenders and you can possibly say the same for the West. Parity rules the day in the Sun Belt once again.
App State, after an odd year that saw some pretty extreme highs and lows, should be back on top of the mountion in the East, barely beating out JMU and Coastal.
South Alabama will finally get their shot at the Sun Belt Championship with what I believe will be a late-season win over Troy.
As for bowl games, officially only seven of the contenders I’ve mentioned would be able to go to a bowl. But, I have a bit of a surprise for Dukes fans once I put out my bowl predictions post.
I still say the Sun Belt champ should get a shot at an SEC team in New Orleans. Imagine how many fans they would get for that?

As I said above, the Sun Belt and Conference USA have a lot of weekday night games now. But it still isn’t MACtion. The originators to us sickos that love more and more and more football. I don’t even care about the attendance issues that these games cause. The MAC is getting their ESPN money and I am getting my football fix. Everyone wins!

Alright, predictions time followed by some points in a Midwestern accent:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Ohio	7	1	8	4
Miami-OH	5	3	7	5
Buffalo	4	4	5	7
Bowling Green	3	5	4	8
Akron	3	5	4	8
Kent State	0	8	1	11
West
Toledo	7	1	9	3
Eastern Michigan	6	2	9	3
Central Michigan	4	4	4	8
Northern Illinois	3	5	5	7
Western Michigan	3	5	3	9
Ball State	3	5	4	8

Points with Pork Chops and Aeeeplesauce

I mean I’m not gonna lie: I like pork chops and applesauce. I just think it’s way more of a staple in a place like Minnesota than here.
Looks like two teams who are used to being near the top should head back to the MAC title game. Not that Toledo and Ohio won’t have their speed bump games in the MAC but I feel they have the best talent to win their respective divisions.
Only two teams that will be with new head coaches this season and both of them are going to struggle. Lance Taylor takes over for Tim Lester at Western Michigan where Lester just couldn’t do what P.J. Fleck did there. Tall order but most were hoping he would be close and he wasn’t. As for Kent State, they lose Sean Lewis to Coach Prime and Colorado. Bring in Kenni Burns. Yes Kenni with an i. And ho boy is it going to be a long season in Kent for Mr. Burns.
I only see four bowl-eligible teams from the MAC. I have done this before and I was wrong. I just can’t see most of these teams doing enough in their non-conference schedule to get them to a bowl game in December.
Ford Field should see another dandy for the MAC Championship. I’ve got Ohio winning a close one over Toledo with the prize being to go back to Ford Field a few weeks later. At least the tie-in there states that they should face a Big Ten team. That’s the way it should be.

Hey remember what I used to say about Conference USA? Well, it has pretty much come to fruition. You would have to be some kind of dumb or not watch college football to know that this is now the bottom of the barrel when it comes to FBS conferences. I warned them. I’m sure others did too. And now they are stuck. Could they end up being not last place? Sure, maybe. But other than WKU and Liberty, what other teams are really pushing things here? That’s what I thought. Luckily they were able to snag a contract with ESPN to show games on weeknights in October. And when I say weeknights I mean all weeknight games. No Saturday conference games that month. I will be happy though because it means there will be college football on like four consecutive Tuesdays. Not a bad thing at all.

Now it’s time for predictions for the new-ish Conference USA followed by some weeknight non-sitcom commentary:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
WKU	7	1	9	3
Middle Tennessee	6	2	8	4
Liberty	6	2	9	3
UTEP	4	4	6	6
New Mexico State	4	4	7	6
Louisiana Tech	2	6	4	8
Sam Houston	2	6	3	9
Jacksonville State	2	6	3	9
FIU	1	7	2	10

Weeknight Non-Sitcom Commentary

Look, with Austin Reed back at QB, he may throw over 5,000 yards. They should win the regular season title pretty easily and it wouldn’t surprise me if they ended up running the table as well.
There are some newcomers! Liberty is that one newcomer, though, that most are saying will win the conference title in their first year in C-USA. I say not so fast my friend. I don’t even see them getting to the conference title game. The Flames will most likely lose a game they should win and it will cost them that spot.
Yes, I have NMSU making a bowl game again! Jerry Kill has really turned things around in Las Cruces and with this new conference I see them already in the middle if not near the top.
On the other hand, Jacksonville State and Sam Houston make their FBS debut this season and it won’t be a kind one. They will struggle and need some time to find their way. Down the road, though, at least one of these programs will turn into one of the conference’s best, if not both of them. But at least they won’t be as bad as…
FIU. Yeesh. Mike MacIntyre will be pulling his hair out by the time this season is over.
So yeah, it’s Middle Tennessee against WKU and I don’t see it being that close but you never know. The Hilltoppers should win going away. Do you think these two teams are regretting not heading to the MAC?

We have completed the journey! Well…half of it. Next up is the Power Five conferences. Then, finally, a nice little bow to tie this whole thing together. Have a great week everyone!

Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

Posted on June 29, 2023 by guelphbossman

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

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

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

Sneaky-Good/Underrated Games

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

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

Best Group of Five Games

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

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

Best Group of Five vs. Power Five Games

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

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

Worst Power Five Games

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

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

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

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

SUPER MEGA HYPER OMNI POST! Version 6.0.0

Posted on November 21, 2022 by guelphbossman

I have sent out the warning before so if you know about it you can skip to the next section. But if you are new to this, here it is: this post is insanely long. Don’t read this on the toilet since I am sure you could get hemorrhoids for being on the can that long. Hell, don’t even take it into the bath with you. I don’t think your skin can wrinkle that much. You have been forewarned. So get your favourite drink, sit down and enjoy this absolute avalanche of information.

This is the sixth version of this stupidly long post; however, it’s only the second with the same format as last year’s. Longer and uncut. No recaps since I don’t do those anymore but my Top 25, bowl projections, conference championship scenarios and some other crazy crap that you may or may not have even wanted to look at. Let’s get the ball rolling with the Bossman Top 25.

#1	Georgia
#2	Ohio State
#3	TCU
#4	USC
#5	Michigan
#6	LSU
#7	Oregon
#8	Clemson
#9	Alabama
#10	Penn State
#11	Tennessee
#12	Washington
#13	Utah
#14	Kansas State
#15	Notre Dame
#16	Florida State
#17	Tulane
#18	UCLA
#19	North Carolina
#20	Oregon State
#21	Cincinnati
#22	Ole Miss
#23	Texas
#24	Coastal Carolina
#25	UCF

So nothing really happened near the top although I have adjusted my rankings a bit. I have USC in now and Michigan out. I still think Michigan’s schedule has been mostly shit this season. That will all change if they beat tOSU so really, this doesn’t matter. I think USC has put themselves in the driver’s seat to get one of the Top 4 spots. Beat Notre Dame and win the Pac-12 Championship and they are golden…I think. The Group of Five will go through the American Conference although UCF’s loss to Navy has opened the door for a trio of Sun Belt teams (Coastal Carolina, Troy and South Alabama) to still have a sliver of hope although a lot has to happen for them to even have a legitimate shot. Finally, I think the Big XII will have the lowest ranked team in the New Year’s Six because I can’t see Kansas State beating TCU for the Big XII title.

Alright so far so good. I think. I hope. Let’s get on with the second part of this massive post, the conference championship game scenarios.

Toledo has clinched the MAC West already. In the MAC East, Ohio can clinch tomorrow night with a win over Bowling Green. Now, with Buffalo’s game against Akron getting postponed and probably cancelled outright, I don’t know what happens if Ohio loses and then the Bulls beat Kent State. The Bulls would have played one less conference game and would win the division if they had been allowed to play Akron and then won. An odd scenario that may become moot if the Bobcats win.

UTSA has clinched a spot in the conference title game and will host (I had wondered if the game would be moved permanently to the Alamodome but that won’t happen now that UTSA heads to the AAC next season).

North Texas is in the driver’s seat for the other spot (remember there are no divisions in Conference USA this season thank fucking God). If the Mean Green beat Rice they are off to San Antonio. Lose then that opens the door for WKU. If they can beat FAU they will play the Roadrunners.

Coastal Carolina is already in the championship game. It’s going to be close but I have a feeling the Chants will host the game as well. The host is the highest ranked team in the CFP Poll.

Troy beat South Alabama earlier this season so if they beat Arkansas State they will win the Sun Belt West. A loss and a USA win and it’s the Jaguars who will win. Both teams are looking for their first division title.

Boise State and Fresno State punched their tickets to the conference championship game with wins this weekend.

UCF had a chance to claim one of the conference title game spots but lost against Navy. They are still in with a win in the War on I-4 against USF. If they lose then the loser of the Tulane-Cincinnati game will play…the winner of the Tulane-Cincinnati game in the championship.

This was looking like a complete shitshow going into the previous week. Things have really been clarified after the results on Saturday.

USC is already in thanks to their amazing win over UCLA in one of the best Pac-12 games in recent memory (that actually meant something). Oregon eliminated Utah by beating them two nights ago. They are in the driver’s seat for the other spot. Washington still has a chance. They must win the Apple Cup and hope Oregon loses the Civil War to go to Santa Clara.

It feels like TCU clinched about a month ago. Kansas State sits in second and just has to beat Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown to make it to JerryWorld. Most years that would be a foregone conclusion but not so this season. If the Wildcats lose, Texas can get there if they beat Baylor on the final weekend.

Clemson vs. North Carolina has been booked for a couple weeks now.

We know what it comes down to. The Game. Ohio State-Michigan. Winner is in, loser has to await their fate for the College Football Playoff. In the West, Iowa, with their horrible offense, is somehow in the lead and has the easiest path to the Big Ten Championship. Beat Nebraska on Black Friday and none of the other games matter in the Big Ten West. If they lose, it opens up a few possibilities. Purdue can win it by then beating Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket. If they also lose, well then God help us all. Illinois should handle Northwestern. Wisconsin and Minnesota play each other. It would give us a four-way tie between Purdue, Iowa, Illinois and the Minny/Wisky winner. Here’s how all this would look in terms of the head-to-head tiebreaker:

Iowa lost to Illinois but beat Purdue, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Purdue beat Minnesota and Illinois and lost to Wisconsin and Iowa.
Illinois beat Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin but lost to Purdue.
Minnesota lost to Purdue, Illinois and Iowa and still have to face Wisconsin.
Wisconsin still has to play Minnesota. They lost to Illinois and Iowa, but beat Purdue.

So, after all that, if there was a four-way tie and Minnesota beat Wisconsin, then Iowa, Purdue and Illinois would all be 2-1 in the head-to-head standings. Then comes divisional records where Iowa and Illinois would be tied at 4-1. The next tiebreaker is record against progressively worse teams in the division. Iowa and Illinois both beat Wisconsin and Nebraska and Northwestern. So now we go to common conference opponents. Meaning the divisional record plus any games they both played against the same teams in the East. The only team both faced was Michigan and both teams lost. This is getting insane. Next up is the cumulative conference record of their non-conference opponents and here is where it’s not really that close. Illinois’ East Division opponents have gone 13-11 in the conference going into the final week. Iowa’s opponents from the East have gone 17-7. So Iowa would get in.

If Wisconsin beats Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois would be tied at 2-1 with Purdue and Wisconsin at 1-2 in head-to-head matchups. I am not going through all the tiebreakers again but Iowa beats Illinois.

So if we get the four-way tie, no matter what, Iowa will go to face the East Division winner. Man, I hope I have that all right.

Well this will be a lot easier than the Big Ten scenarios. Georgia and LSU have already clinched their divisions and will face off in Atlanta. See? Much easier.

I’m already tired. But I will soldier on. Time for the updated bowl projections.

Fiesta Bowl	CFP #2 vs. CFP #3	Ohio State vs. TCU
Peach Bowl	CFP #1 vs. CFP #4	Georgia vs. Michigan

From my previous bowl projections two weeks ago, the Fiesta Bowl has not changed one bit. As for the Peach Bowl, Georgia is still #1. Now I have Michigan in instead of UCLA. UCLA not being in is an easy choice after they lost to USC. I see Michigan losing a close one to Ohio State. That is the first step. I also see LSU and USC losing their conference championship games. Finally, even though I think Clemson beats North Carolina in a relatively close ACC Championship, they don’t have the strength of schedule anymore to leapfrog Michigan for the #4 spot. Many will bitch and complain, much like they have when two SEC teams got in but I think this has a really good shot at happening.

Now on to the New Year’s Six which has got quite interesting over the past couple weeks.

Rose Bowl	Big Ten #1 vs. Pac-12 #1	Penn State vs. Oregon
Cotton Bowl	CFP At-large vs. G-5 #1	USC vs. UCF
Sugar Bowl	SEC #1 vs. Big XII #1	Alabama vs. Kansas State
Orange Bowl	ACC #1 vs. Big Ten/Notre Dame/SEC	Clemson vs. LSU

OK so a lot more changed here than in the CFP projections. Here we go:

Normally the Big Ten champ would go to the Rose Bowl. With Ohio State and Michigan both in the CFP, the next best team out of the Big Ten would get this spot and that would be Penn State since it’s a long drop to whoever would be next.
I believe Oregon beats USC in the Pac-12 Championship. This boots the Pac-12 out of the CFP and puts the Ducks in the Rose against the Nittany Lions.
USC’s loss won’t drop them far and they should nab the only true at-large spot to go to the Cotton Bowl.
The Trojans opponent will be UCF as I think they win their final regular season game and then the AAC Championship.
Clemson’s victory over North Carolina gives them the ACC’s Orange Bowl spot.
It’s a big drop from TCU to the next team and that won’t change from my last set of bowl projections until bowl selection day. I have Kansas State there and I think they will be juuuuuuust in the Top 20, making them the lowest ranked team in the NY6.
Alabama will get the Sugar Bowl spot because Georgia is in the CFP. It could go to LSU, which would put Bama in the Orange. Honestly, they are fairly interchangeable.

Quite a bit of change there that would leave Tennessee, Washington, Utah and Florida State outside looking in. Very few would argue for those teams to get in so at least it would be, well, less controversy than normal since there’s always an argument (and if there isn’t, ESPN will find one). Alright now on to the rest of the bowl projections.

Citrus Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Ole Miss vs. Purdue
ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	South Carolina vs. Iowa
Music City Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Tennessee vs. Illinois
Gator Bowl	SEC vs. ACC	Arkansas vs. North Carolina
Arizona Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	San Jose State vs. Toledo
Sun Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	NC State vs. Oregon State
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	SEC vs. Big Ten	Florida vs. Wisconsin
Alamo Bowl	Big XII vs. Pac-12	Texas vs. Washington
Cheez-It Bowl	Big XII vs. ACC	Oklahoma State vs. Florida State
Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten vs. ACC	Maryland vs. Notre Dame
Texas Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Mississippi State vs. Baylor
Holiday Bowl	ACC vs. Pac-12	Louisville vs. UCLA
Liberty Bowl	SEC vs. Big XII	Miami* vs. Oklahoma
Military Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati
Guaranteed Rate Bowl	Big Ten vs. Big XII	Minnesota vs. Kansas
Birmingham Bowl	SEC vs. AAC/ACC/C-USA	Liberty* vs. Duke
First Responder Bowl	2 of AAC, Big XII, C-USA, Sun Belt, MWC	Texas Tech vs. Memphis
Camellia Bowl	Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA	South Alabama vs. UTSA
Quick Lane Bowl	Big Ten vs. MAC	UConn* vs. Eastern Michigan
Hawaii Bowl	BYU/AAC/C-USA vs. MWC	BYU vs. Wyoming
Independence Bowl	AAC vs. Army	Tulane vs. Army
Gasparilla Bowl	2 of AAC, ACC, SEC, Pac-12	Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina
Armed Forces Bowl	2 of Big XII, C-USA, AAC	SMU vs. Middle Tennessee
New Orleans Bowl	Sun Belt vs. C-USA	Troy vs. WKU
Boca Raton Bowl	2 of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Marshall vs. Bowling Green
Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC vs. MAC	San Diego State vs. Ohio
Myrtle Beach Bowl	2 of AAC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Appalachian State vs. Miami-OH
Frisco Bowl	2 of AAC, MWC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Fresno State vs. Southern Miss
Las Vegas Bowl	SEC vs. Pac-12	Kentucky vs. Washington State
LendingTree Bowl	Sun Belt vs. MAC/C-USA	Coastal Carolina vs. UTEP
LA Bowl	Pac-12 vs. MWC	Utah vs. Boise State
New Mexico Bowl	MWC vs. AAC/C-USA/MAC	Utah State vs. UAB
Fenway Bowl	ACC vs. AAC	Syracuse vs. Houston
Cure Bowl	2 of AAC, MWC, Sun Belt, C-USA, MAC	Air Force vs. Louisiana
Bahamas Bowl	C-USA vs. MAC	Florida Atlantic vs. Buffalo

There are just enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the bowl spots; however, the SEC and Big Ten will fall short of fulfilling all their tie-ins. This has to do with more teams in the CFP and NY6 than other conferences. Miami, Liberty and UConn will fill in there (as noted by an asterisk). The ACC actually has more bowl-eligible teams than tie-ins so Miami gets slotted into the Liberty Bowl to face Oklahoma in a game straight out of the 80s. Liberty and UConn technically have to wait until all other bowl-eligible teams get their spots before they can find out where they go. With exactly two bowl games not having two teams, they go there (Liberty to the Birmingham and UConn to the Quick Lane). Finally, despite the fact North Texas won six games, in my scenario they lose the Conference USA Championship and fall to 6-7. If there weren’t enough teams available they would get a waiver to compete. Unfortunately for them there are no spots available to them so they will be home for the holidays.

Hey let’s continue! Time to look at various postseason scenarios. I will not use the AP Poll for some of these. I will use where I think teams will end up going into bowl season (my end-of-season rankings) for the first two.

12-Team College Football Playoff

This is the playoff format that’s coming soon. And if that pesky Rose Bowl can fall in line, it could be as early as 2024. Crazy to think but this is the case. So, if we had that this year, this is what it would look like:

Remember, only conference champions can get a first-round bye in this soon-to-be new format. That’s why Oregon replaces Michigan at #4. Where these teams would play I would leave out other than the first round games which are at the home field of the higher seed. Is it too much? Probably, but it’s college football so I will watch it and hope it works out properly (which no postseason format has been able to do every time but I digress).

6-Team College Football Playoff

This is what I started advocating for even though I had also pushed for just one new playoff team for a while. That dream is gone but here is what it would look like at the end of this season:

Pretty self-explanatory. They would still use bowl games for this. For this year, I think it would be the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl for the first round since the Rose and Sugar, being on January 1st, would not give enough time for the playoffs to be done before the middle of the month. The semis would remain the Fiesta and Peach Bowls.

Poll-and-Bowl

Let’s go back to a simpler time. When the talk of a playoff or a plus-one was just that: talk. The only committees we knew were the bowl committees that went to all sorts of games in November to figure out which teams to select. Now let’s see what that might look like with the better teams in the polls. As I did last year when I did this exercise I have to take some liberty with bowl tie-ins. Also for this I will use current AP Poll listings for variety’s sake:

Rose Bowl (Big Ten Champ vs. Pac-12 Champ): #2 Ohio State vs. #5 USC
Sugar Bowl (SEC Champ vs. Big XII Champ): #1 Georgia vs. #4 TCU
Cotton Bowl (Big XII #2 vs. Pac-12 #2): #15 Kansas State vs. #10 Oregon
Orange Bowl (ACC Champ vs. SEC #2): #7 Clemson vs. #6 LSU
Peach Bowl (ACC #2 vs. at-large): #16 Florida State vs. #3 Michigan
Citrus Bowl (SEC #3 vs. Big Ten #2): #8 Alabama vs. #11 Penn State
Fiesta Bowl (Big XII #3 vs. at-large): #24 Texas vs. #9 Tennessee

I’ll stop there as I have the top ten teams. Maybe there would be more at-large teams involved (say in the Cotton or Orange Bowls) but realistically this is what you would see in and around New Year’s Day. Sure there are some lopsided bowl matchups (see the Fiesta Bowl) but I think it’s that way to an extent anyway. Really this would come down to three games: the Sugar, Rose and Peach Bowls. Georgia wins they are the champ. Only way that doesn’t happen is if UGA barely beats TCU and Ohio State drops the hammer on USC. If the Dawgs lose and tOSU win, they are the champs. If both those teams lose, then Michigan could win it all in the Peach Bowl. If the top three teams lose, it will come down to TCU and USC and might end up being who looked better in the bowl game (or won by a larger margin). It would make things interesting that is for sure. Better? Debatable.

24-Team College Football Playoff

Oh god, why am I doing this to myself. Maybe I’m trying to prove some point. Well, to be fair, I have hammered this point home before. The longer the tournament, the more it becomes a war of attrition. The winning team, in the end, becomes the healthiest one, not necessarily the best one. It’s been seen often in FCS football, even with some of those North Dakota State teams that won it all. So….*deep breath*, let’s look at how at 24-team playoff would work (I’ll just use AP rankings again):

OK that’s a lot. To me this feels like WAY too much. Overkill. When the 24th-ranked team, Texas, has a chance to win the national championship, college football, at least at the FBS level, has lost a lot of what makes it special. Some want to go even farther and I say to that, put down the crackpipe.

Done. No more. I can’t do it. It’s so much information. But there it is. Read it, do with it what you will. Then in about a week’s time we can forget all of it since it will change…in some cases a lot.

Tomorrow, it’s time for the super American Thanksgiving schedule so prepare for a lot more reading but at least this you can use the rest of the week through late Saturday night. Have a great week, everyone!

Hey let’s storm the field (and give you the Week 9 College Football TV Schedule)

Posted on October 26, 2022 by guelphbossman

First off, remember this classic? It was awesome. So the powers that be decided to quash the possibility of it ever happening again. Instead, we get a nine-overtime affair that made me want to pour bleach into my eyes.

Anyway, as you can see from the pic, the Aggie faithful stormed the field after the win. It was a big win. An exhausting one, even for the fans who were there for over five hours. Now, rushing the field like this is now fined by certain conferences. And the fines can be hefty. LSU was just fined a quarter of a million dollars for their fans rushing the field after the Tigers thoroughly destroyed previously undefeated Ole Miss. It was a big win.

Here’s the dilemma from what I see: seeing fans rush the field can be, most of the time, an amazing visual. They are just so happy their team pulled off the victory. Can there be dangers to it? Absolutely. And there can be altercations. Look at that asshole Jermaine Burton who punched a female Tennessee fan after the Vols’ win over Bama. He said he was scared. Bullshit. He could have punched any fan and chose her. Funny he didn’t choose a bigger guy who might have taken offense to it and retaliated. Look, my point is this…I don’t think rushing the field should be fined. At all. That sounds crazy but I believe it. Now, if something happens when the fans rush the field, then the school should be punished (as long as it was not someone from the opposing team doing something wrong). And the fines should be hefty. Forget $250,000. Start at $500K and go up from there. And if students cause issues at games when they storm the field? Guess what? Pack your shit and fuck off to another university. Instead, we have these blanket fines that do nothing really except move money from one coffer to another coffer. Dumb.

Alright, let’s get down to some schedules, shall we?

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia Tech at #24 NC State	7:30 PM
Louisiana at Southern Miss	7:30 PM
#14 Utah at Washington State	10:00 PM

Two pretty important games here. NC State has to win here to have any chance to move back up the rankings and perhaps sneak into the New Year’s Six. Utah has the same issue going for them although they are closer to the Top 10 which basically guarantees a spot. OK make it three important games since Louisiana has to keep pace with Troy and South Alabama in the Sun Belt West.

Friday

		US	Canada
Yale at Columbia	6:30 PM
Louisiana Tech at FIU	8:00 PM
East Carolina at BYU	8:00 PM

Kind of a lacklustre night to be honest. I guess you could see some importance in the Cougs’ game since a loss might actually have them struggling to make a bowl game this season.

Saturday Early

Massive early game in State College. You could still consider it a Game of the Year candidate. This is a prove-it game for Penn State. Win this and it puts all the tough games they’ve had behind them and puts them in a great spot to make the College Football Playoff. A tOSU win means it comes down to them and Michigan for any Big Ten CFP possibilities.

If you had told me that Toledo and Eastern Michigan would be facing off in late October, essentially, for the MAC West championship I would have thought you were on some great drugs. But that is the case. EMU has shocked a lot of people this year. Chris Creighton has done a great job in Ypsilanti. It also helps that every other team in the division (other than these two) has looked below-average at best.

Syracuse has a potential speed bump game to get back on track as they host the Irish and honestly it feels weird to see Oklahoma face Iowa State where neither team is ranked.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
Rutgers at Minnesota	2:30 PM
#17 Illinois at Nebraska	3:30 PM
#10 Wake Forest at Louisville	3:30 PM
Florida vs. #1 Georgia (in Jacksonville)	3:30 PM
Temple at Navy	3:30 PM
#20 Cincinnati at UCF	3:30 PM
Northwestern at Iowa	3:30 PM
#9 Oklahoma State at #22 Kansas State	3:30 PM
#8 Oregon at California	3:30 PM
South Alabama at Arkansas State	4:00 PM
Missouri at #25 South Carolina	4:00 PM

No huge games but a lot of games of importance in this timeslot. OK fine you can say Oklahoma State-Kansas State is huge but there are still a lot of things that could happen in the Big XII with one possibility being that the conference cannibalizes itself and no one makes it to the College Football Playoff.

Illinois is actually on ABC! And they are the reason they are there! Bert doing a great job in Champaign and a win here puts them into a showdown with Purdue for the Big Ten West as long as no other screwy things happen…meaning something will happen. Yes there is an odd start for the Big Ten Network game and no, I don’t know why although I haven’t taken too hard a look to find that out.

Some are saying Georgia may be looking past Florida. I know I would if I was Georgia. I can’t see the Gators doing anything here but you never know as the Cocktail Party can get weird some years. Finally, South Alabama is in a nationally televised game on Saturday probably for the first time ever. They should easily beat ASU in this one. Maybe they are a dark horse for the NY6.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
UAB at Florida Atlantic	7:00 PM
#19 Kentucky at #3 Tennessee	7:00 PM
Colorado State at Boise State	7:00 PM
Coastal Carolina at Marshall	7:00 PM
#10 USC at Arizona	7:00 PM
Michigan State at #4 Michigan	7:30 PM
Baylor at Texas Tech	7:30 PM
Arizona State at Colorado	7:30 PM
#15 Ole Miss at Texas A&M	7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at #21 North Carolina	8:00 PM

In almost any week of any season, UK-UT is the SEC on CBS Game of the Week (and potentially the primetime choice). But with the Cocktail Party this week, they are “relegated” to the primetime ESPN game. Still a good slot. Plus, this game is an elimination game. Winner has a shot at the SEC East and the loser has to hope to make up ground to get a nice January bowl game.

Speaking of relegation, USC is on the Pac-12 Network this week. OK, they are at Arizona who, while improved, is still not that good a team. But when you see that Arizona State and Colorado are on ESPNU (which is slightly better if you ask me), it makes you scratch your head a bit. I know the Trojans were picked for the P12N to fulfill their contracted amount of appearances on the network and this game was as good as any to put there. Still…it feels odd to see a Top 10 team on a conference network, especially the worst conference network around.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Nevada at San Jose State	10:30 PM
Stanford at #12 UCLA	10:30 PM
San Diego State at Fresno State	10:30 PM

The Spartans actually have a big game here. By the time the calendar turns, they might be the favourites to represent the West Division in the Mountain West Championship. Also, the Bruins look to bounce back and maybe get back into the Top 10 against the Cardinal who may have a tough decision with David Shaw ahead. Not saying Shaw will be fired this season (or even in the offseason) but something has to give here as the team has been pretty bad for a few years now.

Big Games O’ The Week

Ohio State at Penn State (Noon, FOX) – Just a reminder that this game is at Beaver Stadium so it gives the Nittany Lions more of a chance than if it was at the Horseshoe. This might not be exactly easy for the Fighting Ryan Days but a win here will put them into a one-game showdown in a month against Michigan for the Big Ten East and may put them at #1 in the first College Football Playoff poll on Tuesday.

Kentucky at Tennessee (7:00, specialty pack) – I’m sure there are many who wished this game would have been on TSN instead of the Michigan State-Michigan game but yeah, a good Big Ten game will almost always rate higher for TSN than a game from any other conference. As I said above, this is an SEC East elimination game so the stakes are high. It will be interesting to see if the Vols have a letdown after their big win over Alabama a couple weeks ago or if the Cats can get up for this game, dealing with a loud Knoxville crowd.

Oklahoma State at Kansas State (3:30, FOX) – FOX has quite the lineup this week. I know some marvel when I say that but it honestly doesn’t happen often. It probably helps that it’s only two games this week that lead into the World Series which starts after this game. This is part of the Big XII gauntlet that is happening before our eyes that involves more than half the conference (and maybe not even Oklahoma). FOX is probably hoping this game doesn’t go to a bunch of overtimes since we know it would be moved to like FOX Business Network or some channel no one in the world gets.

Notre Dame at Syracuse (Noon, ABC/TSN5) – The Cuse looks to rebound from their tough loss to Clemson. Meanwhile, Notre Dame continues their roller coaster first season under Marcus Freeman. A win by Syracuse here still keeps them in the hunt for…something. A New Year’s Six at-large spot perhaps? The Irish are just trying to make their season feel like it’s less of a failure than it has been and one where 2023 looks optimistic.

Cincinnati at UCF (3:30, specialty pack) – It feels like most years this is a battle between the top two teams in the American. I would have said Houston at the start of the season but yeah I whiffed on that one pretty hard. Tulane may have something to say about that first sentence and they may get their shot in the AAC Championship if they can keep playing as well as they are. Until then, this feels like the winner is in the driver’s seat for the Cotton Bowl spot.

Psycho Game of the Week

Arizona State at Colorado (7:30, specialty pack) – You have got to be some sort of masochist to spend more than one minute watching this one. I guess maybe hoping for some weird score like 5-3 could get you interested in this but otherwise, it is so easy to avoid this abomination.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Georgia Tech at Florida State (Noon, specialty pack) – This might seem like a bit of a surprise but I have this feeling that the Noles will come into this one a bit angry and ready to beat the absolute shit out of whoever they face. The Ramblin’ Wreck are playing better not under Geoff Collins but at some point their lack of talent will come to the forefront. This is the game that will happen.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Last time UAB traveled to Boca Raton to face FAU they were embarrassed 49-6.
This is the first time in four years that Ole Miss has had to play back-to-back road games.
NC State has lost five straight to the Hokies.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

For some reason I can delve into picking NFL games (which I still do from time to time on top of fantasy football) but when it comes to college football I draw a blank. I can’t seem to come up with a way to pick games other than just pick them off the top of my head for the most part. That’s something I would never say when my late night betting show commences. I wonder what the most ridiculous channel to put that on would be. OMNI?

Louisiana (+1) over Southern Miss (and the outright win…why is Southern Miss even favoured here?)
Louisiana Tech (-6.5) over FIU
Toledo (-7) over Eastern Michigan
Boston College (-7.5) over UConn (only 7.5? Who is making these odds?)
Oklahoma (-1) over Iowa State
Minnesota (-14) over Rutgers
Navy (-13.5) over Temple
Louisville (+3.5) over Wake Forest (big upset pick!)
Florida (+22.5) over Georgia (UGA will cover but the Gators will make things interesting for about three quarters)
Kentucky (+12.5) over Tennessee (the Vols will win a tight one)
Coastal Carolina (+2.5) over Marshall (and they will win outright)
Ole Miss (-2.5) over Texas A&M
UCLA (-16.5) over Stanford (only 16.5? Yeah I’m not getting some of these)

Let’s see how much of a tool I look like with these picks. Anyway, I will be on the Twitter machine for most of the day (I think) so catch me there if you want. Hey, I got a secret for ya. Come closer….

There’s football every day between tomorrow and November 22nd!

Oh. Hell. YEAH! Enjoy the games everyone!

Hey let’s look ahead (and also give you the Week 8 College Football TV schedule)

Posted on October 19, 2022 by guelphbossman

I tend to do most of my psychic work in the offseason…or when looking at bowl projections. Neither of which I do very well. So yeah sounds like a great idea to do it again in the middle of the season right? I never learn.

Will the SEC send a team not from Alabama or Georgia to the College Football Playoff? Tennessee and Ole Miss are both looking the real deal this season. The Vols already pulled off a big upset with their win over the Tide. The Rebels get their shot next month. Tennessee still has to get by Georgia to win the division. So maybe we could be looking at a Vols-Rebels SEC Championship? Honestly, I don’t think so but you never know.

Does the Big Ten still come down to The Big Game? Yes. I think Illinois is doing great and Purdue might end up being the new power in the Big Ten West but it still all comes down to the The Big Game between Michigan and Ohio State. Winner probably wins the conference and heads to the CFP. Loser to the New Year’s Six and the Rose Bowl. I don’t see another scenario unless one of the teams is upset before then.

What’s going to happen with the Pac-12? If Oregon loses this Saturday to UCLA then it will be either the Bruins or Trojans with the only shot for the College Football Playoff. How sad is that for this conference? USC and UCLA leave in 2024 and there are a lot of rumours that Oregon and Washington will follow, possibly for that same season. It’s been bad for the conference for a while but they somehow are coming up with new lows. I assume they poach the Mountain West for at least two teams to stay at the Pac-10 going forward but it won’t be the conference that it’s been in the past, much to Bill Walton’s chagrin.

Is TCU the Big XII’s only hope? No, nor are they a good choice either. I can’t see the Horned Frogs running the table. There is a much better chance of Oklahoma State or even Texas having a shot. A lot would have to happen for the Longhorns to be in contention but it could happen. Me? I’m hoping for chaos and a two-loss team in the CFP. Wouldn’t that be wild?

Who’s the next coach to be fired? It feels like it will be Bryan Harsin and that it will happen any day now. I think he will be after the next coach to be fired. I believe the next coach fired will be Neal Brown instead. It hasn’t been an abject disaster in Morgantown but Brown has shown no signs of improving this program. With Texas Tech and Kansas possibly passing them in the Big XII pecking order, they maybe sitting in the basement by the end of 2022.

Who will win the Heisman? I think if Tennessee goes undefeated through the regular season, it’s Hendon Hooker’s Heisman (Triple H) to lose. One loss or a really bad game from Hooker and it opens the door to like half-a-dozen others, including C.J. Stroud, Dorian Thompson-Robinsion, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams.

Alright that’s enough predictions for now. You didn’t come for that (I don’t think). You came for schedules, right? So let’s get right to them!

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Appalachian State	7:30 PM

Before the season this felt like it could be huge in deciding the Sun Belt East. Not so much anymore.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia at Georgia Tech	7:30 PM
Troy at South Alabama	7:30 PM

The highlight here, honestly, is what could be the Sun Belt West title game. South Alabama is WAY better than advertised and Troy has improved from last year as well. Also, Georgia Tech might actually be favoured in a conference game as the Hoos come to Atlanta. Wouldn’t have been that way with Geoff Collins still in charge, I can guarantee that.

Friday

		US	Canada
Princeton at Harvard	7:00 PM
Tulsa at Temple	7:30 PM
UAB at WKU	8:00 PM

Nothing of serious importance although it could be interesting to see what happens in Bowling Green (not the university, the town). Winner there stays in the hunt to get to the Conference USA Championship game.

Saturday Early

I would say this is a good appetizer for the games later on but there’s a main course mixed in there. Syracuse travels to Death Valley East with legitimate upset aspirations. They win here and they turn the ACC (and college football in general) kind of upside down. What many would have picked as the game of the afternoon at the start of the season could look like an absolute blowout. Could Iowa lose by 50? Quite possibly.

Kansas still getting no love. ESPN2 for a big game against Baylor? Come on man. What really is perplexing, though, is UT-Martin getting on to TSN. UT-Martin? I get that Tennessee is good but there are a few other games that could have gone there…like the KU-BU game I just mentioned!

Saturday Afternoon

If UCLA and USC don’t get to the Victory Bell game in November both undefeated then the Bruins’ game against Oregon here might be the Pac-12 Game of the Year (and their best chance to put a team into the College Football Playoff).

You may notice that the UNLV-Notre Dame game isn’t on this list. That’s because this is the one game this season that NBC moves to Peacock. I hope the Rebels somehow win. The Longhorns and Pokes might be in a quasi-elimination game, especially if TCU keeps winning. Ole Miss and Purdue have landmine games where an upset or two wouldn’t be a total surprise.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Boise State at Air Force	7:00 PM
#24 Mississippi State at #6 Alabama	7:00 PM
Minnesota at #16 Penn State	7:30 PM
UCF at East Carolina	7:30 PM
Texas A&M at South Carolina	7:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Louisville	8:00 PM
#17 Kansas State at #8 TCU	8:00 PM
Colorado at Oregon State	8:00 PM

Two underrated teams no more as Kansas State travels to Fort Worth to face an undefeated Horned Frogs team. This is absolutely massive for both teams and would have been on FOX if FOX didn’t have baseball that night.

The rest of the primetime schedule could be considered a bit weak unless the Bulldogs can put a scare into Bama. The ABC primetime matchup is very weak considering some of the games that are on this Saturday. I don’t get it sometimes with these picks but at least the network won’t lean on the Big Ten all the time like they’ve been doing in recent years. FOX has taken up that mantle.

Also, we have what might as well be the de facto Mountain West Mountain championship between Boise and AFA. And we have another Pat McAfee night on ESPN2. Great…..

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
San Diego State at Nevada	10:30 PM
Washington at California	10:30 PM
Montana at Sacramento State	11:00 PM

OK so the primetime schedule might be weak in spots but this is brutal. Meaning either Cal is beating the Huskies or Nevada ends the Brady Hoke era at SDSU. Otherwise this is a fucking joke. Oh, plus we are stuck with the Sacramento Test this week. And no, that’s not a test of Sacramento Kings’ fans’ patience.

Big Games O’ The Week

UCLA at Oregon (3:30, FOX) – There are a few games that could occupy this top spot but I picked the one which I believe has the most at stake. If the Bruins win, it sets them up perfectly for the Battle for Los Angeles against their crosstown rivals, USC. A loss and, quite frankly, the Pac-12 could be sitting out the CFP yet again. As I said, huge stakes.

Syracuse at Clemson (Noon, ABC/TSN4) – The Orange Dream Season Express rolls on here as The Fighting Babers look to pull off the upset of all upsets. And we’ve seen that D.J. Uiagalelei has had poor games in the past. A Cuse win here would throw everyone’s ACC predictions into a dumpster (and then that dumpster to be set on fire).

Kansas State at TCU (8:00, FOX Sports One) – This still will not get as much attention as the Texas-Oklahoma State game earlier in the day and I think that suits these two teams just fine. A TCU win keeps their CFP hopes very much alive whereas a Kansas State win puts a bunch of teams back in the mix for the Big XII title game at JerryWorld.

Mississippi State at Alabama (7:00, specialty pack) – Some are actually wondering why Mississippi State is in the Top 25. I think if the Bulldogs had any semblance of a running game they’d be clearly in the Top 20 and contending for an SEC West title. Instead, they have Will Rogers throw the ball a million times and hope for the best. Classic Mike Leach. I kind of hope this is close but don’t be surprised if it’s over by 8:00.

Texas at Oklahoma State (3:30, ABC) – ABC’s ongoing love affair with the Big Ten, despite the fact they will be leaving the network soon, pushes a game like this to the afternoon timeslot. I don’t think many thought Texas would be in a game that, if they win, could put them in the driver’s seat to get to the Big XII Championship. Kansas State, TCU and even Kansas will watch this game with quite a bit of interest.

Ole Miss at LSU (3:30, CBS) – Ole Miss can’t have this be a speed bump game. LSU is better than they were last year and may be shaking of the early season shitshow and are playing good ball under Brian Kelly. The Lane Train needs to mow teams like this down knowing that Bama is coming down the line.

Minnesota at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Is it one of the big time games you’d want to see in the ABC Primetime window? No. This could end up being a good game though. And James Franklin certainly wants his Nittany Lions to play well after the disaster that was their game in Ann Arbor last weekend.

Psycho Game of the Week

Arizona State at Stanford (4:00, Pac-12 Network) – Two terrible Pac-12 teams here. This is the second straight week the Pac-12 has appeared in this section. And it won’t be the last. I honestly do wonder if David Shaw will get to 2023 considering how poor Stanford has been this year (and the past couple of years).

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Iowa at Ohio State (Noon, FOX) – Yep, I am officially calling it. This could get VERY ugly. Iowa’s offense is anemic and shouldn’t fare too well against the Buckeye defense. They might cover the 29 point spread by 1:00.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

Kansas’ last win over Baylor was fifteen years ago. They have also ten in a row to the Bears against the spread.
Notre Dame is 30-6 vs. the Mountain West.
Appalachian State has never lost to Georgia State in eight meetings. They’ve also won seven of those games by double digits.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

I don’t consider myself a gambler. Mostly because I’m not very good at it. I’m sure I am not too far away from some of the experts though in terms of success. Remember that guy on the late night commercials? What was his name? I want to say Cash Palmer. Anyway, him, along with a bunch of other guys who I wouldn’t hire to mow my townhouse lawn, would hock their picks at like 3 in the morning to degenerates who figured they couldn’t do this themselves. I assume all those guys are dead or in an old folks’ home. Anyway, enough of that. Call me Boss Bucks, or something equally stupid, and let’s get the show on the road.

Georgia State (+9.5) over Appalachian State (the Mountaineers win a nailbiter)
Troy (+3) over South Alabama with the outright win
Tulsa (-13) over Temple
UT-Martin (+37.5) over Tennessee with the Vols still winning by four touchdowns
Baylor (-8) over Kansas
Army (-7) over ULM
Liberty (+6.5) over BYU (the Cougs will win this game though in a close one)
Maryland (-13.5) over Northwestern
Boston College (+20.5) over Wake Forest (the Deacs cruise to a relatively easy victory)
Vanderbilt (+14) over Missouri (Mizzou will win the game)
Mississippi State (+21) over Alabama (Tide win after Bulldogs keep it close for three quarters)
UCF (-5) over East Carolina for the road victory
Nevada (+7) over San Diego State (with the Aztecs winning)

The Bossman Top 25!

It’s back! I figured it was about time to whip out a set of rankings for everyone. It’s early so there isn’t a reason to debate but I’m sure some of the spots will make you do a double take. Here we go:

#1	Georgia
#2	Tennessee
#3	Ohio State
#4	Michigan
#5	Clemson
#6	TCU
#7	Ole Miss
#8	Alabama
#9	Oregon
#10	Oklahoma State
#11	Syracuse
#12	UCLA
#13	Utah
#14	Wake Forest
#15	USC
#16	Kansas State
#17	Kentucky
#18	Penn State
#19	Cincinnati
#20	NC State
#21	Illinois
#22	North Carolina
#23	Texas
#24	Purdue
#25	Mississippi State

I’m sure some will look and say why is Tennessee in the #2 spot. Or why is TCU ahead of Alabama. Or why UCLA is not in the Top 10. Look, as I say every year, these things will work themselves out. It’s still early remember. We are only at the halfway point. Come mid-November, then some true debates can be had but until then, it’s just preference. Unless someone puts Alabama at #20 because they don’t like Bama. In that case, that’s fucking stupid.

It’s a little late to get the blog posted and I apologize for that. Just been feeling under the weather and I’m sure how crappy it’s been outside hasn’t helped matters. Looking forward to another great week of college football. Enjoy the games everyone!

Group of Five Conference Predictions. All of them.

Posted on August 4, 2022 by guelphbossman

“Oh god, not again. Look the last post was…”

“HERE ARE THE PREDICTIONS FOR EVERY SINGLE DAMN GROUP OF FIVE TEAM! PLUS THE INDEPENDENTS!!!!!!!”

That’s right! Back at it again with the predictions. Remember what I said…less is more. Meaning less posts. Not less information.

Annnnnyway, this means I will be putting all my predictions for the G-5 conference standings right here. Hell, I’ll include the Independents as well as a treat since they don’t really belong anywhere and some of them know it. So let’s get started!

We begin with what is still the best Group of Five conference in the land. And next year…looks like they still will probably be in that spot despite all the realignment. Here are my predicted standings followed by musings and other nonsense:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Houston	8	0	12	0
UCF	7	1	11	1
Cincinnati	7	1	10	2
Memphis	5	3	8	4
SMU	5	3	8	4
Tulsa	3	5	5	7
East Carolina	3	5	5	7
USF	3	5	4	8
Navy	2	6	3	9
Tulane	1	7	4	8
Temple	0	8	2	10

Musings and Other Nonsense

Remember what Cincinnati was like last year? That is Houston this season…almost. They almost have too easy of a schedule and now that we know what the ceiling is (for now) for the Group of Five, that could come back to haunt them. Realistically, their opening contest of the season could be their most difficult. They travel to the Alamodome to face the Roadrunners of UTSA in a great Group of Five battle. Win that one and I can’t see how they don’t run the table.
UCF and Cincinnati will tie for second but the Bearcats’ lone loss, I believe, will be to the Knights. It seems since the American went to no divisions, at least two of the top few teams don’t play each other in a season. One of the few perils of having no divisions in a big conference, I guess. I don’t mind though since I hate divisions (if you didn’t already know).
Memphis should see a lot of improvement. As should USF. For the Bulls it won’t be enough to be bowl-eligible but anything is better than what they have seen the past few years.
I think Tulsa and East Carolina will slip below .500. Both teams don’t exactly have nice schedules and it could cost them down the stretch when they need victories and they have to play some of the better teams in the conference.
Conference Championship prediction: Houston 41 UCF 13. I can’t see it being close to be perfectly honest. Uncle Dana is going to be so hopped up on Red Bull his head might explode.

Hey, number two ain’t bad.

The Mountain West is still firmly in the number two spot among Group of Five conferences and were left alone during this round of realignment. Will they do something in the near future to bolster their ranks? There is always rumblings of them bringing in some Dakota schools or Montana/Montana State (or both) or even bringing UTEP and perhaps…ugh….New Mexico State along for the ride. But for now, it’s status quo. Well…almost.

	Conference		Overall
Mountain	W	L	W	L
Air Force	7	1	10	2
Boise State	7	1	10	2
Colorado State	4	4	6	6
Utah State	4	4	6	6
Wyoming	3	5	5	7
New Mexico	1	7	3	9
West
Fresno State	7	1	9	3
San Diego State	6	2	9	3
San Jose State	3	5	6	6
UNLV	3	5	5	7
Nevada	2	6	5	7
Hawaii	1	7	3	10

Status Quo?

Yes…for a few more months. Then…no divisions! Fuck yeah! So now we might finally get two teams from what were the same division playing each other for the right to win the Mountain West title and, perhaps, the Group of Five spot in the New Year’s Six. Glad to see the conference doing it and look forward to the rest of the conferences abolishing their shitty divisions. I’m Bossman and I approve this message (of hating divisions).
I think it’s finally time we see Air Force truly soar. The Falcons are the most complete team in the entire conference. Yes, I get that they run the option but they are actually somewhat dangerous in the passing game. And their defense should be pretty tough to beat this season. I think they can pull out that one victory they need, over Boise State, to clinch the division.
Remember my last place prediction for Fresno State last season? Ah, good times. I’m not falling for that again. I think they have enough to outlast perennial contender SDSU for the West Division crown. Now watch Hawaii win it and make me look like an idiot again.
Speaking of the Fighting Rainbow Warriors, I do have them sinking to the bottom of the West Division. The program is a bit of a gongshow at this point. They’re basically the Arizona Coyotes of the Mountain West, playing in a smallish high school stadium for another few years until Aloha Stadium is renovated or a new stadium is built or something. They can’t keep recruits on the island anymore and being on that island is becoming very difficult for the football program as a whole. I hope it turns around again and not just for a single season but this will not be that year (despite what I said in the previous point).
Conference Championship prediction: Air Force 38 Fresno State 14. Air Force will finally win their first Mountain West title. They haven’t won a conference championship since the WAC so it’s a long time coming for Troy Calhoun’s squad.

Look, I know Notre Dame doesn’t belong here but it’s not my fault they are an Independent still and they are grouped with a few teams that barely qualify as FCS programs. Let’s just get to the standings before I start swearing too much.

	Overall
	W	L
Notre Dame	10	2
Army	10	2
BYU	9	3
Liberty	8	4
New Mexico State	2	10
UConn	2	10
UMass	1	11

No Profanity Notes

- No profanity? Let’s see how long this lasts.
- Let’s start with the kings of the group: the Fighting Irish. The question is always “Will they make the College Football Playoff this season?” I honestly can’t see it this season. Their schedule is brutal with trips to Columbus and the LA Coliseum along with home dates against Clemson and BYU. I have them losing two of those four and it wouldn’t shock me if they dropped all four of those. They always have a shot at the New Year’s Six and I see them sneaking in but it won’t be easy.
- I have, yet again, got Army winning ten games. They are a good team with a breeze of a schedule. One year, they might enter that Army-Navy Game at 11-0 and at least will have some people wondering if they deserve that one spot in the NY6.
- BYU is finally joining a conference again. The Cougs are headed for the Big XII next year so this is their final season as an Independent. And once again they are hoping to do enough to get into the Top 20 and make the College Football Playoff Committee really take a hard look at what they’ve done. Their schedule is, once again, quite difficult. Not Notre Dame difficult but not easy at all. They won’t come out of it unscathed and I don’t think they have enough in the tank to be ranked. Expect another trip to a mediocre bowl game…but at least the Provo faithful can be done with that after this year.
- Hey, speaking of teams leaving the Independent world, it’s the fighting Hugh Freezes of Liberty. They head to whatever the hell Conference USA is going to be next season. I can’t see this being the end goal for them as they have a lot of resources to move up even more. I know most people hate to hear that but it’s the truth. This year, expect them in another low-level bowl before next year when they will have a chance to win one of Conference USA’s bowl slots to go to…yet another low-level bowl.
- And yet another team moving to a conference. The Aggies join Liberty in going to Conference USA. Someone invited them to a party! Yay for them! They are still light years away from competing in any sense and when other teams from FCS join them there (like Sam Houston State) they will be blown by in no time flat. It’s not easy recruiting for Las Cruces but something has to change there.
- Just a reminder…UConn has their own contract with CBS Sports Network. Say that again in your head. Yeah I don’t get it either. I mean if it was football AND basketball then sure, it makes a ton of sense since UConn basketball is a huge brand. But just UConn football. CBS can’t be making any money off this deal. Anyway, you can watch them get their ass kicked (at least at home) if you so choose.
- I don’t know what UMass will be able to do with three teams leaving the Independent ranks for conferences next season. It means we will be back down to four teams for next season. Sure, they can get their ass kicked by Notre Dame and Army, if they choose to play the Huskies. They can be competitive with UConn. Other than that? It’s two FCS opponents and find at least seven other FBS teams to play them. Not an easy task. Honestly, unless the American wants to take them on at some point (which I can’t see happening), it may be best for them to head back to FCS. I’ve said it before and I’m not wavering from that.
- See? Didn’t swear! I am fuuuuuuuuuuny and smart. Yeah. Phew! That was a close one.

One of the winners of realignment is the Sun Belt. Four new members! Good additions to a conference that has solidified itself as the number three conference in the Group of Five. Now let’s get to some of these sunny predictions and I will discuss some of the changes going on here:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Marshall	8	0	11	1
Coastal Carolina	7	1	10	2
Appalachian State	6	2	9	3
Georgia State	5	3	6	6
Old Dominion	3	5	3	9
Georgia Southern	2	6	4	8
James Madison	2	6	3	8
West
Louisiana	7	1	10	2
Troy	5	3	6	6
South Alabama	4	4	6	6
Southern Miss	4	4	5	7
Texas State	2	6	4	8
Arkansas State	1	7	3	9
ULM	0	8	1	11

Sunny Predictions (see what I did there)

I’m going to say it again…this conference, like all conferences, need to go to no divisions. One year it will bite them in the ass. Guaranteed. And they better hope it’s not the year when they have a legitimate shot to put a team in the New Year’s Six.
It won’t be the normal cakewalk for Louisiana to win the West Division this season. Saying that, it’s not like they have real good competition like the East. The best bet to dethrone the Ragin’ Cajuns are Troy and South Alabama and they have a ways to go to be considered conference title contenders. So chances are, we will see this team, yet again, in the Sun Belt title game.
Coastal and App State can’t be happy to have Marshall in their division now. The Thundering Herd are a very dangerous team and I believe they have enough to sneak up the middle in their first year of Sun Belt competition and take the East crown. And yes, I know I have James Madison at 3-8 or 11 games played. That’s how many they’re playing. I guess they couldn’t get another non-conference game quickly enough so don’t think I am having issues with counting.
Conference Championship prediction: Marshall 33 Louisiana 30. Louisiana will not repeat as champ. I think Marshall is going to make good on their move to a new conference by winning the Sun Belt.

I’m not going to put them last. I could. This conference has just irritated me for a long time. They have had the worst TV contracts in recent memory for an FBS conference, constantly allow the better schools to leave and backfill with worse options and had the audacity to turn down the Sun Belt when discussion of making geographically better conferences came up. Stupidity. Alright, let’s just get to the conference standings before I blow a gasket:

	Conference		Overall
	W	L	W	L
UTSA	8	0	9	3
WKU	6	2	9	4
UAB	6	2	9	3
UTEP	6	2	8	4
Florida Atlantic	4	4	6	6
Louisiana Tech	4	4	5	7
North Texas	4	4	5	7
Middle Tennessee	3	5	5	7
Charlotte	3	5	4	8
FIU	0	8	3	9
Rice	0	8	1	11

Alright Let’s Just Get This Over With

No divisions so at least that’s a plus even though it happened because teams left.
Many are discounting UTSA but I think they have it in them to run the table in the conference this season, something they didn’t do last year during their glorious run to a C-USA title. Second place, on the other hand, I see being a complete dogfight. WKU, UAB and UTEP are all good teams and because of scheduling quirks, I have the Hilltoppers getting the opportunity to travel to San Antonio for the conference championship.
It is going to be a long season for Rice and FIU, two programs who honestly really don’t understand success in the first place so maybe it won’t hit them so hard.
Conference Championship prediction: UTSA 45 WKU 38. I think this may actually end up being one of the more fun conference championship games. Both teams can score and even without Bailey Zappe, I’m sure WKU will be tossing the ball all over the field.

And finally….IT’S MACTION TIME, BABY! I know we don’t get much MACtion before late October but I always look forward to it. And yes, the attendance figures for these games, for the most part, aren’t exactly stellar. But to be able to watch these games when I would have had absolutely no opportunity to otherwise? Love it! Here are your 2022 MAC predicted standings:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Miami-OH	7	1	8	4
Kent State	5	3	6	6
Ohio	3	5	4	8
Buffalo	3	5	5	7
Bowling Green	1	7	2	10
Akron	0	8	1	11
West
Northern Illinois	7	1	9	3
Toledo	7	1	9	3
Central Michigan	6	2	9	3
Western Michigan	5	3	6	6
Eastern Michigan	3	5	5	7
Ball State	1	7	3	9

MACtion Magic

Look I’m going to level with you. The MAC East is a terrible division. Realistically, none of the teams deserve to be in the MAC Championship and I am sure I could make a case for none of them to go bowling either. Alas, the rules state otherwise. The Redhawks should be the best of a not-that-good bunch with Kent State giving them a bit of a run.
The West, on the other hand, will be a lot of fun. Three good teams at the top with very little to separate them. The schedule favours Northern Illinois to pull out a squeaker to win the West but you could put them, Toledo or CMU in the conference championship and they would all make sense and you could make strong arguments for them.
Ball State. Bowling Green. Akron. All bad.
Conference Championship prediction: Miami-OH 27 Northern Illinois 26. Because of course this is the way it would work out in this crazy conference.

We made it! The Group of Five is done! Who out of this group will make it to the New Year’s Six? Seriously? You couldn’t figure it out from all the info I gave you? Well, I will be doing bowl predictions later this month so no need to worry if you can’t put this puzzle together.

Next up is the Power Five. When will that happen? Who fucking knows?!!!! Have a great rest of the week everybody!

Let’s get ready to FOOTBALLGASMMMMMMMMMM!!! – Week 13 College Football TV Schedule

Posted on November 24, 2021 by guelphbossman

Remember last year’s Thanksgiving, American Style? From a college football perspective it was just….another weekend. Nothing special at all. This year, however, that warm and fuzzy feeling is back. It’s now the final weekend of the college football regular season and starts what is known on this blog as the Footballgasm. Footballgasm is a crazy amount of football over a four-day span. Almost 50 hours of football, college and pro, will be on the airwaves and computer screens starting Thursday just after Noon and going into Sunday just before Midnight. It’s like a college football fan’s Christmas. And it’s back after a one-year hiatus. And while Canadians don’t have Thanksgiving tomorrow, we can still celebrate with Americans by watching copious amounts of football. Hell, even make a turkey if you want.

To embrace this, it’s time to go back to the Footballgasm format. Every game gets its own paragraph. I’m not saying all the games are important but because of the special nature of this time, they all deserve it. Let’s get on with the schedule shall we?

Thursday

#9 Ole Miss at Mississippi State

7:30 PM

Ole Miss has no chance at the College Football Playoff, but they pretty much clinch their New Year’s Six spot if they win the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs have rebounded well this season and if Leach can keep this team improving, don’t be surprised if next season they are the ones aiming at a NY6 berth.

Friday

Boise State at #21 San Diego State

Noon

An absolutely massive game in the Mountain West and…wait, a 9:00 LOCAL START??? Look, I get that the conference has to do some things they don’t want to do (ugh this is sounding like gross casting couch shit) but this is absurd. I guess the players can watch the sunrise during the warmup. Both teams need wins here. An Aztecs win clinches the division and might hand the Mountain Division to Utah State. A Broncos win gives Fresno State a shot at winning the West Division and puts Boise in a great spot to join them in the Mountain West Championship. A lot at stake.

Ohio at Bowling Green

Noon

This is easy. Both teams aren’t going bowling this season so you can say this is for pride but it may not even be for that. Definitely not a must-watch.

Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan

Noon

I guess if you are big MAC fan this could be fun to watch. Otherwise, the Battle for Directional Michigan is not important in the slightest since both teams are going bowling and with seven wins, neither team is in jeopardy of being left out of the party.

Kansas State at Texas

Noon

Do the Longhorns have a chance to go to a bowl game? Surprisingly yes but they need a couple of things to go their way. First they would need to beat KSU here which is no easy task. Then the Horns have to hope for most of the 5-6 teams trying to become bowl-eligible to lose. This would mean that not enough teams qualify and bowl committees would have to look at some 5-7 teams and their APR scores. This is where Texas would shine. Now, whether they accept an invite or not is a different story. The Wildcats are playing for nothing except destroying the last slim hope that Texas has.

#16 Iowa at Nebraska

2:30 PM

This game means a bit for the Ferentzs since a win here could move them up the rankings enough to get them into a New Year’s Six at-large spot. Other than that, Faux Farmageddon means nothing as the Huskers are just not that good.

#4 Cincinnati at East Carolina

3:30 PM

This is big. The Bearcats have finally got into a spot that many thought no Group of Five team could ever get to: the Top 4. There is one more hurdle before the AAC Championship, however. And the East Carolina Pirates are no pushover as they have won more games this year than in any season since their first season in the American back in 2014. Mike Houston is building something formidable in Greenville and a win here would end Cincy’s chance at glory and be Houston’s signature coaching victory.

Missouri vs. #25 Arkansas (in Little Rock)

3:30 PM

The traditional Mizzou-Hogs Black Friday game again has no real stakes. This is a good thing, though, this time. Both teams are going to bowl games and have two of the most popular coaches in the game at the helm. It is fun football times in CoMo and Fayetteville.

UNLV at Air Force

3:30 PM

UNLV has actually played some inspired football this season. It hasn’t led to many wins but it should give Marcus Arroyo another season as head coach in Vegas. On the other hand, the Falcons have a great 8-3 mark on the season and will want to finish off their season on a high note by beating the Rebels. This would also help their MWC Mountain Division title hopes.

USF at UCF

3:30 PM

Usually the War on I-4 is a big game although lately it has been anything but. As has been the case the past little while, this game means nothing other than the Bulls hoping to pull off an upset of their cross-state rivals.

Colorado at #19 Utah

4:00 PM

The Rocky Mountain Showdown means a whole lot of sweet fuck all this season. Not the greatest choice by FOX but I have a feeling Black Friday was limited with choices anyway.

North Carolina at #20 NC State

7:00 PM

If you had told me in August that this game would mean everything to the Wolfpack and nothing to the Tar Heels I would have laughed at you. But it’s true. NC State still has a chance to win the ACC Atlantic and get to the NY6 whereas UNC is just looking to maybe get a better bowl bid with a seventh win.

Saturday Early

#1 Georgia at Georgia Tech

Noon

There’s a lot of football on this weekend but it is sometimes tough to see games like this, which have very little stakes, on ABC at Noon whereas other games are relegated to worse timeslots or networks. In this one, the Ramblin’ Wreck is trying to figure out if the Geoff Collins Experiment should continue. The Dawgs should win this easily so just have to avoid injuries before the SEC Championship. So yeah, you can probably just scoreboard watch this one to see if UGA covers the spread.

UPDATE: This has been switched to TSN2.

Maryland at Rutgers

Noon

Hey, this game has serious stakes! Winner goes bowling. Loser is home for the holidays. That’s it. I have a feeling this is going to end up being a sneaky good game.

#24 Houston at UConn

Noon

A Houston win actually benefits Cincinnati more than Houston to be honest. UConn is terrible so, yeah, you can probably skip this one.

Florida State at Florida

Noon

Now this is one that no one could have predicted. A Gators-Seminoles game where the stakes are bowl eligibility. For many, including myself, it seems insane. But it’s the facts. I actually agree with TSN picking up this one since this will get a LOT of attention.

UPDATE #2: This has been moved to TSN4. I don’t know the reason for the switch.

#18 Wake Forest at Boston College

Noon

At one point, Wake was the darling of the college football world, even more than Cincinnati I would say. Then the wheels fell off a bit with a non-conference loss to North Carolina (I’m serious) and a loss to Clemson. That loss to the Tigers means they have to win this game against BC to still stamp their ticket to the ACC Championship. A loss and they could be in trouble for that. The Eagles also had a good start to their season but they are limping to the finish line. Already bowl-eligible, this is just to make them look more valuable to bowl committees.

Navy at Temple

Noon

Oof. Pass.

#2 Ohio State at #5 Michigan

Noon

Game of the Week right here. At the very least it’s the Game of the Year in the Big Ten if not all of college football, at least for the regular season. This may end up being Jim Harbaugh’s shining moment. He gets the Wolverines to upset the Buckeyes and he would probably get a lifetime contract and a statue outside Michigan Stadium. tOSU wants to keep erasing the memory of that Oregon loss and winning here puts them one step closer to going back to the CFP. I assume most people will be watching this game and why not? This smells like an instant classic.

Miami at Duke

Noon

And from the previous game we get to this one. Unless Miami pulls of an amazing (albeit controversial) multi-lateral last-second touchdown to beat the Blue Devils, you can avoid watching this game.

Saturday Afternoon

Penn State at #12 Michigan State

3:30 PM

This is actually a pretty big game…for one team. Sparty’s hopes for the College Football Playoff are gone but they still have a chance at the New Year’s Six. It is imperative they look impressive in a win over PSU. The Nittany Lions are only playing for maybe a better bowl game now that their head coach, James Franklin, has received a 10-year contract extension.

Northwestern at Illinois

3:30 PM

Um….this is football, technically. Hopefully the weather turns really bad and the football is sloppy since that would be the only reason I would watch.

#3 Alabama at Auburn

3:30 PM

Bama has seen this story before. An upstart Auburn squad destroying their season in the Iron Bowl. I honestly can’t see it happening here but you never know. If Bo Nix does what Bo Nix has done a couple of times earlier this season, this could get interesting. The Tide need a win here to stay in this #3 spot and set up their CFP opportunity next week in Atlanta.

Western Kentucky at Marshall

3:30 PM

Winner-take-all for the Conference USA East Division. This basically comes down to the prolific WKU offense against Marshall’s stingy defense. Should be a good one.

Oregon State at #11 Oregon

3:30 PM

This is one of the biggest Civil War games ever. The Ducks win and they go to the Pac-12 Championship. The Beavers have to win and then hope Washington beats Wazzu to gobble up the division title. Huge Pac-12 stakes which mean you might want to watch this game.

Virginia Tech at Virginia

3:45 PM

Alright this game means something once again…for one team. The Hokies need a win to become bowl-eligible which would actually be a shock considering how poorly their season has gone. UVA is already going bowling so humiliation is their only goal here.

Vanderbilt at Tennessee

3:45 PM

This game means nothing which seems to be the norm these days in the battle for SEC Tennessee. Vandy is bad but not as bad as they had been the previous few seasons. Tennessee has looked good this season yet is only 6-5 so they would love a win here and then in a bowl game to make Josh Heupel’s first season as head coach of the Vols an unmitigated success.

Tulsa at SMU

4:00 PM

If the Golden Hurricane can pull off the upset here, they would get their sixth win and be able to go to a bowl game. Either way, we can almost guarantee this will be a close game because that’s what Tulsa does…every single time.

ULM at Louisiana

4:00 PM

Louisiana has already clinched the Sun Belt West and ULM is not going bowling. NEXT!

#14 Wisconsin at Minnesota

4:00 PM

Huge game in the suddenly sloppy Big Ten West. Wisky’s path is clear: win and they get a ticket to Indy. The Gophers have a muddier path. They must win here and hope for an Iowa loss AND a Purdue win. Funny how tiebreakers work sometimes.

Saturday Primetime & Late Night

#15 Texas A&M at LSU

7:00 PM

Coach Eaux’s Last Stand. I am sure he wants to get the Tiguhz to a bowl game in his final regular season game as head coach. Especially one in Florida so he can find some hot women on the beach. The Aggies have a really outside shot at the New Year’s Six but would need at least a couple of teams above them in the rankings to lose this week for them to have any chance.

#10 Oklahoma at #7 Oklahoma State

7:30 PM

BEDLAM! It’s the Pokes who already know they are in the Big XII title game which is a bit of a change from the usual. The Sooners will need a win here to qualify. I have to assume that Baylor will beat Texas Tech so an Oklahoma loss here would mean we would have a Big XII Championship without Oklahoma. Good Ol’ JR would be rolling in his grave if he were dead.

#17 Pittsburgh at Syracuse

7:30 PM

Pitt has nothing really to play for since they are already in the ACC Championship. Basically their role should be to make sure Kenny Pickett doesn’t get hurt. The Orange, on the other hand, have everything to play for. At five wins, they know what they have to do against their old Big East rivals. It also could be the difference between Dino Babers keeping his job for 2022 or getting shitcanned.

Kentucky at Louisville

7:30 PM

Honestly, there is no real importance to this game. Both teams are bowl eligible with no hope of getting into a New Year’s Six bowl.

Tulane at Memphis

7:30 PM

Surprisingly, the Tigers need a win here to become bowl-eligible. They’ve had a rough season but should be able to close out the Green Wave to get that all-important sixth win.

#23 Clemson at South Carolina

7:30 PM

If you had told me that these two teams would be on the SEC Network in this final week, I would have laughed. But here we are. This game does mean quite a bit for Clemson since they can still clinch the ACC Atlantic with a win and losses by NC State and Wake Forest. South Carolina’s only goal is to destroy Clemson’s chances.

#6 Notre Dame at Stanford

8:00 PM

This game is all about Notre Dame. They need to win and win big here to keep their faint CFP hopes alive. A big win would also, ironically, help Cincinnati’s CFP hopes.

Nevada at Colorado State

9:00 PM

This game means nothing. Nevada is bowl-eligible. Colorado State is not. It’s the only game starting at this time so if it’s close it may be worth a watch but otherwise, don’t bother.

#13 BYU at USC

10:30 PM

This game has some serious stakes. For the Trojans, they need to win this game to set up an opportunity for bowl-eligibility during conference championship week against Cal. BYU, on the other hand, could crash the New Year’s Six party in a big way with a win here. Moving up even one spot puts them in a great spot for an at-large berth, probably to the Fiesta Bowl.

Wanna bet?

As per usual, no Games of the Week section since I went over every game available up here in the Great White North. There are a few other important games that we won’t get but hey, take it up with TSN, who’s coverage has gone to shit this season. Seriously terrible. And they wonder why people keep cutting cable. Anyway, off to the biggest picks section of the season where I do picks for every damn game above. Oh yeah. Here we go!

Cincinnati over East Carolina

Houston over UConn

Memphis over Tulane

SMU over Tulsa

Temple over Navy (who cares)

Air Force over UNLV

Boise State over San Diego State (upset!)

Nevada over Colorado State

Ohio over Bowling Green

Central Michigan over Eastern Michigan

Notre Dame over Stanford

Oklahoma over Oklahoma State

Texas over Kansas State (slight upset)

Boston College over Wake Forest (upset!)

Clemson over South Carolina

Miami over Duke

North Carolina over NC State (slight upset)

Pittsburgh over Syracuse

Virginia Tech over Virginia (to become bowl-eligible)

Florida over Florida State (close)

Georgia over Georgia Tech

Kentucky over Louisville

Tennessee over Vanderbilt

Alabama over Auburn

Arkansas over Missouri

LSU over Texas A&M (upset to become bowl-eligible)

Ole Miss over Mississippi State

Oregon over Oregon State

USC over BYU (upset)

Utah over Colorado

Louisiana over ULM

Marshall over Western Kentucky

Ohio State over Michigan

Penn State over Michigan State (slight upset)

Rutgers over Maryland

Iowa over Nebraska

Northwestern over Illinois

Wisconsin over Minnesota

Wow, that’s a lot of games. This should be a lot of fun. A great way to end an amazing regular season. Enjoy the games everyone!

It’s pronounced SHONTZ. SHONTZ.

Posted on July 24, 2021 by guelphbossman

Coastal-Carolina-Chanticleers_BIG

SHON-TUH-CLEERZ. Say it with me. SHON-TUH-CLEERZ. Repeat it. Learn it.

Learn it because this could end up being the next big thing in underdog college football. Coastal Carolina was amazing last year and came within a hair of running the table even through bowl season. Add Louisiana and Appalachian State and you have a Top 3 that rivals any Group of Five conference. Really, other than Texas State, this conference is full of teams that have had at least one successful season over the past decade. And the Bobcats are expected to be not too bad.

Let’s get to those Fun Belt conference predictions! I will follow that with some Sun Belt Midweek Musings and Such:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Coastal Carolina	8	0	12	0
Appalachian State	6	2	9	3
Georgia State	3	5	4	8
Troy	3	5	4	8
Georgia Southern	2	6	3	9
West
Louisiana	8	0	10	2
Texas State	4	4	6	6
South Alabama	2	6	4	8
ULM	2	6	2	10
Arkansas State	2	6	3	9

Sun Belt Midweek Musings and Such

If there’s ever a conference that needs to go back to no divisions, it’s this one. The Sun Belt has been lucky that the first couple of years of the conference championship the best two teams have been in opposite divisions. But at some point that won’t happen and it might cause an undefeated team to miss out on a College Football Playoff spot in the future. So Sun Belt? Don’t be stupid. Abolish divisions. Make the right move.
The West Division this year…well, it may be a cakewalk. Louisiana might clinch the division at the beginning of November. They are that far in front of everyone else. The only team that looks like they’d be relatively close is, somehow, Texas State! Jake Spavital, I believe, will get the Bobcats into bowl season for the first time ever. And yes, Arkansas State will drop off that much from last season. Doesn’t help they have a tough schedule.
The East is at least a bit more competitive. Coastal is still the team to beat and should be just as good, if not better, than last year’s breakout season. Appalachian State will try to keep things close and they luckily get their game against the Chanticleers at home in mid-October. Win that and they have the inside step to the division title. The rest of teams are OK but will struggle to make a bowl game.
The Sun Belt Championship we should have got last year should happen again. It could low-key be the best conference championship game this season. Should be an awesome one but I don’t think the Chants are going to be denied the Sun Belt championship belt this time around.
At this point, only four teams would be bowl-eligible. Yikes! But hey, Texas State would be going to a bowl game with my predictions. Start the parade in San Marcos!
Is this the year? Does the Sun Belt finally have a representative in the New Year’s Six? I’m…not going to tell you until the bowl predictions. I think it will be closer than people want to believe this season.

Let’s keep the conference prediction train going! Next up will be the soon-to-be-expanding SEC! Have a great weekend everyone! Oh and remember…35 days. Exactly five weeks.

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!

I hope you are ready to see a lot more Sun Belt action this season!

Posted on September 7, 2020 by guelphbossman

I still love the fact they have a championship belt in the Sun Belt.

Many things have been affected negatively by the Coronavirus. Not so for the Sun Belt when it comes to how many national television audiences they will get this season. With four conferences not playing, the Sun Belt is already enjoying a lot of viewers who may have never seen these teams before (or even heard of them). Even once all six conferences who are playing in the Fall start their seasons, expect to see the Sun Belt on Saturdays, either on the specialty pack or, dare I say it, one of the TSN stations at least once every week through the end of the season. This is the kind of thing that will be huge for this conference when it comes to recruiting and if one team breaks out and has a monster of a season, well look out since they could rocket up the recruiting rankings and become the next Boise State or UCF.

Alright let’s get to this year’s Sun Belt standings predictions. I will follow that with some Fun Belt Tomfoolery:

	Conference		Overall
East	W	L	W	L
Appalachian State	8	0	11	0
Georgia Southern	6	2	7	4
Troy	5	3	7	5
Georgia State	2	6	3	7
Coastal Carolina	1	7	3	8
West
Louisiana	7	1	9	2
Arkansas State	5	3	9	3
South Alabama	3	5	4	7
Texas State	2	6	3	9
ULM	1	7	2	10

Fun Belt Tomfoolery

It’s the third year of having a Sun Belt Championship Game and lo and behold, guess who I have in it? This is becoming a trend. I will get to that later on.
The West is going to be a little bit easier at the top this season. Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns are breaking away from the pack in the division and have a better overall team than any other in the Sun Belt West. There’s no team in this conference and very few in the country who have as good a running attack as the Ragin Cajuns. So don’t expect Arkansas State to be that close to Louisiana. I have the other three teams farther down the pecking order but don’t be surprised if one of these teams breaks out and hits .500 at least.
I can’t say anymore that the East is where the absolute strength lies. Appalachian State is still the class of the league but Louisiana and ASU have caught up with Troy and Georgia Southern. Really though, expect to see a lot of the Mountaineers on national TV WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE IT this season. I have a feeling that we will be monitoring App State’s undefeated run throughout the season.
No the Sun Belt Championship won’t lead into a new episode of Hee Haw (although they should really dip into anything southern to tie to this championship). I believe the Mountaineers are running the table and then beating Louisiana in a surprisingly close Sun Belt Championship. Then they await their fate as, for the first time ever, a Sun Belt team could qualify for the New Year’s Six and if there’s any year it could be done, this is the one.
Again, no word on what bowls or bowl-eligibility will look like. I am guessing we will find out in early November because if there’s one thing college football does well, it’s be completely unorganized.
So if I my predicted conference champion, Appalachian State, doesn’t get into the New Year’s Six then you know what they receive? That’s right, sweet fuck all. I have gone over this a few times in the past in that each Group of Five conference champion should get their shot against a Power Five team in a bowl game. That should be the reward. Not going to fucking Mobile, Alabama (no offense to the probably fine patrons of Mobile).

Alright we keep chugging along with the conference predictions. Next up will be one of the Sun Belt’s neighbours in G-5Ville…Conference USA! Have a great Labour Day Monday night everyone!

Bossman's Blog

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

Tag Archives: Sun Belt West

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