Thanksgiving. Footballgasm. Let’s Do This!

The 2023 version of Footballgasm has arrived! Get ready for an absolute fuck-ton of college football and NFL football from Thursday through to Monday night. Why does this happen? Americans need something to do while they let all that food settle in their stomachs. I mean our Thanksgiving comes first and is pretty good but we really missed the mark. Take out green bean casserole and there’s very little to dislike about American Thanksgiving.

Alright time to unleash the college football schedule for this week, the final week of the regular season. This is done in traditional Bossman’s Blog American Thanksgiving style. Every game is listed. Some are not important. Some are very important. But every game gets their own section. College football deserves it (for the most part).

Tuesday

Bowling Green (-1.5) at Western Michigan

7:00

Does this mean anything? No. But it’s the final night of MACtion so enjoy it. Predicted score: Western Michigan 27 Bowling Green 24.

Eastern Michigan (+6.5) at Buffalo

7:30

Now this game is more important…well, at least for one team. The Eagles can become bowl eligible with a win here. The Bulls are just here to try and play spoiler. Predicted score: Buffalo 31 Eastern Michigan 21.

Thursday

#12 Ole Miss (-11) at Mississippi State

7:30

The Rebels are juuuuuuuuuuuust on the outside looking in at the New Year’s Six. Could they leapfrog Missouri or Penn State without those two teams losing? It’s doubtful but they could strengthen their case by putting a beating on Mississippi State. Predicted score: Ole Miss 34 Mississippi State 30.

Friday

Miami (-9) at Boston College

Noon

Miami destroyed any chance of doing anything this season, mostly with piss-poor coaching (although Tyler Van Dyke seriously regressed this season). The Eagles on the other hand, they played much better than expected and Jeff Hafley has saved his job. Predicted score: Miami 38 Boston College 15.

#17 Iowa (+2) at Nebraska

Noon

Big game here for the Huskers. Win and they are bowl-eligible in Matt Rhule’s first season in Lincoln. Maybe, just maybe, the sun is finally shining on Huskerland for the first time in quite a few years. To do that, though, they will have to upset the Hawkeyes who have defied every odd and probably some theories of offensive football to become Big Ten West champs. Take the under (even though the over/under is a record-low 26.5). Predicted score: Iowa 14 Nebraska 7.

Ohio (-14) at Akron

Noon

Ohio can win their ninth game of the season which is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, it won’t be enough to win the division. Akron is hoping to stay out of double digits in the loss column. Predicted score: Ohio 30 Akron 10.

Memphis (-11.5) at Temple

Noon

Memphis lost their shot at a potential American Conference championship spot last weekend. So really, this means nothing. Predicted score: Memphis 31 Temple 7.

Toledo (-10.5) at Central Michigan

Noon

The Rockets will need a win and a lot of help to somehow sneak into the New Year’s Six. The Chips are trying to get to their sixth win. Actually, quite a bit at stake here. Predicted score: Toledo 34 Central Michigan 16.

TCU (+10) at #13 Oklahoma

Noon

Huge game here for the Sooners. An Oklahoma win and they still have a shot at going to JerryWorld one last time, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Big XII members. TCU isn’t going to lie down for them, though. They have to win to go bowling. Predicted score: TCU 38 Oklahoma 26.

UTSA (+3) at #23 Tulane

3:30

Tulane gets to eleven wins with a win here. More importantly, a win here puts them in the AAC Championship game and makes them the favourite to go back to the New Year’s Six. I am honestly shocked that no team has taken a flyer on Willie Fritz, despite his age. A Roadrunners win doesn’t eliminate the Green Wave either although they would need some help from Navy. A UTSA win would put them in the conference championship and would finish one of the best conference moves (outside the Sun Belt) in recent memory. Predicted score: Tulane 29 UTSA 24.

Utah State (-7.5) at New Mexico

3:30

The Aggies go bowling if they beat the Lobos. A UNM win would put them at five for the season which, honestly, would probably save Danny Gonzales’ job and constitute one of their better seasons in a long time. Predicted score: Utah State 49 New Mexico 31.

#9 Missouri (-7.5) at Arkansas

4:00

Mizzou locks themselves into the New Year’s Six if they can defeat the lowly Hogs. Sam Pittman has already been retained for next year so no surprise shitcanning in Fayetteville like Bret Bielema got a few years back. Predicted score: Missouri 33 Arkansas 14.

Texas Tech (+13) at #7 Texas

7:30

A massive game for the Longhorns. There is honestly so much on the line here. The most important being a spot in the final four-team College Football Playoff. It’s within their grasp but they have to stop allowing teams to stick around in games. The Red Raiders, on the other hand, are playing for one thing since they are already bowl eligible: spoiling the Horns’ entire season. Predicted score: Texas 31 Texas Tech 17.

#11 Penn State (-21) vs. Michigan State (in Detroit)

7:30

Do the Nittany Lions deserve to be in a New Year’s Six bowl? It’s debatable but at this point, a win probably clinches a spot unless Ole Miss goes nuts on Mississippi State the night before. The Spartans just want to end one of the most miserable seasons in their program’s history, on and off the field. Predicted score: Penn State 49 Michigan State 28.

#16 Oregon State (+13.5) at #6 Oregon

8:30

The Ducks want a rematch with Washington for the Pac-12 Championship. The Beavers just want to spoil Oregon’s season as all teams do in rivalry games. Predicted score: Oregon 44 Oregon State 29.

Saturday Early

Kentucky (+7) at #10 Louisville

Noon

Louisville needs a win to keep their slim CFP hopes alive. That alone will make this game interesting. Kentucky has no stakes other than maybe trying not to lose too badly so that Mark Stoops can be guaranteed for 2024. Predicted score: Louisville 31 Kentucky 10.

Pittsburgh (+6) at Duke

Noon

Duke is already going bowling and are middle of the ACC standings. Pitt is pretty awful (other than playing lights out against Louisville) and are looking forward to the offseason. A lot of better options in this window. Predicted score: Duke 20 Pittsburgh 7.

Indiana (+3) at Purdue

Noon

The Old Oaken Bucket. Even with this being a rivalry game, it’s really not worth watching. Predicted score: Purdue 32 Indiana 13.

Miami-OH (-6.5) at Ball State

Noon

Redhawks are in. Cardinals are out. Let’s see if Mike Neu finally gets the axe like I’ve predicted for a few seasons now. Predicted score: Miami-OH 30 Ball State 28.

Texas A&M (+10.5) at #14 LSU

Noon

For two good teams (OK one quite good team and one OK team), this game does not mean a whole lot. The Aggies are bowling and playing under an interim coach. LSU would need a damn miracle to get into the New Year’s Six so should start packing for a Florida bowl game. Predicted score: LSU 45 Texas A&M 31.

Navy (+20) at SMU

Noon

Now with TSN pushing a lot to TSN+, games like this will almost never make it to the regular TSN channels again which sucks for people who don’t subscribe. It feels like it has finally come to the point where you have to either get one off the specialty packs, get TSN+ or go the IPTV route to see as much college football as you want as a Canadian. Anyway, Navy has two shots to go bowling and would like to close that out here. The Mustangs are in the American Championship with a win in Big D. Predicted score: SMU 48 Navy 20.

Troy (-17) at Southern Miss

Noon

Troy has no shot at the New Year’s Six and is already hosting the Sun Belt Championship. Southern Miss is home for the holidays. Meh. Predicted score: Troy 23 Southern Miss 8.

#2 Ohio State (+3.5) at #3 Michigan

Noon

Another huge version of The Game. Not a total surprise. The winner is in the Big Ten Championship and all but guarantees a spot in the playoff. And just like last year, the loser isn’t out with a loss depending on what happens on conference championship weekend. If GUS JOHNSON would ever pass out from lack of oxygen, this would be the game he would do it in. Predicted score: Michigan 28 Ohio State 24.

Saturday Afternoon

Wake Forest (+3) at Syracuse

2:00

The two worst teams in the ACC but it’s still important for one team. The Orange need a win here to somehow become bowl eligible. Wake would be just outside at five wins if they win here and could nab a spot due to their great APR score if it comes down to that. Predicted score: Syracuse 35 Wake Forest 15.

Southern vs. Grambling (in New Orleans)

2:00

Prairie View A&M has already clinched the SWAC West so this means nothing for either team other than bragging rights: both for the football teams and the bands. Predicted score: Southern 23 Grambling 18.

Colorado (+22) at Utah

3:00

Utah has been very good considering the sheer amount of injuries that team sustained. The Buffaloes season finally ends after the most hype ever given to a one-win team before the season began (and well into the season as well). Predicted score: Utah 39 Colorado 17.

BYU (+17.5) at #20 Oklahoma State

3:30

BYU needs to win here to be in a bowl game. It would be a pretty big upset if they did, but hey, crazier things have happened. The Pokes are holding on to an outside shot at the Big XII Championship. They need to win and have a few other things go their way but again, it’s not impossible. Predicted score: BYU 49 Oklahoma State 31.

Virginia Tech (-3) at Virginia

3:30

Last year’s Commonwealth Cup was cancelled after the murders of three Virginia players. Just having this game will bring back quite a few emotions I’m sure for the Cavs. For the Hokies, they can do the improbable and become bowl eligible if they beat their rivals. Predicted score: Virginia 40 Virginia Tech 35.

Northwestern (+6) at Illinois

3:30

If you had told me at the start of the season that this game would have Northwestern already going bowling and the Illini fighting for their bowl lives, I would have thought you had just went to a cannabis shop for the first time in your life and ate a few too many edibles. But here we are. The Wildcats have been amazing considering their offseason. David Braun has done a masterful job in Evanston. Bret Bielema on the other hand is still at the helm of a struggling Illini team. He will make it to 2024 but a loss here will put him on a much shorter leash. Predicted score: Illinois 31 Northwestern 23.

Maryland (-1.5) at Rutgers

3:30

I have this game showing in most homes in this area. I have no idea what will happen. Hell, I have Big Ten Network and three alternate BTNs and even then, one game usually gets left out for everyone. Why do they do this when they honestly don’t have to? Anyway, both teams are going bowling so are looking for momentum heading into the postseason and nothing else. Predicted score: Maryland 20 Rutgers 17.

#8 Alabama (-14.5) at Auburn

3:30

How close can the Tigers keep this game? The spread honestly seems way too low. Don’t even bother talking about an upset. Kind of a dud for the final SEC on CBS regular season game if you ask me. Now watch it be close deep into the fourth quarter. Predicted score: Alabama 41 Auburn 21.

#25 Liberty (-17) at UTEP

3:30

In what is feeling like a broken record, here’s another game that means very little. Sure, the Flames can finish an undefeated season with a win over the terrible Miners. Problem is they need quite a bit of help to get that coveted NY6 spot. I just can’t see it happening. Predicted score: Liberty 38 UTEP 20.

#15 Arizona (-11.5) at Arizona State

3:30

ASU is already home for the Christmas holidays. The Wildcats have to win here and hope Oregon has already lost the Civil War. So we will know going in whether this game means anything or not. Predicted score: Arizona 23 Arizona State 13.

James Madison (-9) at Coastal Carolina

3:30

Big game in the Sun Belt and unfortunately only for one team. The Dukes are almost guaranteed a bowl slot after all the bowl eligible teams get their spots. For the Chants, because of JMU’s ineligibility for the Sun Belt title, they win this and they will face Troy for the Sun Belt Championship. Predicted score: James Madison 42 Coastal Carolina 24.

Georgia Southern (+8.5) at Appalachian State

3:30

The Mountaineers will be scoreboard-watching and trying to pay attention to the task at hand. Not easy for sure. If CCU can’t beat JMU then App State, with a win, will head to Troy and face the Trojans as the champions of the Sun Belt East. Predicted score: Appalachian State 26 Georgia Southern 10.

Vanderbilt (+27) at #21 Tennessee

3:30

This would have been at least a bit more humourous being played at Vanderbilt’s stadium with their ongoing construction issues. Predicted score: Tennessee 49 Vanderbilt 21.

Washington State (+16.5) at #4 Washington

4:00

The Apple Cup continues to produce high drama. The Huskies’ dream season could come crashing down if they get upset by the Cougs. Wazzu has to win to become bowl-eligible. This should nab a lot of viewers until it gets out of hand. Predicted score: Washington 52 Washington State 17.

Saturday Primetime

#5 Florida State (-6.5) at Florida

7:00

If this had been discussed a week ago the spread might have been over 20 points. Instead, we will find out if the Noles can continue their success without Jordan Travis. The Gators could do the improbable by going bowling with a win here. Predicted score: Florida State 36 Florida 27.

South Alabama (-6) at Texas State

7:00

Two teams that are already bowl-eligible here. Good for them but it means that the NFL Network’s final game of the year will not get a whole lot of viewers. Predicted score: South Alabama 20 Texas State 14.

#18 Notre Dame (-26) at Stanford

7:00

I’m sorry but this is fucking hilarious. The final Pac-12 Network football game ever and it will feature Notre Dame. NOTRE DAME. Irish fans are going to be so damn pissed off trying to find a way to watch this. That alone makes this fun. Not quite worth watching a lot of but still, you’ll be seeing history at the end as the worst conference network closes its football doors for good. Predicted score: Notre Dame 42 Stanford 32.

#1 Georgia (-24) at Georgia Tech

7:30

A little Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. I love some of the names of these rivalries. There might be a bit of intrigue to see if UGA can cap off another undefeated regular season but other than that, you can avoid this one. Predicted score: Georgia 34 Georgia Tech 10.

Kansas (-6) at Cincinnati

7:30

Kansas is pretty good again this season. It’s nice to see. Cincinnati, on the other hand, may be regretting the Scott Satterfield hire although he deserves another season to see how they can truly compete in the Big XII. Predicted score: Kansas 28 Cincinnati 14.

Charlotte (+5.5) at USF

7:30

Speaking of teams playing much better than most thought they would, the Bulls are one win away from going bowling. They showed a lot in the near-upset of Alabama back in September and have scratched and clawed their way to this point. The only thing standing in their way? The bare arms of Biff Poggi and his Charlotte 49ers. Might not be as easy as USF thinks it should be. Predicted score: USF 31 Charlotte 30.

#24 Clemson (-7) at South Carolina

7:30

Gotta give Dabo Swinney from credit for turning around the team after that poor start. Either that or we give all the praise to Tyler from Spartanburg for lighting a fire under the Tigers. Either way, they come into this game as actually one of the hottest teams in the country. And they could actually make their season for a lot of fans by ruining South Carolina’s. The Gamecocks need the win to be bowl eligible. I don’t think this will be as feisty as their brawl-filled game many years ago but I could see it getting chippy. Predicted score: Clemson 41 South Carolina 24.

North Carolina (-3) at #22 NC State

8:00

North Carolina was supposed to be one of the teams to go to the ACC Championship this year. NC State was supposed to be fighting for a .500 record. Instead, they both come in at 8-3 with maybe something other than bragging rights on the line. Let’s be honest: teams would much rather go to a Florida destination than the Sun Bowl or Military Bowl. Predicted score: North Carolina 28 NC State 27.

Iowa State (+10) at #19 Kansas State

8:00

By this point, we will know if the Wildcats have any shot at the Big XII Championship. Other than that, neither team has anything to play for other than to win…FARMAGEDDON. Predicted score: Kansas State 50 Iowa State 34.

Saturday Late Night

Wyoming (-11) at Nevada

9:00

Yes, the odd CBS Sports Network Thanksgiving Saturday timeslot is back again. At least they do their best to cram in as much live sports as humanly possible into this day. Predicted score: Wyoming 35 Nevada 27.

California (+9.5) at UCLA

10:30

It’s really hit or miss with this final game of the regular season. Sometimes, it’s a massively important game that is must-watch and keeps everyone up well past Midnight. Other times we get games that have absolutely no importance. For once, it’s somewhere in the middle. Shockingly, the Bears are in line for a bowl spot if they can pull the upset on a Bruins team who might still be on a high after defeating USC for the Victory Bell this past weekend. Predicted score: UCLA 38 California 34.

That’s a lot of football. I am not complaining. At all. I would have thought TSN might have stepped up for the final regular season weekend but, alas, that is not the case. They are pushing TSN+ for college football so that is the future we have to live with. Oh well…progress, right? Ugh.

I will update the rankings when I see them. I figured I should get this post out in some form so my MACtion predictions don’t look too fishy. Enjoy the games everyone!

The Land of the Undefeated 8.0

Yep. It’s that time again. It’s the eighth (EIGHTH?) edition of looking at the undefeated teams left in college football around the halfway mark of the season. Fun stuff, right? One day I should go back and see how accurate I was with these predictions. Though to be honest, I think I would be scared to do so since my predictions have been so great, right (see Tigers, Clemson). Anyway, let’s get going with this!

#1 Georgia (6-0) – The Dawgs have, at times, looked a bit shaky. Tough wins over South Carolina and Auburn made it seem like this team may struggle at some point. Then they demolish Kentucky and it feels like all is normal again. I still think there is a loss in there but they will, once again, walk to another SEC East title and a berth in the SEC Championship. Predicted record: 11-1.

#2 Michigan (6-0) – Now here is a team that has not struggled. At all. In any sense. The Wolverines are just that good. I do, however, think they will lose a game this season (I have it being a loss to Penn State although it could just as easily be Ohio State). They will still make the Big Ten Championship and throttle whichever sad sack team comes out of the Big Ten West and head to the College Football Playoff. Predicted record: 11-1.

#3 Ohio State (5-0) – Speaking of tOSU, I figure they will also lose one game. I have them losing The Game to Michigan which would knock them out of a shot at the Big Ten Championship (in what could be the most scrutinized tiebreaker ever). The Buckeyes, though, have to quit with the slow starts or otherwise some other team is going to surprise them and it will be lights out for their national championship hopes. Predicted record: 11-1.

#4 Florida State (5-0) – They may end up dropping even more if they can’t show how dominant they really are. Then again, they may not have to since I honestly believe they will be the only undefeated team at the end of the regular season (can you smell those 2007 vibes?). Predicted record: 12-0.

#5 Oklahoma (6-0) – Quite a few people are suprised Oklahoma is doing this well. I figured that they would lose against Texas but would only have that one loss against them at this point. Look, Dillon Gabriel wasn’t going to be as bad as he was last season and the defense was definitely going to be better under Captain Defense himself, Brent Venables. Will they go the rest of the way unscathed. Eh…. Predicted record: 10-2.

#6 Penn State (5-0) – PSU really doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. They could go on a serious run, the likes which haven’t been seen in State College in quite a long time. It is Penn State, though. They are bound to lose one and I think they will to Ohio State (which would make for a fun three-way tie at 11-1). Predicted record: 11-1.

#7 Washington (5-0) – The Pac-12 is up for grabs. The worry is that the conference will cannibalize itself. I agree with that notion. Predicted record: 9-3.

#8 Oregon (5-0) – If you take out the weird Texas Tech game, the Ducks have looked awesome. They would seem to be on a fast track to the Pac-12 Championship if USC, Washington, UCLA, Oregon State and Washington State weren’t in their conference. If one Pac-12 team gets out with only one loss, I wonder if The Committee gives them a bit of a bump because of how difficult the road to get there would have been. Predicted record: 10-2.

#10 USC (6-0) – Now we get to the Trojans, the preseason Pac-12 favourites. Man, have they had a roller coaster season so far. Three close games in a row now for this team. And their defense is atrocious. If Lincoln Riley wants to stick with Alex Grinch as his defensive coordinator then so be it. It will most likely cost USC a trip to the CFP (if not also the New Year’s Six). Predicted record: 10-2.

#12 North Carolina (5-0) – Maybe this will finally be the Heels’ year. They are flying under the radar and playing really good football if you take away the game against Appalachian State where they survived in double overtime. Will they struggle with their ACC schedule? Looking at it, they probably should be 9-0 going into the Victory Bell game against Duke. Then all bets are off. Predicted record: 11-1.

#14 Louisville (6-0) – This is arguably the biggest surprise on this list. Not saying no one thought Louisville wouldn’t be good. Just not this good. I had them 4-2 at this point which is pretty good but not undefeated. I would say they now have the meat of their conference schedule remaining but realistically, if they can beat Duke, they could conceivably be 11-0 and playing Kentucky for the Governor’s Cup in late November. Sounds crazy but you never know. Predicted record: 10-2.

Air Force (5-0) – They have ascended to the top of the Group of Five pecking order…for now. They have Wyoming this weekend in what could be the biggest game of the season. Other than that, it could end up being a showdown with Boise State to end the regular season which will tell us whether the Falcons will have their first shot at the New Year’s Six or not. Predicted record: 10-2.

Liberty (5-0) – The Flames are playing….pretty good. Holding on to beat Sam Houston isn’t a good look though. They also might have the easiest schedule remaining of any team in FBS. So even if they ran the table it would probably mean nothing unless utter chaos happened. Predicted record: 10-2.

James Madison (5-0) – Now here’s a frustrating one. JMU is undefeated. Would be bowl-eligible except for the NCAA’s ridiculous rule that teams moving up from FCS must serve a two-year transition. The thing is, that is to keep teams from not having full FBS schedules from becoming bowl-eligible. The Dukes weren’t even like that last year in their first year in FBS. Hopefully someone comes to their senses and gives this team a shot at a bowl game, if not the Sun Belt Championship. Predicted record: 10-2.

14 teams left unscathed. We are in mid-October. I wouldn’t be surprised if we headed into November with only 5 or 6 undefeated teams. At least we know for sure that by early Sunday morning there will only be a maximum of 13 undefeated teams with Washington and Oregon meeting in a mega-matchup.

Tomorrow…yes, TOMORROW…is the start of the college football week. Conference USA continues their October Weekday Warrior schedule with two games. The Fun Belt adds to the mix with a game of their own. Wednesday then has two more C-USA games. Football every day folks. Gotta love it! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day!

Lists, Lists…..LISTS!

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. 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).
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

1. 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?
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

Most Important Games of the 2023 College Football Season

Yeah I’m that fucking excited.

Spoiler alert: UConn does not appear on this list. If you were expecting them, I apologize for their absence.

Alright it’s time to start getting on the next season’s worth of college football posts and I always start with the most important games of the upcoming season. Remember last season when I did this post? I didn’t do three or four posts. I did one long-ass post. So guess what? No, we are not going back to three or four posts. It’s one massive post once again. I think it worked last year so I’m going back to the newer well rather than the older well that did me….well, over a bunch of years.

Now some might say “Bossman, it’s too early for this.” To them I say “Eat shit.” FBSchedules has their helmet schedules out and preview magazines are out. I’ve almost ready all of the Lindy’s one and I have the Athlon one ready to go right after. The Phil Steele magazine, the god damn granddaddy of them all, will be here in the next couple of weeks. So yeah I’m getting ready and yeah, it’s time to talk some college football.

Remember how this goes: I am listing the most important games that will shape the outcome of the entire college football season. Sure, Army-Navy is a huge game but unless either team is undefeated going into that one, the game means very little in the grand scheme of things, bowl-wise or other.

So boys and girls (maybe), how do we always start this post? That’s right, with the ranking of the weeks of the season. It is sponsored by the letter R and the number 0. Every year it is usually pretty close to the same. Week 2 is not all of a sudden going to be the biggest week of the college football season. It just never happens. So here are those rankings followed by some witty and potentially insightful banter (a reminder that the week is listed by the Saturday it corresponds to):

1. Week 11 – November 11
2. Week 13 – November 25
3. Week 10 – November 4
4. Week 4 – September 23
5. Week 8 – October 21
6. Week 7 – October 14
7. Week 12 – November 18
8. Week 6 – October 7
9. Week 5 – September 30
10. Week 9 – October 28
11. Week 3 – September 16
12. Week 2 – September 9
13. Week 1 – September 2

Sweet Jesus, Week 1 looks fucking awful. I mean it’s the first full week of the season so I will be all in but still…it’s like college football has taken several steps backwards from a few years ago when Week 1 was about the fifth or sixth-best week of the season and there were five or six HUGE games. This season, the opening week is highlighted by LSU/Florida State which is great. Then the quality falls off a massive cliff with the next biggest game being the annual Labour Day ACC clash, this time with Clemson and Duke. Woof. Three weeks in November, as per usual, are at the top with Week 11 being the top week this season. It was the same thing five years ago as the week is crammed with huge conference games. I don’t know if I can even call it SEC Sleepwalk/Sleepover/Shitbreak Week anymore as Week 12, the penultimate regular season week, is again near the middle of the rankings. Also, I don’t rate Week Zero. But it will be a ton of fun since it will be the first college football action in over 7 months. So yeah my eyeballs will be fucking glued to Navy/Notre Dame out in Dublin, Ireland, Hawaii/Vanderbilt and UMass/New Mexico State of course!

OK just like last year I will not be going week-to-week. I’m just listing the top games. The top 35 (up from 30) most important games of the college football season. I’ll do this list and then in late November we will all watch a team like Arkansas or Iowa or NC State play in a game that could send them well on their way to the College Football Playoff. It is what it is. Let’s get to the list! For this list, any confirmed broadcast info will be noted. Of course, nothing for TSN will be confirmed until like the night before any of these games because fuck you that’s why.

1. Ohio State at Michigan (Week 13, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – Chances are this is essentially for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Next year, this might be for a first-round bye in the CFP. How times change. Either way, this is unequivocally the biggest game of the season and the one where FOX sends basically everyone that works under the sports umbrella to work on the 83-hour BIG NUDE SATURDAY.
2. LSU at Alabama (Week 10, 8:00, CBS) – Alabama is pretty much the go-to pick for CBS’s lone primetime game of the season for the SEC and this year will be no different. This is the final SEC on CBS primetime game and should be a great one as these two teams are, once again, the pillars of the SEC West. The winner here is almost guaranteed (jury is still out on Ole Miss and TAMU) a spot in Atlanta to try and dethrone Georgia (probably).
3. Michigan at Penn State (Week 11, Noon, FOX, confirmed) – This game, like the first game on the list, could have national championship implications. It really is just a hair below the top two games on this list. FOX is hitting it out of the park with big games this season. I think the Big Ten might be just fine not being on ESPN/ABC going forward.
4. LSU at Florida State (Week 1, Sunday, 7:30, ABC, confirmed) – Two games in the top four for LSU means they will have a very tough road to get back to having some semblance of a shot at the College Football Playoff (or even the New Year’s Six). This seems like it could finally be the year that FSU returns to the top of the ACC mountain as Mike Norvell has his most talented team in Tallahassee. I love seeing ABC put a great game on the night before Labour Day. At least Week One can always rely on that.
5. Georgia at Tennessee (Week 12, 3:30, CBS) – If Joe Milton III continues to throw piss rockets like he did against Clemson in the Orange Bowl, this could ascend to Game of the Year territory. The Vols may have the best chance to beat the Dawgs with the game being at what should be a raucous Neyland Stadium. Not confirmed but I would be shocked if this isn’t CBS’s choice for the SEC on CBS this week.
6. Penn State at Ohio State (Week 8, Noon, FOX) – Man, GUS JOHNSON is getting a great set of games this season to call (if my predictions hold up). This is the final game on this list in the three-team Big Ten East Round Robin Tournament El Fantastico to determine which team (if not two) go to the CFP. I would say the Nittany Lions are pretty good underdogs here but they finally have a quarterback who looks like he can throw the ball downfield a bit so you never know. tOSU has question marks at QB so this could be quite the interesting matchup.
7. Florida State at Clemson (Week 4, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Could the Noles be the favourite here? It’s possible. Unlikely but I wouldn’t go much past a pickem for this one. With the Big Ten leaving ESPN/ABC, these primetime ABC slots open up a lot. And really, it is still the biggest timeslot of the week. This is the year the ACC has to hopefully grab as many of these as possible as next year…yeah, the SEC may end up with all of them.
8. Tennessee at Alabama (Week 8, 3:30, CBS) – Not going to lie: it is going to feel very weird when the SEC isn’t on CBS every Saturday afternoon. I guess that’s where a huge Big Ten game will go but I can’t see them getting most of the big games because FOX gets their pick of the litter most weeks. Going to be very interesting to watch going forward. Man, I thought figuring out this year’s schedule was difficult. Next year’s is going to seriously tough.
9. Ohio State at Notre Dame (Week 4, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – The first non-conference affair on this list and it is a juicy one. Both teams should be undefeated coming into this one unless the Irish have an inexplicable loss like they had last season to Marshall or Stanford. If Touchdown Jesus pulls this one out, expect Sam Hartman to rocket up most Heisman lists.
10. Texas at Alabama (Week 2, 7:00, specialty pack) – This game is confirmed for ESPN but I have this funny feeling TSN won’t pick it up. Call it a CFL or US Open-based hunch. We shall see though. Let’s be clear: the Horns were fucking robbed of the win last year by the referees. This time they will have a chance to make up for that but it is not easy winning in Tuscaloosa. Ask almost every team that’s travelled there in the past decade-plus.
11. Utah at USC (Week 8, 7:30, ABC) – Hey, the Pac-12 has joined the party. This is the swansong season in the conference for the Trojans and they are hoping to win the conference championship in their final year. Winning games like these is a must for that to happen. This could be the game that either elevates Caleb Williams to college football history and only the second player to win two Heismans or destroy his chances at repeating.
12. Ohio State at Wisconsin (Week 9, 7:30, NBC) – Yeah I think NBC will get a couple good Big Ten games and this will be one of them it sounds like. Wisconsin has a new head coach and a new quarterback and a new offensive coordinator that won’t run the ball as much as Wisconsin is supposed to. Hmmm…that is going to feel very unAlvarez-like. At least the kids will get to jump around after the third quarter, testing the structure of Camp Randall like a bunch of engineers.
13. Washington at USC (Week 10, 3:30, specialty pack) – Again, I have this feeling that TSN will not show this game and that it will head to the specialty pack, much to the chagrin of regular Canadian cable subscribers (which I am not one of). It feels like either this game or the aforementioned Utes-Trojans game will be the game of the year in the conference and will decide at least one of the championship game participants (thanks to no divisions). It’s too bad FOX has their premiere game every week at Noon since this would be a great pick as their game of the week.
14. Ole Miss at Georgia (Week 11, 3:30, CBS) – Wouldn’t it be something if the Fighting Kiffins of Oxford upset UGA here? The entire college football world would be flipped upside down. And you know how I love upsets. We need another 2007!
15. Utah at Washington (Week 11, 3:30, TSN2) – Alright, the first game I predict will hit TSN that isn’t already on ABC. Kind of sad that TSN barely cares about their college football contract until bowl season when they suddenly show almost every bowl game despite also showing every World Juniors hockey game. Crazy. If Cam Rising is able to return for opening week then this could be a massive game. I am hoping for his sake (and for Utes fans’ sake) that is the case.
16. USC at Notre Dame (Week 7, 7:30, NBC, confirmed) – The traditional yearly matchup is back again and even with the Trojans moving to the Big Ten, this matchup will continue. By this point in the season, both of these teams should be in the Top 15 looking at a potential College Football Playoff berth. The loser here loses that and perhaps an NY6 spot.
17. Alabama at Texas A&M (Week 6, Noon, TSN3/TSN5) – OK I am sure you are looking at this and wondering if I suddenly developed brain damage. I truly believe that the Aggies will be a ton better than they were last season when they essentially bottomed out under Jimbo Fisher. Plus, the Aggies always play the Tide tough so they could throw a big-ass monkey wrench in the entire SEC West picture here with a win.
18. Notre Dame at Clemson (Week 10, 3:30, ABC) – OK so this is confirmed for ABC but the time is not confirmed. I am guessing it will be on in the afternoon with Kansas State-Texas being the ABC Primetime game. This could end up being switched if both the Irish and Tigers are undefeated going into this one. For once, Clemson isn’t the ACC favourite. It’s kind of refreshing. It will be interesting to see if Cade Klubnik, the next man up at quarterback, can lead the Tigers back to the promised land. I don’t see it but then again, I thought D.J. Uiagelelei was going to be the guy and he’s now out in the boonies of Oregon.
19. USC at Oregon (Week 11, 7:30, ABC) – Speaking of Oregon, the Trojans head there on Remembrance Day night (or I guess it’s Veterans Day down in the States). Yet another tough test for the Trojans. We all know what’s going to happen though. The best four or five Pac-12 teams will beat on each other and no team will get out unscathed so no team will go to the CFP yet again. That conference just loves to cannibalize itself.
20. Ole Miss at Alabama (Week 4, 3:30, CBS) – A bit of an early shit-test game for the Tide. A game that they should win but they may have trouble with because their opponent is so damn pesky and annoying. I mean it is Lane Kiffin’s boys so you expect the Ole Miss offense to chug along. Bet the over.
21. Oregon at Utah (Week 9, 7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Could the Utes fall back to the middle of the pack if they don’t have Cam Rising to start the season? Quite possibly. I mean seeing this game in the Top 25 games of the season means I clearly think Rising will be ready to play on opening night. If not, pray for the Utes since it could be a long season (comparatively…I mean they will still win 8 or 9 games regardless).
22. Washington at Oregon State (Week 12, 10:30, TSN2) – Hey remember when I mentioned D.J. Uiagelelei? Here’s where he ended up. The metropolis of Corvallis. The Beavs might actually have a contender if D.J. can do what he was supposed to do at Clemson. On the other side of the line, Michael Penix Jr. should be considered the Heisman favourite since I can’t see voters giving it to Caleb Williams again (unless he has an all-timer of a season).
23. Texas A&M at LSU (Week 13, 3:00, specialty pack) – I actually have this game on the SEC Network. Yeah it may sound weird but this has happened before. And that final week of the regular season is ridiculous for scheduling anyway. At least one of the conference networks ends up getting a beauty of a game. Now if this is somehow for the SEC West title then yeah, it won’t even sniff the SEC Network. But I feel it won’t be so it will end up there.
24. Oregon at Washington (Week 7, 8:00, FOX) – Last year’s game was crazy with the Huskies having a huge comeback win to keep their Pac-12 hopes alive and ruin Oregon’s. I wonder if Mario Cristobal wishes he was back in Eugene considering how piss poor his Miami Hurricanes did in his first season back with his alma mater.
25. Utah at Oregon State (Week 5, Friday, 9:00, FOX Sports One, confirmed) – And finally we get a game that, well, Canadians won’t get (unless you have IPTV or find some probably illegal stream). You know, for a stadium that’s been under construction and only holds 27,000, those games in Corvallis can sound VERY loud. Then again, when they start that chainsaw, that’s loud enough. You ever been near one of those? Sweet fucking Jesus they are loud with great ear protection so I can imagine what it’s like being within twenty feet of the thing.
26. LSU at Ole Miss (Week 5, Noon, TSN2) – A lot of people will feel like this is a game for second place in the SEC West but with Bama’s QB questions, this could hold a lot more importance than that. Not saying the division is a free-for-all but I have these two teams, Bama and even the Aggies having legitimate shots at winning the division so they can be pummeled by UGA in the SEC Championship.
27. Iowa at Penn State (Week 4, 7:30, CBS, confirmed) – The first game on this list that has the Big Ten on CBS (man that sounds weird). This is confirmed and I believe the Penn State Whiteout Game is also confirmed. To say it’s an intimidating sight for a visiting team would be an understatement.
28. South Carolina at Georgia (Week 3, 3:30, CBS, confirmed) – This may be the first game that feels like it might not be that close. Saying that, Shane Beamer has the Gamecocks playing great football and they have the enthusiasm and work ethic to give the Dawgs a very tough time. Problem is they are playing this game between the hedges and not at Williams-Brice. If UGA can’t win this by a bunch, the rest of the SEC East should take notice.
29. Oregon State at Oregon (Week 13, Friday, 8:30, FOX, confirmed) – This could be one of the biggest Civil War games ever. Oh wait, I can’t call it’s the Civil War, can I? Anyway, the winner of this game probably will have a good chance to be in the Pac-12 Championship.
30. Kansas State at Texas (Week 10, 8:30, FOX) – It took until the thirtieth game to get a Big XII conference game. Look, as much crap as the Pac-12 has taken over the Spring (and rightfully so), the Big XII might be at its weakest in a long time unless a few programs step up (Texas, Oklahoma, Baylor) or maintain what they did last season (Kansas State, TCU, Kansas). This conference should feel lucky that the Pac-12 is in such dire straits. The latest rumor has Colorado and Arizona headed to the Big XII and it wouldn’t surprise me but from a football standpoint…woof.
31. Texas A&M at Tennessee (Week 7, Noon, TSN3) – OK maybe I should have stopped at 30. No, no, I promised 35 for some strange reason and dammit I am going to pull through. I am actually looking forward to Texas A&M’s season for one reason…Bobby Fucking Petrino. At some point you know it will be a disaster in College Station. It is bound to happen. Until then though you have one of the best offensive minds in college football trying to push this Aggie team to the next level. Just tell him to steer clear of motorcycles and young female former athletes-turned-office staff.
32. Texas at TCU (Week 11, 7:00, FOX) – What a run the Horned Frogs had last year (if you don’t include the thrashing they took in the national championship game). They probably won’t be as good this season. To lose who they lost and somehow come back and do what they did would be almost impossible. Saying that, the Longhorns should not take this team lightly as they have struggled in the past with them even when TCU wasn’t that great. We should also definitely know by this point whether Quinn Ewers has completely taken that quarterback job or if Arch Manning’s time has arrived in Austin.
33. North Carolina at Clemson (Week 12, 7:30, ABC) – Look let’s not look past the Tar Heels. They have a Heisman candidate at quarterback in Drake Maye and sometimes that is enough to propel a team to an extra win or two, which is pretty much what UNC would need to get to the ACC Championship. Death Valley East is still Death Valley East and playing there at night is very difficult for opponents. But again, don’t look past the Heels and Mack Brown.
34. UCLA at USC (Week 12, 8:00, FOX) – Time once again for the Victory Bell and it is gonna feel weird. Final Victory Bell in the Pac-12. No DTR means possible trouble for the Bruins and if they can’t find a quarterback to lead them this season then this game has no right to be in the Top 35.
35. Clemson at South Carolina (Week 13, 7:00, TSN2) – My hope is that TSN does pick up the ball a bit for the final week of the season like they used to. It was 2019 when they were doing double digits’ worth of games for the final college football weekend. Now, we are lucky to get 4 or 5 which is crazy since there’s almost nothing to compete with it in the live sports arena. Anyway, it’s the Battle for the Palmetto State and it is usually a fun game that can get way too rough at times. Should be good. I hope.

Finished! Top 35 games of the season. I am sure there will be some that end up not coming close to being as important as I thought. That’s the nature of the game. Can’t always be right with these things. I will have another blog post shortly highlighting some other good (and perhaps not-so-good) games this season coming up shortly. 62 days left until Week Zero! Sure it’s not the best college football you will see all season but it will be college football so yeah I’m gonna fucking watch it all if I can! Have a great week, everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Appalachian State	7:30 PM

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

Thursday

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

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

Friday

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

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

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#14 Syracuse at #5 Clemson	Noon
Indiana at Rutgers	Noon
ULM at Army	Noon
#21 Cincinnati at SMU	Noon
Kansas at Baylor	Noon
Houston at Navy	Noon
Iowa at #2 Ohio State	Noon
UT-Martin at #3 Tennessee	Noon

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

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

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
West Virginia at Texas Tech	3:00 PM
#20 Texas at #11 Oklahoma State	3:30 PM
Boston College at #13 Wake Forest	3:30 PM
Northwestern at Maryland	3:30 PM
#7 Ole Miss at LSU	3:30 PM
Western Michigan at Miami-OH	3:30 PM
Purdue at Wisconsin	3:30 PM
Memphis at #25 Tulane	3:30 PM
BYU at Liberty	3:30 PM
#9 UCLA at #10 Oregon	3:30 PM
Arizona State at Stanford	4:00 PM
Vanderbilt at Missouri	4:00 PM

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

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

Saturday Primetime

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

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

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

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

Saturday Late Night

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

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

Big Games O’ The Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Psycho Game of the Week

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

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

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

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

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

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

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

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

The Bossman Top 25!

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

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

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

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

Injuries, Injuries, Injuries…and the Week 7 College Football TV Schedule

It happens every year. Some of the best college players get injured and teams have to go without them for a game up to an entire season. Here’s a short list of just some of the players who have gone down to injury so far this season:

• Bryce Young (Alabama) – Injured his shoulder this past Saturday and is questionable for the most important game of the year so far (vs. Tennessee).
• Zach Calzada (Auburn) – A shoulder injury against Missouri has knocked Calzada out for the rest of the season.
• Charlie Brewer (Liberty) – Had issues with his thumb in their opener against Southern Miss and has had surgery to repair it. Could be back in a couple weeks.
• Cade McNamara (Michigan) – A leg injury could have McNamara out for the season.
• Chris Autman-Bell (Minnesota) – All that is known is that he had a lower-body injury that he sustained in the Gophers’ victory over Colorado that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
• Tyler Buchner (Notre Dame) – The man who was supposed to start for the Irish has been knocked out for the season with a joint sprain in his shoulder.
• Cedric Tillman (Tennessee) – The Vols wide receiver might return before the end of October if his ankle is strong enough.

Hell it’s got to the point that injuries are being reported that the players are denying. There was a report that Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels would be out for the season with a shoulder injury: a report that Daniels thought was interesting and news to him. He’s still doubtful for the Jayhawks’ next game but he is disputing that he would be done for the season.

Also, there are some teams that are suffering because of the sheer amount of injuries. Want to know why Wisconsin might not be as good as had been advertised? Currently they have seventeen players out with injuries. Seventeen. Good god.

Part of the point of all this is to say football is a contact sport. Players will get hurt. So for the powers that be to essentially want to add games to the schedule makes the season more of a war of attrition than anything. Until North Dakota State started their run of FCS championships, that’s what the FCS playoffs was. The healthiest team won and they were almost never the best (or second-best or third-best or fourth-best, etc.) team going in. And we know what college football media can be like. They will be all over the injury angle if, say, the top three teams in an expanded College Football Playoff don’t win it all because of injuries to important players. It’ll happen. You just watch.

OK that was enough of a rant. Time for what you came here for. Some hot college football schedule action. Or more like slightly warm since the weather has started to change.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Louisiana at Marshall	7:30 PM

Hey, we have our first instance of Fun Belt football this season! I figured both of these teams would be better than they have been so far. Marshall is trying to make a name for itself in its first season in the Sun Belt, whereas Louisiana is trying their hardest to get back to the Sun Belt Championship for a fourth consecutive time.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Temple at UCF	7:00 PM
Baylor at West Virginia	7:00 PM

Neither of these games should be close; however, we know what Thursday Night Football has been like so far this season so pick your poison.

Friday

		US	Canada
Brown at Princeton	7:00 PM
Navy at SMU	7:30 PM
UTSA at FIU	8:00 PM

Woof. This is….technically a schedule with three football games on it. Hopefully one of them is close.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Iowa State at #22 Texas	Noon
Minnesota at #24 Illinois	Noon
Colgate at Army	Noon
Auburn at #9 Ole Miss	Noon
#19 Kansas at Oklahoma	Noon
Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina	Noon
#10 Penn State at #5 Michigan	Noon

Alright now this is what I’m talking about. If there was a ever a need for a college football-style RedZone channel, this would be the week for it. The sheer amount of good-to-great games this week is staggering. And it starts here with PSU-Michigan in a massive Big Ten East game. Kansas gets to prove that they really are for real this season against an average Sooners team. And how about Coastal Carolina? It may be the first of a bunch of national games for them if they keep winning.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
California at Colorado	2:00 PM
#8 Oklahoma State at #13 TCU	3:30 PM
#15 NC State at #18 Syracuse	3:30 PM
#3 Alabama at #6 Tennessee	3:30 PM
Ohio at Western Michigan	3:30 PM
Arkansas at BYU	3:30 PM
Maryland at Indiana	3:30 PM
Vanderbilt at #1 Georgia	3:30 PM
Tulane at USF	4:00 PM
Wisconsin at Michigan State	4:00 PM
Arizona at Washington	5:30 PM

Great early schedule is followed by an even better afternoon schedule, if you can believe it. I guess you could say the highlight is Bama-UT but you also have the Pokes and Horned Frogs as well. Undefeated teams falling everywhere by force! The fact that NC State-Syracuse is on the ACC Network has made no one bat an eye. Normally, people would be a bit outraged by this. But there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s how good this schedule is in this timeslot. Oh and Vandy-UGA might be essentially over by 4:15 if you are a sadist.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Utah State at Colorado State	7:00 PM
LSU at Florida	7:00 PM
ULM at South Alabama	7:00 PM
#4 Clemson at Florida State	7:30 PM
Nebraska at Purdue	7:30 PM
Memphis at East Carolina	7:30 PM
Stanford at Notre Dame	7:30 PM
#16 Mississippi State at #22 Kentucky	7:30 PM
North Carolina at Duke	8:00 PM
#7 USC at #20 Utah	8:00 PM

And then we have yet another huge game. The Trojans get a huge test heading to Utah. Win this and they might be headed for a Victory Bell showdown with UCLA that has CFP implications. Maybe Florida State can prove something against Clemson and upset the ACC apple cart while doing it.

One game I am looking forward to is the battle for first place in the Big Ten West between…Nebraska and Purdue? Yep! Oh my. Oh and who thought putting Stanford and Notre Dame in primetime was a good idea?

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Washington State at Oregon State	9:00 PM
Air Force at UNLV	10:30 PM

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd the week ends with a thud. I guess there’s always a Hawaii Test if you feel the need to stay up extremely late.

Big Games O’ The Week

Alabama at Tennessee (3:30, CBS) – So many games could be the Game of the Week but I went with this one mostly because the Vols are really good and if Bryce Young doesn’t end up playing, this is ripe for a huge upset. If you had said at the start of the season that there was even a possibility of an undefeated Georgia having to beat an undefeated Tennessee to win the SEC East I would have laughed. Well, who’s laughing now? Uh…not me, I guess. Bama doesn’t want to lose because it brings all the teams that are essentially eliminated in the SEC West back into play along with Ole Miss who is nipping at their heels. Huge stakes.

Penn State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Let’s call it 1B to Bama-Tennessee’s 1A. Or more like 1E because it is a bit down the list from that game. Luckily it’s in the Big Noon Saturday spot…or more like Big Blue Saturday. Seriously, what is FOX’s deal with Michigan? They in love or something? Anyway, winner faces Ohio State for the Big Ten East title. Loser, though, is still not out of the race for, well, anything really.

Oklahoma State at TCU (3:30, ABC/TSN2) – I am praying for people who have to rely on their PVR this weekend. Decisions, decisions. Who would have thought there would be three games between undefeated teams this week. Nobody. Especially this game. Realistically, this could end up being a Big XII Championship preview if things shake out right for both teams. Either way, big New Year’s Six implications with this one.

USC at Utah (8:00, FOX) – For the first time in quite a while, USC is in a game that truly matters. The Utes are used to these kinds of games now and the MUSS is no joke for visiting teams. The Trojans can continue to drive a final stake in the Pac-12 heart with a win here. Poor Conference of Champions.

NC State at Syracuse (3:30, specialty pack) – The Wolfpack’s only loss is to Clemson and the Orange have made it through the first part of their schedule unscathed. The winner here still has a shot at usurping Clemson at the top of the ACC Atlantic, especially Syracuse. I don’t know if either team is ready for College Football Playoff conversation but it will be there for the winner.

Mississippi State at Kentucky (7:30, specialty pack) – The Wildcats have stumbled a bit since their hot start while MSU is soaring under Mike Leach as Will Rogers throws the ball like fifty times a game. At some point Rogers’ arm will fall clean off but until then, Leach will ride him as the captain of the offense. If the Bulldogs can win this one, is a New Year’s Six spot in their future? They will be in the conversation for sure.

Minnesota at Illinois (Noon, Big Ten Network) – The Illini in the Games of the Week list? Wow, this year has been crazy but this might be over the top. A win here and Bert’s Boys would be the odds-on favourite to win the Big Ten West and get absolutely slaughtered by whoever wins the Big Ten East. Fun times. I can’t wait for divisions to be abolished for good.

Clemson at Florida State (7:30, ABC/TSN2) – Holy crap we’re still going with this. So many good games. Now, to be honest, this might not be as good as the rest on this list but if the Noles decide to show up and cause problems, you never know. This could cause the greatest earthquake in the rankings if FSU pulls off the upset.

Psycho Game of the Week

California at Colorado (2:00, Pac-12 Network) – Good lord, why would you torture yourself with this? I mean with this game you have to put forth more effort to even watch it. This is definitely for psychos.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

UTSA at FIU (Friday, 8:00, CBS Sports Network) – Most would put Vandy-Georgia in this spot but may I present to you this affair. UTSA is a good Group of Five team. FIU, despite winning two games this season, is not a good team. At all. The Roadrunners will make the Golden Panthers look like then Wile E. Coyotes in this one.

Fun-Time Stats of the Week

• Nick Saban is 15-0 vs. Tennessee.
• Mack Brown has won 11 straight Victory Bells over Duke during his two stints at North Carolina.
• Oklahoma has won 17 straight games over Kansas but has failed to cover the spread in three of the last four meetings.

The Degenerate Portion of Our Show

Oh god I picked Oklahoma last week to win. OK let’s just get going on this week’s picks. I can’t believe I did that.

• Baylor (-3.5) over West Virginia
• Coastal Carolina (-12) over Old Dominion
• Michigan (-7) over Penn State
• Ole Miss (-14.5) over Auburn
• Maryland (-11.5) over Indiana
• BYU (+1.5) over Arkansas (and the outright victory)
• Michigan State (+7.5) over Wisconsin (and the upset!)
• Washington (-14) over Arizona
• ULM (+17) over South Alabama (but the Jaguars will win a close one)
• Kentucky (+4) over Mississippi State (and the win!)
• Nebraska (+14) over Purdue (but the Boilermakers will win the game)
• North Carolina (-7) over Duke
• UNLV (+10) over Air Force (the Falcons will grind this one out but it won’t be easy)

We are finally into true mid-week college football! And this is shaping up to be a monster week, one that could shape the rest of the season. Enjoy the games everyone!

Most Important Games of the 2021 College Football Season – IV

If you don’t know who these guys are well….you’ve never watched the hit HBO series, Entourage.  Look, it’s a fun show that I actually really enjoyed.  If you didn’t take it seriously, it was a good watch.  I also remember it very well because I had bought the box set years ago and then decided to sell it for $100.  Exchanged the DVDs for the money in a somewhat seedy Tim Horton’s parking lot and left.  When I got home, I realized I was holding four $20 bills.  I emailed the guy and of course he never responded.  I was less than pleased.  Anyway, I am going to do a kind of rating system like I’ve done every year for the final important games post.  Hopefully you understand and perhaps even agree with who I assign to each week.  If not…well, it really doesn’t mean much since some people I know think Entourage was shit.

We’re at the end of this exercise for this season.  Final four weeks of the regular season.  And you know what?  All four are at least decent weeks with two of them being the best of the season.  I have to retire SEC Sleepwalk Saturday into the rafters of Bossman Arena (The Bossman Dome?  Oriole Park at Bossman Yards?).  Can’t use the term since that week is at least decent now.  I kind of miss it……ok I lied.  I like this better.  Let’s begin!

Week 10

This week is seriously good.  The number one weekend of college football for the 2021 season.  It doesn’t get any better than this (on paper).  So, of course, this has to be represented by the best character on Entourage, by far, Ari Gold.  If it wasn’t for Jeremy Piven’s work as the most ridiculous agent in television history, Entourage is not nearly as good of a show.

Game of the Week: LSU at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – There are four games that could inhabit this top spot and all are deserving.  This is one of the deepest non-American Thanksgiving weekends in college football in recent memory.  And it is LSU.  I know they are down from their turn as national champs but if anyone understands how to beat Bama, it’s Ed Orgeron.  Either that or this is a blowout by dinnertime.

Other Really Important Games: Oregon at Washington (10:30, specialty pack) – When a late night game is the number two game of the week, you know it’s either a really weak week or a very strong week.  Nothing in between.  Now this game could end up in a lot of different spots.  Hell, they could end up as the BIG NOON SATURDAY game and have a 9:00 am local start which I’m sure everyone at Husky Stadium would love.  This is where the schedule predictions are really a stretch unless I can use an already set game as evidence for my choice (which is usually still a bad prediction but whatever).

Texas at Iowa State (Noon, FOX) – This is the game that, at this point, I have being the BIG NOON SATURDAY game.  Obviously that could change but I would be shocked if FOX passes on this game unless ABC gets it for primetime.  This is essentially the game that will probably determine who faces Oklahoma at JerryWorld in December.  The Big XII, not surprisingly, has fewer marquee games than the rest of the conferences.  And yes, realignment and them expanding would help that.  To say it wouldn’t is laughable.  Maybe they should make a shocking first move and invite Arizona and Arizona State, just to see what they say.

Clemson at Louisville (3:30, ABC) – Louisville looked good last year.  I say this every year but one of these times, Clemson is going to be knocked off their perch for real.  None of this one loss during the season but still get out of the ACC crap.  More like possibly not even going to the ACC Championship kind of thing.  Yeah, I said it.

Ohio State at Nebraska (8:00, BTN) – Just like the Pac-12 Network, the Big Ten Network gets a great game or two every year.  It’s mostly to make sure each team gets their two games on the network (with one having to be a conference game).  But, in another way, it is to also shine a spotlight on the network to remind people that, hey, conference networks can be good sometimes as well.  So I have put this game here and it wouldn’t surprise me if it stayed here.  I am not a Husker fan but any stretch of the imagination, but I really do hope they can keep it within 30.

Auburn at Texas A&M (7:00, specialty pack) – I still think back to the Aggies playing the Tide early in the season.  Say they win that game.  They could actually be undefeated at this point and looking at the College Football Playoff!  Even with one loss this game is mucho important for the Aggies.  Probably not as important for Auburn as the Gus Bus seems to be having some transmission problems these days.  UPDATE: Man I’m really not ready for the season.  Gus Malzahn is at UCF.  Bryan Harsin is now at Auburn.  Hopefully the mass transit system in Orlando is better than it was in Auburn.

USC at Arizona State (8:00, FOX) – OK if there is a game (IF!) that would be put on BIG DAMN NOON SATURDAY from the Pac-12, this might be the one.  For now I have it in the primetime FOX timeslot since ABC will probably go with a Big Ten game meaning FOX may actually win primetime for once.  Man, it feels like I might need to change this entire week around.  I will be honest, this was probably the toughest week to map out and, as you can see, I’m still not too sure of my choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Indiana at Michigan (3:30, specialty pack) – Don’t laugh.  I think there is almost no way Michigan is as bad as they were last season.  I hate using the fucked-up season of last year as an excuse but for the Wolverines it may be true.  Now watch them lose this one by 40 and I am off watching whatever’s on the ACC Network to pass the time.

Best Group of Five Game: Tulsa at Cincinnati (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack) – It’s either this or Tulane-UCF on Saturday.  I picked this one because this game should end up on a network we can watch whereas I have Tulane-UCF on ESPN+.  After last year’s shocking Tulsa season, it will be interesting to see if the Golden Hurricane can duplicate the feat or if Cincy shows their superiority in the American.

Worst Power Five Game: Kansas State at Kansas (Thursday, 8:00, FOX Sports One) – You know what?  This is fine.  Do I really need to see this game?  Not really (as long as there is other football on at the time and this game isn’t close).

Week 11

This week is the worst of the bunch but still pretty good.  And let’s be honest: are there any really bad characters on Entourage other than Sasha Grey?  I don’t really think so.  I would say this is LLOYD but I think he’s not this bad.  This will be Vinny Chase.  Yes, despite the fact he’s supposed to be the main character of the show, he seems like the least important, ya know?  Saying that, he is still VERY important to Entourage as this week is to the regular season.

Game of the Week: Arizona State at Washington (6:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Um……………..I don’t know what to say.  Honestly there’s a good possibility this is not on the P12N but this is a first on here.  I’d have to look but I am pretty positive no conference network has been in this spot until now.  History has been (possibly) made!  And if this doesn’t tell you this is the thinnest week of this bunch, I don’t know what will.

Other Really Important Games: Michigan at Penn State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK this fully about Penn State and almost not about Michigan at all.  I’m actually kind of curious about the Nittany Lions since they look like they should be in the Top 10 early on if not in the preseason poll.  But I’m honestly racking my brain trying to figure out what talent they have that would make it so they are that kind of contender right off the hop.  And I’m coming up with nothing.  God, I need a preview magazine.  The college football part of my brain is turning to mush.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss (3:30, CBS) – No Bama?  No Georgia?  No LSU?  And it’s still this high on the list?  Count me interested.  Really though, these are two teams to watch as both are at least New Year’s Six contenders this season despite being the horrendously tough SEC West.

Georgia at Tennessee (7:00, TSN3) – There is a part of me that hopes Tennessee can pull this off.  Just to see the reaction of fans and the media…and Twitter.  I’m sure all the discourse would be rational and everyone would take it in stride…….BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Northwestern at Wisconsin (8:00, FOX) – I was so close to putting this in the section above.  But I just can’t.  I have this feeling that Northwestern might not be as good as some are saying and/or Wisconsin will regress a bit towards the back end of the Top 25.  This could end up on *deep breath* BIG NOON SATURDAY because of the lack of options.

Best Group of Five Game: UCF at SMU (7:00, specialty pack) – The AAC continues to deliver and this one is no exception.  I don’t know about SMU being a contender in the AAC West this year but it does seem relatively wide open.  The East, on the other hand is UCF chasing Cincinnati and everyone else chasing UCF.

Worst Power Five Game: Duke at Virginia Tech (7:30, specialty pack) – I feel almost bad putting a Hokies game here especially when it’s in Blacksburg.  But Duke might just be that bad.

Week 12

Better than the previous week but not by a lot.  Enough for it shed it’s SEC Sleepwalk Saturday moniker.  God rest your terrible scheduling soul.  You can go two ways with this.  The first is to say this is represented by Turtle and Johnny Drama.   Two important characters who’s stories are sometimes more important than whatever the main idea of the episode happens to be.  Or you can go with Sloan and Ari’s wife.  Sloan and Ari’s wife.  Yes, please.

Game of the Week: Iowa State at Oklahoma (7:30, ABC) – This feels like almost a guarantee for ABC in primetime.  Possibly a preview of the Big XII Championship.  And really, that’s not as big of a deal as people make it out to be.  It happens so damn often that you almost expect it now.  Also, it’s a huge plus for Sooners fans since they will be able to watch their team start playing a game not before Noon!

Other Really Important Games: Texas at West Virginia (Noon, FOX) – *big deep breath* BIG FUCKIN’ NOON SATURDAY!!!!  I would laugh if somehow the Cyclones-Sooners game ends up in this timeslot but I feel pretty safe about these two picks.  By this point we will have a pretty good idea if Sark is the real deal in Austin and if not-Dana Holgorsen can keep the ‘Eers trending in the right direction.

Michigan State at Ohio State (3:30, specialty pack) – OK I am giving Mel Tucker another chance.  OK not just me.  Makes me sound way more important than I am.  I predict that Sparty will be better than last year, maybe not by much, but enough to give the Buckeyes a scare through at least two-and-a-half quarters.  If ESPN gets this game (which I predict) they have to hope for it to be close.  If that happens watch a shit-ton of people move over to the four-letter network.

UCLA at USC (8:00, FOX) – Hey maybe the Victory Bell (or at least this version of it since there seems to be a bunch) could be exciting and important this season!  Isn’t it nice when both of these teams are playing well?  Unless you’re a fan of one of the other teams in the Pac-12 South, this is a good thing for the conference.  This could be Chip Kelly’s second coming out party kinda sorta.  Or Clay Helton’s last stand.  Or neither.  Who knows?

Oregon at Utah (10:30, specialty pack) – Honestly this could move to Thursday or Friday night and be a late night offering of FS1.  That would honestly suck since it’s always nice to have a really good game on the late night sked.  Otherwise it feels like I am staying up past 2 in the morning for little reason.  I mean I’m gonna do it anyway but this at least gives me some semblance of justification for my irrational choices.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Minnesota at Indiana (8:00, BTN) – Minnesota is a bit of a mystery to me.  But with the Big Ten’s version of Dana Holgorsen coaching them in P.J. Fleck, they will always be at least a bit better than advertised.  These are the kind of games that the Hoosiers have to win if they want any shot at the NY6 this season.

Best Group of Five Game: SMU at Cincinnati (Noon, specialty pack) – Yeah I had to go down the list a bit to find the best G-5 game.  This will probably end up being a blowout but it was either this or Louisiana-Liberty.  Or maybe Memphis-Houston.  Yeah, not exactly great choices here.

Worst Power Five Game: Arizona at Washington State (Friday, 9:00, Pac-12 Network/DAZN) – Very rarely do you see a Pac-12 game here but Jesus Christ this looks like it would suck-diddly-uck.  Wazzu isn’t the Wazzu we knew and loved a couple seasons ago and, well, Zona hasn’t been relevant in quite a long time.  Lucky for us, Memphis-Houston and Air Force-Nevada (and perhaps even Kansas-TCU) will be on around the same time.  OK that’s sad.

Week 13

The final weekend.  The four-day stretch where I am at my least productive possibly all year because I watching FOOTBAW.  This is nooooooooot quite the best week of the season but it might be the most important.  For that reason, this week is represented by E.  Not the drug although…no forget it.  E, Vince’s manager.  Eric.  Yeah.  I’d say the most important guy in the quartet for Entourage.  And I stand by that choice.

Game of the Week: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State (3:30, specialty pack) – This could move into the ABC primetime slot depending on what is left over for ABC to show.  If they don’t have to show a Big Ten or Pac-12 game then I can definitely see it.  I mean it’s Bedlam.  Usually good.  Usually.  And the Sooners hate going to Stillwater.  Remember that.  The Fighting Mullets could drop OU out of the Big XII Championship if the opportunity arises.

Other Really Important Games: Ohio State at Michigan (Noon, FOX) – Most years this would be at least in the running to be the Game of the Week.  Instead it drops into this section and honestly, for this season, it’s all because Ohio State is still quite good.  But without Justin Fields, how will the Buckeyes’ passing game be?  That will be the big question for this team.  If that has worked itself out by this point, look out because this could be over by 1:00.

Alabama at Auburn (3:30, CBS) – The Iron Bowl is relegated to this spot.  You can thank Auburn taking a step back for that.  Like the tOSU-UM game, this could be a blowout.  I think the one thing at least helping the Tigers is that it is at Jordan-Hare and not in Tuscaloosa.  Usually that’s not a bother for the Tide but this is Auburn.  I’m sure the fans aren’t exactly cordial to them.  I wonder if this becomes a shoo-in in a couple years when the SEC goes to ABC/ESPN to be the primetime ABC game on American Thanksgiving weekend going forward.

Texas A&M at LSU (7:00, TSN2) – There is no chance they can recreate that insane seven overtime affair from a couple seasons ago.  Makes me sad.  I mean a 3:30 game or a 7:00 game going seven overtimes?  Sure.  A late night game going seven overtimes?  God help me.  I mean I’ll stay up and try not to pass out but man that would be difficult.

North Carolina at NC State (Friday, 7:30, ABC) – Black Friday’s premier game is in Raleigh this year.  Everyone in the media wants to hop on Mack Brown’s dick (not literally) but ignore that the Wolfpack could very well sneak up the middle and cause a lot of trouble in the ACC.  The Heels are a legit CFP contender whereas Dave Doeren hopes to get a massive contract extension and he would probably get it if he can will NCSU to the New Year’s Six.

TCU at Iowa State (Friday, 3:30, FOX) – The Big XII continues to take advantage of Black Friday although the other Power Five conferences are waking up to it.  This could be the game that puts the Cyclones into the Big XII title game or ends their chances early.

Penn State at Michigan State (Noon, BTN) – Will this ultimately end up on the Big Ten Network?  Well, I was shocked to see FS1 pick up Utah State-New Mexico for the odd 1:00 start time.  So if this game stays in it’s Noon timeslot the amount of options are dwindling.  If both teams are doing well, maybe a push to get it to ABC.

Sneaky-Good Underrated Game: Kentucky at Louisville (7:00, specialty pack) – Unless one or both of these teams has an outside shot at a NY6 bid, this game will most likely fall to the ACC Network.  Kind of sad since this is the first time both of these teams will be potentially good at the same time in quite a while.

Best Group of Five Game: Boise State at San Diego State (Friday, Noon, CBS) – That is not a misprint.  This game will kickoff on Black Friday at Noon.  Which makes it a 9:00 am local kickoff.  We knew this was coming but it’s still a bit jarring to see it confirmed.  Expect FOX and CBS do this more in the future now that they have essentially split the Mountain West conference football contract between them.

Worst Power Five Game: Pittsburgh at Syracuse (12:30, specialty pack) – Don’t be surprised if this gets moved to Black Friday.  Remember when these two teams played in the Big East?  I watched a fair amount of Big East football when I was younger because the Noon Big East game was one of the few games we got in this area pretty much every Saturday.  Now, we have choice.  So I will choose not to watch this unless it’s a good game late.

Weeks 14 and 15

No point in rating these weeks.  Week 15 is Army-Navy which is always fun.  I still believe that one of these days, Navy will be 12-0, coming off a conference championship and having to play Army to finish their season.  Imagine if they lose?  Holy shit that would be massive!  Again, the Pac-12 has their conference championship on a Friday.  That conference perplexes me sometimes.  There was a time where the SEC Championship was rumoured to move to primetime on CBS.  Instead it is confirmed to be back in the afternoon at its normal 4:00 time.  I have a feeling the ACC will move their game out of primetime and go either with the Noon(ish) timeslot or up against the SEC since you have to wonder how many viewers they are losing to the Big Ten most years.

The important games blog posts are complete!  Done and dusted!  Still haven’t received my Athlon magazine.  Haven’t phoned Phil Steele to get that magazine.  Haven’t gone to Indigo to look for Lindy’s or Street and Smith.  Life has got in the way so I just haven’t had that chance.  Soon.  And then it’s probably all I will read about between now and late August when the season begins.

Next up is the network specific posts.  Remember, “Card Subject to Change”…meaning I will be wrong more than I am right…possibly.  But the fact that I am about to do these posts means we are getting a bit closer to the season.  We are 77 days away from Week Zero.  Feels like still such a long time.

Everyone have a great weekend!

The 2017 College Football Coaching Hot List – Sponsored by the Lane Kiffin Redemption Story

 

Yep. This guy again.

He’s on the road back to redemption and he had one of the greatest firings of all-time, being shitcanned on an airport tarmac while at USC. Nice!  I love stories like that.

It’s HOT SEAT TIME!  Last year, two of my four top selections and three of my top six were sent packing.  Unfortunately some coaches (like Craig Bohl) made me look like a fool by being really successful.  Thanks a lot Craig.  Like the haircut though.

Alright, here we go with the list.  I have ordered this (like last year) from most likely to be in the unemployment line to least likely:

Almost Guaranteed Shitcanning

1. Paul Haynes (Kent State) – He was #4 on my list last season.  How he kept his job is beyond me.  He just was put into a bad situation when he had to replace Darrell Hazell (who went on to do sweet fuck all at Purdue himself).  Needed to keep his job – A god damn miracle.  Prediction – Mid-season shitcanning and perhaps a year off of coaching altogether.
2. Lance Leipold (Buffalo) – Let’s stay in the MAC shall we?  Leipold came into much fanfare (well as much as you can get in the MAC).  He had guided Wisconsin-Whitewater to what seemed like a bajillion D-III titles.  His first year in Buffalo showed promise.  This past season not so much.  I can’t see this ending well for Sir Lance-a-not-so-much.  Needed to keep his job – vying for bowl eligibility in the final weekend.  Prediction – Scraping the bottom of the MAC barrel and heading back to FCS at the highest (if not back to D-III).
3. Todd Graham (Arizona State) – I remember when this guy liked to hop from job to job because he could. He was a good head coach and many programs wanted to have him.  Now he will be hopping to his next job but not of his own volition.  Needed to keep his job – Bowl eligibility and a victory over Arizona.  Prediction – 3 wins and who really cares at that point if the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats or not (see below for the reason why).
4. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) – Looks matter.  How do I know?  Well, many things in my life that I won’t get into now.  Also, Kute Kliff Kingsbury.  Here’s a guy who hit his high point halfway through his first season in Lubbock and is still around.  Why?  If it’s not his looks he must have damning photos of the athletic director in a compromising position.  Needed to keep his job – Some semblance of defense from his squad.  Prediction – Thousands of female college football fans crying and taking his offensive acumen to the FCS.

Probable Shitcanning

5. Sean Kugler (UTEP) – He was good for a soundbite or three when UTEP was good that one season.  Well, good enough in a Conference USA kind of way.  Since then, El Paso has once again become a college football outpost that no one wants to be in. Needed to keep his job – bowl eligibility.  Prediction – I can’t see them winning more than one game so this may happen during the season rather than wait for the misery to be over.
6. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) – He seems to be on this list a lot.  But he is never in the almost-guaranteed-to-be-fired part.  He just hasn’t seemed to recreate the magic when Johnny Manziel was around.  And yes, a big part was Gianni Party’s play but Sumlin had done wonders in Houston and appeared to be doing them in College Station.  That may not be the case anymore.  Needed to keep his job – 9 wins and be at least on the cusp of contending in the SEC West.  Prediction – 7 wins and the top Group of Five opening next season for Mr. Sumlin.
7. Mark Whipple (UMass) – When is UMass heading back to FCS?  Whenever it is, I can’t foresee Coach Whipple being there when it happens.  Needed to keep his job – at least 4 wins and to stay competitive in more games.  Prediction – 2 wins and a quiet exit.
8. Rich Rodriguez (Arizona) – Remember what I said above about Todd Graham?  I think RichRod is also in a hot seat but not nearly as hot as T-Graham’s.  No improvement in the desert may seal his fate though.  Needed to keep his job – being better than Arizona State.  Prediction – will not be better than Arizona State…and will be fired for it (along with many other reasons).
9. Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) – Kelly suffers from two things: 1) the Irish got to the national championship not too long ago and 2) the expectations in South Bend are ALWAYS at least 10 wins.  If he wasn’t such an insufferable prick at times I would feel sorry for him.  Needed to keep his job – 10 wins.  Did you not just read what I typed?  Prediction – 8 wins and I am sure he will yell at at least one player in plain view of a camera in front of a national audience.
10. David Beaty (Kansas) – Poor Dave Beaty.  Does he really have a chance in Lawrence to do anything except maybe (MAYBE) win four games at most?  I fail to see how he can win more with the state the program is.  God, I wish there was promotion/relegation.  Needed to keep his job – 4 wins.  Prediction – Half of that.  Or 2 wins for the less mathematically inclined.  Again, Poor Dave.

Possible Shitcanning

11. Lovie Smith (Illinois) – This isn’t the NFL, Lovie.  I think he understands that now.  An unenviable task in Champaign to turn around a program that has had little success in the past two decades (save the crazy 2007 season).  Needed to keep his job – 4 wins but be competitive and look like they could be a bowl team next year.  Prediction – 3 wins and the AD is going to have to take a long, hard look as to whether to retain Lovie or not.
12. Bret Bielema (Arkansas) – The SEC is still a gauntlet.  Saying that, the SEC is not known for a ton of coaching turnover.  One or two each season usually.  Bielema has a tough task ahead as the SEC West especially is difficult to say the least.  Needed to keep his job – Stay in the middle of the pack in the SEC West and at least scare one of Bama, Auburn, or LSU.  Prediction – 7 wins and at least some fans calling for his firing.

Doubtful Shitcanning

13. Steve Addazio (Boston College) – This is the exact same spot Steve-O was in last year.  And he came through with a 7-win season that led BC fans to still call for his head.  Guy can’t catch a break!  Needed to keep his job – Get to bowl eligibility again and hope the fans calm down a bit.  Prediction – 4 wins and it will be tough not to move way up this list next year.
14. David Bailiff (Rice) – I remember when he was consistently getting the Owls to bowl games.  I also remember when the Owls were in the Southwest Conference.  Times change.  Sometimes coaches have to as well.  But maybe not quite yet with Mr. Bailiff.  Needed to keep his job – some sense of improvement from last year’s down season.  Prediction – they will improve even if it doesn’t show up in their record.
15. Tyson Summers (Georgia Southern) – One year in and the athletic department had to send out a press release saying Summers would be retained for this season.  Confidence, gone.  Needed to keep his job – 5 wins and at least look like a potential bowl team.  Prediction – 5 wins and they will look like a bowl team for the most part.
16. Jim Mora (UCLA) – Jim needs the Rosen One to play like he has a shot at winning the Heisman this season.  And I think it will happen.  Not saying he will win the Heisman but he will be much improved and so will the Bruins.  Needed to keep his job –  7 wins.  Prediction – 9 wins and making USC sweat for the Victory Bell.
17. Chris Ash (Rutgers) – Coaching at Rutgers must be tough now that the team is firmly in the Big Ten basement.  Let’s be honest: very few people want that job.  Ash is a hero!  Needed to keep his job – he’s safe since no one else wants it for now.  Prediction – 3 wins and keeping Michigan under 60 points.
18. Butch Jones (Tennessee) – The Champions of Life.  Butch really needs to learn to just shut his mouth and coach sometimes.  Needed to keep his job – 9 wins and being a contender in the SEC East.  Prediction – 10 wins and STILL….CHAMPIONS OF LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE…THE TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS!!!!

Done.  That took too long.  I don’t want to say I hope all these coaches get fired but I do like being accurate.

Next up will be my Heisman ballot.  No one should give me a Heisman ballot.  I will demonstrate why in the next post.  After that will have to be…yes, it’s the FIRST SCHEDULE POST OF THE SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Woohoo!  Finally made it.  We are four days out.  Problem is, I still don’t know where all the U.S. College Sports Package channels have gone to now that they have been replaced by regional CTV channels which, in essence, replaced the need for Sunday Ticket since DAZN now has it.  I will say this often I believe but if DAZN somehow gets a good college football package then I might be changing my tune about it.

And the week did end up a bit mundane – Week 12 College Football Recap

 

You know…..except for THIS!

It was kind of a boring week in college football really.  We had a few close calls as we normally do with so many games.  You can’t have the favourites winning 60+ games in a week.  However, what happened in Lawrence was insane.  Not that Texas is that good because they aren’t.  But Kansas (KANSAS!) beat Texas in overtime.  Repeat that one or two more times.  It hasn’t happened since 1938.  That is completely insane.  It is also the final nail in the coffin for ol’ Charlie Strong.  Poor guy has been run through the ringer in Austin.  No way he comes back from that.  Not a chance.

Rest of the Fun-time Recap

This was the kind of week I don’t mind having to watch stuff through PVR.  I was able to catch Florida-LSU.  I had tOSU-Sparty on there.  Also decided to record KU-UT.  So most of the more exciting football I got.  There really wasn’t a lot to choose from.

• Let’s start the rescheduled mess that was Florida-LSU: Lucky for them it was a good game with an amazing finish. That goal line stand by Florida was epic (broken play on 4^th and Goal notwithstanding).  Seeing Jim Bob McElwain get emotional at the end there was the coup de grace.  Greg Sankey and the SEC should feel damn lucky this game turned out the way it did.
• Michigan State shouldn’t have been within an area code of Ohio State. Yet somehow they were within a single point when Mark Dantonio went for two.  I don’t know why.  Usually I am a proponent of rolling the dice but this felt like the risk was not worth it.  Tie it up and force the Buckeyes to score something.  Oh well, my Michigan State prediction for this season continues to look worse and worse.
• Snowy weather everywhere. It feels like we bypassed most of Fall and went straight to Winter.  Case in point: you could barely see what was going on at times in Morgantown.  Doesn’t seem to matter though: the Sooners thoroughly destroyed the Mountaineers in every facet of the game.
• Speaking of keeping it close in the Big Ten when it shouldn’t have been, what was going on at Michigan? Another way-too-close game that should have been anything but.  Doesn’t give me much confidence in the Big Ten.
• Good job, Louisville. Any hope to sneak into the College Football Playoff went up in flames Thursday night.  And who picked Houston to pull off the upset?  This guy!
• Colorado played tough against Washington State and pulled off the win. I thought Wazzu would give a bit more of a fight but oh well.  It sets up a game against Utah where a win inexplicably gives them the Pac-12 South.    Mike MacIntyre has clinched Coach of the Year.  The reason they haven’t clinched the division is because…
• USC beat UCLA pretty handily for the Victory Bell. They are done their Pac-12 schedule so have to await their fate.  I will be honest: as much as I am enjoying the Buffs’ run to glory, a USC-Washington rematch would be quite tasty.

I don’t have much more to say in the recap.  There wasn’t much to recap in the first place.  So let’s move to some clinching scenarios.

Clinching Scenarios!

Alright, more important to look at these now since we are in the last true regular season week (other than those crazies from the Big XII and Sun Belt: I will include them but they should just conform to the rest of the conference friends):

SEC

Alabama and Florida have clinched their respective divisions and will play in the SEC Championship in two weeks’ time where Bama will probably kick the Gators’ ass all over the Georgia Dome for the last time.

Big Ten

In the east, Penn State controls its destiny: beat Michigan State and they are off to Indy.  Lose and then the game that will have just ended between Ohio State and Michigan will be for the division title.

CORRECTION: Thanks to reader John M, I need to correct this.  Michigan goes to Indy with a win.  They lose and it’s Penn State that controls its destiny.  I wonder if I put that because I believe tOSU will win.  No excuses though.

The Big Ten West race could be over on Black Friday.  Nebraska plays Iowa in Farmageddon.  If they win, they force Wisconsin to have to win to clinch the Big Ten West.  If Nebraska loses, Wisky goes to Indy no matter what they do.

Big XII

It’s all about Bedlam.  Winner takes the Big XII and the Sugar Bowl spot (although the CFP spot is probably long gone).

Pac-12

The Apple Cup will decide the Pac-12 North title.  I don’t think this has ever happened before.

I mentioned above what the scenario is between Colorado and USC.  All up to the Buffaloes now in a tough match against Utah.

ACC

Clemson is in.  They await either Virginia Tech or North Carolina.  The Hokies control their own fate.  Win the Commonwealth Cup over Virginia and they go to Charlotte Orlando to face the Tigers.  If they lose, then North Carolina will have the opportunity to set up the ACC Title rematch.  They would have to beat NC State.  If both teams lose, it’s the Hokies will get the nod.

American

Navy is already going to the title game but probably won’t host it.  Temple has the upper hand on USF.  They beat them head-to-head.  Win and they host Navy for the American title.  Lose and USF wins, then USF will play Navy (I would have to check the tie-breakers to see where it would end up being).  If both teams lose, Temple will win the East.

Mountain West

San Diego State clinched like seven months ago.  Wyoming is still in the driver’s seat and could be heading for a rematch with the Aztecs (again at home) if they can beat New Mexico (no easy task).  If they lose, a Boise State win over Air Force would propel the Broncos into the title game.

MAC

The West comes down to Western Michigan and Toledo this Friday.  A Toledo win gives the Rockets the MAC West title and ruins the MAC’s chances at getting into the New Year’s Six.

In the East, Ohio has the upper hand.  Beat Akron tomorrow night (tomorrow night?) and they go to Detroit.  Lose and Miami-Ohio of all teams can win the East if they defeat Ball State (again tomorrow night…MACtion baby!).

Conference USA

Louisiana Tech is in as they seem to be the only halfway-decent team in the West division.  In the East, WKU and Old Dominion are tied in the standings but the Hilltoppers slaughtered the Monarchs earlier this season.  Beat Marshall Saturday night and they are golden.  Don’t and ODU gets a chance to get in if they win their final regular season game against FIU.

Sun Belt

Next year will be interesting to see if the Sun Belt decides to go with divisions in their only season with twelve teams.  They should.  Why not right?  Anyway, Arkansas State would have to lose their final two games to cause potential chaos in the Sun Belt.  Win just one and it’s over.  If for some reason the Red Wolves do lose both, Troy, Appalachian State, and even Idaho could have a shot depending on the tiebreakers.  Idaho winning the Sun Belt a season before they leave for FCS would be glorious.

There you go.  I will have much more on bowl eligibility and the postseason in my scheduling post on either Wednesday or Thursday.  Sure to be a loooooooong post.

Tonight, Mexico City hosts Houston and Oakland on Monday Night Football.  Finally, two good teams at an international site.  That definitely was not done on purpose.  Hope both teams survive.  NFL recap coming tomorrow.  Enjoy the game tonight!

Week 4 College Football Recap – Sponsored by the Tip Drill

Wherever it stops, nobody knows…except that one TCU wide receiver.  Check this out:

What an absolutely crazy finish in Lubbock on Saturday. And the thing was, that tip drill touchdown where the Horned Frogs’ receiver toed the line to stay inbounds wasn’t the end of it. Texas Tech almost created their own “the band is on the field” play. They came about 8 yards short. But I have to say this: Kliff Kingsbury definitely has his Red Raiders back after a pretty terrible year last year. Also, TCU has to be very careful as they continue their conference schedule. That lack of defense will not fly against Baylor, Oklahoma, or West Virginia.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the rest of the recap

An ugly hit tarnishes an absolutely great game. The hit that put Gunner Kiel out of the game (and out of commission period for a bit there) was technically legal. However, this is the type of hit that should probably come under the targeting rule. I get that the defender wasn’t going for the head but let’s be honest: how many players actually intend to hurt their opponent with a hit? Only the few psychopaths who may be on HGH or whatever steroid-derivative being used on college campuses these days. Anyway, other than that, this was an amazing game as Memphis held on to beat Cincy and may be the only contender to Temple in the American this season (unless Navy or Houston has anything to say about it). Much better than the NFL Thursday nighter which was a heaping pile of garbage juice.

Boise is who we thought they were. And so was Virginia. Boise State bounces back from a tough loss to BYU to thrash the Hoos. They are still in the driver’s seat for the Group of Five spot but will have to run the table to do it (I think). As for Mike London, he might as well put his house up for sale since I can’t see UVA bringing him back next season.

Before I get to Saturday’s games, I have to say something about the guide for the U.S. College Sports Package. I don’t know if Rogers or Bell Satellite customers were having the same issue but until about 2:30 or so the guide showed almost no games on the specialty pack. I don’t know if it was a technical issue (I was told it was when I called in and was sent to second-tier customer support which may not sound like much but they seem a whole lot more knowledgeable than the first-tier CSRs) but this type of crap has to stop with the specialty pack schedules. This is not rocket science. Unless there’s something I am missing, I can’t see why this is as difficult as it’s made out to be. Find out what TSN is showing then set out the schedule. It can be done by Wednesday night at the absolute latest. Just getting to be too frustrating is all. Anyway…

Now that was some fun Harbaughll. Wow, did the Wolverines ever lay a beating on BYU. I mean this wasn’t even close. Taylor Mangum P.I. had no chance to do anything all day. I will be honest, the way Michigan is playing, that game against Michigan State (October 17^th) could end up being huge in the Big Ten East race. Jimmy Football has already turned it around in Ann Arbor and the season is only four weeks old. Impressive.

Fournette Four Heisman. Leonard Fournette has crashed through everyone to become the early-season Heisman favourite. He has been the biggest reason why LSU is in the top 10 right now. The guy looks like a stronger Adrian Peterson and could be huge in the NFL. First he has to be big in a big-game atmosphere and he will have his chance in three weeks when the Tigers play Florida.

And the winner of the ACC Gongshow Division is… Let’s be honest, no one wants to win this division. No one. Everyone was touting Georgia Tech as the team to beat in the ACC Coastal. What happened? Duke beat them pretty easily in a soggy affair at Wallace Wade in front of literally a few thousand fans (at least that’s what it looked like). Duke is not exactly a world-beater. Virginia Tech played in even worse weather against East Carolina and looked thoroughly outplayed. North Carolina, Pitt, and Miami look OK early but do you trust them to win 6 or 7 games inside the conference? Other than Virginia, any of those teams could win. Let’s hope for a six-way tie.

What the hell is happening in Columbia and Orlando? Watching South Carolina and UCF was pretty painful at times. The Gamecocks have almost become the worst team in the SEC East (and with the way Vandy has played lately maybe the worst). UCF looks like a middle-of-the-road FCS team so far this season. George O’Leary should step down and just concentrate on being athletic director and start over with this program. They fell FAST. As for the HBC, will Spurrier be back next year? It’s up to him really but he may want to quit. It has to be frustrating with the team he has.

Shhhhhhhhh. Indiana is sneaking up on everyone. Indiana (INDIANA!) is 4-0. Two wins away from bowl-eligibility. And they should be able to get it considering the state of the bottom half of the Big Ten. They have looked good enough to win but we will see what they are really made of once conference play begins next week. Stay close with the Buckeyes and we know this team is for real.

Speaking of the worst game of the week… Can someone please explain this?

Kansas is flat-out awful and Rutgers wouldn’t be too bad but the program as a whole is a mess. Thank god I didn’t even get this game because I would have felt compelled to turn the channel there to at least see what was going on and then I would have had to gouge my eyes out.

I feel so bad for Charlie Strong and the Texas faithful. Wow. Another week, another special teams gaffe late in a game that costs his team the win. The punter had one job. Grab the snap and punt the ball away. If the Pokes returned it for a TD, it’s not really his fault. But what happened? That was totally his fault. Set Okie State up for the win and possibly eliminated any chance for Strong to come back to Austin next season. Poor guy.

Are the Irish for real? Who can tell. I mean it was UMass for Christ’s sake. It was exciting early on as the Minutemen kept up with the Irish but we all knew at some point the Golden Domers would run away with it and boy did they. Next week is the massive test. Clemson, at Clemson. Notre Dame wins that and then we start talking College Football Playoff.

More average play from the Buckeyes. It’s like they are playing down to these MAC opponents. Then again, Michigan State is doing the same thing. I know they are #1 (and the Spartans are #2) but the way some teams are coming on, they may continue to win only to see them drop a spot or two in the rankings (a la Florida State last season).

Well Butch, what do you say to that? Another double-digit blown lead by the Vols. There were so many questionable play calls by Jones in this one that Vols fans should be infuriated. The idea not to go for two after going up 26-14 in the fourth seems so utterly asinine. It’s the fourth fucking quarter, Butch. Almost every other coach would go for two because there is less than 15 minutes to go in the game you dickwad. All I have to say to all this is Butch, you may be rooming with Derek Dooley by the end of the season.

Hey do you want to play quarterback? How about you? I am sure Nick Saban is looking for anyone to replace Jake Coker. Coker just hasn’t been that good to start the season. If the Tide have anyone else (and I’m sure they have some freshman that they were hoping to redshirt) that person will be behind centre the next time the Tide play (this Saturday against Georgia).

The Wildcats are no longer the SEC East whipping boy. Well twin whipping boys along with Vanderbilt. Mark Stoops has slowly moved the Wildcats into contenders to make a bowl game this season and it looks like they could make a few waves in the division race with their play.

Well it was nice near the top while it lasted. Auburn is taking a slippery slip n’ slide down into the bottom part of the SEC West. Other than Arkansas (oh boy), I don’t see a team below them in the pecking order. Gus Malzahn and WILL MUSCHAMP! must have burst at least ten blood vessels in their face each at this point. First barely beating Jacksonville State and then being basically non-competitive against Mississippi State. Not good times in Auburn right now.

Should we have relegation like in soccer? I’d nominate UCF, Wyoming (who has been god-awful this season), Idaho (of course), and SMU, who came back against James Madison to take the lead and then coughed that lead up late to lose to the Dukes. Don’t get me wrong, Chad Morris has this team improved but that just shows how fucking awful SMU was last season.

Both of the #3s had problems. Ole Miss (the other #3 in the poll) struggled with Vanderbilt but were able to pull it out in the end. I will say this, Derek Mason finally (FINALLY!) has the defense playing very well. Vandy’s D should be one of the better ones in the SEC and they just flat-out haven’t been the last year or so. Maybe they might be able to play spoiler later in the season. As for Ole Miss, this won’t cut it in the SEC. Play better or they will lose their chance at the CFP (or even the New Year’s Six).

Can Arkansas go back to the Southwest Conference? Man, as bad as it is in Austin and Knoxville, what Bret Bielema is going through at Arkansas may even be worse. They blew the lead against Texas A&M in what was looking like an upset to get the Hogs back on track. They played awful down the stretch and lost in overtime. This after Kliff Kingsbury basically owned him during the week after Texas Tech’s victory over them a week previous. If it weren’t for Bielema having a hot wife, I would say he was losing at life right now.

The Rosen One has arrived. Yeah he had a few slip-ups in the previous two games but Josh Rosen stepped up in a big way on a national stage. UCLA destroyed Zona in every facet of the game and have to be considered the Pac-12 favourite in the merry-go-round that is the second best conference in the land. I don’t know where the Fighting RichRods go from here but they have to do something or they will find it tough sledding in the Pac-12 South.

And speaking of beatdowns… Holy crap did the Utes ever put the boots to Oregon. The Ducks have never lost in Eugene like that. So now, maybe we have two big-time teams in the South while the North is a bit of a shitshow with the Cal-Stanford game at the end of the season becoming huge.

OK maybe make that three big teams in the Pac-12 South. Almost forgot about USC. They throttled Arizona State to finish Pac-12 Beatdown Saturday. Things are going to be fun when USC plays the Bruins for the Victory Bell (or when they play Utah…or when UCLA plays Utah…yeah the Pac-12 South is tough).

Someone mentioned on Twitter that it feels a lot like 2007 was in college football. If you don’t remember, that was the most insane year of the BCS era and the turnover among the top 10 teams was pretty crazy almost every week. No one could stay near the top and we ended up with a 2-loss national champion. This kind of feels like it. However, until Ohio State loses we can’t go full-2007.

The first month of the season has also proved what many have said for at least ten years now….that the preseason AP poll has to go. All it does is put certain teams higher than they really should have been to begin with. Case in point? Auburn. They aren’t a top 10 team. Hell, they aren’t a top 25 team. But where did they begin the season? At #6. That’s insane. I would be very happy if they had no rankings for week one and did the first AP poll after the first set of games is done. All the talking heads and experts can have their mock polls going into the season and that is fine. But nothing official until week one is done. Makes a whole lot more sense and then makes it so some teams don’t have to lose two or three games to fall out of the top 25 in the first month of the season.

Later on in the week I will have the NFL recap, the college football and NFL schedules for next week, and a look at all the winless teams so far to see I predict them to be at the end of the season.

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

The final post on the most important games is upon us.  And if history tells us anything, at least one of these weeks (other than the final one) should be an awesome one.

Week 11

Georgia at Auburn – Make no mistake about it…Alabama is still the class of the SEC.  Saying that, this match here could determine which team can make a run at the SEC’s spot in the CFP (assuming they only get one).  And no…no Fire Mark Richt countdown this year.  Part of that is UGA should be really good.  Part of it is there are so many other coaches on the hot seat it isn’t even funny…OK it is a little bit.  (6:30, specialty pack)

Oklahoma at Baylor – Hey, remember last year when The Fighting Art Briles kicked Boomer Sooner’s ass?  Don’t expect that again, even if it’s at Baylor’s stunning new stadium on the Brazos.  No way Big Game Bob takes this game lightly this year as this could very well be for the Big XII crown (unless TCU has something to say about it).  (7:30, FOX)

Oregon at Stanford – Stanford was not your normal Stanford last season.  They should be much improved.  Also, I can’t see any way where the Ducks run roughshod through the Pac-12 now with Super Mariota gone.  This, combined with OU-Baylor, makes for a good set of primetime games for the non-specialty pack people (also known as “The People Who Are Saving Money”).  (8:00, ABC)

Arkansas at LSU – Another time where CBS has two games (this only happens two times a season).  I guess a lot has to do with how good these two programs are doing this season.  The worst pair gets the noon game and a Carter Blackburn special.  I am giving the Tide and the Bulldogs the edge for now but it could easily flip-flop (although I could see Bama being steaming mad at being “relegated” to the noon game).  (Noon, CBS)

Alabama at Mississippi State– The other half of the CBS doubleheader conundrum.  I’m leaning towards Verne and Gary heading to Starkville for MORE COWBELL! and also some football mixed in.  Plus it’s Evil Saban so he usually tries to get his way.  (3:30, CBS)

Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech – Battle of the Techs on a weekday night!  Beamer’s Boys (grandkids?  Great-grandkids?) need to step it up big time.  The last couple years have shown they have dropped down to the ACC mid-card and Paul Johnson’s Option Junkies have proven they are upper echelon (at least in the ACC).  (Thursday, 7:30, TSN1)

Other candidates: Utah at Arizona (10:00, specialty pack), BYU at Missouri (Noon, TSN1), Maryland at Michigan State (7:15, specialty pack), Minnesota at Iowa (8:00, Big Ten Network)

Week 12

Michigan State at Ohio State – In my opinion, this is the game of the year.  So watch both teams have three losses by the time they get to this one and it screws up my entire schedule prediction.  Anywho…I am almost positive one of these teams (at least) will be undefeated.  If both are, then this is the only game you will hear about…on ESPN.  (8:00, ABC)

USC at Oregon – I will ask again…will we see the so-called “real” USC this season or are we all going to be disappointed (with Trojan fans and alumni being VERY disappointed).  This could be a tough one regardless since Autzen Stadium is one of the toughest stadiums to be a visiting team in (I would argue only Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge is tougher).  A chance for Sark to get his first statement game here.  (3:30, ABC/TSN2)

TCU at Oklahoma – Remember what I said about the Baylor-Oklahoma game last week deciding the Big XII crown?  Well it’s more of a round-robin between those two teams and TCU (as TCU hosts Baylor the following week).  TCU stomped a hole in Oklahoma last season (as did Baylor) so the Stoops boys have to rebound yet again.  There won’t be any calls for Bob Stoops’ job since he’s there until he retires or dies on the sideline.  It just may get a bit tougher for him in Norman. (7:30, FOX)

LSU at Ole Miss – The first SEC game of the week ends up as the fourth most important game?  Tells you how important this week is in college football (until we get to the next one).  Last year, The Hat and his Tigers pulled off a close Magnolia Bowl victory in a game that, despite being close, wasn’t exactly exciting to watch.  The scene shifts to Oxford for this one and I am sure Hugh Freeze will get his Rebs up for this one considering there is a chance that one of these teams will need a win here to keep any CFP or NYS hopes alive.  (3:30, CBS)

Baylor at Oklahoma State – TRAP GAME!  The Cowboys and their head man Mike Gundy (who’s a MAN!) have had quite a few of these games in the past.  Games where they get to play spoiler.  The Pokes could destroy the Big XII’s chances with a win here and Baylor will desperately need momentum going into their huge showdown in Fort Worth the next Friday.  (3:30, FOX)

Mississippi State at Arkansas – Two years ago, if someone had told me that this would be one of the games of the week I would have laughed.  Seriously.  This should be an interesting one since I don’t know if a spot in the New Year’s Six would be on the line here or not.  There is a remote possibility but it’s tough to say in the SEC West minefield.  (Noon, TSN1)

Other candidates: Arizona at Arizona State (3:30, TSN3), Boston College vs. Notre Dame (in Boston) (7:30, NBC), East Carolina at UCF (Thursday, 7:30, TSN1), Toledo at Bowling Green (Tuesday, 8:00, specialty pack)

Week 13

Baylor at TCU – And now we get to the best week in college football this season.  And what better way to start it out on Black Friday (as far as I know) is with the final part of the round-robin merry-go-round roller coaster fun-time Big XII tournament of champions (with no guarantee of a College Football Playoff spot).  My guess is once this game is over, we will have a very good idea if the Big XII will have a CFP representative or if they will be on the phone with the ADs at Cincinnati and BYU.  (Friday, 7:30, specialty pack)

Alabama at Auburn – There is no possible way CBS is passing up the Iron Bowl this year.  In retrospect, a pretty huge error that ESPN fully (and I mean fully) capitalized on.  Not gonna happen.  Wouldn’t it be just a bit ironic if the both the Tide and Tigers had at least two losses coming into this one?  (3:30, CBS)

USC at UCLA – Victory Bell time!  Or at least the California version of the Victory Bell since I think there’s about 9 different victory bell games.  And hey, this one is very relevant (at least now in June it seems to be).  There is a potential for the Pac-12 South title and a College Football Playoff berth to be on the line here.  I can’t see ABC picking anything else here.  (8:00, ABC/TSN2)

Georgia at Georgia Tech – A little Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.  Last year’s game was awesome and I expect this one to be no different.  The Dawgs will not take the Ramblin’ Wreck lightly (not that they did last year).  The only issue with non-conference games this late in the season is that has very little impact on bowl games (except the CFP or New Year’s Six).  (Noon, TSN3)

Texas A&M at LSU – This game may be relegated to the SEC Network because of all the good games in the SEC this week.  Saying that, I could see it switch spots with the Egg Bowl (which I have slated for evening on ESPN/TSN1) so I am not quite sure at this point whether you will need the specialty pack or not to see the John Chavis Bowl.  (4:00, specialty pack)

Ohio State at Michigan– The Game.  This HAS to be better than last year’s version.  You remember right?  It was a blowout from the opening whistle and J.T. Barrett was lost for the season (although it did end up giving us three games of Cardale goodness).  With Captain Insano at the helm in Ann Arbor now, this should be a fun one to watch…even if it is just to watch his tirades and intensity.  (Noon, ABC)

Other candidates: Ole Miss at Mississippi State (7:45, TSN1), Florida State at Florida (3:30, specialty pack), Clemson at South Carolina (3:30, TSN3), Wisconsin at Minnesota (3:30, ABC/TSN5)

Week 14

The final week of the season obviously has the conference championship games.  This season, we add the American conference to that family.  If Navy somehow makes it into the American conference championship undefeated, it sets up a very interesting situation (and one that ESPN is probably salivating over).  Win that and it will probably make the Army-Navy game the most watched in a LONG time.  Texas faces off against Baylor although this may be a formality if Baylor has somehow come out of the TCU/Oklahoma gauntlet unscathed.  The Sun Belt will also crown their champ and I know that soon enough (maybe next season) they will have their own conference championship since they know they are leaving money on the table by not having one.  I still believe that if one of the ACC, Big Ten, or Pac-12 was smart, they would move their conference championship to Noon so they would be the lone Power Five conference championship at that time.  Instead we have a logjam in the primetime slot.  Good planning idiots.

So that ends the posts on the most important games this season.  67 days away from the first game of the season.  Still feels way too far away for me.  Next up will be the breakouts by network as I show the CBS, ABC, and FOX schedules as of this point.  Then I will be “playing” the schedule out to see where my predictions will lie (obviously they will be somewhat shitty but I don’t care).