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

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

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

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

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

And now for the rest of the recap

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now for the rest of the recap

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

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

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

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

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

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

PONY UP! – Week 6 College Football Recap

It’s like 1982 all over again!

If you don’t know much about the history of SMU and the Southwest Conference, then let’s take a trip down memory lane.  Back to the early to mid-80s.  The days of Eric Dickerson (who definitely didn’t know about any improprieties…sure), hooker killer Craig James and a merry band of insane boosters.  The days when the Mustangs of Southern Methodist University were the toast of the Southwest Conference (along with Texas of course).  Then came the NCAA and they came down hard on the school giving them the only football death penalty ever given.  What it did to the football program was catastrophic.  It has taken them over three decades to return to being a contender of sorts.  But it finally has come.  They came into their home game with Tulsa ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1982.  So how did they start?  By going down 30-9 after three quarters to an average-at-best Golden Hurricane team.  Ouch.

Then one of the best comebacks in recent memory occurred.  The Mustangs scored three straight touchdowns to force overtime.  Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime.  Then SMU fumbled and Tulsa recovered.  All they had to do was get a field goal and they win.  Instead they fail to gain a yard and a kicker who had never kicked a field goal in a college football game missed just wide left to send the game to triple overtime.  There, Tulsa was stopped again and James Proche caught a Shane Buechele pass in the corner of the end zone for the TD and to finish the wild comeback.  Things are hopping in Dallas right now and there is some serious New Year’s Six chatter following this team.  Good to see a team who has struggled for decades finally put it all together.

As for the rest of the weekend it was…technically college football.  A couple more really good games but for the most part it wasn’t the greatest week of college football I have watched.  Closer to the worst to be honest.  Let’s get down to recapping all this shall we?

And now for the rest of the recap

• A great game down in Gainesville this past weekend.  Florida won over Auburn in a game many would call an upset.  I would kind of agree since up until this point the Tigers looked like a great team and Florida looked like a very overrated Top 10 team.  Instead the Gators gutted out a win and now their Cocktail Party game against Georgia could have massive implications.  As for the ol’ Gus Bus, it was a flat tire for sure.  The bus needs some work and wasn’t roadworthy on Saturday.  They have a fairly difficult rest of the schedule so games like that can’t be repeated if they are looking at a NY6 spot.
• Another kinda sorta upset type of thing on Friday night.  Cincinnati held on to beat UCF in front of a raucous home crowd.  For a while it looked like the Knights would pull away and get back to being in the New Year’s Six conversation.  Problem is, the Fighting Fickells wouldn’t go away.  If it wasn’t for UC’s defense (in the second half) and the running of Michael Warren II, the Bearcats probably wouldn’t have been close.  I was right with my pick so now I wonder if UCF can even get back into the NY6 talk.  I say no.
• How about that game down in south Florida?  Miami was way down to Virginia Tech, 28-7 going into the second half.  They came all the way back only to gack the game away in the end.  The ACC Coastal is a mess, let’s be honest.  Other than Virginia, no team seems to want to be on top.  So knowing how things are going, we can expect Pitt to somehow win the division.
• Speaking of Pitt, they almost allowed Duke to come back from down 23 points in the third quarter.  It felt like the Pittening was about to happen.  The Panthers were able to hold on as they continue to confound media pundits who can’t get a true read on this team.
• Louisville beat Boston College.  Seriously.  I watched none of it since I couldn’t find the ending of the damn game.  Louisville could be good again.  That seems shocking.  Also, I think the end of the line is coming for Mister Dudes Being Dudes, Steve Addazio.  The fanbase is fine with winning seven games every year and not coming close to contending for a division title.  But winning four games is unacceptable goddamit.
• Let history show that the Tennessee football Volunteers led Georgia 14-13 in a game in 2019. I know that UGA scored the last thirty points of the game but for a bit, the Vols were competitive.  It was nice to see.  Now we have to wonder if Jeremy Pruitt will survive to the next decade.  I’m skeptical.  Good ol’ Rocky Bottom.
• I thought Michigan State could keep it close.  I really did.  This Buckeyes team looks like it could be more dominant than any of Urban Meyer’s squads.  Justin Fields has pushed his way into the Heisman conversation and the whole offense just looks overwhelming.  I mean don’t get me wrong: I could probably coach this team to bowl eligibility.  But Ryan Day is doing something special in Columbus and it could lead to a spot in the College Football Playoff if things keep going this way.
• Texas kind of struggled with the Mountaineers of West Virginia.  Not a good look for the Longhorns that’s for sure.  Whether anyone can even approach the Sooners in the Big XII (they beat Kansas pretty thoroughly) is up in the air but it doesn’t look to be the case.  The Big XII has basically become Oklahoma and nine other teams.
• For a while, the Cal-Oregon game was resembling last year’s Cheez-It Bowl.  A hilariously poor showing of football in all facets.  I mean Oregon pulled it out in the end but geez they didn’t actually look that great.  The Pac-12 is a bit of a dumpster fire at this point.
• P.J. Fleck is Rowing That God Damn Boat in Minneapolis.  The Gophers are 5-0 and look like they will probably be 8-0 when they get into November.  I find it interesting that this team is STILL not in the Top 25 and are getting no CFP chatter.  This team could be one of the most underrated teams in recent memory and they may shock a few teams along the way.
• In yet another upset, Texas Tech PEW! PEW! PEWed their way over Oklahoma State.  It was a fun game that had no shortage of offense and shows that the Big XII mid-card is rather strong.
• What is Washington’s deal with Stanford?  They looked great last week against USC and then can’t do anything against an average Cardinal team.  It’s yet another nail in the Pac-12’s CFP coffin.  And it’s early October.  Good lord.
• Back to speaking about games that resembled the Cheez-It Bowl.  Michigan beat Iowa 10-3 in an absolute snoozer…unless you love punting.  If you love punting this was the game for you.  This was so awful to watch and really does not show either team in a good light going forward.  One of these teams is going to somehow end up in the New Year’s Six, I just know it.
• USF’s game against UConn was moved to Noon thanks to a mosquito-borne infection of sorts in the Hartford/Storrs area.  Only at UConn.  Anyway, it was supposed to be live on CBS Sports Network at 7:00 and instead went to the website with a tape delayed broadcast at 7.  How many people watched this rebroadcast?  Did it even hit triple digits?  They should have just ran a long version of their highlights show, Inside College Football.
• Finally, Tulane took down Army.  So now you have to include the Green Wave (of all teams) in the Group of Five conversation.  Who knows if they can actually crack the top tier but Willie Fritz has to be commended for taking what was mostly a woebegone program and has steered it in the right direction.

Not the most amazing weekend, not gonna lie.  We need a seriously crazy weekend of college football so even at 2 in the morning I am still wide awake because I can’t believe what has happened in the previous 14 hours.

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

#1	Alabama
#2	Ohio State
#3	Georgia
#4	Florida
#5	Clemson
#6	LSU
#7	Notre Dame
#8	Oklahoma
#9	Wisconsin
#10	Penn State
#11	Texas
#12	Auburn
#13	Michigan
#14	Oregon
#15	Boise State
#16	Utah
#17	Virginia
#18	Iowa
#19	Arizona State
#20	Wake Forest
#21	Texas A&M
#22	SMU
#23	Baylor
#24	Missouri
#25	Minnesota

Yes there are some differences between my rankings and the AP Poll.  I have Ohio State at #2 and Clemson down at #5.  Clemson will definitely move up as at least one of the teams above them lose.  As for #6 through #9, pick the teams out of a hat to figure out the order.  A lot can happen the rest of the way and at this point, no one team is that much better than another.  Yes I have Minnesota at #25.  I know the AP Poll doesn’t have them in there but man they deserve to be there in my humble opinion.  Also, yes I have Missouri at #24.  It sounds like they won’t be bowling this year but still, they are playing well.  Of course this year, of all years, they are under sanctions.  Bad luck.

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