Let’s bid farewell to a couple of legends – Week 11 College Football TV Schedule

I don’t think we have ever seen two football minds like this get let go within a week of each other. It is crazy to think this could happen, but it did. Two legends who didn’t get their proper sendoff on here. So here we go.

*deep breath*

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to say farewell to two of, arguably……….the worst coordinators in recent Power Five football history. Brian Ferentz, son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, had to be put on a points minimum to be able to keep his contract after this season was over. And Alex Grinch, one of Lincoln Riley’s loyal soldiers. Two men who undoubtdedly pushed football back 50 years with their horrendous playcalling and obvious lack of attention to detail.

Ferentz wasn’t even allowed to take a shot at the points amount (it had to be at least an average of 25 a game). He was told by interim Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz, who obviously knew his chances of hitting that mark were slim, that he would not be retained for the 2024 season. So technically he is still around although he’s in a lame duck position. Not so for Grinch who wasn’t allowed to continue putting out awful defense after awful defense, something that has almost killed USC’s chances of anything but going to a bowl game. Riley had no choice in the end but to axe him.

Realistically, these two guys should have been let go weeks ago. It was apparent to anyone with some knowledge of college football that these two weren’t cutting it. But nepotism and loyalty can go a long way in this sport and we have seen it time and again in the past. And it will continue to do so. Hopefully head coaches learn to take a step back and look at a situation from a bird’s-eye view so that they can honestly assess it. Otherwise you hurt the team and, potentially, yourself.

Alright, enough of fired coaches. Let’s get to the damn schedule!

Tuesday

		US	Canada
Ball State at Northern Illinois	7:00
Central Michigan at Western Michigan	7:00
Ohio at Buffalo	7:30

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s MACTION!!!!!!! Second week of MACtion and boy do I love it. Also, the College Football Playoff rankings come out a few minutes into the early games so I am sure the announcers will stick to calling the games and not mention anything about the rankings. I’m sure of it.

Wednesday

		US	Canada
Bowling Green at Kent State	7:00
Eastern Michigan at Toledo	7:00
Akron at Miami-OH	7:00

EMU-Toledo is easily the biggest game here. Depending on a few other results, the Rockets could clinch the MAC West with a win.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Virginia at #11 Louisville	7:30
Southern Miss at Louisiana	7:30

Louisville’s potential run to the New Year’s Six might have some potholes. This shouldn’t be one of them. Thing is, it’s either that, the Fun Belt game or one of the worst Thursday Night Football games ever. I’ll stick with the ACC matchup as long as I can (with some check-ins on the Southern Miss-Louisiana game of course).

Friday

		US	Canada
North Texas at SMU	9:00
Grambling at Arkansas-Pine Bluff	9:00

The Mustangs feel like a bit of a surprise team at the top of the American Conference and they shouldn’t be. Some had them at least getting to the conference championship. Take the over with this one.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
Georgia Tech at Clemson	Noon
Virginia Tech at Boston College	Noon
Indiana at Illinois	Noon
Holy Cross at Army	Noon
#8 Alabama at Kentucky	Noon
Tulsa at #23 Tulane	Noon
Yale at Princeton	Noon
#3 Michigan at #10 Penn State	Noon
Vanderbilt at South Carolina	Noon

Absolutely colossal matchup in the early window. Yes, I am talking about Indiana-Illinois Michigan-Penn State. The second of the three-game Big Ten East round robin of Fun and Frolic lands in State College. Should this be under the lights with a Penn State Whiteout? Yeah, probably. But FOX is adamant that Noon is their big game. Big Noon Saturday. It’s not called Big Evening Saturday for a reason.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
NC State at Wake Forest	2:00
#21 Arizona at Colorado	2:00
Miami at #4 Florida State	3:30
Pittsburgh vs. Syracuse (in the Bronx)	3:30
Rutgers at #22 Iowa	3:30
#13 Tennessee at #14 Missouri	3:30
UAB at Navy	3:30
#15 Oklahoma State at UCF	3:30
NC Central at Howard	3:30
#18 Utah at #5 Washington	3:30
Minnesota at Purdue	3:30
Washington State at California	4:00
Auburn at Arkansas	4:00
Stanford at #12 Oregon State	5:30

Utah-Washington. Big game. Tennessee-Missouri. Big game (but not as big as the first one). Miami-FSU. Big game, mostly for one team. So there are some important games in this timeslot. It’s rare to see a November Saturday timeslot not to have an important game at all. Now, all games are not equal. Let’s be honest: very few will give a shit about Pitt-Cuse even if it is at Yankee Stadium.

And on that note, can we quit with putting football games on in baseball stadiums? Look at last week’s shitshow at Wrigley. I mean the game was hilariously bad as is considering the two teams playing. But the turf was in shambles. At one point they were trying to fix a patch that looked to be about two feet long and one foot wide. Like, seriously? Want to go to new places? Play in more NFL stadiums. Play in big high school stadiums. Hell, go to Barrow, Alaska and play on their field that borders the Arctic Ocean. Just stay away from the baseball stadiums or otherwise one day some guy is going to get seriously hurt.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
San Diego State at Colorado State	7:00
#9 OIe Miss at #2 Georgia	7:00
West Virginia at #17 Oklahoma	7:00
Georgia Southern at Marshall	7:00
#7 Texas at TCU	7:30
Mississippi State at Texas A&M	7:30
Rice at UTSA	7:30
Michigan State at #1 Ohio State	7:30
Florida at #19 LSU	7:30
Duke at #25 North Carolina	8:00

You are going to notice that TSN (other than TSN+) is barely appearing this Saturday. Well, just like last week, the CFL has their playoff games on a Saturday. I guess it makes sense from a viewer perspective since I am sure they lose viewers to the NFL on Sunday and would lose less viewers going up against college football. I think it has become apparent that TSN is pushing college football (among a few other live sports properties) to TSN+ and putting much less on their actual television networks. Sad for fans who either don’t want to spend more money on an online platform or just would struggle figuring out the online platform to begin with. Sure, live sports on TV is still a huge thing and will be for a long time but slowly…SLOWLY…more and more things are moving online. Give it, let’s say, 20 years and I could see a big difference in what you see now.

Anyway, the actual schedule has Ole Miss-Georgia as the main game and a few other games that could have been huge if certain teams hadn’t shit the bed. Take Duke-UNC. UNC losing on the CW to Virginia and then to Georgia Tech made this game an afterthought. Same with WVU-Oklahoma. The Sooners’ upset losses to Kansas and then Oklahoma State in the final Bedlam have killed the hype for this matchup. It happens every season.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Arizona State at UCLA	9:00
Iowa State at BYU	10:15
Fresno State at San Jose State	10:30
USC at #6 Oregon	10:30

FOX quadrupleheader! Gotta love when they do this. I wish ABC would just do it once. I think they’d be surprised how many people would tune in to a late night game on ABC. USC could put a massive wrench in Oregon’s plans of at least getting to the New Year’s Six with a win here and Fresno State needs to keep winning to have any hope of having the same kind of plans.

Hey, Watch This

Michigan at Penn State (Noon, FOX) – This is easily the most hyped game of the weekend and rightly so. Penn State (and James Franklin) has a chance to do what many have been waiting for them to do: take that final step towards the CFP. This is their final chance this season. Lose this and perhaps even an NY6 spot is gone. Lose and The Game becomes so massive it may overshadow last year’s affair and maybe even 2006’s Game of the Century. Win and they move up the rankings and then pray for a Michigan victory over Ohio State. Then they would head way down the tiebreaker list to see who wins the division. Oh, and the last tiebreaker? A random draw. I am not joking. Wouldn’t that be insane television? ESPN and FOX would go nuts.

Ole Miss at Georgia (7:00, TSN+/specialty pack) – This should be almost as hyped as the UM-PSU game but for one thing: the Rebels need Bama to lose two conference games for them to win the division. So the Fighting Kiffins’ best shot is to win out, go 11-1, and hope for some chaos around them. Then they might sneak into the playoff. As for Georgia, this is yet another prove-it game. Last week was Missouri, this week Ole Miss, next week Tennessee. Survive those then they may not even have to win the conference championship to go to the playoff.

Utah at Washington (3:30, FOX) – Man, FOX has a crazy-good set of games for their quadrupleheader this Saturday. The Huskies have been sort of hanging on lately. Almost like TCU did last year winning games late and winning games that are close. That has to be their mantra right now though: Al Davis’s popular “Just Win Baby.” As for the Utes, could they almost kill the Pac-12’s playoff hopes with a win here? Not totally but they would do a lot of damage and something tells me they would be happy doing that.

USC at Oregon (10:30, FOX) – Two ranked teams facing each other warrants a spot (most of the time) on this list. Well, ranked in the AP Poll at least (sorry, USC). USC could be just like Utah in the previous game: be the spoiler. Oregon has recovered very nicely from their close loss to Washington. Win here, don’t stumble against Arizona State and then win the Civil War over the Beavers and they get their chance at revenge (probably) on Washington.

Tennessee at Missouri (3:30, CBS) – This is an interesting one. The Vols were expected to at least be in the New Year’s Six conversation. Mizzou? Not at all. They have played out of their minds most of the season and put a scare into UGA last week. They can’t win the SEC East so they have to push to win out and give The Committee something to think about. The Vols actually can win the East but it would take the craziest of scenarios to have that happen.

Sickos Game of the Week

Vanderbilt at South Carolina (Noon, TSN+/specialty pack) – The SEC never ends up here. Nor should they. But this game has awful written all over it. It was down to this one and Pitt-Cuse but I will give this game the nod. The Pitt-Cuse game is at Yankee Stadium which is kind of cool but I am sure the field conditions will not be. But the aura of it being in a baseball stadium is what I will use to grudgingly tip the scales towards Vandy and the Cocks getting this spot. Now, if this game had been played at Vandy’s Bob the Builder Stadium then it would have been a no doubter.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

Michigan State at Ohio State (7:30, NBC) – OK hear me out. At some point, the Buckeyes have to stop with their extremely slow starts. Enough of them being in a dogfight with Rutgers or Maryland. One game it will catch up to them. I think that Ryan Day might finally push them hard to come out of the gate strong. If they do, this game will essentially be over at the half and NBC will be less than pleased with the viewers flocking elsewhere (but, that’s what they signed up for).

Wanna Bet?

I was SO close on the score of my Tennessee-UConn bet. And honestly, I wasn’t too far off with USC-Washington even if I did have the Trojans winning in an upset. And I got Bama’s points dead on. Don’t look at my Virginia pick. Let’s get to this week’s picks, shall we?

Southern Miss 29 Louisiana 28 (upset!)

North Texas 31 SMU 27 (another upset!)

Alabama 34 Kentucky 21 (no upset)

Penn State 30 Michigan 23 (yet another upset!)

Tulane 41 Tulsa 10

Wake Forest 31 NC State 27 (minor upset)

Florida State 42 Miami 32

Washington 34 Utah 14

Tennessee 45 Missouri 35

Washington State 31 California 24 (very slight upset)

Georgia 38 Ole Miss 27

UTSA 37 Rice 21

Oregon 63 USC 33

OK I picked a ton of upsets here and look at Oregon. Yeah I think they are going to have a field day with the USC defense even with Alex Grinch not there to fuck things up.

I am preparing for another day of college football, starting Saturday at Noon and going into Sunday morning. Remember, we are in November, people. We don’t have much longer to go. Soon enough it will be conference championship weekend and the schedules like these go away. So savour it. Take your time to watch a lot of football before it’s gone and the only thing to watch (after the Super Bowl is over at least) is the Xtreme United States Football Association and/or League, also known as the XUSFAL. That acronym will probably end up being better than what they come up with. I’d put money on it. Like ten bucks. Enjoy the games everyone!

YOU READY FOR MORE DEIONMANIA, BROTHER? (and the Week 4 College Football TV Schedule)

Actually you know what? Bad choice of theme and picture. I don’t think the Hulkster cares too much for Deionmania.

But, Deionmania is upon us. Has it got out of hand? Yes. Absolutely. There is no question about it. If we were talking about Colorado playing Oregon or USC at home then fine, it would make all the sense in the world. But they were playing Colorado State. Sure it’s a rivalry game (the Rocky Mountain Showdown for any who didn’t know the name) but it’s Colorado State. It felt like a huge case of FOMO (fear of missing out) by both networks to not strike while the iron is hot. Even the Jay Norvell hat and sunglasses comment before the game rankled Sanders to the point he was giving his signature shades to his team and that company sold more than a million dollars worth of sunglasses in just a few days.

So what did we get for the game that started at 10:00 in the Eastern time zone? It was a classic. Colorado State seemed to have figured out Shedeur Sanders. The Buffaloes’ running game was non-existent. The Rams’ offense was humming. Travis Hunter was knocked out by a dirty hit in the second quarter. Then the Buffs made their late comeback. Down 11 with four minutes to go they tied it up to send it to overtime. In the first overtime, it was shocking to see Norvell not go for two and the win. Felt like some scared coaching. Colorado ended it in the next overtime. Have to say, it was a great game.

Now…Colorado was favoured by 23 points. So they didn’t exactly look awesome. And now they lose Hunter for three weeks. So things aren’t looking rosy for their next two games. Do the networks care? No because this week they are on ABC and the following week they play in Los Angeles against USC…at Noon….in the East! A 9:00 local start time. Crazy!

OK let’s calm down from all the insanity that is anything revolving around the Colorado football program and get to what you came for: hot, nasty, college football schedules. Oh yeah.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Georgia State at Coastal Carolina	7:30
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alabama A&M	7:30

GSU-CCU might end up being a sleeper Sun Belt hit. Top two passing offenses in the conference. Take the over. Or go over to Amazon Prime and the other TSNs (and I think the CTVs as well) and watch the Giants get slaughtered out in San Francisco. Your choice.

Friday

		US	Canada
NC State at Virginia	7:30
Boise State at San Diego State	10:30

Two games on Friday evening (with two not airing up here). Boise-SDSU could very well be for one of the Mountain West Championship spots (with Fresno State watching this game VERY closely). The other game is your run-of-the-mill ACC Friday nighter meaning there is the possibility things could get wacky.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#4 Florida State at Clemson	Noon
Army at Syracuse	Noon
Rutgers at #2 Michigan	Noon
Tulsa at Northern Illinois	Noon
Auburn at Texas A&M	Noon
Virginia Tech at Marshall	Noon
WKU at Troy	Noon
#16 Oklahoma at Cincinnati	Noon
Kentucky at Vanderbilt	Noon

Only one of two games on TSN appear here and it’s a simsub of the ABC game. Ugh. I would have thought FSU-Clemson would have ended up as the ABC Primetime game but Clemson isn’t exactly lighting it up and the Noles barely survived Boston College last weekend. FOX Big Noon Kickoff picking Cincinnati as their destination hours before the Bearcats get beat by Miami-OH was definitely a choice. Also, don’t sleep on WKU-Troy. Could low-key be one of the best games of the early part of the day.

UPDATE: I guess TSN forgot they had a contract to show La Liga games? The FSU-Clemson game will not be shown on TSN2 now and is being replaced by FC Barcelona hosting RC Celta de Vigo.

UPDATE #2: I should go over the entire schedule before making updates. FSU-Clemson has been moved to TSN3.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#19 Colorado at #10 Oregon	3:30
Boston College at Louisville	3:30
FAU at Illinois	3:30
Louisiana Tech at Nebraska	3:30
#15 Ole Miss at #13 Alabama	3:30
#18 Duke at UConn	3:30
BYU at Kansas	3:30
Ohio at Bowling Green	3:30
#20 Miami at Temple	3:30
#22 UCLA at #11 Utah	3:30
Maryland at Michigan State	3:30
Rice at USF	4:00
UTSA at #23 Tennessee	4:00

Business seriously picks up here. The best timeslot of the season so far and it’s not even close. Three games between ranked teams at one time doesn’t happen very often so savour it. Plus there is UTSA-UT and BYU-KU that should be added to the games to watch category. I wonder how far I can stretch it this week.

UPDATE #3: You can now also see Colorado-Oregon on TSN3.

Saturday Primetime

		US	Canada
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest	6:30
Appalachian State at Wyoming	7:00
Arkansas at #12 LSU	7:00
#14 Oregon State at #21 Washington State	7:00
Arizona at Stanford	7:00
#3 Texas at Baylor	7:30
Minnesota at Northwestern	7:30
Akron at Indiana	7:30
#24 Iowa at #7 Penn State	7:30
UAB at #1 Georgia	7:30
Memphis at Missouri	7:30
#6 Ohio State at #9 Notre Dame	7:30
Mississippi State at South Carolina	7:30
#17 North Carolina at Pittsburgh	8:00

Sweet God Damn Jesus! Three more games in this timeslot between ranked teams. Maybe this is the best timeslot. Either way, we are getting a hell of a day of college football. If you feel like also showing another game on one of your other screens, consider Appalachian State-Wyoming for the possible sheer insanity.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Kent State at Fresno State	10:30
California at #8 Washington	10:30
#5 USC at Arizona State	10:30

Another FOX quadrupleheader. Good stuff. Will it be close? Highly doubtful. Same with the other Pac-12 After Dark matchup in Seattle. Actually, to be honest, all three games shouldn’t be that close. Not gonna lie.

(An expanded) Hey, Watch This!

Ohio State at Notre Dame (7:30, NBC) – So many good games but I am putting this game at the top and the rest of this section can fight to be 2A, 2B, 2C, etc. This really is a prove-it game for both squads. Neither team has been tested yet so let’s see how Sam Hartman and Kyle McCord do against much better defenses. Don’t be surprised if this ends up being a bit of a defensive struggle, regardless of the wealth of talent both offenses possess.

Ole Miss at Alabama (3:30, CBS) – This could end up being the most exciting game of the week just for the fact that Ole Miss and Bama have played a couple of great ones in recent history and they are so closely ranked. Bama doesn’t feel like Bama. Ole Miss, on the other hand, feels exactly like Ole Miss. Which could spell a lot of trouble for the Tide if the Rebels can pile the points on because I don’t think Alabama has the offense to compete that way.

Colorado at Oregon (3:30, ABC) – In terms of most viewers, this game is going to give the rest a run for their money for sure. Oregon has a hi-octane offense and we’ve seen that Colorado can score points in bunches. Definitely take the over. And if the Buffaloes win this one, watch out since they would have to be considered a dark horse contender for at least the Pac-12 Championship game and the New Year’s Six.

Iowa at Penn State (7:30, CBS) – First time ever for the B1G on CBS to appear on this list. Huge Whiteout game so already the Nittany Lions have an advantage. Honestly, I can’t see Brian Ferentz’s offense putting up that many points against PSU but I guess stranger things have happened.

Oregon State at Washington State (7:00, FOX) – That’s right…it’s the Pac-2 Championship on FOX! Kind of wish who was announcing the game (probably Tim Brando) would start with that. The two remaining Pac-12 schools face off with both undefeated, both ranked and the winner staying in the hunt in a crazy final Pac-12 season.

UCLA at Utah (3:30, FOX) – No specialty pack. All network games. Like the good ol’ days. Kind of. Anyway, it could be argued that this is the “worst” of the six games on this list. It’s why I put it last. But these are two teams that are still serious Pac-12 contenders and are one of eight undefeated conference teams at the moment. Something has to give and I feel this is going to be the start of another season where the Pac-12 teams beat up on each other and no team comes out unscathed. Sucks for the conference but until a team gets to like 6-0 or 7-0 I won’t believe one can make it out alive, so to speak.

Sickos Game of the Week

Akron at Indiana (7:30, specialty pack) – This probably won’t end up on BTN for anyone since they have Minnesota-Northwestern on at the same time. You know it’s bad when a game featuring Northwestern is light years better than the other game. I could honestly see Akron winning here. Look, you have much better choices so don’t punish yourselves by even looking for this game.

Hubba Bubba Blowout of the Week

USC at Arizona State (10:30, FOX) – UAB-UGA would have been the easy, albeit lazy, choice. This one could end up being a lot worse since I can’t see the Trojans letting up on the Sun Devils like Georgia will probably eventually do with UAB. Forks Down.

Wanna Bet?

Interesting week last week for the Bossman. Some good picks that I didn’t follow through on (Florida to cover but not beat Tennessee) and some I absolutely regret (UConn over FIU). Anyway, maybe I will think a little harder before making these picks and not just ALRIGHT HERE WE GO!!!!!!

Boise State (-7) over San Diego State

Troy (-3.5) over WKU

Auburn (+7.5) over Texas A&M (but the Aggies to pull it out)

Temple (+23.5) over Miami (the U will win by about 10)

Duke (-21.5) over UConn

Utah (-4.5) over UCLA

Colorado (+21) over Oregon (but I do have the Ducks winning a fairly close affair)

Ole Miss (+6.5) over Alabama (Bama survives by a field goal)

Tennessee (-21) over UTSA

Wake Forest (-4) over Georgia Tech

Oregon State (-3) over Washington State

Notre Dame (+3) over Ohio State (with the big win)

Iowa (+15) over Penn State (PSU wins in the final minute)

Last I checked, everything is up except for that fact that most of the schedules I look at have FAU-Illinois going to the specialty pack rather than LaTech-Nebraska. I’ll have to watch for that on Saturday.

Look, it could end up being an all-timer of a college football weekend. Let’s hope so. Enjoy the games everyone!

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

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

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

Fun-Time Crazy Recap!

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

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

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

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

Have a good week everyone.

Fear the Beard! – Week 8 College Football Recap

Look, we knew upsets were coming.  But this might have been beyond crazy.  What happened in Champaign this past Saturday rocked the college football world a bit, that’s for sure.  Every year there is an upset in the Big Ten that seems to defy logic.  This one is no different.  This wasn’t Purdue’s utter destruction of Ohio State last year but still, nonetheless, impressive.  Wisconsin really had no response to Illinois’ stingy defense.  And the Illini came back when Wisky couldn’t put them away, setting up the game winning field goal with no time left.  So another one has bit the dust.  I am hoping that next week more undefeated teams lose so we can get down to single digits going into November.  Because let’s be honest: the more chaos there is in the Top 25, the better the season usually is.  Now with social media, any massive upset of, say, Alabama or Clemson or Oklahoma would be met with Twitmageddon.

The rest of the recap

• How about them Trojans?  Yeah they are all over the place.  They crush Arizona and look like they might be back in the Pac-12 South race.  Clay Helton may be off the hot seat in Los Angeles…well at least for six days.  I still believe they won’t be able to overtake Utah to win the division despite the fact they hold the tiebreaker after beating the Utes last month.  Knowing the Pac-12’s luck, USC will somehow win the division and upset Oregon for the Pac-12 title, obliterating any Pac-12 hopes for the College Football Playoff or New Year’s Six outside the Rose Bowl.  Trojan fans would be temporarily happy but that’s about all the good that could come out of this.
• So Jim Harbaugh mentioned that the second half would be Michigan’s “finest hour.”  I mean sure, they came back from a 14-point deficit to almost tie things up.  Which, in front of the Whiteout, one of the most intimidating crowds in college football, is an accomplishment.  But this was a team that was supposed to be great.  I had them in the CFP goddammit!  Oh well, who knows about next week but they have Notre Dame so Michigan better have a finer few hours against the Irish or their chances of doing anything this season are gone.
• NC State lost to Boston College.  Boston College.  What in the holy hell is wrong with the ACC (outside of Clemson and, perhaps, Virginia)?
• Tennessee was fired up for their game against Bama and actually held the lead at one point.  I mean they got smoked after that but I am sure they beat the spread.  Honestly, if it wasn’t for a few gaffes by the Vols, it’s a pretty close game.  And now Tua Tagovailoa is injured.  He should only miss one game and it’s against Arkansas but still, Nick Saban has to be a bit worried about the health of his star quarterback.
• LSU had no problem with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  Wait.  No.  That’s not true.  There is one thing that everyone will remember about this game and it was a problem for their Heisman candidate, Joe Burrow.  He was pantsed during the game and everyone could see most of his ass.  Embarrassing for sure…unless you are a guy who could end up making millions in the NFL and is probably big man on campus right now.  Now we await, LSU’s game with Bama as it could end up being #1 vs. #2 (unless something goes wrong before then).
• Feel-good moment of the week came in the Minnesota-Rutgers game.  If you haven’t heard of the story of Casey O’Brien, go look it up.  A rough life for sure, with having cancer when he was younger and then having it come back on three separate occasions.  He ends up getting an offer to walk on at Minnesota, the only team to give him that kind of offer.  He finally got the chance to be the holder on a few extra points during the Gophers’ blowout win versus the woeful Scarlet Knights.  So this team is surprisingly undefeated, looking headlong into a November matchup with undefeated Penn State that could be the biggest game in program history and now this.  So many reasons to root for this team.
• Oklahoma looked good in a victory over West Virginia.  But no one cared.  The only thing everyone cared about is that everyone involved in the Sooner Schooner crash was OK.  And yes, everyone was OK.  Hopefully they can figure things out since this is the second time this season the Schooner has tipped over.
• How about those Vanderbilt Commodores?  Yeah they have been shitty this season.  I mean they’ve lost to UNLV for God’s sake.  Then the Dores went out and beat a ranked Mizzou team that could have been a thorn in the side of the SEC East leaders, Georgia and Florida.  And after the game, Derek Mason basically cut a promo that is one of the best post-game interviews of a college football coach of all-time.  For his passion alone, he deserves another year at one of the toughest jobs in the Power Five.
• Ohio State destroyed Northwestern on Friday night on a game that was moved from FS1 to BTN.  This should have been at least a bit closer but, alas, it wasn’t.  Is there anyone that can beat tOSU?  Penn State might be the best chance during the regular season but don’t forget Wisconsin next week.  They could be playing angry after their epic loss.
• That was some fun FOOTBAW WEATHER Between The Hedges on Saturday.  The Kentucky-Georgia game turned into one of those old-school Big Ten games where the ball rarely went in the air.  I guess this made it so Kirby Smart wouldn’t have to make so many tough playcalling decisions since he doesn’t seem to be that good at those kinds of things.
• Boise State is no longer undefeated and the fact they lost to BYU, of all teams, is the most shocking part here.  But to lose to a guy named Baylor Romney may be even worse.  BYU’s newest quarterback had some tricks in his pocket as the Cougs looked really good against a Broncos team who just couldn’t make things work and couldn’t complete the comeback.  SMU and Appalachian State were VERY happy with the outcome of that game that’s for sure.
• Even though very few people got to see it, Kansas almost pulled off the upset against Texas.  A blocked extra point returned for two points turned out to be the difference in this one.  Let’s be honest here: Kansas still isn’t that good at all.  But with Les Miles there, it is only a matter of time before they are bowl-eligible and then…who knows.
• We finally got to see the new NCAA rule on Saturday!  Once teams hit the fifth overtime period, it becomes a two-point conversion shootout until we get a winner.  North Carolina and Virginia Tech went to six overtimes before the Heels were not able to convert on a conversion and the Hokies did to end the longest game in ACC history.  It was a ton of fun despite the fact there was some horrible football and questionable playcalling in the first four overtime periods.  The kicking sucked too.  All in all it was the most college football game of the weekend.

Man I honestly thought that weekend was going to turn out pretty crappy.  And it wasn’t.  Even though I missed most of the early games it turned out to be a fantastic day of college football.  We need more of these.  Now to the Bossman Top 25:

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

Yes I have Clemson down at #6.  I don’t care what anyone thinks about that.  Let’s be honest here: if the Tigers win out they’re in, no ifs, ands or buts.  I also have no Group of Five team in the Top 15.  I can honestly see this being the case when the regular season ends unless there are no other undefeated teams (and even then).  Considering the weaker schedule, these teams (SMU, Cincinnati, Boise State, Appalachian State) need to start blowing teams out all the time.  Who gives a shit about hurt feelings.  Run up the damn score!  Finally, I himmed and hawed over whether to put Wake Forest or Virginia in at #25.  I put the Deacs in for now knowing that Virginia will get there eventually because they may have won the ACC Coastal already (what a gongshow of a division).  Remember there are ten undefeated teams remaining and it will be down to single digits by Halloween.  If there is a God, the next few weeks will have us down to like one or two.

Guess what?  No mid-week college football.  Last time I will say that for a while.  Soon we are getting into football every damn day for almost a month.  Yes, it’s Footballmania!  I’ll be back later this week with a full college football schedule and may discuss this a bit more.  Enjoy your week everyone!

Get ready for a lot of this Part II – Week 8 College Football TV Schedule

So last year at this time, it was the Nick Bosa issue.  Bosa decided to sit out the rest of the year to avoid injury and work on getting ready for the NFL Combine.  Now we have players redshirting, probably on the advice of their head coach, because the team isn’t going anywhere this season.  Next year will be better so why have your betters have their eligibility run out?  Again, am I surprised?  Like last year, no, I am not.  Teams are going to find ways to skirt the rules for lack of a better term.  They are using the redshirt rules (up to four games and then you can redshirt and not lose a year of eligibility) to their advantage.  I don’t blame these players/coaches/programs for doing this.  In my opinion they are being smart about this.

We are going to see more of this, guaranteed.  Why not?  Let’s be honest: none of this is even remotely associated with these players’ education.  It’s all about money.  And for coaches it’s all about holding on to their jobs longer.  If they can say that they are doing this so they need at least another year to truly have a chance to make it big with this program, they will get more money from their contract (although some of the buyout clauses are absurd).  College football: so pure and innocent, right?

Anywho, let’s get to the sked shall we?

Wednesday

		US	Canada
South Alabama at Troy	8:00 PM

Hey some TSN Fun Belt action!  Not a huge game but it really is the only thing on at night in terms of football.  This probably marks the TSN move to more college football that happens every year some time in October.

Thursday

		US	Canada
Louisiana at Arkansas State	7:30 PM
UCLA at Stanford	9:00 PM

Two games.  A Sun Belt game and a Pac-12 game.  Most people are probably going to watch the Thursday Night Football matchup or the ALCS thanks to the postponement of Game Four.  A UCLA-Stanford matchup doesn’t have the same zing it may have had a month or so ago since both teams have disappointed.

Friday

		US	Canada
Marshall at Florida Atlantic	6:30 PM
Pittsburgh at Syracuse	7:00 PM
#4 Ohio State at Northwestern	8:30 PM
UNLV at Fresno State	10:00 PM

Two CBS Sports Network games although I always find it weird when a game starts before 7 on a weeknight.  But hey, now we can watch the FOX Sports One game which probably ends up as a blowout but still….you can watch it if you have FloSports.  Other than that?  Meh.

UPDATE: tOSU-NW has been moved to the Big Ten Network because of the ALCS being moved to FOX Sports One.  The postponement and WWE Smackdown being on FOX made this all happen.

Saturday Early

		US	Canada
#3 Clemson at Louisville	Noon
Georgia Tech at Miami	Noon
#6 Wisconsin at Illinois	Noon
Kent State at Ohio	Noon
#9 Florida at South Carolina	Noon
Purdue at #23 Iowa	Noon
Houston at UConn	Noon
West Virginia at #5 Oklahoma	Noon
Iowa State at Texas Tech	Noon
NC State at Boston College	Noon
Lafayette at Georgetown	Noon
#11 Auburn at Arkansas	Noon

It’s an alright start to the day I guess.  Not as great as last week but still good.  Problem is it’s quite a few cases of a good, ranked team playing a not-so-good unranked team.  Also, if you are a masochist, you can immerse yourself in UConn football.

And yes there is a Peachtree doubleheader (at this point).  Never seen that before and it’s kind of bizarre to be frank.

Saturday Afternoon

		US	Canada
#12 Oregon at #25 Washington	3:30 PM
Duke at Virginia	3:30 PM
#20 Minnesota at Rutgers	3:30 PM
Indiana at Maryland	3:30 PM
#2 LSU at Mississippi State	3:30 PM
USF at Navy	3:30 PM
Temple at #19 SMU	3:30 PM
Tulsa at #21 Cincinnati	3:30 PM
North Carolina at Virginia Tech	3:30 PM
Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech	3:30 PM
#18 Baylor at Oklahoma State	4:00 PM
#22 Missouri at Vanderbilt	4:00 PM
Middle Tennessee at North Texas	4:00 PM

Some pretty damn good games here.  OK more like one great game and a bunch of good ones.  Oregon-Washington could end up being massive in the Pac-12 scheme of things (and pretty much put the nail in the coffin for the conference).  Baylor has a bit of a landmine game as they head to Stillwater to play the Cowboys.  Oh and SMU is in tough to remain undefeated as they host Temple.  Finally, a Stadium game is being shown on Peachtree as the back half of their doubleheader.  Yes this is bizarre and unprecedented.  Not important but just watch it be an amazing game with a fantastic finish.

Saturday Primetime​

		US	Canada
Kentucky at #10 Georgia	6:00 PM
East Carolina at UCF	7:00 PM
Tulane at Memphis	7:00 PM
Colorado at Washington State	7:00 PM
#16 Michigan at #7 Penn State	7:30 PM
Florida State at Wake Forest	7:30 PM
Texas A&M at Ole Miss	7:30 PM

Again, the specialty pack showing four games in this timeslot.  Fifteen for Saturday, eighteen for the week.  That’s a loaded schedule.  The Michigan-PSU game is huge and could make my predictions about Michigan look terrible if the Nittany Lions pull off the win.  It also has the weird 6:00 ESPN timeslot which leads to something I loath: the three-hour window.  It’s like ESPN, who is basically the home for college football, has no idea about how long college football games take.  Ugh.

Saturday Late Night

		US	Canada
Tennessee at #1 Alabama	9:00 PM
#14 Boise State at BYU	10:15 PM
Nevada at Utah State	10:15 PM
Air Force at Hawaii	11:00 PM

The back half of the weird 6:00-9:00 (69, hehehe) ESPN doubleheader has Tennessee probably being dominated by Alabama.  Big game in Provo that could put the Group of Five in a massive ball of chaos.  And late-night start (here) as we get CBSSN going to the islands for Hawaii Fighting Rainbow Warriors football!

Games to set your eyeballs on

Michigan at Penn State (7:30, ABC) – Big Blue vs. The Whiteout.  This is the Wolverines’ chance to truly get back in the College Football Playoff conversation.  But we know that playing Penn State, at night, during the Whiteout at Beaver Stadium, is one of the toughest college football atmospheres to play in.  Biggest game of the week and a huge determining factor in what will happen in the Big Ten East.

Oregon at Washington (3:30, ABC) – Could Mario Cristobal’s Oregon Ducks be the Pac-12’s best CFP hope?  They almost clinch the Pac-12 North with a win in Seattle this Saturday.  This could mean the Ducks are finally back for the first time since the Chip Kelly era.  As for Washington, hey Chris Petersen…there you go.  A game starting at 12:30 locally.  So stop bitching about game times since this could have easily been put on late night on ESPN.

Arizona State at Utah (6:00, Pac-12 Network) – This is a coup for the Pac-12 Network.  Unlike the Big Ten Network or SEC Network, the Pac-12 Network never gets games like this.  I am honestly surprised this wouldn’t have somehow made its way to FOX but this is what happens during the baseball playoffs.  Anyway, Herm Edwards has done an impressive job with the Sun Devils and they would be on the precipice of the Top 10 (I know…crazy!) with a win in the Mormon state.  When was the last time the Sun Devils were true contenders?  Back in the Jake “The Snake” Plummer days?

Temple at SMU (3:30, TSN2) – Did anyone think the freakin’ SMU Mustangs would be undefeated at this point?  Honestly I am surprised it didn’t somehow get an ABC timeslot because I know Disney likes to put the huge American conference games on there.  Temple upset Memphis last week and could finish off the upset double if they somehow win in Dallas this weekend.  Saying that, part of me would love to have SMU, undefeated, as a New Year’s Six contender going into November because it is so out of left field.

Baylor at Oklahoma State (4:00, FOX) – Another team that no one thought would be undefeated.  I know that a lot of people still hate Baylor thanks to Art Briles.  I get it but I start to feel its unfair to the current staff and current players (and current students for that matter).  He’s not there anymore, people so who gives a fuck.  Let’s celebrate the fact that we have an odd contender to the Big XII king (Oklahoma) other than Texas.  Matt Rhule has done a fantastic job as the Bears head man but this feels like a huge landmine game.  Again, this team could go into their game against the Sooners, undefeated, with perhaps a CFP spot on the line.  We need more programs other than the blue bloods every year.

Honourable mention: Kentucky at Georgia (6:00, specialty pack); Boise State at BYU (10:15, TSN2); LSU at Mississippi State (3:30, CBS)

Some gambling fun and games

I have no shame in saying I was wrong in some of my picks last week.  Honestly, I never have shame for that.  Here’s this week picks:

Boise State over BYU

SMU over Temple

Georgia over Kentucky

LSU over Mississippi State

Washington over Oregon (mild upset)

Utah over Arizona State

Penn State over Michigan

Oklahoma State over Baylor (huge upset)

North Texas over Middle Tennessee

Duke over Virginia (another upset)

Ohio over Kent State

Early schedule post this week thanks to the Wednesday night game although don’t expect this every week.  I just figured I had some time so I could get this out early for all you readers.  See what a nice guy I am?

Tomorrow night we also have some Thursday Night Football as per usual.  It’s the Broncos and Chiefs.  Honestly this should be a blowout but the Chiefs have looked relatively average over the past few weeks.  I wonder if Joe and Troy will just do more Smackdown promo reads if things get out of hand.

So we shall see how my viewing goes this weekend.  Busy time early on.  Fantasy basketball draft at night.  Anyway, I will figure out a way.  Either that or I will spend a couple hours just watching highlights on Sunday.  Have a great weekend everyone (despite the fact it’s only hump day).

Finally! – Week 7 College Football Recap

It wasn’t a ton of chaos but there was still a bit which makes Professor Chaos happy…I think.  It was about damn time.  We’ve needed some movement in the rankings since the first month-and-a-bit of the season had very little of that.  So let’s get on to the recap:

Hold that Tiger!  LSU had the biggest win in the biggest game as they beat Florida in a rivalry that seems to be blooming.  And for once it’s all about LSU’s offense.  It’s the one thing the Tigers have been missing for years but now that they have it, it is scary for other teams in the SEC for sure.  After many failed attempts, LSU has arrived again.  I am sure CBS is already working to get the Bama-LSU game in primetime.  They’d be smart to give ESPN whatever they want to make that happen.

QUACK!  QUACK!  Oregon is starting to look like the dominating force they once were.  The Ducks made easy work of Cal and has created a bit of a stranglehold at the top of the Pac-12.  It is their Pac-12 North to lose now although we know how the Pac-12 has worked as of late.  They are probably the Pac-12’s only College Football Playoff hope at this point.

Can’t blame Mark Richt for this one:  Georgia never seemed in this one.  South Carolina wasn’t dominating play but there certainly seemed like the better team.  But Georgia had chances to win.  And they could never capitalize on those.  The playcalling of Kirby Smart was also strange especially down the stretch.  Nothing went right for UGA and now their CFP chances have taken a huge hit.

I don’t know why I keep falling for this:  Maybe it’s because I hope Bama will lose because it will create CHAOS.  I honestly thought the Aggies would keep it close with the Tide.  Boy was I ever wrong.  Alabama keeps on rolling and very little seems in their way that could stop them (at least during the regular season).

Bronco Buster:  I figured it would be Miami and Virginia for the ACC Coastal title.  Well the Canes haven’t exactly lit it up so far this season.  Both teams played quite well on defense and the Turnover Chain got to make a few appearances.  The offenses were less than good in this one.  However it was The U that did just enough to get into the division catbird seat.  Or not.  I don’t really know.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up a 7-way tie for the title with every team at 4-4.  Oh wait, Georgia Tech is in that division.  Six-way tie.   Yeah, six-way tie.

Red River Battle Royale:  Hey wasn’t that fun?  It was a good game that started with a bit of a brew-ha-ha which prompted “The Gun Show” Mike Defee to give everyone an unsportsmanlike penalty.  Can you imagine if the entire sideline got two warnings during the game.  What happens then?  Technically the entire team would be thrown out.  That would have been something to behold.  Anyway, the Sooners basically outlasted Texas in this one and has taken a big stranglehold on the Big XII that might only be broken by Baylor.  Yes, Baylor.

You just got LAWRENCED!  That sounds disgusting but may be true for some women on the campus at Clemson University.  Florida State was never able to hang with the Tigers.  In the end it was Trevor Lawrence who had one of his best games of his career as they annihilated the Seminoles.  Clemson keeps on chugging and really has no roadblocks now to get to the CFP.  Florida State is going to have to do some work to be bowl eligible and to save Willie Taggart’s job as he is on quite the hot seat now in Tallahassee.

Is Wisconsin’s defense that good?  Their defense could be the best this century.  Forget Clemson’s defense a year ago: this Badger D could be better.  They are halfway through their season and have allowed only 29 points with four shutouts.  Geez.  Their game in two weeks with Ohio State could be something special.  Interesting to see how Justin Fields does with this.

Baylor?  Baylor!  If anyone of you thought Baylor would be 6-0, put your hands down because I know you’re lying.  Will they finish undefeated?  I doubt it.  But this is still a huge accomplishment for Matt Rhule and the Bears.  And it took two overtimes to beat a fairly good Texas Tech team to remain unblemished.  There is now a very real possibility that the Bears could be 9-0 when they play Oklahoma in November.  This is the kind of chaos I love.

So is Utah finally going to get its chance?  Kyle Whittingham and the Utes really do have the Pac-12 South by its balls.  They have everything going for them and hold their destiny in their hands.  Utah destroyed Oregon State on Saturday and looks to be set up to cause some major damage the rest of the way.  And maybe this time the Utes will score more than 3 points in the Pac-12 Championship if they get there.

Biggest upset of the week goes to…  Bowling Green.  Yes, Bowling Fucking Green.  In a game very few watched because of the schedule, the Falcons came in to their game against Toledo as 26.5 point underdogs.  Yet they thoroughly whipped the hapless Rockets in spectacular fashion.  First win for BG over Toledo in a decade to win the Battle of I-75.  Nice.

Another close call for the Irish:  Not saying USC is horrible but Notre Dame should have beaten pretty handily.  This shouldn’t have been close yet it was.  They don’t have a super easy schedule the rest of the way but all the games are winnable.  They go 11-1 and they would have a really good shot at the College Football Playoff and, again, many people wouldn’t like that at all.  Knowing this team, I can see one slip up the rest of the way to make The Committee’s job easier…well at least when it comes to the CFP.  The New Year’s Six, not as easy.

Good lord Vanderbilt:  What the fuck is going on in Nashville?  Vandy loses big to UNLV.  UNLV.  Unbelievable.  I think Derek Mason’s time as head man of the Commodores is about to come to an end as this could be the worst Vandy team since before James Franklin was coaching there.

Orange Britches!  The Volunteers of Tennessee have won an SEC game!  There had to be a few people out there who wondered when that would be said again.  But against Mississippi State?  I think the Joe Moorhead honeymoon is now over.  I hate to say he may be on the hot seat but it’s getting warm.  And Tennessee may not be as bad as we thought?  I say that six days before they play Alabama in Bryant-Denny at night.  Let’s hope they keep it within 30 so Saban gets REALLY angry.

Frost Warning:  OK nobody thought Minnesota would be that good.  But Nebraska is, yet again, worse than most people thought.  You know, except for all those people who are going “Oh yeah I definitely didn’t think Nebraska would be that good.  I figured they would be exactly where they are right now.”  And then you see they have no proof of that and you then know you are talking to one of “those people.”  The ones who tell everyone about what they did right but man, when it’s something wrong, they lack that one thing…what’s it called?  Oh yeah, accountability.  Wow, that took a bit of a dark turn.

Well all in all it was a fun weekend of college football.  So now let’s get to the Bossman Top 25:

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

That was quite the week in movements in the Top 25.  Basically #1 is set and after that it is a complete gongshow and no one would be wrong with their own personal rankings (well, unless you put Illinois in your Top 25).  Some would put Boise State higher up after a win over Hawaii but I don’t buy that…yet.  Let’s be honest: their schedule will not help them and any hope of them getting to the CFP hinges on chaos above them (which I am fully for).  This weekend helped but won’t be nearly enough.  As a bit of an aside, what is with College Gameday going to State College instead of Dallas to showcase a Top 25 SMU team?  The stories write themselves there.  Nope, go for the Whiteout.  Of course.  Nothing against Penn State but this is another mark against the Group of Five and college football’s perception of those programs.

As for what I think the CFP combatants will be, here is what I think will end up being the rankings at the top (at this time):

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. Utah
7. Georgia

The top three are basically set as long as they don’t mess things up royally.  It’s the number four spot that will be under a lot of scrutiny.  The rest of those teams all will or might have black marks on their resume.  None of the Group of Five teams will be in this conversation and I am pretty sure about that.  This basically says that Bama will beat LSU later on which means that the Big Ten would probably send its champ at that point.  At this point, I think Ohio State but Wisconsin could be in the mix as well.  Way too much football to play to make any definitive statements.

Alright, in the end, it was a good weekend of college football.  Let’s hope for a lot more the rest of the way.  Enjoy your week everyone!