College Football Awards, Week 9 (2018) October 28, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alcorn State, Arizona, Bethune-Cookman, Bill Clark, Bobby Petrino, Cal, California, Charlotte, Clay Helton, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, James Franklin, Jim Harbaugh, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Louisville, LSU, Mark Stoops, Mississippi State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rice, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tom Herman, UAB, USC, Utah State, UTEP, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Willie Taggert
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Willie Taggert, Florida State
Lucky guy: Mike Stoops, Kentucky
Poor guy: Mike Helton, USC
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bill Clark, UAB
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking … anything: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Nebraska (defeated Bethune-Cookman 45-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: TCU (lost to Kansas 27-26)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Florida State (lost to Clemson 59-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (defeated TCU 27-26)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Wake Forest (defeated Louisville 56-35)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Louisville
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Washington
Can the season end? UTEP
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 17 Penn State 30, No. 18 Iowa 24
Play this again, too: Oklahoma State 38, No. 6 Texas 35
Never play this again: No. 2 Clemson 59, Florida State 10
What? Arizona 44, No. 19 Oregon 15
Huh? Missisippi State 28, No. 16 Texas A&M 13
Double Huh? Cal 12, No. 15 Washington 10
Are you kidding me?? Oklahoma State 38, No. 6 Texas 35
Oh – my – God: Kansas 27, TCU 26
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 4 LSU
Another key game to see: No. 7 Georgia @ No. 12 Kentucky
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Louisiana Tech @ Mississippi State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ Hawaii
Upset alert: No. 13 West Virginia @ No. 6 Texas
Must win: Purdue @ No. 18 Iowa
Offensive explosion: No. 8 Oklahoma @ Texas Tech
Defensive struggle: inconclusive
Great game no one is talking about: No. 3 Notre Dame @ Northwestern
Also: Purdue @ No. 18 Iowa
Intriguing coaching matchup: James Franklin of Penn State vs. Jim Harbaugh of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisville @ No. 2 Clemson
Why are they playing? Charlotte @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ Rice
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Alcorn State @ New Mexico State
My Nearly Perfect Playoff Scenario November 16, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Alabama, AP, Auburn, B1G, Baker Mayfield, Big Ten, BYU, Clemson, college football, Crimson Tide, Georgia, Hurricanes, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pac-12, playoffs, poll, TCU, Utah State, Wisconsin
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGfwy-i4jbM
The developments in this past week of college football have shaken up the polls yet again, thus further modifying the playoff projections. Given the current state of affairs, if the new AP poll is of any indication, here’s how I think things could play out.
The current top eight in the AP poll is as follows:
- Alabama
- Miami
- Oklahoma
- Clemson
- Wisconsin
- Auburn
- Georgia
- Ohio State
So, based on current polling and whom the teams have yet to play, who goes into the final four of the playoffs? My scenario could lead to near-perfection.
Let’s start with Alabama. Mississippi State almost beat them at home. So, the Crimson Tide is vulnerable. Nevertheless, they’ll get an easy win over a cupcake in Mercer this Saturday. That leaves us with Auburn at No. 6. Strange things happen in rivalry games. Even stranger things happen in the Iron Bowl, arguably the most heated, bitter rivalry in college sports. Bama thought they would be playing for the national title until the famous “kick-six” incident of 2013, for example. Nevertheless, let us say for the sake of argument that Bama beats Auburn. On paper, this is entirely possible. Auburn will thus have three losses, and be eliminated from playoff consideration.
The Tide remains undefeated, and goes onto the SEC championship game in Atlanta. There, they play Georgia, who was briefly No. 1 before getting their asses handed to them by Auburn. Now at No. 7, they’ll still give Alabama a good challenge in Atlanta. But on paper, the odds still favor The Tide. Let us thus accept the law of averages and say Bama wins. Again. Having knocked out both Auburn AND Georgia, Bama as undefeated AND SEC champs, also ranked No. 1, instantly clinch a playoff berth.
Berth No. 1 of 4: Alabama
Next up is Miami. After tearing Notre Dame a new one in Hard Rock Stadium, the Hurricanes now sit at No. 2 in the AP. They have also clinched the Atlantic Division of the ACC for the first time since the conference split into those two divisions. To remain undefeated in the regular season, they need to take out Virginia (at home) and Pittsburgh (on the road). Both are doable, obviously, though keep an eye out for the Canes having to deal with cold Pittsburgh weather in late November.
At any rate, the Hurricanes are now slated to play Clemson, currently No. 4 in the AP, for the ACC Championship. That game will be in Charlotte in early December, effectively a home game for the Tigers. IF the Hurricanes can overcome this huge challenge and triumph over Clemson, they shall be undefeated, ACC champs, and shall have clinched the second spot in the playoffs. This could actually be the most tenuous of contingencies. Nevertheless…
Berth No. 2 of 4: Miami
Oklahoma currently sits at No. 3. Aside from Iowa State, the Sooners have risen to the occasion each game, recently beating a tough TCU squad. OU quarterback Baker Mayfield is a more mature version of Johnny Manziel: someone capable of making special things happen. Despite legit challenges from strong teams within the conference, nobody can credibly take the Sooners down this year. If these shadows remain unchanged, they’ll surely clinch a playoff berth.
Berth No. 3 of 4: Oklahoma
That leaves us with the last spot. In this scenario, three out of the eight are already in. Three of the remaining five are out. That leaves us with the remaining two: Wisconsin and Ohio State. “But wait,” you protest, “Ohio State already has two losses, one a both recent AND embarrassing one to Iowa.” A valid point you would raise, to be sure. But here’s the deal. The Buckeyes’ schedule is still much stronger than Wisconsin’s, for one. Whereas OSU had the guts to play a tough OU squad that, as already mentioned, shall surely be playoff-bound, Wisconsin padded their schedule with Utah State, Florida Atlantic, and a weak (for this year) BYU.
Moreover, IF Ohio State shows up ready to play, they can beat anybody. Would you want to coach head-to-head against Urban Meyer? I didn’t think so.
Finally, both Wisconsin and Ohio State, if both win out, are destined to butt heads in the Big Ten Championship game. They both need to beat Michigan to guarantee this scenario. Should they play each other for the B1G title, and should Ohio State actually triumph, Wisconsin shall be effectively eliminated. Why? Again, their relatively weak schedule without winning their own conference. Meanwhile, Ohio State will be the last team standing in the top eight in the current AP poll. Could winning the B1G over an undefeated team be enough to get them back into playoff contention? I would wager “yes.”
Berth No. 4 of 4: Ohio State
Yes, this scenario is contingent on many factors. Change one major factor (Bama loses to Auburn, for example), and it all falls apart. Wisconsin and Ohio State’s viabilities depend on both beating Michigan. Miami still needs to face Pittsburgh in the cold of late November at Heinz Field. After that, they must face down Clemson. Obviously, that’s a tall order.
If, however, all these things come to pass, it would be a nearly geographically-perfect playoff line-up. Alabama would represent the south. Miami could represent urban, coastal fans of the game. Ohio State could represent the Midwest, the Big Ten, and its demographic TV-viewing juggernaut along with it. Finally, Oklahoma could represent other parts of Middle America. Indeed, the only problem with this scenario is that it lacks a Pac-12 team. If it did, we would have perfection. Too bad the Pac-12 teams ended up cannibalizing themselves this year, but that could be the case with the B1G, too, depending on how things truly do come to pass. The only way we’ll know one way or the other is to keep lining them up and playing.
College Football Awards Week 5 (2017) October 2, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arkansas, Bowling Green, Butch Jones, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia State, Indiana, Jeff Brohm, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Louisville, LSU, Miami (OH), Mike Bobo, Mike Gundy, Mike Jinks, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, New Mexico, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, P.J. Fleck, Purdue, Rutgers, San Diego State, San Jose State, South Carolina, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Troy, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Utah State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqy_RS03Gdg
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Poor guy: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Mike Bobo, Colorado State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Desperately seeking … anything: Mike Jinks, Bowling Green
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Louisville (defeated Murray State 55-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida State (defeated Wake Forest 26-19)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Miami (OH) (lost to No. 22 Notre Dame 52-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Wake Forest (lost to Florida State 26-19)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Tennessee 45-0)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: San Jose State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: USC
Did the season start? North Carolina
Can the season end? Bowling Green
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: No. 16 Washington State 30, No. 5 USC 27
Play this again, too: UCLA 27, Colorado 23
Never play this again: No. 11 Ohio State 56, Rutgers 0
What? Utah State 40, BYU 24
Huh? New Mexico 49, Air Force 38
Are you kidding me?? Troy 24, No. 25 LSU 21
Oh – my – God: No. 16 Washington State 30, No. 5 USC 27
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 23 West Virginia @ No. 8 TCU: either that, or No. 1 Alabama @ Texas A&M?
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Eastern Michigan @ Kentucky
Best non-Power Five matchup: Colorado State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 5 Georgia @ Vanderbilt also: Maryland @ No. 10 Ohio State
Must win: No. 17 Louisville @ No. 24 NC State
Offensive explosion: No. 23 West Virginia @ No. 8 TCU
Defensive struggle: LSU @ No. 21 Florida
Great game no one is talking about: Arkansas @ South Carolina also: Duke @ Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jeff Brohm of Purdue vs. P.J. Fleck of Minnesota
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 19 San Diego State @ UNLV
Why are they playing? Charleston Southern @ Indiana
Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Coastal Carolina
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Missouri @ Kentucky
Week 5 Take-aways:
There were so few upsets this week that I had to scape near the bottom of the barrel in order to fill in all four degrees of upset slot, and even then I barely made it. However, similar to last week, there were lots of near-misses. Unlike last week, however, there were few near-misses of major consequences. Nevertheless, to wit:
Northwestern has unexpectedly struggled this year, yet for a good portion of the game actually led formidable Wisconsin, before the Badgers eventually came back and beat the Wildcats, 33-24. Still, given how weak the Wildcats have seemed up until now, such a loss to such a strong team is hardly disgraceful.
Florida State had to struggle to beat lowly Wake Forest 26-19, much like Louisville had to do last year to beat the Demon Deacons. Thus, Wake Forest remains one of the most enigmatic of teams. Kentucky, who has proven to be a decent team, only beat Eastern Michigan 24-20. To be sure, part of the reason is that the Eagles are no longer a gutter team. In case you forgot, they were actually a bowl-bound team last year. No, that was not a dream.
Lowly Charlotte almost earned their first “W” of the year (of the program?) before just missing out at the end to gradually-improving Florida International. In case you have forgotten, Butch Davis is now the Panthers’ head coach, so that would explain the improvement. Meanwhile, it has been established that Ohio U is a decent team. Under Frank Solich’s leadership, they contend perennially for the MAC title. How then does one explain THIS? By “this,” I mean A) beating UMass by only eight points, and B), allowing the Minutemen to score 50 points on the Bobcats. Yes, the score was 58-50. Try not to overthink this, or you too will be sucked into a quandary vortex.
One of the most interesting studies in uniform contrast was the Oklahoma State at Texas Tech game. The Cowboys wore matte-black helmets with chrome-silver grilles, along with trendy, gray pants. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders, who have been associated with black helmets for 15+ years, wore white helmets with a plain-looking “TT” logo, red jerseys, and white pants with traditional red-black striping. The contrast was thus the trendy vs. traditional look, which was all the more intriguing since, from what I surmise after looking over things on The Helmet Project, Texas Tech chose this evening, for some reason, to wear throwback unis from ca. 1974: weird.
Speaking of weird, “body bag games,” so-called because of the gross mis-matches on paper, are supposed to be ‘gimme’ games for the heavily favored team. Apparently Troy never got that memo when they ventured into Baton Rouge to take on the Bayou Bengals. That’s right, the Trojans upset the Tigers – again, in Death Valley – 24-21. Coach Orgeron’s backside, meet chair that overnight just got really hot.
Speaking of hot seats, after Tennessee’s historically embarrassing loss to Georgia at home, Butch Jones’ hot seat has reached the most extreme of levels of hot, colloquially known as the “ejection seat”. We all know that at this rate, it’s just a matter of time, folks.
College Football Awards, Week 2 (2017) September 11, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arkansas, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Big 12, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly, Bronco Mendenhall, Buckeyes, BYU, Cal, Charlotte, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Dino Babers, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Gus Malzahn, Horned Frogs, Idaho, Jeff Brohm, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Lincoln Riley, Louisville, LSU, Matt Rhule, Miami Hurricanes, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Morgan State, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nicholls, North Carolina A&T, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Randy Edsall, Razorbacks, Rutgers, San Jose State, Sooners, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, Tulsa, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, Utah State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 2] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Lucky guy: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Poor guy: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dino Babers, Syracuse
Desperately seeking … anything: Matt Rhule, Baylor
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 19 Kansas State (defeated Charlotte 55-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Kentucky (defeated Eastern Kentucky 27-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: San Jose State (lost to Texas 56-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Nicholls (lost to Texas A&M 24-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Duke (defeated Northwestern 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: USC
Dang, they’re bad: Baylor
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ohio State
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? New Mexico
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: No. 15 Georgia 20, No. 24 Notre Dame 19
Play this again, too: Utah 19, BYU 13
Never play this again: Utah State 51, Idaho State 13
Close call: No. 3 Clemson 14, No. 13 Auburn 6
What? Middle Tennessee 30, Syracuse 23
Huh? New Hampshire 22, Georgia Southern 12
Are you kidding me?? Eastern Michigan 16, Rutgers 13
Oh – my – God: No. 5 Oklahoma 31, No. 2 Ohio State 16
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 2, pre-week 3)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Clemson @ No. 14 Louisville
Also: Texas @ No. 4 USC
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Oregon @ Wyoming
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ Wake Forest
Upset alert: No. 10 Wisconsin @ BYU
Must win: No. 23 Tennessee @ No. 24 Florida
Offensive explosion: Tulsa @ Toledo
Defensive struggle: No. 12 LSU @ Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: Purdue @ Missouri
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bobby Petrino of Louisville vs. Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Also: Randy Edsall of UConn vs. Bronco Mendenhall of Virginia
Who’s bringing the body bags? Georgia State @ No. 4 Penn State
Why are they playing? Mercer @ No. 15 Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: North Carolina A&T @ Charlotte
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Morgan State @ Rutgers
Week 1 Take-aways:
This week leaves us with more questions than answers. For one, Louisville had fewer penalties against North Carolina than they did against Purdue. All well and good, but is that enough improvement at this rate to be ready for Clemson at home next week? Regarding the TCU-Arkansas game, are the No. 23 Horned Frogs that good, or are the Razorbacks that mediocre? The Auburn-Clemson game was a surprising defensive struggle. What was the bigger surprise: that Auburn’s defense held the Tigers to only two touchdowns, or that Auburn’s offense – supposedly a specialty under head coach Gus Malzahn – could only muster a measly six points? Moreover, what does this portend for Auburn’s offense during the rest of the season?
The shocker of the week was Oklahoma’s upset over Ohio State in Columbus. The question becomes, are the Sooners that good, or are the Buckeyes overrated? Ohio State has plenty of NFL-potential bodies on both sides of the ball. What accounts for their lackluster offense this game, and their defensive collapse in the 4th quarter? Actually, there is an answer. The Buckeyes are currently experiencing an identity crisis on offense. Until they get that cleared up, they’ll continue to fail to play up to their potential this season, and that will be a genuine shame.
Questions aside, let us take a glance at the Big XII Conference. Simply put, they’re looking good right now. The Sooners are rolling after their huge win over the Buckeyes. Oklahoma State has two wins with impressive margins. TCU embarrassed Arkansas on the road today. Kansas State won convincingly, even though it was a body bag game. West Virginia is playing quite strongly right now, though a body bag game against Delaware State next week will obviously be meaningless. It all adds up to a conference that is playing well and giving the rest of college football cause for notice. The ironic weak links are Baylor and Texas. Concerning the Bears, it would only stand to reason that Matt Rhule has not forgotten how to coach. The turmoil surrounding the player sexual assault scandals, the sudden firing of Art Briles, and the havoc wrought by Hurricane Harvey have all combined to take a serious toll on the program. Baylor looks shell-shocked right now, and it will be interesting to see if Rhule, who brought Temple to respectability, can keep things afloat at a program with greater potential but higher expectations, too.
Speaking of Hurricane Harvey, that might also account for Texas A&M has not been playing up to their potential, as well as for Texas’ gigantic miscue against Maryland last week. After all, many players for these two programs, as well as for Baylor, have come out of the Houston area, which is still reeling in the wake of the hurricane damage and the residual flooding damage. The latter of which alone has for longer-lasting implications than the former. Let us all pray for those who have been afflicted by that terrible storm, as well as for those who are being afflicted by Hurricane Irma in Florida. As the floodwaters recede and the area rebuilds and moves forward in general, perhaps the morale of the aforementioned Texas teams shall improve, along with their performances.
Speaking of Hurricane Irma, that storm shall leave implications long into the season, given all the games that have already been postponed. One notable example is No. 16 Miami vs. No. 10 Florida State. That game would have been one of the best of the upcoming week. Little doubt lingers that they’ll find a time to reschedule such a matchup that is A) a heated, in-state rivalry, and B) a game with conference standing implications. If both teams keep playing to their potential, perhaps both will be ranked even MORE highly by the time they finally butt heads. Let us stay tuned the rescheduling on Oct. 7!
One final note about an overlooked game for the upcoming week: Ole Miss at Cal, which kicks off at 10:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time. While both teams are currently unranked, it does not matter, for it’s always a treat to watch SEC vs. Pac-12 matchups!
College Football Week 7 Awards October 13, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Auburn, Baylor, Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boise State, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Chattanooga, Colorado, Colorado State, Dan Mullen, David Shaw, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Fresno State, Furman, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Hugh Freeze, Idaho, Illini, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, New Mexico State, Nike, North Carolina, North Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Petrino, Purdue, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Todd Graham, UConn, USC, Utah State, West Virginia
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(
Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Wish I were him, too: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking a wake-up clue: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jim McElwain, Colorado State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking … anything: Paul Petrino, Idaho
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Tennessee (beat Chattanooga 45-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 6 Notre Dame (beat North Carolina 50-43)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Chattanooga (lost to Tennessee 45-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 8 Michigan State 45-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 13 Georgia (defeated No. 23 Missouri 34-0)
Dang, they’re good: Mississippi State (and Ole Miss)
Dang, they’re bad: UConn
You know, they’re not so bad: Central Florida
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Missouri
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Idaho
Can the season never end? Ole Miss and Mississippi State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Baylor 58, No. 9 TCU 61
Play this again, too: LSU 30, Florida 27
Never play this again: Arkansas State 52, Georgia State 10
What? Iowa 45, Indiana 21
Huh? USC 28, No. 10 Arizona 26
Are you kidding me? Duke 31, No. 22 Georgia Tech 25
Oh – my – God: No. 3 Mississippi State 38, No. 2 Auburn 23
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Notre Dame @ No. 2 Florida State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none, notwithstanding the “Why Are They Playing” entry)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Fresno State @ Boise State
Upset alert: No. 10 Georgia @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 21 Texas A&M @ No. 7 Alabama
Offensive explosion: No. 4 Baylor @ West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ LSU
Great game no one is talking about: Utah State @ Colorado State
Intriguing coaching matchup: David Shaw of Stanford vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State (also, Bill Snyder of Kansas State vs. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma)
Who’s bringing the body bags? Colorado @ No. 22 USC
Why are they playing? Furman @ South Carolina
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ Idaho
They shoot horses, don’t they? Southern Miss @ North Texas
Week 7 Random Thoughts:
- This weekend was almost as epic as the previous one. True, there were the amount of upsets to match last week, but there were great matchups and key tests therein. Both flagship schools from the Magnolia State proved that they not only could stand prosperity, but that last week’s wins proved to be no flukes. Indeed, Ole Miss went in to College Station, Texas, in front of the largest crowd ever to assemble for a football game in the Lone Star State (106,000 fans), and beat the Aggies in convincing fashion, 35-20. Meanwhile, Mississippi State had just as huge a challenge as they had the previous week, if not even more so in a cagey Auburn squad. The fact that they beat the Tigers/War Eagles at home shows that the Bulldogs are for real, and that their No. 1 ranking is no happenstance.
- Last week I observed of the inconclusiveness of Purdue’s win over Illinois. The unanswered question at the time was, had the Boilermakers improved that much from their inept showing against Iowa the previous week, or were the Illini just that bad? After their respectable showing against a very tough Michigan State squad, I am compelled to conclude that they have, in fact, improved: clearly a positive trend.
- So what was up with those God-awful, all-white uniforms that Purdue wore at home? It turns out that they intended to use neon-yellow trim on their uniforms for some sort of breast cancer awareness gesture. For some inexplicable reason, Nike refused to make a black jersey for them in that sort of trim, so the Boilers went all-white instead. Sounds like the Boilers should switch to Under Armor, for such a refusal for a team is most unbecoming. Seeing things another way, would Nike have a refused such a thing to, say, Oregon?
- They say that the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins. The Longhorns demonstrated that in spades against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Statistically, they dominated the Sooners, but too many miscues, penalties and turnovers caused them to give up the game. Even more ironic was that the Sooners were ranked ahead of Texas anyhow. Now we know why. Charlie Strong has his work cut out for him in terms of stemming such mistakes in the near future.
College Football Week 5 Awards September 29, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Bobby Petrino, Brady Hoke, BYU, Cal, California, Charlie Weis, Colorado, East Carolina, FAU, FIU, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Internation, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Gary Pinkel, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, James Franklin, Jeff Monken, Jim Mora, Kansas, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, NC State, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, North Texas, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, SMU, South Caroina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UConn, Utah State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yale
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Mora, UCLA
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State
Lucky guy: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Poor guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeff Monken, Army
Desperately seeking … anything: Brady Hoke, Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 17 LSU (defeated New Mexico State 63-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 1 Florida State (defeated NC State 56-41)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wyoming (lost to No. 9 Michigan State 56-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: South Florida (lost to Wisconsin 27-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Temple (defeated UConn 36-10)
Dang, they’re good: Auburn
Dang, they’re bad: Tulane
You know, they’re not so bad: Minnesota
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Indiana
Did the season start? South Carolina
Can the season end? SMU
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Texas A&M 35, Arkansas 28 (OT)
Play this again, too: Cal 59, Colorado 56
Never play this again: TCU 56, SMU 0
What? Northwestern 29, Penn State 6
Huh? Yale 49, Army 43
Are you kidding me? Maryland 37, Indiana 15
Oh – my – God: Missouri 21, No. 13 South Carolina 20
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Alabama @ No. 11 Ole Miss (though you don’t want to miss No. 6 Texas A&M @ No. 12 Mississippi State, either, or No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 15 LSU, for that matter)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Texas @ Indiana
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ BYU (also, Southern Miss @ Middle Tennessee)
Upset alert: No. 14 Stanford @ No. 9 Notre Dame
Must win: Virginia Tech @ North Carolina
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ No. 2 Oregon (Thurs.)
Defensive struggle: Purdue @ Illinois
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Syracuse (Fri.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Rich Rodriquez of Arizona vs. Mark Helfrich of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ West Virginia
Why are they playing? Marshall @ Old Dominion
Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida Atlantic @ Florida International
They shoot horses, don’t they? SMU @ East Carolina
Week 5 Random Thoughts:
– Having made these types of weekly articles during the college football season for the third straight year, without a doubt, the most difficult thing to accurately predict is the “offensive explosion” game each week. This time, I got it fairly close, seeing as how the score between the Clemson vs. North Carolina game ended at 50-35, in favor of the Tigers. The only problem was, there were plenty other “offensive explosions” to choose from in hindsight, such as Florida State vs. North Carolina State (56-41), or even Cal vs. Colorado (59-53). Even the Army-Yale game kept the scoreboard lit up at 49-43, with the Bulldogs – an FCS team – beating the Black Knights, an FBS team. Still, with a combined tally of 85, the originally-designated game turned out to be a good prediction after all.
– Just for the record, “defensive struggles” are comparatively easier to predict. At a final score of 24-10, the Iowa @ Purdue game delivered reasonably on that prognostication, though Vandy @ Kentucky bested at mark with a final score of 17-7 in favor of the Wildcats. Nevertheless, in this day and age of ubiquitous spread offenses and no-huddles, 24-10 easily qualifies as a low-scoring contest.
– After watching Purdue slowly give the game away to Iowa at home, something occurred to me, in two parts. Yes, the Boilermakers have improved from last year, but they are still inept. Also, having your home stadium only two-thirds full for homecoming is not a good sign.
– In case you missed the fireworks at last week’s post-game press conference, Steve Spurrier tore in to his own team…after [South Carolina] won. Heaven knows the hell there will be to pay for the Gamecock players after coughing it up at home to Mizzou this past Saturday evening.
– Meanwhile, on the West Coast, UCLA is on a roll right now, having thumped a respectable Arizona State team in the desert, 62-27. Mark your calendars for Oct. 11, because if these shadows remain unchanged, the matchup between the Bruins and the Oregon Ducks on that date will be a ticket t0 die for, Pac-12 edition.
– The powers that be at Kansas already fired Charlie Weis from the head coaching position…after only four games…and they were only 2-2 (hey give them credit: they DID beat Southeast Missouri State and Central Michigan). Granted, the program was, over the course of the past two to three years, headed in the wrong direction anyhow, but it still seems odd firing one’s head coach only four games into the season after a 2-2 record. There are two take-aways from this. One is that Charlie Weis is clearly not built to be a head coach. He is a brilliant offensive mind, to be sure, but many men do not have what it takes to lead other men over the hill on the field of battle. Weis is one of those of many. In hindsight, he would have been better off staying at Florida as an offensive coordinator, as that job much more effectively plays to his strengths as a coach. The other take-away is in regards to the questionably hasty firing. This is Kansas, after all, and is yet another thing that explains why the program is a perpetual bottom-feeder, with this being the latest in their strategic blunders.
The 2013-2014 NCAA Bowl Games: The Good, The Bad, and the Intriguing December 21, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alamo, Arizona State, Armed Forces, Auburn, Baylor, BBVA Compass, Boise State, Bowl, bowl game, Buffalo, BYU, Central Florida, Clemson, college, Cotton, Fiesta, Florida State, football, Fresno State, Hawaii, Heart of Dallas, Holiday, Houston, Idaho Potato Bowl, Kraft Fight Hunger, Las Vegas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, national championship, Navy, NCAA, New Orleans, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Orange, Oregon, Oregon State, Poinsettia, Rose, San Diego State, Southern California, Stanford, Sugar, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulane, UNLV, USC, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Washington
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Oklahoma State and Missouri used to play each other routinely as conference foes, even as recently as 2009. Since Mizzou skipped the Big XII for the SEC, however, that routine came to an abrupt end. Now, they are to meet each other again in the Cotton Bowl.
Ticket to die for: Could it be any more obvious? No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Auburn in the BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 6)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (two good ones) No. 20 Fresno State vs. No. 25 USC in the Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 21), and Boise State vs. Oregon State in the Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Utah State vs. No. 23 Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl (Dec. 26)
Upset alert: No. 5 Stanford vs. No. 4 Michigan State in the Rose Bowl (Jan. 1)
Must win: No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 7 Ohio State in the Orange Bowl (Jan. 3)
Think there’s enough Crimson? No. 11 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl (Jan. 2)
Old Rivals Reunite: No. 13 Oklahoma State vs. No. 8 Missouri in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 3)
Offensive explosion: No. 14 Arizona State vs. Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl (Dec. 30)
Defensive struggle: Middle Tennessee vs. Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 30)
Great game no one is talking about: BYU vs. Washington in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (Dec. 27)
Home Field Advantage: Louisiana-Lafayette @ Tulane in the New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 21)
Could be bad for the home team: No. 10 Oregon vs. Texas in the Alamo Bowl (Dec. 30)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Brady Hoke of Michigan vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (Dec. 28)
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Baylor vs. No. 15 Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1)
Why are they playing? UNLV vs. North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl (Jan. 1)
Plenty of good seats remaining: Buffalo vs. San Diego State in the Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 21)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Vanderbilt vs. Houston in the BBVA Compass Bowl (Jan. 4)
College Football Week 9 Awards October 27, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Alabama State, Arizona State, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, Big Ten, Bo Pelini, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Butch Jones, Central Florida, cocktail party, college, Connor Shaw, David Cutcliffe, Duke, ESPN, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, football, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Hawaii, Illini, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jacksonville, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Mark Helfrich, Mark May, Marshall, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Missouri, Mizzou, NCAA, Nebraska, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Purdue, Rice, SEC, South Carolina, Spartans, Sparty, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, toilet bowl, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Utah State, UTEP, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia, Western Kentucky
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking a clue: Bobby Petrino, Western Kentucky
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Cutcliffe, Duke
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Desperately seeking … anything: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Iowa State 58-27)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated Wake Forest 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to Baylor 59-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Duke (defeated Virginia Tech 13-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Michigan State (defeated Illinois 42-3)
Should have kicked even more butt than you did: Auburn (defeated Florida Atlantic 45-10)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Illinois
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Missouri
Did the season start? Boise State
Can the season end? Northwestern
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 20 South Carolina 27, No. 5 Missouri 24
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee State 51, Marshall 49 (Thurs.)
Never play this again: No. 23 UCF 62, UConn 17
What? Iowa 17, Northwestern 10
Huh? No. 20 South Carolina 27, No. 5 Missouri 24
Are you kidding me? Duke 13, No. 14 Virginia Tech 10
Oh – my – God: Minnesota 34, No. 25 Nebraska 23
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Miami @ No. 3 Florida State
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (only two such match-ups, and they are both horrible)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Rice @ North Texas
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 10 Missouri
Must win: No. 12 Oklahoma State @ No. 15 Texas Tech
Offensive explosion: Arizona State @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: No. 24 Michigan @ Michigan State
Great game no one is talking about: West Virginia @ TCU, also Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Bo Pelini of Nebraska
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 4 Ohio State @ Purdue
Why are they playing? Alabama State @ Kentucky
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Akron
They shoot horses, don’t they? Hawaii @ Utah State, or, UTEP @ No. 14 Texas A&M
Week 9 Random Thoughts:
At this rate, Purdue vs. Illinois is shaping into one heckuva Big Ten “Toilet Bowl” come Nov. 23. For the entire season up to this point, the Boilermakers were the undisputed leaders of suck in the B1G. Yet despite being shut out on the road to Michigan State last week, they acquitted themselves rather well in that they allowed the Spartans to score only 14 points. Contrast that with Illinois’ performance against MSU this week, where the Illini only managed a “sad field goal” – at home, no less — against the Spartans’ D, and on the other side of the coin, Sparty scored seven TD’s. Perhaps Purdue is not the gutter team of the conference after all.
***********
Give Missouri credit: being undefeated in only their second season as a member of the SEC up through seven games is a decent feat. Knocking off two traditional powers in two consecutive games is the feat worthy of a traditional power. That being said, both Georgia and Florida were severely weakened, albeit in different ways, when playing the Tigers. It was only a matter of time for the magic to run out. That time manifested itself in a surprising way.
The normal rule of thumb is that when a non-traditional power (Mizzou, in this case) upsets a traditional one (Florida, in this case), the non-traditional power always comes out flat in the following game. Yet they did not come out flat against South Carolina. If anything, the Gamecocks tried to give away the game to the Tigers in the first half. But they did not give the whole game away, for they won the second half, sent the game into overtime, then ended up winning unexpectedly when Mizzou botched a field goal attempt that would have otherwise sent things into triple-OT. Even Steve Spurrier himself recognized how lucky his team was to sneak out of Columbia, Mo., with a win.
Mark May of ESPN hit the proverbial nail on the head when he pointed out that the Ol’ Ball Coach out-coached Gary Pinkel in the fourth quarter.
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As outrageous and “out-there” as Oregon’s uniforms sometimes look, they looked their best all season in their belated rout of formidable UCLA. Part of the reason is that they actually wore a substantial amount of green for once.
College Football Week 7 Awards October 13, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Bill O'Brien, Bob Stoops, Boston College, Bret Bielema Arkansas, BYU, Charleston Southern, Clemson, Colorado, Dan Mullen, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Kent State, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Pyrrhic, Red River Shootout, Ron English, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, UCLA, UConn, Utah, Utah State, Washington, West Virginia, Western Carolina, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Bill O’Brien, Penn State
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a clue: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Arizona State (defeated Colorado 54-13)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (defeated Boston College 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Nebraska 44-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 36-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Carolina (defeated Arkansas 52-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? Utah State
Can the season end? UConn
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: Penn State 43, No. 16 Michigan 40, 3 OT
Play this again, too: No. 9 Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
Never play this again: Auburn 62, Western Carolina 3
What? Wisconsin 35, No. 19 Northwestern 6
Huh? Texas 36, No. 12 Oklahoma 20
Are you kidding me? No. 25 Missouri 41, No. 7 Georgia 26
Oh – my – God: Utah 27, No. 5 Stanford 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Florida State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: BYU @ Houston
Best non-Big Six matchup: Kent State @ South Alabama
Upset alert: No. 11 South Carolina @ Tennessee
Must win: No. 9 UCLA @ No. 13 Stanford
Offensive explosion: No. 16 Texas Tech @ West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Navy @ Toledo
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ Arizona
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Will Muschamp of Florida
Who’s bringing the body bags? Iowa State @ No. 15 Baylor
Why are they playing? Old Dominion @ Pittsburgh
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Miami (OH)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charleston Southern @ Colorado
Week 7 in Review:
A day of upsets and near-upsets: that is how one could characterize Week Seven. True, many favored teams survived the week unscathed. For example, Louisville convincingly beat an underrated Rutgers team to maintain their top-ten ranking. Texas Tech at No. 20 survived a surprise onslaught from Iowa State and beat the Cyclones by a touchdown. Then there is No. 14 South Carolina, who obliterated Arkansas, 52-7. No. 11 UCLA had little trouble against Cal, and No. 15 Baylor beat Kansas State by 10 points – unimpressive compared to previous victories this year, but a “w” nonetheless. No. 9 Texas A&M managed to survive a 4th quarter scare on the road against Ole Miss. Meanwhile, No. 1 Alabama keeps rolling along, and No. 2 Oregon handily beat a strong No. 16 Washington team, 45-24.
With all of that said, all the upsets practically turned the rankings – under the top four, at least – upside down. To wit: No. 25 Mizzou took out No. 7 Georgia between the hedges. Apparently, beating LSU at home then being giving another strong contest the following week at Tennessee made those two past wins Pyrrhic, in hindsight. Speaking of games taking more than usual out of a team, losing to Ohio State at home most have done that to Northwestern, for even at No. 19 – despite last week’s loss – they laid an egg on the road to unranked Wisconsin, 35-6. Michigan, hitherto at the 18th ranking, allowed for unranked Penn State to squeak by them in triple overtime. Need we rehash the Red River Shootout? Everybody, yours truly included, had given Texas up for dead. Yet the Longhorns came out swinging against the No. 14 Sooners, delivering a power rushing attack between the tackles, and doing so effectively. Usually, over the course of a decade, it was Oklahoma who always had a runningback to ruin Texas’ day. This time, it was oddly the other way around. Never before has crow tasted so good. To cap things off, unranked Utah upset No. 5 Stanford 27-21.
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