College Football 2017-2018

Excited that A&M has pulled off Fisher and looking forward to seeing what he can do. Our opener with UCLA brought a lot of attention to both programs. Pretty ironic where both sit today. The situation at Tennessee has been almost beyond belief. I don’t get Herm to the Scum Devils. I actually think that would’ve been a good spot for Sumlin but it’s looking more and more like he’s going to go do tv for a bit which doesn’t surprise me. I am surprised that Hugh Freeze got off as light as he did while Ole Miss got hammered. On to the games...

Stanford v USC - both trending in the right direction. SC has been better since they fixed their turnover problems and Stanford has since getting Love back and going with Costello. This one is close enough that I think the rematch rule applies so I’ll take the Cardinal.

Memphis v UCF - the likely future head coach of Arky vs the future head coach of the Corn. The winner is probably the team that is least distracted by that situation. I’ll take the Knights because, as I understand it, Frost runs a really disciplined program.

TCU v Oklahoma - after giving up 38 in the first half, the Frogs did shutout OU in the 2nd half of that rout. Granted, the Sooners took the air out of the ball, but still, I have no doubt Patterson will make the defensive adjustments to make this more competitive. The only problem is I don’t trust Hill in big games and I just don’t see him outgunning Mayfield. Sooners are the hottest team outside of Auburn, so I think they win, but it’ll be closer this time.

Clemson v Miami - the U will need the turnover chain to get a lot of air time if they’re going to have a shot. They’ve just been too inconsistent from quarter to quarter for me though. Especially away from home.

Wisconsin v Ohio St - I still can’t decide if the Badgers are ‘15 Iowa or not. But I also know you never know which Ohio St will show up outside of the Shoe. Meyer’s past teams have shown up big in this game though while last year’s Badgers lost to Penn St. I’ll go with the Buckeyes but I’m rooting for the Badgers.

Georgia v Auburn - the Tigers boast the nations best front 7 and they’ll once again force the Dawg’s FR qb to beat them. I don’t think he can, but it’ll probably be a little closer than last time, just because of Auburn’s rb injury situation.

So based on that I think the Final 4 is Clemson, Auburn, Oklahoma and a headache. Bama/Ohio St is going to be a toss up. The Nuts got in last year without a conference championship and they have the better wins. Also, we haven’t seen the committee double dip a conference yet, so I’m not sure they’re willing to. If Bama gets in it’ll be because of the “eye test” and that Iowa loss. You’ll hear a lot of, “no way Bama goes to Iowa and gets blown out while giving up 55.” It should be interesting.

 

Recently, more and more layers are skipping non-playoff bowl games. Not because of education concerns, but because of injury concerns. I feel that there is very little emphasis placed on the education of the athletes. And some of it makes sense. Why worry about an athlete’s course work when there is zero chance they will be there long enough to graduate?

 

Actually, anyone but Bama will play 15 if they play in the Championship. Given that it’s only 2 teams, I’m not that concerned by it. It’s no different than what FCS teams and below have been playing and the sport generates so much revenue now that FBS players are given facilities, nutritionists, medical services, etc that rival any pro sport. I do agree they should receive some form of pay as well. College sports have been big business for a long time, longer than I bet you think or are willing to admit. At least they acknowledge it now and provide better services, scheduling considerations (practice time limits are way down compared to the previous 4 plus decades), equipment, educational support and on and on. If I were a college athlete, I’d rather be one today than any other time in my life, easily. There’s room to improve, sure. There always will be.

Think the committee nailed it on the 4 teams btw, as much as I don’t like seeing 2 major conference champs excluded.

Wonder what David Shaw was thinking going for it (with basically the same play) on 4th down instead of tying it with a fg. That game should have gone to OT. And props to Jawja for thumping Auburn. I thought it would be close but I didn’t see them going from getting whipped in both trenches to whipping them in both.

 

@LaxAttack If Bama goes on to win the title Iowa will have a giant assist in it. Ohio State simply couldn't get past the whoopin' the Hawkeyes put on them. I also thought the committee got it right.

Coaching Home Runs hires in last week: Jimbo Fisher (wow what a contract!) to the Aggies. Scott Frost going home to Nebraska.

Without a doubt the players need to have some sort of stipend. However, room&board, tuition, books, food, clothing, access to top end medical care, and academic advisors is nothing to sneeze at. I think people don't give football players enough credit. These young men graduate at a much higher rate than the general population at D1 universities. They must go to school for 3 years before deciding to go into the draft (and very few juniors leave). Once a kid gets past their junior year, they've matured as 'scholar athletes' and as people and the odds are great that they will leave with a degree.

 

Finally getting to the '2018' portion of the thread. Pretty active bowl season for the peeps on here to various degrees of success and/or last second defeats (was in attendance as Arizona dropped the game clinching interception then gave up the Purdue TD up in Santa Clara ). To the playoffs:

Sugar Bowl:
#1 Clemson v #4 Alabama; 3rd straight year for these two, but the winner will have more work to do this time around. Bama's defense has had some season ending injuries that even with their depth haven't been able to overcome to the ridiculous standard they've set (even though it's still a really good D). Clemson's Kelly Bryant has done a great job taking over for DeShaun Watson and has kept the Tiger train rolling. This is a really hard game to pick, it will surely come down to a key turnover or play. Going to go w/the Tide on the revenge factor, but this is the first time in years that picking Bama feels really shaky.

Rose Bowl:
#2 Oklahoma v #3 Georgia; The big storyline is Baker Mayfield has been dealing w/the flu this week and hasn't been doing the traditional Rose Bowl activities (wasn't at the Lawry's Prime Rib night or at Disneyland's California Adventure). I'm sure he'll be ready to go, but it'll be interesting to see how sharp he is. Of the 4 teams, I've seen Georgia the least (one of which was them getting destroyed), so will be taking the Sooners in this one. Georgia can only win by running it and controlling the tempo. While it's possible, at some point the OU offense will likely start lighting up the scoreboard at which point the Georgia offense won't be able to keep pace.

 

Yeah, we blew one as well late vs Wake. I wasn’t expecting much given the coaching change. In a way, that game was the perfect bookend to the Sumlin era.

Clemson vs Alabama - Several things have changed from the previous 2 matchups. Saban has had a month to prep for this game as opposed to a week. Kelly Bryant is a good mobile qb, but he’s a far cry from Deshaun Watson as a passer. And for the first time, Clemson has gone from the hunter to the hunted. Bama is susceptible to deep balls but Bryant wasn’t a good deep passer this year. As a result, I think the Tide win, despite the injuries.

Oklahoma vs Georgia - OU’s defense has generally performed well against the SEC. They do better when they aren’t facing a lot of tempo and can line up and read the offense. The question is if they can hold up against the Dawg rushing attack. I think they’ll wear out over time, but Georgia hasn’t seen an offense like the Sooners this year. Not even close. I think the Sooners will put up too many points before UGA can get rolling and control the clock.

Looks like we agree on the final, so I guess we should prepare for Clemson vs Georgia.

 

I thought OU/UGA was one of the best half of football I've witnessed in a long time. Not sure how excited I am for UGA/Bama, but of course will be watching. I'll be pulling for the dawgs. I'm glad the season has reached its end. USM laid a big ol egg in the Indy Bowl. That was an embarrassment. Ready to focus on putting all my energy to FFC to keep the climb going.

 

Who would of thought that Arizona & Texas A&M would be all over the news. RichRod gets canned, getting sued and countersuing his former assistant. From the little I know he deserved to get fired (having your mistress & wife on the sideline for the USC game is beyond creepy and is grounds right there). Who's next? Someone will walk into a situation w/a roster chalk full of talent (best talent we've had since 98'). Rumor is Kevin Sumlin has the gig if he wants it. @AggieMatt, part of me thinks this would be a great hire (let's be honest, the expectations and pressure are 1000% higher in College Station then Tucson) , but I can't get the Ucla debacle by the Aggies out of my head, thoughts? First, Jimbo and that huge 10 year deal, now the Aggies snag Notre Dame's defensive coordinator Mike Elko..for $2 million a year . Dang that is some serious cash for an assistant.

National Championship:
Georgia vs Alabama; An All-SEC affair The chip on Bama's shoulder was quite evident in the postgame interviews from the players (Saban had them feeling disrespected and a huge underdog w/something to prove, and it worked). They did lose another LB to injury, so can they slow down the Bulldogs 1-2 punch of Chubb & Michel? The kid Fromm has gotten better at QB and he proved on that tying drive vs OU that he's capable. The Alabama offense isn't near as good as when Lane Kiffin ran it (he's brash as hell, but the guy can play call w/best of them), can the Tide muster enough points to win the game? The Dawgs showed me a lot last week w/help of some Sooner brain cramping, the final 5 minutes and OTs are the moments that can propel a team. I really want to pick Georgia, but in the end I trust the Tide to make the plays necessary to get it done.

 

The one thing having an all SEC final has assured is that I have zero interest in watching the game.

 

lol Barry, I feel you on the All-SEC final. However, I once joked on here that despite being in the same conference Bama played Georgia State (yes that's a real school) more than Georgia over a 10 year period in the regular season. So yes, it's technically an All-SEC Final, but they convienently never play each other.

 

Granted my team is in the SEC, but I don’t get the no interest sentiment. If this were Wisconsin v Penn State or some matchup from another league, I’d still be interested in it. Georgia is barely more regional than Clemson as an opponent for Alabama. That said, I do think all of the P5 should play 9 conference games. I think the ACC & SEC are the only 2 still playing 8.

As for the game, Bama by 10-14. Fromm is a better passer and Georgia has a better stable of running backs than Clemson, but their style plays right into the Tide’s hands. The Bama offense is lacking, but that defense usually forces a couple of turnovers that lead to easy scores.

 

I'm going with UGA on this one, only because of an office pool. I do hold out some hope that Georgia will be able to stop Alabama's mediocre offense. With that being said, Bama will do the same to UGA, but I'll take UGA with one more FG than Bama.

 

Joe, not sure if I mentioned it here, but I’ve thought all along Sumlin will take a year and do tv in one of the studio shows, most likely with ESPN. He’s done very well on the Coaches’ Film Room deals (he’s on that broadcast for tonight’s game as well) and as I understand it, he’s very well liked in Bristol. He may decide he likes the difference in the time requirement after doing it for a year. I have no doubt he’ll be successful at it. And it’s not like he needs money.

So no, I very much doubt he’ll wind up in Tucson or anywhere else this year and I seriously question if he’s back on a sideline anytime soon. I do think he’d be more successful in the PAC because his system works better away from the front 7’s you see in the SEC. You just can’t generate a consistent run game blocking with only 5 OL against most of them. The other drawback with Sumlin is that he’s very much a players’ coach. That serves him well in recruiting, but the looseness, and the lack of discipline and work ethic hurt his A&M teams, imo. I think he’s a very good coach, just not a championship caliber one.

Fwiw, for anyone watching tonight’s game, I recommend the Coaches Film Room broadcast that will air on ESPNews. You get fewer commercial interruptions and they fill the down time with all sorts of interesting tidbits on strategy, schemes and all of that sort of insider nuance you’d expect from a room full of coaches.

 

Not sure what is not to get. I have no desire to see a second SEC championship game. Same goes for all the major conferences. With only four playoff spots if you can't advance by winning your conference you've lost my interest.

 

Simple, I think it’s entirely possible to have 2 of the 4 best teams reside in one conference. What other sport eliminates top teams for failing the win their conference or division in the regular season? Heck the Big East once had 3 Final 4 teams. Maybe I’m biased a bit as a Maryland hoops fan because of 1974. I still think it’s a crime only one of those teams made the tournament and can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t have wanted to see a potential rematch of that epic ACC championship game late in the NCAA tournament.

FBS college football is the only sport that has this stigma attached to it. Every other division has a playoff that includes at large teams who didn’t win their conference, as does every other sport that I can think of, college or pro. I take your point about the distinction being that there are only 4 playoff spots. However I didn’t see anything in the regular season or bowls to convince me that the best 4 teams weren’t in the playoff. Had Georgia played and beaten Alabama previously, I would agree with you, fwiw.

As for the game, it was crazy. I was impressed with Georgia’s attitude and willingness to go for it while Bama played incredibly conservative in the first half, and made a lot more mistakes than I was expecting. I think the last thing I expected was to see Hurts lose his job at halftime, but credit to Saban for making the switch and to Tagovailoa for coming out and playing with no fear. I thought Georgia got too cute in the 2nd half and got away from what gave them the first half lead. In a way it was similar to what OU did against them the week before. All in all, it was an interesting and entertaining game.

 

One of the best aspects of college football is the discussion that's involved. I can't think of another team sport that generates the amount of arguing that it does.

HD, UCF beat the team that beat 1 & 2, and while they're a tremendous story (0-12 two years ago to 13-0) once Auburn lost their chance at the playoffs they lost their edge. Personally I'd love to see 8 teams, and UCF would've gotten an invite from me. The schedule they had didn't warrant them a top 4 spot.

Barry, I totally understand your argument, I love college football so Im going to watch anyways, but I like having a rooting interest and could only half-heartedly cheer on Georgia.

Spot on about the game Matt. It was good defense, but not too much. Big plays on offense, but not too many. The breaks favored Bama. In a strange way Georgia scoring at the end of the first half forced Saban's hand to change QBs. The crazy deflected interception when it was 20-7 that led to a Bama field goal was huge. A personal foul call that wasn't flagged on Alabama that would of given Georgia a first down at the Tide 27 (they punted instead) loomed large in the end. Not a Bama fan, but happy for the kid kicker that would be in the witness protection program had Georgia won in OT.

 

The problem with the system in my opinion is we didn't necessarily find out who the "best" team in the country was last we finally found out who the best team in the SEC was. If Georgia and Alabama had played each other during the regular season it's likely that one of them wouldn't have been in the playoffs. The SEC and to some extent the Big 10 are setup to produce 2 playoff teams rather than a true conference champion. As I see it college football is not about the competition it is about the money more than any other college sport.

 

There’s no denying the NCAA, the conferences and their member institutions are maximizing their ability to make money off of the sport at an unprecedented level. All you need to do is look at the AD revenues and expenditures to see that. But not about competition? That money, across all of D1 football has led to more parity and depth from top to bottom. When I was a kid, the best teams’ games were often over by halftime most weeks. Sure, you’d have those 1-2 big conference matchups each year, but you saw a lot of blowouts in the weeks in between. They play more games, they play conference championships (although those are the byproduct of conferences growing to the point the teams can’t all play each other every year) and since the BCS, they try to have the best teams settle championships on the field. Again, when I was a kid, 1 & 2 didn’t face each other most years because the bowls had conference affiliations. Go back to when I was really young, and before, and they’d crown a champion before the bowls were even played. The sport has come a long way in trying to settle championships fairly and through competition more recently compared to the ridiculous systems they’ve employed in the past.

Two questions. Had Clemson and Oklahoma won last week and played last night, would you feel you knew who the best team in the country was? And, have you ever felt college football was about competition?