College Football 2015-16

Keep us posted Evan, hope your boys get that playoff spot.

A few big games w/playoff implications before rivalry week, but I'm mad as hell and I can't take it anymore:

Arizona at Arizona State. WTF???? First we don't have a bye week, next we get 3 straight night games on the road for the Pac 12 Network, and finally we play our archival...a week early The Scum Devils play Cal next Sat. to finish their season which makes zero sense. No wonder RichRod wants to get the F out of Dodge.

#9 Michigan State at #3 Ohio State. Sparty is looking to get back into the playoff chase, the Buckeyes look to hold onto their spot. If Ohio State is going to lose it will be at Ann Arbor next week.

#10 Baylor at #6 Oklahoma State. Can Baylor pick itself off the mat? The Pokes have been riding lady luck all season (they've had a hand in it as well), and will win to set up...

#18 TCU at #7 Oklahoma. By beating the Frogs the Landthieves a showdown with in-state rivals loom. TCU comes in limping, their great wide receiver Doctson is out and their QB Boykin has a bum ankle. OU is capable of laying an egg, but will pick them to win this.

Best of Rest:

#20 Northwestern at #25 Wisconsin. Tim's boys in a big game for bowl purposes, but will take Whiskey at home.

#15 LSU at #22 Ole Miss. Word is out that Les Miles is in trouble in Baton Rouge, Ole Miss has had a roller coaster season. Will take the home team I guess.

#24 USC at #23 Oregon. SC now controls it's own destiny in the Pac 12 South, but Autzen isn't the easiest place to win. That said, I will go with the Trojans to grind out a coin-flip game.

Upset Alert:
#17 North Carolina at Virginia Tech. The final home game for Frank Beamer. The one problem I have (other than the obvious that North Carolina is having a much better season) is after Va Tech won last week, cameras caught Beamer telling his team that they were going to beat UNC . I guarantee the Tar Heels have been running that clip all week.

 

This is going to be a fun weekend of football! Hopefully that extends to my Ags. Vandy looked like a cakewalk to start the season but with their defense playing well & our qb woes, who knows.

Arizona @ Arizona State - perfectly justified in your anger Joe. Unfortunately I've got to pick the Sun Devils b/c your Cats only seem to play well at home.

Michigan St @ Ohio State - Barrett had his way w Sparty last year. MSU's d isn't as strong this year while tOSU's is. That defense & home field will carry the Nuts to victory.

Baylor @ Oklahoma State - another case of teams who are better at home and struggle on the road. I'll take the paddle monkeys (OSU) in a shootout.

TCU @ Oklahoma - beat up TCU & the B12 got screwed by the Playoff Committee's rankings this week. #18 for a 1 loss Power 5 team (that didn't play 2 FCS schools) is a bit low. That likely means TCU is out of the top 25 after OU & Baylor get done with them. Sooners win.

Northwestern @ Wisconsin - if this wasn't in Madison, maybe. But the Badgers have been better on both sides of the ball & will win at home.

LSU @ Ole Miss - I won't be surprised if this one goes either way. I don't think the Rebels can make LSU completely 1 dimensional like Bama & Arky did, but I think they can do it enough to win.

USC @ Oregon - I hate picking PAC 12 games. I'll take the Ducks at home since they're healthier...even though that defense is atrocious.

Upset Alert - Damnit Joseph, you took my pick again! I was also tempted to go with Mizzou over Tennessee for the same reason but I suspect the Tigers used up their "Win for Coach" game last week v BYU. So I'll go with...

Houston @ UConn - The Huskies are among the leaders in CFB in interceptions & Houston QB Greg Ward has a gimpy ankle. It's also supposed to be in the 40's there which is like 0 to a Texan. Just a hunch but I think UConn pulls the upset & knocks the Cougars from the unbeaten ranks.

 

Final regular season game of the year today, taking on a nationally ranked North Carolina A&T squad for a share of the conference title for the second year in a row. Last year under the same circumstances we took them down at home, however we haven't beaten them in three tries at Aggie Stadium. They're undefeated in conference, we're an inch and a fingertip away from being the same. We're the de facto game of the week in the state, and it's kinda cool haha.

 

Louisville lost, Kentucky won and Indiana beat the Terps (sorry Mary Landers). Next week: Louisville at Kentucky in what should be billed as the BCS Junior Varsity Bowl. The Cards should be embarrassed if they lose to a team as bad as this year's Wildcat squad. But it's a rivalry game, so....we'll see.

 

Things starting to sort themselves out. First have to congratulate:

@Dynamo, NC Central going on the road and getting the job done to win a share of the conference.
@tim, Biggest win of the year for Northwestern up in Madison, sets up a chance for a good bowl game.
@dtowndough, Southern Miss football is back and they've set up a huge game w/La Tech next week.

Biggest Winner in Playoff chase: Michigan State. Sparty goes into the Horseshoe and takes down Ohio State with a backup QB. They need things above them to happen, but very much in the picture.

Biggest Loser: Ohio State. Imploded on and off the field, as Ezekiel Elliot did something very rare for a college kid and that was to rip the play calling of the coaches (rightfully so I might add, but in the media wasn't the right place). The Buckeyes are missing that little extra edge, and are all but done.

Biggest Mind-Melder: The Big 12. OU stops a 2 point conversion in the final minute to hold on. Waiting to see the health of Sooner QB Mayfield. Baylor throws a monkey wrench into Oklahoma State's plan by going into Stillwater and taking it to the Cowboys. If OK Lite can bounce back next week against the Sooners, it's anyone's guess what will happen.

When a Win feels like a Loss in the eyes of the Committee: Florida won by the skin of their teeth in OT against Florida Atlantic who was 2-9 going in. Notre Dame did themselves no favors by hanging on against Boston College at Fenway Park.

 

While we're handing out plaudits...

Congrats to @LaxAttack, as his Hawkeyes stay unbeaten.

Congrats to @astroevan, on his Chanticleers making the playoffs as expected. Tough draw as the Citadel will come in confident after taking down Cocky & a rematch with Charleston Southern awaits in the next rd.

Speaking of FCS, with 24 teams in the field now, I'm surprised the SWAC & MEAC champs don't get an auto bid. That would have been cool for @Dynamo.

Good win for my Ags. We got our 1st shutout since 2004. Given how utterly putrid our d was the last 2 years...that is a welcome sight. While 16 1st half points isn't eye-popping, it was the 2nd highest total Vandy had given up all year.

Joe, Okie Lite winning Bedlam means Baylor wins the B12, assuming they beat TCU & the Horns. It would be interesting to see if 1 loss Baylor makes it in over a 2 loss Stanford...should it work out that way.

Worst call of the Season goes to Gary Patterson. After Knight came in, OU couldn't move the ball & their defense was gassed. Meanwhile, TCU moved the ball almost at will in the 4th qtr. I was yelling "play for OT" at the tv.

Unfortunately for the Nuts, Elliott didn't stop there. He said there was no way he was coming back to OSU next year. Cardale Jones tweeted he was going pro as well. Wtf?!? Not only is the season not over, they still have their biggest rival to play & they still have an outside shot of winning the division. Will be curious to see how Meyer handles the situation.

Looking forward to Rivalry Week and to see if it trips any of the favorites up.

 

Yep, and coupled with a season ending loss at (then) 5-5 Liberty, I can't imagine that CCU is going into the Citadel game confident. The loss last Thursday certainly isn't breeding any confidence for me - even though the announcers were touting the game as a rivalry. Maybe the loss won't affect them too much. It's hard for me to know the rivalries since there was no football team when I attended and I haven't followed closely until recently. At least the Citadel game is at home.

 

@SoCalJoe and @AggieMatt thanks y'all! Been gunning ever since that game, I actually practically drove from the stadium to the airport to catch up with basketball haha. The FCS board decided that since the HBCUs "haven't been competitive" over the past few years that they wouldn't give us an at large, so there's that. Also, A&T still goes to the Celebration Bowl representing our league due to the league tiebreaker process. They're lauding over us that they're going, but they're going on a technicality, not on head to head

But that's none of my business.

Hat weekend, @ChicagoCottager, you ready?

 

Better get this in early, rivalry week so it's time to throw out the records;

Friday;
#4 Iowa at Nebraska; many have this game as the one Iowa gets taken down, but the Huskers have lost 6 games (many in heartbreaking fashion), make it 7.

#7 Baylor at #19 TCU; Baylor looks like they might be on the 3rd string QB. TCU is hobbling along. Hard to predict, but will go with the Frogs if BU's qb can't go.

Saturday;

#16 Northwestern v Illinois (Soldier Field). Have they been playing this game at Soldier Field for awhile? Great idea if it's new. Only thing stopping Tim's Cats from a New Years' Day game (Citrus Bowl perhaps) is the Illini. Got to go with the guys in purple.

#8 Ohio State at #10 Michigan. How will Ohio State rebound? Harbaugh is obviously comfortable in his surroundings, because he's acting like a lunatic again. Trendy pick is Michigan so will say OSU.

Southern Miss at La Tech, this is the biggest game for @dtowndough and his Golden Eagles in years as the winner grabs the C-USA West title. Head says home team, but hope there's a party up in Denver.

#22 UCLA at USC; As expected before the season this is for the Pac 12 South,. Only problem is these 2 teams might be the biggest underachievers in college football. Will say Teddy Bears, but it's a coin flip.

#18 Ole Miss at #21 Miss State; Cowbells for the Egg Bowl.

#13 Florida State at #12 Florida; The Gators will show up this week.

#6 Notre Dame at #9 Stanford; The Irish are in desperate need for an impressive win, the Trees are just another team that you're never sure what team will show..I'm going with the good one.

#Oklahoma at #11 Oklahoma State; Bedlam in Stillwater, really have no idea on this, but will take the Cowboys for no other reason than teams fall in and out of the playoffs these last couple weeks.

Texas A&M at LSU; Les Miles final home game from the sounds of it. Will his players be inspired or dispirited? Hope for you Matteo it's the latter.

 

Big, big weekend in College Football. Quick thoughts on the CFP rankings. I don't necessarily disagree with them. I thought it would take another win & the B12 Title for OU (or OK St) to break into the top 4. Sparty & Iowa should sort itself out. ND would appear to be SOL unless several teams above them lose. As it should be.

Iowa @ Nebraska - while Iowa has looked good in recent weeks, the level of competition has been underwhelming. The law of averages should catch up to them & like many, I think it happens here. Corn win.

Baylor @ TCU - Baylor's 3rd string qb torched Okie Lite & TCU is playing with their 3rd string qb as well. The rivalry should be a factor, but I think the little Cubs win.

Northwestern @ Illinois - The Cats seem to be playing the better football of the 2 so I'll go with Tim's boys as well.

Ohio St @ Michigan - no doubt Harbaugh will have his charges up for this one while everyone keeps waiting for the Nuts to turn up. Didn't like seeing the me-first element rear it's head for OSU & I didn't like their uber-conservative game plan either. I'll go with the trendy pick & take the Wolverines.

Southern Miss @ La Tech - I had to do a little research on this one as I haven't seen either team play. The Eagles are 9-2 against the spread, 3-1 as a dog. They also boast the better offense & defense, if only slightly. I'll take Southern Miss to win.

UCLA @ USC - Who the hell knows. I never feel like I have a good read on either of these 2, so I'll take the home team.

Ole Miss @ Miss St - This one will come down to who can shut down the other team's run game more & I think that's the Rebs.

FSU @ Florida - The Gators gimpy offense finally catches up to them in the form of an L this week.

ND @ Stanford - The Irish have been limping down the stretch, literally & figuratively. Cardinal win.

Oklahoma @ Okie Lite - the Sooners have the better D from a yardage & points perspective while the Poke D has thrived on creating turnovers. However, Mayfield has only 5 ints this year & I think the Landthieves have the more reliable ground game. Sooners win. However if Mayfield doesn't play, I think the Pokes will crush them.

A&M @ LSU - Was hoping you'd leave this one off. Prior to Vandy, my Ags were allowing around 200 yds/g rushing in SEC play. Hopefully we turned a corner last week, but Vandy ain't LSU & Carr ain't Fournette. We've yet to beat LSU since joining the SEC, and at night in Death Valley, I think the Miles stuff won't matter as Fournette runs over, around & through our defense. Hope I'm wrong.

I see you left off upsets and for good reason as its hard to call any rivalry game an upset (outside of the PNW, anyway). I'll give one anyway, realizing it doesn't really count...

NC State (+5.5) v UNC - I like the Wolfpack at home to drop the latest darling climbing the rankings, the 1 loss Tar Heels.

 

Well, as I've said many times, I'm a Buckeye follower and well-wisher but dont listen to the endless local "All about the Bucks" radio.
Yesterday, my brother explained the angst and drama simply, as well as why the Buckeyes seem listless and undirected, esp on offense.
Well, of course the difference is Tom Herman. Not being there. So, while it isnt exactly 'adult' of Elliot to go off on a rant, he does have a point.
Bottom line it comes down to Urban's responsibility. The loss to MSU is on him because he put too much trust in an Offensive Coordinator who isnt up to the job.
Truly, the key attribute of a good leader is to put the right people in the right job, and if things go well stick with him, if not send him away before the team spirit is poisoned. There were plenty of warnings but now it may be too late.

The Michigan game will show, one way or the other, whether Meyer is as great a coach as he seemed last year.
And on a related note, if Houston beats Navy despite its offense being really dinged up. That will prove Herman deserves $3 million. The Houston Regents' thinking that salary will keep him in an AAC school for more than an extra year or 2 is nuts, but there's not much choice.

 

Mr. Fog, great points about Herman. The Missouri Athletic Director just happened to be at the U of Houston and hired him, and Mizzou does have an opening, hmmm.

 

I'll be at Soldier Field for the Illini/NW game. Hoping for a surprise Illini win, but not expecting it.

 

I'm on the other side of that one, CC. But I hope you enjoy the game, nonetheless.

 

12-0!

 

Heh... And my bro, who is huge Buckeye fan*, and I agreed that it wouldn't be a bad thing if Iowa actually went ' ALL... THE... WAY'
Certainly good for the B1G
* Sane people dont root for a given team, and then against their league opponents in post season.
There ARE exceptions that prove the rule, of course, so dont start with me about Chelskum, etc.

 

Louisville spotted the Cats 3 touchdowns in Lexington and, despite another poor performance from their defense, won the Governors Cup, aka, the JV Bowl, for the fifth year in a row. The Cards are going bowling, the 5-7 Wildcats are probably not. The conventional wisdom is that Mark Stoops will get another season to right the ship at Kentucky, but we will see. If this were soccer, he'd be gone. Les Miles's availability could be a factor unless AD Mitch Barnhart says otherwise. I've seen regression in this program since his arrival, so I'd prefer to see a change. Another season under him would be a wash.
Louisville is a different story.
Bobby Petrino has a very, very good offensive mind. If he stays put and gets a like minded defensive coach, the sky's the limit.
Indiana won the Old Oaken Bucket for the 3rd straight season, going bowling for the first time since 2007. If THEY can improve their defense, they can make a significant move up the Big Ten food chain.

 

I got off to a terrible start this week but rallied with the late games.

I didn't realize Boykin was going to play for TCU but I don't think it really mattered. That was some of the worst weather I've seen a game played in in quite a while. Happy with the result though (screw Bailer).

I was equally pleased with the Tree's late comeback (screw the Domers).

I feel kinda guilty that I still don't buy into Iowa. I watched that game though & my biggest takeaways were Armstrong is a terrible qb & with 4 takeaways, the Hawkeyes probably should have won bigger against a sub .500 team. I'd like to think I'll buy in if they beat Sparty.

I was surprised by how well Houston handled Navy's triple option. I think you guys are right & Herman is out of there. There are just too many openings & he's in demand.

I don't put alot of stock in this one, but I heard this w/e Texas might get rid of Strong & throw big money at Larry Fedora (a native Texan).

Oklahoma & Alabama seem to have the momentum while Clemson feels like they're slipping.

And then there's Les Miles. That was some major league backpeddling. I imagine the booster/board member who leaked isn't very popular with the inner circle in Baton Rouge right now.

Tough break for Evan's CCU. Pretty much saw it coming though. Congrats to Lax, Dtown & Tim.

 

Bada bing, Bada Boom!
' Do you two really LIKE looking like dumasses in front of millions of fans watching on TV? Getchur Fookin asses up in the #$@%$#@ booth and watch the Fookin Game before you call the plays!'
Other observations on being a casual observer.
Houston - Neener, neener. But they have their guy for at least one more season, I'm thinking. Why.. because he's got character.
Iowa. It IS a B1G game. And 'On any given Saturday, pride is on the line for someone.

Added: Yay, Stanford.
Dam it's tough when you like a coach, yet hate the team he coaches. So I'll settle for ND being in the top ten every year but always 'missing it by THAT much'.

 

And the best college football team around these parts are the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Former U of L QB Jeff Brohm will get a look see from some of the big boys when the coaching carousel picks up speed.