College Football 2016-2017

Hard to argue with the final 4 with the way UDub handled Colorado. The elephant in the room is this system now has produced a #2 seed that was not their conference champion nor even qualified for their Championship game, even though they are deserving to be there.

 

I was explaining to my son this morning that the debate going on now about if Ohio State or Penn State should have been in the playoff used to be the debate that would happen for who should be National Champion. The argument has now been pushed further down the rankings, which is a good thing. Better to have grumbling there than at the #1 spot. And although it may be hard to argue with the final 4, a lot of my neighbors here in PA are doing just that this morning!

 

What a great year for Princeton football -- Ivy League co-champs. (And thanks Joe for mentioning them back at the beginning of the season.) Rallied to take Harvard into overtime but then lost or they would have been alone at the top. Beat co-champ Penn 28-0.

I frankly pay more attention to the basketball team because, between the tough admission standards and no athletic scholarships, it just isn't possible to have good football teams in the Ivy League on a consistent basis. Princeton's last NFL-caliber quarterback is now coaching the Dallas Cowboys, and he's not a young man.

 

@sacffc I had forgotten that Jason Garrett had gone to Princeton. Congrats on winning a share of the Ivy. I know the President's of the schools stance on postseason football, but I would like to see how some of those really good teams (a couple undefeated Harvard squads) would have fared in the DII (whatever the name it's called) playoffs.

 

Brings back grade school lunchbox memories... college football theme was all the rage for several years.
Most land grant schools weren't on there. Besides, Notre Dame, mostly Ivy League. And Army and Navy, of course.
Actually after Howard 'hopalong' Cassady, Army's Pete Dawkins was the player I most admired... and he proved his Football versatility when he went to Oxford Rugby's top team.

 

When I moved to Louisville '81, Cardinal football, aka, The Red Rage, was a joke. Now we have a Heisman winner. People IN THE ROOM laughed when Howard Schnellenberger proclaimed at his first press conference here that Louisville was "on a collision course with the national championship. The only variable is time."
No one's laughing now.

 

So much for the down time between bowl games. @MicahMan @jumpkutz 'Wakeyleaks' is one of the craziest stories ever. A former Wake Forest player, assistant coach, and radio announcer giving team plans/plays to opposition apparently because he didn't get to keep his coaching gig when a new head coach was hired. That betrayal is incomprehensible. Then who gets dragged into it? None other than Bobby Petrino who either flat out lied about having knowledge of it or his offensive coordinator didn't tell the coach he was given a few of Wake's plays. Frankly it's hard to give Petrino the benefit of a doubt.

@encorespanish Maybe you can give insight. Minnesota players are boycotting the Holiday Bowl if 10 of their suspended teammates aren't reinstated. This is a strange story with few details.

 

So I guess I've been under a rock for the past few days because your post @SoCalJoe was the first I heard of this! "Wakeyleaks" is not what they should be using to describe this. It is better suited for "Wakegate" because just like Nixon didn't need any dirty tricks to beat McGovern, Louisville did not need a stolen gameplan to beat Wake.

 

Yeah but you gotta be trendy with the name right.

 

People with a conscience are starting to get tired of the ancillary crap that seems to be becoming the norm these days at Louisville. Some are finally figuring out that the common thread is Tom Jurich. But there still aren't enough such people to effect change because of the success and the money he's generated. His intially tepid response was followed by a suspension of the assistant coach who received the "intel" for the Cards' Citrus Bowl appearance. Jurich is still untouchable, but if this trend continues, something really big is going to eventually bring him down as well.

 

Exactly what Heather said ^...makes me sick.

 

So you're saying the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl didn't interest you HD?

Couldn't agree more about .500 teams not being rewarded. I would prefer to do away with 10-15 bowl games (keep the solid second tier bowls e.g Holiday, Alamo Bowls and the bowl games that really good teams from smaller conferences get to participate in).

Here is another thing that needs to be changed immediately. Stop having the National Semi-Finals on New Year's Eve!!! Whoever came up with that idea is a moron. People are too busy hosting, going to parties, dressing up and dining out, or doing family activities etc. to be bothered with a college football doubleheader. That said there are only 4 teams left that can win the Natty so it's time to take a look:

#4 Washington vs #1 Alabama: The real question seems to be can the Huskies stay in the game? I would say yes if Jake Browning was more of a dual threat QB. He's a pocket passer who unfortunately in the biggest games this season has played poorly (even in blowout wins of Wazzu and Colorado he was pedestrian). Any chance the Huskies have starts with him playing well, because the UDub WRs are a strength of the team. Bama starts with both lines dominating and ultimately wearing down their opponents. Only LSU stayed with them for 4 quarters all year (losing 10), the rest of their scorelines read all blowouts. The point spread has dropped to 14, but even a very good team like Washington with an excellent coach won't cover that. Tide rolls on.

#3 Ohio State vs. #2 Clemson: Despite the ranking the Buckeyes are a slight favorite (-3). I think that comes from Urban Meyer's great resume in big games. OSU doesn't have the prolific offense they had two years ago, instead they rely on their defense to create turnovers and JT Barrett to make plays. Clemson hasn't been as good as last year's Runner-Up, but you have to give them credit for returning as the 'hunted' instead of the 'hunter'. Clemson did beat Ohio State in a shootout in the Orange Bowl in 2014, so they won't be intimidated. Neither team winning here will come as a surprise as this should be a 4 quarter game (perhaps even longer), will pick the Buckeyes for the main reason that the title game will be more entertaining (Bama would destroy Clemson this time around) if they win it.

 

Bowl eligibility should be more stringent than six wins, no question. And I'll have you know I'm a proud Raycom employee, suh. But, yeah, there are too many bowl games, and that's not gonna change as long as someone's paying the freight. That Foster Farms Bowl in front of all those Indiana fans masquerading as empty seats at Levi's Stadium last night? Yeah. I think Kentucky and Louisville will have good turnouts for their bowls because they're in warm, sunny Florida. But the TaxSlayer Bowl? What's the trophy, a big, gold plated 1040 form?

 

....Dang it, I was this close to saying the Autonation Cure Bowl instead. Sorry Jump I'll take my foot out of mouth now (or is it keyboard?).

 

SoCal, as a Southern Miss fan first, you get rid of 12-15 bowls and they are left out. The Alamo was a great matchup but terrible game. I do get your point though. But unless you raise the win minimum, then every 6-6 power 5 school will get the bids to the holiday, Alamo, foster farm, etc. game. The rest of college football will be left without. And this is a much deeper debate, so don't want to hijack it. But I'm glad that I got to see game 13 for USM to beat Ulala in the RL carriers bowl and go out on a positive. Bottom line, if a sponsor wants to throw out s bunch of money and have a football game, go right ahead. I have the choice whether or not I want to tune in. And yes. I watched ODU win their first bowl. Thank you Popeyes. Have s problem with 6-6 teams or even 5-7, don't watch the damn thing and hurt the ratings. Then they will lose money and you can reduce the number. Sorry. Rant over.

 

Thought Washington played good, but teams have to play great to hang with Alabama. The Huskies lost the turnover battle 3-0, but a couple plays stood out. The interception for a td w/a minute+ in the first half when it was likely to go to intermission at 10-7. It's hard to fathom that it was the 11th defensive td of the season for the Tide this season, that's a ridiculous number. Also the 3rd and 9 in the 4th quarter with the Tide at their own 3 when they ran it just to give the punter space, but Scarborough ran it for a first down instead. It was still only 17-7, but it felt like the final nail.

As for the second game, I was glad we had to leave to help set up for a party, because it was 17-0 and obvious the rout was on. Couldn't of been more wrong on how that game played out. Clemson hasn't played great defense this season, but dominated the Buckeyes. Not sure what to make of OSU's performance, but it was shocking to see an Urban Meyer team get beat like that.

 

Championship game tonight, and while it seemed like a forgone conclusion months ago that Alabama would go back-to-back Clemson's performance last week has caused a pause....Okay long enough, Tide finishes what they started