College Football

[Bastet]

This goddamned Colorado fad can die off any day now; FOX setting up camp in Boulder for its Big Noon Kickoff means that next weekend they're showcasing a game played at 10 a.m. local time against a team from a city in which it's 9:00 a.m. at kickoff.  Yeah, no; I wouldn't wake up that early to watch the Giants in the Super Bowl.  I'll see the fourth quarter.  USC had to consent to the early start, and apparently went back and forth before deciding that even though the pre-dawn (okay, okay, but early) road game would follow a nighttime road game, the fact they were coming into that duo following a bye week meant they could swing it; I wish they'd come away with a no, thanks.

Get over it, sports media.  Colorado won ONE game last season.  Deion is not going to suddenly turn them into national champions, such that they should get five straight nationally featured games!

[Phebemarie]

Even though I am a die-hard Oregon State fan, I knew the Ducks would completely dominate Colorado.  I expect USC will do the same next week. 

The media's laser focus on Colorado is good for the sports networks looking for casual viewers who won't remember (or care) that Oregon won on Saturday.  

It's all about the money.  

I did find it a bit ironic, though, that Dan Lanning said the Ducks were "...rooted in substance, not flash...".  Teams who buy billboards for their starting QB and have 384 possible uniform combinations can't really claim the humble mantle.  

[kathyk2]

Coaches are always telling players to ignore the media and focus on the game. Why didn't Ryan Day and Dan Lanning take that advice? The focus on Colorado is taking pressure off the end of the Pac-12. Ohio State was lucky to beat Notre Dame.

[Phebemarie]

Exactly right, kathyk2.  If FOX and ESPN can keep all eyes on something shiny, then their part in the demolition of the PAC 12 won't get the attention it deserves.  If Oregon State and Washington State go to court to protect what remains of the PAC 12 and its assets, ESPN and FOX may have some explaining to do.  

[Lamb18]

On 9/23/2023 at 5:48 PM, Carey said:

Whether Travis is the first to do this or not, I would love to see someone playing both ways (in the modern NFL) on a regular basis.  Easier to post that wish than to emulate it, but if someone actually could log 40-50 minutes at least in regulation (average most weeks at least) as a DB and a WR, that would be awesome IMO.  It might not challenge a QB toward the most popular position, but I've always admired someone that can play both ways.

Justin Jefferson could do that. He could be a pass rusher. He could catch the opposition's balls like anything. If Jefferson is on the field when the ball is intercepted, he runs after the defensive guy and tackles him, grabbing him by the shoulders and taking him down.

[Carey]

The thing is Jefferson probably isn't going to go on the other side an emulate an NFL version of Kobe or MJ.  I think a half handful of plays works as a DB.  Too valuable to risk anything.  However, if there was major WR depth, then Justin could play the entire game

 

On a totally separate note, Tucker's MSU termination is now official.  With cause

[Lamb18]

Yes, he is too valuable but it's fun to take those guys down. The only fun thing about an interception.

[Carey]

A rare Friday gem in the world of College Football features the 3.5-point favored Oregon State hosting Pac-12 champ Utah, with a 43.5 O/U total. I like the under here & Utah winning outright

[Phebemarie]

Beaver defense was overwhelming tonight and took down the Utes 21-7.  I think the defense started to feel a little sorry for the Utes' QB towards the end.  

Coach Smith's signal to milk the clock is going to go viral.  

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Phebemarie

[Carey]

Looks like I would have been better off waiting until the 11th hour, which would have had yours truly forgoing Friday's game.  However, it was a Top 25 matchup.  I usually avoid Friday since that day is better suited for the High School Game.  Even though I was wrong it was a pretty good game.  Not a lot of scoring, decent defense, and a correct guess at the under.

I'll do my other stuff later in terms of the spread, but will once again pick Colorado to cover.  Albeit barely.  It's a coin flip.  I hope I'm not picking with 95% of the people.  80% is okay.  USC will win, I believe (that's who I'm picking).  I don't know if they'll cover, but they can.  Whatever the O/U is IDK, but I'm going over.

Week 5 picks: Clemson, USC, Kentucky, Tulane, Penn State, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Vandy, LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma, Duke, Tennessee, TCU, Alabama, Arizona, Iowa

[Carey]

Week 5 ATS: Texas, Auburn, LSU, TCU, Duke
O/U: Over in the Texas & LSU game, under in the Auburn, TCU, and Duke game

Forgot to pick PSU earlier, but might've been a great idea

[Chit Chat]

No offense to Georgia fans, but should the Bulldogs go down a notch or two in the polls since UAB scored 21 points on them last week, and they struggled today with Auburn?  They were very sloppy at times today too.  As a Bama fan, I realize that our team has been sloppy too, so it's no surprise as to our place in the polls. 

[Popples]

GODDAMMIT DUKE! You had one fucking job! I can't believe they let Hartman convert on 4th & 16. Why the hell did they stop blitzing? Going to the prevent defense is garbage.

[Salacious Kitty]

6 minutes ago, Popples said:

GODDAMMIT DUKE! You had one fucking job! I can't believe they let Hartman convert on 4th & 16. Why the hell did they stop blitzing? Going to the prevent defense is garbage.

I hate both schools, but I hate Duke more. Doesn't make me happy either way. This was a stadium implosion game for me. 

[Carey]

I guess the fact that Ohio State missed a field goal at the literal stroke of Midnight is the sign of the year 2023

[roamyn]

5 hours ago, Chit Chat said:

No offense to Georgia fans, but should the Bulldogs go down a notch or two in the polls since UAB scored 21 points on them last week, and they struggled today with Auburn?  They were very sloppy at times today too.  As a Bama fan, I realize that our team has been sloppy too, so it's no surprise as to our place in the polls. 

I'd agree with you, but then that would put TTUN at #1 and I despise them & Ol Khaki Pants (tm Shannon Sharpe) more than anything in the world, except one other person.

So yes, keep UGA at #1.

[Carey]

According to College Football insider Brett McMurphy, he agrees on both accounts.  Georgia should fall, but maybe pump the brakes on Texas in the Top Spot.

Brett has Florida State in the top spot.  That's followed by Texas at 2 and Georgia at 3.  Georgia probably gets epic, recent legacy praise in terms of the votes and stays on top.  We'll see.  However, no one had an issue bumping Florida State a lot nine years ago when the fear of them being unable to defend their title despite never losing since 2012 was a reality.  Which would've been awful in that year but not as much in the BCS Era

[Salacious Kitty]

Top 6 remain unchanged. 

[Stats Queen]

I’m a Georgia Bulldog, but I am surprised we are still ranked #1, we don’t look like a #1 team, and there are some amazing teams out there.

We play Kentucky next weekend, will see how that goes, but Kentucky looks amazing.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Stats Queen

[Carey]

Georgia only received 35 first place votes, going by the AP Poll.  Typically the top team gets about 80%.

Their games next month, specifically in the middle of the month, will truly test them.  However, they should be able to beat everyone else on their easy schedule.  It's just surprising how sloppy they've looked.  Part of it might've been due to the entire outcome against TCU

[Stats Queen]

On 10/2/2023 at 12:20 AM, Carey said:

Georgia only received 35 first place votes, going by the AP Poll.  Typically the top team gets about 80%.

Their games next month, specifically in the middle of the month, will truly test them.  However, they should be able to beat everyone else on their easy schedule.  It's just surprising how sloppy they've looked.  Part of it might've been due to the entire outcome against TCU

As a Georgia Bulldog I totally agree that we have looked sloppy all season. However, in week 5, I don’t think Georgia’s performance has anything to do with the last years domination over TCU. I wish it was and our excellence is yet to emerge, but I think we don’t look like a top five team this year - the game against Kentucky next week will be the first test we face..

[Carey]

Week Six Noon Picks: Texas, Maryland, and Mizzou. Over in Red River & Ohio State game. Under in LSU game.

I still think OSU & LSU win but both will not cover.  I'll get to the other stuff (at least I plan to) later in the day

[Carey]

Well, it looks like Ohio State went from "Should not be favored over Penn State to probably will still be favored over Penn State" in a hurry.

Meanwhile, I guess I forgot how & why Texas won 49-0 a year ago, but to be fair, I expected better from the Longhorns.  Unless they were actually playing to beat Alabama and nothing more.

Final Picks: FSU, Texas A&M, UNC, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ole Miss, Wyoming, Iowa State, Miami, Oregon State, USC

Final Picks ATS & O/U: Kentucky covers, over hits, and Notre Dame wins outright despite an under outcome

[roamyn]

Both the beginning and the ending of that OU/TX game were wild!  We had turned off tOSU/MD because McCord looked lost, and watched most of the Red River game instead.  We had noi dog in the race, but it would be nice to see TX in the Playoffs.

When did we go from looking terrible in the 4th quarter, to looking terrible in the first quarter?

[Carey]

Barring another loss, I think Texas might be okay.  After the first 12-year run, hard to imagine that it'll exclude them.  Of course, USC & even Florida lack history in it.  The thing is Texas falling eases things in the SEC, except maybe not if Oklahoma wins out.  Fortunately Georgia is sorta back

[Magog]

Louisville 33 - Notre Dame 20

That just put a smile on my face seeing Notre Dame going down to a school like Louisville.

[Carey]

26 minutes ago, Magog said:

Louisville 33 - Notre Dame 20

That just put a smile on my face seeing Notre Dame going down to a school like Louisville.

Man, Notre Dame is garbage. But only when I pick them to win, lose, or draw.

The Duke game was brutal, speaking of which. Since they could've been as decent tonight and 2 weeks ago during that game in NC.

I guess I'll bet my life and cash on each of their games next year.  That way, I guess I'd technically die happy since doing so means 0-12!

[Magog]

What in the hell was the U thinking pissing away a game like that at the end to Georgia Tech?!

[NUguy514]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

Louisville 33 - Notre Dame 20

That just put a smile on my face seeing Notre Dame going down to a school like Louisville.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

[Pandora]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

What in the hell was the U thinking pissing away a game like that at the end to Georgia Tech?!

 

All they had to do is kneel down. How bizarre.
 

That’s gonna go down in college football history as a top 10 “what were they thinking?!?”

[Magog]

40 minutes ago, Pandora said:

All they had to do is kneel down. How bizarre.
 

That’s gonna go down in college football history as a top 10 “what were they thinking?!?”

God damn, what a bunch of idiots. And their defense failed them massively after that horrific brain cramp turnover. 

 

USC was down 17-0 to Arizona & they came back to win it 43-41 in 3OT. Yay. 😒

[Carey]

I'm trying to wrap my head around that mess.  In other words, I'm trying to come up with something that defends that scenario that led to that outcome.  Even though there really isn't a defense for it.  

I'll admit I didn't hear the coach's press conference after the game, since it would be nothing more than excuses there.  However, I can see how he and whomever else thought that Georgia Tech had another timeout prior to that 3rd down play.  So, they'll run another play, Tech will use the final timeout, and then Miami gets a chance at more points.

That being said, explaining why it could've happened is worse than not knowing the full picture.  I can't control the outcome, but Miami should've taken a knee long ago in that game.  Hasselbeck wasn't in shock, based on the sound of his voice upon the turnover.  It was more on the level of disappointment on why the U didn't take a knee, coupled with why they ran that bad of a play in lieu of victory formations to run out the clock.  TBH, I didn't watch the game live so I don't know if Wes or whoever was on the call with Tim was commenting on why Miami didn't end things early on when they were home free.  On another note, there was another game early in the day where someone else was running plays when they didn't need to, so this result was bound to happen.

Oh well.  That's too bad for the U.  Now they'll drop, but I'll know in a few hours if it's an outright drop from the Rankings, meaning North Carolina gets yet another unranked opponent next Saturday

[Carey]

Looks like Miami survived in terms of the AP Poll (but not the Coaches Poll, where they're 26th).  Top 4 in both are Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida State.  Unlike a week ago, Georgia deserves the top spot now.  At least in questioning it, I think it's been justified.

Penn State was off this weekend; couple that with Oklahoma's big win over Texas, they jumped them in the AP Poll.  PSU is 5th in the Coaches poll over the Sooners, where the Longhorns fell out in term of the Top 10 (11th place for the future SEC team).  Texas is 9th in the AP Poll, a ranking poll that will not matter as much by the end of the month

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, Magog said:

USC was down 17-0 to Arizona & they came back to win it 43-41 in 3OT.

I'm surprised I didn't wake up hoarse from all the yelling I did at the Trojans in that game.

[Popples]

SEC Shorts brought their A-Game for this.

 

 

[Carey]

What a terrible loss for Colorado.  Of course it would've just been another day a year ago, but Stanford's win on the road isn't as embarrassing as Georgia Tech/Miami.  It is a coin-flip in terms of pain between that & West Virginia & Houston.

Both great games, and 2 games that I'm glad I stayed away from in terms of predictions.  Speaking of which:

Week 7 picks: Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State, Utah, Oregon, Tennessee, TCU, Kansas, Penn State, Louisville, LSU, Washington State, UNC, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Oregon State, Duke

Week 7 Picks ATS: Michigan, Purdue (17.5), Washington, Tennessee, North Carolina, Notre Dame

O/U: Over in Michigan & UNC game, under in everything else.  

 

OSU/Purdue is a look ahead game for the Buckeyes.  No more than 50 points there.  Though I probably should've picked U Mass for the same reason.  Penn State is capable of blowing out someone else regardless, but 7 TDs is a ton.  However, as mentioned, PSU could be favored by 100; I'm going to keep picking PSU and the points until it doesn't happen.  Of course, they could win by 50, Ohio State could lose outright, and the Buckeyes will still be favored in one week.

[twoods]

This Washington/Oregon game is wild.

[Carey]

Apparently, when Oregon said they were fighting for wins and not clicks, it was a valid statement: Their win against Colorado was their real "Super Bowl" or their peak. Can't blame them, they want nothing to do with Georgia again or the playoff

[Salacious Kitty]

Pac 12: always take the over. 😀

[Popples]

I hate everything.

[twoods]

Notre Shame at it again, embarrassing USC. Guess Caleb isn’t getting that second Heismann. 

[Bastet]

I paused my binge-watch of The Fall of the House of Usher to watch USC vs Notre Dame.  I did not expect the game to be the more gruesome of the two viewing options.  Yikes.  (I did expect USC to lose, but not like that.)

[Carey]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Notre Shame at it again, embarrassing USC. Guess Caleb isn’t getting that second Heismann. 

I didn't even get a chance to say, "Archie fans?  Buckeye fanatics?  You can breathe easy & sleep easy going forward!!!"

[Phebemarie]

Beavs win!  A great game for the offense, especially starting QB, DJ Uiagalelei.   Defense was playing strong in the first half even though penalties made the second half a little more nerve-wracking.  Bye week will help Beavs get healthy.  

[roamyn]

11 hours ago, Carey said:

I didn't even get a chance to say, "Archie fans?  Buckeye fanatics?  You can breathe easy & sleep easy going forward!!!"

Trust me, I was rooting for ND.  It's stupid & petty, I know.

Archie can go pop one of those champagne bottles the '72 Dolphins keep around.

[Carey]

8 hours ago, roamyn said:

Archie can go pop one of those champagne bottles the '72 Dolphins keep around.

Apparently he just popped the Dom Perignon WITH the 1972 Dolphins!!

[Carey]

Early games are about 20-25 minutes away. I have Air Force & Oklahoma winning. With Penn State & Ohio State (-4.5), I have the former winning outright. Wouldn't be shocked if PSU hit the over on their own, which is currently 46.5

ETA the rest of my picks for Week 8, including Oregon, Alabama, Iowa, Tulane, S Carolina, Texas, UNC, Auburn, TCU, FSU, Michigan, LSU, Utah, Miami, UCLA, Washington.  Against the spread, Tennessee, TCU, FSU, MSU, Utah, Miami

Under for Tenn/Bama, TCU/KSU, Duke/FSU, and Clemson/the U; Over for MICHIGAN and Utah/USC

Edited October 21, 2023 by Carey
Edited to add mid & late games after early stuff

[Carey]

Whatever happens, I can now pump the brakes on thinking Penn State has a chance to match/overtake the glory that was 2001 Miami, 2013 Florida State, 2019 LSU, or 1995 Nebraska (in addition to being that Big 10 team that topples Georgia)

[roamyn]

3 hours ago, Carey said:

in addition to being that Big 10 team that topples Georgia)

That was tOSU last year, but for a bad play call at the end of the game, plus dirty work by the GA defense/refs on Marvin Harrison Jr

[AimingforYoko]

Floyd's comin' to Minneapolis for the first time since 2014!

A scintillating 12-10 shootout. So does Ferentz get a pass because of the injury to McNamara?

ETA: This is so true:

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by AimingforYoko