Last week before Rivalry week. It's pretty much an off week for the SEC with most of their games being with teams like The Citadel, Liberty, Idaho, UMass and Chattanooga. The Aggies though made a mistake and scheduled UAB who is actually having a very solid year in C-USA, they are 9-1. :wink: The AAC has some important conference games this week. Thurs ...Tulane at Houston. Cougars defense has cratered and while they are tied for the lead in the AAC West with Tulane and SMU, they have to win out if they want to go to the Conf Champ game...same for Tulane. Friday ...Memphis at SMU Again SMU needs to win out and Memphis is not eliminated yet even though they are a game behind the leaders. So both need to win. Sat: Games involving CFP contenders. The Citadel at Alabama ...Saban got a little testy when asked if he would rest Tua since they could probably play Mac Jones and win handily. Nope he didn't like that Rat Poison suggestion. Ohio State at Maryland ...Buckeyes need to get things tightened up for the big show down with the TUN next week. Maryland should be a good warmup. MSU at Nebraska...will the Scott Frost revival campaign continue this weekend. I think so, he definitely seems to have the Huskers heading in the right direction. I'm not so sure about Mich State. Utah at Colorado ...Utes really surprised me they lost their starting backfield and yet still won last week. Colorado is sliding down the slopes after that 5-0 starts. Utes in control of their own destiny in the Pac 12 South, if I read Kes' posts correctly. Utah State at Colorado State...nobody really cares about this game except that a lot of people think Utah State is the best team in the Group of 5, yes better than UCF. Maybe even could be a New Years 6 team if they win out. Syracuse at Notre Dame ...except it's not at Notre Dame it's at Yankee Stadium for the Shamrock Series complete with special uniforms that always get some Irish fans riled up over them. Syracuse is scoring a lot of points on everybody so the Irish defense will have to be on their toes, and we'll need to be able to score a lot of points ourselves. I'd say if we don't score at least 40 it's going to be tough to win. West Virginia at Oklahoma State. This could be another shoot out like the OU/OSU game last weekend. Will Grier will put up some points on OSU but as we saw last week and against Texas that OSU can put up some points as well. West Virginia absolutely has to win though to keep their hopes up for not only the B12 Title but the CFP. Missouri at Tenn..this game is important esp for the Vols as a win here get them to that 6th win and bowl eligible. USC at UCLA ..Rivalry week starts early on the West Coast, neither team having a great year, but no doubt both want to win. I'd have to consult Kes' spread sheets on the Pac12 South to see if USC still has a chance. Clay Helton can't afford to lose to UCLA given they way the season has gone for them. Indiana at Michigan....tune up game for UM. UMass at Georgia ...hah! Liberty at Auburn ....hah! Oregon State at Washington. I think Kes says it doesn't matter who wins this one, Washington has to beat Wazzu next week. Oregon State not very good and should be a good tune up for the puppies! Duke at Clemson....Doesn't seem possible that Clemson could lose but Duke is a pretty good team who could make it interesting if Clemson is a little flat. UAB at Texas A&M ..Aggies might get a little more fight out of UAB than they thought when this was scheduled. Kansas at OU...OU will put 70 on them, thing is even though KU fired their coach, they might put 40 on that OU defense. Rice at LSU ...Owls are woeful this year, won't be surprised if their total offensive output vs that LSU defense is in the 50-75 yds range. Stanford at CAL ...The BIG Game....doesn't mean much other than the rivalry. Iowa State at Texas....Iowa State is a pretty good team, and they have one of those hot coaches that people think is ripe to move up to a big program. I keep hearing that if Urban Meyer steps down at Ohio State that Matt Campbell will be one of those in contention to be the next coach. Longhorns defense has somehow disappeared in the last couple of games, but Sam Ehlinger has seemed to have found his game and his receivers are helping out by catching the ball. Both of these teams need this win. I think this game will be a lot like the West Virginia game, hopefully we can win in the end this time. Arizona at Washington State...Khalil Tate has returned to the player that he was last year, so watch out Wazzu. But at home the Coogs should win and set up one of the more epic Apple Cups in recent memory. Cincinnati at UCF ....Bearcats having a pretty good year, they are 5-1 in AAC play and UCF is 6-0 so a win here could not only derail the winning streak UCF has going but give them the tie breaker over UCF for the trip to the Conf Championship. I think UCF continues the streak. Lots of other interesting games but most of them have to do with just getting a win and maybe a better bowl bid.
Well reports are out that Colorado has fired HC Mike MacIntyre, I'm not sure from what I've read it seems like he'll coach out the season. Which always brings into play what if he wins out? https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/11/13/18063094/mike-macintyre-colorado-fired OUT Bowling Green - Mike Jinks Colorado - Mike MacIntyre Kansas - David Beaty Louisville - Bobby Petrino Maryland - DJ Durkin Matt Campbell is going to be a name you hear a lot as these openings multiply.
What the hell is Colorado thinking? Re ND's uniforms: Those things are awful and I'm pretty sure even Yankee fans will agree.
This is a pretty good article on Nick Saban's HS career in a small town in West Virginia. He won a State Championship and he played QB and was all-state in baseball and basketball. Who knew! http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25267700/nick-saban-first-championship-west-virginia-high-school
According to Wikipedia he's 5'6"...an overachiever! But I imagine that the little town he played HS football in that if you weren't in the band you were on the football team. Plus back in those days everybody was smaller, I know that linemen at Texas when I was there were barely 200lbs.
Yeah, to be 5'6" and be a 3 sport star is pretty impressive . He must have been a very good overall athlete.
The Aggies might possibly be the least embarrassing SEC non-con game this weekend (LSU is playing Rice, who normally isn't this bad). OSU @ MD - (Assuming UM beats IU) a loss for OSU would knock them out of the B10E, CFP, and (likely) NY6 bowl. OSU shouldn't have problems for MD, but they haven't been nearly as consistent as an Urban-coached team usually is. MSU @ NU - NU playing for pride. MSU playing to not be embarrassed. Blackshirts. UU @ CU - UU needs to beat CU and ASU to lose to either UO or UA to win the P12S. Like T I was very surprised to see how well the Utes played without Tyler and Zack. They still have their defense, so they should never be counted out, but an offense that sputtered until about five games ago with their experienced star QB and RB in place, goes out and does that to UO? Not that the Ducks have a great defense, but still. CU is 0-8 over the last two years with bowl eligibility on the line. Make it 0-9. ASU @ UO - ASU must beat UO unless UU loses to CU. If UU loses to CU, then ASU must beat UA to win the P12S. The Ducks should beat the Hermies, but those Hermies have been playing well lately. Syr @ ND - No excuses. ND knows what's on the line. Win and in, or lose and out (maybe). WV @ OkSU - OkSU has really played up against the tough part of their schedule. WV still has hopes for the CFP (slim) and B12CG (controlling). OkSU will at least keep it close, but WV probably eeks out the win. Mizzou @ Tenn - two teams that are consistently inconsistent. I'll go with the homers team. USC @ UCLA - the loss to Cal knocked USC out of contention for the P12S. Beating UCLA shouldn't be an issue, but it'll be by less than a TD. I actually thought UCLA would win two more after failing at bowl eligibility, but with games against USC and Stanford left, the margin is slim. IU @ UM - no way UM fails this far into the season, with the CFP and B10E in their control. OrSU @ uw - if uw loses to OrSU, WSU can clinch the P12N by beating UA. If uw beats OrSU, the P12N comes down to the winner of the Apple Cup. Go Beavers! Duke @ Clemson - Would Bama lose to Duke? Neither will Clemson. If they do lose, a whole lot of topsy-turvy happens. UAB @ A&M - UAB is at least looks respectable. It shouldn't be close. KU @ OU - in a game that features 150 points, OU wins by a Safety. Not really, but that OU defense is really bad. Rice @ LSU - LSU should be able to pad their resume by scoring in the high teens against Rice. Stan @ Cal - Stan, Cal, UU, WSU all have really good defenses, but Cal just might have the best defense in the P12. Stanford offense has really come alive in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, Stanford's offense is pretty one-sided, depending on a lot of throwing. Cal probably wins this one. ISU @ tu - both ISU and tu still have a shot at the B12CG, each holding a tiebreaker over WV or OU. A loss knocks either of them out. ISU probably has the better defense (which really doesn't fit in with the B12 conference theme) but I don't think it's better enough to matter. Is texas BACK? Well, probably back in the win column. UA @ WSU - WSU can clinch with a win if uw loses to OrSU. Otherwise, if uw beats OrSU, this game doesn't matter in the scheme of the P12N. UA needs to beat WSU and ASU and UU to lose to CU to win the P12S. On paper, UA shouldn't stand a chance. Unfortunately, that was how it looked last year in Tempe. Fortunately, it's at home where WSU has won 12 straight. Unfortunately it is #PAC12AfterDark, where weird things tend to happen. With the line at about 10, of course, I'm going to give it to the Cougs who are having a magical year. In front of a raucous crowd, the Cougs should play ball control (probably holding it a bit less than the 42+ minutes they did against CU) and limit Khalil's damage.
That is pretty funny I commented earlier that the only poll that really matters is the last one, and I know some folks didn't agree with me at the time. However, if you look at just the events of the past month you will see why. Either Alabama has grown into an all-world defensive unit led by a DL Heisman candidate, OR Miss State and LSU just aren't very good offensively. The longer the season goes on, it appears the latter is the case whereas a month ago, they both seemed like high ranking juggernauts. Both could be true though. I have a real problem with people justifying current poll positions with statements like 'they beat THEN RANKED #8. Well, where is #8 today? Were they a bust? Has the season shown their early ranking to be off? I understand that these are all just data points that we're reaching for in an effort to put together the playoff format, but I still contend that the only rankings that actually matter are the final poll.
Corey, in a sense I agree, however if #1 beats #3 should #3 drop? Isn't #1 supposed to beat #3? Or #1 beats #16? Isnt #1 supposed to beat #16? There is also the eternal question after a lopsided win. Was the defense so good or the was the offense so bad. So I guess we'll see how this plays out, but right now, in my case at least, the Alabama offense is not as explosive as it was earlier in the year and (thankfully) the defense is playing much, much better, or at least it appears that way after the shutout of two top 20 teams. 8)
Well while for sure the last poll is the one that counts, that's a given. But the polls that lead up to that last one count as well. You have to be in a position to move up, if you're down at #25 your chances of being in the top 4 in that final poll are nil. Just look at WSU, they've been moving up and are now at least in a position to take advantage of winning out and if somebody slips up amongst those ahead of them. BTW: on ESPNU radio they always have some guests usually Herbie and Dan Orlovsky and they always ask who they think is the upset possibility and this week most of them say Syracuse, but Dan Orlovosky said Arizona over WSU because he thought Sumlin and Noel Mazzone have finally figured out how to use Tate and the Cougars could be caught looking ahead to the Apple Cup.
This is the third straight week that ESPN and CBS have picked WSU to have a letdown game. I welcome it. This team is really good, but not good enough to mail it in and still get the win. I don't expect that to be a problem, but historically this has been a hallmark of Cougar teams. I keep believing this team is different, but the proof is in the pudding!
I don't know about anyone else, but I love all Mike Leach quote collections: https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/12/28/15024328/mike-leach-quotes-best-funniest-washington-state-head-coach
Louisville plays in that imitation race track of a football stadium right off I65. They're also in the ACC these days. I guess we'll see how Brohm does. I think he's a fine coach and he'll probably nab a few guys that Purdue wouldn't have touched. I just wonder how long the Lou is willing to wait to rebuild. That's a team with a lot of holes.
Brohm is denying the rumor, says he's focused on IU and Wisc. Ir won't shock me if after his last reg season game he announces he's leaving for Louisville. That's the way it went down with Tom Herman. He and his family have deep ties to Louisville both the football program and the city
McKenzie Milton, the UCF outstanding QB, has weighed in on Notre Dame. He doesn't think Notre Dame is as good as UCF. There is more than that in this article though and it's a nice read about him and his journey. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2806056-ucf-qb-mckenzie-milton-goes-off-on-notre-dame-cant-tell-me-theyre-better
Les Miles is poised to return to coaching. The rumor is that it's Kansas. I wonder why it wouldn't be the Lou? Wherever he goes, they are gonna play some defense.