OK things get real this week! Friday Night Utah at USC ..very big game for the Pac 12 South. Utah has been the favorite for the Pac 12 South and a team many think could win it all and make the CFP. They are ranked #10 : USC stumbled in Provo, but they are back home for this one. Sort of a must win game for the Trojans. Air Force at Boise State Flyboys got the upset over Colorado last weekend and Boise State is the Mtn West leader and only ranked team. Saturday. 3 games this Sat between ranked teams. All of them very big in the over all season. Notre Dame at Georgia ...right now the Irish are 14 point underdogs, and rightly so. Georgia is at home, Georgia's roster dwarfs the Irish in terms of recruiting rankings as they have something like 16 5 * players to none for the Irish. They have maybe the nations best OL, the Nations best pair of RB's, they have a great defense and a championship level QB with great WR's. I'm surprised it's not a bigger spread. Irish have had problems stopping the run and running the ball. Not a good formula for even staying close to Georgia much less getting the win. Irish need to at least stay close to UGA if they are not to drop like a rock through the rankings. Michigan at Wisconsin ... Michigan was considered the Big 10 favorite in the pre-season, they are undefeated but they haven't been impressive. Wisconsin on the other hand has been very impressive in their 2 games, they have a combined score of 110-0! Wisc RB Johnathon Taylor maybe the top back in the country. It's at Wisconsin. Must win game for the Wolverines. Auburn at Texas A&M ...Auburn has that good win over Oregon, but a troubling win over Tulane before blowing out Kent State. Auburn's Bo Nix is still a true freshman and Auburn's OL is good not great. A&M got untracked vs Lamar, but that Auburn DL is salty and should give A&M's offense problems. This game is probably going to be a lot like the Oregon/Auburn game. Home field might be the difference. Where are the other top 10 programs? Charlotte is at Clemson ...pray for Charlotte. So. Miss is at Alabama ... maybe a cool front will help the Tide..still should be a walk over. LSU is at Vanderbilt ..they are an 11AM kick, hope Eddie O has checked out the A/C in the visitors locker room! Joe Burrow should polish his Heisman resume' a little bit in Nashville. OU has open date Miami of Ohio at Ohio State ...last buy game for the Buckeyes, should be a blow out. Tenn at Florida ..I think the Gators are a bit better than Georgia State. They should increase the pain of Vol fans with an easy win. Pain in the Swamp for the Vols. Other interesting games. Cal at Ole Miss ...CAL is unbeaten and ranked, that's a surprise. Ole Miss is 2-1 and being at home so far from Berkeley CA that this could be a good game. CAL coach Mel Tucker very familiar with SEC opponents though. UCF at Pitt ...another Power 5 opponent for UCF and a road game. Pitt gave Penn State all they could handle last weekend. Do they have another game like that for UCF? Wash at BYU ...BYU with the upset of USC last weekend, and now another ranked Pac12 team coming to town. Washington can not afford to lose this game. Can BYU knock off Pac12 teams in back to back weekends? Oregon at Stanford...what is wrong with Stanford this is looking like maybe the worst Stanford team in years, the Ducks though need to get this win as they are contenders in the Pac12 N. Oklahoma State at Texas ...opening of the B12 season for the Longhorns. OSU is unbeaten but somewhat unproven. Longhorns offense should have no problem scoring on OSU at home after showing up very well vs LSU. OSU has always been known for their high flying offense, this could be a shootout. Longhorns were considered as having an outside shot at the CFP, have to win out to make that happen. Nebraska at Illinois....should be a get well game for the Huskers. Illinois lost to a MAC team in E.Michigan last weekend. UCLA at Wash State ..watched the Cougars last weekend in person. Their offense is very good and their defense held up against a very fast Houston team. UCLA on the road coming off a beat down by OU should be easy pickins' for the Cougars. WVA at Kansas...interesting because both these teams pulled off big upsets last weekend. KU beat down of Boston College was epic. Can Les Miles actually have KU on the right track. WVA also had an offensive explosion after being anemic in the games leading up to last weekend. Both teams won vs Power 5 opponents. Let's see who's offense shows up 2 weeks in a row. On the Heisman Front. it's still Jalen Hurts, not only has he played very well but as I've said his story is the most compelling of the other candidates. Joe Burrow is climbing the list, he's got the stats and another kid who has a compelling story to add to his stats. Current Heisman odds, per Caesars Sportsbook: 1. QB Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma (+250, up from +1200 in April) 2. QB Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama (+250, same as in April) 3. QB Joe Burrow, LSU (+450, up from greater than +10000 in April) 4. QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson (+800, down from +200) 5. QB Sam Ehlinger, Texas (+1000, up from +2500) 6. QB Justin Fields, Ohio State (+1200, down from +1000) 7. RB Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin (+1200, up from +2000) 8. QB Justin Herbert, Oregon (+1600, up from +3000) 9. WR Jerry Jeudy, Alabama (+2500, up from +10000) 10. QB Jake Fromm, Georgia (+2800, down from +2500)
Seems like this is how things line up right now in College Football Tier 1: Clemson & Bama (Until proven otherwise) [Significant Gap] Tier 2: OSU, LSU, UGA, Oklahoma (I'd rank them in that order) Basically these teams have as almost as much elite talent as Clemson and Bama but just not quite as good on the field. [Another significant gap. Probably a little bigger than the first one] Tier 3: ND, Texas, Florida, Auburn, A&M, Utah, Wisconsin, Michigan. Very good teams that also appear to have bigger flaws than Tier 2. edit: added UM to Tier 3.
Now the fun begins! I'm just a little bummed that we got a 2:30 game, and I'll miss most of the action around the country. I thought Illinois was a MAC team.
Well for all those who had Urban Meyer to USC in their office pool...think again. Reportedly the new USC President wants nothing to do with Urban. Report: USC President doesn't want Urban Meyer as coach
Of course since Urban told some media outlet recently that not coaching has left a hole in his life but that it's too soon for him to think about coming back, that ask him after the 2020 season. So since reportedly FSU can't afford to fire Willie Taggert till after the 2020 season...FSU is his next job.
Alabama down another player as a starter on the DL, had foot surgery. Tide now starts 4 true freshmen on defense. Saban going to have to coach his ass off!
They are of course all highly recruited freshmen, so they are not without talent. But still freshmen.
HBO is starting an 'All Access" Show on Fla, Penn State, Arizona State and Washington State. We had a series on Showtime of a similar nature for the 2015 season. It was fun to watch, Showtime followed that with one on FSU and I have seen one on Navy last season. Michigan had one on Amazon either last year or the year before. For the fanbase it's pretty cool. 4 schools featured in new HBO all-access series
Well it's being reported that UCLA AD will be stepping down June 2020. Not being fired, or anything, just retiring. So USC and UCLA looking for an AD, with Lynn Swann gone at USC.
The entire USC athletic program has been run by the football team for a long time. The rumors here say that those days are over. The big shots want non football types running the show from now on. I'll believe it when I see it.