OK so the first hiccup has happened. Washington is not able to participate in the Pac12 title game because of the virus. So runner up Oregon will take it's place. Will this be the only incidence? ACC Notre Dame vs Clemson. It's widely believed that Clemson will win this rematch for several reasons. 1) it's at a neutral site not Notre Dame Stadium 2) it's hard to beat a team 2 times in a season 3) Trevor Lawrence will be at QB 3) Clemson will also have some defenders back that missed the first game. I do think all of that is fair, Clemson still has a more talented roster than the Irish and we needed double OT at home to win. So Clemson being a 10 point favorite might hurt my feelings but it's probably a fair spread. The key to this game for the ACC is for Clemson to win, but for it to be a close game. Clemson wins say 31-28 then it's highly likely that both Clemson and Notre Dame make the playoffs. GameDay crew will be in Charlotte for the game. SEC Florida vs Alabama. The Tide are 17 point favorites. They are great on both sides of the ball and have maybe the best offense in college football. In spite of Kyle Trasks' play in the LSU game I fully expect to see the Gator offense that we thought we'd see vs LSU. So i still expect this to be a relatively high scoring game, that Alabama wins. Big 10 Ohio State vs Northwestern Air vs Ground . Buckeyes have a dynamic QB and WR's and can really throw the ball, Northwestern has an excellent ground game and there are some who question the Ohio State defense. I don't really know what to expect. Ohio State has a lot more talent than Northwestern. If they come ready to play and there is no reason that they would take this game lightly, they should win by 3 scores or more. If they get into a close low scoring match with the Wildcats that could open the door to them dropping to #5 in the CFP rankings. Big 12 Iowa State vs Oklahoma. Iowa State beat OU early in the season, another rematch and like ND/Clemson the rematch is hard to win. Iowa State beat OU handily, but that was a different OU team and Iowa State is a better team now as well. No matter who wins, neither is getting to the CFP. Pac 12 USC vs Oregon Oregon is the opponent because Washington was taken out by Covid. USC has a great offense but not so much defense, USC has lived on the edge winning 3 games at the end with some lucky plays. Oregon is well Oregon, will show up with flashy uniforms and an all out offense. Neither is making the CFP, even USC as an undefeated Power 5 Conference Champion is not making it. Undefeated but unimpressive resume'. AAC Cincinnati vs Tulsa. Bearcats need a big win to have any chance of sneaking into the 4th slot should the cards fall right for them. Other games are being played. Texas A&M vs Tenn ...the Vols are not a good team in spite of their big win over Vanderbilt. Aggies are a good team and probably need to run up the score here if they can. Big 10 and SEC have some games this weekend as well that don't mean anything. I guess outcomes could impact minor bowl pairings.
FSU and Wake Forrest had games with Clemson and Notre Dame cancelled last weekend, in a mildly criticised decision by the ACC. So this weekend they get to play each other!!!
In the Heisman straw poll on ESPN, Devonta Smith has slipped up to #1 ahead of Mac Jones and Kyle Trask. Tim Brown in 1987 and Desmond Howard in 1991 were the last non-QB/RB to win the Heisman. He's a helluva a player.
Arkansas did a good job of keeping Alabama receivers in front of them and I expect Florida to try to do the same thing and Florida has a much more potent offense than. Almost anyone else in the conference except Alabama. I think Alabama wins but doesn't cover.
kp, who in your opinion is the best player on the Alabama offense? Najee Harris, Mac Jones, Devonta Smith? They have been talking on ESPNU that Mac Jones is a great player, but not the best player on the Alabama offense.
Florida shouldn't have any trouble keeping the Alabama receivers in front of them........until the ball is snapped.
I have debated this for several years. I believe that the Alabama receivers for the last 4 yrs or so have been as good as or better than our quarterbacks. I think if you have to pick just one player then Jones is probably the best, but our receivers (all of them as a group) are just as good as he is. I know that doesn't exactly answer your question, Terry but Jones makes amazing reads and throws and our wide receivers, tight ends and running backs make amazing catches and runs after the catch to combine for an formidable offense.
For many years the Alabama defense was the MVP. We have had years when we had one great wide receiver that was an MVP and in those cases, I would submit that the quarterback may have been the MVP because he was able to "do no harm" and let the running game, a relatively tame passing game, and the defense win the games. My real point was that Hurts and Tagavolua were both Heisman candidates but their groups of wide receivers (as opposed to a single receiver) were at least as good as those two were and maybe better. Smith is a great receiver but Metchie, Bolden, Billingsly are all just as talented. The future is bright for Alabama's offense. The defense is more of a question mark.
KP, I don't disagree with any of that. I would argue that Bama's qbs have rarely, if ever, been the most talented player on the team. Tag arguably was, and if not he, then there are very few others that stand out. I was specifically responding to "as good or better", not whether or not they were the MVP.
My point was Smith, as good as he is, may not be the best receiver on the team. There are probably 2 other guys that are just as good. If it was just Smith then I would say Mac Jones may be better but he is not better than the whole group of receivers. And I would say the same about Tagavolua.
There will be no Old Oaken Bucket game this year, for the first time in more than 100 years. Indiana/Purdue both have Covid issues. Was supposed to be played last week, but got postponed to this weekend and then cancelled.
The Frisco Bowl has been cancelled after SMU cancelled due to Covid, they were set to play UTSA. Now UTSA has pivoted and will play in the ServPro Bowl which will ironically be played in SMU's home stadium on Dec 26th against an opponent yet to be named.
Michigan at Iowa....Cancelled. I had that down as a game to watch. Iowa might be the 2nd best team in the Big 10 right now, they got off to an 0-2 start losing two very close games. Purdue 24-20 and Northwestern 21-20 then the ship got righted and they have run off 6 straight wins including last weekends win over Wisconsin 28-7. I noticed that of the 14 Big 10 teams, only Northwestern, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio State have records above .500
To be fair, probably had no choice but cancel as over 50 players were reportedly unable to play. But, our pompous PR declaration in the summer that the team’s protocols for Covid should be the model for all universities ended up completely false. Plus, the university’s lack of transparency on the number of infections and details re it’s contact tracing methodology certainly puts their credibility at issue.
Early Signing Period for Football starts today runs through Friday. The trend has been for the majority of recruits to sign in this period. But with the pandemic rules that forbid official paid visits to campus it might result in a few more than usual waiting till Feb. Although recently the NCAA extended the no-visit rule till next spring. Good Luck!
Reportedly Iowa is thinking of trying to find a game for this Saturday. Big 10 rules prohibit it and would need a special exception to play. Hard to imagine this happening.