College Football 2022

[unclevlad]

I dunno, I'm sure there've been stupider HC hires.

 

I mean, Jacksonville hired Urban Meyer....

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

That didn't really happen.

 

Nobody's that stupid. 

[unclevlad]

9 minutes ago, Logan.1179 said:

That didn't really happen.

 

Nobody's that stupid. 

 

There, there.  You really need to let it out and let go.  Denial just continues to poison your soul, man.  Scream out your anger and outrage...then let it go....  You'll feel much better for it.
(And if that doesn't work, may I suggest a nice weekend of continual self-medication?)

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

(And if that doesn't work, may I suggest a nice weekend of continual self-medication?)

 

A/K/A the "Pirate Looks at 40"?

 

"And I have been drunk now for over two weeks...."

 

In fairness, it would be a Florida thing to do. Key West and all that.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

12 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

There, there.  You really need to let it out and let go.  Denial just continues to poison your soul, man.  Scream out your anger and outrage...then let it go....  You'll feel much better for it.
(And if that doesn't work, may I suggest a nice weekend of continual self-medication?)

 

Gimme some time in denial. I just got through anger and depression. Working on bargaining now. 

[unclevlad]

It wasn't that long ago that the MAC had some pretty competitive teams.  Memory is, for the last couple years...not so much.  And CBS' bottom 25 after week 2 is out.  Yeah, it's early...but.

 

The MAC has 12 teams.  Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami (OH), and Ohio U in the eastern division, and Ball State, NIU, Toledo, and Eastern, Central, and Western Michigan in the western.  In the bottom 25:

25:  Miami OH

21:  Central Mich

20:  Akron

19:  Eastern Mich

15:  Kent State

11:  Buffalo

8:  Bowling Green

7:  Ball State

 

It won't stay that way, and it's obviously based on an extremely limited sample size...but that's just Not Good if you're a MAC fan.

[Pariah]

The Mountain West has three teams in the CBS Bottom 10: 

 

10. Utah State

2. Colorado State

1. Hawaii

 

Plus, MWC commissioner Craig Thompson, who's been in the role since the conference formed in 1999, just announced that he's retiring at the end of the year. 

 

Not good times in the Mountain West.

[unclevlad]

Are there good times anywhere outside the 2 behemoth conferences?  You can't even call the current rankings of OU and USC as 'good' for their current conferences...

[Pariah]

'Good' is relative. If CSU can win six games and get into a third-teir bowl game this year, it'll be a good season for them. Even if they can't, beating Wyoming would probably qualify them for a good year. 

 

CSU will never be $EC/B1G caliber, and will never make that kind of money. Comparing them to schools in those conferences is meaningless.

[unclevlad]

2 minutes ago, Pariah said:

'Good' is relative. If CSU can win six games and get into a third-teir bowl game this year, it'll be a good season for them. Even if they can't, beating Wyoming would probably qualify them for a good year. 

 

CSU will never be $EC/B1G caliber, and will never make that kind of money. Comparing them to schools in those conferences is meaningless.

 

Not where I'm going.  CSU will never be top...but they can be middle.  The MAC schools were mid-level.  Hawai'i was mid-level.  Utah State has been end of season top-20 3 times in the prior 10 seasons.  Now?  OK, in some cases it may be an aberration...but the MAC, the last couple years, makes me worry it's not.  Are we seeing a short-term blip...or an effect of conference realignment, as the rich continually get richer?  They take the cream from the top.  The lesser Power 5 schools are having to go a bit deeper, but they're Power 5...so they do.  

[unclevlad]

For a story about how serious Nebraska's issues were, and therefore why they chose to eat the full buyout rather than wait:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/scott-frost-was-hired-to-fix-nebraska-football-instead-he-helped-it-reach-new-lows/

 

One key point:  ranking 129th out of 130 in expected points added on special teams...but ALSO not hiring a special teams coordinator until *this* season...his 5th.

 

The litany is extensive.

[Pariah]

I just read that 2022 is the first football season in history where North Carolina, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest have all started 2-0.

 

The four schools all have football programs dating back to at least 1892.

[Pariah]

Maybe Nebraska and Colorado would both be better off back in the Big XII. At least they'd know they could beat Kansas most years. 

[unclevlad]

8 hours ago, Pariah said:

Maybe Nebraska and Colorado would both be better off back in the Big XII. At least they'd know they could beat Kansas most years. 

 

If the Pac 12 falls apart...granted, a sizable "if"...Colorado's going to need to find a new place to fit into, and who knows?  It's geographically more solid, if nothing else.

 

With Nebraska, I think the Big 10 will be unwieldy.  Nebraska's never fit well, and they're not bringing a large market with them.  

 

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the finances of college football?  The Athletic has a story today about what Texas spent during the official recruiting visit made by some kid named Manning, and 8 others.  On the official one, there are no limits, apparently.  3 days.  Total tab:  $280,000.  Granted, yeah, it wasn't your average recruit...but that is a lot of money.  And it's for just 1 visit.  While choosing to fork over the $7.5M rather than waiting 3 weeks is still...interesting, it suggests the common basis:  booster money has almost no bounds.  So forking out the cash reflected the urgency (or panic) in the AD's office.

 

 

[unclevlad]

Well.....Colorado's drive to reach #1 has just gotten a nice boost...as, after getting embarrassed by Air Force, the Falcons suffer from overconfidence and lose to Wyoming...whose FPI rank was well south of 100.  

 

Minnesota should feel like Vegas is giving them bulletin board material;  they're only favored by 27.5.  The burning question will be whether the Buffs do worse than the Aggies did......

[Pariah]

Well, Wyoming considers Air Force a rivalry game. On the other hand, Wyoming is at best Air Force's fourth most important rival (after Army & Navy and Colorado State). Maybe the Cowboys were super-motivated.

 

[Iuz the Evil]

That was fun. Big drop off between the starters and backups, OU is very thin on depth. Couple injuries and this team is going to fall apart, yikes.

 

The Oklahoma defense kinda looks legit though. 30 points allowed in 3 games, couple forced fumbles and an interception. Haven’t seen that in more years than I can count on one hand, for sure.

 

 Going to need Gabriel to stay healthy. There’s nobody behind him from what I was watching today. He’s not as good as our recent QB history but if the defense keeps playing well he won’t need to be.

 

 Still need to grow, develop. The schedule has been about perfect for that. Kent State/UTEP/Nebraska at Lincoln ease them into the season. Big XII schedule starts next. Kansas State in Norman, then at TCU. Here we go.

[Pariah]

I'm old enough to remember when the Oklahoma-Nebraska game was a big deal. It was a real rivalry, because both teams were good and the outcome of the game meant something. Usually there was a trip to the Orange Bowl on the line.

 

Today's game was just pathetic.

[Pariah]

BYU's defense looked a little sus against Oregon for their first two drives. And by 'sus', I mean 'not sure if they were actually present'. But they did manage to hold Oregon to a field goal on their second possession, and the cougar offense responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive to follow. So we've got us a game here.

 

Interesting that BYU's first three games of the season have come against teams who have some version of green and yellow/gold as there team colors. Even though you can't tell that's the case with the way Oregon's dressed today.

[Pariah]

A couple of interesting games I'm seeing as I'm flipping through channels here today:

 

Kansas at Houston. Houston's up 14 nothing at the moment, though Kansas is threatening. This is a conference game next year.

 

Moorhead versus Howard at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. Kind of cool to see to historically Black colleges getting some national attention.

 

Old Dominion at Virginia. I've always felt that dark blue and light blue was a nice color combination, despite how badly the Tennessee Titans execute it year in and year out. As a side note, why would anybody be afraid of a football team named after butterflies? 😛

 

Colorado State at Washington State will be starting in just a few minutes. I don't know how many points Washington State is favored by. I don't think it really matters. If I were a betting man, I would take the Cougars. Colorado State is just awful.

 

Wait, what is this? South Alabama leads UCLA 3123 at the beginning of the 4th quarter? This could be worth watching....

[Pariah]

Oregon is up 24/7 at halftime. BYU's defense carried them to wins in the first two games, but so far they have no solution for Oregon's offensive attack. Maybe they can make some adjustments at halftime and come back and be a little more competitive.

 

From a strictly pragmatic point of view, this is really a no-lose scenario for BYU. A loss on the road to a favored P5 team is unlikely to knock them out of the Top 25. Plus, if they turn it around in the second half and pull off the upset, it's even better. Either way, they walk away with a $1.1M check for making the trip.

[Pariah]

Even I don't hate Nebraska enough to wish this on them.

 

Nebraska coaching search: Urban Meyer contacted as Cornhuskers continue determining candidates

[unclevlad]

16 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Even I don't hate Nebraska enough to wish this on them.

 

Nebraska coaching search: Urban Meyer contacted as Cornhuskers continue determining candidates

 

Who needs hate?  Anyone idiotic enough to even consider the <BLEEP> deserves anything they get.

 

UCLA pulls out a late save...much like Bama last week, looks like, altho I wasn't watching.  Box score says down 8 entering the 4th.  Got the TD, missed the 2 pointer.  Ball back with about 3 minutes, got a nice 30 yard gain to get inside the SouthAl 40, moved, moved, moved, kicked a chippie at the ned.  So not entirely last second like Bama;  they hadda kick a long FG.

 

The line was WSU -16.5 over CSU, and yes, they're covering so far with exceptional ease.  That's one of the stories of the week;  the routs are everywhere.  Granted, several were givens...Bama's destroying LA-Monroe, DUH.  Michigan against UConn had to be a frontrunner for Rout of the Week...#4 vs. #17 with a bullet...that's #17 in the Bottom 10, and likely dropping.....  NMSU at Wisconsin...the only hope for the Aggies was a massive Covid outbreak taking the Badgers' first AND second string offense and defense out.  Even then, they'd be 10 point favorites.  

 

Mild surprise, perhaps, was Penn State taking Auburn behind the woodshed...41-12.  But that's what you expect when Auburn is -4 in TOs.

 

 

[Iuz the Evil]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

I'm old enough to remember when the Oklahoma-Nebraska game was a big deal. It was a real rivalry, because both teams were good and the outcome of the game meant something. Usually there was a trip to the Orange Bowl on the line.

 

Today's game was just pathetic.

I attended the debacle in Norman under John Blake’s “stewardship” (73-21 Huskers). Today was merciful, we had the second string in for 24 minutes and practiced the dive run throughout the fourth quarter. 

They’re not Nebraska of old, but it’s a long series. Given Wisconsin, Iowa, and others it’s possible they could be back. They need a home run hire. 
 

I did laugh at one of their fans asking “if you hire Urban Meyer, do you sell your soul to him and he gives it to Satan OR do you sell it to Satan and he credits it to Urban Meyer’s account?” 
 

I don’t think he’ll end up there. Even entertaining that is a symptom of desperation, not a real fit for their coaching staff. 

[Pariah]

I just saw that Iowa is favored by 24 over Nevada tonight.

 

24 is 10 more points than Iowa has scored so far this season.