College Football 2023-2024

[Cancer]

I have not been following this massive fiasco, but I'm really hoping this happens.  I am not a fan of either of those two institutions, but the mindless moneygrubbing avarice that led the rest of the conference to cut out in unseemly haste -- and my near-lifetime hate for intercollegiate athletics as a university faculty member in a real academic discipline -- wants the other scumbuckets to lose everything.

[unclevlad]

Yeah, the conference by-laws are clear-cut.  Once they withdrew...they had no say any more.  Call it a poison pill of a sort if you like...but they all bloody well knew it, or their legal advisors are totally incompetent.

 

Elsewhere, Michigan chooses to accept the Harbaugh suspension.  They offer the usual sanctimonious platitudes, which just proves to me that they were successful in covering up any more direct ties that would've led to multi-year, severe sanctions had they come out.  Oh, and it guarantees that nothing can derail their bowl/CFP payday.

[unclevlad]

Michigan fires their LB coach.  The context is the sign-stealing issue.  The school says it's because the coach didn't cooperate with the investigations.  Well, OK, that might be the case, but I also get a distinct whiff of goat, given the timing, and the schools sudden reversal.

 

EDIT:  and how there's suggestions some boosters may have helped fund this.

 

Pat Forde in SI points out Michigan's probably already guilty of level 1 violations...and Harbaugh is, by explicit policy, held to be responsibile.

 

Quote

If covering college athletics for three decades has taught me anything, it’s this: When a scandal is uncovered, it’s almost never the work of a rogue employee acting in a complete vacuum. Denial is universal but rarely truthful.

<snip...later on...>
Michigan still has a chance to get what it really wants out of this, which is a national championship before the house burns to the ground. The screaming about due process was easily translated to mean: Just let us finish this season. 

 

And right now, it looks like they'll get that.  They may not *keep* it, but if they actually win the championship?  I *loathe* having that vacated after the fact.  

 

And I think...as a program...Michigan's complicit.  I think now, they've likely destroyed evidence too.  My feeling is, they deserve a multi-year post-season ban and a massive institutional fine...but given that this is the impotent NCAA acting now, it won't happen.

[unclevlad]

Ouch.

 

Wash St 28, Buffs 7, 20 minutes into the game.

 

Shedeur Sanders is heading back to the locker room, the kid's been taking a beating for several games now.

 

EDIT:  commentators are morons.  "It's not gonna be easy to come back" with Sanders in the locker room, and very likely out.  It's freaking 42-7 at halftime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This isn't Captain Obvious, it's General Clueless.

EDIT 2:  Ice cream for everyone!  Double scoops!
(yeah, Wazoo just pulled off a second fumble returned for a TD...this is turning into a complete collapse.  56-7, 5 minutes left in the 3rd.)

[Pariah]

BYU has a home game at 10:00 in the morning Provo time. Got to love the big noon kickoff.

 

Oklahoma's wearing their traditional crimson helmets with white jerseys and pants; BYU is wearing white pants and helmets with royal blue jerseys and trim. This game may get ugly for BYU quickly, but at least the aesthetic of the game itself looks good.

[unclevlad]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

BYU has a home game at 10:00 in the morning Provo time. Got to love the big noon kickoff.

 

Oklahoma's wearing their traditional crimson helmets with white jerseys and pants; BYU is wearing white pants and helmets with royal blue jerseys and trim. This game may get ugly for BYU quickly, but at least the aesthetic of the game itself looks good.

 

This was one of several games that ended up with disappointing final scores.  ALMOST had some nice upsets, but.....no..........at least not in the top 25 so far.

[Pariah]

21 of Oklahoma's 31 points came from BYU turnovers, including a ~100-yard pick six. If BYU holds on to the ball, they win this game. Disappointing. 

 

The Cougars are now at 5-6 and need to win at Oklahoma State next week for a bowl bid. OSU is currently down 14-3 in Houston in the first quarter, so that'll bear watching. 

[unclevlad]

Well, BYU fared better than Utah...they at least were competitive...

[Pariah]

New Mexico State beat Auburn?

 

By three touchdowns?!

 

Pardon me, I'll be over hear laughing some part of my anatomy off. 

[unclevlad]

Yeah, me too.  Overheard that they won, wasn't paying attention.  Not just beat them, STOMPED on them.

 

Nice line from social media:

if you're an sec coach that loses on socon saturday they should get to set up a dunk tank at midfield

 

Yeah, when you lose by 21...as a 25 point favorite???  

 

And it's worse.  

Last year, Hugh Freeze coached Liberty.  NMSU 49, Liberty 14....when Liberty was a 20 point favorite.

 

Freeze may not get fired, but at best, he's going to have very little rope left.  Their wins...UMass, Cal, Samford to start the year.  UMass was 127, Cal 71, and Samford is a 6-5 FCS team, so not exactly a power.  Conference, beat Miss St (82), Vandy (103), and Arkansas (80).  It's JUST enough to make them bowl-eligible...but they'll be 6-6 after next week.

 

Iron Bowl.  Alabama.  Early line is Bama -14.

 

SEC will have at least one team in the CFP if the SEC title game is 1-loss Bama vs. undefeated Georgia.  They get the Citrus Bowl as well.  Plus 6 other lower- to mid-tier bowls.  Auburn's likely gonna be 9th, and they have NO good wins to argue to get into those.  So they're looking at the Birmingham or Gasparilla bowls...pre-Christmas games.  

 

Speaking of using up their rope.....

 

UCLA 38, USC 20.  Trojans start 6-0, climbing HIGH...then get *shredded*, going 1-5 since.  In many ways, arguably, the Colorado game was the harbinger, where they gave up 41 against a Buffs team.  Allowed 259 points in the last 6 games.  Lincoln Riley is getting destroyed on social media.

[unclevlad]

Oh.....godddddd......

 

I'm amazed CBS posted it, altho FS1 just showed it on their halftime show during their late game.

 

Jordan Travis, #4 FSU's starting QB.  You may have heard he had an air cast and got taken off to the hospital.

 

Yeah, well, that's not even close to how bad it is.  

 

His left leg is elevated somewhat as he's going down...when another player's leg drops down onto it.

 

SNAP.

 

It is really, really, really bad.  Maybe Alex Smith-level bad.  It REALLY worries me that it's pretty far down the leg, which means it might be making  a mess of all those small bones in the ankle, and that, I think, SERIOUSLY increases the risk that multiple procedures will be needed.  I also wonder if that makes it harder to insert stabilizing rods.  

 

Really unfortunate.  We won't know much for several months, I suspect, with any real confidence.  Lots of things can go wrong here.

[Pariah]

Local FCS team Weber State finished their season today with a blowout win over Cal Poly. They end their season 6-5, with two Top 20 wins (at Northern iowa, home to Idaho).

 

Sadly, they suffered a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season which included a shellacking from Montana State, an inexplicable loss to Northern Arizona, and a one-point setback against Cal Davis. If they win any of those games (and they probably should have won the two not involving Montana State) the Wildcats finish with seven or eight wins and are probably in the FCS playoffs.

 

But given that they're playing for new head coach this year—their old one is now the defensive coordinator at BYU—I suppose a bit of a step back isn't entirely unexpected. I fully expect them to contend for a playoff spot, as well as the Big Sky title, next season.

[Cancer]

In what is one of the few developments in college football that I actually approve of ...

 

The Apple Cup will continue to be played for at least the next five years

[Pariah]

An interesting read. The gap grows wider.

 

Is college athletics headed for The Great Split? 'We need to recreate or relaunch the NCAA'

[unclevlad]

6 minutes ago, Pariah said:

An interesting read. The gap grows wider.

 

Is college athletics headed for The Great Split? 'We need to recreate or relaunch the NCAA'

 

Very interesting read.  If I'd heard about the House case...class action lawsuit to force the NCAA to pay NIL money to athletes...dating back to 2016 (!).  Major money there.  That's apparently already causing preliminary restructuring discussions to take place...so it's not simply fan- or media-based speculative analysis.

 

It's all about the money.  One paragraph:

Quote

By 2032, the Knight Commission estimates that the 54 public Power Five schools will spend nearly as much on football coaching salaries ($1.363 billion) as they do on all athletic scholarships ($1.372 billion).

 

Because, in large part, of media deals.  It's why SMU is blowing off TV revenue short term...because they'll more than make up for it, they feel, long term.  The whole realignment has been driven by money.  Jimbo Fisher's buyout is another massive data point.  Mel Tucker's contract, before he was fired.  Brian Kelly's contract to go from Notre Dame to LSU.  And don't forget the assistant coaches...the coordinators at Alabama are making $1.9M each.  The total for all of em...$9.17M.  (https://footballscoop.com/news/salary-details-for-nick-sabans-new-coordinators-at-alabama)

 

I do think all the secondary sports are in Big Trouble, and ultimately, this may well lead to an even greater separation than is suggested.  That said, college football's connection is to the schools...not the players.  Making them the explicit equivalent of a developmental league, not (or much less) connected to the schools, is problematic.  I think a large percentage of the value for those mega media deals, is tied to the college connection/college fandom.  

[unclevlad]

Just about ready to start on CBS...Iowa at Nebraska.

 

I have to ask myself if CBS picked this one to show, for its morbid fascination value.

 

The O/U is.....24.5.  For the entire game, not the first quarter or first half.

 

Most interesting early game today may be UTSA at ranked Tulane.  In a bit of a surprise...all 7 games have a ranked team, with the major highlight being Oregon vs. OSU where both are.  But OU, Iowa, Missouri, and Penn State have sub-.500 teams, and Texas has 6-5 Texas Tech (who did beat Kansas, I suppose). 

 

EDIT:  oh, silly me.  I was looking at the ESPN schedule summary...and the default setting is the top 25 only...DOH!!!  There's actually 13 games...but still, that's a large percentage of games today with a ranked team.

 

And of course the HyperHypeBeast game is tomorrow.  I dislike OSU...but not that much now, and I really, really, really want Michigan to lose.....

[Pariah]

The score's Iowa 10 Nebraska 7 at the half. That under is looking a little sus. But given Iowa's offensive ineptitude and Nebraska's overall ineptitude, it wouldn't surprise me if the second half were completely scoreless.

[Pariah]

Iowa kicks a walk-off field goal to win 13-10, beating Nebraska and preserving the under. More importantly, it kept the game from going into overtime. Overtime in this game would have been like discovering a bonus track on a Yoko Ono album.

[Pariah]

I think Tulane has one of the best color schemes in college football. The forest green and sky blue combination has just the right amount of color and contrast. And it's a combo that nobody else has.

 

So I'm disappointed that they're wearing mono-black today. 

[unclevlad]

4 hours ago, Pariah said:

The score's Iowa 10 Nebraska 7 at the half. That under is looking a little sus. But given Iowa's offensive ineptitude and Nebraska's overall ineptitude, it wouldn't surprise me if the second half were completely scoreless.

 

HAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

 

They hadda make us sweat.  The second half ALMOST was scoreless.

13-10 Iowa!  Hail the UNDER!!

 

Even scarier?  If the under was on first downs, instead of points...it still would've paid.  24 first downs total.

 

It'll be interesting to see what bowl game wants Iowa.  They're highly ranked...10-2, in the Big 10 titlle game (but are likely to get smacked hard there).  But NOT!!! an attractive team for a show game.

 

Heck, with Michigan or Ohio State in the CFP (an absolute lock)...and the other one getting an elite bowl for sure...Iowa is very likely to get a seriously good bowl themselves.  Not sure how much flexibility those bowls with conference tie-ins have...............

[unclevlad]

Holy cow...Utah State sneaks past New Mexico, 44-41 in 2 OTs, looks like.  Each team gains 500+ yards on offense...but the REALLY unusual number...150+ yards each in *penalties.*  28 penalties, which is bad enough, but 338 total penalty yards!  And this is college.  Pass interference is not a spot foul, so AFAIK no penalty can exceed 15 yards...oh, except maybe intentional grounding.  Still...that's an insanely high average yards per penalty.

 

Utah State reaches bowl-eligible...which Nebraska, Central Michigan, and TCU (last year's CFP team is now a distant, distant memory) failed to achieve.  Action Network shows 69 teams that've reached bowl-eligible, so there's 13 slots left...and 18 games tomorrow where someone can get that 6th win.  OTOH, some are Fat Chance...Washington State's at Washington, for example.  Action Network lists 11 of those teams as favorites, but many are by slim margins.

 

Odds are...JMU is gonna go bowling.  

[Pariah]

Utah state held a seemingly comfortable lead on New Mexico in the fourth quarter, but let them back in the game. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime. New Mexico came 6 inches short of a touchdown in the second overtime and settled for a field goal. Utah State was down to 4th down and was about to kick the tying field goal when the holder botched the snap. He got up, started to scramble, and found his way into the end zone to win the game.

 

Unreal.

[Pariah]

Utah came into the season as two-time defending PAC-12 champions with dark horse aspirations of a three-peat. Colorado set the college football world on fire for the first 3 weeks of the season. Had this game been played in September, it would probably have been the game of the week. ESPN would have set up shop in Salt Lake City for the pregame show.

 

But Colorado, like Icarus of myth, crashed and burned. Utah has lost to pretty much every good team they've played. So this season finale, which the PAC tried so hard to make into a real rivalry, is relegated to the PAC-12 network. It's a fitting tribute to the conference's mismanagement, its complete and utter inability to remain relevant in the world of big money college football.

 

Oh well, at least these two teams can be grateful they're not in the ACC next year.

[unclevlad]

Oh, my...disgruntled rumblings in Columbus may be getting louder.  Very debatable touchdown by Michigan...the tight end may never really have had control before crossing into the end zone, which was stripped...makes the score 14-3 Michigan.  

 

Yeah, you and I and sane people look at Ryan Day's run...53-6, top 5 every year...and say...what more can you want???

 

Except...

--if things continue like this, it may become a 2nd straight beatdown...and 1-3 vs. Michigan.

--not counting the aberration COVID season of 2020...0-2 in the CFP.

 

Another aspect about Colorado....the TCU win has turned into a much more significant statement, a harbinger of TCU's season....not Colorado's.  Oh, and yeah, not only is it on the Pac 12 network, it's got the weird start time (3 Eastern/noon Pacific) that usually means it's "local teams only."  And yeah, the Pac-12 totally botched...well...most everything.  One can argue the root mistake was actually adding Utah and Colorado.  They never fit...geographically or culturally.  Maybe it would've worked out, given more time, but that's the one thing *no one* gets now.

 

 

EDIT:  ARGHHH!!!!  College football is freaking review-happy!!!!  FAR too many, and they're PAINFULLY slow with em.  OSU receiver *clearly* makes the catch for a first down...but no!!!!  Another stupid review.  The frequency, the time taken...one of the games yesterday mentioned how bad, how long, how slow college games are right now.........

 

But OSU comes right back and there's a gorgeous throw to Harrison for close to 50...despite Harrison practically getting tackled before the ball arrives.  This game's 14-10 now and OSU moving...could be getting more interesting...........................

 

 

[Pariah]

BYU holds Oklahoma State to a field goal on their first position. BYU then runs an option play, the running back can't handle the pitch, and Oklahoma State recovers inside their own 20 yard line. BYU holds Oklahoma State to a field goal for a 6-0 lead. 

 

Turnovers killed the Cougars last week against Oklahoma. It does not appear they've learned anything in the seven days since.