College Football 2023-2024

[unclevlad]

Well, it's not a good day if you're a Miami fan...

 

This one's incomprehensible.

 

From USA Today:

 

Quote

WHAT DID MIAMI JUST DO?

When you think you’ve seen it all in college football, the sport delivers again with one of the wildest, most unbelievable game endings ever thanks to head coach Mario Cristobal and the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes.

 

Miami had a 20-17 lead at the end of the fourth quarter, and all the Hurricanes had to do was take a knee to end it. The game was over. There were 33 seconds left. Just take a knee.

 

But no, Cristobal and the Hurricanes opted to run the ball instead, and not only did they fumble on an unnecessary play, but they also then gave up the game-winning touchdown.

 

 

This is one fans will never accept.  It's beyond braindead;  there's NO excuse.  And it may well be EXTREMELY expensive...Miami was undefeated and #17.  Lots of season left...this was their conference opener.  This makes the path to a New Year's Day game...and the major payout...much more difficult.  They still have UNC, Florida State, and Louisville...as well as Clemson, which is down but can't be taken too lightly.

 

Cristobal's seat just went white hot, because this one is 1000% on him.

[Pariah]

Colorado was up 29-0 at halftime and looked to be firmly in control of the game. Stanford scored two touchdowns early in the 3rd but failed twice to make the 2-point conversion. It's now 29-12. Then followed a long touchdown pass and extra point to make it a 10-point game. 

 

But it's Stanford, right? This game is over.

 

Not so fast, my friend!

 

Cardinal cap largest comeback in school history to upset Buffs in 2OT thriller

 

The loss drops CU to 4-3; the Buffs need two wins in their final five games to reach bowl eligibility. Those five games are:

 

At #18 UCLA

vs. #15 Oregon State

vs. Arizona

at #19 Washington State

at #16 Utah

 

This loss really hurts. But in any other year, CU is already out of postseason contention by now anyway.

.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Pariah
Stupid ytpos

[Starlord]

[unclevlad]

Oh my....

 

I turned the game off at halftime and went back to read.......

[Pariah]

... proving yet again that like their NFL cousins to the south, there's no lead that Colorado can't blow.

[Pariah]

Colorado blows a 29-point halftime lead to lose to Stanford in double overtime Friday night.

 

Colorado State, trailing by 20 with about six minutes left, scores three touchdowns—including one with zeroes in the clock—to beat Boise State Saturday night.

 

It's true that Boise is not what they once were, but this is the biggest win in Fort Collins in quite a while.

[Cancer]

Quote

Whatever else may happen this year, we'll always have the knowledge that in the last year of the existence of the PAC-12 Conference, the Washington Huskies beat the Oregon Ducks.

 

[unclevlad]

5 hours ago, Pariah said:

It's true that Boise is not what they once were, but this is the biggest win in Fort Collins in quite a while.

 

But there are few bars lower....

 

Looking like the Pac-12 is gonna get a team in the playoffs, but I'm starting to question whether they're collectively playing big fish in small ponds...especially after Notre Dame dismantled USC.

[Cancer]

Oh, that.  Don't worry about that.  Isn't it written in the rules that teams west of Oklahoma need not apply, unless they are based in metropolitan areas with populations of ten million or greater?

[unclevlad]

4 minutes ago, Cancer said:

Oh, that.  Don't worry about that.  Isn't it written in the rules that teams west of Oklahoma need not apply, unless they are based in metropolitan areas with populations of ten million or greater?

 

Nope.  Oregon, 2015.  Mariota's high water mark...the semis.  Kind of went downhill after that for him.

 

2 slots seem pretty much set...Michigan or Ohio State for one, likely Alabama or Georgia for the other...but this is a lot less of a lock than in the last several years.  After that...does the Michigan/OSU loser have enough of a resume to slide in?  Florida State-UNC survivor, if both enter the ACC title game undefeated?  Still a lot of season left.

[unclevlad]

Some of you may be familiar with the unusual stipulation in the contract of Brian Ferentz, Iowa's OC for several years now...and, yes, son of the HC.

 

The stipulation is, Iowa has to average 25 points per game...or he gets released next summer.  Why?  Barely 250 yards per game last year and under 18 points a game.  And through the first 7?  Only 146 points...-29 to the pace.

 

This came back to mind when I was looking over the afternoon scoreboard.  It's 12-10, Minnesota, with Iowa just getting the ball on their own 14, 4 1/2 minutes left.  NOT good for 25 a game....  Even if they score the TD on their current drive to take the lead...17 points will leave them -37 with 4 games left...meaning they need to average 35 over the last 4, or if it counts a bowl game, about 32.  Their last 4 include Rutgers, allowing about 15 points a game, and Nebraska, allowing about 19.

Or....not.  Iowa doesn't score at all.  And how bad was it?  Iowa's net offense...less than 130 yards.

 

Oklahoma was...unconvincing today.  Not like UCF is very good...and it was in Norman.  But UCF has a 23-17 lead in the 4th.  OU came back to take a 31-23 lead...but UCF gets a late touchdown.  They don't make the 2 point conversion, tho.  Still...not impressive.  And Penn State's offense was nonexistent for most of the game against Ohio State.  Could be some shakeups in the top 10.

[unclevlad]

Undeniable proof that there's TOO MUCH college football on TV?

 

CBS SN is currently showing the New Mexico State / La Tech game....

 

In the full rankings on CBS Sports, out of 133...they're #104 and #112.  Athlon Sports has em at 107 and 116.  College Football News has em at 114 and 118.  The Athletic has em at 108 and 118.

 

Well, this is just a filler until game 7 anyway...............and STILL better than watching opening night NBA.

 

 

 

 

[Pariah]

10 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

Well, this is just a filler until game 7 anyway...............and STILL better than watching opening night the NBA at all.

 

Fixed that for ya.

[unclevlad]

Wow.  The Aggies won...4th in a row.  I think they're likely to get a bowl berth again.  OK, it'll be one of those pre-Christmas junk bowls probably, where the broadcast crew outnumbers the fans, but hey, it's a bowl, right?

 

And hey, who knows...maybe they'll make it to one of the sweetest bowl games of the year....the Pop Tarts Bowl!!!

 

I do hope their mascot is a basset hound, but I rather doubt it.........

[Pariah]

Apparently The CW is channel 62 in the Clemson SC area.

 

3-loss Clemson relegated to channel Dabo doesn't know

[unclevlad]

How many different channels have games?  Now I'm curious.

 

Midweek--7 games total.  CBS SN, ESPN2, ESPN.

 

Saturday:  ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, CBS, CBS SN, ACC Net, Big Ten Net, ESPNU, CW, NBC, SEC Net, Big 12 Net, Pac 12 Net, FS2, NFL Network.  I'm not counting ESPN+ only, as that's only streaming.

 

And most have at least 2 games, including NBC and CBS.  The conference nets tend to be, it looks like, 2nd or even 3rd tier...the bigger claim what they want, and leftovers, if any, go to the rest.

 

Only 1 game is NOT being televised...largely, I suspect, because it's in Hawaii, and kickoff time is 10 PM *Mountain time*.  

 

ACC games...

Syracuse-Va Tech is tomorrow.

Fla State-Wake...#4 team.  ABC early slot

UConn-BC...ACC Network, early slot.

Clemson-NC State is CW...kickoff time is the tweener, that's the problem.  Slated for noon my time.

Virginia-Miami gets the afternoon ACC Network slot.  

Duke-Louisville is ESPN afternoon slot, 2 ranked teams

UNC-Ga Tech gets the late ACC Network slot.

 

So...did NC State set that kickoff time in advance?  Or was it forcibly rescheduled?  If the former, Clemson's mostly caught up in the scheduling wash.  If it's the latter...they picked the UConn-BC matchup over Clemson-NCSU.  (Taking the Miami game...Miami still has buzz, Clemson's got none now.  That one feels pretty easy.)

 

My, my.  Colorado's still worth at least One More Show.  Prime gets the Prime Time slot...7:30 Eastern kickoff in the Rose Bowl.  On ABC.  And with the #1 crew...Fowler and Herbstreit on the broadcast.  Despite the fact that the line's UCLA -17.

 

[unclevlad]

Some of you may be aware of James Madison.  Undefeated, leading the Sun Belt...not a great football conference, but a decent one.  They might be in the mix for that Group of Five New Year's 6 slot.

 

But there's one little problem.  

 

They moved up to Div I for the start of the '22 season, so this is their 2nd year.  And the NCAA in its infinite ridiculousness, says that for 2 years...no bowl game allowed.  The Athletic offers that it's a "buffer" to let them move in...but that's nonsense.  If they're good enough, they're good enough.  Of course, no one expects rationality from the NCAA.

 

But, trying to see if I could find their purported reasoning...I found an interesting article in Inside Higher Ed, about potential issues with the consolidation.  Antitrust concerns...yeah, I've heard those before.  But there's another one.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/athletics/2023/09/05/conference-realignment-poses-risks-big-time-college-sports

 

Quote

Inside Higher Ed’s 2012 article explored another possible threat to big-time colleges sports: the potential stripping of the federal tax exemption that college athletics programs enjoy because they use “amateur” athletes and are activities cloaked in their institutions’ underlying educational mission. The exemption allows much of the programs’ revenue to be accumulated tax-free, and treats the players as students receiving scholarships rather than employees getting paid.

 

Obviously, this is HUGE.  For 21-22, each SEC school received a cool $50M from TV and bowl money...not counting money kept by the schools in bowl games, to cover costs of attending the game.  $50,000,000.  Apparently tax free.  Losing that would mean losing a substantial chunk.

[Starlord]

Maybe they shouldn't have named their school after a President that's less famous than his wife....

[Pariah]

In fairness, however, her baked goods are delicious.

[Starlord]

Well, yes...Dolly Madison would beat Alabama in the National Championship every year in a perfect world....

[unclevlad]

I beg your pardon.

 

In a perfect world, Alabama never makes the playoffs.

[unclevlad]

And the Brian Ferentz saga will end.  The school announced the offensive coordinator would remain through the bowl game, but not be re-hired.  Their national rankings in aspects like 3rd down conversion are horrific.  The contract stipulation was 25 points per game, 325 for the year...they're at 156 after 8 games.  The interim AD decided to pull the plug early.  The Athletic notes:

 

--there's a transfer portal window coming up in 6 weeks.  This may be a move to try to keep their existing talent. 

--They NEED to get a jump start on improving the offense...because next year, there's 4 offensive-minded schools coming in.  The Big Ten West is Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Illinois.  None of them have scored 200 points;  Wisconsin has 198.  Next is Purdue at 175.  That puts Wisconsin at #86, Purdue at #103, in points per game.  And everyone else is below that.  And remember, there's only 130 teams playing FBS.  So, with Iowa's defense and special teams, they can get by in the existing Big Ten West;  they can compete for the division, which gets them into the conference title game where they get crushed.  But they get a better than typical bowl anyway.  Yeah, well, that falls apart next season...however the conference manages its ridiculous size.  Of note there, the ACC announced its scheduling model, which has some fixed, rivalry matchups every year, and limits travel both east and west.  At least for football.  Whether the Bloated Ten can do the same, is debatable...because they've got 4 satellite teams, not 2 with another at a useful midpoint in SMU.

[Cancer]

I want to formally propose that the two college conferences hitherto known as "Big Z", where Z has been a one- or two-digit integer that has finally lost all coupling to reality, be formally renamed to Big Math Is Hard $X and Big Math Is Hard $Z. 

 

I do not care which gets which tag.  (Personally, I'd prefer that instead of X and Z they both used F in keeping with the academic strength associated with Division I intercollegiate athletics, but that's mere detail.)

[unclevlad]

Then are we renaming the other two?   How about $EC and A¢¢ ?  

[Cancer]

I'm ok with leaving the SEC as the SEC, because SEC also stands for "Securities and Exchange Commission", which is nothing but money, and that's what that conference has been all about for decades.