College football

[Vrede too]

GO:

12:00 PM

Birmingham (unfair!) Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Duke (7-5) > Troy (11-2, -7.0). NC represent!

Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, AL, ESPN/ESPN+
Northern Illinois (6-6) > Arkansas State (6-6, -2.5)

3:30 PM
Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, ABC/ESPN+
James Madison (11-1, -1.5) > Air Force (8-4). SAM them.

7:30 PM
Las Vegas Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Northwestern (7-5) > Utah (8-4, -6.5)

10:30 PM
Hawaiʻi Bowl ESPN/ESPN+
San José State (7-5, -9.5) > Coastal Carolina (7-5)

[billy.pilgrim]

You may be the only person seeing this “unfair” geography.

Ticket sales aren’t anywhere close to as one sided as the home and away games these players are accustomed to playing.

I’ve never heard anyone in the sec complaining that Auburn and Georgia have an unfair advantage in the sec championship game.

[Vrede too]

You may be the only person seeing this “unfair” geography.

Ticket sales aren’t anywhere close to as one sided as the home and away games these players are accustomed to playing.

Evidence? Anyhow, not as one sided as the typical home field advantage still leaves plenty of room for one sided.

I’ve never heard anyone in the sec complaining that Auburn and Georgia have an unfair advantage in the sec championship game.

The SEC Championship is usually a more consequential game for traveling to than the Birmingham Bowl is for fans of 7-5 Duke in 2023. Lastly, I don't really care, it's a mock gripe. If Duke wanted a better Bowl it should have played better.

No matter, 17-10 Duke. NC > AL, in AL!

[Vrede too]

GO:

12:00 PM

Birmingham (unfair!) Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Duke (7-5) > Troy (11-2, -7.0). NC represent! 17-10

Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, AL, ESPN/ESPN+
Northern Illinois (6-6) > Arkansas State (6-6, -2.5). 21-19, phew!

3:30 PM
Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, ABC/ESPN+
James Madison (11-1, -1.5) > Air Force (8-4). SAM them.

7:30 PM
Las Vegas Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Northwestern (7-5) > Utah (8-4, -6.5)

10:30 PM
Hawaiʻi Bowl ESPN/ESPN+
San José State (7-5, -9.5) > Coastal Carolina (7-5)

[billy.pilgrim]

You may be the only person seeing this “unfair” geography.

Ticket sales aren’t anywhere close to as one sided as the home and away games these players are accustomed to playing.

Evidence? Anyhow, not as one sided as the typical home field advantage still leaves plenty of room for one sided.

I’ve never heard anyone in the sec complaining that Auburn and Georgia have an unfair advantage in the sec championship game.

The SEC Championship is usually a more consequential game for traveling to than the Birmingham Bowl is for fans of 7-5 Duke in 2023. Lastly, I don't really care, it's a mock gripe. If Duke wanted a better Bowl it should have played better.

No matter, 17-10 Duke. NC > AL, in AL!

Total guess, but my guess is that Duke has more alumni in B’ham than Troy.
Have you ever been to Troy?
Vrede says, No
billy says, neither has 99% of the population of Alabama.

There ain’t nothing there.

[billy.pilgrim]

oops
No Duke Alum Assoc in Birmingham
Yes Troy has one

[Vrede too]

You still make a good point.

Total guess, but my guess is that Duke has more alumni in B’ham than Troy.
Have you ever been to Troy?
Vrede says, No
billy says, neither has 99% of the population of Alabama.

There ain’t nothing there.

The schools are close to the same size, but Durham has 16x as many residents as Troy does. There very well may be a lot of "expat" Duke fans in Birmingham.

[billy.pilgrim]

You still make a good point.

Total guess, but my guess is that Duke has more alumni in B’ham than Troy.
Have you ever been to Troy?
Vrede says, No
billy says, neither has 99% of the population of Alabama.

There ain’t nothing there.

The schools are close to the same size, but Durham has 16x as many residents as Troy does. There very well may be a lot of "expat" Duke fans in Birmingham.

UAB being a medical school probably attracts Duke grads

[Vrede too]

GO:

12:00 PM

Birmingham (unfair!) Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Duke (7-5) > Troy (11-2, -7.0). NC represent! 17-10

Camellia Bowl, Montgomery, AL, ESPN/ESPN+
Northern Illinois (6-6) > Arkansas State (6-6, -2.5). 21-19, phew!

3:30 PM
Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, ABC/ESPN+
James Madison (11-1, -1.5) > Air Force (8-4). SAM them. 21-31

7:30 PM
Las Vegas Bowl, ABC/ESPN+
Northwestern (7-5) > Utah (8-4, -6.5). Upset! 14-7

10:30 PM
Hawaiʻi Bowl ESPN/ESPN+
San José State (7-5, -9.5) > Coastal Carolina (7-5). 14-24

With Friday's game 4-2 this week Next games on Tuesday.

[billy.pilgrim]

The cheapest shot of all cheap shots also qualifies as the dumbest from the 2023 football season. Thanks to the refs and the more sensible Michigan players no Darwin Awards were necessary.

https://athlonsports.com/college-footba ... cheap-shot

And Vrede, yeah, geography may have influenced the score in this game.

[GoCubsGo]

The cheapest shot of all cheap shots also qualifies as the dumbest from the 2023 football season. Thanks to the refs and the more sensible Michigan players no Darwin Awards were necessary.

https://athlonsports.com/college-footba ... cheap-shot

And Vrede, yeah, geography may have influenced the score in this game.

New view of another high stakes hugely attended bowl game.

[Vrede too]

This literally was a home game, not just home state. USA is in Mobile.

New view of another high stakes hugely attended bowl game.

https://twitter.com/BussinWTB/status/17 ... 0370302429

A lot of people must have already left.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/g ... /401551755

Mobile, AL

Line: USA -17.5
Over/Under: 42.5

Attendance: 20,926
82%
Capacity: 25,450

They missed the most exciting part of the game.

It's weird, though. A home Bowl in most places would be a sellout, guaranteed. Otoh, the Duke-Troy game we were discussing earlier was even worse:
https://www.espn.com/college-football/g ... /401551739

Birmingham, AL

Line: TROY -6.5
Over/Under: 44.5

Attendance: 20,023
43%
Capacity: 47,100

I'm not sure anyone gets a home state edge when the stands are that empty.

[Vrede too]

A comparison, the 2-12 now 2-13 Panthers vs Packers:

Charlotte, NC

Line: GB -3.5 (Panthers lost by 3)
Over/Under: 39.5 (hah, 63)

Attendance: 70,875
96%
Capacity: 73,778

Whassup, Alabama?

[billy.pilgrim]

We have 2 football schools. Attendance is nearly always 100+%.
The rest might as well be golf.

[Vrede too]

The cheapest shot of all cheap shots also qualifies as the dumbest from the 2023 football season. Thanks to the refs and the more sensible Michigan players no Darwin Awards were necessary.

https://athlonsports.com/college-footba ... cheap-shot

And Vrede, yeah, geography may have influenced the score in this game.

New view of another high stakes hugely attended bowl game.

https://twitter.com/BussinWTB/status/17 ... 0370302429

Could this possibly be even more stupid? Yes. The Eastern Michigan sucker punch was to the the back of the helmet of a South Alabama player.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/s ... th-alabama

I blame poor sucker punch academics and coaching.

[Vrede too]

We have 2 football schools. Attendance is nearly always 100+%.
The rest might as well be golf.

NC golf > AL golf


GO:

2:00 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Detroit
Minnesota (5-7, -3.0) > Bowling Green (7-5)
Minnesota is lucky to get any Bowl.

9:00 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Phoenix
UNLV (9-4) > Kansas (8-4, -12.5 ut-oh)

[billy.pilgrim]

Screw him. May his lack of loyalty bite him in the ass someday.

Maryland head coach Mike Locksley announced Tagovailoa would opt out of the game during a press conference Tuesday. Tagovailoa is expected to enter the 2024 NFL Draft.

Maryland had a top 20 passing offense in the country under Tagovailoa and the best in the Big Ten by passing yards per game.

Without him, Locksley will get his first look at life for Maryland after Tagovailoa as he uses both redshirt sophomore Bill Edwards and redshirt freshman Cam Edge in the game against Auburn.

Edwards has 32 career pass attempts across two seasons and Edge, who did not play at all in 2022, has two career pass attempts this season

Maryland +7 now. Oh well, at least we have an excuse and you've got no QB film to rely on.

The Day approaches


The last time we played - wow, what a game - close all the way

Auburn’s
Tommy Agee - Big Train - 219 yards
Lionel James - Little Train - 115 yards
Bo Jackson - Bo - 105 yards

vs

Maryland’s
Boomer Esiason (best game ever) 23 of 37 passes for 355 yards for 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.

All that offense on both sides and, as was often the case with a Pat Dye defense, it was a defensive score that won the game. WDE

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 468b4b3f9/

This year appears to also be fairly evenly matched; although due to Opt Outs and Portal moves it’s difficult to say.

Maryland losing their starting quarterback (the all-time leading passer in Big Ten history) may not be a problem as Auburn is losing both cornerbacks as well other key defensive players.

“Total offense ranking:
AU - 88th, 355.5 yards per game
UM - 55th, 393.8 yards per game

Passing offense ranking:
AU - 122nd, 157.1 yards per game
UM - 20th, 284.8 yards per game”

The Big Question:
How would UM’s 2nd string “unknown” quarterback rank on his own against a depleted AU secondary?
Will he be better than AU’s 1st string guy who ranks 122nd in the country?

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2023/ ... utType=amp

[Vrede too]

The Day approaches


https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2023/ ... -bowl.html

Thanks, lotta specifics for us to watch out for on Saturday. Still Maryland +7. All of the complications you mention must make it difficult for Vegas.

GoTerpsGo!

TransPerfect Music City Bowl - Nashville has the most woke Bowl this year. Who woulda guessed? GoTransGo

[Vrede too]

GO:

2:00 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Detroit
Minnesota (5-7, -3.0) > Bowling Green (7-5)
Minnesota is lucky to get any Bowl. 30-24, nice.
It is the second Bowling Green Massacre
Darius Taylor
35 CAR 208 YDS 5.9 AVG, 1 TD LONG 17
2 REC 11 YDS (led team) 5.5 AVG, LONG 8

9:00 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Phoenix
UNLV (9-4) > Kansas (8-4, -12.5 ut-oh)
Nope, 49-36.

1-1

[Vrede too]

GO:

5:30 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Charlotte (unfair, nttawwt )
North Carolina (8-4) > West Virginia (8-4, -6.0) GoTar HeelsGo!
You know it's an also-ran Bowl when your game starts on a weekday during the commute for both teams' fans
UNC special teams are flailing - one punt return fumbled away did not result in points. Soon after UNC allowed a punt return for a 78 yd TD. QB Conner Harrell is doing great in the absence of NFL-bound Drake Maye, 1 INT but also a pass TD and good pass and run stats Sheesh, after the UNC TD the D allowed WV to drive the field in 22 seconds and allow a 29 yd FG. 10-17 at the half. Fingers crossed . . .

Could be worse timing, though:
2:00 PM ESPN/ESPN+
Annapolis
Virginia Tech (6-6, -10.5) vs Tulane (11-2)