College football

[Vrede too]

[billy.pilgrim]

Did the NCAA slap a “show clause” on Dabo when he was fired at Alabama?

It does seem a little strange that a college football coach would mysteriously leave sports for a two-year stint as a real estate agent. We do know that he was fired, we know that Alabama was put on probation for paying players, we know that “show clauses” are generally for two years, and we know of no other college coaches who have left coaching voluntarily to go spend two years as a real estate agent.

It also seems strange, or maybe just plain old hypocritical, that the man who has spoken out so strongly against college players being paid in the open may have been involved in paying college players under the table.

So he finds himself at Clemson and Clemson finds itself with a performance-enhancing drug problem in its football team.

[Vrede too]

Only zero or half point wiggles in Vegas, so I didn't bother to post them.

Go:

(13)Oregon +6.5 (5)Utah. Fri 12/06 08:00 PM. Santa Clara, California.
(6)Oklahoma -8.5 (8)Baylor. Arlington, TX.
@(20)Appalachian St -6.5 La Lafayette.
(21)Cincinnati +9.5 @(16)Memphis.
(1)LSU -7.5 (4)Georgia. Atlanta, GA.
@(19)Boise St -13.5 Hawaii.
(22)Virginia +28 (3)Clemson. Charlotte, NC.
(10)Wisconsin +16 (2)Ohio St. Indianapolis, IN.

Confidence in Clemson is diminishing .

If clemson knocks Virginia out of the top 25, their season won't include wins over any top 25 team. As it stands, they don't have wins against any top 20 teams.

Could be that their 2, or is it 4, year dynasty is fake news.

Since the Pussies have not beaten Virginia yet, as it stands now they don't have wins against any PSC top 25 teams or any AP top 34 teams.
http://scores.nbcsports.com/cfb/teamsta ... t=schedule
http://scores.nbcsports.com/cfb/polls.asp

Ducks! Stops on 3rd and 1 then 4th and 1, drive the field, 1st TD! Then a forced punt, nice.

10 of 19 picked Utah, as close to 50-50 as we get.

Edit: 17-0, Utah's largest deficit of the year, and another 4th down stop!

Only 6 picked La Lafayette, smart pool.
14 picked Baylor. What do they know that Vegas and I don't?
Only 7 picked the favorite, Memphis. Interesting.
9 picked Georgia, as close to 50-50 as we get.
7 picked underdog Hawaii.
11 picked Clemson, pretty close to 50-50.
14 picked Ohio St. What do they know that Vegas and I don't?

[Vrede too]

Stoners > Mormons!

CJ Verdell: 208 yards rushing, 11.6 Avg, 3 TD
Justin Herbert: 193 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 128.9 QBRat
Camden Lewis: 3/3 FGs
Blake Maimone: 6 punts, Avg 50.2 yards
Defense: 2 INTs doubling the Utah QB's season total

Rout.

Rose Bowl, baby.

[Vrede too]

Edit

Go:

(6)Oklahoma -8.5 (8)Baylor. Arlington, TX.
First blood, 7-0!
10-0.

@(20)Appalachian St -6.5 La Lafayette.
14-0 in 5.5 minutes!
21-0 in 13 minutes!

[Vrede too]

Go:

(6)Oklahoma -8.5 (8)Baylor. Arlington, TX.
Oklahoma 30-23. Excellent that Baptist Baylor is knocked out of the Playoffs. Too bad about the spread, the 14 were correct by 1.5 points.

@(20)Appalachian St -6.5 La Lafayette.
45-38, beat the spread by 0.5 . To go the Cotton Bowl they needed:
Cincinnati > Memphis.
Hawaii > Boise St
A convincing win, and that still might not have been enough vs Cincinnati. Now, there's no hope. Go Broncos!

I'm 2-1, tied for 7th at 1 point out of the lead. With 5 games left the best I can do is a 2-way tie for 1st .

[Vrede too]

1 LSU (12-0)
2 Ohio State (12-0)
They're playing quality opponents. I think they're in the Playoffs even if they lose. Not sure which of the two I hope will win it all.

Ugh, LSU has a real tiger in a tiny cage on the sidelines. Fuck them.

Slot #4 goes to Georgia, Utah, Oklahoma or Baylor, sigh. Unless the PSC gets radical, I'll bet as above and will hope that Oklahoma gets it.

As hoped for .

17 Memphis (11-1)
18 Minnesota (10-2)
19 Boise State (11-1)
20 Cincinnati (10-2)
21 Appalachian State (11-1
Sigh, Memphis and Cincinnati both being ranked higher tells me that Appalachian State has no chance to get that Group of Five Cotton Bowl slot. So, I'm switching to rooting for:
@(19)Boise St -13.5 Hawaii.
I like it more than either Memphis or Cincinnati and will hope that a loss by favorite Memphis will put Boise St in the Cotton Bowl. There will be debate, regardless, and perhaps bitter debate if Cincinnati and Boise St both win.

I'm pretty sure that the narrow win by Memphis puts it in the Cotton Bowl despite Boise St routing Hawaii. I imagine that both teams can make a case. I'm not going to parse their schedules in order to opine.

Pretty cool that Appalachian State is 12-1 and the Sun Belt Champ. They should get a decent Bowl.

Go:

(21)Cincinnati +9.5 @(16)Memphis.
Nope, but I beat the spread by 4.5 .

(1)LSU -7.5 (4)Georgia. Atlanta, GA.
Rout. Good for my gambling even if I now don't like LSU.

@(19)Boise St -13.5 Hawaii.
Rout . Good thing I switched to it.

I'm 5-1 (6-0 straight up), in a 4-way tie for first. Go UVA & WI, put me in a 2-way tie for first, $47.50.

[O Really]

Lane Kiffin is going to Mississippi. How does this guy keep getting jobs? Sure an overall winning record, but spreading scandal and drama everywhere he's been.

[billy.pilgrim]

Lane Kiffin is going to Mississippi. How does this guy keep getting jobs? Sure an overall winning record, but spreading scandal and drama everywhere he's been.

Ole Miss
Hotty Totty Colonel Black Brown Rebel Bear

[Vrede too]

If clemson knocks Virginia out of the top 25, their season won't include wins over any top 25 team....

To be fair, it will have a win over #22 Virginia for 15 hours or so.

5-2, tie for 2nd at 1 point out of the lead. If WI holds on to beat the 16 point spread, which is looking shaky, I'll be in a 4-way tie for 1st, $23.75.

Edit: Yep, WI beat the spread by 3, whoopie . They sure choked in the 2nd half . $90 in, $45 back, net loss of $45. Could have been worse.

Odd: The #2 seed will get to play a team that has not beaten any ranked teams, while the #1 seed plays OK. Go OH St, sigh.

CFB Selection Committee, current rankings

We'll see what the AP and PSC do, but I would rank them:

1. LSU (13-0) LSU 37 - @UGA 10
2. Ohio State (13-0) OSU 34 - WIS 21
LSU had the bigger win against a supposedly better opponent.

3. Clemson (13-0) CLEM 62 - @UVA 17
4. Oklahoma (12-1) OU 30 - @BAY 23
I'd say the Playoff teams are certain, even if the top 2 order might be different.

5. Oregon (11-2) ORE 37 - @UTAH 15
I'm not predicting the polls will be this generous. I just think they should be after it trounced #5 Utah.

6. Baylor (11-2) BAY 23 - OU 30
It took Oklahoma to OT. Maybe it will be ranked higher than Oregon.

Then it gets trickier. How to rank:
Trounced Utah and Georgia
3-loss Wisconsin that could have beaten Ohio State
The Power 5 (and Ind) teams that didn't play

I think I'll punt and just show them in their current order after the above changes:

7. Georgia (11-2) UGA 10 - LSU 37
8. Utah (11-2) UTAH 15 - ORE 37
9. Wisconsin (10-3) WIS 21 - @OSU 34
Any or all of these three might get put below 2-loss Florida and Penn State.

10. Florida (10-2) FLA 40 - @FSU 17
11. Penn State (10-2) PSU 27 - @RUTG 6
12. Auburn (9-3) AUB 48 - @ALA 45
Wisconsin may take over the 'best 3-loss' crown, or in the worst case it drops below Alabama.

13. Alabama (10-2) ALA 45 - AUB 48
14. Michigan (9-3) MICH 27 - @OH St 56
15. Notre Dame (10-2) ND 45 - STAN 24
16. Iowa 9-3 IOWA 27 - NEB 24
(Was 18.) Minnesota (10-2) MINN 17 - @WIS 38
I think that the three Group of 5 winners will leapfrog some of the above. I'm just not sure how far. Given that, their likely order relative to each other:

17. Memphis (12-1) MEM 29 - @CIN 24
19. Boise State (12-1) BSU 31 - @HAW 10
There's a case for giving Boise State the Cotton Bowl, but I don't think they will.

20. Appalachian State (12-1) APP 45 - @ULL 38
21. Cincinnati (10-3) CIN 24 - MEM 29

(Was 23.) Virginia (9-4) UVA 17 - CLEM 62
Now unranked .
Maybe AP #25 Air Force, #26 SMU or #28 Kansas State gets moved up to #25 by the PSC.

[billy.pilgrim]

Jalen Hurts is in the playoffs
Bammer is not

[Vrede too]

Jalen Hurts is in the playoffs
Bammer is not

The College Football Playoff is set: No. 1 LSU, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Clemson and No. 4 Oklahoma

Just as I and many others suggested for #1 & #2. Funny that Ohio State gets the easier opponent. Not disagreeing, but PAC 12 shut out for 3rd straight year .

CFP chair confirms debate for No. 4 was between Oklahoma and Georgia

#5 is too high after the loss to unranked SC and getting stomped yesterday. The complete PSC ranking is not out yet.

AP Rankings

1 LSU (13-0)
2 Ohio State (13-0)
3 Clemson (13-0)
4 Oklahoma (12-1)
Agreed.

5 Georgia (11-2) Too high.
6 Florida (10-2) Interesting.
7 Oregon (11-2) #5 would have been nice, but coulda been worse. The Coaches put it at #6 ahead of Florida.
8 Baylor (11-2)
9 Alabama (10-2)
9 Auburn (9-3)
Interesting, but we all know who won head-to-head .

11 Wisconsin (10-3)
12 Utah (11-2)
13 Penn State (10-2)
14 Notre Dame (10-2)
Exact placement could be debated, but no huge surprises.

15 Memphis (12-1)
16 Minnesota (10-2)
17 Michigan (9-3)
18 Boise State (12-1)
19 Iowa (9-3)
20 Appalachian State (12-1)
21 Navy (9-2)
22 USC (8-4)
23 Cincinnati (10-3)
As predicted for the Group of 5 relative to each other.

24 Air Force (10-2) 97 25
25 Oklahoma State (8-4)
Virginia and Texas A&M are both unranked .

[Vrede too]

Here it is:

Playoff Selection Committee Poll

1 LSU (13-0)
2 Ohio State (13-0)
3 Clemson (13-0)
4 Oklahoma (12-1)
Agreed.

5 Georgia (11-2) Too high.
6 Oregon (11-2) Cool.
7 Baylor (11-2)
8 Wisconsin (10-3)
Interesting, some 2-loss teams will gripe. Rose Bowl vs Oregon? I'd rather it was the hated Penn State.

9 Florida (10-2)
10 Penn State (10-2)
11 Utah (11-2)5
12 Auburn (9-3)
13 Alabama (10-2)
Auburn higher, as it should be.

14 Michigan (9-3)
15 Notre Dame (10-2)
16 Iowa (9-3)
17 Memphis (12-1)
18 Minnesota (10-2)
19 Boise State (12-1)
20 Appalachian State (12-1)
21 Cincinnati (10-3)
As predicted for the Group of 5 relative to each other.

22 USC (8-4) 22
23 Navy (9-2) 24
24 Virginia (9-4) 23
Oooh, the Pussies beat #24 .

25 Oklahoma State (8-4) 25

[billy.pilgrim]

Here it is:

Playoff Selection Committee Poll

1 LSU (13-0)
2 Ohio State (13-0)
3 Clemson (13-0)
4 Oklahoma (12-1)
Agreed.

5 Georgia (11-2) Too high.
6 Oregon (11-2) Cool.
7 Baylor (11-2)
8 Wisconsin (10-3)
Interesting, some 2-loss teams will gripe. Rose Bowl vs Oregon? I'd rather it was the hated Penn State.

9 Florida (10-2)
10 Penn State (10-2)
11 Utah (11-2)5
12 Auburn (9-3)
13 Alabama (10-2)
Auburn higher, as it should be.

14 Michigan (9-3)
15 Notre Dame (10-2)
16 Iowa (9-3)
17 Memphis (12-1)
18 Minnesota (10-2)
19 Boise State (12-1)
20 Appalachian State (12-1)
21 Cincinnati (10-3)
As predicted for the Group of 5 relative to each other.

22 USC (8-4) 22
23 Navy (9-2) 24
24 Virginia (9-4) 23
Oooh, the Pussies beat #24 .

25 Oklahoma State (8-4) 25

Not only did we beat bammer, but so did every ranked team on their schedule (2).

Didn't Auburn also beat #6

The old "On any given day" slogan applies to college football in spades. Kids get up for games and they get complacent. It took several lucky breaks for lsu to beat us and then only in the last minute and Clemson came within one play of losing to unranked UNC.

It will always be much more of a wild guess without 64 teams playing double elimination. That takes care of teams that have easy schedules. But the games are too demanding for more than 12 or 15.
We play several teams that are frequently ranked, but as of right now, we only play 4 games against 2 ranked teams.

[Vrede too]

Not only did we beat bammer, but so did every ranked team on their schedule (2).

"every" = LSU.

Didn't Auburn also beat #6

Did they? It was so long ago that I can't remember .

The old "On any given day" slogan applies to college football in spades. Kids get up for games and they get complacent. It took several lucky breaks for lsu to beat us and then only in the last minute and Clemson came within one play of losing to unranked UNC.

https://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.c ... -unveiled/

College Football Playoff Semifinals — December 28, 2018

Peach Bowl: No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Oklahoma
4 p.m. ET, ESPN
LSU will win, but I'll take Oklahoma + the points. I hate that tiger on the sideline.
Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson
8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Buckeys > Pussies, of course.

New Year’s Six

Cotton Bowl: No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 17 Memphis
December 28, 2019, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN
Go Memphis!
Orange Bowl: No. 9 Florida vs. No. 24 Virginia
December 30, 2019, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Florida will win, but I may split my bets vs the spread.
Rose Bowl Game: No. 6 Oregon vs. No. 8 Wisconsin
January 1, 2020, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN
Sigh. Go Ducks, but I also like the Badgers. Shame that opponents couldn't be traded with:
Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 7 Baylor
January 1, 2020, 8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN
Hmmm, who do I detest more, Georgians or Baptists?

The College Football Playoff National Championship Game is scheduled for Monday, January 13, 2020. Kickoff in that one is slated for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.
Ohio State > Oklahoma.

[billy.pilgrim]

I would have a hard time picking. I've watched about 5 minutes each of Clemson and Oklahoma games and none of Ohio state. I like Ed, so I'll go with LSU for the whole pie.

[Vrede too]

With my shared 6-2 Week 15 victory I finished 12th out of 19, below average but perhaps within the margin of error.

I would have a hard time picking. I've watched about 5 minutes each of Clemson and Oklahoma games and none of Ohio state. I like Ed, so I'll go with LSU for the whole pie.

The above are mostly my wishes, not my predictions, though with a spread they usually become the same thing.

I predict LSU > OH St in the Championship Game, which there won't be a pool spread for. Not very radical of me to predict in line with their seeds. Depending on how many pick sets I submit, I might also pick OH St > LSU and OK > OH St. We'll see.

Current Vegas spreads

Auburn -7.5 vs Minnesota. Go G. Gophers!
Wisconsin -2.5 vs Oregon. Good chance I'll pick both.
California -6.5 vs llinois. Go Cal.
Clemson -2 vs Ohio State
LSU -12.5 vs Oklahoma. Maybe I won't pick OK > OH St.
Washington -3.5 vs Boise State. Good chance I'll pick both, but I think Boise State is better this year.
Appalachian State -16.5 vs UAB. Go Mountaineers!

Odds to win 2019-20 College Football Championship Game (1/6/20)

LSU Tigers 7/5
Clemson Tigers 2/1
Ohio State Buckeyes 3/1
Oklahoma Sooners 16/1

[1 CAT FAN]

It's sad that a Auburn fan has to reach nearly a decade ago, disrespecting his current coach.
Gus Malzahn has never defeated Clemson. They say you're remembered by your last game, or is that you're only as good as your last game. Trivia

Do you ever tire of being wrong. I'm no Gus fan, but he ran the show in 2010 when Auburn beat Clemson.

As Gene Chizik's puppet, never as a head coach. Chizik has a couple losses to Clemson as well as Gus Malzahn. Tough losses for Auburn vs a Dabo coached Clemson program. Sad that you keep bringing them up. When most folks hear the word Auburn this decade, the loss to Mickey Mouse really stands out.

Chizik sucked. Gus ran the offense that beat Clemson in 2010.

They say you're remembered by your last game, or is that you're only as good as your last game.

Most likely those losses to Clemson contributed to Chizik no longer being at Auburn. You're welcome.
Malzahn sucks as a head coach too, Mickey Mouse can vouch for that.

Plus, he kept the games close with FL, LSU and GA, and led them to scoring 48 vs Bama, more than any other team scored against it this year.

A SEC bird that Clemson roasted 38-3, muzzled the GA Dawgs at their house. But hey, Aubie kept it close with those Dawgs.
Alabama's demise began when Clemson embarrassed them for the National Championship.

Otherwise, I really really suck.

A pathetic Maryland Terp fan chimed in.

MD sucks, duh.

Yes, that's evident.

GO Cavaliers!
23 Virginia (9-3)
Tiger killer!

Otherwise, I really really suck.

I told you to stick to tennis a long time ago.

Stephen A. Smith and SEC homer Marcus Spears had a conversation.

Stephen A."They call them Clemson, I call them The Reigning Defending National Champions!"

[Vrede too]

... It will always be much more of a wild guess without 64 teams playing double elimination. That takes care of teams that have easy schedules. But the games are too demanding for more than 12 or 15.

64 would be very extreme. The FCS gets by with 24. I heard an announcer saying that an 8-team Playoff is coming, but that may have been wishful thinking. I'm unaware of any official movement in that direction. This year, that would have meant adding, according to the PSC:
5 Georgia (11-2)
6 Oregon (11-2)
7 Baylor (11-2)
8 Wisconsin (10-3)

I think that Georgia and Wisconsin have shown that at this point in the season they would not go the distance, but Oregon and Baylor might have had a shot.

We play several teams that are frequently ranked, but as of right now, we only play 4 games against 2 ranked teams.

I'm not sure what that means. Auburn played 5 ranked teams, beating 2: OR, AL, losing to 3: FL, LSU, GA. 18 Minnesota on 1/1 will be number 6, almost half of your 13 games.

[billy.pilgrim]

... It will always be much more of a wild guess without 64 teams playing double elimination. That takes care of teams that have easy schedules. But the games are too demanding for more than 12 or 15.

64 would be very extreme. The FCS gets by with 24. I heard an announcer saying that an 8-team Playoff is coming, but that may have been wishful thinking. I'm unaware of any official movement in that direction. This year, that would have meant adding, according to the PSC:
5 Georgia (11-2)
6 Oregon (11-2)
7 Baylor (11-2)
8 Wisconsin (10-3)

I think that Georgia and Wisconsin have shown that at this point in the season they would not go the distance, but Oregon and Baylor might have had a shot.

We play several teams that are frequently ranked, but as of right now, we only play 4 games against 2 ranked teams.

I'm not sure what that means. Auburn played 5 ranked teams, beating 2: OR, AL, losing to 3: FL, LSU, GA. 18 Minnesota on 1/1 will be number 6, almost half of your 13 games.

I am confused about the 4 game 2 ranked comment. Maybe I dosed too heavily - right cat?

My point. Anything really worthwhile is too demanding on students. Not that it will ever happen, I would like to go back to the old days on this one. Championships would be conference oriented and there would be several popularity contests at the end.