College Football 2015 Discussion Thread

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I'm gonna need one of these. It's clear we have enough fans for one if club football gets one.

Anyway, to start us off, who knew Auburn produced such educated students! Here I was thinking Bama was near the top of SEC public schools!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow, last night was sickening for me. I'll just hope James Madison loses their FBS game too so no one goes undefeated, but that was really a terrible performance unlike last year. Nova's skill players better improve as the year goes on.

Could be worse. We could have been UCF. And even though they won Utah State looked pretty terrible for a team supposed to be Boise States equal this year.

Also - great surprise from SC. I love how the media attacked Connor Mitch for like a year and even though it wasn't pretty, he beat a good team. SEC flashing it's dominance...well, except for Vandy, but they ought to be voted out anyway. Force them into the Magnolia League.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow, last night was sickening for me. I'll just hope James Madison loses their FBS game too so no one goes undefeated, but that was really a terrible performance unlike last year. Nova's skill players better improve as the year goes on.

Could be worse. We could have been UCF. And even though they won Utah State looked pretty terrible for a team supposed to be Boise States equal this year.

Also - great surprise from SC. I love how the media attacked Connor Mitch for like a year and even though it wasn't pretty, he beat a good team. SEC flashing it's dominance...well, except for Vandy, but they ought to be voted out anyway. Force them into the Magnolia League.

SEC isn't going to vote out a school that brings up their academic rankings and is strong in other sports (like baseball).

Lol, obviously not, but I can dream - baseball has other dominant teams and the rest of the SEC doesnt care much about acdemics.The Southern Ivies must happen one day!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Dak is god.
Shame the o-line is absolute trash. You misled us, Harry!

The dream is on life support... but only with some o-line adjustments and experience. Killer

Addendum: It's Temple time, baby!! When did little brother start looking so fresh? Run the table, boys!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The graphic in the OP has a major error. USC is in the SEC, not the Pac-12.

SoCal, Ernest. South Carolina is rarely abbreviated that way and is certainly not top 25 this year

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

We have had not one, but TWO miracles in Philadelphia this afternoon!!

In the noon game, Villanova trailed archrival Delaware 21-14 when Walter Payton winning QB John Robertson got knocked out of the game. The talented Redshirt Freshman replaced him to toss a touchdown on his 2nd play. Despite a missed PAT, he led them down the field on the next drive and had a YUUUUGE TD dash! 28-21 Escape

And in the afternoon start, Temple just could not hold on to their lead (or the football), but behind PJ Walker and his 400 yards narrowly escaped UMass with a late field goal!

Phew; a near disastrous day for Philly scholarship football...exhale. Up next - Penn and @Charlotte. Winnable games that won't be overlooked like last week.

Temple 3-0
'Nova 2-1

The Catholic Power Rankings
1. Notre Dame 3-0
2. Boston College 2-1
3. Villanova 2-1 (Win @ Fordham H2H)
4. Fordham 2-1
5. Sacred Heart 2-1
6. Holy Cross 1-1
7. Dayton 2-0 (Win vs. Duquesne H2H)
8. Duquesne 2-1
9. San Diego 1-1
10. Saint Francis (PA) 1-2
11. Georgetown 1-2
12. Incarnate Word 2-1

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

So...the SEC West, huh? I mean Arkansas and Auburn are atrocious, but those other 5 are scary. Looks like everyone's gonna end up with a loss. What's the pecking order now? Something like...

1. LSU
2. Ole Miss
3. Miss St
4. Bama
5. TAMU


I thought Ole Miss was probably #5 coming in, but now, I don't know because that was a legit win in spite of the two crazy TDs. Hard to put TAMU 5th with their QBs and D-line, but it ain't right to put Saban that low either in spite of relative lack of talented stars by his standards. Am I too biased with 3? Or even 1/4?

That is not a fun gantlet. Hopefully the Bulldogs can resolve their issues and move up.

With the Big Ten and Big XII having multiple title contenders with potentially 0 or 1 loss, someone better survive this lest they yield to lesser conferences like the ACC.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

WOW. USC sucks more than I anticipated. It's honestly difficult to find more than one or two more wins in the rest of our schedule.

A 5-7 season would wipe the athletic department floor to ceiling, and that's what we need.

That was a flat out embarrassment. U-Dubs is pretty terrible this year. Sorry to see that, and I hope you didn't have to witness it. Would be their first real losing season since 2000   Incredibly, Sagarin listed USC as #2 in the nation

I can't imagine Sarkisian would be out after two years already because that seemed like a great hire. Typically, you'd say let him get his recruits in, but with the amount of talent there, you shouldn't be able to rationalize like that. Haden might not have a ton of time though.


In other news, Georgetown football received the largest donation ($50 million) in school history!! The smallest stadium in Division 1 (2500, less than half the next full scholly team) may be no longer! Look out, Patriot League! Gonna be real finally

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow, absolutely terrible day is your initials are SS and you coach at a USC...

RIP Steve Spurrier's coaching career as well

One of the best. Guess that leaves Saban, Miles, Mullen, Craig Bohl and Italian-icon Mark Dantonio to cheer for. Maybe Pat Fitgerald and Kirk Ferentz too.

This is the worst coincidence since two guys named Jim from Virginia thought they could be the next President.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow, absolutely terrible day is your initials are SS and you coach at a USC...

RIP Steve Spurrier's coaching career as well

One of the best. Guess that leaves Saban, Miles, Mullen, Craig Bohl and Italian-icon Mark Dantonio to cheer for. Maybe Pat Fitgerald and Kirk Ferentz too.

This is the worst coincidence since two guys named Jim from Virginia thought they could be the next President.

If you're cheering for Nick Saban and you don't live in western Alabama something is objectively wrong with you.

Well, I've always been a Michigan State basketball fan on account of Izzo so that sort of extended to Nick, but it really started as I liked LSU as my SEC team in the early 00s.

In 2008, I remained such a big Saban fan that I bet my uncle the bridge toll that they would pull the upset over Clemson to open the season. Saban single-handedly turned me into an Alabama fan in those memorable Alabama-LSU match-ups just a couple years after Big Baby made LSU one of my favorites across all sports. Saban has such a power. None of Alabama's other sports get me excited at all. I hate their basketball. Baseball is mediocre. Not true of the other SEC West schools.

His 24/7 angry demeanor is a thing of beauty. As you can tell from my Trump and Christie fan-dom,  I am a yuuuugggge fan of angry people, especially those that bring nothing but great memories like that trio.


Before I get called out for switching teams too much, keep in mind, in football, Temple has a long history of losing and Villanova has a long history of not caring, so I am forced to pick 3-4 teams per conference aside from those two losers to cheer for if I want to have any fun. That is typically based on personalities of players and coaches. For example, Jameis ruined FSU for me. I'm not exactly a total frontrunner.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I'm reading that with Ole Miss and TAMU laying eggs for the SEC, the marquee matchup College Gameday may be heading to next week may be in Harrisonburg, Virginia for the highly anticipated match-up between 7-0 Best in FCS James Madison and in-state rival 5-1 Richmond. Should be exciting, but I expect Vad Lee will take over in front of the home crowd.


Temple continues to escape! Wonder how much longer it will go. On to ECU next week, hoping to go into the Notre Dame game undefeated. In spite of Houston and Memphis, Temple seems like the best bet to land in a New Year's Bowl because they should easily get to the AAC Conference Championship. Though Toledo remains ahead of all three momentarily, I'm not sure the MAC schedule is strong enough compared to the American. Even Navy would be more of a threat to get there. I'd take a 1-loss AAC team over Toledo for sure though a 2-loss team would be a close call.

The WKU/Marshall winner will still have a bad loss. Utah State has to get by BYU (plus the MW is way down). And the Sun Belt isn't there yet. Feeling optimistic about the Owls! Peach Bowl perhaps?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Wow! I picked three upsets tonight, but it appears only Temple will come through (thank goodness!)

Not a good game at all - nearly 10 dropped passes that should have been caught (many on deep plays), far too many penalties, and an o-line that just could not get going. On the bright side, the running game is going to have some freakish athletes for this level. Sick cuts all day.

7-0! On to Notre Dame! #DeportTheIrish #TempleTough
Not feeling great about the Owls' chances, but they should be at least competitive. They need to step up their game after these last two disastrous weeks.

Too bad tickets start at $100. Guess I'll just be going to Villanova-Maine with Penn out of town?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

We got College Gameday, baby! Now to think up a clever sign since tix keep going up, and I likely won't get inside.

Edit: If you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them so I don't have to resort to the usual Rudy/Manti Te'o tactics. I'm sure there will be 10 "My girlfriend is dressed as Lennay Kekua signs" seeing as it is Halloween.

Edit 2: Oh whatever - I just bought a ticket. You only live once, and I am gonna make this much money and more when Jeb Bush isn't the nominee. I'm going to a show nearby so I might just camp out all night and pray I can charge my phone somewhere.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Why did USC finally decide to show up the week before a Cal game. Oh well bye bye Pac-12 playoff (even if somehow the SEC STILL gets a berth)

With Seth Russell out for the year? Baylor over TCU. TCU over Oklahoma. Oklahoma over Baylor. Very possible now. Ok State could further complicate things potentially. No champion=No bid. Stanford would be my bet, but I reckon Utah could get in too if they somehow improve. Both are near 50% odds to win until the championship though. Even with Notre Dame in the Cardinal path.

That's what I'm rooting for anyway.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

COMMITTEE PLAYOFF RANKINGS RELEASED!!!

1. Clemson (8-0)
2. LSU (8-0)
3. Ohio State (8-0)
4. Alabama (7-1)
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5. Notre Dame (7-1)
6. Baylor (8-0)
7. Michigan State (8-0)
8. TCU (8-0)
9. Iowa (8-0)
10. Florida (7-1)

11. Stanford (7-1)
12. Utah (7-1)
13. Memphis (8-0)
14. Oklahoma State (8-0)
15. Oklahoma (7-1)

16. Florida State (7-1)
17. Michigan (6-2)
18. Ole Miss (7-2)
19. TAMU (6-2)
20. Mississippi State (6-2)

21. Northwestern (6-2)
22. Temple (7-1)
23. UCLA (6-2)
24. Toledo (7-0)
25. Houston (8-0)

Unranked: USC, UNC, Wisconsin, Navy, BYU, Duke, Penn State
Marshall, Pittsburgh, Cal, Oregon, Boise State, Western Kentucky, Appalachian State, Tennessee


First thoughts - much more accurate than the polls. Very happy this is a thing now. Northwestern is a bit of a headscratcher, especially if they have Stanford so low

If all goes successfully, the Big XII may still play themselves out of this and allow either the Stanford/Notre Dame or Stanford/Utah winner to steal that spot that could potentially open after Bama/LSU. Assuming Ohio State beats Michigan (which I'd bet against honestly), the OSU/MSU-Iowa winner likely has a spot too.

Clemson, MSU, LSU, Stanford would be my bet right now. (And I do have Bama over LSU, Mississippi State over Bama)




edit: 30 for 30 tonight was insanely good. Certainly among the top 3 I have ever seen. "The Gospel According to Mac" about the Colorado 1990 championship - truly something. That series is always well done, but the only one I can think of that was much better was "Survive and Advance" and that's just because Jim Valvano was really special. Highly recommend.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Sooo, unofficial new rankings? (I'll fix where I'm wrong)

1. Clemson (9-0) vs. Syracuse
2. Alabama (8-1) @Mississippi St
3. Ohio State (9-0) vs. Illinois
4. Notre Dame (8-1) vs. Wake Forest
------
5. Iowa (9-0) vs. Minnesota 
6. Baylor (8-0) vs. Oklahoma
7. Stanford (8-1) vs. Oregon
8. Oklahoma State (9-0) vs. Iowa State
9. LSU (8-1) vs. Arkansas
10. Utah (8-1) @Arizona

11. Florida (8-1) @SCAR
12. Oklahoma (8-1) @Baylor
13. Michigan State (8-1) vs. Maryland
14. Michigan (7-2) vs. Indiana
15. TCU (9-1) vs. Kansas
 
16. Florida State (7-2) vs. NC State
17. Mississippi State (7-2) vs. Alabama
18. Northwestern (7-2) vs. Purdue
19. UCLA (7-2)  vs. Washington State
20. Navy (8-1)  vs. SMU

21. Memphis (8-1) @Houston
22. Temple (8-1) @USF
23. UNC (8-1) vs. Miami
24. Houston (9-0) vs. Memphis
25. Wisconsin (8-2) BYE

Unranked: USC, BYU, Toledo, Ole Miss, Texas A&M

Washington St, Boise St, Western Kentucky
Duke, Pitt, Miami, Penn State, Oregon, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas

FCS Bubble Update
Bubble In: Southern Utah; Chattanooga; Richmond; James Madison; Central Arkansas; Western Carolina; Towson; Northern Iowa (must win out); Northern Arizona; New Hampshire (must win out); Tennessee-Martin (must win out)

Bubble Out: Eastern Illinois; Eastern Kentucky; Eastern Washington (must win 1 of 2); Sam Houston State; North Dakota; Villanova; Montana; Youngstown State

Likely Out, Still Alive: South Dakota; Lehigh; Liberty; Bethune-Cookman; Colgate (projected loss to Lehigh); Northern Colorado

Projecting UTM/EIU winner is in, and EKU loses to EIU.

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Temple begins their slow ascent back up to new heights! Temple actually dropped. Possibly my biggest bias and it was completely unintentional. Hopefully winning against Memphis and Navy/Houston will create separation. Don't see why 15 is not realistic atm.
16 17 vs. 2 in Starkville should be tons of fun, and we can hope Baylor is no longer undefeated too. Sadly not much other action to move up. Maybe FSU and UCLA getting upset could create a cushion behind us. Another junk performance by Florida wouldn't hurt either.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I think Oklahoma State may be ranked in the top 4 or 5. If OU had not blown their game against Texas, the Bedlam game would be massive (it may be anyways).

I'm starting to think you are right, but for anyone who watched the game, it is very obvious that is should be considered more of an indictment against TCU than a good thing for Oklahoma State. I have literally never seen worse secondary play in my life. The passes were not particularly good. There was just no defenders for miles and became automatic TDs. From what I've seen, there is no way that team is better than Stanford let alone LSU and Notre Dame, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they are ranked. I guess stopping Boykin's gotta count for something, but they haven't stopped all that much consistently this year.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

In Preparation of FCS Rivalry Week! Quite a slate, 9 of them with massive implications.

1. Harvard/Yale - Harvard must win for share of Ivy title
2. Sam Houston State/Central Arkansas - Winner to FCS Playoffs; Loser likely out
3. William & Mary/Richmond - Richmond in with win, on bubble with loss. W&M clinches division and bye with win
4. Portland State/Eastern Washington - EWU must win for playoff bid. Portland State must win for bye
5. Montana/Montana State - Montana must win for playoff bid.
6. New Hampshire/Maine - UNH must win for possible playoff bid
7. Coastal Carolina/Liberty (the 2nd to last edition before Coastal heads to FBS) - Coastal must win for possible bye
8. Northern Arizona/Southern Utah - SUU clinches division, playoffs with win. NAU playoff eligible with win.
9. Southern Illinois/Northern Iowa - UNI must win for playoff bid

10. Lehigh/Lafayette - Lehigh gets a winning record with win
11. Albany/Stony Brook - SUNY Pride
12. Georgetown/Holy Cross - Catholic Patriot League Pride
13. UC-Davis/Sacramento State - Public Cal FCS Pride
14. Nicholls St/Southeastern Louisiana - Shame Avoidance

Villanova/James Madison, Eastern Kentucky/Eastern Illinois, Duquesne/St Francis, and Cal Poly/North Dakota will also have enormous playoff implications despite not being the teams' top rivalries.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

In case you haven't heard yet, North Dakota finally has a nickname. Long story short, 57.24% of North Dakota alumni are more boring than Jeb Bush and John Kasich combined... (or really half of that since alumni turnout was somehow just over 50% for Rd 3 of the voting).

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Well, Villanova has been eliminated. For the third time this season while going in for the game winning drive, they give up an 80-yard Touchdown return on a turnover. Give up 38 points on a KO return, Pick 6, Hail Mary at the half, Fumble Return, and a Fumble on the very next play after a kickoff. Our offense is disgusting and ST is worse. Geez. With John Robertson at QB, we're 9-2 this year instead of 6-5. Easily. Oh well. You can make the argument JMU with Vad Lee would've been unbeatable today too.

At least Temple gave me an enjoyable game with a chance to clinch the division next week, but I'll miss having a rooting FCS Playoff interest. At least we should be ranked next week again with a lot of teams on the back losing potentially.

And UPenn is Ivy Co-Champs 2015!! Back on top!

Oh yeah, and lol Gators, lol Gamecocks. And RIP Les Miles' LSU Career.

Loving what Sparty's able to do so far! Hope they can pull this out without Cook and jump the Big XII teams.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Sneak Peak at the Likely Rankings

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Notre Dame
4. Iowa

5. Michigan St
6. Oklahoma
7. Baylor
8. Ohio St
9. Stanford
10. Michigan

11. Oklahoma State
12. Florida State
13. Florida
14. Northwestern
15. Navy

16. Ole Miss
17. UNC
18. Oregon
19. UCLA
20. Utah

21. LSU
22. Temple
23. TCU
24. Texas A&M
25. Mississippi St

N/R: Houston, Wisconsin, Memphis, Wazzu, USC, Pitt, Toledo

lol jk, I have absolutely no clue on that back half! After Florida this thing is going to be a mess. Really feel for Wisconsin!

As much as I hate Notre Dame, I think I may have to root for them against Stanford just so we get the same exact thing as last year:

Clemson-MSU (or Iowa) and Bama-Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma
6. Baylor

That would be so painful for the Big XII, it brings me so much joy. I'd like to get Stanford to get in there, but I don't know if they would jump both and I have no faith in TCU winning and as I've said before, OK State isn't actually that good either, TCU's D was just that bad, and they got credit. #Pray

Any hope for Michigan? They and Iowa might be 7-8 (with Northwestern/Ohio St not far behind). Big Ten has a chance for a few New Years slots even if just one playoff team.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Harry, what is Miss St's problem? They clearly have the talent, but it seems every game they put themselves in an insurmountable hole and only decide to show up when hope is list and the other team us running out the clock. So sad!

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

IOWA HAWKEYES ARE BIG TEN CHAMPIONS!

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Someone missed the best Big Ten game since the 2013 championship.

The playoff field is set. Will the rankings change though? I hope not.

Looks like we will have a few teams fighting over the last 2 New Years Day slots: UNC, TCU, Ole Miss, Northwestern.

TCU's win vs. Baylor doesn't look so good anymore. Ole Miss beat a conference champ. UNC had a chance and did not. Northwestern lost to one (and very nearly both losses were).

Best Guess?
Orange: Clemson vs. Michigan State
Cotton: Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Rose: Stanford vs. Ohio State
Fiesta: Iowa vs. Notre Dame
Sugar: TCU/Ole Miss vs. Florida State
Peach: At-Large #2* vs. Houston

*if TCU and Ole Miss are both At-Large selections, they will be paired in the Sugar and FSU moves to this slot.

I'll say they don't punish UNC too much and give them the Peach slot for now. Tough call, and certainly not what I'd do. TCU probably edges Ole Miss based on fewer losses too :/

Northwestern and Ole Miss/Oregon would be my route.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The Sugar is contractually obligated to take the highest Big 12 and SEC teams in the CFP rankings that aren't in the playoffs.

So that will most likely be Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State.

It's a gutwrencher, because it would've been us if we'd shown up in the Egg Bowl.

Ah, I was under the impression, they only took them if they were top 12 (or 11 in this case) because the at-larges strictly follow the playoff rankings. If I misinterpreted the rules, it would still be TCU (not OK St, I'd guess) and Ole Miss, which bumps FSU to the Peach presumably. Poor UNC, not that they really did much to deserve a spot, but that painful end tho!

E: hm, espn seems to be picking OSU as well which I don't get. The h2h loss for TCU destroys them even though they are ranked significantly higher. Not sure I like that.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Interesting things going down in Big XII country last week that the news really hasn't covered all that much. I really thought all hope was lost for a Big XII conference expansion, but the Big Ten allegedly blocking deregulation that would allow 2 conferences of 5 teams. Thank goodness!

Rice and UTEP are now connected to the MW, but no expansion will happen at this time. I always figured UTEP would move, but I thought Rice might be waiting for either a private school conference or as a replacement for Houston in the American. Not sure why they'd leave rivals if they're not going to get a conference that fits their culture.