minus South Carolina/UGA, which will be on at 230 this afternoon and provide me something worth watching (maybe) with the Chiefs off (also only worth watching sometimes). Anyway, on to the ten thoughts for the week:
1. If there's a better game this year than Tennessee/A&M, I sure hope it's one I see. What a fantastic football game. Not perfectly played (see seven turnovers by the Vols, blown lead by the Aggies) but just wildly entertaining. Huge plays, wild momentum swings. Just everything that's fun about college football. Look, I can't stand either one of those teams. I wanted them both to lose. But that was a whole lot of fun and by the start of OT I found myself thinking neither one of them deserved to lose.
2. Related: Alvin Kamara might be the best backup in the country. All he did was account for 312 all purpose yards and three touchdowns while filling in for an injured Jalen Hurd. That's a decent 1-2 punch in the backfield. When you consider everyone Tennessee has lost to injury and the fact that they turned the ball over seven times and still took a damn good A&M team to overtime on the road, sorry, but it might be time to accept the Vols are absolutely as talented as many said they were and they aren't just the favorites in the East this year, but might be for a few going forward.
3. Elsewhere in the SEC, but not on the field, yesterday increased the chances LSU and Florida play at some point. Greg Sankey was in the TV booth during the Aggies/Vols and said they need to play the game. All the outrage from people and insults hurled at Florida are, in my opinion, pretty dumb. First off, if there's even a chance of a hurricane, so what if you move/delay/postpone/cancel a football game. It simply isn't that important. Second, if this game matters, they're going to play it. Does anybody really believe the SEC is going to send a team to the conference championship game based on a technicality? Come on. These guys are smarter than that. This isn't the Big 12. If the game has an impact, they'll find a way to get it played. I don't spend much time getting pissed off about things that could happen, but haven't yet. Obviously, many people (not on this board, just in general) do.
4. It was a nice run Houston, but you're out of the playoff. Congrats to Ken N. (I can't spell his name and don't want to look it up) and Navy on the Middies' biggest win in decades. Usually when one game is ending and others are coming down the stretch, I'll flip the channel as soon as the one I'm watching is decided. I stuck around on Navy/Houston to see the fight song and the pomp and circumstance after that one. If you didn't love that, you hate America. Plus, it gave us this:
Time for Houston fans to wonder if they can remain relevant in the post-Tom Herman era.
5. Remember when OU/Texas mattered? I mean, it was the game of the year. And not just in the Big 12. And I know we pay less attention to it now because Missouri isn't in the Big 12, but it's not JUST that. That game was just kind of there. OU hasn't fallen nearly as far as UT. I mean, they were in the playoff last year. They've got some good players and some elite athletes. But that's not 2005-2011 Oklahoma. It just isn't. And Texas, well, like many other programs, the Horns are finding out that you should be careful what you wish for when you chase one of the most successful coaches in school history out the door because he's fallen from unbelievably great to very, very good. Texas isn't all that good and they'll probably fire Charlie Strong because they believe it is their God given right to be good and we'll see where that leads them. It may be the right move. What Texas (and 1990s OU and many others) have proven is that ANYONE can slip. It's just easier to recover at some places than others. It's as easy to recover in Austin as just about anywhere.
6. Speaking of teams that have fallen: Oregon and Michigan State, WTF? I thought Sparty could challenge for the Big Ten again. Ummmm, no. After a 31-14 loss to BYU, Michigan State is 2-3, including 1-2 in East Lansing and still plays Michigan and Ohio State. Oregon gave up 70 to Washington. At home. They're 2-4 and 0-3 in the PAC 12 and could miss a bowl for the first time since 2004 and the fourth since 1988. Can't see Mark Helfrich surviving that.
7. Kansas should play Rutgers. The loser should be kicked out of Division One football. This is my favorite tweet I saw on the subject of either team:
8. My Heisman ballot as of today:
1. Lamar Jackson, Louisville
HUGE GAP
2. Deshaun Watson, Clemson
3. Jabril Peppers, Michigan
9. We're at the point in the season we can start eliminating teams from the College Football Playoff discussion. We're probably under ten who have a realistic chance by now. I'll break it down in groups:
The Leaders
Alabama/A&M winner, Ohio State/Michigan winner, Washington, Clemson
Can get there but need a little help
Louisville, Alabama/A&M loser, Ohio State/Michigan loser, Miami, Baylor
Don't completely write them off, but not likely
Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska
10. Five games I'll watch next week (but I really won't watch any because I'll be in Gainesville):
West Virginia at Texas Tech, 11 am, FS1: I really don't care about this game. But Tech is always fun to watch and it's 11 am and there aren't many good games on
Alabama at Tennessee, 230 pm, CBS: How do the Vols respond? On Rocky Top? I think they can win. I wouldn't bet on it, but it wouldn't shock me
North Carolina at Miami, 230, ABC: Again, I don't really care, but it's a solid game and we'll see if the Canes can bounce back. Miami still has an outside shot at sneaking into the playoff if it runs the table, so let's see how they do.
Ole Miss at Arkansas, 6 pm, ESPN: Couple of teams that aren't going to win the West but are both pretty solid in a separation game. Winner can look at 8/9 wins and be in contention for a really good bowl game. Loser probably can't.
Ohio State at Wisconsin, 7 pm, ABC: The Buckeyes have won at Oklahoma and then had four bye weeks. Second half features a game at Wisconsin, home against Nebraska and Michigan. Can they navigate all three and walk back to the playoff?
1. If there's a better game this year than Tennessee/A&M, I sure hope it's one I see. What a fantastic football game. Not perfectly played (see seven turnovers by the Vols, blown lead by the Aggies) but just wildly entertaining. Huge plays, wild momentum swings. Just everything that's fun about college football. Look, I can't stand either one of those teams. I wanted them both to lose. But that was a whole lot of fun and by the start of OT I found myself thinking neither one of them deserved to lose.
2. Related: Alvin Kamara might be the best backup in the country. All he did was account for 312 all purpose yards and three touchdowns while filling in for an injured Jalen Hurd. That's a decent 1-2 punch in the backfield. When you consider everyone Tennessee has lost to injury and the fact that they turned the ball over seven times and still took a damn good A&M team to overtime on the road, sorry, but it might be time to accept the Vols are absolutely as talented as many said they were and they aren't just the favorites in the East this year, but might be for a few going forward.
3. Elsewhere in the SEC, but not on the field, yesterday increased the chances LSU and Florida play at some point. Greg Sankey was in the TV booth during the Aggies/Vols and said they need to play the game. All the outrage from people and insults hurled at Florida are, in my opinion, pretty dumb. First off, if there's even a chance of a hurricane, so what if you move/delay/postpone/cancel a football game. It simply isn't that important. Second, if this game matters, they're going to play it. Does anybody really believe the SEC is going to send a team to the conference championship game based on a technicality? Come on. These guys are smarter than that. This isn't the Big 12. If the game has an impact, they'll find a way to get it played. I don't spend much time getting pissed off about things that could happen, but haven't yet. Obviously, many people (not on this board, just in general) do.
4. It was a nice run Houston, but you're out of the playoff. Congrats to Ken N. (I can't spell his name and don't want to look it up) and Navy on the Middies' biggest win in decades. Usually when one game is ending and others are coming down the stretch, I'll flip the channel as soon as the one I'm watching is decided. I stuck around on Navy/Houston to see the fight song and the pomp and circumstance after that one. If you didn't love that, you hate America. Plus, it gave us this:
Time for Houston fans to wonder if they can remain relevant in the post-Tom Herman era.
5. Remember when OU/Texas mattered? I mean, it was the game of the year. And not just in the Big 12. And I know we pay less attention to it now because Missouri isn't in the Big 12, but it's not JUST that. That game was just kind of there. OU hasn't fallen nearly as far as UT. I mean, they were in the playoff last year. They've got some good players and some elite athletes. But that's not 2005-2011 Oklahoma. It just isn't. And Texas, well, like many other programs, the Horns are finding out that you should be careful what you wish for when you chase one of the most successful coaches in school history out the door because he's fallen from unbelievably great to very, very good. Texas isn't all that good and they'll probably fire Charlie Strong because they believe it is their God given right to be good and we'll see where that leads them. It may be the right move. What Texas (and 1990s OU and many others) have proven is that ANYONE can slip. It's just easier to recover at some places than others. It's as easy to recover in Austin as just about anywhere.
6. Speaking of teams that have fallen: Oregon and Michigan State, WTF? I thought Sparty could challenge for the Big Ten again. Ummmm, no. After a 31-14 loss to BYU, Michigan State is 2-3, including 1-2 in East Lansing and still plays Michigan and Ohio State. Oregon gave up 70 to Washington. At home. They're 2-4 and 0-3 in the PAC 12 and could miss a bowl for the first time since 2004 and the fourth since 1988. Can't see Mark Helfrich surviving that.
7. Kansas should play Rutgers. The loser should be kicked out of Division One football. This is my favorite tweet I saw on the subject of either team:
8. My Heisman ballot as of today:
1. Lamar Jackson, Louisville
HUGE GAP
2. Deshaun Watson, Clemson
3. Jabril Peppers, Michigan
9. We're at the point in the season we can start eliminating teams from the College Football Playoff discussion. We're probably under ten who have a realistic chance by now. I'll break it down in groups:
The Leaders
Alabama/A&M winner, Ohio State/Michigan winner, Washington, Clemson
Can get there but need a little help
Louisville, Alabama/A&M loser, Ohio State/Michigan loser, Miami, Baylor
Don't completely write them off, but not likely
Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska
10. Five games I'll watch next week (but I really won't watch any because I'll be in Gainesville):
West Virginia at Texas Tech, 11 am, FS1: I really don't care about this game. But Tech is always fun to watch and it's 11 am and there aren't many good games on
Alabama at Tennessee, 230 pm, CBS: How do the Vols respond? On Rocky Top? I think they can win. I wouldn't bet on it, but it wouldn't shock me
North Carolina at Miami, 230, ABC: Again, I don't really care, but it's a solid game and we'll see if the Canes can bounce back. Miami still has an outside shot at sneaking into the playoff if it runs the table, so let's see how they do.
Ole Miss at Arkansas, 6 pm, ESPN: Couple of teams that aren't going to win the West but are both pretty solid in a separation game. Winner can look at 8/9 wins and be in contention for a really good bowl game. Loser probably can't.
Ohio State at Wisconsin, 7 pm, ABC: The Buckeyes have won at Oklahoma and then had four bye weeks. Second half features a game at Wisconsin, home against Nebraska and Michigan. Can they navigate all three and walk back to the playoff?
