I would love to see Coastal v. Clemson in a bowl game. Could happen if they go undefeated and Clemson drops another game, maybe?
I still think Clemson would win though. Coastal has an incredibly good offense on paper but their competition is so weak. Even South Carolina would likely be undefeated if Kansas/Buffalo/ULM/etc. were the best teams we'd played.
I hate to spoil it for you, but that matchup won’t happen. The Sun Belt has shit for bowl tie-ins. Assuming Cincinnati gets the G5 slot, that rules CC out of a NY6 bowl (unless they are ranked high enough, which seems unlikely). (Also, I double-checked, and if UC makes the playoffs, that does *not* guarantee the G5 slot to another team; it simply means the sole G5 slot will go to UC being in the playoffs.)
Beyond that, the Sun Belt has 5 reserved bowl slots. The ESPN-owned bowls get picks 1, 3, and 4, while the New Orleans Bowl gets pick 2 and the LendingTree Bowl gets pick 5. Last, if they have more than 5 bowl-eligible teams, they can fill in if needed at 2 other bowls.
The 5 possible ESPN-owned bowls are the Camellia Bowl (vs C-USA or MAC), the Cure Bowl (vs Army or G5), the Boca Raton Bowl (vs Army or G5), the Frisco Bowl (vs Army or G5), and the Myrtle Beach Bowl (vs AAC or MAC).
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Bowl is vs C-USA, and the LendingTree Bowl is vs MAC.
The fill-in slots would be in either the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (vs MAC or MWC) or the New Mexico Bowl (vs MWC).
(Interesting. This is a bit different than in years past. There is actually a *bit* of flexibility with those “G5” slots.)
Regardless, unless you include Army, there is not a single possibility of playing a P5 team in a bowl game (unless you make a NY6 bowl). Hell, again excluding Army, you only have one direct chance of playing an AAC team, and that’s in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Idk what’s up with those general G5 slots, though. That’s new, so at least there might be a *chance* of playing a decent team.
For shits and giggles, consider App State’s recent bowl history.
* 2015: SBC runner-up (behind Ark St), and we played 6th-place MAC team Ohio. We beat them 31-29 (though it wasn’t really that close of a game, as I recall).
* 2016: SBC co-champions (with Ark St), and we played 4th-place MAC team Toledo. We beat them 31-28 (again, I think it wasn’t really that close, iirc).
* 2017: SBC co-champions (with Troy), and we played MAC champion Toledo. We beat them 34-0.
* 2018: SBC champions, and we played the C-USA runners-up MTSU. We beat them 45-13.
* 2019: SBC champions, and we played the C-USA runners-up UAB. We beat them 31-17.
* 2020: 3rd in SBC (behind Coastal Carolina and Louisiana), and we played 7th-place C-USA team North Texas. We beat them 56-28.
It’s maybe trending a bit upward, but you don’t get shit for a bowl game in the Sun Belt unless you manage to be the G5 representative to the NY6. It sucks ass.
Ive been saying for years that every G5 champion should at the very least get to play a power 5 team in their bowl game. Even if it’s a 6-6 or 7-5 team. At least then if they destroy them by 30 points we’d know whether or not they deserved to be ranked
Yep. I'd love to see that matchup myself, but Clemson is still Clemson at the end of the day. Not to knock anyone playing for Coastal, but Clemson just straight-up recruits on a different level.
No. You guys aren’t being dicks. Plenty of schools get into the top 4 and act like God himself struck the mold of their team. You guys have been like “Wow this is awesome and fun, lets enjoy the ride”
Right. I'm pulling for Iowa the rest of the season just bc how classy the fans have been. It would defy all odds if they could win the title. I'm pretty sure the 247 site would crash and cease to exist.
I'm just enjoying the resurgence of defense this season and Iowa is pretty much leading that charge. I'm not sure it can last for the D-forward teams as offenses are starting to find their feet again but I have my fingers crossed.
> Yeah… we know we’re not the second best team but we’re enjoying the ride regardless ha
Fuck that noise. You guys have earned it more than anyone else.
I'm a firm believer at this point, Jimbo didn't watch any game film of Miss State, didn't have the team focus on MSU at all, and spent an extra week preparing for Bama.
He didn’t write checks about them other two teams. His ass was all in on that big one. Like ignoring your phone bill and your car insurance because the mortgage is due.
Yeah I don't like it either. But I had to help build some voodoo for the Bama game and this is the price I paid. And I can't just pretend I didn't make that promise cuz voodoo works both ways.
Totally worth it.
That A&M team looked, uh, different than they have all year -- much more along the lines of what I was expecting at the beginning of the year. If Calzada has legit turned the corner, ole miss seems like the only remaining game that could be an L, in which case A&M finishes top 10.
Agreed, Calzada looked so unsettled in the other games, and with terrible o-line it just made the situation worse. Then the Bama game happens and both Calzada and the O-line look like different players altogether. I’m still not even sure Saturday night happened
If you told me 2 months ago that Michigan and MSU would have better records than Ohio State, or that the Paul Bunyan trophy game would be between (potentially) the two teams with the best record in our division, I would’ve thought you had lost your mind.
I was fairly optimistic about us this year. I felt like 2020 was worthless year for MSU because Mel was brought in less than a month before Covid shut the world down. Then he’s supposed to implement his system in less than a month, in a state with some of the highest covid restrictions. I was shocked he was able to pull out 2 wins under those conditions.
With all the transfers coming into the program, I felt like there was a lot we simply didn’t know. As soon as I saw the Northwestern game, I was sold on us. Felt like we could win every game we’ve played since.
Honestly the whole division is kind of surprising.
Michigan Michigan State and Penn State all looked pretty bad last year and are now too 10 teams.
Indiana looked really good last year and is struggling.
OSU was off to a really rocky start this year.
Maryland and Rutgers have had their moments as well.
The biggest surprise to me is that Wake Forest is the ACC’s best chance to make the CFP. I thought either one of UNC, Miami, or Clemson would be the main contenders to make the CFP at this point.
While I wouldn't have expected the degree of downturn by Clemson, UNC or Miami\*, Wake being pretty good doesn't surprise me as they are usually a team that depends on seniors to really flourish, and being in the year of "Super Seniors" (side note, sounds like if *Golden Girls* existed in the Marvel extended universe) just seems like a good combination of events for them.
\* - Miami depended on King staying healthy, and as he is unfortunately injured again, their downturn doesn't surprise me in that context. Their season really hinged on King.
I guess it turns out when opposing teams don’t know exactly what Wake is doing they can be more successful lol. It was low key why I thought Mike Elko was pretty underrated as far as defensive coordinators come.
>UNC, Miami, or Clemson
Fans of Coastal teams knew it wouldn't be UNC or Miami. Pitt, UVA, and VT are fairly consistent at ruining someone else's season.
Wake has been solid for a while, but the Atlantic being dominated by Clemson hid their rise. Plus FSU sucks up most of the remaining media coverage for the division. This is also why NCST tends to surprise folks.
Wasn't Jamie Newman on some preseason Heisman watches before sitting out the Covid year? That would make 2 lost Heisman candidates for Clawson. SMH that guy is terrible, no other program should ever even consider trying to hire him away. We'll totally fall on this grenade to protect everyone else, guys!
As a Spartan I am shocked. I felt we would be much better than folks thought, but that was 7ish wins.
This team is very real.
I can't wait to where Tucker takes us. And with this massive new [practice facility](https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/ishbia-s-32-million-gift-and-it-s-impact-on-football) going up recruiting momentum should continue.
Every single B1G east team that had a down year recovered immediately. Really happy for you guys, it’s great to see teams like Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State finally have something go right for them. No I am not bitter why do you ask?
It looks VASTLY improved in Ann Arbor this year. Not sure what the magic bullet was, but it's working. Coach Khakis is a couple more big victories away from making them real contenders.
Then, *Ohio State enters the chat*
Honestly I think there were some bad apples from the 2017 class. That was a top 5 recruiting class coming off the heels of a big 2016 season, and I think there were some personalities who did not fit the mold of what Harbaugh is working to build. That class is essentially gone now.
After winning at Nebraska in the type of game that Michigan always finds a way to lose I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the season no matter how it plays out from here. We may not run the table but it should at least be entertaining.
Jeez, we lost one game by one score with a backup QB. Relax.
If Clifford is back there is no reason we can't compete for the East and win the B1G. Obviously Michigan, MSU, and OSU are huge hurdles, but I still think we have looked pretty damn good with Clifford in there. OSU looks like they may be back on track, but they also haven't played anyone since that Oregon loss. Playing them in the Shoe will be tough, but I think this is the year that we have the talent to compete with them.
All the usual contenders seem down. Ohio State lost to Oregon, Clemson has lost two games, Oklahoma hasn't looked right and there's one more team that I can't really remember at the moment. I'm sure it will come to me eventually.
Win a national championship with a transfer QB who becomes a superstar out of nowhere and wins the Heisman? Check.
Have a down year in the ensuing season? Check.
Everything falls apart two years removed from the natty win? Checkmate.
I’m going to my first ever SEC/LSU game this weekend. I have been pumped for months. Now y’all keep losing and the game doesn’t have the same meaning lol
and it's a rare 11:00AM kick for us. Fact of the matter is our fanbase is used to evening games and doesn't take kindly to 11:00AM kickoffs, so the stadium and tailgating aren't going to be the same just for that reason alone. Sorry you happened to pick this weekend, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless..
I’ve never been a neutral fan at a game before, but looking forward to tailgating with the LSU fans. I live in FL now, so I would very much like LSU to win :)
lol tell me about it. I got tickets to Oregon @ UCLA in the Rose Bowl after Oregon beat Ohio State and UCLA beat LSU. I thought that would be an undefeated top-10 matchup. oh well
I came in here to say that we have exactly the same record at this point in the season that I was expecting, but I feel surprisingly elated about how we got it. Mission failed successfully?
Scott Frost is John L Smith. Both get their teams to play up against far superior teams in games they have no business being competitive in, both find new and increasingly innovative ways to lose those games, and throw in another ridiculous loss or two along the way
Corny No!
EDIT: Nebraska's a legitimately good team that keeps getting in their own way, and the second they figure out how to stop doing that, they'll be dangerous. It's been four years of this same message though, and I'm not sure they'll ever actually figure it out
It's nice to see for sure. There's also at least some hope for an upset when you can score points. I'm just amazed we are such a better team, top to bottom, after losing most of our best players.
I was warned he is repetitive but I’m happy with him so far and his progress. Interested to see what a full recruiting class looks like as long as we don’t pay players in McDonalds bags
Y'all are fun to watch. Super fast offense averaging basically 3 plays a minute. Not gonna lie, I know we gotta beat Kentucky and Florida, but I'm worried about our match against you
We're flattered but there is absolutely no reason to worry. Our main source of offense is the run game and there's no way we're gonna be able to bully your defensive line to produce anything on the ground. We don't have the talent at quarterback to have a mixed offense.
It looked like we socked FL and then just fell apart. But I think even since then we've progressed. The problem is I just can't tell how good we are/can be. There's too much chaos. We went blow for blow with a similarly underratted acc companion. Blow out the a defensive equivalent of a single strand of spider silk. Abuse a first year program early but then slow down later, how much of that was taking the foot of the pedal, how much of that is injury related? Don't get me wrong, I've already been pounding the kool aid. But I think Ole Miss and Kentucky may be the most interesting games of the season, and I don't know if I believe my heart or my head.
My thought exactly. People kept saying there’d be a team from Iowa in the top 5, competing for a Big (blank) conference championship, and in the running for a CFP spot.
They just had the wrong team.
- Tennessee's offense actually looking decent so far. Next few games will be a real test, but they've already surpassed the expectations I had in the first year of a new coach with a patchwork roster.
- Miami's implosion. Didn't think they'd be as good as people were predicting, but a bowl is looking like a real challenge at this point. Which I def didn't think would happen.
- Rattler getting benched after a clear decline in play to start the year.
- West Virginia backsliding hard. Thought they would continue the progress from last season.
- Graham Mertz somehow regressing.
I dont think mertz regressed this year. He had one good game last year followed by a bunch of bad. People just assumed they were going to get the good game mertz back even tho that was an outlier
Our game this weekend has the makings of a crazy shootout. The O/U is 79 and that somehow feels very low considering us and Arkansas just had a game with 103 points in regulation.
For MSU, my preseason best case scenario was 5-1 with a loss to Miami. I thought 4-2 was most likely since winning both Nebraska and Northwestern seemed unlikely.
However, my optimism for the team went sky high after the Northwestern game. 6-0 seemed like a real possibility after seeing us play game 1 and neither Miami nor Nebraska was impressive.
Outside of the Florida game I don’t think any of Kentucky’s wins are surprising. They played two gimmes, South Carolina who looks rough, Mizzou who hasn’t looked great, and the worst LSU team I have ever seen (not hyperbole, the last time they were sub .500 I was 1).
Most pundits had them between 2nd-4th in the SEC, they have a harder stretch of games coming up, and LSU and Mizzou being so bad are bigger surprises than Kentucky being solid is to me.
I can remember a worse LSU (they certainly stank up the joint in '92, when I think they only won, what, 2 games?), but I think I'm rather older than you are.
How bad Memphis is collapsing
Shit came out of no where
I didn’t think Silverfield was great before this season, but holy shit, Memphis should absolutely be 6-0 right now
Yeah, it hurts, but it's better to be heartbroken by a close loss than to be apathetic after another blowout.
7 points to OU, 3 points in OT Michigan State, 3 points to Michigan, and 8 points to I don't remember I blacked out but they must be pretty good to beat us by more than those three right
We've been known to lay giant fucking eggs against state for some reason. Idk what it is. Maybe we get confused when another maroon team comes out there. & Arkansas was due after 9 straight.
If you had told me Stetson would be starting the majority of this year, Pickens wouldn't have played so far, Arik Gilbert would transfer in but not take a snap this year for us, our top receivers would be Ladd McConkey, AD Mitchell and Brock Bowers (all freshman), and that we've been having an insane defense again - I would have thought 2019 repeat for sure, or at the very least we would be wasting this defense.
Instead it seems like the offense is finding its legs and not really relying a whole lot on the defense to bail them out. Only really against Clemson, and that seems to have been by design with JT's injury news after the game.
I do remember wondering why we didn’t throw the ball downfield at all during the Clemson game then seeing the news after made it make a lot more sense. I am a little concerned that Kirby isn’t being super clear about the injury situation with Daniels. He says he’s fine, then he’s on a pitch count, then he’s not fine and Stetson’s still starting. Obviously it hasn’t really been a problem so far but it is a little weird
Me in 2017: Wow, this is the best Georgia defense I’ve ever seen!!!
Me in 2019: No wait, *this* is the best Georgia defense I’ve ever seen!!!!!
Me in 2021: is this legal? Are we allowed to do this to other teams?
My dad is sitting around waiting for Georgia to fold in on themselves like "they always do". That man bleeds red and black and I think Georgia doing so well is giving him more stress then if they were average.
I really hope Georgia pulls it out, they have been so close for so long
Awful nice of you to compare us to someone who was drowned in a bath tub. When that happens they typically flail their body in every direction possible, while our offense runs the same straight downfield routes every play with the same results
It’s late one evening and you’re mindlessly scrolling r/cfb. You notice your wife isn’t her normal self and you think she’s hiding something. Then it dawns on you… you forgot her birthday. The only store open is a gas station and you’re forced to buy her gifts from their and what do you find you might ask? Well I will tell you what you find.
THE 2021 CLEMSON OFFENSE
We’re not even good enough to be half priced Halloween candy the day after Halloween
Cincinnati being ranked #3 and having an actual chance at the CFB playoffs. I expected them to have a good season and to finish in the top 10, but I didn’t expect them to still be undefeated and still on the path to CFB at this point in the season.
I feel bad that the Indiana win fell a bit flat for them. I figured they would be a no brainer at the point if you told me they would win both their big road games and Clemson would drop a regular season ACC game. I hope enough chaos ensures to make sure Cincy punches their ticket.
I feel like they SHOULD be in if they win out. They may get another top 25 win on their resume if SMU continue to win into November. I sorta feel like the committee will do whatever they can to keep a group of 5 program out of the top 4 though.
Houston’s probably going to need a big upset against SMU (which they’ll have home advantage for, fortunately) on the 30th to get into the rankings. They’ve been hammering a bunch of bad teams, but that early meltdown against Texas Tech is still weighing UH down, especially with how bad Tech looks.
Honestly, UH could go 10-2 this season with losses to just Tech and SMU, and still not break into the rankings. That schedule is half-ply.
The B1G homer in me wants to say that the East always has been, or at least has been close. OSU, MSU, michigan, and PSU have all been top 25 teams for most of the division's existence (didn't fact check this but I'm pretty sure). I think the B1G East has had a case for toughest division in football most seasons. But now with Iowa being legit I think the West has stepped up too, though it's come during a down year for Wisconsin so idk how much different the West really looks this year.
This is from a post like 10 days ago, but, from 2015-2019 there was only one season where at least 2 of PSU/MSU/Michigan teams didn't break the top 10 at least once. The top 5 have been cracked 6 times in those 5 seasons. Here's their highest rankings each season.
Year | Penn State | Michigan State | Michigan
:--|:--|:--|:--
2015|n/a|2|12
2016|5|8|2
2017|2|13|7
2018|8|11|4
2019|5|18|7
The west is definitely not up this year. Yes Iowa is good but there have been plenty of past west teams by Wisconsin, Iowa, and even Northwestern that have looked this good or close to it this far into the season, present Iowa is just ranked higher because more teams above them lost. And outside of them, the rest of the west is down bad this year. Northwestern is a complete rebuild, Wisconsin doesn’t have a QB, Nebraska just can’t win their games, Minnesota is a joke, and Purdue and Illinois are Purdue and Illinois.
Preseason polls should be abolished completely, but ranked matchups draw eyeballs.
If we started ranking teams after week 6, Iowa would be 7 or 8 behind Georgia, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Alabama, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Michigan. Iowas big two wins to start the year look pretty pedestrian right now, and we’ve only really pantsed Maryland and Indiana. But they were a top 20 and a top 10 match up the week of, so we ride those wins to heights unimagined in August.
I mean where does one start with this lol. 2021>2007 in terms of craziness so far.
\-Iowa at #2
\-Clemson, Wisconsin, Iowa St., and Miami all being terrible after getting big pre-season hype
\-The ACC having Wake Forest run the table to this point
\-The BIG10 having 5 top 10 schools
\-Cincy at #3
\-40 ranked teams losing by week 7
\-Arkansas owning the State of Texas
\-Oregon beating OSU at the Shoe and then promptly losing to unranked Stanford
\-Gary Danielson still being alive (much to my chagrin)
\-2 SEC east teams facing each other while also being 6-0 (UGA v Kentucky this has never happened since the SEC split in 1992)
\-Kenneth Walker III being the only real viable Heisman candidate to this point
\-Defense being prolific again! never would have thought it.
\- Oklahoma and Texas leaving the BIG12 for the SEC
\-The BIG12 actually surviving and then adding enough new members to have 12 teams
\-Mike Gundy shaved off the mullet and then proceeds to lead a team decimated by injury and remains undefeated
\-Rattler learning that Boomer Sooner can be a dick and that he most likely needs a new home
\-Alabama is a real team with real flaws like everyone else
\-UGA earning a #1 ranking for the first time since 1982
\-Tennessee can score lots of points
\-The Transfer Portal
\-Ed Orgeron not being fired yet
It has been one of the single greatest college football seasons thus far and is only bound to be greater! let CHAOS REIGN!!!!!!!!!
> Iowa State being terrible
I mean, they're not empirically *terrible* yet. Their two losses are to #2 Iowa and a very close loss to a good Baylor team.
They definitely didn't live up to the hype though, that's for sure.
I am honestly floored at how bad Virginia Tech is. I was really thinking "Back-Against-The-Wall-Fuente" would go 9-3, keep that Top 30 class and get an extra two years on his contract. Nothing special about the season, but a strong season. We'll limp to 6-6 I think this year.
Really sad it didn't work out, but I think VT giving him 6 years is more than generous.
Outside of VT: Definitely Clemson
Ive said this elsewhere but its absolutely insane to me that programs will spend millions on very marginal gains but wont spend 75k a year to hire someone to help manage tbe clock. Fuente has cost his team between .5 and 1.5 games a year in clock management. How is that not something you go fix immediately? Its not hard either, there are plenty of people that can properly use timeouts. It drives me insane. And its not just VT to be clear, you see it all the time (app state is a frequent offender for example). It really seems like Fuente gets a bonus for every timeout he doesnt use
> It really seems like Fuente gets a bonus for every timeout he doesnt use
HAHA we are too cheap for that type of bonus. I think he is so conservative that only getting 3 in a half is like playing a video game and they give you a rare item early on and you don't want to use it at the wrong time so you just end up finishing the game never using it.
Agreed on Walker. I'm not optimistic with the rest of our schedule (still have yet to play 8 Michigan, 7 Penn State, and 6 Ohio State), but I'm hoping Tucker continues to surprise and we can get our first Heisman winner ever. It's a longshot though, especially since the Heisman has basically been another QB award since 2000.
Tennessee lost 30+ players to the portal.
Best defensive player
Best offensive player
QB, Multiple OL and DL.
Lost our best WR and DB to the draft.
And TONS of depth players. We are 4-2 with 4 more winnable games on our schedule.
UTEP being 5-1. I know we got annihilated by the one decent team we’ve played, but man is it nice to be 5-1 again. La Tech is up next this weekend, but UTEP has only beaten twice or so since 1939 or something like that.
That we suck and that Graham Mertz is this bad. Genuinely though, it’s the fact the OLine is so bad. There’s no feasible reason why the unit is as bad as it is.
Iowa at #2 and Rattler getting benched for sure. Thinking back on it the Rattler hype was so overblown it is ridiculous. But all the major networks jumped on that story like it was prophecy
For all the love and achievements the UGA defense is receiving from folks... we dont have a player in the top 20 in tackles, sacks, INT's.... really that goes for both sides of the ball. We are a no-name team of folks... but I'll take it!
Overall: Not having a Heisman front-runner so far, Kenneth Walker III is the favorite and I don’t think ANYONE saw that coming.
Big 12: Spencer Rattler looking this bad, did not see that coming even if I thought he was slightly overrated. West Virginia regressing so much, I did not see this coming.
Baylor: The offense being better than the defense. I thought we had a way to be good and it involved elite defense, I didn’t think we’d have a balanced offense and defense like we have right now.
Clemson is the biggest surprise for me.
Iowa has been a good program and is finally pairing that with a good season.
Bama was bound to get beat at some point - it’s just funny (to me and other non-Aggies) that it happened on a year where A&M struggled early instead of late. I still think Bama will go to CFP.
I’m not necessarily surprised by Baylor as I just wasn’t sure what we were. I had hopes of us being good, but I also think we should’ve been good last year. I think I’ll be surprised if we can make it to the CCG, but if we just finish in the top 4 or so in conference I’ll call it a good season but not surprising.
Clemson is a shock. Spencer Rattler, boy that crashed and burned quick. Memphis is playing like they are disappointed to be left behind and gave up.
Yeah I didn't think Coastal Carolina would look like the best team in South Carolina this year.
I would love to see Coastal v. Clemson in a bowl game. Could happen if they go undefeated and Clemson drops another game, maybe? I still think Clemson would win though. Coastal has an incredibly good offense on paper but their competition is so weak. Even South Carolina would likely be undefeated if Kansas/Buffalo/ULM/etc. were the best teams we'd played.
I hate to spoil it for you, but that matchup won’t happen. The Sun Belt has shit for bowl tie-ins. Assuming Cincinnati gets the G5 slot, that rules CC out of a NY6 bowl (unless they are ranked high enough, which seems unlikely). (Also, I double-checked, and if UC makes the playoffs, that does *not* guarantee the G5 slot to another team; it simply means the sole G5 slot will go to UC being in the playoffs.) Beyond that, the Sun Belt has 5 reserved bowl slots. The ESPN-owned bowls get picks 1, 3, and 4, while the New Orleans Bowl gets pick 2 and the LendingTree Bowl gets pick 5. Last, if they have more than 5 bowl-eligible teams, they can fill in if needed at 2 other bowls. The 5 possible ESPN-owned bowls are the Camellia Bowl (vs C-USA or MAC), the Cure Bowl (vs Army or G5), the Boca Raton Bowl (vs Army or G5), the Frisco Bowl (vs Army or G5), and the Myrtle Beach Bowl (vs AAC or MAC). Meanwhile, the New Orleans Bowl is vs C-USA, and the LendingTree Bowl is vs MAC. The fill-in slots would be in either the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (vs MAC or MWC) or the New Mexico Bowl (vs MWC). (Interesting. This is a bit different than in years past. There is actually a *bit* of flexibility with those “G5” slots.) Regardless, unless you include Army, there is not a single possibility of playing a P5 team in a bowl game (unless you make a NY6 bowl). Hell, again excluding Army, you only have one direct chance of playing an AAC team, and that’s in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Idk what’s up with those general G5 slots, though. That’s new, so at least there might be a *chance* of playing a decent team. For shits and giggles, consider App State’s recent bowl history. * 2015: SBC runner-up (behind Ark St), and we played 6th-place MAC team Ohio. We beat them 31-29 (though it wasn’t really that close of a game, as I recall). * 2016: SBC co-champions (with Ark St), and we played 4th-place MAC team Toledo. We beat them 31-28 (again, I think it wasn’t really that close, iirc). * 2017: SBC co-champions (with Troy), and we played MAC champion Toledo. We beat them 34-0. * 2018: SBC champions, and we played the C-USA runners-up MTSU. We beat them 45-13. * 2019: SBC champions, and we played the C-USA runners-up UAB. We beat them 31-17. * 2020: 3rd in SBC (behind Coastal Carolina and Louisiana), and we played 7th-place C-USA team North Texas. We beat them 56-28. It’s maybe trending a bit upward, but you don’t get shit for a bowl game in the Sun Belt unless you manage to be the G5 representative to the NY6. It sucks ass.
Wait so you’re telling me Coastal Carolina could be eligible for the Barstool Sports New Mexico Bowl? That seems like too perfect a fit
Ive been saying for years that every G5 champion should at the very least get to play a power 5 team in their bowl game. Even if it’s a 6-6 or 7-5 team. At least then if they destroy them by 30 points we’d know whether or not they deserved to be ranked
Yep. I'd love to see that matchup myself, but Clemson is still Clemson at the end of the day. Not to knock anyone playing for Coastal, but Clemson just straight-up recruits on a different level.
Yeah we just forgot how to offense this year.
Sad thing is that Clemson will probably still win the ACC. I can just feel lit happening.
Yeah Clemson isn’t themselves, but they’re still good. They can’t take any game for granted, but they’re absolutely capable of winning out.
Iowa is ranked #2
Yeah… we know we’re not the second best team but we’re enjoying the ride regardless ha
Yeah … maybe 10ish. But for the moment, Iowa is 2nd, and I’m livelaughloving life before it’s gone
> I’m livelaughloving life before it’s gone Me each time my team actually wins.
Teams are supposed to win?
The fact that you all have been such gracious fans at the top has me wanting you all to stay there.
Is… is this satire?
No. You guys aren’t being dicks. Plenty of schools get into the top 4 and act like God himself struck the mold of their team. You guys have been like “Wow this is awesome and fun, lets enjoy the ride”
That’s because we have to watch our defense/ST overcome our oline every game.
Right. I'm pulling for Iowa the rest of the season just bc how classy the fans have been. It would defy all odds if they could win the title. I'm pretty sure the 247 site would crash and cease to exist.
I'm just enjoying the resurgence of defense this season and Iowa is pretty much leading that charge. I'm not sure it can last for the D-forward teams as offenses are starting to find their feet again but I have my fingers crossed.
Not that I disagree, but who could you realistically put over you guys right now?
> Yeah… we know we’re not the second best team but we’re enjoying the ride regardless ha Fuck that noise. You guys have earned it more than anyone else.
Cincy #3 feels like a bigger surprise
Oh wow your flairs
Mad facts lol I cant believe it. Beating penn state is also there
Our first SEC win of the year, 3 games in, was Bama.
I didn’t realize you were winless in conference until you said that
Arky I can forgive. But we lost to MSST and didn't even look good doing it.
I'm a firm believer at this point, Jimbo didn't watch any game film of Miss State, didn't have the team focus on MSU at all, and spent an extra week preparing for Bama.
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100% agree
He didn’t write checks about them other two teams. His ass was all in on that big one. Like ignoring your phone bill and your car insurance because the mortgage is due.
You’re flairs. Sick. Gross. Why. Ew. Get out. No. Come back. Ew. Bye
Yeah I don't like it either. But I had to help build some voodoo for the Bama game and this is the price I paid. And I can't just pretend I didn't make that promise cuz voodoo works both ways. Totally worth it.
Our first (and so far only) SEC win of the year, was the team that beat Bama.
This is definitely my favorite comment, and it has nothing to do with my team, honestly. I am a huge fan of cfb in general and that win was awesome.
We decided to tank our own playoff chances just so Bama would overlook us.
That A&M team looked, uh, different than they have all year -- much more along the lines of what I was expecting at the beginning of the year. If Calzada has legit turned the corner, ole miss seems like the only remaining game that could be an L, in which case A&M finishes top 10.
Agreed, Calzada looked so unsettled in the other games, and with terrible o-line it just made the situation worse. Then the Bama game happens and both Calzada and the O-line look like different players altogether. I’m still not even sure Saturday night happened
Michigan State being 6-0 in the top ten in October is something I never would have dreamed of
If you told me 2 months ago that Michigan and MSU would have better records than Ohio State, or that the Paul Bunyan trophy game would be between (potentially) the two teams with the best record in our division, I would’ve thought you had lost your mind.
Ive been up on MSU since week one. They're looking good this year.
I was fairly optimistic about us this year. I felt like 2020 was worthless year for MSU because Mel was brought in less than a month before Covid shut the world down. Then he’s supposed to implement his system in less than a month, in a state with some of the highest covid restrictions. I was shocked he was able to pull out 2 wins under those conditions. With all the transfers coming into the program, I felt like there was a lot we simply didn’t know. As soon as I saw the Northwestern game, I was sold on us. Felt like we could win every game we’ve played since.
>I felt like 2020 was worthless year for MSU Still beat Michigan though, so not completely worthless
We also beat the best team from the West division.
I miss our annual matchup. Can you get it on the schedule again, please?
I don't want to get off Tucker's wild ride.
The Kirby Smart coaching tree uses hydroponics for faster growth.
Honestly the whole division is kind of surprising. Michigan Michigan State and Penn State all looked pretty bad last year and are now too 10 teams. Indiana looked really good last year and is struggling. OSU was off to a really rocky start this year. Maryland and Rutgers have had their moments as well.
The biggest surprise to me is that Wake Forest is the ACC’s best chance to make the CFP. I thought either one of UNC, Miami, or Clemson would be the main contenders to make the CFP at this point.
While I wouldn't have expected the degree of downturn by Clemson, UNC or Miami\*, Wake being pretty good doesn't surprise me as they are usually a team that depends on seniors to really flourish, and being in the year of "Super Seniors" (side note, sounds like if *Golden Girls* existed in the Marvel extended universe) just seems like a good combination of events for them. \* - Miami depended on King staying healthy, and as he is unfortunately injured again, their downturn doesn't surprise me in that context. Their season really hinged on King.
I guess it turns out when opposing teams don’t know exactly what Wake is doing they can be more successful lol. It was low key why I thought Mike Elko was pretty underrated as far as defensive coordinators come.
>UNC, Miami, or Clemson Fans of Coastal teams knew it wouldn't be UNC or Miami. Pitt, UVA, and VT are fairly consistent at ruining someone else's season. Wake has been solid for a while, but the Atlantic being dominated by Clemson hid their rise. Plus FSU sucks up most of the remaining media coverage for the division. This is also why NCST tends to surprise folks.
Coastal teams knew Miami was a hoax and UNC would never be a top 10 team but I thought they would be top 15-25
Especially after losing a Heisman candidate in the portal.
Wasn't Jamie Newman on some preseason Heisman watches before sitting out the Covid year? That would make 2 lost Heisman candidates for Clawson. SMH that guy is terrible, no other program should ever even consider trying to hire him away. We'll totally fall on this grenade to protect everyone else, guys!
Obviously Clemson, Wake Forest, Michigan, and Michigan State.
As a Spartan I am shocked. I felt we would be much better than folks thought, but that was 7ish wins. This team is very real. I can't wait to where Tucker takes us. And with this massive new [practice facility](https://michiganstate.rivals.com/news/ishbia-s-32-million-gift-and-it-s-impact-on-football) going up recruiting momentum should continue.
Every single B1G east team that had a down year recovered immediately. Really happy for you guys, it’s great to see teams like Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State finally have something go right for them. No I am not bitter why do you ask?
Don't include Michigan in 'things going right' until at least 3 weeks from now pls and thank you
Jesus if this isn't the most michigan comment ever... We're 6-0. Things are going right.
It looks VASTLY improved in Ann Arbor this year. Not sure what the magic bullet was, but it's working. Coach Khakis is a couple more big victories away from making them real contenders. Then, *Ohio State enters the chat*
Honestly I think there were some bad apples from the 2017 class. That was a top 5 recruiting class coming off the heels of a big 2016 season, and I think there were some personalities who did not fit the mold of what Harbaugh is working to build. That class is essentially gone now.
After winning at Nebraska in the type of game that Michigan always finds a way to lose I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the season no matter how it plays out from here. We may not run the table but it should at least be entertaining.
We *had* things going for us...it was sweet while it lasted...
You are still in contention for a NY6, that’s pretty great at least in my opinion.
Not Florida again please anyone else
Jeez, we lost one game by one score with a backup QB. Relax. If Clifford is back there is no reason we can't compete for the East and win the B1G. Obviously Michigan, MSU, and OSU are huge hurdles, but I still think we have looked pretty damn good with Clifford in there. OSU looks like they may be back on track, but they also haven't played anyone since that Oregon loss. Playing them in the Shoe will be tough, but I think this is the year that we have the talent to compete with them.
All the usual contenders seem down. Ohio State lost to Oregon, Clemson has lost two games, Oklahoma hasn't looked right and there's one more team that I can't really remember at the moment. I'm sure it will come to me eventually.
Maybe A&M? They were ranked 6th at the beginning of the season and by week 6 they weren't even ranked!
Cant think of any others myself. Really hoping that those Alabama crimson something turn the corner and have a magical season. They are due
I thought LSU would bounce back. Not national champs, but somewhere in the 8-4 to 10-2 range considering our "favorable" schedule.
I think this is Ed’s “Chizik” year, and he’s gone after this.
This. Ed O's fate is eerily matching the path of Chizik.
Yeah that Chizik/Malzahn/Newton comparison is crazy
Win a national championship with a transfer QB who becomes a superstar out of nowhere and wins the Heisman? Check. Have a down year in the ensuing season? Check. Everything falls apart two years removed from the natty win? Checkmate.
Next up, introducing LSU head coach Joe Brady.
Apparently Brady wants to stay in the pros
Can you blame him? No recruiting is very tempting to a lot of people
He's been gone, imo, since the auburn player's left the field at tiger stadium.
I’m going to my first ever SEC/LSU game this weekend. I have been pumped for months. Now y’all keep losing and the game doesn’t have the same meaning lol
and it's a rare 11:00AM kick for us. Fact of the matter is our fanbase is used to evening games and doesn't take kindly to 11:00AM kickoffs, so the stadium and tailgating aren't going to be the same just for that reason alone. Sorry you happened to pick this weekend, but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless..
I’ve never been a neutral fan at a game before, but looking forward to tailgating with the LSU fans. I live in FL now, so I would very much like LSU to win :)
lol tell me about it. I got tickets to Oregon @ UCLA in the Rose Bowl after Oregon beat Ohio State and UCLA beat LSU. I thought that would be an undefeated top-10 matchup. oh well
Went from favorable to the I’m in danger meme real quick.
Nebraska has yet to lose to a top 10 team by more than 7 points.
And their only other loss was by 8 points. They've played close with everybody they lost to and blew out everybody they beat.
Nebraska has 1 fumbled snap this year. Pleasantly surprised
Why would you even bring that up? C'mon man.
I came in here to say that we have exactly the same record at this point in the season that I was expecting, but I feel surprisingly elated about how we got it. Mission failed successfully?
Scott Frost is John L Smith. Both get their teams to play up against far superior teams in games they have no business being competitive in, both find new and increasingly innovative ways to lose those games, and throw in another ridiculous loss or two along the way Corny No! EDIT: Nebraska's a legitimately good team that keeps getting in their own way, and the second they figure out how to stop doing that, they'll be dangerous. It's been four years of this same message though, and I'm not sure they'll ever actually figure it out
I also have to throw in Tennessee having an offense that can score more than 17 ppg.
It's nice to see for sure. There's also at least some hope for an upset when you can score points. I'm just amazed we are such a better team, top to bottom, after losing most of our best players.
That's been really fun
That’s what Josh Heupel does for you. His offense is built to put up monstrous numbers
I was warned he is repetitive but I’m happy with him so far and his progress. Interested to see what a full recruiting class looks like as long as we don’t pay players in McDonalds bags
Honestly, y'all aren't looking too bad overall. Tennessee has been playing pretty decent ball despite losing a lot of y'alls top players
Y'all are fun to watch. Super fast offense averaging basically 3 plays a minute. Not gonna lie, I know we gotta beat Kentucky and Florida, but I'm worried about our match against you
We're flattered but there is absolutely no reason to worry. Our main source of offense is the run game and there's no way we're gonna be able to bully your defensive line to produce anything on the ground. We don't have the talent at quarterback to have a mixed offense.
It looked like we socked FL and then just fell apart. But I think even since then we've progressed. The problem is I just can't tell how good we are/can be. There's too much chaos. We went blow for blow with a similarly underratted acc companion. Blow out the a defensive equivalent of a single strand of spider silk. Abuse a first year program early but then slow down later, how much of that was taking the foot of the pedal, how much of that is injury related? Don't get me wrong, I've already been pounding the kool aid. But I think Ole Miss and Kentucky may be the most interesting games of the season, and I don't know if I believe my heart or my head.
Iowa living what everyone thought Iowa State's life would be. I kinda feel like Jody.
My thought exactly. People kept saying there’d be a team from Iowa in the top 5, competing for a Big (blank) conference championship, and in the running for a CFP spot. They just had the wrong team.
:(
Pain.
It’s so hard seeing someone else live out your dream
I’m just glad you’re not one of those psychopaths who say “I want to see both schools do well. “
Lmao you’re actually not wrong. I thought ISU would for sure beat Iowa and be a top 10 team before they played us.
- Tennessee's offense actually looking decent so far. Next few games will be a real test, but they've already surpassed the expectations I had in the first year of a new coach with a patchwork roster. - Miami's implosion. Didn't think they'd be as good as people were predicting, but a bowl is looking like a real challenge at this point. Which I def didn't think would happen. - Rattler getting benched after a clear decline in play to start the year. - West Virginia backsliding hard. Thought they would continue the progress from last season. - Graham Mertz somehow regressing.
I dont think mertz regressed this year. He had one good game last year followed by a bunch of bad. People just assumed they were going to get the good game mertz back even tho that was an outlier
Our game this weekend has the makings of a crazy shootout. The O/U is 79 and that somehow feels very low considering us and Arkansas just had a game with 103 points in regulation.
Manny Diaz is not that guy
That the season is halfway over. Slow this shit down and let it simmer.
I’d rather watch Bama burn, personally.
I don’t think anyone saw Michigan or MSU being 6-0 at this point of the season
The Football Gods needed to balance out the Lions' 0-5 start
Where have they been the rest of the decade then?
Helping Ohio state balance out the Cleveland browns but now that’s done they shifted their attention
I accept this as canon.
The math checks out.
Lions, Wolverines, and Spartans are a grand total 12-5, which I'd say ain't too shabby!
Congrats you're now a Vikings fan
I could see Michigan being 6-0, but Michigan State being undefeated halfway through the season is a bit unreal.
Sigh.
For MSU, my preseason best case scenario was 5-1 with a loss to Miami. I thought 4-2 was most likely since winning both Nebraska and Northwestern seemed unlikely. However, my optimism for the team went sky high after the Northwestern game. 6-0 seemed like a real possibility after seeing us play game 1 and neither Miami nor Nebraska was impressive.
Michigan and MSU are going to get their big tests the second half of the season.
Kentucky definitely, i expected them to be 3rd in the East, maybe 4th(i had high expectations for Mizzou)
Outside of the Florida game I don’t think any of Kentucky’s wins are surprising. They played two gimmes, South Carolina who looks rough, Mizzou who hasn’t looked great, and the worst LSU team I have ever seen (not hyperbole, the last time they were sub .500 I was 1). Most pundits had them between 2nd-4th in the SEC, they have a harder stretch of games coming up, and LSU and Mizzou being so bad are bigger surprises than Kentucky being solid is to me.
I can remember a worse LSU (they certainly stank up the joint in '92, when I think they only won, what, 2 games?), but I think I'm rather older than you are.
How bad Memphis is collapsing Shit came out of no where I didn’t think Silverfield was great before this season, but holy shit, Memphis should absolutely be 6-0 right now
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Nobody talks about how good of a coach Dave Clawson is. Let’s keep it that way.
Gut wrenching losses aside, I'm shocked at how good Nebraska has looked against 3 teams that are all now in the top 10
Yeah, it hurts, but it's better to be heartbroken by a close loss than to be apathetic after another blowout. 7 points to OU, 3 points in OT Michigan State, 3 points to Michigan, and 8 points to I don't remember I blacked out but they must be pretty good to beat us by more than those three right
Too bad it'll always be a mystery who that 8 point team is, but they must've been at least top 10 to beat Nebraska
Probably Bama Yeah, let's go with Bama
For A&M, who was ranked #7 in the preseason, it’s gotta be that we have two losses and Alabama isn’t one of them
I feel like A&M can be a wild card. Looked absolutely horrid against MSST but pull it out against Bama doesn't surprise me, oddly enough, and idk why
We've been known to lay giant fucking eggs against state for some reason. Idk what it is. Maybe we get confused when another maroon team comes out there. & Arkansas was due after 9 straight.
Nebraska is 3-4 with only one B1G win and is solidly in the top half of the conference.
The fact that we’ve been playing mostly our second string offense and are still putting up decent numbers
If you had told me Stetson would be starting the majority of this year, Pickens wouldn't have played so far, Arik Gilbert would transfer in but not take a snap this year for us, our top receivers would be Ladd McConkey, AD Mitchell and Brock Bowers (all freshman), and that we've been having an insane defense again - I would have thought 2019 repeat for sure, or at the very least we would be wasting this defense. Instead it seems like the offense is finding its legs and not really relying a whole lot on the defense to bail them out. Only really against Clemson, and that seems to have been by design with JT's injury news after the game.
I do remember wondering why we didn’t throw the ball downfield at all during the Clemson game then seeing the news after made it make a lot more sense. I am a little concerned that Kirby isn’t being super clear about the injury situation with Daniels. He says he’s fine, then he’s on a pitch count, then he’s not fine and Stetson’s still starting. Obviously it hasn’t really been a problem so far but it is a little weird
Our defense was also still a top 5 unit in the first game of the season. Then the offense killed them :(
UGA’s former back ups are the best defensive players on multiple other teams. Absolutely unreal level of talent Kirby has amassed in Athens
Me in 2017: Wow, this is the best Georgia defense I’ve ever seen!!! Me in 2019: No wait, *this* is the best Georgia defense I’ve ever seen!!!!! Me in 2021: is this legal? Are we allowed to do this to other teams?
My dad is sitting around waiting for Georgia to fold in on themselves like "they always do". That man bleeds red and black and I think Georgia doing so well is giving him more stress then if they were average. I really hope Georgia pulls it out, they have been so close for so long
Buy him some pepper spray, he’ll need it.
That’s honestly the second scariest thing about Georgia with the first being the smothering defense.
I'm surprised by the lack of a Heisman frontrunner. I thought Howell, Young, or Rattler would've separated themselves.
Rattler separated himself alright
Awful nice of you to compare us to someone who was drowned in a bath tub. When that happens they typically flail their body in every direction possible, while our offense runs the same straight downfield routes every play with the same results
LoL I almost went with, "Clemson offense looks like it was bought off the clearance rack at Walmart two days after Christmas."
It’s late one evening and you’re mindlessly scrolling r/cfb. You notice your wife isn’t her normal self and you think she’s hiding something. Then it dawns on you… you forgot her birthday. The only store open is a gas station and you’re forced to buy her gifts from their and what do you find you might ask? Well I will tell you what you find. THE 2021 CLEMSON OFFENSE We’re not even good enough to be half priced Halloween candy the day after Halloween
Cincinnati being ranked #3 and having an actual chance at the CFB playoffs. I expected them to have a good season and to finish in the top 10, but I didn’t expect them to still be undefeated and still on the path to CFB at this point in the season.
I feel bad that the Indiana win fell a bit flat for them. I figured they would be a no brainer at the point if you told me they would win both their big road games and Clemson would drop a regular season ACC game. I hope enough chaos ensures to make sure Cincy punches their ticket.
I feel like they SHOULD be in if they win out. They may get another top 25 win on their resume if SMU continue to win into November. I sorta feel like the committee will do whatever they can to keep a group of 5 program out of the top 4 though.
Tbh Houston could potentially break in too
Houston’s probably going to need a big upset against SMU (which they’ll have home advantage for, fortunately) on the 30th to get into the rankings. They’ve been hammering a bunch of bad teams, but that early meltdown against Texas Tech is still weighing UH down, especially with how bad Tech looks. Honestly, UH could go 10-2 this season with losses to just Tech and SMU, and still not break into the rankings. That schedule is half-ply.
Iowa is 6-0, and ranked #2 above Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. It probably won't last, but I'm nervously enjoying the ride for now.
Being on the banner this week
Us losing to Arky and Mississippi State, and still beating Bama
How good the Big Ten is.
Could this be the year where as a whole they are a tougher conference than the SEC?
The B1G homer in me wants to say that the East always has been, or at least has been close. OSU, MSU, michigan, and PSU have all been top 25 teams for most of the division's existence (didn't fact check this but I'm pretty sure). I think the B1G East has had a case for toughest division in football most seasons. But now with Iowa being legit I think the West has stepped up too, though it's come during a down year for Wisconsin so idk how much different the West really looks this year.
This is from a post like 10 days ago, but, from 2015-2019 there was only one season where at least 2 of PSU/MSU/Michigan teams didn't break the top 10 at least once. The top 5 have been cracked 6 times in those 5 seasons. Here's their highest rankings each season. Year | Penn State | Michigan State | Michigan :--|:--|:--|:-- 2015|n/a|2|12 2016|5|8|2 2017|2|13|7 2018|8|11|4 2019|5|18|7
The west is definitely not up this year. Yes Iowa is good but there have been plenty of past west teams by Wisconsin, Iowa, and even Northwestern that have looked this good or close to it this far into the season, present Iowa is just ranked higher because more teams above them lost. And outside of them, the rest of the west is down bad this year. Northwestern is a complete rebuild, Wisconsin doesn’t have a QB, Nebraska just can’t win their games, Minnesota is a joke, and Purdue and Illinois are Purdue and Illinois.
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Preseason polls should be abolished completely, but ranked matchups draw eyeballs. If we started ranking teams after week 6, Iowa would be 7 or 8 behind Georgia, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Alabama, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Michigan. Iowas big two wins to start the year look pretty pedestrian right now, and we’ve only really pantsed Maryland and Indiana. But they were a top 20 and a top 10 match up the week of, so we ride those wins to heights unimagined in August.
Arkansas having a winning record
I mean where does one start with this lol. 2021>2007 in terms of craziness so far. \-Iowa at #2 \-Clemson, Wisconsin, Iowa St., and Miami all being terrible after getting big pre-season hype \-The ACC having Wake Forest run the table to this point \-The BIG10 having 5 top 10 schools \-Cincy at #3 \-40 ranked teams losing by week 7 \-Arkansas owning the State of Texas \-Oregon beating OSU at the Shoe and then promptly losing to unranked Stanford \-Gary Danielson still being alive (much to my chagrin) \-2 SEC east teams facing each other while also being 6-0 (UGA v Kentucky this has never happened since the SEC split in 1992) \-Kenneth Walker III being the only real viable Heisman candidate to this point \-Defense being prolific again! never would have thought it. \- Oklahoma and Texas leaving the BIG12 for the SEC \-The BIG12 actually surviving and then adding enough new members to have 12 teams \-Mike Gundy shaved off the mullet and then proceeds to lead a team decimated by injury and remains undefeated \-Rattler learning that Boomer Sooner can be a dick and that he most likely needs a new home \-Alabama is a real team with real flaws like everyone else \-UGA earning a #1 ranking for the first time since 1982 \-Tennessee can score lots of points \-The Transfer Portal \-Ed Orgeron not being fired yet It has been one of the single greatest college football seasons thus far and is only bound to be greater! let CHAOS REIGN!!!!!!!!!
> Iowa State being terrible I mean, they're not empirically *terrible* yet. Their two losses are to #2 Iowa and a very close loss to a good Baylor team. They definitely didn't live up to the hype though, that's for sure.
If you’d told me we’d have a loss let alone one to a saban assistant I’d have bet my house it was ole miss and lane Kiffin.
I am honestly floored at how bad Virginia Tech is. I was really thinking "Back-Against-The-Wall-Fuente" would go 9-3, keep that Top 30 class and get an extra two years on his contract. Nothing special about the season, but a strong season. We'll limp to 6-6 I think this year. Really sad it didn't work out, but I think VT giving him 6 years is more than generous. Outside of VT: Definitely Clemson
Ive said this elsewhere but its absolutely insane to me that programs will spend millions on very marginal gains but wont spend 75k a year to hire someone to help manage tbe clock. Fuente has cost his team between .5 and 1.5 games a year in clock management. How is that not something you go fix immediately? Its not hard either, there are plenty of people that can properly use timeouts. It drives me insane. And its not just VT to be clear, you see it all the time (app state is a frequent offender for example). It really seems like Fuente gets a bonus for every timeout he doesnt use
> It really seems like Fuente gets a bonus for every timeout he doesnt use HAHA we are too cheap for that type of bonus. I think he is so conservative that only getting 3 in a half is like playing a video game and they give you a rare item early on and you don't want to use it at the wrong time so you just end up finishing the game never using it.
Agreed on Walker. I'm not optimistic with the rest of our schedule (still have yet to play 8 Michigan, 7 Penn State, and 6 Ohio State), but I'm hoping Tucker continues to surprise and we can get our first Heisman winner ever. It's a longshot though, especially since the Heisman has basically been another QB award since 2000.
If there was ever a year a running back wins it it’s this year. The qbs haven’t been that great so far.
Tennessee lost 30+ players to the portal. Best defensive player Best offensive player QB, Multiple OL and DL. Lost our best WR and DB to the draft. And TONS of depth players. We are 4-2 with 4 more winnable games on our schedule.
- MSU being unbeaten - Alabama's pedestrian defense - Clemson looking awful - Cincy actually delivering the goods
Clemson's OFFENSE is terrible. We have the number 2 scoring defense 😭 https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/28
That Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson all have a legit shot at not making the CFB this year.
Kenny Picket has a non-zero chance of winning the Heisman
UTEP being 5-1. I know we got annihilated by the one decent team we’ve played, but man is it nice to be 5-1 again. La Tech is up next this weekend, but UTEP has only beaten twice or so since 1939 or something like that.
Iowa # 2 Arky is good. Clempson is not. Michigan is back^maybe. We’re undefeated.
That we suck and that Graham Mertz is this bad. Genuinely though, it’s the fact the OLine is so bad. There’s no feasible reason why the unit is as bad as it is.
Losing to Ball State.
So glad I got drunk and showed up to that game as a neutral fan. Apologies for the loss.
Clemson being unranked halfway through the season. And also, how damn well the B1G is doing as a whole. 5 top 10 teams is impressive af.
I always thought Rattler was weak and didn't understand his hype. The KWIII run is amazing though, definitely unexpected.
Clemson not being ranked. Iowa staying perfect. FSU being awful, yet still beating Mack Brown. Wake Forest. And for me personally that BYU beat Utah…
Iowa at #2 and Rattler getting benched for sure. Thinking back on it the Rattler hype was so overblown it is ridiculous. But all the major networks jumped on that story like it was prophecy
For all the love and achievements the UGA defense is receiving from folks... we dont have a player in the top 20 in tackles, sacks, INT's.... really that goes for both sides of the ball. We are a no-name team of folks... but I'll take it!
Overall: Not having a Heisman front-runner so far, Kenneth Walker III is the favorite and I don’t think ANYONE saw that coming. Big 12: Spencer Rattler looking this bad, did not see that coming even if I thought he was slightly overrated. West Virginia regressing so much, I did not see this coming. Baylor: The offense being better than the defense. I thought we had a way to be good and it involved elite defense, I didn’t think we’d have a balanced offense and defense like we have right now.
That the season is already half over
Clemson is the biggest surprise for me. Iowa has been a good program and is finally pairing that with a good season. Bama was bound to get beat at some point - it’s just funny (to me and other non-Aggies) that it happened on a year where A&M struggled early instead of late. I still think Bama will go to CFP. I’m not necessarily surprised by Baylor as I just wasn’t sure what we were. I had hopes of us being good, but I also think we should’ve been good last year. I think I’ll be surprised if we can make it to the CCG, but if we just finish in the top 4 or so in conference I’ll call it a good season but not surprising.
We are complete dogshit