2021 College Football Discussion and Pick'em Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

Okay. I thought I picked that one.

Anyways, I'm taking Oklahoma State over TCU.

[NewYorkExpress]

The seat surrounding Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen is now scalding, as Defensive Coordinator Todd Grantham and Offensive Line Coach John Hevesy have been fired following the Gators's loss to South Carolina  yesterday.

Does Mullen, whose Gators finished as SEC Runners-up last season to Alabama before losing to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, make it through the season as head coach? Will he be fired after the season?

[NewYorkExpress]

New Playoff Rankings Out:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Oklahoma
9. Oklahoma State
10. Notre Dame


Other notable:

12: Wake Forest
14. BYU
23. UTSA

[NewYorkExpress]

UConn makes a splashy hire, names former UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora as their next head coach.

Before being the UCLA Head Coach, Mora was the Head Coach for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks.

This is a pretty impressive hire for UConn, and should help them significantly with recruiting, especially compared to Randy Edsall.

Of course, playing more high-profile programs and actually being in a conference for Football would help (which might mean other sports have to leave the Big East again, which doesn't help the Basketball program, but I can't think of a reason for the ACC to say no to UConn basketball-especially UConn women's basketball.)

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Lane Kiffin's the guest picker on College Gameday, and he just pissed off everyone in Oxford, by picking Mississippi State in their game against Auburn.

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What is Lane Kiffin smoking, and can I have some?

He just picked Tennessee to beat Georgia live on College Gameday!

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New Mexico State leads Alabama and UConn leads Clemson.  We appear to have wandered into an alternate universe.

As Lee Corso would say "Not so fast!" Alabama just took a 7-3 lead against New Mexico State.

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Donerail, Dereich, are you sure that Dan Mullen isn't getting fired this season?

Samford leads Florida 28-21, early in the Second Quarter.

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DOWN GOES OKLAHOMA!

Baylor with the 24-14 victory.

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They just aren't playing defense in The Swamp at all.

We're now in the Fourth Quarter, and Florida now leads Samford 70-52.

I don't care what Dan Mullen's contract says. He's got to go.

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DOWN GOES OKLAHOMA!

Baylor with the 24-14 victory.

Cincinnati's got to be feeling happy about this.

Make that 27-14.

Baylor tacked on a field goal as time expired.

[NewYorkExpress]

Assuming one of Ohio State/Oregon loses this week (very possible, as neither Purdue nor Washington State are pushovers-especially Purdue), I think Cincinnati's got a top four spot locked up in next week's rankings. They might even leapfrog Oregon for #4, if the Ducks don't impress against Washington State.

[NewYorkExpress]

Mississippi State, which fell behind Auburn 28-3 and looked like they were going to be run out of the stadium, now leads 43-28.

What does Lane Kiffin know about Mississippi State's football team that the rest of us mere mortals don't? (he picked them to beat Auburn on College Gameday).

[NewYorkExpress]

How do you lose 38-3 against Rutgers?

The way Indiana's played this year might be what holds Cincinnati out of the playoff. The Bearcats needed both Notre Dame and Indiana to look good this year. They've gotten that from the Fighting Irish, but the Hoosiers have looked awful all season.

[NewYorkExpress]

Florida's 70-52 win over Samford had a combined total number of points of 122. That's just two scores (with two point conversions), away from being a push on double the over.

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My guess at what the committee will do after this week's games:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State

Just Missed: Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, Michigan, Michigan State, UTSA.

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Coaches Poll is out. Normally I wouldn't bother to post it but I decided otherwise when I saw the hilarious

11. Oklahoma
13. Baylor

And of course for those curious the top goes Georgia/Bama/Cinci/THE Ohio State with Oregon/Notre Dame on the outside looking in followed by the Michigans. Reminder that this poll constituted 1/3rd of the official rankings less than a decade ago.

I want to know what Mike Gundy's ballot looks like.

[NewYorkExpress]

Ohio State (probably the closest game on the schedule, and if Ohio State had struggled against Purdue at all, I'd probably be tempted to go with the Spartans here. But as it is, I can't pick against the Buckeyes at home)
Oklahoma
Clemson (Amazingly, Clemson can still win a share of the ACC Atlantic Division. They need to win this game, and hope Wake Forest also loses against Boston College next week to have a co-championship, and a trip to the ACC Championship Game based on their head-to-head win over Wake Forest. But there's still a chance for the Tigers to be going to a New Year's Six Bowl.)
Western Kentucky
Boston College
Penn State
West Virginia (After watching the Longhorns get obliterated by Kansas, I have no faith in Texas's ability to beat anyone at the moment)
Alabama
SMU (My upset pick of the day. Cincnnati has not looked good at all the past couple of weeks, almost like they are under extraordinary pressure. This week, in the toughest test the Bearcats have faced since the Notre Dame win, it all comes crashing down.)
Wisconsin
UTSA
Charlotte
Old Dominion
Missouri (After watching Florida fail to stop Samford at all, I think Missouri drops at least 50 on the Gators)
Louisiana
USC
Baylor
Auburn
Stanford
Oregon (Sorely tempted to pick Utah here. Might be changing this pick later)
Virginia Tech
Oregon State
Colorado State

[NewYorkExpress]

Adding Colorado over Washington and Tulane over South Florida.

Those are the two I'm missing, right?

[NewYorkExpress]

Butch Davis is out at Florida International.

A lot if melodrama here, as Davis accused the FIU administration of sabotaging the program.

As for who replaces Davis, I'm not sure who would be a realistic choice for FIU.

My best guess are outgoing LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron and Jacksonville Jaguars Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Coach and Former South Florida Head Coach Charlie Strong.

[NewYorkExpress]

Justin Fuente out at Virginia Tech.

My guesses as to Fuente's successor as the Head Coach of the Hokies are Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson, BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake, UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor and Louisiana Head Coach Billy Napier.

[NewYorkExpress]

New College Football Playoff Rankings out:

1.  Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma State
10. Wake Forest

Other Notables:

11: Baylor
13. Oklahoma
14. BYU
19. San Diego State
22. UTSA
24. Houston

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It's still only the first quarter, but Clemson is dominating #10 Wake Forest.

They're up 10-0, and they just got the ball back.

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Clemson just obliterated #10 Wake Forest 48-27.

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#5 Cincinnati (#3 AP Poll) getting the style points they need this evening, as they are dominating SMU, 34-0 almost midway through the third quarter.

If Oregon loses to Utah tonight, does Cincinnati move up, or does Notre Dame take the fourth spot with their easy win against Georgia Tech (I don't think Michigan gets back in unless they actually beat Ohio State.)