2022 College Football Discussion & Pick'em Thread

[NewYorkExpress]

In terms of actual upsets, Missouri leads #25 South Carolina 17-0 with less than five minutes to go in the first half.

The Gamecocks were three and a half point favorites heading into the game.

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Possible upset going on in Louisville, as Louisville leads #10 Wake Forest 20-14 with about seven minutes to go in the Third quarter.

The Deamon Deacons entered this game as three point favorites.

EDIT: Now 27-14 Louisville.

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Louisville running away with things against #10 Wake Forest, leading 41-14 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter.

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#10 Wake Forest, #20 Cincnnati and #25 South Carolina have all lost to their unranked opponents.

Louisville dominated Wake Forest 48-21, UCF defeated Cincinnati 25-21, and Missouri defeated South Carolina 23-10.

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The last major obstacle (not counting Michigan) in #17 Illinois's path to winning the Big Ten West and possibly making the Rose Bowl has been overcome, as the Illini defeated Nebraska today 26-9.

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Still a little early, but it's time to predict the playoff and New Year's Six bowls as of this week:

Orange: North Carolina vs Illinois

Sugar: TCU vs Alabama

Rose: Oregon vs Michigan

Cotton: USC vs Tulane

Peach: #1 Georgia vs #4 Clemson

Fiesta: #2 Ohio State vs #3 Tennessee

[NewYorkExpress]

#3 Tennessee dominating against #19 Kentucky, leading 27-6 heading into halftime.

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Also, we've got another possible "upset"', as Texas A&M leads #15 Ole Miss 14-7 with less than six minutes to go in the first half.

The Rebels entered the game as three point favorites.

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Clearly I have a habit of jinxing teams.

Pittsburgh leads #21 North Carolina 17-14 at halftime.

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The PAC-12 seems to be a three-team race between Oregon, UCLA and USC at the moment, as UCLA is dominating Stanford 38-6 at the Rose Bowl.

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For the record, if College GameDay isn't at Georgia/Tennessee next week, I might throw something.

The only other games on the calendar remotely comparable are Alabama/LSU and Wake Forest/NC State, and as much as GameDay going to Tiger Stadium is a good idea, they can't ignore a top three match in Georgia/Tennessee (even if it is on CBS).

[NewYorkExpress]

Looks like I won't have to throw anything. College GameDay is indeed heading to Athens for Tennessee/Georgia.

I'm presuming Alabama/Ole Miss will be the choice next week (another rivalry game, it could end up on sister program SEC Nation instead), with a non-zero possibility of Washington/Oregon, North Carolina/Wake Forest (anyone else realize how rare it is for the Tobacco Road games to be conference relevant in football?) or UCF/Tulane (and actually, heading to New Orleans for the Tulane game would be a great idea if they don't do Alabama/Ole Miss for some reason).

[NewYorkExpress]

New AP Poll is in:

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
2. Tennessee
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. USC
10. UCLA
11. Ole Miss
12. Utah
13. Kansas State
14. Illinois
15. LSU
16. Penn State
17. North Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Tulane
20. Wake Forest
21. NC State
22. Syracuse
23. Liberty
24. Oregon State
25. UCF

[NewYorkExpress]

Army
Tulane
Kentucky
Texas A&M
Purdue (if it weren't for the fact Kirk Ferentz signed a contract extension in January, I'd speculate that he might be getting fired).
Virginia Tech
Temple
Old Dominion
Oklahoma (both teams have not been playing well this season)
Louisiana Tech
Tennessee (I said last week I would pick Tennessee over Georgia and I'm sticking to it. If the Volunteers can beat Alabama, they can beat anyone in the SEC).
Oklahoma State (it looks like Kansas will not be bowl-eligible this season either)
Pittsburgh
UCF
Stanford
West Virginia
Troy
Alabama (Imagine a scenario where Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee all finish at 11-1. Which SEC team (or more than one SEC team) makes the playoff?
Kansas State
San Diego State
Houston
Clemson
Louisville
Florida State
NC State

[NewYorkExpress]

First playoff rankings come out this week.

My guess as to what the first top four will look like:

1. Tennessee
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Clemson

Just missed: TCU, Alabama, Oregon, UCLA, USC

[NewYorkExpress]

Brian Harsin out as Head Coach at Auburn.

Auburn instantly becomes the top available job right now.

Best guesses as to who the next head coach at Auburn will be:

Former Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer

Former Carolina Panthers Head Coach Matt Rhule

Alabama Offensive Coordinator Bill O'Brien

Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze

Kentucky Head Coach Mark Stoops

[NewYorkExpress]

The top candidate here is Lane Kiffin. Kevin Steele and Jeff Grimes are less sexy names but probably should be mentioned here.

Also, remarkable how you somehow failed to mention Deion at a job where he actually would be a decent candidate, despite penciling him in at every open job up till now, yet still shoehorn in Urban despite him not being a fit here.

I think you're thinking of Dan Mullen.

I've only mentioned Deion Sanders for one job?

[NewYorkExpress]

I'm stunned there isn't more serious talk about Urban Meyer. If I am him, I have to imagine this might be the best school that would be "desperate" enough to take a chance on him. He could land a top 5 recruiting class at Auburn, and it would give him the opportunity to go toe to toe with the best coaches in the country, which I'm sure his ego would love. Saban won't be around forever, so Meyer could be the person that "ends" Saban's run at Alabama.

If I am Auburn, the upside is obvious. You have a good chance of becoming a perennial top 3-4 team in college football, you have someone that can go up against Saban and Smart and win some recruiting battles. And for the downsides, I don't think they are really that bad. Everyone has forgotten about Zach Smith (not at all that they should have, but it is what it is). He's never failed in college, and the problems in the NFL really were NFL problems. Tell him you don't care about the nature of his relationship and just don't go out meeting up with coeds.

I'd love nothing more than Urban Meyer to disappear from college football because I think he is a piece of ____. But I'm stunned that there really isn't a program rushing to claim him as their piece of ______.

Yeah, assuming Urban Meyer is interested in Auburn, he'd be the frontrunner for the job. Auburn and their fanbase are desperate enough to pay him whatever he wants.

[NewYorkExpress]

First Playoff Rankings are out:

1. Tennessee
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. USC
10. LSU
11. Ole Miss
12. UCLA
13. Kansas State
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Illinois
17. North Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Tulane
20. Syracuse
21. Wake Forest
22. NC State
23. Oregon State
24. Texas
25. UCF

[NewYorkExpress]

So there's now a pretty plausible path to 3 SEC teams in the playoffs:

Tennessee beats everyone except Georgia to finish 11-1. They don't win the East, because...
Georgia finishes 12-0 in the regular season, but loses the SEC Championship Game to...
Alabama, who finishes 12-1.

Honestly Tennessee's probably the odd man out in this case. They'd be behind any undefeated P5 team, but if there are enough losses, they would probably be ahead of any non-SEC 1-loss team.

The kicker is, outside of Tennessee and Oregon, Georgia's schedule really is atrocious. I actually think they have to win the SEC to get in, otherwise it's Alabama and Tennessee, as Tennessee's played a superior strength of schedule, and Alabama also has a better strength of schedule (Texas is a better non-conference matchup than any of Samford, Kent State or Georgia Tech for Georgia, and Ball State Akron and UT Martin for Tennessee).

[NewYorkExpress]

Following the reveal of the first playoff rankings, updated picks for the New Year's Six bowls.

Orange: North Carolina @ LSU

Sugar: Georgia @ TCU

Rose: Michigan @ Oregon

Cotton: Illinois @ Tulane

Peach: #1 Clemson @ #4 Alabama

Fiesta: #2 Tennessee @ #3 Ohio State

[NewYorkExpress]

Following the reveal of the first playoff rankings, updated picks for the New Year's Six bowls.

Orange: North Carolina @ LSU

Sugar: Georgia @ TCU

Rose: Michigan @ Oregon

Cotton: Illinois @ Tulane

Peach: #1 Clemson @ #4 Alabama

Fiesta: #2 Tennessee @ #3 Ohio State

On what planet would Clemson be ranked ahead of Ohio State or Tennessee?

Tennessee might not have won the SEC in this scenario (I have them losing to Georgia, with Georgia losing to Alabama, and getting in over Georgia based on Georgia's weaker strength of Schedule), and they only have the two seed because of their own superior strength of schedule to Ohio State and Alabama, and Clemson's strength of schedule is slightly better than Ohio State.

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#Pac12AfterDark might just be a thing tonight. #23 Oregon State and Washington tied at 14 with about three minutes to go in the third quarter.

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#23 Oregon State and Washington tied at 21, with less than twelve minutes to go in the game.

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#Pac12AfterDark strikes again, as Washington defeats #23 Oregon State 24-21.