2022 College Football Discussion & Pick'em Thread

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Middle Tennessee took down #25 Miami (FL) 45-31.

James Madison destroyed MTSU and had a nice comeback to win in Boone today. In a just world, they would be on the cusp of being ranked. Maybe after their cupcake next week before the schedule heats up almost each and every week.

They won't be bowl eligible due to the transition period but good chance they finish around 8-3 in the Fun Belt, and maybe even better than that.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The Ivy League is really struggling in their non conference tune ups. Princeton, Yale, Harvard and now Dartmouth don't look good at all. Penn is doing okay but don't know that they'll keep it up.

After a decade of building up with serious recruits, it all seems to be tumbling back down after shutting it down for the 2020 season. (Strangely, this is the inverse of what happened in lacrosse, where the Ivy League immediately dominated the national conversation in a way not seen in years.)

[Dereich]

Minnesota may be for real, as they just won at Michigan State 34-7 and are now 4-0.

I'm gonna wait until they play a real team

I know you probably are a Michigan fan, but most years Michigan State is in the top half of the Big Ten.

You have an incredible ability to miss information... Look at my sig.

So, insulting your own team? What kind of fan are you?

A true fan mocks and insults their own team when it isn't playing perfectly as much or more than their main rivals do.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Minnesota may be for real, as they just won at Michigan State 34-7 and are now 4-0.

I'm gonna wait until they play a real team

I know you probably are a Michigan fan, but most years Michigan State is in the top half of the Big Ten.

You have an incredible ability to miss information... Look at my sig.

So, insulting your own team? What kind of fan are you?

A true fan mocks and insults their own team when it isn't playing perfectly as much or more than their main rivals do.

And fans of some teams have more practice at this than others.

[Orwell]

Minnesota may be for real, as they just won at Michigan State 34-7 and are now 4-0.

I'm gonna wait until they play a real team

I know you probably are a Michigan fan, but most years Michigan State is in the top half of the Big Ten.

You have an incredible ability to miss information... Look at my sig.

So, insulting your own team? What kind of fan are you?

A pissed off fan who's team just lost 2 cupcakes

[NewYorkExpress]

Minnesota may be for real, as they just won at Michigan State 34-7 and are now 4-0.

I'm gonna wait until they play a real team

I know you probably are a Michigan fan, but most years Michigan State is in the top half of the Big Ten.

You have an incredible ability to miss information... Look at my sig.

So, insulting your own team? What kind of fan are you?

A pissed off fan who's team just lost 2 cupcakes

Since when were either Washington or Minnesota bad losses?

[NewYorkExpress]

With about ten minutes left in the game, Kansas State leads #6 Oklahoma 27-20.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Two old man complaints:

1) Why are teams not leaving a quality linebacker well short of the first down sticks to spy a QB anymore? The most dangerous play in the sport is clearly a QB draw right now, which I see repeatedly go unstopped even when it's the obvious call. All. Day. Long.

Adrian Martinez on 3rd and 17 with no one in the backfield when Kansas State's one goal is to kill clock. Man, I wonder what is coming? Clear out the defense and immediately find the hole cleared out against a 3 or 4 man rush. This needs a lot of practice or teams needs to find linebackers with enough speed to be able to stop the constant 8-15 yard draws. My own team suffered from this a lot today. Make the offense earn it by actually completing the riskier pass.

2) It seemed a few years ago that teams were semi-frequently going for 2 after scoring down 14 as the math told them to do. Now, I cannot remember the last time I saw this. Oklahoma again did not consider it tonight.


I am relieved one 'giant' is falling after Clemson, Michigan, Oregon (and Kentucky but that's less fun) teased us. But it's really pathetic because they should have completed the comeback, or at least come close if they played it right.

My lone pick in danger was USC, so hopefully that one actually falls too.

[ultraviolet]

Not really worried about the Maryland game. The same thing happened with Rutgers at home last year, and that’s ignoring that Rutgers was a 5-win team last year and Maryland is looking like an 8/9-win team. Would love to see them kill MSU and get to 9 wins, it definitely looks possible.

[NewYorkExpress]

Looks like the usual #PAC12AfterDark shenanigans are in full swing again.

Early in the Third Quarter, Oregon State leads #7 USC 7-3.

[NewYorkExpress]

Stephen F. Austin just beat Warner (which I think is Division II) 98-0.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Stephen F. Austin just beat Warner (which I think is Division II) 98-0.

Warner is nothing closing to a D2 quality university. It's an NAIA school and a pretty bad one at that.

[Podgy the Bear]

It seemed a few years ago that teams were semi-frequently going for 2 after scoring down 14 as the math told them to do. Now, I cannot remember the last time I saw this. Oklahoma again did not consider it tonight.

Florida did today with two late touchdowns after being down by 17--and failed both times.  A near complete debacle with horrible clock management by Tennessee (plus a beautiful onside kick by Florida) at the end could have the Gators playing for a game tying field goal had they made the nearly sure thing PATs.  Instead, they had to send a Hail Mary pass which was intercepted.

I'm not sure what the current success rate with 2 point conversions is in college football.   I suppose it's more frequently practiced because of potential overtime games.   I'll always remember Tom Osborne's decision to go for the 2 against Miami in 1983--and how Nebraska could have won (at least a share if not outright) the National Championship if he had just made the PAT to tie the game (remember, no overtime games then).

[Pedocon Theory is not a theory]

I came close to weeping several times during that game

[NewYorkExpress]

With Week Four officially done, a new set of playoff and New Year's Six predictions from me.

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs Kentucky

Sugar: Oklahoma State vs Tennessee

Rose: USC vs Michigan

Cotton: Washington vs Coastal Carolina

Fiesta #1 Alabama vs #4 Georgia

Peach #2 Ohio State vs #3 Clemson

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/gamedayfinal092422/college-football-week-4-highlights-top-plays-games-takeaways

Nebraska is like the VHS tape in "The Ring." All who come into contact with it are doomed to perish within seven days.

I don't know why, but I found that amusing.

[Dereich]

With Week Four officially done, a new set of playoff and New Year's Six predictions from me.

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs Kentucky

Sugar: Oklahoma State vs Tennessee

Rose: USC vs Michigan

Cotton: Washington vs Coastal Carolina

Fiesta #1 Alabama vs #4 Georgia

Peach #2 Ohio State vs #3 Clemson

I'm as big a Florida State fan as you'll see on this forum...FSU is not making an NY6 game. The next three on FSU's schedule are Wake/NC State/Clemson; a brutal gauntlet for the ACC in which even the biggest homers are writing off a loss or two. Eight wins, beating at least one rival, and a bowl are still the difficult-but-achievable goals for this year. I'd look at NC State for the Orange Bowl.

[GeorgiaModerate]

WEEK 4 RESULTS

A tumultuous week resulted in a four-way tie at 17-8 between Dereich, ER, Thomas D, and me, with JGibson a game behind.  Full results:

17 Dereich, ExtremeRepublican, GeorgiaModerate, Thomas D
16 JGibson
15 Donerail, Grumps, Illiniwek, Terry
14 NY Express
13 CalamityBlue, ultraviolet
12 Harry

JGibson didn't pick the Thursday games or TCU-SMU, or he might have won.

There were five unanimous picks:

Kansas-Duke
Texas-Texas Tech (wrong)
Old Dominion-Arkansas State
Ohio State-Wisconsin
Oklahoma-Kansas State (wrong)

And four games with a single dissenter; the dissenter was wrong in all of them:

Clemson-Wake Forest
Oregon-Washington State
USC-Oregon State
Utah-Arizona State

Dereich and I are now tied for first overall, a game ahead of Illiniwek.  Year to date (100 games):

71 Dereich, GeorgiaModerate
70 Illiniwek
69 ExtremeRepublican, Harry
67 Terry
63 JGibson
62 CalamityBlue
60 Grumps, NY Express
59 Donerail
57 Thomas D
35 Storr
31 ultraviolet
12 Orwell

[NewYorkExpress]

Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board to meet tomorrow to discuss future of football program.

A special meeting of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association board has been called for Monday afternoon, a school spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday morning.


He did not disclose details of the meeting, but it’s a strong indication that a decision about a change in the leadership of the football program has been made. That could mean either athletic director Todd Stansbury or coach Geoff Collins or both.

Additionally, team meetings have been canceled Sunday, a person familiar with the program told the AJC. As the team normally meets and practices on Sunday and takes Monday off, this is a significant departure and strongly suggests that the change will include Collins.

Assuming Collins is fired...Georgia Tech should be somewhere where they can make bowl games on a regular basis.

While they aren't going to get Urban Meyer, Dave Aranda or a high-profile assistant like Graham Harrell or Bill O'Brien, a good competent coach should be doable for the Yellow Jackets.

My guesses for the next head coach at Georgia Tech, assuming Collins is fired.

Former Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen
Former Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jamey Chadwell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich
Tennessee Offensive Coordinator Alex Golesh

[Orwell]

Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board to meet tomorrow to discuss future of football program.

A special meeting of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association board has been called for Monday afternoon, a school spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday morning.


He did not disclose details of the meeting, but it’s a strong indication that a decision about a change in the leadership of the football program has been made. That could mean either athletic director Todd Stansbury or coach Geoff Collins or both.

Additionally, team meetings have been canceled Sunday, a person familiar with the program told the AJC. As the team normally meets and practices on Sunday and takes Monday off, this is a significant departure and strongly suggests that the change will include Collins.

Assuming Collins is fired...Georgia Tech should be somewhere where they can make bowl games on a regular basis.

While they aren't going to get Urban Meyer, Dave Aranda or a high-profile assistant like Graham Harrell or Bill O'Brien, a good competent coach should be doable for the Yellow Jackets.

My guesses for the next head coach at Georgia Tech, assuming Collins is fired.

Former Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen
Former Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jamey Chadwell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich
Tennessee Offensive Coordinator Alex Golesh

Scott frost is neither good or competent, he’d have been fired 2 years ago if he wasn’t  a legend in Lincoln

[NewYorkExpress]

The new AP Poll is in.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. USC
7. Oklahoma State
8. Kentucky
9. Tennessee
10. NC State
11. Ole Miss
12. Penn State
13. Utah
14. Baylor
15. Oregon
16. Oklahoma
17. Texas A&M
18. Washington
19. Arkansas
20. BYU
21. Wake Forest
22. Florida State
23. Minnesota
24. Pittsburgh
25. Syracuse

[Dereich]

The new AP Poll is in.

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. USC
7. Oklahoma State
8. Kentucky
9. Tennessee
10. NC State
11. Ole Miss
12. Penn State
13. Utah
14. Baylor
15. Oregon
16. Oklahoma
17. Texas A&M
18. Washington
19. Arkansas
20. BYU
21. Wake Forest
22. Florida State
23. Minnesota
24. Pittsburgh
25. Syracuse

That's the Coaches Poll. The AP Poll is this:

1-Georgia
2-Bama
3-Ohio State
4-Michigan
5-Clemson
6-USC
7-Kentucky
8-Tennessee
9-Okla State
10-NC St
11-Penn St
12-Utah
13-Oregon
14-Ole Miss
15-Washington
16-Baylor
17-A&M
18-OU
19-BYU
20-Arkansas
21-Minnesota
22-Wake
23-Florida St
24-Pitt
25-Kansas St
(26-Kansas)

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Week 5

Friday, September 30th

Tulane @ Houston 7 PM EDT ESPN

UTSA @ Middle Tennessee 7:30 PM EDT CBSSN

San Diego State @ Boise State 8 PM EDT FS1

#15 Washington @ UCLA 10:30 PM EDT ESPN

Saturday, October 1st

#18 Oklahoma @ TCU Noon EDT ABC

#7 Kentucky @ #14 Ole Miss Noon EDT ESPN

Texas Tech @ #25 Kansas State Noon EDT ESPN+

Illinois @ Wisconsin Noon EDT BTN

Oregon State @ #12 Utah 2 PM EDT PAC12

Northern Illinois @ Ball State 2 PM EDT ESPN+

#2 Alabama @ #20 Arkansas 3:30 PM EDT CBS

#9 Oklahoma State @ #16 Baylor 3:30 PM EDT FOX

#22 Wake Forest @ #23 Florida State 3:30 PM EDT ABC

Iowa State @ #26 Kansas 3:30 PM EDT ESPN2

Michigan State @ Maryland 3:30 PM EDT FS1

SMU @ UCF 3:30 PM EDT ESPNU

Miami (OH) @ Buffalo 3:30 PM EDT ESPN+

#17 Texas A&M @ Mississippi State 4 PM EDT SECN

California @ Washington State 5:30 PM EDT PAC12

Liberty @ Old Dominion 6 PM EDT ESPN+

LSU @ Auburn 7 PM EDT ESPN

#10 NC State @ #5 Clemson 7:30 PM EDT ABC

Indiana @ Nebraska 7:30 PM EDT BTN

Virginia @ Duke 7:30 PM EDT ESPN3

Stanford @ #13 Oregon 11 PM EDT FS1

[NewYorkExpress]

Houston
Middle Tennessee
Boise State
UCLA (I got burned picking #PAC12afterDark last week, but UCLA is significantly better than both Oregon State and Washington State)

Oklahoma
Kentucky (can the Wildcats do the impossible and win SEC titles in both basketball and football in the same season? It will require beating both Alabama and Georgia, but I'm a believer)
Kansas State
Illinois (Can Illinois do the impossible and make the Big Ten Title game? Going to Camp Randall Stadium is tough journey, but this Illini team seems to have something special going for them)
Utah
Northern Illinois
Alabama (I want to pick Arkansas, I really do, but Alabama's just too good)
Baylor (Dave Aranda might actually be the best non-Nick Saban coach in the country. Why he passed on the LSU/Florida/USC/Oklahoma jobs is a mystery to me)
Florida State (I think the Seminoles are back, even if they probably won't beat Clemson)
Kansas (Can the Jayhawks win the Big Twelve in Basketball and Football? They'd have to beat Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor twice, which won't be easy, but Lance Leipold is making a believer out of me.)
Maryland (Wasn't it last year we were hailing Mel Tucker as one of the best coaches in the country)
UCF
Buffalo
Texas A&M
Washington State (Wazzu isn't good, but Cal is horrible)
Liberty
LSU (Brian Harsin's fate is sealed with this game. Will we go four weeks in a row with a coaching change in a Power Five conference?)
Clemson (I want to pick NC State, but Clemson is just too good. Last season was a strange anomaly for the Tigers)
Indiana
Duke (The Blue Devils right the ship against a bad Virgnia side. The way Duke is playing, an ACC Coastal title might not be out of reach)
Oregon (No #PAC12AfterDark here)

[7,052,770]

Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board to meet tomorrow to discuss future of football program.

A special meeting of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association board has been called for Monday afternoon, a school spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday morning.

He did not disclose details of the meeting, but it’s a strong indication that a decision about a change in the leadership of the football program has been made. That could mean either athletic director Todd Stansbury or coach Geoff Collins or both.

Additionally, team meetings have been canceled Sunday, a person familiar with the program told the AJC. As the team normally meets and practices on Sunday and takes Monday off, this is a significant departure and strongly suggests that the change will include Collins.

Assuming Collins is fired...Georgia Tech should be somewhere where they can make bowl games on a regular basis.

While they aren't going to get Urban Meyer, Dave Aranda or a high-profile assistant like Graham Harrell or Bill O'Brien, a good competent coach should be doable for the Yellow Jackets.

My guesses for the next head coach at Georgia Tech, assuming Collins is fired.

Former Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen
Former Nebraska Head Coach Scott Frost
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jamey Chadwell
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich
Tennessee Offensive Coordinator Alex Golesh

Mullen would be a really good fit for Georgia Tech. He was very successful at the "underdog school" role, and actually was pretty damn successful at Florida over a 4-year period too. But a school like Georgia Tech isn't going to give him grief over his preferred recruiting strategy of finding underrated high school players and developing them and will be OK if he wins 7-8 games a year with the occasional more. Also I think he would like living in a big city like Atlanta where a lot of other things are going on, rather than a much smaller city totally devoted to the college.

And here's an especially hot take -- I think Georgia Tech could possibly come to the SEC in the inevitable future when Clemson and Florida State do. The SEC would be fools to let the Big 10 or even the Big 12 have a foothold in the Atlanta market.