Lamar Jackson Wins Heisman Trophy

Well it finally happened! After dominating the beginning of the season with 6 touchdown performances, quarterback Lamar Jackson of the Louisville Cardinals has won the Heisman Trophy. Jackson received 2144 points in the vote, with 525 1st place points. The 19 year old sophomore is the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy and the first player from Louisville to win the Heisman Trophy. Jackson finished the regular season with 4928 total yards and 51 total touchdowns. The Cardinals finished at #15 in the College Football Playoff Poll and they play in the Citrus Bowl against #20 LSU on December 31st at 11am.

College Bowl Schedule and Picks

It's finally here! One of my favorite times of the year! The college football bowl season is now upon us! The committee has made their bowl selections and the schedule has been made. Today I am going to make my bowl picks and maybe give an explanation and we're going to see how I do.

FCS Celebration Bowl: North Carolina Central vs Grambling State
Pick: Grambling State

New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs UTSA
Pick: New Mexico

Las Vegas Bowl: Houston vs San Diego State
Pick: Houston

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl: Appalachian State vs Toledo
Pick: Toledo

AutoNation Cure Bowl: UCF vs Arkansas State
Pick: Arkansas State

New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs Louisiana Lafayette
Pick: Louisiana Lafayette

Miami Beach Bowl: Central Michigan vs Tulsa
Pick: Tulsa

Boca Raton Bowl: Memphis vs Western Kentucky
Pick: Memphis

Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs Wyoming
Pick: Wyoming

Idaho Potato Bowl: Idaho vs Colorado State
Pick: Colorado State

Popeyes Bahamas Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs Old Dominion
Pick: Old Dominion

Armed Forces Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs #25 Navy
Pick: Louisiana Tech

Dollar General Bowl: Ohio vs Troy
Pick: Troy

Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs Middle Tennessee State
Pick: Hawaii

St. Petersburg Bowl: Miami (OH) vs Mississippi State
Pick: Mississippi State

Quick Lane Bowl: Maryland vs Boston College
Pick: Maryland

Independence Bowl: North Carolina State vs Vanderbilt
Pick: North Carolina State

Heart of Dallas Bowl: Army vs North Texas
Pick: Army

Military Bowl: #24 Temple vs Wake Forest
Pick: #24 Temple

Holiday Bowl: Minnesota vs Washington State
Pick: Washington State

Cactus Bowl: Boise State vs Baylor
Pick: Boise State

Pinstripe Bowl: #23 Pittsburgh vs Northwestern
Pick: #23 Pittsburgh

Russell Athletic Bowl: Miami (FL) vs #16 West Virginia
Pick: #16 West Virginia

Foster Farms Bowl: Indiana vs #19 Utah
Pick: #19 Utah

Texas Bowl: Texas A&M vs Kansas State
Pick: Texas A&M

Birmingham Bowl: South Florida vs South Carolina
Pick: South Florida

Belk Bowl: Arkansas vs #22 Virginia Tech
Pick: Arkansas

Alamo Bowl: #12 Oklahoma State vs #10 Colorado
Pick: #12 Oklahoma State

Liberty Bowl: Georgia vs TCU
Pick: TCU

Sun Bowl: #18 Stanford vs North Carolina
Pick: #18 Stanford

Music City Bowl: Nebraska vs #21 Tennessee
Pick: Nebraska

Arizona Bowl: Southern Alabama vs Air Force
Pick: Air Force

Orange Bowl: #6 Michigan vs #11 Florida State
Pick: #6 Michigan

Citrus Bowl: #20 LSU vs #13 Louisville
Pick: #20 LSU

TaxSlayer Bowl: Georgia Tech vs Kentucky
Pick: Kentucky

Outback Bowl: #17 Florida vs Iowa
Pick: #17 Florida

Cotton Bowl: #15 Western Michigan vs #8 Wisconsin
Pick: #8 Wisconsin

Rose Bowl: #9 USC vs #5 Penn State
Pick: #5 Penn State

Sugar Bowl: #14 Auburn vs #7 Oklahoma
Pick: #7 Oklahoma

Playoff Game #1/Peach Bowl: #1 Alabama vs #4 Washington
Pick: #1 Alabama

Playoff Game #2/Fiesta Bowl: #2 Clemson vs #3 Ohio State
Pick: #3 Ohio State

National Championship Prediction: #1 Alabama vs #3 Ohio State
Pick: #1 Alabama

Let's see how I do!

Conference Championship Schedule

Well I'm still a liar.  I had no time to write that Ohio State-Michigan article before the game.  It was a great game though.  I didn't see is because I was at Penn State but boy did I hear about it!  Because Ohio State won and Penn State won, PENN STATE IS GOING TO THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP!  Now we're going to look at the Conference Championship games now that the regular season of college football has wrapped up.

MAC: #17 Western Michigan vs Ohio

PAC-12: #8 Colorado vs #4 Washington

AAC: Temple vs #19 Navy

C-USA: Louisiana Tech vs Western Kentucky

BIG 12 (not a championship game but decides the Big 12 Champion):
#10 Oklahoma State vs #9 Oklahoma

SEC: #1 Alabama vs #15 Florida
MWC: San Diego State vs Wyoming

ACC: #3 Clemson vs #23 Virginia Tech

BIG TEN: #6 Wisconsin vs #7 Penn State

3 Week Review (11/5-11/19)

So I basically have been taking the month of November off because school and life just get in the way.  So at the moment we're pretty behind on everything college football.  Right now I'm just going to review the important things we've missed over the past 3 weeks.  This will be pretty unorganized and short probably so sorry in advance.

11/5:
Alabama beat LSU 10-0 in a very defensive game.  Texas A&M somehow lost to Mississippi State 35-28 and are now out of playoff contention.  Ohio State beat Nebraska 62-3 so Nebraska is done in the Big 10 for the most part.  Arkansas upset Florida 31-10.  Penn State beat Iowa 41-14 and I was there so that was fun.  Those were the highlights of week 10.

11/12:
Duke upset North Carolina 28-27.  Pittsburgh upset Clemson 43-42 and that is officially my game of the year because it was just amazing to watch.  Iowa upset Michigan 14-13.  Washington lost to USC 26-13.  So the 3 of the top 4 teams lost this week.  It was the first time that happened since 1985 which is kind of cool.  So the playoff picture has really shaken up.

11/19:
Houston dashed Louisville's playoff hopes when they won 36-10 in a game that I previewed in September.  Ohio State beat Michigan State 17-16 in a game they should've lost but Mark Dantonio made a poor decision (never go for 2 when you're down by 1...).  Oregon beat Utah 30-28 with a touchdown pass with 2 seconds left in the game.  Florida somehow beat LSU 16-10.  Also Kansas beat Texas 24-21 and it was their 2nd Big 12 conference win in the last 2 years and it was the first time they beat Texas since 1938... That's before World War I... so congrats to Kansas!  Also we'd like to wish now former Texas head coach Charlie Strong the best of luck finding a new job after being let go by Texas after the loss to Kansas.

So we're approaching the last week of the regular season.  I'm going to do a playoff preview kind of thing and really focus on the #2 Ohio State vs #3 Michigan game because that's going to decide a lot in the playoffs.  I can guarantee that an Ohio State vs Michigan article will be posted before Saturday.  I will also be at Penn State's last game against Michigan State this Saturday so this Saturday is going to be a great one! See ya soon!

Saturday Review #8/Week 10 Preview

Yes, I'm a little behind. No, I don't have a good reason. I knew I had to type the review, but I just never really got to it. So, I'm going to sum up Week 9 for all of you right now. The Big 12 lost, I should've picked Wyoming, Navy is apparently not going to win the American Athletic Conference, and Kansas sucks. Now time for the preview:

#1 Alabama vs #13 LSU: Alabama-LSU games are always good. Take that 2011 game for example, both teams dominated defensively, causing both offenses to struggle, with the game ending 9-6 in overtime in LSU's favor. Then in that same year, those two teams met in the National Championship (somehow?) and Alabama continued their defensive domination and LSU's offense struggled, as the Crimson Tide avenged their loss and won the game 21-0 to win the National Championship. LSU started the season at #5 in the nation, losing to Wisconsin in their season opener at Lambeau Field. Since then, the Tigers have only lost to now #9 Auburn and are undefeated at home. Alabama comes into this game undefeated and has only struggled against Ole Miss this season. This will be a tough game to pick, but I'm going to go with LSU, just because I think home field advantage will play a major factor in this game.

#10 Nebraska vs #6 Ohio State: Despite losing to Wisconsin last week, Nebraska is still a Top 10 team, which I do not mind at all. The Cornhuskers are alright in the Big 10, having a few close games but staying undefeated until the Wisconsin game. Ohio State has only suffered one loss as well, with it coming against Penn State in what is so far my game of the year. I am going to pick Ohio State, because they're just good. I don't think Nebraska even stands a chance. The Buckeyes are angry and look to go on a tear to get a playoff spot. This just isn't Nebraska's season.

#5 Washington vs California: I threw in this game because it has potential to be good. Washington is on a roll and could go undefeated this season (wait for the Apple Cup..) easily as the Pac-12 seems to be in a struggle this season. Speaking of struggles, California comes into this game at 4-4, despite upsetting teams such as former #22 Texas and former #18 Utah (both wins at home). The Golden Bears only seem to step up when their opponent is ranked. Even though I have brought up this theory, I still pick Washington. I just think the Huskies momentum is very strong coming off a great win against former #17 Utah and I don't think anyone can stop them. Not yet at least (*cough* Washington State *cough cough*)

Iowa vs #12 Penn State: We already know my pick, but I'd thought I'd take time to mention I'll be at this game. I don't know if it'll top the last game I went to against Minnesota, but it looks to be a pretty good game. I'm picking Penn State because they're my team ("what about when you picked Ohio State to bea-" yeah that was a mistake but I trust them now so shhhh). Plus remember that time FCS North Dakota State beat Iowa when they were ranked #13?


#18 Oklahoma State vs Kansas State: Oklahoma State is fresh off of my upset pick against the formerly undefeated West Virginia Mountaineers and has all the momentum in the Big 12 at the moment. Kansas State comes into this game with 3 losses, 2 against top Big 12 teams (West Virginia by 1 and Oklahoma by 21) and Stanford when they were ranked at #8 in week 1. So this game could really be a good game. I'm going to pick Oklahoma State, for no good reason basically. I just think Kansas State won't be able to beat a major Big 12 team right now. This ain't 2012.

Well those are my picks for Week 10 of the college football season. The road to the bowls and playoff begins right here. See ya for the review (hopefully)!

 

College Football Playoff Top 25 Poll #1 (Week 10)

As you can tell from the title, we don't care about the AP Top 25 poll anymore. IT'S BOWL SEASON BABY! This is the time where we focus on the poll that decides the bowl games and the teams that go into the four team playoff because it's pointless until week 10 apparently. But this is what I'll be reviewing for the rest of the year now because the AP Poll means nothing anymore.

CFP Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Michigan
4. Texas A&M
5. Washington
6. Ohio State
7. Louisville
8. Wisconsin
9. Auburn
10. Nebraska
11. Florida
12. Penn State
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma
15. Colorado
16. Utah
17. Baylor
18. Oklahoma State
19. Virginia Tech
20. West Virginia
21. North Carolina
22. Florida State
23. Western Michigan
24. Boise State
25. Washington State

So as you can see, this looks very different from the AP Top 25 for many reasons.  The main reason is this poll takes into account the wins over good teams and strength of schedule, which means how many good teams they play.  The only really surprising thing I can review for this is Texas A&M at #4 in the poll.  This caused a lot of controversy when the poll was released, mainly because Texas A&M just lost to #1 Alabama, and Washington is undefeated and dominating the Pac-12, but only put at #5. According to the College Football Playoff Committee, their reasoning behind it was strength of schedule. When you compare #4 Texas A&M's schedule to #5 Washington's, the Aggies have played 5 games against major teams, winning 4 of them while losing to Alabama.  Everyone seems to lose to Alabama though so it was not considered a major loss. The Huskies on the other hand, have played 2 major teams, winning both of those games, while almost losing to Arizona. So I see and understand the reasoning behind this, I just don't know if I like it. Plus Texas A&M and Alabama are both in the SEC West, so having two teams from the same conference and same division in the playoffs is kind of stupid. I guess we'll see what next week's rankings bring!

Week 9 Saturday Preview #3 (10/29/16)

There's no episode of Tribecast this week because of "conflicting schedules" so I have to type a preview out this week and make my picks. I have no clue when the next episode will be, but we hope to be back on track soon. Anyways, here are my picks for this week:

#22 Navy vs South Florida: Navy travels to South Florida this week to take on the Bulls. Navy is coming off a nice win against Memphis while South Florida recently lost to the Temple Owls. I have Navy in this game, mainly because no one in the AAC has been able to stop them. It's like if Houston can't stop them, then who can at this point? I know South Florida only has two losses, but I mean if you can't beat 4-3 Temple, can you really be a challenge to Navy? Navy is winning this game and the AAC, end of story.

#10 West Virginia vs Oklahoma State: This game is a tough one, mainly because this is a battle of my two favorite Big 12 teams. West Virginia comes into this game undefeated, with their only real challenges being Kansas State and BYU, two teams that have struggled a bit this season. Oklahoma State comes into this game with 2 losses, the upset to Central Michigan, which is still controversial, and to Big 12 powerhouse Baylor. So I want to say these teams are even. I am sadly going with Oklahoma State, mainly because they are at home and I think this is finally where they make a stand in the Big 12. Sorry West Virginia. As much as I love you guys, I think this game is an upset.

#14 Florida vs Georgia: Both of these teams are having their ups and downs in the SEC. Georgia's up being beating North Carolina, their downs being almost losing/losing to terribly terrible, awful teams. Florida's ups being an easy schedule, and one down being blowing the lead against Tennessee... Anyways I have Florida because the Bulldogs have no idea what they're doing this year and they just lost to Vanderbilt... Vanderbilt.

#4 Washington vs #17 Utah: I want this game to be close but we know how these games with Washington go now. As much as I want to see them lose, I have Washington in this game. Both of these teams are great this year, Washington being undefeated and Utah only having one loss. But long story short, I have Washington.

#13 Boise State vs Wyoming: This game looks weird but trust me, its going to be good. Boise State comes into this game undefeated, however they almost lost to BYU 28-27... I WAS SO CLOSE TO GETTING THAT UPSET PICK! But yeah, Boise State has had a couple close calls this year. Wyoming has been a program that has struggled most of their existence. But for some reason they are 5-2 this year. I don't know what's going on Wyoming. No one does really. That state is just kind of there. But even though both of these teams are good, I have Boise State because I don't think it's Wyoming's time just yet. Maybe next year.

#7 Nebraska vs #11 Wisconsin: This is my game of the week pick for this week. It looks like it could be an amazing game. But as I type this, I remember that games against two top teams aren't typically close (you know the joke by now...). I see Wisconsin winning this game, so I'm going to go with Wisconsin because they lost to Michigan and Ohio State by a touchdown and Nebraska has had a few close games. I mean if you can contend with the top teams, you're obviously doing something right and if you're having a close game with Indiana, maybe there's a little something wrong. So go Badgers, sorry Nebraska.

#3 Clemson vs #12 Florida State: I have Clemson. I think it's the logical choice. I know Florida State is "back on track" after their struggles in the beginning of the season, but no one can beat Clemson but themselves at this point. Louisville couldn't. NC State almost did and should've but kicking a football is hard. Clemson has a pretty easy road, especially after this game, so Clemson it is.

Well those are my picks for this week. I'm really feeling it with these picks. I expect to do well, as always. Again, sorry there's no Tribecast this week (I know we're all disappointed). Everyone is just busy with school and life. But we'll be back and better than ever! See ya Saturday!

AP Top 25 Week #9

Joke of the Day: The Auburn vs Arkansas game. Here's the AP Top 25 for week 9:

AP Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Michigan
3. Clemson
4. Washington
5. Louisville
6. Ohio State
7. Nebraska
8. Baylor
9. Texas A&M
10. West Virginia
11. Wisconsin
12. Florida State
13. Boise State
14. Florida
15. Auburn
16. Oklahoma
17. Utah
18. Tennessee
19. LSU
20. Western Michigan
21. North Carolina
22. Navy
23. Colorado
24. Penn State
25. Virginia Tech

Michigan moved up to #2, Clemson moved up to #3, Washington moved up to #4, and Louisville moved up to #5, all because Ohio State lost to Penn State. Ohio State dropped to #6 after their loss to Penn State. Did I mention Ohio State lost to Penn State? Nebraska moved up to #7. They play #11 Wisconsin where they are expected to lose. I want them to win. Baylor is at #8. They should keep slowly moving up until they play now #10 West Virginia to decide the champion of the Big 12. Texas A&M fell to #9 after a close loss to #1 Alabama. Because this loss was to the #1 team, they didn't fall too much because this team is still pretty good. Auburn moved to up #15 after they destroyed now unranked Arkansas 56-3 (hence the joke). I have no comment. LSU jumped to #19 after beating Ole Miss. I forgot Fournette came back so now LSU is relevant again. My bad. Western Michigan is still at #20 after beating Eastern Michigan. MAC teams are bad so those wins don't really help them at all. Navy moved up to #22 after beating the newly discovered Riley Ferguson and the Memphis Tigers. They're gonna win the AAC, no doubt. Three new teams entered the Top 25 this week: #23 Colorado, #24 Penn State, and #25 Virginia Tech. Colorado beat Stanford in a baseball game apparently, with the score being 10-5. Stanford is most likely officially out of contention for the Pac-12 Championship. Penn State is a well deserving #24, somehow managing to survive in the Big 10 this year. It'll be interesting to see how far they move up in the rankings. And Virginia Tech was welcomed back to the Top 25 after beating Miami (FL). I don't trust them really but no one else is really deserving of the spot. That's all I got this week. Listen to my podcast!

Saturday Review #7 (10/22/16)

Ohio State's season was going so well, then all of a sudden, it crashed, just like I did on Friday with my car... Time for the review!

Penn State Upsets #2 Ohio State:

This will be the lamest review of all time but this game stole the show on Saturday. I give all my weekly awards to Penn State. They are the Team of the Week for beating Ohio State, the "Sadder"-Day's Upset for upsetting Ohio State, they have the Play of the Week with the game-winning blocked field goal, Penn State's Grant Haley being Player of the Week for returning the blocked field goal for the win. So obviously this is the Game of the Week. I don't really know what to say here but Penn State upset #2 Ohio State 24-21 off of a blocked field goal return for a touchdown by Grant Haley. This will most likely end up being Game of the Year when I do End of the Season Awards, but we'll see I guess. So here's the play that won Penn State the game and that's the review for this week. We learned that apparently I'm an awful driver but good at making metaphors and college football is full of surprises. See ya next week!

Tribecast

This is kind of off topic but, I have a podcast now... Well I have a podcast with my friends, Eric and Matt, because people listen to podcasts... right? But it's called Tribecast because, why not? It's labeled as an "all-sports" podcast but we'll probably get into stuff like music, movies, and even funny stories from our lives because we're just that interesting and entertaining. There are segments in it where I talk about college football and I make predictions (it's where I'll do my Saturday Previews now) and stuff. So if you like my writing, just wait until you hear me speaking (not saying my voice is amazing, but things will sound funnier, I think). But if you're into other things like wrestling (WWE) and fantasy football, Matt and I will at least discuss that. We'll also throw in stuff like the MLB Playoffs and the NBA when their season begins. Eric will have coverage on all things soccer related, so if you're into that listen to us. We think we're a fun bunch and we want to make people laugh and we also just want to talk about things we love. The podcast is also produced by Main Studios with Tyler Main. None of this would have been possible without him so I would like to take this time to thank him. We don't really know what the feedback will be like but we really hope you enjoy the podcast and if you would like us to talk about anything specific, just let us know and we'll incorporate it into our agenda. Well, we hope you enjoy the first episode of Tribecast titled Tribe Takes the Podcast.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzCnhCElDmAxF_-oe8nvaQ

AP Top 25 Week #8

Before I being this, I would just like to thank the Big 12 expansion team for not reading my blog and deciding to not expand and stay at 10 teams. You guys missed out on a nice opportunity. Anyways, here's the Top 25 for week 8 of the college football season.

AP Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Clemson
5. Washington
6. Texas A&M
7. Louisville
8. Nebraska
9. Baylor
10. Wisconsin
11. Houston
12. West Virginia
13. Florida State
14. Boise State
15. Florida
16. Oklahoma
17. Arkansas
18. Tennessee
19. Utah
20. Western Michigan
21. Auburn
22. North Carolina
23. Ole Miss
24. Navy
25. LSU

I'm only going to talk about the big moves for this little review. So Clemson dropped to #4 after being almost upset by NC State and Michigan moved up to #3, setting up a #2 vs #3 Ohio State-Michigan game (as long as both teams stay undefeated until the game) which most likely means the winner will end up in the playoff. Nebraska has moved up to #8, adding more competition to the Big 10. The next two major games they have are against #2 Ohio State and #8 Wisconsin so those should be good because they're all ranked in the top 10 (*insert running joke about Florida State-Louisville and other blowout games here*). West Virginia is at #12. The Big 12 championship will most likely be decided when West Virginia plays now #9 Baylor during the last week of the season. Boise State has quietly moved up to #14. Seems like they have total control of their conference but they have a non-conference game against BYU so let's see how that goes. Arkansas is at #17 after beating Ole Miss. I would say when they upset Ole Miss but I was expecting a win so it's just a normal win to me. The Razorbacks play #21 Auburn next so another win (please win...) is inevitable. TENNESSEE DROPPED TO #18. It's about time... Do I have to explain this? Western Michigan (there's the weekly mention) moved up to #20. I expect this team to lose to Toledo in the last week of the season so I'm enjoying this while it lasts. They should continue to slowly move up the rankings because their MAC opponents are bad and really add nothing to their résumé. North Carolina is back in the rankings at #22. I want to trust this team but after the Virginia Tech game it's hard. I'd say their next big challenge is against NC State during the last week of the season so it should be smooth sailing for the next couple weeks. Navy is at #24 despite not playing due to a postponement due to weather. I just like the fact they're still ranked. And to wrap up the Top 25 for this week, we have LSU at #25. It's not their year this year and I expect them to lose to #22 Ole Miss and become irrelevant again.

Well that was a nice note to end it on. That is the Top 25 for this week. I promise nothing for the rest of the week at the moment but we'll play it by ear for now. See ya whenever!

  

Saturday Review #6 (10/15/16)

As you can see, I make promises I can't keep sometimes. There was no Saturday Preview even though I said there would be previews but I like to do stuff with my life (I was watching How I Met Your Mother...). They might be every other week or just when I want to do them at this point, who knows. But anyways, Saturday happened, let's review it:

Game of the Week: #22 Arkansas vs #12 Ole Miss

If I did a preview, I would've picked Arkansas because I always do because they are good(ish). But this game looked pretty good and I'm pretty biased when it comes to Arkansas so that's kind of why it's the Game of the Week. But this game was close all around, with both teams going into halftime tied 20-20. Then it continued to go back and forth which made it a pretty great game (but Arkansas was in it so it was automatically a great game). Anyways, Ole Miss took the lead with 9 minutes left to go in the game off of a Chad Kelly 17 yard touchdown run to make the score 30-27. Austin Allen led the Rzorbacks on a comeback drive, capping it off with a 6 yard touchdown run by Jared Cornelius with 2:20 left in the game, making it 34-30. Then Arkansas's defense held on, making Chad Kelly fumble the ball with 1:40 left, securing the win for the Razorbacks. Ole Miss plays LSU next week while Arkansas plays #23 Auburn.

Team of the Week: Alabama Crimson Tide

They crushed Tennessee 49-10. Thank you Alabama.

"Sadder"-Day's Upset: Syracuse beats #17 Virginia Tech

So this happened for some reason. I couldn't tell you why honestly. Syracuse's football program is awful in the ACC and Virginia Tech crushed and upset North Carolina last week. But yes, Syracuse beat #17 Virginia Tech 31-17. I don't really know what to say about this game. I mean I was happy to see that Syracuse did something but I mean I didn't expect this at all. Let me just add it's their first win over a ranked opponent since 2012. Anyway, this game wasn't really close so allow me to talk about Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey. He threw for 311 yards with 1 touchdown and somehow managed to run for 106 yards with a touchdown. He's not much of an option quarterback so I find this very surprising. He would've been Player of the Week but I wanted to add Western Michigan into this (there was no Team Spotlight on them this week Zach, even though you said you would do it...) because it's my blog and I can do what I want. But yeah, congrats Syracuse.

Player of the Week: RB Jarvion Franklin (Western Michigan)

Oh look, Western Michigan is doing stuff (Did I mention they are ranked?). #24 Western Michgan beat Akron 41-0, yes, 41-0, all because of this fella right here, Jarvion Franklin. I never heard if him until now but he was setting (school) records while playing this game. He had 33 carries for 281 yards with a touchdown. So if you couldn't tell from the stats I just gave you, the 281 rushing yards are the school record. This kid ran all over Akron and it's nice to see 281 yards from a running back that's not in a video game. That's all I really have to say about this, but it's nice to know Western Michigan is ranked. Thanks Jarvion for rushing 281 yards so I could talk about Western Michigan. Also congrats for being my Player of the Week (huge honor, I know!).

Play of the Week: Florida State's Weird Hail Mary Before Halftime

How can I explain this play? So Florida State decided to do a hail mary pass before halftime and a lot of stuff happened. Long story short, they didn't get the touchdown. But it's still a nice hail mary. I couldn't find a video of just the play, so here are highlights from the game. The hail mary happens at the 52 second mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgd4mQJ2Mjk 

That wraps of this week's review. We learned I'm a liar who loves Arkansas, Tennessee got what was coming to them, Syracuse got their first and last win over a ranked opponent for the next 10 years, Western Michigan is still relevant, and Florida State is doing weird things this season. See ya at the Top 25 (I promise)!

AP Top 25 Week #7

The Associated Press released the Top 25 college football teams in the nation for week 7 of the collee football season:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Texas A&M
7. Louisville
8. Wisconsin
9. Tennessee
10. Nebraska
11. Baylor
12. Ole Miss
13. Houston
14. Florida State
15. Boise State
16. Miami (FL)
17. Virginia Tech
18. Florida
19. Oklahoma
20. West Virginia
21. Utah
22. Arkansas
23. Auburn
24, Western Michigan
25. Navy

The top 5 hasn't changed so there's really no point of talking about those schools. They're good. Texas A&M moved up to #6 after beating Tennessee so when they play Alabama that game will basically settle who wins the SEC. I would say it would settle the SEC West but no one in the East is good so whoever wins the game wins the SEC. Tennessee is still #9 after losing to A&M. Yup, they didn't move. It's understandable, but I hate that decision, Tennessee had a chance of winning the game in overtime, giving Texas A&M a run for their money late. But they couldn't pull it off. Either way, they made themselves worthy of staying in the top 10 for looking good basically. They'll fall. Nebraska has entered the top 10 at #10. I don't think they're a big competitor in the Big 10 but it should be interesting when they play Wisconsin and Ohio State. Houston dropped to #13 after losing to Navy. That's not a bad place to put them. They're still a decent team but they'll most likely drop farther after playing Louisville. Florida State moved up to #14 and Miami dropped to #16 after their game. I like where Miami dropped but Florida State still moved too far. They should be like #17 or #18 mainly because the game was close. Virginia Tech is at #17. Reasonable. Arkansas dropped to #22. I guess that's fine. I mean they're still in the Top 25 so I'll take it. Three new teams entered the Top 25: Auburn, Western Michigan, and Navy. #23 Auburn has been up and down this season so I don't know how long they'll last. I'm really happy that Western Michigan made it at #24 mainly because they're a MAC team and they do not get enough recognition. This team seems pretty good and I wouldn't be surprised if they went undefeated this season, just because the rest of the MAC teams they play aren't the greatest. I might do a Team Spotlight on Western Michigan now. And to wrap up this week's Top 25, we got Navy a #25 after they upset Houston. I feel like they deserve it after that big win a I expect them to slowly move up the rankings. That ends this week's review of the Top 25. See ya later!

Saturday Review #5 (10/8/16)

Another Saturday has passed us and things in the college football world are shaking up! This week was pretty crazy, per usual, and speaking of crazy, I didn't do so well with my picks.. again. I got 3 out of my 6 picks correct, which is kind of disappointing. I would like to thank Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Florida State for listening to me and winning. You guys really make me seem smart, especially you Florida State. You upset #10 Miami (FL) (somehow) and was very happy. But we'll get into that game later. Let's start this review, shall we?

Game of the Week: #8 Texas A&M vs #9 Tennessee

Well, someone finally beat Tennessee! I've been waiting for this moment for awhile and it finally came. I'm a little disappointed that it was close, but Tennessee is really just a 2nd half team. I came into this game expecting a Texas A&M domination, and I got it in the 1st half. They jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the 1st quarter and held it until halftime. And of course the 2nd half began and Tennessee decided that was a good time to play football, and somehow the score ended up being 35-35 at the end of the 4th quarter, with Tennessee scoring the game tying touchdown with 41 seconds left. So the game went into it's first overtime where both teams ended up with field goals to send the game into a 2nd overtime, tied at 38. Texas A&M struck first with a 1 yard TD run from QB Trevor Knight (look out Katy Perry) and then finally Tennessee collapsed. The first play of Tennessee's possession was an interception and the game was over. Texas A&M won 45-38 in 2 overtimes and Tennessee should now know why it's important to play in the 1st half. Texas A&M will play #1 Alabama coming off of this win after their bye week this week while Tennessee will also be playing #1 Alabama, next.

Team of the Week: Virginia Tech Hokies

Before I begin this section, I would just like to give an honorable mention to the Michigan Wolverines who beat Rutgers 78-0. Yes you guys killed it this week, however, you played Rutgers... That's a little self-explanatory. So Virginia Tech played North Carolina this week. I predicted that North Carolina would win. And as you can guess, Virginia Tech won, 34-3. Yes, Virginia Tech beat North Carolina, the team the upset Florida State, 34-3. Now you may be wondering "how is that possible, Zach? How could this have happened?" I don't know. I mean this game was played in Chapel Hill, NC, which at the time was being destroyed by the rain and winds of Hurricane Matthew. So that's going to be my reason for that. I guess Justin Fuente trained the Hokies in a swimming pool with some pretty big fans for this game or something. Nothing really big happened in this game besides the score. So yeah, congrats to Virginia Tech for being good this year. The Hokies play the mediocre Syracuse Orange next and the Tar Heels will be looking for redemption as they play the recently upset Miami (FL) Hurricanes. 

Player of the Week: CB Minkah Fitzpatrick (Alabama)

I am ashamed to write about this, but this kid killed Austin Allen this week. Cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick of the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide is this week's Player of the Week. He got 3 interceptions off of Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen and returned one of them for a 100 yard touchdown as Alabama won 49-30. He put on a hell of a performance on defense and as an Arkansas fan, I'm disappointed, but as a football fan in general, good for him. 3 interceptions in one game. That's hard to accomplish (unless you're playing against James Knapke of Bowling Green State.. 9 interceptions in 4 games.. Really?) But anyways, Fitzpatrick got 3 interceptions in a game, therefore he's player of the week.

"Sadder-Day's Upset: Navy beats #6 Houston

Now I almost put this game in the Saturday Preview because people thought it was going to be good. I honestly thought Houston would dominate so I didn't bother. Then Navy decided to prove me wrong and they put on a pretty amazing and close game. The teams went back and forth and went into halftime tied at 20. Then the 2nd half came along and Navy wanted the game more and jumped out to a 34-20 lead, and despite a Houston comeback, they hung on to win and upset the #6 Cougars 46-40. This now makes Navy a favorite to win the American Athletic Conference, mainly because they are in the same division as Houston so they already have a huge advantage in the standings over them. If Navy manages to win most of their conference games, they should play South Florida, but it's way too early to decide that now. Navy plays East Carolina next week while Houston plays a good Tulsa team, so we should be looking at another good game.

Play of the Week: Florida State Blocks Miami (FL)'s Game Tying PAT

I picked another upset! One of the picks I was very iffy on was right and that was the highlight of my Saturday. Florida State came into this game on a two game losing streak while Miami was comfortably 4-0 and looking to continue the streak. Florida State went into halftime losing 13-3 and everyone thought Miami had it won.  But Florida State scored 17 unanswered points to take a 20-13 lead into the 4th quarter. Late in the game Miami had a drive that Florida State couldn't stop, and the Hurricanes scored a touchdown with 1:41 left in the game. And just as everyone thought Miami tied the game, something amazing happened. Defensive End Demarcus Walker of Florida State came in clutch and blocked the point after attempt (PAT) and won Florida State the game and basically saved their season. It was an amazing turn of events. Here is the play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XkSHebORAo

So that wraps up this week's review. We learned that Tennessee loves the 2nd half of football games still, Virginia Tech actually has a chance in the ACC, catching 3 interceptions in a game is hard unless you're Minkah Fitzpatrick, Houston might not win the American Athletic Conference, and I can still pick an upset every once in awhile. See ya tomorrow for the new AP Top 25!

Week 6 Saturday Preview #2 (10/6/16)

Well I promised one of these last week and didn't do one out of pure laziness and plus I was getting ready to go to Penn State, so sue me. But we know how this works, I pick some games to preview and pick who I think will win because, why not? We all know how good I was at picking last time (*cough* 4 out of 12 *cough cough*). So I'm not going to pick 12 games this time but this will be organized way better this time, so let's begin:

#1 Alabama vs #16 Arkansas: So obviously I chose this game because Arkansas. But this is actually a good SEC matchup that could lead to a good game (because games with Top 25 teams are supposed to be close.. Florida State and Louisville, Wisconsin and Michigan State, and Georgia and Ole Miss..). Alabama has been on a roll lately and it seems no one can stop them at the moment. The only challenge they've really had was against Ole Miss and that ended with a 48-43 Alabama victory. Now I will admit Arkansas has had better seasons in the past but this year's team isn't too bad. Austin Allen taking over for his brother Brandon Allen wasn't a bad idea. He seems to be doing decent. The Razorbacks come into this game 4-1, with 3 of those wins against lower conference teams, including FCS Alcorn State. So they don't have the greatest résumé coming into this game. So everyone expects Alabama to come away with this game easily. In that case, I'm going with Arkansas because they're at home so I'm relying on the fans to cause Alabama some trouble. 

Texas vs #22 Oklahoma: This game isn't really a clash of two great teams but it's still a rivalry game and one of them is ranked so, why not? Both teams have struggled as of late but slowly seem to be moving in the right direction, with Texas having head coach Charlie Strong call the defensive plays. Texas and Oklahoma come into this game at 2-2, Oklahoma with 2 losses against ranked teams and Texas with 2 straight losses against non-ranked California and Oklahoma State. So I'm going to go with the obvious choice of Oklahoma because of Texas's defensive struggles and Oklahoma has home field advantage here so the crowd should be loud and proud with Sooner pride.

#9 Tennessee vs #8 Texas A&M: I want this game to be game of the week but we all know how games with top ranked teams go (see second sentence of Alabama vs Arkansas). Tennessee, despite all the close calls, is still undefeated, as well as Texas A&M, whose only challenge was against UCLA in week 1. So I really do not expect this game to be close at all. I believe Texas A&M will dominate Tennessee and there will be no heroic antics or 2nd half comebacks this week. It's time for Tennessee to be put in it's place. However, I still believe this loss won't effect Tennessee as much as it should. With a loss from a top 10 team, they should only drop to like #15 or #16 and they will still be the top contender to win the SEC East because that division is very mediocre and they already beat Florida, so it's inevitable.

#23 Florida State vs #10 Miami: Miami has quietly moved to #10 with really no recognition whatsoever. The Hurricane, however, have not had a challenge at all. Their first three games were against Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, and Appalachian State (decent). Their schedule isn't really as strong as most top ranked team's but maybe the Associated Press sees something I don't. But this is Miami's first real test. Florida State has struggled a lot this season, coming in with a record of 3-2, with both losses against ACC opponents Louisville and North Carolina. So I really do not know what to expect from this game really. I'm going to go with Florida State mainly because I feel like they're the stronger, more experienced team here. Plus Jimbo Fisher must have a few tricks up his sleeve.. Right?

#25 Virginia Tech vs #17 North Carolina: Virginia Tech is ranked. Yes, Virginia Tech is a team ranked in the Top 25. I really do not know why. It appears they have a strong offense this year so maybe that's it. But the Hokies seem to be on a roll, coming in at 3-1, fresh off a 54-17 victory over East Carolina. North Carolina is coming off another close game, this time off of the upset of Florida State. With that victory, the Tar Heels jumped to #17. I wouldn't have put them at #17 right after the Florida State game but like I said with Miami, maybe the Associated Press sees something I don't. But North Carolina football seems pretty good this year, so I'm going to pick North Carolina for this game.

#5 Washington vs Oregon: Now we all know how I felt about Washington. But after their game last week against Stanford (44-6 if you didn't hear), it appears that the Huskies are the kings of the Pac-12 this season. Which to me is very surprising, considering their 7-6 season record last year. Oregon comes into this game at a poor 2-3 record. The Ducks are no longer the team they used to be. With Marcus Mariota and LaMichael James gone, Oregon seems to be lost. However, they seem to be giving a lot of teams trouble at home, with their last home game against Colorado being settles by a field goal. I know I apologized to Washington and I understand they're good this year, but I'm looking for the upset. So I'm picking Oregon to upset #5 Washington in Eugene on Saturday.

So those are my picks for this Saturday. If I get the Arkansas and Oregon picks correct, I will crown myself as the King of College Football (sorry Lamar..) because I will have that power. So yeah, that's all I got for the preview this week. Let's see how Saturday goes! See you at the Review!

AP Top 25 Week #6

I feel like we've been doing this long enough to know what happens in these Top 25 articles:

AP Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Michigan
5. Washington
6. Houston
7. Louisville
8. Texas A&M
9. Tennessee
10. Miami (FL)
11. Wisconsin
12. Nebraska
13. Baylor
14. Ole Miss
15. Stanford
16. Arkansas
17. North Carolina
18. Florida
19. Boise State
20. Oklahoma
21. Colorado
22. West Virginia
23. Florida State
24. Utah
25. Virginia Tech

So we know Alabama and Ohio State are good and they haven't moved in weeks so we know why they're there. Clemson moved up from to #5 to #3 after beating #3 Louisville. That's acceptable. Michigan is still kind of overrated but their close win against Wisconsin cements them at #4 for now. The no longer overrated Washington Huskies moved up to #5 after crushing #7 Stanford 44-6. If they don't win the Pac-12, I'm still technically right with the fact that they are not as good as people think they are. Louisville dropped to #7 after losing to Clemson which means they are not out of the playoff picture yet. Tennessee moved up to #9 after beating Georgia in a very, very, very, very close game. I still don't trust them at all. Miami (FL) is at #10. Now Miami has been ranked for awhile but I haven't really mentioned them because they haven't done much. But they're a top 10 team and seem to be a big contender in the ACC along with Clemson and Louisville. Arkansas is at #16 and they're playing #1 Alabama next.. As long as they don't lose by 20 they should remain a Top 25 team. North Carolina has jumped to #17 after upsetting #12 Florida State. They have been on a roll since losing to Georgia in week 1 and should also be contenders in the ACC. Three other teams entered the Top 25 this week as well, Colorado at #21, West Virginia at #22, and Virginia Tech at #25. I really don't expect much from Colorado in the Pac-12 but they should have a decent bowl game this season. I love West Virginia football and they always seem to be a contender in the Big-12 so I'm glad to see them here. I do believe the Big-12 Title will come down to Baylor, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State. I can't see West Virginia in a major Big-12 bowl yet so I do not believe this is their year. And wrapping this week up with Virginia Tech at #25. This was a surprise to me because I haven't really heard much about Virginia Tech this season and I don't really expect them to be real contenders in the ACC. But with a solid 3-1 record in the easier division of the ACC, they should be in position for a decent bowl game.

Well that's how I feel about the Top 25 this week. It doesn't seem too bad this time. Georgia is finally gone so that's good (you're next Florida State) and that's really all I can take from this. See ya at the next review!

Saturday Review #4 (10/1/16)

I would like to start this review by issuing an apology to the following teams: Washington, Tennessee, and Northwestern. Tennessee has again proved me wrong and can beat ranked teams (even though Georgia shouldn't have been ranked), Washington crushed Stanford to prove to me why they are ranked where they are, and Northwestern beat Iowa which means they can actually win. I'm sorry guys, you're good (eh on Northwestern). Now let's begin with the Team of the Week:

Team of the Week: Washington Huskies

I know, I know... I've been so against this team for the whole season so far. They have officially gained my trust after they beat #7 Stanford 44-6. Yes, 44-6. I will give Stanford the benefit of the doubt because they were the away team for this game. But still, Washington dominated Stanford in this game. I do not know what happened to Stanford's defense in this game but Washington needed this win to prove that they belonged at #10 and boy did they.. Washington should now be the favorite to win the Pac-12 which to me is very unsurprising after this game. The Huskies next game is against the struggling Oregon Ducks, who could still put the Huskies on upset alert.

Game/Play of the Week: #11 Tennessee vs #25 Georgia/Tennessee's GW Hail Mary Catch

Oh Georgia... You guys were so close. Both Tennessee and Georgia came into this game with their struggles. Tennessee can't perform in first halves and Georgia just isn't that good. But Tennessee somehow managed to win this game after literally losing for most of it. Tennessee went into halftime losing 17-7 but made a 4th quarter comeback. They scored 20 points in the 4th quarter and won the game, The game winning drive ended with a pretty sick hail mary catch as time expired that gave Tennessee the 34-31 victory. I know I apologized for criticizing Tennessee for a good portion of this season so far, but I'm still not too big on them. If they keep under performing in the first halves of games, I don't think they'll fair very well playing teams such as #8 Texas A&M (who they play next.. good luck), and #1 Alabama. But they have a very good chance of winning the SEC East now so they'll end up finishing the season pretty well. That is, if they learn how to play football in the first half... Anyways, here's the play that won Tennessee the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4jzM_gdi5A

Player of the Week: QB Deshaun Watson (Clemson)

Someone finally beat Louisville. The "unstoppable" team was stopped by this man right here, quarterback Deshaun Watson of #5 Clemson. Watson, a Heisman favorite, led the Clemson Tigers to a 42-36 victory over the #3 Louisville Cardinals. Watson threw for 306 yards and threw 5 touchdowns to beat Louisville, which is the most against Louisville this season. Now this game was close (finally a close game between top 10 ranked opponents!). In fact it came down to the last drive. On a 4th and 12 with 33 seconds left, Lamar Jackson threw a pass for 11 yards and ended up 1 yard short on the Clemson 3 yard line, turning the ball over on downs, giving Clemson the victory. Now I would've given this game the honors of Game of the Week but I did get a request to cover the Tennessee vs Georgia game (you're welcome A-Camp) so I decided to go with that. But yes, Deshaun Watson dethroned Louisville with 5 touchdown passes and that is why he is Player of the Week.

"Sadder"-Day's Upset: Indiana beats #17 Michigan State

Now a few other teams got upset this week like #12 Florida State, #18 Utah, #19 San Diego State, #21 TCU and #22 Texas, but I went with this one because it came down to the wire. Indiana beat #17 Michigan State on a field goal in overtime to upset the Spartans. This game went back and forth and with 11 seconds left, Michigan State quarterback Tyler O'Connor threw a touchdown to tie the game at 21 and send it into overtime. In overtime, Michigan State got the first possession but missed a 49 yard field goal to take the lead. So on Indiana's first possession, they ran the ball until they got into short field goal range (bravo Kevin Wilson for that strategy), and took the easy field goal to win the game, 24-21 in overtime. This is the Spartans' 2nd consecutive loss after being upset by Wisconsin last weekend. They play the BYU Cougars next. As for Indiana, they play #2 Ohio State in Columbus so their celebration will be short-lived and we shouldn't really expect anything from them at all for the rest of the season.

Well that wraps up this week's review. We learned that Washington is actually a really good team and they will win the Pac-12 and could even make the playoff, Tennessee can only play football in the 2nd half, Deshaun Watson is officially the King of the ACC, and Indiana will be a relevant team until next weekend. See ya next week!

My College Football Experience: Penn State University

You may be asking yourself, "what's so important about college football?" I'm here to answer that. College football brings people together from not just all over the state but all over the country. People come together to root for a common team and have a good time. To me, that's what is important about college football (and scouting for future NFL players but we have to focus on world impact so shhhhh...). So this article is about the culture of college football and it's impacts. On September 17th and October 1st I traveled to State College, Pennsylvania to see the Penn State Nittany Lions play and for the first time I got to experience the real college football culture. The only college football games I've been to were at Holy Cross and UMass but I was too young to really have a good experience. But Penn State is a football school. This school's pride is it's football team. It has such a prestigious football program, I don't know if I'll get into it much in this article but it has such a rich history, especially with Joe Paterno. But when you get to Penn State on a football Saturday, there are tailgaters everywhere. You see people dressed in navy and white sitting by their trucks or RVs grilling, throwing around a football, just talking to other fans, having a great time before a football game. I, for one, am not much of a tailgater. I just never really had experience tailgating before and I did go to a tailgate for like 15 minutes and it was awkward because I didn't really know the people there, but my sister did (did I mention she's on the Penn State dance team/Lionettes?). So if you ever go tailgating, go with people you know because it will be a lot more fun. But the tailgating seems to bring a lot of people together. When Penn State played in-state rival Temple, I saw a lot of Temple fans and Penn State fans tailgating together, which at first I found surprising but then I thought about it and it made sense. Because they're both from the state, families could have different backgrounds but when it comes down to it, it's just a friendly rivalry between them. But yeah, a lot of people come from around the country to root for their alma mater or favorite college football team and just have a great time. Now we're going to talk about the fans in the stadium during the game. They are loud. Like they will scream anything and everything and they don't care. A lot of them are alumni of Penn State and they made that obvious screaming the alma mater and every chant they've heard when they went. I'm not much of a fan of screamers but after the Student Section, that might change. The Penn State Student Section is the best I've ever seen. They're rowdy and they don't care. It's fun to listen and just watch them. They're so into the game. I can't wait to be apart of a student section some day. The only thing bad, to me, is the post game antics. It's tough to leave the stadium after and even leave State College after. I get that it's like that everywhere but this is the first time I've really experienced it. The roads are closed on campus and it's lines of traffic everywhere. It's hard to get places post-game is what I'm trying to say basically. But overall, Penn State is a great college football school culturally speaking. The tailgaters seem welcoming, the fans and student section are loud and proud, and Penn State has won every game I've been to. Culture is very important to college football. If you don't have school spirit, you won't have a fun experience. A lot of school's pride are their sports programs. It's completely different from a high school football game. At college (or a division 1 FBS school at least), the whole school is there and they're very into the game and they have a lot of fun. In about a month I am heading to Syracuse, so I will most likely make a comparison after that and write about it. I will also try to head back down to Holy Cross or another local FBS/FCS school or even a division 2 or 3 school, and make comparisons as well, like compare the culture. Also the Saturday Review will be out later! See ya at the Review!

AP Top 25 Week #5

The Associated Press released the Top 25 poll for week 5 of the college football season. You know the drill:

AP Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Louisville
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Houston
7. Stanford
8. Wisconsin
9. Texas A&M
10. Washington
11. Tennessee
12. Florida State
13. Baylor
14. Miami (FL)
15. Nebraska
16. Ole Miss
17. Michigan State
18. Utah
19. San Diego State
20. Arkansas
21. TCU
22. Texas
23. Florida
24. Boise State
25. Georgia

So Alabama crushed Kent State, easy #1. Ohio State had the week off, but they're still good so easy #2. Louisville crushed Marshall and Lamar Jackson is still the best QB in college football (there's the weekly Louisville and Lamar Jackson mention), easy #3. Michigan crushed Penn State.. Still haven't proved anything but I can live with them at #4, for now. Clemson crushed Georgia Tech on Thursday, easy #5. Now we're going to shift focus to #8 Wisconsin. A wise man once said "The only reason why Wisconsin is ranked is because in Week 1 they beat #5 LSU (barely)." That man also mentioned that games between ranked teams should be close. Wisconsin proved to the man that, they are good and just because a team is highly ranked, doesn't mean they deserve the ranking. That man, despite his (genius) Big 12 Plan, has revoked his statements. Wisconsin beat Michigan State 30-6 on Saturday. Yes, a game between #11 and #8 in the nation ended with the score being 30-6. And yes, the #11 team won. Wisconsin has now proved me wrong and they truly do belong at #8 now. Good job guys! Now they have to face #4 Michigan this week, and #2 Ohio State next week.. Have fun guys!:) Now let's talk about my favorite team, the now #10 Washington Huskies. THEY DROPPED A SPOT IN THE RANKINGS! Yes, they won last week against Arizona. BUT, they only won 35-28. It was a close game. Now they play #7 Stanford next. It was nice having you in the Top 25, Washington. But it is time to go (finally!). Speaking of overrated teams, next we have now #11 Tennessee, who just like Wisconsin, managed to prove me wrong. Tennessee played Florida last week and they deserved to lose this game. Tennessee was losing 21-3 at halftime. They went on to win the game. Yes, I'll say that again. Tennessee was losing 21-3 at halftime and they won the game. I do not know what the heck happened to Florida in the 2nd half, but they were bad. Bad isn't even a good word to describe the 2nd half for Florida. Horrendous. That's better. Florida had a horrendous 2nd half against Tennessee. The final score of the game was 38-28. I'm not saying Tennessee is a good team at this point. They still have a ways to go before they'll be good in my book. Texas A&M beat Arkansas. It was very close at first, with the score being 17-17 at halftime. Then Arkansas's defense collapse and Austin Allen got injured (kind of) and the game ended 45-24, in favor of Texas A&M. This only brought Arkansas down to #20, which I can easily live with. TCU came back into the rankings after crushing SMU, 33-3. They're good at #21. Boise State entered the rankings for the first at #24. Now there are to Top 25 teams from the Mountain West Conference (also #19 San Diego State). So when those 2 teams play, we should expect a good game because they're ranked, right? (Looking at you, Florida State and Louisville, Michigan State and Wisconsin, and Georgia and Ole Miss..) Now I'm going to complain about Georgia at #25. They're awful this year. I know they're 3-1 but those 3 wins were close calls. They should be out of the Top 25 and be like maybe #26 or #27. Arizona State should be #25. They have done so much in their first 4 games. They even beat California, who I thought would easily beat them. I feel like Arizona State is worthy of being in the Top 25 and I will complain about it until they get there (unless they lose to USC next week.. sorry guys.)

Well that was fun. That is this week's Top 25 and my opinions on it. Some games we should look at this week are #3 Louisville vs #5 Clemson, #7 Stanford vs #10 Washington, and #8 Wisconsin vs #4 Michigan. Not only will those games shake up the Top 25. They will shake up the conferences too. But we'll get into that more in the Saturday Preview (yes, there will be another one).

BREAKING NEWS: LSU Fires Head Coach Les Miles

Shocking news from the college football world today as famed LSU Head Coach Les Miles was fired. Miles had a 114-34 record in 12 seasons with the Tigers and had lead them to a National Championship victory in 2007, a National Championship appearance vs Alabama in 2012, and many bowl appearances. Miles and the Tigers got off to a rough start this year, going 2-2 in the first 4 games of the season. Assistant Coach Ed Orgeron has been named Interim Head Coach. I am very shocked and disappointed with this news. Even though I am an Arkansas fan and we rival LSU, Les Miles was always a good coach and I am sad to see him go. I wish him the best in the future and hope he either gets an NFL coaching offer, or to find another good college program to coach and beat the Tigers. Thank you Les!

Saturday Review #3 (9/24/16)

Week 4 of the college football season was very disappointing for me.  My predictions were very wrong for the most part.  But everyone who was supposed to win, won.  Except the teams I picked..  I got 4/12 games correct.  Let's focus on the bright side though.  My Big 12 Idea is great and North Dakota State beat Iowa once.  Let's start with the Team of the Week:

Team/Play of the Week: North Carolina Tar Heels and GW Touchdown with 2 Seconds Left

Finally a team that isn't Louisville has been given the honor of being my Team of the Week. This was a hard choice to make but because I don't like Tennessee, I chose the Tar Heels. Now the Tar Heels played the Pittsburgh Panthers and it was a very, very close game. The Tar Heels made a small comeback and ended up winning the game 37-36 on a nice catch with 2 seconds left in the game to win it. There really isn't much to this Team of the Week. They just played a good game and made a good play. Here's the GW touchdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt2bNrPG1es

Game of the Week: BYU vs West Virginia

West Virginia is probably one of my favorite Big 12 teams so I ended up watching this game not expecting much. But the 4th quarter kept me on the edge of my seat (I was laying in bed but you know what I mean). This game went back and forth and in the 4th quarter being down 32-35, BYU got the ball back with little time left and made their way down the field with a chance to either tie of win the game. But the pressure got to BYU QB Taysom Hill and he threw a very crucial interception and West Virginia hung on to win the game, 35-32.

Player of the Week: QB Riley Ferguson (Memphis)

Now you're probably wondering, who the heck is this Riley Ferguson and how did a player from Memphis do well? Well guess what? You're not alone. I have no idea who he is. He's not a Heisman Candidate by any means and he's certainly not highly rated by anyone. But he led the Memphis Tigers to a 77-3 win over (my maybe future alma mater) Bowling Green State Falcons. He threw 6 touchdowns with 395 passing yards. Some quarterbacks can't even throw 6 touchdowns over he course of 2 or 3 games (except Lamar Jackson), But yeah, Ferguson dominated the Falcons and has earned the right to be named this week's Player of the Week.

"Sadder"-Day's Upset: Duke beats Notre Dame

What is up with Notre Dame Football this year? I mean they had high hopes this year and now they're 1-3. I don't know what to say really. But Duke came into this game being heavy underdogs and they did what any underdog does and somehow won the game. Duke came back from a 14-0 Notre Dame lead and then kept the game very close down to the last minute basically. And with 1:24 left in the game, Duke kicked a 19 yard field goal to take the lead and they went on to win the game, 38-35. This will probably be Duke's best win for the next 10 years or so.. It's all downhill from here guys!

Well this review was kind of lame but I write on this blog a lot and I have a headache so you can't win them all. From this week we learned that I may or may not still have my title as "College Football Genius" (My Big 12 plan is pretty nice though..), I will not give Tennessee the recognition they may deserve, Riley Ferguson is the quarterback of the Memphis Tigers, and Notre Dame is awful. Until tomorrow for the AP Poll!

Social Issues and Protests

Let me start this by saying this, it's my opinion.  It's how I'm viewing this.  This is my perspective.  If you do not like it, that's fine.  I completely understand.  The last thing the world needs is another pointless opinion that will probably just add fuel to the fire.  But a lot has been happening not only in the college football world, but all over sports (It's also happening in the real world and I will most likely make that connection in this at some point but at the moment sports blog = sports issues).  I'm not here to say "hey guys, I have the solution to the problem!" or "I know how to fix this."  I'm just here to address the issues and discuss them in a civil manner.  So as we all may know, many protests have been happening all over the United States.  Some in the sports world, and some outside of it. What made me want to talk about this subject was the recent post game protest at Eastern Michigan. Three days before the game, "racial graffiti" was spray painted onto one of the campus buildings. According to the school, the graffiti mentioned the "KKK" and had a "racial epithet."   There was also a "racial slur" found in the stairwell of a building as well.  This led to campus-wide protests and 150 students marched to the home of Eastern Michigan President James Smith and also "peacefully" discussed the idea of the field protest during the game with him.  So right after the game, students took to the field, and along with some players, marched across the field chanting "No justice! No peace!"  The investigation is underway to find out the culprit of the graffiti and at the moment the chant does speak for itself, until the culprit is found (so at the moment there is no justice) there students will continue to protest (no peace).  So now this incident ties into what's been going on in the rest of the US and that is sitting during the national anthem due to "racial oppression."  It began when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was seen sitting during the national anthem of the USA.  When asked about it, Kaepernick said "I am not going to stand up and show pride for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.  To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.  There are bodies in the street and people are getting paid leave and getting away with murder."  Yes, there have been a lot of shootings involving African Americans and police officers.  But to me, its not the country as a whole that oppresses African Americans and people of color.  I don't even know if "oppress" is the right word for it.  There was a time when African Americans and people of color were oppressed in America.  But I believe we, as a country, have gotten passed that.  However there are still some people who haven't.  And some of them gladly voice that because of their first amendment right.  What I'm trying to say here is America, as a whole, isn't oppressing African Americans and people of color, it is certain people in this very diverse country, who believe in what the past generations have believed.  Beliefs and traditions are passed down.  Some people over the years grow out of them.  Some stick to them.  It's just the way things work.  It's complicated.  The same thing with police officers.  Not all police officers are racist.  But some just happen to be.  Everyone has their own beliefs, traditions, and way of thinking.  Everyone is unique.  As much as we want to, we just can't all agree.  Some people think their ideas are better and want to use and say them,  Racism is really bad but taking away someones right of free speech is as well. We can't just tell someone they're wrong and expect them to change.   Can we change someone? How do we change someone?  And can we actually put an end to all the racism and protests? These are some of the many questions that are asked. And for now, they remained unanswered. 

The Big 12 Expansion and My (Brilliant) Ideas

As I lay here in my death bed (I'm still sick :/), I began to think about the Big 12 and it's desire to expand and add new teams to the conference (because I want that to be my dying thought?).  This wasn't originally supposed to a blog post but instead of keeping these thoughts to myself, I figured I would share them with you readers (because people read my blog.. right?) so you can appreciate my "genius" as much as I do.  So here it is, my Big 12 Expansion Idea, broken down (I think way to much):

Big 12 (Currently):

TCU

Iowa State

Texas*

Oklahoma*

Oklahoma State

Kansas

Kansas State

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Baylor

*Oklahoma and Texas haven’t approved expansion idea.  If they leave they should go to the SEC.

Expansion Candidates:

UConn

Cincinnati

UCF

USF

Rice

Houston

SMU

Tulane

BYU

Air Force

Colorado State

SEC (with Texas and Oklahoma):

 East:

Florida

Georgia

South Carolina

Vanderbilt

Tennessee

Kentucky

Alabama*

Auburn*

West:

Texas A&M

Arkansas

Ole Miss

Mississippi State

LSU

Missouri*

Oklahoma*

Texas*

*Geographically, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri are more “western” than Auburn and Alabama, so you move those 2 teams to the East and add Texas and Oklahoma to the West and move Missouri from the East to the West.  Iron Bowl rivalry stays.  Red River Showdown Rivalry stays as well.  Divisions stay even with 8 teams a piece.

Big 12 (without Texas and Oklahoma):

TCU

Iowa State

Oklahoma State

Kansas

Kansas State

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Baylor

Logical Additions:

BYU*

Houston*

Geographical Additions (self-explanatory):

Houston

Rice*

SMU*

*Rice and SMU aren’t good or prestigious (well SMU kinda is) but just location wise it works I guess.

Teams to Think About:

Air Force*

Colorado State*

*BYU and Houston are good and prestigious programs.  It makes sense to add them to increase ratings and add competition to the conference.  Air Force and Colorado State aren’t as prestigious and they do not sound like good Big 12 teams but their programs are decent enough at the moment to also be considered.  Only add if you really want to increase to 14 teams (or 12 if Texas and Oklahoma leave).

Teams to Not Even Consider:

UConn*

Cincinnati*

Tulane*

UCF*

USF*

*None of these programs are good enough or even prestigious enough to even be considered to join the Big 12.  No one wants to see UConn vs Baylor or like UCF vs TCU.  Those will just be demolitions.  Plus the AAC will shrink in size and will just destroy the conference.  Plus geographically it wouldn’t make sense for UConn or Cincinnati or any of these teams to be there (what about West Virginia though? Couldn’t tell ya. They’re an more of a Big 10 team to me but fits well in the Big 12).

Big 12 (Post Expansion if Oklahoma and Texas Leave):

TCU

Iowa State

Oklahoma State

Kansas

Kansas State

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Baylor

Houston*

BYU*

SMU*

Colorado State*

*4 expansion teams if Texas and Oklahoma leave.  Big 12 will have 12 teams and the name will make sense.  I feel like Colorado State would add better competition than the other teams considered therefore they should be added only if Texas and Oklahoma leave.  SMU on the other hand isn’t the best team in the world but they have the prestige (kinda) and the rivalries (all the Texas teams basically) to be added, again, only if Texas and Oklahoma leave.

Big 12 (Post Expansion if Oklahoma and Texas Stay):

TCU

Iowa State

Oklahoma

Texas

Oklahoma State

Kansas

Kansas State

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Baylor

Houston*

BYU*

*2 new expansion teams if Texas and Oklahoma stay

So long story short, no matter what, Houston and BYU should join the Big 12.  They are good teams and deserve to have better competition.  If Texas and Oklahoma do not approve the expansion idea (I wouldn’t blame them, I like the Big 12 like it is right now), they should move on the SEC which adds way more competition to the conference and will make it the best/hardest conference to play in college football more than it already is.

Other Teams to Consider Outside of the Approached Expansion Teams:

San Diego State

Tulsa

Boise State

Nevada