National Championship: #1 Alabama vs #2 Clemson

Well my prediction was wrong.  What else is new?  #1 Alabama silenced the #4 Washington offense, winning 24-7 and advancing to the National Championship for the second straight year.  #2 Clemson shut out #3 Ohio State 31-0, also advancing to the National Championship for the second straight year.  So basically we have a repeat of last year's National Championship Game, Alabama vs Clemson.  The last time these two teams faced off was last year's National Championship, where Alabama squeaked out the win 45-40 to win their third National Championship in five years.  Clemson is looking for redemption in this game as they look to win their first National Championship ever in their program's history.  I expect Alabama to win but this game will be close again.  The departure of Alabama's Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin leaves a huge question mark on the performance of Alabama's offense, especially the performance of freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts.  But Alabama's defense has stepped up as of late and if they can stop the Washington offense then they could easily stop the Clemson offense.  As much as I hate to say it... ROLL TIDE!

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!