Three for Thursday:Final Edition

The 2016 college football season wrapped up last week with Clemson defeating Alabama for the national championship.  Here’s my thoughts on what I saw from the teams I was paying attention to this year.

Sports Illustrated

Michigan – The biggest questions entering this season were who would start at quarterback and how good or bad would the offensive line would be.  Throughout the regular season these two areas showed why they were the biggest questions.  Wilton Speight won the quarterback competition and played well enough for Michigan to go far, unfortunately in the big games the offensive line couldn’t protect him or block well enough for the running game to be a factor late in games.

Michigan State – I expected the Spartans to take a step back in 2016 as did a lot of other people.  Nobody expected them to have a program worst losing streak in the middle of the season and end up with such a poor record.  If Mark Dantonio is as good as a coach as most people say he is it will show next season when results start to look more like what the Spartan faithful have come to expect over the last few seasons.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes entered the season with a lot of questions to answer, mainly, how would they rebound from the mass exodus of players to the NFL.  Having an experienced quarterback returning and a roster chock full of highly touted recruits went a long way towards making up for all of that attrition.  Unfortunately for Urban Meyer the lack of a passing game ultimately undid the Buckeyes in the playoffs as Clemson was able to focus on stopping JT Barrett on the ground.

Wisconsin – After running the table in the Big Ten West division the Badgers allowed a big lead to slip away in the second half of the conference championship game, ultimately sending Penn State to the Rose Bowl.  Wisconsin was supposed to have a very stout defense in 2016, and at times they looked like one of the best in the country.  But after Western Michigan University was able to move the ball pretty much at will for much of the Cotton Bowl and Penn State did the same in the B1G Championship Game, one has to wonder how good it really was.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide came into the season as the top ranked team and the odds on favorite to repeat as national champions.  The navigated through the regular season and the playoff semi-finals without much difficulty, but that’s against a conference schedule that featured SEC teams that were down compared to recent years.  The inexperience at quarterback cost them a repeat, and a large number of players moving on to play on Sundays should cause them to take a step back next year, but then again Nick Saban doesn’t rebuild, he reloads.

Notre Dame – After having to kick the top five defensive players off the roster right before the beginning of the season for drug and weapons charges it was hard to say what the Irish were going to be like in 2016.  They showed flashes of offensive prowess, but the lack of defense couldn’t keep them in very many games.  Brian Kelly should be able to right the ship for next season and return should start their return to the top of the rankings.

Clemson – In a season where the defense was supposed to be weaker than last year’s runner-up finish, the Tigers were able to use their experience on offense to out score a lot of opponents.  The weakness of most of the ACC helped propel them to their second straight appearance in the College Football Playoffs, and ultimately the national championship.  A roster full of underclassmen would lead you to believe that they should be a front-runner for the title in 2017, but when one of them is their Heisman Trophy runner-up who will most likely declare to enter the NFL draft, it leaves a big question mark.

Washington – The champion from the PAC 12 Conference didn’t have a lot of trouble with their conference opponents.  When they appeared in the playoffs and were blown out by Alabama it showed how big of a gap there is between the PAC 12 and the top tier teams in the rest of the country.  This program has been trending upward for the past few years, and there isn’t really anything indicating that it’s going to be changing directions anytime soon.

Oklahoma – The Sooners proved to be the best team in the worst conference in the country.  It’s hard to evaluate how good they really are when they were beating by a group of five team that didn’t even win its conference title and the rest of their conference plays poor football.  If the Sooners played in the SEC or B1G Conferences they would probably be more of a middle of pack team.

Western Michigan – The Broncos came in to the season as the odds on favorite to win the MAC.  Up and coming coach PJ Fleck helped them “Row the Boat” to a 13-1 season that culminated in a Cotton Bowl appearance where they almost pulled off the upset against Wisconsin to win the B1G West division (the beat Northwestern and Illinois earlier in the year).  Coach Fleck the “Abandoned Ship” and headed for the frozen fields of Minnesota, but whomever takes the helm after him has a roster full of talent that should continue to be successful, and a fan base that is fully prepared to continue to back the program.

mgoblogdotcom

This time of year is always tough for me.  I really don’t watch very much sports outside of college football, so the next eight months are going to be long.  In the mean time I’ll do my research on the ten teams I’ll be watching for next season.

Three for Thursday:Bowl Preview

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For the top teams that didn’t make it into the playoffs there is still a great reward. There are six bowl games that still hold prestige, and two are actually played as the semi-finals.  Here’s my preview of those six games.

orangebowldotorg

Capital One Orange Bowl – No. 6 Michigan vs No 11 Florida State – Michigan makes its first return to a New Year’s six game for the first time since appearing in the Sugar Bowl in 2011.  Florida State appears for the first time since suffering a blowout loss against Oregon in the Rose Bowl in 2015 as a semifinalist in the playoffs.  Michigan will bring their stout defense and a steady offense to face a Florida State team that was predicted to finish atop the ACC, where they struggled against opponents with strong defenses.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – No. 4 Washington vs No. 1 Alabama – Alabama is making their third straight appearance in the playoffs, the only team to be able to boast that feat.  Washington will represent the PAC 12 Conference in the playoffs after securing a spot by blowing out Colorado in the conference championship game.  This should be the first game that Washington has where they aren’t the odds on favorite, and what better way to evaluate how good your team, and conference, really is than by going against the best.

Playstation Fiesta Bowl – No. 3 Ohio State vs No. 2 Clemson – The Buckeyes make their second appearance in the playoffs three year history, Clemson is doing the same, but their appearances are back-to-back.  Clemson is the conference champion from the ACC, and Ohio State didn’t even appear in the B1G title game.  That speaks to the strength of the B1G Conference and how the committee viewed the ACC, in what should be the better of the two semi-final matchups.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – No. 15 Western Michigan vs No. 8 Wisconsin – PJ Fleck put a sign up in the Broncos locker room last January listing the date of the 2016 Cotton Bowl, the game the best Group of Five teams would go.  It proved to be enough motivation for them to row the boat all the way to Dallas behind an undefeated regular season.  Wisconsin was favored to win this game, as they should be, but if they slip Western will be 3-0 against the B1G West division this season.

thespundotcom

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual – No. 9 USC vs No. 5 Penn St – Despite winning the conference the Nittany Lions didn’t make it in to the playoffs.  The Trojans finished their season strong by winning their final eight games after stumbling to a 1-3 start.  This traditional Rose Bowl matchup should be the best bowl game of the six.

Allstate Sugar Bowl – No. 14 Auburn vs. No. 7 Oklahoma – A matchup between a team that was ranked in the top three at the beginning of the year and a team that wasn’t even ranked doesn’t really sound too exciting.  Oklahoma had a tough schedule early, but were able to finish out their season by going undefeated in the Big 12.  Auburn worked their way up through the rankings to earn an appearance as the SEC representative in the Sugar bowl, where they may be able to prove why the Big 12 is considered the weakest conference in the nation.

The first matchup starts on Friday night at 8 pm with the Orange bowl, there will be nothing on my TV but football for four straight days.  Be sure to check back after the holidays as I recap what happened and preview the championship game.

Three for Thursday:Review Edition

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The 2016 college football season had a lot of questions going in.  Who would emerge as a contender?  Who were the frauds?  Can anyone beat Alabama?  Here’s my take on the 10 teams I’ve been following closely this year.

Orlando Sentinel

Michigan – The Wolverines entered the season with only one major question mark on their roster, who was going to be the starting quarterback.  Coach Harbaugh picked Wilton Speight out of his stable of six plus QBs on the roster on scholarship.  He showed flashes of being really good, but this team was really overshadowed by everything they were able to accomplish on the defensive side of the ball, that could possibly see four players drafted in the first round in Jabrill Peppers (if he turns pro), Jourdan Lewis, Taco Chartlon (best name in college football), and Chris Wormley.

Michigan State – The Spartans came in to the 2016 season with a pretty unanimous opinion that they would take a step back after four year starting quarterback Connor Cook moved on to the NFL.  What nobody could predict was a 3-9 final record that included a program long seven game winning streak.  I don’t expect Michigan State to stay down in the lower levels of the B1G because this is the first real step backwards the program has taken since Mark Dantonio took the helm, and he should be able to right the ship before too long.

Ohio State – This year’s Buckeye team started the season off in the same way I expect the Wolverines to start off the 2017 season, trying to see how well they can recover from a mass exodus of key players transitioning out to the NFL.  Braxton Miller turned out to be the biggest returning member of this squad, since I saw on more than once occasion where they were forced to have him be the main running option.  Luckily enough for Ohio State his running skills are much better than his passing skills, because if they were going to have him pass to try and win games late they probably wouldn’t have been so successful.

Wisconsin – The Badgers weren’t really on too many people’s radar when the season started.  They made everyone take notice on the first weekend of the season when they earned a home victory against the LSU Tigers, who were ranked fifth in the nation in the preseason AP poll.  Their stout defense is the biggest part of their success for this year, but due to largely unbalanced conference divisions in the B1G they ended up only being the fourth best team in the conference.

Notre Dame – The Fight Irish entered the 2016 season with high hopes and a top 10 preseason ranking.  Unfortunately for them they had to remove the top five defensive players from the roster due to disciplinary actions.  That put a major damper on their ability to stop anyone and sent their season down the drain and caused the firing of their Defensive Coordinator, all things that are easily able to be overcome next year.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide started the season off with the top ranking all year.  They were able to hold on to that ranking throughout the season as they were one of only two teams to run the table and not suffer a loss.  There were four teams ranked in the top 11 from the SEC in the preseason poll, all of them except Alabama proved to be frauds.

Clemson – The team that finished 2015 as the number team in the land started the preseason the same way.  A few close games early in the season made it look like Louisville may have been the best team in the ACC, but they proved to be frauds as well, despite their quarterback winning the Heisman Trophy.  Clemson just kept on winning, except one slip against Pitt, and moved on to their second consecutive appearance in the college football playoffs.

Washington – The Huskies started the season with a preseason ranking of 14, six slots behind conference rival Stanford.  The Cardinal proved to be ranked incorrectly as they quickly fell out of the polls, but the Huskies struggled until mid-October to start to get any real attention.  A team with one loss and going to their conference title game having a razor thin lead over a two loss team not going to their conference championship in the College Football Playoff rankings shows that the committee believes the strength of the PAC 12 is not near the strength of the B1G.

Oklahoma – The Sooners started the season with a number three preseason ranking and quickly proved that wasn’t close to where they should have been as they lost on opening weekend against Houston and the two weeks later against Ohio State.  Despite only have those two losses the Big 12 Champions were never really in the conversation for the playoffs.  The Big 12 Conference was a mess this year and I had a very difficult time trying to watch any games played by any of the teams, it looked like a completely different product on the field than most of the rest of the power five conferences.

Rukkus

Western Michigan – The Broncos came in to the season with conference title hopes, they never really expected to end up where they were.  Coach PJ Fleck mentioned in an interview that someone had told him if they were able to beat Northwestern on the opening weekend they had a serious chance of going 13-0 and making an appearance in the Cotton Bowl.  Well, that’s exactly what they were able to do, they “Rowed the Boat” over every one of their opponents and set numerous team records on their way to destroying almost everyone in their paths.

There were great moments almost every weekend in college football in 2016.  This year really reminded me why I love the sport as a whole, not just Michigan.  The fact that my wife will sit next to me on the couch and watch games all day with me (she won’t with any other sports), shows me just how awesome it is.  Be sure to check back next week as I begin previewing the bowl games.

USA Today

Three for Thursday:Conference Championship Edition

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The conference championships were supposed to help the playoff committee determine which teams should make it into the playoffs.  They did that, for the most part.  Here’s what I took away.

USA Today

MAC Championship – Western Michigan vs Ohio – PJ Fleck and his Broncos “Rowed the Boat” all the way down I-94 to Ford Field in Detroit for their first MAC Championship since 1988.  They did have a couple of turnovers in the second half, which is not the norm for this team.  The final score of 29-23 is actually closer than it seems as the Broncos scored on seven possessions, leading them to a birth in the Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin.

Pac 12 – Washington Huskies vs Colorado Buffaloes – In the game that was supposed to be one that would have the most impact on the final participants in the College Football Playoff, the Huskies took a 14-7 lead into the locker room at the half and turned it into a 41-10 drubbing.  The playoff committee had the Huskies ahead of Michigan by a very slim margin at the end of the regular season.   When Washington faces Alabama in the first round of the playoffs it will tell us just how good or bad the rest of the Pac 12 really is.

Big 12 – Oklahoma vs Oklahoma St – The Sooners fell behind early and had to comeback in the first half in order to go into the locker room tied with Oklahoma State at the half way mark of “Bedlam.”  A dominating second half was enough to prove that they are the cream of the crop in the Big 12 Conference.  Unfortunately being the best team in the worst of the Power 5 conferences won’t always get you an invitation to the playoffs.

SEC – Alabama vs Florida – Nick Saban has his team hitting on all cylinders at the right time.  This game wasn’t really much of a contest even though Florida jumped out to an early 9-0 lead.  From there the Gators were only able to muster one more touchdown as the Crimson Tide rolled their way to 54 total points, the most allowed by the Florida Gators in more than a decade.

Big Ten – Wisconsin vs Penn State – In a matchup of what many experts were saying was a game between the third and fourth best teams in the conference, it certainly wasn’t a disappointment.  The Badgers from Wisconsin took an early lead and it looked like they were ready to move their season on to the Rose Bowl.  Unfortunately for them Penn State has been playing their best football in the second half of games all season, and this game was not different as they outscored Wisconsin 24-3 to win and send themselves to Pasadena and Wisconsin to Dallas.

ACC – Clemson vs Virginia Tech – The final score in this one is another one where it looks like it was a closer game than it actually was.  With a two touchdown lead after three quarters the Tigers scored one more in the fourth quarter to make sure they outlasted the Hokies.  That type of defensive performance may not hold up well against Ohio State when they meet up in the playoffs.

When all the dust had settled pretty much nothing changed in the final rankings from the College Football Playoff committee.  They did flip-flop Clemson and Ohio State in their rankings, putting the Tigers ahead.  This doesn’t really change anything other than which color uniform each team wears and who gets to call heads or tails during the coin flip.  The biggest question going in to the weekend was how well would Washington perform against Colorado.  This mattered because the committee had made it known that they only had the Huskies ahead of the Wolverines by a slim margin.  That probably meant that if Washington lost, or only beat Colorado by a small margin, then Michigan would get the nod.  The criteria for the committee to determine how they rank teams includes a lot of things.  They include record, common opponents, conference championships, etc.  The group of four that the committee chose is close to the best four teams in the country, which is what they are trying to get.  In the final rankings the committee put Penn State at five and Michigan at six.  I have to believe that is a result of the conference championship.  Although Michigan beat Penn State head-to-head, it wouldn’t have mattered where the committee put them because the winner of the B1G was going to end up in the Rose Bowl if they didn’t replace Ohio State as a representative in the playoffs.  After all of the football I watched I believe the committee got it right, almost.  If I were to rank the top six teams in the country, not necessarily for the playoffs but best teams, it would be (in order) Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Penn State.  Based on the weakness of the Pac 12 beyond the Huskies, Colorado, USC, and Washington State I have a hard time getting behind Washington.  The semi-final matchup against Alabama should show you what I mean.  I don’t think they’ll get blown out 38-0, but I don’t think it will be a very close game.

The most interesting thing that came out of the conference championship weekend is the matchup for the Cotton Bowl.  The Wisconsin Badgers will face off against the only undefeated team in the country not named Alabama, the Western Michigan University Broncos.  The betting line in Las Vegas opened at Wisconsin -6.5 points.  For those of you who don’t bet professionally that means they are favored to win by less than a touchdown.  Coach Fleck has been the hottest thing in college football over the last month of the season.  ESPN had him on campus in Bristol Connecticut to run through their “car wash” where he appeared on almost every one of their sports talk shows in a single day.  That betting line is really a show of respect for what the Broncos have accomplished this year.  The MAC may be one of the weakest conferences in FBS level college football, but to run the table in any sport, at any level, is an amazing feat.  The Badgers bring a very strong defense to the game on January 2, but the Broncos really aren’t a slouch themselves.  They feature the all-time leading receiver in FBS history in Corey Davis, a Heisman Trophy finalist in Quarterback Zach Terrell, and defense that features one of the best cornerbacks in the country in Darius Phillips.  I’m not going to say that the Broncos are going to win the Cotton Bowl, but I believe they will surprise a lot of people around the country and make it a very competitive game, possibly the best one of the day on January 2^nd.

Quad City Times

After 13 weeks of regular season games, and a week of conference championships, the college football season is starting to come to a close.  That makes me sad, but I’m ready to inundate myself with four solid days of football over New Year’s weekend.  Be sure to check back here next week as I preview the bowl season.

Three for Thursday:Week 13

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Week thirteen in college football brought a close to the regular season.  There were a lot of rivalry games that didn’t disappoint.  Here’s what I took away.

Detroit News

Michigan – The Wolverines traveled to Columbus to face their biggest rival in the Ohio State Buckeyes, and “The Game” lived up to its billing as the best game of the year.  Michigan showed why their defense is considered the best in the country as they were able to hold the Buckeyes to 10 points (from their offense) during regulation.  Unfortunately, weak offensive line play ultimately did them in at the end.

Michigan State – The Spartans traveled to Happy Valley to battle with Penn State for the Land Grant trophy.  The defense held up for the first half as MSU actually led for most of the first two and a half quarters.  Ultimately too many injuries and lack of quarterback play did them in, and their season fizzled out late, putting an end to the misery that most Spartans fans were experiencing all season.

Ohio State – Hosting “The Game” doesn’t always give you an advantage in the biggest rivalry in all of college football.  This year it seemed to be going that way as the Buckeyes struggled too much of anything on offense for the first three quarters of the game.  The final quarter featured the best offensive game plan the Buckeyes can offer, run JT Barrett and then once the defense is keying on him, spread the ball around.

Wisconsin – The Badgers completed their sweep of the Big Ten Western Division with a win over Minnesota and held onto Paul Bunyan’s Axe for a 12^th year.  After falling behind in the second half the Badgers defense was able to pitch a shutout in the second half.  The finished off the Golden Gophers on the ground, scoring two fourth quarter rushing touchdowns and secured their place in the B1G Championship game.

Notre Dame – The Irish hosted arguably their biggest rival in the USC Trojans to finish out the 2016 season.  This wasn’t really much of a game from the opening kick-off as the Trojans rolled to a 45-27 victory.  The Irish had a down year compared to seasons of late, but the loss of your top five defensive backs less than two weeks before the season starts is going to cause a lot of problems no matter what team that would have happened to.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide finished their season with their biggest rival, the Auburn Tigers.  The Iron Bowl was close over the first half as Alabama built a 13-9 halftime lead.  Their stout defense held the Tigers to just three points in the second half and the Tide moved on to the SEC Championship Game by scoring 17 in the second half for a 30-12 victory.

Clemson – Dabo Swinney has his team poised for a strong run to a second national championship game in a row by finishing off their 2016 regular season with a 56-7 of South Carolina.  This game was never really in doubt as the Tigers jumped out to an early 21-0 first quarter lead.  A winnable game in the ACC Championship Game against Virginia Tech is the last thing standing between the Tigers and another shot at the title.

Washington – The Huskies played their biggest rival, Washington State, in the Apple Cup.  Washington dominated this year’s matchup with a 28 point first quarter and never looked back as they rolled to an easy 45-17 victory.  A matchup against Colorado has the Huskies thinking playoffs, but the committee has made it clear that they must win to have a chance to get in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that if they win, they are in.

Oklahoma – The Big 12 only has ten teams.  They don’ have a conference championship game so the Sooners had an extra bye week last Saturday.  Because the Big 12 is the weakest conference, even if they do beat Oklahoma State and go undefeated in conference play, they will not make it into the playoffs.

Western Michigan – The Broncos hosted the Toledo Rockets in their regular season finale.  A lot of people believe this was the defacto conference championship game as WMU and Toledo are the two best teams in the MAC.  The Broncos “Rowed the Boat” all over the Rockets and all the way down Interstate 94 to Ford Field to face the Ohio Bobcats, and if they win they should secure the “Group of Five” bid in the Cotton Bowl.

Campus Insider

All of the rivalry games is another reason I love college football.  I can’t wait to see this weekend’s games and how the playoff picture shapes up.  Check back here next week to see what I took away.

Three for Thursday:Week 12

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Week 12 in college football brought us colder temps, and more heated battles on the field.  It was a week where nothing really changed at the top of the playoff rankings.  Here’s what I saw.

Michigan – The Wolverines hosted the Indiana Hoosiers in their final home game of the year that started with hail falling from the sky, and being shouted by the fans.  The Wolverines were starting back-up QB John O’Korn, who often looked lost when he dropped back in the pocket to pass.  Michigan showed its dominance on the defensive side of the ball and proved that they can line up and knock people down to run the ball as De’Veon Smith had a career day for his last game in The Big House.

Michigan State – The Spartans are trying to salvage their season by playing spoiler to finish the end of the season.  They found success against the Buckeyes running the ball with LJ Scott, again I have to wonder why this game plan wasn’t utilized earlier in the season.  The choice to go for two late in the fourth quarter was a gutsy call that I think was correct and hope Coach Dantonio continues to try in the future.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes traveled north the East Lansing with the intention of winning and moving on the Michigan week.  A single point victory points to a few different things.  Either the weather was a big factor, the Spartans aren’t as bad as everyone thinks, or Ohio State isn’t as good as everyone thinks (a few teams in the B1G this year have had success slowing down OSU).

Wisconsin – The Badgers traveled to Purdue and had no difficulty dispatching of the Boilermakers.  Wisconsin looks poised to advance to the B1G Conference Championship game as the representative from the Western Division.  Their only losses have come at the hands of Michigan and Ohio State, which is why they are ranked sixth in the playoff poll.

Notre Dame – The Irish hosted Virginia Tech to finish out their home schedule.  The collapse in the second half that allowed the Hokies to get the victory shows how weak the Irish are on Defense.  A poor season and an academic scandal causing the vacating of victories in 2012-13 don’t look good for head coach Brian Kelley.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide hosted Chattanooga as their final non-conference foe of 2016.  This may have been a game that was uninspiring for Alabama, as the only won 31-3.  How good are the Tide if they can be looking towards their biggest rival and still win by four touchdowns?

Clemson – The Tigers bounced back from their first loss of the year by traveling to Wake Forrest and coming home with an easy 35-13 victory.  Pittsburgh gave Louisville hope, but Houston then took that away.  Clemson is in line to make their way back to the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoffs.

Washington – The Huskies were another team that was trying to bounce back from their first loss.  They weren’t very gracious hosts to Rich Rodriguez and Arizona State, as they worked out some frustrations by beating the Sun Devils 44-18.  The Huskies control their own destiny in the PAC 12 and the College Football Playoffs, win and you’re in, lose and your conference will probably be left out.

Oklahoma – The Sooners faced their last real challenge to their conference championship as they hosted one loss West Virginia.  Records can be deceiving as the Sooners proved they are the team to beat in the conference with a 56-28 victory.  The overall weakness of the Big 12 Conference will keep them out of the playoffs, no matter who wins the conference.

Western Michigan – The Broncos returned to Saturday MACtion as they hosted Buffalo among all the craziness that having ESPN College GameDay brings.  PJ Fleck had his team row the boat wherever they want to as they beat Buffalo 38-0.  The Broncos looked poised to move on to the MAC Championship game with an unblemished record, but will it be enough to get them into a New Year’s six bowl game?

sportschatplace

It’s simple for Michigan.  Win and you’re in.  The problem is they have to travel to Columbus to face their biggest rival.  This series has been one sided since 2001, with Michigan only coming away with two victories.  Last year it wasn’t really a game.  This year Michigan returns almost everyone who played in that game.  There should be a bad taste in their mouth from the way they finished last season (not counting the bowl game).  The defense is the best Michigan has put on the field since 1997.  I believe that will be the difference in this game.  With a big question at quarterback if Wilton Speight doesn’t play, it will take a strong effort from the defensive unit to win this game.  At times Ohio State has looked unstoppable on offense.  There have been times when they have looked rather pedestrian.  I believe Michigan has the players to be able to replicate those results to a higher degree.  If Michigan wins this game, it will be because their defense kept the Buckeyes from scoring too much.  Win and you advance to the B1G Championship Game.   A win there puts the Wolverines in the College Football Playoffs.  A loss in the championship game doesn’t necessarily mean they’re out, but a loss in Columbus does.

The Western Michigan University Broncos are in a pretty difficult position.  Being in a weak group of five conference has them ranked behind Boise State, with one loss, and Houston with two.  Boise State has been playing solid football for 17 years, with their worst win total over that span being eight (twice).  Only having one loss and that history are why they are the highest ranked group of five teams.  Houston has impressive victories over Oklahoma and Louisville.  Their two losses come against a strong Navy team, and a mediocre SMU team, but it isn’t uncommon for a team to slip along the way.  The Cougars are the second highest ranking group of five teams.  The Broncos are undefeated to this point in the season.  They are one of two teams remaining in the FBS without a loss.  The other is Alabama.  The MAC conference is not very good.  But I think the Broncos are.  In every game except the Northwestern win in the season opener, they have won my at least two touchdowns.  Although the MAC may be a weaker conference, they are still unbeaten.  For any team to go through their entire season without a loss says something.  It becomes more and more difficult with every game.  The target on your back becomes bigger.  I feel the PJ Fleck has his team playing well enough to complete the job.  With the strength that this team has gone through their schedule, the future FBS career leader in receiving yardage, and a quarterback in the final 12 of the Heisman race, this team isn’t a fluke.  I feel the committee should give them the reward of the New Year’s Day Bowl for getting through their season without a blemish.

The rest of the playoff picture is coming into the picture too.  Alabama looks like they’ll continue to roll in as the top seed.  Clemson doesn’t seem to have any road blocks to getting in either.  Whomever wins the B1G Championship Game should get in as well.  The only question mark is who comes in in the fourth spot.  If Ohio State win against Michigan and Penn State wins against Michigan State, the Buckeyes could get that fourth spot.  The only way that might happen is if Washington doesn’t come out as the winner of the PAC 12.  When the rankings are released next Tuesday it should give us an indication as to which way the committee is leaning.

news24hdotmy-homeipdotcom

There are a lot of rivalry games this weekend and conference championship games will be set.  The final week of the regular season is definitely not going to disappoint.  Be sure to check back next week to see what I took away from it.

Three for Thursday:Week 11

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Week 11 in college football made me think I was reading a Batman comic, “Holy shake ups, Batman!” Things didn’t go the way I had hoped for my team, but they didn’t go the way a lot of fans had hoped they would for a lot of teams. Here’s what I took away.

newsdaydotcom

Michigan – The Wolverines faced their toughest task of the year to date, a true road game against a tough opponent (yes, MSU was a road game, but really just down the road, and they weren’t a real tough opponent). The defense performed to the standard top tier level. The offense has started to become a little stagnant, the Jabrill experiment isn’t as tricky as before, and with Wilton Speight going down with a broken collar bone what will the offense look like going forward?

Michigan State – The Spartans had their best game of the year with a 49-0 victory over Rutgers, and saved themselves from being called “Green Rutgers” for the next year. That should help them gain some confidence moving forward for the rest of the season. But will it really make a difference as they face two top 10 CFP ranked teams for their final two games of the year?

Ohio State – The Buckeyes traveled to Maryland to face former Michigan assistant DJ Durkin and took care of business. Urban Meyer has his team primed and they are peaking at just the right time in the season. They look like they are heading towards competing for another national title, except a slip by the special teams late in a game in October may keep them out of the B1G title game and the college football playoffs all together.

Wisconsin – The Badgers welcomed The Fighting Illini to Camp Randall Stadium. They weren’t very good hosts as they rolled over Illinois 48-3. Wisconsin should cruise through their last two games as they travel to lowly Purdue and close out the regular season by hosting Minnesota.

Notre Dame – The Irish continued their fight against our service academies as they hosted Army. They had little trouble this week as they rolled by the Knights 44-6. This keeps their slim bowl hopes alive as they finish their schedule against Virginia Tech and USC, but that could be difficult.

Alabama – The Tide blew out Mississippi State at home. This wasn’t really a big deal, or anything unexpected. Alabama looks poised to continue to roll through the rest of their schedule and move on to the SEC Championship game before heading to the college football playoffs without a loss.

Clemson – The Tigers were another one of the teams that didn’t perform as well as their fan base would have liked. The hosted a Pitt team that looked to be headed towards possibly not making a bowl game, but couldn’t score in the fourth quarter to put them away. This may not hurt Clemson in the long run for their chances to win the ACC and make a return appearance in the playoff.

Washington – The Huskies were the third team in the top four to suffer a loss last weekend. After falling behind by two touchdowns in the first half they just didn’t have enough fire power to catch up. Washington is still on pace to win the PAC 12, if they can get by Washington State.

Oklahoma – The Sooners proved why they were ranked in the top five in the preseason. After suffering two losses in the first three weeks Oklahoma has righted the “Schooner” and looks to be the team to beat in the Big 12. Unfortunately for them those early losses will keep them out of the playoffs.

Western Michigan – Week 11 came early for the Broncos as they played last Tuesday and helped them become the first team to 11 wins on the year. With the MAC wanting more exposure on a national level they have to play games on strange days in order to get it. Coach Fleck has gotten the Broncos to Row The Boat successfully to the point where ESPN is bringing their pregame show, College GameDay, to Kalamazoo for the first time ever.

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Michigan really hasn’t played under too much adversity this year. They only left the friendly confines of The Big House twice prior to their matchup with Iowa. The first trip was to New Jersey to face lowly Rutgers, and the second one was a little over 70 miles down the road to East Lansing to face Michigan State. Neither of those games were really in doubt the whole time. Iowa proved why they were the preseason favorite to win the western division of the B1G by playing big in a big game. The Hawkeyes were able to expose the biggest problems on Michigan’s team, their offensive line and their linebackers. A lot of people have complained that because of a favorable home schedule, the Wolverines haven’t played anyone tough this year. When the rankings from the College Football Playoff committee came out this past Tuesday it told a different story. The Wolverines have played, and beaten, three teams that are in the top 10. If you want to make the argument that they weren’t all ranked that high when Michigan played them, then you have to look at everyone’s schedule and do the same thing. Against Colorado they struggled in the beginning but ultimately put the Buffaloes away in convincing fashion. Against Penn State they were able to shut down their top player, Saquon Barkley. This allowed them to dominate them for the whole game. Against the Badgers of Wisconsin, Michigan didn’t allow them to do much of anything on offense. Their defense really had a field day whenever Wisconsin had the ball. A 14-7 victory looks a lot more impressive at 23-7 if their field goal kickers could have converted their attempts. No other team has three wins against top 10 teams, so the weak Michigan schedule argument is invalid.

With the teams ranked 2, 3, and 4 all losing this weekend it really has shaken up the playoff picture. There are so many variables that are starting to come into the equation before the final four are announced on December 4, at noon. Alabama looks headed towards a conference championship and undefeated season, leading to the top seed in the playoffs. Clemson looks to get in too, with one loss and a conference championship. The big mess really comes with the final two spots. If Ohio State beats Michigan and Penn State wins their final two games, then because of tie breakers PSU goes to the conference championship with two losses, ahead of a one loss Buckeye team. If Michigan wins out, they go to the conference championship, and a victory there would send them to the playoffs as well. Washington can still win the PAC 12 with only one loss. That might be enough to get them in the playoffs, might. The real mess that the committee has to decide on is what to do with a couple of one loss teams, Ohio State and Louisville, that may not have won conference championships. Louisville has to get by a very tough Houston team this week though. That may not look as daunting as it once did. Other Matchups in the top six include Michigan hosting Indiana, Ohio State visiting Michigan State, Alabama hosts Chattanooga (seriously?), Clemson travels to Wake Forest, and Washington hosts Arizona State. Penn State travels to Rutgers and Wisconsin visits Purdue. These games are all very winnable for the teams that are still in the playoff picture.

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With this much up in the air with only two weeks remaining in the regular season it will certainly make things very interesting. As much better than the BCS the playoffs are, there is still a lot of room for improvement in the system. This mess is helping the case for adding more teams to the picture. Be sure to check back here next week to see what I took away from week 12.

Three for Thursday:Week 10

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Week ten in college football was the first week where the rankings actually meant something.  They started to define which teams are actually in the running to make the college football playoffs.  Here’s what I saw.

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Michigan – The Wolverines welcomed the Maryland Terrapins to Ann Arbor and weren’t very gracious hosts.  Jim Harbaugh has his team playing really strong, and despite their weaker schedule they continue to dominate against the teams they should.  Not only are the Wolverines playing well on the field, but they’re loose and really are a total team.

Michigan State – The Spartans continue to stumble on the football field this year.  They are really struggling to find any kind of rhythm on both sides of the ball and are in danger of not winning a single game in conference this season.  I still don’t understand why they aren’t lining up and forcing the ball down their opponents’ throats with running back LJ Scott.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes hosted Nebraska in week 10, which should have been the game of the week in the B1G.  Once the defense knocked out, literally, quarterback Tommy Armstrong it was all over.  Ohio State has looked like they’ve returned to the form they had in the beginning of the season before they struggled in the middle, setting up an exciting finish to the B1G season.

Wisconsin – The Badgers traveled south to Evanston Illinois to face the Northwestern Wildcats in week 10 and continued to show why they are the team to beat in the western division of the B1G conference.  Their stout defense held the Wildcats to one touchdown, and allowed the offense to comfortably work itself into a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.  Wisconsin has an easy path to B1G Conference Championship game as they finish the season with games against Illinois, Purdue, and Minnesota.

Notre Dame – The Irish faced off against the Midshipmen from Navy in one of their longest rivalries.  They were able to take an early lead in the first half, but couldn’t stop the Navy ground attack as they ultimately lost by a point in the end.  They did hold Navy to only 48 yards passing, but that’s mostly because Navy only attempted eight passes the whole game.

Alabama – Nick Saban took his team to Baton Rouge to face one of their bigger rivals in the LSU Tigers.  At the time LSU actually controlled their own destiny to make it to the SEC Championship game, but they still had a lot of work to do.  A very defensive battle resulted in only two scores, a field goal and a touchdown in the fourth quarter from the Crimson Tide, as they continued to roll their way through the conference.

Washington – It seems that the Huskies may have had a chip on their shoulder following the initial poll from the college football playoff committee.  Unfortunately for Cal they got to be the first team to face a Washington team trying to knock that chip off of their shoulder.  The Huskies should continue to roll against USC and then Arizona State before facing in-state rival Washington State in the Apple Cup, which could be a game that knocks the PAC 12 out of the playoffs.

Clemson – The Tigers rolled over their opponent from northern New York without much trouble.  Quarterback and Heisman hopeful Deshaun Watson did suffer an injury to his shoulder and had to leave the game early.  Most likely he wouldn’t have played much in the second half of this blow out anyway as Clemson looks to be headed to a return trip to the playoffs.

Oklahoma – After a tumultuous start the Sooners seem to have righted the wagon.  They went on the road last Thursday to Iowa State and came away with a 10 point victory, which shows more why this is the weakest conference of the power five.  Back-to-back matchups against Baylor and West Virginia should tell us if they are really the best team in the conference, but it still won’t be enough to get a representative from the Big 12 into the playoffs.

Western Michigan – The Broncos became the first team in the country with 10 wins as they rowed their boats past the Kent State Golden Flashes, mainly because this game was on Tuesday.  This game wasn’t the typical Bronco easy win as they faced some adversity in the first half when they quickly fell behind 14-0.  PJ Fleck was able to get things straightened out and the Broncos outscored Kent State 37-7 over the final three quarters to remain undefeated.

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The Michigan versus Ohio State game on November 26^th looks like it’s going to be a classic like the old days.  The two teams should enter that game with one loss between the two of them, a total that has not been lower since 2006 when both teams entered the game undefeated.  That year they both looked like the top teams in the country and should have been placed in the BCS Championship game in a rematch, but a writer from the SEC region of the country purposely ranked Michigan lower to prevent that from happening, claiming he didn’t want to see a rematch in the title game.  I’m so glad that we have a playoff system now.  It may not be totally perfect, but it’s a better system than the BCS was.

After the first week of the playoff rankings the SEC had two teams in the top four and undefeated Washington was on the outside looking in at number five.  Texas A&M helped clear up the picture by laying an egg against Mississippi State and suffered their second loss.  The paths look clear for the top five in this week’s rankings.  If Alabama continues to roll and wins the SEC, they will be in.  The same holds true for Clemson, Washington, and Michigan.  The top five are still in the picture because Ohio State sits just on the outside at number five.  If they beat Michigan and move on and win the B1G championship they will get in.  Where things could really get interesting is in the PAC 12.  The Huskies are currently undefeated and clearly look to be the top team in the conference.  Their only real test remaining is in the regular season finale against rival Washington State in the Apple Cup.  If the Cougars can somehow pull off and upset it really throws a wrench in things.  Outside of Washington there really isn’t a team that is good enough to be in the playoffs.  If the Huskies stumble and don’t win their conference that opens the door for a conference to send two teams to the playoffs.  The only real possibility of those would be Louisville with one loss from the ACC or if Michigan loses to Ohio State and ends with one loss.  Either of those two teams with one loss is more deserving of a spot in the playoffs than a two loss conference championship team from a weaker PAC 12 conference.

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There are three weeks left in the college football regular season (sad face).  I can hardly wait to see how everything shakes down over the rest of November.  Be sure to check back here next week to see what I took away from it.

Three for Thursday:Week 9

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Week nine in college football had a bunch of great games on the schedule.  Some were conference rivalries, and others were among top ranked teams.  There were some surprises, and some more evidence as to what some teams are, but most importantly the first ranking by the playoff committee came out afterward.

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Michigan – Jim Harbaugh took his Wolverines to East Lansing trying to exact some revenge for a last second special teams mistake that cost them a victory last season over their in-state rival.  This game started out looking like it was going to be the blow out that the betting line and many media people thought it was going to be.  In the second half Michigan looked like a tired team, like a team that hasn’t had to play its starters on defense for a full four quarters.  They did make key stops when needed and Jabrill Peppers put the game away with a last second two-point-conversion fumble return where he really showed off world class sprinter speed.

Michigan State – The Spartans took the opening kick-off and ran the ball right down the field against the Wolverines to take an early 7-0 lead.  They struggle the rest of the first half, but on the strength of an inspired team against their rival and on the back of RB L.J. Scott they made it an interesting game.  I said early in the season that Scott was their best runner, and he proved that this week, but he should have been given that chance weeks ago.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes hosted Northwestern as a follow up to their stunning loss against Penn State last week.  They opened up a lead early and were able to hold on for a 24-20 victory.  Some people are saying that Ohio State may not be as good as initially advertised, I agree some, but Northwestern may be a lot better than anyone thought they were.

Wisconsin – The Badgers hosted the game of the week in the B1G as they welcomed Nebraska to Camp Randall Stadium.  An early lead quickly went away in the second half and the game was forced into overtime.  The strength of the Wisconsin team, the defense, really showed up in the overtime, forcing a sack to win the game as the Corn Huskers attempted to tie it in the first overtime period.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide scheduled their bye week for week nine.  Is that a coincidence coming right before their rivalry game against LSU, I don’t think so.  The Tigers haven’t lived up to their preseason ranking, but Nick Saban better watch out because LSU controls their own destiny to the SEC Championship game.

Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish welcomed the University of Miami (FL) in a renewal of “The Catholics vs. The Convicts.”  The Hurricanes aren’t what they used to be on or off the field but sure showed resiliency after falling behind 20-0 early.  Notre Dame had their best finish of the season with a 10-0 run of their own after falling behind 27-20, and came away with their third victory of the season, keeping their faint bowl hopes alive.

Clemson – The Tigers faced the last team in their conference that really stood a chance to upset the defending conference champs.  The Florida State Seminoles showed portions of why they were ranked in the top five early on in the season.  Clemson took over in the fourth quarter though, showing why they’re still ranked in the top five after week nine.

Washington – The Huskies traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the Utes of Utah (yup, the Utes).  This was a back and forth game as Utah had an answer for most of what Washington was able to throw at them.  Ultimately the Huskies were able to put it away in the fourth quarter, as any good team should be able to.

Oklahoma – The Sooners are surprisingly the last undefeated team in conference play after both teams I was wondering if they would take hold of the conference, Baylor and West Virginia, were upset over the weekend.  The only losses Oklahoma has are non-conference games against Houston, who isn’t looking as good as they were, and Ohio State, ditto.  With as much of a mess as the Big 12 is both one loss teams on the Sooner schedule, Baylor and West Virginia, may not be as close as one might have thought they would be a couple of weeks ago.

Western Michigan – The Broncos rowed their boats to Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana for some Tuesday night MACtion.  They opened up the scoring early with a pick six from their top cornerback, Junior Darius Phillips.  The rest of the game PJ Fleck allowed his quarterback to throw the ball where he wanted, as long as it was to Corey Davis, who set a conference single game receiving record with 272 yards.

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By the time kickoff game in East Lansing at noon the betting line on the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy was up to 24.5 points.  I never thought that was realistic.  The Spartans looked like a team that was inspired by the rivalry and really brought everything they had to the game.  I mentioned before that Michigan looked tired in the second half.  This marks the second straight game where they’ve struggled a little after the bands perform.  That’s a small downside to being able to rest your players early in the season, it starts to show effect their conditioning.  Ultimately the Wolverines have way too much talent and were severely overmatched.  In speaking with some Spartan fans, they agree with me and wonder why L.J. Scott hasn’t had a bigger role this year.  He certainly looks like a Spartan back in the likes of Jevon Ringer and Le’Veon Bell.

The first rankings by the College Football Playoff committee were released on Tuesday.  It was a bit surprising to see unbeaten Washington fall to number five behind on loss Texas A&M.  Surprising, but not necessarily wrong.  The Aggies only loss came at the hands of the top team in the nation, Alabama.  These rankings show us how the committee see the conferences rank in their eyes.  The B1G, SEC, and ACC all have five teams in the top 25.  The Big 12 and PAC 12 each have four and Western Michigan and Boise State are the two teams ranked from “the other 5.”  With Texas A&M getting the nod over Washington is shows that the committee feels the SEC is the strongest conference in the land.  There isn’t a whole lot of evidence to show that Washington deserves to be ranked ahead of them.

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November brings cold weather, leaves to rake, and Thanksgiving.  It also brings some of the best games of the year that couldn’t have been predicted as big back in September, I can’t wait.

Three for Thursday:Week 3

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Week three of college football usually means that teams are starting to play a tougher schedule.  In some cases that happened, in others it didn’t (pretty profound huh?).  There were some pretty surprising results around the country.  Here’s my take.

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Michigan – The Buffaloes came out and threw everything they had at the Wolverines and opened up an early lead.  Late in the first quarter Michigan responded by taking control of the game and going on to comfortable 18 point victory.  Jabrill Peppers looks like a man among boys roaming the field in all three phases of the game.

Michigan State – Mark Dantonio took his well-rested Spartans down to South Bend and showed that they were more than the sluggish team that was on the field in East Lansing against Furman.  They really didn’t have too much trouble moving the ball up and down the field in the middle of the game.  I have to wonder how many times they can take their foot off the pedal and continue to survive late in games.

Ohio State – The Buckeyes traveled to Norman Oklahoma to face preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma.  Ohio State did pretty much whatever they wanted, as they have all season, and as most of Oklahoma’s opponents this year.  The catch of the year took place in this game when Noah Brown caught a touchdown pass and the Sooner defender late in the first half to pretty much seal the game.

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Iowa – The Hawkeyes welcomes FCS power North Dakota State to their stadium last week.  The Bison were able to pull off a stunning upset on the road with a late field goal.  With the program history of NDSU coupled with the inconsistency of play from the rest of the B1G West it’s hard for me to put another team in the place of the Hawkeyes as the leader of the division, conference play will help that.

Notre Dame – Brian Kelley was seen questioning his defensive coordinator on national television.  I’m not sure how you can question your assistant when he lost his top five defensive backs before the first snap of the season.  DeShone Kizer will lead the offense to a lot of points this season, it’s the defense that will determine how many games they’ll win in 2016.

Alabama – The Crimson Tide opened their conference slate trying to erase the one blip on their schedule from last year.  Nick Saban took his team into Oxford Mississippi and came away with a victory on the strength of his defense, two touchdowns, and special teams, one touchdown.  The rest of the schedule looks favorable for them to finish the season in the college football playoffs.

Clemson – Last week I put Florida State here, who then promptly went to Louisville and gotten taken out behind the wood shed and shown a thing or two.  The pollsters vaulted the Cardinal up in the polls to number three in the country.  I never take much stock in the polls, especially in September, so until Louisville can prove to me they are the best team in their conference (October 1 should go a little further to helping that) I have to leave Clemson here.

Stanford – After getting an extra week to prepare the Cardinal, whose mascot is a pine tree, won easily against conference rival USC.  I’ll admit I didn’t play too much attention to this game because I don’t see the PAC 12 sending a representative to the college football playoff.  This week Christian McCaffrey will see if he can put his team on his shoulders and lead them to a victory in LA against the Bruins.

Big 12 – The weakest conference in the country is also the most unstable.  Oklahoma took a tough loss to start the season, and the only undefeated team left in the conference is the most controversial in the Baylor Bears.  Of the five power conferences in NCAA football, the Big 12 will be the second one to not send a representative to the college football playoffs.

Western Michigan – Coach PJ Fleck rowed his boat all the way to Champaign Illinois and right over the top of the Fighting Illini.  The Broncos out gained Illinois 287 yards to 3 yards on the ground (don’t forget that sacks are counted as negative rushing plays in college).  More and more it looks like Western will be Coach Fleck’s launching point for his coaching career, where he would probably have quick success if it were to be in the B1G West division.

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Most teams will begin playing conference games this week, for the rest of the season.  That means the competition will be better, the games will be closer and more meaningful, and the fight to get into the college football playoffs will become easier to see.