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2023-12-05 09:06

And the Championship Week is over, resulting in a big mess on the playoff spot race.

Let's jump right into the reviews and then I tell you about the problems in more details.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 14

Fri. Dec 2
Pac-12 Football Championship Game
#5 Oregon vs #3 Washington
The start of the week, I had picked actually the underdog, even I always saw them as the favorite.
And Washington did start like a favorite, leading at the half 20:10.
Then came the 3rd quarter and the Ducks did turn the game around with great long drive and a score, followed by some wild drives, involving turnovers by both sides and a short Ducks drive and another score.
Now Ducks ahead by 4 did Washington answer with ... a long drive and a Touchdown to take the lead back.
Oregon had to punt on their drive and then came the drive, which did give Washington the game, the trophy, everything.
With 12 plays and over 80 yards, Washington did eat away the clock, scored and lead now by 10.
Oregon had less than 3 minutes to get back into the game and did score with a monster play to cut down the lead to 3.
Still 2 minutes left, Oregon now needed to stop the Huskies and failed big time. They did not even force them to play a 4th down, they allowed one 1st down after another and did by that lose the game.
Washington is the last PAC-12 Champ.
The future of the conference is in limbo, if all comes together as planned, only Washington State and Oregon State stay in the PAC-12 and as far as I know, a conference cannot exist with just 2 members.
So, either they do recruit new members fast (which is tough, given the fact they are still fighting for the control of the conference) and they need to move also.
Regardless, this season the teams did play good football and Washington was clearly the best team.
#5 Oregon 31 vs #3 Washington 34 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 29-14

Sat. Dec 2
SEC Championship Game
#1 Georgia vs #8 Alabama
The game, which did create to many problems in the aftermath.
Overall, the fans did get an entertaining game here, on a high level.
At the start did Georgia play great, scored early, limited Alabama to a field goal a bit later and looked like they have this.
But Alabama did turn this around in the 2nd, did force some Georgia errors and scored twice to get into the locker room with a 17:7 lead.
The 3rd quarter was all defense, both teams did only manage to score a field goal, maybe a small advantage by Alabama, since they did force a fumble.
In the 4th did then the playbook opens a bit up and that did help Georgia to get back into the game.
They did score, Alabama did score, and Georgia did again score.
Trailing by 3 did then Georgia gives Alabama the ball, less than 3 minutes to go, to stop them and score again.
But Alabama did get 1st downs after 1st downs and at the end, Georgia did not get the ball and the Crimson Tide did snap the 29-game-winning-streak of Georgia, they did dethrone Georgia as SEC Champ and, only revealed later, did also prevent the three-peat-quest of Georgia for a National Championship.
That result, and another one, did then lead into a big mess in the playoff race.
#1 Georgia 24 vs #8 Alabama 27 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 29-15

Big Ten Football Championship Game
#2 Michigan vs #16 Iowa
Man, that went as expected and beyond.
Iowa was just shit, sorry to say.
Their defense did allow too many points, actually the second most points for all season (only Penn State did score more).
Their offense ... did not play ... nothing.
It's still a wonder they did qualify for THIS game, but they did, and they got their ass handed to them and then some.
Michigan did win big time, won the BIG10 and did rise in the ranked by that.
#2 Michigan 26 vs #16 Iowa 0 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 30-15

Other interesting games:

Fri. Dec 1
Conference USA Football Championship Game
New Mexico State @ #24 Liberty
New Mexico State did play great, kept the game open, until they did not in the 4th quarter.
Liberty did score in the 4th to take the lead, again, and the Aggies did run down the field, only to be intercepted.
The Flames then did need only 4 plays to cross the field and score again.
New Mexico State did then need way too long to march over the field again and in need for a Touchdown they finally were stopped on a 4th down try.
Flames won the Conference USA Championship in their 1st year inside the conference, 49:35.
Jacks interesting games Score: 39-18

Sat. Dec 2
Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game
#18 Oklahoma State vs #7 Texas
That game was shown in Germany, but it was so dull, I did not watch it.
Texas did outplay OSU already in the 1st quarter, did extended it in the 2nd and lead by that 35:14 at the half.
Sure, the Cowboys offense could get back, even on that kind of deficit, but they were just incapable to find holes in the Longhorns defense and score fast or score at least at some point.
The 2nd half was more or less a managed running down the clock by Texas, while controlling the OSU offense.
At the end did Texas, on their last season inside the BIG-12, win the Championship 49:21 against a team, which shouldn't have been there.
But that's not their fault, that’s Oklahomas fault, when they did lose against the Cowboys for whatever reason.
With this win, the Longhorns did cause some interesting constellations, I will explain a bit later, regarding the playoffs.
Jacks interesting games Score: 40-18

MAC Football Championship Game
Miami (OH) vs Toledo
Man, this game went totally different than I did expect it.
First of all, I did expect a lot of points.
Second, of course, I expected the Rockets to win.
But Toledo did commit a fumble early and was scoreless in the 1st quarter, while Miami did score 10 points.
Then it did look like Toledo got into the game, their defense did keep the RedHawks in check, while Toledo missed a field goal and score a 8-point-TD.
At the half, 10:8 Miami.
In the 3rd quarter it seemed Toledo did slowly gain control over the game, got the lead and kept Miami to just 3 points.
And then the 4th quarter came, and Miami did score a TD for the lead and Toledo did miss a field goal, throw an INT a l t e r and lost the game.
Miami wins the MAC Championship with a score of 23:14.
Jacks interesting games Score: 40-19

Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game
Boise State @ UNLV
What a strange season for Boise State, favored at the start of the season to win it all, struggling to 5-5, firing the HC after that win for the 5th W, then winning 2 more with the interim HC, getting the spot in the Championship game by a computer and then winning the Championship by a dominating win 44:20 by outscoring UNLV in every quarter on the road.
As consequence did Boise sign the interim HC, Spencer Danielson, as permanent solution.
Jacks interesting games Score: 40-20

American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
SMU @ #22 Tulane
SMU did win the American Athletic by having a good 4th quarter in which they did score 3 Field Goals and kept Tulane scoreless.
Final score is 26:14.
It's always hard to judge the outcome, but it's strange that Tulane lost this, at home, and a bit later they lost also their HC.
Was the negotiation with Houston so distracting, that the HC did underperform?
You never know,
At the end it counts, SMU won.
Jacks interesting games Score: 40-21

Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game
Appalachian State @ Troy
Ok, this went almost as expected, except I did not expect Troy to win this big.
Appalachian State looked like they could eventually turn things around in the 3rd, but did not score enough to overcome the deficit fast enough.
Then in the 4th did the Mountaineers collapse and Troy won that quarter 28:6, winning the Championship with a final score of 49:23.
Jacks interesting games Score: 41-21

ACC Championship Game
#14 Louisville vs #4 Florida State
And the last title went to Florida State, winning against Louisville 16:6 in a boring game.
Both teams needed a lot of time to score something.
At the half it was FSU leading 3:0, then the Cardinals did score a FG in the 3rd, but the Seminoles did score a TD afterwards.
Then a lot of nothing, followed by nothing, highlighted by 2 FGs by FSU to win it.
Afterwards the hell went lose, when the playoff spots were announced, but that's another story.
Florida State won the ACC Championship after 9 seasons again.
Jacks interesting games Score: 41-22

And that caps the weekend results.
Not my best picks, but that's how it can go.

As a result of those games, we have now
- Alabama as SEC Champ with a record of 12-1.
- Washington as PAC-12 Champ with a record of 13-0
- Michigan as BIG10 Champ with a record of 13-0
- Florida State as ACC-Champ with a record of 13-0
- Texas as BIG-12 Champ with a record of 12-1
- Georgia as SEC Division Champ with a record of 12-1
- Ohio State as previously high ranked team and a record of 11-1

Let's start with Ohio State, which would have benefit from a chaos result championship game weekend, but most teams favored or highly ranked did win, so even they were ranked at #6 prior the weekend, their chance for a TOP4 spot with no game played AFTER the results came in was zero.
The losing teams from the Championship games, except Georgia, which was at #1 prior the weekend, are all gone. Highest ranked team was Oregon at #5 and they lost, so they are bound to drop in the ranks.
Michigan did win and was at #2, so it was expected they would be fine.
Washington was #3 and won against #5, so they should be fine also, right?
Now comes the messy part. Alabama as #8 did win against #1 Georgia. Alabama was only at #8 because they did lose to #7 Texas at the start of the season.
Texas won the BIG-12 (but lost to Oklahoma during the season) and Alabama the SEC against #1.
Georgia did lose only once by 3 points against the SEC Champ. Is that TOP4 Quality? How do you handle that mess?
Alabama did lose against the BIG-12 Champ by 10 points on day 2, besides that, did win against all ranked teams and won the SEC, the strongest Conference of all.
And Texas did win against the SEC-Champ at some point and won the BIG-12 but has a different loss on the record against a ranked team.
On top comes, there is Florida State, which did win the ACC against a ranked team and is perfect.

Logic might dictate to have Washington, Michigan and FSU in, plus Texas OR Alabama as Conference Champs.
But are those the 4 strongest teams, or best teams?

The committee did think sharp and tried to solve the impossible equation they have this season.
This is how they did list the TOP6:

College Football Playoff Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	Comment
#1	Michigan	13-0	Will play in the Semi-Finales against #4 Alabama.
#2	Washington	13-0	Will play in the Semi-Finales against #3 Texas.
#3	Texas	12-1	Will play in the Semi-Finales against #2 Washington.
#4	Alabama	12-1	Will play in the Semi-Finales against #1 Michigan.
#5	Florida State	13-0	Will play #6 Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
#6	Georgia	12-1	Will play #5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

As you can see, the committee tried to value the Championships, the record and the direct compare, with the negative that they did value the strength of schedule of FSU as too weak to make them TOP4 and they did also put Georgia out of contention as none-champion, even they are not really weaker than teams in the TOP4.

But the decision is there and the TOP4 teams will play for the National Championship.
It's from my point of view time to open the field up, but that will of course not happen this season. According to plans, next season they will do a playoff with more teams.

The bowl games are also final, and it came as suggested, James Madison and Jacksonville State did get a waiver on the not-eligible-for-post-season-status and will play in a bowl game, plus Minnesota did get a bowl game spot as 5-7 team, because they had the best Academic Progress Rate.

Surprising for me, but likely because of the bowl matchup conclusion needed prior the last game weekend, Navy will not play in a bowl, even if they win against Army next week.
It's a matter of 'bad luck'. They should have had their 6 wins together prior the weekend and has them not.

Before I do get to the preview of the last regular season game, Army-Navy, I give you the coaches change summery, so far.

As already spoilered, did Boise State love their interims-HC so much, they did name Spencer Danielson as permanent HC. He was the DC of Boise for some time and is now bound to get better results than his predecessor. OK, he has already a Championship under his belt with under a season in charge, so not a bad start.

Another spoiler was, that Tulane has lost his HC, Willie Fritz, since he accepted the spot at Houston. Fritz is a longtime HC, who worked his way up from Junior College, Div II, to FCS and up to FBS level, where he did coach Georgia Southern for 2 years and Tulane for 8 years. Now, already 63, he did get a Power-5-job at Houston. His work at Tulane was really great, he elevated the team from a losing team to a Conference Champion went to 4 bowls and won 3 of them. The team will also play a bowl this season, but he won't be with the team at that time, or course. At Houston he will take over a job, which is challenging, since expectations are the Cougars will be a top team inside the conference and so far the team is mid-level at best.

Next news on the coaches’ front, Curt Cignetti of James Madison did except the job at Indiana. Cignetti is also 60+, did also work his way up from Div II to FCS to FBS. The last step was done while he was already the HC of James Madison and he did that transition in a great way. Only the transition rules did likely prevent the team to win the Sun Belt in the last 2 seasons. At Indiana he will have a hard piece of work ahead of him. The 'Basketball-U' is not big in football, is located inside a tough division and is historically a losing team. It would be a big success if the team would go to a bowl regularly. Anything else would be crazy.

And Nevada has fired their HC, Ken Wilson, after 2 seasons. In both seasons did Wilson only get 2 wins each. That's strange, since he had taken over a bowl-strength team, so no wonder the administration did hit the eject-button fast. A new HC was found quickly. They did hire Jeff Choate, right now the Co-DC of Texas. Choate did play HC already once for 4 seasons on FCS level, but then became the DC of Texas.

And that's that. There is only 1 game left for the season, prior the bowls.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 15

Sat. Dec 9
Army @ Navy
This year they play in the homefield of the New England Patriots, as always, neutral site.
Both teams had some strange setting this season, they are both 5-6.
On paper, this game could lead to 1 more team having 6 wins, so being bowl eligible.
But it's too late to setup a bowl spot, so they are left out.
On top comes, that Army did play, for whatever reason, Delaware State and Holy Cross, both on FCS-Level.
By rule only 1 FCS win is counted for a bowl spot, so technically Army is for bowl 4-6 and could not even get to a bowl, if they win here.
Too much?
OK, let's move on. Bottom line, no bowls on the line.
That leave the Commander-In-Chief-Trophy, a price awarded to the best team inside the trio Army, Navy and Air Force.
Air Force has won the trophy last year, and they won against Navy.
Army has won against Air Force.
Now, if Army wins against Navy, Army has 2 wins and get the trophy. If Navy wins, all have 1 win and Air Force retains the trophy in that case.
So Navy can only spoil the fun for Army, but can't get a finger on the trophy itself.
The series Army-Navy has so far 123 games and Navy leads, 62–54–7, including losing last year.
Army is favored by 2.5 points this year.
Both teams did show mixed results so far.
Biggest win for Army was likely against at that time ranked Air Force, worst loss was likely against Louisiana-Monroe at season start. But the team did get their thing together and has right now 3 games winning-streak, including an impressive win against Coastal Carolina.
Navy on the other hand had their worst loss against Temple, while their best win was against UAB, which is not much.
So, no wonder, the line is close and Navy is not the favorite.
The community is at 60%+ on Army side, which I can relate.
Since the game setting will be unique, all analysis can be thrown away, both teams will play their heart out.
It will be intense and there will be as much distraction and loudness on and off the field as possible.
Likely a close game, I do lean this season towards Army.
Black Knights win.

That's it for this week.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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