2016-01-06 06:53

Just 1 game left and then the season is done.

I hope for a great National Championship game, but I fear it will be a bit less exciting than it could have been.

Here is the BLOCK OF GRANITE BOWL GAMES FOR WAVE 5

Fri. Jan. 1 - 12:00 pm ET
Outback Bowl
#13 Northwestern vs. #23 Tennessee
@Raymond James Stadium - Tampa, Fla.
It must have been fun to see the Vols dominating the Wildcats, if you are a Vols fan and had all those bad seasons to swallow the last few years.
Tennessee did leave not chance to Northwestern and did finish the Wildcats off in a big way.
The 1st half was still a bit open, having Northwestern missing opportunities and staying close enough to see a chance for winning.
But the 2nd half was awful, having turnovers by Northwestern regularly and Tennessee did convert those two points, regularly.
I think the Vols fans can hope for next season, while the Wildcats fans can be glad over a 10-3 season, which did at the end became a bit fruitless and it will be interesting to see, whether they will go up or down starting next September.
Northwestern 6 - Tennessee 45 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 21-11

Fri. Jan. 1 - 1:00 pm ET
BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl
#8 Notre Dame vs. #7 Ohio State
@University of Phoenix Stadium - Glendale, AZ
I might come over as Notre Dame basher, but I'm afraid I have to say, this game went as I expected it to go.
Notre Dame did play fine, but Ohio State was not only better, they were really better.
The Buckeyes did outscore Notre Dame in the 1st quarter and from that moment, Notre Dame did play catch up.
The Irish did come closest when they scored the TD trailing only by 10, but were unable to stop Ohio State marching over the field, scoring a FG and eating away over 5 minutes of time.
Add turnovers and bad execution on offense and it's no wonder Ohio State did win big.
I'm still wondering why Notre Dame does not get onto that TOP5 level, having the money and the program they have, but I'm sure we won't see a much better team next season and I'm also sure Brian Kelly will not win the National Championship at Notre Dame.
Can’t explain why it's that way, but something is missing and I can't see Kelly finding the fix.
Ohio State will have to reload next season, and with Michigan becoming relevant again, the Division should be fun to watch next season.
Notre Dame 28 - Ohio State 44 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 22-11

Fri. Jan. 1 - 1:00 pm ET
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
#14 Michigan vs. #19 Florida
@Citrus Bowl - Orlando, FL
Oh what a bad game.
At least for Florida.
I you think about the Gators winning the division and winning 10 games over the season, I would like to know, what they players were thinking in this Bowl game.
It's the nature of game that 1 team has to lose, but you can lose by a few points and can be proud of the effort or you can lose in a landslide and should be ashamed given your status.
Michigan did almost everything right and Florida not.
The 1st quarter was OK, but then it became very clear, that the Wolverine did come to Florida to play, while the Gators players were already on holiday.
Michigan was better in every aspect of the game.
I hope Florida does fix this for next season and I hope Michigan gets a few more ticks towards perfection going and makes their division a fun spot to watch.
Michigan 41 - Florida 7 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 23-11

Fri. Jan. 1 - 5:00 pm ET
Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual
#6 Stanford vs. #5 Iowa
@Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA
Autsch, that did hurt.
To make this short, I don't understand how Iowa got burned by 1 player so badly.
Stanford is quite 1 dimensional and all they had to do was stop the run, but that kid was able to run, run and run all over the day.
He did break the Rose Bowl record on all-purpose yards with 368, including runs, receiving yards and return.
Christian McCaffrey did beat Iowa by himself and I don't get it.
Stanford was not free of errors, but Iowa did have many many more and lost this one rightfully.
One reporter stated the game was over after the 1st play from scrimmage (which was a pass to McCaffrey over the middle and was taken to the house). That’s not really true, but overall this play was a bad start for Iowa from which they never recovered.
Bad ending for the Hawkeyes fans, great ending for Stanford, which will see McCaffrey back next season.
Stanford 45 - Iowa 16 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 23-12

Fri. Jan. 1 - 8:30 pm ET
Allstate Sugar Bowl
#16 Oklahoma State vs. #12 Ole Miss
@Mercedes-Benz Superdome - New Orleans, LA
The good news for Ole Miss is, they will have plenty of room to improve next season inside the division and they might have the team to do so.
That Bowl was great for them and fun to watch, if you like the Rebels.
If you like the Cowboys, this was torture.
The game was over at halftime and Ole Miss won this in a big way.
The Cowboys got outplayed, even by an OL-receiving-TD (it was officially a backward pass, counts as a run, still that big guy did catch it and ran it in).
I'm always wondering if Gundy, the OSU HC, is over performing, or underperforming in Stillwater.
Over so many seasons did Oklahoma State have all the chances to get at least into the title game and they did fall in many big games and often in the not so big games after winning the big ones.
He is the coach since 11 seasons and did win the conference once and the division (when the BIG12 still had divisions) also once in a 3 team tie, not going to the championship game.
Since 4 seasons, nothing. The team is for sure in better shape than before his run, but I wonder how long it will take to get greedy in Stillwater.
Ole Miss can look forward to next season, they might have a chance to beat Alabama again and even more.
Oklahoma State 20 - Ole Miss 48 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 23-13

Sat. Jan. 2 - 12:00 pm ET
TaxSlayer Bowl
Penn State vs. Georgia
@EverBank Field - Jacksonville, FL
The result of that game does look more as an open game as it was.
Until the 4th quarter had Penn State scored 3 points and Georgia was miles away (well, only 21 points ahead, but could have been miles).
Nothing really worked for Penn State until they found a bit of a fighting spirit in the 4th and then, it was too late.
They managed to get 1 good drive in the last 2 minutes to maybe tie the game, but at the 39 yard line in Georgia territory it was over.
They played until the whistle was blown, but overall it was just too much to ask for.
Georgia will see some changes in the near future with a new HC.
Penn State will lose their QB to the draft leaving early, but his replacement did look good in the bowl, so maybe they will add some spice to the division, which already features Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State.
Penn State 17 - Georgia 24 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 24-13

Sat. Jan. 2 - 3:20 pm ET
Liberty Bowl
Kansas State vs. Arkansas
@Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium - Memphis, TN
This I make short.
Arkansas did look quite good against Kansas State and did win with a good margin in a quite high scoring game.
For the Wildcats it will be interesting to see whether they will rebound from this season and for Arkansas it will be interesting to see, whether they will keep that form up they had at the end of the season.
Arkansas could become a major spoiler in that SEC West.
Kansas State 23 - Arkansas 45 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 25-13

Sat. Jan. 2 - 6:45 pm ET
Alamo Bowl
#15 Oregon vs. #11 TCU
@Alamodome - San Antonio, TX
Oh dear, some do see this game as the best bowl of the season and for sure it was a very good one, only it was not clear from the start.
That game did cost me heavily on my ESPN picking game (with confidence points) and here is why.
I did pick the Ducks and they did look like the sure winner early.
At halftime they did lead 31-0!
Then, out of nowhere, TCU started scoring and the Ducks were unable to do so, totally!
The 2nd half went 0-31 and the game went into overtime!
The 1st position was TCUs and they did score a TD and Oregon did score also a TD.
In 2nd overtime did Oregon settle for a field goal and was able to stop TCU and force them also into a field goal try, which was good. Game tied at 41.
The 3rd OT is dominated by a rule change (compared to 1st and 2nd OT), because then a team has to play the 2-point-conversion by rule after a TD.
TCU did score a TD and failed the 2-point-conversion.
Oregon took the ball and went 1-2-3-4 and did accomplish NOTHING!
Game over and TCU had 1 of the best comebacks in College Football history.
Oregon 41 - TCU 47 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 25-14

Sat. Jan. 2 - 10:15 pm ET (ESPN) Line
Cactus Bowl
West Virginia vs. Arizona State
@Chase Field - Phoenix, Ariz.
And the last regular bowl.
This I blame to the Arizona State defense, which had capital errors, when it did count.
The defensive back field was really bad and did allow scores ... unbelievable.
Sun Devils were only able to stay in the game, because West Virginias defense had bad moments, too.
But at the end, West Virginia was leading by 1 and was able to defend that last crucial play to avoid a field goal attempt and to win this game.
West Virginia 43 - Arizona State 42 -> Jacks BOWL Score: 25-15

Here is the BLOCK OF GRANITE BOWL GAME FOR WAVE 6

Mon. Jan. 11 - 8:30 pm
CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PRES. BY AT&T
#2 Alabama vs. #1 Clemson
@University of Phoenix Stadium - Glendale, AZ
There we are with the second College Playoff National Championship Game and we have a good one going.
Alabama had a great game against Michigan State and won in a shutout and Clemson had a very controlled game against Oklahoma and did win by a lot of points, thanks to a one-sided second half.
Vegas do see Alabama as 7 point favourite and it is a high scoring game expected.
I'm not that convinced on the 1st part, because even while Clemson did look very good, Alabama did look like a class on their own.
I will pick Alabama in this one. And I think they will win with more than 7 points.
Their defense was brutally effective and their offense was unstoppable by one of the best defense units of the season.
I'm not expecting a shut out like we saw with Michigan State, but I'm also not expecting Clemson to score as they like over the full length of the game.
As much as I'm bored of having Alabama on top every 2 years and I would like to see Clemson win this, my 1st thought after Alabamas win was 'They will win'.
It's the Tigers who have to find ways to stop those defensive linemen to pressure the QB and to disrupt the running game, it's Clemsons homework to find holes in the Alabama backfield to move the chains.
Alabama will have to play a bit different than they did against Michigan State, because that Clemson QB can pass and run and therefore the Tigers will have a bit more breathing room.
Overall, I think the best Clemson can hope for is a perfect game by their defense and then having Alabama often enough on the wrong foot to get things going.
Still, I think Alabama will win this with a higher Margin than the Vegas-7 and will win their next National Championship to finish the season.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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