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And the regular season is over, and the Bowl season has begun on the same weekend, which is new since I do this blog.
Let's start with the last game of the season, the traditional Army-Navy-game.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 16
Sat. Dec 14
Navy @ #22 Army
Man, I don't get these rivalry games.
Army did play good, the whole Season. Not top level, but good enough to get one of the best seasons under the current HC, if not THE best, and to win the conference.
They went into this game with almost a score as betting line.
And then ... Army was awful. Really awful.
The difference between the conference championship game and the Army-Navy game is the run game, which was cut to roughly a third of the production for the title.
And they had so many turnovers.
Navy came in well prepared and did their best, did score in every quarter and did not let Army get into this game.
Army did trail early and never recovered.
I did not see the game, but I think the main difference was, that against Tulane, Army was able to run and never was dependent on the passing game, and here, Army had to throw. because they could not run and they had to throw, because they were behind and obviously is the Army QB not a good passer.
The highlights I did see did look like Navys defense did also a good job on coverage and not all INTs are on the QBs bad decisions and throws, but overall, if the guy would be a better passer, like the team would not have lost that bad.
Navy won after the last INT late in the game and too home the win on the 125th meeting and the Commander-In-Chief-Trophy (played between Army, Navy and Air Force annually) from Army.
Navy 31 @ #22 Army 13 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 36-15
Which brings us to the bowls.
Before I recap the 1st bowls, here an info, which did hit me like a truck, because the consequences could be huge for the upcoming future.
What happened?
It was just a small note, saying that Marshall (who won the Sun Belt this season) would drop out of the Independence Bowl against Army (who won the AAC).
As substitute Louisiana Tech (5-7, so they were selected as the best school NOT eligible with the highest APR (academic progress rate)).
Now that made me suspicious, since normally a team does not drop out of a bowl. Teams WANT to play in a bowl, because of the money, because of the prestige and because of the extra time for training and practice.
But here they did say 'no' AFTER they accepted the invite.
So, I asked myself, why?
And it did turn out, that over 25 players did list themselves in the transfer portal to switch school in the off-season, after the HC, who did lead the team to a Championship, was let go by the school (because his contract did run out and they did not prolong him) and a new HC was hired.
As I did state in the news last week, the timing of the hiring of a new HC and the announcement of the new school of the former Marshall HC does not fit into a long period of negotiation, so likely this was all set and done prior the Championship game. Why the players did now leave is not known to me, could be they did not like the timing and the fact that this coach was let go. Could be they don't like the new HC or could be they all want some extra cash as championship players.
Here is, why I'm concerned for the consequences.
The 1st is, such a team has 100+ players on the roster and 25+ did decide to leave, which makes it roughly 75 players are left to play. So why not playing?
Sure, it would be likely like FSUs game against Georgia last year, when FSU did experience such an exodus after the #5 ranking (and as result not being part of the playoffs), but regardless, the team should be able to play!
But they decided not to do that. Bad spirit. On top, this is Marshall, the school, which decided to rebuild their program after that tragic plane crash, in which almost the whole team was killed. They decided at that time not to build over some period and participate on games when they are ready, they decided to play on the next season, period. They got crushed, they got humiliated at times, but they decided to play and they did win one game in that season, a win which was worth more than a perfect season at that time.
But that's just on top of the issue itself.
The 2nd is, if now every business decision does lead into such an exodus, or potential it does, and bowl teams are no longer the teams form the season, why bother with bowls?
It seems, bowls did lose their special honor factor and are now just that game you don't play, if you like to switch or you like to get to the NFL in declaration year.
Pffffff.
In fact, the trend of leaving teams is clear. If you did build a team by transfers and the regular season is over and either the HC is changed or the goals were not fulfilled, the players rush out. Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Purdue, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Utah, all hit by 18+ leaves, Arizona even by 26 leaves.
And that was just power 4. In group of 5 you have New Mexico with 35!, Charlotte with 29, Marshall and Western Kentucky with 27 and then Coastal Carolina, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, Louisiana Tech and UAB with 20+ leaves.
Some leaves are for sure the hope for a better paycheck, now that players DO get paychecks. And some are coaches firings and hirings, like New Mexico.
But boy, look at the consequences. You don't build a team like it was in the past. There you did recruit and if you did it in a good way, you build a team in 3 to 4 seasons and then you have made a change for the better or not.
But now, you basically hire your team out of the portal with the best available and signable players and then you build that team in one offseason. And at the end of the season, the team as it was does likely fall apart again, off for the next, hopefully better, paycheck, and you start again.
It will be interesting to see, how this will turn out, over the seasons. Coaches want stability, so I can only expect that at some point contracts are starting to fly, like in the NFL, binding the player to play for seasons. But maybe that needs another revolution.
By the way, you might have noticed, that Louisiana Tech, the team, which did step in for Marshall in the bowl, was also hit hard on outgoing transfers, but they decided to play.
The FIRST SET OF BOWLs from next Saturday, 14th to Thursday, 19th of December.
Saturday, December 14
2024 IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
South Alabama vs Western Michigan
@Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
Western Michigan came out with power and lead 10:0 early, but later in the 2nd quarter did then South Alabama just score and score for more, until they led 16:13 at the half.
The Broncos then still not very effective on offense and defense and USA did score a TD, only to allow a WMU TD beginning of the 4th.
The game now close again did the Jaguars turn on the Jets and scored another TD and hold the Broncos to a field Goal to finally Winning this 1st Bowl game of the Season, 30:23.
Jacks BOWL Score: 1-0
Tuesday, December 17
Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl
West Virginia vs Memphis
@Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
The 1st quarter did not work out great for West Virginia, their offense did sputter.
Memphis did put on the 1st points on the board and then did the Mountaineers fumble, which led to a Tigers field goal.
Only after a 2nd Tigers TD a bit later did West Virginia start to play and when halftime came, Memphis did lead 28:17.
In the 2nd half, this game did evolve into a scoring fest, with both teams scoring often, but Memphis was always ahead.
Very late in the game, when West Virginia finally was behind only 5 Points and Memphis just ended their drive with a missed field goal, the Mountaineers offense had the chance last chance to turn the game around.
With 45 ticks left on the clock did West Virginia start passing, only to throw the ball in the hands of a Tigers player, who then lost the ball in a fumble, but the Tigers recovered, and the game was basically over.
Memphis won 42:37.
Jacks BOWL Score: 2-0
Wednesday, December 18
2024 Boca Raton Bowl
Western Kentucky vs James Madison
@FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, Florida
This game did have it all, except INTs.
James Madison did start the scoring in the 1st quarter but was unable to get good Things out of a WKU fumble and missed 2 field goals in the 2nd quarter, which led to a WKU lead at the half of 14:7, thanks to 2 TDs of the Hilltoppers in the 2nd quarter.
The Dukes then did get the lead back in the 3rd by a TD and a FG, this time at least getting something out of another WKU fumble.
The Hilltoppers did tie the game in the 4th by a field goal, but from here it then was all James Madison, who won the bowl at the end 27:17.
Jacks BOWL Score: 3-0
Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk
Cal vs UNLV
@SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
I have to admit, UNLV wanted to play in this bowl and either Cal did not or had a bad day.
The 1st half was quite even, but UNLV did show some extra effort, like a fake-punt-Play, which worked perfectly, and which did setup the leading TD, while Cal missed a 41-yard Field Goal.
UNLV did lead by 14:13 at the half.
Then came a long period of nothing, followed by a crucial fumble by Cal deep on their own half, which was recovered by UNLV, and which led to a rushing TD on the next play by the Rebels.
Now Cal under pressure but did not get much done.
After a 3-and-out did then a Rebels-Punt-Return set up another scoring drive of UNLV, but only a field goal.
After that did Cal again try everything and did play a regular play on 4th and 8 on UNLVs 45, with 4 minutes left to play.
That backfired heavily, the QB was sacked, lost the ball, recovered it, but since it was 4th down, UNLV got the ball mid-field.
From here onward, both offenses were unable to get something done, which led to an UNLV win in the bowl, 24:13.
Cal does actually win in almost every category in the stats, except the most crucial one, the score.
Jacks BOWL Score: 3-1
Thursday, December 19
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Georgia Southern vs Sam Houston
@Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Man, if you suck on a bowl, that must sting.
Georgia Southern did start their 1st drive after a quick Sam Houston drive, which led to a punt, and the QB did throw a WR screen pass, which was greatly intercepted to the house by a Defender, who had that shot only, because the WR assigned to block him, did suck big time doing so.
Later in the 2nd quarter did Georgia Southern throw another INT and luckily got the chance to redeem themselves after a Sam Houston Fumble in the following drive, which led to a Georgia Southern TD to tie the game.
OK, so all set to start and now make it right.
Uhmmm. No.
Sam Houston did marge over the field and scored a TD, the Eagles did answer with another INT and Sam Houston with another TD.
Georgia Southern did hit a field Goal for the half, but that did only change the score cosmetically to 21:10 Sam Houston.
In the 3rd it did look like Georgia Southern might get this turned around, scored 9 points on a TD and a field goal, but after that FG they gave Sam Houston again the room for a TD-drive and got intercepted AGAIN!
Later, Georgia Southern had finally another TD-drive, which did at that time cut the Sam Houston lead to 5 Points, with 9 ticks left to play.
Of course, the on-side sucked also and the Bearkats won the game, 31:26 for their 1st Bowl win ever.
The game did show Georgia Southerns inconsistence, which did cost them the season after a promising start.
For the Bearkats, with a new coach (see below), the future can be bright or not, we will see.
Jacks BOWL Score: 3-2
And from here, right to the coaches news.
North Carolina made a Homerun hire by getting Bill Belichick as new HC. Likely everyone knows Bill Belichick, the record setting former HC and de facto general manager of the New England Patriots. He stepped down from his position after the 2023 season and spend 2024 mostly on TV on some shows enjoyed the sabbatical. Now he returns to coaching and nobody had expected him to go to college level. The only downside on the hire is his age of 72, which makes him the oldest HC on FBS Level.
Another hiring from some time off did come in when Dan Mullen was announced to become the next HC of UNLV. Mullen was the HC in the past at Mississippi State and Florida. At Florida his 3rd and especially 4th season became so bad, that the school decided to fire him prior the last season game in 2021. He did spend his time since then as volunteer contributor to a High School team in Georgia. UNLV is a step backwards on the power-Level, but eventually, with good results of course, h aims a return to power-4 school. But maybe he just wants to Coach again.
A third hire was named, and that was also a surprise. West Virginia found their guy in giving Rich Rodriguez a 2nd stint as HC at the school. He was the HC between 2001 and 2007, when West Virginia was still member of the Big East. He did lead the team to 4 conference Championships and his success did give him the Job at Michigan from 2008 onward. But at that school, his success was limited and even the numbers did indicate a slow transition into a winning team, he was fired after the 2010 season. He left the school with the lowest Winning percentage of any Michigan Coach, ever. He was then hired by Arizona as HC in 2012, where he had good and bad seasons and he was let go after the 2017 Season, because of off field issues. In 2021 did Jacksonville State hire him as HC, at that time already in a transition state from FCS to FBS. This Season, after 3 years, the team did win the CUSA conference Championship. Now he returns to West Virginia, and all can only hope, the time of off-field-issues and NCAA violations (which he had several to justify in his Career) are over.
Wake Forest got hit blindsided (at least I read it that way) when their now former HC Dave Clawson resigned. He stays with the school in an adviser role, but of course the school has to find now a successor. Clawson was 11 seasons with the team and did guide the team, which is usually not a winning team, in 7 of his 11 seasons to a bowl and did win the division in 2021. His record with the team is 67–69, which is actually one of the best of all coaches there. I did look for a HC with a winning record at Wake Forest and found the last one to step aside in 1950! Since then, no coach was able to crack the .500, of course some had winning seasons, but overall, it's a tough place to win regularly.
But the team did not needed long to find a replacement, hiring Jake Dickert of Washington State. Dickert took over at Wazzu in 2021 as interims HC during the season, got promoted to HC for 2022 and compiled in total a 23-20 record. At Wazzu winning is also challenging, so he should be on familiar ground at Wake Forest.
Sam Houston found their guy in Wisconsins OC Phil Longo. Longo was once a HC in 2004 and 2005 on FCS level and had only limited success with 7-14 but left on his own terms to become an OC again, which was his job on several schools until now. At Sam Houston he has to establish the team on FBS level, since the team is only on that level since 2023.
New Mexico decided to take a FCS-level HC to the next level in hiring now former Idaho HC Jason Eck. Eck was the Idaho HC since 2022 and has built the team slowly into a winner, guiding the team to the playoffs in each season, the last 2 years up to the quarterfinals. His record is 26-13.
Brian Smith, the OC of Ohio was named Interims HC, when the HC was hired by Charlotte, and is now named the real deal by the school.
It's his 1st stint at HC at any school.
If I'm not wrong, only Jacksonville State is still Looking for a new HC.
Switch to the first round of the playoffs.
To remember, the playoffs feature 12 teams, selected as top 5 conference champions and the top 7 at-large teams not being conference champions, based on the committee ranking (similar to the past few seasons, where the top 4 teams in general were selected for the 4 spots available).
The top 4 conference champions do get an automatic bye for the 1st round, the rest is sorted based on their rank spot on the committee ranking and paired according to the usual rules you know from playoffs, so highest ranked team play lowest ranked team selected, 2nd highest plays 2nd lowest and so on.
Don't be surprised, the 4 highest ranked Champions are #1, #2, #9 and #12 with a bye, making the #3 ranked team the highest team in the 1st round and the #16 ranked team the lowest, which is a conference champ.
The higher ranked teams get home advantage, and the games are actually played on their home site and are not considered as bowls.
If you are interested, at ESPN is a bracket challenge on CFP (College Football Playoffs), where you can put in the whole set at once (similar to Basketball March Madness brackets).
1st round of playoffs
Friday, December 20
#8 Indiana @ #5 Notre Dame
Played in South Bend, this game is much better than it might have been in the last 20+ seasons as in-state-rival game.
In fact, since 1960 the 2 teams did not Play more than a single game against each other, in 1991, with a big win by the Irish.
Overall, the teams are 23-5-1 in favor of the Irish since 1898.
Strange for 2 teams not more than 200 miles apart in the same state.
But Indiana was always a Basketball school, while Notre Dame was always more a gridiron school.
THIS season, Indiana did take off and more or less never came down again.
The new HC had transferred the program from a losing school (last HC was fired after a 3-9 Season, Overall 33-49) within ONE offseason to a 11-1 Playoff team.
Granted, the team did not play many top contenders, and lost to Ohio State. But that OSU team did lose a week later to Michigan, which Indiana did beat 2 weeks before.
Notre Dame on the other hand lost their 2 games of the season against Northern Illinois and all (including me) thought, 'hmm, they might suck this season', but the team did take that loss and learned from it. Notre Dame did win all games since, finished 11-1 on a slightly tougher schedule as Indiana, I think.
Now they play for a quarterfinal spot in the playoffs and the Irish are favored by 7.0 Points, at home.
I think that's fair.
The best part from my point of view is Notre Dames defense, which will have a huge Impact on the outcome of the game.
If they can stop the good offense of Indiana, I think Notre Dame will not even win, they will win big.
If not, this will become a Shootout and then everything is possible.
I did pick Notre Dame to win at home in my bracket, so ...
Fighting Irish win.
Saturday, December 21
#10 SMU @ #4 Penn State
The 2nd 1st round game is a on paper a no-brainer.
SMU did play good season (11-2) and went to the Championship game of the ACC.
But there, they did lose, and only a late game comeback try made it a very close game, which Clemson won by a walk-off-field-Goal.
The reality was, that SMU was unable to do something in the 1st half.
And Penn State (also 11-2) is much better on defense, than Clemson, from my point of view.
Penn State lost to Oregon in a high scoring game, but Oregon is very good this Season and I think SMU is not the same level.
Vegas sees Penn State at home ahead by 8.5 Points. I think that might be OK, IF it stays a defense driven game.
If the scores do pile up, I think Penn State can do more and wins higher.
Nittany Lions win.
#16 Clemson @ #3 Texas
This game is a joke.
Texas was THAT close to win the SEC and Clemson did barely make it to the ACC Championship game and then found a bad SMU team to win the ACC on a field goal try at the end of the game.
Texas (11-2) did only lose 2 time this season, both to Georgia in close games.
Clemson (10-3) lost 3 times, against Georgia bigtime at Season start, against Louisville at home and on the road against South Carolina.
Played in Texas, this will be a quite one-sided game and I expect Texas to beat the line of -12.0 by a score or more.
That might be unfair from me, but I don't see Clemsons offense in shape to overcome the Texas defense and the Clemson defense had trouble with other good offenses, so why should Texas have trouble?
Longhorns win.
#7 Tennessee @ #6 Ohio State
This is the only really interesting game, and I did pick Tennessee in my bracket to win.
Why?
Tennessee had a good Season (10-2) and lost only to Arkansas and Georgia. They did show a lot of potential and have a good offense.
Ohio State had also a good Season (10-2) and lost to Oregon and Michigan. They have also a good team, but they do lack that final punch to get it done, from my point of view.
The loss to Michigan at Season final was tough and many did question the HC and the team.
Rightfully, since they lost now several times in a row that rivalry match.
Now they face a tougher team, lucky for them at home.
Vegas sees Ohio State ahead by 7.5 points, but for me, this will become a close game, in which Tennessee will be better to make that final punch for a win.
Volunteers win.
The winners will advance to the quarterfinals and will play the 4 conference champions having a bye in this round in 4 different bowl games end of the year.
That brings us to the next round of bowls.
The SECOND SET OF BOWLs from next Friday, 20th to Tuesday, 24th of December.
Friday, December 20
StaffDNA Cure Bowl
Ohio vs Jacksonville State
@Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
The stadium was shifted to this location, the home of the Citrus Bowl and the Pop-Tarts-Bowl.
The bowl exists since 2015 and is now open for all group of 5 teams, plus eventually an ACC team.
So far, the Sun Belt did send a team to this bowl on every game (9) and has a record of 5-4 and did win the last 2 games.
This season it's the 10th time the bowl is played, and the streak will break, facing off now a MAC team vs a CUSA team.
In fact the bowl host the MAC Champ vs the CUSA Champ, but both teams under interims coaching.
Ohio is 10-3 this season, Jacksonville State 9-4.
All Teams from both conferences have lost in this bowl (both 0-2), so one conference will record the 1st win.
Vegas favors Ohio by 5.5 points, I do also favor Ohio, but I'm not sure, whether they will dominate, or not.
Likely they will not dominate.
Bobcats win.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Florida vs Tulane
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
This is played since 2008, formerly known as the St. Petersburg-Bowl based on the former playing site in Florida.
The tie-ins were negotiated quite wide open since 2020, so basically this means the bowl organizer can s e l e c t teams assumed to draw some attention and willing to participate.
Planned are teams from AAC, ACC or SEC.
The game will be played in the stadium of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Since the teams origin does switch basically every season there is no clear picture on this, especially not for the ACC (3 games, 3 wins, including last year) and the BIG-12 (1 game, 1 loss, last year).
Florida (7-5) represents the SEC, which is 1-2 in this bowl.
They had a rough season, which did look like, it would be the last season of the HC, but the team did get together over the season and finished strong, making hope for next season, under the same HC.
Tulane (9-4) is from the AAC, which is 6-3 in this bowl.
They did start not good in the season against other conference, but did win all games inside the conference, until the last gameday.
Then they got to the AAC Conference championship game and lost big time against Army.
Against an SEC team, which did take out late in the season LSU and Ole Miss, this game is highly in favor by Vegas towards Florida (now -10.0, it was at some point -14.0).
I can only agree, this will likely be one-sided.
Gators win.
Monday, December 23
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Coastal Carolina vs UTSA
@Brooks Stadium , Conway, South Carolina
This is played the 4th time now, since it was founded in 2020.
They play in the stadium of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team.
The bowl is owned by ESPN and has conference tie ins with the CUSA, MAC and Sun Belt.
Last season did the Sun Belt lost the 1st time and is now 2-1.
The MAC had their 1st game here last year and took home the win, now 1-0.
But we have a very wild Setup here, the Sun Belt represented by the stadium home team against a team from the AAC (the conference had one game in the bowl and won against a Sun Belt team).
Let's start with UTSA. The Team went 6-6 and did by that disappoint a lot of people.
Last season the team was 9-4, including a bowl win, and was supposed to be better this Season, but dropped 4 games alone inside the AAC to barely make it to a bowl.
And Coastal Carolina did also decline on the 2nd season with their new HC, from 8-5, including a bowl win, to 6-6, getting into the bowl mix by winning on last gameday.
Now they got invited to play in their own stadium against that other team in decline.
The difference here is, CCU is Sun Belt and UTSA is AAC, which means, the conference they are from are way different in level of strength.
But to be fair, the record this Season is actually 6-5 in favor of the Sun Belt against AAC teams, so maybe we WILL have a close game here.
I don't think we will, and Vegas thinks that UTSA is favored by 10.0 points, but we will see.
I personally think, UTSA has all the tools dominate here, if they show up to play.
Roadrunners win.
2024 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Northern Illinois vs Fresno State
@Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
This is a quite long running bowl, since 1997, and it's played on the smurf turf field of Boise State Broncos.
It's basically a Mountain West bowl with some other team invited.
It started as a WAC bowl, so no wonder the WAC has send so far, the most teams to the bowl (13), but the MAC did send already 12 teams so far (5-7 record) and adds another this season.
The MWC got their 10th appearance last year but lost and is now 5-5.
But Fresno State can turn this again in favor of the MWC.
Vegas has them as underdog (NIU is favored by 3.0 Points), but you never know.
Seriously, Fresno State (6-6) and NIU (7-5) are hard to tackle here.
The Bulldogs are from a toucher conference but lost a game more and are not really in good shape, while NIU did win a game more, lost some winnable games inside the MAC, but did upset Notre Dame in their home stadium at week 2.
What to make out of this?
This is as much as a coin flip as it can get, and it is as exciting as it can get with 2 boring teams (for me).
Given the stadium and the likely conditions, I give NIU the nod, slightly.
Huskies win.
Tuesday, December 24
Hawai'i Bowl
South Florida vs San Jose State
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Honolulu, Hawai'i
Played basically on the practice field of the Hawai'i Rainbows, since the regular stadium has major problems and will likely be replaced.
The field has right now roughly 17.000 seats, which is the FBS minimum.
The old playing site, the Aloha Stadium, which was famous for the ability to be configured as Baseball- or Football-Stadium with movable ranks and featured basically a round or a long configuration, and which was also famous for the Pro Bowl of the NFL and the home field of the Hawai'i College Team, is shut down. THAT had 50.000 seats.
But this will be demolished in 2025 (moved from 2024) and new, planned 35.000 seat having, stadium will be built at a different location for the Rainbows and other stuff.
The Bowl has tie-ins on American, Conference USA and Mountain West.
Eventually surprisingly the CUSA did play here the most games and has a 9-4 record.
Last year the Sun Belt had their 1st game here and won and is by that the only other conference beside the CUSA with a winning record, 1-0.
But of course, we get something different on Christmas Eve, an American Team (conference is 0-1) against a MWC Team (Conference is 4-6, including a current 2 game losing streak 2022 and 2023). The fun part is, San Jose State (7-5) did play here last Season the 1st time and lost.
South Florida (6-6) is new here.
On paper, San Jose State should be better here, they did lose more or less only against better teams. South Florida on the other Hand did lose on the last gameday against Rice (4-8).
Fine, could be an abbreviation, could be nothing.
Vegas? Favors SJSU by 3.5 points.
That's not THAT much.
I personally think, San Jose is moving in the right direction under the new HC, and the team got better over time. So, with the time off and the goal to win here, they are more likely to win, than South Florida, which has their HC in 2nd year, did record the same amount of wins than last year (but won the bowl last year against a ACC team) and did ended the regular season with loss to Rice.
So, gut Feeling says Sa Jose State, but I would not be surprised, if not.
Spartans win.
That's it for the 2nd set of Bowl games.
'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE
Tags: Block of Granite, News
2024-12-10 14:02
And we have new Conference Champions!
For details read the reviews. Hehe.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 15
Sat. Dez 7
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#17 Clemson vs #8 SMU
The 1st half was a disaster for SMU, starting with a fumble on the 1st drive, having later an INT thrown, and a field goal missed, while their defense was unable to keep Clemson from scoring.
The consequences were, Clemson did lead at the half, 24:7.
SMU came into the game during the 3rd quarter, scoring a TD, still allowed a TD by Clemson and then on a drive, which carried over into the 4th, SMU finally did wake up and scored again.
Down by 10 the team did feel they still have a chance.
They stopped Clemson, did still struggle on offense, but scored a field goal a bit later, mid of the 4th quarter.
Clemson now under pressure, forced to punt and SMU active, made a loooong drive over the field and with 16 ticks left, scored a game tying TD.
And then is all fell apart for the Mustangs with 3 plays!
The 1st was a great return on the kickoff. I don't know why they did not kick it different, but the deep kick was returned for 41 yards.
Then the 2nd play, a deep pass with a 17-yard gain.
And with 3 ticks left, the Tigers kicked on the 3rd play a 56 yarder (and it could have been even a 60-yarder) to win the game, the title and the ticket to the playoffs.
I'm not sure, whether Clemson had a great game, or SMU had one of the worst of the season.
As it looks like, SMU can only blame this on themselves.
#17 Clemson 34 vs #8 SMU 31 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 34-13
BIG10 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#3 Penn State vs #1 Oregon
This game started with an offense firework you do not see very often.
The Ducks were unstoppable, and the Lions were at first unable to counter this big time, still managed to keep in touch.
At the half, the Ducks did lead 31:24.
Penn State came out of the locker and missed a field goal on their 1st drive, while the Ducks did score again and forces Penn State again in catch-up mode.
The speed on drives and scoring did slow down in that 3rd quarter and gained again some speed in the 4th, but the key adjustment for the Lions to turn this game towards their favor, did never happen.
Whenever Penn State did come closer, Oregon did cover it and scored or they were so far ahead, they were able to just wait for their next chance.
With 2 minutes left to play and Oregon forced to punt, Penn State had their last chance, down by just 8.
But 2 plays later the ball was intercepted, and the Ducks did ride their 1st BIG10 title home as #1 team in the country.
This game was closer, than I did expect it, but it did turn out mostly as I expected to happen with Penn State forced to play a game they are not equipped to play.
Most surprising for me was, that they were able to score that much and to stay in the game so long.
#3 Penn State 37 vs #1 Oregon 45 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 35-13
BIG-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#16 Iowa State vs #15 Arizona State
That game I did actually watch in 1st half, and it was brutal to see, how bad Iowa States lines did play.
In the 1st quarter it was all good and the game was equally set, but in the 2nd quarter it became visible, that ASU was able to adjust small stuff and make a difference, while ISU was not, and their line became weaker and weaker.
That did result on offense in a bad running game and a bad QB protection, while on defense the line did not create enough pressure to limit the Sun Devils rushing attack and gave often also the QB too much time to pass.
Arizona State lead at the half, 24:10 and that did still look manageable for the Cyclones, but the 2nd half was so bad and error prone, that you had to ask yourself, why the team did make the game.
With 3 turnovers in that 2nd half, you cannot come back from 14 difference.
Main difference at the end was the ASU running game, which was unstoppable or better to say, the Cyclones were unable to tackle the RB, who gained 170 yards with an average of 10.6 per carry.
Arizona State wins the BIG-12 and a ticket to the playoffs in their 1st season inside the BIG-12.
#16 Iowa State 19 vs #15 Arizona State 45 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 36-13
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#5 Georgia vs #2 Texas
A real thriller, some will say, a modern classic.
A very defense driven game, not much did happen in the 1st half on the scoreboard, just on the field.
Texas started with an INT, but came away with no harm, did score a field goal a bit later and Georgia had to punt.
Texas did again score a field goal and this time Georgia did the same, allowed again some movement to the Longhorns, but this time the kick did miss the uprights.
They did again miss the uprights a bit later.
Then both teams did accomplish not much until the half, Texas leading 6:3.
Georgia came out of the locker room and scored a TD, creating pressure on Texas, but it stayed a defense driven game.
A bit later did Texas miss another FG, and Georgia did kick a field goal to lead 13:6.
A drive, which did lead into the 4th quarter, was capped by Texas with a TD to tie the game at 13.
And Georgia did answer a few drives later with a field goal to take the lead, slowly eating the clock away.
Texas went out and tried to respond but was intercepted.
Georgia now with a gifted field position did ... throw an INT on their own and Texas got the ball back!
This time they went over the field, did eat the clock away and scored a game tying field goal with 18 ticks left to play.
The game went to overtime and Texas got the ball 1st but was held to another field goal.
Now Georgia on the move, came close the endzone and at the end, run it in for a TD, the Championship and a playoff ticket.
Texas came up short in their 1st SEC season, while Georgia did luckily made it into the game and won it all.
#5 Georgia 22 vs #2 Texas 19 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 36-14
And some other interesting games:
Fri. Dez 6
AAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Tulane @ #24 Army
I did expect that Tulane would pick apart Army, but their offense was ineffective and error prone.
But worse, their defense was non-existing against that option offense of Army. Why?
I don't know.
Army did throw only for 17 yards and the rest was just rushing. Still did Tulane allow almost 340 yards on the ground.
Congratulation to Army, winning the AAC 35:14 on their 1st season.
They will have to play Navy next and then of course they will also play a quite high-profile bowl. Could be one of the best paid bowls the team ever played in.
Jacks interesting games Score: 33-19
CUSA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Western Kentucky @ Jacksonville State
Oh man, Jacksonville State wanted revenge and the title.
WKU did get hammered on that rematch, one week they did beat the Gamecocks.
At the end did Jacksonville State win 52:13 and carried home the CUSA title.
Jacks interesting games Score: 34-19
MWC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
#20 UNLV @ #10 Boise State
In this game was much less offense fire power than I did expect.
Boise State won at home clearly the Mountain West and earned a playoff spot, but the score of 21:7 was a bit disappointing.
Jacks interesting games Score: 35-19
Sat. Dez 7
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Ohio vs Miami (OH)
Here I have to say, congratulation to Ohio winning this game in such a way.
Miami was basically a non-factor on the field and Ohio did dominate the game after the first 2 drives.
Miami scored a field goal at the start then it was all Ohio until the final score of 38:3.
Ohio won the MAC, the first time since 1968!
Jacks interesting games Score: 35-20
SBC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Marshall @ Louisiana
And another surprising finish on a season.
Marshall, with all the troubles during the season did dominate Louisiana, who did more or less cruise to this game.
The Cajuns did not stand a single chance here, starting, similar to Miami (OH) in the MAC, with a field goal and then stopped playing until the game was over and Marshall won the SBC, 31:3.
Their 1st Sun Belt title, since they switched conference for 2022.
Jacks interesting games Score: 35-21
So, those are the results.
Because of the result inside the ACC and the BIG-12, the discussion was big, who would be in and who would be out. And who gets a 1st round bye. SMU was highly ranked PRIOR the loss to Clemson, which were not that high ranked, and several of the teams NOT playing were waiting, whether they might slip into the mix, or not.
The BIG-12 did see themselves on a bye week in 1st round, as did Boise State and of course Clemson as ACC champ had also a case.
The committee made their final round and came up with the following rankings:
The BIG10 kept the 1st place with Oregon winning the conference and Penn State was not punished too hard by losing against the #1 team in a close game. #1 Oregon, #4 Penn State, #6 Ohio State and #8 Indiana.
At #20 was now Illinois put in, but that is for the playoffs irrelevant.
The SEC was of course adjusted, thanks to Georgias title. #2 Georgia, #3 Texas, #7 Tennessee and #11 Alabama became the relevant teams, but for Alabama there was still a surprise waiting.
#14 Ole Miss, #15 South Carolina and #19 Missouri became irrelevant.
Notre Dame dropped without any game playing a spot to #5, but they get any way only an at-large-spot.
The ACC was the big question mark after the loss of SMU.
At the end did the committee drop SMU to #10 and lifted Clemson to #16. But Clemson had a spot guaranteed, so that means at least 1 team from the top 12 would be left out, maybe even 2. Now the BIG-12 rankings became important for Alabama and for Boise State and Clemson regarding the 1st round bye.
At #13 was Miami sorted in, out of the playoffs for sure and #21 Syracuse did also rise by 1.
The Mountain West was won by Boise State, and they got raised to #9, which means they will have a 1st round bye as 3rd best conference champ.
At #24 was UNLV put, now only relevant for some bowl seatings.
The BIG-12 did know, their champ would be in regardless the ranking, but of course they wanted a 1st round bye. At the end was Arizona State ranked at #12, which did give them a 1st-round bye as 4th best conference champ and did also seal the fate of Alabama at #11 to be out of the playoffs. I will explain it in detail a bit later.
The other BIg-12 teams in the rankings are #17 BYU. #18 Iowa State and #23 Colorado.
Army did win the American, but was only raised to #22 in the ranks, not going to the playoffs, and Memphis stayed at #25.
Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State were ranked highest as conference champs and did get a 1st round bye. That means they will play their next match in some bowls against the winners of 4 non-bowl games defining the 1st round, played on the homefield of the highest ranked teams in that matchup.
Clemson as 5th conference champ did get a seat, even as #16.
The other 7 seats were given to the 7 highest ranked at-large-teams, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Indiana and SMU. Alabama at #11 drops out, since there is no more space left.
Of course, there were big discussions on whether that set of teams is fair, right or wrong, the best or not. But there is no help. The easiest way to get in the playoffs was always to win. But there are more issues at stake here. Assuming they would have put Alabama (or any other not playing team) in the playoffs and pushed SMU out, it would mean, that SMU would have been better off NOT playing for the championship game and just stay put to stay at #8 to #10 and not getting punished losing in that game. Likely they did not want that to happen.
Remember, last season did Alabama get the shot in the 4-team-playoff-format over a perfect FSU team, which was then ranked #5 and fell apart.
Are the 12 best or strongest teams in the playoffs?
Likely not.
But it gives several teams a legit chance to win, including Boise State and SMU, while it leaves some likely stronger teams out, like Alabama and Ole Miss.
I personally like that teams from such conferences now have a better chance to at least compete, while in the past they never had a chance at all.
In the old world of the BCS (just a national championship game), we would see Oregon vs Georgia. I don't think we would have a lot of arguing this season over that matchup, but still a bit with Georgia having 2 losses and Notre Dame only having 1. Nobody would pay attention to Boise State, who did lose only against Oregon by a few points and did beat everybody else. No chance for them.
In the 4-team-playoffs, we would see Oregon vs Penn State and Georgia vs Texas again, even I think they would have tweaked the ranking to have a cross conference matchup. There would be ranting from Notre Dame over the 5th place and also here, nobody would think about giving Boise State a shot.
NOW they have a shot and a really good one, too.
Will they win their game (it will be against Penn State or SMU)? Maybe, or maybe not. But they will have a chance to prove they are legit. A chance they did not have since introduction of the BCS system.
And if the price for that is, that some teams, who lost a few more games on a tougher schedule, are left out, I think that is worth the price.
Bottom line for me is, if you want to win championships, win games. If BYU would have won all games to the championship game, they would have been in. If Alabama would have won all games, they would have played for the SEC championship and they would have been in the playoffs.
Same for Miami, if they wouldn’t have dropped 2 games in the last few weeks, they would have been in.
I will preview the games, when they come up. They will be played during bowl game period, even they are not really bowl games.
That in the box, we shift towards coached news.
Ball State did hire a new coach, Mike Uremovich. Uremovich did serve as HC of Butler the past 3 seasons, 23-11 overall and a high at 9-3 this season, but no playoff spot in the FCS. Prior to that he was the HC at a JUCO St. Francis for 7 seasons, after which he started getting better paid jobs as position and coordinator coach on FBS and FCS level. Ball State will be a rebuilding job, I hope he gets the time needed.
Joe Harasymiak was hired by UMass to coach the team for the next season. Harasymiak was the past 3 seasons the DC of Rutgers and prior to that of Minnesota. He is under 40, so quite young compared to the majority of the HCs. UMass will join the MAC (again) in 2025 and the new HC will have a lot of work to do, to make the team a winner.
Fresno State did hire the USC Assistant HC/LB coach Matt Entz to become their next HC. Entz was prior the USC job the HC of North Dakota State and won the National Championship with the team twice and has a HC on FCS level of 60-11. Fresno State did struggle this season and the new coach will have to restore the program fast.
At least for me surprising was the hiring by Charlotte, who got Tim Albin, no former HC of Ohio. For me that came out of nowhere, since Albin is only 4 seasons at Ohio, successful (33-19, conference championship this season), he got an extension last season and Charlotte does not look much like an upgrade to me. But Charlotte did move to the AAC and should now by able to spend more money on the HC than a MAC school. Likely a good hire, but he will have a lot of work to do at Charlotte.
Utah State did not wait long and hired Bronco Mendenhall away from New Mexico. Mendenhall has deep roots to the state of Utah, since he was the HC of BYU for a longer period. He just 1 season at New Mexico and had not moved much there. But when he was hired at Virginia a few seasons ago, the program became a competitor in a few seasons. So Utah State found likely a good fit here.
Southern Miss made a good hire by getting Charles Huff, the now former HC of Marshall. He was the HC of Marshall for 4 seasons and his contract was running out, which does not happen very often. Bad timing for the school, Huff had the best season of his career this season and won the conference. Likely the team wanted to prolong the contract NOW (last season the record was 6-7 and prolongation talks were stalled or not even initiated with having in mind to get rid of him cheaply), but Huff did get an (better) offer from Southern Miss and he will coach the competitor of Marshall from now onwards. Huff record at Marshall was 32-20 overall.
But, maybe the whole theory is rubbish and Marshall had their successor already in place, because when Huff went to Southern Miss, Marshall did present Tony Gibson, the former DC of NC State, as new HC. He takes over a championship team.
And another hire, now by Tulsa, hiring Tre Lamb, former HC of Gardner-Webb and East Tennessee State, both FCS. He won the conference with Gardner-Webb twice and just got the gig at ETS, so that can't be judged deeply.
Central Michigan was searching for their new HC, after their old decided to retire, and found Matt Drinkall, the so far OL-coach of Army. He was a HC in the past before, but only on JUCO Level, his record is there, 42-17. He takes over a Team, which went through several good and bad seasons under the past HC. The program did lack regular bowl participation and main focus on such a school is the compare to Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan and also of course a good result inside the MAC. The last 3 seasons was the Michigan-MAC-Trophy not won by CMU.
A surprising hire came from Central Florida, who decided to hire the current L.A. Rams Analyst and former Nebraska and UCF HC Scott Frost. Frost was 2 seasons with UCF and gave them a perfect Season in his 2nd season, which led to a claimed National Championship in that season (2017). His stint at Nebraska lasted 4+ seasons and was a disaster. He never was able to turn the performance of the team around and got fired early in his 5th season. It will be interesting to see, what he can do at UCF now, which had a very bad season inside the BIG-12.
Florida International found their guy in Willie Simmons, the former RB coach of Duke and also former HC of 2 FCS Teams, winning a conference championship in 2023. FIU is a rough place to coach, expectations are usually quite high, but the results of the past few coaches were bad, including proven coaches.
Appalachian State made quite a splash to get their new HC by hiring South Carolinas OC Dowell Loggains. The Name itself is not a big Splash, since this is his 1st HC stint ever, but South Carolina seems to be on the rise and Loggains is since 2 seasons the OC and a Major factor on that rise, so getting him away from the Gamecocks can only mean, the guy seeks a HC opportunity which brings him further up the ladder. The expectations at App State are high, the program is used to win, a lot.
Purdue found their guy by hiring Barry Odom away from UNLV. Odom was once the HC of Missouri but failed there. Later he was hired at UNLV for 2023 and guided the team twice to the championship game in 2023 and 2024 but lost to Boise in both seasons. Now he has to turn Purdue around, which will be a tough cookie.
And as last info, Oklahoma States HC Mike Gundy agreed to a contract restructuring, including a pay cut, after his 3-9 season with the Cowboys, his worst ever in 20 seasons with the team. According to the school the talks were planned anyway to make financial room for player payments to keep the program competitive inside the BIG-12. Gundy did already fire his coordinators and will have to make a big makeover on the team to not facing such a bad season again.
If I'm not wrong, schools searching for a new HC are New Mexico, North Carolina, West Virginia, Sam Houston State, Ohio and UNLV.
Which leaves us with the traditional lone game on this weekend, the ARMY-NAVY-GAME.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 16
Sat. Dec 14
Navy @ #22 Army
Played this season in the stadium of the Washington Commanders as neutral site, both teams did enjoy a quite successful season.
Especially Army, which joined the American Athletic Conference this season, the conference of Navy, did at least for me surprisingly win the most games during the season inside the conference and went to the conference championship game.
Even more surprising they did win big inside the Championship game and will now face as AAC champ Navy, who did have a good, but not very good season inside the AAC.
Both teams did already qualify for a bowl game.
Army did win the Commander-In-Chief-Trophy last season and the winner of this game here will take home the price as real winner, not because of that 'shared' use case.
Navy and Army both did top Air Force, so the winner here will have 2 wins and gets the shiny trophy.
The series Army-Navy has so far 124 games and Navy leads, 62-55- - 7, including losing the past 2 years.
Based on the season results is Army of course favored to win, by 6.5 points.
With the type of game they did show in the championship game, they could even win against much stronger opponents, but they did also lose big against Notre Dame.
Lucky for them, Navy did lose even bigger against the Irish and by that logic, Army should be able have a close game and even win this game here.
The rest is up to the players and coaches, such a rivalry game can't be picked, it can only be guessed and afterwards you were right or wrong.
This season I pick Army to win it all.
Black Knights win.
Which brings me to the upcoming bowls, which start suddenly on the same day as Army-Navy? That’s not fair and good.
Not fair to me preparing all that stuff and not fair to Army-Navy, who wanted always an exclusive gameday.
Not good, since it (from my point of view) lowers the value of both games on the day. Army-Navy is NOT a bowl and you might think ‘oh, some unimportant game is also played’ and on the other hand you might think ‘Oh, that bowl must be shit, since it is played in parallel to the national wide Army-Navy game’.
This season is the 1st to have the 12-team-playoff format and we have again 41 bowl games on FBS level plus the 42nd one to be the National Championship game.
BUT ... this season, because of the new playoff format, more bowls are filled with winners of other bowls.
Last season, only the National Championship game was filled by winners of bowls (the semi-finales, which were Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl), but this season we have 1st round games for the playoffs, which are NOT bowl games, then quarterfinals, which are Bowl games (Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl) and the winners of those will advance to the semi-finales (Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl) and of course the winners of those will advance to the National Championship game.
That means, 2 Bowls drop out of the pre-selection phase (when the spots are filled, usually after the conference championship game week) and that means, only 39 bowls will get selected teams, equals 78 teams (last season it was 82).
That did lead to less voodoo-magic to fill all the spots.
Last season we had teams which were not eligible to play, because of transition phase from FCS to FBS (Jacksonville State and James Madison) playing in a bowl, because spots were still open. And we had a team not eligible to play, because it had only 5 wins (Minnesota), because of a spot still open and having the best academic progress rate (APR).
This season we have actually 82 Teams eligible, but only 78 spots to be filled.
BUT ... one thing I did not had in mind is, that teams selected to play in the 1st round matches will NOT play in any other bowl, which opens up regular bowl spots for the other teams.
To make this more confusing, of those 8 teams then 4 teams WILL block regular bowl games spots, since the winner will play in the quarterfinals.
Hence, only 4 spots are more available than I thought, which means, ALL 82 eligible teams this season will play in a bowl and no one is not invited.
Damn, that gets complicated.
The FIRST SET OF BOWLs from next Saturday, 14th to Thursday, 19th of December.
Saturday, December 14
2024 IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
South Alabama vs Western Michigan
@Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama
A renamed bowl, until last season known as Camellia Bowl. It had several naming sponsors since it was started in 2014, but so far always the Camellia inside the name, but starting this season, the Camellia is gone.
It features usually Sun Belt vs MAC and so far only in 2020 did the Sun Belt not send a team to this bowl.
The bowl is owned by ESPN and is played on the field for the FCS Kickoff in Alabama.
The Sun Belt has a 5-4 record here, the MAC is 4-4, thanks to last seasons win, and CUSA is 1-2.
South Alabama had a up-and-down-season inside the Sun Belt.
They came close to a win against Arkansas State, did then beat so far unbeaten ULM, lost to Georgia Southern a week later and gave then a week later Championship-participant Louisiana their 1st loss of the season, while losing on season final against Texas State.
Overall did the Jaguars record a 6-6 Season, mainly, because they last 3 of 4 non-conference games.
Western Michigan did look like a hot Team inside the MAC, starting 4-0, but lost then 3 in a row afterwards and finished with a win against Eastern Michigan to become bowl eligible.
Their non-conference record is also 3-1, but to be fair, their opponents were a bit tougher overall than USAs ones.
Still, I lean towards the Jaguars here, who did show they can win against tough opponents, while Western Michigan did not beat any bigger contender inside their conference.
Vegas has South Alabama also ahead by 7.5 Points, which is quite some stuff.
In Bowls, everything can happen, but I expect USA to be prepared and ready, when they play an almost-home game, while the Michigan team has to come south.
Jaguars win.
Tuesday, December 17
Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl
West Virginia vs Memphis
@Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Founded in 2017 as American Athletic Conference Bowl against an at-large-team, the bowl did strip down in the past 2 seasons and did seek any matchup between Group of 5 teams.
Even it was planned to have an American Athletic Team each season, only on the 1st year, 2017, and last season, 2023, a team from the American did participate, beside that and most of the time a team from the Mountain West was in it. They have a record of 2-2. Conference USA is 2nd with a record of 1-2, thanks to last season’s loss.
But oh wonder, this season again a Team from the AAC was selected and on top a power-4 Team from the BIG-12.
The record of the AAC is 1-1, the BIG-12 did never play in this.
The stadium is a soccer stadium for a MLS team from Dallas.
My gut Feeling is, Memphis will eat West Virginia alive.
West Virginia did barely make the 6-6, finished with a loss at season end, won more or less only against bad teams lost to all stronger ones. The Team did also fire their HC and runs on Interims Management.
Memphis on the other hand is 10-2, and did only not play in the AAC Championship game, because they lost on the road against Navy and UTSA, with the last one being the worst loss. The team did compensate the loss against ranked Tulane (later AAC Championship participant) by Winning against them to give them their 1st loss and taking away the homefield advantage in the Championship game (which might have result in the loss of Tulane against Army for the AAC title).
Vegas? Has Memphis ahead by 4.5 Points. Not that much.
The Interims HC of the Mountaineers is the key factor.
If he, as new coach, different coach, can motivate the team and bring them together, West Virginia will likely outperform Memphis by a lot, since the power-4-talent should be good.
But if the Team performs as before (or worse), Memphis should win here.
I think Memphis has a good chance and I'm following my gut feeling.
Tigers win.
Wednesday, December 18
2024 Boca Raton Bowl
Western Kentucky vs James Madison
@FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, Florida
A bowl since 2014 it's a game between always new negotiated conference tie ins, usually for 2 seasons.
This season again we should have any Group of 5 team or Army in it, but usually the grab what they can get.
It's played on the home field of the Florida Atlantic Owls.
Since the tie-in did shift over the seasons, there were a lot of teams from different conferences in it.
The unbelievable streak of the CUSA with 6 wins in 6 appearances still stands.
Last year did the American finally get their 1st win in this bowl and are now 1-4.
Western Kentucky will have the pressure to Keep the CUSA streak alive, but the 8-5 Teams does face one of the toughest Teams from the Sun Belt, James Madison, which had actually a down season with a 8-4 record.
WKU did slip into the CUSA Conference Championship game with a win at home against the leading team from Jacksonville State but did then lose against the same team in the title game big time.
James Madison was one of the favorites to lead the Sun Belt, but they lost the crucial games against contenders to fall behind and finished below their own expectations.
Vegas thinks, the Dukes will win by 7.0 Points, I think, they will win by even more, IF they are motivated to play.
I assume they want to snack at least one title, so ...
Dukes win.
Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk
Cal vs UNLV
@SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
And quite new bowl here, since 2021 and with tie-ins to Mountain West and PAC-12 (which is funny, since the PAC-12 has right now only 2 members, but contracts are contracts, right?)
So far, the naming of the bowl for whatever reason to entertainment persons (Jimmy Kimmel and Rob Gronkowski).
Of course, the stadium is the home field of the LA Rams and the LA Chargers and right now one of the most advanced stadiums in the world.
The Mountain West got their 1st loss in this bowl last season, now 2-1, while the PAC-12 got their 1st win, now 1-2.
But of course, this season we have a funny situation with a FORMER-PAC-12-team, now ACC-team, Cal and a Mountain West team.
Cal had a rough season and their transition to the ACC was much tougher than from other teams making the move (but there were also worse examples, like Stanford).
They finished 6-6, mainly because the lost a lot of games inside the ACC of which likely the loss to FSU is the worst, since FSU did finish 2-10.
UNLV had a quite good season, recorded 10-2 in the regular season, went to the MWC Championship game and lost to the favorite Boise State.
They also lost shortly afterwards their HC to Purdue.
Now under interims Management, the key to the game is likely, whether UNLV does fall apart in that situation or not.
Cal is not a good team, but good enough to give UNLV a challenge and under the gone HC I would have picked them to win here, but under the current circumstances, I think Cal has a good chance to win here.
They had an extra week to prepare and do not have that off-field-disturbance.
I expect a close game, so does Vegas, which gives Cal the nod with 2.0 points.
Golden Bears win.
Thursday, December 19
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Georgia Southern vs Sam Houston
@Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
This exists since 2001 and is a Sun Belt vs Conference USA game.
Played in the Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.
The Sun Belt has a record of 12-9 in this bowl, the CUSA 8-11, thanks to the win of the CUSA team last year, making it 2 CUSA wins in a row.
Georgia Southern did drive me mad this season, since they did sit on top of the Sun Belt East division for some time and then did lose crucial games, cane back to the top and lost again.
What did make me mad was, they did not lose to the later division and conference champ, no! They did win against Marshall. They lost to Old Dominion (5-7) and Troy (4-8).
So, they shot themselves in the foot, finished 8-4 and made it into this bowl.
Sam Houston on the other hand is a 2nd year FBS teams, which did almost make it to the CUSA Championship game, but lost against the 2 Championship game participants and finished 9-3.
On paper should Georgia Southern wipe the field with Sam Houston.
Vegas thinks, they will do that with 6.0 points, which is not really wiping.
I think, if the team comes to play, they will win, big time. The team had all the potential to win the Sun Belt and had 2 bad games.
Sure, they can have another one, but that can't be projected.
Sam Houston had problems with tough teams, and Georgia Southern is a tough one, of they want to be one.
Eagles win.
That's it for the 1st set of Bowl games.
'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE
Tags: Block of Granite, News
