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This weekend was tough for a lot of teams. You might remember, I did say, that a lot of big favorite games are scheduled for that weekend and that not many interesting games are there to pick from. And that I did say, there is a lot of opportunity to upset the favorites and that those games are hard to pick.
Guess what, lots of upsets DID happen and in games many had not on their list.
But before I start with the upsets, with one of them did again cost a coach his job, I would like to add something to the situation at LSU.
Last week I did write about the situation at LSU, that Brian Kelly was fired, that the university does own him 50+ million dollars.
Well, a weak later the university does not only look for a new HC, it does also look for a new AD. Not sure how this did come to place, but what I did read was, that the governor of Louisiana did state, that this AD, Scott Woodward, would NOT s e l e c t the next HC and a day later it was reported, that the AD did leave LSU. Looks like he was fired, too.
Since LSU is a state-owned university, the governor is basically the boss of everyone there, so he can make that call.
Looks like there were concerns on the timing and the actions on Kellys firing and also regarding the money, which is right now reported to be half as much as initially reported, because Brian Kelly agreed to such a reduction. But initially it was 54 million dollars and thanks to the SAME AD another university, Texas A&M, had to pay 77.5 million dollars to Jimbo Fischer, when he was fired from his contract, which was initially set up by that AD and later prolonged by a different one (the prolongation did at the end cause the amount of money, but the contract structure did cause the guaranteed part with no loophole).
So that AD did directly and indirectly cause initially a damage of 130+ million dollars, now reduced thanks to Kelly to 100+ million dollars.
If I would be a dean at an university, I would know, which guy NOT to s e l e c t for the next AD ...
Oh, there is one good news on coaching. Kent State had fired their HC late in the offseason (April) after 2 miserable seasons, 1-11 and 0-12, and named the OC Mark Carney interims HC. With November left to play, the AD did drop the interims tag of Carney, making him the permanent HC of the Golden Flashes after a 3-5 start.
Back to the weekend.
The Auburn Tigers were favored by 11.5 points to win against visiting team Kentucky Wildcats. The game was very defense driven and at the half were both teams tied at 3.
Later did Kentucky score a TD, and both teams then did decide to just play possum and nothing big happened, except a Kentucky INT, which was returned for 15 yards by Auburn, only to be fumbled a way and Kentucky got the ball back to play possum again.
At the end did the Wildcats win 10:3 and to get their 1st SEC win of the season and Auburn did fire their HC Hugh Freeze after 2+ seasons with the Tigers and a 15-19 record, 6-16 inside the SEC. The university owns him roughly 15.5 million dollars for that exit. Auburn is a tough spot to coach, because their ambition is to be on the same level as Alabama, if not better, and the reality is different. Yes, the University can afford good coaches, but they did not made good decisions in the past 15 seasons, since their last national title. That HC was let go, once the QB, who gifted the team that championship was gone (a guy named Cam Newton, you might have heard of him) and the win total did sink. The next guy was good, but not great (he even won a SEC Championship) but did not overcome the Alabama compare and was let go after 8 seasons. And then the drama did really start, with the next guy being fired after 1+ season and now Freeze being fired after 2+ seasons.
It will be interesting to see, who will come next, but I hope he makes a good contract.
More crazy games?
Coastal Carolina was a 7.5 points underdog against Marshall, but did win 44:27. By that did CCU stay in the hunt inside their division, as lone team behind the lead team James Madison. Marshall is one game behind CCU now, with some other teams.
UTSA won against favorite Tulane, 48:26. Thanks to this game and another one, the AAC is now WIDE open.
NC State did flex their muscles against Georgia Tech, who were favored to win by 6.5 points, and won 48:36. That did cost GT the lead inside the ACC and gives a lot of teams now a realistic chance to get into the championship game.
Houston did host West Virginia and was favored by 12.5 points. But the Mountaineers did win 45:35 and did send Houston down into the pick calls ‘other teams’ behind the leading contenders. Still chances to get to a championship game seat, but man, that does hurt.
Imagine you did start the season with a veteran QB with the ambition to get back to the top level your team had the past 10+ seasons and the season becomes a hunt for a pity bowl spot. Clemson was favored to win at home by 4.5 points against Duke, which seems to be an insult already, but did then LOSE 45:46. While Dukes enjoys the sun in almost at the top of the ACC, Clemson is 3-5 overall right now and is in the last 3rd of the conference.
Buffalo did beat Bowling Green by 28:3. The Falcons were a small favorite at home but lost big time and are way down in the conference standings.
While we are talking about a down season, Iowa State is having a bad season this year and did increase the drama by losing as 8.5-point favorite at home against Arizona State. ASU can still dream on some outside chances to reach the championship game, while ISU still needs a win to at least get into a bowl.
UNLV did can their season with a loss to New Mexico, 35:40. They were favored at home and needed that win to stay in the hunt inside the Mountain West, but sucked and are right now 1 loss behind the other team, which lost this week, but which stayed in the driving seat for a championship spot, which is ...
Boise State lost surprisingly against Fresno State, 7:30, at home, as 17.5-point favorite! With that loss, they are now the lone team inside the MWC with 1 loss and stay on 2nd place (thanks to UNLV losing), but they play the leading team soon and another 2-loss team at season finale, so this can become shit very quickly.
Louisiana (Lafayette) did win the fight against South Alabama, 31:22. Both teams are struggling in this season, but USA was favored and lost at home, while UL did get their 2nd conference win to get lifted to mid-level inside the SUN BELT.
Arkansas was favored to win against Mississippi State, but lost at home, 35:38. Both teams were seeking for their 1st SEC win of the season, but only MSU was successful.
Arkansas State did beat favored Troy on the road, 23:10. Both teams are now 1 game behind the leading team inside the SUN BELT division. ASU had a rough start into the season but has now won 4 win a row to be back in the hunt.
That’s it for the small notes.
Let’s look at the games I did pick as preview last week and review them.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 10
Sat. Nov 1
#9 Vanderbilt @ #20 Texas
Hmmm. Vanderbilt was bad in the 1st quarter, fumbled the ball away after a Longhorns score and stayed on offense infective until they finally did score a field goal start of the 2nd quarter. But at that moment, they were already down deep in a hole. 3:17 after the successful kick.
Texas scored a TD afterwards and Vandy finally did also score a TD, so the teams went into the break with Texas leading 24:10.
Over?
Not so fast.
After Texas did increase the margin with the help of another Vandy-offense-not-really-on-the-field-quarter, the Commodores started a comeback in the final quarter.
Down 10:34 did they score their 2nd TD but dodged a 2-point-try.
Now Texas had their 1st error by missing a field goal and Vandy used that to score another TD. Thanks to a 2-pointer, the team was suddenly only down by 10 with 4 minutes left to play.
Texas? Ineffective suddenly and Vanderbilt marched again over the field and scored a TD, now down only by 3 but less than 40 ticks left.
The onside kick was a miss and by that did Texas then run down the clock and won the game, 34:31.
With a bit more Vanderbilt could have won this, but at the end, it makes no sense to speculate. Texas won and stays in the 1-loss-group of SEC teams in the hunt, while Vanderbilt dropped into the group of 2-loss-teams, which will likely not have an impact on the SEC and the playoffs.
#9 Vanderbilt 31 @ #20 Texas 34 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 16-6
#18 Oklahoma @ #14 Tennessee
One quarter with too many errors did sink Tennessee’s hope for a great season.
They won the 1st quarter 10:7, even with a fumble.
Then came the bad 2nd quarter, with a missed field goal, 2 INTs and too many field goals for Oklahoma to lose this one 0:9.
For the remaining game the Vols needed even some Sooners errors to keep the game close, but both quarters went down with ties, 7:7 and 10:10, which means, the final score was Oklahoma winning 33:27.
Oklahoma can as 2-loss-team dream over some unlikely if-then-scenarios, while for sure Tennessee with 3 SEC losses is out of contention for everything, except a bowl game.
#18 Oklahoma 33 @ #14 Tennessee 27 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 16-7
#17 Cincinnati @ #24 Utah
Oh man, a far from close game.
Cincinnati did just blew it in this game.
Lots of errors, and the offense was a kitty cat on vacation.
Utah did win ever quarter, by at least a score, often more.
At the end, the score was 45:15 and Cincinnati was lucky to only get credited with 1 loss here, because according to the results, the standings inside the BIG-12 are still misleading.
The Bearcats are now 1 loss behind the leading teams, while Utah is 2 losses behind, thanks to a tougher schedule so far.
I think that game of Cincinnati against BYU will be the final test and right now I would predict BYU to win that big time.
#17 Cincinnati 14 @ #24 Utah 45 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 17-7
And some other interesting games:
Sat. Nov 1
#10 Miami @ SMU
Another shipwreck inside the ACC, with SMU winning against favored Miami, 26:20 in OT. For Miami, this is worst case scenario, as team, which did start with a hope for a ACC championship and playoff ambitions, now being 1-game behind a lot of 1-loss teams inside the ACC and being now ranked outside the likely playoff ranks. Still a lot of games left to play, but for sure, a loss does never help.
Jacks interesting games Score: 15-7
Navy @ North Texas
North Texas came out into the 1st quarter and did set statements, while Navy needed that whole 1st quarter to adjust.
When both teams started playing on the same level, Navy was 14 points behind and UNT did keep that margin more or less intact until the end, winning 31:17.
That breaks the AAC wide open, and 6 teams are now in the driving seat to get one of the 2 championship spots, including Navy and UNT.
Jacks interesting games Score: 16-7
Washington State @ Oregon State
Oregon State is under interims coaching reign, because they did start the season 0-7. They then played an FCS team and won and the Washington State Cougars last week. The Cougars were 4-4 before the game and were the favorite to win the game.
Guess what?
The defense driven game ended with a Beavers win, 10:7 and they can claim again the unofficial PAC-12 Championship for this season.
Crazy.
Both teams are in deep trouble, and I hope it will become better next year.
Jacks interesting games Score: 16-8
That’s it for gameday 10
Let's go to the conference standings after week 10.
Please note, that the rankings are for the 1st CFP-ranking, which was published on Tuesday.
American Athletic Conference
As mentioned, the conference is wide open, thanks to the losses by Navy and Tulane. Leading teams with 1-loss inside the conference are now, Navy, Memphis, North Texas, South Florida, Tulane and East Carolina.
And behind them are with 2 losses Temple and UTSA.
I think the next 2 weeks will shrink the contenders list down fast, but most concerning is right now, that there is not a real strong team, which means, if the conference gets a team into the playoffs, it will be a 1st-round-victim, very likely.
Atlantic Coast Conference
The ACC did also get a big hit regarding national recognition, because they lost their 2nd unbeaten team. Now #14 Virginia is the lone perfect team left, with #17 Georgia Tech, #24 Pittsburgh, #15 Louisville, SMU and Duke sitting with 1-loss behind them on that 2nd seat for the championship game. #18 Miami is with 2-losses the lone team to have an outside chance for that 2nd seat.
BIG10 Conference
#2 Indiana and #1 Ohio State are still unbeaten leading the conference. A bunch of 1-loss teams are hoping for some meltdown by one of them or both. #21 Michigan, #9 Oregon, #20 Iowa and #19 USC all hope for something which might never happen. But you never know. Indiana and Ohio State still have tough games ahead.
BIG-12 Conference
#7 BYU is the lone unbeaten team left here. Next are #8 Texas Tech and #25 Cincinnati with 1 loss each looking for the 2nd spot in the championship game right now. But 2-loss teams do still have a chance here, with Houston, #13 Utah, Arizona State and TCU in that list of hoping programs.
Conference USA
Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State remained unbeaten.
With 1 loss behind are Western Kentucky, Missouri State, which are ineligible for post-season activities, thanks to their FCS-to-FBS-transition and Liberty. No change to last week.
Mid-American Conference
Miami (OH) remained unbeaten.
The 2nd spot in the championship game try to claim 1-loss-teams of Buffalo, Western Michigan and Ohio.
Central Michigan did drop to 2-losses, waiting for their chance to get back into the hunt, with Toledo, Ball State and Kent State.
Mountain West Conference
And another conference, which lost their leading duo.
San Diego State is the lone team left with no losses inside the conference. But the fun part here is, Boise State is right now the lone 1-loss team behind them.
Fresno State, Hawai’i, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah State and San Jose State, so almost the whole rest of the conference, are looking for another booboo by Boise State to have a chance on that 2nd seat for the championship spot as 2-loss-teams.
I think the next 2 weeks will shrink this field fast.
Southeastern Conference
No big changes here. #3 Texas A&M and #4 Alabama are flawless.
Right behind them are the hopeful teams with 1-loss each, #5 Georgia, #6 Ole Miss and #11 Texas. Last week, they were 4, but Vanderbilt did lose.
Sun Belt Conference
The East is still James Madison territory as perfect team. Behind is left Coastal Carolina with 1 loss, beating Marshall out of that list.
In the West is Southern Miss still perfect and leading the division. Now Troy and Arkansas State follow with 1 loss each.
Bowl eligible teams
11 more teams did qualify, making it 51 teams so far.
Week 6: Memphis,
Week 7: Georgia Tech, Navy, Indiana, Ohio State, BYU, Texas Tech, UNLV, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Week 8: Virginia, North Texas, South Florida, Tulane, Oregon, Cincinnati, Houston, Hawai’i, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, James Madison
Week 9: Louisville, Miami (FL), Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, TCU, Utah, Western Kentucky, Boise State, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas, Southern Miss, Troy
Week 10: SMU, Arizona State, USC, Minnesota, Illinois, Kennesaw State, Notre Dame, UConn, Fresno State, New Mexico, Old Dominion
That’s that for the overview.
Now, forward to week 11. There are a few games between contenders or at least teams in the direct hunt and other teams or other hunting teams this weekend. That means, the losing teams will have a problem, and the winner can dream further on championship seats. Those games are the best to sort out the real deal from the wannabees or, to bring chaos to a conference, which leads to many people starting to look up the tie-breaker rules of that conference (and there are some crazy ones!).
Please note, one of the games is on Friday night already.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 11
Sat. Nov 8
#7 BYU @ #8 Texas Tech
BYU is the lone unbeaten team standing in the BIG-12 and Texas Tech was the most likely opponent for them in the championship game.
But TTU did lose against Arizona State and by that, suddenly this game becomes a game for survival for them.
If the Red Raiders lose, they will drop to 2 losses and are likely a long shot for the championship game. If BYU loses, the Cougars are together with TTU and eventually Cincinnati in the group of contenders, still one game ahead of all others.
Texas Tech is favored by 10.5 points, which means, that nobody does believe, similar to the Cincinnati game last week, that their record does reflect their strength.
And it is true, their strongest opponent so far was Utah, which they won against in that rival game at home by 3 points.
Now they are on the road against TTU, who won against Utah on the road by 24.
Not sure this is as easy in compare, still a hint.
I’m not sure the line is OK, but I think the Red Raiders can win this, in a close game.
Red Raiders win.
#3 Texas A&M @ #22 Missouri
The Aggies are on course to the SEC championship game as perfect team. Missouri is on live support regarding their championship game dreams with 2 SEC losses way behind the leading teams (Aggies and the Tide).
But a win here would bring them (and a bunch of other teams) one step close to eventually fulfilling their dreams, because then one seat would be filled with a non-perfect team at least.
But the Aggies did look good throughout the season so far and are favored by 6.5 points, while the Tigers did lose to Vandy and Alabama so far.
My gut feeling is, the Tigers will play like hell, but it won’t be enough. Texas A&M looks like the team to beat and so far every team did get a kick in the private parts, and I do not see, why this should be different this week.
Aggies win.
#9 Oregon @ #20 Iowa
A tough game for Oregon. They did look great until they lost to Indiana at home. Now they try to stay in the hunt and are looking for a chance to get back into the driver seat (which can only happen, if Indiana or Ohio State stumble), but they need that win here, to keep their hopes alive.
Iowa is strong, surprisingly strong for me, and this is played in a hostile environment.
Oregon is favored by 6.5 points. They lost inside the BIG10 only 1 game, also against Indiana, quite close.
Here is the primer: If the Hawkeyes defense, which does play so far very well, can control the quite explosive offense, every error will tip the game to one side or another, because it will be a low scoring game.
If the defense can NOT do that, this game will be over, fast, because even the Iowa offense is better than in recent years, they won’t be able to match that power.
I think we will see tough game, but at the end Oregon will prevail by a bit more than an inch.
Ducks win.
And some other interesting games:
Fri. Nov 7
Tulane @ Memphis
When Tulane lost last week to UTSA (and Navy to North Texas) the American Athletic Conference went wide open for 6 teams to have a realistic shot and 2 more teams to have a long shot to the championship game, including Tulane itself (and of course Navy also). Memphis was waiting for such an opportunity, since they lost surprisingly to UAB mid-October and were waiting for the top teams to fall or the direct matchup.
Well, the top teams did fall AND we have a direct matchup on top, which means, the winner will be part of a now smaller group of contenders and the losing teams will line up with the hopeful teams waiting for the chance to eventually sneaking into contention again.
The problem here will be, the more you lose, the worse your tie-breaker score will likely get, if you lost to a team in contention, so, losing is not an option, for both teams.
Vegas has Memphis ahead 3.5 points, which reads like home field advantage.
I think, Memphis is fielding the stronger teams here, but I expect a close game. Tulane has the weapons to stay in the game and eventually winning it, but if Memphis can copy the UTSA defense approach, the Memphis offense will take down Tulane by just too many points.
Tigers win.
Sat. Nov 1
#2 Indiana @ Penn State
This looks like the last real test for Indiana until post season. The remaining games on the schedule are against Wisconsin (2-6) and Purdue (2-7), both winless inside the BIG10. Penn State was aiming for a national championship and did fall from grace, fired their HC and is 3-5 now, also winless inside the BIG10, but the roster is way better and if the interim HC can bring the team together, at home, that team could bring down any BIG10.
The big, giant, question is, what can Penn State bring to the table.
On paper, the game is done. Losing team against high-flyer, Hoosiers -14.5 points betting line. Over.
If the Lions find their identity, this could become a stunner, if not, Indiana will win big time, again.
I hope for a close game, but with the recent results of Indiana, I’m quite sure, the Hoosiers will take care of business and win this, again.
Hoosiers win.
James Madison @ Marshall
Last chance for Marshall. If they lose, any chance to get on top of the division again, is spoiled with then 3 losses and JMU still perfect. But IF they win, JMU would have 1 loss and Marshall 2, so still hope.
Do I believe that? No.
James Madison did take care of all teams so far, in a good way.
Vegas favors them by 13.5 points, on the road.
I did put this only into the mix here, because a) there is an outside chance the game will be close and eventually an upset, and b) because SUN BELT often gets overseen and this matchup is quite important.
Dukes win.
'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE
Tags: Block of Granite, News
2025-10-30 14:55
Oh ho! And the next big-name HC did get the pink slip almost right after his team did lose the 3rd game of the last 4 games and fell to 5-3 overall.
The review of the game will be a bit down from here, because it was one of my highlighted games, but I will spoil you here already with the result, because it was significant and led to the firing of the HC.
LSU did host Texas A&M and was blasted out of their home stadium, 25:49.
That were the most points against a ranked LSU team in their home stadium since Georgia did scored 52 in 2008.
So, with that humiliation at home did the fans start to bring out the axe and called for Brian Kellys head. And after a night of considerations in the AD office and likely a check on the purse the AD did fire Brian Kelly, even he will likely receiver a buyout of 54 million dollars.
Kelly was basically hired away from Notre Dame, where he went for 12 seasons without any title, but with a very good record, and hired him for a 10-season contract worth almost 100 million dollars, 90% guaranteed. Now he was left go in his 4th season, after fielding 10-4, 10-3, 9-4 and now 5-3, including 3 consecutive bowl wins. What he did not deliver was a title inside the SEC or on national stage. He did reach only one time the SEC Championship game and was beaten by Georgia.
I did say it in previous blog entries, LSUs ambitions are HIGH, and if you don’t deliver, you are expandable. The program has deep pockets and does use it, at the end they have to watch what the HC in charge does with the players and what the players produce on the field with that money. And Kellys path did not fit with the goals of the program, understandable.
Whoever will be the next one, I hope he gets a similar contract as Kelly, because in that environment, that kind of contract is the right compensation. It is heard, the program wants to negotiate the Kelly buyout, but honestly, I would not give an inch, if that’s possible, because this program is a mad house and any coach deserves the highest compensation on that.
LSUs HCs of the past 2 decades were (I leave the interims out, if they did not get the real deal done):
Les Miles 2005 to 2016. He was the last exception with that long period. He did win National Championship (2007) and SEC Championships (2007 and 2011) but fell from grace later with NCAA violations and sanctions.
Ed Orgeron 2016 to 2021. He was the interim, who got the real deal and was lucky to have a future NFL start as QB, winning the National Championship and the SEC in 2019. Once the QB was gone, he fell from grace and was let go 2 seasons later.
And then came Kelly with no title.
I think every HC getting there knows what comes, as does the future HC of Florida. It’s a shark bay kind of business.
Enough of that.
Crazy game? Sure.
BYU did beat Iowa State, 41:27. BYU is by that really in a prime position to play for the BIG 12 Championship, while Iowa State did lose now 3 games in a row, which will likely mean, the HC will again vanish from any promotion considerations.
Rudgers did win against Purdue, 27:24. This was one of the cellar fights of the BIG10 and Rutgers got their 1st win inside the BIG10 this season.
Wake Forest won against SMU, 13:12. It was important for SMU to win this and now they are 1 win behind the leading teams inside the ACC.
Suddenly did Kent State win against Bowling Green, 24:21. By that is Kent State still in the mix for the MAC Championship seats and the favorite Bowling Green is more or less eliminated.
Auburn did win against Arkansas, 33:24. For both teams no easy season, but Auburn got that 1st win inside the SEC, while the Razorbacks still have to wait for their 1st win in the SEC.
Buffalo did stumble over the so far not so good Akron Zips, losing 16:24. That did put Buffalos a step back in contention.
Not so many real upsets this week.
Let’s look at the games I did pick as preview last week and review them.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 9
Sat. Oct 25
#8 Ole Miss @ #13 Oklahoma
This game was some sort of rollercoaster ride. Ole Miss was the clear better teams for the 1st half and a bit beyond that.
The Rebels were leading 22:10 at the half and kept that margin alive until roughly 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
Then did Oklahoma score a TD on a big play on the 1st play of a drive, stopped Ole Miss, so Oklahoma got the ball back, and scored again before the quarter was over. Suddenly the Sooners were leading, 26:25.
Unfortune for the home team did Ole Miss then answer with a TD and took the lead back, held the Sooners scoreless for the whole quarter and won at the end 34:26.
An important win for Ole Miss to stay in the contender field, while Oklahoma can start to think about the other bowl spots.
#8 Ole Miss 34 @ #13 Oklahoma 26 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 13-6
#15 Missouri @ #10 Vanderbilt
This was a very defense driven game, which at the end did Vanderbilt win!
Right now, Commodore fans must feel like Christmas and several other holidays are all at once.
At halftime the game was tied at 3, after 3 quarters the game was 10:3 Vandy and then did Missouri tie the game starting the 4th, went to midfield a bit later, fumbled and Vandy took the opportunity and score a game winning TD.
I think next season Vandy will have a heavy hangover on those 2 seasons (2025 and 2024) and eventually will fall back to old days, but for now the team is in the mix of the contender inside the SEC and in the mix for a playoff spot.
Wonders!
Missouri is for me right now away from the contenders spots and has to live with a good bowl spot, but not more.
#15 Missouri 10 @ #10 Vanderbilt 17 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 14-6
#3 Texas A&M @ #20 LSU
Man, this was a real booboo the Tigers did let happen at home.
The 1st half did even look OK, did still show the problems of LSU.
In the 1st quarter did LSU score 1 TD, Texas A&M did score twice.
In the 2nd did then the LSU defense hit their high and scored a safety and caught 2 INTs. Those actions led to 11 points in total, which did show the major program of LSU already. Their offense did just not click and needed all the chances the defense could provide them and then even here were the results not the best. And that did hurt in the 2nd half.
LSU did lead at the break 18:14, but A&M came out of the locker room and scored a TD on their first drive to take the lead.
LSU did punt after a 3-play drive and allowed a punt return TD. Then they did punt again after 6 plays and A&M scored another TD.
LSU did 3-and-out.
Now already in the 4th quarter did A&M score again and latest here did everyone in the stadium understand, that this won’t end pretty for LSU.
At the end did LSU score in garbage time one more, but that was after allowing 35 points in a row.
The fans wanted the head of Brian Kelly and they got it.
We will see, whether the next HC will do better.
AT least the Aggies did pat themselves on the back for now, because their bold firing of their last HC did so far pay off. A&M is right now one of the strongest, if not THE strongest contender inside the SEC and nationwide.
#3 Texas A&M 49 @ #20 LSU 25 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 15-6
And some other interesting games:
Sat. Oct 25
#18 South Florida @ Memphis
When I went to bed on Saturday, the game did look like I expected it.
South Florida was leading, and I expected the Bulls do grind this game home. But the truth is, the Bulls did lead for 3 quarters and then suddenly did their offense not find any room to progress and their defense was unable to keep the Memphis offense in check. You might think that a 31:17 lead would be enough to bring the game home with good time management, but Memphis did score, the Bulls did give the ball back after just 2 minutes, Memphis did score and the Bulls did ... you get it, I guess.
When Memphis did score their 17th point in a row, USF had one last drive and went to the Tigers 34-yard line and missed the game tying field goal to lose 31:34. By that did the AAC stay quite open and likely did South Florida shot themselves in the foot for a playoff spot.
Jacks interesting games Score: 14-5
#25 Michigan @ Michigan State
Quite open until the half, basically lost for MSU in the 3rd and then closed with false hope for the Spartans fans mid in the 4th.
At the end did Michigan win a good game, 31:20. For the Wolverines, this was just a bump in the roadmap, while for the Spartans it seems the season is not as good as it could have been.
Jacks interesting games Score: 15-5
Houston @ #24 Arizona State
ASU was awful. Houston did dominate the game for 3 quarters and led 24:0!
Then did the Sun Devils suddenly get a drive going and scored, stopped the Cougars and scored again and later again, all with no Cougar points as answer. But what does this help, if you lose 16:24?
Houston in the hunt, Arizona State did drop to ‘likely eliminated’.
Jacks interesting games Score: 15-6
That’s it for gameday 9.
Now we get to a new section, the conference standings.
With week 10 coming, most teams had so far between 8 and 10 (including week zero) games. Still some ground left to work with and the fields inside the conference are still big.
So here is my take: Obvious the leading teams, often still perfect inside the conference, are named, as are the 1-loss-behind-them-teams.
If needed 2-loss-behind-teams will come also into the mix, but I will try to avoid that. That has the risk a team might get back into the conversation seemingly suddenly, since I never did mention it, or which went out of the list weeks before, but so be it. I want to make the lists as small as possible.
Let's go to the conference standings after week 9.
American Athletic Conference
Right now, the AAC is split in half. We have two perfect teams inside the AAC with Navy and Tulane. They will not play against each other in the regular season, so eventually they will do that in the Championship game.
Right behind them are 5 teams with 1 loss, #25 Memphis, South Florida, North Texas, Temple and East Caroline. Those 7 leading teams will play in different patters against each other, so the field will likely shrink in the next few weeks. From here the rest has 3 losses or more and it’s unlikely any team in that group will become a contender this season, again. Of all teams in the AAC is only Memphis ranked at #25. That’s important for the playoff spots, maybe.
Atlantic Coast Conference
The ACC is quite open. Leading teams are the perfect ones, you never would have had on your list prior the season. #8 Georgia Tech, and #15 Virginia are the lone survivors on a schedule, which usually would not leave them perfect at that moment. They will not play against each other in the regular season, so maybe those 2 will play in the Championship game. The 1-loss-teams following will have a say in that with Pittsburgh, #16 Louisville, SMU, Duke and #10 Miami (FL). With several games left, this will be sorted out quickly and every team here still has a chance.
But to be fair, some teams NEED to perfect teams to fall against other teams, to get back into the mix and have a chance by tiebreaker rules to get a spot in the championship game. After those teams, there are 3 teams with 2 losses, but likely those won’t have a say in the championship game spot race.
BIG10 Conference
Only one team did surprise big time inside the BIG10 and this one is leading right now, together with the reigning national champion as perfect teams, #2 Indiana and #1 Ohio State. Also here, no direct contest until season end for those 2 teams. Right behind them are with 1-loss inside the conference, #6 Oregon, Iowa, #21 Michigan and #23 USC. The chances for the 1-loss-teams to catch the perfect ones are getting slimmer but are still there. 5 teams behind them have 2-losses, but none of them does strike me as candidate for a magical return to the prime contender places.
BIG-12 Conference
The BIG-12 has also 2 perfect inside the conference teams, #10 BYU and #17 Cincinnati. Strange in this conference is, there are only 2 teams behind them with 1-loss inside the conference, #13 Texas Tech and #22 Houston. That might give some of the teams with 2 losses a chance to sneak back into the mix. Right now, none of the 4 teams are really able to do that, but with so many games left, we might see it. Especially, because BYU and Cincinnati will play a game against each other, and both will play some of the 1-loss or 2-loss teams. The BIG-12 seems to be quite open.
Conference USA
The CUSA will very likely not have any say on the playoff spots, but side the conference there are still the spots for the Championship game to be seated and here are Kennesaw State and Jacksonville State the teams with no loss inside the conference so far. They will play against each other later, so that leaves some room for the 1-loss teams to get back into the Championship game spots. With 1 loss behind the leading teams are Western Kentucky, Missouri State, which are ineligible for post-season activities, thanks to their FCS-to-FBS-transition and Liberty. There are 4 teams behind them with 2-losses, but to be fair, I don’t think any of them will have a say in the spot seating at the end.
Mid-American Conference
The MAC is the 1st and only conference having right now only 1 perfect team inside the conference, Miami (OH). They are followed by 4 teams with 1 loss each, Central Michigan, Ohio, Buffalo and Western Michigan. Since One team with 1-loss is already a must for the Championship game seat, the 2-loss teams can at least dream of getting back to real contention, which are Toledo, Ball State and Kent State. I personally think, the field will get sorted out fast in the coming weeks.
Mountain West Conference
Thanks to the last weekends results, the Mountain West has only 2 flawless teams left, Boise State and San Diego State. Behind them are with 1 loss each, Hawai’i and UNLV. I think this group will play it out at the end. But Boise State and SDSU will play against each other, soon, so, eventually will a 2-loss team get back into contention. Right now there are 4 teams waiting for their chance and once it’s clear which might have a chance, I will name them.
Southeastern Conference
The SEC is right now dominated by the 2 undefeated teams inside the conference, #3 Texas A&M and #4 Alabama. Right behind them are the hopeful 4 teams with 1-loss each, #5 Georgia, #7 Ole Miss, #9 Vanderbilt and #20 Texas. The 2-loss-teams are also quite good in the mix for an eventual playoff spot, but I do right now doubt they will have a say in the SEC Championship game spots. For now, none of the 4 teams with 2-losses is close to get into the playoffs or in SEC contention, so I leave them out.
Sun Belt Conference
The SUN BELT has still divisions and the division champs will play in the championship game. Leading in the East is James Madison as perfect team. Behind them are with 1 loss each Coastal Carolina and Marshall. JMU will play both in the remaining season, so lots of room for upsets. In the West is Southern Miss and Troy perfect and leading the division. Only Arkansas State with 1 loss is still in contention, the rest has already 3 losses or more. Troy and Southern Miss will battle it out later.
That's it for the conferences. The PAC-12 will resurface next season with several teams coming in, this season they are only 2 teams not worth the conversation and with no championship game, so I leave that out.
Now for the next big thing, the bowls.
This season we have 11 College Football Playoff games and 34 other FBS-Bowls. For the CFP-games, the 1st-round games are technically no bowls, but are filled with teams which are bowl eligible and the games are covered in the bowl season, so this season I will count them into the mix. Technically we have 8 spots for 1st round games, 4 spots for the CFP-Bowls (the rest will be filled from the 1st round winners and then by the remaining winning teams in the CFP-bows until the Championship game) and 68 other bowl spots. That adds up to 80 teams needed for post-season games.
Bowl eligible teams
So far, we have 40 teams already qualified.
Regardless their results will be Delaware and Missouri State not eligible, since they are in transition from FCS (but in the past did teams in transition phase play bowls, if additional teams were needed and they had the 6 wins needed) and Akron is banned from postseason based on APR score.
Week 6: Memphis,
Week 7: Georgia Tech, Navy, Indiana, Ohio State, BYU, Texas Tech, UNLV, Ole Miss, Texas A&M
Week 8: Virginia, North Texas, South Florida, Tulane, Oregon, Cincinnati, Houston, Hawai’i, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, James Madison
Week 9: Louisville, Miami (FL), Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, TCU, Utah, Western Kentucky, Boise State, San Diego State, Tennessee, Texas, Southern Miss, Troy
That’s that for the overview.
So, let’s have a look on the games of the upcoming weekend.
Unfortune this week most matchups are quite one-sided, or between non-contenders. Of course, this leaves room for a lot of surprises and upsets, but those are hard to predict.
The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 10
Sat. Nov 1
#9 Vanderbilt @ #20 Texas
Yes, a 3rd big game from Vanderbilt preview in a row. Likely this won’t get beaten in the next decade, so enjoy it as long as it lasts. Vanderbilt is right now 3-1 inside the SEC, as is Texas.
The Longhorns have a question mark on their star QB, who is in concussion protocol and it is open, whether he will be active on Saturday. But I guess he will.
Texas is favored to win by Vegas by 2.5 points.
That’s interesting, since Texas had some issues this season and Vanderbilt did beat some teams so far.
I expect a close game, likely a defense driven game and I do predict, if the Vanderbilt QB has a great game, the Commodores will win, if not, they will be defeated big time.
I think I will go with Texas here, because of 2 issues.
One, Texas at home is still a tough one.
Two, with the QB situation looming, this might be a tough one to prepare for.
Longhorns win.
#18 Oklahoma @ #14 Tennessee
Here we have Oklahoma and Tennessee, 2 teams with already 2 losses on their SEC bill and that means, which ever team does lose this game here, is very very likely out of any contention inside the SEC and the playoffs.
Vegas has the Vols ahead by 3.5 points and I’m willing to follow that trail, because Oklahoma did suck against Texas and Ole Miss in the past 3 week and do have to go to Tennessee and play against a strong team. The Vols did lose only to Alabama and Georgia so far and those teams are a bit stronger than the teams Oklahoma did lose against.
So, that and the home field advantage, equals ...
Volunteers win.
#17 Cincinnati @ #24 Utah
A trap game inside the BIG-12!
Cincinnati did sneak slowly into in the ranks and did beat team after team since week 2, after they lost to Nebraska in week 1. Now they are in top position inside the conference (5-0) and has to face an up-and-down-Utah team. Utah did lose 2 games already inside the BIG-12 and looks beatable, only that they did lose against 2 of the top contenders. Now they face the 3rd top contender and are favored by Vegas by 10.5 points!
That’s a shot against Cincinnati. It means, regardless what you have done, we believe your team to be a sissy.
Is that the case? We don’t know, but we will find out.
Utahs units are good, bit did show also some weaknesses from time to time and if Cincinnati can exploit those, they will win.
But at home, I’m with the Utes to get this done, even I think it will be closer than the betting line.
Utes win.
And some other interesting games:
Sat. Nov 1
#10 Miami @ SMU
One team will likely has to end their dreams about a Championship spot.
Miamis loss to Louisville did put the team in a bad position here, while SMUs loss to Wake Forest did the same to the Mustangs. With 2 losses, that losing team is likely eliminated.
Miami, could still hope for a playoff spot, but I think a loss to SMU would end also that, SMU would be toast.
It’s played in Texas, so Miami has to play good and focused.
They are favored by 11.5 points, in this game.
On a good day, this should be a homerun for this seasons Miami team.
Will they have one? I don’t know and it’s hard to predict.
I think their HC will have them prepared and the rest is as every game a gameday progression.
Hurricanes win.
Navy @ North Texas
A top game inside the AAC is featuring an unbeaten Navy team against a 1-loss-inside-the-conference North Texas team. North Texas is believed to be another sleeping giant, thanks to the wide and very productive Texas high school system and with the money boost of the conference change the past year, the school might become a constant program in the top ... I don’t know ... 30? 40? At least inside the AAC it would be a sign of strength, if the team would be in the contenders list for a longer period. This season the team did lose so far only to South Florida, quite heavily. So, their status as contender is questionable.
Navy on the other hand is perfect so far, but their tough part of the schedule starts basically this weekend and runs until Army-Navy at the end of the season. That means their strength is also not really known.
One thing is quite sure.
The loser will have a problem, regarding the contention. Navy will fall 1-loss behind and will have a tie-breaker-disadvantage for now. They would be eliminated, but at the edge.
Tougher will be a North Texas loss, because I think with 2 losses any team inside the AAC will be likely eliminated.
Vegas has North Texas ahead by 6.5 points and I did, before I did check the betting lines, pick UNT also, because auf the homefield advantage and the untested Navy squad.
Sure, can go anyway, but I think Navy will have a tough time in November and it will start here.
Mean Grean win.
Washington State @ Oregon State
And because of lacking interesting games for me, the unofficial PAC-12-Championship game of 2025.
The PAC-12 is only 2 teams big, right now, after all other teams did bold for other conferences, like the BIG10, the BIG-12 and the ACC. The conference will be re-staffed in 2026 with 6 teams from other conference, like MWC and SUN BELT.
That means, this season and last season were and will be the only one with no official Champion, but in both seasons the teams did or will play against each other and for sure the winner will have the bragging rights.
Last year did the Beavers win.
This season the Beavers do look bad and then some, so the betting line is stunning 3.5 points in favor of Washington State. Why only so low? Because the Cougars are also bad this season.
So bad vs worse, but we do not know, right now, which team is what.
I think the Beavers will lose this, but you never know.
Cougars win.
'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE
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