2021-10-19 18:21

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand another team did fall.
This time the Iowa Hawkeyes did for whatever reason lose against the Purdue Boilermakers.
Purdue was an 11.0-point underdog and had a record of 3-2 while Iowa was 6-0.
Still, the Hawkeyes did only score 7 points, way too less to stop the upset.

As a result, is now Cincinnati, as so called Group of 5 team, at #2.
That's not a guarantee they would gain a playoff spot, if the spots would be granted this week, but at least the chances would be very good, better than being ranked at #5 or worse.

Why Cincinnati his higher ranked as also unbeaten Oklahoma is likely based on the Bearcats win against the then at #9 ranked Notre Dame, while Oklahoma did only beat the at that time at #21 Texas.
Notre Dame is still in the polls, now at #13, while Texas left the TOP25.
The logic behind that is simple, but not really consequent, since for a fair ranking all teams would need a ranking and then some sort of least error rankings is needed.
Not happening. My guess is that the committee for the playoffs does basically do that and then Cincinnati and Oklahoma would get different places, not necessarily switched.

The weekend also had a quite strange development.
LSU did win against Florida, which should have saved coach Orgeron job for at least a week.
Sure there are talks, since a few weeks, but usually only a loss does bring you to the chop block.
Ok, to be fair, there was no chop block, only an announcement, that the HC will leave LSU after the season.
So, he is out and will only coach the remaining games.

That opening will make the coaching carousel spin, since LSU is a top spot, based on responsibility and not to forget money.
Orgeron is the highest paid HC behind Nick Saban.
So any HC asked in the country, except Saban, would gain, in general a huge, raise in prestige and wage.

LSU can for sure not pick ANY coach they would like to have, but the pool is quite big and the athletic director is THAT guy, who did get Jimbo Fisher to leave Florida State for Texas A&M.
Fischer is on the list, for sure, but also many other high-profile program and not so high profile program coaches.

And those will need a new HC then also and those will pick also a coach and so on.

Right now there are already 2 high profile jobs available, LSU and USC. More will come, for sure.

In addition the Washington State Cougars did let their HC Nick Rolovich go, since he did refuse to get himself vaccinated against COVID-19.
Since Wazzu is a State-College, the HC is an employee of the state (actually the football HC is the highest paid state employee, which sounds ridiculous, but is the truth) and all state employees have to be vaccinated.
WHY the HC did refuse is not clear, he stated once religion belief, at one points hinted that he might get vaccinated and had overall several month to rethink his decision.
On Monday the time was up and he (and some assistants in addition) was fired.
Big issue now in the town and the state of Washington.

Honestly, I can't believe he decided that way.
I'm still waiting for some serious explanation to refuse the vaccination.
It can't be a medical issue, that would have been cleared month ago.
So just stubbornness?

The BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 7

Sat. Oct 16
#12 Oklahoma State @ #25 Texas
Damn here, the Cowboys did turn the game in the last quarter and scored in the 4th 16 points, while Texas scored ... zip.
How can that be?
As said last week, I think Texas WILL become dangerous again, but obviously they lack something this season.
As it seems, at least the talent to secure a win is missing.
Oklahoma State made a huge step towards a strange situation.
Assuming they and the Sooners would win all remaining games until their rivalry game on the last gameday, they would clash then and a week later in the BIG 12 Championship game for the rematch.
I think that happened at some point before, still a quite funny situation.
But until then there are still some games to play for all teams and with this season so far, it's likely someone will fall before that rivalry game.
For Texas is the main focus for sure, to win as many games as possible and get at least a good bowl spot.
#12 Oklahoma State 32 @ #25 Texas 24 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Scores: 12-9

#11 Kentucky @ #1 Georgia
At the end did Georgia win by just 17 points, not the 23.5 points betting line.
So that way Kentucky did beat the odds, still they lost and Georgia is almost for sure through to get a SEC Championship ticket.
Kentucky on the other hand has still hope to gain a big bowl and with some help they could still get something going.
But to be fair, Georgia is thinking bigger this season, and as far as I did see it, they are better, much better.
#11 Kentucky 13 @ #1 Georgia 30 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Scores: 13-9

Auburn @ #17 Arkansas
I did pick the Tigers and they did win this, sending the Razorbacks backing from their trip to the TOP25 hills.
Auburn is back in the TOP25 and can dream of eventually winning the SEC West, while Arkansas left the building, thanks to this clear defeat.
I hope they can still upset some teams and next season is all promising. They did lose now 3 in a row.
I love the direction Auburn is taking, still I think next season is more likely to see major improvements than this season, but you never know.
Auburn 38 @ #17 Arkansas 23 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Scores: 14-9

Other interesting games:
#18 Arizona State @ Utah
And another DAMN.
Arizona State did lead at the half, but Utah kept the Sun Devils scoreless in the 2nd half and won the game 35-21. Utah now the favorite to win the PAC 12 South, which did not look that way early in the season.
Jacks interesting games Score: 12-10

Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech
Only 7 points did the home team score. Too less to win against Pitt. The Panthers won 28-7 and did create two things. A) they did make Pitt favorite right now to win the division. B) they did make the Virginia Tech HCs chair much warmer.
Jacks interesting games Score: 12-11

UCF @ #3 Cincinnati
As mentioned above is Cincinnati now #2, which of cause means they did win this game here, 56-21.
That's a quite big win, no wonder it was not discounted.
Still, I will believe a Group of 5 playoff team only when it happens.
Jacks interesting games Score: 13-11

Other funny scores:
As mentioned did Purdue win at Iowa 24-7. Big win for Purdue, giant booboo for the Hawkeyes.
Baylor did beat ranked BYU 38-24. Baylor now high flying and they might get the ticket for the championship game, while BYU did crash after a promising season start, losing 2 in a row now.
LSU did win against ranked Florida 49-42. A wild game, with a wild finish. A very disappointing Florida defense at the end.
Minnesota did win against Nebraska 30-23. I hope the Huskers fans do appreciate the Huskers progress, even if they are still losing.
UConn won their 1st game of the season against FCS team Yale 21-15. Hurray!
North Carolina won against Miami 45-42. The Miami HC is still active, but rumors are, he might see the chop block soon.
Fresno State did beat Wyoming 17-0. The Cowboys clearly having a down season this year.
Louisiana Monroe won against Liberty 31-28. Compared to last season are the Warhawks much better this year.
To make live in the PAC 12 North a bit more interesting did Washington State win against Stanford 34-31.
And UCLA did beat Washington, 24-17. The Huskies are also rumored to get a new HC.
Air Force did best Boise State on the road 24-17. Boise is not doing well under the new HC.

The upcoming week is not that interesting.
Several games of cause, but no ranked vs ranked games.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 8

Sat. Oct 23
Wisconsin @ #25 Purdue
Here again this the full silliness of the TOP25 rankings.
We have TOP25-beat-Iowa-last-week-Purdue, at home, facing Wisconsin, not ranked.
Purdue is 4-2 and inside the conference 2-1, Wisconsin is 3-3 and 1-2 inside the conference.
Betting line?
Wisconsin -3.0.
I'm OK with that, but why is then Purdue ranked and Wisconsin not?
The Badgers did not even get any points, means, no one from the press did rank them.
Still the expectations of the game results over all betters is, that Wisconsin will beat Purdue.
Sure betters and journalists are different, still I would expect a bit more consistency that THAT.
For both teams it's a MUST-WIN.
Purdue wants to stay on track of cause, not losing a game, making them a second-tier team inside the division.
And Wisconsin is already a second-tier team with 1 loss more than Purdue and cannot afford to get another one.
Remember they were in preseason talks contenders.
A loss would make them for sure to 'pretenders'.
I like Purdue to have some more teeth than they had, when I did watch Notre Dame games in the 90, but I also believe that Wisconsin can beat them.
Or better, Wisconsin can win, if they do not beat themselves.
Badgers win.

#8 Oklahoma State @ Iowa State
And what's silly in the 1st game is even more silly in this one.
Oklahoma State did stay unbeaten so far, is ranked at #8, that's likely worth a BIG BOWL, right now.
Iowa State did lose twice so far, won 4, not ranked now (but got some points for #31, if that would exist).
Still, Iowa State as home team has a betting line of -7.0!
That's the same line Notre Dame gets as ranked team against interims coaches not ranked USC, at home.
If Iowa State is so good, why rank Oklahoma so high or Iowa State so low?
Ok, for the game, OSU does still look for me like a team which was lucky so far.
It seems their defense is better than in recent years, but will that be enough?
Iowa State is good, I just miss some consistence. They seem to lose games, because of stupid meltdowns or errors.
Will this happen here? Nobody knows.
I believe in the Cyclones, so ...
Cyclones win.

#10 Oregon @ UCLA
And another strange betting line here.
UCLA is -2.0, as unranked team (would be #36 with 4 points) and at home against the Ducks who did lose only against Ohio State (higher ranked than Oregon right now).
This bowl, you could call it the KELLY-BOWL with the current UCLA HC Chip Kelly being a former Oregon Ducks HC, before he went to the NFL to ...well ... crash there.
UCLA lost twice this season but is just 1 loss behind leading team Utah in the South, while Oregon lost once and is leading the North (together with the Oregon State Beavers).
Both teams can win here, I'm sure.
I believe Oregon has a bit more on both sides of the ball than the Bruins, who have a good offense, but do lack some defense.
I expect a high scoring game, with Oregon producing more chances for their team.
Ducks win.

Other interesting games:
Sat. Oct 23
#16 Wake Forest @ Army
Wake Forest is right now the only team of the ACC bowl eligible and unbeaten. And they are leading the Atlantic division.
This game here is not relevant for the ACC, but important for both teams.
Wake Forest needs some quality wins, while Army needs wins in general to get into a bowl.
But Wake Forest is only a 3.0-point favorite.
I'm just not sure whether some just don't trust Wake Forest, which was long time a losing team, or they do see Army stronger than right now the results do make them look like.
I believe Wake Forest is in good shape, while Army does not look as strong as in the past years.
Demon Deacons win.

Clemson @ #23 Pittsburgh
And now some strange situation just from the 'feeling' point of view.
Clemson was for many seasons the undisputed favorite to win the ACC and a contender for the national championship.
Now they lost 2 games (against good or very good teams) and Pitt is in this game here now 3.0-point favorite.
The problem is, Clemsons offense is not in synch, for whatever reason.
And Pitt is playing a very good season so far.
Panthers win.

Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan
Northern Illinois has some rough seasons in the past few seasons, including a winless season last year.
But this season the teams seems to click and is leading the division.
On the other hand, is CMU not making much progress under former Gators coach McElwain.
But they are in the mix and a win here would help to get back into major contention for the division title.
CMU is favored by 5.0 points.
As home team I also see them ahead, but this could end any way.
Chippewas win.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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