2024-09-27 07:18

Back from vacation and the college football world has changed again more than I did anticipate.

The biggest news from the past 3 weeks is the PAC-12 has found 5 new members for season 2026.

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State were the first 4 teams announcing their departure from the Mountain West towards the PAC-12 and Utah State did come out a few days later to do the same.

The Mountain West was hit blindsided by this move and did try to secure the status of the remaining teams, prior the Utah State move, and Air Force and UNLV DID say they would stay, but once Utah State did decide to leave, UNLV did take a step back and announce they would review their options.

A few days later it was confirmed, that the 7 remaining teams, including UNLV, would stay at the Mountain West.

The problem is, the PAC-12 is with the addition of the 5 teams at 7 teams in total, one short the minimum to survive as conference. So, it is clear the conference is perusing another teams at least.

The Mountain West loses 5 teams, which will bring the conference to a number of 7 in 2026, but Hawai'i is not a full member, just football only. That means, it forces the conference to add at least 2 members until 2028 to survive. Rumor is, they will try to get Texas State from the Sun Belt, but that's fresh and a reaction of Texas State and the Sun Belt is open. And still one more team would be needed anyway. Also, Northern Illinois did pop up as name.

Why a merger was not possible so far is beyond me, now several lawsuits are started, and the conferences will lose money anyway until the setup is stable again.

I will keep you updated.

Then came in several news on players, who decided to basically quit on the remaining games and redshirt for the season (which is allowed after 4 played games max) and to transfer afterwards and play another year in a different team under a different HC. The reasons for those decisions seem to be that the players had hoped for some sort of different treatment inside the current team (so being a starter instead of a backup for example) or that promises towards the player were not kept.

The most explicit reason which became public is that the so far starting QB of UNLV decided to redshirt, because a NIL promise (likely promised 100.000$ by the OC) were not kept. THIS could become a major problem for the system in the future. It is known that players are already bought by NIL promises / offers. And we are talking already for key players 7-figure-amounts. That 100.000$ are on top teams for backups, so UNLV got their starting QB quite cheap. So far it went not much public, how and in which extent such offers were paid and whether cases like the UNLV QB did happen in the past. But from my perspective it means, more paperwork is needed in the future to secure the offers. Right now, in the UNLV case, the HC says the offer was not binding, since it was not an offer from his desk. Likely the player has no legal case with a lack of paperwork, so he did what he could. I’m sure the other players will watch that case closely and hopefully will do better on their negotiations in the future.

The other changes are of course the fall out of the results of the past 3 gamedays. I will get though them now.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 2

Sat. Sep 7
#3 Texas @ #10 Michigan
Texas was favored to win in the big house of Michigan, roughly by a score and they had a monster 2nd quarter to lead 24:3 at the half. Any hope to get a comeback going was shattered when Texas scored another TD after a Michigan field goal in the 3rd quarter and on the next drive the Michigan offense was intercepted. I think at that point it was clear, the Wolverines will not win this game on that day.
Texas won at the end 31:12 and did convince the ranking people that Texas will be a force this season.
Michigan on the other hand was downgraded several spots and was looking for answers.
#3 Texas 31 @ #10 Michigan 12 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-2

#14 Tennessee @ #24 NC State
Over 4 quarters did Tennessee outplay NC State by far.
The final score was 51:10, which shows how good the Vols offense was and how bad the Wolfpacks offense did perform against their opponents defense.
By this game did the SEC gain a lot of credit and the ACC did show again their difference of power level.
#14 Tennessee 51 @ #24 NC State 10 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 5-2

#17 Kansas State @ Tulane
Man, Kansas State has a problem this season. The team is not performing as in recent years and this game here was a good example. My personal expectation was, they would slowly pull away, every quarter, never being behind or at least not long. But Tulane did win the first 2 quarter and led 20:10. Kansas State needed the 3rd quarter to tie the game and in the 4th did is look quite open, who would at the end win the game. A fumble return TD did finally give Kansas State the lead and the win.
#17 Kansas State 34 @ Tulane 27 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 6-2

And some other interesting games:

Iowa State @ #21 Iowa
Oh man, I had picked the Hawkeyes and it did look like a close game would go in favor to the home team, but Iowa State, trailing at the half 0:13, did crawl slowly closer and with a field goal with a few ticks left they did win 20:19.
A huge win for Iowa State, a bitter loss for Iowa.
Jacks interesting games Score: 3-3

Colorado @ Nebraska
Wow, I would never picked such a margin for Nebraska. They did win 28:10 and that is a big surprise. Colorado has one of the most dynamic QB and he did do not much to get the game closer. For Nebraska this was a huge win, for Colorado a setback.
Jacks interesting games Score: 4-3

Boise State @ #7 Oregon
Very close game, which was surprising, given the playing field and the expectations for the season. The game was open until the end and Boise State had a big chance to win this, but they were unable to stop Oregon on their final drive and Oregon scored a field goal to win the game 37:34.
Jacks interesting games Score: 5-3

And more funny results of week 2:
- Duke did win against Northwestern in 2OT 26:20. For Duke a big start, for Northwestern a setback.
- One of the biggest upsets in recent history did happen, when Northern Illinois visited South Bend and did beat Notre Dame 16:14. Notre Dame was a -28.5 point favorite in the game and lost, at home, against a MAC team. It was clear, after the game, that any ambitions on a playoff seat from Notre Dame were setback tremendously.
- Penn State avoided an upset against Bowling Green, when they did force the Falcons to do a long drive and to kick a FG with very little time left. The Lions won 34:27.
- And Oklahoma needed also all the defense they could activate when they played Houston and led by only 2 points, missed a FG beginning of the 4th and had to stop Houston several times to avoid a late scoring drive. Oklahoma scored a safety later, but more than winning 16:12 was not possible on that day.
- Illinois became red hot when they beat ranked Kansas 23:17. The team will show up more on the next gamedays, for sure.
- Syracuse did end the dreams of any Yellowjacket fan and player by beating Georgia Tech 31:28. Why ends that any dream? Because after the great game against Florida State many did dream of a contender role inside the ACC and with this loss, it became clear that Florida State had the problem, not Georgia Tech the Championship team.
- St. Francis (PA) from FCS level did win against Kent State, 23:17. This was the 1st of 3 upsets by FCS-teams on that gameday.
- Cal did beat Auburn on the road, 21:14. For Auburn, this is a huge loss, since Cal wasn't considered to be good this season and Auburn as SEC team with a quite big coach splash is seeking for a winning season and THIS game here was for sure expected to be a 'W'. Auburn was favored by 11.5 points.
- Next FCS upset with Idaho (FCS), a team which did move to FCS a few seasons ago from FBS level, did beat Wyoming, 17:13. Wyoming in DEEP trouble this season.
- Texas State did beat UTSA, 49:10, which does either mean, Texas State is great this season or UTSA is having a very bad start. Not sure what.
- Florida International did win against Central Michigan, 51:16. CMU was favored by less than a score in this, but after the game I'm sure the coach has less than a month left inside the program. Not sure he is really on a hot seat, but such games do NOT help.
- The next result is just to have the context for later statements and is also quite funny. James Madison did beat Gardner-Webb (FCS) 13:6. That quite low scoring and a close margin, which will be even funnier, after gameday 4.
- Virginia did visit Wake Forest and won 31:30. We might see Virginia in a shape pointing upwards this season.
- Southern Utah (FCS) needed OT, but they won against UTEP, 27:24. UTEP does not show any sign of taking the season serious.
- Washington State is in for more this season with a win over Texas Tech, 37:16. Not sure where both programs do head to, but for sure the Cougars did cash in big here.
- Arizona State did surprise a lot of people and won against Mississippi State 30:23. Last season the Sun Devils were bad, but this season we might see them back in a bowl or more.

That was week 2. Some teams did really got an impediment thrown between the legs on that gameday, especially Notre Dame.

How this will look like at the end of the season is something different, but at that point some fans were in deep shock, for sure.

Let's continue with the next week.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3

Fri. Sep 13
#20 Arizona @ #17 Kansas State
After this game it did look like KSU had found their rhythm of the season and Arizona might be in trouble. The final verdict is still open, but I can spoiler you, KSU has issues this season for sure, they were just not relevant in this game against Arizona. The KSU Wildcats did clearly win 31:7 in a game which does not count as conference game between those 2 conference opponents, thanks to the PAC-12-to-BIG-12 movement.
#20 Arizona 7 @ #17 Kansas State 31 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 7-2

Sat. Sep 14
#5 Alabama @ Wisconsin
I did expect a double-digit margin for Alabamas win and we got ... a 42:10 win by the Crimson Tide, which did automatically raise the expectation level in Alabama. The new coach could have got away with less convincing scores, but the team did play fantastic, and Wisconsin had never a chance. Open is, how the Badgers will perform inside the BIG10 then.
#5 Alabama 42 @ Wisconsin 10 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 8-2

Memphis @ #10 Florida State
I had picked the Seminoles, since they should be able to turn the season around at some point and the opponent at home was manageable. FSU was actually favored by almost a score but needed almost 2 quarters to get any points on the board, while already trailing 0:10. The 3rd quarter did become more or less equal and finally in the 4th did FSU try to turn the game around, but with so less energy and will power, that Memphis was able to secure the win 20:12.
A shame for FSU to start 0-3 and to start this way.
For Memphis a great win.
Memphis 20 @ #10 Florida State 12 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 8-3

And some other interesting games:

#10 Oregon @ Oregon State
The Ducks came from a close game against Boise State and took care of business on the road against their rival with a 49:14 win. Oregon State looks like a team in rebuild mode.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-3

Washington State @ Washington
Oh man, Wazzu might be hot this season. They did take on the Huskies, on the road, and won 24:19. That must feel like a championship, winning against the rival, how left the conference and won it last season on their turf. Huskies have a long way ahead with their new HC.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-4

#11 Utah @ Utah State
The result did not really show much, except Utah did it again. Right now, Utah State looks like a team on a downhill trip, while Utah did what they had to do, but from my point of view not that convincing as they could have done it. They won 38:21.
Jacks interesting games Score: 7-4

And some more funny results of week 3:

- Kansas did fall further in the power ranks, when they lost against UNLV 23:20, at home. UNLV is right now considered to be a contender inside their conference and Kansas ... not.
- Georgia needed all their luck and then some to defeat Kentucky, 13:12. This win did cost the team the #1 spot in the polls, since the Vegas line was prior the game -21.5 Georgia and the 1-point win was way too close.
- Missouri also needed more than they usually have to beat Boston College, 27:21. It looks right now, that BC will be a team no one likes to play, since they come to play and don't stop. Tigers were 14.5-point favorite.
- LSU was close to lose a conference game but survived against South Carolina 36:33. LSU took the lead with roughly a minute left and South Carolina did miss the game tying field goal kick afterwards.
- Texas A&M did more or less end the coaching career of the Florida HC, it is just not executed yet. The Aggies won the game, on the road, 33:20, and if the penalty for firing the Gators HC right after the final whizzle wouldn't be so high, I think he would be gone now. A&M can be proud on their results so far, but they have a completely different story.
- Georgia State won against Vanderbilt, 36:32. The Commodores were favored by 8.5 points but lost against that Sun Belt team quite bad. With roughly a minute left to play did Vanderbilt take the lead and all they had to do is, preventing a scoring drive, but instead allowed a great TD drive by Georgia State and lost.
- Eastern Michigan needed 2 OT to win against Jacksonville State, 37:34. Jacksonville State did force the OT with a great 4th quarter and both teams had to settle for a field goal in the 1st OT. Since the Gamecocks had not the initial drive in the 1st OT, they had the chance to win, if they would have scored a TD. Instead, it went to 2nd OT and Jacksonville State missed their FG-try in 2nd OT, while EMU hit it through the uprights to win this. I think no one thought this game would become so tough, on the other hand was EMU a 2.5-point underdog at home.
- Toledo did upset Mississippi State on the road, 41:17. A BIG win for the Rockets.
- UCF did win against TCU, 35:34. UCF has a great start into the season, while TCU still looks for the power level they had 2 seasons ago.

That's it for week 3. I did expect some coaching changes after some of those result, but so far, all coaches did keep their jobs, even after week 4, if you allow me the spoiler on that topic. Right now I think the problems on coaches are quite deep, regarding contracts, dead money and the consequences on later team developments. I think the ADs are right now looking for direction or at least some sort of guidance. Take FSU for example. Starting 0-3 in that embarrassing way would likely cost a HC the job, if not the coach has gotten a prolongation not long ago. So the fee to cut him would be gigantic. Whether this kind of practice, the prolongation stuff, the fee in the contract will be changed in the next few seasons? I don't know. All I know is, all teams will need all the money they can get to stay competitive, and the dead-money-is-irrelevant-attitude is likely something you can't afford in the future, unless a big booster comes in and pays the price.

So, week 4 then ...

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 4

Sat. Sep 21
#11 Utah @ #17 Oklahoma State
A big clash and Utah did lead 10:3 at the half.
Not much scoring, given the fact that the Cowboys are known for offense performance.
But OSU did not get much done on offense and Utah did extend the lead to 22:3, until the Cowboys did wake up and scored their 1st TD. They needed until less than 2 minutes to play for their 2nd TD and trailed at that point 19:22. The onside kick try did fail and Utah did run down the clock to win. That's how you should not present yourself at home.
#11 Utah 22 @ #17 Oklahoma State 19 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 9-3

#24 NC State @ #25 Clemson
Clemson had to prove they are a contender and did beat NC State big time this season.
I think they wanted to prove something.
Not sure it did really help, but for sure the players had fun, on Clemson side.
#24 NC State 35 @ #25 Clemson 59 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 10-3

#14 Tennessee @ #15 Oklahoma
This was a game, which I would have picked different prior the gameday, but I had to pick weeks before. It was clear that Tennessee had more juice than I did anticipate prior my vacation and the did deliver here big time. Oklahoma did score 12 of their 15 points in the 4th quarter, but Tennessee had a great lead and did play the clock nicely. Big win for Tennessee, which is now a contender inside the SEC, while Oklahoma has to regroup and will have to settle with less wins this season.
#14 Tennessee 25 @ #15 Oklahoma 15 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 10-4

And some other interesting games:

#19 Kansas @ West Virginia
Oh man, Kansas is in a down-year so far.
They lost this crucial game, 28:32 and can almost skip already their ambitions towards the upper end of the conference table. OK, the season starts only, but man ....
Jacks interesting games Score: 7-5

#21 Iowa @ Minnesota
Surprisingly did score Iowa 31 points and won 31:14. Iowas real tests will come later in the season. For Minnesota, this was a setback.
Jacks interesting games Score: 8-5

#13 USC @ #10 Michigan
A big setback for USC, who were believed after some early wins, that they could get to the big house and win. in my preview the line was Michigan -9.5, but in gameday it was USC -4.5.
But Michigan did run the Trojans down and won 27:24, while they had only 32 passing yards.
Michigan might turn the corner and become a contender inside the BIG10, but for sure was USC setback big time on that day.
Jacks interesting games Score: 8-6

And some more funny result of week 4:

- South Alabama did top Appalachian State 48:14. Not sure, what to make out of this, since the other results so far did not indicate such a difference and I'm not sure what this means for the Sun Belt Conference. It seems App State has a problem and South Alabama is getting the team together at the right time, but only the future will tell, whether that's true.
- Illinois did win against Nebraska, 31:24, in OT. Both teams were ranked prior the game, which was unusual. And Illinois is right now one of the hottest teams inside the BIG10 after this win. For Nebraska a major setback, since it was expected they would turn the corner this season and this game was for sure a game they had as a very likely win planned. They were a 9.5-point favorite.
- Washington State did battle it out against San Jose State 54:52 in 2 OT. Man, I like such high scoring games, even this seems ridiculous (wait until I state the UNC game ...). The Cougars tied the game with a huge 22:8 4th quarter performance and a field goal with time running out. Then in 1st OT both drives were stopped by INTs and in 2nd OT Wazzu did score a TD and a 2-pointer and San Jose did score a TD and the conversion try was stopped. BAM.
- Missouri needed 2 OT also to beat Vanderbilt, 30:27. To put this in perspective. Missouri was considered a sleeper in the SEC race, a contender. While Vanderbilt was clearly a team, many saw as almost winless this season. A week before the team had lost against a Sun Belt team, while Missouri won against then ranked Boston College. Well, the Tigers did get the 'W', but that was ugly.
- BYU did annihilate Kansas State 38:9 on the road. For Kansas State a bad performance, for BYU a great win inside the conference.
- Buffalo did beat Northern Illinois in OT 23:20. NIU was ranked at that time, thanks to their win against Notre Dame, and then they lost, at home, against a team like Buffalo. Not easy to be a Huskies fan right now.
- Texas A&M did avoid an upset by Bowling Green and won 26:20. A&M was a high favorite at home but struggled through the game and only a solid 4th quarter did allow them to secure the win.
- Florida did win against Mississippi State on the road, 45:28. That did put away some pressure from their HC, but I still believe next season we will see someone else at Florida.
- In a wild game did James Madison win against UNC, on the road, 70:50. An embarrassing loss for the Tar Heels, based on an catastrophic 1st half, where JMU did outscore the Heels 53:21. UNC tried to catch up, but their defense was unable to prevent more scoring, so they had to score more and more, until time did run out and they were still trailing. Remember, the same JMU did barely win against an FCS team 2 weeks ago with much less points. Unbelievable.
- Arkansas did beat Auburn, 24:14. I'm pretty sure the alarm clocks did already start ringing at Auburn with their HC having his seat slightly warmed up. For Arkansas, this is great.
- In a rivalry game did SMU beat TCU, 66:42. This is double embarrassing, since the current TCU HC was the former SMU HC and he lost this one, at home, in a high scoring game.
- Monmouth (FCS) did win against Florida International, 45:42. It looks like FIU is not turning things around this season.
- Florida State won their 1st game of the season against Cal, 14:9. A convincing win does look different, but at least a win.
- Boston College did win against Michigan State, 23:19, and is now 3-1, which is much better than anticipated. I think right now the Eagles fans are happy.
- Colorado did force OT with a Hail Mary Pass-TD and won in OT against Baylor, 38:31. I think everyone loves the entertaining factor of the Buffs, but I doubt they will be a real contender inside the BIG-12.

And that's for week 4.
A lot of changes on the rankings, but since the conference games did not start full time, it makes no sense to post it all here, yet.

Now we get to week 5 and slowly the conference games start to take over the majority of games played on a gameday, and the standing tables will start to make more sense than they do now. It's part of the business of college football and part of the system to manage 100+ teams in some way, so whoever is right now confused (eventually), it will make sense with every gameday coming. Or at least more sense.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 5

Sat. Sep 28
#15 Louisville @ #16 Notre Dame
This could become a very entertaining game. Last season did Louisville win against Notre Dame at home by almost 2 scores, but this season this is at South Bend.
OK, this might not mean much, since the Irish did lose against NIU at home 2 weeks ago.
The betting line is Notre Dame -7.0 points, which does not really sound fair, given the fact the Irish lost that NIU game, but right now, the real strength of teams are not really known. Louisville has started 3-0, while Notre Dame is 3-1.
Especially Notre Dame with their win against Texas A&M on gameday 1 and the loss on gameday 2 is a mystery.
Louisville has a good offense shown so far and Notre Dame did show flashes of good defense, so this will likely come down to this matchup, whether the defense can stop Louisvilles offense.
With a few games so far in the season, I expect Notre Dame to get in synch and to get the home factor better used, so I expect a close game, but a win by the home team.
Fighting Irish win.

#2 Georgia @ #4 Alabama
The top game of the week, it features a massive clash of two dominating teams of the past years inside the SEC and nationwide. Georgia did show some problems against Kentucky, but survived, Alabama did not show any flaws so far, but did play only mid-level to low-level teams, but in those their offense was great. Many say, the Georgia defense is big, so they expect Georgia to take that great offense of Alabama out of the game and then the Tide would be helpless, but I have doubts on that approach. Assuming the defense is nearly flawless, how did Kentucky score 12 points, which offense is way less potent that the Tides one? I don't expect an explosion on points here, but I also don't expect Alabama to play helpless puppy at home against one of their strongest rivals this season. What is positive for Georgia is the HC relationship, which runs deep already, while Alabama has to work with a new HC this season. Vegas has Georgia ahead by 1.0 point. Not much.
I stay with the home team.
Crimson Tide win.

#19 Illinois @ #9 Penn State
Nobody would have expected this to be a ranked-vs-ranked game, prior the season. Illinois is one of the surprises so far, winning all games so far, including wins against Kansas (which seemed to have a worse season than expected) and Nebraska (which might get better, but obviously not good enough to win against Illinois). Penn State was expected to be good this season, and they did start as expected, 3-0. Now they face at home that red hot Illini team. Should they be concerned? Maybe a bit. But so far, Illinois did NOT manage to convince the betting people, so Vegas has Penn State ahead by 19.5 points.
That seems a bit unfair, given the fact that the Lions did escape Bowling Green at home by just 7 points 2 weeks ago and Illinois likely having a more talented team.
I don't believe the Illini will actually upset the Nittany Lions, but I expect a close game and only the home field and a strong defense will secure the win for the home team.
Nittany Lions win.

And some other interesting games:

Sat. Sep 28
Washington State @ #25 Boise State
Both teams are right now in the chatter for being a 12-team-playoff-contender. Washington State by starting 4-0 and they might end up unbeaten, and Boise State as one of the conferences champs, even at 3-1 right now. That loss was a close game against Oregon, which might even help them in the long run (of course a win would have been better).
The betting line is Boise State -6.5, so the smurf turf is expected to do some magic again and elevate the Broncos higher in the rankings, while Wazzu would have a major setback on the season results and would likely be out of the contender list.
Both teams did show great flashes on offense, so I expect a high scoring game. Wazzu get win here, but I have doubts and in this case, I pick the home team.
Broncos win.

Colorado @ UCF
This looks like a lottery pick.
Will the high-powered offense of Colorado show up, 4 quarters long?
Colorado is 3-1, with a loss to Nebraska, and UCF is 3-0 with last a close win against TCU 2 weeks ago on the road and bye week.
Vegas sees UCF ahead by 14.0 points, which is a lot.
With Colorado firing on all canons, this means nothing, and they can win here, if UCF can keep that offense a bit in check, I think UCF can actually get that margin of even more.
The problem with Colorado is, it seems the team is NOT set, it lives from emotions and big plays. And that makes it a lottery, since a few of those plays and they lead and the whole game rhythm switches, but if such plays fail, for whatever reason, the team is in a big hole.
Football games can be won by that, but championships usually are won by consistency. Unfortune for Vegas and the fans, there are also examples for exceptions.
Golden Knights win.

North Carolina @ Duke
And just for fun this rivalry game between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils, which could be much fun this season.
UNC comes to town with an embarrassing loss on their shoulders against James Madison, losing 50:70! Overall, they are 3-1, but those wins were mostly really meaningless. Duke is 4-0 and did show some signs of consistence but did also drop a game against Northwestern.
They are favored by 2.5 points in this game.
It's the 111th meeting, UNC leads the series, because of a game dispute from 1889, the just don't agree on the record. Pffff, college rivalries are so funny.
Since 1948 a Victory Bell is given to the winning team and the winning team can paint the basis of the bell in team color.
UNC drives a 5-game winning streak.
I'm not sure what to expect here, but I hope for a close game, a high scoring game, and I hope Duke wins, since I like the underdog.
Sure, Duke is favored here, but compared long time is Duke the underdog in football.
Blue Devils win.

That's it with the catchup on the games during my vacation and the current preview. The next texts will be shorter. Wheeee!

And I hope I don’t need to use the word ‘embarrassing’ next week not so often, sorry.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

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