More random thoughts on the latest CFP playoff rankings … Again, for those that don’t follow college football all that closely and may have missed it, but the CFP playoff committee released their weekly rankings. And no surprise, the top 4 teams – Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Penn State – were unchanged, while Notre Dame, Miami, Georgia,… Read More »
Early start to race for top pick … The three teams – Jacksonville, NY Giants and Las Vegas – which appear to have the best chance of ending up with the #1 pick overall at the 2025 draft all are in relatively tough this weekend. And it starts early with both the Giants and Raiders playing in Thanksgiving… Read More »
Jags, Giants, Raiders 1-2-3 in updated weekly selection order … At least for this week, the top three picks in the updated first-round selection order for the upcoming draft will belong to Jacksonville, the NY Giants and Las Vegas. Note, that the SOS figures are based on each team’s full 17-game schedule rather than just the games played… Read More »
Tide LB Lawson done for year … Alabama confirmed earlier today that LB Deontae Lawson, one of the top prospects at the position for the upcoming draft, will miss the remainder of the Tide’s season after suffering what is being described as a ‘serious’ lower leg injury in their loss at Oklahoma on Saturday. There is no word… Read More »
College football Sunday morning update … It was supposed to be a quiet weekend in college football as teams warmed up for next week’s rivalry games and regular season finales, but instead it turned into upset Saturday as a number of prominent teams suffered upsets that have severely jeopardized their playoff aspirations. That list included Alabama which was… Read More »
ECU CB Revel declares for draft … East Carolina junior CB Shavon Revel announced earlier today that he will be entering the 2025 draft despite tearing an ACL earlier this season. The 6-2, 195-pound Revel, who had been considered to be a rising star in the upcoming draft class with first-round potential, tore an ACL in practice back… Read More »
Saturday college QB coverage … There are only 2 more weeks in the regular college football schedule which means there’ll only be 2 more chances to see the top QB prospects for the 2025 draft, at least in a regular season setting. Fortunately, though, almost all will be playing in nationally televised games tomorrow. In no particular order,… Read More »
The ‘other’ big game in college football … Several readers have asked why we didn’t also preview Saturday’s game (7 PM ET; NBC) in New York between #6 Notre Dame and #19 Army, one of the only 3 remaining unbeaten FBS teams. OK! I guess. Clearly, it will be a huge game if Army can actually pull off… Read More »
Giants release QB Jones … Somewhat surprisingly, the NY Giants have outright released QB Daniel Jones ending a rather tumultuous 6-year stint with the team. In fact, it was a rather dramatic slide for Jones who was officially benched on Monday, demoted to #3 QB on Tuesday and then further demoted to 4th string on Wednesday. In fact,… Read More »
Browns win shuffles early draft order … For those that missed it late last evening as Cleveland upset Pittsburgh 24-19 in near blizzard conditions for their third win of the year. That means the Browns, which had been sitting on the 3rd pick overall in this week’s first-round selection order for the 2025 draft, will drop all the… Read More »
Time to close out the 2018 edition of College Football Bowls, which of course, take place in January. My final two, both, happen to feature Big Ten programs. Tuesday, Jan. 1st, 2019 Outback Bowl, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Noon/ET ESPN2 MISSISSIPPI STATE (8-4) vs. IOWA (8-4) Miss State had some adjustments to make in 2018 after DAN MULLEN… Read More »
The first hundred or so Bowl games are in the books… thank goodness. I am finding the new phenomenon of players leaving their teams, and heading for Performance Camps to prepare for the Draft, more annoying than I originally thought it would be. I went to Orlando last night to the Camping World Bowl game. It was an… Read More »
I’m going to cover the “other” Bowls for Saturday, leading up to the Final 4 games later in the day. PEACH BOWL Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta, GA Noon/ET ESPN FLORIDA (9-3) vs. MICHIGAN (10-2) The Wolverines come into this game with that, all too familiar, bad taste in their mouths of a loss to Ohio State, in their Big… Read More »
Thursday Dec.27 Shreveport, LA 1:30PM/ET ESPN Independence Bowl Independence Stadium TEMPLE (8-4) vs. DUKE (7-5) The two teams in this one were at opposite ends of the spectrum when the regular season ended. Temple started the season slowly with QB injury iissues, going 2-3 in September, But they settled in and went 6-1 the rest of the season,… Read More »
GASPARILLA BOWL; Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL 8PM/ET ESPN MARSHALL (8-4) vs. SOUTH FLORIDA (USF) (7-5) An extra home game for the BULLS, but unless Marshall brings a lot of fans with them, USF won’t fill that stadium, based on their regular season attendance. USF started the season 7-0, but lost their last 5 games. Marshall comes into… Read More »
NEW MEXICO BOWL Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque; 2 PM/ET ESPN UTAH STATE (10-2) VS NORTH TEXAS (9-3) Most early Bowls don’t really have a valid reason for their very existence, from a football value standpoint. They feature teams that are basically getting a thank you participation gift from the NCAA. This game differs by having two teams who had… Read More »
CFP National Championship (Atlanta): Georgia (13-1) vs Alabama (13-1); 8 PM ET; ESPN It will be an all-SEC match-up in the CFP national championship game in Atlanta on Monday evening with Georgia playing Alabama. This is old hat for Alabama which will be playing in its 5th national title games in the past 8 years, although this likely… Read More »
ROSE BOWL (Pasadena): Oklahoma (12-1) vs Georgia (12-1); 5 PM ET; ESPN The big-time CFP playoff games get underway late Monday afternoon when Oklahoma plays Georgia in the Rose Bowl. And much of the focus in this game, at least from the perspective of NFL scouts will be Sooners’ QBs Baker Mayfield (#6, 6-1, 220), this year’s Heisman… Read More »
Got a trifecta of games for you to watch on New Year’s Day. These are big time Bowls with top tier teams playing, which means lots of pro prospects to watch in anticipation of the NFL Draft in 4 months. Also note that Editor Colin has the two Final Four games for you elsewhere on the site. Monday… Read More »
TAXSLAYER BOWL (Jacksonville): Louisville (8-4) vs #23 Mississippi State (8-4); Noon ET; ESPN The Taxslayer Bowl gives fans – not to mention pro scouts – one last chance – presumably – to watch Louisville junior QB Lamar Jackson (#8, 6-3, 210), who has arguably been the most exciting player in college football over the past three seasons. Jackson,… Read More »
Friday Dec. 29 1PM/ET ESPN BELK BOWL Charlotte, NC WAKE FOREST (7-5) by 3 VS TEXAS A&M (7-5) Another game that finds at least on of the participants in the midst of a head coaching change. The Aggies are now moving into the Jimbo Fisher era. WAKE has gone through their upheaval and this is now HC DAVE… Read More »
MILITARY BOWL (Annapolis): Navy (6-6) vs Virginia (6-6); 1:30 PM ET; ESPN Maybe the best thing about the Military Bowl match-up of 6-6 teams in Annapolis is that nobody has to travel very far to get there. And maybe the second best thing about this game is that Virginia actually has more really good prospects for the upcoming… Read More »
INDEPENDENCE BOWL (Shreveport); SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (8-4) vs. FLORIDA STATE (6-6) by 3; 1:30 PM ET; ESPN After a bit of debate about whether FSU’s schedule actually earned them a bowl bid at 6-6, it appears we are ready to play some football. Southern Miss has been a solid mid-major football program for decades now. Without a doubt their… Read More »
HEART OF DALLAS BOWL: Utah (6-6) vs West Virginia (7-5); 1:30PM ET; ESPN Any pro scouts in Dallas to watch Utah and West Virginia in the Heart of Dallas may be there more for what will be on the board in 2019 than this year. That’s because the best prospects in this game – West Virginia QB Will… Read More »
We’re getting warmed up for the legit Holiday Bowl schedule, which I happen to think begins Christmas Eve. But for now let’s take a peek at games for this Saturday the 23rd. The overall talent from a Pro Prospect standpoint clearly elevates with this trio of games. Saturday Dec. 23rd NOON/ET ESPN. Birmingham Bowl, Birmingham, AL TEXAS TECH… Read More »
