Bowl fest continues … The bowl preliminaries continue later today with four games on the docket. However, unlike almost all the earlier games which had very few legit prospects for the 2019 draft, each of Saturday’s games has at least one really good player that pro scouts are eager to check out one more time. Here’s a quick… Read More »
MEMPHIS (8-5) vs WAKE FOREST (6-6); Birmingham Bowl; Noon ET; ESPN … From a ‘who ya gonna watch’ for the draft perspective, the Birmingham Bowl match-up between Memphis and Wake Forest should have been #1 on everybody’s list for today. Indeed, the guy that just about every NFL scout wants to see today is Memphis junior RB Darrell… Read More »
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (8-4) vs TOLEDO (7-5); Bahamas Bowl; 12:30 PM ET; ESPN … Hey if you are an 8-4 C-USA team or a 7-5 MAC squad you could do worse than having to play your bowl in the Bahamas. Not sure how much beach time the players are actually going to get, but at least it ain’t snowing.… Read More »
Bowl sched continues … The bowl schedule preliminaries continue later this evening with the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa between host South Florida and Marshall. GBN Associate Editor Pigskin Paul Guillemette has a quick preview of who to watch in tonight’s game here.
BOCA RATON BOWL FAU Football Stadium Boca Raton, FL Tuesday, Dec 18 7PM/ET ESPN UAB (10-3) vs NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-5) UAB is the team that came back from the dead, after dropping football just a few years ago. They are a fairly young team with some nice, though limited, senior leadership. Don’t be fooled by NIU’s 8-5 record.… Read More »
Spartan CB; 2nd FAU RB latest to enter draft … Two more juniors entered the 2019 draft over the past day or so including rising Michigan State CB Justin Layne and Florida Atlantic RB Kerrith Whyte. Layne, in particular, is not yet a household name nationally, but NFL scouts are very aware of his potential; he’s a converted… Read More »
Louisiana-Lafayette (7-6) versus Tulane (6-6); Cure Bowl; Orlando; 1:30 PM ET; CBS Sports … You know your bowl may not be quite ready for prime-time when it can’t even get on ESPN. The other question is why schedule two schools that are basically within a two-hour drive of each other in southern Louisiana three states over, particularly when… Read More »
Bowl prospects preview … Used to be one had to wait at least a month or so after the end of the college football season for the bowl schedule to get underway. Not so anymore as it feels like the bowls are simply an extension of the regular season. And that extension gets underway in earnest on Saturday… Read More »
Buckeyes’ DT Jones enters draft … Ohio State junior DT Dre’Mont Jones has confirmed that he will be entering the 2019 draft where he is projected to be a first round pick. Jones may be a tad undersized at 6-3, 290, but he is very quick and led all DTs in the country with 8.5 sacks this past… Read More »
Top CFL QB on NFL tour … Calgary QB Bo Levi Mitchell, the CFL’s reigning MVP, worked out for Denver earlier this week after visiting with the Vikings late last week in Minnesota. Mitchell, who officially becomes a free agent in September, reportedly has at least 3 other visits or workouts already scheduled, while he has also reportedly… Read More »
Spartan RB Scott shifts gears; will enter draft … Michigan State junior RB L.J. Scott has formally announced that he will in fact be entering the 2019 draft. Scott, who only played in 4 games this past season, had originally indicated he would return for a 5th year of eligibility, but ultimately decided that the threat of another… Read More »
Bills cut WRs Benjamin, Holmes … Interesting that on the same day that Mississippi junior A.J. Brown, the consensus top receiver prospect in this year’s draft class, announced that he will be entering the 2019 draft, Buffalo released veteran WR Kelvin Benjamin and Andre Holmes. Benjamin is currently second on the Bills this season with 354 receiving yards,… Read More »
Who to watch in Saturday’s conference championship games … Conference championship weekend in college football actually gets underway later this evening with the PAC-12 and MAC title games. However, the real action begins tomorrow when the other power 5 conferences have their championship games including when #1 Alabama faces #4 Georgia for the SEC title which, for all… Read More »
#6 OHIO STATE (11-1) vs #21 NORTHWESTERN (8-4); Indianapolis; 8 PM ET; FOX … Ohio State’s hopes of making this year’s CFL playoff looked to be dead in the water after an embarrassing loss at Purdue in late October, but the Buckeyes are suddenly in the hunt again after last weekend’s resounding win over Michigan to claim the… Read More »
#1 ALABAMA (12-0) vs #4 GEORGIA (11-1); 4:00 PM ET; Atlanta; CBS … No surprise that the SEC championship game could be the best conference title match-up this weekend. Indeed, this is the only game this weekend from which both teams can quality for the CFP playoff with a win so it has the feel of a real… Read More »
Friday’s Conference Championship Games MAC Championship; Detroit: BUFFALO (10-2) vs NORTHERN ILLINOIS (7-5); 7:00 PM ET; ESPN2 … The MAC championship usually doesn’t rate as must-see TV for pro scouts, but this year’s match-up between Buffalo and Northern Illinois is a little different as both teams have multiple legitimate players with at least some second-day potential for the… Read More »
The 2nd batch of acceptances to the East-West Shrine Game have been announced. The latest 19 players to accept are: QB Jordan Ta’amu – Mississippi Taylor Cornelius – Oklahoma State David Blough – Purdue WR Terry Wright – Purdue TE Andrew Beck – Texas (De-committed from NFLPA Bowl) OT Tyree St. Louis – Miami Jackson Barton – Utah… Read More »
Thanksgiving college watch list … Here’s to a very happy and safe holiday weekend to everyone! And, of course, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without plenty of football. The headliners have always been the NFL’s Thursday games, but there are also a number of key college match-ups this weekend which will feature plenty of top prospects for the 2019… Read More »
Who to watch on Thanksgiving weekend in college football: Thanksgiving Day: #18 Mississippi State (7-4) @ Mississippi (5-6); 7:30 PM ET; ESPN: Anybody who gets a little tired of all the turkey day NFL fare and flips over to the college game might be in for a little draft treat as the annual Egg Bowl just might feature… Read More »
Parker projection posted … With just three weeks to go in the regular college football season, GBN Investigative College Football Analyst Larry Parker has posted his latest opening round projection for the 2019 draft.
After last week’s slew of great college games between teams with both national and conference aspirations, this week’s slate is a little tamer – well, actually way tamer – as there are really no such head-to-head match-ups on this week’s schedule. However, there are still a number of potentially interesting situations with draft-related implications worth a look this… Read More »
College football into the home stretch … With essentially three weeks to go in the regular college football season, the playoff picture is quickly starting to come into focus. It certainly appears that Alabama and Clemson are destined to make the 4-team playoff, while unbeaten Notre Dame certainly controls its own fate, although there are no exact gimmies… Read More »
Updated selection order posted … With another week in the books, here is the updated full order for the opening round of the 2019 were it to be held this week.
Some rather significant match-ups over the past weekend may have helped us clear up some of the rankings… for now. More big games in this final month of the regular season may further clarify, or perhaps cloud, who the top teams are. For now here are my top dogs. 1) ALABAMA (9-0) They pretty much handled LSU like… Read More »
#1 ALABAMA (8-0) at #3 LSU (7-1); 8 PM ET; CBS … Can anybody beat Alabama? That’s the question swirling around college football with the initial CFP playoff rankings out this week. Actually the better question might be ‘Can anybody even stay close to Alabama.’ Indeed, through 8 games this year, the defending national champs have won every… Read More »
