#1 Alabama (14-0) vs #2 Clemson (13-1); CFP National Championship; Tampa; 8 PM ET; ESPN … The 2017 national championship comes down to replay of last year’s title game in which Alabama outlasted Clemson 45-40 in a thriller. The game may also be about as good as it gets when it comes to previews of the 2017 draft… Read More »
Wild card games settle 4 draft slots … With the NFL’s wild card weekend now in the books four more positions in the opening round selection order for the 2017 draft have been settled. As reported earlier, Detroit will have the 21st pick overall, Miami will chose 22nd, the Giants 23rd and Oakland 24th. In addition, because those… Read More »
Three more Huskies enter draft … Washington has confirmed that three juniors including SS Budda Baker, DT Elijah Qualls and CB Sidney Jones will be entering the 2017 draft. The three join fellow junior WR John Ross, who announced yesterday, on the list of underclassmen who are entering the upcoming draft. Like Ross, Jones is considered to be… Read More »
First 20 picks set … With the 2016 NFL regular schedule now in the books, the first 20 picks have been set for the opening round of the 2017 draft. The remaining opening round picks will be determined by the playoff results. For now here is the updated opening round selection order for this year’s first round. Note… Read More »
Monday bowl preview … Since New Year’s Day fell on an NFL Sunday, New Year’s Day Plus one will be the day for the big bowl games, or at least the big bowl games that don’t really matter. Whatever, there are 4 bowls later today including a pretty good one in the Rose Bowl between Penn State and… Read More »
LSU DT confirms draft entry … LSU junior DT Davon Godchaux announced via his Instagram account that he will be entering the 2017 draft rather than complete his college eligibility. The 6-3, 300-pound Godchaux is an interesting prospect who started all 34 of 37 games played in his career including all 12 this fall when he finished fourth on… Read More »
#1 Alabama (13-0) vs #4 Washington (12-1); Peach Bowl; Atlanta; 3 PM ET; ESPN … The first of today’s two national championship semi-finals has a kind of David and Goliath feel about with the underdog Washington Huskies playing David to the unbeaten, top-ranked defending national champion Alabama. Not that Washington isn’t a talented team; they are, but the… Read More »
South Florida (10-2) vs South Carolina (6-6); Birmingham Bowl; 2 PM ET; ESPN … Potentially interesting game in which the question can a pretty good 10-win non-5 power conference team run with a middling 6-win SEC team (that was actually 3-6 against power 5 opponents. The Birmingham Bowl could also be a coming out party sorts for a… Read More »
Senior Bowl adds another half dozen … The Senior Bowl has announced the names of 6 more players that have accepted invitations to the 2017 game including Wisconsin RB Corey Clement, Southern Cal OT Zach Banner, LSU C Ethan Pocic, Alabama DT Dalvin Tomlinson, West Virginia CB Rasul Douglas and Alabama LS Cole Mazza. The additions bring the… Read More »
Boise RB McNichols headed to draft; WSU Coug QB Falk likely not … Boise State junior RB Jeremy McNichols gave himself a birthday present earlire today when he announced that he will be entering the 2017 draft. The 5-9, 210-pound McNichols who has already run for almost 1,700 yards and 27 TDs this season, could start to get… Read More »
ARMY (7-5) vs North Texas (5-7); Heart of Dallas Bowl; Noon ET; ESPN … Today’s quartet of games kicks off with the ‘feel good’ Heart of Dallas game as getting to go to Dallas and play at the Cotton Bowl is just the icing on the cake for Army which finally ended its 14-year losing streak to Navy.… Read More »
Bonus bowl coverage … The bowl fest continues Saturday with Hawai’i (6-7) essentially hosting Middle Tennessee State (8-4) in the Hawai’i Bowl which kicks off at 8 PM ET on ESPN. On first blush this game looks like one of those throwaway bowl games whose only purpose, other than perhaps to give the sub-.500 hosts a bowl to… Read More »
The bowl fest continues Saturday with Hawai’i essentially hosting Middle Tennessee State in the Hawai’i Bowl at 8 PM ET saturday evening on ESPN. On first blush this game looks like one of those throwaway bowl games whose only purpose is to fill up the ESPN schedule. And certainly it appears that this bowl was the only post-season… Read More »
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl; Idaho (8-4) vs Colorado State (7-5); 7 PM ET; ESPN … The bowl fest continues Thursday with Idaho essentially hosting Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise with kick-off set for 7 PM ET on ESPN. And the fact that Idaho, one of the historically really, really bad teams in college… Read More »
The bowl fest continues on Wednesday with the Poinsetta Bowl which could just as easily be called the ‘Reunion Bowl’ as it brings together former Mountain West rivals BYU (8-4) and Wyoming (8-5). BYU left the conference in 2010 to go independent, although the Mountain West has never been shy about saying that the door was always open… Read More »
Five more added to Senior Bowl … The Senior Bowl has announced the addition of 5 more accepted invites to this roster including WR Amara Darboh and DT Ryan Glasgow of Michigan, DEs Dawwuane Smoot and Carroll Phillips of Illinois, and West Virginia C Tyler Orlosky. Of note, the Illinis’ Phillips had previously committed to the East-West Shrine… Read More »
Normally, there wouldn’t be much to recommend a bowl game between Central Michigan and Tulsa, but this year’s contest in the Miami Beach Bowl between the two is something of an exception. Neither team is anywhere near close to being ranked, but both the Chippewas and Golden Hurricane can put points on the board. CMU, for example, has… Read More »
DII TE added to underclassmen list … Nothing formal has been announced, but DII Ashland head coach Lee Owens indicated during an interview conducted at the College Hall of Fame luncheon last week that star junior TE Adam Shaheen will be entering the 2017 draft. While hardly a household name, Shaheen is in fact a rather interesting prospect.… Read More »
GBN going to Mobile … You know that the draft is comin’ on down the line when you get your press credentials from the Senior Bowl which is now barely over a month away as we speak. Both Grumpy Lindsay and Pigskin Paul Guillemette have had their credentials for the Senior Bowl approved and plan to be Mobile… Read More »
Bowl season to kick off this weekend … If it feels like the college football season just ended and its way too early for bowl games IT IS. However, that ain’t stoppin’ the powers that run the college game and the 40-plus game bowl schedule that will culminate in the CFP national championship game on January 9th gets… Read More »
The Senior Bowl announced the addition of 13 more players who have accepted invitations to this year’s game including QBs Josh Dobbs of Tennessee, Sefo Liufau of Colorado, Pitt’s Nate Peterman and rising star Antonio Pipkin of DII Tiffin; record-setting San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey; Pitt OG Dorian Johnson; Kanas State DE Jordan Willis, the Big XII… Read More »
Young stud OT look to be staying in school … According to a tweet from former Sooners’ OT, and family friend, Jammal Brown, Oklahoma redshirt sophomore LT Orlando Brown will be returning to school for the 2017 college campaign. The 6-8, 340-pound Brown has the potential to be a top 10-type prospect for the 2018 draft. At the… Read More »
By Steven Callahan Baseball experts often talk about being strong “up the middle” when it comes to defense. With a good defensive catcher, second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder, you’re better equipped to limit the number of runs your opponent scores. The same theory applies in football, and that’s where the importance of a team’s defensive safeties comes… Read More »
Both the Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine all-star games announced their latest batches of players who have accepted invites to the respective events. Among 21 players who will be going to Mobile to play in the Senior Bowl include QBs Chad Kelly of Ole Miss and C.J. Beathard of Iowa; Toledo RB Kareem Hunt, SEC WRs Travin Dural… Read More »
In addition to the college football conference championship games previewed by our GBN colleague Pigskin Paul Guillemette yesterday, there are some interesting players to watch in Saturday’s other title games. One guy to watch in the Big Ten title game between #6 Wisconsin and #7 Penn State (8 PM ET; FOX) is the Badgers junior LT Ryan Ramczyk… Read More »
