College Football - Week 1 (Sept. 2)

[Andy]

Fun times begin. As always, I'm using ET for the listings, and will use AP rankings until the playoff committee rankings begin later in the season.

 

“Week Zero” Games (Aug. 26)

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Rice vs (12) Stanford – in Sydney (10 pm, ESPN)

(19) South Florida at San Jose State (7:30 pm, CBSSN)

Portland State at BYU (3 pm, ESPN)

Oregon State at Colorado State (3 pm, CBSSN)

 

Top 25 games

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(3) Florida State vs (1) Alabama – in Atlanta (8 pm, ABC)

(2) Ohio State at Indiana (8 pm Thursday, ESPN – Megacast)

Western Michigan at (4) USC (5:15 pm, Pac-12 Network – Regional)

Kent State at (5) Clemson (12 pm, ESPN)

Akron at (6) Penn State (12 pm, ABC)

UTEP at (7) Oklahoma (3:30 pm, FOX)

(8) Washington at Rutgers (8 pm Friday, FS1)

Utah State at (9) Wisconsin (9 pm Friday, ESPN)

Tulsa at (10) Oklahoma State (7:30 pm Thursday, FS1)

(11) Michigan vs (17) Florida – in Arlington, TX (3:30 pm, ABC)

Georgia Southern at (12) Auburn (7:30 pm, SEC Network)

BYU vs (13) LSU – in New Orleans (9:30 pm, ESPN)

Appalachian State at (15) Georgia (6:15 pm, ESPN)

(16) Louisville vs Purdue – in Indianapolis (7:30 pm, FOX)

Bethune-Cookman at (18) Miami (12:30 pm, FSN/ESPN3)

Stony Brook at (19) South Florida (4 pm, ESPN3)

Central Arkansas at (20) Kansas State (7 pm)

(22) West Virginia vs (21) Virginia Tech – in Landover, MD (7:30 pm Sunday, ABC)

Maryland at (23) Texas (12 pm, FS1)

Montana State at (24) Washington State (10:30 pm, FS1)

Georgia Tech vs (25) Tennessee – in Atlanta (8 pm Monday, ESPN)

 

Other nationally available games

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Presbyterian at Wake Forest (6:30 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Buffalo at Minnesota (7 pm Thursday, BTN)

Austin Peay at Cincinnati (7 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Elon at Toledo (7 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Rhode Island at Central Michigan (7 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Tennessee State at Georgia State (7 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

North Dakota at Utah (7:30 pm Thursday, Pac-12 Network)

Holy Cross at UConn (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Florida A&M at Arkansas (8 pm Thursday, SEC Network)

UL Monroe at Memphis (8 pm Thursday, CBSSN)

Sacramento State at Idaho (9 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

New Mexico State at Arizona State (10:30 pm Thursday, Pac-12 Network)

 

Fordham at Army (6 pm Friday, CBSSN)

Charlotte at Eastern Michigan (6:30 pm Thursday, ESPN3)

Central Connecticut State at Syracuse (7 pm Friday, ESPN3)

Colorado State vs Colorado – in Denver (8 pm Friday, Pac-12 Network)

Navy at Florida Atlantic (8 pm Friday, ESPNU)

Boston College at Northern Illinois (9:30 pm Friday, CBSSN)

 

Ball State at Illinois (12 pm, BTN – Regional)

Wyoming at Iowa (12 pm, BTN – Regional)

Bowling Green at Michigan State (12 pm, ESPNU)

Missouri State at Missouri (12 pm, SEC Network)

California at North Carolina (12:20 pm, ESPN3)

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh (1 pm, ESPN3)

Portland State at Oregon State (2 pm, Pac-12 Network – Regional)

VMI at Air Force (2 pm, ESPN3)

NC State vs South Carolina – in Charlotte (3 pm, ESPN)

Temple at Notre Dame (3:30 pm, NBC)

Nevada at Northwestern (3:30 pm, BTN)

William & Mary at Virginia (3:30 pm, ESPN3)

Troy at Boise State (3:45 pm, ESPNU)

Eastern Washington at Texas Tech (4 pm, FSN)

Charleston Southern at Mississippi State (4 pm, SEC Network)

Kentucky at Southern Miss (4 pm, CBSSN)

Stony Brook at South Florida (4 pm, ESPN3)

James Madison at East Carolina (6 pm, ESPN3)

NC Central at Duke (6 pm, ESPN3)

Miami (OH) at Marshall (6:30 pm, Facebook)

Liberty at Baylor (7 pm, FS2)

SE Missouri State at Kansas (7 pm, ESPN3)

Hampton at Ohio (7 pm, ESPN3)

SE Louisiana at UL Lafayette (7 pm, ESPN3)

Stephen F. Austin at SMU (7 pm, ESPN3)

Houston Baptist at Texas State (7 pm, ESPN3)

UMass at Coastal Carolina (7 pm, ESPN3)

Lamar at North Texas (7 pm, ESPN3)

Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech (7 pm, ESPN3)

South Alabama at Ole Miss (7:30 pm, ESPNU)

Arkansas State at Nebraska (8 pm, BTN)

Jackson State at TCU (8 pm, FSN)

Vanderbilt at Middle Tennessee (8 pm, CBSSN)

Grambling at Tulane (8 pm, ESPN3)

Southern Utah at Oregon (8:15 pm, Pac-12 Network – Regional)

UC Davis at San Diego State (8:30 pm, Facebook)

Northern Arizona at Arizona (11 pm, Pac-12 Network – Regional)

 

Texas A&M at UCLA (7:30 pm Sunday, FOX)

Edited August 29, 2017 by Andy

[Transmogrified Tiger]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[OleMissCub]

Big story just dropped from SBNation about the Ole Miss investigation, specifically the immunity given to Mississippi State's LB Leo Lewis, whose testimony is the main component being used against Ole Miss.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/8/25/16199394/leo-lewis-ncaa-ole-miss-mississippi-state

 

Some cliffs because it is a long article (much, much longer than my long cliffs):

 

- NCAA is on Ole Miss' campus in 2012 investigation issues with women's basketball, track, and football (the venerable Houston Nutt had people take ACT tests for some players)

- Freeze signs a big recruiting class in 2013 and antagonizes the NCAA into sticking around doing some more digging.

- NCAA uncovers some stuff like Tunsil keeping a loaner car out a few weeks too long, a booster giving a recruit a ride to a bowl game, a $400 cash payment to Tunsil's stepfather. This is mostly ticky-tack stuff, however.

- During a meeting with the NCAA about all this, the right reverend Freeze quotes bible verses at the NCAA investigators, incensing them. They want to bring him down so they continue the investigation and look for a smoking gun.

- Somehow (still a mystery how this came about), a potential smoking gun is delivered to the NCAA in the form of Leo Lewis, a 5 star linebacker, that signed with Mississippi State. He had previously been committed to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Leo had raised the antenna of the NCAA when viewed surfaced of him after signing day with a new car and wads of cash.

- The NCAA offers Lewis total immunity for anything he confesses in their interviews with them.

- 3 different interviews take place over a few months. Ole Miss is only allowed to attend one of these interviews. NCAA by-laws state that they should have been allowed at all 3.

- In these 3 interviews, Lewis states that he received free lodging during visits to multiple schools including Ole Miss. He states that on signing day Mississippi State paid him $11,000 and that the day before signing day Ole Miss paid him $10,000. He also claims that an Ole Miss apparel shop (Rebel Rags, the largest Ole Miss retail shop) gave him hundreds of dollars of free gear.

- However, the transcripts of these interviews, which SBNation obtained, show that Lewis' testimony varied from interview to interview regarding specifics and amounts of money that allegedly changed hands. There are also inconsistencies in regards to Rebel Rags. He claims that he used a gift card to get the merch and that the people at the register reviewed security ink tags. Rebel Rags doesn't have a system for gift cards nor do they use security tags on any of their merchandise. Lewis is currently being sued by Rebel Rags based off of these allegations. They are suing him because if the NCAA finds this testimony credible, Rebel Rags would be disassociated from Ole Miss meaning that they couldn't sell licensed Ole Miss merch anymore.

- A recorded phone conversation is obtained between Lewis' mother and an Ole Miss coach, wherein the mom states that LSU is offering them $650,000 and MS State is offering them $80,000 and asking how much they are willing to pay to get her son. The Ole Miss coach politely hangs up.

- Following the interviews, Ole Miss' attorneys asked the NCAA if they were investigating Mississippi State based off of what Lewis admitted to (being paid $11,000 by Mississippi State on signing day). The NCAA responds that they briefly investigated the matter and found that Lewis' testimony against MS State was not credible. Ole Miss' attorneys heads explode over this, wondering why the NCAA deems Lewis' statements against Ole Miss credible but not credible against MS State when they are derived from the exact same interview.

- An Ole Miss player and friend of Lewis, testifies to the NCAA that Lewis confided in him that once the video of Lewis flashing the cash around on signing day emerged, that Dan Mullen brought Lewis into his office and basically said that they needed to figure out a way to deflect an investigation of that money away from them and onto someone else. The inference being that Lewis was led to the NCAA by Mississippi State as a way to cover their tracks.

- The NCAA Committee on Infractions, the body that decides the punishment for NCAA violations, has requested that Lewis attend a hearing with them on September 11th in Kentucky. Lewis' attorneys asked that this be done via skype. The COI rejected this. Thus, Lewis is in a tight spot because if he goes to the hearing, he'll certainly be asked about the money that MS State paid him, which could open them up to another investigation (Lewis has immunity, MS State does not). If he doesn't attend, the NCAA could revoke his immunity because of non-cooperation.

 

It's a complete circus.

[jersey cubs fan]

TL;DR

[OleMissCub]

TL;DR

 

probably for the best

[philosophizer75]

This guy just seems like he is all about the highest bidder and/or "what can you do for me?"

 

Him as the keystone seems like pretty tenuous footing to make allegations and launch investigations on. But it's ncaa, so they obviously can't be bothered to give a horsefeathers about doing things the right way.

[OleMissCub]

This guy just seems like he is all about the highest bidder and/or "what can you do for me?"

 

Him as the keystone seems like pretty tenuous footing to make allegations and launch investigations on. But it's ncaa, so they obviously can't be bothered to give a horsefeathers about doing things the right way.

 

The Committee on Infractions (allegedly an independent entity that is separate from the NCAA) has got to be uncomfortable with all of this. Are they going to dismantle an entire football program, deprive a public institution of up to 18 million dollars in revenue, and affect the livelihoods of multiple individuals simply because of the inconsistent and totally uncorroborated immunity testimony of one player from a rival school? That's a terrifying precedent to set.

 

You can be sure that schools like Ohio State, Michigan, Bama, and Auburn absolutely do not want that to become a thing.

[Derwood]

This is the most excited I've been for a Penn State season for years.

[OleMissCub]

This is the most excited I've been for a Penn State season for years.

 

It's been a minute since they've been ranked this high pre-season, for sure.

[sneakypower]

This guy just seems like he is all about the highest bidder and/or "what can you do for me?"

 

Him as the keystone seems like pretty tenuous footing to make allegations and launch investigations on. But it's ncaa, so they obviously can't be bothered to give a horsefeathers about doing things the right way.

 

The Committee on Infractions (allegedly an independent entity that is separate from the NCAA) has got to be uncomfortable with all of this. Are they going to dismantle an entire football program, deprive a public institution of up to 18 million dollars in revenue, and affect the livelihoods of multiple individuals simply because of the inconsistent and totally uncorroborated immunity testimony of one player from a rival school? That's a terrifying precedent to set.

 

You can be sure that schools like Ohio State, Michigan, Bama, and Auburn absolutely do not want that to become a thing.

Michigan has zero composite top-100 recruits in their current class and OSU has 11

 

broader oversight and harsher penalties is something i suspect they'd welcome

[OleMissCub]

This guy just seems like he is all about the highest bidder and/or "what can you do for me?"

 

Him as the keystone seems like pretty tenuous footing to make allegations and launch investigations on. But it's ncaa, so they obviously can't be bothered to give a horsefeathers about doing things the right way.

 

The Committee on Infractions (allegedly an independent entity that is separate from the NCAA) has got to be uncomfortable with all of this. Are they going to dismantle an entire football program, deprive a public institution of up to 18 million dollars in revenue, and affect the livelihoods of multiple individuals simply because of the inconsistent and totally uncorroborated immunity testimony of one player from a rival school? That's a terrifying precedent to set.

 

You can be sure that schools like Ohio State, Michigan, Bama, and Auburn absolutely do not want that to become a thing.

Michigan has zero composite top-100 recruits in their current class and OSU has 11

 

broader oversight and harsher penalties is something i suspect they'd welcome

 

Oh c'mon. Michigan isn't exactly the Sisters of the Poor. In the 2017 recruiting cycle, Michigan had the 4th highest ranked recruiting class with 3 five-stars and 16 four-stars. Ohio State was ranked 2nd. During the 2016 recruiting cycle, Michigan ranked 4th and OSU ranked 3rd.

[philosophizer75]

Auburn would probably welcome any kind of new deal, regardless of how sinister or shortsighted it may be, if it meant they could somehow run Saban out of Tuscaloosa.

[OleMissCub]

Auburn would probably welcome any kind of new deal, regardless of how sinister or shortsighted it may be, if it meant they could somehow run Saban out of Tuscaloosa.

 

It's one hell of a coincidence that the Head of the NCAA Enforcement Staff is Saban's best friend.

[OleMissCub]

https://www.tidesports.com/projected-alabama-defensive-starter-shot/

 

Alabama defensive tackle Raekwon Davis was shot in the leg while at a Tuscaloosa bar early Sunday morning.

[Andy]

LSU vs BYU moved to New Orleans because of the hurricane.

[Derwood]

LSU vs BYU moved to New Orleans because of the hurricane.

 

So they moved it to a city....that is also being hit with a hurricane?

[OleMissCub]

LSU vs BYU moved to New Orleans because of the hurricane.

 

So they moved it to a city....that is also being hit with a hurricane?

 

Meh, it's indoors

[raw]

Good effort Hoosiers. Go out and take the next 3 and play for a chance to go to a bowl again in the final week(s).

[minnesotacubsfan]

SkiUMah

 

Also OMC, wtf is going on down in the SEC? $80k for a linebacker?

[Andy]

Back to back days with upset bids ending with thuds.

[jersey cubs fan]

Back to back days with upset bids ending with thuds.

Aka college football

[Ding Dong Johnson]

nowhere to go but up for the Iowa offense. 3 possessions, new QB is 0/4 with a pick, 12 total yards. defense seems legit

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Mizzou trails FCS Missouri State 35-34. There are 5 and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

 

EDIT: 41-35 now, 5 mins to play in the first half

[Derwood]

Maryland up 30-14 on Texas in the 2nd quarter

[weis21]