College Football - Week 8 (Oct. 23)

[Andy]

Top 25 games

------------------------------

(2) Cincinnati at Navy (12 pm, ESPN2)

(3) Oklahoma at Kansas (12 pm, ESPN)

Tennessee at (4) Alabama (7 pm, ESPN)

(5) Ohio State at Indiana (7:30 pm, ABC)

Northwestern at (6) Michigan (12 pm, FOX)

Illinois at (7) Penn State (12 pm, ABC)

(8) Oklahoma State at Iowa State (3:30 pm, FOX)

(10) Oregon at UCLA (3:30 pm, ABC)

LSU at (12) Ole Miss (3:30 pm, CBS)

USC at (13) Notre Dame (7:30 pm, NBC)

(14) Coastal Carolina at Appalachian State (7:30 pm Wednesday, ESPN2)

(16) Wake Forest at Army (12 pm, CBSSN)

South Carolina at (17) Texas A&M (7:30 pm, SEC Network)

(18) NC State at Miami (7:30 pm, ESPN2)

Tulane at (21) SMU (7:30 pm Thursday, ESPN)

(22) San Diego State at Air Force (7 pm, CBSSN)

Clemson at (23) Pittsburgh (3:30 pm, ESPN)

(24) UTSA at Louisiana Tech (7 pm, Stadium)

Wisconsin at (25) Purdue (3 pm, BTN)

 

Other nationally available games

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Thursday

UL Lafayette at Arkansas State (7:30 pm, ESPNU)

Florida Atlantic at Charlotte (7:30 pm, CBSSN)

San Jose State at UNLV (10 pm, CBSSN)

 

Friday

Middle Tennessee at UConn (6 pm, CBSSN)

Memphis at UCF (7 pm, ESPN2)

Colorado State at Utah State (9:30 pm, CBSSN)

Washington at Arizona (10:30 pm, ESPN2)

 

Saturday TV

Kansas State at Texas Tech (12 pm, FS1)

Northern Illinois at Central Michigan (12 pm, ESPNU)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Arkansas (12 pm, SEC Network)

UMass at Florida State (12 pm, ACC Network)

Syracuse at Virginia Tech (12:30 pm, Regional Sports Networks/ESPN3)

Maryland at Minnesota (3:30 pm, ESPN2)

BYU at Washington State (3:30 pm, FS1)

Western Michigan at Toledo (3:30 pm, CBSSN)

Colorado at California (3:30 pm, Pac-12 Network)

East Carolina at Houston (4 pm, ESPNU)

Mississippi State at Vanderbilt (4 pm, SEC Network)

Boston College at Louisville (4 pm, ACC Network)

Nevada at Fresno State (7 pm, FS1)

West Virginia at TCU (7:30 pm, ESPNU)

Georgia Tech at Virginia (7:30 pm, ACC Network)

Utah at Oregon State (7:30 pm, Pac-12 Network)

 

Saturday Streaming

Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green (12 pm, ESPN+)

Kent State at Ohio (1 pm, ESPN+)

Texas State at Georgia State (2 pm, ESPN+)

New Mexico at Wyoming (3:30 pm, Stadium)

Buffalo at Akron (3:30 pm, ESPN+)

Miami (OH) at Ball State (3:30 pm, ESPN+)

Rice at UAB (3:30 pm, ESPN+)

Liberty at North Texas (4 pm, ESPN+)

South Alabama at UL Monroe (7 pm, ESPN3)

Temple at South Florida (7 pm, ESPN+)

Western Kentucky at Florida International (7 pm, ESPN+)

Edited October 23, 2021 by Andy

[Derwood]

That is one ugly slate of games

[Andy]

That is one ugly slate of games

I really wish this was Halloween weekend instead of it falling on the jam-packed slate of games the week after

[SouthSideRyan]

Is this one of those weeks Gameday goes to some D2 rivalry that started in nineteen dickety two?

[NewUserName]

number 8 OkST is almost a td underdog to unranked Iowa St.

[Andy]

Is this one of those weeks Gameday goes to some D2 rivalry that started in nineteen dickety two?

That's what they should do - and they also should've done it last week instead of going to Georgia for the 2nd time in 3 episodes - but they're going to Oregon/UCLA.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[OleMissCub]

 

So this dude is gonna lose millions of dollars and abandon all the kids he recruited to play for him over a vaccine. What a halfwit.

[Andy]

 

So this dude is gonna lose millions of dollars and abandon all the kids he recruited to play for him over a vaccine. What a halfwit.

Reporting is that he didn't even say goodbye to his players, which makes perfect sense since he'd have been vaccinated months ago if he remotely gave a horsefeathers about any of them

[NewUserName]

I dont understand James Franklin being available for LSU or USC. I am sure PSU would match dollar for dollar either of these schools. LSU has won a couple of more titles recently but I would not consider them a more blue blood program than PSU. USC has been a mess since Carroll left. I just dont see that either of these jobs are significantly better than PSU....I say that as someone who hated PSU before it was cool to hate them

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I dont understand James Franklin being available for LSU or USC. I am sure PSU would match dollar for dollar either of these schools. LSU has won a couple of more titles recently but I would not consider them a more blue blood program than PSU. USC has been a mess since Carroll left. I just dont see that either of these jobs are significantly better than PSU....I say that as someone who hated PSU before it was cool to hate them

 

Maybe a silly question, but would PSU want to match that? I get the sense that Franklin at PSU is a situation not too dissimilar to Pelini at Nebraska, where the results are objectively good for what the program is but the fanbase has an unreasonable standard based on the bygone era/legendary coach. Since it's one of their up years it's probably more likely he'd get kept, but if you had this rumor before the season I'm not sure.

[Andy]

I dont understand James Franklin being available for LSU or USC. I am sure PSU would match dollar for dollar either of these schools. LSU has won a couple of more titles recently but I would not consider them a more blue blood program than PSU. USC has been a mess since Carroll left. I just dont see that either of these jobs are significantly better than PSU....I say that as someone who hated PSU before it was cool to hate them

Those jobs probably aren't significantly better than PSU, especially when you consider what an incoherent mess the programs have been for a while (LSU's all-time 'lightning in a bottle' title notwithstanding). But Franklin's name keeps getting floated, I assume, because Franklin wants his name floated.

[UMFan83]

I dont understand James Franklin being available for LSU or USC. I am sure PSU would match dollar for dollar either of these schools. LSU has won a couple of more titles recently but I would not consider them a more blue blood program than PSU. USC has been a mess since Carroll left. I just dont see that either of these jobs are significantly better than PSU....I say that as someone who hated PSU before it was cool to hate them

Those jobs probably aren't significantly better than PSU, especially when you consider what an incoherent mess the programs have been for a while (LSU's all-time 'lightning in a bottle' title notwithstanding). But Franklin's name keeps getting floated, I assume, because Franklin wants his name floated.

 

I think its just the power of being a topish tier school in the SEC. Alabama is on its own tier, but LSU, Georgia, maybe Florida and soon Oklahoma are on that second tier of teams that can occasionally make the playoffs. Better recruiting, more money, more visibility. Penn State is in a fine spot as a program but in the Big Ten sharing a division with Ohio State they seem to top out as a team that can make the Big Ten title game once a decade (hey that's still better than Michigan!).

[NOLA]

I dont understand James Franklin being available for LSU or USC. I am sure PSU would match dollar for dollar either of these schools. LSU has won a couple of more titles recently but I would not consider them a more blue blood program than PSU. USC has been a mess since Carroll left. I just dont see that either of these jobs are significantly better than PSU....I say that as someone who hated PSU before it was cool to hate them

Those jobs probably aren't significantly better than PSU, especially when you consider what an incoherent mess the programs have been for a while (LSU's all-time 'lightning in a bottle' title notwithstanding). But Franklin's name keeps getting floated, I assume, because Franklin wants his name floated.

Dammit, I really hate defending LSU, but that is a more enviable job than PSU. For how good the recruiting grounds are in PA, Louisiana's HS talent is unreal, plus they recruit heavily in next door Houston and into Florida. LSU has won 3 titles in the last 18 years and is a regular team in the CFP. You're almost guaranteed a top 5 class every season, so the talent will always be there. horsefeathering Les Miles and Orgeron won titles there.

 

And it's not just Franklin that might be floating his name. It's coming from the school and local press.

[OleMissCub]

Most of the smoke has been about Mel Tucker. His buyout to get him out of MSU is really small, which is something LSU is going to have to think about considering they are having to pay O his entire 17 million.

[NOLA]

Most of the smoke has been about Mel Tucker. His buyout to get him out of MSU is really small, which is something LSU is going to have to think about considering they are having to pay O his entire 17 million.

Also heard that, although I’d disagree that money is any consideration. Btw, O’s money is paid out over 5 years.

[NewUserName]

Most of the smoke has been about Mel Tucker. His buyout to get him out of MSU is really small, which is something LSU is going to have to think about considering they are having to pay O his entire 17 million.

I would hate losing him, but this one I understand. MSU is not at that level. Plus there is a lot of competition for the big time recruits in his area.

[Andy]

Group of 5 realignment news:

 

[OleMissCub]

As I anticipated back when Orgeron made that comment at UCLA, Ole Miss wearing powder blue tops against LSU.

 

[OleMissCub]

Interesting name I’ve heard thrown out recently about the LSU job: Brian Kelly. The sales pitch would be “look, our last two coaches were morons and they won national titles, whereas you are a legitimately great coach.” Essentially, Kelly has likely maxed out what he can do at ND. He’s unlikely to ever win a title there due to the recruiting ceiling he faces. LSU clearly doesn’t have that problem. He’s already built a legacy and ND and now might be a time to move on.

 

As for ND, this would be a good time for them to replace Kelly with Fickel and would give them a reset, with the young Fickel inheriting Kelly’s ready-made program.

[Andy]

Interesting name I’ve heard thrown out recently about the LSU job: Brian Kelly. The sales pitch would be “look, our last two coaches were morons and they won national titles, whereas you are a legitimately great coach.” Essentially, Kelly has likely maxed out what he can do at ND. He’s unlikely to ever win a title there due to the recruiting ceiling he faces. LSU clearly doesn’t have that problem. He’s already built a legacy and ND and now might be a time to move on.

 

As for ND, this would be a good time for them to replace Kelly with Fickel and would give them a reset, with the young Fickel inheriting Kelly’s ready-made program.

I've seen his name come up a few times. I don't see it as a fit for either side. Kelly does not have a reputation for being a tireless recruiter; it's practically a running joke in some quarters, fair or unfair, when Kelly is brought up as being a factor in bringing in a recruit because some fans think it's ridiculous that he's not more involved. (Worth noting that new DC Marcus Freeman, who coincidentally chose ND over LSU, almost immediately started targeting and getting ND in the door with guys of a caliber they weren't close to getting before.) Don't see how you can win in the SEC without living and breathing recruiting.

 

On Kelly's side, he's worked with the same president and AD his entire time at ND and is in a very stable position. Not sure leaving for an athletic department that from the outside appears to be a giant mess, for a school that just fired someone barely 18 months after winning the national title, is an enticing sell, no matter their natural advantages.

[OleMissCub]

On Kelly's side, he's worked with the same president and AD his entire time at ND and is in a very stable position. Not sure leaving for an athletic department that from the outside appears to be a giant mess, for a school that just fired someone barely 18 months after winning the national title, is an enticing sell, no matter their natural advantages.

 

Yes, this is a very good point. I don't THINK anything is going to come off the dozens of NCAA violations and Title IX issues that LSU is facing currently, but you never know. LSU essentially has a get out of jail free card because their AD's father-in law is the head of NCAA Enforcement, so....

[CubColtPacer]

All four top 10 teams were 20+ point favorites, and all of them just slept through their first halves. Interested to see if any of those games remain close. Oklahoma especially just continues to live dangerously.

[soccer10k]

All four top 10 teams were 20+ point favorites, and all of them just slept through their first halves. Interested to see if any of those games remain close. Oklahoma especially just continues to live dangerously.

 

Oklahoma reminds me of the Florida State team the year after they won the title. FSU went undefeated but was seeded behind a couple 1 loss teams and then Oregon just slaughtered them in the playoff. If feel like that’s their destiny this year. They’ll go undefeated, be seeded 2nd or 3rd (at least behind whoever wins the SEC, whether that’s a 1 loss Bama or undefeated Georgia) and just get blasted in the semis.

[Soul]

Penn State slept through the entire game and now needs OT to beat Illinois.