bukie

Four straight terrible instances of blocking.

He should get credit for a half sack. Soldier Field turf gets the other half.

I can't remember the last time I liked the look of a Bears opening drive.

That's 5 games in a row where the Hawks resembled an actual hockey team. Dug a hole too big today, but fought back, and encouraging to see Bedard being one of the best players on the ice today.

SMU's QB has thrown for 62 yards for SMU and 96 yards for PSU.

Also, screw the ESPN announcers and their boldfaced shilling for the SEC. Now I'm to the point of hoping no SEC team makes the semis so they can sit there looking stupid for the last two rounds.

The whole "Indiana wasn't deserving" discourse is so tired and lame. It's possible for both these things to be true at the same time: 1. Indiana and Notre Dame are two of the top 10 teams in the country 2. Notre Dame is head and shoulders better than Indiana I mean, Indiana lost to Ohio State by 23 and ND by 10 and beat Michigan by 4 and blew everyone else off the map. If you look at their composite ranking across all systems (https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf), they're 7th, while Notre Dame is 2nd. And to dismiss them as "just a couple of mediocre 11-1 teams" belies the fact that they were the only 11-1 teams in college football this season. And slow the roll, Illini fans, Illinois was about the 40th best football team in the country this season, and lost at home to Minnesota, while not being able to blow out Purdue or Northwestern. They were good, but not on this level.

...see, the Cubs did get Soto.

Last night was one of the more encouraging outings of the season. Scored goals, Bedard was one of the best players on the ice, lost because goaltending was terrible.

There is a very real chance that no SEC team makes the semifinals this year.

The way I see it, it is in no way unfair that 3 loss Alabama doesn't get a shot at the national title this year. There were 15 teams with 0, 1, or 2 losses. 11 of them made the CFP, with the 12th spot going to a Clemson team that won the ACC and got the bottom seed. Successful playoff selection. The four teams that didn't make it with 2 or fewer losses: - Memphis - 2 losses, didn't make AAC championship game, best win was probably against Tulane, had probably the 50th best resume in the field. - Army - 1 loss, won the AAC, run off the field by ND, best win probably also Tulane. Closer loss to ND and they might be there instead of Clemson. - BYU - 2 losses, didn't play in the B12 championship, best win was SMU, lost to the only good B12 teams they played, and now get an odd bowl game where they play a conference matchup with Colorado. - Miami - 2 losses, didn't play in the ACC championship, they're probably in if they make the ACC championship even though their best win was...I dunno, maybe Florida? Worse resume than Indiana for sure. Hard to argue with any of it, really, even if Alabama might be the 10th best team instead of the 12th best team in reality. Would have been annoyed if Bama made it over Miami, so at least it didn't come to that. If I had to make changes for next year, I'd suggest two simple things: 1. Expand to 16 teams and take champions from all 9 conferences. Still get 7 at larges, just like this year, but there's no arbitrary voting decisions between, say, Clemson, Boise State and Army on who gets a chance and who doesn't. 2. No protected seeding, just seed 1-16 based on strength to balance out the bracket. I think this hurts Oregon and Georgia the most this year, so I think this is the likeliest change to actually happen.

This selection show is interminable. Here's the only relevant news: Now just spend the next half hour laughing at Nick Saban.

If I got to pick... 1. Oregon - duh 2. Georgia - duh 3. Boise State - got to be now, right? 4. Arizona State - Likely ahead of Clemson, probably not ahead of Boise State. 5. Notre Dame - Tough luck for PSU, but they'll drop enough to leave room for ND here. 6. Ohio State - Annoying, but probably the next best team. PSU lost to them, and they just have plain better wins than Texas. 7. Texas - Played Georgia close enough that they'll probably stay ahead of PSU, fair or not. 8. Penn State - Sucks to drop them below two teams that didn't play this week, but the resumes were close enough beforehand that they end up here. Good enough to keep a home game. 9. Tennessee - I have a hard time seeing them jump PSU. Resume just isn't as good. 10. Indiana - Still safely in, probably ahead of SMU 11. SMU - I think they earned this more than any 3 loss team, and I don't think Clemson jumps them. 12. Clemson - Somehow sneaks back into the playoff, at least I assume they are ahead of Army.

Now that BYU won and the Big 12 mess is sorted out, here's what the CFP looks like going into Championship week: Playoff locks that are done playing: Notre Dame, Ohio State Playoff locks that are playing in championship games and are in win or lose: Oregon, Penn State, Texas, Georgia Other playoff guarantees: ACC winner (SMU or Clemson), B12 winner (Iowa State or Arizona State), 5th conference champ (Boise State if they win, chaos if they don't). That's 9 of 12 spots. For the last 3, I think Indiana is probably the likeliest, just due to having one loss and good analytics (and are already in a playoff spot and likely won't drop). After that, it's take your pick of SEC teams (Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss), or SMU if they lose (honestly probably the best case for a remaining at-large), or BYU if you squint hard enough (they did beat SMU). And yes, I think 3 loss Georgia is still a lock, even if they end up as the 11 seed. Here's what I'm predicting for next week: Oregon over PSU Georgia over Texas SMU over Clemson Iowa State over Arizona State Boise State over UNLV 1. Oregon 2. Georgia 3. SMU 4. Boise State 5. Notre Dame 6. Ohio State 7. Texas 8. Penn State 9. Tennessee 10. Indiana 11. Alabama 12. Iowa State

Plus it was literally a week ago that IU was blown out by Ohio State

Objectively, what does this do for Ohio State? Well, now they can't win the B1G and get the 1 seed. How far do they fall? Hard to put them behind Indiana. Whoever loses Texas-Georgia will probably be behind Ohio State Whoever loses Oregon-PSU/Indiana will probably be behind Ohio State Whoever loses Miami-SMU will be behind Ohio State So effectively, we're looking at: 1. B1G winner 2. SEC winner 3. ACC winner 4. Boise State (MWC winner) 5. Notre Dame (assuming a win today) 6. Ohio State 7. Tennessee 8. B1G champ loser 9. SEC champ loser 10. Indiana 11. Oh great it's going to be Alabama isn't it, maybe ACC champ loser? 12. B12 winner

Maybe the soft cover zone wasn't the ideal call for this situation.

I am officially rooting for chaos in the Big 12 next week: Kansas State beats Iowa State Houston beats BYU Arizona beats ASU Oklahoma State beats Colorado Baylor beats Kansas TCU beats Cincy Result: 8 way tie for Big 12 champion at 6-3 in conference.

Notre Dame definitely looked better against Army on the road than PSU looked against Minnesota. Granted, I think Army was significantly over-ranked based on not having lost yet (i.e. I think Minnesota is actually a better team than Army), but I'm mostly just trying to figure out why PSU doesn't deserve their spot over some of these other teams, or now that Indiana lost to Ohio State they don't deserve to be in the playoffs either, as if the SEC just is by default better than anyone else despite not really having shown much to support this other than their purchased support from ESPN. I'd definitely prefer to see, like, SMU and Miami both in the playoff over, say, 3-loss Alabama, even if they did beat up Wisconsin and squeaked by Georgia. Just for posterity, this would be my top 12 right now: 1. Ohio State - Yes, they lost to Oregon, in Oregon, by one point. I think the rest of their resume is more impressive overall, and I think they'd be favored right now in a neutral environment that we'll see in two weeks anyway. 2. Oregon - They'll get a chance at OSU again, most likely. Win again, and there's no doubt they're #1. 3. Notre Dame - Inexplicable loss to NIU. Just bonkers. Still have the best win among the 1 loss teams and continue looking impressive week in, week out. 4. Texas - Explain to me a second what Texas' best win is? Is it at 6-5 Vandy or at 6-5 Michigan? They have a shot at a good win next week, but that will just give a direct point of reference against ND. 5. Penn State - Lost a close one to Ohio State at home, like they do every year. Beat everyone else, sometimes impressively, sometimes not. Boring team, but consistently good and beat everyone but Ohio State. 6. Georgia - Two losses, one bad, one close. Three good wins, which IMO puts them ahead of Indiana, Miami or SMU. Probably would be favored against Texas on a neutral field and would climb up to the #2 seed if they win the SEC. 7. Miami - See Texas. Miami's best win is probably at Louisville, as there are 3 good ACC teams and none of them play each other in the regular season. 8. Indiana - Yes, they lost by 23 to Ohio State. They've also beat up almost everyone else they've played, and have earned their way into the playoff discussion. 9. SMU - Same as Miami, but their loss was to a better team, but haven't been as impressive in wins. Maybe a straight pick-em vs Miami in a potential ACC championship, winner gets a mostly undeserving 3 seed. 10. Tennessee - This was probably A&M until that last Auburn loss. Good win against Bama, but their record is buoyed by their forgiving schedule more than most SEC teams. 11. Boise State - Gets the nod over whoever is the best team left in the Big 12. Still won't be ranked higher than anyone they'd potentially play in the playoff. 12. Arizona State - I guess? What's happening in this conference this season?

You're lost on what Notre Dame has to do with this when they're the primary competition for that #6 spot? C'mon, don't be that obtuse.

So the 2-3 loss SEC teams are dangerous but the 1 loss B1G teams are weak because...reasons? And I'd probably give 50-50 that ND is #4 next week after this week's results despite playing a weaker schedule than any of the other top 10 teams not named Indiana (though after this week, maybe?) and having a worse loss than anyone else.

Can't wait until Alabama plays Illinois in the Citrus bowl to play for the claim of best 4 loss team in the country.

The Bulls are the worst run sports organization in Chicago, and there's a healthy competition for that spot.

McKenzie loses his man 3 times in like 5 minutes, the last time leads to a Jamaica goal.

Looking good tonight against maybe the 5th best team in CONCACAF (them or Costa Rica, take your pick)