Andy

Mustache Man doom report

Yeah bowls are pointless. People kept attacking Harbaugh for his bowl record (on top of the MSU/OSU stuff) and I just couldn't find it in me to care. I don't think I've ever watched an entire Michigan bowl game in a decade. Seems like a pointless exhibition to me. Most teams play their big rivalry game the last week of the season so its sort of a climax to the season. But instead, you take a 5 week break before watching your team play one more game in a neutral location with nothing on the line. If they win, great. If they lose, whatever. I'm sure the players feel the same way except some of them have millions on the line. I'm still watching every second of the Fiesta and enjoy/care about bowls as much as any CFB fan, but it is interesting that this is now the overwhelmingly prevailing opinion, yet if God forbid ND loses again it's going to be another year of many of those same people going 'they haven't won a major bowl since 1993, what a joke'.

I know I’m biased but Corral is equal or better than Pickett imo. Corral played half the season limping around on an ankle that was almost broken at the end of the Tennessee game and was out his 2nd and 3rd best WR and his TE for most all of the year, yet still took Ole Miss to 10-2. He is really, really freaking good and he IS playing in the Sugar. I meant the best players in one specific NY6 game. (Trust me, if I'd meant any NY6 game at all there's no way I'd have rated either of those 2 as better than Kyle Hamilton, who's skipping the Fiesta for ND.) Without having seen much of either I'd probably lean to thinking Corral is better too.

Reasons the CFP is expanding No. 450,000,001 and 450,000,002 (after the $450M it's estimated to add to the leagues' coffers): Kenneth Walker has announced he's skipping the Peach Bowl and Kenny Pickett is rumored to be next. The 2 best players in an NY6 game saying 'nah, we're good' is why they're going to add more games to this thing.

He's a slam-dunk choice. The only thing that should stand in the way is whether he actually wants to work for that owner.

I can't believe we're in a timeline where I'm glad ND got stuck with Charlie Weis instead of that human garbage pile, but here we are The worst thing is that Meyer is sure to land a big college gig next year. Unfortunately that can't be ruled out. However, USC was reportedly turned off by his off-field stuff and that was before this year's veritable boat full of off-field stuff, so I have to think (hope) at least a couple big jobs who otherwise would want him are of a similar mind now.

I can't believe we're in a timeline where I'm glad ND got stuck with Charlie Weis instead of that human garbage pile, but here we are

I think you are. They've been featured on TV commercials because of Deion doing Geico with Saban now, but SWAC games are rarely televised. That's about to change. If Deion (and other SWAC schools) continue to get top commits, that'll force stations to televise them. There are rumors flying that he's taking his bag to get a few other top guys, too, so this should be interesting.

And on that topic, the #1 recruit in the country has just flipped from Florida State to.....Jackson State to play for Coach Prime. Word is that he's getting a large NIL deal from Barstool, which also has a deal with Coach Prime himself.

For the most part. It's obviously a bad look if anyone complains about it - Kiffin just got a big-ass extension from Ole Miss in part so he wouldn't do the same thing - but if you're just observing it's fair to say it.

This is the worst outbreak among any sports team since at least summer 2020 when a couple college football teams had big ones. By percentage of roster it's probably the worst of them all.

Cristobal leaving Oregon for Miami per multiple reports. Chip Kelly said to be favored to go to Oregon for a 2nd tour, which is just delicious.

Bahamas Bowl in Nassau, BS – 12/17, 12 pm (ESPN) Toledo vs Middle Tennessee Tailgreeter Cure Bowl in Orlando, FL – 12/17, 6 pm (ESPN2) Northern Illinois vs Coastal Carolina RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl in Boca Raton, FL – 12/18, 11 am (ESPN) Appalachian State vs Western Kentucky PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, NM – 12/18, 2:15 pm (ESPN) Fresno State vs UTEP Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA – 12/18, 3:30 pm (ABC) (13) BYU vs UAB LendingTree Bowl in Mobile, AL – 12/18, 5:45 pm (ESPN) Eastern Michigan vs Liberty Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl in Inglewood, CA – 12/18, 7:30 pm (ABC) Utah State vs Oregon State R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in New Orleans, LA – 12/18, 9:15 pm (ESPN) Marshall vs (23) UL Lafayette Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, SC – 12/20, 2:30 pm (ESPN) Tulsa vs Old Dominion Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, ID – 12/21, 3:30 pm (ESPN) Wyoming vs Kent State Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl in Frisco, TX – 12/21, 7:30 pm (ESPN) UTSA vs (24) San Diego State Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, TX – 12/22, 8 pm (ESPN) Army vs Missouri Frisco Football Classic in Frisco, TX – 12/23, 3:30 pm (ESPN) Miami (OH) vs North Texas UnionHome Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL – 12/23, 7 pm (ESPN) Florida vs UCF TaxAct Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, AL – 12/25, 2:30 pm (ESPN) Ball State vs Georgia State Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, MI – 12/27, 11 am (ESPN) Nevada vs Western Michigan TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl in Birmingham, AL – 12/28, 12 pm (ESPN) (20) Houston vs Auburn ServPro First Responder Bowl in Dallas, TX – 12/28, 3:15 pm (ESPN) Air Force vs Louisville AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN – 12/28, 6:45 pm (ESPN) Mississippi State vs Texas Tech Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, AZ – 12/28, 10:15 pm (ESPN) Minnesota vs West Virginia New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York, NY - 12/29, 2:15 pm (ESPN) Maryland vs Virginia Tech Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, FL – 12/29, 5:45 pm (ESPN) (19) Clemson vs Iowa State Valero Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX – 12/29, 9:15 pm (ESPN) (14) Oregon vs (16) Oklahoma Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, NC – 12/30, 11:30 am (ESPN) South Carolina vs North Carolina TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN – 12/30, 3 pm (ESPN) Tennessee vs Purdue SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, NV – 12/30, 10:30 pm (ESPN) Wisconsin vs Arizona State TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL – 12/31, 11 am (ESPN) (17) Wake Forest vs Rutgers Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX – 12/31, 12:30 pm (CBS) Central Michigan vs Washington State Outback Bowl in Tampa, FL – 1/1, 12 pm (ESPN2) (21) Arkansas vs Penn State VRBO Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL – 1/1, 1 pm (ABC) (22) Kentucky vs (15) Iowa TaxAct Texas Bowl in Houston, TX – 1/4, 9 pm (ESPN) Kansas State vs LSU “New Year’s 6” Games: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, GA – 12/30, 7 pm (ESPN) (12) Pittsburgh vs (10) Michigan State PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ – 1/1, 1 pm (ESPN) (9) Oklahoma State vs (5) Notre Dame Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA – 1/1, 5 pm (ESPN) (6) Ohio State vs (11) Utah Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA – 1/1, 8 pm (ESPN) (7) Baylor vs (8) Ole Miss Playoff: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Semifinal in Arlington, TX – 12/31, 3:30 pm (ESPN) (4) Cincinnati vs (1) Alabama Capital One Orange Bowl Semifinal in Miami, FL – 12/31, 7:30 pm (ESPN) (3) Georgia vs (2) Michigan College Football Championship Game in Indianapolis, IN – 1/10, 8 pm (ESPN) Semifinal Winners

Panthers fire OC Joe Brady. My excitement over that hire didn't age well.

MSU vs Pittsburgh in the Peach could be 52-49 if Pickett plays. A couple minor bowls that catch my attention on first look are Iowa State/Clemson in the Cheez-It and UCF/Florida in the Gasparilla just for the novelty and likely sellout crowd.

I'm probably overreacting to today's results but I bet Michigan vs Georgia is a competitive game. Georgia's resume suddenly looks a bit suspect after they got blasted by the first very good team they played. Their offense just isn't that great and UM can probably hold them down enough to make it close. Or maybe it's just my natural pessimism.

I was really hoping we’d have the chance to play y’all in Fiesta. Notre Dame v Ole Miss would have been a fun and unique matchup. Definitely would've been, but unfortunately geography dictated Ole Miss would've gone to the Peach. Of course as it turned out, Bama winning means you're headed to the Sugar which is a pretty swell consolation prize.

It's sort of a bummer (for me, nobody else cares) that ND will probably be playing Oklahoma State now in the bowl instead of Michigan State. MSU would've been a more fun matchup. And maybe an easier one, though if today's Cowboy team shows up in Glendale, maybe not.

Iowa as a top 15 team says a lot more about this year in college football than it does about Iowa

The Freeman promotion is now being reported by pretty much everybody. More interestingly, just about every ND assistant that it was rumored Kelly wanted to poach is reportedly staying. The games are what matter, but tonight was a pretty feel good night in South Bend.

Heyman reporting same. Looks like it's happening.

ND claims Kelly didn't ask for anything and that they're constantly looking at facilities upgrades (not that you'd expect them to say anything else, I guess). Some contract details are out and Kelly is due 90% of his remaining deal if he's fired without cause and 100% of it if he wins a national title and later gets fired. So he's basically guaranteed $90 million right now. Not bad work if you can get it.

Notre Dame's record is a fraud like usual. Their garbage schedule this year was highlighted by a loss to Cincinnati and wins against Purdue 8-4, Wisconsin 8-4 and Toledo 7-5. All other teams were .500 or worse. Had they managed to beat Cincinnati they would have been granted the opportunity to get curb stomped by a real team in the playoff. I don't know that playing a B10 west schedule would have been much tougher this year. But if they go through that unbeaten and win the champ game, they get to play for a national title. Essentially, each year they just have to beat Iowa, Wisconsin and whichever other teams are decent that year, then win in the title game. Even if they have a loss, they still have a great chance to get into the CFP if they just win the B10 title. That's a much more straightforward path than they have now. We're about to change to a system that guarantees ND will get in every time they go 11-1 and gives them a chance at 10-2 if the schedule is good enough. Playoff access is not now and is not going to be an issue.

The sucky thing about all this is that it's going to give credence to the idea that ND can't win a title at all. I agree, and have for years, that ND was never winning a title with Brian Kelly. I do think there's a difference. Just to name one very recent example, Michigan just straight-up punked Ohio State with a roster that isn't appreciably more talented than Notre Dame's is, at least by recruiting rankings. If they want a better chance to win a championship, they should join a conference. Like, for reals this time. If they joined the big 10 with a condition being that they get put in the west, they'd have a good shot to be in the title game nearly every year. I know, I know...traditions, blah blah blah. Notre Dame beat two of the best 3 teams in the B1G West this very year and would be locked into the playoff right now if they hadn't turned the ball over 3 times against Cincinnati. They have a top-10 recruiting class (for now) for next year and the start of what could be an even better one the year after. "Just join a conference" is easy to say but it really has nothing to do with anything at this point and it certainly wouldn't have changed anything about the first 2 sentences I wrote. I also cannot believe after the crap we've seen in college football the past decade and especially the past few months that people still think conference affiliation means anything at all. We are closer to a world where Ohio State and USC and Alabama start asking themselves why they're sharing money with the likes of Purdue and Oregon State and Vanderbilt than we are to one where anyone cares about the Big Ten or the Pac-12 or whoever else.

Because he’s getting paid a metric ton and wants to win a title. He wasn’t accomplishing either by staying at ND. The sucky thing about all this is that it's going to give credence to the idea that ND can't win a title at all. I agree, and have for years, that ND was never winning a title with Brian Kelly. I do think there's a difference. Just to name one very recent example, Michigan just straight-up punked Ohio State with a roster that isn't appreciably more talented than Notre Dame's is, at least by recruiting rankings.