2019-20 NCAA Football (Week 15)

Conference Championship Week
(To start off by tooting my own horn, I went 8 for 8 in my Pick 'Em league this week. Yeah, 7 of the 8 faves won their games (sorry, Utah) but I don't have too many perfect weeks in my years of doing this so horn tooting is in order)


Games I saw some of:
(1) Ohio State 34-21 (8) Wisconsin
The thing about Ohio State is that they're probably the most consistent, reliable squad out there...except that against Penn State and Wisconsin they did nothing in the 1st half, then dominated the 2nd half. Dominating the 2nd half is nice but if they fall too far behind Clemson or LSU, they'll find it tough to get back in it, I think. I was cool with them moving to #1 a few weeks back and I'm just as cool with them falling to #2 going into the playoff. Clemson is gonna be tough--should be a great game!

(4) Georgia 10-37 (2) Louisiana State
Yeah, UGA gave a game effort but they just could not move the ball (dropped passes were a luxury they could not afford) and when LSU got going, they rolled without much effort. Dang, dude, LSU is really good this year, and while I think their typically rock solid defense is kinda rickety, that offense is just about perfect. I think they'll pummel Oklahoma and the Clemson/Ohio State winner will make for an intriguing Final. 

(17) Virginia 17-62 (3) Clemson
Didn't watch much but I gotta say I was way more impressed with UVA than I expected to be. They hung in there and had a coupla nice drives early and though they didn't come close to covering the 28-point spread, did anyone think there were going to? Clemson plays such a soft schedule every year that it's virtually impossible to tell how good they are. Last year I didn't think they could hang with Alabama but I wasn't sure...until the Final started and Bama was utterly powerless against them. Can they do that again? I think they can do that to Ohio State and while I'm skeptical they can beat LSU, I don't know that for sure. We won't know til they suit up and hit the field.

(7) Baylor 23-30 (OT) (6) Oklahoma
Man, Baylor just kept losing QBs but they still generally looked like the better team until OT, when they really just had no shot. Oklahoma has a nice offense but that defense has yet to impress and even though it feels like Jalen Hurts ought to be enough to put them in the discussion, I just don't see them winning two more games, as they are a distant 4th place going into the playoff. (LISTEN UP: if Oklahoma doesn't look like they can even come close to hanging with the top 3, then there is absolutely no need for an 8-team playoff! Four teams is perfect, don't mess with perfection!)

(20) Cincinnati 24-29 (17) Memphis
Fun game actually, really thought Cincy would pull it out. Both squads had their moments but Memphis did well to come out on top. 


Games I saw none of:
(5) Utah 15-37 (13) Oregon
Could've watched it, just forgot. If Utah had won they would've had a good shot at getting that #4 seed (and getting slaughtered by LSU) but Oregon's offense showed up and controlled the game throughout.

Hawaii 10-31 (19) Boise State
Saw none of either of these teams but Boise State hung around the top 20 so I had at least a little bit of familiarity with them. Score looks about right to me.

Louisiana 38-45 (21) Appalachian State
I've liked App all year long, they're wily and they can score. Those Louisiana schools always have good QBs and WRs but I figured App had the firepower to hang. 


My final rankings:
(1) Louisiana State (Dude, that offense is unstoppable, Burrow has perfect touch and knows exactly where to go with the ball every time. I think they'll destroy Oklahoma)
(2) Ohio State (Very workmanlike team, big talent all over the field, they move the ball and they attack on defense at a high level, still has big play ability while nailing down the little things, they're gonna be a tough out for anyone)
(3) Clemson (Maybe #2, might throttle the Buckeyes, I dunno, we'll see. After last year's thrashing of Bama, I'm not turning my back on these guys no matter how that soft schedule is, but I got to put them behind the Buckeyes because I saw the Buckeyes beat decent teams and I didn't see that from Clemson)
(4) Alabama (Yeah, things didn't come together for them this year, devastating injury to their star QB, defense wasn't as great as usual and LSU was a buzzsaw. But if they were put in this playoff, I'd give them a better shot than anyone else--yeah, crappiest Bama season in a decade but don't get it twisted: I'd take them to beat Oklahoma or Georgia even with a 3rd string QB)
(5) Georgia (Not so much an SEC homer as a non-believer in Oklahoma. Head to head I'd give them at least a puncher's chance against OU)
(6) Oklahoma (Good but should be better, the defense is not good, the offense isn't as good as it ought to be. I was not blown away by their effort against Baylor and I do not like their chances moving forward)
(7) Wisconsin (Classic Badger team, big boys up front that can move the ball, stingy defense, up against a sneaky good Buckeye squad this season)
(8) Oregon (Not bad but inconsistent enough to drop behind the SEC and Big 10 also-rans)

(9) Nobody. Utah had their chance and blew it, Baylor was spent by the end of the year, Florida was not that great, Penn State was okay but nothing special, Auburn had ups and downs but a lot of teams did, Minnesota had moments of impressing me but not enough to really matter, Notre Dame and Michigan were fine but nothing superlative. If I had to pick a #9 (which I most certainly do not), I'd probably take App State, they showed up more than the teams above did (most of whom were only marginally better--if at all--than Texas A&M). 

It was a really good college football season. There was at least one really good game every weekend this year and I gotta give a shout-out to how consistently compelling the action was throughout. After all that, I'm as convinced as ever that an 8-team playoff is absolutely unnecessary (though obviously inevitable).

I get it: the playoff is made for TV and the TV simply wants more games because people would watch (yeah, *sigh*, I'd watch) but if you add teams thinking that Boise State or Central Florida will get the shot they deserve, I think you're mistaken. An 8-team playoff would get the 3rd best SEC team--and deservedly so!--rather than making room for smaller conferences, which only means that an 8-team playoffs would quickly become a 16-team playoff, which would be even more unnecessary. I know you think 8 teams would open it up to more teams but I think it would do the exact opposite: it would cement the top 10 programs and everyone else would get pushed further to the margins.

Also, here's a weird rant: I'm tired of the "Targeting" penalty. I'm not saying get rid of it but I'm actually really impressed with how well (for the most part) players have so quickly morphed to meet the change in rules, so impressed that a further tweaking of the rule is worth considering. To wit: 1) it's never called on the offense, as if defenders are always fault and aren't deserving of the same safety considerations, which is simply not true--and likely to get even less true as coaches train runners to be more aggressive!; and 2) the sheer name of it suggests a malicious intent that is often not the case. If we're trying to tone down the malice then the rulings need to become more fair to all the players and not simply favor the ball carriers. I get the rule but, again, I think the kids have adapted extremely well considering it's the antithesis of what they've been taught to do all their lives. And continuing to punish defenders for doing their jobs as if they're the only ones at fault needs to change.