In yesterday’s post, UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly said that the break-up of the Pac-12 Conference was a major mistake.  He suggested that major college programs should declare their football teams to be “independent” and abandon the rapidly expanding conferences which are making less geographic sense.

Coach Kelly wants one division for the top 64 teams and another for the lower 64 teams.  I agree.

Chip Kelly also suggested that players should be paid out of the gigantic pile of television revenues.   I countered by saying that the annual cost of tuition, room, and board ($27,000 -54,000/year in 2023) should be a major consideration and deducted from the player’s proposed “pay” under such a system.

Though UCLA Coach Chip Kelly’s suggested 128 teams (64 apiece to form two separate upper division conferences), there are currently 133 teams playing in the FBS division this past season.   Getting to 128 teams (a much easier number to work with) requires us to make a tough decision to drop five schools.

We will make that happen, too.

Coach Kelly’s idea is to forget about these rapidly changing conference affiliations (based on the astronomical rise in television rights fees being paid to the schools).  Check out yesterday’s post for more on that subject.

We need two groups of 64 teams apiece to start this process.  I will call them the Upper Grouping and the Lower Grouping for purposes of this discussion.

As you probably know, my site (SwampSwamiSports.com) ranks all 133 of the current FBS teams during the college football season.  A complete final ranking for all 133 teams was published a few weeks ago.  Here is a link to that list.

Now, it’s time to get to work! 

But first, let’s establish a few ground rules. 

1. We are trying to come up with a better plan than will be in existence starting in 2024.

Some ideas might be feasible, and others may not.  Regardless, this exercise is purely for fun as we throw a few ideas on the table for discussion.  Nobody is right and nobody is wrong at this point.

2. Money talks.

In general, major college football has been relatively stable for most of the past three decades.  A few major college teams have moved from one conference to another.

That changes significantly in 2024 as a massive eastward migration of ten former Pac-12 Conference schools occurs.  It has been driven by the hyperbolic growth of television revenues available to major college athletics program.  Conference jumping purely for the sake of securing incremental revenue may not be a positive for the student-athletes (excessive travel) and for many fans of college sports.

3. Geography still matters.

Coach Chip Kelly suggested that each school should play at least seven regular season games within its traditional geographic footprint.  That’s good for everyone – players, coaches, and fans!

4. The regular season should be reduced to 11 games (down from 12).

My suggestion takes a cue from the current FCS (smaller division) playoff system.  Their playoffs begin immediately following Game #11 of the regular season.

With this new 11-game regular season model, there will no longer be conference championship games (hooray!).  Though some schools and television providers might complain about losing Week #12, the proposed new expanded playoff system will create even more money than the current system generates.

5. An expanded playoff field of 16-teams will be conducted at both of these two upper-division levels.

With two Groupings featuring 64-teams apiece,

Beginning in the fall of 2024, the comfortable regional geography of major college athletic conferences will be no more.  Several major college programs have bolted from their long-time conference affiliations in pursuit of more money for their athletic programs.

Sure, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC will still retain the majority of teams from within the traditional geographic footprints of their conferences.   The Pac-12 Conference will become the Pac-2 next year with only Oregon State and Washington State remaining in 2024.

Those two West Coast schools have already begun discussions about a potential merger with the nearby Mountain West Conference.

The other “Packed-10” schools in the conference are firing up the corporate jets as they begin a rather illogical eastward migration in 2024.

 

The Big Ten pilfered USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington.

The Big 12 Conference snagged Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah beginning next season.

Even the Atlantic Coast Conference got into the act!  California and Stanford have just become America’s second and third biggest frequent fliers (behind the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors).

These massive moves by West Coast teams made the SEC’s sneaky minor westward migration into Oklahoma and central Texas in 2024 seem much less noteworthy to geography buffs like me.

Any semblance of common sense in major college athletics in America has nearly evaporated.  With tens of millions of dollars being dangled in front of conferences by eager television competitors to seize growing ratings for college football games, the long-time cozy world of stable regional conferences is all but gone starting next year.

As we’ve often heard, there is no “I” in team.  It’s a true mad dash to snag the most dollars – by the schools and the players, too.  The NCAA’s Transfer Portal and NIL has many top college football and other star players seeking investment advisors as this year comes to a close.

Money talks. 

Last week, UCLA head football coach Chip Kelly asked a question which many of us have pondered for a long time.

Why even have athletic conferences for most of the major college football teams anymore?

He said, “I think we should all be independent in football.  You can have a 64-team conference that’s in the Power 5 and you can have a 64-team conference in the Group of 5, and we separate it and we play each other.”

Now, you’re talking, Coach Kelly!  That makes more sense than what is happening now.

He added, “It’s sad.  The fact that there’s not going to be a Pac-12 next year, the fact that Washington State is not going to be [in] a conference next year, the fact that Oregon State is not going to be in a conference next year, we failed.”

In reality, the Pacific Time Zone killed the Pac-12 Conference 

The Pac-12 became the poster child for failure to capture enough money in today’s rapidly accelerating world of big money television rights being offered to major college conferences.

Last summer, the Pac-12 Conference concluded a year’s worth of negotiations with anyone and everyone about their future television rights.  The best offer came from internet-based Apple TV.  It would require Pac-12 viewers to purchase a subscription to Apple TV to watch the games.  There would not be an over-the-air option (like CBS, ABC, or Fox) or cable (such as ESPN or CBS Sports Network).

Each Pac-12 school would receive more than $20 million per year in the proposed deal.  Unfortunately, that was about half of the annual value which teams in other major conferences will be receiving.

The value disparity isn’t due to America having an anti-West coast bias when it comes to te...

It’s nearly Christmas time!  While the rest of the sports world seems to be in a festive holiday mood, the longtime men’s professional golf tour is bunkered in one very deep sand trap as 2023 comes to a close.

Back in June, the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced a merger of the PGA Tour with the upstart Saudi-financed LIV Golf group.  It was like a bolt of lightning coming out of a blue sky.  It shocked the golf world.

Here’s a brief refresher on how LIV Golf came into existence. 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has billions of dollars available to spend on a variety of investments.  A source indicated that they are sitting on a $700 billion pile of cash.  The head of that fund supposedly approached the PGA Tour a few years ago and asked to contribute $1 billion to partner with professional golf’s premier men’s tour.  They wanted to expand it on a worldwide basis.

The PGA Tour Commissioner told them, effectively, to hit the road.  No, thanks! 

So, the Saudi Investment group used their own money to start its own new golf league.  LIV Golf started play in the spring of 2022.

In less than two years, this upstart men’s professional golf league has poached many of the PGA Tour’s best known stars by offering massive signing bonuses.  Players received anywhere from $10 million on the low side up to a reported $200 million to obtain the services of golf legend Phil Mickelson.   Other major champions such as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith have joined LIV Golf, too.

Earlier this month, LIV Golf signed yet another top young PGA talent.  Jon Rahm inked a deal which may be valued at more than $300 million.

LIV Golf’s backers have plenty of cash, and they don’t mind spending it.

Different from the PGA Tour, the 48-player (for now) LIV Golf league plays just 54 holes (LIV in Roman numerals is the number 54, you know) over three days instead of the PGA Tour’s standard of 72 holes played over four days.  LIV Golf also utilizes a unique four-man team concept and rewards the top three team scores with even more cash after each tournament.

Speaking of cash, each LIV Golfer receives a weekly minimum paycheck (usually $25,000) for participation in their no-cut events.  LIV Golf purses are more than double the average PGA Tour event with less than half of the golfers.

The LIV Golf season is much shorter, too.  The league teed-up just 13 events in 2023 (about half of those played in the US).  Meanwhile, the US-based PGA Tour golfers will play a 39-week tournament schedule coming up in 2024.

The PGA Tour is starting a counter-offensive to LIV Golf in 2024.  Or will they?

To help combat the LIV Golf defections, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced in March, 2023 a number of changes which would begin with the quickly-approaching 2024 golf season.   The PGA Tour plans a series of eight “signature events” in 2024 featuring outsized “LIV-like” purses to be paid to a reduced field of only top-ranked golfers.

Commissioner Monahan said, “In 2024, select Designated events will be between 70 to 80 players, with no cut – and with opportunities for players from Full-Field events to qualify and compete. These smaller, Designated event fields will not only deliver substantial, can’t-miss tournaments to our fans at important intervals throughout the season, but they will also enhance the quality of Full-Field events.”

That sounds a lot like a LIV Golf event to me.

Then, out of the blue, a proposed merger agreement with LIV Golf appears?

Beginning this Saturday, December 16, it’s time to begin the annual 2 ½ week dash to the finish line called the college football bowl season.  An incredible 82 of the 133 FBS teams will see action during these 41 bowl games.

It begins this Saturday with six games in just one day!  The early match-ups primarily feature teams fortunate to be playing one extra game.

The bowl season concludes on January 1, 2024 with two games involving the four teams selected by the high and mighty College Football Playoff committee to play in the national semifinal games.  Those two winners will face off for the championship game a week later on January 8.

Yes, I’m still upset about Florida State being left out of the Final Four!

If you are fan of 13-0 ACC champion Florida State, your SwampSwami has already suggested that you should NOT WATCH the two national semifinal games on January 1 or the finals on January 8.

It’s the least we can do to remind ESPN and its influence over the playoff committee that every game matters.  Two 12-1 teams (Texas and Alabama) were selected ahead of 13-0 Florida State.

No, I am not “over it”.  I won’t watch those two games nor report on them afterwards.  I believe that Texas and Alabama have terrific teams.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the Longhorns and Crimson Tide meet again in a rematch for the national title if Texas downs 13-0 Washington and Bama beats #1 seed 13-0 Michigan.

Florida State was railroaded out of this year’s final four strictly because Alabama will likely bring a few million additional viewers to watch ESPN’s hour of ads during their national semifinal game with Michigan.

Shame on you, Paul Finebaum! 

I listened to Paul Finebaum (SEC Network) last week as he defended the CFP committee’s choice of Alabama.  He told more than one caller that the money to be paid to each team was “already in the bank” so it didn’t matter which teams were selected for the field.

For each of the four teams selected, that is absolutely true!  The annual payment to be made to each team was already part of the current television agreement which Finebaum’s employer (ESPN) negotiated with the College Football Playoff group.

However…

ESPN’s bank account will be fattened by the CFP committee’s choice of 12-1 Alabama over 13-0 Florida State for the fourth and final spot in this year’s playoffs.  Alabama’s national name recognition and fan base will insure millions more Bama viewers (those who love the Crimson Tide and those who don’t) will watch the game rather than if Florida State had been playing Michigan.

Yes, ESPN took a risk with their contract to guarantee so much money to broadcast these games.  Getting Alabama into this year’s playoff games, though, means significantly more viewers and ad revenue for ESPN to recapture their huge investment costs and still turn a nifty profit.

Florida State fans need to give ESPN’s national semifinal games and championship the Tomahawk Chop!

Simply don’t watch those three games.  Send ESPN and its sponsors a resounding message! 

Your SwampSwamiSports.com 2023 Bowl Game TV viewing guide is ready!

After the regular season ended, I have ranked all 133 FBS college football teams based on their number of wins and their win over the team which has the best record this season.  If your office has a holiday contest to select the winners of the bowl games, this is your lucky day!

 

Here are the five closest match-ups (all team rankings via SwampSwamiSports.com)

1.  Peach Bowl (Sat. Dec 30) – #17 Ole Miss (10-2) vs. #18 Penn State (10-2)

An SEC offensive powerhouse goes against a solid defensive team from the Big Ten.

2.  Boca Raton Bowl (Thurs Dec 21) – #77 South Florida (6-6) vs. #78 Syracuse (6-6)

Let’s all sing that new holiday favorite, “All I want for Christmas is a new Quarterback!”

At this very moment, Santa’s elves are working overtime.  The NCAA’s Transfer Portal has just opened up for business on December 4.

From now until January 2, 2024 (a 30-day window), eligible college football players may submit their names into this quickly growing pool of players seeking to transfer to another school for the upcoming spring semester.

It isn’t without risk, though.

Once the college football player submits his name into the Transfer Portal, the current school may terminate the player’s athletic scholarship after the fall semester ends and give it to another student-athlete beginning this spring.

I overheard one radio commentator yesterday saying that 85% of these transferring football players will find a new home.  Some will be happy with their new destination.  Others may find their suitors to be less than optimal.  But even that is better than the big lump of coal in the Christmas stocking for the unlucky 15%.  Those pound puppies won’t have a home soon.

“You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!”

The NCAA rules governing this relatively new (2018) game of musical chairs are not the easiest to understand.

For example, I was surprised to learn that the exiting student-athlete cannot (wink, wink) have any contact with one or more of his future collegiate destinations prior to placing his name into the NCAA’s electronic hopper.   That goes for contact with any family member, scholastic or non-scholastic coach, advisor, and former teammates of the player, too.

If you believe that, Santa and I heartily laugh, “Ho, Ho, Ho!”

For those college football players highly in demand (quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs, and defensive specialists), a change of scenery will likely mean more money from the new school’s pot of NIL gold, too.

We have entered a very aggressive one-month meat market of bidding for college football players.

In the not-too-distant past, it was the highly sought-after high school star athletes who were the primary beneficiaries of recruiting romance pitches from college coaches.

A new layer of recruiting has quickly evolved.  Colleges and existing athletes are participating in this short-term game with filled with financial rewards and high risks, too.

Another Ohio State quarterback scrambles away from Columbus!

The starting quarterback of the 11-1 Ohio State Buckeyes has placed his name into the NCAA’s Transfer Portal this week.

Kyle McCord engineered Ohio State’s miraculous comeback win over Notre Dame early in the season.  The Buckeyes entered their annual battle with rival Michigan with a spotless 11-0 record.  However, McCord threw two interceptions in Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan a couple of weeks ago.

Though Ohio State finished 11-1, the school lost a third straight annual game to its bitter rival.  The Ohio State head football coach, Ryan Day (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Popeye’s rival, Bluto) recently tossed his starting quarterback under the bus after the Buckeyes’ season ended.

Ryan Day said, “When you come up short, the bottom line is you got to look at everything, because you didn’t get it done, and that’s the thing that is just sobering here.  At 11-1, you come up short on the last possession, it’s just not good enough.  So you got to look at everything, and we will look at everything.” 

Wow, what a jerk!  Seriously, who would want to come play football for a coach like Ryan Day?

The Atlantic Coast Conference Champion 13-0 Florida State Seminoles were just left out of the four-team College Football Playoffs in favor of Big 12 Champion Texas (12-1) and SEC champion Alabama (also 12-1).

Let that sink in for just a moment.

All three teams are conference champions.  Alabama lost 34-24 to Texas early in the season.  Texas’ lone loss came at the hands of 10-2 Oklahoma.

So, which team did 13-0 Florida State lose to? (Answer:  None)

The College Football Playoff Committee selected 13-0 Michigan (Big Ten Champions) as the #1 seed.   Pac-12 Champion and unbeaten Washington (13-0) was tabbed as the #2 seed.  Those two choices were not surprising (even though Michigan’s schedule was softer than a Stay-Puft Marshmallow).

That left two playoff slots available.  Two remaining 13-0 teams (also conference champions) were available.  Florida State (the ACC champs) and Liberty University (winner of Conference USA) were waving their hands to the committee.

Sorry, Liberty.  Despite winning every game on your schedule, your conference opponents were deemed too inferior when compared to those of Big Ten champion, Michigan (sarcasm intended).

Speaking of schedules, let’s review this trio of 13-0 teams.

The CFP’s top-ranked Michigan Wolverines beat cream puffs like East Carolina (2-10), Nebraska (5-7), Minnesota (5-7), Indiana (3-9), Michigan State (4-8), and Purdue (4-8).  That’s half of Michigan’s schedule.

The Wolverines played only three ranked opponents.  They beat then #10 Penn State 24-15 and later beat #2-ranked Ohio State 30-24.  On Saturday, Michigan beat the worst 10-win team in modern history, the #16-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, by a 26-0 score.

The #2 ranked Washington Huskies posted wins over Tulsa (4-8), Michigan State (4-8), Arizona State (3-9), and Stanford (3-9).  The other eight teams on the Huskies’ schedule had winning records.

Washington handed Oregon its only two losses!  In my book, that should have elevated Washington into the top spot in the college playoffs – not Michigan.

Now, let’s examine 13-0 Florida State as compared to Michigan and Washington.

The Seminoles started off the season quickly by downing then-#5 LSU 45-24.  After that, FSU beat sub-500 teams such as Southern Miss (3-9), Wake Forest (4-8), Pittsburgh (3-9), FCS opponent Northern Alabama (3-8) and the Florida Gators (5-7).   In addition to 9-3 LSU, Florida State defeated two other ranked teams.  The Noles beat #16 Duke (38-20) and then #10 Louisville in the ACC Championship game.

Of those three unbeaten teams, my eyeball test gives the nod to Washington for playing the toughest hombres.  Florida State and Michigan should be toss-ups for the second and third spots.

Florida State wasn’t awarded the third spot, either.  That went to Big 12 champion and 12-1 Texas.

The Longhorns played a dandy schedule this season.  They beat big, bad Alabama early in the year and just won the Big 12 title in a cakewalk over Oklahoma State.  Bravo, Bevo!

Certainly Florida State captured the #4 spot, right?

Nope, that went to SEC champion Alabama (12-1).  Bama took down the longtime unbeaten (29 straight games) Godzilla-named-Georgia 27-24 on Saturday to demand a spot in the field.

Since Bama had already lost to Texas, the CFP committee handed the Crimson Tide the fourth and final spot.

The undefeated 13-0 Florida State Seminoles were left out in favor of a couple of one-loss teams.  How is that even possible?  Time to check the rule book.

What were the College Football Playoff rules for selecting the top four teams?

This comes straight from the CFP websi...

The final SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 rankings are complete!   As a special bonus, this edition contains the rankings for the other 108 teams which play in the upper (FBS) division of college football.

UNLIKE that secretive enclave of voters for the College Football Playoffs, I am giving you a chance to see how I have made my determinations and why.

If you are new to my site (welcome!), here are my rules for ranking college football teams on SwampSwamiSports.com (the rules do not change from year to year – unlike other entities):

* Teams without a loss are ranked higher than any team which has lost a game. Why should a team a perfect record be ranked below a team with one loss?

* A team with thirteen wins is ranked above a team with twelve, etc.

* Your team’s “best win” is determined weekly against your opponent which has the best won/loss record thus far in the season. It matters who you beat!

* Preference is given to your team’s “best win” if it comes on the road vs. a home win.

* Ties are broken by point differentials in each team’s “best win”.

* A win over an FBS team receives preference over a win over an FCS school.

* A head-to-head win over another team with the same number of losses gets preference.

* All decisions by the administrator of this site (me) are FINAL!

I admit that my rankings have one significant bias which is unavoidable.

All ten FBS conferences are given equal weighting.  That allows schools within the alleged “weaker” conferences (such as the poorly named Group of Five – AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sunbelt) to compete for top billing alongside the traditional conference participants.

For example, you may note that my current #4 team is 13-0 Liberty University.

Liberty won every game they played this season.  That includes two victories over the same New Mexico State team (now 10-4) which clobbered the SEC’s Auburn Tigers 31-10 a week before Alabama (now 12-1) rallied in the final seconds to beat Aubie 27-24.

Which team looked more impressive in beating 6-6 Auburn – the Conference USA team (New Mexico State) or the newly crowned SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide?

Alabama would likely be a two touchdown favorite to beat New Mexico State if they played at a neutral site next weekend.  Matchups also matter.  New Mexico State’s defense stifled Auburn’s offense all day (200 total yards).  The next week against Alabama, Auburn picked-up over 350 yards on total offense.  Go figure.

Today’s release of the College Football Playoff rankings is the primary reason which I started doing my own rankings here six years ago.  Despite what you may have heard from the pom-pom waving paid cheerleaders who work for ESPN, the decision involving the teams selected for this year’s Final Four of college football was quite likely influenced by money (ratings).

The CFP committee placed Michigan at #1 followed by Washington #2, Texas at #3 and Alabama at #4.  Michigan will play Bama in one semifinal and Washington will tackle the Longhorns in the other.  Great games, but what happened to the ACC’s 13-0 champion, Florida State?

The Seminoles just became the first unbeaten major conference team to be left out of the FBS four-team playoffs.

There were four FBS unbeaten teams remaining.  For my SwampSwamiSports.com rankings, this was easy.  I have #1 Michigan playing #4 Liberty and #2 Washington playing #3 Florida State.

Since Texas, Alabama and Georgia all finished with one loss apiece, they were ranked #5, 6, and 7 in my evaluation.   One loss means that your team did not go undefeated.  As such, you should fall behind the unbeaten teams.  Better luck next season!

Promo – I am quite incensed about Florida State being left out of the CFP top four.  A full story devoted to this subject will come out Monday o...

The marketing campaigns are now underway.   No, I’m not talking about the 2024 elections (though some states are hearing plenty of those ads already).

Right now, a relatively secret group of voters has just received a ballot for the annual award given to the college football player who (according to this group of voters) had the best season.

On Saturday, December 9 in New York City, the four finalists for the Heisman will be assembled and a nifty trophy will be handed to the winner.

Why is it called the Heisman Trophy?

This award ceremony began back in 1935.  The man whose name adorns the trophy is another story.

Born in 1869, John W. Heisman played club football in college and graduated with a law degree.  However, his heart was still in football, so he became a pioneering football coach.

John Heisman coached football programs at Oberlin College (Ohio), Auburn, Clemson, the University of Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson (western PA), and Rice University.  After retiring from coaching at age 62, Heisman was named the Athletic Director for the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City.   While there, he and the club members wanted to find a way to honor the nation’s top football player.  Heisman worked to develop an early model of the voting system which is still in use today.

The first winner in 1935 took home the “Downtown Athletic Club” award.  John Heisman died of pneumonia the following year in 1936.  The annual award’s name was changed to honor Coach Heisman beginning in late 1936 through today.

The Downtown Athletic Club of New York City still gives its annual award to “the best collegiate football player in the country.”

But according to whom?

The Heisman Trophy is determined by (you guessed it) 870 members of the media and the 57 living former winners of the award.   (No, I didn’t receive a ballot again this year).

These 870 media members are equally divided geographically with 145 voters in the Far West, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, South, and Southwest regions.

Though the Downtown Athletic Club hasn’t asked me, I wonder why each of the nation’s 133 FBS head coaches is not permitted to vote, too.  Wouldn’t it be a good idea to ask the people who are responsible to develop a game plan to stop the best football players in the country?

If you think that your eyes glaze over when someone tries to explain the Electoral College system used in presidential elections, the rules governing the Heisman Trophy are rather complicated, too.

“The Sectional Representatives are responsible for the appointment of the State Representatives.  State Representatives are given the responsibility of selecting the voters within their particular state. The amount of votes that a particular state is allotted depends on the size of the state and the amount of media outlets within that state.  Larger states such as California and Texas will naturally have more votes than smaller states such as Vermont and Delaware.”

Did you know that Lee Corso (the 88-year old headgear wearing star of ESPN’s College Football Game Day) is the current Sectional Representative for the South region?

Don Criqui (now 83 years old and formerly of CBS Sports) handles the same duties for the Northeast region.

Each Heisman voter must provide their first, second, and third choice for the winner.  The first choice receives three points, the second choice gets two points and the third choice receives one.

This year’s Heisman Trophy voters must submit their choices by this coming Monday, December 4.  The winner will be announced during a one-hour spec...

Sorry, Jim Harbaugh.  Your Michigan Wolverines football team really doesn’t need you.  After beating arch-rival Ohio State 30-24 on Saturday without its head coach on the field, Michigan reclaimed the #1 ranking in the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 for the week ending November 25, 2023.

The Michigan head football coach earns about $8.25 million per year.

Jim Harbaugh was suspended for the Wolverines’ first three games in 2023 by the University for recruiting violations.  A few weeks ago, he was suspended by the Big Ten Conference for the final three games of the team’s regular season, too.

That makes Michigan 6-0 without its head coach and 6-0 when Coach Harbaugh is along the team’s sideline.

In my book, Harbaugh should offer to repay the University of Michigan more than $4 million for being a home spectator for half of the team’s football games this year.

Then there’s the situation in Columbus with Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day.  He is now 56-7 as the Buckeyes leader.  When you lose three straight games to your school’s biggest football enemy, the head coach will receive the brunt of the criticism afterward.

Can you imagine the heat that Ohio State’s coach is taking this week after losing to Michigan – without the Wolverines’ head coach on the sideline?

Ryan Day (who looks – to me – a lot like Popeye’s nemesis, Bluto) probably feels like someone on the receiving end of that cartoon sailor man’s spinach-fueled thrashing after going back to Columbus with Ohio State’s third straight loss to Michigan.

St. Nick (Saban) celebrates Christmas early in the Plains!

The heavily-favored Alabama Crimson Tide was down by four points with less than a minute to go in their annual grudge match called “The Iron Bowl” against intrastate rival Auburn.  With more than 85,000 Auburn fans screaming support for their home team, visiting Alabama found itself in a nearly impossible 4th down and 31 yards situation on the Auburn 31 yard line.

Facing a four point deficit, kicking a field goal wasn’t an option.  It was touchdown or bust for Bama.  If they should lose to Auburn, the Tide would have two losses on the season and be out of the running for a spot in the College Football Playoffs.

Fourth and 31 yards to go also meant a 0.1% statistical chance of converting the final play into a touchdown.

Inexplicably, Auburn rushed just two players on defense and sent nine men into a protective zone defensive coverage.  That gave Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe nearly ten seconds to stand around and select an open receiver.  He eventually spotted Isaiah Bond in the corner of the end zone for the winning touchdown and miraculous 27-24 victory over Auburn.

With the win, 11-1 Alabama retains a chance to capture the SEC Championship this Saturday by taking down 12-0 Georgia.  The game will be at 3PM Central time on CBS.

Auburn (now 6-6) has played inconsistently from game to game all season.  However, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has done a solid job in his first season.  This team is trending in a positive direction.

Speaking of Christmas presents, here’s one for James Madison and Jacksonville State!

Two weeks ago, the 11-1 James Madison Dukes of the Sunbelt Conference were denied their second appeal to the NCAA to play in the post-season.  That decision stemmed from a dated NCAA rule which kept teams which have moved up into the FBS level out of any post-season games for their first two years in the upper division.

The NCAA (in its infinite wisdom) has approved a total of 41 bowl gam...

The 11-0 Washington Huskies have beaten all comers this season.  They are one of the six unbeaten teams remaining within the 133-team FBS group.  The others (alphabetically) are Florida State, Georgia, Liberty University, Michigan, and Ohio State.

However, Washington can claim a win over a team with a 10-1 record (Oregon).  That keeps the Huskies as the top dogs in the SwampSwamiSports.com College Football Top 25 for the week ending November 18, 2023.

Just four teams will make the College Football Playoffs.  There is still a chance we could have four unbeaten teams vying for the national title this year.

If Florida State (ACC), Georgia (SEC), Washington (Pac-12), and either Ohio State/Michigan (Big Ten) should win their respective conference championships, a stellar foursome of unbeaten titans would emerge.

However…

There might be zero unbeaten teams remaining in a few weeks, too!

It would take Oregon to beat Washington for the Pac-12 title.  Alabama would need to end Georgia’s unbeaten season to grab the SEC Championship.  Iowa (yes, that team with the worst offense in the FBS) would need to stun either Ohio State or Michigan in the Big Ten title game.  Florida State is heading to rival Florida without their injured starting quarterback, Jordan Travis.  He is out for the season with a leg injury.  The Seminoles’ leader will also miss the ACC title game against surprising Louisville, too.

What about unbeaten Liberty?   

Even if the Conference USA Flames should win out, the national voting media still won’t move them into the College Football Playoffs due to a perceived weak schedule (Note – has anyone looked at Michigan’s schedule this year?).  The Flames still have an outside chance to pocket millions of dollars in a New Year’s Day bowl game if 10-1 Tulane of the AAC should fall to UTSA in the AAC championship game this Friday (2:30PM on ABC).

A Tough Week for the James Madison Dukes

James Madison University rejoiced as the ESPN College Football Game Day crew descended upon the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia last Saturday.  Then, things got worse.  A few days before the game, the NCAA denied JMU’s second appeal requesting that the second-year FBS program (then 10-0) to play in a post-season bowl game this year.  Under an unnecessary old NCAA rule (when 20 fewer bowl games existed), a team which is playing-up from the FCS level to the FBS level is ineligible for bowl games in its first two years in the top division.  JMU was left out of bowls in Year 1 (going 8-3) and is being left out again this season.

Last Saturday afternoon, the Dukes football team fell behind early to Sunbelt rival Appalachian State but rallied to force the game into overtime.  Alas, App State (now 7-4) prevailed in the extra period to end JMU’s unbeaten season.

All is not lost for the Dukes – yet.  In one of the NCAA’s strangest rules, there is one final possibility that JMU could play in a bowl game.  If there are not 84 teams (42 bowl games) with a 6-6 record or better, then the NCAA would be forced to allow teams with a 5-7 record to be permitted for bowl selection.  Apparently, that would lift the ban on James Madison, too.  Go figure.

The New Mexico State rampage continues!

A few weeks ago, I highlighted the amazing rise of Conference USA’s New Mexico State University.  These Aggies are now 8-3 (compared to 7-4 for that team of Aggies in Texas).  In fact, the New Mexico State Aggies beat the SEC’s Auburn Tigers in Alabama 31-10, while Texas A&M’s Aggies beat Auburn 27-10 in College Station earlier this season.

For their trip to the Alabama Plains last weekend, the New Mexico State Aggies not only bagged a win over an SEC team, they earned $1.8 million for the appearance!

LSU’s QB5 – That Jayden Kid – is being pushed too hard for Heisman

Your SwampSwami and his lovely wife visited Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge...