College Bowls 2019/20

Once again it is time for the college football silly season. Each year there are way too many bowl games, only three of which matter. The rest are the equivalent of soccer friendlies or exhibition games. It only takes a .500 season to qualify for a bowl. That means six-win teams get to play. Hardly a mark of excellence. In addition to a lack of good teams, there are also suspect bowl names and locations. Many are just made for TV filler events, particularly by ESPN. So, let's get on with this year's rundown. 

For 2019/2020 there will be 40 bowl games. That means 78 different teams will participate. There are 130 Division 1 - FBS football schools, so 60 % get to play in a bowl. That is quite an exclusive club.  The first game is December 20th, the last on January 6th.

There are always some funny, awkward, or unfortunate bowl names. Almost every bowl now has some tie-in to a title sponsor.  Some of them this year are:

• Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl - Two problems here. First, it is in Nassau Bahamas, not exactly a hotbed for American football. The game is played in a crappy 15,000 seat soccer stadium. We have bigger and better high school football stadiums in Texas. Second, Makers Wanted is just a slogan for an industrial park in Elk Grove Village, IL. 
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl - This game is also played in a rather small 20,000 seat soccer stadium. No, it is not in San Francisco, it is in Frisco, TX. 
• Cure Bowl - Again a soccer stadium, this time with 25,500 seats. The CURE refers to breast cancer. 
• Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl - What's a Cheribundi? It's cherry juice.
• Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl - At least it is played on a natural grass field.
• Walk-On's Independence Bowl -  Walk-On's is a sports bar/restaurant chain. Hardly any of the players will actually be walk-ons. 
• Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl - Shouldn't this be named Tony the Tiger Cereal Bowl? No tigers will be playing in this bowl. It will be the Seminoles vs the Sun Devils. 
• Vrbo Citrus Bowl - Can I buy a vowel? 
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - I always find this name confusing. What exactly is famous? Idaho, potatoes, the bowl, some or all of the above? This is the game played on the blue field.
• Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic - Not a funny name but the game is no longer played in the actual Cotton Bowl stadium which still exists, it's at Jerry's World. For a few years, there was a minor bowl at the real Cotton Bowl, but none this year. 

The sponsorships change every year. Many only last a year or two. A few stick around for years. 

Because of the lax requirements for bowl eligibility, there are some pretty bad teams in the mix. If in any year there are not enough six-win teams to fill all the slots, they just waive that requirement. In theory, a six-win team will have a .500 winning percentage. Because we now have conference championship games, some teams play 13 games so a 6-7 team is still good enough. It doesn't look like that aberration happened this year. In fact, there was one extra bowl-eligible team this year. Toledo (6-6) is the unlucky team that lost the lottery. However, there are 13 6-6 teams in the fray. That includes The Kent State Golden Flashes and FSU Noles, two extremes of the college football spectrum.  

Enjoy the games, root for your team. If your school is one of the have-nots who made the dance, this is your chance to get a national TV game and maybe a big upset. If you root for a major school that snuck in with a 6-6 record you just hope for a win so it's not a losing season. I'll certainly watch the three playoff games that count and the Gators play in the Orange Bowl. A few others look interesting too. There is also the yearly tally to see which conference does well in the bowls. The ACC has ten teams in the bowls. The SEC and Big 10 each have nine teams. 

If these 40 games are not enough, remember there is an even sillier season at the end. That would be the four all-star games that have lost almost all relevance in recent years. They are now mostly populated by marginal players hoping for a look by NFL scouts. 

So, let the games begin. Happy bowling. Go Gators! Go SEC!

wjh

College Football 2018-19 Bowl Games

Once again it is time for the college bowl season. It could also be named the silly season. Only three of the 40 bowl games actually count. You read that right, there are 40 bowl games this season. That is up one from last season because 39 is just not enough. The two semifinal playoff games this season are the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, actually Arlington, and the Orange Bowl in Miami, actually Miami Gardens. The championship game will be held at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Those are the three that count. The rest of them are exhibition games that are only good for bragging rights and recruiting. The schools may also make a few dollars if they are lucky. They may also lose money. 

Bowls used to be rare. Fifty years ago, there were probably only eight or ten games. A school had to be top 25 to get a bid. Now you only need to win six games, 50%, to be eligible. There are 125 FCS division football programs and 78 will play in bowl games. That is about 62% of the teams, very exclusive. If by chance there aren't 78 teams with six victories, they will let a five-win team or two play. With the inception of conference championship games, some teams play 13 games. A team with a 6-7 record still qualifies for a bowl. Gotta fill those slots so ESPN will have live programming to air. 

So let's get on with my observations about this illustrious bowl season. 

• The first six games will be December 15th, the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. All must see games packed with big-time football power schools.
• There will be four bowl games in the DFW area. The Frisco Bowl in Frisco, TX; the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth; the First Responder Bowl which is played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Cotton Bowl which is played at AT&T Stadium (aka Cowboys Stadium, aka Jerry's World) in Arlington. So, the Cotton Bowl game is not played in the Cotton Bowl stadium and the contest in the Cotton Bowl stadium is not the Cotton Bowl game. Clear?
• Orlando has three bowls, the  Cure, Camping World, and Citrus Bowls.
• Several places have two games, Tampa, New Orleans, and the Miami area.
• Once again there is a bowl game in that football hotbed Nassau, Bahamas. This year it is called the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl but is sponsored by the town of Elk Grove, IL, a Chicago suburb. Not sure what the name or sponsorship is about. 
• It's a tossup for the worst location. Boise and Detroit have games. Boise may win because that game is outdoors and played on a blue field. There is also the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. That could be pretty cold but at least it's in the Big Apple. 
• There are always some obscure sponsors scattered among the bowls and they insist that their name is in the title. This year we have Raycom Media, R+L Carriers, Cheribundi, Bad Boy Mowers, Quick Lane, Walk On's, and Nova Home Loans.
• Some bowls have incredibly long name as they try to get the sponsor's name included with the original name. The San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl, The Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman, and The Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual top the list. 
• Gator is back in the name this season. After four years of being The Taxslayer Bowl, it is The Taxslayer Gator Bowl once again. Of course, it was just The Gator Bowl for several decades and was played in the actual Gator Bowl stadium which is long gone.
• The Gasparilla Bowl has been moved from St. Pete's Tropicana Field, a terrible baseball stadium and worse football venue, across the bay to Raymond James Stadium, a real football venue that is home to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers and the Outback Bowl. A good decision unless the weather is really bad. Tropicana has a roof.
• The Cactus Bowl lost its name and is now The Cheez-It Bowl.   
• There is both a Military Bowl and an Armed Forces Bowl. Different days, different places. Each sponsored by large defense contractors. Cozy.
• There will be some of the made for TV bowls that will have about as many people on the field as in the stands. 
• Most of the venues are at least adequate nowadays. That was not always the case. The original Independence Stadium in Shreveport looked like a bad Texas high school stadium before the city rebuilt it. Hell, the old Gator Bowl was pretty spartan as was the Orange Bowl. 

The first game between highly ranked teams will be December 29th at The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl when #7 Michigan plays #10 Florida. Go Gators! That is also the date of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. They are #3 Notre Dame vs #2 Clemson in the Cotton Bowl and #4 Oklahoma vs #1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl. 

I'm interested to see how Oklahoma does against Alabama. The Sooners score a ton of points but play in the Big 12 where nobody plays defense. Alabama does play defense.

The remaining big bowl games are on January 1st, the traditional date. The most interesting of those games may be #8 UCF vs #11 LSU. The non-Power Five Knights of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) against the mighty SEC Tigers. 

It's almost time to buy the snacks, chill the beer and get ready for some football. It shouldn't take much longer than about 125 hours to watch the 40 bowl games. I'm sure they will all be riveting. It will all be over on January 7th when Alabama beats Clemson for the championship.

Let's go bowling. I hope your team wins.

wjh 

Where Teams Play

There are many professional sports teams in this country. How many teams home court, home field or home stadium is not located in the city they are named for? I'll look at the three major sports, baseball, basketball, and football. Others can examine hockey and soccer.

Let's start with basketball. There are 30 teams in the NBA. Since they play basketball indoors in arenas that seat about 20,000, there shouldn't be much need to go outside the downtown area of the host city. That is primarily the case. There are a couple of ambiguous names. The Golden State Warriors play in downtown Oakland. The Minnesota Timberwolves play in downtown Minneapolis. The Utah Jazz arena is in Salt Lake City. An aside is that the Utah Jazz is one of the most inappropriately named teams. Jazz and Salt Lake City have nothing in common. The franchise was originally the New Orleans Jazz before it was moved to Utah. The NBA should have required the nickname be changed. New Orleans now has another NBA team, the Pelicans. It should be named Jazz. The Salt Lake City team should be called the Mormons. The remaining 27 NBA teams actually play in the city whose name they carry. 

There are also 30 MLB teams. Baseball stadiums require considerably more land than a basketball arena. That makes it more difficult to find a location in some downtown areas. Although tax incentives rather than available land is more often the reason some teams threaten to build outside their namesake city. As with basketball, there are a few ambiguous teams. My favorite Texas Rangers play in Arlington, TX. The Arizona Diamondbacks are based in Phoenix. The Minnesota Twins stadium is in Minneapolis. The Colorado Rockies play in Denver. The Tampa Bay Rays are located in St. Petersburg. Those are all OK. Many people probably think that the Texas Rangers are in Dallas and the Tampa Bay Rays play in Tampa, but their names are technically correct. The Atlanta Braves recently moved to SunTrust Park which is northwest of downtown Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County. While still in the metropolitan Atlanta area, it is not within the Atlanta borders and in fact is not even in the same county as most of Atlanta. Now we come to the longest and most confusing team name, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team does play in Anaheim and were once named the Anaheim Angels. They were originally named the California Angels when they actually played in Los Angeles. 

The NFL has a whopping 32 teams. Like baseball, they require enough land for huge stadiums plus parking. The NFL is currently the most popular and high profile major sport. Competition for their stadiums and training facilities is intense The NFL also has its geographical area named teams. There are the Minnesota Vikings who play in Minneapolis. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in Tampa (not St. Petersburg). The Arizona Cardinals play in Glendale, AZ. The Tennessee Titans settled in Nashville after a year in Memphis. The Carolina Panthers are located in Charlotte, NC. The New England Patriots expanded beyond a single state to encompass a whole section of the country. They were originally the Boston Patriots but had the decency to change their name when they moved out of the city. Their home field now is located in Foxborough, Mass., halfway between Boston and Providence, RI.  

The NFL is the most notorious league to actually play outside the city limits of their namesake. The two New York City teams, the Giants and Jets, not only don't play in that city, they don't even play in New York state. Both teams share MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The Buffalo Bills play in Orchard Park, NY. The Miami Dolphins play in Miami Gardens. The recently moved LA Chargers play in Carson, CA. The Washington team plays in Landover, MD. The San Francisco 49's stadium is located in Santa Clara. The local Dallas Cowboys haven't played in Dallas since 1971. They were in Irving, TX until 2008 and are now in Arlington, TX. As of now, the remaining teams play in the city they are named after.

If you have enough land and can pull off public financing and tax incentives, you may be able to get the next new major sports venue. No need to actually be in the city the team is supposedly named for. 

So, don't always believe the name on the hat or jersey. You can use Google maps to find your favorite team's stadium. It may not be where you expected. Let's all root for the Arlington Cowboys or the New Jersey Giants (or Jets) or maybe the Carson Chargers. 

wjh

College Football Bowls 2017-18

Here we are about to start the College Football Silly Season, aka bowl season. For the past few years, I have written a post at the beginning of the bowl season. It is usually tongue in cheek with some observations and criticisms. Let's look at this year's bowl picture.

There will be 40 division one college bowl games this season. The championship game is between two teams that have already played a bowl game. That leaves 39 games needing 78 teams. There are 130 division one college football programs. That means approximately 62% of the teams get a bowl invitation, not a very exclusive honor. A team must win six games during the season to be bowl eligible. This year there were 81 eligible teams, so only three drew the short stick. The ACC won the prize this year with 10 teams in the bowls. Almost all the games are televised by ESPN/ABC including all the playoff games and the other major bowls in the College Football Playoff mix. In fact, ESPN created and produces several of the bowl games. They needed college football content during December. The bowls start on December 16th and end with the championship game on January 8th. Wikipedia has a good recap of the games here. 

Of the 40 bowl games, exactly three of them have a real meaning. So about 92% of the games are just exhibitions, "friendlies" in soccer terms. Some people keep track of how the various conferences fair. Maybe that matters a little. The bowls are a way for cities to spur tourism and an economic boost, sponsors to get publicity, ESPN and other networks to have content, provide events for vacant venues, and maybe provide a perk for teams with mediocre seasons.   

This year, my favorite team, the Florida Gators, is not playing in a bowl. My alma mater, USF Bulls, is playing in the Birmingham Bowl on 12/23. The Bulls at 9-2 will play the 6-6 Texas Tech Red Raiders. My local favorite, TCU, will play 12/28 in the Valero Alamo Bowl. The #15 Horned Frogs will play the #13 Stanford Cardinal. Which team do you think will have the bigger fan support.  

There are always some fun facts and figures involved in this mostly silly season. Here are a few: 

• The Bahamas Bowl is played in a 15,000 seat soccer stadium in a country that has no idea what American football is. We have larger and better high school stadiums here in Texas.
• The Goodyear Cotton Bowl is played at AT&T Stadium (Cowboys Stadium) in Arlington Texas. 
• The Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl is played in the actual Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas.
• There are some very long bowl names as they try to squeeze in the sponsor name, city and bowl. Some examples are:
• Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
• San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
• Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman
• Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual
• There is a heated contest this year for the funniest bowl name:
• The Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl
• The Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg
• The Walk-On's Independence Bowl in Shreveport. FYI, Walk-On's is a restaurant & bar chain.
• My old favorite Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Are the potatoes famous or is it Idaho? This game also has the distinction of being played on the Boise State blue field.

Most of the games are of little interest to the majority of us football fans and the country. I'll watch a few. Obviously, the three playoff games are of interest. I'll watch the USF and TCU games. I'll probably watch the Peach Bowl where UCF plays Auburn. I'm interested to see how the undefeated American Athletic Conference (AAC) champion stacks up against a good SEC team. Other games will mostly depend on what else I have to do when they air. 

The Bowls are a tradition so I'm sure they will continue. I'm old enough to remember when there were fewer than 10 bowls and it was an honor to be invited to play in one. They also rarely decided a real national champion. Some years there was more than one #1 team depending on which poll you read.  

The current playoff system is an improvement, but the rest of the bowls are still mostly inconsequential. I personally think we need to expand the playoffs to eight teams although six with the top two getting first-round byes would be OK too. Let's at least get all the power five conference champions into the mix. 

So, get the remote, snacks, and beverages ready. Bowl season starts 12/16. Let the games begin.

wjh 

Football 2017 - Preseason

It's almost time for real football to start. The high schools and colleges are in full blown practice. The NFL is already playing pre-season games. Real games in all the categories are just a couple of weeks away. So what can we expect this season? Will your teams do well, disappoint or just be bad?

My teams are Florida, South Florida, and TCU in the college ranks. Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay in the NFL. I also keep track of the local high school, L.D. Bell and my alma mater, Bishop Kenny High School. I've been a Florida Gators fan since my youth, South Florida is my alma mater. TCU is the local college and I like that a little private school plays with the big boys. I grew up in Jacksonville and I still feel connected to the hometown. I moved to Atlanta a couple of years after the Falcons began playing. They were the first NFL games I saw in person. I also used to see the players around town, even talked with several. The attachment to the Buccaneers is because of my days living in Tampa while in college. I prefer college football over the pros. The Dallas Cowboys are the local NFL team. I feel no attachment to them although I'd just as soon see them win unless they are playing one of my favorites. A Dallas win makes many of my friends in particular and the whole area in general happy. 

So how does the upcoming season look? The Florida Gators are ranked #17 and the South Florida Bulls are # 19 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. It's unfortunate that they don't play each other this year. TCU falls just out of the Top 25 at #26. The Jaguars still look offensively challenged. The good news is that the AFC South is a weak division. The Falcons are coming off their heartbreaking Super Bowl loss and should repeat as NFC South winners. Can they shake off the disappointment and get back to the championship game? Tampa Bay should be a middle of the pack team again and on the playoff bubble. 

Overall, it looks like the same old teams at the top. Alabama, Ohio State, and FSU look to be the cream of the crop in the NCAA. New England is the favorite to repeat as Super Bowl champs. 

The Gators will know what kind of team they have right off the bat. Their first game is against #11 Michigan at a neutral site, AT&T Stadium in Arlington,TX, on September 2nd. That game will be nationally televised on ABC. Their schedule also includes #13 LSU, #15 Georgia, and #3 FSU. It looks like Florida and Georgia will battle it out for the SEC East title. Maybe the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville will be the deciding game. Go Gators!

The Bulls look to have an easier time. They are the only ranked team in The American Athletic Conference (AAC). They also don't play any ranked teams in their non-conference games.

The Horned Frogs play in the Big 12 Conference, a conference with only 10 teams. They have to play #7 Oklahoma, #10 Oklahoma State, #20 Kansas State, #22 West Virginia, and #23 Texas. That's a tough schedule. 

Good luck to all my teams. Let the games begin.

wjh

College Football Bowls 2016-17

And so it begins again. The college football bowl season starts on December 17, 2016 and ends on January 9, 2017. Other than bragging rights, only three of these bowls have any real meaning. Those three are the two semi-final games and final game of the College Football Championship. The rest are what would be called "friendlies" in soccer. Or maybe Silly Season is more appropriate.

So let's break this down. There will be 41 bowls consisting of 80 separate teams. There are only 128 total teams in the NCAA FBS division (formerly Division 1-A). According to my math, that means an elite 62.5% of teams play in bowls. Teams have to win six games, seven if they play 13 games, to qualify for a bowl. So, you have to have at least a break-even record, 6-6. That is unless you don't. This bowl season there are 15 teams with the supposed minimum 6-6 record. There is also one team, Hawaii, with a 6-7 record and two teams with a 5-7 record. It's fairly obvious to me that if there are not enough teams with at least a .500 record, there are too many bowls.

I remember when there were fewer than 10 bowls so only the top dozen or so teams got an invitation. Now the #12 team in the SEC goes to a bowl game. Many of the games are now held just to satisfy ESPN's huge appetite for content. In fact, many of the newer bowls were started and are produced by ESPN. Because of this you will see crappy games played in front of a couple of thousand spectators.

Other than the three playoff games I will probably watch at least parts of Florida vs Iowa in the Outback Bowl, USF vs South Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl and TCU vs Georgia in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Florida, South Florida and TCU are teams I follow all season.

I'll also check out the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville where Georgia Tech plays Kentucky. This is my hometown and was a big event back in the day. The TaxSlayer Bowl name pisses me off. A couple of years ago the powers that be dropped the Gator Bowl part of the name. The Gator Bowl was founded in 1946 which makes it the sixth oldest bowl. I blame the bowl committee, the city and the sponsor for abandoning the historic name. What the hell is a TaxSlayer anyway? Even their crappy logo barely recognizes Jacksonville. 

The Cotton Bowl is no longer played in the Cotton Bowl. It is now played at AT&T Stadium, aka Jerry's World, in Arlington. To further confuse the issue, the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl is held in the Cotton Bowl. The longest bowl name is the Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman although the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl and the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl are close behind. Do the teams in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl have to stay in a Motel 6? We also have the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. I'm not sure if Idaho or the Potatoes are famous. Then we have the Popeyes Bahama Bowl which is held in a second rate soccer stadium in that hotbed of American Football, Nassau.

I would guess that Alabama is favored in this year's playoffs.We may even have a rematch from last year between Alabama and Clemson. 

So how many bowl games will you be watching? Will you be following your favorite teams or maybe your favorite corporate sponsor? Happy bowling.

wjh

College Football Silly Season 2015-16

Here we go again. The college football bowl season begins on December 19, 2015 and doesn't end until January 11, 2016. During that span there will be 41 bowl games played. Exactly three of them have any real meaning, the two semi-final playoff games and the championship game. The other 38 games are just exhibitions. Sort of like soccer "friendlies". 

I'm not against bowl games but I think 41 is way too many. I remember when there were fewer than 10 bowl games and it was an honor to be invited to one of them. Now 80 teams go to a bowl. I think there are 127 FBS division schools. That means 63% of the teams go to bowls. Quite an elite group. Teams are supposed to have at least six wins a .500 winning percentage to be bowl eligible. With this many games it is usually impossible to find a full compliment of eligible teams. This year there are three bowl teams with losing records. That isn't right. 

ESPN is one of the major reasons there are so many bowls. They have started several bowls just so they have more games to televise. Watch some of the lesser games and check out how few people are in the stands. Almost all the game revenue comes from TV and the title sponsor. The NCAA has said that they are looking into a fix for the current situation. 

I'm certainly not going to go into all the games, but here are a few things I find interesting.
There is the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, is that the bowl color? There is the Cure Bowl in Orlando, no clue what they are trying to cure. Always enjoy the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, I don't think I've ever seen a famous potato. There is the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl, is it named for the animal or the clothing company? Popeyes Bahama Bowl is actually played in football crazy Nassau. I think the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl wins the longest name title. What is the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl? The Gator Bowl, one of the oldest bowl games and one I attended a few times when it was played in the actual Gator Bowl, has completely lost its identity. After a couple of years as the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, it is now just the TaxSlayer Bowl. 

How about this exciting matchup, Middle Tennessee vs Western Michigan in the Bahamas. It is rarely good when two directional schools meet.

I'm sure I'll watch a few of these games, some might even turn out to be good. I'll watch my teams, Florida, South Florida and TCU. 

The two College Playoff semifinal games are on December 31st in Texas and Florida. The winners meet on January 11th in Arizona.

Let's hope with 41 games in the next month we get at least a few good ones. Let's also hope that in the near future they reduce the number of bowls and require a winning record to participate. And let's get the Gator back in Gator Bowl.

wjh

Football 2015 - Week 14

There were some changes in the week 12 College Football Playoff Rankings. The top two slots remain Clemson and Alabama but #3 is now Oklahoma and Iowa is #4. Ohio State with a loss and Notre Dame with a poor showing fell out of the playoff spots. Florida fell from #8 to #12 after their ugly game against an unranked opponent. TCU is now at #19 a drop of only one slot after their one-point loss to now #3 Oklahoma. Four SEC teams are in the top 25.

This is the last full week of the regular season in the college ranks. There will still be a few regular season games plus all the conference championship games.

The Football week started off with a Thanksgiving night game between in-state and AAC rivals USF @ UCF. These schools are about 100 miles apart on Interstate 4. This is a down year for the winless (0-11) Knights while the 7-4 Bulls have won three straight and six of their last seven. The Knights scored first with a FG about five minutes into the game. USF looked a little sluggish but put together a long drive in the middle of the quarter for a 7-3 lead. It was all Bulls from there on out. UCF didn't score again and USF did often. Final score was 44-3. Bulls QB Quinton Flowers threw for three TDs and ran for two more. USF outgained the Knights by over 250 yards. The Bulls improve to 8-4, 6-2 and still have a shot at the AAC East title. They need a Temple loss. The East winner will play West winner Houston. If USF does not win the East, their next game will be a bowl game. Saturday update, Temple did win over Connecticut and won the AAC East. The Bulls now await a bowl bid.

There was a big rivalry game Friday night in Fort Worth. The hated 9-1, 6-1 #7 Baylor Bears came to town to play the 9-2, 6-2 #19 TCU Horned Frogs. It was a miserable night, cold and rainy. The game start was delayed 45 minutes due to lightning. Both teams scored TDs on their initial possessions. Baylor also put together a long drive on their second possession for a 14-7 lead. Then the elements started to play into the game. There were a couple of interceptions. TCU scored on a Bears fumble to tie the game at 14. There were five total turnovers in the first half. The weather and the field deteriorated in the second half and neither team was able to score. So these two high powered offenses were stopped by mother nature. Remember, last year's game score was 61-58. In the first OT, Baylor scored a TD on a short pass. TCU answered with a TD.  The Frogs passed for a TD in the second OT then held Baylor short on a fourth and one. TCU wins in double overtime 28-21. Statistics were unimpressive but pretty even. Baylor did better on the ground and TCU did more through the air. The Bears five turnovers led directly to one TCU TD and stopped several drives. The Frogs limited their turnovers to two in the wet conditions. TCU Heisman candidate QB was just back from an ankle injury and still somewhat limited in his mobility. He went 18/33 for 148 yards, two TDs and an INT. He also rushed for a TD in OT. The win moves the Frogs to 10-2, 7-2 and ends their regular season. Next game will be a bowl.

The big FSU-Florida game was in Gainesville this year. On paper it looked like a dead even matchup between the 9-2 #13 Seminoles and the 10-1 #12 Gators. Unfortunately, the Gators luck ran out this game and their lack of a QB and offense plus no kicking game caught up with them. It was not surprising. The defense and luck had gotten Florida to their 10-1 record. Once again, the defense was up to the task but they got absolutely zero help from the inept offense. They held FSU to 10 points in the first half and 13 through three quarters. They were finally worn down and allowed 14 fourth quarter points for a 27-2 FSU win. Amazingly, Florida had only about 40 fewer total yards and actually held the ball about five more minutes. The Gators had more total yards until the fourth quarter. There problem is that they cannot convert on third down and sustain drives. They also missed two FG attempts, an old story this season. Gators QB, Treon Harris, was 19/38 and no interceptions which doesn't look bad. On closer look you will see that those 19 completions only netted 139 yards, a pitiful 3.5 yard average. Neither team looked very strong on the offense side of the ball. There were 16 punts in the game. This was mostly due to strong defensive units, but neither offense is great, although FSU's is at least functional. Florida drops to 10-2 for the regular season. Much better than expected, although this loss nixes any dreams of making the playoffs. They now have the unenviable task of facing #2 Alabama in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Hide the children, that could be ugly.

There were several important rivalry games played. Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 and cement their spot in the top four. Alabama won the Iron Bowl over Auburn to win the SEC West and remain #2 in the nation. Stanford knocked Notre Dame out of the championship race. Clemson survived over an inferior South Carolina to remain #1. Ohio State climbed back into the national championship picture with a convincing win over Michigan. Iowa beat Nebraska to stay in the top four. There were other regional rivalries games that had no effect on the national picture. 

The Gators suffered in the polls for their last two poor performances. The Week 14 AP Poll has Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa in the top four spots. Florida fell eight spots to #18. TCU moved up four spots to #11. There are still four SEC teams in the top 25 but only the Crimson Tide in the top 15. 

After a disappointing Saturday, there was no relief on Sunday. First up are the Jaguars. They got off to a good start with a 6-0 lead after one quarter and 9-7 halfway through the second. Then they gave up 14 Charger points in about two minutes, the second on a short drive set up by an interception, for a 21-9 halftime deficit. The Jags outscored SD 13-10 in the second half but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. Chargers win 31-25. Blake Bortles had a good day going 30/49 for 329 yards, two TDs and one INT. Unfortunately that INT led to a Chargers score which proved to be the difference. It was the only turnover of the game. Jacksonville falls to 4-7 but is still technically in the playoff run because of the weak AFC South. Next game is in Nashville against the even more inept Titans.

Last week Tampa Bay's rookie QB, Jamis Winston, was setting NFL records. This week he was another mediocre QB on a losing team. The Bucs traveled to Indianapolis  to play the Luck-less Colts. This was not a very exciting game. There were six FGs on seven attempts. Final score was 25-12. Neither team lit up the stats which were pretty close overall. TB was held to a dismal 27 rushing yards on only 26 attempts. The Colts only tried 21 rushes but did manage 132 yards including a 56 yard run. The Buccaneers are now 5-6 and will host the free-falling Falcons on Sunday in an NFL South clash. Which Jameis Winston will show up for that game?

Speaking of the Falcons, they continue to disappoint. They were very good hosts to the Vikings, putting up little resistance. The game ended at 20-10, but Atlanta didn't score their TD until there were less than two minutes remaining in the game. Falcon's one-time pro bowl QB, Matt Ryan, had another bad game, throwing two interceptions. Atlanta also lost a fumble. Minnesota didn't exactly light up the statistics, but they did enough and capitalized on Falcon mistakes. Remember, the Falcons started the season 5-0. They are now 6-5 and have lost four in a row. Their next game is in Tampa to play the Bucs. Which Matt Ryan and which Jameis Winston will be there that day. The QB that shows up should be on the winning side. 

It was a week that started good with USF and TCU and ended miserably with Florida and the NFL. Next week's college schedule will be limited to conference championships and a very few other games. The college playoff spots will be set by the end of Saturday.

wjh

Football 2015 - Week 13

In the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the top four spots remained the same. If the season ended today it would be Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame. There are still two undefeated teams, Iowa and Oklahoma State at #5 and #6. Florida moved up to #8 and TCU is at #18. There are four SEC teams in the top 25.

The football week started Thursday night with the 2-7 Titans @ the 3-6 Jaguars in an exciting battle for last place in the pitiful AFC South. This is one of the few times either team has the national NFL spotlight. I don't get to see many Jacksonville games and when I do, I never know if it is treat or torture. This one was a little bit of both. First let me say that the all gold uniforms were pretty ugly. I was not a fan of the shade of "gold" which looked more like mustard to me. Do you have any Grey Poupon? Then there was the game. These are two teams that have potentially good young quarterbacks and little else. They both have better defenses than offenses. That is not a prescription for an exciting high-scoring game. There were no first half TDs which ended tied at six. The Jags pulled ahead 9-6 midway through the third period and then Tennessee scored one of those touchdown things to take a 13-9 lead. The Jaguars absolutely dominated the fourth quarter with 10 points and the 19-13 victory. OK, they didn't score the go-ahead TD until there were less than four minutes remaining in the game. The add-on FG came with a little over two minutes to go. Both young QBs had fair nights. Mariota for the Titans was 22/35 for 231 yards with no TDs or INTs. The Jags Bortles went 21/30 for 242 yards with a TD and an INT. Overall statistics were very even. This was an important win for Jacksonville. They could find themselves tied for first place in the very weak AFC South by the end of the weekend. They improve to 4-6 and the next game is at home again against the Luck-less Colts in another AFC South match.

Even though my high schools are done for the season, there were still Friday night lights. The Cincinnati Bearcats were in Tampa for an AAC game. This game was as big a surprise as the next one I'll talk about. The Bulls scored 65 points. That is not a typo, the final score was 65-27 and USF had the 65. They have been mostly inept on offense this season although there have been signs recently that they are improving. South Florida had 34 points before Cincinnati got a FG and it was 51-3 at halftime. USF took their foot off the gas pedal in the second half. The stats were closer than you would think. Cincy was all passing with 333 yards and USF was all rushing with 361 ground yards. Of course the Bearcats won the turnover race, they had six. USF moves to 7-4, 5-2 and still have a chance to win the AAC East. Next up is the I-4 battle in Orlando against the 0-11, 0-7 Central Florida Knights.

On to Gainesville and what was thought to be a partial week off against the always mighty Florida Atlantic Owls. It turned out to almost be a nightmare. Florida Atlantic is a low rung member of C-USA and came into the game with a 2-8 record to play SEC East champ 9-1 #8 Florida. The Gators have been flirting with disaster all season and have pretty much played up or down to their competition. This should have been a blowout with the fourth string walk-ons playing the last quarter. Instead it was tied at 0 at the half. The Florida defense finally forced a fumble deep in the Owls territory for an easy TD more than midway through the third quarter. About four minutes later they had a 91 yard drive capped by a 53 yard pass play for a 14-0 lead. That seemed like an insurmountable lead based on the Gators staunch defense. Not quite, Florida Atlantic put together a drive late in the third quarter. In the fourth period the Owls recovered a fumble for another score. All tied up in regulation.The Gators had missed two FGs during the game. It looked good in overtime as Florida scored a TD on three plays. Of course they then missed the extra point, leaving the door wide open for FAU. They got to the nine yard line for first and goal. A loss of two on a run and three incomplete passes ended the game. Florida had their easy 20-14 victory. Besides the ugly score, it was statistically an ugly game. FAU actually outgained Florida. This is a game all Florida fans want to forget. The Gators are now 10-1 and host their big in-state rival the #14 FSU Seminoles. 

After a great start this year, #18 TCU is suffering the double whammy of devastating injuries and ranked opponents.They had to go to Norman to play #7 Oklahoma in a Big 12 game, always a tough task. The Frogs are playing without their Heisman candidate QB and their top receiver plus numerous other injuries. It turned out to be a close game. It was tied 7-7 after one quarter. The Sooners went on a run in the second quarter to take a 23-7 lead. The third quarter was mostly a push and OU led 30-13. The Frogs missed a two-point conversion try in that quarter. The fourth quarter was TCU comeback time. They scored two TDs and a FG. After the second TD with less than a minute remaining and the score 30-29, They again went for two and failed. If they had made either two-point try or had just kicked the extra points it would have been a Frogs win. One of TCU's backup QBs threw three interceptions. They also lost a fumble. Oklahoma won the statistical battle with 150 more yards and a 13 minute possession advantage. The Frogs fall to 9-2, 6-2 and are out of the running for the Big 12 title. Their final regular season game is at home against #10 Baylor. Frogs QB Trevone Boykin may be back for that game. Let's hope so.

There was good news when #9 Michigan State upset #3 Ohio State in the Big Ten. #10 Baylor beat #6 Oklahoma State which muddied up the Big 12 standings. The only other real upset was unranked UCLA's win over #13 Utah. There was movement in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Their top four are now Clemson, Alabama, Iowa and Notre Dame. Oklahoma and Michigan State are in line to step in if any of the top four falter. The Gators dropped two spots to #10 after their poor performance. TCU falls to #15 after their loss. There are still four SEC teams in the top 25.

In the remaining pro games, it was a split. The winner was Tampa Bay with a 45-17 victory over the Eagles in Philly. The outstanding Jameis Winston showed up for the Bucs. He tied an NFL rookie record with five TD passes. The game was close for 15 minutes before TB pulled away. The Eagles were limited to one FG in the second half. Winston was 19/29 for 246 yards with the five TDs and no interceptions. Jameis continues to be a Jekyll & Hyde. This week he was the Doctor. The Buccaneers running back Doug Martin also rushed for 235 yards on 27 carries. TB dominated the stats plus Philadelphia had four turnovers. Amazingly, the Bucs are at 5-5, a .500 record is rarified air for them. Next game is against the also 5-5 Colts in Indianapolis.

What is the deal with the Falcons? Remember they started the season 5-0. This week they lost at home to the Colts who are playing without their starting QB, Andrew Luck. Atlanta held a 14 point lead twice but still managed to lose 24-21. The Colts winning FG was kicked with less than a minute remaining in the game. Falcons QB Matt Ryan used to be good but certainly not lately. He threw three interceptions. Atlanta also lost a fumble.The Colts weren't much better with three turnovers. Not a pretty game. The Falcons are now 6-4 and look clueless. Next up is another home game against the 7-3 Vikings.

wjh

Football 2015 - Week 12

The week 10 College Football Playoff Rankings had Clemson remaining in the top spot, Alabama moving up to #2, Ohio State remaining at #3 and Notre Dame breaking into the playoff picture at #4. The Gators dropped a spot to #11 despite a win and TCU fell all the way to #15 with their loss. There were two one loss teams in the top four yet there were still three undefeated teams between #5 and #8. Some of this will shake out since Baylor and Oklahoma State meet in two weeks. It also looks like Iowa will have to play Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Stay tuned.

Only Bishop Kenny was still playing in my high school world. They had to travel about 85 miles west on I-10 to Live Oak to play the Suwannee Bulldogs in a playoff game. It was not a successful trip. The Crusaders fell 34-7. The Bulldogs led 20-0 by halftime. Kenny's only score came in the third quarter. There were no details of the game in either the Times-Union or at MaxPreps. BK finishes the season with a 6-5 record and now moves on to 2016. That ends the 2015 high school portion of this blog. 

I'll start the college coverage with #11 Florida @ South Carolina. This will be the first UF-USC game in ten years and only the fourth since 1990 that Coach Steve Spurrier hasn't been on one sideline or the other. He will be missed. The Gamecocks come into the game with a disappointing 3-6, 1-6 record. That is the main reason Spurrier wasn't coaching. This was a no lose game for South Carolina and except for national rankings didn't mean much for Florida either. Still, it was an SEC East game. It was not overly exciting. The Gators defense mostly shut down the Gamecocks until the fourth quarter. Florida scored TD's on two long first half drives and then added a third quarter FG for what looked like a solid 17-0 lead. Then the Fighting Chickens scored two fourth quarter TD's to pull within three points. Leave it to the Gators to make it exciting and/or exasperating. Florida cemented the game with a TD with about two minutes to go for the 24-14 victory. Despite what ended up a rather close score, the Gators dominated the game. They had over 200 more total yards, 20 more minutes of possession and held SC to a mere 21 yards rushing on 23 attempts. Turnovers were even with two interceptions for each team. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it moves the Gators to 9-1,7-1. Their SEC regular season is over with a trip to Atlanta for the title game assured. It looks like Alabama will be the opponent. Next up is an easy game against 2-8 Florida Atlantic.

Speaking of easy games, that is what TCU should have had in a home Big 12 (only 10 teams) game against the 0-9, 0-6 Kansas Jayhawks. Not so fast football fans. TCU got off to a quick 10-0 lead, the TD on a 49 yard punt return. The already wounded Frogs lost their Heisman Trophy QB, Trevone Boykin, who was injured early in the game. That is in addition to an already gimpy top receiver, Josh Doctson. Kansas managed to tie the game at 10 by halftime. The Horned Frogs led 13-10 after three quarters and 23-10 midway into the fourth before the Jayhawks got close again with a TD to make it  a one score game at 23-17. TCU held on to improve to 9-1, 6-1. It doesn't get easy for the Frogs. They now have to go to #12 Oklahoma for another Big 12 game followed by a home game against #6 Baylor.

I was pleasantly surprised by the USF Bulls who hosted #22 Temple. The Owls came in at 8-1, 5-0 and a virtual lock on the AAC East title. As they say, on any given Saturday... Somebody lit a fire under South Florida. After a boring 14 minutes of the first quarter, both teams scored a TD in the last 30 seconds. Then the Bulls reeled off three TD's and a FG in the second quarter for a 31-10 lead. This scoring blitz was aided by an Owl turnover and a staunch Bulls defense. Temple made some second half effort but USF held them off and the scoring wound up a stalemate at 13 each. That resulted in a 44-23 victory for South Florida. easily their best game of the season. Besides the score, the Bulls won the statistical battle too. Hopefully, this is the beginning of an upswing in the USF football program. They improve to 6-4, 4-2 and are now bowl eligible for the first time since 2010. Next game is at home against AAC opponent Cincinnati.

In other big college games, unranked Oregon beat #7 Stanford 38-36. Arizona beat #10 Utah. #12 Oklahoma went to Waco and beat #6 undefeated Baylor. That throws the Big 12 race wide open. There are now three one loss teams behind the undefeated Oklahoma State Cowboys. Several of those teams still have to play each other. The big SEC upset was unranked Arkansas over #5 LSU 31-14. That pretty much assures Alabama the SEC West title. Besides leading in the won-loss column, the Tide owns the tie-breaker over the teams behind them. It looks like a Florida-Alabama SEC championship game in Atlanta on December 5th.

The latest AP Top 25 has some changes at the top. Their top four are now Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama and Oklahoma State. That's two OSU's in the top four. The Gators move up to #8 and TCU is now #11. There are only four SEC teams in the AP 25. Not nearly as good as recent past years.

It was another perfect week for me in the NFL. No, not the usual kind of winless record, but the opposite. Atlanta had the week off so they didn't lose. Their next game is at home against the Luck-less Colts.

The local Dallas Cowboys were in Tampa. This was a battle of the 2-6 Cowboys against the 3-6 Bucs, very exciting. The game lived up to its low expectations until the last couple of minutes. It was 6-3 Dallas after three quarters, quite an offensive battle. Finally, TB put together a drive and scored with less than a minute remaining. It looked like Tampa blew it again when Winston fumbled at the goal line while trying to vault for a TD. Fortunately, the Cowboys committed a holding penalty on the play. Jameis made good on the next play with a bootleg for the score. That made it 10-6 which wound up as the final score. The Bucs had better offensive numbers than Dallas but as usual had trouble in the red zone plus Jameis Winston threw two interceptions.Ugly game by both teams.The Bucs are now 4-5. Next game is in the city of brotherly love to play the also 4-5 Eagles. One team will be at .500 after the game. 

The teams from Florida were on a roll (Miami also won). The mighty Jaguars went to Baltimore to play another 2-6 team. The Ravens have always been a defensive team and the last few years the Jags have been too so I expected a low scoring game. It was 14-10 Ravens at the half, 14-13 after three. Baltimore pulled ahead 20-19 midway through the 4th and failed on the two point conversion attempt. That would prove costly. With no time on the clock, Jacksonville's Jason Myers kicked a 54 yard FG for a 22-20 win. The NFL is now saying that the penalty against Baltimore that allowed the FG was an incorrect call and the Ravens should have won the game. I'll still take it. The game was pretty even statistically except the Ravens had 150 more passing yards. They also had four turnovers to only one for Jax. Bortles had a less than stellar day at 22/45 for 188 yards with two TDs and an INT. Still, a win is a win where the Jaguars are involved. They now stand at an outstanding 3-6 record. They head back home now for an AFC South game against the 2-7 Titans. Somebody has to win that game. 

Pretty nice week for the good guys. Except for Bishop Kenny, everybody won. I better savor this because it doesn't happen very often.

wjh