College Football Daily Cavalcade: What I think, what I know, and what I believe after the bowl season and before the College Football Playoff.
College Football Daily Cavalcade
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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …
The best blurbs opted out or transferred to columns that paid more NIL money.
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You’ll have to be patient. It’s written in Brian Kelly’s Boston accent.
I think … it was a joke.
I know … Brian Kelly tries really hard to be funny, but he’s too dead-pan for a large portion of the social media world that’s dead inside.
I believe … those who didn’t understand that Kelly is trying to poke fun at himself would also fall for the “hey, where are the left-handed footballs?” gag.
I think … there were a whole slew of problems with the bowl season, but …
I know … it was a lot better than last year’s version. However …
I believe … this might have been the bowl season that could cause a tweak to the whole thing.
I think … Texas A&M and UCLA and Hawaii – and others – showed that it’s way too easy to not play in these things.
I know … there’s no dogging a team for not being able to go because of COVID issues.
I believe … several of the canceled bowls could’ve figured out a way to make the games go a few days later if the teams that tapped out really wanted to make it happen.
I think … not having enough top players able to go is no excuse.
I know … LSU’s remaining coaches and players deserve all the credit in the world for giving it the old college try with a totally depleted lineup. However …
I believe … in just about every way possible, the Texas Bowl is Exhibit A for the “too many bowls” prosecution I’m fighting with as we speak.
I think … the SEC is still the SEC, but …
I know … the brand took a hit with so many losses, but …
I believe … if every SEC team this bowl season had its full complement of players – or, just a few key parts who took off because they’re too good for bowl games – the final numbers would be different.
I think … coaches leaving their teams before the bowls is way, way, 100x worse than players opting out.
I know … Matt Corral is a grown man who made a grown man decision to play.
I believe … everyone needs to quit saying Corral – and others who played – did things “the right way,” because that would mean Kenny Pickett, Kenneth Walker, Chris Olave, etc. did things the “wrong” way.
I think … it takes a giant pair to fault a kid for preserving his investment and dreams by opting out, all while the coaches, the networks, the universities, the non-revenue athletes, the local business, the bowl people in the cool jackets, the t-shirt salesmen, the concession booths, the gambling world, the school fund-raising effort, etc. all generate hundreds of millions of dollars off the players.
I know … the opt-out answer is simple: money.
I believe … top players will eventually have NIL deals with clauses that pay more if they showcase their talents in a top bowl game.
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I think … Jim Harbaugh will be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears.
I know … he has taken Michigan as far as it can go considering the Ohio State problem will never go away.
I believe … Michigan hiring Urban Meyer would be the greatest thing in the history of things, followed closely by Lane Kiffin somehow being the next Wolverine head man. Neither of which will happen, of course, if Harbaugh really does leave.
I think … the College Football Playoff desperately needs to expand.
I know … 13 of the 16 CFP semifinals have been double-digit blowouts.
I believe … more games would make things harder for the top teams. More chances to suffer a key injury, have a bad day, not be 100%, because …
I think … when you give the teams with all of the talent a month to get healthy and ready, bad things happen.
I know … I’m awful at picking College Football Playoff semifinal games, but I got these two dead-cold, because …
I believe … Alabama and Georgia have lots and lots and lots and lots of talent. Michigan brought lots of talent, and Cincinnati brought talent.
I think … I made the smart move leaving the Orange Bowl relatively early before the fourth to make the drive across Florida.
I know … that thing was over after Georgia’s first drive.
I believe … no one started out with a worse 2022 than the soul-crushed- super-fan-who-spent-thousands-on-that-game dad in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot 1) all decked out in Michigan gear and 2) totally clueless where the car was, all while 3) getting asked over and over again by the wife “where’s the car?” because 4) the exhausted kids were crying that they wanted to go to the car.
I think … going forward, every bowl should have a contingency plan.
I know … there should be at least ten other teams at the ready to go play if needed.
I believe … if nothing else, the backup teams would get in some extra practices, which is pretty much what truly matters about the bowl season.
I think … ESPN couldn’t trip over itself fast enough to push the “bowls matter” agenda with almost every broadcast.
I know … these are businesses. Bowl games are money for everyone involved – EVERYONE involved – from the promotion for the theme parks, to the business deals done by the people who run them, to the restaurants, to the hotels, to the sponsors, and on and on and on, but …
I believe … they’re all sold to the world as these magnanimous fun things the bowls do for the love of the game and the joy of the players, when they’re all just promotional events for the cities.
I think … other than the College Football Playoff and the Rose Bowl, bowls really don’t matter, but …
I know … it really doesn’t matter that bowls don’t really matter, with college football playing its exhibition season at the end, because …
I believe … bowls are awesome, and anyone who thinks otherwise totally watched them anyway. Yes, the system should be revamped, and yes, they are about money, but they’re fun. What are you going to do in December, other stuff?
I think … I refuse to acknowledge the trying-to-be-cool crowd that likes to dismiss bowl games, just because.
I know … many of those people actually believe the NBA matters before late May.
I believe … December would suck without the bowls.
I think … the powers-that-be are batspit insane to not do the 12-team expanded College Football Playoff format, because …
I know … the overall system would still be fine – people have to bet on something – but December viewership and interest would go up 50 levels if some of these bowls were playoff games.
I believe … there has to be a mechanism to play your way in. You win your Power Five championship, you’re in.
I think … the bowls want to get rid of your opt-out problem.
I know … an expanded College Football Playoff would do just that for the biggest stars.
I believe … it’s going to happen. For now, everyone is posturing and everyone is being weird about it.
I think … I’ll do another one of these things hitting each and every bowl game from this post-season.
I know … it’ll be more fun than this version was.
I believe … it won’t be so preachy. That’s a lie, but I’ll give it a shot.
I think … I know it’s all going to be okay.
I know … I believe it’s all going to be okay.
I believe … I think it’s all going to be okay.
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Expert Picks: CFP National Championship
Predicting The Final Polls AP | Coaches