Jalen Hurts Might Go From Benched To Super Bowl Champion: Daily Cavalcade

Jalen Hurts might win the Super Bowl, but there was a time in college when that didn’t seem remotely possible.

Jalen Hurts was an amazing college player, but there was a moment when the idea of him leading a team to a Super Bowl win seemed a bit crazy.


Jalen Hurts has gone from benched to a possible Super Bowl champion

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

I still see no reason to pivot off my unshakeable belief that Danny Wuerffel would win as many Super Bowls as Peyton Manning.

2023 College Football Rankings 1-133 First Look

And as a freshman, coolest … hair … ever for an Alabama starting quarterback

If you had told me late in the evening of January 8th, 2018, that Jalen Hurts would one day lead a team to a Super Bowl win …

(At least I think he’s about to, and become the Super Bowl MVP.)

Really? That guy?

I was on the field in Atlanta watching Hurts compile an intriguing combination of worm burners and air mail – completing just three of his eight passes for 21 yards – before being replaced by Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the 2018 National Championship against Georgia.

College football history changed forever after that game, and because of what Tagovailoa did, and with Hurts eventually transferring to Oklahoma, now we’re here just a few days before the Super Bowl.

Now it seems obvious that Hurts was going to be amazing, but it sure didn’t when DeVonta Smith was running through the end zone in Atlanta.

CFN Super Bowl Preview, Prediction

I was a massive fan of Hurts as a college player. Did I ever think he’d be an NFL starting quarterback? Yeah, after he was done at Oklahoma, but after 2018? No way, no how, no chance.

There was no questioning Hurts’ leadership, personality, or ability to run an offense, but compared to Tua – and later Mac Jones and Bryce Young – when it came to his potential as an NFL passer, I will fully admit that I didn’t see it when he was at Alabama.

Tagovailoa was going to be the main man for the Tide in 2019, and Hurts wasn’t transferring, so my cockamamie suggestion was to turn him into a jack-of-all-trades runner/backup quarterback – or maybe even a safety – just to get 2 and 13 on the field at the same time.

That didn’t happen, and it took a while, but things turned out just fine.

Outside of the national title games, Hurts was a better college passer than he got credit for with the Tide – he hit 65% of his throws with 48 touchdowns and just 12 picks, just one as a sophomore, in what amounted to 2.5 seasons of work – and was deadly on the move with close to 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns.

I can’t quite remember, but I think he made the third slot on my Heisman ballot in 2016 after Deshaun and Lamar.

Beyond that, he had a flair for making big things happen at the right time, most notably to save the team’s bacon in the 2018 SEC Championship win over Georgia, and in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship against Clemson.

It’s totally lost in history how he almost had one of the greatest national title-winning drives of all-time.

Hurts only hit 13-of-31 passes against Clemson, but down four with just over two minutes to play, he calmly rolled the offense 68 yards, finishing up with a 30-yard touchdown run that appeared to give the Tide the title. And then one epic Deshaun Watson drive – and a pick play for a touchdown with one second to go – erased it all.

Of course, Hurts became legendary for the genuine happiness and class with how he handled being replaced by Tagovailoa in that national title game, and obviously the move to Oklahoma was huge as he took his skills up a few notches.

But this? Carson Wentz was supposed to be the star of the show when the Eagles selected Hurts.

We should’ve seen it coming. Some players are just different. Some just have it, and that’s obviously Hurts.

Green Bay took Jordan Love in the first round, and Hurts was the next quarterback off the board 27 picks later. That was a mega-miss in the draft, but that Joe Burrow guy seems to be okay at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was hardly a bad pick talent-wise for Miami at the five, and Justin Herbert has MVP upside as the sixth pick for the Chargers.

And now all of them are about to watch Hurts lead Philadelphia in the Super Bowl.

He was a good guy as a young freshman – mature and poised beyond his years – when thrown into the national title level fire, and now he’s the young Face of the Franchise MVP-caliber quarterback every NFL team would love to have.

There’s still going to be that January 8th, 2018 side that won’t quite believe it, even when he’s telling the world his plans to go to Disney World.

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Texas, Oklahoma to SEC in 2024, USC, UCLA to Big Ten. What’s Next For Expansion? Daily Cavalcade

Texas and Oklahoma are off to the SEC in 2024, and USC and UCLA are set to go to the Big Ten. So what’s next for college expansion?

It’s official. Texas and Oklahoma are off to the SEC in 2024, and USC and UCLA are off to the Big Ten. What’s next for college expansion?


Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024, USC and UCLA to the Big Ten. What’s Next?

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

I still haven’t received the $100 million exit fee from Texas and Oklahoma to leave this column in 2024.

2023 College Football Rankings 1-133 First Look

Oh big deal. Like you watched the random Big 12 matchup when Texas or Oklahoma played, say, Baylor, and you don’t even know the Pac-12 Network exists.

USC and UCLA are going to be in the Big Ten in 2024?

Texas and Oklahoma are going to be in the SEC in 2024?

Great. Let’s do this already. Let’s get this party started.

I still don’t get how Texas and the Big Ten didn’t pop open a few beers, sit down, and figure it all out, but now it’s official. The Pac-12 and Big 12 are losing the anchor tenants at their respective malls.

In the new world of an expanded College Football Playoff that’s coming, the moves make sense. Progress is okay, and in this case, it’s all going to work great with the timing.

Do I think Texas will win the SEC Championship any time in the near future? Not really. That goes for Oklahoma, too. Whatever.

Either one could finish in the top 11 in the final 2024 College Football Playoff top 25 – the expanded CFP will take the top 12 ranked teams, but one of those will be a Group of Five champ that will probably be ranked outside of the top 12.

That goes for USC and UCLA with the Big Ten – just finish in the top 11, and football-wise and you’re all set.

All of them are all set in terms of revenue and even more explosion. And as I keep telling everyone over and over and over again, it’s going to be okay.

But the travel!

Whatever. The Big Ten teams get on a plane, take a nap, watch a movie, and they’re in LA. We should all be so lucky.

But the tradition!

Oklahoma was a Big 8 team in 1995 before the expansion to what eventually became the Big 12, and Texas was in the Southwest Conference until 1996.

USC and UCLA used to play in the Pac-10. Before that it was the Pac-8. And before that they were a part of the unfortunately-named American Association of Western Universities until 1968.

And everyone was fine. Everyone is going to be fine. It will take you 30 seconds after the ball gets kicked off to adjust.

What’s Next For College Expansion?

GAME … ON.

The Pac-12 has to do something fast, the Big 12 is circling the area looking to pick off more schools, and the Big Ten and SEC and drop the hammer and get just about anyone they really want at any time.

San Diego State. Get ready to be Southern California’s Pac-12 representation.

SMU. I honestly don’t understand why the Pac-12 is pitching so much woo to you – enrollment too small, it’s not like it’s a gateway school to landing more Texas-based teams – but apparently that’s about to be a thing.

UNLV should’ve been a Pac-12 school yesterday, and the Big 12 would be brilliant to go in and totally screw up the Pac-12 by getting there first.

All’s quiet on the Arizona and Arizona State front, but they’re well past ripe for the picking if the Pac-12 doesn’t lock down its media deal fast.

I’m screaming expansion malpractice on the SEC for not following the Big Ten’s move to the coast and not at least floating a three-bus sized public relations rumor about being interested in Oregon and Washington. (And that goes for the Big Ten, too, but it’s better at doing its thing in stealth mode.)

The Big 12 is insane for not grabbing USF to go along with the acquisition of UCF.

The Big Ten is even crazier for not getting Kansas already. And Colorado.

The SEC is nuts for not ponying up some of its cash to pay off whatever is needed for Clemson and/or Florida State to get out of their ACC deal.

That goes triple for North Carolina. That’s the one. That’s the dream of a whale everyone would love to land.

And then there’s the ACC. It had better find a way to put a ring on it and end this friends with benefits thing with Notre Dame as soon as possible, because once the lawyers and money men from other conferences figure out a way to pry the league’s members from the Grant of Rights deal …

But that’s what the rest of the offseason is for. For now, Texas and Oklahoma are going to be in the SEC after this season, and USC and UCLA are going to be in the Big Ten.

And you’re going to have fun watching it all. Really.

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It’s COLLEGE Football. Enough With The Neutral Site Games: Daily Cavalcade

College football games should be played in college stadiums. One man’s plea to keep the games out of neutral sites and away from the kitsch.

College football games should be played in college stadiums. One man’s desperate plea to keep the games out of neutral sites and away from the gimmick.


Keep COLLEGE football games at colleges

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

I’d move this take to Wrigley Field but there’s no parking.

2023 College Football Rankings 1-133 First Look

Now, if you could figure out how to play a game on an aircraft carrier like college basketball does early in the season, I’m in

It’s called COLLEGE football.

I’m not a total idiot – just a partial one – and I’m fully aware that college sports is first and formost a business.

Of course we’re in a new age of college athletics where the quiet part is being said – and paid – out loud, but can’t we at least pretend that college football is different because of the college part?

Yeah, college football is about generating revenue, cranking up national interest, and occasionally coming up with something special and unique when games are played outside of their normal venues, but …

Enough with the occasional games being played in dumb baseball stadiums – it’s cool once, and that’s it – with dumb sight lines and dumb configurations.

 

Enough with the neutral site games other than the obvious traditional mainstays like Florida vs Georgia in Jacksonville and Texas vs Oklahoma in Dallas.

Quit playing the “Classic” or the “Kickoff” in some antiseptic NFL stadium – by the way, ignore all of this when it comes to the NFL, which should play all of its games in billion-dollar palaces with all of the ultimate creature comforts – instead of on or near a college campus on an early Fall day.

When – not if – I become the Czar of College Football, I’m forcing the branding to be all about the environment, the campus, the atmosphere … the COLLEGE.

That’s the No. 1 distinguishing factor of college football.

Take the romantic notion of a September day with the youthful energy and life of a college campus out of it, and what do you have, really? Minor league professional football.

Of course, not all stadiums are right on the campuses – like UCLA playing in the Rose Bowl – but almost all are close enough to either be a part of the overall environment.

It became more real now that I have a kid in college. She likes sports about as much as I understand why 19-year-old young women wear unnecessarily giant pants, but being around a big-time college basketball environment has turned into a big deal.

Being able to go to the football games – and the buzz around them – matters. That’s the part that’s starting to get lost – and this goes for the Tuesday night games, too, but that’s for another time – it’s supposed to be about the student experience. It’s supposed to be for the fans and alumni who get to escape to a college environment for a Saturday.

And it’s supposed to be about the games themselves.

It gets blown off whenever the big showdowns are put in NFL houses, and I have no idea why the conferences haven’t figured this out. The games take on a greater sense of importance when they’re in college home stadiums.

How cool was it that Michigan State played across the country in Washington’s Husky Stadium?

How big a deal did it turn out to be that Penn State went to Jordan-Hare and performed like THAT against Auburn?

How much more did Alabama’s win over Texas feel like a big deal because it was in Austin and not in Jerry World? How much more insane would Florida State’s win over LSU have been if that was in Tallahassee?

Fans only get a few of these college football home games a year. It’s not like there are 81 home baseball games to suffer through or 41 NBA relative exhibitions to pretend to care about.

If you’re going to give the home fans the Central Directional State matchups, give them the games against the big guys, too. Always give them the experience of having a powerhouse in their house.

This is a layup, college football. Feed into your own mythology.

Stay college football, college football.

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College Football Playoff National Championship: Why You Should Cheer For TCU

College Football Playoff National Championship – why to cheer for TCU

The College Football Playoff National Championship is here between Georgia and TCU. Here’s why you should cheer for the TCU Horned Frogs to win.


College Football Playoff National Championship: Why You Should Cheer For TCU

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Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

The Horned Frog hand gesture claw thing sort of freaks me out.

We’re overdue for wacky.

There’s no such thing as a cheap College Football Playoff national champion.

Back when it was all about the final polls – and after around 1970, what you did in the bowls – teams had the ability to win a national title with one big win and a whole lot of mediocre ones. Great records equaled perceived greatness.

There might be a whole slew of questionable national titles being claimed in a sport whose championships were based on opinions and judging for about 140 years – and still is, in some ways – but you can’t luck your way into a title now in the CFP era.

Maybe you can put up the right record and catch a few breaks to get by the bouncer to be a part of the four, but once you’re in, you still need to win two games against the best of the best teams. And this is football – you can’t get hot from three for a few games and pull off some sort of a miracle.

Georgia vs TCU CFP National Championship Preview, Prediction

It’s the College Football Playoff National Championship. This is a space reserved for the elite superpowers to battle it out at a whole other level of talent and greatness.

This is where Nick Saban became the greatest college football head coach of all-time. This is where Joe Burrow cemented his legacy with one of the greatest seasons on one of the greatest teams ever. This is Dabo, and Urban, and Deshaun, and Trevor, and Tua to DeVonta, and it’s …

Max Duggan.

It’s head coach Sonny Dykes, who had one ten-win season in his first 12 years as a head coach. He was 1-3 in bowls over his career – taking Cal to an Armed Forces Bowl win over Air Force in 2015 was one of his biggest accomplishments.

Going into this campaign, Duggan was the backup quarterback. Now the Heisman finalist has a shot at winning the national title.

College Football Playoff National Championship: Why To Cheer For Georgia

Before this season, Dykes had a career record of 73-63. Now the Coach of the Year candidate has a shot at winning the national title.

This is hardly a Little Engine That Could program – it’s had a whole lot of success over the last 25 years – but it’s not Georgia when it comes to talent level, school size, and all the big things that come with that.

It’s a Big 12 school – winning this wouldn’t be worthy of getting all schmaltzy with a “Cinderella story” narration – but it would provide a whole lot of hope for everyone else.

TCU proved it really is possible to find the right formula to keep winning, come through in the clutch time and again, and capitalize on the breaks when they come.

Win, and TCU will prove to all the other Power Five programs that might not be a Georgia, or an Alabama, or a Clemson that it really is possible to crack through the ceiling and not just get into the College Football Playoff, but to win the whole thing.

Win, and it would be a key moment to break through the status quo and give every fan base just a little bit of hope, especially with an expanded College Football Playoff coming in a few years.

Win, and it would cap off one of the most exciting and shocking seasons in college football history.

Win, and it would be the first time a Big 12 school won the College Football Playoff.

Win, and TCU football will disrupt the entire system, in a good way.

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College Football Playoff National Championship: Why You Should Cheer For Georgia

College Football Playoff National Championship – why to cheer for Georgia

The College Football Playoff National Championship is here between Georgia and TCU. Here’s why you should cheer for the Georgia Bulldogs to win.


College Football Playoff National Championship: Why You Should Cheer For Georgia

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Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

Between everyone I know who lives for Michigan and Ohio State football, I haven’t had time to deal with the freak-out factor from all my Georgia friends worrying about a gag.

Georgia is very good at college football, and it’s okay

When did we stop liking amazing sports teams?

I get it. There’s a knee-jerk reaction against rooting for anything to do with the SEC.

From the “It Just Means More” slogan – loose Latin translation: we don’t have enough meaningful pro sports in our part of the country – to all the success over the years, to dealing with the blowhards when daring to point out even the slightest flaw, it’s easy to want anyone else to win the College Football Playoff National Championship.

But there’s one key thing missing when it comes to the rise of the Georgia Bulldogs under Kirby Smart: credit.

It wasn’t a given that Georgia would be this good. It wasn’t a given that it would finally get over the hump and win the national title last year, and it certainly wasn’t a given that it would get to LA this season, much less be the prohibitive favorite after losing an epic class of players to the NFL.

And it sure as shoot wasn’t a given when Ohio State had it against the ropes for a full 60 minutes of an epic Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Yes, of course Georgia is seen as the big, bad, SEC program after years of great recruiting and building up the talent level, but Smart gets credit for that. That’s it. That’s the game. Bring in great talent, coach it all up, and bring in more. That’s how it works.

You think it’s easy to for all big-time programs to be amazing? How many Texas A&M SEC Championship t-shirts do you own?

Georgia vs TCU CFP National Championship Preview, Prediction

Texas was one USC first down away from still being the program that’s done the least with the most.

Tennessee and Florida State are just getting back up to speed. Florida had a losing season. USC and Penn State have yet to be in the College Football Playoff. Oklahoma, Michigan and Notre Dame have yet to win a game in this thing. And then there’s Nebraska – it’s hard to get to the College Football Playoff when you can’t get bowl eligible.

Before pulling it off last year, Georgia hadn’t won a national championship since 1980 – its fan base hasn’t had time yet to become insufferable. But Smart did it. He built off all the close-but-not-quite success of the Mark Richt era and took it up a few notches with loading recruiting classes, lots of wins, and a whole bunch of tough calls, especially at quarterback.

Georgia did the work, it got the job done, and now it’s being portrayed as Goliath in this College Football Playoff National Championship narrative.

First, seriously, Goliath. It’s a rock – D up or duck. Second, and I can’t express this point forcefully enough …

TCU IS A POWER FIVE PROGRAM.

I can’t tell you how many times over the last few weeks I’ve had to correct those who accuse me of a being a Power Five snob – which I totally am – because I picked Michigan to whack TCU and now think Georgia is going to roll.

Picking USC to rip through Tulane – that’s full-on snobbery. TCU? No, it’s not as big as Georgia. No, it doesn’t have all the same advantages. Yes, it’s been part of the Big 12 since 2012.

TCU went 13-0 and won the Rose Bowl in one of its last years in the Mountain West. It got hosed harder than any team in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff after finishing 3rd in the 2014 penultimate rankings and getting bounced out in the final version.

The program has won five of its last six bowl appearances, came up with ten 11-win seasons since 2005, has finished ninth or better in six AP polls since 2008, and …

Yeah, it’s a great story after going 23-24 in the four years before Sonny Dykes took over, and yeah, it’s doing with a bunch of players who’d have a hard time cracking the Georgia two-deep. But it’s here, making it the most accomplished college football program in Texas during the College Football Playoff era.

College Football Playoff National Championship: Why To Cheer For TCU

Georgia is also here as it tries to become the first back-to-back College Football Playoff National Champion.

It’s okay to cheer for that. It’s okay to cheer for a team that lost most of its key starters to the NFL last season. It’s okay to cheer for Georgia to win this.

It’s okay to cheer for greatness.

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Mike Leach Is Probably The Reason You Like Football

Mike Leach passed away. There will never be another like him, and he’s probably the reason you like football

Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach passed away at 61. He changed the sport. There will never be another coach or character quite like him.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Mike Leach is probably the reason you like football.

At the very least, he’s probably the reason you think it’s so much fun.

There was a time not too terribly long ago when football was all about running, and defense, and more running, and keeping things conservative with the running.

There was a time not too terribly long ago when the NFL was all about running, and defense and more running, and lots and lots and LOTS of interceptions whenever anyone tried to throw. That’s why coaches liked the running.

It’s not that football wasn’t fun, but even the high-flying run ’n’ shoot started with the word run. And it’s not like some teams didn’t bomb away – Dan Marino was pretty good for the Miami Dolphins, and several college programs started opening it up a bit – but it sure wasn’t like it is now.

It’s not like Leach didn’t like the running game. He showed there was a better and more creative way to do things.

He was able to take all the positives from what the new wave passing games did, and the precision of the West Coast offense, and what BYU was cranking up under LaVell Edwards – Leach was a part of that in Provo – and was all in on an offensive style that changed the sport forever.

No, he didn’t invent the Air Raid style, but Leach worked it better, at a higher level, and he made it mainstream. Basically, every passing game you see now borrowed something from him.

No one embodied that more than Oklahoma.

There was no arguing with the success of the Sooner program that was so dominant for so long with its wishbone style of ground attack, but the forward pass was just something to do when the offense got bored of rolling for five yards a carry.

It was just one year at Norman after what he and Hal Mumme were able to unleash at Kentucky, but as the OU offensive coordinator, Leach took a program’s foundation and pivoted it into one of the most dangerous offensive teams over the last 25 years.

Oklahoma won the national title a year after Leach left for Texas Tech, and its quarterback almost won the Heisman because of it. Now Josh Heupel is doing just fine for himself as the head coach at Tennessee. No matter what kind of a fan you are, you probably like watching that Volunteer offense.

And you probably enjoy how college football went from three yards and a cloud of dust to the consistently best quarterback play by 1,000 miles over the 150 years of the game.

You probably liked that Tom Brady guy over the last 20+ years, too.

No, the NFL didn’t totally take the Mike Leach style of Air Raid offense in all phases, but the attack certainly stylistically influenced absolutely everything.

The five-yard pass became the new running game.

His teams became the working model for how the passing game could be used. Others saw what the Leach style was doing, lifted its basic principles, and used it to fit their own personnel and style. Leach was about to do the same thing himself.

We were all just about to see what he could do in his next act.

It all worked fine at Texas Tech and Washington State, but he was never able to get the SEC/NFL-level defensive guys like he could at Mississippi State. Now Leach could show all he could do with time to build things up with star parts in all phases, and in that, there’s inspiration.

Even in your early 60s, you can still take everything you’ve accomplished to a potentially higher level.

Above all else, Leach was one of the most unique characters in the history of college football. Whether you found him funny, abrasive, charming, obnoxious, generous, or any and all of the above, there was only one Mike Leach.

It was all a mix as Leach became one of the most beloved coaches in the sport – everyone has a story about how he went out of his way to be decent when no one was watching – who was still a young man with so much more to do.

He was never like everyone else. He spoke his mind, was never afraid to be a little goofy, and he never, ever held back. In a football coaching world of robots who crash spectacularly the moment they veer out of their talking-football lanes, Leach was just as comfortable discussing anything other than sports.

But when he did talk football, he saw things far, far differently than anyone else – and no one got that more than his peers.

The NFL changed forever because of him. Quarterbacks have made billions because of him. Football in general has become what it is because of him.

College football will never be the same without Mike Leach.

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College Football Coaches, Job Openings & Deion: Cavalcade of Whimsy

College football coaches and just how silly this all is, major job openings, and what to do with NIL money in this week’s Cavalcade of Whimsy

The silliness of the college football coaching world, big job openings, and what to do with NIL money in the latest Cavalcade of Whimsy.


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College Football Coaches, Job Openings & Deion

College Football Week 5 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Rankings by Conference
Bowl Projections | Week 5 Scoreboard
Week 6 Early Lines | AP Rankings | Coaches Poll
Chryst, Dorrell Fired: Hot Seat Coach Rankings
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like

Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …

It gained two rushing yards against the University of Illinois on Saturday and all it got was this lousy $11 million buyout.

Cavalcade of Whimsy
One thing about NIL deals that has to stop
5 Opinions | Lock Picks, Overrated/Underrated

And no matter what job you have, hopefully this shortens the game a bit

Think about all the jobs that needed to be filled in the history of human existence and all the things people have had to do to survive.

As we speak, someone out there is cutting someone else’s toenails.

Now think of the silliest jobs possible.

Someone actually gets paid to sit in a room and make a decision.

Right now, someone is unironically using the word “synergy” in a speech and being compensated handsomely.

Someone else is drawing a cartoon and will be able to feed her family by doing so. Someone else is finishing up a phone call with “talk at cha.” Someone else is writing a pretentious column full of goofy thoughts.

It’s not like these people’s jobs matter. It’s not like they’re building a house, or fixing a leg, or making a kid smarter, or repairing power lines, or feeding an old person, or doing something that actually makes this whole engine go.

Really, take a moment to come up with the silliest possible job combination of money and power. I’ll see your TikTok influencer and raise you a major college football head coach.

We have gone totally mad as a society to think Nick Saban is important.

It’s ridiculous that a person can become multi-generational wealthy and be the most powerful person at an institution of higher learning – and in some cases, be the highest paid employee in a state – by getting a bunch of college kids to play a dumb game.

Jimbo Fisher earned approximately $175 during the time it took you to read this so far.

This whole notion of teaching, and building up young people to become better men, and creating life skills, and caring about their eduction – it’s all a flaming bag of horsespit when that 18-year-old’s kick goes three inches to the left.

And how do I know this?

Did you see the way those coaches looked at Chad Powers when he started throwing?

A college football coach is there to do one thing and one thing only, and that’s to win college football games. That’s it. Raising money, curing kids with cancer, creating new buildings, funding scholarships – yeah, super, but did you beat Illinois?

And to make this madness even more insane, we’ve all bought into it.

Hook all Auburn fans – or fans of any major program with a struggling head coach – up to a lie detector and ask if they’d like to dump Bryan Harsin just before supper for Urban Meyer or Hugh Freeze.

Nick Saban is important.

The University of Alabama is a fine school, but it sure as shoot doesn’t have the same ability to dive into the national student talent pool if the football program isn’t this.

Not to school shame, but it’s not like the University of New Mexico is up in my neck of the woods in suburban Chicago macking it hard on the National Merit Scholars like Bama is.

And I know first hand how this all works. Not to go all “Losing My Edge,” but I was there in 1988 when Wisconsin football was ranked 107th in the Sagarin ratings.

There were 104 colleges playing Division-I football.

When it comes to Paul Chryst, I don’t want to hear whine one from any Badger fan that doesn’t go to a dark place hearing the words Veer offense.

I saw what one athletic director hire and one football coach could do to completely change an entire state.

It took a few years and, literally, trash cans of vomit to get there, but few major universities have been able to reposition themselves nationally like Wisconsin did, and it started with being better at a sport.

And now it’s going to pay almost $11 million to get rid of a good guy who won 72% of his games after starting the season 2-3.

Yeah, it’s ridiculous, but that’s the deal.

That’s why these coaches are being fired after losing a few games that could’ve gone either way. That’s why college football fans don’t bristle at the obscene amounts of money being given to these men to do what they do, and then to get rid of them if needed.

It’s all silly. These are silly people doing silly things in a silly situation.

And we’re cool with it, because that’s the game now.

However, with ALL of that said, I’m not cool with …

Cavalcade of Whimsy 
One thing about NIL deals that has to stop
5 Opinions | Lock Picks, Overrated/Underrated

NEXT: More coaching madness, when the Cavalcade of Whimsy continues …

College Football Cavalcade Think, Know, Believe: Talking Trash

College football reaction to Week 4: What I think, what I know, and what I believe, including the smack talk kerfuffle

College Football Cavalcade: What I think, know, and believe after Week 4 and all the strange twists and turns of this first month of the season.


College Football Cavalcade

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

I still haven’t recovered from the shocking and hurtful comments made by North Carolina QB Drake Maye.

(NSFW warning …)

“Whether you want to admit it or not, growing up in Carolina, you’re gonna be a Carolina fan. Some people may say (NC) State, but really people who go to State just can’t get into Carolina.”

Oh sure, he walked it back, and he was coached to say all the right things, but that bell can’t be unrung in just a tweet.

There needs to be grief counseling, there needs to be sensitivity training, there needs to be a total culture overhaul.

How this monster is still allowed to roam the streets, much less play college football – and how Mack Brown and University of North Carolina president Peter Hans are able to keep their jobs after bringing this filth to such a fine institution – is beyond me.

Fortunately, God punished the heathen by allowing those good Catholics from Notre Dame – who would never, ever spout anything disparaging about an opponent – to enjoy some semblance of an offense for a week.

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You really think THAT was a rip? I’d like to introduce you to a certain Jumpman logo from that school who took trash talk to a legendary art form.

I think … dogging your rival is the entire point of being a college sports fan.

I know … after a lifetime of living and working in and around the college space, I’ve heard them all. I can do this forever.

If you can’t get into college, you can go to (insert rival here).

You went to (insert school unnecessarily mentioned in random conversation here)? Okay, I’ll speak slower.

Why is it THE Ohio State University? Because THE America’s Safety School doesn’t fit as well on a t-shirt (or, the alternative dig, because Ohio State students need to constantly be reminded they were accepted into a college).

How do you spot someone who went to Michigan? By the trail of Ivy League rejection letters. What do all Michigan alumni have in the closet? 157 things that say Michigan and a wistful Northwestern sweatshirt tucked in the back.

Why do people go to USC? Because the University of Spoiled Children are too lazy to spell UCLA.

What does UCLA stand for? University of Common Little Adults.

What does Texas A&M stand for? A 17-14 loss to Appalachian State. (Rim shot. Or insert the latest home loss, playing on the tradition of the students standing at the ready in case they need to enter the game. I’ve heard it used by a Longhorn to an Aggie, and bad things happened from there.)

I believe … being able to set off a Texas fan by turning a hand sign upside down might be the funniest thing in all of American society.

I think … if you’re actually offended by any of that, or especially what Drake Maye said …

I know … that’s on you, and …

I believe … you’re too boring to be a part of a functional planet, much less the fun of college sports.

I think … Drake Maye has been terrific so far completing 69% of his passes for 1,231 yards and 16 touchdowns with a pick and a rushing score. He hit Notre Dame for five touchdowns.

I know … North Carolina once again seems like it has a strong team under Mack Brown, but it sort of doesn’t.

I believe … North Carolina continues to be an underappreciated college football quarterback factory.

I think … I’m going to miss the edit on his name at about a 32% clip as my computer continues to want to change Drake Maye into Drake May.

I know … I’m annoyed, because I can’t really ask my computer to learn the spelling since I’ll need to use the word May, too.

I believe … if you have the Curb Your Enthusiasm music going through your head on a constant loop, all stupid daily problems become whimsical.

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I think … James Madison has to be ranked ahead of Texas A&M.

I know … Texas A&M was ranked 17th in the latest polls. James Madison received 11 votes from the Coaches and 4 from the AP.

I believe … if Team A is unbeaten and it beat Team B on the road, and Team B beat Team C – and Team A TRUCKED Team D that blew out Team E that Team C just barely got past – then of course you put Team A over Team C in the rankings. It’s just not that hard.

I think … people’s brains melt when they have to actually think about how to rank things properly.

I know … people will do anything and will buy into anything that conforms to their familiar beliefs, even when they’re probably wrong.

I believe … very few people who vote in college football polls take the time to try putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. There needs to be a way this crazy sports takes its playoff system out of the hands of a panel of judges. Which is why …


College Football Week 4 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 4 Scoreboard | Week 5 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Hot Seat Coach Rankings | AP Rankings | Coaches Poll


I think … the 12-team College Football Playoff idea would make this season a whole lot more fun than it already is with more teams, more bases, and more casual fans involved.

I know … it wouldn’t diminish the rivalry games and big matchups like the old timers think it would. On the flip side, an expanded College Football Playoff will make them bigger.

I believe … 15 minutes after the expanded College Football Playoff is in place, everyone will wonder why it wasn’t done a gajillion years sooner.

I think … the Ohio State all-black uniforms were sad. It looked like Utah was playing Wisconsin.

I know … the Ohio State normal kits are fantastic.

I believe … in 99% of all cases – Ohio State being in the 1% – if you need an outfit change to make your team better at a sport, you already know your answer.

I think … DJ Uiagalelei has – potentially, and with work – No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick upside and talent.

I know … I’m in a room by myself with people who agree with that assessment.

I believe … he’s going to be one of those quarterbacks who rises up and rocks with one more year of seasoning. Some guys just need the time and the live reps for everything to slow down to a stop. EVERY senior college quarterback remarks about how night-and-day easier the game becomes at 22 than it was at 19.

I think … a quarterback mistakenly stepping out of the back of the end zone for a safety isn’t particularly interesting or embarrassing.

I know … I’m in a DJ Uiagalelei Is Great lonely place with that.

I believe … field position and tactics-wise, it’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world to suck up the 2 and flip the field back around. Obviously you don’t want that, but it’s not necessarily a killer unless you lose by one like San Francisco did.

I think … Kansas being 4-0 is one of the best college football stories in a long time.

I know … Lance Leipold is one of those head coaches who, if all things were equal, could take his and beat your and yours and beat his.

I believe … Nebraska, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, and others will come calling soon.

I think … the Arizona State job is better than the Nebraska job.

I know … recruiting area, market size in an NIL world, and overall expectations with time to build will matter.

I believe … I can’t get there with Georgia Tech being as big of a sleeping giant as Arizona State, but there are a whole lot of positives about that gig to flip it around sooner than Geoff Collins was able to.

I think … I have no freaking clue how to make Nebraska amazing again.

I know … Notre Dame, USC, Texas, Tennessee, Miami, Florida State, Michigan – it’s next to impossible to recapture the magic like fans remember.

I believe … it takes a whole lot of dumb luck to hit the perfect blend of the right coach, the right administration, and the right infrastructure. There was a time when it was hardly a given that Alabama and Ohio State would become this.

I think … I’m loving this start to the 2022 season. Bring on more upsets, more twists, and more zaniness.

I know … how this all ends, though.

I believe … SEC powerhouse vs Ohio State for the national championship. And America yawns.

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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College Football Week 4 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 4 Scoreboard | Week 5 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Hot Seat Coach Rankings | AP Rankings | Coaches Poll

Think, Know, Believe College Football Cavalcade: All Aboard The USC Party Bus

College football reaction to Week 3: What I think, what I know, and what I believe. All aboard the USC party bus

College Football Cavalcade: What I think, know, and believe after Week 3 and the fantastic start to the college football season 


College Football Cavalcade

Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

The woman ran an empire until she was 96. Stop asking me when a 70-year-old Nick Saban might retire.

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And it’s all going to be even better and more exciting when the College Football Playoff is expanded. Really, it will be. No, really.

I think … this has been the most amazing start to a season I can ever remember.

I know … there’s a new energy. Lots of fan bases not used to college football success are getting involved more than ever before.

I believe … that’s where the fun is. Venting against doorknobs who disrespect your long-suffering team or Group of Five conference is the entire point of being an irrationally fired up fan. That’s the gig. That’s what I’m here for.

I think … it’s AMAZING when fans of the Sun Belt, or that FCS program, or places like Kansas, Wake Forest, UNLV, or Duke puff their chests out. It’s my standard answer to the question of who the best fans are – the Bowling Green season ticket holders, and they just had a fun Saturday. I’m always comfortable getting honked at because …

I know … the moment will soon arrive when Hell, Alabama, and reality are coming to breakfast.

I believe … eventually, time – and the SEC superstar program in a given year  – gets us all. Speaking of which …

I think … everyone is trying to book their tickets well after the fact – seriously, ESPN, you send a text alert on Sunday that now USC might have a shot at the top four? – but there’s still room on my USC Will Go To The College Football Playoff party bus.

I know … it left a few months ago. There are a few grapefruit White Claws left, but the spread of delightful meats and cheeses has been restocked.

I believe … the bus is going to crash and possibly blow up in either Glendale or Atlanta – there’s no way it makes it to Los Angeles – but it’ll get to the CFP in time for the show.

[lawrence-related id=551267]

I think … this Alabama thing isn’t quite right.

I know … everyone just assumes it will all work out because it’s Alabama, but that wide receiver glitch might not get instantly fixed, and this seems like one of those teams that’s feeling the weight of the National Championship or Bust pressure.

I believe … Alabama will still get into the College Football Playoff, partly because …

I think … there’s NOTHING else. There’s Georgia, there’s Ohio State, and that’s about it. There’s USC – my fanboy supercrush is real – but that’s because of the schedule as much as the all-star team on the offensive side. The D is an issue.

I know … there are the unbeaten Big 12 schools, but the league is going to cannibalize itself with no easy out 1-through-10. There’s no Group of Five program in the mix, and the Buckeyes will take care of the Penn States and Michigans of the Big Ten East.

I believe … there’s Clemson, but that offense desperately needs some help to go along with that national title-level D.


College Football Week 3 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 3 Scoreboard | Week 4 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Hot Seat Coach Rankings


I think … Clemson could absolutely get to the College Football Playoff with its defensive talent and schedule.

I know … Dabo has zero interest in the new world of college football, and that includes NIL and the transfer portal, but …

I believe … that’s one team that desperately looks like it could use – and could’ve gone to get – a reliable deep threat and an extra bulldozer at guard. That might be all the difference between getting there and having an honest shot at winning the national title.

I think … I love talking with jacked up superfans in person.

I know … because last week I got to speak to the Red Elephants Club at Alabama. That was a blast for a variety of reasons, especially because they all totally disagreed with me on almost everything. They did it in a professionally nice “bless your heart” sort of way, but they didn’t buy in that …

I believe … NIL is okay. Bryce Young did a Dr. Pepper ad – he’s still good at football. He did an ad for Nissan that came on right after a Nick Saban thing with Deion and the duck – and college football kept on going. Everything is totally fine. With that said …

I think … I do NOT want to hear players whining in any way about other players getting money, deals, benefits, whatever.

I know … if you’re a player and you want NIL money or your own deals, and you want what you think is yours, then go and get it.

I believe … that’s how the world works, son. It comes down to the Jerry Jones three keys to a successful business: 1. Ask for the money. 2. Ask for the money. 3. Ask for the money. Now the players can do all three.

I think … it’s possible to walk, chew gum, dribble a ball during one season, and come up with a goal line stand in another.

I know … some schools really do focus their respective identities on being awesome at one sport over another.

I believe … Kentucky can be a football school, too. At the moment, so can Indiana, so can Kansas, and so can UNLV.

I think … Stetson Bennett is playing like a Heisman finalist.

I know … even though he won a national title and might take another this year, I still believe Kirby Smart can’t quite figure out how to maximize the skills of the most talented quarterbacks he’s able to bring through his program.

I believe … Bennett’s experience is shining through for a reloaded team that was obviously going to be good, but needed a steady QB to make it all work right away. He’s making plays he didn’t come up with last year, and it seems like the game slowed to a crawl for him. He’s reading everything right.

I think … Ohio State seems to be as comfortable as it has ever been, at least for Ohio State.

I know … the offense is going to be more than fine. It’s getting warmed up, the Toledo game was just a taste, and the fireworks will be there throughout the Big Ten season.

I believe … the defense will have improved to the level it needs to be at when I see it against a team with a talented offense. No, Notre Dame doesn’t count. Wisconsin this week doesn’t really count, either.

I think … until the world shows you otherwise, you keep taking USC and give away the points. You keep assuming that no spread is too large enough for Georgia, and …

I know … you could set the total at 1.5 and I’d still go under on any Iowa game. It’ll probably be played in the rain.

I believe … after sitting through all the delays and stops and starts of Nevada-Iowa I should at least be able to see a queen or something.

I think … that whole dying thing looks boring.

I know … my AirPods probably won’t work, I won’t be able to get my coffee right, and there’s no way to charge my phone. So I came to an existential decision about death after sort of paying attention to all the pomp and interminable how-can-we-miss-you-if-you-won’t-leave honoring over the last ten days – along with the Iowa win over Nevada …

I believe … I’m just not going to do it. The UMass vs Temple game preview isn’t going to write itself.

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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College Football Week 3 Roundup
CFN 1-131 Rankings | Bowl Projections
Week 3 Scoreboard | Week 4 Early Lines
What 12-Team Playoff Would Look Like
Hot Seat Coach Rankings

College Football Playoff Expanding To 12: It Will All Be Fine. Really.

College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams. This is why it’s a good thing.

The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams in the near future. It’s going to be a positive thing for college football. Really.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Sorry if this take sucks, it’s not my fault …

By around 2024 it’s going to be the 13th-best take in a 12-take world.

College football is giving us more meaningful football, and some don’t want it

Really, was that so hard?

The College Football Playoff Board of Managers have approved a 12-team expanded College Football Playoff that could start as early as 2024, but will most likely kick in around 2026 – contract issues, logistics, and a slew of other parts of the puzzle have to be put together to make this happen earlier than later.

When this is a go, the CFP will be made up of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams. The first round will be played on the college campuses, and then it gets turned over to the bowl locations.

Yes, it’s for the money – as are all major sports – and yes, it’s about catering to the expanded monster conferences. The college presidents and athletic directors finally figured out there’s a nice, warm treasure bath waiting with lots of bubbles.

Of course, like everything, there will be those who shake their fists and get all weird because something fun might change and be more fun, but outside of “because,” they don’t have any real argument.

Expansion is a good thing. Really.

Start with this – there’s going to be a way for teams to play their way into the College Football Playoff.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you win all your games in the Power Five and you’re in, but that’s not a given, and that’s not the right way to look at it.

There will be debates in the future about who that 12th team should be, but that’s fine. We won’t have to get into it about the fifth, sixth, and seventh best teams – at least the theoretical ones determined on a belief.

2020 Texas A&M had to play Alabama. Notre Dame didn’t, but it beat Clemson once before getting throttled in the ACC Championship rematch. Both the Aggies and Irish deserved to be in the CFP, but one had to be left out. That was a silly debate that should’ve been unnecessary.

Cincinnati and Oklahoma State and Utah all should’ve had a shot in some sort of a playoff system after the 2021 season. TCU should’ve been in the playoff after the 2014 campaign – and Baylor should have, too – but not everyone could squeeze into the four team format.

Was it fair that some teams – 2021 Georgia, 2017 Alabama, 2016 Ohio State – got to the College Football Playoff without being good enough to win their respective conference championships? Not really, but that won’t matter with an expanded CFP – they can get in, but that doesn’t mean teams that earned it will be left out. That leads to the best part about all of this.

The importance of the panel of judges is lessened.

[lawrence-related id=549726]

This is the part I truly don’t understand from the anti-expansion types. Why do you want any aspect of the championship determined by an opinion?

The College Football Playoff committee is fine, but these are important people with lives, and things to do, and families that love them. They know the sport, but they don’t know the entire landscape of college football from the rooter to the tooter.

Expand the playoff, win your conference championship with a good record in a great league, and you’re good. There – take it out of the hands of the judges. You control your own fate.

That’s going to make the season more fun.

Think about it. How much more awesome would the Baylor goal line stop against Oklahoma State have been in the Big 12 Championship if that was for a playoff spot?

How much more fun would the Pac-12 Championship have been if the Utah fan base got to have an even bigger party?

And what about the ACC Championship? It’s possible someone outside of friends and family would’ve watched Pitt vs Wake Forest last year.

More fan bases will be involved, more teams will have something big to shoot for, and there’s going to be more interest in college football overall.

Does that mean a Boise State or a No. 3 Big Ten team will take down Alabama in the playoff? Probably not, but that’s not the point.

Did UCF really think it could’ve or would’ve won the national title in 2017 or 2018? I don’t know, and neither did those Knight teams that just wanted a shot.

It sucks more for a team to not get a chance because the judges went in a different direction than it does to get trucked by the Tide. All everyone wants is the opportunity, and now it’s coming.

No, College Football Playoff expansion deniers, this won’t lessen the importance of the regular season. It’s going to be much, much harder than it seems to get into the CFP – this isn’t the NCAA Tournament or the NHL or NBA playoffs.

No, this won’t make for a worse playoff. You can’t get hot from three for a weekend and end up close to the Final Four.

Ask yourself this – where has there been any sort of a flukish loss in the CFP so far? Of course there will be some sort of a crazy upset somewhere when this expands, but if you can win two or more games in this tournament, you’re for real.

In the near future, every team will know in the offseason that the College Football Playoff is a real possibility, and not just a silly slogan put on a t-shirt.

Every fan base whose team is having a good season will be more engaged.

December will be more fun, the College Football Playoff will be more fun, and the sport will be more fun.

The College Football Playoff is expanding. It’s going to be okay.

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