Tag: game

BYU’s bluff called, dash own College Football Playoff dreams

BYU will have nobody to blame but themselves when they don’t play in the College Football Playoff next month.

It wasn’t likely that BYU would do enough to make the College Football Playoff in 2020 but you can certainly cross it off even as a remote possibility after what transpired Sunday evening.

BYU, who sits at 9-0 overall and is ranked in the top 10 nationally, had their bluff called on Sunday and will now have nobody to blame but themselves when they ultimately don’t make the College Football Playoff this winter.

For context, we actually have to go back a few days to set the stage, as the Pac-12 announced Wednesday that they would allow each conference member to schedule one out of conference game, adding some wiggle-room to only a six-game regular-season schedule for those who don’t make the conference championship game.

When that was announced there was hope an interest that a few intriguing games would be added to the 2020 college football slate, but one that was proposed since the announcement won’t be played and not doing so is making BYU look foolish.

According to reports from several in the college football community, The University of Washington reached out to BYU on Saturday about scheduling a game later this year.

The Huskies are 2-0 on the year with only two games being played to date and only two games currently scheduled for the rest of the year.  Although not viewed as a College Football Playoff contender themselves, they’d certainly offer a chance for BYU to have another name win on their resume that they hope is good enough to earn them a trip to the CFP.

According to Bruce Feldman, BYU essentially said “thanks but no thanks” to Washington’s offer because they’d like to first know where they sit in the first College Football Playoff Rankings that are due out Tuesday evening.

Here’s a hint for everyone in and around Provo, Utah:

You’ll probably be eighth just like you are in both the AP and Amway Coaches Polls and you’ll be behind another Group of Five team in Cincinnati, just like you are in the AP and Coaches.

Even with Heisman contender, Zach Wilson, BYU needs a good amount of help building their resume if they think they have any shot at crashing the CFP party, and not taking Washington up on their offer does them no favors in that regard.

Even if they were to schedule Washington and win they’d still have an uphill battle but passing on an opponent of even that caliber will kill whatever chances BYU had of making the dance.

Ralph Russo of the AP reports that BYU has concerns over potentially being dropped by Washington if another Pac-12 game was to be made available to them on the same date.

Let me just ask, though:  what if there wasn’t a Pac-12 team that suddenly became available to play for Washington?

It makes BYU look laughable as they tweeted a picture of Wilson on November 20 wearing a bandana that read: “any team, any time, any place”

Except for if they’re a Power Five team who has a history of winning.

Then they’re not for that.

Remember this if and when BYU finishes the season undefeated yet you hear moans that they didn’t get a fair shake about playing in the College Football Playoff.

They’ve got nobody to blame but themselves for looking this foolish.

No tailgating, no cash, required masks and social distancing at UF-UGA game this year

The UAA released updated information for fans regarding the Florida-Georgia football game in Jacksonville in response to COVID-19 issues.

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Florida’s game against Georgia is going on as previously planned despite a COVID-19 outbreak taking the Gators out of action the last two weeks.

The UAA released updated information for fans regarding that game in Jacksonville, which is currently scheduled to take place on Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

According to the UAA release, tailgating will not be permitted for fans in the stadium parking lot. Only ticket holders will be allowed in the lots, and the areas will be closely observed for violations.

In addition to limited capacity, fans will be required to wear masks at all times except while actively eating or drinking. Fans who don’t follow these regulations will be subject to disciplinary action, the release said.

There will be signage encouraging physical distancing, such as queue-spacing indicators, as well as over 750 sanitizing stations.

All 88 gates will be open to fans, as well as all restrooms and concession stands. However, all payments at concession stands will be contactless, and paying with cash will not be permitted.

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NFL broadcast coverage maps, Week 4: Saints at Lions

The New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions game broadcast will be limited to their respective local markets for Week 4 of the 2020 NFL season.

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Will your local Fox affiliate be broadcasting the New Orleans Saints game this week? If you don’t live in the New Orleans or Detroit markets, probably not.

That’s illustrated in Week 4’s broadcast maps from 506sports, which has Saints-Lions coverage shown in yellow where we’ve embedded it below. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and large swaths of Georgia and the Florida panhandle will be receiving the next Saints game, as will Michigan and most of its Upper Peninsula (though a few localities along the Minnesota border will be watching Vikings-Texans, denoted in green).

Additionally, this will be the first Saints game that Jonathan Vilma will be working for Fox Sports since leaving ESPN earlier this year. He’s teamed up with Kenny Albert on play-by-play in the booth, offering his input as an analyst. The Saints and Lions will be kicking off at noon.

This week’s map is hardly unanimous. With six different games to be shown on Fox Sports across the country, various affiliates will be splitting interests to a fairly wide degree. Most of America will be tuned in to Browns-Cowboys, marked in red:

The other games shown in the New Orleans market this week include a double-header on CBS, with the Buccaneers and Chargers playing early followed by Chiefs-Patriots. The Eagles and 49ers will continue their wars of attrition on “Sunday Night Football” while the Falcons and Packers prepare for Monday night’s game.

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49ers troll the Saints, advise fans to ‘grab a face mask’ during pandemic

The San Francisco 49ers got in a dig at the New Orleans Saints on Twitter while reminding fans to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic

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The novel coronavirus pandemic has continued to spread throughout the United States, with hotbeds of infections growing in Texas, Arizona, and Florida. California has also been hit hard, prompting the San Francisco 49ers to send a message to their fans advocating for personal health and safety measures.

Unfortunately, the New Orleans Saints caught a stray. The 49ers shared a message on Twitter saying, “Be a saint. Grab a face mask,” complete with a brief video of one of the 2019 season’s lowest moments for Saints fans: free safety Marcus Williams’ desperate face mask penalty to save a would-be touchdown catch-and-run by 49ers tight end George Kittle near the end of that loss.

It’s a low blow; hopefully the Saints will get the opportunity to strike back in their 2020 rematch with San Francisco, scheduled for Nov. 15. But more Americans must follow that advice and mask up, preventing further coronavirus infections and potentially saving lives, if we’re going to get there.

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Ranking Texas’ 2020 schedule by game winnability

This season will be a make or break season for Tom Herman. Needing to make it to the conference championship, UT must navigate the Big 12.

Going into the 2020 season, Texas’ schedule should be easier than it was last season. Getting key home games against Baylor, Iowa State, and TCU should help the Longhorns improve from the disappointing 7-5 in 2019.

Building hype around itself once again going into a football season, Texas should be favored in the majority of games they play in. Where difficulties arise is the usual suspects in Oklahoma and this year’s non-conference opponent, LSU.

Returning a lot of talent, especially on the defensive side, it will be a make or break season for Tom Herman. With the goal being to make the conference championship, Texas will have to navigate through the Big 12 first.

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Alabama schedules home-and-home series with Ohio State for 2027,2028

Alabama football announces a home-and-home series with the Ohio State Buckeyes set for 2027 and 2028.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide continue to add on to a long list of powerful non-conference competitors for future seasons.

Alabama announces the home-and-home series with the Ohio State Buckeyes via Twitter. The first game will be played in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 18, 2027. The second game will be played in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Sept. 9, 2028.

The two teams have faced off four times, with Alabama leading the series 3-1, but Ohio State has the most recent victory in the 2015 Sugar Bowl.

Alabama’s athletic director Greg Byrne tweeted out his excitement for the future contest. He also thanked Ohio State’s athletic director for working with him to get the game put on the schedule.

Roll Tide Wire will keep you updated on all things Alabama football and will report on any future games that are scheduled.

Lack of Logic Surrounding Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland

Notre Dame and Navy are to play in late August in Dublin. A recent Ireland ban however makes no sense and leaves us w/o game resolution yet.

As you’re aware Notre Dame is scheduled to start the 2020 college football season in Dublin, Ireland in what is now known as Week Zero in the sport. The last Saturday in August is currently set to see Notre Dame take on Navy at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Last week news came out that Dublin was banning gatherings of 5000 people or more through August.  We covered that and told you the news that will be coming at some point because of that.

Now we sit here with you almost an entire week later and we have no news.  Still.

In fact Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk is insisting that the game is still on:

“it is way too early to speculate on what happens in the season opener.  Let’s just wait and see what happens. We’re in no hurry to make a final decision.” – Navy AD Chet Gladchuk to Annapolis Gazette

Uhh, Chet.  This isn’t all that complicated.

We sit here on the evening of April 27 with no real end in sight to the stoppage of sports aside from golf being played anytime soon.  Some colleges are already planning on having their fall classes be conducted all online and not at their campuses but there is still plenty of time?

I didn’t understand in the article that the Ireland government told Gladchuk that the Ireland ban on 5000 or more in a gathering doesn’t currently apply to sporting events.  So you mean to tell me that coronavirus is a big sports fan and is willing to keep to itself and not spread at a sporting event?

Logic would tell you that ruling or way of thinking will change before long.  Then would you send both teams across the Atlantic Ocean to play a football game in front of a minimal amount of fans?

I’m guessing not.

Incredibly dumb logic here for Ireland to have a different set of rules for mass gatherings for sporting events compared to non-sporting events.

I wish I was wrong but it’s just a matter of time until this game is unfortunately moved to the states.  Now let’s just hope that’s all it is and not cancelled or pushed back significantly.

Just a Matter of Time Until Notre Dame/Navy in Ireland is Called Off

It appears to be just a matter of time until Notre Dame and Navy’s season-opener in Dublin gets officially called off

It was supposed to be a season opener like very few before it.  Notre Dame and Navy were (and technically still are) scheduled to start the 2020 college football season in Dublin, Ireland with ESPN’s College Gameday on location.  The game technically still could happen we suppose but news it out Tuesday says that at best, fans likely won’t be included.  At least not very many of them.

Per Irish Times:

Ireland is set to announce the banning of all events with 5000 or more people with authorities being told not to grant licenses for large events in this period due to the coronavirus crisis.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure the rest of this out.

Notre Dame and Navy aren’t going to be flying across the pond to play a football game in front of fewer than 5000 fans, especially with the fears of flying and doing unnecessary travel right now.  You can go to a local high school and play in front of a crowd that size, why in the world would you fly teams and staffs to Ireland to play a game that pretty much nobody is allowed to attend as fans?

There may not have been a statement made by the Naval Academy yet, it is their home game after all, or Notre Dame’s but that’s just the period at the end of the sentence at this point.  With this news out today it tells us what we all expected but hoped against for a while, that is that there will be no season opener in Ireland this year.

Now we hope for the best case scenario, however unlikely, to be that the game can be played on the same date in the United States.  Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick have been open about alternate plans already being discussed about that, now will come the next steps which will include the official cancellation of the Ireland game which could come in days, if not hours.  Also to come is the decided location of the game and date, which could already be known but is being withheld in event it’s never necessary to actually announce.

Let’s hope against that and instead the game gets moved to the mainland and is actually played the last weekend in August.  I think we’d all be thrilled at this point if football at all is played the last week of August whether it be in Indianapolis, Washington D.C., Orlando or at a high school field.

Watch – Brian Kelly’s April 8 Press Conference

Well, things aren’t much different in the college sports world.  Whether you’re a media member or the head coach at a well-known football program like Notre Dame, you’ve had to adjust your life.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  If you’re working from home these days you’ve probably dealt with your new reality of Zoom or Skype conferences instead of your normal meetings with co-workers.

Well, things aren’t much different in the college sports world.  Whether you’re a media member or the head coach at a well-known football program like Notre Dame, you’ve had to adjust your life.

Brian Kelly held a very non-traditional press conference on Wednesday where the Navy game in Ireland was addressed, the importance of May 15 was examined and Kelly spoke about his responsibilities on Pro Day as well as many other things.  You can watch the entire press conference via Zoom here:

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2020 Senior Bowl: How Saints fans can tune in, and who to watch

The New Orleans Saints will be watching when Zac Taylor’s South Team kicks off with Matt Patricia’s North Team in the 2020 Senior Bowl game.

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The 2020 Senior Bowl is hours away from kicking off, and the New Orleans Saints will be watching. Recent draft prospects they’ve selected who stood out in the collegiate all-star game include defensive end Marcus Davenport, who sacked quarterback Baker Mayfield early in the game and later returned a fumble 19 yards for a defensive touchdown. Wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith scored the first points in that 2018 game with a 14-yard touchdown reception.

Of course, just showing out in this exhibition game doesn’t mean the Saints will draft a prospect. But it obviously leaves an impression; they’ve drafted at least one participant in the first three rounds in each of the last five years, and often grabbed two. The opportunity to more extensively scout these players and fill out the scouting report does a lot to help their projection in the NFL.

This year, the North Team (coached by Matt Patricia’s Detroit Lions) will kick off against the South Team (coached by Zac Taylor’s Cincinnati Bengals) in a game featuring several high-profile quarterbacks, including Oregon’s Justin Herbert, Utah State’s Jordan Love, and Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts. The Saints currently don’t have a single quarterback under contract for next season, so it’s very possible they end up selecting one of those prospects.

Additionally, the Saints need upgrades at receiver. Keep an eye on players such as Baylor’s Denzel Mims, Florida’s Van Jefferson, Ohio State’s K.J. Hill, and Texas wideout Collin Johnson. This is one of the most-lauded wide receiver classes in recent memory, and New Orleans stands to benefit.

Here’s everything you need to know to tune into Saturday’s Senior Bowl game:

Game Information

North Team (Detroit Lions) vs. South Team (Cincinnati Bengals)

2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Jan. 25

Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Ala.

Television

NFL Network

Streaming

fuboTV (try it for free)

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