Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt makes College Football Playoff picks

Joel Klatt is not confident in Texas on Monday.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt is not confident in Texas on Monday. Continue reading “Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt makes College Football Playoff picks”

Deion Sanders ‘dominating’ offseason recruiting once again, Joel Klatt says

Joel Klatt praised what Deion Sanders has accomplished so far this offseason

The college football transfer portal is spinning rapidly as players head elsewhere for more opportunities or perhaps more NIL (name, image and likeness) money.

Head coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have been very active early on this offseason. They have revamped the offensive line with a series of moves, although they did lose some talent, including running back Anthony Hankerson and center Van Wells, both of whom transferred to Oregon State.

But, the progress that the Buffs have made drew a strong impression from current Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt: “Coach Prime is dominating right now in recruiting as it relates to the Big 12,” the former Colorado quarterback said on his podcast earlier this week.

The Buffs also landed Jordan Seaton, a five-star class of 2024 offensive tackle who could start on the line next season.

Klatt also mentioned that people will want to tear down what Colorado is doing. But after Colorado finished 1-11 in 2022, winning four games in 2023 with a complete roster overhaul isn’t bad by any means.

The future is bright for Coach Prime and the Buffs as they prepare to enter the Big 12.

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Joel Klatt updates college football power rankings, top 10 after Championship Week

The best in the business has spoken! #GoBlue

It was a wild, chaotic championship week, where some of the favorites (Michigan football, Florida State, Texas) won but some others (Georgia, Oregon) did not. It upended the College Football Playoff picture quite spectacularly.

The Seminoles did not make the top four despite being undefeated, with Alabama getting the nod. Ohio State didn’t back in as it had last year due to the upheaval across the weekend.

Once everything was said and done, we got our top four in the Wolverines, Huskies, Longhorns, and Crimson Tide. But how would Joel Klatt rank the top 10 teams?

He gave his update on Sunday morning and ended up being awfully close to the College Football Playoff rankings. Regardless, here is his top 10.

‘A team that has nothing to lose is always dangerous’: Joel Klatt breaks down Iowa-Michigan

Fox color analyst, Joel Klatt, shared his final thoughts on the Iowa-Michigan matchup in the Big Ten Championship game.

The Iowa Hawkeyes battle the Michigan Wolverines for the second time in the past three seasons in the Big Ten Championship game tonight beginning at 7:15 p.m. CT on Fox.

Iowa (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) enters after a dramatic win at Nebraska where backup kicker Marshall Meeder booted through a walk-off, game-winning 38-yard field goal to down the Huskers, 13-10.

It was a historic victory for the Hawkeyes. With the win, Iowa secured its seventh 10-win regular season in school history and the fifth under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Meanwhile, Michigan (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) used a pair of rushing touchdowns from senior running back Blake Corum and one passing touchdown from junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy to topple Ohio State, 30-24. The Wolverines’ junior defensive back Rod Moore came away with the game-sealing interception of Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord in the final half minute.

It sets the stage for a win-and-in scenario for Michigan to the College Football Playoff tonight. But, can Iowa spoil those plans?

Set to call the game alongside play-by-play voice Gus Johnson and sideline analyst Jenny Taft, Fox color analyst Joel Klatt shared his final thoughts on the matchup on his podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.”

“This conference still has divisions, so is it the best two teams in the conferene? No, it’s not the best two teams in the conference, but I will just say this: Iowa is the type of a team that you don’t want to see in a scenario like this, because they’ve got nothing to lose and a team that has nothing to lose is always dangerous. In particular, a team that’s going to be so fundamentally sound and not make mistakes,” Klatt said.

Klatt touched on how well Michigan’s players and coaches handled the pair of suspensions for their head coach Jim Harbaugh and how they’ll need to do the same to capture the Big Ten crown tonight.

“This is the type of focus that they’re going to need now in this game. You’ve got a championship game environment, you’ve got a team that’s obviously well coached and well versed in Iowa. They need to come in, speaking of Michigan, and just try to handle their business,” Klatt said.

Though the Hawkeyes bring the nation’s worst total offense (246.3 yards per game) into this game against the country’s best scoring defense (10.25 points per game) and No. 2 total defense (246.8 yards per game), Klatt admires what Iowa has accomplished this season.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Iowa. I know they can be the punching bag at times, in particular their offense, but think about what this team has done. They’ve got the last ranked offense in the country and yet they’re 10-2. That doesn’t happen. That doesn’t happen without unbelievable coaching and Kirk Ferentz is one of the best coaches out there. They have dealt with an enormous amount of adversity, in particular when it relates to their injury situation,” Klatt said.

After touching on how Iowa will be without original starting quarterback Cade McNamara, tight ends Luke Lachey and Erick All and star cornerback and punt returner Cooper DeJean, Klatt discussed the Hawkeyes’ situation entering tonight’s championship game.

“So where does that leave them? Well, it leaves them with a backup quarterback, Deacon Hill. He’s 6-1 for Iowa. And it leaves them with one of the best defenses in the country. Iowa’s defense is in a lot of ways almost perfectly built. I’m a big believer in the philosophy of you force the offense to execute more times than you feel like they can execute.

“OK, so what you don’t want to do is just give cheap touchdowns and long touchdowns and Iowa doesn’t do that. They force you to earn your way down the field. They maintain their levels of defense, they keep their eyes in the backfield,” Klatt said.

Getting into some true football jargon, Klatt dissected some of Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker’s wizardry.

“And then the two things that they do really well and here’s where we’ll get really technical. Iowa leverages both people and the football as well as anybody in the country. OK, so when it comes to people, just playing with leverage, right? It’s a physical game. You’ve got to be lower than your opponent. How do you play with leverage?

“You play with great hand placement, you play with great strength. Their ability to do that is uncanny and then their ability to leverage the ball. So, the angles with which they take on defense, the way that they squeeze, the way that they pursue and do all of those things on the defensive side is one of the reasons or the big reason why they’re so good,” Klatt said.

So, does Iowa indeed have a puncher’s chance?

“They’re one of the best in the red zone and Michigan will have to play well to beat them. There’s no doubt. Their blueprint in this one is going to be defensive scores, special teams scores, possible short field here or there. And if they can do that and get the turnover game going, then there’s a chance that they could be Big Ten Champions,” Klatt said.

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Joel Klatt predicts winner of Georgia-Alabama game

College football analyst Joel Klatt predicts the winners of the conference championship games including Georgia-Alabama.

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt has predicted who he thinks will win the conference championship games. Klatt, who will be calling the Michigan-Iowa game, is unable to predict what happens in the Big Ten championship.

Joel Klatt has predicted the winner of SEC championship, the ACC championship, and the Big 12 championship. The Georgia Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles and Michigan Wolverines all appear to control their playoff paths entering the Saturday of conference championship weekend.

Who is Joel Klatt picking to win the conference championship games?

Joel Klatt moves Oregon Ducks up in his ranking of top schools

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt has moved the Oregon Ducks up in his rankings of the top schools in the nation after Week 13.

With the end of the regular season finally here, and conference championship week in front of us, things are bound to get pretty crazy across the nation over the next few days.

While a lot of upset possibilities are there, it won’t even take crazy results for the discourse to go a bit wild as we prepare for what the final College Football Playoff rankings will look like a week from now.

One thing that we’ve liked to do all season long is take a look at some notable analysts and see how they view the top teams in the nation, rather than just focusing on the polls and various rankings in the sport. One analyst we’ve followed from the start of the year until now is Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt, who has called several Oregon games this year and seems to have a good read on the program.

Here’s how Klatt ranks his top teams in the nation after Week 13:

Where does Ohio State fall in Joel Klatt’s top 10 after loss to Michigan?

Does Joel Klatt think Ohio State still has a chance to make the College Football Playoff? #GoBucks

There are no excueses. Ohio State dug itself a hole and could not recover, losing a hard-fought game to Michigan, 30-24. In the end, costly turnovers and a non-aggressive game plan did the Buckeyes in.

Ohio State played well enough to keep it in the conversation for the College Football Playoff, but it will need a lot of help with a deep field this year. It shouldn’t matter if a loss comes early or late in the season, but who that loss is to and how. Losing to the No. 3 team in the country, on the road, will keep the Bucks on top of the committee’s mind.

As we do each week, we take a look at Joel Klatt’s opinion to see where he ranks the top 10. This week will be especially interesting as there is a slew of one-loss teams, including Alabama, Oregon and Texas.

Joel Klatt updates college football power rankings, top 10 after Week 13

Did #Michigan do enough in person to convince Klatt? #GoBlue

Joel Klatt may have annoyed some Michigan football fans watching The Game on TV with his contrarian calls on some big plays against Ohio State, but Klatt is always fair and balanced. And he’s long been in favor of what the Wolverines are doing on the football field.

Last week, Klatt had Georgia as his No. 1 team, surpassing the maize and blue after a struggle session at Maryland, but what did he think after he witnessed the Wolverines take down the Buckeyes? Especially since Georgia struggled with Florida State, Washington struggled with Washington State, and other oddly tight matchups, there was some room for movement in his latest top 10 rankings.

Here’s what Klatt put out there on Sunday morning.

Joel Klatt lists his top 10 heading into Michigan week: Where is Ohio State?

Who’s in Joel Klatt’s top 10 going into the final week of the regular season? #GoBucks

There wasn’t much in the way of upsets this past weekend. Some teams looked better than others and there were some close calls, but everyone in the top 10 pretty much took care of business.

Now we head into rivalry week which can be seen as a de facto playoff game of sorts for some. Win and you stay alive. Lose and College Football Playoff dreams could be dashed.

As we march toward the end of the regular season, how does Joel Klatt see things and did he shuffle any of his top teams: Ohio State, Georgia or Michigan? Let’s take a look.

College Football Rankings: Joel Klatt releases new top 10

No love for a certain unbeaten — mercy!

College football has just one week to go in its regular season for 2023 before the tide turns to conference championship games and eventually bowl season.

Where has the fall gone?  I swear it was like 3 weeks ago that Notre Dame was kicking off the season in Week 0 against Navy in Ireland.

A ton has happened along the way as the race is on for the College Football Playoff.  Is the nation’s top-five as obvious putting the remaining unbeatens in some sort of order?

Not so fast, my friend.

Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt released his new top 10 following Week 12.  Here is how Klatt has them lined up headed into rivalry week.