Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
These 16 teams are the true contenders historically according to roster construction.
As of this college football season, there are 10 conferences and 133 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Continue reading “16 college football teams that can legitimately win the national title in 2023”
The Big 12 isn’t done with expansion yet.
The Big 12 and expansion are practically synonymous at this point in time. Continue reading “Big 12 reportedly eyeing further expansion”
Notre Dame gets passed by a couple of rivals (they rarely play these days) and USC falls out of the top 50. See it all here…
As the dead period for college football recruiting ends, we thought it’d be a great time to do another check-in where teams rank nine months before the early signing period opens.
Being really high in the rankings right now doesn’t guarantee a high finish, but it certainly goes a long way toward preventing a brutal end in the rankings.
The same goes for those with a slow start. Just because USC isn’t ranked in the top 50 right now doesn’t mean it will not get commitments from a couple of highly regarded talents and soar up the rankings. Will it be able to get enough to get back into the top 10 like last year? Time will undoubtedly tell.
Notre Dame checked in at second place when we checked the rankings out a month ago, but have had no new commitments since. Not surprisingly, it fell a few spots.
The Irish are hosting their pro day Friday and have a big on-campus recruiting weekend they hope will help result in a few more commitments before too long.
We’ll continue to do this on at least a monthly basis throughout the non-game months and check in on how the team rankings are shaping up. As of March 24, 2023, here are the top 50 team recruiting rankings on the 247Sports composite.
What is your biggest takeaway from Week 11?
It wasn’t the craziest weekend of the year in college football but that just speaks to a bit of the madness we’ve seen seeing as seven teams from the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings fell on Saturday. One team had their CFP dreams shattered on their home field against a division rival and perhaps the most impressive turnaround this season continued in an all-Texas matchup in Austin.
So what does the wreckage look like as we put a bow on Week 11 of the college football season? There isn’t as much in terms of the College Football Playoff compared to a couple of the last weeks we’ve witnessed but in all, seven teams ranked this week fell.
Here is how the entire College Football Playoff ranked teams from this week fared:
All the best to him after this
Notre Dame’s biggest rival was in action Friday night as No. 8 USC played host to Colorado. Following a bizarre first quarter that ended with the 1-8 Buffaloes holding a 3-2 lead, USC had a second quarter they’d certainly like to forget.
Sure, the Trojans shook off the issues from the first quarter and came alive for 24 second-quarter points, but USC lost one of their offensive leaders to an apparent knee injury. Travis Dye, who entered the night leading USC in rushing yards by roughly 570, was lost in the second quarter.
Dye remained down after being tackled and was seen grabbing his left knee. Shortly after the cart was on its way out and the entire USC bench huddled around Dye. He was eventually carted off and acknowledged the crowd while exiting.
Dye was not only USC’s leading rusher but was responsible for half of their 18 rushing scores in 2022.
There is no word as of posting about the seriousness of Dye’s injury but from what we watched on TV, it certainly didn’t look good. We’ll keep an eye on this story as Trojans Wire will certainly have any and all details in regard to it. We’ll also send our prayers and well-wishes to Dye in hopes this ends up being a lot less serious than it looked.
As for the game, USC had opened things up to a 26-3 third-quarter lead and cruised to a 55-17 victory.
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This isn’t a trap for USC. But it might be for bettors.
No. 8 USC’s game at home against 1-8 Colorado on Friday night will be its easiest game the rest of the season as the Trojans attempt to punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff.
Needing to win out, they can’t afford to overlook even the worst team in the Pac-12. Still, the Trojans know their toughest games are ahead of them with ranked UCLA and Notre Dame as the final games on their schedule before a potential conference title game.
That said, Colorado shouldn’t be viewed as a trap game. There isn’t much doubt that USC will come out on top. The only question is whether it’ll cover a massive 33.5-point spread.
Offensively, the Trojans shouldn’t have an issue moving the ball. Particularly Travis Dye, who I expect to have a big game and open things up for Caleb Williams down the field. Colorado has allowed at least 40 points in all but two games this season, including three straight. USC’s offense is seventh in the nation at 41.0 points per game.
However, Colorado’s last game against No. 8 Oregon was only the second time all season the Buffaloes lost by at least 34 points. USC might be the next-best offense they will have faced, but the Trojans defense is a little less effective.
For that reason, I’ll give Colorado one extra score than the 10 points it managed against the Ducks. And because I think USC can build a big enough lead to bench its starters in the fourth, I’ll pick the Buffaloes to cover in a game that barely falls under 66.5 points.
Prince’s Prediction: USC wins 49-17
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A day later it’s only worse.
I woke up this morning so in shock over Notre Dame’s loss to Stanford that I just started laughing to myself.
“Did that really happen? Like for real?”
Oh it’s real, but its anything but spectacular.
Notre Dame now sits at 3-3 halfway through the season after being ranked in the preseason top five. This isn’t to say the season is over, there are still things to play for like bowl eligibility that suddenly doesn’t feel so automatic, and plenty of things in terms of longterm development.
The 16-14 loss is incredibly frustrating though seeing as it came against one of the very worst Power Five teams in all of college football.
Here are a little more than a handful of thoughts a day after Notre Dame embarrassed themselves in that home loss to Stanford.
As good of day of college football as you’ll see
Week 7 of the college football season on paper appeared to be the best the fall would have to offer and Saturday, October 15, 2022 didn’t disappoint in the least bit.
The battle between No. 1 Alabama and No. 8 Tennessee blew even the highest of expectations for the game away while No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 15 TCU battled in a double-overtime thriller that knocked one from the ranks of unbeatens.
Finally, the No. 7 USC-No. 20 Utah tilt was everything and more you could ask for between two teams built differently as it came down to a two-point conversion to conclude a truly thrilling Saturday of college football action.
Here are all of your top 25 scores from the INCREDIBLE college football weekend.
Inexplicable.
Some people claim there are such things as good losses although we’re not in that group.
Everyone knows there are such things as bad losses and lord knows Notre Dame fans have seen enough of those over the years.
Then there is this category of downright epically awful losses and that’s what a sold out home crowd at Notre Dame Stadium was witness to on Saturday night as the hosts laid a complete egg in their 16-14 loss against previously 1-4 Stanford.
Stanford hadn’t beaten an FBS team in 378 days previous to beating Notre Dame on Saturday night and it’s not one that the locals will soon forget about in South Bend.
If you can stomach it, here are the best photos from the forgettable night for the Fighting Irish.
This was beyond pathetic.
Notre Dame and Stanford met in a game that appeared on paper to be about as one-sided as you could hope for if you’re a Fighting Irish fan. But that’s why the old saying goes “and that’s why they play the games!”
Notre Dame came out of the gate and I struggle to find the proper word to describe their effort.
Awful.
Pathetic.
Uninspired.
Disinterested.
In a game Notre Dame was favored by 16.5 points, the Irish looked like the uninspired ones who were coming off a heartbreaking loss on their home field before having to travel on a nearly five hour flight.
Here are five instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s truly abysmal showing against Stanford as the Irish were shocked 16-14 by the Cardinal.
