Tag: preview 2020

Group Of Five Teams In New Year’s Six Bowl Chase: 20 For 2020 Offseason Topics No. 10

20 for 2020 key college football offseason topics: The top Group of Five teams that should be in the New Year’s Six bowl chase.

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20 for 2020 key offseason topics: No. 10 The top Group of Five teams that should be in the New Year’s Six bowl chase.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Okay, so we whiffed in last year’s preseason 5 Teams In the New Year’s Six bowl chase piece – didn’t get Memphis, and didn’t have Appalachian State on the list – but that’s a good thing. It’s more fun when it’s not an automatic call.

Houston, Boise State, Western Michigan, UCF twice, and then Memphis. Those are your Group of Five champions who got the automatic bids to the available New Year’s Six game in the College Football Playoff era.

It’s not the CFP, but it’s still a high honor.

All five teams represented themselves well, with the Group of Fivers going 3-3 since the bowl slot was created.

This year, the highest-ranked conference champion from the American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt will automatically get one spot in either the College Football Playoff, GoodYear Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl or Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

To be the team that gets the job done, unless things go totally wacky, 1) it has to go unbeaten or finish with one loss, 2) it will need at least one signature win, and 3) as part of the requirement, it has to win its Group of Five championship.

Which six teams this season have the best shot at getting into the spotlight game?

6. San Diego State Aztecs

Brady Hoke is inheriting a nice team to play around with.

The Aztecs might not have the defense of the last several seasons, but the offense should be stronger, Georgia Tech’s Lucas Johnson is transferring in to battle for the quarterback job, and the offensive front should be among the best in the Mountain West.

Last year’s team had a few whiffs along the way when the offense didn’t work, but all three losses came by six points or fewer.

Going to Toledo won’t be easy, and a run of four road games in six will be tough, but the one Power Five game is at home against UCLA, and there’s no Boise State to deal with in the regular season.

The road games at Nevada, Utah State, Wyoming, BYU and Fresno State might be too much to go unbeaten, but the team should be in the hunt throughout the year.

– San Diego State Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Group Of Five Teams In New Year’s Six Bowl Chase, No. 5

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Great Players About To Go Nuclear: 20 For 2020 Offseason Topics No. 11

20 for 2020, 20 key offseason topics: No. 11 The college football players who are already terrific, but are about to go to another level.

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20 for 2020 key offseason topics: No. 11 The college football players who are already terrific, but are about to go to a whole other level.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

They were among the best players in college football in 2019, but they either flew a bit under the radar or they didn’t become household names. That’s about to change.

The perfect player who fits the description was on last year’s list. Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard is back, but he’s an established superstar. These five are on the verge of being there.

5. QB Sam Howell, Soph. North Carolina

He’s not all that big, and he’s not all that mobile, and he doesn’t have the biggest arm, but as a true freshman, he showed it.

Originally a key part of Willie Taggart’s 2019 Florida State recruiting class, Mack Brown and company swooped in and flipped Howell to be the main man to run the North Carolina offense. In a rebuilding job, the hope was for the true freshman to be ready right away, and then let him work through his mistakes as the team matured and the talent started to come in.

Instead, Howell came out rocking, bombing away for 245 yards and two touchdowns in the season-opening win over South Carolina, and hitting Miami for 274 yards and two scores with no picks in either one.

The Tar Heels won both games, and the season was off and running.

There were a string of losses the middle of the season, but Howell handled himself like a seasoned pro in close game after close game.

There were a few multi-interception games – the two in the loss to Appalachian State were a problem – but he only threw seven picks on the season and had two or more touchdown passes in every game.

He needs to be more consistent, he took a few too many chances, and there were too many misfires in key moments, but for a true freshman to hit 61% of his passes for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns with just seven interceptions in his first year, he wasn’t bad.

NEXT: The best pass rusher you probably don’t know, Part 1

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Hoops And Helmets: Ranking The Combination Of Football And Basketball Schools 1-130: 2019-2020

Which schools had the best and worst years in the two major sports? Ranked from 1 to 130, all college football and basketball combinations.

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Which schools had the best and worst years in the two major sports? Ranked from 1 to 130, all college football and basketball combinations. Who had the most fun? 

Contact @PeteFiutak

On the field and court – at least in the regular season – whose fans had the most fun?

When it comes to what athletic departments need, even though everyone has some other sport to brag about, it’s really all about college football and men’s basketball.

There are 130 schools that played Division I college basketball and FBS football. How do they all rank?

The biggest emphasis is on the schools whose football teams went bowling and with basketball teams that almost certainly would’ve gone to the NCAA Tournament. However, with the hoops post-season cancelled, the rankings skew heavily towards the stronger teams on the football side.

Do something massive in football this past year, and that’s worth almost everything. Be totally miserable on one side, and that’s reflected here. This isn’t about talent – it’s about the success in both sports.

There are a few huge exceptions, though, if a school was amazing in one sport and struggled in the other. Win or at least share a piece of a conference title, and you get ranked accordingly.

Broken down by categories – the schools that did the most in the two major sports, to the schools that did nothing – here we go with Hoops & Helmets 2019-2012.

2019-2020 Hoops & Helmets 
Losers in Both Sports | No Bowl, No Buckets
Bowls, No Buckets | Bowls, No Buckets, Part 2
Bowls & Buckets | Top Ten

Losers In Both Sports

These schools suffered the indignity of failing to come up with a winning season in either of the two major sports. The fans didn’t get to have any fun.

130. UMass Minutemen

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 126
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 122
Football: 1-11 overall, 6th among Independents
Basketball: 14-17 overall, 8-10 in conference, T8th in Atlantic 10

129. Northwestern Wildcats

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 62
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 64
Football: 3-9 overall, 1-8 in conference, 7th in Big Ten West
Basketball: 8-23 overall, 3-17 in conference, 13th in Big Ten

128. Vanderbilt

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 91
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 108
Football: 3-9 overall, 1-7 in conference, 7th in SEC East
Basketball: 11-21 overall, 3-15 in conference, 14th in SEC

127. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 79
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 47
Football: 4-8 overall, 3-5 in conference, T5th in C-USA East
Basketball: 8-23 overall, 4-14 in conference, 14th in C-USA

126. Old Dominion Monarchs

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 74
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 65
Football: 1-11 overall, 0-8 in conference, 7th in C-USA East
Basketball: 13-19 overall, 9-9 in conference, T6th in C-USA

125. San Jose State Spartans

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 130
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 128
Football: 5-7 overall, 2-6 in conference, T4th in MW West
Basketball: 7-24 overall, 3-15 in conference, 10th in MW

124. Nebraska Cornhuskers

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 96
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 101
Football: 5-7 overall, 3-6 in conference, 5th in Big Ten West
Basketball: 7-25 overall, 2-18 in conference, 14th in Big Ten

123. Troy Trojans

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 71
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 63
Football: 5-7 overall, 3-5 in conference, 4th in Sun Belt East
Basketball: 9-22 overall, 5-15 in conference, T11th in Sun Belt

122. ULM Warhawks

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 94
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 113
Football: 5-7 overall, 4-4 in conference, 3rd in Sun Belt West
Basketball: 9-20 overall, 5-15 in conference, T11th in Sun Belt

121. UTSA Roadrunners

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 109
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 88
Football: 4-8 overall, 3-5 in conference, T4th in C-USA West
Basketball: 13-19 overall, 7-11 in conference, T11th in C-USA

120. East Carolina Pirates

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 127
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 126
Football: 4-8 overall, 1-7 in conference, 5th in AAC East
Basketball: 11-20 overall, 5-13 in conference, 13th in AAC

119. Fresno State Bulldogs

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 34
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 45
Football: 4-8 overall, 2-6 in conference, T4th in MW West
Basketball: 11-19 overall, 7-11 in conference, T7th in MW

118. Rice Owls

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 128
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 127
Football: 3-9 overall, 3-5 in conference, T4th in C-USA West
Basketball: 15-17 overall, 7-11 in conference, T11th in C-USA

117. USF Bulls

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 47
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 78
Football: 4-8 overall, 2-6 in conference, 4th in AAC East
Basketball: 14-17 overall, 7-11 in conference, 8th in AAC

116. Ole Miss Rebels

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 93
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 106
Football: 4-8 overall, 2-6 in conference, 6th in SEC West
Basketball: 15-17 overall, 6-12 in conference, 12th in SEC

115. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 113
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 123
Football: 5-7 overall, 2-6 in conference, 5th in Sun Belt East
Basketball: 16-17 overall, 8-12 in conference, T8th in Sun Belt

114. Army Black Knights

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 66
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 72
Football: 5-8 overall, 4th among Independents
Basketball: 15-15 overall, 10-8 in conference, T4th in Patriot League

113. TCU Horned Frogs

2019 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 41
2018 Hoops & Helmets National Ranking: 10
Football: 5-7 overall, 3-6 in conference, T7th in Big 12
Basketball: 16-16 overall, 7-11 in conference, T7th in Big 12

NEXT UP: No Post-Season, But …

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Power Five Upset Alerts vs. Group of Five Teams: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 12

20 for 2020: 20 key offseason topics: No. 12. 35 most dangerous upset alert games for Power Five teams vs. Group of Five programs.

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20 for 2020: 20 key offseason topics: No. 12. 35 most dangerous upset alert games for Power Five teams vs. Group of Five programs.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

If you’re a Power Five – ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC – college football program, it’s just never okay to lose to a Group of Five team.

The American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt teams all might have the potential to come up with a win over the Power Fiver on the slate, but it’s not always that easy.

But the Group of Five is equal to the Power Five, right?

Including bowl games – and including Army, BYU, Liberty, UMass and New Mexico State – the Group of Five was a lousy 24-85 last year against the Power Five programs, but there are wins out there to be had.

In last year’s version, we missed big on one of the top five upset alerts, two of them were close battles, and two were on the Group of Five side.

Here are 35 dangerous ones to watch out for.

35. Utah at Wyoming, Sept. 19

It wasn’t all that terribly long ago that this would’ve been a Mountain West league battle. Utah has come a long way since 2010, but Wyoming is dangerous at home – just at Missouri, who lost last year’s opener in Laramie 37-31.

34. Buffalo at Kansas State, Sept. 5

It’s the first ever meeting between the two, and it’s going to be a dangerous one for Kansas State. It shouldn’t be too bad – it’s better than Buffalo – but it’s going to be a dangerous opener against a potentially the potentially high-powered Bulls.

33. Appalachian State at Wisconsin, Sept. 19

Wisconsin is a killer at home against Group of Five programs – it destroyed Central Michigan an Kent State last year by a combined 109-0. Appalachian State, though, beat North Carolina and South Carolina last year, and it’ll be fantastic again.

32. NC State at Troy, Sept. 19

Is NC State past all of the problems of last year’s 4-8 clunker? It’ll be coming off the ACC opener against Louisville and a battle with Mississippi State before going on the road to deal with Troy. It was a few years ago, but the Trojans shocked Nebraska 24-19.

31. Arizona State at UNLV, Sept. 12

As bad as UNLV was last season, it was able to tag Vanderbilt on the road in a 34-10 shocker. This is just the second time is has ever faced Arizona State, but it won the other meeting back in 2008.

30. Eastern Michigan at Missouri, Sept. 26

How long will it take to get everything up and going at Mizzou under Eli Drinkwitz? Last year’s team started out losing at Wyoming, but this year’s sandwich game comes between SEC East road games at South Carolina and Tennessee. EMU managed to stun Illinois on the road last season.

29. Temple at Miami, Sept. 5

Manny Diaz had the Temple head coaching job for about 30 seconds before the Miami gig opened up. Coming off a rough year, his Canes have to rock in the opener against a program that beat Maryland and Georgia Tech last season. The Owls are 1-13 all-time in the series, only winning the first game 34-0 back in 1930.

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28. Washington State at Utah State, Sept. 3

Just how good will Wazzu be out of the gate under new head coach Nick Rolovich? There’s no Jordan Love around anymore for Utah State, but it gets the Pac-12er home. The last time the two met, the Aggies won 34-14. Okay, it was in 1961, but …

27. Louisiana Tech at Baylor, Sept. 26

New Baylor head coach Dave Aranda can’t let his team look ahead to the road game at Oklahoma the following week. Louisiana Tech is good enough to be the biggest star in Conference USA, welcoming back a slew of parts that helped beat Miami to end last year.

26. Houston at Washington State, Sept. 12

There’s no D’Eriq King at quarterback this time around for Houston, but it should be a better all-around team in Year Two under Dana Holgorsen. It was a 31-24 Wazzu win last year, and this time – even though it’s at home – it’ll be coming off a road trip to Utah State.

NEXT: Top 25 College Football Group of Five vs. Power Five Upset Alerts

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