Tag: South Alabama

The College Football Playoff Committee screwed the conferences that risked life and limb to save the season

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It was as anticlimactic as it was profoundly unjust. The College Football Playoff committee delivered their annual bounty to the game’s wealthy elite – the same committee who had once upon a time said that “if you take care of business, win your conference, and go undefeated, the Playoff will take care of itself.

This was a lie.

Even during an unprecedented season that turned the entire college football world upside down, the Committee did what they do best: maintain the status quo. Consider, not a single team selected for the Playoff is new to the format. Even worse, not a single team truly deserves to be there.

Alabama didn’t play a single opponent outside of the SEC.

Ohio State played six games. They shouldn’t even qualify.

Clemson and Notre Dame have already played twice, and canceled each other out.

Meanwhile, two programs – Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati – did everything the Committee told them to do, which is to beat Top 25 teams, win its conference, and (as if it’s not hard enough) go undefeated. The Committee’s response was to rank Florida, Oklahoma and Texas A&M ahead of the Bearcats, and rank the Chanticleers completely out of NY6 consideration.

It. Was. A. Lie.

I’m not the only one bitching. While the Committee patted itself on the back for rewarding the same wealthy programs year in and year out, a handful of pundits raised a voice to grouse:

I really feel for Cincinnati. They went 9-0, won a league title and beat three ranked teams. They blew out seven of nine teams on their schedule and finished No. 7 in scoring defense. CFP is becoming like the NCAA Tournament committee, a cabal that annually blocks out mid-majors.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 20, 2020

If you're still watching the ESPN show, Kirk Herbstreit is basically saying the G5 teams should just sit back and take this. "Take the high road."

What a system.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 20, 2020

Teams that made a NY6 Bowl:

🔘 3-loss Florida
🔘 3-loss Iowa State
🔘 3-loss UNC

Teams that did not make a NY6 Bowl:

11-0 Coastal Carolina

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 20, 2020

Iowa State getting an NY6 bowl over Coastal is a joke.

— Alex Funderburke (@AlexFunderburke) December 20, 2020

You're right, it's insulting to the Sun Belt to compare it to the Big 12. https://t.co/MLNT11tZ9o

— Chris Vannini 😷 (@ChrisVannini) December 20, 2020

The Playoff is just one insult. The Bowl lineup is a completely separate line-item of Power Privilege. Look at this ghastly menu of sub .500 SEC teams who are awarded a plum Bowl game in 2020:

2-8 South Carolina – Gasparilla Bowl
4-6 Kentucky – Gator Bowl
3-7 Arkansas – Texas Bowl
3-6 Tennessee – Liberty Bowl
2-7 MissState – Armed Forces Bowl

Combined, they have exactly two more wins than Coastal Carolina, And yes, 2-7 Mississippi State is going to the Armed Forces Bowl while 9-2 Army get the shaft. This system is complete crap. It rewards teams not for their merit, but for their privilege.

It was all a lie. The College Football Playoff was supposed to bring balance to college football. We were told we’d have a place at the table so long as we pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps and proved our mettle to out just and benevolent overlords. In this dumb season of COVID, you’d have thought that playing more than 10 games would count for something, or that playing only within your conference would count against you. Nope. Not a bit. It’s they eye test that counts.

Why do we even play?

A former notary public, Jeremy Harper is a professional writer and Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative. He spends much of his free time staring blankly into space. 

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After years of the Sun Belt not being any time to shine, ESPN College GameDay is making its first ever pilgrimage to a Sun Belt campus.

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It only took an NCAA baseball champion to get ESPN College GameDay to visit a Sun Belt campus.

This Saturday, the universally loved and over-produced college football carnival sets up tents at Coastal Carolina, where the undefeated Chanticleers take on Lib…uh, the BYU Cougars, who are also undefeated and monolithed* into the schedule thanks to COVID-19. As one columnist observed, this is the ULTIMATE 2020 college football game.

Perhaps to the chagrin of Troy, Appalachian State and Louisiana – all recent AP Top 25 Sun Belt Programs – #16 Coastal Carolina receives the blessing of the world’s leading sports network, bringing its upstart brand of suddenly very good football to a global audience. While that may make many in the Sun Belt orbit burn with teeth-gritting envy, the value Coastal is bringing to the conference is pure bitcoin.

The Sun Belt needs this juice, and the timing couldn’t be better. After all, once the mighty College Football Playoff Committee weighs in, anybody not in the Top 6 may as well spend their time polishing their Tinder profiles. On Saturday, College GameDay won’t be in Tuscaloosa or Clemson or Columbus – it’sConway, baby. You want an in-depth analysis of Ohio State’s scheduling situation? TOO BAD, YOU GOT COASTAL. Looking for a status report on Nick Saban’s health? PROGNOSIS UNKNOWN, SUCKER, YOU GOT COASTAL. How about a look at whatever Oregon is wearing? EAT IT! YOU GOT COASTAL!

Fortunately for America, Coastal Carolina plays an entertaining brand of football, well rounded on all facets of the game. By Sunday, freshman sensation quarterback Grayson McCall is going to be a household name. On the opposing sideline, BYU has already murdered Troy and Texas State, so the Chants have an obligation to avenge the Sun Belt. Chances of this game being a dud is small, giving Game Day incentive to visit the Sun Belt again.

Who’s going to win? Who knows? The Cougars are big and fast. But they haven’t played a team like Coastal Carolina, a school with a recent national championship and beach access. I give the edge to the Chants.

* To “monolith” is to appear suddenly and mysteriously

A former notary public, Jeremy Harper is a professional writer and Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative. He spends much of his free time staring blankly into space. 

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The Old School Marshall duels the Young Gun Chanticleers this Saturday when Coastal Carolina hosts Appalachian State

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At the start of this stupid season, if you had told me that Coastal Carolina would be undefeated and ranked #15 in the nation after 12 weeks of football, I’d have probably said, “Yeah, okay” because Lord Entropy is the Sun Belt’s only master. If you told me Rip Torn would also lead in rushing, I’d have believed it, too.

Yet, the Sun Belt’s Sheriff’s badge still shines on the chest of the Mountaineers, its only blemish a loss to currently undefeated Marshall. Appalachian State may be a bit longer in the tooth than the Chants, but Zack Thomas is still a unit behind center, the defense is as stingy as ever, and the citizens of Boone are plenty surly that anyone would dare question their legitimacy.

Post this on the wall in the locker room and go out and score at will every single week. Just a reminder…..4 straight sun belt championships. We are the top dawg. https://t.co/tRO8xc7Tiq

— Charlie (@charliesmythers) November 5, 2020

Let’s see how they do against App. Any new sheriff needs to go through Boone first.

— Lee Wise (@LeeWise1) November 5, 2020

There’s being “provocative” and then there’s saying stupid stuff to provoke outrage….

— GonzoApp (@GonzoApp) November 5, 2020

Short story shorter, Appalachian State wasn’t letting anyone besmirch the supremacy of the Mountaineers. Respect and fist bumps, App fans.

However, to dismiss the Chanticleers is to make a very big mistake; they are legit good. The Chants shut-out a Georgia State offense that puts up 39 points per game. They’re a member of the Sun Belt’s 2020 Big XII Massacre Squad. They’ve defeated #21 Louisiana in Lafayette. Coastal’s freshman QB, Grayson McCall, has been added to the Maxwell Award watch list.

Coastal Carolina’s proficiency on both sides of the ball reminds me of…Appalachian State.

The Mountaineers are also legit good – and well-rounded. The offense and defense both rank second in the Sun Belt. QB Zac Thomas is having another elite season behind center. And they made Arkansas State look like a division two school in Jonesboro.

Yet, while the Mountaineers have been solid, they haven’t been dominating. Comparing apples, Appalachian State struggled in a 17-13 win at Boone over Georgia State – the same Georgia State that Coastal demolished 51-zero in Atlanta. Sometimes, the Mountaineers’ offense stalls. Coastal always seems to coast.

Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina enjoy an early tee-time in Boone this Saturday on ESPN 2. Whoever wins gets to pin the Sun Belt Sheriff Star on their chests, even if Lord Entropy remains the law of the conference.

A former notary public, Jeremy Harper is a professional writer and Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative. He spends much of his free time staring blankly into space. 

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