Tag: Tigers

Brian Kelly downplays Notre Dame’s playoff spot in 2021

Overblown? What world do you think we’re living on, Brian?

In December of 2021, Notre Dame came within a Georgia win over Alabama in the SEC Championship of likely making their third trip to the College Football Playoff.  However, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] thinks that the idea Notre Dame had a chance at the CFP when left was overblown.

Those aren’t our words, those are his.

The LSU head coach was on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast and conversation began by discussing his adjustment to the south.  He was then asked directly about leaving Notre Dame while the Irish were in the middle of a playoff chase, something he said was overblown.

“I think that’s overblown a little bit. We weren’t right in the middle of it, we kind of knew where we were going to be in terms of that but that’s neither here nor there.  I think what’s most important was LSU and leadership. Scott Woodward. I’ve known Scott a long time. Familiar with him, wanting to be in the SEC.”

Kelly continued with what made the SEC so intriguing:

“You’re talking about each and every week playing against (Nick) Saban and (Kirby) Smart, and the great teams in this conference, I wanted to be measured by the best and coming down here and playing against them and I had never done that so it was one of those opportunities for me that allowed me to come to a university that had slipped from its standards…and then getting a chance to be with the right people.”

Alright, I don’t want to be the kind of person that is more worried about what Brian Kelly does at LSU than what Notre Dame does with anything.  I do need to take a moment to call out some pure hogwash though.

Notre Dame was off for championship week and entered that weekend ranked sixth.  Oklahoma State was rated fifth and lost to Baylor in the Big 12 championship.  Literally all that needed to happen for Notre Dame to make the playoff was for Georgia to take care of business against Alabama, something they failed to do in the SEC championship but did a month later in the national championship.

Yeah, entirely “overblown”.

Congressman Kelly speaking falsehoods into existence in order to try and change the narrative.

It’s fine you wanted to go to LSU so badly that even another potential CFP trip with Notre Dame couldn’t keep you there.  It’s your life, go live it. Just don’t (rescinded) pour water on my shoes and tell me it’s raining.

He did go on to mention the difficulty of leaving the players.

“The players. It’s always about the relationships that you have with players. That’s always the most difficult. You never leave on your terms. It’s always somebody else that dictates the timeline. I don’t dictate the timeline. It’s the other university that dictates the timeline. You never get to say, ‘I’m leaving when I want to leave.’ That’s what makes it difficult. Every stop along the way that I’ve left, it’s never been a great time. But if you’re making that decision to leave, the most difficult part of it is the relationships that you have with your players.”

You can check out the entire interview at the link above.

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Watch: Elephant shows tiger ‘who’s boss’ at watering hole

Video footage from a wilderness reserve in India shows an elephant chasing a tiger from its watering hole.

Video footage from a wilderness reserve in India shows an elephant refusing to allow a tiger to access its watering hole.

“Tigers and elephants tolerate each other fairly well in the wild,” Susanta Nanda of the Indian Forest Service stated via Twitter. “But at times gentle the giant shows who the boss is.”

The footage shows the tiger roaming the perimeter as the elephant keeps a close watch from the water.

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As the wary tiger begins its approach, the elephant exits the pond and circles toward the tiger, ultimately chasing the cat away with a slow-speed charge and a trumpet blast.

Nanda noted the annoying sound of ringing phones in the footage and asked followers: “Should mobiles be banned inside the protected areas?”

Nanda did not provide video credit.

Post-Masters, you can still enjoy these pictures of a tiger in the woods

Not the tiger you were searching for? Whoops.

If you enjoyed FTW’s superb owl coverage, you’re going to be thrilled with our Masters Tournament tiger woods content. No, not Tiger Woods. We’re talking about living breathing tigers in the woods. They can’t play golf, but they’re still pretty cool.

These stripey creatures have inspired everything from adorable cartoon characters to one of the world’s most famous jock jams. Few other animals can claim such honors. Unfortunately, despite tigers’ fierce and impressive features, they’re also endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Show your appreciation for this fascinating species by exploring the gallery of tiger pics below and supporting conservation organizations.

Twitter reacts to yet another LSU special teams blunder, this one perhaps the worst

LSU’s special teams strike again and nobody in South Bend is surprised yet again.

If you’ve been paying attention to LSU football at all this season, you’ve noticed a great many positives in their turnaround. A year after chasing Ed Orgeron from the post, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has the Tigers playing in the SEC championship game after winning the SEC West. He’s done a ton well and right in 2022.

One of those things, however, is not special teams, which have been a disaster for the Tigers all year. If you paid attention to Notre Dame football from 2010-2021, you’re not surprised. Headed by Kelly with special teams being led Brian Polian for the majority of those years, the philosophy surrounding special teams was essentially “don’t it mess up.”

Well, shocking to nobody, LSU has had poorly performing special teams units all year. They saved their best, or worst, for the SEC championship game, however. Check it out below and then see some of the reactions to an all-time blunder by the Tigers.

Cowardly Missouri reportedly passes on Liberty in favor of security

The Border War will have to wait a little big longer before it resumes. Blame Missouri.

Back in 2011, just days after the University of Missouri announced it would be abandoning the Big 12 for the greener pastures of the Southeastern Conference, then-Mizzou athletic director Mike Alden pleaded to keep a century-old rivalry alive with Kansas.

The Border War stretched back not just to the 1800s, but the bad blood pre-dated the Civil War itself. Now Missouri was leaving its longtime rival—helping throw the conference into turmoil as Texas A&M went to the SEC, Colorado joined the Pac 12 and Nebraska moved to the Big Ten—and Alden just couldn’t understand why the Jayhawks wouldn’t want to continue playing the Tigers.

“Everyone in here recognizes that our rivalry with the University of Kansas is one of the great rivalries in our country,” Alden told reporters in November 2011. “It’s gone on for, I believe, 119 years, and it’s certainly our hope and our desire to continue to participate against the University of Kansas in every sport that we play — and for the next 119 years.”

At the time Alden argued that traditional rivals like Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Kentucky-Louisville and Clemson-South Carolina continue to face each other despite playing in different conferences.

Also at the time, Mizzou had won five of the last six Border War games in football, taking a 57–54–9 all-time series lead as KU football began its long trek to rock bottom. Similarly, the Tigers’ men’s basketball program had seen a quick resurgence under head coach Frank Haith and was ranked in the Top 25.

Of course Missouri wanted the series to continue. The school could have its cake and eat it, too, jumping to a much more powerful conference while reaping the benefits of its previous commitments. All while their programs continued to excel.

Keep that in mind for what you’re about to read next.

On Friday, after days of speculation that Mizzou and Kansas were set to renew their football rivalry at the Liberty Bowl, Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported the Tigers specifically declined not just an invite to the Liberty Bowl, but any bowl game in which they would have to face the Jayhawks.

Per McMurphy:

The Jayhawks, who are making their first bowl appearance since 2008, were not opposed to playing the Tigers in a bowl, sources said.

Schools provide their bowl preferences and the conferences, bowls and schools usually come to an agreement whenever possible. It’s not unusual for schools to request not playing certain opponents in the postseason, sources said.

The Liberty Bowl is one of three that matches SEC vs. Big 12 opponents. The other two are the Sugar and Texas bowls. Missouri and Kansas are both 6-6.

“A 6-6 team dictating who they don’t want to play in a bowl?” an industry source said. “What a world. What a world.”

The Jayhawks and Tigers are both 6-6 but Kansas’ reputation is soaring after two years under head coach Lance Leipold. Missouri, apparently, wants none of that and would rather play the likes of East Carolina in the Gasparilla Bowl, per McMurphy’s projections.

In other words, Missouri would rather play a lesser program—in a game that would surely attract fewer casual and diehard fans—than risk a loss to Kansas.

Twitter, message boards and pretty much any forum college fans use to communicate immediately lit up once this news broke. Kansas fans were laughing at Mizzou fans for being afraid to play the Jayhawks after more than a decade of mocking them. Missouri fans were outraged their athletic department would put them in a position to look inferior to Kansas. College fans across the board were reaching for popcorn as the Border War caught fire once again.

The noise got so loud that Mizzou’s official Twitter account had to refute McMurphy’s report in a way that wouldn’t make the Tigers look weak, but also wouldn’t commit to playing Kansas.

A short while later, McMurphy was on local radio in Kansas City doubling down on his reporting. Missouri was avoiding Kansas at all costs.

So let’s zoom out for a moment. A decade after leaving the Big 12, Mizzou hasn’t finished atop the SEC East since 2014. It hasn’t won more than six games in a season since 2018. And it’s gone from trying to goad the Jayhawks into continuing their rivalry to actively running away from playing them in an exhibition game.

Fortunately for fans of chaos, the Tigers can’t run forever. Missouri and Kansas have already resumed their basketball rivalry—with the Tigers hosting the Jayhawks next on December 17—and their football series will resume in Columbia in 2025.

Missouri finally got its wish of being able to play in the SEC and continue facing Kansas. Turns out the Tigers may have only wanted that outcome when they knew it wasn’t possible.

LSU’s New Year’s Six chances rest on Georgia game

The Tigers went from being a playoff hopeful to needing a win in the SEC Championship to make it to the New Year’s Six after the loss to Texas A&M.

Ranked No. 5 in the country in the regular season’s final week, LSU had a path to the playoff. A New Year’s Six appearance was probable — whether it be Sugar, Cotton or Orange.

LSU’s loss to Texas A&M has shifted the outlook.

The top of the SEC is crowded. Georgia is a playoff lock and Tennessee and Alabama sit in the top 10 as well. Alabama and Tennessee are well positioned at 10-2, a mark better than LSU’s 9-3 record.

The odds of the SEC getting four teams in the NY6 aren’t great. With Georgia headed to the playoff, Alabama will likely head to the Sugar Bowl as the SEC’s highest-ranked non-playoff team.

That would result in Tennessee being sent to Miami for the Orange Bowl, leaving the Cotton Bowl as LSU’s last hope.

This year’s Cotton Bowl will feature two at-large teams, one of which will be the Group of Five representative.

The latest projections have a 10-2 Penn State team assuming the other spot. An SEC team hoping for that bid would also need to fend off any Pac-12 team creeping up the rankings.

A 9-3 Florida State team with a head-to-head win over LSU could get it, too.

For now, LSU looks destined for the Citrus Bowl. LSU’s most recent Citrus Bowl appearance came in 2017, where they lost to Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame.

LSU won the Citrus Bowl the year prior with a strong defensive performance against Lamar Jackson and Louisville.

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Alabama vs. Auburn: Prediction, point spread, odds best bet

Alabama Crimson Tide enters the Iron Bowl as massive 21.5 point favorites

The Alabama Crimson Tide plays the Auburn Tigers on Nov. 26, and if you’re looking to do some betting research, you’re in luck. Below is the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under line, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet at Bet MGM Sportsbook.

The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CST and can be watched on CBS.

While there is still a small chance that the Crimson Tide can sneak into the playoffs, it is very unlikely. If the Tide doesn’t make the playoffs, this could very well be the last time we see Bryce Young in Crimson.

With a win this weekend, Young would become the second quarterback under Nick Saban to finish his Alabama career undefeated against the Tigers.

Alabama enters the game as quite a large favorite, but we all know everything goes out the window in a rivalry game, let alone the Iron Bowl. The Tide have fared well against the Tigers in Bryant-Denny Stadium winning the last five match-ups at home by a combined score of 228-90. 2021 was an instant classic, but Tide fans certainly hope for a less stressful outcome this go around.

LSU basketball gets win over Kansas City in Matt McMahon’s debut

Matt McMahon began his tenure at LSU with a win over Kansas City that was a bit too close for comfort.

A new era of LSU basketball began on Wednesday night with a 74-63 win over Kansas City.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] made his LSU debut, as did a slew of newcomers. [autotag]Mwani Wilkinson[/autotag] scored LSU’s first points of the year as LSU jumped out to a 9-2 lead.

From that point on, the Tigers hovered around a five-point lead for the rest of the half.

[autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag] made his long-awaited debut after transferring from Illinois in 2021. The guard was expected to be a top contributor on last year’s team before tearing his ACL in the preseason.

He was LSU’s leading scorer with 18 points.

In the spring, Miller being on the court for LSU was far from a sure thing. He had a smooth recovery, but upon Will Wade’s firing, Miller explored his options in the transfer portal. Miller returning to LSU was one of McMahon’s biggest gets as he’s set to feature in the offense.

Another Tiger making his debut was [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], who came with McMahon from Murray State. Williams is expected to be LSU’s top player in the front court and delivered in the opener with a double-double (13 points, 14 rebounds).

It was a win, but it could have been a lot smoother. LSU had a few chances to pull away, but Kansas City hung around. LSU turned the ball over 15 times and committed 23 fouls.

The Tigers will have some growing pains, but that was expected. Very few of these guys have played with each other before and this is a sport where chemistry is of critical importance.

Given some time, McMahon’s track record and the level of talent he has to work with now, it figures this team will improve throughout the year. LSU will try to move to 2-0 on Saturday when the Tigers host Arkansas State.

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Notre Dame-Clemson: Halftime reaction as Irish lead 14-0

A+ first half for Notre Dame?

Notre Dame has struggled mightily at home in 2022 as losses to Marshall and Stanford (who was boat-raced today by Washington State) remain inexplicable.  Forget that for a minute, though.  Heck, forget it for the rest of the year.

Notre Dame just played their best half of football this season and has a 14-0 halftime lead against No. 4 Clemson.  Sure there was a missed field goal but beyond that, things could have gone almost no better for the Irish as special teams have again come up huge the running game took the word “punishing” to a whole new level right before halftime.

Here are some first-half thoughts from myself and the Twitter world as Notre Dame is 30 minutes away from putting what would be an assumed end to Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes.

Notre Dame-Clemson: Tailgating takes a hit from weather

A little change of pace for the fans before kickoff…

One of the best parts of going to a college football game no matter the team’s playing is the tailgating before kickoff.  It’s as much of a tradition as the fight song, slapping of a sign, or talking smack about a rival.  Unfortunately, the weather in the midwest on this Saturday afternoon is putting a serious wet blanket on some of the local tailgates.

On Friday, Purdue announced that tailgating would be allowed before their game against Iowa, but that they wouldn’t allow tents or anything of the sort due to extremely high winds.  Now Notre Dame has followed suit as they prepare to host Clemson this evening.

If you’re heading out be smart and safe as what ripped through my neck of the woods just northwest of Chicago around 1 p.m. EST was no joke.  Also be sure to be loud.  Like, really loud, because it sounds like there will be a lot of orange and purple in the stands this evening.

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Be sure to check out:

Notre Dame-Clemson predictions from Fighting Irish Wire staff

5 keys to an Irish upset of Clemson

Behind enemy lines: Getting to know the Clemson Tigers

ESPN’s College Gameday staff picks for college football Week 10

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