The Rest of College Football

[iam416]

WM:

I agree re UAT. I think the more interesting question is if UAT loses to Georgia in a close game. I think they’re in ahead of ND. Honestly, look at ND’s schedule. It’s fucking awful.

I think Okie State gets in over a 10-2 UAT team, but, again I’m not sure about UAT vs ND. In fact, I could see UAT at 3 if the lose something like 27-24.

The SEC champ is the #1 seed. The only team to break that stranglehold is Clemson. M is locked into 2 with a win. Full stop.

[iam416]

I think the CFP committee will have a hard time dropping UAT behind ND because UAT had to play the #1 team and ND did nothing. If UAT loses a close game to Georgia that does more to confirm that UAT is better than pretty much everyone else than it does to confirm ND is better. And I think they’ll see it that way.

[THE_WIZARD_]

You know the committee wants UAT in there. Badly. Don't be surprised if there are some "interesting" calls in that game.

[WingsFan]

Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to replace the departed Brian Kelly at ND

[lineygoblue]

That's a surprise to me. When Swiarbrick was talking about picking up a new coach, he said they were going to "take their time" in replacing Kelly.

So much for that.

I wonder if Fickell was even contacted.

[WM Wolverine]

ND vs Bama... Haven't looked at it that close yet but still think a 1-loss team will get the nod over a 2-loss team that didn't win their conference... ND's schedule is even worse then I thought.

[iam416]

Notre Dame would not have a conference championship to boost their resume. Their best wins are against Purdue and Wisconsin. They needed last-minute heroics to beat Florida State, TOLEDO, and Virginia Tech. They got smoked by UC at home.

They are not very good.

The only thing that makes me think UAT/ND could be a coin flip (close loss to UGA) is that UAT's resume is meh. They have a nice win over Ole Miss and a solid win over Arky, I guess, and that's mostly it. And they've looked shaky. If they had drilled Auburn last week then they'd be #2 and I think they'd probably be in even with a close loss.

So, I do think ND probably gets in if UGA wins, but if the game is 27-24 or something then I wouldn't bet anything on it.

Again, it's almost inconceivable to me to penalized UAT for losing a close game to UGA when your own rankings think ND would do exactly the same thing.

[iam416]

Also a quick note for Jeffrey Lance Armstrong Buchanan....your beloved Talent has currently put in 11,550 outdoor miles on his Schwinns on his way to, hopefully, the 12,000 goal. That's about 6,000 more than I have on my car this year. So, you know, STFU.

That is all.

Wait, no it isn't...

Wiz:

if you're lost you can look and you will find me....time after time...

Yes, I still miss Dr. Martin Van Nostron....

[Sanders Fan]

That's a surprise to me. When Swiarbrick was talking about picking up a new coach, he said they were going to "take their time" in replacing Kelly.

So much for that.

I wonder if Fickell was even contacted.

I don’t think he was because of the upswell in support for hiring Marcus to replace Brian amongst the players, current staff and alumni. Fans were sort of split because of Marcus’ non-HC resume and ND’s history in hiring HCs with no former HC experience. You have to break the string at some point. Not to mention Fickell is probably not going to be able to take the job until after the playoff and that’s a late start that ND probably doesn’t really want. I think it’s a great hire as Marcus is considered by many to be Notre Dame’s best recruiter since the Holtz era.

[iam416]

It's a meteoric rise for Freeman. Two seasons ago he was a DC at UC. On its face, it's a high risk move by Notre Dame. However, the folks in the AD have had a year to see Freeman work and assess his ceiling. So, if they AD folks know what they fuck they're doing then the risk is significantly mitigated. Then it becomes more like a Lincoln Reilly or Ryan Day situation where a young "nobody" internal to the program gets the job because the folks in the program have had a lot of time to assess that candidate.

So, Freeman comes into Columbus to kick off his tenure. Wow.

[Cody_Russell]

Did the AD folks know what they were doing with a similar move in Jimmy Lake and Mark Helfrich?
I think there were better options for ND (Fickell, Meyer). Maybe they didn’t have interest in the job.
At the same time, good for Freeman. Seems like a sharp dude. There certainly have been less deserving candidates hired at top 10 college jobs.

If Freeman is a hit, Ohio State has a fallback plan for Ryan Day leaving to the NFL… if that ever happens.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Yes, I still miss Dr. Martin Van Nostron....

May I suggest a self-inflicted gunshot to the melon to you?

Talent:

...take...these broken wings...and learn to fly again...learn to live so free...

[iam416]

Did the AD folks know what they were doing with a similar move in Jimmy Lake and Mark Helfrich?
I think there were better options for ND (Fickell, Meyer). Maybe they didn’t have interest in the job.
At the same time, good for Freeman. Seems like a sharp dude. There certainly have been less deserving candidates hired at top 10 college jobs.

If Freeman is a hit, Ohio State has a fallback plan for Ryan Day leaving to the NFL… if that ever happens.

Well, I'd assume the fallback plan is sitting in Cincinnati. I'm not in love with that plan, but it is what it is.

Wizard:

the kid is not my son

[Mike]

To date, the only P5 champ that went 12-1 (or better) and DIDN'T make the playoff was 2018 Ohio State. Even though that team smacked #4 Michigan and won in Indy the next week they couldn't overcome their low ranking, #10, going into the Michigan game. I think there are 14 or 15 instances where a P5 champ with 1 or fewer losses made the playoff. It's almost an auto-bid given the 94% success rate.

That's why I think if Alabama loses in any fashion and Okie State wins, Okie is in. They only need to climb from #5 to #4. If they finish the season with back-to-back wins against top 10 teams, go 12-1, and win a P5 conference, they're in. If the committee wants to keep Bama, then Okie would jump Cincy. But if they beat Baylor, they're in.

[iam416]

Oh, I agree that Okie State is in over UAT in that scenario. What I'm way less sure of is UAT vs ND if Baylor should win.