Category: College Football

Yo how’s it going everybody? I know I have not posted a lot but my goal (now that I am out for school for Christmas break) is too post as much as I can during the next two and a half weeks. Anyway, here’s you 2020-2021 College Football Conference Championship Week Preview.

CFP Top 6

1.Alabama Next Game: vs.7.Florida

2.Notre Dame Next Game: vs.3.Clemson

3.Clemson Next Game: vs.2.Notre Dame

4.Ohio State Next Game: vs.14.Northwestern

5.Texas A&M Next Game: at.Tennessee

6.Iowa State Next Game: vs.10.Oklahoma

My Top 6

1.Alabama Next Game: vs.7.Florida

2.Notre Dame Next Game: vs.3.Clemson

3.Clemson Next Game: vs.2.Notre Dame

4.Ohio State Next Game: vs.14.Northwestern

5.Texas A&M Next Game: at.Tennessee

6.Iowa State Next Game: vs.10.Oklahoma

Oregon at. 13.USC (Friday, 8 PM ET, FOX)

The Pac-12 Championship has always happened on Fridays during the CFP era and this year this no different. USC will get to host Oregon, as the ducks (3-2) replace one loss Washington because of COVID-19 issues within the program. There will be no shortage of talent on the field, though, as Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal has raided southern California and other places for elite talent on national signing days. For USC to even be considered for the playoff they have to hope that their trojans blow out Oregon, Notre Dame beats Clemson, Florida beats Alabama, and potentially more. Projected Score: USC 38, Oregon 34

14.Northwestern vs. 4.Ohio State (Saturday, 12 PM ET, FOX)

FOX gets to broadcast two of the first three conference championship games at the Power 5 level. Ohio State needs a huge win to prove that they are in the playoff, as a 6-0 record does not mean a whole lot to the CFP Committee. But, a Big Ten Championship does add a lot to their resume. Expect Ohio State QB Justin Fields to have a big day but watch out for Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern Wildcats. Projected Score: Ohio State 35, Northwestern 24

10.Oklahoma vs. 6.Iowa State (Saturday, 12 PM ET, ABC)

The Sooners are looking to avenge a close loss in Ames tomorrow. Ever since a tough loss to Louisiana-Laffayette, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell has led his team to an 8-1 Big 12 record. What I am most excited for in this match up is the QB match up, as veteran Iowa State QB Brock Purdy matches up with (RS) Freshman Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler. Talented Iowa State RB Breece Hall shouldn’t go unnoticed as he has added a caveat to the Iowa State offense that Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch and his defense should be worried about. Either way it goes, it should be a fun one at Jerry World tomorrow. Projected Score: Oklahoma 42, Iowa State 38

3.Clemson vs. 2.Notre Dame (Saturday, 4 PM ET, ABC)

Without elite QB Trevor Lawrence, Clemson fell to Notre Dame in South Bend in double overtime. But now that Lawrence has returned, he should be the difference in Charlotte. The Notre Dame defense has to prove that they are elite by making stops at least every now and then against this Clemson offense. Cannot wait for this one. Projected Score: Clemson 52, Notre Dame 42

7.Florida vs. 1.Alabama (Saturday, 8 PM ET, CBS)

The SEC Championship Game moves from its normal 3:30 PM ET start time to primetime on CBS. Florida’s lackluster loss versus LSU last week might have halted their playoff chances, and even a win versus the Crimson Tide tomorrow would like not kick them out of the playoff picture or put them in it either. But either way, this game is for the Heisman Trophy. Whether the winner is Alabama QB Mac Jones, Alabama WR DeVonta Smith, or it is Florida QB Kyle Trask, it will be determined in Atlanta tomorrow night. Projected Score: Alabama 45, Florida 35

College Football Playoff

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New OrleansJan. 1, ESPN
Alabama vs. Ohio State

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Jan. 1, ESPN
Notre Dame vs. Clemson

New Year’s Six

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Iowa State vs. Texas A&M

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Georgia vs. Cincinnati

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
USC vs. Indiana

Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Miami vs. Florida

I’m sorry everyone for a prolonged break. I have been dealing with some things in my own life and wanted to take a little break. Still, be patient as I have exams coming up. My Arkansas men’s basketball preview will be posted at some point this upcoming week.

11/21
LSU

Many COVID-19 tests suggest that these teams come into this game thin. Both of these teams need a win for their bowl consideration, so “The Battle for the Golden Boot” will be fun. Arkansas gets out to an early lead and holds on with a late interception.

Projected Score:Arkansas 31, LSU 27

Projected Record: 4-4

11/28
at.Missouri

Arkansas defensive coordinator (Missouri graduate and former Missouri head coach) Barry Odom makes his homecoming as the hogs face Missouri. Arkansas makes a defensive statement in the fourth quarter and wins 35-21.

Projected Score:Arkansas 35, Missouri 21

Projected Record: 5-4

12/5
Alabama

Sam Pittman has the biggest challenge of his first season as head coach in the final weekend of Arkansas’ regular season. Nick Saban and Alabama will be the number one team in the College Football Playoff rankings barring an upset. An upset by the Razorbacks here would blow up the college football world.

Projected Score:Alabama 59, Arkansas 35

Final Projected Record: 5-5

College Football Playoff

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
Jan. 1, ESPN
Alabama vs. Oklahoma

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Jan. 1, ESPN
Clemson vs. Florida

New Year’s Six

Goodyear Cotton Bowl
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Georgia vs. North Carolina

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Central Florida vs. Texas

Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Notre Dame vs. Georgia

Projected Standings

East
1.Georgia (9-1)
2.Florida (9-1)
3.Tennessee (6-4)
4.Kentucky (4-6)
5.South Carolina (4-6)
6.Missouri (2-8)
7.Vanderbilt (0-10)

West
1.Alabama (10-0)
2.LSU (9-1)
3.Texas A&M (7-3)
4.Auburn (7-3)
5.Ole Miss (5-5)
6.Mississippi State (2-8)
7.Arkansas (2-8)

2020 cbhsports All-SEC Team

Offense
QB:Kyle Trask, Florida
RB:Najee Harris, Alabama
RB:Kylin Hall, Mississippi State
FLEX:Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
WR:Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
WR:DeVonta Smith, Alabama
TE:Kyle Pitts, Florida
C:Drake Jackson, Kentucky
OL:Trey Smith, Tennessee
OL:Alex Leatherwood, Alabama
OL:Darian Kinnard, Kentucky
OL:Landon Dickerson, Alabama

Defensive
DL:Tyler Shelvin, LSU
DL:Markaviest Bryant, Auburn
DL:LaBryan Ray, Alabama
DL:Bobby Brown, Texas A&M
LB:Nick Bolton, Missouri
LB:K.J. Britt, Auburn
LB:Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
CB:Patrick Surtain II, Alabama
CB:Derek Stingley Jr., LSU
S:Richard LeCounte, Georgia
S:JaCoby Stevens, LSU

Special Teams
K:Brent Cimaglia, Tennessee
P:Max Duffy, Kentucky
KR:Jerrion Ealy, Ole Miss
PR:Jaylen Waddle, Alabama

2020 cbhsports SEC Pre-Season Awards
Player of the Year:Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
Offensive Player of the Year:Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
Defensive Player of the Year:Derek Stingley, CB, LSU
Newcomer of the Year:Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
Coach of the Year:Dan Mullen, Head Coach, Florida

2020 SEC Signees (the top 30) (Instead of ESPN, I will be using the 247Sports Composite from now on) (247Sports Composite Overall Ranking)
1.(2) Bryce Young, QB-DT, Alabama
2.(4) Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia
3.(5) Arik Gilbert, TE, LSU
4.(8) Jordan Burch, DT, South Carolina
5.(11) Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia
6.(12) Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida
7.(14) Eli Ricks, CB, LSU
8.(17) Will Anderson, WDE, Alabama
9.(18) Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia
10.(19) Chris Braswell, WDE, Alabama
11.(21) Jaylon Jones, S, Texas A&M
12.(22) Drew Sanders, ATH, Alabama
13.(23) Darnell Washington, ATH, Georgia
14.(24) Kayshon Boutte, WR, LSU
15.(25) Demon Demas, WR, Texas A&M
16.(32) MJ Sherman, OLB, Georgia
17.(37) Tate Ratledge, OT, Georgia
18.(38) Demouy Kennedy, ILB, Alabama
19.(39) Tank Bigsby, RB, Auburn
20.(41) Jaquelin Roy, DT, LSU
21.(43) Marshawn Roy, RB, South Carolina
22.(47) Jase McClellan, RB, Alabama
23.(49) Donnell Harris, WDE, Texas A&M
24.(52) Justin Rogers, DT, Kentucky
25.(54) Kendall Milton, RB, Georgia
26.(55) Marcus Rosemy, WR, Georgia
27.(56) Timothy Smith, DT, Alabama
28.(57) Phillip Webb, OLB, LSU
29.(58) Arian Smith, WR, Georgia
30.(60) Sedrick Van Pan, C, Georgia

NOTE:News is from previous week as all posts are scheduled.

FOOTBALL:

Arkansas Head Coach Sam Pittman and AD Hunter Yuracheck were the first to support the #WeWanttoPlay movement, that was started by Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence.

First year Arkansas Offensive Coordinator Kendall Briles told reporters on Friday that it was “his (Feleipe Franks’) job to lose”. While fall camp begins Monday August 17, Franks has seemingly asserted himself above Sophomore KJ Jefferson and Freshman Malik Hornsby.

The revised SEC football schedule for the 2020-2021 season will come out soon, so I will have a post about that soon.

BASKETBALL:
Heavily recruited 2021 wing Chance Moore announced his commitment to become the first Razorback pledge in Eric Musselman’s second class in Fayetteville. Moore chose the hogs over Alabama and LSU.

JUCO Forward Akol Mawein announced his committment to Arkansas just two days after Chance Moore announced his pledge to go to Fayetteville. The 6’9 big man averaged 13.5 points per game and 5 rebounds at Navarro College in Texas. Moore will have two years of eligibility left when he enrolls for the 2021-2022 season.

After the Big Ten announced it was going conference-only this fall, the conference edited the schedule just a bit. Here are the top five Big Ten games in the conference’s new schedule release:

5.Penn State at. Michigan (September 19)
Penn State goes into the Big House early in conference play. This game should be all Nittany Lions with all of the talent Michigan loses, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

4.Wisconsin at. Iowa (November 14)
If Wisconsin had this as a home game, I would easily give it to them. But playing the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium is a different job.

3.Minnesota at. Wisconsin (September 26)
Like the Michigan-Ohio State game, this one was moved from Thanksgiving weekend. With star Minnesota receiver Rashod Bateman forgoing this season due to COVID-19, I expect this game to be all Wisconsin.

2.Michigan at. Ohio State (October 24)
Despite this game being moved from the Saturday after Thanksgiving to October 24, there is no love lost between these two. Should be a fun one.

1.Ohio State at. Penn State (November 7)
This game will determine who will likely will represent the Big Ten in the College Football Playoff. These are the two most talented teams in the Big Ten and I can’t wait to see this game.

Here is how Texas-Texas A&M can return to college football. Back playing on Thanksgiving. Every college football fan misses this game and it’s obvious. I’m going to make this a series, so tell me what rivalry to do next that needs to come back.

Changes that need to be made:For Texas and Texas A&M’s schedules, all that has to be changed is that Texas’ final conference game has to be replace to the final non-conference game in September, then they can play each other. This would be an easy transition as many SEC schools play a non conference game during Thanksgiving weekend versus an ACC school.

What Texas and Texas A&M’s schedule would look like in 2020 with the changes:

Texas (BYE 9/26)
9/5 South Florida
9/12 at.LSU
9/19 at.Oklahoma State
10/3 at.Kansas State
10/10 vs.Oklahoma (Dallas,TX)
10/17 West Virginia
10/24 at.Texas Tech
10/31 Baylor
11/7 at.Kansas
11/14 TCU
11/21 Iowa State
11/28 Texas A&M

Texas A&M (BYE 10/31)
9/5 Abilene Christian
9/12 North Texas
9/19 LSU
9/26 vs.Arkansas (Arlington,TX)
10/3 at.Mississippi State
10/10 Fresno State
10/17 at.Auburn
10/24 at.South Carolina
11/7 Ole Miss
11/14 Vanderbilt
11/21 at.Alabama
11/28 at.Texas

Due to Notre Dame’s independency in college football and the COVID-19 outbreak, the Irish have some questions for their schedule for 2020. With the Big Ten and Pac-12 going with conference only schedules for the 2020 season, Notre Dame loses not just two opponents on the schedule but two rivals that they play annually, Stanford and USC as well as Big Ten foe Wisconsin.

Notre Dame plays in the ACC in every sport except for football and hockey. ACC Commissioner John Swofford said if the all Power 5 conferences went to conference only slates this season, he and the ACC would help Notre Dame fill out their schedule. Notre Dame could join the ACC in football this season. But the questions are there. Would wins and losses count in the conference column for Notre Dame? Would Notre Dame be eligible for a conference title game if they are played (COVID-19 may keep us from having them). I can answer the first question. I expect, if Notre Dame were to “join” the ACC in football this season, those games would count towards their conference record. But for the second one, time will tell. It might be some work but John Swofford and the ACC could work Notre Dame into the schedule, even if the league would have an odd 15 teams in 2020. Plus, the ACC would be getting leverage in trying to make the Irish stay in the ACC in football for good.

But then, there’s the other option, does Notre Dame keep the six ACC games (There still set to play Navy interconference but the ACC squads they play are Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Louisville) they have scheduled and then fill the rest of the games with independents. ACC Commissioner John Swofford only said he would help Notre Dame out, which could lead to either of these scenarios. Notre Dame could fill their four open slots with independents Army, BYU, Connecticut, Liberty, Massachusetts, and New Mexico State.

Thus, if the ACC doesn’t help Notre Dame out, they could be in a tough place with just a six game schedule. Tell me in the comments which you think will be best for the Irish and which one you think will most likely happen.

NOTE: This post was written and scheduled before it was announced that the ACC and Big Ten were moving to a conference only schedule this fall.

Tomorrow’s Post:

Week Opponent Predicted Record (W/L)
1 Syracuse Loss 0-1 (0-1) ACC
2 Ohio Win 1-1 (0-1) ACC
3 at.Kansas Loss 1-2 (0-1) ACC
4 Purdue Loss 1-3 (0-1) ACC
5 Clemson Loss 1-4 (0-2) ACC
6 Louisville Loss 1-5 (0-3) ACC
7 Bye None 1-6 (0-4) ACC
8 at.Virginia Tech Loss 1-7 (0-5) ACC
9 Holy Cross Win 2-7 (0-5) ACC
10 at.NC State Loss 2-8 (0-6) ACC
11 at.Florida State Loss 2-9 (0-7) ACC
12 North Carolina Loss 2-10 (0-8) ACC
13 at.Wake Forest Loss 2-11 (0-9) ACC