Nick Saban Needed to Retire

Nick Saban gave a pretty candid interview recently about his retirement from college football. He said a lot of stuff. He didn't like how his team reacted when Michigan beat them. He said he had been seriously considering retirement since 2022. He didn't like some players' attitude. He felt recruiting was becoming more difficult. You know, pretty much what I assumed he was going to say. But one thing stuck out to me from the interview. Let’s discuss.

When Saban was asked about NIL he told the journalist that kids came to him for their exit interview this year, and he claimed 70 to 80 percent either complained about playing time, or wanted more NIL money. He said that this is becoming too commonplace, and this was another push to retire from coaching. I read this and kind of brushed it off. But while I was out for a run I thought more about this NIL and playing time statement.

I am all for NIL. I think the players who are everywhere should be getting some kind of compensation. It only seems fair. I do agree with some people that it is totally out of hand, the transfer portal is like free agency and there is all kinds of tampering. But, this is the new era of college football, and I figure the new world of college football has maybe passed Nick Saban. Saban is an all time great. Hell, he is the GOAT college football coach. He was utterly dominant, prior to NIL. He got the best players, he got them to stay and he won. Then NIL and the transfer portal rules came into play and it became a little bit harder for Saban to get every player he wanted. Or, if he did get them to commit, that player would transfer out if they weren't playing. Take Tua Tagovailoa's little brother Talia. He committed to Alabama, was behind his brother and was expecting the start. When he wasn't named the starter, he went to Maryland, started for four straight years and set multiple records. I'm sure there are many other players that did the same. And now with NIL, these kids are getting massive deals before they even enter college football. They get big deals, they commit to one school, and if they don't play or their "brand" is not represented the way they want, they will transfer or ask for more. It is the new way in recruiting and dealing with modern college football players.

I don't think Saban liked that he couldn't fully control his players like he was used to doing. He had kids talking back, showing frustration or leaving if they were unhappy with playing time or their personal earnings. While that may be problematic and toxic, that is just how it is. And I think, while some may mourn Saban retiring, and those same people opining for the "good ole days' ', most will remember Saban's greatness, but we will also move on. There will be a new college football coach, that coaches modern players in the NIL era, that will be the next college football coaching GOAT. Think someone like Kirby Smart. Or maybe Dan Lanning. Hell, Saban's replacement Kalen DeBoer thrives in this era.

The other thing with Saban, he was in his 70's. He was going to retire earlier rather than later. And that is what we are seeing a lot with college football coaches. Saban retired. Jim Harbaugh, who is in his 60's, left for the NFL and Michigan replaced him with Sherrone Moore, who is in his late 30's. Mack Brown is still around, but he is not far from walking away again. Chip Kelly left for an offensive coordinator job and was replaced by a former UCLA player from the 2000's. Lincoln Riley isn't 40 yet. Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame is 37. Arizona State's head coach is only 33. Josh Heupel is in his early 40's. The game is skewing younger because these old guys are not into having full control. And these are not no name universities. These young coaches are getting a shot at major universities. And when you look at the older head coaches in college football, you have guys like Mack Brown, Kirk Ferentz, Don Brown, Jim Mora, Kyle Whittingham and Dabo Swinney. I already mentioned Mack Brown and him being near the end. Kirk Ferentz has a good squad on defense, but the offense is anemic. He still coaches his team like the Big 10 is stuck in the early 90's. Don Brown, who I like, has a mess of a team at UMASS. Jim Mora is dealing with the same at UCONN. Kyle Whittingham has a decent Utah team, but they are wildly inconsistent. And then there's the moron that is Dabo Swinney. I despise him. And he loathes the NIL and blames that for Clemson not being a title contender anymore. It is always someone else's fault.

College football is changing and most are changing with it. Some aren't, but they may not be long for coaching in college football much longer. Nick Saban is an absolute legend and will be a hall of famer, if he isn't one already. But to blame kids and their want for playing time and NIL money was a low blow and not needed. It seemed like a bit of sour grapes to me, an old man yelling at clouds. Times are changing and college football fans will find a new GOAT in the new era of college football coaches. It's only a matter of time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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An Ode to the Careers of Two Football College Legends

Two titans of the coaching world in football are moving on/retiring. Let’s discuss.

I first heard that Nick Saban was retiring when I was scrolling through Facebook last night. A friend of mine posted something about it, but I thought he was just screwing around. I went and tried to find something on a reputable website, but nothing came up right away. So I gave it about ten minutes and checked again. It was EVERYWHERE that Saban was walking away. I was stunned. He took the team he had this season to the playoff. He has won six titles since he took over as the head coach at Alabama. He won another title when he was the head coach at LSU. He had minimal success with the Dolphins before leaving like a coward when the Alabama job opened up. But, for me as a true college football fan, he has been the face of Alabama and their dominance since his second season. His team's have been wildly impressive since he took over. He coached guys like DJ Fluker, Julio Jones, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Devonta Smith, Derrick Henry, Alex Leatherwood, Quinnen Williams, CJ Mosley, Dont'a Hightower, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Mark Barron, just to name a few. Oh, he recently just coached Heisman winner Bryce Young. Jalen Milroe is a stud. Jahmyr Gibbs transferred in and became a first round pick. Jaylen Waddle is a budding star. The list could go on and on. These are just some of the players he coached at Alabama mind you. He has had other stars at his other stops. But what made him so dominant at the college level was not only the talent, but his passion. Nick Saban is a maniac. This is the same dude that, after winning a national title, he complained that he had to start recruiting again. He was never satisfied with the product. Once he got a ring, he wanted more. It was that drive and grit that made him the greatest college football coach of time. I don't think there is a better one out there. He has played against all of the other greats, and gotten the best of all of them. Look at his coaching tree and all those guys he beat during his tenure. It took Kirby Smart a long while before he beat Saban. Jimbo Fisher only has a few wins against him. I don't know that Lane Kiffin has a win over him. Steve Sarkisian got his first this past season. Butch Jones had a melt down after taking the Tennessee job just trying to beat him. Billy Napier never got Florida over the hump. Jeremy Pruitt and Mel Tucker had to leave their head coaching jobs due to scandal. He has also produced pro coaches. Guys like Brian Daboll, Joe Judge and Bill O'Brien have all spent time under Nick Saban. What Saban did for the college football game and Alabama may never be matched. Alabama was always a threat. When Michigan drew them in the playoff this season I wasn't thrilled because of Alabama's past and potential. He struck fear in opponents. He had the best recruiting pitch. He hired the best coaches. And he always found ways to win. The NFL was never for Nick Saban. He was always destined to be a college football head coach and he became the best the game has seen to this point. It will be odd to not see him on the sideline next season, but congrats on a coaching career that may never be matched. Nick Saban is an all timer.

As for the NFL, well, Bill Belichek and the Patriots have "mutually" parted ways. This felt like a long time coming, but when this news hit this morning, I was still a little taken aback. Bill Belichek turned himself into one of the greatest head coaches the NFL has ever seen. The things he did with the Patriots starting in the early 2000's is the stuff of legend in the coaching world. The guy had an eye for talent when it came to players and assistant coaches. He had this odd sense that he could get the most of people that not many saw much potential. Drew Bledsoe, their star QB and former number one overall pick gets hurt and they turn to some 6th round backup named Tom Brady. We all know what happened then. It was a decade plus of dominance with that pairing as QB and coach. The Patriots always seemed to win and always seemed to be in the thick of the playoff race. Even the season Brady went down in week one, the Patriots still managed to win ten games with Matt Cassell as their starting QB. That has a lot to do with Belichek. This guy also took chances on players. He brought in Randy Moss and had that electric offense. The best years of Laurence Maroney's NFL career were in New England. Ty Law was an all pro under Belichek's tutelage. Lawyer Milloy became one of the best safeties in the league. Benjarvus Green Ellis had a career because of him. The same could be said for Wes Welker, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman. Richard Seymour made a name for himself in the league because of Belichek. The guy had an eye for these "diamonds in the rough". He also knew how to hire good assistants that figured out how to work with him. Josh McDaniels isn't much of a head coach or person, but the dude can coach a Bill Belichek offense. Matt Patricia only got a head coaching job because he ran Belichek's defense to perfection. Joe Judge was a special teams coach under Belichek, after working for Saban, and that reputation of working with Belichek got him the head job with the Giants. Brian Flores is an amazing defensive coordinator and he more than deserves another shot at being a head coach. Romeo Crennel had a few good years with the Browns. Charlie Weiss parlayed his coordinating job into a few head coaching jobs, namely Notre Dame and Kansas. Hell, even Nick Saban spent time working under Belichek when he was the head coach of the Browns. While a good amount of these guys never reached the heights Belichek has, they had massive success working from, and learning from, Bill Belichek. I don't know what the future holds for him, but I would be a little stunned if he isn't hired by one of the seven teams with a current opening very soon.

As it stands on January 11th, both Bill Belichek and Nick Saban are no longer football coaches. That seems wild to say, but here we are. Crazy. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Florida State Got Robbed

The College Football Playoff is all set. Michigan is the 1 seed, Washington 2, Texas 3 and Alabama 4.

I do think all four teams had some good reasons for being picked. Michigan won every game and the Big 10. Washington won every game and the Pac 12. Texas won 12 games, won the Big 12 and beat Bama. They did get beat by Oklahoma, who is very good, but that was early and they more than made up for it. And Bama ended Georgia's 29 game win streak, lost to Texas early on in the season, but won every other game. So, do I think these teams are deserving of a playoff spot? Yes. But, do I think the committee got it right? Absolutely not.

This has been a topic of much debate since the four playoff teams were announced yesterday. People have had takes either way, supporting the decision or disagreeing with the decision. I wanted to sit on my thoughts for a day before I made up my mind. And I absolutely believe that Florida State was snubbed big time. This may be the biggest snub in the history of college football bowl games. That may sound like a bit much, but to the players, coaches and that university, this is a big deal. Florida State won the ACC. They won it going away in fact. They beat three top 25 teams. They beat LSU, who will most likely have the Heisman winner this weekend, in a humongous prime time matchup this season. The main thing that FSU did this season though, they won every game. Texas did not win every game. Alabama did not win every game. But FSU did. They had their schedule set, they played the teams on that schedule and when those games were over, FSU was the winner of each and every one of them. That is their job as a power 5 football team. That has been the unwritten rule of the college football playoff committee. They have said time and time again that if you play in a power 5 conference, win the conference title game, and win every other game on your schedule, that should be more than enough to get you in the playoff. But for some reason this season the committee decided to change things up.

Now, I fully understand, as does the committee, that the playoff is a television event. They want to get as many viewers as possible. And putting Michigan up against Alabama is going to bring a ton of viewers. But it is not like FSU is some also ran. They are blue bloods themselves. They have won multiple national titles. They have had multiple first round picks. They have a storied history. So to pass over them for Alabama, that shows the bias that the committee and ESPN, where all the playoff games will be broadcast, have. This is clearly ESPN and the committee cowtailing to the SEC and Bama. They want them in these games to get the talking heads and fans all riled up. During the SEC title game they kept showing a placard on the screen saying that the winner of the SEC title game has never missed the CFP. No one on ESPN, CBS, Fox or NBA were talking up FSU at all Saturday night, even as they were winning the ACC title game. And when ESPN premiered the final playoff game reveal and rankings, of course most of their talking heads were saying this was the correct choice, to leave FSU out in favor of Bama. Rece Davis, a Bama grad, loved it. Kirk Herbstreit, who I like, said weeks ago that if FSU finished undefeated, they'd be a shoe in. He immediately disregarded that statement and praised the committee for their choice. Paul Finebaum basically said he could care less about FSU and that Bama deserved the spot. He hosts a show on ESPN's SEC network. The only analyst that seemed to be bothered by this was Booger McFarland. He made some real good points I thought too. If anyone that is a college football fan is on the fence about this choice, go watch what McFarland had to say yesterday. It was the best argument for FSU being in the playoff that I saw. But after yesterday it is more apparent than ever that this committee and ESPN could care less about what occurs on the field. They are going to bend over backwards to get a team from the SEC in this field if there is the slightest possibility.

I do not like FSU, not one bit, but they were snubbed, and snubbed hard by the CFP committee yesterday. This is not what is supposed to happen when you win every game and win your conference as a power 5. This is clearly a move motivated by viewers, not players. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The College Football Playoff Committee are Fanboy Idiots

The first college football playoff rankings were released last night. For college football fans, like myself, this is a big deal. Things can, and definitely will change in the next four weeks, but the release of the first CFP ranking kind of marks the 3/4 mark of the season. We are getting near the end of the regular season.

I do not have much of a problem with the initial rankings, except two teams, who I will get to shortly. Georgia is clearly the number one team. They have beaten the pants off of every opponent, they have the best defense in the country and they can win with both of their QB's. They are really, really good. As much as it pained me to watch last weekend, I think Michigan State is in the right spot at three. They have won every game, they have the front runner, that isn't a QB, for the Heisman and they have found ways to win. Oregon rightfully deserves to be ahead of the university of Ohio State because they beat them, and they beat them in Columbus. It only seems fair. I love that Wake Forest is in the top ten. I don't think Michigan deserves the nine spot, but that is because I am never optimistic about that team. I'm not that upset by Oklahoma being eight because they have had one of the easiest schedules in the country, but they have made all eight of their wins, save for last week, much closer than they should have been. As for the teams outside the top ten, I love UTSA being ranked. They have earned it. I would have put Oklahoma State a little higher. I like that Minnesota is finally getting some recognition. Wisconsin has rebounded nicely after a rough start. Texas A&M has been riding high since beating Alabama, and they have a chance to make a real jump this weekend. And I like that teams like San Diego State and Fresno State got some love.

But, like I said at the top, there are two teams, one that got royally screwed, and one that seems to get their way no matter how they perform on the field. The fact that Alabama is two and Cincinnati is six is a total joke. Again, lots of things are going to change, but to put Cincinnati that low is such a bad look for the CFP committee. And putting Alabama that high, after they have a loss at Texas A&M, makes them look worse. It is clear now that no matter what Alabama does, no matter how many wins and losses they have, this committee will continue to find a way to get them into the top four. They will find a way. They will make excuses. I heard the chair of the committee explain why they put Alabama that high, and it was all nonsense. He was stating ridiculous facts. They have some wins in the top 25, he said. Their loss was a last second field goal on the road to the 14th ranked team. Alabama will play tougher teams. It is all pure nonsense from a college football perspective. And he had the nerve to go on tv and claim, "who has Cincinnati beat besides Notre Dame?". Again, this was like pushing in the knife after already stabbing someone. It was salt on a wound. He sounded like a fan, and that committee is supposed to be non biased. Cincinnati went to South Bend and pretty easily handled Notre Dame. They beat Indiana by two touchdowns in Bloomington. Say all you want about Indiana, but they are a solid football team. They crushed UCF when people thought they could be better than we all thought. They struggled with Navy, but like Michigan State, found a way to win the game. And they easily dismissed Tulane, who put a scare into Oklahoma in week one. They also have one of the best defenses in the country, and while I loathe their coach, he is doing a great job, and I would be stunned if he isn't at a big time power five school next year. Alabama crushed Miami, well they are 4-4. Look at that game like you look at Indiana on Cincinnati's schedule. They beat Florida in The Swamp they may say. Okay, they are 4-4. Their best win is Ole Miss, who they did smoke, but Cincinnati's best win is against a much better, higher ranked team, and it was on the road. I'm fed up with this committee finding excuses to get their beloved Alabama in the CFP. They are a good team, and they may still very well make it to the CFP, but to have them at two in the initial ranking is a spit in the face to the Big 10, the Pac 12 and, most importantly, the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. They got totally screwed by this committee. It is clear they do not have a level playing field. Cincinnati should be two, and hell, I'd put the university of Ohio State, Wake Forest and Oklahoma ahead of Alabama. Michigan State should be ranked higher. Oregon should be ranked higher due to a much better high profile win.

If someone asked me what I think the top four should be right now I'd go with, from 1-4, Georgia, Cincinnati, Michigan State and Oregon. Then I'd have Oklahoma, Wake Forest, the university of Ohio State and then Alabama. I'd have them at eight in the rankings right now. But I'm just a Michigan fan that lives in the Midwest. But I also watch a ton of college football, and I can tell you, on November 3rd, Alabama is not the second best team, Cincinnati is, and they should be ranked as the second best team in the country, like every other major poll has them. This is a bummer, I hope it gets fixed, but also, it just goes to show how stupid and pointless ranking college football teams truly is. It is a genuine waste of time. They should just wait until every game has been played and then make a final decision.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Alabama had No Equal in College Football This Season

Last night's college football playoff championship game was pretty telling about the 2020 season.

First off, Alabama was the class of the 2020 season. There was no team even close to how good, prepared and well coached they are. They clearly had the best players, and if they lost players to injury or COVID, they had more than capable replacements. Hell, last night a safety was ejected for targeting in the first half, the commentators made a big deal about it, but even after he was gone, Alabama seemed just fine in the secondary. They more than deserve their rings.

Second, the University of Ohio State proved last week that they may be the second best team in all of college football this past season, but they were clearly not at Alabama's level. I have seen people say they were missing too many important players to COVID, or that losing Trey Sermon on the first drive killed them, but honestly, even at full strength, I do not think they would have kept it that close. I thought prior to the game they would be able to keep it close. I had personally predicted it to be a close game. I think I had Alabama winning by a TD, something like 42-35. I thought that the university of Ohio State would have been able to score with Alabama for a while. That was not the case. They answered the first two scores for Bama, but after that it was a wrap. Alabama had a historic first half. Heisman winner Devonta Smith set three different records in the first half. I think Mac Jones only had three incompletions on twenty plus pass attempts. Najee Harris was ripping off four plus yards a carry, and he had a rushing score and receiving score before halftime. They bulldozed Ohio State in the second quarter. I believe Alabama outscored them 28-10 in the quarter, and took a commanding 35-17 lead into halftime. And while Bama looked unstoppable, after the two TD drives, Ohio State looked kind of lost. It makes sense. They did have key guys out with COVID. They only played eight total games counting last night. Justin Fields did not look like the top 10 pick he has looked like in the past. The offensive line couldn't open holes for the run game. The receivers, when the game was still kind of up for grabs, were being locked down. The University of Ohio State looked like a mess. But, is it because of the shortened season, or because of Alabama? I think it is a little bit of both, but something like 20 percent the shortened season, and 80 percent Alabama. Or maybe more like 95 percent Alabama.

I cannot stress how good Alabama was all year, and how well they played, and were coached last night. LSU's offense last year was seen as this otherworldly, never before seen type thing. Well, Alabama's season stats were almost identical, and Mac Jones beat some of Joe Burrow's records last night. Najee Harris, while not putting up the same rushing numbers as Edwards-Helaire did for LSU, he still had three scores, and could not be tackled by one player. He was also a bigger threat in the pass game. And while I heaped endless praise on Devonta Smith yesterday, he is going to get more right now. He had 12 catches for 215 yards and 3 scores, all in the first half. Alabama schemed ways for him to get open, got him the ball in open space, got him in position to be guarded by linebackers, and he showed why he was the definitive Heisman winner last night. He did all of this in only two quarters by the way. He did play in the third, but he broke his finger, and they pulled him for the rest of the game. That was the correct choice for him, and for Alabama. I also want to point out the coaching last night. Nick Saban is a true prick, but the dude can coach college football. The NFL did not work for him, but he has found a home in Tuscaloosa, and he, I am shocked to be saying this, is the greatest college football coach of all time. I have felt this way for a while now, and last night just hammered that home for me. He had his kids ready to play, he surrounds himself with very good assistants, and his players play for him. They get excited to play for him and they love to play for him. They also go out on the field with a workman's ethic. They, and this truly surprised me, do not do too much celebrating. They act like they've been there before. I respect that. The closest Devonta Smith got to celebrating was when he caught a seam route TD, and pointed at Mac Jones to give him credit. This is what I, and many other people do, when we get a good pass in basketball for an easy bucket. I don't really consider that a "celebration". Alabama's defense was well prepared too. This is supposed to be their "weaker" unit, but they looked awesome last night. Dylan Moses was flying all over the field. The D line was stout. Patrick Surtain shut down whatever side of the field he was on. Even their special teams unit was better because they were barely on the field. I think they punted twice, and kicked one field goal.

On the other side of the field, the university of Ohio State may have been short handed, but they got flat out out coached. Ryan Day had zero answers for what Nick Saban did to him. Day is a great offensive mind, but it felt like he used all of that up on Clemson. He coached scared last night. He punted in plus territory on fourth and nine, down three scores. He ran the ball twice to get off the field before halftime. His defense made zero adjustments. The run game was nonexistent. Justin Fields played timidly. The University of Ohio State is a really, really good team, probably the second best team in the country, but they did belong on the same field with Alabama last night. The game was a blowout, and I probably should have expected that. I would've liked to see the Big Ten win a title, but it was pretty clear early on that Bama was going to run away with this game. And I want to give one more shoutout to Devonta Smith. He is an all time great, and boy was he fun to watch last night.

Congrats Alabama, you guys are still the best, and it clearly isn't very close at the moment.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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This Year's College Football Playoff is Made for TV

Next week will be my best of lists. I am still working on some things, and I need a little more time. It is a bit tougher for certain things because I have been busy watching old shows or movies with my kids. With that, this week is going to be some sports, a movie review and some random pop culture things.

To start this week, I want to talk about the College Football Playoff. The four teams that made it, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and the university of Ohio State, were totally expected by me, and some others I knew. And I am not here to shit on two teams I despise, or how it really feels like it will be Clemson-Alabama for the title for the third or fourth time playing for the title. That is not my point at all. And while I feel bad for Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Florida, they each had reasons why they didn't get put in. The only team of these three that has a real argument is Texas A&M. But they didn't get picked, and they will just have to get over that. I actually feel worse for Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina. Both those teams finished their seasons undefeated, playing double digit games. But they both play in lower level conferences, and the playoff is constructed to keep these teams out. It is just like the BCS, and how they treated Boise State. The lower level teams do not get a fair shake, and that has to change. They need to add more teams. Now is the time to make it an eight or twelve team playoff. They could've easily expanded this season, used COVID as to why, and no one would be griping like they have for two days now. It would have been cut and dry, and everyone would've been happy.

My real point today, the four teams that made it are in there strictly for TV purposes. Alabama and Clemson deserve their spots. Alabama is undefeated, won every game, and won them mostly by wide margins and no one put a real scare into them. Clemson is 10-1, but the 1 was with a backup QB on the road, and it took overtime for Notre Dame to beat them. We just saw in the rematch what a fully healthy Clemson can do against the very same team. Now we have Notre Dame and the university of Ohio State. The university of Ohio State is undefeated. They beat four teams by well over 30 points. They have a Heisman candidate at QB. They were picked to run away with the Big Ten. They did win the Big Ten title game, but it was too close. They also only played six games. One cancellation was their fault, the other two were their opponents. The Big Ten also changed their rules to allow them to play in the conference title game. Do I think they will play well against Clemson in their matchup, yes. Do I think they will win, no. They still have COVID issues, Justin Fields does not look as good as he did last year and they barely beat Northwestern and Indiana. Those are two ranked teams, but the university of Ohio State didn't do to them what Clemson just did to Notre Dame, or what Alabama did to the whole SEC. The reason the university of Ohio State is in is because they will draw so many more people to TV than Coastal Carolina, Cincinnati or even Florida and Texas A&M. They have one of the biggest fanbases in the world. And hey, they did win every game they played. Notre Dame did beat Clemson early in the year, albeit shorthanded. They won every game they played until this past week. They did struggle with some inferior opponents, but found ways to win. This Notre Dame team reminds me of the team that played Alabama in the BCS title game when they had Manti Teo. Or even better, the one that made the playoff a few years back and got crushed by a freshman led Trevor Lawrence Clemson team. Notre Dame is a solid team, with a good run game. But, I don't trust their QB to win a game, and their defense should get shredded by Alabama. This may be Alabama's best offensive team, and that is saying something. I think they will fight and play hard, but, just like this past weekend, Alabama is just a better team. I wouldn't be stunned if Alabama wins by four touchdowns. But again, Notre Dame has fans all over the world. They will draw so many eyeballs because we are all home and watching games from our living rooms. And that matchup, Notre Dame and Alabama is much more enticing than Alabama and Cincinnati.

So when my friends that I chat sports with ask me if the committee got it right, I say no to the teams, but unequivocally yes to the TV market. These four teams, this playoff, during this pandemic, was all about getting people to watch so the NCAA could try and recoup some kind of money they lost from all the cancellations and postponements and lack of fans at the games. The teams they pick actually makes so much sense to me, even if I disagree with their top four. College football is a business, and the people at the top know that. That much is clear with the CFP this season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Who Should Draft Tua Tagovailoa?

The NFL draft is a little over a month away. Come April I will do my type of preview, where I pick players I like and dislike. But today I want to spend my time talking about Tua Tagovailoa.

First things first, Tua is a very, very, very good QB. He came in as a backup in a title game two years ago and won the game for Alabama. His pass in overtime was one of the most perfect throws I have ever seen. The fact that he took a sack earlier in that series, dusted himself off, and made that throw, that was when I knew he was a special football player.

Tua then comes back the next year, beats out Jalen Hurts as a starter and takes Alabama to another title game. This made his legend grow even further. But, the title game showed some flaws. Sure, it is not his fault that the Alabama defense gave up a million yards and tons of points. Still though, Tua got outplayed by a true freshman, and he looked a little overmatched when playing a defense that had pros on it.

He came back for this season, and he started like a house on fire. He was great. He looked like the Tua from two years ago. Then the minor injuries started. He missed a game here and there for knicks and bruises. He then suffered a pretty severe ankle sprain. Still, he came back, won a few important games and looked like he was going to be just fine.

Then Tua got brutally injured in an unimportant game during the regular season. I don't remember who Alabama was playing, or what game it was, but I remember after hearing about the injury I had two thoughts, uh oh, and why was he in there. Then I heard more and more about the injury, and the more news that came out, the worse it got for Tua. It appeared he had broken his hip. This is one of the worst injuries a football player can sustain. I immediately thought of Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson is one of my all time favorite athletes. He played two pro sports at All Star level. He was lightening in a bottle. He is a once in a generation talent. He is the type of player where the word "legend" is the only proper way to describe him. Tua suffered a very similar, if not the exact same injury. That injury ended Bo's career. He was never the same after that. Now, I know that Bo was a little older, and maybe more susceptible. But, no disrespect to Tua, Bo is a much, much, much better athlete than Tua could ever dream of being, and this injury did him in. I understand all the stories. The stuff about his injury is healing way better than expected, that he was crushing interviews at the combine, that he will be able to do drills starting March 9th, and he will have a pro day and that Washington, who is picking second, and took a QB in the first round last year, might draft him if he has a good pro day. I get all of that. I also have watched enough football to understand that these stories are leaked by people that will benefit from Tua being a high pick, and keeping his name in the news.

Again, Tua was, maybe still is, a great QB prospect. But, I would be so, so hesitant to take Tua anywhere in the first round. I spoke to my father earlier today and I told him that Tua needs to go to a team where he can sit, watch, practice and heal even more. I look at teams like New England or Indianapolis or even a spot like Tennessee. All these teams will provide him all the things I think he needs to be a starter level QB in the NFL. But, if a team like Miami or Washington or Cincinnati, a place where he will have to play immediately, it will doom him. I mean, this injury took out Bo Jackson. I cannot overstate enough how big a deal that is. Tua is great, but he is no Bo.

This injury is brutal, I feel for Tua that he has to deal with this, but if I were a GM, I would try to find any other player to take, especially in the first round, before I would take Tua. He has a long, long way to go before he is back to himself, if he ever gets back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Predicts the 2019 College Football Season

Okay, time for the good football, the football I truly enjoy, college football. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than watching college football on a Saturday in the fall. It is the best. It is the one time of year where I do not mind not leaving the house at all, and having the TV on all day. I get lost watching all the different teams play on Saturday's, but I most focused when Michigan plays, obviously. I love the fall because it means college football is back.

Like I have done in the past I will pick each power conference winner, and point out a few teams that may be under the radar. Unlike the past though, I will not dwell too much on all the teams in the power 5 conferences. I will mention some, give sentences on a few and explain why I picked each conference winner. I will conclude everything will my playoff picks, my title game, my title game winner and who I think will win the Heisman. Okay, lets get to it.

I am going to start with my conference, instead of saving it for the end, the Big Ten. This is the conference I pay the most attention to. I watch most of the games even if I don't like the team that is playing. The Big Ten should be pretty competitive, as usual, but if Michigan doesn't finally break through and win, I will be upset and angry. They have one of their better offenses in recent memory returning. They have 8 starters back, including Shea Patterson and almost the entire o line. They have a great trio of receivers. The tight ends are utilized properly. And while young, the depth at running back is insane. The defense did lose some key guys, but they had so many players that played meaningful snaps last year that are back. Sure, Devin Bush, Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary will be tough to replace, but they have recruited guys just for this occasion. They have some tough games, Army really stands out to me in the non conference, and they play Notre Dame again. But, most of their toughest games are at home. They get Notre Dame, Army, Michigan State, The University of Ohio State and Iowa all in Ann Arbor. I expect, and all fans should, this team to be very good. They should win the Big Ten. That being said, The university of Ohio State is always there, and they have owned the conference for a bit. They have a bunch of new players, but still, they don't rebuild, they reload. Michigan State should be better than they were last year. and their defense is grimy, gritty and dirty. Northwestern has a new shiny 5 star QB taking over, and they are always an annoying out. Minnesota has gotten better every year under PJ Fleck. Iowa is always tough, can run and now they can pass the ball too. Penn State has to break in a new QB, but they have a solid defense, can run and they play tough at home. Nebraska should be much better, but they need to shore up a porous defense. Wisconsin has a Heisman hopeful in Johnathan Taylor, and they get their toughest games at home. Purdue is better, and that Moore kid they have is a stud. Indiana and Maryland are fine. And Illinois and Rutgers will suffer some more growing pains. Michigan should win the conference this year.

Next I will go to the Big 12. This conference really comes down to Texas and Oklahoma, and I think Oklahoma is better in every facet. No one plays defense in the Big 12, but Oklahoma is better than Texas. All teams air the ball out, or can run like gangbusters, and Oklahoma is better at that. West Virginia is going to regress. Kansas has Les Miles, but that will not amount to many more wins in year one. Baylor should have gotten the death penalty. Iowa State is tough, but they always find a way to blow games. Oklahoma State's run as a contender is well past, and Mike Gundy is a dickhead. Texas Tech has 5-7 written all over them. TCU could be better, but they really fell on their faces last season. I think Oklahoma will win because I think the kid from Alabama is a better QB than the one Texas has.

The Pac 12 has really become a lost conference. They haven't been relevant in the past couple years. That being said, Oregon has a legit top NFL prospect playing QB for them in Justin Herbert. They are super explosive too. Washington has a good transfer QB coming in to take over, and they actually play defense, and play it well. Utah is always tough. They are a better version of Northwestern. USC is in dead man walking territory, especially with former players opining for a new head coach. Washington State is fun, but they play less defense than a Big 12 team, and they always seem to lose steam late in the season. Stanford is tough, but they haven't been able to put together a full season in awhile. I'm done letting them make me look stupid. Colorado had a moment, but they are back to being a 7-5 team at best. And the rest of the conference is very blah. I'm going with Oregon because this is Herbert's last run. I think he could blow up this season.

Now to the SEC. I still think the SEC is very overrated, but Alabama is still in the conference, and they are still awesome. They have so many good players, led by Tua Tigaviola. He's awesome. He is a Heisman front runner, and he will lead that very explosive offense. Alabama's main threats will be LSU and Georgia. Both those teams have great returning QB's and good run games. They also play very solid defense. Georgia is a better team, but LSU plays up to opponents, and they could make some noise. Outside of those three teams it is really jumbled in the middle. Missouri got one of the best transfers in the country in Kelly Bryant, and he alone will make this team an 8 or 9 win team. Missouri fans will soon forget about Drew Lock. Bryant is a much better QB. Auburn will be really good or really bad. No in between. Florida is coming off a huge bowl win over Michigan, and they have a ton of talent back. But, their success depends on Felipe Franks, and he has not been great so far in college. Texas A&M will be very good very soon, but they are still a year or 2 away from really competing. Mississippi State is solid, but no better than an 8 win team. And from there on out, the rest of the conference has too many question marks. It will once again come down to Georgia and Alabama, and, as usual Alabama will prove their dominance. I'm getting sick of picking them.

Speaking of teams that are so easy too predict, does anyone have a shot to beat Clemson in the ACC? I don't think so. In fact, I know so. Clemson is coming off an absolute dismantling of Alabama in the title game last year, and pretty much everyone from that offense, mainly Trevor Lawrence, is back. They could easily average 50 points a game this year. They can walk through their schedule. They are so good on offense, and even with the departures on defense, they will be just fine. Clemson is now in Alabama territory. They are approaching unbeatable status. Sure, teams like Miami should be decent, and Florida State should rebound. Syracuse is becoming good again. And Georgia Tech runs that funky triple option. But I mean come on, Clemson will trounce their way to a division title. They are legit.

Outside of the power 5 teams, Army is a very good, very disciplined football team. They will be tough. Notre Dame has a good QB coming back and they will always be a threat. UCF, while not having Mackenzie Milton and his backup, got Brandon Wimbush, and he is a perfect fit to run their offense. Outside of those teams, no one really jumps off the page. We don't have a UCF from a few years back, or a Western Michigan from even more years back. The power 5 teams are the best of the best this season.

Picking the four team playoff has been tough for me. I have Clemson and Alabama as locks. The next 2 teams I have struggled with. I've waffled between so many variations, but I think I finally have my other 2 teams. I'm not going with a Pac 12 team either because I'm sick of getting burned by that conference. I'm going with Michigan and Georgia. I think Oklahoma will blow some games, that Texas is a little overrated, and I already stated why I will not pick Oregon. My order from 1-4 would be Clemson, Alabama, Michigan and Georgia. That would give us Clemson-Georgia and Alabama-Michigan. And, for what seems like the tenth time in a row, I have Clemson and Alabama in the title game. And, I think it will be a repeat of last year. Clemson is a better football team right now, and Dabo Swinneyis a better coach. There, I said it.

As far as the Heisman, I do not see how Trevor Lawrence from Clemson doesn't win it this year. He would have to fall off the face of the Earth to not win it. He was great last year, and now he has the full reins of that offense.

Okay, there it is, my 2019 college football preview. We only have three more weeks until real games are going to be played. I cannot wait. It is going to rule.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. It seems like the last few years Ty has been hyping a Missouri Quarterback. Come on Ty, stop giving me hope for an 8 win season. Seven wins is where the Tigers have made their home.

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Clemson is the New Alabama

Last night was an absolute bloodbath in the College Football Playoff title game. And the team I thought would be putting on that beating, I was very, very wrong. I made no secrets about my thoughts on this Alabama team. I thought they were unbeatable. I wasn't one of those idiots that thought they could beat an NFL team, but I thought no one, including Clemson, would beat them in college. They appeared invincible. They ran rough shed through their regular season schedule. The only game they really struggled with was Georgia in the SEC title game, but they still won that one fairly easily in the end.

What I failed to realize was the fact that Clemson was doing the exact same thing all year. They also had one tough game, Syracuse, but they pulled away from that one late as well. As far as the rest of the their schedule, it was a cakewalk. Even when they played ranked teams, they crushed them. I was also a little skeptical of them starting Trevor Lawrence when they did, I am a Kelly Bryant fan. Well, I was completely, and absolutely wrong. Starting Trevor Lawrence was the exact right thing to do. Clearly the coaches knew something that not many other writers and bloggers did. Sure, Lawrence was a 5 star, top QB recruit in the country, but Bryant led this same team to the playoff last year, and he started out the year just fine. I was a bit stunned, and didn't question Bryant's decision to transfer at all.

But man oh man did this Lawrence kid look phenomenal in the 2 playoff games, the only 2 I saw him play in this year. He carved up what was supposed to be a top defense in Notre Dame in the semi final game. He had all kinds of time in the pocket, found the open receiver every time and shredded them. He did this, and so, so much more last night against a much, much better Alabama team. I mean, he looked like he was a fifth year senior out there. He was hitting all the open receivers. He was making pinpoint throws. He ran the read option perfectly. I have not seen a kid this good in my lifetime. Sure, Peyton Manning and Brian Griese and Tom Brady and Cam Newton and Deshaun Watson and so on and so forth were all great. At this very moment, Lawrence is already better, and he isn't even 20 yet. I can't believe he has to play 2 more years of college football. That would be like forcing this Zion Williamson kid to play three years at Duke. Lawrence is as ready for the pros, probably more so, than any of the underclassmen this year that declared for the draft. He is astounding.

All the praise doesn't belong solely to Lawrence. His receivers, his big time guy, are mostly underclassmen. The dude he hit for the 74 yarder to blow open the game is a true freshman as well. He has to play 2 more years of college football before he goes pro. Their running back, Travis Etienne, is only a sophomore. He struggled at first, but when he needed to pull off big gainers, he did. He ended the game with solid stats. He is also an excellent pass catcher. They also have a stable of guys behind him ready to go. Their O line was amazing. They protected the QB and opened up holes in the later stages of the game for the running backs to ice this game away. And that defense, which I have loved all year, made play after plays last night. Sure, they gave up nearly 400 yards of offense, but they held Alabama to 16 points, and zero in the second half. They had multiple goal line stands. They picked off the Alabama QB twice. They pressured him all night. And they were missing their star D lineman, and they didn't play the perfect game. And they still dominated what was supposed to be one of college football's most explosive offenses.

I have watched a good amount of Alabama this year, and that was the worst I have seen them play ever. They looked confused, slow, out manned and like the inferior team. It was astounding. Every time they cut to Saban's face, I was cracking up at how upset and outcoached he was. He is not used to this. He is like a human cheat code due to his dominance. That all shifted last night. Dabo Swinney and staff made him look like a third or fourth year coach. Saban is the greatest coach in college football history, but Swinney is now starting to join that conversation as well. I mean, he destroyed what many thought was one of Alabama's best offenses ever. He also exploited their suspect defense, with a true freshman QB. As much as I may dislike Swinney's fake "good old boy" shtick, I loved watching him never, ever take his foot off the gas. He wanted to shove it in Alabama and Nick Saban's face that he was the better coach with the better team last night. And he proved it.

This is the shift in college football. This is now the time that Clemson takes over as the dominant program in college football. As I said, they get the majority of this team back for the next three years. They are going to dominate the game for the time being. They are the Warriors of college football. They are the new Alabama. They are the best team, and will continue to be as long as Lawrence and Swinney and Brent Venables and Etienne and their deep, deep crop of super talented and very tall receivers are still there. And they have a top recruiting class year after year after year. They will continue to pull in top tier guys. Clemson is the new dynasty. They are the new rulers of college football. They are the force to be reckoned with, and they made that statement very loud and clear with the way they dominated Alabama last night.

That was as eye opening a beating as I have ever seen. Clemson put on a show last night, and the college football watching public needs to get used to them being the best of the best. That is where they are now, if they weren't already. Clemson is amazing.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking forward to the day when he can tell his kids about a time before only Alabama and Clemson being the National Champion every year.

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A Few Thoughts on the Winners, and Whiners, of the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff is set. From 1 to 4 the teams are Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama.

Now, before I get into my predictions, let us first talk about Alabama getting in over the University of Ohio State and USC. I'll touch on USC first. USC made a late season push. They proved that they are the best team in the Pac 12 by winning the title game, and closing the season pretty strong. Sam Darnold looks the part that many hoped he would when the season started, they have a tremendous run game and their defense has been pretty solid. But, early season losses to Washington State, and a blowout loss to Notre Dame doomed them. They also struggled with Texas earlier this year, in California. But, they smashed Stanford early on, and then beat them again in the Pac 12 title game. They also beat UCLA, albeit in a close game, and smashed a bunch of teams people thought would give them a game. But, in the end, the damage early in the year was too much to overcome. They had a great season, and they play in a pretty good bowl game, but they just couldn't sneak into the playoff.

As for the University of Ohio State debate. Before I get into this, I'm not going to trash them because I'm a Michigan fan. I'm going to trash them because of their ignorance and complaining. Last season the University of Ohio State got into the playoff, even though they lost at Penn State on a blocked field goal return for a TD. They did not play in the Big Ten title game, but they claimed that a conference championship game didn't matter. They finished the year 11-1. and they felt they had a better resume than Penn State, who beat them and won the conference title game. I HATE Penn State as well, so I am not making excuses for them. But, when the University of Ohio State plays in a conference title game this year, win it, but don't make the playoff and complain, you should see why I have a problem with their whining. They are hypocrites. They only want stuff good to happen for them when it benefits them. Look, they got crushed, at home, early in the season against Oklahoma, a playoff team. Oklahoma went to Columbus and trashed them. Then, later on in the year they went to Iowa and lost by 31 points. They gave up 55 points to that "dynamic" Iowa offense. This is exactly what happened to Penn State last year. They lost an early season game at Pitt, and then got smashed the very next week at Michigan. The committee has stated that big losses, no matter when they occur, matter in the end. I've read all the social media heat. People are pissed that a conference champ from a power 5 conference didn't get in. But, the same exact thing happened last year, and no one batted an eye when the University of Ohio State got in over Penn State. So, for all you University of Ohio State fans, it doesn't feel good to be on the opposite end of some bull shit, does it? But, do not bitch and moan, you guys got in last year on the same merit that Alabama got in on this year.

Alabama getting in over Ohio State and USC, I'd have no problem with it, but Nick Saban went on ESPN Saturday night and cried and whined his way into the playoff. Based on their last 2 games, they are not a playoff team. Now, give me a neutral site, and have Alabama play either school, I'd probably pick Alabama. But, it is not as clear cut as it was earlier in the season. Also, Alabama's best win is probably over LSU, but they are not the LSU of old. I know that the FSU game on the opening weekend was a big time matchup at the time, but it has looked worse and worse every week. And Saban's complaints about injuries and the like, shut up with that nonsense. Every team suffers injuries. Michigan played 3 different QB's this year. Auburn's star running back is currently hurt. Wisconsin lost their best linebacker before the year started. The University of Ohio State had to go to a backup QB in the Michigan game. Stanford dealt with Bryce Love injuries all year. Miami lost their best running back early in the season. FSU lost their star QB in the first game. Every team has to deal with injuries. Injuries are not why Auburn beat Alabama. Auburn was a much better coached and more physical team that day. That is why they beat you.

But, Alabama whined your way into a first round matchup with the clear cut number one team in the nation. Which, is my segue into my playoff predictions. So, the 1-4 matchup is Clemson-Alabama. This is part three of the series. The first 2 matchups have been great, and I think the same thing will happen in this game. Clemson is the best overall team in the country. Their defense is ferocious. They can attack you from so many different angles. Brent Venables may be the best defensive coordinator in the country. Their offense may not be as good as last year, but losing a Deshaun Watson type player would do that to any team. That being said, Kelly Bryant is legit. Clemson has a great running game. They have solid receivers. They have a pretty decent offensive line. They are just an overall solid team. Alabama has a great defense that will get some of those injured players Saban was whining about on ESPN the other night. They have a great defensive line, pretty good linebackers and a solid secondary. Where Alabama gets tripped up is their offense. They are predictable, which is fine when you face FSU or Mercer or Tennessee. But, Clemson will shut them down. Alabama thrives on their run game, but Clemson will stop that and force them to pass. And, as long as Clemson can limit Calvin Ridley, they should win the game. Jalen Hurts has proven he cannot beat you through the air. Clemson is a better team, and they should win by at least a touchdown. I think getting the line backers back at Alabama will make this game closer than it should be, but I have Clemson in a relatively low scoring game.

The other match-up of Oklahoma and Georgia, the 2-3 game, these  teams couldn't be more different. Oklahoma is very mediocre on defense, but they have the best offense, by far, in all of college football. They want to get in a track meet. They can run the ball and they can sure as hell throw the ball. Baker Mayfield, much credit to RD here, is going to win the Heisman, and that dude can sling the ball. I may not like him as a person, he is way too arrogant, but that dude is a great college football player. Oklahoma wants the ball and they want to score and score and score as much as possible. Georgia is an old fashioned team. They want to run the ball, kill clock and throw 5 yard outs to their tight ends. They are not an explosive offensive team, but they have the best backfield in all of college football. Sony Michel and Nick Chubb are amazing. They also have some stud freshman that steps in from time to time. Jake Fromm is not an all world QB yet, but he can manage a game. Georgia is stout on defense. They have shut down every team, with the first Auburn game being the lone exception. They are legit. This game is going to go one of two ways. Either Oklahoma gets the track meet they want and blows Georgia away late, or Georgia is able to stop one aspect of the Oklahoma offense and win an ugly, low scoring slugfest. I think it will be the track meet. I think Oklahoma's offense is way too good to stop. And say Georgia does somehow stop the passing offense, Oklahoma can run the ball extremely effectively as well. I say Oklahoma wins this game with a late 4th quarter run by about 2 scores.

That gives us 1 versus 2 in the title game. I am going to take Clemson to repeat. They will stop Oklahoma. Oklahoma will play in this game like they did the second half of the Iowa State game. Clemson is so fast, disciplined and awesome on defense. Kelly Bryant will also catapult himself as the 2018 Heisman front runner in this game because Oklahoma will not be able to stop him. I have Clemson winning this game fairly comfortably. They are the better, more seasoned team and their coaching staff has been here before. It is going to be a repeat and get used to Clemson being in the playoff. Maybe they are the new Alabama.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. No talk of UCF Ty? He is not interested in seeing another overrated feel good college football story get beat by 40 points by a real team. The truth hurts.

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2017 Midseason College Football Redo

After recovering from the horror that was Arby's "venison" sandwich reveal, I am ready to do my mid season NCAA football checkup. I'll do it just like I did my preseason preview, complete with updated conference winners, my 4 playoff teams and my new Heisman winner. I'll also pick my national title game and winner. Here we go.

I'll start with the ACC. FSU took an enormous blow in week one. First off, they faced Alabama. That was a mistake. Alabama crushed them. Second, they lost their starting QB, and my preseason Heisman winner, Deondre Francois in that game. Their season was doomed from the start. Not only did I predict them to win the ACC, I predicted them to win the title. They are 2-3 today. They are not winning the title. Clemson seemed like the next logical choice, after crushing three seemingly quality opponents already this season, but they just got upended by Syracuse. They can still go to the playoff, they only dropped 5 spots in the AP poll, but a loss to Syracuse is pretty brutal. Also, their offense is not that great. They have a great, great defense, but their offense could be their downfall. I was definitely off on both NC State and Miami. Miami is good. They have a great offense, even after losing their starting running back. They put up tons of yards and points. They also have a quality defense. They look good. NC State has blown me away. They are a very good football team. I thought, especially after going down week one to South Carolina, they would be a 7 or 8 win team, but they have done nothing but win since that first game. They have a good offense and a good defense. They won't be in the playoff, but they are still very good and will play in a very good bowl game. Outside of these teams, the ACC is very meh. Virginia Tech is ranked, but I have not watched one second of them this year. I know they have a pretty good freshman QB, and I'm sure they have a good defense, but they are no real national threat. Louisville has fallen and may not get up. They have no defense whatsoever. They are horrendous on that side of the ball. Lamar Jackson has been pretty good this year, but he cannot win games alone anymore, and Louisville's opponents have figured that out. Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia all have 4 or 5 wins, but they are of no consequence. And UNC is horrendous. The ACC is not nearly as good as last year. I still think Clemson will find a way to win the conference, their defense is that good, but I wouldn't be shocked if Miami takes the crown from them.

The SEC is better than I anticipated, but I still think it is the most overrated conference in college football. ESPN is so up the SEC's butt, it is distracting. Watching teams from the conference reveals nothing more to me than how much more dominate Alabama is than every other team in the SEC. Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC, and the country. They are so, so good. LSU stumbled out of the gate, but they seemed to have righted the ship a touch. They beat Florida in Gainesville and just knocked off Auburn at home. But, a team with Ed Orgeron as head coach and Danny Etling at QB is not a title contending team. They will finish with 8 or 9 wins, but that is it. Also, where in the world has Derius Guice been all year? He has not put up the numbers I expected. Auburn is fine, but they have no passing game at all. That came back to bite them last week, and when they play quality opponents, the lack of a passing game with kill them. Georgia has looked very, very good. The only caution I have with them, the best team they have beaten all year is Notre Dame. Notre Dame is much better this year than last year, but that is the "best" team Georgia has faced, and they barely beat them. They have been crushing shitty opponents, but their schedule is about to get much tougher. Florida is tough to watch. They look so unprepared for every game. Texas A&M has kind of recovered after blowing the opening game against UCLA, but I do not see them finishing any better than 8-4. I do like their new QB though. Kentucky and Mississippi State are okay, but when they play real teams, they get beat. Vanderbilt looked like they may be good, then Alabama came in town and ruined their season. They have not been the same since that game. Ole Miss stinks. Missouri is horrid. Arkansas is trash. South Carolina is average. And then there is Tennessee. Man do the Volunteers, and more importantly, Butch Jones, stink. This team has never lived up to the hype, and the fact that Jones is still there is laughable. After Alabama crushes them this weekend, I'd be shocked if he is not fired. Alabama is going to coast to the SEC crown again. They are the Golden State Warriors of college football.

The Pac 12's best chance at getting a playoff team ended after last weekend. Washington and Washington State were both top 10 going into last week and they both proceeded to get beaten by mediocre conference opponents. Washington State got hammered by Cal. Cal had come into the game on a 3 game skid and proceeded to crush Washington State by 34 points. It was brutal. Washington could only muster one touchdown, late in the fourth quarter, against one of the worst defenses in all of college football, Arizona State. Washington lost any reputation they may have built up with that egg of a game. I guess USC is still alive for a playoff spot, but they have not lived up to the hype that some were giving them this preseason. They struggled with Western Michigan. They needed overtime to beat Texas. They lost to Washington State. And last week, they were down 14 at halftime to Utah, and they needed a stop on a 2 point conversion for the win. Their game in South Bend this weekend will tell me all I need to know about them. Stanford, my preseason Pac 12 champs, have already lost 2 games. They do not have a shot at the playoff anymore, but they seem to have righted the ship, returning to the top 25 2 weeks ago, and Bryce Love is an amazing running back. People need to seek this kid out. He averages over 10 yards a rush. That is amazing. Outside these 4 teams, every other Pac 12 team is very average. Oregon is great at running the ball, but they lost their starting QB and their defense is atrocious. Arizona puts up points, but they give up almost as many points. Arizona State is really bad on defense. Cal seems to think they are a run and shoot offense, except their QB is very mediocre. They too have a bad defense. Oregon State's coach quit halfway through the season. UCLA has Josh Rosen and nothing else. Utah is okay, but 9 wins seems preordained. Colorado has been very shaky. The Pac 12 is going to miss out on the playoff this year. They just don't have the teams to push for a spot, unless USC finishes the rest of the season undefeated. To the shock of some, I'm sticking with Stanford. I know USC has beaten them once, but I think Stanford redeems themselves in the Pac 12 title game.

The Big 12 may get left out of the playoff too. Their best shot now seems to be TCU. I do not trust TCU. They have won a ton of close games this year, but those wins came against Arkansas and West Virginia. West Virginia isn't terrible, but Arkansas is. I also do not trust Kenny Hill. He throws way too many picks. I also do not think their defense is as good as it has played so far. They are destined to blow a game pretty soon. Oklahoma seemed like a lock, then the Iowa State game happened. After beating the University of Ohio State I thought they'd roll through the rest of the season and be an easy playoff pick. Well, Iowa State beat them in Norman. Then they struggled mightily with Texas. Their defense is filled with holes. They may get tripped up again before the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma State had a golden opportunity this season, but they blew it early on when they lost to TCU. Oklahoma State is still technically alive, but they need to win every game from here on out, and they need to win convincingly. I do not think they have the defense to do that. Texas is not that good. Tom Hermann has not worked his magic in year one. Their offense is very blah and their defense, while better, is still pretty rough. West Virginia has an okay offense, but I just do not buy them as more than a 7 or 8 win team. Iowa State has that one signature win over Oklahoma, but they are not very good either. I believe where we sit today they are 4-3. Texas Tech is the same Texas Tech every year. They got fat on cupcake non conference opponents, got into the top 25, then gave up a million yards and blew a lead against West Virginia last week. Kansas State is very clearly in a transition year. And KU and Baylor may as well fold up shop for the rest of this season. I do love that Baylor is as bad as they are. They deserve to be winless. The Big 12 will come down to TCU and Oklahoma, and I will go ahead and go with Oklahoma since I do not trust TCU one bit.

The Big 10 is murky. This is my conference. This is the conference I pay the most attention to, and, as angry as this makes me, it will come down to the University of Ohio State and Penn State. I do need to say, the fact that Penn State is still allowed to play football, and looked at as a redemption story by networks like ESPN, is appalling. What they covered up for a couple decades under Joe Paterno is absolutely horrifying and disgusting and they should have gotten the death penalty. That being said, they have played much better this year than I thought they would. They have well exceeded my expectations. They have a great offense and a very good defense. The university of Ohio State, after taking that early loss to Oklahoma, has been quietly playing very good football since then. They have been obliterating opponents. I still do not think JT Barrett is a quality QB, but they have 2 great running backs and their defense is legit. My team, the Michigan Wolverines, have been very frustrating to watch all year. They might be the shakiest 5-1 team in the country right now. Their defense is very, very good. It's the fastest Michigan defense I have ever seen in fact. But, their offense is an absolute train wreck. They don't block well. The running backs, with Karan Higdon being the lone exception, have been wildly disappointing. The receivers are dropping passes left and right. And their QB play has been downright awful. John O'Korn has looked terrible and it's not like Wilton Speight was lighting the world on fire when he was out there. This team has a real problem on their hands with how bad this offense is. I expected them to be a double digit win team, but after seeing them in person last week, and looking at their remaining schedule, they look more like a 7 or 8 win team. Their defense is legit, but they spend too much time on the field, and their offense is just atrocious. Michigan State has been surprisingly competent this year. They have a good defense. Their offense leaves a lot to be desired too, but their defense is legit. Their downfall, they play in too many close games. That will come back to bite them soon. Wisconsin is undefeated and doing exactly what you'd expect them to do. They play stout defense, run all over teams and win by double digits almost all the time. Their QB isn't great, but name one Wisconsin QB that was great in college. Purdue has surprised me this year. They aren't great, but they aren't the laughingstock they have been for close to a decade now. They are a solid 7 win team this year. Iowa is very blah, but blah is good for them. They will most assuredly go 7-5, be in tight games all year and even win one or two that they shouldn't. Indiana is better, but they aren't as explosive as they used to be on offense. They have a better defense, but they still have gaping holes, especially on their D line. Minnesota is average. It may take PJ Fleck a year or 2, but right now, they are just average. They have a good defense, but not a very good offense. Northwestern, a ton of people's preseason Big 10 dark horse, has been very inconsistent. One week they look good, the next they look bad. 6-6 or 7-5 is clearly their destination. Maryland, after opening the year with a win at Texas, has lost 2 QB's and they are still pretty bad on defense. They started out 2-0, but have since gone 1-3. DJ Durkin has made them a bit better, but losing 2 QB's has been brutal to this team. Nebraska is bad. They got owned by the University of Ohio State last week. Oregon scored 35 on them in a half. And earlier this year, Northern Illinois got 2 pick sixes and beat them in Lincoln. Maybe Mike Riley isn't the right fit there. And Illinois and Rutgers are dreadful. Rutgers has gotten "better", meaning they finally beat a division one team for the first time in 2 calendar years. That team you ask? The Fighting Illini of Illinois. Illinois has fallen on very hard times. I liked the hiring of Lovie Smith, but he looks like he hates coaching college football, and Illinois is just flat out bad. The Big Ten is all about 2 teams, maybe three with Wisconsin being the clear favorite in the West Division. But, in reality, it is all about Penn State and the University of Ohio State. I'll go with the University of Ohio State. While I hate them, they have been lights out since the Oklahoma game.

As far as teams outside "power 5" conferences, USF and UCF have been great. They are both undefeated and blowing away their opponents. I figured USF would do this, but props to UCF. Two years ago they didn't win a game, now they are a top 25 team, undefeated and crushing everyone they play. Neither will go to the playoff, but they both might go undefeated. Memphis and Navy have been pretty good too. But, they both already have one loss, so a New Years Day bowl is their best bet. No one else outside the "power 5" has really impressed me except these 4 schools.

As far as the playoff goes, I have, in order of 1-4, Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and the University of Ohio State. That's right, I have 2 Big Ten teams. Sorry Wisconsin, but which ever team comes out of the Big Ten East is going to crush you in the Big Ten title game. As far as the title game matchup, I have Alabama facing the University of Ohio State, and I have Alabama absolutely demolishing them. The score will be something like 35-10 or 27-0. Alabama is just too good. And my Heisman winner, I'm going Bryce Love from Stanford. He is doing what Lamar Jackson did last year and putting up ridiculous video game type numbers, and I do not see him slowing down the rest of the year. I could see him rushing for 2,000 plus yards this year.

Okay, there you have my midseason NCAA football check up. I'm excited to see how the rest of the year plays out, and I wish Michigan wasn't so frustrating to watch. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did go to beautiful Bloomington Indiana last week to watch his beloved Wolverines pull out an overtime win over the Hoosiers. It was maddening. 

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There are Only Four Rivalry Games in All of College Football

Any backyard Nerf football game is the fifth biggest rivalry.

I was out to lunch today with my daughter and my folks and the topic of college football came up between my father and I, as it almost always does this time of year. We were talking about the Purdue-Michigan game this Saturday and then moved on to some other matchups that intrigued us. I said to my dad that a big rivalry game was on tomorrow night. He asked me which game, and I told him that Notre Dame and Michigan State were playing. He kind of shook his head and asked me why I thought that was a rivalry game. I told him that ESPN, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, pretty much every sports media site and publication always says this is a rivalry game. What he said next was pretty profound, and really speaks to the current state of college football.

My dad said that when he was a kid, and even in his early adult life, Notre Dame and MSU was not a rivalry game. He said that the 2 teams barely played each other until fairly recently. He seemed to think that the media has this hyped as a rivalry game, but in actuality, it is just another game.

We spoke more about what we each consider to be relevant rivalry games in college football. We are both big time Michigan fans, obviously. So, he asked me who I considered was Michigan's biggest rival. Without hesitation I said the University of Ohio State. They always have been and always will be Michigan's chief rival. He was happy with my answer, but asked me about teams like Notre Dame, Minnesota, MSU, and I kind of shrugged them off. Don't get me wrong, those are big games, but not as big as the University of Ohio State. They don't play Notre Dame or Minnesota every year anymore and, while the MSU game can be big, it doesn't hold the same magnitude for me as a Michigan fan. We started to look at other games that are considered "rivalry" games by some places. We both agreed that Auburn-Alabama and Army-Navy are legit, big time games. Those games are almost always as important as the University of Ohio State-Michigan game. I was even quick to say the Egg Cup, Washington and Washington State, is a big time rivalry game too.

Outside of some in state stuff, we couldn't come up with many other true rivalry games, what with all the realignment, and the state of some teams currently in college football. Take a game like Iowa-Iowa State for example. Who, outside of alumni and people that live in Iowa, really care about this "rivalry"? I know I wasn't watching, or paying that much attention to this game when it was played a few weeks ago. Sure, they have some trophy, but who really cares besides the players and coaches. My dad informed me that some people consider Minnesota-Wisconsin a rivalry game. I thought they just played each other to get some big ass axe. I didn't realize until today that this was a rivalry trophy. Some people still consider UCLA-USC a rivalry game. Not me. For my generation, Notre Dame is a much bigger rival to USC than UCLA is. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State fans might take me to task because I don't really think Bedlam is a legit rivalry game. It's a battle for Oklahoma, but it usually doesn't have the big time stakes of true rivalry games. I remember asking RD's wife, who went to Purdue, who their biggest rival was and she told me Indiana. I would not have known that in a million years. I guess it makes sense because they are both in Indiana, but a rivalry game, I don't think so.

Then I thought about some old time rivalry games that are now gone due to conference realignment. We don't get to see Texas-Texas A&M every year anymore. That's a drag. That was always a fun game to watch on Thanksgiving weekend, no matter how good or bad the teams were. Colorado-Colorado State has fallen into that Iowa-Iowa State role for me now that Colorado is in the Pac-12. Who cares about that game, including people that live in Colorado. Missouri and Kansas not only stopped playing football against each other, but they don't even play basketball against each other anymore. That is a damn shame as someone from Missouri that roots for Kansas. The used to have some great matchups back when the Big 12 had 12 teams. Penn State and Pitt only recently renewed their rivalry, but both those schools aren't what they used to be when that game would have truly mattered.

I guess when I look at the new landscape of college football, it is hard for me to see a true rivalry outside of some in state nonsense, or some made up stuff by people that just want others to pay attention to their schools. Outside of University of Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, Army-Navy and Notre Dame-USC, what are the big "rivalry" games? Who is Florida's rival? Is it Florida State or Miami? Same for Miami. Is it Florida State or Florida? Who is Georgia's rival? Is it Georgia Tech, or some random SEC school? Who's Texas main rival now? Oklahoma? Aren't they supposed to be Oklahoma State's biggest rival? What about KU or Missouri? Who are their chief rivals? How about Stanford? Do they consider Notre Dame or USC their biggest rival? Who is LSU's most hated team? Is it Alabama? Maybe Auburn? What about Clemson? Has Louisville jumped older teams, or is it still another team from the Carolina's? It is all very muddy now in college football.

I love to watch all these games, but I want people to temper what they consider a "rivalry game". I will still tune into Notre Dame-Michigan State, but only because Michigan's game should be over by then, and the only other intriguing night game matchup to me is TCU-Oklahoma State. No other reason. I don't know, I just feel like people are making up new rivalry games just to make them up. Tell me why I'm wrong. Let me know how much the Georgia-Georgia Tech game means, or why Miami is a bigger rival to Florida than Florida State. Because where I sit now, there are only 4 true rivalry games. All that other stuff is pure nonsense.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is on the wrong side of our world's greatest rivalry, yellow or red Gatorade. We all know the true answer.

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Ty Watches Week One of the 2017 College Football Season

With the Tennessee Volunteers coming up with a double overtime victory over Georgia Tech last night, the first official weekend of the 2017 NCAA football season is done, and I have some quick initial reactions.

First off, Tennessee got lucky. That play that the Yellow Jackets ran last night was not the best play, and it took away from what they had done all night that was successful. It was a great game that ended on a so so play call.

As far as other top 25 action, there is a decent amount to unpack. Texas is not there yet. I know a ton of people thought they were going to roll over Maryland, but Maryland had other plans. While they let the Longhorns back into the game, letting them get as close as 3 points, they scored 51 on them. Fourteen of those came from a backup true freshman QB too. Maryland had their way with a very bad Texas defense. Tom Hermann has quite a job ahead of him. The rest of the Big 12 did what everyone thought they would do, with one exception. Oklahoma, and more importantly, Baker Mayfield, looked dynamite, albeit it was against UTEP. Kansas State crushed their opponent. Oklahoma State did the same. Baylor was the lone exception. I was so very, very, very happy to see that Liberty beat them and hung 43 on them in the process. I wish nothing but bad things for the Baylor football program.

The Pac 12 was very blah this past weekend. USC struggled early, then ran away from Western Michigan. Stanford destroyed Rice the weekend before. Washington struggled at first with Rutgers, but they won. Their win, and play, was very uninspired though. Oregon cruised past their opponent in Willie Taggert's first game. And UCLA spotted Texas A&M a 34 point lead, but managed to come all the way back and win by a point. Other than that, no real big time Pac 12 matchups.

In the Big 10, The University of Ohio State looked sluggish in the first half against Indiana, but woke up and slaughtered them in the second half. That being said, I do not think JT Barrett is one of the front runners for the Heisman anymore though. He looked very average. Their defense and run game is what won that game for them. Wisconsin and Penn State opened up against 2 over matched schools and did exactly what you would expect them to. Both of them cruised, giving up a combined 10 points. Michigan State came out of the gates slow, but pulled away from an overmatched Bowling Green team. Northwestern struggled, but pulled away very late against Nevada. And my guys, Michigan, left me feeling the same as I did before the start of the season. Their defense looked very good, but Florida is atrocious on offense. They also had 10 guys suspended for the game. Michigan's defense was the fastest I have ever seen in my time watching them though. The offense, more importantly, the O-line and Wilton Speight, still frustrate me to no end. Speight was way too over hyped in the first half. That second straight pick 6 made me want to punch a hole in my wall. He rebounded in the second half, but the run game and the defense were the reasons why Michigan won so comfortably.

The SEC looked pretty good. LSU shut out a pretty decent BYU team. Derius Guice looks like the real deal too. If LSU can find a passing game, they could cause trouble at the top of the conference. Auburn cruised against a lesser opponent. Georgia won, but lost their starting QB for what looks like it could be awhile. They have a great run game though. Missouri scored 72 points, but they gave up 43 to Missouri State. A bunch of people are telling Michigan fans to calm down after they beat Florida, but I live in Saint Louis, and Missouri fans around here think they are going to play offense like that all year. Maybe they need to calm down a bit. Missouri State is not even up to Kentucky's level in football. I already mentioned Tennessee. Kentucky won, but barely over Southern Miss. For my thoughts on Florida, see above. Again though, their offense is horrid. The big win for the SEC was Alabama once again proving they are the most dominant team in college football. Sure their offense didn't look any better than last year, but that defense, my goodness are they great. Yeah they lost 2 linebackers, but I'm sure they have 2 more who are just as good as the other guys and they will step in and not miss a beat. Also, FSU has a very solid defense, but more on them later. Alabama is not only the cream of the crop in the SEC, but the best team in the nation, and it is not even close.

Then we have the ACC. Miami pulled away early in the second half. Clemson trounced their opponent. Georgia Tech should have won last night but blew it. Louisville got a great performance out of Lamar Jackson, but they struggled to pull away from Purdue, only winning the game by a single touchdown. The biggest mess though was FSU. As I said, their defense is great. Easily a top 10 defense in the country. But, they lost their starting QB, and my preseason Heisman winner, Deondre Francois. He tore his patellar tendon muscle and he is done for the year. That is a tremendous, possibly season altering injury. I'm sure they have a solid backup, but Francois was the heart and soul of that offense. The other players fed off of him, and now, he is gone. This is a kid who takes so many hits too, I expected him to bounce right back up. After he sat on the ground for awhile, I knew something was wrong. He was getting shellacked all night, and it finally caught up to him and FSU. Cam Akers will have to take on a much bigger role, and he looked pretty good at times against the best defense in college football, but he is 18 years old. He was playing high schoolers at this time last year. FSU can still win the ACC, and even make the playoff, but to lose Francois for the year in the first game is brutal. I'll have a new Heisman winner when I do my mid season checkup, but if I had to pick someone right now, after one full weekend of NCAA football, I'd have to choose between Baker Mayfield, RD's pick or Derius Guice. I'll go with Guice right now because he played a much better team than Mayfield played.

As far as none "power 5" teams, Notre Dame won pretty handily over Temple this weekend, and got back in the top 25. We will see how they do against Georgia this weekend, but they got a break with Eason going down. South Florida won, but it took them a very long time to pull away from a very inferior opponent. And I know I didn't even mention them in my preseason stuff, but good for Howard, a 45 point underdog, to come out to UNLV, get paid 500,000 dollars for going there, and, not only cover the spread, but win the game. According to point spread history, that was the biggest upset of all time.

Nothing else truly jumped out to me. I saw Iowa shut down Josh Allen, the presumed number one pick in the upcoming NFL draft, so good for them. Washington State scored a ton, as many predicted. But, for the most part, everything went according to plan this weekend, with Texas being the only outlier.

I am so stoked that college football is back, and I wanted to give some gut reactions to week one. Saturday's cannot come fast enough now. Football is back, and I am so thrilled.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His wall is doing ok since the Wolverines did not throw three pick sixes. If that happens, Ty may need a whole new home.

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The SeedSing 2017 College Football Preview

Before I get into my 2017 NCAA football preview, please try and do anything and everything you can to help out the people in Houston. What is going on there right now is horrifying and terrible and the people of that city need our help. You can donate at many websites, text 90999 and write HARVEY or, if you are in the area and safe, try and help others. I hope this all ends soon because this is catastrophic. No one deserves what is happening in Houston now. Go out and do whatever you can to help.

Okay, now lets get to my preview.

My 2017 NCAA football preview is going to be like my other ones. I will break down the "power 5" schools, mention some non "power 5" schools, pick the playoff, the championship and the Heisman winner. I'll pick the winner of each conference too. Okay, here goes.

I'm going to start with the Big 12. The Big 12 is about the 2 Oklahoma schools. Oklahoma is going to be good. They still have Baker Mayfield, and they recruit with the best schools in the country, and they get some of the best players. However, they lost Dede Westbrook and Semajie Perine. Those departures will be enormous. Baker Mayfield is a legit Heisman contender, but he has an entire new crew of skill players. They also lost Bob Stoops to retirement. That was bizarre. I wrote about how weird his retirement was about 2 months ago, and I am still confused as to why he walked away this year. But, Oklahoma doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will still be very good. Oklahoma State is going to be absolutely lethal on offense. Mason Rudolph is going to put up incredible numbers. This year will be Oklahoma State's best chance to knock off Oklahoma. They have a stacked offense. Their defense is kind of suspect, but in the Big 12, defense is sometimes optional. I have seen some websites and other publications say that maybe TCU can compete, but that all depends on Kenny Hill. If he looks good, they could be a 10 win team. If he falters, they will be lucky to be .500. They also have a very shoddy defense, which used to be their calling card. Texas is welcoming Tom Hermann as their new head coach, and I think some people have a bit too much optimism. I'm a little more pessimistic. They have a lot of newer starters that need to learn an entire new offense. I don't doubt that Hermann can turn it around, I just think it may take 2 or 3 years to get his type player. Their defense is atrocious too. Baylor is about to get hammered, as they should, with NCAA sanctions. That school's football program is filled with scumbags. They deserve all the bad things that are coming their way. Kansas may win 4 games this year, which would be a massive improvement, but they are a basketball school. That much is obvious. Iowa State is very mediocre. Texas Tech will score a lot of points, but they will give up more. I think that the honeymoon with Kliff Kingsbury is over. He is firmly on the hot seat. Kansas State will play hard, but they just don't have the talent to be hyper competitive. West Virginia may surprise some teams, but they are the epitome of a 7-5 team. They always start out hot too, but flame out. Expect that this year too. I'm going to go ahead and give Oklahoma State the nod in the Big 12 this year. Oklahoma has too much to replace, and they play a few good teams outside of their conference schedule. They also, inexplicably, lost their head coach. This is Oklahoma State's best shot to win the Big 12.

Lets now move to the very overrated SEC. As long as Alabama is in this conference, and they keep getting the best recruits, I'm going to go with them. They are the preseason number one. I know that they lost some guys on offense and defense, but they always do. They always have some blue chippers ready to take over for some first round draft pick. They lost that monster D-lineman to the draft, they have D'Shawn Hand to replace him. They lost OJ Howard, but they have Steven Ridley and some 5 stars ready to step in at tight end. They also get Jalen Hurts back. That kid was great last year as a true freshman. He looked so poised and composed. He is going to make a tremendous leap. Look, I hate Alabama, but I cannot deny their greatness. LSU should be good, but this is the first full year under Ed Orgeron. I now they looked different at the end of last year when he took over for Les Miles, but teams now have an entire offseason to prepare for him. They do have Derius Guice, and he looked awesome in his playing time behind Leonard Fournette last year. He filled in great for him when he got hurt. LSU also has a very stout defense, as always. The question marks for them are all the same. How will their QB play? Can they utilize their receivers properly? Will they choke in big games? Time will tell. I think they will be better than last year, but I still think Alabama is better. Auburn is back to being an 8 or 9 win team. They run the ball exceptionally, but they have no passing game whatsoever. Their defense is fine, but just fine. Gus Malzahn may not be the great head coach that they thought they got a few years back at Auburn. Georgia has some great running backs, mainly Nick Chubb, but their QB situation is not ideal. They had a 5 star kid start last year, and he looked like a freshman more than a star. They signed some other 5 star kid this offseason, and they are in a battle still to see who is going to be the starter. I'd stick with the kid from last year, but the fact that he is in a battle is a bad sign. They do have a decent defense, and Kirby Smart will turn them into a top 15 overall defense soon. Georgia may be looking at another 8 win year, but look out for them in a year or 2. Ole Miss is a mess due to their creep of a former head coach. They are going to get crushed by the NCAA. I'm sick of all the Tennessee hype every year. I do not believe one thing I hear from that team during the offseason anymore. Their coach should have been let go last year. Florida has a great defense, but that offense leaves a ton to be desired. They did get Malik Zaire to transfer there, and he could help them a lot, but he hasn't had a ton of time on campus. Their defense will keep them in every game, but they need that offense to get up to speed. Arkansas will be highly pumped up during the offseason, blow some games and finish 7-5 or 6-6 again. That is the Bret Biliema way. Texas A&M is wildly inconsistent, and they just lost Myles Garrett. They will most likely win 7 games again. Then there are the mid level to bottom feeders. The Missouri's, Vanderbilt's, Mississippi State's, South Carolina's and Kentucky's of the SEC. They may all be .500, but that is because they will schedule 3 cupcakes, and then beat up on each other. The upper tier SEC teams will hammer these teams. Obviously I have Alabama, no matter who they play in the SEC title game, to win the SEC.

The Pac 12 is down. The Pac 12 may be worse than the ACC now. Sure, Washington, USC and Stanford are highly rated. Hell, I have seen some people pick USC to win it all. But, I remember the last time USC had all this hype. They finished 7-6. This USC team will be better though. Sam Darnold is legit. He is very, very good. He is all around solid, even exceptional. They have some good skill guys too, and a pretty good defense. But, I'm always wary of a team that was going to fire their coach early during the last season, then playing really well down the stretch, then getting all the offseason accolades. Those teams never seem to live up to the hype. Washington was in the playoff, but we all saw what they looked liked against real competition. Alabama destroyed them. That game wasn't even close. They have an incredibly easy out of conference schedule, and they will win double digit wins, but when they have to face the big teams, they just can't match up. Their QB is back, and he will put numbers, but not against the top teams. I really like Stanford, and they completely dominated a much worse Rice team this past Saturday. They ran up and down the field on them and they stopped everything Rice tried to do. Stanford is going to be very good, but when will they have that one game when they blow it? It has happened for the past couple years. But, David Shaw might be one of the most underrated coaches in football. He is great. I do not know what happened to Oregon last year. They cleaned house, and I do like the hiring of Willie Taggert, but this team is playing a ton of new players. They might not be the hyper fast offense that we have all become accustomed to. And their defense might be worse than most of the defenses in the Big 12. Utah is solid, but they will only win 7 or 8 games. They have to replace a lot. They are kind of like the Kansas State of the Pac 12. They play hard, but they just aren't as talented as the upper echelon teams in their conference. UCLA is average. Josh Rosen is not the next great QB. They don't really have hyper athletic skilled players. Their defense is average. This is a 7 win team at best. Jim Mora Jr may be gone after this year. California is the Texas Tech of the Pac 12, but they give up more points. Arizona is learning that Rich Rod may not be the great coach he was when he was at West Virginia. This team has really faded in the last 2 years after climbing into the top 15 in Rich Rod's first year. Washington State might surprise some people. They have a tremendous offense, and their defense, if they need to, can make plays. Mike Leach is an odd dude, but he is an offensive mastermind. Washington State could win double digit game this year. And if they don't, they will be in every game. Colorado played very well last year, making it to the Pac 12 title game, and I expect them to continue being a competitive team in the Pac 12. They are on the up swing, but they need to break in a new QB and other new skill players. Arizona State's time as a "perennial top 25 team" never really came, and they are just a run of the mill team that has some wild uniforms. They will continue to be a 6 or 7 win team. I also despise their coach. Oregon State has gotten better the past 2 years, but they are still a ways away from being at the top of the conference. USC will get all the talk, but I like Stanford to win the Pac 12 this year. They need to replace a guy like McCaffery, but that should benefit them, as they won't be so reliant on one player. They will be a full team, as opposed to one guy being the focal point. I also really like David Shaw. He is, by far, the best coach in the conference.

The ACC is going to be much better than it has been in a long time. Clemson will take a step back, but they are the defending national champs. They have to replace a ton of production, but they have some good players ready to step in. They will not win the national title again, let alone the ACC. But, they will compete. Florida State looks like the team to beat. They have so much talent coming back. Sure, the lost Dalvin Cook, but they have Deondre Francois back, and that kid is amazing. They also have some pretty great skill guys. FSU is also stacked on defense. On paper, this team looks incredible. We will find out a lot about them this Saturday night when they open the season against Alabama. That is going to be an epic game. At least it should be. Miami is another team I like in the ACC. Mark Richt is a good head coach, and he is turning that program back to being relevant. They won't be the Miami from the early 2000's, but they are going to be very good this year. I could definitely see them win double digit games this year, and be a force in the ACC. Virginia Tech is another team on the up swing. They have a very good defense, and I know they lost their QB, but they will be able to plug and play some new kid, as long as he can manage a game. This team wins by stopping the other guys and ball control. And they have the talent to do that this year. Louisville returns Heisman winner Lamar Jackson, so you cannot count them out. Jackson kind of fell off at the end of last year, but he still won the Heisman as a 19 year old. He is a very good QB. They don't have a ton of talent on defense, but they can still manage to get stops. This team is all about Lamar Jackson, and in college football, that is just fine. Georgia Tech will be a headache, they run that triple option, and I could see them winning a few games they shouldn't. Pitt is atrocious on defense, and they lost their excellent running back, James Connor, to the NFL. They might take a step back this year. Duke is fun to watch at times, but they don't have the guys to make any real noise. Same thing with UNC. They play a fun style of offense, but they just can't matchup with the top 25 teams. NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College and Syracuse are also rans. NC State may win a game they shouldn't here and there, but they will not matter in the end. Boston College will have a very stout defense, but they will lose so many games with scores like 7-0, 10-7 or 6-3. They just can't score. FSU is the clear favorite to win the ACC, and I am not going against the pack on this one. FSU will win the ACC.

The last of the "power 5" conferences is the Big 10. I am a Michigan fan. Duh. I'm very curious/excited/nervous to see what this team will look like in 5 days. A BUNCH of people are expecting them to take a major step back. They have to replace 17 starters. That is a lot. But, all the kids there now are Harbaugh's recruits. These are the type of players he wants at Michigan. I want to see how they perform. I want to see if Harbaugh is the great coach that he has been ordained to be. Most publications pick them to finish fourth overall in the Big 10 and third in their division. I have seen their win totals range from 8-11. I would be very disappointed if they only won 8 games and finished third in their division. I think they will be better than most people are saying. I think they can win double digit games. I love that they open with Florida and that they have a tough conference schedule. But, they get Ohio State at home this year and Florida has suspended, the last I checked, 7 players for this opener. I think Michigan will be better than 8 wins. I think they should win at least 10 games. Most of the hype in the Big 10 is being placed on the University of Ohio State and Penn State, and rightfully so. Both these teams appear to be loaded. Both these teams ended the regular season strong. But, both lost their bowl games. I have much more faith in the University of Ohio State living up to the expectations than Penn State because they always have high expectations. The University of Ohio State will be fine, if they beat Oklahoma at the beginning of the year. Penn State hasn't been in the spotlight, at least not for something good, and neither has James Franklin, in a very long time. The way they ended last year seemed very, very fluky to me. Like I said, they have a very talented team, but this is a team that got scored on a ton against a very mediocre Pitt team last year. This is a team that was floating in obscurity until the University of Ohio State played their worst game all year. This was a team that got Wisconsin on their worst defensive performance of the year in the Big 10 title last year. They got a lot of breaks last year. Let's see how they do with the bulls eye on them now. Wisconsin will be very good once again. They will run the ball a ton, control the clock and let their stacked defense get stops for them when they need to. They will most definitely be a major factor in the Big 10 all year long. After those teams, it gets very murky. Who knows how good Minnesota will be with PJ Fleck as the head guy. They could be very good, they have a good run game, but how will their passing offense look and how will that defense play? Don't forget, they let Rutgers stay in, and almost win, the game they played last year. Northwestern is on a lot of "sleepers" lists, but aren't they every year? They have a good run game, but I do not buy Clayton Thorson as a legit QB threat. They also have a very mediocre defense. Pat Fitzgerald might be the most overrated coach in all of college sports. But, people seem to think this Northwestern team can make noise. I am not one of those people. Maryland has a good defense, but their offense is abysmal. They have zero play makers and they will struggle with the top teams in the Big 10. Indiana is going through a coaching change, and they need to break in a new QB. But, they always have a very good run game, and they need one because that defense cannot stop anyone ever. Nebraska is okay, but I cannot figure out what to make of this team and Mike Riley. Does he want to run the ball like he did at Oregon State, or is he going to use the spread game? Who is going to be his QB? Who is going to be their bell cow running back? How is their defense going to look? This team is a mystery. Iowa will always be one of the tougher teams to play at home. But, they have no real QB or receiver threat. They do have some good running backs, but with teams loading the box, that won't matter. Their defense will be good though because it always is. This team has 7 wins written all over them. Michigan State will not be as bad as they were last year, but they won't be much better. They do not have that crushing defense from a few years back and they have no real identity on offense. Mark Dantonio may be coaching for his job this year. If they get 7 wins, which I think they can, he should be fine, but if they slip to 5 or 4 wins, he may be looking elsewhere for work next season. Then we have Purdue, Illinois and Rutgers. This is the bottom of the barrel in the Big 10. Rutgers will be lucky to win 2 games. Purdue is going through yet another coaching change. And poor Lovie Smith, Illinois is bad. As much as I loathe and am disgusted by this team, god damn University of Ohio State will probably win the conference. JT Barrett is a really good college QB and their defense is stout. Penn State may make it tough on them, so will Wisconsin, and Michigan, while young, should be in the race all season long.

As far as non "power 5" teams, South Florida and Boise State are about the only ones worth talking about. Notre Dame also bears mentioning, but they need to fire Brian Kelly right away, especially if that team comes out the way they did last year. They only won 4 games last year. That is unacceptable. Boise State bears a mention because they have earned it. They are always playing tough teams, beating them sometimes, and then running away with their conference. And South Florida is the Western Michigan of this year. They may go undefeated, but playing in such a poor conference and playing a weak out of conference schedule will leave them outside the top 10 all year. They are a very, very good football team though. But, no one outside of the "power 5" will make the playoff.

Which leads me to the playoff. My four teams, in order are FSU, the University of Ohio State, Alabama and USC. I think FSU will beat Alabama this weekend, take over the one spot and never relinquish it. The University of Ohio State will get in by beating Oklahoma early in the season and winning every game from there on out. I already have 2 undefeated teams in my playoff. Alabama will lose to FSU then crush everyone else on their way to another SEC title on a revenge style run. And even though I'm pessimistic about teams getting major accolades after starting out a season very bad, then finishing hot, and even though I picked Stanford to win the Pac 12, I think USC will get the nod with only one loss, where I think Stanford could have 2 losses, but still be in, and win, the Pac 12 title game. That would match up FSU and USC and Alabama and the University of Ohio State. I have FSU in a walk over USC and I have Alabama going to their second straight title game in a very close game over the University of Ohio State. And in the rematch I have FSU coming out on top once again. FSU is so very, very talented, and I think they will be your 2017-18 NCAA football champs. As far as the Heisman goes, I have Deondre Francois winning it. He will have his signature game this Saturday, and he will continue to play better and better every week of the year and run away with the Heisman.

I'll do a mid season check up, but this is what I see heading into the real opening week of college football. I cannot wait.

Ty

Editor's Thoughts - I am no where near the college football expert that Ty is, but I am still going to give my thoughts. The SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12 are very bad conferences with one or two very good teams. That means Alabama, USC, and Oklahoma will easily get into the playoff because they will bowl through their conferences and have one loss each at the very most. The fourth team should come from the Big 10, the best conference in college football, but eventual champ Wisconsin will have two or more losses. Urban Meyer will "suffer" through a 10 win season, lose to Michigan, and then retire due to "health concerns". Urban wants to run far away from Michigan in 2018 when they become an Alabama type power. That leaves the fourth playoff spot to a two loss FSU team (Alabama and a random conference game will be losses). #4 FSU will play #1 Alabama in the first round, the real national championship game. FSU will get revenge, then they will crush USC in the National Championship.

Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma will win the Heisman. Great name, premier program, and he will put up sick numbers in a the defense desert of the Big 12.

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is a big man to not talk up his favorite team like he should. The Head Editor is not a big man, he will talk up the Wolverines for Ty.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Falcons Continue to Make Bad Decisions with the Steve Sarkisian Hire.

Steve Sarkisian was just named Kyle Shanahan's replacement as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. You read that right. The Falcons, who were just in the Super Bowl, replaced their offensive coordinator who left to be the head coach for the 49ers with Steve Sarkisian.

I think this is absolute waste of a hire. They could have went out and got somebody who is much, much more experienced and already a professional coach. Besides one year as the Raiders QB coach in 2004, everything Sarkisian has done has been at the college level, and he was not that great when coaching college players. Now, he is taking over a Falcons offense that has the MVP, Matt Ryan, 2 great, young running backs in Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman, and probably the best receiver in the NFL right now in Julio Jones.

I ask, what makes Sarkisian the better, and more qualified, person to take this job over some available coaches? Like I said, he had very minimal success at the college level. He was part of Pete Carroll's staff at USC, first as the QB coach in 2005-06, then as the assistant head coach/QB coach/offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2008. That was where he found his most success, but looking back, I think I could have coached those 5 star athletes just as well as he did. With talent like that, it is not that hard to tell them to go out and play hard.

Then, for some inexplicable reason, the University of Washington gave him the head coaching job after the 2008 season. Washington was supposed to be the up and coming program, and Sarkisian was going to be the guy to return them to their glory days of the early 90's. Well, that did not happen. Washington was very mediocre during his tenure. They were always just on the cusp, and people always said that, "this was going to be the year for the Huskies", but they never panned out. Sarkisian was the same guy that brought a live tiger, in a cage, to a practice to prepare for an early season game against LSU. I guess he thought it would fire up his guys, but they got absolutely destroyed by LSU on that particular Saturday. It was embarrassing. In fact, besides a couple of wins against top tier opponents in his first season, in which Washington finished 5-7, his best record in the four seasons he coached there was 7-6. Not that great.

But, in what was a great fail upwards, after the Lane Kiffin debacle at USC, the Trojans decided to hire Sarkisian away from Washington in 2013. I was puzzled by this hire at the time. I figured they were getting an almost identical coach, but they claimed they were trying to get away from Lane Kiffin. Kiffin and Sarkisian are 2 great examples of guys that continue to fail up somehow. But, Sakisian was retuning home, and he was going to make USC relevant again. USC was in a rut since Pete Carroll bolted for the NFL, and I guess the higher ups figured Sarkisian would return them to glory. Well, that did not happen. He was a total disaster while the head man at USC. His life fell apart coaching there. They had the whole Josh Shaw incident, look it up, and the whole Stanford game where officials may or mat not have been contacted prior to a game to make some calls that would give USC an advantage. Then, I was actually watching this game, he was accused of being intoxicated during a game against Arizona State. I remember vividly watching and thinking to myself, he does not seem right on the sideline. He looked like, at any moment, he was going to barf all over the field, then the next second, he looked to be slurring words when speaking to his players. It was a mess. It was revealed later that he was going to take a leave of absence right after the ASU game, and check himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. During this time, Clay Helton was named interim head coach. Sarkisian was quickly fired after players and assistant coaches said that they could smell alcohol on his breath during practices.

I thought this was going to be the nail in the coffin as far as Sarkisian being a coach for any big time school, but after only one year away, Alabama hired him as an analyst for their football team. Saban was stocking his coaching staff with big names basically. Recruits love this, and Saban is no dummy. Sarkisian was basically an assistant offensive coordinator for the majority of the 2016 season. Kiffin called the plays, yes he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama, and Sarkisian gave his input. Then, as only someone like Lane Kiffin could do, he got fired after already accepting a job at Florida Atlantic, and Sarkisian was called on to be the new offensive coordinator for the national title game. I wrote about that game and how stagnant Alabama seemed on offense, and Sarkisian was the play caller. It was assumed that he would slide into Kiffin's spot, but surprisingly to me, and I bet a lot of other people, when the Falcons offensive coordinator job opened, they wasted little time hiring Sarkisian to the same position.

I do not get this hire, as I have stated throughout. I do not know what they saw in him that made them think he could lead the number one offense in football. His play calling in the title game was predictable and dreadful. How will that translate to the NFL? Not well, in my opinion. I feel like the Falcons are going to waste at least one year of 4 great offensive players in their prime. The only "sense" I can make of them picking Sarkisian to be the new offensive coordinator is that the head coach, Dan Quinn, was also a Pete Carroll guy at Seattle, and maybe they have a relationship since they both worked for him. I personally think Sarkisian is going to be very, very bad as the head play caller for the Falcons. I already thought that the Falcons would take a tiny step back after blowing the Super Bowl, but now that they hired Sarkisian, I think they will be lucky to got 9-7 next year. I mean, Julio Jones is incredible, and I love the running backs, but I think Matt Ryan played the best he will ever play, and with Sarkisian calling the plays, I think his inevitable fall back to Earth will be a fiery crash back to Earth now. This puzzled me, and I think it will, in the long run, end up hurting the Falcons.

Steve Sarkisian is not the man for this job. He would not have even been in my top 25 of candidates, but I guess he was the Falcons first, and only, choice to take over for Shanahan. I think it is going to be a nightmare.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has a bad feeling that the ghost of Bobby Petrino will not be good for Steve Sarkisian in the ATL. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Clemson Comes out on Top in a Classic College Football Sequel

I was going to write about something different today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, because the College Football Playoff Championship last night was absolutely incredible. We got Alabama-Clemson part 2, and I think the sequel may have been better than the original. Don't get me wrong, last year's title game was great, but last night's title game was on a whole other level. For about 3 quarters, it was kind of boring, and was going as expected, but the fourth quarter made this game an instant classic.

In the first three quarters, Alabama dominated the pace and tempo of the game. They were able to run on Clemson, and when they gave them the ball, Alabama's defense was able to control, and even rattle Clemson and Deshaun Watson. At the end of the third, the score was 17-14, Alabama. When the fourth quarter started, Alabama had the ball, and Jalen Hurts, who had a horrific passing game, found OJ Howard wide open and he ran 68 yards for a score to put Alabama up 24-14. I figured that was the end for Clemson. I figured Alabama's defense would put the clamps on the Clemson offense, like they had almost all game, and the offense would be able to salt the game away by running the ball.

Deshaun Watson would not let that happen. Right after the Crimson Tide took that 10 point lead, Watson seemed to wake up, and he immediately drove his team down the field. Aided by a late hit call, Watson took off on a designed QB run, and had one of the best non TD runs that I have ever seen. He went to the corner of the field, looked like he was going to step out of bounds, but instead turned the ball up field and dove for the goal line. He was definitely pushed out of bounds before he got in, but on the very next play, Wayne Gallman ran the ball in easily. Clemson was now within 3 points, and it seemed like they grabbed all the momentum. Alabama then got the ball back, did nothing with it and punted. Clemson got it back, did nothing with it as well, and punted. Then, same thing for a third time with Alabama.

After all the punting back, Clemson and Deshaun Watson took over the game. He drove that team down the field, making precise throws, and picking the perfect spots to run, when it was needed. On the eighth play of the drive, Watson found Williams for a 4 yard strike, and for the first time all year, Alabama was on the ropes. Clemson took the lead in the title game, scoring 14 unanswered points against the vaunted Alabama defense. Some have said, I'm sure I was one of those people at times this year as well, that this Alabama defense was one of the best of all time, but Clemson ran roughshot over them halfway through the fourth quarter.

Alabama would not be silenced so easily. After Clemson took the lead with just over 4 minutes left, Alabama got the ball back, and Steve Sarkisian finally opened up the playbook. They ran one of the better wide receiver pass plays that I have seen. It was perfectly executed. Earlier in the drive, Alabama also converted a crucial fourth and one with a bruising run from Damien Harris. Then, facing a second and medium, in the face of the blitz, Jalen Hurts did what he does best. He saw that Clemson had brought all their linebackers, and he took off. He proceeded to go 30 yards untouched on his way to the end zone, giving Alabama the lead with just under 2 minutes left. All the joy that the Clemson fans had was gone.

With Alabama in the lead late in the fourth, the cameras panned to Watson. He had a look of "I'm not going out like this". He looked confident. The fear from early in the game was gone. He was in the "zone", as it were. On the kickoff, Clemson's returner almost looked like he was going to go the distance, but he got tripped up at about the 35. This was when Watson took over. He was zipping the ball into very small windows to receivers that were covered very well. On one play, his tight end stretched as far as his body would let him, and he pulled the ball in. Mike Williams, who is awesome, was beating the Alabama secondary with relative ease, and Watson was finding him on this last drive.

Clemson drove it all the way down to the 6 yard line, and with 6 seconds left, they went for the win. The announcers were saying that they thought that they should kick the field goal and play for overtime, but I loved the call to go for the win. The ball was snapped and Watson rolled to his right. Clemson ran a "rub" play, Alabama fans I'm sure thought it was a pick play(it actually looked like it may have been a pick play, but this is one opinion from a guy that had no skin in the game), and his small slot receiver, Hunter Renfrow, was WIDE OPEN. Watson hit him in the chest and Renfrow crossed the goal line with one second left on the clock. The extra point was good and Clemson had a 35-31 lead. The Tigers then proceeded to do an "onside" kick, and they recovered and Watson came out and kneeled on the ball, and the game was over.

My heart was racing, and I DIDN'T EVEN CARE WHO WON! This was an incredible title game. I think Deshaun Watson proved all his doubters wrong. People said he was overrated and inconsistent all year, but when it was a big game, Watson played his best. I am still flabbergasted that he did not win the Heisman. I also do not understand how he is not the best available QB in the upcoming draft. He is so much better than Deshon Kizer, Mitch Trubisky or any other QB that is going to be draft eligible. I'd take Watson if I needed a QB without any hesitation. Watson proved last night that he was the best player in college football. He looked phenomenal last night, when he needed to be phenomenal. Alabama's vaunted defense looked tired and shocked. They could not stop Watson last night, and he played even better last night than he did last year. They just flat out could not do anything to slow him down. They looked awesome for 3 quarters, Alabama's defense that is, but when it mattered most, they got exposed.

Games like these are why I love college football so much. It was kind of boring for a bit, but when it came down to crunch time, this game more than lived up to the hype. Also, quick shout out to Dabo Swinney for giving Colin Cowherd the business in his post game press conference. I loved it, and I'm so glad whenever anyone can point out how stupid Colin Cowherd truly is. Anyway, congrats Clemson. you were the better team last night and you had the best player on the field. Deshaun Watson will rightfully go down as one of the better college QB's of all time. He played so great last night, and for his entire career. He seems a bit underrated to me, but I think he will finally gets the credit he deserves. What a game and what an ending to the college football season. Just incredible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He never thought Clemson was a fraud, he picked them to win at the beginning of the season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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All Hail the ACC, Kings of the College Football Bowl Season

The crown is not that heavy

After yesterday's 2 bowl games, I am quite disgusted in how my conference, the Big Ten, has performed, but it is not just the Big Ten, most other power 5 conferences, except for the ACC, have been pretty mediocre.

Let's get the Big Ten out of the way.

First off, the top three teams in the conference all lost their bowl games. Michigan, my team, played piss poor defense all game, didn't wake up until the fourth quarter, and they lost the lead as quickly as they took it from Florida State. Michigan was clearly the better team, but 4 or 5 plays were the difference in that game. I'm still so angry at how they performed and how unprepared the coaching staff had them at the start of that game. It was brutal.

But, not as brutal as Penn State blowing the Rose Bowl yesterday. They blew 14 point leads twice in the second half. In fact, they had those leads in the fourth quarter, and still found some way to lose the game. They looked overmatched in the first half, but came out guns blazing in the third quarter. But, none of that mattered because of poor play calling and terrible defense, by both teams, for them to blow it. Also, Penn State should not even have a program after what happened there, but I have talked and talked about that whole situation enough. But, with a 7 point lead late in the fourth, they could not get a first down after running all over USC all game and gave them the ball back with 2 plus minutes. They then proceeded to get 2 pass interference calls against them, and then give up a 27 yard TD pass. So, I figured overtime, but Trace McSorley, who is not nearly as good as he thinks, chucks the ball in the air with 40 seconds left, and naturally, the ball was picked and returned to put USC in field goal range. Of course USC made the kick, and of course people said it was a "moral" victory for Penn State, but all in all, it was a terrible game, with no defense played and piss poor play calling, but hey, it was a "moral" victory. What a crock.

Then, there was the abomination that was the University of Ohio State(you all know what I'm doing by now). They had no business in the playoff, and I'm more than thrilled that Clemson absolutely crushed this team. They looked over-matched in every area of the game. Clemson is ten thousand times better, and they proved that tenfold.

In fact, the only Big Ten teams to win their bowl games were 6-6 Northwestern, 8-4 Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin's win was forgettable, but they won. That almost hurts more than anything else. The Big Ten laid a big, big egg this bowl season, going 3-7.

But, the Pac 12, SEC and the Big 12 have not fared much better. The SEC does have Alabama, and Florida and Tennessee and LSU had good wins, especially LSU, but other than that, they have been ho hum. Alabama will probably win it all, but other "blue bloods", like Auburn, Arkansas and Texas A&M looked rough. Auburn played good for one half last night, then proceeded to get crushed by Oklahoma(more on Brent Musberger's ridiculous Joe Mixon stuff tomorrow). Arkansas looked great in the first half, racing out to a 24-0 lead, but then got outscored 35-0 in the second half to Virginia Tech. I do love watching Brett Bielema lose though. And A&M got housed by a not so good Kansas State team. A&M was in the top 10 at various points this year, climbing all the way up to 4 in the initial playoff poll, but they looked awful against Kansas State. Overall, the SEC is 6-6 in bowl games.

The Big 12 was a bit better, at 4-2, but they only sent 6 teams to bowl games. Oklahoma roughed up an outmatched and very injured plagued Auburn team last night. K State crushed A&M like I said, and Oklahoma State cruised over Colorado. Baylor somehow won, but screw that team and everything that team should get punished for, Baylor is a bunch of slime bags and they do not deserve to have an athletic program, much like Penn State. But TCU got out played by Georgia. They made it close, but in the end, they did what they have done all year, and could not close it out. And West Virginia looked terrible. People thought this was when WVU would announced that they'd be a force next year, but instead, they got crushed. Sure, the Big 12 has a winning bowl record, but Baylor should not be playing, Oklahoma's star last night, I will write all about this tomorrow, should not be playing and Oklahoma State played an overrated Colorado team. Kansas State's victory is the only decent thing from the Big 12.

The Pac 12 has been up and down. USC won, but they gave up 49 points and needed a miracle last night, and they gave up a million rush yards. Utah barely beat a very mediocre Indiana team that fired its head coach before the bowl game and Stanford let UNC back into the game and needed a big stop on a 2 point conversion to win. Colorado, as I have mentioned, got hammered by Oklahoma State. That wasn't even a game. Washington State inexcusably lost to Minnesota, only scoring 12 points. This was the same Minnesota team that needed a late TD to beat Rutgers, Rutgers people. And then there was the unfortunate "playoff team", Washington. They do not belong on the same field, or even a field within 50 miles, of Alabama. That game was atrocious and boring. Terrible performance by them, but every team lays an egg when they play Alabama, especially when they have over a month to prepare for you. Washington was a paper tiger.

The ACC, the conference I am usually hardest on, has had a wonderful bowl season. I need to say, I picked an ACC team to win the title this year, Clemson, and that is still in the air, but the rest of the conference has had the best bowl season, by far, of the power 5 conferences. Where we sit now, they are 8-3 during bowl season. Clemson crushed the University of Ohio State, as I have mentioned, and they had a legit shot at Alabama next Monday. Florida State made the necessary plays and beat Michigan, who was much better than them. FSU just made the plays at the right time. Miami hammered what was supposed to be the coming out party for West Virginia. Virginia Tech dominated the second half and pulled away from Arkansas. Georgia Tech won their game fairly convincingly. Wake Forest, now that teams did not know what was coming, beat a much better Temple team. I mean, even the teams that lost played well. UNC fought all the way to the end with Stanford and Pittsburgh blew it against Northwestern, but they had just lost their offensive coordinator, and they still kept it close. Louisville was the only ACC to look really bad, but they had to play a swarming LSU defense and that defense absolutely shut down Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. Look, Clemson still has a shot to win it all, and that would be really, really big for the conference that everyone, including me, craps all over all the time. The ACC has been far and away the best conference during bowl season, and I can't believe it.

Good for you ACC, and I will be rooting for Clemson on Monday night to knock off the juggernaut that is Alabama football. Go Tigers.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Michigan losing by one was tough, Ohio State getting destroyed and embarrassed was glorious. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The SeedSing 2016 College Football Playoffs, Important Bowls, and Heisman Predictions

The College Football Playoff is set, for better or worse. We have the four teams, counting down from 4 to 1, Washington, The University of Ohio State(I know what I wrote), Clemson and Alabama.

First off, the University of Ohio State does not belong in this field. They got beat by Penn State, who I will talk about later, needed overtime to beat Wisconsin and got a tremendous amount of help from the refs against Michigan, who I will also touch on later. They are strictly there because the playoff committee and the TV stations have a disturbing love affair with Urban Meyer. This University of Ohio State team is not as good as they have been in the past. They are still decent, but not the third best team in the country.

With all that being said, they have a shot to beat Clemson. Clemson does belong in this field. They did everything they needed to do to get in the playoff. They have been incredibly inconsistent all year long, but when they show up, they are very, very hard to beat. They have a great D line, a great defensive coordinator, Brent Venables, they have great skill guys like Wyatt Gallman and Mike Williams, and they have Deshaun Watson. This team is loaded, it is just a matter of them showing up, which they have for important games this year. If the team that showed up against Louisville and FSU shows up, they will blow the doors off the University of Ohio State. But, if the Clemson team that showed up against NC State or Pittsburgh shows up, they will be in trouble. I assume the team that played Louisville and FSU shows up, and Clemson beats the University of Ohio State in a decent game. If I had to pick a score, I'd say Clemson 38, the University of Ohio State 24.

The other matchup is going to look a lot like last year's Alabama-Michigan State game. Good for you Washington. You won the Pac 12 title game convincingly, but your butter soft out of conference schedule is going to rear its ugly head. The only time Washington faced a legit defense all year, USC, they got completely smothered. Alabama is better than USC. Hell, Alabama beat USC by 44 points in the first game of the season. If Washington had a hard time moving the ball on USC, they will not be able to move the ball at all against Alabama. Even their coach seems nervous about this matchup. There was an interview yesterday, and Petersen sounded like he was already preparing for next year. Jake Browning is good, and Washington has good skill players, but they have not faced a team nearly as good as Alabama. Alabama's defense is historically good. They are suffocating. They have stopped everyone that has come their way. Their defense and special teams are so good, they had -7 total offensive yards in the SEC title game after the first quarter, and they were still winning 16-9. Alabama is incredible, even if their offense is not great. Alabama is going to cruise over Washington to the tune of something like 35-7.

That would leave us with a rematch of last year's title game, but this time, it will not be a shootout. Alabama, and their defense, will shut Clemson down. Watson is great, but Alabama's defense is so much better. This is one of the most dominant and clinical teams that I have ever seen on a college football field. They are like a machine. If Alabama does not win the title this year, it will be a bigger upset than Cleveland beating Golden State in the NBA Finals last year. Alabama is clearly the best team in college football, and it is by a wide margin. Those are my predictions for the playoff.

As far as some other bowls go, I do not really care for anything else outside of the playoff and the New Year's 6 Bowl games. I could care less about a Nebraska-Tennessee matchup or a Navy-Louisiana Tech matchup or a Iowa-Florida matchup. None of those sound appealing to me. But, when it comes to the New Year's 6, obviously I have a huge interest in the Orange Bowl. Michigan is playing FSU. If Michigan shows up, and is not deflated by not making the playoff, they should roll. They have a great run defense, and all FSU can do is run. Dalvin Cook is incredible, but if Michigan can slow him down and hold him to below 100 yards, there is not much else FSU can do on offense. Michigan's offense should be able to control the ball as well. Michigan is a better team than FSU, and they should win the Orange Bowl.

The Rose Bowl is going to be a blood bath. Penn State is not the fifth best team in the country. But, before I go on about this game, I need to address what Gus Johnson said about Penn State winning the Big Ten title being a "milestone" in the "healing process" for what happened under Joe Paterno. This was a terrible oversight. What happened for 2 plus decades under Paterno's watch is despicable, disgusting, disturbing and Penn State's football program should have been shut down. The vile and heinous acts committed by the old staff were horrific and upsetting. The fact that the main media wants to gloss over this is troubling. No football win is any kind of "milestone", nor does it help anyone heal from what happened. Those people that were abused have to live with that everyday. Football games do not change what happened to them. Shame on Gus Johnson, Mark May, Kirk Herbstreit and any other media person that tries to shove the terrible tragedy at Penn State aside and only focus on football. Penn State should not have a football team.

With that being said, they will be exposed by a USC team that has only gotten better and better every week. They will shut down anything that Penn State will try and do, and they will move the ball on Penn State with ease. This is a very low level game for the Rose Bowl. We have a 2 and 3 loss teams playing for the Rose Bowl. That is not great. Anyway, USC will win by 10 plus.

The Cotton Bowl is going to expose Western Michigan. Good for them and PJ Fleck. You guys finished the regular season undefeated. Only you and Alabama can say that. But, when your 2 best wins are against a 6-6 Northwestern team and a 3-9 Illinois team, that speaks volumes to the level of competition they faced all year. Wisconsin is going to dismantle Western Michigan. I'd love to be proven wrong, both for my dislike to the Badgers and the fact that I would love to see Western Michigan finish the year undefeated, but it will not happen. WMU is playing a big time team now, and it will show. I would not be surprised if Wisconsin wins by 3 touchdowns or more.

The Sugar Bowl features Oklahoma and Auburn. Oklahoma should win this going away. They play super up-tempo offense and Auburn is decimated by injury. Auburn has a good defense, but Oklahoma's offense is fantastic. Oklahoma does not play defense, but they won't have to play too much defense in this game because Auburn is not nearly as lethal running the ball, due to all the injuries. I say Oklahoma by 2 touchdowns.

I have Alabama winning the title, Michigan winning the Orange Bowl, USC winning the Rose Bowl, Wisconsin winning the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma winning the Sugar Bowl.

As far as the Heisman goes, first off, the list of players they are sending to New York is a real head scratcher. Obviously Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson belong, but Jabrill Peppers, Baker Mayfield and Dede Westbrook? What the hell? I love Jabrill Peppers. He was so much fun to watch this year. I literally thought he could score anytime he had his hands on the ball, but he wasn't even the best defender on his team. That goes to Jourdan Lewis, Taco Charlton and Chris Wormley. Peppers is great, just not Heisman great. Then 2 guys from Oklahoma, give me a break. If you want someone from the Big 12, send D'Onta Foreman. He rushed for over 2,000 yards this year, and that is with every team gearing up to stop him. And if you wanted another QB, send Jake Browning from Washington. He had an incredible year, and it would be a nice consolation for him since his team, and himself, are going to get hammered by Alabama. This is a very odd group of players selected to go to New York. Since it is only a 2 man race, they should have only sent Jackson and Watson.

I'm going to stick with my preseason pick, and say Deshaun Watson wins the Heisman. His last 5 games have been very impressive, and even though his numbers aren't like Jackson's numbers, the lasting impressions should count. Jackson had big time stumbles against Houston and Kentucky, where Watson showed up for the ACC title, and has been unstoppable the last 5 games.

So there you have it, my final predictions for the college football season. I will recap everything after the year is over, but this is what I see happening over the next month or so. Enjoy bowl season everyone. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial man Podcast. He aspires to go to the Rose Bowl one day. Maybe he will be the Grand Marshall. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Let Me Respectfully Explain Why Your Team Stinks: Big Ten Football is better than SEC Football

The best button to hit on the remote when ESPN talks college football

Today I'm going to piss off ESPN, Paul Finebaum, David Pollack, the SEC on ESPN Network, basically all of ESPN, and all the commentators on CBS because, frankly, the SEC, besides Alabama, is very mediocre.

The SEC is the only conference that seems to have 24 hour news coverage from these people, and these networks. They seem to be the only game in town. When I turn on "College Football Live" on ESPN, I see David Pollack and Finebaum each yelling about how great "their" conference is. They always talk about how it is the only conference in major division 1 football that has any say in the final rankings. They talk about how it is a superior level of football compared to all the other power conferences.

Well, and I know that I am not the only one that has done this research, but besides Alabama, no other SEC team has 9 wins. In fact, the only team with a chance to get a ninth win this year is Florida, and that chance is against Alabama in the SEC title game. I do not see them winning that game.

Tell me why these commentators and ESPN and CBS never give any love to any other conference. Colorado is in the midst of a huge resurgence in the Pac 12, so is Washington, but we only hear about how bad Oregon is on these channels. And not only are Colorado and Washington very good, so is Washington State, Utah and Stanford. Each of these teams has as many, or more wins, than all the other teams not named Alabama in the SEC. The Big 12 is very top heavy, but Oklahoma and Oklahoma State is a much more intriguing matchup to me this weekend, as opposed to Alabama-Florida. The ACC is Clemson, then everyone else, but UNC has put together a very solid year, Pittsburgh is feisty, FSU will get a good bowl game and Louisville has the Heisman front runner.

That leads me to the Big Ten, the conference I think is the best, by a wide margin.

Side rant, Michigan got absolutely screwed this past Saturday. They stopped Barrett, I will go to my grave believing this, and the disparity in penalties was atrocious. That was one of the worst officiated games I have ever watched, and I have heard people that don't like either team tell me the same. Okay, got that off my chest.

But, look at the top part of the Big Ten. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan all have either 10 or 11 wins. Ohio State doesn't get a chance for a 12th win since they blew the Penn State game, but with only one loss, and getting a cheap win this past weekend, they are all but assured a playoff spot. They also play a style of offense that the playoff committee loves, so they will find any way possible to put them in the playoff. Wisconsin and Michigan are very similar, in that both teams rely on their defense. Wisconsin's defense is very good, and I expect that to be on full display this weekend when they face Penn State in the Big Ten title game. Those kids fly all over the place and make play after play. They have no studs on offense, but they can run the ball, as they have always been able to in my lifetime. Michigan's defense is better than Wisconsin's. They have pressured every QB and running back they have played this year. Their secondary is lock down. They blitz all the time, and they shut most teams down. They are, statically, the best defense in college football. Their offense is not flashy either, but they have way more play makers than Wisconsin, and whenever Jabrill Peppers comes in, everyone holds their breath. Then there is Penn State. I really do not know what to make of this team, but they have won 8 straight games, including one against Ohio State. I fully expect them to get crushed by Wisconsin, but they have a hell of a turnaround. I think they are paper tigers, but good for them.

I'd take all four of these teams against any team not named Alabama in the SEC. Give me Michigan-LSU, I'd pick Michigan to win by 2 touchdowns. Give me Penn State-Tennessee, PSU would win by 10 points. In a game between Wisconsin-Florida, I fully believe Wisconsin would shut them out in dominant fashion. So, why do the commentators and specific networks I mentioned only talk about the SEC? I get that Alabama is the best team, and it is not even close, but other than them, they have no real threat. Florida has faltered as of late, and it was on full display against Florida State this past weekend. Tennessee just got beat by Vanderbilt, needed multiple miracle comebacks early in the year, got crushed by Florida, and now their coach is talking about "being champions of life". What a joke. Ole Miss, who was a preseason top 15 team, is below .500. Texas A&M has not been that good since Trevor Knight went down, and were they that good to begin with anyway? I do not think so. Auburn has stumbled as of late, due to injury and playing great competition. LSU fired a coach, lost to Alabama, Wisconsin and Florida already this year, and they just settled for Ed Oregeron as their full time head coach. That does not put any fear in anyone at all. Arkansas just blew a 3 touchdown lead to Missouri and finished below .500 in the conference. Kentucky beat Louisville, but they are just 7-5, and they do not look good, at least not to me. The rest of the conference is just bad. Missouri, Mississippi State and the previously mentioned Ole Miss, they are all below .500. Vanderbilt and South Carolina are right at .500, and the rest has 8 wins or less.

I am sick of the biased view that the people and networks I have mentioned show this conference that has been well below mediocre this year. There is no one, and I mean no one, that should be covered on national media from the SEC except Alabama. Every other team in the SEC is irrelevant. No one other than Alabama is going to be in the playoff, or a New Year's Six bowl.

The SEC is wildly overrated, and I just needed to get this off my chest. It was a frustrating weekend, and the fact that ESPN and Paul Finebaum wanted to act like the Iron Bowl was anywhere near as important as The Game was utterly absurd. Screw Paul Finebaum, David Pollack, ESPN and CBS. You guys all stink and are so in the bag for the SEC, it is disgusting. Why don't you cover some real college football and get off the bandwagon you bunch of hacks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has a few more opinions on teams that stink, check them out. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's Midseason College Football Redo

As I did yesterday with the NFL, today I'm going to look at college football at the mid way point. Also, much like the NFL, I got some things right, but more things wrong. That's how it goes when you are in the business of making predictions. No one is perfect, and I'm far from it myself. Anyway, let's get into what I got right and wrong, update my predictions and make some more changes.

First, let's look at the SEC, my least favorite conference. Alabama is the clear cut favorite. I think that everyone expected this. Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC, and the nation. They have a historically great defense. They have scored 12 non offensive touchdowns, and they have only given up 12 touchdowns all year. They are elite. Their offense is just fine as well. They have a read option style QB, who is not a great passer, but an exceptional runner. He runs the read option to perfection, and, when he has an open man, he usually hits them in stride. Their offense, while not great, is just fine. Alabama is a cut above the rest in the SEC. As far as some teams that may present a "challenge", you have Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M. Some may say, you left out Tennessee, but Alabama recently beat them by 39 points. They also, just last week, beat A&M by 19 points, so they may not be much of a threat. Florida has a very good defense, but they were exposed against Tennessee in the second half of that game. Alabama is much, much better than Tennessee. Auburn may be the only team that can truly threaten Alabama, but their strength is running the ball, and Alabama's strength is stopping the run. Auburn has looked very good since Rhett Lashley took over the offense, but they will run into a buzz saw when they face Alabama's front seven. LSU could possibly pose a threat, the game is at night and in Baton Rouge, but they, much like Auburn, love to run the ball and Alabama is nearly impossible to run against. I will say, I was right about Tennessee. They are paper tigers. They should have been beaten a few times already, pulled some games out of nowhere, but have been brought back down to Earth the last two weeks. Anyway, at the midway point, Alabama is still the team to beat in the SEC.

Let's move to the Pac 12, which has been an absolute disaster thus far, minus one team. I was way, way off about Stanford. I thought that Christian McCaffrey would be dominant and lead this team to the playoff. I thought their defense would be great. I thought the lack of a decent QB would not matter. I was wrong on all three aspects. McCaffrey, while still putting up decent numbers, is literally the only threat they have, and he has missed parts of, or full games. He will not be making a return trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony. Their defense has been fine, but they have been on the field way, way too much. The lack of a good QB has crushed this team. Their passing game is no threat, so teams just load the box to stop the run, and it has worked thus far. UCLA has been incredibly underwhelming and Josh Rosen isn't even playing right now. USC, after getting crushed in their first 2 games, has looked better, but they are still 4-3. Utah is good, they have a great running game and an okay defense. They have a huge matchup this weekend, but I'll get to their opponent in a few. Oregon is atrocious, especially on defense. They cannot stop anyone and they can't settle on a QB. Oregon State is no good, Washington State is fine, but terrible at defense, Arizona State is average, Arizona is mediocre, which leaves us with one good team. That team is Washington. I was wrong about this team. I thought it was all talk, but they have lived up to the hype and then some. They are clearly the best team in the Pac 12. They have an elite offense and a very good defense. Jake Browning is putting up monster numbers, and if they get past Utah this weekend, they should have a clear path to the playoff. They are the Pac 12's only hope.

The Big 12, on the other hand, may not send a single team to the playoff. I was convinced that Oklahoma was going to have a breakthrough this year, but Bob Stoops reared his ugly head during week one. Houston trounced them, then 2 weeks later, in Norman, Ohio State throttled them. They have rebounded a bit, but they are no threat to be in the playoff. Texas started strong, but are limping to the finish line. Charlie Strong is all but done with his tenure there. TCU has been very up and down. Kansas State is in rebuild mode. Baylor is undefeated, but it is all for naught because none of this will matter because of the atrocities that they did off the field. They are going to get the death knell from the NCAA, hopefully. West Virginia, very surprisingly, has been the class of the Big 12. They have a very good offense, and in a league that thinks defense is optional, WVU actually plays really good defense. They have shut down both Texas Tech and TCU in consecutive weeks, and both those teams have great offenses. WVU is the team to beat in the Big 12, at this moment.

The ACC is still Clemson's to lose. Louisville has come out of nowhere, at least to me, but Clemson did beat them already. But, Louisville has been impressive thus far. Lamar Jackson is the front runner for the Heisman. He is putting up video game numbers, and no one, not even Clemson, truly stopped him. Florida State is average, Their QB is too young and inconsistent. Their defense is very mediocre. Dalvin Cook is very good, but he is their only threat. They have a big game against Clemson this weekend, and that game should show their true colors. Miami started out great, but they have fallen back to Earth the last three weeks. As far as some other challengers, there isn't any. NC State is average, and should have beaten Clemson, UNC has a great offense, but a terrible defense, Virginia Tech is fine, but not world beaters. This conference is Clemson's to lose. They are still undefeated, they play excellent defense and they still have Deshaun Watson, who is incredible. Until this team gets beat, I will stick with them. This weekend poses their last real threat, and if they get past FSU, they should roll to the playoff.

Now, for my conference, the Big 10. This is still a 2 team race. Ohio State, coming off their inexplicable loss to Penn State, is still a real playoff possibility. They have looked vulnerable the last 2 weeks, especially on offense, but they can go off at any time. JT Barrett is a very good QB, but he has gotten very little help from the rest of his teammates. The O line is shaky, the running game, outside of him, has been up and down, and they have no go to receiver. Their defense is awesome though. They can shut teams down. Ohio State has no room for error after last week, but if things break their way, they could sneak into the playoff. Michigan is playing incredible defense right now. They have shut down everyone that they have faced. It's hard to run on this team, and even harder to pass on them. Jim Harbaugh, Don Brown and Greg Mattison have a very, very good defense. The offense has been serviceable, but they are going to need to get better when they play better teams. Wilton Speight is still inconsistent with the long ball. Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh have not had their breakout games yet. Jake Butt has been fine, but not All American level yet. The running game has feasted on lesser opponents, but not so much on the better teams they've faced. I love their defense, but their offense needs to step it up. And, I do not care what their record is, they better be prepared for a very, very tough test this weekend at Michigan State. That team will bring their A game this weekend. As far as the rest of the Big 10, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and more recently, Penn State have looked good. Wisconsin has an incredible defense, but, much like Michigan, their offense leaves a lot to be desired. They also faced Michigan and Ohio State already, and both teams beat them. Nebraska may be the shakiest team in all of the top 10 rankings. They should have lost to Indiana and Oregon, but escaped with wins. They will probably get beat this weekend, when they face Wisconsin, but who knows, they could pull out another amazing win. Penn State has looked a lot better, but their offense is still a work in progress, and I do not trust them to be a real threat. Iowa has been underwhelming. Northwestern has looked good at times, but bad at times. Michigan State cannot seem to put it together. They can't pick a QB, and their defense is not as great as it usually is. Minnesota has 5 wins, but they have not looked impressive, and they tried everything to lose to Rutgers last week. The rest of the conference is below average. This conference is Michigan's to lose now. They have very high expectations for the first time in 10 years, so lets see how they react. This team has not been in this position for a long time, so let's see how these kids respond.

As far as other teams like Notre Dame, Houston, Western Michigan and Navy, only 2 of them have a say in being in a New Years 6 bowl. Notre Dame has been abysmal, and it all starts with their head coach. He has blamed everyone but himself, but he is the reason this team could miss out on a bowl game. They are 2-5 at the moment, so that means they need to finish the year 4-1, just to be considered for a bowl game. That will tough for this team. Houston was riding high with their opening season win at Oklahoma, but they have lost 2 of their last 3, and are out of the rankings. Western Michigan has looked great, owns 2 wins over Big 10 teams, and should rip through the MAC. They could find their way into an important bowl game by seasons end. And then there is Navy. They have played hard and played well pretty much all season long. They run that option to perfection, and they have looked really good all season. They were the first team to beat Houston I might add. I'm a Michigan fan through and through, but I have always liked Navy for some unexplained reason. It's good to see them play well.

As far as playoff teams go, right now for me, I have, from 4-1, Washington, Clemson, Michigan and Alabama. That is the exact order of the AP poll right now. I do not see that changing, unless one of these teams get upset, which could happen as soon as this weekend. So, that would pit Alabama-Washington and Michigan-Clemson in the semifinal games. Alabama will steam roll Washington and, as much as I would love to pick Michigan, Clemson has been there before and Michigan's offense is not nearly as good as Clemson's offense, so I'm going with the rematch. And, just like last season, I think Alabama will repeat. Clemson couldn't beat them last year, and Alabama's defense is way better than last year. I do not want Alabama to win, but they are leaps and bounds above everyone in college football. They are the Patriots of college football. I'm going to stick with Deshaun Watson has my Heisman winner though. He has already beaten Lamar Jackson head to head, and I think he will explode this weekend against FSU, which will solidify his place in New York.

There you have it, my mid season college football redux, redo, whatever you want to call it. College football has been so much better than the pros, so this piece was much easier and more fun to write than yesterday. Go watch some college games, they are way more fun, and quite frankly, better than the NFL, by a wide margin.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Test Ty's predictions by listening to the Mini X Millennial Man all about the upcoming NBA season. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.