Ty Watches the 2021 Men's Final Four

Saturday night I watched the Final Four like I assume most sports fans did. I missed it last year, and this year I think we had three of the four best teams in the country, and the hottest team in the tourney, and I wanted to watch Gonzaga, who I have not seen an entire game of all year.

The first game was a blowout, and I did not see it coming. I figured Baylor would win. They have looked really good this whole tournament, and clearly I underestimated them. Houston has been great defensively, and they have done just enough on offense to get by. But they played all double digit seeds up to that point, they had blown large leads late only to pull away at the end, and they just seemed overmatched going into the Baylor game. That was all true. Baylor came out like gangbusters, they hit way more threes than they had all tourney, they locked down Houston's best offensive player right off the bat and rolled. The closest they got was 12, I believe. Baylor dominated, proved why they were a top two team all year and more than deserve to be in the title game.

The UCLA-Gonzaga game, at least I thought going into it, was going to be the same. I was very, very wrong. UCLA proved me very, very wrong in this game. They hung in the whole time. They probably should have won that game. They played the best they have offensively maybe all year. They slowed down two of the three stars Gonzaga has on their team. They never let Gonzaga pull away. They held the lead for most of the game. They looked like they more than belonged. This was one of the best college games I have ever seen, all time for me. This is how the final four games should be. This is what I look for during March Madness. I want these games to be back and forth. I like feeling invested even when I do not care who wins. This, this type of game, is what I missed so much last season when they rightfully canceled the tournament. It was back and forth. UCLA would build their lead, then Gonzaga would go on a run and take a lead of their own. And vice versa. When the best players on both teams needed to step up, they most certainly did. Johnny Juzang and Tyger Capmbell played amazingly. Jaime Jaquez was a key cog. UCLA let its stars shine their brightest, and they played up to the Zags level. And while Jalen Suggs, more on him in a minute, and Corey Kispert didn't have a great game, Drew Timme absolutely dominated in the low post. That kid has some of the best footwork in the post that I have ever seen. He looked like a mix of Tim Duncan and a slower Hakeem Olajuwon. He is going to have a long, productive NBA career based solely on his footwork. And he did everything he needed to for the Zags, which was almost everything. And as much as I dislike the charge/blocking call in every level of basketball, he took that charge near the end of the game, and it was rightfully called. He was outstanding.

The regulation 40 minutes wasn't enough, so this epic game got to go into overtime. Overtime was classic. Timme scored 6 quick points, but UCLA kept answering. Juzang was pulling up from everywhere, and it seemed to fall almost every single time. I even threw my hands up at one moment and asked my dad if he had missed at all during the game. Neither of us knew. Gonzaga led by 2 with 30 seconds left and UCLA had the ball. Everyone knew Juzang was going to shoot it. He got the ball, dribbled the clock down to about 12 seconds and drove. He took a contested floater, a shot I did not like at all, and he did miss it. But, Gonzaga didn't block out and he got his own rebound, extremely sound basketball, and made an uncontested layup to tie it with 3 seconds left. I assumed Gonzaga would call a timeout, try to heave a pass and we would go to double overtime. They didn't, and the rest is history. Timme took it out before UCLA could get ready and passed it in to Suggs. Suggs raced up past half court and put up what looked like a decent three. It was in Dame and Steph's range. And that ball banked in and Gonzaga won. I jumped off my parents couch, my dad was aghast, even my wife was pretty amazed by what just happened. I applaud Gonzaga for just going with the ball instead of slowing anything down. That was their best option all game, and when they needed it most, they used it and it worked. That shot by Suggs looked so pure and looked good the moment it left his hands. I believed Mark Few when he said he wasn't surprised when it went in because apparently Suggs does that in practice all the time. It was truly a once in a lifetime shot. It will be on replays and classic game showings for the rest of time. This was just an amazing ending to, by far, the best game of the tournament. This game truly had it all.

When that game ended, we were left with the title game, which is tonight, between Baylor and Gonzaga. This is the way it should be. They were the two best teams all year, their earlier game this season was wiped out due to COVID and now one of these schools will win their first ever college basketball title. I still think Gonzaga will win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Baylor finds a way to pull it out. In the end though, I hope it is half as good as what UCLA and Gonzaga gave us two nights ago.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Ty Talks 2021 Final Four

The Final Four is set, in both the men's and women's tournament. I have not watched the women's tournament, but I saw UCONN won, with a little controversy, but when they get this far, I just assume that they are going to win. That is my pick in the women's tournament. As for the men's tourney, I have watched a good amount of it. I have been really involved. I like that some players are speaking out against the NCAA, but that has not stopped me from watching this tournament endlessly. So, I have some takes going into the two games this weekend, and who I think will win it all.

I'm going to start with my team, Michigan. They blew it last night. They went ice cold at the absolute worst time. Mike Smith, who I love, was not even playable at moments. Franz Wagner picked a terrible time to have his worst game as a Wolverine. Hunter Dickinson did not wake up until early in the second half, and they needed him fully engaged all game. Eli Brooks didn't get enough touches. I wish Chaundee Brown played more. But I have to give UCLA a ton of credit. They locked Michigan down. They swarmed all night. They may be smaller, but that did not matter in the grand scheme of things. And that Johnny Juzang kid was the only player that could hit a shot. He played lights out, and he did it when they needed someone to. Even after he rolled his ankle, he came back and Michigan still could not stop him. Michigan blew it. They had multiple chances, ten to be exact, and they missed every single one of those shots. This was a rock fight, save for Juzang, it was a messy and sloppy and gross game to watch and the deserving team won last night. The Big 10 fell on its face, they couldn't get it done and this season will go down as a wash. Maybe the Big 10 is overrated. But again, kudos to UCLA for what they did last night, and for this run that they have been on since making the tournament.

The Bruins reward for winning last night, they now get to face Gonzaga. Gonzaga has looked absolutely dominant. They have looked amazing on both ends of the floor. No game has been that close. They have come out and steamrolled their way to the Final Four. When Oklahoma got an early lead on them in round two, I thought here is where they choke. That did not happen. They easily turned that deficit into a double digit win with ease. Then I thought USC was going to give them a real problem last night. They have length and size everywhere. They have players that looked like they could lock down some of Gonzaga's stars. That did not happen. Gonzaga did not trail for one second of that game. They won 85-66, and it was not that close. They are such a good team. Maybe this is the year where they finally live up to the hype.

The other two elite eight games were pretty solid. Baylor raced out to a big lead over Arkansas, but Arkansas cut it to single digits before the half. They looked like they may have figured Baylor out. Then Baylor realized how athletic they are, and how great defensively they are, and took control back with ease. The game felt kind of back and forth, but Baylor was never not in control. They won by 9, but some of Arkansas' points came at the end. They were hollow. It was like when a football team wins a game 24-14, but they led 24-7 up until there were three minutes left in the game and they put in their backups. Baylor has proven me dead wrong in this tourney. I thought their COVID pause was going to hurt them. It has not.

As for Houston and Oregon State, that game ended up being much closer than it should have. Houston led by 19 in the middle of the second half, but then Oregon State started to hit some shots. They came all the way back and tied the game at 55. Then Houston woke back up, locked Oregon State down, made some free throws and walked away with, I believe, an 8 point win. Houston is really, really good on defense, they just have these little lapses that could kill them in the Final Four.

On Saturday we will get the two Final Four games, with Houston facing Baylor first, and the night cap will be Gonzaga and UCLA. I think Baylor is way too good to let Houston's defense, as elite as it is, slow them down. Baylor is playing with swag, they look loose and free, they play almost equally as good defense as Hosuton, and they just seemed destined to be in the title game. There is a reason they were the number two team for most of the year. Baylor should beat Houston.

As for UCLA and Gonzaga, the Zags should cruise. They should score upwards of 90 points, if they want. They should be able to easily stop UCLA. UCLA wants to slow the game down to a grind, but I do not think that matters to Gonzaga. Gonzaga is loaded everywhere on the floor. They are the better team. They are the best team in college basketball this year. I think at this point the only thing that can stop Gonzaga is if someone on their team gets COVID and they have to forfeit. They should cruise by UCLA.

That means I have Gonzaga and Baylor in the title game. And surprise, surprise, I am picking Gonzaga. Baylor will be the best team they will face all year, but Gonzaga is a different breed this year. They are too loaded, too good, too fast, can play any pace, can beat any team. Gonzaga is the best team and they should easily win the title. We now will have to wait a week to see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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College Football in Houston will Fall Back, While it Will Move Forward at Oregon

At least the footballs will be in good hands at Oregon

Two college football head coaching positions have been filled this week. One is a pretty big deal, the other, some will think it's a big deal, I personally do not think it really matters that much, because that team is going to become irrelevant again, very soon. In fact, let's get that one out of the way first.

There were multiple reports the other day that Houston had hired Lane Kiffin to be their next head coach. Then, throughout the day, a lot of those reports were refuted, and it was soon announced, that he was not the new head coach. I woke up this morning and read that they had hired their offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite, to be their next head coach. I remember watching Applewhite while he was a QB at Texas and thought he was okay. Then, as a coordinator, he has been sufficient. But, I do not think he is going to be that great of a head coach. Some people are more suited to be an assistant as opposed to the head man. Look at a guy like Mike Martz. He was an offensive genius, but when he was the head guy with the Rams, he was a train wreck. He did not care about defense, and that doomed him. I think he is still coaching somewhere, but he is not remembered for being the coordinator of one of the greatest offenses of all time, he is remembered as a failure as a head coach.

Unfortunately for Applewhite, I think he is destined for a similar outcome. He has an exceptional offensive mind, especially for college football. On his watch, Houston's offense has been a wonder to watch. They were fast, they scored a ton of points and gained lots and lots of yards. But, in the games they didn't win, their defense was exposed, and the offense could look stagnant and repetitive. I mean, how many times can you run the exact same read option play? You need some kind of diversity to keep teams on their toes. The only team that doesn't need to change things up is Alabama, and Houston is no Alabama. So, while I say congratulations to Applewhite on his first head coaching job, I also see lots and lots of 7-5 or 8-4 seasons on their horizon, and no more competing for big-time bowl games, or even competing against big-time teams.

The big coaching vacancy that was filled was the Oregon job. I did not know who they were going to hire. At different points, I was certain they were hiring Chip Kelly, then Lane Kiffin, then Charlie Strong, I even thought they were going to give Les Miles a shot. But, I could not be happier with their choice of Willie Taggart. Taggart is a great, up and coming head coach in the college football world. He has turned around 2 programs, Western Kentucky and South Florida. He took over 2 jobs that the teams were in the dumps, and left them in great shape. Western Kentucky was a dumpster fire, and he made them a perennial bowl contender, which is a big deal for them. Then, he took over USF, which was happy to be a 4 win team, and turned them into a very good team. They finished this year 10-2, which is one of their best records ever. Taggart is also a very player friendly type of coach. Everywhere he has been, his players say nothing but glowing things about him. They love him. He pushes them, but it is never to a boiling point. You talk to former WKU and USF players that Taggart coached, and they only say very nice things about him.

When Oregon picked him to be their next head coach, I was pleasantly surprised. I watched a bit of his press conference, and that only made me like this pick even more. He's a confident guy that wants to turn this team back into a perennial power. I think he is going to thrive with a big time program as well. He was able to recruit players to go to schools like WKU and USF, so just think of what he will be able to do at Oregon. Kids already want to go play there for the uniforms alone, but now that they have a charismatic, great head coach on board. He is going to clean up on the recruiting trail.

I also really like how he and the AD took a shot at Brady Hoke. Look, I hope Hoke catches on somewhere, it needs to be a smaller division one school, but he was a mess at Oregon and Michigan. He could not motivate players as the head man at Michigan, and Oregon's defense last year was one of the worst defenses I have ever seen. They were atrocious. They were Swiss Cheese. Anyone and everyone scored and moved the ball at will against them last year. Hoke was an awful defensive coordinator.

Anyway, let's get back to Taggart. Like I have said a few times, he seems like he is going to be the perfect hire for Oregon. The guy can recruit, motivate and win. He is confident and appears more than able to succeed at his first big time head coaching job. I expect him to turn Oregon around pretty quickly, but I think his destiny is to be an NFL head coach. He is that good of a coach. While the Houston hiring of Applewhite leaves me kind of blah, the Oregon hiring of Taggart has me very excited, and I am not an Oregon fan at all. Good job Oregon, you guys look like you have made the right choice.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He should not criticize Houston, as "The Simpsons" reminds us 7-5 seasons do not come cheap. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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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.

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College Football Proved in Week One Why it is the Best

The first weekend of the college football season is officially in the books, and I have some quick thoughts about what we saw this past weekend.

First off, isn't it great to have football to watch again? Look, I like baseball, but nothing, not even basketball, compares to my love for football season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I spent my entire Saturday watching college football games.

My first main takeaway, RD was right and I was way wrong on Oklahoma. I assumed that they had the firepower and talent to overcome their head coach ineptness. Well, Houston made me look stupid, and made RD look right. When they got out to an 11 point lead, Oklahoma that is, I thought that they'd cruise from there. That was not the case. Houston took the first punch, then punched back way more than Oklahoma could handle. The 109 field miss return was the icing on the crap cake that has become Bob Stoops' calling card. Oklahoma could not recover, and they have a big hill to climb if they want in the playoff at the end of the year. They can still do it, but their chances are very, very slim. And how good did Houston and Greg Ward Jr look? They are truly a team worth watching, and they could definitely crash the playoff this year. Their last 2 wins, Florida State last year in the bowl game, and Oklahoma to open this season, are legit, and so is Houston.

The Thursday before, the games were mediocre. The only "marquee" team was Tennessee, and they struggled. Appalachian State is an okay team, and they will forever haunt me for what they did to the Wolverines all those years ago, but Tennessee was supposed to crush them, especially at home. Well, that did not happen. They needed a fourth quarter comeback, and had it not been for a miracle play from their running back, they would have fumbled away their win. Tennessee may not be as good as some thought they would be. But, it is only week one. 

Friday night had some good games, most notably Stanford-Kansas State. This game was closer than I thought, but we still got to see some great running by McCaffery. He made great cuts and zipped through holes and ran over tacklers. That kid is good. Michigan State looked a bit disjointed in their game against Furman on Friday night, but they won. It was sloppy, but it goes down as a W. 

Saturday was the real kickoff. I mentioned the Houston-Oklahoma game, but there were a lot of other things I saw in those early games. The Big Ten, save for Northwestern, looked pretty good. Ohio State and JT Barrett absolutely pummeled Bowling Green. Michigan crushed Hawaii. Iowa ran all over Miami of Ohio. The mid to lower level teams, like Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska pummeled their opponents. Nebraska also did a fantastic tribute to their fallen punter. It was moving. Yeah, Northwestern got beat, but don't sleep on Western Michigan. They are a good football team. And as far as Rutgers goes, they stink.

The biggest win for the Big Ten came in the afternoon games, when Wisconsin beat LSU. LSU was supposed to be the second, or first overall team in the SEC. They have a great, great running back that was going to run all over Wisconsin. Wisconsin was also coming off an okay season, but they were breaking in a new QB, and their running back was coming off injury. Well, Wisconsin completely controlled every facet of that game. They "held" Fournette to under 150 yards, and forced LSU's QB to try and win the game, which he did not, throwing one of the most errant interceptions I have ever seen. But, I don't put this loss solely on Brandon Harris, I put it on Les Miles. He has become so vanilla. His offense is so predictable, and when you can get them out of their comfort zone, you have a great chance at beating them. The game was ugly, but it was exactly what Wisconsin wanted it to be, and they won. LSU is still a ways away from competing big time in the SEC.

In some other afternoon games, the competition looked good. UNC-Georgia was a very good game. I think I may have been a little low on Georgia in fact. If Nick Chubb can stay healthy, Georgia can be a very good team. Maybe they become the team that challenges Alabama in the SEC. Washington looked good, absolutely crushing Rutgers, Rutgers is not good. But, Washington looked pretty good. UCLA laid an egg against Texas A&M. They had no flow and Josh Rosen looked like he may have taken a step back. A&M won, but I don't think they are great either. Trevor Knight does not appear to be an elite QB, but that is the best they have. And, as I said, they got the win. Other ranked teams, like TCU, Oregon and Oklahoma State crushed their opponents, but TCU and Oregon both gave up more points than they should have against their opponents.

The night games on Saturday, one was great, the other, not so much. Alabama let USC stay in the game for one quarter, then realized that they are Alabama, and dismantled USC. That was an old fashioned whooping. USC looked like a very overmatched JV team against a very young, inexperienced Alabama team. As much as I loathe Nick Saban and Alabama, that team is great, and he is a great college coach. The Clemson-Auburn game was sloppy, but entertaining. Clemson won, but it was a dogfight, and Auburn had a chance at the end. Deshaun Watson did more than enough, at least in my eyes, to prove why he is the best player in college football. The game was also played at Auburn, which is a tough spot for any team, and Clemson still pulled out the victory.

 Sunday featured one game, Notre Dame-Texas, and that game was incredible. I fervently despise both teams, but that game was great. There was little to no defense played, but it was fun. Brian Kelly lost that game for Notre Dame. And, before you call me out for being a Notre Dame hater they would have won if he kept Deshon Kizer in at QB. But, he kept taking him out, and Kizer was unstoppable. So were the 2 Texas QB's. The freshman was more of a threat to throw, but Swoopes, man did he look good running the ball. And their running game was awesome. The way it ended, in double overtime, was excellent. That was a great, great game.

Last night, FSU came back and beat Ole Miss. For as bad as FSU looked in the first half, they looked great in the second half. The freshman QB calmed down, and the o line started to open holes for Dalvin Cook. Ole Miss is overrated. They came out guns blazing, but after the second quarter, they looked gassed, and it seemed that FSU figured them out. This game went as it was supposed to go.

There were a lot of good games, and this was a very good opening week. I don't like that they called the Oklahoma-Houston, Wisconsin-LSU and FSU-Ole Miss games, "neutral" site games. Houston got to play in Houston, Wisconsin got to play in Green Bay and FSU got to play in Orlando. Those are all home games. That was an unfair advantage for Oklahoma, LSU and Ole Miss, but that is just a nit picky thing of mine. Other than that, this season is off to a very promising start. I cannot wait for this Saturday to come so I can watch some more football. The best sport is finally back.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He can breathe easier this weekend because the Wolverines did not have their regular Rodriguez / Hoke bad loss in week one. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's 2016 College Preview and Predicitions

For my final preseason football preview, I'm going to talk about my favorite sport, college football. I love college football. There is nothing better than waking up on Saturday's in the fall and wasting an entire day watching college football. It is my drug of choice. For my preview I will talk about the 5 major conferences, the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12 and the Pac 12. I will also throw a few independents in there, and I may talk about a few other teams that might strike my fancy. Enough chit chat, let's get to it.

I will start with the SEC, because it is my least favorite conference of all. They get so much deserved, but also undeserved love from all major media outlets. Yeah, I realize the SEC is good because I have eyes of my own and I can see, I don't need Paul Finebaum's punk ass telling me how great it is every god damn week. That guy is a total waste of time. Anyway, it will be much of the same with the SEC this year. It's Alabama, most people's preseason number one pick and defending champs, then everyone else. I know Alabama has lost a lot of players, but Alabama doesn't rebuild, they reload. They will find a serviceable running back, just like they did when Mark Ingram, TJ Yeldon and now Derrick Henry left. They will also find a QB. I'm sure they have a couple of blue chips sitting on the bench, waiting their turn. They will also find some new wideouts. They have all this stuff, and then some, just waiting for their turn. And as far as their o line, they are the best in college football. The coaches, and officers of the law for that matter, don't care if the best lineman in college football steals guns, he won't miss one single second because all the charges were dropped. The rest of the o line is huge and dominant. Their defense is always good. Yeah, Kirby Smart left for Georgia, but that won't matter, they will field 11 blue chip recruits that will play just as good as their predecessors. Alabama is loaded from top to bottom.

A few teams that may challenge are LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn. I don't buy the hype on Tennessee. They were supposed to be great last year, and I believe they finished with 7 or 8 wins. Butch Jones is also a piece of human garbage. Georgia is good, but they have a lot of holes to fill, and they don't have the roster that Alabama has. I also feel like they let Mark Richt go too soon. I don't think Kirby Smart will consistently lead that team to double digit wins every year. Auburn is fine, but Gus Malzahn is not a top of the line head coach. He has had a ton of problems finding a good QB since Cam Newton left, and he doesn't take enough time working with the defense. Auburn lets much lesser opponents stay in games way too long. LSU has a great running back in Leonard Fournette, and they have a very good defense, but the college game may have passed Les Miles a few years ago, and who will play QB, and who will that QB throw to? This team may be a one trick pony, but that pony is incredible.

I know I didn't mention Florida or Ole Miss. Florida played way out of their heads last year, and they will regress, especially on offense. Ole Miss may have to forfeit a bunch of games for cheating, and they lost almost everyone of importance from that team the last two years. They are on the decline as well. Once again, it is Alabama as your SEC champs. They have the best roster, and their players can get away with anything, as long as they are good.

Next, I will go to the ACC. The ACC has only 2 really good teams, and then a few okay teams, but the bottom half is garbage. The two good teams are Clemson and Florida State. Clemson was in the title game last year, and they had a chance to win it. Deshaun Watson is back, and that team is loaded with players at the skill positions. They will be a very lethal offense. Which is good for their defense, because the defense is very middle of the road. Clemson could, and may well, go undefeated this year, and they could do it while averaging 45 to 50 points a game, but also giving up 25-30. Florida State is due to bounce back from a "down" year, where they only won 10 games. They have a great running back, very good wideouts and they will pick a good QB. They also have a stout defense, even though they lost Jalen Ramsey to the pros. Florida State is incredibly good on both sides of the ball, and they are so balanced, it's hard to pick a good defense to go with when playing them. FSU will be very good this year.

The teams that are lurking, but not there yet, are Miami and Virginia Tech. Frank Beamer left VT after a very stellar career, so it will take time to build that team back up, but they play tough no matter what. Miami hired Mark Richt, which is huge, and I think within a year or two, he will have them highly competitive again. These things just take time and he needs to recruit his type of guys, but he is an excellent coach, and he is back at his alma mater. The days of Duke and Georgia Tech and teams like them being hyper competitive are long gone. The ACC is a two team race, and I like Clemson.

The Pac 12 may be taking the biggest nose dive as a whole conference. This conference was once feared and adored, but they look to have fallen on hard times. Sure, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Washington are good, but when was the last time they were great? Oregon was not the same team last year. They played little to no defense, and they never really found a rhythm on offense. The super up tempo play just didn't have its desired effect last year. They will be decent, but they are going the route of transfer QB again, and even though I think Brady Hoke has a good defensive mind, he is not the answer they need to shore up that unit. UCLA has a great QB, but other than that, there is not a ton of weapons. Josh Rosen is also a sophomore, so he is either going to be better, or he will have that slump. He started off last year on fire, but as UCLA played better teams, people figured him and their offense out, and they weren't putting up huge numbers anymore. Their defense is very ho hum. Every year I hear that this is the year USC turns it all around, but they still haven't been that dominant team that they were in the early 21st century. The QB's aren't as good, neither are the backs. They have had some good receivers, but otherwise on offense, they are very average. The defense is fine, but they spend a ton of time on the field, and that is no good for any defense. Washington is another team that people say is "just a year away", but I've been hearing that since Steve Sarkisian was the coach. How many more 7 win seasons will it take before people realize that that is all Washington is, an average college football team.

The cream of the Pac 12 crop is Stanford. They have probably the second best back in all of football in Christian McCaffery, but that is where the threat begins and ends. They need a new QB, some new receivers and some one else to spell McCaffery out of the backfield. They are a lot like LSU, except their coach is better, but their defense isn't as good. Stanford should easily win the Pac 12 this year, regardless of who they put in at QB and receiver.

The Big 12 is another conference that used to be really competitive, but if Oklahoma doesn't cruise, it will de a disappointment. Yeah, TCU is decent and they have a decent transfer QB in Kenny Hill, but they lost Josh Docston and Trevoyne Boykin to the pros. They will have a good defense, but it is not as good as it once was. Who in the hell knows with Oklahoma State. Last year they were supposed to regress, but they played pretty well. I assume they are supposed to be decent this year, but that means they will probably take a step back. West Virginia is not the threat they once were. KU is a laughing stock. Kansas State needs to rebuild. Texas still doesn't have the players they need to compete. And Baylor, with all the problems they have going on right now, they may get the death penalty from the NCAA. Oklahoma has the best players and the best team, by a wide margin, in the Big 12. They will win it with ease.

Finally, as far as major conferences go, I have my favorite, the Big 10. The Big 10 has turned a corner over the past couple of seasons. They aren't as big joke anymore. They field good, high scoring and well defending teams. The Big 10 is good again.

The Big 10 is not all great, they do have teams that are not good and some that sit in the middle. Teams like Maryland, a long way away from competing, Illinois, hired Lovie Smith, but still a VERY long way away from competing, Purdue, who just isn't good and Minnesota, they play tough but blow games, are not great. The middling teams are getting better. As much as I may dislike Northwestern, they are always a tough game for anyone they play. Those kids are smart and they play smart football, for the most part. Indiana, who doesn't play a lick of defense, has a great offense that is capable of putting up 50 points on any given night. Nebraska always fields a very tough team. I know they had a losing record last year, but they got beat in some gut wrenching ways, and they crushed UCLA in their bowl game. Penn State always has a good run game and a decent defense, but their coach is holding them back. And Wisconsin will have a great running game, but not much else. That will still be good enough for 8 wins though.

The upper level of the Big 10 is scary good. Iowa is a very solid football team that plays very well technique football. They do not make mistakes. They are well coached and run their offense and defense as it should be run. Last year was an anomaly, I think they only lost 1 game, but they will still be very good. Michigan State lost a lot of important players from their team, but they are a tough team no matter what. They are also very, very dirty. They will have some rebuilding to do, but East Lansing is a tough place to play, and they will win some games that they shouldn't. Ohio State lost a lot to the draft as well, but JT Barrett is back, and so is Urban Meyer. This team is like Alabama. They don't rebuild, they reload. I'm sure they have some players that have been waiting to bust out, and now is their time. I HATE this team, but you have to give respect where it is due.

Then, there is my Michigan Wolverines. They surprised everyone last year, me included, by winning 10 games, but now, there's expectations. This team returns 14 starters from last year. They have an incredible defense, led by their defensive line. Jabrill Peppers is one of the best playmakers in the game. They have great receivers and tight ends and running backs on offense. But, they need to pick a QB, and the o line still needs some work. They also have to travel to Iowa, Columbus and East Lansing this season. Those will be tough road games. Michigan is better, but I think they are 1 year away from being a playoff threat.

As far as who I think wins the Big 10, I am going to have to pick the much hated Buckeyes once again. JT Barrett is really good, and Michigan is a year away and Iowa played out of their minds last year, and MSU lost too much to the pros.

I can't do a college football preview without mentioning Notre Dame. People seem to think they will be great, but I just think they will be good. They have to settle on a QB, and they lost a lot of skill players to the pros. Their defense is very far from elite too. I could see them winning 9, maybe even 10 games, but they are no threat to make the playoff.

Outside of the major conferences and the big names, the one team to watch out for this year is Houston. They were awesome last year, they beat FSU in a New Year's 6 bowl game, and they have almost everyone back from that team. Houston has a very good football team once again. They are making Rodney Peete proud.

I guess what it all comes down to is, who do I think will be in the playoff and who will face off for the title. Well, I think the 4 playoff teams will be Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Stanford. Alabama will find its way, they always do. Clemson will outscore everyone by 100 points to return. Oklahoma will cruise through the very weak Big 12, and I think an early season victory over Houston will help, and Stanford is going to be so much better than any team in the Pac 12, and I think they can go undefeated this year. My ranking of the teams, from 4 to 1 would be, Stanford, Alabama, Oklahoma and Clemson. So that means Clemson and Stanford would play each other, with Oklahoma and Alabama squaring off in the other matchup. I like Clemson and Oklahoma in those games. And, I'm going to go ahead and pick Clemson to win the 2017 National Title. They had their chance last year, but much like the Panthers in the NFL, I think they got better and will make up for what they missed out on last year.

As far as the Heisman goes, I think names will pop up all year. Guys like McCaffery, Fournette, Baker Mayfield, JT Barrett, Greg Ward, they will all get talked about, but I think Deshaun Watson will win it. He finished third last year, but I think he takes it home this season, both the Heisman and the title.

That does it for all of my football previews. I will check in at midseason on both, but for now, that is how I see things shaping up. Now please, bring on some real football games.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What happens when Ty and RD stop being polite, and talk about reality television. Listen to the new X Millennial Man Podcast where reality television is given its time to shine. Download for free tomorrow. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik. 

Ty Makes a Few Updates to his 2015 College Football Preview.

Ty  predicts he could throw this ball over those mountains.

We are a bit more than halfway through the college football season and I wanted to take time today to see what I got right, wrong and what I want to correct in regards to my college football 2015 season preview.

I feel like I've done a pretty good job with my picks and predictions, but there's things I definitely got wrong or need change. I'll go through each conference that I previewed and I'll pick the four playoff teams and who I have for the Heisman. On with the mid season preview.

Let's start with the SEC. I had Alabama winning the SEC, and I still believe they have a good chance to win, but I didn't think that LSU would be their biggest challenger. I thought a team like Georgia or Ole Miss or even Texas A&M would challenge them. But LSU and Florida have been their biggest competition, and I think LSU will beat Alabama in their big game this weekend. Georgia has been plagued with injuries and poor QB play. Ole Miss, who beat Alabama this year, played their best football in my opinion already. And A&M, who was supposed to have a good defense this year, has been inept on offense lately, and Alabama and Ole Miss ran rough shot on their defense, they're not at their level yet. Florida has been surprisingly good this year. Sure, their QB is now suspended for the rest of this season for PEDs, but this team wins with defense and running, and they're doing those things very well. I don't think they'll finish the season as strong as they've started, but had you told me at the beginning of the year they'd be a 9 or 10 win team, I would've called you crazy. But, they're on their way to that number easily. LSU, in my opinion, is the team to beat in the SEC. They need to beat Alabama this weekend, which I already said I think they will, but they've been stout on defense and their running game, behind the new Heisman front runner, Leonard Fournette, makes them the favorite. They don't have a QB that's really division one caliber, but neither does Alabama and while Alabama does have Derrick Henry running the ball, he's no Leonard Fournette and LSU's defense is better. LSU is my new pick to win the SEC.

On to the Pac 12. I was completely wrong about this conference. I assumed that Oregon would continue to dominate as they have for the past couple of years, but then they ran into Utah. Utah destroyed them in Oregon and they haven't been the same team since, switching QB's weekly it seems and opposing teams torching their defense. Oregon took a big step back. Utah, after throttling Oregon, looked like the team to beat, but they got pounded at USC. Utah is still good and a team with one loss, can still win this conference. USC has beaten Utah and California, but lost to Notre Dame and still have to play UCLA. They also fired their coach for being drunk on the sideline, so this team is still a mess. UCLA is good, but they lost Myles Jack for the year, and they are led by a freshman QB, who looks like he's hitting the freshman wall. Then we have Stanford. They shit the bed in their first game at Northwestern, but since then, they've looked completely dominant. This conference is going to come down to Utah and Stanford and I'm going to pick Stanford to win. They just look so good right now.

The Big 12 looks just how I thought it would look. Sure, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma look good, but they aren't on Baylor or TCU's level. Oklahoma State is undefeated, but they just gave up 53 points to Texas Tech and that doesn't bode well for the rest of their season. Oklahoma is okay, but they've blown one game already and given their history under Bob Stoops, they'll do it again. Baylor looked like they were going to give TCU a run for the conference until their QB went down with a broken bone on his neck. Their offense was running like a well oiled machine, but I don't think that will happen with a back up QB. That's unfortunate for them. TCU is winning games with Boykin running their offense to perfection. He's putting up video game numbers and will continue to do that the rest of the year. Baylor was going to challenge, but TCU will win the Big 12.

The Big 10 has been pretty predictable except for one team. Ohio State is still number one, but they've looked unimpressive and now their starting QB has been arrested for drunk driving. Their new back up QB, when he's not busy complaining about losing the starting spot, should have went pro last year because he's looked pretty blah this year. Their coach is also a piece of garbage. He goes on TV and bad mouths the way other teams handle their punishment and then gives a lame punishment to JT Barrett and he also recruited and stood by a convicted murderer while head coach at Florida. Michigan State is undefeated, but had Michigan been able to punt the ball, they wouldn't be a top ten team anymore. Their early season home win over Oregon doesn't look so impressive anymore. Iowa has been the biggest surprise to me. They're undefeated and the rest of their schedule is a cake walk. But, even if they win the Big 10 championship game, they won't, the committee would be hard pressed to put them in the playoff. They're not that impressive and neither is their schedule. Northwestern looked like they may have surprised after a 5-0 start, then Michigan shut them out and Iowa hammered them in Northwestern. They're not that good. Michigan has looked very good on defense, with the Minnesota game being a lone exception, but they are very unimpressive on offense. They'll win 8 or 9 games. Penn State plays good defense, but they can't protect their QB. And Wisconsin has disappointed. The rest of the Big Ten is not good. Unfortunately, the Michigan State-Ohio State game will decide this conference, and I have to begrudgingly pick Ohio State. I hate them so much, but they will win the Big 10 this year.

The ACC is between two teams. Clemson and Florida State are the only teams worth talking about. Duke got screwed, Miami is light years behind, NC State and Georgia Tech are completely disappointing and the rest of the conference doesn't bear mentioning. Clemson is a much better team than Florida State and should win this conference with ease.

The AAC, the conference I gave very little mention to will get the same. Memphis has an impressive win over Ole Miss and are undefeated. Houston has an explosive QB and are also undefeated, and Temple is 7-1 with a pretty stout defense. They all have yet to play each other, but I think Temple will win. They've played the toughest schedule and they have the players on defense to stop both Houston and Memphis.

The two independents I mentioned in my preview, Notre Dame and BYU have had decent seasons. Notre Dame has looked good despite losing Malik Zaire in the first game, but their wins aren't very impressive and the toughest team they played, Clemson, pretty much shut them down. Their coach is also an insane person. BYU started with two very dramatic wins, but when they play upper level division one teams, they don't look so impressive. Boise State suffered an early season loss to BYU, but looked good after that, climbing back into the top 25, then Utah State hammered them. This version of Boise State is not as good as previous Boise State teams.

So, where do we stand today? I think I did a decent job. My original four playoff teams were Ohio State, Alabama, TCU and Michigan State. Today, my final four is, Ohio State, TCU, Clemson and LSU. Two changes, that's it. I think the title game will feature TCU and Clemson, and I still have TCU winning. They're outside the top four right now and they got screwed last season, so I think they will play with a fury unmatched and prove the committee wrong from last season. They're still the best team, in my opinion. As for the Heisman, I'm going to stick with Tevoyne Boykin, but Leonard Fournette has been extremely impressive. If he can do to Alabama what he's done to every other team this year, he will probably win, but Boykin is putting up humongous numbers and he will lead TCU to a title. How do you not award him the Heisman if he does that.

So, there's my corrections from the midway point of the college football season. Tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section, and give me your picks.

Thanks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This is his 100th post on SeedSing. Congratulate him by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.