Ty Watches "Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist"

I recently finished the Netflix two part documentary on Manti Teo called "The Girlfriend who Didn't Exist". It was fascinating.

I remember living through all of this. I am an avid college football fan as you all know. This story was everywhere in 2012. but I knew of Teo before all of this. He was a major recruit. Every big team wanted him. When it was down to USC and Notre Dame I just assumed he'd pick USC. Hell, I thought he would go to BYU, since he is Mormon, before he'd go to Notre Dame. But in the end, he picked the Fighting Irish. I was stunned and so were many other people. But he kept getting better and better every year. He could have left after his junior year and been a high first round draft pick. But he came back. Then he played very well. Then Notre Dame kept winning games. Then his grandma died. Then, on the same day, so did his online girlfriend. It was all a lot. But he kept playing and playing well, and his team was winning.

Right before the Heisman ceremony, he was a finalist, the whole online girlfriend thing exploded. According to the doc, Teo knew about the news before the Heisman trophy was given out. I did not know this. This was all news to me. But after the ceremony, before the BCS title game, the story broke everywhere. Deadspin was the first to report it and then everyone jumped on board. Teo was giving interviews to Katie Couric with his folks. The person that catfished Teo was going on Dr Phil's show to show him how he did it all. Then it was on every news report everywhere. This was not just sports broadcasts, it was national news. CNN, MSNBC, local news stations, I mean it was EVERYWHERE.

This is where the doc became truly fascinating to me. All the stuff beforehand, the football and the girlfriend and his family life, it was all out in the open. But after the fact, after he found out he was being catfished, that was when it became truly nuts. Teo started to suffer from panic attacks and true anxiety. He said that football used to be his outlet, that he could let it all go when he walked out there. But after all the shit hit the fan he was not the same. He tried too hard. He had to prove he wasn't just the guy that got catfished. He wanted to show he could still be an elite level linebacker. But he was too in his head. He was thinking too much. He wasn't just playing the game. It became a problem. And seeing him interviewed, hearing him talk about that time in his life, I felt for him. That had to be absolutely brutal for him to live through. I found myself thinking, as gross as it may sound, about how much money he lost by falling to the second round. He had to reprove how good he was. He had to start all over again. That is not fair. Teo was one of the best defensive college football players to ever step on the field. He had all the tools coaches craved. He was a great locker room guy. His teammates and coaches all like him. There was hardly anything to dislike about Teo. I am a lifelong Michigan fan, and I even found myself rooting for Teo. Let me make this clear, I rooted for Teo, not Notre Dame. And to see the lady who catfished him, she was a man at the time, but she is now transgender, to show a little remorse, but not much, kind of made me flinch a bit. This person was taking advantage of someone who was listening and helping them out with their issues. She could have stopped at any time, but she kept going. I get that she was confused at the time and trying to find out who she really is, but she took this way, way too far. I get that Teo forgave her and he has moved on and is living as normal a life as he can. But she could have been a bit more remorseful or showed some kind of regret. I don't know, I expected more I guess.

All of that being said, this two part doc was incredible. Again, I remember this whole thing so vividly, but this doc gave me so much more info, and new info at that. I cannot recommend it enough. It is a fascinating watch, and not just for sports fans. There are tons of real life stories in this and it is great. Check it out.

Ty

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

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I Have No Idea Why Brian Kelly Left for LSU

Just when I thought it couldn't get any wilder, LSU goes out and hires Brian Kelly to be their new head coach. I thought Lincoln Riley to USC was wild, but this is a whole other level of nuts. I am still kind of in shock. I was going to write about the movie I watched this weekend, but this is so crazy that I have to designate another blog for another coaching change. Let’s do it?

I have never, in my lifetime of watching college football, seen a coaching carousel like this. We are talking about big name coaches going to big time programs. Like I said before, this one is nutso. I have been thinking about this move, talking to my dad about it, reading other articles about it, and I am still at a total loss. I despise Brian Kelly. I loathe him. He is a slimy snake oil salesman. I have not liked him since he left Cincinnati to take the head job at Notre Dame. He is arrogant and selfish and a total asshole. But he has proven to be a capable college football coach. Notre Dame is relevant again. He coached them to the BCS title game and has made the CFP. He has had a Heisman finalist. Notre Dame is perennially ranked inside the top 25 every year. While I dislike him and that team, they are good. I cannot lie about that. And Kelly has the Irish on the cusp of the playoff this year. If things break their way this weekend they can find themselves back this season. But Kelly just up and left. He took the LSU job without telling any of his staff according to the reports

I have read. He moved on because he wanted to. He didn't care about his team, his staff, the university, the AD, this was all about Brian Kelly getting paid and taking on a new challenge that only he wanted to do. And like I said with Riley, take the money when you can get it. I do not bemoan that at all. But I do not like the way either coach went about the business of getting paid. This was a first for Riley, but this seems to be the move for Kelly. He left Central Michigan for Cincinnati without informing most of the people around him. Then after building Cincinnati into a contender, he had them in the Sugar Bowl, he left without even coaching them in that game. He was gone. One day he was there, and the next, he's a ghost. Now he has done the same thing at Notre Dame. He took this LSU job seemingly in the middle of the night. And he just accepted it. He told no one. He took it and made some half hearted statements to his former players and changed all of his social media bios to inform everyone he was the new coach for LSU.

I was, and still am, astonished. But maybe I shouldn't be. This is his move. This is what he does. He is selfish. He only cares about Brian Kelly, and what is best for Brian Kelly. He is an egomaniac. But unlike Riley at USC, I think it is going to be real tough sledding for Kelly at USC. He had a cherry gig at Notre Dame. They are an independent program and they get to pick all twelve teams they play every year. They have no conference title game. They have no built in teams they play every year. They get to pick who they want to play, when they want to play them and where they want to play them. For people to call USC or Stanford or Michigan a "rival" for Notre Dame, I don't buy that. They do not play those teams every season. The university of Ohio State and Michigan play every year. USC and UCLA play every year. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State play every year. Notre Dame gets to pick when they want to play their "rivals". They also have their very own television network that funnels in millions of dollars to the program. Again, a cherry gig. LSU does not have those same things. They play in the SEC. They play Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss, year in and year out. They also recruit against those teams every year. The stadiums are massive and filled every weekend and have rowdy super fanatics. Brian Kelly is in for a world of pain the first time he has to travel to Bryant Denny Stadium or The Swamp or Georgia. Sure, LSU has Death Valley, but Clemson's Death Valley is much more intimidating. And SEC fans are way more passionate than Notre Dame fans. They don't want to wait for a title contender. They won't deal with a random 4-8 or 6-6 season. They want gratification every year. Ed Orgeron, who is also an ass, won a title two years ago. He was fired this year after two, I say again, two less than better seasons. Who is to say that their fanbase and alumni won't do the same if Kelly doesn't yield instant results? I wouldn't put it past them.

Again, this is still very wild. This is very out there. This one makes way less sense to me than what Lincoln Riley did. If anything, all it proved to me is how truly selfish Brian Kelly the person really is. I do not know if this will work out, but he does have 15 million reasons to fall back on if it doesn't. I am still stunned.

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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Ty's Favorite Michigan Football Games: October 27th, 2019

It’s Friday, so that means yet another classic Michigan Wolverines football fave from me. I’ve skewed with some “older” games lately. I will go back to that when I get closer to the end of the college football season, whenever that may be this year. But today I’m going back to last year.

Last season Michigan was supposed to be great. They were supposed to be a playoff contender. They were supposed to be the team to beat in the Big Ten. They had everyone back and they hired Josh Gattis to get the offense to play fast and loose. Well, that didn’t happen, at least until this game. Michigan started slow. They trailed in their first game against Middle Tennessee, before pulling away late. They needed trick plays and overtime to beat Army. They got crushed when they went up to Madison to play Wisconsin, and before making it a game late, Penn State dominated most of that game on their way to a 7 point win. Michigan struggled coming into this game.

The date was October 27th, it was last year and their opponent was Notre Dame. Notre Dame was higher ranked, their one loss was to a very good Georgia team, they had a more explosive offense, and they had all the momentum. Michigan, as I mentioned before, was struggling. They definitely showed signs of life late in the PSU game, and I hoped it was a sign of things to come. But still, they hadn’t looked right on offense, the defense was on the field too much and Shea Patterson was not playing well. Notre Dame was even favored in this game, and it was in Ann Arbor. Pretty much every show and publication and website picked Notre Dame to win. I remember vividly the guys on CBS laughing at the thought that Michigan could win this game. And right as the game was going to start, a night game mind you, rain started to pour down. This made me even more nervous than normal. This meant Michigan was going to have to run, and not fumble chances away, which was a problem. It also meant that any of the confidence Patterson gained at the end of the PSU game throwing the ball was all but gone. The rain was so heavy that I’m sure the ball felt like a greased pig. I was left to myself to watch the game as well. My wife doesn’t like watching Michigan games with me, and my dad was on a plane flying home from California with my mom. So it was just me.

I sat down for kickoff, and what I watched was so surprising, but in a good way. Michigan came out like a house on fire on offense, and it was all the run game. The O line was making humongous holes, and Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins were gouging Notre Dame’s defense with long runs. The score was only 3-0 going into the second quarter, but Michigan seemed so damn determined to prove everyone wrong. They scored two TD’s in the second quarter, both on the ground. The run game couldn’t be stopped. As for Michigan’s defense, they came to play as well. They were forcing so many three and outs. They pressured the QB all half. They would not let them run the ball. It was glorious. But, I was still a little leery because it was such a dominant half, but they only led by 17. Notre Dame was then gifted a TD when it appeared the QB was intercepted, but the refs called a phantom pass interference to overturn the pick. This was the only time I was really worried. Notre Dame cut the lead to 10, the rain was letting up, and to this point, Michigan had trouble keeping leads. I was also yelling at the TV loud enough that my wife has to tell me to calm down. That all went away pretty quick. Michigan got the ball back and went right down the field to push the lead back to 17. The defense and run game totally took over from here. Notre Dame did score one more useless TD, but not before Michigan scored 21 more points. Michigan totally took over. Hassan Haskins ripped his way through the Notre Dame defense for 149 yards on 20 carries, 7 yards a carry. Charbonnet had 74 yards on 15 carries and 2 TD’s. Tru Wilson went for 40 plus rush yards and a TD. Even Christian Turner got some run in, gaining 31 yards on 4 carries. All told, Michigan gained 303 yards on 53 carries. That’s exactly what I want in a game with weather like they had. They controlled the ball and ran for a ton of yards. Michigan did throw two TD’s, but they only attempted fourteen total passes. As a team they were 8 of 14 for 134 passing yards. Not great, but needed in bad weather. On the other side, Michigan’s defense dominated. Notre Dame attempted 29 passes, completing 11 of them for 133 yards. One less than Michigan on more than double the attempts. On the ground, Notre Dame ran for 47 net yards on 31 attempts. Michigan ran for nearly 8 times as many yards. But the most important thing, and crucial thing in bad weather games, Notre Dame lost 2 fumbles, where Michigan had 0 turnovers. They protected the ball all night in heavy rain and wind. That was nice.

At the end of the night, after Michigan won 45-14, it was great for me to see all these “experts” have to eat crow. Michigan dominated this game and proved that Notre Dame was not a top 10 team, and not the playoff contender many thought they were. This was a great watch for me because Michigan won, won big and beat a big time rival. It was one of those cleansing games I’ve mentioned before. This was a nice recent memory of a great, and big, Michigan win for me. This one was nice for many reasons, but mainly because it reminded me that Michigan, and Jim Harbaugh, can win big games from time to time, and they can do it in an old school way if the weather makes it necessary. This was a good one.

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 Season is Starting to Look Like a Disaster

I swear I am going to stop bashing football in the next few days. I love the sport, I am still hopeful the Big Ten season happens, I am following my fantasy team marginally and I have a pretty solid Fred Willard piece I have been marinating in my brain for the past couple days. But, there was yet another cancellation of a college game this weekend, but this time it is a big time, storied college football team. Yesterday I talked about how injuries, due to lack of proper training, was a subset of why the football season was going to be hard to finish fully, and that COVID is still very much a threat. Well, Notre Dame had to cancel their game this Saturday against Wake Forest due to seven players/staff testing positive for COVID this week.

This is just going to continue to happen. And while it has happened already to a good number of D-1 teams, most notably Memphis and Baylor recently, this is Notre Dame. This is not only a historic school, but a school that has money and can afford to do things to prevent this better than other D-1 schools. They have some of the best facilities in America. I am sure they have alumni that would be willing, or know, or are, doctors that can provide and help with testing and following proper protocols. They do not have many students on campus, I think, so social distancing shouldn't be a problem. This, according to the people who were really pushing for college football, was not what they wanted to happen, especially the week before the SEC starts.

This is also a rough look, at least in my eyes, for the Big Ten. A lot of the reasoning, at least from what I read, was, fans of the Big Ten, alumni, people at the schools, players and coaches all saw that Notre Dame was playing, who's campus is located in the Midwest, in the heart of Big Ten country, and were angered that they couldn't be out there. It was assumed that if Notre Dame could play, why couldn't the University of Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana or Michigan play? If they didn't have any positives, and could field a competent team, why couldn't they? Well now they have positives, and enough positives to postpone a game.

This is no good. This is what I feared would halt the college football year more than anything else. I saw what the MLB did, didn't like their plan, and have seen it blow up in their face a few times already. Games have been postponed. Not all teams have played the same amount of games. The Cardinals missed nearly a month because of an outbreak within the team, and they are playing double headers all the time just to catch up, and not make the playoffs I might add. I think the same thing is going to happen, at the very least, to college football. I am sure the NFL will run into this problem soon, but it is happening weekly in college football now. And what will pollsters and voters and players do if a school like Notre Dame only ends up playing six games? Or say the Big Ten starts, they picked late October because that kept them in the conversation for the playoff, but they have to postpone and stop a few times. How many games will all fourteen Big Ten teams actually play? Eight if we are lucky, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends at five or six games. The SEC is COVID central right now, and they are just getting started. Who is to say they get their full ten games in. Again, I don't think they will. I would be stunned if they got eight full games in from all their teams. As I said up top, it is not a humongous deal, no disrespect, when Memphis, or even Baylor misses a game. No one is bummed out that Air Force only has two games scheduled. Who honestly cares, outside of former players and alumni, that Houston hasn't started their season yet? But when this happens to Notre Dame, it is a big deal. The fact that they have to push a game already, that is a problem. People aren't happy already. How are people, players, fans and coaches and AD's alike, going to react when this happens to Clemson? Or Alabama? Or the University of Ohio State and Michigan? The really big time, prominent, important programs, like Notre Dame.

This is the last thing the NCAA and the college football community wanted. Other, smaller schools postponing was fine, but when it is a school like Notre Dame, that is scary. And unfortunately this is just the start, in my opinion. It won't be too long before Clemson and Alabama have to postpone as well due to COVID outbreaks. This is going to be a weird, stunted college football season. Be prepared fans. That is all I am saying. 

Ty

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

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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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Bob Stoops Retirement Comes with a lot of Unanswered Questions

There is a new sign on Bob Stoops Old Office

Because Ty is the most boss of all internet writers he refuses to stop creating awesome content, even when he is on a family vacation. His loquaciousness will be blunted while he enjoys his undisclosed tropical getaway. Each piece will be some quick thoughts on some current things going on, nothing political of course.

Yesterday, in very shocking news, Bob Stoops suddenly retired. That makes 2 pretty famous coaches this week that have either walked away or "resigned" from high profile jobs. You can read my Thad Matta thoughts from earlier this week. But, this whole Bob Stoops thing really threw me for a loop.

Stoops had a very, very good team coming back from a decent season last year. Yeah, he lost Semaji Perine and Dede Westbrook, but they still have Baker Mayfield, a Heisman front runner, and it's Oklahoma, they are one of the "reload, not rebuild" teams I always talk about. Oklahoma was also, as they have been for about a decade now, the odds on favorites to win the Big 12, and possibly go to the College Football Playoff this season. They are to the Big 12 in football what Kansas is to basketball. If they do not win the Big 12, I am always shocked.

For Stoops to just walk away, at only 56 years old, after 18 years of some really good football, I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. Sure, his family has past heart issues, and the Oklahoma fan base can be rabid and unforgiving, and, no matter how good you may look in the preseason, there is always the Alabama monster out there, but why so sudden? Does he have heart issues? Is there a possible violation that we may not know about? Was he giving a Thad Matta ultimatum? Does he truly want to "live a life"? Or, is there some other high profile job he may be angling for in a year or 2, a la what Urban Meyer did after he left Florida due to "health concerns", only to take one year off and jump on the University of Ohio State board. I feel like it is the last question, but I will quickly answer the others first.

I do not think he has any type of health concerns. He has been at Oklahoma for almost 2 decades, so if he did truly have a health scare, we would have heard about it already. The violation thing, who knows. Every big time team bends the rules to get some of the best players in the country to constantly go there. I am not aware of any possible violations at Oklahoma, but they did have the whole Joe Mixon thing last year, so I wonder if there is more of that horrible stuff going on that they are trying to cover up. That would be truly awful. I do not think he was given an ultimatum because, as I have already stated, his team is stacked this year. They are going to be lights out on offense, and I feel like they will be much improved on defense. They are the clear cut favorites in the Big 12, and he has won 10 plus games 14 of his 18 years there. He's earned the right to leave when he wants. Oklahoma was nothing when Stoops took over and look at them now. There is no way he was told he has to win the title this year or he was going to be let go.

As far as the "live a life" thing that he said, I feel like this is the only life he knows. He comes from a family of coaches, and he has basically been around football as a player and a coach his entire life. I fully understand if he wants to go be with his family, but to say that now, going into a season where Oklahoma will be a real threat, I don't buy it. Also, his family seems to fully understand and not mind being the wife and kids of a coach. That is a taxing job, and they have stood by his side his whole career.

Now, the last question, the big question. Is there another, possibly higher profile job out there that he may want in a year or two, if that school doesn't vastly improve? I read it on 247sports.com, and I think it may be true, that if the Notre Dame job opens up, Stoops and the people there would want to hire him. I feel like it is setting up exactly like the Urban Meyer situation. I don't think Notre Dame will be any real threat, and I feel like the higher ups at Notre Dame have grown weary of Brian Kelly's demeanor and the way he grates on players and fans. The team has gotten worse every year since Alabama crushed them in the title game, and Kelly is throwing everyone under the bus, blaming anyone in earshot, except himself. I feel like they want Bob Stoops there real bad, and his sudden retirement sets that up very nicely. I also think Stoops kind of wants a big time job like Notre Dame as well. Oklahoma is great now, due to Stoops, but they are not historic, like Notre Dame. I feel like Stoops wants to go to a school like that to build up his personal resume. He is a great coach, and if he can go to Notre Dame and win as big there as he did at Oklahoma, he'd become legendary. That is where I feel like all this is headed.

Time will tell, but for Stoops to leave Oklahoma so abruptly, that just doesn't sit right with me. We'll see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is thinking about taking a detour to Norman after his vacation. Do they still need a coach? Oh, somebody has that job. Is the Buckeye job still available?

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Will the Latest Trouble at Notre Dame Finally Get Brian Kelly Fired?

Kelly has wrecked the Notre Dame football train

As most of you probably know by now, Notre Dame football has been forced to vacate all their wins from 2012 and 2013 due to academic violations. This should all but assure that Brian Kelly gets fired either this week or this weekend.

First off, Notre Dame is in the midst of one of their worst seasons in about 5 years. They sit at 4-7 as I write this, and unless they somehow find a way to beat USC, they will be staying home during bowl season. You may have read that and thought that with 7 losses, they are ineligible for a bowl bid, but we did have some 5-7 teams make bowls last year because there are way too many bowl games. I don't think they have a chance to beat USC, so this whole point is basically moot, but you never know.

Kelly has thrown people under the bus all season long too, except for himself. This dreadful football year has been everyone's fault but his own. He has complained about his players, he has fired staff members, he has called out fans, as I said, it is everyone else's fault. Well, who is he going to blame now? Academic fraud starts at the top, and the top at Notre Dame is the head coach. He is the one that allowed these staffers to fudge the numbers and give, what he deemed, "important" players the grades they needed to play.

This is going to be a big, big mess for a university that has never really been in trouble like this. Sure, they have had bad seasons, right now as I already stated, but they have never been in this kind of trouble with the NCAA. The NCAA is a very flawed system, but this is one of the easier rules for the teams and players to follow. You need a certain GPA, and if you don't have the numbers, you cannot play. Simple as that. A lot of great players in multiple sports haven't gotten the grades and been forced to sit, or go to community college to get the grades. Well, Brian Kelly and his staff thought that they were above this, and this is going to hurt them very much in the long run. They are going to get sanctioned, there is no doubt in my mind.

I remember when Rich Rodriguez was at Michigan, and they got in trouble for over practicing. ESPN treated that like it was the end of the Michigan football program. They assumed it would be akin to what happened at SMU. I am very anxious to see how they treat this news. Academic fraud is way, way worse than some extra practices, but I feel like ESPN is in bed with Notre Dame, and most of the people there love Brian Kelly. I bet they will find any excuse to try and help Kelly and ND cover this up as best they can, but they won't succeed.

This is a big deal. You cannot give players fake grades. I know that it is a joke, but the student comes before the athlete. It always has, and it always will. The NCAA is definitely flawed in what they expect from "student-athletes", but they have never budged on the grades stuff. And, how hard is it really for these kids to go to class? School is easy, for most students. Hell, I did next to nothing in high school, and I graduated with a 2.6 GPA. All you really have to do is show up, study for the important tests, pass those, and you are good. But, Notre Dame felt they had the importance to not have these kids live up to that small expectation. People will blame the players and the staffers, but I blame Brian Kelly solely for this. He is the one who allowed this happen. He is the one who knew it was happening, didn't think he'd get caught, and let it continue to happen. He is the one that did not hold the accountable parties responsible for what they were doing. The kids are not to blame, and the staff is not to blame, Brian Kelly is to blame.

Notre Dame's season is going to end this Saturday after USC crushes them. Then, they will be investigated, and since they are a blue blood, they will be treated as such. They have already had to vacate the wins, but I see postseason bans possible, scholarships being taken away and a lot of mediocrity for the next 4 or 5 years. A lot of top flight recruits will stay away also because those kids want to play football well into January, and that will not be happening at ND anytime soon.

This horrible season for them just got a whole lot worse. Brian Kelly was already on the hot seat, but his previous seasons, mainly 2012, were his saving grace. Well, that is not the case anymore, since in the eyes of the NCAA, none of those games actually happened, just like the Fab five never went to the final Four, or Reggie Bush never won the Heisman, that is what Notre Dame's run to get blown out in the title game in 2012 is now, non existent. As I stated at the top, I do not see any way that Brian Kelly keeps this job, and this should be the final nail in his coffin. It is much deserved for that curmudgeon that never takes any responsibility, blames everyone else and thinks he is above the law. You are not above the law Brian Kelly, and you just got caught red handed. See you later.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The only thing that would make Ty happier right now is for a certain team that rhymes with molverines beats a team that rhymes with duck eyes. 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. 

Michigan and Notre Dame will Play Football Again, and that is Awesome

Does Michigan have a rival in Paris?

Yesterday Michigan and Notre Dame both agreed to renew their rivalry for the 2018 and 2019 season, at least. I couldn't be happier about this. Notre Dame-Michigan is a classic, must watch rivalry game. I looked forward to it every season when I was a child, a teen and now, an adult. It makes sense for these two teams to play each other for many reasons.

First off, they are the number 1 and number 2 winningest programs in college football history. Second, geographically, they are very close to one another, so they recruit high school teammate and kids that have played against each other since they were young teens. Third, alongside teams like USC, Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma, amongst a few others, they are both blue blood college football programs. They have fans all over the country, regardless of where they are from, or where they went to school. Fourth, both teams are perennial top 25 programs, save for a few seasons.

Look, there are about a million more reasons that these two teams need to play each other at least every two seasons. With the new playoff system now, it makes even more sense for them to play each other as opposed to Notre Dame playing some also ran from the ACC or Michigan playing another MAC team that is little to no competition. The playoff committee claims to value quality wins more so now, so which ever team wins, it looks so much better in the long run in a push to the playoff. Notre Dame also lost nothing from bringing this game back, they actually gain from doing this. Like I said, instead of playing Boston College or Syracuse early in the season, they get a marquee matchup in week 2 or 3.

Michigan had to pay a massive payout to Arkansas to reschedule the Notre Dame game, but it was totally worth it. I know that Arkansas' AD and their coach, Bret Bielama, are not too happy, but they need to get over it. I'm a huge Michigan fan, and the thought of them playing a home and home with Arkansas in 2018 and 2019 was very ho hum. I wasn't excited or thrilled that Michigan was going to be playing a mediocre to mid level SEC school. If they were going to schedule an SEC team during that time, I'd rather it be Alabama, Auburn or Tennessee. Arkansas was way, way down on my list. I'd have been happier if they scheduled Missouri over Arkansas. The University of Missouri is closer and it would have been easier for me to go to the game. So, the AD and Bielama need to keep their stupid comments to themselves. Arkansas is not Notre Dame, plain and simple. And also, if I were Bielama, I'd be thrilled that I didn't have to coach at the Big house again. When Michigan was being coached by Rich Rodriguez, and playing terribly, do you know which Big Ten team they beat that first season besides Minnesota? It was the Bret Bielama led Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers should have trounced Michigan that day. In fact, they were crushing them going into halftime to the tune of 19-0. But, as Bielama has done his whole coaching career, he let Michigan stay in the game. The Wolverines scored a defensive touchdown, came back and won. This was a Michigan team led by Steven Threet and Sam MacGuffie. This was a Michigan team that finished 3-9. This was, statistically, the worst Michigan team ever. But, they still beat Bret Bielama. He shouldn't be throwing shade, he should be thanking his lucky stars, because this current Michigan team is a whole hell of a lot better than anything Rich Rodriguez threw out there.

I digress.

I love that this game is coming back in 2 years. It will be great to see Brian Kelly, whom I despise, and Jim Harbaugh matching wits. Michigan will have 4 full years under Harbaugh by then, so it will be a team full of his type of players. Brian Kelly, if he doesn't bolt for the NFL in the next 2 years, will be one of the longer tenured coaches at Notre Dame, and with consistency comes continuity, which leads to a good program. Also, these two programs have the best uniforms in all of college football, and it is always great to see the uniforms on game day. You have the solid gold helmet for Notre Dame with the navy or white jersey and gold pants and the classic winged helmet, navy or white jersey and maize, navy or white pants of Michigan. It doesn't get much better than that. This is also just good in general for all of college football, to have major programs play each other so early in the season.

What it all comes down to is that I am happy that I will get to watch a meaningful game in the early weeks of the season. I'm also happy that I will get to root against Notre Dame. I'll be even happier if Michigan wins the games, because all of Michigan's victories are great, but they are even better when they beat rivals. This is a good move by both schools and I'm glad it's coming back. I cannot wait.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once ran out of gas in South Bend and decided to just leave the car on the road. None of his money was going to that community. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Chaos of the College Basketball Season will Extend Well into March

This season has even our ancestors confused

As I've done with the NBA, NFL and MLB seasons, I want to check up on my preseason preview for men's college basketball and see how I did and what I think will happen now that the regular is just about done.

First of all, this season of men's college basketball has been very, very ugly. There is no clear cut best team out there. The talent pool has been incredibly watered down by this new "one and done" culture. These kids don't go to college to learn how to play team basketball anymore, they go to increase their draft position. No one plays team basketball anymore. It's all one on one and let me show you my skills to prove that I can play at the next level. Adam Silver needs to focus more on changing the age limit rule for early entry in the draft and less on the "hack a whoever" problem. Men's college basketball is becoming a joke, and until they do something to remedy the "one and done", it will remain a big, big problem.

I really dislike college basketball at the moment.

With all that being said, I still watch because it is basketball and I love basketball. As I said before, there is no clear cut top five teams. Last year it was almost a foregone conclusion that Duke, Kentucky and Wisconsin would be three fourths of the final four. Michigan State making it was a surprise, but they are also a traditional powerhouse, so was it really that surprising? Nope. This year though, it's a total crapshoot. I bet gamblers hate how wide open it is this season. There is, at least, 10 teams that have a legitimate shot at making the final four and winning the title.

I'll start with the ACC. The ACC has the team that most consider the "best" team in North Carolina, but they just lost to an unranked Duke team at home. Sometimes UNC looks like world beaters, other days they look average. Duke has been wildly inconsistent this year. They were in the top ten, fell out of the rankings completely, then beat Virginia and UNC. They are a team that relies on streaky shooters and freshman and sophomores and their underclassmen are nowhere near as good as their underclassmen last year. Virginia has experience, but they play ugly offensive basketball. Notre Dame is okay, but they will lose an early round game in the tournament. Louisville gave themselves a bogus postseason ban, due to all their sex parties and their sex depraved head coach, but I don't think they would have made much noise in the tournament anyway. Miami may be the second best team in the ACC, but they are classic tournament chokers. everyone else is mediocre. UNC should be the cream of the crop, but I have no faith in them after what happened against Duke.

The Big East has two good teams and that's it. No disrespect to Georgetown, but they peaked early. The Big East is Villanova and Xavier. They played last night and number 5 Xavier knocked off number 1 Villanova. It was a good game, but the problem with these two teams, they always get seeded very high in the tournament and they always lose way earlier than they should. They both have experience, but like I said, that experience is used to getting knocked out of the tournament early. I'd love if they proved me and everyone else wrong and made a deep tournament run because I like both these teams, but I don't think that will happen.

The SEC has been very average this year. Kentucky was supposed to be great, signing another excellent class, but they have been one of, if no the, most inconsistent team in all of men's basketball. They have no go to scorer and their stud freshman have not lived up to the preseason hype. Texas A&M is ranked, but I couldn't tell you the name of one player on that team. LSU was supposed to be awesome since they signed Ben Simmons, the overall number one high school recruit, but they might not even make the NCAA tournament. Arkansas is mediocre, Ole Miss and Mississippi State both stink and so does the rest of the conference. Kentucky will still win the SEC, but they are not the same team that they were last year.

The Big Ten, my conference that I watch, has been very unpredictable. Michigan State is supposed to be the cream of the crop, but they've had to deal with multiple injuries and very inconsistent play. They are still really good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Iowa has come out of nowhere and put themselves into the top ten, but they have lost three straight and one of those losses was to a very bad Penn State team. Maryland, my preseason pick to win the title, has been as inconsistent as Michigan State. They started out on fire this season, climbing all the way up to the number 2 ranking, but they recently lost to a Minnesota team that was winless in Big Ten play. Michigan, my team, has been without Caris Levert for most of the season but, they've beaten the teams they are supposed to beat. But, when they played quality competition, they've been absolutely run out of the gym. Michigan State, Indiana, Iowa and Xavier all beat them by double figures and made it look easy. Indiana, the current leader of the conference, has looked good, but when they have to play on the road, they are not the same team. They get every call at home, but the road, where it's called fairly, they look average. Wisconsin has come on strong lately, but I have zero faith in them and their former coach, Bo Ryan, is a world class scumbag. Even with Indiana sitting atop the conference, Michigan State and Maryland are the two best teams in the Big Ten.

The Big 12 may be the best conference in college basketball this year. Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Baylor have spent the majority of the season in the top 25. Oklahoma and Kansas look really good. They are the two teams that may be the only "sure thing" in college basketball this year. The issue is that KU has a tendency to choke, and who knows with Oklahoma, especially since Buddy Hield has been in a mini slump. West Virginia plays suffocating defense, but very poor offense. Baylor seems to be good only when playing at home and Texas is still learning Shaka Smart's system.  KU has proven twice, beating Oklahoma at home and on the road, that they are still the best team in the Big 12.

The mid majors I mentioned in my preseason preview, Witchita State and Gonzaga have been major disappointments. Witchita State had everyone back from a team that almost made the final four last year, but they have been pretty mediocre this year. And Gonzaga has fallen off a cliff. I believe I had them in my preseason final four, but they have been pretty terrible this year. The mid majors are not going to crash the final four at all this year.

Even though it's been a rough year to watch, the major conferences will be well represented in the tournament and make the final four. Like I said, this season is wide open, but I will take a crack at the final four anyway. I guess, and I cannot stress how much of this is literally a guess, UNC, Michigan State, Kansas and Oklahoma will be in the final four and Oklahoma will win it all. Once again, total guess. So, there is my almost end of the regular season wrap up for men's college basketball. The one thing that will be fun, while it will still be a rough watch, at least the tournament will be exciting and all 68 teams that make it will have a shot at the title. Hell, maybe we will finally see a 16 seed beat a 1 seed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. This college basketball season may provide another big upset, like the Princeton UCLA game that the head editor will not shut up about. It is your duty to 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.

Ty takes a few guesses with his Men's College Basketball Preview

Finishing up with all my basketball previews, I'm going to preview the upcoming NCAA season. Now, before I get started. I want to point out how hard this will be for me. I was doing research last night, and during my research, I found out that I don't know many of the new "stars" in college basketball today.

That's a problem.

Men's college basketball is now being defined by this new "one and done" culture, and I hate it. There's no continuity anymore, and players come and go after one season. We don't get any sense of how good a team can truly be because of the rule that you have to be one year removed from high school before you can go pro. I wasn't a fan of the straight from high school to the pros, but the "one and done" culture may be worse. These athletes are basically rentals. A school recruits these kids knowing that they will only be there for one season, and coaches and upperclassmen don't seem to care. Every year it's a revolving door. A five star comes to a school like Duke or Kentucky or Kansas, leaves after the season and a new crop of five star recruits come in. Another thing that blows my mind, pundits and professional broadcasters can't seem to understand how a team like Wichita State or Gonzaga can compete with the blue bloods of college basketball. It's simple dummies, the Wichita State's and Gonzaga's of the world have something that these teams that play mostly freshman don't have, camaraderie. The kids playing at Wichita State or Gonzaga have been playing together for four, or at the very least, three years. They know each other and they know each others tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The teams led by freshman don't have this and it hurts them when it matters most.

Take last years Final Four game between Wisconsin and Kentucky. Kentucky was undefeated, led by a bunch of All Americans and had just come off their closest game of the year in the Elite Eight against Notre Dame. Wisconsin steamrolled Arizona, another freshman laden team, and they were ready for Kentucky. Wisconsin was also led by a senior(Frank Kaminsky), a junior(Sam Dekker) and a slew of upperclassmen. Wisconsin beat Kentucky up and by the end of the game, the freshman at Kentucky were bruised, battered and physically and emotionally tired. Age won out. Now, that didn't work in the championship game against Duke, another team with mostly freshman, but Coach K is a better coach than Bo Ryan.

Men's college basketball is becoming tough to watch. It's a shit show of, look how high I can jump to dunk this ball, or look at how many threes I can shoot in 10 minutes, or look at the little amount of interest I show in playing defense. It's not very good. The talent is better, but the product has gotten worse. When Geno Auriemma, head coach of UConn's women's team, said that men's college basketball is unwatchable, I, at first, vehemently disagreed with him, but now, I'm coming over to his side. It's not that much fun to watch anymore.

With all this being said, I'm going to give a brief breakdown of the upcoming season and pick who I think, and it will be a flat out guess, is going to win the title. I'll also pick a player of the year as well. When researching, I stumbled upon a great article on cbssports.com, rating every team in division one basketball with a one or two sentence description of the team. I'm going to use this article, but only for the rankings.

They have UNC as their preseason number one. This team actually has one upperclassmen, Marcus Paige, on their roster. He's their point guard, and everything runs through him. If he plays well, UNC will be good, but the rest of his supporting cast are either freshman or sophomores and I know very little about them. Staying in the ACC, other good teams will be Duke, Virginia, Notre Dame and Miami. Duke lost three of their five best players to the draft, but they have a bunch of five stars coming in to take their place. They won't win the title again, but they'll be good, they always are. Virginia and Notre Dame are senior laden teams, but both lost their best players to the draft. They'll still make the tournament, but their runs won't be as deep. Miami should be better this year, they get better every year, and they should challenge UVA and Notre Dame for the third spot in the conference.

CBS's number two team is Kentucky. Yep, the same team that lost 7, I repeat 7, players to the NBA draft is preseason number two. They just did what Calipari does, and out recruited everyone and replace five five stars, with five more. Kentucky is the only SEC team that will do any sort of damage on a major scope this season. LSU does have the top incoming recruit, Ben Simmons, but he won't make them a contender in his one college season. And Vanderbilt may make some noise, but they are very, very far behind Kentucky.

Kansas was their number three team and they will be, once again, the class of the Big 12. They lost Cliff alexander and Kelly Oubre Jr to the pros, but they do get Perry Alexander back and they also have "star" freshman coming into Lawrence. The Jayhawks could, and will be challenged by Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma. Iowa State did lose their coach to the pros, but they have most of their starting five back, and that includes Georges Niang. He's one of the anomalies, and decided to stay in school to improve his game. Baylor is always lurking, and they have been for almost a decade now. It's time to take Baylor serious and stop calling them a surprise contender. And Oklahoma may have the best player in all of college basketball in Buddy Hield. He leads that team and he can do great things with the basketball.

The first Big 10 team to crack CBS's poll is Maryland, coming in at number four. Maryland surprised a lot of people last year by how well they played, and they may be the best team in all of college basketball. They did lose Dez Wells to graduation, but they have Jake Layman and Melo Trimble back. Trimble may be Hield's only competition for player of the year. The other Big 10 teams that will fight with Maryland are the usual suspects. Teams like Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan will all be tournament teams. Michigan State has a fine recruiting class coming in and Denzel Valentine is back. Indiana has one of the best offenses in the country and they have some serious recruits coming in. Ohio State will be down from where they have been, but they will still be decent. Purdue has a huge frontcourt, and they will be hard to score on in the post. And Michigan, if they can stay healthy, will be lethal from the outside.

The first Big East team to make their poll is Villanova. They're coming off a 30 plus win season and look to be in good shape once again. Georgetown and Providence will be fine, but the Big East is Villanova's to lose.

The Pac 12 should be competitive. Teams like Utah, Arizona, Oregon and California will be good. Utah did lose Delon Wright to the NBA, but Jakob Poeltl is back and he's a beast inside. Arizona replaces McDonalds All Americans with more McDonalds All Americans. Oregon is a fine team, but they're not really a threat nationally. And Cal. How in the hell is Cal in this discussion? I'll tell you how, they snagged three of the best recruits in the nation somehow, and they will be really competitive for one season. I'm sure an investigation will come out in a year or two involving Cal and recruiting violations, because they haven't been relevant since Jason Kidd played point guard for them in the 90's.

The AAC has three good teams in UConn, Cincinnati and SMU. SMU loses respect because of the sanctions just handed down, so they're not relevant. Cincinnati will win a lot of games they shouldn't, make the tournament with a decent seeding, then crap out in the first or second round. UConn is the class of the conference, and they will win it going away. They have a good recruiting class, and the best coach in their league.

Outside of the power conferences, there's only two teams that really warrant a mention. These teams are the afformentioned Wichita State and Gonzaga. Wichita State returns everybody from a team that should've made the Final Four last year, and the same goes for Gonzaga. If they're ever going to finally make the jump to elite status, this is Gonzaga's best, and probably last chance.

These are the teams I wanted to break down today. There's over 300 division one men's college basketball teams, but the ones I wrote about today, in my opinion, are the only real threats to do damage. Tell me why I'm wrong and who I left out in the comment section. For a more in depth look, if that's what you want, I suggest checking out the CBS website I mentioned earlier.

As far as predictions go, my Final Four teams, right now, are Maryland, Wichita State, Gonzaga and UNC. I think the title game will feature Gonzaga and Maryland, and I'm picking Maryland to win the whole thing. Melo Trimble will also take home player of the year. This will be a big, big season for Maryland basketball. I'll revisit this later in the season, but that's how I see things right at this very moment, 2:49pm central time on October 19th. Thanks and leave a comment telling me why I'm right or wrong.

College basketball and the NBA are almost here folks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His first big sports heartbreak happened after an ill fated time out call in the NCAA Men's Basketball championship game. I think UNC played in that game. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik 

Ty's College Football Season Preview

Official ball from the 1988 all backyard suburban league championship

Today is August 17th, which means it is only 17 more days until the 2015 college football season kicks off.

This is the biggest "holiday" in my life. I'm as giddy as a kid opening a present when college football season starts. College football is, by far, my favorite sport. It may not be the cleanest, most ethical sport (what NCAA sport is?) yet it's so entertaining. College football, and sports in general, are the only TV show or movie that there's any real drama involved. There's dramatic TV shows and movies, but the outcome, for the most part, is positive. Not the case in sports. Sports can make you extremely happy and can depress you for hours or days, depending on how your team plays that particular day. College football, in my opinion, holds the most drama of all sports. College football also has the best die hard fans. We aren't fans, we are fanatics.

Which brings me to my main reason for my blog today, it's my college football preview. I will make this a yearly thing, so this marks the first annual, "Ty's College Football Season Preview". I'm not going to pick a preseason top 25, because that's stupid and pointless. I'm going to pick my winners of the major conferences, I'll talk about teams that can surprise, I'll give you my favorites for the Heisman and who I think the four playoff teams will be, and who I think will win the whole thing. So let's get started.

First, the Pac 12. You have the usual suspects competing for the Pac 12 title this year in Oregon, USC and UCLA. Of those three teams, I would pick Oregon to, once again, be in contention and most likely win the Pac 12 again. The transfer quarterback from Eastern Washington, Vernon Adams, will somewhat ease the loss of last year's Heisman winner, Marcus Mariota. It's always hard to replace a player like Mariota, but I think that Adams will run this offense very well, and they won't miss Mariota as much as other people think they will. USC returns star quarterback, Cody Kessler, but I don't think that Steve Sarkisian is the answer at head coach. The last time USC had this kind of preseason buzz was the year they started out as preseason number one, lost badly at Arizona State on a late Saturday night game, fired Lane Kiffin when they returned home and finished the year 7-6. I personally don't trust USC. UCLA also has to replace an all Pac 12 QB in Brett Hundley, but they have Myles Jack coming back, and they have a decent defense. They're good for 8 to 10 wins. Teams like Arizona, Arizona State and Washington will be decent too. Arizona won't be as good as last season, they played completely out of their minds, but they have a good young core and are led by the best linebacker in the country in Scooby Wright. Arizona State will be good on offense and sub par on defense, and Washington's opener versus Boise State will tell you everything about their season. If they win or win big, they will be a really good team, and if they lose, it will be a long season for the Huskies. With all that being said, I see Oregon winning the conference again this season.

On to the "powerful" SEC. I'd like to start by saying, I think the SEC is very overrated and I wish companies like ESPN would stop with the constant coverage, it drives me nuts. Anyway, here's another conference with the usual suspects. Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia and Ole Miss are the class of the conference. Alabama is Alabama, they will be good for 10 wins at least, anything less is a failure. They will be good, probably great, all season. It's Alabama after all. Auburn and Ole Miss are very similar in my opinion. They both have decent offenses, Ole Miss is better with LaQuean Treadwell coming back after that horrific injury last season and they both have very good defenses. Auburn got a great hire in Will Muschamp as their new defensive coordinator. He was not a good head coach, but the guy is a defensive genius. They're also helped by the addition of graduate transfer, Blake Countess. That guy is a great cover corner. Ole Miss still has the Nkemdichi brothers, and Robert Nkemdichi is, by far, the best interior defensive lineman since Ndamonkong Suh. The guy is unblockable. Mississippi State has their QB, Dak Prescott, back and he runs Dan Mullen's read option to perfection. I don't think they'll be as good this season as they were last season, but they're still good for 8 or 9 wins. Georgia lost Todd Gurley, but replace him with Nick Chubb. They also have a decent defense. They should win at least 9 games. LSU and Arkansas are kind of a mystery to me. LSU has a lights out defense and probably the best running back in the nation in Leonard Fournette, but they have no QB capable of running an offense. Arkansas has a so so defense, but their running game is legit. Even with the injury to star running back, Jonathan Williams, they have a stable of guys willing to take his place. Missouri and Kentucky are probably your next level of teams. They'll compete, but if either of them wins more than 8 games, I'll be surprised. I'm going to have to go with Alabama to be the champ of the SEC again. Two conferences, two repeat champions.

Next, the Big 12. The Big 12 might be the most explosive offensive collection of teams in the country. First of all, there's Baylor and TCU. Baylor has to replace Bryce Petty, but it seems like anyone can come in there and throw for damn near 4,000 yards. That's how well their offense is coached and run by the players. On defense, they showed flashes, but disappeared late in games last season. Look at the Cotton Bowl loss to Michigan State last season for evidence. They do have a freakish athlete on that side of the ball. Go do a google image of Shawn Oakman and be aghast at how big and quick and nimble he is. The dude is a beast. TCU's offense is led by their explosive QB Trevoyne Boykin. He may be the best QB in the country and he runs their offense to a T. He's crazy accurate, can run if need be and makes the right decision 99% of the time. Their coach, Gary Patterson, is known for his defensive mind, but he will rely heavily on the offense this year. They shouldn't disappoint either. They should be one of the most explosive offenses in college football history. After these two teams, there's a pretty big dip. Oklahoma is Oklahoma. They should be decent, but they could also very well disappoint. That's the bummer of being an Oklahoma fan. They should compete every year, but they are on a down swing for them right now. Texas is still rebuilding, but you have to give them another two to four years before they are making any kind of noise in the national conversation. I do like their coach, Charlie Strong a lot. He doesn't take any crap from anybody. Oklahoma State has all these pending violations and recruiting problems that I think will affect their play on the field this season. Kansas State will be a 7 or 8 win team at best, and the same goes for West Virginia. I think that TCU basically runs away with the Big 12. Baylor will make it interesting, but TCU is going to be really special this season.

Next, the Big Ten. Full disclosure, I'm a die hard Michigan Wolverines fan, but that won't sway me from being biased. That being said, the story of this offseason is the hiring of Jim Harbaugh by Michigan. He's expected to return this team to glory, and with his track record, he should do that. In fairness, this season will be tough for him and my beloved Wolverines. I expect them to make a bowl game and I think they should have, at least, 7 wins, but their schedule is tough and we will see if the running game can finally live up to the hype and see if the defense can be as good, if not better than last season. Okay, I talked about Michigan. The Big Ten will be about two teams this season, Ohio State and Michigan State (ed note: That was the hardest sentence Ty has ever written). Ohio State is the defending national champions. They have three great QB's and one of them is now playing receiver(Braxton Miller). They have one of the best running backs in the country in Ezekial Elliot. But, I don't see many explosive receivers on this team and I think teams will stack the box on them. That doesn't mean they'll stop them, but they will be predictable on offense. I also think that both JT Barrett and Cardale Jones will take a step back. Cardale Jones made a mistake in not turning pro, because his stock will never be as high as it was at the end of last season. Ohio State has a great defense. Nothing more needs to be said. There defense will be hard to get points on. Michigan State has Connor Cook back and a highly aggressive, hard hitting defense. Cook is one of the top QB's in the country. A lot of his top receivers have graduated or are in the NFL, so he will have to find new guys, but he will, he's good. Their running game will be by committee, but that's what works for them. While having a great defense, they play undisciplined and get penalized a ton. They are one of the dirtiest teams I've ever watched, but that gets in other teams heads and takes them off their game. You do what works for you. I feel like this is Michigan State's last, best shot at doing something special. They better take advantage. After that we have, the aforementioned Michigan Wolverines, Penn State, Iowa and Minnesota. Penn State should be good, but they haven't really lived up to any expectations lately and their offensive line has got to play better for them to win. Iowa will be good on the ground, but the QB situation is clearer, with Jake Rudock transferring to Michigan, but we will see how CJ Beathard does as a full time starter. Their defense is in a down swing right now too. Minnesota is a good team. They're predictable, but they have an awesome offensive line and a bunch of good running backs. Mitch Leidner does exactly what the coaching staff asks him to do too. They are not great on defense and that will hold them back. Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern are teams, like Missouri and Kentucky in the SEC, that will compete, but anything more than 7 wins will shock me. It boils my blood, but I think Ohio State will win the Big 10 once again (ed note: Sorry Ty).

Lots of the same conference champs for me. I'm going to bundle the ACC and the AAC, because these are both jokes of conferences. The ACC has only three teams that are legit. There's Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson. Georgia Tech will run the triple option really well and confuse a lot of opponents, but they will take a step back from last season. Florida State is replacing Jameis Winston with Everett Golson, so they will not miss a beat, They'll be good, but blow some games late, like they always do. Clemson should be really good this year and they may make the ACC look like a halfway decent conference. Duke will be decent again, but not as good as last season. I'm going to pick Clemson to win the ACC. I don't watch the AAC at all, but I know that Cincinnati is in the conference. The only other teams I know are UCF, SMU and maybe Temple. I know UCF was good a few years ago with Blake Bortles at QB, but this conference is such a joke, I guess I'll pick SMU to win it this year. That's just a blind guess on my part and for all my AAC fans out there, sorry but your conference stinks.

As far as independent and teams from other conferences go, I'd like to talk about Notre Dame, BYU, Boise State and Marshall. Notre Dame is kind of an enigma to me. At the start of last season they looked like world beaters to me, then they fell on their faces when they played Arizona State, but closed out the season with a bowl win over LSU. They will either be a 10 win team or a 6 win team to me. It all depends on how well new starter Malik Zaire plays. If he plays like he did against LSU, they'll be good, but if he regresses or gets found out, they will be lucky to win 6 games. He has good offensive players around him, but it's always on the QB. BYU gets QB Taysom Hill back, and he's almost unstoppable running the read option. The problem lies with him though, when he got hurt, they were terrible. I believe they lost 4 or 5 straight after he got hurt. That team is completely reliant on the health of their QB and that's a double edged sword. Boise State had a down year for them and they still won 9 games and played Ole Miss tough in the opener. The same goes for them as goes for Washington. It all depends on who wins that game to see who will have the better season. I think Boise State will be good this year. Marshall almost went undefeated last season. They were led by their all world QB, Rakeem Cato, but he's graduated, and I think this marks the end of Marshall winning double digit games. It's not happening.

As far as the Heisman Trophy goes this season, I see it coming down to a lot of running backs and one QB. I think we'll see Ohio State's Ezekial Elliot, Georgia's Nick Chubb, LSU's Leonard Fournette and TCU's QB Trevoyne Boykin get invited to New York. I see Boykin winning the Heisman in an almost landslide vote. He's going to have a special season if he stays healthy.

Now the playoff.  I see the Big 12 being represented by TCU, the SEC sending Alabama and the shocker being the Big 10 getting two teams in, in Ohio State and Michigan State. I think in order of ranking the final four teams, it will be Ohio State 1, Alabama 2, TCU 3 and Michigan State 4. So, we'll get an Ohio State-Michigan State game for the third time this season and I see Ohio State winning this time and we will get Alabama-TCU in the other playoff game and I see TCU pulling away late in that game to advance to the title game. So that leaves us with Ohio State and TCU playing for the championship. I see this game being close for about 2 and a half quarters and then TCU puling away and winning by at least 17 points. So, TCU will be your 2016 NCAA Football National Champions.

Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and sit back and enjoy watching football. It will be here before we know it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The editor is eagerly awaiting his NCAA Division 3 football preview. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Is Everett Golson the right fit for Florida State's football culture? Is that a good thing?

I watch sports for two reasons, to root my teams on and to hate on teams I don't like. With that in mind I ask myself why is it of no surprise that former Notre Dame quaterback Everett Golson,  who was kicked off the team for academic reasons only to be brought back and beat out by another teammate, is now transferring to Florida State. I'll tell you why it doesn't surprise me, because it seems like character and off field issues don't matter to a school like Florida State. All that seems to matter to them is how many wins they can get for their football team. This is a shame. Sure, Jameis Winston is a great football player  One does not get taken first in the NFL draft if you are not talented, but this kid has more issues than the New York Times. First he gets accused of sexual assault, later to be thrown out of court for some unknown reason( I'd say the people of Tallahassee paid this person off), then he yells vulgar things in the lunchroom like a child.  To top off Winston's grand behavior he also steals food from a grocery store! But all this gets thrown out because the dude knows how to throw a spiral. Now they're bringing in Golson, who by all accounts is a good football player, but has character issues as well. First, he gets kicked off Notre Dame's football team because he can't get his grades straight,  and then he just gets flat out beaten out for the starting spot. Who should be there to catch him when he's falling and whining like a baby, Florida State. This is such a joke. I also don't think it will work to their advantage as well as they think. This kid turns the ball over A LOT. I'm just so unhappy with the state of college football right now. When these young kids don't get their way, they just leave a school to go somewhere else and play. It seems the players are following the behavior set by the coaches (looking at you Nick Saban). They've been told yes their whole lives and when someone comes in and beats them out, instead of staying and fighting for their spot, they think it's just best to leave and go somewhere where they can play. Florida State may also be the biggest joke of a "university" there is today. Clearly all they care about is marketing their product and making bundles and bundles of cash more so than the well being of assaulted students or getting these athletes the education they deserve.

Florida State, you're an embarrassment to colleges everywhere.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is a life long college football fan, yet the likes of Florida State are starting to challenge that commitment.