15 Minute Blitz Episode 14

https://open.spotify.com/show/7FRSwrllknwemMVvghqlRQ

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-15-minute-blitz-230527724/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-minute-blitz/id1775746291

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23d6848d-e967-470e-b1f1-8996bd205feb/15-minute-blitz

NFL Week 16 Reactions

Houston Texans (9-6) @ Kansas City Chiefs (14-1)

The Chiefs keep rolling with another win. They are the only team that hasn’t scored 31 points that has more than 3 wins this year.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-5) @ Baltimore Ravens (10-5)

The Ravens showed up on a mission and ran through the Steelers. This will be a great divisional race to the very end.

New England Patriots (3-12) @ Buffalo Bills (12-3)

The Pats should have won this game. Their inexperience, costly turnovers, and lack of discipline cost them dearly. It’s disappointing, but at a silver lining is they now have the 2nd pick instead of the 6th pick.

Drake Maye came into the game as the only QB in the NFL with no designed runs. That is ridiculous. They need to fully utilize him.

There were some great things we saw today. Maye completely outplayed Josh Allen. The fake punt was great and ballsy. Jerrod Mayo has started to actually show some emotion on the sideline. Using Brenden Schooler as a QB spy is incredibly creative. This team has potential, we just need to deal with the growing pains.

Game/Betting Pick Results

Game: 3-0 (39-18 This Season) (77-34 All-Time)

Spread: 2-1 (34-20-3) (73-34-4)

O/U: 3-0 (29-28) (58-52-1)

NFL Week 16 Predictions

Houston Texans (9-5) @ Kansas City Chiefs (13-1)

I think the Chiefs win, cover (-3.5), and the over (42.5) hits.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) @ Baltimore Ravens (9-5)

I think the Ravens win, the Steelers cover (+7), and the over (44.5) hits.

New England Patriots (3-11) @ Buffalo Bills (11-3)

I think the Bills win, the Pats cover (+14), and the under (46.5) hits.

15 Minute Blitz Episode 13

https://open.spotify.com/show/7FRSwrllknwemMVvghqlRQ

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-15-minute-blitz-230527724/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-minute-blitz/id1775746291

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/23d6848d-e967-470e-b1f1-8996bd205feb/15-minute-blitz

Will the Big 10 and SEC Break Away from the FBS?

With the CFP results being underwhelming for the SEC, I wonder if this could start a chain of events that leads to the Big 10 and SEC breaking off from the rest of the country when it comes to competing for the national championship.

The SEC and BIG 10 are getting very little value from the other teams and conferences, whereas, the other conferences get insane value. Each conference gets a team in the playoff – even if they don’t deserve to make it – and weaker conferences like the ACC can have multiple teams. This all comes at the expense of the SEC and Big 10 not getting more teams in the playoff, which means less home playoff games, revenue, exposure, and more.

It is tough to compare teams from the SEC and Big 10 to other teams in the country, since there are way more good teams in the two big conferences and thus each team plays a much harder conference schedule. This means some teams that get in from other conferences will probably continue to be worse than SEC and Big 10 teams that don’t get in. This eventually could lead to the two big conferences getting fed up and wanting out.

I think there are four other schools that benefit the SEC and Big 10 due to their brand, success, following, etc: Notre Dame, Clemson, FSU, and Miami. What if the SEC scooped up FSU, Clemson, Miami, and one other team like UNC to make a 20 team conference? And then the Big 10 could make a scheduling agreement with Notre Dame and take on one more team to have 20 teams in/associated with the conference. In this scenario, the two conferences could form an ultra competitive 12 or 14 team CFP without help from any other conferences.

Imagine if rather than SMU, Boise State, and Arizona State, the teams playing were Alabama, Miami, and South Carolina. That would be a much better CFP.

I am not saying this should happen or will happen, but I think it is something to keep an eye on.

Any change will be gradual. As of now, the likely next step is 14 teams in 2026. I’m sure if/when that happens, the SEC and Big 10 will make demands on how many of their teams are guaranteed a spot and how the seeding is determined. If the other conferences don’t give in, that could lead to the break described above.

NFL Week 15 Reactions

Buffalo Bills (11-3) @ Detroit Lions (12-2)

The Bills keep playing amazing games and Josh Allen keeps looking insane. Him and Jared Goff had an awesome duel and both teams put up over 500 yards of offense.

As great as Lions have been, they have by no means secured even the division title.

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) @ Philadelphia Eagles (12-2)

The Eagles keep ignoring the off-the-field noise and winning on the field. The passing game had a resurgence and everyone should be happy again.

New England Patriots (3-11) @ Arizona Cardinals (7-7)

The Patriots simply lost to a better team. The same problems that have dogged the Pats all year continue to occur. The one good thing is that if we win its great, but even if we lose, it gets us a better draft pick.

Game/Betting Picks Results

Game: 2-1 (36-18 This Season) (74-34 All-Time)

Spread: 2-1 (32-19-3) (71-33-4)

O/U: 0-3 (26-28) (55-52-1)

Belichick to UNC

In a shocking turn of events, Bill Belichick is now the head coach on UNC. Now that a couple days have passed, along with the initial shock, the decision seems to make more sense.

It looks like the market for Belichick as an NFL head coach was going to be very small. Even the teams that might consider him did not seem willing to let him have the level of control he was looking for and he likely would not have been able to bring in all the people he wanted. UNC will allow him to call all the shots.

He has always loved college football and grew up around the game. UNC is a great academic school that matches with Bill being an intelligent individual.

UNC is the perfect middle ground of being a good program, but not so prestigious that he can’t come in and take over the program without worrying about boosters and an AD looking over his shoulder all the time.

The transfer portal and NIL have made college football much more like the NFL. He will be able to recruit guys other programs don’t value enough and develop them into great players. Football players with dreams of going to the NFL will want to play for him.

All in all, I think he will be very successful. I don’t think he’ll be able to win a national title, but I think he can consistently compete to win the ACC and make the playoffs.